Hong Kong: FS: Dreams become reality in Lantau Financial Secretary Paul Chan I am delighted to be here and invited by Elsa and Anna to celebrate with you all the opening of World of Frozen, the first-ever and largest Frozen-themed land in the world. Thank you Olaf for bringing me here all the way from Central. I can still vividly remember how this Frozen-themed zone started as a sketch some seven years ago. The fantasy is now a reality, almost beyond our imagination back in 2016. But seeing is believing, and I am thrilled to be here to see how the Kingdom of Arendelle from the Frozen movie franchise has come to real life. Visitors to Hong Kong Disneyland can now physically immerse themselves in iconic scenes once only featured in animation. And to make it even more unique, World of Frozen integrates the picturesque natural landscape of our Lantau Island as the backdrop, and deploys the latest technology to deliver a truly innovative guest experience. Please join me in a round of applause for the talented Disney team who have made this dream come true. I would call the Disney team "imagineers" bringing dreams to life, fantasy to reality, and sketches to tangible deliverables. You have certainly reminded us that success and greatness are always a formula of imagination and innovation, plus meticulous planning, dedicated efforts and resilience in overcoming challenges all the way. We in Hong Kong all know the essence of hard work. But perhaps we could also be more bold, to imagine, to embrace new ideas, create new models and break new grounds. As the late American astronomer Carl Sagan said: "Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere." Last year, when I officiated at the "Momentous" premiere in front of the Castle in the pouring rain, I mentioned that Hong Kong Disneyland is a critical element in our flagship tourism offerings. And on this bright "Summer Snow Day" I am confident that the opening of World of Frozen is a defining moment to elevate Hong Kong Disneyland to a whole new level, and to attract more tourists to embark on journeys to Hong Kong. Indeed, a side trip to Arendelle Harbour is a must for Disney fans. It may well join our famous Victoria Harbour on the long and exciting "bucket list" of must-do activities when you come to Hong Kong. Financial Secretary Paul Chan gave these remarks during "A Welcome Ceremony for World of Frozen" at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on November 20. This story has been published on: 2023-11-20. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Long street banquet held during cultural tourism festival in China's Yunnan Xinhua) 08:23, November 20, 2023 A tourist poses for a photo with local children during a cultural tourism festival in Luchun County of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 19, 2023. The long street banquet, a time-honoured tradition of Hani ethnic group in China, was held here during a cultural tourism festival on Sunday. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo) Tourists and local residents take part in the long street banquet during a cultural tourism festival in Luchun County of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 19, 2023. The long street banquet, a time-honoured tradition of Hani ethnic group in China, was held here during a cultural tourism festival on Sunday. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo) This aerial photo taken on Nov. 19, 2023 shows a view of Luchun County of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The long street banquet, a time-honoured tradition of Hani ethnic group in China, was held here during a cultural tourism festival on Sunday. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo) Local residents of Hani ethnic group attend a parade during a cultural tourism festival in Luchun County of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 19, 2023. The long street banquet, a time-honoured tradition of Hani ethnic group in China, was held here during a cultural tourism festival on Sunday. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo) Local residents of Hani ethnic group attend a parade during a cultural tourism festival in Luchun County of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 19, 2023. The long street banquet, a time-honoured tradition of Hani ethnic group in China, was held here during a cultural tourism festival on Sunday. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo) Local residents of Hani ethnic group attend a parade during a cultural tourism festival in Luchun County of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 19, 2023. The long street banquet, a time-honoured tradition of Hani ethnic group in China, was held here during a cultural tourism festival on Sunday. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo) This aerial photo taken on Nov. 19, 2023 shows tourists and local residents taking part in the long street banquet as performers passing by during a cultural tourism festival in Luchun County of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The long street banquet, a time-honoured tradition of Hani ethnic group in China, was held here during a cultural tourism festival on Sunday. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo) This aerial photo taken on Nov. 19, 2023 shows a view of the long street banquet during a cultural tourism festival in Luchun County of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The long street banquet, a time-honoured tradition of Hani ethnic group in China, was held here during a cultural tourism festival on Sunday. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Wu Chaolan) Logo and flags of Bayer AG are pictured outside a plant of the German pharmaceutical and chemical maker in Wuppertal By Ludwig Burger (Reuters) - Germany's Bayer has aborted a large late-stage trial testing a new anti-clotting drug due to lack of efficacy, dealing a fresh blow to the embattled drugmaker and throwing its most promising development project in doubt. Its shares slid 16.4% at 0903 GMT on Monday to their lowest in 12 years, with separate news overnight the company had been ordered to pay $1.56 billion in the latest U.S. lawsuit over its commonly-used Roundup weedkiller also hitting sentiment. Bayer said in a statement late on Sunday that experimental anticoagulant asundexian was shown to be inferior to Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer's established Eliquis in preventing strokes in high-risk patients part-way into a Phase III trial. It had hoped the drug would generate annual sales of more than 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) and replace revenue from one of its pharmaceutical best-sellers, blood thinner Xarelto, which is set to lose protection from key European patents in 2026. The trial halt, which followed recommendation of independent trial supervisors, marks another setback for a company burdened by a weak herbicide business, high debt and U.S. lawsuits over Roundup. New Bayer CEO Bill Anderson is weighing options to break apart the maker of prescription drugs, consumer health products, crop chemicals and seeds, in a bid to revive a battered share price. He is also seeking to simplify decision-making, cutting management positions. Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at Union Investment in Germany, said Anderson now faced "Herculean" challenges. "Removing asundexian from our model suggests significant challenges ahead for the company's pharma business," Barclays analysts said, adding this was a total surprise. BLOW TO US EXPANSION HOPES Bayer said it would further analyse the data of the discontinued trial, known as OCEANIC-AF, which was initiated in August 2022 with a targeted 18,000 participants. The trial's safety data was consistent with previous studies, it added. It said the independent trial supervisors recommended the continuation of a separate smaller phase III trial, OCEANIC-STROKE, testing asundexian to prevent strokes in participants who have already suffered one. Both OCEANIC studies combined would have involved up to 30,000 patients, Bayer has said. The trial halt is also a blow for the head of Bayer's pharmaceutical unit Stefan Oelrich, who had pinned hopes of a major expansion in the United States - by far the world's largest pharmaceutical market - on asundexian. In contrast to the Xarelto franchise, where Bayer shared development costs with Johnson & Johnson and ceded most of the U.S. market to its partner, Bayer opted to go it alone on asundexian studies and was ready to spend heavily on U.S. marketing and distribution. Union Investment's Manns said the development costs should have been shared. "How asundexian was handled is another example of failed risk management at Bayer," he said, adding that Bayer was now lacking sustainable growth prospects. The compound belongs to a novel drug group known as factor XI inhibitors, which has attracted Novartis, working with private equity firm Blackstone, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, working with J&J. Asundexian is one of four new drug hopefuls that Bayer in January said had combined peak sales potential of more than 12 billion euros. ($1 = 0.9168 euros) (Reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt and Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Miranda Murray, Christopher Cushing and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) By Yew Lun Tian and Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) - Arab and Muslim ministers called on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as their delegation visited Beijing on the first leg of a tour to push for an end to hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid into the devastated Palestinian enclave. The delegation, which is set to meet officials representing each of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, is also piling pressure on the West to reject Israel's justification of its actions against Palestinians as self-defence. The officials holding meetings with China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Monday are from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestinian authorities and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, among others. "We are here to send a clear signal: that is we must immediately stop the fighting and the killings, we must immediately deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza," said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. The extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh this month also urged the International Criminal Court to investigate "war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel is committing" in the Palestinian territories. Saudi Arabia has sought to press the United States and Israel for an end to hostilities in Gaza, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, gathered Arab and Muslim leaders to reinforce that message. In comments posted by his ministry on X, formerly known as Twitter, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry told his Chinese counterpart: "We look forward to a stronger role on the part of great powers such as China in order to stop the attacks against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Unfortunately, there are major countries that give cover to the current Israeli attacks." About 240 hostages were taken during Hamas's deadly cross-border rampage into Israel on Oct. 7, which prompted Israel to invade the Gaza Strip with the intention of eradicating the Islamist militant group. Gaza's Hamas-run government said at least 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombardments since then, including at least 5,500 children. Israeli ambassador to Beijing Irit Ben-Abba told foreign reporters at a briefing on Monday that she hoped there would not be "any statements from this visit about a ceasefire, now is not the time." She said that Israel hoped that the delegation would talk about hostages captured by Hamas "and call for their immediate release without preconditions," adding that the parties involved should talk together about Egypt's "role in facilitating humanitarian assistance." 'BROTHER AND FRIEND' China's Wang said Beijing was a "good friend and brother of Arab and Muslim countries," adding it has "always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights and interests." Since the start of hostilities, China's foreign ministry has repeatedly stopped short of condemning Hamas, instead calling for de-escalation and for Israel and Palestine to pursue a "two-state solution" for an independent Palestine. Since the end of China's nearly three years of COVID lockdowns, Xi has launched a diplomatic push aimed at countering the United States and its allies, who he says seek to contain and suppress his country. Beijing has deepened alliances with non-Western led multilateral groups such as the BRICS bloc of nations while strengthening ties with countries in the Middle East and the Global South. On Monday, Wang added China will work to "quell the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible, alleviate the humanitarian crisis and promote an early, comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue." China's special envoy on the Middle East, Zhai Jun, has engaged officials from Israel and the Palestinian Authority - which governs in the occupied West Bank - as well as the Arab League and EU in the last year to discuss a two-state solution and recognition for Palestine at the United Nations. (This story corrects reference to the Palestinian representation in paragraph 3) (Reporting by Yew Lun Tian, Laurie Chen and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Edmund Klamann & Simon Cameron-Moore) Homelessness is a state of deprivation. Those who are homeless need shelter to be safe; they dont have it. They need a toilet for basic bodily functions; they dont have one. They need a shower to keep clean; they dont have that, either. Because such deprivation dramatically affects the well-being of people who are homeless, public discussion of homelessness tends to focus on whether and to what extent the government should carry out anti-homelessness policy as a way of improving peoples overall quality of life. Some philosophers have argued that while homelessness is clearly a state of deprivation, it is also a condition in which a persons freedom is profoundly compromised. These theorists insist a society that cherishes freedom such as the U.S. must implement anti-homelessness policy as a way of liberating people who lack housing. Because the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to rise at a record rate, these academic ideas have become increasingly relevant to the real world. I am a philosopher interested in exploring the moral dimensions of homelessness, as well as shining a light on underdiscussed aspects of it. I believe that public debate would benefit greatly from increased attention to the ways homelessness limits Americans freedom. Freedom to be somewhere Since homelessness is usually discussed in terms of deprivation, the claim that homelessness has much to do with freedom can seem surprising. Freedom is commonly understood as the ability to do what one chooses without being interfered with. My freedom is limited if you lock me in a cell or place a boulder on the street I want to drive down. Homelessness, on the other hand, seems at first glance like a condition in which a person is mostly able to do as they choose, albeit without important resources that would make their life better. Los Angeles Police officers stand by a newly installed fence after moving on March 26, 2021, to evict residents of a large homeless encampment in Echo Park. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes The philosopher and legal theorist Jeremy Waldron sees things differently. Waldron says that private property often serves to interfere with peoples choices. If a person wants to walk in New York City from midtown Manhattan to Harlem, others property interferes with their ability to choose the most direct route. If a person wants to see a particular Andy Warhol painting, the fact that it is kept at a private residence interferes with their ability to choose to view it. In itself, this isnt a problem, as no one should be free to go anywhere and do anything they want. The trouble, says Waldron, comes when a person who is homeless does not have private property that they are able to occupy, free from interference. In such instances, the person will be confined to public spaces, such as sidewalks and parks. But public spaces themselves are highly regulated through local ordinances, limiting who may use them and for what purposes. A person who is homeless and sleeps on a public bench will often be told by the police to move. Someone who sets up a tent on a sidewalk will usually have it confiscated. Someone who urinates or defecates in a park can be arrested. Now you can see why some think that homelessness compromises a persons freedom. Sleeping and relieving oneself are necessary, life-sustaining tasks. But as Waldron points out, Everything that is done has to be done somewhere. No one is free to perform an action unless there is somewhere he is free to perform it. Given the way society protects private property and regulates public spaces, it seems that people who are homeless are left with no space at all in which they are free to do the things they need to do in order to live. This is about as severe an infringement on freedom as you can imagine, and Waldrons point is that a society that loves freedom simply cannot tolerate it. Anti-homelessness is not just about benevolence and generosity, then. It is about protecting liberty. A homeless man sleeps on a sidewalk on June 6, 2023, in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Freedom from others Of course, people who are homeless do sleep and relieve themselves. So, in what sense do they actually lack the freedom to do so? The political philosopher Christopher Essert argues that Waldrons analysis should be taken one step further by considering its implications for interpersonal relations. Since a person who is homeless has nowhere to freely perform life-sustaining tasks, typically they will either seek permission from someone to use their property, use the property and hope to not be noticed or, at worst, seek forgiveness. Either way, they depend upon the grace of another in order to do the things they need to do. This puts people who are homeless at the mercy of those who have property. Whether a homeless person has a place to sleep or whether they are arrested for sleeping somewhere without permission is completely determined by the wishes of others. Keesha might sleep on Felixs couch for a few nights. But as soon as Felix is in a bad mood, he can throw her out. Or Felix might make access to his couch conditional upon her attending church services, supporting his preferred political candidate or performing sexual acts. What she does and does not do is now up to Felix. Essert connects this set of observations to what is called a republican conception of freedom. This way of understanding freedom is less about whether a person is actually interfered with and more about the way they are placed under the arbitrary power of another. The intuitive idea is that if someone else always has the power to determine your choices, then you arent free. Since a homeless person is always on property over which someone else has authority, they are always, writes Essert, under the power of others, dependent on them, dominated by them, unfree. In the U.S. especially, arguments that appeal to freedom are taken very seriously. Even those who insist that it is not the governments job to ensure everyone a good quality of life believe that it must ensure freedom. Even those whose ears close when they hear calls for charity and beneficence seem to pay attention when freedom is at stake. By proposing this way of seeing the life of someone who is homeless, then, philosophers have raised the possibility that allowing homelessness to persist contradicts values that are, at heart, fundamentally American. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Paul Schofield, Bates College. Read more: Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko planned to flee to Poland at the start of Russias full-scale war in Ukraine, journalist Zbigniew Parafianowicz revealed in his book Polska na wojnie, journalist Filip Dab-Mirowski wrote on Twitter on Nov. 13. The Polish government was seriously concerned that Lukashenko would join the war and developed a contingency plan involving the deployment of anti-regime sabotage groups to go behind Belarusian lines to instigate chaos, according to Parafianowicz. Read also: NV investigates why Ukraine has yet to impose sanctions on dictator Lukashenko However, Lukashenko was so afraid himself, that he made inquiries to Warsaw through various channels to see if they would let him pass over the border and then fly away from the closest airport. He knew if things went south for him, the Russians would not let him take off into his own airspace, says Parafianowicz. Read also: As Israel-Hamas clash intensifies, Lukashenko places blame squarely on provocative US In August, Lukashenko stated that he had instructed his diplomats to improve relations with Poland, after ratcheting up tensions with Warsaw for several weeks, Lukashenkos press service said on Aug. 11. In response, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Belarus must stop hybrid attacks using migrants on the Polish border if it wants to improve relations between the countries. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine In the wake of the terrorist attack by Hamas in October, in which roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds taken hostage, the White House, along with a slew of American lawmakers, have highlighted the need to aid Israel. But some Democrats in Congress have raised concerns about the humanitarian need in Gaza, as Israel has embarked on a military campaign with the stated goal of eradicating Hamas, resulting in the deaths of more than 11,000 Palestinians, many of them children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. Meanwhile, the growing calls for either a cease-fire or a temporary pause in the conflict are mounting, amid growing backlash to Israels response among younger Americans and Democratic voters. On Saturday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said in a statement that military aid to Israel should be conditioned on a fundamental change in their military and political positions. Those conditions include an end to the indiscriminate bombing which has taken thousands of civilian lives and a significant pause in military operations, allowing displaced Gazans to return to their homes, forbidding the long-term Israeli re-occupation or blockade of Gaza, ending settler violence in the occupied West Bank and a freeze on settlement expansion, as well as a renewed commitment to peace talks and a pursuit to a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict. While Israel has the right to go after Hamas, Netanyahus right-wing extremist government does not have the right to wage almost total warfare against the Palestinian people, Sanders said, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sanders, who is Jewish, had faced blowback from progressives for not explicitly supporting a cease-fire. Sanderss fellow Vermonter, Representative Becca Balint, became the first Jewish member of Congress to endorse a cease-fire earlier this month, saying in an op-ed in VTDigger that what is needed right now is an immediate break in violence to allow for a true negotiated cease-fire. Israel has a moral responsibility to ensure that civilians are protected at all costs, even in the midst of war, Balint wrote. Even with Hamas operations intentionally embedded among civilians, Israel cannot bomb targets in densely populated areas. The United States must demand it. Politico had reported last week that progressive Democrats in Congress are tentatively discussing conditioning military aid to Israel. However, support for these preliminary talks is far from universal, and the report earned almost immediate backlash from several Democrats. Conditioning aid to Israel will only have one outcome: it would help Hamas in their goal of completely annihilating Israel and the Jewish people. It would weaken Americas national security and our fight against terror, Representative Josh Gottheimer said in a statement on Saturday. Any legislation that conditions security aid to our key democratic ally, Israel, is a nonstarter and will lose scores of votes. Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz said on the social media site X that if Bernie Sanders puts political requirements on the Aid to Israel, I will work in the House to remove those conditions or condition Aid to Gaza that requires the removal of Hamas. Lets not play this game. Send the aid to both, Moskowitz wrote. Another Democrat, Representative Steny Hoyer, called the discussions an irresponsible move. Congress has yet to approve any aid to Israel; lawmakers are currently working on a package that would also include aid to Ukraine and revamp the nations policies regarding the southern border. The House passed a stand-alone Israeli aid bill, but it was blocked in the Senate. Its unclear when a finalized aid package will be ready for a vote, making the prospect of aid to Israel ever more tenuous. Some Democratic lawmakers have argued that respecting humanitarian needs is critical for Israels global position. In order to maintain international support, they have to demonstrate that they are abiding by the Geneva Conventions and our basic expectations, Senator Brian Schatz told me earlier this month. Indeed, while the U.S. continues to be a staunch supporter of Israel, there are growing international calls for a cessation in hostilities. On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of a resolution calling for pauses in the conflict to allow for humanitarian aid to be brought to Gaza, although the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Russia abstained on the measure. Last month, 120 countries voted in favor of a resolution calling for a humanitarian truce to the war. The U.S. was one of 14 countries to vote against the truce, and 45 other countries abstained. Theres more and more of us who cant ignore the reality that Israel does not have a plan, Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont told Punchbowl News over the weekend. Although the need for humanitarian aid is clear, Welch added, the best humanitarian aid is to have a war plan that doesnt create such a humanitarian catastrophe. The White House has been left to toe a delicate line in recent weeks. When asked whether the U.S. was violating the so-called Leahy law, which prohibits providing aid to governments committing human rights abuses, a White House official demurred, in a Sunday interview with CBSs Face the Nation. Im not going to get into legal determinations in public, said White House principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer. However, Finer added that while Israel has the right to embark on combat operations in southern Gaza, the White House has a real concern about the hundreds of thousands of Gazans that have fled to the south at Israels behest. We think that their operations should not go forward until those peoplethose additional civilianshave been accounted for in their military planning, Finer continued. Recent polling has shown a growing generational divide in opinion of the war. A Quinnipiac poll published last week showed that while 54 percent of voters overall say their sympathies lie more with Israel than with Palestine, 52 percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 34 say their sympathies lie more with Palestinians. Sixty percent of Democrats disapprove of Israels response to the October 7 attack by Hamas, along with 66 percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 34. The news is also grim for Biden, as a new poll by NBC News shows that majorities of voters in all parties disapprove of his handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war. The survey showed that 70 percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 34 disapproved of his handling of the war. As young voters will be critical to his electoral chances in 2024, these figures arrive at an inopportune time for the president. Earlier this month, a coalition of groups dedicated to mobilizing young, progressive voters sent an open letter to Biden warning that his response to the Israel-Hamas war could demotivate Millennials and Gen Zers. We write to you to issue a very stark and unmistakable warning: you and your Administrations stance on Gaza risks millions of young voters staying home or voting third party next year, the letter said. Young people are a cornerstone of a winning Democratic coalition, and the vast majority of young people in this country are rightfully horrified by the atrocities committed with our tax dollars, with your support, and our nations military backing. Happy birthday, Mr President. Sixty years after Marilyn Monroe sang those famous words to John F Kennedy, another US president is celebrating his big day, not with a gala dinner or movie stars serenade, but a low-key family event well away from the public gaze. Joe Biden turns 81 today not that youd know it from his public schedule. As is traditional during Thanksgiving week, the president is due to ceremonially pardon two turkeys at the White House before traveling with First Lady Jill Biden to a Virginia naval base, to watch a film with service personnel. A family celebration is planned, but not until later in the week, on the island of Nantucket, Mass, where a cake bearing an awful lot of candles may finally be rolled out. What explains the reticence? The 46th and oldest ever president of the United States has had his three score and 10, plus another 10 and a few more for fun. Hes lived nearly five years longer than the average US male mortality. His has not only been a long life, its one packed with drama, trauma and triumph: the loss of his wife and baby daughter in a car crash; two near fatal brain aneurisms; the death of a son to cancer; the addictions and personal chaos of another son; a happy second marriage and beloved children and grandchildren. Politically, he dominated the Senate for decades, served as vice president for eight years; and, finally, attained the White House in the most controversial election in living memory, becoming Americas first octogenarian commander-in-chief. But far from being a cause of celebration, each presidential birthday has come to be seen as an increasing liability. This is in no small way connected to a slew of opinion polls making clear voter concerns about Bidens age and capacity as he heads into a re-election year. In a recent New York Times/Sienna poll, 71 per cent described him as too old to be an effective president. Worse, 62 per cent said Biden lacked mental sharpness. Such sentiments are driven by episodes in which the president has stumbled, including several getting on and off Air Force One, or appears to lose his train of thought, as he did last month when visiting Israel. Its a problem Bidens re-election team is said to be alive to. Politico reported today that when a recent medical showed the presidents feet had stiffened due to small fractures sustained playing with his dog, consideration was given to limiting the distances he walks in public, or to having him wear sturdier, if less formal footwear. Those around Biden, including, apparently, members of his family, are said to believe that mentally he is more than up to the task of leading the free world, while acknowledging his physical frailties have become a campaign issue. The Washington Post reported that donors are among those who have raised concerns. Instead of seeking to deny or play down his age, some around the president have suggested he lean into it by highlighting the value of experience and wisdom, portraying himself as the nations Grandpa Joe. They remember Ronald Regans jibe to Walter Mondale during a 1984 presidential debate: I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponents youth and inexperience. Others favor a punchier response, suggesting the campaign team do more to point out the fact that at 77, Bidens presumed rival in 2024, Donald Trump, is only a few years younger. Indeed, were Trump to win, he would become the oldest person elected to the presidency. Yet despite their comparable ages, the New York Times-Siena poll shows only 39 per cent of voters feel Trump is too much of a dotard to return to the presidency. Some Democrat strategists suggest Team Biden fight back, by pointing out Trumps own occasional incoherence, while pointing to the presidents relative sprightliness; his still impressive capacity for work and busy schedule which has taken him to both Ukraine and Israel this year. Others believe the battle against Trump is unlikely to come down to age, that the Sleepy Joe nickname did not cost Biden the election last time around, and questions around capacity will not matter this time out either. They say most voters have a binary, love-hate response to Trump, and that nothing will stop them voting either for or against the man, no matter who his opponent is. That theory will be tested at the election which is due to take place two weeks before Bidens 82nd birthday next year. Win or lose, perhaps then hell permit himself a public celebration, with singing, cake and lots and lots of candles. 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. U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a new military aid package for Ukraine worth up to $100 million, the U.S. Defense Department announced on Nov. 20. The new package includes Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and additional ammunition, 155-mm and 105-mm artillery shells, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems, and over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition. The package also includes cold weather gear, spare parts, and demolitions munitions for clearing obstacles. This latest aid package utilizes assistance previously authorized for Ukraine under the Presidential Drawdown Authority that was left over from prior fiscal years, the Defense Department said. Drawdowns entail the delivery of military equipment that was previously authorized and requires presidential authorization only, not a specific funding bill from the U.S. Congress. The announcement came the same day as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Kyiv, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Austin met Zelensky "to reaffirm the United States' steadfast support for Ukraine," the Defense Secretary captioned the photo of their meeting. Later this week, Austin will host a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein summit, to coordinate further military aid to Ukraine. The defense secretary's visit comes after months of infighting in the U.S. Congress over government spending, including military aid for Ukraine. Republicans in the Senate threatened to block the aid in early November unless there were security resolutions on the southern border of the U.S., leading to a standoff with Democrats. U.S. President Joe Biden signed a temporary spending bill into law on Nov. 16, averting the impending government shutdown but leaving the issue of continued aid for Ukraine unaddressed. The bill, passed by bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate, will fund the government through the end of the year in two staggered segments until Feb. 2 at the latest. It earmarks money for the highest priority government expenditures but does not include funding for Ukraine, Israel, humanitarian aid for Palestinians, or increased border security. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said at a press conference on Nov. 14 that Congress would reconvene after Thanksgiving on Nov. 23 in order to try and pass a joint funding bill that contains aid for all four issues. Read also: Historian Serhii Plokhy: The better we prepare for the long war, the sooner it will end Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A key adviser to President Biden arrived Monday in Israel to continue efforts to de-escalate in the region and to avoid a second front in Israels war against Hamas. National security spokesperson John Kirby confirmed at a briefing Monday that senior energy adviser Amos Hochstein was in Israel to speak with Israeli counterparts over concerns that Hezbollah in southern Lebanon could join a wider war. We dont want to see this war escalate. We dont want to see it widen. We certainly dont believe its in anybodys interest, certainly not the Israeli peoples interest to have a second front there in the north, Kirby told reporters. Though what Amos is doing, what our team is doing, is everything we can to help prevent that scenario from happening, Kirby added. Kirby described Hochsteins decision as a sort of back briefing, following up on discussions he had a week or so ago, where he talked to Lebanese officials and to Israeli officials up in the north about the risks of a second front, a Northern Front. Hochstein led quiet negotiations last year on an agreement on maritime borders between Israel and Lebanon. Hochsteins latest trip comes as tensions continue to flare on the northern border of Israel and the southern border of Lebanon, where Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, holds significant power. There is already a regular exchange of fire on the border, and officials have expressed concern that the flare-ups could lead to a second front against Hezbollah, which is widely regarded as more powerful and threatening to Israels existence than Hamas, another U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Both groups are backed by Iran. Hamas launched a surprise attack on the southern border of Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking about 240 hostages. Iran has claimed no previous knowledge of the plans. Israel responded with a barrage of airstrikes and a ground invasion that has moved into Gaza City. According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in the war. We dont want to see the conflict widen, escalate. That is why Amos is having the conversations hes having, Kirby said. Thats why Secretary Blinken has now had two extensive trips to the Middle East. And its why the President has put forward additional force posture, he added. Kirby pointed to the carrier strike groups, but also air and missile defense as well as fixed-wing aviation into the region, so that we can send a strong signal to any actor, nation-state or otherwise, that if youre going to think about widening and deepening this conflict, dont do it. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. US President Joe Biden crosses his fingers while talking about a possible Gaza hostages deal during the annual Thanksgiving Turkey pardon at the White House (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS) US President Joe Biden said Monday he believes a deal to free hostages in Gaza is close, as hopes grew for a Qatari-brokered accord to release some captives in exchange for a pause in fighting. "I believe so," Biden, who was taking part in a Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House, said when asked whether a hostage deal was near. Biden then crossed his fingers to signal he hoped for good luck. Qatar's prime minister said Sunday that a deal to free some of the 240 hostages that Hamas seized in its October 7 attack on Israel in return for a temporary ceasefire now hinges on "minor" practical issues. The White House said the negotiations were in the "endgame" stage, but refused to give further details, saying it could jeopardize a successful outcome. "We believe we're closer than we've ever been, so we're hopeful," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. "But there's still work to be done. And nothing is done until it's all done. So we're going to keep working on this." Kirby added that arrangements were still being made on all sides. "When you hit go, you're counting on everybody to meet their commitments. And that's what we're doing," he said. The Washington Post reported on Saturday there was a tentative agreement to free dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to the October 7 attacks, which Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw the hostages taken. The army's relentless air and ground campaign has since killed 13,300 people, more than 5,000 of them children, according to the Hamas government which has ruled Gaza since 2007. dk/caw The Biden campaign Monday laid out the stakes of the 2024 election when it comes to gun violence, warning that a second term for former President Trump would cost more American lives. In a memo shared first with The Hill titled Trumps America in 2025: More Guns, More Shootings, More Deaths, the Biden campaign cited Trumps past comments to argue the Republican front-runner would allow more firearms in schools and push for a national concealed carry law. A Donald Trump presidency will mean more guns in schools and more guns in the hands of criminals, all because he thinks being pro-gun makes him look tough, Biden campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster said in a statement. But his refusal to stand up to the gun lobby to protect our kids makes him weak and a coward. Best Black Friday Deals We simply cannot allow his extreme agenda in the White House that will cost more American lives, Schuster added. The memo is part of a concerted effort by the Biden campaign to highlight the potential consequences of another Trump presidency. Past releases have covered abortion, immigration and threats to democracy. President Biden has repeatedly pushed for congressional action on gun control and has taken executive action to try and address the problem, giving his campaign a clear contrast with what it views as a record of inaction from Trump. Trump in 2018 accused Republicans of fearing the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Parkland High School in Florida, and he suggested he would take action on the issue. But the White Houses eventual proposal that year did not address expanded background checks or raising the age for gun purchases, changes the NRA opposed. Trump again in 2019 flirted with supporting stronger gun laws after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, but no major legislation was passed by Congress. In a speech at an annual NRA meeting earlier this year, Trump vowed to protect the Second Amendment and argued the rise in school shootings was a result of widespread mental health problems in the country. He said if elected, he would support putting more guns in schools to protect them from future shootings, proposing a new tax credit to reimburse any teacher for the cost of a concealed carry firearm and training from a qualified expert. Trump also said he would ask Congress to pass a bill to create national concealed carry reciprocity. Its simple: The safety of our children is on the ballot next November, the Biden campaign said in Mondays memo. Biden has for years pushed for tougher gun laws, having championed an assault weapons ban while he was in the Senate and serving as the Obama administrations point person to develop potential solutions after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. Since taking office, the president has signed executive actions to target the proliferation of ghost guns, which are difficult to track, and to bolster background checks. Biden in September established the Office of Gun Violence Prevention to focus specifically on the issue of mass shootings. He has repeatedly called on Congress to reimpose a ban on assault weapons. Biden in 2022 signed bipartisan legislation that enhanced background checks for gun purchasers between the age of 18 and 21, made obtaining firearms through straw purchases or trafficking a federal offense and clarified the definition of a federally licensed firearm dealer, among other measures. Despite that, mass shootings have been a persistent problem during Bidens presidency. Most recently, Biden traveled to Lewiston, Maine, earlier this month after a gunman killed 18 people in two separate locations there. The president has the backing of major gun safety groups for his 2024 reelection, including Everytown for Gun Safety, Brady and Team ENOUGH, Community Justice Action Fund and Giffords. Joe Biden is, hands down, the only candidate in this race who has both the track record and the guts to stand up to the gun lobby and protect Americans from gun crime, Peter Ambler, Giffords co-founder and executive director, said in a statement. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. President Biden is set to celebrate his 81st birthday at the White House on Monday by honoring a Thanksgiving tradition. Biden, the oldest president in U.S. history, will join first lady Jill Biden Monday afternoon for the presidential pardons of Liberty and Bell, two Thanksgiving turkeys that will be spared from becoming someones dinner. Later, the Bidens will continue holiday festivities by accepting the delivery of the official White House Christmas tree an 18-and-a-half foot Fraser fir from Fleetwood, North Carolina. The event marks the unofficial start of the holiday season in the nation's capital and will be held on the South Lawn this year instead of the Rose Garden. From there, Biden will eat his Thanksgiving turkey with his family on Nantucket, a Massachusetts island, continuing a long family tradition. MCCARTHY MAKES STUNNING ADMISSION ON BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY: THE FACTS HAVE LED 'EVEN CLOSER' President Biden will celebrate his 81st birthday on Monday by pardoning two turkeys, Liberty and Bell, from becoming someone's Thanksgiving dinner. Liberty and Bell will be spared in a tradition that dates back to 1947, when the National Turkey Federation, which represents turkey farmers and producers, first presented a National Thanksgiving Turkey to President Harry Truman. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Back then, and in preceding Thanksgivings, a turkey was given to the first family for their consumption on the holiday, but by the late 1980s, the tradition had evolved into an often humorous ceremony in which the birds are pardoned. "We think thats a great way to kick off the holiday season and really, really a fun honor," Steve Lykken, chairman of the National Turkey Federation and president of the Jennie-O Turkey Store, said in an interview with The Associated Press. SPEAKER JOHNSON: BIDEN ENGAGING IN COVER-UP OF ROLE IN HUNTER BUSINESS DEALINGS, IMPEACHMENT PROBE CONTINUES Lykken introduced Liberty and Bell on Sunday at the Willard Intercontinental, a luxury hotel close to the White House. They were checked into a suite there on Saturday following their dayslong road trip from Minnesota. The male turkeys, both about 20 weeks old and about 42 pounds, were hatched in July in Willmar, Minnesota. After Biden pardons his third pair of turkeys on Monday, Liberty and Bell will be returned to their home state to be cared for by the University of Minnesota's College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences. "They were raised like all of our turkeys, protected, of course, from weather extremes and predators, free to walk about with constant access to water and feed," Lykken said Sunday. President Biden will pardon Liberty and Bell before accepting the official White House Christmas tree later in the day. Markus Platzer, the Willard's general manager, called the turkeys "very special guests of ours" and said the hotel's involvement is its "highlight of the year." The Willard has housed turkeys for such events for more than 15 years, he said. "There are so many bad things going on globally that this is something where everybody, you know, brings a smile [to] the face of the people, at least for a few minutes," Platzer said Sunday. On Sunday, he and the first lady served an early Thanksgiving meal to hundreds of service members from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia, the largest installation of its kind in the world. President Biden, chef Robert Irvine, and first lady Jill Biden serve Thanksgiving meals to service members and military families from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford at the Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia. Co-hosted by the USO and the Robert Irvine Foundation, President Biden and the first lady host Naval families prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. More than 200 million turkeys will be eaten on Thanksgiving, Lykken said. Biden was born on Nov. 20, 1942. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Biden to celebrate 81st birthday by honoring White House Thanksgiving tradition President Biden will celebrate his 81st birthday with his family in Nantucket, Mass., with a side of coconut cake, the White House says. The president and first lady Jill Biden will travel to the Massachusetts island Tuesday, the day after his birthday, and remain there through the Thanksgiving holiday. Joe Biden spent his birthday Monday at the White House pardoning the Thanksgiving turkeys. Hes going to do what they normally do, how they celebrate the presidents birthday, theres a tradition, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. Theyll be able to celebrate the presidents birthday as a family, together in Nantucket later this week and certainly will do that with coconut cake, which is something that they traditionally do, she said. During the turkey pardon, Biden quipped about his age and acknowledged that the longtime tradition fell on his birthday this year. I just want you to know its difficult turning 60. Difficult, he said. The president also noted its the 76th anniversary of this decades-long tradition at the White House. I want you to know I wasnt there the first one; I was too young to make it up, he said. The Bidens spending Thanksgiving in Nantucket is a family tradition. While there, Biden is slated to call members of the military Thursday to thank them for their service. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. President Biden pardoned two lucky turkeys Monday to mark the 76th anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey Ceremony, one of the time-honored, albeit quirky, White House traditions. "I hereby pardon Liberty and Bell! Alright," the president said, to applause. "Congratulations, birds! Congratulations." Liberty and Bell have been staying in a room at the luxurious Willard InterContinental hotel near the White House, as is custom, and hail from Willmar, Minnesota. "These birds have a new appreciation of the word, 'let freedom ring,'" Mr. Biden said. This year's turkey pardon ceremony happens to fall on Mr. Biden's 81st birthday. The president doesn't have any other plans on his public schedule. President Biden pardons the national Thanksgiving turkeys Liberty and Bell during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 20, 2023. / Credit: Getty Images "I just want you to know it's difficult turning 60," the president joked, adding that he wasn't present for the first turkey pardoning event. On a more serious note, the president took a moment to remember former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 96. "This week, we'll gather with the people we love and the traditions that each of us have built up in our own families," Mr. Biden said. "We'll also think about the loved ones we've lost, including just yesterday when we lost former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way. And let's remind ourselves that we're blessed to live in the greatest nation on this face of the earth." The origin of the presidential turkey pardon ceremony is a bit murky. President Harry Truman was the first president to hold a photo-op at the White House with a turkey he received from the National Turkey Federation and the Poultry and Egg National Board. The White House says Truman began the tradition, but that's a claim the Truman Library and Museum has disputed. It's also possible the ritual began with President Abraham Lincoln after his son urged his father to spare the bird they had planned to eat for Christmas. This year's turkeys were sent to the White House from the Jennie-O Turkey Store, and were hatched in July. Jennie-O says the turkeys have been "receiving the five-star treatment befitting turkeys of their stature." The 2023 National Thanksgiving Turkeys made the journey from Minnesota to Washington, D.C., receiving the five-star treatment befitting turkeys of their stature. The Turkeys were driven in their own personal vehicle and will stay nearby their visit to the White House.#Turkey pic.twitter.com/93BjTBWdiB Jennie-O (@Jennieo) November 18, 2023 Liberty and Bell will retire to a University of Minnesota farm in the Twin Cities. 2 dead in vehicle explosion at Rainbow Bridge U.S.-Canada border crossing, sources say Thanksgiving turkey recipe that cooks in under 2 hours Cybersecurity expert shares safety tips for online shopping Joe Biden joked it was difficult turning 60 as he marked his 81st birthday with a jibe at US media headlines expressing concerns about his age. Mr Biden did a quick jog to reach a podium on the south lawn of the White House, where he was presiding over the annual tradition of pardoning two turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving. Standing at the lectern, he said he was pleased to be pardoning white-feathered Liberty and Bell, calling them honoured guests. By the way its my birthday today, he said, tripping over his words as he joked that the birds actually sang birthday to me. He added with a chuckle: I just want you to know its difficult turning 60. Joe Biden did a quick jog to his podium on the White House lawn - Susan Walsh/AP It follows recent unflattering coverage about Mr Bidens age and concerns about his mental and physical stamina as he seeks re-election in 2024. The Wall Street Journal issued an excoriating editorial ahead of the presidents birthday, highlighting his age and obvious decline and calling his decision to run again an act of profound selfishness. It came as Donald Trump on Monday appeared to try and show off his excellent health by sharing a letter from his doctor. The Republican frontrunner, 77, posted a picture on Truth Social of a note from his personal physician Dr Bruce Aronwald which describes his cognitive tests as exceptional. In the letter, Dr Aronwald states Mr Trump has lost weight through an improved diet and continued daily physical activity and claims he will continue to enjoy a healthy active lifestyle for years to come. Meanwhile, Mr Biden joked about his age as he pardoned the turkeys, saying: This is the 76th anniversary of this event. I want you to know I wasnt there for the first one. The light-hearted ceremony is traditionally marked with bad jokes and a light roasting by the president, who typically pokes fun at himself in turn. As he went over to greet one of the turkeys, he joked: Thats a big bird, man. Im impressed. He added: I hereby pardon Liberty and Bell. Congratulations, birds. The national Thanksgiving turkeys, Liberty and Bell, arrive for the pardoning ceremony - Andrew Harnik/AP The turkeys, which have been spared from ending up as part of a Thanksgiving feast, were named for the historic bell in Philadelphia synonymous with American independence. These birds have a new appreciation for the words Let freedom ring, said Mr Biden. Liberty and Bell, raised on a farm in Minnesota, were driven to the US capital for the event in their own personal vehicle. The president said he had been informed the birds were fans of honey crisp apples, ice hockey and the Mall of America the states best-known shopping centre. He concluded the ceremony on a more serious note, describing the significance of the national Thanksgiving holiday as a time for families to gather together. He said: Well also think about the loved ones weve lost, including just yesterday when we lost former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way. 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. McAllen, Texas The Biden administration is planning to deploy a team of U.S. immigration officials to Panama to help local authorities screen and deport migrants traveling through the Central American country, which is a key transit point for those hoping to reach America's southern border, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the plans told CBS News. The Department of Homeland Security has identified a team of officials with experience screening asylum-seekers and deporting migrants that will be dispatched to Panama once a final agreement is reached with that country's government, which asked for the assistance, the U.S. government officials said, requesting anonymity in order to discuss internal plans. The objective is to have personnel from various DHS agencies, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Immigration and Customs Enforcement train and assist Panamanian authorities as they grapple with an extraordinary flow of migrants into the Darien Gap, a rugged jungle that connects Panama with South America. Ecuadorian migrants climb a rocky trail in the wild and dangerous jungle on November 20, 2022, in Darien Gap, Colombia. / Credit: Jan Sochor/Getty Images Nearly 500,000 migrants, half of them women and children, have crossed the once-impenetrable Darien jungle on foot this year, a record and once-unthinkable number, according to Panamanian government data. The vast majority of migrants have come from Venezuela, which has seen millions of its citizens flee in recent years to escape a widespread economic crisis and authoritarian rule. The Biden administration plans to train Panamanian officials to screen migrants for humanitarian protection and deport those who don't qualify. It is also planning to help Panama secure government contracts to bolster its deportation operations, a senior U.S. official said. The novel initiative would be subsidized by U.S. State Department funds. The administration has notified Congress that it intends to divert the money to DHS to fund the effort, which will only begin once Panama and the U.S. finalize a formal agreement. The "goal of the program is to provide technical assistance and other capacity building so that they can basically create a more robust program to repatriate migrants who do not establish a legal basis to remain in Panama," the senior U.S. official told CBS News. Representatives for Panama's embassy in the U.S. did not respond to requests for comment. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r Thanksgiving turkey recipe that cooks in under 2 hours Sealand | Sunday on 60 Minutes From the archives: JFK's assassination in Dallas covered by CBS News in 1963 unknown content item - President Joe Biden is marking his 81st birthday milestone Monday with a low-key family celebration as he braces for a strenuous election year ahead. But even as the first family keeps the celebrations muted and out-of-sight, the moment nevertheless highlights his greatest campaign liability his advanced age and, along with it, perceptions among voters that his physical and mental fitness have declined. On Monday morning, as he presided over the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon, Biden seemingly confused pop stars Britney Spears and Taylor Swift. Being the national Thanksgiving turkey, he said, is harder than getting a ticket to the Renaissance tour or Britneys tour she on - its kind of warm in Brazil right now, appearing to confuse Spears with Swift, who is currently on the South America leg of her Eras tour. He also offered multiple jokes about his age. I just want you to know its difficult turning 60 difficult, he told the turkey pardon audience, laughing. And as he noted the 76th anniversary of the event, he joked that he wasnt there at the first edition. Later, a picture on Bidens Instagram feed showed him posing with a birthday cake ablaze with candles. Turns out on your 146th birthday, you run out of space for candles! the president said in the post. Officials at the White House and the campaign privately acknowledge age is a vulnerability, and they work both to eliminate potential gaffes and project vigor. Biden was prescribed custom orthotics to help with his feet this year, after his annual physical determined that he experiences a stiff gait. In recent months, when Biden flies on Air Force One, he has started using a smaller, shorter set of stairs more frequently to board and deplane. Biden has also made an effort to pass reporters on bike rides during vacations in Delaware, occasionally stopping to take questions while clad in his helmet. (The president is an avid user of Peloton at the White House.) Still, the age liability comes into sharper focus almost by the day. A spate of recent polling, including a new CNN poll, indicates its a chronic issue with voters. And critics raise it every chance they get. On Saturday, former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, called Biden a stupid person who cant get off this stage by the time whatever it is hes taking wears off, prompting cheers from a crowd in Fort Dodge, Iowa. On Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 45, remarked that Father Time is undefeated, naming age as an issue for both Biden and Trump, 77, in an interview with CNNs Jake Tapper. Biden already is the oldest president in history, ahead of Ronald Reagan, who was 77 at the end of his second term. If elected in 2024, Biden would be 86 at the end of his second term. Trump, who would be approaching 83 at the same point, would take the baton for oldest president in history if elected. Biden advisers argue and grumble that theres a double standard, with media coverage more focused on Bidens age than Trumps. Still, they insist that voters are focused on other issues and that age wont be a deciding factor next November. I dont think the campaign should be focused on anything but the winning record, said Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California, a member of the Biden campaigns national advisory board. Everything else about peoples biographies or when their birthdays are that doesnt matter. People want to know, what did they do, and what are they going to do? On Monday, Bidens birthday milestone will pass with little fanfare. His day is set to include the time-honored pre-Thanksgiving tradition of the annual turkey pardon. He is also expected to receive briefings from his national security advisers on global crises. The campaign isnt ignoring Bidens birthday, aides told CNN. A Democratic National Committee official tells CNN there are plans to commemorate the occasion with a post to social media, as the party has done every year since 2011, except in the three years when he was a candidate or prospective candidate. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also urging supporters to sign a virtual birthday card for the president. Biden and Trump both try to finesse the question of age The former president, who has openly criticized Biden on just about everything, has shown unusual restraint when it comes to directly attacking the presidents age. Its a topic of sensitivity for both men, and Trump seems aware of the perils of contrasting himself with Biden over their exact age difference which is three years and five months. In a recent interview, Trump avoided attacking Bidens age directly. Hes not too old, hes incompetent, Trump told Megyn Kelly in an interview on her eponymous Sirius XM show last month. Age is interesting because some people are very sharp and some people do lose it, but you lose it at 40 and 50 also, he went on. But no, hes not too old at all. Hes grossly incompetent. In turn, the Biden campaign has begun to signal its not afraid to go there, too. Is Donald Trump okay? an official Biden campaign account said in a post to social media platform X earlier this month. It featured a mash-up video of Trump gaffes, including confusing the city he was in, calling former President Barack Obama his leading political opponent and mixing up the home country of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. For his own part, Biden sometimes laughs off his age. I dont look it, but Im 180 years old. Ive been around a long time, he joked to donors at a recent fundraiser. But mostly, he and other officials frame his age as a source of wisdom and experience. I have more experience than any president has in the history of the United States, he said at another fundraiser. One of the things that comes with age, hopefully, is wisdom. John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, suggested that Bidens experience particularly in the foreign policy realm is a positive. Ive never seen the world more turbulent, and at a time like this, when things are as turbulent and uncertain and in some cases frightening as they are right now, you want somebody at the helm who has seen the world, who has developed the relationships with world leaders, who has experienced problems akin to these over and over and over again, and who understands the history behind where we are today, Kirby told CNN. Biden brings to the foreign policy helm a steady hand and wisdom and experience, Kirby said. That is irreplaceable. White House aides also point to the presidents capacity to participate in strenuous trips and high-stakes meetings with world leaders as evidence of his stamina. He often leaves his colleagues exhausted, they say. Kirby pointed to instances of Biden pressing his colleagues to add events or engagements to jam-packed schedules. He added a call with the Emir of Qatar Friday morning ahead of meetings at the APEC summit in California. He also added an impromptu gaggle with reporters on Air Force One following a grueling trip to Tel Aviv, Israel, last month. Polling woes and Father Time Polls show the question persists. In an August AP-NORC Poll, 77% of respondents agreed with the assessment that Biden is too old to effectively serve another four-year term as president, while 51% of respondents said the same of Trump. In a national CNN poll conducted by SSRS earlier this month, just 25% of registered voters say Biden has the stamina and sharpness to serve effectively as president, while 53% feel Trump does. And in the newer CNN poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, 56% of likely Democratic voters in the Granite State mentioned the presidents age when asked to name their biggest concern about Biden as a candidate. When New Hampshire adults more broadly were polled on a list of the candidates personal attributes, Trump fared worse on each (temperament, honesty and integrity, policy positions, decision-making abilities) than Biden except physical and mental fitness. A majority of voters 58% offered a poor assessment of Bidens physical and mental fitness, compared with 53% who gave Trump poor marks. Still, those numbers reflect clear concerns from voters on the issue for both candidates. There is, of course, the possibility that Biden could square off with a different opponent in the general election. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is in second place in the New Hampshire GOP primary poll, has proposed mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old. The view from a younger generation The presidents age is often one of the first topics to come up in conversations with young voters often as a subject of questions about whether hes up to the job. I dont want to say its his age alone that could be a deterrent for young voters, said Kerry Singleton, a senior at Morehouse College in Atlanta. I will say its the delivery on the promises that were given to a lot of the young voters. Rachael Carroll, who graduated last year from Clark Atlanta University, said she believes Biden is from another era, where he doesnt understand the progressive views of many Democratic voters. No offense, but yes, its a little old to me, Carroll said, adding that Trumps age should be of equal concern to Americans. They dont understand what were going through now because were living in two completely different times. Nabilah Islam Parkes, who last fall became the youngest woman elected to the Georgia state Senate, said she doesnt believe age is the overriding concern about Biden. She said questions about the administrations handling of the Middle East and his worldview are far more pressing. As long as we feel like he reflects our values, she said, age shouldnt be an issue. And progressive groups working to mobilize young voters said that they do not think Bidens age will ultimately be a significant factor in whether young voters show up for him at the polls. Its so low on the list of things we think about it and things that are actually impacting our lives, said Jack Lobel, national press secretary for Voters of Tomorrow, an organization that focuses on Gen Z voters. Its not a primary concern. CNNs Jeff Zeleny, Camila DeChalus, Kristen Holmes, and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com US President Joe Biden, pictured on November 15, 2023, is the oldest president in American history (Brendan SMIALOWSKI) Joe Biden joked about his age as he turned 81 on Monday, but the issue is no laughing matter for many voters who are worried he is too old for reelection next year. "By the way it's my birthday today... It's difficult turning 60," the president said with a chuckle at the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House. In front of an audience including schoolchildren, he then quipped: "This is the 76th anniversary of this event -- and I want you to know I wasn't there for the first one." But a moment in which he mixed up US singers Taylor Swift and Britney Spears soon baffled his guests -- and renewed focus on his age. The Democrat is the oldest president in American history, and if he wins a second term next year he will be 86 by the time he leaves. Poll after poll shows that a majority of voters think he is too old to be commander-in-chief. Incidents in which he has tripped, including on the stairs of Air Force One, repeatedly go viral. Voters don't so far have the same concerns about his likely election rival Donald Trump, despite the fact that the Republican is 77 and has been known to make similar slip-ups. Trump warned in a speech in September, for example, that the United States was on the verge of "World War II," and recently said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was the leader of Turkey. - 'Wisdom' - "It's not about age. It's about the president's experience," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. She also hailed Biden's "wisdom" and "stamina," reminding reporters of his grueling, secret trip to war-torn Kyiv earlier this year. Biden will celebrate his birthday as he normally does with his family during their annual visit to the island of Nantucket this week -- "with a coconut cake, which is something that they traditionally do," Jean-Pierre added. The White House has been dismissive of opinion polls, with Democrats notching up a series of recent electoral successes. Yet the numbers make grim reading for the party. Seventy-four percent of people said Biden would be too old to serve a second term, compared to 50 percent for Trump, a recent ABC/Washington Post poll showed. Biden is "not doing a lot wrong" but is struggling to change perceptions on his age -- as well as other issues like the economy -- said David Karol, who teaches government and politics at the University of Maryland. "He is lucid, but people just have this perception," Karol told AFP. The issue in general has been unfairly "weaponized" in US politics, added S. Jay Olshansky, a longevity researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Aging is not what it used to be," Olshansky told AFP. - 'Super-Agers' - Biden and Trump are both likely to be "Super-Agers," a term coined by researchers to describe a small group of people who keep their full faculties until late in life, said Olshansky. His research has also found that for US presidents, "biological time seems to tick at a slower pace" than for other people, as they apparently thrive on the stress of the job. That said, Biden's campaign has taken to highlighting Trump's own slipups ahead of a possible 2024 rematch. Eager to hit back, Trump released a doctor's letter on Monday referencing an examination two months ago in which tests showed his "cognitive exams were exceptional." Biden's age is bound to come under even deeper scrutiny during a grueling election campaign. Republicans have trained their fire on the person who is just a heartbeat away from the presidency, should the worst happen: Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris blazed a trail as the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to hold the vice president's office, but her approval ratings are as bad as her boss's, at under 40 percent. The vice president was one of the first to offer her best wishes to Biden on his birthday on social media, saying she was "proud to be in the fight alongside you." First Lady Jill Biden followed with a simple message, adorned with a hearts emoji: "Happy Birthday, Joe! I love you." dk/bfm President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023. AP Photo/Evan Vucci In the 2020 presidential election, Biden won by barely beating Trump in a handful of states. A key reason for his victory was a higher-than-ever turnout from younger voters. Those same voters are now in complete disagreement with how he's handled fighting in Israel. It's been more than a month after Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,000 Israeli civilians and ignited a new war in the region, and young voters aren't keen on how the Biden Administration has responded to the violence. According to recently released polling from NBC News, an alarming 70% of voters between the ages of 18 to 34 said they disapprove of how Biden has handled the conflict thus far. In 2020, Biden just narrowly bested former President Donald Trump by tens of thousands of votes in five separate states, in large part due to young voters turning out in record numbers. The Center for Information & Research On Civic Learning and Engagement estimated that half of all people aged between 18 and 29 voted in that election, an 11 percentage point increase from 2016. If support for Biden amongst younger voters continues to deteriorate, the Democratic incumbent can expect to have an increasingly difficult time in his bid for reelection. And while the nation as a whole doesn't appear to be as incensed with Biden's handling of the crisis as younger voters appear to be a total of 56% of registered voters said they disapproved in the poll Biden's reelection campaign can't succeed if even a small amount of his supporters jump ship as polling appears to suggest may be happening. As mentioned, the NBC News poll notes that in a head-to-head rematch between Trump and Biden in 2024, 52% of registered voters now said they'd choose the scandal-ridden Trump over Biden if given the opportunity. Presented with a hypothetical matchup between Trump and an unnamed Democratic candidate in 2024, 6 percentage points more respondents chose the Democrat, suggesting the issue voters are having may lie with Biden himself rather than Trump being a particularly strong candidate this go-around. The Biden Administration's handling of the crisis, specifically how it's chosen to fund wartime efforts in the Middle East and Ukraine, has also led to criticism from younger voters and some celebrities, like the 31-year-old Cardi B, who publicly stumped for Biden in 2020, and has now sworn off endorsing a presidential candidate ever again. Read the original article on Business Insider A complex Tri-Cities traffic project will cost taxpayers millions more to complete. Nearly $3 million worth of change orders and new consultant costs for the new Lewis Street overpass will come before the Pasco City Council on Monday. The project aims to replace the existing downtown underpass a dated span built under the BNSF railyard in 1937 with a new 625-foot-long overpass bridge. When finished, the new overpass will feature two lanes of traffic, bike lanes and sidewalks connecting downtown to east Pasco. Eastbound traffic on Lewis Street waits at the traffic signal at Oregon Avenue near the east end of the new Lewis Street overpass in Pasco. The new bridge has been a headache for contractors because of its size, the amount of materials needed, BNSF project regulations and the removal of old foundations and infrastructure. Its expected to open to vehicles in March and mostly completed by July. The old, crumbling underpass will then be demolished in early 2025. Being one of the individuals whose responsible for the overall budget, and also transparency to the public, this is one that gives me heartburn because of the number of change orders and the total quantity thats being proposed changed, Councilwoman Zahra Roach said at the city councils recent study session. An excavator with a a jackhammer attachment breaks up asphalt at the intersection of West Lewis Street and North 2nd Avenue recently near the west end of the new Lewis Street overpass in Pasco. Vancouver, Wash.-based Cascade Bridge was awarded the contract for about $22.3 million, with a total price tag over $36 million. Construction started in August 2021 with an initial finish date of 2023, but additional work and the complex nature of the project delayed the progress. In all, Cascade Bridge has requested more than $3.7 million in additional funding over 27 change orders. More than $1.7 million of that will come before the council this week. New spending will cover security fencing required by BNSF, the construction and installation of two BNSF-required signs on the bridge, installation of a new modified water service for BNSF and for traffic control barriers and signs. The majority of it, though about $1.5 million is being spent to cover the time to redesign proprietary structural earth walls along the span and modifications to build them. The Lewis Street overpass bridge will replace the Lewis Street underpass under the BNSF railyard built in 1937. The council also will be asked to approve more than $1.1 million in additional consultant costs for more on-site services related to the extended timeline. The Lewis Street Overpass project is being funded with $24.4 million in Washington state money, $8.4 million in city money and $3.4 million from the federal government. City staff say they plan to pursue other funding opportunities to cover the shortfall. In the meantime, the city will use money from its own budget to temporarily cover the overrun. Emirates' president sparked tensions with Airbus and Rolls Royce after criticizing the A350-1000 engine. Boeing beat Airbus in the orders tally after securing a $52 billion deal with Emirates on day one. Riyadh Air's livery reveal didn't go to plan, and Israeli weapons companies had empty stands. Emirates was the center of attention at the Dubai Airshow, which took place last week. The host nation's flag carrier made a $52 billion deal with Boeing on day one, before sparking tensions with Airbus and Rolls Royce. Tim Clark, the airline's president, ruled out a deal for the A350-1000 despite Bloomberg reporting that Emirates previously wanted to buy 50 of them. He said the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 the exclusive engine option for the widebody jet is "defective" as he believes it needs to be removed for maintenance too frequently, per Reuters. The dispute played out in public, attracting questions on Tuesday at Airbus' press conference announcing EgyptAir's order for 10 A350-900s. EgyptAir CEO Yehia Zakaria and Christian Scherer of Airbus. Pete Syme/Business Insider. Airbus' chief commercial officer, Christian Scherer, called it a "perfectly fine engine" before saying he wouldn't comment on Clark's remark and bringing the focus back to the EgyptAir deal. Later that same day, Rolls Royce's chief customer officer commented on the record. "The engine works really well in what we call benign operations," he told Reuters. "But in sandy, hot conditions it is challenged, as all modern engines are, because the temperatures are very high." Airbus later reached an accord with Emirates on Thursday as it announced an order for 15 of the shorter A350-900, which the airline said was worth $6 billion. Boeing beats out Airbus in the orders battle Boeing got off to a hot start on Monday, announcing several deals. As well as Emirates' order for 95 jets, the American manufacturer also called press conferences with SunExpress, flyDubai, Royal Jordanian, and Royal Air Maroc. Ethopian Airlines and Kazakhstan's SCAT Airlines announced orders with Boeing on Tuesday. In total, Boeing received 214 firm orders for commercial aircraft, compared to Airbus' 66. As well as the smaller Emirates order, Airbus made deals with Ethopian Airlines, EgyptAir, and airBaltic. Airbus didn't get to announce a potentially mammoth deal with Turkish Airlines, after the state-run Anadolu Agency reported they were in talks to purchase 355 jets of which 250 were for the A321neo. Although an Airbus spokesperson told Reuters the two did reach an agreement in principle for a "significant commercial aircraft order." Riyadh Air yet to announce narrow-body order Riyadh Air, the Saudi airline set to take to the skies in 2025, has its sights set on a big narrow body order. Bloomberg reported that Riyadh Air was set to order 100 Boeing MAX jets to compliment the 72 Boeing Dreamliners it provisionally ordered in March. CEO Tony Douglas said it would announce the narrow body order in the coming weeks. Riyadh Air also unveiled its second livery a more modest and cost-efficient white with purple accents, compared to the purple 787 that debuted at June's Paris Air Show. But a plan to project the new livery onto the purple airliner in Dubai went awry. The livery reveal of @riyadhair was with a QR code, with the second scheme supposed to be projected on the first one. It didnt work out perfectly. pic.twitter.com/tTWNHwZvPh AirInsight (@airinsight) November 13, 2023 Peter Bellew, the chief operating officer, said during a panel that Riyadh Air had started training its first four pilots. Israel's IAI and Rafael leave stands empty The Dubai Airshow took place five weeks after the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, reigniting tensions in the region. Israeli defense companies IAI and Rafael had prominent stands in the main exhibition hall, but there was nobody at them. IAI and Rafael's exhibition stands on Tuesday. Pete Syme/Business Insider When Business Insider visited the IAI stand on the first day of the conference, it was surrounded by a red cordon, which was removed by the second. One person at the Airshow who said they worked for IAI declined to comment when approached by CNBC. And staff who represented the company at the previous Dubai Airshow told the outlet they didn't attend because they had been drafted into the Israel Defense Forces. The United Arab Emirates was among the 121 countries who voted at the United Nations last month in favor of a humanitarian truce in the Israel-Hamas war. Read the original article on Business Insider George "Billy" Wagner III will be tried in Pike County as the judge in his murder case on Monday ruled against his request for a change of venue. The spring murder trial of George "Billy" Wagner III will stay in Pike County, with the judge in the case on Monday ruling against Wagner's request for a change of venue. If the jury selection process in Wagner's trial "reveals that a fair and impartial jury cannot be secured," Wagner can renew his call for a new location, according to visiting judge R. Alan Corbin's order. Wagner argued that excessive media attention to the 2016 Pike County massacres including the fall 2022 trial of his son, George IV would make seating undecided jurors in Pike County difficult. The court finds that media coverage has not been so blatantly prejudicial that jurors cannot be expected to be able to shut such publicity from their sight, Corbins order says. Corbin earlier set May 6, 2024, as the start of Billy Wagner's trial. During an October hearing on the change of venue motion, the judge said hed hold eight weeks on his calendar for the case. Visiting Pike County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Alan Corbin, in ruling against a change of venue in George "Billy" Wagner III's murder case, said he will question potential jurors thoroughly to "assure that the defendant receives a fair and impartial trial." Wagner III is facing the same 22 charges his son did in the shooting deaths of seven members of Pike Countys Rhoden family and one future member. Wagner IV was convicted on all counts after a 13-week trial, sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences and 121 additional years. His mother and brother took deals with the state in 2021 and switched their pleas in the case to guilty. In the latest media coverage of the one of Ohio's largest-ever criminal cases, Oxygen TV this weekend releases a three-part docuseries titled The Pike County Murders: A Family Massacre. Two episodes air Friday with the third on Saturday. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Where will Billy Wagner be tried for Pike County massacre? Agriculture is the biggest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in Northern Ireland, largely due to livestock Biomethane, a more environmentally-friendly gas product, has been successfully introduced into Northern Ireland's gas supply network for the first time. The product can be used as a direct replacement for traditional natural gas. It comes from agricultural manure, chicken litter, silage and food waste. In the first instance the biomethane used in Northern Ireland will come from food waste. There are ambitions to meet much of Northern Ireland's gas demand with biomethane by 2030. Agriculture is the biggest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in Northern Ireland, largely due to livestock. Researchers at Queen's University Belfast found there was potential to meet as much as 80% of Northern Ireland's gas demand using biomethane. Biomethane comes from agricultural manure, chicken litter, silage and food waste But scientists have warned that, while using manure to generate energy is a solution, it cannot be used as an excuse to further intensify a sector which already produces food for five times its population. More affordable energy? Northern Ireland has to import its fossil fuels, leaving the region vulnerable to shocks in the international supply system, like the soaring prices of oil and gas after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. But a local supply of biomethane would help to insulate from those shocks. It could also keep energy more affordable, as gas is used to generate electricity. Evolve, which runs the gas network in the west of Northern Ireland, has worked in partnership with Granville Eco Park in County Tyrone for the biomethane project. The company recycles biodegradable waste and has been using biomethane at its Dungannon site since 2014. Describing it as a "monumental day", the firm's director, David Butler, said the introduction of biomethane to the network grid marked "the start of a journey to fully decarbonise our entire network by 2030". David McKee from Bio Capital Group which runs Granville Eco Park said the development would "go a significant way" towards meeting targets in the Energy Strategy and the Climate Change Act. The site where biomethane has been injected into the gas grid is close to Dungannon Is biomethane a green fuel? While biomethane is not entirely greenhouse gas-free, it does not contribute to global warming. This is because, even though it emits carbon when it is burned, it is carbon which would have been emitted anyway if the organic matter had been left to decay naturally. The process of making biomethane prevents the release of damaging methane into the atmosphere by capturing the gas in a tank during decomposition. This gas is then treated, making it suitable for use in the grid network. How is biomethane used? With large surpluses of manure available from which the gas is made, utility regulator John French welcomed the security of supply the locally-generated fuel would create. He said the announcement underscored "the commitment to offering consumers access to a decarbonised energy source, all while minimising the necessity for substantial costs and upheaval". Renewable energy in the form of wind and solar-generated power supplied just over half of what was used in Northern Ireland last year. But with some industries such as manufacturing requiring heat which only gas can provide, biomethane is set to play a role in meeting that need while at the same time reducing harmful emissions. Biomethane can be used in all the ways natural gas is currently used. But the infrastructure to create it in the volumes Northern Ireland would need to fully replace natural gas does not exist yet. To meet demand, the industry is calling for a local biomethane action plan. This would include a regional network of larger anaerobic digestion plants - which convert organic waste into biomethane - rather than lots of small-scale ones. Twenty-four anaerobic digester plants around Northern Ireland have registered their interest in injecting into the network. The gas network operators in Northern Ireland are expected to launch a formal request for information by the end of the year. Analysis: A hugely significant moment This takes the manure surplus that is an environmental problem for Northern Ireland and turns it into a potential solution. It is undoubtedly a hugely significant moment in taking the theory of decarbonising energy here and making it reality. It creates local security of supply and demonstrates what is possible. But it is part of a wider picture. Investment in infrastructure is needed, and also safeguards against simply finding ways to maintain business as usual or even intensifying emissions from agriculture, our already-most polluting sector. Birthing services stopped in Stranraer more than five years ago The future use of a maternity unit in south west Scotland is being subjected to a fresh round of scrutiny. An independent review found in favour of a limited return of birthing services at the site in Stranraer. However, Dumfries and Galloway's Health and Social Care Partnership (DGHSCP) has launched new consultation over its fate. The issue dates back to early 2018 and means expectant mothers currently have to travel to Dumfries, which is about 70 miles away. A series of engagement events and consultation were already held earlier this year over the site at the Galloway Community Hospital. That review ultimately found in favour of a limited reopening of maternity services for "low risk" pregnancies. Now a fresh round of consultation has been launched to look at whether to pursue that option or continue to offer only home births in the area in such cases. It was more than five years ago that the centre stopped providing birthing services due to staff sickness. At the time it was said that recruitment had started and an on-call service was expected to resume "shortly". Concerns have repeatedly been raised about the lengthy journey facing pregnant women with one estimating she had travelled 7,500 miles to get maternity care. It looked as if a conclusion had been reached for a limited return of services following the completion of the independent review. However, DGHSCP has now launched an online survey to gather views once more. There is also a series of in-person meetings being staged across the area. The consultation will last until "at least 11 February" next year. It means a minimum of six years will have passed before birthing services return to Stranraer. Are you affected by this situation? Email your views on how it has been handled to dumfries@bbc.co.uk. Follow the BBC for the South of Scotland on X. Listen to news for Dumfries and Galloway on BBC Sounds. The Saturday night shift at Starbucks on Cedar Bluff Road started as usual for Nashon Bain-Greenidge, a recent Arizona State University sociology grad who worked as a manager to get himself through school. It ended, however, in a way the 29-year-old will never forget. The first hint that something was wrong came when several Knox County Sheriff's Office squad cars swarmed the parking lot Oct. 21, blocking access to the busy coffee shop. Bain-Greenidge walked outside to ask deputies what was happening, concerned about their arrival and why they were blocking customers' cars from entering. Their encounter went south fast, and ended with the young Black man bloodied, bruised and in handcuffs. Knox News does not typically publish jail mugshots, but will in some case like this to show injuries suffered by a person during an arrest. Deep cuts are visible on the Starbucks shift manager's face and forehead. We might never know exactly what happened. Only the deputies' reports speak to the details, and those reports are sparse, contradictory and filled with descriptions that set off alarm bells among policing watchdogs. Knox County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kimberly Glenn declined to answer questions, telling Knox News, "It looks like this is still open in court. Therefore, we won't be able to answer questions or make comments until the incident has been adjudicated." Deputy Wyatt Brown and Travis Field both wrote reports that provided their account of the encounter. Brown said he and Field were sent to the Starbucks on Cedar Bluff Road after a man called to say he had been the victim of a domestic assault. He went to the coffee shop to get away from the woman who assaulted him, but she followed him there so he called for help. Brown and Field said deputies talked separately with the man inside the store and the woman outside when Bain-Greenidge walked outside to ask deputies what was going on. The deputies told Bain-Greenidge they were conducting an investigation, Brown said, and told him to go back inside. When he continued to question them, deputies warned him he was obstructing their investigation. Brown wrote in his report deputies gave Bain-Greenidge multiple chances to go back inside the coffee shop, but he kept interrupting. Brown said he saw Bain-Greenidge "forming a fist with his left hand," so the deputy grabbed his left arm as the other deputy grabbed his right. Field's account of what spurred deputies into action differs from Brown's. Fields said they moved to restrain Bain-Greenidge when he tried to grab the push bar on the door. There are other discrepancies in the accounts. Brown's report shifts the action into the entranceway without explaining when the three men moved inside, saying he and Field "exited through the door." Outside, Brown said as he and Field tried to "guide the arrestee to the ground," Bain-Greenidge kicked Field's right knee and fought as they handcuffed him once he was on the ground. Field also reported he was kicked. Field said he brandished a Taser, and Bain-Greenidge stopped resisting and was put into the back of a patrol car. A deputy drove the Starbucks shift manager to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he was treated for cuts to his head, face and hand. After the violent arrest, Bain-Greenidge was released from custody on his own recognizance right after he was treated at the hospital, an unusual move by deputies who reported he had assaulted one of them, resisted arrest and interfered with their investigation. Bain-Greenidge's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 21. He is charged with three misdemeanor offenses: assault on a first responder, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. Victims of police violence often feel silenced Melba Pearson, a civil rights and criminal justice expert at Florida International University, told Knox News the deputies' reports use typical language designed to protect police after they make a violent arrest. Vague "resisting arrest" charges especially are used by departments across the country to defend themselves against harsh, punitive and unlawful police actions, Pearson said. Often the arrestee is charged specifically to silence them and coerce them into accepting plea deals so police behavior isn't recounted in public forums like trials, she said. Bain-Greenidge isnt giving his account of the arrest, and thats no surprise, policing experts told Knox News. He has nothing to gain and much more to lose by going on the record. His experience illustrates the challenges of getting to the bottom of cases of police brutality. "When there are no other underlying charges stemming from an arrest, other than the classic three of resisting arrest, assault on a responder and disorderly conduct, this is always suspect to me," Pearson told Knox News. "And people are afraid to speak out, especially when you have these criminal charges against you." Pearson said police even exert pressure on prosecutors to secure plea deals, which can stipulate defendants must forfeit their right to sue the police. Community advocates make a difference for those arrested When Knox County deputies stopped for food late last year at a McAlisters Deli, they said a high school student refused to serve them. That account was disputed by the girl and her coworker. The girl was fired after Kimberly Glenn, the sheriff's office spokesperson, and the sheriff's office posted inflammatory messages on their Facebook pages that unleashed a flood of vitriol against the teenager. What they didn't mention is her 17-year-old brother was shot and killed by Knoxville police in April 2021. When Knox County Commissioner Dasha Lundy learned about the incident, she stood by the girl as she told her story at a commission meeting. Pearson told Knox News that when community members and advocates unite behind people who undergo violent arrests, they can significantly influence what happens next. "The support factor is huge," she said. "When those faced with charges feel silenced or afraid to speak out, this is a time when activists and those advocating for victims can make a difference and step up." Nzinga Bayano Amani, a Knoxville police reform activist and political candidate who has been arrested several times during demonstrations by police who employed force, has fought arrests to mixed results. He said he was unjustly arrested in 2022 by Knox County sheriff's officers outside a public meeting during Knoxville's search for a new police chief. The arrest stunned community members, particularly after Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon had specifically asked police to stay away from the meeting. Amani was charged with resisting arrest and assault on a first responder, similar to the charges Bain-Greenidge now faces after he was arrested at Starbucks. In September, Amani was convicted of the resisting arrest charge, and the Knox County District Attorney Office opted not to pursue a retrial when a jury deadlocked on the charge of assaulting an officer. What we asked the Knox County Sheriff's Office After reviewing the deputies' written narratives of the arrest, Knox News asked the sheriff's office the following questions about their encounter with Bain-Greenidge. We were told by Glenn on Nov. 17 no response would be forthcoming until the case is resolved in the courts. Why do the deputies' accounts differ in where the events occurred (inside or outside)? Why do the deputies' accounts differ on why they moved physically against Bain-Greenidge? Why was Bain-Greenidge released on his recognizance after being charged with what law enforcement considers serious offenses? Have either Wyatt Brown or Travis Field been the subjects of complaints of unnecessary force against a civilian? If so, when? If so, how were those complaints resolved? Angela Dennis is the Knox News race, justice and equity reporter. Email angela.dennis@knoxnews.com. Twitter @AngeladWrites. Instagram @angeladenniswrites. Facebook at Angela Dennis Journalist. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Deputies' reports about arrest that injured Starbucks manager raise questions A Black transgender woman was shot and killed on the streets of Dallas earlier this year, but her death went unreported in the larger LGBTQ+ community when she was misgendered in initial media reports. LaKendra Andrews, 26, was found by officers of the Dallas Police Department suffering from at least one gunshot wound just after 8:35 a.m. April 29, according to CBS Texas. Dallas Fire-Rescue was called to the scene on the 200 block of S. Jim Miller Road, but Andrews succumbed to her injuries and was declared dead. Andrews was a native of Shreveport, La., before later moving with her family to Texas, according to Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents and Nu Trans Movement. She attended James Madison High School and Dallas Colleges Eastfield Campus and was interested in baking, cooking, dance, drawing, and music. Andrews was reportedly a big fan of Nicki Minaj, and ran her own nonprofit. LaKendra was proud of her identity, describing herself as a beautiful single trans woman. Her life was violently stolen from her at such a young age, and it is terrible that we are only learning of her death just days before this years Trans Day of Remembrance, Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for the Human Rights Campaign's Transgender Justice Initiative, said in a statement. Law enforcement has a duty not to deadname or misgender transgender and gender non-conforming people. LaKendra deserved to live, and she deserves to be honored in death. We must all strive to create communities where transgender and gender non-conforming people are safe, respected, and valued. Andrews is one of more than 20 trans, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming people who have died by violence in the U.S. this year. Most of them have been women of color. Since it began tracking violent deaths of trans people in 2013, HRC has found that 69.5 percent of those victims were killed with a gun. Gun violence was also the cause of death for 57.5 percent of those who were killed by a current or former intimate partner, and 76 percent of Black trans women. The investigation into her killing remains open. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact Dallas Police at (214) 671-3632 or email christopher.walton@dallascityhall.com. Please reference case No. 072504-2023. People can submit tips anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (214) 373-8477. There is a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case. The Advocate has reached out to the Dallas Police Department for any update on the case. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, peddled a baseless conspiracy theory that federal agents or informants were among the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and that one may have flashed a law enforcement badge which in actuality was a vape during the attack in two posts to X/Twitter over the weekend, Rolling Stone reports. Lee, who was involved in efforts to help former President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election results, quoted a tweet from former House Jan. 6 committee member Liz Cheney with footage of the Capitol attack, saying, "Liz, weve seen footage like that a million times. You made sure we saw thatand nothing else. Its the other stuffwhat you deliberately hid from usthat we find so upsetting. Nice try. "P.S. How many of these guys are feds? (As if youd ever tell us), he added. Liz, weve seen footage like that a million times. You made sure we saw thatand nothing else. Its the other stuffwhat you deliberately hid from usthat we find so upsetting. Nice try. P.S. How many of these guys are feds? (As if youd ever tell us). https://t.co/FryO0VdLdP Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 18, 2023 Lee had also called for an investigation into the Jan. 6 committee in an earlier tweet. We need to investigate the J6 committee. Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 18, 2023 In a late Saturday post, Lee quoted another tweet pertaining to Jan. 6 from ex-West Virginia Republican lawmaker Derrick Evans, who pleaded guilty to a civil disorder charge after live-streaming himself participating in the riot, asking if an image from a video of the attack inside the Capitol shows a rioter "flashing a badge" and claiming that if it did, it "would prove there were undercover federal agents disguised as MAGA." I cant wait to ask FBI Director Christopher Wray about this at our next oversight hearing," Lee said in his post. "I predict that, as always, his answers will be 97% information-free. I cant wait to ask FBI Director Christopher Wray about this at our next oversight hearing. I predict that, as always, his answers will be 97% information-free. https://t.co/m3rRE4Byfu Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 19, 2023 The man pictured with the alleged badge was Kevin Lyons, a Trump supporter who is shown in another photo carrying a vape in his hand. Twitter users added two fact-checks to the tweet, including a post from NBC News justice reporter Ryan J. Reilly, and wrote that Lyons is not a police officer and is not holding a badge. He is carrying a vape and a photograph and wallet stolen from Pelosis office. Actually hes not a cop, hes holding a vape, and hes got a photo he stole from Nancy Pelosis office hidden under there. Hes been sentenced to four years in prison. Nice try tho! https://t.co/ydJQWoKJKA pic.twitter.com/dGNX0UpizL Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) November 19, 2023 Lyons is currently in prison on a four-year sentence for his actions in the Capitol, which include stealing a wallet and a framed photo of late civil rights activist and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., from then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. Im an idiot, I realize that. I was stupid. I dont know what came over me. I apologize to you, the country and my family," Lyons told the judge ahead of his sentencing. Quoting Reilly's tweet, Politico's Kyle Cheney promptly called out the claims as "another example [of] disinfo from the tapes" and chastized Lee for parroting them. "Its been rare for US senators to parrot such blatant disinformation, but here we are," he wrote. Its been rare for US senators to parrot such blatant disinformation, but here we are. https://t.co/1HApXBla4J Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 19, 2023 Reilly followed his initial fact-check with a thread, showing a clearer image of Lyons holding the vape and sharing an NBC News report with video the Trump supporter filmed from inside the Capitol. "The reason Kevin Lyons quickly flashes his palms is that theres a tactical team coming into the Capitol as he leaves? Seems like a good instinct!" Reilly wrote in another post. "I have to check the time, but thats also the same spot where law enforcement was trying to revive Ashli Babbitt." The reason Kevin Lyons quickly flashes his palms is that theres a tactical team coming into the Capitol as he leaves? Seems like a good instinct! I have to check the time, but thats also the same spot where law enforcement was trying to revive Ashli Babbitt. pic.twitter.com/wvcEEaii3V Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) November 19, 2023 Evans later acknowledged that the question he posed and Lee responded to may have been incorrect. "Theres enough fishy stuff going on that we dont need to discredit ourselves by making false claims, which is why I was wondering before I commented on it," Evans replied to a user who informed him that Lyons was holding a vape. Thank you. Theres enough fishy stuff going on that we dont need to discredit ourselves by making false claims, which is why I was wondering before I commented on it. Derrick Evans (@Evans4WV) November 19, 2023 Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. Fox News host Maria Bartiromo discussed the conspiracy theory about FBI informants' participation in Jan. 6 on the Sunday edition of her show, asking former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., about the rumor that federal assets were involved and if he had any insights into the FBI's role. McCarthy said he wasn't aware of it. I personally dont. Thats the committee. I would make sure to look at that and see all that and get more information, he told Bartiromo. I know the director of the FBI has been asked this question numerous times. [Republican Rep.] Thomas Massey is the one working on this, and I think hed have greater insight for you. Bartiromo: Questions regarding FBI informants that were in trump clothing around the capital that day throughout the crowd. Do you have any insights for us regarding their role in those events. The FBIs role. pic.twitter.com/0kp5gcPjMc Acyn (@Acyn) November 19, 2023 House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Friday that he plans to release all 44,000 house of Jan. 6 footage publicly, fulfilling a promise he made to appease his right-wing colleagues as he campaigned for the speakership. Ninety hours of footage was posted to the House Administration Committee's website by Friday afternoon. GOP Rep. Clay Higgins questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray about the conspiracy theory during a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee last week. Wray had frequently denied that federal agents were involved in the insurrection or its planning. If youre asking whether the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and/or agents the answer is an emphatic no, Wray said. Thomas, a 16-year-old and keen rugby player, was fatally stabbed during the village fete at Crepol in Drome - Facebook A rural village in southern France is in shock after a group of young delinquents from a deprived suburb attacked a village fete and killed a 16-year-old boy. The village of Crepol in Drome was holding its fete de village, an annual or biannual celebration, on Saturday night with around 450 of the 500 residents attending. As the fete began winding down at 2am, a group of youths arrived, some carrying knives. When a security guard barred their entry, they attacked him, slicing through his fingers. One witness told Le Parisien: There was a fight between the assailants and those who were brave enough to face them. It was a bloodbath, said another. Youths from the suburbs surrounded the party hall, blindly stabbing people ... One youth received a heart massage on the floor. It was chaos. Stabbed several times in the throat In the commotion, two men aged 23 and 28 were seriously injured and later hospitalised in a critical condition. One had been stabbed several times in the throat. A third injured individual was in a stable condition on Monday. One teenager, known only as Thomas, a 16-year-old and keen rugby player, was fatally stabbed. Hugo, a witness, told Le Parisien: I was at the entrance and I saw Thomas get stabbed in the heart and throat. A helicopter took him to Lyon but it was sadly too late. Martine Lagut, the mayor, said the town was traumatised by the apparently unprovoked attack. A gang turned up to kill, she told Le Dauphine libere newspaper. They didnt come to have fun but to harm. Laurent de Caigny, prosecutor of Valence, said police suspected they came to settle a score with a person present that night, without providing more details. An investigation into murder and attempted murder by an organised gang has been launched. Denouncing a barbaric and tragic act, RC Romans-Peage, the rugby club for whom Thomas played, posted a photo of the slain teenager on its website in which he smiles with his rugby kit on. One neighbour told Sud Ouest: I am totally devastated. Its inexplicable. I knew him very well, his parents are wonderful people. There was no one more kind and polite than Thomas. The one who made everyone laugh A classmate called Matteo said: Thomas was the guy who got everyone to make up when there was a little conflict in the group. But he was also the one who made everyone laugh, who helped out all the time, who was always there for the others, he told BFMTV. Reacting to the death, French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said: What happened is absolutely despicable and unacceptable. What happened is not extremely clear or too clear: people came from elsewhere, wanted to force their way into this party and stabbings started. Its called savagery. He added: It is a general failure of our society. There is a need to rethink the framework of authority. We must restore authority everywhere. The shocking death came amid warnings of rising violence against Frances mayors, many of them from small rural villages. France has around 36,000 mayors. According to a recent poll, the number of verbal and physical attacks against them rose by 15 per cent last year after a record 32 per cent rise the previous year. During riots in France in July, criminals ram-raided one mayors house with a stolen car when his wife and children were inside. The French government promised to ramp up security of elected officials. 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 wild bobcat kitten is making progress on her healing journey after being struck by a car in Virginia, rescuers say. The bobcat was discovered near Peaks of Otter in the Blue Ridge Mountains by a kind citizen who noticed the baby seemed injured, according to an Oct. 28 Facebook post from Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke. Now, a few weeks later, the kitten is making several steps in the right direction of recovery, the center said in a Nov. 15 post. As several cars whizzed by, the bobcat kitten was weakly dragging herself along the road before the woman who spotted the baby came to the rescue, the wildlife center said. She picked up the baby and made a call to the wildlife center, it said in the post, which then stepped in to see if it could help save the bobcats life. After an examination, the wildlife center determined the kitten was most likely struck in the face by a car, leaving her with one heck of a concussion and some broken teeth, the organization said. Those serious injuries put the baby on deaths door, unable to even sit up, the organization said. The baby underwent extensive treatment, including fluid therapy, oxygen treatment, and several life-saving medications, according to the center. Battling anemia, general weakness and not being out of the woods at first, the kitten still managed to eat and get up a bit following her medical treatment, the organization said. A couple days later, the wildlife center provided a positive update on the bobcat kitten who was frequently sleeping but doing well. Another good sign was the babys choice to start growling at the organizations staff when she saw them, according to the center. Hopefully this little one will make it on the mend soon and have a long, long life in the wild where she belongs, the center wrote in its Oct. 30 Facebook post. In its most recent update, the wildlife center announced the bobcat kitten was no longer on deaths door, although she still was dealing with some head trauma from the accident. In a big step forward, the baby ventured outside for the first time since being hit, which was an opportunity for wildlife staff to observe her locomotive abilities, according to the organization. Her appetite has also grown over the past few weeks both for her meals and adventure. The bobcat has been guzzling food down, and shes taken risks in jumping out of her container to explore the outdoor habitat. The zoo plans to post more videos of the bobcats recovery process that it says will melt the heart of any cat lover. The kitten isnt the wildlife centers first baby bobcat rescue either shes the third wild bobcat kitten under the organizations care this year, according to its post. Loose dog with the saddest eyes rescued from busy NC interstate. He needs a new home Bear attacks 72-year-old man while protecting cub near trail, Alaska troopers say What reptile has eyes like this? Discovery made at North Florida park, experts say Police are investigating the death of a man pulled from the Salt River on Sunday. According to Phoenix police, just before 6 p.m., officers responded to the Salt River near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road for the possibility of a body in the river. When officers arrived, they located the body of a man who was pronounced dead after being retrieved, police said. The man's identity was not released. Police said an active investigation was underway and that the manner and cause of death would be determined by the Office of the Medical Examiner. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man's body located by Phoenix police in Salt River WASHINGTON The first two field-ready MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters are now in final assembly and Boeing said it expects the long-awaited delivery of the first of these helicopters to the Air Force in mid-2024. The sixth and final test Grey Wolf helicopter was delivered in October, the company said in a statement Monday, marking the end of its research, development, test and evaluation phase and a move toward solely concentrating on production. The Grey Wolf is slated to replace the Air Forces fleet of 63 Vietnam War-era UH-1N Huey helicopters for security personnel to patrol the services nuclear missile fields and to transport senior officials in the Washington area. The Air Force plans to buy as many as 80 MH-139s, which are a militarized version of Italian aerospace firm Leonardos AW139 commercial helicopter design. Delivering all of the RDT&E aircraft to the Air Force enables them to continue critical operational testing and allows Boeing to focus on building the first production aircraft, Azeem Khan, Boeings MH-139 program director, said in the statement. The Grey Wolf will provide crucial national security capability improvements to the Air Force. This is an important step in getting the aircraft into service. The Air Force in March reached a Milestone C decision to move forward on low-rate initial production of the Grey Wolf, and awarded Boeing and Leonardo a $285 million contract to start building the first 13 helicopters. Leonardo's first production MH-139A Grey Wolf reached the final assembly stage at its Philadelphia, Pennsylvania facility in June. (Courtesy of Boeing) Leonardo starts building the MH-139A at its factory in Philadelphia and then moves it to Boeings Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, facility where it is adapted for military use. Boeing spokesman Brett Anker told Defense News the first two production MH-139 in final assembly are still at Leonados facility, as the companies ramp up work on their initial 13 helicopters. Anker said procurement and manufacturing work is already under way. The MH-139 program has struggled in recent years with unexpected challenges integrating military systems on to the commercial helicopter platform, which caused delays that led to a schedule breach in April 2021, the Government Accountability Office said in a weapons systems assessment report this year. The MH-139 program also experienced delays getting necessary FAA certifications, which in 2021 caused the Air Force to push procurement plans back. Program officials told GAO that the FAA certifications came in 2022, and allowed the service to accept the first four test helicopters. The milestone decision beginning production ultimately came about a year and a half later than expected due to the FAA certification testing delays, GAO said. Residents near the Port of Ilwaco area are asked to avoid the area as officers investigate suspicious activity, according to the Pacific County Sheriffs Office. At about 3 p.m. Sunday, officers with the Long Beach Police Department responded to a report of a potential explosive in the area. Residents of South Pacific County were asked to avoid the area and await further updates. Police are maintaining a perimeter as the Washington State Patrol Bomb Squad works to determine the possibility of an explosive. Future updates will be provided on the Pacific County Sheriffs Office Facebook page. Palestinians holding Bosnian citizenship and their relatives arrive at Sarajevo after having been evacuated to Egypt from Gaza By Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The first group of 26 Bosnians and their Palestinian relatives who had been stuck in Gaza arrived in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on Monday, after they were evacuated to Egypt last week following weeks of waiting. After undergoing thorough medical check-ups at the Sarajevo airport, the evacuees reunited with their families and friends who were anxiously waiting for them. Those without relatives in Bosnia will be accommodated in a refugee center, officials said. Another group of 11 Gaza evacuees was set to arrive later on Monday, Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic told reporters. "I have been in the Gaza Strip for 40 days of war," said Khaled Mosleh, a Palestinian with Bosnian residence who went to Gaza to visit a sick mother and got stuck there. Mosleh graduated from the Sarajevo medical school and lives in Bosnia with a Bosnian wife and five children. "The situation is very difficult," he said of life in Gaza. "When you think that you will get killed two, three times a day, it is inconceivable. The humanitarian situation is non-existent, there is a smell of death at the streets of Gaza, the death is everywhere." His sons Halid, 29, and Salahudin, 20, could not hide their tears when they hugged their father. "The last month has been like a hell," Halid told Reuters, explaining they had received only a short text message proving their father was alive. Imad Sehada, a Gaza-born resident of Bosnia, was waiting for his cousins to arrive. His whole family is still in northern Gaza and it was difficult for them to reach the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the south, he said. Bosnians are sympathetic to the plight of Gaza residents, after enduring a devastating war in the 1990s in which about 100,000 people were killed and 2 million resettled, and with Sarajevo having been under the longest siege in modern history. Sumeja Hadzic-Jusufovic, draped in the Palestinian flag, came to the airport with a basket of candies packed by her children for the Gaza children evacuees. "I was compelled to come," she said. While happy to reunite with his Bosnian family, Mosleh said his heart was bleeding for his Gaza family. "In a way, a man does not know whether he is happy or sad," he said. (Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Bill Berkrot) BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva extended best wishes to the newly elected government in Argentina, without making direct mention of President-elect Javier Milei, who has previously criticized Lula and labeled him an "angry communist." "I wish good luck and success to the new government. Argentina is a great country and deserves all our respect. Brazil will always be available to work together with our Argentine brothers," he wrote on Sunday on X, formerly Twitter. Lula said that democracy is the voice of the people and "it must always be respected," congratulating the institutions and the Argentine people for the "orderly and peaceful" process. On Tuesday, leftist Lula had said that Argentina, the country's third-largest trading partner, should choose a president who supports democracy and the Mercosur trading bloc. Milei, a far-right economist, has cast doubt on the future trajectory of Argentina's ties with Brazil, calling Lula a "socialist with a totalitarian vocation." He has also criticized the South American common market Mercosur and said Argentina would "follow its own path." Milei's rival, Economy Minister Sergio Massa, enjoyed warmer relations with the Lula government. He met with Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad in Brasilia earlier this year to discuss mechanisms to secure imports by Buenos Aires. Haddad had told Reuters that he was "worried" about Milei's potential victory, given his statements about severing ties with Brazil. Despite its severe economic crisis, Argentina remains the primary market for Brazilian manufactured goods. (Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Rosalba O'Brien) JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) On Friday, Nov. 17, contractor crews with the Virginia Department of Transportation, or VDOT, opened the new bridge on Route 601 over Diascund Creek. The bridge was replaced with a wider one-lane bridge for individuals traveling to and from Hicks Island in James City County. The project began in late 2022. The project still needs to finish the removal of the temporary trestle bridge used for traffic during construction and placement of final roadway paving, anticipated to be completed in early 2024. Keep checking WAVY.com for the latest developments. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. Brigitte Macron says she waited a decade to marry the French president so she wouldn't wreck the lives of her children, who were around his age. Christian Liewig - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images Brigitte Macron waited 10 years to marry the French President because her children were around his age. She spoke about her relationship with Emmanuel Macron to news magazine Paris Match, per The Times. The couple first started dating when he was 15 and she was his drama teacher. Brigitte Macron says she waited a decade to marry French President Emmanuel Macron to avoid ruining the lives of her children, who were around his age. The French first lady, 70, gave a rare glimpse into her relationship with her husband, 45, in an interview with news magazine Paris Match, per The Times. "The only obstacle was my children," she told Paris Match, as translated by The Times. "I took time so I would not wreck their lives. That lasted 10 years, the time to put them on the rails. You can imagine what they were hearing. But I didn't want to miss out on my life." The couple first started dating when she was 40 and he was 15, per The Times. She had been his drama teacher at school in Amiens, a city in northern France, and even had a daughter who was his classmate. Even as he was shipped off to Paris by his parents when their relationship came to light, he was still determined to be with her, per The Times. "I told myself that he would fall in love with someone his age. It didn't happen," she said, as translated by The Times. "I do not know how my parents, who were the model of fidelity and good education, would have reacted to our marriage." She divorced her ex-husband Andre-Louis Auziere, a banker, in 2006, per The Times. Auziere died in 2019. They share one son and two daughters who are now 48, 46, and 39 years old, respectively, per The Times. She then married Emmanuel Macron in 2007, about 10 years before he became the French President in 2017. Read the original article on Business Insider As Rishi Sunak seeks desperately to prove he can get a grip on Britains sea border, its easy to forget the other border crisis. While less prominent than the small boats, the scale of legal net migration is a much bigger problem. And unlike asylum policy, its something our Government is entirely in control of. Yet, since 2019, net migration has almost tripled. The Conservative manifesto in that year said that Britain would welcome highly skilled workers, its true. But it also said that there will be fewer low-skilled migrants and overall numbers will come down. So why is net migration running at 606,000, the highest figure on record? What happened to the promised rigour of an Australian-style points based system? The answer is that Britain has, voluntarily, adopted an immigration regime far more liberal than anything it had before it left the EU. The most obvious, glaring problem is the salary threshold economic migrants must meet to qualify for a work visa. Astonishingly, this has been set at just 26,200 per year. The Government is expected to announce an increase in this floor to 30,000, but even this would be well below the median full-time salary (34,963). And it would do nothing to close the back door built into the system: the shortage occupation list. Intended to provide a smoothed route of entry for workers offering skills not readily available in the local labour market, this list is far too broad, and growing broader, extending well beyond doctors and nurses. MakeUK, the manufacturers trade body, is lobbying for welders, lab technicians and sheet metal workers to be added. Workers entering under this scheme can earn even less than the main threshold if they are paid just 80 per cent of the going rate for their industry, even if this is far below the national average. Two-thirds of voters believe immigration is too high, yet Britain is stuck in a high migration system that the Whitehall machine is desperate to preserve. The Treasury is incentivised to preserve high numbers to keep GDP going up, no matter what it means for those already here. The Office for Budget Responsibility bakes high migration into its forecasts, making it impossible to lower numbers without falling foul of fiscal targets. Universities issue tens of thousands of student visas for low-grade courses to bring in cash. This is not the economy people voted for in 2016 or 2019. High immigration of low-skilled workers is unfair, puts pressure on housing and public services and compresses the salaries of lower-paid wage earners. To restore British workers economic status and dignity, we must raise the minimum salary, limit the shortage list and train more workers here. Globalisation of labour markets is one of the major threats to the dignity of workers across the developed world. We have the freedom to change it. 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. By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) -Britain rolled out the red carpet for South Korea's president on Tuesday at the start of a state visit intended to deepen diplomatic and business ties between the two countries as they launch talks on a new free trade agreement. King Charles greeted President Yoon Suk Yeol with a royal guard of honour following his arrival in London, and then rode with him by carriage to Buckingham Palace. Yoon, a conservative who has cited a "polycrisis" of global challenges as a reason for seeking closer ties with like-minded partners, then addressed lawmakers from both houses of parliament on Tuesday before a state banquet in his honour. "We must stand in solidarity and respond to many of the world's challenges," Yoon said in his speech, where he celebrated 140 years of diplomatic ties between the nations. "Korea stands united with the United Kingdom and the international community to fight against illegal aggression and provocations." He will hold talks with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday, and sign an accord on closer diplomatic ties. "Through our new Downing Street Accord, we will drive investment, boost trade and build a friendship that not only supports global stability, but protects our interests and lasts the test of time," Sunak said. In a statement announcing that talks on a new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would also start on Wednesday, Sunak said: "I know a Free Trade Agreement fit for the future will only drive further investment, delivering on my promise to grow the economy and support highly skilled jobs." Under the accord, the countries will agree to work closely on areas such as semiconductors - of which South Korea is an important producer - and artificial intelligence. The Downing Street Accord will also strengthen the joint ability of the two countries to enforce U.N. sanctions against North Korea to prevent development of its nuclear weapons programmes, using sea patrols to prevent smuggling. Britain said South Korean businesses would invest 21 billion pounds ($26.17 billion) in British renewable energy and infrastructure projects, and announced a clean energy partnership to work together on the transition to green power. "REFRESHED, MODERNISED DEAL" Under Yoon, South Korea has focused on strengthening economic, political, and military ties with the U.S. while seeking to maintain trade with China and working to overcome historical disputes with Japan. "Korea will work with the United Kingdom to bolster the political and economic security in the Indo-Pacific region," Yoon said, adding that "together, we will tackle North Koreas WMD (weapons of mass destruction) threats." He said the two countries would also expand cooperation on supply chains, digital, nuclear energy, cybersecurity and defence industry, and paid tribute to Britain's veterans who fought in the Korean War. He also touched on the lighter side of Anglo-Korean relations, comparing pop bands the Beatles and BTS, as well as the right feet of soccer stars David Beckham and Son Heung Min. Britain has sought to build ties in Indo-Pacific as part of a tilt in its diplomatic strategy towards the region, and this year completed talks to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The talks on a new trade deal with South Korea will aim to replace a carry-over agreement from when Britain left the European Union, which was based on replicating a deal with the EU from 2011 and reduced tariffs in a range of areas. British business and trade minister Kemi Badenoch said a "refreshed, modernised deal" would help British services and export sectors, as it aims to increase digital trade and streamline complex procedures. ($1 = 0.8025 pounds) (Reporting by Alistair Smout, Kylie MacLellan and Sarah Young in London, additional reporting by Josh Smith in Seoul; Editing by Alistair Bell, Stephen Coates, Timothy Heritage and David Gregorio) Rishi Sunak speaks during the opening session of the Global Food Security Summit - Dan Kitwood/Getty Britain must act with humility and acknowledge our past when providing foreign aid, the Government has said. Ministers believe the UK must shift from an outdated donor-recipient model to one of mutual respect. In its new International Development white paper, the Government says the UK recognises it has much to learn, as well as much to offer when it comes to driving positive change abroad. It will now focus on building equitable partnerships rooted in patient diplomacy, giving local leaders a voice in shaping the solutions they want to see, rather than accepting the ones we think they need. The policy plan, launched on Monday to coincide with the Global Food Security Summit, says British people can be proud of their part in boosting development overseas, with their generosity demonstrated worldwide. But it says a change in approach is needed. Focus on mutual respect A focus on mutual respect will put patient diplomacy and development into practice, it says. It will build long-term reliable and equitable partnerships that work towards common development objectives. It will move us beyond an outdated donor-recipient model. We will engage with humility and acknowledge our past. It is unclear what is meant by Britain acknowledging its past, and how this is relevant to its international development policy. The Foreign Office refused to provide further details. However, it is understood the phrase is intended to reflect the importance of working in a spirit of genuine partnership and understanding. For years, the UK has resisted pressure to pay reparations for its historical links to slavery. The issue came to the fore again in May, when indigenous leaders from 12 Commonwealth countries demanded that the King apologise for what they described as centuries of genocide and colonisation. Issue of reparations They urged Britain to begin the process of reparations and to return stolen artefacts and human remains kept in museums and archives. The Government has also faced calls for reparatory justice from the opposition benches, with Labour MP Clive Lewis urging ministers to compensate Caribbean countries for Britains role in the slave trade. It is understood that the white paper was not alluding to reparation plans. The Governments position is that the best way for the UK to respond to the wrongs of the past is to ensure that current and future generations learn from history. Elsewhere, the document says Britain has a responsibility to acknowledge its role in the international system. It also suggests artificial intelligence could be used to predict wars years in advance and respond more pre-emptively to extreme weather events. Foresight capability and systems should be strengthened to enable early action, it says. Drawing on ground-breaking data science, AI, machine learning and open-source intelligence capabilities, the UK and its partners are entering new territory in our ability to forecast complex risks. New technology should be used to expedite forecasting of conflict and mass atrocity risks, extending the length of time from a few months to a few years in advance, buying time for response. White paper praised The white paper was pulled together by Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell and hailed on Monday by Rishi Sunak and his new Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron. Appearing at the Global Food Security Summit in London, in his first major speaking engagement since his shock return to frontline politics, the former prime minister said he would put development right back at the heart of the Foreign Office. The policy plan is underpinned by the shelving of Lord Camerons flagship pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid, part of his modernisation project as Tory leader. The change was written into law in 2015. But Mr Sunak, when Chancellor, quietly suspended the target, instead vowing to contribute 0.5 per cent and return to 0.7 per cent only when government debt began to fall. Outlining Britains position on international development, the paper says: We will build on UK strengths and shift our approach to partnerships, prioritising mutual respect. We will take a long-term approach. We will be more locally-led. We will bring the best of what the UK has to offer, including the breadth and depth of our global network, and support partners where they can lead. It says low and middle-income countries rightly demand that the UK respects their priorities for development. This means it is necessary to form relationships fit for the 21st century that are not defined by aid, with delivery led by local people, especially marginalised groups. 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. Towson Universitys new president, Mark R. Ginsberg, is trying something his predecessors havent done since the 1970s: Hes living in an on-campus residential building among the students. He said doing so will allow him the opportunity to listen, his main focus as he steps into the role of leading Marylands second-biggest public college. Ginsberg, who began his tenure as the universitys 15th leader Oct. 30, stands to further the universitys ambitions of becoming a research-focused institution while also being ingrained in the campus community, he said. I dont want to be the guy sitting in the corner office having people come to them like theyre sitting in a castle, he said. I very much will be and hope to be in various places on campus and try to be very accessible because thats what a [university president] should be: open and accessible to people. Ginsberg comes to Towson after spending 13 years at George Mason University, where he became provost and executive vice president in 2020. He previously held various other roles, including dean of the College of Education and Human Development from 2010 to 2020. There are very few universities that I would have considered leaving George Mason for, said Ginsberg, whos lived in Maryland for the majority of his adulthood. Its the only job I applied for. I really wasnt looking to leave. I wasnt even on the job market, but when this became available, and I was contacted about the availability of the position, I just knew intuitively this was a great fit. Ginsberg is currently residing in a suite within The Residences at 10 West Burke Avenue, a former Marriott Hotel the university converted into student housing. The suite is typically set aside for visitors or those coming to work at the university and need help transitioning, a university spokesperson said. He says the current plan is to stay on campus through the majority of the academic year. I may wear out my welcome, Ginsberg said jokingly. But I think its great. And I think the closer I can be with students, thats the first value of every great university is that students have to come first. And I want to be sure that that happens. Previously, the university had an on-campus presidential residence known as Glen Esk, occupied from 1915 until 1970, and James Fisher was the last president to live there. The building was demolished in 2021, according to the universitys archives office. In the 40-plus years since Glen Esk was lived in, Towson has seen 10 presidents. Although a TU spokesperson says its possible one of them temporarily resided somewhere on campus, no president has lived on campus for an extended period since Fisher. Living on campus is one of the several ways Ginsberg engages with the community. In the months leading up to his start date, he came to visit campus at least once a week, he said. Additionally, hes taken time to engage with as many students as he can, leading him to take meals at dining halls. I learned very quickly that this is a very special place where people are very passionate about and very committed to the institution, Ginsberg said. And so a new leader coming in, I think it would be just an absolute missed opportunity not to tap into that passion of that commitment. An emphasis on research Bart Debicki, chair of Towsons Academic Senate, which serves as the universitys primary policymaking body, said one of the early challenges Ginsberg will face is adopting the campus of nearly 20,000 students during a period of major change: The university is working to gain an R2 status of high research activity from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education by 2027. Doing so would change TU from a liberal arts college to a research school. So were all excited about [R2], and were looking to what hes gonna do in that regard, Debicki said. But its not something thats easy. Were all going to have to pull our resources together, roll up our sleeves and work towards that. Historically, Towson was known for its education program, as it was opened as a normal school focused on teaching in 1866. The perception of the university began shifting in 1963 when Towson became a liberal arts college, a webpage by the TU Special Collections and University Archives explains. To reach R2 status, Towson must award 20 research doctorate degrees and spend $5 million annually on research. In fiscal year 2021-22, the university graduated 16 research doctorates and spent $8.78 million on research. In Maryland, several schools have Carnegie Classifications, including the University of Maryland, College Park, an R1 institution. Similarly, Morgan State University, located less than 4 miles from Towson, has an R2 status. George Mason reached R1 status while Ginsberg was dean of the College of Education and Human Development in 2017. In a news release at the time, he called the achievement an important recognition of the high quality and the large portfolio of research that our faculty are involved with and that our students have an opportunity to participate in. He told The Baltimore Sun that George Mason was just as committed to students as the success of the faculty. A university cant compromise the student experience for research or vice versa, he said. In addition to the increased funding opportunities, the university says its pursuing R2 in hopes of expanding learning opportunities for students, a university webpage says. Although Towson is shifting away from its liberal arts identity on paper, Ginsberg said he values the humanities and doesnt intend to isolate them. New Towson University President, Mark R. Ginsberg, left, speaks with Jewish college students from Towson, the Johns Hopkins University, Goucher College and UMBC about antisemitic acts the students have experienced in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. Ginsberg was hosting a listening session with U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, right. R2 isnt about STEM; its about scholarship and research and also creative work, to my view, he said. R2 is about creating a cross-disciplinary context for the generation of new ideas, new concepts and theories, and best practices. Jordan Colquitt, Towsons student body president and a member of the presidential search committee, said a key priority was to ensure the choice would prioritize undergraduate students during the universitys quest towards R2. Ensuring that we dont leave our undergraduate students behind will be crucial to fostering true academic excellence, Colquitt said in a text message. I believe that Dr. Ginsberg will go beyond simply keeping these students in mind by advancing faculty support, creating more opportunities for undergraduate research, and nurturing our changing identity as a leading institution for teaching, innovation, and research. To meet the R2 requirements, the university has been introducing several new doctoral programs, including an autism studies doctoral degree announced in April and a business doctoral degree. Throughout the push towards R2 and new program creation, Towson has drawn criticism for the business degrees similarity to one at Morgan State, one of Marylands four historically Black colleges and universities. In August, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General stepped in and said the Maryland Higher Education Commissions approval of Towsons program was unlawful because there were not enough votes for the approval to pass. Towson rescinded the proposal but said it plans to resubmit in the future. Ginsberg said his career has been focused on collaboration and that he hopes to work with other universities to create programming that would help address workforce needs. I dont think the issue of duplication is necessarily the heart of the issue, he said. The issue is the need of the state and the workforce needs that the state has. And so I think we need to be careful about defining things with one perspective where there needs to be a, in my view, far more nuanced calculation and analysis and conversation about it. Ginsberg says he greatly respects the work neighboring HBCUs do while also hoping to find ways for cross-collaboration. Although Towson has historically been a predominantly white institution, it has recently seen a shift in its student population and is trending toward becoming majority-minority. Towson has yet to have a Black president, and 66% of faculty identified as white in 2022. Ginsberg says diversity among Towsons faculty is challenging but necessary to address. If our commitment is to having an inclusive environment, I think what follows that is the opportunity for us to have a more diverse environment, Ginsberg said. And Im very committed to that, and well do everything we can Ill do everything I can to the role that I have to help that occur. More face-to-face action Ginsberg said he plans to spend the first few weeks of his presidency doing a campuswide listening tour to hear as many perspectives as possible. With more interaction leads to more trust across the students to share their actual inputs of what TU could be in the future [and] how they can help students better, Brianna Saffran, president of Towsons Graduate Student Association, said in an email. With more face-to-face action, students will know who the president is and have the opportunity to share their opinions or talk to the president. His efforts to connect thus far have not gone unnoticed. Colquitt said hes witnessed Ginsberg having hourlong conversations with students in the University Union. Further, he said, Ginsberg has taken time to get to know students and not simply show up for photo opportunities. Its not just like hes [only connecting with] admin or connecting with SGA leaders, which is something thats important to me because knowing me and having a relationship with me is one thing, but theres over 16,000 students here, Colquitt said. So knowing every student and connecting with everybody and knowing every corner of the university, thats clearly his goal. And thats what hes about. Hes just everywhere. A Brooklyn man has been arrested, but not charged with a homicide, in the shooting death of a tenant who broke into his apartment a year after being shot by another gunman in the same building, police said Monday. Lashawn Craig, 45, was charged only with gun possession Sunday, two days after Timothy Jones, 64, was shot at the Bedford-Stuyvesant multifamily home owned by Craig, police said. Craig, an MTA train operator and 16-year Army veteran with no criminal history, was coming home from work chatting with a neighbor outside the house he shares with the victim on Pulaski St. near Malcolm X. Blvd. when he heard Jones yelling to him from inside at about 9:35 p.m. Friday, prosecutors say. Jones was hollering, Wheres my photos? prosecutors said, without offering further explanation. Craigs Legal Aid attorney Adrian Lesher told Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Devin Robinson Monday that the slain tenant is somebody who has a long history of threatening my clients family. After hearing Jones yelling, Craig went inside, got his handgun and returned outside, where he resumed talking to the neighbor before he heard an alarm go off in his apartment, prosecutors said. Craig went back inside and found Jones, wearing a mask and gloves, intruding in his apartment. Craig told Jones to get out, saw Jones reaching into his pockets and shot him, prosecutors say. Jones died at Kings County Hospital. Craig called 911, reported the shooting and secured the gun. His lawyer says he acted in self-defense. This is sort of the textbook example of the defense of home people talk about when they talk about the underpinnings of the Second Amendment, Lesher told the judge. The district attorney appears to concede to the justified nature of the alleged actions, because they dont charge my client with any act of assault or homicide. Lesher said in court that Jones and his adult son both have extensive criminal records and proudly held themselves forward as Bloods. Cops say Jones had a rap sheet going back to 1987, including arrests for robbery, grand larceny and domestic violence. There have been prior threats of gun violence by Timothy Jones against my client and other members of my clients family, Lesher said in court. Investigators found Craigs .40-caliber pistol in the apartment and, near where Jones hit the ground, a Taser, prosecutors say. Craig was set free on supervised release without bail after his arraignment Monday. Its not over yet, he told reporters as he left court, adding that he would be working with his lawyer so I can get a full release. He wont be immediately operating subway trains again, though. The employee is being withheld from service pending a review of all the facts, MTA spokesman Michael Cortez told the Daily News. Family friend Jackie Marshall, 38, defended Craig. To me Mr. Craig is a good man, she said. I dont know what was going on with him and his tenant, but he is a good guy I spoke to family and they told me what happened. Its a very sad situation. Jones on June 16, 2022, was critically wounded in his apartment running from accused gunman Jose Romero, prosecutors say. Romero allegedly opened fire, striking Jones in the back and killing 19-year-old Briana Zaret, according to cops. Zaret, who lived with her mother in Forest Hills, Queens, was visiting Jones when she was killed, cops said. Cops found her phone charging inside Jones apartment after the shooting. Zarets father believes his 2017 divorce set back his teenaged daughters development and led to her hanging with the wrong crowd. [It was] right at the wrong age of Briana, Keith Zaret said Sunday. [She was] strong, magnetic, great attitude. Her attitude was disrupted. The grieving father believes the divorce, coupled with discipline problems at home, led to the teen losing her way. Something came and T-boned her, Zaret said of the change in his daughters behavior before her death. She didnt just drift. But I always warned her that they dont care about you. She just didnt want to hear it. And then she drifted so far that maybe I tried too hard. Had his crafty and smart daughter not fallen off the right track, Zaret believes she would have pursued a career in art. I think about her every single day, Zaret said. I wish she was here. I miss her so much. More than a year after his daughters death, Zaret still doesnt have answers as to why Romero allegedly shot her. The DA tells me he just went berserk, Zaret said. Romero was arrested shortly after the 2022 shooting and remains locked up without bail on Rikers Island as he awaits trial on murder and attempted-murder charges. Romero dropped a messenger bag with a gun inside when he fled from the scene, police sources said in 2022. Neighbors told the Daily News in 2022 Jones lived alone, worked in construction, was a father of two grown children and occasionally had women visit him at his apartment. A friend of Jones expressed shock at his slaying. I was like, Oh my God. It is him,' said the friend, who identified herself only as Miss G, 64. Im sad to see anyone die like that. Its very sad. She said she hadnt seen him in recent years but that she used to run into him at parties. PAWTUCKET Before Katherine McConnell was buried in the family plot at Mount St. Marys Cemetery in 1973, she exacted a promise from her only surviving son, John: Do your best to get your brother Henry's body home, so he can rest beside me. His brother, Henry McConnell, had been dead 31 years by then, an Army Air Corps private who died at 28 with thousands of other prisoners in the Philippines during World War II. He had been buried initially in a mass grave outside a Japanese prison camp. She sort of put the pressure on me that if I lived long enough, maybe I could claim his remains, John McConnell told The Journal in a 2015 interview. He was 91 then and recently back from a trip to Manila, where he tried to touch his brothers engraved name on a monument to the missing. It proved out of reach. On Thursday, Nov. 30, Henry McConnells remains will be laid to rest in the McConnell family plot with full military honors. John McConnell did not live long enough to see the day come 80 years after his brother's death. But it was his DNA, offered up years ago, that made identification and his brother's eventual return home possible, says his daughter. He made a promise to his mother that he would get his brother home, and he kept it, says Charleen Primo of Cumberland. I just wish he was here to see it, but Im sure he is smiling down from heaven. A 2015 file photo shows John McConnell holding a photo from a group trip to the site of the Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines. Henry McConnell enlisted looking for adventure Henry McConnell was an adventurous soul. A graduate of St. Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, he entered the University of Notre Dame around 1932 with plans to major in journalism and write about all the distant places hed someday visit. But financial constraints forced him to return a year later to Pawtucket, where he went to work in a wire factory. In his spare time he learned to fly and in 1940 joined the Army Air Corps. Japan was already at war with China, and Henry saw opportunity. That wars going to be a big thing out in the Pacific, he told his younger brother, and if I can get out there, maybe I can write about it. A 2015 file photo shows a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart among documents collected by John McConnell while researching the death of his brother Henry J. McConnell. At top center is a map of the Japanese prison camp where Henry was first buried. Henry McConnell was among those reported captured in April 1942 when, after three months without food and water and little military support, thousands of Allied soldiers were forced to surrender on the Bataan peninsula. In the 1950s, Katherine McConnell received a letter from the U.S. government explaining a major effort underway at several former Japanese prison camps in the Philippines to exhume the remains of thousands of American soldiers and reinter them in Manila, where a 152-acre American cemetery was being readied. But Henry McConnell remained technically listed as missing, meaning his remains had not been positively identified. A search for answers about his brother's death John McConnells search to understand the last months of his brothers imprisoned life became an almost endless obsession, says his daughter, Charleen. Sometimes it was aggravating, she says. He would read a [war] story with some guys name in it, and he would be hunting for him all over the world. This was before the internet, and he would write letters asking if he knew anything about his lost brother. More on this story: No surrender Late in his 80s, John McConnell received declassified documents from the federal agencies charged with resolving questions about missing soldiers from past wars. Among the documents was a report on his brothers death, compiled from records gathered after the war, including the death roster kept at Cabanatuan prison. There, in black and white, the report described how his brother succumbed to dysentery and malaria on the afternoon of July 26, 1942, in Barracks 2. His body ended up in mass grave No. 225 with about 18 other men. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the bodies of Common Grave 225 were disinterred in 2018 from an American cemetery in Manila and again examined for identification where DNA was available. The DNA John McConnell gave proved he was the sibling of Henry McConnell. My father had been trying to get Henry home all his life, says Charleen Primo. He got every single one of Henrys medals that Henry was entitled to and gone to every [veterans] ceremony to represent him. In 2016, John McConnell died shortly after attending a memorial service for his brother and others like him at the Veterans Cemetery in Exeter. He wasnt even sick, says Charleen. I guess he figured the remains would never be coming home. When they lay Henry McConnell to rest next week in the family cemetery plot, his brother, John, will be there by his side again. Contact Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: A Rhode Island POW's remains return home, thanks to his brother's DNA ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) The Carrollton Volunteer Fire Department responded to a brush fire on Nov. 19 at 8:20 p.m in the woods near the 13300 block of Colonel Hogan Lane. Upon arriving to the scene, the volunteers noticed that the fire had spread to a nearby large structure. The Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department and Rushmere Volunteer Fire Department were also on the scene for assistance. It took over two hours for the fire departments to bring the fire under control and extinguished successfully. Colonel Hogan Lane brush fire (Courtesy: Carrollton Volunteer Fire Department) Colonel Hogan Lane brush fire (Courtesy: Carrollton Volunteer Fire Department) Colonel Hogan Lane brush fire (Courtesy: Carrollton Volunteer Fire Department) Colonel Hogan Lane brush fire (Courtesy: Carrollton Volunteer Fire Department) Colonel Hogan Lane brush fire (Courtesy: Carrollton Volunteer Fire Department) The Carrollton Volunteer Fire Department is asking people to be mindful of wind conditions and to take necessary precautions while enjoying outdoor fires. Keep checking WAVY.com for the latest developments. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) personnel responded to a crash involving a Ride-On bus and a car in Montgomery County on Sunday evening. Man wanted for fatal shooting at hotel in Fairfax County Officials received a call about the crash on Layhill Rd. and Bel Pre Rd. in Aspen Hill at about 7:52 p.m. Police said the crash involved a passenger bus and car and that multiple people were entrapped and injured. A spokesperson for the Montgomery County Police Department said five people were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries two people were on the bus and three were in the car. One of the passengers transported from the car was a 16-year-old. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. CRESTVIEW, Fla. (WKRG) A showcase featuring arts and crafts, cottage industry foods, and gently used items is coming soon to the Hub City of Northwest Florida. The Bush House Market is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 9, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Wilson Street parking lot adjacent to the Bush House. EVENT LOCATION: This embedded content is not available in your region. Attendees can enjoy live music from a homeschool student choir featuring traditional Christmas songs, some sung in the original German. Sarah Searfoss, director and co-founder of the Crestview Artists Collective, and the markets organizer, suggests warming up with a hand-crafted coffee while exploring selections from local artists, crafters, and artisans at the Christmas bazaar. Fun activities will also take place in the historic Bush House. While the market is underway, the Bush House will be adorned in Christmas decor, providing opportunities for family photos around the American Craftsman-style home. Visitors can also decorate Christmas cookies in the kitchen. The market which occurs about three times a year coincides with the Crestview History Museums monthly Second Saturday Series opening. Proceeds benefit Crestview Sister City Ambassadors, aiding the student group in funding their travel to Crestviews Sister City, Noirmoutier, France, in 2025. Additionally, it supports activities when 20 Noirmoutrin students visit Crestview in October 2024. Searfoss said she is excited to work with the Crestview History Museum and Sister City Ambassadors to present the community with more opportunities for arts and culture with the Bush House Christmas Market. To reserve a spot at the Bush House Christmas market, as an exhibitor, for a suggested $20 donation, visit this link. For more information, call 850-398-5459. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg listens as President Biden speaks at the White House in Washington, U.S. By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Monday the federal government will do everything it can using existing regulatory powers to ensure that General Motors robotaxi unit Cruise and other autonomous vehicles are deployed safely. Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt resigned on Sunday, a day after apologizing to staff as the company undergoes a safety review of its U.S. fleet. Cruise pulled all of its vehicles from U.S. testing after an Oct. 2 accident in San Francisco that involved another vehicle and ended with one of Cruise's self-driving taxis dragging a pedestrian. "We're going to do everything we can with the authorities we do have, which are not trivial," Buttigieg told reporters. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), part of Buttigieg's department, has opened an investigation into whether Cruise is taking sufficient precautions to safeguard pedestrians. In October, the California Department of Motor Vehicles ordered Cruise to remove its driverless cars from state roads, calling them a risk to the public and saying the company had misrepresented the safety of its technology. Two dozen unions including the Transport Workers Union of America, International Brotherhood of Teamsters and United Auto Workers this month urged Buttigieg to do more to ensure the safety of autonomous vehicles (AVs), saying that "NHTSA must initiate an industry-wide investigation to determine the true extent of the safety failures behind the scenes." Cruise's woes are a setback for an industry dependent on public trust and the cooperation of regulators. The unit had in recent months touted ambitious plans to expand to more cities, offering fully autonomous taxi rides. Cruise competes with Alphabet's Waymo in deploying autonomous vehicles and had been testing hundreds in several cities across the United States, notably its home of San Francisco. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Will Dunham and Chizu Nomiyama) In recent years as California has become the shoplifting capital of America, the far left in the state Legislature has blocked stiffer sentencing designed to get addicts who are thieves the treatment they need. It is the same reflexive refusal to consider a stiffer sentence in any limited circumstance that both Democrat and Republican lawmakers have faced as they have fought the human trafficking of minors or the dealing of deadly fentanyl. A majority of the influential Assembly Public Safety Committee says no. Opinion This year it took the intervention of Gov. Gavin Newsom to make the sex trafficking of a minor a serious crime. That this committee blocks bills with widespread legislative support, however, is an unresolved issue that continues to this day. The new Assembly Speaker, Robert Rivas of Salinas, only has a matter of weeks to announce his lineup of committee leaders for next years legislative session. He would be doing California a service by appointing leadership that respects the will of the majority. There is no greater example than this public safety committee. The shoplifting issue isnt going away. Last April, Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho told this committee about a shoplifter at the nearby Target, a drug addict who stole for 30 straight days. His crimes never amounted to a felony, however, because the thievery on any given day was below $950. Ho asked the committee to lengthen the shoplifting sentence for a third conviction and to offer a substance abuse program as an alternative to jail. The committee said no. Californias shoplifting epidemic a combination of organized crime, homeless people and addicts has turned shopping into a criminal spectacle and created a fed-up public wanting Sacramento to do something. Theft can make the difference between staying in business or going out of business, said Ho, whose parents immigrated from Vietnam and saved up money to start a grocery store in San Jose. Thirty billion dollars a year is lost to retail theft. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. The whole sentencing reform movement, then and now, is based on overwhelming evidence that stiffer sentences are not a deterrent to crime. Increasing the chances of getting caught, however, is a powerful deterrent. This is where the shoplifting issue begins to get complicated. As much as stores want to catch shoplifters, they also want to protect staff and the customer experience. As one example of the friction, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper recently went to social media to complain that the giant Target and Walgreens chains were not cooperating with his proposed operations to pursue shoplifters. Just as California is now leading the nation in the number of homeless residents, we are also the leader in organized retail crime. The Sacramento region, as an example, is 27th in the nation in terms of population but 8th in the nation when it comes to sophisticated criminal rings raiding stores. Rachel Michelin, president of the California Retailers Association, sees a link between the homeless and organized crime. These crime rings will prey on homeless individuals to commit some of these crimes of going in and stealing, she said. And then there are other homeless and drug addicts who are simply acting on their own. So whats happening is people can go in and steal multiple times, and theres zero accountability. She points to Proposition 47, which was passed by California voters in 2014 as part of a movement to enact sentencing reform and lower prison populations. It has since emerged for some in limited ways as a reform too far. It made shoplifting of goods valued under $950 a misdemeanor. And it prohibited prosecutors from lumping multiple misdemeanor offenses into a felony, even if the combined dollar amount constitutes a felony. Organized crime has turned to shoplifting as an emerging industry to fund more crime because of the lack of consequences, said Michelin. Homeless people and drug addicts have turned to shoplifting because they can utilize retail theft to fund that lifestyle and they dont have to be accountable. Roseville, the site of one of the largest malls in Northern California, is among the cities with an intense focus on investigating shoplifting. Property crimes comprise 90% of all crimes in the city, said Police Chief Troy Bergstrom. Whether it is a freelancing addict or an organized syndicate, pursuing them all is crucial. If you dont do anything about the lower-end ones, the higher-end ones are going to happen way more often, he said. The reason to take the effort to catch the addict who repeatedly steals is to ultimately break the cycle. That has been the premise behind separate legislation in the past two years authored by a Democrat, Al Muratsuchi of Torrance. This years Assembly Bill 1708 sought a stiffer sentence for a third petty theft (at least a year in jail) so that prosecutors could offer drug treatment through a diversion program as an alternative jail, something they cannot do under Proposition 47. This April, Muratsuchi minced no words with the committee chairman, Democrat Reggie Jones-Sawyer of Los Angeles. This bill and this committee, frankly Mr. Chairman, need to quit being the deathbed of any effort to try to fix Proposition 47 to make it better, he said. Jones-Sawyer declined to vote on a bill that needed affirmative votes to survive. Maybe its semantics, amending versus fixing versus improving Prop. 47, which I think every member here would love to improve it, he said. He gave no specifics on what improvements he would support. Michelin of the retailers association senses change in the air. I think were going to see a new public safety committee chair, she said of the Assembly. Im pretty confident were going to see some changes on the Public Safety Committee. Jones-Sawyer has every right as a legislator to vote against every stiffer sentencing proposal, even when it is designed to promote treatment over jail. But neither he as chairman, nor any committee majority, should kill reforms again and again that have the majority support of the broader Legislature. This committee needs new leadership. That is now up to Rivas. California Democrats have lots to deal with as they head into 2024 an open U.S. Senate seat, deep divisions over the Israel-Hamas war, a debate over reparations for Black residents. All of those issues most notably protests over the war dominated the partys weekend Endorsing Convention in Sacramento. But in the background, a handful of hopefuls were eyeing 2026, laying the groundwork to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom. Most voters have yet to focus on the 2024 presidential election, much less who will succeed the two-term governor. But running a statewide campaign in one of the countrys most expensive media markets means candidates must start raising money and courting supporters years before their names appear on California ballots. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Controller Betty Yee announced their bids for governor earlier in the year. Attorney General Rob Bonta and outgoing Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins have publicly stated they are seriously considering campaigns of their own. Atkins told the Associated Press about her interest just days before the convention. California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis hugs a supporter at the California Democratic Party fall endorsing convention on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, at SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento. Kounalakis is running to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026. Convention campaigning Atkins, Kounalakis and Thurmond all used the convention as an opportunity to showcase themselves for party activists. Kounalakis who announced her candidacy in April, less than four months after Newsom took the oath for his second term hosted a welcome reception on Friday night. She took photos with supporters, chatted with young Democrats and used the occasion to remember the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose 1992 election marked Kounalakiss first foray into politics. In many ways, our party and our progressive values and the things that we fight for, theyve hit a point where they sort of passed by Diannes platform that she originally ran on, Kounalakis said. And we know that. But I truly hope that she will be remembered for some of these incredible things she did breaking glass ceilings in an entirely mans world again and again. Atkins circulated through various events on Friday, including her own Party for Progress, which she hosted with Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. The legislative leaders packed the Park Ultra Lounge, where Atkins kept the focus on 2024 as her fellow lawmakers enjoyed drinks and appetizers. Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins, D-San Diego, speaks to the labor caucus at the California Democratic Party fall endorsing convention on Friday. Every year we say the stakes are high and elections and races are important, but this next year, I think our democracy is at stake, she told the crowd. And that overrides everything else, because the foundation of who we are as a people in this country and in this state is built on democratic principles and democracy. Outside the party, Atkins said she is considering a run for governor because she loves her work and has more to offer as a public servant once she terms out of the Legislature next year. Governors work with legislators to get things done, she said. Ive done the policy work, Ive done the budget work. And it really is a unique experience to be able to work with those different parties the speaker, the pro tem, the governor. I feel like Ive got experience with each. And for me, experience matters. The next day, Atkins released a campaign ad-style video with her personal story and messages from party notables, including Planned Parenthood Action California CEO Jodi Hicks and labor leader Dolores Huerta. California Gov. Gavin Newsom greets students with state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, left, at River City High School in West Sacramento on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. Thurmond is running to succeed Newsom in 2026. Winning over delegates Ahead of the convention, Thurmonds campaign sent out an email touting his appearance at a July Chino Valley Unified School District board meeting, where he spoke against a now-halted policy forcing employees to out transgender students to their parents. Security officers ejected Thurmond from the meeting, which he highlighted in his message. As governor, Ill go toe to toe with this growing extremism and fight for a California where everyone can live freely and safely, the email said. Thurmond faces an uphill battle when it comes to fundraising. Kounalakis, Atkins and Bonta had millions of dollars in various campaign accounts as of the last filing period this summer, according to the Secretary of States Office. Thurmond had closer to hundreds of thousands of dollars in his campaign accounts as of early November. The superintendent made the most of the weekend. He addressed the convention floor on Saturday and maintained a campaign booth in the exhibit hall. The response of delegates to my candidacy has been so positive and so encouraging, Thurmond said. I cant get anywhere without being stopped by delegates who say, We support you. Please run, make our state better. When asked what distinguishes him from the rest of the growing field, the superintendent had a response similar to the one Atkins shared. For me, this always comes down to experience, Thurmond said. Ive been elected for 15 years at every level of government: city council, school board, state Assembly and two times the state superintendent. And then 20 years working in the nonprofit sector building housing for homeless youth, building affordable housing. Party leaders undecided Some Democrats are not seeing a lot to get enthusiastic about at this point in the race. Gubernatorial candidates may be ready to make their case to voters, but party leaders are focused on the 2024 elections and other pressing issues. Right now, the truth is, Im not over-the-top excited about anyone, said Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, chair of the California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus. Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, chair of the Progressive Caucus, talks at the California Democratic Party state endorsing convention on Friday. She wants to see more from candidates before she can back someone for governor. For me to get behind a candidate, I would want them to demand a cease-fire and an end to all killing, she said. I would want them to come on strong for single-payer health care, for not taking corporate money. Those are the kind of candidates Im going to get behind. Kendra Lewis, chair of the California Democratic Black Caucus, said Black voters are currently focused on the Senate race and U.S. Rep. Barbara Lees candidacy. The push for reparations is also important to Black Californians, Lewis said. The states reparations task force completed its work during the summer, and the Legislature will consider its recommendations and potential action starting in January. The next governor is someone were going to have to talk to about continuing the reparations work, Lewis said. That cant just die. The caucus was unable to hold its scheduled meeting on Saturday night after protesters shut down the convention. Typically, those gatherings are where candidates seek support, Lewis said. Without those conversations, she was not quite ready to get behind anyone. With Black California, our members really look at your legacy and your history, she said. When you come to the caucus, we want the receipts. What did you do in the Legislature that would affect us? Did you do any modern day harm? Thats really kind of how we would assess. Lewis said she is looking for people who are not status quo. I hope they dont start running next year and confuse the populace, she said. Let us get through 2024 before they start campaigning. Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas (Calif.) will not run for reelection in 2024 after nearly three decades in public service, according to the congressmans office. A staffer with Cardenass office confirmed a Los Angeles Times report on Monday about the California Democrats decision. Cardenas told the Times it will be the first time in 28 years he is not on a ballot or in office. The truth of the matter is I thought I could do this just for a few years Im just at the age where I have enough energy and experience to maybe do something [different] and have another chapter of a career where I dont have to go to Washington, D.C., 32 weeks out of the year, he told the Times. Cardenas, 60, was first elected to the U.S. House in 2013 to represent Californias 29th Congressional District, making him the first Latino elected to represent the San Fernando Valley. Cardenass district in deep blue California leans heavily toward Democrats with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report labeling it as a solid Democrat district with a rating of D+26. The seat will likely stay in Democrats hands, though it could be a crowded race. California State Assembly member Luz Rivass office confirmed to The Hill she plans to run to replace Cardenas, who has already endorsed the assembly member. Tony Cardenas has been a tireless voice for working families, children, and immigrants, Rivas said in a statement. He is a true visionary who championed green energy, justice reform, and animal rights long before these issues became popular. Cardenas sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where his efforts have focused on lowering prescription drug prices, protecting American consumers and combatting climate change, according to his office. His work has also focused on immigration reform, juvenile justice, protection of Americas youth and making the U.S economy stronger, his office said. Prior to his time in the U.S. House, Cardenas was elected in 1996 to the California State Assembly, where he served three terms. He was later elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2003. In 2020, Cardenas launched an unsuccessful bid for to chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Shortly after he announced his second run for the job in 2022, House Democrats voted to make the DCCC chair an appointed position. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) tapped Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) for the role after both Cardenas and Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) threw their hats into the ring. Jeffries on Monday applauded Cardenass work in the House and wished the California lawmaker well in his next chapter. While Tony is the first Latino to represent the San Fernando Valley, he has made it his mission not to be the last, Jeffries wrote in a statement. As a leader within the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, hes been instrumental in increasing the number of Latinos serving in Congress to a record level. Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) added that the House Democratic Caucus is grateful for Cardenass dedicated service and friendship. The first Latino Member of Congress elected to represent the San Fernando Valley, Congressman Tony Cardenas has led a career defined by trailblazing vision, grit, and devotion to his constituents, Clark wrote in a statement Monday. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The leader of the California State Lottery, which administers lotto games and raises money for public education, will step down from his role next month. Lottery Director Alva Johnson gave his two weeks notice by email late Friday night. I am writing to share with you that I have accepted a new position, and that my last day with the California Lottery will be Friday, December 1st, Johnson wrote. After careful consideration, this was an opportunity I could not pass up as it was the best thing for my family and me. Johnsons email said Gov. Gavin Newsoms office was currently reviewing options and intends to name a new director in a week or two. The governors office Monday did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Becker confirmed Johnsons last day would be Dec. 1, although she said she did not know details about his new job opportunity. Johnson, a former tribal lobbyist, guided the department through the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden transition to telework. The department also saw record-breaking sales revenues during his tenure, according to lottery news releases and past year-end reports. When Johnson joined the department in 2019, after former director Hugo Lopez suddenly resigned, the lottery faced scrutiny from both the Department of Justice and the State Controllers Office. A 2018 whistleblower letter called out senior lottery staff for misbehaving at a Southern California piano bar after a sales conference two years earlier. That letter included photographs that had been posted online of managers carousing at the bar. A State Controllers Office audit later determined department officials inappropriately spent about $300,000 over four years on travel, food and accommodations for sales conferences. Soon after Johnsons arrival, the department embarked on a soul-searching campaign to redefine and codify its mission, vision and values. Johnsons departure letter encouraged staff to continue improving their communication and teamwork. If there is one thing I can impress on all of you in parting, it is to continue to communicate and work as a team, Johnsons departure email read. We will continue to succeed where we work together and keep our mission, vision, and core values in mind. Want state worker news in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletter using the module below or by emailing mmiller@sacbee.com. With Thanksgiving this week, we thought it would be a good occasion to round up a bunch of chardonnays we recently tasted. Last week we wrote about alternative choices for the holiday dinner, but chardonnay still remains one of our favorite white wines to serve with the traditional turkey meal. Chardonnay one of the most popular grape varieties worldwide enjoys a popularity based on a range of styles that appeal to a large swath of consumers. Chardonnay from Chablis, for instance, is lean and minerally. French burgundy is aromatic and often full-bodied. California chardonnays blessed with oak are often creamy and rich. Pick a style and enjoy. Here are some of our recent favorites: The Hilt Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay 2021 ($50). This extraordinary chardonnay has become a perennial favorite. One of the best in a flight of chardonnays we recently tasted, it deserves its price. Six months on the lees in stainless-steel tanks gives it a velvety texture. Great stone fruit and lemon custard aromatics are enveloped in a palate of ripe peaches and spice. Excellent balance and finish add to one of the most well-rounded chardonnays in this group. Mount Veeder Napa Valley Chardonnay 2021 ($50). Ripe apple and tropical fruit aromas with a pineapple flavor and a hint of vanilla. A great companion to fowl or fish. Joseph Drouhin Saint-Veran 2021 ($25). Dont overlook Burgundy for reasonably priced chardonnay. Those from the Maconnais and smaller villages can give you a lot of flavor for the money. We like them in general for their freshness and oak-avoidance that give them a clean palate feel. Henri Perrusset Macon-Farges Vielle Vignes 2019 ($25). The chardonnay from villages west of the Saone River are reasonably priced. Austere in scope with white peach, nutty and citrus notes, it has an interesting minerality that pairs well with fish. Trenel Macon Villages 2021 ($28). Simple yet long in the finish with citrus and tropical fruit notes. FEL Anderson Valley Chardonnay 2021 ($34). This producer forgoes the malolactic fermentation to keep the wine fresh and lively. It makes for a better match to food. Stone fruit aromas and citrus and melon flavors. Rams Gate Bucher Vineyard Chardonnay 2021 ($74). This is an absolutely stunning chardonnay for those consumers looking for something special to pair with the holiday dinner. Very rich and full-bodied on the palate, it exudes citrus notes, spice and tropical fruit flavors, a brush of oak and balanced acidity. Sonoma-Cutrer Dutton Ranch Chardonnay 2021 ($40). We havent found a better chardonnay for the price in a long time. Part of the producers Winemakers Release series, the chardonnay draws grapes from two vineyards of the respected Dutton Ranch, which is known for producing wines with robust flavors. The grapes were whole-cluster pressed to avoid bitter tannins from the skins and seeds. The wine is smooth with baked apple, peach flavors and hints of clove and vanilla. Its simply delicious. Landmark Overlook Chardonnay 2020 ($27). The price is reasonable for what you get here. Apples, pears and citrus notes abound in the nose and mouth with balanced acidity and lengthy finish. VML Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2021 ($37). Using grapes from four vineyards, seven diverse blocks and three different clones, VML has a complex and balanced chardonnay. The aromas are of freshly baked bread, vanilla and almond. Tropical and apple fruit dominate the palate. Gary Farrell Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2021 ($40). We loved this wine for its huge aromatics stone fruit and melon and its generous flavors citrus, nectarine and lots of roasted almonds. Rich and complex, its a good match to seafood dishes. Bread and Butter California Chardonnay 2021 ($16). A good value, this chardonnay from the broad California appellation delivers tropical fruit notes in a creamy envelope. Oak and vanilla add a nice touch. Ferrari Carano Tre Terre Chardonnay 2021 ($36). This tasty wine from the Russian River Valley shows off citrus and apple notes with a good dose of stone-fruit flavors and a hint of spice. Decoy Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2021 ($30). Apple and white peach flavors dominate this richly textured wine always a good value. Baileyana Edna Valley Chardonnay 2021 ($28). We were very pleased with this fairly priced chardonnay from a region cooled by ocean breezes. We loved the citrus, stone fruit aromas and ripe tropical fruit flavors. Very opulent and spiked with mineral and spice. Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay Sonoma County 2022 ($27). A classically styled California chardonnay. Ripe tropical fruit and peach notes marry well with toasty oak elements and a creamy finish. Wine picks Chateau Ste Michelle Cold Creek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 ($40). This producer is a reliable mainstay in the vast Columbia Valley region of Washington. We hope the equity partners who bought it this year will not change the price-quality ratio for which it has been known. This sturdy cabernet is a prime example of what doesnt need changing. Concentrated dark fruit character with firm tannins. Chateau Ste Michell Artist Series Red Wine 2019 ($70). Beyond the beautiful label that showcases artist Jazz Brown is a wonderfully complex and rich blend of cabernet sauvignon (61%), merlot, malbec and cabernet franc. Well-structured with black cherry and plum notes and a hint of spice. True Myth Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 ($24). Ripe dark red fruit flavors with a hint of pepper and dark chocolate. Kirkland Barlo 2019 ($20). This isnt your classic, high-octane barolo that collectors will crow about, but it has a savory character hard to ignore. Medium-bodied with cherry and tobacco notes. Tom Marquardt and Patrick Darr have been writing a weekly, syndicated wine column since 1985. See their blog at moreaboutwine.com. They can be reached at marq1948@gmail.com. California manny gets life in prison for molesting 16 boys, one as young as 2 A self-proclaimed "manny" who served as a male nanny for families in Southern California will spend the rest of his life behind bars for sexually assaulting 16 boys in his care, according to a release from the district attorneys office. Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski, 34, of Costa Mesa, was sentenced Friday to 705 years to life plus two years and eight months for the sexual assaults and showing pornography to another young boy he intended to sexually assault. Zakrzewski filmed many of these sexual assaults, the district attorneys office said. The boys ages ranged between two and 12 years old. The crimes were committed between 2014 and 2019. Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski, 34, was convicted of 34 felonies for molesting 16 young boys, often filming the encounters, and showing pornography to a 17th. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 17 and could face life in prison. Laguna Beach police arrested Zakrzewski on May 17, 2019, at a local airport after he deplaned an international flight. After criminal charges were filed, authorities appealed to the public for help in locating other potential victims. Video evidence and tips from the public helped investigators identify additional victims and file additional charges against Zakrzewski. SEX-CRAZED PRISON GUARDS HELD JACUZZI ORGIES; 1 REFUSED TO WORK BEFORE INTERCOURSE: REPORT READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Zakrzewski had dubbed himself "the original Sitter Buddy" on the namesake website he helped create. The website offered to connect parents in Orange County with prospective caregivers. Zakrzewski characterized himself as a "manny" who offered mentorships, big brother relationships and overnight and vacation babysitting. He also specified that he was skilled with children with special needs and behavioral problems. "At a very early age, I discovered what a joy it was to work with children and be a positive impact in their lives through the Buddy Program at my middle school," read his profile, which has since been taken down from the site. "Now, Im a career manny and my 6+ years childcare experience spans from ages 3 months to 14, including special needs I think the reason I connect easily with kids is because I am not just there to supervise, I participate." A jury convicted Zakrzewski on 34 felonies. "This is a case of shattered innocence and precious childhoods that were robbed from 17 little boys. These children will never know the people they were truly intended to be because their childhoods were suddenly and inexplicably interrupted not by a wolf at the door, but by a predator masquerading as godsend," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. Fox News Digitals Christina Coulter contributed to this report. Original article source: California manny gets life in prison for molesting 16 boys, one as young as 2 Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed off on an ambitious plan to make a pre-kindergarten program available to Californias 4-year-olds for free. That effort, already underway, is an attempt to reduce learning disparities and improve outcomes for the states children. Education officials and close observers, however, are still grappling with essential questions: Just how effective is the program, known as transitional kindergarten, or TK, and for which children is it most beneficial? Researchers at the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank, explored an early version of the program in the state in a recent study. Transitional kindergarten has been available for a decade in California, on a more limited basis. The researchers found the pre-expansion version of transitional kindergarten led to earlier identifications of students with special education needs and those who were growing up learning a language other than English. At the same time, they discovered the program did not appear to improve test results for students in third and fourth grades more than other pre-kindergarten options. Nonetheless, transitional kindergarten has support among education experts who urged caution against reading too much into the PPIC report. Major shifts in the program have occurred in the years after the period studied, they noted. It also only involved five large districts in the state and the tests were taken years after the students left transitional kindergarten. Beyond that, childhood development cant just be measured by test scores alone. Gov. Gavin Newsom, joined by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and a transitional kindergarten student peek at each other through plastic educational toys in August at Miwok Village Elementary School in Elk Grove, during an event to highlight the states plans to increase culturally competent instruction, nutrition initiatives, health care, counseling and before- and after-school programs. The PPIC authors also said their findings werent a sign that the program wasnt helping students. Still, the results not only raise some questions about the effectiveness of transitional kindergarten in California but also highlight another concern: Despite pledging to spend several billion dollars to expand the program, the state currently has no plans to formally evaluate its benefits before it becomes available to all 4-year-olds by the 2025-26 school year. H. Alix Gallagher, director of strategic partnerships for Policy Analysis for California Education, a non-partisan research center, points to other unknowns. What do we mean when we say TK? Gallagher asked. Because its not all the same, at all. For example, Gallagher added, districts can offer either half or full day instruction and be called transitional kindergarten. The benefits and experiences of each for students might not be the same. And the data collected by the state does not distinguish between those two options. We need more information about what kids are getting in TK, Gallagher said, in order to understand what program features are effective. Sarah Neville-Morgan, a deputy superintendent of public instruction for the California Department of Education, said the research from the PPIC and others helps the department refine and improve. Next year, the agency plans to release standards for transitional kindergarten that will identify skills children can develop while in it. As for evaluating the program, Neville-Morgan said that is hard to do while it is still being rolled out. You actually have to wait until things are stable, fully implemented, she said, to be able to look at true effectiveness. Catching up Research has shown that early childhood education programs benefit students in the classroom and beyond. One study found California students who attended an early version of transitional kindergarten entered kindergarten with stronger math and literacy skills than those who didnt. Less is known about the programs longer-term benefits. Head Start, which is federally funded, and the California State Preschool Program are among other pre-kindergarten options. Like those, transitional kindergarten is not mandatory. It is, however, the only program that will be available and free for all 4-year-olds. One benefit of funding the program is that it provides access to a preschool option in every corner of the state, said Jessica Holmes, a chief deputy executive director with the State Board of Education, in an emailed statement. Elementary or unified school districts must offer transitional kindergarten. While not every community has a Head Start or State Preschool program, they all have public schools and options to meet their needs. Deborah Stipek, an professor emerita at Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Education, said the program is still developing and may look different once it is fully implemented. In a way, Stipek said, we created TK and now were catching up with all the policies that are needed to make it work effectively. The current expansion concerns Bruce Fuller, a professor at the University of California, Berkeleys School of Education. We dont have real-time evidence as to whether this spending is really paying off for kids, Fuller said. That includes knowing more about how transitional kindergarten compares with other subsidized preschool options. Given the scope, Fuller said, its shocking that the administration is not carefully trying to commission an evaluation to see if there are short-term and immediate-term benefits to 4-year-olds. Holmes said the state is reviewing the transitional kindergarten program, and other preschool options, on an ongoing basis. State education and social services agencies have formed a group of experts to analyze the quality of and access to all of the states preschool options, she added, including transitional kindergarten. The group plans to provide recommendations to the Legislature and Governors Office by March, Holmes said. Neville-Morgan, from the education department, said the agency is hoping a long-term study of the program will eventually occur. It would have to happen through the budget process, she said, and that isnt something that we have right now. In the meantime, ELeva Gibson, an assistant superintendent for early learning and care at the Sacramento City Unified School District, is looking for more information. While calling transitional kindergarten a wonderful thing Gibson also wants to know how to make it better and how to best measure students progress once they leave the program. How are we ensuring that what were doing is going to lead to improving outcomes? Gibson asked. The answer to that question is still in the works while hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars continue to be spent. (BCN) Hundreds of scientists working for the state of California to protect water supplies, respond to oil spills, study wildlife and track foodborne outbreaks marched in Sacramento Wednesday in whats being called the first-ever strike by state civil servants. Wednesday was the first day of a three-day Defiance for Science rolling strike by more than 4,000 rank-and-file state scientists, who are seeking to close pay gaps with their counterparts in local, federal and other parts of state government. Rosalynn Carter, outspoken former first lady, dead at 96 This is something that needed to happen. And its unfortunate that the state put us in this position, recently-elected union president Jacqueline Tkac, 29, a state scientist who works on water quality in the Central Coast, said over the din of chants and rattles. We want equal pay for equal work. Many of the workers picketing at the headquarters of the California Environmental Protection Agency carried signs reminding Californians what they do behind-the-scenes: I am a scientist and I give you safe food, read one. No science? No salmon! Others called for the Newsom administration to Smash the sexist gender pay gap! The strike comes after more than three years of negotiations between the California Department of Human Resources and the California Association of Professional Scientists union, which represents about 5,600 hundred state scientists, including about 4,600 that are subject to collective bargaining, according to union spokesperson Jon Ortiz. Their contract expired in 2020. Last week, the California Department of Human Resources filed an Unfair Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Board, seeking to quash the strike, according to a document shared with CalMatters. These antics smack of an illegal pressure tactic, the human resources department said in the charge, calling the strike unlawful because the evidence shows it is actually an economic strike for the sole purpose of placing undue pressure on the state at the bargaining table. The governors office routed CalMatters questions to the human resources department. Camille Travis, the departments deputy director of communications, said the state will continue to bargain in good faith and work with the union to reach a fair agreement. Suspects kidnap Amazon delivery driver in San Ramon, force him to withdraw cash: police She said the state has taken steps to ensure that service to the public continues with as little disruption as possible during the strike. The state views the strike activity with disappointment, Travis said. (The union) sought mediation and then called for a three-day rolling strike before mediation concluded. In 2020, members of Gov. Gavin Newsoms cabinet warned the human resources agency that scientists in their agencies were dramatically underpaid. Environmental scientists, in particular, earned less than the market average that year, though other positions earned more. One of the unions major concerns is that scientists make considerably less than engineers, even though they both require specialized expertise and education and at times do similar work. Full-time, rank-and-file state scientists on average earned about $83,586 in 2020, 27 percent less than state engineers, who earned an average of $114,012, according to a state assessment published last year. About half of state scientists are women, while more than three-quarters of state engineers are men. (No other gender options were included in the states data.) At the strike, scientists working for state water agencies, the public health department, pesticide regulators and more described the economic pressures they face in their daily lives. Union president Tkac teared up when she recounted having to ask her boyfriend for help to buy a plane ticket to visit her father with cancer. Im 29 years old, I thought that I would be past that. And its embarrassing, she said. Christina Burdi, who assesses how water use in California affects vulnerable species and ecosystems, works as a dog walker on the side so she can afford to live in Sacramento. One state scientist who asked that her name not be used because she was concerned about retaliation said with her current pay, she cant afford childcare for her kids as she juggles parenting and work for the states pesticide regulators, despite her PhD. She also said the lack of a fully-paid family leave program meant she was back at work part-time on a Monday, after giving birth on a Friday. Kaylynn Newhart, an environmental scientist who has worked for the state for more than 30 years and hopes to retire soon, said she lives paycheck-to-paycheck and doubts shell be able to stay in California after she retires. Its definitely made it impossible to have that American dream, said Newhart, who monitors water for pesticide contamination. One dead in Oakland after vehicle overturns along I-580 Many said they were concerned about going three days without pay during the strike because, according to Ortiz, they cannot use vacation time or sick leave. We worry about what were gonna buy for groceries, said Brandon Adcock, who investigates foodborne illness outbreaks and contamination at a state agency. Some carried babies on shoulders or pushed them sleeping through the din in strollers as marching workers chanted: Lead with science, its not too late! Copyright 2023 Bay City News, Inc. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. A beloved Chicago seafood restaurant is serving its smoked fish and shrimp in time for the holidays after passing its latest health inspection. The Chicago Department of Public Health ordered Calumet Fisheries, located at 3259 E. 95th St., to close Oct. 31 after health inspectors found evidence of rodents. It failed another inspection a week later after officials found about 150 mice or rat droppings in the basement and in a storage area, according to public health data. But it passed its Friday inspection, something co-owner Mark Kotlick said hes real happy about. Kotlick said they reopened Saturday morning after spending the previous day preparing smoked fish for customers. Im just glad its all over with and hope it never happens again, he said. Kotlick said he made some improvements to the store to correct the violations, including calling an exterminator, repairing the floor and repainting. He said hes frustrated the city ordered them to close in the first place, calling some of the reasons BS and not a health problem. Im not saying that we didnt need to do some stuff, but we certainly didnt need to shut down while we did it, he said. We lost three weeks worth of sales and quite a bit of money. The restaurant was initially cited for about a dozen other minor facility issues, such as leaky faucets and damaged floor tiles. But Kotlick said hes encouraged by the positive feedback he has received from customers and employees. It really says something about your food and your employees when customers are so excited to come back after what you went through. This was a comment from one of my many customers, Kotlick said. Calumet Fisheries is known for its smoked and fried seafood, dished out since 1948. Its housed inside a tiny building with no dining room. It won an Americas Classics Award from the James Beard Foundation in 2010. Vice President Kamala Harris made an impromptu visit to the restaurant in January, ordering pepper garlic trout, smoked salmon and more. Anthony Bourdain also stopped by in 2009 for his show No Reservations on the Travel Channel. rjohnson@chicagotribune.com EV startup Canoo continues to focus on commercial orders for its vans, while also revealing a four-door pickup dubbed American Bulldog. The company's financial picture remains precarious, with significant expenditures in 2023 as it works to increase production. Canoo will soon face a greater number of competitors in the passenger and commercial van segments, as new models arrive. Canoo's futuristic electric van was first revealed in 2019, promising an innovative design along with an electric powertrain and a cavernous interioringredients that seemed to speak to a segment of the van-life crowd. Since that time, as it has inched closer to something resembling volume production, Canoo has reoriented itself from potential retail customers to commercial orders. The latest such order was revealed a few days ago, with Prime Time Shuttle set to purchase up to 550 Canoo Lifestyle Vehicles. The LVs will be used as shuttles in the Los Angeles area, though in the longer term the company hopes to use them outside of LA as well. Just a few days ago Canoo also said it has received an EPA permit for its assembly site in Oklahoma City and has delivered its first Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle (LDV) to the state, part of an order of some 1000 units. The startup is now in the process of hiring working for its production facility in the state. However, Canoo's finances remain precarious. Canoo The startup posted a loss of $112 million in the third quarter of this year, with $8.3 million in cash and equivalents remaining at the end of September. For the first nine months of 2023 Canoo posted a loss of $273.6 million, along with revenue of just $519,000. "We are now in our manufacturing and revenue-generation phase, while we still have things left to prove. We have worked nearly three years to get to this point," said Tony Aquila, investor, executive chairman, and CEO of Canoo. Just days ago Canoo also revealed a four-door pickup version of its van vaguely resembling a VW DoKa, dubbed American Bulldog, eager to capitalize on the EV pickup craze currently gathering momentum in the market. The truck itself is based on the Screaming Eagle prototypes delivered to the US military for testing in 2022. But the company has not made any estimates of production timelines or pricing. The highest-profile news from the company this year was perhaps the reveal of Crew Transport Vehicles for NASA's Artemis program. The first flight has been scheduled for November 2024, with the electric shuttles set play the role of Airstream motorhomes that had taken shuttle astronauts to the launch pad in the past. While that piece of news may have been the high point of Canoo's year in terms of publicity, it also underscored just how much the startup is still relying on niche orders from commercial customers that are far from being completed. In some ways it also reflects the typical problems experienced by EV startups whose future products were revealed in concept form in one economic and consumer landscape, but arrived on sale in a markedly different one, facing challengers from established automakers. And as other startups with long product gestation periods, it is also seeing the EV market evolve faster than it can deliver its promised goods. In 2024 Canoo will face some direct competition from Volkswagen when the ID. Buzz arrives on sale in the US after a long development cycle. Canoo's commercial vans, meanwhile, will also see competition from Rivian and BrightDrop's delivery vans. In the face of this competition, it's prudent to ask just how Canoo hopes to set itself apart in the coming years from much larger challengers, as commercial and private customers alike become more interested in price points and dealer support rather than innovation. Will demand for electric vans grow in the coming years, or are most buyers still focused on crossovers and SUVs? Let us know in the comments below. Rapper and actress Cardi B declined to lend her endorsement to President Bidens 2024 reelection effort, noting New York Citys recent public service cuts and the country providing resources to Israel and Ukraine. In an Instagram Live on Saturday, the Bronx-born emcee who endorsed Biden in 2020 contrasted budget cuts in her hometown with the U.S. providing aid for war efforts in Ukraine and Israel. New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) announced a sweeping budget cut last week across all city agencies and departments including city schools, public libraries, police, and sanitation departments. The city said the reasoning behind the budget cuts was due to the ongoing migrant crisis in the city. In New York there is a $120 million budget cut. Theres a $120 million budget cut in New York that is going to affect schools, public libraries, and the police department. You know I dont give a f about the cops, but like, it is what it is, the rapper, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar Cephus, said during her Instagram Live. Theres going to be a $120 million budget cut with schools, with the libraries and the cops and the police department, and a $5 million budget cut in sanitation. Were going to be drowning with rats. Were going to be drowning in fing rats. So we are going to be having our budget cut on this shit, Cardi B said. New York City officials have said the citys Education Department would be cut by $547 million this fiscal year and $600 million next year, according to The New York Times. Cardi B also called out the Biden administration, questioning how the U.S. can send aid to fund two wars while New York City departments and agencies lost their budget. Im not endorsing no fing presidents no more, because how is there a $100 million budget cut in New York City for fing schools, library, police safety, and sanitation? Cardi B said. Yet, Joe Biden is talking about like, Yeah, we could fund two wars. We could fund two wars. Motherfer is talking about, We dont got it, but we got it, and were the greatest nation. No the f were not! Were going through some shit right now! she continued. Cardi Bs comments come as Biden has lost ground with young voters in some recent polling, and as he has faced backlash from young Americans and activists over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Both countries have been in wars in the past year, as Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel last month. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A federal appeals court panel appeared poised to significantly narrow a gag order imposed against Donald Trump by the judge presiding over his Washington, D.C. criminal trial. The three-judge D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel raised concerns that the order which bars Trump from targeting witnesses, prosecutors and courthouse staff in the criminal case related to his effort to subvert the 2020 election created murky restrictions that stifled the former presidents right to push back against his detractors, particularly in the heat of a presidential campaign. Judge Patricia Millett, an appointee of President Barack Obama, suggested the gag order could amount to a straitjacket for Trump if his prosecution became the focus of attacks during a presidential debate. He has to speak Miss Manners while everyone else is throwing targets at him? Millett said skeptically during a two-hour oral argument at the federal courthouse in Washington. It would be really hard in a debate, when everyone else is going at you full bore. Your attorneys would have to have scripted little things you can say. Its not how I want my children to speak, Millett added of Trumps rhetoric, but thats really not the question. Another appeals judge, Nina Pillard, suggested on at least five occasions that the trial judges order goes too far by appearing to bar Trump from making hostile comments about individuals in the public eye who could be witnesses in the case. Pillard said she doubted figures like former Vice President Mike Pence, former Attorney General Bill Barr or former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Mark Milley were likely to change their stories based on Trumps invective or even based on more direct threats or attacks that might flow from them. I would assume that their testimony would not be affected, said Pillard, also an Obama appointee. Despite the panels concerns with the breadth of the gag order, imposed last month by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, the appeals judges nevertheless seemed prepared to endorse a narrower version of it, agreeing with prosecutors that Trump shouldnt have carte blanche to make statements that could intimidate witnesses or threaten the integrity of the proceedings. We have to use a careful scalpel here, Millett said. Its unclear whether the appeals court panel intends to rewrite the gag order itself or send it back to Chutkan with new instructions. The timeline for action is also unclear. The panel took up the case on an emergency basis, but it often takes weeks or months for an appeals court panel to rule on complex issues of law. And the panel is likely not the final word: The losing side may appeal the panels decision to the full bench of the appeals court or the Supreme Court. Both Millett and Pillard suggested that Trumps attorneys gave too little weight to Chutkans responsibility to protect the trial. And the appeals panels third judge, Bradley Garcia, an appointee of President Joe Biden, noted that Chutkan had issued the gag order after holding a detailed hearing on the matter and gathering voluminous facts to support her decision. Chutkan issued the order on Oct. 16, but its not currently in effect because the appeals court panel suspended it while the panel considers the matter. Chutkan imposed the gag order to constrain Trumps inflammatory rhetoric, saying his attacks on prosecutors and potential witnesses posed a threat to the administration of justice and risked stoking threats against people involved in the case. Trump is set to go on trial March 4 on charges that he committed multiple conspiracies to derail the transfer of power in a bid to remain president despite losing the 2020 election. On Monday, at a federal courthouse steps from the Capitol, special counsel Jack Smith under guard by deputy U.S. marshals watched as one of his prosecutors, Cecil VanDevender, argued for the reinstatement of the gag order. In her order, Chutkan barred Trump from targeting potential witnesses or referencing the subject of their testimony. She also forbade Trump from going after prosecutors by name, while permitting him to make broader attacks on the Biden administration and the Justice Department. And the Obama-appointed judge also barred Trump from attacking court personnel. After the panel suspended the gag order while it hears Trumps appeal, Trump used the interim to resume his attacks on Smiths team and even on Smiths family members as well as potential witnesses. Pillard seemed to concur with Trump lawyers arguments that language in the gag order prohibiting their client from targeting prosecutors, jurors and witnesses was vague. Targeting does raise a little bit of unclarity, she said. The appeals court judges sharply criticized Trumps position that virtually any restriction on his ability to discuss the case publicly would be a violation of his First Amendment free speech rights. But they seemed at times to be equally confounded by prosecutors efforts to draw lines about which aspects of Trumps speech were acceptable and which werent. At one point, to the judges consternation, VanDevender said Trumps description of a prospective witness as a liar would be impermissible, but he could describe the same witness as someone who tells untruths. I know thats a little bit of a fine line, VanDevender said. The judges also seemed perplexed by the orders prohibition on statements that target Smith himself or even the line prosecutors who work for him. Many of those attorneys may be public figures in their own right and represent the government the same way Smith does, they noted. In an apparent concession, VanDevender told the judges that Smith was not asking to be personally protected from criticism by Trump. The judges didnt dwell on the question of whether its proper to consider Trumps political role when making decisions related to his criminal case, but Millett pressed Trumps attorney, John Sauer, about whether he would be making these arguments if Trump were not a candidate for president. Its still unconstitutional, Sauer said of the gag order. The campaign adds an additional, but still-powerful, reason. On several occasions during Mondays arguments in the large ceremonial courtroom, Millett raised her voice in frustration at lawyers for both sides. She also briefly buried her head in her hands late in the court session. Prosecutors cast the gag order as an urgent constraint on Trumps ability to intimidate or threaten witnesses. They say he knowingly stokes violent supporters to act against his perceived adversaries and has overtly attempted to silence key witnesses like his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows messages that could also chill the testimony of less powerful figures. They cited his August social media post If you go after me, Im coming after you as well as his targeted attacks on Meadows, Pence and Milley, all potential witnesses in the case. In September, Trump accused Milley of treason and said he would have been put to death in an earlier era. Trump also repeatedly casts Smith as deranged and has attacked specific prosecutors in his office. Chutkan's directive is separate from a gag order a New York state judge issued against Trump last month, barring him from commenting publicly about the judge's principal law clerk or other court staff. That judge, Arthur Engoron, has been overseeing a lengthy bench trial in a civil case the New York attorney general filed targeting Trump's business empire over claims of pervasive fraud. Last week, a state appeals court judge temporarily lifted the gag order there. Trump responded by quickly taking to his social media site to fire off a new salvo against Engoron and his clerk. In Disney's 'Wish', King Magnifico -- voiced by Chris Pine -- is a seemingly benevolent sorcerer-monarch, with the power to grant the wishes of his subjects (Tiziana FABI) From Cruella de Vil to Scar, Disney has created many of cinema's most memorable villains -- but bombastic baddies have been notably absent from the studio's recent hits. In movies such as "Frozen 2" and "Raya and the Last Dragon," heroes have battled abstract enemies like mistrust and xenophobia rather than puppy-flaying prima donnas or regicidal uncles, leaving some fans disappointed. That is about to change with "Wish," an old-school animation out in theaters Wednesday, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of Disney with dozens of throwbacks to the studio's earliest films -- including their dastardly antagonists. "We hear what people are saying out there -- the fans are like, 'Just give us a villain! A real good old-fashioned villain!'" director Chris Buck told AFP. "And a good-looking villain!" added his fellow director Fawn Veerasunthorn. "Wish" follows the adventures of Asha, a plucky 17-year-old girl who unexpectedly finds herself pitted against the handsome, duplicitous King Magnifico. Magnifico -- voiced by Chris Pine -- is a seemingly benevolent sorcerer-monarch, with the power to grant the wishes of his subjects and those who travel to his Medieval realm from far and wide. But when Asha (Arianna DeBose) applies for a job as Magnifico's apprentice, she quickly learns that the king only grants wishes that suit his own selfish purposes. "He starts off charming," explains Veerasunthorn, but "we get to see the evolution of how he became the villain throughout the course of the story." For producers Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones, there is something "delicious" about watching a villain make all the wrong choices. "Disney villains are funny and fun, and they are over-the-top at times," said Reyes. "But also they have their reasons to be villainous. And the villain song! Who hasn't missed a villain song?" - 'Celebrate' - The movie, from the creators of "Frozen," was dreamt up as a way to celebrate Disney Animation's centenary. Early in the process, Buck and writer-producer Jennifer Lee sought inspiration by putting together a giant bulletin board with stills from all of the studio's previous films. They quickly realized that a common theme linking films from "Pinocchio" to "Moana" was characters wishing on stars. Visually, "Wish" uses a watercolor style reminiscent of the fairytale storybooks that originally inspired Walt Disney to make his first animated feature, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," back in 1937. Disney staples such as talking animals hark back to movies like "Pinocchio" and "Bambi." And when Asha makes a powerful wish of her own, she accidentally conjures to life an impish Star reminiscent of the earliest Disney character of them all -- Mickey Mouse. Directors Buck and Veerasunthorn encouraged crew across the various departments to suggest their own ways to honor Disney's legacy, and ended up having to create an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of all the references to previous films. "I don't know how many, but there's a list of all the nods that we have -- and it's a long list!" said Buck. The filmmakers even mined Walt Disney's childhood for inspiration. Researchers discovered that the studio's founder once dressed up animals in human clothes on the farm where he grew up. Accordingly, Asha is accompanied on her adventures by a pajama-wearing goat called Valentino. And then, of course there, is the villain, King Magnifico, who has obvious shades of the Wicked Queen from "Snow White," and Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty." "Certainly for this movie -- for the 100th anniversary -- it seemed great to celebrate that," said Del Vecho. amz/md In the past 16 years, thousands of dancers have passed through the doors of The Moving Company Dance Center in Cockeysville, and now they have a brand-new studio to call home just a couple doors down from their original space. A grand opening celebration was held on Nov. 12 to welcome current and former dancers to the new space, which features five stunning new studios. Under the direction of co-owners Dana Martin, who doubles as artistic director, and Lara Martin, director of operations, the studio has flourished in providing professional dance instruction for all ages and abilities in a warm and nourishing environment. The mother-daughter duo was honored earlier this year by the Baltimore Business Journal for one of the top 50 women-owned business in Baltimore, and the dance culture they have built at their studio is warm, inviting and fun. Along with its dedicated and talented staff, TMC Dance truly embraces the notion of challenging and supporting dancers to achieve both artistic and technical heights as well as a chance to experience, excel and enjoy dance on all levels. The Moving Company dancers often shine on at the next level, and recently Charlotte Bauermann was selected as a Maryland All-State dancer after a competitive nomination and audition process. Charlotte has also earned top honors at several national dance competitions including being awarded a college scholarship at the ASH Dance Nationals this past summer in Orlando, Florida. Another member of TMC Dance, Leah Kropp, was recently selected for The Kennedy Ballet and Contemporary Dance Masters Series. Congratulations on your accomplishments, Charlotte and Leah! In addition to typical dance offerings such as ballet, jazz, modern, tap, lyrical and hip-hop, TMC Dance has many fun and unique standalone events and classes. One upcoming is a master class with Samantha Harvey, a former Rockette, a pop-up acrobatic workshop and a hip-hop house class. Kitten Yoga is a perennial favorite and there are also classes for adults in ballet, jazz and tap along with one geared towards adults with disabilities. With the goal to foster a lifelong love and appreciation of dance, TMC Dance provides many opportunities to put that statement into practice. Several TMC Dance students auditioned and were selected to perform at the Hippodrome Theater this holiday season in the production of the Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet and another opportunity to see The Moving Company Ensemble dancers includes the Festival of the Trees on November 25, the annual holiday celebration held at the Maryland Fairground that benefits the Kennedy Kreiger Institute. Additionally, the inaugural TMC Ensemble Gala, which will be held in the new studios next Jan. 6 will showcase the talents of the studios dancers. For more information on any of the programs and events at TMC Dance, visit their website at tmcdance.com. CARLINVILLE, Ill. Illinois State Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting. A Carlinville officer shot someone who pointed a gun at him during a traffic stop Sunday. The person was flown to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Deadly shooting on Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge Sunday A Carlinville officer pulled a vehicle that was reported stolen over in the 20700 block of North Broad Street around 6:15 p.m. The police say the person in the car pointed a gun at the officer, and the officer shot the suspect. First responders took the person to the hospital to be treated for the gunshot wounds. The Carlinville officer was not injured in the incident. Illinois State Police say that there is an active investigation into the shooting. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. By now it should be no surprise that droves of travelers will be taking a Washington state ferry over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday weekend to visit friends, family, and maybe even their grandmothers house. Officials with Washington State Ferries expect nearly 300,000 people to board the vessels from Wednesday through Sunday. Not only should travelers expect long vehicle lines but also last-minute changes to schedules. And if you take the Edmonds-Kingston route, you should plan on continued one-boat service due to a lack of available ferries. For those driving a vehicle onto a ferry, the busiest sailings will likely be westbound (or onto an island) Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 22 to 23, and then eastbound (or off island) Friday and Saturday, Nov. 24 to 25, according to WSF. Riders who want to cut down on wait times might want to consider taking an early-morning or late-night sailing, or walking or biking onto a ferry instead. Holiday schedule changes On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, there will be a few schedule changes for the Mukilteo-Clinton and Point Defiance-Tahlequah routes. The Seattle-Bainbridge route will operate on a Saturday schedule and the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route will run on two-boat weekday schedules. Travelers can use the WSDOT mobile app to get service updates and check real-time conditions. The salvage of the Susan Rose, the fishing boat that ran aground in Point Pleasant Beach, was going as planned early Sunday when water started coursing into the 48-year-old commercial trawler with eight crew members on board, the salvage company owner said. The boat ended up sinking about a half mile offshore during the salvage operation. It was a hairy moment for the salvage crew. But they got off the 77-foot vessel safely before the boat became submerged in about 48 feet of water, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew West said. The boat's life raft, equipped with a hydrostatic release unit, was still moored to the boat and floating on the water, serving as a warning buoy Sunday. Broadcasts have been warning boaters to steer clear of the area, West said. One passing boat got caught in the Susan Rose's fishing lines, but the problem was resolved, West said. Northstar Marine Services of Cape May County was handling the salvage operation. A tug boat was hauling the trawler to a shipyard in Tottenville in Staten Island where it was due to be lifted out of the water. Phillip Risko, Northstar's owner, described for the Asbury Park Press the moments leading up to Susan Rose's disappearance beneath the surface. "We rigged it, took the fuel off of it, had pumps on board and a whole crew of people. It usually takes a couple of tide cycles to get the boat turned around heading in the right direction, which of course we did," Risko said. "And then finally, we were able to refloat it." Then the crew went below and examined the engine room and the main compartment, he said. The Susan Rose gets battered by waves after it beached in Point Pleasant Beach just south of the Manasquan Inlet Friday morning, November 17, 2023. "They didn't see any flooding or anything. We had the pumps prepared, but didn't use them. And then minutes later, something failed some sort of catastrophic failure. And we're not sure what it was," Risko said. "Normally, you'd have some warning and we'd start the pumps. But we didn't have time to do that. It was instantaneous." Water poured into the boat and it started listing when Northstar's crew abandoned the vessel, he said. There wasn't much more to do than take it further away from shore so it didn't interfere with marine traffic, Risko said. In the coming days, Risko will be talking to the boat's owner to discuss next steps. "We have to figure out whether it's going to be picked up and moved, or refloated or exactly what's going to happen, and figure out why it sank, of course, and then come up with a plan," he said. "It's a bit of a challenge." More: Rough waters slow search for capsized Manasquan Inlet boater; 'time and space' sought The Susan Rose is made of steel. "Fiberglass and wood boats don't weigh a lot under water, but steel boats weigh about as much as they do above water," he said. Risko suspects the hull of the boat was damaged because the trawler suffered a vicious pounding from the waves after it ran aground. About 5 a.m. Friday, the Coast Guard received an emergency message about the grounding, West said. The Susan Rose was approaching the Manasquan Inlet but instead of entering it, the boat came ashore at the north end of Point Pleasant Beach, a witness told the Asbury Park Press. All four members of the boat's crew were safely removed from the vessel by the Point Pleasant Beach Fire Department, West said. The home port of the Susan Rose is Port Judith in Rhode Island, according to both MarineTraffic.com, which monitors boat traffic, and commercial fishermen from the Point Pleasant Fishermen's Cooperative Dock. Capt. Jim Lovgren, who sits on the co-op's executive board, said the boat is part of The Town Dock fleet in Narragansett and is here in New Jersey fishing for sea bass and fluke. It had been delivering its catch to the co-op dock. Risko said there was no catch on board when the Susan Rose ran aground. Ken Serrano covers breaking news, crime and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or at kserrano@gannettnj.com. This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: 'Catastrophic failure': Salvage crew barely escapes sinking of trawler The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had spent days on television and social media urging Americans to get the updated coronavirus vaccine. The new shot is the most effective protection for the looming virus season, she said. And its free. But by the afternoon of Sept. 21, it was becoming clear to Mandy Cohen that the nine-day-old vaccine rollout was stumbling, with many Americans unable to promptly get shots at pharmacies, insurers making erroneous claims about who would have to pay, and little explanation from the government. Cohen ducked into a small basement conference room at the embattled agencys headquarters for an update. Across the table, Nirav Shah, the CDCs principal deputy director, laid out several insurance and supply chain issues. The federal government was no longer overseeing the manufacturing and distribution of vaccines now that the covid public health emergency has ended, so the CDC had much less control over the rollout, he explained. Cohen frowned. She wanted to publicly address the delays right away. If we dont say something, it makes it seem like were not paying attention, she told Shah. I dont want to say supply chain. I want to say real words. The next day, Cohen recorded a short video acknowledging the problems. Its important to know that there is vaccine available. You will be able to get one and it should be free for you. Whether or not you have insurance, she said in the message, posted on Twitter. If youve had a problem finding the vaccine, stick with it. CDC Director Mandy Cohen does a television interview while visiting Vida Senior Centers in Washington, D.C., in September. The exchange illustrates Cohens approach to leading the once-vaunted public health agency as it tries to recapture public trust battered by its missteps during the coronavirus pandemic. While the rollout for the updated vaccine has improved in recent weeks, uptake remains slow, and some Americans are still having difficulty finding shots dimming a moment Cohen and her colleagues had hoped would showcase her ability to rebuild confidence in the agency. The Washington Post attended public and private meetings over three days with Cohen in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., in September and spoke with three dozen agency officials, Biden administration leaders and public health experts to discuss her early tenure. The snapshot that emerged captures someone who acts quickly and decisively, sometimes at odds with long-standing CDC tradition and engendering frustration among staffers who say her expediency has at times led to confusion and redundant work. Shortly after arriving as an outsider to lead the agency, she sent senior officials a Mandy Cohen User Guide, a two-page document of bullet points detailing the most productive user experience using me. Cohen, a physician and the former North Carolina health secretary, does not like surprises or meandering meetings, the guide warns. She wants to be kept in the loop with frequent, SHORT updates by email. Otherwise, the guide says, I (often wrongly) assume nothing is happening. Several senior officials said they appreciated her candor and readily responded when Cohen asked them to fill out a similar document. But their forms included an assessment of their weaknesses, a category they noted Cohens user guide omitted. Installed at the CDC by the White House in July, Cohen is tasked with restoring staff morale and public credibility at a time of extreme political divisions and fading trust in government and in science. The 12,000-person Atlanta-based agency has become a target in Congress and on the campaign trail: Republican presidential candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy have vowed to gut the CDC if elected next year, insisting that the agencys COVID-19 guidance was too cautious and led to unreasonably long school shutdowns, rising mental health woes and other social problems. We are at this post-COVID moment, where the imperative is rebuilding trust, said J. Stephen Morrison, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who co-authored a January report on much-needed changes at the CDC. He noted that Cohen faces extra demands heading into fall and winter, when respiratory illnesses like flu, COVID and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) tend to spike: Americans are wondering How should I behave? Where do I turn to try to minimize risk or severe illness or worse? The CDC, Morrison said, must be ready to provide answers. Shes the face of NCs fight against COVID-19. Meet Dr. Mandy Cohen, Tar Heel of the Year Prioritizing covid, flu and RSV When she took over in the summer, Cohen told senior leaders her foremost priority for the agency is to prepare for the respiratory virus season. Officials said they assumed that meant following well-established protocol of surveillance since there was no crisis with any of the now-familiar illnesses: flu, RSV and coronavirus. But Cohen wanted more. One month into the job, she overhauled the leadership of the center in charge of the agencys response to COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, a move she felt would help the CDC better stay atop the upcoming virus season. And shes prompted the agency to activate its second-highest level of emergency status to address current cases of flu, RSV and COVID-19 just one level down from the agency-wide mobilization at the height of the pandemic according to three senior officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal conversations. Longtime CDC officials are confused why the agency has taken such an aggressive posture with some staff tasked with focusing intensively on flu, RSV and COVID-19 on top of their day jobs given that none of the viruses has risen to the level of an emergency, said one official, adding that working around-the-clock ... scientifically may not make sense. Cohens prioritization of respiratory viruses has already led to resentment among some agency officials, who say they are concerned that overextended staff will burn out by the time a true emergency hits. Cohens decision to assign one of her deputies to work on COVID messaging also was seen by staff as duplicative and dismissive of their expertise, since another CDC team had already begun that work. I am asking the CDC to be different and the teams to be different. ... I think that is necessary, Cohen told The Post in response to the criticism. Part of being a leader is making sure you have the right people on the bus with you. CDC Director Mandy Cohen, center, talks to pharmacy workers and CVS executives during a visit to CVS Pharmacy on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, located on SW 40th Street in Miami. Cohen, 45, said government leaders should be biased toward action. She acknowledged some growing pains in her efforts to deliver one harmonized response to the three circulating respiratory viruses. Her urgency is driven by a growing public health problem: Many Americans tuned out the CDC during the pandemic. The agency was criticized for the botched rollout of coronavirus tests as the pandemic first menaced Americans in early 2020; was repeatedly mocked for slow and conflicting guidance on when to wear masks, isolate when sick and seek out booster shots; and it remains deeply distrusted by many parents, who blame the CDC for learning loss stemming from school shutdowns. Axios/Ipsos polling shows 86 percent of Americans in March 2020 said they trusted the CDC to provide them with accurate information about COVID-19. By February 2022, that had fallen to 61 percent. Cohen has tried to regain public confidence by traveling to health clinics, pharmacies and senior centers around the country urging people to get vaccinated against COVID, RSV and flu. This is the first time the nation has the tools to prevent severe illness from all three viruses, she says over and over again. She repeatedly cites the importance of vaccinating her young daughters and elderly parents with the latest shots targeting the constantly mutating coronavirus. Despite her efforts, uptake of the updated coronavirus vaccine has been low: Just 10 percent of adults and 4 percent of children had received the shot as of Nov. 8, according to CDC data. Navigating political pressures Since starting at the CDC, Cohen has been in perpetual motion ping-ponging between her familys home in Raleigh on the weekends, her apartment in Atlanta on weekdays and regular trips to Washington, D.C., to meet with Biden officials and members of Congress in her bid to build relationships with her worn-down staff as well as with fellow government officials who have long viewed the agency as aloof and disconnected. The CDC chief is especially conscious that she must win over the lawmakers and officials who can determine the agencys fate, after her predecessor Rochelle Walensky struggled to make inroads in Washington and ultimately lost the confidence of the White House. But unlike Walensky, a Harvard-trained infectious-disease expert with limited political experience, Cohen arrived at the CDC as a known figure to many in the Biden administration. As a senior Obama administration health official, she helped oversee Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Her longtime allies include Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy and White House senior health official Christen Linke Young. And her most important champion is White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, who played a central role in selecting her to run the CDC. But Cohens limited prior experience with the agency and reports that the White House previously considered her to run the Department of Health and Human Services, a Cabinet-level role has contributed to speculation that the new director is using her role as a steppingstone for higher ambitions. Cohen says she is 100 percent focused on CDC work and making sure the agency benefits from her previous experience leading crises in federal and state government. Dr. Mandy Cohen, then-Secretary of the NC Department Health and Human Services, speaks at one of her regular COVID-19 press briefings June 28, 2021 at the NC Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh. Cohen has also been trying to build bridges with congressional Republicans, who are pursuing multiple probes into the CDC over its response to the pandemic and other matters. Her allies insist Cohen is well-prepared for that challenge, saying shes battle-tested after navigating a GOP-led legislature in North Carolina for four years as the states top health official, steering the state through the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the top Republican on the Senate health committee that oversees the agency, credited Cohen with being more forthcoming and quicker to respond than prior CDC directors. She seems to understand what the problems are, said Cassidy, a physician who has repeatedly criticized the CDC over its lack of transparency and slow, research-oriented culture. Walensky had begun a dramatic overhaul of the agency last year, seeking faster release of scientific findings and easier-to-understand guidance, a more nimble and better-trained emergency response workforce, and incentives that would reward actions over publication of research papers. Cohen has embraced those core elements, which she reinforces with her staff every chance she gets. During a recent virtual meeting to tailor coronavirus vaccination messaging to physicians, Cohen pointed out staff presentations contained too much information. Messages must be short, concise, clear, factual, she told participants. For cardiologists, focus on heart-related complications from COVID, she directed. For pediatricians, let them know the ICU numbers for children hospitalized with covid-19 but who have no underlying medical conditions, she said. I want to make sure thats beaming off the page, Cohen said, her voice rising for emphasis, from her 12th-floor office overlooking the sprawling campus in suburban Atlanta. I worry with so much information that were not going to break through with a couple of key points. Yale, Harvard, Sen. Ted Kennedy: How Mandy Cohen prepared to handle a pandemic in NC Trying to win allies even with a song Everything, it seems for Cohen, rests on forging connections whether it is convincing more people to get vaccinated or rustling data from hospitals so the CDC can better track disease threats. When she recently met virtually with David J. Skorton, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, for the first time, Cohen delighted him by readily agreeing to sing the alma mater of Cornell University, where Skorton had served as president and Cohen received her bachelors degree. I was in the chorus, Cohen explained with a smile. Then she got down to business. We need to, for our country, have visibility in a way that allows us to know whats happening and how to respond well, Cohen told him. That means knowing how many folks are in the hospital, what their vaccine status is, what their race and ethnicity is, so we can have eyes on emerging patterns, she said. Skorton promised to encourage his associations 157 medical schools and 400 teaching hospitals and health systems to work with the CDC in its quest for comprehensive data. The previous day, Cohen had underscored the importance of collaboration in what she referred to as the team sport of public health at a conference in Atlantas Georgia Aquarium. As beluga whales flipped back and forth in a massive tank along the wall, she stressed the need to communicate often, in simple terms, then urged the crowd of largely young health professionals to follow me on Insta. Her CDC social media accounts feature Cohen visiting nursing homes to emphasize the importance of high-risk Americans getting vaccinated ahead of the holidays. Talking about vaccinations on Capitol Hill with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). Answering questions in the video Check-Ins with Dr. Cohen: When is the best time to get a flu shot? (Before the end of October). Can you get COVID and flu shots at the same time? (Yes.) In addition to focusing on the respiratory virus season, Cohen has selected two other public health priorities intended to be noncontroversial and relatable to average Americans and her GOP critics: opioid use and maternal and infant health. If she repeats herself enough times, using clear, concise language, she hopes more Americans will embrace her message. In a cavernous basement video studio, Cohen read from a teleprompter, urging pregnant people to get the new maternal vaccine to protect newborns against RSV. The words didnt sound right to her. The script referred to RSV season, but the average person doesnt know what that means, Cohen told aides. Should we just say . . . fall and winter? She also wanted a different adjective instead of saying extensive clinical trial data. The CDC uses extensive too often, she said. Strong? one aide suggested. Significant? another offered. A third assistant piped up. I just watched this episode on Veep, and I hate to say this, but what about robust? Im okay with robust, but Im going to laugh, said Cohen, catching the reference to HBOs political satire in which the word was repeated multiple times. The head of CDC communications stepped in: No adjective was needed. Say this was based on data and clinical trials, he advised. Okay, no adjective, Cohen agreed. The staff made additional tweaks. A cameraman combed her hair and reshot the take. Diamond reported from Washington. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden released a statement on Sunday night honoring the life of the late former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who died earlier that day at age 96. Carter died peacefully and surrounded by family, according to The Carter Center, after a long life advocating for mental health care, caregivers and womens rights. She helped revolutionize the office of the first lady with her political activism while her husband, Jimmy Carter, served as president. In their statement, the Bidens said that Rosalynn Carter walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way. She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; and advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities. First Lady Rosalynn Carter walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way. My love is with the entire Carter family, as they, and we, grieve our dearest Rosalynn. Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) November 19, 2023 Earlier this month, Carter had joined her husband in entering hospice care, after she was diagnosed with dementia in the spring. The Carters had been married for 77 years, and Jimmy Carter honored his late wife on Sunday by saying she was his equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. Above all, the deep love shared between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is the definition of partnership, and their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism, the Bidens said. She lived her life by her faith. The Bidens are among several politicians including former presidents and Georgia leaders who have paid tribute to Rosalynn Carters legacy. The president and first lady said they always felt Carters hope, warmth and optimism during their more than four decades of friendship, through rigors of campaigns, through the darkness of deep and profound loss. On behalf of a grateful nation, we send our love to President Carter, the entire Carter family, and the countless people across our nation and the world whose lives are better, fuller and brighter because of the life and legacy of Rosalynn Carter, the Bidens said. May God bless our dear friend. May God bless a great American. Related... It has been two months since a 15-year-old Serra Catholic cheerleader was killed in a crash on her way to school. Family and friends gathered at her gravesite on the two-month mark and they later gathered for a prayer service at her church. Channel 11 spoke to Samantha Kalkbrenners heartbroken family for the very first time since she died. When its my time, we will meet again, but not yet, her father, Carl Kalkbrenner, said. It was a solemn evening for Carl and Nenita Kalkbrenner. Ive cried a lot today because it marked our second month, Carl Kalkbrenner said. With Thanksgiving just days away, the Kalkbrenners will struggle to celebrate without Sam. Thanksgiving was their holiday. Like, it was just them three. I know this is going to be really hard this year because it was always their own tradition, family friend Danielle LaRue said. This year will be the first year we wont have that, Carl Kalkbrenner said. Instead, the Kalkbrenners will spend the holiday like almost every other day at their daughters gravesite surrounded by so many who love Sam. Every single time weve been here theres either been people here already that we know, or they show up while were here, so weve never been alone, Carl Kalkbrenner said. In just 15 short years, the Kalkbrenners say their daughter made quite an impact on others. Samantha was as close to perfect as a child can get. She loved her life and everything in it. For those who knew her, they all loved her, Carl Kalkbrenner said. In the two months since her passing, Allegheny County police have not filed any charges or announced any arrests. Now, family and friends are pleading for justice. They deserve some type of closure, some type of answer, LaRue said. I just dont understand why we havent had any names, we havent heard any charges filed. Theyre just giving them little breadcrumbs and I dont think its fair. Channel 11 reached out to County Police today who told us this is still an active, ongoing investigation, but there are no updates at this time. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Stowe Township restaurant owner arrested after shooting teen stealing tip jar, police say PHOTOS: Firefighters respond to large fire in North Braddock, at least 1 person injured Families who attended Halloween event in New Sewickley Township asked to check candy for tampering VIDEO: Multiple houses damaged by fire in North Braddock, at least 1 person injured DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Officials in Florida have dropped the charges against Kianna Cooper, a Black woman who a Broward sheriffs deputy said assaulted him. Cooper was previously arrested and charged with resisting an officer with violence and battery of a law enforcement officer for the May 7, 2022, incident in Pompano Beach, Florida. That day, Broward Sheriffs Office Deputy Steven Davis was responding to an assault that stemmed from a confrontation over parking spaces, and bystanders said Cooper was involved. Body camera shows Davis walking up to Coopers car while shes on the phone with her mother. Her car was parked in a parking lot at the time. Broward Sheriffs Office Deputy Steven Davis forcibly removes Kianna Cooper from her car in Pompano Beach, Florida on May 7, 2022. (Photo: Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey screenshot / YouTube) You got an ID on you, maam? Davis asked. Why am I giving my ID? Cooper responded. Because I asked for it, he shot back. Cooper then expressed that she was starting to feel uncomfortable about the situation when David said he would arrest her if she didnt comply. Do you hear this, Mom? Im waiting on my friend, and now Im about to get arrested because Im refusing to give ID, Cooper said. What did I do? These people could kill me, Mom. Maam, Im going to ask you one more time, then Im going to pull you out of the car, Davis said. Seconds later, he opens the car door and yanks her out of the vehicle. At that point, he tackled her onto the pavement. Youre not going to fight me. What are you doing? Cooper said. Whats wrong with you? You just hit a woman? In court last July, Cooper said that Davis struck her multiple times. Photos obtained by Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey show her black eyes and bruises on her arm and neck area. Davis argued that he pulled her out of the car because she was not following orders, according to reports, and that she attacked him, causing his head to bleed. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported last month that Assistant State Attorney Lindsay Carrier concluded that there wasnt blatant evidence in the body camera footage that suggests Cooper harmed Davis. The prosecutor pointed to how Davis has different accounts of what happened and how he got his injury. He reached into her vehicle, opened her car door, and removed her from her vehicle to prevent her from fleeing the scene, Carrier said in a memorandum, the outlet reported, adding, The BWC [body-worn camera] does not capture Ms Cooper attempting to start the vehicle or drive forward. In addition, in one of his statements, David claimed that Cooper was gesturing at bystanders as well as threatening them with bodily harm or violence. However, bystanders did not back up that accusation, nor did the body camera show it, according to the report. A man was charged over the weekend for his involvement in a shootout that left an Oconee County Sheriff's deputy injured. Gregory Wayne Maxwell, 50, faces five counts of attempted murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to a Friday evening email from Lt. Ryan Flood with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office. Maxwell engaged in a shootout with deputies after fleeing a traffic stop that left Oconee County Sheriff's deputy, Corporal Lucas Watts, injured, according to a release from the sheriff's office Thursday. Watts was in stable condition Friday following the incident. Spokesperson Jimmy Watt for the OCSO said Monday that further updates on Watts' condition would come from the family via his site on CaringBridge. Oconee County Sheriff's deputy, Corporal Lucas Watts, was injured in a shooting Nov. 16. As of Monday morning, Flood said that Maxwell is in custody at the hospital due to sustaining injuries from "at least one gunshot wound" from law enforcement. He will be arraigned by an Oconee County Magistrate judge and formally charged following a potential discharge from the hospital. The pursuit that led to the shooting started around 2:15 p.m. on Thursday when Maxwell drove away after initially pulling over for a traffic stop, Flood said. "Deputies were conducting a traffic stop earlier this afternoon on S. Highway 11 at Mt. Pleasant Rd on a white Chevrolet Silverado. During the course of the traffic stop, (Maxwell) sped away from the scene and led deputies on a pursuit," according to the release sent by OCSO late Thursday afternoon. Maxwell made his way down to the area of Black Bass Road at Shelor Ferry Road where shots were fired, and Corp. Watts was hit. Maxwell drove away and was later located on Black Bass Road where he was shot by deputies. Flood said Maxwell exited his vehicle and was shot at Black Bass Road and Catfish Hill Road. Maxwell used a rifle in the shootout, according to the arrest warrants. Greenville County Sheriff's Office was asked to investigate the incident, rather than the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, which often investigates shooting incidents involving local law enforcement, due to a "familial conflict." Flood and a spokesperson for SLED could not comment further on what the familial conflict was. A candlelight vigil was held for Watts Sunday evening in Seneca at the Shaver Recreation Complex on 698 W.S. 4th Street. "The prayer vigil last night in Seneca was very powerful and was a very moving service," OCSO spokesperson Jimmy Watt said. "We have been truly moved and we are very grateful for the outpouring of prayers and support, from everyone, that Lucas, his family and the Oconee County Sheriffs Office has received since last Thursday afternoon. We ask that everyone continue to pray for Lucas and his family." Watts joined the Oconee County Sheriff's Office in 2020 and was previously with the Anderson County Sheriffs Office, where he served for two-and-a-half years. Watts currently works with the Pro-Active Community Enforcement (P.A.C.E.) team and the Marine Unit with Oconee County. Sheriff Mike Crenshaw provided a shared link for a recovery fund through Serve and Connect, a nonprofit in Columbia focused on building sustainable police-community relationships, to support Watts and his family. Watts and his wife welcomed their first child in September of this year, the fund description states. We ask for continued prayers for Lucas and his family in the days and weeks ahead. If you are able to contribute to the Serve and Connect fund to help his family, I know they would be thankful for any support, Sheriff Crenshaw said in the release on Friday. Chalmers Rogland covers public safety for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal and USA Today Network. Reach him via email at crogland@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Man charged following shootout that injured Oconee County deputy Police have filed charges against a man who allegedly abandoned a dog at the Pittsburgh International Airport last week. RELATED COVERAGE >> Police looking to identify man after another dog abandoned at Pittsburgh International Airport The Allegheny County Police Department said it filed charges against David Mittelberger Sr., 68, of Windsor Heights, West Virginia. #Update: County Police have filed charges against a 68-year-old West Virginia man after a dog was found abandoned at Pittsburgh International Airport Thursday afternoon. Full Release: https://t.co/W3VkghmwKn pic.twitter.com/z0BMojotYP Allegheny County PD (@AlleghenyCoPD) November 20, 2023 Police say these charges come from tips that helped them identify the man in airport surveillance photos as Mittelberger. Police think Mittelberger was traveling to California, but havent been able to contact him. Still, theyve filed charges against him for abandonment of animals, neglect of animals and cruelty to animals. The abandoned dog, whose name is Mikey, is still with Animal Friends. Police say Mikey has an infection in his mouth and needs significant dental care. Officials are working to secure a court order so Mikey can get the care he needs. Although police appreciate the questions and concern for the dog, they say Mikey isnt up for adoption at this time. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Stowe Township restaurant owner arrested after shooting teen stealing tip jar, police say PHOTOS: Firefighters respond to large fire in North Braddock, at least 1 person injured Families who attended Halloween event in New Sewickley Township asked to check candy for tampering VIDEO: Multiple houses damaged by fire in North Braddock, at least 1 person injured DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Fundraisers who abandoned an ironing board at the summit of Ben Nevis have been told to remove it by a national charity. Three men scaled Britains highest mountain in August as part of a three-peaks challenge to raise money for Dementia UK, but left the item behind. The fundraiser included extreme ironing, a craze that involves performing the usually mundane chore in challenging locations. Images of the ironing board propped against the ruined walls of a 19th-century observatory were posted by a bemused hillwalker on social media last week, sparking a backlash from others who visit the peak. Jenny Robinson, senior challenge events manager at Dementia UK, said the charity was grateful to all fundraisers who helped support their work, but urged anyone taking on outdoor challenges to respect local environmental guidelines and show consideration for their surroundings, local wildlife and other people. Ms Robinson added: We were made aware that an ironing board had been left on Ben Nevis by an independent fundraiser on Friday and are liaising with them to ensure it is safely removed as soon as possible. The Ben Nevis range - not an obvious place to do the ironing - Tony Waltham/Robert Harding World Imagery The men accused of abandoning the ironing board had posted a fundraising plea on Facebook with a picture of a man performing extreme ironing on a snow-covered mountain. Comments posted on Facebook applauded their charity climb, but others were less impressed by the abandoned ironing board. One person wrote: Couldnt bring it back down? while another urged them to take your rubbish home instead of leaving litter in an otherwise beautiful place. The John Muir Trust, which runs volunteer litter picks on the Scottish mountain, said last week it would be wonderful if those who dumped the ironing board would retrieve it. A spokesperson said the summit would start to look like a Home Bargains store if all charity walkers left their items behind, but added: A lot of people raise money for great causes on Ben Nevis and we dont want to discourage that. The Three Peaks Challenge is a 24-hour hike of Scafell Pike in England, Snowdon in Wales and Ben Nevis. 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. There are some anniversaries that are painful. Here is one I will never forget. I was a young student at Annapolis Elementary School. I remember how excited we were that Thanksgiving was approaching. I remember my teachers at the school. One of them was Mrs. Turner. She came into our classroom and told us we could leave school early. Her demeanor was one of sadness. My classmates and I didnt understand why. As I walked home from Green Street to Cornhill Street, where I lived at the time, I noticed all of the adults along the way seemed to be sad. This sadness was contrasted by the joy we children were having. When I arrived home, my parents and other adults were gathered around a black-and-white television set. My mother was crying and so were the others. I didnt understand why and suddenly Walter Cronkite of CBS News announced that President John F. Kennedy had been shot and had died. One of the adults at the kitchen table shouted, He was a good man. He was trying to make America better. An eerie silence fell over the room. I was 10 years old. Little did I know that bullets and not ballots would be the deciding factor for the decade of the 1960s. In that decade, the nation would experience not only the death of Kennedy, but also Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Mark Clark and Fred Hampton. On Nov. 22, 1963, America lost its innocence. I can still recall the carriage that carried the body of Kennedy and those white horses. I remember vividly seeing on television his son, John Jr., saluting his fathers casket that was covered with an American flag as it passed. I remember this event as it was yesterday. I have seen in my lifetime too many assassinations of not just individuals, but of dreams and hopes. As we pause to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, I hope Americans of every race, religion, nationality and creed will remember those martyrs who died in a hail of bullets as they gave their lives to form a more perfect union. I remember as a boy and later as a man listening to Kennedy during his Inauguration as he called on his fellow citizens in his words Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. Those sterling words still resonate with me. As we prepare for an upcoming presidential election, I hope and pray people will remember what makes America different from many nations. It is the belief that when we work together, we make America better. The name-calling and blaming do not represent our best. I remember my friend, the late Congressman Elijah Cummings, who said, When were dancing with the angels, the question will be asked in 2019, what did we do to make sure that we kept our democracy intact? On the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Kennedy, I heard a voice saying Ask not what your nation can do for you, but what you can do for your nation. Little boys grow up and become men. Children who see adults crying know something is amiss. It is my hope that on this anniversary, we will be thankful for those men and women, who gave it their all. During the Thanksgiving holidays, it is my hope that my late mom, who died at the age of 104, will be able to look down from the heavens and see a nation of people who will pledge to make America better not by bullets, but by ballots. The next time you are in downtown Annapolis visit the Guardians of the First Amendment Memorial and remember that some people make history and others write history. Remember that democracy must be preserved at all costs. Literally, people have given their sweat, tears and blood. I will always remember what the late Rosa Parks said at the First Baptist Church in Annapolis. When she was asked by a Capital reporter, Why Mrs. Parks, did you refuse to give up your seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955? Her response was, Sir, I did not refuse to give up my seat to a white man. I refused to give up my dignity. In the final analysis, it is not the children but the adults who will be responsible for what happens to our imperfect democracy. They will be the ones who will decide whether our democracy will remain intact and the question Cummings asked will be answered next year when voters go to the polls. Carl Snowden is convener of the Caucus of African American Leaders. Contact him at carl_snowden@hotmail.com. The government has provisionally committed to providing 20m towards the first phase of a 1bn cyber centre. The Golden Valley development will be built on land next to GCHQ and aims to confirm Cheltenham as the UK's cyber capital. MP Alex Chalk said: "I believe passionately that growing this sector is one of the best ways to address the deprivation which exists in our town." Cheltenham Borough Council has already invested 130m in the scheme. The development is expected to create 12,000 new jobs and 3,700 houses. "It's how we create opportunities for youngsters who may not have had the easiest start in life, but are talented and prepared to work hard," added Mr Chalk. Councillor Max Wilkinson called the most recent funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities "unequivocally good news for Cheltenham". The council has led the project from the start, recently working with partners HBD x Factory Ltd. Golden Valley, which spans 47 hectares (56,2115 sq yd) will comprise of 1 million sq ft (92,903 metres) of commercial space and more than 1,000 low carbon homes to rent or buy, green open spaces and a new primary school. The National Cyber Innovation Centre, which gained 95m funding approval last month, will be a centre for learning, which various businesses, schools and universities can rent out for education and training purposes. 'Delighted' As part of his cyber vision for Cheltenham, Mr Chalk has been championing the bid for the Golden Valley funding and said more needs to be done to "unlock equality" in the town."After much lobbying behind the scenes, I am delighted that the Government is investing a further 20m into the Cheltenham Cyber Park," he said. "It takes the total sum invested so far by Government into our town's tech future to over 52m." He added: "This major government investment will all help our town deliver on the vision I set out in 2014, to protect our heritage, but rapidly embrace the opportunities of technology. "That's how we will be fit for the future." Follow BBC West on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk Kentucky travelers hitting the road early this week to avoid Thanksgiving traffic should look forward to showers and temperature lows in the 30s ahead of the holiday. Thats according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service in Louisville, which for Lexington indicates rounds of showers through to Wednesday. Heres what to expect from the forecast ahead of Thanksgiving. Plus, a look at auto club AAAs predictions for the holiday, which it anticipates will be the third busiest Thanksgiving since it started keeping track in 2000. What to expect from Kentucky weather this Thanksgiving For the Lexington area, the NWS in Louisville projects showers will begin overnight Monday and continue intermittently throughout the day Tuesday. Rain will make an appearance in our region starting tomorrow. The bulk of the widespread rain looks to arrive Monday night and persist through Tuesday. #kywx #inwx pic.twitter.com/wUYdwgSwza NWS Louisville (@NWSLouisville) November 19, 2023 The NWS forecast called for a 40% of showers after 2 p.m. Monday, followed by showers after 11 p.m. with a temperature low of about 49 degrees Fahrenheit. The chance of rain is strong at an estimated 100%, and new precipitation amounts could be up to three quarters of an inch. Wind gusts could reach 30 mph Monday night. For Tuesday, expect more showers and possibly a thunderstorm in the mix. Look for a temperature low Tuesday night of about 39 degrees. Conditions should be noticeably clearer starting Wednesday morning, with partly sunny conditions and a high near 48 degrees. If you plan to be outdoors Wednesday night, bring your winter coat. The forecast is calling for freezing temperatures. On Thanksgiving Day, the outlook is upbeat with mostly sunny weather and a high of about 54 degrees. Theres no in snow in the forecast for Central Kentucky for the week of Thanksgiving, but Lexingtons average first measurable snow date, Nov. 29, is approaching. How busy will airports and highways be this Thanksgiving holiday? In its Thanksgiving travel forecast, AAA projects more than 55 million Americans will head 50 miles or more from home during the travel period between Wednesday and Sunday. That translates to a 2.3% increase in travel over last year and marks the third highest Thanksgiving forecast AAA has issued since it started tracking holiday travel in 2000. About 49 million of the nations Thanksgiving travelers will be hitting the road, which is slightly more than last year. AAA estimates they could be paying less for gas than last year, too. AAA puts the current average price for gas in Kentucky at $3.055 per gallon compared to the national average of $3.308 per gallon. If youre planning to drive to visit loved ones for Thanksgiving, AAA advises against hitting the road Wednesday if you can. Still, if youve got some driving to do Wednesday, make sure you do it before 11 a.m. The absolute worst time to drive for Thanksgiving is between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to AAA. Do you have a question about Kentucky for our service journalism team? Wed like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a meeting with foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim-majority nations at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing on November 20, 2023. The international community must take urgent action to stop the "humanitarian disaster" unfolding in Gaza, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told visiting diplomats from Arab and Muslim-majority nations on November 20. (Pedro PARDO) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday the world must "act urgently" to calm the Israel-Hamas war as he hosted diplomats from Arab and Muslim-majority nations in Beijing. A delegation of foreign ministers of the Palestinian Authority, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are in Beijing this week for talks aimed at a "de-escalation" of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict. "Let us work together to quickly cool down the situation in Gaza and restore peace in the Middle East as soon as possible," Wang told ministers at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the Chinese capital. "A humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Gaza," Wang told the delegates, including the secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. "The situation in Gaza affects all countries around the world, questioning the human sense of right and wrong and humanity's bottom line," he said. "The international community must act urgently, taking effective measures to prevent this tragedy from spreading," Beijing's top diplomat added. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas over October 7 attacks that it says killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw 240 hostages taken, in the worst-ever onslaught on the country. The Hamas government in Gaza says at least 13,000 people have been killed in Israel's relentless aerial bombardment and ground operations, thousands of them children. - 'Good friends' - Following the outbreak of the war last month, Chinese officials, including Foreign Minister Wang, called for an immediate ceasefire and a "cooling down" of the situation. China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinians and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And it has this year sought to play a greater role in the Middle East, facilitating a historic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran and sending an envoy to the region to push for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Wang told the diplomats on Monday that Beijing was "a good friend and brother of Arab and Muslim countries". "We have always firmly defended the legitimate rights and interests of Arab and Muslim countries, and have always firmly supported the Palestinian people's efforts to restore their legitimate national rights and interests," he said. "China firmly stands with justice and fairness in this conflict." The Palestinian Authority's foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki accused Israel of seeking to "bring to an end the Palestinian people's presence on what remains of its historical land". And Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Arabia's top diplomat, said Riyadh was "seeking more cooperation with our friends in China" with a view to "work towards ending this crisis and this grave situation as quickly as possible". pfc-oho/je/lb (Bloomberg) -- China hosted senior officials from mostly Middle Eastern nations on Monday for in-depth talks on deescalating the Israel-Hamas conflict, as Beijing tries to bolster its credentials as a global peacemaker. Most Read from Bloomberg Top foreign policy officials from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority were among those who visited Beijing. The delegation, led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, aims to visit Russia and the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council France, the UK and the US afterwards, according to Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, secretary-general of the Arab League. The discussions in China were about immediately stopping the military escalation in Gaza and delivering the necessary humanitarian aid to avoid the spread of the humanitarian catastrophe there, according to Saudi state media. The officials also reiterated calls for a two-state solution to achieve a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the international community must take effective and credible measures to stop the tragedies from going any further in Gaza. We would welcome China playing a constructive role in the Middle East, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. He said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had called Wang during a trip to the region and said if theres anything they can do to prevent the conflict from widening, in terms of using the lines of communications that they have available to countries in the Middle East, we would welcome that. Egypts top diplomat, Sameh Shoukry, said Arab and Islamic nations are hoping great powers like China will assume a bigger role in dealing with the crisis. Thats needed because there are, unfortunately, major nations that provide cover for the current Israeli attacks, he said, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry. He renewed Egypts rejection of what he called a declared policy to displace Palestinians from Gaza. The Americans have been standing with the Israelis over the last 40 days or so in a manner thats unprecedented, Aboul-Gheit of the Arab League said in remarks delivered at a security conference in Bahrain over the weekend. Read More: Hostage Talks Progress as Israel-Hamas Fighting Grips Gaza Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and other Arab states are increasingly critical of Israel as it conducts a war against Hamas in Gaza. The militant group attacked Israel on Oct. 7 from Gaza, killing 1,200 people. Israels since bombarded the Palestinian territory and launched a ground offensive, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed more than 13,000 people. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union. China has been trying to portray itself as a force for peace in the Middle East since March, when it helped broker a detente between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Beijing also hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in June, some four months before Hamas attacked Israel. During that visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed an international peace conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. China has in recent weeks reiterated its desire for an independent Palestinian state and called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Read More: US, EU Back UN Force in Postwar Gaza, Adding Pressure on Israel Nicholas Burns, the USs top diplomat in China, last month urged Beijing to denounce terrorism by Hamas, and cited its stance toward the group as yet another challenge in ties between the worlds biggest economies. Last month, a US delegation to Beijing led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked China to use its links with Iran to try to keep the fighting in Gaza from spreading. Read More: A Saudi-Israeli Peace Deal? Who Wants What and Why: QuickTake --With assistance from Tarek El-Tablawy. (Updates with US comment in 7th paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Chinese defense contractors used the Dubai Airshow, which ran from Nov. 13-17, as a springboard for increased regional military cooperation with Beijing, a trend that U.S. leaders see as worrying. While Chinese companies typically have a strong showing at defense expos held outside of NATO countries, they upped the ante this year in the field of unmanned aircraft, headlining their collection with a large mockup of a large, white helicopter drone. The platform, the AR-2000, is made by Chinas National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corp., showcased for the first time internationally. Officials here at the companys sprawling stand kept its capabilities a mystery, saying only that the platform, available in three configurations, had completed its maiden flight earlier this year. The version on display appeared to be developed for ship-based operations, featuring short, folding wings and a large surveillance radar pod mounted under the nose. A version armed with short-range guided missiles was briefly available for review to VIP guests two days before the event opened to the public and the news media, observers here noted. A CATIC representative said that the AR-2000 is still undergoing testing but that it is already on order by Chinas Ministry of National Defense. More than 30 Chinese commercial and defense manufacturers presented their products here, with a wide-range of offerings geared towards regional government types window shopping for their militaries. China has eyed ties to the Middle East for some time, initially more for economic opportunities but now also as a promising military market. In October, Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, 9th Air Force commanders at U.S. Central Commands Air Forces branch, warned about Chinas possible long-term plans in the region, calling it a fertile ground for strategic cooperation with the Asian country. What I think is a reasonable assertion, though, is that where economic interests start, military interests will follow to protect those economic interests, Grynkewich said at a press conference. Over time,... there is a risk of Chinese expansion in the region militarily. Among the largest defense deals announced at the Dubai Airshow was a contract awarded by the Tawazun Council, the host countrys national defense acquisition organization, to CATIC, valued at $440 million, for an initial fleet of 12 L-15 advanced jet trainers. Chinese executives eager to sell here also found UAE officials looking to nurse their own defense industry. Out of the 54 deals inked last week by the Tawazun Council, 31 were domestic contracts and 23 were international, of a total value of approximately $6.26 billion. Domestic deals finalized here included a $1.1 billion contract to Lahab Defense Systems, part of EDGE Group, for the procurement of munitions, and an agreement with local company Black Diamond for the purchase of an unspecified air defense system, valued at $898.5 million. Additionally, several contracts were signed with Global Aerospace Logistics for maintenance services and spare aircraft parts for the countrys joint air command, totaling $926 million. A contract that could be worth nearly $1 billion is expected to be signed in the near future between the UAEs Air Force and the Abu-Dhabi based firm Calidus Aerospace for the possible purchase of 40 B250 trainer aircraft. Negotiations are ongoing, but the two parties signed a letter of intent at the airshow. Awad Mustafa in Dubai contributed to this report. BEIJING/PARIS (Reuters) -China wants more French companies to invest in the country and hopes France will provide a fair business environment for Chinese firms, President Xi Jinping said on Monday, while France also called for fair rules for foreign companies in China. Xi made the comments in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese state television reported, seeking to strengthen ties with its European trading partner after Macron visited China in April. China faces an electric vehicle subsidy investigation by the European Union and a looming probe into its steelmakers. Meanwhile, several European countries have complained about China's opaque laws and rules regarding foreign companies in the country. "China is willing to maintain high-level exchanges with the French side," Xi said, adding that he welcomed more French products entering the Chinese market. Macron's office said the opening of the Chinese market should go hand-in-hand with fair competition rules for foreign companies. Asked whether France had made progress to counter Chinese plans to force French cosmetics companies to share manufacturing secrets with Chinese parties, a French presidential adviser said it was a major issue that Macron had raised himself. "It's an important point for us, considering what's at stake for French companies," the adviser said. Macron's office also said China had joined a French initiative called "Buildings Breakthrough" that sets a zero carbon emissions goal for the building sector for 2030. Xi also said China was willing to strengthen cooperation with France at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions. China took over the presidency of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) this month. The leader of the world's second-largest economy also called on France to play a constructive role in promoting the positive development of China-EU relations, as ties have been strained over issues ranging from the EU's push to reduce supply chain reliance on China to the war in Ukraine. "China and the European Union should remain partners for mutually beneficial cooperation," Xi said in the call. The two leaders also exchanged views on the conflict in Gaza, and agreed that it was imperative to avoid a further deterioration of the situation, in particular an even more serious humanitarian crisis, state television reported. The French presidential adviser said China, as a member of the UN Security Council, should contribute more to UNRWA, the UN Palestinian refugee agency than the $1 million it currently gives every year. "We encourage the Chinese authorities to do much more," the adviser said. (Reporting by Ethan Wang and Bernard Orr in Beijing, Michel Rose in Paris; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alex Richardson) An officer-involved shooting prompted authorities with the California Highway Patrol to issue a SigAlert on the westbound 105 Freeway at Long Beach Boulevard Sunday in Willowbrook. Officers responded to calls of a pedestrian on or near the Wilmington offramp of the westbound 105 Freeway at around 3:15 p.m., shortly before the incident happened, according to CHP. A unit arrived on scene and contacted the pedestrian, CHP officials said in a news release. A struggle ensued and an officer-involved shooting occurred. the news release stated. Authorities did not provide any information about the suspects condition following the shooting or if any officers were injured. A hard closure of westbound lanes of the freeway was requested for an unknown amount of time due to the police activity, CHP said on X, formerly Twitter. CHP shooting closes portion of 105 Freeway in Lynwood Video posted to the Citizen App showed motorists in standstill traffic on the 105. What exactly is a SigAlert? At 9 p.m., officials at CHP announced that westbound lanes of the 105 Freeway at Long Beach Boulevard would remain closed until early Monday morning while police were on the scene. The SigAlert was canceled and all lanes were opened as of about 1:30 a.m., according to the CHP. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Birnie Kirk, which was built in 1140, is in great condition, according to one Kirk elder - PETETR JOLLY/NORTHPIX The Church of Scotland has been accused of disrespecting country dwellers and depriving a rural community of their spiritual home by closing the countrys oldest church. Birnie Kirks near 900-year run as a place of religious worship came to an end at the weekend after the last Sunday service was held within its ancient walls. Since being built in 1140, the tiny church in Elgin, Moray, has weathered the elements and conflict but has fallen foul of the Kirks bean counters as officials seek to balance the books amid falling congregations and rising running costs. The decision to close the church has upset elderly parishioners, who will have to worship at Elgin parish church, which for some means a 20-mile round trip. There was a 100-strong congregation at the churchs final Sunday service - PETER JOLLY/NORTHPIX Birnie Kirks usual congregation of about 20 people swelled to more than 100 on Sunday as defiant parishioners flocked to the pews. Gill Garrow, 68, a Kirk elder, said she was upset by the Church of Scotlands decision, which was notified to the congregation in September. She accused officials at 121 George Street, the Kirks Edinburgh headquarters, of having no respect for country folk. They are breaking up a community, a family, where people look out for each others needs. This is our spiritual home and when we joined the Kirk we never thought it wouldnt be there for us, Ms Garrow said. The more people that know what the Church of Scotland is up to, the better. Its like were a forgotten entity. It shows how ruthless they are. I know were not the only ones suffering but theres so much history attached to the church, its in great condition. Surely to goodness they can keep it open. Common sense is not prevailing, she added. Paula Baker, a member of the ministries development team, took the last service - PETER JOLLY/NORTHPIX Archaeologists have found evidence to suggest Birnie was a centre of Roman power and an important pre-Christian settlement inhabited by the pagan Picts. Two hoards of Roman coins have been found nearby and an earlier church dedicated to the Irish missionary Saint Brendan is thought to have given Birnie its name. It became the first acting cathedral in Moray, predating the grander Elgin Cathedral, and is older than both Glasgow Cathedral and St Giles in Edinburgh. Deep personal ties May Denoon, 89, told The Daily Mail that she first attended Sunday school at Birnie Kirk as a 16-year-old girl. I got married in this church and my husband, Jimmy, is buried in the churchyard. It has deep personal ties for many of those who pray here. The Church of Scotland said a five-year mission plan had identified that Birnie Kirk should cease to be a place of worship by 2027. A spokesman said: While Sundays service was the last regular weekly service which will take place at Birnie Church, the building will continue to be maintained by the kirk session pending its release. This will allow for the possibility of occasional use, such as for funerals or weddings. There is also an opportunity to organise worship in the Birnie Kirk hall as part of the agreed basis of union. However, Birnie Church is still on schedule to be released from Church of Scotland ownership by the end of August 2027. Birnie and the joint charge of Plus Carden will unite with Elgin High, Elgin St. Giles and St. Columbas South as single parish to allow us to continue to serve the people of the community in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and offering practical support, while making the best use of our resources in increasingly challenging times. The union was voted for overwhelmingly by each of the congregations and will be formerly established on 1st December 2023. We are aware of the close emotional ties which people and their communities have with their local church, and we share in the sadness felt when a church is released. Closure of much-loved places of worship is a grief Church of Scotland ministers, elders, members and staff all bear. However we do believe radical reform is necessary if we are to address the challenges of falling minister numbers, a decline in membership and a reduction in income both nationally and locally and as part of that process we recognise the need to reduce the number of buildings we own which has become unsustainable for our needs. 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. SAN DIEGO Circle K is celebrating the holiday season by offering a discount on gas in West Coast states ahead of Thanksgiving Day. Those in California, Oregon and Washington can enjoy savings of up to 40 cents off per gallon on Tuesday, Nov. 21 between 4 and 7 p.m. at participating Circle K locations part of the Circle K Fuel Day Pop-up. The deal also gives customers 50% off car wash services all day at locations in those states. $1.99 gas: Sheetz drops prices for Thanksgiving week The move follows Sheetz, a convenience store chain in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, which is lowering its gas prices for Unleaded 88 gasoline to $1.99 per gallon through Monday, Nov. 27. Spend Christmas on the Sand at La Jolla Christmas Parade & Holiday Festival There are several Circle K locations throughout San Diego County. Find the nearest Circle K near you on their online store locator. Just in time for Thanksgiving get-togethers and road trips, were pleased to offer this Fuel Day Pop Up as our way of giving thanks for our valued customers, stated George Wilkins, Vice President of Operations, Circle K West Coast Business Unit, in a release. We hope this will make their journeys to see family and friends for the holiday a little easier. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. A City Council special committee was divided Friday on how to best face a variety of maintenance issues in the countys jail and police administration building. The committee, charged with studying the viability of replacing those facilities, discussed what each needed in the meantime and how a potential $14.9 million price tag could be split over time or reduced with a new structure. I understand that this is a short term need and goal and certainly one that will ensure that we have a center that's going to be safe and secure for both our corrections officers and for inmates in there, council member Jimmy Peluso said during the meeting. It's just that this is a large sticker shock to me. More: How and where will Jacksonville build a new jail? Special committee will give answers. More: Florida Blue gets interest from sheriff on top of School Board for office space The four members present at the meeting disagreed over whether to fund the problems immediately with city reserves, pursue other funding options or first determine if the Police Memorial Building would be moved sooner rather than later. Conversations surrounding the facilities officially began with the mayoral administration and council turnover in July, and council President Ron Salem created the special committee that month. Members are expected to issue their final report with a recommendation in June 2024. Council members discussed Friday how the jail facility, a 35-year-old building, needs may stem from a litany of potential factors: a lack of oversight from previous administrations, a lack of available funds and JSOs prioritization of maintenance needs. Now, members are grappling with how to handle the immediate problems each building faces while also deciding if the jail should be relocated outside of downtown. The immediate needs listed for the jail alone totaled more than $9 million. High priced items of more than $1 million each included elevator and electrical infrastructure upgrades. Lower priced items ranged from mold remediation and fire pump replacement to drain repairs and kitchen equipment replacements. The Police Memorial Buildings needs were broken into categories: critical (totaling $3.8 million), necessary but not critical to operation (totaling $290,000) and necessary if the building was not moved in five years (totaling $1.8 million). Critical needs mentioned by JSO representatives in attendance included updates to the building's air conditioning system and electrical infrastructure. If addressed, a JSO representative said the funding would be a one time ask to return the facilities to status quo. Regular maintenance and upkeep would still be needed after. City Council will consider the buildings needs separately Regardless of the time or possibility of current funding, City Council will consider the needs of the two structures separately. Moving the jail out of downtown would be five years away at best, Salem said. The Police Memorial Building, however, could be moved into an existing building downtown. I think we need to be more prudent about a bunch of investment in that building if they're potentially going to move, Salem told the Times-Union. I know there is a lot of vacant office space throughout downtown, and I think it's a discussion we need to have. JSO Director Larry Schmitt said the ideal but also most expensive scenario would be for the administrative building, jail and courthouse to be on the same campus, but they could be separated. JSO moved some administrative personnel in September, leasing space in the Florida Blue building, and has other administrative offices throughout the city. It would need around 250,000 sq. ft. of space to replace what it has in the current headquarters, Salem said, but more to account for growth. More than 700 people work from the Police Memorial Building now. More: Florida Blue gets interest from sheriff on top of School Board for office space Because of the difference in timelines, the jail maintenance needs will likely take priority moving forward. The city will have to decide what safeguards to place on the current or any new structure to ensure it remains state of the art, Salem said. Boylan was unsure of what kind of accountability measures would be introduced to make sure any upgraded or new facility does not fall into disrepair again, but he envisioned codifying a yearly inspection of the jail prior to accepting the citys yearly budget in order to know what is needed. Committee considers money already allocated, potential state funding The citys budget passed in October included funds for both facilities, but the needs considered Friday would need additional allocations. The Capital Improvement Plan included $275,000 for memorial building maintenance and $2.5 million for jail cell door upgrades. In the list presented to council Friday, the cost breakdown included $600,000 in current ongoing repairs and maintenance for the memorial building. The projects are separate from JSOs total budget of over $500 million. Ideas for paying for the current maintenance needs included reallocating some of the already allotted JSO budget, seeking state or federal grants or pulling from the citys reserve funds. As chair of the committee, Boylan said he would speak with the citys chief financial officer in the coming week to see what the mayors office could support for the current facilities and hoped the full committee could have a recommendation on how to move forward on the administration building by February. It is my goal today to impress upon all of us the urgency of addressing this issue, Boylan said. So the fact that I called for something and didn't get it doesn't surprise me terribly, but it does emphasize the urgency of us doing this. This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville City Council considers jail police memorial maintenance Photo: The Canadian Press The Galaxy Leader is seen at the port of Koper, Slovenia on Sept. 16, 2008. Yemen's Houthi rebels seized the Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, officials said, taking over two dozen crew members hostage and raising fears that regional tensions heightened over the Israel-Hamas war were playing out on a new maritime front. (AP Photo/Kristijan Bracun) Yemen's Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route Sunday and took its 25 crew members hostage, officials said, raising fears that regional tensions heightened over the Israel-Hamas war were playing out on a new maritime front. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they hijacked the ship over its connection to Israel and would continue to target ships in international waters that were linked to or owned by Israelis until the end of Israel's campaign against Gaza's Hamas rulers. All ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets, the Houthis said. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis chief negotiator and spokesman, later added in an online statement that the Israelis only understand the language of force. The detention of the Israeli ship is a practical step that proves the seriousness of the Yemeni armed forces in waging the sea battle, regardless of its costs and costs, he added. This is the beginning. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office had blamed the Houthis for the attack on the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said the 25 crew members had a range of nationalities, including Bulgarian, Filipino, Mexican and Ukrainian, but that no Israelis had been on board. The Houthis said they were treating the crew members in accordance with their Islamic values, but did not elaborate on what that meant. Netanyahu's office condemned the seizure as an Iranian act of terror." The Israeli military called the hijacking a very grave incident of global consequence." Israeli officials insisted the ship was British-owned and Japanese-operated. However, ownership details in public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, which was founded by Abraham Rami Ungar, who is known as one of the richest men in Israel. Ungar told The Associated Press he was aware of the incident but couldnt comment as he awaited details. A ship linked to him experienced an explosion in 2021 in the Gulf of Oman. Israeli media blamed it on Iran at the time. International shipping often involves a series of management companies, flags and owners stretching across the globe in a single vessel. Two U.S. defense officials confirmed that Houthi rebels seized the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea on Sunday afternoon local time. The rebels descended on the cargo ship by rappelling from a helicopter, the officials said, confirming details first reported by NBC News. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. That resembles other vessel seizures conducted by Iran, which long has armed the Houthis. Twice in the last month, U.S. warships have intercepted missiles or drones from Yemen that were believed to be headed toward Israel or posing a threat to American vessels. The USS Carney, a Navy destroyer, intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces toward the northern Red Sea last month. On Nov. 15 the USS Thomas Hudner, another destroyer, was sailing toward the Bab-el-Mandeb strait when the crew saw a drone, reported to have originated in Yemen. The ship shot down the drone over the water. The officials said the crew took action to ensure the safety of U.S. personnel, and there were no casualties or damage to the ship. Satellite tracking data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP showed the Galaxy Leader traveling in the Red Sea southwest of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, more than a day ago. The vessel had been in Korfez, Turkey, and was on its way to Pipavav, India, at the time of the seizure reported by Israel. It had its Automatic Identification System tracker, or AIS, switched off, the data showed. Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted or to smuggle contraband, which there was no immediate evidence to suggest was the case with the Galaxy Leader. The British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Persian Gulf and the wider region, put the hijacking as having occurred some 150 kilometers (90 miles) off the coast of Yemens port city of Hodeida, near the coast of Eritrea. In later cited a security officer with the ship's company saying the vessel had been taken to Hodeida. The Red Sea, stretching from Egypts Suez Canal to the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait separating the Arabian Peninsula from Africa, remains a key trade route for global shipping and energy supplies. Thats why the U.S. Navy has stationed multiple ships in the sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. Since 2019, a series of ships have come under attack at sea as Iran began breaking all the limits of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. As Israel expands its devastating campaign against Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip following the militant group's unprecedented attack on southern Israel, fears have grown that the military operations could escalate into a wider regional conflict. The Houthis have repeatedly threatened to target Israeli ships in the waters off Yemen. Such attacks both back its Iranian benefactors, as well as bolsters the Houthis' position in Yemen as anger has grown against their rule in recent months as that country's civil war grinds on without resolution, said Gregory D. Johnsen, a Yemen expert with the Arabian Gulf States Institute in Washington. The Houthis view the war between Israel and Hamas as an opportunity to mute some of this domestic criticism, Johnsen wrote in an analysis earlier this month. If they are attacking Israel, their local rivals will be less inclined to attack them. City of Derry Airport is owned by Derry City and Strabane District Council There has been a sharp decline in passenger numbers at City of Derry Airport, official figures show. The number of people flying in and out of the airport over the last decade is down, according to figures from the Civil Aviation Authority website. The latest annual figures in 2022 show 163,000 people passed through the airport, less than half the number of passengers just nine years ago. So far in 2023, passenger numbers are down every month since May. This includes June, July and August this year - peak times for air travel. In 2013, about 385,000 passengers passed through the airport but the last time passenger numbers exceeded 300,000 was in 2014. Only 204,000 people flew in 2019. That was the year before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw low passenger numbers across all airports. City of Derry Airport is owned by Derry City and Strabane District Council (DCSDC) and costs ratepayers 3.45m to help with operational costs, which is five per cent of the council's entire annual budget. The airport operates twice daily return flights to Heathrow and also has flights to Manchester, Glasgow and up until recently Liverpool. Loganair confirmed only last week that its Liverpool route had stopped at the end of October. Concerns over the funding for the airport were raised during this month's meeting of DCSDC's Governance and Strategic Planning Committee. Members heard that the airport board and the council are to write joint letters to the British and Irish governments and Stormont outlining their concerns. BBC News NI understands that councillors will attempt to lobby ministers in London, Dublin and civil servants in Belfast for yet more financial support. The Northern Ireland Office says funding for airports in Northern Ireland is a devloved matter. Stormont's power-sharing institutions collapsed in February 2022. In 2021, the council submitted a business case to Stormont for a funding package for up to six years, but that business case has still not been approved. That is according to a letter from Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Minister Steve Baker to the council's chief executive, John Kelpie. This was in reply to a request from the council to meet the Secretary of State Chris Heaton Harris for an urgent meeting to discuss the airport and the business case. BBC News NI has approached Stormont's Department of Finance over whether the business case or any funding for the airport could be signed off in the absence of an Executive, but they are yet to get back. The Republic of Ireland's Department of Transport confirmed to BBC News NI that City of Derry Airport has called for financial support from the Irish government. . It said that while it was not eligible for funding under the Republic's Regional Airports Programme, the department was considering other funding opportunities that may be available for the airport. The Irish government has previously subsidised a flight from Derry to Dublin, through what is known as a Public Service Obligation (PSO). A PSO air route sees a government support flights which would not be commercially viable without financial assistance. A spokesperson for the Irish government said it has committed to taking forward a review of the potential for financial support for renewed viable air routes between Derry and Dublin and Cork to Belfast under its New Decade New Approach (NDNA) commitments. A NIO spokesperson said that funding for airports in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. They said policy and spending decisions flowing from the business case submitted by Derry City and Strabane District Council, the airport's owners and rests with the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). The UK government currently subsidises Loganair's Heathrow route, but the NIO confirmed that this only currently runs until the end of March next year. The clause was reinstated in early 2021 after political advisers to Gavin Williamson were alerted to its removal - Toby Melville/Reuters Civil servants deleted a clause banning teachers from pushing their political views from an official document, The Telegraph can disclose. The Department for Education (DfE) temporarily removed a ban on political indoctrination in schools from the Governments model academy funding agreement in 2020. The contracts between schools and the DfE are used to set out the framework in which academies and free schools can operate. The removal of the clause meant some academies, according to their funding agreements, could be interpreted to be exempt from the political balance requirements of the Education Act 1966, according to legal experts. The clause was reinstated in early 2021 after political advisers to Gavin Williamson, the then education secretary, were alerted to its removal. Bryn Harris, the chief legal counsel at the Free Speech Union, said: Academy funding agreements are where schools go to understand what their obligations are. Theres a real risk that absent a clear employment agreement, academy schools may actually not know their legal obligation regarding impartiality. Its not just that it leaves the academy not knowing what their duties are, it may also complicate enforcing those duties with the relevant regulator. Analysis of 14 academy school funding agreements by the Free Speech Union in 2021 found that seven did not have anti-indoctrination clauses. Legally required to be politically impartial It comes as schools have been accused of breaching impartiality rules by teaching critical race theory and radical gender ideology. A report by Dont Divide Us, a campaign group challenging the idea that Britain is systemically racist, claimed earlier this year that pupils in England are being taught contested political beliefs related to controversial racial ideology as fact. Of 49 third-party organisations providing teacher training or resources for schools, 48 were promoting contested political beliefs around race theory as fact, the research found. Arabella Skinner, of the parents campaign group UsforThem said: It is deeply worrying that this important clause about political impartiality was removed from the funding agreement. Whatever the reason, lack of attention to detail or deliberate exclusion, neither look good for the DfE. It is essential that all our children are taught an education free from political bias, that parents have access to that teaching and that headteachers have clarity and support on their responsibilities. A government spokesman said: All schools, regardless of type or funding agreement, are legally required to be politically impartial in their teaching. As an additional layer of reassurance, political impartiality clauses are included in academy funding agreements. An administrative error for a brief period led to the model funding agreement missing this clause, but no schools operated without the impartiality clause in place, and the error was corrected as soon as it was discovered. 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 claim: Fox News reported on a business relationship between Stormy Daniels, House Speaker Mike Johnson A Nov. 12 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a TikTok video of a man speaking to the camera about porn actress Stormy Danieal and newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Behind the man are images of the two. BREAKING FOX NEWS: Stormy Daniels admits to having a business relationship with Speaker Mike Johnson, reads on-screen text included in the video. The post was liked more than 100 times in a week. Similar versions of the claim circulated online. The original TikTok video was shared more than 1,000 times in a week. More from the USA TODAY Fact Check Team: Our rating: False Spokespeople for Johnson and Fox News said the claim is false. It originated with a satirical social media account. Claim originated on satirical social media account Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, was elected House speaker on Oct. 25. Corinne Day, a spokesperson for the speaker, told USA TODAY the claim in the Instagram post is false. Fox News also said the claim is false. The network has not reported on any supposed relationship between Johnson and Daniels, network spokesperson Connor Smith told USA TODAY in an email. Fact check: Statement from Stormy Daniels denying an affair with Trump is from 2018 Since Johnson was elected House speaker, Fox News has only published one story that mentions Daniels. That story, titled "NY AG Letitia James caught smirking as Don Jr. takes the stand at Trump civil trial," does not mention the speaker. The claim stems from a Nov. 11 post on X, formerly Twitter, from an account that describes itself as a raw and unfiltered parody account. The social media user who operates that account could not be reached. The Instagram post is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where stories written as satire and originally presented that way are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, which is what happened here. Johnson has been the subject of misinformation since he was elected to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. USA TODAY previously debunked a claim that he said women have a duty to give birth to at least one able-bodied worker. USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the post and to the TikTok user who posted the original video but did not immediately receive responses. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here. USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Fox News did not report on Stormy Daniels, Mike Johnson | Fact check Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) suggested President Joe Biden is being underestimated, but said it still alarms her that so many poll respondents are willing to say out loud that they would vote for Donald Trump. On Morning Joe Monday, the MSNBC political analyst weighed in on a new NBC News poll that showed the former president leading President Joe Biden by 2% in a hypothetical matchup. Host Joe Scarborough dismissed the result with a yawn and criticized Democrats for catastrophizing, noting that polls proved unreliable in 2020. McCaskill said its the story of Bidens career to be underestimated. However, she argued, Theres one thing these polls are good for, and that is making sure that nobody in the Biden campaign takes any segment of our votes for granted. She called on the campaign to improve its messaging to Black and brown voters and young people, to highlight whats at stake on hot button issues such as abortion, gun control, LGBTQ+ rights, climate change and book bans. But there was one difficult thing that she said we have to admit. We see Donald Trump as so completely unacceptable a mentally deranged, narcissistic, dangerous, horrible man that only knows selfishness, she said. The idea that anybody would be voting for him freaks all of us out. So the fact that there are this many that are saying it out loud to somebody, even though it is anonymously, is enough to just make your stomach hurt. Trump has been indicted on a total of 91 felony counts across four criminal indictments since March. He was also found liable in two separate civil cases this year. In May, he was found by a New York jury to have raped writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996. In September, a judge ruled that he had committed fraud for years while running his real estate empire in the state. Still, Trump is the clear front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and was found to be ahead of Biden in five swing states in recent New York Times/Siena College polls. NBC News latest poll, released Sunday, found Biden trailing Trump for the first time, receiving 44% and 46% of support respectively, due to a dip in support for Biden. Related... Starting in 2026, students at the Atlanta University Center will have the chance to complete a four-year college degree for the first time in the U.S. The last two years of the curriculum will prepare students for careers in media sales, operations and marketing. Juniors and seniors at Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Spelman College will be eligible to register for the courses starting in the fall of 2026. The curriculum will be inspired by the Media Sales Institute schedule, according to Black News. Founders of the MSI announced plans for a new curriculum in Media Sales on June 15 at the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters / MSI graduation at Morehouse College with Gray Television as its inaugural media partner and the CAU School of Business and Division of Communications Arts within the School of Arts & Sciences. The HBCU also revealed its partnership with the CAU School of Business and the Division of Communication Arts. In late September, the CAU, Gray Television, and MSI Foundation principles leadership team convened to deliberate on introducing the Media Sales Department curriculum. The curriculums design, research, development and accreditation will take five years. Located in CAUs School of Business, the new program will address the difficulty faced by the media sector in ensuring a diverse workforce by focusing on radio, television, cable, print, digital and interactive media sales. It will be available to AUC students pursuing any major. I am proud and excited to be a part of this initiative and partner with the MSI Foundation, along with the media industry, to offer the first collegiate concentration in media sales, operations and marketing in the country! Dean of the CAU School of Business Silvanus Udoka said. Building on the very successful MSI curriculum, the expanded reach that this program will offer promises to accomplish our shared goals of sustained creation of primed media sales professionals for today and tomorrow, Udoka continued. Jeffrey P. Myers and Dana Myers, MSD Developers, have teamed up with NABOB Telecommunications Education and Management Foundation for roughly 20 years, providing developmental courses that prepare graduates for careers in media sales. Our strategy is the best long-term plan to recruit diverse, pre-screened and highly qualified entry-level employees in the media industry. Building this curriculum and partnership has been part of a 20-year journey that started with the MSI Program in 2000. We are proud of an amazing alumni network that consists of more than 1,000 graduates being employed in media sales departments, Myers said. Throughout the curriculums development, sponsoring organizations can participate as adjunct practitioners and adjunct professionals. Gray is excited to be part of this innovative approach to preparing students for the ever-changing world of media sales, Gray President and Co-CEO Pat LaPlatney said. The entire industry will benefit from having students who will have spent years learning how best to help advertisers tell their stories across so many platforms. The five-year design cost will be funded by the MSI Foundation and its partners in funding. Enrollment at the CAU School of Business and the Division of Communication Arts in the School of Arts and Sciences will begin to cover the programs costs in 2028. Georgia experienced 107 billion-dollar disasters between 1980-2022, the highest amount of any state in the Southeast, according to a prominent group of experts and scientists. The Fifth National Climate Assessment was published on Tuesday by the US Global Change Research Program, banging the climate change warning drums that climate scientists have been highlighting for years: the crisis is here and there are known, working solutions. The most glaring issue in Georgia is the economic hit and frequency of disasters (exacerbated and heightened by climate change) that will get worse with every degree of warming if not acted on, according to the assessment. Additionally, the working group presented solutions that farmers can adopt to create higher crop yields that are threatened by drought. The latest billion-dollar event this past August, Hurricane Idaliawhich affected Valdosta and nearby townsclocked in at around $2.5 billion in damages. The most billion-dollar disasters in Georgia have occurred this year. Conversely, Florida has experienced 75 events in the same 42-year period. NOAA billion-dollar disasters by state during 19802022 in the Southeast. The map adds up billion-dollar events for each state affected. Without proactive adaptation measures in place, Georgia faces some of the highest economic risks related to energy infrastructure damage, Saumya Narechania, Managing Director of Climate Power, a climate action working group, said. Increased drought due to climate change threatens Georgias economy, in particular its agricultural production. In 2023 Georgia has experienced 12 billion-dollar disaster events. Photo courtesy of NOAA. The National Climate Assessment must be published every four years as mandated by Congress per the Global Change Research Act of 1990. The working group of scientists includes more than 750 experts who author and contribute to the assessment. It contains the latest information that scientists compile to create the most up-to-date climate knowledge for decision-makers and across the country. Much of the reports information comes from the National Center for Environmental Information (a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA). The agency has a user-friendly tool to dive into the billion-dollar events over the last 40 years. It can be sorted by disaster type, year, and has information on the cost and deaths related to the event. In Georgia, severe storms are the most frequent disaster type with a cost of $60 billion since 1980. In Georgia between 1980-2023 thee have been 60 severe storm events and 24 tropical cyclone events resulting in the death of 8,413 people and tens of billions of dollars in economic cost. Courtesy of NASA. Agriculture and drought require water management To tackle emissions, the U.S. and Georgia must continue to be resilient by investing in resources to mitigate and adapt, especially in areas outside of the coastal or metro areas. Changes in temperature, drought, extreme rainfall, and sea levels are already threatening the Southeasts agriculture and other food-related systems, the Southeast chapter of the report says. With every increment of global warming, it will disproportionately harm farmers and small-scale operations, increasing competition between urban and rural communities for water. Precision agriculture and smart irrigation methods are ways farmers can more efficiently farm, reducing water, labor, and/or fuel. Climate change is and will continue to be a challenge for farmers, but there are many things that producers can do to help adapt to the changes, Knox said in an email. Knox suggested farmers use the free app, smart irrigation apps developed by UGA to see help begin implementing these methods. She also suggests using cover crops to trap carbon and reduce nutrient and soil loss. New crops like olives and satsuma citrus are being introduced due to changing growing zones brought on by changing temperatures. The assessment also made it clear that it is imperative farmers collect data about subjects like soil moisture, temperature, or other variables. Knox noted, This is a problem for smaller, more rural and economically disadvantaged farmers since there is a cost involved in gathering data, especially if they dont have access to the internet. Agricultural yields are expected to decrease under very high warming if we continue business as usual. Credit: Fifth National Climate Assessment US Global Change Research Program Former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement marking the death of Rosalynn Carter on Sunday, honoring her work spreading hope, health and democracy across the globe. In their statement, the Clintons thanked Rosalynn Carter for her decades of extraordinary service to our nation and world, and for more than forty years of friendship. Rosalynn Carter was a compassionate and committed champion of human dignity everywhere, they wrote in the statement, adding later, Rosalynn will be forever remembered as the embodiment of a life lived with purpose. Best Black Friday Deals Rosalynn Carter died Sunday afternoon at 96 years old, just two days after announcing she was entering hospice care. She and former President Carter were married 77 years the longest of any president and first lady. She is survived by her husband, who is the oldest president who ever lived at 99 years old. In their statement, the Clintons touted Rosalynn Carters work with the Carter Center and destigmatizing mental health. Throughout her long, remarkable life, she was an unwavering voice for the overlooked and underrepresented, the Clintons statement read. Thanks to her mental health advocacy, more people live with better care and less stigma. Because of her early leadership on childhood immunization, millions of Americans have grown up healthier. And through her decades of work at the Carter Center and with Habitat for Humanity, she spread hope, health, and democracy across the globe, the statement added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Even in the darkness, the utter devastation in northern Gaza is clear as day. The empty shells of buildings, illuminated by the last shreds of light, lurch out of the landscape on the dirt roads across the Gaza Strip. At night, the only signs of life are the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) vehicles that rumble the landscape, tightening the militarys grip on the northern sector. On Saturday night, we traveled with the IDF into Gaza to see the newly exposed tunnel shaft discovered at the compound of Al-Shifa Hospital, the enclaves largest medical facility. After crossing the border fence at around 9:00 in the evening, our convoy of Humvees turned off its lights, relying on night vision goggles to traverse the Gaza Strip. We would spend the next six hours inside Gaza, much of that time spent getting back and forth from the tunnel shaft. Along our path, virtually every building bore the scars of wartime damage. Many structures were destroyed entirely, while others were hardly recognizable as anything more than twisted metal. If there was life here, it had long since departed. Residents had either moved south or been killed during six weeks of war. Soon after crossing the border into Gaza, the convoy of Humvees turned off its lights and traveled in darkness. - Oren Liebermann/CNN Our first stop was a location on the beach where the IDF had set up a staging area. From there, we moved into armored personnel carriers with several other reporters for the last kilometer to the hospital. The only view outside came through a night-vision screen. But even in black and white, the level of destruction was shocking. Inside Gaza City, the skeletal remains of apartment towers and high-rise buildings packed the otherwise vacant city streets. Even if we could speak to Palestinians while embedded with the IDF, there was no one around to talk to. CNN reported from inside Gaza under IDF media escort at all times. As a condition for journalists to join this embed, media outlets had to submit footage filmed in Gaza to the Israeli military for review and agreed not to reveal sensitive locations and soldiers identities. CNN retained editorial control over the final report. As we stepped out of the armored vehicle, we were enveloped by utter darkness. We were only allowed to use our red lights to navigate to a nearby building, where we waited until Israeli forces already on the ground secured the area. The tunnel shaft was very close by, but it was entirely exposed. The commander in charge of our group, Lt. Col. Tom said this tunnel is significantly larger than others he had seen before. This is a big tunnel, he said. I have encountered tunnels in 2014 in [Operation] Protective Edge, I was a company commander and this tunnel is an order of magnitude bigger than a standard tunnel. We had expected to hear fighting once we entered Gaza City itself. Instead, we heard almost complete silence. Only once during our roughly 45 minutes at the hospital did we hear the distant sound of small arms fire, and it was impossible to tell how far away it was in the midst of an urban environment. The rest of the time, the silence made the darkness feel even more oppressive. The only view of the destruction in Gaza was through a small night vision monitor in an armored personnel carrier. - Oren Liebermann/CNN It was nearing midnight as we walked the last few feet to the exposed tunnel shaft. The IDF had promised concrete evidence that Hamas was using the hospital complex above ground as cover for what it called terror infrastructure underneath, including a command and control hub. Several days earlier, the IDF had released what it said was the first batch of evidence, which included weapons and ammunition they said they found inside the hospital itself. But the pictures were a far cry from proving that Hamas had a facility underneath, and a CNN investigation found that some of the guns had been moved around. The discovery of the tunnel shaft the next day was more compelling, showing an entrance to something underground. But even then, it was unclear what it was or how far down it went. This is what everyone has been trying to understand. Standing on the edge of the tunnel shaft, it was apparent that the structure itself was substantial. At the top, the remains of a ladder hung over the lip of the opening. In the center of the round shaft, a center pole looked like a hub for a spiral staircase. The shaft itself extended down farther than we could see, especially in the meager light of our headlamps. Video released by the IDF from inside the shaft showed what we could not see from the top of the opening. The video shows a spiral staircase leading down into a concrete tunnel. The IDF said the tunnel shaft extends downwards approximately 10 meters and the tunnel runs for 55 meters. At its end stands a metal door with a small window. We need to demolish the underground facility that we found, said IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. I think the leadership of Hamas is in great pressure because we found this facility, and we are now going to demolish it. Its going to take us time. Were going to do it safely, but were going to do it. It is arguably the most compelling evidence thus far that the IDF has offered that there may be a network of tunnels below the hospital. It does not establish without a doubt that there is a command center under Gazas largest hospital, but it is clear that there is a tunnel down below. Seeing what connects to that tunnel is absolutely critical. For Israel, the stakes could not be higher. Israel has publicly asserted for weeks, if not years, that Hamas has built terror infrastructure below the hospital. The ability to continue to prosecute the war in the face of mounting international criticism depends to a large extent on Israel being able to prove this point. Hamas has repeatedly denied that there is a network of tunnels below Shifa hospital. Health officials who have spoken with CNN have said the same, insisting it is only a medical facility. As is so rarely the case in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this answer truly is black and white. Either there is an underground series of tunnels below the hospital. Or there is not. Clarification: The headline on this story has been updated to reflect that the tunnel shaft was discovered on the grounds of the Al-Shifa hospital complex. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com GAHANNA, Ohio (WCMH) A suspect in a fatal shooting is in custody after a standoff with police in northeast Columbus on Sunday. The incident started with the report of a shooting at a shopping center on the 4800 block of Morse Road at approximately 4:35 p.m. Kandi Henderson, 42, was found suffering from a gunshot wound at the scene. Mifflin Township medics took Henderson to Mount Carmel East hospital in critical condition, but she was pronounced dead at 6:46 p.m. One injured in single-car crash in west Columbus Police officers including members of the Columbus SWAT team responded to a standoff at approximately 5:35 p.m. on the 1300 block of Lindenwald Drive, a police dispatcher said. This embedded content is not available in your region. Stephan Turner, 60, barricaded himself inside a home in that area but was later taken into custody at approximately 7:30 p.m., police said. Turner, who dispatchers said was arrested without incident, is a suspect in the shooting, according to police. The details of what led to the shooting have also not been released. Police are asking that anyone with information regarding this incident to call Columbus Police Homicide Unit at (614) 645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS (8477). For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. Photo: The Canadian Press Mounties in northeastern British Columbia say one man is dead after exchanging gunfire with police and barricading himself inside an apartment overnight. The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on April 13, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Mounties in northeastern British Columbia say one man is dead after exchanging gunfire with police and barricading himself inside an apartment overnight. Officers found the man dead of what the RCMP say are believed to have been self-inflicted injuries the next morning, and B.C.'s police watchdog has been notified. The RCMP statement says officers in Dawson Creek, B.C., went to the building on 10th Street to arrest the man at around 11:45 p.m. on Saturday. It says the man had a weapon and refused to leave the home, while three women were able to leave safely. Police say members of the Mounties' emergency response team tried to negotiate with the man to surrender, but there were two separate exchanges of gunfire and officers went inside around 8:25 a.m. the next day and found him dead. A statement from the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. describes the incident as a "police-involved shooting." It says the office will "seek to confirm the details of police actions during the incident and what role, if any, they may have played in the man's death." The Mounties say no one else was injured. I made collard greens recently for a small group meeting. Sadly, my group members did not get to taste them because I timed it wrong (greens take a long time to cook). But that meant my husband and I got to enjoy the whole pot. While this is a comfort food in my home, it occurred to me that not everyone ate this as a family, or if you did, you might not eat it today. As I thought more about it, I wondered what Kansas Citians consider comfort food, especially as the season of celebrations is here. Whats that favorite dish that just has to be on your table during the holidays? Collard greens is that food to me. Its just not the holidays without it. We want to know what yours is and why. Please tell us about your dish in the survey below, or visit bit.ly/StarComfortFood (capitalization matters in that web address). What counts as comfort food for you? The Opinion team members share their own here. Back to collards: They often are a winter or celebratory food, and because the holidays are but a few weeks away (Thanksgiving is Thursday, and Christmas is in five weeks), collard greens likely will be included in many American household menus. Especially African Americans. The food and pop culture website The Takeout agrees: For every important celebration throughout the African American diaspora, there will be greens. Collards arent specific to the Black community, and they didnt originate in Africa as many believe. But here in Black American kitchens, collards are known as a soul food, because the richness of the broth, the spices and the smoked meat within the dish nurture the body and comfort the soul. The leftover liquid is often referred to as pot liquor, and sometimes is used as a restorative and for colds and flu. Does it work? Im not sure, but I know it makes you feel better as that rich liquid goes down your throat. Melinda Hennebergers Grandma Jettie Bleidt Lawrence Boiled custard I had one of those Kentucky grandmas who could grow anything, and do anything, too, in my eyes, anyway; she could sew even a lined winter coat, then braid a rug out of the scraps of leftover material. She quilted, canned, pickled, and made a years worth of jam from the wild blackberries that grew on the farm every summer. She fished but didnt hunt, loved Dolly Parton but hated ever dolling herself up, listened more than she talked, fed anyone and everyone dinner, which was lunch, and nursed underweight animals with a baby bottle. Some of my best early memories are of the mornings I got to go with her to gather the eggs from the chicken coop and then helped her make buttermilk biscuits while The Porter Wagoner Show played in the background on her little black-and-white TV. So of course, every comfort food I know anything about came out of my Grandma Jettie Bleidt Lawrences kitchen. These included pork shoulder that had been smoked by my grandpa, greens, cornbread made in the skillet, and do not even think about adding sugar. Or else Mama Bleidts yeast rolls that was her mom, Della Lane Bleidt, for whom my daughter is named and my dads favorite dessert, her boiled custard with the coconut cake that all by itself was a day in the making. Every Christmas, shed get a whole coconut, hammer it open outside, then peel and grate it for the divinity icing. Jettie did not really use any recipes, but I did learn from her that all vegetables taste better when cooked with right smart of lard. And I learned how to make her boiled custard, which is not boiled, and no matter what anybody tells you, is not just cooked eggnog, either. I only learned when I Googled its history for this piece that it is a long-lost Appalachian holiday treat. Its also the simplest thing in the world, as long as you dont get in a hurry and ruin it by letting it come to a boil: Lightly beat four eggs, then add cup of sugar, teaspoon of salt and beat a little more. Now heat a quart of whole milk and pour just a little scalded milk in with the eggs. Add the eggs to the hot milk, whisking constantly until the custard thickens. Remove it from the heat, add a teaspoon of vanilla and keep whisking for a couple more minutes. Now thank God, thank Jettie, and taste the love. Melinda Henneberger, Metro columnist Gravy on toast My mother fixed dinner for our family almost every night until I left for college. Looking back, I realize she broadened my palate beyond a lot of my peers. It was an everyday thing for us to find Swiss chard, jicama or then-remarkable quinoa on our plates, alongside the fresh tomatoes, herbs and sweet corn she grew in our back and side yards during the summer. And because she never made a big deal about those dishes being unusual, my sister and I never thought about objecting to them. Mom was a good cook, too so good that her white bean and escarole soup won a big recipe contest in the early 1990s from Excelsior Springs-based American Italian Pasta Co., which came with a high-dollar kitchen makeover. (Im so happy to be doing this for someone who actually cooks, the designer the company hired said. Most of the time, I finish an expensive installation in a huge house and the family says, Great, now we have a nice stove to warm up the frozen pizza.) But in my book, one of her greatest hits was toast and gravy. Every time I saw her plug in the shiny silver electric skillet on a weeknight, I knew we were probably going to be getting one of my favorite meals. Sometimes the gravy would have hamburger in it. Even better, sometimes breakfast sausage. Years later, Mom told my sister and me that toast and gravy night meant money a little tight that week. But we had no idea at the time, and wouldnt have complained anyway. In fact, were planning to get together soon to fix the dish together, even though neither of us inherited that electric skillet. Derek Donovan, Deputy opinion editor Caramel cake with homemade icing My grandmother, Delores Porter, is 91. She lives in my hometown of St. Louis. She is still lucid and moves around well. But years have passed since she last baked one of my favorites: a caramel cake with homemade icing. She uses a yellow cake mix but makes the icing herself. To say Grannys sweet treat brings me comfort would not be a stretch. These days, I spend most of the major holidays here. Two years ago, craving one of Grannys cakes, I called her and asked for the recipe. I was surprised when she offered it up. I shared the recipe with my longtime friend LaTanya. I bragged to her that nobody makes a better caramel cake than my grandma. LaTanya showed me. After she put her own spin on the homemade icing made with condensed milk, sugar, butter and other ingredients she wouldnt tell, it was a wrap. LaTanyas moist cake was better. I didnt have the nerve to tell my grandma this. She may have disowned me if I did. This holiday season, l may just have to put in a request with LaTanya to bake another caramel cake. I hope she isnt too busy and declines. Toriano Porter, Opinion writer Monkey bread Growing up, my mom had a routine nearly every Christmas and Thanksgiving. Despite all the cooking she would usually do on those holidays, she would still get up early to make monkey bread for me and my sisters. The recipe is simple: Take a store-bought can of biscuits, rip all the biscuits into small pieces, cover them in a layer of sugar and cinnamon, then drizzle the doughy mess with melted butter before baking. Is it good for you? Probably not. But its wonderful. The most important thing, though, is the tradition: My mother died 10 years ago, before my son had turned 5. So every Thanksgiving we get up and make monkey bread together, and I tell him about the grandmother who adored him. Joel Mathis, Opinion correspondent Pumpkin pie made from the canned stuff with Cool Whip It doesnt taste really great, but it is so identical from year to year that it might as well be a time travel device. I can go to the 1970s version of 1015 Henry Street in St. Joe with Grandpa Ralph and Grandma Elizabeth, flit to Brooklyn, New York with Grandma Rippey and Grandpa Jack then travel to my home in 1980s Omaha with my mom and dad, then forward a decade and a half to the first Thanksgiving with my own child in one fork full. I love it because I love all the people who shared it with me. David Mastio, Opinion correspondent AUGUSTA, Maine An independent commission investigating the mass shooting that killed 18 people in Maine last month moved Monday to seek subpoena power so it can obtain the military service records of the shooter. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey have tasked the commission with performing a review of the events leading up to the Lewiston shootings and the response to it. Army reservist Robert Card, 40, killed 18 people in a bowling alley and a restaurant on Oct. 25 before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The commission held its first meeting on Monday and members unanimously voted to request subpoena power from the Maine Legislature. We will be seeking military records, and those might not be accessible to us without subpoena power, said Toby Dilworth, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Maine and a commission member. Its essential that we have this subpoena power. The commission is chaired by Daniel Wathen, former chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Other members include Debra Baeder, the former chief forensic psychologist for the state, and Paula Silsby, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Maine. The panel is expected to investigate potential missed opportunities to prevent the shootings. Card was well known to law enforcement and fellow service members had raised flags about his behavior, mental health state and potential for violence before the shootings. Card spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital in New York last summer after an altercation with other reserve members. Mills and Frey swiftly released a statement that they supported the move to use subpoena power. Mills, who created the commission via executive order, has called on the commission to follow the facts of the case and keep them as transparent to the public as possible. Mills and Frey said in their statement they would immediately begin consulting with the Independent Commission and legislative leadership to prepare legislation granting the commission the power of subpoena, with the goal of having that legislation prepared for the Legislatures consideration at the beginning of the next session. The commission will meet again on Dec. 14, Wathen said. He said his goal was for the commission to produce a written report within six months, which was a timeline he called a very ambitious goal, but highly desirable for obvious reasons. The commission also took comments from the public on Monday. Rep. Suzanne Salisbury, a Westbrook Democrat, called on the commission to collaborate with law enforcement as it performs its review. I hope that law enforcements voice can be heard and used as the experts they are, Salisbury said. A Thurston County community is remembering the lives of a couple who were allegedly kidnapped and killed at their home last week. Sheriffs deputies arrested an Olympia man in connection with their murders. Deputies are still searching for the bodies of Davido and Karen Koep. They say the evidence theyve collected leads them to believe they were killed. They were reported missing last Monday at their home by deputies during a welfare check. Its just unfathomable really that anyone would harm any of them. Its just so hard for me to believe, said Lucas Anderson, a friend of Karen. On Sunday, dozens of people gathered at Karens chiropractic office. People laid flowers and lit candles to try and keep the Koeps memory alive. Karen and Davido adored their children. Their family was very, very important to them, said Sharon Cannizzo, during the prayer vigil on Sunday. Cannizo is Davids sister. From the day they met, their souls bounded, left this earth together, she added. They were parents, soulmates, and friends to many people throughout Thurston County. They were very much in love, I could tell. But I could also tell by the way she loved her children that they were very much in love with each other, Anderson explained. When the Koeps went missing, their car was also gone. It has since been found. Deputies determined their disappearance as suspicious. It was really tough when I got the word that she was believed to be a victim of homicide, said Thurston County Undersheriff Dave Pearsall. Pearsall was a patient of Karens for 20 years. Shes somebody that you would, you didnt consider her your doctor as much as you did her friend, Pearsall said. Deputies say theyve already arrested a suspect, but there are still many unanswered questions. He deserves anything that is coming to him because these two people I know were very much loved because Karen always talked about Davido and her children. They meant so much to her. Im glad at least Davido and her are together if we cant be with them, said a community member during the vigil. Family and friends say they still havent felt much closure. We do want justice and we do pray that police are able to figure out a way to carry that out, said Anderson. Deputies say the suspect is in his 40s and he knew the couple. Hes facing two murder charges and a kidnapping charge. FILE PHOTO: Democratic Republic of Congo's opposition Presidential candidate Moise Katumbi talks to his supporters after leaving the prosecutor's office in Lubumbashi KINSHASA (Reuters) - Two opposition candidates for Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential election next month said on Monday they would drop out and back another opposition candidate, Moise Katumbi, following a move made by another aspirant last week. Seth Kikuni and Franck Diongo are the latest opposition candidates to throw their support behind 58-year-old Katumbi, a millionaire businessman and former governor of the copper-rich Katanga region. Katumbi's campaign is scheduled to kick off on Monday in the northern city of Kisangani. He has promised to fight graft, create jobs and reform the economy of the world's largest producer of battery material cobalt and a major copper producer. Congo's former prime minister Augustin Matata Ponyo said he would back Katumbi on Sunday following the recommendations of leading opposition parties. Representatives of those parties met in South Africa last week to discuss how to protect the Dec. 20 general election from fraud and decide on a potential joint candidate to challenge President Felix Tshisekedi, 60. A crowded opposition field of 25 candidates is currently enlisted to face Tshisekedi, who is seeking a second term. They are concerned about the fairness of the vote, alleging irregularities that play in favour of the ruling coalition during voter registration. The electoral commission denies this. Kikuni said in a statement posted on X that Ponyo's decision reflected the importance of "transcending our egos" and prioritising the nation's interests. Tshisekedi, who began his re-election bid on Sunday, urged voters to give him another mandate to consolidate his achievements after a first term mired by economic hardship and spiralling insecurity. His main challengers include Katumbi, old rival Martin Fayulu, a 66-year-old former Exxon Mobil executive who came a disputed second in the last 2018 presidential contest, and first-time runner Denis Mukwege, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning gynaecologist. Their campaigns are also set to begin on Monday. More than 43 million registered voters are eligible to take part in the general election. (Reporting by Fiston Mahamba, Ange Kasongo and Sonia Rolley; Writing by Sofia Christensen, Editing by William Maclean) The election of Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana as the new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has gotten me thinking about Lexingtons greatest link to this position: Henry Clay. Moreover, reports that Rep. Kevin McCarthy allegedly threw an elbow at Rep. Tim Burchett, and Sen. Markwayne Mullins threats to brawl during a senate hearing, provide another link to Clay, who sometimes resorted to violence to handle personal difficulties. The stakes for Clay, however, were much higher. The Kentuckian known as the Great Compromiser fought two duels with pistols while in office. Born in Virginia, Clay found success as an attorney, farmer and thoroughbred breeder at Ashland, his plantation located near Richmond Road. There, Clay enslaved dozens of African Americans. Nineteenth century notions of honor, which led Clay to the dueling ground, did not deter upper-class, white southerners from owning other human beings. Voters elected Clay to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1803. He eventually served as speaker of that body, became a U.S. senator, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1811. He immediately became Speaker of the House, a post he held for six terms. According to Kentucky state historian Dr. James C. Klotter, author of Henry Clay: The Man Who Would Be President, Clay transformed the office of Speaker . . . For well over a century, no Speaker held the office longer than Clay did. Clay helped negotiate the end of the War of 1812, served as U.S. Secretary of State and later returned to the U.S. Senate. Although many 19th-century Americans were shocked when prominent politicians fought duels, affairs of honor were not always a political hindrance. Some voters saw the practice as an appropriate way for upper-class white males to protect their reputations, assert their manhood and prevent charges of cowardice. Clay fought his first duel in 1809, when he was a Kentucky state legislator. At the time, tensions were high with Great Britain, and Clay proposed that Kentuckians should only purchase American-made clothing. Another legislator, Humphrey Marshall, called Clays idea the clap-trap of a demagogue. Insulted, Clay challenged Marshall, who accepted. They fought near Louisville with pistols. Although both men missed twice, on the third fire Marshall shot Clay in the leg. After the fight, Clay informed a friend, My wound is no way serious, as the bone is unhurt, but prudence will require me to remain here some days. Clays friends praised him for defending his honor. One wrote him that Your firmness and courage is admitted now by all partiesI feel happy to hear of the heroism with which you actedI had rather heard of your Death than to have heard of your backing [down] in the smallest degree. Seventeen years later, when Clay was U.S. Secretary of State, he fought another duel. In 1826, U.S. Senator John Randolph called Clay a cross between the Puritan and the Black-Leg, or a swindler. To avenge the insult, Clay challenged Randolph. They fought with pistols outside of Washington, D.C. Both men missed on the first volley. On the second shot, Clay fired first and missed. Randolph could have aimed and shot Clay, but he instead fired into the air. This gesture impressed Clay, and the two men eventually reconciled. A year later, rumors spread that Andrew Jackson, Clays major political rival, was going to challenge Clay to fight. In response, Clay remarked, I shall be prepared for any and every honorable event, meaning a duel. Clay and Jackson never fought, but some found Clays participation in duels to be abhorrent. In 1831, for example, a newspaper claimed that if leading figures like Clay and Jackson had not been duelists, it would long since have fallen into disrepute and been numbered among those relics of a barbarous age . . . as unworthy a place in the temple of freedom. Later, an Ohio newspaper lambasted Clays participation in duels, asking, Can a moral and religious community conscientiously support such a man for the highest office? Voters answered this question. Clay ran for president three times and was never elected. Although dueling was illegal across the United States, Clay realized that laws alone would not end the practice. Instead, a cultural change was needed. In 1813, when rumors stirred about a likely duel between two members of the House of Representatives, Clay wrote, I fear, in spite of all the efforts of Legislation, we shall go on to fight, in single combat, and go on to condemn the practice. The remedy lies deeper than legislative actspublic opinion must be corrected. Dueling faded out of fashion shortly after the American Civil War. Clay, who died in 1852, did not live long enough to see this change. Today, as political passions burn as hot as the rivalry between Clay and his political antagonists, one hopes Speaker Johnson, Rep. McCarthy, and Sen. Mullin will leave their dueling pistols at home. Stuart W. Sanders is the author of five books, including Anatomy of a Duel: Secession, Civil War, and the Evolution of Kentucky Violence, which was just published by the University Press of Kentucky. Local environmental groups are lauding a $2 million settlement for three lawsuits against Schnitzer Steel regarding Clean Water Act violations at 11 scrap metal facilities in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Puerto Rico. The companys stormwater runoff has been polluting nearby rivers and coastlines with toxic metals like lead, zinc, copper, and petroleum products every time it rains, according to the Conservation Law Foundation. Schnitzer will pay nearly $2 million to several groups working to clean up these rivers and waters. Its about time this multi-billion-dollar company complied with the law, Conservation Law Foundation Attorney Chelsea Kendall said in a statement Monday. Toxic runoff from Schnitzers facilities has been contaminating waters that people depend on for drinking and recreation. This $2 million settlement will go a long way towards cleaning up these rivers and ensuring the company ends this harmful pollution. The polluting Schnitzer facilities are in Attleboro, Worcester, and Everett; in Manchester and Concord, New Hampshire; and in Bayamon, Caguas, Canovanas, Ponce, and Salinas, Puerto Rico, officials said. Every time it rains, toxic chemicals from the piles of broken and rusted metal on each of these sites flow directly to the Blackstone River, the Merrimack River, the Mystic River, and several bays and rivers in Puerto Rico, the Conservation Law Foundation said in a statement. This type of runoff causes poor water quality, harming natural ecosystems and marine life. Mystic River Watershed Association Executive Director Patrick Herron said in a statement, Everyone deserves access to nature, greenspace, and a healthy environment. For many of our environmental justice communities in the Lower Mystic--the Mystic River is that important and treasured resource. Our organization works toward a vision of a waterfront and river that is clean and welcoming for all, Herron said. These mitigation funds will power the scientific monitoring, analysis, and investment to reduce pollution to the river--getting us closer to our vision for this river and our residents. The settlement will help monitor the environment in these locations, Blackstone River Coalition Coordinator Peter Coffin said in a statement. The Blackstone River Coalition is truly grateful for the funding to continue the systematic monitoring of seventy-five sites by more than 100 well-trained, dedicated citizen scientists, said Coffin. Along with our partners, we look forward to developing access to the River and providing public education and outreach to environmental justice communities throughout the watershed. The case also highlights the importance of environmental laws being enforced, Greenroots Executive Director Roseann Bongiovanni said in a statement Environmental justice communities have a disproportionate share of toxic and environmental burdens, said Bongiovanni. It is gratifying to see environmental laws being enforced, violators being penalized and mitigation funds being invested in neighborhoods impacted by decades of environmental injustice and toxic harm. With the mitigation funding GreenRoots received from this settlement, we will be increasing access to the Mill Creek waterfront for our residents and neighboring communities. We will be improving water quality, restoring estuaries and putting the health and well-being of our community first. Were proud to partner with CLF on major environmental wins for our community and all environmental justice communities. The settlement will allow for the restoration of eroded shorelines, and reducing stormwater pollution in the Merrimack, said Merrimack River Watershed Council Executive Director Curt Rogers in a statement. We will also be able to remove outdated dams and inadequate culverts, which can cause flooding and poor water quality, and are often harmful to fish migration and habitat, Rogers said. The Merrimack is the regions largest source of drinking water, with over 700,000 people depending on it. Maintaining a healthy and clean river is a necessity. 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 companies building an apartment complex that caught fire over the summer, killing two workers, have been cited for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina. Their fines total more than $50,000. Breaking: Several contractors fined thousands of dollars by OSHA due to the SouthPark fire. Story to come @wsoctv Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) November 20, 2023 The Department of Labor said Monday that it cited MCRT Carolinas Construction LLC, Kentucky Overhead Door Inc. and Diversified Insulation LLC. Firefighters rescued 15 people on May 18 after a five-alarm fire broke out at an apartment complex being built on Liberty Row Road near Fairview Road. Two workers, Ruben Holmes and Demonte Sherrill, were killed. PREVIOUS STORIES: The DOL inspected the construction site on May 18 and 19. They cited each company with the following: MCRT Carolinas Construction LLC with three alleged serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina with a total penalty of $46,875 Kentucky Overhead Door Inc. DBA Baker Insulation with four alleged serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina with a total penalty of $6,250 The Labor Department cited Diversified Insulation LLC with one alleged serious violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina with a total penalty of $3,125 MCRT Carolinas Construction, also known as Modera South Park, is accused of failing to provide free and unobstructed egress from all parts of the building when occupied. The DOL said on the day of the fire, there was only one stairway and the two men who died were 463 feet -- more than a football field -- away from it. The two employees who died werent able to get to the stairs in time. The citation also says there was no emergency response plan or alarm system in place. Investigators found there was no air horn or siren to alert workers of the emergency. Kentucky Overhead Door Inc. DBA Baker Insulation is accused of failing to have a respiratory protection program and an inventory list of all hazardous substances in the workplace. They also allegedly failed to maintain copies of the required safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals and employees were not provided effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in the work area. As for Diversified Insulation LLC, their citation says they did not maintain workplace copies of the required safety data sheets for each hazardous chemical. The DOL said they consider factors like the gravity of the violations, the size of the business, the good faith of the employer, and the history of previous violations when they determine the fine. State statutes say each citation carries a maximum $15,625 penalty. According to the Department of Labor, the money from the penalties will eventually be distributed to the North Carolina public school system. Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari represents SouthPark. He told Channel 9s Joe Bruno the fire was one of the most tragic days hes experienced in Charlotte in 20 years. He said the fines are likely only the beginning of accountability and understanding of what exactly went wrong. This is something where, not just the eyes of Charlotte, but the eyes of the nation, have been trained on us, he said. So it is important for us to find out what the lessons are that everyone, not just us, can learn from it. The companies cited can file a notice of contest through the DOL within 15 business days of the citation. If they dont, they must pay the penalty within that time period. Channel 9 has reached out to each of the companies for comment. Mill Creek Residential Trust has received the report from the North Carolina Department of Labor regarding the fire and is carefully reviewing its findings, reads the statement from Modera SouthPark. We take matters relating to safety very seriously and will cooperate fully with authorities. We are forever mindful of the grief caused by this tragedy and will continue to implement best practices to help avoid situations like this in the future. (WATCH PREVIOUS: Developer plans to build new complex on site of deadly SouthPark fire) Two broadband poles were damaged in the Longhill area of Hull, the telecoms company confirmed Two broadband poles which were recently installed in Hull have been chopped down. The poles in Longhill were felled over the weekend, prompting telecoms company MS3 Networks to issue a warning about the dangers of damaging the structures. MS3 has been installing poles in parts of East Yorkshire in recent weeks, with the work prompting anger in some communities. An spokesperson said Humberside Police had been alerted to the incidents. Changes to the law since April 2022 mean operators can erect poles without having to apply to councils for planning permission. In Hull and East Yorkshire, campaigners have accused MS3 Networks of "littering" streets with the telegraph poles. Telecoms firm MS3 warned that attempts to damage the poles could be dangerous In a statement MS3 said: "Telegraph poles weigh hundreds of kilograms and there is very real danger of loss of life from deliberately damaging them. "Whilst the police investigation is under way we cannot comment on the act itself however we are extremely disappointed with the actions of members of local protest groups condoning this behaviour online." The firm added that it believed the "harassment" faced by its staff when they installed the poles and "misinformation posted online" had led to "a small group of individuals deciding to commit a serious offence that may have endangered lives". Humberside Police have been contacted for a comment. Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk GM suspended all Cruise robotaxi services across the US earlier this month. Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt announced his resignation from the controversial robotaxi startup on Sunday evening. The co-founders sudden departure arrives after months of public and political backlash relating to the autonomous vehicle fleets safety, and hints at future issues for the company purchased by General Motors in 2016 for over $1 billion. Vogts resignation follows months of documented hazardous driving behaviors from Cruises autonomous vehicle fleet, including injuring pedestrians, delaying emergency responders , and failing to detect children . Cruises Golden State tenure itself lasted barely two months following a California Public Utilities Commission greenlight on 24/7 robotaxi services in August. Almost immediately, residents and city officials began documenting instances of apparent traffic pileups, blocked roadways, and seemingly reckless driving involving Cruise and Google-owned Waymo robotaxis. Meanwhile, Cruise representatives including Vogt aggressively campaigned against claims of an unsafe vehicle fleet. [Related: San Francisco is pushing back against the rise of robotaxis .] Anything that we do differently than humans is being sensationalized, Vogt told The Washington Post in September. On October 2, a Cruise robotaxi failed to avoid hitting a woman pedestrian first struck by another car, subsequently dragging her 20 feet down the road . GM issued a San Francisco moratorium on Cruise operations three weeks later, followed by a nationwide expansion of the suspension on November 6. But even with Cruise on an indefinite hiatus, competitors like Waymo and Zoox continue testing autonomous taxis across San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and elsewhere to varying degrees of success. As The New York Times reports, Waymos integration into Phoenix continues to progress smoothly. Meanwhile, Austin accidents became so concerning that city officials felt the need to establish an internal task force over the summer to help log and process autonomous vehicle incidents. [Related: Self-driving taxis allegedly blocked an ambulance and the patient died .] In a thread posted to X over the weekend, Vogt called his experience helming Cruise amazing, and expressed gratitude to the company and its employees while telling them to remember why this work matters. The status quo on our roads sucks, but together weve proven there is something far better around the corner, wrote Vogt before announcing his plans to spend time with his family and explore new ideas. Thanks for the great ride! Vogt concluded. A proposed ban on conversion therapy in the UK, which would introduce unlimited fines for those found guilty, has been put forward in the House of Lords. Baroness Burt has tabled a Private Members' Bill proposing a UK-wide ban, which will now be debated next year. It comes after the government left out a ban from last month's King's Speech - five years after first promising one. Baroness Burt, a Liberal Democrat peer, said there was a "cross-party consensus" in favour of the measure. Conversion therapy refers to practices aiming to change or suppress someone's sexual orientation or their gender identity. Baroness Burt's proposal would ban practices aimed at both. The BBC has seen details of her draft bill, which hasn't been published yet. The Lib Dem peer says the proposed new law aims to "robustly differentiate" between genuine psychological or religious practice, and conversion therapy practices, to protect legitimate therapies and prayer. She said: "It is very disappointing that the Conservatives have failed to deliver on their promise to ban conversion therapy for five years now." She was selected first in a House of Lords Private Members' Bill ballot - which allow members who aren't ministers to put forward proposed new laws. But it is far from guaranteed that it will be passed. The proposal will have to go through several rounds of voting in the House of Lords and, if it receives enough support, would then pass to the House of Commons for MPs to debate and vote upon. This embedded content is not available in your region. 'Carefully considering' Government plans to ban conversion therapy have been widely discussed and caused several resignations from the government's LGBT advisory panel, as well as a boycott of the UK's first ever international LGBT conference. In January this year, the government re-affirmed its plan to ban the practice. However, earlier this month, the proposed Conversion Therapy Bill was left out of the King's Speech - the list of new laws Number 10 is prioritising over the next few months. It means it is unlikely to become law before the next general election. The delay has frustrated some Conservative MPs, with one telling the BBC they were annoyed the government had "delivered Brexit quicker". Some are planning to try to amend another proposed law, the Criminal Justice Bill, as a way of getting the ban through. But other politicians and campaigners fear a ban could have unintended consequences for parents, teachers and therapists having exploratory conversations about a child's gender identity. They also say it could also hamper religious freedoms. In the days leading up to the King's Speech, a group of politicians met to discuss those concerns and wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asking him not to press ahead with a ban. Speaking earlier this month, Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart suggested it was those concerns that had delayed the bill. "What we don't want to do is end up in a situation where legislation accidentally criminalises parents or teachers, we just don't want to end up in a bad legal space," he said. "Anyone who tells you this is easy hasn't looked at the legal situation." The government has said it is still "carefully considering" a ban. Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart says he has concerns about unintended consequences of a ban However, campaigners and those who have undergone conversion therapy are unhappy the bill wasn't included in the King's Speech. Kitty, who grew up in a religious family and asked us not to use her last name, says she underwent six months' of sessions at New Life Church, in Woking, at the age of 16. After being invited to talk about her feelings, she was shocked to be told her homosexuality was a result of Satan "whispering" in her ear. As part of the sessions, she says she was told to look for reasons that could explain her sexuality and asked what she felt were intrusive questions over her upbringing. Kitty says it left her feeling depressed, unable to trust her family and friends, and ultimately led to an attempt on her own life on two separate occasions. "If you are trying to change someone from who they are meant to be then you are probably doing something wrong," she told the BBC. New Life Church in Woking said it was "very sad to hear these claims from a much-loved former member of our congregation". "While we hold to mainstream Christian beliefs on sexual ethics, we respect the right of all people to live their lives according to their own principles, and do not practice 'conversion therapy'." Jayne Ozanne, a former government LGBT advisor who resigned over delays on banning conversion therapy, says she believes a ban can still protect religious freedoms. "Any conversation that allows people to be challenged and explore who they are, is to be welcomed," she said. "But when the mindset is 'you can never be gay, or you can never be transgender', that thinking will cause great harm." The BBC agreed not to use Kitty's surname International scholars discuss peaceful use of space technology Xinhua) 08:44, November 20, 2023 BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The 2023 International Symposium on the Peaceful Use of Space Technology -- Health kicked off in Beijing on Saturday. More than 100 scientists and scholars from home and abroad have been invited to the three-day symposium to discuss the development potential and prospects of the peaceful use of space technology, and to promote global exchanges and cooperation. The symposium covers topics such as space energy and ground energy, space industry investment, shared space science and technology, space education and talent development, drone development and low-altitude economy, lunar protection, and commercial space industry development and cooperation. Christian Feichtinger, executive director of the International Astronautical Federation, acknowledged that China has made a great contribution to the development of space technology and achieved many results. He said he expects experts and scholars will reach consensus on the peaceful use of space technology during the symposium, ensuring the technological achievements benefit more people in the future. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Wu Chaolan) Photo: Colin Dacre The fate of Cameron Jay Ortis, a former RCMP official accused of leaking secrets, is now in the hands of a jury. The 12 jurors retired Monday to consider a verdict after Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger finished instructing them on how to approach their task. Ortis, 51, has testified he offered secret material to investigative targets in a bid to get them to use an online encryption service set up by an allied intelligence agency to spy on adversaries. He has pleaded not guilty to violating the Security of Information Act by revealing secrets to three individuals in 2015 and trying to do so in a fourth instance, as well as breach of trust and a computer-related offence. Ortis once led the RCMP's Operations Research group, which compiled and developed classified information on terror cells and transnational criminal networks. The Crown argues Ortis, an official bound to secrecy, lacked authority to disclose classified material and that he was not doing so as part of an undercover operation. The defence contends Ortis did not betray Canada, but was rather acting on a "clear and grave threat." Ortis testified about being contacted in September 2014 by a counterpart at a foreign agency who advised him of the particularly serious threat. He said the ally told him in strict confidence about an online encryption service called Tutanota that was actually a "storefront" for intercepting communications. Ortis said he then devised a plan, dubbed Operation Nudge, to dangle secret material to investigative targets to get them to use the encryption service. The company, now known as Tuta, flatly denies having ties to intelligence agencies. Ortis's lawyers have stressed that their client stepped into the witness box even though national security considerations prevented him from naming the foreign counterpart or other details in his own defence. Crown prosecutor Judy Kliewer told the jury that Ortis's story was full of flaws and lacked "the slightest ring of truth.'' The Crown contends the special operational information Ortis provided to people of interest was sufficient to let them know they were subjects of international and domestic law-enforcement efforts, and to learn what police knew about their businesses so they could thwart investigators. The case comes down to whether Ortis "had the authority to take these unusual steps that he took" to communicate special operational information to targets, said Wesley Wark, a senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation. "So now the jury is going to have to decide, was this a compelling story? Was it believable? What was the nature of the authority that he used?" Wark, who has been in court to hear some of the proceedings, noted there was no evidence that Ortis received payment for providing secret information. "The jury may wrestle with the question of, well, where's the motive?" Gov. Roy Cooper traded blows with the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce this weekend as he accused the business group of routinely opposing Black judicial nominees. Cooper, a Democrat, sent a letter to the chamber on Friday claiming it was using its political influence to block Black appointees to several judicial and quasi-judicial boards. An organization that is designed to help our economy and North Carolina businesses should be strongly supporting the speedy confirmation of qualified Black nominees to positions of leadership in our state, he said in the letter. The chamber strongly denied Coopers claims in a letter sent Sunday. Having worked tirelessly and effectively to secure a promising future for the entirety of North Carolinas business community and always doing so without regard to identity being wrongly and arrogantly lectured to by the states chief executive with outrageous claims of racism is enormously hurtful and dispiriting, the letter, signed by the chambers president, Gary Salamido, said. Cooper and chamber exchange accusations While Cooper acknowledged that the chamber has no official power to approve or reject nominations, he made frequent mention of the groups influence on the General Assembly, which votes to confirm Coopers appointees. He claimed that the chamber plays a pivotal role in appointing members to the Business Court, the Industrial Commission and the Board of Review and said that, since 2017, the legislature has confirmed only 13 out of 33, or 39% of Black nominees to these boards. In comparison, the legislature confirmed 42 out of 70, or 60%, of white nominees to the boards, he said. Cooper noted that six consecutive Black nominees to the Board of Review, which rules on cases regarding unemployment benefits, were rejected in 2021 and 2022. In each of these denials it was difficult, if not impossible, to get an explanation from General Assembly members or the chamber of substantive objections to the nominees, he said. In the chambers response, Salamido noted that the nominee who was ultimately appointed to the board was Black, and two out of three of the boards current members are Black. He also provided explanations for the six failed nominees Cooper mentioned, noting that three of them were attorneys who planned to keep their law practices active if appointed. Respectfully, the NC Chamber does not believe that service on a board that, for example in 2021 had 7,000 pending appeals, is a part-time job, he wrote. The other appointees, Salamido said, were known to have contentious relationships with legislative leadership, who would need to vote to confirm them. He noted that state law effectively nullifies any of the governors nominations to the board if the legislature does not act on them within 30 days. It would therefore probably be wise to invest time in discussing and vetting nominees prior to lobbing their names to Jones Street, Salamido wrote. As for the Business Court, which handles cases regarding corporate and commercial law, Cooper noted that all of the courts six judges are white and the General Assembly did not consider confirming two consecutive Black women he nominated. Appointments to the Business Court are a priority of the chamber, and legislators and staff have repeatedly referred to the chambers refusal to endorse my qualified nominees as legislators motivation for not taking action, he wrote. Salamido acknowledged that the chamber opposed Coopers nomination of Tenisha Jacobs, a Black woman, in 2022. Notwithstanding our efforts to collaborate with you and your staff to nominate a more viable candidate, you ignored our concerns and submitted the nomination of an individual whose positions have conflicted directly with those taken by the business community in numerous matters over the years, he said, attaching a 2022 letter sent to legislative leaders explaining the chambers opposition to Jacobs. As for Coopers current nominee to the court, Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette, Salamido wrote that she is extraordinarily impressive and said we would humbly suggest that her nomination might have still been on a pathway to success had you engaged more constructively this past legislative session to secure it. Salamido also balked at the notion that the chamber routinely opposed Black nominees to the Industrial Commission, writing that two of Coopers last six nominations were Black and the chamber supported their confirmation. Governors race Near the end of Salamidos letter, he mentioned that Cooper has not supported former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgans run for governor, endorsing Attorney General Josh Stein instead. It is also well-chronicled that a long-serving and highly regarded Supreme Court Justice recently resigned to seek your partys nomination for Governor, Salamido wrote. He also happens to be Black. Not only have you swiftly endorsed his opponent, who is not Black, you also appointed a non-minority to fill his open seat on the Supreme Court. In a separate letter sent to the chamber on Monday, Cooper did not acknowledge Salamidos comments about Morgan, but said he found it noteworthy that the body did not comment on the low percentage of Black nominees confirmed by the legislature. The data is stark, and I feel confident that many of your members want the chamber to exercise its substantial influence in trying to fix it, he said. UPDATE 11/21/2023 11 AM - This story was updated to include information about the victims background as an entertainer. A motorist was fatally shot and a passenger was injured while driving east on Interstate 70 from Missouri into Illinois on the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge on Sunday night, Illinois State Police said. The driver was identified as 25-year-old Troy Edwards, according to St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. Edwards was pronounced deceased on the scene at 11:02 p.m. Sunday at milepost 2 in St. Clair County. Edwards, a local rapper with a budding career, who has built an audience in social media, is better known to some as Mudd Bughatti, his stage name. A passenger in the SUV was transported to a hospital with non-life- threatening injuries, according to a news release from Illinois State Police. The shooting occurred at about 10:50 p.m. Sunday and the eastbound lanes were reopened at about 3:15 a.m. Monday. No arrests have been announced by investigators. Other information about the shooting, including where the shot came from and a motive for the shooting, has not been released. James Giles emailed all 19,102 councillors in England and Wales on Sunday, asking them to sign a public letter calling for a Gaza ceasefire A councillor sent an intimidating email to thousands of colleagues, threatening to publish the names of anyone opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza. The abhorrent message was sent to all 19,102 councillors in England and Wales, alleging that anti-Semitism had been weaponised to silence those who opposed Israels actions in the wake of the Oct 7 attacks by Hamas. The Local Government Association (LGA) said the threat to publish the names of councillors went against everything it stood for and confirmed that it was urgently investigating. The email was sent by Cllr James Giles, an independent councillor on Kingston Council, in south-west London, who emailed members on Sunday asking them to sign a public letter he had previously written calling for a ceasefire. The letter had been co-authored with Jamal Chohan, a Conservative councillor, who said he had nothing to do with the email later sent by Cllr Giles. In the letter, the pair wrote: To be clear and stating the obvious, anti-Semitism is wholly unacceptable. However, this term cannot continue to be weaponised to absolve Israel of any accountability in how it has contributed to the ongoing tensions and its failure to comply with international law. In his email, Cllr Giles said that he would be publishing a list of all the people who supported the ceasefire, although anyone who feared retribution from their parties could be anonymous. He added: We will also be publishing the names of those who have been invited to sign but choose not to, in the interest of accountability but later backtracked after angry responses from councillors who said the threat was dangerous at a time when councillors were already feeling under intense pressure. Jamal Chohan says that while he co-authored the letter, he had nothing to do with the email later sent by Cllr Giles One anonymous Labour councillor told The Telegraph she had spoken to police after receiving death threats for her stance on the conflict. She added: Councillors are public property we live in our communities, many people know where we live. We dont get the same level of protection that MPs get, however, and we dont have police protection when we are meeting the public. It has made me think about whether it is even worth being a councillor. The allowance is pitiful we do it because we want to help our residents. But is it worth being this scared? She described the email as performative, adding: As a council, we had just been talking about safety measures that could be implemented for councillors and then this letter came out. The people that wrote it will know we are not protected and are saying they will name the people who dont agree with their bullying tactics. Its abhorrent. We are all aware of what happened to Jo Cox and David Amess and what we feel now is this fear of the unknown. There is this anger out there, and we dont know what is going to happen. A number of councillors, including Alex Prager, Barnet Conservative, shared their responses to the letter on social media. Mr Prager wrote: If you serve your residents as a local councillor with the same passion as you perpetuate anti-Semitic tropes, youd be doing them a real service. Barbara Cannon, a Cumbrian councillor, described the email as a form of bullying and said: Today I am being asked to sign a letter or my name will be published for accountability. This is for someone I dont represent and dont know. Its always men with big opinions and small brains. I wont be signing. Cllr Giles, representing the Kingston Independent Residents party, previously worked alongside George Galloway, the far-Left politician, on his unsuccessful campaign run in the Batley and Spen by-election. Cll Chohan, a solicitor, has previously voiced his opposition to the bombardment of Gaza and claimed to be isolated from his party. I was raised with the belief that we [the UK] are keepers of peace in the world, he said in an interview with online publication National News. The narrative that these children are somehow human shields is completely invalid would you be OK with an armed officer in Kingston shooting a child as cannon fodder to apprehend a suspect? Cllr Chohan told The Telegraph on Monday that he had not signed off the email warning that names would be published and had only co-authored the open letter, saying: Cllr Giles wrote the email to all councillors that contained the perceived threat. It was not written or approved by me. In a joint statement issued earlier on Sunday night, Cllr Giles said it had never been the intention to publish the names of councillors who objected. There is no intention to publish names of councillors that do not respond to our email, nor is there any intention to publish the names of any individuals against their will, the statement said. We would encourage any elected representatives that have been threatened to contact the police as this cannot be tolerated. We will continue our democratic duty to engage in debate. Cllr Shaun Davies, the chairman of the LGA, said: Pending investigation, Cllr Giles has stood down from all formal positions within the LGA and all upcoming speaking opportunities at our events, with immediate effect. A spokesman for Kingston Council said: Our primary concern is the security and safety of our residents, elected members, staff and our local communities, whilst encouraging tolerance and community cohesion. The campaign that has been brought to our attention by many is an initiative of individual councillors and is not Kingston Council-led or endorsed. We are currently looking into the details surrounding this matter and are unable to provide any further comment at this stage. 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. Cllr James Giles, left, and Cllr Jamal Chohan were behind the letter sent out to all their fellow local government representatives Two councillors sent an intimidating letter to thousands of colleagues threatening to publish the names of anyone who was opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza. The abhorrent message was sent to all 19,102 councillors in England and Wales alleging that anti-Semitism had been weaponised to silence those who opposed Israeli actions in the wake of the Oct 7 attacks. The Local Government Association (LGA) said the letter went against everything it stood for and confirmed it was urgently investigating. The co-authors of the letter, Cllr James Giles, an independent, and Conservative Cllr Jamal Chohan, wrote to members on Sunday asking them to sign a public letter calling for a ceasefire. In it, the pair, both from Kingston Council, in south-west London, wrote: To be clear and stating the obvious, anti-Semitism is wholly unacceptable. However, this term cannot continue to be weaponised to absolve Israel of any accountability in how it has contributed to the ongoing tensions and its failure to comply with international law. In the interest of accountability The councillors said that they would be publishing a list of all the people who supported the ceasefire, although anyone who feared retribution from their parties could be anonymous. They then added: We will also be publishing the names of those who have been invited to sign but choose not to, in the interest of accountability. The pair later backtracked after being confronted by a wave of angry responses from councillors who said the letter was dangerous at a time when councillors were already feeling under intense pressure. One anonymous Labour councillor told The Telegraph she had already spoken to police after receiving death threats for her stance on the conflict. She added: Councillors are public property, we live in our communities, many people know where we live. We dont get the same level of protection that MPs get, however, and we dont have police protection when we are meeting the public. It has made me think about whether it is even worth being a councillor. The allowance is pitiful; we do it because we want to help our residents. But is it worth being this scared? She described the letter as performative, adding: As a council, we had just been talking about safety measures that could be implemented for councillors and then this letter came out. The people that wrote it will know we are not protected and are saying they will name the people who dont agree with their bullying tactics. Its abhorrent. She added: We are all aware of what happened to Jo Cox and David Amess and what we feel now is this fear of the unknown. There is this anger out there and we dont know what is going to happen. Big opinions and small brains A number of councillors, including Barnet Conservative Alex Prager, shared his response to the letter on social media. He wrote: If you serve your residents as a local councillor with the same passion as you perpetuate anti-Semitic tropes, youd be doing them a real service. My response to Cllr Giles' despicable email, threatening non-signatories with public vilification. I have requested that my name top the list of councillors who refuse to sign the letter. pic.twitter.com/IIkWvhriMp Cllr Alex Prager (@CllrPrager) November 19, 2023 Cumbrian councillor Barbara Cannon, described the email as a form of bullying. She added: Today I am being asked to sign a letter or my name will be published for accountability. This is for someone I dont represent and dont know. Its always men with big opinions and small brains. I wont be signing. Cllr Giles, representing the Kingston Independent Residents party, previously worked alongside far-Left politician George Galloway on his unsuccessful campaign run in the Batley and Spen by-election. Cll Chohan, a solicitor, has previously voiced his opposition to the bombardment of Gaza and claimed to be isolated from his party. I was raised with the belief that we [the UK] are keepers of peace in the world, he said in an interview with online publication National News. The narrative that these children are somehow human shields is completely invalid would you be OK with an armed officer in Kingston shooting a child as cannon fodder to apprehend a suspect?, he added. Democratic duty to engage in debate In a joint statement issued late on Sunday night, the pair claimed it had never been their intention to publish the names of councillors who objected. There is no intention to publish names of councillors that do not respond to our email, nor is there any intention to publish the names of any individuals against their will. They added: We would encourage any elected representatives that have been threatened to contact the police as this cannot be tolerated. We will continue our democratic duty to engage in debate. Shaun Davies, the chair of the LGA, said the strength of feeling across the party spectrum in response to the letter was clear. He added: It goes against everything the LGA stands for one or two elected members to seek to intimidate and threaten other elected councillors. I am seeking advice and consulting on next steps. A spokesman for Kingston Council said: Our primary concern is the security and safety of our residents, elected members, staff and our local communities, whilst encouraging tolerance and community cohesion. The campaign that has been brought to our attention by many is an initiative of individual councillors and is not Kingston Council led or endorsed. We are currently looking into the details surrounding this matter and are unable to provide any further comment at this stage. 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. No, Snoop Dogg hasnt given up the chronic. Last week, the 52-year-old rap icon shocked some fans by stating on Twitter/X that he was giving up smoke. Marijuana use is as much a part of Snoops public persona as his music, prompting many people to share sceptical reactions to the news. On Monday (20 November), the sceptics were proved right when the rapper shared an ad for Solo Stoves smokeless fire pit. I have an announcement, Snoop says in the video shared on his social media accounts. Im giving up smoke. I know what youre thinking. Snoop! Smoke is kind of your whole thing. But Im done with it. Im done with the coughing and my clothes smelling all sticky-icky. Im going smokeless. Solo Stove fixed fire, they took out the smoke. Clever. The clip ends with Snoop burning a marshmallow over the fire. After much consideration & conversation with my family, Ive decided to give up smoke, the rapper, real name Calvin Broadus, had shared previously on X. Please respect my privacy at this time. The Drop It Like Its Hot artist has been a weed advocate long before it was legalised across the US. Snoops home state of California was the first state to legalise the drug for medical use. It later became legal for recreational use in the state in 2016 following the leads of Colorado and Washington, which did so in 2012. His company Leafs By Snoop, which he founded in Denver, Colorado, in 2015, specialises in making its own cannabis strains, concentrates, flowers, and edibles. Snoop has often smoked joints on stage during his live shows. He even made a cameo in Dave Chappelles 1998 hit comedy Half-Baked about a trio of stoners who decide to sell stolen weed from a pharmaceutical lab in order to post bail for their recently jailed friend. The rapper rose to fame after featuring on fellow rapper Dr Dres 1992 album, The Chronic. The artwork on the CD version of the certified triple platinum album pictured a marijuana leaf. In 1993, Snoop released his debut album Doggystyle, which quickly made him a household name in the rap scene. A bouncer's 911 call about a man with a gun led police to a parking lot on the northeast side of Indianapolis, where a suspect rammed three law enforcement vehicles, according to court documents. Antonio Berry, 37, who was wanted on domestic violence charges, is in custody after the collisions in the 7500 block of North Shadeland Avenue early Saturday, according to police. Members of the Indiana Crime Gun Task Force were patrolling in the area around 12:30 a.m. due to reports of recent vehicle break-ins and violent crimes. That was when they encountered Berry. A detective saw Berry exit a Chevrolet Suburban and yell at someone at the entrance of a nearby bar. Berry then went back to the SUV, pulled out a firearm and returned to the bar with the gun in his front sweatshirt pocket, police allege. Berry was refused entry to the bar and returned to his vehicle, according to the probable cause affidavit for his arrest. Antonio Berry, 37, was arrested in connection with ramming three police vehicles in a parking lot on the northeast side of Indianapolis on November 18, 2023. More news: Where Indiana's candidates for governor stand on marijuana legalization A few minutes later, police received a call from the bars bouncer stating a man outside continued pulling out a gun. Officers began driving into the parking lot with their emergency lights on. The officers pulled in front of the SUV while a detective in an unmarked vehicle pulled in behind the Chevrolet Suburban. Berry accelerated backward quickly, ramming the unmarked Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department vehicle, according to the probable cause affidavit. Berry then accelerated quickly forward, hitting an Indianapolis Metropolitan police vehicle and an Indiana State Police vehicle. Berry exited his vehicle and was detained. Officers found a firearm on the front passenger seat of the SUV, the affidavit reads. One Indianapolis police officer was taken to a hospital. He has since been released from medical care. A second Indianapolis officer was treated for minor injuries at the scene. The three police vehicles were significantly damaged in the crashes. Berry was arrested on preliminary charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer causing injury, criminal recklessness and resisting law enforcement. The Marion County Prosecutors Office will make a final charging decision in the case. Berry was also arrested on a warrant for charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, intimidation, criminal recklessness, strangulation, domestic battery and criminal mischief damage, court records show. In connection with those charges, Berry is accused of strangling, punching and hitting with a broom the mother of his son outside a home on the east side of Indianapolis in September. The woman defended herself with pepper spray then ran away. Berry also is accused of pointing a firearm at the woman, threatening to kill her and shooting at her vehicle parked in the driveway, according to court records. An initial hearing for Berry in the domestic violence case is set for Tuesday, while the prosecutors office has yet to file official charges stemming from the police vehicle rammings at time of publication of this article. An attorney for Berry was not yet listed in online court records before publication. Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis crime: Man who rammed police vehicles arrested Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after testifying in his civil fraud trial at the State Supreme Court building in Manhattan, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. (Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times) A federal appeals court in Washington appeared to signal at a hearing Monday that it would keep in place at least some version of the gag order placed on former President Donald Trump in the criminal case accusing him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. But a three-judge panel of the court left open the possibility of adjusting the terms of the order or even narrowing the scope of the people covered by it, including by potentially freeing Trump to attack Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing the federal cases against him. The trial judge, Tanya Chutkan, imposed the gag order in October in U.S. District Court in Washington, forbidding Trump from publicly maligning any prosecutors, potential witnesses or court employees involved in the case. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times But Chutkan explicitly permitted Trump to criticize the Justice Department, President Joe Biden and herself. She also allowed him to maintain that the prosecution itself was a partisan retaliation against him. Trump swiftly appealed, with his lawyers arguing that the order was the essence of censorship and infringed on his First Amendment rights in the midst of a campaign one in which he has repeatedly complained that the cases against him are political persecution. The appeals court has suspended the gag order while it weighs the challenge. At the hearing, the three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit pushed hard at the argument that Trumps social media posts should enjoy absolute protection under the First Amendment as examples of core political speech. They questioned whether the posts could in fact be something very different: examples of political speech aimed at derailing or corrupting the criminal justice process. The judges also suggested that a gag order could be imposed on Trump as a prophylactic measure of protecting people involved in the case from threats or acts of harassment that had not yet occurred. The panel cited a long-standing dynamic, reaching back to the 2020 election, in which Trump has mentioned certain people in his posts who later suffered intimidation from others. As this trial approaches, the atmosphere is going to be increasingly tense, said Judge Brad Garcia. Why does the district court have to wait and see, and wait for the threats to come, rather than taking a reasonable action in advance? Each of the three members of the appellate panel assigned to the case was nominated by a Democratic president: Judges Patricia Millett and Cornelia Pillard were both Barack Obama appointees, as was Chutkan to the district court. Garcia was appointed by Biden. D. John Sauer, a lawyer for Trump, countered that events three years ago were insufficient to meet the standard for gagging Trump now. He argued that it would be an impermissible hecklers veto to bar Trump from speaking freely amid an election on the rationale that his remarks might someday inspire some random third party to make threats. There are few legal guideposts directly on point to the issues raised by the Trump gag order fight. Past Supreme Court cases that have addressed gag orders have focused on lawyers or reporters, rather than defendants. And they have generally centered on keeping juries from being tainted by information about trials rather than on preventing threats and harassment that could jeopardize the integrity of the criminal justice process. Complicating matters further, Trump has blurred the lines between his criminal cases and his presidential campaign, using court appearances to deliver political talking points and employing public remarks to assail his prosecutions. The appellate judges appeared to be seeking a way to balance protecting the integrity of the election interference case and the people involved in it while preserving Trumps rights to respond in public to denunciations by his political adversaries or critics, some of whom are likely to be witnesses against him in the case such as former Vice President Mike Pence. Underscoring the legal difficulties, the arguments ran far longer than the time they had been allotted. The plan had been that each side would get 20 minutes, but the panel kept grilling Sauer for nearly four times that. Its questioning of Cecil Vandevender, a lawyer working for Smith, went on for nearly an hour. Prosecutors in the case have argued that courts have wide discretion to limit the statements made by any criminal defendant, even one running for president. They say that the gag order in particular was needed because of Trumps near daily attacks against Smith, Chutkan and potential witnesses in the case, including Pence, former Attorney General William Barr and Gen. Mark Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Among other things, the judges pressed Vandevender about whether there was a distinction between threats and harassment of prosecutors, versus threats to witnesses or jurors. In particular, they questioned whether inflammatory comments about prosecutors, which the gag order bars, crossed the First Amendment line. Vandevender argued that if Trump actually thinks individual prosecutors are politically biased, he should make a motion in court raising those concerns. But multiple judges questioned whether that part of the order went too far, including raising doubt about whether Smith would be dissuaded from continuing to pursue the case by verbal attacks. It is not clear how quickly the three-judge panel of the appeals court will decide on whether to rescind the gag order or keep it in place as the case moves toward its trial date. One or the other side could also appeal the eventual decision to the Supreme Court. If the order is upheld and goes back into effect, Chutkan may confront an even tougher issue: how to enforce the decree if Trump violates it. A violation of a gag order is treated as a matter of contempt of court, which could result in a reprimand, a fine or imprisonment. But how that would play out is complicated. There are two types of contempt: civil, which is typically used to coerce future compliance with an order like making a recalcitrant witness testify; and criminal, which is focused on punishing past defiance of an order. Typically though not always judges have treated violations of gag orders as the latter type. In federal court, judges cannot unilaterally impose a fine or order someone imprisoned for criminal contempt. Rather, such an accusation is treated as a new offense that requires the appointment of a prosecutor and another trial including a right to a decision by a jury. The battle over the federal gag order comes as a state appeals court in New York is considering the merits of two related gag orders imposed on Trump by Justice Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing his civil fraud trial in Manhattan. Those orders which are also currently paused would bar Trump or any of his lawyers from targeting Engorons law clerk. The clerk has suffered repeated attacks by the former president and his allies, who have accused her of being a Democratic partisan. c.2023 The New York Times Company The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here just click The Station to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B. The LA Auto Show was this week and while it no longer has the cache of pre-COVID days, there was still some notable news that came out of the event. TechCrunch reporter Harri Weber was on the scene helping me cover the news. One of the biggest announcements had nothing to do with a vehicle reveal. Nope, it was Amazon declaring it was now going to sell cars online, starting with Hyundai. Other coverage included the Lucid Gravity SUV debut and a handy roundup that covered the tech, EVs and other fun stuff that got our attention. Alrighty, let's dive in! Want to reach out with a tip, comment or complaint? Email Kirsten at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com. Reminder: You can drop us a note at tips@techcrunch.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and various encrypted messaging apps. Micromobbin' the station scooter1a Upway, the French refurbished e-bike marketplace, has raised $30 million at an increased valuation. Normally this piece of news would go in our deals section below, but I wanted to ponder on the meaning of this up round. Upway is present in multiple countries in Europe and recently expanded to the U.S. It takes in used e-bikes from reputable and desirable brands, fixes them up and sends them out to customers at a decent price. Getting this business right requires smart supply chain and logistics management, and it appears Upway is on the right path. In today's capital markets, it's not as easy to get new investors if you're not proving out business sustainability. Zooming out to the macro environment, e-bikes aren't going anywhere. In fact, as more people buy new bikes, the market for used ones grows. And with all the e-bike battery fires we've seen, a company offering safely refurbished e-bikes seems like a pretty good deal. Rebecca Bellan Deal of the week money the station Just a roundup this week! Divergent Technologies, a Torrance, California-based startup that developed an industrial digital manufacturing system, raised $230 million in a Series D funding round led by a $100 million investment from Hexagon AB. The round also included participation from new and existing institutional and family office investors. Gravity, an EV infrastructure startup, raised $13 million in a seed round led by GV (Google Ventures). GM acquired key Tesla gigacasting supplier Tooling & Equipment International, Reuters reported. InDrive, the "bid-based" ride-hail platform popular in Latin America and Asia, launched a venture and merger and acquisition division named New Ventures to invest up to $100 million in startups within emerging markets over the next few years. The $100 million won't come from a fund, exactly. The plan is to invest the money "over the next few years by making annual allocations of investment capital from our balance sheet, starting in 2024," Andries Smit, vice president of New Ventures told TechCrunch. Luup, a Tokyo-based shared e-scooter startup, raised $24 million to expand its charge ports to 10,000 by 2025, up from around 4,900 today. Revolv, an electric commercial fleet company based in San Francisco, raised $25 million in equity project financing from Greenbacker Capital Management. Shekel Mobility, a B2B auto dealers marketplace in Africa, raised more than $7 million in funding that was comprised of $3.2 million in equity and over $4 million in debt. Ventures Platform co-led the round alongside MaC Venture Capital. Other investors include Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, Unpopular Ventures, Maiora Capital, PageOne Lab Inc., Phoenix Investment Club, Heirloom VC, Pioneer Ventures and other angel investors. Meanwhile, Zedvance, VFD Microfinance Bank, Zenith Bank and Fluna, amongst others, provided the debt component. Tenet, an EV financing startup based in New York, raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Nyca Partners. Assurant Ventures and Giant Ventures also participated. Notable reads and other tidbits Autonomous vehicles Texas is poised to be the next hotbed for autonomous vehicles and a likely regulatory battleground. AVs aren't regulated in the state, but as robotaxi incidents rise, cities may turn to one weapon that California doesn't have, TechCrunch reporter Rebecca Bellan writes. Meanwhile, GM has taken the wheel at its troubled AV subsidiary Cruise, going as far as inserting one of its own executives to head up the self-driving car company's legal and policy, communications and finance teams. A number of Cruise employees have reported to TechCrunch that morale is at a new low point thanks to a decision by parent company GM to suspend its employee share-selling program. But wait! On Saturday, Cruise co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt sent an email to employees (which TechCrunch has seen) apologizing to employees, taking responsibility and reversing course, sort of, on the share sale. He opened with: "I know the news about changes to our RLO program was extemely difficult to hear, and that there were many unanswered questions. We left you with concerns about your colleagues, your careers, and your personal finances. That's the last thing I want for anyone, and I am truly sorry." Vogt went on to say that the company was working on a way to conduct a new tender offer that would mitigate potential tax obligations. He later wrote that "as CEO, I take responsibility for the situation Cruise is in today. There are no excuses, and there is no sugar coating what happened." Update: On Sunday evening, and after The Station was sent to subscribers, Vogt resigned from his CEO position. Earnings It was a slower earnings week for transportation. Still, there were a couple of noteworthy news items. It's still not looking good for Bird, which closed out the quarter after getting delisted from the stock market with a $19.8 million loss. Bird's going concern warning is very much still in effect -- the company has incurred recurring losses and negative cash flows since its inception and has accumulated a deficit of $1.6 billion as of September 30, 2023. Revenue remains light, despite the Spin buy, at $54.3 million (down from $72.8 million in Q3 2022). Now we're coming into winter, when cash flows will drop even more significantly. Bird closed out the quarter with $10.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, which by my calculations gives it another nine months with its current cash burn. The company says it won't be able to meet obligations over the next 12 months. Gogoro, too, is still feeling its previous stings of currency conversions. Its revenue of $91.8 million for the quarter is down 10.2% YoY. However, battery swapping service revenue of $33.6 million is up 10.4% YoY. The battery swapping giant closed Q3 with a net loss of $3.1 million, down from a net income of $56.4 million in the same quarter last year. On an adjusted basis, Gogoro reported EBITDA of $13.1 million, which is up from $9.2 million in Q3 2022. Fisker also had a troubling third quarter, reporting a wider-than-expected loss. Electric vehicles, charging & batteries Arrival, the once buzzy EV startup that went public via a merger with a blank check company, secured a $50 million bridge loan funds that will keep it afloat long enough to explore a potential sale. Cadillac debuted the Optiq, an entry-level compact crossover EV that will slot below the Lyriq. Candela's electric hydrofoiling ferry, which is now in production, took its first flight in Stockholm. Exxon wants to drill enough lithium out of Arkansas to power 1 million EVs per year. GM absorbed BrightDrop, the wholly owned commercial EV subsidiary, a change that included ousting its CEO. Does the same fate await Cruise, another one of its subsidiaries? Mercedes plans to build around 30 fast-charging hubs at Buc-ee's locations throughout the South. TC+ reporter Tim de Chant digs into why supersize convenience stores might be key to unlocking EV fast charging. Redwood Materials will supply Toyota with cathode material and anode copper foil for battery cells produced at the automaker's $13.9 billion factory in North Carolina that's slated to go into production in 2025. Tesla hits reverse on its previous threat to sue Cybertruck resellers. Also, an upgraded Tesla Cyberquad for kids is back on sale after a safety recall. Future of flight Archer Aviation signed a memorandum of understanding with Air Chateau, a private aviation operator in UAE, at a value of around $500 million for the planned purchase of up to 100 of Archer's Midnight eVTOLs. Joby Aviation and Volocopter gave the public a vivid glimpse of what the future of aviation might look like, with both companies performing brief demonstration flights of their electric aircraft in New York City. Zipline hit an important milestone in its U.S. operations. The Federal Aviation Administration approved Zipline for flying its autonomous drone without line of sight visual observers. Soon after the FAA lifted this requirement, Zipline flew its Platform 1 aircraft in the Salt Lake City area without the previously required visual observers. Zipline is now flying in Utah without this requirement and will soon expand that approach across its U.S. operations, according to the company. In-car tech Feds want speed reduction tech in every new car. Are American drivers ready? A software update bricked Rivian infotainment systems. About 3% of its vehicles were impacted by the issue, which is being addressed with an over-the-air software update. Ride-hailing Uber is introducing new features geared toward addressing the issues of unfair deactivations that ride-hail and delivery drivers often face. (Photo/Cheyenne River Youth Project) The Cheyenne River Youth Project (CRYP), in collaboration with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, distributed 435 boxes of food to families on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation earlier this month. CRYP Family Services members received their boxes on Nov. 9, and members of the general public received theirs on Nov. 10. This was so much more than a holiday meal, said Julie Garreau, CRYPs executive director. Each box contained ingredients worth more than $250. One of our elders told us this food will help her get through the winter. 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. Each family received items such as a whole turkey; ground beef, beef roast, and sliced ham; canned green beans, corn, spaghetti sauce, and pork-and-beans; fresh and instant potatoes, spaghetti noodles, stuffing mix, and rice; fresh squash, carrots and onions; canned pumpkin and cranberry sauce; cheddar cheese; white flour; brown, granulated, and powdered sugar; vegetable oil; butter; salt, black pepper, and cinnamon; hot cocoa, and powdered milk. The distribution also included household items such as plastic wrap and aluminum foil. President Kevin White Bull of the Church of Jesus Christs Eagle Butte Branch expressed his gratitude for the November distribution. His wife, Sister Merrie White Bull, agreed; she is a Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council representative, and she has been a CRYP supporter since the youth project opened its doors in 1988. Everyone benefits from the services CRYP provides, she explained. Julie is compassionate and has a big heart. We are really proud the church has opened up a partnership with Julie to get food out to the people. The people appreciate it so much. CRYP is a wonderful program. Julie and the Cheyenne River Youth Project are making a difference in the lives of young people and families in the Cheyenne River community, said Stake President Steve Osmond, from the Bismarck North Dakota Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ. They help them connect with each other and have life experiences that lift and empower them, and help them move toward a more vibrant and secure future. They are dedicated to the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellness of their participants, he continued. We are happy to support this work with a donation of quality food, specifically packaged to meet the needs of the community. 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 Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question youd like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. How do crystals form? Alyssa Marie, age 5, New Mexico Scientifically speaking, the term crystal refers to any solid that has an ordered chemical structure. This means that its parts are arranged in a precisely ordered pattern, like bricks in a wall. The bricks can be cubes or more complex shapes. Im an Earth scientist and a teacher, so I spend a lot of time thinking about minerals. These are solid substances that are found naturally in the ground and cant be broken down further into different materials other than their constituent atoms. Rocks are mixtures of different minerals. All minerals are crystals, but not all crystals are minerals. Most rock shops sell mineral crystals that occur in nature. One is pyrite, which is known as fools gold because it looks like real gold. Some shops also feature showy, human-made crystals such as bismuth, a natural element that forms crystals when it is melted and cooled. Pyrite in black shale rock from a quarry in Indianapolis, Ind. James St. John/Flickr, CC BY Why and how crystals form Crystals grow when molecules that are alike get close to each other and stick together, forming chemical bonds that act like Velcro between atoms. Mineral crystals cannot just start forming spontaneously they need special conditions and a nucleation site to grow on. A nucleation site can be a rough edge of rock or a speck of dust that a molecule bumps into and sticks to, starting the crystallization chain reaction. At or near the Earths surface, many molecules are dissolved in water that flows through or over the ground. If there are enough molecules in the water that are alike, they will separate from the water as solids a process called precipitation. If they have a nucleation site, they will stick to it and start to form crystals. Rock salt, which is actually a mineral called halite, grows this way. So does another mineral called travertine, which sometimes forms flat ledges in caves and around hot springs, where water causes chemical reactions between the rock and the air. Travertine ledges at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Terraced pools form due to deposition of travertine from the hot spring fluids as they cool and release carbon dioxide. USGS You can make salt stalactites at home by growing salt crystals on a string. In this experiment, the string is the nucleation site. When you dissolve Epsom salts in water and lower a string into it, then leave it for several days, the water will slowly evaporate and leave the Epsom salts behind. As that happens, salt crystals precipitate out of the water and grow crystals on the string. Many places in the Earths crust are hot enough for rocks to melt into magma. As that magma cools down, mineral crystals grow from it, just like water freezing into ice cubes. These mineral crystals form at much higher temperatures than salt or travertine precipitating out of water. What crystals can tell scientists Earth scientists can learn a lot from different types of crystals. For example, the presence of certain mineral crystals in rocks can reveal the rocks age. This dating method is called geochronology literally, measuring the age of materials from the Earth. One of the most valued mineral crystals for geochronologists is zircon, which is so durable that it quite literally stands the test of time. The oldest zircons ever found come from Australia and are about 4.3 billion years old almost as old as our planet itself. Scientists use the chemical changes recorded within zircons as they grew as a reliable clock to figure out how old the rocks containing them are. Some crystals, including zircons, have growth rings, like the rings of a tree, that form when layers of molecules accumulate as the mineral grows. These rings can tell scientists all kinds of things about the environment in which they grew. For example, changes in pressure, temperature and magma composition can all result in growth rings. Feldspar crystals with growth rings in granodiorite rock near Squamish, British Columbia. Natalie Bursztyn, CC BY-ND Sometimes mineral crystals grow as high pressure and temperatures within the Earths crust change rocks from one type to another in a process called metamorphism. This process causes the elements and chemical bonds in the rock to rearrange themselves into new crystal structures. Lots of spectacular crystals grow in this way, including garnet, kyanite and staurolite. Amazing forms When a mineral precipitates from water or crystallizes from magma, the more space it has to grow, the bigger it can become. There is a cave in Mexico full of giant gypsum crystals, some of which are 40 feet (12 meters) long the size of telephone poles. Especially showy mineral crystals are also valuable as gemstones for jewelry once they are cut into new shapes and polished. The highest price ever paid for a gemstone was $71.2 million for the CTF Pink Star diamond, which went up for auction in 2017 and sold in less than five minutes. Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question youd like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live. And since curiosity has no age limit adults, let us know what youre wondering, too. We wont be able to answer every question, but we will do our best. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Natalie Bursztyn, University of Montana. Read more: Photo: The Canadian Press Police in Mission, B.C., say they are seeking the owner of half a kilogram of cocaine that was hidden in a public restroom's ceiling and anyone who wants to claim the drugs should bring "proof of purchase." THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-RCMP, *MANDATORY CREDIT* Police in Mission, B.C., say they are seeking the owner of half a kilogram of cocaine that was hidden in a public restroom's ceiling and anyone who wants to claim the drugs should bring "proof of purchase." RCMP Cpl. Harrison Mohr says officers will be happy to set up an interview at the owner's convenience. Mohr says in a news release that a maintenance worker found the drugs when they opened up a ceiling panel on Thursday morning. He says the drugs were divided into multiple packages, and it's believed they were hidden for a drug dealer to pick up. Mohr says whoever hid the drugs hasn't been identified, but "jail cell number three" is waiting for anyone who wants to claim them. The release warns about the danger of leaving drugs where a member of the public could be unknowingly exposed to them. "If the drugs are yours and you want to report them lost or stolen, please call Mission RCMP," police say in a posting on X, formerly known as Twitter. Parents upset about the response of Culver School in Niles to threats made by an Iowa man who sent an unknown white granular substance to the school made their complaints known to Niles School District 71 board members at their monthly board meeting on Nov. 14. (The school) didnt do an evacuation. They didnt do a lockdown. They didnt do anything. It wasnt a big deal to them, parent Mirna Benjamin told Pioneer Press before the meeting. Adam Provost, 31, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was arrested on Oct. 16 by Council Bluffs police. He is charged with five felonies for making bogus threats to various people and institutions in Niles, including Mayor George Alpogianis, an unnamed village trustee, the Niles Police Department and Culver School through phone calls, as well as sending two letters with unknown white granular substances. The substances were found to be nonhazardous, and no injuries were reported in any of the incidents, Niles Police said earlier in news releases. The Cook County States Attorneys office has charged Provost with two felonies for threatening a public official and three felonies for disorderly conduct. The school did not press charges against Provost, and some parents at the meeting said the school did not adequately inform them of what happened and that they were only given additional information when the Niles Police Department put out a news release weeks after the school received a threat through a letter. District 71 Superintendent John Kosirog told Pioneer Press that the school cooperated with Niles police, who assured him that the school was not in danger and that none of the threats were credible. Kosirog said the letter he opened from Provost contained aspirin, which he said Provost wrote in the letter. Kosirog added that by the time the letter arrived, Provost was already in custody and was facing other felony charges. Benjamin and other parents felt that Kosirog should have been more transparent about the situation and suspected that the school had not pressed charges against Provost because he is related to a staff member. Ken Krueger, a District 71 board member, confirmed that the districts administrative assistant, Carol Provost, is Adam Provosts mother. Do we protect the children? Are we protecting her? I mean, shes a sweet lady; I dont want her to get into trouble Why was it swept under the rug for so long? said Benjamin. Kosirog said the fact that the Provosts were related did not play a role in his decision to not press charges against Adam Provost. Provost is scheduled to be back in court on Nov. 30. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt. Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Christodoulides said Monday he personally asked an unnamed third country to send an experienced team of financial crime experts to help the east Mediterranean island nation with investigations into old and new allegations that Cypriot financial service providers helped Russian oligarchs skirt international sanctions. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) The president of Cyprus said Monday he personally asked an unnamed third country to send an experienced team of financial crime experts to help the east Mediterranean island nation with investigations into old and new allegations that Cypriot financial service providers helped Russian oligarchs skirt international sanctions. President Nikos Christodoulides told The Associated Press in an interview that he wants absolutely no shadows cast over the European Union member country because any adverse publicity would hurt efforts to attract quality foreign investment. The president said many probes into alleged sanctions evasion are currently running but wouldnt give details. His request was accepted, and the foreign experts will assist a team of seven police investigators in sifting through old and new media reports alleging that Cyprus-based lawyers and accountants shifted Russian oligarchs money through a murky network of companies and trusts in order to avoid their seizure in line with sanctions related to Russias war in Ukraine. The latest allegations came in several stories published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists last week. They cited leaked documents claiming to show how some Cypriot firms helped Russian oligarchs move their money around to evade sanctions. Christodoulides said the foreign experts would assist their counterparts in how to better conduct their investigations while expediting the process to show that Cyprus has zero tolerance for corruption and bolster the sense domestically that justice is being done. Our aim is exactly so that there are neither insinuations or any shadows cast over our countrys name, he said. He said a cornerstone of his drive to rid the island of its ill-gotten reputation is setting up a Single Supervisory Authority, an independent body of financial crime experts tasked with cracking down on any financial malfeasance or sanctions evasion. A draft law has been readied for parliamentary debate and approval. Christodoulides also said more experts with a legal or accounting background will be hired to strengthen the polices financial crimes unit. He defended Cyprus track record in efforts to get its banking sector in order since 2013, when the country needed a multibillion-euro bailout from its EU partners and the International Monetary Fund to weather a financial crisis that brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. At the time, nearly a third of the country's 68 billion euros in deposits more than triple the entire economy was held by Russians, feeding the perception that Cyprus was Moscows financial lackey. Christodoulides conceded it would take time for Cyprus to rebrand itself as a prime investment opportunity. For me, whichever allegation, either big or small, is an allegation against our country, which I cannot accept because it negatively affects our ability to attract private investment, Christodoulides said. He added that countries from the wider Middle East have shown interest in investing in Cyprus in the fields of energy, health services, education and information technology. In the interview, he also discussed his country's proposal for a humanitarian corridor to Gaza. Separately, Christodoulides said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will very soon notify the Cypriot government of his new choice for an envoy who will be tasked with exploring the chance of resuming talks to reunify the ethnically divided country that have been in stalemate since 2017. Guterres previous choice for envoy was reportedly rejected by the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Ersin Tatar. Cyprus was split along ethnic lines in 1974 when Turkey invaded in the wake of a coup by supporters of union with Greece. The mother of a 15-month old boy with cystic fibrosis said she was "terrified" about her child's future over fears the NHS might not prescribe the drug Kaftrio due to its cost. Suzanne Doherty, from Dunbartonshire, said she has been waiting for her son Leo to be eligible for the drug since he was diagnosed with the condition at just four weeks old. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a condition that causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system, meaning it can lead to a significantly shorter life expectancy for many sufferers. Kaftrio, which can cost 100,000 a year, is licensed for children over the age of two but health bosses are consulting on whether it is too expensive to prescribe to new patients. Sleeping baby Leo with mum Suzanne and dad Christopher Ms Doherty told BBC Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that when Leo was diagnosed with CF they were comforted by the knowledge of a drug being available to him at the age of two. However, the drug costs 8,346 for a packet of 56 tablets, meaning NHS treatment could amount to between 100,000 and 200,000 per year for each patient. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), which guides the NHS in England, and the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) are consulting on the use of Kaftrio for future patients due to its cost. They said existing patients would still get the treatment regardless of its decision. Leo has enjoyed good health until recently Ms Doherty said Leo had enjoyed good health until now but he is currently in hospital with a suspected chest infection. She said: "As a parent obviously I dont want to see my son in distress for the next two weeks, I dont want to see him being given oxygen, being given IV antibiotics. "This is what cystic fibrosis does. It can floor them for weeks on end. "For a lot of parents, obviously with children older than that, it can be several visits over the years into hospital and its always roughly a two-week stay at a time." Ms Doherty argued long and frequent stays in hospital, including the cost of continuous testing and appointments, could be avoided with use of the drug. High price tag She said: "Parents like myself will need to take time off to look after them. That would then mean claiming benefits. "There would just be a chain of money that we would then need to survive on, through the government, that would probably exceed 100,000 a year." Ms Doherty said: "It might seem like a lot of money, but it means my son can grow old. It means he can grow up and get a career and contribute back to society. "It comes with a very high price tag but my question to NICE and SMC is, is 100k not worth my childs life? Is it not worth any humans life?" Ms Doherty said alternative treatments appeared to be less effective and had more side effects. "The result if he doesnt get it, and those people who dont get it, they are then going to be living a life full of ill health." Ms Doherty said. Two other drugs for cystic fibrosis, Symkevi and Orkambi, are also at risk of no longer being prescribed. Children being treated for cystic fibrosis by the NHS are often moved onto Kaftrio when they reach the age of six. The drug has now been classed as safe for children aged two or older but for those yet to start it, it is not known if they ever will. NICE and SMC will hold a four-week consultation before deciding if the three drugs will continue to be offered to new patients. A spokesperson for the Scottish Medicines Consortium said those on the treatments will continue to receive them "irrespective of the outcome" of the ongoing consultations. A close advisor to Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascon allegedly delayed announcing the decision not to file criminal charges in a high-profile excessive force case because of its potential effect on then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva's reelection bid, according to a lawsuit filed late Friday. Assistant Head Deputy Dist. Atty. Amy Pentz alleged in the suit that prosecutors finalized the decision not to charge Deputy Doug Johnson, who was caught on video kneeling on the head of an inmate at the San Fernando courthouse lockup, on Oct. 3, 2022. But prosecutors didn't make that decision public until six weeks later. Pentz said Diana Teran, who oversees the district attorney's office unit that handles prosecutions of police officers, "wanted the declination held back until after the sheriffs election because Sheriff Villanueva had made public statements about the [Johnson] case," according to her lawsuit. The suit does not explain why Villanueva's public comments were an issue. Read more: Fearing bad publicity, LASD covered up case of deputy who knelt on inmate's head Both Gascon and his chief of staff, Joseph Iniguez, were present for the meeting and approved of her decision, according to the suit. The Johnson case was one in a series of controversies that marked Villanueva's tenure as sheriff. The department was accused of covering up the March 2021 incident, fearing release of the video would have led to bad press for the department because of similarities to video of George Floyd's murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. In the video, inmate Enzo Escalante can clearly be seen punching Johnson first. But then a melee erupts, ending with Johnson kneeling on Escalante's head for several minutes. According to an internal report and several other sheriff's department officials, Villanueva and others declined to pursue assault charges against Escalante in order to suppress the incident. The district attorney's office wasn't notified of the case until October 2021; Villanueva was allegedly shown the video almost seven months earlier. Three high-ranking sheriff's officials sued Villanueva and accused him of orchestrating a cover-up in the case. Villanueva has denied all wrongdoing, and one of those lawsuits has since been dismissed. In the fallout from the allegations, Villanueva announced that a Times reporter was the subject of a criminal investigation into the leak of the video, but he quickly backpedaled after facing immediate and widespread outrage. Villanueva previously claimed, without evidence, that Gascon had delayed announcing decisions not to charge deputies in shootings and excessive force cases in order to hurt the sheriff's reelection chances. Most polls showed Villanueva losing, however, and he was handily defeated by current Sheriff Robert Luna last November. Still, the lawsuit raises serious ethical questions. Villanueva and Gascon are political enemies, as the former sheriff loudly supported both failed attempts to recall the district attorney from office. A previous Times report also validated some of Villanueva's claims. Documents obtained by The Times show a prosecutor initially made a finding in June 2022 that Johnson had not committed a crime. The same document confirms Pentz's allegation in the lawsuit that Gascon signed off on the decision not to press charges Oct. 3. Such decisions are not final without the district attorney's approval. Read more: Has L.A. County D.A. George Gascon delivered on his police accountability promises? Neither Teran or the district attorney's office responded to requests for comment. Villanueva, who is now challenging Janice Hahn for her seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said in a tweet on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that the "false narrative" against him is falling apart. He does not elaborate. "Withholding information from voters to influence the sheriffs election, isnt that a crime?" he asked. In the lawsuit, Pentz says she is a "whistle blower" and claims she was removed from her position as second in command of the Justice Systems Integrity Division. She said the move was punishment for pushing back against Teran's decision in the Johnson case and for testifying in a civil service commission hearing questioning the legality of Gascon's decision to hire several public defenders to fill critical positions in the district attorney's office. Pentz also claimed her supervisor, Alan Yochelson, was angered by Teran's decision, according to the suit. Head Deputy Alan Yochelson told plaintiff that Diana Teran wanted to 'hold off' on releasing the [Johnson] Case declination, in an effort to impact the outcome of the election against Sheriff Alex Villanueva," the lawsuit read. "Yochelson told Plaintiff: 'This is total BS!' Yochelson went on to say he believed the declination should be released, but they dont want to give Villanueva any good news this close to the election. Yochelson declined to comment. The suit is one of a growing number of retaliation claims filed against Gascon by prosecutors who say they were demoted or punished for speaking out against decisions he made or policies he enacted. Gascon has denied all wrongdoing, but he lost the only case that has gone to trial so far, costing the county $1.5 million. Read more: Gascon loses retaliation case, a grim omen for the L.A. County D.A. Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Siddall the former vice president of the union representing rank-and-file prosecutors and one of the nine people challenging Gascon in the 2024 primary confirmed Pentz had previously filed a grievance with the union over Teran's alleged conduct. Siddall said he's long been concerned by the allegations. While he does not believe the Johnson case would have had any "material impact" on Villanueva's longshot reelection odds, Siddall described the alleged conduct as "at best, unethical behavior, at worst, possible violations of the law. "The Johnson case in particular was a case that was being used to bludgeon Villanueva ... if were saying theres nothing criminal being done, then the only beneficiary of that outcome is Villanueva," he said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The Lebanon County District Attorney's Office ruled the use of deadly force by a private citizen against a 33-year-old Lebanon city man in May 2023 was justified under Pennsylvanias self-defense laws. The ruling comes as a result of a months-long, joint investigation by the Lebanon County Detective Bureau and Lebanon City Police Department, officials said in a news release Monday afternoon. On May 3, the private citizen shot the decedent, Thomas Vance, one time in his upper torso near the 100 block of Jones Street. Despite life-saving measures by EMTs and medical providers, Vance died as a result of the lone gunshot wound. Officials said because the shooting is ruled lawful, the shooter would not be identified. The shooter is only described in the release as a male "private citizen." Any loss of life is tragic," District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said in Monday's release. "Families are left without their loved ones. In this instance, the fatality is especially tragic as it was wholly avoidable." Months prior to the May 3 shooting, Vance was serving time at the Lebanon County jail. While he was incarcerated, Vance left his personal belongings in the care of a third-party who was not identified by officials. "Vance paroled from jail a short time prior to his death; he paroled to a local recovery program and resided therein," officials said in the release. Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf ruled the use of deadly force by a Lebanon private citizen on May 3 was justified under Pennsylvanias self-defense laws, officials said Monday. The incident The day before the shooting, Vance witnessed police arrest the person holding his personal items. That person told Vance his personal items resided with the private citizen. On the day of the shooting, Vance went to the citizens home for the initial purpose of locating his items, attempting to enter the rear entrance. The citizen was working on a vehicle parked near his home. Vance approached the citizen twice to ask what happened to his belongings, with officials saying that the second time he "jumped forward towards the citizen multiple times." The citizen swung a silver tool towards Vance as he pulled a weapon out of his sweatshirt. "The investigation revealed a backpack carried by Vance before and after the incident; the front pouch revealed a switchblade knife with apparent fresh blood," officials said in the release. "DNA forensic testing showed the blood belonged to Vance." Officials said they also obtained video that showed the fight, as well as Vance retrieving the weapon from his pocket. During the struggle, Vance was able to retrieve a pipe from the ground and chased the citizen back towards his home. As he caught up to the citizen, Vance was able to strike him twice over his head with the pipe. "The citizen fell to the ground," the release states. "As he fell, Vance grabbed him and again used an overhand motion to strike the citizens head with the pipe. The citizen yelled youre going to jail and Vance walked away." As both men were able to walk towards the citizen's vehicle, the citizen was able to retrieve the handgun from his front passenger door. He pointed the gun at Vance's direction, while Vance "taunted him, chased him, and continued to aggressively hold the black pipe." "The citizen told Vance to get away from him; Vance continued to aggressively follow the citizen despite the gun pointed in his direction and the verbal directive to stay away," officials said. "After multiple efforts to evade Vance, the citizen fired one time at Vances upper torso." Vance walked away, dropping the pipe and picking up his nearby backpack, and walked down a nearby street before he collapsed to the ground. He remained there until EMTs arrived at the scene minutes later. Vances autopsy revealed the cause of death to be the result of the lone gunshot wound. Vance is survived by his wife and daughter. Castle Doctrine As a result of the entire investigation and evidence produced, Graf said the citizens use of deadly force is lawful under Pennsylvanias laws of self-defense and the Castle Doctrine. The citizen fired a lone shot in an effort to protect himself from a repeat of Vances earlier attack and continued chase. After he shot Vance, officials said the private citizen called 911 and explained he shot Vance but felt he acted lawfully to defend himself. He then waited on the scene for police to arrive and retrieve his weapon. The investigation also showed the citizen sustained lumps on his head consistent with being struck with a pipe. Police in the area received various videos of the incident from residents and businesses in the area. Officials said the video shows Vance verbally taunted the citizen even after the firearms reveal. Vance never tried to disengage or de-escalate the situation, nor did he ever drop his weapon. "Had the decedent chosen a lawful route to reclaim his property, had he not approached a second time aggressively, had he at any moment walked away in lieu of escalating the situation, the citizen would not have utilized his firearm," Graf said. "The video makes it clear the citizen resorted to the gunshot only after the citizen undertook multiple efforts to make the decedent leave his property and leave him alone. ... The citizen acted lawfully, but regrettably, in the death of the decedent." Graf added that her office will not be taking any interviews regarding the incident. Cesar Wilkins Romero-Colon: Armed robbery suspect led Lebanon police on chase, with crash that injured resident: DA Murder-Suicide: Lebanon police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide on S. 9th St. Saturday Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on Twitter at @DAMattToth. This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Lebanon DA: Citizen was 'justified' in fatal shooting of man in May It has been many weeks since there was a significant outbreak of severe weather in the United States. Following several tornado reports and close to two dozen incidents of severe weather over the lower Mississippi Valley into Monday night, AccuWeather meteorologists expect severe weather to continue Tuesday in the Southeastern states. Some of the powerful storms will linger well after dark, which will add to the danger. The last significant severe weather outbreak in the U.S. was centered on the Great Plains on Oct. 3-4, when at least 175 storm reports were filed, including eight tornadoes. Prior to Monday, severe thunderstorms had not occurred since Sept. 26 in Louisiana and way back on Sept. 7 in Mississippi. GET THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP A strengthening storm will tap Gulf of Mexico moisture and jet stream energy as it travels northeastward over the eastern U.S. through Tuesday. Thunderstorms began to erupt during the midday hours Monday and a number turned severe in the afternoon, spawning strong winds, hail and torrential downpours in central Louisiana. By the evening hours, some of these thunderstorms began to develop characteristics capable of producing tornadoes. Through Tuesday morning, there have been at least five preliminary reports of tornadoes across central portions of Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the Storm Prediction Center. As the storm system responsible for Monday's severe weather lifts farther to the north Tuesday, conditions in the atmosphere will shift away from rotating thunderstorms and a high risk of tornadoes to more of a strong wind gust and torrential downpour event Tuesday. Those hazards will unfold farther to the east in the Southern states. The storms on Tuesday will occur along and ahead of an advancing cold front and will likely occur from the Florida Panhandle northeastward to central and eastern North Carolina. The risk area includes much of the southeastern half of Alabama and most of Georgia, including the Atlanta area. The highest risk for storms with disruptive downpours, dangerous lightning strikes and potentially damaging wind gusts around the Atlanta metro area will be during the morning through the early afternoon hours. As with the case of any severe thunderstorm, there is the potential of a brief tornado. By Tuesday night, the widespread risk of severe weather will ease, but some of the thunderstorms that extend from northeastern Florida and coastal areas from southeastern Georgia and the Carolinas to southern Virginia may still be severe at the local level. People traveling along the Interstate 95 corridor and in cities such as Charleston, South Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina; and Norfolk, Virginia, may deal with localized flash flooding and strong wind gusts during the evening. Winds can knock over trees and trigger sporadic power outages for a time in that zone. An isolated tornadoes is not out of the question as well. Much of the South Central and Southeastern states have been in major drought or building drought conditions in recent months. The same pattern that has been acting as a deterrent against drenching rainfall has also been keeping a lid on thunderstorm activity. In the autumn, there is often an uptick in severe weather following a downturn during the late summer. Instead of strengthening storm systems this autumn, which are the primary cause of severe weather this time of the year, storms have been weak, moisture-starved or avoided the region. Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer. Russia may begin full mobilization after the 2024 Russian presidential election on March 17, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov warned in a speech to the International Security Forum in Halifax, Canada, on Nov. 20. "After (Russian dictator Vladimir) Putins (next) enthronement, the regime will be anchored, (which) basically means giving it a free hand. That is why Ukraine and the global community have 3-4 months to prepare relevantly," Danilov said. Russia is moving toward a total war footing and is ready for a long war, according to Danilov. In addition, Russia appears to have the ability to adapt and be surprisingly resilient in the face of wide-ranging sanctions. Danilov also suggested that there is growing concern in Ukraine that its Western allies are increasingly thinking about negotiating with Russia, potentially by seeking a ceasefire, a notion that is rooted in a fear of Russia that has persisted despite the poor performance of the Russian military since Feb. 24, 2022. Such temptations should be resisted, Danilov said, because Russia only understands the "language of force." Without a concerted effort from the West to continue to support Ukraine and to seek a full collapse of the Putin regime, "a new axis of evil awaits the world in 15-20 years. This axis will include not only (North Korea), China, Iran, and Russia, but also some European countries." He did not name which European countries he was referring to. Putin is expected to announce that he will seek another term but has not made an official announcement yet. It is unclear if other candidates will nominally participate, but if Putin decides to run, his victory is all but assured. Freedom House, a nonprofit advocating international democracy, gave Russia a 0/4 score in its 2022 report card on political freedoms in the country. The U.K. Defense Ministry said on Oct. 10 that chances of a new wave of mobilization being announced before the election were low. It did not, however, comment on the possibility of further mobilization after the election. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky replaces Medical Forces Commander Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Harold Browne's son David said his father was a Christian and an upright man A man whose father died in the Darkley killings 40 years ago has said he does not harbour bitterness, hate or resentment, but feels a raw injustice. Harold Browne was one of three men murdered when gunmen attacked worshippers at the Mountain Lodge Pentecostal Church in County Armagh. Victor Cunningham and David Wilson also lost their lives in the attack on 20 November 1983. The attack was claimed by a group called the Catholic Reaction Force. That was a cover name for the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). 'Fateful night' David Browne said his father was a Christian and "upright man", who took his role as an elder at the church seriously. "He was well respected throughout the Mountain Lodge community of people but much beyond this," he continued in a statement. "Dad didn't stand a chance that fateful night, his instinct was to try and protect others from harm and injury but in doing so, he himself paid with his life." Mr Browne said 40 years is seen by some as a long period of time with "lots of water under the bridge". However, he added: "For me, there remains stagnant water under the bridge which cannot flow. "I do not harbour bitterness, hate or resentment for what happened, but I do have strong feelings of injustice. A wonderful man, my earthly father was taken away from us, and that was no-one's right." Mr Browne said the feelings were still raw. "I remember a special man who lived life well, who lived to serve others but most importantly for him, he lived his life by the values set down by his Heavenly Father." Kenny Donaldson, the director of the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), said the families continue to suffer but had shown tremendous fortitude. His group works with a number of those bereaved, injured and otherwise impacted by the Darkley killings. "Over the years the Darkley families have been particularly private in how they have dealt with the most horrific grief in the aftermath of November 1983," Mr Donaldson explained. "I think everybody is a human being and we all have pain to endure. They have wrestled with that and kept tight counsel. "They have obviously looked to a pastor in some situations and an immediate family around them to try and keep themselves. They maybe wouldn't trust so easily with external organisations, but they have been able to carry themselves through." Kenny Donaldson said the Darkley families suffered horrific grief after the killings Mr Donaldson said even the mention of a loved one's name "can bring tears very quickly". "We would obviously have contact with a number of the families and things become very difficult when anniversaries are approaching, as it is for many," he continued. 'Talk of Christian love' The SEFF representative said some had suppressed and internalised their pain and grief, leaving a sense of "unfinished business". "The overriding factor for them is that they do not want to create a circumstance where others ever lost their lives," he added. "So their talk was always talk of restraint, talk of their faith, talk of Christian love. That was the determining factor through it all." David Wilson, Harold Browne and Victor Cunningham were killed in the attack A new larger church opened at the Mountain Lodge site in 1990. The leadership of the church said it had taken a decision not to participate in interviews marking the 40th anniversary of the killings, but that everyone is welcome to attend services. New state data shows there are now 680,000 more registered Republican voters in Florida than Democrats. The Republican party had more than 5.1 million registered voters as of Oct. 31. The Democratic party had more than 4.4 million. Read: Trump beating DeSantis in Florida by almost 40 points, new poll shows Nearly 4 million voters are registered without party affiliation or with a third party. Right now, Republicans hold all statewide offices and a majority of the states congressional delegation and supermajorities in the Florida House and Senate. Watch: Election officials face ongoing threats, higher turnover rates ahead of 2024 campaign cycle Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Astronaut Jerry L. Ross takes a picture during a 7-hour, 21-minute spacewalk aboard Space Shuttle Endeavor, December 8, 1998, while in orbit to connect the Zarya control module to Unity. On November 20, 1998, Zarya, the first module that would make up the International Space Station, was launched from Kazakhstan. File Photo by Jerry L. Ross/NASA Nov. 20 (UPI) -- On this date in history: In 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights. In 1910, the Plan de San Luis Potosi was issued by Francisco I. Madero calling for the overthrow of the Mexican government led by Porfirio Diaz. This marked the beginning of the 10-year Mexican Revolution. In 1945, 24 German leaders went on trial at Nuremberg before the International War Crimes Tribunal. In 1947, Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II of England, married Philip Mountbatten. On November 20, 1945, 24 German leaders went on trial at Nuremberg before the International War Crimes Tribunal. File Photo by U.S. Army UPI File Photo In 1969, the Occupation of Alcatraz began as Native American activists seized control of the island prison. It took 19 months to remove the activists from the rock. On November 20, 1969, the Occupation of Alcatraz began as Native American activists seized control of the island prison. It took 19 months to remove the activists from the rock. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI In 1975, Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain died. In 1986, the World Health Organization announced a coordinated global effort against AIDS. WHO said there were 34,448 reported cases of AIDS worldwide. On November 20, 1947, Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II of England, married Philip Mountbatten, pictured in 1984. File Photo by Rob Taggart/UPI In 1992, fire erupted at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth's official residence west of London, causing much damage. The queen and Prince Andrew helped save priceless artworks and other valuables kept in the castle. In 1998, Zarya, the first module that would make up the International Space Station, was launched from Kazakhstan. A man photographs a portion of the AIDS quilt on the National Mall on July 22, 2012, in Washington, D.C. On November 20, 1986, the World Health Organization announced a coordinated global effort against AIDS. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI In 2007, Ian Smith, the former Rhodesian prime minister who led his South African white-minority government through a violence-wracked era until the end of white rule in 1979, died at 88 after a long illness. In 2009, Hamid Karzai was sworn in, to begin his second five-year term as president of Afghanistan vowing his army would have full control of the country's security by the time he left office. On November 20, 2009, Hamid Karzai was sworn in to begin his second five-year term as president of Afghanistan, vowing his army would have full control of the country's security by the time he left office. File Photo by Hossein Fatemi/UPI File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI In 2012, Church of England elders, in a close vote, decided not to allow women to become bishops. In 2014, President Barack Obama took executive action to grant temporary legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants. His order created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans programs. In 2019, Britain's Prince Andrew announced plans to step back from his public duties as a member of the royal family after facing criticism for his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In 2022, President Joe Biden turns 80, becoming the first octogenarian to serve in the United States' highest office. File Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI The literal French definition of tour de force, an admiring noun that gets thrown around a lot in English, translates as feat of strength. Therefore I dont get it. I dont get why Joaquin Phoenixs take on Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France and frequent film subject, might inspire anyone to characterize the results as a tour de anything, except a feat of sustained, occasionally droll indecision. Advertisement The same goes for director Ridley Scotts middling epic Napoleon. Middling and epic are not words you want to see together, but there you are. Napoleon was many things, and with this dutiful career highlights reel, Phoenix and his director deliver glancing blows to as many aspects of the warrior-tyrant-genius-fool-lonely heart as cinematically possible in two and a half hours. Scotts plan for the eventual Apple TV+ airing of Napoleon will restore 90 minutes and likely a battle or three. Will it make for a better experience? Probably. Scott has alluded to his frustration in trimming down Vanessa Kirbys scenes as Josephine de Beauharnais, a first wife ultimately divorced and banished but Napoleons great love to the very end. Shes the best thing in a busy blur of a movie. While Phoenix tries a little of this and that as he searches for a through-line to their screenplay, Kirby gives this oddly impersonal project a human pulse. Advertisement Even in a lesser Ridley Scott movie, you can count on a certain amount of visual intelligence and drive. Napoleon has both, in lurches. In the Battle of Austerlitz sequence, we see the methodical lead-up and tactically fiendish outcome of the French armys cannons aimed at an ice-covered lake, sending the retreating Russian and Austrian soldiers to a cold, wet grave. Later in the Napoleonic Wars, and in the movie, the overreaching Napoleon meets his Waterloo at Waterloo (no better place for it, of course) against the British. Here director Scott manages some size and tension the old-fashioned way: by getting us a little further into the strategies and reflections of the adversaries, Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington (Rupert Everett, most welcome), while a wider landscape awaits thousands of colliding, dying soldiers and Fate deals our antihero a decisive blow. Its a movie of men, horses, digital blood bursts and practical craftsmanship. All thats interwoven with Napoleon and Josephines courtship (sort of) and marriage (full of psychosexual power plays and a smidgen of kink). Screenwriter David Scarpas nuttier lines of dialogue are all over social media already, notably a feasting Napoleons gluttonous declaration Destiny has brought me this lamb chop! and his petulant playground lament about his British enemies: You think youre so great because you have boats! I dont know whats French for these are the jokes, folks, but actually I do, its ce sont les blagues, les amis, but thats irrelevant. At times Napoleon goes for it, gagwise, and from beginning to end it paints the mans ambitions and insecurities, both petty and grand, with a broad brush. But Scott has never been a particularly witty director, especially (ironically) with comedies. And while Napoleon isnt a spoof or a comic dismantling of a legend, its sense of humor is an uncertain thing indeed, matched by Scotts frustrating uncertainty in crucial visual decisions. A typical 20 seconds of action footage here combines glam slow-motion, slightly sped-up and frazzled fast-motion, digital futzing (always another digital crowd of soldiers, or revolting peasants, or something) plus real people in real costumes, in seemingly random shuffle mode. The movie made me long for the one Scott made 46 years ago on a tight budget, likewise set during the Napoleonic Wars: The Duellists. Too much of this project feels as if no one in particular directed it, and as if a miscast top-shelf actor never figured out how to play the guy. Phoenix is so excitingly unpredictable and vital in all kinds of movies, from Walk the Line to Her to The Master. Therefore his muttering sleepy-time interpretation of Napoleon comes as a letdown, and the flat, no-accent cadence of his verbal delivery takes us out of the period. Only in sporadic bursts theres a moment when Phoenix whaps a glass out of a servants hand, smashing it, and its more arresting than most of the battle scenes do we feel were getting somewhere. As for the historical inaccuracies: Who cares? Honestly. Who cares? No, Napoleon didnt actually take aim and fire cannonballs at the Great Pyramids of Egypt; no, he didnt actually have a sit-down with Wellington after his defeat; no, he didnt witness Marie Antoinettes execution. Doesnt matter to me. What matters to me are the whats and the whys of this imagining of Bonaparte. Why tell this story? What does this subject have to say about his time? What is Napoleon trying to capture in our own time, in its filmmaking methods and approach? More fulfilling answers may be forthcoming in the four-hour version. I know only this: Whatever Everett got paid to sniff the line I dont get wet if I can help it, while dealing with an umbrella prior to the Battle of Waterloo, it wasnt enough. Advertisement Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby star in director Ridley Scott's "Napoleon." (Aidan Monaghan/AP) Napoleon 2 stars (out of 4) MPA rating: R (for strong violence, some grisly images, sexual content, and brief language) Running time: 2:38 How to watch: Premieres in theaters Nov. 21; Apple TV+ streaming date not yet announced. Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic. mjphillips@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @phillipstribune Normally, when Americans see a story mentioning the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), they expect it to deal with the nation's endless (and futile) war on drugs. And most of the time, the news about or coming from the DEA concerns illicit drug trafficking, arrests, and prosecutions. But during the 2020 national protests against the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, the DEA got publicity for another mission its leadership generally doesn't want to discuss: domestic surveillance. On June 2, 2020, BuzzFeed News reporters Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier broke the story that the Justice Department (DOJ) had authorized the DEA to go outside of its normal legal boundaries of drug enforcement. The DEA was authorized "to enforce any federal crime committed as a result of protests over the death of George Floyd." The mission included "covert surveillance," according to the DEA memo obtained by BuzzFeed. That authority was supposed to expire after two weeks, but after pursuing litigation using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), an investigation by the Cato Institute has thus far failed to confirm that the DEA's covert surveillance operations were, in fact, terminated by mid-June 2020. Moreover, DOJ documents obtained by Cato in the litigation show that the DEA has engaged in such non-drug enforcement operations nearly 30 times since February 2005. Of the 27 specific episodes listed in the documents, four involved providing security at Super Bowls and 10 other sporting events; five involved unspecified "assistance" after natural disasters, including after Hurricane Matthew in Haiti in 2016; three others involved "investigative assistance" after the murder of local police officers in Dallas, San Antonio, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. None of the 27 episodes appear to have had any connection to the DEA's stated mission of enforcing the nation's drug laws. To date, no explanation as to why state and local law enforcement agencies were somehow inadequate at providing security or appropriate investigative resources for the episodes has been contained in the limited records released. What is also unknown at this point is the extent to which DEA personnel engaged in physical or electronic surveillance at any of these events. The documents obtained by Cato also reveal that the day after the BuzzFeed story ran, Rachel Bissex, then deputy chief of staff and counselor to Attorney General Bill Barr, emailed a number of other Justice Department officials to pass the word that "OLA [Office of Legislative Affairs] is getting a ton of incoming on the delegation of authority memos to DEA and others because of recent articles." Bissex's use of the phrase "and others" is clearly a reference to other Justice Department law enforcement components such as the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Cato's FOIA litigation against the Justice Department over this matter is ongoing, with the hopes of learning more about the DEA's role in domestic surveillance during the 2020 protests. But the revelation that other DOJ components have received such non-primary mission delegations of authority should be a concern to any citizen engaged in First Amendmentprotected public protest activities. These latest revelations about the frequency with which DEA agents have been employed on non-drug related investigations, and the fact that other DOJ components have also received such out-of-mission taskings, point to a clear, urgent need for a far more sweeping congressional investigation of the practice and the extent to which American's rights may have been violated by its repeated use. The looming expiration of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act's (FISA) Section 702 provision provides House and Senate legislators exactly the opportunity to thinkand actmore broadly and boldly on domestic surveillance reform by tackling this out-of-mission abuse at the same time. Thanks to the efforts of Reps. Jamie Raskin (DMd.) and Nancy Mace (RS.C.), the FBI is already the subject of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation for its use of so-called "assessments"investigations that require no criminal predicate to open and which can involve physical surveillance and extensive database searches on a target. But the Raskin-Mace initiative is, so far as I am aware, the only one of its kind presently focused on any Justice Department component, and it does not address the DEA problem described above. Congressional overseers could change that by tasking GAO to also investigate the scope and potential civil liberties violations of such out-of-mission investigative and surveillance authority delegations and attaching that directive to any FISA Section 702 reauthorization bill. The question is, will they? The post DEA's Domestic Surveillance 'Mission Creep' appeared first on Reason.com. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Michelle DuBarry lost her toddler son 13 years ago. He was struck by a careless driver in a crosswalk where he was being pushed in a stroller by his dad, who was also injured in the crash, she said. These type of deaths are sudden, they are impossibly painful for everyone involved and they are entirely preventable. We need politicians and transportation leaders to act, said DuBarry, a member of Oregon & SW Washington of Families for Safe Streets. We need to treat this crisis with the urgency that it demands. These deaths are preventable. We need to treat it as the public health crisis that it is, said Sarah Iannarone, the executive director of The Street Trust. Rain tax?: Portland Floating homeowners speak out over proposed stormwater rates The third Sunday of November every year is a worldwide day of remembrance for people who died in car crashes. Dozens of people gathered Sunday outside the Lloyd Center, part of Portlands participation in the World Day of Remembrance in 70 US cities and countries. Organizers of the Portland rally asked city leaders to sign a pledge acknowledging this crisis and committing to actions that can save lives. We should have plowed roads, we should have sidewalks, we should have safe streets for everyone, for every Oregonian and we need to come up with the money to pay for it, Iannarone said. Under the portico of Portlands Veterans Memorial Coliseum were 60 black body bags, each representing a person killed on Portlands streets this year. In fact, the tally stands at 62 people who died in traffic crashes so far in Portland in 2023. DuBarry said there is evidence that the problem has become unacceptable to our community. The Portland Bureau of Transportation said its putting up 40 more speed cameras in the coming year to try and prevent crashes. As part of the event, the Morrison Bridge will be lit up yellow through Sunday. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu "Viewers discretion. Afghanistan Taliban executed 229th Christian missionaries yesterday afternoon. These are the same people having meeting with Nigeria during their Islamic summit (sic)," reads the caption of a post on X (formerly Twitter), published on November 13, 2023. A screenshot of the false post, taken on November 15, 2023 The post, shared more than 2,200 times, is accompanied by a graphic photo of an execution, which has been partially obscured with dark blue scribbles. It was published by Simon Ekpa, a self-declared leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist group pushing for independence in Nigerias southeast. Ekpa has a track record of spreading misinformation and has been previously debunked by AFP Fact Check. While the Taliban does have a history of persecuting Christians, the claim that the hardline Islamist group executed 229 Christian missionaries is false (archived here and here). Old hoax AFP Fact Check debunked the same claim in 2021 when it began circulating online after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in the aftermath of the US military and diplomatic withdrawal (archived here). Similar claims without the picture (here and here) have been circulating since 2009, according to the US fact-checking website Snopes, which reported the hoax was spreading via emails and text messages (archived here). Open Doors - a charity that provides aid to persecuted Christians worldwide - told AFP Fact Check in 2021 that the posts were all false. Also in 2021, a spokesperson for human rights organisation Amnesty International told AFP Fact Check it had not recorded any cases similar to those claimed in the viral posts. Using a keyword search, AFP Fact Check found no recent credible reports of the purported claims. While Ekpa's post is false, Open Doors previously told AFP Fact Check the situation is precarious for Afghan Christians, and their website explains that it is impossible to live openly as a Christian in Afghanistan. AFP Fact Check has not been able to verify the origin of the image attached to Ekpas post. Saudi-Africa summit The post also refers to an Islamic summit and claimed the Taliban was in attendance. Tinubu took part in the Saudi-Africa summit in Riyadh on November 10, 2023, to attract foreign investment into Africas largest economy (archived here). Saudi Arabia was one of three countries to recognise the previous Taliban regime, which toppled following the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 (archived here). Riyadh has kept its distance from its former ally after the Taliban took back power when the US pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021 (archived here). AFP journalists who covered the summit confirmed the Taliban did not have a delegation in attendance. Nigeria is almost equally split between a mostly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south. In previous elections, presidential candidates have selected a running mate hailing from the opposite geographic zone and religion. However, Tinubu selected a fellow Muslim northerner as his running mate, sparking criticism in a country where religion and geography are major fault lines (archived here). IPOB disinformation Calls for a separate state of Biafra remain alive in Nigeria more than half a century after secessionist leader Chukwuemeka Ojukwu declared the independence of the countrys southeast in 1967. This was followed by a brutal 30-month civil war. Though the breakaway state has since rejoined the rest of the country, members of IPOB and those sympathetic to its cause still refer to themselves as Biafrans. A predominantly Christian group, IPOB has made previous misleading claims about an alleged genocide of Christians in Nigeria (archived here). The organisation has a history of spreading disinformation and has been the subject of various debunks by AFP Fact Check. Dedham Police are seeking the publics help in finding a 13-year-old girl who is missing. Payton Evans was last seen around 4:45 p.m. Sunday at the Walden Behavioral Center, at 10 Carematrix Drive in Dedham, police said. Police described Payton as a white female, standing 5 feet, 4 inches tall with dirty blonde hair, and wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt, royal blue T-shirt, grey sweatpants with the word Maine down the legs. She was not wearing shoes. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call Dedham Police immediately at 781-326-1212. 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 Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has already signed a second agreement with the Work.ua company, which will provide services in the army's interests free of charge as part of the Recruiting project. Source: the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine Details: The cooperation agreement was signed by Deputy Minister of Defence Nataliia Kalmykova and co-founder and CEO of Work.ua Artur Mikhno. Kalmykova said that the system of modern personnel selection for the Armed Forces should work as soon as possible because the troops need specialists, and people should clearly understand which unit and which military occupational specialty they will be assigned to. Quote: "The recruiting company will provide services in the army's interests free of charge," Kalmykova noted. For its part, the Work.ua company is ready to offer services for a systematic approach to attracting conscripts to the ranks of the Armed Forces. "Today, the Armed Forces need a lot of specialists with civilian occupational specialties. These are drivers, fitters, gas welders, and construction workers. We want to allow the units to recruit professional servicemen who have relevant experience in civilian life. This cooperation will make our army much more effective," Work.ua CEO said. This is the second recruiting company with which the Ministry of Defence has concluded an agreement. The Ministry of Defence continues negotiations with several other participants in the employment market. Background: Before that, the Ministry of Defence, together with the Lobby X organisation, launched a recruitment project for the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Support UP or become our patron! Data analysed by experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) indicate that Ukrainian troops counterattacked near Avdiivka and advanced on 19 November. Source: ISW Details: The review notes that Ukrainian and Russian troops continue fighting in eastern and southern Ukraine, although rainy weather is likely to continue to slow down the pace of hostilities until winter conditions set in. Analysts point out that the defence forces counterattacked near Avdiivka and made a confirmed advance on 19 November. Geolocation data released on 19 November indicates that Ukrainian forces have advanced near the railway southeast of Stepove (3 km northwest of Avdiivka). One Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces recaptured positions near the railway near Stepove and counterattacked near the Avdiivka coke plant. At the same time, the report says, Russian troops conducted offensive operations near Avdiivka but did not achieve any confirmed success on 19 November. Russian milbloggers claimed on 18-19 November that Russian troops had advanced in the area of the industrial zone on the south-eastern outskirts of Avdiivka, the Avdiivka coke plant and the Railway West and northwest of Krasnohorivka (5km north-west of Avdiivka). In addition, a Russian milblogger said on 19 November that elements of the Russian 114th Motorised Rifle Brigade (1st Army Corps of the "Donetsk People Republic") and Storm-Z units had advanced near the Tsarska Okhota restaurant south of Avdiivka, but later retracted this statement after other Russian sources denied the claim. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian troops had unsuccessfully attacked south of Novokalynove (13 km north-east of Avdiivka), east of Novobakhmutivka (9 km north-west of Avdiivka), as well as near Sieverne (6 km west of Avdiivka) and Avdiivka. At the same time, Russian sources claimed that on 18 and 19 November, the Russians had attacked near Pervomaiske (10 km southwest of Avdiivka) and Sieverne; west of Krasnohorivka; south of the waste dump northwest of Avdiivka; east of the coke plant; in the direction of Novokalynove; and from the industrial zone southeast of Avdiivka. Russian sources also claimed that on 18-19 November, military operations were conducted in the industrial zone, the coke and chemical plant, and the area of the village of Stepove. Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesman for the Tavriia Grouping of Ukrainian Forces, said on 19 November that the number of Russian deserters and military personnel who are refusing to conduct offensive operations is growing, forcing the Russian command to use physical force and barrage detachments to push Russian troops into battle. Shtupun added that Russian troops had suffered heavy losses near Avdiivka and had been forced to use mobilised personnel and recruited convicts. ISW battle maps ISW BATTLE MAPS To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 19 November: Ukrainian and Russian forces are continuing combat operations in eastern and southern Ukraine, although the rainy weather will likely continue to slow the pace of combat operations until winter conditions fully set in. Russian forces conducted another series of drone strikes primarily targeting Kyiv, Poltava, and Cherkasy oblasts on the night of 18 and 19 November. Ardent nationalist and former Russian officer Igor Girkin formally announced his intent to run in the 2024 Russian presidential elections despite his imprisonment. The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) may be censoring irregular Russian armed formations as part of its ongoing efforts to formalise Russias irregular forces and establish greater control over the Russian information space. Ukrainian officials announced on 19 November that Bohdan Yermokhin, a teenage Ukrainian whom Russian authorities forcibly deported from occupied Mariupol to Russia and attempted to conscript, returned to Ukraine. Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, near Avdiivka, west and southwest of Donetsk City, in the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast and reportedly advanced in some areas on 19 November. Regional Russian officials continue to fear the emergence of localised protests in response to the Russian militarys refusal to return some mobilised personnel from the frontlines. Occupation authorities continue efforts to indoctrinate Ukrainian children in occupied Ukraine into Russian national and cultural identities. Support UP or become our patron! US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Kyiv on Monday, in a surprise trip to Ukraine to reemphasize the US support for the embattled country amid other pressing challenges abroad. The message that I bring you today, Mr. President, is the United States of America is with you, Austin told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. We will remain with you for the long-haul. What happened here in Ukraine that not only matters to Ukraine but it matters to the rest of the world. It certainly matters to the United States of America. According to a Defense Department news release, Austin traveled to Ukraine to reinforce the staunch support of the United States for Ukraines fight for freedom. During Austins visit, the Defense Department announced a new security package for Ukraine totaling $100 million one of the smallest packages yet as available funding for US assistance begins to run low. The package which is the 51st to be provided from DOD inventories includes one High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and additional ammunition; 155mm artillery rounds; stinger anti-aircraft missiles; and Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles. It also includes cold weather gear, demolition munitions to clear obstacles, and more than three million rounds of small arms ammunition. As he announced the package, Austin said he sees bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress. I know there are things we need to continue to work through to get the supplemental request approved. And well continue to work with Congress to do that. And Congress, our congressional members, have valid questions that we will answer, he said. Senior defense officials, in a briefing with traveling press, emphasized the critical nature of Austins visit and the message it sends that the US will continue to support Ukraine despite other challenges, specifically in the Middle East with Israels fight against Hamas. While US funding for aid to Ukraine is dwindling, the official said a number of capabilities that were procured over the last year and a half will begin coming online in the next few months and throughout 2024. So, there will be a steady supply of capabilities immediately and for some time, the official said. The official also said they anticipated Russia targeting critical infrastructure in the winter months as they did last year. They did it last winter. Weve already seen some of those strikes actually in the last couple of days. But we are on track to provide a steady stream of artillery, ammunition, longer-range fire throughout these months so theres that, the official said. We can do both at the same time. Upon his arrival in Kyiv, Austin met with roughly 25 Americans in Ukraine as part of the Defense Departments Embassy Kyiv team. In remarks before their meeting, Austin thanked them for their work and assured them what theyre doing matters. When youre working hard each and every day and things are going not quite like you want them to go every day, you sometimes question whether or not what youre doing at that time is really making a difference. It is, Austin said. You are enabling us to provide support to a country thats fighting for its existence. Theres probably nothing more important than that. Austins trip comes just days before he will host the 17th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, virtually from the Pentagon. This story has been updated with additional developments. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com KYIV, Ukraine U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday in a high-profile push to keep money and weapons flowing to Ukraine even as U.S. and international resources are stretched by the new global risks raised by the Israel-Hamas conflict. Austin, who traveled to Kyiv by train from Poland, met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Chief of Staff Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi. While there Austin announced the Pentagon would be sending an additional $100 million in weapons to Ukraine from U.S. existing stockpiles, including artillery and munitions for air defense systems. The package also includes another High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. Austin said Ukraines effort to defeat Russian forces matters to the rest of the world and that U.S. support would continue for the long haul. Zelenskyy said Austins visit was a very important signal for Ukraine. We count on your support, Zelenskyy said, thanking Congress as well as the American people for their backing. This is Austins second trip to Kyiv since Russias 2022 invasion, but hes making it under far different circumstances, as the worlds attention is drawn to the Middle East and signs of fatigue set in with the almost 21-month Russia-Ukraine war. Austins first visit occurred in April 2022, just two months after the start of the war. At the time, Ukraine was riding a wave of global rage at Moscows invasion, and Austin launched an international effort that now sees 50 countries meet monthly to coordinate on what weapons, training and other support could be pushed to Kyiv. But the conflict in Gaza could pull attention and resources from the Ukraine fight. The U.S. has worked feverishly since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the weeks of devastating bombardment on Gaza by Israel that has followed, to prevent the conflict from turning into a regional war. Even as Austin stood in St. Michaels Square in Kyiv, the first question asked at a press briefing at the end of the short visit was about Israels use of U.S.-provided weapons in that conflict, instead of about Ukraine. Both conflicts have already seen significant U.S. military support. To back Israel and keep that conflict from spreading, the U.S. has already committed two carrier strike groups, scores of fighter jets and thousands of U.S. personnel to the Middle East, and has had to shift its force posture and conduct airstrikes against Iranian-backed militant groups that are now hitting U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria on a regular basis. For Ukraine, the U.S. has already provided more than $44 billion and allies have sent an additional $35 billion in weapons packages that range from millions of bullets to air defense systems, advanced European and U.S. battle tanks and, finally, pledges for F-16 fighter jets. But Ukraine still needs more, and after almost 20 months of shipping arms to Ukraine, cracks are beginning to show. Some European countries such as Poland have scaled back support, noting their need to maintain adequate fighting ability to defend themselves. Ukrainian officials have strongly pushed back on suggestions they are in a stalemate with Russia after a long-awaited counteroffensive over the summer did not radically change the battle lines on the ground. In a visit to Washington last week, Andriy Yermak, head of the presidents office, provided no details but confirmed that Ukrainian forces had finally pushed through to the east bank of the Dnieper River, which has essentially served as the immovable front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces for months. However, as winter sets in it will become more difficult for either side to make large gains due to ground conditions. That could further work against Ukraine if U.S. lawmakers perceive theres time to wait before more funds are needed. Ukraine and the U.S. expect that this winter Russia will go after Ukraines infrastructure again, like the power grid, making air defenses critical. Fred Kagan, a senior resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said it would be a mistake to think there is time to wait. If we stop providing aid to Ukraine, its not that the stalemate continues. The aid is actually essential to preventing the Russians from beginning to maneuver again in ways that can allow them to defeat Ukraine, Kagan said. So the cost of cutting off aid is that Russia wins and Ukraine loses and NATO loses. Further complicating the support is that the Pentagon has only a dwindling amount of money left in this years budget to keep sending weapons to Ukraine, and Congress is months late on getting a new budget passed and has not taken up a supplemental spending package that would include Ukraine aid. Since the war began in February 2022, the U.S. has provided more than $44.2 billion in weapons to Ukraine, but the funding is nearly gone. The Pentagon can send about $5 billion more in weapons and equipment from its own stocks. But it only has about $1 billion in funding to replace those stocks. As a result, recent announcements of weapons support have been of much smaller dollar amounts, such as the $100 million package announced in Kyiv by Austin, than in months past. You have seen smaller packages, because we need to parse these out, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday. Because we dont know when Congress is going to pass our supplemental package. Officials have been urging Congress to provide additional money, but a growing number of Senate Republicans have opposed additional Ukraine aid without securing support for other unrelated provisions, such as stricter immigration laws and additional funding for border control. A stopgap spending bill passed last week to avoid a government shutdown during the holidays did not include any money for Ukraine. Copp reported from Washington. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday visited Ukraine, where he will be meeting with Ukrainian officials to relay a message of solidarity with the Ukrainian people expressing that America stands firmly behind the Eastern European country in its war with Russia. After an 11-hour train ride from Poland to Ukraine, Austin exited onto the platform, where he shook hands with U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink. U.S. Defense attache Brig. Gen. Kipling Kahler was also present to greet him. "I just arrived in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian leaders," Austin wrote on the social media site X. "Im here today to deliver an important message the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russias aggression, both now and into the future." The trip is Secretary Austin's second to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. His last visit was in April 2022. UKRAINE DEALS DEVASTATING BLOW TO RUSSIA WITH DESTRUCTION OF KEY BASE: A 'CRUCIAL TIME' IN CONFLICT U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shakes hands with U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink in Ukraine on Nov. 20, 2023. The Department of Defense released a statement confirming Austin would meet with Ukrainian leaders to bolster the U.S.-Ukrainian relationship. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "During his visit, Secretary Austin will engage in high-level talks with Ukrainian leadership. The discussions will focus on further bolstering the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, to include ensuring Ukraine's armed forces have the battlefield capabilities they need for both the winter and to defend their country against future Russian threats," the Defense Department said. BIDEN ADMIN URGES MAJOR FUNDING INCREASES FOR AID TO UKRAINE, ISRAEL AND GAZA CIVILIANS The Department added: "Later this week, Secretary Austin will also host the 17th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group virtually from the Pentagon, continuing the vital work of international coordination and support for Ukraine with nearly 50 nations expected to participate." The NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli, is also on the trip. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a press briefing after a virtual Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at the Pentagon on Nov. 16, 2022, in Arlington, Virginia. The Ukraine Defense Contact Group met again to discuss aiding for Ukraine amid Russias invasion. Austins travel to Ukraine comes as the Pentagon continues to urge Congress to pass additional funding to support Ukraines military effort. "I am pleased that the passage of another continuing resolution has put off the threat of a lapse of funding," Austin said Friday, Nov. 17. "Its enactment will ensure that our brave troops and dedicated civilian workforce will be paid through the holidays. Yet I continue to urge Congress to pass full-year appropriations, which remains the best thing that Congress can do for our national defense. As we have long made clear, operating under short-term continuing resolutions hamstrings the Departments people and programs and undermines both our national security and competitiveness." BIDEN ANNOUNCES $325M AID PACKAGE TO UKRAINE AFTER MEETING WITH ZELENSKYY He added: "I also urge Congress to take up and pass supplemental funding to strengthen our national security as soon as possible. Our supplemental request directly supports our allies and partners, including Israel and Ukraine, during a critical period and makes key investments in our defense industrial base across the country. These investments will mean greater prosperity at home and greater security abroad." To date, Ukraine has received more than $44 billion from the U.S. and more than $35 billion from other allies in weapons, ranging from millions of bullets to air defense systems, advanced European and U.S. battle tanks and pledges for F-16 fighter jets. On Thursday, Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh held a press briefing where she said the Pentagon has been rolling out smaller weapons packages for Ukraine due to the uncertainty on Capitol Hill. POLAND ANNOUNCES STOP TO SUPPLYING ARMS TO UKRAINE, SAYS MODERNIZING ITS OWN WEAPONS When asked for a preview of the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, an alliance of 54 countries that meets monthly for updates on the current conflict with Russia, Singh said an announcement was expected within the next few days. "In terms of aid packages, you've seen us roll out pretty consistently aid packages for Ukraine. We have had to pass down our support and our security assistance for Ukraine because we don't have additional funding, because the supplemental hasn't been passed. So we just rolled out our last presidential drawdown authority, and I believe that was last week," the deputy press secretary continued. Singh added that the U.S. is aware that Ukraine needs "continued support" in its war against Russia. "So we know that we have to do that. We know that we have to continue to meet their needs. And that's something that certainly will be discussed at the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group," she said. "But in terms of a package preview, I just don't have more for you to announce today." MOST GLOBAL LEADER AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY FIND COMMON TREND IN CONDEMNING RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE A reporter at the press briefing also asked how long the Pentagon can support Ukraine until Congress is needed to appropriate new funding. "You have seen smaller packages, because we need to parse these out," Singh said Thursday. "Because we dont know when Congress is going to pass our supplemental package. I mean, frankly, that is why we requested an emergency supplemental package to provide funding for our security assistance to Ukraine and also to backfill our own stocks." A Ukrainian soldier of a tank unit of the 63rd Brigade, is seen in a tank in a rear position in the direction of Lyman-Kreminna, Ukraine on Nov. 16, 2023. The Pentagon can send about $5 billion more in weapons and equipment from its own stocks. But it only has about $1 billion in funding to replace those stocks. "The supplemental, again, is in Congress. We continue to urge Congress to pass a supplemental package together because it's an emergency request. It's not part of the budget process. And so we have a large amount that we want Congress to authorize for Ukraine and for Israel. And for our investments in the Indo-Pacific and, of course, for our own investments in our defense industrial base. So that's something that we're going to continue to urge Congress to pass. But you're absolutely right. You have seen smaller packages because we need to pass these out because we don't know when Congress is going to pass our supplemental package. And so we're continuing to talk with allies and partners. We're not the only country here contributing to Ukraine's urgent battlefield needs. As you know, the Ukraine contact Group is over 50 nations. So it's not that it's just the U.S. supporting Ukraine, but the president has been very clear that we are going to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes." Singh was also asked to give a timeline on how long American taxpayers can expect to keep contributing money to the Ukraine-Russia war, but she was unable to do so. "I'm not going to forecast how long that's going to last. That certainly wouldn't do the Ukrainians any good. That would really benefit the Russians. And so I'm just not going to be able to give you a timeline on how long we're going to be able to have these packages continue to go forward." Monday, Nov. 20, will be the 635th day since Russia first invaded Ukraine in Feb. 2022 Fox News Liz Friden, Jessica Sonkin and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Defense Secretary Austin visits Ukraine as Pentagon urges Congress to pass additional aid to fight Russia When the Chicago Reader declared in 1997 that audiences wont find a busier saxophonist in Chicago than Mars Williams, more evergreen words were scarcely written. Even in his 60s, Williams remained an omnipresent, indefatigable musical presence in this city and beyond. His live-wire sax sound expanded to fill the space it was in, whether a DIY hole-in-the-wall or a teeming arena concert with the Psychedelic Furs, with whom he toured as recently as last month. Advertisement I dont know anyone else whos able to go one night from playing a rock concert in front of 5,000 people to playing at the Beat Kitchen in front of 10, and taking both contexts absolutely seriously, saxophonist Dave Rempis told the Tribune recently. Its not even rare; its unheard of to move back and forth between all the worlds that he does. Williams died Nov. 20 from ampullary cancer, a rare cancer affecting the area around the small intestine, after being diagnosed almost a year ago. He was 68. His death was confirmed to the Tribune by his brother Paul Williams. Advertisement One of six children, Williams was born in Elmhurst on May 29, 1955, and grew up in nearby Franklin Park. Then Marc, Williams was a star clarinetist in his school music program. But a summer spent playing in a cover band put him off the classical training hed committed to at DePaul University. Instead, he immersed himself in the far-out sounds of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, the seminal South Side musical collective, and eventually counted two of its members Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell as mentors. After a formative jaunt out west to Colorado, Williams made his way to New York City in the late 1970s, making money as a bike messenger and trying to break into the live music scene. By then, Williams went by Mars, inspired by his baby brothers attempts to pronounce his name. There, he met his heroes Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry and caught the ear of downtown luminaries like John Zorn. Mars Williams is one of the true saxophone players someone who takes pleasure in the sheer act of blowing the horn and there are not many saxophone players I can truthfully say this about, Zorn wrote in the liner notes to Eftsoons, Williams 1984 duo album with multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell. Williams also kick-started his parallel career in the rock world in New York, playing punk shows at the music club CBGB and picking up gigs by word-of-mouth. That path eventually led him to the Psychedelic Furs, becoming the bands longest-serving member after founders Richard and Tim Butler. He played with the Furs from 1983 to 1989, then again from 2005 to the present. Guitarist Rich Good, who joined the Furs in the aughts, praised Williams subtly radical twists on familiar solos, even on songs he didnt record with the band. He never steps away from what the theme of the song is, but he transcends it, takes it to the next level, Good says. The audience is kind of gobsmacked when they see this stuff happen. Mars Williams performs with Liquid Soul on May 5, 1998, at Chicago's House of Blues. (John Bartley/Chicago Tribune) As is the sidemans lot, Williams was never a household name, though many of the acts he performed with are: Billy Idol, The Killers, Ministry, Dirty Projectors and Jerry Garcia, to name a few. As a core member of short-lived hit magnets The Waitresses, Williams ripped all over that bands most enduring tunes, like Christmas Wrapping and I Know What Boys Like. But in the niche realm of experimental free jazz, Williams was a musicians musician. A sampling of the projects he either led or founded includes the NRG Ensemble, the legendary improvising unit founded by Russell; Extraordinary Popular Delusions, quite likely the longest-running free jazz act in the city; Witches & Devils, a tribute to saxophonist Albert Ayler; and the Chicago Reed Quartet. He toured internationally with all of these, as well as with lauded free jazz groups run by fellow saxophonists Peter Brotzmann (Brotzmann Tentet) and Ken Vandermark (the Vandermark Five). Advertisement Thats not to say Williams corralled the many genres he explored far from it. His rap-meets-jazz-meets-funk group Liquid Soul surfed the acid jazz crest of the 90s to Grammy acclaim; the band played Bill Clintons second inauguration and became a favorite of the Chicago Bulls. In XMARSX, another project, Williams collaborated with MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer. Yet another Williams brainchild, Sonic Soul Sirkus, combined brassy, wide-swinging jazz, hip-hop beats, aerial acrobats, and, per his website, a performing pit bull. [ Mars Williams sax was everywhere, from free jazz projects to the Psychedelic Furs. Then came cancer. ] Im embarrassed to say, at one point I had this Art Ensemble percussion set-up with the Waitresses, full of stuff I made and Tibetan monk horn solos, Williams told the Tribune. Sober for nearly two decades, Williams offered guidance and support to other musicians living with addiction. Celebrated trumpeter jaimie branch, who died last year, once credited Williams with getting her clean. Even as his rounds of radiation intensified, Williams refused painkillers, fearing another relapse. Im always available people know that. I dont have to go around saying Im sober. A lot of people in the industry know, and Ill get a call, he said. Last June, Rempis started a GoFundMe to assist with Williams medical costs. It exceeded its $100,000 goal by a wide margin just one measure of the love with which Williams was showered by audiences around the globe. As it became clear in late summer that his treatment options were coming to an end, he chose to spend six weeks of the time he had left living as he had since he was a teenager out on the road performing night after night, reads an update to the GoFundMe posted the day of Williams death. Advertisement The update, signed by Mars family & friends, says details for a future memorial event are pending. Proceeds from an upcoming Nov. 25 benefit show at Metro, headlined by colleagues from all walks of Williams venturesome musical life, were intended to go toward Williams treatment fund. Instead, it will celebrate his life, and the music he filled every square inch of it with. Its so infectious, Marss love of playing, in every sense of that word, says guitarist Steve Marquette, who played and toured with Williams in several configurations. Sometimes, the academically rigorous language that gets used around this music takes a front seat to that joy of making sound. But Marss music is never about pushing people away. Its a pure and honest form of expression. Williams is survived by his mother, Hilda Williams of Chicago, sisters Michele (Miki) of Oak Park and Suzy of Santa Barbara, California, and brother Paul of Chicago. Hannah Edgar is a freelance writer. Advertisement Music for Mars, featuring Liquid Soul, the Joe Marcinek Band and Jesse De La Pena, with special guests Jeff Coffin of Dave Matthews Band, Richard Fortus of Guns N Roses and Ike Reilly, is 8 p.m. Nov. 25 at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., tickets $35 at door, $30 advance, $150 table for two, metrochicago.com TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A Delta Air Lines flight from Key West to Atlanta was diverted to Ft. Myers on Sunday afternoon due to a smoky odor on the aircraft, according to an airline spokesperson. Flight 1472 took off from Key West International Airport at about 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. Shortly into the flight, the crew chose to declare an emergency, sending the flight to RSW instead, accordign to the airline. The plane landed safely at 3:25 p.m., according to FlightAware. The plane was inspected and cleared to resume operations. The airline apologized to customers who were inconvenienced. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. ATLANTA - A Delta pilot is warming the hearts of people around the country after going above and beyond to return a library book. It's not unusual for libraries to get packages in the mail, but there was something unusual about the one Delta Captain Ben sent to a library in Kansas. The package, which was sent to the Johnson County Library in Shawnee, Kansas, included a letter and the children's book "Whatever After; If the Shoe Fits." The pilot says he found the book in the B Concourse at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport while commuting home to Florida and knew he had to return it. "I am an avid reader myself, with a fondness for 18th and 19th Century history and naval historical fiction," Ben wrote. "I hope that whoever checked out Whatever After; If the Show Fits grows up to be an avid reader as well." He even offered to pay any late fees, saying, "I do not feel anybody should ever be penalized for enriching their life with a book." It turns out, the book wasn't late at all. The library shared Ben's letter with their own message of thanks. "Ben, if you see this, we think you're pretty awesome. Come say hello if you ever find yourself in our neck of the woods," the library wrote. The simple act of kindness had commenters feeling the love, with one saying "It just goes to show the dedication of readers to others who share the love of books." A group of Democratic senators urged President Biden on Monday to work with Israel in an effort to convince the country to open its border for humanitarian aid to cross into the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip. In a letter sent to Biden, the lawmakers asked the administration to work with Israel and its allied partners to implement a plan that will protect civilian life and deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to the war-torn Gaza. The senators also asked for the Kerem Shalom border, a border crossing between Israel and Gaza, to be reopened in order to facilitate the proper inspection and delivery of larger quantities of aid and the reopening of this crossing must become part of the humanitarian support plan. The letter also asks for access to prompt medical attention for sick and wounded civilians, both within Gaza as well as the option to evacuate to a neighboring country. The letter was co-led by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). The letter was signed by ten other senators, including Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Lastly, there must be hope for the future. We worry the current trajectory of the conflict moves us further away from our shared goals of ending Hamass threat and removing them from power in Gaza, bringing hostages home, and achieving a sustainable peace in the region through a two state solution, the senators wrote in their letter. This conflict will not be solved by force alone. Preservation of and respect for innocent life is both morally right and the best hope for a long-term strategy to accomplish security, stability, and peace in the region, the letter concludes. The letter comes as lawmakers in the recent weeks have called for a cease-fire solution in the Hamas-Israel war, but with some stipulating that a cease-fire should happen if the militant group Hamas releases all hostages currently detained. Its been a month since Hamass surprise attack against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the taking of around 240 hostages. In response, Israel has launched a series of airstrikes and a ground invasion in Gaza, resulting in the death of at least 13,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. DECATUR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) A driver may have been distracted by an iPad just before a head-on crash in Van Buren County, according to deputies. The crash happened around 6:12 p.m. on County Road 668 in Decatur Township north of County Road 669, according to the Van Buren County Sheriffs Office. A black Hyundai Sonata driven by a 66-year-old Edwardsburg man was headed south on County Road 668 when it drifted to the right and then over-corrected, ending up in the opposite lane, deputies said. It crashed into a northbound black Dodge Ram towing a utility trailer, which was being driven by a 29-year-old Decatur man. Based on investigation and witness statements, deputies believe the driver of the Sonata may have been distracted by media displayed on an iPad. This embedded content is not available in your region. The driver of the Sonata was taken to the hospital. The driver and passenger in the Dodge Ram pickup reported no injuries. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. UPDATE: Woman killed in her Borrego Springs home identified BORREGO SPRINGS, Calif. Authorities are investigating an apparent homicide in Borrego Springs after finding an elderly woman was found in her home on Saturday with apparent stab wounds, according to the San Diego County Sheriffs Office. Sometime in the afternoon, a deputy responded to the home in the 2800 block of Borrego Springs Road to conduct a welfare check on one of the residents, a 63-year-old woman, at the request of a family member, SDSO Lt. Joseph Jarjura said in a release. Upon arrival, the deputy was told by the family member that she was concerned after seeing blood in the house. SDSO added that the family member also noted there should be three people in the residence. The deputy then searched the home and found what appeared to be the woman with stab wounds to her body, Jarjura said. Fire department personnel later pronounced the woman dead on scene at 3:15 p.m. Seven injured in shooting at Spring Valley home: SDSO Her name has not been disclosed by law enforcement, pending a positive identification from the San Diego County Medical Examiners Office. All other residents of the home were detained as homicide detectives completed a search warrant, Jarjura said. Jacob Guevara, the 41-year-old brother of the family member who requested the welfare check, was arrested in connection to the incident, according to SDSO. He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility and faces murder charges. However, SDSO says the investigation into the incident remains ongoing at this time. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 858-285-6330 or the after hours line at 858-565-5200. Those that wish to remain anonymous can do so by calling Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. The New York City Fire Department has discovered the cause of a deadly three-alarm blaze that killed three people living in a Crown Heights brownstone in Brooklyn on Sunday, Nov. 12. Authorities linked the fire to the combustion of scooters being powered by cheap, unsafe lithium-ion batteries that dont meet safety standards. The family members are bereaved and baffled, seeking answers as to why these dangerous batteries are on the market and how the vendors do not make consumers aware of their hazards. Devastated Family Prepares for Holiday After Fire Ignited By E-Bike Battery Claims the Lives of 81-year-old Grandmother and Two Other Relatives Matriarch Albertha West, 81, her son Mike West, 58, and her grandson, Jamiyl West, 33, lost their lives in the devastating fire. Authorities reported that the fire originated on the bottom floor of their home around 4:30 a.m. Despite the efforts of first responders who rushed them to Kings County Hospital, the lives of the victims could not be saved. According to a family friend, Tyshawn Johnson, 24, Jamiyl used chargers similar to the battery identified by the FDNY as the source of the fire to charge the electronic bikes he used for delivery jobs. He used the e-bikes for deliveries just like how everybody else used the e-bikes, said Johnson during an interview with the New York Daily News. He charged them up at night so he could have a full battery in the morning. But he doesnt know the batterys not good, because regular people, they dont know. Who would think of anything? At this point, it remains unclear who owned the battery responsible for the tragic incident. Still, authorities confirmed an e-bike was charging in the doorway and staircase of a Brooklyn brownstone before it exploded. Its very common with these e-bike devices where theres no time to get out. They start to smolder, and within 20-30 seconds, they erupt into flames, FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens said, according to CNN. Even more tragic, according to the family, was that three days before the fire, one of Ms. Alberthas other sons, Henry West, died of a heart attack. The seniors granddaughter, Trinece Ward, 33, said the family is trying to stay strong and push through all of the trauma theyve experienced over the past week. Right now, were still trying to figure it out, she said when talking about the death of her uncle, adding, Were trying to get through it together. The family spent the night out yesterday. We went to my Aunt Julias house and talked about everything. The family talked about the upcoming holiday season and what it would be like without Ms. Albertha, whom she called a sweetheart. She was definitely the matriarch, Ward remembered. Its hard now because we dont want to have Thanksgiving because it wouldve been at the house. She was the best cook. Official reports indicate that the city has witnessed a concerning total of 238 fires associated with lithium-ion batteries, and disturbingly, 17 of these fires have been linked to the batteries in the year 2023 alone. In the Crown Heights blaze, in addition to the three generations of Wests losing their lives, 14 others were injured. FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh equated the batteries to ticking time bombs in unsuspecting citizens homes. There is blood on the hands of this private industry- both the online retailers who continue to sell these illegal devices to this day and the food delivery apps who continue to think that this problem will solve itself, Kavanagh explained at a news conference on Monday outside of the charred West home. She also believes food delivery companies like Uber Eats and Grubhub should be scrutinized for their role in exacerbating the crisis. Despite law enforcement trying to crack down on them, their lucrative underground economy endures, and this black market keeps peddling the sale of low-cost and hazardous batteries, bikes, and scooters. They [the batteries] explode- and the second they explode, there may be so much fire at that moment, you cant get out, she added. During a news conference, she called on companies like Amazon and Walmart to limit the sale of hazardous batteries, emphasizing the ongoing concern with online retailers offering batteries that fail to meet safety standards. The commissioner said, Private industry can take action that would immediately save lives. LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Dangerous moments near a Lakewood intersection Sunday as someone discovered what appeared to be a grenade taped to a utility pole. Lakewood Township Police responded to the area near 4th and Forest avenues on a call about a suspicious object Sunday morning, around 7:45, officials said. They discovered what appeared to be a grenade taped to a utility pole, when they arrived. The New Jersey State Police Bomb Unit was called in order to remove and dispose of the device. The bomb squad safely removed the device and found it was nonexplosive and officials determined there was no threat to the public. Police are investigating the incident and urge anyone with any information to contact Officer Alex Guzman, with the Lakewood Township Police, at 732-363-0200, extension 5341 or contact Sergeant David Petracca, with the Ocean County Prosecutors Office at 732-929-2027, extension 2186. Michael Mulgrew, charged with the murders in Barnegat of his parents, appears virtually for his detention hearing before Superior Court Judge Pamela Snyder in Toms River Tuesday, November 14, 2023. BARNEGAT - Michael Mulgrew told police he went into a "schizophrenic state'' and left home Nov. 1, when his parents told him he was going to be hospitalized for mental health issues. When Mulgrew returned home later that night, his mother told him he was grounded and that he was forbidden to leave the house. The next morning, things were normal until his parents asked him to do some chores. That's when Mulgrew punched both of them and went to the kitchen to get a knife. He returned to the living room and stabbed his mother in the neck and heart with it. Then, when his father tried to intervene, Mulgrew stabbed him, too, in the neck and heart. He dragged their bodies to their bedroom, took a shower, packed a backpack and went for a walk in the woods. That's what Mulgrew, 34, told police after they apprehended him on Nov. 2, according to an affidavit of probable cause to charge Mulgrew with the murder of his parents, Eugene, 71, and Cheryl, 69. Police made a gruesome discovery earlier that day when they were called to the Mulgrews' home on Lincoln Avenue about 11 a.m. Officers were responding to a request to accompany personnel from a mobile psychiatric emergency screening unit, called there by the defendant's parents to assist them with their son, Barnegat Detective Lauren Keiltiz wrote in the affidavit of probable cause As police officers approached the home, they noticed a man walking away from it, the affidavit said. The officers knocked on the front door and noticed it was stained with what appeared to be blood. So, suspecting someone inside was injured and needed assistance, the officers went inside and found blood throughout the home, the affidavit said. Then, they found the victims' bodies in their bedroom, with a bloody knife nearby, it said. Officers located Michael Mulgrew in the area of West Bay Boulevard and Gunning River Road and arrested him without incident. A search of his person yielded some napkins stained with apparent blood, the affidavit said. The defendant was taken to police headquarters, where he agreed to speak to detectives. He told them that he grew up in Barnegat and lived with his parents on Lincoln Avenue. In 2018, while living in Vietnam, he "had an incident of drug-induced psychosis,'' he told detectives. Mulgrew also told them he has used marijuana, opiates and hallucinogenic drugs in the past and regularly uses marijuana now, the affidavit said. Mulgrew told the detectives that the day before his parents died, "his mother told him he was going to go to the hospital,'' the affidavit said. ''He said that he believed at the time that his family was going to hurt him, and it caused him to go into a schizophrenic state,'' so he left the house, the affidavit said. "He said that when he returned, his parents told him that there would be new rules in the house, which included not being allowed to leave the house,'' the affidavit said. Mulgrew said he punched his parents during an altercation when he became angry because they asked him to do chores, the affidavit said. After stabbing them and dragging their bodies to their bedroom, Michael Mulgrew said he took a shower and packed a backpack with four bottles of water, a towel and a book and took off for the woods. He left the backpack in the woods before he was met by police officers, he told the detectives. Detectives learned that the defendant's mother called police and the mobile psychiatric emergency screening service about 6:30 p.m. the previous day and told them her son was "experiencing mental health issues,'' the affidavit said. When the psychiatric unit arrived at the house to evaluate the subject, he had already left, it said. The defendant's mother called police shortly after 10 p.m. and told them her son had come home and was calm, the affidavit said. She indicated she would take him to the doctor in the morning, it said. Mulgrew, in addition to his parents' murders, is charged with possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon. He is being held without bail at the Ocean County Jail in Toms River, awaiting a hearing on whether he will continue to be detained to await trial. Mulgrew appeared via video link from the medical unit of the jail on Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Pamela Snyder, being slow to answer her questions on whether he had watched a video explaining his rights. He finally blurted out, "I hate everyone and everything,'' and quickly was escorted out of the medical unit by corrections officers. His attorney then asked for an adjournment and to have Mulgrew evaluated for his competency to stand trial. When Mulgrew was to appear in person in court for a detention hearing on Thursday, corrections officials informed Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan that the defendant was "experiencing an acute mental health episode'' and could not appear. Ryan then adjourned the hearing. It has tentatively been rescheduled for Nov. 27. 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: Barnegat man killed parents when they asked him to do chores, cops say For days, Tareq Hajjaj has been asking anyone able or willing to listen to help keep his stories alive so that he and his family are kept alive. Hajjaj, 30, is the Gaza Strip correspondent for Mondoweiss, a news and opinion website that covers the Palestinian territories, Israel and U.S. policy in both places. He is married, has a 10-month-old son and a large extended family. He helps care for his 79-year-old mother, whose diabetes has led to blindness. Hajjaj has has been working as a news writer and translator since 2015. Since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, more than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and West Bank, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry and at least 48 of them have been journalists and media workers like Hajjaj, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. (The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, an industry group, says at least 53 Palestinian journalists have been killed.) Many more have been injured. Some have seen their entire families killed. Once a robustly covered area of the Palestinian territories, international news organizations began slowly whittling down their operations in Gaza in 2007 after Hamas' takeover, pulling reporters and closing bureaus. In addition to the deadly pressure they face from Israel's forces, according to Freedom House, a Washington think tank, Palestinian journalists in Gaza face repression from Hamas. Israel has allowed some media to briefly embed with its military in Gaza in recent days, but it tightly controls what these journalists see and can report. Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. Amid disrupted phone and Internet connections, Hajjaj has been reporting in apocalyptic conditions while also trying to take care of his family. He has written about what it's like to see buildings collapse, about young mothers and friends who were killed while sheltering in their homes from Israeli airstrikes, and about the feeling of helplessness when there is nowhere left to run to. He has recorded videos on his phone that mix reporting and accounts of his interrupted home life. "Last night my mom woke up in a complete panic," begins one such video, published on Instagram on Nov. 1, as Hajjaj relates how a house next to his was getting bombed. Amid the resulting chaos, his mother asks: "Did we die?" He replies: "Not yet, mom, not yet." Hajjaj is currently in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. He and his family evacuated there from Gaza City on Oct. 12, joining the ranks of the 1.5 million people internally displaced in Gaza. Over the course of several days, USA TODAY communicated with Hajjaj through brief audio notes and messages sent via WhatsApp, one of the only ways to keep in touch with people in Gaza. What follows are some of these messages, condensed and edited for clarity, that Hajjaj was able to send in-between reporting and trying to stay alive. Hi Kim. Thank you for reaching out. I do have some trouble with my Internet connection. I rarely get online. Sometimes I need a couple of hours to upload one (voice note) recording. Anyway, I can help you with whatever I can. You can send me your questions one by one, please and I will answer as soon as I have a good (connection). (KH: Hajjaj doesn't pick up any of my messages for the next 24 hours. His WhatsApp notifications mark them as not received. He eventually writes to say he needed to swap phones and get a different SIM card.) I am in the European Hospital (in eastern Khan Yunis). It's a dangerous place to come and go back home safely (Hajjaj, his wife Timaa and their son, Qais, are staying at his father-in-law's house in Khan Younis). But I take that risk because of all my (extended) family (3 brothers, their wives, 13 children) evacuated to this hospital after my eldest brother was bombed while staying at his home (in Gaza City). He got critical injuries . All his family members got serious wounds. But they are still alive. The situation on the ground is tough and hard. We are seeing things and scenes we are not familiar with. People are struggling all day. From the morning to the evening just to get bread for their families. At the bakeries, thousands of people are lining up. They spend all day to get their food. And sometimes many of them go back home without any. I used to go out to report in the field wearing my press uniform (protective vest and helmet). But after the targeting of journalists in Gaza I have stopped doing that and now I go out without any signs that indicate or reflect I'm a journalist. I'm hiding from the Israeli drones and air force because I believe whenever they have the chance they will bomb me as well. (KH: Israel denies it deliberately targets journalists, and civilians more broadly. But when they see their friends and colleagues being killed on a daily basis, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank say they don't believe them. Before the recent bout of Israel-Hamas fighting, in May, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a report that found that Israeli military fire led to the deaths of 18 Palestinian journalists over the last 22 years. The report, titled "Deadly Pattern," concluded that "probes into journalist killings at the hands of the IDF follow a routine sequence. Israeli officials discount evidence and witness claims, often appearing to clear soldiers for the killings while inquiries are still in progress. The IDFs procedure for examining military killings of civilians such as journalists is a black box.") Everything on the ground is really hard. Way beyond imaginable. Getting water is like an impossible mission. I have a family I need to look after. And I have a duty and job I need to do. I am really distracted between both of them. I (feel like I) can't leave my home every day to go out and report. And I also can't stay at home. (KH: For the first time, Hajjaj sends a lengthy text message.) Today, I could manage to see my nieces and nephews after a month of our displacement. They all take shelter in the European Hospital. When they first see me, all of them and I hurry to hug each other. I hugged them all, one by one, and kissed all of them. I missed them so much. I missed the days we all were living in our building (in Gaza City) that was destroyed by Israel and every morning they come to my apartment in the ground floor asking me for sweets and candy. I always bring them everything they wish. Today, their faces look different. They are not the same kids anymore after a month of daily bombardment and killing around them, they look to me that they grew a hundred years older. They are not asking for candy, their stories that they tell are not about toys or sweets, they talk about death, people under rubbles, continuous bombing, horror, their peers who got killed, and they ask about the ceasefire. Yes, they grow old. Older than their ages, their childhood was smashed by the Israeli horror. Im really sorry kids, Im sorry that I cant help you this time. They even were not that happy by the large bag of sweets that I brought for them. They asked me with their innocent faces, why dont you bring Qais my son with you? They always play with him all day. I lied to them saying that I will bring him next time. But the fact is that I cant take him anywhere now until the war ends. Inside our home (Hajjaj's father-in-law's house in Khan Younis), the situation is not that good. We are sleeping on the ground next to each other. We mostly spend the night listening to the radio, the only tool we have to hear the news. We all gather round to it, desperate to hear anything about a cease-fire. Kim I'm sorry I can't give you long answers and details. I am always distracted and it's not possible for me to think clearly. This is our last day of good meals. We are running out of cooking gas. We've run out of flour for bread. Starting from tomorrow we're going to join the (bakery) lines for (he expects) six or seven hours to get bread. We're eating mostly from tin cans. No one asks what it is. We just eat. We're thankful we still have something. Thousands of families don't have anything. I really miss the bad conditions and life we had (in Gaza, a reference to Israel's blockade, in place since Hamas took control of the enclave in 2007) before Oct. 7. I miss everything. I miss my mornings. I miss my child's smiles. I miss my home (in Gaza City) that I will never return to because it was completely destroyed. I miss the views over olive trees. ... I simply miss normal days, normal life. After Oct. 7 we all in Gaza have been (accused of being) Hamas supporters. In fact, I am not. And I will never be. (KH: Another text message, written in reply to a question about a journalist for a television channel named Palestine TV who broke down live on air as he heard the news that his colleague, Mohammed Abu Hatab, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. "We cant take it anymore, were exhausted. Were gonna get killed, its just a matter of when. Theres no protection, no impunity. Nothing protects us. Nothing protects journalists. We lose lives, one by one," the Palestine TV journalist said live on air.) I was terrified. I heard the news and asked: Why? Did they start to target journalists inside their homes with their families? I tried to look at the background of Mohammed. He was a normal journalist. (KH: Hajjaj has enough connectivity to write on X, formerly Twitter.) Another friend and colleague Mohammed Al-Jajja was killed with his complete family in Gaza. Israel bombed their home leaving no survivors. (KH: He then follows this up with a Facebook post, where he also posts a photo of his friend including his press ID and protective vest.) Mohammed and I shared high school on the same bench. He was great English speaker and writer. He always helps all of his classmates. He works as a journalist in Gaza. Last night Israel killed him alongside his complete family, his wife, his lovely kids, and over 10 people in one airstrike. We are sorry Mohammed, we are all guilty. Learn more about Tareq's story with this video: This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A journalist in Gaza fights to report and survive Every now and again a part of a state gets it in their collective head that they would be better off as their own state. Take New York. Over and over again since the 1990s, bills have been introduced in their state Legislature suggesting that New York City be split off into its own state. And there's even a movement on top of that one to have Staten Island secede from New York City. Or, take the time in 1984 when Brimfield, Massachusetts, famous for its antiques flea markets, threatened to secede from the rest of the state amid a dispute over the siting of a hazardous waste facility. And Nantucket threatened not once, but three times to secede from the Bay State. A What and Why reader wrote in asking if it was true that Block Island threatened to secede from the rest of the state. Here's the story. Two people ride a motorized scooter on Block Island. When did Block Island threaten to secede from Rhode Island? It was late spring in 1984, and Block Island residents were fed up with the moped rentals. Tourists were driving them everywhere, choking the roads with traffic. Islanders felt they were noisy, a threat to the beaches and, most significantly, they were overwhelming the 12-member rescue squad with accidents. This started in the 1970s, according to New York Times reporting from the time, when a tourist boom sparked the beginning of the mopeds. In the summer of 1982, there were 42 calls for injuries, and in '83 there were 78 calls, including fractured skulls and a pregnant woman who miscarried. And for each call, Lisa Sprague, the head of the island's volunteer rescue squad, told The New York Times in 1984, a member of the rescue squad had to accompany the victim to a hospital on the mainland. What and Why RI: Have you ever heard of Shoo Fly Village in Providence? Here's its almost-forgotten story The town made an overture to fix the problem, proposing legislation that would have required anyone operating a low-horsepower, two- and three-wheeled vehicles (i.e. a moped) on Block Island to have a motorcycle license. Dozens of year-round island residents took the ferry and went to the State House to support the measure in a Senate Corporations Committee hearing in May 1984, according to The Providence Journal's coverage of the May 3 hearing, only to watch it sputter out. This was after 6% of the islands year-round population had journeyed by ferry, then a double-decker bus to make their case in April, according to Journal reports. And maybe it was because Brimfield had put the idea of succession in the news and therefore into everyones heads, but on May 7, the Block Island Council voted 4-0 to place the subject of succession on the agenda for the Financial Town Meeting on June 5. "It seems like there's nobody listening, and we're getting [a] little tired of it out here," Councilor F. Norris Pike said. Where did Block Island plan on going? When the proposal was put forward, it was more a cry for help than a plan. The Council didn't have a plan for where they would go, per se, though Councilman H. Dennis Heinz did point out to the Journal reporter that "New York, Connecticut or Massachusetts are all in view." There was also talk of trying to create a state with Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, or just going it on their own. While Nantucket was quick to shut down the three-island idea, having made their own failed succession threat just a few years earlier, it turned out that Block Island was very desirable. Massachusetts, through Gov. Michael Dukakis' spokesperson said, the Bay State "always felt that the people of Block Island shared the spirit of Massachusetts, and if the people of Rhode Island and Governor Garrahy have no objection, we'd be more than happy to welcome them to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." What and Why RI: How did Federal Hill get its name? There was almost bloodshed. Connecticut Gov. William O'Neill, who thought Block Island was a "little gem" and loved to vacation there, was quick to tell the Block Island residents that he would love to have them. In a letter to the Town Council, he offered assurances that he was "fully prepared to introduce necessary legislation in the Connecticut General Assembly to accomplish this goal." New York was quiet about it, but they have enough trouble with their upstate/downstate thing. The whole affair had Town Solicitor William J. Gallogly doing a deep dive into how the state of Hawaii was created, and how Virginia and West Virginia had split up, and who Block Island would need authorization from. "There are not a whole lot of sources," Gallogly told The Journal. So why didn't Block Island secede? It's not much of a spoiler to say Block Island didn't go through with it. During the June 5, 1984, meeting, the vote to secede was the last item on the agenda, and Town Moderator Lewis Gaffett staunchly refused to move it up the warrant, and so it wasn't until 11:40 p.m. that the debate that most people were there for began. And when push came to shove, it turned out that Block Island residents really, really liked being Rhode Islanders. "I love Rhode Island. I could never live in any other state or any other town," resident Nicholas A. DePetrillo was quoted as saying during the meeting. "I'm sure they got the message. I'm sure they'll listen to us." What and Why RI: Why do Rhode Islanders say bubbler when most people don't? Here's what we found out Instead, they voted to ask Rhode Island Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy "to hold a referendum asking state voters to approve one of the following: Can Block Island regulate its moped rental businesses; or, should the island be allowed to secede?" the Journal article said. The governor called for a special session, and by the end of the month the General Assembly, somewhat begrudgingly, gave Block Island the power to regulate the number of mopeds that businesses could rent to tourists. With that, talk of secession ceased. What and Why RI is a weekly feature by The Providence Journal to explore our readers' curiosity. If you have a question about Rhode Island, big or small, email it to klandeck@gannett.com. She's grateful for all of the questions she's received this year from readers. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Block Island once threatened to secede from RI. Here's the story. Pallbearers lift and carry a case containing the ashes of Andrew Price, during the the funeral procession outside Navy Pier, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, before the funeral service inside for Chicago firefighter Andrew Price. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune) (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) Every year, the Chicago Fire Department holds a voluntary fitness challenge in October, and each time, Andrew Price completed it in costume. Last month, the firefighter ran, stretched and did situps dressed like the Joker, of the Batman franchise, said Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt, speaking to a crowd who came to Navy Pier to mourn Price on Monday afternoon. Advertisement If you knew Drew you knew he was the ultimate jokester of the firehouse, firefighter Dustin Jeffers told the crowd afterward. Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt hugs family members during a remembrance ceremony Nov. 20, 2023, for Chicago firefighter Andrew Price. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) In a packed ballroom, family members and fellow firefighters remembered Price as warm, adventurous and a frequent prankster, someone who showed an excited toddler around the firehouse and hid under the beds of his colleagues to jump out and scare them. Advertisement Known as Drew to his friends and family, Price, 39, died last week after succumbing to significant injuries suffered while battling a blaze in Lincoln Park. Price fell through a shaft on the roof of a four-story building, at 2430-2432 N. Lincoln Ave., which contains the Lincoln Station restaurant on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors. As the day began, a line to pay respects to the firefighter snaked to the back of the ballroom. Two members of the Fire Departments honor guard stood in front of his remains in the ballroom, as firefighters, police and paramedics saluted. Prices on-duty Truck 44 helmet was placed on a table next to his official department portrait. Nance-Holt remarked that of all her years on the job, Mondays line of mourners was one of the longest shed ever seen. One of my command staff members commented that not one single person had anything bad to say about Drew, Nance-Holt said. That speaks volumes about the type of person Drew was and the character that he possessed. Mayor Brandon Johnson was unable to attend, but his chief of staff Rich Guidice was present. [ Firefighter dies after falling through roof while battling Lincoln Park blaze, CFD says ] Members of Prices battalion walked up to the podium in a group of about a dozen, growing emotional and occasionally chuckling as they remembered Prices sense of humor and willingness to help his fellow firefighters, making their days brighter and jobs a little easier. Battalion Chief Pat Gallagher recalled meeting Price on his first day and watching the nervous new firefighter become the target of pranks from the rest of the group. They would tell him to take a seat, Gallagher said, then loudly complain that Price wasnt doing anything. Advertisement He was told to do something, he did it, got yelled at for doing it and then did it again, Gallagher said. It was at that point in time that I knew Drew was not only going to fit in at the firehouse but that he was going to be a great fireman. Members of the station said Price was one of the hardest-working people there, always the first one at the firehouse. Price was the main driver for Truck 44, one of the most important and respected jobs at the station, said firefighter John Haring, who would ride with Price in the front seat. It was a position of leadership and respect, Haring said. And (Price) took all of that with so much pride. When driving on duty, Price was known for waving to kids up and down the streets of the Lincoln Park neighborhood, so much so that kids would see Truck 44 and wave before Price had the chance to initiate it, he said. Prices signature wave was the Mahalo hand gesture, a Hawaiian sign for gratitude. Theres a generation of kids in Lincoln Park right now that give that sign to Truck 44 all the time, Haring said. Advertisement Prices brother, Jordan, called him a natural caretaker at heart who put the needs of others above his own. He lived with a wild sense of adventure, and often drew new people in, quickly becoming friends. Drew lived a life worth emulating, Jordan Price said. Price joined the Fire Department in 2009 and was an instructor at the academy. He was assigned to Truck No. 44 in 2015. He was the fourth firefighter to die in the line of duty in Chicago this year. Prices sister-in-law, Vanessa Mohr, started a GoFundMe to support his family, which has raised nearly $75,000. She wrote that Price was a devoted husband, son, brother, uncle and friend, who embodied a just chill life, always encouraging others to appreciate the little things. He taught us to love harder, act kinder, and search for joy in every moment, she wrote. Advertisement 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 > After the service, uniformed firefighters gathered at the end of the pier to send off Truck 44. Chicago fireboats sprayed water in tribute and a department helicopter flew overhead. The sound of bagpipes cut through the rough wind as the truck drove down the pier and back to land. Chicago Tribunes Rebecca Johnson contributed. aguffey@chicagotribune.com mabuckley@chicagotribune.com I am a disabled veteran who served over 22 years in four branches of our military, longest as a Navy Chaplain, starting with the enlisted regular Army on Guam in 1949. My diagnosis from the Veterans Administration is catastrophically disabled and legally blind with service-connected severe back and leg pain. As a trained psychologist, I have written numerous books and articles for blind veterans newsletters. I recently discovered the hidden ways that I believe many disabled veterans are cheated during their disability claims. I have confirmed these observations with a VA nurse practitioner who has many years of experience with disabled veterans. She reviewed and agreed with all my conclusions. All disabled veterans waiting for a claim to be reviewed should carefully read what follows. In my opinion, you are being blindly set up to fail, because of systemic flaws in the review process. Please note that claim examiners do not work for the VA. They work for a different, for profit group handsomely funded by the veterans benefit association. Remember that the examiner is not there to help you with your case but to provide a critical review. It is up to each veteran to be prepared to prove his case, with documents in hand to do so. Veterans seeking claims must arrive at the exam well prepared. In order to prove the claim being sought, take the following steps: 1. Before your appointment date, go to the VA records office and get a copy of the VA records that are important to your claim. This is the only proof you will have. Without your record, the case is decided based upon the opinion of the examiner, not the facts in your medical record. 2. Bring an adult witness, such as a family member or adult friend, with you to the examining room. This should be someone who would be willing to testify later in your behalf. 3. In order to have a transparent and fair review, ask for the examiners name and background qualifications, along with the name and address of the organization the examiner works for and where the report will be sent. This information will be needed later to send an official request to see the official examination report results. 4. Request of copy of the checklist the examiner is using during your visit. 5. Record the entire interview. 6. Answer every question carefully because the examiner uses everything said to base their judgment. 7. Consider asking the examiner to explain everything they want to do e.g., touch you or use any brushes. They thinks they are reliably measuring pain that way. They are not. No one can measure anything without a starting point. Trained medical personnel know that the Gold Standard still in pain measurement is the patient self-report. 8. Upon returning home after your Interview, get another friend and the three of you discuss in detail what happened and your feelings. This will serve to sharpen and refresh your memory. Also record this. These two audiotapes could serve to save you years in case you need to pursue an appeal. They will help validate your case. 9. Always keep in mind that the examiner comes with an agenda and a set list of questions to ask. You will never see their report unless you go through months of red tape and fill out a detailed request form. So, go prepared! 10. I only recently learned there is a priority processing request form which you might be able to fill out through a telephone call to the veteran benefits organization. You can also get many other questions answered there as I have discovered. 11. For your claims testimony, you will be on the witness stand before the examiner, who is judge, jury and executioner, with a summary judgment of your claim. This you will not be able to comment upon. You are not allowed to review the judgment, except through an appeal which takes up to an average of seven years to resolve. Therefore, be prepared to bring the best case possible for your situation, aware that the rejection rate is one out of three. 12. It is appropriate to ask the examiner how familiar they is with your VA record. My examiner did not even know I was blind. I suspect from other evidence she had not even looked at my VA record. 13. Be alert to sneaky questions. When the examiner says something sounding kindly, like I guess we will not ask you to move to the examining table because of your pain. How was I to know that this was a sneaky question in disguise? So if I did not disagree, I was there by refusing further cooperation! 14. It is important that you be prepared to give complete testimony for your claim. You will probably do better if you have a practice session at home with someone who knows your complete situation well. Otherwise, anxiety and tension can play tricks with our memory. Remember the Boy Scout model.. Based upon: 1) my own claims review experience; 2) my many years of interviewing thousands of job candidates: 3) many years as a trained psychologist; 4) with my first-hand experiences as a blind and disabled veteran, this examination process is not just flawed. Its fraudulent, stacked carefully against the disabled veteran If the veteran decides to use any of these suggestions, it is on his or her own authority. Paschal Baute is a member of the Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame for both outstanding military and community service. Schools are expected to close next week as members of Northern Ireland's five teaching unions plan a half-day walkout. In total, five dates of strike action have been planned in response to a long-running dispute over pay. The Education Authority (EA) said due to the large number of staff involved, significant disruption is expected. Last week, non-teaching education staff held a day of strike action over failed pay reform and education budget cuts. A half-day strike will be held on Wednesday 29 November, with a further four days planned for after Christmas. Head teachers will join strike action for only the second time in their union's 126-year history. The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) previously joined four other unions in a full-day walkout in April. 'We have run out of patience' Liam McGuckin, NAHT's NI president, said the action was "the last resort" for school leaders after "a year of dispute with no progress". "The system is failing our schools, our workforce and, most importantly, our young people," he said. "We have simply run out of patience. "We need immediate investment, without which the profession that holds together much of the fabric of society will be irreparably damaged." Teachers are represented by the Northern Ireland Teachers Council (NITC) which includes five unions - the NASUWT, Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), Ulster Teachers' Union (UTU), National Education Union (NEU) and NAHT. Members of NASUWT in Further Education colleges will also take part in the strike action. The pay dispute has been ongoing for 18 months. In February 2022, unions rejected a pay offer from employers for the years 2021-2023, describing it as "inadequate". 'Simpy unaffordable' Dr Mark Browne, the department's permanent secretary said the trade unions are "fully aware" a pay offer "can only be made if it is affordable within the allocated budget". "The department fully understands the frustration of teachers and school leaders over the ongoing absence of a pay offer," he said. Dr Browne added: "It is regrettable that the department has been unable to offer teachers a pay award for the past three years similar to other jurisdictions, but it is simply unaffordable within an inadequate education budget". Continued strike action, he said, "serves only to cause disruption to the education of those who least deserve it, our children and young people". NITC recognise that our members are resolute and determined to secure a fair pay settlement, which both properly reflects their value and also takes account of the soaring cost of living.#PayParityInEducation #TradeUnionThursday #InvestInEducation pic.twitter.com/JffDGPYEZB NASUWT N. Ireland (@NASUWT_NI) October 19, 2023 Ongoing pressures around Stormont's education budget means it is not clear how much money is available to make teachers a pay offer the unions would accept, but the Department of Education has previously said their demands are "unaffordable". 'Our children will pay the price' Jacquie White, UTU's general secretary, said that the profession has never faced such a "parlous situation". "We are truly in unchartered territory now," she said. "Our education system here in Northern Ireland, once the envy of the UK and beyond, is in the jaws of a once-in-a-lifetime crisis and unless something is done to address that, it is our children who will pay the price." The stalemate over a pay deal means schools are "haemorrhaging teachers" with many leaving for teaching jobs elsewhere, Ms White continued. "It is downright shameful that this has had to happen and displays a morally bankrupt attitude on the part of the powers that be." Justin McCamphill, NASUWT's Northern Ireland official, described it as a "crisis situation" for members, who have no option to strike. The union's general secretary, Dr Patrick Roach, called for teachers to be "properly rewarded" for the work they do. "At a time when teachers and lecturers are facing the biggest squeeze on their finances in a generation, the prospect of a further real-terms pay cut is simply unacceptable," he added. "Our members are not prepared to stand by while their pay dwindles and their living costs rise." 'Significant disruption' The EA said in a statement: "The full impact will not be known until the strike action has concluded." She said the management side of the Teachers' Negotiating Committee (TNC) - a body made up of the EA, the Department of Education and a number of other education sector employers - is "considering the potential implications of this action". Guidance will be issued, the spokeswoman added, to support schools with managing the affect on pupils. The spokeswoman added: "Parents, children and young people will be informed of any disruption through their normal school channels". Chad Doerman appeared in Clermont County Common Pleas Court Monday on charges that he murdered his three sons in June. A Clermont County judge is considering 41 motions in the murder trial for Chad Doerman, the man accused of executing his three sons at their family home. A pre-trial hearing was held Monday in Clermont County Common Pleas Court before Judge Richard Ferenc. Prosecutors said Doerman lined up the boys, ages 3, 4 and 7, at their home and executed them with a rifle on June 15 as part of a plan he had been thinking about for months. According to investigators, one of the boys tried to flee into a field, but Doerman "hunted" him down, brought him back to the house in Monroe Township, Ohio, and killed him. The funeral service for Clayton, Hunter, and Chase Doerman is taking place today at First Baptist Church in Batavia. They were killed at their home in Monroe Township on June 15. Their father, Chad Doerman has been charged. The boys' mother was shot in the hand trying to save the life of one of her sons, according to court documents. Doerman faces the death penalty and his lawyers have filed dozens of motions as the case has progressed. The Enquirer spoke to former Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen who reviewed the list of motions. He said most of them are standard procedure for death penalty cases. "They file every motion you can possibly think of," he said. One asks for Doerman to be allowed to appear in civilian clothes without restraints at court proceedings. Another asks the judge to exclude gruesome photographs of the crime scene. Clermont County prosecutors argued that some of the motions were vague and putting "the cart before the horse." While Doerman's lawyers said they were "planting a fence post," so the issues aren't overlooked. Several of the motions dealt with jury selection like one asking for jurors to be questioned individually instead of in a large pool. Another asked for a detailed jury questionnaire to be completed by potential jurors prior to jury selection. Allen said nearly all were "pretty typical" in death penalty cases, but there were two motions he said he had never seen before. The first was a motion to prohibit any references to the trial's first phase as the "guilty phase." There are two parts to death penalty trials. The first asks the jury to determine whether the defendant is guilty of the charges. If the person is found guilty, the second phase of the trial asks the jury whether the defendant should be put to death. Death penalty cases are the only criminal cases in Ohio in which a jury has anything to do with the penalty or sentence the defendant is given. In other criminal cases, it is the judge who determines the sentence. Allen said that lawyers colloquially refer to the first phase of the trial as the "guilt phase" or "guilty phase." In law texts, it is called the guilt/innocence phase or the culpability phase. Allen said it makes sense for a defense lawyer to file a motion about the language being used in front of a jury. "You don't want the jury to associate the defendant with guilt," he said. The second motion that Allen said was new to him involved the jury pool. The defense has filed a motion for a fair jury pool that includes "convicted felons who have served their sentences." "The thought must be that if you've been convicted by a jury and served time you might be sympathetic to a defendant," Allen said. Judge Ferenc made no rulings on any of the motions Monday. He said he would issue written rulings to each of the motions. He said the motions are important and due to rules of the courts, he can amend or change his rulings as new information comes to light. Ferenc said these motions will also give the prosecution and the defense a chance to understand his understanding, attitude and interpretation of the law, which could save everyone time later. Doerman is being held at the Clermont County Jail on a $20 million bond. Ferenc said Monday that Doerman has not been disruptive at the jail, a factor the judge will consider when deciding if he will have to continue to wear restraints to court. Doerman was arrested the same day as the killings at his home just yards away from the bodies of his sons. He's been in jail since that day in June. His trial is scheduled to begin July 8, but it is common for murder trials to be delayed. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Chad Doerman case: Father accused of killing sons files motions Donald Trumps hate sermons are becoming even more intense and combustible. As he comes ever closer to openly quoting Adolf Hitler and the other 20th-century fascists, his behavior is clearly intentional and strategic. Trump publicly admires and praises tyrants and demagogues and views them as role models. If he returns to power in 2025, he intends to create an American Fourth Reich. Consider Trump's speeches, interviews and social media posts over the last few weeks. At a rally in Hialeah, Florida, last Wednesday, Trump painted a picture of a hellish (predominantly white) America overrun by serial killers and other human monsters from foreign (and predominantly nonwhite) countries, insisting that only he could save (white) America from the death and contamination caused by Democrats and the left. Anybody ever hear of Hannibal Lecter? Trump asked the crowd. He was a nice fellow. But thats whats coming into our country right now. The Atlantics John Hendrickson continues from there: The leader of the Republican Party and quite likely the 2024 GOP nominee was on an extended rant about mental institutions, prisons, and, to use his phrase, empty insane asylums. Speaking to thousands of die-hard supporters at a rally in South Florida, Trump lamented that, under President Joe Biden, the United States has become the dumping ground of the world. That he had casually praised one of the most infamous psychopathic serial killers in cinema history was but an aside, brushed over and forgotten. This was a dystopian, at times gothic speech. It droned on for nearly 90 minutes. Trump attacked the liars and leeches who have been sucking the life and blood out of the country. Those unnamed people were similar to, yet different from, the rotten, corrupt, and tyrannical establishment of Washington, D.C. a place Trump famously despises, and to which he nonetheless longs to return. Over the past seven or so years, I have watched many of Trumps speeches. This was one of the most frightening and most disturbing I have seen. It was fascinating in much the same way as witnessing the aftermath of a horrible car accident or watching a horror movie. Although many among the news media, pundit class and other professional politics-watchers avoid saying this, Trumps dark charisma can be highly compelling. I'm convinced they feel its allure as well, even if they publicly deny it. On Friday, in an interview with Univision, Trump threatened to use the Department of Justice to put his political enemies in prison: They have done something that allows the next party if I happen to be president and I see somebody whos doing well and beating me very badly, I say, Go down and indict them. Theyd be out of business. Theyd be out of the election. Trump also defended his regimes cruel family separation policy (and by implication concentration camp system) that targeted millions of brown and Black migrants and refugees. These white supremacist plans are part of a larger project to revoke birthright citizenship, invoke the Alien Enemies Act to imprison or deport (or worse) the Trump regimes perceived enemies, and using the law more generally as a weapon to crush dissent and resistance. Last weekend, on Veterans Day, Trump escalated his Nazi-style threats by declaring that his political enemies to be "vermin" or human poison to be purged from the system. That came at a MAGA rally in New Hampshire and also in a post on his Truth Social platform: In honor of our great Veterans on Veterans Day, we pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our Country, lie, steal, and cheat on Elections, and will do anything possible, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America, and the American Dream. The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave, than the threat from within. Despite the hatred and anger of the Radical Left Lunatics who want to destroy our Country, we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! At a fundraising event in San Francisco last Tuesday, President Biden spoke out against Trumps antisemitism and white supremacy: In just the last few days, Trump has said, if he returns office, hes gonna go after all those who oppose him and wipe out what he called ... the vermin in America a specific phrase with a specific meaning. It echoes language you heard in Nazi Germany in the '30s. In a post on Truth Social that went largely ignored by the mainstream media, Trump continued to summon Nazi imagery by threatening to imprison Radical Left Zealots" in a mental institution: Deranged Jack Smith, Andrew Weissmann, Lisa Monaco, the team of losers and misfits from CREW, and all the rest of the Radical Left Zealots and Thugs who have been working illegally for years to take me down, will end up, because of their suffering from a horrible disease, TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME (TDS!), in a Mental Institution by the time my next term as President is successfully completed. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Declaring that the enemies of the regime and the Great Leader are mentally ill and then imprisoning them for "treatment" is a common practice in authoritarian states. Predictably, the mainstream news media and responsible political class responded with performative shock and surprise at Trumps week-long channeling of Hitler and Nazism. In fact, Trumps hateful behavior and language are no surprise. For at least the last seven years (and for decades before that), Trump has shown himself to be a casual antisemite. He reportedly once slept with a copy of Hitlers speeches in a cabinet next to his bed. It is no coincidence that professed Nazis, white supremacists and other hate-mongers are among Trumps strongest supporters, or that he refuses to publicly disavow or condemn them. It appears that the American news media and political class, and by implication the mass public, have already forgotten that since at least September Trump has publicly spread conspiracy theories about being stabbed in the back, suggesting that the country is being poisoned by immigrants and that good Jews should support him while bad Jews will be punished for their betrayals. But the mainstream media is bored with Trump's rhetoric and has now largely moved on. That irresponsible choice further normalizes Trumps evil and the larger neofascist assault on the countrys democracy and civil society. It is nearly incredible that the presumed nominee of one of the countrys two institutional political parties is explicitly channeling Hitler and the Nazis. That should be dominating the news. Trump's Fourth Reich aspirations constitute a national emergency. But America is an unhealthy society where all this will likely be normalized as just "culture war" tactics or political "polarization." Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. If Donald Trump's American neofascist movement did not have tens of millions of followers, it would not pose an existential threat to democracy. History is full of examples of good people who become capable of doing horrible things to others once they are given permission and encouraged by fascist leaders, fake populists and demagogues. In his book Promise Me Youll Shoot Yourself, which examines mass suicides by Germans at the end of World War II, historian Florian Huber writes: After leaving the German Reich in 1933 to run the Paris offices of the Daily Express, British newspaper correspondent Sefton Delmer returned in 1936. He found people transformed. Three years had been enough to put them under the Fuhrers spell. They were adoring his firm ruthless rule. They were in raptures at being told what to think, whom to hate, when to cheer. He knew, and knew how to galvanize, their feelings, yearnings and prejudiceshow to transform depression into exhilaration. As a man of the people, he spoke their language. He was the faith healer they had been waiting for. Silence in the arena, as his voice swelled. He spoke of victory over the past, of the present, and the future, work and happiness and every member of the audience seemed to feel as if he we addressing them personally. ... [H]e transformed their vague but urgent feelings into something more tangible. Peoples longings and resentments were laid out before them, on public view. Their most secret thoughts were no longer to be ashamed of; they belonged to everyone in the hall. Trump has a similar power over his MAGA followers. Here is Hendricksons description of the scene at Trumps Florida rally last week: No other candidate has legions of fans who will bake in the Florida sun for hours before gates open. No one else can draw enough people to even hold a rally this size, let alone spawn a traveling rally-adjacent road show, with a pop-up midway of vendors hawking T-shirts and buttons and ball caps and doormats and Christmas ornaments. Voters dont fan themselves with cardboard cutouts of Chris Christies head. Multiple merchandise vendors told me that the shirts featuring Trumps mug shot have become their best sellers. Some other tees bore slogans: ultra maga, ultra maga and proud, cancel me, trump rallies matter, 4 time indictment champ, super duper ultra maga, f*ck biden. Thank you and have a MAGA day! one vendor called out with glee. In the hours before the nights headliner, this felt less like a political event and more like a revival. Trumps Fourth Reich will not be an exact copy of its German counterpart from nearly a century ago. Instead, Trumps Fourth Reich (or that of his successors) will be adapted to fit contemporary Americas cultural norms, values and institutions. The final horror is still evolving, but the threat and dangers are very clear. The American people are running out of time. Donald Trump cant seem to stop talking about the allegations that he hired sex workers to perform a golden showers show at a Moscow hotel years ago. While speaking at a rally in Iowa on Saturday, Trump recounted explaining the story to Melania Trump. You think that was good that night to go up and tell my wife, Its not true, darling. I love you very much. Its not true, the former president said. Turns out, he neednt have worried. Actually that one she didnt believe because she said, Hes a germaphobe, hes not into that, yknow? Trump recalled. Hes not into golden showers, as they say they called it. I dont like that idea. Ive never heard anyone, let alone a presidential candidate, discuss golden showers, but here we are with this pervert. (Video C-SPAN) pic.twitter.com/WYtJLgkDwm Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 19, 2023 A salacious and discredited dossier compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele claimed that Trump hired sex workers to pee on a hotel bed that had once been used by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, and that Russian agents had recorded the scene. Trump has repeatedly denied the claim. But he also keeps bringing it up, including at a rally last month, where he also mentioned the former first lady. How about going home to my wife on the shower, yknow? The golden shower, they called it, Trump said. And I had to explain that to our great first lady... The golden shower was a problem for me. Trump has also frequently pointed to his reputation as a germaphobe as a reason it cant be true even saying as much to James Comey, the FBI director at the time who informed Trump of the allegations. Im a germaphobe, Trump told him, according to Comeys book. Theres no way I would let people pee on each other around me. No way. Related... L.A. Pride parade watchers cheer on participants along Hollywood Boulevard in June. A report released Monday says at least 33 transgender and gender non-conforming people have been killed in the United States during past 12 months. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI Nov. 20 (UPI) -- At least 33 transgender and gender non-conforming people have been slain in the United States during the past 12 months in a "epidemic" of violence, human rights advocates said Monday. The latest killings raised the U.S. total of such deaths in to 335 since 2013, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation said in a new report titled, "The Epidemic of Violence Against the Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Community in the United States: The 2023 Report." The statistics were released on Transgender Day of Remembrance 2023 to call attention to the victims on the same day that President Joe Biden vowed to "protect the safety of transgender and all LGBTQI+ Americans." Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said the report found that of the latest 33 victims, 91% were people of color, nearly 70% were transgender women and more than 60% were Black transgender women. "The epidemic of violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people is a national tragedy and a national embarrassment," Robinson said in a statement. "Each of the lives taken is the result of a society that demeans and devalues anyone who dares challenge the gender binary." A person holds up a flag for trans and gender-diverse pride during a rally in 2018. A report released Monday says at least 33 transgender and gender non-conforming people have been killed in the United States during past 12 months. File Photo by Hayoung Jeon/EPA-EFE She cited state laws introduced across the nation banning gender-affirming healthcare and other measures affecting transgender and non-binary people as a prime factor in rising levels of violence. The American Civil Liberties Union says it has tracked more than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills in state Legislatures across the United States during the 2023 session, of which 84 have so far been passed into law. The situation prompted the Human Rights Campaign to declare a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans this year for the first time in its 40-year history. "Even before the horrific Club Q shooting last November, we've seen bomb threats directed at schools, hospitals and libraries simply for supporting transgender and non-binary people," Robinson said. "Each of these grotesque actions serves to increase stigma and create a hostile environment that endangers the lives of anyone outside the gender binary." Biden, meanwhile, issued a statement marking Transgender Day of Remembrance and declaring, "There is no place for hate in America and no one should be discriminated against simply for being themselves." Calling each of the deaths "a tragedy," the president noted to majority of victims were women of color. "It's unacceptable and it's why my administration has taken action to strengthen the rights, and protect the safety of transgender and all LGBTQI+ Americans," he said, citing steps taken by the White House this year to protect those communities from attack. The measures include the launching of the LGBTQ Community Safety Partnership, in which the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services are working with community groups to provide safety training and share federal threat briefings. "We must never be silent in the face of hate," Biden said. "As we mourn the loss of transgender Americans taken too soon this year, we must also recommit ourselves to never stop fighting until all Americans can live free from discrimination." Police believe a man arrested after a wreck that killed his passenger on Sunday may have been drunk and on depressants. The crash happened early Sunday morning 17 miles north of Richland on Highway 240. Jorge Procopio Marcelino, 22, is in the Benton County jail on suspicion of vehicular homicide, according to new court documents. Jorge Procopio Marcelino is being held in the Benton County Jail on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter. Procopio Marcelino, of Beverly, was driving northwest about 2:20 a.m. on the highway that runs across a portion of the Hanford nuclear site. His Toyota Scion left the roadway and rolled, according to the Washington State Patrol. Florentino Jacinto Santos, 30, of Mattawa, a passenger in the car, was not wearing a seat belt and died before he could be taken to a hospital. A second passenger, Orlando Vargas Mondragon, 33, of Beverly, was not injured. When Trooper Ryan Gustin arrived at the scene of the crash just before 2:30 a.m., he saw the Scion on its side on the south shoulder of the roadway. Gustin said Santos had been thrown from the vehicle during the rollover and had been pronounced dead by paramedics. Gustin said he smelled intoxicants on Procopio Marcelinos breath when he spoke to him, his eyes were bloodshot and watery and his speech was slurred. Around the vehicle the trooper spotted several open Modelo beer cans and an open glass bottle of Corona. He told the trooper he had two beers, with the last being around midnight. His passenger separately said they had been drinking at Kahluas in Pasco and Procopio Marcelino drank three to four beers, said court documents. At 3:10 a.m., after failing a field sobriety test, Procopio Marcelino blew over Washingtons legal limit for alcohol with a 0.115% breathalyzer reading, according to the documents. The legal limit is 0.08%. Gustin took Procopio Marcelino to Kadlec Regional Medical Center where they used a search warrant to get a blood sample to test. He was also given a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) evaluation at the hospital. The examiner determined he was under the influence of a depressant, according to the documents. Depressants are a wide category of drugs or medication that includes drugs such as valium, rohypnol, klonopin, xanax and other medications, according to the WSP. The blood sample was sent to the WSP lab for toxicology testing. Procopio Marcerlino was then taken to the jail and booked on suspicion of vehicular homicide. He is being held on $250,000 bail and must have an ignition interlock installed on his vehicle and wear an alcohol monitoring device if he is released. A Maryland man has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run assault that occurred a few weeks prior, police said. Following a two-vehicle car crash on Interstate 270, police responded to a report of a potential assault on Oct. 26, according to a Nov. 20 Maryland State Police news release. Now, 21-year-old Jeremy Orellana has been arrested and charged with assault, robbery, theft and hit-and-run-related charges, police said. When police arrived to the scene at about 6 p.m., a woman involved in the crash told officers she was rear-ended by a van while driving northbound on the interstate, according to the news release. The woman pulled over on the side of the road, police said, and she attempted to exchange information with the driver, who is suspected to be Orellana. The information trade turned violent when the woman told police the Gaithersburg resident assaulted her and stole money and other property, the release said. Then, the man fled the scene before officers arrived, police said. To treat her injuries, the woman was sent to Adventist HealthCare Germantown Emergency Center, according to police. The car crash and subsequent assault are under investigation by state police. Orellana was booked at Montgomery County Correctional Facility on Nov. 10, according to court records. His next scheduled court hearing is Dec. 8 at Montgomery County District Court. Interstate 270 is about 35 miles and connects Washington, D.C., to western Maryland. 18-year-old motorcyclist dies after slamming into pickup truck, North Carolina cops say Accused DWI driver abandons his child while fleeing scene of crash, Missouri cops say Race between Mustang and Corvette ends with driver ejected from car, Florida cops say TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Officials are searching for a driver after a street race led to another driver being ejected from a car Saturday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. An unknown driver in a Ford Mustang and a 38-year-old Ocala man in a Chevrolet Corvette were street racing on westbound SR-200 near Ocala, driving recklessly and making multiple lane changes. 16-year-old girl dies after crashing into oncoming truck in Pasco County FHP said in the area of Southwest 80 Street, the Ocala man hit another car, a Toyota Prius, carrying a 78-year-old woman and an 82-year-old man. The man then traveled off the road, hitting a utility pole and then a tree. At some point, that driver was ejected from his Corvette. FHP said the unknown driver parked his car behind a local business and checked the status of the man who had ejected. Florida Highway Patrol The Ocala man then fled the scene. FHP is now searching for the driver, who is described as a heavy-set white male with arm tattoos. He appears to be bald, under his cap and has a beard. At the time of the crash, the man was wearing a pink shirt and grey Under Armour shorts. FHP believes he was driving a silver Ford Mustang, ranging from 2020 to 2023, with tinted windows. Anyone with information is asked to contact the FHP Communications Center at 1-800-387-1290. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Dutch politician Thierry Baudet of the Forum for Democracy speaks after announcement of exit polls results of European elections in Amsterdam AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Thierry Baudet, the leader of a far-right political party in the Netherlands, was assaulted during a campaign event two days before a national election, his party said. In a statement, Baudet's Forum for Democracy (FvD) said he had been struck in the back of the head with a beer bottle and struck on his temple. Images of the incident, which took place in a bar, are circulating on social media, along with images of police arresting a suspect outside. The motive was not known. Baudet was taken to a hospital in Groningen for treatment for what his party said appeared to be minor injuries but he was forced to cancel an appearance later on Monday. The assault drew condemnation as "totally unacceptable" from outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is not a candidate in the Nov. 22 election. Baudet's FvD Party is known as Euro-sceptic, Dutch nationalist and anti-immigration. It is forecast to win four or five seats in the 150-member Dutch parliament. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) A passenger removes shoes before heading through the TSA checkpoint with carry-on items at Chicago's Midway Airport, Nov. 17, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) Holiday travel is ramping up ahead of Thanksgiving and airport security officials are urging travelers to keep their stress at a low simmer while packing and clearing security ahead of a flight. Those planning to fly during Thanksgiving week should arrive at the airport at least two hours before takeoff and pay close attention to what they pack, Transportation Security Administration Great Lakes regional spokesperson Jessica Mayle said. Advertisement Many people may pack homemade foodstuffs or gifts in their luggage at this time of year, but Mayle said they should think twice about foods that can be spread or poured or sprayed. [ Thanksgiving weather in Chicago: The most extreme conditions since 1872 ] Cranberry sauce, gravy and alcohol are all liquids subject to the TSA rule that carry-on liquids must be in 3.4-ounce containers or smaller and packed in a quart-size zip-top bag, she said. Advertisement Stuffing or any sort of baked products cookies, pies, cakes those are all fine in carry-on bags, she said. In theory, travelers could even bring a full turkey in their carry-ons. But they would need to make sure the bird was frozen to avoid problems with liquid, she said. She said travelers should ask themselves, Do I need to bring this on the plane, or can I buy it at my destination? TSA displays items that are prohibited for carry-on travel at Chicago's Midway Airport. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) Passengers proceed through the TSA checkpoint with their carry-on items at Chicago's Midway Airport, Nov. 17, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) Mayle also encouraged passengers to leave weapons like knives and firearms at home, or pack their firearms unloaded in a locked, hard-sided case placed in a checked bag. Whether a traveler needs extra screening for an improperly packed weapon or a jar of dressing that doesnt meet TSA requirements, the extra time at security can lead to unnecessary stress and hurry during an already busy time, she said. Mayle said people with specific questions about what will and wont fly in a carry-on can refer to the What Can I Bring? page at tsa.gov. The serotine bat does not use its strangely large penis for penetration but as a 'copulatory arm' during mating (GUILLAUME SOUVANT) Scientists have solved the mystery of one of the animal kingdom's most disproportionately large penises thanks to a Dutch retiree recording bat sex in a church attic. The serotine bat does not use its strangely large penis for penetration, but instead as a "copulatory arm" during mating, a European team of researchers said on Monday. This marks the first time that a mammal has been documented reproducing without having penetrative sex, the researchers added. The serotine bat, which has a wingspan of more than 35 centimetres (14 inches), is common in woodlands across Europe and Asia. Nicolas Fasel, a researcher at Switzerland's University of Lausanne, told AFP that his team had been working on the bat for years and had observed that its "penis is super long when it is erect". Their penises are around seven times longer than the vaginas of female serotine bats, the scientists measured. Stranger still, the head of the penis expands into the shape of a heart, making it seven times wider than their partners' vaginas. The scientists were baffled. "There is no way it can penetrate with this structure," said Fasel, the first author of a new study in the journal Current Biology. Relatively little is known about how bats mate because it is difficult to observe, and the scientists could not see a way of solving this mystery. But then Fasel received a strange-looking email. - 'Really amazed' - "Penis," was the first word of the email's subject line, followed by something in Dutch, then the word "Eptesicus". "So I was thinking, OK, that looks like spam," Fasel said. However Eptesicus is the genus of the serotine bat, so Fasel risked opening the email and watching the videos inside. "Then I was really amazed because we had our answer," he said. The email was from Jan Jeucken, a retiree with no scientific background who lives in the southern village of Castenray in the Netherlands. Jeucken had become interested in a population of serotine bats living in the attic of a local church, and had set up cameras recording huge amounts of footage. Fasel said Jeucken's "passion made him the best guy" to understand the bats, and the retiree was named as a co-author of the study. The researchers analysed 93 mating events in the church attic, as well as four recorded at a bat rehabilitation centre in war-torn Ukraine. By filming through a grid that the bats climbed on, the researchers were able to observe them mating. Female serotine bats have a large membrane between their tail and ankles which they can use to shield their genitals. During mating, the males grab the females by the nape and use their large penises like an extra arm to reach around and remove this membrane, the researchers said. Then follows a long, still embrace called "contact mating," during which sperm is transferred. While this form of reproduction -- also called "cloacal kissing" -- is common in birds, it had never previously been observed in a mammal. For serotine bats, the process takes some time. The average session was 53 minutes, but the longest lasted nearly 13 hours. Fasel speculated that the female bats could use their unusually long cervixes to hold onto the sperm of several different males for months before choosing which male they bear offspring with. It is possible that other bat species mate without penetration, Fasel said, adding more research was needed. "We could see that there are many, many species with quite strange penises," he said. dl/acc 2023 is expected to be the hottest year in human history (Spyros BAKALIS) Countries' greenhouse gas-cutting pledges put Earth on track for warming far beyond key limits, potentially up to a catastrophic 2.9 degrees Celsius this century, the UN said Monday, warning "we are out of road". The UN Environment Programme's annual Emissions Gap report is released just ahead of crucial COP28 climate talks in Dubai and will feed into the global response to a sobering official "stocktake" of the failure to curb warming so far. With this year expected to be the hottest in human history, UNEP said "the world is witnessing a disturbing acceleration in the number, speed and scale of broken climate records". Taking into account countries' carbon-cutting plans, UNEP warned that the planet is on a path for disastrous heating of between 2.5C and 2.9C by 2100. Based just on existing policies and emissions-cutting efforts, global warming would reach 3C. But the world continues to pump record levels of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, with emissions up 1.2 percent from 2021 to 2022, UNEP said, adding that the increase was largely driven by the burning of fossil fuels and industrial processes. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the COP28 talks, which begin on November 30, to outline "dramatic climate action". "Leaders can't kick the can any further. We're out of road," he said, denouncing a "failure of leadership, a betrayal of the vulnerable, and a massive missed opportunity". He said the world "must reverse course" and called for a clear signal at the COP28 meeting that the world was preparing for a decisive move away from polluting coal, oil and gas. - 'Snooze mode' - The 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries agree to cap global warming at "well below" 2C above preindustrial times -- with a safer limit of 1.5C if possible. Nearly 1.2C of global heating so far has already unleashed an escalating barrage of deadly impacts across the planet. UNEP said temperatures have gone above 1.5C for more than 80 days already this year, although the Paris warming thresholds will be measured as an average over several decades. The Emissions Gap report looks at the difference between the planet-heating pollution that will still be released under countries' decarbonisation plans and what science says is needed to keep to the goals of the Paris Agreement. By 2030, UNEP said, global emissions will have to be 28 percent lower than current policies would suggest in order to stay below 2C, and 42 percent lower for the more ambitious limit of 1.5C. UNEP chief Inger Andersen said it was crucial that G20 nations -- the world's wealthiest economies responsible for around 80 percent of emissions -- "step up" and lead on reductions, but noted some were in "snooze mode". - 'Climate won't wait' - Under the Paris deal, countries are required to submit ever deeper emission cutting plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). UNEP found that fully implementing "unconditional" NDCs for 2030 -- which countries plan regardless of external support -- would give a 66 percent likelihood of Earth's average temperature rising by 2.9C by 2100. Scientists warn that warming of these levels could render vast swathes of the planet essentially uninhabitable for humans and risk irreversible tipping points on land and in the oceans. Conditional NDCs -- which rely on international funding to achieve -- would probably lower this to a still catastrophic 2.5C temperature rise this century, it said. UNEP said that if all conditional NDCs and longer-term net zero pledges were met in their entirety it would be possible to limit temperature rise to 2C. But it cautioned that currently these net zero pledges were not considered credible, with none of the G20 nations reducing emissions in line with their own targets. Even in the most optimistic scenario, the chance of limiting temperature rise to 1.5C is just 14 percent, UNEP said. Guterres called for "an explosion of ambition" regarding countries setting their NDCs -- which are due to be updated by 2025. Andersen said she is optimistic that countries will be able to make progress at the November 30 to December 12 COP28, despite the fractures caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas. "Countries and delegations understand that, irrespective of these deep divisions that do exist and that are undeniable, the environment doesn't wait and climate most certainly will not," she said. "You can't press the pause button." klm-jmi/acc Floridians, take notice. Your right to a representative government is being stolen away. Recent headlines document angry eruptions among an audience of people who show up to meetings ready to tell their leaders what they think only to be muzzled by time limits that shut down some would-be participants before they could utter a single word. More often, however, the exclusion is happening quietly and secretly, in meetings that never take place. Closed doors that should be open. A row of empty seats on a dais, facing a roomful of chairs that are also empty. The result, however, is the same: The only people who can register their concerns face-to-face with their elected officials are the elites who can afford the private clubs and campaign contributions that give them direct access to power. The voices of regular Floridians are shut out or told to shut up. Let us speak That latter command stirred an outcry Nov. 9-10 when the Board of Governors of Floridas state university system convened in Orlando. As the Sentinels Annie Martin reported, a crowd primed to protest rules that threaten free-expression rights on Florida campuses overspilled the boundaries of the meeting room and a designated overflow room. In a cruelly related dictate, Board Chairman Brian Lamb denied them the right to speak in favor of free speech, diversity and inclusion by imposing a 15-minute time limit on all public comment. When he gaveled the discussion to a close, the crowd chanted Let us speak. But a majority of board members were unwilling to listen. Lamb said the limitation was customary, Martin reported. Thats categorically false. Across Florida, elected and appointed boards and commissions have taken it as a point of pride: When their constituents show up to a public meeting, they deserve the opportunity to be heard. Its even enshrined in the state constitution. A brutal quiet Even worse, however, are those meetings that never take place. The public is not just shut out of a chance to talk about what their elected officials are doing they are denied the chance to listen. That was also on display or rather, not over the past week, which was one of the last scheduled committee weeks before the state Legislature starts its regular session in January. These committee meetings are essential parts of Floridas legislative process, because they are the publics only opportunity to directly address lawmakers on issues that are important to everyday Floridians. Of 35 House committees, 16 canceled their meetings last week; the ratio was even worse in the Senate, where 17 of 26 committees did not meet. Among them: All 10 of the committees Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, serves on, including Banking and Insurance; Governmental Oversight and Accountability; and Appropriations. Stewart said she didnt even bother to return to Tallahassee after the November 6-10 special session. The cost of those cancellations could be devastating for Floridians who hoped to ask lawmakers for statutory changes governing everything from homeowners associations to prison conditions or to register their opposition to policies that take away essential freedoms or reduce oversight. Because legislation must be heard in at least one committee before it goes to the floor, shutting down committee meetings means narrowing the pipeline that allows that information to flow. It also means an increased likelihood that lawmakers will seek to link their unheard bills to other legislation creating massive trains that thunder through the legislative process before anyone can register whats happening. Wed like Senate President Katherine Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner to explain why these meetings were canceled, and pledge that legislation will be given ample public hearing time. Stewart says shes worried that many of her bills will die on the vine. That includes tax exemptions for local businesses, and a request from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to preserve evidence that supports victims of sexual assault. Lately, she said, shes hearing disturbing rumors that an entire weeks worth of committee meetings in December might also be canceled. Were already at a breaking point, she told the Orlando Sentinel Thursday. Ive never seen anything like this happen before. Closed doors But it has with the Florida Cabinet, a governmental construction that is unique to this state. The Cabinet includes the governor along with three independent, statewide leaders the attorney general, the chief financial officer and the commissioner of agriculture and consumer services. Its intended to serve as a check over a governors executive power by providing independent oversight for executive-branch operations and finances. The same officials make up several independent boards, such as the State Board of Administration, which oversees the states multi-billion-dollar investment accounts; the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission, charged with protecting the states environment while hearing appeals of local growth decisions and the State Board of Executive Clemency, which considers civil rights of former felons. In a normal year, the Cabinet (and the associated commissions) would have met at least 11 times, usually over a two-day span. This year, the Cabinet met five times. Three of those meetings were by phone. One, on March 13, was only seven minutes long. This is how Floridians lose their chance to be heard. The business of state government grinds on but it does so in secret, with no oversight, no chance to voice protest or encouragement to those entrusted with vast power. Floridians must confront their elected and appointed leaders and demand change. It will be hard, since they cant even see, right now, what opportunities are being taken away. It may require more amendments to the state constitution but even that is no guarantee, since many provisions meant to hold Floridas leaders accountable are being trampled. In the end, all Floridians can do is register our outrage directly to elected officials and in the voting booth. Our birthright is sunshine. But darkness is taking hold. ____ The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com Anyone glancing at a Chicago Transit Authority train map can see that practically all routes lead to the Loop, a legacy of the days when downtown office commuters were by far the most important and predictable riders. Now that the pandemic and work-from-home revolution have scrambled the map, the CTA needs to think big to adapt. The transit agency unveiled its 2024 budget last month, seeking a 9.2% increase in spending. As for big, bold ideas, its closer to 0%, unless you think a new customer-service chatbot is going to somehow save the day. And the system always seems to be a heartbeat away from a crisis, as when a Yellow Line train struck equipment at the Howard Street Railyard last week, in an incident the National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy described Friday as very serious. The major accident, involving snowplow equipment moving in the same direction on the same track as the passenger train on the former Skokie Swift line, left 38 people injured, three of them critically. Many questions remain and the NTSB is investigating. But embattled CTA President Dorval Carter has not inspired a lot of confidence so far when it comes to speaking frankly or answering questions. And the first lawsuits regarding the crash already have been filed. At a further briefing on Saturday, Homendy said a likely contributing factor to the crash was that the train was on a slippery track and there were systemic problems with its braking system. The braking distance shouldve been longer, she said. They should have had 2,745 feet to stop that train; 2,745, not 1,780 feet. That is a design problem. And potentially an expensive one to fix. That bad news comes at a moment when the CTA is especially vulnerable, thanks to the end of federal pandemic largesse. The agency is forecasting a $50.4 million deficit in 2025, and a potentially crushing shortfall of almost $577 million in 2026. The three transit agencies, Metra, Pace and the CTA, together could be staring down a collective $730 million budget hole. With that scale of financial disaster looming, the CTA nevertheless is still operating with a mostly business-as-usual mindset. The same people are trotting out familiar ideas. They know their trains and buses are heading straight for a fiscal cliff but so far havent managed to plot a new course around that mother of all funding holes just two years ahead. Safe and efficient public transit is vital to the future of Chicago and thus we want the CTA to succeed. We also appreciate the incremental steps the CTA has taken to improve service since the depths of the pandemic, although these efforts pale in comparison to peer cities. But lets state the obvious: The transit authority needs a more creative strategic plan to prepare for a much different future a future when growing fiscal pressure will force tough decisions and risk a doom loop of less service and reduced revenue. Merge the three transit agencies to slash administrative costs and build connectivity? Partner with Uber and Lyft? Renegotiate contracts? Overhaul the fare structure? Look to better airport service, or tourist-friendly routes along the lakefront, for more revenue? Operate in far more efficient ways? No one with the power to bring about change, it seems, is ready to deal with those and other controversial levers that could make a significant difference apart from begging for more taxpayer bailouts, which are guaranteed to be No. 1 on the agenda of entrenched unions and management. But continuing to raid the bank accounts of productive citizens will never raise enough funding to keep the wheels turning in the same way they did in the pre-pandemic past. How about embracing an idea for the future that cant rescue the agency from its looming budget crunch but at least could help it plant seeds for a brighter future? In a story earlier this month, the Chicago Tribunes Sarah Freishtat spotlighted research from the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Institute, which reached the self-evident conclusion that downtown cannot depend solely on office workers anymore. It needs to be mixed-use, with amenities and open spaces that make people want to live as well as work in the urban core. The study predictably found that L stations located near offices lost the most riders compared with 2019, as fewer white-collar workers commute to work five days each week. But stations surrounded by industrial uses and open space, such as parks, brought back a far higher share of riders. Stations surrounded by a variety of destinations fared better than those dominated by only housing or commercial space. Along those lines, the transit agencies and local government can work together more aggressively to enact land use changes. The Urban Institute report urges the CTA to use its extensive, underutilized land holdings for new, high-density, mixed-use construction, in partnership with the city and state. That could bring in both ancillary revenue and new riders. In California, for instance, state legislation has enabled San Franciscos transit system to redevelop parking lots and vacant land at high densities even when local zoning regulations might be in conflict. The Urban Institute also cited Chicagos Connected Communities Ordinance, which reduces parking requirements and incentivizes affordable-housing build-outs near transit. The CTA is planning to incorporate new housing into land it acquired to help reconstruct the Red Line on the North Side. These approaches can generate much-needed funding for agencies through potential ridership increases and long-term ground leases, the research report says. Well, its a start. We recognize the CTA has immediate issues that cant be ignored: Discretionary riders wont return to a system plagued by crime. Long delays and ghosting by trains and buses that never show up can drive commuters nuts. And anyone who drives in Chicago can see how many people have returned to their cars. The agency also is struggling to hire new train operators and bus drivers, who tend to leave as fast as replacements can be trained, in no small part because they deal with abuse from passengers angry about the service problems. What the CTA needs most isnt just more drivers and operators with the patience of Job. It needs to plot a realistic plan for its long-term future starting now. 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. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso welcomed U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar to campus as they recognized Steve and Nancy Fox and family for their generous $25 million contribution to the Steve and Nancy Fox Cancer Center. The gift is a significant milestone in the universitys ongoing efforts to expand cancer research and treatment capabilities within our border region. According to TTUHSC, Steve Foxs vision for local cancer care materialized when the Texas legislature earmarked $65 million in the 2024-2025 state budget toward the construction of a $95 million cancer center in El Paso, making him instrumental in our regions fight against cancer. Auto dealer Steve Fox, family give $25M to TTUHSC El Paso for new cancer center The Steve and Nancy Fox Cancer Center, spanning 90,000 square feet, will be a notable expansion for the Texas Tech Health El Paso campus upon its opening. As the sole comprehensive cancer care facility in West Texas and our region, it will offer centralized outpatient services, including imaging, treatment, research, clinical trials, and community outreach. Patients and their families often must travel outside the area to access many of these services. The Centers for Disease Control identifies cancer as the foremost cause of mortality among U.S. Hispanics, comprising 20.3% of all deaths in this demographic. The incidence of cancer in this group is alarming: One-third of Hispanic individuals are likely to receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. Notably, Hispanics face unique health disparities, including elevated instances of leukemia and liver cancer relative to other populations. Along the U.S.-Mexico border, where Hispanics constitute over 80% of residents, breast cancer emerges as a particularly prevalent concern. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. Elon Musk has insisted he is not antisemitic after coming under fire for calling an antisemitic conspiracy theory the actual truth and as a slew of major corporations pulled advertising funding from X over the proliferation of pro-Nazi content. Mr Musk sparked outrage on social media last week, with many accusing the tech mogul of antisemitism. In a post on X on Sunday, Mr Musk responded to the accusations, claiming that nothing could be further from the truth. This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic. Nothing could be further from the truth, he wrote. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all. The saga began when a social media user appeared to push the great replacement conspiracy theory on X, claiming that Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. Im deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest s*** now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country dont exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is, the post added. Mr Musk replied to the post, writing on his X platform: You have said the actual truth. The initial post came in response to a campaign video posted on X by the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism. In the video, a father is seen calling his son out over the hateful rhetoric the son has spewed online. Mr Musks response received praise from white nationalist Nick Fuentes while prompting widespread backlash from dozens more online. CNNs Jake Tapper was among the first to condemn the tech mogul, accusing him of pushing unvarnished antisemitism at a time of rising antisemitism and violence against Jews. The White House then also weighed in, accusing Musk of enabling the abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate. The antisemitism row continued when, later in the week, a series of major companies including Disney, Apple and IBM said they would pull advertising from X after adverts for the companies appeared alongside pro-Nazi posts. On Thursday, Media Matters, a left-leaning non-profit group, published a report that said it had found adverts from big brands including IBM, Apple, Oracle and Bravo running next to pro-Hitler and antisemitic content. It is unclear how this happened but it came after Mr Musk relaxed moderation policies on X and cut many staff involved with safety on the platform when his $44bn acquisition closed last year. Elon Musk has insisted he is not antisemitic after coming under fire for calling an antisemitic conspiracy theory the actual truth (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) An X spokesperson told The Independent the company did not intentionally place the adverts next to the posts from the antisemitic accounts, which have now been demonetised, meaning advertising can no longer run on their profiles. In response to the advertising boycott, Mr Musk threatened to file a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and all those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company. The scandal comes as X CEO Linda Yaccarino and other staff have reportedly been scrambling to put out the fires being lit by Mr Musk following a growing number of accusations that the billionaire has promoted antisemitism, according to The New York Times. The outlet reported that it has seen messages from X sales employees asking what they should say to their clients, who have been raising concerns about both Mr Musks recent remarks and advertising showing up next to antisemitic posts. This is not the first time the business magnate has been accused of being linked to content that promotes antisemitism. In the days after the 7 October Hamas terror attack on Israel, Mr Musk was forced to delete a post where he amplified an account widely accused of antisemitism and of promoting debunked videos as reliable sources of information about the attack. Meanwhile, last year, advocacy organisation the American Jewish Committee called on Mr Musk to apologise over a controversial post that made a satirical comparison between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Adolf Hitler. Mr Musk has previously insisted that he is pro free speech but against antisemitism of any kind. In September, he threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League a century-old NGO that describes itself as the leading anti-hate organisation in the world after the organisation accused him of antisemitism. If endorsing antisemitic posts wasnt enough, Elon Musk has now advanced several rungs in the batshit conspiracy ladder into engaging with a post pushing Pizzagate. Last week, Musk wrote You have said the actual truth in response to a post from an X user claiming Jewish people were responsible for promoting dialectical hatred against whites. The X owner promoting the antisemitic conspiracy theory drew widespread backlash, including from the White House. The following morning, Media Matters, a nonprofit progressive media watchdog, published a study showing that X had been placing ads for major companies alongside posts featuring neo-Nazi and antisemitic rhetoric. Advertisers like Apple, Disney, IBM, Sony, Paramount, and Warner Brothers Discovery have since pulled their ads from the platform.. Musk responded over the weekend by threatening a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters, and calling the nonprofit evil. As of Monday afternoon, no such lawsuit has been filed, although Musk is still posting about it, writing again on X that Media Matters is Evil. A user responding to Musk wrote that David Brock, the founder of the nonprofit, was the Boyfriend of James Alefantis, owner of Comet Ping Pong Pizza, yes the Pizzagate restaurant. Alefantis, a pizza shop owner at that time, was on GQs 50 Most Powerful People in DC list. Weird, Musk replied. Elon Musk is now thinking about Pizzagate. pic.twitter.com/iUfaprABfN Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) November 20, 2023 Comet Ping Pong, a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor, was the target of a conspiracy theory known as Pizzagate that rose to prominence during the 2016 election cycle. The theory claimed that major Democratic Party figures, including presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her Campaign Chair John Podesta, were running a satanic child trafficking operation from within the pizza joint, and that instructions for pizza orders found in Podestas leaked emails were actually directives on how to order children. The conspiracy theory has been widely debunked, but Comet Ping Pong was subjected to intense harassment by believers. One even shot up the restaurant in an attempt to free the nonexistent children being kept in the buildings nonexistent basement. Pizzagates twisted remnants can still be found in the darkest corners of QAnon forums, the conspiracy theory it helped birth. That Musk would publicly engage with a user dredging it up speaks to the depths to which the owner of X has descended into conspiracy-laden, right-wing fever swamps. Musk also in May of this year claimed evidence that a mass shooter in Allen, Texas, held white nationalist beliefs was a psyop created by the media. Media Matters president Angelo Carusone issued a statement on Monday addressing Musks campaign against the organization, which has drawn the attention of a Republican attorney general. Elon Musk has spent the last few days making meritless legal threats, elevating bizarre conspiracy theories, and lobbing vicious personal attacks against his enemies online, Carusone wrote. Even if he does not follow through with his threat to sue, the volatility of [his] actions reinforce why major brands are rightly skittish of partnering with X. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Elon Musk pushed back against bogus media stories on Sunday after he sparked a fresh wave of criticism for endorsing an antisemitic post on X. This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic, Musk wrote on his social media network, formerly known as Twitter. Nothing could be further from the truth. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all. The outspoken billionaire described a social media post on X as the actual truth last week. The post in question claimed Jewish communities were pushing hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. Im deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country dont exactly like them too much, the post read. This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic. Nothing could be further from the truth. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2023 Jewish groups quickly condemned the post and Musks endorsement, calling it the kind of antisemitism that leads to massacres. The White House also weighed in, calling Musks post an abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate. The criticism prompted advertisers, including Disney, Apple and IBM, to pull their ads from X temporarily. X has faced a barrage of criticism following Musks acquisition, with civil rights groups accusing the platform of making it easier for hate speech to proliferate online. Musk himself has sparred with the Anti-Defamation League, a group that works to combat hate against Jewish people, threatening to sue the nonprofit for a decline in advertising sales. Related... A man has been charged with aggravated battery for shooting a 25-year-old and leaving him in critical condition in the Woodlawn neighborhood Friday night. Shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Friday, police responded to reports of a person shot at the 6400 block of South University Avenue. A migrant shelter is located at 6420 S. University Ave., inside the former Wadsworth Elementary School. Advertisement The 25-year-old, who had been shot in the abdomen and lower back, was transported to nearby University of Chicago Medical Center. Cleber Fernandez, 26, was arrested in the 6600 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue Friday at 8:05 p.m. after a search of the immediate area. He was charged Sunday with one felony count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. Advertisement In a police statement, Fernandezs address is listed as the 6400 block of South University Avenue. He is due in court for a detention hearing on Monday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. The shelter at former Wadsworth Elementary has encountered continued resistance from neighbors since it was transformed into temporary housing for migrants earlier this year. On July 14, a physical altercation and subsequent vandalism at the shelter led the city to expel 17 migrants from the shelter and permanently ban four of them from the system. At a follow-up community meeting with city officials, Woodlawn residents grievances included claims of migrants loitering, littering and participating in illicit activities such as drug use and prostitution. adperez@chicagotribune.com An adviser to former president Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey have called for journalists at Media Matters to be jailed over a report which sparked an antisemitism row on X. The row began after Media Matters reported that adverts from big brands including IBM, Apple, Oracle and Bravo were running next to pro-Hitler and antisemitic content on Mr Musks social media platform. The revelation prompted a series of major companies including Disney, Apple and IBM to pull advertising from X, while Mr Musk responded by threatening to file a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and all those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company. X executive Joe Benarroch also pushed back, saying that the research strategy used by Media Matters to uncover the content placed next to company adverts was not representative of how regular people use its platform. The organisation had followed accounts that posted the content, then refreshed the X timeline until adverts appeared, Mr Benarroch claimed. 50 impressions served against the content in the article, out of 5.5 billion served the whole day, points to the fact of how efficiently our model avoids content for advertiser, he said in a statement posted to X. Data wins over allegations. Mr Trumps adviser Stephen Miller, whose politics have been described as far-right, has now also waded into the drama on X, claiming the report was fraudulent and suggesting journalists at the left-leaning non-profit group had committed crimes. Fraud is both a civil and criminal violation, he said. Mr Musk responded to Mr Millers post, chiming in: Interesting. Both civil and criminal. Elon Musk is facing accusations of antisemitism (AP) AG Bailey also joined in, saying: My team is looking into this matter. The Independent has reached out to Media Matters for comment. The organisation previously called Mr Musks lawsuit meritless and an attempt to silence reporting that he even confirmed is accurate. Musk admitted the ads at issue ran alongside the pro-Nazi content we identified. If he does sue us, we will win, the non-profit said. Since Mr Musks $44bn acquisition of X closed last year, he has relaxed moderation policies on X and cut many staff involved with safety on the platform. An X spokesperson told The Independent the company did not intentionally place the adverts next to the posts from the antisemitic accounts, which have now been demonetised, meaning advertising can no longer run on their profiles. Since taking over the company, Mr Musk has come under fire on multiple occasions over content that promotes antisemitism. Former Trump White House aide Stephen Miller (Getty Images) On Wednesday, Mr Musk, the self-described free-speech absolutist, sparked outrage when he said a post which promoted an antisemitic theory was the actual truth. A social media user had appeared to push the great replacement conspiracy theory on X, claiming that Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. Im deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest s*** now about Western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realisation that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country dont exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is, the post added. Mr Musks responded by writing: You have said the actual truth. His response received praise from white nationalist Nick Fuentes while prompting widespread backlash from dozens more online, with many accusing him of antisemtism. He later responded to the accusations of antisemitism, insisting nothing could be further from the truth. This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic. Nothing could be further from the truth, he wrote. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all. This came after an earlier scandal in the days after the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, where Mr Musk was forced to delete a post in which he amplified an account widely accused of antisemitism and promoted debunked videos as reliable sources of information about the attack. Last year, advocacy organisation the American Jewish Committee called on Mr Musk to apologise over a controversial post that made a satirical comparison between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Adolf Hitler. Mr Musk has previously insisted that he is pro free speech but against antisemitism of any kind. In September, he threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League a century-old NGO that describes itself as the leading anti-hate organisation in the world after the organisation accused him of antisemitism. (FOX40.COM) The Sacramento Police Department will have an increased presence at this years Run to Feed the Hungry after police said they received an email containing a bomb threat towards the annual event. The email was forwarded to the Sacramento Police Department on Nov. 13, who then contacted the FBI Sacramento Field Office and the event organizers. One adult, one minor arrested for stabbing of mother and daughter in Rancho Cordova Out of an abundance of caution, SPD will have an increased presence at the event, the police department wrote in a news release. SPD and the FBI urge people to always remain vigilant, follow instructions from law enforcement personnel, and report suspicious activity immediately. Run to Feed the Hungry is set for Thanksgiving day and will be celebrating 30 years of the annual event that supports the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40. By Anthony Boadle and Lucinda Elliott BRASILIA/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Far-right libertarian Javier Milei's presidential election win in Argentina will not derail the EU-Mercosur trade agreement and could hasten the conclusion of negotiations before he takes office on Dec. 10, diplomats and trade experts said on Monday. Having secured victory, Milei is expected to tone down his campaign criticism of the South American common market and Brazil's Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, with no disruption in Mercosur trade foreseen, they said. Milei's attacks raised doubts about the future of the four-nation Mercosur, which would fall apart if Argentina pulled out, and led negotiators to try to do more to overcome differences and have weekly video conference meetings. "Lula will probably be even more keen to get it done now," a European diplomat with knowledge of the negotiations said. A trade treaty was agreed in principle in 2019 after two decades of talks, but additional environmental commitments demanded by the EU led Brazil and Argentina to seek new concessions that prolonged negotiations. Brazilian negotiators said there were few details left to negotiate and they plan to announce the deal at a Mercosur summit on Dec. 7 in Rio de Janeiro that was brought forward to be held before Argentina's change of government. "The talks are moving ahead fast," said a Brazilian official involved in the negotiations. He and two other Finance Ministry sources said there was still concern over what Milei will do, but they expect him to soften his campaign rhetoric in office. The Brazilian officials spoke on condition of anonymity. Welber Barral, a former Brazilian trade secretary who was in Buenos Aires to follow Sunday's presidential runoff vote, said he did not see Milei following through on his threats to withdraw from the trade bloc formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. "The opening of markets is part of Milei's discourse, so he will probably support the EU agreement, in spite of his criticism of Mercosur," Barral said. Pragmatism will prevail on both sides, Barral added, as trade relations are too important. Argentina is Brazil's largest market for manufactured goods, mainly cars and car parts. Milei's likely foreign minister, Diana Mondino, said in an interview with Reuters before the vote that while Mercosur must be modified, it should not be "eliminated" as Milei has previously suggested. Mondino also said Argentina will seek to increase trade with Brazil. 'WORK TOGETHER' Milei has labeled Lula an "angry communist" and received support during the campaign from the Brazilian leader's predecessor, far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro. But on Sunday night, Lula wished Argentina's new government success and, without mentioning Milei by name, said Brazil was ready to "work together with our Argentine brothers." Their ideological differences will make for bumpy relations. Bolsonaro congratulated Milei on Monday by video conference and accepted an invitation to attend his inauguration, son Eduardo Bolsonaro said on social media. Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo, expects Milei to continue attacking Lula occasionally, but said Brazil's experienced president will not respond. Relations will most likely return to what they were between Argentina's current Peronist President Alberto Fernandez and Brazil's Bolsonaro, who were not on speaking terms, he said. "There was no formal rupture and bureaucrats kept talking, and trade ties largely continued normally, but there was no political space for new initiatives that would require support from the presidential palaces," Stuenkel said. While Milei is pro-trade, he is a climate change denialist and that could be a hurdle for ratification in Europe of the EU-Mercosur trade pact if he becomes a target for European environmentalists and protectionists, Stuenkel said. (Reporting by Lucinda Elliott in Buenos Aires and Anthony Boadle, Bernardo Caram and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia; Editing by Paul Simao, Grant McCool and Jonathan Oatis) When the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed in late 2021, it included US$42.5 billion for broadband internet access as part of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. The program aims to ensure that broadband access is available throughout the country. This effort differs from previous federal broadband programs because it promised to allocate the funding to individual states and allow them to figure out the best way to distribute it. Nearly two years later, the federal government informed the states exactly how much money each will be getting. The sizes of the awards are significant: 19 states will receive over $1 billion, and the average award across the 50 states is $817 million. Texas received the largest allocation at over $3.3 billion. The states are working with the federal government to develop plans for how they will distribute those funds. The states have until Dec. 27, 2023, to submit their initial proposals. As of Nov. 15, no state had completed that process. Even after the states receive the federal funding, its expected to take years for the states to award contracts to internet service providers to install the broadband networks and for the companies to complete the work. States are also in something of a race with one another: The first ones to the funding can get money to the private sector, which can begin hiring from the limited pool of technicians capable of installing fiber optic cables. Plans and deadlines An estimated 11.8 million locations households and businesses, rural and urban are considered either unserved or underserved. Unserved locations are those where providers only offer internet speeds below 25Mbps downstream and 3Mbps upstream. Underserved locations are those where providers offer internet speeds below 100Mbps downstream and 20Mbps upstream. Each states plans for how to get broadband service to those locations must be approved by the overseeing organization, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The plans must include information on existing broadband funding that has yet to be deployed from other federal programs, plans for handling challenges, plans to coordinate with tribal and regional entities, how the state will address the need to recruit and train workers to install broadband, and how it will address the issue of broadband affordability. States initial proposals can be viewed online. A dashboard the federal government recently released summarizes the progress made by all 50 states plus U.S. territories in getting these plans approved and receiving the first chunk of the promised funding. Some states are further along than others. The dashboard includes eight steps each state or territory must complete before getting the first 20% of its promised allocation. As of Nov. 15, 2023, most states had completed four of the processs eight steps. Only three states Louisiana, Nevada and Virginia had finished six or more steps. Notably, Louisiana and Virginia had broadband offices up and running for at least three years prior to the passage of the infrastructure legislation in 2021. With the due date for submitting plans Dec. 27 and a public comment period thats required to be open for 30 days, many states could be pushing the deadline. States that miss the deadline could lose out on the funding. States are likely to begin distributing their broadband funds sometime in 2024, and implementation of the plans is expected to take four years. There are real-world impacts related to which states receive funding first. The vast majority of the funds are expected to be spent on fiber-optic infrastructure, and the telecom industry has concerns about the availability of technicians to install it. One recent survey also found that 20% of the expected hires will be for engineer or manager positions. Internet providers that successfully apply for grants in one state may quickly hire a larger percentage of available local technicians and engineers, leaving neighboring states with an even larger workforce gap. Along the same lines, most broadband projects require specific types of equipment, which will be in high demand once the money starts flowing. Other state-level funds It is important to note that there are other ongoing state-level broadband infrastructure programs. In particular, the 2021 American Recovery Plan Act provided State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds and Capital Projects Funds to each state, many of which have been used for broadband purposes. While no state-level summary of these projects exists, to the best of my knowledge, they often include significant amounts of money. For example, Missouri recently awarded $261 million from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program for broadband projects and another $197 million in Capital Projects funds. Combined, this adds another $458 million to the $1.7 billion that Missouri will be receiving from the broadband program. This $458 million comes with shorter turnaround times than the broadband funds because they were allocated under the American Recovery Plan Act and those funds must be spent by the end of 2026. Additionally, the broadband program included $2.7 billion for digital equity work, and states have been developing these plans as well. The Digital Equity Act programs aim to ensure that all Americans have access to the skills and technology needed to function in the digital economy. The deadline for state digital equity plans varies by state, but the original timeline calls for awards to be made in 2024. Most of these awards are expected to go to community-based entities (libraries, nonprofits, religious organizations, etc.) to help people gain digital skills. Lots of work left to do Once states receive their broadband funding, they still have to set up a mechanism to request proposals from internet service providers, grade the proposals that come in, and oversee the challenge process for rejected proposals that is likely to follow. Some of the initial 20% of the funding that states receive will be used for those purposes. Only after the awards are made and challenges settled will the providers ramp up their workforces, purchase the relevant equipment and begin work. So while the broadband funding holds great promise for the 11.2 million locations across the country that do not have access to a high-quality broadband connection, many still have a long wait ahead of them. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Brian Whitacre, Oklahoma State University. Read more: In a distressing incident off the coast of Brazil, a young female orca, only 16 feet in length, was found dead on Serra Beach, Espirito Santo. The day before her tragic demise, this orca was seen exhibiting unusually friendly behavior towards fishermen. This interaction, initially perceived as playful, is now seen as heartbreaking. The orcas body, thin and scarred with shark bites, revealed a shocking truth. A necropsy conducted by Brazils Orca Institute found a 2.5-foot-long sheet of hard plastic, alongside other plastic debris, in her stomach. This tragic discovery underscores the ongoing crisis of plastic pollution in our oceans. The orcas death is not an isolated incident a sperm whale with a stomach full of plastic washed up in Hawaii recently as well and is a reminder of the severe impact of plastic pollution on marine life. According to Newsweek, The International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that at least 14 million tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean every year. Researchers from Stanford University further found that some species of whales are ingesting as many as 10 million pieces of microplastic each day. Large plastics, like the one found in the orca, can block digestive systems, tricking animals into feeling full and leading to starvation. The fight against plastic pollution is multifaceted, involving both policy initiatives and individual actions. Governments and environmental organizations worldwide are increasingly focusing on reducing single-use plastics and improving waste management systems. On an individual level, you can contribute by minimizing your use of single-use plastics, participating in beach clean-ups, and supporting policies and organizations dedicated to tackling this issue. Every small action adds up in the collective effort to safeguard our oceans and their inhabitants. This incident is a stark reminder of the interconnectedness of our actions and the health of our planets ecosystems. As we continue to witness the devastating effects of plastic pollution, it becomes increasingly clear that immediate, collective action is required to protect and preserve the natural world. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the coolest innovations improving our lives and saving our planet. Rescue teams work at the place where a wall collapsed at the entrance of a tunnel in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. According to Civil Defense at least 9 people were killed when the wall fell down due to heavy rains. ( AP Photo/Eddy Vittini) SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) A concrete wall along an avenue in the Dominican Republic's capital that collapsed over the weekend and killed nine people during heavy rains was poorly designed, experts said Monday. The government of the Caribbean country has come under scrutiny, with experts saying they had warned more than 20 years ago about the walls failures and lack of effort to fix them. It has weaknesses in the design, civil engineer Cristian Rojas told The Associated Press. No anchors were placed, and that is why the wall collapsed. Rojas, former president of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors, said the force of the water in a flooded adjacent avenue, combined with the type of wall that was built, led to the collapse. Dominican geologist Osiris de Leon recalled that the first warnings about the wall were made more than two decades ago. He posted a story from December 1999 on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which El Siglo newspaper quoted the college recommending that the wall be rebuilt because it was cracked and it can fall and cause a tragic accident. The collapse occurred Saturday in Santo Domingo when a portion of the wall that runs along the heavily transited 27 of February Avenue fell in one piece, crushing cars and their occupants, authorities said. Among the victims was Puerto Rico prosecutor Michael Orozco, his wife, Maria Nereida Martinez, and his in-laws, according to Javier Rivera, president of the islands Association of Prosecutors. Martinez was pregnant. Comrade Orozco was living a wonderful personal moment with his family, and as a young, committed lawyer, a promising future awaited him, Rivera said. Also killed was Dominican Police Gen. Eduardo Cabrera Castillo, authorities said. Andres Matos, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works, rejected accusations that the government did not properly maintain the wall and nearby infrastructure. These tunnels and overpasses are given permanent maintenance, Matos told the AP. He attributed the collapse to other causes but declined to provide details. The ministry is ordering a deep, structuralist investigation, which implies that we should not get ahead of the causes, he said. The collapse occurred as a tropical disturbance moved through the western Caribbean, battering the Dominican Republic with heavy rains over the weekend. Authorities said at least 24 people died, including those crushed by the wall. The storm tore tin roofs off hundreds of homes and cut off access to nearly a dozen communities, authorities said. Officials in neighboring Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, said four people died and another two are missing. Dozens of people remained in shelters after the storm flooded hundreds of homes and cut off several communities, they said. ___ Associated Press reporter Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed. Flooding, wildfires and extreme weather threaten the future of nearly three-quarters of sites managed by the National Trust, a new report says. The charity says climate change is "the single biggest threat" facing its 28,500 historic homes, 250,000 hectares of land and 780 miles of coastline. In Monday's report, the trust called on the UK government to do more to help organisations adapt to climate change. The government said it had a five-year plan to boost the country's resilience. Patrick Begg, the trust's natural resources director, said that climate change demanded "urgent and unswerving attention" and presented "the single biggest threat to the places in our care". The trust is monitoring the climate change threats posed to its stately homes, museum collections, parks, gardens and land holdings by mapping current extreme weather events, such as downpours, flooding, drought and wildfires. More than 2m has been spent repairing the two breakwaters at Mullion Cove harbour It then uses the data on its 'hazard map' to predict the threats posed to its sites under a "worst-case scenario" in which greenhouse gas emissions, which trap heat in the atmosphere, continue at their current rate. The charity says planning for the worst will help it identify vulnerable sites across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and use knowledge gained on the ground by local teams to adapt to the impacts of climate change. When the map was launched in 2021, it estimated that the number of National Trust sites facing a high level of threat from issues such as coastal erosion, extreme heat and flooding could rise from 5% to 17% over the next 40 years. But in Monday's report - "A Climate for Change" - the trust now estimates that 71% of its sites could be at medium or high risk of being impacted by climate change-related extreme weather events by 2060. In response, the conservation body is ramping up its work on climate adaptation, spending millions to repair and protect some sites but also having to decide where money could be better spent. Tough choices One of those sites where the trust is looking at new ways of working is Mullion Cove Harbour in Cornwall. Nestled between steep cliffs and built in the 1890s, the harbour's two breakwaters are being hit by frequent and violent storms. That has left the trust needing to spend more than 2m on repairing them - with more than 80% of that spent since 1995. It's a cost that might not be worth continuing to pay in the face of rising sea levels and the trust may decide not to carry on with major repairs to one of the two breakwaters. Catherine Lee, community manager for the National Trust on the Lizard Peninsula, told the BBC: "We've reached the threshold where we feel very strongly that it's unviable to repair the southern breakwater like-for-like. "That's a really tough call - the National Trust is about looking after special places forever. But what we know is that we can't continue this battle against climate change. We have to adapt to climate change." The trust is focusing its efforts on the western breakwater, working closely with local volunteers on day-to-day repairs. Jonny Pascoe says hard decisions will have to be made about Mullion harbour One of those volunteers is third-generation fisherman Jonny Pascoe, who is also chairman of the Mullion Cove Harbour Society. "My dad and grandfather worked here so it's a very special place to me. I like to think I'm keeping that heritage going and being part of that rich history," he said. Mr Pascoe said "hard discussions" had to be had with the trust about what could be saved, and how. "We can't afford to procrastinate. The climate change situation is not going to allow us to. The sea is certainly not going to allow us to," he explained. When it comes to the trust's historic buildings and stately homes, protecting them from extreme weather isn't cheap. The Tudor mansion Coughton Court in Warwickshire is currently undergoing a 3.3m facelift to make sure its roof and gutters can cope with heavy rainfall. Already, staff at the country house have had to rescue collections of historic paintings and chandeliers, which had been leaked on. Close to the edge, the ancient hill fort Dinas Dinlle is being eroded and lost to the sea In other locations, extreme weather has already seen the trust accept climate adaptation will sometimes mean letting things go. At the Iron Age hill fort Dinas Dinlle on Wales' Gwynedd coast, erosion made worse by heavy rainfall in recent years is destroying the site, with many parts already lost to the sea. But its story and history is being recorded - digital 3D modelling is being used to keep a record of the site before it disappears. The work is being carried out with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and Aberystwyth University. Three years of work at the site has shown that increasingly heavy rainfall is having a significant impact on the ongoing erosion of the hill fort. Professor Sarah Davies, from Aberystwyth University, said the 3D modelling and geophysical studies of the area would help them "understand more about the hills, the landscape around it and the rates of change before that information is lost". The National Trust is now calling for more funding and support from government for landowners, heritage organisations and tourism groups across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to help them adapt their buildings, coastlines and countryside to better cope with the impacts of climate change It also wants to see the UK government establish a new Climate Resilience Bill to create national targets for adaptation and a statutory duty on all public bodies to make adaptation a key factor in decision-making. The UK government said it had a national adaptation programme that does set out a five-year plan to increase the country's resilience to climate change risks, including those posed to heritage sites and its coastline and countryside. It added that it had committed to investing billions of pounds in wider climate change adaptation measures, including 5.2bn on flood and coastal schemes in England. A Welsh government spokesperson said it took climate adaptation "extremely seriously" and would be publishing a new national strategy towards the end of next year. A spokesperson for Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said it welcomed the trust's report and said it would also be publishing a new climate change adaptation programme in late 2024. (Bloomberg) -- A group of Republican lawmakers warned that two F-16 fighter jet programs for Taiwan remain at high risk of falling further behind despite efforts to accelerate deliveries to bolster the islands defenses against China. Most Read from Bloomberg In a letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on Friday, the two dozen GOP representatives said they appreciated Biden administration efforts to speed up deliveries but are concerned that past difficulties in completing the production and transfer of F-16s could drag on. The lawmakers concerns have been compounded in recent weeks by questions about whether the competing US military commitments to Ukraine and Israel, as well as Taiwan, are overstretching Washingtons ability to handle multiple conflicts at once. As regional security concerns around the world expand, we urge you to focus on delivering the military aid that we have promised to Taiwan, according to the letter spearheaded by Representative Rob Wittman, vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee. We cannot afford to over-promise and under-deliver to our closest friends. The lawmakers called for Kendall to provide a report by Dec. 18 detailing the status of plans to complete a retrofit program for Taiwans 141 existing F-16 fighters, as well as delivery of 66 new F-16 aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp. The signatories include House Intelligence Committee Chairman Michael Turner and Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and Chinese Communist Party. Read More: Can China Fight? Putins War Underscores Xis Military Weakness According to the letter, the delay in the retrofit program is approaching three years due to the lack of availability for key parts. Delivery of the newer jets has been delayed by over 15 months due to software development complexities not anticipated by the original equipment manufacturer, the letter said. First delivery of the new fighters has slipped to between July and September next year from last month, Taiwanese officials said in May. The total sale was supposed to be completed by 2025-2026 but the estimated delivery time line has now moved to 2026-2027, the lawmakers said. The two F-16 programs constitute $12.7 billion of the total $14.3 billion backlog of military equipment that Taiwan has agreed to purchase from the US since 2019, said the letter. These include Patriot and Stinger air defense and Harpoon anti-ship missiles, heavy torpedoes, and HIMARS mobile rocket systems of the type provided Ukraine. Read More: China, US Release Dueling Videos With Accusations of Provocation A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said in a statement the company is grateful for the trust Taiwan has placed in us across its F-16 program. In partnership with the U.S. government, Lockheed Martin is focused on developing F-16 capabilities in support of U.S. security cooperation objectives. It has 126 F-16s on backlog order for other customers at its production facility in Greenville, South Carolina. A spokesperson for the Pentagons Defense Security Cooperation Agency didnt respond to a request for comment. The lawmakers praised several Air Force and Taiwan efforts that are effectively improving delivery timelines. Taiwan has agreed to a software approach called spiral development to shorten delays enabled by Lockheed Martins production line rightly prioritizing Taiwan aircraft, said the letter. But they said they remain concerned. Given the Defense Departments historical delays in executing these foreign military sales, the complexity of the F-16s software integration, and logistical delivery challenges, we still assess the execution of these cases to be high-risk, Wittman said in a statement to Bloomberg. The lawmakers said they are willing to work with the Pentagon to ensure timely completion, citing Chinas frequent exercises in the waters and airspace around Taiwan. (Updates in sixth graph with two signatory names and 10th graph with Lockheed comment) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Claim: The City of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, banned public homosexuality. Rating: Rating: Outdated On Nov. 17, 2023, California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted a Nov. 14 article from the New Republic on X (formerly Twitter) with the headline, "A City in Tennessee Banned Public Homosexuality and We All Missed It." This claim that a city ordinance in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, banned public homosexuality was broadly true when an ordinance on "community decency" went into effect in June 2023. But explicit reference to homosexuality was removed from the code in November 2023. In June 2023, the Murfreesboro City Council passed Ordinance 23-O-22, a law purportedly regarding community decency that The Associated Press described as being "designed to ban drag performances from taking place on public property." As described by its authors, the new law "supplement[ed] existing civil and criminal sanctions for indecent behavior [by] barring persons who engage in prohibited conduct from sponsoring events on a public space for two years and increasing to five years where the prohibited conduct occurs in the presence of minors." The bill included "sexual conduct" as one form of indecent behavior covered by the June 2023 enhancements to the code. This "conduct" term, however, was defined by "Section 21-71 of the Murfreesboro City Code," which had been in place since the 1970s and that defined terms used in a section of city code detailing criminal offenses related to "exposing minors to harmful materials." That code defined "sexual conduct" in a way that broadly included "acts of [...] homosexuality": "Sexual conduct" means acts of m*st*rb*t**n, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed gen*t*ls, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person be a female, breast. A literal reading of the new law therefore could have criminalized any sort of public display of homosexuality, even if such a display was not overtly sexual or sexual in nature. Then in October 2023, the city, citing the new law, denied a permit to the non-profit Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) to hold a Pride rally, which the group had held every year since 2016. That decision was made on the basis of this new city code and the allegedly indecent material present at the 2022 TEP event. As reported by The Associated Press, the ACLU took up the case on behalf of TEP: The legal challenge is the latest development in the ongoing political battle over LGBTQ+ rights inside Tennessee, where the states conservative leaders have sought to limit events where drag performers may appear, restrict classroom conversations about gender and sexuality, and ban gender-affirming care. [...] According to the 67-page complaint, the organization [TEP] has faced recent opposition from Murfreesboro leaders after conservative activists alleged that drag performances that took place during the 2022 Pride event resulted in the illegal sexualization of kids." TEP denied the shows were inappropriate, noting that the performers were fully clothed. However, the city quickly warned the organization it would be denying any future event permits and later approved updating its community decency standards intended to assist in the determination of conduct, materials, and events that may be judged as obscene or harmful to minors. The suit alleges the ordinance violates the First Amendment for chilling free speech rights, as well as argues that it breaks the 14th Amendment for discriminating against the LGBTQ+ community. On Oct. 26, the federal judge assigned to the case issued an order blocking the city from denying TEP's request for a permit to hold the 2023 pride event. As reported by the Daily News Journal: [The] ruling tells the local government, Murfreesboro City Manager Craig Tindall, Mayor Shane McFarland, the Murfreesboro Police Department and other city officials, that they "shall not enforce or take any action pursuant to the provision to Murfreesboro City Code 21-71 that includes 'homosexuality' within the definition of 'sexual conduct.'" Against this backdrop, in October 2023, the Murfreesboro council took up the issue of removing homosexuality from the list of "acts" that could constitute sexual conduct. On Nov. 2, a proposal removing the word passed, with the change set to take effect on Nov. 17 the day of Newsom's tweet. As reported by journalist Erin Reed: Good news. As of tomorrow, Murfreesboro will not have "homosexuality" in its code banning public homosexuality anymore. That said, the new indecency law that Murfreesboro passed still contains very vague "community standards" provisions used to target Pride and LGBTQ books. pic.twitter.com/N4rFzqhxFX Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) November 16, 2023 Reed argued that while this change made "the targeting of LGBTQ+ people less explicit," the "vague 'community standards' section will still likely be used to target Pride events and books," she said. The ACLU case is ongoing. "The parties agreed and the judge accepted an agreement temporarily suspending enforcement of an ordinance designed to specify certain civil penalties against indecency in public spaces and to protect children from indecent conduct," Murfreesboro spokesman Mike Browning said in a statement. "However, other existing state statutes and city ordinances and penalties regarding such conduct remain applicable. Because public homosexuality is no longer explicitly prohibited by Murfreesboro city code, the claim made by Newsom and others is out of date. It is still possible, however, based on statements made by the local government and the broad nature of the law, that the portion of code remaining could be used to prevent future LGBTQ+ events. Sources: 23-O-22 Community Decency Standards Ordinance . https://www.wkrn.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/73/2023/06/061523-Community-Decency.pdf. Granieri, Susanna. ACLU Sues a Tennessee City Over An Anti-Drag Ordinance. First Amendment Watch, 10 Oct. 2023, https://firstamendmentwatch.org/aclu-sues-a-tennessee-city-over-an-anti-drag-ordinance/. Municode Library. https://library.municode.com/tn/murfreesboro/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICO_CH21OFMIPR_ARTIIIEXMIHAMA_S21-71DE. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023. Otten, Tori, et al. A City in Tennessee Banned Public Homosexualityand We All Missed It. The New Republic, 1 Nov. 2022. The New Republic, https://newrepublic.com/post/176915/tennessee-town-ban-public-homosexuality. Reed, Erin. City Ordinance Banning Public Homosexuality Reaches Rutherford County Libraries. https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/city-ordinance-banning-public-homosexuality. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023. Tennessee City Walks Back Ban on Public Homosexuality Kind Of. Yahoo News, 17 Nov. 2023, https://news.yahoo.com/tennessee-city-walks-back-ban-151306443.html. We Are Relieved: BoroPride Wins Court Order to Protect LGBTQ+ Festival from Government. The Daily News Journal, https://www.dnj.com/story/news/2023/10/23/boropride-wins-court-order-to-protect-lgbtq-festival-from-government/71288469007/. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023. FILE PHOTO: Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi attends talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing FILE PHOTO: Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi attends talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing By Ange Kasongo KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi faces off against more than two dozen rivals in a Dec. 20 election. His rivals include old foes such as Martin Fayulu, who came second in the disputed 2018 poll, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege. Below are the main candidates in the race. President Felix Tshisekedi Tshisekedi, 60, son of Congo's late opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, came to power in a disputed 2018 election buoyed by a power-sharing alliance with former president Joseph Kabila. The alliance unravelled soon after, so he joined forces with other Congolese political heavyweights including economy minister Vital Kamerhe and former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba. Tshisekedi promised to root out corruption and authoritarian rule, rebuild the economy, tackle inequalities and deal with conflict in the east, but critics say he has fallen short on all counts. Businessman Moise Katumbi Katumbi, 58, made a fortune in mining, transport and food processing before entering politics. He was governor of copper-rich Katanga region from 2007 to 2015. Initially an ally of Kabila, the two fell out when Katumbi accused the former president of trying to cling to power beyond his mandate. Katumbi fled Congo in 2016, accused by the government of plotting against Kabila, and was later sentenced to three years in prison in absentia for real estate fraud. In 2018, he was prevented from entering the country in time to submit his candidacy for the presidential election. But this time his chances have been boosted by the backing of three candidates that have dropped out of the race. Katumbi was born of a Congolese mother and a Jewish Greek father who fled Rhodes Island under Italian fascist occupation and settled in Congo's Katanga in 1945, according to his biography on his party website. Katumbi's mixed heritage has been used by rivals to question his loyalty to Congo. Old rival Martin Fayulu Fayulu, 66, a former Exxon Mobil executive, came second in the 2018 election that he claims he won. Before the 2018 election, Fayulu was chosen as the joint opposition candidate in a deal with Tshisekedi. But Tshisekedi pulled out and joined the power-sharing agreement with Kabila. Fayulu sent representatives to a meeting in South Africa where the main opposition candidates discussed joining forces behind one candidate. Fayulu later said that his representatives were kicked out of the meeting. First timer Denis Mukwege Renowned gynaecologist Mukwege, 68, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work over nearly two decades in combating sexual violence, including treating hundreds of victims of wartime rape and abuse at the Panzi hospital, which he founded in 1999. Nicknamed "the man who repairs women", Mukwege is based in eastern Congo, where armed militias have long carried out attacks on civilians. He has been highly critical of the government's failure to rein in conflict. When he announced his candidacy on Oct. 3, he said: "My only motivation is to save and develop our country." Second try for Marie Jose Ifoku Ifoku is one of three women cleared by Congo's national election commission to run in the presidential race. It is Ifoku's second attempt. She was the only female candidate in the 2018 presidential race where she came ninth out of 21 candidates with 0.15% of the vote. (Reporting by Ange Kasongo; Editing by Bate Felix, William Maclean) President Joe Biden greets attendees after his remarks at Dutch Creek Farms in Northfield, Minnesota, on Nov. 1, 2023. Biden traveled to Minnesota to kick off an administration-wide tour of rural communities. (Kent Nishimura/The New York Times ) If Joe Biden wins in 2024, he will make history by being the oldest person elected to the presidency. That month, hell turn 82. There is no shortage of people who doubt Bidens ability to campaign. Polls and pundits are quick to connect Bidens age with low approval numbers. Even the former chief strategist for Barack Obama when he ran for president, David Axelrod, urged Biden to think about whether running again would be in the countrys best interest. Advertisement We have been here before, though. We have been in a situation in which sitting presidents from Bill Clinton to Obama running for reelection were trailing a year out from Election Day and ended up being reelected. We have been in a position in which Biden has been underestimated. None of this is new. But if Biden plays his cards right, he may be the Democrats best chance at not only taking back the White House but also helping Democrats win down the ballot next year. Advertisement Despite what polls and pundits indicate, Biden heads into 2024 with an arsenal of advantages to defeat Donald Trump. Most obvious, yet overlooked: Biden remains the only person who has won against Trump. One of the most important parts of a successful campaign is building a broad and diverse coalition of voters. In 2020, Biden did exactly that, leading not only to the most votes amassed for any presidential candidate but also beating an incumbent for the first time since Clinton beat George H.W. Bush in 1992. Certainly, however, just because Biden won once does not guarantee him a second term. Biden has his fair share of challenges. But three things are heavily in his favor: his record, his character and his opponent, all of which voters happen to care about deeply. Its no surprise the front-runner in the Republican presidential race is Trump, and he is all but certain to be the GOPs nominee. Thats good news for Biden. As Biden has said, Dont compare me to the almighty. Compare me to the alternative. Nearly everything about the alternative is opposite that of Biden. So much so that the things Trump has said and done and continues to say and do can be turned into an instant split-screen ad by the Biden campaign about how diametrically opposite the two candidates are. Whats more: After four years of a Trump tenure, voters are tired of the extremism that Trump has spread throughout the nation. For evidence, look no further than states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Georgia, where Trump-endorsed, election-denying candidates in the 2022 midterm elections lost by an overwhelming margin. Recently, other election-denying, Trump-endorsed candidates lost races in states such as Kentucky and Virginia. Voters not only want democracy preserved, but they also want normalcy. And Trump is antithetical to both. But its not enough to run against someone. Biden has to run for something. He must give people something to believe in and offer hope that a second term would bring even better change. Fortunately, there is no president who has more to run on than Biden. On nearly every major piece of historic legislation Biden has signed from bills that have lowered the cost of insulin to those that combat climate change and gun violence the vast majority of Americans approve. Yet, people remain generally unaware of what Biden has accomplished. Theres a way around this. Biden must sell his accomplishments not just as much as possible, but as specific and as local as possible. That means less use of generic phrases such as Bidenomics and more focus on how legislation will help communities in real ways. The more Biden can tailor his messages and policies, the more voters can imagine how his policies will benefit them. [ Editorial: Was it Bidenomics that brought down inflation? ] This approach could also boost candidates running for state and local offices. Consider the recent gubernatorial election in Kentucky. Democratic candidate Andy Beshear hinged much of his campaign around how Bidens achievements improved the lives of Kentuckians while Republicans spent $30 million in ads painting Beshear as a Biden governor. The result? Beshear was reelected governor by a bigger margin than the first time he ran. Advertisement To ordinary Americans, policies like fixing infrastructure, lowering the cost of pharmaceutical drugs and protecting reproductive rights matter. They excite. And they turn out voters. 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 > Lastly, while Biden is the oldest presidential candidate, anyone who has met him will say he is also a compassionate person. Bidens character can go a long way at a time of frayed trust in government. This can change and it starts with Biden shifting away from scripted remarks. Instead, he should engage in authentic and meaningful conversations. That means hosting more town hall-style events where the broader electorate can see his wit and knack for connecting with voters. It also means more sit-down conversations on podcasts and other YouTube shows so that the public can see more of what Biden is like in an informal setting. Humanizing the president and reminding people that he can still hold his own are essential. People can look past age and prefer real issues and policies, something Biden can communicate best when he is his natural self. Biden is running in 2024, and he heads into the election season with a substantive policy record and character traits that the Republican candidates do not possess. If the Biden campaign can play to its strengths effectively, Biden will prove the prognosticators wrong once again just like he did in 2020, 2022 and 2023. Now, as Biden often says, Lets finish the job. Advertisement Victor Shi is a senior at the University of California at Los Angeles. He co-hosts the iGen Politics podcast and is a strategy director for Voters of Tomorrow. Shi served as the youngest delegate for Joe Biden. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. Spain's PM Sanchez takes the oath of office during a ceremony at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday announced his new cabinet, keeping the same number of 22 ministers, 12 women and 10 men, despite reshuffling some of their portfolios. SOCIALIST MINISTERS: NADIA CALVINO - ECONOMY Calvino remains as Sanchez's first deputy prime minister and top economic expert. She is also one of the main contenders to head the European Investment Bank, a candidacy that EU countries will vote on in early December. TERESA RIBERA - ENERGY Ribera is Sanchez's third deputy. She built up her international profile by getting nearly all EU countries on board with the bloc's energy market reform and becoming a leading EU envoy for the Nov. 30-Dec. 12 COP28 climate change conference in Dubai. MARIA JESUS MONTERO - BUDGET Sanchez has promoted Montero to fourth deputy PM after she proved herself a skilled negotiator in pushing through three consecutive budgets with support from parties outside the coalition government. FELIX BOLANOS - JUSTICE Bolanos saw his profile boosted by heightened media exposure while acting as Sanchez's de facto cabinet chief. He has now been rewarded with the additional Justice portfolio. JOSE MANUEL ALBARES - FOREIGN AFFAIRS A career diplomat from a humble background, the former ambassador to France was brought on by Sanchez in 2021 during a cabinet reshuffle to replace Arancha Gonzalez Laya, who was forced out over a dispute with Morocco. MARGARITA ROBLES - DEFENCE Former judge Robles became the first female Supreme Court justice in 2004. She has been part of Sanchez's inner circle since he acceded to power in 2018. Her role became more visible after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. FERNANDO GRANDE-MARLASKA - INTERIOR A former High Court magistrate, he has faced criticism from the left and human rights groups for his handling of a deadly mass crossing of migrants from Morocco into the enclave of Melilla. He was one of two openly gay ministers in the previous cabinet along with Culture Minister Miquel Iceta, who Sanchez has now replaced. PILAR ALEGRIA - EDUCATION AND SPORT The Socialist Party's main spokesperson for the past two years, Alegria, 46, will continue heading the education system and has gained the additional Sport portfolio, which was previously within Iceta's purview. She also replaces Isabel Rodriguez as government spokesperson. ISABEL RODRIGUEZ - HOUSING While Rodriguez has been demoted as spokesperson, her new ministry is also a sign of continued confidence in her by a government that has made increased access to affordable housing one of its main promises. JOSE LUIS ESCRIVA - DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Hailed for his role in this year's reform of the pension system as Social Security and Migration minister, the econometrist is widely seen as a frontrunner in the race to succeed Calvino - who was until now in charge of digital transformation - if she secures the EIB post. DIANA MORANT - SCIENCE AND UNIVERSITIES Morant, a telecoms engineer, resigned as mayor of Gandia in 2021 to become minister. She has now gained the Universities portfolio, which was earlier an independent ministry. LUIS PLANAS - AGRICULTURE The former labour inspector and diplomat has faced discontent from the rural sector over extreme drought conditions and EU budget cuts. OSCAR PUENTE - TRANSPORT The mayor of Valladolid for eight years until losing the office in May, Puente rose to fame when Sanchez picked him to debate conservative opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo when he tried to become prime minister. JORDI HEREU - INDUSTRY Mayor of Barcelona between 2006 and 2011, Hereu returned to the private sector after losing control of Spain's second-biggest city. He replaces Hector Gomez, who only served seven months in the post. ANGEL VICTOR TORRES - TERRITORIAL POLICY AND DEMOCRATIC MEMORY Regional leader of the Canary Islands from 2019 to 2023, Torres takes over Territorial Policy from Rodriguez and Democratic Memory from Bolanos. ELMA SAIZ - SOCIAL SECURITY AND MIGRATION Saiz, 47, was the Socialist leader in the city hall of Pamplona, the capital of Navarre. She previously ran the northern region's treasury and now takes over from Escriva. ANA REDONDO - EQUALITY Possibly the least known member in this cabinet, Redondo was a councillor in Valladolid and a professor of constitutional law at the city's university. She takes over one of the most contentious ministries, focused on gender equality and LGBTQ rights, from leftist Podemos party's Irene Montero, whose radical approach earned her enmity and respect alike. MINISTERS FROM COALITION PARTNER SUMAR: YOLANDA DIAZ - LABOUR Diaz is the second deputy PM and leader of Sumar, a coalition of 15 leftist parties, including Podemos. She has touted as her ministry's main accomplishments raising the minimum wage by 8%, the furlough scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic and a pro-union labour law reform. MONICA GARCIA - HEALTH Garcia, an anesthesiologist, leads Mas Madrid, a left-wing party that split from Podemos in 2019. She has spearheaded the opposition to Madrid's regional leader, conservative firebrand Isabel Diez Ayuso. ERNEST URTASUN - CULTURE Diaz's right-hand man is a career diplomat and an MEP with The Greens/European Free Alliance. He became Sumar's spokesperson in June and now replaces Iceta. PABLO BUSTINDUY - SOCIAL RIGHTS AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS Aged 40, Bustinduy is the cabinet's youngest minister. He takes on the Consumer Affairs portfolio from United Left leader Alberto Garzon and replaces Podemos leader Ione Belarra, a vocal critic of Israel's war in Gaza and constant thorn in Sumar's side. SIRA REGO - CHILDREN AND YOUTH The second-in-command and main spokesperson for the United Left, she became an MEP in 2019. Of Palestinian descent, she is also an outspoken Israel critic. Her ministry is new. (Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Aislinn Laing and Grant McCool) When eight Miami Beach Fire Rescue workers returned from a two week deployment in Israel, they hadnt been on loan from just Miami Beach. Also giving them up were families who knew there would be a difference between common fire rescue dangers and fire rescue life in the middle of an actual war. So when Capt. Adonis Garcia, Capt. David Garcia, Lt. Robert Gibson, Lt. Zvi Hirsh, firefighter Carlos Lang; Deputy Chief Juan Mestas; Capt. Javier Rivero and Capt. Douglas Thompson on Sunday arrived back to Miami Beach Fire Rescue headquarters, hugs of relief from family and friends greeted them first. Then came the appreciation from the local Jewish community and laudatory words from Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez and Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. As enthusiastically as Capt. Adonis Garcia asserted that hes ready to go back again, his voice caught as he said the hardest part was hearing my father, who i never heard cry in my whole life never, never cry to me crying to me, telling me that he didnt want me to go, but he was proud of the fact that I was going. That inspired me even more. Kelly Gibsons experienced all of Lt. Ron Gibsons 30-year career with him. But, she said with a chuckle, I didnt think he was ever going to go to a war zone. Gibson added: Knowing the things that are going on over there. Hes got two sons here who still need him. It worried me a lot. Its a lot different knowing anything could happen. Terrorism is just...its not selective. Its random. Its so uncertain. Everything was uncertain. Gibsons a teacher and head tennis coach at Miami Palmetto Senior High, where she said she has many Jewish and Palestinian students who were supportive of her while dealing with their own questions and concerns over the Israel-Hamas war. The latest conflict began with an attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants who targeted towns, farming communities and a music festival near the Gaza border. Israeli officials say at least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mainly in the initial Hamas attack, the Associated Press reports. Israel has responded with weeks of attacks in Gaza, which have killed more than 11,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza most of them Palestinian civilians. Group chats provided daily communication among the eight-member team and their spouses. It morphed into a vital outlet as the the crew got split into pairs, assisting the cities of Haifa, Jerusalem, Sharon, Ayala. They replaced Israeli first responders who had been called into military service as part of the Israeli Defense Force reserves after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. Following the attacks, the Miami Beach Commission unanimously voted to authorize international travel for any volunteers who wished to go. Temple Beth Sholom and the Greater Miami Jewish Federation paid the airfare and travel expenses. Capt. David Garcia, left, receives a welcome home hug from his niece, Sole Diaz, 12, on Sunday. He was among the eight Miami Beach Fire Rescue members who had been deployed to Israel and who were welcomed back by their families, fellow first responders, elected officials, and residents at Miami Beach Fire Station 2. Story, 3A More on the Hamas-Israel war, 8A Fire rescue life during wartime The first night we got there, going into a bunker to get away from a rocket was very different for me, Adonis Garcia said. Just surreal. and then we had to do it multiple times. Pretty different than we have here in the States. Garcia said they quickly bonded with their Israeli counterparts, sharing similar fire rescue worker stories and humor. He noted his hosts hospitality and how they welcomed him to his first Shabbat dinner. Then came the work, some of which was pedestrian. House fires and rollover crashes happen during peacetime in Miami Beach, too. But, a fire rescue truck in South Florida doesnt roll with two soldiers armed with M-16 rifles, as Garcia described. Israeli Defense Force guards even accompanied them to grocery stores, where Garcia said the locals warmly welcomed them. We went to a place where a rocket had gone in, Garcia said. You could see the rocket in the apartment, the shrapnel from the rocket...The alerts you get on your app that theres a rocket coming, we were in an area where you had 30 seconds to get to a shelter. That was an eye opener, very different. I wouldnt trade it for anything in the world. Im ready to go back. Lorain police are now investigating the death of two adults and two children as a murder-suicide, according to our CBS affiliate in Cleveland, 19 News. >> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 4 people found dead inside Ohio home Sunday morning According to police, Tyler Young, 29, shot and killed Skylar Young, 24, their four-month-old son, Bandin Young, and her nine-year-old daughter, Angel Issac, before killing himself, 19 News reported. Skylar was pregnant when she was killed, police said. The handgun police found next to Tylers remains matched the weapon used in the deadly shootings, 19 News reported. The four people were found dead inside a Lorain home on E. 9th Street, Sunday morning. >> Horses rescued from overturned trailer on I-75; NB lanes reopen Lorain Police Department was called to the area on a dog-at-large complaint from a neighbor. Police found the home unlocked and decided to enter. That is when they found the bodies. Earlier this year, Tyler was arrested for a domestic violence incident that involved Skylar, but the grand jury did not return an indictment, WOIO reported. Every year, the Chicago Fire Department holds a voluntary fitness challenge in October, and each time, Andrew Price completed it in costume. Last month, the firefighter ran, stretched and did situps dressed like the Joker, of the Batman franchise, said Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt, speaking to a crowd who came to Navy Pier to mourn Price on Monday afternoon. If you knew Drew you knew he was the ultimate jokester of the firehouse, firefighter Dustin Jeffers told the crowd afterward. In a packed ballroom, family members and fellow firefighters remembered Price as warm, adventurous and a frequent prankster, someone who showed an excited toddler around the firehouse and hid under the beds of his colleagues to jump out and scare them. Known as Drew to his friends and family, Price, 39, died last week after succumbing to significant injuries suffered while battling a blaze in Lincoln Park. Price fell through a shaft on the roof of a four-story building, at 2430-2432 N. Lincoln Ave., which contains the Lincoln Station restaurant on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors. As the day began, a line to pay respects to the firefighter snaked to the back of the ballroom. Two members of the Fire Departments honor guard stood in front of his remains in the ballroom, as firefighters, police and paramedics saluted. Prices on-duty Truck 44 helmet was placed on a table next to his official department portrait. Nance-Holt remarked that of all her years on the job, Mondays line of mourners was one of the longest shed ever seen. One of my command staff members commented that not one single person had anything bad to say about Drew, Nance-Holt said. That speaks volumes about the type of person Drew was and the character that he possessed. Mayor Brandon Johnson was unable to attend, but his chief of staff Rich Guidice was present. Members of Prices battalion walked up to the podium in a group of about a dozen, growing emotional and occasionally chuckling as they remembered Prices sense of humor and willingness to help his fellow firefighters, making their days brighter and jobs a little easier. Battalion Chief Pat Gallagher recalled meeting Price on his first day and watching the nervous new firefighter become the target of pranks from the rest of the group. They would tell him to take a seat, Gallagher said, then loudly complain that Price wasnt doing anything. He was told to do something, he did it, got yelled at for doing it and then did it again, Gallagher said. It was at that point in time that I knew Drew was not only going to fit in at the firehouse but that he was going to be a great fireman. Members of the station said Price was one of the hardest-working people there, always the first one at the firehouse. Price was the main driver for Truck 44, one of the most important and respected jobs at the station, said firefighter John Haring, who would ride with Price in the front seat. It was a position of leadership and respect, Haring said. And (Price) took all of that with so much pride. When driving on duty, Price was known for waving to kids up and down the streets of the Lincoln Park neighborhood, so much so that kids would see Truck 44 and wave before Price had the chance to initiate it, he said. Prices signature wave was the Mahalo hand gesture, a Hawaiian sign for gratitude. Theres a generation of kids in Lincoln Park right now that give that sign to Truck 44 all the time, Haring said. Prices brother, Jordan, called him a natural caretaker at heart who put the needs of others above his own. He lived with a wild sense of adventure, and often drew new people in, quickly becoming friends. Drew lived a life worth emulating, Jordan Price said. Price joined the Fire Department in 2009 and was an instructor at the academy. He was assigned to Truck No. 44 in 2015. He was the fourth firefighter to die in the line of duty in Chicago this year. Prices sister-in-law, Vanessa Mohr, started a GoFundMe to support his family, which has raised nearly $75,000. She wrote that Price was a devoted husband, son, brother, uncle and friend, who embodied a just chill life, always encouraging others to appreciate the little things. He taught us to love harder, act kinder, and search for joy in every moment, she wrote. After the service, uniformed firefighters gathered at the end of the pier to send off Truck 44. Chicago fireboats sprayed water in tribute and a department helicopter flew overhead. The sound of bagpipes cut through the rough wind as the truck drove down the pier and back to land. Chicago Tribunes Rebecca Johnson contributed. aguffey@chicagotribune.com mabuckley@chicagotribune.com The mother of a four-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis says being told her son can have a so-called "miracle drug" to prolong his life is a "Christmas gift". On Wednesday, the government's medicines agency extended the licence for the drugs Kaftrio and Kalydeco. Without it, doctors say Jesse, from Ingatestone, Essex, may not live to see his thirties. His mother Chloe said that Jesse could be on the drug within a few weeks, after tests are carried out. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) licensed the drug for children aged two to six, however, it would still need the green light from The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE said anyone eligible for treatment would be able to access it while the NICE appraisal was ongoing. Chloe says her son Jesse is an "inspiration" Chloe said she had received a phone call from staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, who said they wanted to start Jesse on the drug, Kaftrio, as soon as possible. He will undergo blood and lung tests on 5 December, with the hope of starting the drug the following week. She said: "We've been fighting for this for four years. The thought that Jesse is now starting this drug before Christmas is just incredible. What a Christmas gift." Kaftrio is already authorised for treating children aged six and over with a certain type of cystic fibrosis. The drug would be administered as a sachet of granules to be mixed with soft food. Jesse's strict daily routine sees his family get up early so he can take seven different types of medication and carry out physiotherapy and breathing exercises. It is hoped he will need less medication as he gets older. "His life could be changed overnight from just one tablet," Chloe previously said. A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said it has invested more than 1.1bn in research into rare diseases. They added: "It is vital that patients have access to new and innovative medicines like these, but the NHS must use its budget fairly and for the good of all patients." Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830 The far-right libertarian MP Javier Milei won Argentina's presidential election on Nov. 19 after a campaign in which he said he would seek to reduce ties to Russia and China, among other policy views that represented a break from the outgoing President Alberto Fernandez. Although Fernandez condemned Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he also said he would not send weapons to Ukraine and declined to join sanctions against Russia. Milei gained international attention for his incendiary comments and radical views, such as legalizing the sale of human organs and completely removing all gun laws. He has been compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump. At the same time, Milei has expressed support for Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. He wore a Ukrainian flag pin in parliament in March 2022 and said, "Those of us who defend the ideas of freedom cannot tolerate or accept an invasion like Russia has done to Ukraine." Milei also criticized the government of Argentina, characterizing its position towards the war as "weak" and saying that it is "complicit with the worst dictatorships in the land." The U.S. State Department said on Nov. 7 that Russia is financing an extensive disinformation campaign to promote its interests in Latin America, including in Argentina. Regarding Milei's election, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, "We noted a number of statements that Mr. Milei made during the election campaign, but we will focus on and judge him mainly by the statements that he makes after the inauguration." "We support the development of bilateral relations with Argentina," he added. Read also: Venezuelan opposition leader: Ukraine will never convince Latin, African autocrats Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Florida Atlantic student Jacob Askin spent the past two years researching and attempting to see one of the state's rarest and most beautiful animals the endangered Florida panther. It is the only cougar population in the Eastern United States with approximately 200 living within a range that includes the Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge as well as rural areas of Collier, Hendry, Lee, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Jacob shares the details of his work and how his dramatic encounter unfolded. *** Jacob Askin is a Florida Atlantic University junior majoring in biology. He spent two years seeking out the rarest of Florida's wildlife - the Florida panther. I'm a junior at Florida Atlantic University, a semi-urban campus notched within the crowds and busy roads of Boca Raton. It's easy to get caught up in the lifestyle of the city and campus life, forgetting that a completely different world is only 30 miles west of here. The area includes endless sawgrass marshes, cypress domes that tower above and forests teeming with wildlife. With its 1.5 million acres of natural beauty, the area has always lured me into unlocking its secrets. Growing up in Florida, I loved the outdoors. My passion for wilderness led me to work with state parks as an AmeriCorps member, where we removed invasive plants to keep the native ones safe. Ive traveled across the United States and Canada and have seen the beauty they both hold. But to me, nothing is quite like the Florida wildlife. Florida Atlantic student Jacob Askin's two-year quest to see a Florida panther came true when he came face-to-face with one of the state's big cats in September 2023. More: Orphaned Florida panther kittens thriving at Nassau County wildlife refuge More: The last of the four-petal pawpaw plants are in South Florida and need help to survive Ive spent hours exploring the Everglades, seeing crocodiles, gators, bobcats and coyotes. But there was one animal that had always eluded me the Florida panther. Known by many, but seen by few, it's one of two feline species in Florida and the only species of big cat west of the Mississippi River. With fewer than 200 roaming the land, it's highly unlikely youll encounter one. One day, sitting in my college dorm, I set a goal for myself. I would track down and see a Florida panther up close. Little did I know that this would take me on a nearly two-year-long journey. On the trail of the elusive Florida panther: Where are the best places to find them? The first step was to research and figure out the best places to look for them. The Florida panthers range is limited to mostly Southwest Florida. In September, Florida Atlantic University student Jacob Askin came face to face with a Florida panther at Fakahatchee Strand, near Naples. I began checking everything from random news articles and podcasts on panthers to Panther Pulse (a site that lists all panther causalities and depredations) to each sighting confirmed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Eventually, I narrowed it down to a few places the Florida Panther National Refuge, Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Picayune Strand State Forest and Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. But just because I knew where the panthers were didnt mean I would see them. Where the Florida panther is typically found (green indicates prominent areas). I visited those remote spots when I could and saw all of Florida's wildlife, including bears and owls, but never a panther. There were days where Id spend the entire day looking in the parks and all night slowly driving down the roads just hoping to catch a fleeting glimpse of a panther. Those days turned into months and months, then a year, but each day only reinforced my determination. This past Sept. 3, I decided to head back to Fakahatchee Strand, near Naples, one of my favorite spots. I got up at the usual 2:30 a.m. and drove 3 hours so I could get there as the sun rose. My plan this time was to find a nice dry trail, walk down it and hope for the best. Now that the wet season was in full force and everything was flooded, I figured if I were a panther, Id much rather stay on a nice dry trail than track through all that water. At around 9 a.m. I set off down a trail. As the hours of the day went on, the heat increased. Even with plenty of water, I got tired very quickly. I saw plenty of deer, a couple of hawks and a bear far off in the distance. Yet, once again, still no panther. I felt that day wasnt going to be the day. This embedded content is not available in your region. On the trail of the elusive Florida panther: 'It was just me and that panther face to face' I had walked 6 miles on the trail and was taking a rest when I saw this large figure appear out of the swamp. With a light brown coat and large tail, I knew instantly it was a Florida panther. There was this powerful rush of emotions it felt as if my whole world had stopped, and it was just me and that panther. I wasn't afraid, but I was shaking. It slowly walked down the trail with its head held high, looking up, seemingly unaware of my presence. Without even thinking, I had already begun recording with my camera. Mosquitos swarmed my face, but I did not care all I could think of was this magnificent creature. Once it got within 40 feet of me, it sensed my presence and locked its eyes with mine. There was this powerful rush of emotions. It felt as if my whole world had stopped, and it was just me and that panther. FAU student Jacob Askin describes his encounter with a Florida panther in September. 'The panther slowly walked down the trail with its head held high, looking up. The sun reflected off its light-colored fur giving it this beautiful glow.' Through its eyes, I saw the heart and soul of wild Florida. I saw its history, its beauty and its story. What seemed like an eternity lasted only a couple of seconds. Shortly after spotting me, the big cat took off, quickly disappearing into the trees. Two years of dedication had paid off. Two years for a moment that lasted only a few minutes, but will stick with me for a lifetime. On the trail of the elusive Florida panther: 'I sat down in disbelief of what had just happened' Starstruck, I sat down in disbelief at what had just happened. I couldnt stop smiling. Ive never felt so much pure joy. To see a glimpse of a panther is rare enough, but to see one up close and capture it on camera is truly unbelievable. After a while, I got back up, and as I turned around, I caught one last glimpse of the panther as it disappeared behind me. It was as though it was calling to me, telling me what my path in life should be. And yet, this story isnt about me; it's about the Florida panther. Its mystery set me off on an incredible journey. I not only learned a lot about the panthers behavior but also the impact it has on Florida. Shortly after sharing the news on social media, I was met with so many messages from all kinds of people. The Florida panther has such an important role in Florida. It is the states animal but it also serves as a symbol for the future of Florida and continues to be protected as an endangered animal under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The panther has survived every kind of persecution, from overhunting to disease to habitat destruction. Yet here they are, a symbol of hope, a symbol that wild Florida is still alive. Jacob Askin is a junior at Florida Atlantic University, majoring in biology. He wants to work with wildlife conservation or the Florida state parks after he graduates. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FAU student's two-year quest for Florida panther ends in rare sighting Federal loans to veteran-owned small businesses were up 14% last year, continuing a recent trend in growth for entrepreneurs in the military community, officials from the Small Business Administration announced Monday. The agency handed out more than $1.1 billion in support to more than 2,800 veteran companies in fiscal 2023, an increase of roughly 40% in funding and 33% in total loan numbers since 2020. From fiscal 2017 to fiscal 2020, officials had seen declines in those figures. SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman said in a statement that the uptick is both a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of our American heroes and the SBAs commitment to simplifying access, cutting red tape, and broadening our outreach network to meet the needs of entrepreneurs. The administration estimates that the country has about 1.9 million veteran-owned small businesses which employ about 5.5 million Americans, a small but significant portion of the countrys workforce. Veteran small business start-ups need more federal and community support, advocates say In June, President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing the SBA to develop more tools to help would-be veteran entrepreneurs and military spouses looking to start their own businesses. The agency this year has already announced plans to add six new Veteran Business Outreach Centers to their existing network of 22 sites. Guzman attended the opening ceremony of one new center in Long Beach, California, earlier this month as part of agency outreach efforts around Veterans Day. Another is set to open in Nevada before the end of the month. SBA officials in recent months have also launched a new SBA Veteran Business Certification program to connect service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses with more federal contracting opportunities, and expanded existing entrepreneurship training programs with a focus on women veterans and disabled veterans. More information on support services for veteran businesses is available on the SBA website. WASHINGTON Judges on a federal appeals court grilled prosecutors and lawyers for Donald Trump over a gag order in his trial on charges the former president conspired to overturn the 2020 election, wrangling over the difficulty of regulating political speech during a presidential campaign. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Trump on Oct. 16 not to comment about court staff, prosecutors or potential witnesses. Trump appealed, arguing the order violated the First Amendment because it would muzzle him while running for president in 2024. But Justice Department special counsel Jack Smiths team insisted the order is necessary to curb the potential for threats, harassment and intimidation of prosecutors and witnesses in the case. The three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals pointedly questioned Trumps demand for unrestricted speech so long as he doesnt violate criminal laws against threats. Trump lawyer John Sauer said the only restrictions should be on imminent threats of harassment or intimidation. But the judges also raised concerns about making the restrictions too strong because the trial, scheduled to begin March 4, will take place in the heat of the primary season. At one point, a government lawyer said Trump could call a potential witness untruthful but not a liar because that would impugn their credibility before the trial. Its a very difficult balance in this context, said Judge Patricia Ann Millett, who heard the case with Judges Cornelia Pillard and Bradley Garcia. Weve got to use a careful scalpel here and not step into really sort of skewing the political arena, dont we? The panel has lifted Chutkan's restrictions while the case is argued. Millett and Pillard were appointed by Barack Obama and Garcia by Joe Biden. The case involves one of two gag orders Trump is appealing, including one in his New York civil fraud trial. Both gag orders were lifted while the cases are argued. The federal case is significant because it could be Trump's first criminal trial out of four pending against him. President Donald Trump pumps his fist after speaking in the East Room of the White House, early Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Washington. Trump is already laying a sweeping set of policy goals should he win a second term as president. Priorities on the Republican's agenda include a mass deportation operation, a new Muslim ban and tariffs on all imported goods. What does Chutkan's gag order do? Trump faces four charges in the federal case: conspiracy to defraud the United States; two conspiracy counts for corruptly obstructing the certification of the election on Jan. 6, 2021; and conspiracy to violate people's right to have their votes counted. Trump has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors argued that while Trump isn't charged with inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection, the indictment "squarely alleges he is responsible" for the events of that day, when "lives were lost; blood was shed; portions of the Capitol building were badly damaged" and the lives of lawmakers and staffers were endangered. The special counsel's office asked for the gag order by arguing that Trump posted a public threat on social media three days after his indictment: IF YOU GO AFTER ME, IM COMING AFTER YOU! Smith's prosecutors said Trump had disparaged them as "deranged," "thugs" and "lunatics" and called the presiding judge a "fraud" and a "hack." And Trump has targeted potential witnesses, they said, including former Vice President Mike Pence as "delusional" and "not a very good person" and had said the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had done something so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! Chutkan ordered Trump not to comment on the court staff, prosecutors or potential witnesses. She said he could continue to criticize the Justice Department and political rivals such as Pence, a former rival for the GOP nomination. But Trump wants to comment to 100 million followers on social media about the judge, prosecutors and potential witnesses for what he calls a political prosecution. Chutkan had suspended her gag order for Trump's anticipated appeal. But she reinstated it before it was lifted on appeal when Trump posted on social media about his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, a potential witness against him. Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he arrives to testify for his civil business fraud trial at New York Supreme Court on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023 in New York City, NY. Mandatory Trump contends gag order creates a 'heckler's veto' against his presidential campaign Trump's campaign issued a statement Friday arguing the gag order allowed an unelected judge to censor a leading candidate for president weeks before the Iowa caucuses. "No court has ever upheld a gag order on core political speech at the height of a campaign," the statement said. "The unconstitutional Gag Order in the DC case should be speedily reversed." Trump's lawyers said the gag order prevented the GOP front-runner's political speech based on his viewpoint, which they argued was unconstitutional and amounted to a "heckler's veto" against criticism of public figures and matters of enormous public interest. "The First Amendment forbids this hecklers veto, and even if it were legally viable which it is not no convincing evidence supports it," Trump lawyer John Sauer wrote in a filing. Sauer added that a single judge shouldn't stand between Trump and his national audience. "The district court had no business inserting itself into the Presidential election, just weeks before the Iowa caucuses," Sauer wrote. "The First Amendment does not permit the district court to micromanage President Trumps core political speech, nor to dictate what speech is sufficiently 'general and what speech is too 'targeted' for the courts liking." 'No evidence at all of threats and harassment': Trump lawyer Sauer argued most of the evidence of Trump loyalists making threats based on his social media posts or speeches dated to 2020 and 2021. There is no evidence at all of threats and harassment in this case, Sauer said. The appeals judges questioned what it would take to restrict Trumps speech. Garcia asked whether the trial judges hands were tied until there was proof of witness intimidation. The atmosphere was very tense, Garcia said of the politics of 2020. As trial approaches, the atmosphere is going to be increasingly tense. Why does the District Court have to wait and see, and wait for the threats to come, rather than taking a reasonable action in advance? Sauder said the standard to restrict Trumps speech should be solid evidence that demonstrated an imminently impending threat, rather than mere speculation of how his loyalists might respond. Sauer said Trump has been posting on social media nonstop about the case since he was indicted and prosecutors havent traced any threats to the posts. The evidence we have now completely counteracts that inference because it is undisputed that President Trump has been posting about this case almost incessantly since the day it was filed and they havent come forward with a single threat thats even arguably inspired by any evidence in his social media posts, Sauer said. Special counsel Jack Smith speaks on Aug. 1, 2023, about the indictment against former President Donald Trump on conspiring to steal the 2020 election from President Joe Biden, including the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Court must balance free speech against fair trial: judge Millett asked Sauer for an example of language that would violate the court order without being a threat or harassment that could be prosecuted as a crime. Can you give me an example of some speech that is covered by your test that isnt already covered by the criminal law? Millett asked. Sauer said he couldnt think of an example immediately. I cannot think of a hypothetical that would not be a violation of the law, Sauer said. But Millett said the judges would have to balance Trumps First Amendment right to free speech against the constitutional responsibility to maintain the integrity of the trial. Labeling it core political speech begs the question of whether it is in fact political speech or whether it is political speech aimed at derailing or corrupting the criminal justice process, Millett said. We have to balance. Prosecutors urge appeals court to uphold gag order to prevent a 'smear campaign' Prosecutors urged the appeals court to uphold the gag order, to prevent threats and intimidation of court officials and potential witnesses. "In the defendants view, the likelihood that harassment, threats, and intimidation would foreseeably result from his targeting was 'totally irrelevant,'" prosecutors wrote. "But, like every other criminal defendant, he does not have 'carte blanche to vilify and implicitly encourage violence against public servants' and he may not 'launch a pretrial smear campaign against participating government staff, their families, and foreseeable witnesses,'" prosecutors added, quoting Chutkan. Government lawyer seeks to prevent Trump from trying case in media Cecil VanDevender, who argued for the prosecutors, said there had never been a case where such a prominent defendant incessantly posted messages to a national audience vilifying prosecutors and the judge, and calling potential witnesses liars and cowards. That alone would be sufficient for the District Court to act, VanDevender said. They are absolutely going to be chilled, he said of witnesses. But judges sounded skeptical that potential witnesses such as Milley or former Vice President Mike Pence or former Attorney General Bill Barr would be intimidated by Trumps social media posts. If Barr or Milley gave interviews critical of Trump, judges asked how Trump could be prevented from responding and questioning their credibility. I have to say they make a good point, Millett said of Trump's lawyers. VanDevender argued the term liar shouldnt be allowed because it could hurt their credibility with the jury. Thats trying the case in the media, he said. He suggested "untrue" or "untruthful" could be more appropriate. What he said was untrue and heres why, VanDevender suggested as appropriate language. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Appeals court weighs free speech, fair trial in Donald Trump gag order A federal appeals court issued a ruling Monday that could gut the Voting Rights Act, saying only the federal government not private citizens or civil rights groups is allowed to sue under a key section of the landmark civil rights law. The decision out of the 8th Circuit will almost certainly be appealed and is likely headed to the Supreme Court. Should it stand, it would mark a dramatic rollback of the enforcement of the law that led to increased minority power and representation in American politics. The appellate court ruled that there is no private right of action for Section 2 of the law which prohibits voting practices that discriminate on the basis of race. That, in practice, would severely limit the scope of the protections of Section 2. On paper, those protections are themselves unchanged by the ruling. But for decades, private parties including civil rights groups, individual voters and political parties have brought Section 2 challenges on everything from redistricting to voter ID requirements. After reviewing the text, history, and structure of the Voting Rights Act, the district court concluded that private parties cannot enforce Section 2, the judges wrote. The enforcement power belonged solely to the Attorney General of the United States. The majority opinion from the three-judge panel of the St. Louis-based 8th Circuit was authored by Judge David Stras an appointee of Donald Trump and joined by Judge Raymond Gruender, a George W. Bush appointee. Chief Judge Lavenski Smith, another Bush appointee, dissented. The ruling has put the Voting Rights Act in jeopardy, and is very cavalierly tossing aside critical protections that voters have very much fought and died for, said Sophia Lin Lakin, the director of the ACLUs Voting Rights Project, who argued the case in front of the appellate court. The decision originates in a racial gerrymandering case out of Arkansas, where the state chapter of the NAACP and others alleged that the states legislative districts violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting power of Black voters. A lower-court judge, also a Trump appointee, ruled in early 2022 that he couldnt decide the case on its merits because he found there was no private right of action that, effectively, they had no right to bring the lawsuit. On Monday, the circuit court affirmed that finding. The 8th Circuit covers Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Arkansas. Appeals courts covering other states have proactively found a private right of action, with the circuit split making it very likely the Supreme Court will weigh in. At least two Supreme Court justices have signaled an openness to the argument that non-governmental groups have no role in demanding enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. In a 2021 ruling that made it harder to win on Section 2 claims, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion that the court was explicitly not ruling on whether a private right exists. Our cases have assumed without deciding that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 furnishes that right, he wrote. Lower courts have treated this as an open question. Justice Clarence Thomas concurred with Gorsuchs opinion at the time. A decision to bar private challenges under the Voting Rights Act would reverse decades of legal practice. Outside groups have repeatedly brought successful Section 2 challenges, and litigate alleged violations of the law far more frequently than the federal government does. We're talking orders of magnitude of a difference in terms of enforcement of these rights, Lakin said. In a statement, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, celebrated the ruling. "For far too long, courts across the country have allowed political activists to file meritless lawsuits seeking to seize control of how states conduct elections and redistricting," he said. "This decision confirms that enforcement of the Voting Rights Act should be handled by politically accountable officials and not by outside special interest groups." While the Department of Justice can and under President Joe Biden, increasingly has brought Section 2 challenges, private groups have been the main drivers of these lawsuits. Its hard to overstate how important and detrimental this decision would be if allowed to stand, Rick Hasen, a prominent election law expert at UCLA Law School, wrote on Monday. If minority voters are going to continue to elect representatives of their choice, they are going to need private attorneys to bring those suits. Most recently, the Supreme Court sided this summer with a group of civil rights groups and individual voters who argued that Alabamas congressional maps likely violated the Voting Rights Act which led to the court-ordered creation of an additional majority-Black district next year. Thomas pointedly noted in his dissent in that case that the court had not addressed the private right of action question. Other federal courts have also recently considered and rejected the argument that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act does not have a private right of action. A ruling out of the 5th Circuit this month in a fight over Louisianas congressional lines noted that there has not been frequent need in the circuit courts to analyze the issue of a private right of action. The court there wrote that the Supreme Court has at times expressly noted the ability of private parties to bring lawsuits, and other circuits have found that that right exists explicitly. The 5th Circuit judges ultimately held that a private right exists. The immediate next step following Mondays ruling was not immediately clear. Legal experts expect the case to end up in front of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court could choose to hear an appeal directly, or the entirety of the 8th Circuit could weigh in on the case first. Lakin, the ACLU attorney, said early Monday afternoon that the challengers had not yet decided our next step of actions. But, she noted, the recent circuit split makes her believe the Supreme Court will be interested in taking up the case. Kate Schumacher in her office at Baird & Warner on Nov. 13, 2023, in Algonquin. Schumacher has been in real estate for 40 years. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) In the 40 years Kate Schumacher has worked as a real estate agent, homebuyers have rarely compensated her directly. Instead, the seller has picked up the tab. Yet, this year, the Baird & Warner agent based in Algonquin said she has already had two deals close where the seller did not cover all of her compensation: 2.5% of the selling price of the house. Both of her clients had to make up a .5% difference. One got the $1,315 covered by the seller in the closing costs, and the other paid Schumacher $3,575 in cash. Advertisement We have more and more sellers that are not contributing as much toward the buyers agent compensation, Schumacher said. Schumacher has long had buyers enter into buyer agency agreements, the contract between the buyer and their agent that states how the buyers agent will be paid, guaranteeing a certain amount if the seller only partially compensates the buyers agent or doesnt pay them at all. Advertisement Now, Baird & Warner and other local and national real estate firms are encouraging agents to use these contracts more frequently, saying its no longer assumed sellers will foot the bill for both the listing agent and the buyers agent as litigation surrounding the issue winds its way through court. Last month, a Missouri federal jury issued a landmark $1.8 billion verdict finding the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors and several large real estate brokerages conspired to artificially inflate commissions on home sales. The association has said it is appealing the verdict, while similar cases are ongoing in Illinois and Missouri. The litigation has the potential to significantly shake up the real estate industry. In Illinois, changes to home buying and selling were already underway before the jurys verdict. Jennifer Ames, an owner of real estate company Engel & Volkers Chicago, which is not involved in the litigation, said her company is in the process of revising its contracts to include how much a buyer will pay their agent. In the past, the commission was baked into the price of the home, Ames said. Now, it could be included as a credit in a buyers closing costs or the buyer might have to come up with additional cash on top of their down payment, she said. Going forward, it is going to be a little bit of a wild west, Ames said. [ National Association of Realtors CEO resigns amid new legal pressures ] Local real estate experts like Ames said they also foresee the potential for longer-term changes if more sellers stop paying buyers agents. Some prospective homebuyers could forgo hiring an agent altogether and risk getting a bad deal, they said. But, experts caution it is too soon to tell what the long-term effects will be. Kate Schumacher shows some of the important disclosure documents enclosed in every buyer's package given to her clients. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) The Missouri jurys Oct. 31 verdict comes as a federal court in Illinois gears up for a similar, yet potentially more costly, trial next year and as more lawsuits have been filed following the Missouri verdict. Real estate firms RE/MAX and Anywhere Real Estate (formerly known as Realogy Holdings Corp.) already agreed to settle both the recent Missouri and ongoing Illinois cases. Anywhere agreed to pay $83.5 million, and RE/MAX agreed to pay $55 million, though a court must still approve the settlement.. Advertisement As in the Missouri case, the Illinois suit alleges NAR artificially inflates broker fees by requiring seller agents to make a blanket offer of compensation for buyer agents when listing properties on local multiple listing services and by only giving access to the MLS to agents who agree to adhere to its rules. The compensation, set in advance, must be offered to every buyer agent regardless of their experience or the service they provide the buyer, the complaint alleges. The plaintiffs, a group of sellers, allege the system creates pressure on sellers to offer high commissions so buyers agents dont steer buyers away from their properties, according to the suit. While NAR argued in court filings that its rules allow the rates to be negotiated, Judge Andrea Wood said in her 2020 ruling rejecting the associations bid to dismiss the case that the rules make negotiation a practical impossibility. The suit, filed in 2019, was certified as a class action in March, representing sellers from 20 regions across the U.S. Plaintiffs attorneys estimate the amount of damages could reach $40 billion. The U.S. Department of Justice expressed interest in the case, which could go to trial as early as next year. Meanwhile, Midwest Real Estate Data, which runs the multiple listing service, or MLS, for northern Illinois, has amended its commission policy. The organization now allows users of the database to enter $0 or 0% into the commission field for agents for all listings, according to a September 2023 fact sheet. Previously, Midwest Real Estate Data required at least $1 to be entered into the commission field. Advertisement Though the change was made in response to the litigation against NAR and large brokerage firms, it had already been in the works by the time the Missouri jury rendered its verdict, which came down the same day the MLS change went into effect. Mantill Williams, the National Association of Realtors vice president of communications, told the Tribune in a statement that its rules prioritize consumers, support market-driven pricing and promote business competition, with the outcome of the Missouri trial not close to being final. NARs appeal will likely tie up the case for a couple more years. The jury verdict follows reported allegations of sexual harassment at NAR, which led to the resignation of former NAR President Kenny Parcell. NAR CEO Bob Goldberg announced his earlier than expected retirement shortly after the jury verdict. NAR declined to make its president, Tracy Kasper, available for an interview, citing the ongoing nature of the lawsuits. In a video following the verdict, Kasper encouraged NAR members to continue using agreements between sellers, buyers and their agents to explain what services they are providing and to dictate compensation. [ National Association of Realtors takes additional steps to address alleged workplace issues ] Real estate agents are typically compensated 5% to 6% of the purchase price of a house by the seller, an amount that usually gets split in half between the buyers agent and the sellers agent. Local real estate agents maintain the commission percentage has always been negotiable. And, as Ames noted, while the seller is paying the upfront costs, the payment is coming from the money the buyer is paying the seller for the house. Advertisement For the month of October, in the Chicago metro area, the typical home was worth $306,750, according to Zillow. For a $306,750 home, a 6% commission would be $18,405, or about $9,202 if split between the buyers and sellers agent. Alley Ballard, a real estate broker with @properties Christies International Real Estate one of the nations largest residential real estate firms and not one that was involved in the lawsuit said she has not seen commission rates drop from sellers yet on single-family homes or condos. Ballard said wealthier buyers will be able to afford to pay an agent, while poorer ones may go without one if the seller doesnt shoulder the cost. Therefore, they are left to tweeze apart value; they are left to negotiate on their end; they are basically left to their own defenses purchasing what is usually the most expensive thing that you can purchase in your life, the most important thing, Ballard said. Ballard, who has worked in Chicagos real estate industry for about 24 years, also thinks the properties of sellers who opt not to pay the buyers agent some who may be doing so because they are less financially stable will be overlooked. This is a lose-lose proposition, Ballard said. It cannot effectively help buyers or sellers. Advertisement In a policy update fact sheet sent out to agents, @properties said it would make policy changes in light of the verdict and would have new training available to help agents discuss commissions and representation. That includes buyer agency agreements. The recent verdict and ongoing litigation involving broker commissions will not alter the central mission of our brokerage, which is to serve our clients with the utmost fairness, integrity, fidelity and transparency, Thad Wong, co-CEO of @properties, said in a statement. @properties declined the Tribunes request to interview its CEOs. Real estate professionals such as Ballard say prospective homebuyers especially first-time buyers and low- to moderate-income buyers could be further hampered in an already challenging and unaffordable housing market by having to come up with more cash, in addition to a down payment. [ Chicago home sales down 11% in September, ending tepid summer housing market ] Heres my real worry: people that dont have a lot of money, said Laura Ellis, chief strategy officer and president of residential sales at Baird & Warner, which is not involved in the litigation. The economically disadvantaged will be further disadvantaged because they will have no one to help them, and they wont have the cash out of their pocket to pay an agent. One group of buyers that could face acute disadvantages if more sellers stop paying buyer brokers are veterans. Per the policy for VA-backed mortgages, veterans buying homes are not allowed to pay for an agents compensation. Advertisement In a statement to the Tribune, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said, VA has been closely monitoring litigation related to these sorts of charges and is working with internal and external stakeholders to evaluate the potential effects the litigation may have on Veterans and on VAs policies and procedures. Ames of Engel & Volkers said moving into the new year, sellers need to understand what their options are, and it is the job of real estate professionals to explain that. None of us can predict what will be the new norm, but the bottom line is in a couple of years, well settle into the new norm and continue with business as usual, Ames said. Jim Speta, a professor at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law who specializes in antitrust law, said there is still a long way to go to see how this all plays out, given appeals in antitrust cases take awhile since antitrust cases are notoriously complex. As for the trial that could take place in Illinois next year, Speta said while the recent verdict cannot set legal precedent for the future case, he thinks it will still affect the outcome. There is now this data point out there which is the jury was willing to find in favor of plaintiffs after the parties had litigated the case and that data point will encourage plaintiffs to push hard and should affect, at least preliminarily, the defendants assessment of their odds of defeating the Chicago case, Speta said. Advertisement ekane@chicagotribune.com Voting rights leaders have viewed the current conservative makeup of the Supreme Court as hostile to the Voting Rights Act. (The New York Times) (NYT) A federal appeals court on Monday moved to drastically weaken the Voting Rights Act, issuing a ruling that would effectively bar private citizens and civil rights groups from filing lawsuits under a central provision of the landmark civil rights law. The ruling, made by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, found that only the federal government could bring a legal challenge under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a crucial part of the law that prohibits election or voting practices that discriminate against Americans based on race. The opinion is almost certain to be appealed to the Supreme Court. The courts current conservative majority has issued several key decisions in recent years that have weakened the Voting Rights Act. But the justices have upheld the law in other instances, including in a June ruling that found Alabama had drawn a racially discriminatory congressional map. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Passed in 1965, the Voting Rights Act was one of the most significant achievements of the civil rights movement, undoing decades of discriminatory Jim Crow laws and protecting against egregious racial gerrymanders. But the law has been under legal assault almost since its inception, and court decisions through the years have hollowed out key provisions, including a requirement that states with a history of discrimination in voting obtain approval from the federal government before changing their voting laws. Mondays decision by the 8th Circuit, which centered on a case in Arkansas, found that the text of the Voting Rights Act did not explicitly contain language for a private right of action, or the right of private citizens to file lawsuits under the law. Therefore, the court found, the right to sue would effectively lie with the government alone. Should the ruling stand, it would remove perhaps the most important facet of the Voting Rights Act; the majority of challenges to discriminatory laws and racial gerrymanders have come from private citizens and civil rights groups. It will be a devastating near-death blow to the Voting Rights Act if it remains the law, said Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. Radical theories that would previously have been laughed out of court have been taken increasingly seriously by an increasingly radical judiciary. But Weiser said she would be surprised if this decision stands, based on decades of legal precedent and recent rulings by the Supreme Court. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has been at the heart of many civil rights and voting rights decisions. The case in the Supreme Courts ruling in June against Alabamas map was brought by a number of civil rights organizations. In 2013, the section was also used to challenge a strict voter identification law passed in Texas. Some conservative legal scholars heralded Mondays decision, saying it would prevent the Voting Rights Act from being used for political ends. Todays decision is a win for Arkansas and for the rule of law, said Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, a conservative group. The Voting Rights Act (VRA) remains intact as a tool to prevent actual discrimination and disenfranchisement. But the VRA is not, and was never intended to be, a partisan weapon against democratically enacted election integrity laws and redistricting practices. The current legal debate over who can bring Section 2 claims took a significant turn in February 2022, when Judge Lee Rudofsky, a district judge in eastern Arkansas appointed by then-President Donald Trump, found that only the Attorney General of the United States may bring suit to enforce Section 2. The decision was appealed to the 8th Circuit, which Monday issued a 2-1 ruling largely agreeing with the previous decision and finding that the law did not explicitly provide for a private right of action. Did Congress give private plaintiffs the ability to sue under [Section] 2 of the Voting Rights Act? wrote Judge David Stras, an appointee of Trumps. Text and structure reveal that the answer is no. Proponents of the law and its use by private citizens point to statements made by Congress in 1982, when the Voting Rights Act was amended. In a report that accompanied the changes to the law, the House and Senate Judiciary Committees said, It is intended that citizens have a private cause of action to enforce their rights under Section 2. The 8th Circuit rejected that argument in its Monday ruling, stating that the committees report does not point to a single word or phrase in the Voting Rights Act in support of the conclusion that a private right of action has existed from the beginning. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has faced legal challenges before. In 2021, the Supreme Court found that Section 2 could be used to strike down voting restrictions only when they imposed substantial and disproportionate burdens on minority voters. But the court left Section 2 intact, and it has remained a critical tool for civil rights groups, especially when challenging congressional and legislative district maps. The battle over voting rights has entered a pitched new phase since the 2020 election. After Trump tried to overturn the outcome with a campaign casting doubt on the integrity of the countrys electoral infrastructure, Republican-led state legislatures across the country passed laws adding new restrictions to voting. Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the Voting Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, who argued the appeal on behalf of the challengers, called Mondays ruling a travesty for democracy. For generations, private individuals have brought cases under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to protect their right to vote, she said in a statement. By failing to reverse the district courts radical decision, the 8th Circuit has put the Voting Rights Act in jeopardy, tossing aside critical protections that voters fought and died for. c.2023 The New York Times Company Washington High School teacher Alison Terhorst works with her students to decorate her classroom door for an annual contest on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 at Washington High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Terhorst is one of the many teachers in the Sioux Falls school district that is a part of the teacher pathway program. Editor's note: This is the second article in a five-part series, exploring South Dakotas teacher shortage and the myriad of ways school districts, colleges and the state are attempting to solve that teacher shortage. As the teacher shortage continues to be an issue citywide, statewide and nationally, school districts have to come up with creative solutions to get more teachers into classrooms. One of those unique strategies are grow-your-own programs like the Sioux Falls School Districts teacher pathway program, which allows high school students to take teaching courses for dual credit while in high school. Those dual credits are granted through the University of South Dakota, which reports 575 students have participated in teacher pathways so far, with enrollment increasing from the time it began with a cohort of 108 in 2018. As part of the two teacher pathways classes in high school, students get to visit schools across the district and gain a bit of student-teaching experience without the official title, then continue their teaching education in college after high school. South Dakota as a whole has seen an increase of 200 teacher job postings over the last five years, something experts say is driven by pay, politics and the pandemic, for example. Washington High School teacher Alison Terhorst works with her students to decorate her classroom door for an annual contest on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 at Washington High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Terhorst is one of the many teachers in the Sioux Falls school district that is a part of the teacher pathway program. More: Could another change in South Dakota's school funding formula be coming? There isnt reliable national data for tracking teacher vacancies, according to USA Today, but there is evidence of a teacher shortage. Amy Schweinle, Dean of the School of Education at USD, said teacher pathways students classroom experiences through the program show them they can teach by sitting with K-12 students, helping them read and assisting with whatever they need. Schweinle said USD is in discussions to expand the teacher pathway to program to districts other than Sioux Falls, too. "When they get into their field experience and they go to these elementary schools and start working directly with elementary kids... they realize, 'I can do this. I have a future. There's something I'm really good at, and it might be teaching,'" Schweinle said of teacher pathways students realizing their potential, and the impact of the program. "I think that makes for an amazing teacher, to have that past, to have that story." Alisa Larsen (right) credits two teachers with showing her the rewarding parts of education: Stephanie Baxa (left) at R.F. Pettigrew Elementary School, and Gina Benz (center) at Roosevelt High School. Larsen student-taught under Baxa this year, and Benz introduced Larsen to the teacher pathway program in the Sioux Falls School District. Sioux Falls students become Sioux Falls teachers Last year, the Sioux Falls School District made its first teacher pathway hire: Alisa Larsen, a teacher at Discovery Elementary School. She went through the program when it started in the 2018-2019 school year and finished her teaching degree early thanks to the program, AP courses and dual credit. More: Sioux Falls' teacher pathway program sees first hire within the district "I joined (the) teacher pathway because I wanted to be sure I was making the right choice to study education in college," Larsen said at the time. "That's exactly what this program solidified." Another of the first teacher pathway hires is Jeryn Mediger, who attended John Harris Elementary School, Memorial Middle School, Roosevelt High School and USD, and now works as a kindergarten teacher at John F. Kennedy Elementary School. Teaching runs in Medigers family. Her mom and sister both teach at John Harris Elementary School, and other distant family members teach, work as education assistants, secretaries or administrators in local schools. Mediger remembers learning more about classroom management, art and music integration, the history of education and more in her teacher pathways classes at RHS, and getting some of her first classroom experiences in the course as the class would get to visit Oscar Howe Elementary School once a week and work with elementary students on their projects. As part of her teaching residency through USD, Mediger student-taught at Cleveland Elementary School in Sioux Falls. Her student-teaching experience in an elementary classroom showed her the real-life applications of all the teaching skills she learned in a college classroom, she explained. Now in her first year as a teacher, Mediger said teaching is exactly like she thought it would be, but its also a little different than expected because she and her students build a community together in her classroom. Ive been in the classroom so much with my mom being a teacher that I knew what I was walking into, she said. Ive never seen kids get so excited to come in here every day, or have parents email me, (My child) had a great day today. Shes so excited to come back to school tomorrow. Washington High School teacher Alison Terhorst poses in her classroom on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 at Washington High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Terhorst is one of the many teachers in the Sioux Falls School District that is a part of the teacher pathway program. Teachers inspire their students to become teachers Alison Terhorst is one of four teachers in the district teaching the teacher pathways course in addition to her regular psychology classes. In her teacher pathways class at Washington High School, on the very first day, she asks her students about their why, or why they wanted to become a teacher. Usually, (a teacher) made a huge impact on their lives, and it makes them want to become a teacher, she said. For Larsen, it was her own teacher pathway teacher Gina Benz at Roosevelt High School, who she said showed her how rewarding teaching can be. For Mediger, it was all the teachers in her family she grew up admiring. Washington High School teacher Alison Terhorst works with her students to decorate her classroom door for an annual contest on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 at Washington High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Terhorst is one of the many teachers in the Sioux Falls school district that is a part of the teacher pathway program. In the rest of the teacher pathway classes, Terhorst covers topics like the history of American education, classroom management, lesson planning and implementation, and more. Students have to plan and teach a lesson to students at an elementary school each year as part of the course. Their lesson is observed by Terhorst, WHS principal Kari Papke, a teacher and principal at the elementary, and assistant superintendent Jamie Nold, Terhorst said, who each give feedback to the students on their lesson that focuses on their strengths. More: Volunteers, Sanford Health employees hand-knit blankets for veterans Terhorst said she initially wanted to be a school counselor but was encouraged to teach later on in her career. Now in her 18th year at WHS, she said she can sing the praises of teaching any day of the week. When I got in here, I was like, This is amazing. I just loved the relationships and the impact. It was very fulfilling and rewarding, to tell you the truth, Terhorst said. There are different currencies in life. I think we focus too much on the pay of a job, like what its going to give you, but thats only one of many currencies you can get in a job. Is it fulfilling? Are you doing something that youre passionate about? I feel like Im a world-changer, Terhorst added. If you're a teacher who has left the profession, we'd love to hear from you about why as we continue to report on this statewide issue. Email education reporter Morgan Matzen to reach out at mmatzen@argusleader.com. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: What inspires South Dakota students to become teachers themselves? Jose Ayala, 66, left, walks the picket line with fellow Unite Here Local 11 hotel workers in front of the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica in July. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Unite Here Local 11, the union representing hotel workers in Southern California who have been striking on and off for nearly five months, said it has reached a tentative contract agreement with Le Merigot Santa Monica. The contract will once its ratified raise wages, strengthen pensions and increase investments in healthcare for about 100 employees at Le Merigot,union spokesperson Maria Hernandez said. Le Merigot, a Marriott hotel, is the fifth property to reach a deal with the union. The first was the Westin Bonaventure, which reached a tentative deal just as contracts were set to expire June 30 for more than 15,000 hotel workers at some 60 properties in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The second was the Biltmore in downtown L.A.s financial district, which announced a deal in September. Last month, the union announced agreements with Loews Hollywood and Laguna Cliffs Marriott in Dana Point. We have now won standard-setting contracts in downtown L.A., Hollywood, Orange County and Santa Monica. There are no excuses for the rest. Workers deserve to share in the prosperity of the tourism industry," said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11. The union has declined to give specifics on wages and other economic details of the agreements it has reached thus far, and the contracts have not yet been put to a vote by workers. Keith Grossman, an attorney representing a group of more than 40 Southern California hotel owners and operators in talks with the union, did not respond to a request for comment. Peter Hillan, spokesperson for the Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles, said Le Merigot was not a member of the hotel group. Santa Monica hotels that are part of the coordinated bargaining group include Fairmont Miramar, Le Meridien Delfina, Courtyard by Marriott, Hampton Inn & Suites and the Viceroy, Hillan said. The union held a gathering with faith community leaders Thursday to discuss instances of violence against picketing hotel workers as well as the alleged exploitation of unhoused migrant workers brought in to replace striking workers at Le Meridien Delfina in Santa Monica. The event, held at St. Augustine By-the-Sea church in Santa Monica was attended by local leaders including former Los Angeles Councilman Mike Bonin and Santa Monica Human Services Commissioner Luis Barrera Castanon, the union said in a news release. The union also sent a letter last week to Santa Monica City Attorney Douglas T. Sloan urging the city to investigate possible violations of local laws by Le Meridien Delfina and other hotels that hired migrants as replacement workers. The letter notes potential violations of hourly wages below Santa Monica's minimum of $19.73 and failures to provide "panic buttons" for workers' safety and related training. The letter cites reporting by The Times that also prompted an investigation by Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascon. In the letter, the union said it has also requested that the California labor commissioner investigate the hotels and subcontractors compliance with state laws regarding itemized wage statements and lunch and rest breaks. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Marty Wilcox McCarthy has been renting out a few homes on Lake Norman in Lincoln County since 2015, and one of her rules is simple no partying. A trash system is also set up to keep the areas clean. My neighbors dont complain at all about my short-term rentals, she said. But thats not case for all homeowners in the Lake Norman area. Short-term rentals for Airbnb, VRBO and similar groups are becoming a concern with complaints about noise, fighting and trash left behind from visitors. Lincoln County officials are now looking at changing regulations because of the problem, which is a controversial issue for a number of counties in the Charlotte region. Renters in Rock Hill may also be impacted with Rock Hill City Council members strongly considering a zoning change in November. If approved, short-term rental owners would only be allowed to rent out homes in commercial areas. Property owners with rental sites in residential areas would have five years to continue business before having to comply with the new rules. Frustrated Lincoln County residents expressed their concerns about problems with short-term rentals during an October meeting with the board of commissioners. Maria Nahigian read a letter on behalf of the Wilcox family who live near a short-term rental. She said they called law enforcement about nudity and being confronted by someone from a large group of people renting from VRBO. As a property owner, compromise, sounds a lot better than banning for McCarthy. Workshops in Lincoln County were held with residents, officials, and short-term landlords to discuss the issue. Were just trying to be reasonable on both sides, McCarthy said. Its really just been a couple of bad apples that caused this whole issue to begin with. A proposed amendment to the countys Unified Development Ordinance would require rental owners like McCarthy to obtain zoning permits for short-term rentals. If the amendment passes, permits would be allowed only in residential districts. This home on Lake Norman is one of the short-term properties available in the area. Several counties are planning to make changes to rental policies for such homes. Finding a solution Joshua Grant, planning and inspections manager for Lincoln County, said the county has not had any rules and regulations for short-term rentals. Now, Lincoln County officials are considering changes while keeping the Schroeder v. city of Wilmington case in mind. The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled in favor of owners David and Peg Schroeder because the city was violating a state statute by requiring short-term rental operators to register their properties. The court also struck down a limit on the number of properties in certain parts of the city and requirement to keep rentals separated by a certain distance. Last year, Charlotte scrapped proposed regulations for short-term rentals in the Unified Development Ordinance because of the case in Wilmington. In Lincoln County, a task force was established in the fall to define what those standards should be. A majority of rentals in Lincoln County are vacation-type places owned by private landowners and managed through Airbnb. County staff provided standards for owners to follow, including weekly trash collections, and rules for required parking spaces and no large gatherings, Grant said. The work group hopes to finish by mid-December for a recommendation to be presented in January or February. Anglers enjoy fishing at Lake Norman. Lincoln and Iredell County officials are looking at making changes to short-term rental policies in the area. Regulations elsewhere in the region Iredell County introduced a similar amendment in October requiring owners to get permits for their rentals. The rule also limits the number of occupants in a rental at two people per bedroom, plus two additional guests. Permit changes go into effect Jan. 1, according to the countys short-term rental regulations. Union County ordinances do not allow short-term rentals in unincorporated areas of the county and Hembry Bridge. The planning department would follow up on any complaints related to short-term rentals, but the county does not get frequent complaints about them, spokeswoman Liz Cooper said in an email statement. Concerns in York County In York County, South Carolina, there wasnt a definition for short-term rentals before the codes were updated about couple of years ago. Such rentals werent allowed before the codes were updated. Jonathan Buono, planning and development services director, said York County took a toe in the water approach with regulating short-term rentals since it was new to the process. He said the county wasnt getting the volume of complaints that some of the Carolina coastal communities are getting. Its so popular and its such an embedded part of the economy that its creating a housing crunch, Buono said. Theres housing inventory that people arent living in and theyre just rented year-round. It raises the prices for anyone actually trying to live in those jurisdictions. Buono said the county doesnt have those problems when it come to short-term rentals. Having restrictions on the books is helpful for York County to point out issues through code enforcement, Buono said. But every once in a while, you get a party house that goes too far, he said. Rock Hill Council could keep Airbnb, VRBO rental listings out of neighborhood, residential areas of the South Carolina city with new rules. Several counties in the region are dealing with similar issues. The Finnish authorities may close all checkpoints that are still operating on Finlands land border with Russia due to the influx of illegal asylum seekers from Russia, local outlet Iltalehti reported on Nov. 20, citing sources. The decision may be made as early as Nov. 20, and the border crossings may be closed overnight on Nov. 21-22. Earlier, Finland decided to close the border crossings of Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala. Read also: Russias military expansion near Finnish border raises questions, but no immediate threat to Helsinki, say experts At the same time, Finland decided that asylum applications would be accepted only at the Vartius and Salla border crossings. Previously, Helsinki warned that Russians could transport illegal asylum seekers to Kostomuksha, near the Vartius border crossing. Later, it was reported that this had indeed happened. Therefore, the Finnish government decided to prepare for the possibility of closing the entire eastern border to send a strong message to Russia that Finland will not accept the use of migration as a means of pressure. Read also: Gas and communication lines damaged between Finland and Estonia, Swedes and Fins suspect Russia Intelligence reports indicate that the government has assessed that the Russian authorities are involved in the transportation of illegal asylum seekers to the Finnish border. According to the outlet, the Finnish government has concluded that the right to asylum guaranteed by international agreements has lost its relevance on the eastern border due to the actions of the Russian Federation. Finland should have the right to return illegal asylum seekers to Russia, which accepted them to its territory and most of whom had a residence permit in Russia, Iltalehti writes. However, the Finnish government believes it is unlikely that Russia will take people back. Overnight on Nov. 17-18, Finland closed four border crossing points located in the east along the border with Russia. The restrictions will be in effect until Feb. 18, 2024, but may be extended if necessary. Finnish border guards have reported that in recent months a large number of people without entry documents have tried to enter Finland through checkpoints on the southeastern border. On Nov. 19, Finland began erecting a temporary fence at the Vartius checkpoint near the border with Russia. The Finnish military was sent to help the border guards. 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 Finnish authorities may close the remaining checkpoints still operating on the land border with Russia on the night of 21-22 November 2023, because of Russia's use of illegal migrants as weapons. Source: European Pravda with reference to the Finnish news outlet IltaLehti Details: Sources said that the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo may decide on Monday that all checkpoints on the land border with Russia will be closed on the night of 21-22 November 2023. Last Thursday, Finland decided to close the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala border crossings due to a surge in illegal migration. They have been closed to traffic since Saturday. At the same time, Finland has decided that asylum applications will be accepted only at the Vartius and Salla border crossings. Earlier, Helsinki had stated that Russians could transport illegal asylum seekers to Kostomuksha, near the Vartius border crossing. Later, it became known that this had indeed happened. In this case, the Finnish government decided to prepare for the possibility of closing the entire eastern border so that Finland could send a strong message to Russia that it would not accept the use of migration as a means of pressure. According to available intelligence data, the government has assessed that the Russian authorities are involved in transporting illegal asylum seekers to the Finnish border. In the future, asylum applications will be available at Helsinki-Vantaan Airport. IltaLehti said the Finnish authorities had concluded that the right to apply for asylum guaranteed by international agreements had lost its relevance on the eastern border due to Russia's actions. Finland should have the right to return irregular asylum seekers to Russia, which has accepted them on its territory and most of whom had a residence permit in Russia. However, the Finnish government believes it is unlikely that Russia will take even one person back. Background: Finnish border guards previously reported that in recent months, an exceptionally large number of people without entry documents had tried to enter Finland through checkpoints on the southeastern border. Support UP or become our patron! Finland is making preparations for a total closure of its border with Russia, with the Finnish government posed to potentially make a decision on the matter on Nov. 20, the Finnish media outlet Iltalehti reported. If Finland decides to move forward with the plan, the border could be shut as early as Nov. 22. Finland closed four of its nine crossings along its eastern border from Nov. 17, 2023, to Feb. 18, 2024 to stop the flow of Middle Eastern and African migrants it says Moscow is purposefully ushering across the border, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters on Nov. 16. The Finnish Broadcasting Company said on Nov. 19 that the Finnish Defense Forces would begin constructing fences at a border crossing with Russia. "Finland has chosen the path of confrontation with Russia. From the Kremlins point of view, this is a big mistake," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Finnish authorities reported a spike in asylum seekers arriving at its eastern border on Nov. 12. The asylum seekers are foreigners who pass through Russia from third countries, such as Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Somalia. Finnish media also reported in September that Russia has been building up its military bases along the border with Finland. Finland's Borders Act allows the government to close a crossing point or restrict border traffic for a limited or indefinite period of time in order to prevent serious threats to national security or public health. Finland shut its border to Russian tourists in September 2022. A year later, Finland banned entry into the country for Russian-registered vehicles, the Finnish public broadcaster Yle reported on Sept. 15. Cars with Russian license plates that are already in Finland will have to leave the country within six months, by March 2024. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky replaces Medical Forces Commander Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. AUBURN HILLS, Mich.- - A fire broke out Sunday morning at Stellantis North America in Auburn Hills. At 8:23 am today, the Auburn Hills Fire Department responded to the 800 block of Chrysler Drive at Stellantis North America following reports of a vehicle on fire inside the building. Upon arrival, fire personnel discovered a live vehicle fire in the first-floor vehicle storage area of the testing center. The situation, however, was quickly contained after the activation of the fire suppression system, confining the blaze to its point of origin. Fire crews swiftly extinguished the remaining fire, employing a combination of dry chemical extinguishers and water. The investigation into the cause of the fire is underway. READ MORE: Detroit Police investigate two separate, unrelated double shootings on Saturday Car on back of vehicle at Portadown train station car park Businesses impacted by recent flooding in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area have until 17:00 GMT on Monday to apply for emergency funding. A one-off grant of 7,500 has been made available for eligible businesses. Applications must be submitted online, even if a business has previously provided details to the council. The UK government pledged 15m to help flood-hit firms in Northern Ireland to cover the clean-up and resume trading. But some have criticised the amount on offer, with one trade body saying that about 37m is needed for Newry alone. Affected business owners will also not have to pay rates until the end of March. Stormont's Department of Finance has said that more support will be available although it is not clear how much will be on offer or when it will be available. The Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon council fund is limited to one payment per business. If an individual owns several impacted businesses, each business will be considered on its own merit. A confidential advice phone line for individuals and families who have been impacted by flooding is now in operation on 0330 135 9733. Meanwhile, in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, there have been 288 applications for Flood Emergency Business Financial Support. More than 18 payments have been issued to date. A half century ago, Americans decided to no longer leave "survival of the fittest" to nature. Too many animals were dying at the hands of humans, including our nation's symbol the bald eagle. The Vietnam War and Watergate dominated headlines. America launched its first space station, Skylab, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The Yom Kippur War Egypt and Syria's surprise attack on Israel had just raged and passed. The Exorcist horrified audiences. But it was the loss of wildlife that also mortified America that year. People were fed up. The public sentiment and politics aligned. From that backdrop, on Dec. 28, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act, the most comprehensive conservation measure the world had ever seen, giving legal leverage to stop actions that kill or harm the nation's most vulnerable species. Florida stood at the epicenter, with many species protections that preceded the landmark law tracing their origins to the Sunshine State. A pair of Bald Eagles perch high in a pine tree in Viera Monday, October 16, 2023. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK But at 50, the Endangered Species Act is having a midlife crisis of sorts, especially in Florida. Green sea turtles grow like gangbusters. Alligators clawed their way back from oblivion. Meanwhile, scrub jays, gopher tortoises and barely known creatures such as the Titusville balm flower face seemingly insurmountable odds under the stress of more humans, pollution and global warming. Manatees thriving just six years ago now starve by the thousands. Cars continue to cull the few hundred Florida panthers left, as ships keep sinking the right whale. Seldom-seen coral gets bleached to oblivion in warmer seas. And forgotten species such as the tiny opossum pipefish battle constant toxic cocktails of pesticides and algae fueled by fertilizers and sewage. Some say the Endangered Species Act went too far, weaponizing animal rights over property rights and economic growth. Others see new threats mounting in Florida. Invaders such as the Burmese python and lionfish thrive at the expense of native species as habitats are bulldozed to make way for the 1,000 newcomers who move to Florida each day. On Jan. 31, 2020, a North Atlantic right whale was spotted in Port Canaveral. Image by Daniel Colmenares taken under research conducted by Blue World Research Institute scientists under NOAA Research Permit #15488-02. "We also guided the whale around because it was headed for Jetty Park, and we did not want the whale to go in the jetty because there were cruise ships heading out." Criteria: What's the difference between 'endangered' and 'threatened' species? Manatees: Famine sends Florida manatees back to the brink Meanwhile, conservationists and lawyers keep fighting for Florida's wildlife which economists say drives $5 billion in yearly economic activity armed with the best law in their arsenal. "I do think the Endangered Species Act is the most powerful of the federal environmental laws," said Lesley Blackner, a Palm Beach environmental attorney representing a nonprofit suing Florida for failing to protect manatees. That power to protect has been waning in recent years, though, as development pressures persist, and the politics of growth prevail. What does the Act do? No other country had ever introduced anything like the Endangered Species Act before. The law allows individuals or organizations to petition to have a species listed as endangered or threatened. If a scientific review agrees, the law requires protection of critical habitats and the development of a recovery plan for the species. Python around 12 feet long killed by Jay Strickland of Saint Cloud in southwest Brevard County. That was how the act saved the California condor, the bald eagle, the whooping crane, the manatee, and likely many others. Federal laws make states take their environmental efforts more seriously: The act is also the main reason we can no longer shine bright lights on the beach during sea turtle nesting season, or drive whenever and wherever we want on beaches in Volusia County. In the mid 1990s, advocates in Volusia County tapped the Endangered Species Act to force local officials to take steps to guard sea turtles as part of a court-mandated agreement that allowed the county to continue an age-old tradition of beach driving, but keeps vehicles off areas favored by nesting turtles and at night, when headlights can confuse hatchlings. Blackner litigated that case. Now, the proof is in the nesting. "These turtles are coming back in numbers we haven't seen in so many years," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams told FLORIDA TODAY during a mid-July visit to Melbourne Beach. The act also brought the legal muscle that made widespread slow-speed manatee zones possible. And it made it harder to build marinas and docks where manatees frequent, especially during mating season. Crocs and gators: Alligators, once nearly extinct, now flourish The wife of Paul Kroegel at Barker's Bluff in 1910. A large Ais Indian shell mound known as Barkers Bluff, it was located on the side of the Indian River and south of the small fishing community of Newhaven. In 1884 Newhaven would be renamed Sebastian and was part of Brevard County. Florida blazed trail to Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act spawned from cultural rumblings that began in the early 1900s about the increasingly obvious impacts humans were having on species such as the passenger pigeon, the whooping crane and the American bison. In 1900, the Lacey Act would become the first federal law to regulate commercial animal trade across state lines. Three years later, President Teddy Roosevelt would establish the nation's first wildlife refuge on a tiny mangrove island in Indian River County, Florida. Today's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge is where German immigrant Paul Kroegel stood in the way of poachers' livelihoods, shotgun in hand. He believed the birds had more value than the plumes that they were slaughtered for to grace women's hats. As the island's first warden for a salary of $1 a month, Kroegel risked his life when he paddled out to the tiny island with his gun. Activists may have lobbied but it was his courage and shotgun that saved the island's birds. Founding members of the Audubon Society also played a key role in lobbying for early laws to protect Florida's birds. A litany of federal laws later emerged in the 1930s and '40s to protect the migratory birds, right whales and bald eagles that once frequented Florida. A group of pelicans fly over the surf after sunrise Friday, July 7, 2023. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK Florida's center stage in species protection would culminate in the 1970s when scientists, lawyers and activists, such as longtime Florida resident "Nat" Reed, helped write the Endangered Species Act. Reed, raised in Greenwich, Connecticut and Hobe Sound, Florida, would become Assistant Secretary of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and would co-write the Act. He's also credited with helping to stop the use of DDT, an insecticide that caused reproductive problems in birds of prey like the bald eagle. Bald eagles bounce back Over time, the act began to pay dividends, with the bald eagle soaring highest among the law's successes, especially in Florida. Fifty years ago, the nation's symbol faced extinction throughout most of its range. People shot eagles and clear-cut their habitat. DDT, used to kill mosquitoes, also found its way into the eagles through the food chain causing reproductive problems. The Cape Canaveral area was an early testing ground for DDT. Workers building launch pads for the military couldn't endure the vicious assaults of aggressive salt marsh mosquitoes that swarmed in black clouds. There was a Space Race and a Cold War to win. Few knew DDT's downsides until Rachel Carson's seminal book, "Silent Spring," published in 1962. A pair of Bald Eagles perch high in a pine tree in Viera Monday, October 16, 2023. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK When the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973, only 88 active bald eagle nests remained in Florida, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The act protected eagle habitat. And a federal ban on DDT Florida did it first in 1972 and countless other conservation actions brought eagles back from the brink. By 2014, Florida had 1,500 nesting eagle pairs, making it one of the densest populations of nesting bald eagles in the lower 48 states. The bald eagle was removed from the Endangered Species List in 2007. But the act could only do so much. Some species fell through the cracks, breaking the hearts of birders and other wildlife lovers. Tragically, the act happened too late for the dusky seaside sparrow, another victim of DDT and wetlands destruction. The bird's numbers plummeted from the 1940s through the 1960s, after the ramped-up use of DDT on Merritt Island. One of the few existing specimens left of the extinct dusty seaside sparrow on display in a glass case at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center. In the mid 1950s, creation of water impoundment areas to manage mosquitoes with less DDT further destroyed the salt marsh habitat the bird relied upon. By 1987, the bird was gone. One of the last dusky seaside sparrows now perches stuffed in a glass case at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge's visitor's center, its beak agape, a reminder of how easily fragile species can be lost forever. Florida scrub jay: Threatened and politically controversial Florida panther: Florida's majestic panther still faces threats Sharks and alligators go tooth-to-tooth: When they fight, it gets ugly and bloody real quick Debts coming due While the Endangered Species Act paid dividends for Florida species, Pat Rose, of Save the Manatee Club, sees the ecological debts coming due for manatees and many other endangered species, as Florida's population continues to swell leading to more habitat destruction. "Putting profits over sustainability has caused Florida to mortgage its environmental future to the point that Mother Nature has begun to foreclose on large expanses of our aquatic and upland ecosystems that are also critical habitat for imperiled species like manatees, scrub jays and gopher tortoises," Rose said. "If we dont change our ways and make sustainability a requirement of Florida growth management, I fear we will have to file for environmental bankruptcy sooner rather than later." Others see the only potential "bankruptcies" coming from all the economic roadblocks of what they call the act's overreaches. "It was a good idea that has been misused, abused and mismanaged by the responsible agencies on some occasions," said Bob Atkins, president of Citizens for Florida's Waterways, a boating advocacy group in Brevard County, where most of the state's manatees live. "Unfortunately, because of over-regulation and political agenda, those agencies have become more bureaucratic than scientific." Blackner sees battles ahead to sustain the past 50 years of species gains in Florida but is confident that the Endangered Species Act's protections will continue to prevail. Like many of the species it protects, the act has a strong bite. "It has real teeth," Blackner said, "and that's why there's opposition to listing more species." Contact Jim Waymer at jwaymer@floridatoday.com. Support local journalism. Subscribe to your local USA Today Florida Network news site This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida echoes Endangered Species Act's 50 years of wins and losses Karyn Ashby, left, instructs Vernon Township resident Bonnie McNeill how to administer a Narcan dose during a community demonstration and information session Nov. 16, 2023 at the Vernon Township administration in Buffalo Grove. (H. Rick Bamman/Pioneer Press) Laura Fry was just finishing her hike through a Lake County forest preserve this past spring when she saw two people slumped over in a vehicle. Luckily, as executive director of Live4Lali, an overdose prevention advocacy organization, Fry always carries with her boxes of the opioid overdose antidote drug naloxone also known by brand name Narcan. Advertisement She called 9-1-1, and administered the nasal drug like Flonase just a firm spray into a nostril. Vernon Township Community Mental Health Board members Sally Thoren, from left, Sheila Sebor, President Noelle Moore and Carolyn Lewis, were in attendance for the Narcan community demonstration and information session Nov. 16, 2023 at the Vernon Township administration in Buffalo Grove. (H. Rick Bamman/Pioneer Press) Attendees of a Narcan community demonstration and information session Nov. 16, 2023 learned how to administer the opioid overdose antidote drug. The session was held at the Vernon Township administration in Buffalo Grove. (H. Rick Bamman/Pioneer Press) Laura Fry, executive director of Live4Lali, shows the contents of a basic needs bag to Vernon Township Community Mental Health Board members during a Narcan community demonstration and information session Nov. 16, 2023 at the Vernon Township administration in Buffalo Grove. (H. Rick Bamman/Pioneer Press) She recounted the incident Nov. 16 at a special community training session presented by the Lake County Opioid Task Force, where officials demonstrated how to administer Narcan. Advertisement Fry only knows that the pair she aided were a man and a woman possibly in their 30s: I have no idea who they were, and I will never see them again, she said. But it is believed she likely saved their lives. Fry and other addiction support advocates urge people to receive training on how to administer the potentially life-saving Narcan, which they call a miracle. Naloxone has been more readily available since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March approved the first over-the-counter naloxone nasal spray to help combat the nationwide opioid crisis. Members of the Lake County Opioid Task Forces A Way Out program conducted the opioid addiction education and training session at the event hosted by the Vernon Township Community Mental Health Board and held at the township office in Buffalo Grove. The free session, which was also open to the public, was funded by Live4Lali. The Mental Health Board wants as many people as possible to feel comfortable administering Narcan in the event they encounter someone who may be experiencing an overdose, Community Mental Health Board President Noelle Moore said in an email to Pioneer Press. This simple action saves lives. Arlington Heights-based Live4Lali works to reduce stigma and prevent substance use disorder among individuals, families, and communities, and minimize the overall health, legal and social harms associated with substance use, according to the nonprofit organizations website. Members of the mental health board asked various questions, wondering how they can help and wanting to do better getting the word out about the various resources available, as well as how to reduce the stigma surrounding substance use disorders and address root issues beyond treating the symptoms. Advertisement I think many people just dont understand substance abuse is an illness, said Sally Thoren, vice president of the mental health board member, as the group discussed overarching systemic issues including a lack of support and advocacy for mental health. We need to get to the root cause, Fry told the group that Thursday night. Using a substance is a symptom of something else. Currently, people wanting to get clean are running into many barriers, advocates say. From insufficient health and mental health coverage to long waiting lists to see professionals, there arent enough beds at detox centers and it can take months to see a therapist. I know kids in their 20s who have lost 50, 60 friends, Fry said. You cant go to that many funerals at 25 and be OK. You just cant. The actual administering training, using naloxone and rubber noses, came toward the end of the more than hour-long meeting that included health board members, other advocates and county experts. Discussion also centered on the opioid crisis in Lake County. The Vernon Township Mental Health Board, also known as the 708 board, was established last year after township voters approved a referendum. Advertisement In Lake County last year, there were 1.9 opioid overdose deaths per 10,000 people, and 6.3 nonfatal opioid overdose cases per 10,000, according to the county health department. In total, there were 402 opioid overdose-related emergency room visits in the county, of which 102 resulted in death, according to Lake County health department spokeswoman Emily Young. So far in 2023, Lake County has seen 114 overdose deaths, with 94 of them opioid-related, according to the Lake County Coroners Office. Advocates urge the public to request free boxes of the drug. You never know when youre going to be walking around and see someone slumped over, Fry said. Christine Won is a freelancer. A nine-hour manhunt ensued after the death of Pinellas Sheriffs Deputy Michael Hartwick. Three helicopters hovered above as deputies with bloodhounds searched for the driver of a front-end loader that struck and killed Hartwick as he directed traffic the night of Sept. 22, 2022. Hours later, one of the hounds detected the man they were seeking, hiding in brush: Juan Ariel Molina-Salles, a Honduran immigrant in the U.S. without legal authorization. For Gov. Ron DeSantis, the tragedy justified his policies cracking down on illegal immigration. We just had a sheriffs deputy from Pinellas County killed by a twice-deported illegal alien who came across the border illegally, DeSantis said in a gubernatorial debate a month later. I didnt hear any outrage about that. Immediately after Hartwicks death, DeSantis administration promised to conduct an internal review of its multimillion-dollar contract with the road-building company that employed Molina-Salles: Archer Western-de Moya Group Joint Venture. About a year later, the Tampa Bay Times asked Floridas Department of Transportation for all records pertaining to the states review, to see what the state had learned about how a man was hired to operate heavy machinery on a state road project even though he had no drivers license and, according to law enforcement, used a Social Security number that didnt belong to him. Reporters got back two pages. E-Verify was a DeSantis priority Since being elected governor in 2018, and in his current bid for the presidency, DeSantis has crafted a political brand around combatting illegal immigration. He first ran for governor promising that he would require employers to use a federal database called E-Verify to check whether new hires have the proper documents to legally work in the U.S. The proposal faced pushback from some Republicans, as well as the states construction, agriculture and tourism industries that often rely on the labor of people without legal status. In 2020, the Legislature passed a compromise bill expanding requirements for public employers and their contractors to use E-Verify. Earlier this year, two weeks before DeSantis announced his run for president, he signed a bill to require private businesses with at least 25 employees to do the same. Hes said the crackdown is needed for public safety, calling President Joe Bidens border policies reckless and dangerous. He has vowed, if elected president, that suspected cartel members would be shot stone-cold dead at the U.S.-Mexico border. A year before Hartwick was killed, DeSantis office took the unusual step of reaching out to reporters in Jacksonville to highlight a murder case there involving a 24-year-old Honduran man. This horrific crime is the latest example of how unfettered illegal migration costs Floridians lives, DeSantis said in a statement to News4Jax at the time. When the Pinellas County deputy was killed in September 2022, DeSantis office pledged to learn more about what happened. We are currently investigating the matter and looking to determine if illegal immigrants have utilized fraudulent information to obtain employment with contractors working with the State of Florida, the statement read. As we collect details and examine potential courses of action, we are reminded once again that illegal immigration is a serious and ongoing problem in the United States that has a multifaceted effect on Florida. A federal investigation begins The Pinellas case quickly raised questions about the contractors hiring practices. Molina-Salles would tell law enforcement that he struck the deputy by accident. He was charged with fleeing the scene of a crash involving a death, a felony, and has pleaded not guilty. One of Molina-Salles co-workers helped him escape, Pinellas County Sheriffs Office investigators found. That man, Elieser Aurelio Gomez-Zelaya, was also in the country without legal authorization. Gomez-Zelaya was charged with being an accessory after the fact in state court, and has pleaded not guilty. When deputies arrived at the site of the Florida Department of Transportations Gateway Expressway project on Interstate 275, they discovered that the majority of the workers on site were not in the country legally, Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a news conference at the time, saying it hindered the investigation because the workers were giving them fake names. Speaking to a room full of reporters, Gualtieri asked how a state contractor could hire unlicensed personnel to do such dangerous work. Weve got a dead deputy, he said. We got a guy who shouldnt be here. He shouldnt have been driving that thing. He shouldnt have fled. He shouldnt have done any of this and companies are out there doing that. Why are they doing it? Of course, that is a rhetorical question and Ill answer it: Theyre doing it because they are making money off of it. Gualtieri also highlighted the fact that Molina-Salles, in an interview with law enforcement not long after he was found, said that his employer didnt train him on how to drive the loader because he had experience operating similar machinery in Honduras. Molina-Salles also said that he never saw Hartwick before he hit him, in part because a light on the loaders roof was broken. The day after Hartwicks death, Jessica Ottaviano, a spokesperson for the state transportation department, told the Times that it appeared the contractor had followed proper hiring procedures of Molina-Salles and Gomez-Zelaya. She added that they cleared E-Verify. Still, Ottaviano said the department would do an internal review on this project contract. Meanwhile, the case drew the attention of the federal government. As Gualtieri later confirmed to the Times, his office started working with federal officials, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on an investigation of the contractor within days of Hartwicks death. So far, four construction workers, including Molina-Salles and Gomez-Zelaya, have been indicted on charges related to the use of other peoples Social Security numbers. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is helping in the federal investigation, according to a September news release announcing the indictments. But the state agency has not responded to multiple requests for information about the nature of its participation. At least one of the indicted men, Allan Oseas Gomez-Zelaya, is in negotiations for a plea deal with the federal government, according to an exchange between his defense lawyer, Jason Mayberry, and a prosecutor during a recent court hearing in Tampa. Plea deals can sometimes, though not always, indicate that a person is cooperating with authorities. The companies relationship with the state continues In the year since Hartwicks death, the state of Florida has continued to pay Archer Western-de Moya Group Joint Venture more than $38 million in taxpayer money, records show. The Gateway Expressway is a high-profile project that includes toll roads connecting U.S. 19 and I-275, plus widening the interstate to create toll lanes from south of Gandy Boulevard to Fourth Street North. The contractor is technically a partnership of two companies: The de Moya Group in Miami and Archer Western, a subsidiary of the Chicago-based Walsh Group. Neither company responded to emails and phone calls requesting comment. Archer Western has also been contracted by the state, along with another company, to build the new Howard Frankland Bridge. According to campaign finance records, the de Moya Group contributed $42,500 to DeSantis political committee for his two races for governor. At least two of the companys top executives have written checks to DeSantis presidential campaign. Archer Western has rarely given to any individual candidates in Florida. Neither the company nor its parent corporation has given directly to DeSantis campaigns for governor or president. But Archer Western has contributed tens of thousands in recent years to a Florida Transportation Builders Association political committee, which in turn has donated more than $280,000 to DeSantis bids for governor. The association is the primary lobbying group in Tallahassee for road builders. The governors office did not respond to emailed questions for this story, including about the transportation departments review or whether DeSantis was still confident in E-Verify as a tool to enforce the immigration crackdown laws he has pushed. A year later, state officials say two pages confirmation sheets from the E-Verify system confirming both men had passed the check make up the entirety of the Department of Transportations internal review of the project contract with the Archer Western-de Moya Group Joint Venture that it promised after the incident. Those two pages confirm what the state had already said publicly a day after the 2022 incident when it pledged to conduct the review. Michael Williams, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation, confirmed no additional records related to the internal review existed because it consisted of confirming the men had passed E-Verify. The department found Archer-Western complied with their contractual obligations to comply with federal law and the review was closed, he said in a statement. Williams added that the department is not an investigative body and the question of whether the two men were using false identification was better suited for law enforcement. Gualtieri said he understands that the Florida Department of Transportation is very limited because it does not have the same investigative tools that law enforcement does. Thats of course what the investigation on our side is trying to uncover: Who, if anyone, and at what levels within the company had knowledge of it, Gualtieri said, referencing the hiring of workers without legal immigration status. Two months ago, the Florida Transportation Builders Association announced a slate of Best in Construction awards for various projects around the state. The winners are chosen from nominations by the Florida Department of Transportation. Archer Western and the de Moya Group were among the 14 winners. Read the full story on The Auto Wire Florida Police Troll Guy Who Fled Illegal Street Race And Left His Phone Were dying laughing after police in Hialeah, Florida used a guys phone he dropped while running from an illegal gathering as officers descended to troll him on social media. Thats right, it looks like Sergeant Miller took a cheesy selfie with the phone of Instagram user neighborhood_joee and posted it along with a message of where to surrender to police. Watch a street racer run from police and wreck himself out. This went down on the night of November 19. So far we dont know if Mr. neighborhood_joee or should we say Joseph Hall has turned himself in to answer for his crimes. But we do know he has some sick, and by sick we mean they make us sick, wheels on his Dodge Charger Scat Pack. Theres a debate about whether the 392 badge is the owners credit score or not. We dont know if thats true, but sure as hell can testify its not anywhere near their IQ. Dropping ones unlocked phone or even worse a phone without a security lock while fleeing from an illegal street race event is just dumber than dumb. But it gets even better. Mr. Hall has several videos portraying himself and others participating in other street races and assorted illegal or questionably legal events. Were sure the police are very interested in those posts plus whatever is on the guys phone to which they appear to have full access. We know this guys real name because he brilliantly linked his Instagram and Facebook accounts. According to the latter, Mr. Hall lives in Fort Lauderdale and is from Hollywood, Florida. He apparently went to Florida State University (go Noles!) and appears to love wearing ski masks/balaclavas as well as taking ill-advised shirtless selfies. Oh and ladies, in case you were wondering, he has his status set to single so youre in luck! Nobody ever accused street racers of being smart or particularly clever, especially the older guys who just keep doing it, but this really takes the cake. Mr. Hall has handed over all kinds of evidence to police and were wondering if he thinks he can just disappear now. Also, weve taken screen captures of some of his social media posts in case he tries make it all private or deleting everything later. The internet has a memory that lasts forever. Andrew Young had a special relationship with the Carter Family. Former President Jimmy Carter appointed Young as Ambassador to the United Nations during his administration. I dont know a more devoted couple, said Young. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Young, who was also a former Atlanta mayor, said his friendship with former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter started years ago, while he was a U.N. Ambassador. She was the first presidents wife that I know of that regularly sat in on cabinet meetings. She took notes and Im sure she discussed it with her husband when it was over, said Young. Young said she was a woman of very few words but when she spoke, former President Carter listened. She was always there. She was very supportive. She was very candid. She didnt hesitate to disagree with him or challenge him. It forced him to rethink some things and it forced him to be more sensitive than others, said Young. Young said she worked hard on a lot of things from Habitat for Humanity to mental health. RELATED STORIES: Dr. Bernice King with the King Center released this statement: The King Center and King family mourn the loss of Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, a remarkable woman. Mrs. Carter was a powerful and strong force in President Carters life and was often his most ardent advisor on many of the issues facing our nation during and after his presidency. Our founder and my mother, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, shared a special relationship with Mrs. Carter around issues impacting women, especially the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1988, Mrs. Carter, my mother, my aunt Dr. Christine King Farris, and 12 other Georgia women co-founded the Georgia Chapter of The International Womens Forum (IFW), an organization initially formed to identify and nurture local female leadership. Young believes Mrs. Carter will ultimately be remembered as, A great woman and a wonderful wife, you cant ask for much more than that. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: FILE - Britain's prime Minister Boris Johnson, centre, Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty, left, and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance speak hold a press conference at Downing Street on the government's coronavirus action plan in London, Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Johnson, the former British prime minister, struggled to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic, according to his then chief scientific advisor. In keenly awaited testimony Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 to the countrys public inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic, Patrick Vallance said he and others faced repeated problems getting Johnson to understand the science. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, Pool, File) LONDON (AP) Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, struggled to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic, his chief scientific adviser said Monday. In keenly awaited testimony to the countrys public inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic, Patrick Vallance said he and others faced repeated problems getting Johnson to understand the science and that he changed his mind on numerous occasions. I think Im right in saying that the prime minister gave up science at 15," he said. I think hed be the first to admit it wasnt his forte and that he struggled with the concepts and we did need to repeat them often. Extracts from Vallace's mostly contemporaneous diary of the time were relayed to the inquiry. In them, he wrote that Johnson was often bamboozled by the graphs and data and that watching him get his head round stats is awful." During the pandemic, Vallance was a highly visible presence in the U.K. He and the chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, regularly flanked Johnson at the daily COVID-19 press briefings given from the prime minister's offices on Downing Street. Vallance, who stepped down from his role as the British government's chief scientific adviser earlier this year, said Johnson's struggles were not unique and that many leaders had problems in understanding the scientific evidence and advice, especially in the first stages of the pandemic in early 2020. He recalled a meeting of European scientific advisers where one country leader was said to have problems with exponential curves and the telephone call burst into laughter, because it was true in every country. Johnson was hospitalized with the virus in April 2020 less than two weeks after he put the country into lockdown for the first time. Vallance conceded the prime minister was unable to concentrate on things when he was really unwell but that after his recuperation there was no obvious change between him and what he was like beforehand. The U.K. has one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls in Europe, with the virus recorded as a cause of death for more than 232,000 people. Johnson, who was forced to step down as prime minister in September 2022 following revelations of lockdown rule-breaking parties at his Downing Street residence during the pandemic, is due to address the inquiry before Christmas. The probe, led by retired Judge Heather Hallett, is expected to take three years to complete, though interim assessments are set to be published. Johnson agreed in late 2021 to hold a public inquiry after heavy pressure from bereaved families, who have hit out at the evidence emerging about his actions. The inquiry is divided into four so-called modules, with the current phase focusing on political decision-making around major developments, such as the timing of lockdowns. The first stage, which concluded in July, looked at the countrys preparedness for the pandemic. The inquiry is set to hear from current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was Johnson's Treasury chief at the time and as such had a particular focus on the economic impacts of Britain's lockdowns. When he does appear at the inquiry, Sunak is likely to face questioning about his Eat Out to Help Out initiative, which sought to encourage nervous customers back to restaurants in August 2020 as the first set of lockdown restrictions were being eased and before subsequent lockdowns were enacted. Vallance said scientists weren't aware of the restaurant program until it was announced and that the messaging around it ran opposite to the need to limit mixing between households. I think it would have been very obvious to anyone that this inevitably would cause an increase in transmission risk," Vallance said. Soon after, positive cases started rising and the government came under huge pressure to institute a second national lockdown, something Johnson eventually announced at the end of October 2020. The inquiry was shown a diary entry Vallance wrote before that lockdown and which referred to Dominic Cummings, Johnson's chief political adviser at the time, saying that Sunak thinks just let people die and thats OK." When asked about the diary entry, the prime minister's spokesman, Max Blain, said Sunak would set out his position when he gives evidence to the inquiry. Im sure the public will understand the importance of listening to all the evidence of the inquiry before coming to a conclusion," Blain said. ___ Associated Press journalist Jill Lawless contributed to this report. The Michigan home of U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, who is Jewish, was defaced with "Nazi" graffiti. A picture of the tagging was posted online by Emanuel's friend, former adviser to President Obama David Axelrod, who denounced the antisemitic attack. The picture shows a wooden fence outside Emanuel's Michigan home vandalized with the word "Nazis." HISTORIC RISE IN ANTISEMITISM HAS AMERICAN JEWS ON EDGE: GENERATIONAL CHALLENGE "This was scrawled on the fence outside the MI home of [Emanuel]," Axelrod wrote on X. "It's despicable. It's disgusting," Axelrod wrote. "It's just one more flashing red light." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Stop the hate. Stop the antisemitism and Islamophobia," he continued, warning "We know where it leads!" Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago as well as Obama's former chief of staff, was nominated to be U.S. ambassador to Japan by President Biden in 2021 and assumed his post in March 2022. His father, pediatrician Benjamin Emanuel, immigrated to the U.S. from Israel with $13 in his pocket and set up a successful medical practice, the Chicago Sun-Times reported in 2019. Former United Nations Human Rights Commission Delegate Jeffrey Robbins responded to Axelrod's post, warning that, unfortunately, "it is no longer where it leads." "Sadly, we are there," Robbins wrote. Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment. Emanuel told local press that his "family is very proud of how our friends, neighbors and the community have rallied to our support and in a singular voice in condemning hatred and bigotry." Emanuel also thanked "local law enforcement for their diligence, swiftness and seriousness in which they have addressed this crime." The graffiti comes amid an uptick in antisemitism across America following the deadly Oct. 7 surprise terror attacks in Israel by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. The graffiti comes amid an uptick in antisemitism across America following the deadly Oct. 7 surprise terror attacks in Israel by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. Carolyn Normandin, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in Michigan, told Fox News Digital about the situation on the ground in her state. "We typically get [reports of] two to three incidents a week. In three weeks between Oct. 7 and Oct. 21, we got 61 [reports]," Normandin said. She was hesitant to label this a more than 600% increase in reporting, noting there have been duplicate reports of identical incidents. Nationwide, the ADL reported that antisemitic incidents rose 388% over the same period last year. In addition to a number of threats delivered over social media, Normandin said her office has vetted and responded to in-person attacks. In one incident, rocks were thrown at Michigan Jews. In another, an individual called a doctors office and made threats related to the conflict in Israel against a Jewish physician. Fox News Digital's Beth Bailey contributed reporting. Original article source: Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home tagged with 'Nazi' graffiti While the Dupree School District is not affiliated with the tribe, it sits within the formal boundaries of the Cheyenne River Reservation. Further complicating the issue is the fact that not all of Dupree is tribal land. The exact area the school sits on is not tribal land. Three Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe officials are being challenged in federal court for banning two former Dupree educators after allegations of child abuse. In a Nov. 3 complaint filed in the United States District Court for The District of South Dakota, longtime teacher Sarah Shaff and superintendent Keith Fodness challenged their banishment by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. On Aug. 18, 2023, Shaff was formally excluded or banned from the reservation after allegations of child abuse were made by two tribal members. Fodness and the Dupree Elementary School Principal Cindy Lindskow were banished for allegedly failing to report allegations of child abuse. The Cheyenne River Detectives Division completed its investigation and referred it to the Pierre FBI office. Tribal court records show three individuals were allegedly found to have violated the terms and conditions under which non-tribal citizens are allowed to enter and exit the reservation. It is unclear if any of the educators have been charged. Represented by attorney Jason Rumpca, Shaff and Fodness launched a lawsuit against Chief Tribal Judge Brenda Claymore, Judge Margaret Egan and Cheyenne River Police Chief Charles Red Crow. All three were sued in their official capacities. Rumpca declined to comment. The attorney representing the tribe did not respond to a request for comment. While the Dupree School District is not affiliated with the tribe, it sits within the formal boundaries of the Cheyenne River Reservation. Further complicating the issue is the fact that not all of Dupree is tribal land. The exact area the school sits on is not tribal land. Like many other reservations, the land was broken up and checkerboarded by the 1887 General Allotment Act (Dawes Act). After dividing the reservation into plots, the excess land was sold to private non-tribal owners for homesteading, and in 25 years tribal members could sell their plots to anyone. The Cheyenne River Reservation boundaries seen today were defined in 1889. But by 1974, the tribe owned only half of the original 2.8 million acres, which remained in trust for the tribe or individual tribal members. Checkerboarding makes it difficult to distinguish what is or isnt tribal land, like Dupree. As such, the Nov. 3 complaint argues that the tribe did not have the right to ban the employees from Dupree. The claim alleges that the school does not sit on reservation land, but it does sit within the external boundaries of the reservation. While the tribe doesnt have the authority to bring criminal charges against non-Natives, it would turn over its findings to the FBI for further action if evidence of child abuse is found to have occurred. This means that the tribe wouldnt have the power to try any of the named individuals in criminal court, but non-Natives can be tried in civil court. In September, Lindskow's ban was reversed in civil court on the basis that she owned private property on the reservation. While all three had tried to challenge their banishment, only Lindskow was successful. Fodness had argued that since he also occupied a home on the reservation, his banishment should be overturned. But his occupation at his residence was on the basis that he was a permanent employee. As part of his employment, Fodness was required to live in housing provided by the School District. Because of this distinction, Cheyenne River Tribal Judge Margaret Egan chose not to reverse the ban on Shaff or Fodness. Fodness was still required to leave his home in Dupree. Allegations made known Parents of the children who were allegedly abused, Lance Frazier and Harold Hollow, filed a complaint in April 2023 in tribal court. The same allegations were reported to law enforcement officials from both the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Ziebach County in October 2022. The alleged abuse began in the 2021-2022 school year and continued through mid-October of the 2022-2023 school year. According to the Aug. 18 Emergency Petition to Exclude, Shaff allegedly intimidated, bullied and struck children in her classroom. Shaff would allegedly throw treats on the ground and command students to fetch them like dogs. The petition acknowledged that the school district is a state-operated school; however, it argues that due to the location of the school, a majority of students are tribal citizens or the children of enrolled tribal citizens. Nearly 90% of the population of Dupree is Native American. Both Frazier and Hollow, the parents of the allegedly abused children, are tribal citizens. If she is allowed to remain on the reservation, she will continue to intimidate, bully, and abuse minor children in her classroom, the petition said. The banishment petition claims Fodness was made aware of abuse allegations against both Frazier and Hollow but failed to report those allegations to the state. In April 2023, Frazier and Hollow filed a civil complaint in tribal court seeking $1.2 million and/or $1 million in punitive damages for emotional distress, mental anguish and racial profiling, defamation of character. However, Frazier and Hollow filed a Voluntary Dismissal of their civil complaint in August 2023. On July 12, the tribal council voted in a special session to banish the three educators from the reservation. The issue at hand As a sovereign nation, tribes are allowed to exclude or ban people from reservation lands. According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, tribes possess the right to regulate activities within their jurisdiction, which includes the banishment of persons, Native or non-Native, from tribal lands. Banning isnt uncommon on reservations, both for organizations and individuals. In 2022, the Oglala Sioux Tribe banned a Christian missionary group Jesus is King from the Pine Ridge Reservation, and in 2019, the tribe banned South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, though her banishment has since been reversed. Additionally, while tribally operated criminal courts cannot prosecute non-Native individuals, tribal civil courts can. Fodness and Shaffs banishment trials were both held in civil court. Shaff and Fodnesss lawsuit also references Montana v. U.S., a 1981 landmark decision that states that, in most cases, tribes do not have legal jurisdiction over the activities of non-tribal members. The complaint claims that as non-Native, non-tribal members, the tribal court does not have jurisdiction over them except in emergency circumstances. Rumpca argues that emergency circumstances were not met in this case. The complaint states that Shaff and Fodness face irreparable injury as they havent been able to perform job responsibilities and in Fodness case have been forced out of their homes. The complaint seeks to prohibit Red Crow from enforcing the tribal courts unlawful exclusion order and to prohibit Egan and Claymore from maintaining the Tribal Court Civil Action against Shaff and Fodness. On November 8, Chief Judge Robert Lange filed an order regarding a motion for a hearing. A copy was sent to the tribes counsel, Lillian M. Alvemaz. This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Former Dupree School District Employees launch lawsuit over banishment First lady Rosalynn Carter visits the District of Columbia General Hospital in Washington, May 16, 1978. Carter died in her home Sunday, six months after it was announced she had been diagnosed with dementia. | Cook, Associated Press Former first lady Rosalynn Carter died in her home Sunday peacefully, with family by her side, at age 96, The Carter Center announced. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden released a joint statement Sunday in response, saying Carter walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way. First Lady Rosalynn Carter walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way. My love is with the entire Carter family, as they, and we, grieve our dearest Rosalynn. Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) November 19, 2023 Time and time again, during the more than four decades of our friendship through rigors of campaigns, through the darkness of deep and profound loss we always felt the hope, warmth, and optimism of Rosalynn Carter. She will always be in our hearts, the statement reads. On behalf of a grateful nation, we send our love to President Carter, the entire Carter family, and the countless people across our nation and the world whose lives are better, fuller, and brighter because of the life and legacy of Rosalynn Carter. Former first ladies react to the death of Rosalynn Carter Other former first ladies also paid tribute to Carter on Sunday. Former first lady Melania Trump stated on social media, Rosalynn Carter leaves behind a meaningful legacy not only as First Lady but as a wife and mother. We will always remember her servants heart and devotion to her husband, family, and country. May she rest in peace. Rosalynn Carter leaves behind a meaningful legacy not only as First Lady but as a wife and mother. We will always remember her servants heart and devotion to her husband, family, and country. May she rest in peace. MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) November 19, 2023 Former first lady Michelle Obama remembered Carter visiting her for lunch at the White House and offering her advice. She reminded me to make the role of First Lady my own, just like she did. Ill always remain grateful for her support and her generosity, she wrote. Today, Barack and I join the world in celebrating the remarkable legacy of a First Lady, philanthropist, and advocate who dedicated her life to lifting up others. You learn very quickly that there is no handbook or rules to being First Lady. Technically, its not even an official position. And while there are spoken and unspoken expectations that provide some structure, the role is largely shaped by the passions and aspirations of the pic.twitter.com/MDOVk8NtR1 Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) November 19, 2023 In a joint statement, former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush paid tribute to Carter, calling her a woman of dignity and strength. She leaves behind an important legacy in her work to destigmatize mental health, the statement reads. We join our fellow citizens in sending our condolences to President Carter and their family. STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND MRS. @laurawbush ON FORMER FIRST LADY ROSALYNN CARTER: pic.twitter.com/5PTkYstNCT George W. Bush Presidential Center (@TheBushCenter) November 19, 2023 Former President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton also released a joint statement in response to the news of Carters death, calling her a compassionate and committed champion of human dignity everywhere. Related Rosalynn will be forever remembered as the embodiment of a life lived with purpose, the statement reads. Hillary and I are deeply grateful for her extraordinary service to our nation and world, and for more than forty years of friendship. Rosalynn Carter was the embodiment of a life lived with purpose. My and Hillarys full statement: pic.twitter.com/VJHfc8oLh4 Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) November 19, 2023 Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, a long-standing advocate for mental health, caregiving, and womens rights, died at her home in Plains, Ga., on Sunday at the age of 96. She had recently entered hospice care, a fact announced just this past Friday by The Carter Center. In a press release issued by The Carter Center announcing her death, former President Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, reflected fondly on his wifes life and their time together. Rosalynn was my partner in everything, he said. Her wisdom and support were my constant companions. Related: Jimmy Carter, an LGBTQ+ Ally, to Begin Receiving Hospice Care In May, the Center revealed Carters battle with dementia, though it did not provide further details about her health. Her death comes after Jimmy Carters own transition to home hospice care in February following several hospital stays. Their marriage of 77 years marked the Carters as one of the longest-married presidential couples. Carter is survived by her children Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy and 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, the Centers statement notes. The family had previously mourned the loss of a grandson in 2015. Remembering his mother, Chip Carter said, My mother was more than a loving mother and First Lady. Her dedication to mental health and caregiving has left a profound impact on society. The Carter Center said that information on funeral arrangements will be forthcoming. Judges read out the verdicts on hundreds of Italians linked to the feared 'Ndrangheta Mafia - Valeria Ferraro/AP A former MP and a senior police commander were among more than 200 people sentenced to a total of 2,200 years in prison at the culmination of Italys biggest Mafia trial for more than 30 years. Politicians, businessmen and a former member of the Italian secret services were also convicted, showing the deep level of collusion between the Calabrian Ndrangheta Mafia and white-collar elements of the economy and the state. The infiltration of the criminal organisation in the province of Vibo Valentia was so deep-rooted and so widespread, so alarming, so disturbing that that there was no aspect of the social and economic fabric of the province that was not conditioned by this dangerous criminal organisation, said Vincenzo Capomolla, a deputy chief prosecutor from Calabria. Society of men of honour It took a panel of three female judges an hour and 40 minutes to read out the sentences against more than 330 defendants, who had been on trial since January 2021 accused of a wide range of crimes, from murder and arms trafficking to extortion, loan sharking, drug trafficking and money laundering. Prosecutors had asked for prison sentences totalling 4,744 years. Around 130 defendants were acquitted. The long-running trial offered unparalleled insight into the workings of the Ndrangheta, a word derived from Greek which means society of men of honour. Officials listen to the verdicts in the court in Lamezia Terme, southern Italy - Valeria Ferraro/AP The judges were told how mafiosi would intimidate rivals or victims of extortion by dumping on their doorstep goat heads, dead puppies and on one occasion, a dead dolphin. The court heard how ambulances were used to transport drugs, council water supplies were diverted to irrigate fields of marijuana and weapons were hidden in cemeteries. The defendants boasted a colourful assortment of nicknames, from The Wolf and The Musician to Fatty, Shorty, Sweety, Mimmo the Baron and Giuseppe the Stick. Among those found guilty was a former lieutenant colonel in Italys paramilitary police force, the Carabinieri, and a former MP from Forza Italia, the centre-Right party that was founded by the late Silvio Berlusconi. The politician, Giancarlo Pittelli, a lawyer and a Mason, was sentenced to 11 years behind bars. Around a dozen Mafia dons were given prison sentences of up to 30 years. They included Pasquale Bonavota, who was on the list of Italys most dangerous fugitives and who received a jail sentence of 28 years. The investigation was spearheaded by Italys best-known prosecutor, Nicola Gratteri, who has lived under police protection for three decades. Todays ruling means a whole province of Calabria has been liberated from the top brass of the criminal group, he said. This courtroom should be filled with citizens In the courtroom to see the sentences delivered was Rocco Mangiardi, 67, a local businessman and one of the first to denounce the Ndrangheta for extortion, in 2009. Mr Mangiardi, who has lived under police protection ever since, lamented the low turnout for the trials most important moment. This courtroom should be filled with citizens, he said. To show the judges that were on their side and then to tell the mafiosi with their presence: We dont want you. The specially built courthouse before sentencing began - Valeria Ferraro/AP The trial was so big that a special courthouse had to be constructed inside a former call centre in Lamezia Terme, a town in Calabria, the southern region which has been the Ndranghetas stronghold for nearly two centuries. The court complex was large enough to accommodate not just the defendants, but hundreds of prosecutors, defence lawyers, court officials and journalists. The trial stemmed from raids conducted by elite police units in December 2019 in which around 300 suspects were arrested, not just in Italy but also in Germany, Switzerland and Bulgaria. The operation involved a specialist, helicopter-borne Carabinieri regiment called the Cacciatori the Hunters. The trial largely involved members of the Mancuso family, one of many clans that make up the Ndrangheta, which controls the province of Vibo Valentia on the west coast of Calabria. The alleged head of the clan, Luigi The Supreme Mancuso, 69, was removed from the maxi-trial last year and is being tried separately. Another 67 defendants in the original indictment opted for a fast-track trial and have already been sentenced. While it will by no means mean the death of the Ndrangheta, it was nevertheless significant, experts said. Sons and daughters turned against their families The trial was very important because it gives a strong message that the state is willing to combat the Ndrangheta, said Antonio Nicaso, a mafia expert and author whose books include The Secret History of the Ndrangheta. Much of the evidence came from pentiti, the sons and daughters of Mafia dons who decided to turn against their families and collaborate with the authorities, despite knowing that such betrayal puts them under a death sentence from relatives. This had never happened before in Calabria, Mr Nicaso told The Telegraph. There were six or seven adult children of mafiosi who decided to collaborate. This is totally new. Until now, the Ndrangheta has been hard to penetrate because of its reliance on blood bonds and family connections to maintain a system of omerta or silence, he said. The fact that this has happened will weaken the image and reputation of the Ndrangheta. They would do anything to defend their criminal brand. One of the most important turncoats was Luigi Mancusos nephew, Emanuele Mancuso. He told investigators he decided to do the unthinkable inform on his family - after his girlfriend became pregnant. He did not want his first child to grow up in the atmosphere of fear and criminality in which he had been raised. He now lives under state protection in a secret location. There were many pentiti who decided to collaborate with the state, said Giuseppe Borrello from the anti-Mafia organisation Libera. Renowned criminal organisation The Ndrangheta has always been renowned as one of the strongest criminal organisations because there were so few collaborators with the judicial authorities. This trial was an important outcome. The Ndrangheta has spread far beyond its Calabrian roots and now has interests across the world, from Canada and South America to Australia. It is believed to have an annual income of around 50 billion (44 billion), much of which is made from the cocaine trade and is said to control around 80 per cent of the cocaine trafficking business in Europe. The profits from the drug trade are invested in legitimate businesses such as supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, food markets and car dealerships. It is considered to have eclipsed Italys two other principal mafias Cosa Nostra in Sicily and the Camorra of Naples. And it is renowned for its brutality a businesswoman from Calabria was reportedly murdered and fed to pigs in 2016 after refusing to sell her land to a man with Ndrangheta connections. Court president Brigida Cavasino, flanked by fellow judges Claudia Caputo, left, and Germana Radice - Valeria Ferraro/AP Experts say the Ndranghetas stranglehold on Calabria is explained in part by the chronic lack of economic development and neglect of the region, which forms the toe of the Italian boot. The rate of unemployment among young people is 27 per cent, the highest of Italys 20 regions and worse than other deprived areas such as Campania, Sicily and Puglia. A confidential briefing paper by the American embassy in Rome, which was leaked through WikiLeaks in 2011, declared: If it were not part of Italy, Calabria would be a failed state. Region blighted by ineffective politicians American diplomats said the region was blighted by ineffective politicians, an acute lack of resources and an almost non-existent civil society. Much of the regions industry collapsed over a decade ago, leaving environmental and economic ruin, the report said. The diplomats said that Calabria was beset by seemingly intractable problems and that in one province in particular, organised crime seems to control almost every facet of society. Mafia organisations like the Ndrangheta operate like a parallel state. If you need a job, the clan finds you one in half an hour, Emanuele Mancuso told GQ magazine. Convictions wont bring down criminal network The state doesnt find you one. If your car is stolen and you go to the police, they might find it in a month or two, in the very best-case scenario. With the clan, its a quarter of an hour. Thats the power that they have. The convictions will be a blow to the criminal network but will not bring it down, given its deep roots and its presence in more than 50 countries around the world. This was not a trial that will eliminate the Ndrangheta. To do that you need to liberate the region of fear. Its a cultural phenomenon, you need to change the mentality. You also need to invest in the region you need better schools, lower unemployment, to restore peoples faith in the state. You cant tackle the Ndrangheta just by clapping them in handcuffs and putting them on trial, said Mr Nicaso. 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. HINGHAM Twenty-two more former patients of a Norwell pediatrician have come forward to accuse him of sexual assault, a prosecutor said during the former doctor's arraignment Monday in Hingham District Court. Twenty women and two girls are among the new accusers who say former Dr. Richard Kauff, of Norwell, assaulted them, Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Beth Kusmin told Judge Heather Bradley. Kusmin said the number of allegations "has been growing exponentially" since the original charges became public, and that "it could keep growing." "We anticipate dozens more similar charges," she said. Bail for Kauff was set at $50,000. He was ordered to stay away from the accusers and medical facilities in Norwell and Kingston, where he practiced. He can't have unsupervised contact with anyone under 16, including family members, and must surrender his passport and not leave the state without prior approval. He has already relinquished his medical license. Norwell pediatrician Dr. Richard Kauff is taken from court after his arraignment in Hingham District Court on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, on charges of sexual assault as a result of complaints from former patients. Kauff denies charges against him Kauff "adamantly denies the charges," his lawyer said in court. The lawyer, Kelli Lea Porges, said that as she sat with her client in the court's lobby, three people approached Kauff to shake his hand and voice their support. She described Kauff as "a lifelong member of the community." Porges objected to the prosecution's request for $100,000 bail and an order that Kauff wear a GPS monitoring device. She said Kauff is no longer employed and can no longer earn income. "Is he supposed to mortgage his home?" she said. Bradley did not order Kauff to wear the monitoring device. Porges said there is no reason to presume Kauff won't abide by the various stay-away orders that are part of his bail conditions. She said Kauff would post the $50,000 bail set by Bradley. Kauff, 68, was charged Nov. 2 with 12 felony counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and four felony counts of rape of a child with force involving two former patients. Defense attorney Kelli Porges, left, and her client, Norwell pediatrician Dr. Richard Kauff, listen to the charges during his arraignment in Hingham District Court on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, on charges of sexual assault as a result of complaints from former patients. Potential life sentence for Kauff, prosecutor says In arguing for $100,000 bail, Kusmin said that if convicted of any one of the four felony rape charges, Kauff would spend the rest of his life in prison. The charges stem from statements made to Norwell police by two former patients, both female, who said Kauff abused and digitally raped them during annual physical exams at South Shore Medical Center's old location of 75 Washington St. in Norwell. The charges refer to dates spanning from November 1991 to August 2004. The women, who were interviewed separately, told police Kauff abused them beginning when they were 7 and 8 years old, respectively, until they left pediatric care when they were about 18 or 19 years old. More: Norwell pediatrician facing rape charges has a change in his medical license status The allegations surfaced after one of the women spoke to her therapist about Kauff. The therapist advised the woman to contact police, according to the police report. On Oct. 4, she wrote an anonymous post on a Facebook group called South Shore Mamas asking if it was normal for a doctor to digitally penetrate patients during routine checkups, the police report said. A second woman responded to the post, saying she had similar experiences at annual physicals when she was a child. In the exchange that followed, the women discovered they had the same pediatrician, Dr. Kauff at South Shore Medical Center in Norwell. More: South Shore pediatrician charged with sexually assaulting children for years The women had never met or spoken to each other before, according to the police report. Both women told police that the penetration occurred after Kauff had them lie down on an exam table. Both reported that Kauff would tell them to count to three just before inserting his fingers, telling them that "it's like a rocket ship." Neither woman had complained about vaginal ailments or issues to Kauff, the police report says. Parents sometimes in Kauff's exam room, blocked from view The women said Kauff abused them even when their parents were in the examination room. They said he would use his large frame to block their parents' view of what he was doing on the exam table, according to the police report. Detectives visited Kauff at his Norwell home Oct. 11 and informed him about the allegations. The police report says Kauff became "extremely upset" and said he had practiced medicine for 40 years without an issue. After he was charged, he entered into a "voluntary agreement not to practice" with the state Board of Registration in Medicine. Kauff's next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 11. District attorney Cruz encourages potential victims to contact Norwell or Kingston police District Attorney Timothy Cruz speaks about the case outside the Hingham courthouse Monday. After the arraignment, Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz spoke with reporters outside the courthouse. He encouraged anyone with further information related to the case to contact Norwell or Kingston police, the two towns where Kauff practiced for decades. Cruz said he welcomed the media presence at the arraignment, saying the 20 women and two girls who came forward with additional allegations against Kauff did so after seeing reports in the media. Cruz called the women courageous for coming forward with experiences that they likely have struggled with throughout their lives, and encouraged others to do the same. More: Norwell pediatrician accused of sexual abuse. How to protect kids at the doctor's office "Please come forward," he said. "We're here to help. "It doesn't matter if it happened 10 days ago, 10 years ago or 30 years ago," Cruz said, referring to the age of the allegations, some of which date back more than 30 years. He said there are always legal challenges with any case. "We have the burden of proof," he said. He likened the case to sex to similar prosecutions against the Boston archdiocese. He said some of those were "very, very old cases," adding that the statute of limitations in Massachusetts has changed over the past 20 years. Judge Heather Bradley listens to bail requests during the arraignment of Norwell pediatrician Dr. Richard Kauff in Hingham District Court on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, on charges of sexual assault as a result of complaints from former patients. South Shore Health statement on Kauff South Shore Health released the following statement Nov. 7: "We are deeply concerned by what we have heard reported in the media. We are taking this very seriously and will cooperate fully with any investigation. At this point, our focus is on how to best assist and support all of our patients, families and staff. We are also prepared to help the young women who have come forward with charges against this physician, a former pediatrician who is no longer affiliated with South Shore Medical Center, and will always be prepared to help any of our current or former patients." Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer. This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: 22 more ex-patients say Norwell pediatrician sexually assaulted them China greenlights Mastercard JV for bank card clearing operations Xinhua) 08:54, November 20, 2023 File photo shows the headquarters of the People's Bank of China in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Cai Yang) BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank on Sunday announced that it and the National Financial Regulatory Administration have approved an application by Mastercard's Chinese joint venture to conduct bank card clearing operations in the country. Mastercard NUCC Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd, a joint venture of Mastercard and NetsUnion Clearing Corporation (NUCC), could authorize its member institutions to issue "MasterCard" branded Yuan bank cards in China, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC). Mastercard is the second overseas bank card clearing institution to enter the Chinese market. In 2020, China's central bank approved an application by American Express' Chinese joint venture to conduct such business in the country. The decision demonstrates China's determination to open wider to the outside world, insiders said. The PBOC said it would promote work on the bank card clearing market access in an orderly manner, while improving the regulatory system to balance development and security. Experts noted that the move is conducive to building a stable bank card clearing market structure with effective competition and deepening the supply-side structural reform of the payment industry. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Wu Chaolan) The seat of the Calumet City city engineer sits empty during a City Council meeting Nov. 9, 2023. Normally, someone from Farnsworth such as Ken Chastain would be seated here. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune) Farnsworth Group, the engineering and architecture firm appointed by Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones to be the city engineer, plays an integral role in helping the city select what firms should win publicly funded construction contracts. But a monthslong investigation into Calumet Citys spending habits shows the firm also wins a large portion of engineering and architecture contracts, leading to questions of a possible conflict of interest. Advertisement Farnsworth was selected by Jones, who is also a state representative, to take over the role of city engineer from Robinson Engineering, the firm used by his predecessor, Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush. Since May 1, 2021, part of Farnsworths duties include assisting the bid selection process for construction projects in Calumet City. Advertisement (For) the construction contracts, we would help the city put it out for bid and then we would help vet the bids and then we would say this is the qualified lowest bidder, Farnsworth senior manager Ken Chastain said during an Aug. 17 interview. Farnsworth also submits bids for engineering and architecture work that their firm specializes in, though it does not bid on construction projects. We help the staff with the technical information so that they can go out and solicit qualifications from professional firms like Farnsworth Group, Chastain said. But not necessarily us. Chastain confirmed Farnsworth is in the running for some of the contracts for which they provide technical information. We have to compete, he said. The Daily Southtown obtained records that show from May 2021, when Farnsworth was appointed, until late August 2023, when the documents were requested, the city has spent $2.64 million on engineering and architecture work. Of this sum, $2.06 million, or 78%, has gone to Farnsworth. This figure appears to include both the bid consulting and the professional services work, although the split between the two roles is unclear in the figures. Chastain and the citys spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment and clarification on this point. Five other firms have shared the remaining 22% of the architecture and engineering spending. The second highest earning firm which received $306,618 or 11.6% of the total is Mott McDonald. Matt Buerger, now a senior engineering manager at Farnsworth, was a senior project manager at Mott McDonald until January 2022, according to a 2020 presentation and his LinkedIn. Advertisement Of the 144 items of architectural and engineering spending on work conducted by Farnsworth, 32 items were for more than $25,000. Illinois law requires municipalities with fewer than 500,000 people to have an open advertising process before a City Council selects the lowest viable bid for work more than $25,000, unless the council votes to waive the advertising process. In the August interview, Chastain said the bid selection process of contracts for which Farnsworth competes is very transparent. We have no contract to do projects without the City Council, you know, deliberating and voting on it, he said. (City Council has) a committee that reviews those professional firms and then the city staff reviews it. They give a recommendation to the City Council and the City Council chooses. But First Ward Ald. Michael Navarrete, 2nd Ward Ald. Monet Wilson, 6th Ward Ald. James Patton and City Clerk Nyota Figgs say a transparent bid process is not taking place. The first time that we find out about a lot of things is when it appears on a City Council agenda, Patton said. Some contracts do go out to bid through a formal process. For other contracts, the bid process is waived for a good reason, although Navarrete said the bid waiving process will sometimes occur without City Councils knowledge. Advertisement Calumet City 1st Ward Alderman Michael Navarrete participates in a City Council meeting Nov. 9, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune) For some other contracts, aldermen say City Council learns who received the bid when it appears on the monthly list of bills to vote on, after the contractor has already been selected. Our city engineers, who are appointed, they do a lot of things that we dont hear about until after the fact when we see the bills, Navarrete said. We should know what our engineering firm is doing and we should be on the same path. This process is different from when Robinson Engineering was the city engineer, said Patton, who worked for the city during the previous administration under a variety of titles including director of purchasing and personnel. He said when bids were sought for contracts or the city sought a certain service, the bids would be advertised in the newspaper. The bids would have to be submitted to the city clerks office by a certain time on a certain day and then there would be a public bid opening, Patton said. The department head for whatever services were needed would recommend a bid to the mayor and explain the recommendation. City Council, informed of the process each step of the way, would then make the final vote, he said. In this administration none of that happens, as far as I know, Patton said. Certainly, the council is never informed of who the lowest bidder is or any of the information relating to the bid process at all. Advertisement Figgs, who was the city clerk under the previous mayor and city engineer, said Robinson would at times be hired to do some jobs as well as consult. But she said they were not winning contracts at the same frequency and it was stated more explicitly when Robinson received bids. She also described that when the city sought bids from other firms, sealed bids were opened publicly and then discussed by City Council. Robinson did not manage the process in the same way that Farnsworth does now, she explained. The City Council occasionally pushes back on the lack of transparency. In one recent instance, after publishing a request for proposal to construct a bike path, Navarrete says he was struck to see that on May 12, Farnsworth was awarded the contract to build the path despite the City Council not being engaged in the firm selection process. He asked about the decision making that went into choosing Farnsworth. What he found was Farnsworth received credit for being the firm that best knew how the city infrastructure was set up because they are the city engineers. This caused two minority owned firms to lose out on what figures show was $62,692.68 over two payments, according to Navarrete and public records. To do an asphalt bike path, you dont need to know Calumet Citys infrastructure, he said. How is any other firm ever going to win? Navarrete disclosed he worked for one of these two minority firms until 2020. He asked to keep their names anonymous. Advertisement Calumet City 6th Ward Alderman James Patton at a City Council meeting Nov. 9, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune) The three aldermen who most frequently question the contract award process do have a say on whether these contracts get awarded. But there are seven people on council which sometimes puts them in the minority. And there are other reasons why sometimes there is a hesitancy to question the process including the fear there will be retaliation from the administration. Patton says his business suffered when, in 2021, he lodged a complaint against a city attorney and Jones emailed colleagues in the state house warning them not to use Pattons consulting business. Patton says this email caused him to lose three clients. Every time I try to do something, its impacted my personal life. Its impacted my professional life, he said. There are seven of us there that are elected to do a job. Patton, Wilson and Figgs have other personal, legal and political issues with the Jones administration and the city. Patton lost an effort to challenge Jones viability to be both state representative and mayor. Jones is under federal investigation involving use of campaign funds, in part because Patton and others filed complaints. Wilson has voiced her opposition to his administration and lost to Jones in the 2022 Democratic primary for state representative in a landslide, according to Illinois State Board of Elections. Patton supported Wilson in that race. Advertisement Figgs has filed lawsuits against Jones including one accusing him of removing some of her duties. The city has sued Figgs for allegedly destroying public records. Chastain, Buerger, Jones, 3rd Ward Ald. DeAndre Tillman, 7th Ward Ald. Anthony Smith and representatives for Mott McDonald and Robinson Engineering also did not respond to multiple attempts to seek comment on the spending, and 5th Ward Ald. Dejaun Gardner referred questions to spokesman Sean Howard. Howard did not respond to requests for comment. 4th Ward Ald. Ramonde Williams said he was not as familiar about the process that went into awarding contracts. I have life outside of City Council so I dont read absolutely everything ... as far as contracts, Williams said. He said his expertise is in public safety, given his job as chief of police for South Suburban College. He said the bid envelopes are opened publicly as they were when Robinson was the city engineer. But he declined to provide any evidence of this, saying I have a day job. The Daily Southtown attempted to receive evidence of the bid and advertising processes being followed. Calumet City responded Monday to a Sept. 28 Freedom of Information Act request for the bid process of three of Farnsworths most lucrative jobs, saying there were no records of other firms bidding for the work or a reason the bid process was waived for the projects, which were all worth more than $25,000. Advertisement They shouldnt be running the process, Patton said of Farnsworth. Nobody outside of the city administration should be running the process. 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 > Navarrete also said Farnsworths work itself is not the issue, calling them a very capable firm. But the main issue is how the contracts get awarded. John Jackson, a visiting professor at the Paul Simon Institute at Southern Illinois University, reviewed the described process and said he believes the relationship between Farnsworth and the city government is problematic. I think the average citizen would see this as something of a conflict of interest because this company, Farnsworth, seems to be playing two roles, Jackson said. It seems to me you play either one or the other role but you cant play both without there being at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. Jackson also said the City Council should have a more hands-on say in which bids to select instead of voting on whether to pay a predetermined dollar amount. There could be benefits to having a trusted partner who knows the city well taking on certain projects as well as consulting, said Alisa Kaplan, the executive director of Reform Illinois, a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization that tracks political behavior. But the fact that Farnsworth is taking such a huge chunk of the citys project funds and the apparent lack of transparency around the whole process raise serious questions. Advertisement hsanders@chicagotribune.com Editors note: This story was updated at noon Nov. 20, after Calumet City responded to a Sept. 28, 2023, request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Sam Altman, the co-founder and former CEO of OpenAI, was hired by Microsoft just days after the tech guru was ousted from the artificial intelligence company. Microsoft CEO and Chairman Satya Nadella said Monday that the tech giant is extremely excited to announce Altman and OpenAI co-founder and former president Greg Brockman will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. In a repost of Nadellas announcement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Altman wrote, the mission continues. Best Black Friday Deals Im super excited to have you join as CEO of this new group, Sam, setting a new pace for innovation, Nadella wrote in response to Altman. Brockman, who stepped down as the boards chairman Friday and eventually quit following Altmans ouster, responded to Nadellas announcement, writing on X: We are going to build something new & it will be incredible. OpenAI, which is known for creating the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT, announced Friday that Altman would be stepping down as CEO following a review that found he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board. OpenAI was deliberately structured to advance our mission: to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity, the board of directors said in a statement. The board remains fully committed to serving this mission. We are grateful for Sams many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI, it continued. At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward. Microsoft has invested billions into OpenAI and helped provide the computing power to run its AI systems, The Associated Press noted. Former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, who announced Monday that he is taking over as OpenAIs interim chief executive, said he plans to hire an independent investigator to look into the firing of Altman and reform management and leadership team. And its clear that the process and communications around Sams removal has been handled very badly, which has seriously damaged our trust, Shear wrote in a post on X. The events come after days of speculation over Altmans possible return to OpenAI. On Sunday, Altman posted a photo to X wearing what appeared to be an OpenAI guest pass, writing, first and last time I ever wear one of these. On Monday morning, several OpenAI employees, including Mira Murati, the chief technology officer of OpenAI who was initially named as its interim CEO, posted on X, OpenAI is nothing without its people. Altman reposted several of these messages, attaching a heart emoji. Altmans ouster came nearly a year after OpenAI launched ChatGPT, which quickly surged in popularity and prompted other tech companies to develop their own AI-based products. Altman appeared before a Senate Judiciary Committee this spring in the wake of growing concerns over AI, telling lawmakers the technology could cause significant harm to the world. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Reactions are pouring in from former U.S. presidents and first ladies over the death of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former President Carter, with leaders paying tribute to the global humanitarians legacy. Former first lady Michelle Obama, the wife of former President Obama, pointed to Rosalynns extensive advocacy for mental health, elderly care and womens rights. Guided by her abiding faith and her commitment to service, Mrs. Carter used her platform in profoundly meaningful ways, Michelle wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Best Black Friday Deals The former first lady said Carter would sometimes meet with her at the White House during the Obama administration and offer words of advice. [Carter] reminded me to make the role of First Lady my own, just like she did, Michelle wrote. Today, Barack and I join the world in celebrating the remarkable legacy of a First Lady, philanthropist, and advocate who dedicated her life to lifting up others. In a repost of his wifes tribute to Carter, Obama said the former first ladys life is a reminder that no matter who we are, our legacies are best measured not in awards or accolades, but in the lives we touch. Rosalynn died Sunday at the age of 96 at her home in Plains, Ga., about two days after she entered hospice care. She was diagnosed with dementia in March, shortly after her husband himself entered hospice care in February following a series of hospital stays. Rosalynn and Carter were married for 77 years, the longest of any president and first lady. At 99, Carter is the oldest former living president in U.S. history. Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush called Carter a woman of dignity and strength. There was no greater advocate of President Carter, and their partnership set a wonderful example of loyalty and fidelity, the former presidential first couple wrote in a statement. She leaves behind an important legacy in her work to destigmatize mental health. We join our fellow citizens in sending our condolences to President Carter and their family. Former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton honored Carters work that spread hope, health and democracy across the globe. Rosalynn Carter was a compassionate and committed champion of human dignity everywhere, they wrote in a statement. Rosalynn will be forever remembered as the embodiment of a life lived with purpose, the Clintons added. Hillary and I are deeply grateful for her extraordinary service to our nation and world, and for more than forty years of friendship. Former President Trump and former first lady Melania Trump said the former first lady leaves behind a legacy of extraordinary accomplishment and national service. Melania and I join all Americans in mourning the loss of Rosalynn Carter, Trump posted on his Truth Social media platform. She was a devoted First Lady, a great humanitarian, a champion for mental health, and a beloved wife to her husband for 77 years, President Carter. Melania Trump also posted separately about her fellow first lady, writing on Truth Social, Rosalynn Carter leaves behind a meaningful legacy not only as First Lady but as a wife and mother. We will always remember her servants heart and devotion to her husband, family, and country. May she rest in peace. Updated at 8:38 pm. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A former Red Sox pitcher and Massachusetts native is asking for help from the Fenway Faithful. Jeff Plympton, who spent eight years in the Red Sox organization, is battling Polycystic Kidney Disease and needs a new kidney. The 57-year-old, who was born in Framingham, grew up in Plainville and has lived and worked in Wrentham for the past 33 years as the director of recreation wrote a passionate plea on his Facebook page. I have a kidney condition called Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). It is a hereditary condition that I have known about for many years. But I knew as the condition progressed it would be around this age my kidneys would fail. The human body only requires one kidney to function, but we all have 2. For the past 4 months, I have been screened/tested extensively to be placed on a regional transplant list. It is a real step in the right direction that I am on the Transplant List. Although Plympton is on a transplant list, he says that process can take six to eight years. If you are able to help Plympton, you can contact him on Facebook or contact Rhode Island Hospital directly: Living Donor Information: lifespan.org/donorguide Division of Organ Transplantation 593 Eddy Street, APC 921 Providence, RI 02903 Sarah Gibb Tel: 401-444-3091 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 Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Steele said in an interview that former President Trump deserves to be jailed for his consistent attacks on judges and court officials, often in violation of court order. Its enormously dangerous, he said Saturday on MSNBC. Im just shocked that weve allowed this to get this far. Steele suggested Trump, who is the GOP front-runner for president in 2024, was getting unfair treatment from those who are trying to appease him and his base and trying not to appear political. Best Black Friday Deals Put his ass in jail. Thats how you end it. Thats how it stops, Steele said. Now, yeah, people will be mad, and theyll be upset. But there is no other person on this planet and certainly not in this country who would be given the kind of grace that Donald Trump has been given to run his mouth the way he has, attacking the clerks, attacking the judges, attacking the prosecutors, personally, threatening them. Steele warned of the consequences of not applying the law equally. Weve shown the evidence, when he does that, how his base responds. And so the system is getting pulverized from within by Trump. And its being pressed to the umpteenth corner it can go in trying to appease him and allow him to be free while hes still behaving this way, he said. So if he wants to continue in this vein, then use the system the way the system would be used against all of us on this show right now. Because you know damn well if any one of us said half of what Donald Trump has said we would not be on air tonight. We would be in a jail cell. We would be shut down. Trump has attacked those involved in cases against him repeatedly, prompting multiple judges to institute gag orders. Shortly after a gag order was lifted Thursday in his New York civil fraud case, Trump attacked the judge in the case and his clerk which likely would have been a violation of the gag order. Trump is also fighting a gag order in his federal criminal case involving his efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. Trumps legal team made its case Monday to halt the gag order, which is on hold until the appeals court rules on it. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The News Former Twitch Chief Executive Emmett Shear will become interim CEO of OpenAI, according to an internal company message on Sunday. Shear confirmed on X that he had accepted the role, writing I did not make the decision lightly. Ultimately I felt that I had a duty to help if I could. The news comes after negotiations aimed at bringing back former CEO Sam Altman, who was fired by the board on Friday, broke down over the composition of a potential new board, people familiar with the matter said. Shear has warned about the dangers AI can pose, aligning him with concerns of some of OpenAIs directors. People close to Altman say he plans to launch a new venture that may compete directly with OpenAI. Altman plans to partner with Greg Brockman, the former president of the company who resigned in protest after Altman was pushed out. Altman and a spokesperson for OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Soon after Altman was ousted, investors and partners like Microsoft began working to contain the situation. Altman and the board negotiated into Sunday evening in an attempt to hash out a solution that would have likely included the ouster of the board. As late as 5 p.m. on the West Coast on Sunday, there was still hope that Altman might return to the company, according to people familiar with the matter. But the negotiations broke down later that evening. The Information first reported Shears appointment. Know More Shear stepped down as CEO of Twitch in March after more than a decade in the role, saying he wanted to be fully there for my son as he enters this world. He appears to share some of the same concerns about AI safety as OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, one of the board members who voted to remove Altman. In a podcast interview in September, he said it was possible that AI could one day kill humanity, but he acknowledged that scenario would only become possible something like 1,000 years in the future. He said that the issue with AI is that it poses an abstract threat, as opposed to something like a pandemic, where the risks are very concrete. Its scary enough that I urgently urge action on the issue, Shear said. I think its going to be okay. But the downside is probably worse than nuclear war. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) A 27-year-old man from Fort Bliss died as a result of a motorcycle crash early Sunday morning, Nov. 19 in East El Paso. 1 person killed in motorcycle crash in East El Paso Police say the man was traveling in a motorcycle southbound on Saint Paul at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday at a high rate of speed. Police say he failed to stop at the intersection of Saint Paul and Saint Dominic and struck a curb and a rock wall and was forced off the motorcycle. Police say the man died at the scene and his identify is being withheld pending next of kin notification. Police say speed and alcohol are believed to be factors in this crash. This is the 71st fatality this year compared to 65 at this time last year. The El Paso Police Department urges all drivers to drive responsibly and always wear helmets when operating a motorcycle. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. For the past few years, we have been inundated with gloom and doom stories about failing public schools, both locally and nationally. Worries were dramatically heightened as we observed the setbacks from school closures during the pandemic. As a literacy advocate, I have been particularly concerned about the number of students in the Fort Worth ISD who are not learning to read proficiently. This years STAAR reading tests revealed that only 32% of FWISD third-graders were reading at grade level, improving to only 41% in fifth grade. We sent more than 2,800 students to middle school this year who were not prepared to succeed because of their inadequate reading skills. Despite these depressing statistics, there are some bright spots to celebrate in the Fort Worth district. At De Zavala Elementary, Principal Marlette Martinez and her staff have taken a group of third-graders in which only 29% were reading at grade level in 2021 (the first year of STAAR testing post-pandemic) to a group of fifth-graders in 2023 in which 80% were reading at grade level. De Zavala Elementary students in 2021. Since the pandemic, grade-level achievement in reading at the Fort Worth ISD school has nearly tripled. Thats right: Among the same group of students, nearly three times as many reached grade-level reading in three years, in a school where over 80% of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch. This is truly a phenomenal accomplishment for the staff and the students of De Zavala, and they should be congratulated. I had the opportunity to interview Martinez, the principal at De Zavala. The schools success is the result of hard, focused work by both staff and students. She and her staff have embraced the use of evidence-based reading instruction, commonly referred to as the science of reading, and are effectively implementing the districts recently adopted high quality reading curriculum. Staff members are compulsive about ensuring student attendance, and they work diligently to involve parents in the education of their children. This school shows us that the techniques of instruction matter, and that all children, no matter their circumstances, can be taught to read in our public schools. Other FWISD schools are making excellent gains in reading. The fifth-graders at Alice D. Contreras, George C. Clarke, Carroll Peak, Hubbard, and Worth Heights elementaries had grade-level STAAR reading scores more than 15% higher than the district average, and each of these schools has a student population where almost all students qualify for free and reduced lunch. I mention the economic status of these schools because many argue that we cannot expect students in high-poverty neighborhoods to succeed academically. These excellent schools are proving otherwise and inform us that we should have high expectations for all students. Nine other FWISD schools with fewer students living in poverty also have more than 55% of fifth-graders reading at grade level. Imagine how our city would change if all elementary schools in the Fort Worth ISD were so effective that no family would be tempted to move, either to certain neighborhoods in Fort Worth or to the suburbs, in search of a better school for their children? How would that affect residential real estate and the attraction of new businesses to the central city? Would teacher satisfaction improve, and might more young adults decide to become teachers because it is so fulfilling and fun to teach children who are succeeding? Best of all, consider the gifts and talents that would be added to our city when our students are not artificially restrained by their inability to read. If 80% of our students could read at grade level instead of 40%, it would be transformative. It can be done just ask Ms. Martinez! Robert Rogers is a Fort Worth physician, a Reading Partners tutor, and president of The Reading League Texas. Robert Rogers NEWARK, NJ (WBRE/WYOU) Officials say four Pennsylvania men have been charged for allegedly burglarizing 55 UPS warehouses on the East Coast, stealing $1.6 million worth of items. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, four men, Aboudramane Karamoko, 20, Sekou Fofanah, 20, Shamaire Brown, 19, and Quamaire Brown, 19, all of Philadelphia, were arrested for a conspiracy to burglarize approximately 55 United Parcel Service (UPS) warehouses across the United States. Karamoko was arrested on November 15 in State College while Fofanah, Shamaire Brown, and Quamaire Brown were arrested on November 16 in Philadelphia. Investigators stated the suspects and others conspired to commit burglaries from January 2021 to April 2023. The group targeted UPS warehouses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Indiana, police said. Employee accused of stealing $30K worth of PA Lottery tickets The suspects entered the warehouses by breaking a window, late Saturday nights into Sunday mornings, then looked for boxes marked with lithium-ion battery warnings, which had high-value electronics, according to court documents. The four were charged in the District of New Jersey with conspiracy to commit cargo theft. They face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the amount of money involved in the offense, whichever is greater. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. A couple have been jailed for life for murdering a widower whose body has never been found. Frank McKeever, 62, disappeared after visiting his step-daughter Surie Suksiri at her home in Highbury, north London, on 28 August 2021. At the Old Bailey on Monday, Suksiri, 32, and Juned Sheikh, 48, were jailed for Mr McKeever's murder and preventing his lawful burial. They will serve at least 18 and 14 years in prison respectively. During the trial the court heard the pair had subjected Mr McKeever to a "painful" and "protracted" death before dumping his body in a remote location. Sentencing, Judge Anthony Bate said: "Frank McKeever went willingly to visit the defendants. He expected them to welcome him as before and be treated with the respect that any guest deserves. Events took a sinister turn." After killing Mr McKeever, the defendants lied about what happened and hid his body in a "wicked and sustained deceit" which the judge described as "a serious affront to public standards of decency". Prosecutor Katherine Patterson told the court: "We still do not know the precise cause of Mr McKeever's death. "However, we invite the court to be sure that he was subjected to significant and sustained violence and suffered a painful, protracted and humiliating death." Previously the court had been told that Suksiri and Sheikh had photographed and filmed the victim in a "humiliating" position and forced him to make a confession to assaulting Suksiri when she was six-years-old, saying "he deserved to be punished". In mitigation, Allison Hunter KC said Suksiri was vulnerable and had a low IQ and alcohol addiction, but had no desire to cause further suffering to Mr McKeever's loved ones and would tell authorities where his body is if she could. The court was played conversations Suksiri had with an undercover police officer last year after being released under investigation, which detailed a clear confession to the murder with Sheikh, the prosecution said. 'Cruelly taken from us' Reading a statement in court Mr McKeever's older brother Dominic McKeever described the trial as "lengthy and harrowing" and the family were denied the chance to give "happy-go-lucky" Mr McKeever the "loving farewell" he deserved. Mr McKeever, who had recently reconnected with his brother, told the court: "Frank had a lot to live for. This bright future has been cruelly and casually taken away from him and from us." The pair, both from Camberwell in south London, had denied the charges against them. Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk Free COVID-19 tests are available through the mail ahead of the holidays The Biden administration is offering a second round of free COVID-19 tests through the mail ahead of a potential winter increase in cases. The website Covidtests.gov opened for new orders Monday. Households will be able to order up to four tests, though anyone who did not order a batch of four tests in September will be eligible for eight. The U.S. government has distributed more than 1.6 billion free COVID-19 tests to the American people, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Best Black Friday Deals HHS said it provides more than 4 million free COVID-19 tests per week directly to long-term care facilities, schools, community health centers and food banks. The direct mailing program was suspended at the end of May to preserve the existing supply, though HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in September the stockpile had been replenished. Private insurers had been required to cover up to eight at-home tests per month, but that ended when the Biden administration allowed the public health emergency to expire in May. Recent prices for at-home rapid COVID-19 tests average about $11 per test, according to an analysis by the health policy research group KFF. The new tests come as hospitalizations, deaths and emergency department visits for COVID-19 have plateaued in recent weeks after an increase earlier in the fall. New COVID-19 vaccines became available in September, though most Americans have said they are not interested in getting them. A KFF survey found half of all adults nationally say they would not get the latest COVID-19 vaccine, with many saying they arent worried about catching the virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just less than 15 percent of adults have received an updated shot, though the agencys tracking ability is limited. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Elmwood Park, River Forest and the Illinois Department of Transportation are collaborating on a streetscaping project between the two west suburban towns. The project will include upgrades to North Avenue between Harlem and Thatcher avenues, said Pete Guenther, director of the Elmwood Park Public Works Department. Advertisement The project is currently in the phase one engineering stage, which Elmwood Park Village Manager Paul Volpe said usually takes between 18 and 24 months. This stage, which got underway in April, involves drawing up plans and designs for the project. Volpe said there isnt a reliable estimate yet for how much the project will cost. Advertisement The village manager explained that Elmwood Park and River Forest had previously applied for grant funding from IDOT but had been rejected for project readiness reasons. He said the villages hope completing phase one before reapplying will increase the chances of receiving funding. IDOT spokeswoman Maria Castaneda said the local municipalities will manage this project. With local roads projects, IDOTs role is to oversee federal funding, to make sure that federal funds are spent according to federal rules and that infrastructure is built to industry standards, Castaneda told Pioneer Press in an email. The portion of North Avenue involved in the streetscape work is at the southern boundary of Elmwood Park, where it meets the northern end of River Forest. Guenther said this will be a big job, especially considering the large sewage mains that run through the area. Upgrading and beautifying this stretch of North Avenue could help bring new businesses and families to Elmwood Park and River Forest, Guenther said. He said over time, roads get worn out and need repairs and upgrades. The project will include upgrades to the curbs, sidewalks, sewers and lighting. It will also include new greenery and signage in the area. North Avenue is already undergoing street resurfacing, Volpe said. How are you going to attract businesses or new families without having this stuff updated and looking as nice as we can? Guenther questioned. According to Guenther, the portion of North Avenue that will undergo upgrades includes a number of popular restaurants and businesses. One particularly well-known spot is Johnnies Beef, which has been serving hot dogs and Italian beef for decades. This and other spots make the area popular with residents of Elmwood Park and other nearby communities. Advertisement The amount of traffic on North Avenue its just unbelievable, Guenther said. Volpe explained that the corridor is busy and getting busier. But he added, Its a good thing to have this kind of traffic. Guenther said bringing in business is important, but the villages ultimate priority is to ensure the area is safe. This is a tough balancing act, he said. Volpe said one of the projects aims is to make this well-traveled corridor more pedestrian friendly. Bill Koclanis, a civil engineering technician for River Forest, said there will be a public hearing on this project at a later date, but he said he does not know when that will be. This is a very long process and were just in the beginning of it, Koclanis said. Advertisement Catherine Odom is a freelancer. Senator Bourgi said his initiative is designed to 'rectify an error' (SYLVAIN THOMAS) France's Senate is this week to debate a draft law that would allow people convicted under anti-gay laws before 1982 to receive financial compensation. Thousands of people were sentenced under two French laws in force between 1942 and 1982, one determining the age of consent for same-sex relations and the other defining such relations as an aggravating factor in acts of "public outrage". The sponsor of the bill to be debated on Wednesday, Senator Hussein Bourgi of the Socialist party, said he wanted the French government to recognise the state's role in discriminating against people engaging in same-sex relations. "This draft law has symbolic value," he told AFP. "It aims to rectify an error that society committed at the time." The punishments meted out by the courts had "consequences that were much more serious than you might think today", Bourgi said. "People were crushed. Some lost their jobs or had to leave town," he said. Beyond the government's recognition of wrongdoing, Bourgi said he also wanted an independent commission to manage financial compensation of 10,000 euros ($11,000) for each victim. Antoine Idier, a sociologist and historian, called the initiative "salutary" but added that focusing on two laws of the period made it too restrictive. "Judges employed a much wider judicial arsenal to repress homosexuality," he said, including laws that were not specifically aimed at same-sex relations but at "moral failings" or "inciting minors to commit depravity". - 'Hunting gays down' - Michel Chomarat, now 74, was arrested in 1977 during a police raid on a gay bar called "Le Manhattan". "Homophobia by the state consisted in hunting gays down everywhere," he told AFP. The bar was a private space with restricted access "but even so, police took us away in handcuffs and accused us of public moral outrage", he said. Chomarat said the draft law came "too late" because many people entitled to compensation had already died. In an op-ed piece in LGBTQ+ magazine Tetu in June, activists, unionists and civil servants had already called for a recognition and rehabilitation of victims of anti-gay repression. "One of the reasons why homophobia persists in today's society is that state laws, rules and practices legitimised such discrimination in the past," said Joel Deumier, co-president of SOS Homophobie, a non-profit organisation defending lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights. For Bourgi's text to become law, first the Senate (the upper house of parliament) and then the National Assembly (the lower house) have to vote in favour. During this process there are often negotiations about the final wording of a bill to make it acceptable to both houses. There is precedent for the French initiative elsewhere in Europe. Germany decided in 2017 to rehabilitate and compensate around 50,000 men condemned on the basis of "paragraph 175", a 19th-century law criminalising homosexuality that was broadened by Nazi Germany and repealed only in 1994. Austria is elaborating a similar approach, to become law next year. - 'Brought disgrace' - In Britain, where male anal sex became punishable by death under the Buggery Act of 1533, sexual relations between men were decriminalised in England and Wales in 1967, and later in Scotland and Northern Ireland. But this was only if the sexual relations occurred in private and the people involved were over 21. Under a recent "disregard and pardons scheme", people in Britain can get a historic conviction for gay sex offences removed from police and court records. This includes convictions for "buggery", "gross indecency" and "procuring others to commit homosexual acts" -- all since abolished -- but not sexual activity in a public toilet, which is still an offence. Regis Schlagdenhauffen, a social science professor at the EHESS school in Paris, said his research suggested that at least 10,000 people had been condemned for homosexuality in France between 1942 and 1982, mostly men from working-class backgrounds. A third of them was married and a quarter had children, he said. "Those condemnations brought disgrace and were a terrible experience to live through," said Schlagdenhauffen. This was the reason why many victims of state repression might not come forward, he said, preferring not to revisit the traumatic experience. vac/jh/sjw/gil EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) In October of 2023, Gadsden Independent School District partnered with KTSM Channel 9 and KTSM Peak Digital services to help draw awareness to the unique programs available as a Gadsden Independent School District student and aid in teacher recruitment. While meeting with Mr. Patrick Dempsey, Superintendent, Ms. Rosy Villalobos, Associate Superintendent for Federal Programs, and the leadership staff of GISD, I became aware of the fantastic and unique capabilities, programs, and resources that GISD provides their students. Among these programs is a specialized marketing and production class with all the abilities of a working marketing agency. I discussed my idea with leadership to allow the students to design and produce GISDs digital marketing campaign from inception to production and have their work placed on KTSM.com. To my astonishment, leadership responded with a very confidante, They can do it! With leadership approval, I visited the Marketing class led by Ms. Isela Ramos at Gadsden High School and the production class taught by Mr. Stephen Gabaldon at Chaparral High School. I discussed the creation and design of a digital awareness campaign with the following objectives: Promote GISDs Focus, mission, and core values. Promote faculty and staff recruitment. Promote GISDs unique programs that set them apart from other school districts. Photo: Julio Pablos KTSM The students were challenged to design and produce the campaign and adhere to the stations deadlines and district guidelines. The marketing students created the message and designed the graphics. In contrast, the audio-visual students produced four videos, relaying the districts marketing objectives while delivering those assets to the station before the deadline. This was accomplished during a testing window for the state and the students everyday day-to-day responsibilities at home and in the classroom. The student-led marketing campaign consisted of banner ads, which required graphic design, and banner video ads, which needed location scouting, shooting, casting, and postproduction. This campaign went live on November 16, 2023, on KTSM.com and will also be live on December 14th and 15th, 2023. In a presentation delivered by the students at Gadsden High School, the students confidently showcased their work while explaining the challenges they had to overcome to meet their objectives and deadlines. The biggest challenge was time, said Adrian Quintero, an audio-visual student at Chaparral High School, as he explained how difficult it was to interpret someone elses ideas and transfer that to a 15-second video. In attendance was Travis Dempsey, Superintendent of Gadsden Independent School District, who was gleaming with pride as he watched his students truly represent what GISD can accomplish while acknowledging how two separate high schools miles apart can come together and produce a message that personifies what GISD stands for. With great pride, I acknowledge the students, staff, and leadership of Gadsden Independent School District for being at the forefront of technology, creativity, and, most importantly, dedication in believing in their students and teachers to deliver their marketing campaign. For more information on GISDs student programs and job opportunities, please visit the GISD home page at www.gisd.k12.nm.us. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The new Garrison commander at Fort Bliss has a simple message he wants to get out there that Fort Bliss is a great place to live and serve. Col. Brendan Gallagher took over as Fort Bliss Garrison commander the Army equivalent of a city manager back in July. Gallagher said one of his main focuses is creating a public affairs campaign called Its Better at Bliss. There are so many great things on post and in the City of El Paso, Gallagher said. Its about educating and informing about all the great things here and push back against misconceptions that are out there, he said. Gallagher said he wants to emphasize to soldiers and families who havent served at Fort Bliss previously or havent been to El Paso in years that El Paso is regularly rated as one of the safest cities in America. Gallagher, a 45-year-old native of Columbia, Maryland, said he has been seeing an increasing trend of soldiers wanting to stay in El Paso after they retire. We want to help dispel misconceptions and truly inform the broader community of all the great reasons that this is a fantastic place to be stationed, Gallagher said. It is one of the reasons so many people once they retire, choose to stay here of their own volition. For soldiers and their families, Fort Bliss offers a blend of great quality of life and an exciting mission as home of the 1st Armored Division and one of the Armys chief force projection platforms, Gallagher said. One of Fort Bliss chief missions is to train thousands of National Guard and Reserve soldiers and units before they deploy for overseas missions, he added. Gallagher said he is teaming up with Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. David Sweeney to make a series of videos where they get out to different locations in Fort Bliss and El Paso and highlight what the area has to offer. As Garrison commander, Gallagher oversees a team of more than 850 soldiers and Army civilian employees that provide a wide range of services that make Fort Bliss function as its own city things like streets, emergency services, parks and recreation and human resources, just to name a few. Gallagher is a decorated infantry soldier (three Bronze Stars) who has served in the Armys Ranger Regiment. He also has college degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University. This is a terrific opportunity, Gallagher said. We are blessed to have a phenomenal team, a diverse team with individuals who are focused on a common purpose supporting the readiness of our soldiers and units and our families and providing top-notch services, whether its emergency services, Morale, Welfare and Recreation, human resources and personnel, or a variety of other areas. It is an unequaled opportunity to serve on a great team with a very important mission for our Army, Gallagher said. Gallagher also says it is important to make sure that Fort Bliss maintains its great relationship with the City of El Paso. One important initiative is streamlining and making the process for civilians to get passes to get on to post as efficient and easy as possible, he said. We dont have any desire or aspiration for Fort Bliss to be its own separate entity; that cant be allowed to exist, he said. Gallagher said his team is also working to leverage the abundant sunshine and excellent year-round climate for the post to be as energy resilient as possible. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. Gaza's health ministry said at least 12 people were killed overnight in shelling of the Indonesian Hospital in the north of the strip with hundreds trapped inside as Israel continued its air and ground offensive against the 25-by-6-mile-wide territory. Photo by Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE Nov. 20 (UPI) -- At least 12 people were killed overnight in Israeli shelling of Gaza's Indonesian Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip with hundreds hemmed in inside as Israeli forces close in on the facility, Gaza authorities said. Israeli tanks have the hospital surrounded with the territory's Hamas-run Ministry of Health describing the situation in the aftermath of the artillery strikes Monday as "catastrophic" with hundreds of people unable to get to safety. "The Indonesian Hospital staff are insisting they will stay to treat the wounded. There are about 700 people, including medical staff and injured people, inside the hospital," said healthy ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra. The BBC quoted hospital director Marwan Al-Sultan as saying Israeli forces were not far from the building. He said the hospital had come under fire and that its post-operative care department had been damaged. Hamas-run Ministry of Health said that Israeli tanks had begun to surround Indonesian Hospital in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli seen here tank kicks up dust as it moves inside southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on October 31, 2023. Photo by Jim Hollander/UPI Health officials said they were scrambling to try to evacuate civilians while hospital staff insisted there were no armed Hamas or Islamic Jihad fighters at the site. Israeli Defense Forces' latest update stated only that it had killed three Hamas company commanders and IDF troops "continue to operate in the Gaza Strip, directing aircraft to strike terrorists, terrorist infrastructure, and locating weapons and military equipment." Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, condemned Monday's shelling of the Indonesian Hospital as a "clear violation of international humanitarian laws." File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI Indonesia's foreign ministry condemned Israel's actions and urged Israel's allies to exercise their influence to get it to rein in its military. "The attack is a clear violation of international humanitarian laws," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a news briefing. "All countries, especially those that have close relations with Israel, must use all their influence and capabilities to urge Israel to stop its atrocities." Speaking from Beijing where she is attending a peace summit, Marsudi added that concern was growing regarding the safety of three Indonesian nationals working as volunteers at the Indonesia Hospital whom officials have been unable to contact. The meeting of foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, and the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was to push for an immediate cease-fire and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance, she said. Earlier, IDF released videos and still images from Oct. 7 that it said are of two hostages in Al-Shifa Hospital. Spokesperson Daniel Hagari presented footage and photos that he said showed Hamas fighters moving the hostages, one Nepalese and a Thai, through the hospital. The first video, from CCTV, shows what Hagari said was a walking hostage being brought through the main entrance and force-marched along a corridor. The second CCTV video is allegedly of a second, visibly injured, hostage on a gurney being pushed along a hallway and into a room. The IDF released video Sunday from the Al-Shifa compound of what it said was a tunnel shaft leading down to an underground tunnel. Negotiators are edging closer to a deal that could see Hamas release as many as 75 hostages from Gaza, including dozens of children, multiple sources have told The Independent. A diplomatic source said there was no firm agreement yet but talks were moving forward, amid feverish speculation that a deal, helped by Qatar and the US, could see people freed by early next week. President Joe Biden has boosted hopes of a release, saying on Monday that he believed a deal to free the hostages was close. I believe so, Mr Biden said when asked whether a hostage deal was near, and crossed his fingers. The Independent understands these talks are the most substantial yet after multiple attempts to reach a comprehensive deal in the past which have been scuppered in the final stages. There is no agreement over the deal yet, one source told The Independent, urging caution. But there is an understanding that women and children will come out of Gaza between 50 and 75, the sources said, adding that an estimated 40 children will be included. This will involve a ceasefire or pause. A different diplomatic source with knowledge of the talks said that the news of a firm deal being agreed was premature and there would be a three-day pause in hostilities as a logical step to be able to move the hostages. Some of the details have been misreported. Talks are ongoing and a concrete agreement has not yet been reached. Everyone involved is being cautious because the same stage was reached previously, only for the deal to collapse, the second source said. All sides are discussing the release of between 50 to 70 women and children who were taken hostage. An agreement has not yet been reached on the release of the Palestinian prisoners [in exchange]. There have been no talks about the exchange of military personnel. It is a logical step to agree to a pause before moving the hostages, for their own safety. It is believed that any deal will have to be approved by the Israeli cabinet and could be subject to an appeal by the Israeli Supreme Court, if there are objections. It is believed that any deal will have to be approved by the Israeli cabinet and could be subject to an appeal by the Israeli Supreme Court, if there are objections. It is also understood that there have been discussions about a possible exchange of some Palestinian women and children prisoners in Israel. On 7 October Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking at least 240 people including babies, foreign citizens and soldiers captive. Only four female captives have so far been released with the help of Egypt, Qatar and the US. Israel, meanwhile, has imposed a crippling total siege on Hamas-run Gaza coupled with a ferocious bombing campaign that the health ministry inside the strip says has killed at least 13,000 Palestinians including 5,500 children. Israeli ground troops and artillery have penetrated deep inside the strip, including encircling and entering hospitals they accuse militants of using as bases. Multiple Israeli officials have told The Independent the country was only focused on the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages and that the ceasefire would not be on the table. US President Joe Biden at the White House (Reuters) But pressure has mounted particularly from families of those held captive, who have been increasingly alarmed amid recent reports the military had discovered the bodies of two female hostages - Corporal Noa Marciano, 19, and Yehudit Weiss, 65 in an area nearby Gazas largest hospital complex, al-Shifa. On Sunday, Israels ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, told ABC that Israel was hopeful a significant number of hostages could be released by Hamas "in coming days." The same day Qatari prime minister sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told a press conference in Doha that the main obstacles to a deal were now very minor, with mainly practical and logistical issues to surmount. A White House official also said the very complicated, very sensitive negotiations were making progress. I believe we are closer than we have been in quite some time, maybe closer than we have been since the beginning of this process, to getting this deal done, White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told NBCs Meet the Press. The fraught hostage talks are underway as Israel is poised to expand its ferocious offensive against Hamas into south Gaza, a part of the 42km-long enclave where Palestinian civilians have been ordered by the military to evacuate to. The United States, Israel mans ally, has cautioned it not to embark on combat operations in the south until military planners have taken into account the safety of fleeing Palestinian civilians. Swathes of Gazas traumatised 2.3 million strong population have been on the move since the start of the war, sheltering in hospitals or trudging from the north to the south and, in some cases, back again, in desperate efforts to stay out of the line of fire. The UN has repeatedly appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, with its secretary general Antonio Guterres saying on Monday that the civilian death toll in Gaza is unlike any conflict since he took office. We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unparalleled and unprecedented in any conflict since I am secretary general, he said. Palestinian medics prepare premature babies to move from Rafah, in southern Gaza, to Egypt (AFP/Getty) Alarm has also been raised about attacks on hospitals, as well as UN schools hosting displaced people. The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, saying on Monday that he was appalled by an attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza which reportedly resulted in 12 dead. Gazas health ministry blamed Israel, which denied firing a shell at the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who had fired on them from inside the 3.5-acre compound. It comes as a group of 28 prematurely born babies evacuated from al-Shifa were taken into Egypt for urgent treatment on Monday. Several others died after their incubators were turned off amid a shortage of fuel to power them during Israels military assault on Gaza City. All of the evacuated babies were fighting serious infections, a WHO spokesperson said. Lobna al-Saik, the mother of one of the babies, was one of a few parents accompanying some of the infants as they were taken in a convoy of ambulances from a hospital in southern Gaza, through the Rafah border crossing, into Egypt. They are innocent children, premature babies, an exhausted al-Saik said in a video interview provided by the Egyptian government. My message to the world is enough. The Israeli military which has moved on several of Gazas hospitals said it had uncovered fresh evidence that al-Shifa hospital, Gazas largest hospital had been used as a major base for militants. On Sunday the army released CCTV footage from the hospital showing what it said was Hamas militants forcibly transporting two hostages a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian into and around the hospital complex. They also shared video footage they said showed a 55-metre-long tunnel 10 metres underneath al-Shifa. Hamas has repeatedly denied using the hospital as a command centre. Over the weekend witnesses reported heavy fighting overnight on Sunday between Hamas gunmen and Israeli forces trying to advance into Jabalia, the largest of Gazas camps with nearly 100,000 people. Jabalia, a poor and crowded district that grew out of a camp for Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Israeli-Arab war, has come under repeated Israeli bombardment that has killed scores of civilians, Palestinian medics say. Israel says the strikes have killed many militants dug into the area. A flare falls over Gaza, as seen from southern Israel (Reuters) - Deadly strikes hit the Gaza home of a news photographer days after an Israeli media advocacy group questioned his coverage of Hamas' Oct. 7, prompting death threats against him on social media. Yasser Qudih, who survived the strikes on the night of Nov. 13, said four projectiles hit the rear of his house, killing eight family members. The attack was five days after the Nov. 8 report by HonestReporting questioning whether Qudih, a freelance photographer, and three other Gaza-based photographers had prior knowledge of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. Reuters strongly denied HonestReporting's speculation, as did other international news organisations identified in the report. Qudih had provided photos to Reuters during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas gunmen although he was not a Reuters staff photographer. Qudih said he had returned home barely an hour before the strikes on his house which were seconds apart, and without warning, at around 7:50 p.m. (1750 GMT). "Israel attacked my home," he said. Asked why, he added: "I don't know." Reuters could not verify who was responsible for the strikes, why Qudih's home in southern Gaza was targeted or whether the strikes were linked to HonestReporting's Nov. 8 report. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF), which has launched a military offensive in Gaza in response to the Oct.7 attack, declined to say whether its forces had conducted the strike and, if so, what the target was. "The IDF is currently focused on eliminating the threat from the terrorist organization Hamas. Questions of this kind will be looked into in a later stage," it said, in answer to questions from Reuters. In a statement, Reuters said it was "deeply saddened "to learn of the deaths of Qudih's family members. It also said HonestReporting made "baseless accusations" against Qudih. "Thereafter, numerous threats against his safety circulated online. HonestReporting later accepted that its accusations were unfounded," Reuters said. "The situation on the ground is dire, and the IDF's unwillingness to give assurances about the safety of our staff threatens their ability to deliver news about this conflict without fear of being injured or killed." TWO-STOREY HOUSE HonestReporting's Nov. 8 report prompted the Israeli prime minister's office to say the journalists were accomplices in "crimes against humanity". Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz suggested they should be treated as terrorists and hunted down, and a former Israeli envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said they should be "eliminated". After issuing its report, Honest Reporting's executive director, Gil Hoffman, told Reuters on Nov. 10 that his organisation accepted as "adequate" statements by Reuters and other media organisations cited in its report that they had no previous knowledge of the attack. HonestReporting did not respond to requests for comment on the attack on Qudih's home. Requests were submitted by Reuters to HonestReporting on Thursday. In a reply to Reuters on Thursday, Danon, a member of Israel's governing Likud party, reiterated his initial remark when asked about the strikes on Qudih's home. "Every terrorist who illegally entered our communities on Oct. 7, every individual who arrived with the vile murderers who brutally assassinated, raped, mutilated, burnt and kidnapped their way through the south of Israel will meet the same fate," he said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the Israeli military follows international law and takes "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm". Gantz's office did not respond to a request for comment. Hamas did not comment on the attack on Qudih's home. Qudih told Reuters he lived in a two-storey house that was home to only him and his immediate and extended family. About 20 people were at home during the strikes, which left a large crater in a yard behind the house and destroyed one side of the building. The director of Nasser Hospital, the main hospital serving the area where Qudih lived, confirmed to Reuters that the names and ages of the eight family members killed were listed among the dead registered with the hospital. (Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Mark Bendeich, Editing by Timothy Heritage) From big cities to Himalayan hideaways, Travel & Leisure has released its list of The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2024 -- and one of them is right here in Georgia. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] According to the travel publication, the list of destinations is curated by categories including cultural immersion, food and drinks, big-city thrills, moments on the water, nature lovers, beach vibes, and adventurous travelers. Topping the list for cultural immersion is Georgias own Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Macon. The central Georgis destination is home to large earthen mounds, including temple complexes, created by several Native American peoples over thousands of years, Travel + Leisure states. TRENDING STORIES: One of the reasons the organization chose the destination is the possibility of it becoming the first national park in the state. It would also be the first in the U.S. to be co-managed by a nation whose ancestors were removed from the area the Muscogee (Creek), the organization reports. We now have an opportunity to come back and not feel like we are visiting, but to feel like we are coming home, Tracie Revis, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park & Preserve Initiative, told Travel + Leisure. The best time to seek adventure is in September, for the towns annual Indigenous film festival. Other destinations that made the list include Kansas City, Missouri, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Coastal Campania, Italy, just to name a few. For the full list, click here. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Last spring, a Georgia middle-school student stabbed another student 14 times in the school's gymnasium. Now, the victim's mother, Ashley Wilson of Henry County, southeast of Atlanta, is suing administrators at Ola Middle School in McDonough, arguing that they did not take action against the suspect despite knowing that the then-eighth-grader had a knife and intended to use it. "The attack resulted in 14 stab wounds and lacerations across Ashley's daughter's body everything from her face to her neck to her back to her breasts. And she is, to this day, still recovering both physically and emotionally," attorney Adam Princenthal, founding member of the Princenthal, May & Wilson law firm in Sandy Springs, Georgia, told Fox News Digital. Wilson's daughter "has scars everywhere," including a scar on her face that is "the primary concern of the young lady" because it "remains noticeable to this day." DEADLY STABBING OF PREP SCHOOL STUDENT BLAMED ON PARENTS WHO HOSTED BOOZE-FUELED HOUSE PARTY: LAWSUITS Ashley Wilson's daughter was stabbed 14 times on March 15, 2023, at Ola Middle School in Henry County, Georgia. The lawsuit alleges that school administrators did nothing after being notified by a school resource officer (SRO) on March 14 that the female suspect had a knife in her possession on school grounds and had made threats against the victim's friend. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Despite receiving the SRO's report, administrators did not investigate the student nor take action as required under school policies, according to the complaint. GEORGIA SCHOOL TO PAY $181K IN LEGAL FEES, REINSTATE CONCERNED MOTHER-TEACHER WHO WAS WRONGFULLY FIRED On March 15, the juvenile suspect reportedly attacked Wilson's daughter in the Ola Middle School gym despite the fact that she was not the focus of the suspect's threats made against other students the day prior. The suspect approached the victim as she was walking to gym class and began to harass her. The victim apparently tried to walk away and asked the suspect to leave her alone "several times," according to the lawsuit. "[T]eachers who witnessed the harassment did not [defuse] the situation," the complaint states. "The teachers who witnessed the bullying failed to keep [the victim] safe while on school property." FLORIDA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL FAILED TO REPORT TEACHER ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING STUDENT: LAWSUIT When the victim entered the gym, the suspect followed and began stabbing her. Another student recorded video of the attack, which occurred in front of a group of rowdy students. A student recorded video of the attack, which occurred in front of a group of rowdy students. "Of course, the administrators knew the knife was on campus and did nothing. And then the knife was brought back on the 15th to be used against [the victim's] friend. And again, the administrators knew about it, did nothing," attorney Andrew Gould said. A Henry County Schools spokesperson told Fox News Digital it does not comment on open legal matters. In a video statement recorded after the attack, Henry County Schools Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis said the district's "schools are designed to be centers of quality education and safe havens for young people to develop, grow, and succeed." "Henry County Schools makes a daily commitment to be a district where every student is valued and knows that they belong," Davis said. "As your superintendent, I accept the responsibility for creating the systems that ensure students learn at high levels and that students have opportunities to succeed. But my first and most significant responsibility is to ensure a safe school for every one of our nearly 44,000 students." The suspect was arrested, according to Wilson's lawyers, but no other information on the criminal case was immediately available. Princenthal said their civil case is based on "the fact that there were written policies in place that govern how the administrators and the other employees of the Henry County school system should act when receiving certain types of information" and that school administrators "failed to do that here." FORMER MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER ACCUSED OF SEX ACTS WITH STUDENTS AS POLICE BELIEVE THERE ARE MORE VICTIMS "It's not a choice," Gould said. "It's required that the administrators conduct an investigation. And it's required that a student who brings a dangerous weapon onto campus be expelled. These things were not done, so even the most basic initial step an investigation would have prevented [the attack] from occurring." Wilson and her attorneys say they are seeking justice for her daughter and safety for all students and staff in Henry County and all of Georgia, Princenthal said. Gould noted that the failure to investigate threats from students could just as easily result in harm against teachers as it resulted in harm against a student in this case. "Who's to say it wouldn't have been a teacher? So, not only are they putting all the children at risk, but by not following their mandatory rules, they put the teachers at risk and all other employees at risk," Gould said. "The broader goal is to create a safer environment for children in Henry County District, as well as across the state of Georgia, to make sure that each and every administrator knows what will and will not be tolerated." The attorneys were required to inform county officials of the lawsuit with an ante litem notice, or letter, prior to filing their complaint, in accordance with Georgia law. In response to the notice, an insurance claims examiner for Henry County Schools wrote that neither "the County or any County employees are legally responsible" for the $3 million in damages Wilson is requesting through her lawsuit. The examiner further denied liability in the case on behalf of the school district. Original article source: Georgia middle school staff failed to prevent girl's brutal stabbing in gym class: lawsuit "Our optimism, our ambitions, our collective endeavours have not met the scale of the harsh realities of food insecurity in our age", write leaders in the UK and Brazil - Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg Tackling hunger is a priority for the UK and Brazil. In 2012 our two countries jointly hosted the Global Hunger Summit in London, on the closing day of the London Olympics, as the UK handed the baton to Brazil for the 2016 Rio Olympics. We produced an ambitious and decisive set of actions between us in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. A decade on, our two countries once again stand together putting the fight against hunger at the top of the global agenda, at todays Global Food Security Summit in London. Why, ten years on do we find ourselves here again? Despite decades of increasing global food production, the UNs goal - to achieve zero hunger and end all forms of malnutrition is off track and will not be achieved by 2030. Instead, acute food insecurity remains at a five year high, with over 238 million facing high levels of acute food insecurity, a trend likely to worsen. Close to one billion people experienced severe food insecurity in 2022; 45 million children under five are currently suffering from acute malnutrition. Our optimism, our ambitions, our collective endeavours have not met the scale of the harsh realities of our age. Climate change is advancing, conflicts are escalating, world food prices are volatile, and a number of countries are on the brink of famine. Economies may have begun a steady recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, but in many cases the poorest are being left behind. The international community needs to reverse this unacceptable trend, as access to adequate and nutritious food is an unalienable human right. We require the proper allocation of resources, knowledge, social technologies and the experience of practical implementation to reach those who need them most. For its part, the UK has reflected on its role and the impact it can have when it focuses on transformative, long-term, systemic change, through modern partnerships that prioritise mutual respect. This will be set out the UKs forthcoming International Development White Paper. On 20 November, you will see this approach in action when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosts the Global Food Security Summit: Toward Zero Hunger and Ending Malnutrition. This will be a rallying call to action in four key areas: Ending preventable deaths of children from acute malnutrition. Leveraging scientific and technological advances to boost food security and nutrition. Anticipating and preventing famine and food security crises. Building a climate-resilient and sustainable food system. Following todays summit, Brazil will assume the Presidency of the G20 on December 1. President Lula is a global leader who has known hunger personally as a child, and went on to become President for the first time, twenty years ago, and lead the countrys successful fight against hunger. Now elected back to government, Lula has announced three priorities for Brazils G20 Presidency: social inclusion and the fight against hunger, poverty and inequality; facing climate change and promoting sustainable development in its three dimensions (social, economic and environmental); and reforming international governance. All three priorities subsumed in the motto: Building a just world and a sustainable planet. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and disputes in the Black Sea have hampered the global trade of critical grain - REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko To advance those priorities, President Lula has announced the creation of a special task force under the G20, whose mission will be to forge a new Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. The Alliance will be a mechanism to raise financial resources and know-how where they are most abundant, and channel them towards where they are most needed, supporting the implementation and scaling up of pro-poor actions, policies and programmes, including in the four areas highlighted by todays Global Food Security Summit in London. Together, Brazil and the UK will significantly strengthen our cooperation on food security, through a new trilateral partnership with African countries that will fund research, development and innovation in sustainable agriculture and facilitate the transfer of climate-smart agricultural practices and technologies. We will champion robust, targeted and adaptive social protection networks in countries to shield the most vulnerable from the worst effects of crises before they hit. We will ensure the benefits of sustainable agriculture are protected from the worst impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. For example, the UK and Brazils cooperation on Programa Rural Sustentavel is promoting low carbon and sustainable agriculture, improving food security and incomes of communities across 252 Brazilian municipalities and 21% of Brazils territory. Surrounded as we are by divisive conflicts, it may be challenging to achieve lasting change. But achieve it we must. Widespread hunger, poverty, and lack of opportunities for decent livelihoods are drivers of war, uncontrolled migration, and societal disfunction, which in turn breed more poverty and hunger. We cannot change the past. But we can work now towards better futures that prevent the crises of tomorrow. Andrew Mitchell is the UK Development Minister Wellington Dias is Brazils Minister of Social Development Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security 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. He was the president of the United States and the governor of Georgia, but Jimmy Carter always said the "pinnacle" of his life was getting Eleanor Rosalynn Smith to marry him. Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were married for more than 77 years, longer than any couple to have taken up residence at the White House. The former first lady died peacefully at home in Georgia on Sunday, the Carter Center announced. She died at age 96, just days after going into hospice care. "Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished," Jimmy Carter said in a statement. "She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me." Rosalynn Carter was by her husband's side when he was inaugurated as the nation's 39th president in 1977 and was his rock of support during a hostage-taking crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Iran that dogged his presidency, as well as during the crushing landslide reelection loss to Ronald Reagan that made him a one-term commander in chief. In the twilight of their enduring love story, 99-year-old Jimmy Carter leaned on his wife once more after announcing in February 2023 that, after a series of short hospital stays, he had "decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention." PHOTO: FILE - President Jimmy Carter with wife Rosalyn Carter, takes the oath of office from Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren Burger on stage in front of the White House, Jan. 1977. (Nik Wheeler/Corbis via Getty Images, FILE) As Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter both prepared for the end, the couple has had plenty of support from their four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. "They are at peace and as always their home is full of love," the couple's grandson, Jason Carter, who chairs The Carter Center governing board, wrote in a Twitter post in February after his grandfather announced he was going into hospice care. 1945-1962: Courtship, marriage and early life together A one-time commanding officer of a Navy submarine, Jimmy Carter who began courting Rosalynn Smith while he was a cadet at the United States Naval Academy has often referred to his wife as his "secret weapon," both on the campaign trail and in their private life. "When I first had a date with her, the next morning I told my mother, that was the girl I wanted to marry," Jimmy Carter told ABC News in July 2021, as he and his wife emerged from COVID-19 isolation to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary. MORE: Jimmy Carter's life in pictures In the same interview, Rosalynn Carter said she turned him down the first time he proposed, saying she had promised her father on his deathbed that she would finish college before she wed. PHOTO: FILE - Former president Jimmy Carter, center, and his wife Rosalyn, right, and their grand son Jason are tree planting during their participating in the day service with the Georgia Delegation at Bicentennial Park in Aurora, Denver. (Hyoung Chang/Denver Post via Getty Images, FILE) "But he was persistent and I gave in," she told ABC News, adding, "Life with Jimmy Carter has been an adventure." In a 2015 interview at The Carter Center, the couple's humanitarian organization, Jimmy Carter reflected on life with his wife, saying, "The best thing I ever did was marrying Rosalynn. That's the pinnacle of my life." They were born three years apart in the years between World War I and the Great Depression in the tiny town of Plains, Georgia. While they knew each other from childhood, and she was the best friend of his sister, Ruth, Rosalynn Carter said she didn't really notice her future husband until he was about 13. In the 2020 book "What Makes a Marriage Last" by Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas, Rosalynn Carter said she fell in love with a photograph of Jimmy Carter that Ruth Carter had on her bedroom wall. "I didn't know a single boy I thought I'd want to spend my life with until Jimmy Carter came calling," she said in the book. But at the time, Jimmy Carter had left Plains for Annapolis, Maryland, to enroll in the Naval Academy. As fate would have it, while back home on a break from the Naval Academy, Jimmy Carter found himself without a date because his then-girlfriend was at a family reunion, he recalled in "What Makes a Marriage Last." "I was cruising around with my sister, Ruth, and her boyfriend, just looking for a date, and I picked up Rosalynn in front of the Methodist church," he recalled. "I just felt compatible with her. She was beautiful and innocent, and there was a resonance. We rode in the rumble seat of a Ford pickup Ruth and her boyfriend in the front and I kissed her on that first date. I remember that vividly." The couple married on July 7, 1946, and traveled the world while he was deployed to different bases, including Pearl Harbor, as a submarine officer. 1963-1981: Life in politics After leaving the Navy in 1953, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter returned to Plains, where he took over his family's peanut-growing farm while also serving in the Navy Reserve for several years. He became active in the local Democratic Party, opposing racial segregation and supporting the emerging Civil Rights movement. MORE: A look back at Jimmy Carter's health journey and thoughts on aging In 1963, with his wife at his side, Jimmy Carter was elected to the Georgia State Senate and in 1970, he campaigned for governor of Georgia and won. During their time in the governor's mansion, Rosalynn Carter focused on issues of mental health, serving on the Governor's Commission to Improve Services for the Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped. She also became her husband's chief advisor in running the state. Rosalynn Carter expanded that role in 1975 when her husband ran as a dark horse candidate for U.S. president, helping him defeat incumbent President Gerald Ford. During his presidency, Jimmy Carter openly called his wife his "secret weapon" and frequently requested she sit in on cabinet meetings and even some national security briefings. He credited her as being his confidant during the Camp David Accords and the Iranian hostage crisis. 1981-present: Life after the White House After his resounding defeat to Ronald Reagan in 1980, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter returned to Plains. Instead of resting on their laurels, they threw themselves into humanitarian work, joining forces with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit group founded in 1976 by a Christian couple named Millard and Linda Fuller, with the stated mission of "seeking to put God's love into action" by building homes for people in need. "Habitat provides a simple but powerful avenue for people of different backgrounds to come together to achieve those most meaningful things in life. A decent home, yes, but also a genuine bond with our fellow human beings. A bond that comes with the building up of walls and the breaking down of barriers," Jimmy Carter once said. PHOTO: FILE - About 300 volunteers, including former President Jimmy Carter, and wife, Rosalynn, worked on houses in Baltimore, Maryland and Annapolis, Oct. 5, 2010, as part of a weeklong nationwide project with Habitat for Humanity. (Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images, FILE) In addition to building houses for the disadvantaged around the world, the Carters also shared a mutual love for bird-watching and fly-fishing, even building a fly-fishing pond on their Georgia property. In the 2021 interview with ABC News, the Carters were asked how they stayed happily married for so many years. Jimmy Carter attributed the longevity of their union to working on projects and hobbies they are both interested in and giving each other space to pursue individual interests. "We've always gone deeper in our love for one another," Jimmy Carter told ABC News in 2021. He also revealed in the interview that he and his wife argued like most couples, but decided long ago never to go to bed angry with each other. "Every night we try to make sure that we are completely reconciled from all the arguments during the day when we go to bed," he said. Rosalynn Carter remained her husband's rock of support to the end originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Michael McStraw of Lindenhurst is the new executive director of the Chicago Dance History Project. (Todd Rosenburg Photography/HANDOUT) Michael McStraw was on his way to being a geologist when he decided to pivot literally and become a dancer. Fast-forward a few decades and hes danced his way to the top spot in a Chicago dance collective. McStraw, of Lindenhurst, was recently named executive director of the Chicago Dance History Project, which preserves and protects histories of the Chicago dance community. He left his post as executive director of Giordano Dance Chicago after 13 years to take the job. Advertisement In his new role, McStraw will be responsible for, among administrative duties, marketing, fundraising, programming and advocating for the Chicago Dance History Project and the dance industry in the Chicago and national arena. Ive been a member of the Chicago dance community for 40 years in a variety of capacities, he said. First as a dancer, then an educator, then an arts administrator. Advertisement He loved his time at Giordano and called it one of the most wonderful jobs Ive ever had, but the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with the stress of the job made him wonder how much more time he could put into it. I was looking for another challenge and another opportunity to give back to the Chicago dance community, he said. Ive known about the Dance History Project since it began eight years ago and I thought this is a great place to put some energy into giving back to the community. Being the executive director of a dance company, even one as reputable and well-known as Giordano, from 2020-22 was rough, he said. It was very difficult. Like all other arts organizations and specifically dance, because dance is perhaps the least capitalized of the art forms in America, so the (early years of the) pandemic hit us especially hard, he said. We were able to right ourselves but it was draining. It was day-to-day, moment-to-moment. We were very concerned that the organization was not going to make it. Now, the company has rebounded stronger than ever, he said, but he knew his battery had drained. He also knew he didnt want to leave the dance world, so this job came along at the right time. Even in administration, he still finds ways to scratch his creative itch. He danced up until he was 55, he said. Ive got to tell you the amount of creativity it takes to run an arts organization is quite a lot, he said. And its very rewarding because youre constantly problem solving, constantly figuring out how to meet the needs to diverse and disparate communities and making sure that the organization is moving in the proper direction for growth and giving back to the community. The mission of the Chicago Dance History Project is to preserve, protect and promote the history of the Chicago dance community and its dancers. It has historically been focused on the theatrical, professional side of the dance community. Advertisement They way weve been doing it primarily has been to collect oral histories from individuals, he said. There was an emphasis to make sure our elders were the ones who were interviewed first. We have a collection of about 170 interviews across the spectrum of the dance community. Thats the primary function, the collection of those histories, he said. Its our plan to make all that available to the entire community, to researchers who are trying to figure out whats going on in Chicago dance, he said. Our current focus is to find a library partner to help us to make those recordings more accessible than what were currently able to do. People might be surprised to learn how rich and extensive Chicagos dance history is, he said. It has certainly influenced dance across the United States and across the world, he said. You can tell that the organizations that are somewhat of the backbone of the Chicago dance scene are ones that have been around a long time. At last count and this is pre-pandemic there are 212 dance organizations around Chicago, big and small. Its his new companys role to bring to light the movers and shakers that made the dance scene what it is. Advertisement My vision is to figure out how to make our rich history more accessible and more apparent to everyone in this city so that when Im done with this job, I will have helped to spread the word about the importance of and the contributions of everyone in the Chicago dance community, he said. It is an extraordinary group of people and organizations. The Chicago dance community is one of the strongest in the world and should not be overlooked. Rock with it McStraw was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, and went to Allegheny College for geology. In the beginning of my freshman year, I saw the orchesis group perform on campus and I said, I want to do that. So I started I started dancing my sophomore year at the age of 19, he said. At the time, there was no internet and very little way to get information. We did our best to learn how to dance. He likes to tell the story of how Gus Giordanos book, The Anthology of American Jazz Dance, landed on his instructors desk in 1976 and he used to look at the pictures and try to mimic the movements. After college, he entered the Peace Corps as an Agriculture Extension Agent in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Advertisement While there, I decided I really wanted to try to become a professional dancer, he said. He came home to Erie and studied dance at Mercyhurst College for a couple years, then earned a Master of Fine Arts Modern Dance Performance from the University of Michigan. He came to Chicago in 1984 and danced with and managed several companies. In the 1980s, the jobs started drying up so he started temping. That took him into pharmaceuticals, into operations and marketing. He found those skill sets he learned as a dancer, choreographer, educator and administrator translated well to the corporate world. Its all movement. Operations is just figuring out where things need to be at what time, he said. If you can organize a dance concert, if you can choreograph a work, if you can run a board of trustees, you can do that work, too. While he was doing that, he was still performing and staying involved in the dance world. When the job came up 13 years ago with Giordano Dance Chicago, I said my business experience and art experience all come together and this would be the perfect job for me, he said. Advertisement After I got my degree, I wanted to teach dance at a small, liberal arts school someplace and thats just not what happened, he said. But if I squint my eyes Ive gotten everything I wanted. I got to be around creative, intelligent people check. Ive wanted to be involved in creating beauty and celebration and do something Im passionate about check. And I want to feel like its just great to get up in the morning and go to work. All those things happened. Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun. A Salvation Army secret donor returns, this time outside a grocery store in Libertyville continuing the much-anticipated holiday tradition of donating gold and silver coins during the annual Red Kettle campaign. A half ounce South African Krugerrand gold coin valued at $1,200 was discovered Thursday evening in a Salvation Army Red Kettle at a Jewel-Osco in Libertyville. It was a huge boost to our morale as a team here, said Dan Faundez, corps officer at the Salvation Army Waukegan Crops, who found the gold coin. As we started our Red Kettle campaign a week and a half ago, it was a very slow start. Its just fascinating how whoever it is doesnt show any sign of making this a big deal or giving us any hint of who they are, Faundez said. Donations received during the Red Kettle drive stay local, so the gold coin will fund programs and services in the Waukegan and Libertyville communities such as rental assistance, food, toiletries, transportation assistance, thrift store vouchers and medical assistance. Faundez said the need is increasing in Lake County, in part due to the influx of migrants. Because the Salvation Army has been providing services to immigrants in addition to other clients, Faundez said the resources were used up by August, much earlier than previous years. The goal is to make the money raised during the Red Kettle campaign last through the next following year. Its very important that we get these funds to continue the work that happens here, Faundez said. The need is increasing so we just encourage the community to jump in and help us make a difference for families who are in need. For each dollar donated, 93 cents is used to fund the services offered by the Salvation Army. The Salvation Armys Red Kettle campaign dates back to 1891 in San Francisco. Gold and silver coins donated to the Red Kettles have become an anticipated part of the holiday tradition of giving, said a news release from the organization. The Salvation Army North and Central Illinois Division received 10 gold coins during last years Red Kettle campaign, according to the news release. On the day the gold coin was found, Faundez said the whole bucket of donations was worth about $1,800. Theres this amazing mystique about it because the donor is anonymous, Faundez said. I like to believe this is like a group effort of different individuals really trying to chip in and make a difference. How much money does it take to get you out of bed in the morning? A self-respecting barrister wouldnt budge for less than 1,000 per an hour. For a supermodel, it might be a cool $1m a job. In one of the biggest business cases in decades, a court has been mulling a tantalising variation of this question: how much would it take for you to stay in bed and do nothing at all? This question has emerged in the competition lawsuit brought by the US Department of Justice against Google, which is all about products that never got built about dogs that didnt bark. Heres one in particular: Apple has spent billions of dollars developing its own components devices such as the iPhone and services, such as iCloud, which give it a competitive advantage. For years, Apple was reportedly working on creating its own search engine too, which would give its users an alternative to the dominant market leader, Google. For an engineering company like Apple, a search engine is a lot easier to make than a microprocessor. Not surprisingly, Google wasnt very happy about the prospect of a rival. The traffic Apple sends to Google from iPhones is very valuable to the latters core advertising business. Users rarely change the default options on their devices and Google has historically been the default search engine on the iPhone. To ensure it remained the default for Apple products, Google began to pay Apple a lot of money. Google now pays over $26bn (20.8bn) a year to third parties for default placement, the bulk of which is believed to go to the iPhone maker. Apple watchers like Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi estimate the company could get as much as $19bn a year from Google. US prosecutors argue this annual windfall is a very powerful reason to stay in bed and not create a rival search engine. Not surprisingly, Apple has not launched its own search engine. The trial has been bruising for Google, not least after its star expert witness in the case, economics professor Kevin Murphy, blurted out the terms of its Apple deal: Apple keeps 36pc of search revenue Google earns from iPhone traffic. Google had fought to keep that detail private in the trial and one of the tech giants attorneys reportedly winced when Murphy let it slip in court as well they might. Googles defence rests on the argument that Apple and its customers chose to use its search engine because it is the best in the business. But it all looks very cosy. We should not be surprised to find the giants of Big Tech doing what may be judged colluding, any more than Captain Renault was shocked, shocked to discover gambling taking place on the premises of Ricks Cafe Americain in Casablanca. Its hard work to unseat an incumbent, so why bother? Particularly when you can be rewarded for doing nothing. Its perfectly human to take the easier road. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet exits federal court in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023 - Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg We know from economic history that collusion is not new. For example, after devising a novel industrial process that made his employer, a multinational, a lot of money, my late father found himself being tapped for a secret project where he reported directly to the board. He discovered that the giants of the petrochemical industry would meet in private, and horse trade, agreeing which of their facilities to close. The fates of towns and communities across the globe were decided over cocktails in the Bahamas. Often, theres evidence in front of us and we dont realise. Have you ever thought it curious that Apple products are the same price everywhere you go and why no retailer cuts into their own margin to gain share? A recent lawsuit alleges that Apple struck a deal with Amazon for the online shopping giant to remove almost all of the merchants that offered Apple products at a discount, helping to maintain Apples high prices. Amazon maintains the claim is without merit, while Apple has in the past said these sorts of deals are aimed at tackling counterfeit goods. However, the law firm pursuing the class action claim against the pair has been buoyed by 200m in fines handed down by Italian authorities to Amazon and Apple for alleged anti-competitive sales practices around Apple devices. There are other investigations into suspected Big Tech collusion ongoing. The UKs Competition and Markets Authority is investigating how Google allegedly carved up the digital advertising market with Facebook-owner Meta. The CMA estimates that a lack of competition in this market, which is dominated by the two Silicon Valley giants, has cost the average household 200 in 2019 numbers. Its likely to be about twice that now. This is an invisible tax, making the goods and services we buy that are more expensive than they would otherwise be even if you never visit Google or Facebook. There are other costs, of course. The technology landscape resembles Platos cave, one competition lawyer laments. Policy makers cant imagine a world that isnt defined by tech giants on their own terms. We dont know what we cant see which products were never released because the technology giant found it more convenient to stay in bed all day? Since Brexit, the UK has had an opportunity to forge a uniquely liberal approach toward tech and the economy, distinct from the heavy handed posturing of the EU. But, after intense lobbying by Big Tech, powers to thwart anti-competitive practices have been watered down. In the end, it seems it was easier for regulators to stay in bed. 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 Republican senator and the Qatari ambassador to the U.S. argued back and forth on social media Monday, with the U.S. lawmaker criticizing the Gulf country for hosting Hamas while at the same time negotiating for the release of hostages held by the group in the Gaza Strip. Sen. Ted Budd (N.C.) wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, criticizing Qatar for saying a deal to release hostages being held by Hamas is close at hand while hosting political leaders of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization in Doha, adding that Hamas are terrorists with American blood on their hands. But Meshal Hamad Al-Thani, ambassador of the State of Qatar to the United States, responded that he had earlier explained that the channel of communication between Qatar and Hamas was set up at the request of the U.S. Senator, as I explained to you when I met you last week, the channel with Hamas was established in Qatar at the request of the US to maintain open lines of communication, AlThani wrote on X. We are focused on the negotiations and working hard with all sides to help release more hostages safely. Budd responded that he believes Hamas is stalling for time among international efforts. Mr. Ambassador, I appreciate the Qatari governments efforts to get Hamas to release hostages. But Hamas terrorists are using your hospitality to buy time, he wrote. We must hold Hamas accountable for the blood on its hands, the hostages they illegally hold, and the war they started. I hope we can agree on that. The Biden administration has praised Qatar for working assiduously to negotiate among Hamas, the U.S. and Israel for the release of an estimated 240 hostages, even as American officials have said that Dohas historic position as a safe haven for Hamas political leaders may be in jeopardy. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after a meeting in Qatar at the end of October that he had raised in Doha that there can be no more business as usual with Hamas. And Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, has said that Qatari officials in Doha are absolutely putting pressure on Hamass political officials living in the city. We have two stalwart partners, Qatar and Egypt, who are working methodically, relentlessly at this issue, she said of efforts to secure the release of hostages. The problem is who theyre dealing with, she added, referring to Hamas. But theyre exercising every bit of their influence and energy to try and break the impasse on the hostages. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. BARNSTABLE Cobain Martin Patterson was deeply loved by his family during the 48 days he was alive, said his great-grandfather. "We're going to miss him. He was a great little kid, great little baby and we had some fun with him," Hal Mosher said to reporters outside Barnstable Superior Court. Cobain's father, Randy Patterson-Gerber, 25, formerly of Centerville, was arraigned on Monday on a first-degree murder charge in connection to the six-week-old's death in 2021. "Your Honor, I plead not guilty with as much respect as I can," said Patterson-Gerber. Patterson-Gerber was indicted by a Barnstable County grand jury, according to a statement released by Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois on Sunday. Patterson-Gerber was arrested by Dedham police, the statement said. Cobain Martin Patterson Authorities' account of the 2021 death Around 10:25 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2021, Barnstable police went to a Centerville house to respond to a 911 call regarding an unresponsive six-week-old baby. When they arrived, officers found the baby unresponsive, discolored and cool to the touch, according to Cape and Islands Second District Attorney Tara Cappola. CPR was performed on the infant on the way to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. The baby later died after being flown to a Boston area hospital. At the time, Patterson-Gerber and Cobain's mother resided in a spare room at the Centerville house, owned by another woman. Investigators learned Patterson-Gerber had been "extremely intoxicated" the night before and at one point had to be put to bed, said Cappola. Randy Patterson-Gerber, formerly of Centerville, is escorted into the Barnstable Superior Court courtroom where he was arraigned Monday afternoon. A Barnstable grand jury indicted Patterson-Gerber on a charge of first-degree murder for the 2021 death of a six-week-old infant. He pleaded not guilty on Monday. Five or six people who were at the house all reported the baby was happy, healthy and showed no injuries. In the morning, Cobain woke up fussy, refusing to take a bottle and crying. It was ultimately discovered he had COVID-19. At one point, Cobain's mother handed the baby to Patterson-Gerber and went to speak to the homeowner and call the pediatrician around 9:10 a.m. "While she was sitting in the living room taking some time, the defendant walked out of the bedroom and indicated, 'I got him to sleep,' and then walked outside to smoke a cigarette," said Cappola. About 40 minutes later, Cobain's mother went into the bedroom where she found Patterson-Gerber face down sleeping on the bed next to the baby, who was facing up. She immediately realized the baby was not breathing and started screaming, beginning to call 911, said Cappola. At one point, Patterson-Gerber walked into the living room holding the baby up with one hand like Simba from the 'Lion King,' said Cappola. Patterson-Gerber later told police he had tried to soothe the baby and then "suddenly he left the baby alone and the baby just stopped crying," said Cappola. But hospital staff told authorities Cobain's injuries indicated blunt force trauma and a medical examiner said they were consistent with "being thrown out a window," she said. Cobain's tibialis were both fractured as if someone had "twisted them in an awkward fashion," according to Cappola. He had broken ribs on his left which were not consistent with CPR and had some bruises on his head. Randy Patterson-Gerber, left, is escorted into Barnstable Superior Court on Monday. A Barnstable grand jury indicted Patterson-Gerber on a charge of first-degree murder in the 2021 death of a six-week-old infant. "His skull and his brain were just hemorrhaged. His eyeballs were hemorrhaged," said Cappola. Patterson-Gerber is also alleged to have abused his new infant an infant different from Cobain Martin Patterson said Cappola, citing a warrant out of Dedham District Court. The mother in that case woke up to the sound of her baby's muffled crying. She looked up and saw Patterson-Gerber "clutching the baby's mouth closed," said Cappola. A full-body scan of that baby later found serious injuries consistent with twisting and fractures, said Cappola. Attorney responds to allegations Judge Mark Gildea ordered Patterson-Gerber held on Monday without prejudice. While prosecutors had provided a long list of Cobain's injuries, Patterson-Gerber's attorney Paul Lonardo-Roy said they had not proved Patterson-Gerber was responsible and would "like an opportunity to examine that before we argue bail." "There's a lot going on here that needs to be examined. For example, there's an allegation that the mother .... threw the baby," said Lonardo-Roy. "And that obviously would not involve Mr. Patterson-Gerber." Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois, center, listens to the arraignment of Randy Patterson-Gerber in Barnstable Superior Court Monday afternoon. Patterson-Gerber is next expected in court on Jan. 3. Hal Mosher, the baby's great-grandfather, said he felt "justice was served." "I'm very happy with that. We didn't fall between the cracks. Justice has been served and that means a lot and now we just go on from there," said Mosher. Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on X @zanerazz. Gain access to premium Cape Cod Times content by subscribing. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Man, 25, arraigned on murder charge in Cape death of six-week-old son TN Governor Bill Lee, the Department of Children Services Housing, and The Church of God in Christ partner to open new apartments to house foster children who are transitioning to permanent homes. A tour was given to the press on May 3, 2023 in Memphis. The apartments are located in Shelby County. TN Governor Bill Lee speaks to the media following the tour. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is assigning an additional 40 Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers to Memphis and Shelby County, the governor said in a press release Monday morning. Lee's announcement came days after State Sen. Brent Taylor, a Republican from Memphis, sent the governor a letter requesting additional troopers following a weekend of high-profile and viral crimes that included the shooting death of a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital researcher. "As rising crime continues to be a reality in America, Tennessee is implementing proven crime prevention methods to keep our communities safe," Lee said in the release. "I commend our THP troopers for stepping up to enhance the law enforcement presence in Shelby County and help deter criminal activity in the area." The Memphis Police Department has previously said THP supplementing traffic enforcement on interstates allows officers to respond to calls about break-ins and shootings quicker and was welcomed by the department. The additional troopers will focus on traffic enforcement and be in Memphis on Monday. Lee said an additional 15 to 20 troopers from other districts will join that "surge" starting Nov. 27, and remain in Shelby County "for the foreseeable future." More: Memphis police: Man suspected of killing 4 people, injuring 5th found dead In an August presentation to the Memphis City Council, THP troopers said they had, since January, conducted 17,260 traffic stops and issued 7,499 citations. There were 10,830 warnings issued, 12 felony arrests and 228 misdemeanor arrests made by THP troopers in that same time span. Taylor's letter also requested a "monitoring team" that would publicize arrests and track prosecutions. Lee's release Monday did not mention the status of that team, but said local officials should "hold criminals accountable." "...Local officials must carry out their responsibility to uphold the law and hold criminals accountable without resorting to soft-on-crime plea deals that have serious consequences and too often result in more crime and more victims," Lee said. Tennessee Highway Patrol car at the THP Knoxville Headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee on Thursday, June 13, 2019. In late September, The Commercial Appeal reported that quarterly data from the Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission, which tracks and publicizes crime data submitted from MPD to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, indicated that Memphis could reach its highest crime rate since that data was first collected and published by the FBI in 1995. Analysis of those reports, both from the FBI and the TBI, indicated Memphis police were clearing fewer cases, even as cases qualified as cleared when a single person was arrested and charged with that crime. A person, according to the FBI and TBI definitions of a clearance, does not have to be convicted and all persons tied to a crime do not have to be arrested. The City of Memphis and MPD pushed back on the numbers of clearances provided by TBI and the FBI, though both reports came from data submitted by MPD to each bureau. Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton. This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Governor assigns additional TN highway patrol troopers to Memphis roads EDINBURG - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, announced in a social media post on Sunday that he is "proud to endorse" former President Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination. "Today, I am proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for President," Abbott said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Now more than ever, America needs a President who will secure the border and prioritize national security. President Trump is the clear choice to get the job done." The former president joined the governor in Edinburg, Texas on Sunday for Abbotts annual pre-Thanksgiving tradition of serving tamales to Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas National Guardsmen deployed along the southern border under the governors Operation Lone Star program. The visit is intended to spotlight the combustible issue of illegal immigration and border security. RELATED:Former President Donald Trump pushes oil and gas in Houston speech The border has been a major issue for Republican voters and GOP leaders and politicians for two and a half years, leading to harsh criticism of President Bidens administrations handling of the crisis and a surge in border crossings by migrants. Today, I am proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for President. Now more than ever, America needs a President who will secure the border and prioritize national security. President Trump is the clear choice to get the job done. pic.twitter.com/gvM7sQH41Q Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 19, 2023 Trump pledged to launch the largest mass deportation effort in American history if he is re-elected and would reinstate travel bans and his 2019 "Remain in Mexico" program, which forced non-Mexican asylum seekers aiming to enter the U.S. at the southern border to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their cases. In 2021, Trump endorsed Abbott as the conservative governor who was seeking re-election and faced multiple primary challenges from the right. He overwhelmingly won the renomination in March 2022 before defeating his Democratic challenger, former Rep. Beto ORourke last November to secure a third term as governor. SUGGESTED:Former President Donald Trump to speak at event in Houston next week Abbott was grateful for Trump's early endorsement last cycle, according to those in the governor's political orbit, and he's now apparently returning the favor. Trump is making his third straight White House run and is currently the commanding front-runner for the Republican 2024 nomination, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley currently vying for a distant second place in the polls. Trumps lead expanded over the spring and summer as he made history as the first former or current president in American history to be indicted for a crime. Trump's four indictments including in federal court in Washington D.C. and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss have fueled his support among Republican voters. A man whose charges were dismissed in a 2020 Spring Lake killing was indicted by a Cumberland County grand jury on the same charges recently, officials said. Joseph Marquan Coverson, 28, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to seriously injure and conspiracy in the shooting death of Herbert Goodson, 20. Coverson, along with codefendants Montre Javon Moody, 29, and Jarad Sequan Simmons, 31, are each charged in July 2020 killing. Charges against Moody and Simmons are still pending, The original charges against Coverson were dismissed in October 2020. Then, after new evidence surfaced, Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West said Friday, the grand jury returned true bills last month charging Coverson in the deadly robbery. He was arrested Nov. 7 in Duval County, Florida, on the North Carolina murder warrant when he appeared in a Florida courtroom on unrelated charges. He waived extradition and was brought back to North Carolina on Tuesday, Florida records show. The Killing According to court records, on June 24, 2020, Goodson, who had just withdrawn $1,200 from an ATM, was standing in the back parking lot of the Splash Hair Studio in Spring Lake with Deshawn Montre Jones and Trinavia Lashon Edgecomb, both 20, when a white BMW pulled up. The documents allege Simmons exited the BMW and demanded, "give me everything out of your pockets and don't move." Goodson was shot when gunfire allegedly erupted between Simmons and Jones. Jones was shot in the leg and Goodson was pronounced dead at the scene. The record alleges the BMW fled with Moody driving and Coverson inside, leaving Simmons at the scene. Simmons was gone by the time Spring Lake police arrived. The record states Moody dropped Coverson off at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center with an undisclosed injury before parking the BMW behind his mother's house on Rim Road where police found it. The vehicle had at least two bullet holes in the passenger side door. Moody was arrested June 26, 2020; Coverson was arrested the following day, records show. Simmons was arrested on July 24, 2020. Moody and Simmons are each charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to inflict serious injury. Simmons is also charged with attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon and Moody is also charged with accessory after the fact and attempted common law robbery. Simmons and Coverson are remained in the Cumberland County jail Friday without bail. Moody was freed on pretrial release in January 2022. Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Joseph Coverson is charged in the fatal shooting of Herbert Goodson. WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) A grass fire burning since Sunday has torched more than 100 acres in Williamson County. The fire is centered near the intersection of Old Cox Pike and Zebe Lane near Fairview. Crews with Williamson County Fire Rescue have been working with the Tennessee Division of Forestry to contain the fire using bulldozers. How much could incoming rain affect Middle Tennessees drought status? (Courtesy: Williamson County Fire Rescue) (Courtesy: Williamson County Fire Rescue) (Courtesy: Williamson County Fire Rescue) Firefighters were initially dispatched to a possible 10 acre brush fire off of Zebe Lane in Fairview around 5 p.m. Sunday. Due to the weather conditions, the fire spread quickly, according to a release, as the steep terrain of the area made it difficult to extinguish. Crews had to walk the area and work the fire with hand tools due to the steep terrain. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com An estimated 35 crew members worked the fire until 9 p.m. A drone from Williamson County Emergency Management Agency was utilized to survey the area and check the spread of the fire. Crews were called back Monday morning around 5 a.m. after the fire rekindled. The cause of the fire is believed to be from hunters who built a warming fire, according to Williamson County Fire Rescue. Firefighters will continue to work until all hot spots are extinguished. Williamson County is still under a burn ban. No additional information was immediately released. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. A 4-year-old resilient Great Dane is searching for his forever home after being rescued in Florida, thanks to a group dedicated to saving the gentle giants. When Brighton, affectionately nicknamed Mr. B, arrived at the Northwest Florida Great Dane Rescue, he was starved and sick, according to a Nov. 19 Facebook post. His large size and brown and white coat make Brighton look like a real life Scooby-Doo, but his life hasnt been spent solving mysteries and eating sandwiches. Brighton was rescued from a severe neglect situation, the rescue said, and was incredibly underweight. Brighton was incredibly underweight when he was placed in a Pensacola foster home. Brightons heartworm-positive status is being treated diligently with doxycycline and ProHeart 12. His journey toward a clean bill of health is well underway, and his resilience is a testament to his strength, the rescue said in the post. He still needs a few more pounds to get back up to his optimum goal, but he looks night and day better now. And more importantly, he feels it too. During his recovery, Brighton is living with a foster family in Pensacola and learning how to be part of a family. He lives amongst a circus of dogs in his foster home and plays well with young and older children, the rescue said. His one quirk? He takes advantage of his size to peruse the counter. Brighton uses his size to his advantage, the Florida rescue said. This lovable goofball has a knack for keeping things lively. Brighton is kennel trained, making him a reliable companion for those moments when you need to step out, the rescue said. Brighton is now healthy enough to search for a permanent home. The rescue hopes Brightons new family will continue to work with him on some of the basic commands, but his willingness to learn and please makes him a great dog to train. Brighton is an equal opportunist lover who spreads joy wherever he goes. His heart is as big as his smile, and he adores everyone he meets, the rescue said. Brighton has been fully vaccinated, neutered and microchipped. Information about the adoption process and applications can be found on the rescues website. Pensacola is about 200 miles west of Tallahassee. Blind, deaf Great Dane saved from starvation, Florida rescue says. Now she needs home Rambunctious dog was rescued from starvation. Now, shes up for adoption in Florida Mikey the dog found abandoned in airport parking lot, cops say. Now man is charged Loose dog with the saddest eyes rescued from busy NC interstate. He needs a new home GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Grand Rapids Public Schools is asking for feedback from the community Monday on the plan to improve the district. Community members will be able to offer feedback for the first time on this plan at the Franklin Campus Auditorium on Monday at the Grand Rapids Board of Educations special public hearing at 5:30 p.m. and at the regular board meeting at 6:30 p.m. The plan comes after voters passed a $305 million bond proposal in November. GRPS released its Reimagine GRPS with us! plan last week which includes a list of 10 schools that the district is planning to close. GRPS plans to close schools amid low enrollment Administrators with GRPS say the closings are in response to declining enrollment in schools throughout the district. Students at closing schools will be moved to schools in the nearby area and GRPS said the plan will be spread out over the next couple of years and no staff will be laid off. Were kind of taking this a step at a time. The first thing is where our scholars are going to go and what our education is going to look like for our young people for the future. We really feel that that is the priority for us here at the Grand Rapids Public Schools. The next phase of that will be looking at the space that we have and what can we do with it that will benefit our community, Leon Hendrix, the executive director or communications and external affairs, said. There will be several feedback meetings during the next couple of weeks before the board of education is expected to vote on the facilities realignment plan on Dec. 18. You can find the dates of these meetings on GRPS website. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune. The Lincolnwood Turkey Trot has just stepped off on Nov. 19, 2023 in Lincolnwood. (Karie Angell Luc/Pioneer Press) Nearly 2,000 people turned out for the annual Lincolnwood Turkey Trot on Sunday, Nov. 19 in Lincolnwood with approximately 85 volunteers assisting. This year was the 47th year of the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot, which includes a variety of races, said Karen Hawk, director of parks and recreation for the Village of Lincolnwood. Advertisement This is a tradition here in Lincolnwood, theres something for everyone, Hawk said. The Lincolnwood Turkey Trot has been a holiday feature since 1976. The event is certified by the Chicago Area Runners Association and USA Track and Field, and chip-timed for the 5K/10K race. Advertisement Participants could also take part in a 5K fitness walk that took them through the area of Proesel Park in Lincolnwood. The Drumstick Dash for children 6 and under became a photo opportunity moment for families. Jeron Dorsey, superintendent of parks and recreation for the Village of Lincolnwood, took his first turn as Turkey Trot race director and he was stoked on Sunday as the sun rose on a crisp autumn day to start Thanksgiving week. Its amazing, man, its a lot of preparation that went into it, its kind of good to see it all coming together now, Dorsey said. The weathers good. From left, Lincolnwood Mayor Jesal Patel acknowledges registrants as they are about to cross the start line. On right is emcee Dave Kappas of Skokie on the stage at the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot on Nov. 19, 2023 in Lincolnwood. (Karie Angell Luc/Pioneer Press) I think this is a great kickoff to the holidays for the residents, Dorsey added. I think this is a great opportunity to not only kick off the holidays but bring a lot of people from different communities together and enjoy a nice race. Lincolnwood Chief of Police Jay Parrott was on hand with personnel. Parrott said the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot is, a great event. Its an event thats been here for many, many years in Lincolnwood and it brings out runners and the weathers great today. Were happy to make sure that we serve the public to keep everybody safe and make sure all of the runners are safe and anybody that comes out to cheer, Parrott said. Lincolnwood Mayor Jesal Patel wore a festive turkey hat on the race stage and waved at participants as they left the corral before the start line. Advertisement Mia Cejovic from Lincolnwood sings the national anthem at the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot on Nov. 19, 2023 in Lincolnwood. (Karie Angell Luc/Pioneer Press) Patel said he had the opportunity to read through the special notes that people wrote when they signed up for the Turkey Trot. The comments indicated what the race meant to participants, Patel said. Patel said, So many people say, Its a family tradition, I look forward to this race, I grew up in the area, I come back for this. You know, Patel added, people are saying, I only do this because my son does it, the same son saying, I only do this because my father does it, you know, so its community, a tradition. Its our 47th year so a lot of traditions can be built in 47 years, Patel said with a smile. Taking part in the 5K event were Amanda Brennan of Lincolnwood and son Jacob Brennan, 11, a sixth-grader. Posing for a photo with an inflatable turkey are, from left, Theresa Wong of Lincolnwood, Amy Banh of Lincolnwood, Andria Lieu of Wilmette and Harry Geanuleas of Wilmette at the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot on Nov. 19. 2023 in Lincolnwood. (Karie Angell Luc/Pioneer Press) Jacob signed up because, I like to run. Advertisement Amanda Brennan said the Turkey Trot is becoming a tradition for them because, he really likes this. The 5K first place finisher was Bora Celiknal of Skokie and the 10K first place finisher was Yoon Oh of Lake Zurich. For results, see https://www.lincolnwoodil.org/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=2023-Turkey-Trot-Race-Results-32. Gunshots interrupted a birthday party in a California backyard, sending guests scrambling and injuring five people, sheriffs officials reported. Deputies responding to the incident at about 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, in Spring Valley near San Diego found a frantic scene, the San Diego County Sheriffs Department said in a news release. Investigators are looking for the assailant. They said the shooting appears to be an isolated incident but provided no information on how it unfolded. A 26-year-old man suffered critical injuries, the sheriffs office said. Two women, ages 27 and 30, and two men, ages 30 and 35,were taken to a hospital for minor injuries, deputies said. Two teenage boys were treated for burns from fireworks, officials said. I was outside when I heard, very loud since it was nearby, gunshots and, like fireworks, so I was very confused, neighbor Lorena Ramirez told KGTV. She told the station she saw three men, one armed, running toward her after the gunfire, then went inside and locked her door. Investigators are seeking security videos or photos of the incident. Tips can be left anonymously at 888-580-8477. Spring Valley is about 12 miles northeast of San Diego. 9-year-old girl killed when schools metal gate falls on her, Arizona cops say Woman fires gun inside airport near a security checkpoint, Oregon officials say 19-year-old opens fire at fight, killing one and shooting own brother, Utah cops say A weekend of ferocious political exchanges laid out the tumultuous reality of the 2024 White House campaign less than a year from Election Day. The fight for the GOP nomination is about far more than a horse race between candidates. Its outcome will decide whether the country faces an extraordinary general election which one potential nominee, ex-President Donald Trump, would fight while facing multiple criminal trials and promising a presidency of retribution that could shake US democracy as never before. Time is quickly ebbing for one of his distant Republican rivals to recast the race less than two months before voting begins. The weekend brought more evidence that other prominent candidates have yet to solve the core question of the GOP primary season: How to exploit Trumps greatest general election weakness his lawlessness and criminal exposure without alienating GOP voters. Just days after Trump was accused of echoing Nazi propaganda and as he firms up plans to use the presidency as a tool of personal vengeance, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley laid out her most strident criticism of Trump yet. But her euphemistic language only highlighted her political dilemma and underscored Trumps dominance of the primary. Haley said in Iowa that she didnt agree with Trumps recent comments referring to political opponents as vermin, which had drawn Nazi analogies from the White House and some other critics of the ex-president. She also tried to allude to the potential uproar of a second Trump term without referring to the ex-presidents coming criminal trials or his attempt to subvert the will of voters by staying in power after he lost the 2020 election. Its the chaos of it all, right? I think he means well. But the chaos has got to stop, said Haley, Trumps former ambassador to the United Nations. So its not so much about Donald Trump and, yes, his personality is not my personality. And yes, he says things he shouldnt say. We look so distracted right now. And when Americas distracted, the world is less safe. Another Trump rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is battling to save his campaign after coming fourth in a new CNN/University of New Hampshire poll of the first GOP primary state, tried a different attack on Trump though, like Haley, he shied away from the ex-presidents most glaring history. The presidencys not a job for an 80-year-old. Donald Trump would actually be older on January 20, 2025, than Biden was on January 20, 2021, DeSantis told CNNs Jake Tapper of the 77-year-old GOP front-runner on State of the Union Sunday. The presidency is not a job for somebody thats pushing 80 years old. I just think that thats something that has been shown with Joe Biden. Father Time is undefeated. Donald Trump is not exempt from any of that, DeSantis added. Im in the prime of my life. I go in Day 1. I will serve two terms, deliver big results, and get the country moving again. Such a prospect seems a long shot, however. After beginning his campaign tipped as the most dangerous Republican challenger to Trump, the Florida governor is now pinning his hopes on a high finish in Iowa to re-create faded momentum countrywide. DeSantis hit on one of the ironies of the 2024 campaign as he tried to paint both potential party nominees with the same brush. Voters consistently tell pollsters that they want a choice other than a 2020 rematch between Biden, who turns 81 on Monday, and Trump. Despite significant reluctance from within their own parties, both men are likely to be the nominees. The Florida governor did, however, make the sale with one Iowa voter who told him on Sunday that he appreciated his point about being able to serve two terms and that he had seen his interview on State of the Union. The voter, John Walker, told CNNs Kit Maher that he still liked the ex-president but added: I just think theres a huge amount of uncertainty with Trump, and I dont like that. Walker went on: I dont like to be uncertain. We dont know if hes going to end up in jail. Still, both Haley and DeSantis know that millions of the ex-presidents supporters have bought into his false claims he won in 2020. And even voters who say at GOP campaign events that they are open to a different candidate often also comment that Trumps criminal indictments are evidence of political persecution by the Biden administration. Theres very little market for trying to take Trump down. Candidates like former Vice President Mike Pence or former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who have more openly criticized Trump over his alleged illegalities, including over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents are either already out of the race or struggling to make a mark nationally. Haley and DeSantis are therefore seeking to preserve their viability by dodging around Trumps transgressions. But they are failing to hold him to account in a way that might weaken his hold on the nominating race a scenario that severely restricts their campaigns. Trump gives a glimpse of what a second presidency would look like Trump this weekend underscored the extreme nature of his candidacy and how he has not moderated in nearly three years out of the White House. During a swing through Iowa, he slammed Haley and DeSantis with petty insults, blasted Biden as stupid and incompetent and warned he shouldnt be running the country. The ex-presidents untamed tongue is not just previewing what would likely be a turbulent second term; it is also getting him into trouble in his multiple court cases, resulting judges imposing gag orders. On Monday, Trumps legal team will argue to a Washington, DC, appeals court that one such order imposed in his federal election subversion criminal case is unconstitutional. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued the measure to stop Trump from targeting court officers, potential witnesses and special counsel Jack Smith and his staff, verbally and on social media. The ex-president claims the measure infringes his First Amendment rights and is an attempt to muzzle his presidential campaign. The gag order, which has been temporarily frozen pending appeals, reflects an enduring reality about the ex-president that is likely to help define the 2024 campaign his contempt for the rules and customs that govern politics and the legal system. A similar gag order in his New York civil fraud trial was recently lifted temporarily. The judge who issued it, Arthur Engoron, asked Trumps lawyer at trial two weeks ago whether he could control his client, inadvertently putting his finger on this key point about the ex-president. No lawyer, White House staffer, campaign adviser, political party or institution has ever been able to curb Trumps impulses. Its what could make the coming election and his possible second presidency such a perilous proposition. The ex-president is already itching to get on with a potential general election clash. In Iowa, he called on voters to give him such a blowout win in the caucuses in January that it would force rival primary candidates out of the race. We have to send a great signal and then maybe these people just say, OK, its over now. Its over. We got to end it. Because we have to focus on crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats, Trump said in a speech in which fiercely criticized the president over his China policy after his meeting last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Biden camp cranks up the pace of his campaign amid Trump threat Trumps escalating assault comes as Democrats fret about recent polls showing that the former president is leading his successor in most of the key swing states that will decide the election. While Bidens camp has said things will change when there is a clear contrast between the candidates (assuming Trump becomes the GOP nominee), there are signs that the presidents team is stepping up the pace of his campaign for reelection. We are turning up the heat and brightening the spotlight on exactly what it would look like if hes allowed back in the White House, a Biden campaign official told CNNs Arlette Saenz of Trump. In one example of his hardening tone, Biden seized on Trumps dark rhetoric about immigration during a campaign fundraiser in San Francisco last week. Trump also recently talked about, quote, the blood of America is being poisoned. Again, echoes the same phrases used in Nazi Germany, Biden said. Folks, we cant fail. We cant fail to treat the threat that he poses. The ex-president, however, showed how he plans to make the Biden administrations struggle to control crossings over the southern border the centerpiece of his potential general election campaign. He headed to Texas on Sunday and pocketed the endorsement of the Lone Star States governor, Greg Abbott, who warned the situation was creating a terror threat in the US. Trump argued that the United States was plagued by the most unsecure border in the history, I believe, really, of the world. The vehemence of his remarks this weekend is a reminder that when the campaign heats up after Thanksgiving, Americans are in for one of the most divisive White House races of modern times. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com ST. LOUIS It was another Sunday morning of sometimes heated but always civil political debate on Hancock and Kelley, Sunday, November 19, 2023. John Hancock, Republican consultant, on the right and Michael Kelley, Democratic consultant, on the left took on the following topics: A Republican U.S. Senator and the Teamsters President nearly come to blows during a Senate Committee Hearing. Our Quote of the Week from Republican candidate for Missouri Governor, State Sen. Bill Eigel, says outgoing GOP Governor, Mike Parson, is too soft on Democrats The St. Charles County Council is considering a resolution in support of keeping illegal immigrants out of the county. Missouri Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, releases a scathing report on former St. Louis Circuit Attorney, Kim Gardner, and pushes the state to ban people who resign from office from running for that office again. GOP and Democrat congressional leaders stand holding hands raised high along with tens of the thousands of demonstrators in the nations capital in support of Israel. Trending on Tik-Tok, young Americans sympathizing with Osama Bin Laden and his 20 year old Letter to America seeking to justify the mass murder of nearly 3,000 Americans by flying hijacked airplanes into buildings on September 11, 2001. President Biden tells a roomful of world economic leaders at the APEC summit in San Francisco that Democrat California Governor, Gavin Newsom, could probably take President Bidens job if Newsom so desires. GOP Presidential Candidate, Nikki Haley, is rising above the field of candidates hoping to challenge runway frontrunner, former President Donald Trump. Remember, if Its Sunday in St. Louis, its Hancock and Kelley on Fox 2. We hope to see you next Sunday morning at 8:30 For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. From the Dispatch Politics on The Dispatch Happy Monday! Just four more days until you can start openly listening to Christmas music without fear of reprisals from the holiday police. Up to Speed Former first lady Rosalynn Carter died Sunday at her Georgia home at the age of 96. In a statement, Jimmy Carter, 99, called her my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished, who gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. The former president entered hospice care in February; the former first lady had entered hospice care on Friday after a May diagnosis of dementia. The two were married for 77 years. President Joe Biden, who turns 81 today, will hold court this afternoon for the White Houses annual pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkeys. As he does every year, the president will spend the holiday in Nantucket with his family. Meanwhile, Bidens poll numbers continue to droop: The latest NBC News presidential poll, released Sunday, found low-water marks for his approval and his strength in a potential rematch against Donald Trump. The former president led Biden 46 percent to 44 percent in the polla result within the margin of error, but the worst showing for him yet in NBC News polling. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who entered the fiscal quarter unexpectedly low on cash, raised $2 million across five Florida fundraisers last week, Axios reported Friday. Former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley got a surprise presidential endorsement Friday from a major Iowa GOP activist: Marlys Popma, the former executive director of the state party and former president of Iowa Right to Life. I was an undecided voter when I walked in here today, and I am no longer an undecided voter, she told Haley from the crowd at an event in Newton. And I just want to tell Nikki that I wholeheartedly support you. Sketching Out the Senate Map for 2024 Sen. Joe Manchin talks with Sen. Jon Tester as they arrive for a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on October 31, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Obscured by the day-to-day of the 2024 battle for the White House is another political showdown brewing between Democrats and Republicans: The race for control of the United States Senate. The Democrats are defending a narrow 51-seat majority, owed to the fact the Senates three independents caucus with their party. The GOP, therefore, would only need to flip two seats in 2024 to recapture the majorityor one, if the Republican presidential nominee wins the White House and his or her vice president can cast tie-breaking votes as the president of the Senate. Sounds doable, right? Well, thats what Republicans thought leading up to the 2022 midterm elections. At this time in 2021, Republicans were confident they could win the one seat they needed to demote Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and reinstall Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky into the chambers top post. Every two years, roughly one-third of the Senate is up for reelection, and Republicans had the benefit of an unpopular Democratic president, Joe Biden, and a favorable map of seats to run inseats in red states and swing states. The Democrats were on their heels all over the place. So what happened? Democrats actually grew their majority, flipping one Republican-held seat in swing state Pennsylvania. With all of this in mind, below youll find a review of the contests to watch in the race for Senate control. But first, a word about deep red West Virginia. With Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin announcing his retirement earlier this month, Republicans are almost assured of flipping this seat, especially because popular Gov. Jim Justice is likely to be the GOP nominee. For Democrats, Manchins retirement was disappointing but clarifying about where they need to invest resourcesand where they dont. For Republicans, his exit was energizing. After Manchins retirement, its clear Democrats have no path in West Virginia. That means we just need one more pickup for a 51 seat majority, Mike Berg, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told The Dispatch. We are confident we will get the job done given the strength of our recruits across the map. Arizona is a battleground state. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is an independent who disaffiliated with the Democratic Party last year. Should she run for reelectionshe has yet to announce her intentions on that frontshell likely have to contend with Kari Lake, the Republican who lost her bid for the governors mansion in 2022, and Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat. A recent poll from the nonpartisan Arizona firm Noble Predictive Insights looked like this: Gallego 39 percent; Lake 33 percent; Sinema 29 percent. If Sinema does announce for reelection, its unclear which of the other candidates she might hurt more: Gallego or Lake. Michigan is a battleground state. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat, is retiring, sparking crowded primaries on both sides of the aisle. In the Democratic Party, all eyes are on Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst and moderate viewed as having the inside track to the nomination. Also running on the Democratic side: actor Hill Harper. In the GOP, former Reps. Peter Meijer and Mike Rogers are running, as is retired Detroit Police Chief James Craig. In a recent poll from EPIC-MRA, Slotkin edged Rogers 39 percent to 37 percent. As yet, there has been no reliable polling, publicly available, gauging the state of the GOP primary. Montana is a red state. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, is running for reelection. The NRSC is backing former Navy Seal Tim Sheehy in the Republican primary, concerned that Rep. Matt Rosendalea hardline conservative and member of the House Freedom Caucuswould lose to Tester, just as he did in 2018, if he runs and wins the nomination. Other Senate Republicans have endorsed Sheehy and some, like Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, have gone out of their way to criticize Rosendale and discourage him from running. We dont have any recent polling, but expect this contest to be a doozy. Tester was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and has won reelection two times, despite Montanas overwhelming preference for the GOP. He will be difficult to dislodge. Ohio is a red state. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, is running for reelection. A spirited Republican primary is underway, featuring state Sen. Matt Dolan, businessman Bernie Moreno, and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Dolan and Moreno ran unsuccessfully for the GOP Senate nomination in 2022, with Dolan running in part as a critic of Donald Trump and Moreno with a full embrace of Trump. LaRose, meanwhile, disputed Trumps claims of widespread voter fraud in 2020 but has since endorsed the former president. Like Tester, Brown has survived Republican challenges before in a state that has reddened in recent years. He will not be easy to beat. In recent polling from Emerson, the senator led all potential GOP challengers. Nevada is a battleground state. Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat, is running for reelection. Republicans often think they have the Democrats on the ropes in the Silver State, only to come up short. Such was the case last year, when Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto won reelection over former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt. The likely Republican nominee this time around is Sam Brown, a combat veteran who has the NRSCs blessing. Brown sought the Republican nomination in 2022 but lost handily to Laxalt. Pennsylvania is a battleground state. Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, is running for reelection. Casey is a wilier Democrat than given credit for, understanding his state and routinely finding ways to win. But with Dave McCormick the de facto GOP nominee, top Republicans believe they finally have the right candidate to take down Casey. McCormick narrowly lost his bid for the partys Senate nod to Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2022 and has spent the last 18 months immersed in Pennsylvania GOP politics, making him more experienced than your typical challenger. Casey leads McCormick in the RealClearPolitics polling average, 45.7 percent to 38.7 percent. There are a few other races on our radar, depending on how the election year unfolds: Florida, where Republican Sen. Rick Scott is running for reelection; Texas, where Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is running for reelection; and Wisconsin, where Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is running for reelection. Overall, the most competitive states one year out from the election would appear to jeopardize the Democrats majority. But they are expressing confidence in their prospects. Senate campaigns are candidate-versus-candidate battles, and weve got the better candidates, said David Bergstein, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Our Senate Democrats are battle tested, theyre backed by their own unique coalition of voters, and theyre running against deeply flawed Republicans who are on the wrong side of issues voters care about. Notable & Quotable The happiest person anywhere in this country right now is Jimmy Carter, because his administration looked brilliant compared to these clowns. Compared to Biden, Jimmy Carter was a brilliant, brilliant president. Former President Donald Trump at an event in Fort Dodge, Iowa, November 18, 2023 Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) Have you ever wondered what happens when you submit a tip on the SafeUT app? SafeUT is a crisis chat and tip line that provides real-time crisis intervention for students, parents and guardians, and educators through a live chat and confidential tip line. Support is immediate and as easy as reaching for your phone and sending that first message, its website states. What you need to know for the Municipal General Election Submitted tips are instantly reviewed by crisis counselors. Non-urgent tips are sent daily to appropriate school administrators, while counselors use their best judgement on involving law enforcement for more serious tips, SafeUT states. Last year, more than 1.1 million back-and-forth chat messages were reportedly sent between SafeUT app users and SafeUT counselors. Additionally, more than 9,200 school safety tips were submitted, leading SafeUT to save two lives every day on average, according to SafeUT. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now ABC4 Daily News Every tip is taken seriously knowingly misusing the SafeUT app is similar to knowingly abusing other emergency services like 911, SafeUT states. SafeUT encourages parents and guardians to know about SafeUT and how to use it, and educate their kids about the appropriate use of the app as well as any emergency service. With everyones support, we can turn feelings of fear, sadness, and loneliness into feelings of hope, safety, and confidence, SafeUT said. In addition to SafeUT, SafeUT Frontline and SafeUT National Guard exist to connect Utahs law enforcement, fire/EMS, and health care providers, as well as Utah Air and Army National Guard members and civilian personnel to licensed mental health professionals trained to understand their unique challenges. The real-time, two-way communication between app users and SafeUT crisis counselors is confidential and free. Crisis counselors are available 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. Joe Biden, the oldest president in American history, turned 81 on Monday. For Biden, its a bittersweet occasion, a birthday that serves as a reminder of his deep struggles with young voters who increasingly view him negatively. Bidens mental and physical fitness have been a major issue since his 2020 campaign. Although his predecessor (and likely 2024 opponent), Donald Trump, is only about four years younger, Biden has received far more questions about whether he is capable of being president. Younger voters are already dreading a potential second Biden-Trump matchup, with some saying they may just sit out 2024. But the turn against Biden is much more dramatic. A national NBC News poll that came out on Sunday found that just 42 percent of voters aged 1834 support Biden. This is a significant drop compared to the 2020 election, when exit polls found that 60 percent of voters aged 1829 backed Biden. That poll also found Biden trailing Trump with this demographic by four pointsan alarming trend, given the presidents success with young voters in the last election. In 2020, 1829 year olds, for instance flocked to Biden by more than 20 points. Multiple polls have found that the majority of voters worry about Bidens age and how it will affect his ability to work. But younger voters are also concerned that Bidens age prevents him from understanding their perspective on major issues. Rachael Carroll, who graduated last year from Clark Atlanta University, told CNN that both Trump and Biden are too old to understand younger voters progressive views. They dont understand what were going through now because were living in two completely different times, Carroll said. One crucial issue for young voters is the ongoing war in Gaza. Biden has so far resisted demands from voters to call for a cease-fire there and has provided Israel with significant, unrestricted aid. The outpouring of public support for Palestine has started to wear down Democratic lawmakers, but Biden is holding firm. That could cost him. Although members of Gen Z are only just reaching voting age, the limited data shows that the majority of Gen Z adults are pro-Palestine. A protest against plans for 11 months of roadworks was held in October Eleven months of roadworks, opposed by people fearing they will cause gridlock, are starting next to a new housing estate. A 150m (500ft) stretch of the A4177 Birmingham Road will be widened to support the Union View development in Hatton on the outskirts of Warwick. A pedestrian crossing point will be added and improvements to footways and cycleways are planned. Disruption would be kept to a minimum, Warwickshire County Council said. The work includes upgraded drainage and street lighting. Protester Elaine Kemp said there was concern over "the amount of traffic that uses this road on a daily basis". She said it was "a main arterial road" between the M40 and M42 and people would use it "as a shortcut if accidents are on the motorways". A 150m stretch of road will be widened to support the Union View development The council has said traffic management would be in operation throughout the scheme and operated manually during working hours "to maintain the flow of traffic in the area". Work on the highway will pause for about two weeks over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, from 22 December until 2 January. A council spokesperson has said the authority would be doing all it could "to ensure the work is carried out as smoothly and quickly as possible, with minimal disruption". Developer Taylor Wimpey previously said the works were necessary to provide safe access to the new estate and apologised for any inconvenience caused. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk A man has been treated for smoke inhalation after a kitchen fire in a bungalow. Firefighters from three stations were sent to the fire at the home on West Haye Road, Hayling Island, on Sunday afternoon. The 60-year-old man was treated at the scene by paramedics. A German shepherd dog that was also at the bungalow was taken in by neighbours. The fire service said the entire kitchen was destroyed by fire. Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, in Kyiv. Source: European Pravda, citing a tweet from Austin Austin said the meeting was another opportunity to "reaffirm the United States steadfast support for Ukraine". Quote: "I was honored to meet with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv today to reaffirm the United States steadfast support for Ukraine. We, along with our allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraines urgent battlefield needs and long-term defence requirements. I was honored to meet with President @ZelenskyyUa in Kyiv today to reaffirm the United States steadfast support for Ukraine. We, along with our allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraines urgent battlefield needs and long-term defense requirements. pic.twitter.com/Odv6ClgcrP Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) November 20, 2023 Background: Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv early on 20 November on an unannounced visit. The US Defense Secretary said he would be discussing the provision of the capabilities the Ukrainian army needs for the winter and to defend itself against future Russian threats. Support UP or become our patron! Annamarie Beltran of the Fresno County Young Democrats, holds up signs as pro-Palestinian demonstrators march inside the session hall during the 2023 California Democratic Party November State Endorsing Convention on Saturday in Sacramento. (Lezlie Sterling / Associated Press) For the record: 7:33 p.m. Nov. 19, 2023: An earlier version of this article stated that Rep. Barbara Lee cast the only no vote on the authorization for the use of military force allowing the invasion of Iraq after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The country involved was Afghanistan. The California Democratic Party Convention provided an opportunity for a show of unity as delegates and activists head into a high-stakes election year. But the weekend-long gathering proved to be anything but that. Democrats remained divided on the most pivotal issues facing the party and the nation: the raging war between Israel and Hamas and a 2024 California race featuring three popular party members, congressional veterans, hoping to win the seat held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein for more than three decades. The internal fissures mirrored the national debate within the party that some believe could imperil the reelection hopes of President Biden and the balance of power in Congress. Israel's deadly invasion of Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack dominated the convention. Protesters angry about the war disrupted a Senate candidate forum Saturday afternoon and later in the evening stormed into the Sacramento convention center, just blocks from the state Capitol, leading to the cancellation of official party events that evening. "An injustice to one is an injustice to all," said delegate and lawyer Magali Kincaid, who joined with protesters who disrupted the remarks of Senate candidates Reps. Katie Porter and Adam B. Schiff along with Lexi Reese. People at the California Democratic Convention protest the war in Gaza and call for a cease-fire. (Benjamin Oreskes / Los Angeles Times) Kincaid, who supports Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakand) for Senate, joined a Saturday afternoon rally where demonstrators loudly chanted "Cease-fire," which briefly disrupted the Senate candidates. She said that she wanted to see "peace not war" in Gaza and that any resolution to what's playing out with hostages in Gaza shouldn't involve more violence. "We need to make sure to stand up to genocide and colonization and it's what I feel like we were doing," Kincaid said. The clash among delegates and protesters over the death and destruction in Israel and Gaza has angered young voters in particular. Ameera Abouromeleh, an 18-year-old Palestinian American who joined the protest with six members of her family including her 74-year-old grandfather who she said was born in Jerusalem said she looks forward to voting next year for the first time as a way to show solidarity with family who remain in the West Bank. Even though you squish someone under the rubble, our voices will be heard further," said Abouromeleh. Her grandfather Naff was less enamored with the civil disobedience, mostly content to support his grandchildren. He felt the violence by both Israelis and Palestinians had gone too far and wanted there to be a durable and sustainable resolution to the conflict. Abouromeleh was unsure whom to back in the Senate race but in the presidential election she plans to vote for Cornel West, a progressive academic who is running as an independent. A newly released poll from NBC News showed that 70% of voters 18 to 34 disapprove of Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war. It came as his popularity declined to 40% the lowest level of his presidency. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupt the afternoon session of the 2023 California Democratic Party November State Endorsing Convention on Nov. 18, 2023, at SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento. (Lezlie Sterling / Associated Press) The events of the weekend angered many Jewish delegates some who said they felt harassed and unsafe at the convention. They criticized state Democratic Party leader Rusty Hicks for not doing enough to protect members and prevent disruptions. Andrew Lachman, president of Democrats for Israel California and a Jewish delegate, said he'd heard from more than a dozen people who either were reluctant to come to the convention or didn't come because they worried about antisemitic confrontations. Lachman said they were right to be worried given what played out. "Many were shaken from the disruptive and violent acts they saw," Lachman said. Read more: The same California Senate seat will be on your ballot four times in 2024. Here's why The split within the party could imperil the party's success in the 2024 election, Lachman said. Democrats will need the support of Jewish and Muslim voters in battleground states and congressional districts if they want to hold the White House and make legislative gains. "We can't win Michigan or Virginia without Muslim votes. You can't win Nevada or Pennsylvania without the Jewish community," Lachman said. "So anyone who thinks that they can shout the other one out of the room is hurting the Democratic Party." On Sunday, Hicks condemned the behavior of protesters and said that "any delegate who actively participated in or aided in the furtherance of those activities and events ... will be held accountable." Saturday "concluded with a series of events that left me both deeply saddened and disappointed," he added. The most anticipated vote among party delegates over the weekend was for California's 2024 Senate race, with pits Lee against fellow Democratic Reps. Schiff of Burbank and Porter of Irvine. In 2018, the California Democratic Party sent a clear message when members voted to back then-state lawmaker Kevin de Leon over Feinstein. This time though, no candidate reached the 60% threshold necessary to get the nod. Rep. Barbara Lee, who is running for U.S. Senate, talks with Sacramento mayoral candidate Flo Cofer at the convention on Nov. 17, 2023, in Sacramento. (Lezlie Sterling / Associated Press) Lee won 41.5% of the delegates with Schiff coming in a close second 40.2%. Porter came in third with 16%. Though Lee has lagged behind Schiff and Porter in recent opinion polls, her support among Democratic delegates reflected the strong loyalty she inspires among the party's faithful who tend to be more liberal than the broader voting electorate. During Saturday's forum, her supporters cheered after as she reiterated her call for a cease-fire in Israel and Gaza along with her casting the only no vote on the authorization for the use of military force allowing the invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Basem Manneh, a Bay Area Palestinian American who supports Lee and is a delegate, said he was frustrated by the disruptions of the Senate forum. The broader push for a cease-fire and the moves to help Lee were the "right way to approach solidarity," he said. He spoke at the evening protest inside the building and felt there was little evidence that the disobedience was anything but peaceful and constructive. "I don't see any of this as a hateful message." Manneh, who works at San Francisco International Airport, said both Porter and Schiff were very smart but that Lee has been at this work far longer. "She's that captain of the locker room," Manneh said. Rep. Katie Porter, who is running for U.S. Senate, shakes hands with supporters at the California Democratic Party Convention. (Lezlie Sterling / Associated Press) Brian Krohne, 41, who had campaigned for Porter in her congressional races is supporting Lee partially because of Porter's unwillingness to call for a cease-fire in Israel and Gaza. Porter and Schiff have been broadly supportive of Biden's efforts to support Israel while gently urging its leaders to be more mindful of civilian loss of life and thinking about what comes next in Gaza. "I find it so disappointing she's on the wrong side of this," Krohne said of Porter. Rep. Adam Schiff, who is running for U.S. Senate, shakes hands with supporter Michael Nye while standing with his wife, Eve. (Lezlie Sterling / Associated Press) Hicks and other state party officials said that the divided party was a reflection of the strength of the candidates and that these divisions wouldn't hurt Democrats' ability to come together next year. Riverside County Party Chair Joy Silver, a Jewish Palm Springs resident, said she never felt unsafe during the protests Saturday, but was angry that they prevented the party caucuses from convening adding they seemed "deeply un-democratic." The splits in the party were profound, she said, but wouldn't deter her work overseeing voter outreach in one of the most competitive parts of the state where Democrats are eager to regain a congressional seat and take some Assembly seats. The county party hadn't endorsed in the Senate race, but she was backing Schiff. She compared the divide between Schiff and Lee to the one that the party experienced between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016. "The real division here, I think is between the head and heart," Silver said. "Adam is more head and Barbara Lee is more heart." 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. Oak Park trustees could decide tonight if an emergency disaster declaration put in place to assist asylum-seeking migrants will be extended beyond the Dec. 4 date already set. At the Nov. 13 Village Board meeting, trustees considered whether to extend the emergency disaster declaration but pushed off the vote to this weeks meeting. The emergency disaster declaration was approved and adopted at an emergency board meeting earlier this month and was given a Dec. 4 expiration. Advertisement During the meeting on Nov. 13, Village Manager Kevin Jackson and Assistant Village Manager/HR Director Kira Tchang sought input from the Village Board regarding an extension of the declaration, additional funding authority and policy direction for new arrivals to the village. In a memo to the Village Board issued earlier the same day, Tchang estimated approximately $365,000 in expenses through Dec. 4, and about $62,000 to be a one-time expense. Costs include relocating about 162 migrants who range in age from 3 years old to 60 between Nov. 7 and Nov. 10, primarily to the Carleton Hotel and the West Cook YMCA, according to the memo. Advertisement With current spending rates, which are approximately $300,000 per month, the existing fund including Supporting Municipalities for Asylum Seeker Services grant dollars and federal pandemic-related American Rescue Plan Act money would be exhausted by mid-December, the memo stated. Trustees voiced differing opinions during their discussion at the meeting. Trustee Brian Straw suggested extending the emergency disaster declaration through January. He pointed out that the Village Board will have a break through December, and he did not want the village to run out of authority in its absence. Im not really entirely comfortable with saying theres no room at the inn, Straw said, regarding the support ending in December. Trustee Cory Wesley is not opposed to the extension, but he said he would like a definitive plan in place in order to secure his vote. If the Village Board decided to extend the support until January, it would likely continue through March at the very earliest, totalling $1.2 million, Wesley noted. With this extension, Wesley said he was having trouble with squaring some of these numbers together. He pointed out that the spending was for 162 people, when the village consists of 54,000 residents, including pre-existing homeless. As a person who has experienced inequities in his life, I have a problem with creating inequitable government response, Wesley said. And I think if we are devoting such a large amount of resources to such a small amount of people, it really sets a precedent for continued inequitable response going forward in different situations. I find that problematic. Trustee Susan Buchanan said she supports the extension to give flexibility to the village. But she wants to see an evolution where a task force is established and the roles of the community partners increase without having the entire burden on the village government. Advertisement Village President Vicki Scaman expressed hope that the systems established now to aid the asylum seekers, along with those already in place, would lead to enhanced support for all homeless in the village. Anything that were able to do to strengthen our services for our overall homeless, through the work that were doing right now, with the partner agencies that also serve the same homeless ... I want to see these efforts also be strengthening our ability as a community to respond to all people who need housing in our village, Scaman said. Ryan Hudgins is a freelancer. Make sure to grab a jacket if youre headed out for Thanksgiving this Thursday. The Myrtle Beach area is expected to be warm Monday and Tuesday, with a high of 71 degrees on Tuesday. However, things will begin cooling off starting Wednesday. Forecaster Victoria Oliva with the National Weather Service in Wilmington said that residents can expect rain and a high of 68 degrees on Wednesday and a low of 46 degrees that evening. On Thursday, she said it should dry out and predicts a high around 59 degrees. Oliva said this is typical weather for the area this time of year. Gov. Maura Healey on Monday announced the formation of a new state police unit that will be tasked with targeting and deterring hate-based crimes across Massachusetts. The Hate Crimes Awareness and Response Team is comprised of a handful of sworn troopers who will work with other law enforcement agencies and community partners in an effort to bolster strategies for addressing hate-based incidents related to race, ethnicity, religion, and other biases, according to Healey. Healey explained that the HART team will enhance statewide data collection and information-sharing to identify statewide, national, and global patterns and trends, develop advanced training in coordination with the Municipal Police Training Committee to equip law enforcement with best practices for hate crime response, and streamline coordination between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. With hate crimes on the rise across the country and here in Massachusetts, it is essential that we bring people together to advance proactive solutions and support our communities. We are proud to launch the Hate Crimes Awareness and Response Team, which will play an essential role in addressing and preventing hate crimes, supporting survivors, and strengthening our communities, Healey said during a news conference at the State House. Ten school districts are also receiving Hate Crime Prevention grants totaling $461,920 that are designed to support or expand programs that help educators, staff, administrators, and students reduce incidents of bias in schools. The grants are as follows: Burlington -- $50,000 Medway -- $23,250 Gateway -- $50,000 Granby -- $48,670 Lenox -- $40,000 Gloucester -- $50,000 Framingham -- $50,000 North Reading -- $50,000 Bedford -- $50,000 Newton -- $50,000 Massachusetts recorded 440 reports of hate crime incidents statewide last year, up from 406 in 2021 and the highest reported since 2002, according to recent data shared by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. Our administration remains deeply committed to ensuring that communities and organizations have the tools and resources needed to create safe, inclusive, and protected environments, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll added. This new statewide initiative is another step toward strengthening Massachusetts ability to uphold our values and celebrate our diversity. We will continue to confront intolerance with the determination that this moment demands. To date, the Healey-Driscoll Administration has awarded over $7 million in state and federal grants to help Massachusetts nonprofits, including faith-based organizations, improve physical security and protect against attacks. 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 In a remote corner of the short grass prairie plains south of Malta, something new and something ancient is recreating itself. Its not simple and not universally supported, but through the efforts of American Prairie previously known as the American Prairie Foundation bison and other foundational species of Montanas short-grass prairie have returned to what some have described as the American Serengeti. Last week staff and veterinarians working for American Prairie gathered for an annual fall handling. Roughly a third of the foundations 900 plus bison are herded together to be inspected and tested for disease and genetic sampling. The goals for this handling are to screen 50 bison for disease, collect 25 blood samples for trace mineral testing, deploy 24 GPS (Global Positioning System) ear tags for monitoring and to collect hair samples for genetic analysis, explained American Prairie Public Relations Manager Beth Saboe. The handlings other purpose was to cut out 100 young bison for shipment to other conservation herds managed by the Blackfeet and Rocky Boy native American tribes in Montana, as well as the One Spirit tribe in South Dakota. American Prairie lands in Montana We have four gentlemen here today from the Rocky Boys Reservation, said Corrine Williamson, Senior Outreach Manager for American Prairie. Rocky Boy established a herd on the reservation three years ago and we that started with bison gifted from American Prairie and from the Confederated Salish-Kootenai tribes, and were going to send them some more bison this year. Were picking animals specifically for Rocky Boys, but some groups want just a general sampling. We want to keep good ratios in our age and sex classes. American Prairies operations have ignited much controversy in Montana. Founded in 2001 as an offshoot of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the American Prairie concept was to purchase as much intact shortgrass prairie habitat adjacent to the federally managed C. M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (CMR) and Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument as possible. Combined the CMR and Breaks Monument encompass nearly 1.3 million acres, making them the largest short-grass prairie habitat still in existence in North America. American Prairies plan was to add to that total, picking up ranchlands on the periphery whenever they became available on the open market. The goal was not only to obtain land, but to manage it with the objective of reintroducing foundational plains species like the American bison, prairie dog, and beaver. That angered a lot of local communities, whose citizens argued that American Prairie was anti-ranching, driving up property values, and introducing species that could infect livestock with catastrophic diseases like brucellosis. American Prairie was seen as an outsider, a conservation organization funded by east coast millionaires with little concern or understanding of the communities and values of northcentral Montana. Bison eat peacefully at the Sun Prairie unit of the American Prairie Reserve That was 20 years ago. While some of the acrimony remains, American Prairie has worked to repair local relationships. From more humble beginnings it has now amassed more than 126,000 deeded acres that come with an additional 337,000 acres of land leased to then from the Bureau of Land Management and State of Montana. In total, American Prairie now manages of herd of over 900 bison while continuing to extend contracts that lease grazing land to producers amounting to 7,000 cattle. This will not be a national park, its never going to be donated back to the government, said American Prairie Advisory Board Member Randy Gray. All the land the American Prairie Reserve owns still stays on the tax rolls and we still pay property tax on to help with the schools and the fire districts and all that kind of stuff. Every acre we buy were just leaving on the tax rolls as they are. Over time it has improved, and my belief is that will continue, Gray said of American Prairies relation with local communities. There will be an understanding that there is opportunity here. We buy all our equipment locally lots of trucks and tractors and all kinds of stuff. We employ people locally, so all those things over time are going to keep generating opportunities. American Prairie Field Project Manager Lars Anderson covers the eyes of a bull bison to calm it during its examination process. Face to face with a bison At Wednesdays handling the politics of American Prairies mission were set aside to make room for the bison. Over several days 315 bison were rounded up, penned, and inspected to ensure their disease-free status and to cull the herd down to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recommendations. This is an opportunity for us to tell our neighbors are serious about working with them and that are bison are healthy, Gray said, that our bison do not haver brucellosis or other diseases that they need to be worried about. American Prairie manages slightly more than 900 bison. They are divided into three herds contained upon three distinct range units: Dry Fork, White Rock, and Sun Prairie. The handling that took place this past week was at Sun Prairie, American Prairies first property acquisition, just north of Fourchette Bay on the Missouri River and 50 miles from any paved road. We can only maintain a certain number of bison, explained Mark Cool, Vice-President, and Chief Marketing Officer for American Prairie. We run all of our properties below carrying capacity, so every year we look at pasture size, pasture health and herd size. We give away around 100 bison a year to other tribal or conservation herds and then well open a public bison harvest on this property. This year we gave away 17 tags, Cool added. There were a couple given away just for locals, there were a couple given away just for youth hunts, and then there were others opened up for folks outside of Montana. The bison corrals are unique in both their size and design. A mature American bison bull can stand more than six-feet tall and weigh up to 2,000 pounds. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior they are extremely agile, can run up to 35-miles-per-hour, and can jump a high fence. They are nothing to be trifled with and the corrals required to contain them prove the point. American Prairie staff work in silence while handling bison to ensure the safety of both people and bison. At Sun Prairie the corrals were made from solid iron panels standing higher than a mans head. They are erected to form an alley in a large oval pattern leading from the pens where the bison stand placidly, around to a series of sliding doors designed to capture and separate individual animals as they move forward within a narrow chute. None of the handlers stand directly inside the corral with the bison. Instead, roughly a dozen men and women stand in strategic positions along an elevated catwalk that rims both sides of alley. Each holds a long fiberglass rod with a flag attached at one end used to coax the bison along the alley. The end goal is to persuade the bison to move forward by their own free will. They dont want to be contained and view the curving alley more as a way of escape rather than as an obstruction. The work is done in near complete silence, and the handlers avoid being seen by the bison as much as possible. Bison are very alert to their surroundings, and the fewer humans they see or hear the less likely they are to balk, fight or refuse to move forward. The handlers use pre-determined hand signals to indicate when they are ready for the next animals two hands on top of the head means everything is ready. They also duck down to conceal themselves behind the iron panels as each bison moves ahead. This is strictly enforced. Any unnecessary noise or movement is met by a quick rebuke from the operations manager. The only sounds are those the bison make themselves and an occasional squawk from a handheld radio. The safety of both humans and bison is the primary objective. The final stage is to force the bison into the confines of a hydraulic squeeze chute where they can be restrained and examined. Its the most stressful portion of the process, for both American Prairie staff and the bison. Some of the cows and bulls enter urgently, slamming into the rounded steel head gate as they see a clear exit on the other side. Others grind their feet into the ground, buck and jump to avoid the squeeze chutes restraint and the humans standing on either side. All the bison are eventually restrained, some uttering guttural groans and snorts. An American Prairie handler takes a hair sample from a bison used for genetic tracking and to test for trace minerals Once the bison are trapped the American Prairie handlers and veterinarians do as much as they can to reduce the stress on the animals. The person standing at the head of the squeeze chute covers the eyes of the bison block its view, and the crew of handlers work quickly and in concert. We are taking blood samples for disease testing, said Corrine Williamson, Senior Outreach Manager for American Prairie. We have an agreement with the Phillips County Conservation District to test for certain number of diseases and we do that with a representative sample of the herd. Were taking some blood samples to do that disease work, Williamson added. Were also taking hair samples for genetic testing so we can have a full picture of our herds genetic health. Were also doing a little bit of trace mineral sampling and if an animal doesnt already have an ear tag and a PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) were putting those on. The PIT tags are tracking tags that do not require power. Instead, they have an internal microchip that is activated when it passes close to a special antenna. The antenna is connected to a computer that records the identity of the tag and the time that it was passed. Each handling takes close to 10 minutes. Its as much wait time as it is working, but the payoff could be profound. This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Bison health the priority at American Prairie fall handling Heavy fighting broke out Monday around another hospital in northern Gaza, a move that comes less than a week since Israeli forces began an operation inside the largest medical facility in Gaza. A shell hit a floor of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, leaving at least 12 people dead, The Associated Press reported, citing the Hamas-ruled health ministry in Gaza. Israeli forces did not immediately comment. A medical worker at the Indonesian Hospital told the AP that Israeli tanks were operating less than 200 meters from the facility and Israeli snipers were seen on the roofs of nearby buildings. An estimated 600 patients, 200 health care workers and 2,000 displaced people are sheltering in the Indonesian Hospital, the AP noted, citing health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra. Hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza have come to the forefront of Israels ongoing war with Hamas, which began last month after Hamass Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel. Those attacks left more than 1,200 people in Israel dead, and Hamas is believed to have taken an estimated 240 people hostage. More than 13,00 Palestinians have been killed amid Israels response, according to Reuters, citing Gazas Hamas-run government. These numbers cannot be independently verified. Since launching its bombardment into Gaza, Israel has repeatedly claimed Hamas is using Palestinian civilians as human shields, including the scores of wounded patients and displaced individuals in medical facilities. Mondays reported attack comes a day after 31 premature babies, which health officials described as in extremely critical condition, were evacuated from al-Shifa hospital, Gazas largest medical facility. The babies were expected to be brought to Egypt while hundreds of other patients remained stuck at the hospital as Israeli forces conduct an operation inside the facility. Israel has claimed Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, was operating inside al-Shifa, where hundreds of civilians were receiving treatment or seeking shelter. A joint team from the World Health Organization visited the hospital Saturday and said it was a death zone, describing the situation as desperate. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Mayor Talal Akil at his home in the village of Jibbain near the border with Israel on November 20, 2023, after it was hit the night before by an Israeli strike (-) Lebanon's Hezbollah movement said it targeted troops in northern Israel with drones, artillery and missiles on Monday, claiming a string of new attacks. The Israel-Lebanon border has seen daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7. Hezbollah fighters targeted soldiers west of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel "with three attack drones", the Iran-backed group said in a statement, adding shortly after that it had also targeted troops in the area with artillery fire. Both statements claimed the attacks were "direct hits". Earlier Monday, Hezbollah said it had fired "Burkan missiles" at an Israeli barracks, and also claimed a number of other attacks on Israeli positions. Israel's army said "three UAVs (drones) were identified striking adjacent" to an army post, without specifying where. It added that "no injuries were reported". In a statement, it said "25 launches were identified from Lebanon toward several locations adjacent to the border", and added that aerial defences "intercepted a number of the launches and the rest fell in open areas". "Tanks, a fighter jet, and a helicopter struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanon" in response to "launches toward Israeli territory", it said, while the army struck fighters attempting to fire "anti-tank missiles" in south Lebanon. Deadly skirmishes on Israel's northern border began on October 7 when Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage, according to Israeli officials. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, and its subsequent military campaign on Gaza has killed more than 13,000 people, according to authorities in the Hamas-run territory. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said this month that his group, a Hamas ally, was using new weapons against Israel, including Burkan missiles, adding that they could carry "a payload of 300-500 kilogrammes" (660-1,100 pounds). The group has also been using attack drones for the first time and has flown reconnaissance drones deep into Israel, Nasrallah said. At least 90 people have been killed on the Lebanese side in cross-border skirmishes since last month, according to an AFP tally, most of them Hezbollah combatants but including at least 10 civilians. Six soldiers and three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, according to authorities there. lar/lg/it A hiker who went missing for more than a week at a Texas national park was found alive, authorities said. Christy Perry, 25, was found at Big Bend National Park on Friday morning, eight days since she first went missing, the National Park Service said. "We are pleased to report a successful search and rescue operation in Big Bend National Park. Our highly skilled team, in collaboration with outside law enforcement, has located and safely rescued the missing hiker," the national park said in a Facebook post. Searchers from the National Park Service, U.S. Border Patrol, Los Diablos Fire Fire Crew, Texas Parks and Wildlife, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Texas Department of Public Safety had been searching for her since Wednesday. Aerial searches were also conducted. They found her alive and talking about a quarter mile below the summit of the Lost Mine Trail. More: Dog of missing Colorado hiker found dead lost half her body weight when standing by his side 'Unforgettable brother and son': Body of missing hiker found in Yosemite National Park Searchers found a Houston woman who was missing for over a week at Big Bend National Park on Friday. Her condition was unclear, but officials said she was under medical care after being rescued and transported to a local hospital. According to the park service, Perry traveled from Houston to the national park. She picked up a rental car in Midland, Texas, which was found at the trailhead of the Lost Mine Trail, a 4.8-mile roundtrip trail that runs through the national park. Perry had a reservation at the Chisos Basin Campground but did not show up that night. The trail had been closed due to the search but has since reopened. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Missing Big Bend National Park hiker Christy Perry found after 1 week As a Harvard historian, Serhii Plokhy comfortably analyzes timelines that span centuries. But in his work on the war in Ukraine, keeping up with monthly developments has been a challenge. After finishing his latest book The Russo-Ukrainian War early this year, Plokhy wrote a new afterword at the end of August about the failure of Russias offensives and internal divisions illuminated by Wagner boss Yevgeniy Prigozhins abortive mutiny in June. Since summer, however, his outlook has grown more somber, with concerns around the stalling Ukrainian counteroffensive, intensifying Russian attacks, and delay of further military aid to Ukraine. 2024 will be a very difficult year, and it may become decisive in this war, said Plokhy. Ahead of the pivotal year, the historian says that European partners are preparing for the long war with the continents security in mind as support from the U.S. becomes more uncertain. Congress is yet to approve the $61.4 billion in assistance for Ukraine as a part of a broader $105-billion-dollar package requested by U.S. President Joe Biden in October. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he wants a clear vision of objectives and endgame before allocating the funds. We see the decreasing support of the American public for Ukraine, which is the most threatening factor to me, said Plokhy, referencing the possible 2024 U.S. presidential election outcomes and opposition from some members of the Republican party to continue supporting Kyiv. Recent polls present a mixed picture. A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that support for arming Ukraine went from 61% in May to 52% in October among Democrats and from 39% to 35% among Republicans. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs claimed over 60% of Americans back continued military assistance. Plokhy hopes public opinion will recalibrate with a better understanding of the battlefield realities after the excessive expectations around Ukraines counteroffensive in the south. We need to focus on the long war, said Plokhy. The better we prepare for the long war, the sooner it will end. 'Historian at a 'revolutionary rally' As the strategy on the ground evolves to accommodate for a war of attrition, so do the narratives deployed by each side. Pragmatic arguments become more in demand than the dominant arguments in 2022when the unity with Ukraine stemmed from ideological, historical, cultural, moral and ethical grounds. The emotional component was very important, said Plokhy. When people talk about the exhaustion from the war, exhaustion exists on this emotional level, too. Tiredness gives way to conversations about the cost. The argument about the rising toll on Ukraines population and the strain on the budget for allies has resurfaced as people look for quick solutions, said Plokhy. Now, the critical debate will come down to the practical evaluation of the Russian threat to NATO and European security. After presenting the book on the war to Ukrainian and Western audiences, the historian picked up on the differing priorities and perceptions in conversations. While foreigners welcomed the book as a timely historical analysis, Ukrainians asked whether it was too early to analyze the ongoing war. Read also: New Ukrainian anthology underscores Russian cultures influence on war Plokhy gets the sentiment he resisted the idea when the publishers offered the book project in the early days of the full-scale invasion. Shocked by the brutality of the attack, the historian wondered how he could turn to any scholarly methods, thinking, It is evil; you cant really understand it or analyze it. But as the media came to him for a historical take on the developments, he found his angle in the discussions on the national identities, the fall of the Soviet empire, and the missteps in the international response after Crimeas annexation in 2014. Looking at political leadership (around the world), they dont learn from history, but they hopefully, thank God, can learn from their own mistakes, said Plokhy. Short-term memory is still present, and societies and political elites act on it, but they dont act on long-term memory, and thats where there is certainly a lot of work to be done by historians. The book also helped him to find a place for in-depth analysis in a 24/7 news cycle on social media, which reminds him more of a revolutionary rally, with emotional appeals to the fears and hopes of the crowd, than a seminar discussion. We have this democratization of the space where all voices are equal, and the voices of reason, at least short-term, have all the chances to be completely lost, said Plokhy. For historians or any experts, it is very difficult to really find their place in the context of the ongoing never-ending rally. Signs of change in academia But in the familiar academic hallways, the more measured pace can turn into a slog when it comes to systemic changes in the Russo-centric approach to Slavic studies. Plokhy calls for patience as the departments evaluate their progress, and the young generation of scholars cements the lessons learned from the war. As the Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) convenes to evaluate the decolonization of regional studies in December 2023, the historian does not foresee a clean, fast break. Changes in tone may happen even today, but pivotal changes will take time, said Plokhy, who expects to see fundamental re-evaluations in the field in the decades to come. So far, he has made note of individual trends. Lately, he said, some Russian intellectuals abroad took more personal responsibility for the countrys aggression compared to punting the societal problems to the regimes ideology during the Soviet era. This immigrant community, or at least part of it, is talking about taking personal responsibility, said Plokhy. I dont want to overstate it it is not the entire Russian immigration, but within the Russian immigration, these topics are surfacing for the first time in maybe 200 years. Meanwhile, Plokhys students at Harvard attempt to make sense of the geopolitical instability by returning to the traditional themes in military and diplomatic history. However, as they fill the gaps in knowledge, seminars on Ukraine have fewer attendees than early last year. All in all, there is a certain exhaustion with seminars and events on Ukraine, he said. It is not an oversaturation yet, but we are nearing that point. Read also: Invasion rooted in history: A review of Serhii Plokhys The Russo-Ukrainian War Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The holidays are almost here and the Southern California city once named the states best town to visit for Christmas is getting ready for its annual holiday festival. The town of Solvang, located in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County wine country, is preparing for its annual Julefest (Yule-Fest) a monthlong celebration of the winter holiday season. The festivities officially begin on Friday when the village begins its nightly light show in the town square. The 10-minute light show will take place on the hour from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., each evening. One of Solvang's iconic windmills is seen lit up in blue during the town's annual Julefest celebration in 2022. (Mike Laan/City of Solvang) Friday also serves as the beginning of Julefests Nisser Adventure, a citywide scavenger hunt for the mischievous Solvang Nisser (Danish for gnome). Throughout the holiday festival, visitors can stop by the towns visitor center for clues regarding the hideaways where the Nisser has been known to frequent. The towns major productions, however, start in December, including the annual tree lighting ceremony on the evening of Dec. 1, which is followed by the Julefest parade the next morning. Each year, the parade follows a specific theme. This years theme is My Favorite Christmas Movie. City officials said you can expect to see plenty of floats honoring the most beloved holiday classics, as well as marching bands, horse troupes and more. A musician wearing a Santa Claus hat plays during Julefest 2022 in Solvang, California. (Mike Laan/City of Solvang) Throughout the monthlong celebration, Solvang visitors will be treated to regular live music performances, nighttime historical tours by candlelight and an immersive village where kids can snag pictures with Santa Claus himself. The candlelight tours are among the most popular events of Julefest and this year the city is adding extra dates to accommodate demand. Weve added daily elements to this years Solvang Julefest for locals and visitors in town midweek, in addition to the weekend festivities throughout Julefest, said Solvang City Manager Randy Murphy. Dancers entertain visitors in Solvang, California during Julefest 2022. (Mike Laan/City of Solvang) The ceremonial bookend of Julefest is the highly anticipated tree burn, where residents of the Santa Ynez Valley can bring their discarded Christmas trees to be set ablaze in a massive fire that serves as both a symbolic introduction to the new year and a safety demonstration for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. That event takes place on Jan. 5, 2024, weather permitting. Known as the Danish Capital of America, Solvang was named the Best Small Town to visit for Christmas in the state of California in 2022. The town is known for its boutiques that sell traditional Danish items, including clogs and other knickknacks, as well as the world famous aebleskivers a traditional holiday dessert that falls somewhere between donut hole and pancake ball. Solvang had lodging options that range between cheap overnight motels or luxurious resorts, but its also only about two and a half hours from Los Angeles by car, meaning it can also work as a day trip. For more about Solvang and its annual Julefest celebration, click here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. A charity that boasted of raising money for local hospitals donated just 10 per cent of funds to the NHS, its own accounts show. The Fundraising Regulator found the Hospitals Charity committed serious breaches, including false claims that every donation goes towards your local hospital. The charity, set up the year before the pandemic, urged donors to fundraise through skydiving and bake sales, telling the public: Your donations mean more equipment, beds and PPE at a time when it is vital, saving countless lives in your area. Analysis of the charitys annual accounts shows that while it collected more than 223,000 from its formation in September 2019 to August 2022, only 22,240 has been distributed to NHS services. The analysis, conducted by the Health Service Journal (HSJ), found almost 105,000 was spent on the cost of generating funds while 19,000 was spent on charitable activities, such as subscriptions, and depreciation of equipment. Eleven code breaches The Fundraising Regulator, which oversees charitable giving in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, opened an investigation after receiving 10 complaints about the Hospitals Charity. It found the charity had breached the code of practice in 11 different ways, which included making misleading claims about where the donations would go. Although a third-party agency carried out chugging on the charitys behalf taking a cut of donations fundraisers were told to inform donors: All of your donation goes to Hospitals Charity. The regulator said the charity told donors that all funds would benefit their local hospital, with an option to name a specific hospital when donating. However, it could find no evidence of funds being set aside for any specific hospital. The approach changed in 2021, so that donors were told donations would go to hospitals in your region. But the regulator found no evidence that hospitals had received the donations. Failure to comply with the code It was also accused of using NHS logos without permission and using fundraising materials that suggested a direct relationship between itself, the NHS and its charity partner NHS Charities Together. While Hospital Charity removed the NHS logo from its website, the regulator saw evidence that the charity continued to use similar materials in its face-to-face fundraising. The regulator found serious breaches of the [fundraising] code, adding: Hospitals Charity has not acknowledged these or demonstrated what actions it will take to comply with the code. The Telegraph has attempted to contact Hospitals Charity. The Charity Commission said it opened a compliance case into the charity in November 2022 after concerns were raised. A spokesman told HSJ: We can confirm that we have an ongoing compliance case examining concerns about Hospitals Charity, including in relation to trustees oversight of the charitys fundraising. We have liaised with the Fundraising Regulator about these matters and are aware of the Fundraising Regulators report. 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. Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez smiles as he listens to speakers during the ribbon cutting to honor the completion of the 109th Ave. project in Crown Point on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021. (John Smierciak / Post Tribune) (John Smierciak / Post-Tribune) Evidence in Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr.s upcoming trial is off-limits, at least for now. Special Judge Jeryl Leach cleared the courtroom Monday afternoon after opening statements during what was scheduled as an open hearing to discuss whether certain evidence in Martinezs February trial will be made public. Martinez is charged with Level 6 felony resisting law enforcement and misdemeanor reckless driving. Advertisement Special Prosecutor Stanley Levco reiterated the states position that he wasnt going to argue whether the hearing should or shouldnt be closed, although hearings such as Martinezs are typically open unless its a matter of national security or safety of either party. I dont know that (the evidence) is extraordinary, but its not going to affect me, Levco said. I dont agree (with closing the hearing), but Im not objecting to it. Advertisement Defense attorney Maryam Ashfar-Stewart, on the other hand, argued that marital privilege has had legislative importance in Indiana since 1881 and that releasing testimony between a husband and wife can contribute to martial discord. Closing the evidence to the public would therefore avoid public spectacle. (Marital privilege) is a fundamental right, and it would open a Pandoras box of harm if certain records were released, she said. Court records allege Crown Point police officers tried to pull over a black SUV Sept. 18, 2021 on Taft Street going well over the 45 mph speed limit. The driver turned east on U.S. 30. As they caught up, the SUV driver turned on his police lights and they broke off the pursuit. The indictment states that Martinez did knowingly or intentionally flee from Crown Point police and that he did recklessly operate a motor vehicle by driving at such an unreasonably high rate of speed as to endanger the safety or property of others. After sending the case all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court in an effort to get it overturned, Martinezs trial is set for Feb. 12, 2024. Martinez filed on July 18 a verified motion to prohibit public access to court records and exclude the general public from a criminal proceeding, according to court records. If he can prove that the information he wants hidden from the public meets criteria making it an extraordinary circumstance, it could be excluded, the memorandum said, but the decision to close the hearing must balance the Public Access interests served by this rule and the grounds requested by Martinez. Text messages Martinez may have sent his wife about the incident, however, would be admissible in the hearing because they were obtained through a third party in this case, law enforcement, the memorandum said. A ruling in the matter wasnt available at deadline. Advertisement Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. A mistrial was declared after jurors reached a deadlock for one of three accused of murder in a 2021 shooting at a "splash" party. Houma Judge Jason Dagate declared a hung jury at 1:10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, after jurors deliberated for about five hours. In those hours, jurors sent questions to the court seeking definitions of many terms, ranging from negligent homicide to the definition of principal to second-degree murder. One juror asked if principal to a murder was the same thing as an accomplice. "Can you just tell us in layman's terms?" a juror asked the court. An accomplice to a crime is encompassed in the definition of principal to a crime, but the term "accomplice" is not a legally recognized term in Louisiana Law. Jurors were seeking clarity in deciding the fate of Terrion Robinson, who was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Emmett Carr Jr. Carr died June 26, 2021, at a "splash" party in the 2600 block of Isaac Street when it turned into a gunfight between two groups: one from Houma and the other from Thibodaux, according to Houma Police Department. Carr was shot three times: once in the head, once in the bicep, and once in the calf. According to Forensic Pathologist Dr. Dana Troxclair, the shot that passed through Carr's head was the fatal blow. Emmett Carr Jr. Because a verdict was not reached, Robinson will remain in jail, and a new trial will be held. The next status hearing for Robinson and the two others accused, Revius Gilton and Jaquan Smith, will be in January. A new trial date is expected to be set then. Robinson is being tried separately from the others. Prosecutor for the Louisiana Attorney General's Office Daniel Smart held a diagram of the shootout in front of jurors during his closing argument, reminding them of where all of the bullet casings were found. He pointed to the spot where multiple .223 casings were recovered. The shooter was stationary, taking careful aim, he argued, and that's why the casings were all in one spot. He then reminded jurors that because the shooter took such deliberate shots, it didn't matter if any were the kill shot, it still amounted murder under the law. "It was a tight pattern of someone trying to shoot Emmett Carr or his friends," Smart said, motioning to the diagram. "No matter if it's more than one person shooting, regardless whose shot kills, both are second-degree murder." Evidence in this case included more than 200 photos, multiple videos, audio of a jail phone call, more than 50 bullet casings, two rifles, a bullet proof vest, pistols, drugs and more. The video footage of the chaos showed two factions firing on each another and Carr collapsing in the middle of the gunfight behind his mother's vehicle. According to Lead Detective Robert Lottinger, Robinson was just off camera, opening fire on Carr with an AR 15. Robinson was identified by Lottinger as the shooter through interviews with at least four eyewitnesses who said they saw Robinson with an AR 15 that day. According to bullet casings gathered from the scene, only one weapon fired .223 rounds, and their placement was clustered in one location. According to Lottinger, these were from Robinson. None of the videos, photos or physical evidence could be directly tied to Robinson, argued Defense Attorney Shannon Battiste. Instead, he argued that Carr's own friends shot him when they fired on the opposing faction. "This is Mr. Smart's golden egg that he does not have," Battiste said of the video footage of the shootout. He then created a visual scenario for jurors by standing Defense Attorney John Allen next to the podium, and walking backwards making firing motions with his hand, "When you're running, and you're shooting crazy," Battiste said, "you don't know where the bullets are." More: Teen witnesses change their expected testimony during murder trial in 2021 Houma shooting More: Detective testifies for seven hours in 'splash' party murder trial in Houma The video showed someone off screen firing first based on muzzle flash and smoke that could be seen, then glass from Carr's Honda Civic's front windshield explodes and Carr can be seen fleeing briefly before collapsing behind the vehicle. During this time, others behind Carr, including one of the witnesses, Ahkeem Shepard, return fire. Battiste told jurors during his closing statement that they had to first ask themselves if they believed Robinson was even at the crime, then whether he had and fired a gun. He then argued that even if jurors believed Robinson had fired a gun, they had to determine whether it was in self defense because of the gunfight. It was accepted by both prosecutors and defense that the two factions were posturing before the first shots were fired. According to Prosecutor for the Louisiana Attorney General's Office, Leon Cannizzaro, a former New Orleans District Attorney, the footage of the shootings showed which group fired first - the group opposite of Carr. That group included Robinson, he said. He then told jurors to ignore Battiste's argument and take back their community. Battiste's statements are not facts, Cannizzaro said, and Robinson is on trial, not Shepard. "We have to accept that Emmett Carr lost his life needlessly and foolishly," Cannizzaro said. "This is not a self-defense case. This is a cold-blooded killing." This article originally appeared on The Courier: Houma jurors reach impasse in 2021 'splash' party murder trial The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Monday released a video showing Sundays helicopter-borne raid on the Galaxy Leader, a Bahamian-flagged vehicle carrier transiting the Red Sea. The Houthis still hold the ship and its 25 crew members. A U.S. military official told The War Zone it is believed to be the first Houthi helicopter attack on a ship. The video opens with a view of a Houthi Mi-171Sh variant transport helicopter with what appear to be UB-32 rocket pods and a PKM light machine gun at the door flying toward the vessel. The helicopter - bearing the black, red, white and green Palestinian flag and the red, white and black Houthi flag - flies low over the ship stern to bow and then lands just long enough for at least seven armed Houthi fighters to jump out and board the Galaxy Leader before the helicopter flies off. https://twitter.com/TreyYingst/status/1726643349418057846 The commandos, armed with AK-47 variants, move out toward the bridge. After disembarking from the helicopter, Houthi rebels move out toward the bridge. (Houthi screencap) They approached, entered it and took at least three crew members there captive. Houthi rebels approach then enter the bridge. (Houthi screencap) The video then cuts to one of the rebels in a cargo hold waving a pistol in his right hand and yelling "Allahu Akbar (God is good)." A Houthi rebel is seen walking around the empty cargo hold shouting Allahu Akbar (God is good). (Houthi screencap) The video shows that the Houthis, who captured the Yemeni Air Forces fleet of aircraft in 2015, have developed the skills to at least conduct a helicopter raid of a vessel at sea during the day in a moderate sea state. The incident took place about 1 p.m. local time Sunday, according to NBC . Initial reporting said that the Houthis boarded the ship by repelling from a helicopter, but thats either wrong or another infil that was not captured on this video. The Houthis said they were attacking the vessel over its connection to Israel and would continue to target ships in international waters that were linked to or owned by Israelis until the end of Israels campaign against Gazas Hamas rulers , according to The Associated Press . All ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets, the Houthis said. Initial reports said that the ship was Israeli-owned. https://twitter.com/kann_news/status/1726230771214802988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1726230771214802988%7Ctwgr%5E871127edfbc0bfbc0338113bcd02a052223f389a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_\u0026ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-25074698992629971009.ampproject.net%2F2310301456000%2Fframe.html Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office had blamed the Houthis for the attack on the ship but said the vessel was British-owned and that no Israelis were on board. https://twitter.com/IsraeliPM/status/1726248918835728671 While Israeli officials insisted the ship was British-owned and Japanese-operated, ownership details in public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, according to The Associated Press . That's a company founded by Abraham Rami Ungar, who is known as one of the richest men in Israel. Ungar told The Associated Press he was aware of the incident but couldnt comment as he awaited details. A ship linked to him experienced an explosion in 2021 in the Gulf of Oman. Israeli media blamed it on Iran at the time. Authorities confirmed Monday that the captain and the first mate on the Galaxy Leader were Bulgarians. The ships Japanese operator, NYK Line, said the vessel had no cargo at the time of the hijacking, according to The Associated Press . Its crewmembers are from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico, NYK said. Japan on Monday condemned the hijacking and said it was working with the rebels for its return, the BBC reported . Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the Japanese government was doing its utmost for an early release of the crew through negotiations with Houthi rebels, while also communicating with Israel and cooperating with the governments of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iran. https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1726461312178245908 "The Houthi militants seizure of the motor vessel Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea is a flagrant violation of international law," a U.S. military official told The War Zone Monday. "We demand the immediate release of the ship and its crew. We will consult with our allies and UN partners as to appropriate next steps. This is the latest in a series of incidents involving the Houthi rebels since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Gaza war on Oct. 7. On Nov. 15, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner downed a drone launched from Yemen while in the Red Sea. One official told us that it was a Houthi drone directly attacking the vessel. As we reported last month , the Arleigh-Burke class destroyer USS Carney destroyed four Houthi land attack cruise missiles and nearly 20 drones. On Nov. 8 , the Houthis also shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over the same body of water. The rebel group has also been firing cruise and ballistic missiles and launching drones at targets in Israel in response to that country's ongoing operations in the Gaza Strip . This latest incident involving the Houthis shows they have no intention of backing down and that they have the increased their ability to threaten shipping, something they've been doing for years. In the past, the Houthis carried out several attacks on ships belonging to the Saudi-led coalition that its been at war with. As we wrote previously , however, those attacks were claimed to be carried out by rockets, missiles and drone boats. The video from Sunday's raid is reminiscent of an April 2023 raid by Iran on a U.S.-bound oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. Footage from that incident showed Iranian naval forces rappelling from a helicopter to seize the ship. https://twitter.com/mhmiranusa/status/1651918975410765829 The level of training the Houthis have received from Iran on these types of missions is unknown, though the fact that Houthis can now raid ships by helicopter raises the stakes. Other than reported ongoing talks between Japan and the Houthis, the international response to this situation is still evolving. Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com Court president Brigida Cavasino, centre, reads verdicts at the 'maxi-trial' of hundreds of accused mobsters, flanked by judges Claudia Caputo, left, and Germana Radice - VALEREA FERRARO/AP More than 200 members of Italys notorious Ndrangheta Mafia have been sentenced to a total of 2,200 years in prison at the culmination of the countrys biggest trial for more than 30 years. It took a panel of three female judges nearly two hours to read out the sentences passed on 338 defendants who had been on trial. They faced a range of charges from murder and extortion to drug trafficking and money laundering. The long-running trial offered unparalleled insight into the workings of the Ndrangheta, one of the worlds foremost criminal organisations, whose name translates as society of men of honour. The judges were told how Mafiosi would intimidate rivals or victims of extortion by dumping on their doorstep goat heads, dead puppies and, on one occasion, a dead dolphin. The court heard how ambulances were used to transport drugs, council water supplies were diverted to irrigate fields of marijuana and weapons were hidden in cemeteries. Defendants sported a colourful assortment of nicknames, from The Wolf and The Musician to Fatty, Shorty, Sweety, Mimmo the Baron and Giuseppe the Stick. Among those found guilty was a former lieutenant colonel in Italys paramilitary police force, the Carabinieri, and a former senator from Forza Italia, the centre-Right party that was founded by the late Silvio Berlusconi. Politician Giancarlo Pittelli was sentenced to 11 years behind bars. Regional politicians and businessmen were also convicted, showing the deep level of collusion between the Calabrian Mafia and white-collar elements of the economy and the state. The convicted also included Pasquale Bonavota, who was on the list of Italys most dangerous fugitives and who received a jail sentence of 28 years. Other Ndrangheta bosses were sentenced to up to 30 years. Among those convicted in the Calabrian 'maxi trial' was Mafia boss Pasquale Bonavota who was sentenced to 28 years in jail The trial was so big that a special courthouse had to be constructed inside a former call centre in Lamezia Terme, a town in Calabria, the southern region that has been the Ndranghetas stronghold for more than a century. It was large enough to accommodate not just the defendants but hundreds of prosecutors, defence lawyers, court officials and journalists. The trial stemmed from raids conducted by elite police units in December 2019 in which around 300 suspects were arrested in Italy and abroad. The investigation was spearheaded by Italys best-known prosecutor, Nicola Gratteri, who has lived under police protection for three decades. The Ndrangheta has spread far beyond its Calabrian roots and now has interests across the world, from Canada and South America to Australia. It is believed to have an annual income of around $60 billion (48 billion), much of which is made from the cocaine trade. It is said to control around 80 per cent of Europes cocaine trafficking and is considered to have eclipsed Italys two other principal Mafias the Cosa Nostra in Sicily and the Camorra of Naples. Experts say the Ndranghetas stranglehold on Calabria is explained in part by the chronic lack of economic development and neglect of the region, which forms the toe of the Italian boot. The rate of unemployment among young people is 27 per cent, the highest of Italys 20 regions and worse than other deprived areas such as Campania, Sicily and Puglia. 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. Lawyers wait for the reading of the verdict during the maxi mafia trial in Calabria (Gianluca CHININEA) An Italian court on Monday convicted more than 200 mobsters and their white-collar helpers, the culmination of a historic, nearly three-year trial against Calabria's notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia. For over an hour and a half, the president of the court in southern Vibo Valentia, Brigida Cavasino, steadily read out the names of the guilty and their sentences, which ranged from 30 years to a few months, as defendants incarcerated in prisons across the country watched via videolink. Prosecutors had asked for sentences totalling nearly 5,000 years for 322 accused mafia members operating in the Calabrian province of Vibo Valentia and their collaborators who have exercised a virtual stranglehold over the local population. But after a trial that lasted two years and nine months, the court doled out under half that total time, about 2,150 years collectively, with the convictions of 207 defendants Monday. That included four seasoned members of the 'Ndrangheta each sentenced to three decades in jail. The three-judge panel acquitted 131 defendants, including one whom prosecutors said controlled mafia activities within the prison and another accused of helping commandeer a public road and adjoining private land to use for grazing sheep. Underscoring the 'Ndrangheta's close ties with the powerful, one of the trial's most high-profile defendants was 70-year-old former parliamentarian and defence lawyer Giancarlo Pittelli, accused of being a fixer for the mafia. He received 11 years, short of the 17 years prosecutors had requested. A few dozen family members sat in the back of the vast, narrow courtroom, squinting at the television screens for a glimpse of their loved ones in prison, and occasionally crying out with joy over a light sentence. The verdicts -- which can be appealed twice -- capped Italy's largest mafia trial in decades and, despite Monday's acquittals, mark the most significant blow to date against one of the world's most powerful organised crime syndicates. Giuseppe Borrello, the local representative for anti-mafia association Libera, said the verdict showed that prosecutors' efforts were working, even if they fell short for all suspects. "The road is still long but it's been charted out, that's the most important thing," Borrello told AFP. "The strong message it (the verdict) sends is that the sense of impunity that has very often been felt in our territory is gone." - Ambushes and shakedowns - The 'Ndrangheta has flourished beyond its roots in the poor region of Calabria, at the toe of Italy's boot, to exercise a near-monopoly on the European cocaine trade, and is now found in more than 40 countries worldwide. Since the trial began in January 2021, the court has heard thousands of hours of testimony, including from more than 50 former mafia operatives turned state witnesses, detailing countless examples of the 'Ndrangheta's brutality and its iron grip on the territory. They include carrying out violent ambushes, shaking down business owners, rigging public tenders, stockpiling weapons, collecting votes or passing kickbacks to the powerful. Despite its breadth, the trial focused on just one top 'Ndrangheta "clan", or family group, dominating Vibo Valentia, one of the region's many economically depressed rural areas. The territory's undisputed boss, Luigi "The Supreme" Mancuso, 69, was cut from the defendants list last year to be tried separately. For the first time in such trials, the defendants list included many non-mafia members, including police, public servants and others. The court handed a sentence of 10 years in prison to a high-ranking member of the financial police working within Italy's anti-mafia department. He was found guilty of passing along details from judicial investigations to the 'Ndrangheta, as did another police officer who received two-and-a-half years. - 'We don't want you' - The trial revealed how the 'Ndrangheta -- whose members boast nicknames straight out of Hollywood like "The Wolf", "Fatty", "Sweetie" and "Lamb Thigh" -- suffocated the local economy, infiltrated public institutions and terrorised its people for decades. Informants -- a relatively rare phenomenon within the 'Ndrangheta due to blood ties between members -- recounted how weapons were hidden in cemetery chapels and ambulances used to transport drugs, and municipal water supplies diverted to marijuana crops. Those who opposed the mafia found dead puppies, dolphins or goat heads dumped on their doorsteps, sledgehammers taken to store fronts or cars torched. Less lucky were those beaten or fired at -- or those whose bodies were never found. Hundreds of lawyers and a few dozen members of the media attended the sentencing in the heavily secured courtroom bunker in the Calabrian city of Lamezia Terme. Also present was Rocco Mangiardi, 67, a local businessman and one of the first to denounce the 'Ndrangheta for extortion before a judge in 2009. Mangiardi, who has lived under police escort ever since, lamented the low turnout for the trial's most important moment, telling AFP it should be "filled with citizens... to show the judges that we're on their side." Long dismissed as mere livestock thieves, the 'Ndrangheta flourished under the radar for decades as authorities concentrated efforts against Sicily's Cosa Nostra -- defendants in the first, now-legendary maxi-trial of 1986-1987 in Palermo. Today, mafia experts estimate that the 'Ndrangheta, made up of approximately 150 Calabrian families and their associates, bring in more than 50 billion euros ($53 billion) annually around the world from drug trafficking, usury, syphoning public funds and extortion. Relying on frontmen and shell companies, the 'Ndrangheta reinvests illegal gains in the legitimate global economy, cementing its power. ams/rox A government billboard of Soros and von der Leyen is seen in Budapest A government billboard of Soros and von der Leyen is seen in Budapest BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary's ruling party unveiled billboards vilifying European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on Monday, the first time it has made her a personal target in a campaign similar to one against her predecessor that angered Brussels. The billboards, erected overnight to launch a campaign for next June's European parliamentary election, depict Von der Leyen alongside Alex Soros, the son of liberal Hungarian-born financier George Soros, a perennial target of hostility from Orban's Fidesz Party. The slogan reads: "Let's not dance to their tunes". Soros is Jewish and some critics view the central role he plays in Fidesz propaganda as evidence of anti-Semitism, which Fidesz strongly denies. European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said the billboards did not bother von der Leyen. "I showed the pictures to the president. She did not bat an eyelid. Completely unfazed," he said. "We know it is not the first time, it is probably not the last time. We have business to do. We have crises to manage, we have policies to implement." Similar billboards showing Von der Leyen's predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker alongside the elder Soros drew a rebuke from Brussels in 2019. Fidesz took them down after the European Parliament's main centre-right EPP group threatened to expel the Hungarian party. Fidesz left the EPP two years later. Orban, whose government has been trying to unblock billions of euros in EU funds suspended by Brussels over Fidesz's policies, said on Saturday that Hungary "must say no to the current Europe model built in Brussels". Hungary is expected to be a major focus of the next EU summit in mid-December, as the EU country most sympathetic to Russia and sceptical of plans to offer Ukraine a path to join the bloc, expected to be the summit's top issue. Orban sent out a survey on Friday to Hungarians asking whether the EU should allocate more funds to Ukraine or grant it membership. (Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski in Brussels, Reporting by Krisztina ThanEditing by Peter Graff and Richard Chang) The third member of a hunting party accused of bringing a deadly deer disease into South Carolina pleaded guilty Monday to illegal wildlife transport charges that resulted from a trip to the Midwest four years ago. Justin Grady LeMaster, who signed a plea agreement last week, admitted in federal court that he was part of a group that broke state and federal laws when it hauled a deer head with chronic wasting disease to South Carolina from Kansas. The plea agreement would allow LeMaster to avoid prison time, but he would have to serve one year of probation and give up his hunting rights during the time of the probation. He also would have to pay a $1,200 fine, according to the plea deal, which must be approved by a federal judge. The case hes involved in is more than a routine dust-up with the law because it involves the introduction of a disease to the state that has never been documented in South Carolina. Over time, chronic wasting disease can kill enough deer to deplete populations, many natural resources officials and scientists say. So far, it is not known to be a threat to people, but scientists have not ruled that out, either. Animals infected with chronic wasting disease are sometimes called zombie deer because they lose weight, drool and stagger around in the late stages of the illness. That makes them more susceptible to being killed by predators or in collisions with cars. Eventually the deer die. Deer hunting is one of the biggest outdoor sporting activities in South Carolina, generating millions of dollars for the economy each year. LeMaster, a 42-year-old disabled construction worker from Union, declined comment after his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis. He quickly exited the federal courthouse in Columbia. His plea deal brings to three the number of hunters admitting guilt in the case. Federal prosecutor Elle Klein said in court Monday that LeMaster and co-defendants Sean Paschall and Chad Seymore ran afoul of Kansas game wardens in December 2019 after the wardens received a complaint that someone was shooting deer outside a vehicle. Wearing body cameras, the wardens found violations of Kansas game laws and issued a citation to LeMaster for having an untagged doe and for not having a hunting license with him, Klein said. They visited a cabin LeMaster had rented in Kansas, a state where the hunters took annual trips. The next day, LeMaster and Paschall drove back to South Carolina with deer heads, antlers and deer meat from Kansas, she said. Some of the deer parts had been taken in violation of Kansas law. After learning of the transport to South Carolina, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources took possession of the deer heads, finding that a deer Seymore had killed was positive for chronic wasting disease, Klein said. LeMaster, who has hunted since he was a child, faces the lightest penalties because he had a lesser role in the case, Klein said. Seymore, a Spartanburg County nuclear worker, faces the heaviest sentence three years probation and a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty to misdemeanor wildlife charges in September. He faced two separate wildlife transport charges, one involving the transport of mule deer parts and the other white-tailed deer parts, according to the August federal grand jury indictment. Paschall, who is from the Union area, faces two years probation and a $5,000 fine following his guilty plea in October. Like Seymore and LeMaster, he faced charges centered around the transport of white-tailed deer parts. All three are to be sentenced soon, at which time the judge can accept or reject their plea agreements. The U.S. Attorneys Office handled the case because it is illegal to break wildlife laws in one state and then transport wildlife or animal parts across state lines. Maximum penalties for violating the federal law include a year in prison and fines of up to $100,000 for individuals. Magma may have reached very high up in the Earths crust, according to Icelands Meteorological Office (IMO), which says people will have to wait in suspense for the next few days to see how events play out. We really just have to wait in suspense for the next few days to see what happens, Kristin Jonsdottir, head of department at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, said. She said the decreasing earthquake activity over the last 24 hours could be a sign that magma has reached very high up in the earths crust, adding that the scenario is not unlike what was seen prior to a previous eruption in 2021. Authorities fear they could get as little as 30 minutes notice before the anticipated volcanic eruption. All the big signs are already there, so we are looking for the small signs, the signs that say that even though we are monitoring very closely, Vidir Reynisson, chief of civil protection added. The Met Office said magmatic gas has been detected at a borehole in Svartsengi, signalling an imminent eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano over the coming days, with the town of Grindavik most at risk. Key Points Icelandic authorities fear sudden volcano eruption Ground near power plant swells as chamber beneath floods with magma Peninsula braced for new eruptive cycle to bring decades of volcanic instability Evacuated town residents allowed to return briefly to rescue valuables Huge cracks appear in roads in evacuated town as magma bubbles underneath Iceland Met Office updates danger zone in new map 05:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar The Icelandic Met Office (IMO) on Monday updated its hazard assessment map for the area of Grindavik and Svartsengi based on satellite images. The danger zone compared to the previous maps has been expanded to include three broad categories. A very high danger zone measuring about 2-3km across is marked in purple, while the area around it in red denotes high risk and yellow is moderate. The highest risk zone in the centre of the 15km-long rift is marked with a dashed red line. Iceland volcano updated danger zone (Icelandic Meteorological Office) When will the Iceland volcano erupt? 04:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar As an imminent eruption looms thousands of Iceland residents await their fate as their town could be wiped out within days. Thousands of earthquakes rocked the southwestern peninsula of Reykjanes on Saturday 11 November leading semi-molten rock to ravage below the surface as the tremors caused a 15km long dyke to form, cracking the community in two as the ground was pushed upwards. The whole population waits in limbo as they fear the fate of their close-knit community, many have already lost their homes whilst others do not know if their residencies still stand as earthquakes have continued to strike. Lydia Patrick reports. When will the Iceland volcano erupt and what happens when it does? Is it safe to travel to Iceland? Your rights if you have a holiday booked 04:00 , Simon Calder The earth is at its most restless in Iceland right now. The Reykjanes peninsula, southwest of Reykjavik, is seething with seismic activity sparking hundreds of small earthquakes. The town of Grindavik, just 10 miles south of Keflavik International Airport, has been evacuated as a precaution. Yet flights are continuing to arrive and depart as normal. These are the key questions and answers on consumer rights. Is it safe to travel to Iceland? Your rights if you have a holiday booked Icelandic authorities fear sudden volcano eruption 03:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Authorities in Iceland said they could get as little as 30 minutes notice before the anticipated volcanic eruption near the small fishing town of Grindavik in the southwest of the country. The challenge that we have is that we will not see any strong evidence that the magma is coming up, we will see some small earthquakes and we can see how they will probably form in one place rather than another, Vidir Reynisson, the head of the civil protection and emergency management agency, told Fox News. We will maybe get a 30-minute notice before the eruption starts. That is what we are working with. All the big signs are already there, so we are looking for the small signs, the signs that say that even though we are monitoring very closely, it could be 30 minutes or less from now on until the eruption starts, but that could go on for days or weeks, he added. Nearly 700 tremors detected near magma intrusion in Iceland, says Met Office 03:02 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar About 700 earthquakes were detected from Sunday midnight to Monday evening in the region of the magma intrusion, with the largest being of 2.7 magnitude, the Icelandic Met Office (IMO) said. It said there has been a significant crustal uplift in the vicinity of the Svartsengi power plant, located just 4km from the fishing town of Grindavik, which was evacuated amid fears of a volcanic eruption. The clear sign of crustal uplift in Svartsengi region does not change the likelihood of an eruption from the magma intrusion, the Met Office said. This is assessed, amongst other things, on the fact that the Earths crust over the magma intrusion is much weaker than the crust over the uplift region close to Svartsengi. As long as there is not significant seismicity in the Svartsengi region, there is not a high likelihood of an eruption at that location. Watch: Iceland volcano eruption warning forces residents to evacuate 02:00 , Alexander Butler Residents of a fishing town in south-western Iceland have left their homes after fears of a volcanic eruption caused civil defence authorities to declare a state of emergency in the region. Police decided to evacuate Grindavik after recent seismic activity in the area moved south towards the town and monitoring indicated that a corridor of magma, or semi-molten rock, now extends under the community, Icelands meteorological office said. The town of 3,400 is on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 30 miles south-west of the capital, Reykjavik. Iceland volcano eruption warning forces residents in Grindavik to evacuate Biggest volcanic eruptions in the last 10 years as Iceland town faces devastation 00:01 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Three eruptions have taken place on the peninsula of Reykjanes near the Fagradalsfjall volcano in the last three years: in March 2021, August 2022 and July 2023. However, previous eruptions did not cause damage, having occurred in remote valleys. As Iceland waits in trepidation for the looming volcanic eruption, we take a look at some of the biggest volcanic eruptions in the last decade: Biggest volcanic eruptions in the last 10 years as Iceland town faces devastation Iceland volcano could erupt like a can of fizzy drink Monday 20 November 2023 22:00 , Matt Mathers A volcano close to erupting in Iceland could explode like a can of fizzy drink, an expert has said. Icelands Met Office has said magmatic gas has been detected at a borehole in Svartsengi, signalling an imminent eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano over the coming days, with the town of Grindavik most at risk. The small fishing town has already been evacuated following thousands of mini earthquakes across the Reykjanes peninsula, southwest Iceland, over the past week. Iceland volcano could erupt like a can of fizzy drink Iceland residents fleeing imminent volcanic eruption told they face months away from home Monday 20 November 2023 20:28 , Athena Stavrou Experts have revealed the likely eruption site of a volcano in Iceland, as authorities warn evacuees they may not return home for months. Iceland has seen more than 1,700 earthquakes in the last 24 hours, according to the countrys Met Office, with most of the activity north of Hagafell. The forecaster said magmatic gas has been detected at a borehole in Svartsengi, signalling an imminent eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano over the coming days. Iceland officials reveal where volcano will likely erupt When will the Iceland volcano erupt and what happens when it does? Monday 20 November 2023 18:14 , Alexander Butler As an imminent eruption looms thousands of Iceland residents await their fate as their town could be wiped out within days, Lydia Patrick reports. Thousands of earthquakes rocked the southwestern peninsula of Reykjanes on Saturday 11 November leading semi-molten rock to ravage below the surface as the tremors caused a 15km long dyke to form, cracking the community in two as the ground was pushed upwards. Some 3,400 residents from the town of Grindavik which lies on the path of the expected fissure vent eruption were forced to evacuate, they described the apocalyptic scenes of their much-loved home town as they briefly returned to collect their belongings. When will the Iceland volcano erupt and what happens when it does? Grindavik couple fear losing their home after evacuating: Its a pretty grim situation Monday 20 November 2023 17:01 , Andy Gregory A man who evacuated from a town in Iceland after earthquakes put the region on alert for a volcanic eruption said he fears he might never see his home again. Caitlin McLean, from Scotland, was visiting her boyfriend, Gisli Gunnarsson, in Grindavik when they were forced to flee his home at midnight on Friday, packing only a few essential items, to stay with Mr Gunnarssons mother in Reykjavik. Police evacuated Grindavik after seismic activity in the area moved south towards the town, with a corridor of magma, or semi-molten rock, now thought to be extending under the community. You can read the full report by Sarah Ping here: Grindavik couple fear losing home after evacuating: Its a pretty grim situation Could an Icelandic volcano ground flights like in 2010? Monday 20 November 2023 16:18 , Andy Gregory In April 2010, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted and caused a complete shutdown of aviation for a week. Anyone who has a flight booked imminently may be fretting about a possible repeat. Thankfully, the circumstances are very different. Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has some answers here: Could an Icelandic volcano ground flights like in 2010? Eruption at power plant still unlikely despite ground swelling, says Iceland Met Office Monday 20 November 2023 15:36 , Andy Gregory The ground swelling near the Svartsengi power plant does not change the likelihood of an eruption from the nearby magma dyke, Icelands Met Office has said. The clear sign of crustal uplift in Svartsengi region does not change the likelihood of an eruption from the magma intrusion. This is assessed, amongst other things, on the fact that the Earths crust over the magma intrusion is much weaker than the crust over the uplift region close to Svartsengi, the IMO said. As long as there is not significant seismicity in the Svartsengi region, there is not a high likelihood of an eruption at that location. Moreover, an eruption is still deemed more likely from the intrusion, particularly if there is a sudden, large inflow of magma into the intrusion. Our monitoring and hazard assessment preparations are still based on the assumption that the situation could change suddenly with little warning, added the statement, issued on Monday afternoon. General view of the Svartsengi geothermal power plant, near the evacuated town of Grindavik (REUTERS) Hundreds of earthquakes detected since midnight Monday 20 November 2023 15:14 , Andy Gregory More than 700 earthquakes have been detected close to the magma dyke since midnight, according to the Icelandic Met Office with the largest of the tremors a magnitude 2.7, close to Hagafell. Recent days have seen between 1,500 and 1,800 daily earthquakes in the region, the national forecaster said in its update at 1:20pm. Earthquakes occur as magma surges beneath the ground in this case causing the ground itself to rise. Most displaced children are near Reykjavic, says civil defence chief Monday 20 November 2023 14:21 , Andy Gregory Children displaced by the evacuations will be given the opportunity to attend schools in the capital Reykjavic, officials have said. Johanna Lilja Birgisdottir, a senior psychologist at Grindaviks social services department, told a press briefing this morning that there was no compulsory schooling for the towns children, but that officials in neigbouring localities are working to ensure all have the opportunity to attend. Firstly, all children are invited to go to school where the family is currently staying. In order to enroll a child in such a neighborhood school, parents must contact the school administrators of that school directly, Ms Birgisdottir was quoted as saying by national broadcaster RUV. All children from Grindavik can also attend school together in several groups and accompanied by their teachers, in different parts of Reykjavik, hopefully from next Wednesday, she said. Civil defence chief Viir Reynisson added: Our priority is to keep children together. We will try that in small groups in Reykjavik next week. Most of the displaced children are in the capital area. Watch: Iceland earthquake shakes house as couple forced to evacuate Monday 20 November 2023 13:42 , Andy Gregory Peninsula faces decades of volcanic instability Monday 20 November 2023 13:13 , Andy Gregory The densely-populated Reykjanes Peninsula potentially faces decades of instability, Icelands civil defence chief has reiterated. Experts fear that the resumption of eruptions on the region which neighbours the capital Reykjavic in 2021 could mark a new eruptive cycle following an 800-year hiatus. Asked about the long-term plan for the peninsula, civil defence chief Viir Reynisson told reporters on Monday: Our general risk assessment for the whole area says that when this episode starts (as it did in 2021) we should prepare for decades ahead. The highest risk scenario is the one we are looking at, a possible eruption around Grindavik. Eruption could happen anywhere along 15km magma dyke Monday 20 November 2023 12:44 , Andy Gregory An eruption could happen anywhere along the magma dyke, Icelands civil defence chief has said, noting that officials first priority is protecting the Svartsengi power plant. Asked at a press briefing on Monday morning where an eruption was most likely to occur, Viir Reynisson said: There is a lot of uncertainty. It is a 15km long dyke and it could happen anywhere. But the deformation data suggests just west of orbjorn, about 2km north of Grindavik, around 1.5km from the Svartsengi power station. Our first priority is protecting that plant but if that fails we are looking for backups. The power station provides hot water used for heating for around 30,000 people. Eruption at magma dyke would likely be within days, says top official Monday 20 November 2023 12:20 , Andy Gregory If an eruption is going to occur in the magma dyke near Grindavik, it will likely be within days, Icelands civil defence chief has said. According to Icelands national broadcaster RUV, Viir Reynisson told reporters this morning: We have very clear signs of magma along the dyke. It is estimated at less than 1km depth. Since then we have not seen signs of it getting closer to the surface. The likely time of something happening along the dyke, especially in the center, if it happens, is within days not weeks. If this continues without an eruption the chance of one decreases with time pretty rapidly. But then we see the changes at Svartsengi which possibly introduce the next stage of this. Iceland residents fleeing imminent volcanic eruption told they face months away from home Monday 20 November 2023 11:37 , Andy Gregory At a Civil Defence briefing last week, director Viir Reynisson said there was significant damage to houses and pipes in the evacuated town of Grindavik, my colleague Athena Stavrou reports. The fishing town has been the most affected area in Iceland, as the magma tunnel snakes beneath the ground leaving huge cracks in roads. While the eruption is most likely to happen in Hagafell, there is a possibility that it could happen anywhere along the magma tunnel. Mr Reynisson said: This plus uncertainty about earthquakes means that residents have to prepare to live elsewhere in the coming months. Locals have been permitted to briefly enter their homes for five minutes this week to collect their valuables and pets but need prior authorisation. Iceland officials reveal where volcano will likely erupt Hundreds of earthquakes beneath Grindavik in recent hours Monday 20 November 2023 10:45 , Andy Gregory Some 460 earthquakes have been recorded at the magma tunnel beneath the town of Grindavik since midnight, Icelands national broadcaster RUV reports. That represents a slight increase in seismicity, with the largest tremor a magnitude 2.7. Like a dystopian movie: Iceland residents describe apocalyptic scenes as they flee volcano threat Monday 20 November 2023 10:10 , Andy Gregory Residents from Grindavik, the small Icelandic town under threat from a volcanic eruption, have described their apocalyptic existence as they fear for their future. Grindavik resident Andrea varsdottir, 46, told The Independent: Everything just seems so unreal, I feel like Im in a dystopian movie. Im just waiting to wake up from this nightmare. The mother was getting ready to go into Reykjavik to celebrate her son Bjorgvin Hrafnars 16th birthday when their house started to shake on Friday. Some of them [the earthquakes] were like a big truck had driven past your house, the bigger ones were like the same truck had hit your house, she said. Everything was shaking so bad, the floors were going up and down. My colleague Lydia Patrick has more in this report: Iceland residents describe apocalyptic scenes as they flee volcano threat Evacuated residents to be allowed brief return home to rescue valuables Monday 20 November 2023 09:23 , Andy Gregory Selected residents of an Iceland town evacuated due to fears of an eruption will be allowed to briefly return to their homes to collect valuables today in a plan which could change at the last minute. A notice issued by the local police chief said that permits had been given for the owners of 120 properties in Grindavik to rescue their valuables. They will be transported to and from a collection point by emergency personnel. First of all, the safety of the responders, most of whom are volunteers, must be considered. Their safety must always be ensured. There is still a high probability of an eruption, said the police chief. Watch: Huge cracks appear on roads in town at risk of volcanic eruption Monday 20 November 2023 08:59 , Andy Gregory Area near power plant entering new eruption phase, says volcanologist Monday 20 November 2023 08:31 , Andy Gregory The area near the Svartsengi power plant has entered a new eruption phase, an Icelandic volcanologist has suggested. The land near the power plant is swelling as a chamber some 4.5 kilometres below the surface fills with magma at a rate of around 50 cubic metres per second, according to Professor Thorvaldur Thordarson in a repeat of the events which saw huge fissures appear in the ground earlier this month. I think the likelihood of an eruption in the northern part of the Sundhnukar crater row or in Illahraun lava increasing every day. I think the likelihood of an eruption there is increasing because of the land rise in that area, Professor Thordarson told Iceland Monitor. He added: Were in a new and a changed situation and weve entered a new the eruption phase, and so its very constructive for us to think about what kind of preventive measures we can take. What can we do before an eruption occurs that will help us reduce its impact on society and infrastructure? Huge cracks appeared in a road in the fishing town of Grindavik earlier this month (REUTERS) Ground near power plant swells as chamber beneath floods with magma Monday 20 November 2023 08:05 , Andy Gregory The land near the Svartsengi power plant is now rising even faster than it did prior to the subterranean events which led to huge cracks appearing in the ground there earlier this month, a volcanologist has said. Land swelling is common prior to volcanic eruptions, and Professor Thorvaldur Thordarson said the ground is now rising some 5.5 times faster than it did 10 days ago, with the flow of magma into the storage chamber which sits 4.5km below the surface now around 10 times faster, at around 50 cubic metres per second. The land is rising much faster now. This happens simultaneously because the magma is creating space and thus raising the surface of the earth, Professor Thordarson told Iceland Monitor. If this speed continues, the volcanologist believes the Svartsengi power plant will have reached its previous position in five to 15 days. What happens then, its hard to tell, he said. We might get an eruption, we might have a re-run of the activitites that happened on 10 November or just something completely new. Its like a dystopian movie: Iceland residents describe apocalyptic scene Monday 20 November 2023 07:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Residents from a small Icelandic town under threat from a volcanic eruption have described their apocalyptic existence as they fear for their future. Grindavik resident Andrea varsdottir, 46, told The Independent: Everything just seems so unreal, I feel like Im in a dystopian movie. Im just waiting to wake up from this nightmare. Lydia Patrick reports. Iceland residents describe apocalyptic scenes as they flee volcano threat Iceland earthquakes: Huge cracks appear on roads in town at risk of volcanic eruption Monday 20 November 2023 07:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Is it safe to travel to Iceland? Monday 20 November 2023 06:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar The town of Grindavik, just 10 miles south of Keflavik International Airport, has been evacuated as a precaution. Yet flights are continuing to arrive and depart as normal. A spokesperson for British Airways told The Independent: Our flights are operating as planned and we continue to monitor the situation closely. We will be in touch with customers directly should the situation change. Simon Calder has more. Is it safe to travel to Iceland? Your rights if you have a holiday booked Roads split open in Grindavik ahead of possible volcanic eruption Monday 20 November 2023 06:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar This image taken with a drone shows cracks at an intersection in the town of Grindavik, Iceland (AP) This image taken with a drone shows cracks next to a children playground in the town of Grindavik, Iceland (AP) Earlier this year, two whistleblowers who triggered a state investigation into Cornerstone Cottage, an Idaho youth facility where they once worked, still believed at least one state agency would take their side. They made their case to the Idaho Human Rights Commission, arguing that when Cornerstone Cottage fired them both in 2021, it was in direct retaliation for the complaint they sent to state regulators. That 84-page complaint detailed concerns regarding the safety of both the staff and the girls there, including allegations that children had been sexually assaulted, beaten, harassed and frequently hospitalized due to neglect. But in June, more than two years later, the Human Rights Commission ruled against the two whistleblowers, Emily Carter and Kieria Krieger. With that decision, Carter and Krieger had exhausted any options that could have forced the state to hold Cornerstone accountable for, in their view, trying to silence whistleblowers highlighting sexual assault, sexual harassment and child abuse. (Cornerstones owner, Jim Smidt, maintains that they were fired for poor job performance, not in retaliation.) Its a really scary thing to not enforce anti-retaliation regulations, Carter said. Last month, InvestigateWest revealed how the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare allowed the facility to stay in business despite substantiating many of the claims detailed by the whistleblowers. But Cornerstone Cottage also hasnt faced any consequences from the state for firing the whistleblowers. Legal experts told InvestigateWest that they were stunned by that. This case does, viscerally, really cry out for some kind of remedy for Ms. Carter and anyone else in her position, said John Rumel, a law professor at the University of Idaho with experience practicing employment law. Carter and Krieger turned to the Idaho Human Rights Commission in part because of Idahos relatively weak whistleblower protections for employees in the private sector. The Human Rights Commission ruling, however, left them feeling like the state was going out of its way to shut them down, even when they believed the law should have been on their side. And when the commission accidentally sent Krieger the wrong version of the ruling a draft that found she prevailed in her retaliatory discharge claim it only fueled more questions. It really makes you scratch your head and wonder whats actually going on, Krieger said. I guess I expected that the state would protect people who were fired for reporting in good faith. Benjamin Earwicker, the commissions administrator, would not answer questions about the case when contacted by InvestigateWest, saying via email that the commission does not talk with non-parties about the specifics of cases. Without more answers from the commission, Rumel said he can only speculate about what happened. My sense is that there was disagreement about how this case should come down, Rumel said. Certain people involved in making it wanted it to go one way. At some point, the people who wanted to go against Carter (and Krieger) prevailed. MORE TO THE STORY The Idaho Human Rights Commissions final decision didnt address whether Smidt fired Carter and Krieger because of their 2021 complaint. Rather, the commission claimed the case fell outside its scope of authority. The commission protects the right to report discrimination involving employees, but not necessarily the right to report that the children at Cornerstone were being abused. That reasoning is backed up by federal law. The nine-person commission, appointed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little, investigates cases under federal anti-discrimination statutes, following guidance of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which says that employees may not be punished for participating in a complaint process or otherwise opposing discrimination. That would include picketing in opposition to discrimination or refusing to obey a discriminatory order. Crucially, it would not include whistleblowers raising concerns unrelated to employment discrimination, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Despite the name of the Human Rights Commission, not all human or civil rights are protected under the Idaho Human Rights Act, specifically, said Earwicker, the commissions administrator, in an email. But the commission left out a key fact in the Cornerstone case. Carter and Krieger werent only raising alarms about abuse of children. Their complaint to the state also alleged sexual harassment against employees. One of the allegations, for instance, was that a member of management could access Cornerstones camera security feed from home. He would screenshot photos of staff members when they were bending down and send them the photos, according to the complaint whistleblowers gave the state in 2021. Krieger received such a photo with her backside circled on the screen. She reported it to other management but said they laughed at her. The incident was detailed in the complaint without naming Krieger directly. The 2021 complaint was clear in explaining that sexual harassment against employees was part of their concern. Harassment, discrimination, and abuse regularly happen between staff with no response or intervention by [management]. Staff were bullied by other staff, discriminated against based on disability and sexual orientation, and had harmful rumors spread about them, read the complaint to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Staff in the past have been consistently sexually harassed by members of past [management] as well as other staff. Reporting such allegations to the state is explicitly considered an action that an employer cannot retaliate against. Thats affirmed in the draft of the Human Rights Commission report on Krieger the version the agency didnt mean to release to her: Krieger engaged in protected activity when she participated in this investigation because concerns included allegations of sexual harassment and Cornerstones failure to adequately care for its diverse resident population, the draft said. But in the final rulings against Carter and Krieger, the commission removed the reference to sexual harassment allegations, saying that the bulk of the complaint was about child abuse. That premise is used to justify a ruling against them. The rulings go so far as to suggest that the commission would rule in their favor if sexual harassment was part of the original complaint. Had Carter complained of alleged sexual harassment she would have engaged in a protected activity, the commission explains in its final ruling. The same sentence appears in Kriegers ruling while swapping out the name. Idaho law requires a complaint go through the Human Rights Commission before filing a discrimination lawsuit. If Carter and Krieger had prevailed, the commission could have imposed damages and penalties. The former employees can now file a discrimination lawsuit in federal court, but they would need a lawyer and the commissions ruling against them could hurt their chances. Rumel, the University of Idaho professor, thinks the commissions ruling may go against the spirit of federal anti-discrimination laws. Judges have generally interpreted them broadly, he said. But the commissions ruling appeared to intentionally take a narrow view. Its a pretty tortured interpretation of the law, Rumel said. ANOTHER WAY? Carter and Krieger have another avenue to prove they were wrongfully discharged. And attorneys say theyd have had a good case if they pursued it. Idaho is an at-will state, meaning employers do not have to give a reason for terminating someones employment. There is, however, an exception to that if a worker is fired in violation of public policy. Idaho courts recognize that exception to the at-will statute as common law, and it means, generally, that employees cant be fired for refusing to break the law, for reporting a violation of the law or for acting in the greater good of the public. It wouldnt take me long to cobble together what could be a really strong wrongful discharge case under state law, Rumel said of Carter and Krieger. But workers have little incentive to pursue these cases, said Erika Birch, an Idaho attorney who specializes in employment and civil rights law. In Idaho, wrongful termination in violation of public policy is considered a contract-related claim that wouldnt provide for emotional distress damages, Birch said. Thats not the case in many other states, she said. That means Carter and Krieger could only seek compensation for lost wages a minuscule amount if the fired low-wage workers were able to get other jobs quickly. Besides, theres nothing in the law that says bad actors have to be punished, Birch said. Unfortunately, its not easy, and it often doesnt produce what the employee is most interested in, Birch said. Which is: finding real justice and stopping bad behavior, and making sure that it doesnt happen to someone else. Wrongful discharge in violation of public policy doesnt technically fall under Idahos whistleblower laws. Idahos whistleblower law only protects public employees from retaliation. Cornerstone, though it accepts children who are under the care of the state, is privately operated. States vary in whether whistleblower laws apply to public or private workers. Washington, like Idaho, applies it to public employees. In Oregon, it can apply to both. Idaho recently put a cap on damages that can be collected in those cases, too, in response to a whistleblower case Birch worked on in which the Idaho State Police was ordered to pay her clients $1.29 million. Krieger worries that cases like hers will send a message to other workers that Idaho wont protect those trying to do the right thing for children and their caregivers. How does anyone tell the state whats going on in any of these programs in Idaho if the state condones Cornerstones behavior toward employees, these children, and staff who are trying to follow Idahos mandatory reporting laws and get help? she said. Rumel, however, said employers should not see cases like this as an incentive to punish whistleblowers. Cornerstone, he said, dodged a bullet. From a moral standpoint, it strikes me as completely wrong, even if the law wasnt there, he said. But I do think the law is there. InvestigateWest (invw.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Reach reporter Wilson Criscione at wilson@invw.org. This report was supported in part by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker appeared to take a page out of the White Houses playbook in likening GOP front-runner and former President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini over his use of the term "vermin" to describe his political enemies ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The Democrat, one of the leading Jewish governors in the country, told MSNBCs "Inside with Jen Psaki," Trumps comment is "just one in a long series of remarks, words that Donald Trump has used that are unfortunately reminiscent of the past. Let me just be clear, in Germany, in the 1930s, people that they didnt want to have power, people that they wanted to separate, segregate. They began calling them immigrants, even people who had been in Germany for generations." "Jews who were doctors, lawyers in government at the time became known as immigrants, even though they were German. And this is a way to begin to segregate people, and then eventually, at least what happened in Germany, is that they turned it into a way to almost dehumanize. And then they did in fact dehumanize and kill people," Pritzker said. "I dont know where its going with Donald Trump. What I can tell you is the things that he talks about are frightening to those of us who know the history of Europe in the 1930s and 40s. And Im deeply concerned about his predilection for revenge." During a speech in Claremont, New Hampshire, ahead of Veterans Day last week, Trump vowed, "We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections." RAMASWAMY CLASHES WITH CNN ANCHOR PRESSING HIM ON TRUMP'S 'VERMIN' COMMENTS: 'GIVE ME A BREAK!' Former President Donald Trump faces continued criticism from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and others as he ranks first among 2024 GOP contenders. "Theyll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream," Trump said. "The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within. Because if you have a capable, competent, smart, tough leader, Russia, China, North Korea, theyre not going to want to play with us." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Trump, recently endorsed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at the U.S.-Mexico border, has repeatedly warned that President Biden is leading the globe to the brink of a third World War. Former President Donald Trump poses for a photo with a service member at the South Texas International airport on Nov. 19, 2023 in Edinburg, Texas. TRUMP VS. BIDEN: A DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE IN HOW THE MEDIA TREAT EACH CAMPAIGN The Washington Post condemned the use of the term "vermin," saying historians sounded the alarm over concerns of it echoing authoritarianism. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have a conversation during the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting at the Hilton Midtown on Sept. 19, 2023 in New York City. The White House also condemned Trumps comment last week. "Employing words like vermin to describe anyone who makes use of their basic right to criticize the government echoes dictators like Hitler and Mussolini," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told reporters, quoting the Posts coverage. "Using terms like that about dissent would be unrecognizable to our founders, but horrifyingly recognizable to American veterans who put on their countrys uniform in the 1940s. President Biden believes in his oath to our constitution, and in American democracy. He works to protect both every day." Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment Monday, but they did not immediately respond. Original article source: Illinois Gov. Pritzker doubles down on White House likening Trump to Hitler, Mussolini over 'vermin' remark A Carlinville police officer shot a man who allegedly pointed a gun during the stop of a reported stolen vehicle on Sunday, authorities said. The suspect suffered life-threatening injuries and the officer was not injured, according to a news release from the Carlinville Police Department. Just prior to the shooting at 5:44 p.m., the department received a notification on a license plate reading system that a suspect entering Carlinville may be armed and dangerous in a stolen vehicle, the news release stated. The suspect was stopped at the Carlinville Area Hospital parking lot. During this traffic stop in the 20700 block of North Broad Street in the Macoupin County town, the suspect allegedly pointed a gun at the Carlinville officer who then fired his service weapon, according to a news release from Illinois State Police. Since this is an officer-involved shooting, the Carlinville Police Department requested assistance from Illinois State Police. No other information about the shooting has been released. Han Guorui, a folk artist specializing in making Dongming grain pictures, is generally busy in autumn as he needs to collect materials for his work. This year, he has been even busier, as he has attended fairs to demonstrate his skills and promote grain art. The grain pictures, which take their name from Dongming county in Heze, Shandong province, are a traditional folk craft with a history of more than 200 years. The practice was listed as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in 2016 by the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism. After being treated to prevent decay and insect infestation, grains, grass and vegetable seeds are glued together to form a picture. "We use the different shapes and colors of grains and seeds, which are all collected from the field," says Han. Born in Dongming, a county along the banks of the Yellow River, he attended a regional fair in mid-October. His pictures attracted many children who asked questions, such as, "will these seeds sprout", and "can these grains be eaten?" Han answered the children's questions while showing them how to use grains and seeds to make a picture. "Only now, when food is sufficient, can people make a picture with surplus grain," he says. To make pictures that more people like, Han works in the style of Chinese ink and Western oil paintings. Now his grain pictures are not only sold in cities across China, but also to overseas markets, including some European countries, South Korea and Japan, he says. "Grain pictures have become a cultural product that is helping to enrich farmers living on the Yellow River plain," says Han. The Yellow River, the country's second longest, is considered the cradle of Chinese civilization. For thousands of years, the people living along its banks have nurtured rich and vibrant cultures that have endured to this day. To give people the opportunity to familiarize themselves with its rich culture and plentiful products, Shandong province has organized fairs named after the river throughout the year, with some events held in communities to involve more people. At the fairs, intangible cultural heritage items, handicrafts, local delicacies, performances, and agricultural products are available. At one fair in a community in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong, in late October, more than 10 types of handicrafts were on show, including gourd-carving, paper-cutting, textiles and hemp rope weaving. "The fair builds a bridge between intangible cultural heritage producers and consumers. Using items that are embodied with traditional culture is a good way to pass on culture," says Sun Xicai, deputy director of Jinan Folk Literature and Art Association. At the fair, 60-something Yu Shaoqing, who was selling animal-shaped textile products, attracted a lot of buyers. "Many young people show an interest in my products. They buy them to decorate their rooms and cars," says Yu. Yu, who worked in embroidery design before retiring, designs her products, which take the shape of animals like tigers, rabbits and ducks. Currently, she is working on a dragon design for next year to welcome the Year of the Dragon. "I have spent eight months drawing more than 10 sketches. I want a dragon that will catch people's attention at first sight," Yu says. Neighboring a booth at the fair selling products made from woven hemp rope, Yu was inspired to decorate a hemp basket with cloth tigers. "The fair has not only provided us a platform to promote our products, but also a platform to exchange ideas. Traditional crafts need new ideas to make them popular with modern consumers," she says. Editors note: Vivek Raghuvanshi, a journalist and freelancer to Defense News for more than three decades, was jailed in mid-May by Indias Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of espionage. The Indian government has released minimal information on his arrest. Sightline Media Group, which owns Defense News, has not seen any evidence to substantiate these charges and repudiates attacks on press freedom. NEW DELHI India and Australia are set to hold talks focused on bolstering their strategic, defense and security ties on Monday in New Delhi. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles arrived to meet with their counterparts for the second India-Australia 2+2 Dialogue, where theyre expected to discuss regional and global issues, according to a statement from Indias Ministry of External Affairs. Both sides will also exchange views on shared priorities for strengthening minilateral and multilateral cooperation, the statement said. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold a bilateral meeting with Marles, who is also the deputy prime minister. Indias minister of external affairs, Subhramanyam Jaishankar, will take stock of ties between the two countries with his counterpart Wong on Tuesday, according to the statement. The talks come a few weeks after India hosted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in New Delhi, where both countries underlined their commitment to boosting security ties and reaffirmed their support for a free and resilient Indo-Pacific region. India and Australia are also part of the Quad, an alliance that includes Japan and the United States, which aims to counter Chinas rising influence in Asia. The two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2020, when they signed various agreements to strengthen defense ties and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Earlier this year, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived in India on a four-day visit where he held talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and praised the two countries progress in ties, including in scientific and technological cooperation and military exercises. CHICAGO - A Hammond woman is facing charges for driving under the influence after crashing a truck into a traffic light pole in Lake Forest Sunday morning. Lake Forest Police and Fire Departments responded to a one-vehicle crash near the intersection of Route 41 and Route 60 at approximately 2:23 a.m. First responders found a black 2021 Ford Ranger pickup truck off the roadway with heavy front end damage. Police say Analisa Sada, 21, was driving the truck southbound on Route 41 when she left the roadway. The truck struck a traffic light pole and the IDOT traffic signal control box. The control box was destroyed, leaving the busy intersection without traffic signals. Officers remained on scene providing traffic control until Meade Electric was able to restore power around noon. Sada and her passenger both refused medical treatment on scene. Police say Sada was showing signs of impairment and she was placed under arrest. She was charged with Driving Under the Influence, DUI B.A.C. above .08, Unlawful possession of cannabis in a motor vehicle, and Possession of a controlled substance. Deputies are investigating a racially-motivated murder of an inmate at the Clayton County Jail on Sunday. On Monday, Channel 2s Audrey Washington was at the Clayton County Jail, where authorities said the inmate killed his cellmate with his bare hands. The Clayton County Sheriffs Office said Jaquez Jackson beat his cellmate to death by punching, kicking and slamming the other inmates head on a toilet. Inmate Jaquez Jackson stated several times he does not like Mexican/Hispanics and wanted to kill them, deputies said. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] He can get violent, said Dalton Lowery, Jr., a former corrections officer. Lowery says he used to work as a corrections officer at the jail and came in contact with Jackson on several different occasions. Theres been some situations where Im rotating the units and I hear some ruckus going on and hes in there fighting a roommate, Lowery said. TRENDING STORIES: The conditions at the Clayton County Jail in my opinion are catastrophic, attorney Akil Secret. Secret told Washington he does not represent Jackson or the victims family in this case, but represents another Clayton County Jail inmate he says was stabbed in the head. In January, Channel 2 Action News showed you a violent attack on a jail detainee. He survived but was stabbed 23 times inside the Clayton County Jail. Many of the people who are injured in these instances are people who are in jail for misdemeanor cases, minor offenses and theyve placed them in jail cells with people who are historically known to be violent persons, Secret said. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Sheriff Levon Allen says he is working to make safety improvements at the jail. He asked for more than $6 million in additional funding to expand the jails capacity and properly classify inmates. Lowery tells Washington even more needs to happen and soon. When I tell you its bad, there are doors wide open. There are individuals who can be attacked on site, whether you have an officer there or not, Lowery explained. The sheriffs office did not release the name of Jacksons cellmate. Officials have charged Jackson with malice murder, aggravated assault and starting a penal riot. The Clayton County Medical Examiners Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have been contacted. A detainee is accused of killing his cellmate with his bare hands in what Georgia authorities said was a racially-motivated attack. It happened Sunday, Nov. 19, inside the Clayton County Jail, according to Sheriff Levon Allen. Investigators said Jaquez Jackson beat his cellmate to death, brutally kicking and punching the man before slamming his head into a toilet. Authorities did not release the victims name. After the attack, Jackson repeatedly told investigators he does not like Mexican/Hispanics and wanted to kill them, Allen said in a news release. Jackson was serving a one-year sentence on a probation violation related to multiple misdemeanor charges, according to the sheriffs office. Hes now charged with murder, malice murder, aggravated assault and starting a penal riot, authorities said. Additional information wasnt released. Clayton County is about 20 miles south of downtown Atlanta. Citi denied credit card applicants based on last names, feds say. Now it owes $25M Host of interracial dating podcast stalked Black women who turned him down, feds say Black student was shocked and scared when teacher used racist slur in class, suit says More than a few of my heroes happen to be lawyers. Of course, those who protect our First Amendment rights wear capes and tights in my eyes. So do the kind of counselors who stand up for the hated and who, against ridiculous odds, manage on occasion to save the innocent from spending a lifetime behind bars. Some concentrate on correcting terrible wrongs, while others hold monsters to account. Wichita defense attorney Richard Ney did a few of those things: He spent nearly 20 years as a public defender, was a national trainer on how to defend death penalty cases, and won the freedom of two wrongfully convicted clients I spoke to on Sunday. When he died last week, of pancreatic and kidney cancer, at age 69, Kansas lost one of the good guys. If it wasnt for Richard, I have the distinct feeling Id still be in prison right now, said Chris Lyman, a former Army sergeant and Bronze Star recipient who spent nearly a decade in Ellsworth for killing his 8-month-old nephew, Johnathan Swann, whod actually died of pneumonia. It was an Ellsworth official, Lyman said, who first told him about Ney. He said, Richard Ney has walked 10 or 12 people out of this prison in the 20 years Ive been here. If youre innocent, hell walk you out the front gate. Which is what happened earlier this year. After Lymans murder conviction was overturned in February, Ney and his wife Judy took him out for a ribeye and a double smoked bourbon and put him up in their guest room that first night. In July, the case was dismissed altogether. Now, if all goes according to plan, Lyman will himself be starting law school next fall, and if I can be half the lawyer Richard was, Ill be really good. Maybe someday, Ill come across someone like me, who really needs a lawyer whos not afraid. A front-page Star story Sept. 3, 1992, announced that Lisa Dunn had been found not guilty on all counts for her role in a multistate killing spree with an abusive boyfriend. Battered woman syndrome defense won acquittal The former Lisa Dunn, now Lisa Dant, whose bad boyfriend, Daniel Remeta, saw himself as some kind of second coming of Charles Manson, dragged her 18-year-old self along on a trip that turned into a multistate killing spree in 1985. Originally, she was not only found guilty of murder, too, but was given so many consecutive life sentences that she would first have been eligible for parole at 103. But after Ney used the battered woman syndrome defense at her 1992 retrial in Topeka, she was acquitted of all charges. Dant cried while telling me about how Ney flat-out saved her life. But then, I start crying whenever I start thinking about Richard, an incredible human being who never stopped being part of our family. He was such a good attorney, he could have made a bazillion dollars anywhere, but he fought for the people who have no power, and the integrity of that. He was a voice for someone like me, who felt no one would ever listen or believe or understand. But he could see that I really was an innocent person. Ney had actually left Kansas by the time of her retrial, and had taken a job as the chief federal public defender for Hawaii. Yet he used his two-week vacation to come back and defend her in court. He had to leave before the jury came back, three days after closing arguments, and had to hear about the verdict on the phone! My husband and I married 28 years ago, and I look at my two wonderful daughters and grandson and know I wouldnt have this life at all if not for Ney. Now a 57-year-old grandma in her hometown of Traverse City, Michigan, she believes that everything turned out because he never gave up on fixing what had been done wrong to people. Richard Ney represented BTK killer Dennis Rader at his first court appearance. Had to tell Dennis Raders wife she was married to BTK killer Ney was also the attorney who represented the BTK killer, Dennis Rader, at his first court appearance, and it fell to him to inform Raders wife that she was married to a serial killer. She really did not know, his widow Judy Ney told me. He also sometimes spoke to Sarah Gonzales-McLinn, the young woman Ive written about several times who was originally sentenced to a Hard 50 after killing her abuser in Lawrence in 2014, when she was 19. Though as Gonzales-McLinn, who has a clemency petition pending, said in a message to me on Sunday, He wasnt even my attorney, technically. Ney was, however, a steady voice over the phone who I called in my moments of doubt and fear. Mr. Ney was someone I knew would give me a perspective I couldnt see from the closed environment of incarceration. And he never charged me, not once. He always spoke with wisdom and respect. If I could tell him anything right now, it would be thank you for showing me kindness and compassion when the world around me was cold and terrifying. Richard Ney was born in Galesburg, Illinois, where he was the editor of his high school newspaper. He lost his dad, who had diabetes, when he was only 12, so it was pretty lean money-wise, Judy Ney said. He put himself through MUs Missouri School of Journalism in three years, with a combination of student loans and a job working the quiet third shift at a hotel in Columbia where he could study at the check-in desk. He really only went on to law school, at Boston University, hoping that it would make him a better journalist. But while there, he worked with the Roxbury Defenders Unit, and that got him interested in criminal defense, Judy Ney said. He did go back to Illinois after BU, and worked at the Peoria Journal Star as an investigative reporter and an editor. But as soon as a job as a public defender came open in Danville, Illinois, he went for it. It was there, where both he and Judy were active in community theater, that he met his future wife, a teacher. A big fan of musical theater, and later opera, Richard got to know Judy when both were in local productions of The Pajama Game and Cabaret. Together, the Neys raised six children two daughters from Judys first marriage, two sons they had together, and another son and daughter they adopted from Ethiopia. Their son Gideon, who teaches at Johnson County Community College, Judy said, is named after the petty thief Clarence Gideon, whose handwritten petition to the Supreme Court about his conviction for breaking into a Florida pool hall led to Gideon v. Wainwright, the 1963 decision that says everyone is entitled to counsel, whether he can afford it or not. Opened first public defenders office in Sedgwick County They moved to Kansas in 1984, when Ney was hired to open the first public defenders office in Sedgwick County at only 28. He hired other young lawyers, and taught them, among other things, his wife said, how people should be treated. If somebody called for an attorney and you were in, you took that call, no matter who was on the line. He ran the office for eight years before moving to Hawaii in 1991 to become the states federal public defender. But he returned five years later, and went into private practice in 1996. In an interview for a publication of the Kansas State Board of Indigents Defense Services earlier this year, he said he came back because he missed Wichita and because Im more of a street lawyer kind of guy. Like both of his parents, he suffered from diabetes, and had a quintuple bypass in 2010. Having spent so much time visiting his father in the hospital as a kid, he did not want to spend his final days in one. Last Wednesday at around 3 a.m. he died at home, where at his insistence, the Christmas tree had already been trimmed. Judy Ney remembers one Christmas afternoon he spent with a client, because the guy could only see his children that day if an officer of the court were with him. I always knew his clients came first. Nothing made him angrier, she said, than when someone said, I dont know how you can defend those people. And you couldnt say crimes. You had to say alleged crimes. Even the Bible, she said, talks about the least of these, but Richard Ney saw nobody as least, or as any less valued than anyone else. He didnt want a funeral, so there wont be one. But all kinds of people were lifted by his life, and saddened by the end hed told almost no one outside his family to expect. Those of us who had the privilege to try cases against Richard, the Sedgwick County District Attorneys office posted on Facebook, were better for the experience. Richard Ney left Hawaii because he missed Wichita and because Im more of a street lawyer kind of guy. The Scoop The Biden administration is about to kick off another key stage of its push to build up the U.S. semiconductor industry. Early next year, the Commerce Department plans to begin fielding funding applications for research and development in advanced packaging, the process that stitches multiple chips together to make devices faster, cheaper, and more complex (think semiconductors used in the most advanced smartphones, biotechnology, or artificial intelligence). The departments vision for the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program, shared exclusively with Semafor before its release, is the next big step the Biden administration is taking to implement the CHIPS and Science Act. The law provides $3 billion for research and development in advanced packaging. Weve envisioned that, by the end of the decade, the United States would be home to multiple high-volume advanced packaging facilities and will be a global leader in commercial-scale advanced packaging for the most sophisticated chips made in the world, Under Secretary of Commerce Laurie Locascio told Semafor in an interview. Packaging advanced chips in the U.S., she said, will both secure U.S. supply chains and remove any security risks associated with sending chips overseas to be completed. Currently, most advanced packaging is concentrated in Asia, where Taiwan has dominated semiconductor production. China has also been investing in advanced packaging techniques. By one estimate highlighted by Commerce, North America accounted for only 3% of global advanced packaging production as of 2021. We have a lot of work to do in order to catch up in general with the Asian markets, said Locascio, who is scheduled to deliver a speech at Morgan State University in Baltimore laying out the plan for the program on Monday. Can we do it? Absolutely. The Commerce Department vision paper lays out six areas where officials will focus the $3 billion, the first being materials and substrates, or the pieces that attach chips to circuit boards. The department plans to open the competition for grants in early 2024. Locascio, who also leads the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said the funding will be open to research institutions like universities or national labs and that applicants would be able to form teams with industry. We need researchers to be thinking about the path to manufacturing, she said. Morgans view Chances are that you havent heard much about the advanced packaging piece of the CHIPS Act, which has received far less attention to date than the $39 billion pot available to companies for manufacturing in the U.S. But its an important piece of the Biden administrations ambitions to bring more semiconductor manufacturing back stateside, since packaging is a critical part of the supply chain. The Commerce Departments vision paper for the program puts it bluntly: Investments in semiconductors will not succeed without investments in advanced packaging. Its also an important part of the administrations efforts to compete with China over emerging technologies, including AI. We all know how important AI chips are today and how important they are in terms of global competitiveness, particularly with China, Locascio said. We are ahead; we want to stay ahead. We design the most advanced chips in the world. We just need to make them here and package them here. Like other parts of the CHIPS law, it will take years for the U.S. to start to see the advanced packaging funding kick in. Commerce plans to follow the first round of applications with requests focused on research in equipment, tools, and processes; power delivery and thermal management; photonics and connectors; chiplets; and co-design. The View From Taiwan Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC leads the globe with the highest number of advanced packaging patents, according to data reported by Reuters earlier this year. TSMC is among the companies vying for incentives for semiconductor production under the CHIPS law, despite concerns about some of the requirements. Arizonas Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said on a trip to Taiwan in September that Arizona officials were in talks with the Taiwanese chipmaker about adding advanced packaging capabilities to its facilities in the state, which are currently under construction. All passengers wearing matching red jumpsuits in front of the ship that will take them to Antarctica. Since 2007, Michaela Musilova has dreamt of visiting Antarctica. As an astrobiologist, she has two goals: To identify the limits of life on Earth and to assess the possibility that life as we know it exists elsewhere in the universe. Researching how life behaves in the extreme environment of Antarctica is key for her work; microbes that manage to survive the frozen environment at the end of our world could teach us a lot about their potential beyond Earth, too. Over the years, Musilova has tried a dozen times to set sail to the southernmost continent, but it never worked out. It wasn't because her mission proposals were lacking, she says. "Unfortunately, most of the time it was because an older male colleague or professor didn't want to let me go or took my place," she recalled in an interview with Space.com. Women have worked in Antarctica only since the late 1970s, prior to which they were officially banned by countries that organized research programs on the continent. Apparently, "the rigors of the continent were too great for the women and the rigors of providing separate bathroom facilities were too great for the program administrators." On her 12th attempt, the analog astronaut and former director of the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation ( HI-SEAS ) habitat is now onboard a cruise ship on her way to Antarctica at last, with over 100 women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Related: Satellites reveal catastrophic year for emperor penguins amid climate crisis in Antarctica During the voyage and while on Antarctic ice, this trip is designed to encourage each of these women on a journey toward becoming empowered scientists, in an environment where they feel safe and heard. "I really like the idea of having this global network of women to work with, to help each other, to inspire each other," said Musilova, adding that working on her leadership skills also inspires her to create platforms for women and girls to get involved in STEMM fields. "Together, we have a support network and training related to lot of the usual challenges women have to deal with in general, but also particularly in STEMM fields," she continued, "whether it is discrimination, harassment, bias all those very negative things to fitting in, being able to have a family and still maintain a career, which is something usually women have to face more than men." Leaders in astronomy tackling climate change The voyage now underway has gathered early-, mid- and senior-career women climate researchers, medical doctors, ecologists, civil engineers as well as a handful of astronomers. The passengers, hailing from at least 18 nationalities, are connected by a mutual interest in sustainability and climate action for a rapidly changing Earth. "The sustainability of our planet is in crisis and so is the state of leadership in our world," notes the website of the Australia-based Homeward Bound, a non-profit organization which has led all-women Antarctic expeditions like this one since 2016. "Its not that men cant or wont do this. Rather that, when time is short, it may be that the balance of men and women on leadership teams will serve us all." As of late last year, women comprised only 20 percent of astronomers around the world. If current hiring practices remain unchanged, it would take another 60 years for the women workforce in astronomy to rise to 30 percent, researchers previously found. "More than 50 percent of women in technology roles leave the industry before they turn 35," Homeward Bound CEO Pamela Sutton-Legaud said in a statement . "We exist to enable more women within this sector, by helping them harness the tools they need to excel in their industries particularly in the fight for the sustainability of our planet." To drive home the need for sustainability, regions of Antarctica rapidly warming due to human-driven activities were chosen to serve as fragile backdrops during the voyage. These are areas that have seen record-low sea ice levels and an alarming loss of penguins, among other worrying trends , due to the crisis. "I will be much more wearing a citizen hat than an astronomer hat," Anna Frebel, a physics professor at MIT who's also on the ship, told Space.com. "Obviously, it will be all beautiful, but the scientist's eye will also pretty quickly reveal what we're not seeing, which is not enough ice and not enough live penguins." By 2036, the program aims to build a network of 10,000 women scientists in leadership positions around the world poised to help address climate issues. "Most of us feel very strongly about what is going on in the world and how our environment is changing and how us humans are impacting it," Musilova said. "Going to Antarctica and seeing it for ourselves is going to be very transformational." As part of the program, Musilova and the others completed a preliminary assessment of their leadership qualities and are carrying these results on the trip. Building off of those results, the group will undergo workshops, lectures and networking sessions to further enhance their leadership skills, focusing especially on tenets like empathy and inclusivity. This way, the program emphasizes "a lot of values that unfortunately aren't as popular as they should be in work environments, including the space industry," Musilova said. "It's still an industry mostly dominated by males." Over the next three weeks, the group will cross the Drake passage, a colossal, notably choppy body of water prone to 12-meter waves. The scientists will then set foot on weather permitting the remote Falkland Islands and sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia before cruising around the Antarctic peninsula on their way back to the drop off location in Ushuaia, Argentina. "We will make a lot of friends for life, possibly hold each other's hair when we puke because we're so seasick," said Frebel. Women in red shirts sit around a table. During this self-funded trip, the group will be cut off from the rest of the world with only sporadic internet access. "Our day jobs and our families and all these things that we care about but that eat up our mental bandwidth can't access us," another passenger, Tiffany Vora of Explore Mars, a non-profit corporation based in Massachusetts, told Space.com. Vora plans to bring the leadership skills she learns from the trip back home, continuing to advocate for women leadership in the space industry long after her Antarctic escapade. Another one of her key goals, she said, is to demonstrate that there is no fundamental conflict between improving life on Earth and extending human civilization beyond our planet: "We don't have to make a choice between Earth and space if we make the right kind of choices starting today." In addition to the trip's leadership skill-building agenda, participants look forward to having some fun during the trip, including taking a "cold plunge" into the Antarctic sea, building some arts & crafts projects, even dressing up for a costume party. "I'm still deciding on my outfit my top three options are dressing as Barbie, a disco ball, or Ernest Shackleton," Isobel Romero-Shaw of University of Cambridge in the U.K. told Space.com prior to the voyage. Creating impact While the trip overall aims to inspire leadership for a sustainable, climate-friendly future on Earth, Vora and few other astronomers see definite parallels to space exploration. "In my mind, space is fundamentally a sustainability problem," she said. "You're working on the edge of what's possible. Not everybody is on board with you. How do you lead in those times?" She hopes to spark conversations among participants on the ship whose expertise lies outside astronomy on how they can contribute to the space industry, and ultimately form a long-term support network. "To me, it maps beautifully onto what we need to do for thinking decades into the future where humans make their home off Earth," Vora added, "like learning to work in resource-constrained settings in the face of polarity, confusion and discomfort." "To create any significant impact, we need a broad collaboration and a very big network," passenger Mariya Lyubenova, an astronomer and editor of European Southern Observatory's quarterly journal, The Messenger, told Space.com. Lyubenova plans on applying her leadership skills to advocating for dark sky preservation, for which collaboration among nations is crucial, she added. Women in matching red shirts stand on a ship, looking out at the sea. Their backs are facing the camera. Scientists are known to have well-trained, highly logical brains, and though this can help them approach problems in systematic ways, strategic planning alone doesn't translate theoretical solutions into impactful actions. So, astronomers on the ship are also hoping to learn soft skills through the program's teamwork assignments. "We need to learn certain transferable skills," Debatri Chattopadhyay, a research associate at Cardiff University in the U.K. and a passenger on the ship, told Space.com. "We know physics, of course, but physics is not going to teach us how to handle people." Others on the all-women trip view the journey as a "giant focus group." "We keep each other honest but also focused on what our goals are and how to get there," said Frebel. "At the end of the day, we all agree that we want to do something for the planet." The diverse background of the group would play an important role in having tough conversations about leadership, as the trip uproots them from their daily echo chambers and forces them to look critically at creative solutions to climate issues. Frebel will be carrying paintings by a local artist featuring different types of penguins, a whale, a krill and a seal. She plans to photograph them placed in the Antarctic snow and display those pictures at a future exhibition back home in Massachusetts. "Climate change is real and if we want to keep seeing penguins, we better do something." Puffins became a species under extreme threat in 2015 New Instagram filters will turn social media users into some of the UK's most threatened bird species. The endangered capercaillie, curlew, puffin, lapwing and mistle thrush, have been turned into filters by artist Hanna Tuulikki to raise awareness. The augmented reality filters were inspired by one of Northumberland's best-known artists, wood engraver and naturalist Thomas Bewick. Each filter has a sound that merges the bird's call with a protest chant. "Bewick is celebrated for his engravings, in particular of birds, as well as his technical innovation in printmaking, and in his day, he was also known for his radical politics," explains Hanna. "As I learned about his work and life, I began to wonder how he would respond to the devastating biodiversity loss we are experiencing today?" One of five filters will be released each day from Monday 20 November as part of the Avi-Alarm project. 'Innovative' The filters, made in collaboration with digital artists Saturn Akin and MV Brown, are embedded with audio that fuses field recordings of each bird's alarm signal with the human voice. Human protest chants were used to "sound the alarm" for bird life. Avi-Alarm, is one of four commissions in the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project On-Site/Off-Site, which is led by Newcastle University. The filters were commissioned to explore how technology can promote heritage sites Project lead Professor Vee Pollock said: "We look forward to seeing how people engage with Hanna's work, the concerns raised and hopefully also with Thomas Bewick's important contribution to both artistic practice and our appreciation of our environment. " Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk. Editors Note: This story is based on an investigation by Trap Aggressor, a project by Ukrainian NGO StateWatch, which advocates for principles of good governance. The investigations author, Roman Steblivskyi, is a researcher at StateWatch. This story has been translated from Ukrainian and edited by the Kyiv Independent. StateWatch logo Key findings: Russian-run Indian companies have supplied, and are likely still supplying, Czech-made Mi-8 power units to a Russian helicopter factory after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, bypassing sanctions Mi-8s produced by the Russian helicopter factory were used by Russia in its war, including for the attempted capture of Ukraines Hostomel airfield near Kyiv in February 2022 Indian and Kazakh companies that bought the Czech power units have long-standing relationships with the Russian military-industrial complex and may have re-sold Czech parts to Russia. The Czech manufacturer may have been made aware of these connections during the EU-required due diligence check and should have perceived this as a red flag The Czech manufacturing company said it has launched an internal investigation into the re-export of its power units to Russia in response to a journalist inquiry At the start of the invasion in February 2022, the Antonov airfield in Hostomel a city located around 30 kilometers from Ukraines capital, Kyiv was Russias primary target. The seizure of Hostomels airfield was going to open the way to Kyiv. At the center of this crucial attack were Mi-8 transport helicopters. After the failed attempt to take Kyiv, Russia proceeded to use them for other battle missions. Russia has lost at least 106 helicopters during its full-scale war, according to the Dutch open-source intelligence defense analysis website Oryx. Twenty-two of them, or one in five, is a Mi-8 transport helicopter. To repair these helicopters and build new ones, Russia needs components. At least one of them, a crucial power unit required to start the helicopters main engine required to start the helicopters main engine, is not produced in Russia. The necessary power unit is only produced in Czechia by First Brno Engineering Plant Velka Bites (PBS Velka Bites). In theory, international sanctions should make it impossible for Russians to get it. Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU, the U.S., and Canada, among others, imposed sanctions against the Mi-8s producer, Kazan Helicopter Plant (KHP). As a result, PBS Velka Bites stopped deliveries to Russia after 20 years of uninterrupted supplies. However, a Trap Aggressor investigation conducted exclusively for the Kyiv Independent revealed that Mi-8-specific power units made by PBS Velka Bites continue to reach Russia via intermediaries in Asia. In response to Trap Aggressors findings, PBS said that it had launched an internal investigation into the re-export of its power units to Russia by the company's Indian and Kazakh clients. Long-term connections The PBS Group produces components for the aircraft, energy, and transport industries. Providing parts for Mi-type helicopters, in particular those from Russia, is one of the company's priority directions. The flagship product of one of PBS' subsidiaries, PBS Velka Bites, is the Safir auxiliary power unit, which essentially helps Mi-type helicopters take off. Safir power units used in Russian Mi-8 helicopters make their way to Russia via India and Kazakhstan, bypassing international sanctions. (Illustration by Trap Aggressor/State Watch) According to data on Russian imports by the trade database Export Genius, PBS Velka Bites supplied Russia with $122 million worth of products, including Safir power units, from Russias initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014 to the full-scale invasion in 2022. During the same period, the KHP reportedly purchased at least $20 million worth of products directly from PBS Velka Bites. The Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, Simonov Design Bureau, and other Russian military aviation companies bought the rest. But these are not the only factories that need Safirs in Russia. Russian tenders up to 2022 showcase the purchase of Safir 5K/G Mi power units by Russias Federal Security Service (FSB), Russias National Guard (Rosgvardia), and Rossiya Special Flight Squadron, which transports high-ranking Russian officials, likely including Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the products suppliers are hidden in the tenders, the Safir 5K/G Mi power units are a unique PBS product. PBS Velka Bites even had its office in Moscow until 2022 so it could sell its products directly to Russian customers. After the start of Russias full-scale invasion, the supply of power units continued, albeit through intermediaries in India and Kazakhstan. Via India to Russia Even after the start of the full-scale war, Safir power units and other PBS products could reach Russia in several ways. This included going through India to bypass the European Unions sanctions on Russia. The Indian company Space Era Materials And Processes (Space Era) directly supplied the KHP in Russia with the power units via India. In 2022-2023, Space Era delivered 20 Safir 5K/G MI units manufactured by PBS Velka Bites to the KHP for $8.5 million, according to the Indian export data from Export Genius. Russian Mi-8AMTSh, passed over to Ukraine by a Russian pilot as part of Ukraine's military intelligence operation. (Ukraine's military intelligence/GUR) Trap Aggressor analysts discovered that Space Eras management has close connections with Russia, potentially indicating that Moscow is using the Indian company to supply helicopter parts to Russia. Indias Corporate Affairs Ministry lists Konstantin Bocharov as one of the Indian companys directors. An individual with the same name previously headed the Russian company Aerospace Equipment, which is under the sanctioned Russian company Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies (CRET). Bocharov's biography indicates that he may have been delegated to represent CRETs interests in India as early as five years before the start of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Bocharov joined Space Era in 2017. Within a year, the Indian company signed a cooperation agreement with CRET, which provided for the creation of a service center for Russian-made airplanes and helicopters in India. Space Eras general manager, Achal Sharma, also worked with Russia before joining the company when he worked at the Indian Defense Ministry. Sharma indicates on his LinkedIn profile that, from 2014 to 2016, he was involved in the integration of the French gyroscope, a vehicle navigation tool, and the modernization of Israeli systems on Russian aircraft. Another Indian company, Deep Engineering Industries, also sent components for Safirs to Russia after the start of the all-out war. An authorized service center for Safirs produced by PBS in India, Deep Engineering focuses on maintaining aircraft and helicopters. In 2022, PBS Velka Bites and Deep Engineering signed a contract to maintain the Indian Air Forces helicopters. After the start of Russias full-scale invasion, the Czech company PBS Velka Bites made 65 deliveries totaling $14 million to Deep Engineering, according to Export Genius data on Indian imports. Most of these deliveries were spare parts for Mi-series helicopters. How many of these deliveries were intended for resale to Russian consumers is unknown. Data on Indian exports by Export Genius indicates that, from 2022 to 2023, Deep Engineering supplied Russia with $151,000 worth of spare parts, $32,000 of which were for Safirs. Deep Engineering's Russian clients include Heliexpress, a company that belongs to Russian Helicopter Systems, a partner of the KHPs. Deep Engineerings management also has close ties with Russia. Deep Engineering is headed by Aman Deep, according to the company's website and confirmed by Deep in a conversation with Trap Aggressor. Aman Deep is also listed in the Indian corporate register as a director of other companies. In particular, hes listed among the directors of two firms located at the same address as Deep Engineering in the Indian city of Chandigarh. One of these companies, Aviation Partners Group India, is part of Russian businessman Boris Nekrasovs Aviation Partners Group. Nekrasov's American company, under the same name of Aviation Partners Group, previously supplied goods to Deep Engineering. In Russia, Nekrasov owns the Nebo-Service company, which provided services to the Russian FSBs aviation centers and presidential helicopters. Czech producer denies allegations Trap Aggressor analysts presented their findings to a representative of the PBS Groups management, who denied the company violated sanctions. PBS claimed that the supply of Mi-8 spare parts that reached Russia from India was a fulfillment of an old contract from 2021 between Indian Deep Engineering and Russian Heliexpress. Deep Engineering Director Aman Deep told Trap Aggressor in a text that, after the introduction of EU sanctions, his company stopped selling goods to Russia. However, Deep refused to comment on specific deliveries to Russia. Veronia Vella, a research associate at the University of Liege and an expert on the EU's export control regime, believes that the fulfillment of old contracts by foreign clients of a Czech company may violate sanctions on the re-export of products, for which the Czech company itself is responsible: Even if a contract involving sensitive items was executed before the Russian aggression, it remains unlawful to supply such items during the presence of sanctions, particularly when there is a clear awareness that these items will be put to inappropriate use. PBS said they have never worked with Space Era Materials And Processes. Space Era did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Trap Aggressor sent PBS the serial numbers of the power units that Space Era shipped to Russia, asking them to verify who the Czech manufacturer had previously sold these Safir power units to. Upon request, a PBS representative provided information about the company's sale of 14 out of 20 power units with identical serial numbers to those of the power units that ended up in Russia. It turned out that PBS Velka Bites initially sold these units to customers in India and Kazakhstan. PBS Velka Bites supplied nine of them to the Indian Air Force in 2021. Another four were sold to Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 in Kazakhstan in 2023, and one to Deep Engineering. The buyers of the remaining six units could not be identified. Using data on Czech imports by Export Genius, Trap Aggressor traced the supply of the PBS Velka Bites power units to the Kazakh Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 and calculated that one PBS Velka Bites unit was sold for $219,000. Therefore, the sale of 20 units could amount to $4.4 million. PBS' data indicates that it has produced power units for 50 years, amounting to around 6,500 units during the companys lifetime. This means that the 20 power units PBS claimed to have supplied to India and Kazakhstan, and which later ended up in Russia, are a relatively small number for the company and couldnt greatly contribute to most of its profit. The Indian Air Force and the Kazakh Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 did not respond to Trap Aggressors questions about whether they supplied Safir units to Russia. However, PBS said that the Kazakh plant sent them a letter certifying that the four units they purchased are located in Kazakhstan. PBS also told journalists that the only unit they sold to Deep Engineering is located in India. It is unclear exactly how the power units PBS Velka Bites sold to the Indian Air Force and the Kazakh Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 ended up in the hands of Space Era, which then delivered them to Russia. Keen to lend Russia a hand The Indian Air Force and the Kazakh Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 have long-standing ties with the Russian military-industrial complex, which means they may have both been able to help Russia acquire the necessary Czech-made parts by acting as an intermediary to bypass sanctions. The Indian Air Force and the Indian Defense Ministry both work with Space Era (which supplied the Czech Safir units to Russia), according to Space Eras website. In 2022, Space Era participated in an Indian Air Force tender to modify Mi-17 helicopters, according to Palladium, India's tool for procurement analyses. There is no publicly available information about the tenders winner. Meanwhile, the Russian state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec announced the creation of a military aviation service center in India together with Space Era back in 2018. A representative of Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies, which is part of the Russian state corporation Rostec, and a representative of the Indian company Space Era Materials and Processes shake hands to conclude an agreement on the participation of the Russian side in the creation of a military aviation service center in India. (Rostec) Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 in Kazakhstan, which received Mi-8 power units from S that were then re-exported to Russia by Space Era, also has strong ties to the Russian military-industrial complex. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited Russia in 2019, where he announced the creation of a helicopter assembly center in Kazakhstan during a press conference with Putin. After that, the Russian Helicopters Holding and the Kazakh Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 signed a contract to organize the Mi-8AMT/Mi-171 helicopter assembly center in Kazakhstan. In 2021, Russian Helicopters supplied the Kazakh Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 with all components for the helicopters assembly. Kazakh Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405s July 2023 audit report said it could not directly pay its suppliers, most of whom are located in Russia, due to anti-Russian sanctions imposed after the start of a full-scale invasion. "As of today, the company resolved this problem and concluded an agency agreement with a third party through which payments to Russian suppliers will be made," the audit says. PBS stated that its trade with Kazakh Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 in 2023 was carried out under existing active export licenses. PBS Velka Bites has, therefore, supplied power units to buyers who officially and publicly claim to work with the Russian military complex. According to trade databases, these units eventually ended up in Russia through the Indian intermediary Space Era. PBS said it will check its customers for the possible re-export of its products. However, PBS did not specify whether it will stop cooperation with buyers who resell to Russia. According to the EUs sanctions regime, exporting companies must run appropriate and adequate due diligence checks to ensure their customers do not pass Europe-produced goods to Russia. If a company knowingly and intentionally fails to run due diligence on its customer caught re-exporting to Russia, this may constitute a sanctions violation, according to the EUs sanctions regulations. However, a company can avoid liability if it proves that it was not aware or had no reason to suspect that it was breaking the rules. The EU places responsibility for implementing sanctions on its member states, emphasizing that violating sanctions may be a criminal offense. However, the EU's stipulations on punishment are rather abstract: "The penalties provided for must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive." As long as discussions about the criminalization of sanctions violations continue in the EU, different member states may have different penalties for violating the sanctions regime. PBS Velka Bites can, therefore, be held responsible for its products reaching Russia by bypassing sanctions if it knew about the sanctioned Russian end user. Whether the consequences for PBS Velka Bites can be "effective, proportionate, and dissuasive" depends on the Czech legal system. According to Czech laws, violating the sanctions regime can lead to a criminal case, millions in fines, and imprisonment. For example, one of the Czech companies suspected by local law enforcement of illegally supplying machine tools to Russia is facing a fine of tens of millions of Czech crowns (or millions of dollars), and those responsible may receive up to eight years in prison. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A new Shahed-238 jet drone has been presented in Iran. Source: Militarnyi with reference to Iranian media outlets Details: The Iranian Institute of Aerospace Sciences and Technologies Ashura has presented a jet modification of the Shahed-136 drone called Shahed-238. The modification was shown at the exposition, where Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was present. Three versions of the drone with different guidance systems were presented. Quote: "The fuselages of all three drones have a nontypical for Iranian UAVs black colour, which may be due to the use of radio absorbing materials. However, there is currently no confirmation of this." "In addition to the classic version with an autonomous inertial navigation system and GPS (in the middle), there were also presented versions with infrared/optical and, presumably, radar guidance systems. The version with infrared/optical guidance systemcan be used to hit heat-contrast targets, in particular, important military equipment in the rear of the enemy." Details: Reportedly, thanks to the radar homing head, the drone may become an analogue of anti-radar missiles which are guided by the radiation of search radar stations. Such a device can be useful for neutralisation and breach of air defence systems. Technical characteristics of Shahed-238 remain unknown. The jet engine facilitates high speed at the expense of range of flight. During the demonstration, the launch of the prototype from an accelerated car was shown. Yet, like Shahed-136, the new drone must have preserved the possibility to be launched from a stationary platform with the use of a solid booster. Support UP or become our patron! Argentine guests pose for photos in front of the first new-energy light rail train made by CRRC Tangshan Co., Ltd. for Argentina in Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province, on June 6, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese-made light rail trains are a step closer to running on the rails in Argentina, after a pair were recently delivered to the Latin American country. Two new-energy light rail trains, produced by CRRC Tangshan Co, were delivered to Jujuy province in Argentina early on Tuesday local time. The trains were transported by sea, arriving in the port of Zarate. They were then transported by land to Jujuy, which is about 1,500 kilometers from the port, according to Yin Yuguo, an employee at CRRC Tangshan who was responsible for the delivery. The trains will be used at Quebrada de Humahuaca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Jujuy, according to the company. The project was signed in May last year, and the construction of the trains was completed in June this year. The six-axle articulated trains can run with a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour and have a flexible passenger capacity ranging from 72 to 388. With cabs at both ends, it enables two-way driving, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency in June, quoting Luo Chao, technical manager of the project with CRRC Tangshan. The color and design of the train are based on the Quebrada de Humahuaca site, the report said. Based in Tangshan, Hebei province, CRRC Tangshan Co is a major Chinese high-speed train manufacturer and has delivered a series of trains overseas. The company has dispatched a delivery team to carry out preparations for the train's operation in Argentina, including train debugging and testing. The trains will provide Argentines with high-quality services, help promote the tourism development of Jujuy and create a new model of win-win cooperation between China and Latin American countries, it said. Iran showcased an advanced version of Shahed-136 strike drones, equipped with a jet engine and improved guidance systems, named Shahed-238. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was presented at the Ashura Aerospace University on Nov. 20, according to Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi. The jet-powered drone was introduced in three variants with different guidance systems. The standard model includes an autonomous guidance system with GPS integration. A second version features an infrared/optical guidance system, allowing these UAVs to be used against heat-contrast targets such as military equipment. Read also: Fifteen Shaheds destroyed, no casualties reported after Russian drone attack Another variant of the Shahed-238 is believed to possess a radar guidance system. Such a drone could target radar installations based on their EM emissions, potentially blinding enemy air defense networks. Read also: Ukraine tests new EW-resistant combat drone Experts highlight that the drones are painted an unusual black color, which could be related to the use of radio-absorbing materials. The technical specifications of the Shahed-238 remain undisclosed. Analysts believe that the jet engine could provide the UAV with high speed, but this might reduce its flight range. A source from Ukrainian intelligence agencies informed NV in October that the Russian army could be receiving about 300 units of Shahed-136 kamikaze drones monthly, some of which are manufactured in Iran. 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 rice bag filled with bullets shown to the media by the Israeli military - JACK GUEZ/AFP Hamas smuggled bullets used in the Oct 7 massacre into Gaza in food bags designed for humanitarian aid, the Israeli military has claimed. Investigators found up to 50 rice sacks in the aftermath of the slaughter, which they say served as ammunition pouches for weapons such as AK47s, Dragunov sniper rifles and MPK machine guns. During a display of the military-level equipment recovered after the attack, Israeli officials told The Telegraph the sacks pointed to a smuggle path via humanitarian aid. Lt Col Idan Sharon-Kettler, deputy commander of the enemy equipment retrieval unit, said it was implausible that the 1kg rice sacks were recycled for terrorist use having first been used legitimately to bring in food. These are not efficient ammunition pouches it is not easy to take bullets out, and some of the bullets need to be used in a chain, so it takes time to put them in, he said. Other than smuggling, there is no good reason to hold the bullets in these bags. Instead of helping the population, this is how the ammunition was brought inside Gaza. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and intelligence agencies were stunned by the scale and effectiveness of the early morning attack from Gaza, which saw hundreds of well-armed terrorists stream across the border, despite the territory having been under strict blockade for 17 years. Israel has previously claimed that Hamas uses shipments of humanitarian aid to bring weaponry into Gaza. On Monday, in a quiet corner of the sprawling military base at Tzrifin, outside Tel Aviv, a sample of the arsenal of weapons and equipment recovered from devastated towns and kibbutzim near Gaza were put on display. Israel said it was implausible that the rice sacks were ever used for legitimate food aid purposes These included dozens of AK47s of virtually every variation ever designed, many originating from the former Soviet Union, but also from China and other countries. Some were rusting, having been fire-damaged in battles with IDF troops. Others were marked with blood stains. Munitions capable of 3,000C temperatures But there were also far more sophisticated and lethal weapons, including mines, mortars, heavy machine guns and rockets. Lt Col Sharon-Kettler was at pains to highlight the thermobaric munitions, both in the form of a special rocket to be fired from a rocket launcher, and a bespoke large grenade manufactured in Gaza. This is because, he claimed, they were the weapons used to burn entire families to death as they sheltered in their homes and panic rooms. He said these were not for any lack of more mainstream fragmentation rounds, many of which were also found, but because the terrorists wanted to burn their victims alive. That is why you use thermobarics, he told The Telegraph. They were brought over the border to throw into rooms where people were hiding. In Nahal Oz, in Beeri and other places, this is how people died. It brings them to 3,000C. Bullet-riddled and burnt-out buildings damaged during the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists on Kibbutz Kissufim in southern Israel - AFP Weapons came from Iran Also on display was an array of anti-armour weapons, capable of crippling Israels main battle tank, but, again, said to have been used against civilians instead. The sacrifice devices were used against cars of people trying to flee the massacre at the Nova music festival, some of whom burnt to death in their vehicles as a result. Also displayed was an array of TNT explosives which the IDF said originated in Iran, as did the numerous 66mm mortar shells. The only artefact in the display that was recovered from Gaza, rather than the scene of the massacre, was a gutted unmanned aerial vehicle, with a wingspan slightly bigger than that of a grown man. This was because those used in the attack either blew up after hitting IDF bases, or were subsequently destroyed to make them safe. Israel said its operation in the Gaza Strip aimed to rid the territory of Hamas and destroy the terror groups infrastructure. However, the civilian population is paying a huge price, with thousands of innocents killed, including more than 4,100 children, according to the UN, NGOs, and the Hamas-controlled authorities in the strip. Israel has accused Iran of supporting Hamas in preparing for the attack. What we can see is this is military equipment, full scale military equipment, said Lt Col Sharon-Kettler. This is not something that has been cooked in someones backyard. This is years-long planning, a lot of funding, huge money. There is military-grade intelligence put into the effort here to attack the military compounds, to reach the cities, the Kibbutzim and in the end to massacre Israeli civilians. These were who came specifically to kill families inside their own houses. 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. US President Joe Biden takes part of the annual Thanksgiving Turkey pardon on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on November 20, 2023 - ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Image US President Joe Biden has said that he believes a hostage deal is near amid reports of a halt in fighting in exchange for dozens of captives. Asked whether a deal was near during a Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House, Mr Biden said I believe so, before holding up crossed fingers. The main sticking points to a hostage release deal are now very minor and just logistical issues, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who has been mediating the negotiations, said at a press conference on Sunday. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby briefing reporters this evening on the possible hostage deal said: We are still working this hour by hour We believe were closer than weve ever been, so were hopeful. But theres still work to be done. And nothing is done until its all done. So were going to keep working on this. Asked if the US has confidence that the American hostages are alive, Kirby said we have no indications otherwise. Israels government is under increasing pressure to secure a hostage deal more than six weeks after some 240 were taken into Gaza by Hamas on the October 7 raids. Gazas most wanted man,Yahya Sinwar, is reportedly leading talks with Israel. Talks briefly hit a pause over the weekend as Mr Sinwar stopped engaging with envoys in Doha after the IDF raided the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City. 10:00 PM GMT Today's live blog is now closed Thats all from us for today, we will be back in the morning with all of the latest developments from the war between Israel and Hamas. 09:51 PM GMT Mastermind behind Hamas attacks personally handling hostage negotiations The Hamas leader who masterminded the Oct 7 attacks is personally handling negotiations for a hostage release even as Israeli troops seek to find and kill him. Yahya Sinwar, who spent 22 years in an Israeli prison, has taken control of the deal and has been in-and-out of touch with Qatari mediators, according to reports. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has described Sinwar as a dead man. The terrorist leader has stayed inside Gaza, unlike Hamass political-wing which lives in luxurious exile in Qatar and Turkey. Israeli defence officials told Haaretz newspaper that they were concerned that Sinwar was still euphoric after the events on Oct 7 and was sticking to hard-line negotiating positions. They said a deal should be concluded urgently in case Sinwar cuts off communication in the event of an escalation in the war. Israeli officials are reportedly finalising plans for targeted raids into southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled. On Monday, Joe Biden, the US president, said he believed a deal to free around 50 of the 240 hostages captured by Hamas was near. Read more from Nataliya Vasilyeva here. 09:42 PM GMT German president to visit Israel for talks with Israeli counterpart next week German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will travel to Israel on November 26 and 27 to hold political talks with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog, according to a statement from the presidents office. During his visit the German President is also planning to hold meetings in southern Israel and east Jerusalem. 09:22 PM GMT 200 patients evacuated from Gaza's Indonesian hospital, Hamas-run ministry of health says Gazas Hamas-run health ministry said Monday 200 patients were evacuated from a hospital with the help of the Red Cross just hours after it was hit by a deadly Israeli strike which they said killed 12. Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP 200 people were evacuated from the Indonesian hospital in Jabaliya and taken by bus to Nasser hospital in the southern town of Khan Yunis. The Israeli army is laying siege to the Indonesian hospital, he said. We fear the same thing will happen there as it did in Al-Shifa, he added, referring to the largest hospital in Gaza which Israeli troops have been searching since Wednesday. The evacuation of the 140-bed hospital, which is close to the Jabaliya refugee camp, was carried out in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), he said, in a condition laid down by doctors after Israel struck an ambulance in northern Gaza, claiming it was being used by Hamas militants. There are still 400 patients in the hospital and we are working with the ICRC to evacuate, he said, indicating that around 2,000 displaced persons were in and around the hospital. The Hamas-run government earlier reported that dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles were deployed around the outskirts of the hospital and were firing towards the facility. 09:07 PM GMT US "would welcome China playing a constructive role in the Middle East" The United States would welcome China playing a constructive role in the Middle East, US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said in a press briefing after the Chinese Foreign Minister met with Arab counterparts in Beijing over the war in Gaza. Miller noted that Antony Blinken had made this clear personally in conversations with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian National Authority and Indonesia, as well as the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, met with Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday to discuss de-escalating the conflict. One of the things that we heard repeatedly from every party with which we engaged on our last trip is the indispensability of the United States in every aspect of this conflict, whether it comes to getting humanitarian assistance and whether it comes to preventing the conflict from widening, Miller said. 08:47 PM GMT Pro-Iran Iraqi militia claims to have a seaborne drone that can reach 500km Iraqi militia Nujaba, which is close to Iran, has claimed in a statement that they have a seaborne drone with a range of 500 kilometres. Just as our rockets targeted you on land, we have things waiting for you in the sea, the statement read. 08:38 PM GMT Pictured: Police remove activists from 'lock-ons' in protest of an Israeli arms company Specialist police officers release the activists from the lock-ons on November 20, 2023 in Leicester, United Kingdom. Activists with the group Palestine Action attached themselves to lock-ons and block roads leading to UAV Tactical Systems (UTACS), owned by Israeli arms company Elbit Systems. As casualties have increased in Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war the activists have stepped up their direct action, announcing that companies selling weapons to the Israel Defence Force and their partner companies will be targeted. - Martin Pope/Getty Images 08:19 PM GMT Red Cross president meets with Hamas chief The Red Cross said Monday that its president had travelled to Qatar to meet with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh to advance humanitarian issues related to the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza. President Mirjana Spoljaric met with Ismael Haniyeh, Chair of Hamas Political Bureau, and separately with authorities of the state of Qatar, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement. The ICRC is insisting that our teams be allowed to visit the hostages to check on their welfare and deliver medications, and for the hostages to be able to communicate with their families. Agreements must be reached that allow the ICRC to safely carry out this work. The ICRC cannot force its way in to where hostages are held, nor do we know their location. The statement comes as Israeli media is reporting that Tel Aviv has given the green light over a hostage negotiation deal and is awaiting confirmation from Hamas. 08:11 PM GMT US demands immediate release of ship, crew by Yemen's Houthis The United States on Monday denounced the seizure of a cargo ship in the Red Sea by Yemens Iran-backed Houthi movement as a violation of international law and demanded the immediate release of the vessel and its crew. The Houthi seizure of the motor vessel Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea is a flagrant violation of international law, US State Department spokeman Matthew Miller told a press briefing. We demand the immediate release of the ship and its crew and we will consult with our allies and UN partners as to appropriate next steps. 07:56 PM GMT Family members of hostages hold press conference at Israeli embassy in London Aviram Meir, the uncle of Almog Meir, addresses journalists during a press conference at the Embassy of Israel by family members of some of those held hostage in Gaza, on November 20, 2023 at the Israeli embassy in London, England. - Leon Neal/Getty Images 07:23 PM GMT Families of Israeli child hostages make plea on World Children's Day The families of Israeli children held hostage by Hamas in Gaza pleaded Monday for international voices to demand their release at a protest outside the UN childrens fund in Tel Aviv, AFP reported. Several hundred demonstrators joined the protest on World Childrens Day. At least 35 of the hostages are children, with 18 of them aged 10 and under, according to an AFP count. That figure includes a baby which the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was born in captivity. Demonstrators held Israeli flags, portraits of the children and stuffed toys, with a projector casting enormous pictures of their names, faces and ages onto the side of the building housing the offices of UNICEF, the UN childrens agency, as participants chanted: UN do your job! How can it be that in the face of this horror, my 12-year-old boy Erez and Saar, 16, and many other children are hostages - brutally taken hostage - and the world is silent? said Hadas Kalderon whose two sons have been held in Gaza by Palestinian militants since October 7. Large institutions like UNICEF are silent. Have you forgotten your role? she said. Where are the rights of my children? The rally took place shortly before the families were to meet with Israels war cabinet as rumours circulated that a possible hostage deal was in the offing. 07:01 PM GMT IDF says it located Hamas rocket-making lab, weapons and tunnel entrance inside Gaza City mosque In an evening press briefing to the Israeli media, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, has reportedly claimed that the 188th Armored Brigade located a Hamas rocket-making lab, weapons, and a tunnel entrance inside a mosque in Gaza Citys Zeitoun neighborhood. A mosque, in the Zeitoun area, is used as a lab for weapons, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari is quoted as saying on The Times of Israel live blog. Troops enter the mosque, carry out scans, and make sure there are no traps. They head inside and find a tunnel shaft and a staircase, he says. In the basement, Hagari says the troops found a workshop for making rockets. 06:43 PM GMT Pictured: Israel's border with Gaza A picture taken from southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on November 20, 2023, shows an Israeli soldier working on a tank near the Palestinian enclave - GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images Israeli soldiers manoeuver armored military vehicles along Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. - AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg 06:34 PM GMT New Yorker says its contributor, poet Mosab Abu Toha, was taken by the IDF in Gaza Editors at the New Yorker have confirmed widespread reports that Gazan poet Mosab Abu Toha has been taken into custody by the Israeli military, adding that they have lost contact with him. The literary NGO PEN said on Twitter on Monday that it is concerned about reports that Abo Toha, who is also the founder of Gazas only English-language library, has been taken into custody by the IDF. David Remnick sent a note to staff this morning abt the worrisome news on Mosab Abu Toa, the Palestinian poet and essayist from Gaza, whose work we have been publishing. We had lost touch w/ him and learned he was arrested in central Gaza. Here's a thread of his @newyorker work. Michael Luo (@michaelluo) November 20, 2023 Israeli forces KIDNAPPED my friend, the award-winning brilliant poet from Gaza, Mosab Abu Toha, Laura Albast, an editor at the Institute for Palestine studies, posted on X. His brother says Mosab and his young family were evacuating to the south as his brother says they have been asked by the State Department to head to the Rafah Crossing to evacuate because Mosabs youngest son, Mostafa who is 3.5 years old, is a U.S. citizen. As they approached a checkpoint heading toward the south, Israeli soldiers snatched Mosab from his family and no one has heard anything about him since, Albast added. 06:14 PM GMT Israel recalls its ambassador to South Africa for consultations Israel has recalled for consultations its ambassador to South Africa following the latest statements from South Africa, Israels foreign ministry said. South Africas ruling African National Congress (ANC) party on Thursday had said it would support a parliamentary motion calling for the Israeli embassy in South Africa to be closed. South Africa, which is highly critical of Israels campaign in Gaza against Hamas, has recalled its diplomats from Israel. 06:01 PM GMT Pictured: Rocket sirens continue to sound in Israel A mother covers her daughter as a siren sounds signalling incoming rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel during a protest calling on the UN and UNICEF to assist children being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas, near the offices of UNICEF in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 20, 2023. - REUTERS/Itai Ron 05:44 PM GMT Mother of one of 28 Gaza babies moved to Egypt recounts her ordeal in Reuters report Born prematurely in Gaza just before war broke out, the baby girl was treated at Al Shifa Hospital as it gradually collapsed, separated from her displaced family, then evacuated to Egypt on Monday along with her mother and 27 other Palestinian newborns. Lobna al-Saik, the babys mother, was one of a few parents accompanying some of the 28 infants as they were taken in a convoy of ambulances from a hospital in southern Gaza, through the Rafah border crossing, into Egypt to receive treatment. They are innocent children, premature babies, an exhausted al-Saik said in a video interview provided by the Egyptian government. My message to the world is enough, Reuters reports. Egyptian television footage showed medical staff at Rafah carefully picking up tiny babies from inside Palestinian ambulances and placing them in mobile incubators, which were then wheeled across a car park towards Egyptian ambulances. The family left their home on the third day of the war to escape Israeli bombardment. Like hundreds of thousands of others, al-Saik moved to the south of the Gaza Strip with her three other children, while the baby girl stayed at Al Shifa. With shortages of electricity, water, medicines and other basics, conditions at Al Shifa deteriorated and the baby lost weight and got sick. There was no milk and she kept getting worse, she was back to zero, to living on oxygen again, said al-Saik. The mother was reunited with her baby in Rafah, but to accompany her to Egypt, she said she had to leave her other children behind in Gaza. I didnt even get a chance to hug them because I couldnt leave my daughter in this state. I didnt say goodbye to them. Something might happen to them, they could be bombed or martyred, she said, her voice breaking as tears welled up. 05:34 PM GMT Three premature babies still trapped in Gaza Three premature babies are still trapped in Gaza after dozens of others were evacuated from the enclaves main hospital to Egypt for treatment. The trio of newborns were being treated at the Emirati Hospital in the territorys south, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. The update came after a group of 28 premature babies were taken into Egypt via the Rafah Crossing after being evacuated from the besieged Al Shifa hospital on Sunday. The babies had been taken to the Emirati Hospital before being transferred into Egypt. Several other newborns died at the Al Shifa hospital, the largest of its kind in Gaza, in recent days amid a collapse in medical services partly caused by power cuts when fuel ran out. Israeli forces seized the hospital last week to search for what they said was a Hamas tunnel network built underneath the complex. Hundreds of patients, medical staff and displaced people evacuated the complex at the weekend, with doctors saying they were ejected by troops and Israel saying the departures were voluntary. 20 November 2023, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: Premature babies pictured in a hospital in Rafah before they are transferred to Egypt to receive the proper medical care. - Mohammed Talatene / Avalon 05:26 PM GMT Pictured: Israel takes detained Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip Israeli soldiers transfer detained Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip on November 20, 2023, as battles between Israel and the Hamas movement continue. - GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images 05:22 PM GMT Gaza health ministry says death toll above 13,300 Gazas Hamas government said Monday the death toll in the Palestinian territory had passed 13,300 since war began on October 7 between Israeli forces and Hamas militants. The Hamas government said more than 5,600 children were among the dead, alongside 3,550 women, with another 31,000 people wounded. Its health ministry has previously said it can no longer give exact tolls as intense fighting has prevented bodies from being recovered. 04:44 PM GMT Houthis military media release footage of their hijacking of an Israeli-linked ship yesterday - 19-11-2023 pic.twitter.com/xukot1li7g (@MMY1444) November 20, 2023 The Galaxy Leader is flagged in the Bahamas, but is owned by a British company and operated by a Japanese one, according to Israel. The ships Israeli link is believed to stem from the nationality of the billionaire who owns the ships parent company, Ray Car Carriers Ltd. Abraham Ungar, the Israeli billionaire, is listed in public shipping databases as being the companys owner. The Houthis have said that this is just the first and that Israeli-linked ships should not dare to use the Red Sea. 04:42 PM GMT Jordanian crown prince arrives in Egypt to oversee field hospital His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein arrives in El Arish, Egypt, to oversee the preparation and dispatch of the special Jordanian field hospital/2 for southern #Gaza which has the capacity of 41 beds#Jordan pic.twitter.com/1h9549oaD6 RHC (@RHCJO) November 20, 2023 04:12 PM GMT UN protectorate in Gaza is not a solution, says Guterres A UN protectorate in Gaza would not solve the conflict, the UN Secretary-General said on Monday, calling instead for a transition period involving Arab nations and the United States that will lead to a two-state solution. Antonio Guterres said it was important to be able to transform this tragedy into an opportunity - which, for him, meant moving in a determined and irreversible way to a two-state solution. This means, after the current war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza ends, a strengthened Palestinian Authority, assuming responsibilities in Gaza, he said. But the Palestinian Authority cannot go into Gaza backed by Israeli tanks, he added - meaning the international community needs to look into a transition period. I do not think that a UN protectorate in Gaza is a solution, however, Guterres said. Instead, he called for a multi-stakeholder approach that would see the US act as the main guarantor of Israels security, while Arab nations are essential to support Palestinians. Everybody needs to come together to create the conditions for the transition, allowing for a strengthened Palestinian Authority to assume responsibilities in Gaza, and from there to a two-state solution, he said. 03:51 PM GMT Israel eliminating Hamas commanders, senior official says In a press briefing a senior IDF official has said that Israel is dismantling Hamas ability to fight by targeting commanders. The senior official, who we are not allowed to name, said that within Hamas military wing there are 24 battalions that each has around 1,000 fighters. More than 10 out of these 24 battalions have been significantly hurt, the senior official said. In some of them we eliminated hundreds of terrorists and most of their commanders, they added. In the Northern Gaza brigade two battalions have lost over 50 per cent of their commanders, they said, as well as in four battalions in the Gaza City brigade which has lost more than half of its commanders in the fight, the official claimed. By eliminating the commanders we are harming the ability of Hamas to carry out command and control in the Hamas army it dismantles the ability of Hamas to fight right now, the official said. The harm we are making to the Hamas commanders is cutting off the field from Hamas leadership, including Sinwar, they added. 03:43 PM GMT Doctors Without Borders (MSF) clinic in Gaza City under fire this morning An MSF clinic in Gaza City came under fire this morning, the NGO has said in a statement as it called for a stop to the fighting in the area. This morning, the MSF clinic in Gaza City came under fire. Our colleagues saw that a wall was torn down and part of the building was engulfed by fire as heavy fighting took place all around it. An Israeli tank was seen in the street. Four MSF cars were burnt. A fifth car was parked across the street and broken in two pieces as if crushed by a heavy-duty vehicle or a tank. All the cars and the clinic were clearly identified with MSF logos. An MSF member of staff and 20 family members are in the clinic and in extreme danger, we dont know their status. We urgently call for a stop to the fighting in the area. Over 50 other people, including MSF staff, are in nearby buildings, with a wounded person needing medical attention. The cars destroyed are the same that were used to attempt the aborted evacuation of MSF staff and their families on 18 November, resulting in the killing of one of their family members. They were the only means of transport they had to facilitate their evacuation. 03:41 PM GMT WHO Chief 'appalled' by attack on Indonesian Hospital The head of the World Health Organisation said on Monday he was appalled by an attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza that he said had killed 12 people, including patients, citing unspecified reports. Health workers and civilians should never have to be exposed to such horror, and especially while inside a hospital, he said on X/Twitter. Gazas health ministry said Israeli forces had struck the Indonesian Hospital and killed at least 12 people, including patients. 03:32 PM GMT Pictured: The Houthis, who yesterday seized an Israeli-flagged ship in the Red Sea Houthi troopers riding a truck patrol at a street, a day after the Houthis seized a ship, in Sana'a, Yemen, 20 November 2023. - YAHYA ARHAB/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 03:27 PM GMT Israel's far-right finance minister demands expanded war cabinet Bezalel Smotrich, Israels far-right finance minister has demanded that lawmakers who want to take a harsher line against Hamas to be included in the war cabinet. Smotrich, in a statement, said the war cabinet should include opinions that until today have not been heard. His calls for an expanded war cabinet came after he, alongside other far-right politicians, hit out at the decision to allow limited amounts of fuel into to the collapsing Gaza Strip. I think this grave mistake necessitates the expansion of the war cabinet, said Smotrich, arguing that giving the UN fuel to use to ease the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, gave Hamas a lifeline during the war. 03:16 PM GMT Hezbollah attacks Israel with drones and missiles in 'direct hits' Hezbollah said that it targeted troops in northern Israel with drones, artillery and missiles today, claiming a string of new cross-border attacks. Hezbollah fighters targeted soldiers west of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel with three attack drones, the Iran-backed group said in a statement, adding shortly after that it had also targeted troops in the area with artillery fire. Both statements claimed the attacks were direct hits. Earlier Monday, Hezbollah said it had fired Burkan missiles at an Israeli barracks, and also claimed a number of other attacks on Israeli positions. Israels army said three UAVs (drones) were identified striking adjacent to an army post, without specifying where. It added that no injuries were reported. In a statement, it said 25 launches were identified from Lebanon toward several locations adjacent to the border, and added that aerial defences intercepted a number of the launches and the rest fell in open areas. Tanks, a fighter jet, and a helicopter struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanon in response to launches toward Israeli territory, it said, while the army struck fighters attempting to fire anti-tank missiles in south Lebanon. 03:14 PM GMT Watch: Significant damage on northern Israeli army base from Hezbollah attack Footage shows extensive damage at the Biranit army base in northern Israel following a Hezbollah rocket attack from Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/1VhAljjg1L Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 20, 2023 Good afternoon, Im Abbie Cheeseman taking over the live blog from Beirut for the coming hours. 03:02 PM GMT Israeli tanks 'surround hospital' Israeli tanks have surrounded the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, according to health officials, where at least 12 people were reported to have been killed by an airstrike. We had information earlier that tanks were besieging the Indonesian Hospital, Nahed Abu Taaema, director of Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, told Reuters. Unfortunately..., communications there are almost cut, he added. Earlier, Gazas Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli forces had struck the Indonesian Hospital and killed at least 12 people, including patients. Dozens more were wounded and around 700 people remained trapped inside the besieged medical centre, said ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra. There was no immediate response to the claim from Israel, which says Hamas uses medical facilities throughout Gaza as an instrument of war. 02:29 PM GMT Egypt 'best place on earth,' says mother of baby who was evacuated from Gaza Egypt is the best place on earth, the mother of a premature baby who was evacuated from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza has said. In comments carried by Egyptian state media, Lubna El-Seik said it never occurred to us that the hospital would be targeted and that those children would have to go through what they went through. She said the coordinated evacuation of babies was very good. Within hours, we came over here and we were well received, she said. Egypt is the best place on earth. 02:05 PM GMT Hostage families shouted down by MPs in angry clash in Israeli parliament Hardline Israeli MPs shouted at relatives of hostages captured by Hamas as they clashed over a bill supporting the death penalty for terrorists, reports Nataliya Vasilyeva, The Telegraphs Middle East Correspondent, in Jerusalem. Right-wing members of the Knesset, Israels parliament, told families they were being exploited by Hamas in an ugly confrontation. Relatives of hostages in return told the MPs to stop talking about killing Arabs and start speaking about saving Jews during the row, which exposed the deepening division in Israel. The families were attending the Knesset on Monday to oppose a bill introducing capital punishment for convicted terrorists, which could be applied to Hamas attacks. The hearing descended into chaos as both parties started shouting and pointing at each other across parliament. Almog Cohen, from the hard-Right Otzma Yehudit party, which drafted the bill earlier this year, told families: You have no monopoly over pain: We have also buried more than fifty friends! 01:57 PM GMT Pictured: Black smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab, a Lebanese border village with Israel Black smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab, a Lebanese border village with Israel - AP/AP 01:46 PM GMT Fight against evil, says mother of man believed to be held hostage The mother of a young man who was kidnapped by Hamas has pleaded with the world to fight against evil. Iris Haim, whose son Yotam, 28, was due to play the drums at a festival in Tel Aviv before the October 7th attack, said she cannot explain how she feels that he is not with her. We lost contact with him at 10.44am that day, and since then we only have the basic clues that he is in Gaza now, she added. He left his room healthy and not wounded, which gave us little comfort. But he has a chronic disease, he needs a vaccine every month. Speaking at a press conference in London, she called on the world to fight against evil, adding that it starts in Israel, but it will continue to harm every person in the free world if you do not open your eyes. 01:13 PM GMT 'This is my worst nightmare' says father of Irish-Israeli girl held hostage The father of an Irish-Israeli girl being held hostage by Hamas has said this is his worst nightmare. Thomas Hand, the father of nine-year-old Emily Hand, said: We are just waiting for news. This is my worst nightmare - believe me, its a nightmare. Mr Hand, 63, initially thought his daughter had been killed in the October 7 attacks, but later discovered she was a hostage in Gaza. Speaking at a press conference for the families of hostages, he said: If you have families and kids, just imagine one day [that] one of them is gone. The sheer terror of a 9-year old-girl down in those dark tunnels. Sheer terror and panic every hour of every day. She must be saying every day: Where is my daddy - why isnt he coming to save me. 01:03 PM GMT Indonesia condemns 'attack' on hospital Indonesias foreign minister has condemned what Israels alleged attack on a hospital in northern Gaza. Retno Marsudi said: The attack is a clear violation of international humanitarian laws. All countries, especially those that have close relations with Israel, must use all their influence and capabilities to urge Israel to stop its atrocities. Indonesias foreign ministry said it had lost contact with three Indonesian volunteers at the hospital who are part of the group that set up the facility in 2016 with Jakartas funding. Israeli tanks have surrounded the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, according to health officials, where at least 12 people were reported to have been killed by an airstrike. We had information earlier that tanks were besieging the Indonesian Hospital, Nahed Abu Taaema, director of Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, told Reuters. Unfortunately..., communications there are almost cut, he added. There was no immediate response to the claim from Israel, which says Hamas uses medical facilities throughout Gaza as an instrument of war. 12:46 PM GMT EU foreign policy chief calls for immediate humanitarian pauses Josef Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, met with Jordans King Abdullah II. Honoured to be received by His Majesty @KingAbdullahII We discussed the war in Gaza & importance to end suffering of civilians. Vital to implement UNSCR 2712 on immediate humanitarian pauses A political process towards two states needs to be restored. The Kings role is crucial pic.twitter.com/4HsSRCVBjE Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) November 20, 2023 12:39 PM GMT Pictured: Premature babies are transported in a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance through the Rafah crossing to Egypt Palestinian premature babies, evacuated from Gaza City's Al Shifa hospital, are transported in a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance through the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip to Egypt - MOHAMMED ABED/AFP 12:21 PM GMT Labour: 'We mourn the death of every civilian, Palestinian and Israeli, equally' Labour will be tirelessly committed to the hard diplomacy required to help deliver lasting peace, David Lammy has said, in the partys first visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the Hamas terror attack. The shadow foreign secretary said: The horrors of Hamas terrorist murders and kidnappings on October 7th have been followed by an unimaginable humanitarian emergency in Gaza, with unbearable civilian casualties and images of children pulled from the rubble. We mourn the death of every civilian, Palestinian and Israeli, equally. Mr Lammy will meet with Israeli president Isaac Herzog and other officials in addition to meeting with the Palestinian Authoritys Deputy Foreign Minister, Amal Jadu, in the West Bank. The Labour MP added that the ultimate end to conflict we all want to see wont happen simply by affirming that we want it to happen. He said that hard diplomacy is required with all governments in the region to deliver a longer pause immediately to respond to the shocking humanitarian emergency in Gaza, secure the release of hostages so cruelly taken by Hamas and as a necessary step to an enduring cessation of violence. 12:04 PM GMT First field hospital enters Gaza Strip A field hospital sent by Jordan has entered the Gaza Strip, officials have said Mohammed Zaqout, the director-general of Gaza hospitals, said: The hospital will be established in Khan Yunis, to receive the wounded and the sick, under catastrophic conditions which southern hospitals are experiencing, with the influx of hundreds of wounded each day and continued aggressive aerial and artillery strikes. The field hospital is the first sent since the war began on October 7th. 11:49 AM GMT Babies arrive in Egypt Babies evacuated from Gazas Shifa Hospital have arrived in Egypt, state-run media has reported. Egypts Al-Qahera satellite channel broadcast images of the babies inside Egyptian ambulances, without specifying how many had arrived. Over the weekend, 31 babies were evacuated from Shifa. Earlier, the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said it was transporting 28 premature babies from a hospital in southern Gaza to another across the border in Egypt on Monday [see post at 10:28]. It was not immediately possible to resolve the discrepancy in the numbers. 11:41 AM GMT Several killed in airstrike on Gaza hospital, Hamas-run health ministry claims 11:03 AM GMT 'This must stop,' says UN Secretary-General The war in the Middle East is having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, every day. This must stop. I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) November 19, 2023 10:34 AM GMT Sunak: Gaza situation 'tragic' and 'getting worse' The Gaza situation on the ground is truly tragic and getting worse, Rishi Sunak has said, as he opened the Global Food Security Summit in London. Speaking on the Israel-Hamas conflict, Mr Sunak reiterated his stance that Israel has the right to defend itself, but added: It must also act within international humanitarian law. He said the UK is pushing for substantive humanitarian pauses, because the suffering of innocent civilians must end. 10:28 AM GMT Breaking: Premature babies leave hospital for Rafah crossing A few moments ago, the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams departed from in front of the Emirati Hospital in Rafah to transport 28 premature infants to the Rafah Crossing, in preparation for their transfer to receive medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals. This comes PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 20, 2023 10:25 AM GMT 'Drone flies through Hamas tunnel near Al-Shifa hospital' 09:57 AM GMT Mapped: Israeli advance into Gaza 09:28 AM GMT IDF 'struck several locations in Lebanon' The Israel Defense Forces have released a statement about strikes this morning in Lebanon In a statement, they said: This morning, IDF artillery struck in several locations in Lebanon. A number of launches were then identified from Lebanon into Israeli territory. No injuries were reported. As a result of the launches toward the area of Biranit, a fire broke out. IDF and Israel Fire and Rescue Services are at the scene. The IDF also struck the sources of the launches. The Telegraph has not been able to independently verify these claims. 08:49 AM GMT Shelter conditions 'unliveable,' says UN Heavy rain is falling across the#GazaStrip The situation in shelters is unliveable. People have no options. Humanity needs to prevail. pic.twitter.com/vdcb38gGct UNRWA (@UNRWA) November 20, 2023 08:33 AM GMT Pictured: Residents try to save their belongings in their houses in Rafah which were damaged in Israeli attacks Residents try to save their usable belongings in their houses, which were heavily damaged in Israeli attacks, in Rafah - Anadolu Agency/Anadolu 08:22 AM GMT World must 'act urgently' to cool down Middle East situation, says China The world must act urgently to calm the Israel-Hamas war, the Chinese Foreign Minister has said, as he hosted diplomats from Arab and Muslim-majority nations in Beijing. Let us work together to quickly cool down the situation in Gaza and restore peace in the Middle East as soon as possible, Wang Yi told ministers at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the Chinese capital. A humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Gaza, he said, adding the situation in Gaza affects all countries around the world, questioning the human sense of right and wrong and humanitys bottom line. The international community must act urgently, taking effective measures to prevent this tragedy from spreading, Beijings top diplomat added. 08:05 AM GMT Iran denies involvement in Red Sea ship seizure by Yemen's Houthis Iran denied Israeli claims that it was involved in the seizure of a British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo ship in the southern Red Sea by Yemens Houthis, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference. We have said multiple times that resistance groups in the region act independently and spontaneously based on their interests and that of their people, Mr Kanaani said. On Sunday, Israel said the incident was an Iranian act of terrorism with consequences for international maritime security. 07:59 AM GMT Japan 'directly approaching' Yemen rebels over seized ship Japan said it was directly approaching Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels after they seized a ship owned by an Israeli businessman and operated by a Japanese firm with around 25 crew on board. Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Tokyo was communicating with Israel, and in addition to directly approaching the Huthis, we are also urging Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran and other countries concerned to strongly urge the Houthis for the early release of the vessel and crew members. Our government will continue to take necessary measures in cooperation with the countries concerned, while taking into account the situation, she added. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree had said that the rebels had seized an Israeli ship on Sunday but Israel said the vessel was owned by a British company. Maritime security company Ambrey said that the owner was listed as Ray Car Carriers, whose parent company belongs to Abraham Rami Ungar, an Israeli businessman. 07:52 AM GMT Israel-Hamas war in pictures: Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalia refugee camp - STRINGER/REUTERS Palestinians wounded in Israeli strikes lie on the floor at the Indonesian hospital - STRINGER/REUTERS 07:49 AM GMT More than 100 Gaza evacuees to arrive in Turkey More than 100 evacuees from Gaza are set to arrive in Turkey, including dozens of people who will receive medical treatment there, Turkeys health minister and a foreign ministry source said. Sixty-one patients, accompanied by some 49 relatives, arrived in Egypt from Gaza on Sunday evening and were scheduled to fly to Ankara on Monday morning after spending the night at Al Arish hospital, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said. He said last week that Ankara wanted to bring as many of the nearly 1,000 cancer patients from Gaza to Turkey as possible. The first 27 patients arrived in Ankara last Thursday. Separately, a group of 87 people, consisting of Turks, Turkish Cypriots and their relatives, arrived in Egypt from Gaza on Sunday and was set to fly to Istanbul on Monday evening, a foreign ministry source said. 07:48 AM GMT Israel on brink of deal to free hostages and pause fighting A deal to halt the fighting in Gaza in return for the release of up to 50 hostages is expected in the coming days, Israel said on Sunday night. It came as US officials said negotiations had entered a sensitive phase after the prime minister of Qatar, where talks are being hosted, said only minor details remained to be resolved. Under a US-brokered deal between Israel and Hamas dozens of women and children would be released in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting, draft agreement documents are reported to say. Read more here 07:47 AM GMT Good Morning Good morning, and welcome to todays liveblog. We will be bringing you all the latest on what is happening in the war. 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. Editor's Note: For the latest news on the Israel-Hamas conflict, please see our live updates file here. Some Gaza hospitals have become such an integral part of the battle between Israeli forces and Hamas, the safest place for patients and staff is elsewhere. Twenty-eight of the 31 premature babies evacuated from Shifa Hospital on Sunday were transported to Egyptian medical facilities Monday, the same day 12 people were killed and others injured in what the Hamas-run Health Ministry said was Israeli shelling at another hospital in north Gaza. Israel said it returned fire from militants but did not shell Indonesian Hospital. Of the original 39 premature babies authorities warned were endangered as fighting around Shifa intensified, eight have died. The surviving ones face an uphill battle after getting sick amid a lack of medicines, clean water and power for incubators along with other substandard conditions at the besieged Shifa, raided by Israeli forces last week. "All babies are fighting serious infections and others conditions, and need specialized medical care,'' World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu said in a tweet that included a video showing the group effort to care for and transport the tiny infants. The 31 babies were taken for stabilization Sunday to a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Three of them remain there in "good health,'' the Palestine Red Crescent Society said. Part of the war has focused on north Gaza hospitals because Israel says Hamas uses the civilians there as human shields and that it operated a major command hub inside and beneath the 20-acre Shifa complex, a claim hospital officials and Hamas deny. The White House said Monday it has corroborated Israel's assertion. The WHO has evacuated some patients and staff from embattled Shifa in recent days but said it remains gravely concerned about the safety and health needs of more than 250 patients and 20 health workers who remain. Planning is underway to evacuate them, WHO said in a statement. A Palestinian medic cares for premature babies, evacuated from Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital, ahead of their transfer from a hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip to Egypt, on November 20, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. 'Sticking points' hold up hostage deal: 31 babies rescued at Gaza hospital Developments: National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reiterated Monday the White House belief that "we're closer than we've ever been'' to reaching a deal for the release of hostages. President Joe Biden also said an agreement is near, without providing specifics. The relatives of some Israeli hostages met Monday with top officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Udi Goren, whose cousin is captive in Gaza, said they were told the hostages won't be prioritized over crushing Hamas. This is incredibly disappointing because taking down Hamas, we keep hearing from them, is going to take months or years, Goren said. The Israeli military said its airstrikes killed three Hamas company commanders and destroyed a weapons depot where they were hiding. Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Monday in Qatar. The ICRC is seeking communication between the hostages and their families and also wants its teams to visit captives and bring them medication. Israel said it found a 60-yard-long tunnel about 30 feet under Shifa Hospital grounds, claiming it represents more evidence that Hamas maintained a compound under the sprawling hospital facility.. 'Did we die?' A week in the life of a journalist in the Gaza Strip Orit Meir, mother of hostage Almog Meir, hugs Thomas Hand, father of hostage Emily Hand, during a press conference at the embassy of Israel in London on Nov. 20, 2023. Report: Hamas chief says close truce agreement with Israel is close The chief of Hamas told Reuters Tuesday that the Palestinian militant group was near a truce agreement with Israel. The news outlet said it received a statement from an aide of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh indicating that the group had delivered its response through Qatari mediators. The statement did not give more information, Reuters added. A Hamas official said negotiations were centered on how long the truce would last, arrangements for delivery of aid, and the exchange of hostages, the news outlet reported citing Al Jazeera TV. Hamas official Issat el Reshiq said both sides would free women and children, terms and details that will be announced by Qatar. On Monday, the State of Qatar condemned Israel for bombing the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, calling it a blatant violation of international laws and agreements, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention. WHO chief appalled by attack on another Gaza hospital Tedros said he was "appalled" by an attack on Indonesian Hospital that reportedly resulted in 12 deaths, including patients, and several critical and life-threatening injuries. Heavy fighting erupted around Indonesian Hospital as Israel continues to expand its offensive in the enclave. Health workers and civilians should never have to be exposed to such horror, and especially while inside a hospital, Tedros said in a social media post. Marwan Abdallah, a medical worker at the hospital, said dozens of Palestinians killed and wounded in overnight airstrikes and shelling at the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp were brought into the facility, and that Israeli tanks were less than 200 yards away. Hundreds of patients, about 200 health care workers and 2,000 displaced Palestinians were sheltering at the health care center, Hamas Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said. Late Monday, he said roughly 200 wounded patients and their companions were evacuated to southern Gaza in a rescue effort coordinated by the U.N. and the Red Cross, and that 400 and 500 other wounded people remain. According to the U.N., a clinic operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, was also hit in Gaza City on Monday. A building and five of the organizations' cars were burned and crushed by tank shelling, the U.N. said. Twenty-one people were in the clinic and might be in "extreme danger," according to the U.N. Their status is unknown. Parents of hostages discuss 'nightmare,' plea for release Several relatives of hostages being held by Hamas made an urgent plea for their release at a news conference Monday in London. The Irish father of Emily Hand, who turned 9 on Friday, pleaded for her release. Emily was originally feared dead after the assault on Kibbutz Beeri in Israel on Oct. 7. ''It's nightmare, an absolute nightmare," Thomas Hand said. "The sheer terror of a 9-year-old-girl down in those dark tunnels, never seeing the light of day. Sheer terror, panic every hour of every day." Hand said he prays for his daughter's return but said his family has been given virtually no information on the progress of talks aimed at freeing the captives. Officials in Qatar have said a deal is close for the release of some of the hostages in return for a temporary cease-fire. "I don't know what condition she is going to be in, but she's going to be broken, very broken, mentally and physically," Thomas Hand said of his daughter. "And we are going to have to fix that." UN chief mourns 'unparalleled' civilian deaths in Gaza, urges 2-state solution U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday decried the ''unprecedented'' loss of civilian lives, including thousands of children, as Israel expanded its bombardment of Gaza. This is what matters, Guterres said at a press briefing at U.N. headquarters in New York. We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unparalleled and unprecedented in any conflict" since he became secretary general in 2017. Palestinian health authorities report a death toll of more than 11,500 since the war began Oct. 7, including about 5,500 children. Guterres said it is crucial that the world seizes an opportunity from tragedy unfolding in Gaza to create a two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Lynn Hastings on World's Children Day appealed for all parties to "protect Palestinian and Israeli children and their rights." This is the largest child mass-casualty in all war zones since 2019, the U.N. said citing the charity Save the Children. Israel releases videos it says shows hostages in Gaza hospital The Israeli military released multiple videos it says shows Hamas militants "forcibly transporting hostages" inside Shifa Hospital on Oct. 7, the day Hamas militants seized them during the rampage that left more than 1,200 people dead. The military said the videos show a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian, who were kidnapped from Israeli territory. In one of the videos a person is being dragged along a hospital corridor; another shows a bleeding person on a gurney. Israeli vehicles stolen during the attack can also be seen inside the hospital compound, the military said. "These findings add to previous evidence presented regarding Hamas use of the hospital area as infrastructure for its terrorist activities in a systematic and ongoing manner," the military said. Israel says its soldier was killed by Hamas, not airstrike An Israeli army corporal being held by Hamas was killed by her captors, not by an Israeli airstrike as the militants claimed, the Israeli military says. Hamas says the airstrike Nov. 9 killed Cpl. Noa Marciano, a 19-year-old whose body was recovered last week in Gaza. But Israel says a militant holding Marciano, captured during the Oct. 7 Hamas rampage through Israeli border communities, was killed and Marciano was wounded when the airstrike hit an apartment near Shifa Hospital. The pathology report states that Noa was injured by the strike, but not in a life-threatening way, and this is contrary to the lies published by Hamas, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesperson, said late Sunday. According to intelligence information, Noa was taken inside the walls of Shifa Hospital, where she was murdered by a Hamas terrorist. The Israeli military said it sends its heartfelt condolences to the Marciano family and will continue to support them while working toward the return of the more than 200 hostages believed held by militants in Gaza. EU official accused of double standard EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell is facing backlash in the Arab world over what is being viewed as a double standard for his comments Sunday on the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. Borrell was asked by Al Jazeera whether he believed Israel's attack constituted a war crime. Well, Im not a lawyer, but theres an International Court of Justice thatll investigate and Ill abide by their decision, Borrell said. When asked specifically whether the Hamas attack Oct. 7 was a war crime, Borrell said it was. When pressed on why he was willing to judge Hamas but not Israel, Borrell denied applying a double standard but acknowledged that "you are right, we should let the International Criminal Court decide." The interview circulated widely on social media, drawing outrage from some Palestinians. Darine Dandachly of Lebanon posted that "you are not a lawyer but you are a complicit in genocide against the Palestinians." Another social media post by #UncensorPalestine said "there you have it. Evident display of racism and double standards." Contributing: Joey Garrison, USA TODAY; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel Hamas war updates: Leader says truce agreement is nearing A far-right Israeli lawmaker reportedly screamed at the families of hostages being held in Gaza for sharing their fears that a new bill allowing the death penalty for captured Hamas militants could lead to their own loved ones execution, The Times of Israel reported Monday. The families testimonies were fiercely condemned by Tzvika Fogel, an elected official of the Otzma Yehudit party, who claimed the families were trying to represent Hamas more than the State of Israel for opposing the bill. Fogel began Mondays hearing by exclaiming that the Israeli government do not need to feed these beasts, referring to Hamas prisoners. A grieving family member, Gil Dickmann, said he was shocked he was painted as siding with his loved ones captors, but he still begged Fogel to understand his position. Please do not have a hearing now on the death penalty, he said through tears. Not when the lives of our loved ones are in the balance, not when the sword is on their necks. Read it at The Times of Israel Read more at The Daily Beast. An Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Red Sea was hijacked by Yemens Houthi rebels, who took 25 crew members hostage, according to Israeli officials. A spokesperson for Yemens Houthi group confirmed Sunday that the rebels captured the ship and took the crew members as hostage due to the ships ties to Israel. The Yemeni armed forces reiterate their warning to all ships belonging to or dealing with the Israeli enemy that they will become a legitimate target for armed forces, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. The Houthis, who are supported by Iran, are currently in a cease-fire amid a civil war with the Yemeni government. Saree said armed forces will continue military operations against Israel until the country ends its campaign against militant group Hamas, which launched a surprise assault on southern Israel last month. Those attacks left more than 1,200 people dead, including hundreds of civilians. The office of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack against the vessel and claimed the Houthis were responsible. This is another act of Iranian terrorism and constitutes a leap forward in Irans aggression against the citizens of the free world, with international consequences regarding the security of the global shipping lanes, the prime ministers office wrote in a statement. Netanyahus office said none of the 25 crew members aboard were Israeli, but were of various nationalities including Ukrainian, Filipino and Mexican. Saree claimed the armed forces were treating the crew members in accordance with their Islamic values, without providing further details. Netanyahus office claimed the ship, called the Galaxy Leader, is owned by a British company and operated by a Japanese firm, though public shipping databases show the ships owners associated with Ray Car Carriers, founded by Israeli billionaire Abraham Rami Ungar, according to reporting by The Associated Press. The incident is likely to further fuel concerns over third-parties, such as Iran and its proxies, using the conflict between Israel and Hamas which is backed by Iran to engage in a separate front against Israel and escalate conflict in the region. Israel has responded to Hamass Oct. 7 attacks with a bombardment of Hamas-ruled Gaza and recently ramped up ground attacks in the northern part of the territory. More than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in the violence, according to Gazas Hamas-run government. These numbers cannot be independently verified. Houthi militants seizure of the motor vessel Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea is a flagrant violation of international law, a U.S. military official told The Hill. We demand the immediate release of the ship and its crew. Sundays seizure follows at least two incidents where U.S. warships intercepted missiles or drones from Yemen that were believed to be going toward Israel or American vessels. Last week, a U.S. Navy warship shot down a drone heading towards the ship in the southern Red Sea, according to the AP. Last month, the Pentagon said a U.S. Navy destroyer intercepted a barrage of missiles fired by Houthi rebels, according to the Pentagon. This comes amid a reported uptick in attacks against American troops and assets in the Middle East, prompting the U.S. to launch a series of retaliatory strikes on assets belonging to Iran and its proxies. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Almog Cohen, surrounded by fellow politicians, points his finger and shouts at relatives of hostages Hardline Israeli MPs shouted at relatives of hostages captured by Hamas as they clashed over a bill to impose the death penalty on convicted terrorists. Right-wing members of the Knesset, Israels parliament, told families they were being exploited by Hamas during the ugly confrontation. It came as relatives of hostages told MPs to stop talking about killing Arabs and start speaking about saving Jews during the row, which highlighted how divisions over the conflict are deepening in Israel. The families were attending the Knesset on Monday to oppose the death penalty bill, which could be applied to Hamas attackers. The hearing descended into chaos as members of both sides started shouting and pointing their fingers at each other. Almog Cohen, from the hard-Right Otzma Yehudit party, which drafted the bill earlier this year, told families: You have no monopoly over pain. We have also buried more than 50 friends. Families of several hostages vehemently oppose the bill, fearing it will only exacerbate the plight of their loved ones in Gaza. Stop talking about killing Arabs and start speaking about saving Jews, one man, whose wife and daughter were abducted, shouted back at MPs. Other Knesset members insisted that Israel could be safe only if it cracked down further on Hamas. Each of the terrorists is an [Adolf] Eichmann, Tzvika Foghel said, referring to one of the infamous organisers of the Holocaust. Each of them, without exception, must face the gallows. Hamas is trying to exploit you A family member of a hostage asked Mr Foghel if he thought relatives were being used by Hamas. He replied: I am hinting that Hamas is trying to exploit you, yes. And Im not hinting. Im saying it openly. Mr Foghel added: We do not need to feed these beasts, we dont need to continue to raise this monster This [legislation] does not contradict the goal of bringing back the hostages. And anyone who tries to present it as a contradiction is someone who is trying to represent Hamas more than the state of Israel. Israel entered the war against Hamas with what has been described as the most Right-wing government in its history. Even though most Israelis support the ground operation in Gaza, their patience with Benjamin Netanyahu, the countrys prime minister, and his Right-wing allies, who he allowed into his cabinet to keep him in power, is running out. Opinion polls show the majority of Israelis want Mr Netanyahu to step down once the war is over, while a minority would prefer him to resign immediately. A survey by Channel 12 last weekend showed that the opposition would win if fresh elections were held this week. Hostage hopes Talks were underway on Monday between Israel and Hamas to secure the release of some of the hostages in exchange for a brief ceasefire, Israeli media reported. The Haaretz newspaper cited unnamed officials saying they were cautiously optimistic. Two previous attempts to get at least some of the hostages released have failed. But the latest discussions were briefly paused after Yahya Sinwar, Hamass leader in Gaza, fell silent and stopped engaging with envoys in Doha after Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raided Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City last week, according to Axios. He reportedly resurfaced a day later. Hamas has released just four of the around 240 hostages it captured on Oct 7. Some of the families have opposed Israels ground operation inside Gaza, fearing it will endanger their safety. Most relatives are unaware of their loved ones whereabouts or condition. The IDF has accused Hamas of using Gazas hospitals as well as its sprawling network of underground tunnels to hide its captives. Hamas representatives have alleged many of the Israelis kidnapped on Oct 7 were taken by other armed factions or individuals, and say the group would need a ceasefire to try to locate them 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. By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Twenty-eight prematurely born babies evacuated from Gaza's biggest hospital were taken into Egypt for urgent treatment on Monday, while Palestinian authorities and the WHO said 12 people were killed at another Gaza hospital encircled by Israeli tanks. The newborns had been in north Gaza's Al Shifa hospital, where several others died after their incubators were knocked out amid a collapse of medical services during Israel's military assault on Gaza City. Israeli forces seized Shifa last week to search for what they said was a tunnel network belonging to Hamas Islamists built underneath. Hundreds of patients, medical staff and displaced people left Shifa at the weekend, with doctors saying they were ejected by troops and Israel saying the departures were voluntary. Live footage aired by Egypt's Al Qahera TV showed medical staff carefully lifting infants from inside an ambulance and placing them in mobile incubators, which were then wheeled across a car park towards other ambulances. The babies were transported on Sunday to a hospital in Rafah, on the southern border of Hamas-ruled Gaza, so their condition could be stabilised ahead of transfer to Egypt. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said 12 had been flown on to Cairo. All of the evacuated babies were "fighting serious infections", a WHO spokesperson said. Eight infants have died since doctors at Shifa originally raised an international alarm this month about 39 premature babies at risk from a lack of infection control, clean water and medicines in the neo-natal ward. 12 DEAD IN HOSPITAL RINGED BY ISRAELI TANKS At the Indonesian Hospital, funded by Jakarta, Gaza's health ministry said at least 12 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by firing into the complex encircled by Israeli tanks. Health officials said 700 patients along with staff were under Israeli fire. The Palestinian news agency WAFA said the facility in the northeast Gaza town of Beit Lahia had been hit by artillery rounds. Hospital staff denied there were any armed militants on the premises. WHO chief Tedros said he was "appalled" by the attack that he too said had killed 12 people, including patients, citing unspecified reports. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said troops had fired back at fighters in the hospital while taking "numerous measures to minimise harm" to non-combatants. "Overnight, terrorists opened fire from within the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza toward IDF troops operating outside the hospital," the IDF told Reuters. "In response, IDF troops directly targeted the specific source of enemy fire. No shells were fired toward the hospital." U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking to reporters during a trip to Ukraine, reaffirmed the position of the United States, Israel's strongest ally, on the need to get humanitarian aid to Gaza civilians. "We have said every step of the way that our expectation is Israelis conduct their operations in accordance with the law of armed conflict," Austin said. "...they must do everything, or should do everything, that they can to get humanitarian assistance in to the people in Gaza." The U.N. said that 69,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt on Sunday after Israel confirmed it would start allowing the daily delivery of about 70,000 litres, "which is well below the minimum requirements for essential humanitarian operations". Like all other health facilities in the northern half of Gaza, the Indonesian Hospital has largely ceased operations but is still sheltering patients, staff and displaced residents. Israel has ordered the evacuation of the north, but thousands of civilians remain. Food, fuel, medicines and water have been running out across the enclave under Israel's six-week-old siege. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said its clinic in Gaza City also came under fire on Monday. In the south, where hundreds of thousands of Gazans who fled the north of the enclave are sheltering, at least 14 Palestinians were killed in two Israeli strikes on houses in Rafah, according to Gaza health authorities. At least five people were killed and 10 wounded when an Israeli air strike hit an apartment unit in Khan Younis, at the southern end of the strip, according to medical sources at Gaza's Nasser Hospital. There was no immediate Israeli comment. HEAVY FIGHTING AROUND MAJOR REFUGEE CAMP Witnesses also reported bouts of heavy fighting between Hamas gunmen and Israeli forces trying to advance into north Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, home to 100,000 people and, according to Israel, a significant militant stronghold. Repeated Israeli bombardment of Jabalia, an urban extension of Gaza City that grew out of a camp for Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Israeli-Arab war, has killed scores of civilians, Palestinian medics say. The Israeli military issued a statement with video of air strikes and troops going house-to-house in Gaza, saying they killed three Hamas company commanders and a squad of Palestinian fighters, without giving specific locations. Hamas meanwhile said on its Telegram account that it had launched a barrage of missiles towards Tel Aviv. Witnesses also reported rockets being fired at central Israel. Despite continued fighting, U.S. and Israeli officials said a Qatari-mediated deal was edging closer to free some hostages. U.S. President Joe Biden said they believed a deal was near. "We're closer now than we've been before," White House spokesman John Kirby said of a hostage agreement. About 240 hostages were taken during a deadly cross-border rampage into Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, which prompted Israel to invade the Palestinian territory to target Hamas. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Hamas assault, according to Israeli tallies, the deadliest day in Israel's 75-year-old history. Since then, Gaza's Hamas-run government said at least 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 5,600 children and 3,550 women, by unrelenting Israeli bombardment. The United Nations says two thirds of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been made homeless. "We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unparalleled and unprecedented in any conflict since I am Secretary-General," U.N. chief Antonio Guterres, who took office on Jan. 1, 2017, told reporters. (Additional reporting by Clauda Tanios in Dubai, Emma Farge in Geneva and Reuters bureauxWriting by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Mark Heinrich and Nick MacfieEditing by Peter Graff, William Maclean and Sharon Singleton) Israeli tanks have reportedly encircled Gaza's Indonesian Hospital, where the Hamas-run health ministry said 12 people were killed on Sunday night. The hospital's director, Dr Marwan Al-Sultan, told the BBC that the post-operative care department was hit and troops were only about 20m (66ft) away. On Monday evening, he said intermittent shooting could still be heard on site. The Israeli military said its forces targeted "terrorists" who had opened fire at them from within the hospital. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said he was "appalled". "Health workers and civilians should never have to be exposed to such horror, and especially while inside a hospital," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra accused Israel of "tightening its noose" around the hospital in the north of the enclave, and later told AFP news agency 200 patients had been evacuated by bus to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. He said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was helping to coordinate the evacuation of the remaining 400 patients. Meanwhile, 28 premature Palestinian babies evacuated on Sunday from Gaza City's besieged Al-Shifa Hospital, which Israeli forces raided last week, have been transported to Egypt for treatment. Israel launched a major military campaign in Gaza in response to a cross-border attack by hundreds of Hamas gunmen on 7 October, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and about 240 others taken hostage. Gaza's health ministry says at least 13,000 people have been killed in the territory since Israel launched its retaliatory campaign against Hamas. The UN Security Council has called for "urgent and extended humanitarian pauses" for "a sufficient number of days" to allow UN agencies to safely enter the sealed-off territory. But five days on, the International Rescue Committee says the killing and suffering of Palestinians has increased, and has urged the Security Council and others to bring about a ceasefire "without limits on its duration, to protect lives and allow aid to flow". Map showing location of hospitals in northern Gaza and locations of Israeli ground operations (19 November 2023) On Monday morning, video footage verified by the BBC showed several tanks stationed on a road about 240m (800ft) north-east of the Indonesian Hospital, which is funded by Indonesia. The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, cited medical sources as saying that dozens of Israeli armoured vehicles were in the surrounding area and that snipers were on rooftops, preventing ambulances from reaching the hospital. The health ministry said 12 wounded patients and people with them were killed and dozens more were wounded when an Israeli shell reportedly hit the second floor of the facility. Dr Al-Sultan told the BBC that he heard gunfire all around the building overnight and that at least 10 people were killed. Al Jazeera posted a video that the Qatar-based network said showed journalist Anas al-Sharif walking through the hospital following the incident. The body of at least one person could be seen, as well as damage to ceilings and equipment in several rooms and corridors. Sharif reported that "victims are piling up on the floor" and that there was "an overwhelming state of panic among patients". Hospitals are specifically protected under international humanitarian law. Any military operation around hospitals must take steps to spare patients, medical staff and other civilians inside them. This photo from last Thursday showed wounded Palestinians being treated on the floor of the Indonesian Hospital A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: "Overnight, terrorists opened fire from within the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza toward IDF troops operating outside the hospital. In response, IDF troops directly targeted the specific source of enemy fire. No shells were fired toward the hospital." "Despite the challenges the IDF faces in a war against a terrorist organisation which operates out of hospitals, the IDF is committed to international law and takes numerous measures to minimize harm to non-combatants." Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said he believed a deal to free hostages in Gaza was close, as the ICRC said its president had travelled to Qatar to meet with Hamas and Qatari government representatives. US national security spokesman John Kirby said he believed "we're closer than we've ever been, so we're hopeful". The ICRC does not take part in negotiations leading to hostage releases but is there to facilitate any deal that is agreed. That has been the process with the four hostages freed so far - Qatari negotiations with Hamas followed by the ICRC retrieving the hostages from agreed locations and bringing them back to Israel. Qatar's prime minister has said a deal to free some of the hostages now hinges on "minor" practical issues. This embedded content is not available in your region. On Sunday night, the IDF released new videos from Al-Shifa Hospital, where it has claimed there was a vast underground Hamas command centre. It said one showed a tunnel leading to a blast-proof door and that two others taken from CCTV cameras showed two hostages - one of them wounded - being taken to the hospital on 7 October. The IDF also said a pathologist's report and its intelligence had shown a female Israeli soldier whose body was recovered from a building near Al-Shifa last week had been injured in an Israeli air strike and then killed by a member of Hamas inside the hospital. Hamas has denied using Al-Shifa and other hospitals as shields for its fighters. At the same time, the WHO has said it was finalising its plans to complete the evacuation of between 250 to 260 seriously wounded or ill patients trapped at Al-Shifa. "These include around 29 patients with spinal injuries, 22 patients with kidney failure requiring kidney dialysis," the WHO's Regional Emergency Director, Dr Richard Brennan, told the BBC. "The vast majority of the remaining patients have complicated war injuries - terrible fractures and amputations, bad burns, head, abdominal, chest injuries, and many of which are complicated by severe wound infection." Thirty-one premature babies were evacuated from Al-Shifa to the Emirates Hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday by the Palestinian Red Crescent and UN, with the assistance of the IDF. At least five other babies had previously died after being removed from their incubators due to a lack of power after the hospital ran out of fuel. On Monday, 28 of the evacuated babies were taken to Egypt via the Rafah border crossing for treatment. Some are being admitted to the hospital in El-Arish while others in more serious conditions are being flown to Cairo. A senior WHO official said the babies evacuated from Al-Shifa had "a long road ahead of them" to recover Dr Mohamed Salama, head of the neo-natal unit at al-Ahli Emirates hospital, told the BBC that the parents of two babies had refused to send them to Egypt "due to personal circumstances". A third baby was being kept in Gaza because his condition was stable and his parents were unknown, he said. Dr Brennan described the evacuation as "one of the few bits of good news we've had during this conflict", but noted that the babies had "a long road ahead of them" to recover. In a separate development, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said its clinic in Gaza City came under fire on Monday morning. "Our colleagues saw that a wall was torn down and part of the building was engulfed by fire as heavy fighting took place all around it. An Israeli tank was seen in the street," a statement said. An MSF member of staff and 20 family members were in the clinic and in extreme danger, while 50 other people were in nearby buildings, it added. There was no immediate comment from the IDF. It is sensible for China's monetary policymakers to consider providing targeted funding for affordable housing and shantytown renovation projects, amid a pressing need to boost domestic demand and address property sector risks, experts said. They suggested using the funding to assist local governments in purchasing idle properties and rebuilding them into affordable homes, rather than subsidizing residents in purchasing new homes, which could reignite property price bubbles. "I think the implementation of such policy should be sooner rather than later, and doing more is better than doing less," said Zhang Bin, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of World Economics and Politics and a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the nation's top political advisory body. Zhang said that if implemented, the targeted funding likely in the form of a monetary policy tool called pledged supplementary lending, or PSL would catalyze multiplied expenditures and help address insufficient domestic demand, a prominent problem facing the Chinese economy. His comments echoed the sentiments of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, and other financial regulators. At a meeting with financial institutions on Friday, they called for actively supporting affordable housing and other key real estate projects to establish a new development model for the real estate sector, the central bank said in a statement. The PSL funding could help local governments acquire existing properties, either for residential or commercial use, and rebuild them into affordable homes for low-income groups, which would help improve the cash flow of real estate developers and mitigate risks in the real estate sector, Zhang said. A guideline for the planning and construction of affordable housing, approved in August by the State Council, China's Cabinet, encourages cities with a large inventory of commercial residential properties to purchase or build the inventories as affordable homes, the Economic Observer reported in late October. Hong Hao, chief economist at GROW Investment Group, said that if the People's Bank of China uses pledged supplementary lending to renovate shantytowns, it would show China's determination to stabilize the property sector and expand the central bank's balance sheet, a positive for the Chinese economy. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that China might provide at least 1 trillion yuan ($138.7 billion) in low-cost financing, perhaps via pledged supplementary lending and special loans, to urban village renovation and affordable housing programs, with the money ultimately trickling down to households for home purchases. Tang Yao, an associate professor of applied economics at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, said that PSL funding should focus on financing the construction of affordable housing projects and urban village renovation, instead of subsidizing residents displaced from urban villages with money to buy new homes. This mode, which was used in shantytown renovation from 2015 to 2018, has been criticized for inflating asset price bubbles, Tang said. Tang also cautioned that while policymakers are striving to ensure that real estate companies receive reasonable financing, pledged supplementary lending should still not directly infuse liquidity into stressed real estate companies. "This could bring about a moral hazard scenario where real estate companies engage in risky behavior assuming that the government will come to their rescue if things go wrong," he said. Jackson ranked second among the Top 10 cities with the greatest declines in population over five years between 2017 and 2022, according to a SmartAsset study. The study examined 344 U.S. cities that had a population of 100,000 or higher in 2022 based on a U.S. Census Bureaus 1-Year American Community Survey. The report found that Jackson's population experienced a decline of 12.69% in its populace from 167,250 in 2017 to 146,019 in 2022. A location of a demolished building in the 100 block of East Capitol Street in downtown Jackson remains empty with a second demolished building space next to it Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. SmartAsset said changes in population may be due to births, deaths or migrations. "When a citys population declines it can impact the housing market, small businesses, employment and other areas of the local economy," the report states. "Paying attention to demographic changes can help residents, governments and businesses understand new trends and inform how to best position themselves." The population of men and women, including all ages, was also examined. With 146,019 residents in 2022, women in the city made up the majority at 53.46%. Below are financial tips provided by SmartAssest: Invest early. At the onset of your career, it's important to dedicate some of your earnings to building up savings for retirement. By planning and saving early you can take advantage of compound interest. Take a look at SmartAssets investment calculator to see how your investment can grow over time. Buy or rent? If you're moving to a new city and plan to stay for the long haul, buying may be the better option for you. On the other hand, if your stay will be a short one, youll likely want to rent. SmartAssets rent vs. buy calculator will help you compare the costs. Consider a financial advisor. Finding a financial advisor doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If youre ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson ranks second among places with the biggest population decline Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, faces eight charges of conspiracy to murder and could receive the death penalty The family of a Scottish man detained in India for six years has said his life depends on the new foreign secretary's intervention. Jagtar Singh Johal, a 36-year-old Sikh activist, faces terror charges in connection with political violence in the north of the country. His brother has now written to David Cameron and asked him to meet the family and call for Mr Johal's release. The UK government said it was committed to seeing the case resolved. Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, was arrested in India in November 2017, weeks after his wedding there. A cross-party group of MPs has said that having arrested him, "interrogators electrocuted him, and threatened to douse him in petrol and set him alight". They also said that to make the torture stop "Jagtar recorded video statements and signed blank pieces of paper". These allegations have been denied by the Indian authorities. He is currently facing eight charges of conspiracy to murder, linked to political violence in India. David Cameron is the sixth foreign secretary to be in post since his arrest. This embedded content is not available in your region. Speaking to BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme, his brother Gurpreet Singh Johal said: "From day one it's been difficult. "It's 2,208 days since my brother has been arbitrarily detained in an Indian jail and this government has failed." He said he last spoke to his brother from prison on 18 October - his 6th wedding anniversary - when he seemed to be trying to "put light at the end of the tunnel". Mr Johal added: "He was as well as he can be. He's hopeful that in the next six months or so he can at least be out on bail, but that's as much as I know. "The bottom line is my brother's life depends on what David Cameron decides to do and whether he decides to call for Jagtar's release to bring him back home." Rishi Sunak met Indian PM Narendra Modi in September but did not call for Mr Johal's release While the previous foreign secretary James Cleverly met the family and spoke to India about his detainment, he did not call for his release. In September, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refused to commit to raising the case with Indian PM Narendra Modi while in Delhi for the G20 Summit. At the time a Foreign Office minister said they did not believe it would be in his best interest and the intervention could be "considered interference in the Indian judicial process while Mr Johal's trial was underway, which could jeopardise our ability to offer consular assistance in Mr Johal's case". 'Exhausting' fight In his letter to Lord Cameron, Gurpreet Singh Johal, who is a lawyer and Labour councillor, wrote: "It is extremely distressing to build up to meeting face to face with the foreign secretary, only for them to move on to a new job a few months later. "Each time a new foreign secretary has been appointed, I have had to start all over again. It is exhausting, but I will keep fighting to bring my brother home." He ended the letter by saying he believed Lord Cameron, who was prime minister from 2010 to 2016, would be able to "leverage the strength of Britain's longstanding relationship with India" and his "personal relationship with its leaders" to seek Jagtar's release. Mr Johal's trial for the eight most serious cases against him started in 2022 but he still has not been convicted of any crime. In May last year a UN panel of human rights experts found his detention was arbitrary - in other words lacked legal basis - and he should be released. The Indian authorities have always maintained that due process was being followed in the case. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: "The UK government is committed to seeing Jagtar Singh Johal's case resolved as soon as possible. "We continue to provide consular assistance to Mr Johal and his family and have consistently raised his case directly with the government of India." Jair Bolsonaro was spotted filming the creature on his mobile phone from just 15 metres away - EVARISTO SA/AFP Jair Bolsonaro is being investigated by Brazilian police for allegedly harassing a humpback whale while on his jet ski. The former president, nicknamed Captain Chainsaw by critics over his handling of the environment, was spotted filming the creature on his mobile phone from just 15 metres away in June. The animal was reportedly displaying behaviours suggesting distress or discomfort while he did so, according to local media. It is illegal in Brazil for vessels with their engines running to come within 100 metres of any species of cetacean, which includes whales and dolphins. Making excessive noise within 300 metres of the animals is also banned. Bolsonaro dismisses allegations Every day they accuse me of some kind of mischief, Mr Bolsonaro said on Saturday as he dismissed the allegations as another example of alleged political persecution from his opponents. He proceeded to compare Flavio Dino, the overweight justice minister, to a whale. The incident allegedly took place off the coast of Sao Sebastiao, a port town 150 miles west of Rio de Janeiro, on June 8. Pictures Mr Bolsonaro took with members of the public show he was in the town on that day for the Corpus Christi public holiday, which is held 60 days after Easter Sunday. His supporters are reported to have shared the jet ski footage on social media, inadvertently triggering the police investigation. Humpbacks regularly appear off the Brazilian coast and Mr Bolsonaro, 68, is not the first politician to get into trouble for harassing them. Wagner Teixeira, a councillor from Sao Sebastiao, was fined 410 in August for molesting a humpback when his boat came within 30 metres of it. Criminal investigations into Bolsonaro Mr Bolsonaro, a hard-Right former army captain, was already the subject of a range of police probes related to his four years in office from 2019-2022 and prior cases. In June, he was barred from public office until 2030 by Brazils federal electoral court having been convicted of abuse of power and misuse of the media. He is currently facing at least five criminal investigations led by the Supreme Court, a police investigation into allegations of forging vaccine records and a congressional probe into the storming of government buildings by his supporters in January. Mr Bolsonaro, who narrowly lost last years presidential election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has repeatedly denied breaking any laws. He has dismissed the cases brought against him as a witch hunt engineered by his political opponents. 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 Japanese government has condemned the hijacking of a cargo ship in the Red Sea by Yemeni Houthi rebels and said it is working towards the release of the ship and its captive crew. At least 25 crew members who were on board the Galaxy Leader vessel have been taken hostage by the Iran-backed rebel group after it seized what it believed to be an Israeli ship. The Japanese government confirmed the ship was leased and operated by Japanese company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) and was transporting cars. It was intercepted as it travelled past the Arabian peninsula on its way to India after leaving Turkey. The Houthis said they have sailed the ship into Yemen. We strongly condemn such acts, said Japanese chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno in a press conference on Monday. He said the crew comprises people of various nationalities but there were no Japanese nationals on board. Currently, ministries and agencies including the transport ministry and the foreign ministry are gathering information and working with the relevant countries for the early release of the vessel and its crew, the official said. The crew members come from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico and Romania. The confusion over the vessel may have come from the fact that it is registered in the name of a British company and part-owned by an Israeli businessman, according to reports. Ownership details in public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, founded by Abraham Rami Ungar, one of the richest men in Israel, reported the Associated Press. Blaming Iran for the ships capture, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was an Iranian attack on an international ship. He said neither the vessel nor the crew aboard it were Israeli. It is not an Israeli ship, the countrys military said on X, calling the capture of the ship a very grave incident of a global consequence. This is another Iranian act of terrorism that represents an escalation in Irans belligerence against the citizens of the free world, with concomitant international ramifications vis-a-vis the security of global shipping routes, he said. The Houthis militant groups spokesperson confirmed the capture of the ship on Sunday night, saying that all ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets. Yahya Saree wrote on X that the Houthiss will continue to carry out military operations against the Israeli enemy until the aggression against Gaza stops and the ugly crimes against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and the West Bank stop. If the international community is concerned about regional security and stability, rather than expanding the conflict, it should put an end to Israels aggression against Gaza, he said. Japan has condemned the hijacking of a Japanese-operated, British-owned cargo ship in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The Yemeni militia claimed the vessel was Israeli, and a spokesman said the seizure was only the beginning of a "battle at sea". Israel said the ship was not Israeli and a Japanese government spokesperson said it was operated by Nippon Yusen. Japan's chief cabinet secretary said it was working towards the ship's release. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the Houthi's backer, Iran, for the hijacking. Mr Netanyahu said neither the vessel nor the crew were Israeli and called it an "Iranian attack on an international ship". Iran has denied involvement. Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen - also known as NYK Line - said the ship, named Galaxy Leader, was carrying 25 crew members when it was seized near Hodeida, Yemen on its way to India. Those on board are believed to include Bulgarian, Mexican, Filipino and Ukrainian nationals. Galaxy Leader is owned by Galaxy Maritime Ltd, which is registered in the Isle of Man. It is owned by Ray Car Carriers, which is co-owned by Israeli businessman Abraham Ungar, according to documents from the Isle of Man Government's Companies registry. In a statement quoted by Reuters news agency, Galaxy Maritime Ltd said the ship was "illegally boarded by military personnel via a helicopter" on Sunday, and was now being held at the port of Hodeidah in Yemen. Unverified video footage released by the Houthis on Monday and aired on the group's TV channel, Al Masirah, showed armed men descending from a helicopter onto the ship. Mr Ungar told The Associated Press news agency he was aware of the incident but could not comment on it. "The government of Japan absolutely condemns such an act," said Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan's chief cabinet secretary said on Monday, adding there were no Japanese nationals among the crew. He said ministries and agencies were working with the relevant countries for the early release of the vessel and its crew. "We are also urging related countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iran to strongly urge the Houthis to release the ships and sailors as soon as possible." Matthew Miller, spokesman for the US state department, called the Houthi's seizure of the ship "a flagrant violation of international law" and demanded the "immediate release of the ship and its crew". Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesman for Yemen's Houthi rebels, said on X, formerly Twitter, the group's seizure of the vessel was only "the start" of its fighters waging "battle at sea". Houthi's military spokesman, Yahya al-Sarea, claimed the ship was Israeli and had been taken to a port in Yemen. The group had earlier threatened to target any Israeli ship within their reach in response to Israel's retaliatory military action in the Gaza Strip following the 7 October attack by Hamas militants. More than 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage during the surprise Hamas attack on the south of the country, according to the Israeli government. In retaliation, it launched a massive military operation to try and eliminate Hamas - involving air and artillery strikes as well as ground troops - with the aim of eliminating Hamas. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, the death toll in Gaza since then has reached 12,300. More than 2,000 more are feared to be buried under rubble. The Houthis have fired several missiles and drones towards Israel just after Israel launched its retaliatory operation. The US said at the time that all the missiles and drones were intercepted by its warship in the Red Sea. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the attack on the ship as a "very grave incident of global consequence". The IDF said the vessel was on its way from Turkey to India when it was seized in the southern Red Sea near Yemen. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has recently said that what he called resistance groups allied to Tehran were "cleverly adjusting pressure" on Israel and its supporters. Earlier this month, the Houthis shot down a US military drone off Yemen's coast, American officials said. The Houthis have been locked in a prolonged civil war with Yemen's official government - backed by Saudi Arabia - since 2014. Additional reporting by Shruti Menon More on Israel-Gaza war Galaxy Leader was seized on Sunday by the Houthis and taken to a Yemeni port - OWEN FOLEY/REUTERS Japans government said it was directly approaching Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels after they hijacked a Japanese-operated cargo ship with dozens of crew on board in the Red Sea. Galaxy Leader, a car carrier, was seized on Sunday by the Houthis and taken to a Yemeni port. The rebel group claimed the ship, which is thought to be British-owned, was Israeli. But on Monday Japanese officials confirmed the vessel was operated by Tokyo-based firm Nippon Yusen and said they were working towards securing its release. Tokyo was communicating with Israel in addition to directly approaching the Houthis, Yoko Kamikawa, the foreign minister, said, adding Japan strongly condemns the ships hijacking. We are also urging Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran and other countries concerned to strongly urge the Houthis for the early release of the vessel and crew members, he said. More than 20 crew members are believed to be on the ship, including Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Filipino, Mexican and Romanian nationals. The vessel had been heading toward India from Europe with no cargo, Nippon Yusen said. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, blamed Iran, which backs the Houthis, for the hijacking. There were no Israelis aboard the ship and Israel was not involved in its ownership or operation, his office said on Sunday. This is another Iranian act of terrorism that represents an escalation in Irans belligerence against the citizens of the free world, with concomitant international ramifications vis-a-vis the security of global shipping routes, his office said. The ships Israeli link is believed to stem from its Isle of Man-headquartered parent company, Ray Car Carriers Ltd, which is reportedly a unit of Tel Aviv-incorporated Ray Shipping. Ray Car Carriers, which operates a fleet of 65 vehicle carriers, was founded by Abraham Rami Ungar, one of the wealthiest businessmen in Israel. Drone salvoes at Israel The Houthis said on Sunday that the Galaxy Leader had been taken to a port in Yemen and warned all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies, or carrying the Israeli flag, could be targeted in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The group has been launching long-range missile and drone salvoes at Israel in solidarity with Hamas amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. In a statement released online, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the groups spokesman, said Israel only understands the language of force. The detention of the Israeli ship is a practical step that proves the seriousness of the Yemeni armed forces in waging the sea battle, regardless of its costs, he said. This is the beginning. Nippon Yusen said it had set up a crisis management centre at its offices in Tokyo and was prioritising the safety of the vessels crew as the situation unfolds. 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 support rate for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hit new lows in three major polls, putting further pressure on his leadership as he tries to push an extra budget through parliament to support his latest economic package. Most Read from Bloomberg Polls released Monday by three of Japans biggest newspapers the Yomiuri, Asahi and Mainichi showed Kishidas support rate at 24%, 25% and 21%, respectively. The levels are all below the 30% mark seen as a danger zone for Japanese premiers and are likely to fuel speculation that Kishidas ruling Liberal Democratic Party may consider making a change at the top. The LDP is due to hold a leadership election next September. You cant simply switch between joy and despair in response to polls, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said, acknowledging the survey figures were a tough assessment of the government and its stimulus measures. Instead, you must resolutely get on with the tasks that cant be put off thats the prime ministers basic thinking in my view. The surveys were conducted while Kishida was in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where he held talks with leaders including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Biden invited Kishida to a state visit early next year. Japanese prime ministers often see a rise in support after international events, which boost their diplomatic profile. But the surveys showed respondents are not enamored with Kishidas plans for a 40,000 ($267) tax rebate next year and handouts for low-income households to help cope with rising prices. Thats been dismissed by some poll respondents as a temporary attempt to curry favor, while others have expressed concern about the deeply indebted countrys fiscal situation. Suzuki said the intentions and aims of the latest economic package havent been sufficiently conveyed to the public and werent therefore gaining traction with them. Parliamentary debate on a cabinet-approved extra budget to fund measures in the package worth more than 17 trillion is scheduled to start Monday. Japan has the highest public debt load among advanced economies after years of spending beyond its means. The extra bond issuance needed to fund the extra budget will add to those debts. Chief government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno also referred to a string of resignations by officials and said the government would take that on board and work with a heightened sense of urgency. Kishida has dismissed calls for an early election this year so he can implement his economic plan, Kyodo News reported. With the support rates for opposition parties mired in single digits, the long-ruling LDP is almost certain to stay in power after the next election. The prime minister has the right to call the vote whenever he wishes before the term for members of the lower house of parliament ends in 2025. --With assistance from Takashi Hirokawa and Emi Urabe. (Adds comments from government spokesman and finance minister) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Units of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine have received mine clearance equipment from Japan, including special vehicles and mine detectors. Source: Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Details: The aid package includes 40 special vehicles, 50 hand-held mine detectors, as well as containers and fire extinguishing liquid. Klymenko said that this equipment will speed up the humanitarian mine clearance process and make it safer for bomb disposal experts. Photo: Klymenko on Telegram Quote from Klymenko: "Despite the constant Russian attacks, units of the State Emergency Service are destroying explosive devices on a daily basis. We strive to do everything we can to ensure that civilians can safely return to their homes. Japan systematically provides us with technical equipment, vehicles and mine clearance vehicles. I am grateful to Matsuda Kuninori, Japans Ambassador to Ukraine, the Japanese Government and the people of Japan for their continued support of Ukraine." Support UP or become our patron! Japan intends to provide Ukraine with 160 million to support economic recovery projects. Source: Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal Details: Shmyhal met with Kiyoto Tsuji, State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Kazuchika Iwata, State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, and representatives of Japanese business. Quote from Shmyhal: "I told them our priorities for rapid recovery: energy, housing, critical infrastructure, humanitarian mine clearance and business support. I am grateful to the Japanese delegation for today's mission, which will facilitate further involvement of Japanese companies in the reconstruction." More details: The Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine is interested in establishing joint ventures, especially in the processing industry and in cooperation in the areas of agriculture, metalworking, mechanical engineering, critical raw materials and IT. And Japan's experience in post-war recovery can be useful for Ukraine's economic recovery. Background: It was reported in October that Ukraine would soon receive transformers and solar panels from Japanese partners. Support UP or become our patron! An inspection robot for fire reconnaissance is seen at the 2022 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in east China's Shanghai, Sept. 1, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua] Artificial intelligence (AI) is leading a new wave of industrial transformation, bringing significant development opportunities worldwide. However, it has also triggered a series of risks and challenges. "Urgent global efforts are needed to strengthen AI governance and steer its development towards a more ethical and beneficial direction," said Liu Wei, a researcher at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications' School of Artificial Intelligence. Analyzing the challenges of global AI governance, Liu pointed out various risks, including concerns about privacy and data security, ethical and moral issues, impacts on the job market, and threats posed by military applications such as automated weapon systems. Liu emphasized the necessity of international cooperation in AI governance. He suggested establishing collaborative mechanisms to address challenges and formulating common standards and regulations to prevent technological barriers and unfair competition. At the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in October, China introduced the Global AI Governance Initiative, signaling its commitment to promoting positive developments in global AI governance. The initiative outlines a comprehensive plan focusing on AI development, safety, and governance. It advocates a people-centered approach, prioritizing humanity's well-being while ensuring social security and respecting human rights. Liu Wei, recognizing this initiative, underscored that AI development is not just a technical issue but profoundly affects various aspects of life, production processes, and the future societal and economic landscape. He noted its impact on technological foundations, economic development models, and international relations. In the field of AI, the technological capabilities of the United States and China are ahead of those of other countries globally, noted Liu, who also serves as the director of the Human-Computer Interaction and Cognitive Engineering Laboratory at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. "While the U.S. excels in AI software, hardware, and innovative research, China has access to vast and diverse data, extensive research outcomes, and widely applicable scenarios," Liu said. He advocated for collaboration between the two countries to maximize their respective advantages, fostering technological progress that benefits both bilateral relations and global governance. As humanity delves deeper into the AI era, Liu stressed the importance of a cautious and responsible approach. He called for proactive regulation and standardization of AI through laws, ethical guidelines, and moral standards to ensure its safety, fairness, and trustworthiness. "The future development of AI requires effective regulation and control at both the technical and societal levels. A worldwide, inclusive discussion involving public participation is also vital to ensure AI technology evolves in harmony with humanity's shared values and interests," he added. A delegation of Japanese officials and business representatives, including Foreign Minister Kiyoto Tsuji, Industry Minister Kazuchika Iwata, and members of Keidanren Japan's largest business lobby arrived in Kyiv on Nov. 20 to meet with Ukrainian officials ahead of a reconstruction conference Japan will host. Their visit aims "to directly hear the needs of the Ukrainian side, formulate concrete projects with the Ukrainian side, and to work together with the public and private sectors to provide assistance to Ukraine," according to the Japanese Industry Ministry. Japan will host a conference promoting Ukraine's economic reconstruction on Feb. 19 next year, as agreed between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in May during a G7 summit. Following a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, his office announced that Japan plans to allocate 160 million euros ($175 million) to finance Ukraine's economic recovery projects. Shmyhal met with the delegation to discuss the priorities of Ukraine's reconstruction, including energy supply, housing, critical infrastructure, humanitarian demining, and business support, according to the prime minister. "Ukraine is interested in creating joint ventures (with Japan), especially in the processing industry. Cooperation in the fields of agriculture, metalworking, mechanical engineering, critical raw materials, and IT is important for us," Shmyhal said at the meeting, as cited by the government's website. "Japan's experience in post-war reconstruction could be useful for the economic recovery of Ukraine." Read also: Japan to aid Ukraine in restoring agriculture Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. As the global far right celebrate Javier Mileis win in Argentinas presidential race, his rise to power is raising questions about the countrys new role on the world stage. Given that Argentina is one of Latin Americas largest economies and one of the worlds most important agricultural epicenters world leaders are scrambling to figure out how they will navigate relations with Milei, a far-right libertarian who has vowed to gut government institutions crucial for global economics. Given Argentinas dire economy, its less likely to decouple from Beijing despite Mileis harsh criticism of China, experts told Chinese state tabloid the Global Times. The two countries are likely to enter a trial period until their governments are able to find common interest. China remains one of Argentinas largest trading partners, only behind Brazil, and Beijing could be pivotal in funding Mileis dollarization plan, the Diplomat previously reported. While Argentinas incoming foreign minister signaled that the country will likely not accept an invitation to join BRICS the main intergovernmental rival to the G7 China reaffirmed its support for other developing economies to join the bloc. There will certainly be some bumps along the way for Sino-Argentine relations, one think tank analyst told the Global Times, but the two economies are far too intertwined for there to be a major setback. While Brazils left-wing government has been unenthusiastic about Milei, many Brazilian corporations believe his economic policies will ultimately benefit their countrys economy. With Milei vowing to slash tariffs and liberalize absolutely everything, Brazil as Argentinas largest trading partner has the most to gain, one Argentine academic told R7. But experts agree that the biggest impact of Mileis presidency for Brazil will be its ability to keep up with the demands of Mercosur, the South American trading bloc dominated by Brazil and Argentina, particularly in terms of upholding the blocs commitment to environmental sustainability in economic development. If Milei follows through with his promise of reducing Argentinas role in the bloc, experts say Brazil will need to take over the majority of responsibilities. Milei has said one of his top priorities is strengthening ties to the U.S., a proposal that has been cheered on by conservative figures like former President Donald Trump. The Biden administrations messages of congratulations to Milei vowing to protect democracy and fight against climate change together flies in the face of many of the stances Milei has taken so far, Spanish newspaper AS writes. Regardless of political differences, the U.S. will be crucial for Argentinas economic survival if Milei goes forward with dollarization a plan implemented in countries like Ecuador and El Salvador, but never those with the size of Argentinas economy. While some economists agree that dollarization can help the U.S. particularly in simplifying trade with Washington U.S. Treasury authorities have already warned developing economies that dollarization is not a substitute for sound macro-economic policies, the Washington Post reports. MSNBCs Jen Psaki on Sunday highlighted GOP hypocrisy when it comes to Donald Trump. The former Biden White House press secretary hailed the Republicans who have condemned embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) over allegations he spent campaign funds on Botox, shopping at luxury stores and on subscriptions to creators on OnlyFans. House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) last week filed a resolution to expel Santos from Congress. Santos also faces a 23-count federal indictment. Republicans are showing us they do have the ability to call out one of their own. Good for them, said Psaki. She pointed out some of the GOP criticism directed at Santos, including from new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) who called the findings of an ethics committee report on Santos very troubling. Its a good thing that lots of Republicans wont tolerate this kind of behavior anymore. Weve been waiting. And yet, you knew there was going to be a yet in here, lots of Republicans have been much less vocal about the mountain of allegations and evidence against their own partys leader, Donald Trump, said Psaki. Trump is a guy who of course has been impeached twice, was referred to the Justice Department for criminal charges ... has been found liable in civil trials for fraud and sexual abuse and is currently facing 91 felony counts across four indictments in four separate jurisdictions, she recalled. I mean, call me crazy, but all of that, sexual abuse, hoarding classified documents, trying to end American democracy, is actually much worse than the allegations against George Santos, much much worse. As crazy as those allegations are too, said Psaki. Despite Johnson condemning Santos, Psaki noted how the speaker has now endorsed Trump for the White House. The pious speaker Mike Johnson is very troubled by paying for OnlyFans with the campaign funds. But paying hush money to a porn star, obstructing investigations, and inciting a violent attack on the Capitol, hes all in for, said Psaki. Republicans are willing to draw lines, just not when it comes to Donald Trump. Watch the video here: Related... First lady Jill Biden welcomed the White House Christmas tree Monday while surrounded by military children. She admired the tree while it was lying in a horse-drawn wagon and chatted with the more than a dozen kids lined up in front of it. She took a photograph with the children and the tree, wearing a festive green jacket and dress. Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year was playing during the photographs, and the childrens parents joined them, as well. Best Black Friday Deals Early Merry Christmas, happy Thanksgiving, Biden said to the reporters at the ceremony, adding how nice it was for the military families and children to join her at the White House. The tree is magnificent, she said. Some of the kids said they had never seen a tree so big. So I hope youll all come back during the holidays with your families and join us. And come see the tree when its decorated. The tree is from Cline Church Nursery in North Carolina. Its an 18-foot Fraser fir tree, and it will stand in the Blue Room of the White House, according to the News & Observer. The tree is the 15th White House Christmas tree from North Carolina, and a farm in the state also will provide the 2024 tree, the News & Observer reported. The trees arrival marks the official start of the holiday season at the White House. Earlier Monday, President Biden pardoned the National Thanksgiving Turkey. Monday also marks the presidents 81st birthday, and the couple is set to leave the White House on Tuesday to spend Thanksgiving in Nantucket, Mass. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Carter Center confirmed the death of former first lady Rosalynn Carter on Sunday, days after she entered hospice care in the family's Georgia home. Former President Jimmy Carter entered hospice care in February after a series of short hospital stays, and their grandson, Jason Carter, told USA TODAY in September that his grandparents were nearing an end. Rosalynn Carter, 96, entered hospice care Friday after it was revealed she was diagnosed with dementia in May. They are together. They are at home. They're in love, and I don't think anyone gets more than that. I mean, it's a perfect situation for this time in their lives, Jason Carter said in September. Here's what to know about the end-of-life care that over 1 million Americans choose each year. Former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter talk to Habitat For Humanity volunteers and community leaders during a launch party for the Carter Work Project at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis Aug. 21, 2016. The Carter Center announced the death of Rosalynn Carter on Nov. 19, 2023 following a brief stay in hospice care. Rosalynn Carter: Former first lady who championed mental health and humanitarian causes, dies at 96 What is hospice care? After attempts to cure the patient's illness have stopped, hospice care can provide comfort and support in the final stages of life. Hospice care is designed to maximize comfort and quality of life for the patient as they near their death, according to the National Institutes of Health. Both patients and loved ones receive support from a hospice team, consisting of a physician, nurses, nurse assistants, social workers, chaplains, and volunteers, said Amy Tucci, president of the Hospice Foundation of America. Patients do not receive any medical intervention designed to prolong life. But hospice care is not medically assisted death either, for which it's often confused, Tucci added. Rosalynn Carter: Support pours in after death of former first lady Rosalynn Carter How long does hospice care usually last? Hospice care is provided to patients who choose to no longer receive treatment for a terminal illness and have a life expectancy of six months or less, according to the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging. "Its goal is to help people die pain-free ... with dignity and surrounded by family and friends," Tucci said. "So it's a very special thing." Where does hospice care take place? Hospice care is usually provided at home, which can be defined as a private residence a nursing home, or assisted living facility, Tucci said. The care is also sometimes provided at a hospital or a dedicated hospice facility, according to the Mayo Clinic. In 2018, more than half of Medicare patients enrolled in hospice care died at home, according to research by National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Typical hospice routine: When a patient begins hospice, a hospice team assesses their needs and devises a care plan based on the patient's specific condition. A doctor determines which medications the patient should continue, focusing on pain management. A primary caregiver, usually a trusted friend or family member, spends the most time administering the patient's care. A common hospice routine might include multiple visits by a nurse and assistants throughout the week to check on the patient's condition and help with bathing and other needs, Tucci said. A social worker helps the patient and family manage any stresses that arise with hospice. Volunteers help patients and caregivers with simple tasks, such as mowing the lawn or taking care of other chores. A chaplain or other faith-based counselor provides spiritual support. JJ Hensley contributed to this report This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rosalynn Carter's death after entering hospice care: What to know President Joe Biden appeared to get confused over Beyonce and Taylor Swift during the annual White House turkey pardon on Monday (20 November). The yearly event sees the US president spare a turkey or turkeys from the dinner table ahead of the countrys Thanksgiving celebrations. Now, just to get here, Liberty and Bell had to beat some tough odds, a competition, Biden, 81, said of this years turkeys. They had to work hard to show patience and be willing to travel over a thousand miles, he said. You could say even this is harder than getting a ticket to the Renaissance tour, or, for Britneys tour shes down in its kind of warm in Brazil right now. Beyonces Renaissance tour wrapped in October, however; while Taylor Swift is the artist whose sold-out Eras tour has made its way down to Brazil. The Anti-Hero singers second and third shows in the countrys capital were postponed over the weekend due to a heat wave. One 23-year-old fan named Ana Clara Benevides died after attending Swifts Friday (17 November) show, which has been linked to extreme temperatures inside the venue. (From left) Beyonce, Joe Biden and Taylor Swift (Getty Images) The Independent has contacted the shows organisers, T4F; Taylor Swift and Nilton Santos Stadium for comment. During the show, Swift was seen repeatedly handing out water to fans near the stage. The office of Rios public prosecutor has opened a criminal investigation and said Benevides body was being examined. Following the news of Benevides death, Swift posted an emotional tribute herself, saying that she was overwhelmed by grief. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil, the Grammy-winning artist wrote on Instagram. In 2020, Swift officially endorsed Bidens bid for presidency, which saw him succeed Donald Trump. I will proudly vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in this years presidential election, the 33-year-old told V magazine. Under their leadership, I believe America has a chance to start the healing process it so desperately needs. This September, the pop star drove record-breaking numbers to voter registration website Vote.org after urging her 232 million followers on Instagram to take action. Swift first broke her political silence in 2018 to endorse Democratic candidates and urge fans to vote. Her political outspokenness came after she had previously faced criticism for not engaging in major political moments in the US, such as the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2016 presidential election. In a 2021 interview with Vanity Fair, she credited the Trump presidency with pushing her to publicly endorse the Democrats. Tristan Thompson has made amends with at least one of his ex-girlfriend Khloe Kardashians sisters for his 2019 cheating scandal, but he is not off the hook yet. The professional basketball player made headlines four years ago when it was revealed that he kissed Jordyn Woods at a house party. Woods, who was Kylie Jenners best friend and roommate at the time, was exiled by the famous reality TV family. She was also made out in the media to be a homewrecker who betrayed the familys trust, a narrative that Khloe was accused of fueling. Jordyn Woods (left) has little to say about Tristan Thompson (right) apologizing to Kylie Jenner for damaging her friendship with Woods. (Photos: @jordynwoods/Instagram, @realstristan13/Instagram) In the Nov. 16 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Thompson finally addressed the fallout from the incident when he issued an apology to Jenner. According to him, the beauty mogul was hit the hardest by the controversy. You were affected most by the situation with losing a sister, basically, you know. You lost Jordyn whos a big part of your life, cause I mean, like, I know how much she meant to your life, said the Cleveland Cavaliers player in a one-on-one sit-down with her. Your guys connection was, you know, you guys were two peas in a pod. So the fact I put myself and her in a situation that wasnt right and wasnt smart made it tough for you and Khloe, he added, alluding to the fact that Jenner was forced to side with her real-life sister on the matter. He further accepted full accountability for the transgression. Its 100 percent on me, but I wanna say Im sorry and I feel bad about it. The fact that I came with my poor decisions and being a f**king idiot, and just being young and stupid. I wanted to just say Im sorry again, said Tristan. Tristan Thompson apologizes to Kylie for his role in changing she and Jordyn Woods friendship. He also asks her to relay the apology to Jordyn (Via: Kardashians on Hulu) pic.twitter.com/g5wYHzYmgR Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) November 16, 2023 Jenner accepted his apology and noted that she and Woods have since reconnected. The latter revelation prompted Thompson to say, Well, let her know I apologize for you know, for whatever. She went through a lot during that time too and probably gave her a lot of flak. While his admission may have been enough for the Kylie Cosmetics founder, it did nothing for social media users who did not hold back with their reactions. One person wrote that Thompsons apology tour, which also included a chat with Kourtney Kardashian, is a precursor to his next public blunder. Tristian got them letting the guards down..he fina do something big soon. IKYFL! He let The Kardashians and social media DRAG Jordyn for something he did. Had her looking like a homewrecker when it was all HIMBut she flourished! THEY ALL OWE HER A PUBLIC APOLOGY, read another Instagram post. A third user stated, He need to apologize to Jordan wtf. The Woods By Jordan fashion entrepreneur seemingly responded to the social chatter by limiting comments on her Instagram account; otherwise, she has not addressed the dredged-up incident. Instead, the 26-year-old has been preoccupied with red carpet events, such as the Femme It Forward gala. She also celebrated her birthday of her boyfriend, the NBAs Karl-Anthony Towns, in a loving post on Nov. 16. Woods and Townsend have been together for three years, and despite speculation of an engagement, they have yet to take their relationship to the next level of commitment. Thompson, on the other hand, is no longer dating Khloe after more than a few public indiscretions. Nevertheless, the exes appear to be on good co-parenting terms with their two children. Joss Ackland enjoyed an acting career spanning eight decades from the 1940s (MAX NASH) The British actor Joss Ackland, who excelled in playing film villains in a varied career spanning eight decades, died on Sunday, his family said. He was 95. In a statement, they said the actor, known for his "distinctive voice and commanding presence", passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by relatives. "He will be remembered as one of Britain's most talented and beloved actors," it added. Ackland's most famous big-screen "baddie" was as a corrupt South African diplomat in "Lethal Weapon 2", whose diplomatic immunity ultimately failed to protect him from Mel Gibson and Danny Glover's tenacious LA cops. He played a vengeful mafia don in "The Sicilian" and was a buttoned-up aristocratic Englishman accused of murder in Kenya in "White Mischief". Ackland even made a cameo as a murderous hitchhiker in a surreal video for the Pet Shop Boys' synth-pop version of "You Were Always On My Mind". But far from feeling typecast, the imposing actor, who stood at 6ft 1in (1.85 metres), with a rich voice bordering between grandfatherly reassurance and outright menace, revelled in the roles. "I think you can still be subtle but it's so much easier to portray evil than it is good," he told BBC radio in 2001. Ackland attributed his prolific output in television, film, stage plays and even musicals to his early struggles as a jobbing actor. Those difficulties in the first 10 years of his career from the mid-1940s prompted him and his actress wife Rosemary to move to a tea plantation in Malawi, then South Africa. He returned to the UK in 1957 with a new-found determination to succeed, joining London's Old Vic theatre alongside actors including Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Tom Courtenay. Ackland, who was born in the west London suburb of North Kensington on February 29, 1928, had no truck with method acting, in which actors immerse themselves in a character. "I like to do research before because it saves acting," he added, believing credibility above all was the key to winning over audiences. Before filming "The Sicilian", he lived with an ageing mafioso for six weeks in a village near Palermo, to give him an insight into the life of crime families. When the cameras started rolling, "all I had to do was say the lines", he said. phz/sn Joss Ackland enjoyed an acting career spanning eight decades from the 1940s (MAX NASH) The British actor Joss Ackland, who excelled in playing film villains in a varied career spanning eight decades, died on Sunday, his family said. He was 95. In a statement, they said the actor, known for his "distinctive voice and commanding presence", passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by relatives. "He will be remembered as one of Britain's most talented and beloved actors," it added. Ackland's most famous big-screen baddie was a corrupt South African diplomat in "Lethal Weapon 2" whose diplomatic immunity ultimately fails to protect him from Mel Gibson and Danny Glover's tenacious LA cops. He played a vengeful mafia don in "The Sicilian", and was a buttoned-up aristocratic Englishman accused of murder in Kenya in "White Mischief". Ackland even made a cameo as a murderous hitchhiker in a surreal video for the Pet Shop Boys' synth-pop version of "You Were Always On My Mind". But far from feeling typecast, the imposing actor, who stood at 6ft 1in (1.85 metres), with a rich voice bordering between grandfatherly reassurance and outright menace, revelled in the roles. "I think you can still be subtle but it's so much easier to portray evil than it is good," he told BBC radio in 2001. Ackland attributed his prolific output in television, film, stage plays and even musicals to his early struggles as a jobbing actor. Those difficulties in the first 10 years of his career from the mid-1940s prompted him and his actress wife Rosemary to move to a tea plantation in Malawi, then South Africa. He returned to the UK in 1957 with a newfound determination to succeed, joining London's Old Vic theatre alongside actors including Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Tom Courtenay. Ackland, who was born in the west London suburb of North Kensington on February 29, 1928, had no truck with method acting, in which actors immerse themselves in a character. "I like to do research before because it saves acting," he said, believing credibility above all was the key to winning over audiences. Before filming "The Sicilian", he lived with an ageing mafioso for six weeks in a village near Palermo, to give him an insight into the life of crime families. When the cameras started rolling, "all I had to do was say the lines", he said. - Grief - Ackland's grief at the death of his son Paul in an overdose aged 29 helped him portray the writer C.S. Lewis' loss of his wife in the 1985 television film "Shadowlands". Other real events gave him a perspective on his work, such as when a fire destroyed the family home and left Rosemary badly injured when she jumped from a window to escape. "Suddenly you realise how valuable every minute of life is," he said. The devoted couple were married for 51 years and had seven children. Rosemary developed motor neurone disease and died in 2002. Ackland, who appeared in the acclaimed TV version of John le Carre's "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and in "The Hunt for Red October" as the Russian ambassador, acknowledged some of his roles were better than others. He admitted only accepting a part in "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" because of a bet with his daughter, and agreed to be in the Pet Shop Boys video because his children liked them. But he got fussier in later life, retiring in 2014 and preferring instead to spend time with his large family of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In 2020, he sought to dispense some of his nine decades of experience to a younger generation struggling with the fear and unknown of the coronavirus pandemic and the isolation of lockdown. "Every decade has its surprises, challenges and its marvels," he intoned reassuringly in a video from his home in the fishing village of Clovelly in north Devon, southwest England. "Over the years in time of trouble I have seen adversity breed strength, connection and humour in this country. I've seen it over and over again and I hope that you, the young, will look back on this decade and be able to say it too." phz/sn/smw At the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, a malfunction was found in Polish President Andrzej Dudas plane, journalist Zbigniew Parafianowicz said in his book Poland at War, journalist Filip Dab-Mirowski said in an X (Twitter) post on Nov. 13. Sabotage or attempted murder were among the possible lines of inquiry of investigators, Dab-Mirowski said. Read also: Polish president warns against letting Russia win in Ukraine The journalist said that on March 25, Dudas plane, a brand new Boeing 737-800 NG, made an emergency landing on the way to Jasionka (Rzeszow) to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden. President Duda and Polish Army General Rajmund Andrzejczak were on board. The cause of the "near-death experience," as described by the passengers, was a faulty trimmer that failed and forced the pilots to fly the plane manually with the yoke. Read also: Russia's efforts to foster discord between Ukraine and Poland suffer a setback Eventually, the plane was able to land safely, and the delegation quickly changed to another plane, continuing their journey. 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 Feature: Romanian audience dazzled by Hong Kong orchestra's performance Xinhua) 09:08, November 20, 2023 Violinist Yao Jue and the Hong Kong String Orchestra perform at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, capital of Romania, on Nov. 18, 2023. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua) BUCHAREST, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- In a resounding celebration of cultural unity, the iconic Bucharest Athenaeum played host to a two-hour mesmerizing performance by the Hong Kong String Orchestra and the virtuoso Chinese violinist, Yao Jue, on Saturday evening. The concert, part of the orchestra's Central and Eastern Europe tour, showcased a diverse repertoire that transcended geographical boundaries. Among the featured pieces were the re-arranged Variation on the Pastoral by Sha Hankun, Italian Serenade by Hugo Wolf, Medley by Joseph Koo, the maestro renowned for scoring Bruce Lee's iconic films, and the timeless masterpieces such as Benjamin Britten's Simple Symphony and Antonio Vivaldi's Seasons. Yao, wielding her 1713 Stradivarius, alongside the 11 talented musicians of the Hong Kong String Orchestra, dazzled the audience of 800. Ioana, a 60-year-old attendee, shared her sentiments, noting, "I enjoyed the Baroque part the most." Iris, a nine-year-old ballet dancer, attended the concert out of her love for strings, harboring dreams of one day mastering the violin. Adrian, a 37-year-old Ministry of Education employee, lauded the orchestra for seamlessly bridging two worlds through their skillful performances. Viorel Isticioaia, former Romanian ambassador to China, marveled at the "warm atmosphere" and deemed the concert "exceptional." Former Prime Minister of Romania Viorica Dancila appreciated the orchestra's ability to transport the audience to different parts of China through their renditions of Chinese compositions. Three pieces -- one being Romanian and two Chinese -- were added at the finale as the audience refused to let the artists leave the stage. Yao, expressing gratitude, remarked, "Through the music, people will understand better the culture, the differences between cultures ... Romanians are famous for their music, so we are happy we had such great feedback, we are encouraged to go on with our tour and to come back here." Romania is the last stop of the Hong Kong String Orchestra's Central and Eastern Europe tour, which had taken it to Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. Violinist Yao Jue and the Hong Kong String Orchestra perform at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, capital of Romania, on Nov. 18, 2023. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Wu Chaolan) The 2023 International Symposium on the Peaceful Use of Space Technology -- Health kicked off in Beijing on Saturday. More than 100 scientists and scholars from home and abroad have been invited to the three-day symposium to discuss the development potential and prospects of the peaceful use of space technology, and to promote global exchanges and cooperation. The symposium covers topics such as space energy and ground energy, space industry investment, shared space science and technology, space education and talent development, drone development and low-altitude economy, lunar protection, and commercial space industry development and cooperation. Christian Feichtinger, executive director of the International Astronautical Federation, acknowledged that China has made a great contribution to the development of space technology and achieved many results. He said he expects experts and scholars will reach consensus on the peaceful use of space technology during the symposium, ensuring the technological achievements benefit more people in the future. A court order from the judge overseeing the case against Bryan Kohberger, whos suspected of murdering four University of Idaho students, publicly released Monday outlines his news rules regarding cameras in the courtroom during Kohbergers trial. Judge John Judge of Idahos 2nd Judicial District in Latah County previously said hed permit cameras but wanted to have more control over them. In the court order, Judge said he will grant Kohbergers motion to remove cameras operated by the media, including both video and still photography. Instead, a court-operated camera will livestream the trial, which the public will be able to watch online on Judges YouTube channel. The judge said in his order that this route will ensure the public still has access to see the proceedings for themselves if they cannot attend hearings in person. The ruling was filed at 5 p.m. Friday and made public through the Idaho judicial branchs website Monday. In a case that has garnered intense national interest, Kohberger, 28, is accused of stabbing four U of I students to death at an off-campus Moscow home in November 2022. The victims were seniors Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21; and junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin, both 20. The four victims in the mass killing at the University of Idaho pose for a photo recently with their two roommates. At top left is Madison Mogen, 21, who is on the shoulders of Kaylee Goncalves, also 21. Ethan Chapin, 20, has his arm around Xana Kernodle, 20, his girlfriend. The roommates are Dylan Mortensen, at left; and Bethany Funke, at right. The decision comes after months of disagreement played out through court documents and hearings between the defense team and media outlets over whether cameras could prejudice a jury. Judges order is unlikely to make either side happy. The defense had asked to ban all cameras, while media outlets asked to be allowed to take their own footage. Kohbergers defense team said media photographers and videographers had disobeyed Judges prior instruction to avoid focusing exclusively on Kohberger, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. The concept of removing this sort of almost sideshow from whats being put out there, we think, would be an important way to kind of take away the sensationalization of this case, and just kind of reduce it to hopefully the words on the page, Logsdon said at an October court hearing. The judge agreed with this assessment in his order, noting that media cameras, both still and video, have and continue to zoom in on Kohberger, despite a previous ruling that outlets not capture Kohberger entering or exiting the courtroom. It is the intense focus on Kohberger and his every move, along with adverse headlines and news articles, that leads the court to conclude that continued photograph and video coverage inside the courtroom by the media should no longer be permitted, Judge wrote. Judge also acknowledged concerns that people could zoom camera lenses in on defense documents in court and present a burden for bailiffs who could be called on to monitor members of the media. Bryan Kohberger listens during his arraignment hearing in May. While the Latah County Prosecutors Office was more acknowledging of the medias importance, it too leaned toward banning cameras, and said images and video of graphic evidence from the crime and vulnerable witnesses testimony would be disseminated. Wendy Olson, a former U.S. attorney for the state of Idaho, represented a coalition of about two dozen media outlets, including the Statesman, and argued at an October hearing in favor of allowing cameras. She argued for maintaining camera access in the courtroom on First Amendment grounds, saying it could help limit the publishing of misinformation about the case by non-journalist commentators, the Statesman previously reported. The Goncalves family and some members of the Kornodle family have also publicly supported cameras in the courtroom. The answer is not less sunshine, its more, Olson told Judge. The public and this community will be best served by having those cameras in the courtroom. Judge denied that media members had any First Amendment or other constitutional right to record Idaho court proceedings, according to the order. Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. A trial date has yet to be set after Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial, but prosecutors have already stated their intent to pursue the death penalty if a jury finds him guilty, according to Statesman reporting. A judge has ruled that no cameras operated by the media or the public will be allowed in the courtroom during the trial of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death at a rental house near the schools campus in Moscow. The victims -- Madison Mogen, Kaylee Gonclaves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin -- were killed on Nov. 13, 2022. Kohberger, a PhD student at nearby Washington State University in Pullman, was arrested on Dec. 30, 2022, at his parents house in Pennsylvania. On Aug. 24 of this year, Kohbergers attorneys filed a motion that both still and video cameras be banned from the courtroom, arguing that cameras should at least be banned during any hearings, including the trial, where vulnerable witnesses and victims are called to testify. While a group of media outlets that included the Associated Press filed an opposition to the motion, arguing that media coverage would be the only way that many community members would be able to see and hear the proceedings, a judge in an Idaho district court in Latah County decided that the Associated Press did not have a right to challenge Kohbergers motion. Media and the public are not allowed to video, photograph, audio record, or otherwise transmit during the proceedings, court documents dated Nov. 17 said. However, the future public hearings in the case will be video recorded and live-streamed on the courts YouTube channel. This will help to alleviate the concerns raised by both the defense and the State, but at the same time will ensure the public still has access to see the proceedings for themselves if they cannot attend hearings in-person, court documents said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. As Steve Mank was searching online for funeral details for fellow criminal defense attorney Richard Ney last week, he didnt find any. But he did discover numerous accounts of what Ney accomplished in a storied legal career. Its amazing when you Google his name what you see, Mank said. Hes involved in all these cases that everybody heard (of). Ney, who died of pancreatic cancer Nov. 15, had a number of firsts, such as starting the Sedgwick County Public Defenders Office. He was the first in Kansas to successfully introduce testimony given under hypnosis while winning an acquittal for Bill Butterworth, who was charged with killing three people in a 1987 murder case that captured the attention of Wichitans for weeks. His office also was the first to successfully use the battered-woman defense in Sedgwick County. Several juries acquitted several women who killed boyfriends or spouses who had abused them. Ney really deserves recognition as a lion of the national criminal defense bar, said criminal defense attorney Dan Monnat. He noted that Ney was one of the few lawyers in the U.S. credentialed to handle federal death penalty cases. With a degree from the Missouri School of Journalism, Ney went to law school only to become a better journalist, according to an interview he did with the Kansas State Board of Indigents Defense Services. He graduated from Boston University School of Law and worked as an investigative reporter and editor before moving on to work in public defenders offices in Illinois and Vermont. He came to Wichita in 1984 to start one in Sedgwick County. Ney called it the Wild West for all its opportunity, though the office initially was not popular in the legal community since a lot of lawyers were used to getting those appointments and the pay that came with them. He quickly got a reputation for fiercely defending his clients. You always knew you had to be prepared when you tried a case against Richard because he would be, said District Attorney Marc Bennett. He believed in the job he was doing. He was never phoning it in. Thats also what Ney taught a lot of young lawyers when they started out in the public defenders office. There were just a whole bunch of really good lawyers that Rich trained, said Steve Gradert, who was one of them. Rich was demanding. No matter how heinous the crime someone was accused of, Gradert said, He also wanted us to treat the client with . . . dignity and respect. And promptness, even if that person was incarcerated, he said. Nothing was to be treated casually, said Carol Bacon, who worked for Ney as a young lawyer and went on to become a Sedgwick County District Court judge. Richard taught me discipline. Halfway wasnt good enough. Getting by wasnt good enough. Bacon said some people might look at a person accused of something horrific and say, How can you represent this man? According to Ney, she said, Well, how could you not? Attorney Richard Ney in his downtown Wichita office in 1997. Brad Sylvester, chief public defender at the Sedgwick County Conflicts Office, worked for and with Ney through the years they collaborated for one trial that he said established case law for how to handle minors in court and became friends. He said it was Neys level of caring that set him apart. It was always like he was on a mission his whole life to represent people who could not afford it. He was just rabid about it, Sylvester said. He had a . . . tenacity for just doing everything he could for people. Though friends said Ney could be fun when not working he especially loved traveling to see operas Ney always seemed to be working. It was just because in his mind he was just working all the time, Monnat said. Ney had high expectations of his team, too. When Sylvester worked for Ney in the public defenders office around 1990, he would take daily breaks to play chess in order to decompress from the stressful job. Ney would walk by Sylvesters door and catch him. Hed go, Hrmmph. In the courtroom, Ney could be intimidating to other lawyers and even to police and detectives. He was kind of like a big, burly guy, Sylvester said. He was always a gruff guy, and people would be just scared of him. Bennett said Ney could be aggressive. He knew the law well. He knew how to argue it. . . . He had a big, booming voice. He was no wallflower, Ill say that. Sylvester said as a fellow lawyer, it could be irritating to see how quickly Ney could think through something that was said in court and make a formal objection. Richard was the most amazing guy to give objections Ive ever seen. He said it wasnt simply what Ney would say but how he said it, such as his closing argument in one battered-womans syndrome case. It was the pauses that made it so impressive. Gradert said some prosecutors so loathed going up against Ney that theyd try to figure out potential conflicts of interest to get another lawyer assigned to a case. As stern as Ney could be in court, Sylvester said he was like a marshmallow in the tenderness he would exude with his children. Ney and his wife, Judith, had six children. For a time, Ney left Wichita to work in the federal public defenders office in Hawaii. By then, Gradert was working in the federal system, and someone called him to ask about hiring Ney. The person worried he might be a prima donna, only taking high-profile cases. He took them because he was the most skilled and qualified person in our office to do the job, Gradert said. Those kinds of cases were pretty high pressure. Monnat said he always admired Ney. He said he remembers that Ney took vacation from his federal job to return to Wichita and help win freedom for Lisa Dunn after she spent eight years in prison for a crime spree that Ney contended her boyfriend forced her to be part of. I thought it was a great, great, honorable move by a criminal defense lawyer, way beyond the call of duty, Monnat said. Per Neys wishes, there will not be a service for him. However, his fellow attorneys have been memorializing him in their remembrances of his career, mentorships and friendships. The fact that that vital of a person is no longer with us is just sad, Monnat said. Its also a disappointment for anyone who still might have needed his help. As Mank said, If I was in trouble, I would want somebody like Richard Ney to represent me. Keith Lee Sets Houston As Next Stop On Family Food Tour And Folks Are Already Saying Get Ready | Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage Food critic and TikTok influencer Keith Lee is coming to Houston as the next stop of his family food tour and asked his fanbase for suggestions for the best H-Town eateries. According to Chron.com, the 27-year-old announced his plans on Sunday in a now-viral TikTok video that amassed more than 1.8 million views on the video-sharing platform. Its official, the next stop on the Keith Lee and Family Food Tour is Houston, Texas, Lee said in the nearly two-minute video, which means the people of Houston, Im calling on yall. He continued, Any family-owned restaurants, mom-and-pop shops or local places which have great food, customer service but need help with marketing yall can hit me up. Lee recently started a social media debate after visiting several Atlanta food spots. Blavity reported that the Detroit native visited in late October and was surprised to learn that some restaurants operate differently than other establishments in major cities. Lee recounted several issues he experienced at The Real Milk and Honey, a popular brunch spot in the historic College Park area, as he shared his review with his followers. He recalled being unable to call the restaurant to place an order or through DoorDash. Lee also recalled visiting the establishment with his family and was told it was closed for deep cleaning, but other customers were seated at tables enjoying their meals. His review went viral on social media, prompting other users to share their experiences with the restaurants he mentioned. They also agreed with Lee, stating that many of the restaurants in Atlanta have had poor customer service for years. Lees recent video also made its rounds on X, formerly known as Twitter, and sparked reactions from users after he announced his plans to come to Houston. Keith Lee coming to Houston!!!!!! GET READY #KeithLee, @TVFan43 wrote. Keith Lee coming to Houston!!!!!! GET READY #KeithLee pic.twitter.com/KqVxI1RA6b My Dark Prince.. My Niz (@TVFan43) November 19, 2023 He needs to review some of these places that charge to park too , @Summer_Reignzz shared. He needs to review some of these places that charge to park too The Prototype (@Summer_Reignzz) November 19, 2023 The owners in Houston when Lee walks in, @RP3natural commented alongside a GIF. The owners in Houston when Lee walks in. pic.twitter.com/P63nNpger4 Rashad Phillips (@RP3natural) November 19, 2023 One user pointed out that Lees food tour is also to help smaller businesses that need help attracting more customers. I know yall gone get these jokes off but the point of these tours is not to tear down, its to spotlight some of the smaller businesses that dont get the shine they may deserve.this culture of preying on the downfall of others is really not healthy, @denika_white wrote. i know yall gone get these jokes off but the point of these tours is not to tear down, its to spotlight some of the smaller businesses that dont get the shine they may deserve. this culture of preying on the downfall of others is really not healthy. denika white (@denika_white) November 19, 2023 Lee hopes to visit Houston sometime after Thanksgiving. We gonna enjoy Thanksgiving as a family, and its on and popping, he said in his video. So if you would like for me to come and get my honest input and my honest feedback, again, hit me up. Kentucky State University has outsourced its financial aid staffing through the end of the year after the office was left with no employees earlier this semester, documents revealed. Blue Icon, a financial aid consulting service, will provide contractors to fill the empty positions in the financial aid office. The contract was approved by KSU earlier this semester, and the Council on Postsecondary Education gave KSU approval to spend $100,000 on the contract Friday. The financial aid office currently has one employee, said Travis Powell, vice president and general counsel of CPE, in an interview with the Herald-Leader. Earlier in the fall semester, it had no staff members because of resignations and employees taking leave. Three consultants from Blue Icon will fill roles in the office through the end of the year, with the option to extend the contract through June 2024, according to the contract. The consultants will work up to 40 hours per week each with Blue Icon providing an additional 20 hours per week of engagement oversight to support the consulting team. All three of the consultants are completing the work remotely, according to the contract. Blue Icon is based out of Washington D.C. Immediate assistance is needed to manage operations and assist with a backlog of financial aid processing tasks that impacts approximately half of the students enrolled in the fall term, awaiting financial aid packaging, according to the contract, which was signed in October. The money used for the contract was originally intended for mental health services. But because those services are a recurring expense, KSU was able to use Title III funds for mental health services and put $100,000 toward the Blue Icon contract, said Powell. Within six weeks of the start of the semester, the financial aid office went from four full-time staff members to zero. With medical leaves and unexpected separations, the University was left with no choice but to explore hiring interim staff as several student aid packages remained to be processed and disbursed, according to meeting documents from the Council on Postsecondary Education. The three roles filled by Blue Icon will be the director of the office, financial aid management system support and staffing processing assistance. KSU will pay $135 per hour, with the cost not exceeding $100,000. A deposit of $54,000 was paid by KSU. The university will reimburse consultants for travel, lodging and out-of-pocket expenses while the contract is active. Permanent hires in the financial aid office have now been made and individuals will begin working soon. Other hires are in process, according to documents from CPE. Kentucky State University, the states only public historically Black university, has been under state oversight since 2021, when its former president resigned. The university received $23 million from the state to address its budget shortfall and had to create a management improvement plan with CPE. A special examination by the Office of the Auditor of Public Accounts found widespread overspending at the university, misuse of credit cards and a lack of financial control under the former president, which the then-interim president called a failure in terms of checks and balances. KSU appointed a new president, Koffi Akakpo, earlier this year. The university will remain under state oversight until 2025. According to the universitys human resources website, the university is currently hiring for 14 faculty positions and 99 staff positions. The university has several administrative jobs posted, including the vice president of finance and administration/CFO and director of student success. Other job openings are spread throughout university departments, from custodians to extension office agents. As of early November, KSU had 459 faculty and staff members, according to information obtained through an open records request. While there have been some general, overall staffing issues, Powell believes the university is moving in the right direction, he said. This takes time, and lots of people have left, and theyre really building back up, but I definitely think theyre heading in the right direction, Powell said. Theyre putting a lot of things in place that need to be in pace in order to make this a highly functioning university like it should be and can be. MUNCIE, Ind. -- A planned 120-unit apartment complex on Kilgore Avenue received approval for state tax credit financing last week. Kilgore Place, will be located next to Silver Birch Apartments, an assisted-living community at 2500 W Kilgore Ave. The venture is being developed by TWG, an Indianapolis company that recently developed River Bend Flats apartments at Memorial and Burlington drives. The $27 million project has already been approved by the Metropolitan Plan Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals. Mayor Dan Ridenour told The Star Press that $2.7 million, or 10% of the cost for development, will come from the city. The financial commitment from Muncie government is required for the tax credit financing, he said. The money will come from the Muncie Redevelopment Commission, Community Development and through Economic Development Income Tax funds. The complex will contain a mix of one, two, and three bedroom apartments, including ADA accessible units and increased sidewalk access to bus stops. Kilgore Place will have both market rate and income-based apartments, according to the city administration. This is the fifth housing project to be approved for tax credits in Muncie in four years. Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority made the announcement Thursday. Housing has been a huge priority for my administration, Ridenour said in a press release. Weve made tremendous strides, and this will pave the way for different projects to develop in the next four years. Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2024, and the project is estimated to be completed in about 18 months. The mayor said the city and TWG have been working in the effort since early in the year. Muncie has already gained 287 of what the administration calls workforce housing units in the past four years. For market rate housing, 34 houses are in development at Storer Estates, and Texas home builder DR Horton has an accepted purchase agreement for 82 acres on the east side of Muncie, which will be developed into a subdivision. David Penticuff is a reporter with The Star Press. He can be contacted at dpenticuff@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Kilgore Place project, new homes for westside, wins tax credit funds LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The man who police say shot and killed a man before shooting at a Las Vegas school did so because the victim was an alien who wanted to be his brother, according to a report from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. On Nov. 9 at around 7 a.m., LVMPD dispatch recieved several calls from people who reported hearing four to five gunshots, including a call from a man who said his vehicle was shot at while he was sitting in it at the Las Vegas Academy of Arts. One of the callers called previously on Nov. 2 to report his gun was stolen, with the person of interest in the case named as Major Sanford, 44, who lived in the area, the report said. Las Vegas Metro police arrested 44-year-old Major Sanford in connection with a homicide that occurred on November 9, 2023. (LVMPD) Several callers said they saw a man with dreadlocks and face tattoos who was approximately 30 to 40 years old holding a gun, according to the report. A witness told police she was walking toward the theatre building of the Las Vegas Academy of Arts when she heard five to seven loud pops and saw a man standing in the doorway of one of the apartments, the report stated. She told police she saw him shooting at the theatre building indiscriminately, so she got into her friends car and they left the area. She later positively identified Sanford as the man she saw, according to the report. Police later found three bullet impacts on the east side of the theater building. Arriving officers saw Sanford leaving an apartment in the 400 block of South 10th Street near Clark Avenue. Police took Sanford into custody, and he told him he was carrying a small gun in a bag across his chest, the report stated. I killed that alien, Sanford told police while they were arresting him. Officers noticed two broken windows at Sanfords apartment and conducted a welfare check in the apartment. They found the victim, identified as Shannon Awa, 46, lying on the floor of the bedroom. He was shot in the back of the head and the back of his left shoulder, according to the report. Medical personnel pronounced him dead on the scene. Man killed near Las Vegas Academy as students arrive at downtown school Sanford told police he lived in the apartment with his mother for the past two years, and his mother was recently admitted to a hospital for breathing troubles. When asked if any other family members lived with him, Sanford told police that alien, who he later clarified was the person who was on the floor inside the apartment, the report stated. Sanford told police he called Awa an alien because Awa is not his real brother although he wanted to be, according to the report. Sanford said Awa was trying to rob him by taking his weed and gun and Sanford shot him twice. When a detective asked him about the Nov. 2 incident involving a stolen gun, Sanford asked for a lawyer. Sanford was facing the following charges: Open murder with the use of a deadly weapon Discharging a gun into an occupied structure (4 charges) Possession of a gun by a prohibited person (2 charges) Carrying a concealed weapon without a permit Grand larceny of a firearm Assault with a deadly weapon Court records revealed a history of arrests for Sanford in Clark County dating back to 2003 for theft, burglary, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and being an ex-felon with a deadly weapon, as well as other crimes. He also served time in the Nevada prison system. Court records show Sanford was held at the Clark County Detention Center as of Monday. His next court appearance was scheduled for Jan. 11. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. A delegation of Arab and Muslim officials have called for a ceasefire in Gaza after arriving in Beijing Monday and being welcomed by Chinas top diplomat, Foreign Minister Wang Yi. His counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, as well as Indonesia and the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, have begun a tour of world capitals with the aim of ending Israels bombardment of Gaza. The first stop in China is seen as the latest push by Beijing to step up its international role and comes months after mediating a detente that saw Saudi Arabia and Iran reestablish ties. China's role in the Middle East has clearly been increasing in recent years, David Roberts, a senior lecturer at Kings College London, tells TIME. Last month, Beijing dispatched a peace envoy to tour the Middle East and has been a strong proponent of a ceasefire at the U.N. Security Council, where it holds the rotating presidency. In his opening remarks before the talks began, Wang said that China is a good friend and brother of Arab and Islamic countries. He added: We have always firmly safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of Arab (and) Islamic countries and have always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people. But while China has sought a stronger presence in the Middle East, it's ability to influence the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may be limited. It still retains a broad backseat in reality, at least as far as the politics and geopolitics is concerned, Roberts says. After Hamass Oct. 7 attack, which left 1,200 people dead, Israel retaliated with airstrikes and a ground offensive that has left at least 13,000 Gazans dead, thousands of them children. The Strip is home to around 2.2 million people, with at least 1.4 million now displaced due to the war. More From TIME Read More: Our Death Is Pending. Stories of Loss and Grief From Gaza We are here to send a clear signal: that is we must immediately stop the fighting and the killings, we must immediately deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said. He stressed the need for international mobilization and added that the resolution issued by the U.N. Security Council on Nov. 15 calling for extended humanitarian pauses in Gaza was appreciated but insufficient. Israels ambassador to China, Irit Ben-Abba, said Monday that Israel has allowed necessary humanitarian aid into Gaza but that putting pressure on Israel in this regard is politically motivated and is not conducive to the humanitarian assistance which is needed. Beijing has been at odds with Washington over its approach to the Israel-Hamas war. But experts remain skeptical of any China-led breakthrough during the meetings. If the past is any kind of prologue, it is difficult to expect something transformative from China, Roberts says. The meetings comes nine days after an Islamic-Arab summit took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that gathered members of the Arab League and OIC. During the summit, leaders called on the International Criminal Court to look into the "war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel is committing" in the Palestinian territories. Write to Armani Syed at armani.syed@time.com. A 6-year-old boy who was reported missing in March and is suspected by authorities to be dead now has his name memorialized through a playground thats inclusive and accessible to children with disabilities. Local law enforcement, public officials and more than 50 community members gathered on Monday morning in Everman at Clyde Pittman Park to unveil Noel Angel Alvarez playground, which is dedicated to a local boy who had mental and developmental disabilities and was described as vibrant and energetic. Although the child, whose full name is Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, was initially reported missing in March, investigators have found that he disappeared around October 2022 in an ongoing case that has shaken a small town and made national news. Noels mother was recently indicted on a capital murder charge, but his body has yet to be found. Officials emphasized the playground opening as a celebratory event that symbolized the communitys dedication to a safe space for its children while acknowledging the pain that has come with Noels disappearance. The event started with a prayer led by Police Chaplain Don Gieseke, who asked attendees to raise their hands if they had known Noels name before the disappearance. A banner welcomes community members to Noel Angel Alvarez Playground at Clyde Pittman Park in Everman on Monday. The playground, built to accommodate children with disabilities, was dedicated to a local 6-year-old who disappeared more than a year ago. Very few of you, he observed. We all know his name now, dont we? And in the coming years, his name is going to be known as well because of this park, this playground that is now memorializing him. Thats something that is very good and very well-deserved. Gieseke noted how Noel is now with God, who has his loving arm around him, and no longer has to deal with the stress and trauma that he experienced. He is now a happy, laughing, playing child in heaven, Gieseke said. Today's top stories: Arlington officers fatally shoot armed man who said he was suicidal, police say DFW could see 7.4 million customers this holiday travel season. Heres how to prepare Reporters who covered JFK assassination vividly remember, 60 years later Get free alerts when news breaks. Patricia Paris, who was Noels foster parent for about a year, told reporters that Noel was a very lovable young man who enjoyed playing with younger children and making them laugh. Noel also called Paris mama despite her trying to correct him. I dont encourage any kids to call me mama. I always tell them that Im Sweet Pea. That was the name I was given back in 2005, Paris said, referring to when she started her career as a foster parent. No matter what, he would always call me mama and I think that was because he knew of the love and support that he was getting from us. Observing the playground, built on artificial grass for accessibility, Paris admired the parks various features and imagined Noel playing there. Among the options for play are a multi-seat seesaw thats wheelchair accessible, a swing set and a cozy dome meant to provide over-stimulated children a calmer, darker place to play which somewhat resembles an igloo. It would be very hard to get him to leave this park, she said. David Rushing, a business development manager with Whirlix Design Inc. who helped design the playground, highlighted the Rhapsody Vibra Chimes that really dive into vestibular development of the inner ear that allows kids to understand where they are in space, he said. Each chime is connected to a mallet that children can use to produce different sounds. When we think about inclusive, especially in the playground industry, we really think about all, he said. The inclusive part of it is really driving the kids to play together to create social interaction, social development along with physical play, and a lot of fun. Arabella, 11 months, enjoys a swing set at Noel Angel Alvarez Playground at Clyde Pittman Park in Everman on Monday, November 20, 2023. Everman Mayor Ray Richardson noted how the playground originally started out as a simple addition to Clyde Pittman Park, paid for by Tarrant County community development grant funding and sponsors, but dedicating it to Noel will serve as a reminder that child abuse in any form or fashion is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. Many tears have been shed over the disappearance of Noel. Now it is time to start replacing those tears with happiness and laughter, he said. In October, a Tarrant County grand jury indicted Noels mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, on one count of capital murder, two counts of injury to a child and one count of abandoning a child without intent to return. Law enforcement officials anticipate the charges will help apprehend Rodriguez-Singh and extradite her from India, where officials said she fled with her husband and six other children when Noel was reported missing. Noels mother is charged with killing him by unknown means, as investigators provided the grand jury with evidence that ruled out any other potential outcomes alongside evidence showing a history of neglect and abuse, officials said. This Knoxville Bakery Celebrates 25 Years As One Of Gay Streets First Black-Owned Businesses | Photo: DebbiSmirnoff via Getty Images A Black-owned bakery in Knoxville, Tennessee is celebrating 25 years of exceptional service. Chandra Taylor and her family opened Mer-Mers Bakery in 1998 at 617 N Gay St., where the store still stands strong. It was me, and my mother along with my two daughters, Mercedes, which is Mer-Mer, and Chrisma, which is Chrissy my youngest one, Taylor said in an interview with WATE. Although she didnt have much money 25 years ago, Taylor had a strong business plan and an intense passion for baking. I baked all my life, she said. I baked with my grandmothers and great-grandmothers and when I was at the girls club back in 79, I baked cakes, and they told us how to decorate cakes and how to present the cakes and I just kind of liked it. Taylor took advantage of her opportunity in 1998 when she saw an empty building on Gay Street. The Tennessee entrepreneur talked to the owner of the building and convinced him to let her rent it. I explained to him what I wanted to do, and I explained to him that I had no money, but I had a talent, she said. And I knew that if he let me come in, I could make him some rent. He gave me the keys without any rent or anything for the first four months of the bakery. That was amazing. Taylors daughter Chrisma, who was just 6 when the bakery opened, said she has enjoyed watching her mothers exceptional relationship with longtime customers. Im just very proud of her. It just shows a little bit of my mamas character and how shes very strong and strong-willed, Chrisma told WATE. Taylor, incredibly proud of her beloved pound cake, said faith keeps her going. Its the Lord, she said. Ive only been here by the grace of God. 25 years, you know. Ive caught myself trying to quit and Im going to slack up or Im going to slow down or Im going to work and go over and help my friend over at his store sugar bakers but every time it seems like it puts me right back in here. MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Monday it had taken note of statements about Russia from Argentina's President-elect Javier Milei who has said he wants to pull back from relations with Moscow, but still hoped the two countries could maintain strong ties. Milei, a right-wing libertarian who on Sunday won almost 56% of the vote in the election's second round, has previously said he would retreat from ties with countries including Russia, China and Brazil, citing disagreement with their governments' policies. Milei has also expressed support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia and has said he sees the United States and Israel as Argentina's main partners. In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We noted a number of statements that Mr. Milei made during the election campaign, but we will focus on and judge him mainly by the statements that he makes after the inauguration. "We support the development of bilateral relations with Argentina," added Peskov. Russian President Vladimir Putin had sent Milei a congratulatory note, wishing him success, according to a statement on the Kremlin's website. "We look forward to the further development of a strategic partnership with Buenos Aires in a variety of areas, as well as constructive dialogue on topical international issues," said Putin. Argentina's outgoing centre-left government had maintained close ties with Russia, importing Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 and pushing to join the Moscow-backed BRICS group of nations. (Reporting by Reutersd; Writing by Felix Lightd; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Jonathan Oatis) MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin will set out Russia's view of what it sees as the "deeply unstable world situation" when he addresses an upcoming virtual G20 summit. Russian state TV presenter Pavel Zarubin said on his Telegram channel on Sunday that it would be the "first event in a long time" including both Putin and Western leaders. According to the state RIA news agency, the G20 virtual summit will be held on Wednesday. Separately, RIA reported that Putin will also take part via video link in a discussion on Tuesday about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at a summit of the BRICS bloc of nations. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Andrew Osborn) MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Monday it deeply regretted Finland's decision to shut crossings on its border with Russia, a move it said reflected Helsinki's adoption of an anti-Russian stance. Finland, a member of the European Union and - starting this year - also of the NATO military alliance, closed four crossings on its border with Russia on Saturday as it seeks to halt a flow of asylum seekers it says was instigated by Moscow. The border crossings it closed were by far the busiest crossing points. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking at a regular news briefing, again denied Finland's accusation that Russia was deliberately pushing illegal migrants towards the border and said Russian border guards were carrying out their duties in line with the rules. Asked about the closure of the four crossings, Peskov said: "This causes nothing but deep regret, because we had long-standing, very good relations with Finland, pragmatic, based on mutual respect. "And of course, we regret that these relations were replaced by such an exclusively Russophobic position, which the leaders of this country began to espouse," he said. Russia's foreign ministry said later on Monday it had lodged a formal protest with the Finnish ambassador to Moscow, saying the closure of the four border crossings violated "the rights and interests of tens of thousands of people" in both countries. "The decision was made hastily, without any consultations with the Russian side," it said in a statement. Finland shares a 1,340-km (830-mile) border with Russia that also serves as the EU's external border. Helsinki has accused Russian authorities of funnelling migrants to the crossings in retaliation for its decision to increase defence cooperation with the United States, an assertion dismissed by the Kremlin. Finland angered Moscow when, after decades of non-alignment, it joined the NATO military alliance in April following the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine - which it calls a "special military operation". (Reporting by Reuters Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Jonathan Oatis) Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who fatally shot two Black Lives Matter protesters in Wisconsin in 2020, is releasing a book. Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, died after Mr Rittenhouse, then 17 years old, fired a semi-automatic AR-15-style assault rifle at them during a protest in Kenosha in 2020. Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, was also injured. After the shootings, Mr Rittenhouse was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and two charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. Mr Rittenhouse, now 20, has argued he fired in self-defence after each of the men attacked him, and in 2021, a jury acquitted him of multiple charges, including homicide. The shooting occurred during a tumultuous night of protests over the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white Kenosha police officer. His trial and acquittal were divisive, with prosecutors portraying him as a wannabe soldier who had gone looking for trouble, while his supporters regarded him as a patriot who took a stand against lawlessness. Now, the 20-year-old is set to publish a book, titled Acquitted, which he has described as a story of survival, resilience, and justice. Kyle Rittenhouse (AP) Pre order my new book today! he posted to his 260,000 Instagram followers on 20 November. Two years ago today, accused of unjust charges, I heard NOT GUILTY five times over from a jury of my peers who heard the facts, he added on X. My case split the nation into opposing sides fueled by emotions, politics, and misconceptions driven by media and political figures. Today, I want you to learn the truth, and know the real and honest version of my story - without filters or an agenda, he said. His spokesperson previously told Newsweek the book aims to convey positive messages about being thrust into the national spotlight following the shooting and the subsequent court case. The spokesperson added that the book is about a young mans very unorthodox journey into adulthood, what it took to make it, and the lessons he learned along the way. Since his acquittal, Mr Rittenhouse has appeared for interviews on Fox News where he slammed the media and politicians including President Joe Biden. Guess who has a book coming out? pic.twitter.com/LfINIqyuZi Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) November 19, 2023 He has also received a heros welcome at conservative conferences such as Turning Point USA. Earlier this year, he joined gun rights activists in opposing a Texas state house bill that sought to raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21, in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting a year earlier. Meanwhile, John Huber, whose son Anthony was shot dead by Mr Rittenhouse, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the 20-year-old, Kenosha city officials and its police force accusing them of violating his sons constitutional rights. Mr Rittenhouse has raised $250,000 in donations for a legal defence fund to fight the lawsuit. The estate of Joseph Rosenbaum also filed a wrongful death case against Mr Rittenhouse in August of this year for compensatory and punitive damages. There is currently no release date for Mr Rittenhouses book, but it is available to pre-order on his website. A Los Angeles homeowner who exchanged gunfire with a pair of would-be robbers in a terrifying incident that was captured on home surveillance video earlier this month has had his concealed carry license suspended, officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department confirmed to KTLA. The Nov. 6 incident happened outside Vince Riccis home in a Central L.A. neighborhood. His wife and 5-month-old child were reportedly inside the residence when the shootout occurred. Ricci had just pulled into his gated driveway and was walking to the front door when masked robbers jumped over a wall. Video shows one robber charging at Ricci with a gun as he goes to open his front door. The homeowner immediately drops his keys and a beverage, pulls out a concealed handgun and opens fire on the intruders, who run away while returning fire. Neighbors called 911 and officers arrived a short time later but could not find the robbers, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson told KTLA. No injuries were reported. L.A. criminals came to my home, pointing guns at my chest, Ricci says in a nearly two-minute video posted to X, formerly Twitter, by the National Rifle Association. After successfully defending my home and family and my 5-month-old child, California has now decided to end my Second Amendment [rights]. The would-be home invaders hopped the homes wall and approached the homeowner at the front door. Nov. 4, 2023. A homeowner in Central L.A. repels a would-be robber on Nov. 4, 2023. The homeowner pulled out a gun and opened fire on the robbers. Nov. 4, 2023. (Shared with KTLA) In a statement to KTLA, the sheriffs department said the California Department of Justice establishes guidelines for concealed carry weapons permits (CCW) and that the Sheriffs Department must follow the DOJ parameters in accordance with the law. LASD did not provide a specific reason for why Riccis concealed carry permit was suspended. Ricci, however, told Fox News Digital that the sheriffs office told him it was due to him yelling at LAPD officers when they visited his home to investigate the shooting three days after the incident an investigation he claims was sloppy and inept. According to Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, an organization led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the California city or county that issued the license must revoke it if they are notified by the state DOJ or determine that a license holder is legally prohibited from possessing firearms or that the licensee has become a disqualified person. In its statement to KTLA, the sheriffs department did say that Riccis CCW may immediately be reinstated as long as he has followed all the required policies, such as proper notifications and use of [a] properly documented weapon. The DOJ has been notified and there are avenues for Mr. Ricci to re-apply for his permit, LASDs statement said. We have been in contact with the Ricci family and have been providing information to them about CCW protocols and guidelines in an effort to ensure their Second Amendment rights are protected. On Saturday, the Los Angeles Police Department released a statement on X regarding Riccis concealed carry permit that read: The Department is continuing the robbery investigation involving Vince Ricci. The Los Angeles Police Department has not issued nor revoked a permit to carry a concealed weapon involving Mr. Ricci. The armed suspects, according to LAPD, fled Riccis home in a dark-colored sedan. One of the suspects was described as a Black male, approximately 5 foot 10 inches tall, who was wearing a black ski mask, black shirt, black pants and was armed with an unknown type of handgun. A second suspect was described as a Black male, approximately 5 foot 9 inches, wearing a mask and a gray hooded sweatshirt with a blue stripe from the shoulder to the arm. No description was available for the driver of the vehicle. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Olympic Division Detectives at 213-382-9316. Those wishing to remain anonymous can leave tips with L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or online at L.A. Crime Stoppers. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Lachlan Murdoch, the chair of Fox Corp., and reporter Benjamin Hall met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week as the leader awarded Hall with the countrys Order of Merit. The trip to Ukraine marks Halls first since he was gravely injured in March 2022 during shelling while covering the countrys ongoing war with Russia. Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and local Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova were killed during the same attack. The trip was organized by Murdoch, who took over as chair of Fox for his father and media mogul Rupert Murdoch this month, after he had been invited by Zelensky to visit the country. Zelensky thanked Murdoch for his visit and emphasized that it is a very important signal of support at the time when the worlds attention is blurred by other events, the Ukrainian government said in a statement. Coverage of the war on Fox, the top-rated cable news channel, has been closely watched by media and political observers for months. While the network has provided extensive reporting on the conflict on the ground by Hall and other journalists, it has sparked controversy for some of the opinion commentary it has aired surrounding the war most notably from former prime-time pundit Tucker Carlson. Fox pulled Carlson off the air in April, a decision that was ultimately made by Lachlan Murdoch, according to multiple reports. Since going through an extensive rehabilitation process following his injury, Hall has written a best-selling book about his experience in Ukraine and has returned to Foxs airwaves covering international relations. As part of his visit to Ukraine, Hall conducted a sit-down interview with Zelensky, which will air on Special Report with Bret Baier on Tuesday, the network said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Darbi Boddy, a Lakota Board of Education member, is seen on Nov. 6. LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio The Butler County Sheriffs Office cited Lakota school board member Darbi Boddy for violating the protection order requiring her to stay 500 feet away from fellow board member Isaac Adi, court records show. The violation happened around 10:30 a.m. Friday morning while Boddy was in the boards safety committee meeting, which was held in executive session at Lakota Central Office building in Liberty Township, according to a sheriffs incident report and a school district spokeswoman. After Boddy was cited, she left, according to the sheriffs office. She is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 29 and next week. The next school board meeting is Nov. 27. Isaac Adi, vice president of the Lakota school board, was granted a restraining order against fellow board member Darbi Boddy. A week ago, the Ohio Twelfth District Court of Appeals dismissed Boddys request to overturn the protection order, which is in place for two years, until Sept. 20, 2025. The three-judge panel wrote in their decision that she failed to object in a timely manner to a Butler County magistrates Sept. 20 decision that granted the protection order before filing her appeal. The appeals process in the lower court required her to object to the magistrates decision within 14 days, court records show. Instead, her lawyer went right to the higher court and filed her appeal there, along with an emergency request to attend board meetings during the appeal. The appeals courts administrative judge denied the emergency request, writing in his decision that the proper court procedure was to seek that in the lower court. Boddys attorney did, and Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Greg Howard promptly granted her emergency stay, under some strict requirements. Her lawyer, Robert Croskery called the citation a mistake. He said in an interview last week after the higher court dismissed her appeal that she would still be permitted to attend school board meetings while she appealed the order now in the lower court. "No appellate decision has reached the merits of this case, and are filing another Motion for clarification, he said. In the meanwhile, Ms. Boddy will continue to fill her legislative duties to the citizens who elected her. Boddys citation was the second time last week she was accused of violating the protection order. Adis lawyer alleged in a Nov. 13 court filing that Boddy violated the order by attending the same conference as Adi in Columbus and coming within 500 feet of him. Attorney Robert Lyons is seeking contempt of court against her and requested a hearing in Butler County Common Pleas Court, according to a copy of his motion. The Cincinnati Enquirer's media partner Fox19 provided this report. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Lakota board member Darbi Boddy cited for violating protection order The Los Angeles Police Department is seeking a serial robbery suspect, accused in a string of follow-home-style robberies in the past year and a half, who is considered armed and dangerous after shoving the barrel of a handgun into a victim's stomach captured on harrowing surveillance video taken from an apartment building parking garage. Dashwan Dow, 20, has been arrested and released five times in that span, police said over the weekend. Investigators have identified him as the tall, gun-toting man seen in the Oct. 10 surveillance video showing a gunpoint robbery in a North Hollywood parking garage. The 40-second clip released by police shows a man in a dark hoodie run toward two people in the corner of a parking garage around midnight. HOLLYWOOD HEADLESS TORSO SUSPECT SAM HASKELL PARANOID WEEKS BEFORE BODY FOUND IN DUMPSTER, FRIEND SAYS Dashwan Dow, 20, inset, has been identified as one of the two armed robbery suspects who appear in surveillance video of an October follow-home robbery in a North Hollywood parking garage. The male victim resists at first, until a second robber runs into view. As he struggles with the new arrival, the armed man confronts the woman, taking something from her pocket as his accomplice appears to try prying the man's watch off his wrist. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Then both assailants turn their attention to the male victim, and the taller one shoves the barrel of a handgun into his stomach. They appear to rob him, toss a few unwanted items on the ground and run away. Days earlier, police allege that Dow was involved in another follow-home robbery, also in North Hollywood, in which he stalked a couple while driving a gray Maserati and, along with an armed accomplice, shook a man and woman down for money and jewelry. Police say Dow is a person of interest in more than one additional active investigation and that he should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on Dow is asked to call Los Angeles Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. WASHINGTON MEN BEAT UP ARMED ROBBERS AND WRESTLE AWAY THEIR GUN, WILD HOME SECURITY VIDEO SHOWS Robberies have declined by about 8% through Oct. 28, the most recent numbers available, in 2023 compared to last year but they remain about 5% higher than they were in 2021, according to LAPD statistics. Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon's office told Fox News Digital that Dow had bailed out multiple times for sums ranging between $50,000 and $300,000. In one case, the DA's office said it had asked for Dow to prove he wasn't paying bail with stolen money but the court allegedly shut down the request. "The court denied our motion and set bail in that particular case at $100,000," a spokesperson told Fox News Digital Monday. "This was done over our objection." Police are searching for him on active warrants. At a debate with a half-dozen Democratic primary challengers last week, Gascon called the issue of rising crime in LA "fake news." "The policies of George Gascon have failed us all," said Jonathan Hatami, a deputy district attorney who is running to unseat his boss in next year's election. "No consequences and no accountability just emboldens individuals like Dow." He said prosecutors should have asked the judge to hold Dow without bail due to the repeated arrests. A similar case, he said, involves a repeat robbery suspect who bailed out twice on robbery charges in August before being accused of killing someone in September. "This shouldnt be this way," Hatami said. "Gascon should be ashamed." Fox News' Bonny Chu contributed to this report. Original article source: LAPD identifies suspect in armed robbery video as 20-year-old released 5 times in 18 months LaPorte County Coroner Lynn Swanson has been charged with drunk driving. MICHIGAN CITY The LaPorte County coroner is facing drunk driving charges after a single-vehicle crash over the weekend. Lynn Swanson, 67, of Michigan City, is charged in LaPorte Superior Court 4 with two counts of operating while intoxicated. According to court records, the most serious count is a Class A misdemeanor alleging she had a blood alcohol level above 0.15%. The crash happened about 9 p.m. Friday outside Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets mall in Michigan City at 601 Wabash St. According to Michigan City Police, Swanson was not injured in the incident. Police say the front end of her 2014 Dodge Journey, however, was heavily damaged from striking the entrance sign to the mall on the citys northwest side. There was also considerable damage to the undercarriage of her vehicle, which traveled through some landscaping before hitting the sign hard enough to knock it slightly off its concrete base, police said. Police said Swanson had already called for a tow truck before responding officers arrived. Police claim Swanson told them she was heading home from Three Sheets Bar and Grill at 227 W. Barker Ave., just west of Franklin Street. Police claimed Swanson also responded she was trying to get to nearby Michigan Boulevard the back way but didnt know how the crash occurred. When asked how much alcohol she had consumed, Swanson said too much, police claimed. Police said Swanson, judging by tire markings from her car, was westbound on Fourth Street, but, instead of turning on Wabash Street, she went straight through the intersection toward the entrance to the mall. After leaving the road, her car apparently proceeded over some landscaping before striking the sign. Police said the front passenger side tire on her car was flat and pushed back against the wheel well from the impact. Swanson was booked into the LaPorte County Jail with an alleged 0.164% blood alcohol level, or slightly above two times the 0.08% legal limit. She posted $605 cash bond the next morning. This was a terrible mistake, and I am devastated, Swanson said when asked for a response to the allegations. Swanson is nearing the end of the third year of her first four-year term as coroner. This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: LaPorte County Coroner charged with OWI after crash in Michigan City Flash Palestinian people are seen on their way from Gaza City toward south, in southern Gaza Strip, on Nov. 18, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] The Qatari foreign minister stated Sunday that mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas are underway, with "good progress" being made in the past few days. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, also the prime minister of Qatar, made the remarks during a joint press conference in Qatar's capital Doha with Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, according to statements published by the Qatari Foreign Ministry on social media platform X. The statements said in their meeting on Sunday, the Qatari minister and the EU official discussed ways of cooperation between Qatar and the EU to reach a lasting and peaceful solution to the Gaza crisis in political and humanitarian dimensions. During the meeting, Al Thani affirmed that "our top priority is to achieve an immediate cease-fire and end all reprisal operations and indiscriminate attacks on the Gaza Strip," the statements added. The minister also underlined that "(what is) most important is to see humanitarian aid and assistance flowing into Gaza," expressing hope that a deal would be reached in this regard as soon as possible to facilitate it. Since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on Oct. 7, Qatar has been making efforts to mediate between the warring parties, secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, and de-escalate the situation in Gaza. Crews are battling a large fire that broke out on Whitwell Mountain. Whitwell police said firefighters from surrounding areas are assisting in the battle against the blaze. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Residents are asked to stay away from Hwy 108 and Mount Olive Road while crews travel through the area to refill their trucks with water. Authorities said residents should evacuate if they see the fire getting close to their property. It is unclear how the fire started. TRENDING STORIES: Officials have not said if anyone has been injured. The cause is still under investigation. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: (Reuters) -The following are reactions from global leaders, including current and former heads of state, to the election of libertarian economist and former TV pundit Javier Milei in Argentina's presidential runoff on Sunday. ARGENTINE PRESIDENT ALBERTO FERNANDEZ "I am a man of democracy, and I value nothing more than the popular verdict. I trust that tomorrow we can start working with Javier Milei to guarantee an orderly transition." FORMER ARGENTINA PRESIDENT MAURICIO MACRI "I congratulate Javier Milei for bravely representing the will to advance and prosper that lives in the hearts of Argentines. He knew how to listen to the voice of young people and the fatigue of millions of neglected and impoverished people." WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JAKE SULLIVAN "I congratulate Javier Milei on his election as president of Argentina and to the people of Argentina for holding free and fair elections. We look forward to building on our strong bilateral relationship based on our shared commitment to human rights, democratic values, and transparency." FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP "Congratulations to Javier Milei on a great race for president of Argentina. The whole world was watching! I am very proud of you. You will turn your country around and truly Make Argentina Great Again!" INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK PRESIDENT ILAN GOLDFAJN "Congratulations Javier Milei, president-elect of Argentina. At the IDB, we are ready to continue our collaboration with the country and promote sustainable and inclusive economic development for the benefit of its citizens." BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA "Democracy is the voice of the people, and it must always be respected. My congratulations to Argentine institutions for conducting the electoral process and to the Argentine people who participated on election day in an orderly and peaceful manner. I wish the new government good luck and success." PARAGUAYAN PRESIDENT SANTIAGO PENA "I congratulate Javier Milei for his victory and I offer Paraguay's cordial and brotherly hand to strengthen relations between our countries." COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT GUSTAVO PETRO "The extreme right has won in Argentina. It is the decision of its society. Sad for Latin America and we'll see ..." "The relationships between Colombia and Argentina, the bonds between their communities are maintained in mutual respect. I congratulate Milei." CHILEAN PRESIDENT GABRIEL BORIC "I salute Javier Milei for his victory and Sergio Massa for his worthy recognition of defeat. I wish the Argentine people the best and know that they will always have our respect and support. As president of Chile, I will work tirelessly to keep our sister nations united and collaborating for the well-being of all." URUGUAYAN PRESIDENT LUIS LACALLE POU "I salute President-elect Javier Milei. We have much to work on together and improve our bilateral relations." PERU'S PRESIDENT DINA BOLUARTE'S OFFICE "Peru expresses its warm congratulations to Javier Milei for his election as president of the Argentine Republic. Wishing him the greatest success in his administration, Peru renews its commitment to continue strengthening the historic ties of friendship and cooperation that unite our countries." FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO "Congratulations to the Argentine people for Javier Milei's victory. Hope will shine again in South America. May these good winds reach the United States and Brazil so that honesty, progress and freedom come back to all of us." RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARGENTINA DMITRY FEOKTISTOV, per Russia's RIA state news agency "We hope that the course towards commitment to multipolarity, independent foreign policy and a firm defense of national interests will be further developed. We are confident that this will be facilitated by Argentinas accession to BRICS, which will open up new horizons and opportunities for it." (Reporting by Brendan O'Boyle, Additional reporting by Lidia KellyEditing by Chris Reese) A group of lawmakers have proposed that Ukraine should recognize International Men's Day as an official holiday, according to a bill they submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, on Nov. 20. "This day is not intended to compete with International Women's Day, but to highlight the importance of men's physical and mental health," the bill's explanatory note said. The bill was submitted by lawmakers Mariia Mezentseva, Oleksandr Merezhko, Olena Vintoniak, and Serhii Svets from President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party, and Sehii Shvets, who represents the liberal Holos party. They hope that recognizing International Men's Day every year on Nov. 19 will help to spread awareness of specific issues that men face and allow for discussion on topics such as mental health, violence, and alcohol abuse. The lawmakers also hope that the official recognition of the day will "contribute to the development and implementation of programs to prevent these problems." Both Malta and Trinidad and Tobago claim to have established International Men's Day in the 1990s. International Women's Day on March 8 is widely celebrated in Ukraine. Read also: She needs armor. Female Ukrainian soldiers call for equality Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Heres a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week. Along with roll call votes this week, the House also passed, by voice vote, the No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act (H.R. 1505), to modify the prohibition on recognition by United States courts of certain rights relating to certain marks, trade names, or commercial names. HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY IMPEACHMENT: The House has passed a motion to refer a resolution (H. Res. 863), sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, to the House Homeland Security Committee. The vote, on Nov. 13, was 209 yeas to 201 nays. NAYS: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick R-Bucks; Mike Kelly, R-Butler; Scott Perry, R-York; Lloyd Smucker, R-Lancaster; John Joyce, R-Blair; Guy Reschenthaler, R-Washington; Glenn Thompson, R-Howard; Dan Meuser, R-Luzerne YEAS: Reps. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia; Chrissy Houlahan, D-Chester; Madeleine Dean, D-Montgomery; Brendan Boyle, D-Philadelphia; Matt Cartwright, D-Lackawanna; Susan Wild, D-Lehigh; Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Delaware; Summer Lee, D-Allegheny; Chris Deluzio, D-Allegheny CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS: The House has passed the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act (H.R. 6363), sponsored by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, to provide fiscal 2023 levels of funding for the federal government into 2024, giving Congress added time to pass a fiscal 2024 budget. Granger said: This plan will allow us to avoid harmful government shutdowns during the holidays, prevent a last-minute omnibus, and allow us to discuss supplemental funding separately from full-year spending. The vote, on Nov. 14, was 336 yeas to 95 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Boyle, Cartwright, Smucker, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio NAYS: Perry, Joyce GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 5894), to block funding of research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) into injuries and fatalities caused by firearms. Miller-Meeks said such research was outside the agencys proper scope, and called the funding block an important first step in eliminating costly programs at the CDC. An opponent, Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn., said: We should be united in finding ways to save lives and end gun violence. The vote, on Nov. 15, was 216 yeas to 211 nays. NAYS: Fitzpatrick, Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Boyle, Cartwright, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio YEAS: Kelly, Perry, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser ANTI-SEMITISM ON CAMPUS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 5894), to bar funding of colleges and universities that support on their campuses events that promote anti-Semitism. Lawler said of the events: People have the right to free speech. They have the right to voice their opinions, but we do not have to pay for it. The vote, on Nov. 15, was 373 yeas to 54 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Perry), Boyle, Cartwright, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser, Wild, Scanlon, Deluzio NAYS: Lee SENATE APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Ana de Alba to be a judge on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. De Alba has been a judge on a U.S. district court in California since June 2022, after four years in the state as a county court judge and a decade at a private law firm. A supporter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said De Alba had significant judicial experience and an unwavering dedication to equal justice under law. The vote, on Nov. 13, was 48 yeas to 43 nays. YEAS: Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa.; John Fetterman, D-Pa. AID TO ISRAEL: The Senate has passed a motion to table the motion to proceed to consideration of the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 6126), sponsored by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas. The bill would have provided added funding for the military and State Department in response to the war between Israel and Hamas, by rescinding $14.3 billion of unspent funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The vote to table, on Nov. 14, was 51 yeas to 48 nays. YEAS: Casey, Fetterman REPAYING STUDENT LOANS: The Senate has rejected a resolution (S.J. Res. 43), sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., that would have disapproved of and voided an Education Department rule issued this summer that created an income-based plan, Saving on a Valuable Education, for repaying higher education loans. Cassidy said the plan transfers the burden of $559 billion in federal student loans to the 87 percent of Americans who dont have student loans, who chose not to go to college, or who already responsibly paid off their debts. A resolution opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, ID-Vt., said the federal government should be doing everything possible to make sure every young person in this country, regardless of income, receives the best quality education our nation can provide. The vote, on Nov. 15, was 49 yeas to 50 nays. NAYS: Casey, Fetterman CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS: The Senate has passed the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act (H.R. 6363), sponsored by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, to provide fiscal 2023 levels of funding for the federal government into 2024, giving Congress added time to pass a fiscal 2024 budget. A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the bill will avoid a government shutdown, and it will do so without any of the cruel cuts or poison pills that the hard right pushed for. The vote, on Nov. 15, was 87 yeas to 11 nays. YEAS: Casey, Fetterman NEGOTIATING MILITARY SPENDING BILL: The Senate has passed a motion to insist on its amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (H.R. 2670), in the conference with the House on negotiating the two chambers versions of the bill. Motions to instruct conferees in the negotiations include provisions to: support Afghan allies, including a pathway for them to obtain permanent residency in the U.S.; revoke visas for foreigners in the U.S. who have endorsed the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7; and an effort to secure U.S. supplies of uranium to fuel the militarys fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. The vote, on Nov. 15, was 90 yeas to 8 nays. YEAS: Casey, Fetterman LEBANON CO. Pa. (WHTM) The Lebanon County District Attorneys office says the May 3, 2023 shooting of a man by a private citizen was justified use of deadly force. Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf says Thomas Vance, 33, was fatally shot by a private citizen while attempting to recover personal items after being paroled from county jail. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now WHTM Severe Weather Alerts Graf says Vance approached a home and had a confrontation with the person who had possession of his belongings. Vance approached the citizen and braced for a fight, according to Graf. Vance and the citizen took several swings and lunges toward each other before Vance reached for a pipe on the ground. After a struggle, Vance struck the citizen over the head with the pipe. The citizen was able to retrieve their handgun and pointed it in Vances direction. According to Graf, Vance taunted him, chased him, and continued to aggressively hold onto the black pipe. Graf says the citizen told Vance to get away from him several times before shooting him once in the upper torso. Target testing change at self-checkout that some shoppers might not like Vance retreated with a companion before collapsing and passing away. The citizen called 911 and remained on the scene for police. Police reported lumps on the citizens head consistent with being struck by a pipe. According to Graf, video showed the incident, including the citizen being struck with the pipe. Graf says the incident falls under Castle Doctrine where special protections are given for deadly force when a citizen is in their residence. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now This Week in Pennsylvania Any loss of life is tragic, said Graf. Families are left without their loved ones. In this instance, the fatality is especially tragic as it was wholly avoidable. Had the decedent chosen a lawful route to reclaim his property, had he not approached a second time aggressively, had he at any moment walked away in lieu of escalating the situation, the citizen would not have utilized his firearm. The video makes it clear the citizen resorted to the gunshot only after the citizen undertook multiple efforts to make the decedent leave his property and leave him alone. In the heat of the moment, the decedent chose to pursue and give chase. The citizen acted lawfully, but regrettably, in the death of the decedent. The incident was investigated over several months by the Lebanon County Detective Bureau and Lebanon City Police Department. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. Donald Trump may have boasted at a weekend rally about a judges ruling against a bid to ban him from Colorados primary ballot in the 2024 election. But Obama-era acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal and former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks have suggested how the decision could actually be seriously bad news for the former president. Colorado state District Judge Sarah B. Wallace on Friday ruled Trump engaged in insurrection during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. But she ruled against an effort to nix Trumps name from the states ballot, citing a lack of clarity over whether the constitutional amendment that stops insurrectionists from holding public office actually applies to the highest office of the land, the presidency. Katyal wasnt buying it. If I were to put the headline on Friday night, as an appeals lawyer, it would be: This is the very worst decision Donald Trump could get from the trial court, the former Department of Justice official told MSNBCs Jen Psaki on Sunday. Because its going to go on appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court, perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court, and there, Trump is going to face extreme headwinds. Katyal noted the difference between the factual finding that Wallace said Trump committed insurrection and the legal part of her ruling that it doesnt apply to the presidency. On appeal, the factual findings get massive deference by the appeals court as its almost impossible to overturn a trial judges factual finding, he said. The legal findings can be overturned, Katyal explained, because thats basically a fresh look at the legal thing. But in this case, Wallace factually made devastating findings against Trump and then looked at this legal technicality, which is the 14th Amendment doesnt apply to the office of the president, which is so weak, even the judge themselves admitted that this would be preposterous. During a different interview on MSNBC, former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks made a similar argument. The judges decision is wrong on the law, she said. Of course, on the facts she is right, and she made a factual finding that he is insurrectionist, Wine-Banks added. And that would bar him if he were an officer. And I believe that any higher court will find that it was the intent to bar such a person from holding the office of president and that he will be barred. Related... This article was originally published in Honolulu Civil Beat. The Hawaii Department of Education continues to be pressed to address community concerns around fire preparedness and health precautions at Lahainas reopened school campuses, including the lack of transport at Lahainaluna High if a mass evacuation was required. The issue was raised Thursday, as the House Working Group on Schools heard public comment on its draft report recommending how Hawaii schools can better prepare for future fires and disasters. The working group, one of six formed in the aftermath of the Aug. 8 wildfires, will release a final version of the report next month that will inform policy priorities ahead of the 2024 legislative session. Last month, students and faculty returned to Princess Nahienaena Elementary, Lahaina Intermediate and Lahainaluna High despite community concerns that toxic ash from the nearby burn zone could contaminate the campuses. The DOE emphasized that extensive testing of air quality, water and soil indicated it was safe for students to return. Support The 74's year-end campaign. Make a tax-exempt donation now. Princess Nahienaenas campus is also hosting students and faculty from King Kamehameha III Elementary, whose campus was lost in the fires. At Thursdays Board of Education meeting, deputy superintendent Tammi Oyadomari-Chun said just over 2,000 students are enrolled in the four Lahaina schools, roughly 1,000 fewer students compared to the start of the year. Many students have relocated to other public schools on Maui or enrolled in non-public schools across the state. Parents had already raised concerns that there was only one road in and out of the three Lahaina campuses at a community meeting in September. In response, DOE and Department of Transportation built an emergency access route days before schools were set to reopen. Justin Woodson, co-chair of the House working group, commended the DOE for the quick response. It is one way in which we show how we can be more responsive to community concerns, Woodson said. However Woodson questioned schools abilities to respond to future disasters. Currently, schools do not make their emergency action plans publicly available although the House draft report recommended that they do so. But DOE deputy superintendent Curt Otaguro said the department will not release the plans at this time. Emergency action plans can include sensitive information, including schools responses to security threats like active shooters, he said. He added that the department may reevaluate its stance to see if it could publicly release information about evacuation plans in the case of a fire. We have nothing to hide, Otaguro said. Students abilities to evacuate in the case of emergency was another point of concern for representatives. Right now, Otaguro said, some schools dont have buses on campuses that could assist with the mass evacuation of students. For example, at Lahainaluna High, students would use personal vehicles or evacuate the campus by foot, Otaguro added. When you say that evacuation is reliant on personal vehicles, already that concerns me as a parent, Woodson said. DOE is discussing potential options for providing transportation to schools in the case of a mass evacuation, Otaguro said. He added that boarders at Lahinaluna High used personal vehicles to evacuate the campus on Aug. 8, although the school has since purchased transportation that can move boarders off-campus in the case of emergency. Rep. Lisa Marten also recognized that some Lahaina parents have been following school air quality monitoring like crazy out of concerns that heavy winds in the burn zone could cause toxic dust to spread across the campuses. Students have also raised worries about the air quality following high winds at the high school over the past week, said Lavinia Tuavao-Tupou, a senior at Lahainaluna High who attended Thursdays BOE meeting. She added that many of her peers didnt attend school earlier in the week in response to the red flag warning issued for the state. The fear is still there, Tuavao-Tupou said. Air quality monitors are sensitive and may suddenly change in response to harmless activities, like weed whacking, that stir dust on campus, Otaguro said. But he recognized that DOE could provide additional communication to families explaining why air quality readings unexpectedly change during the day. In the case that students need to shelter in place if the air quality significantly worsens, some Lahaina classrooms will also need to be retrofitted with air conditioning, Otaguro added. Its a work in progress, he said. Moving into the second half of the school year, DOE must address ongoing concerns about the housing insecurity of Lahaina students and teachers, Oyadomari-Chun said. In the Lahaina schools that reopened last month, just under half of the students had former home addresses that fell within the burn zone. What we have concerns about is whats going to happen in the long-run in terms of both staffing and student enrollment, Oyadomari-Chun said. Lahaina schools will continue to offer free breakfast and lunch to all Lahaina students through the end of the school year, Oyadomari-Chun said. With donor support, DOE began offering free meals to all students when they first returned to campus, and the initiative will continue with the support of the Bezos Family Foundation and Marriott Foundation, she added. Gary Kanamori, principal at Princess Nahienaena Elementary, told the BOE that free meals will be vital in helping families transition back to school. Our entire school community will continue to rebuild and thrive, he said. Civil Beats education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy. Civil Beats coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation. David Cameron, then Prime Minister, being congratulated by his wife Samantha after taking part in the Great Brook Run in Chipping Norton in 2014 - Andrew Parsons/i-images SIR In his article (The unbreakable Tory alliance between Court and Country is finally shattering, Comment, November 18) Robert Tombs writes: What is fatal to a party is not failure, but a sense of betrayal. This precisely explains why I shall not be voting Conservative at the next election. My vote has been taken for granted. It seems that successive Conservative prime ministers have believed that all they needed to do was to pay lip service to the opinions of their natural supporters, without taking any corresponding action. Thomas Hamilton-Jones Monmouth SIR Abandoned, bewildered and betrayed is how many of those who voted Conservative feel. The party has wasted a huge opportunity in the so-called Red Wall region of the country. If politicians ignore the people, the people will exact revenge. Cliff Peers Chester-le-Street, Co Durham SIR Charles Russam (Letters, November 19) comments on what a shame it is that the Government had no one clever or diligent enough to have reached, some months earlier, the same conclusion as the President of the Supreme Court on the former home secretary Suella Bravermans Rwanda scheme. In the same edition, you report that civil servants will be allowed to work abroad for two weeks of the year while visiting friends and family, rather than having to take annual leave. Surely this standard of governance provides the explanation. Jonathan Speakman-Brown Orpington, Kent SIR Rwanda was picked by Suella Braverman as a trustworthy, honest and moral destination for illegal immigrants. So it will presumably be only too pleased to return the 140 million if the plan comes to naught. Timothy James Courteenhall, Northamptonshire SIR Effective foreign policy and meaningful international relationships take years to build up and bed in. It is now almost certain that within a year or so the Conservatives and the Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, will be booted out by the electorate. Lord Cameron must be well aware of this and more importantly so are all his much-vaunted contacts. What will substantially outlast Lord Camerons time in office is the life peerage bestowed on a former prime minister who had not even secured a knighthood. John Bath Clevedon, Somerset SIR For me, the most illustrious resident of Chipping Norton will always be that marvellous actor Ronnie Barker. He ran an antiques shop in the town for several years after his retirement. Alun Harvey Groningen, Netherlands Debanked by Barclays SIR I read about Barclays closing the bank account of the Orchard Surgery in Royston (report, November 18). It did the same to our companys account, without offering any explanation as to how or why it had made this decision. The company incorporated in 1938 buys then rents flats and houses to private individuals in England. It was started by my great aunt and passed down to me and my sister. The best the bank says it can do is to carry out an inquiry, which will take up to eight weeks. If a mistake has been made, we might then be able to open a new account. Barclays says it will send us a cheque, made payable to the company, which we will have no means of banking unless we can open a new company account. In the meantime, our tenants cant pay their rent and we cant pay suppliers, including builders who are being engaged to carry out much-needed work. Clive Sparks Seaford, East Sussex SIR It is not just Barclays that is closing accounts. HSBC recently wrote to a long-standing business customer I know, giving them a date in December when their accounts would be closed, in the name of safeguarding. The customer is a small family-owned business, which employs 40 staff and maintains substantial credit balances. It has banked with HSBC for 40 years and conducts all its business in the local area. The madness of this is that the company successfully underwent a similar safeguarding process only two years ago, and nothing about the set-up, ownership or nature of the business has changed in the interim. There was a time when banks competed to acquire good customers; now they seem to be outbidding each other to do the opposite. Gerard Somers Atherstone, Warwickshire Menopause treatment SIR Thank you Eleanor Mills (Comment, November 17) for pointing out the dangerous absurdity of talking therapy (CBT) for women going through the menopause. I couldnt agree with you more that it smacks of the worst kind of medical misogyny and a return to a Victorian view of women as hysterical. It is insulting to portray womens menopause symptoms as being all in the mind. Its a physical condition, as hundreds of thousands of women including me will attest. I bet no women over the age of 50 were involved in this silly recommendation from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Elisabeth Boss Bath, Somerset Butchering Wilde SIR Watching the Miramax version of The Importance of Being Earnest I was incensed to find that the line When I see a spade, I call it a spade was cut (Trigger warnings are bad enough but this butchery of classic films is unforgivable, Comment, November 19). That phrase has entered the English lexicon of pithy descriptions. How can this be allowed? Or is it just ignorance? Alan Harpley Scruton, North Yorkshire Crashing Christmas SIR Dr Alan Thomas (Letters, November 18) talks of buying his grandson a drum kit for Christmas. Does the good doctor not get on with his children? Roy Bailey Great Shefford, Berkshire BBCs pension plan SIR Your report, BBC crisis over 1.7bn pension bill for stars, (November 4), is incorrect and significantly inflates the BBCs obligation to fund its defined benefit pension scheme shortfall and employer contribution rate. The BBCs annual report and accounts of 2022-2023 state that the most recent triennial actuarial valuation of the scheme on April 1 2022 shows a funding shortfall of 841 million in total. The valuation is required by law and the figure is assessed independently by a pension specialist, and has also been reviewed by the National Audit Office. We have agreed a payment plan with the pension scheme trustee to help ensure that this shortfall is eliminated by December 2028. The plan incorporates cash payments supplemented by contingent contributions. The cash payments are 50 million annually from April 2023 to April 2027, and a payment of 38 million the following year. The contingent contributions would be payable in addition to the cash payments, based on future assessments of the funding level. Since the 2022 valuation, funding has improved. The latest interim valuation report shows that by April 1 2023 there was a small funding surplus. The incorrect deficit contribution figure quoted by the Telegraph inflates the BBCs obligation to fund the shortfall by more than double. Our annual reports and accounts, and the agreed recovery plan, are both publicly available. You also report a contribution rate of 42.3 per cent of staff salary into the defined benefit scheme. The schedule of contributions agreed with the scheme trustee as part of the 2022 actuarial valuation states that the employer contribution rate for the defined benefit pension scheme is currently set at 30 per cent of members pensionable salaries. The defined benefit pension scheme was closed to the BBCs new joiners in 2010. We are awaiting a hearing at the Court of Appeal to clarify what options are available to us for the future of the scheme. Leigh Tavaziva Group chief operating officer, BBC London W1 Charity coppers SIR Perhaps Michael Hughes (Letters, November 16) could, like many other people I know, put his unwanted change into charity boxes. It would solve his problem and help others. Glynn Leaney Chalgrove, Oxfordshire The impact on pupils of politicians rhetoric Plato and Aristotle pondering rhetoric in the School of Athens fresco (1509-11) by Raphael - Bridgeman Images SIR We have seen clearly over the past weeks how careful those in positions of power need to be about what they say. Political rhetoric can all too easily be whipped up into unintended action, with serious and occasionally violent consequences. This is something all those working in schools wish was better understood. Schools do not exist outside society, immune from politics or the news. Children and young people are incredibly plugged in, and curious about the world around them. More often than not, it is schools and teachers who field questions and distress from pupils in response to what they have seen or heard from politicians. It isnt practical for these questions and concerns simply to be dismissed. Part of the fundamental purpose of education is to help prepare young people to navigate the world, to interpret and understand politics, the news and the impact it will have on them. While schools are strictly apolitical spaces, politics in the broadest sense of the word affects all lives and cannot be ignored. This can put school staff and teachers in an incredibly difficult position when politicians and leaders arent careful about what they say, and how they say it. From the rhetoric around Israel and Gaza, to refugees and asylum seekers, transgender issues, parliamentary reshuffles and political marches schools are regularly faced with an extraordinary range of sensitive and controversial topics that can provoke an emotional response. Governments could do more to back schools with the practical guidance they need to navigate some of these issues, but educators are prepared to help pupils make sense of their concerns. In future, politicians must be more mindful of the impact their words have, and take better care of the language they use. It is not just potential voters hearing these words, it is children and young people too. Paul Whiteman General secretary, National Association of Head Teachers London SW1 Letters to the Editor We accept letters by email and post. Please include name, address, work and home telephone numbers. ADDRESS: 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0DT EMAIL: dtletters@telegraph.co.uk FOLLOW: Telegraph Letters on Twitter @LettersDesk NEWSLETTER: sign up to receive Letters to the Editor here 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. To the editor: UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky correctly explains that the recently published Supreme Court ethics code is fatally flawed because it lacks any enforcement procedure. Unlike all other federal judges, each Supreme Court justice is a judge unto himself or herself. An enforcement mechanism is needed for an ethics code to work. Still, an uncodified potential enforcement procedure may be available, however flawed it might be sunlight. Attorneys appearing before the court, including those filing amicus briefs, and other interested citizens can file fact-based motions seeking to use the new code to request a judge to recuse himself or herself for bias or the appearance of bias. While there is no formal procedure for such motions, and they may be routinely denied, they can when publicized bring this issue to public attention. Hopefully, the embarrassment this might cause over time will force Congress to create a formal code with enforcement. Les Weinstein, Los Angeles The writer is an attorney. .. To the editor: Chemerinsky suggests ways for the Supreme Court to determine standards for the justices' recusals from controversial cases. Perhaps the real problem lies in the appointment of malleable political jurists who adjust the form of the mantle that they wear due to their life appointment. The signal disasters of the court the Dred Scott case, opening the gates of slavery to all states and territories, thus preordaining the Civil War; and Plessy vs. Ferguson, codifying and enshrining the inequality of the races for many decades came from justices who failed to act decently and morally. Find better justice nominees. Andy Siegel, Santa Barbara .. To the editor: I have translated the new Supreme Court code of ethics. Here it is: "Here are some things that we know we ought to do, but we don't have to if we don't feel like it. Ha ha." Craig Arnold, Long Beach This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. LeVar Burton Slams Book Censorship, Moms For Liberty At The National Book Awards: Writers And Others Who Champion Books Are Under Attack | Photo: Cindy Ord via Getty Images LeVar Burton continues to speak out against book censorship. On Wednesday, Burton delivered his opening remarks at the 74th National Book Awards & Benefit Dinner in New York City. Burton specifically called out Moms for Liberty, the conservative organization thats attempting to censor books in schools. Before we get going, are there any Moms for Liberty in the house? Moms for Liberty? No? Good. Then hands will not need to be thrown tonight, Burton told the audience, People reported. Moms for Liberty has been leading an effort to block schools from providing books about sexuality and gender in their libraries, according to People. The organization is also aiming to ban LGBTQ+ and race discussions from being included in school curriculums. Burton hosted the event, recognizing outstanding people and works in the literature industry. Drew Barrymore was initially chosen as host of this years event. However, the actress was replaced when she faced public backlash after deciding to keep her talk show going during the SAG-AFTRA strike. Burton has received numerous accolades for his contribution to literature. Among his many honors, the former Reading Rainbow host was named the 2023 honorary chair of Banned Books Week. As he spoke out against the effort to ban certain books from schools, Burton said freedom feels especially fraught in this global political moment. On the home front, we are fighting for control of truth and how we interpret truth in this country, Burton said. Books are being banned, words are being silenced, and writers and others who champion books are under attack. Burton also paid tribute to his mother, an English teacher. The beloved TV personality said his mother taught him that if you can read in at least one language, you are, by her definition, free. Giving credit to his sister Letitia as well, Burton said she was the one who taught him how to read. The Roots actor urged the audience to remember that books are under attack because theyre so powerful. Stories are the tool that enable us to better understand ourselves and, yes, our history, he said. To live over the course of a few pages in the experiences of another and to create a world where we can all be free. The 2023 National Book Awards ceremony also featured Oprah Winfrey, who appeared as a special guest and spoke out to support literacy. The event included virtual appearances from Julie Andrews, Matthew McConaughey, Samin Nosrat, Trevor Noah and Dua Lipa. The celebrities introduced the various literature categories that were recognized on the evening. You are here: World Flash A voter casts his ballot at a polling station in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 19, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Javier Milei from the far-right Liberty Advances coalition has won Argentina's presidential runoff against Economy Minister Sergio Massa, initial results of the electoral authority showed on Sunday. Conceding defeat before official results came out, Massa said he has congratulated Milei, who will be the country's president for the next four years. According to official data released by the government, with 86.59 percent of the votes counted, Milei obtained 55.95 percent, far ahead of Massa's 44.04 percent. Sunday's poll took place with an estimated turnout of 76.39 percent. Milei will succeed current President Alberto Fernandez and is set to take office on Dec. 10 for a four-year term. Sometimes we all just need a bit more time with a good book. One Minnesota resident, it seems, took that time and then some. Now, over a century later, her child has returned it to the Saint Paul Public Library through another library system in the state, the city library director, Maureen Hartman, told CNN on Monday. The 1902 edition of Famous Composers vol. 2 by Nathan Haskell Dole was found by a patron in Hennepin County sorting through their mothers belongings, the library wrote on X. No other information on the books return were immediately available, though the library welcomes the chance to chat with whoever brought it back, Hartman said. The title itself explores the lives and works of some prominent composers from the Baroque period to the Romantic era, including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin, a modern synopsis shows. This particular copy lived only a short time on the Saint Paul librarys shelves, according to a web librarian who pieced together some of its journey through dated stamps and the pocket card, the library said. It was checked out several times, according to the check-out slip in the back of the book most likely last in 1919. And it hadnt been returned since. The grossly overdue book caught the attention of St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, who joked online about the fine more than 100 years delay might accrue or lack thereof, rather, since the library, like many across the country, stopped charging late fees in 2019, he said. A century before that, the going rate for a late book would have been a penny a day, Carter said, meaning today, the Dole hardback would have incurred a fine of about $380. Backtracking through time Two check-out stamps from June 4, 1914, and January 17, 1916 reveal the tomes journey, indicating it may have been entered in the librarys catalog twice, the Saint Paul Public Library said. "Famous Composers vol. 2" likely survived a fire that destroyed Saint Paul's library because it was on loan at the time. - From Saint Paul Public Library/X The book was added first in 1914 when the citys library was housed in Old Market Hall and the Central Library was still being built, it said. Old Market Hall caught fire in 1915, however, with essentially the whole library 160,000 volumes burned. Some 34,000 titles, presumably in the hands of patrons at the time, escaped the flames, Hartman said. Doles text, it added, was likely one of the few books to survive. This particular Famous Composers vol. 2 most likely was added back into the librarys collection in 1916, the Saint Paul Public Librarys librarian deduced, ahead of the 1917 opening of the Central Library building. Still, the hardcover book remains intact, held together by what appears to be its original binding, with weathered pages marked by library stamps, scattered pencil writings and a few stains, photos from the library show. A math equation inked on the pocket card still solves this problem: 1928 minus 1791, the library pointed out. Perhaps the patron was trying to work out how old the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer would have been if hed lived to see the later year, staff hypothesized. Due to its fragile condition, the library doesnt think the book should go back into circulation, Hartman said. Instead, it could end up displayed under glass in the Saint Paul Collection, which documents parts of the citys history. This has been such a wonderful opportunity to talk about this specific book, Hartman said, but also just about libraries and the value of libraries in general. This has proven again to us that libraries are as interesting and beloved now just as much as they were 100 years ago. Meanwhile, the answer to that math equation as well as why the book remained checked out for over 100 years may be among those that simply cant be found in the library, its staff acknowledged: We may never know. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Fire rages on September 1, 2023 at a livestock market area in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur state -- paramilitaries now control most of the vast Darfur region (-) More than seven months into Sudan's devastating war that has killed thousands and displaced millions, experts warn that the scarred and impoverished country faces the threat of breaking apart. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is waging war against the armed forces and there have been reports of new massacres in Sudan's western Darfur region. Experts now warn the country could face a "Libya scenario", in reference to the north African country long divided between two rival administrations in its east and west. "Continued fighting could lead to a few terrifying scenarios, including division," said Khaled Omar Youssef, spokesman for the Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc ousted from power in a 2021 joint coup by Sudan's warring generals. "The rising tide of militarisation along ethnic and regional lines deepens social fissures in Sudan," Youssef told AFP. As it stands, the RSF is currently in control of much of the capital Khartoum and the Darfur region, while the army controls the country's north and east. Meanwhile, the army-aligned government has been all but exiled to the eastern city of Port Sudan. With the two sides failing to make any headway at US- and Saudi-brokered negotiations this month, some fear a new, fragmented status quo. - Darfur offensive - Since April 15, the war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has forced about six million people to flee both within Sudan and across borders. By the end of last month, it had killed over 10,000 people, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. But in November, new reports of massacres began to emerge amid a major offensive by the RSF in the vast Darfur region, where they quickly claimed control of army bases in all but one major city. In Ardamata alone, in West Darfur, the United Nations reported that nearly 100 shelters housing displaced people were razed to the ground, with fighters going house to house killing civilians and more than 8,000 people fleeing to neighbouring Chad in one week. Preliminary reports indicate hundreds have been killed, but with Darfur under an ongoing communications blackout, civilians have struggled to document the full scale of the violence. The European Union said on November 12 it was "appalled" by reports of more than 1,000 people killed in "just over two days". Organisations and civilians have both blamed the RSF and allied Arab militia, which have carried out a targeted campaign against the region's Massalit tribes, including the assassination of tribal leaders. Across Darfur, home to about a quarter of Sudan's 48 million people, over 1.5 million have been internally displaced since the war began. - Home turf - With Burhan and the government having retreated to Port Sudan, fears of division have spiralled. According to political analyst and journalist Fayez al-Salik, failure to reach a political solution could lead to a situation similar to Libya, with "more than one government, with no real effectiveness or international recognition". Though Daglo has friends in high places -- including the United Arab Emirates, experts say -- Burhan has maintained his role as de facto head of state on the global stage, recently attending both UN and Arab League summits. But on the ground, the RSF's unbridled spread through Darfur "gives it home advantage and allows it to move within its own social base", Salik said, referring to the region's Arab tribes. The RSF's predecessor, the Janjaweed, stemmed from Arab tribal militias armed by former dictator Omar al-Bashir to quash dissent amongst non-Arab minorities. That war, which began in 2003, killed hundreds of thousands, displaced over two million and saw Bashir indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the International Criminal Court. The UN has warned history is repeating itself, and the ICC has launched a fresh investigation. - No winner - According to one military expert, even with the RSF offensive, the chances of either side claiming a decisive victory remain slim. "The RSF's expansion does give it an open line between the capital and Darfur, but that's a very long line," he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety. The vast western region is nearly the size of France, "and a lot of it is open areas the army can attack by air", he explained. But with the RSF now controlling most of Darfur, key oil infrastructure, parts of central Sudan and much of the capital itself, he said an army victory is also unlikely. "Even if they succeed in taking control of Khartoum, which is very difficult, sending forces to regain areas of Darfur from RSF control would be a massive logistical challenge." To get from Khartoum to El Geneina, on Sudan's western border, the army would have to fight across over 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) -- about the distance between Berlin and Kyiv. bur/bha/jsa/mca The Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police has announced he will step down from the role next year. Chris Haward said on Monday that he was leaving the force to take up a new job with the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC). He said the decision to move on after three years at the helm has been "unexpected" and "immensely difficult". He will leave his role in February and become the NPCC's UK coordinator, tackling serious and organised crime. "I did not expect to be leaving Lincolnshire at this point, but an unexpected opportunity has arisen and it's time for a new challenge," he said. "I'm really proud to have served as Chief Constable in Lincolnshire Police and of the people who serve in this force." Lincolnshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones said Mr Haward had been a "dedicated" and "hardworking" police chief who had "worked tirelessly to create a police force equipped to tackle modern crime and to keep our communities safe". Before joining Lincolnshire Police in December 2020, Mr Haward was head of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit. Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk Lithuania will donate the funds from fines for non-compliance with international and national sanctions to the Development Cooperation Fund for Ukraine's recovery. Source: LRT, a Lithuanian public broadcaster Details: LRT noted that an amendment to the law On Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, supported by 99 members of the Lithuanian parliament, provides for this. Based on the amendment, the fund will receive funds from fines and confiscated assets in case of non-compliance with international or national sanctions. The amendment also clarifies that these funds will be used exclusively to support measures related to the recovery and rebuilding of Ukraine after the Russian aggression. This amendment will be effective for ten years, until January 2034. "The goal is for Lithuania to make a joint contribution to Ukraine's recovery and to demonstrate its strong commitment to supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression," said Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Jovita Neliupsiene, presenting the project in parliament. The official said Lithuania would act to facilitate Ukraine's recovery on its own rather than waiting for a decision from the European Union or at international level. Under the Code of Administrative Offences, violation of international sanctions or restrictive measures imposed by Lithuanian law is punishable by a fine of 200 to 6,000. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry initiated this amendment. "Such a step would demonstrate Lithuania's firm stance in supporting Ukraine, suffering from Russian aggression, and would contribute to the efforts of the international community to ensure the fundamental principle that the aggressor must pay for the damage it has caused," the project's cover letter reads. The foreign ministry estimated the damage Russia has caused in Ukraine at 700 billion. The European Union has imposed sanctions on 1,473 Russian and Belarusian citizens and 207 legal entities. These sanctions have resulted in the freezing of assets worth 215 billion in EU member states, as well as the immobilisation of assets of Russia's Central Bank worth around 300 billion in the EU and G7 countries. Support UP or become our patron! SPRINGVILLE, Utah (ABC4) The Springville Police Department has identified the victim killed during a shooting on Saturday as Michael Mayer, 23. Mayers family said he was someone who lived to serve others and would do nearly anything for someone in need. The family said he was someone who loved fishing and gaming with his brother. BACKGROUND: 3 in custody after SWAT standoff in Springville, 1 dead Being a son, brother and uncle, he will be missed by family, who he cared about deeply, said the Springville Police Department in a statement. We send our thoughts and prayers to Michaels family and friends. Mayer was killed early Saturday morning, Nov. 18, after being gunned down with multiple shots in his Springville apartment near 200 South and 100 West, according to police. First responders took Mayer to the hospital and attempted life-saving measures, but he later died from his injuries. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now ABC4 Breaking News Alerts The shooting led to a lengthy standoff at the apartment complex, leading to police detaining three people, including Amanda Bird, 43. Bird allegedly told police she heard yelling and then multiple gunshots. Another suspect, whose identity has been withheld, as he has not been officially booked by police, exited the apartment and told Bird to mind her own business and stay in the house. First responders reportedly spotted Bird and said she appeared to be hiding from them. She allegedly ran to her apartment and locked herself in with the other suspect. Bird reportedly called police dispatch several times asking why police were at her house. Dispatch said they could hear what sounded like a man crying in the background and another person consoling him. Bird allegedly refused to listen to police commands, opening the door, screaming obscenities at police and slamming the door shut again, according to court documents. Bird and two others were eventually detained by police. According to court documents, when Bird was asked about the incident, she first claimed that one of the suspects had shot and killed Mayer. Police say she later changed her story saying she felt like she was backed into a corner and had to say the suspect killed Mayer in order to avoid going to jail. Bird claimed the suspect did not kill anyone and she did not know anything about what happened, according to court documents. She was booked on a second-degree felony charge of obstruction of justice and a misdemeanor charge of failure to stop at the command of law enforcement. Neither of the other two detained have been officially booked by law enforcement as of Monday morning. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. The former co-chair of the January 6 investigation in the House brawled with Senator Mike Lee, a fellow Republican, on X, formerly Twitter, over the weekend after he resurfaced a conspiracy regarding the attack on the Capitol. Mr Lee, a conservative on the right wing of the US Senate, pointed to recently-released footage of Capitol Police officers having relatively peaceful interactions with riot participants as evidence that Donald Trumps supporters were actually welcomed into the Capitol during the attack. His tweets came more than two years after the attack, as Congress continues to be host to dueling narratives regarding the events of that day. Democrats, moderate Republicans and law enforcement agencies involved in the response have embraced the reality of the situation that a handful of moments where officers sought to concede ground to the rioters peacefully were not indicative of the majority of interactions between the rioters and police. Dozens of injuries and at least one death suffered by members of US Capitol Police reinforce the absurdity of the alternate view shared by some Republicans that the rioters had peaceful intentions and were merely tourists. In his latest go at embracing alternate realities aimed at shifting blame for the attack, Mr Lee retweeted a Republican lawmaker from West Virginia who wrongly asserted that one rioter seen on video passing several Capitol Police officers was displaying a government ID of some sort to those officers. I cant wait to ask FBI Director Christopher Wray about this at our next oversight hearing, wrote the senator. Liz Cheney, who served as the Republican co-chair of the House committee which investigated the attack, responded with an admonishment. Youre a lawyer, Mike. Youre capable of understanding the scores of J6 verdicts & rulings in our federal courts, she tweeted. You didnt object to electors on J6 because you knew what Trump was doing was unconstitutional & you know what youre doing now is wrong. Youre a lawyer, Mike. Youre capable of understanding the scores of J6 verdicts & rulings in our federal courts. E.g. https://t.co/wEDNB165Za. You didnt object to electors on J6 because you knew what Trump was doing was unconstitutional & you know what youre doing now is wrong https://t.co/uGibe7lapH Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) November 20, 2023 A Twitter community note attached to the screenshot retweeted by Mr Lee correctly noted that the man pointed out as a supposed federal agent had gone on to be convicted of felony obstruction of official proceedings and disorderly conduct; he has been sentenced to four years in prison. The supposed badge in the image retweeted by the senator is actually an item stolen from the office of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which was ransacked by the supposedly peaceful crowd. Mr Lee is far from alone among his congressional GOP colleagues in his attempts to minimise the severity of the attack itself or shift blame to the FBI and other federal agencies with baseless claims of false flags and federal agents supposedly driving the crowd to violence. Those claims have been soundly rejected by every law enforcement agency involved in the response that day, as well as Americas intelligence agencies not to mention the statements of rioters themselves. Trump White House officials such as chief of staff Mark Meadows have also been revealed to have known that the protest would likely devolve into violence days before it occurred, even as the president continued to urge his supporters to converge on Washington. In an interview with Action News Jax, local resident Mike Hightower - who worked closely with the Carters during their 1976 White House campaign - shared his vivid memories following the passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. READ: Rosalynn Carter, wife of the 39th President of the US, dead at 96 Hightower, who first encountered the Carters in 1974, eventually took on a significant role in managing their campaign in Florida and Duval County. Recalling the fond memories, Hightower mentioned, She was just so warm and friendly. The 96-year-old former First Lady passed away on Sunday, leaving behind a legacy of advocacy for mental health and various causes. Despite her prominence, Hightower emphasized the Carters loyalty to those who worked for them. They had aqueduct, and it was leaking. So it was the biggest loan at that time of the agency, he explained, pointing to a historical picture from 1978. Reflecting on his involvement in the campaign, Hightower shared, I was a school teacher and resigned my job to work in the campaign. At 32, he appointed me State Director of Farmers Home Administration. The couple, married for 77 years, made a significant impact on Hightowers life, and he expressed that Rosalynn Carters legacy extends beyond her role as the First Lady. She also took one of her passions, which was caregivers. Which was sort of ironic in that she went into hospice, and of course, there were caregivers, and the President was there, he added. As the nation mourns the loss of Rosalynn Carter, funeral arrangements are yet to be announced. Action News Jax will continue to provide updates on this evolving story. [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. At Petersburg Area Art League in Old Towne, John Rooney poses by the portrait he captured at historic Battersea during a Revolutionary War reenactment of the late Herb Watson playing the flute. John A. Rooney Jr., a familiar face to many, can often be spotted in Petersburg capturing memories with his lens. Photography has been a passion of his for over 70 years. Photographer Pablo Brown reached out to The Progress-Index to share his friend's incredible journey. "A journey implies traversing a terrain, but a photographer can use photographs to travel in time, transporting us to a distant past or an imagined future," Brown said. "Like many photographers, John's journey in the world of photography was an unintentional one." Rooney's passion for photography ignited at age 12 after he received a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye film camera for Christmas in 1951. Photographer John A. Rooney Jr.'s favorite image named "Laura." He captured this little girl donning Colonial attire at a Revolutionary War Reenactment held at historic Battersea in Petersburg. In photography competitions, the portrait placed second and received an Honorable Mention as well. "John never looked back. Shooting with the simplest, least perfect, camera allowed him to awaken his picture-taking creativity and take photography to the next level," Brown said. "Even in his later years, making the transition from film to digital only added to his excitement and he wholeheartedly embraced the new technology." Rooney is, and has been, a great asset anywhere he points and shoots. His images document history, memories to some, for future generations. What type of storytelling moments are his favorites? "I enjoy attempting to capture the beauty of Petersburg, taking photos of Petersburgs historic houses and buildings, photos of civic events such as Battersea Revolutionary War Reenactment, photos of Old Towne and other historic places and scenic locations," Rooney said. Brown stepped back in time to discover Rooney's path and how his passion developed over the years. U.S. Army soldier John A. Rooney Jr. in South Korea. John A. Rooney Jr.: Photography journey In 1959, Rooney enlisted in the U.S. Army. His interest in photography grew while he served his country. In the Army's film developing lab, he learned how to develop and edit black and white film. In South Korea from 1960-1961, his passion for photography spread across his organization where he was appointed as the company's unofficial photographer. "This soldier wasted no time in his assigned duties and quickly realized that you cant take good pictures while just hanging around the barracks," Brown said. "While in Korea, Rooney purchased a Petri 2.8 35mm film camera and began shooting Army day-to-day living, the countrys culture and its people." A Korean man rests after he carried a large load of firewood. The U.S. Army soldier traveled with his camera everywhere he went, visiting interesting places and documenting many company training events. During tactical patrol marches, he could be found hiking the trails alongside the soldiers, taking photos of the marching columns, skillfully working his way from the front to the rear, as he says, "to get the perfect shots." Rooneys inspirations in photography didnt restrict him just to the military base. He became deeply moved to document a photo series on a Korean childrens orphanage. He also walked the Korean countryside and took many record shots of the Korean people and their environment. A new orphanage in South Korea. The girl at the top rings a bell made out of an empty artillery shell casing. "After his honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, John worked with Virginia Department of Transportation [VDOT] on their survey crew and later transferred to the drafting room where he worked on highway design projects and became a 'Table Head,' Brown said. In 1966, Rooney left VDOT and began his 43 years with Colonial Heights's Engineering Department. His duties included surveying, drafting, construction design, stakeout and inspections, and reviewing subdivision and construction site plans. At age 70, he retired with the position of Senior Engineering Technician. During the evenings while working for the city of Colonial Heights, Rooney took photography courses at Brightpoint Community College, formerly John Tyler Community College. He studied black and white and color film photography, camera operation, relationship between aperture and shutter, photo editing, developing and processing black and white and color film. He also studied flash and studio lighting. Aerial looking north along Adams St. with Appomattox River, Petersburg Harbor, Bollingbrook and Bank Streets. "John honed his photography skills by enrolling in Photoshop classes and attending photography seminars in Washington, D.C. and in Richmond," Brown said. In July 2009, Rooney and Dene Sharbono founded Cockade City Camera Club [CCCC]. Rooney served as president for 10 consecutive years. The club welcomes beginners to advanced photographers, individuals of all ages and people from any geographical location. "One of the biggest benefits of our club is just getting to interact with and learn from other photographers, Rooney said. John A. Rooney Jr. shares one of his images with a fellow Cockade City Camera Club member. The meetings were first held at At the Globe," a former event and banquet venue on N. Sycamore St. in Petersburg. The monthly meetings have been held at Petersburg Area Art League [PAAL] since the end of 2009. They consist of educational programs as well as in-person print competitions. According to Brown, the programs have covered a variety of photography-related subjects with presentations on everything from studio, bird, wedding and abstract photography, to printing techniques, advertising photography, psychology of photography and even travelogues. "Our members have also embarked on monthly field trips to a variety of locations around Petersburg and Richmond Virginia, everywhere from a walk along the Appomattox River or along High St. in Petersburg to trips to Belle Isle or the downtown waterfront flood wall of Richmond," Brown said. "John took his role as president very seriously and through his actions, new and current members were offered the opportunity to become better acquainted as well as to learn about each other's enthusiasm for photography." A print competition was scheduled once a month where three winners were selected by judges, CCCC members who were present. The organization also hosted an annual studio photography workshop and participated in photo walks where members would go around Petersburg or Richmond to capture places and people. In the center, John A. Rooney Jr. speaks with Cockade City Camera Club members during an Appomattox River Trail Walk in 2014. Behind the Lens: Up-close with John A. Rooney Jr. Whether its portraits of people or scenic landscapes, Rooney delights in telling meaningful stories through the lens of his camera. Brown interviewed Rooney to learn more about his journey in photography and how the CCCC honed his passion to make pictures come alive. What does photography mean to you? "Its a great way to preserve history. I love capturing people, historic records of events, historic places and structures." What do you like to photograph most in your free time? "Any shot that has great natural lighting. Any of Petersburgs historic buildings, no matter their condition, natures beauty, natural beauty, Blandford Cemetery, etc." Cockcade City Camera Club print competition entries on display at the former event venue "At the Globe" on N. Sycamore St. in Petersburg in December 2014. What is for you the most rewarding thing being a photographer? "The Cockade City Camera Club was successful because there was a great need by local photographers to have a place to meet, socialize and discuss photography. In my opinion, this club has fulfilled that need and it continues to do so admirably." If you advise someone who wants to start a career as a photographer, what would you say? "Learn the basics F stops [aka f-number, the number that displays on a camera or lens as the size of aperture is adjusted], shutter speed and American Standard Association [ASA]. Learn the relationship between these three items. Also, learn how to develop film and edit film in a darkroom. Learn how to crop your photos. Take courses in Photoshop, Lightroom and many other photo editing software products." A view of the Appomattox River looking East from beneath Campbell's Bridge in Petersburg. The rock walls, previously under water, were exposed after the removal of the Harvell Dam. What is your favorite lens and why? "I have two 'workhorse' lenses. These are a full-frame Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm, 1:3.5-5.6 G and a Nikon AF-S 18-35mm1:3.5-4.5 G." What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking photos? "For some reason, I never studied cropping. I learned the importance of this about the time the Cockade City Camera Club was being formed. Dene Sharbono gave a fine presentation on cropping at our very first meeting. It took me a year or so to finally get the gist of it." Participants run on the 2016 Petersburg Half-Marathon and 5K course. When you go out to shoot, do you take any essential items other than a camera and lens? "I always take a spare memory card and an extra charged camera battery. Be sure to take a lens cleaning kit, flashlight and tripod when needed. I also have a good quality Nikon flash that is matched with my camera as well as a selection of reflectors and diffusers for the flash." What are your favorite settings? "I like to shoot in program mode with bracketing set on three and ISO [International Standardization Organization] set manually. When there is a special scene, I can shoot in manual mode." A peaceful scene captured by photographer John A. Rooney Jr. at Petersburg National Battlefield park. What kind of tools do you use for post-processing? Whats your workflow like? "Over the years, I have used many post-processing programs. Today Photoshop is my main tool with some Lightroom work." According to Rooney, he always tries to capture shots that portray realness, candidness and emotions. In his landscape portraiture, he likes shots that are vibrant, wide, clean and warm. He also likes to focus on the texture of food in photos. Nathaniel Friend House Dependencies, circa 1817: Cockade Alley, Petersburg, Va. Rooney's community involvement over the years includes: Trustee of Historic Petersburg Foundation, 2010-2015, 2017-2020 Board member of Historic Blandford Cemetery Foundation, 2009-present Board member of Willcox Watershed Conservancy, formerly Lee Park, now Petersburg Legends Historical Park, 2009-2019 Vice Chairman of Colonial Heights Historical Commission, 2014 Chairman of Colonial Heights Historical Commission, 2015 to present Member of Colonial Heights Appomattox River Trail Committee, 2007 to present [currently inactive] Board member of the Colonial Heights Historical Society, 2011 to present Cockade City Camera Club president 2009-2019, immediate past president 2020, board member 2021, and member 2022 to present Snow on the gate of a home on High St. in Petersburg. Life lessons: John A. Rooney Jr. "Its difficult to encapsulate the totality of John's world of photography in this profile, simply because its a long journey that continues to evolve, even to this day," Brown of Chester said. "John conjured up a few lessons that he has learned to live by every day." Rooney of Colonial Heights shared, "Consider shooting a style or topic you like and stay with it. For example, I try to capture realism. My topics are local civic events, historic buildings, before and after restoration and historic areas. Over a period of time, you will become known for your work within those selected topics. Cockade City Camera Club members watch a slide show presentation during their monthly meeting at Petersburg Area Art league in June 2021. "Lastly, take some courses in leadership. I was very lucky to take a Dale Carnegie course in the early 1970s. The textbook we studied was his book titled 'How to Make Friends and Influence People.'" It was a joy to work with Brown to feature a fellow photographer who shares his incredible photography, time and skills with the community. The CCCC meets at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of the month at PAAL, however, they do not meet in December. For more information about the CCCC, send an email to cockadecitycameraclub@gmail.com. Read this story at Progress-Index.com to view more of Rooney's images. Trio wins bragging rights, cool trophy Chesterfield: Check out awesome pumpkin carving contest entries, winning design Surry: Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia Native American powwow: 'It's all about our history. It's all about our friendship' Kristi K. Higgins aka The Social Butterfly, an award-winning columnist, is the trending topics and food Q&A reporter at The Progress-Index voted the 2022 Tri-Cities Best of the Best Social Media Personality. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Contact Kristi (she, her) at khiggins@progress-index.com, follow @KHiggins_PI on Twitter @socialbutterflykristi on Instagram. Your support is vital to local journalism. Please subscribe. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Colonial Heights resident shares images, 70-year photography journey As Thanksgiving is approaching quickly, one local sheriffs office will be increasing patrol over the holiday weekend. >> 2-year-old pulls gun from moms purse, fires shot inside Ohio Walmart Starting Wednesday, the Miami County Sheriffs Office will station extra deputies, according to Miami County Sheriff Dave Duchak. These deputies will work to limit crashes on Miami County roadways starting Wednesday, Nov. 22 until Sunday, Nov. 26. The additional enforcement will focus on locating and removing impaired drivers, seatbelt enforcement, speeders, stop sign violators and other infractions that cause crashes, Duchak said. The deputies will be working across various time frames and throughout the county to make sure everyone has a safe Thanksgiving. >> Rosalynn Carter: Funeral for former first lady set for Nov. 29 According to Duchak, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend has frequently seen an increase in crashes, including crashes where at least one driver is impaired. The sheriffs office urges motorists to have a designated driver if they choose to drink. The Miami County Sheriffs Office received a grant from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office to fund this extra enforcement. A local high school teacher received an award from the state for incorporating art into her curriculum. >> 2-year-old pulls gun from moms purse, fires shot inside Ohio Walmart Springfield High School German teacher Nicole Sage received the Distinguished Educator in Art Education award from the Ohio Art Education Association (OAEA), according to a spokesperson from the district. This award recognizes teachers who incorporate and celebrate art in their curriculum, without being an art teacher. Sage has been teaching high school German for 25 years and her students refer to her as Frau Sage, the spokesperson said. Some of Sages lessons include having students write and illustrate childrens books in German, create a Holocaust remembrance quilt, paint national flag murals, and recreate German, Austrian, and Swiss architecture. >> Persons of interest in shooting that killed local teen IDd; $5,000 reward offered for information Nikis honest and genuine approach to life, as well as her profound conviction that art and culture are indefinitely intertwined allows her students to not only experience an amazing educator but also an incredible spirit, Springfield High School Lead Principal Lisa Cunningham said. Sage has also served in several student club advisory positions, including the National Honor Society. On Nov. 16, Safe was also presented with the 25-Year Service Award by the Springfield City School District to honor her dedication to the students of Springfield. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Monday respectively sent congratulatory letters to the 10th meeting of the dialogue mechanism between the ruling parties of China and Russia. In his congratulatory letter, Xi extended warm congratulations on the convening of the meeting. He said that at present, changes unseen in a century are unfolding at an ever faster pace and the world has entered a new period of disorder and transformation. China-Russia relations have withstood the severe test of changes in the international landscape, maintained a high level of development, set an example of a new model of major-country relations, and played a more prominent strategic role in achieving global stability and development. Noting that next year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Russia diplomatic ties, Xi said China is ready to work with Russia to grasp the general trend of history, firmly develop relations featuring permanent good-neighborly friendship, comprehensive strategic coordination and mutually beneficial cooperation, and vigorously promote the development and revitalization of both countries to inject more stability and positive energy into the world. Xi pointed out that the exchanges and cooperation between the CPC and the United Russia party form an important part of China-Russia relations in the new era, and the dialogue mechanism between the ruling parties of China and Russia has developed into a unique channel and platform for the two countries to consolidate political mutual trust, enhance strategic coordination and promote mutually beneficial cooperation. It is hoped that the two parties will take the 10th meeting of the dialogue mechanism as an opportunity to demonstrate the responsibility of major parties and countries, enrich exchanges in the new era, create a new situation of institutionalized exchanges and cooperation, and contribute more to the development of China-Russia relations in the new era, safeguarding international fairness and justice, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, Xi said. Putin said in his congratulatory letter that the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is at the highest level in history, and the two countries are working together to advance a number of large-scale cooperation projects in the fields of economy, transportation, energy and culture, among others. The two countries are coordinating positions through bilateral channels and multilateral mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS to resolve major international issues and promote the building of a more just and democratic international order. As the ruling parties of Russia and China, the United Russia party and the CPC have carried out high-level and constructive interactions and promoted the rapid development of bilateral cooperation in various fields, Putin said. The central committee organs and local institutions of the two parties have maintained institutionalized interactions, exchanged useful experience on party building, legislation and social work, and held in-depth discussions on a series of practical issues on the bilateral and international agendas, he added. Putin expressed the belief that the 10th meeting of the dialogue mechanism will be meaningful and constructive, and further promote and deepen the fruitful cooperation between Russia and China. Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Sheriff's deputies were summoned to a Florida home to remove a cold-blooded burglar -- an alligator. The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a home where a resident was seeking help removing the "unusual houseguest." "Turns out, our deputies are now certified in Alligator Wrangling 101," the post said. The alligator was safely captured by the deputies and relocated to the Emerald Coast wildlife refuge. A dog with the saddest eyes was rescued from a busy interstate and now he needs a new home, a North Carolina shelter said. The dog aptly named Lucky got a second chance after he was found running loose at an interstate exit in early November. A driver spotted him and pulled over, Burlington Animal Services wrote Nov. 18 in a Facebook post. The dog came right to the woman along Interstate 85, a thoroughfare that connects Charlotte, Atlanta and other major Southeastern cities. The rescue was reported in the Burlington area, where I-85 is combined with Interstate 40. The woman, described as a nice angel, brought Lucky to her own home overnight before going to the shelter the next day. She also took time to let Burlington Animal Services know more about the dog, officials said. He was so sweet, loves toys (especially soft ones) and seems to be a snuggler, the woman said in the Facebook post. He has the saddest eyes. I know he is a great dog, he just needs a chance. After attempts to find Luckys owner were unsuccessful, he went up for adoption. He still needed a home as of Nov. 20, Laura Michel, a spokesperson for Burlington Animal Services, told McClatchy News in a phone interview. Lucky, estimated to be about 1 year old, already knows how to sit and do other training skills. The dog also tested positive for heartworms, and treatment is included in his adoption fee, the shelter said. More information about adoption can be found at burlingtonnc.gov/visitBAS, petadoption@burlingtonnc.gov or in person at the shelter, roughly 25 miles east of Greensboro. All of her puppies got adopted. But NC shelter dog still needs a home after 400 days Dog owners couldnt afford surgery, NC shelter says. Then came a flood of donations An Ohio man is accused of killing his 4-month-old baby, 9-year-old child and wife before killing himself, police say. Lorain police were called to the familys neighborhood at about 10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 19 after someone reported loose dogs running in the area. A neighbor told police the dogs belonged to people in an upstairs apartment in a nearby building, Lt. Jacob Morris said at a news conference streamed by WJW. Morris said when officers arrived at the apartment, the door was open. They walked in and saw a man, later identified as 29-year-old Tyler Young, dead on the ground in the living room. A 9 mm pistol was found next to Young, police said. As officers walked through the apartment, they found Tyler Youngs wife, 24-year-old Skylar Young, and their son, 4-month-old Bandin Young, Morris said. Both were dead with gunshot wounds, he said. Officers then found the body of Skylar Youngs 9-year-old daughter Angel Isaac, who had also been shot, Morris said at the news conference. Police believe they were killed between 1 a.m. and 10 a.m., due to the dogs being loose during that time, Morris said. The investigation is still ongoing, though the facts and evidence are currently leading the Lorain Police Department to determine this to be a murder-suicide committed by Tyler Young, Morris said. Police said they found three guns in the apartment and there was a history of domestic violence. In May, police were called to a business parking lot and Tyler Young was accused of strangling and physically assaulting Skylar Young. A family member told police that Tyler Young had a mental health episode during the May incident, but Morris said police had not confirmed if he had an official diagnosis. Lorain is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. If you are experiencing domestic violence and need someone to talk to, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for support at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. Nobody picked up child after school then came grim discovery at Texas home, cops say Daddys stabbing mommy. Man kills wife while 8-year-old girl was home, Texas cops say Estranged husband kills wife getting home from work, then stabs woman, Texas cops say LORAIN, Ohio (WJW) Lorain police are investigating after finding four dead bodies inside a home Sunday morning. Police were first called to a residence on East 9th Street around 10 a.m. for complaints dogs were out in the area. Cleveland firetruck involved in accident Exploring the property, investigators found one of the doors was not secure and went inside, finding four people dead, including two young kids and two adults, police reported. Police are not identifying the people at this time. No further information has been released at this time. Check back for updates on this developing story. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. A 23-year-old Loris man used stolen credit card information to buy Dominos pizza and pre-paid cellular service, according to a police report. Lewis Michael Wilson faces nine charges of financial transaction card fraud after being arrested by Conway Police Department on Nov. 16. Six of those charges involved Wilson purchasing food from Dominos Pizza, the report said. Wilson ordered $166.32 worth of food online, according to an arrest warrant. He also charged $84.41 to Straight Talk, a pre-paid cell phone service provider, and $71.95 to utility service provider Santee Cooper. On Sept. 11, the victim contacted police saying that he was on vacation in North Carolina when he noticed multiple charges on his credit card that he did not authorize. The man said he had his physical credit card in his wallet and the charges began on Sept. 4. It is not clear from the police report how the credit card information was stolen. The victim said he does not have Straight Talk and has never ordered food from the Dominos store, located at 1227 16th Ave. in Conway, the report said. According to the store receipt, the food was ordered as carry-out and picked up. Police attempted to use video footage from the store to see who picked up the food, but because the credit card transactions were processed at the end of the night, the manager told police she wouldnt know what time of day the person would have come into the store. A man became a millionaire with a scratch-off ticket purchased in Missouri, but his reaction startled his unaware dog. The lottery player from Taney County said he purchased two Millionaire Blowout tickets in Walnut Shade and brought them back to his home. I was sitting at home not doing nothing, he told Missouri Lottery officials in a Monday, Nov. 20, news release. Id bought two tickets, and the first one I scratched I won a million dollars on! I had to yell after I added up what it came to. Millionaire Blowout costs $50 to play and offers 21 prizes of $1 million. There are also four $5 million prizes. My dog was laying on the floor and I said Well, I wont tell you what I said, the winner said. But she jumped up and ran over to me like, Whats wrong? He said he plans to use his winnings to donate to local schools and buy a new boat. Walnut Shade is about 10 miles northeast of Branson. Lottery player reads Facebook post about a Powerball winner in Missouri. It was her Lottery player was that guy that never wins. His luck changed with 1 Missouri ticket Man waiting for wife scratches winning lottery ticket in Missouri. Amazing birthday (Bloomberg) -- President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has decided to put relations between Brazil and Argentina on hold until he has clarity about the incoming administrations plan to deal with its largest trading partner in South America, according to Brazilian government officials familiar with the strategy. Most Read from Bloomberg Lula, whos been a close ally of Peronist governments in Argentina, on Sunday wished good luck and success to the government of Javier Milei without mentioning the president-elect by name. In a post on social media, he said Brazil will always be ready to work together with our Argentine brothers. But that is as far as hell go. After being called by Milei a communist with whom he wouldnt deal in an interview with Bloomberg News, Lula will now wait for the new Argentine government to reach out to Brazil through institutional channels to decide how to proceed, the officials said, requesting anonymity to discuss the strategy. That means a traditional call to congratulate the president-elect is unlikely to happen any time soon. Also, Lula isnt holding his breath for an invitation to attend Mileis Dec. 10 inauguration, although he would consider going if a gesture of reconciliation is made, the officials said. A spokesperson for Milei declined to comment. Lula did make clear his support for Economy Minister Sergio Massa during the presidential race, asking Argentines to consider the future of regional integration when casting their vote. A team of campaign strategists who helped the Brazilian president defeat Jair Bolsonaro last year was also dispatched to Buenos Aires in August to work on Massas campaign. Read More: Javier Milei Gets a Challenge From Team That Beat Jair Bolsonaro While Lulas interference didnt help to ease tensions, Brazil is betting that Milei will eventually tone down his rhetoric to maintain working relations with a key trading partner, one that has been advocating on Argentinas behalf at multilateral lenders such as the International Monetary Fund and the New Development Bank from BRICS countries. Lula, they said, wouldnt want to see ideological differences overshadowing Brasilias historic relationship with Buenos Aires. And while Milei may reject a recent invitation to join the BRICS group led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, it would be way more painful to pull Argentina out of the Mercosur trade bloc, they added. The South American customs union formed by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay is an important instrument of regional integration thats negotiating trade deals that would matter to Argentina, including with the European Union and Singapore. Read More: Milei Opens a New Era: What Comes Next in Argentina Policymaking --With assistance from Manuela Tobias. (Updates with no comment from Mileis spokesperson, adds detail on Lula backing Massa starting in sixth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg - a small country landlocked by Belgium, France and Germany - is a prominent financial centre. With roots stretching back to the 10th Century, Luxembourg's history is closely intertwined with that of its more powerful neighbours, especially Germany. Many of its inhabitants are trilingual in French, German and Luxembourgish. Despite declaring its neutrality, Luxembourg was occupied by Germany during both World Wars. After renewed occupation in World War Two, Luxembourg abandoned its neutrality and became a front-rank enthusiast for international co-operation. Luxembourg's prosperity was formerly based on steel manufacturing. With the decline of that industry, Luxembourg diversified and is now best known for its status as Europe's most powerful investment management centre. Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG: FACTS Capital: Luxembourg city Area: 2,586 sq km Population: 645,400 Languages: Luxembourgish, also French, German Life expectancy: 79 years (men) 84 years (women) LEADERS Head of state: Grand Duke Henri Luxembourg's Grand Duke Henri The ruling Grand Duke of Luxembourg succeeded to the title in 2000, on the abdication of his father Jean. He had already exercised the constitutional powers of the monarch since 1998. Born in 1955, the future Grand Duke Henri studied politics in Geneva, where he met his Cuban wife Maria Teresa. He later underwent officer training at Britain's Sandhurst Academy. The head of state's constitutional role is largely ceremonial. In 2008, following a bitter controversy over euthanasia parliament rescinded the Grand Duke's veto powers after Henri opposed the pro-euthanasia law on religious grounds. Prime Minister: Luc Frieden Luc Frieden Luc Frieden became Luxembourg's Prime Minister in November 2023 following six weeks of talks after the October 2023 elections, which saw his Christian Social People's Party (CSV), Luxembourg's long-dominant centre-right party, slightly increasing its vote share. The incumbent coalition led by Xavier Bettel's ruling coalition lost its majority due to a decline in support for the The Greens. Frieden, a former finance minister, leads a coalition of his own Christian Social People's Party and the liberal party of former Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, who has taken over as the country's foreign minister. MEDIA Luxembourg street scene Luxembourg exerts immense media clout and has a long tradition of operating radio and TV services for pan-European audiences, including those in France, Germany and the UK. Generations of British listeners grew up with Radio Luxembourg, which beamed pop music programmes into the UK. "The Great 208" is no more, but media group RTL is still a key player in media markets across Europe. Luxembourg's media empire extends to the skies. It is home to Europe's largest satellite operator, Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES), which operates the Astra fleet. TIMELINE An EU finance ministers meeting in the European Council building in Luxembourg: The country was one of the founding members of what is now the European Union Some key dates in the history of Luxembourg: 1839 - Treaty of London gives the western part of the country to the recently-created state of Belgium - giving Luxembourg its modern-day borders. 1866 - Luxembourg crisis nearly sees war between France and Prussia as neither is willing concede influence in Luxembourg to its rival. The crisis is solved by an agreement on Luxembourg's independence and neutrality at the Second Treaty of London in 1867. 1914 - Outbreak of World War One. Luxembourg is occupied by Germany until 1918. 1920 - Luxembourg joins the League of Nations. 1921 - Luxembourg enters economic union with Belgium. The use of the Belgian currency in Luxembourg is permitted. 1940-44 - Luxembourg is again occupied by Germany during World War Two. 1948 - Luxembourg abandons its neutrality and forms an economic union with Belgium and the Netherlands - the Benelux countries. 1949 - Luxembourg joins Nato. 1957 - Luxembourg becomes founder member of the European Economic Community (now the European Union) which comes into effect in January 1958. 1964 - Grand Duchess Charlotte abdicates in favour of her son, who becomes Grand Duke Jean. 1992 - Luxembourg adopts the Maastricht Treaty creating the European Union. 2000 - Crown Prince Henri becomes Grand Duke of Luxembourg on the abdication of his father, Jean. 2002 - Euro introduced as national currency. 2008 - Parliament approves reform restricting the monarch to a purely ceremonial role after Grand Duke Henri's threat to block a bill legalising euthanasia sparks a constitutional crisis. 2009 - G20 adds Luxembourg to "grey list" of countries with questionable banking arrangements. Shortly afterwards the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) commends Luxembourg for improving financial transparency with agreements with a dozen countries. 2014 - Luxembourg's parliament votes to legalise same-sex marriage. The so-called LuxLeaks scandal casts light on how Luxembourg helped hundreds of multi-national companies - Apple, Ikea, and Pepsi among them - save billions of dollars in tax payments. 2016 - In a continuation of the so-called LuxLeaks scandal, two former employees of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers are given suspended prison sentences for leaking confidential documents revealing corporate tax deals. Luxembourg city: Luxembourg's independent history dates back to 963 No, Jack Miller tells me, I am not at all surprised by what has been happening on college campuses the past few weeks. Students for Justice in Palestine has been very active on campuses across the country for many, many years. Theyre very organized. Theyre well-funded by our friends in Iran, he explained. But on a deeper level, he said, Im not surprised about young people joining in (because) theyve had a lousy education. Miller, 95, is the founder of the Jack Miller Center for Teaching Americas Founding Principles and History. And as many donors to higher education struggle to understand how elite universities became hotbeds for the celebration of murder, anti-Americanism and antisemitism and how to fix it, Miller has some thoughts. Instead of e pluribus unum, they have e unum pluribus, Miller notes of the current trend. While intersectionality is relatively recent, the idea that people can be reduced to their group identity has been around for some time and runs contrary to the idea of the United States as a nation of individuals who are all created equal. Its an idea that comes straight out of the Torah, says Miller, who is Jewish. They all came from Adam, all created in the image of God. But now he notes that campus progressives only think in terms of the oppressor and the oppressed. As soon as Israel became a strong country, in Millers view, then liberals would no longer defend it. Miller did not have a lot of experience with elite higher education until about 20 years ago. He grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in Chicago, worked a lot of odd jobs, went to the University of Illinois, and then started a mail-order office supply company by going door to door. That company, Quill, was eventually purchased by Staples in 1998 for $685 million, at which point Miller had a little more time to pay attention to what college kids were up to. Related He noticed how few students had read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution or the Federalist Papers, and how they didnt understand the basic ideas on which the country was built. In the years since its founding, the Miller Center has trained more than a thousand professors with seminars and lectures on the American founding, as well as supporting their work and initiatives on more than 300 campuses. They estimate having reached more than a million college students with these important ideas. And more recently, the center has moved into K-12 education and the professors are now conducting trainings for elementary and high school teachers. They run programs to celebrate Constitution Day and to ensure that more children understand civics. Miller laments that many colleges have abandoned traditions of civil dialogue and rational debate. If you want to learn something, which is what universities are supposed to be about, then they should have a lot of freedom of speech. He went on: Somebody could say, Well, I think socialism is a terrific thing. And the next guy says, Yeah, but you know what? Show me any socialist nation thats been successful, and so on, and you go back and forth. But whats happening on campus right now is not that. In one of the few pessimistic notes he sounds during our conversation, Miller says, Im not afraid of the country were leaving our kids, Im afraid of the kids were leaving our country. Jack Miller speaks during the Jack Miller Centers Teach for Freedom gala event held in his honor in Chicago on Sept. 7, 2023. | Jack Miller Center for Teaching Americas Founding Principles and History The center doesnt generally work with college administrators. Miller knows how easily university leaders can redirect funds. Early in his philanthropic career, he gave several million dollars for the creation of three laboratories to study peripheral neuropathy, a condition he has. But a few years in, it turned out that the labs were working on other things. I was stupid in those days because I gave money with the only condition being that I could get back any unspent amount. Now, he says, he is a big believer in donor intent. Donors have to be more specific. They have to say, OK, Ill give you money, but Im not giving charity. Im making an investment. And just as I would in business, I expect a return on my investment for this specific purpose. He has watched as donors have given hundreds of millions of dollars to colleges and universities who already have huge endowments. Miller mentions Citadel CEO Ken Griffins recent donation of $300 million to Harvard. He gave all that money with no conditions, to use any way they want. Well, look how theyre using it. They dont have to fund the Miller Center, of course, but if those guys take that money and throw it into organizations that align exactly with what their goals and ideas, that could make a huge difference. He recalls the words of his father-in-law, who gave him a small loan to start his first business: Nothing happens until you get an order. Well, he adds, nothing happens until you get funding. On a smaller scale, Miller recommends getting Wilfred McClays history of the United States, Land of Hope, into the hands of more American teenagers. We could do a lot, he said. Naomi Schaefer Riley is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Deseret News contributor and the author of No Way to Treat a Child: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists Are Wrecking Young Lives, among other books. Situated off the southeast coast of Africa, Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. Having developed in isolation, the island nation is famed for its unique wildlife. Traditionally, the economy has been based on the cultivation of paddy rice, coffee, vanilla and cloves. Yet despite a wealth of natural resources and a tourism industry driven by its unique environment, it remains one of the world's poorest and is heavily dependent on foreign aid. It has also faced devastating cyclones that have further added to economic hardships. Since gaining independence from France in 1960, Madagascar has experienced repeated bouts of political instability, including coups, violent unrest and disputed elections. The most recent coup in 2009 led to five years of political deadlock, international condemnation and economic sanctions. Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring REPUBLIC OF MADAGASCAR: FACTS Capital: Antananarivo Area: 587,041 sq km Population: 28.8 million Languages: Malagasy, French Life expectancy: 63 years (men) 68 years (women) LEADER President: Andry Rajoelina Mr Rajoelina earlier ran Madagascar as head of an interim authority in 2009-2014 Businessman Andry Rajoelina took office as president in January 2019, ending a decade of political turbulence that began with his ousting of President Marc Ravalomanana in 2009. The feud between the two men came to a head that year, when President Ravalomanana dismissed Mr Rajoelina as mayor of the capital Antananarivo. The ousted mayor in turn spearheaded a revolt that drove the president into exile. Mr Rajoelina ruled as head of an interim authority that struggled with international sanctions until 2014, when an often difficult process of accommodation between rival political camps led to him ceding power to elected President Hery Rajaonarimampianina. Mr Rajoelina then defeated both President Rajaonarimampianina and Mr Ravalomanana in a presidential election in late 2018. In the November 2023 elections, he cemented his lead in an election marked by low turnout and an opposition boycott, and now appears poised to secure a third term. MEDIA A newsstand vendor displays newspapers in Antananarivo The media are highly-politicised and vulnerable to influence from their business and politics-linked owners, says Reporters Without Borders. The constitution does provide for freedom of the press, however, Freedom House says this guarantee has been undermined by criminal libel laws and other restrictions. Radio is the main medium for news, due to high levels of illiteracy. TIMELINE Madagascar is home to hundreds of types of animals that exist nowhere else, such as ring-tailed lemurs Some key dates in Madagascar's history: c. 350-550AD - First settlers reach Madagascar, making it one of the last major landmasses on Earth to be settled by humans. 7th-9th Centuries - Arab traders reach the island. Madagascar becomes an important trading hub connecting ports of the Indian Ocean. 11th Century - Bantu-speaking migrants from southeast Africa arrive, along with south Indian Tamil merchants. 16th-17th Centuries - Portuguese and French establish trading posts. c 1540-1897 - Merina kingdom, or Kingdom of Madagascar comes to dominate most of the island by the 18th Century. 1818 onwards - London Missionary Society sends missionaries to the island. 1828-61 - Queen Ranavalona I responds to increasing political and cultural encroachment on the part of Britain and France by banning Christianity and pressuring most foreigners to leave. 1883 - France invades Madagascar in 1883 in the first Franco-Hova war. Madagascar cedes the northern port town of Antsiranana or Diego Suarez to France. 1890 - UK accepts the imposition of a French protectorate on the island, but the government of Madagascar resists. 1895 - French forces march on Antananarivo, shelling the city and leading Queen Ranavalona III to surrender. 1896-97 - France declares Madagascar a colony and sends the royal family into exile. The formal declaration of a colony sees a 15 year "pacification" campaign by French troops to overcome resistance. 1939-45 - World War Two. 1940 - France occupied by German forces. Madagascar is under Vichy French administration. The occupation of France during the war tarnishes the colonial administration's prestige and encourages the growing independence movement. 1942 - Battle of Madagascar. UK forces capture the Vichy French-controlled island in order to deny it ports to the Japanese. 1946 - Madagascar becomes French overseas territory. 1947-49 - Malagasy Uprising. Nationalists launch attacks on French military bases. France responds by bringing up to 30,000 troops to violently suppress the rebels. Some 600 French troops die in the fighting, while 11,000-100,000 Malagasy civilians are killed. 1960 - Madagascar wins independence, with Philibert Tsiranana as president. 1972 - Economic stagnation triggers protests Tsiranana hands over power over to a military council. 1975 - Didier Ratsiraka appointed head of state and president of a new ruling body, the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC). He rules for the next 26 years. 1992 - Democratic reforms usher in new constitution. 2001 - After a disputed presidential election, Ratsiraka flees to France. 2009 - Bloodless coup results in economic sanctions. 2013 - Democratic elections fail to bring political stability, with executive pitted against legislature. 2018 - Andry Rajoelina wins the presidential election. Didier Ratsiraka dominated politics for decades Putting David DePape, Paul Pelosi's attacker, on the witness stand wasn't a great idea. But it was the only thing DePape's defense had. He has admitted, even bragged, about his attempted murder of Nancy Pelosi's husband last year at the couple's home in San Francisco. Predictably enough, on the witness stand DePape rambled on about the conspiracy theories he believed, telling the jury that he worshiped Donald Trump and believed every cockamamie nugget of disinformation churned out by the MAGA media ecosystem. DePape was captured on video smashing Paul Pelosi's head with a hammer, and has repeatedly admitted he went to the Pelosi house that night in hopes of kidnapping the then-speaker of the House and forcing her to endorse Trump's false claims about the 2020 election lies. This was a Hail Mary move from DePape's lawyers, at best, built on the dubious premise that he'd seem too delusional to be a full-blown domestic terrorist. In other words, conspiracy theories got DePape into this situation, and he hoped conspiracy theories would get him out. It didn't work. The jury found DePape, whose far-right radicalization goes all the way back to Gamergate in 2014, guilty on all charges. This "I believed a conspiracy theory" defense shouldn't come as a big surprise. Outside the courtroom, Trump and his acolytes have relied heavily on conspiracy theories to deflect blame for their role in inspiring DePape's murderous rage. Within hours of the attack on Paul Pelosi, the right-wing noise machine was cranking out homophobic lies based on the false claim that DePape was a sex worker or that he and Paul Pelosi were lovers. (They had never met before the break-in.) Trump continues to push this slanderous nonsense without taking responsibility for it, cracking crude jokes that could well encourage further violence. In general, Trump treats conspiracy theories as an all-purpose tool to get what his way. He used his BS claims about Barack Obama's birth certificate" to rally the deplorables to his cause way back when. He uses the QAnon cult to prop up the illusion that his sociopathic behavior is just a front for a superhero out to save the world. And of course he used the Big Lie, claiming that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election, to justify his very real attempts to overthrow democracy. Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only. Trump has also been trying to use conspiracy theories the same DePape did, in hopes of wriggling out of his legal difficulties. Every single day, in every single utterance, he claims to be an innocent man targeted by an elaborate "deep state" conspiracy to take him out. He also invents smaller fictions to prop up this big one, such as accusing the law clerk in his New York civil trial of secretly controlling the judge (and of being Sen. Chuck Schumer's "girlfriend.") But like DePape, Trump seems to be investing heavily in the "I really believed it" defense. In both the federal case and the Georgia RICO case related to Trump's January 2021 coup attempt, Trump's team has signaled that he may argue that he sincerely believed the election had been stolen. The hope here is to downgrade the long list of crimes in Trump's indictments to innocent mistakes made by a guy who just didn't know better. This is being called the "advice of counsel" defense in the media, since Trump plans to argue he just picked up his conspiracy theories from lawyers and other advisers. But we could also think of it as the "innocent by reason of stupidity" defense. But as the DePape example shows, juries aren't necessarily going to buy this. In fact, this was just the latest in a line of MAGA-inspired criminal defendants who have failed to get off the hook by depicting themselves as credulous idiots who believed the wrong people. Alex Jones tried to wiggle out of a defamation lawsuit by playing an ignorant dumbass, but evidence of sinister intent was swiftly established from his phone communications. Both the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers tried out a variation of this defense, arguing that they let their belief in ludicrous fantasies get the better of them during the Capitol riot. They were convicted. Indeed, many Jan. 6 insurrectionists have rolled out the "well-meaning moron" argument at trial and, by and large, have found themselves headed to prison. The court system, in other words, is where MAGA conspiracy theories go to die. That's because the legal system can deprive a conspiracy theory of the oxygen it needs to thrive: Willful ignorance. Social media, Trump rallies and Fox News are all environments where facts can be ignored and malicious actors can spread outrageous lies without consequence. This allows believers to wallow in their preferred narratives, while simply avoiding countervailing evidence. The courtroom, though, has a captive audience in the jury, along with a system of rules that help filter out the noise so facts can be perceived more clearly. Hardcore partisans who will sticking to their lies no matter what largely get removed during jury selection. It's not impossible to BS people in the courtroom, but a lot tougher to pull off, as one MAGA malefactor after another has found out. It's frustrating that one of the most important Trump cases, regarding the classified documents he stashed at Mar-a-Lago, is being handled by Judge Aileen Cannon, a Federalist Society tool who is doing everything in her power to rig the case in Trump's favor. But it's telling nonetheless that Cannon's main tactic is to allow endless delays. That suggests she knows perfectly well that Trump is likely to lose the case, even with her thumb on the scale. That's another reason why Trump's trials should be televised, so people can hear the evidence for themselves rather than filtered through the GOP spin machine. There are no guarantees in life. Trump could get lucky and land a juror or two who is so deeply MAGA-fried they will refuse to convict him no matter how much evidence they see. After eight years of practice, some Trump supporters are so good at self-deception that they can ignore reality when it's staring them right in the face. But look at the track record of his fellow travelers when they leave behind the hyperbolic world of social media for the somber atmosphere of a courtroom and their empire of lies collapses. Trump is clearly worried about that, as he should be. PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Some states are steadily chipping away at longstanding bans on Sunday hunting, and theres a push to overturn the laws in Maine and Massachusetts, the final two states with full bans. Maines highest court is considering a lawsuit asking whether the states 19th century law, which prevents hunting big game animals such as deer, moose and turkeys on Sundays, is still necessary. In Massachusetts, where hunters are also lobbying for Sunday hunting rights, there is a renewed effort to change state laws forbidding the practice. Forty states have no prohibitions on hunting on Sundays. The bans stem from so-called blue laws that also regulate which businesses can remain open and where alcohol can be sold on Sundays. Animal welfare groups, conservation organizations and others are rallying to defend the prohibitions, but the end of the laws might be in sight. Other states such as Virginia and South Carolina have in recent years rolled back what remains of their own limitations on the Sunday hunt. Residents of states where hunting is part of the culture are divided on the subject. Some hunters argue the laws protect private landowner rights, while others say the rules take away hunting opportunities or are just plain silly. Sportsmen who oppose the laws see them as a vestige of the blue laws dating to the 17th century and limiting what activities citizens can engage in on a day governments once dedicated to prayer. Jared Bornstein, executive director of Maine Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, said allowing seven-day-a-week hunting would allow people the opportunity to harvest their own food in a state with many poor, rural communities that cannot afford soaring grocery costs. Im not saying that Sunday hunting is going to save the world economically, but Im saying for a group of people, theres more of an objective benefit to it, Bornstein said. Its a generations last vestigial attempt to control the working class. The states that still have full or partial bans on Sunday hunting are all on the East Coast, where every fall sportsmen pursue wild turkeys and white-tailed deer with firearms and archery. Last year, South Carolina opened limited hunting on public lands on Sundays, and the year before that Virginia made a similar move. A few years prior North Carolina began to allow Sunday hunting on some 75% of its public hunting land, according to the Congressional Sportsmens Foundation. Laws were also loosened in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware in the past five years. Maines ongoing court case, which could legalize Sunday hunting, concerns a couple who filed a lawsuit stating the right to food amendment in the states Constitution, the first of its kind in the U.S., should allow them to hunt on any day of the week. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has heard arguments in the case, but its unclear when it will rule, said Andy Schmidt, an attorney for the couple. The state first banned Sunday hunting in 1883. In Massachusetts, where some sources date the ban all the way back to the Puritan era, a campaign to repeal it made progress before stalling in the state Legislature in 2014. Some are continuing to try to strike the law, which is discriminating against hunters, said John Kellstrand, president of the Mass Sportsmens Council. A new proposal to authorize Sunday hunting via bow and arrows was introduced earlier this year. The efforts to roll back Sunday hunting up and down the East Coast face opposition from a broad range of interest groups, including animal protection advocates, state wildlife management authorities and private landowners. Maine Woodland Owners, a group representing rural landowners in the most forested state in the country, sees the Sunday hunting ban as critical to keeping private lands open for hunting access on the other days of the week, Executive Director Tom Doak said. Were not asking for money. Were not saying pay us. Were not asking for anything but to be left alone one day a week, Doak said. They will close their lands. They absolutely will do that. Sportsmens groups, including the National Rifle Association and Congressional Sportsmens Foundation, have long lobbied to overturn Sunday hunting restrictions, and have had much success over the past 30 years. In that time, states including New York, Ohio and Connecticut have loosened Sunday hunting laws. Lifting bans has created hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in economic activity, said Fred Bird, assistant manager for the northeastern states for the Congressional Sportsmens Foundation. Getting rid of whats left of these laws would remove a regulation that has no basis in wildlife management, Bird said. Simply put, if hunters do not have available days to go afield, they must decide whether their time, energy, and financial resources should continue to be allocated to a pursuit they are unable to fully participate in, he said. Wildlife managers in states with Sunday hunting have sometimes pushed back at efforts to overturn the bans. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife testified against a proposal earlier this year that would have allowed Sunday hunting with a bow and arrow or a crossbow. Agricultural, land owner and conservation groups also came out against the proposal, which had support from the Congressional Sportsmens Foundation and some hunters in the state. The Maine Farm Bureau Association testified its important for land owners to have one day of rest without disruption. The proposal was ultimately voted down in committee. However, the odds of a similar proposal coming before the Maine Legislature again seem high, testified Judy Camuso, commissioner of the wildlife department. The topic of Sunday hunting has been a heated social debate for years, she said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. (Bloomberg) -- Maldives new government, which called for the removal of Indian troops from its territory, will hold discussions with New Delhi on the presence of such personnel. Most Read from Bloomberg The two sides will study workable solutions for continued cooperation, according to senior Indian officials familiar with the talks, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. President Mohamed Muizzu acknowledged the Indian militarys role in helping its citizens but formally requested for their withdrawal in a meeting with visiting Indian minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday, according to a statement from the leaders office. The call for the troop removal intensifies a struggle between India and China for influence in the archipelago, which sits along busy shipping routes in the Indian Ocean. Successive governments in Male have tilted toward either side, and both the Asian powerhouses have invested heavily in upgrading Maldives infrastructure and extending loans. Indias Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment when asked for confirmation of the discussions. Muizzus office did not respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours. Around 70 Indian military personnel maintain New Delhi-sponsored radar stations and surveillance aircrafts. Indian warships help patrol Maldives exclusive economic zone while its navys helicopters and aircraft on the island are also used for medical evacuation. Muizzu, 45, leads a party that has welcomed Chinese loans. The nation of just over 500,000 people and spread over 187 inhabited islands is a tourist destination and at the frontlines of climate change. The US and its allies, such as Japan and Australia, are looking to isolate an increasingly assertive and assured Beijing and have invested heavily in propping up New Delhi as a regional counterweight and key partner in Asia. Muizzus predecessor, Ibrahim Solih, had steered the country closer to India. During a heated election campaign, Muizzu accused Solih of allowing India unchecked sway over the island nations affairs and of surrendering sovereignty by allowing Indian troops to be stationed there. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. A man accused of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint in Pennsylvania has been arrested in Texas. The Reading Police Department in a Nov. 16 Facebook post shared a description of the man wanted in the kidnapping. Police got a call from a woman around 3:30 a.m., Nov. 16, after she saw a doorbell video that showed her 26-year-old daughter being taken out of the house at gunpoint by the man, according to WFMZ. The two recently dated, police told WPVI. McClatchy News is not identifying the suspect to protect the identity of the victim. The woman escaped hours later, WPVI reported. Police told WFMZ she climbed out of a third-floor window of a house and began running rooftops before she fell through a roof. She actually kind of fell through a roof of an adjacent house, which means she was able to get through to someone and borrow their cell phone. When she called mom, mom called us, Sgt. Melville Fegely told the news outlet. Police in Pennsylvania tried several times to take the man into custody before he was arrested in Texas, WPMT reported. The man was intercepted in Texas by the Amarillo City Police Department, a Nov. 19 Facebook post from the Reading Police Department said. The man is charged with kidnapping, burglary and related crimes, according to WPMT. Reading is located about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia, while Amarillo is located in the middle of the Texas Panhandle. Mom of 4 missing for week found dead in estranged husbands storage unit, Florida cops say Man hired to help kidnap, kill girl who reported rape, feds say. He dies before trial Child taken during car theft was abandoned on doorstep of a stranger, SC sheriff says NEW PHILADELPHIA, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Court officials state a man whose property was searched in connection to a Schuylkill County double homicide where two teens were found dead has been released from prison. 28/22 News confirmed with the Schuylkill County Prison that Lamour Branch, 19, was released from prison Monday. Police stated Branchs property was searched as part of an investigation into the New Philadelphia homicide where two teens, 16-year-old Angelito Xavier Caraballo, and 18-year-old Hunter Mock, were found dead. Arrest made in Luzerne County shooting that injured one The victims were originally reported missing and later confirmed dead after their bodies were discovered in New Philadelphia approximately 1 mile from Route 209. Investigators released the search warrant on the homicide case and in it, claimed Branch was allegedly involved in the incident. However, officers have not named Branch as a suspect. Branch was released from prison after his bail was reduced last week during a hearing to $10,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled on December 5 for the charges of burglary, criminal trespass, and criminal mischief from a different case. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) Police in Montgomery County arrested a man after he allegedly barricaded himself in an apartment and set a fire. Police said that off-duty officers were in the 8750 block of Georgia Ave. at around 7:20 a.m. when they saw a person breaking a window. Six teens in critical condition after crash in Fairfax County, driver charged with DUI The officers said they tried to make contact with the person and smelled smoke. They determined that the individual had set a fire and barricaded himself inside the apartment. Fire and Rescue were called to the apartment. Officials forced entry and extinguished the fire. A 32-year-old man was found and taken into police custody. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) The Hampton Police Department has arrested a man in connection with two robberies on Nov. 16. Hampton police say that at 2:34 a.m., 34-year-old Steven Bowen entered the 7-Eleven located in the 3400 block of Commander Shepard Blvd and removed an undisclosed amount of Newport cigarettes. Bowen then fled the business on foot. At approximately 7:20 a.m., Public Safety Communications received a call about a shoplifting that occurred at the Food Lion located in the 1st block of West Mercury Blvd. After a short pursuit, officers took Bowen into custody. Steven Bowen (Courtesy: Hampton Police Department) Bowen was charged with one count each of robbery and shoplifting. Keep checking WAVY.com for the latest developments. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. MERRIFIELD, Va. (DC News Now) Police arrested a man in Montgomery County for a shooting at a Fairfax County hotel that left one dead. The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) originally said that 43-year-old Hiep Van Vo of Annandale was wanted for a shooting at the Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park Hotel. FCPD said that Charles Anthony Ashe Jr., 44, of Maryland had gone into a hotel room where Vo was staying with four other people. Vo shot Ashe, who died at the hospital. Man wanted for fatal shooting at hotel in Fairfax County In a news release, police said that Fairfax County officers Vos car unattended at a Gaithersburg, Md. residence around 11 p.m. on Sunday. Officers took him into custody outside of the Giant on Flower Hill Way. Vo was held at the Montgomery County Detention Center, where he is awaiting extradition back to Fairfax County. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. WEST EARL TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WHTM) Police in Lancaster County have arrested a man they say pointed a gun at another motorist during a road rage incident. According to the West Earl Township Police Department, on Nov. 4, the victim reported that a man, later identified as Kori Glaze, allegedly displayed and pointed a silver firearm at them during a road rage incident on Route 222 South near Route 772. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now WHTM Morning Weather Officers then coordinated with surrounding police departments to locate a blue Chevy Equinox with Pennsylvania registration. Police said the victim provided crucial information and an investigation determined that Glaze was the operator of the vehicle and had the described firearm. A warrant was issued for Glazes arrest, and he voluntarily surrendered at the West Earl Township Police Department. He has been charged with one count of terroristic threats and one count of simple assault. Glaze, from Berks County, was then arraigned and had his bail set at $20,000, which he posted. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 28. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) A Columbus man has been convicted of murder after a 2022 dispute over a parking spot turned fatal. A jury on Monday found Johnnie J. Wappner, 33, guilty of murder, reckless homicide, and felonious assault, all charges carrying a mandatory three-year firearm specification. Fatal shooting suspect in custody after police standoff According to court documents, on Sept. 21, 2022, a fight broke out between Wappner and Marcus Deloney, 32, over a parking space at a duplex on the north side of Columbus. According to the complaint lodged with Franklin County Municipal Court, Deloney was pulling a person away from his wife when Wappner allegedly hit Deloney in the head multiple times with a gun, then shot him in the back. Deloney was found dead at the scene by police, according to the Franklin County Prosecutors Office. Worlds first space lab on earth to be built near Ohio State airport Wappner is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 29, where he faces 21 years up to life in prison. The killing marked the 100th homicide in Columbus in 2022. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. A man shot last week succumbed to injuries he suffered during a burst of gunfire in south Sacramento that also left another person wounded, police said Monday. Officers were called to the 5600 block of Wilkinson Street in the Avondale neighborhood at about 7:10 p.m. Thursday for a shooting. They found two men injured with at least one gunshot and both were taken to a hospital, a news release from the Sacramento Police Department said. Police learned Monday that one of the two men died. His identity and death date will be released by the Sacramento County Coroners Office. Police didnt disclose a motive behind the shooting. The investigation is ongoing, and no arrests have been made in the homicide, according to police. Anyone with information may call police by calling 916-808-5471 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357. Callers can remain anonymous. A man who admitted he shot at two Columbus police officers last year outside a Hilltop apartment complex has been sentenced to prison for at least 14 years. Lamar Ivan Blue, 37, whom records show lived on Columbus' Far South Side, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of felonious assault related to an exchange of gunfire with the officers on Nov. 12, 2022. Neither officer was injured, but officers fired back and shot Blue in the torso. Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Kim Brown sentenced Blue on Monday to an indefinite prison term of 14 years to 16 years. Blue's attorney, Lumumba Toure McCord, said Blue was trying to commit suicide by cop when he used birdshot to fire at officers. McCord wrote in a sentencing memo that Blue told him "he wanted to die that evening but that he didn't have the courage to take his own life." According to McCord, Blue, who was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, is sorry for what he did. Police were called a little before 1 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2022, to the 600 block of Kingsford Road in the Hilltop on a report of gunfire. It was the third time in seven hours that police had been called to the address for a report of shots fired. Officers Garrin Stiltner and Payne Vantilburg, who both had been with the Columbus Division of Police for two years at the time, responded. Footage from body cameras worn by Stiltner and Vantilburg shows the officers approached Blue as he walked down the apartment building's driveway. The officers asked Blue if heard gunshots while Blue held his right hand behind his back. In the video, Blue pulled out a gun and opened fire, striking the police cruiser where Stiltner and Vantilburg took cover. Officers returned fire and Blue ran away after he was wounded. Blue was later found in the rear parking lot of an apartment complex across the street. jlaird@dispatch.com @LairdWrites This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man sentenced to prison for shooting at police officers A man who found what appeared to be a webcam filming his Airbnb stay has called it a huge invasion of privacy. Ian Timbrell, 41, found the camera tucked between two sofa cushions in the flat where he had booked a room. Sharing the experience on Twitter/X, he posted a photo of himself pointing at the camera, alongside the caption: OK, normal or weird? My Airbnb has a webcam watching the whole living room. Ok, normal or weird? My AirBNB has a webcam watching the whole living room. Am I wrong to have unplugged it? Seems like a huge invasion of privacy to me! pic.twitter.com/A2GwfWMX0C Ian Timbrell (@ITimbrell) November 16, 2023 Am I wrong to have unplugged it? Seems like a huge invasion of privacy to me! Mr Timbrell, who lives in Cardiff and provides LGBT+ inclusion training in schools, was staying in the Welsh seaside town of Aberystwyth for work when the incident occurred. He had paid around 40 for a room in the private home, with one other guest also staying there. And the issues didnt end there; he then shared video of the property, detailing how the kitchen had been infested with flies. Didnt think my AirBNB could get any worse but here you go. Secret cameras and flies! Didnt think Id be hunting for somewhere else to stay at 8pm but this place is infested. The joys of travel https://t.co/yFj0Q7sFMP pic.twitter.com/bRT0px1s8a Ian Timbrell (@ITimbrell) November 16, 2023 So, after finding the creepy webcam in my Airbnb its now been infested with flies. Look at them all on the floor, there are absolutely hundreds of them in this house. It is disgusting. He added: So, at 8 oclock at night, Im going to have to find somewhere else to stay in a town I dont know at all. Mr Timbrell posted one further video, saying hed managed to find alternative accommodation: Finally, found a place with no hidden cameras and no flies! Time for a nice glass of wine and pretend that that creepy place, that was like the beginning of a horror film, never existed. He said he had reported the incident to Airbnb. Lesson learned, hotel stays from now on, he added. Airbnb told The Independent: The presence and location of the device was disclosed in the listing description before booking, However we appreciate that our guest did not have a positive experience. While the guest did not contact us about this, we have proactively reached out to offer support and the host has fully refunded them. We enforce strict rules on recording devices and take action on rare issues brought to our attention. The home sharing platform says it forbids recording devices that are intentionally concealed and states hosts are not allowed cameras in or that observe private spaces like bedrooms, bathrooms, or sleeping areas. Cameras in communal spaces are permitted if property owners are up front about it with guests and let them know ahead of time. This image taken from a Zoom appearance at the District Court in Havre, Mont., shows Edmund Davis, 36, as he appears before District Court Judge Kaydee Snipes Ruiz, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, next to his public defender Casey Moore. Davis pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual abuse of children for images that were found on a cellphone in his apartment. Arizona officers got a warrant to search his phone as they were investigating how Alicia Navarro, who disappeared from her home in Arizona four years ago, ended up living with Davis in north-central Montana. (AP Photo/Amy Beth Hanson) A Montana man who had been living with a teenager who disappeared from her home in Arizona four years ago pleaded not guilty Monday to child sexual abuse charges lodged against him based on images that authorities said they found on his cellphone. Since his Oct. 23 arrest, Edmund Davis, 36, has been held on $1 million bail on two felony counts of the sexual abuse of children. His public defender, Casey Moore, said he would file a motion for a bail reduction hearing after speaking with Davis' father and the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Dan Guzynski. No further hearings were immediately scheduled. Authorities have not said whether Davis is considered a suspect in the disappearance of Alicia Navarro in September 2019. Navarro left a note behind when she vanished from her home days before her 15th birthday, sparking a massive search that included the FBI. She was almost 19 when she walked into the Havre, Montana, police station in July and said she wanted to be removed from the missing persons list. In investigating the circumstances that led Navarro to be in Havre nearly 1,400 miles (2,253 kilometers) from her childhood home in Glendale, Arizona law enforcement officers in Arizona obtained warrants that they said led to the discovery of the images of child sexual abuse on Davis' cellphone, court records said. Some of the images involved infants and toddlers and some were computer generated, according to court records. Davis is charged with possessing images of a child or children under the age of 12 engaged in actual or simulated sexual conduct, which carries a mandatory sentence of 25 to 100 years in prison. He is also charged with possessing images of the sexual abuse of children under the age of 16, which carries a sentence of four to 100 years in prison. Over the years, Navarros mother, Jessica Nunez, said that her daughter, who was diagnosed with autism, may have been lured away by someone she met online. When she disappeared in 2019, Navarro took only her laptop and cellphone. Neighbors said Davis had been living with Navarro for at least a year. In July, after her reappearance had been made public, an Associated Press reporter spoke with a young woman at the Havre apartment who looked and sounded like Navarro, but she didnt give her name and said she wanted to be left alone. The couple moved out of the apartment days after the news media reported their location, neighbors told the AP. Trent Steele, a private investigator who assisted Nunez in the search for Navarro through the Miami-based nonprofit Anti-Predator Project, said last month that Navarro was in a safe place, without disclosing the particulars. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report. RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) Coast Guard crews from the Tar Heel state helped rescue a man from an adrift and disabled sailing yacht 270 miles off the North Carolina coast last week, officials said. The rescue effort comes just two weeks after two sailing yachts were shipwrecked at the Outer Banks one now buried beneath sand and the other left on the beach after running aground. The sailing vessel in which the rescue took place left Jersey City, New Jersey, en route to Bermuda earlier this month, according to a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard. Damage can be seen to the Windward Passage. Photo from US Coast Guard US Coast Guard photo after the rescue of the captain of the Windward Passage. Damage can be seen to the Windward Passage. Photo from US Coast Guard An anchor that has come loose and is dragging from the bow. Other damage to the Windward Passage including ripped sails. Photo from US Coast Guard. US Coast Guard photo after the rescue of the captain of the Windward Passage. Damage can be seen to the Windward Passage. Photo from US Coast Guard US Coast Guard photo after the rescue of the captain of the Windward Passage. The family of the man aboard the Windward Passage boat lost contact with the sailboat on Nov. 6 and as of Nov. 14, the man was overdue. A signal was sent to boats in the Atlantic and the captain of a ship called the Time Bandit heard the information. The Time Bandit then happened upon an adrift sailing vessel with tattered sails and a missing boom, matching the description of the overdue mariner. Damage can be seen to the Windward Passage. Photo from US Coast Guard Due to on-scene conditions, the Coast Guard advised against an at-sea transfer from the disabled yacht to Time Bandit, the news release said. 2 yachts shipwrecked at NC coast in just 3 days; most dangerous time of year for Outer Banks boaters The captain of the Time Bandit let the Coast Guard know the location of the Windward Passage. The good Samaritan later wrote about the encounter, noting the seas were rough and the captain on the disabled boat didnt even appear to notice them when they were just a boat length away. US Coast Guard photo after the rescue of the captain of the Windward Passage. Given the state of the boat and its skipper, our guess is he suffered a knockdown, Stuart Letton, captain of the Time Bandit wrote. Letton said the Windward Passages anchor was adrift and was dragging from the bow. The main boom and mainsail had been torn off and was now being towed astern as an extremely effective drogue, Letton wrote on his blog. One of the saloon windows was smashed as was a deck hatch. Things werent looking good. The Coast Guard Cutter Lawrence Lawson arrived on Wednesday and took the sailor aboard. An anchor that has come loose and is dragging from the bow. Other damage to the Windward Passage including ripped sails. Photo from US Coast Guard. The mariner was transported in stable condition and reunited with family Thursday, the news release said. An HC-130 Hercules and an MH-60 helicopter both from Elizabeth City were dispatched to help in the search and rescue. We are pleased that this case resulted in a family reunion, said Cmdr. Wes Geyer, search and rescue mission coordinator, Coast Guard Atlantic Area. The search area for this case was nearly twice the size of Texas and the seas are very unforgiving. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com. Man struck by vehicle at Red Sands, suffers serious injuries EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) A man was struck by a vehicle and suffered serious injuries Sunday evening, Nov. 19 at Red Sands out in East El Paso County, El Paso County Sheriffs Office officials said. The crash happened at about 6 p.m. at Red Sands, a popular off-roading site. When deputies arrived at the scene along the 15600 block of Montana Avenue, they found a 37-year-old man had been hit by a vehicle. The victim was transported to a hospital with serious injuries. Video by Sebastian Esquivel/KTSM The Sheriffs Office says the investigation continues and no other information is being released at this time. We will update this story when we learn more. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. ARLINGTON, Texas - Arlington police shot and killed a man who they said was suicidal early Sunday morning after he approached officers with a weapon. Officers responded to a call at about 6 a.m. in the 2500 block of Fallcreek Street. The caller reportedly told dispatchers he wanted to commit suicide by cop. Police said officers tried phone negotiations, but the man hung up, came out of the home, and approached officers with a gun in his hand. Officers opened fire when he ignored commands to drop his gun. The man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. "It is our goal to de-escalate and ensure the encounter ends safely for that individual, as well as our officers," Arlington Police Department Sgt. Courtney White said. "With this situation, due to the subject's actions, officers had to go ahead and fire their service weapons." No officers were injured. Investigators said other people inside the home told them the man was distraught over a relationship. The man's name has not been released. In 2023, Donobuv, Faraday, Iskoj, and Unichel, the Russian manufacturers of footwear for the security forces, directly imported products from European companies worth US$4.1 million. Source: This is reported by the Trap Aggressor project of the StateWatch analytical centre with reference to trade database data Details: Among the goods are leather, glue, spare parts for shoe machines and others. At the same time, among the largest European suppliers are: the Italian company Conceria Cervinia Spa ($1.7 million); the Belarusian-German company Belintertrans Germany Gmbh ($0.9 million); the German company Neuhaus Gmbh ($0.7 million). Journalists examined samples of Russian footwear found on the battlefield and in the territories liberated by the Ukrainian military and found berets manufactured by the companies listed above. And then, they began to look into the trading bases and purchases of companies that produce these shoes in European countries. So, in 2023, the Russian company Faraday presented its products at the Army-2023 exhibition, and in 2022, it received at least six orders for shoes from Russias Internal Affairs Ministry for a total of US$50 million. "Since the beginning of 2023 alone, this firm bought leather and other goods from the Italian company Conceria Cervinia Spa for $1.7 million, the German company Jakob Keck Chemie Gmbh for $300,000 and Salamander Sps Gmbh & Co.Kg for $80,000", Trap Aggressor emphasises. At the same time, the Russian manufacturer Donobuv publicly announced on its website that it cooperates with the Russian Defence Ministry, and in the story of the Russian media in 2022 with the management of the company, it was said that they fulfil state orders for the Russian military and switched to work in three shifts, the journalists found out. In 2023, the German company Salamander Sps Gmbh & Co Kg became the European key supplier of Donobuv, which directly supplied leather to this company in Russia for US$60,000, Trap Aggressor adds. "Iskoj artificial leather factory in Kirov, whose official name is Order of the Patriotic War First Class, occasionally helps the Russian military in the war against Ukraine. The company cooperates with the Russian Za Vyatka volunteer foundation: the factory supplied five kilometres of tourniquet, which volunteers use to fill Russian first-aid kits in March 2023. The Russian military recorded a video thanking them for the tourniquet they received in May; the volunteer foundation again thanked the plant for a new batch of tourniquets in June, and the volunteer fund reported on the transfer of factory-produced tourniquets to the Russian military in the combat zone in Ukraine in July. In August, the plant produced an experimental batch of shoes for Russian intelligence officers and stormtroopers. In addition, the company constantly wins tenders for the shoe soles supply to Russian penal colonies. The largest European supplier of Iskoj in 2023 was the German company Neuhaus Gmbh, which supplied the Russian company with a power generator worth $700,000. The company's website states that the main founder of Neuhaus is a Russian. Additionally, the Spanish company Celme Sl supplied Iskoj with a rubber sole manufacturing machine worth $400,000," the article said. Journalists said the Russian company Unichel joined the great Russian invasion of Ukraine. It sent to the Russian Defence Ministry all army boots for civilians in the company's warehouses in the winter of 2022. At that time, Unichel did not produce military footwear, but the company began to switch to the production of shoes for soldiers after receiving an order from the government. Meanwhile, the most active European partner of the company is Belintertrans Germany, a Belarusian company with an office in Germany, which supplied Unichel with creams, rubber, etc., from various European manufacturers for $900,000 in 2023. Trap Aggressor conducted the listed EU companies for their comment but has not received a response yet. However, the German company Salamander publicly promised to stop trading with the Russians in May 2023 voluntarily. Support UP or become our patron! In 2020, then-Commandant Gen. David Berger gave Marine Corps Systems Command a task: revamp Marines green-on-green physical training uniform. The initial prototype, with basketball-style shorts, too-heavy fabric and a gender-neutral design, left the Marines who tested it dissatisfied. Systems Command tried again, unveiling in October 2022 a new prototype that retained the reflective elements and moisture-wicking technology of the first prototype but shortened the shorts, lightened the fabric and adjusted the fit by gender. Less than a year later, the Marine Corps quietly scrapped the whole plan. Marine Corps Systems Command has ceased work to procure and field the new PT uniform to redirect resources to more urgent defense needs, Morgan Blackstock, a spokeswoman for the command, said via email Tuesday in response to a Marine Corps Times inquiry on the status of the uniform. Corps plans to spend more money on retaining, training Marines In response to a Marine Corps Times question about what the other urgent defense needs were, Blackstock wrote on Monday, The Marine Corps is prioritizing programs that better focus on taking care of Marines and USMC modernization, but did not elaborate further. The Marine Corps is engaged in two expensive initiatives, Force Design 2030 and Talent Management 2030, geared toward modernizing war-fighting and making Marines want to stay in the service, respectively. No funds had yet been allocated for the uniform in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, Blackstock said. The Corps rescinded the approval to develop a replacement uniform in September, according to the spokeswoman. The current and seemingly permanent physical training uniform consists of a simple olive-green T-shirt and thigh-length shorts. In cold weather, Marines can throw on warmer layers in the same olive-green shade. Silkies, the extremely short physical training shorts that used to be de rigueur for Marines, havent been part of standard-issue physical training gear since 2011. Assistant Commandant Gen. Christopher Mahoney and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlos Ruiz lead Marines, all wearing the current physical training uniform, in a motivational run in Arlington, Virginia, Nov. 8. (Lance Cpl. Joseph E. DeMarcus/Marine Corps) The prototypes of the uniform that would have replaced the current uniform were visually busier, adorned with the Marine Corps insignia, USMC and striping in reflective white material. The reflective elements were meant to replace the glow belts Marines often wear while exercising in dark conditions or near roads, according to a November 2021 Systems Command slideshow. Hundreds of Marines tested both the initial and the revised prototypes, according to Marine Corps news releases. In April 2021, the Marine Corps awarded a contract worth a maximum of more than $146 million to four uniform manufacturers, which would have made a maximum total of 1.8 million of the new uniforms by April 2026. The Systems Command slideshow estimated it would cost $7.5 million to get the uniforms just for recruit depots and Officer Candidates School, the first locations that had been scheduled to receive the new garb. The Marine Corps is grappling with shortages of several uniform items, including the camouflage combat utility uniform. That uniform, designed for everyday wear, wont fully be back in stock until July 2024, Marine spokesman Maj. John Parry previously told Marine Corps Times. In the meantime, unit leaders can allow Marines to wear certain nonstandard uniform items, including the desert-colored combat utility uniform, Commandant Gen. Eric Smith announced in September. But even the desert-colored uniform is out of stock online. The physical training uniform appears to be in stock, though. One online reviewer expressed tongue-in-cheek fondness for the shorts, writing on the Navy Exchange website, Sometimes, I wear my shorts while dancing in the rain, or while prancing through piles of autumn leaves, giggling all the way. I just cant seem to tear myself away from my shorts. Neither, apparently, can the Marine Corps. A woman was killed in a crash involving an armored police vehicle in Marshfield on Monday morning, authorities said. Officers responding to a section of Plain Street near Flaggler and Old Plain streets around 11 a.m. found a wrecked Subaru Forester in the roadway and a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicle parked off to the side of the crash, according to the Plymouth District Attorneys Office. The woman, who the DAs office identified as 79-year-old Michelle Freestone, of Marshfield, was pronounced dead at the scene. A Marshfield police officer who was driving the department-owned vehicle wasnt hurt in the crash. In a statement, the DAs office said, Preliminarily, it appears the operator of the red Subaru Forrester turned left in front of the tan motor vehicle and contact was made between the two vehicles...The Marshfield Police vehicle operator was not responding to a call at the time of the crash. Video from the scene showed state police detectives photographing the MRAP, which is a military vehicle designed to protect soldiers from roadside IEDs. There were also spraypainted markings spotted on the pavement under the vehicles tires. A Boston 25 photographer observed USMC stamped in black lettering on the vehicles door. Troopers assigned to the DAs office are leading the investigation into the crash. There were no additional details immediately available. 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 MARYLAND (DC News Now) Starting Wednesday, Maryland State Police (MSP) will increase patrols as Marylanders hit the highways for holiday travel. Officials said to expect increased police presence through Thanksgiving weekend. State troopers will focus on impaired, aggressive and distracted driving while patrolling roads with high DUI incidents. The State Police Impaired Driving Reduction Effort team, a specialized unit of troopers focused on identifying impaired drivers, will be a part of patrols this weekend. Police will partner with allied law enforcement and other state agencies to enforce the law and offer outreach to the community through social media and electronic billboards. Man arrested for arson, barricade situation in Montgomery County The following areas will be especially saturated with police: Anne Arundel County: The Annapolis and Glen Burnie barracks will focus enforcement efforts on Route 50. Baltimore County: The Golden Ring Barrack will boost patrols on interstates 695 and 83. Cecil and Harford counties: The JFK Memorial Highway, Bel Air and North East barracks will focus efforts on Interstate 95 and major county routes. Garrett County: Troopers at the McHenry Barrack will conduct crash reduction and DUI enforcement efforts on Route 219 and Interstate 68. Frederick County: The Frederick Barrack will increase enforcement on major county roads including Interstate 70. Kent and Queen Annes counties: The Centreville Barrack will conduct aggressive enforcement operations for DUI and traffic violations on routes 301, 20 and 50. Prince Georges County : The College Park and Forestville barracks will bolster patrol on Interstate 495 and the southern parts of the county. Washington County: The Hagerstown Barrack will conduct DUI saturation patrols on interstates 70, 68 and 81. Wicomico County: The Salisbury Barrack will focus enforcement on routes 50 and 13. Worcester County: The Berlin Barrack will conduct proactive DUI enforcement throughout the county, with an emphasis on West Ocean City. MSP urges motorists to plan for a safe drive by avoiding impaired, aggressive and distracted driving. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. Yahya Sinwar is in contact with Qatari mediators, according to reports - MOHAMMED ABED/AFP The Hamas leader who masterminded the Oct 7 attacks is personally handling negotiations for a hostage release even as Israeli troops seek to find and kill him. Yahya Sinwar, who spent 22 years in an Israeli prison, has taken control of the deal and has been in-and-out of touch with Qatari mediators, according to reports. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has described Sinwar as a dead man. The terrorist leader has stayed inside Gaza, unlike Hamass political-wing which lives in luxurious exile in Qatar and Turkey. Israeli defence officials told Haaretz newspaper that they were concerned that Sinwar was still euphoric after the events on Oct 7 and was sticking to hard-line negotiating positions. They said a deal should be concluded urgently in case Sinwar cuts off communication in the event of an escalation in the war. Israeli officials are reportedly finalising plans for targeted raids into southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled. On Monday, Joe Biden, the US president, said he believed a deal to free around 50 of the 240 hostages captured by Hamas was near. Narrowing on a deal Axios, an American news website, reported that Sinwar had stopped engaging with the negotiations after Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) raided Al-Shifa hospital last week. He has since been back in touch with Qatari mediators and his position is narrowing in on a deal, two sources told the news website. They said he had agreed to free more than the 50 hostages originally planned. Under the prospective terms of an agreement, Israel would agree to a ceasefire of up to five days for the release of the captives, while Hamas would work to locate those held by other Palestinian groups. Sinwar is demanding that Israel halts aerial surveillance of Gaza during the ceasefire so that Hamas operatives will be able to operate without being spied upon. Neither Israel nor Qatar have confirmed they were talking to Sinwar, who learned to speak Hebrew in prison. A non-Israeli source with personal knowledge of Sinwar told the Financial Times that he is a sociopath. The source said: He would think nothing of sacrificing tens of thousands of lives, and more, to achieve his goals. Unlikely Mr Sinwar would talk with Israel Gershon Baskin, an Israeli negotiator who helped to secure the release of Private Gilad Shalit in exchange for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners including Mr Sinwar in 2011, said he was sceptical that Mr Sinwar was personally negotiating because of the security implications. Its too dangerous to him: Very unlikely that he would talk directly with Israel or that Israel would talk directly with him, he said. The Red Cross said on Monday that its president had travelled to Qatar to meet with Ismail Haniyeh, Hamass political leader who is based in Qatar, to advance humanitarian issues related to the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza. The Red Cross has been involved in the previous transfer and release of hostages from Gaza. Hamas has released just four hostages captured in southern Israel on Oct 7. Some of the families have opposed Israels ground operation inside Gaza, fearing that it would endanger their safety. Making a circus on the blood of our families Earlier on Monday, hardline Israeli MPs shouted at relatives of hostages captured by Hamas as they clashed over a bill supporting the death penalty for terrorists. Right-wing members of the Knesset, Israels parliament, told families they were being exploited by Hamas in an ugly confrontation. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israels security minister, later published a photograph of himself hugging a family member of one of the hostages. Gil Dickmann, a cousin of hostage Carmel Gat, said he had asked Mr Ben-Gvir not to hug him. Writing on X, formally known as Twitter, he said: Everyone sees that you are making a circus on the blood of our families. Sinwar is demanding that Israel halts aerial surveillance of Gaza during the ceasefire - ALAMY/DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE/ ALAMY STOCK PHOTO Israeli airstrikes continued in Gaza on Monday as the UNs health agency reported a successful operation to evacuate premature babies to Egypt. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it helped to evacuate 31 prematurely born babies out of the besieged Al-Shifa hospital into Egypt. Twenty-eight of them were sent to Egypt and three others remained in Gaza for further treatment. All [remaining] babies are fighting serious infections and continue needing health care, the WHO said, while the Israeli army said it had helped facilitate the transfer. Dr Tedros Ghebreyeusus, the WHO general director, said on Monday he was appalled by an Israeli airstrike on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza City as local officials reported the facility was surrounded by Israeli tanks. He wrote on X: Health workers and civilians should never have to be exposed to such horror and especially while inside a hospital. The airstrike on the Indonesian Hospital, the largest medical facility to be targeted by the IDF after the Al-Shifa Hospital, killed at least 12 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. An estimated 700 patients and hospital staff are believed to be at the hospital along with several thousand people who had been displaced from their homes. 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. Russian air defense units allegedly intercepted a drone over the city of Elektrostal in Moscow Oblast, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported in a Telegram post on Nov. 19. Sobyanin claims the drone was heading towards central Moscow. The Mayor also said emergency services were at work at the crash site but no casualties or damage to infrastructure have been reported. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the reports. Since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian forces have targeted Russian military, logistics, and infrastructure sites in the occupied territories and within Russia. Today's drone report comes just hours after Ukraine's alleged drone attack was intercepted over the Bogorodskoye municipal district in Moscow Oblast. While claims of Ukrainian attacks within Russian territory have increased since summer 2023, Kyiv rarely comments on these reports. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky replaces Medical Forces Commander Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Polish border guards allegedly refused to let trucks carrying humanitarian goods, including fuel, cross into Ukraine, as protests by Polish truckers over the free movement of Ukrainian haulers stretches into its third week, Ukrinform reported on Nov. 20. Taras Svitlyk, a representative of a Lviv-based transport company, said that many of his company's trucks carrying fuel and other goods were stuck at parking lots by the border, and Polish border guards were not allowing them to cross. It could be a dangerous situation if they were to catch fire and explode, he added. Although Polish authorities said that humanitarian aid or essential goods were able to pass, Ukrainian truckers said that trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including medical equipment, were on standby for days waiting to cross. Disgruntled Polish truckers have been protesting at three checkpoints since Nov. 6, causing huge lines on both sides of the border. The protestors are demanding limitations on the number of Ukrainian haulers entering Poland. The number of Ukrainian haulers entering Poland has increased drastically, and protestors argue that local businesses are being undercut. They claim Ukrainian drivers are transporting goods from Poland to third countries at a cheaper rate than what local companies can afford. Movement for cargo trucks was blocked at the Yavhodyn Dorohusk, Rava-Ruska Hrebenne crossings, and Krakivets-Korczowa border crossings, but cars, buses, and humanitarian aid were allowed to pass. It is unclear if humanitarian aid is currently being blocked in a systematic manner. Andrii Demchenko, a spokesperson of Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, said on Nov. 18 that 2,800 trucks were blocked at the Polish border, waiting to cross into Ukraine. Ukrainian officials met with Polish truck drivers on Nov. 13, but the talks failed to progress. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. CLEVELAND (WJW) Theres no telling where youll find Santa in Northeast Ohio during the holiday season, and Saturday, families visited with the jolly man in red and white on the USS Cod in downtown Cleveland. Christmas lights you dont want to miss in Northeast Ohio The visit from Santa honors when the submarines crew, based in Connecticut in the early 1950s, used to host holiday dinner for orphans in the area. We were looking for a way for Cods crew to celebrate the holiday season and that wonderful act of Christmas cheer 72 years ago when Navy submariners who could not get leave to be with their families instead fed needy children on Christmas day, USS Cods President Paul Farace said in a statement. WJW photo Photo courtesy USS Cod Santa showed up at 1 p.m. for greetings and photos. Torpedoes can be very festive, Farace said. What to do in Cleveland this holiday season Find out more about the USS Cod docked at North Coast Harbor right here. As ever, families are reminded the only way to enter the submarine is via a vertical ladder. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. The GOPs presidential primary has grown more dramatic but, so far, only in terms of the battle for second place. Former President Trump has held onto a huge lead nationally as well as in the key early states. An array of Trump dramas his indictment in four criminal cases, his civil trial in New York and the most recent furor, over his description of political opponents as vermin has not eroded his lead in any meaningful way. In his slipstream, however, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is on the brink of supplanting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place, if she has not already done so. Haley has been buoyed by strong debate performances in the three televised clashes so far, as well as an old-school focus on retail politics that has encompassed more than 60 events in New Hampshire and almost as many in Iowa, according to her campaign. DeSantis is not about to cede his position as the main Trump alternative without a fight, however even as virtually no one outside his campaign believes his bid has lived up to expectations so far. DeSantis got a significant boost recently in Iowa with the endorsement of the states popular GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds, and his supporters emphasize the strength of his operations on the ground in the state. A strong showing for DeSantis is imperative in Iowa, where both Trump and Haley could prove vulnerable. Trump lost the 2016 Iowa caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), while the staunchly conservative electorate in the Hawkeye State may have qualms about Haleys nuanced view on abortion. Haley has held to the position that a national ban on abortion in the early stages of pregnancy is politically unrealistic. However, the New York Times reported Saturday that, the previous day, she said that she would have signed a six-week ban on abortion while she was governor of South Carolina, if the legislature had passed such a measure. The battle between Haley and DeSantis has become more fierce as Haley has gained ground. Haley is now a clear second in New Hampshire, with at least four recent polls giving her an edge over the Florida governor. In Iowa, DeSantis retains the advantage, even though one poll earlier this month put Haley within 3 points of him. Nationally, a Fox News poll conducted within the past week also put Haley just 3 points behind DeSantis, though he held a larger edge in other polls. There have also been media reports of major GOP donors warming up to Haley. Earlier this month, the Haley campaign released an ad accusing DeSantis of lying over his record on fracking and drilling. DeSantis, meanwhile, has jabbed at Haley for her past efforts as governor of South Carolina to attract Chinese investment. Last week, he also blasted her suggestion that the identity of all social media users should be verified. Haley later diluted her initial suggestion, telling CNBC, I dont mind anonymous American people having free speech. What I dont like is anonymous Russians and Chinese and Iranians having free speech. The battle between the aides to each candidate is also heating up. DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo told this column, No amount of money will be enough for Nikki Haley to conceal her pro-China, pro-Gaza aid, pro-gas tax and pro-[Hillary Clinton] record. As Americans look behind the curtain, they will see she does not have the extensive record of conservative achievements that Ron DeSantis boasts. For the Haley campaign, spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said: Poll after poll shows Nikki Haley is the best challenger to Donald Trump and Joe Biden and that she is the only candidate with the momentum to go the distance. Perez-Cubas added: Ron DeSantis has a short shelf life with his Iowa-or-bust strategy. This is a two-person race between one man and one woman. Haleys backers are understandably eager to emphasize polls that have shown her beating President Biden by a wider margin than either Trump or DeSantis. They also contend that the calendar favors Haley given her strength in New Hampshire and the fact that her home state of South Carolina hosts the third major contest. Haleys position in South Carolina was further buttressed when her fellow Palmetto Stater, Sen. Tim Scott, dropped out of the race on Nov. 12. Boosters of DeSantis contend that the Haley balloon will deflate upon closer inspection and that their vaunted ground operation in Iowa will pay off in the end. Dave Vasquez, the national press secretary for Never Back Down, the main super PAC backing DeSantis, told this column: In Iowa alone, Never Back Down has knocked over 641,000 doors, galvanized close to 20,000 volunteers, collected almost 30,000 commit to caucus cards, and signed up 856 precinct captains and counting. The fact is, Iowa is won by grassroots efforts on the ground, and Never Back Down has the most organized, advanced caucus operation of anyone in the entire 2024 field. Romeo, for his part, contended that there is no way Nikki Haley can beat Donald Trump, and every dollar spent on her candidacy is an in-kind [contribution] to the Trump campaign. Ron DeSantis has the best combination of endorsements, ground game, and message in the early states, which is why the former president continues to attack only him. The back-and-forth between Haley and DeSantis will only get hotter from here. Haley has a $10 million TV ad campaign beginning in Iowa and New Hampshire in early December. The two will also clash again on Dec. 6 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at a debate hosted by NewsNation. NewsNation and The Hill are both part of Nexstar Media Group. Beyond the back-and-forth between Haley and DeSantis, the question remains: How much does it matter, unless one of them can somehow reel Trump in? Thats a goal that neither DeSantis nor Haley has advanced very far toward achieving, even after months of campaigning. The battle for second is the battle for second. We dont nominate the person who comes in second place, said Michael Steele, a former chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC). There is a lot of drama between Haley and DeSantis, he added, but to what result if it doesnt move Trump out of the leadership spot? Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, expressed apparently serene confidence in the former presidents chances. President Trump is in the dominant position in the Republican primary, and it is very clear that Republican voters believe he has the best chance of beating Joe Biden in the general election When you have a front-runner who is ahead by so much and who is right on all of the issues, why would you go for a knock-off version or a cheap imitation? Miller also poured cold water on any suggestion that Trump would change his tune on nonparticipation in the debates. Trump has stayed away from every debate so far, to no obvious detriment to his campaign. No, Miller said, asked about the possibility of a rethink. President Trump is ahead by 50 points in independent polling, and there is no reason for him to debate with candidates who are at 2, 3 or 4 percent, he said. The RNC has, in fact, tightened the qualification criteria for the fourth debate to require 6 percent support in approved polls, but Millers larger point still stands. There are some Republicans who see a pathway, albeit a narrow one, for the Trump alternatives. GOP strategist Dan Judy argued that if Haley ran Trump even somewhat close in Iowa and New Hampshire, and then won her native South Carolina, there could be interesting days ahead in what would become a one-on-one contest. Haley is clearly the most talented player on the field, said Judy, who has not worked for Haley or any other presidential candidate this cycle. You see that in her debates, on the stump, she is very experienced, shes run tough races before and she has a great story. A lot of voters are starting to figure that out. But for all that, Judy acknowledged Trump remained the favorite for the nomination. Tellingly, even other Republicans who are skeptical of Trump acknowledge how strongly the odds now favor him, with just two months to go before Iowa. I wont be voting for him. Hes not my guy. But he is really, really going to be hard to beat, said Texas-based GOP strategist Brendan Steinhauser. He is a political powerhouse, still, in the Republican Party, and the window is closing for anyone to get close to him. They are running out of time. The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Four men are accused of breaking into UPS warehouses across the U.S. in search of packages with specific markings and stealing high-value items inside that totaled $1.6 million, federal prosecutors said. Fifty-five UPS facilities, including in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Rhode Island, were broken into as part of the mens burglary scheme from January 2021 to April 2023, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey. Once inside a warehouse, the men whod wear all black and hide their faces with balaclavas or other garments sought packages with lithium-ion battery warnings, as these markings likely meant expensive electronics, including phones, were inside, a criminal complaint says. The four men, Aboudramane Karamoko, 20; Sekou Fofanah, 20; Shamaire Brown, 19; and Quamaire Brown, 19, all from Philadelphia, are accused of targeting UPS warehouses on Saturday nights into Sunday morning, according to prosecutors, who said others were also involved in the scheme. Karamoko, Fofanah, Shamaire Brown and Quamaire Brown are now charged with one count of conspiracy to commit cargo theft, the attorneys office announced in a Nov. 17 news release. Information regarding the mens legal representation wasnt immediately available the afternoon of Nov. 20. We appreciate law enforcements diligence in this investigation, UPS said in a statement provided to McClatchy News on Nov. 20. How the warehouses were broken into The loading bay doors of UPS warehouses were the primary entry point for the men and others accused of taking in the burglary scheme, prosecutors said. Other potential suspects were not publicly identified by officials. The men are accused of getting inside the warehouses by smashing the loading bay door windows or prying open the door so a smaller person could squeeze through, according to prosecutors. According to one example included in the criminal complaint filed against the four men, surveillance footage captured four people entering a UPS warehouse in Jamesburg, New Jersey, where they stayed for two hours the morning of June 5, 2022. The group was seen leaving the facility around 5:22 a.m. with nylon bags, the criminal complaint says. UPS discovered electronics worth $84,741 were stolen from the warehouse that day, according to the criminal complaint. Prosecutors said the men would evade authorities, who responded to the warehouse break-ins, by driving off or running away. In addition to swiping electronics such as Apple products, the men are accused of stealing a gun from a UPS facility, according to the attorneys office. If convicted, Karamoko, Fofanah, Shamaire Brown and Quamaire Brown could face up to five years in prison each and a $250,000 fine or twice the amount of money involved in the offense, whichever is greater, prosecutors said. Travelers baggage worth thousands stolen from airport carousels, feds say. 3 charged Postal worker rifles through greeting cards and swipes gift cards from mail, feds say Man caught with 500 pieces of mail stolen from NC residents who lost $30K, feds say Jermaine Baker, 28, was shot dead in Wood Green, north London, in 2015 during an alleged attempt to spring two men from a prison van - JERMAINE BAKER A police marksman who shot dead a gangster eight years ago will face a gross misconduct hearing at the earliest opportunity, Scotland Yard has confirmed. The Metropolitan Police firearms officer, known only as W80, could be sacked over the incident, despite being cleared of criminal wrongdoing. In December 2015, W80 shot 28-year-old Jermaine Baker during a police operation as he was preparing to spring two prisoners from a prison van near Wood Green Crown Court in north London. In 2017, prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against the officer. A public inquiry in July 2022 found that Baker had been lawfully killed but said that police made numerous failures in planning and carrying out the operation. Officers at the scene in Bracknell Close, Wood Green, after Baker was shot during a police operation - JOHN STILLWELL/PA Earlier this year, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) won a lengthy legal battle with the Met Police, demanding that W80 face disciplinary proceedings. On Monday, Scotland Yard said the misconduct hearing would take place at the earliest opportunity, but rejected the watchdogs suggestion that another force should run proceedings. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: Given these events took place eight years ago and the ongoing process of investigation and inquiry has had a significant impact on all concerned, it is in everyones interests we proceed to the misconduct hearing and conclude this matter at the earliest opportunity. We have also considered the IOPC request that we ask another force to hold the hearing. Our position remains that we do not accept the Mets objections to the IOPCs earlier direction to hold a gross misconduct hearing, or our wider call for support and legal reassurance for armed officers, impinges upon our independence, nor the impartiality of the misconduct hearing process. The hearing arrangements for W80 will be made by the Met. However, the police panel member will be from another force and the hearing will be led by an independent legally qualified chair. Arrangements are now being made for the hearing to proceed as soon as possible. Calls for different force to hold hearing Bakers mother, Margaret Smith, backed the IOPCs call for another force to hold the misconduct hearing because the Met was involved in the legal battle that would have stopped it taking place. An IOPC spokesman said: Weve raised our concerns about the importance of public confidence in the independence of the process and those concerns remain. We note the Mets response and it is now the forces duty to bring the proceedings to their proper conclusion. 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. Editors note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal. Orlando resident Hassan Rahim a Nike executive who hasnt quit his day job has opened the first franchise location of Miami-based Talkin Tacos near downtown Orlando. Rahims first foray into the restaurant business is under the umbrella of his newly formed company Kismat Hospitality Group. My wife is from Miami, and I fell in love with the Talkin Tacos in Wynwood when we were there visiting. We moved here from Oregon to do this. Im still with Nike as a technical product manager. Rahims interest in the Talkin Tacos brand soon converted him into its first franchisee, and he leased the space in the SoDo area at Eco Plaza, 3123 S. Orange Ave. The 1,700-square-foot restaurant features indoor seating for 48 guests. Read: Free COVID-19 tests: Government to send tests again Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journals website. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Actor Michael Rapaport delivered an unhinged rant about the Israel-Gaza war, claiming that if the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas were Black, nobody in the world would be calling for a cease-fire. At least 12,000 Palestinians, 5,000 of them children, have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7 after Hamas terrorists murdered 1,400 Israelis and took at least 240 people hostage in a surprise attack. Israel promised to destroy Hamas and began bombing civilian areas in Gaza they claim are infiltrated by Hamas, and international calls for a cease-fire occurred as footage of the carnage was unveiled. Rapaport took to X, formally Twitter, to voice his displeasure in a video for the cease-fire calls on Nov. 16. Michael Rapaport claims that if the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas were Black, no international calls for a cease-fire in Gaza would exist. (Photo: @MichaelRapaport/X) Rapaport captioned the video, If 10 Black People from America were taken Hostage in Gaza by Hamas the entire world would be on the same page! PERIOD!!! #Israel #Jewish #brittneygriner Free All of Them! Yo, if 20 American tourists, forget the 1,200 people that were murdered, slaughtered, civilians, if 20 American civilians, all African American, all Black, all ages were taken hostage, and 10 of them were murdered and raped, and there was 10 surviving American tourist hostages that were all Black, theres not one motherfker in this country that would be talking about cease fire, he exclaimed. Rapaport did not stop his wayward rant there. Theres not one person. It would be Bring the fking hostages back, and they better be, they better be alive! They better be pristine. There wouldnt be no cease-fire, there wouldnt be no can you imagine college students ripping down posters of 10 Black people from America if they were taken hostage and 10 of them were raped and murdered? He continued, The African American community would be demanding they came back. White people, Black people, Jewish people would be demanding they come back. There wouldnt be a discussion of a cease-fire. Thats a fact! Nobody can tell me st that that is not a fking fact. Forget these 1,200 other people that were murdered, he added. Im talking about just 10. I dont compare tragedy, 9/11 versus the Oklahoma City bombing versus this, that and the third. If it was just 10 African American people, they would be demanding, everybody would be demanding, Get them back. Get them back. Get them back. The word cease-fire wouldnt even be in the vernacular. Itd be like, Ravage the fkin place until they come back, and they better come back safe and sound.' X users were shocked by his comments, and several wondered why he thought it necessary to bring Black people into it. Others wondered if the Cop Land actor was acquainted with how Black people are treated in America. They wouldnt even pick up the phone if it were Black people, noted another. One X user replied, You dont know how mad this man made me! The audacity!!!! Radio host Mo Kelly replied, 1. Brittney Griner was held in a prison for 19 months by a state actor in a known location. 2. Negotiations are being presently conducted for Israeli hostages. 3. You are an ass and deserve all the hell and hate you will have earned from this stupid and insulting post. Griner attracted global attention in 2022 after being apprehended in Russia for a drug-related incident. Despite being initially convicted and handed a nine-year sentence, she was subsequently released as part of a prisoner exchange. After receiving pushback for his comments on social media, Rapaport replied, Blah blah blah, I said what I said and what I said is facts. You can flip-flop it whatever & however you want. According to NBC News, 5,000 of the 12,000 dead in Gaza are children, 3,000 are women, and at least 3,700 people are missing. At least 1,800 children are believed to be beneath the rubble. OpenAI shocked the tech world when it fired former CEO and co-founder Sam Altman (JUSTIN SULLIVAN) Hundreds of staff at OpenAI threatened to quit the leading artificial intelligence company on Monday and join Microsoft, deepening a crisis triggered by the shock sacking of CEO Sam Altman. In a fast-moving sequence of events, Altman, who was ousted by the board on Friday, has now been hired by Microsoft where he will take the lead in developing a new advanced AI research team. There was talk Monday that OpenAI is interested in Altman returning, and that he may be open to the idea under certain conditions. "We want to partner with Open AI and we want to partner with Sam so irrespective of where Sam is he's working with Microsoft," chief executive Satya Nadella said in a streamed Bloomberg interview. "That was the case on Friday. That's the case today. And we absolutely believe that will be the case tomorrow." In a letter released to media, the vast majority of OpenAI's 770-strong staff suggested they would follow Altman unless the board responsible for his departure resigned. "Your actions have made it obvious that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI," the letter said. "Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAI employees at this new subsidiary should we choose to join." A key AI executive at Microsoft confirmed that they all were welcome from OpenAI if the board that removed Altman doesn't resign. Among the signatories was co-founder Ilya Sutskever, the company's chief scientist and a member of the four-person board who pushed Altman out. "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions," Sutskever said in a post on X, formally Twitter. "I never meant to harm OpenAI." Another signatory was top executive Mira Murati, who was appointed to replace Altman as CEO when he was removed on Friday, but didn't last the weekend in the job. "We are all going to work together some way or other, and I'm so excited," Altman said on X. OpenAI has appointed Emmett Shear, a former chief executive of Amazon's streaming platform Twitch, as its new CEO despite pressure from Microsoft and other major investors to reinstate Altman. After the startup's board sacked Altman, US media cited concerns that he was underestimating the dangers of its tech and leading the company away from its stated mission -- claims his successor has denied. Nadella wrote on X that Altman will lead a new advanced AI research team at Microsoft, joined by OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman. Global tech titan Microsoft has invested more than $10 billion in OpenAI and has rolled out the artificial intelligence pioneer's tech in its own products. Nadella said Microsoft remains committed to its partnership with OpenAI. The drama was the talk of Silicon Valley on Monday. "I know that some people are going to hate me for this, but this is the best show I've seen in my life," added Miguel Fierro, the tech giant's Principal Data Scientist Manager. Altman shot to fame with the launch of ChatGPT last year, which ignited a race to advance AI research and development, as well as billions being invested in the sector. His sacking triggered several other high-profile departures from the company, as well as a reported push by investors to bring him back. But OpenAI stood by its decision in a memo sent to employees Sunday night, saying "Sam's behavior and lack of transparency... undermined the board's ability to effectively supervise the company." - 'Badly' handled - Shear confirmed his appointment as OpenAI's interim CEO in a post on X on Monday, while also denying reports Altman had been fired over safety concerns regarding the use of AI technology. "It's clear that the process and communications around Sam's removal has been handled very badly, which has seriously damaged our trust," Shear wrote. Generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT are trained on vast amounts of data to enable them to answer questions, even complex ones, in human-like language. They are also used to generate and manipulate imagery. But the tech has triggered warnings about the dangers of its misuse -- from blackmailing people with "deepfake" images to the manipulation of images and harmful disinformation. bur-arp-gc/mlm You're Hired! To cap off one of the most bizarre weekends in tech history, Microsoft has announced that it's hiring freshly-fired OpenAI chief Sam Altman. In a post on X-formerly-Twitter, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that although he continues to have "confidence" in OpenAI which just sacked Altman he was hiring the exec to "lead a new advanced AI research team" at the tech monolith. The timing of the tweet just before midnight Pacific Standard Time, and just a few hours after OpenAI told employees that despite reports to the contrary, it would not be hiring the cofounder and now-ex-CEO back after all suggests that despite Nadella's insistence to the contrary, there is some strain between the firms over Altman's ouster. This stunning saga began just a few days ago, when on Friday afternoon OpenAI's board dropped an incredible evening news bomb: that it was firing Altman, seemingly out of nowhere. "Mr. Altmans departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities," the company's board wrote of the surprise ouster. "The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI." Things at the AI firm became almost immediately more dramatic shortly thereafter when OpenAI president Greg Brockman who Microsoft is also hiring to lead AI research and three other senior researchers at the company resigned in solidarity with Altman. Ctrl-Altman-Delete By the next day, it was already becoming clear that the board's decision was causing major financial anxiety, with company investors including Microsoft, which was reportedly blindsided by the OpenAI board's decision pushing for the ousted CEO's reinstatement. The OpenAI board apparently took that pressure to heart and invited Altman back to its San Francisco headquarters to discuss the possibility of a return that doesn't seem meant to be. Along with announcing that Altman would not be coming back after all, OpenAI said that it was appointing Twitch cofounder Emmett Shear as its interim CEO, replacing chief technology officer Mira Murati in the role that she'd been named to just a few days prior. Though this isn't the first time OpenAI has had a leadership shakeup this sensational Elon Musk was, after all, also a cofounder, and purportedly left in a huff in 2018 this debacle comes not just in a massive chapter for the swiftly-climbing, but also for AI in general. Although we don't know more about what's going on behind the scenes we've reached out to OpenAI to ask about it, but we're pretty sure their press inbox is beyond full right about now two things are clear: there's much more to this drama than meets the eye, and much more to come. More on AI: In New Experiment, Young Children Destroy AI at Basic Tasks Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, right, speaks as Sam Altman, left, looks on during the OpenAI DevDay event in San Francisco on Nov. 6, 2023. Credit - Justin SullivanGetty Images Microsoft Corp. said that Sam Altman will lead the software developers new in-house artificial intelligence team after the OpenAI co-founder was ousted from his startup last week, a bid to shore up Microsofts AI plans and reassure investors. Read More: What We Know So Far About Why OpenAI Fired Sam Altman Greg Brockman, an OpenAI board member and co-founder who also left the company last week, will join Altman and Microsoft will move quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success, the Redmond, Washington-based companys Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said in a post on LinkedIn early on Monday. In another post on X, formerly Twitter, Nadella said Altman will serve as CEO of the new in-house group. Im super excited to have you join as CEO of this new group, Sam, setting a new pace for innovation. Weve learned a lot over the years about how to give founders and innovators space to build independent identities and cultures within Microsoft, including GitHub, Mojang Studios, Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023 The move, at midnight local time on Sunday, was the latest in a dramatic three days for Microsoft and OpenAIs relationship, a backup plan for Nadella after his efforts to restore Altman and Brockman to OpenAI were thwarted. The OpenAI board named former Twitch chief Emmett Shear as CEO. Nadella wrote that Microsoft looks forward to getting to know Shear and working with him. We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners, Nadella said on LinkedIn. More From TIME The Microsoft chief has been revamping his companys entire product lineup around OpenAIs technology and has put $13 billion into the startup, making Microsoft by far its biggest shareholder with a roughly 49% stake. Read More: Why Microsofts Satya Nadella Doesnt Think Now Is the Time to Stop on AI Still, Microsoft was shocked Friday when it received just a few minutes notice that the board had ousted Altman, who enjoys a close relationship with Nadella. The news sent Microsoft shares down amid concern that upheaval at OpenAI could adversely impact Microsofts entire AI strategy. They reversed course and rose as much as 2.7% in premarket trading Monday after Nadellas announcement. Microsoft executives were also surprised Sunday by Shears appointment, as they had expected they would be able to get OpenAIs board to back down and allow Mira Murati, who had been appointed interim CEO, to return Altman and Brockman to the company in some capacity, said people familiar with the companys thinking. They asked not to be named discussing private deliberations. Its not yet clear who or how many former OpenAI workers may join Microsoft Nadella said colleagues of Altman and Brockman would follow nor how Microsoft will balance its ongoing commitment to OpenAI against its own new Altman-led AI group. Nadella offered LinkedIn and GitHub as examples of Microsoft-owned businesses that operate with independent identities and cultures and their own CEO. Microsoft has worked for more than 20 years on its own AI research. Its move to rely heavily on OpenAI technology and give that company vast computing resources, in some cases over homegrown projects, has caused some tension with those working on AI in-house. While some long-time Microsoft AI hands have left the company, moving Altman and Brockman into Microsoft could cause some further consternation. Contact us at letters@time.com. A school adjustment counselor in Middleboro is accused of assaulting a 10-year-old student with an intellectual disability, police said. Steven Adamec, 50, of Attleboro, was arraigned on assault charges in Wareham District court on Monday, after his arrest on Friday following an incident at READS Collaborative Academy, a Middleboro school specializing in the education of children with special needs, police said. Adamec pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and battery on a child with injury, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, threat to commit crime/solicitation of a crime and assault and battery on a person with intellectual disability. He was released on $540 bail. On Friday, at 3:43 p.m., police responded to a call at READS Collaborative at 44 Bedford St., reporting that an employee had assaulted a student. Adamec is now out of a job after an altercation between two students resulted in his arrest for assault and battery on a child. According to court papers, the students began fighting around 2:45 p.m. Adamec, whose job it was to de-escalate tense situations, stepped in and reprimanded one of the students, a 10-year-old autistic boy, according to court documents. That child began insulting Adamec verbally. Adamec is accused of then dragging the student by the arm and pushing him into a door while escorting him out of a classroom, police said. The destination was one of several Take space rooms at the school, or padded areas that are used to help agitated students calm down. Thats where a staff member told police Adamec slapped the 10-year-old across the face after the boy continued assaulting him verbally. That staffer also said she heard Adamec threaten to kill the child. Adamec then used his left hand to strike the student across the side of their face, police said. Adamec told police that he hit the child in self-defense, by putting up his arms as the boy tried to kick him. Officers arrested Adamec at the school on Friday and took him to the police station for booking. Outside the courtroom on Monday, the childs mother, Michelle Melander, expressed shock that a faculty member she had known for a few years, and with whom she communicated on an almost daily basis, would be accused of engaging in violent behavior against her son. He works with my other child as the adjustment counselor, Melander said. I didnt want to believe it until the report was ready today. Melander said students knew Adamec as Mr. A. I had faith in him, Melander said. And now I dont even want to look at him. Melander said this alleged incident could prove a setback for her son who, until a few years ago, was non-verbal. My son is severely autistic, Melander said. He lost his Dad a year ago. Hes struggling as it is. And now this is more trauma. Its not fair to him and justice needs to be served. No special needs teacher should be putting their hand on a child. In a letter to parent and guardians, READS Collaborative Executive Director Dina Medeiros said, The READS staff member involved in this incident no longer works for READS Collaborative as of November 17. We are fully cooperating with the police investigation, Medeiros said. I want to assure you that this individuals actions are not representative of the caring and compassionate READS staff. I am unable to discuss anything further at this time, but did want to acknowledge that there was an incident that was appropriately addressed. Adamec is due back in court on Jan. 24. 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 MIDDLEBORO A 50-year-old Attleboro man is facing assault and battery charges after police say he slapped a 10-year-old across the face at a Middleboro school. Steven Adamec, an adjustment counselor at READS Collaborative, was arrested last Friday and charged with assault and battery on a child with injury, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, threatening to commit a crime and assault and battery on a person with an intellectual disability. Officers responded to the READS Collaborative, at 44 Bedford St., about 3:43 p.m. on Friday after the school called police to report an employee had assaulted a student. READS Collaborative is a school that aims to "provide creative, flexible solutions that promote the success and well-being of each child, adolescent and adult learner." It provides therapeutic services to students with a wide range of challenges. Police say through an investigation they determined Adamec had struck a 10-year-old student across the side of their face following an argument. "Police subsequently determined that Adamec dragged the student by the arm and pushed him into a door while escorting him out of a classroom," Police Chief Joseph Perkins wrote in a statement. "Adamec then used his left hand to strike the student across the side of their face." Adamec was arrested at the school and booked at the Middleboro police station, where he posted $500 pending arraignment. He was arraigned Monday in Wareham District Court, where he pleaded not guilty. Adamec hired local prominent defense attorney Kevin Reddington, who did not appear for the arraignment. A prosecutor from the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office asked Judge Edward Sharkansky to impose an additional $1,000 bail and a stay away/no contact order from the victim, the school and anyone under the age of 18, minus immediate family. Sharkansky declined to impose any additional bail, but did order Adamec to stay away and have no contact with the victim or the school. Adamec is due back in court on Jan. 26 for a pre-trial hearing. Adamec is a licensed mental health counselor and school adjustment counselor with over 20 years of counseling experience in community, school, home and office settings, according to his Psychology Today profile. Enterprise senior reporter Cody Shepard can be reached by email at cshepard@enterprisenews.com. This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Middleboro READS Collaborative counselor charged with assault A warning to anyone with a penchant for side hustles: if you happen to be the CEO of the world's preeminent AI creator, your board might not be thrilled with your extracurricular activities. It's still unclear why Sam Altman, OpenAI's recently-fired CEO, was pushed out of the fast-rising Silicon Valley AI company that he's become more or less synonymous with. Altman was not only one of the AI maker's original founders, but its public face, making press-heavy splashes at the White House, weirdly religious-sounding AI predictions, and overall leaning into his casting as the Oppenheimer of the burgeoning AI era. As such, his ouster was a surprise to pretty much everyone outside of OpenAI's now-teetering board, including the vast majority of OpenAI employees, the CEO of the heavily OpenAI-invested Microsoft, and Altman himself. Upon Altman's firing, announced Friday, OpenAI released a fuzzy statement since updated noting that a "deliberative review process" by the board had concluded that the charismatic leader was "not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities." It's incredibly vague, and one that's lent itself to intense speculation. Did the talk of not being "candid" mean Altman had lied to the company's governing body? And now, one feasible explanation may have floated to the surface. As Bloomberg reports, prior to his shocking expulsion Altman had been spending time in the Middle East raising funds for a new chip venture billed as a competitor to Nvidia a high-dollar side project that sources say added extra pressure to an already-strained relationship. Per Bloomberg, Altman's side hustle, dubbed "Tigris," appears quite ambitious. Nvidia has a chokehold on the semiconductor marketplace, as its popular GPU chips remain the favorite among AI startups for their computing power; Altman, according to Bloomberg, wants to take some of that market share away from Nvidia by introducing his own lower-cost Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, to the industry. This would not only stand to displace the market incumbent but would also give OpenAI more control over its production, likely making its products cheaper in the long run. While the imagined chip would theoretically lower production costs over time, though, the effort certainly wouldn't be cheap on the front end. According to Bloomberg, Altman is seeking tens of billions of dollars for the nascent venture from the likes of SoftBank, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and Mubadala Investment Company. So, no small effort! And it's not just Tigris that the former OpenAI CEO who's already found employment at Microsoft is said to be hunting down investors for. According to Bloomberg, Altman is also collaborating with legendary Apple designer Jony Ive on a secret-shrouded AI hardware effort, which he was actively pitching to potential funders in the Middle East in the run-up to his surprise firing. You'll notice a risky throughline between those side projects as well: they'd both be swimming in the same financial waters as OpenAI, with the chipmaker potentially selling its hardware and the Jony Ive one likely using its API. It may have been especially trepidatious timing for OpenAI's charismatic leader to be shopping his side hustles around, too. Per Bloomberg, OpenAI has been looking to clinch a delicate offer that "would let employees sell their shares at an $86 billion valuation." It could well have been that OpenAI's board feared that Altman's personal fundraising could disrupt the deal, or worse, garnered government scrutiny, especially considering the federal government's particular sensitivities around technologies like AI and chips. Again, though, this fundraising may only have been the final back-breaking straw. OpenAI has a fairly bizarre structure it's a for-profit company controlled by a non-profit board, and over the past year, it's seemed that the company's non-profit "open" roots have been more challenged than ever. As AI safety concerns loom larger, it seems that friction around these debates may have arisen within OpenAI. According to a different Bloomberg report, such friction was notably palpable between Altman and OpenAI Chief Scientist and Geoffrey Hinton disciple Ilya Sutskever. Sutskever reportedly felt that OpenAI, under Altman's leadership, was paying too little mind to safety standards and guardrails and recklessly charging ahead. These tensions reportedly reached an inflection point at OpenAI's recent DevDay; some of Altman's projections and promises concerned Sutskever, who then took his grievances to the board. It's not a new pattern for OpenAI, which has seen major breakups in the past as a result of differing AI safety views. But interestingly enough, Sutskever himself has now backtracked, declaring in a tweet today that he "deeply [regrets]" his "participation in the board's actions." "I never intended to harm OpenAI," he continued. "I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company." Altman, for his part, responded with three red heart emojis. More on OpenAI: Microsoft Immediately Hires Sam Altman after Hes Fired by OpenAI A dog was abandoned at a Pennsylvania airport while the man accused of leaving him likely got on a flight, police say. Now, the West Virginia man faces charges of abandonment of animals, neglect of animal and cruelty to animals, according to a Nov. 20 news release from the Allegheny County Police Department. Mikey the dog was found in a parking garage at the Pittsburgh International Airport on Nov. 16, police said. He had a dental infection and was taken in by a local shelter. Police believed the 68-year-old man was flying to California and spent time inside the airport before leaving the dog in the short-term parking garage prior to his flight, according to an earlier news release. Photos shared by police show Mikey with the man, then later tied to a pole next to a parking spot in the garage. After Allegheny County police said they identified the man from Windsor Heights, they struggled to contact him, according to the release. The department decided to move forward with filing charges after consulting with the district attorneys office. Mikey isnt the first dog to be abandoned in a parking area at the Pittsburgh airport in recent months. In August, a small brown and white dog was found in a stroller outside the airport, McClatchy News reported. When airline officials told the passenger the dog had to be in a crate to fly, the owner left their dog outside and got on the plane, Allegheny County police said. The shelter that took Mikey in, Animal Friends, is working with the state dog warden to get a court order that would allow Mikey to receive proper care, police said. Mikey is not up for adoption at this time. Injured puppy found abandoned at Indiana airport, officials say. Search on for owner Stray dog was covered in scars. Now shes overjoyed about new home, Florida shelter says Cat set on fire makes miraculous recovery in Washington. Now hes looking for a home (Bloomberg) -- It was early in the afternoon of Oct. 22, the day of Argentinas first-round vote, and Patricia Bullrich already knew that shed lost her bid for the presidency. Most Read from Bloomberg Eliminated from the runoff, Bullrich, the pro-business candidate for the main opposition Juntos por el Cambio bloc, couldnt sleep that night. At 4 a.m. she sent a message to Mauricio Macri, the blocs elder statesman, saying that she wanted to back outsider Javier Milei, according to a person familiar with her movements. Bullrich, who earned a reputation for toughness during her time as security minister in Macris cabinet, sped up the announcement of her support when she learned that elements of Juntos were planning to support the other candidate, Sergio Massa of the ruling Peronist coalition, another person close to her said. She wanted to get ahead of the news, so she and her running mate came out and publicly endorsed Milei, prompting angry accusations that she was breaking her own bloc apart. We cant stay neutral, a grim-faced Bullrich said at a shambolic press conference at her party headquarters. Another cycle of Peronism of the type espoused by Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the polarizing former president seen by opposition parties as the symbol of all that is wrong with the country, would condemn Argentina to greater decadence, she said. The country is at risk. It was a gamble that put Bullrich in step with the majority of Argentines as they embraced the libertarian economists radical plans to rescue the country from its spiral of decay, handing Milei the largest margin of victory in a presidential election in decades. A spokesman for Bullrich declined to comment on her private discussions at the time. The million dollar question is did Bullrichs base like the Macri-Bullrich-Milei alliance? Yes, said Facundo Cruz, a political consultant. Whether the two of them read the room correctly or their voters got ahead of them, the math shows an almost exact confluence between the two political spaces. To be sure, the alignment of the mainstream Juntos candidate with an outsider like Milei couldnt soften his image as an anarchist willing to blow things up. But it helped to take the sting out of the fear-mongering pushed by Massas campaign and to remove some of the stigma of voting for him, including moderates and those in the business community looking for direction after their preferred candidate Bullrich was eliminated. For all the emphatic nature of his win, Mileis lack of party support in Congress is a core weakness, and gives Juntos whats sure to be an important role in helping the new government pass its platform, while shaping policy from the inside. Another key moment in Mileis march to the top came 36 hours after Bullrich called Macri, when she was invited to dine with both men at Macris sprawling estate just outside Buenos Aires. Recalling the meeting in a radio interview, Macri said that when Bullrich arrived, he quipped here comes the montonera a reference to her one-time membership of the left-wing Peronist guerrilla group that was active during Argentinas 1970s dictatorship, a youthful dalliance that Milei used to attack her during the campaign. The one that throws bombs, Milei pitched in. The ice was broken and Milei and Bullrich embraced. At the dinner, also attended by Mileis sister and campaign organizer, Karina, Milei asked for help to win the election. It was a risk for Milei to be seen so close to an embodiment of the establishment that hed railed against, but it helped work to soften his image and deliver the votes he needed to win. Milei was also helped by the tack taken by Massas campaign in trying to paint him as dangerously out of control a huge strategic mistake that backfired on election day, said Andrei Roman, the head of Sao Paulo-based pollster AtlasIntel, which correctly predicted Mileis runoff win. For Roman, the televized debate on Nov. 12 was a milestone, not because Milei turned the tide - he clearly lost to Massa - but because the way he lost made him appear more moderate and accepting of his mistakes, while Massa came across as the career politician that he is, intent on doing whatever was needed to win. While Milei got 30% of the vote in October and Bullrich 24%, Milei managed to mold both into 56% support in Sundays runoff, beating Massa who took 44%. But the central dilemma over how to meet the expectations of his younger, angrier base, while retaining Bullrichs more moderate electorate hasnt disappeared and will shape his government as he struggles to balance his brand of radical eccentricity with mainstream consensus. That extends to the selection of cabinet posts as ministers are charged with delivering his agenda. The election result suggests that most voters are relying on Milei to square that circle, and still shake things up after beating Massas Peronist machine. As Mariel Fornoni, director of polling firm Management & Fit in Buenos Aires, put it: Evidently at the last minute, people who said that neither candidate represented them ended up taking a risk and choosing what most represented change. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The U.S. military has rescinded the preliminary award of what could be a nine-figure contract with the company it had tentatively selected to build a small-scale nuclear power plant at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks. The Department of the Air Force and the Defense Logistics Agency in August announced an intent to award the contract to Oklo a Silicon Valley startup backed by Sam Altman, who, until his ouster this week, also led the company behind ChatGPT. In late September, the DLAs energy arm revoked its decision, citing a need for further consideration of its obligations under a specific military contracting regulation, according to a memo sent to a competing bidder and obtained by Northern Journal from another source. The regulation says the military should engage in post-bidding negotiations and discussions for contracts worth $100 million or more. A DLA spokeswoman, Michelle McCaskill, declined to make agency officials available for an interview. In an emailed response to questions, she explained the revocation by repeating the language from the memo and said all bidders that responded to the agencys request for proposals are still under consideration. McCaskill said a pre-filing notice of protest of the award to Oklo was submitted to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, but she declined to share a copy. A spokeswoman for Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp., the company that received the memo obtained by Northern Journal, confirmed that her business had made the pre-filing notice but added that a formal protest had not been filed. Oklo is one of a growing number of businesses developing what are known as micro-reactors, which the military describes as small projects with built-in safety features that self-adjust to changing conditions and demands to prevent overheating. The Eielson contract drew broad interest from the energy industry; officials from companies like Westinghouse, Rolls-Royce and Siemens participated in an informational meeting about it last year, according to a roster published by the military. Oklos chief executive, Jake DeWitte, said in a brief interview Friday that his company is letting the contracting process play out. But we are more than excited about the opportunity, he said. Experts say the micro-reactor concept could be a good match to replace generators running on expensive, imported diesel in remote Alaska communities or at resource development projects like mines not to mention for the military. But the systems now under development have not been commercially proven: No micro-reactors have yet been built in the U.S. since the earliest days of nuclear technology. This month, the only company with an approved design, Oregon-based Nuscale Power, announced that it had canceled a leading demonstration project in Idaho. Several potential customers had abandoned the project amid increasing costs, according to Reuters. Oklo officials and military leaders had celebrated the August announcement that the company would build the micro-reactor at Eielson, which is home to dozens of fighter jets, including two squadrons of F-35s. You have an energy source local, within the installation that allows you to get those two critical fighter squadrons in the air and executing their business, executing their mission, Assistant Air Force Secretary Ravi Chaudhary said at the time. At five megawatts roughly equivalent to the average demand of the Southwest Alaska hub town of Bethel military brass hailed the micro-reactor as a way for Eielson to generate carbon-free energy thats independent from the rest of the electrical grid. The base currently depends on a 15-megawatt coal plant, according to KUAC. Following the revocation, the office of Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who helped secure federal spending on micro-reactor development, asked the Department of Defense for a timeline but has not heard back, spokesman Joe Plesha said in an email. We will continue to monitor this issue closely, he said. At the time of the August announcement, the Air Force said the micro-reactor was expected to go online by the end of 2027, based on a directive in Congresss 2019 military spending bill. McCaskill, the DLA spokeswoman, said there is no revised timeline to the contracting process and that the agency still intends to meet all deadlines. The Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. spokeswoman, Mary Woollen, said her firm is still extremely interested in providing this solution to the Air Force and (is) waiting for DLAs contracting officer to notify us of the next steps in the procurement process. USNC believes it is in the best position to support the Air Force and will continue to pursue all means at its disposal to support its bid, she wrote in an email. USNC, which is based in Seattle, has proposed to build what could be Canadas first micro-reactor, in Ontario, and aims for it to go online by 2028. MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Police Tactical Enforcement Unit (TEU) arrested Quran Robey in Oak Creek on Monday, Nov. 20. He was wanted in connection to a homicide that took place on Sunday, Nov. 19. Police located Robey around 12:03 a.m. in the area of 13th and College. The homicide occurred near Center and 33rd just after 2 a.m. Sunday morning. During an argument, police said Robey fatally shot another person. He was also wanted in connection to a shooting that occurred near Appleton and Capitol on Saturday. SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News Charges are being referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office. Nine people have been killed by large storms in Turkey, including a crew member of a Turkish ship that sunk off the Black Sea coast, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Nov. 20, as cited by Anadolu. The Turkish-flagged Kafkametler, which previously went missing, sank by drifting and hitting a breakwater after leaving a port in the Eregli district, according to Yerlikaya. The rescuers have reportedly found the body of the killed crew member and continue the search for the remaining 11 crew members who lost contact with the authorities. Severe storms struck northwestern Turkey on Nov. 19, causing large-scale damage to peoples homes and infrastructure, which is still being evaluated, according to Turkish officials. Another ship sailing under the Cameroonian flag, Pallada, broke into two after running aground at the port, according to Turkey's Maritime General Directorate, cited by Associated Press. All 13 crew members were reportedly rescued. Read also: Ukrainians step up efforts to cross Dnipro, tie up Russian forces in Kherson Oblast Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. SAN MARCOS, Texas - The Hays County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in finding a missing 17-year-old girl. HCSO says that on Nov. 8, Krisitiana Grant was dropped off at school by her grandmother, but didn't return home from school that evening. She is believed to be in an apartment complex on N LBJ Drive in San Marcos. READ MORE Anyone with any information regarding her whereabouts is asked to contact Det. David Maddocks by email or dispatch at 512-393-7896 and reference case number HCSO 2023-65965. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Hays County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-324-8477 or online through P3tips.com or the Hays County Sheriff's Office app. Davido and Karen Koep have been missing since 13 November. (Pauline Dutton) On 13 November, police were sent to a couples home in Washington state after the wife failed to show up for work. Soon after, the Thurston County Sheriffs Office announced that Karen Koep and her husband Davido were missing under suspicious circumstances. After several days of interviews and investigating tips, the missing persons case turned into a murder investigation as officers arrested Timothy Burke on 17 November on two charges of first-degree murder and one charge of first-degree kidnapping. The sheriffs office said they do not believe the couple survived the attack at their residence. Now, Ms Koeps sister Pauline Dutton says the couple were generous and selfless people who may have been taken advantage of by Mr Burke, who she says was living on one of their rental properties - and facing imminent eviction. Heres what to know about the case: The disappearance The Thurston County Sheriffs Office first announced the suspicious disappearance of Ms Koep and Davido on 13 November. Ms Dutton told The Independent she last heard from the couple a few days prior, when she spoke to her sister about Thanksgiving plans. On 15 November, police identified the couples car in a nearby town and called on the public for assistance. At that time, the sheriffs office said interviews have been conducted, surveillance video obtained and additional follow-up interviews conducted. The murder charges The latest update came on 17 November, when police announced they had arrested a 40-year-old suspect from Olympia, Washington who was known to the couple. Police confirmed to The Independent the man they arrested is Mr Burke. The Thurston County Superior Court has denied bond or release to the suspect, according to a 20 November statement from the sheriffs office. Little is known about progress in the investigation following the arrest, including what police know about the apparent attack and where Ms Koep and Davido would be now should the murder suspicions be true. Ms Dutton said she had not received significant updates from police since the arrest, but that she trusts the officers working on the case. I trust them, Ms Dutton said. They are 100 per cent taking care of this. The suspect Ms Dutton told The Independent Mr Burke lived on one of the couples rental properties, a group house rented out by the room. She said she gathered that Mr Burke did construction work for Davido instead of paying rent, but could not provide confirmation. The couple were preparing to evict Mr Burke leading up to their disappearance, according to Ms Dutton. She said the property Mr Burke lived on was a source of some stress for the couple. I think they got taken advantage of for being kind to this gentleman, she said. Karen Koep was an incredible chiropractor and active member of her community, her sister says. (Pauline Dutton) Davido who legally dropped his last name had a criminal past and was incarcerated on drug charges, Ms Dutton previously told The Daily Beast. He was arrested in 1993 in connection with a federal investigation into passport fraud and spent 72 months in jail after he was convicted on one count of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, per The Daily Beast. Ms Dutton told The Independent that Davidos mistakes are in the past, and that he had a golden heart. She described Ms Koep who worked as a chiropractor in Lacey, Washington as an active and selfless member of her local community. She was not only a physical healer as a chiropractor, but she was a spiritual mentor and a good friend, Ms Dutton said. She went above and beyond connected with patients outside of the clinic. A missing Florida woman was found dead in her estranged husband's storage unit, authorities said. Shakeira Yvonne Rucker, 37, was found dead Saturday in a storage unit at the Self Storage on Wiggins Road in Apopka, the Orange County Sheriffs Office said Saturday on Facebook. The sheriff's office is investigating Ruckers case as a homicide. This is not the update we wanted to be giving you all today, Sheriff John Mina said at a news conference Sunday, adding that the story has had a lot of twists and turns over the last week and covered many jurisdictions. Shakeira Rucker (Orange County Sheriff's Office) Authorities had just finished searching for Rucker in an area near Bob White Airfield in Mount Dora on Saturday when they got a 911 call from someone at the Self Storage reporting "a smell emanating from one of the units," Mina said. Orange County sheriff's deputies found Rucker dead in the unit from apparent gunshot wounds, Mina said. He said a full autopsy is underway. Officials said the storage unit belonged to her estranged husband, Cory Hill, the prime suspect, and that he has not been cooperative in the investigation. Rucker was killed at the storage unit, Mina said. No motive was announced. He is the suspect. We are not looking for anyone else. He will be charged with the murder eventually in this case," Mina said. The public defender's office representing Hill did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mina said Hill is already in the Orange County Jail, charged with four counts of attempted homicide, accused of shooting at his former girlfriend and her family on Nov. 12. According to Orange County jail records, he was booked Nov. 13. Rucker, who WESH reported was a mother of four, was first reported missing after her family said they last saw her on Nov. 11, Winter Springs police said on Facebook. Police said that she was last seen leaving her Winter Springs home that day and that her family believed she had been with Hill. "It's not the outcome we expected, but there's a little bit of closure for Shakeira's family," Winter Springs Police Chief Matthew Tracht said Sunday. Tracht said the team worked 16- to 18-hour days to find Rucker and worked across four counties: Orange, Seminole, Polk and Lake. It also got help from Mount Dora police, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI, he said. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com A woman was found dead over the weekend inside a Florida storage unit registered to her estranged husband, who is the primary suspect in her murder, authorities said. Shakeira Rucker, a mother first reported missing about one week prior to her body being found on Saturday, died from an apparent gunshot wound, Orange County Sheriff John Mina announced during a Sunday news conference. The sheriff's office had been assisting the Winter Springs Police Department in a search for Rucker that spanned multiple Florida counties after her disappearance earlier this month. She was last seen on Nov. 11, when security footage showed Rucker with Cory Hill, the estranged husband, CBS affiliate WKMG-TV reported. Hill was named a person of interest in her case on Tuesday. By Sunday, he was detained in the Orange County jail and being held without bond, Mina said. Hill faces four counts of attempted homicide for shooting at his girlfriend and family in an other incident on Nov. 12. "Shakeira's estranged husband, Cory Hill, is the prime suspect in her disappearance and obviously now in this murder," Mina told reporters. "We have plenty of time to continue collecting evidence and attesting to build our case to charge Cory Hill with Shakeira's murder." "I'm saying, he is the suspect, we're not looking for anyone else," Mina said. "He will be charged with the murder, eventually, in this case." On Saturday, authorities out of Orange County and Winter Springs were searching an area near the Bob White airfield in Mount Dora, about 30 miles from Orlando. Less than two hours after finishing the search around 3 p.m., the sheriff's office received a 911 call from a storage unit facility in Apopka, a nearby city, reporting "a smell emanating from one of the storage units," Mina said. Deputies then found a woman believed to be Rucker in the storage unit, dead from an apparent gunshot wound. "Shakeira's family was notified this evening," the Orange County Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook Saturday in an update on the search for Rucker. "We grieve with them & our detectives are committed to bringing them justice in this case." Rucker's family members and other loved ones held a vigil after the news conference on Sunday, WKMG-TV reported. Clarence Thorton, Rucker's younger brother, told the news station, "My sister should've never been in that situation ... Not in a million years would I thought my sister would've ever been in that situation, so if you're going through anything like this please find help." Steven Van Zandt: The 60 Minutes Interview The Chicago sandwich joint that inspired "The Bear" A sweet celebration of pawpaw fruit MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) Nearly two days after a 17-year-old was killed during a shootout in a neighborhood, the Mobile Police Department continued its search for clues and suspects. At 12:58 a.m. on Sunday, the police department responded to the scene of a shooting on Stuardi Court. Upon arrival, officers found the boy dead in the front yard. Most Gen Z Mobilians, or Zoomers, still live with parents: study The teen, according to the police department, got into a shootout with people in a car parked in the driveway. They did not specify who started the exchange of gunfire. The investigation is ongoing, and to maintain the integrity of the investigation, we are unable to provide further details at this time, the MPD said. Neighbors say that while the neighborhood has a bold criminal history, the activity has declined for quite some time. Best of Broadway Cabaret Series coming to Mobile However, this shooting has residents worried that this could be the start of a new trend. A little scared, especially with the fact that we have kids, Jessica Draper, a nearby neighbor, said to WKRG News 5 hours after the shooting. However, others are hopeful that the neighborhood can turn itself around. We can just hope and pray that the incident in itself will just wake up people, especially in this neighborhood. Just a conviction to change, Reginald Reese, Pastor at Maranatha Apostolic Church, said. Conde Nast names Mobile, Alabama, among Best Places to Go in North America Those with information that could help investigators can call the Mobile Police Department at 251-208-7211. To send tips anonymously, text 844-251-0644 or visit mobilepd.org/crimetip. Previous reporting: Mobile police investigate Sunday morning homicide For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. Johnny Matthews knew he would be leaving behind his beloved Modesto A&W restaurant soon, but he never thought this would be why. The owner of the historic downtown Modesto drive-in burger joint will close the site at G and 14th streets by Nov. 22 after 66 years of continuous operation. In the end, it wasnt inflation or staffing or diner disinterest that took him down. Instead, the restaurant, which has become a landmark in the region, is closing because of an Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit filed against the property last month. The A&W site known for its big burgers, roller-skating carhops and American Graffiti-era ambiance has been a part of the city since it opened on the spot as a food stand in 1957. The restaurant still attracts a loyal crowd and holds its popular nostalgia-filled Friday night cruise-ins every summer, complete with Elvis impersonators. Linda Medlin and Diana Berchtold ate lunch at the A&W restaurant in Modesto, Calif., Friday Nov. 17, 2023. Both Modesto natives started coming to the A&W with their families when they were kids. Matthews, who owns the building and business with his wife, Tammy, already had planned to retire and sell both this year preferably to someone who would continue its legacy as an A&W franchise. But they had hoped to continue operating the restaurant until the sale was finalized. Now they will shutter abruptly by 4 p.m. Wednesday instead of trying to fight the ADA lawsuit as they continue to work on a sales deal. You think of the hundreds of thousands of people who have visited the restaurant over all these years and its never been an issue, said Johnny Matthews, 75, who took over ownership of the site in 1996. Its the law, but its a stupid law to allow these complaints to get rewarded over and over again. Plaintiff has filed multiple ADA lawsuits across Stanislaus County The plaintiff in the A&W lawsuit is 81-year-old Modesto resident Lee Dozier, who has filed 15 ADA lawsuits against property owners in Stanislaus County in the past 13 months, all using the same Newport Beach-based law firm. Besides the Matthewses and their A&W restaurant, Dozier has filed ADA suits against building owners of national and local businesses in Modesto mostly alleging inaccessible or inadequate disabled parking access in addition to some other violations. A&W owner Johnny Matthews and his manager, Jennifer Rushman, left, assistant manager Julie Hale, right, and loyal customer Jerry in his 1941 Chevy Master Deluxe coupe pose for a picture at A&W restaurant in Modesto, Calif., Friday Nov. 17, 2023. The American Graffiti era drive-in burger joint is closing after 66 years of continuous service. The downtown A&W does not have any posted or dedicated accessible parking spots, as are required by state and federal law. The ADA was passed in 1990 as historic federal civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination based on disability. The public accommodations requirements of the law guarantee access to ensure those with any disabilities can enter and enjoy businesses and services offered to the general population. But in California, ADA lawsuits have become something of a cash cow for some serial filers who look for properties with violations and then file lawsuits asking for damages. The issue has arisen again and again across the Central Valley, even after the Legislature, aiming to prevent abuses, made some changes to existing law. The Modesto Bee has extensively covered the waves of ADA lawsuits filed across the region over the years. That includes the suit that shut down the long-running Barnwood Restaurant in Ripon, which since 1978 had been a high-profile presence just off Highway 99. But after its owners were hit with an ADA lawsuit by a different serial filer in 2014, it closed for good. The site has since been bulldozed and redeveloped as a drive-thru Starbucks. JOAN BARNETT LEE/ jlee@modbee.com Exterior of Barnwood Restaurant pictured on Wednesday afternoon (05-15-13) in Ripon, Ca. The business will close on May 31st. John Mangelos opened the restaurant on July 3rd, 1980. The suit against the Matthewses alleges that on a visit to the A&W on Sept. 29 of this year, Dozier went to purchase a delicious float. But he found the property does not provide any accessible parking whatsoever. Dozier, who characterizes himself as disabled and caretaker for his disabled wife, said he suffered and continues to suffer violations of his civil rights to full and equal enjoyment of goods, services, facilities, and privileges, and has suffered and will suffer embarrassment and humiliation. Dozier is seeking $25,000 in damages, attorney and court fees and expenses and any other relief that the court deems appropriate. The Matthewses said that since the lawsuit was filed Oct. 10, they have received a potential settlement offer for $23,000 from the plaintiffs counsel. Like Modestos A&W drive-in, these Central Valley businesses faced ADA suits over the years While the Matthewses acknowledge the lack of accessible parking, they said suits like this arent actually aimed at improving access for disabled individuals. Instead, they said, theyre about big paydays for plaintiffs and their attorneys. Disability rights advocates have argued over the years that the courts are one of the only ways to hold property owners accountable for following the law. Attorney behind suits used to defend small businesses in court Calls to phone numbers associated with Doziers residence were not answered. Calls requesting comment from Doziers attorney Rick Morin, who has offices in Newport Beach and Sacramento, also were not returned. A representative at his Newport Beach office said he would not be available for comment. But Morin has spoken with The Bee in the past. Indeed, about a decade ago Morin was a champion for small businesses and specialized in fighting ADA lawsuits. He was quoted in multiple articles over the years in this role, and in 2017 told The Bee, There is too much money to be made. Theyre not going to stop suing. Morins law offices website still lists ADA lawsuit defense as one of his primary areas of specialization and touts his work as a tireless advocate against frivolous ADA lawsuits who will defend against these shakedown lawsuits and advise you on compliance measures to avoid litigation. Customers have flocked to A&W restaurant before it closes next week. Photographed in Modesto, Calif., Friday Nov. 17, 2023. The American Graffiti era drive-in burger joint is closing after 66 years of continuous service. Since October 2022, Morins office has filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of Dozier, alleging violations at Modesto properties. Of the 15 lawsuits, seven were voluntarily dismissed, which typically means a private monetary settlement was reached between the parties. The six open lawsuits include the property owners of Modestos two Wienerschnitzel hot dog locations, a Del Taco on Standiford Avenue, USA Tire and Wheel Dealers Inc. on Prescott Road and California Rehabilitation on Spyres Way. The lawsuits filed by Dozier share striking similar language, and all allege parking access violations. The majority of the open suits are seeking $25,000 in damages in addition to other fees. Johnny Matthews said that while installing accessible parking spaces would be a relatively easy fix, if A&W remained open, the plaintiff still could be eligible for damages in court. Considering the age of the building, he said he also would fear additional lawsuits alleging other ADA code violations. A&W restaurant on G and 14th streets in Modesto, Calif., Friday Nov. 17, 2023. The restaurant is closing after 66 years of continuous service. Instead, the couple have resigned themselves to closing. They will continue service until Wednesday afternoon, after which theyll hold a private party for their six employees. Among them are general manager Jennifer Rushman and assistant general manager Julie Hale. The two sisters more than a quarter-century of employment at the drive-in predates the Matthewses ownership. We have many customers and friends who are disabled who we have been serving for years, Hale said. Weve always gone out of our way to provide service to them. Valley customers flock to Modesto drive-in for final meals, goodbyes Since the Matthewses announced the restaurants impending closure about a week ago, the dining room and parking lot have overflowed with a constant stream of customers coming in for one last Papa Burger or Coney dog or look at all the Modesto and Graffiti memorabilia. A&W restaurant in Modesto, Calif., Friday Nov. 17, 2023. Last week, the restaurant even hosted a wedding, which wasnt the only nuptials held there over the years another sign of the communitys enduring affinity for the modest burger shack. Among those whove stopped in for a goodbye meal are cousins Linda Medlin and Diana Berchtold, both 71-year-old Modesto natives. They started coming to the A&W with their families when they were kids. We used to come to get root beer floats, that was the big thing to do when it was hot outside in those days, Berchtold said. A slice of Modesto history is up for sale. What is the future of Graffiti-era drive-in? While they sympathize with the right to access for all, they said chronic ADA suits do not benefit the majority of disabled people and instead only provide monetary rewards to the few and their lawyers. Why cant there be exceptions? I understand the ADA, I understand it totally and have friends (who are disabled), Medlin said. If (access) was truly a problem for anyone specifically, heck, me and my husband would build the ramp ourselves. Waterford resident Mike Miller came with friend Cambria Pollinger of Turlock for the joints signature overflowing root beer floats. As they sat and enjoyed their treat outside this week, news of the ADA lawsuit left them feeling less than warm and fuzzy. Waterford resident Mike Miller came with friend Cambria Pollinger of Turlock to enjoy one last root beer float at A&W in Modesto, Calif., Friday Nov. 17, 2023. The restaurant is closing after 66 years of continuous service. I hope that guy feels good about closing down a business like this, Miller said. As the Matthewses prepare for the end of their era of Modesto history with the A&W, they remain confident the site will sell and another restaurant eventually will open there. The location is zoned for fast food, and the couple said theyve fielded a lot of interest from potential buyers, though deals like this can take time to finalize. Im not very happy about the lawsuit. Im upset that one person could ruin it for everyone and the employees right before Christmas, Matthews said. Its really is frustrating that our government hasnt made better conditions for this. Instead, one drive-by litigator could spoil it all. Owner Johnny Matthews, wife Tammy, and his general manager, Jennifer Rushman, second left, assistant general manager Julie Hale, left, at A&W restaurant in Modesto, Calif., Friday Nov. 17, 2023. Xi's trip adds stability to China-US ties, injects positivity to intl landscape 09:11, November 20, 2023 By Chen Qingqing, Bai Yunyi, Xing Xiaojing, Shen Weiduo, Xie Wenting and Yang Sheng ( Global Times Chinese President Xi Jinping attends APEC Leaders' Informal Dialogue with Guests and working lunch in San Francisco, US, on November 16 (local time). Photo: Xinhua Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday evening returned to Beijing after holding a China-US summit meeting and attending the 30th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco, with expectations from experts from both China and the US that the trip will serve to further stabilize the most important bilateral ties in the world, while they also cautioned about the possible uncertainties from the US side. Chinese analysts said on Sunday that now China has pointed out the correct direction for how to develop the China-US relations, it is time to see how much the US can do and to what extent the uncertainties in Washington will impact the future. During the APEC meeting, the world has also seen China's confidence and openness to contribute to the global economic recovery, so that the world, which faces uncertainties and even turbulence in some regions, can share more benefits brought by the Chinese market with the highest certainty, experts noted. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday briefed the media on President Xi's talks with US President Joe Biden and his attendance at the APEC meeting in San Francisco, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that it is widely believed that President Xi's trip has attracted worldwide attention, which has added stability to China-US relations, brought new impetus to Asia-Pacific cooperation and injected positive energy into the international and regional landscape. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Joe Biden at Filoli Estate in the U.S. state of California, Nov. 15, 2023.(Photo: Xinhua) Correct directions President Xi pointed out in San Francisco that China and the US should assume a new vision, noting that the two countries should jointly develop a right perception, jointly manage disagreements effectively and appreciate each other's principles and red lines, jointly advance mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly shoulder responsibilities as major countries and jointly promote people-to-people exchanges, said Wang in the media briefing, adding that this has built together five pillars for China-US relations and established the "San Francisco vision" oriented toward the future. Jin Canrong, associate dean of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday that there is a clear difference between the two countries which was on display at both the summit in Bali in 2022 and in San Francisco this time. "China hopes the summit can set the tone for bilateral ties from a strategic, overarching and directional perspective," he said, adding that the US has given its answer about competition and it only hopes a crisis can be managed after it breaks out. Lu Xiang, a US studies expert and research fellow from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that "By outlining the 'five pillars,' President Xi told the US side how to correctly develop bilateral ties, and this is the guideline that is able to not only ensure peaceful coexistence but also make win-win cooperation serve the most fundamental interests of the two peoples. But the nice vision can only be realized when the US thinks and acts in the same way." Challenges remain If the US provocations and military activities in regions like the Taiwan Straits and South China Sea continue, it is inevitable that tensions and crises will emerge again and again, Lu said. "China and the US still think differently, as China wants to fundamentally rule out the possibility of crisis by asking the US to change its policy of containing China, while the US cares more about how to manage the situation after a crisis breaks out as it wants to remain its containment against China," he noted. Joseph Nye, former dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, told the Global Times that "I hope the meeting will lead both countries to a more realist picture of the relationship. America cannot decouple its trade and investment completely from China without causing enormous damage to itself and the global economy." Nye said partial "decoupling" or "de-risking" on security issues between China and the US will continue, but total economic decoupling would be prohibitively costly, adding that "There are also ecological aspects of interdependence, which make decoupling impossible. No country can tackle climate change, the pandemic threat, or other transnational problems alone." "For better and worse, we are locked in a 'cooperative rivalry.' The situation is nothing like Cold War containment. I hope the leaders [of the two countries] will reaffirm this reality," Nye said. Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, more than 20 important results were achieved at the meeting, including the establishment of a working group on counternarcotics cooperation, the agreement to resume, on the basis of equality and respect, high-level communication and institutional dialogue between the two militaries, and to jointly promote the success of the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai, Wang said at the briefing to the media. Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden take a walk after their talks at the Filoli estate in the US state of California on US local time November 15, 2023. Photo: Xinhua It is clear that it was the Biden administration who desperately asked for the summit in the past few months with a series of senior officials from Washington coming to visit China, analysts said. Unsurprisingly, Republicans have criticized Biden on his "appeasement" of "the top US competitor." Some pro-Democratic US mainstream media like The New York Times have tried to balance these narratives by painting it look like it was China that asked for the US to ease tensions under economic and political pressure. "It proves that groups who don't want to see China-US ties stabilizing will not disappear after the summit, and that the US mainstream media, as always, will misinterpret the significance of the summit and the necessity for both sides to manage their differences. We should never have the illusion to expect them to tell the story of China-US relations correctly," Li Haidong, a professor from the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday. In the future, to what extent China-US relations can be stabilized depends on how the US turns its promises into actions. The US side should be responsible for solving the structural problems in bilateral ties, and a key problem is that the US has still not learned how to accept the rise of China, Jin noted. "Although we all know that the challenges and problems remain on the US side, it's necessary for China to show its responsibility and give an answer to the world and to the history of striving to manage China-US tension. We can see from the current situation of bilateral ties some mitigation, but not yet improvement," he noted. Hopes on the peoples On Friday afternoon local time, before Xi left San Francisco, the city's Mayor London Breed and other US representatives saw him off at the airport. On the way to the airport, representatives of overseas Chinese and Chinese students gathered on both sides of the road. They waved the national flags of China and the US, warmly bidding farewell to Xi and congratulating him on the complete success of his visit, Xinhua reported on Saturday. President Xi's meeting with President Biden has greatly recovered the atmosphere between the two countries. This is the foundation for the two major powers to manage their ties in an appropriate way, to rebuild mutual trust and also to seek possibilities for cooperation, Jin said. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at a welcoming dinner hosted by friendly organizations in the US, including the US-China Business Council and the National Committee on US-China Relations, in San Francisco on local time November 15, 2023. Photo: Xinhua During the trip, Chinese leader sent a signal that China's policy toward the US is becoming more multi-dimensional, as China is being more friendly, sincere, patient and pragmatic when dealing with American people, business and industrial circles, youth, as well as local governments and officials, like Governor of California Gavin Newsom, experts said, noting China is determined to ensure China-US relations can withstand the uncertainties caused by the impacts in the fields of geopolitics and security, experts said. During his speech on Wednesday at the welcome dinner by friendly organizations in the US in San Francisco, Xi announced that China is ready to invite 50,000 young Americans to China on exchange and study programs in the next five years, and China is ready to work with the US on panda conservation, to meet the desire of US people to see pandas there. Xi also confidently introduced the ideas of the Communist Party of China and China-proposed initiatives to the US people and elites, to let them understand that China and the US share similar values in how to build a better world for the next generation and how to satisfy the people's demands, experts said. In the future, China will act more confidently to break the ideological barrier that blocks people-to-people exchange between the two countries. Economic confidence Xi made an in-depth review of the inspiration from the course of Asia-Pacific cooperation, pointing out that openness and inclusiveness are the defining feature of Asia-Pacific cooperation, development for all is the overarching goal of Asia-Pacific cooperation, and seeking common ground while shelving differences is the best practice of Asia-Pacific cooperation. On how to build the next "golden 30 years" in Asia Pacific, President Xi called for innovation-driven, open, green development, and inclusive development that delivers benefits to all. He also called for high-quality growth to promote the building of an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future so that the fruits of modernization are widely shared. At the APEC meeting, Xi pointed out that China's economy has been steadily recovering and turning for the better, and its growth rate is among the highest among major economies of the world, Wang told media, adding that China remains the most powerful engine of global growth. Xi stressed that China's resolve to foster a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment will not change, and China's policy of providing equal and quality services to foreign investors will not change, Wang told the media. The Chinese foreign minister said that the attitude sends a strong signal of China's high-level opening-up and boosts the confidence of all parties in continuing cooperation with China. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Wu Chaolan) 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 FILE PHOTO: Moldovan President Maia Sandu speaks at the USAID "Democracy Delivers" event at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, in New York City By Alexander Tanas CHISINAU (Reuters) - Voters in Moldova on Sunday returned a large number of town councils friendly towards President Maia Sandu's drive to join the European Union, but one of her allies warned areas that backed its opponents that they would be getting less public funding. Sandu warned before the election that pro-Russian forces in the country, particularly fugitive business magnate Ilan Shor, had funnelled money into Moldova to "buy" voters. After Sunday's runoff votes, Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity control a little more than a third of nearly 900 councils in the country lying between Ukraine and Romania, an outcome the party saw as a success. Shor's allies were barred from running two days before the first round and he complained from exile in Israel that the ruling had cost him electoral success. Voters in Moldova's second city, Balti, elected a representative of "Our Party", a group that calls for Moldova to cultivate favourable ties with all its neighbours, defeating a rival from the Russia-friendly Socialist Party. An independent won in Comrat, a town in the south where one of Shor's allies had won a regional vote earlier this year. And in Calaras, a PAS candidate will now head the local council. Ion Ceban, running under a party he founded, was re-elected mayor of the capital Chisinau in the first round, though the president's supporters suggest he may hold pro-Russian sympathies. Igor Grosu, speaker of Moldova's parliament, said those areas that returned councils hostile to Sandu's pro-European drive risked getting none of the generous funding provided in the past three years by the European Union. "Those who voted for the representatives of bandits and of those countries that do not wish us well, will bear responsibility for their choice," he said on Vocea Basarabiei television. "Those localities that voted for mayors with clear pro-European views will be the first to benefit from the support coming from European Union countries." Shor was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for his part in a huge bank fraud. A party bearing his name was later outlawed by the Constitutional Court. Shor's supporters were barred from running under another party banner on security grounds two days before the election's opening round - including Arina Korsicova, his star candidate in Balti. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a report after the first round that the decision to bar some candidates had "limited voters' choice and resulted in uncontested races in some smaller localities." (Reporting by Alexander Tanas; Editing by Ron Popeski and Will Dunham) A man faces charges that he killed his mother after deputies found her body in her home, California sheriffs officials reported. A deputy went to check on the 63-year-old woman on Saturday, Nov. 18, after a relative reported seeing blood inside her Borrego Springs home, the San Diego County Sheriffs Department said in a news release. The deputy searched the home and found the woman dead with stab wounds, sheriffs officials said. Firefighters confirmed her death at 3:15 p.m. Three people were also in the home, including the womans son, Jacob Guevara, 41, deputies said. After an investigation, deputies arrested Guevara on a charge of murder, sheriffs officials said. The circumstances of his mothers death remain under investigation. Investigators ask anyone with information to call 858-285-6330 or leave an anonymous tip at 888-580-8477. Borrego Springs is 90 miles northeast of San Diego. Gunfire erupts at a birthday party, injuring 5, California cops say. A frantic scene 9-year-old girl killed when schools metal gate falls on her, Arizona cops say 66-year-old nurse remains missing days after vanishing on hike, California cops say Pennsylvanias Central Bucks School District is embroiled in controversy following its decision to approve a six-figure severance package for outgoing superintendent Abram Lucabaugh who recently resigned. The contentious move comes after a considerable political shift in the district, highlighted by the Democratic Partys recent takeover of the school board. According to Philadelphia ABC affiliate WPVI, the Republican-dominated board voted 6-3 in favor of a severance package for Lucabaugh, amounting to over $700,000. This decision includes a years salary and over $200,000 in unused sick time. The move has sparked widespread community backlash, with many residents expressing frustration and disbelief at a recent board meeting. "They were not doing the right thing for kids. They wasted thousands and thousands and thousands of our dollars," said Laurie Ann Moore, a resident, according to the outlet. Another who spoke at the meeting said, "If you really care about the kids you will rethink depriving the students of that huge amount of money." "What's driving this resignation and this deal? Are you so scared of the incoming board majority? Are you afraid of what they will find? Is this a bid to buy your silence?" a woman asked. Lucabaughs tenure and subsequent severance have been particularly scrutinized due to his endorsement of policies put forth by the far-right extremist group Moms for Liberty. Known for its anti-LGBTQ+ educational stance, Moms for Liberty faced significant defeats in recent school board elections across the country, including in Pennsylvania. The Central Bucks School Districts election results, where Democrats secured all available board seats, are seen as a direct rebuke of the conservative, anti-LGBTQ+ agenda that Lucabaugh and Moms for Liberty supported. Board president Dana Hunter, who supported the severance package and is set to leave the board next month, justified the decision by saying, This is the best thing not only for our district financially, but its the best thing we can do for him, and he has done right by us. At a board meeting on June 13, Lucabaugh responded to community criticisms regarding his perceived lack of support for LGBTQ+ students. According to NBC News, Lucabaugh denied the claim, adding, But make no mistake about this, I will defend students and will defend against anything contributing to the sexualization of students. Related: Moms for Liberty Candidates Rejected by Voters in Key School Board Elections The situation in Central Bucks School District and other formerly Moms for Liberty-friendly school districts shows a broader national shift, where voters increasingly favor candidates and policies promoting inclusivity and LGBTQ+ rights. As The Advocate reported, a trend of defeats for groups like Moms for Liberty in multiple states during recent elections signals a growing public demand for more progressive educational policies. As the new Democratic-majority board prepares to assume control in December, many in the community are hopeful for a change in direction, advocating for policies that better reflect values of diversity and inclusivity and moving away from the controversial positions that have recently dominated the districts landscape. The Covenant School shooting claimed the lives of six, including three children. In the aftermath, families begged en masse for lawmakers to do something. They pleaded through tears. They formed a three-mile human chain to the state Capitol to demand action. They organized into new advocacy groups Republicans and Democrats alike. The deadliest school shooting in state history put a spotlight on Tennessees gun laws and would forever shift the conversation in the state around firearm safety. From high school students to grieving Covenant parents, thousands of demonstrators descended on the state Capitol demanding stronger gun laws. But after a tumultuous year of protests, the expulsions of two House members, and a chaotic special legislative session that ended in stalemate, Tennessee has seen little action. Still, for those seeking change, the fight isnt over. You will see these faces again, one Covenant mom vowed in August. Indeed, as lawmakers return for their next regular session on Jan. 9., gun-control advocates say they arent letting up. Theyre ramping up meetings with lawmakers, helping prepare legislation and speaking out in communities across the Volunteer State. And another tragedy just this month the death of Belmont University student fatally shot by a stray bullet is only adding to the sense of urgency. A lot of people feel like this is the right time for meaningful discussions and changes in the law, said Erin Rogus, a policy director for Voices for a Safer Tennessee, an advocacy group formed in the wake of the Covenant shooting that now has more than 20,000 members. How the gun conversation unfolded this year In March, Republican lawmakers were busy pushing a round of bills to expand gun rights. Then on a Monday morning, that all changed. A mass shooter entered the Covenant School, a private Christian school in Green Hills, and killed three staff members and three 9-year-old children. As demonstrators took to the streets, the chaos spilled into the state House of Representatives. Three Democrats broke House decorum rules to lead the gallery in chants for gun control. The move lead to an extraordinary and historic action by the GOP supermajority in the House a vote to expel two of the lawmakers. The third survived by one vote. The expulsion and the Tennessee Three, as they become known, kept the state and gun reform in the national spotlight. Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, returned to their seats quickly through reappointments and won reelection just months later. Meanwhile, Gov. Bill Lee, known for his broad expansion of gun rights in 2021, was facing pressure. He, too, had felt the pain of the Covenant shooting. He and first lady Maria Lee were close friends with one of the staff members fatally shot that day. In a controversial decision that drew ire from gun rights groups and his fellow Republicans, Lee began pushing an emergency protective order proposal aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of those the courts deem a danger to themselves or others. But it didn't gain support. He faced fierce backlash from gun-rights groups. Still, Lee pushed ahead and called lawmakers back for the special legislative session. Gun control advocates and Covenant parents had hoped to see change from the special session, but they were quickly disappointed. The session devolved into an impasse between the House and Senate with a slew of public safety bills tabled and no major action on gun control. Covenant School parents, Lori Buck, left, Abby McLean, and Mary Joyce comfort each other while locking arms to demonstrate for gun safety and common sense gun laws as part of a three-mile human chain from the Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt to the Tennessee State Capitol Tuesday, April 18, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. In all, the mass shooting has largely only slowed bills that would have expanded gun rights. And this month, as Nashville was still reeling from a tough year, another tragedy hit when Belmont University freshman Jillian Ludwig died after she was struck in the head by a stray bullet. The case sparked renewed calls for gun and mental health reform when it came to light that the suspect had been released from custody this year after being found incompetent to stand trial in another crime. Now, with two high profile gun tragedies driving calls for change, lawmakers will face significant pressure when they return to the Capitol in January. For his part, Lee said he is still working to finalize his legislative agenda and hopes to see good public safety initiatives. "Every city and state in America is facing rising crime and challenges related to public safety, and there is no one, perfect solution," Lee said in a statement to The Tennessean. "This is a complex and evolving issue that is changing daily. We should never stop talking about ways to improve public safety and we will keep looking at opportunities to do that." Here is a closer look at three major gun safety initiatives lawmakers will likely consider when they return in January. Extreme risk protection order likely subject of legislative debate Often known as red flag laws, extreme risk protection orders allow courts and law enforcement to remove guns from people deemed a risk to themselves or others. Twenty states now have such laws. The governor this year pushed for his own version of the law but was met with pushback from Republican lawmakers who have said any red flag-type law would be a non-starter. They refused to take up the issue in August, although Lee has avoided the red-flag term and insists his proposal differs from other states. But the shooting death of Ludwig and the suspect's history of mental impairment have prompted a renewed call for a law that would prevent dangerous people from having guns. But some leading Republican lawmakers, like House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, support strengthening involuntary commitment laws over gun control or any red-flag law. Red flag laws are ineffective at preventing violence, but keeping dangerous criminals off the streets protects innocent people 100 percent of the time, he said in a statement. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, however, said he would support an extreme risk protection law, noting that Ludwigs case makes it clear that more work needs to be done on public safety. While I have consistently supported the mental health order of protection proposed by the governor, that idea has not been embraced by other members of my caucus, though I remain hopeful it will be one day, said McNally, R-Oak Ridge. This coming session I think you will see a continued focus on mental health and not any measure that would restrict the ability of law-abiding citizens to possess a firearm. Democrats say theyre determined to once again address the issue of red-flag laws in January. Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, said expanding laws to civilly commit more mentally impaired people wont solve the problem. We cant simply commit everyone who lacks that mental capacity, he said. This should absolutely open the conversation back up to red-flag laws. If you dont have some sort of process to have courts examine a person and remove their guns before theyve committed a violent act, by definition youre waiting until they do something violent. Closing a mental health loophole The Ludwig case also exposed what lawmakers say are dangerous loopholes in state law. Before Ludwigs death, the suspect, Shaquille Taylor, had been released from police custody in May after three court-appointed doctors testified that he was incompetent to stand trial for an assault with a deadly weapon charge. But Taylor wasnt committed to a mental health facility because he didn't meet state standards for involuntary commitment, according to court records. Allison Polidor is escorted out by State Troopers during a House Subcommittee meeting for holding a sign during the meeting at Cordell Hull State Office Building in Nashville , Tenn., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. Under current state law he still would have been legally allowed to buy a gun even though he was found mentally incompetent in a criminal case. Yarbro said he is now working on a bill that will close that loophole and prevent people who have been found to be mentally incompetent from legally buying a gun. Hes hoping to have bipartisan support. After the Belmont incident there cant be any argument that Tennessee laws are A-OK, he said. We need adjustments now and we need people to work together in good faith. For now, its unclear how many Republicans would support such a bill. In another issue to address the laws, Lamberth is now working with Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk on legislation that would see the state pay for mental health evaluations and treatment rather than the counties for those deemed incompetent to stand trial. Safe storage as gun-theft crisis escalates Tennessee has an epidemic of stolen guns from cars, and lawmakers in the past have unsuccessfully pushed for penalties for people who fail to safely store firearms. Their latest efforts stalled in the August special legislative session when Lee barred any laws that would have penalties for gun owners. Instead, lawmakers approved a measure exempting firearm safes and other safety devices from the state sales tax. The law took effect Nov. 1. But Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville, hopes to get more support in January for a bill that would have some type of significant deterrent. He points to the sheer number of stolen guns and few arrests. Of 5,386 reported cases of guns stolen from cars statewide last year, less than 4% resulted in an arrest, according Tennessee Bureau of Investigation statistics. And of those arrests, even fewer are prosecuted. A Tennessean report this year found that the vast majority of gun theft charges in Davidson County were eventually dropped or dismissed, mostly due to lack of evidence. In one of just three public safety bills passed in the August special session, a new law gave $1.1 million to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security to distribute free gun locks to residents and launch an ad campaign on safe gun storage. DSHS spokesman Wesley Moster said the agency has so far distributed 14,000 gun locks to partners and is developing the ad campaign. Hemmer said the people of Tennessee need more action from lawmakers and penalties for careless gun owners. His efforts have been backed by law enforcement leaders, including Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake. A marketing campaign will only go so far. Gun locks will only go so far, he said. Tennessee has a horrible problem with this, and were trying to fix it. Reach Kelly Puente at kpuente@tennessean.com This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee gun debate: What to expect in the new legislative session More retailers are announcing closures on Thanksgiving Day, a nod to a change in consumer habits and as a way for employers to demonstrate care to their workers, a consumer behaviorist and workplace expert said. The holiday closures are a stark contrast from several years ago, when shoppers were finishing Thanksgiving dinner early in order to get to the mall or other stores for a jump on Black Friday sales. Several major retailers have announced closure plans for the holiday. People wait in line outside of Best Buy in Norwalk Connecticut November 23, 2017 for the store to open at 5PM on Thanksgiving Day to take advantage of the Black Friday sales. More retailers are opting to stay closed on Thanksgiving as shopping habits have changed. Simon Properties, one of the nations largest mall operators which operates Hagerstown Premium Outlets, said it plans to close its malls on Thanksgiving Day for the fourth consecutive year. Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Kohl's, and Walmart have pledged to remain closed this year on Thanksgiving Day. All four of those retailers were open on Thanksgiving Day in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused retailers to close on Thanksgiving. Several grocery stores, including popular chains such as Kroger, Albertsons, and Stop & Shop, have also announced that they will reduce their holiday operating hours to allow their employees to enjoy quality time with their loved ones. Trader Joe's will be closed on Thanksgiving. Only a handful of chains, including CVS and Rite Aid, will maintain their usual hours on Thanksgiving. Walgreens on Nov. 16 said it made the decision for the first time this year to close most of its stores on Thanksgiving. Walgreens' 24-hour locations will remain open "to meet the healthcare needs of our customers." In the past, when the vast majority of retailer sales were made in person at physical stores, retailers kept trying to one-up each other by starting their Black Friday sales earlier and earlier as a potential competitive advantage, said Mathew Isaac, chair of the marketing department at the Seattle University Albers School of Business and Economics. His research focuses on consumer judgment and decision making. Eventually, this tactic spilled over into Thanksgiving as some retailers began offering Black Friday sales on Thursday itself, he said. Why are retailers staying closed on Thanksgiving? But things have changed. Black Friday used to represent the official start of the holiday shopping season, said Isaac. Thats no longer the case as retailers have been starting their Black Friday holiday sales much earlier, even as early as October like Amazon Prime Days, he said. It is no longer crucial for them to focus so much on any one particular day since the start of the holiday shopping season is much more fluid than it used to be previously. Even the line between Black Friday and Cyber Monday has blurred. Mathew Isaac is chair of the marketing department at the Seattle University Albers School of Business and Economics. Since retailers are focusing on both online and in-store sales, it is not as crucial for them to get people physically into the stores on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, said Isaac. Retailers have a variety of reasons for closing on Thanksgiving, said Katherine Cullen, vice president of industry and consumer insights for the National Retail Federation. "Individual retailers make the decision on how to operate on Thanksgiving Day based on what is best for their own employees, customers and business," she said. "Some retailers may choose to close on Thanksgiving Day while others spread out their 'Black Friday' deals both in stores and online throughout the holiday season." Not open for business: One of America's largest mall operators to close shopping centers on Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving Day closure could be good for business Thanksgiving Day closures could also be good for business or a retailers public image, said Isaac. Many employees dont want to work on Thanksgiving and retailers dont have to pay overtime. Given that nowadays (post-pandemic) it is probably only a relatively small segment of consumers that would consider shopping in person on Thanksgiving itself, the financial benefit to the retailer of staying open on Thursday is somewhat unclear, he said. Many companies are also paying more attention to the needs of employees and public perception. Tell us how you feel: How are you feeling about this holiday shopping season? Tell us in this survey. Ironically, closing could be viewed positively by consumers, too, since consumers increasingly want to support brands that are good citizen and caring employer whose values align with their own, he said. Laurens Steed, a business professor who specializes in employee well-being agrees. Research demonstrates that taking time away from work is good for employees so that they can recover from work stress, which has implications for their mental and physical well-being, said Steed, an assistant professor of management at the University of Cincinnatis Lindner College of Business. Laurens Steed is an assistant professor of management at the University of Cincinnatis Lindner College of Business. A positive public image also can help a retailer, she said. In the grand scheme of all of the shopping that goes on in the holiday season, Id be surprised if that extra 12 hours of shopping makes a difference to any giant retailer. However, in any individual employees life, getting to spend a holiday with the people you care about can be worth so much. Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What stores are closed on Thanksgiving? Why the list is lengthening. IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A man has been arrested in connection to the fatal fentanyl overdose of another man in early 2022, the Iredell County Sheriffs Office said. Timothy Franklin Wing, 32, of Mooresville, has been charged with felony overdose death by distribution in connection to the case. Deputies said Wing provided fentanyl to the victim before he passed away at a residence located along Summertree Drive near Troutman on March 6, 2022. Detectives were able to identify Wing as the suspect by examining cellular phone and social media records. MORE FROM QCN Crime & Public Safety An autopsy was conducted by the North Carolina Medical Examiners Office. Toxicology results just returned this month due to the extended wait time for toxicology results from the state lab, indicating the death was from a fentanyl overdose, the Iredell County Sheriffs Office said. Deputies arrested Wing on Friday, Nov. 17. Hes being held at the Iredell County Detention Center under a $250,000 secured bond. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Corrections & clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated the Education Departments actions regarding antisemitic and anti-Muslim harassment on school and college campuses. It has opened five investigations over allegations of antisemitic harassment and two involving complaints about anti-Muslim harassment. WASHINGTON Talia Dror grew up hearing about the blatant antisemitism her mothers family faced in Iran before immigrating to the United States. Her grandfather was stabbed for being a Jew, she said. Her mother was regularly called a dirty Jew. Yet, Dror never expected antisemitism would follow the family to the country they fled to for refuge. But the Cornell University junior said she was petrified last month when the schools Jewish students were threatened online. The posts called for the deaths of Jewish people and warned that the schools kosher dining hall would be shot up and a Jewish house bombed. A 21-year-old student was arrested on federal charges a few days later. But not before Dror sat in her locked house, pondering her mortality. I knew that with my roommates and I being openly Jewish community leaders, our apartment would be one of the first targets for someone looked to actualize the threats, she testified at a recent congressional hearing. Marty Levine, 21, a Cornell University senior from Suffern, N.Y. is troubled by acts of anti-semitism on campus that he has seen since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7th. He was photographed Nov. 6, 2023 in front of the the Cornell Center for Jewish Living. As Jewish Americans increasingly worry about their personal safety amid an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents particularly on college campuses since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, they're pleading for help from the Biden administration. Their calls for help have not been ignored. Officials have emphasized the progress made on a national strategy to counter antisemitism that was rolled out in May but has taken on new urgency. And theyve put a particular focus on whats happening in schools as officials have visited campuses, met with Jewish community leaders and made clear the Education Department will investigate antisemitism complaints. Israel-Hamas protests roiled campuses. Now, the feds are investigating colleges and schools We understand that people are scared, White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden said in a recent video briefing for the Jewish community on how the administration is implementing its antisemitism strategy. I do believe that we are doing everything and anything we can to protect people against the threats that they are experiencing, Tanden said. Jewish groups want more action on antisemitism But some Jewish groups are looking for more. They want beefed up resources for the Department of Educations office that investigates discrimination complaints, and they dont want the office to wait until the complaints come to them. They want the administration to regulate the definition of antisemitism. And they want one person put in charge of ensuring the antisemitism strategy is fully implemented. That would be an enormous help, Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said of having a point person for the strategy. Ive raised this with the administration. He emphasized, however, that success is not just up to the White House. We need the rest of society to step up, he said. Pro-Israel demonstrators sing a song during a protest at Columbia University in October. 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. Antisemitism incidents on the rise Incidents of antisemitism had already been on the rise before Hamas attacked Israel. Antisemitic hate crimes rose 25% from 2021 to 2022, according to the most recent FBI statistics. Although Jewish people make up only 2.4% of the U.S. population, they are the targets of more than half of all reported religion-based hate crimes. Since Oct. 7, the Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group that frequently speaks out against antisemitism and extremism, has tracked 832 anti-Jewish acts in the United States. Jewish students have borne the brunt of severe antisemitic incidents across the country, according to Jonathan Greenblatt, ADLs CEO. We know that college campuses are a microcosm of the trends we're seeing globally, he told Congress. But they've also become petri dishes where antisemitism is festering and flourishing. Opinion At Cornell, how did the debate on the Israel-Hamas war nearly turn violent? | Mike Kelly Complaints filed to Education Department's Office of Civil Rights The Biden administration has responded in multiple ways, including reissuing guidance reminding schools that antisemitism is a violation of the Civil Rights Act. The Education Departments Office for Civil Rights also updated its discrimination complaint form to make it clear that colleges, and universities and K-12 schools receiving federal funding must act if students are being targeted because theyre perceived to be Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry. If they dont, schools can lose federal funding or be referred to the Justice Department for further action. The Education Department announced Thursday that it has opened five investigations this month over allegations of antisemitic harassment and two regarding alleged anti-Muslim harassment. "Hate has no place in our schools, period, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. The Education Department says it has received dozens of complaints alleging antisemitism or anti-Muslim harassment since Oct. 7 and is still reviewing whether all fall under its jurisdiction. Those that do will be investigated, according to a spokesperson. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden and Towson University president Mark Ginsberg meet with students during a visit to Towson University to discuss antisemitism on college campuses, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, in Towson, Md. The office received nearly 19,000 discrimination complaints in 2022 an all-time high but very few raised allegations of antisemitism. Only five had been made as the department neared the end of the 2023 fiscal year in September, the office told Rep. Kathy Manning, D-N.C. What's getting in the way of students filing? Manning asked at a recent congressional hearing about antisemitism on campuses. Kenneth Marcus, chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, who headed the office during the Trump administration, said students may feel loyalty to their school, may not know about the complaint process or may not have confidence it will work. Thats why, he said, the office should not wait for complaints to be formally filed but should proactively start its own investigations. The federal government should take action, he said. And theres no reason why it cannot do so within these next 30 days. The ADL is likewise calling on the Education Department to proactively investigate antisemitism allegations. Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center, speaks to members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development during a hearing on the rise of antisemitism on college campuses in Washington on Nov. 14, 2023. Complaints expected to rise Three students at New York University arent waiting for that. Theyre suing the university, arguing their civil rights have been violated because of pervasive acts of antisemitic hatred, discrimination, harassment and intimidation. The university, which has called the lawsuit a one-sided narrative, recently announced its creating a Center for the Study of Antisemitism. I have listened to heartbreaking stories from students, faculty, parents, and alums, New York University President Linda G. Mills said in a statement announcing the center. NYU unequivocally condemns antisemitism and other forms of hate, and we are committed to maintaining a campus environment where all can study and learn in an atmosphere of respect and live free from the fear of bigotry. Stacy Burdett, an independent consultant who works with businesses, schools and others to counter antisemitism, said the most responsive universities get that this isnt business as usual. Theyve increased security services, formed antisemitism task forces and repeatedly reminded students and faculty that antisemitism violates the universitys values. But complaints to the Department of Education will rise and its Office of Civil Rights is not set equipped to handle the existing backlog, she said. The complaints that are going to be coming in are going to be real, they're going to be hard, and they are going to need investigative capacity, she told a House Education subcommittee. So, let's get busy. And let's put people in those chairs. Miranda Price, 21, a Cornell University senior from New City, N.Y. continues to wear her Star of David necklace despite the threats made against Jews by a fellow student. She feels that since the war between Israel and Hamas began, there are two groups of people that are hurting in different ways. Price, photographed on campus Nov. 6, 2023, says she tries to understand the perspective of pro-Palestinian students on campus, but doesnOt alway feel that the perspective of those supporting Israel is taken into consideration. 'Climate of constant fear' At Emory University, senior Morgan Ames said she lives in a climate of constant fear. While friends at other universities have been physically assaulted, Ames said, she feels like shes fighting psychological warfare. Posters put up to raise awareness of hostages taken by Hamas are defaced. Fliers circulated have compared Jews to Nazis, she said. These actions surpass mere vandalism. They are deliberate threats to Jewish student safety, Ames told USA TODAY. Its not healthy discourse. Posters of some of those kidnapped by Hamas in Israeli are displayed on a pole outside of New York University (NYU) as tensions between supporters of Palestine and Israel increase on college campuses across the nation on October 30, 2023 in New York City. Ames praised Emorys president for condemning antisemitic phrases and slogans made at an October protest on campus. But, she said, after dozens of professors pushed back saying the protesters chats were in support of Palestinians and not antisemitic, that created an intimidating atmosphere and inhibits students ability to participate fully in the classroom. At Cornell, Dror said, the universitys statements condemning the threats to the Jewish community was one of the strongest shes seen. Also, security was heightened at all Jewish facilities on campus. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the kosher dining hall. And all of that support has gone sincerely appreciated by the Jewish community. My question is, why didn't we receive it right after the October 7 attacks? she asked Congress. We sincerely appreciate all of their help now, but it's too little too late. More: Inside an American family's frantic fight to free their loved ones held hostage by Hamas This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Antisemitic incidents on college campuses spur federal investigation A Texas woman has decried Carnival Cruises for allegedly giving her a life ban after she tried to bring CBD gummies with her on a ship. Melinda Erin Van Veldhuizen, 42, was all set to go aboard a Carnival cruise with her family from Port Miami in Florida in August when their holiday came to a very abrupt end. The family was about to embark on a trip to Aruba, Curacao and the Dominican Republic to celebrate her and her husbands 21st wedding anniversary and her sons senior year of high school, reports WPLG. Yet just as they were about to start their vacation, the mother-of-two pulled to one side by a terminal worker who questioned the CBD gummies in her bag. She was allegedly interrogated by Carnival security and police for two and a half hours, according to the outlet, over what they believed was an illegal controlled substance. Ms Van Veldhuizen tried to explain that the gummies contained next to zero THC, the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana that produces a high. CBD is the other main compound in marijuana that does not cause a high, according to the Centres for Dease Control and Prevention. In the majority of states across the US, CBD is legal as long as there is no greater than 0.3 per cent of THC in the substance; Ms Van Veldhuizens gummies contained less than 0.01 per cent, she said. The gummies she had travelled with numerous times were used to help her sleep, she said. The captain asked me several times if I had a marijuana card or if I had a diagnosis if I needed it, Ms Van Veldhuizen said. I said, Its CBD; that doesnt exist. Its just not a thing. Ms Van Veldhuizen said she feld she was treated like a criminal (WPLG/Local 10) In some states, the CBD has to be used for medicinal reasons, and the laws may change once cruises reach ports in other countries. However, Carnival Cruise Line states on their website that CBD is not prohibited on their ships. While certain CBD products used for medicinal purposes may be legal in the US, they are not legal in all the ports we visit and therefore are also considered prohibited items, their website says. While Ms Van Veldhuizen missed this rule, she thought it would not stop her from enjoying the rest of her vacation; instead, she was escorted off the cruise. I thought it was one of those situations where youre like, Oh shoot, I left a bottle of water in my backpack; you gotta throw it away, kind of thing like that happens at TSA, Ms Van Veldhuizen told WPLG. The family had spent roughly $5,586 on their holiday, but if that was not a hard enough blow, the Texas mother later received a letter in the post explaining she had been banned from all Carnival Cruise ships for life, reports the Washington Post. This decision was based on your actions on the current cruise, which were a violation of the ship rules, interfered with the safety and/or enjoyment of other guests on the ship or caused harm to Carnival, the letter read according to WLPG. The cruise line states they were just complying with federal law (WPLG/Local 10) Ms Van Veldhuizen hired Daren Stabinski, an attorney, to help her take legal action for the financial losses she acquired due to the incident. The attorney told the outlet that the woman was held under false imprisonment while she was being interrogated over her sleep gummies. Ms Stabinski also criticised the cruise companys decision to ban the mother, who has been on many cruises for a lifetime. "To me, it seems like an extreme measure," the attorney told Fox35. "The conditions of carriage specifically say that marijuana, marijuana derivatives, or controlled substances are illegal and are not allowed on the ship. What she had was none of those things." Yet, in a statement to WPLG, a spokesperson from Carnival Cruises said that they were following federal law under which CBD is defined as a controlled substance. We are not here to ascertain where our guests purchase CBD or what they intend to use it for once on board. Our responsibility is to follow federal guidelines and stop prohibited items from being brought on board our ships, they added. The Independent has contacted Carnival Cruise Line for further comment. JUBA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 32 people were killed Sunday in deadly communal fighting along South Sudan's border with the disputed Abyei Administrative Area, an official said. Arou Manyiel Arou, secretary general in the office of the administrator for the Abyei Administrative Area, said that the violence erupted early morning following a revenge attack on Ngok Dinka in Wuncuei and Nyiel areas of Abyei Administrative Area by armed youth from Twic County of neighboring Warrap state, South Sudan. Arou said the attackers who came from the Ajak-Kuach area were reportedly aided by suspected soldiers of the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF). "Some of the attackers were seen by residents clad in the South Sudan People's Defense Forces uniforms," he told Xinhua over the phone. "Many people including children and women have been killed and 27 are wounded." The latest revenge attack comes after last week's clashes in the Ayuok area between the two sides, which left 34 people killed, including one SSPDF soldier. The two communities have been contesting for years the ownership of a strip of land in the Aneet border area, which separates the two communities. Abyei Administrative Area remains a contested area, between South Sudan and its neighbor Sudan which is currently mired in conflict since April 15. Scotland's first minister has urged the UK government to recognise a Palestinian state. In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Humza Yousaf said the move would help to end the "political impasse" in the Middle East. It came as MSPs backed his motion to the Scottish Parliament by 90 votes to 28 to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict. The motion won the support of all parties except the Conservatives. They called for "humanitarian pauses" instead. That is the position taken by the UK government and the UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer - though Scottish Labour want a ceasefire. Ahead of the debate, Mr Yousaf wrote a letter to Mr Sunak urging him to recognise a Palestinian state within the borders set out in 1967. A similar letter was also sent to Sir Keir, urging him to back the calls. The first minister said the move would help to end the "political impasse that has condemned Israelis and the Palestinians to successive cycles of violence". Mr Yousaf, whose parents-in-law recently escaped Gaza, told MSPs: "It's only with full recognition of Palestine as a state in its own right that we can truly move forward towards a two-state solution." The UK government has previously said it would only recognise a Palestinian state at the "right time". A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said:"As the Prime Minister has said, we continue to support a just solution to the conflict for both sides and remain committed to a two-state solution that protects the peace and security of both Israelis and Palestinians, with the West Bank and Gaza part of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state." While 138 UN members, including nine in the EU, recognise a Palestinian state, the United States and most large European countries do not. However, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said last week that his government would seek to recognise Palestinian statehood. Gaza authorities say 13,300 people, including more than 5,000 children, have been killed since a cross-border Hamas attack on October 7 The SNP motion said the parliament condemned the"barbaric and unjustifiable terrorist attacks" by Hamas on 7 October and the killing of civilians, including women and children, in Israel's siege of Gaza. It called for hostages to be released, humanitarian aid to be increased, international law to be upheld and for a two-state peace solution. The motion also expressed "solidarity with Scotland's Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian communities and condemns antisemitism, Islamophobia or any other form of hatred". The first minister said that while Israel had the right to defend itself, it must respect international law. 'Nightmare of unimaginable terror' Mr Yousaf said that doctors in Gaza, including his brother in law, were being forced to carry out "medieval" procedures without proper supplies of anaesthetics. "In the face of such destruction, death and inhumanity, an immediate ceasefire, agreed by all sides, is needed to ensure the protection of innocent civilians and the delivery of essential supplies," the first minister said. He insisted "humanitarian pauses" were not sufficient. "Simply a pause in the killing of innocent men, women and children only, what, to resume a few hours later? Surely we must and can strive for better than that," Mr Yousaf added. "For the sake of the people of Gaza who are living in a nightmare of unimaginable terror and for the Israeli hostages who remain captive, this parliament and the international community must unite and call for an immediate ceasefire." Israel began attacking Gaza after Hamas fighters crossed the border on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 200 others hostage. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has said 13,300 people, including more than 5,000 children, have been killed in Israel's campaign. Hamas's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has said the group is "close to reaching a truce agreement". However, Hamas has reportedly vowed to carry out further attacks like that of 7 October. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would not stop fighting until the hostages were brought home. A Scottish Labour amendment, tabled by Anas Sarwar and backed by the SNP, stated it would require "all sides to comply" with a ceasefire and called on the International Criminal Court to investigate both sides of the conflict. It was passed by MSPs. The call for a ceasefire put Scottish Labour at odds with Sir Keir, who has instead called for "humanitarian pauses". Scottish Labour chief Anas Sarwar has backed a ceasefire, while UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer supports "humanitarian pauses" Mr Sarwar told MSPs: "For a ceasefire to work, all sides must be willing to comply. "And secondly we must recognise that Hamas has made clear that it intends to repeat the October 7 massacre, intends to continue rocket fire, and tragically, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that he is not willing to even consider a ceasefire. "That's why the full force of international diplomacy must be used to create the conditions to make an immediate ceasefire a reality." UK Labour leader Sir Keir has argued that a ceasefire would not be appropriate because it would freeze the conflict and embolden Hamas. He saw 56 of his MPs rebel last week as they backed an SNP motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in the House of Commons. Both Scottish Labour MPs - Ian Murray and Michael Shanks - abstained. 'Hamas won't respect ceasefire' The Scottish Greens and Scottish Liberal Democrats supported the ceasefire demand, while the Tories instead backed "humanitarian pauses to deliver aid to Gaza safely and in a sustained way". The party's amendment was rejected by MSPs. Compared with a formal ceasefire, such pauses tend to last for short periods of time, sometimes just a few hours. Scottish Conservative MSP Donald Cameron told the chamber that a ceasefire was opposed by the US government, as well as the UK leadership of the Conservative and Labour parties. "A ceasefire requires both of the two opposing sides to support it and regrettably it has been clear for some time now that Hamas will not respect a ceasefire," he said. "Hamas does not even respect the right of Israel to exist, let alone work towards peace." More on Israel-Gaza war MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) Two wanted men from Nashville were found in Mt. Juliet because of a Sunday evening traffic stop, according to police. The Mt. Juliet Police Department said one of its officers noticed an improper display of registration while patrolling the Providence area on Sunday, Nov. 19. Following a traffic stop and further investigation, authorities discovered the two men were wanted out of Nashville. Mt. Juliet police share tips about avoiding danger during online marketplace meet-ups According to officials, a 44-year-old man was wanted for domestic assault with bodily injury (second offense), and a 48-year-old man was wanted for felony evading arrest in a motor vehicle, as well as vandalism. On top of that, neither man had a valid license. Our officers are always looking out for our community to ensure criminals are not successful in MJ, the Mt. Juliet Police Department posted on social media. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Authorities have not shared any additional details about Sunday evenings incident, including the identities of the men involved in the traffic stop. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. The world must must act urgently to stem the conflict in Gaza, Chinas top diplomat said Monday during a meeting with officials from Arab and Muslim majority nations, as Beijing steps up its efforts to play a role in establishing a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian National Authority, and Indonesia, as well as the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for a two-day visit to the Chinese capital, the start of the delegations expected tour of several world capitals. The international community must act urgently, taking effective measures to prevent this tragedy from spreading. China firmly stands with justice and fairness in this conflict, Wang told the visiting leaders in opening remarks ahead of talks, where he reiterated Chinas call for an immediate ceasefire. Visiting ministers voiced their own strong calls for an end to the conflict, with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud saying: The message is clear: the war must stop immediately, we must move to a ceasefire immediately, and relief materials and aid must enter immediately. Countries represented in the delegation hoped to cooperate with China and all countries that are responsible and appreciate the seriousness of the situation, he said. Israel has launched weeks of bombardment and ground operations in the Hamas-ruled enclave of Gaza following a deadly attack on its territory by the group on October 7. More than 200 hostages were taken in that attack, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The gathering in Beijing comes as sources tell CNN that a possible deal to secure the release of some hostages held by Hamas and a several days pause in fighting may be in sight, following weeks of negotiations between the United States, Israel and the militant group, mediated by Gulf state Qatar. Beijing has been at odds with Washington an Israeli ally and long a major power broker in the region over their approach to the conflict, including when it comes to an immediate ceasefire, which Washington does not support. Beijing has also criticized Israels retaliation and failed to condemn Hamas or name the group in its statements, sparking backlash from Israeli officials. Israel should stop its collective punishment on the people of Gaza, and open up a humanitarian corridor as soon as possible to prevent a humanitarian crisis of a larger scale from taking place, Wang was cited as telling the delegation during the talks, according to a readout from Chinas Foreign Ministry. Israel has staunchly defended its actions as rooting out terrorism following a barbaric invasion and has rejected any ceasefire without the return of hostages. Chinas push for peace China has been attempting to play an active role in finding a solution to the conflict as it seeks to expand its position as a major global power. Beijing dispatched a peace envoy for a multi-country tour of the region last month and has acted as a strong voice pushing for an immediate ceasefire at the United Nations, including the Security Council, where China now holds the rotating presidency. Last week the UN body passed its first resolution on the conflict, which called for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas and for extended humanitarian corridors throughout the enclave to protect civilians. The US and the United Kingdom abstained, citing the resolutions failure to condemn Hamas. For reasons known to all, in particular, the repeated and persistent obstruction of a permanent member of the Council, this resolution at present can only serve as a first step based on minimum consensus, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun said following the vote, in an apparent veiled jab at the US. In his comments Monday in Beijing, Saudi Arabias minister commended the Security Councils decision, under Chinas leadership. The conflict has also given China an opportunity to bolster its already strengthening ties with a number of countries across the Arab world a region where observers say it hopes to drive a wedge between the US and the countries with which it has long-standing ties. We have always firmly defended the legitimate rights and interests of Arab and Muslim countries, and have always firmly supported the Palestinian peoples efforts to restore their legitimate national rights and interests, Wang told the visiting delegation. Engaging major players? Immediate ceasefire and longer-term peace were also key topics during a roughly 10-day tour in the Middle East last month from Chinas special envoy for the region, Zhai Jun, who visited Egypt, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, according to Chinas Foreign Ministry. Last week the envoy visited and met with officials in Turkey and Bahrain, where Zhai also discussed the regional situation with representatives from Singapore, the US and Europe on the sidelines of an international conference. So far there have been no apparent concrete outcomes from the diplomacy. Zhais itinerary thus far has also not included stops in Israel, Palestinian-controlled territories, or Iran, per information released by Chinas Foreign Ministry. Wang spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on the phone last month. Its not clear if China has been in contact with Hamas officials during the latest conflict. Visiting officials in Beijing this week include Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki of the West Bank-based Palestinian National Authority. China earlier this month dispatched the head of its Foreign Ministrys West Asian and North African affairs department to Iran, where the conflict was part of discussions, according to a post on the departments WeChat social media account. Iran is a longtime backer of both Hamas and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. During hours-long talks between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in California last week, Biden encouraged Xi to use Chinas leverage with Iran to warn against a wider regional escalation, a senior US official told CNN. In the talks, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said theyd already held discussions with the Iranians on the topic, the senior official said. Biden also made clear to Xi that he viewed Hamas as separate from the Palestinians. The US views Hamas as a terrorist organization that has perpetuated the suffering of Palestinian people, and has upheld Israels right to retaliate against the group. Beijing has not referred to Hamas in its statements, but instead frames the current situation as a Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Speaking to reporters in Washington Monday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said the US would welcome China playing a constructive role in the Middle East. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had made this clear personally in conversations with Chinas Wang, Miller added. CNNs Xiaofei Xu, Martin Goillandeau, Mengchen Zhang, Jennifer Hansler and Sophie Jeong contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean satellite-carrying rocket launch, at a railway station in Seoul in August 2023 (Jung Yeon-je) North Korea has issued formal notice of a satellite launch as early as Wednesday, defying warnings from South Korea and multiple UN resolutions banning Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technology. The Kyodo news agency said Tuesday that the North had notified the Japanese coastguard of a launch window between November 22 and December 1 -- despite South Korea warning Pyongyang to immediately stop preparations for what would be a third attempt to launch a spy satellite. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told government ministries and agencies to fully prepare for a possible North Korean launch, Kyodo said citing the prime minister's office. Earlier this month, Seoul's spy agency said that Pyongyang was in the final stages of preparations for another effort to put a military eye in the sky. "We sternly warn North Korea to... immediately suspend the current preparations to launch a military spy satellite," Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday. "If North Korea goes ahead with the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite despite our warning, our military will take necessary measures to guarantee the lives and safety of the people." After a failed second attempt in August, Pyongyang said it would carry out the third launch in October, though it never materialised. The UN Security Council has adopted many resolutions calling on North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programs since it first conducted a nuclear test in 2006. South Korea has said Pyongyang is providing Moscow with arms in exchange for Russian space technology. Analysts have said there is significant technological overlap between space launch capabilities and the development of ballistic missiles. Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested in September after a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that his nation could help Pyongyang build satellites. Successfully putting a spy satellite into orbit would improve North Korea's intelligence-gathering capabilities, particularly over South Korea, and provide crucial data in any military conflict, experts say. North Korea has conducted a record number of weapons tests this year, ignoring warnings from the United States, South Korea and their allies. Last week, it said it carried out successful ground tests of a "new type" of solid-fuel engine for its banned intermediate-range ballistic missiles, calling it a crucial step against "the grave and unstable security environment". tjj/bgs/bfm TechCrunch After keeping some key specs close to its proverbial chest, Tesla is finally sharing more details about the final production versions of the Cybertruck electric pickup. Tesla published battery, speed and other stats during its delivery event on Thursday, during which the automaker went out of the way to compare the Cybertruck to some of its competitors, including Ford's F-150 Lightning and Rivian's R1T. Range-wise, Tesla estimates the Cyberbeast will go 320 miles on a single charge (or more, with an external battery pack). Ridley Scott has issued a scathing response to French critics who dislike his new film Napoleon after receiving a flurry of negative reviews. The latest movie from the Gladiator filmmaker, 85, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the 19th-century French emperor, and it charts the true story of Napoleons rise to power and his tumultuous relationship with Empress Josephine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby). Reviews of the film have been divisive, with some hailing the historical epic a masterpiece and others criticising the film for its historical inaccuracies. Scott, who previously told those picking holes in Napoleon to get a life, has been alerted to the fact that notable outlets in France, namely Le Figaro, Le Point, and French GQ, have shared negative reviews of the film. For example, French GQ called the film deeply clumsy, unnatural and unintentionally funny for scenes in which French soldiers shout Vive La France with American accents. Addressing these reviews in a new interview with BBC News, Scott replied: The French dont even like themselves. However, he was not referring to all French people the filmmaker said that the audience [he] showed it to in Paris loved it. Historian Dan Snow previously highlighted what he believed to be inaccuracies in a viral TikTok video. One of the issues he detailed included the idea that Napoleon came from nothing, which is quoted on the poster. His dad was, in fact, an aristocrat, Snow remarked. He also pointed out that Napoleon didnt shoot at the pyramids at the Battle of the Pyramids, and that, despite whats shown in the teaser clip, Marie-Antoinette famously had very cropped hair for the execution, and, hey, Napoleon wasnt there. Joaquin Phoenix in Napoleon (AP) Phoenix told Empire in a recent interview that this film is an experience told through Ridleys eyes, adding: If you want to really understand Napoleon, then you should probably do your own studying and reading, Scott has been vocal about the fact that the version of Napoleon set to be shown in cinemas will not be the final cut of the film. Much like with his Orlando Bloom-starring 2005 epic Kingdom of Heaven, Scott has put together an extended cut of the release, which will add 110 minutes onto the 158 minute-long film. Napoleon will be released on Apple TV+ after its theatrical run. It will be released in cinemas on 22 November. Scotts previous films were House of Gucci and The Last Duel, both of which starred Adam Driver. Ridley Scott doesnt care about Napoleons divisive reviews (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images) In a new interview with The Times, Scott suggested his energy for filmmaking is yet to dissipate, stating: Since [Martin Scorsese] started Killers of the Flower Moon, Ive made 4 films. No, I dont think about it. I get up in the morning & say: Ah great! Another day of stress. In a second Donald Trump presidency, his staffs planned crackdown on illegal immigration not only envisages mass detention of those allegedly poisoning the blood of America, but also resurrects a bad idea rejected at the outset of his first term: deputizing the National Guard for internal immigration enforcement. This is part of a longstanding effort by Trump officials, most of whom lack uniformed experience, to drag the military into domestic law enforcement and politics. It is profoundly unwise, and among the grave dangers presented by a Trump restoration. In January 2017, Trumps White House staff proposed using existing federal law to deputize state and local law enforcement to also exercise immigration enforcement powers, including conducting warrantless searches, interrogations and arrests of suspected illegal aliens. Another federal statute, known as Section 287(g) authority, can also reasonably be read for this power to extend to the National Guard, which through state governors maintains law enforcement powers denied to uniformed federal servicemembers. A memorandum sent by the White House for DHS Secretary John Kellys signature proposed authorizing the National Guard, including from non-border states, and even loosely organized and politically appointed militias from those states, to perform the functions of immigration agents. At the time, I was (briefly) the only Republican appointee in DHS Office of General Counsel. This draft memo was so ill-advised that I asked for it not to be forwarded to the secretary; rather I immediately briefed him about its existence. Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, did not need to respond verbally: He just emphatically shook his head no. Someone else promptly leaked the memos existence; the White House denied its provenance. Reasons to reject this idea are obvious to anyone with military experience. The National Guard is a critical part of the Department of Defense; it provides wartime strategic reserves, as in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Guard further provides governors with organized manpower to respond to natural disasters and domestic unrest. Some units do riot control training, and can be given authority by governors to detain looters for example, but guardsmen are emphatically not criminal investigators. Scenarios in which 18-year-olds with rifles but no law enforcement training are conducting searches, interrogations, and arrests of suspected illegal immigrantsand in the case of out-of-state guardsmen, in communities with which they lack familiaritywould undoubtedly end in civil rights abuses of Hispanics (immigrants and citizens alike). Police officers and federal agents receive extensive training in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights of criminal suspects, including the very limited lawful use of lethal force against Americans; soldiers do not. The entire point of state and local police assigned as federal task force officers is the benefit of their streetwise local knowledge, compared to out-of-town federal agents. For example, a New York Police Department detective serving as a task force officer (TFO), who came up through uniformed NYPD patrol, would intuit that a Puerto Rican is a U.S. citizen and a Dominicans family may already have been in the city for generations, whereas a Central American newcomer may indeed lack legal status. A guard member from another state would lack any such fingertip feel. Beyond social turmoil, an individual young guard members predictable, good-faith mistakes while assigned to a mission for which they lack proper training, would inevitably lead to their investigation and possible prosecution by elected district attorneys who disagree with Trump administration policy. This is exactly what happened when a young Marine shot a shepherd boy in Texas on a poorly conceived counter-narcotics mission in 1997. Unfortunately, such abuses may have been Trumps intent. Before the 2018 midterm elections the president mused aloud about the possibility of the military shooting migrants, many of them mothers with children, attempting to cross the border. Of course, Secretary of Defense James Mattis would have never permitted that and allowed only military logistical assistance to beleaguered Border Patrol officers. As Kelly reminded Trump whenever the president suggested issuing illegal or immoral orders, American troopsfrom generals to privateswill not follow such orders, because they are good and decent people who do the right thing, as they are taught from day one in their initial entry training. The midterms did not mark Trumps last attempt to misuse the military inside the U.S. for political reasons. In 2020, Trump sought to invoke the Insurrection Act to use 82nd Airborne Division units against demonstrators in Washington, D.C., during disturbances after the murder of George Floyd; Defense Secretary Mark Esper refused. Indictments reveal that conspirators January 6, 2021, plans included using the Insurrection Act against those whom they anticipated would protest any refusal by Vice President Mike Pence to certify Joe Bidens victory. Trumps team has hinted that they plan to recall retired generals to active duty to prosecute them for their criticisms of the former president, which would enmesh the military in partisan politics. Indeed, Trump has suggested that former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley deserves to be executed, presumably as one of the vermin the former president calls to be rooted out. None of this is to say the military has no role to play in some national emergenciesit certainly does. The Pentagon supported civil authorities during the coronavirus pandemic, Hurricane Katrina and the Los Angeles riots in 1992; it flew combat air patrols over U.S. cities after 9/11, and mounts missile defenses today; and it backed federal lawmen enforcing the court-ordered desegregation of Little Rocks Central High School in 1957 and the University of Alabama in 1963. Disasters such as a large earthquake near a major city, or the use of a weapon of mass destruction in this country, would require a whole-of-government response necessarily including significant military components. But what Trump suggests is something far different, and indeed sinister, in nature. President Joe Bidens laissez faire immigration policies have sadly failed. Young families fleeing communism, disease, poverty, and violence abroad deserve our deep sympathy today. The United States generously welcomed my family when they fled from famine and religious persecution as Catholics in Ireland, and offered us limitless opportunities. As such I hope America will take in and embrace as many asylees and refugees as possible, every year. But we cannot take in everyone, and surely not all at once. Once the current administration foolishly indicated that for domestic political reasons, immigration laws would only be enforced in the breach, millions of economic migrants overwhelmed first southwest border communities and then self-proclaimed sanctuary cities inland. For example, Customs and Border Patrol enforcement actions surged from 646,822 in fiscal year 2020 to 3,201,144 in fiscal 2023, and CBP encounters with aliens on terrorist screening databases soared from just three in fiscal 2020 to 172 in fiscal 2023. And those represent only the migrants encountered by CBP. Resultant crime, and a general sense of disorder and lawlessness, now understandably jeopardize his reelection prospects. Left-wing calls to abolish ICE were always unserious: Every sovereign country has mechanisms to expel those unlawfully present and committing other crimes, especially those of a sexual and/or violent nature. Plainly, far more federal law enforcement patrol, investigative, prosecutive and adjudicative resources need to go toward border security and internal immigration enforcement. So hire, train, resource, and back them. But the proposed misuse of Section 287(g) regarding the National Guard in a second Trump term is a cure worse than the disease of illegal immigration. The proposal cannot now be separated from Trumps fascist, racist rhetoric about poisoned blood and vermin. Hispanics constitute one-fifth of American citizens and are slightly overrepresented in the military, which thankfully remains for now one of the few national institutions widely respected across party lines. It took about a quarter century for the military to overcome the unfair derision it suffered during the Vietnam War; GIs were reluctantly embraced again during the Gulf War, and more fully only after 9/11. Using untrained guardsmen for an important and sensitive job properly assigned to ICE agents will tear apart communities, and possibly the military itself, while alienating half of the country from the armed forces. Perhaps, given the draft-dodging former presidents vocal disdain for servicemembers, that is his point. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. PRISTINA (Reuters) -NATO is looking into a more permanent increase in the number of troops in the Western Balkans to keep tensions under control, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization sent hundreds of additional forces to Kosovo from Britain and Romania after a battle between police and armed Serbs holed up in a monastery turned a quiet village in northern Kosovo into a war zone on Sept. 24. "We are now reviewing whether we should have a more permanent increase to ensure that this doesn't spiral out of control and creates a new violent conflict in Kosovo or the wider region," Stoltenberg told reporters on a visit to Kosovo. The gunbattle in September prompted new international concern over stability in Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority and declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a guerrilla uprising and a 1999 NATO intervention. Some 50,000 Serbs who live in north Kosovo do not recognise Pristina's institutions and see Belgrade as their capital. They have often clashed with Kosovo police and international peacekeepers, but the violence in September was the worst in years. NATO's KFOR peacekeeping mission, which has been in operation since 1999, comprises over 4,500 troops from 27 countries. (Reporting by Fatos Bytyci in Pristina, writing by Sabine Siebold, editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Grant McCool) NATO members Bulgaria, Turkey, and Romania are close to reaching an agreement on the creation of a joint mine-clearing force to address the issue of mines drifting into their respective territorial waters, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 20, citing unnamed officials familiar with the plan. According to Bloomberg, the countries' defense ministries did not comment, but sources noted that their respective deputy defense ministers were set to meet on Nov. 22. The supposed meeting comes after Turkeys Navy Chief Admiral Ercument Tatlioglu said that the presence of navy ships from other NATO members, including the U.S., in the Black Sea would possibly increase tensions. The proposed plan would be peaceful in nature and focused on reducing the danger that errant mines pose to shipping routes through the Black Sea. It would not be consided a NATO effort. It would, however, be the first joint action of Black Sea allies since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Hundreds of sea mines, deployed by both Russia and Ukraine, are spread throughout the Black Sea. On several occasions, civilian ships or navy ships belonging to countries not party to the war have struck sea mines since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. A Liberian-flagged oil tanker hit a mine in the Black Sea off the Romanian coast on Oct. 15, and a Turkish cargo ship suffered minor damage from a mine 20 kilometers from the Romanian port of Sulina on Oct. 5. On Oct. 4, British intelligence issued a report cautioning that Russia may use sea mines to target civilian cargo ships in the Black Sea, and then blame Ukraine after the fact. The State Border Guard of Ukraine warned that the Black Sea had become unsafe in the aftermath of Russia's destruction of the Nova Khakovka dam in June 2023. In addition to the garbage, debris, and dead animals resulting from the dam explosion, floating mines and ammunition also littered the water. 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. A cute, fiery, tiny tyrant of a dog made quite the name for himself after the Texas animal shelter that took him in made an online plea for someone to adopt him. Cheryl Heineken, executive director of the Humane Society of Wichita County, made a post about Eddie the dachshund mix on Thursday. In the post, she said the 1-year-old dog is a jerk who weighs 17 pounds but backs down from no one. Eddie is an (expletive), the post read, along with the poop emoji. According to the post, Eddie hates other dogs. She said hed likely have a Bronx accent if he could speak and would make the perfect partner in a bar fight. Eddie the dachshund mix. He was adopted by the Brooks family in November 2023 after the Humane Society of Wichita County posted a hilariously honest description of him. If you think you are man enough to adopt him, please be our guest, the shelter wrote on Facebook. We want Eddie out of here because he scares our big dogs. Apparently the honest review worked. Eddie was adopted just a few hours after the post went live, Heineken told USA TODAY on Monday. However, the shelter's first attempt to find Eddie a home didn't work. In his Facebook debut on Oct. 30, shelter employees said Eddie was mild-mannered and a little nervous to be in the shelter but very sweet once he makes friends. Eddie arrived at the shelter in late October as a stray, Heineken said. He was put on a stray hold in case his owner claimed him but eventually he was put up for adoption. Brayden Nobles, Taryn Brooks and Eddie the dog. Shelter's honest posts get mixed reviews Heineken has been working at the shelter for 15 years and the executive director for 13. About a decade ago, she tried to make a similar post to garner the attention of potential dog owners. The shelter was battling an increased demand for puppies, which led to bigger, adult dogs being overlooked. We would make a cute little flyers like Oh, I won't chew on your flip-flops because I'm a grown (expletive) dog or I won't wake you up at 2 in the morning, she said. Some people thought it was hilarious and we got quite a few shares on it but then some people were like You shouldn't talk like that. Youre supposed to be professional. Lots of love for Eddie This time around, though, people seemed to love the post. The shelter received over 100 requests for information about Eddie or helping the shelter. She also added that the shelter runs completely on donations. They pull most of their dogs and cats from kill lists at other shelters. Some shelters can only take in but so many animals and once they exceed that amount, animals are euthanized, she said. We usually go in and we try to pull those dogs off that kill list to help out, she said. We also take in strays and some owner surrenders but the kill list is my main focus to save these animals. Taryn Brooks with her new dog, Eddie. Eddie gained Internet fame in November 2023 when the Humane Society of Wichita County posted about him, pleading with someone to adopt him because of his fiery personality causing issues at the shelter. Eddie doesnt like other dogs but is just fine with people Heineken said Eddie wasnt at the shelter for very long but was pretty well-known for his fiery personality. Employees who clean the kennels said he was mischievous and always fought the other dogs. We couldn't put him outside the yard with anybody because we had to pull him off of other dogs, she said. But with people, he was fine. He loves to play ball. He likes cookies. He'll crawl up in your lap. Eddie had two factors making it hard to rehome him: 1. Black or dark-colored dogs are often discriminated against and people overlook them, she said. And 2. He cannot live with other dogs. As I'm sitting there watching (an employee) try to get pictures and stuff, I just cant think of anything great to say as to why you should come, rush over and get this dog." So Heineken got creative instead. Eddie's new family is the perfect fit The post caught the eyes of Linda Brooks and her daughter, 15-year-old Taryn. Linda Brooks drove a few hours from Cleburne, Texas to get the dog. Taryn Brooks with Eddie the dachshund mix. She gave up some of her Christmas gifts to adopt Eddie after seeing a post about him online. Taryn Brooks saw her mom share a post about Eddie and knew she had to have him. We're taking these things off your (Christmas) list if I'm getting this dog, her mother, Linda, told her. So instead of a hair curler, Converses and other stuff, her gift is Eddie the tiny tyrant. She said the shelters description of Eddie fit her family. When we went to the place to go get him, he was just already attached to us, Taryn said. He was already laying in my arms and everything. Eddie is also living up to his description. So far, he has escaped twice and the family had to chase him throughout the neighborhood. Hes able to slip out of his collar so the family is getting him a harness, Linda said. He's not easy to catch, Linda said. He thinks it's fun though. He thinks it's a game. Taryn Brooks with Eddie the dachshund mix. Eddie the dachshund mix. The Brooks family has started a TikTok and Facebook account for Eddie. They plan to use their social media following to help the Humane Society of Wichita County get items on their wishlist. Eddie is spoiled rotten already, so the family figured theyd do what they can to help other shelters. And they are finding a more snuggly side of the naughty pup. He wants to be underneath the covers, she said. He's fun. He's already so much fun already except for the chasing. Were a little out of shape but we love him. Dogs: Advice from dogs. A chainsaw to the system. Javier Milei, far-right libertarian, is Argentina's new leader This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas shelter finds home for naughty dog Eddie after hilarious post ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- African countries have made tangible progress in enhancing agricultural productivity, promoting sustainable farming practices and addressing food security and rural poverty, but more efforts are needed to mitigate food-related challenges, African Union (AU) Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Josefa Sacko said. "Through initiatives such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), investment in agricultural infrastructure, and the promotion of sustainable farming practices, we have seen positive impacts on the lives of millions of smallholder farmers and rural households across the continent," Sacko told a meeting of agricultural ministers Friday at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He cautioned that the countries are lagging behind in fulfilling the seven broad commitments of the CAADP, a flagship program aimed to enhance agricultural development on the African continent. African countries passed the Malabo Declaration in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in June 2014, committing themselves to upholding the CAADP principles and values; enhancing investment in agriculture; ending hunger and halving poverty by 2025; boosting intra-African agricultural trade and enhancing resilience to climate variability, among others, as means to implement the CAADP. "Two years remaining before the Malabo Declaration period lapses, there is urgency for member states to accelerate CAADP implementation, including through the provision of the financing required to achieve the aspirations of CAADP in order to build resilient African food system," the commissioner said. "Lack of investment, internal dispute and war, and external factors including climate change are some of the factors contributing to prevailing food insecurity and malnutrition in Africa," the commissioner said in an interview with Xinhua. "The AU needs to continue working with member states and regional economic communities to mitigate the food security challenges in Africa," he said. MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A Cornelius flooring company is being sued by NC Attorney General Josh Stein for allegedly defrauding North Carolinians. Stein announced the lawsuit against Flowers Flooring on Monday, Nov. 20, and said the company has been reportedly accepting payment for materials that were never delivered and for floor installations that were not started or completed. The Department of Justice has received more than 80 complaints against Flowers Flooring for their allegedly unlawful practices, Stein said. Mooresville man charged in 2022 fentanyl case that resulted in mans death People work hard for their money, and home renovations are expensive, said AG Stein said in a released statement. Im taking Flowers Flooring to court for failing to deliver on its promises so they cant take advantage of any more North Carolinians. Flowers Flooring sells and advertises flooring materials and installations in the Charlotte and Winston-Salem areas. The company allegedly started deceiving its customers by telling them that the product they wanted was backordered by suppliers, but required customers to pay deposits in advance. After this, Flowers Flooring promised installations by a certain date but failed to deliver or install the product while also failing to provide refunds for their failed promises, AG Stein explained. American Airlines flight attendants request to strike Stein said his office is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, restitution for consumers, civil penalties, and other monetary penalties. If you believe you or someone you know has been treated unlawfully by Flowers Flooring, youre asked to file a consumer complaint at www.ncdoj.gov/complaint or call 1-877-5-NO-SCAM. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Newly-arrived ethnic Rohingya women, part of a group who was denied landing a few times by local residents, rest at a temporary shelter in Bireun, Aceh province, Indonesia Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Almost 1,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have arrived by boat in Indonesias northernmost province of Aceh in the last six days, officials said Monday. The group finally landed in Bireuen district on Sunday morning. (AP Photo/Rafka Zaidan) LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia (AP) Almost 1,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have arrived by boat in Indonesias northernmost province of Aceh in the last six days, officials said Monday. They included five groups with women and children who were afloat for days. One batch of more than 240 people was twice denied landing by residents in Aceh Utara district, sparking concerns from human rights organizations. The group finally disembarked in Bireuen district on Sunday morning. We thank the authorities and local communities who have received and granted landing permits for them and in the future we hope that this spirit of solidarity and humanity will continue to be extended to refugees who need assistance and protection, the the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement. The refugees arriving in Aceh had endured a difficult sea journey. Most of them left refugee camps in Bangladesh, where more than 700,000 had fled following a crackdown by Myanmar's army in August 2017. Myanmar security forces have been accused of mass rape, killings and the burning of thousands of Rohingya homes. Most of the refugees have attempted to reach Malaysia, but many have ended up in Indonesia along the way. The thwarted landing of hundreds of Rohingya refugees is a big step back for Indonesia, where communities have previously shown generosity and humanity towards those seeking safety after perilous boat journeys," said Usman Hamid, executive director for Amnesty International Indonesia. Indonesias Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and does not have the obligation or capacity to accommodate refugees. Accommodation has been provided solely for humanitarian reasons. Ironically, many countries party to the convention actually closed their doors and even implemented a pushback policy toward the refugees, Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, the ministry's spokesperson, said in a statement. He said that Indonesias kindness in providing a temporary shelter has been widely exploited by people-smugglers who seek financial gain without caring about the risks faced by refugees, especially vulnerable groups such as women and children. ___ Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia. ___ Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration After more than a week of searching for a Winter Springs woman, the family of Shakeira Rucker is getting closure. On Saturday, the Orange County Sheriffs Office said deputies found her body at a storage facility in Apopka. The unit was owned by Ruckers estranged husband Cory Hill, who is now named an official suspect in her murder. Loved ones gathered in Pine Hills for a vigil Sunday evening to remember the mother of four. Read: WATCH: Sheriff gives update after body of missing Winter Springs woman found in storage unit Since day one of the search, Ruckers family was determined to hold out hope and do everything they could to find her. Heartbroken was the word every family member used during the vigil, and Ruckers mother was too emotional to speak on camera. About a dozen of her closest family members went through fields and rode ATVs in hopes of recovering any sign that she was still alive. Its not the outcome we expected, said Winter Springs Police Chief Matt Tracht. But there is a little bit of closure for Shakeiras family. Read: Timeline: Heres whats happened since Shakeira Rucker was last seen with estranged husband While the case started in Winter Springs, the investigation spanned Polk, Lake, Seminole and Orange counties. But that search ended with a call to the storage facility on Wiggins Way, where deputies said they found Rucker dead inside a storage unit. Her family said she was found shot and in a prayer position. He needs to go down for everything, everything he is, said Clarence Thorton, Ruckers brother. My sister should have never been in that situation. Not in a million years I would have thought my sister (to) ever been in that situation. The family is frustrated after they told investigators Friday about the unit, but with no specifics, it took time to find it. Read: I just want my mom: Family of missing Winter Springs woman search for clues in Polk County Theres hundreds and hundreds of storage unit facilities in (the) Central Florida area, said Orange County Sheriff John Mina. Police said Shakeira Ruckers children last saw her leaving her Winter Springs home at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday with Cory Hill, her estranged husband, to an unknown destination. Deputies are still investigating the case. Hill has not been officially charged with Ruckers murder, but Mina said he is the primary suspect in the case. State Attorney Andrew Bain, who attended the vigil, said he wants the time to get things right and will prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law. Read: Shakeira Ruckers family pushes for more agencies to aid in search Every single case that we come into our offices like this, that comes with a lesser amount, its just a precursor to something thats gonna happen in the future, Bain said. So we need to take it that serious in our community. This comes as the Ruckers navigate their grief and spend their first Thanksgiving without her. Rucker had two boys and two girls, ranging from seven to 18 years old. The family has set up a GoFundMe to help support them following their mothers death. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. He needs to go down: Family frustrated, heartbroken after body of Shakeira Rucker found After more than a week of searching for a Winter Springs woman, the family of Shakeira Rucker is getting closure. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< On Saturday, the Orange County Sheriffs Office said deputies found her body at a storage facility in Apopka. The unit was owned by Ruckers estranged husband Cory Hill, who is now named an official suspect in her murder. Loved ones gathered in Pine Hills for a vigil Sunday evening to remember the mother of four. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Since day one of the search, Ruckers family was determined to hold out hope and do everything they could to find her. Heartbroken was the word every family member used during the vigil, and Ruckers mother was too emotional to speak on camera. Read: 1 injured after school bus crash on Jacksonvilles Westside About a dozen of her closest family members went through fields and rode ATVs in hopes of recovering any sign that she was still alive. Its not the outcome we expected, said Winter Springs Police Chief Matt Tracht. But there is a little bit of closure for Shakeiras family. Read: United Cajun Navy announces debris from Carol Ann located off coast of St. Augustine While the case started in Winter Springs, the investigation spanned Polk, Lake, Seminole and Orange counties. But that search ended with a call to the storage facility on Wiggins Way, where deputies said they found Rucker dead inside a storage unit. Her family said she was found shot and in a prayer position. He needs to go down for everything, everything he is, said Clarence Thorton, Ruckers brother. My sister should have never been in that situation. Not in a million years I would have thought my sister (to) ever been in that situation. The family is frustrated after they told investigators Friday about the unit, but with no specifics, it took time to find it. Read: Free COVID-19 tests: Government to send tests again Theres hundreds and hundreds of storage unit facilities in (the) Central Florida area, said Orange County Sheriff John Mina. Deputies are still investigating the case. Hill has not been officially charged with Ruckers murder, but Mina said he is the primary suspect in the case. State Attorney Andrew Bain, who attended the vigil, said he wants the time to get things right and will prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Police said Shakeira Ruckers children last saw her leaving her Winter Springs home at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday with Cory Hill, her estranged husband, to an unknown destination. Read: Rosalynn Carter: Funeral for former first lady set for Nov. 29 Every single case that we come into our offices like this, that comes with a lesser amount, its just a precursor to something thats gonna happen in the future, Bain said. So we need to take it that serious in our community. This comes as the Ruckers navigate their grief and spend their first Thanksgiving without her. Read: I-10 reopens after arson fire Rucker had two boys and two girls, ranging from seven to 18 years old. The family has set up a GoFundMe to help support them following their mothers death. CLICK HERE to read the original article by WFTV. Read: Florida island with sugar-white sand beaches makes worlds top 50 Best Places to Travel in 2024 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 Network Rail safety worker failed a drug test at work after buying a tea made from the leaves of the coca plant - violettenlandungoy/iStock Unreleased A Network Rail safety worker failed a drug test at work after mistakenly buying tea from a market stall made with leaves from the cocaine plant. Paul Glenholmes bought Inka Tea from a market stall in September 2020 to help with digestive problems caused by his disability medication - but subsequently failed a drug test at work as he was four times over the cut-off amount for misuse of a controlled substance. Inka tea, also known as mate de coca tea, is a herbal drink made from the raw or dried leaves of the coca plant, native to South America. The coca plant is also known for its psychoactive chemical cocaine. Mr Glenholmes did not know what was in the product, but found the tea helped with his digestive problems. However, weeks later he tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite for cocaine used in urine tests when looking for drug use. He was suspended from his job days later while an investigation was launched, and subsequently sacked. An East Midlands employment tribunal heard that Mr Glenholmes started work at Network Rail as train technician - a health and safety role - in 2014. The operator has a strict drugs policy, whereby if any employees test positive for substances they are suspended with immediate effect. Having researched the Inka tea, the safety worker told bosses after he failed the test that the tea was the likely cause as he had not checked the ingredients before drinking it. Having the information and research which I now know, I would not have in good conscience bought the product or consumed it, he said. Mr Glenholmes was invited to a disciplinary hearing on the basis that he had knowingly ingested coca tea without understanding what it contained. Sample retested However, citing ill health, the safety worker informed bosses he would not be attending and he later raised a grievance for a lack of due diligence by bosses when commencing the investigation. Months later, he asked for his urine sample to be re-tested and asked the laboratory how cocaine and coca tea can be differentiated, so it would not happen again. In response, they said the benzoylecgonine metabolite would be detected in both cases as it is an ingestion of cocaine. The laboratory added: This is because coca tea is made from coca plant leaves and contains cocaine. This means that [Mr Glenholmes] has used cocaine. Drinking cocaine in tea does not make it legal. Mr Glenholmes re-test found the cocaine in his system was four times over the cut-off amount, which is consistent with misuse of a controlled drug. Nearly two years after the drug test, following a long period of sick leave, his disciplinary hearing was held and the safety worker was sacked. Appeal rejected Mr Glenholmes appealed this decision, which was rejected, and later took Network Rail to an employment tribunal to sue for unfair dismissal. Giving evidence at the tribunal, Mr Glenholmes said he was aware the hot drink was not ordinary green tea, and that he had consumed it without knowing what it contained. Employment Judge Martin Brewer said by consuming the tea, there is no doubt that Mr Glenholmes was deserving of blame. He said: I am in no doubt that [he] was entirely to blame for his dismissal. He deliberately drank tea from South America without knowing, and not researching prior to drinking it, what it contained. Judge Brewer added: Here [Mr Glenholmes] was wholly blameworthy. There were no other contributing factors to his dismissal other than the failed drug test which he could have avoided if he had done the research he did after the failed drug test either before he drank the tea or shortly thereafter once he was aware of its efficacy. But he chose not to. Dismissal was reasonable The judge said Mr Glenholmes deliberately contradicted the terms of the companys drug policy by not finding out what he was ingesting when drinking tea from South America. He said his dismissal was within the band of reasonable responses from Network Rail because Mr Glenholmes was wholly to blame. However, procedural errors in sacking the Network Rail worker meant his claims of unfair dismissal succeeded, but the judge denied him compensation. Mr Glenholmes additional claim of unauthorised deductions from wages was dismissed. 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. It should be the height of tourist season in Tiberias, an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee where the New Testament says many of Jesus miracles were performed. But instead of pilgrims, thousands of Israelis evacuated from communities close to the Lebanese border have arrived in Tiberias, swelling the citys population by 20% Mayor Boaz Yosef told CNN. He described the evacuation as the biggest movement of Israelis in decades. In the weeks since Hamas launched its attack on Israel, a low intensity conflict has been raging in the north of the country as crossfire between Israel and Lebanon-based militants becomes increasingly deadly. A Reuters journalist is among the civilians to have been killed on the Lebanese side of the border, and last Sunday an employee of an Israeli electric supplier was killed in a strike by an anti-tank missile in the Israeli border town of Dovev. Like its south, Israels northern border area has been emptying, after the Defense Ministry ordered the mandatory evacuation of more than 40 communities there in October. There are fears of a full-blown confrontation with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon that would open up a dangerous new front in the war. Several of Dovevs evacuees, who have been living in Tiberias for a month, told CNN that they may never be ready to return to their moshav (cooperative community). Israelis who were evacuated from the north of the country and seen in a hotel lobby in Tiberias, Israel, on November 16. - Tara John/CNN Dovev residents point to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who has repeatedly evoked a hypothetical scenario in which his fighters would conduct an incursion into northern Israel in case war erupted between Lebanon and Israel again. Hezbollah is one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East. The Iran-backed Islamist movement, which has its main base on the Israel-Lebanon border, has participated in several conflicts in the Middle East, including in Iraq and Syria. Border skirmishes between Israel and the group have escalated in the past two weeks with the cross-fire intensifying in frequency and depth of territory in the border region. From the basement of a hotel in Tiberias, where dozens of evacuated children were attending a makeshift lesson, Elana Pilveny told CNN that there was no way in hell I am going back. Her family is not taking any chances with Hamas ally in southern Lebanon after October 7, when Hamas massacred 1,200 people, many of whom were civilians. Whole new level of fear A quiet knitting circle in the hotel lobby, consisting of four cousins who have lived in Dovev for decades, belies the panic among the evacuees. I dont know how to function normally if I have to go back to Dovev, Shoshana Yakut, 77, told CNN from a hotel in Tiberias where she has lived for over a month. They have lived through the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, Israels invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and fight with Hezbollah in 2006. We never felt something so powerful, she said of the October 7 attacks. Not in 67, not in 73, or not in 82 and 2006 this is a whole new level of fear right now. Pilveny owns a small poultry farm in Dovev with her husband and said the electric companys worker who died last week was there to restore a powerline to the communitys chicken farms. Her husband has since asked Israels agricultural ministry to humanely slaughter their chickens, she said. From his office, looking over the azure Sea of Galilee, Tiberias mayor Yosef said more than 10,000 people have been evacuated to his city, filling up 35 hotels in the town which is 30 kilometers south of the border. He says residents have embraced the newcomers but the war has hurt the local tourism industry: Restaurants stand empty and boat tours are few and far between. The international community has been attempting to avert a wider regional war. But Yosef said he believes that to ensure the safety of Israel we must make war in Lebanon in order to dismantle Hezbollahs capabilities, citing the dangers of the groups estimated arsenal of 150,000 rockets and precision-guided munitions. If not, what happened in the south (of Israel) will happen in the north, he said, adding this was the view of other mayors in northern Israel. Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a warning to Hezbollah following a day of cross-border exchanges, saying: What were doing in Gaza can also be done in Beirut. We didnt use even 10% of the Air Forces capabilities in Gaza. Buffer zones At another hotel in Tiberias, 75-year-old veteran David Shenfer, who was evacuated from the town of Kiryat Shmona near the northern tip of Israel, said that while he cannot wait to return home but worries about the violence with Hezbollah. The ideal situation is a political solution where Hezbollah withdraws behind Lebanons Litani River, he said, citing a 2006 United Nations resolution that called for Hezbollah to not operate between the Israeli-Lebanese border and the river 13 miles (20km) to its north. View of the Sea of Galilee from a hotel in Tiberias, Israel, on November 16. - Tara John/CNN A group of cousins, who were evacuated from the town of Dovev, knit quietly in a hotel lobby in Tiberias, Israel on November 16. - Tara John/CNN Hezbollah continues to operate south of the river and Israel has routinely violated the resolution with territorial breaches through overflights in Lebanon. Absent a political agreement they are going to have to force Hezbollah to go north, Shenfer said. The 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War saw an attempt to create a buffer zone in that area, but the conflict ended with no clear victor or vanquished. Many parts of Lebanon were devastated, but Hezbollah foiled Israels ultimate plan to dismantle the group. The overwhelming worry among the evacuated is when they can make it home, or whether they will at all, and if not, what will be next? The spokesperson for Kibbutz Baram, one of 30 kibbutzim in the country that have stuck to a socialist model, said her main concern is what the war will do to their community model. Weve lost a lot of certainty we had before, Lea Raivitz said. Residents in her kibbutz put forward their entire net salary to the community and receive a monthly budget in return. As a result, we dont pay for the houses. We dont pay for the electricity. We dont pay for the water, health, healthcare, education, she said. After spending a month in a hotel, there is a fear some kibbutz members will move away. While she is determined to return to her hillside community, the prospect currently seems impossible, Raivitz said, explaining that Hezbollah militants have hoisted flags near a border fence close to the kibbutz. Its our home, were waiting for that moment (to return), but its difficult to even imagine. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's exports declined by 4.4 percent year on year to 126.19 billion ringgit (about 27 billion U.S. dollars) in October, official data showed Monday. The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said in a statement that exports of manufactured goods, constituting 85.3 percent of total exports, slipped by 3.5 percent year on year as a result of lower demand for petroleum products and electrical and electronic (E&E) products. Meanwhile, exports of mining goods dipped by 21.9 percent year on year, attributed to lesser exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude petroleum. Exports of agricultural goods, however, improved by 3.3 percent, marking its first positive growth after 12 consecutive months of decline. According to the ministry, Malaysia's trade decreased by 2.4 percent year on year to 239.52 billion ringgit in October. Malaysia's imports for the month also slipped 0.2 percent year on year to 113.3 billion ringgit. For the January-October period, Malaysia's trade slid 8 percent year on year to 2.18 trillion ringgit, with exports falling 8 percent to 1.19 trillion ringgit, while its imports declined by 8 percent to 995.55 billion ringgit. (1 ringgit equals 0.21 U.S. dollars) MANILA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday said it has approved a loan of 350 million U.S. dollars to support a nationwide primary care transformation in Indonesia. The Manila-based bank said the results-based loan aims to help equip primary care providers with ultrasound machines and instruments to monitor the presence of stunting and malnutrition. The program will strengthen and standardize public health laboratories in community health centers, and improve the capacity of primary care and public health laboratory staff, the multilateral lender added. The program also includes training of primary health facility and community health workers to provide reproductive health services and early detection and treatment of gender-based violence. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Attorney General Gentner Drummond says he has filed suit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over grant funding. According to the Attorney Generals Office, HHS suspended a family planning grant that the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) has been receiving for more than 40 years. LOCAL NEWS: Hundreds of Oklahomans affected by suicide rally around one another A.G. Drummond says the Biden Administration recently reallocated Title X grant money from Oklahoma and Tennessee, and put those funds towards pro-abortion groups. Oklahomas law states that Title X funds cannot be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning. Title X in no way requires abortion referrals for a States continued participation, the filing says. Rather, sans authority, HHS seeks to punish Oklahoma for the policies adopted by Oklahomas elected representatives to protect unborn life. HHS is interfering with rights reserved to the people and their elected representatives despite a clear federal mandate that Title X funds should not be used in programs where abortion is offered as a method of family planning. Governor Kevin Stitt has also voiced his support for the states policies and his support for Drummonds lawsuit. Oklahoma stands up for life, said Gov. Stitt. The Biden administrations actions to terminate our healthcare funding due to our pro-life laws is simply an abuse of power. These funds are essential to provide necessary services for Oklahomans across the state. I am glad that Attorney General Drummond has chosen to pursue legal action and I will support this effort in any way necessary. LOCAL NEWS: Now-former McClain Co. Detention Officer pleads guilty in federal court to civil rights misdemeanor charge Officials say the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, talks about how suspending the grant impacts Oklahomans access to healthcare. In many instances, particularly in rural Oklahoma communities, the Health Department and county health departments may be one of the only access points for critical preventative services for tens or even hundreds of miles, the lawsuit says. To read the full complaint, click here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. A suspected human trafficker wanted in Oklahoma had been using a fake identity for decades to avoid deportation, authorities said Friday. Feng Jiang was arrested in New York City on Oct. 24 for an outstanding warrant linked to a human trafficking investigation, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) said. Investigators later learned he had been using a fake name and birth date for over 20 years. "After being extradited back to Oklahoma earlier this month, a fingerprint analysis by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) determined that his real identity is Le Feng Jaing and revealed that he was issued a Final Order of Deportation in 2001 and currently has an outstanding Deportation warrant," OBN Director Donnie Anderson said. Jiang became a suspect after OBN began investigating a tip about alleged sex trafficking at what authorities said was a brothel in a residential location in northwest Oklahoma City in October 2022. ABOUT HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND HOW TO STAY SAFE FROM DANGEROUS THREATS Feng Jiang was issued a final order of deportation in 2001, though he had been using a fake name and birth date to remain in the country for more than two decades, according to authorities. Investigators watched the location and determined that about a dozen women were trafficked at the location between October 2022 and February 2023. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Jiang and another man, Jian Lin, were identified as the operators of the brothel, OBN said. Evidence shows that clients of the brothel were mostly managers and administrators of commercial marijuana farms. Jian Lin remains a fugitive and is believed to have been spotted recently in the Oklahoma City area, authorities said. Jiang is accused of continuing to traffic women in Oklahoma while living in New York as recently as Oct. 2023. SWEETHEART DEAL RELEASES CONNECTED ACCUSED SERIAL RAPIST WHO THREATENED TO BITE OFFICER'S FINGER OFF Jiang and Lin were each indicted on two counts of human trafficking in September. Lin is also facing charges in Canadian County for a recent arrest linked to distributing the drug ketamine. While authorities in New York City arrested Jiang last month, Lin remains a fugitive from multiple Oklahoma warrants. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Lin may have been spotted recently in Oklahoma City, though officials released no further details. Original article source: Oklahoma human trafficking suspect arrested, allegedly used fake ID to avoid deportation for 2 decades TikTok posts purport to show US troops and tanks arriving in Israel to support the country's war effort against Hamas. This is false; the years-old footage shows a military training event in Australia, and Pentagon officials have said no such mission is planned for the Middle East. "Emergency Deployment Thousands of Troops and US Military Equipment Lands of(sic) Israeli Beaches," says text over a November 17, 2023 TikTok post, which shows soldiers arriving on a beach with amphibious landing craft. Screenshot of a TikTok post taken November 20, 2023 The video has circulated elsewhere on TikTok and other social media platforms, including YouTube and Facebook. The claims come more than a month after Hamas fighters stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing approximately 1,200 people -- mostly civilians -- and taking around 240 hostages, according to the country's latest estimates. Israel's retaliatory air strikes and ground invasion have killed more than 13,300 people -- also mostly civilians -- in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory's Hamas-run health ministry. The United States has rushed military equipment to Israel, a top ally in the Middle East, in addition to bolstering its forces in the region and supporting hostage rescue efforts. But US officials have said since the start of the war that they have no plans to send American forces into combat on behalf of Israel -- and the video shared online is unrelated to the conflict. A reverse image search using screenshots from the clip surfaced the same footage in a July 18, 2017 YouTube video (archived here) published by the US Army. The caption says: "Exercise Talisman Saber is the largest combined, joint military exercise undertaken by the Australian Defence Force and provides invaluable experience to ADF and US personnel to improve combat training, readiness and interoperability, exposing participants to a wide spectrum of military capabilities and training experiences." The Australian Broadcasting Corporation also shared footage and images of the combat training (archived here), which included some 30,000 American and Australian troops. AFP has previously debunked other misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war here. Qatar is ready to join Ukraines efforts to bring home civilian captives from Russia in addition to mediating the rescue of deported Ukrainian children, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on national television. The only thing is that we did not manage to bring back the children at such a pace as we would like. There are many more children (deported from Ukraine to Russia), Lubinets added. But we are working. We have a lot of cases in the works now." Qatar cooperated with Ukraine to help bring back Bohdan Yermokhin, a Ukrainian teenager who was illegally deported by Russia from occupied Mariupol, placed with a foster family in Moscow Oblast, and served with a conscription notice. Yermokhin arrived back in Ukraine on his 18th birthday, Nov. 19, as a result of the rescue operation, which also involved UNICEF Ukraine and Ukraine's embassy in Belarus. Read also: Explainer: What we know about Russias deportation of Ukrainian children In October, Qatar brokered a deal with Moscow and Kyiv to bring back four children to Ukraine. The deal was orchestrated after months of high-level talks involving Moscow and Kyiv with plans to recover more minors in the future. The Ukrainian government has identified over 19,500 children who have been deported or forcibly displaced by Russia. Almost 400 of them have returned to Ukraine. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Lvova-Belova and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in March 2023 over their role in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. PROVIDENCE Patrick Crowley first made headlines in Rhode Island by chasing then-Republican U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee around in a George W. Bush mask and flight suit. Later, he exposed then-Gov. Don Carcieris failure to pay $12,000 in property taxes on his luxury condominium in Florida. FWIW: he also had a Donald Duck costume he wore around the State House when lame duck Carcieri went to war against the state's public employee unions. (His theory: "We can call him all the names we want. We can lawsuit this and grievance that. Let's just make fun of the guy ... That's how you beat a bully.") Once describing himself as a "punk kid with a good imagination," Crowley, at 50, is on the verge of making news again, but this time in a crisp white shirt and blue herringbone-patterned tie. With George Nee easing back as the president of the state's AFL-CIO, Crowley the current secretary-treasurer of the 80,000-member amalgam of labor unions will be taking the helm for the remainder of Nee's term when Nee sets a retirement date. His four-year term runs through December 2025. Patrick Crowley at the Providence offices of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. Now serving as secretary-treasurer, he will take over as president upon the retirement of George Nee. Crowley's first step? Giving up his current full-time job as the political director for the state's largest teachers union, the National Education Association of Rhode Island, on Jan. 1 and fully moving into what he already calls his "other full time job" at the AFL-CIO headquarters at $149,500 a year. On this reporter's arrival at the AFL-CIO's Smith Street headquarters, Crowley gifted her with one of the T-shirts his colleagues had made for him on his birthday. Quoting what the far-right Justin Katz wrote about him in an online column, it says: "Arguably the most VICIOUS radical union activist in the state for the past twenty years." (Katz on Monday disputed the "far-right" label, describing himself as: "a classically liberal Catholic conservative.") Policy wonk, rabble rouser with a megaphone, author ("The Battle of the Gravestones & the Saylesville Massacre of 1934"), former owner (2008-09) of a progressive blog the now defunct RIFuture and online yoga teacher during COVID (bet you didn't know that), Crowley enjoys a good laugh at his own expense. How did he get into the union business? By chance. The son of a nurse and a gym teacher, he grew up in Marshfield, Massachusetts, and studied English at what is now Bridgewater State University, thinking he'd become a teacher ... until his sophomore year, when he took a philosophy class. He "absolutely fell in love with it" and graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He applied to graduate-level philosophy programs all over the country, thinking it was his calling, until a phone call changed his life's trajectory. "So I was driving a Zamboni at the Armstrong Arena in Plymouth, Massachusetts, when I get a call from a friend of mine who was a grad student at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. They'd met "protesting the first real wave of budget cuts to public higher education in Massachusetts in the early nineties," Crowley said. "He asked, 'Did I get into grad school anywhere?' I said, 'No, I didn't.' He says, 'well, any chance you could get out to Amherst today? The program I'm in had a couple of people drop off at the very last minute, and if you get here today, I think I can get you at the front of the list.'" "So I literally drove to UMass from Plymouth in my coveralls from work. And I think that was the selling point." He ended up in "one of the last remaining labor-side graduate programs'' as others morphed into "labor-management ... or human resources-based management side programs." While there, Crowley was elected president of one of the country's first grad student worker unions. He graduated in 1997 with a master's in labor studies and went to work for the Teamsters Local 25 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Negotiating in the pre-internet days His first union job after graduating? "Strategic Campaigns and Research Coordinator" at Teamsters Local 25, "providing economic data for folks that were going into negotiations." "Remember, this is pre-internet," he said. "Most of the folks working for the labor movement at the time came right from the rank and file. They were dealing with attorneys and corporations that had access to all different types of information that rank-and-file truck drivers and warehouse people didn't have," he explained. "But my boss in Boston at the time, George Cashman, was foresighted enough to say, 'Hey, if I get some kid in here that knows how to get me financial information, my guys will surprise the other side.'" "So I would get SEC reports and 10 K documents ... basic financial information [so they then could say) ... 'You are saying you have no money, but according to this quarterly document you had $8 million in this account.' "And they'd be looking around like, how the hell did he know that?" "It morphed into more of a street organizer job at a time when labor was under assault. We were losing more than we were winning, but we were so active at Local 25, we organized thousands of workers in a period of five years." Then his boss went to jail. What did he do? "What a lot of Teamster bosses did back in the day," Crowley says. "He got a little bit too ahead of himself and he ended up getting indicted and going to jail. And I figured it was time to move on." One union job led to another Next stop? A field representative with the hospital workers union on Cape Cod. "I used to tell people I had the best job in the labor movement," he said. "I represented the nursing homes and hospitals on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. ... I had to take a plane to work." Great in summer, not so great in winter. Then his wife-to-be, who had been working as an organizer in Boston for the SEIU, took a new job back home in Rhode Island. The commute got to be a bit much, "so I started to look for jobs in Rhode Island." In 2005, he landed at NEA Rhode Island as a field representative. A year later, he was haunting then-Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee at sidewalk press conferences. About that George Bush mask "That was surprisingly well received, and it was so much fun. But it was [also] so important at the time," Crowley said. "We were in the middle of this dark period in 2006," Crowley said. "George Bush and [Senate GOP leader] Mitch McConnell were at the ascendancy of their power. We're in the middle of this incredibly destructive war in the Middle East against Iraq." A photo in Patrick Crowley's office shows him wearing a George W. Bush mask and flight suit at a 2006 press conference held by then-Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee, right. "American soldiers are torturing prisoners," he continued. "The war is not going well. Soldiers are coming home with PTSD and wounds while ... hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are being killed. I mean, it was really bad. And here we are in Rhode Island. We've got liberal Republican Linc Chafee who pledges to support Mitch McConnell as Senate president who had pledged to [give] George Bush a blank check to prosecute this really unjust war." Wearing the mask from a Halloween store and a flight suit he found at an Army & Navy store, the unidentifiable Crowley showed up at a Chafee press conference. "I just [gave] a big thumbs-up, like George Bush did when he landed the plane on the [aircraft carrier] ... and everyone knew exactly what it was about." "I didn't have to say anything, didn't have to mouth off or cause a commotion. Just stand there and make that spectacle. And it helped change the narrative of what we were actually trying to do. It really turned this campaign in sleepy, small liberal Rhode Island into a referendum on the Iraq War." "And I'm proud if I had any small part in that. We elected Senator Whitehouse, and it still took a couple of years to stop the war, but the tone changed and in the Senate, the tone changed because the Democrats took over." More: Meet the fence viewer, Rhode Island's quaintest government position. From NEARI to Climate Jobs Rhode Island So began Crowley's career at the NEARI, where he has had quote-worthy roles in unionization drives, teacher contracts, high-stakes testing and education funding debates, strikes and other public actions, including one that sparked this Journal headline: "At rally, unions find unity in their dislike of Carcieri." More recently, he helped create Climate Jobs Rhode Island, a coalition "committed to a just transition to an equitable, pro-worker, pro-climate green economy." But that's another column for another day. Legislative priorities? Crowley has many hopes for the 2024 legislative session, including state-level action to ban "captive audience meetings," where an employer attempts to scare employees out of unionizing. He also hopes legislators push state government to move faster to make state buildings fossil-fuel free. But he believes the top priority for organized labor at the State House in 2024 will be pensions, and, more specifically, a reworking of the dramatic 2011 "pension overhaul" that suspended annual pension increases for retirees and made current-day public employees work longer for smaller pensions. "Let me start by saying this: The focus of organized labor as it relates to the Rhode Island state pension system ... is going to be on the active employees," said Crowley, one of 10 appointees by current state Treasurer James Diossa to a new pension advisory group. "We are hoping to address some of the concerns of the retired workers, but from our point of view, we have to prioritize the active employees," Crowley said. Why? Active workers "elect us," Crowley explained, and their interests have to come first. And, he said. active employees face the worst consequences of the pension changes. They have to work longer than their predecessors, he said, and for a much-reduced benefit. The result? It's harder to recruit and retain state workers, who are "doing more work with less coworkers because the state in local cities and towns can't keep the people that we need to do the job," Crowley said. Options? He thinks the state needs to lower the minimum retirement age and ratchet up the "accrual rate," which is pension-speak for the value of each year of work toward a pension. The current accrual rate is 1% of a salary for each year of work. "So after a 40-year career, their pension benefit would be 40% of their salary. It's not enough to live on," he said. He suggests increasing the rate gradually, to give the state enough time to adjust the [required] contribution for the active workers without adding time to the projected 2031 date when annual COLAs return. He also questions why the COLA return date has to wait until the state-run pension system is 80% funded? "Why not 70%?" he asks. There's more on the priority list, including more realistic funding of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, and that all costs money. One of his answers to this financial puzzle? The same he's had for years: Raise taxes on the rich even when the state is awash in surplus dollars, because there's never a better time to do it politically. Any residual grudges against the architect of the 2011 pension cutbacks: current U.S. Treasury Gina Raimondo, a rising star in the Biden administration? "We can't let a fight that we lost in 2011 determine what we do in 2023 and 2024," he said. "That's why I was proud of the members of NEA Rhode Island when they endorsed [then-Gov. Raimondo] for reelection, because I thought that helped change the tone of what we were able to even just talk about." "Yeah, and there's still people out there that are angry with us at NEA about that. And that's OK. But when you look at what our job is in the labor movement, it's not to complain about lost battles, it's to win the next battle." This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Patrick Crowley readies to lead Rhode Island's AFL-CIO CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) An arrest has been made after a fire was intentionally set at a west Charlotte apartment Sunday evening, the Charlotte Fire Department said. Firefighters were called to a three-story apartment complex in the 3100 block of Nobles Avenue around 6:30 p.m. November 19. Queen City News is tracking CRIME in your area >> Latest stories here According to authorities, the fire on the first story of the building was controlled in about 10 minutes. The Red Cross was helping one person and their dog who were home during the fire and were displaced from their home. Officials said the fire was set on purpose, and one person has been charged. It is estimated that the fire caused roughly $13,000 in damages. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Border crossing operations have been temporarily suspended at the Shehyni checkpoint due to a lack of electricity at the Medyka checkpoint on the Polish side. Source: Ukraines State Border Guard Service on 20 November, as reported by European Pravda Quote: "Due to a lack of electricity supply at the Medyka checkpoint (Republic of Poland), the passage of persons and vehicles to leave Ukraine by the neighbouring party has been temporarily suspended," the message reads. Border guards urged citizens to consider this information when crossing the border. Update: Later, border guards reported that the border crossing point had resumed operation. Quote: "The Shehyni border crossing point has resumed operations! Have a good journey!" Meanwhile, Polish hauliers have continued to block the other three border crossings with Ukraine, at Yahodyn-Dorogusk, Krakivets-Korczowa and Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne, since 6 November. Background: The Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, in collaboration with relevant associations and hauliers, has set up a support headquarters to provide Ukrainian drivers who are stranded with food, drinking water, medications and fuel. Polish hauliers blocking the border with Ukraine have promised to allow humanitarian aid and fuel tankers to pass through, but the Ukrainian government says this is not happening. Support UP or become our patron! When Rami Mahmoud left his familys home to buy food, his wife, Elham Maged, stayed behind to pray. When he made his way back through the narrow, tightly packed nearby streets of northern Gazas Jabalya Refugee Camp , he returned to a scene of complete chaos. An Israeli airstrike had smashed into the center of the densely populated community, tearing a deep crater into its heart. Their apartment had vanished. Scanning the devastation, Mahmoud suddenly noticed a single finger reaching up between the rubble; it was Elham. Miraculously she had survived. But his relief at finding her alive was brief. Two of their children, they would soon discover, were dead. Nothing would ever be the same again. Elham Maged speaks to CNN from inside Cairo's Nasser Medical Institute. - CNN Two weeks on from the horror of that day, the couple are more than 200 miles southwest of Gaza City, inside Cairos Nasser Medical Institute in neighboring Egypt. The wreckage and chaos of their shattered home was replaced by the cleanliness and order of this foreign medical facility, the noise of rockets and explosions exchanged for the benign, insistent hum of traffic crawling through Egypts bustling capital. But safety and care does not bring comfort; they are still haunted by grief. My daughter, just an hour before she died, she called her best friend and said, I feel like something is going to happen to me. Can you take care of my mother and visit her often? Elham told us. My son is a handsome boy, he was in high school, he used to go to the gym and lift weights, and he is tall and well built, she continued, tears streaming down her face. He liked to look good. He got a haircut two days before he was killed, in the middle of war. He said, even if I die, I want to die looking good. Palestinians flee to southern Gaza along Salah Eddin Street, on the outskirts of Gaza City, during the ongoing Israeli bombardment on Saturday, November 18, 2023. - Adel Hana/AP Mahmoud shared family photos with us. Their daughter, just 15, her wide, clear eyes and delicate features framed by a headscarf; their son, 17, carrying a small boy on his back, a warm smile shining from beneath his tousled black hair. God created them, God took them, his wife said. I just want to go back to the rest of my children. There is no internet there, so I dont know anything about them. I know they are with their grandfather somewhere safe, hopefully, but we have no way of reaching them. Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 12,000 Palestinians since October 7, including an estimated 5,000 children, according to the Hamas government press office. Israel says its airstrikes intend to target Hamas commanders and infrastructure, following the militant groups October 7 terror attacks, which left 1,200 people dead in Israel and saw about 240 taken hostage. Families flee south The Israeli military has focused its ground operations in northern Gaza where Rami and Elham lived and where it claims to have now seized control. Gaza civilians in the north have been ordered to evacuate southward, but airstrikes do not spare that part of the densely-inhabited enclave, either. Muhammed Wadea speaks to CNN. - CNN Muhammed Wadea blames himself for following the Israeli evacuation orders, telling CNN that he made the decision to heed the IDFs warnings and move his family out of their home to head south. On October 16, he and his young children found themselves in the southern city of Khan Younis, where another apparent Israeli strike tore into the building in which they were sheltering. Today Wadeas 9-year-old son, Abdelrahman, shares a hospital room at Nasser Medical Institute with his 14-year-old sister. Both children sustained multiple injuries in the strike broken bones, skin torn from their bodies, shrapnel lodged in flesh. Abdelrahman recalled that one moment he was sitting on a sofa eating potato chips with his cousin, the next he awoke beneath rubble and surrounded by carnage. There was no warning, nor was there any sign of Hamas where they were staying, Wadea said, standing restlessly by his children, pain etched on his face as he wrestled with heartbreaking guilt. He began to weep as he spoke. I hope that Abdelrahmans siblings are fine and alive, he said. May God have mercy on them. I have nine children. My eldest, Riham is 18, she is married. My youngest is 4 years old. Both Wadea and Mahmouds families left Gaza through Rafah Crossing, the only way out of the Palestinian enclave since Israel sealed other exits after the October 7 attack. Displaced in Egypt A limited number of injured Palestinians and foreign nationals have been allowed to flee Gaza into Egypt through Rafah, following a deal brokered by Qatar between Israel, Hamas, and Egypt, in coordination with the United States. Nasser Medical Institute is one of 37 hospitals that have been readied to accept injured evacuees from Gaza, Egypts health minister, Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, told CNN. Injured children board an ambulance to be transferred from Al-Aqsa Hospital to Egypt for medical treatment through Rafah on November 17, 2023. - Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu/Getty Images More than 1,100 beds, 1,700 ICU units, as well as facilities such as incubators, have been set aside, he explained. As of this week more than 200 places have been filled, but the trickle of those able to cross the border since November 1 remains slow. On Friday, more than 550 foreign nationals and 45 injured Palestinians, along with 40 companions, left Gaza through the crossing, an Egyptian border official told a journalist working with CNN in Rafah. Among those making the treacherous journey is one particularly vulnerable group. Last week, Egyptian officials were expecting three dozen newborn infants to be evacuated to Egypt after being born into the harshest of environments at Al-Shifa hospital. At Al-Shifa hospital, the IDFs controversial operation to uncover what both Israeli and US intelligence insist is a Hamas command and control center has seen electricity dwindle to exhaustion and with it the critical ability to pump oxygen into incubators, vital to the survival of these helpless newborns. Thirty-one babies were evacuated from Al-Shifa hospital on Sunday to the southern Gazan city of Rafah; Palestinian authorities said several newborns had died due to power outages and a shortage of medical supplies. On Monday, 28 babies arrived in Egypt from Gaza at the Rafah crossing, according to an Egyptian government official. One baby was discharged in Gaza and went home with his parents to their temporary shelter, while two others stayed in the ICU unit of the Emirati hospital in Rafah, Gaza. Israels siege of Gaza has included a near-total blockade of food, water and electricity, with exceptions for what the United Nations has called a trickle of humanitarian aid. Conditions in Gaza have grown desperate as fuel supplies dwindle, forcing the closure of 26 of the enclaves 35 hospitals. Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Egyptian minister of health, speaks to CNN's Eleni Giokos. - CNN Ghaffar told CNN last week that Egypt was poised to receive these tiny, delicate souls headed on the fraught route to the Rafah border crossing, but as the clock ticked, the atmosphere was growing ever more tense. Time is important, he said. Every single minute that were not getting them in the chance of losing their life is very high. The subtext was clear; in these bleakest, darkest of hours, some tragedies are playing out beyond the reach of those who might be able to avert them. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com (FOX40.COM) One of two men involved in a shooting on Thursday in South Sacramento died from their injuries on Monday, according to the Sacramento Police Department. Officers responded to the 5600 block of Wilkinson Street at around 7:10 p.m. for reports of a shooting and located two adult males each suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Marysville man sentenced to prison for lighting woman on fire Investigators are still working to uncover the circumstances of the shooting. The Sacramento County Coroners Office will release the name of the deceased once next of kin have been notified. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40. TEHRAN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has called for greater coordination among "independent and free" states to put pressure on Israel to end its "crimes" against Gaza. In a letter sent to the leaders of 50 countries, including those from China, Russia, Turkiye, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Kenya and Jordan, Raisi called on them to put Israel under "coordinated political and economic pressures" to that end, according to a statement published on the website of his office on Monday. The Iranian president condemned what he called the "brutal measures" taken by Israel against Gaza that had resulted in thousands of deaths and the destruction of the coastal enclave's infrastructure during the past weeks. He also denounced the deliberate double-standard approach by some Western governments to ignore the ethical, human and legal principles of the current situation in Gaza. Raisi stressed that the "independent and freedom-seeking" states, particularly the Muslim countries, were expected to take a consistent and united stance in the diplomatic and economic areas in order to put pressure on Israel to stop killing civilians and to lift the siege of Gaza. Additionally, he urged these countries to sever their political, commercial, and cooperative ties with Israel. Israel has been striking Gaza over the past weeks to retaliate against the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The conflict has so far led to the deaths of over 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza, while on the Israeli side, about 1,200 people have lost their lives, the majority of whom were killed in the Hamas attacks. Only one of two draft laws strengthening the independence of Ukraines Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) meets international standards, the G7 countries' ambassadors have explained. Source: European Pravda, citing a letter from the G7 ambassadors to Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) Quote: "We understand that there are two competing bills registered by different groups of Members of Parliament (No. 10060-1 and No. 10060-2). We believe that bill No. 10060 corresponds to the legislative intention to strengthen SAPOs institutional autonomy, improve its capacity to regulate organisational activity, and establish mechanisms of discipline and accountability." Details: Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal registered bill No. 10060 on strengthening SAPO on 15 September. The ambassadors believe that this draft law improves the procedure by which SAPOs head and key officials are selected and enhances SAPOs ability to regulate its organisational activity by making it a separate legal entity; expanding staff and increasing pay; appointing an independent selection committee consisting of international representatives; and preventing information leaks by making non-prosecutor staff fully subordinate to the head of SAPO. They stressed that bill No. 10060 contains the key elements for the required reforms. However, the ambassadors and their respective governments recommended adding the following elements to demonstrate to the Ukrainian people and the international community, including donor countries and the private sector, that Ukraine is determined to combat corruption and reform the judicial system: 1) Retain the elements of reform and institutional independence stated in bill No. 10060; 2) Grant procedural autonomy to SAPO by adding the following essential elements to the Code of Criminal Procedure: Grant SAPO the right to independently conduct appropriate investigative and procedural actions with respect to special actors Members of Parliament, judges, and mayors; Introduce legal guarantees to ensure that other law enforcement bodies comply with and do not interfere in the exceptional investigative powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine/SAPO; Grant the Deputy Head of SAPO all powers of the Deputy Prosecutor General/Head of SAPO in the latters absence; Authorise SAPO to independently consider requests concerning extradition and mutual legal assistance. 3) Create an internal monitoring department within SAPO. This unit must operate independently of the Inspector General of the Prosecutor Generals Office and be responsible for facilitating integrity. Delegate powers to SAPO to administer and execute corresponding decisions and sanctions. 4) Set a reasonable deadline for the Prosecutor Generals appointment of the new Head of SAPO after the independent commission announces the selection results. 5) Abolish the restriction in Ukraines Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the time period between a pre-trial investigation and the service of a notice of suspicion in order to prevent cases being prematurely closed. Background: On 15 November, the G7 ambassadors welcomed the launch of the reform of Ukraines Constitutional Court, following the first meeting of the Advisory Group of Experts. The ambassadors also welcomed the adoption of the law reinstating financial monitoring of so-called politically exposed persons (PEPs) by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Support UP or become our patron! Often, the worst place to be in a war is on the losing side, even if you have the moral high ground. But spare a thought for the conscripts of German static divisions at Normandy. Germany forced them into the war. To fight on behalf of the same fascists who'd conquered their own country. And they undersupplied them. Then, they used them as essentially human speed bumps against Allied advances. And at D-Day, two of them bore the brunt of the Allied attack. And then one of them saw a panzer attack relieve them only for German forces to abandon them, again, to capture or death. The static divisions Germany's static divisions occupy a muddy place in history. Some members volunteered to fight for fascism, and screw those guys. But many were older or younger German conscripts or even Europeans from conquered countries forced to fight for Germany. These men were as much victims of the Nazi war machine as many others, but then they did fight for Germany, sometimes even after they could've surrendered safely. So, muddy. Some were villains, some were victims, and all of them got screwed. That's because the static divisions were the lowest of the low when it came to resource requests. They often had few vehicles and a motley mix of captured equipment. So the average static soldier had to walk everywhere he needed to go rather than ride with the blitzkrieg, hence the name static. And in a serious fight, they couldn't fall back or withdraw. So commanders ordered them to fight, typically to the last man, to give a chance for more mobile forces to reach better fighting positions. So they were ill-equipped human speed bumps. Germany did try to shine the turd, sometimes by referring to them as "fortress" units. You know, because fortresses don't typically move but are relatively easy to defend. But then, fortresses typically had top-quality weapons and sufficient vehicles to move their defenders around. In an Imperial War Museums comparison between German army field divisions, Luftwaffe parachute divisions, and static divisions, IWM wrote: The more numerous static coast divisions were much less effective. These had little in the way of transport, and were merely expected to man fixed defences and hold their ground. They contained older troops, the medically unfit, and men recovering from wounds. Some also had contingents of Osttruppen, conscripts or volunteers from the Soviet Union and other eastern territories occupied by Germany. Many were former Soviet POWs and were generally regarded as having little value. The German Response to D-Day, IWM.org When it came to D-Day, two static divisions received tough Allied attacks, and the 716th Static Division soldiers got the worst of it. The 716th Static Division When the Allies came ashore, nine divisions with months of preparations, naval superiority, and air superiority attacked three divisions, two static and one field infantry division. Only at Omaha Beach did a group of infantry from the 916th Grenadier Regiment seriously threaten to stop the Allied advance. But with two static divisions taking the brunt of the hit, there weren't enough mobile forces to push the Americans back even there. And so the Allied waves came on, overpowering German and other Axis defenders. For the 716th Static Division, that meant they were quickly surrounded and fighting for mere survival. But they did hold on until the afternoon when a sudden, concentrated counterattack by the 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment made it all the way to the beach...and temporarily brought real firepower to defend the 716th. But the German counterattack had worked by exploiting a seam in the Allied assault between Canadian and British forces. If the tanks turned left or right, they would expose their sides to naval gunfire and their rears to one Ally or another. And so the old men, young boys, and conscripts of 716th saw a panzer regiment come to their rescue...and then turn around to head right back. The panzers took heavy losses in their short beach assault. As Dr. Robert Citino says in an article on D-Day: [The panzer] regiment ended this day of drama slinking back to the south and, incidentally, leaving the remnants of 716th Static Division to their unhappy fate. The Reception: The Germans on D-Day The 716th suffered mightily and limped out of Normandy. It was so badly battered that the Germans pulled it from the line on July 10. From 1944 to 1945, it was reconstituted and beaten multiple times before surrendering a final time in May 1945. Being the least trained, least mobile, and worst-supplied unit type on the front is a terrible job to have. FILE - A Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 23, 2023. Online abuse and hate speech targeting politically active women in Afghanistan has significantly increased since the Taliban took over the country in Aug. 2021, according to a report released Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 by a U.K.-based rights group. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File) ISLAMABAD (AP) Online abuse and hate speech targeting politically active women in Afghanistan has significantly increased since the Taliban took over the country in Aug. 2021, according to a report released Monday by a U.K.-based rights group. Afghan Witness, an open-source project run by the non-profit Center for Information Resilience, says it found that abusive posts tripled, a 217% increase, between June-December 2021 and the same period of 2022. Building on expertise gained from similar research in Myanmar, the Afghan Witness team analyzed publicly available information from X, formerly known as Twitter, and conducted in-depth interviews with six Afghan women to investigate the nature of the online abuse since the Taliban takeover. The report said the team of investigators collected and analyzed over 78,000 posts written in Dari and Pashto two local Afghan languages directed at almost 100 accounts of politically active Afghan women. The interviews indicated that the spread of abusive posts online helped make the women targets, the report's authors said. The interviewees reported receiving messages with pornographic material as well as threats of sexual violence and death. I think the hatred they show on social media does not differ from what they feel in real life, one woman told Afghan Witness. Taliban government spokesmen were not immediately available to comment about the report. The report identified four general themes in the abusive posts: accusations of promiscuity; the belief that politically active women violated cultural and religious norms; allegations the women were agents of the West; and accusations of making false claims in order to seek asylum abroad. At the same time, Afghan Witness said it found the online abuse was overwhelmingly sexualized, with over 60% of the posts in 2022 containing terms such as whore or prostitute. Since the Talibans takeover of Afghanistan, social media has turned from being a place for social and political expression to a forum for abuse and suppression, especially of women, the project's lead investigator, Francesca Gentile, said. The Taliban have barred women from most areas of public life and work and stopped girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade as part of harsh measures they imposed after taking power in 2021, as U.S. and NATO forces were pulling out of Afghanistan following two decades of war. The Talibans hostility towards women and their rights sends a message to online abusers that any woman who stands up for herself is fair game, added Gentile. One female journalist, speaking with Afghan Witness on condition of anonymity, said she deactivated some of her social media accounts and no longer reads comments, which affects her work when trying to reach out to online sources. The report said it found the vast majority of those behind the online abuse were men, from a range of political affiliations, ethnic groups, and backgrounds. The new interim CEO of OpenAI suggested earlier this year that artificial intelligence holds a level of potential risk for humankind that should cause you to s**t your pants. Emmett Shear, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitch, was appointed over the weekend to lead OpenAI after its board of directors ousted its longtime CEO Sam Altman in a shock firing on Friday. In a June interview on The Logan Bartlett Show podcast, Shear said he feared that AI technology could evolve until it is smart enough to design artificial intelligence on its own, fully self-improve itself and outsmart humans. That kind of intelligence is just an intrinsically very dangerous thing, he said. Because intelligence is power. Human beings are the dominant form of life on this planet, pretty much entirely because were smarter than the other creatures now. He assessed the probability of doom as somewhere between 5 and 50%. His interviewer, Bartlett, noted that most AI experts seem to place some percentage of risk on the technology. He cited Paul Christiano, an AI researcher and former OpenAI employee who has thrown around a variety of alarming figures about the probability of bad outcomes from AI in the long term. That should cause you to shit your pants, Shear said. In June, Shear shared a clip from the interview on X (formerly Twitter), saying the exchange more or less captures my high level beliefs around AI and how dangerous it is. That clip was resurfaced and shared on Sunday after Shear was announced as OpenAIs interim leader. This interview I did more or less captures my high level beliefs around AI and how dangerous it is. https://t.co/7XVaz4DU8N Emmett Shear (@eshear) June 25, 2023 In a Sunday post on X, Shear said he accepted the role because he believes OpenAI to be one of the most important companies currently in existence and ultimately I felt that I had a duty to help if I could. He shared a three-point plan to be executed over the next 30 days, including hiring an independent investigator to dig into Altmans ouster and the entire process leading up to this point. The findings, he said, would inform whether the company needed further governance changes. The exact reason for Altmans firing was not disclosed by the company, but the board said in its announcement that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board. In an internal memo obtained by The New York Times, board members said Altmans lack of transparency in his interactions with the board undermined the boards ability to effectively supervise the company in the manner it was mandated to do. The news sent shockwaves through the tech industry over the weekend, and punctuates the ongoing debate over the multibillion-dollar AI boom and the potential perils the technology poses for the human race. Related... The Biden administrations unconditional support for Israels response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack threatens U.S. national security interests not only its economic and security interests in the Middle East but also its strategic competition with China and its advocacy for Ukraines independence. On Nov. 9, President Biden told reporters there is no possibility for a cease-fire in Gaza as reports of the catastrophic conditions there flooded headlines. United Nations officials have described the onslaught by Israeli forces on the besieged enclave as a crisis of humanity and a graveyard for children, with more than 11,000 Palestinians killed , tens of thousands injured and more than 1.5 million displaced. Much of Gazas already-crumbling infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed . Read more: Abcarian: Censuring the House's only Palestinian American is a cynical ploy to silence opposition to Israel Every U.S.-made missile dropped on Gazas besieged population along with America's tepid response to the war will damage U.S. standing in the region and around the world for years to come. Many are horrified by the U.S. inability to take a meaningful position in favor of immediately stemming the bloodshed, preventing an expanded regional conflict and protecting the rules-based order. The world is looking to the U.S., Israels closest ally and financial and military benefactor, to take a morally consistent position. Read more: Opinion: I am nine months pregnant and living in Gaza. Will my baby first hear my voice or bombs? As millions continue to take to the streets in protest across Arab and Muslim countries and around the world , American diplomats report the U.S. position is seen as material and moral culpability in what they consider to be possible war crimes. They warn that the U.S. is losing us Arab publics for a generation, a sentiment visible to anyone reading the Arab street, either through social media or on the ground. Images of empty McDonalds and Starbucks locations abound from Tunisia to Kuwait as a grassroots rejection of American brands and disillusionment with American policy toward the conflict. Read more: Opinion: Gaza's techies were dreamers and builders. After Israel's bombs, their stories shatter my heart Meanwhile, China, which has advocated for a cease-fire, is not missing an opportunity to portray itself as a supporter of Palestinians. The superpower accused of genocide and crimes against humanity for its oppression of the minority Uyghur population is positioning itself as a champion of Palestinians, which resonates with Arab audiences against a backdrop of feeble American attempts to alleviate the suffering there. In his critique of Israel's bombardment of Gaza, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said : The injustice to Palestine has dragged on for over half a century. The sufferings that plagued generations must not continue. While the U.S. focuses on competition with China, it is fast losing ground because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Read more: Gaza diary: What life is like under daily airstrikes, blackouts and scarcity Last year, Biden outlined the defining principles of his policy toward the Middle East, advocating for a rules-based order: The United States and each of the countries around this table are an essential part of that order because we reject the use of brute force to change borders. One would be hard-pressed to find an Arab who doesnt believe that Israel has been using brute force to change the status quo in the occupied Palestinian territories and using the latest escalation to further entrench its occupation of Gaza. Biden went on to affirm that the U.S. will not tolerate efforts by any country to dominate another in the region through military buildups, incursions and/or threats. While Biden was pointing fingers at Iran, the Arab world feels overwhelmingly more threatened by Israel than it does by the Islamic Republic. In fact, the U.S. did little as the current right-wing government was elected in Israel, emboldening extremist settler attacks on Palestinians and regularly inciting violence against them. Moreover, the Biden administration has not hesitated to prioritize the so-called Abraham Accords as an effort for regional integration, while failing to address the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Brokered by the Trump administration , the agreement normalized diplomatic ties between Israel and Arab nations , including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. Regional economic integration, with all the benefits it can bring, cannot be a substitute for addressing festering regional conflicts such as the Israeli-Palestinian one. In September 2022, Biden declared , The United States will always promote human rights and the values enshrined in the U.N. Charter. Based on assessments by almost every major human rights organization and international body, Israel has been consistently violating the human rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories and its own Arab citizens. Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, both parties have engaged in acts that will be investigated as war crimes, yet only one is an American ally being funded and supported politically, financially and militarily by the U.S. Across the Arab world and Global South, American statements about respect for human rights and the laws of war in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war are being juxtaposed against staunchly pro-Israeli positions when it comes to the war on Gaza. The war has forced even close allies of the U.S. to call out American double standards. In a speech in Cairo in late October, King Abdullah II of Jordan described how Arabs are reading the Western response: Our lives matter less than other lives. The application of international law is optional, and human rights have boundaries they stop at borders, they stop at races and they stop at religions. Bidens words and inaction will ring in Arab ears for decades to come as American complicity in the carnage in Gaza will define the regions relationship with the United States for the foreseeable future. Tuqa Nusairat is the director for strategy, operations and finance at the Atlantic Councils Middle East Programs in Washington. 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. California has committed to substantially reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2045 . The pledge is key to Gov. Gavin Newsoms claims of climate leadership, which featured prominently in his recent visits to China and the United Nations. But the California Air Resources Board recently released a preliminary greenhouse gas inventory suggesting the states emissions increased slightly last year compared with the previous year. This is of course bad news, since addressing climate change requires deep and swift emissions reductions . What Im even more concerned about, however, is that the states greenhouse gas inventory undercounts emissions in the first place. Although the issue seldom gets attention, Californias inventory excludes emissions from a variety of sources, including wildfires and industrial sectors such as shipping, aviation and biofuels . Read more: Opinion: Here are the places that could become too hot for humans due to climate change Imagine a smoker who promises to quit but continues to make broad exceptions for smoking at work and social events. Regardless of what the smoker tells the doctor, their lungs will reflect the truth. Californias greenhouse gas inventory is likewise not just going in the wrong direction but also ignoring a lot of harmful sources of emissions. Indeed, the state even measures and lists some of these emissions in its reports. But theyre not counted toward its overall greenhouse gas footprint, which it uses to attest to its efforts to combat climate change. These omitted emissions have serious consequences: Relying on CARBs estimates alone, the states reported greenhouse gas footprint would be about 20% greater if it included its omitted emissions. And that doesnt include the emissions the agency doesnt even list in its inventory, such as those from wildfires, which are largely human-caused, measurable and manageable . Read more: Opinion: How climate research is polluted by fossil fuel money and how to fix it The omissions also have repercussions for California communities. Many of the industries whose greenhouse gas emissions are excluded from the official inventory including shipping, aviation, refineries and biofuels produce additional pollutants that affect nearby communities. People living near these facilities are harmed by that pollution regardless of whether officials choose to count those facilities emissions. Particularly in communities with historical and continuing environmental injustices, these omissions compound the problem. The city of Stockton, for example, agreed to produce a greenhouse gas inventory as part of a settlement of a lawsuit alleging that its general plan did not adequately consider environmental impacts. Yet its greenhouse gas inventory excludes emissions from the very industries that contribute to local air pollution and environmental injustices. In fact, the emissions excluded by the city are four times greater than those it reported. These emissions omissions are not unique to California. Indeed, national governments exclude international shipping and aviation emissions from reports to the United Nations required by the Paris agreement, relying partly on outdated and politicized methodologies. While the Paris agreement allows for such omissions, it doesn't prevent countries from improving their accounting methods. Whats more, subnational governments such as Californias are not parties to the agreement and therefore not bound to its methodologies. In fact, unlike its national counterparts, California once counted transportation emissions from biofuels such as ethanol but reclassified them in 2016 . Nor is this issue confined to governments: Corporate emitters are also part of the problem. One study found that technology companies greenhouse gas declarations undercounted their emissions, sometimes by orders of magnitude. And corporate net zero pledges often arbitrarily count emissions in ways that dont amount to actual reductions. Whats the solution? Only a full account of greenhouse gas emissions can allow us to appropriately attribute responsibility to each emitter and determine its progress in reducing its contributions to climate change. We need greenhouse gas accounting systems that are rigorous, complete and interoperable . This is a daunting task but not a hopeless one. Senate Bill 253 , which Newsom recently signed into law, requires large corporations operating in California to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and include emissions throughout their supply chains. Thats critical: Disclosing emissions across supply chains will help hold emitters responsible for their complete greenhouse gas footprints. While SB 253 is a very good first step, the Air Resources Board should apply the same standard to the states greenhouse gas inventory. Measuring Californias complete footprint requires including upstream and downstream refinery emissions as well as those from aviation, shipping, biofuels and wildfires. Getting greenhouse gas accounting right is ultimately crucial to dealing with climate change. Until governments and corporations completely and accurately account for their contributions to the problem, their promised solutions will fall short. Leehi Yona is a JD-PhD candidate and Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University whose research has focused on greenhouse gas emissions accounting. 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. HANOI, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade is focusing on improving provinces and cities' capabilities in helping local businesses take advantage of free trade agreements (FTAs) by the end of 2023, Vietnam News Agency reported Monday. The index will provide more information for investors to make future investment decisions, and for the National Assembly to monitor FTA implementation and provide instructions, according to the report. Ngo Chung Khanh, deputy director head of the ministry's Multilateral Trade Policy Department, said like the Provincial Competitiveness Index, the FTA Index would get provinces to care more about how to best use various FTAs. Nguyen Anh Duong, director of the Department for General Economic Issues and Integration Studies at the Central Institute for Economic Management, said once the FTA Index was published periodically, it would drive provinces to do better with their FTA activities, which would benefit businesses and the national economy. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam is among the 20 countries in the world with the largest international trade in goods, with an annual growth rate of 12.5 percent in recent three years. The country recorded a trade surplus of 24.61 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 months of this year, according to the General Statistics Office. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Plc (CCEP) on Monday announced their agreement to jointly acquire the sole bottler and distributor of Coca-Cola products in the country. CCEP will hold a 60% stake, while AEV will get 40% interest of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI) once the deal is complete. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024. CCBPI was valued at $1.8 billion on a debt-free, cash-free basis, Aboitiz said in its announcement. The holding company said the acquisition would build on AEV's portfolio diversification strategy to enter the branded consumer goods space. "AEV is well positioned to support CCBPI's growth ambition due to the synergies which could be generated from AEV's other business interests in the country," it said. It added: "The proposed acquisition would also build on CCEP's successful expansion into Australia, Pacific & Indonesia (API) in 2021." AEV and CCEP's acquisition from The Coca-Cola Company is currently subject to customary closing conditions and has yet to receive clearance from the Philippine Competition Commission. The Department of Defense (DOD) has revealed the results of its most recent financial audit. For the sixth year in a row, it failed. According to Michael McCord, the Pentagon's comptroller, the department holds $3.8 trillion in assets and $4 trillion in liabilities. In annual audits, the DOD Office of the Inspector General and independent accounting firms jointly scrutinize the department's finances, subdividing the DOD into 29 "components." All components are examined individually to verify that records are complete and accurate. This year, the process involved 700 site visits by 1,600 auditors. Of those 29 components, only seven passed inspection with a "clean" audit. Three component inspections have not been completed; another, the Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund, received a "qualified opinion," meaning "auditors concluded there were misstatements or potentially undetected misstatements that were material but not pervasive to the financial statements." The remaining 18 components failed. These included the National Security Agency and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. This was nearly identical to last year's results, in which seven components passed the audit, the Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund received a qualified opinion, and all remaining components failed. Nonetheless, the department is trying to spin this result as a positive, stating in a press release that it constituted "incremental progress" toward "the goal of a clean audit." This was very similar to the language it used last year, when it said the results showed "progress toward a 'clean audit,' but not as much as officials hoped." McCord told reporters last week that there was "progress sort of beneath the surface of a pass-fail." Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said, "each time we go through this audit process, even if it is our sixth time, we keep going through the process. We keep getting better and better at it." The optimism may be refreshing, but it's little comfort that an agency with trillions of dollars in assets and whose annual budget stretches past $800 billion can muster a passing grade on only a quarter of its programs' finances. It was only in December 2017 that the DOD first announced that it would audit its own finances, a task which then-spokesperson Dana White said "demonstrates our commitment to fiscal responsibility and maximizing the value of every taxpayer dollar that is entrusted to us." That audit was preceded by more than two decades of stonewalling. The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990I repeat: 1990required federal agencies to prepare financial reports annually. For years, the DOD simply did not. Congress put a provision in the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act requiring the DOD to be prepared for an auditin seven years. As Sen. Chuck Grassley (RIowa) put it, "The Pentagon was given an extra seven years to clean up the books and get ready." When the DOD did finally complete its first audit, it failed, with only five out of 21 components passing inspection. Of those results, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan shrugged, "We never thought we were going to pass an audit, right? Everyone was betting against us, that we wouldn't even do the audit." Slightly more circumspect, acting Inspector General Glenn Fine said "the most important thing" was not that the department failed, "but that the department takes the audit seriously and seeks to fix the identified deficiencies, which the department is doing." A year later, the department failed again. While the Pentagon had fixed about 500 out of more than 2,400 issues identified the previous year, auditors identified 1,300 additional problems that needed to be addressed. The DOD has failed each audit since. Reporting on one of those failures in 2021, CNBC blamed "old systems for tracking funds, a slow bureaucracy, and the sheer size of the U.S. Defense apparatus." Maybe so. But only in government could an institution that wields so much power, influence, and moneyin March, McCord called a $1 trillion annual Pentagon budget "inevitable"do such a poor job of keeping track of its own assets for so long without major restructuring. The post Pentagon Fails Sixth Audit in a Row appeared first on Reason.com. US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Nov. 20, writing on X (formerly Twitter) when he arrived that hed come to Ukraine to pledge continued support for the country as it fights off Russian aggression. Im here today to deliver an important message the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russias aggression, both now and into the future, wrote Austin on X. Read also: Umerov in phone call with US SecDef Austin He shared a photo from Kyivs central railway station, where he was seen being welcomed by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink. The U.S. Department of Defense said that Austin will engage in high-level talks with Ukrainian leaders, focusing on strengthening the strategic partnership between Washington and Kyiv. Discussions will prioritize providing the Ukrainian Armed Forces with necessary winter and future defense capabilities. Read also: Austin tells Zelenskyy US remains focused on supporting Ukraine and will dig deep to meet most urgent needs The Pentagon, meanwhile, noted there is an upcoming online Ramstein-format meeting on Nov. 22 involving approximately 50 countries to address regional security challenges. 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 Lloyd Austin, the United States Secretary of Defence, will discuss the provision of the Ukrainian army for the winter period and the future of Russian threats during his visit to Kyiv on 20 November. Source: US Department of Defence on 20 November, as reported by European Pravda Details: The department noted that during Austin's visit, he will engage in high-level talks with the Ukrainian leadership. He will emphasise the United States' ongoing commitment to provide Ukraine with the security assistance necessary to defend against Russian aggression and will also discuss the long-term vision for the future of Ukraine's military forces. Quote: "The discussions will focus on further bolstering the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, to include ensuring Ukraine's armed forces have the battlefield capabilities they need for both the winter and to defend their country against future Russian threats," the message reads. The Pentagon added that later this week, Secretary Austin will also host the 17th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group virtually from the Pentagon. Background: Lloyd Austin, the United States Secretary of Defence, arrived in Kyiv on 20 November with an unannounced visit. Support UP or become our patron! Flags of the US and Ukraine U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, during a visit to Kyiv on Nov. 20, announced a $100 million military aid package for Ukraine. The Pentagon subsequently described the contents of the package as follows: Read also: Pentagon head Austin arrives in Kyiv, pledges robust US support - Stinger anti-aircraft missiles; - HIMARS rocket artillery system and associated ammunition; - 155mm and 105mm artillery shells; - TOW missiles; - Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems; - over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition; - demolition munitions for obstacle clearing; - winter gear; - spare parts, maintenance, and other services. In his evening address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the new U.S. aid package includes crucial artillery ammunition for Ukraine but did not provide further details. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit on Nov. 20. He met with the Ukrainian president and confirmed that Washington, along with its allies, will continue to support Ukraine's immediate battlefield needs as well as its long-term defense requirements. Read also: Zelenskyy meets with US House of Representatives delegation in Kyiv Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense stated that assistance to Ukraine would come in small packages until Congress approves additional funding. The U.S. House of Representatives is yet to vote on a joint $101 billion Israel-Ukraine support package requested by the White House. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine In the coming days, many people will gather at The Carter Presidential Library to pay their respects to the Carter family after the death of former first lady Rosalynn Carter. Channel 2s Candace McCowan was live at the Carter Library Sunday night on WSB Tonight at 11 p.m. where people started to show up. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] On Friday, Carters family announced that she had entered hospice care at her home. The Carter Center announced on Sunday that Rosalyn passed away at 2:10 p.m. at her home in Plains, Georgia. She died peacefully, with family by her side. As the news spread to those who live near the Carter Presidential Library and the Carter Center, many felt sadness coupled with warm memories. I think its a very sad day in Georgia, said Shawn McDaniel. Many people recalled personal moments with the former first lady. My husband rolled the windows down and said Hi Jimmy, hi Roselynn and they waved to us and were just really friendly. My husband said we are so glad to see you and they said thank you, said McDaniel. Years ago she would be followed by the Secret Service but took time to talk to us, said Brian Donahue. The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers said Mrs. Carter reminded people to do what you can to show you care about other people, and you will make our world a better place. And that was her hope. Over the years she focused on mental health. How far ahead of time was Rosalynn, to mental health, said Dr. Jayne Morgan, Piedmont executive director. RELATED STORIES: She also lifted up the voices of family caregivers. For the many touched by her life, they hope we can all hold on to Mrs. Carters legacy. The dignity the warmth and the compassion that they had for so many people that you dont see quite often in the political arena, take that and run with it, said Donahue. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Moms for Liberty, a Moms for Liberty, a "parental rights" group, has led efforts to ban books to stop discussions about race and gender in schools. A pastor and leader in Philadelphias Moms for Liberty chapter has been exposed as a registered sex offender. Phillip Fisher Jr., a pastor and faith-based outreach leader for the groups local chapter, was convicted in 2012 for aggravated sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy, according to the The Philadelphia Inquirer. Fisher was 25 and living in Chicago at the time. Moms for Liberty is an alt-right group that claims it fights for parental rights, but its been labeled an extremist group because of its efforts to ban books and stop discussions about race and gender in schools. Despite a push by the group to get its candidates in school boards across the nation earlier this month, its efforts were largely unsuccessful. Members of the group have also called people advocating for LGBTQ+ rights pedophiles. Fisher was responsible for connecting the Philadelphia chapter of Moms for Liberty with faith leaders in the area to expand the group, according to reports. Sheila Armstrong, a chair of the Philadelphia Moms for Liberty chapter, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that she was surprised about Fishers conviction. She said he had been has been active in events with the chapter and volunteered at the Moms for Liberty summit in June in Philadelphia. He also campaigned for Dr. Mehmet Ozs unsuccessful Senate run and organized a town hall meeting for Republican David Ohs campaign for Philadelphia mayor. Fisher told the Inquirer that the sex offender conviction was thanks to a railroad job made up by a political action committee for conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouche. Fisher said the conviction is one blip on his background. I never went out of my way to hide anything, he told the outlet. Im in the database. Its an easy search. A representative for the Philadelphia chapter of Moms for Liberty did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Related... A prominent figure of the Philadelphia chapter of Moms for Liberty is a registered sex offender, according to a new report from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Phillip Fisher Jr. is a pastor at the Center for Universal Divinity and a Republican ward leader responsible for coordinating faith-based outreach for the group, which is a well-endowed organization that aims to align American education with a number of the GOP's far-right ideals. While living in Chicago at age 25, Fisher was convicted in 2012 of aggravated sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy, a conviction Fisher has claimed to be the result of a "railroad job" created by the political action committee for Lyndon LaRouche, a serial fringe presidential candidate and known conspiracist. Fisher, who once worked for LaRouche's committee, referred to it as a "cult," saying he was set up by the organization as he was trying to distance himself from it. Per a file updated in July, Fisher is listed on Pennsylvanias Megans Law website for registered sex offenders, which is maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police. Vince Fenerty, chair of Philadelphia's GOP City Committee, called for Fisher's resignation as the leader of the 42nd Ward which includes Olney, Feltonville, and Juniata Park on Friday. Sheila Armstrong, another Republican ward leader who chairs the local Moms for Liberty chapter, expressed surprise at the news, saying she had recently received a "child abuse history certification" from the State Department of Human Services in Fisher's name so that he could partake in upcoming holiday volunteering. The certificate indicated that no records exist in the states database, and named Fisher as a perpetrator of an indicated or founded report of child abuse. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) A Filipino pageant expert on Monday said Miss Universe El Salvador, which hosted the 72nd edition of the beauty pageant, should explain its now deleted post of a graphic showing Philippine bet Michelle Dee in the Top 5 list. The organization is currently in hot water after Miss Universe El Salvador on Sunday morning (Philippine time) posted on its Instagram account the list of Top 5 candidates which included Dee. The post was immediately taken down and replaced by a graphic showing Thailands Anntonia Porsild, who won first runner-up, in the Top 5. I would really love for them to really come out with an official statement, an apology, or some sort of an explanation to address this issue because it is really confusing everyone Ano to (What is this)? Steve Harvey moment again back in 2015? pageant expert Adam Genato told CNN Philippines The Source. He was referring to the controversial crowning moment in 2015 when Harvey mistakenly announced Colombias Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner instead of then-Philippine bet Pia Wurtzbach. Genato is in El Salvador to follow the events that transpired from the beginning until the crowning of the new Miss Universe. Probably during the finals night their goal was to give real-time updates about how the pageant was unfolding, but unfortunately they probably made an honest mistake. To be fair with them, they took it down minutes after but it was kind of too late because it already went viral, he pointed out. To hopefully clear up the graphics mix-up, Genato said he personally reached out to the press team of the Miss Universe organization after the coronation, but he has yet to receive a response. For the meantime, I would assume that it was an honest mistake on their part, he said. The Miss Universe organization has yet to issue a statement regarding the issue. Nicaraguas Sheynnis Palacios was crowned Miss Universe 2023, making history as the first representative from her country to win the title. MANILA (Reuters) - The conflict in military-ruled Myanmar has been a difficult issue for the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN to address, with little progress made towards a resolution and intensifying fighting, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos said. Speaking at a forum in Hawaii streamed live in the Philippines on Monday, Marcos said there was commitment from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), but the issue was complex, including the humanitarian impact. The United Nations says more than a million people have been displaced since Myanmar's military staged a coup in 2021, upending a decade of tentative democracy and plunging the country into conflict and economic ruin. "There is a great deal of impetus for ASEAN to solve this problem. But it is a very, very difficult problem," Marcos said. The junta's post-coup crackdown on opponents gave rise to a resistance movement that has been growing in strength. ASEAN has barred the top generals from attending its meeting until they commit to the bloc's two-year-old peace roadmap. The Philippines will chair ASEAN in 2026 after it replaced Myanmar as host that year. Tens of thousands more people have been displaced since last month as the military battles a coordinated offensive by an alliance of three ethnic-minority groups and pro-democracy fighters. Marcos, citing analyses of the recent escalation, said the junta had already lost support from its own military. He said the humanitarian cost of conflict had "grown exponentially" in recent years, with the Philippines also impacted with its citizens among victims of human trafficking there. (Reporting by Mikhail Flores, Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Martin Petty) A faith-based outreach leader for Philadelphias Moms for Liberty (M4L) chapter is a registered sex offender who has a felony conviction for sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Phillip Fisher Jr. pleaded guilty to the crime in 2012, when he was 25 and living in Chicago. Fisher, a Republican ward leader, is also pastor of the Center of Universal Divinity in Olney; in 2020, children worked with his congregation to paint a Donald Trump campaign mural at the church. Sheila Armstrong, the Philly M4L chapter chair, said Fisher volunteered at the national groups 2023 summit in the city and that hed planned to volunteer at her autism nonprofits Christmas party. Fisher told the Inquirer that the charges against him were concocted by the late conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouches PAC, for which he once worked. Read it at The Philadelphia Inquirer Read more at The Daily Beast. Note: This story was originally published Oct. 8, 2014. It was sensational then. And it is still sensational: the Phoenix trunk murders. People still take tours of sites related to the grisly murders. Writings on the killings have proliferated. The case had it all: sex, violence, infidelity, jealousy. Winnie Ruth Judd, a young medical secretary, was convicted of killing her two roommates, chopping up limbs and stuffing them into steamer trunks. The three were said to have been fighting over a man. Some historians believe Judd couldn't have committed the murders on her own, and some argue she was innocent. The public was riveted. Winnie Ruth Judd, known as the "Trunk Murderess," was convicted of killing her roommates in 1931. "These were the times of Pretty Boy Floyd and the Dillinger gang and Baby Face Nelson and Al Capone," said Marshall Trimble, the official state historian. "In a way, it was kind of a diversion for people. They enjoyed these things like going to the movies. You could forget about your own troubles." The case continues to mystify. A recent letter that surfaced at the Arizona Historical Society, posted online to the Arizona Memory Project, documents her confession to her attorney, according to the site. She wrote from a Florence prison and told her attorney that her friend, Anne, had driven her crazy by taunting her about her fling with the man she also dated. The letter contends that she spent an entire night waiting with a gun and a knife to kill the friend, and Judd wound up killing both roommates. She then spent two hours putting Anne's body in a trunk, left for work and returned to do the same with the second victim, Sammy. But she was too heavy, so she used knives from the kitchen to cut her up and stuff the remains in the trunk, according to the letter. Metro Phoenix has made national headlines for a slew of gory tales. Here is a look at some of the Valley's most notorious historical murders. Death sentence upheld: Death of Arizona girl locked in box Murdered: James Gibson When: 1917 Where: East Valley along the Apache Trail The story: A man named Starr Daley approached Gibson and his wife, Florence, during a pit stop on their travels. He shot Gibson in the back, raped Florence and forced her to drive him into Mesa the next day. He admitted the crime to law enforcement. Residents rushed the police car that was taking Daley to jail, dragged him out and hanged him. The killing is significant because it prompted the state to reinstate the death penalty, which had been outlawed years earlier. Murdered: Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig 'Sammy' Samuelson When: 1931 Where: Central Phoenix The story: One of Arizona's most famous murder investigations opened when officials found trunks in Los Angeles stuffed with hacked-up body parts. They belonged to Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig Samuelson, and their roommate, Winnie Ruth Judd, was the prime suspect. She was convicted of killing them in their home amid a fight over a man, and stuffing their remains into steamer trunks that she shipped with her on a train to California. She was sentenced to death, but was later committed to the Arizona State Asylum in 1933. She escaped seven times over several decades and was paroled in 1971. She died in 1998. Arizona has many unsolved cold cases: Here are 8 Murdered: Joyce Sterrenberg and Tim McKillop When: 1962 Where: A dirt trail off Scottsdale Road The story: William Macumber spent half his life in prison for a double murder he insisted he never committed, only to be freed after 37 years when evidence that led to his conviction came into question. The final details of the murders remain a mystery to many. Police found the couple dead in the desert off Scottsdale Road on a May morning in 1962. Their bodies lay a few feet from their car. They had bullet wounds in their heads. The couple had just announced plans to get married. They were 20 years old. The night of the murders, they celebrated a family birthday, drove to some model homes near Dreamy Draw, bought a milkshake and drove down a dirt track east of Scottsdale Road. Police arrested Macumber years after the couple's murder, following testimony from his wife that he told her he killed them. Murdered: Four women and a 3-year-old girl When: 1966 Where: Rose-Mar College in Mesa The story: On a Saturday morning, 18-year-old Robert Benjamin Smith walked into the beauty school and forced women and a child to lie in a circle on the salon floor. He shot them one by one. The Mesa High School senior said he did it to make a name for himself. He was sentenced to life in prison. The case gained national attention, particularly when a 1967 issue of "Good Housekeeping" cited Smith and other mass murderers as evidence for the need for tougher gun laws. Murdered: Ernesto Miranda When: 1976 Where: La Amapola Bar, a former dive at Second and Jackson streets. The joint was known as "Deuce" and advertised itself by a small neon sign that read: "Dancing." The story: Miranda, whose case led to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on Miranda rights, was stabbed to death over a $2 poker bet at the bar, according to Associated Press articles at the time. His killer was never convicted. Miranda's 1963 conviction for kidnapping and raping a woman was thrown out because the officer did not read him his rights before he confessed. The Supreme Court case that followed established the law requiring those rights to be read. 'Canal killings' Part 1: Brutal slayings end the lives of 2 young Phoenix women Murdered: Don Bolles When: 1976 Where: Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix The story: The Arizona Republic investigative reporter went to the hotel to meet a source who promised information on some state politicians' connection to the mob. He waited in the lobby, but the source never showed. When he returned to his car and keyed the ignition, a bomb blew up his vehicle. He died in the hospital after 11 days. That triggered a flood of journalists from the Investigative Reporters and Editors association to surge into Arizona to investigate the facts leading to Bolles' death. Phoenix contractor Max Dunlap was convicted of ordering men to kill Bolles. He died in prison in 2009. Murdered: Bob Crane When: 1978 Where: Winfield Place Apartments in Scottsdale The story: Crane, former star of "Hogan's Heroes," a TV comedy set during World War II, was in the Valley to perform in a play. Someone beat him to death in his apartment, possibly with a camera tripod, and wound an electrical cord around his throat. Police suspected that a friend, John Carpenter, had killed him, but they didn't have the DNA evidence. Crane's death gained national attention not only because of his role as an actor, but because police found that he had filmed and photographed pornography. Murdered: Russell Dempsey and Cecil Newkirk When: May 24, 1977 Where: Interstate 17 north of Phoenix The story: Two Purolator guards, Russell Dempsey and Cecil Newkirk, left Phoenix in an armored van. At the Bumblebee Road exit on Interstate 17, they were stopped by the Polands, who were disguised as highway patrolmen. Michael and Patrick Poland took the guards captive and removed close to $300,000 in cash. On May 25, 1977, the Polands put the guards into canvas bags, took them across Lake Mead, and dumped them into the water. The bodies surfaced three weeks later. The Polands were later convicted and executed. Murdered: Roberta Moormann When: Jan. 13, 1984 Where: Blue Mist Hotel The story: Robert Moormann, 35, was serving time at the Arizona State Prison in Florence for a kidnapping conviction in Coconino County. In January 1984, Moormann was given a 72-hour furlough from the prison to visit his adoptive mother, Roberta Moormann. Moormann met Roberta at the Blue Mist Hotel in Florence on Jan. 13, 1984, and ended up smothering her in her hotel room. Moormann then dismembered her body and wrapped her remains in plastic garbage bags to dispose of them. Moormann disposed of the bags at several store's dumpsters, including a local restaurant where he asked if he could dispose of animal remains in their dumpster on the morning of Jan. 14, 1984. In 1984 Robert Moorman was granted a compassionate furlough from the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence to visit with his adoptive mother. It was during that time at the Blue Mist Motel, shown here in 2012, that Moormann killed his adoptive mother and chopped up her body into pieces. Moormann was serving a sentence for kidnapping. Restaurant owner George Johnson recognized Moormann from when he worked as a guard at the Arizona State Prison. Suspicious of Moormann's request, Johnson called the police, who later arrested Moormann in the same motel room where he'd murdered his mother. Police soon found Roberta's head and other remains wrapped in plastic bags in garbage cans beside the hotel. Other wrapped remains were discovered in trash cans at a cafe next to the hotel and at a drive-in restaurant a few blocks away. Moormann was found guilty of first-degree murder on April 4, 1985, and given the death penalty on May 7, 1985. Judge Richard Yoylston of Pima County Superior Court said the crime was "heinous and cruel." Murdered: Christy Ann Fornoff When: May 9, 1984 Where: Tempe The story: Fornoff disappeared on the evening of May 9, 1984, while collecting money on her newspaper-delivery route at a Tempe apartment complex. Within hours, police were combing the complex with canine units as Fornoff's parents and neighbors knocked on doors. Two days later, Don Beaty, the complex's maintenance man, was seen standing over Fornoff's body, which had been wrapped in a sheet and laid next to a garbage bin. Beaty was arrested May 22, 1984, and charged with murder and sexual assault. He was executed on May 25, 2011, by lethal injection. Murdered: Larry Pritchard When: Feb. 23, 1987 Where: Apache Lake The story: Larry Pritchard was camping near Apache Lake in 1987, and he was invited to have dinner and drinks with another camper, Robert Comer and his girlfriend. Comer shot and killed Pritchard. He and his girlfriend then went to another campsite where they hogtied a camper to a car fender and raped another camper. Comer was executed on May 22, 2007. Murdered: Temple employees, monks, a nun and her nephew When: Aug. 10, 1991 Where: Wat Promkunaram Buddhist Temple in Waddell The story: Nine people were found shot in the back of the head at the Buddhist temple near Luke Air Force Base. Johnathan Doody and Allessandro "Alex" Garcia were arrested in connection with the murders. Garcia would plead guilty to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to 271 years in prison. Doody was convicted of murder and sentenced to 281 years in prison. Because of the forced confession, Doody's conviction was overturned in 2008 and again in 2011 by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He went back on trial in August 2013, but that resulted in a mistrial. In a subsequent trial, Doody was found guilty of nine counts of first-degree murder, nine counts of armed robbery and one count each of burglary and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. He was sent back to prison. Murdered: Melanie Bernas and Angela Brosso When: 1990s Where: Phoenix canals The story: Two young women, Melanie Bernas and Angela Brosso, were last seen along canals in Phoenix before they went missing. Days later their bodies were found dumped in the canals, mutilated and barely identifiable. Bernas was a junior at Arcadia High School. She had gone for a bike ride near her home. Brosso, 22, had also gone for a bike ride and hadn't returned to her apartment. The case had been a mystery for years. Police arrested Bryan Patrick Miller in January 2015 and he was convicted in 2023. Murdered: Yarmila Falater When: 1997 Where: Phoenix The story: Scott Falater, a quiet churchgoing electrical engineer, stabbed his wife 44 times, then held her head underwater in their backyard pool. He never denied this. But he said he was sleepwalking at the time and couldn't be held responsible for Yarmila's death. At trial, he said he was devastated about her death. "Personally, it's something that's going to haunt me forever," Falater testified. He told jurors that Yarmila was his high school sweetheart, that the two vowed to be together through eternity. "There was no way I could do that, not intentionally," Falater said, sometimes breaking down in tears. "I loved her. I don't know what I would do without her." But the prosecutor painted a different picture, of a marriage troubled by Scott's desire for more children and Yarmila's disaffection to the family's Mormon faith. Prosecutor Juan Martinez also noted that Yarmila was found without her wedding ring on and that Falater was aware enough to recognize and calm his dog. The jury agreed and found the 43-year-old guilty of killing his wife. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Murdered: Ira Pomerantz When: January 2000 Where: Phoenix The story: The torso of 60-year-old Ira Pomerantz was found in a garbage bin in January 2000 shortly after Pomerantz was fatally shot. His wife, Valerie Pape, originally was charged with first-degree murder, but she pleaded guilty in 2002 to second-degree murder under a plea agreement with prosecutors. Police found a receipt in her purse showing she'd purchased a saw at a hardware store weeks before the killing. After her arrest in January 2000, news reports detailed Pape's strained marriage, big debts, and her relationship with another man. Pape will be deported to her native France now that she has completed her 16-year prison sentence for killing her husband. Senior living center resident: Killed roommate has had nearly 150 citations since Murdered: Tammy Lovell, Jacob Lovell, Cassandra Lovell, Steven Duffy and Shane Duffy When: Feb. 21, 2006 Where: Mesa The story: On Feb. 21, 2006, William Craig Miller killed five people in an attempt to cover up his involvement in an arson-for-hire case. Steven Duffy and his girlfriend, Tammy Lovell, were set to testify against Miller and had helped Scottsdale police in the arson investigation. Duffy had helped Miller burn his home in Scottsdale. Miller shot Duffy and Lovell execution-style before killing Lovell's children, Jacob and Cassandra, and Duffy's younger brother, Shane. Miller was convicted in 2011 and sentenced to death. Murdered: Travis Alexander When: June 2008 Where: Alexander's Mesa home The story: Travis Alexander, 30, was found dead in the bathroom of his Mesa home in June 2008. He had been shot in the head, stabbed nearly 30 times, and his throat was cut from ear to ear. His body sat there for five days before it was discovered by friends. The friends told police that Alexander had a stalker named Jodi Arias. Then police found Alexander's camera in the washing machine of the townhouse and were able to recover photographs: Alexander and Arias in various sexual poses. Arias was arrested a month later at her grandparents' home in northern California and charged with first-degree murder. Her trial, which began in January 2013, was televised and quickly became a social media spectacle. Arias was convicted of the murder and later sentenced to life in prison. Murdered: Mary, Brittney and Bobby Fisher When: April 10, 2001 Where: The Fisher family home in Scottsdale The story: Robert William Fisher's wife, Mary, 38, and their two children Brittney, 13, and Bobby, 10, were murdered inside their Scottsdale home on April 10, 2001. Police suspect Fisher then blew up their Scottsdale home in an attempt to cover up the murders. Ten days later, Marys vehicle was located in the mountains near Payson. Inside the vehicle the family dog Blue was found along with an Oakland Raiders hat. Robert Fisher was recorded wearing the hat by security cameras in his last confirmed sighting. Missing geologist case: Private investigator releases new findings Murdered: Lisa Mederos, Amber Mederos, Lilly Mederos and Jim Hiott When: May 2, 2012 Where: Lisa Mederos' Gilbert home The story: On a May afternoon in 2012, a shooting rampage at a home in a sedate Gilbert neighborhood left four adults and a toddler dead. Avowed White supremacist J.T. Ready had killed his girlfriend and members of her family before taking his own life. Police reports would later indicate that Ready and Lisa had been arguing the night of May 1, then again the next day about noon. Ready accused Lisa of breaking something he owned. Amber was planning to pick up her sister, Brittany, for lunch at Joe's BBQ in downtown Gilbert. Amber arrived with her daughter Lilly and fiance Jim. Then the gunshots started. Police believe Ready shot either Amber and Lilly first near the front door. Lisa called police. Investigators concluded she was still on the phone when she edged around a corner and came into Ready's view. He shot her, too. Jim was talking on his phone outside the house. Police believe he may have walked toward the front door after hearing the gunshots, but turned to run when he saw Ready emerge, armed. Ready fired three times. The third bullet hit Jim in the back of the head. Ready then raised the handgun to his own head, just above his right ear, and fired. The whole shooting took perhaps less than a minute. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Shocking murders in the Phoenix area that have become historic A man was hospitalized on Monday after being shot by police in central Phoenix, police said Monday. The incident took place near Thomas Road, between Interstate 17 and 27th Avenue. Officers were dispatched to the northeast corner of the intersection near a La Quinta Inn hotel between the highway and Thomas Road at about 3 a.m., where they approached a man, police said. During this encounter described by Phoenix Police Sgt. Robert Scherer as a "subject stop," the man did not listen to commands and a struggle ensued when police attempted to detain him. Scherer said that during this struggle one of the officers noticed the man had a handgun tucked into his waistband. Police said the man became more aggressive as the struggle progressed and that he eventually broke free from an officer's restraint. The man ran westbound on Thomas Road towards the I-17 freeway and fired multiple gunshots believed to be in the direction of police, according to Scherer. The man continued westbound past the I-17, where he headed into a neighborhood north of Thomas Road. Police used a helicopter to track the man into an alleyway south of Earll and 25th Drives, where multiple officers reached him. The man continued to not comply with police orders, according to Scherer. Police saw the man reach for his waistband when officers fired multiple times at him, striking the man at least once, according to Scherer. The man had injuries that were not life-threatening, and he was being treated at a hospital, police said. He was expected to be booked into jail under multiple charges, including aggravated assault, following his recovery. No officers were injured during the incident, police said. The area near the shooting was expected to remain closed as police investigated, but the I-17 on and off ramps at Thomas Road have been reopened. "It's going to be a long time," Sgt. Rob Scherer said during Monday's news briefing. "We ask for the patience of those in the neighborhood, we're going to lock down this area for a good amount of time." Phoenix detectives started an investigation related to the shooting. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix police shoot, injure man near hotel at I-17 and Thomas Road It's almost time for our biggest edition of the year. The Thanksgiving Day edition is filled with news, features, recipes, deals and coupons. Here is some of what you can expect: Black Friday deals Are you itching to do some Black Friday shopping? Inside you'll find circulars from top local retailers on the best Black Friday deals that add up to hundreds of dollars in savings. You'll find everything you need to map out your plan of attack for whenever you decide to do some holiday shopping Community stories This year we take you around New Mexico to connect with great stories that highlight the state's food culture and its love affair with green chile. You'll visit Capitan's Oso Grill and learn about the most loved menu items from the grill's owners, Pam and Brian Cleckler. Then head over to Farmington where James Beard nominated chef Justin Pinoche will offer advice on nailing Thanksgiving eats. You'll find a list of our most recommended "New Mexican" products to get a start on your holiday shopping. And because a little competition is always healthy, we'll share stories from our USA Today Network partners in Colorado who also have a crush on recipes that feature green chile. Where can I get the Thanksgiving edition? The Thanksgiving Day edition will be available Wednesday, Nov. 22 by home delivery and at any of your favorite pick up spots, including grocery stores and convenience stations. Due to the holiday there will be no print edition of the Thursday, Nov. 23 paper. If you are a subscriber log in to the website to access the available e-edition. Jessica Onsurez can be reached at jonsurez@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: The Thanksgiving Day edition is stuffed full of deals, recipes I guess weve been challenging notions about what power looks like, Kamala Harris said of the vice presidential residences interior design. As not only the first female vice president but the first Black female vice president, Kamala Harris is blazing her own path in government. During every vice presidential term, that officeholder takes over the vice presidents residence in Washington, D.C., and redesigns it to fit their personal preferences. Vice President Kamala Harris has made notable changes to her official residence. Above, Harris speaks onstage during the 2022 Essence Festival of Culture at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Essence) As previously reported by theGrio, Harris tapped renowned interior designer and fellow Black woman Sheila Bridges to design her official residence. Recognized for her vibrant and intricately layered design perspective influenced by architectural and historical cues, Bridges combined the homes traditional look with Harris modern aesthetic. Among the many changes made in the home, the library is one of the most notable. This room, for many years, had a very dark forest green and then a lime green striped wallpaper, Harris told People magazine. And I decided to change it up a bit. I think that this color, which is almost a fuchsia pink, is also a color of power and its also warm. And so, in some ways, I guess weve been challenging notions about what power looks like. The vice president also shared that the pink office is one of her favorite rooms in the home, especially for family bonding. While some may think the rooms color choice was inspired by Harris ties to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Bridges explained that the pink was inspired by the propertys crepe myrtle tree blossoms. The trees are right outside the library and I wanted to bring that color inside, Bridges told the Washington Post. Its important to have a dialogue between the landscape, architecture and interior. Despite that rooms vibrancy, the rest of the homes walls follow a neutral color palette chosen to reflect Harris hometown, California, and modern aesthetic. Given that the residence is used to host events and world leaders, the two worked together to create a space that not only reflects the current vice presidents multicultural family but also the diversity of America. I wanted it to have a modern feel and lots of interesting details reflecting the vice presidents cultural heritage from India and Africa, said the designer. I have been very purposeful about bringing a real variety of American art with a lot of young artists. So that were not only having art from the 1800s, but contemporary art [too], Harris added. It is important to make this house reflective of who we are as America, she says, and that we make it accessible to the variety of people that we are. Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrios newsletter. The post Pink is Vice President Kamala Harris power color appeared first on TheGrio. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) Two of the most iconic dining destinations in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) are joining Gourmet Giving Series for the Hapag Movement, an exquisite dining experience that combines gastronomic excellence and charity. Alegria Manila and Gallery by Chele are participating in the heartwarming initiative of Globe and Fining Dining Club Philippines Facebook community this November. Part of the proceeds will be used to support the fight against involuntary hunger in the country. Alegria, known for its inventive fusion of Filipino and Latin American cuisine, is set to offer a 10-course tasting menu featuring 13 dishes for 5,500++ per person from November 21 to 26, 2023. It will be the longest-running event of Gourmet Giving Series. Photo from Alegria Showcasing Alegria's commitment to culinary innovation and cultural exploration, the menu is an invitation to interact with food in new ways, highlighted by the use of a custom-made balisong to slice tender smoked Iberico pork, signifying a blend of tradition and modernity. The restaurant's ambience, with its contemporary art and an impressive grill, complements the interactive dining experience, creating an atmosphere that is "maximalist and unapologetically Alegria." On November 23, Gallery by Chele will present an 8-course tasting menu for lunch and dinner featuring Chef Chele Gonzalez's most cherished dishes, celebrating his decade-long culinary journey in the Philippines. Priced at 5,500+ per person, the menu incorporates gotu kola, an herb known for its health benefits, underscoring the restaurant's philosophy of wellness through cuisine. The chef will be around to entertain guests at lunch time. Photo from Gallery by Chele Chef Chele's Spanish roots and his experience in some of the worlds best kitchens are evident in the dishes that earned the restaurant its place in the prestigious Asias 50 Best Restaurants inaugural 51-100 List. In partnership with Fine Dining Club Philippines, Globe acts as the connector, crafting meaningful experiences for its customers while contributing to the Hapag Movements goal of changing the lives of 500,000 Filipinos facing involuntary hunger. The series is a testament to the power of technology and partnerships in creating a #GlobeOfGood. "Through the Gourmet Giving Series, we are offering our customers an opportunity to indulge in world-class culinary creations while making a significant impact on the community. It's a celebration of Filipino resilience and the spirit of Bayanihan, proving that the simple act of dining can be transformed into a powerful gesture of giving, said Yoly Crisanto, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Communications Officer of the Globe Group. "We are thrilled to work with an active and influential online community like Fine Dining Club to bring more joy to the holidays for those who partake of the fine dining experience and the beneficiaries who will be helped by this campaign," said RG Orense, Globe Digital and Social Strategy Head. "Together, we are bridging the virtual and real world to mobilize and make a tangible impact in communities that need it most." Photo from Globe Fine Dining Club Philippines plays a pivotal role, leveraging its network of over 23,300+ members to amplify the series' impact. Founded by entrepreneur JC Cailles-Lo, the community brings together discerning diners and renowned chefs to foster exclusive events and partnerships that celebrate the art of fine dining. The Hapag Movement and the Gourmet Giving Series highlight the synergy between culinary arts and social responsibility, setting a new standard for how dining experiences can contribute to the greater good. To learn more, visit glbe.co/globegourmetgiving. Experts refute Australian charge claiming PLA destroyer's use of sonar 'unprofessional,' question Australian frigate's location, purpose in incident 09:18, November 20, 2023 By Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan ( Global Times Sovremenny-class guided missile destroyer Hangzhou (Hull 136) and Ningbo(Hull 139) attached to the PLA Eastern Theater Command Navy conduct exercises in early 2021. Photo: Screenshot from navy.81.cn Chinese experts on Sunday refuted accusations from Australia claiming that a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) destroyer used sonar to force divers from an Australian frigate to exit the water, saying that the Australian statement is vague and one-sided, and aims to hype the "China threat" theory. The HMAS Toowoomba, an Anzac-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy, on Tuesday sailed in "international waters inside of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone" en route to commence a scheduled port visit during "operations in support of United Nations sanctions enforcement in the region" when it stopped to conduct diving operations in order to clear fishing nets that had become entangled around its propellers, the Australian defense department said in a press release on Saturday. While diving operations were underway, a PLA Navy destroyer, the Sovremenny-class guided missile destroyer Ningbo(Hull 139), operating in the vicinity closed toward the HMAS Toowoomba, the Australian press release said. According to the Australian press release, the two countries' vessels were able to establish communications, before the Australian ship detected the Chinese ship operating its hull-mounted sonar "in a manner that posed a risk to the safety of the Australian divers who were forced to exit the water." The Australian press release is widely questioned by Chinese military experts, especially about the vague location given where the incident is supposed to have taken place. Zhang Junshe, a Chinese naval expert, told the Global Times on Sunday that while Australia claimed the incident happened in Japan's exclusive economic zone, it did not give the exact location. If the incident took place in waters to the west of Japan, China and Japan have not carried out maritime delimitation in relevant waters, so Japan's self-proclaimed exclusive economic zone could be well within waters administered by China, Zhang said. Another Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Sunday that Australia likely intentionally chose not to disclose the exact location because it has a guilty conscience. "Did the incident take place near China's Diaoyu Islands or the island of Taiwan? Or was it close to a PLA training exercise? If that is the case, it was obvious that the Australian warship provoked China in the first place," the expert said. Analysts pointed out that the Australian press release is one-sided as it failed to mention the Chinese input during the communications between the two countries' ships. Since the Australian side admitted that it had established communications with the Chinese side, it is very likely that the Chinese ship issued verbal warnings which the Australian ship had ignored, and the Chinese ship was forced to take the ensuing step which was to send a warning through sonar, the abovementioned anonymous expert said. Some of the main purposes of a sonar system is to detect submarines and underwater terrains, similar to how a radar system is used to detect aircraft, the expert said, explaining that active sonar generates sound waves that vibrate underwater. Pinging with sonar is also a means to communicate, and in this case, was likely used to warn the Australian operation, the expert said. Australia claimed that the sonar pulses likely caused minor injuries to the Australian divers, but the wording is also very vague and has no proof, analysts said. "Australia said it had fishing nets that had become entangled around its frigate's propellers. It shows that such a close-in reconnaissance attempt not only posed threats to China's national security, but also to the normal maritime work of fishing boats," Zhang said. In the recent period, countries like Australia and Canada have been repeatedly accusing Chinese warships and warplanes of "unsafe, unprofessional" interactions, as these forces from outside of the region conducted close-in reconnaissance operations on China's doorstep in the name of UN sanctions enforcement, observers said. Alert patrols by Chinese warplanes and warships on China's doorstep are normal and should not have been hyped as "China threat," Zhang said. These countries should stop sending warships and warplanes from thousands of kilometers away to stir up troubles and flex their muscles on China's doorstep, experts said. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Wu Chaolan) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday said he is set to submit to Malacanang a draft of executive order establishing an anti-smuggling task force "on call" in cases involving economic crimes. Asked about updates on the agricultural smuggling probe during a press briefing, Remulla said the investigation is continuous and ongoing. "In fact, I'm trying to put up a task force for agriculture smuggling to be led by a prevalent executive director and I'll be submitting a draft executive order to Malacanang for this purpose," he said. "I need an ad hoc body to be permanently just on call for agricultural smuggling and probably other economic crimes related to the Bureau of Customs," he added. In July, the President ordered a probe into the smuggling of onions and other agricultural products, saying the crime is a form of economic sabotage. This article was originally published in The City. Parents are calling for the ouster of the controversial principal of P.S. 398 in Queens, who did not inform them on the day that a student brought a kitchen knife to school and told other kids he intended to use it at lunchtime to attack a fellow second-grader he may have considered a romantic rival. The principal, Erica Urena-Thus, waited three days before notifying the school community about an incident of a sharp kitchen object while telling them that nothing untoward was found. She then took an additional two days to speak with the schools parents about it, according to multiple sources who spoke with THE CITY. At least two other students saw the second grader with the knife during the school day on Nov. 1, and a staff member confiscated it from him after one of those students told an adult what they had seen. The staff member in turn referred the matter to Urena-Thus. Support The 74's year-end campaign. Make a tax-exempt donation now. Two days later, the boy whod brought it and whod remained at the school physically threatened one of the classmates whod seen him with the weapon, according to that childs mother.. The day after that, a Saturday, Urena-Thus finally notified the school community, including the parents of the affected children, with a message posted on P.S. 398s internal communications board, which was reviewed by THE CITY. (THE CITY is withholding the names of the students, who are all second graders, to respect their privacy. THE CITY was not able to contact the parents of the boy who allegedly brought the knife and made the threats, because he has not been named by the school.) Related Feds Probe Marketing Push Behind AI Weapons Detection Tool Used in Schools Two mothers Sarah Wu, who believes her son was the intended target of the boy who brought the knife, and Mary, whose daughter saw the boy with the knife said that public message was the first time they had heard directly from school administration about the incident at all. (Mary spoke on the condition that THE CITY would withhold her last name.) I am trying to be strong for my kids, and also for all the parents kids who stood up and saved my sons life, said Wu, who told THE CITY she only learned about the knife when a parent approached her during pick-up on Friday. This is not what a little minor should go through in the public school system. She added that her son still does not know about the other boys plan to attack him with a knife. P.S. 398 in Jackson Heights, Aug. 28, 2023. Two sources said that Urena-Thus who did not not return THE CITYs requests for comment about the incident that became the main topic of discussion at a meeting of the District 30 Community Education Monday night told teachers not to discuss the incident at all, citing student privacy protocols. My daughter is not OK, Mary, speaking in her native Spanish, told THE CITY. She added that the boy with the weapon told her daughter that he had intended to harm Wus son because he saw him as a rival for another students affection. She continued: Since this all happened, she doesnt smile, all she wants to do is sleep, she wont even eat her favorite meals, shes afraid of leaving the house. The school community was not formally notified of the subsequent threat made by the boy who brought the knife. Mary received a letter on Nov. 10, the following Friday, from Urena-Thus informing her that the schools internal investigation had substantiated that the boy had indeed threatened her daughter. In a Nov. 8 email chain in which the principal, district administrators and a DOE attorney discussed how to respond to parents, District 30 Deputy Superintendent William Fahey asked: I am wondering why we are using nothing untoward found (meaning nothing unexpected or unusual) when a knife or toy gun was found. Parents right now are e-mailing about nothing untoward being found stating a knife was found. THE CITY obtained those emails hours after this article was first published. Later in the chain, DOE Senior Field Counsel Sarah Marx advises against giving parents more detail/context, since People will believe what they want to believe. She went on, I am concerned about liability and further inflaming people with giving out more information. Related The Latest School Weapons Detection Tech Can Miss Serious Threats, Experts Say The Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the principals union, did not respond to THE CITYs questions. Department of Education spokesperson Chyann Tull told THE CITY that Our district superintendent assigned staff to support onsite at the school daily, reviewing protocols, and looks forward to next step interventions that best serve everyone, while the borough safety director is also onsite reviewing safety systems and structures, performing an analysis of the schools safety plan. She added that High-quality care and education for our students is at the center of our efforts, and we will continue to support collaboration between schools and families as we forge a path forward. In an email to parents on Nov. 10, the same day that Urena-Thus substantiated the boys threat, Community School District 30 superintendent Lisa Hidalgo referred to the knife as a weapon, reporting that it was confiscated and nothing else was found. Without saying any further about the boy involved in that incident, she acknowledged a lack of timely communication to families from the school that she said resulted in speculation that led to fear and misinformation circulating within the school community. Huge, Huge Red Flag As THE CITY previously reported, teachers sounded the alarm earlier this year about an allegedly hostile and unhealthy environment at P.S. 398, which they say affects students of the school, noting then a downward trend of disorganization and lack of communication. The DOE said at the time that it takes all allegations seriously, and are conducting a thorough review of accusations teachers have leveled against the Urena-Thus since June. More than a thousand parents and supporters have since signed a petition which dates back to October demanding that Urena-Thus be removed. Now, some parents are furious about what they deemed to be Urena-Thus failure to immediately inform them of the students potentially violent actions and about the Education Departments disinterest in reacting to that failure with appropriate haste. It was covered up, no one knew, said Merry, the aunt of the boy who was allegedly targeted. PTA president Victoria Medelius said she was upset with Urena-Thus late and limited communication, and was concerned that the principal had failed to follow proper safety protocols. I think theres trauma for some of the children, and theres a lot of trauma from parents, said Medelius, because Urena-Thus never really told us the full story. In her Saturday notice to parents three days after the boy brought the knife which Urena-Thus told Wu in a meeting another two days later was for cutting meat she wrote that the school safety team and the school safety agent had conducted their investigation into the boy with the knife. But that doesnt track with how others in the school community described the events to THE CITY. Wu said Urena-Thus had told her that school safety had not been involved on the day he brought the knife to school because they had found no cause for concern, according to a Nov. 6 email to the principal from Wu recapping a meeting that day and reviewed by THE CITY. Medelius recalled that the school safety agent had been unaware of the knife incident until a parent informed her of the event on Nov. 3. Thats a huge, huge red flag, Medelius told THE CITY. A lot of parents are using the term gaslighting because its just what it feels like. Mary, for example, said she learned of the knife incident not from the school but from her daughter at pick up, who told her mom shed had a bad day. In art class, her daughter explained, a classmate opened his lunchbox and showed her his knife, telling her he intended to use it to hurt another boy during the lunch period. She told her mother that she scolded the boy and said she would tell on him, according to Marys recollection of her conversation with her daughter. After she pressed for details, Marys daughter told her the student brought a sharp knife that looked like a household kitchen knife that Im not allowed to use. A colored drawing the girl made for school administrators who interviewed her that day, which was obtained by THE CITY, portrays what appears to be a sharp knife with a wooden handle. But it was another student, who saw the knife during lunch later in the day, who ultimately alerted a school aide, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. The aide then brought the knife to Urena-Thus, who subsequently returned it to the students parent, who denied packing it, according to the Nov. 6 email to the principal from Wu. I think my son could have died, because if the parent never told me I wont tell him to be careful, to be aware of your surroundings, said Wu, whose son is the intended target according to the accounts of other kids. I feel like Im living in a world that I dont believe in anymore. The Safety and Well Being of All Children In an email addressed to Wu on Nov. 10 after the parent wrote to the school to express her concerns about her sons safety, assistant principal Mondal Trisha said the administration has conducted our investigation on the knife incident, without saying what result that investigation had reached. We have developed a plan of action to support the student who has made the threat, Trisha wrote, adding that if Wus son is feeling unsafe, we can take measures to ensure he is comfortable in his learning environment. The schools investigation into the subsequent threats also substantiated Marys daughters claims, Urena-Thus acknowledged in a separate Nov. 10 letter addressed to Mary. The school also found that the students threat constituted a violation of DOE rules against student-to-student discrimination, harassment, intimidation and/or bullying, but did not constitute student-to-student harassment. Appropriate disciplinary and restorative measures have been taken to ensure the safety and well being of all children in our school community, Urena-Thus wrote. Mary received that letter through a teacher at the school, she said, not directly from the principal, noting that the letter did not say what specific measures the school was taking, and did not offer resources or support for her daughter. No one [at the school] has told me what my daughters rights are or offered mental health resources, Mary said, noting that her daughter has suffered night terrors since the incident and even required a trip to the emergency room to treat her anxiety. As parents, this has been very difficult for us. We just want answers. The United Federation of Teachers, the union representing teachers and other school staff, also criticized the school administrations response. Staff members were gravely concerned that the P.S. 398 administration did not properly address a safety incident nor provide staff or parents with timely information, union spokesperson Alison Gendar said in a statement. It is DOEs responsibility to provide a safe school environment for students and staff. Since the incidents, Wu said shes been struggling to explain to her son how he had been put in harms way. The mother added that shes still trying to prepare myself to have that conversation with him when it comes to it. I feel so hopeless. I think Im just nobody, said Wu, who is calling for Urena-Thus to resign. This says a lot about our city, our system I dont know why nobodys listening. THE CITY is a nonprofit newsroom that serves the people of New York. Sign up for our SCOOP newsletter and get exclusive stories, helpful tips, a guide to low-cost events, and everything you need to know to be a well-informed New Yorker. Among the many trailblazing things former First Lady Rosalynn Carter did during her lifetime was hire Mary Prince, a woman convicted of murder, to be the familys nanny. In 1970, while Jimmy Carter was the governor of Georgia, Prince traveled to the governors mansion to interview for a job as part of her rehabilitation after being convicted. All my life, I had wanted to meet a governor or a President. But I was nervous too. I wondered how the Carter family would take to me, she said. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] After her interview, Rosalynn Carter hired her to look after Amy Carter. She was totally innocent, Rosalynn Carter said. According to A Story of Love and Rehabilitation: the Ex-Con in the White House by Clare Crawford, in 1970, Prince was at a bar with her cousin, Aniemaude, in Lumpkin when her cousin got into an argument with a woman. I went outside and heard a shot. Aniemaude and this woman were fighting over Aniemaudes gun, Prince said. I didnt know anything about guns, but I tried to take it away, and it went off. We didnt know it had hit anyone. Crawford wrote that the other woman claimed that Prince seized the gun and deliberately fired it, killing her boyfriend. During her trial, Prince was defended by a court-appointed lawyer she first met on the day of the trial. I was under the impression I was pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, but it turned out to be murder, Prince said. Prince was sentenced to life in prison after her lawyer advised her to plead guilty, Crawford wrote. RELATED STORIES: In 2005, former President Jimmy Carter wrote that Princes lawyer promised her a light sentence if she pleaded guilty. Rosalynn Carter said she believed Prince was convicted because of the color of her skin. When Jimmy Carters term as governor ended in 1975, the family returned to Plains and Prince returned to prison. When I left, Amy really screamed, Prince said. Later, Mrs. Carter would see me at the Fulton County Jail and the Atlanta Work Release Center, where I went as a cook in 1975. Although Prince wasnt eligible for parole until April 1975, she was allowed to travel unguarded to Washington for Jimmy Carters inauguration. Crawford wrote that Prince spent two nights at the White House and attended an inaugural ball in a gown sewn by her fellow inmates. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Before I left [Washington], Mrs. Carter said, How would you like to work in this big old place? she said. Rosalynn Carter was so confident in Princes innocence that she wrote the parole board and secured her a reprieve so that Amys beloved nanny could work for them at the White House. Jimmy Carter was also designated as Princes parole officer during his time as president. After a reexamination of the evidence and trial proceedings by the original judge, court officials determined that Prince was completely innocent and she was granted a pardon. Prince then moved into the White House, where she cared for Amy Carter and Rosalynn Carters clothes. Crawford added that Prince also helped take care of the Carter grandchildren. Years later, Prince moved to Plains to live near the Carters. She saw them frequently and, to this day, babysits their grandchildren. IN RELATED NEWS: Twenty-two additional victims have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against a former Massachusetts pediatrician who is already charged with assaulting two girls during their annual checkups, prosecutors said. Dr. Richard A. Kauff, who voluntarily agreed last week to turn in his license and not practice medicine for the foreseeable future, was arraigned Monday in Hingham District Court on charges including 12 counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years old and four counts of rape of a child under 16 years old with force. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf and a judge set bail at $50,000. Kauff posted bail and was released. He will be back in court in January for a probable cause hearing. The allegations came to light when one of the two women posted to a Facebook group called South Shore Mamas, asking if it was normal for a doctor to inappropriately touch a females genitalia during physicals. Another woman, who did not know the original poster, replied saying she had similar experiences, according to the police report. When the two women exchanged private messages, they realized they were both former patients of Kauff. Both women told police the alleged acts occurred when Kauff would tell them to lie down on a medical table. The woman who replied to the post then went to Norwell police, telling detectives that Kauff had inappropriately touched her private parts during her annual exams a total of 13 times from the time she was seven until she was 18 or 19 years old. According to court documents, the woman told detectives that her parents were sometimes in the room during the exams but Kauff would position his body so that their view was obscured. Dr. Richard A. Kauff Four days later, the woman who authored the original post also went to Norwell police, informing them that Kauff would allegedly abuse her during her annual checkups. According to the police report, she also told investigators that Kauff would position his body in a manner to obscure her parents view. Both women told investigators they believed the alleged acts to be a routine part of the medical exam. The woman who first posted on Facebook told officers that she was only made aware when she disclosed to her therapist how uncomfortable Kauff made her during her visits. According to the police report, when the woman shared details, the therapist informed her she needed to contact the police. According to the police report, Norwell detectives contacted a pediatric sexual assault nurse practitioner, who informed them an internal pelvic exam was not a normal or routine exam, nor should it be done at a routine pediatric exam. The nurse encouraged the detectives to contact the Board of Registration in Medicine to file a complaint and noted the alleged victims could follow suit. Twenty women and two juveniles have since come forward, claiming they too were sexually assaulted by Kauff, prosecutors said during his arraignment. We anticipate dozens of more similar-type of charges, a prosecutor told the court. Kauff retired from South Shore Medical Center in 2022, according to an archived blog post on South Shore Healths website. He is due back in court on Jan. 11. 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 CHESNUT HILL TOWNSHIP, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Pennsylvania State Police issue a public warning on phone scams as another victim loses money in Monroe County. PSP says on Thursday, November 16, troopers responded to Sugar Hollow Road in Chestnut Hill Township for a reported theft. Troopers say the victim received a voicemail stating they won a prize from the Publishers Clearing House (PCH) and they needed a $500 debit card to pay for the processing of the prize. Stroudsburg Mayor charged with DUI According to police the victim acquired a $500 gift card and gave the unknown caller the numbers of the card to receive their gift from PCH. PSP says after speaking with the unknown caller, the victim then contacted PCH and was told they would never request money from a prize winner. State police say they are warning the public to be on the lookout for phone scams as they are on the rise and to also remember no legitimate company will ask for money over the phone. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. A Texas utility said workers spent hours rescuing a puppy that got stuck in a sewer line. The puppy was outside playing near her home in San Antonio with other puppies when three of them fell into a sewer line, KSAT reported. The San Antonio Fire Department was able to pull out two but couldnt get the third one. Puppy rescued from sewer pipe Crews from the San Antonio Water System used televising cameras to rescue her, according to a post from the department on X, formerly known as Twitter. The puppy, who was later named Damsel, can be seen on video obtained by WOAI inside the sewer system walking through water, shivering. Come to the light Shes scared, rescuers can be heard saying in the video. After about eight hours, rescuers were able to pull the puppy to safety, KSAT reported. Crews at the scene gave her the nickname Pipa, which means pipe in Spanish. Puppy rescued from sewer pipe In the video, Damsel can be seen being pulled up in a bucket, after crews used equipment to nudge her out of the pipe. Puppy rescued from sewer pipe The puppy was picked up by the San Antonio Animal Care Services to be checked out, according to the X post. Loose dog with the saddest eyes rescued from busy NC interstate. He needs a new home Dog was rescued in SC before COVID hit. Now, he spends 4th birthday with new family Injured puppy found abandoned at Indiana airport, officials say. Search on for owner Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) A bill seeking to provide medication support for senior citizens was filed in the House of Representatives on Monday. House Bill 9569 proposes to give 1,000 monthly to all senior citizens to help them with their maintenance medicine. It was filed by ACT-CIS party list members Reps. Erwin Tulfo, Jocelyn Tulfo, and Edvic Yap; Benguet Rep. Eric Yap, and Quezon City 2nd District Rep. Ralph Tulfo. "The 'Monthly Maintenance Medication Support Act for Senior Citizens' is a legislative proposal that responds to a critical issue facing our elderly population, particularly those dealing with chronic or long-term medical conditions," said the bill's explanatory note. Lawmakers who filed the bill said it aims to ease the financial burden senior citizens face when paying for needed medication, adding "managing chronic diseases should not be compromised due to economic limitations." Registered Filipino senior citizens may avail of the benefit. They can submit an application to the Department of Health (DOH) or its designated agency along with a valid prescription for maintenance medications as issued by a licensed medical practitioner within 6 months from the date of application. A monthly maintenance medication support card will then be issued once their application is approved. The bill further states the DOH will create a system to track the use of the program and shall submit to Congress an annual report on its effectiveness and impact. RELATED: Hospitals fail to give mandatory discounts to seniors worth over P500M COA RELATED: PhilHealth: Senior citizen, PWD discounts must be applied prior to hospital discharge If found, Abigail Mor-Idan will be an orphan, likely with severe trauma. She is only 3-years-old. Abigail lived in a kibbutz with her mother, father and 6-year-old and 9-year-old siblings less than two miles from Gaza with about 400 others. Neither of the childrens parents survived the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7. Abigails mother and father were both shot. Her siblings huddled in a cupboard for 14 hours among bloodied cloths. Since that time, theres not been a word to know whether Abigail is alive or what condition she is in, Congresswoman Lois Frankel said during a press conference on Monday morning in West Palm Beach. Frankel, with Rabbi Ruvi New with the Chabad of East Boca and Lawrence Milstein, the regional director of the American Jewish Committee Palm Beach County, called for the release not only of Abigail but of the more than 200 hostages held by Hamas as the United States nears a deal with Israel and Hamas for a pause in the conflict. Each of us here have met with many of the survivor families who are living in terror, they call it pure hell, Frankel said. As we all look to celebrate Thanksgiving with our loved ones, we want to talk about the 200-plus families in Israel who are living in sheer terror because they do not know whether their loved ones who were kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 are alive or what condition theyre living in. Milstein, who recently returned from visiting towns that endured what he described as savage attacks, said one of the revelations from the war is how intertwined it is with the Jewish community in Palm Beach County. Its really hard to find a Jewish person here in Palm Beach County who doesnt have some connection, an acquaintance, a friend or a family member that lives in Israel, he said. For many of us, weve been personally affected by the war. We feel the pain, the outrage, quite deeply and personally, especially the plight of the hostages. One does not need a personal connection with the war to rally for hostages, though, Milstein said. Where is the moral outrage and the widespread demands for those calling for the immediate release of the hostages? Where are the calls for humanitarian aid for the hostages for visits by the International Red Cross? Milstein said. Instead, despicable scenes have played out, he said, such as tearing down posters of hostages. Hamas did not discriminate in who they seized, Milstein said, grabbing citizens from nearly 30 countries, including the U.S. In the end, it really doesnt matter where the hostages were from, he said. They were violently seized, theyre being held illegally and they must come home. This report is from WLRN News, a Miami Herald partner. Listen to WLRN on 91.3 FM in Miami or go to WLRN.org - In late 2022, Melissa Marro got a notice from her private home insurance company that her rates would soon go up to a degree she found shockingly high. The only option, her insurance agent told her, was to see if she qualified for Citizens Property Insurance, the state created and taxpayer-owned property insurance company. Marro hired a licensed inspector to come to her Palm Harbor home in the Tampa Bay region in order to do a four-point inspection and a wind mitigation inspection. After she sent in the resulting reports, Citizens accepted her home, and she breathed a sigh of relief. It was much cheaper than the private cost of insurance she had just been quoted. Then shortly after the policy started with Citizens, I received an email saying: You have to have another home inspection. And I didnt understand why, since I had just had two inspections, said Marro. What happened next to Marro in Palm Harbor is a byproduct of a major but little-known push by Citizens to inspect a startlingly large number of homes per year, and the methods it is using to go about it. Marros insurance agent said there was no choice but to allow the inspection to move forward. The insurance company, he assured her, would pay for it. She would not have to spend anything out of pocket. They had us by the neck. Lets say that, said Marro. I had absolutely no choice. In her case, a staffer from the company Sutton Inspection Bureau a company contracted by Citizens came to Marros home to take photos. Marro was unable to be there for the inspection, and her mother was present. But when she later saw the final report, Marro said she was shocked by factual errors that were listed. Three black cats worth of accumulated hair on her crown molding was listed as weird looking mold, fuzzy stuff growing on the walls. A wooden fence on her side yard was listed as rotted even though most of the fence had just been repaired. The thing that really got me was the completely deceptive picture she took from an angle in front of my neighbors house so that their tree which is nowhere near my house it looks like the branches are overhanging my roof, said Marro. I mean, it was clearly on purpose. READ MORE: Investors, state senator see opportunity to cash in on Floridas insurance crisis Screenshot of inspection conducted by Sutton Inspection Bureau, an inspection ordered by Citizens Property Insurance. Sutton Inspection Bureau did not respond to requests for comment about errors on its reports, or how much training it gives employees. The photo in Marros inspection report was captioned large tree hanging over roof/branches. Within three weeks of receiving the report, Marro was issued a cancellation by Citizens. If she was thrown back on the private market at the rates she was being quoted, the ramifications would have been life changing. Marro works at a nonprofit that runs a driving while intoxicated program in Pinellas County, and she does not make a lot of money. I would have lost my house if I lost this coverage, said Marro, matter-of-factly. READ MORE: Wondering why your insurance rates keep going up? Look into your neighbors new kitchen As policies skyrocket, a new practice The inspection ordered by Citizens appears to be a new practice by the insurance giant. In 2019, Citizens Insurance, the state-created and taxpayer-backed insurance company of last resort, ordered 2,200 home inspections. By the end of 2023, the company estimates that it will have ordered about 300,000 home inspections. Thats more than a 100 fold increase in inspections, compared to a few short years ago. The number of properties the state company insures has roughly doubled over that time frame. The public company was created in 2002 to be an insurance company of last resort, for properties that could find no other reasonably affordable insurance coverage. But over the last few years, the number of policies it holds has skyrocketed, and it has reluctantly become the largest insurance company in the state. The goal of these inspections, according to the company, is simply to get more accurate information about the homes it insures. Property owners like Marro have told WLRN they are concerned about the contractors being used to perform the inspections. Reports have been filled with factual errors, they say, threatening their coverage or raising their insurance premiums based on falsehoods. The people hired by Citizens to do the new home inspections are not licensed by the state of Florida, they point out. The company then relies upon reports made by those unlicensed inspectors to make decisions that can upend the lives of Florida residents. Marro nearly lost her house because of errors on an unlicensed inspection. Its really, really scary, said Marro. You would think they would be required by law to only hire licensed contractors or licensed inspectors. After getting the policy cancellation letter, Marro started calling her insurance agent and calling Citizens to fight the report and the outcome it led to. She scrubbed the black cat hair off the crown molding, climbed onto her roof to prove the suspicious tree was nowhere near the roof, and scrubbed the fence to prove it was simply dirty, not rotten. She sent photos to everybody and spent hours on the phone. I was able to keep my policy, Marro said with relief. But had I not had the fortitude to fight it, I would have been at the mercy of this woman who seemingly purposely wanted to get me canceled so that Citizens didnt have another policy. Citizens acknowledged to WLRN that field inspectors hired by its contractors are not licensed by the state of Florida. Field inspectors are not licensed but all decisions are made by licensed inspectors and then reviewed by Citizens underwriters, Michael Peltier, a spokesman for Citizens, wrote WLRN in an email. The inspectors are required to photograph their findings, enabling Citizens to confirm the risk meets our underwriting guidelines and validate certain building characteristics. Internal data shared with WLRN showed that out of more than 200,000 inspections conducted through the program between January and September of 2023, only 62 resulted in a vendor error complaint. While one error is too many especially if it affects your policy, it appears that, overall, the program is pretty accurate, wrote Peltier. Mark Friedlander, the director of communications at the Insurance Information Institute, an insurance industry-funded trade organization, told WLRN the admission that Citizens is using unlicensed inspectors for the program is alarming. From an industry wide perspective, property insurers typically use licensed inspectors that are well-trained and provide very objective analysis of conditions of homes. If companies are not following that standard, that is very troubling to us, and I could understand why some homeowners are reporting that theres major errors taking place, said Friedlander. If companies are taking shortcuts, thats extremely concerning and the insurance companies should be accountable for that, he said. Friedlander stressed that insurance companies across the board have ramped up inspections in the current property insurance market, but the standard is to use licensed inspectors. Citizens does not appear to be breaking any regulations or laws, he said, but it is not following industry best practices. Getting a handle on the book of business As companies have fled the state of Florida in recent years after successive hurricanes and being hammered by lawsuits, the number of Citizens policies has exploded. State lawmakers are uneasy about the rapid growth of Citizens, arguing that Florida taxpayers could be left on the hook for billions of dollars in damages if a major disaster strikes. The state has passed laws and nudged Citizens to shed its risk by shifting policies to the private market. The initial decision that Citizens would sharply increase the number of inspections it orders for properties was made in July of 2021. Board members argued that ordering more inspections would potentially play a major role in slowing the rapid growth of the states largest insurance company. Theyre just trying to get a handle on the book of business. They have the properties that they are insuring, just to make sure that everything is on the up and up, said Mel Montagne, an insurance agent based out of the Florida Keys. Citizens Insurance is the only option for home insurance for many residents of the Keys. Montagne also serves as the president of the grassroots group Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe. Even though he feels like he understands why Citizens is ordering so many more inspections, Montagne has concerns about Citizens hiring people who are not licensed by the state of Florida to do field inspections. Its better to hire a person that is licensed and has had some experience rather than just, you know, anybody that youre picking up off the street, he said. A typical wind mitigation inspection could cost around $150 per property from a licensed inspector, he estimated. The inspections ordered by Citizens, which it calls General Condition inspections, go for as low as $32 per property, according to publicly available contracts. Montagne said the motivation for using unlicensed inspectors is likely to save money as it ramps up inspections. At the end of the day, they are owned by the folks in the state of Florida, the folks are paying the premiums. And they want to be good stewards of those funds and not triple the cost of an inspection, he said. Asked if Citizens uses unlicensed inspectors because it is cheaper, the company simply noted in a statement to WLRN that the cost for inspections varies depending upon the inspection type and inspection vendor. One of the companies Citizens contracted to do the increased inspections is Mueller Reports, a Bradenton company. In 2012 a woman in Palm Beach County sued Mueller Reports alleging it colluded with Citizens to issue faulty reports in order to revoke insurance mitigation discounts and raise premiums. Citizens was not a party in the case. The court case was settled out of court, with Mueller Reports making no admission of wrongdoing. Citizens entered into a new contract with the company in September of 2021, records show. No private market is going to hire a company already alleged to be acting in a bad way. No private company is going to do that, said Sean Shaw, a former Democratic state representative who served as the Florida insurance consumer advocate between 2008 and 2010. Thats what lawsuits are made of. As a public company, Citizens is immune to many of the same kinds of lawsuits that private companies face. In Shaws view, that makes it more likely that Citizens does things that deviate from industry standards. The private market is scared not only of litigation, but of the public ridicule that would come from them trying to do this with unlicensed people, said Shaw. But Citizens seemed to think they were immune from all that. And so they act in this way. Mueller Reports did not respond to requests for comment. The companies contracted by Citizens to carry out the inspection program include Mueller Reports, Sutton Inspection Bureau, Inspection Depot, Insurance Risk Services and C&E Information Services. A three-to-one payoff ratio The cost of ramping up inspections 100 fold over the course of a few years is not cheap. A four-year program approved in 2021 received a budget of $43,618,492. Citizens board members argued it would be worth the cost in the long-term by reducing the companys market share. Id rather spend more money in this particular arena if indeed it gives us the results that we might get, which is: reduce the amount of policies, Carlos Beruff, the current chairman of Citizens, said in the July 2021 meeting, where the inspection program was approved. Beruff is a real estate developer and has long standing ties to the Republican Party in Florida. In 2017, former Gov. Rick Scott chose Beruff to chair the 2018 Florida Constitution Revision Commission, the group that suggested changes to the state constitution. Gov. DeSantis appointed Beruff to the Citizens board in 2020, and just appointed him again in 2023. Beruff and his wife each recently gave $6,600 to DeSantis presidential campaign. The more we inspect, the more likely it is we might not take em, said attorney Marc Dunbar, who was a member of the Citizens board in 2021, referring to home insurance policies. At that initial meeting, the Citizens board estimated that only 1% of policies were being inspected per year, and it set the goal of having 6% of policies inspected per year. In 2022, it increased that goal to inspecting 13% of policies annually. By the end of 2023, Citizens expects to have inspected about 300,000 properties through the program, according to a July 2023 presentation and report. As of early November, the publicly owned company insured about 1.3 million properties. The number of insured properties has slightly been coming down as Citizens moves to offload policies to the private market, in part through the inspection program. The July report showed that an estimated 5.38% of policies were canceled or not renewed after being inspected through the program. The report shows that for each dollar spent on the ramped-up inspections program, it had a payoff of three dollars in terms of reduced estimated payouts, premiums being increased, or policies being canceled. The three-to-one ratio made board members happy. This is the kind of math I can do, fifth grade math, chairman Beruff said in the July meeting. It is just a pretty natural winner for me. Beruff did not respond to requests for comment. The overall purpose of the increased inspection program is not to raise premiums or kick people off Citizens, said Peltier, the Citizens spokesman. Rather, it is to get a more accurate picture of the policies we are insuring, he said in an email. In January of this year, Citizens launched a predictive inspection model that uses an algorithm to identify the highest risk policies to order inspections on to meet the desired volume by inspection type and vendor. The new inspections are meant to lower losses by identifying properties that do not meet minimum guidelines or that have an inappropriate policy, wrote Peltier. Secondly, the company says ramping up inspections is an overall effort to emulate what private insurance companies do. And lastly, the inspections are meant to help private companies who might want to take policies being pushed out by Citizens. William Stander, the executive director of the Florida Property and Casualty Association, said the last point is accurate, and that private insurance companies appreciate the reports when considering new business. To the extent that they can get better data on these properties, it helps make sure those policies meet the standards of private business, said Stander. Friedlander, of the Insurance Information Institute, said the use of the unlicensed inspections in depopulation efforts raises questions about how Citizens is shifting homeowner policies to the private market. Their depopulation program is supposed to be a random program, said Friedlander. Theyre not supposed to cherry pick policies where there might be an issue. I mean, thats at least the way weve been told how its supposed to work. Citizens is kind of pulling a con, says homeowner Robert Mitchell had to go through three unlicensed inspections for his Fort Lauderdale home in order to get factually inaccurate information cleared-up. The inspections were ordered by Citizens Property Insurance, his home insurance provider. The inspectors are not licensed by the State of Florida, something Mitchell called shady and possibly underhanded. Mitchell estimates it took over 100 phone calls and emails to settle the inaccuracies. During his last year as a homeowner in Fort Lauderdale, Robert Mitchell paid Citizens $4,353 for his home insurance policy. With rates skyrocketing around the state, Mitchell did his research and expected about a 20% increase in his premium. I was expecting to pay about $5,400 this year, he said. In August, Citizens contacted Mitchell and told him he would need to allow inspectors of Sutton Inspection Bureau to conduct an inspection of his home. The companys first report was riddled with mistakes. Mitchell called and wrote emails to Citizens and Sutton pointing out the mistakes. He contacted his insurance agent. Citizens dispatched a second inspector from the same company. The second report had even more mistakes than the first. After the second report, I was told that I should be expecting between $8,000-$9,000 premium, closer to $9000, about a 100% increase, said Mitchell. Thats when I started to fight back. Some of the listed mistakes are hard to explain. An inspector wrote that he was not connected to a municipal water and sewer system, when the City of Fort Lauderdale manhole is right in front of his house. They said there was no fire hydrant within 1,000 feet of his property, when a bright red hydrant is plainly visible, two doors down. They wrote that he had no required second electrical panel and that his water heater had no temperature and pressure release valve, when both in fact exist. Even his fully gated house was listed without a gate. The second inspection report issued by Sutton Inspection Bureau said there was no fire hydrant within 1,000 feet. Robert Mitchell points to a red hydrant two doors down from his Fort Lauderdale home. All of that worked against him. And strangely, his home was listed as being eight miles from the Atlantic Ocean, when it is in fact about 4.3 miles away. It actually worked to my benefit, but I still reported it because its wrong, he said about the mistake of his homes distance from the water. It was just a myriad of things. Mitchell kept a folder of notes, emails, inspection reports, permits from the city and other materials he used in pushing back against Citizens to correct the errors. He estimated that he made over 100 emails and phone calls and spent hours upon hours of his time sorting it out. Finally, a third inspector from the company came and virtually all of the issues were cleared up with Citizens. When he got back his renewal with the accurate information, his annual premium came out to $4,361 merely an $8 increase year-over-year. The updated quote gave him relief that he could actually afford his insurance. When Mitchell realized that the inspectors who came to his house were unlicensed, he was infuriated at Citizens. In his mind, it explained everything. Theyre kind of pulling a con. Theyre making you think if you didnt know better you would think this was going to be a licensed person coming out. But its not. And they dont tell you that. They tell you everything but that, he said. Mitchell said he wants people to be empowered with the fact that they can push back against faulty reports issued by unlicensed inspectors, and that they can actually win. Montagne, the insurance agent who works in the Florida Keys, said this point is extremely important. Consumers and insurance agents need to closely review inspections to make sure all the information is accurate. It is imperative that the homeowner, when they get that report, or the insurance agent himself, when he gets that report, should be reviewing that report with his client, said Montagne. Mitchell said he understands on some level that Citizens needs to reduce the amount of properties it insures in Florida. But he said the end does not justify the means when it comes to how the inspection program is rolling out by hiring unlicensed inspectors. They really were never meant to be what they become. They were not supposed to have this many policies. They were not supposed to be the primary insurer, he said. I think they have to find a way to get fewer policyholders with them and to get more money out of the policyholders they have. But I think theyre doing it in an at best shady way, and possibly a very underhanded way. This report is from Miami Herald news partner WLRN-91.3 FM Britain's Queen Camilla speaks at the annual awards ceremony of the Foreign Press Association, which is celebrating its 135th anniversary, at Sheraton Grand Park Lane, London, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP) LONDON (AP) Britain's Queen Camilla, not always known for having an easy time with reporters, stepped into the lion's den on Monday, praising the role of journalists in society as she delivered the keynote address at the Foreign Press Association's annual awards ceremony in London. She shouldn't have worried much. King Charles III's consort was mobbed as she arrived for the event. London-based foreign correspondents surrounded her as she mingled with the finalists. With cellphones raised over their heads, glasses of Campari swishing, they jostled for a better view and a chance for a chat. Camilla, who was criticized by Britains tabloids during the breakdown of Charles' first marriage, praised the work of foreign correspondents, particularly in the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. She won laughter and appreciation when she took a self-deprecating swipe at herself. There are journalists in my family, and I have even been the subject of one or two stories myself over the years,'' she said. I have also had the opportunity to visit a significant number of newsrooms and have seen how tough your work is. Particularly, if I dare say so, for women, who, despite the many hurdles they have faced, have been among the bravest reporters of all.'' The FPA is the oldest and largest association of foreign correspondents in the world. It was founded in 1888 by foreign journalists who came to London to cover the case of Jack the Ripper. Camilla was made an honorary member of the association, following in the footsteps of the king. There are not many associations who can show off that they have two crowned kings and queens as their honorary members, FPA director Deborah Bonetti said as she presented the honor. The Queen highlighted the role of women in reporting on war zones Queen Camilla has highlighted the threats to journalists who are "risking their lives" to cover conflicts such as those in Israel and Gaza, and Ukraine. In a speech to the Foreign Press Association in London, she spoke of the particular importance of female journalists in war zones. She stressed the need to report on sexual violence - a "pervasive and all-too-often hidden feature of conflict". And she warned of female journalists being "targeted on social media". Speaking in London, she said: "As we gather, journalists, photographers and their support teams are even now risking their lives." It follows reports of dozens of journalists dying during the current violence in Gaza and Israel. But the Queen also sent a strong message on the often under-reported issue of abuse and sexual violence against women in war zones. It was even more vital to cover such stories in an era when "disinformation runs rife", the Queen told her audience of international journalists. "You have the ability to break the corrosive silence that frequently surrounds abuse. You bring into the open the voices of victims, you break taboos, you shine a light on these heinous crimes and you guide the public on what they can do to help," said the Queen. She praised the role of women journalists in war zones, "who despite the many hurdles they have faced, have been among the bravest reporters of all". She spoke of "trailblazers" like Martha Gellhorn, who reported during World War Two, and CNN's Christiane Amanpour, and she praised journalists who had "paid with their lives", such as Marie Colvin, who was killed in Syria, and Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta. "Their courage was matched only by their conviction that the truth matters," said the Queen. Since becoming Queen last year, Camilla has continued with her outspoken campaign to highlight the threat of violence against women and domestic abuse. Queen Camilla praised the efforts of the Foreign Press Association in providing training for women facing "disruptive and abusive behaviour from members of the public". She mentioned that the association, marking its 135th anniversary, was originally founded by overseas journalists who had travelled to London to cover a notorious case of violence against women, in the form of the Jack the Ripper murders. Journalism was vital to freedom of expression in a democratic system, she said. "And I have even been the subject of one or two stories myself over the years...," said the Queen. The Queen has condemned the abuse of female journalists and online disinformation during a speech at the annual Foreign Press Association Awards. In the keynote address, Queen Camilla said women were among the bravest reporters of all as she spoke of how tough the profession can be. She said: From trailblazers like Martha Gelhorn and Christiane Amanpour, to those such as Marie Colvin and Daphne Caruana Galizia, who have so tragically paid with their lives, their courage was matched only by their conviction that the truth matters. Perhaps this has never been more evident than in our digital age, where disinformation runs rife and where female journalists are increasingly targeted on social media. The Queen, 76, was speaking at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane hotel for the 135-year celebration of the Foreign Press Association (FPA), the oldest and largest association of foreign correspondents in the world. The King is also an honorary member. Queen Camilla speaks at the awards ceremony on Monday evening - Jonathan Brady/PA She was welcomed to the annual awards ceremony on Monday evening by Deborah Bonetti, the organisations director, and Dagmar Seeland, its president, as she was presented with her own honorary membership. During her speech, Camilla quipped that she had been the subject of one or two stories myself over the years as she said she understood the responsibilities of the profession. The Royal also used the occasion to pay tribute to the journalists who are now risking their lives reporting from the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East in these most difficult of times. It comes as the Committee to Protect Journalists reported on Monday that 48 journalists and media workers had been killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict since the Oct 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas and the subsequent Israeli offensive in Gaza. Queen Camilla hailed the FPAs efforts to promote and protect women throughout its long history, and noted the organisations efforts to provide specialised training for women to deal with disruptive and abusive behaviour from members of the public. Last year, a global study detailed the extent of online abuse and harassment faced by women in the industry, calling it a crisis that had led to female reporters being threatened and murdered. The three-year survey by the International Centre for Journalists and the University of Sheffield, involving more than 1,000 women from 15 countries, found the majority had suffered from online violence. The Queen meets guests at the ceremony - Jonathan Brady/PA In her speech, the Queen also thanked journalists for covering and raising awareness of global domestic and sexual abuse against women, a cause that she has made one of her key campaigning issues. The FPA grew out of the need to reveal and condemn violence against women and this remains a key part of journalism today, she said. You have the ability to break the corrosive silence that frequently surrounds abuse. You bring into the open the voices of victims, you break taboos, you shine a light on these heinous crimes and you guide the public on what they can do to help. The Queen also used her speech to highlight that rape and sexual abuse continue to be a pervasive and all-too-often hidden feature of conflict zones the world over. She also reiterated her staunch support of true freedom of expression as she initially pledged in a speech at the London Press Club Awards in 2011, when she was Duchess of Cornwall. Despite the countless stories about her over decades of coverage, the Queen again described freedom of expression as being at the heart of our democratic system and said she was following in the footsteps of her husband, King Charles, who also made a keynote speech at the FPA annual awards ceremony as Prince of Wales in 2008. The FPA was founded in 1888 to help journalists from across the globe report on events in Britain. 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 Ford Mustang aficionado remains on the run in Florida after being involved in a street race that sent a competitor flying out of his Corvette, according to Florida investigators. The crash happened around 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18, south of Ocala, and involved a third car driven by a 78-year-old woman, the Florida Highway Patrol reports. She and her 82-year-old passenger were not injured, officials said in an incident report. Investigators say the Mustang and a 2016 Chevrolet Corvette were seen traveling at a high rate of speed on State Road 200 and making multiple lane changes in a reckless manner. Their competition came to a halt when the Corvette collided with a 2016 Toyota Prius on State Road 200, sending the Prius into the median, officials said. After the initial collision (the Corvette) traveled in a northwesterly direction off the roadway where it struck a utility pole and then a tree, officials said. The driver of the Mustang then concealed his vehicle behind a local business prior to briefly checking the status of (the Corvette) driver ... who had been ejected. The Mustang driver then fled the scene, officials said. Investigators say the Corvette driver is a 38-year-old man and his injuries are serious. Photos of the suspected Mustang driver showed him to be a heavy-set white male with arm tattoos and a beard, officials said. The Mustang was a newer model, potentially a 2020-2023 model, silver in color with tinted windows, officials said. Anyone with information about the driver or vehicle is asked to contact the FHP communications center at 1-800-387-1290. Ocala is about 80 miles northwest of Orlando. Man runs over 86-year-old father multiple times in bar parking lot, Florida cops say 7-year-old dies after being hit with golf cart driven by 3-year-old, Florida cops say Video shows dramatic crash after suspect gets stuck in loop of Florida cul-de-sacs Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited the United States Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters in Hawaii on Monday (Philippine Time), where he was expected to have a capability orientation amid escalating conflict in the West Philippine Sea. In a Facebook video posted earlier this morning, the chief executive could be seen arriving and meeting with US security officers, led by Commander Admiral John Aquilino. According to Malacanang, the visit, which marks his last stop for this months US trip before flying home, was part of Marcos working visit to Honolulu, Hawaii. The Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters is Americas oldest and largest combatant command, with more than 380,000 personnel. The Command oversees all US military activities in the Indo-Pacific region, which includes 36 nations, 14 time zones and more than 50 percent of the global population, the Palace said. In an earlier statement, Malacanang said Marcos would have a capability orientation for the West Philippine Sea Support. He would also have a roundtable discussion at the Daniel Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. Marcos visit came amid Chinas increasing aggression in the disputed waters, with the former using a water cannon anew against a Philippine vessel conducting a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal. Last Friday, the president said he would discuss measures to prevent the further escalation of tensions in the West Philippine Sea with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Marcos is expected to return to the Philippines tonight after participating in the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco, California. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) President Ferdinand Marcos said the conflict in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is now more dire, which has prompted his administration to boost ties with more countries, especially the United States. The chief executive said on Monday (Philippine time) that the Philippines main and only treaty partner is the US. But Marcos said that his administration has been also beefing up its cooperation with neighboring countries, as he rejected anew the old thinking wherein a nation has to choose whether to side with the US or other military powerhouses. The increasing tensions in the West Philippine Sea require that we partner with our allies and our friends around the world to be able to come to some kind of resolution and maintain peace, he said during The Daniel K. Inouye Speaker Series in Hawaii. Marcos also said that the Philippines is increasing its capabilities to address security challenges involving outside forces, which now become more often. Unfortunately, I cannot report that the situation is improving. The situation has become more dire than it was before, he said. Just this month alone, China fired a water cannon anew to harass a Philippine vessel en route to a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal. China has sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea. It is something, in our view, the more allies we find to speak up whenever such incursions occur, incident or events occur, the stronger the voice will be, he said. Earlier today, Marcos visited the US Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters, Americas oldest and largest combatant command, with more than 380,000 personnel. He is set to return to the Philippines on Monday night from the US. President Biden and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, paid their respects to former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 96, saying in a joint statement that Carter [inspired] a nation. First Lady Rosalynn Carter walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way, the Bidens said in a joint statement Sunday, noting the accomplishments Carter achieved through her decades of work as a humanitarian. Throughout her incredible life as First Lady of Georgia and the First Lady of the United States, Rosalynn did so much to address many of societys greatest needs, the Bidens said. She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities. Best Black Friday Deals The first couple also noted the deep love Carter shared with her husband, former President Carter, saying their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism, and they added that Carter lived her life by her faith. Time and time again, during the more than four decades of our friendship through rigors of campaigns, through the darkness of deep and profound loss we always felt the hope, warmth, and optimism of Rosalynn Carter, the Bidens added. She will always be in our hearts. On behalf of a grateful nation, we send our love to President Carter, the entire Carter family, and the countless people across our nation and the world whose lives are better, fuller, and brighter because of the life and legacy of Rosalynn Carter, the first couple concluded in their statement. May God bless our dear friend. May God bless a great American. The Carter Center, a human rights nonprofit organization founded by Carter and her husband, announced Sunday afternoon that the former first lady passed away just after 2 p.m. Sunday at her home in Plains, Ga. Carter, who was married to her husband for 77 years, was placed in hospice care two days ago. Talking to reporters in Norfolk, Va., Biden said that his family, including children and grandchildren, are with the former president, adding that he had been the first U.S. senator to endorse Carter. I was the first person to endorse him as a U.S. senator when he ran. But he had this great integrity, he still does, and she did, too, Biden told the reporters pool. Imagine, they were together, what, 77 years? For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. ATLANTA - Former first lady Rosalynn Carter was as much a towering figure of global advocacy as her husband, former President Jimmy Carter. A big part of that legacy will be her five decades of championing the education, understanding, and normalizing of mental health and substance abuse treatment. Carter began her advocacy in 1971 while her husband was the Georgia governor, serving as a member of the Governors Commission to Improve Services for Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped Georgians. In May 1979, Rosalynn Carter gave her first address to the World Health Organization, stating that health is a human right and calling attention to mental health as a crucial component of a person's overall well-being. During her time in the White House, Carter continued her fight, spearheading the passage of landmark legislation on mental health care policy. She testified before Congress, pushing for the passage of the Mental Health Systems Act, which her husband signed into law in October 1980. The law outlined rights for mental health patients to receive the protection and services they require and placed emphasis on the mental health needs of minority communities. While in the national spotlight, Carter served as a lifelong champion for those suffering from mental illness, breaking down stigmas that keep many from getting help. First Lady Rosalynn Carter testifies before Congress about increasing the funding for certain mental health programs. Washington DC , February 7, 1979. (Photo by CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) (Getty Images) "I wanted to take mental illness and emotional disorders out of the closet to let people know that it is all right to admit having a problem without fear of being called crazy," she said. "If only we could consider mental illnesses as straightforwardly as we do physical illnesses, those affected could seek help and be treated in an open and effective way." Carter spent decades fighting to get people with mental illness the same health insurance coverage as those with other conditions. "It can be diagnosed, it can be treated, and almost everyone suffering from mental illness can be helped," she said. She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husbands campaign for Georgia governor. "I used to come home and say to Jimmy, Why are people telling me their problems? And he said, Because you may be the only person theyll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them," she explained. She established the Carter Center Mental Health Program in 1991 and later launched the Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, which addresses mental health policy issues in Georgia. In 2018, Rosalynn Carter led the program to launch a school-based initiative to increase access to mental health services in schools. In May 2021, she was honored by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros, recognizing "lifetime achievement with an Award for Global Health. Carter was one of three people honored during the ceremony. Her grandson, Jason J. Carter, who is the Carter Center Board of Trustees Chairperson, received the award on her behalf, reading a letter his grandmother wrote: "The Director-Generals award for global health is especially meaningful to me in light of the Carter Centers long partnership with WHO to eradicate debilitating neglected tropical diseases and to promote the inclusion of mental health as an integral part of overall well-being," Jason Carter read. "My hope is that this is the moment when all nations will make behavioral health a priority and create quality systems of care that are equitably delivered. Ive been waiting a long time to see this happen. I urge all of you attending to use your influence and talent to ensure that it does." ALL ROSALYNN CARTER STORIES Rosalynn Carter died in Plains, Georgia at the age of 96, surrounded by her family. She will forever be remembered as one of the loudest voices in mental health advocacy. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Last month, one of Jimmy Carter's closest aides was marveling at how the 99-year-old former president was still hanging on to life, eight months after announcing he entered hospice care. "I think he doesn't want to die until Rosalynn does," the aide told me. That was not a medical diagnosis, to be sure, but it was a commentary on what was not only the longest presidential marriage but one of the closest partnerships in the history of the White House. Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday, kept the books when her husband left the Navy to take over his father's struggling peanut business in their hometown of Plains, Georgia. She was his sounding board when he jumped into politics and ran for governor of the Peach State, first losing in 1966 and then winning in 1970. Jimmy Carter gets a hug from his wife Rosalynn Carter after the third Presidential debate on Oct. 22, 1976 in Williamsburg, Virginia. Six years later, when the man mocked as "Jimmy Who?" managed to oust a sitting president, Gerald Ford, Rosalynn Carter defined her own distinctive role as first lady. She was more politically engaged than predecessors Bess Truman and Mamie Eisenhower, and she eschewed the high fashion and culture role that Jackie Kennedy had embraced. She wore to the presidential balls the same blue gown she had worn to the gubernatorial inaugural celebrations. Rosalynn Carter was the first presidential spouse to take an office of her own in the White House; every successor would do the same. To the chagrin of some in the punditry, she showed up for some Cabinet meetings, sitting along a wall and taking notes. She adopted mental health as her signature issue and led the White House Conference on Aging. She testified before Congress something no first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt had done and pressed for legislation. As a reporter for Newsday, I covered her trip to Southeast Asia in November 1979, where she visited refugee camps in Thailand that had been overwhelmed by thousands of Cambodian refugees. At one point, she paused to hold an emaciated baby as she spoke to his desperate mother. The photograph made headlines around the world and brought attention to their plight. Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter in 2018 as they work with other volunteers of Habitat for Humanity in Mishawaka, Ind. A few months later, I traveled with her on more pedestrian matters as she campaigned on the West Coast for her husband's embattled reelection bid. She wasn't a great orator, and she was too painfully shy to be much of a pol, at least in public. Her reserved manner made her a tough interview subject for reporters but it may have protected her from some of the hackles raised when Hillary Clinton took on a central and much more public political role in the future presidency of her husband, Bill Clinton. Even so, the word in Carter's circles was that Rosalynn had sharper political instincts than Jimmy did, and she acknowledged that she took his landslide loss to Ronald Reagan in 1980 harder. "I don't like to lose," she wrote in her memoir, First Lady From Plains, published four years later. After they left the White House in 1981, the Carters co-founded the Carter Center in Atlanta, embarking on decades of efforts to promote democracy and eradicate disease. They helped build houses in the United States and abroad for the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity. And she never stopped trying to reduce the stigma of mental illness a cause the Carter Center underscored six months ago. She had dementia, its written statement revealed, expressing hope that the disclosure might prompt more open conversations in other families, too. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rosalynn and Jimmy: Political partnership redefined first lady's role Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rejected any talk of Vice President Sara Duterte's ouster, saying he does not want her out and she doesnt deserve to be impeached. Binabantayan namin nang mabuti [We are monitoring that closely] because we dont want her to be impeached. We dont want her toshe does not deserve to be impeached. So, we will make sure that this is something that we will pay very close attention to, President Marcos said at a briefing with the media in Hawaii on Monday (PH time). Marcos added impeachment calls against government officials were not new. So, I guess, a continuing evolution of that thinking na basta ayaw namin diyan, tanggalin natin, i-impeach natin. Well, meron naman sigurong dahilan kung hindi lang ayaw sa amin. Thats not a reason to be impeached, he added. [Translation: So, I guess, a continuing evolution of that thinking that if we don't like that person, we'll remove them, we'll have them impeached. Well, there must be a reason other than they don't like us. That's not a reason to be impeached.] Talk of impeaching Duterte floated amid discussions in Congress about her office's confidential funds. ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro denied there was any move to oust the vice president, however she did say she would find ways to hold Duterte accountable. The president also denied that there were cracks emerging in the UniTeam, adding people only had to look at political developments to see that this was not true. RELATED: Romualdez: Uniteam still intact despite House row with Dutertes He added he had a good relationship with Duterte, saying he has received good feedback on her work at the Department of Education Duterte, meanwhile, said she believes she still had the trust of Marcos, adding he knew about talks of her impeachment. Duterte said she is looking into rumors about the possible filing of an impeachment complaint against her. "We are currently doing our due diligence on this one. We will release a comment on the appropriate time," Duterte said. Marcos is on the last leg of his six-day US trip which began in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. He met with several Filipino communities over several days and thanked Filipinos for trusting and voting for him and Duterte during the elections. "From the bottom of my heart, I must say thank you for believing in this leadership. In return, I and my administration will be hard at work, and have been hard at work, from day one to ensure that we accomplish all that we have set out to do, he said at Sunday's meeting (PH time) with Filipinos in Honolulu. Earlier, House Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe said it would be difficult to gain support for an impeachment complaint against Duterte without substantial evidence. He added the issue only intends to cause a rift between the vice president and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. FILE PHOTO: Moldovan President Maia Sandu speaks at the USAID "Democracy Delivers" event at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, in New York City (Reuters) - Russia barred entry to a number of officials from Moldova on Monday and complained about moves by its pro-European government to block Russian media outlets ahead of local elections earlier this month. The moves were the latest in a series of acerbic exchanges between the two sides and allegations by Moldova that Russia has been exerting pressure on the ex-Soviet state's affairs and President Maia Sandu's drive to join the European Union. A Russian foreign ministry statement said Moldovan Ambassador Lilian Darie was summoned to be told of the decision. "The Moldovan side was presented with a decisive protest in connection with the continuing politically motivated persecution of Russian media in Moldova, including the blocking of access to their Internet sites," a ministry statement said. It said the ambassador was told that Moscow was taking an "assymetrical measure" to bar entry to a number of Moldovan officials, but gave no further details. Moldovan foreign ministry spokesperson Igor Zaharov told Moldova-1 television that the government stood by protecting its media from interference regardless of Moscow's moves. "...We are committed to continuing our defence of our information space from any outside interference and uphold our firm position against disinformation, hybrid attacks and attempts to destabilise the situation in Moldova," Zaharov said. Moldovan news outlet newsmaker.md said the Russian list barred 11 parliamentarians -- all members of Sandu's pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity. Ahead of the election, Moldova suspended licences and barred access to 30 media sites - some based in Russia, others in Moldova - on grounds of spreading disinformation. Sandu has denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine and accused Moscow of trying to remove her in a coup. Russia denies the allegations and says Sandu is infusing an anti-Russian atmosphere in the country. (Reporting by Reuters and by Alexander Tanas in Chisinau, Editing by Ron Popeski and Sandra Maler) The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has waved away accusations of extremism concerning controversial remarks by Margarita Simonyan, chief editor of the propagandist channel Russia Today, regarding a proposed nuclear explosion over Siberia. Read also: Russian propaganda chief Simonyan claims Ukrainian drone downed near her Moscow Oblast residence Yevgeny Stupin, a deputy of the Moscow City Duma, shared the ministrys response on Twitter, stating that Russian law enforcement found no grounds for action under the federal law On Countering Extremist Activity. Read also: SBU charges Russian propagandist who called for concentration camps and genocide of Ukrainians In a video published at the beginning of October, Simonyan suggested staging a nuclear explosion over Siberia in defiance of the West. Despite the alarming nature of the proposal, the Ministry of Internal Affairs found no basis for a response, saying Simonyans remarks were in compliance with legal standards. Read also: Russian propagandist Simonyan mixes up sex toy with explosives Simonyans assertion during the video was explicit: If we do it hundreds of kilometers away, on our own territory, somewhere over Siberia, a thermonuclear explosion, for example... A nuclear explosion. Then nothing will remain on the earth. However, it was note clear from Simonyans remarks how such an explosion would ensure the Russian armys success in the war. Following the controversy, Nikolai Korolyov, an assistant to Stupin, contacted Russian law enforcement about Simonyan remarks. Notably, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin also distanced himself from Simonyans provocative statements. 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 Captured Russian soldiers in a prisoner-of-war camp in western Ukraine. Global Images Ukraine/ Getty Images Russia hasn't done a single prisoner-of-war exchange with Ukraine in months, the spokesperson for Ukraine's Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said. The last prisoner swap was on August 7, Yatsenko said. Yatsenko said that Ukraine "would gladly exchange" the Russians it holds captive. Russia has not done a single prisoner-of-war exchange with Ukraine since early August, Petro Yatsenko, the spokesperson for Ukraine's Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said. The last prisoner swap was on August 7, Yatsenko said in a recent interview, and involved 22 Ukrainian soldiers being sent home. "Since the summer, Russia has actually frozen exchanges," he said. "They do not occur to the extent that they did before." Yatsenko added that Ukraine is "ready to engage" with Russia and that "we now have many prisoners of war." He said that detention facilities in Ukraine are "filling up, and we don't need to hold these Russian prisoners of war at all. We would gladly exchange them even tomorrow for our defenders." The Times reported that as of November 17, 2,589 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been returned to Ukraine. However, the Institute for the Study of War said that it's unclear how many Ukrainian soldiers are being held captive in Russia and how many Russian soldiers are held captive by Ukraine. Yatsenko said in the November 17 interview that Ukrainian prisoners held captive by Russia are facing "significantly worse" conditions under detention than Russian prisoners face in Ukrainian captivity. He also suggested that Russia's treatment of captured Ukrainian soldiers falls short of the conditions outlined in the Geneva Conventions. Yatsenko went on to say that Russia is "not interested in the fate of their own prisoners of war. For the Russian side, they are simply bargaining chips and meat for artillery." Read the original article on Business Insider The Russian military is suffering significant losses on the leftbank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, head of planning for the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) Headquarters, Col. Janno Mark, said on Nov. 20, as reported by public broadcaster ERR. Read also: Russian occupiers unable to provide winter heating in Kherson Oblast, says NRC Mark mentioned that Ukrainian troops had advanced approximately 2 to 3 kilometers in a 30-kilometer area northeast of Kherson and around 4 kilometers southeast of the city. The immediate objective of this operation is to push the Russian Federation forces out so that they do not extend their artillery systems to the city of Kherson and the surrounding settlements, said the officer. The 152mm artillery system, which is the one mainly used by the Russian troops, has an effective range of 25 kilometers. Mark added that Russian casualties are estimated at 3,500 military personnel wounded and killed over the last four weeks. Read also: Zelenskyy shares photos of Ukraines newly-won east bank bridgeheads in Kherson Oblast And that has already forced the Russian command to redirect units from other fronts to this area, he said. He also pointed out that the losses on the Ukrainian side are also high, but significantly lower than those of Russia. Read also: Kherson Oblast rocked by major Russian shelling attack, four injured Obviously, the losses on the Ukrainian side are high and on the Russian side they are much higher, Mark adds. It is the attacking side that has suffered the greatest losses. And that is partly down to the choice of tactics. The armed forces of the Russian Federation do not count human lives, while for the Ukrainian forces, human life is very important. 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 Russian mortar attack in the village of Seredyna-Buda in Sumy Oblast resulted in the death of a 51-year-old man, the Sumy Regional Prosecutor's Office reported on Nov. 19. Russian forces reportedly launched mortar attacks on civilian infrastructure in Seredyna-Buda, including the home of a 51-year-old man. The man was killed in his home as a result of the shelling. The village lies on the border with Bryansk Oblast in Russia. Local officials are investigating possible violations of the laws of war combined with premeditated murder. Russian forces also targeted six other communities in the Sumy region on Nov. 19, including Yunakivka, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Shalyhyne, Esman, and Znob-Novhorodske. More than 130 explosions were recorded. The communities were attacked with a number of different weapons, including mortar and drone attacks, artillery, and mines. Shelling is a near-daily occurrence for the communities near Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia. Residents in the region's vulnerable border settlements experience multiple attacks per day. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky replaces Medical Forces Commander Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past 24 hours killed three people and wounded nine, including a child, regional authorities reported. Russia targeted a total of nine Ukrainian oblasts Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy. Casualties were reported in the latter three regions. Russian forces hit a transport facility in Kherson on the morning of Nov. 20, killing two drivers and injuring one person, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. A residential building and vehicles were damaged, he said. Russian attacks against Kherson Oblast in the previous 24 hours wounded six people, including a child, according to Prokudin. Russian troops reportedly launched 51 strikes against the southern region, using mortars, artillery, Grad multiple-launch rocket systems, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-aircraft guns, tanks, drones, and aviation. A Russian mortar attack in the village of Seredyna-Buda in Sumy Oblast on Nov. 19 resulted in the death of a 51-year-old man, the Sumy Oblast Prosecutor's Office wrote. Russian forces targeted three districts in Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv Oblast in the past day, injuring two male civilians aged 53 and 74 in the village of Vilcha, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram. The attacks damaged at least three houses, outbuildings, an infrastructure facility, and agricultural equipment, according to Syniehubov. Read also: Bulgarias Soviet stockpiles and large defense industry may be key to Ukraines success Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Video has emerged showing the apparent use of guided standoff cluster bombs by Russian forces in Ukraine. While both Kyiv and Moscow have previously used different kinds of cluster munitions in the conflict, Russian media and military bloggers state that this is the first large-scale use of these weapons with guidance packages and wing kits, since the start of the war. https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1726177933386203140 The video in question was apparently first published yesterday by the Voin-DV channel, on the Telegram messaging app. The footage was reportedly taken near Staromaiorske, a village in the Donetsk region, in southeastern Ukraine. Providing several angles, taken from drones, the video shows multiple flashes above a field, including in a long string, apparently abreast a treeline, after which plumes of smoke rise from the detonating munitions. While we cannot confirm it, the appearance is certainly consistent with air-launched cluster bombs, including the Russian RBK-500. The most popular RBK-500U version of this weapon was introduced by the Soviet Union in the late 1980s as a single-use cluster bomb and it can be loaded with various types of submunitions. The bomb has a length of 8 feet 2 inches and a diameter of just under 18 inches. A mock-up of a standard RBK-500U cluster bomb. Vitaly V. Kuzmin The same channel provides the following caption: Exclusive: The footage shows the first mass use of the RBK-500 in this armed conflict in the Staromaiorske area. We will not publish more detailed data yet, but if I were the Khokhli [a derogative term for Ukrainians], I would start getting used to living underground. According to the Russian news website Gazeta.ru, the RBK-500 cluster bombs were indeed employed against Ukrainian Armed Forces positions, although the same source says that the Russian Ministry of Defense has not confirmed the use of this kind of weapon. More details were provided by the usually well-informed Russian-military-affiliated Fighterbomber channel, also on Telegram, including references to the novel long-range precision guidance modification. Fighterbomber claims that, following earlier tests, Russia has now begun the practical application of RBK-500 cluster bombs fitted with guided wing kits. Officially designated UMPK, or Unifitsirovannyi Modul Planirovaniya i Korrektsii, meaning unified gliding and correction module, standoff guidance kits for existing bombs began to appear in the conflict around the start of this year . You can read about them in detail here . The first known photo of a Russian glide bomb kit based on a FAB-500M-62 bomb. The same wing kit and guidance module may now have been fitted to cluster bombs. via Telegram Via Twitter Of course, this is not the first use of cluster bombs in the [war in Ukraine], but it is definitely the first video showing the use of the UMPK with RBKs, Fighterbomber adds. The account continues: It is especially pleasing that the designers who developed the UMPK make improvements and enhancements to their product almost daily, which allows the bombs to fly farther, making them more accurate and reliable. In parallel, the aircraft software is being finalized, which will allow the launch of the bombs from all kinds of maneuvers. Fighterbomber claims that the UMPK versions of the RBK-500s seen in the video were loaded with ShOAB-0.5M submunitions. The 0.5 in this designation indicates the nominal weight of the submunition, in this case 0.5 kilograms, or 1.1 pounds. A single RBK-500 normally carries 565 of these submunitions. ShOAB, or Sharikovaya Oskolochnaya Aviatsionnaya Bomba, means pellet fragmentation aerial bomb. Examples of the ShOAB-0.5 series can be seen in the tweets embedded below. https://www.twitter.com/blueboy1969/status/1648930923801354242?s=20 https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/833068825578962946 The spherical ShOAB-0.5M is a high-explosive anti-personnel weapon and is armed by centrifugal force. Once it leaves its container, the airflow acts on flutes around the submunition, imparting a spin, which arms the fuze. As it impacts the ground, the spinning stops, triggering the detonation. On detonation, each ShOAB-0.5M disperses approximately 304 steel balls. Fighterbomber further notes that the submunitions fall from the RBK-500 in a characteristic pattern, and detonate in a distinctive bagel shape, the size of which can be adjusted depending on the altitude of the release as well as the timing on the fuze. This source notes that at least two of these bombs are normally dropped in quick succession, to ensure better coverage. Interestingly, Fighterbomber notes that, currently, each combat aircraft is only able to carry two examples of the UMPK series, which is a waste of the resource of the airplanes, engines, and [] flight and engineering staff. The account suggests that effort should be made to increase the payload to four of these bombs per aircraft. https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1681963703464337414 Essentially, the RBK-500 and ShOAB-0.5M combination creates a lethal cloud of shrapnel and explosives that blanket the ground. The weapon is considered highly effective against personnel and soft targets. For Russia, which is an enthusiastic operator of cluster munitions (despite official protestations to the contrary), it would be a logical choice for fighting in the east of Ukraine, especially, with its extensive networks of trenches. While Fighterbomber suggests that the development of the standoff, guided cluster bomb is a recent undertaking, there have also been previous Russian efforts in this direction. The PBK-500U had enlarged flight surfaces enabling it to glide a reported distance of 31 miles when dropped from an altitude of 32,00 feet. The bomb was controlled by inertial navigation with correction by a satellite positioning receiver. A PBK-500U SPBE-K cluster bomb (background) and an ODAB-500PMV thermobaric bomb (foreground). Vitaly V. Kuzmin https://www.twitter.com/Russian_Defence/status/903368615013089281?s=20 Its not clear if the weapon apparently used near Staromaiorske is directly related to the PBK-500U, or if its a more ad-hoc adaptation that adds a wing kit and guidance package to a standard bomb body, as we have seen with previous Russian glide bombs in this conflict. Either way, this solution ensures that the launch aircraft can drop these weapons outside the most dangerous engagement zones of many of Ukraines air defenses, giving them a degree of survivability that is otherwise only possible by using much more expensive precision standoff weaponry. With more advanced Western air defense equipment now in Ukrainian hands, such concerns only become more urgent on the part of the Russians. Since the appearance of the first Russian glide bombs, there have been repeated statements from Ukrainian officials confirming how difficult it is to intercept these weapons, which have been described as almost impossible to shoot down. Thanks to the guidance kit on the UMPK, which uses satellite navigation , the weapon should still reach its target with a degree of accuracy. Ukraine, while not known to possess anything similar to the RBK-500/UMPK, has also made use of cluster munitions, including those supplied by Western nations. https://twitter.com/Flash_news_ua/status/1681991257277575168 At one point in the war, the provision of these kinds of weapons to Ukraine seemed unlikely. However, the first of many thousands of cluster artillery shells from U.S. stocks began to arrive in Ukraine in July after a prolonged period of internal debate within the Biden administration. The shells were seen as a way to significantly boost 155mm artillery ammunition stocks to support the Ukrainian counteroffensive as well as to bring new effects to the battlefield in an attempt to break fortified Russian lines. Ukrainian use of cluster munitions has, reportedly, been extremely effective. They are super efficient, one Ukrainian marine told The New York Times in September. When our guys see how we use them against the enemy, their spirits soar. Ukrainian spirits have no doubt been raised higher still by the arrival of the U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile System short-range ballistic missile, or ATACMS, which Ukraine apparently first used in combat last month. Fitted with cluster-munition warheads, these missiles brought significant destruction to two airfields in Russian-occupied Crimea, as you can read about here . https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1714258740684157116 With ATACMS now able to deliver cluster munitions ( and possibly other warheads ) at truly standoff ranges for Ukraine, the latest Russian development may be intended as a response to this powerful new capability. Even President Vladimir Putin has voiced some alarm at the appearance of ATACMS on the battlefield, stating as much last month: War is war, Putin said. And, of course, I have said that [ATACMS] pose a threat. It goes without saying. For its part, Moscow has said that it does not use cluster munitions in Ukraine, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. A member of the Ukrainian police collects and disposes the remains of a Russian RBK-500 cluster bomb together with the PTAB-1M anti-tank cluster bomblets it contained. This was found in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine on May 11, 2022. National Police of Ukraine In August, during the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security , Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu said that the Russian Armed Forces do not use cluster munitions, but that, at any moment the decision can be reconsidered. At the same time, Shoigu criticized Ukraine for using its own cluster weapons while not facing condemnation from humanitarian organizations. At the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said : I want to look at this from a perspective of fairness. He added: Russias constantly using cluster munitions on our territory, and theyre fighting only on our land. Theyre killing our people. In 2010, the Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force, prohibiting the use, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions that disperse explosive submunitions weighing less than 20 kilograms (44 pounds). This would include the RBK-500 when loaded with ShOAB-0.5M submunitions, but since neither Russia nor Ukraine ever ratified the convention, the point is superfluous. With that in mind, we are likely to see the use of cluster munitions of different kinds by both sides in the conflict. Adapting the RBK-500 as a standoff glide bomb, meanwhile, is a very logical development based on Russian tactics and technologies employed in the war so far. Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) An additional 500 million to the proposed 2024 budget of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) hurdled the Senate plenary on Monday as the poll body sought more funding to prepare for the 2025 midterm elections. Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel said the House of Representatives, in its final version of the budget bill, allocated 27.1 billion for the poll body. It was lower than the 27.3 billion under the 2024 National Expenditure Program, but the agency actually proposed 43.9 billion during the budget call, Pimentel added. According to the Senate committee report, the Comelec has been allocated 27.6 billion as its spending plan next year. "Ang talagang hinihingi nila...in the preparation for 2025 (elections), 'yong 5.96 billion man lang i-restore," said Sen. Imee Marcos, the Comelec's budget sponsor. "Those are (for) the procurement of materials, the IT systems, and so on. They are praying that this be reconsidered." Marcos said the 500 million increase given by the Senate committee will be for the procurement of supplies, materials, and forms amounting to 400 million and warehousing of automated counting machines estimated at 100 million. Comelec officials, through Marcos, said 39.68 billion is the estimated cost to hold the 2025 midterm polls. Of the overall amount, 22.9 billion is pegged to be spent for preparations starting next year. It would cover expenses for supplies, materials, utilities, communications, professional services, and ICT machinery among others, she said. The senator also said 19.8 billion would be set aside for the lease of automated counting machines or approximately 155,000 per machine, with contingencies of 11,613 units. "That's why lease without option to purchase is being recommended because with all the expenses that we've made in the past, hindi na sila magamit, di na updated, mas maigi upahan na lang kada election," she said. [Translation: That's why lease without option to purchase is being recommended because with all the expenses that we've made in the past, we cannot use them because they are not updated, it's better to lease the machines every election.] Filipino voters will cast ballots twice in 2025. The Comelec will conduct the midterm polls in May, then the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in December. Marcos said the Comelec is projecting that the poll body would need as many as 116,000 automated counting machines for 71 million voters in 2025. (CNN) It should be the height of tourist season in Tiberias, an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee where the New Testament says many of Jesus miracles were performed. But instead of pilgrims, thousands of Israelis evacuated from communities close to the Lebanese border have arrived in Tiberias, swelling the citys population by 20% Mayor Boaz Yosef told CNN. He described the evacuation as the biggest movement of Israelis in decades. In the weeks since Hamas launched its attack on Israel, a low intensity conflict has been raging in the north of the country as crossfire between Israel and Lebanon-based militants becomes increasingly deadly. A Reuters journalist is among the civilians to have been killed on the Lebanese side of the border, and last Sunday an employee of an Israeli electric supplier was killed in a strike by an anti-tank missile in the Israeli border town of Dovev. Like its south, Israels northern border area has been emptying, after the Defense Ministry ordered the mandatory evacuation of more than 40 communities there in October. There are fears of a full-blown confrontation with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon that would open up a dangerous new front in the war. Several of Dovevs evacuees, who have been living in Tiberias for a month, told CNN that they may never be ready to return to their moshav (cooperative community). Dovev residents point to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who has repeatedly evoked a hypothetical scenario in which his fighters would conduct an incursion into northern Israel in case war erupted between Lebanon and Israel again. Hezbollah is one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East. The Iran-backed Islamist movement, which has its main base on the Israel-Lebanon border, has participated in several conflicts in the Middle East, including in Iraq and Syria. Border skirmishes between Israel and the group have escalated in the past two weeks with the cross-fire intensifying in frequency and depth of territory in the border region. From the basement of a hotel in Tiberias, where dozens of evacuated children were attending a makeshift lesson, Elana Pilveny told CNN that there was no way in hell I am going back. Her family is not taking any chances with Hamas ally in southern Lebanon after October 7, when Hamas massacred 1,200 people, many of whom were civilians. Whole new level of fear A quiet knitting circle in the hotel lobby, consisting of four cousins who have lived in Dovev for decades, belies the panic among the evacuees. I dont know how to function normally if I have to go back to Dovev, Shoshana Yakut, 77, told CNN from a hotel in Tiberias where she has lived for over a month. They have lived through the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, Israels invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and fight with Hezbollah in 2006. We never felt something so powerful, she said of the October 7 attacks. Not in 67, not in 73, or not in 82 and 2006 this is a whole new level of fear right now. Pilveny owns a small poultry farm in Dovev with her husband and said the electric companys worker who died last week was there to restore a powerline to the communitys chicken farms. Her husband has since asked Israels agricultural ministry to humanely slaughter their chickens, she said. From his office, looking over the azure Sea of Galilee, Tiberias mayor Yosef said more than 10,000 people have been evacuated to his city, filling up 35 hotels in the town which is 30 kilometers south of the border. He says residents have embraced the newcomers but the war has hurt the local tourism industry: Restaurants stand empty and boat tours are few and far between. The international community has been attempting to avert a wider regional war. But Yosef said he believes that to ensure the safety of Israel we must make war in Lebanon in order to dismantle Hezbollahs capabilities, citing the dangers of the groups estimated arsenal of 150,000 rockets and precision-guided munitions. If not, what happened in the south (of Israel) will happen in the north, he said, adding this was the view of other mayors in northern Israel. Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a warning to Hezbollah following a day of cross-border exchanges, saying: What were doing in Gaza can also be done in Beirut. We didnt use even 10% of the Air Forces capabilities in Gaza. Buffer zones At another hotel in Tiberias, 75-year-old veteran David Shenfer, who was evacuated from the town of Kiryat Shmona near the northern tip of Israel, said that while he cannot wait to return home but worries about the violence with Hezbollah. The ideal situation is a political solution where Hezbollah withdraws behind Lebanons Litani River, he said, citing a 2006 United Nations resolution that called for Hezbollah to not operate between the Israeli-Lebanese border and the river 13 miles (20km) to its north. Hezbollah continues to operate south of the river and Israel has routinely violated the resolution with territorial breaches through overflights in Lebanon. Absent a political agreement they are going to have to force Hezbollah to go north, Shenfer said. The 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War saw an attempt to create a buffer zone in that area, but the conflict ended with no clear victor or vanquished. Many parts of Lebanon were devastated, but Hezbollah foiled Israels ultimate plan to dismantle the group. The overwhelming worry among the evacuated is when they can make it home, or whether they will at all, and if not, what will be next? The spokesperson for Kibbutz Baram, one of 30 kibbutzim in the country that have stuck to a socialist model, said her main concern is what the war will do to their community model. Weve lost a lot of certainty we had before, Lea Raivitz said. Residents in her kibbutz put forward their entire net salary to the community and receive a monthly budget in return. As a result, we dont pay for the houses. We dont pay for the electricity. We dont pay for the water, health, healthcare, education, she said. After spending a month in a hotel, there is a fear some kibbutz members will move away. While she is determined to return to her hillside community, the prospect currently seems impossible, Raivitz said, explaining that Hezbollah militants have hoisted flags near a border fence close to the kibbutz. Its our home, were waiting for that moment (to return), but its difficult to even imagine. The Galaxy Leader cargo ship is escorted by Houthi boats in the Red Sea The Galaxy Leader cargo ship is escorted by Houthi boats in the Red Sea LONDON (Reuters) -The Galaxy Leader commercial ship was "illegally boarded by military personnel via a helicopter" on Nov. 19 and is now in the Hodeidah port area in Yemen, the vessels owner said on Monday. "All communications were subsequently lost with the vessel," Isle of Man registered Galaxy Maritime Ltd, owner of the pure car carrier Galaxy Leader, said in a statement. "The company, as a shipping concern, will not be commenting further on the political or geopolitical situation." Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis released video footage on Monday showing armed men dropping from a helicopter and seizing a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea. The United States denounced the ship's seizure as a breach of international law and demanded the immediate release of the vessels and its crew. "The Houthi seizure of the motor vessel Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea is a flagrant violation of international law," U.S. State Department spokeman Matthew Miller told a briefing. "We demand the immediate release of the ship and its crew and we will consult with our allies and U.N. partners as to appropriate next steps." The Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader's crew is made up of nationals from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico and Romania, Galaxy Maritime said. The vessel is chartered by Japan's Nippon Yusen. "Owners and managers believe the seizure of this vessel represents a gross violation of freedom of passage for the world fleet and a serious threat to international trade," Galaxy Maritime said. It added that the "key concern at this time is the safety and security of the 25 crew members currently being held by the perpetrators of this criminal act". (Reporting by Jonathan Saul; additional reporting by Jonathan Landay and Daphne Psaledakis from Washington; editing by Christina Fincher and David Gregorio) Washington, DC (CNN) Alana Zeitchik stood alone before a massive crowd that filled the National Mall. But she represented countless families in the US and around the world ripped apart by Hamas mass kidnappings and slaughter in Israel. I wake up each morning to remember this truth: My family is being held hostage by terrorists, Zeitchik told the crowd from a stage Tuesday at the March for Israel rally in Washington, DC. The march is believed to be the largest pro-Israel gathering in the US since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, which began last month when Hamas inflicted widespread carnage in Israel, slaughtering children, torching homes, kidnapping soldiers and civilians alike. Six of Zeitchiks family members have been held hostage by Hamas since October 7, when the militant group snatched them from their kibbutz. While the kibbutz was ravaged by Hamas, they hid in their bomb shelter for hours until it filled with smoke and they could not hide any longer, she said. Zeitchik joined thousands of demonstrators in supporting Israel, denouncing antisemitism and demanding Hamas release its hostages. And like several other speakers, she also expressed sympathy for innocent Palestinians suffering during the Israel-Hamas conflict. You dont have to choose Hamas launched a coordinated attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people and kidnapping about 200 hostages. The massacre in Israel coincided with rising reports of antisemitism in the US and other countries. Israel responded by launching airstrikes on Gaza targeting Hamas, which often uses civilians as human shields. Israels attacks have destroyed homes and schools and severed access to life-saving care as the death toll rises among Palestinian civilians in the densely populated Gaza Strip. More than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, drawing from sources in Hamas-controlled territory. A UNICEF spokesperson says figures from the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza have historically matched those from the international childrens humanitarian agency. But the world doesnt need to take sides and support only Israeli civilians or Palestinian civilians, Zeitchik said. For too many, it feels like to care about one family to love one child is to diminish the suffering of another, Zeitchik said. But the simple human truth is that you dont have to choose. You can abhor the suffering of Palestinian families and the suffering of Israeli families like mine. You can call for peace and the immediate return of the innocent men, women and children who were violently taken from us. It doesnt need to be political to share in my grief or in the anguish that the Israeli people are feeling. Actress and Jewish activist Debra Messing also emphasized her support for Israel, Jews around the world, and innocent Palestinians and Gazans. Those who hate us deny our humanity and our right to exist, Messing told the crowd. No matter. We know who we are. We know that even in especially in darkness, we stand united, proud, resolute. We will worry for our global Jewish family and also hurt for the innocent Palestinians used as human shields by Hamas, Messing said. We will work to eviscerate Hamas and also pray for a free and flourishing Gaza. She also called for Hamas release of hostages. We will remember and work for the release of the 240 hostages as well as for the safety of the 2.2 million Gazans also held hostage by Hamas, Messing said. We will pray for the success of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) in a war Israel did not start and did not want, but a war Israel will win because we must. Messages of unity at the rally spanned continents and political parties. Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the crowd through a live video feed. Despite the thousands of miles separating them, Herzog told demonstrators they are united to march for the babies, the boys and girls, women and men viciously held hostage by Hamas; to march for the right of every Jew to live proudly and safely in America, in Israel and all around the world. Herzog also thanked President Joe Biden, his administration and so many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle for their support of Israel. Congressional leaders from both parties found common ground at the rally. Democrats Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries proclaimed steadfast support for Israel, as did new Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. We are here today as Republicans and Democrats to assure you that we will not shrink back and shudder in fear, Ernst told the crowd. A mother agonizes over an American-Israeli soldier held hostage by Hamas IDF soldier Omer Neutra had a comfortable childhood growing up in Long Island, New York. The optimistic and people-loving person was always smiling and made friends wherever he went, his mother Orna Neutra said at the rally Tuesday. After graduating high school, he decided to take a gap year in Israel to connect with his roots, his mother said. As a descendant of Holocaust survivors on both sides, he understood the importance of a strong Israel. So being the person that he is, he made the decision to join his new friends and serve in the IDF and protect the country. But her sons mission led to his capture by Hamas. Omer born one month after 9/11 celebrated his 22nd birthday only a few weeks ago, captive by Hamas, his mother said. She gave her son a poignant message from across the world: From a place of deep pain, we hold strong for you, Omer, Orna Neutra said. Omer Neutras high school friend Sara Blau also attended the rally, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with his photo. We were very good friends, said Blau, now a student at the University of Maryland. Everyone loves him. Hes funny. Hes kind, charismatic. Hes a natural-born leader and everyones being impacted really heavily by this. Blau said she wanted to join the march to show my support for Israel. Im a proud Zionist, a proud Jew and I wanted to be here to support my community. American support for Israel is critical, said Eric D. Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America one of the organizers of the March for Israel. On October 7th, merciless Hamas terrorists launched the deadliest attack on Israel in its 75-year history, brutally murdering the most Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust, Fingerhut said in a statement. The US remains in a heightened threat environment The Department of Homeland Security deemed the march a Level 1 security event the highest possible level after considering national importance, potential threats and the resources needed to ensure public safety, law enforcement sources said. Such intense security was unprecedented for a march or protest in Washington, said Donell Harvin, a former DC chief of homeland security and intelligence. There has never been a First Amendment event in DC that has been designated as a Level 1 event, Harvin told CNN. Those designations are reserved for high-profile events such as the Super Bowl, and World Series. The Level 1 designation allows the federal government to fill possible gaps in local security, including explosive detection, cyber risk assessments and venue screening. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said the National Guard was deployed to assist local police. The U.S. remains in a heightened threat environment and recent events reinforce that, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CNN in an email. As the Israel-Hamas conflict continues, we have seen an increase in reports of threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities and institutions, the DHS official said. Lone offenders, motivated by a range of violent ideologies, pose the most likely threat. We urge the public to stay vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activity to their local law enforcement. Tuesdays march followed other protests have denounced Israels airstrikes in Gaza. Some Jewish activists are among those calling for a ceasefire to prevent more civilian deaths. Just blocks away from the site of Tuesdays march, throngs of demonstrators recently gathered at Freedom Plaza in Washington to support Palestinian civilians and demand a ceasefire. While many have called for a humanitarian pause in fighting so Palestinian civilians can be moved to safety, Israel has firmly rejected the idea as long as Hamas keeps holding hostages. But Israel has agreed to four-hour, daily pauses in military operations in Gaza to allow for evacuations. John Rockefeller, the worlds first billionaire, once said hed rather hire someone with enthusiasm than a know-it-all. Its a view many bosses today will no doubt share as they groan about staff refusing to venture away from their living rooms. Its hard to believe someone has much passion for their job when the suspicion is that they are spending their working day holding meetings in their pyjamas and unloading the dishwasher. Well, who cares, many argue why not make life a little bit easier? Whats wrong with a midday bath and some laundry chores if the day job is getting done? It seems a fair point: Why waste all that time commuting just to show face? We all know now that most office jobs can easily be done at home. Modern labour consists mainly of endless emails and meetings, both of which can be done remotely thanks to modern technology. But the unspoken reality is that this isnt doing much good for anyone. Like many things, home working can only really be enjoyed in small doses. But this comfortable habit is hard to kick and is becoming a form of self-sabotage for those who refuse to leave the house all week. Of course, it is human nature to go for the easier route. But everything comes at a cost. Britons work from home more than any other comparable economy but are still wildly unhappy. Nine in ten British workers lack enthusiasm for their jobs, a Gallup survey found this summer. Remote working was supposed to eradicate much of that misery, but instead it has proved to be lonely and a bit boring. A study published last week found that sustained isolation is eroding peoples energy levels and increasing their risk of illnesses like depression, heart disease and dementia. Spending time with others has all sorts of health benefits, the researchers argued, including boosting our immune system and perceptions of stress. Spending the entire working week at home means worlds become smaller. Remote workers tend to talk to the same eight to 10 people often, but miss out on other interactions with those outside their immediate circle, points out Octavius Black of MindGym, the consultancy which co-wrote the report. That matters because people who have disparate connections with more diverse people are physically and mentally healthier than those that are not, he explains. Young people in particular are missing out on these interactions as many find themselves starting their careers either tapping away at home or in near-empty offices. Senior leaders have cottoned on to the long-term damaging effects of this trend. Managers are being told to think about the effect of their absence from the office on colleagues around them when deciding where they work. Senior civil servants were last week told to be at their desks more than 60pc of the time so that they have more face-to-face contact with their junior colleagues. Isolation is not the only issue affecting those only interacting online. They are also at risk of being passed over for promotion, a phenomenon that some have started to call the Zoom ceiling. Amazon has put its foot down, stating that it will block promotions for those who fail to show up three days a week. Three quarters of employers have admitted that home workers are less likely to get salary increases and career boosts than those who spend more time in the office, according to a survey done over the summer. While home working might save staff from blowing their salary on trains, coffees and lunches (which have skyrocketed since lockdowns a simple Pret egg mayo sandwich that cost 1.99 at the start of the pandemic now costs 3.25), the long-term impact on their earnings could be huge. In the City, where management consultants are preparing to slash jobs, those who havent been coming in without good reason are likely to find themselves vulnerable. Frustrated bosses will no doubt prioritise the colleagues who turn up to the office, especially if theyre in an industry where home working is proving detrimental to business. And there lies the rub: this is about more than simply cosmetic frustration with absenteeism. Working from home is in some cases damaging business. A top planning chief last week told MPs that staff working remotely had caused major delays to a range of infrastructure projects, including HS2. When you had designers in one office all working collaboratively together, the durations were fairly normal, Nick Smallwood, the head of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), told the Treasury select committee. What we have seen post-pandemic is a nine to 12-month extension of those durations. He pointed to remote working specifically as the cause for those delays. Perhaps no surprise, then, that phase one of HS2, which was supposed to start running in 2026, is now not scheduled to open until between 2029 and 2033. For a minority of people, being able to work from home is essential. It gives them the chance to work at all. However, for most it is just a cosy perk. And it is one that is starting to feel pretty dull at best and a career killer at worst. There are questions over whether remote work helps or actually hinders working mothers. Home working might once have sounded like the perfect answer for working mums, but in reality it comes with the same old problems: remote workers are sidelined and excluded from big decisions. The topic is likely to come to the fore on Annual Equal Pay Day this Wednesday the day in the year when women overall stop being paid compared to men, based on the gender pay gap, according to equality charity the Fawcett Society. The rose-tinted glasses about home working are gradually slipping off. To employers delight, the home working honeymoon period has begun to wane among staff. However, spending the working week at home is the easiest option for those who have got away with it for almost four years. Whether its making staff more miserable or not, it is always hard to kick a habit. 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. WASHINGTON A Republican senator said over the weekend that he planned to question the director of the FBI on whether a Trump supporter currently serving four years in federal prison is an undercover federal agent. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promoted on his personal X account a conspiracy theory that one of the Jan. 6 videos released at the order of House Speaker Mike Johnson shows an undercover federal agent disguised as a Trump supporter. Kevin Lyons leaving the Capitol on Jan. 6, holding what appears to be a vape. (Committee on House Administration) I cant wait to ask FBI Director Christopher Wray about this at our next oversight hearing, Lee wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, just before midnight on Saturday evening, re-sharing a post that suggested a man in a MAGA hat was actually an undercover federal agent. I predict that, as always, his answers will be 97% information-free. Kevin Lyons with a framed photo of Nancy Pelosi and John Lewis from Pelosi's office on Jan. 6, 2021. (USDC District of Columbia) In reality, the image Lee shared shows Jan. 6 defendant Kevin Lyons, a self-proclaimed idiot and Trump supporter who stole a framed photo of the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis and a staffers wallet from then-Speaker Nancy Pelosis office. The video shows that Lyons, as he's leaving the Capitol building, briefly shows his hands as a heavily armed tactical team comes inside the building to get control of the riot. Lyons is holding an item in his right hand. Conspiracy theorists claimed Lyons was holding a badge," but the item appears to be a vape that Lyons was seen holding earlier in the day, although the quality of the footage makes that difficult to say with 100 percent certainty. Im an idiot, I realize that, Lyons said to a judge during his sentencing hearing in July, as NBC News reported. I was stupid. I dont know what came over me. ... I apologize to you, the country and my family. Federal Bureau of Prisons records show that Lyons is currently in federal custody, and is scheduled for release in 2027. Video that Lyons shot, previously released in connection with another Jan. 6 case, shows him pocketing a wallet he stole from a jacket inside Pelosis office. As of Monday afternoon, Lee's post had not been taken down. The original X post re-shared by Lee was posted by Jan. 6 rioter Derrick Evans, who pleaded guilty to a felony and was sentenced to three months in federal prison. He is now running for Congress as a Republican in his home state of West Virginia. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a Republican ally of former President Donald Trump, also posted false claims about Lyons but deleted the allegation after being called out by other social media users. "Thats a law enforcement badge in his hand while disguised as a Trump supporter in a MAGA hat," Greene wrote on X before she edited her post to remove that allegation. "Ive said it all along, MAGA did not do this." Even the far-right conspiracy website Gateway Pundit walked back a post about the image of Lyons, writing that it "now appears this is a vape." When NBC News reached out for comment, Lee spokesman Billy Gribbin in a statement dodged questions about the false claim. Senator Lee would like Director Wray to answer important questions regarding the uncuffed rioter fist bumping Capitol police inside the building, the unidentified pipe bomber, and other individuals about whom the FBI and fraudulent January 6th Committee have shown a surprising lack of interest," he said. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, speaks during a hearing. (Sarah Silbiger / Bloomberg via Getty Images) The "uncuffed rioter fist bumping Capitol police" is Jan. 6 defendant Jared Luther Owens, who was charged last month. Owens was one of several rioters who were released from custody on Jan. 6 because police officers were under violent attack at the Capitol, and did not have the resources to process the enormous number of rioters. Owens, a Trump supporter, allegedly assaulted law enforcement officers with a barricade on Jan. 6, and a Capitol Police officer arrested him after witnessing Owens "push another unidentified U.S. Capitol Police officer up against a wall" inside the Capitol, according to the FBI. A folding knife was found in Owens' right front pocket. The FBI has not been able to identify the individual who placed pipe bombs and both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee on the night of Jan. 5 but is offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to their arrest. The American people deserve to be treated like adults regarding the events of January 6th and should be given all available information, Gribbin said. Some Trump supporters have long suggested without evidence that federal agents were driving the Jan. 6 riot. More than 1,200 people have been charged in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and online sleuths say about 1,000 additional participants have been identified but not yet charged. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Sen. Joe Manchins (D-W.Va.) flirtation with a third-party presidential bid after announcing his upcoming retirement from the Senate is sparking anxiety among Democratic senators who warn that Manchin would make a big mistake if he challenges President Biden. Democratic lawmakers say that if Manchin runs for president as an independent, it will hurt Bidens reelection chances and could result in what they view as the nightmare scenario of electing Donald Trump to a second White House term. Democratic senators were less concerned about a potential Manchin presidential run a few months ago, when they thought he was still likely to run for another Senate term. Best Black Friday Deals Since then, Bidens polling numbers have gotten worse in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up with Trump, who faces 91 felony charges, and Manchin has announced he will retire from the Senate after next year. I think it would be very, very unfortunate if Joe Manchin decided to do that, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said of a possible Manchin presidential run. I know hes a supporter of President Biden and has been an important person here in the U.S. Senate in terms of getting things done. And he knows that if he were to step in [to the race] that it would make it much more likely Donald Trump would be president again, and I know Joe Manchin doesnt want that, Stabenow said. Manchin, however, last week didnt rule out the possibility of running for president on the No Labels ticket or another independent platform, telling CBS News that he has plenty of time to make a decision. And he rejected fears voiced by other Democrats that he would sink Bidens reelection if he throws his hat into the ring. I dont buy that scenario, Manchin told CBSs Norah ODonnell. Ive heard that. And and I wouldnt buy that scenario, because if you look back in history, how things have played out, I dont think that they thought Ross Perot would elect Bill Clinton, referring to three-way presidential election race in 1992. Manchin told NBCs Meet the Press host Kristen Welker that he would absolutely consider a run for president. I will do anything I can to help my country, he said. Manchin has argued during much of Bidens presidency that national politics have become too polarized and that millions of voters in the middle of the ideological spectrum dont have enough of a voice in Washington. Im going to do everything in my power to make sure, to mobilize that moderate, sensible, common-sense middle, he pledged. Jonathan Kott, a Democratic strategist and former Manchin adviser, said the senators musings about running for president should be taken seriously. I always take Joe Manchin at his word. I think the first thing hes going to do is go around the country, see if he can mobilize what he thinks is a moderate majority of voters, people who want their government to get stuff done and not the people who focus on the fighting of the extremes of each party, he said. Kott said Manchin is going to spend time talking to voters to see if theres an appetite for his brand of centrism. Manchins recent statements have Democratic colleagues jittery that he could indeed decide to challenge Biden, even though they and most political experts say the West Virginia senator wouldnt have any realistic chance of winning the presidency himself. My reaction is disappointment, deep disappointment, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). At his core, I think Joe Manchin is a Democrat and believes in Democratic values and principles. Im deeply disappointed that he is still even talking about a possible run that would undermine Joe Biden. The simple stark fact is that a Manchin run for president would undercut Joe Biden, he said. Blumenthal warned that a second Trump term would be a catastrophe for the country. The prospect of a Donald Trump presidency is more frightening to me than any other political event in my lifetime. I think its a real prospect of the United States turning its back on democracy if he is elected president, he said. Manchin has increasingly voiced his frustrations with Biden over the past year-and-a-half and pointedly declined to endorse him for a second term. If Joe Biden runs again and he is the Democratic nominee, depending on who the Republican nominee is, we will just have to wait and see, he told Chris Cuomo on NewsNations CUOMO. Manchin earlier this year accused Biden of showing a deficiency of leadership for letting more than two months pass between meetings with then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) while the nation was facing a potential default because of the expiration of the debt limit. Some Democratic strategists argue Manchin could pull votes away from Trump in a three-way race, but they acknowledge the 2024 presidential race will be so close that its hard to predict the outcome. He could swing that race in one direction or the other, said Steve Jarding, a strategist who has worked for various Democratic senators with presidential ambitions. Jarding noted that one major difference between 2024 and 1992, the last time a third-party presidential candidate had a major impact on a race for the White House, is that this years leading candidates, Biden and Trump, are both highly unpopular. If theres a significant portion of Americans that were either going to stay home or want to take their frustration out, [Manchin] could get votes, he said. But he predicted Manchin wont win a single electoral vote, just as Perot failed to do 30 years ago. He comes from a small state. Hell get exposed, he said, explaining that if Manchin gains traction in the race, hell face an barrage of investigations and negative advertising that will dig into his personal business dealings. When either Trump or Biden see hes hurting them more than the other side, theyll take him down; theyll go after him, Jarding said. And its hard running in a third party. Its hard to get on the ballot, its hard to get traction, because nobody thinks he can win, he added. He would face very strong headwinds, so I dont see how he could even come close to winning a state. He easily could hurt Biden more than Trump, but because both [Biden and Trump] are so disliked by a significant portion of the voting population, Im not sure of that, he said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Pilots from United Airlines take part in an informational picket at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. Senate panel on Monday announced an investigation into airline fees for baggage, seat selection, ticket changes and other services, demanding justifications from the CEOs of five major carriers for these charges that generate billions of dollars in annual revenue for them. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said these fees are often hidden from and confusing to consumers. Blumenthal said he wrote the chief executives of American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines seeking a detailed breakdown on how much they collect from each fee, the reason for them and the costs to supply each service. Between 2018 and 2022, total revenue across major U.S. airlines from baggage fees increased from $4.9 billion to $6.8 billion, the senator said. Blumenthal also cited a report by a travel consultancy that found that eight leading U.S. airlines last year collected an estimated $4.2 billion in fees for seat selection. "U.S. airlines increasingly charge ancillary fees that obscure the actual cost of air travel," Blumenthal said in the letters. "These itemized fees are often not disclosed to customers until well into the ticket purchasing process or after a ticket has been purchased, making it difficult for customers to know the true, total cost of a ticket and comparison shop prior to purchase," Blumenthal added. American, Delta and United referred questions about the Senate investigation to Airlines for America, an industry trade group, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Spirit and Frontier did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Airline CEOs in 2018 lobbied against bipartisan legislation to mandate "reasonable and proportional" baggage and change fees and convinced Congress to drop the plan. The U.S. Transportation Department last year proposed requiring airlines to disclose fees for baggage, ticket changes and family seating the first time an airfare is displayed. It also proposed rules in 2021 to require airlines to refund fees for significantly delayed bags and refunds for services like onboard Wi-Fi that do not work. The department is scheduled to finalize both of those regulations in early 2024. Aviation legislation has stalled in Congress that among other things would bar airlines from charging families with young children from sitting together in most instances. (Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Will Dunham and Chris Reese) A Senate panel Monday issued a subpoena to Live Nation for documents related to the companys ticket pricing, fees and resale practices, as part of a previously undisclosed probe into Live Nations business tactics. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), said in a press release that the subpoena comes after a months-long probe, which he claimed has been stonewalled by Live Nation, making the subpoena necessary. Live Nation has egregiously stonewalled my Subcommittees inquiry into its abusive consumer practices making the subpoena necessary, Blumenthal said. This subpoena demands that the company promptly comply with our request for documents essential to understand its business practices. Best Black Friday Deals Blumenthal said the panel launched its investigation after several high-profile incidents, including those that involved fans of Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen. A separate panel, the Senate Judiciary Committee, held its own hearings on the business practices of the company. American consumers deserve fair ticket prices, without hidden fees or predatory charges, Blumenthal added. And the American public deserves to know how Ticketmasters unfair practices may be enabled by its misuse of monopoly power. The subpoena issued requests a wide range of material, including documents and internal communications related to Live Nations and Ticketmasters ticket pricing, fees and resale practices. The committee also requested material on the companys relationship with artists and venues, according to the press release. The subpoena included requests for annual financial data on fees, recommendations for ticket pricing, secondary ticketing, communications related to high-profile incidents last year and customer feedback on pricing and fees. The panel specified in the subpoena that it required all records related to the companys failure to combat artificially inflated demand fueled by bots in multiple, high-profile incidents, which resulted in consumers being charged exorbitant ticket prices. In a statement to The Hill, a spokesperson for Live Nation denied allegations that it was stonewalling the panel, saying the company has voluntarily worked with the Subcommittee from the start, providing extensive information and holding several meetings with staff. The spokesperson for Live Nation claimed that the company is asking for standard confidentiality measures in order to provide some of the information the panel is requesting namely about artist and client compensation and other similarly sensitive matters. Thus far the Subcommittee has refused to provide such assurances, but if and when those protections are in place we will provide additional information on these issues, the spokesperson said. The Hill has reached out to the Senate panel for a response. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. WASHINGTON Senators unanimously passed legislation last week that would cut off U.S. security aid to Azerbaijan for the next two years amid growing concerns that it may invade southern Armenia in the near future. The Senate passed the Armenian Protection Act by unanimous consent with little fanfare on Wednesday. The bill, introduced by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., would bar President Joe Biden from issuing a waiver in fiscal 2024 and FY25 needed to unlock Azerbaijani security assistance. The vote comes after more than 100,000 Armenians fled the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region after Azerbaijan placed them under siege for more than nine months in what Armenia has described as ethnic cleansing. We must send a strong message and show our partners around the world that America will enforce the conditions that we attach to military aid, Peters, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, said on the Senate floor Wednesday. If we do not take action when countries willfully ignore the terms of our agreements with them, our agreements will become effectively meaningless and toothless. Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefed lawmakers on the situation in October and expressed concern that Azerbaijan may launch an invasion of southern Armenia in the coming weeks, Politico reported. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has called on Armenia to establish a corridor through southern Armenia to directly connect Azerbaijan with its exclave that borders Turkey and Iran, at times threatening to do so by force. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James OBrien told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday before the Senate vote that the Biden administration does not intend to renew the waiver needed to provide security aid to Azerbaijan. The waiver is a longstanding point of contention between the State Department and the Congressional Armenian Caucus, which boasts more than 100 lawmakers. Congress first blocked security aid to Azerbaijan in 1992 after the first Nagorno-Karabakh war. However, it subsequently passed legislation in 2001 that allowed the State Department to issue an annual waiver allowing Baku to receive military aid amid mounting tensions at the time between Azerbaijan and neighboring Iran over energy exploration in the Caspian Sea. The State Department and Pentagon reported $164 million in security aid for Azerbaijan between FY02 and FY20, per the Government Accountability Office, a small portion of the overall U.S. security assistance budget. The Trump administration was responsible for the bulk of that total, providing nearly $100 million in security aid to Azerbaijan in FY18 and FY19 under a Pentagon program designed to build partner capacity. Congress increased pressure on the State Department to end Azerbaijans security aid waiver after the second Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, which saw Baku take back control of the disputed territory. The House has yet to pass the Armenian Protection Act that would end the waivers for the next two years. In this photo provided by the Korea Defense Daily and released by South Korea Defense Ministry, senior South Korean military officer Kang Hopil speaks at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. South Koreas military warned North Korea not to go ahead with its planned spy satellite launch, suggesting Monday that Seoul could suspend an inter-Korean peace deal and resume frontline aerial surveillance in retaliation for a launch. (The Korea Defense Daily/South Korea Defense Ministry via AP) SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Koreas military warned North Korea not to go ahead with its planned spy satellite launch, suggesting Monday that Seoul could suspend an inter-Korean agreement to reduce tensions and resume front-line aerial surveillance in response. North Korea failed in its first two attempts to put a military spy satellite into orbit earlier this year and didnt follow through with a vow to make a third attempt in October. South Korean officials said the delay was likely because North Korea is receiving Russian technology assistance and that a launch could happen in coming days. Our military will come up with necessary measures to protect the lives and safety of the people, if North Korea pushes ahead with a military spy satellite launch despite our warning, a senior South Korean military officer, Kang Hopil, said in a televised statement. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik said in an interview with public broadcaster KBS on Sunday the launch was expected later this month and that South Korean and U.S. authorities were monitoring North Koreas moves. The U.N. Security Council bans any satellite launches by North Korea because it views them as a disguised test of its missile technology. Kang said while North Korea needs a spy satellite to improve its monitoring of South Korea, the launch is also aimed at bolstering its long-range missile program. Foreign governments and experts say North Korea is seeking Russian technologies to enhance its nuclear and other military capabilities in return for supplying conventional arms to support Russias war in Ukraine. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have dismissed as groundless the alleged arms transfer deal, but both nations locked in separate, protracted tensions with the United States have been openly pushing to expand their cooperation in recent months. In September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin in Cosmodrome, Russias most important domestic space launch center. When Putin was asked by Russias state media whether his country would help the North build satellites, he said that thats why we have come here. The (North Korean) leader shows keen interest in rocket technology. Shin said that with the likely help of Russia, North Korea appeared to have almost overcome an unspecified engine problem on a rocket needed to send a spy satellite into space. He said the North would likely launch the satellite before Nov. 30, when South Korea plans to launch its first military spy satellite from Californias Vandenberg Air Force Base. Kang didnt explicitly say what retaliatory steps South Korea could take if North Korea makes a third launch. But he strongly hinted the steps could include a resumption of aerial surveillance activities and live-fire drills at border areas, in breach of the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement on easing front-line tensions. Kang asserted that North Korea has already violated the agreement numerous times. He cited the Norths destruction of an unoccupied inter-Korean liaison office in North Korea, flying of drones into South Korea and live-fire drills along the western maritime boundary. Despite the Norths repeated violations of the agreement, our military has been patiently abiding by clauses in the military agreement, but that has caused considerable problems in our militarys readiness, Kang said. He said South Koreas aerial reconnaissance designed to monitor North Koreas forward-deployed artillery guns has been significantly restricted by the 2018 deal. He said that South Korean military units on border islands have been unable to conduct live-fire drills in their areas and instead held the exercises in faraway inland firing ranges. The military deal, reached during a short-lived rapprochement between South Koreas liberal then-President Moon Jae-in and Kim, created buffer and no-fly zones along the rivals' border. The Koreas also removed some of their front-line guard posts and land mines. Proponents of the agreement in South Korea argued it would prevent accidental clashes with North Korea, but opponents said its mutual reductions of conventional military strength would weaken the Souths war readiness because the Norths nuclear capability remained intact. Relations between the rivals later strained after the breakdown of broader nuclear diplomacy between Kim and then U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019. North Korea has since been focusing on enlarging its nuclear arsenal, prompting South Koreas current conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to expand military drills with the United States. Yoon's liberal rivals said the suspension of the 2018 deal would provide North Korea with yet another excuse to launch provocations. North Korea said last week it had successfully tested solid-fuel engines for a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, a move that experts say is meant to add a new weapon to its growing arsenal of mobile and harder-to-detect missiles targeting the United States and its allies. ___ Follow APs Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific This column is part of a weekly round-up of notable grand jury indictments and court decisions, following through on cases reported by Savannah Morning News public safety reporter Drew Favakeh. If there are cases you're curious about, email Drew at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com. Karon Shields indicted for murder; judge denies bond On Nov. 15, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Karon Shields for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of firearm during the commission of a felony, in connection to the death of Madrell Reynolds on Aug. 21, on the 300 block of Inglewood Drive. The grand jury also indicted Akenya Newsome for hindering the apprehension or punishment of a criminal for concealing the location Shields, and for making a false statement to a Savannah Police Department (SPD) detective by repeatedly providing false information about her sons whereabouts. During an Oct. 4 bond hearing, Shields attorney Larrry Chisholm asked the judge to grant Shields bond. Chisholm said Shields is 20 years old, has no prior convictions and is not a flight risk considering he turned himself in right away when SPD issued a warrant for his arrest. More: Savannah Police arrests man in Aug. 21 Inglewood Drive shooting, charges him with murder Chatham County Assistant District Attorney Whitney Gregory opposed the bond. While Gregory confirmed that Shields does not have a criminal history, she said, We do believe hes a risk to the community." Gregory added that the state believes he is a risk to the administration of justice and potential witness tampering. There are more people involved in this case than meets the eye at this stage, and we believe him being released will obstruct the investigation. Citing the investigation at the hearing, Gregory added, He murdered, in cold blood, his cousin. Your honor, this is not some Parkers convenience store robbery gone wrong. Its not a bar fight where alcohol is fueling sort of violence. This man, in cold blood, shot four times. Had time pause, turn around, and shoot two more times into the body of his own cousin. That is a danger to the community, and bond should be denied. Chisholm stated that Shields younger brother, who is 16 years old, said the cousins were shooting at each other. "This is a family incident that just went way too far." But Gregory claims that Reynolds wasnt wielding a gun at all. Gregory added that Shields' younger brother is a witness. "He could also be a defendant, depending how the investigation rolls out," said Gregory. Chatham County Superior Court Judge Tammy Stokes denied bond. No additional hearings are scheduled yet in the case. Deandre Tyrone Miller re-indicted for felony murder On Nov. 17, Chatham County Superior Court Judge Lisa Colbert denied bond for Deandre Tyrone Miller. Two days earlier, on Nov. 15, a superseding indictment was filed for Miller for two counts of felony murder, in connection with the July 2, 2021, fatal shooting of Arthur Boston. Miller is also charged for the same offense with three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Miller has been indicted for the same offense twice before once on Aug. 24, 2021, and on Aug. 16, 2023. Its not immediately clear why Miller has been indicted for the same crime three times. Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones did not return a phone call. More: In Session: Judge orders Quando Rondo to submit to drug tests, refrain from driving On Nov. 6 of this year, Millers attorney, Lloyd D. Murray Sr. of Murray & Adkins, filed a motion for reconsideration of bond. Since July 19, 2021, Murray noted in the motion, Miller has been incarcerated in the Chatham County Detention Center. Through an ongoing set of circumstances including but not limited to the multiple changes in ADAs, as well as multiple continuances and Defendant's inability to proceed any faster given post-COVID-19 realities causing [delays] such as the backlog of cases, Defendant has been prevented from moving his cases forward to any final resolutions and further has been and remains still unable to adequately assist in his defenses. Murry also stated that Miller has several ties to the community, poses no significant risk of fleeing, poses no significant threat or danger to any person or the community, poses no significant risk of committing any felony pending trial, and poses no significant risk of intimidating witnesses or otherwise obstructing the administration of justice. Miller, however, has been charged and convicted of felony crimes in the past. On Aug. 29, 2018, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Miller for possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of marijuana - less than an ounce, a window tint violation and theft by receiving stolen property, related to an offense that occurred on June 11, 2018. On Jan. 29, 2020, Chatham County Superior Court Judge Louisa Abbot sentenced Miller under the provisions of the first offender act for all charges in the indictment. According to Georgia Code 42-8-60, the First Offender Act allows a person with no prior felony convictions to dispose of their criminal case without a conviction. Under the First Offender Act, Abbott sentenced Miller to a total of 10 years, with two to serve and eight years probated, according to a sentencing order. Miller received credit for time served from June 11, 2018, through Jan. 27, 2020. Part of Miller's probation depended on him agreeing not to violate any law. According to a probation revocation motion, Miller violated his probation on Feb. 24, 2021, when he was charged with possession of a schedule I controlled substance with the intent to distribute, possession of marijuana, more than an ounce, operating a vehicle containing a secret compartment and improperly turning at an intersection. On July 15, 2021, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Miller for making a false statement related to an incident that occurred on July 7, 2021. According to the indictment, Miller told an SPD officer that he falsely stated that he entered the house after the police had responded to the shooting. No hearings are scheduled yet in the case. This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: In Session: Judge denies bond for man charged with murdering cousin (CNN) A recent draft of a possible deal to secure the release of hostages that Hamas is holding in Gaza proposes a four- to five-day pause in fighting for the initial release of 50 hostages, two sources familiar with the talks told CNN. An agreement has yet to be struck and the text of a deal has been traded back and forth for weeks. But negotiators from various countries, including senior Biden administration officials, are expressing rare optimism about the progress. Gaps in some of the major sticking points have begun to close, sources say, and while the talks could still break down, an agreement may now be days away. We think that we are closer than we have been perhaps at any point since these negotiations began weeks ago, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told CNNs Jake Tapper on State of the Union on Sunday. Finer did not get into details of the talks and stressed that there is no final deal in place. In a sign of how tenuous the talks have been, two sources told CNN that in recent days, Hamas had put the negotiations on hold at least once. One of the many issues that the terrorist group raised, and that appeared to have prompted Hamas abruptly going dark amid the talks, was Israels raid of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. But the discussions eventually picked back up. One key issue yet to be finalized is how to implement the deal, including around aid shipments to Gaza, one source familiar with the negotiations said Sunday on the heels of a meeting between Qatars prime minister and Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for Middle East affairs. Qatar has served as a main interlocutor in the talks. The most recent discussions have proposed the staggered release of civilian hostages, with pauses potentially increasing after Hamas allows for an initial release of a significant number of those captured, according to the sources. Israel has presented a list of approximately 100 civilian hostages it wants included in the agreement, one source told CNN. Israel has publicly demanded that all hostages be released. Hamas indicated it would be willing to release 50 hostages over a multiday pause. More hostages, around 20 to 25, could be released after that as the pauses are extended. Hamas has said it needs pauses in fighting to gather the hostages who are being held in different places and by different Hamas-allied groups in Gaza. The National Security Council and the Israeli embassy to the US declined to comment for this story. The Qatari Embassy to the US didnt respond immediately to a request for comment. There are still details to be worked out over aid, with Israel expressing concern that aid could go to help Hamas rather than civilians. Hamas initially requested 500 trucks of aid per day, one of the sources said. One source said no agreement has been reached on how many aid trucks could enter Gaza but that more than 200 trucks was logistically challenging. There are also questions about how to inspect the trucks and which points of entry would be used. The aid, including fuel and cooking oil for bakeries, would continue to flow in after the initial pauses for hostages. CNNs Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report. (CNN) A school run by the United Nations in northern Gaza has been hit with apparently devastating impact, the UN confirmed Saturday, in what a top UN official described as a horrifying incident. Video from al-Fakhoura School in Jabalya which was being used as a shelter for displaced people shows bloodied bodies across a series of rooms on two floors of the two-story building. Many women and children are among the dead. One room appears to contain about a dozen bodies lying on the floor covered in dust. Desks are strewn and smashed up and a huge hole can be seen in one of the rooms walls. In the building courtyard, a canopy roof across a metal structure appears to have been torn off, and debris is visible on the ground. Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which runs the schools in Palestinian refugee camps and serves as the main UN relief agency in Gaza, confirmed the incident. The total number of casualties remains unclear, she said, as information is still coming in. Touma could not confirm what caused the incident, nor who was responsible. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, who called the images horrifying in a post on X (formerly Twitter), said thousands of displaced people had been sheltering there at the time of the incident. The Israeli military is reviewing the incident, it told CNN, but had no further comment. Egypt and Qatar have already blamed Israels military campaign in the battered enclave for the incident. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry called it a bombing, and said it was the latest in a series of Israeli violations against civilians in Gaza. Qatar called on independent investigators from the United Nations to go to Gaza to examine what it described as the ongoing targeting of schools and hospitals. Saturdays incident was the second time in twenty-four hours an UNRWA school in northern Gaza had been hit, the agency said. Another school in Zaitoun was sheltering 4,000 people when it was struck multiple times on Friday, Touma told CNN. She added that ambulances had reportedly been unable to get to the school, which she said was most likely due to the fighting and the communications blackout. Dozens of people were likely killed in that incident, according to Lazzarini, who wrote: These attacks cannot become commonplace, they must stop. A humanitarian ceasefire cannot wait any longer, he added. The UNs Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in a statement on Sunday. I am deeply shocked that two UNRWA schools were struck in less than 24 hours in Gaza. Dozens of people many women and children were killed and injured as they were seeking safety in United Nations premises, Guterres said. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are seeking shelter at United Nations facilities throughout Gaza due to the intensified fighting. I reaffirm that our premises are inviolable. US' domestic politics the biggest source of uncertainty for future China-US relations Global Times) 09:19, November 20, 2023 Illustration: Liu Rui/GT The direction of China-US relations has already been clarified in terms of efforts to ease, stabilize and restore the relationship. We hope it will stop falling and stabilize, not regressing or continuing to spiral downward. The China-US relationship continuing to stabilize is also the common expectation of the world. Standing at this new point is the result of joint efforts from both sides. However, to restore the relationship and prevent further decline, both sides still have a lot of specific and detailed work to do. And they also need to handle many uncertain factors. We believe that the future will be a critically important period to observe the decision-making, leadership and foresight of both China and the US. At this point, based on past experience and the reality of American politics, Washington faces the challenge of a more complex political environment and significant uncertainty. Just one year ago, the leaders of China and the US reached in Bali, Indonesia a consensus on controlling the seemingly out-of-control bilateral relationship. However, since then, the US has not stopped its efforts to contain China, instead, it has intensified it, to the extent that China-US relations have once again reached a dangerous point of being out of control. Doubts about the relationship being improved are mainly based on many facts that indicate that the incumbent US leader no longer possesses the leadership to integrate various interest groups in the US as he did in the past. Although he may have such a desire, the current political atmosphere and operating mechanisms in the US restrict his ability. He cannot escape the constraints of various parties, and whether his words can be trusted depends on whether he can obtain full support from the US Congress. Due to the influence of partisan political struggles, Washington sometimes cannot do what it wants to and even has to compromise by exchanging interests, resulting in distortions and deformations of established policies, which is not uncommon. The US is currently in a tense and delicate pre-election period, and both Republicans in Congress and candidates within the Democratic Party exert pressure on the China-related issues. They may continue to introduce measures to suppress and contain China. Government departments are still implementing policies that view China as the primary competitor. And it is still unclear where the brakes will be applied. These will pose difficulties for the Biden administration's proposed management of competition. The two parties in the US are highly consistent in their policies toward China. Moreover, whether the policies come from public opinion or the Congress, it is now a different situation from the two major improvements in China-US relations, one is after the late 1970s and the other is after the 9/11 incident in 2001. The future of China-US relations can only move forward against such a volatile political climate. Another uncertainty is next year's US election. If a new president takes office, will he continue the China policy established by Biden? Especially, if Donald J. Trump returns to the Oval Office, will these consensuses be overturned? It may not be difficult for Washington to formulate and promote a policy that views China as a competitor, but it is very difficult to draw a line during the promotion process, to know where to stop and to boost cooperation based on such a broad goal. This is a task that requires precise judgment, coordination and leadership. This is why, since Trump initiated the trade war against China, the US government has often said it will do so but the fact is it has done the opposite. It is simply a case of having insufficient capability despite the intention. Recently, the well-known American scholar Joseph Nye coined a new term, "competitive coexistence," to describe China-US relations. We cannot help but admire the ability of American scholars to come up with new and innovative ideas, but this new concept cannot hide the contradictions and conflicts between competition and coexistence. When various competitive measures, like those currently taken by the US against China, are implemented, how can coexistence be achieved? Therefore, this statement itself suggests uncertainty. Ultimately, all of these are related to American politics. If American domestic politics continues to operate in an uncertain form, the uncertainty of future China-US relations may become the norm. We have no other choice but to strive toward the best direction, but at the same time, we must also be prepared for potential crises. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Wu Chaolan) Editors note: Rev. Mark Davidson is a retired pastor who heads Voices for Justice in Palestine, based in Durham. His group participated in a Nov. 2 protest organized by Jewish Voice for Peace that shut down the Durham Freeway for hours. Davidson says that while living in Lebanon as a child, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp. The deprivation he saw led him to a 40-year career as a Presbyterian minister and later to his involvement with Voices for Justice in Palestine. I write in response to the Nov. 6 op-ed from the North Carolina Jewish Clergy Association. I was present on Nov. 2 when Jewish Voice for Peace, a partner organization of ours, staged a protest in Durham. I was proud to stand with young Jews celebrating their faith and acting with courage and conscience. Rev. Mark Davidson Shutting down a major traffic artery made a powerful statement that it cannot be business as usual while a Palestinian child dies every 10 minutes in Gaza. These young people inspired me. They have absorbed the message of the Holocaust never again, not just for our people but for any people. I would have thought the 33 N.C. rabbis and cantors who signed the Opinion piece would be proud of these young people and raise up their faith as an example to follow, rather than disavow them. In the current confrontation with Hamas, Israel is planning to occupy the northern half of Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that Israel will be in Gaza indefinitely. After the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has discussed emptying out the remaining population into the Egyptian desert to live in tents temporarily. Another Nakba. The prospect of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian deaths and a colossal humanitarian crisis does not deter Israel. Astonishingly, the N.C. Jewish clergy attempt to justify whats happening by packaging it as a just war. Do not be fooled. Israel is not the moral actor the clergy would have you believe. Israel is an egregious violator of international law and human rights, including annexing and occupying other peoples land, bombing civilian populations in Gaza, and bombing hospitals, schools and houses of worship. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Israels own BTselem have documented the case for Israel as an apartheid state. Israel has kept the Palestinian people in an iron grip of oppression for 75 years, and now is carrying out, before our very eyes, what Holocaust scholar Raz Segal calls a textbook case of genocide. Segal cites the dehumanizing rhetoric that Israels Minister of Defense minister used when he said We are fighting human animals. He also says the Israelis are imposing death on the entire population by withholding the essentials of life. The indiscriminate bombing campaign has already killed over 11,000 Palestinians 5,500 of whom are children. Make no mistake, targeting Israeli civilians, as Hamas did, is unjustifiable, a war crime causing deep trauma to the Jewish community. Hamas must be held accountable. Hamas, not innocent Palestinian families, doctors, nurses and teachers living in Gaza. At the rally in Durham, there were urgent calls for a ceasefire. A ceasefire is the essential moral minimum in this crisis. It is totally unacceptable that our government supports and funds genocide. At the rally, signs read Genocide is not a Jewish Value, Not in My Name, Not my Judaism. The young Jewish Voice for Peace activists embody the finest values of the Jewish tradition. Their elders would do well to heed their moral clarity. Rev. J. Mark Davidson is executive director of Voices for Justice in Palestine, based in Durham, N.C. A pre-Thanksgiving storm could disrupt holiday air and road travel for millions of travelers on the busiest travel week of the year, meteorologists warn. Severe thunderstorms, rain, and snow are expected to hit several parts of the U.S., including Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and New York, as the storm moves from the Mississippi Valley up the northeast early in the week. Delays in air travel are likely to occur across the East Coast earlier in the weekincluding New York City, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia, while delays on major highways are also expected. The system is currently over the South Central U.S. and will be progressing towards the east coast by Wednesday, says Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center for the National Weather Service (NWS). Severe storms could affect flights in parts of the South and East Coast starting today. Be sure to check your flight status with your airline and monitor https://t.co/smgdqJN3td. Find helpful air travel tips at https://t.co/HzQWUCBzvV. #FAAWeatherSquad #Thanksgiving2023 https://t.co/vKhSvfDc64 The FAA (@FAANews) November 21, 2023 What travelers can expect On Monday night, the lower Mississippi Valley, particularly Louisiana and Mississippi, face the biggest threats, with expected high wind gusts, hail, and the potential for tornadoes, says Snell. The storm is then expected to move to the mid-Atlantic and East Coast on Tuesday, drenching the regionincluding New York City and Boston with rain. Severe storms are also set to hit the southeast and Southern Appalachians on Tuesday and produce a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain in parts of the Appalachians and the Northeast. Early in the week, New York Citys emergency management system released a travel advisory for Tuesday and Wednesday, as the city expects to receive 1 to 2 inches of rain and 30 to 40 mile per hour wind gusts. Parts of Vermont have been placed under winter weather advisories as the region prepares for a mix of rain and snow on Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday. A winter weather advisory has also been put in effect in areas of Maine, where 4 to 6 inches of snow are expected. The good news is that the rough weather is not set to linger in any one place for too long. The system is going to be progressive, says Snell. It's going to move through each region by day. How to plan As some of the busiest travel days of the year, traveling on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving can often come with unique delays and challenges and the anticipated storm will only add to difficulties. Accuweather predicts significant weather-related delays on highways such as Interstates 40, 44, 55, 64, 70, 75 and 80 as well as on the mid-Atlantic I-80, I-81 and I-95. Snell notes that, though the weather will cause some headaches, it will likely still be safe to travel in most regions. Snell advises travelers to have alerts set up for any weather advisories and include potential weather-related delays into their travel plans. "If you're expecting bad weather, you want to give yourself some more time so you're not in a rush. Aside from some snow hitting parts of Colorado on Black Friday, the difficult weather is expected to subside by Thanksgiving, making the holiday itselfand the journey homea little less stressful. The majority of the country clears out, and it [should be] pretty tranquil, says Snell. Write to Simmone Shah at simmone.shah@time.com. ETTRICK The Virginia State University Police officer shot while trying to break up a disturbance on campus a week ago is now paralyzed because of the incident, according to a statement from the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police. The law enforcement organization has set up a fundraiser to help Bruce Foster and his family with medical and living expenses. As of Monday morning, the FundTheFirst.com account had raised more than $29,000 toward its $100,000 goal Officer Foster is now in stable condition, with a diagnosis from his doctors of paralysis from the waist down, VACP said on the fundraiser page. However, we hold onto hope and faith. Foster was shot in the back Nov. 12 during an investigation into a dispute that had started on campus. Two men have been arrested in connection with the shooting. He remains in stable condition at VCU Medical Center in Richmond. VSU Police Officer Bruce Foster Foster, 38, is married and has four children. He has been with VSU Police for five years and is the first officer in the history of the department to be shot in the line of duty. As the wife of a police officer, you live with a constant undercurrent of worry, but Bruces strength and dedication always bring a sense of calm, Deidra Foster said in a statement on the fundraiser page. That calm was shattered early Sunday morning when I received the call that Bruce had been shot while on duty at Virginia State University. The man who left our home, strong and full of resolve, was now fighting for his life in a hospital bed, with his family surrounding him, praying for returned sensation from the waist down. Deidra Foster said that before her husband left each night for his shift, they would hold hands and pray for his safety, our family and the community he dearly loves and serves. That prayer, she added, was a moment of peace and love. Around 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 12, Foster responded to a disturbance on the southwestern side of campus. While speaking to one of the people believed involved, that person allegedly ran away, with Foster in pursuit. As he was attempting to arrest that person, another person walked up from behind and shot him. VSU Police Officer Bruce Foster and his wife, Deidra. Deonta M. Blount, 21, of Chester, has been charged with aggravated malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer and use of a firearm in the commission of aggravated malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer. The man Foster was detaining at the time he was shot, 21-year-old Reginald L. King Jr of Matoaca, has been charged with aggravated malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer and use of a firearm in the commission of aggravated malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer. Both men are being held in the Chesterfield County Jail. Blount already has been arraigned in Chesterfield General District Court and is due back for a hearing Dec. 6. King will be arraigned Nov. 27. To donate to the Foster fundraiser, click here. 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: Shot VSU Police officer is paralyzed; group sets up fundraiser WIND GAP BOROUGH, NORTHAMPTON COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Police say the Mayor of Stroudsburg faces charges of driving under the influence after he ran out of gas. According to the Slate Belt Regional Police Department, on Monday, September 11, around 2:56 a.m., officers on patrol discovered a disabled vehicle in the area of N. Broadway and Constitution Avenue in Wind Gap Borough. Officers say they made contact with the driver of the vehicle, who was identified as Michael Moreno, 31, the current Mayor of Stroudsburg. According to law enforcement, Moreno ran out of gas and requested help. It was during this time police say they observed indicators that Moreno was under the influence of alcohol. Courtesy: Slate Belt Regional Police Department Packaging company closing its doors, impacting 58 Police say they asked Moreno to perform a field sobriety test which determined he was incapable of safely driving the vehicle and taken into custody. Moreno was transported to the Bethlehem DUI Center, where he agreed to submit a sample of his blood for chemical testing. Slate Belt Regional Police say Morenos B.A.C. was .20 and charges were filed on November 4. Moreno faces charges of DUI: highest rate of impairment and general impairment. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 10 at 9:30 a.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. This embedded content is not available in your region. An Egyptian man with a rare genetic disorder facing deportation has won the right to stay in the UK until 2026. Youssef Mikhaiel was due to be deported in June, within days, but that was postponed after a ruling at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. The 28-year-old has Fabry disease, which damages the heart, kidneys and nervous system. He cannot access treatment in his home country. The Home Office has now granted him leave to remain for two years. Youssef Mikhaiel has been granted leave to remain for two years In a letter seen by BBC Scotland News, it told the graduate engineer it would exercise discretion due to his "exceptional circumstances". It comes after Mr Mikhaiel had been held at Dungavel House detention centre in Lanarkshire for two weeks in May and June. He described the relief he felt following the decision. Speaking of his initial detention, he said: "Until this moment, I wasn't able to process it. "You are being treated as a criminal and I didn't have access to the proper medical treatment. You fight for years for treatment and then all of a sudden, you could be deported." He added: "I can take a breath now. I have skills and would like to invest more in myself. "And now I can start my treatment. In the beginning, it had stopped until we knew whether I was going to stay or be deported." Fabry disease Fabry disease in an inherited condition in which enzymes cannot break down fatty materials known as lipids, allowing them to build up in the body. It is believed to affect one in every 40,000 men, though estimates vary. Symptoms include chronic pain, high temperatures and an inability to sweat and can shorten a person's lifespan. Mr Mikhaiel's case hinged on a letter sent by officials at Misr International Hospital in Egypt. It confirmed that the country's drug authority did not provide a medicine called migalastat, which is used in Scotland to treat the disease. An annual course of migalastat treatment can cost 210,000, according to the Scottish Medicines Consortium. It added: "Undoubtedly, the absence of his required treatment for his rare disorder in Egypt would cause intense suffering or death." Mr Mikhaiel said: "The treatment is not available at all and you don't even have access to proper diagnosis for Fabry disease. "First of all, this is my life. It affects my lifespan - the maximum is 50 years old for males and I am 28. "I would like to have career, have a future and build a family. "So this was critical for my life." Youssef Mikhaiel is greeted by his partner Sarah outside Dungavel immigration centre in June Mr Mikhaiel arrived in Scotland on a student visa in 2016 and graduated in aeronautical engineering at Glasgow University in 2019. His visa expired the same year and he applied for leave to remain after he was diagnosed with Fabry disease. His initial application was rejected over a failure to provide evidence of his illness in 2021. When the Home Office then ordered that he should be removed from the UK, he applied for leave to remain on medical grounds. However, he was detained and held at Dungavel in May this year - just a day after his lawyer obtained evidence from Egypt. Mr Mikhaiel was detained at Dungavel earlier this year A petition for judicial review into the decision to detain him was accepted by the Court of Session in June and Mr Mikhaiel was released from detention. The Home Office has now written to him, confirming it has granted leave to remain until 26 April 2026. It stated: "Although you do not qualify for leave to remain in the United Kingdom under the immigration rules, it has nonetheless been decided that discretion should be exercised in your favour. "You have therefore been granted limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom in accordance with the principles set out in the Home Office policy instruction on discretionary leave." It added that it made the decision "on the basis of [his] exceptional circumstances". 'Questions to be answered' Mr Mikhaiel's solicitor Usman Aslam said his client should have been released as soon as he provided evidence on treatment in Egypt. "I think there are a lot of questions that still need to be answered," he said. "He should not have been detained or spent that amount of time in detention. "What should have happened is that the Home Office should have contacted me. "We had the evidence from the Egyptian hospital, including the Egyptian drug authority, confirming that he could not have access to that treatment and that it would shorten his life." Youssef with his partner Sarah Bradley After his leave to remain expires, Mr Mikhaiel - who is now studying cybersecurity - will need to apply to extend his stay but he said that access to better treatment had given him "hope". "It will reduce my symptoms and lessen the pain," he said. "I will have a longer life, build a career, have a family and hopefully have a happy life." The Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases. A spokesperson added: "All applications for leave to remain are carefully considered on their individual merits, on the basis of the evidence provided and in accordance with the immigration rules. "We only return those with no legal right to remain in the UK and will not return anyone to countries where they have been found to be at risk of persecution or serious harm." FILE PHOTO: The Campidoglio is lit up in red to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women By Alvise Armellini ROME (Reuters) -The killing of a university student and the arrest of her ex-boyfriend have highlighted the issue of violence against women in Italy, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowing to step up protections and raise public awareness. The body of Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old from a small town near Venice, was found on Saturday dumped near a lake, with multiple stab wounds. She had been missing for a week after going out with her former partner Filippo Turetta. Cecchettin's sister said the couple had broken up but had gone shopping together to buy a dress for her Nov. 16 graduation ceremony before they disappeared. Turetta was arrested on a motorway in eastern Germany in a broken down car late on Saturday, and is awaiting extradition. German police in the state of Sachsen-Anhalt said he is wanted in Italy and has been held in custody. Venice chief prosecutor Bruno Cerchi said in a statement quoted by Italian media that Turetta would initially be accused of voluntary manslaughter and kidnapping, but charges could be modified once his car has been searched and he has been questioned. The suspect's defence lawyer has told Italian media that Turetta will not oppose his extradition. The case has dominated the media and politics. "We all hoped in recent days that Giulia was alive. Unfortunately, our greatest fears have come true," Meloni wrote on social platform X, formerly Twitter. "Every single woman killed because she is 'guilty' of being free is an aberration that cannot be tolerated and that pushes me to continue on the path taken to stop this barbarism," added Meloni, Italy's first woman prime minister. She said Italy's upper house was due to start voting on Wednesday on a bill that expands protection measures for women at risk, and announced a public awareness campaign against femicides. Demonstrations are expected in Rome and other Italian cities on Saturday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. As of Nov. 12, 102 women have been killed this year in Italy, including 53 by their partner or former partner, according to interior ministry figures. This compares with 51 killed by their partner or ex in the same period of 2022, and around 70 in both 2021 and 2020. Italy's main opposition Democratic Party also has a woman leader, Elly Schlein, who has called for bipartisan efforts against violence against women. In particular, Schlein has proposed a law introducing lessons on respect and person relations in all schools, in order "to eradicate the toxic patriarchal culture of possession and control over women's bodies and lives". (Additional reporting by Keith Weir, editing by Andrew Heavens and Ed Osmond) Washington The Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, leaving in place his conviction for the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. Lawyers for Chauvin had asked the Supreme Court in October to take up his legal battle, which centered around a Minnesota trial court's denial of his requests for a change of venue and to sequester the jury. Chauvin argued that the decision to keep the proceedings in Minneapolis deprived him of his right to a fair trial because of pretrial publicity and the threat of violence and riots in the event he was acquitted. "Mr. Chauvin's case shows the profound difficulties trial courts have to ensure a criminal defendant's right to an impartial jury consistently when extreme cases arise," his lawyers told the court in a filing, adding that the jurors who heard the case "had a vested interest in finding Mr. Chauvin guilty in order to avoid further rioting in the community in which they lived and the possible threat of physical harm to them or their families." The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed Chauvin's conviction and rejected his request for a new trial in April after his lawyer challenged the decision by Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill not to move the trial from Minneapolis, among other issues. The state supreme court declined to review that decision in July, leaving in place Chauvin's conviction and 22 -year sentence. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin addresses his sentencing hearing and the judge as he awaits his sentence after being convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 25, 2021 in a still image from video. / Credit: Pool/Getty Images A 12-member Hennepin County jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in April 2021 for the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man whose killing led to nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice. Video taken by a bystander of Floyd's fatal encounter with Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020, showed Chauvin, who is White, pressing his knee to Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. Three other police officers involved in the episode were charged and are serving shorter sentences. Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years in prison in June 2021. He also pleaded guilty in December 2021 to a federal charge of violating Floyd's civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is serving concurrently with his state sentence. Chauvin is now seeking to overturn his conviction on the federal charge, arguing in a filing last week that he wouldn't have pleaded guilty had he been aware of the theories of a Kansas-based pathologist who does not believe Floyd died as a result of Chauvin's actions. Steven Van Zandt: The 60 Minutes Interview The Chicago sandwich joint that inspired "The Bear" A sweet celebration of pawpaw fruit The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvins conviction for the murder of George Floyd, whose killing reignited the Black Lives Matter movement and sparked worldwide protests in summer 2020. Chauvin had asked the justices to hear his case after Minnesotas top court declined to do so. The justices declined to take up Chauvins appeal, letting his conviction stand. Best Black Friday Deals Video footage spread widely on social media showing Floyd pleading I cant breathe as the then-Minneapolis police officer kneeled on Floyds neck for more than nine minutes. Protesters in cities nationwide and elsewhere took to the streets following Floyds death, and demonstrations continued into Chauvins state murder trial. Nearly 11 months after Floyds killing, a jury convicted Chauvin on charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin, 47, has been appealing his conviction on various grounds while he serves a more than 22-year prison sentence. Citing prejudicial pretrial publicity, Chauvin sought the Supreme Courts review to decide whether he was improperly denied a venue change. Chauvin also wanted the justices to review his conviction to determine whether his trial judge was obligated to hold a hearing to consider allegations of juror misconduct discovered after the verdict was issued. Chauvin noted fears of riots in Minneapolis as the city braced for a verdict, arguing that jurors had a personal vested interest in finding Chauvin guilty to avoid threats of violence to their families and the community. Mr. Chauvins case shows the profound difficulties trial courts have to ensure a criminal defendants right to an impartial jury consistently when extreme cases arise, his attorney wrote. Following his murder conviction, Chauvin later pleaded guilty to criminal charges for depriving George Floyd and a then-14-year-old boy of their civil rights on separate occasions. He was sentenced to serve 252 months in prison in the federal case. Last week, Chauvin made another attempt to overturn that conviction, contending that new evidence reveals he didnt cause Floyds death. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Thinking of skipping the long, laborious hours required for making Thanksgiving dinner this year? If you're in Orlando you are in luck because dozens of restaurants will be open. Whether you just don't want to cook or you are taking a family vacation or solo trip to Orlando there are plenty of options for dining on turkey day. These restaurants are open on Thanksgiving in Orlando STK -Orlando The Boathouse The Boheme at Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando Ruth's Chris Steak House Winter Park The Capital Grille - Millenia, Orlando Cafe-Boutique PIANO Salt & the Cellar by Akira Back Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant on I-Drive Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse Orlando Fleming's Steakhouse - Winter Park Raglan Road Irish Pub Mia's Italian Kitchen Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant - Waterford Lakes BoVine Steakhouse 310 Lakeside Solita Tacos & Margaritas Delmonico's Italian Steakhouse Brio Italian Grille - Millenia Morton's The Steakhouse blu on the Avenue A Land Remembered at Rosen Shingle Creek Canvas Restaurant and Market The Bridge Nami Adega Gaucha Sugar Factory Fiorenzo Italian Steakhouse Benihana Big Fin Seafood Kitchen Oceanaire Seafood Room Buca di Beppo Chima Steakhouse AJ CHOCOLATE HOUSE Vines Grille and Wine Bar House of Blues Restaurant & Bar Slate Mrs. Potato Restaurant Vincenzo Cucina Italiana Shogun Restaurant BoiBrazil Churrascaria Check out the full list on Open Table. When is it time to start thawing my turkey? Perhaps you do actually want to cook but you forgot the secret ingredient to grandma's mac and cheese. There will be some grocery stores open on Thanksgiving Day in Florida. Stores such as Whole Foods and Sprouts will be open while Walmart, Target, and Publix will remain closed. Thanksgiving is a time for gathering with friends and family around the dinner table. No one wants to cause their family or friends to get sick from a foodborne illness on this holiday or any other occasion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1 in 6 Americans, or 48 million people, get sick from a foodborne illness each year. According to the CDC, more than 1 million of these people get sick from salmonella, which is the primary pathogen associated with poultry. As a food safety specialist, I educate food producers, manufacturers and consumers on how to ensure the safety of the food they produce. This Thanksgiving and, really, for any gathering make sure you understand how to prepare your meal to ensure that everyone goes home without a foodborne illness. Understanding the safe food practices to follow at home during preparation, cooking, serving and storing leftovers will keep your holiday meal delicious and safe to eat. Pathways to foodborne illness Salmonella is a bacteria that causes a foodborne illness called salmonellosis. Salmonella is also often linked to undercooked poultry and beef, undercooked eggs, raw milk and produce. Symptoms of salmonellosis, which include diarrhea, fever and stomach pain, can begin six hours to six days after eating contaminated food. Food contamination occurs when pathogens, toxins or chemicals make their way into food. Common pathogens that are attributed to foodborne illnesses are salmonella, E. coli, listeria and norovirus. Botulism is a foodborne illness that is caused by a toxin that is produced by a bacterium. A bacterial or viral contaminant can get on the food at any point along the food production chain, from the field, water, equipment, processing, handling, transportation, storage or preparation. Every person who grows, handles, transports, stores or prepares food along the food production chain plays a very important role in detecting, eliminating or reducing contamination. The perennial wisdom of hand-washing Any food preparation and handling should always start with hand-washing. There are five steps to proper hand-washing: Wash hands with running water. Apply enough soap to create a complete lather. Scrub hands, including the top, between fingers, around fingernails and wrists for a minimum of 20 seconds. Rinse hands under running water. Dry with a paper towel or air dry. Hands should also be washed any time during food preparation that your hands have touched another food or surface that may have pathogens on it. This includes handling raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs, as well as touching unwashed produce, blowing your nose, touching your cellphone or petting a cat or dog, to name a few. A study by the U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety Inspection Service, which is the branch of the USDA that makes sure meat, poultry and eggs are safe for consumption, observed that 97% of study participants failed to wash their hands during food preparation when they should have. So while hand-washing might seem like a no-brainer, clearly its not. Rinsing the poultry beforehand is a no-no While preparing your meal, there are a few critical food-handling steps to follow to prevent cross contamination, or the transfer of pathogens from one surface to another. First, keep raw meat, poultry and seafood away from raw or ready-to-eat foods. For example, do not prepare your raw turkey next to where you are preparing a salad, or do not cut produce on a cutting board that had raw meat on it without washing it thoroughly first. Many people may not realize that it is unsafe to rinse poultry before cooking. The USDA recommends leaving poultry unwashed because it can cause pathogens to easily spread throughout the kitchen from the spray of the water. The only exception is a brined turkey. Brined turkeys are required to be rinsed before cooking, but use extra caution when doing so, and be sure to sanitize all surfaces in and around the sink afterward. Having a clean work surface is critical Another key step to keeping your Thanksgiving meal safe is to effectively clean and sanitize kitchen surfaces and equipment following instructions on your kitchen cleaner. Chlorine bleach is a commonly used sanitizer that can be used in the kitchen, but there are a few things to know before using it. Chlorine bleach works best when mixed with cool not hot water and should be made fresh daily before using. To prepare, mix a teaspoon of bleach with one quart of water, and let the solution cover the surface for one minute before wiping, or allow to air dry. Cooking the meat to safe temperatures Cooking the Thanksgiving turkey or ham are two more critical steps in preparing a safe holiday meal. Before cooking turkey, make sure it is completely thawed in the refrigerator. For large birds, this may require up to one week of thawing time, so plan ahead. All poultry must be cooked to a minimum of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Cooking instructions and cooking temperatures will vary based on the cooking method that you choose. But no matter the cooking method, make sure to take the temperature of the turkey in the thickest portion of the breast meat and innermost part of the thigh, being sure not to touch bone with the thermometer. Poultry must be cooked to 165 F because this is the temperature that is required to kill salmonella instantly. Food safety expert Kimberly Baker discusses the finer points of preparing a Thanksgiving turkey. Clemson University Based on the size of your bird and your cooking method, determine the amount of cooking time it will need well ahead of time. If you are cooking it in the oven with other dishes, consider that some extra roasting time may be needed, as the temperature of the oven decreases and extends cooking time every time the oven door is opened. You want to make sure you have enough time to cook the turkey thoroughly and allow approximately 30 minutes of rest time at room temperature before carving. If you are preparing ham, first determine whether it is fully precooked at the time of purchase or if cooking is required. Even if fully cooked, hams still need to be heated to a minimum of 140 F. Those that require cooking need to be cooked to 145 F. Like turkey, roasting time will be based on the size of the ham plan ahead so you know when to put it in the oven. A thermometer should be used to measure the temperature of the thickest portion of the ham without touching bone. Safe handling and storage should not be an afterthought Safe handling of the turkey, ham and other side dishes does not end after they are cooked. If the food is served buffet style and will be kept out at room temperature for an extended period of time, make sure to have a plan to keep hot food hot, which means above 135 F, and cold foods below 40 F, which is equivalent to the maximum safe temperature of a refrigerator. For example, hot foods can be kept hot in a preheated chafing dish, and cold foods can be served in their serving dish that is nestled in a bowl or tray of ice. If you are unable to keep the food hot or cold during service, then make sure they are put away in the refrigerator within two hours after serving. Thanksgiving leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator for no more than three to four days. If you have a lot of leftovers that wont be eaten within this time frame, consider freezing them for a quick meal at a later date, then thaw and eat them within three to four months for best quality. Remember to label and date leftovers so you know what they are and when they were put in the refrigerator or freezer. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Kimberly Baker, Clemson University. Read more: Too often, K-12 social studies classes in the U.S. teach a mostly glossed-over story of U.S. settlement. Textbooks tell the stories of adventurous European explorers founding colonies in the New World, and stories of the first Thanksgiving frequently portray happy colonists and Native Americans feasting together. Accounts of the colonies battle for independence frame it as a righteous victory. Native American removal might be mentioned as a sad footnote, but the triumph of the pioneer spirit takes center stage. As a scholar of Native American and Indigenous rhetorics, I argue that this superficial story hides the realities of what many historians and activists call settler colonialism. Historian Lorenzo Veracini asserts that colonial activity isnt just about a nation sending out explorers and bringing back resources, or what scholars refer to as classical colonialism. Its also about what happens when a new people moves in and attempts to establish itself as the superior community whose culture, language and rights to resources and land supersede those of the Indigenous people who already live there. When U.S. history, culture and politics are understood through the lens of settler colonialism, its easier to understand how, as historian Patrick Wolfe wrote, settler colonizers come to stay: invasion is a structure, not an event. US policies and why they matter While settler colonial policies can include genocide, they take many forms. Deceptive and broken treaties forced Native American nations to give up vast portions of their homelands. For example, in eastern Tennessee, the Treaty of Holston, signed in 1791, was made in theory to help establish clear boundaries between Cherokee and settler communities. The U.S. government would receive land, and the Cherokee would receive annual payments, goods and the promise of the governments protection in return. Instead, settlers moved onto Cherokee land and the U.S. government did not intervene. By 1798, the First Treaty of Tellico forced the Cherokee to give up the land the settlers had illegally taken, plus some. Year by year, the Cherokee and other tribes were pushed out. Forced outright removal beyond treaties further deprived Native American nations of their land and attempted to erase them. Instead of supporting any kind of coexistence, legislation such as the 1830 Indian Removal Act called for the complete removal of all tribes east of the Mississippi River. Though the Cherokee and others fought such legislation in the courtroom, the result was the displacement of 100,000 Native people from the eastern U.S. between 1830-1850 and the deaths of thousands of Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee and Seminole people on the Trail of Tears. Blood quantum systems of identification attempted to make Native American people disappear by assigning Native American identity through counting the fractional amount of Indian blood and encouraging intermarriage with non-Native people. Once a certain degree of intermarriage was reached, a person was no longer considered Native and was not eligible for tribal enrollment. As scholar and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation Elizabeth Rule notes, many Native nations today have adopted the use of blood quantum as a form of identification, which remains a controversial issue inside and outside Native communities. At the same time, she observes, it is the sovereign right of those nations to make these choices. However, the problem of erasure through this system remains, as blood quantum requirements can deny citizenship to clear lineal descendants and complicate discussions about Freedmen. Alongside these policies, education was used as a tool to eradicate Native American languages and cultures by removing Native children from their families and forbidding them to speak their languages or practice their cultures. As the founder of the first boarding school, Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Richard Henry Pratt is well known for arguing to Kill the Indian, Save the Man. Abuse of students was not uncommon. Many boarding school survivors experienced the trauma of losing connections to their families and cultures, a pain that is still felt today. Native Americans and their allies hold a demonstration for Indigenous Peoples Day in 2015, in Seattle. AP Photo/Elaine Thompson Twentieth-century U.S. policies of relocation and political termination further attempted to absolve the federal government of its treaty responsibilities to Native nations. If the U.S. government could terminate tribal nations by disbanding them as nations, then all obligations to tribes would legally disappear and all remaining tribal land would revert to government ownership. After the passing of House Concurrent Resolution 108 in 1953, more than 100 tribes and 13,000 Native people experienced termination, and more than 1 million acres of land were lost. Further federal policies such as the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 encouraged tribal members to permanently leave reservations and relocate to cities to find work and thus assimilate into U.S. society. Overall, these policies were not fully carried out, and many tribal nations advocated for their status to be restored. Yet real damage was done to the tribal nations that endured termination, and relocated tribal members faced discrimination and disconnection. Reducing harm It isnt possible to simply undo all of these policies and their impact. Yet scholars Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang acknowledge that challenging those policies and reducing their influence, known as settler harm reduction, is a first step toward change. But for change to happen, those who benefit from the settler colonial system whether original settlers or anyone today who gains advantage from these policies need to work with Native American nations and communities toward finding active ways to do better. The starting point is identifying the stories that still circulate in the U.S. about Native Americans and finding ways to change settler colonial assumptions that still reinforce Native American erasure. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I believe teaching the Thanksgiving story alongside the Wampanoag peoples of today is an easy place to start. The past cannot be undone, but it doesnt have to dictate the future. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Lisa Michelle King, University of Tennessee. Read more: The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is predicting that this years Thanksgiving week could be one of the busiest travel periods in the airports history, with numbers matching pre-pandemic levels. The Port of Seattle is expecting the busiest airport travel days to be Wednesday, Nov. 22, Sunday, Nov. 26, and Monday, Nov. 27. AAA estimates 1.3 million Washingtonians will take to the skies, roads and rails this holiday week. Driving tips On Wednesday, Puget Sound area traffic is expected to be at its worst between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. as 156,000 people are expected to be arriving, departing and connecting flights at the airport. For Sunday, the number jumps to 158,000 people, followed by 148,000 on Monday. Plan for roads will be congested in the coming days. The Washington State Department of Transportation is predicting that Interstate 5 from Lacey to Tacoma will experience heavy congestion for hours Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Wednesday, peak congestion of about 5,000 cars going north between Lacey and Tacoma typically happens between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., according to WSDOT. On an average day, traffic starts to subside after a few hours. This Wednesday, you can expect heavy congestion from 6 a.m. to nearly 6 p.m. On Thanksgiving Day, peak northbound congestion is expected between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Southbound traffic will experience heavy congestion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday. Saturday and Sunday will follow typical I-5 traffic trends, with heavy congestion expected between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. both days, according to WSDOT. According to AAA, Seattle is among the countrys 10 worst metro areas for traffic. Drivers heading south from Bellevue on I-405 can expect the worst traffic this holiday weekend, with travel times expected to be nearly 3.5 times longer than normal. One of the biggest tips for avoiding traffic is to plan ahead and leave earlier than you originally planned. But according to the Port of Seattle, more than one-third of the airports passenger volume arrives before 9 a.m., causing congestion at TSA security checkpoints and on the drives. Two more peak periods happen from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Airport tips Its recommended that those headed to the airport consider using public transportation, using a taxi or another rideshare service to avoid congestion during those peak periods. If curbside pickup/dropoff is the only option, you should ignore the departures and arrivals signs and use the fastest-moving lane. The airport has been under construction for some time, with $546 million going toward reconfiguring the terminals north end ticketing area, expanding the security checkpoint and more. Current construction has some entrances barricaded and areas walled off. Its expected to be completed in two phases through 2025 and will affect ticketing and baggage claims at the airport. You can get through TSA security checkpoints quicker by using the free service, SEA Spot Saver, which reserves your time at TSA Screening as early as five days before your arrival. The airport also has an app called FlySEA, which has an interactive map of the airport for dining, shopping and other services. International travelers can download the Mobile Passport Control app, which allows U.S. and Canadian citizens, and those with a green card, to complete the customs process online. Lastly, a tip for future Thanksgiving weekends: Fly the Monday before the holiday. According to AAA, flying the Monday before the Thanksgiving travel rush is the best option for travelers. The airport sees less traffic that day, and tickets are cheaper, at an average of $486. Traveling on Thanksgiving Day could save travelers some money, too, with an average price per ticket of $454. Train tips Train travel is becoming more popular in Washington state, so Amtrak has expanded its services in the Northwest for the holiday season, adding two trips per day on Wednesday and Sunday between Seattle and Portland. However, Janet Matkin, spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation, told The Olympian some trains are already full, and travelers who dont already have tickets will need to be flexible. She said travelers should be thinking now about booking during the Christmas holidays. Amtrak Cascades trips run from Bellingham to Portland. The Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving are just as busy for trains as they are for cars and planes. Amtrak recommends travelers book early and arrive early, allowing plenty of time at the train station to pick up tickets, and make the boarding process easier. One-way adult fares between Seattle and Portland start at $26, according to Amtraks website. All Cascades trains require reservations. You can purchase an eTicket at AmtrakCascades.com, or a physical one at some station ticket machines or by calling 800-USA-RAIL. Weather forecast The best news for travelers is that the weather is expected to mostly clear across the state. The NWS isnt expecting snow on Snoqualmie or White pass through Thursday. On Tuesday to Thursday, travelers could see some rain over the passes, but temperatures should be above freezing. While weekend forecasts could change, the weekend is looking dry through midday Sunday. Snoqualmie Pass is expecting highs near 40 every day, but lows at 30 degrees or below. While its difficult to forecast, there could be early morning fog in the region, which can reduce visibility on roadways, the NWS says. In South Sound, highs are expected to be in the mid 40s all week, with lows in the mid 30s. Florence Jones Kemp was the child of a sharecropper and started life in Boley before moving to Oklahoma City and attending Oklahoma City Public Schools. She graduated from Douglass High School and soon after graduation in 1952 opened Florences Restaurant. She is the first in Oklahoma to win the prestigious James Beard Award. She says her high school home economics teacher believed in her and, along with her mother, taught her to cook. Her teacher also taught her to sew with a machine and to make patterns. She thought shed become a seamstress, but lucky for all of us, she pursued the restaurant business instead. Cuong Do and his family emigrated from Vietnam to Oklahoma in 1975. He attended Northwest Classen High School and graduated as valedictorian of his class. He spent time during high school doing research at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) and had support from his teachers and principal to get advanced work to keep him challenged and learning. He won awards in the science fair all four years of high school. He has had leadership roles in several large companies, including Lenovo, Merck and Samsung. He now serves as president and chief executive officer of BioVie, a clinical stage company developing therapies for Alzheimers disease. Dr. J. Don Harris grew up in south Oklahoma City and attended Oklahoma City Public Schools from elementary through graduation at Capitol Hill High School. He became a dentist by training and education, but his humble beginnings led him to a lifetime of service. He founded a nonprofit devoted to serving the dental needs of the elderly and disabled and served more than 50 years on the Oklahoma City-County Board of Health, among many other civic endeavors. He treated so many well-known politicians, business and civic leaders, and current or former athletes that he earned the moniker Dentist to the Stars. The late Pam Henry was the last March of Dimes National Polio poster child and went on to become a trailblazing broadcast journalist and tireless advocate for the disabled, after getting her start in Oklahoma City Public Schools. While attending John Marshall High School, she participated in theater productions where roles were found or developed to match her abilities and took speech classes and won oratory competitions. Ray and Pat Potts met in Missouri before making Oklahoma City home. They never attended Oklahoma City Public Schools, but have spent decades providing support. Pat served on the Oklahoma City School Board of Education during desegregation, twice as chair of the board. Ray was the first chair of the board of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation. Both have been passionate advocates for public education, offering their time, talent and treasure to the cause. Each of these individuals have made an indelible mark in their professional lives, and each were recently inducted into the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundations Wall of Fame. They are in very good company, joining 100 other members such as Vince Gill, Rick Bayless, Gerald McCoy and Cliff Hudson, to name just a few. Each of these exceptional individuals deserve their well-earned recognition. Each of them credited Oklahoma City Public Schools and their teachers for providing them with the foundation they needed to succeed. It happened for our honorees, and it happens every day. Public education is our future. Mary Melon-Tully Mary Melon-Tully is president and CEO of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Foundation honorees credit schools, teachers for foundation to succeed In the American presidential election of 2024, there will be more presidential candidates on the ballot than there are major political parties. The latest to throw their proverbial hat into the ring is West Virginia Senator John Manchin, who announced his retirement and stated that he is open to a run for the presidency. Hell presumably stand as the nominee of No Labels, a centrist grouping that denounces the extremes of left and right. If he does run, Manchin will face not only Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent, and perhaps Donald Trump, seeking to regain the White House, but also the left-wing candidacies of Jill Stein and Cornel West, and the bid for the presidency of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The dissatisfaction of American voters with the two-party duopoly is not new, but it is growing. According to Pew Research, 45 per cent of Americans in 2022 called themselves independents rather than Democrats or Republicans, tied at 28 per cent in self-identification. Independents themselves share little in common, other than alienation from the mainstream parties. What explains the persistence of two national parties in a country in which nearly half of the population dislikes both? Like the UK, the US uses winner-take-all plurality or first-past-the-post voting, which tends to disfavour third and fourth parties. If the US, like many other democracies, used a system of proportional representation (PR), the present Democratic and Republican coalitions would almost certainly dissolve in favour of a multiparty system. What would the new parties in a multiparty America be? In 2021 Pew broke the American electorate into nine groups, with names like Faith and Flag Conservatives, the Populist Right, and the Outsider Left. Under proportional representation, a handful of significant parties would be more likely than many tiny ones. The Republican Party would split into a Trumpy populist nationalist party, and a libertarian party aligned with big business and in free of abortion, gay rights, free trade and mass immigration. There might also be a smaller religious right party, dominated by evangelical Protestants. For its part, the Democratic Party might fission into three groups socially-left but fiscally conservative neoliberals, some of whom might join the new post-Republican libertarian party; a social democratic faction, identified with organised labour, attracting many of todays working-class black and Hispanic voters, as well as some white former Republicans; and a radical left party, based in universities, nonprofits, and the civil service. In a multiparty America, shifting coalitions rather than trench warfare might be the rule. For example, the populist party might collaborate on some pro-family and pro-labour issues with the center-left social democrats. Americas existing two-party system did not prevent Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist Senator from Vermont, from joining with Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, a populist conservative, to introduce a measure supporting striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. If proportional representation were adopted for elections to Congress and state legislatures, in the US the president would continue to be elected by plurality voting (or by another proposed reform, ranked choice voting). Even so, a multiparty system would motivate American presidents to appoint members of parties other than their own in their cabinets, to increase their legitimacy or reward other parties for support on particular issues. For the foreseeable future, however, Americas multi-party electorate will continue to be locked in the straitjacket of the two-party system encouraged by first-past-the-post plurality voting. The defenders of the two parties will warn voters that if they vote for third-party or independent candidates they will waste their vote or, even worse, help to elect the major-party candidate they like the least. And the warnings will be correct. In a plurality voting system, the danger that third-party and independent candidates will be spoilers is real. Many Democrats blame Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate in 2016, for siphoning away enough votes from Democrat Hillary Clinton to permit Donald Trump to win the electoral college and thus the presidency, even as he lost the popular vote. Ralph Naders presidential run is also sometimes blamed by Democrats for throwing the electoral college, and thus the election, to the Republican George W. Bush in 2000. But political strategising has its limits. If voters really despise both of the mainstream options, persuading them to hold their noses and pick one of them as the lesser evil may not work. Voting is about expressing personal values and opinions, not just determining who gets committee seats or cabinet appointments. For that reason, a vote for a protest candidate who has no chance of winning may still make sense to some voters who have no other way to send a message to the political elite. Sometimes parties do get the message and reform their policies, in the hope of luring the protest voters back into the fold. On social issues and environmentalism, though not necessarily on other issues, Biden in his campaign and as president has been well to the left of Hillary Clinton in 2016 perhaps out of sincere conviction, but possibly to keep large numbers of progressives from abandoning Biden for a more left-wing candidate in 2024. After Ross Perot won 19 per cent of the popular vote in 1992, more than any third-party candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, the Democrats under Clinton and the Republicans in Congress both signaled their commitment to fiscal deficit reduction, a major theme of Perots campaign. Whatever happens in 2024, we can expect more rebellions against Americas two-party cartel in the years ahead, now that Democrats and Republicans can each claim only a quarter of Americans as reliable partisans. And when combined with Americas electoral college system of electing the president and its winner-take-all plurality voting rules, third-party and independent candidacies can produce dramatic and unpredictable effects. 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. Editor's note: This story has been updated to remove the name of the stabbing victim who escaped the scene of the Nov. 11 incident. A standoff that ended in the deaths of three family members and a SWAT officer rocked a quiet South Austin neighborhood, where residents remembered the family as compassionate, close-knit and involved in the community. Its really sad for us. We knew them well, neighbor Reginald Voglezon said. You dont get better people than that. In the early hours of Nov. 11, Austin police SWAT officers forced their way into a home at 9308 Bernoulli Drive. Police said a man had barricaded himself with two people and stabbed a third person who escaped. SWAT was called to the scene after the assailant shot at other police officers who had entered the home. The assailant shot at the SWAT officers, and they returned fire. Two officers were shot. They were taken to the hospital, where officer Jorge Pastore died. The other officer, who was not identified, left the hospital days later. Two people, Eyman Ahmed Elnemr-Nassar and Riad Mohamed Nassar, were found dead inside the home, and the assailant, Ahmed Mohamed Nassar, was fatally shot by police. The stabbing victim, whom police did not identify by name, was taken to a hospital. Police identified the people who died in the home on Wednesday. Public records show that Ahmed Nassar was the son of Eyman Ahmed Elnemr-Nassar and the brother of Riad Mohamed Nassar. The 9300 block of Bernoulli Drive in a quiet South Austin neighborhood was the scene of a fatal standoff Nov. 11, when a man killed his mother, his brother and a SWAT officer and wounded two other people. The assailant also died. Neighbors describe Nassar family Reginald and Roxanne Voglezon have lived on the corner of Bernoulli Drive for 20 years, just a couple of houses down from the Nassar family, who they said moved in a few years after them. They both described the Nassars as private, quiet and very nice, recalling that the family would bring them food during Ramadan and that once the father, Mohamed Nassar, took Reginald Voglezon to a doctors appointment. "They're very good people," Voglezon told the Statesman in an interview the day after the standoff. Voglezon said he and Mohamed Nassar were on the homeowners association board together, and that they used to walk the neighborhood to award the yard of the month designation. He also said they would get coffee sometimes. Mohamed Nassar is originally from Egypt, and that's where he was the night of the incident, Voglezon said. Mohamed is such a nice guy, he said. "They would check on you and see how you are doing. The Voglezons said Riad Nassar worked in tech. Riad Nassar, who died during the Nov. 11 incident, had a bachelors degree in psychology and a minor in computer science from Austin College, according to his personal website, and he had worked as a user experience designer with Akamai Innovations, a medical marketing company, since 2021. In his free time, he judged robotics competitions and helped teach robotics to children in Central Texas, according to his website and LinkedIn page. He was also on the board of Black UX, a civic and social organization that connects user experience professionals with people of African heritage in Austin, according to the organization's LinkedIn page. "Some people like to compete. I like to cooperate," Riad Nassar wrote on his website. Public information about the mother, Eyman Ahmed Elnemr-Nassar, who also died, was limited. Roxanne Voglezon began to tear up thinking about the family and what the father must be going through. She said that almost 24 hours after the incident, its gravity really hit her. A whole family, she said, just like that. Austin police officers gather at the crime scene after a SWAT officer was fatally shot Nov. 11. Neighbors noticed 'big change' in Ahmed Nassar Over the past year or so, the Voglezons said, Ahmed Nassars demeanor began to change. He would work out a lot, wouldnt say hi and would drop his head to avoid eye contact with neighbors. Multiple neighbors described Ahmed Nassar similarly, saying that they would see him walking outside, holding hand weights and wearing a backpack. Reginald Voglezon said Ahmed Nassar wasnt always like that, though. He said Nassar used to chat with him and speculated that his change in character was because he'd struggled to find a job. From the person I (knew) to this, its a big change, Voglezon said. Some media outlets reported that Ahmed Nassar had been on an FBI watchlist, but the Austin Police Department told the Statesman that was false. The Statesman found that Austin police received a tip about him in 2015 regarding suspicious activity but did not find any connections to crime or any other reason to continue surveilling him. Fallen Austin police officer Jorge Pastore is honored Friday at a funeral attended by thousands at Circuit of the Americas. The day of the SWAT standoff The morning of the incident, the Voglezons, like many of their neighbors, were stirred awake by the police activity outside. At first, Roxanne Voglezon thought she was dreaming. I went right back to sleep, she said, and then we heard the knock on the door. Around 3:30 a.m., officers told them that there was an incident two doors down and that they needed to leave, initially giving them very few details, Roxanne Voglezon said. They got in their car with their dogs, went to a nearby gas station and waited. They returned home about four hours later. Later, officers asked for their home security camera footage. Roxanne Voglezon recalled seeing footage of a woman walking on the street and saying the words brother and police." Based on what they saw, they believe it was the woman who was stabbed. She was walking up and down the street at 2:51 a.m., Roxanne Voglezon said. Then she disappeared, Reginald Voglezon added. Crime scene investigation vehicles are parked outside the home where four people died Nov. 11, and police tape limits access on the street. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 'Very good people': Neighbors describe family involved in standoff It was brutal, Rep. Jeff Jackson, D-N.C., told his viewers in a March TikTok video, posted days after a heated congressional hearing over the popular social media platform. In a rare bipartisan pile-on, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle had grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew for more than four hours over fears that the popular app is a national security threat. TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, and leaders from across the political spectrum have expressed concerns the app could be used to spy on its 73 million American users, and to spread misinformation. Just last week, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley renewed her call for a TikTok ban after videos appeared on the site extolling 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden, while a rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Vivek Ramaswamy, had earlier criticized Haleys daughter for using the app. But in their zeal to take down TikTok, Haley and a political class dominated by Baby Boomers and Generation X risk turning off younger voters, who told USA TODAY the attacks are ill-informed and unfair. Aveline Clark, a second-year student at the University of Akron, said she finds the arguments against TikTok laughable, as well as xenophobic and hypocritical. American companies like Google and Meta are also stealing our data, Clark, 20, told USA TODAY. And the government isnt doing anything about that. Were not banning Google, were not banning Meta. But for some reason, we want to ban TikTok. Earlier this year, regulators in Ireland fined Meta $1.3 billion over data privacy breaches, and levied $370 million in penalties on TikTok. Google has also agreed to pay $23 million to users as part of a legal settlement in a case centered around online privacy. Meta has additionally faced billions of dollars in fines from regulators around the world over privacy concerns. Both platforms have vowed to transparently use user data and been critical of some legal efforts and other allegations against them. About 40% of TikToks users are between the ages of 18 and 24, according to the social media management platform Hootsuite. And about a quarter of adults ages 18 to 29 said they regularly get their news from TikTok, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Politicians threats to ban TikTok, Clark said, may spell trouble for them with this younger audience and electorate. It really does not help their image at all. And politicians, in general, do not need another issue to make them seem more inauthentic, she said. FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2020 file photo, a view of the TikTok app logo, in Tokyo. The Biden administration is putting on hold a deal brokered by the Trump administration that would have had Oracle and Walmart buying a big stake in popular video app TikTok, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) 'They don't understand it': TikTok divides generations in politics Keely Calloway, a freshman at George Mason University in Virginia, uses TikTok every day. She said politicians efforts to ban the app are part of a growing generational gap. Theyre just going against TikTok mainly because they dont understand it, Calloway, 18, said. Calloway pointed to the March hearing by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Lawmakers basically were just asking gibberish, she said. When you have 75-year-old politicians asking, Does TikTok connect to my Wi-Fi network? people are not really going to take those politicians seriously, Calloway added, referring to an eyebrow-raising question by 52-year-old Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C. Jackson, who has more than 2 million TikTok followers, said in a post after the hearing that, "Some of the questions were good and some definitely were not, noting that the majority of complaints that were raised apply to practically all social media platforms. Elected officials are not the only ones raising the alarm about TikTok. Presidential candidates have pitched the idea of restrictions or a national ban, including Republican hopefuls during the third and most recent GOP debate. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vowed to ban the app in his first week as president. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he believes the app is polluting the minds of young users. 'Just scum': Nikki Haley's daughter becomes a flashpoint as GOP candidates spar over TikTok President Joe Biden, seeking reelection next year, has threatened to ban the app if TikToks Chinese owners do not sell their stake in the social media giant. Rather than looking strong on national defense, though, Clark said candidates efforts to banish TikTok just make them appear out of touch with young voters. Complaining about social media and complaining about TikTok just kind of lends to that image of (an) old man who doesnt understand anything, she said. It does not help their chances. It does not help their public opinion. 'You're just scum.' GOP debate gets testy during TikTok ban inquiry Young voters recognize TikTok concerns, oppose an outright ban Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, president of the youth voter organization NextGen America, said TikTok is one of the most effective platforms for members of Generation Z and Millennials to engage with each other and current events. TikTok serves as a huge platform where young people receive and consume their news and information and helps shape a lot of their viewpoints about whats happening in the world, she told USA TODAY. That reach can also make it the wild, wild west, Tzintzun Ramirez said, warranting skepticism and regulation. The truth is, its a double-edged sword. Yes, its a great way to reach and engage young people, Tzintzun Ramirez said. A lot of young people also receive a lot of misinformation and disinformation on the platform. Young voters told USA TODAY that they understand concerns about TikTok, including data privacy issues, and that they could support some regulatory measures. Congress has the power to curb, to restrict, to do a lot of preventative measures, said Jeremiah LaPorte, a high school senior and youth activist in New Jersey. Saying that theres no way to take preventative measures, and the only thing to do is to take it away in total I just think thats a little extra. Calloway said young people like herself are more concerned about losing the app than potential security risks. Most of what it seems like right now is just another Red Scare situation, where theres nothing super scary that you should really be afraid of, but they just try to find something to make you be afraid of for some reason to ban this thing, Calloway said. Instead of restrictions, Clark said she would like to see better education on Internet safety and moderation. And, she said, the measures should apply across social media platforms. Young people understand, Clark said. When using social media, she said, you are probably going to have data stolen from you without your knowledge. And its something that a lot of young people just kind of accept. And not that I think that we should continue to accept it But young people can see through the facade of politicians trying to single out TikTok as the single evil Communist data stealer. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on the platform's consumer privacy and data security practices and impact on children, Thursday, March 23, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. TikTok can also be a tool for politicians reaching young voters Young voters are also paying attention to the politicians that engage with them on TikTok, LaPorte, 17, said. You can tell who is hearing the message of connecting to the young voters and who is not, he said, adding that its something other young people should definitely take note of when deciding who we want to represent us, and whos making our policy. Clark said she thinks Jackson, the North Carolina congressman, is successful because of his authentic approach. Calloway likewise said Jackson has struck a chord with people her age by making them feel more included in government. A lot of people on TikTok trust him because of the fact that hes so open and so transparent. And I noticed a lot of youth really look up to him, Calloway said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A TikTok ban? These young voters say politicians are 'out of touch' The Iowa caucuses are right around the corner and even Donald Trump has deigned to appear in the state recently despite his obvious belief that it's beneath him to have to compete for the nomination he, and everyone else, knows is already his. But he does enjoy his rallies. So he's clearly decided that it's time to gather the flock just to make sure they all know what's expected of them. Here's a sample of what he's talking about on the campaign trail these days: Trump tells the voters of Iowa that hes not into golden showers pic.twitter.com/bLp0sqLMWW Acyn (@Acyn) November 18, 2023 Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post reported from this weekend's rally: Children wandered around in shirts and hats with the letters FJB, an abbreviation for an obscene jab at President Biden that other merchandise spelled out: F- Biden. During his speech inside a high school gym in Fort Dodge, former president Trump called one GOP rival a son of a b, referred to another as birdbrain and had the crowd shrieking with laughter at his comments on Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), who he called pencil neck before asking, How does he hold up that fat, ugly face? He brought the house down while mocking Biden, at one point baselessly suggesting Biden is using drugs and cant get offstage by the time whatever it is hes taken wears off. ... And outside the packed venue, vulgar slogans about Biden and Vice President Harris were splashed across T-shirts: Biden Loves Minors. Joe and the Ho Gotta Go! One referred to Biden and Harris performing sexual acts. Yes, they're all just letting their freak flags fly, no holds barred. Not that this is entirely new. Republican gatherings like CPAC going back decades used to feature racist and misogynist merchandise, and there were many speakers who made crude comments about their Democratic rivals. But it is unprecedented for the candidate himself to wallow around in the gutter with them. He's also been posting more Nazi-esque statements on his social media platform. This weekend he seemed to be proposing a "final solution" for his enemies: Meanwhile, in another town in Iowa, Trump skipped out on what would have been required attendance in Iowa GOP presidential primaries in the past: A meeting with Christians to talk about the issues that are important to them. This one was called the Family Leader's Thanksgiving Family Forum. Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy were there to go through the motions and pretend that they might have a chance to win. (A recent Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa poll found 43% of likely Republican voters choose Trump compared with 16% each for Haley and DeSantis.) The forum convener, Bob Vander Plaats, was once considered an Iowa kingmaker but he's broken with Trump and it doesn't appear that he has the juice to bring anyone else over the line. He opened the forum by beseeching the candidates to "raise the bar" and by comparison to Trump, they managed to do that. Mostly, they talked about their faith and abortion with both Ramaswamy and DeSantis discussing their wives' miscarriages and Nikki Haley making news by saying that she would happily sign a 6-week abortion ban. (She issued her standard disclaimer that she doesn't think that's possible on a federal basis right now, as if that somehow qualifies as a moderate position.) It was all pretty standard Republican evangelical pandering. But it's quite clear from the polling that most conservative evangelical Christians like the libertine, gutter-snipe Donald Trump even more than the rest of the Republican Party. They are the strongest pillar of his following. So attempting to pry them loose with appeals to decency is a waste of breath. There have been billions of pixels spent trying to figure out why they like him, and I suppose there are many reasons. But recent polling by the Public Religion Research Institute found that one-third of white evangelicals favor political violence so Trump's insurrection obviously holds major appeal to a lot of them. And no doubt they love his commentary about barring people who "don't like our religion" from entering the country: I will implement strong ideological screening of all immigrants. If you hate America, if you want to abolish Israel, if you dont like our religion (which a lot of them dont), if you sympathize with jihadists, then we dont want you in our country and you are not getting in. And, as we know, Trump has lately taken to vowing to demolish, expel, drive out, cast out, and evict all the people they don't like from America as well. Apparently, it's all music to their ears. Trump's recently been getting some big endorsements from important office holders and there's one in particular who represents conservative evangelicals in an extremely powerful position. That would be the new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, whose affiliation with the most extreme forms of Christian Nationalism is only now coming into focus. According to NPR, Johnson is a leading member of the far-right New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement, which seeks to dissolve the separation between church and state by any means necessary. Johnson has spent his entire career as a lawyer and an elected official in service of that goal. Kimberly Wehle, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, took a look at his litigation history to see what it says about how he applies these beliefs to the constitution and you won't be surprised to learn that his legal principles are entirely inconsistent. In fact, the only thing consistent about his position is the idea that America is meant to be a Christian theocracy. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. For Christians like Johnson, Trump is just a blunt instrument to be used to advance his cause which he believes must be attained by any means necessary. Whatever else he represents is of no consequence. It's actually a little different for the MAGA rank and file. The Post's Knowles spoke with some of them at Trump's Iowa rally: Joes gotta go, said Lori Carpenter, 59, as she left the Fort Dodge event.And the ho shouldnt have been there in the first place. The ho was Harris, she clarified, before offering another nickname for Harris that was even more vulgar. It doesnt bother me, she said of Trumps insults and crudeness. Her relative, 71-year-old Marsha Crouthamel, agreed. "It doesnt bother me either because his policies are strong, she echoed, adding that Trump got a lot of laughs and added, Sometimes you just gotta excite people a little bit. Were Christians, and we can look past that, Carpenter said. We see the good that he did our country when he was in. To these Trump-loving evangelicals, being a Christian means never having to say you're sorry. And that's one thing they definitely have in common with their Dear Leader Donald Trump. Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed visited medium Rita Rogers for a reading at her Derbyshire home around three weeks before their deaths - Patrick Bar/AP The arrival of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed in a field on the periphery of a sleepy Derbyshire village was hardly inconspicuous. As a Harrods helicopter circled over Lower Pilsley, curious local residents who pulled back the curtains at the sound of the deafening noise would have got a shock. A few minutes later, who would come scurrying from the chopper in the late afternoon sunlight but the most pursued couple in the world. It was August 12, 1997 and Diana and Dodi had arrived for a 30-minute appointment with Rita Rogers, a medium of Romany origin, who Diana telephoned regularly and had visited twice before. Rogers has since claimed that she once told the Princess she would meet a man of foreign descent with the initial D on water, and that the man would be connected with the film industry. Easy to say with hindsight, perhaps. But regardless, Fayed was so impressed with the accuracy of her readings that he asked for his own meeting. And there they found themselves, around three weeks before their deaths, knocking on the door of Rogers detached, double-fronted home. Medium Rita Rogers, who Diana used to phone regularly - Shutterstock The scene is portrayed in the sixth and final series of The Crown, released last week, which charts the run up to that fatal crash in the Pont de lAlma Tunnel in Paris on August 31. The Queen is shown telling Prince Philip that Diana and Dodi had just flown 160 miles to visit her psychic, terrorising some tiny village in the process. She adds, witheringly, that it may have been to help Mr Fayed decide where his priorities lie, romantically, given he already has an American fiancee, I understand. Princess Diana was known to rely on spiritual healers and mediums, taking comfort from their readings as she sought to make sense of a turbulent, unpredictable life. As Tina Brown noted in The Diana Chronicles, a garrulous procession of astrologers, psychics, palm readers and graphologists toted their charts and crystal balls into Kensington Palace. The Princess spent many, many hours on the phone to these women, most of whom became friends. But she is far from the only member of the Royal family to seek answers from another world. Diana is said to have been introduced to Rogers by none other than the Duchess of York, who turned to the psychic for advice after separating from Prince Andrew. Sarah Ferguson put her faith in various spiritual gurus over the years. In the early 1990s, she became embroiled with Greek clairvoyant Madame Vasso, whose treatment was said to have included sitting under a blue perspex power-enhancing pyramid while pouring her heart out to become cleansed. Vasso, a self-proclaimed psychic healer, would later betray the Duchess with a book dishing the dirt on her extramarital affairs, the squalid state of her finances and her views on her in-laws. Prince Harry revealed in his memoir that he, too, turned to a woman who claimed to have powers in a desperate bid to make contact with his dead mother. The Duchess of York visited Madame Vasso, who went on to dish the dirt on her in a book - Shutterstock He said that while he recognised the high-percentage chance of humbuggery, the unidentified woman had come strongly recommended by friends. The minute we sat down together, I felt an energy around her, he wrote. Oh, I thought. Wow. Theres something here. The woman told him what he needed to hear that his mother was with him, could feel his confusion and understood his search for answers. Your mother says: Youre living the life she couldnt. Youre living the life she wanted for you, he wrote. Harry was desperate to believe her but needed a sign, which came in the form of a reference to a Christmas ornament that had broken. His wife Meghan had given Harry a Christmas tree decoration of his grandmother, the late Queen, that their son Archie had knocked from the tree, causing it to shatter. In another extract, Harry said he thought a close encounter with a leopard while on holiday in Botswana with his brother, William, was also a message from their mother. Everyone froze. Except me. I took a step towards it, he wrote. I was thinking about Mummy. That leopard was clearly a sign from her, a messenger shed sent to say: All is well. And all will be well. Prince Harry revealed in his memoir that he turned to a woman who claimed to have powers in a bid to make contact with his dead mother - Netflix Dianas reliance on what was once described as a menagerie of new age therapists and professional soothers may have been ridiculed in Prince Charless camp but the King himself has long been fascinated by spiritualism. Described by Ian Bradley, emeritus professor at the University of St Andrews, as a spiritual seeker, he is deeply interested in all faiths. At Cambridge, the Kings interest was piqued in the thought of Carl Jung, while he is also said to have been influenced by Mervyn Stockwood, the controversial bishop of Southwark. By the mid-1970s, Laurens van der Post had become his spiritual mentor. The South African writer once wrote Charles a letter outlining how the monarchy could heal the link between society and the natural world. He said, the battle for our renewal can be most naturally led by what is still one of the few great living symbols accessible to us the symbol of the crown. Diana told her biographer Andrew Morton of their 1981 honeymoon: He would read Laurens van der Post or Jung to me. Bear in mind I hadnt a clue about psychic powers or anything, but I knew there was something in me that hadnt been awoken yet and I didnt think this was going to help! In 2000, the then Prince Charles vocalised his message as he called for a sense of the sacred in our dealings with the natural world, and with each other. But royal interest in connecting to the spiritual world can be tracked back beyond the current generation. South African author and journalist Laurens van der Post, who the then Prince Charles is said to have turned to for spiritual guidance - Patrick Ward/Popperfoto Both Elizabeth II and the late Queen Mother attended a seance in an attempt to make contact with George VI. The recently widowed Queen Mother was, perhaps understandably, particularly anxious to make a connection. It was 1953, barely a year after the Kings death. The setting was a private house in west London and the host, a medium called Lilian Bailey, who said her spirit guide was a man named William Hedley Wootton, a captain in the Grenadier Guards who was killed in the First World War. Others in attendance included Prince Philip, Princess Alexandra and her mother, Princess Marina, who was said to be keen to make contact with her own husband, the Duke of Kent, who had died in a plane crash in 1942. What was said behind those doors has remained a closely guarded secret. But royal author Christopher Wilson revealed that the Queen Mother was so taken with what she heard that night, she arranged further meetings. For her part, Diana knew that others considered her reliance on spiritual healers nonsense. Id never discuss it with anyone, they would all think Im, you know? she told biographer Morton in Diana, Her True Story. I used the word psychic to my policemen a couple of times and they have freaked out. Rogers, who first met Diana in 1994, has since described that final encounter in Derbyshire, revealing that while she did a private reading for Dodi, the Princess sat in the sunshine on the patio with Rogers husband until they had finished. She claimed she even warned Dodi about the accident, including specific details of the colour of the car and the tunnel as she urged him to always use his own driver. Whether she did or not, Rogers certainly made an impression. After the visit, Diana is said to have given her a 15 carat gold necklace from Van Cleef & Arpels, one of her favourite jewellers, with a note expressing so much love to a very special lady. Among others who counselled Diana through her most troubled years was spiritual healer Simone Simmons, who she met at an alternative medical centre in 1993. Simmons has claimed that by 1996 they were seeing each other five times a week and that Diana otherwise called her from wherever she was in the world. Simone Simmons says she advised Princess Diana regularly - Clara Molden for The Telegraph Sally Morgan, known as Psychic Sally, has also said that there were times when the troubled Princess called her three or four times a day. It is perhaps unsurprising that this search for answers, stability and guidance was inherited by Prince Harry, who describes himself as my mothers son. Psychic Sally has claimed that Prince Harry contacted her in 2013 to ask for a reading as well as answers regarding his mothers death. She said they spoke on the phone for 45 minutes. In her book, Secret Spirit, she says: I was on holiday in St Tropez and he called me, and the first thing he said was, What do you think about how my mother died? She said she had told Harry to speak to his aunt, Dianas older sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, because she will tell you what I told her before your mother passed away. Morgan claims to have predicted a death in a dark place, someone suffering a heart attack after being dragged onto a pavement and given CPR. She has said she told Diana that the Queen Mother would die because she could see her funeral. Following Dianas unexpected death, her funeral was based on plans made for the Queen Mothers, codenamed Tay Bridge. I didnt tell Harry that, though; I just told him to speak to his aunt, Morgan said in a television interview, claiming that Lady Sarah had contacted her four days after Dianas funeral to ask what she thought had happened. The appearance of Dianas ghost in the final series of The Crown has been panned by critics, who described the scenes as tawdry and farcical. But her clear interest in the supernatural may well have raised a smile from beyond the grave. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. In late October, news broke that Alaska flight 2059 had to make an emergency diversion in Portland on its way to San Francisco after an off-duty pilot had tried to disrupt the operation of the engines. Identified as Joseph Emerson, news later broke that he was subdued by the flight crew and taken into custody. Today he faces 83 counts of attempted murder one for every passenger and crew member on board. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Emerson revealed a portrait of a man who made a big mistake in the middle of a mental health crisis. According to the report, he was still suffering the aftereffects of a nightmarish psychedelic trip triggered by the psilocybin mushrooms he consumed 48 hours prior, which left him feeling "trapped in a dream." He took the psychoactive fungi on a trip with friends to commemorate the death of his best friend a loss that threw him into a deep state of grief and forced him to confront long-standing mental health issues. In the report, Emerson says his therapist commented that he was likely suffering from depression, but the therapist couldnt diagnose him. He was told to consider getting an official diagnosis from a doctor and perhaps get on an antidepressant medication. The only problem was that he feared this could put his familys livelihood and career in jeopardy. As details about what happened to Emerson on the flight have been revealed, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced November 9th that it was establishing a committee to provide recommendations on breaking down the barriers that prevent pilots from reporting mental health issues to the agency. The FAA can disqualify pilots with depression or taking some prescription treatments from flying. In 2010, the agency approved certain antidepressants for use for those with mild or moderate depression. But it comes with a monitoring period that can last years. In August, the Washington Post reported that federal authorities were investigating 5,000 pilots who have allegedly falsified their medical records to hide benefits they were earning for health issues that could affect their ability to fly. In 2016, a study of anonymous participants published in Environmental Health found hundreds of commercial airline pilots could be clinically depressed and still flying. A more recent study found that many pilots avoid medical professionals due to a fear that revealing health problems could lead to them losing their medical certificate that theyre required to have to fly. Captain Reyne OShaughnessy, cofounder and CEO of Piloting 2 Wellbeing, told Salon this fear often stems from the aviation industrys stringent regulations. And the perception that health issues might jeopardize their ability to fly, and in some cases it does, she said. The significance of this is that this avoidance can have serious consequences, as it may lead to reported health issues that could affect the pilots performance and in our business performance impacts safety. Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes. Indeed, Emerson is far from the first pilot to have a public breakdown. In 2012, passengers on a Jetblue flight had to restrain a pilot from having a "bizarre midair breakdown," as the New York Times put it. In July, a United Airlines pilot took an ax to a parking barrier at the Denver airport. He told police he had hit his breaking point. In 2015, a Germanwings pilot deliberately crashed a plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 people onboard. OShaughnessy said the industry is making progress in terms of encouraging more transparency. Before 2010, if a pilot disclosed they had depression or anxiety, they wouldnt be flying. Now, the paradox is we have this system that we need to self-report if we are struggling with depression or anxiety, she said. But the paradox is, why would pilots report that if it impacts their livelihood? The FAA claims that 0.1% of medical certificate applicants who disclose health issues are denied, trying to encourage more pilots to come forward. Yet not all who disclose and go through the monitoring period have sick days to carry them through. Plus, theres the fear of what others might think. OShaughnessy said a culture change is one part of the solution, in addition to prioritizing mental fitness in pilot training, and addressing the demanding lifestyle thats required of pilots, which can include sleepless nights and not being provided a hot meal on the job. What I'm seeing is that basically companies are just ticking the boxes, she said. Mental health and mental well being should be a shared responsibility, and that means involving all stakeholders in this aviation industry. While its understandable that theres a required mental health standard for pilots who are responsible for hundreds of lives each day, some mental health experts say this is yet another way in which systemic forces perpetuate the ongoing mental health crisis among men in America. And that the culture change OShaughnessy referred to could come from outside the aviation industry, too. In America, women are twice as likely to get a depression diagnosis, yet men are more likely to die by suicide. Nearly 80 percent of suicides are among men a majority of those over the age of 75, and those who work in more male-dominated industries, like construction and transportation. Men are less likely than women to get treatment and seek out help. Dr. Carla Manly, a clinical psychologist and author of "Joy From Fear," told Salon that employees in a workplace culture who feel as if they have to camouflage mental health issues due to a fear of repercussions can have a negative effect. Given the pervasive nature of certain ridiculous beliefs such as real men are tough and only weak people need psychological support, those who suffer from mental health issues are often afraid to seek the support they need, she said. In my clinical work, I have certainly noted that males even more than females are hesitant to reveal their mental health issues out of being judged, sidelined or worse. Erin Pash, LMFT, founder and CEO of Ellie Mental Health, told Salon society needs to rethink what it means to be strong. Men who lean in and accept support for their mental health think about strength differently, she said. Being mentally strong is being able to work through complicated feelings and come out on the other side smarter, more adaptable, and more engaged in their life. The Scoop Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X, formerly Twitter, has turned the services Hail Mary bet on an imagined $100 million political advertising business over to someone she trusts: her son Matt Madrazo. Despite owner Elon Musks attempts to convert the company into a subscription-based service, the company remains dependent on an advertising business that produced about 90% of its revenue in 2021. And in the initial months after he bought Twitter, Musk expressed a keen interest in restarting the social media companys political advertising business, which it had voluntarily shuttered in 2019. In recent weeks, Madrazo, who previously headed ad sales at the non-political, creator-focused media firm Studio71, has been privately introducing himself to influential figures in the political ad world in Washington, D.C. Hes part of whats essentially a two-man operation to restart Xs political advertising business with the goal of capitalizing on the massive amounts of money that campaigns are about to spend during the 2024 elections. According to three people with knowledge of the situation, Madrazo has been tasked with outreach to Republican digital advertising firms and spenders. Jonathan Phelps, a Pandora and Univision veteran who also joined X in recent months, is handling the platforms (far less promising) outreach to Democrats. Working occasionally out of Teslas D.C. offices, the duo are hoping to resuscitate a line of cash at a moment when the company is desperate for new revenue. Its an uphill battle made more difficult by an escalating series of provocations from Musk himself on the platform, most recently his promotion of an antisemitic conspiracy theory. One of Xs latest partners to bail is CNN, which confirmed to Semafor that on Friday it had stopped adding to Amplify, a crucial advertising platform for X that shows ads with publishers videos. Know More X stopped allowing political ads in 2019, amid fears that partisan actors could pay to spread false or misleading information on its platform. But amid a broader advertising decline, the company announced in January that it would ease restrictions on political ads, saying that cause-based advertising can facilitate public conversation around important topics. While the political ad team often met or overperformed expectations, political advertising wasnt a major moneymaker for Twitter. In 2018, the company brought in just $3 million for political ads. But Yaccarino and newly appointed lead revenue executive Rob Hayes have lofty goals. X executives have told people they hope the political ad team could bring in around $100 million during a presidential election year, according to one person with knowledge of the companys plans. Maxs view X is just weeks into the relaunch of political ads, and the company is already facing serious headwinds. And like many of its current problems, this one partially stems from the actions of its current owner. Xs attempts to court Democrats is already proving particularly difficult, according to three people familiar with the moves. On the left, the Madrazo and Phelps have received a lukewarm reception from Democratic digital ad buyers. These sources told Semafor that any potential benefits of advertising with X are offset by the risk of alienating potential Democratic voters and supporters who have been turned off by Musks conservative politics and erratic antics. Musk hasnt helped himself in recent days. In a tweet earlier this week, he expressed agreement with an antisemitic post prompting several prominent advertisers, including Disney and Apple, to announce that they would pause advertising on the platform. The tweet also reverberated in the 2024 race: The White House issued a strong statement condemning Musk, and the Biden re-election campaign told Semafor on Friday that it had no current plans to advertise on X following Musks tweet. Xs political ad team also faces some operational and tech difficulties. Digital advertising has evolved in the four years since Twitter left the space. Competitors like Facebook and YouTube offer both vastly larger audiences and more sophisticated targeting tools that allow campaigns to target users in extremely specific ways. This has particular appeal to political campaigns, which use different messages to reach different pockets of voters. Two people who spoke to members of Xs political ad team recently said the platforms tools and pitch were essentially identical to those that existed four years ago. The social media company still often targets users for advertising through hashtag use, and unlike YouTube, the company isnt promising potential advertisers unskippable ads that run before videos from news publishers such as CNN. Room for Disagreement Even before Musks latest outburst, the social media companys ad sales had already largely shifted away from premium advertisers. As Voxs Peter Kafka pointed out, Twitters ad strategy these days appeals more to discount advertisers looking to reach big audiences, rather than big advertisers looking to reach elite audiences. Notable A groundswell of leading advertising executives is urging Yaccarino to step down, but she has so far resisted their entreaties, Forbes John Paczkowski and David Jeans report. Whether the anti-Jewish ideas of Musk and others become the new normal is not up to Jews; its up to everyone else, Yair Rosenberg wrote last week in The Atlantic. Musk has threatened the left-leaning group Media Matters with a thermonuclear lawsuit in response to the threat its criticism poses to Xs ad business. PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) Riverdale Park Police said two kids were killed after being hit by a car while walking to school Monday morning. 7-year-old boy hit by car in Alexandria Police said that at around 8:00 a.m., they were dispatched for a collision involving two children walking to school, at Riverdale Road. The two kids died at the scene. The Prince Georges County Police Department has taken over the investigation. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. They havent officially announced their openings, but according to social media, two long-awaited Wichita restaurants both seem to have started serving customers since last week. So whats the story? Both Red Bird Sebastian Gordons new sandwich restaurant at 6550 E. Central in Normandie Center and Itzcali Tapas and Tequila the high-end restaurant that Navid and Veronica Haeri have been working on for more than two years on East Central have been experimenting with soft openings over the last week. For those who arent familiar with the term soft opening, it essentially means that the restaurant is kind of, sort of open, but not to the public at large. The owners use soft openings to practice with friends, family and smaller groups of invited guests before they throw the doors open to the general public. Now, though, both owners say theyre ready to start feeding the masses but both with some caveats. Heres what you need to know before trying out both restaurants: Red Bird is now open to the public in Normandie Center, 6440 E. Central. Gordon has been working on his sandwich restaurant for a year, and hes been letting his staff practice for about a week. He quietly opened the doors to friends and family then started taking walk-ins. Though hed still like to hire a few more staff members, he says hes ready now to welcome the public. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, though the kitchen closes at 10 p.m. Red Bird owner Sebastian Gordon said his goal was to make a perfect Cuban sandwich at his new restaurant. Heres his version. The attractive new restaurant sits next door to Jack Fukudas Yokohama Ramen Izakaya in Normandie Center, Central and Woodlawn, and serves upscale sandwiches, salads and soups along with craft beer flowing from 10 taps, wine and craft cocktails. I stopped in last week and ordered the Cuban, the sandwich Gordon has long said he is most passionate about. It was made with ham, pork loin, yellow mustard, Swiss cheese and Kan-Grow Hydro Farm owner Jimmy Vos pickles and served on house-made Cuban bread. It should please anyone who like me has traveled to Florida, tried a Cuban and wished Wichita had a good one, too. While there, I saw several other piled-high sandwiches emerge from the open kitchen, and on my next visit, I hope to try Gordons version of the patty melt a sandwich called the Raven, which features two smashed Wagyu beef patties, caramelized onion aioli, Swiss cheese, grilled onions and bacon served on Bagatelle bakerys marble rye. See the food and cocktail menus below. The interior of Red Bird, a new sandwich restaurant in Normandie Center Gordon, who has managed a number of restaurants around Wichita, had long dreamed of opening his own place, and he chose the name for his restaurant as an ode to his mother, Jeanne. She died in 2016 but would always tell her son that seeing a red male cardinal guaranteed a lucky day. Gordons Red Bird is not related to Dr. Redbirds Medicinal Inn, a famous Wichita sandwich restaurant that had a devoted following from the early 1970s through the mid 1980s. Itzcali at 2819 E. Central is now accepting walk-ins for lunch and reservations for dinner. Itzcali Tapas & Tequila Navid and Veronica Haeri took their time bringing their restaurant at 2819 E. Central to life. They first announced plans for it in July 2021 and only recently finished it. Theyre taking the same slow approach to opening the restaurant. Though for more than a week, the restaurant has been serving friends, family, VIPs and customers who book reservations, the Haeris were reluctant until now to announce that they were open as theyre trying to perfect operations before being flooded with business. Over the past week, theyve been transparently sharing with customers on Facebook the aspects of their business they feel they still need to improve. But, Navid Haeri said this week, theyre finally almost ready to open the doors to a wider audience. Theyll accept walk-in customers from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Friday through Sunday this week. People can try dinner at the restaurant from 4 to 7 p.m. those same days, but theyll need to RSVP at tables.toasttab.com/.../9daa8cdd-283e.../findTime A portrait of Victoria Haeris late grandfather hangs behind the bar at Itzcali Tapas & Tequila. Haeri hired chef Jorge Morales to lead the kitchen after parting ways with Kevin Derks, who now is cooking for Vora Restaurant European. (Derks actually replaced Morales at Vora.) The Itzcali menu which Navid Haeri said hed share soon includes a variety of tacos, shareable tapas and other dishes. And Itzcali is serving a large selection of tequila from the bar along with lots of colorful craft cocktails The interior of the restaurant is unlike anything else in Wichita and is outfitted in jewel tones and whimsical, brightly colored furniture. The centerpiece of the restaurant is a large v-shaped bar that Navid Haeri an artist designed to look like the open mouth of a jaguar. A dramatic ruby-red chandelier hangs over the bar, and posted in the center of the backbar is a portrait of Victoria Haeris grandfather, Manuel Arellano, who died young. The dining room at Itzali Tapas & Tequila is full of bright colors and whimsical furniture. The restaurants design has lots of other interesting touches, including several elevated upholstered booths, antique chandeliers, and lighting that can be changed at the whim of the owners. The restaurant also has a large, retractable garage door facing Central that opens onto a patio. A large back area of the restaurant, which Haeri will operate as a lounge, will be ready soon, he said. It will accommodate overflow from the main dining room, and it has its own back patio for smoking. For more information, www.facebook.com/itzcalitapasandtequila Red Bird menus The sandwich portion of the Red Bird menu. See the full menu at www.redbirdsandwichco.com The cocktails menu at Red Bird Investigators at the Dossier Centre, founded by Russian political exile Mikhail Khodorkovsky, have discovered two more superyachts used by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle, bringing the Russian dictator's fleet to 10 yachts. Source: Dossier Details: The newly revealed yachts are the 71-metre Victoria and the 38-metre Orion, an escort vessel. Orion yacht PHOTO: DOSSIER CENTRE Victoria was built at the shipyards of Russia's Sevmash military plant together with the Graceful yacht. She is currently undergoing repairs at a Turkish shipyard that prepares ships for the navy of NATO member Turkiye. The Victoria yacht has been described as the flagship of Putin's Black Sea flotilla. The Victoria left Russia's Sochi port on 21 October and docked west of the Istanbul shipyard two days later. The vessel moved to the docks on early 25 October, switched off its AIS transmitter and ceased to appear on the maps of relevant services. Yacht Victoria in the Turkish port of Tuzla in November 2023 PHOTO: DOSSIER CENTRE The investigators managed to see the yacht using a drone. A distinctive feature of the ship, the massive letter V, was captured. For reference: Early in Putin's second presidential term, the Sevmash military plant, building nuclear submarines, including the modern fourth-generation Yasen and Borey projects, was involved in yacht construction. The two yachts of the A-1331 project were the only ones produced by the military shipyard. The first one was Victoria, the preparation of which began in 2005, followed by Graceful, the building of which started in 2006. Graceful took 8 years to build, whereas Victoria was completed in 14 years. The contract with Sevmash was concluded by businessman Sergey Maslov's company, Julesburg Corp, located in the British Virgin Islands. Sevmash reported successful testing at the end of 2013. The Victoria was taken to Italy, but the ISA Yachts shipyard never started work, so the vessel was moved to Turkiye in 2015. The Victoria was completed at the Turkish shipyard AES Yachts on 24 July 2019. The Victoria can take 28 people on board, but reports indicate that there are usually 11-15 crew members and up to six passengers on the vessel. The cost of the ship, as stated in the 2019 customs declaration, amounts to US$50.1 million. The same document describes the main technical specifications of the yacht, including its design feature: there are two master suites on board. The Graceful boat has as many master suites, and the Russian president's residences always have two separate bedrooms: one for the master and one for the mistress, Dossier noted. Yacht interior PHOTO: DOSSIER CENTRE The Victoria is stationed in Sochi and periodically reaches Cape Idokopas, where Putin's palace lies. The vessel switches off its AIS and disappears from the radar just before the cape. The vessel left Sochi for Crimea in the summer of 2021. The 38.5-metre Orion boat accompanied the yacht on this journey. It was developed in 2009 in Viareggio, Italy. The Dossier Centre spotted the Victoria in Sochi in a photo posted on the account of Natalia Belugina, a rhythmic gymnast and choreographer of the Alina festival, organised annually by Alina Kabaeva, another Russian gymnast and Putin's mistress. Belugina is a friend of the latter, and they occasionally travel together. A source familiar with the athlete told Dossier that Kabaeva and her family indeed use the boat. PHOTO: DOSSIER CENTRE Quote from Dossier: "Vladimir Putin was never photographed on the Victoria, so there is no direct documentary evidence that the yacht belongs to him. However, as with other Russian president's yachts, there is plenty of indirect evidence: a specially selected crew, the ship's route, passing close to the presidential palace, the nominal owner, and the unusual construction history." Details: After the arrest of the Scheherazade yacht in Italy, the Victoria reportedly became the largest Putin-related yacht in the Black Sea. The same "southern flotilla" includes: The 30 million 54-metre yacht Chaika (formerly Sirius), the only vessel on the balance sheet of the Russian Presidential Affairs Directorate. Putin met with Alexander Lukashenko on board the Chaika in May 2021. The 46-metre yacht Shellest worth about US$23.9 million. The Shellest serves as a sailing vessel to get to Putin's palace on Cape Idokopas and has been sailing between Russia's Sochi and Gelendzhik since November 2022. Putin's flagship in the Baltic Sea is the Graceful. The "northern flotilla" also includes: 37-metre Aldoga, completed in Viareggio in 2009. The exact cost of the yacht is unknown; similar ships cost US$14-16 million. 32-metre Nega, built in 2013 by the UK company Princess Yachts, costing US$12.2 million. a Brizo 46 model boat worth just under US$1.2 million, assigned to Graceful. Yachts related to Putin PHOTO: DOSSIER CENTRE Background: In May 2022, reports emerged that the Italian authorities had ordered the arrest of the 140-metre superyacht Scheherazade, whose owner is believed to be Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the port of Marina di Carrara. Support UP or become our patron! Asteroid impact model the best approach to climate change policy By Tom Harris web posted November 20, 2023 For two weeks starting on November 30th, we will be inundated with the avalanche of climate change alarmism that always accompanies the annual United Nations Climate Change Conferences. This year the event, officially called the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will be held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Leaders from across the world will tell us that we are in the midst of a climate emergency that threatens to destroy our civilization. We must therefore restructure our entire energy infrastructure to achieve net-zero emissions to "save the planet." Yet, the 1,828 experts who endorsed the World Climate Declaration say the opposite. They explained: "There is no climate emergency. Therefore, there is no cause for panic and alarm. We strongly oppose the harmful and unrealistic net-zero CO2 policy proposed for 2050." To decide which position makes the most sense, and what, if any, greenhouse gas reduction policies are needed, we must determine some way to properly assess the risk of human-induced climate change. It is insufficient to simply say that the consequences of catastrophic climate change would be so dreadful that any and all actions to prevent it are justified. We must also account for the probability of such events occurring in the foreseeable future. We conduct risk assessment all the time, of course. When we go outside, we risk being hit by a falling tree, a truck or lightning, events that would obviously be personally catastrophic if they actually happened. But we conclude that, if normal safety precautions are taken, the chances of these things occurring is so low that we have no hesitation about leaving our house. The same approach should apply to public policy formulation. If risk assessment only entailed responding to possible outcomes, then then our governments would be building an asteroid defense system. After all, a large asteroid impact could destroy life on Earth and perhaps even shatter the planet itself, a far worse outcome than even the most extreme climate change forecasts. But governments conclude that the probability of a such an impact in the foreseeable future is too small to justify spending trillions of dollars on the issue. So, while we should continue to watch the skies for possible threats from space, we dedicate the majority our money and attention to dealing with known, immediate problems such as crime, terrorism and local pollution. Planning for the possibility of catastrophic human-caused climate change is similar, or at least it should be. Here's why. The amount of climate change that is due to human activity (i.e., that which is "anthropogenic") must have been very small to date. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that surface temperature, averaged over all land and ocean surfaces, rose only about 1.2 degree Celsius between 1880 and today. That rate of change is so low that no one would even notice it in their entire lifetime. And a significant portion of that change would have been part of a natural climate cycle coming out of the Little Ice Age that saw widespread famine and disease. So, our contribution to the change that has occurred in those 143 years is something less 1.2 degrees, anything but catastrophic. Changes in sea level rise and extreme weather have also been unexceptional in the last century. Therefore, like temperature rise, the contribution to these changes from human activity must have been very small. Anthropogenic climate change worries are based solely on possible future events, events that are, by definition, not yet known. Granted, those changes could be a problem, they may not be. Professors Chris Essex (applied mathematician, University of Western Ontario) and Ross McKitrick (economist, University of Guelph) write in their award-winning book Taken by Storm: "Climate is one of the most challenging open problems in modern science. Some knowledgeable scientists believe that the climate problem can never be solved." Even the IPCC said in its Third Assessment Report: "The climate system is a coupled non-linear chaotic system, and therefore the long-term prediction of future climate states is not possible." So how does one develop sensible climate change policy when the likelihood of dangerous outcomes is unknown, and perhaps even unknowable? In his 2004 PhD Thesis, "Astronomical Odds - A Policy Framework for the Cosmic Impact Hazard," Geoffrey S. Sommer laid out a rational hierarchy of responses to the possibility of a catastrophic asteroid or comet impact with our planet, something he considered "an extreme example of a low-probability, high-consequence policy problem." He identified three levels: Level 1: Survey - Surveillance and tracking Level 2: Characterization determining the characteristics of the object found in level 1 Level 3: Mitigation interception (asteroid defense systems, deflection, etc.), civil defense and consequence management after impact (a form of adaptation) Sommer's approach is similar to that often used in military operations: surveillance is used to detect a threat; the detected threat is then tracked and, to the extent possible, characterized; then mitigation actions are, if deemed necessary, taken to neutralize the threat. Surveillance and tracking provide support for the mitigation function. Sommer's hierarchy of responses should also be used in the formulation of public policy concerning human-caused climate change. The three levels would be applied as follows: Level 1: Surveillance and tracking expand and greatly improve weather and climate sensing systems, on the ground and from space. Continue to determine past climate change through geologic studies of "proxies" of climate in Earth's history. Level 2: Characterization Research to determine if current changes are dangerous, and, if so, if they are caused significantly by human activities. Continue to try to better understand the climate system so that meaningful climate models may someday be created to aid in preparation for future change (such models do not yet exist). Level 3: IF possible, practical, AND DEMONSTRATED IN LEVELS 1 AND 2 TO BE NECESSARY, mitigation (attempts to slow climate change). Former University of Winnipeg professor and historical climatologist, the late Dr. Tim Ball showed that the collection and interpretation of data required to fulfil levels 1 and 2, such measurements as temperature and precipitation, has only just begun. Ball explained that there are relatively few weather stations of adequate length or reliability on which to base model forecasts of future climate so the current predictions of climate alarmists have no validity in the real world. The late Hubert Lamb, founder of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, defined the basic problem in his autobiography, "Through all the Changing Scenes of Life: A Meteorologists Tale": "it was clear that the first and greatest need was to establish the facts of the past record of the natural climate in times before any side effects of human activities could well be important." NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) imply that today's ground-based weather station coverage is adequate to determine long term temperature trends. But, using data from their own website, we find that there are very few weather stations (red dots on the following figures) that cover the period from 1880 to today. Note how, with only a few exceptions, it is mostly only in the United States and western Europe that we have such long duration weather stations. Starting about 70 years ago, much of the Norther hemisphere became better covered. But vast areas of the southern hemisphere have no weather stations with continuous records over this period. The image below shows weather stations with a continuous record over the 70-year period from 1953 to today. GISS, Apparently unknowingly, NASA GISS illustrate the problem in their own graphs as follows. As can be seen in the first graph above, relatively few weather stations have records of 100 years or more and almost all of them are in heavily populated areas of northeastern U.S. or Western Europe and are subject to the urban heat island effect. The second graph above shows that the number of stations has actually dropped in recent years. The third graph above looks promising at first glance. Over 80% of the area of the Earth is covered in the northern hemisphere and only slightly less in the south. But GISS consider a region adequately covered if there is a weather reporting station within 1200 km. This would mean that, if a weather station recorded data in Los Angeles, there would be no need for other stations within a circle of 1200 km radius (see figure below). El Paso, Texas and even parts of Wyoming would be covered by LA's station. Ball responded, "This is absurd. Yet the weather station record is still the standard for IPCC reports." Figure 3: NASA GISS considers a region 'covered' if there is a weather reporting station within 1200 km. If, someday, scientists had the data to properly fulfil the requirements of level 1, surveillance and tracking, we would still have to complete level 2, characterization, and demonstrate that the data we had collected revealed dangerous man-made climate change, before moving on to level 3, mitigation. While we are a very long way from being able to properly characterize the threat of man-made climate change, Ball explained that there is essentially nothing in the data collected so far that indicates a problem. He said: "The climate change we have seen in the past century is no different from what we would expect to see due to a period of natural warming out of the Little Ice Age from 1350 to the late 1800s. Whatever human contribution there may be is lost in the noise of natural variability." Dr. Ball was a brave and intelligent man afraid of no one. But even less courageous citizens can insist that a rational approach to climate change be taken, one which takes into account both the possible outcomes as well as the probability of those outcomes actually coming about. Sommer's three-step hierarchal strategy to handling uncertain but potentially catastrophic outcomes is clearly a sensible approach we should insist be taken with climate change policy. Until enough basic climate data has been collected and dangerous human-caused climate change has actually been demonstrated, all funding for mitigation should be cancelled. The world has real issues to focus on. Tom Harris is Executive Director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition. Home The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's civil fraud trial in New York should be wary of the former president's efforts to elicit a strong reaction from him, former U.S. House Judiciary Committee counsel Michael Conway warned in a column for MSNBC. Conway cited the trial of the "Chicago Seven" to alert Engoron to a potential legal strategy from team MAGA: In the Chicago case, the defendants made a point to chafe Judge Julius Hoffman and jury convictions were ultimately overturned on appeal. As Conway noted, Trump's legal team last week filed a motion for a mistrial that alleged misconduct on Engoron's behalf. Though other legal experts have panned the motion as a "terrible strategy," Conway argued that "if judges do take this bait and make errors, an appellate court could potentially conclude that the trial was unfair and reverse the judgment." "In New York, Engoron has used strident language in rejecting Trumps legal positions, terming them 'pure sophistry, 'risible,' 'bogus arguments and 'egregious' in his summary judgment opinion," Conway wrote. "He sanctioned five Trump attorneys $7,500 each for the 'borderline frivolous' arguments in their briefs. Harsh language isnt a problem if its justified. But the more Engoron pushes the envelope, the more he risks an appellate court disagreeing with his assessment. And Trumps lawyers can and will argue the judges rhetoric is evidence of judicial bias." Conway also called attention to the "drama" surrounding Trump's targeting of his law clerk, which partially led to the judge's slapping the ex-president with a partial gag order. "Engoron's interactions with his law clerk, and the drama that has surrounded them, are another area of concern," Conway said. "Trump has repeatedly criticized the clerk, making false statements about her that the court found had precipitated threats of violence. When Trump twice violated a gag order prohibiting such remarks, he was fined $15,000." "Engorons issuance of gag orders barring Trump and his lawyers from commenting about his law clerk both publicly and in court sessions is also facing scrutiny by a higher court. On Thursday, a New York appellate judge temporarily halted Engorons gag orders, citing First Amendment protections," Conway continued. "An appellate court panel is scheduled to evaluate the issue on Nov. 27. So here again we have Engoron committing a potentially unnecessary unforced error. Instead of trying to mitigate risk, he is clearly allowing emotion to color his responses. And there are other examples of Engoron seemingly overreacting in response to relentless complaining from Trumps lawyers. Obviously, Trumps civil trial is very different from the Chicago Seven trial, a criminal proceeding with a jury, in multiple important ways. And the appeals court cited multiple reasons to reverse the Chicago convictions. But Engoron would be wise to consider the lessons of that case nonetheless. He needs to take all necessary steps to ensure that a New York appellate court cannot overturn his decision. And that means not reacting to Trumps hate-filled speech, or to his lawyers baiting and provocation. Its simply not worth it." UPDATED STORY: Not giving up: Loved ones keep searching for 3 fishermen after boat debris found off St. Augustine The United Cajun Navy has issued a statement revealing that debris from the missing Carol Ann boat has been located off the coast of St. Augustine. The organization is urging the public to join in the search effort. The debris, including a fish box and buoy balls, was confirmed by the boats owner and found around 16 miles off the coast of St. Augustine at coordinates 30 degrees north and 81 degrees west. Action News Jax previously reported on the disappearance of the Carol Ann, which occurred on October 20 while the boat was fishing 80 miles off the coast of Brunswick Georgia. The missing vessel had three local men on board: Tyler Barlow, Caleb Wilkinson, and Dalton Conway. The United Cajun Navy, a non-profit organization, has been actively involved in the search efforts after the Coast Guard concluded its search. The parents of the missing fishermen enlisted the services of the United Cajun Navy and a private pilot to continue the search for their loved ones. Action News Jax is working to gather more information and verify the details of the reported debris discovery. On Monday, the United Cajun Navy said a possible life raft was found near the Matanzas Inlet. READ: Coast Guard searching for 31-foot fishing boat that went missing off the Georgia Coast [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. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) The University of Utah announced it will be the stage for the 2024 Presidential Debate. The debate will be held at Kingsbury Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. Utah state officials including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Utah State Senate President J. Stuart Adams and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall are expected to provide more information about the debate during a press conference today at 2 p.m. ABC4 will be streaming the press conference live in a video player on this article. Rep. Mike Shultz tapped to replace Wilson as Utah House speaker The decision was made by the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has sponsored all the general election presidential and vice presidential debates since 1988. This is the second time the University of Utah has hosted a national debate on its campus. In October 2020, former Vice President Mike Pence and then-challenger Kamala Harris debated policy on the U of U campus. The debate, which took place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, was held in front of a small group of ticketed guests. Harris and Pence were separated on the sage by more than 12 feet and plexiglass barriers. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now ABC4 Breaking News Alerts President Joe Biden is expected to be the Democrat nominee as he seeks a second term in the Oval Office. Recent poll numbers show Bidens approval rating among Americans continues to be low, with an October poll showing 56% disapproving of the presidents handling of his job compared to 44% who say they somewhat or strongly approve. Biden is not without his Democratic challengers. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and author Marianne Williamson announced their intent to run against Biden in the Democratic primary. Meanwhile, the Republican nominee for a presidential run still remains in question. Former President Trump remains the clear favorite for the nomination, according to polling numbers from FiveThirtyEight, despite his ongoing criminal trials in New York and Georgia. Florida Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, once seen as Trumps biggest opponent, has slipped in the polling numbers on FiveThirtyEight steadily over the past year, before plateauing in October. Several others are seeking the Republican nomination, including Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, CEO Ryan Binkley, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, previously withdrew his bid for the Democratic ticket, opting instead to run as an independent. He joins Libertarian Party nominee Chase Oliver, Green Party nominee Jill Stein and activist Cornel West on the list of independent or third-party candidates seeking the White House. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. J-10 fighter jet taxies out of parking apron China Military Online) 09:30, November 20, 2023 J-10 fighter jet attached to a brigade of the air force under the PLA Southern Theater Command taxies out of the parking apron during a late-night flight training exercise on November 3, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Shang Jieyan) J-10 fighter jet attached to a brigade of the air force under the PLA Southern Theater Command taxies out of the parking apron during a late-night flight training exercise on November 3, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Shang Jieyan) J-10 fighter jets attached to a brigade of the air force under the PLA Southern Theater Command poise to taxi out of the parking apron during a late-night flight training exercise on November 3, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Shang Jieyan) J-10 fighter jets attached to a brigade of the air force under the PLA Southern Theater Command taxi on the runway in formation during a late-night flight training exercise on November 3, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Shang Jieyan) A J-10 fighter jet attached to a brigade of the air force under the PLA Southern Theater Command taxies on the runway in formation during a late-night flight training exercise on November 3, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Shang Jieyan) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Wu Chaolan) A brave voice in the leftist academic wasteland By Mark Alexander web posted November 20, 2023 f you keep up with the leftist race hustlers who have weaseled their way into academies of "higher education," you know the name of Ibram Xolani Kendi, a.k.a. Henry Rogers. He's the noisy self-centric purveyor of the critical race theory fraud, which metastasized from the specious and historically fallacious 1619 Project. Over the last decade, Kendi has been employed by six universities, including the State University of New York (Oneonta), the University at Albany (SUNY), Brown University, the University of Florida, American University, and since 2020 he has been indoctrinating his lemmings as a "professor of history" at Boston University. BU now hosts his so-called Antiracist Research and Policy Center. (More on that fraud in a minute.) Kendi is the consummate black supremacist agitator in the tradition of Louis Farrakhan. He's also a prolific fundraiser in the tradition of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, whose model is tantamount to extortion for profit. Kendi is the epitome of those race agitators whom Booker T. Washington described in his 1911 book, My Larger Education those who "make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships" of black people "before the public." Of such hustlers, Washington added: "Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. ... There is a certain class of race-problem solvers who do not want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public." He concluded, "A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right and evil doesn't become good just because it's accepted by a majority." But that certainly has not stopped the Left from relentlessly propagating BIG Lies, and Kendi is among the biggest prevaricators of race-bait rhetoric. However, Kendi's cancerous curriculum has not gone unchallenged at Boston University. Kendi's most articulate and respected adversary is a name you probably don't know David Decosimo, a Princeton-educated scholar and now head of Boston University's Institute for Philosophy and Religion. He is a fearless defender of Liberty against academic tyranny, and he stands among scholars on the frontlines of opposition to the suppression of free expression now plaguing our academic institutions. David is also family, both of us being descendants of Tennessee's George Gillespie, the Revolutionary War colonel and leader of the Overmountain Men. Thus, it should come as no surprise that among so many professorial types who have bowed to the woke leftist orthodoxies of DEI, ESG, etc., Decosimo has not folded. While David has become a lightning rod for leftist cancel culture, until recently most of his objections to the Kendi culture at BU were confined to objections within the academic channels. That began with his remarkable objections to BU's hiring of Kendi in a 2020 letter to then-BU President Robert Brown, in which he raises the issue: "How exactly BU defines antiracism is essential for preserving our research and educational missions and commitments to open inquiry, academic freedom, and free speech." He notes, "If racism is defined in problematic ways, then in the name of antiracism deeply problematic things follow, not least the betrayal of a university's research and teaching mission and its commitments to academic freedom." In other words, the hiring of Kendi is a full-frontal assault on free speech, another nail in the coffin of free thought in the academy. Fast-forward to eight weeks ago, when the facade of Kendi's Center for Antiracist Research started to crumble. As our analyst Thomas Gallatin observed: "Riding the outpouring of 'antiracism' virtue signaling, Kendi's center received millions of dollars in donations. Of note, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey gave $10 million. ... Not only was Kendi riding high off his book sales a book in which he promoted critical race theory as if it were the Gospel but he was also raking in millions from white leftists seeking any way to purge themselves of white guilt." At the time of Dorsey's donation, Kendi declared, "Your $10M donation, with no strings attached, gives us the resources and flexibility to greatly expand our antiracist work." But after burning through some $43 million in donor funds in three years, Kendi has, predictably, produced next to nothing. Such is the case when race hustlers get a pass on accountability, largely because of what George W. Bush decried as "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Four weeks ago, as Kendi's sham outfit neared collapse, BU launched investigations into financial irregularities. Kendi critic and Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Christopher Rufo concluded: "It was very clear that Ibram Kendi was a fraud in 2020. His signature idea was to use the government to discriminate against people of one racial group to benefit people of another racial group, which he called 'anti-racist discrimination.' But for any neutral or dispassionate observer, it was simply racism in a new direction. He has nothing to offer to the debate, and I'm glad to see his research center implode. It's the ultimate vindication for those of us who said that critical race theory was not a solution to America's problems and that Ibram Kendi was a false prophet of a dangerous philosophy. This is really poetic justice and I think marks the end of this chapter in the left-wing racialist saga." Of course, anyone raising an objection over that lack of accountability risks being labeled "RACIST." The Washington Post's Tyler Austin Harper was more direct, noting, "Kendi's fall is a cautionary tale so was his rise," and concluding, "Though I don't condone Kendi's race grift, I do understand how easy it would be to become a grifter." Grifter indeed. Even Kendi's fans at The New York Times were ducking and covering, noting that his staff blamed Kendi for his "imperious leadership style" and "questioned both the center's stewardship of grants and its productivity." Which brings me back to his BU critic, David Decosimo. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Decosimo went very public with his condemnation of Kendi, but also the leadership of BU and other academic administrations, writing: "The debacle that is Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research is about far more than its founder, Ibram X. Kendi. It is about a university, caught up in cultural hysteria, subordinating itself to ideology. ... Mr. Kendi deserves some blame for the scandal, but the real culprit is institutional and cultural. It's still unfolding and is far bigger than BU. In 2020, countless universities behaved as BU did. And to this day at universities everywhere, activist faculty and administrators are still quietly working to institutionalize Mr. Kendi's vision. They have made embracing 'diversity, equity and inclusion' a criterion for hiring and tenure, have rewritten disciplinary standards to privilege antiracist ideology, and are discerning ways to circumvent the Supreme Court's affirmative-action ruling." That would be the SCOTUS ruling in June against the toxic euphemism known as "affirmative action" in college and university admission practices more accurately referred to as "affirmative discrimination." Decosimo concludes: "Most of those now attacking Mr. Kendi at BU don't object to his vision. ... Their anger isn't with his ideology's intellectual and ethical poverty but with his personal failure to use the money and power given to him to institutionalize their vision across American universities, politics and culture. Whether driven by moral hysteria, cynical careerism or fear of being labeled racist, this violation of scholarly ideals and liberal principles betrays the norms necessary for intellectual life and human flourishing. It courts disaster, at this moment especially, that universities can't afford." Of course, BU found "no issues" with the management of Kendi's Antiracist Center, and of course Kendi decried the investigation as "racist." He complained, "It is unfortunate that individuals near and far spread a false narrative about a Black leader taking or mismanaging funds." Thus, I am sure BU will restore Kendi's standing and his center will rise from the dead as some shadow of its former self, a "fellowship model" that allows Kendi to save face while still being its chief grifter. If BU administrators had any academic integrity, they would sunset Kendi's charade before it suffers the same fate as its kissing cousin, the race-bait Marxist front, Black Lives Matter, which also raised tens of millions but folded in disgrace. But it will be without at least one courageous trustee, William Bloom, who recently resigned in protest, declaring: "Kendi was attracted to BU more by the socialist anarchism of Howard Zinn than the civil rights championed by Martin Luther King Jr. Critical theory, like Mr. Kendi's 'antiracism,' seeks to achieve the alchemy of group equity by the law (social justice) instead of equality before the law (justice). Critical theorists want to disrupt and dismantle what they feel is a rigged system. This includes the U.S. Constitution. Until we can cure human nature, however, we had better uphold the ideals of our founding." In his 1901 book Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington concluded: "Great men cultivate love. ... Only little men cherish a spirit of hatred." Six decades later, that theme would be renewed by civil rights leader Martin Luther King. In 1963, King concluded his timeless "I Have a Dream" speech by asserting the need to focus on character over color: "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ... And if America is to be a great nation this must become true." Today, despite the fact that the Democrat Party claims King's legacy, and Democrats argue they are the sole protectors of his "dream," they have turned King's message upside down, as if King had declared people should be judged "by the color of their skin, not the content of their character." In doing so, they also turned his dream into a nightmare. Their failed statist "Great Society" programs have enslaved generations of poor, mostly black Americans on urban poverty plantations that are plagued with violence. Fact is, the most consequential "systemic racism" in America is the institutionalization of the Democrat Party platform, which has, by design, kept poor people in bondage to the welfare state and, consequently, is the blueprint for the most enduring racial exploitation architecture in America. Democrats are the historical architects and political beneficiaries of systemic racism. What are the odds that Kendi will be teaching that lesson? Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post. Naillah Benjell of Los Angeles greets Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller III, otherwise known as Mayor Max III, the mayor of Idyllwild, during a public appearance. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Most politicians caught with their tail between their legs are voted out of office or run out of town, but not the mayor of Idyllwild, a small mountain community about 25 miles south of Banning. Here the top dog is an actual dog a 1-year-old, full grown American purebred golden retriever with the legal name of Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller III. People call him Mayor Max. Mayor Max III keeps a selection of ties inside his closet at his home in Idyllwild. He's the third dog to hold office in Idyllwild, part of a tradition dating back to 2012 when Idyllwild Animal Rescue Friends came up with a novel idea for a fundraiser: a mayoral election in which no humans were allowed to run, according to Phyllis Mueller, 72, who serves with her husband, Glen Warren, 59, as the mayor's co-chiefs of staff. Phyllis Mueller and her husband, Glen Warren, the mayor's owners and co-chiefs of staff, tend to his grooming needs in their Mountain Center living room. Mayor Max III is the latest in a three-generation dynasty of Idyllwild mayors. The animal election didn't upset the local political establishment, since Idyllwild doesn't have a human mayor of its own. The mountain town is unincorporated, with local political decisions handled by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. Read more: Dog lovers push back against L.A.'s plan for a $58-million bike path in the Sepulveda Basin Animal candidates (and their human owners) had to live in Idyllwild or the nearby towns of Fern Valley, Pine Cove or Mountain Center. It cost a dollar to vote and people were encouraged to cast as many ballots as they liked. With 21,132 votes, Maximus Mighty Dog Mueller defeated 13 other dogs and two cats (and netted the animal rescue more than $31,000). He was the first in a political dynasty now stretching three generations. If you ask Mueller, the most unusual part of the whole arrangement wasn't that it resulted in a canine mayor, but the fact that the process was nonpartisan. "When you become the president of the United States, half the people in the country hate you on the first day thats not fun," she said. "But it would be fun to be able to create a mayoral office without anybody pushing an agenda on you that you have to be one way or another." That's not to say Mayor Max and his successors don't serve a political purpose. Mueller who runs a marketing firm in Idyllwild says she interviewed business owners before the first animal election to learn about their wants: more traffic and thus more business. If I were mayor of Idyllwild and I told people that I was going to be downtown at 2 p.m. to meet the people, most people wouldnt come and they certainly wouldnt come every day," Mueller said. "If I publish that Mayor Max is going to be downtown at 2 p.m. ... hundreds of people will come because its interesting and unusual to see a dog as a mayor. Joseph Samuels, 92, of Santa Monica is warmly greeted by Vice Mayor Meadow Mighty-Dog Mueller in downtown Idyllwild. The mayor and vice mayor regularly hand out novelty ties at public appearances. Mayor Max III and Vice Mayor Meadow Mighty-Dog Mueller greet one of their own kind. Mayor Max, with Vice Mayor Meadow, in the back of their mayor-mobile. There are public appearances in downtown Idyllwild on Thursdays, Fridays and weekends. Private appearances at schools, nursing homes, hospice organizations and businesses round out the calendar. The mayor has attended birthday parties and weddings, Mueller said. There's no fee for a public or private event; though like all politicians the mayor accepts donations. As the mayor-mobile turns off of Highway 243 onto North Circle Drive, often with the mayor's head sticking out the window, people are already lined up cheering and clapping. Mayor Max III, with owner Glen Warren, oversees Taylor Brechtel's ribbon-cutting at the grand opening of Recht Gallery in Idyllwild. One Monday morning, Mayor Max III showed up at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new art gallery in town. Before Mueller could get his tie on, Mayor Max tried to eat it. With some help, she managed to get the mayor into his professional attire before the gallery owner snipped a yellow ribbon with an oversized pair of scissors. (At events Mueller hands out novelty neckties more than 12,000 a year, she said and some 10,000 Mayor Max calendars.) Mayor Max III requests a closer look at chocolates being served to guests inside Recht Gallery. He does not charge a fee for appearances, although like many politicians he is willing to accept donations. Maison Parker of Orange poses with Mayor Max III, left, and Vice Mayor Meadow during a public appearance in downtown Idyllwild. "Just by having his support, having his draw here, will bring more people to the gallery and help spread the word about the gallery in this community of Idyllwild so Im grateful," said Taylor Brechtel, owner/curator of Recht Gallery. The first Mayor Max took office on July 1, 2012, but was diagnosed with cancer and put down in April 2013. Mueller and her husband acquired another American purebred golden retriever, who under the name Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller II took office as a 2-month-old puppy and finished out the term. According to Mueller, when it came time for the next vote, the townspeople came forward and said no more elections: They wanted Max to be mayor for life. Read more: Stanford scientist, after decades of study, concludes: We dont have free will Mayor Max II served until July 30, 2022, succumbing to cancer at the age of 9. Mayor Max III began his term on December 9, 2022, at the age of 3 months. His sister from the same litter travels in his entourage as vice mayor of Idyllwild, Meadow Mighty-Dog Mueller. Michaela Watkins, Susan Orlean and Emily Halpern meet with the mayor, foreground, and vice mayor in Idyllwild. The novelty of a canine mayor has brought the mountain town broader attention. Mayor Max has nearly 100,000 Instagram followers, and almost 50,000 followers on a Facebook account that updates his daily whereabouts. But it's also a major investment of time and money for Mueller and Warren, who shepherd the mayor and his entourage all golden retrievers to his events, and cover much of the costs themselves. "I like the message of a golden retriever, which is unconditional love," Mueller said. Alex Tang of Sierra Madre visits with Mayor Max and Vice Mayor Meadow during a visit to the Mueller home. Mayor Max III is a labor of love for me and were not going anywhere as long as hes loved and adored the way he is. As long as we believe that were really helping so many people around the globe live a happier life, Im not going to end it. Phyllis Mueller Meadow Mighty-Dog Mueller, the vice mayor of Idyllwild, climbs up next to the kitchen sink at her home in Mountain Center. 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. Drivers should expect overnight closures in Greene County this week. >>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: U.S. 35 intersection to become interchange, lane closures expected The new interchange at the intersection of U.S. 35, Valley Road, and Trebein Road is moving into the next phase of construction, according to an Ohio Department of Transportation spokesperson. Concrete beams will be installed for the new overpass bridge and overnight closures will be in effect throughout the week. On Monday, Nov. 27 and Tuesday, Nov. 28 U.S. 35 eastbound will have one lane open just before the Valley and Trebein Roads intersection. These lane closures will begin at 7 p.m. so crews can erect a crane that will be used to set the beams. After 10 p.m., U.S. 35 eastbound will be closed for the night, the spokesperson said. On Wednesday, Nov. 29, and Thursday, Nov. 30 crews will move onto the westbound side of U.S. 35. One lane will be open after 7 p.m., and after 10 p.m., the westbound side of U.S. 35 will close for the night. >> Persons of interest in shooting that killed local teen IDd; $5,000 reward offered for information The routes will reopen by 5 a.m., daily, the spokesperson said. While lanes are restricted or the roadway is closed, traffic will be detoured on Trebein Road, Dayton-Xenia Road, Progress Drive and Business 35 at Xenia. Intermittent lane restrictions may be in effect on U.S. 35, Valley, and Trebein roads while beams are being delivered to the work sites, the spokesperson said. LADY LAKE, Fla. - A 76-year-old Florida man was arrested after he allegedly backed over a staff member at a car show for not letting him into the event, according to police. Anthony Guerra Jr., who lives in The Villages, was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after the incident that unfolded in the area of Alvarez Avenue and Main Street in Lady Lake on Saturday afternoon, according to an arrest affidavit from the Lady Lake Police Department. While trying to enter the car show event, a staff member approached Guerra and told him to leave due to his "aggressive behavior," the report said. Guerra reportedly threw a piece of paper out of his car window toward another staff member before looking at the man and reversing his car into him, police said. "The victim stated the defendant purposely and maliciously operated the vehicle in such a way to cause bodily harm due to being upset over being kicked out," the affidavit said. Photo: Lake County Sheriffs Office The man was transported to a local hospital for a medical evaluation. His condition was not made immediately available. Police caught up with Guerra, who told them he "got upset with the staff due to not letting him in and letting another group of cars go in front of him," the report said. Guerra said the staff member called him an "a**hole," the report said, adding that "he did not see the victim until the victim was on his luggage rack on the rear of the vehicle." MORE FLORIDA MAN : Other witnesses said Guerra "purposely ran the victim over due to being kicked out of the car show," the report said. Guerra has since been released from the Lake County Jail after posting $5,000 bond. Secession against federal tyranny By J.K. Baltzersen web posted November 20, 2023 Eight score years ago, the log-cabin President stood at the major battlefield of the Civil War and proclaimed that government of the people, by the people, and for the people should not perish from the Earth. Americans learn in school that he saved the union. So did yours truly, as an international school brat in Africa with an American-dominated curriculum. These days, anyone showing the slightest sympathy for secession risks being labeled a neo-Confederate and apologist for slavery. It is true that the main initial reason for the secessions of the 1860s was the slavery issue, although there was no immediate threat of emancipation. The Dred Scott decision even made it clear that slave owners could not be deprived of their slaves without due process of law. Lincoln did not go to war to end slavery. The North even had four slave states on its side: Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri. They probably wouldn't have liked to hear they were fighting a war to end slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation didn't even free slaves in loyal states, a proclamation whose purpose probably was to prevent foreign intervention, in particular by the British Empire and France, and to cause slave insurrections on plantations where women had been left in charge. There was probably not much support in the North for going to war to end slavery. The proclamation even caused desertion to rise in the North. National divorce is these days an emerging topic. Guilt by association with the pro-slavery Confederacy is frequently used as an "opposing argument." America was created with an intent of a limited central government. Yet normalcy in Washington tends to imply more centralization, i.e., more power to Washington. All the polarization in America should, however, suggest the solution lies in the opposite direction, namely decentralization. Decentralization is, of course, possible within the union. But if Washington does not listen, secession may ultimately be the inevitable solution. The war to prevent Southern secession ended with putting an end to chattel slavery, finalized with the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This was indeed a good outcome. Yet most other countries ended chattel slavery in less bloody ways, which should suggest it is right to question the necessity of the Civil War. About half a century after the end of the American civil war, Europe had what could be labeled its civil war, known as World War One. Randolph Bourne, who barely lived to see the Armistice on November 11, 1918, not surviving till the end of the year, wrote in that same year the essay The State, from which is known the aphorism "War is the health of the State." Bourne elaborated: The ideal of the State is that within its territory its power and influence should be universal. As the Church is the medium for the spiritual salvation of man, so the State is thought of as the medium for his political salvation. [...] it is precisely in war that the urgency for union seems greatest, and the necessity for universality seems most unquestioned. So, while the Civil War did the good of ending chattel slavery, it did not, as we are taught, save the Union. It created a more centralized union, alien to the ideal of limited government of the Founders who had seceded from the British Empire four score and seven years earlier. It was arguably the Confederacy fighting for government of the people, by the people, and for the people, which Abraham Lincoln opposed and deciding by war, i.e., might is right, the question of whether secession is allowed. Again, the South was not invaded to emancipate the slaves. When the founders fought for independence, it was on the grounds of the government in London being tyrannical. But to secede from the American Union is not to be allowed. States' rights were referred to prior to the Civil War, as Tom DiLorenzo argues in The Real Lincoln, by Northern abolitionists in their opposition to slavery, as an argument against complying with federal fugitive slave legislation. Lincoln destroyed states' rights, and thereby removing an essential bulwark against federal tyranny. Just like Westminster decided what was good for the colonists back in the days, Washington is to decide what is good for Americans today. I suspect a lot of Americans would sharply disagree. Again, decentralization is possible with the existing federal union. Theoretically at least. That requires a systematic reduction of the federal government's power. But Washington doesn't seem to be willing. It may turn out another national divorce may be necessary to end another form of slavery, political slavery by Washington, with high taxes, excessive regulation, and the mightiest government in recorded history and for government of the people, by the people, and for the people to flourish. J.K. Baltzersen is a Norwegian author and political commentator. He has edited and co-written a book on constitution, democracy, and liberty. Home On the 60th anniversary of Aldous Huxley's death -- Herbert Marcuse vs. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World -- a thought experiment By Mark Wegierski web posted November 20, 2023 Mark Wegierski speculates what Herbert Marcuse would say about the famous dystopia. The thought-experiment is a recognized form of obtaining certain insights, even in the strictest hard sciences. Aldous Huxley, who passed away sixty years ago, on November 22, 1963, would have probably appreciated laying out a hypothetical situation like the one below. Herbert Marcuse Let us say that Herbert Marcuse, the Frankfurt School theorist, often considered as one of the intellectual progenitors of the Sixties' revolutions, were re-awakened several hundred years hence, in the world of Our Ford's "Brave New World". What sort of critique would he make of that society and what would this say about Marcuse's ideas? Marcuse's critique of Brave New World would presumably focus on the "masked nature" of the society. What appears as a happy, free-loving society is in fact the product of continuous and thoroughgoing genetic engineering, which imposes class distinctions and barriers from the moment of (artificial) conception. The hierarchy of Brave New World is more rigid than that of any formerly existing society, as it is utterly predetermined. There is no rising even from the Beta class to the Alpha class. Marcuse's critique of BNW would probably be that it is "not genuine" -- it is built on bio-engineering of humans and complete "state" control of human reproduction. It is a society where everyone is absorbed in an all-permeating "false consciousness". Thus, the society of BNW is not really natural, and does not really allow individuals freedom of choice. Inequality is endemic and completely ingrained into the society. The fact that the society is ultimately based on total genetic determinism should totally illegitimate it, as far as Marcuse is concerned. Yet, on the other hand, Marcuse would probably approve of many of the features of BNW, if considered apart from the genetic caste system. It is a world which has done away with hunger, poverty, disease, and the fear of natural or violent death. Individuals are allowed "the free play of their sexuality" at all times of their lives, and are uninhibited in any way. The idea of the father, that strict, patriarchal oppressor, has gone away, as well as the idea of the mother, which so unnaturally (according to some modern sexual theorists) oppresses women. Without the father, none of the evils of premodern civilization are present -- war, aggression, and violent conflict have all but disappeared. The image of the all-powerful father has indeed often been identified with patriarchal, authoritarian systems of oppression -- the very picture of most premodern societies. The idea of the family is also gone -- and it is often believed by thinkers like Marcuse that the tightly-knit, authoritarian family is the very model of an authoritarian state -- with downward flow of authority and no right to ask questions. The idea of "possessiveness" has also been extirpated in BNW, "everybody belongs to everyone else", which would seem to be the natural extension of the maxim of equality. BNW therefore appears to be the fulfillment of Marcuse's sexual utopia. This somewhat sardonic juxtaposition of Marcuse's reactions to BNW is deliberate. Marcuse would probably not understand how a society which had all the "right" ideas about sexuality would not also be an equality-based and non-hierarchical society. The first thing this points up is the shallowness of basing one's views of how society should be constructed exclusively on the mode of the sexual. There is, in fact, no contradiction between the sexual freedom of BNW and its hierarchical structure. In fact, the two can be seen as mutually supportive of each other. There is nothing in Marcuse's theory which could account for the existence (or the possibility of existence) of such a society. Secondly, one would like to ask Marcuse about his definition of "hierarchy". Clearly, it is one that makes no distinctions between "hierarchies" of different sorts -- "hierarchy", which can be seen as the opposite of "equality", is inherently "bad", no matter what ends it chooses for itself. In fact, the question of ends does not arise -- "hierarchy", in whatever form, is "bad"; its opposite, "equality" is good. Yet the idea of "hierarchy" must indeed have some implicit valuative connotations attached to it in the mind of Marcuse -- fascist or fascistic impulses towards domination, etc. So, when a "hierarchy" promotes the ends which Marcuse promotes, how is he to criticize this "hierarchy"? He cannot criticize it for the ends it promotes. So, he can only criticize it for its means. Paradoxically, John the Savage, in the course of his conversations with the World-Controller Mustapha Mond, provides one answer to this problem. In the so-called Cyprus experiment described in the book, a society of Alpha Double Pluses fights a savage civil war. The reason given for this is that no Alpha Double Plus could stand doing Epsilon Semi-Moron work. Thus, it may be deduced that Huxley's point is that, if everyone were equally, outstandingly, intelligent, beautiful, and so forth, society probably could not exist. Interestingly enough, though our own society does not resort to bio-engineering humans, people are born with very different abilities and aptitudes. It could be argued that, to put it sharply, inequality is thus present in human nature itself, and is an indelible part of human nature. BNW, in regard to its genetic caste system, can therefore be seen to be creating un-naturally an extreme form of the hierarchies and stratifications that are normally present in any case, in any human society. The rejection of Brave New World because of its hierarchical nature is thus very theoretically shallow. Marcuse must look to what effects the society has on individuals apart from this -- in what aspects, for example, does the society of BNW differ from that, say, of Victorian England? Can he say, for example, that the society of BNW is ignoble? Another major point is that BNW cannot be criticized for breeding poverty, disease, racism, hunger, and so forth. If everyone is healthy, happy, well-fed, and so forth, what possible critique can a Marxist or capitalist material determinist make of the society? And if there is sexual liberation in the broadest sense of the word, what critique can a Freudian Left thinker make of it? One might then see the seeming contrast between what might be called the "ideology" or ruling-principle of Brave New World (endless satisfaction of all appetites), and its hierarchical nature -- which it could be argued are not really all that contradictory. As the Director of the Central Hatchery says, it is the foremost aim to be "adults at work, infants at play". If this insight could somehow be brought down to the currently-existing world, it can be seen that there is no contradiction between functionalism at work and hedonism at home. Some of the more typical current-day urban classes (for whom the term "bobos" -- bourgeois bohemians -- has been coined) who are sharp stockbrokers or business-people by day, hedonists at night, are the best example of this. Sexual pleasure up to the limits of health and hygiene might well be the slogan of contemporary North American society. Without some frankly non-materialist notions of the importance of "the real human soul" -- which can be used to criticize various ignoble aspects of BNW, including the artificiality and extremity of its genetic caste-system -- and of the importance of rootedness in family life, particular culture, and religion as they have been historically understood -- it would be rather difficult to decisively criticize Brave New World. The inability to incisively criticize Aldous Huxley's Brave New World society from a Marcusean perspective might be seen as troubling to those who would like to put the locus of resistance to late modernity and the current commodity-consumption culture in Marcuse and similar thinkers. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called out Democratic strategist Donna Brazile on Sunday, maintaining she intentionally mispronounced his name during a TV appearance. The presidential candidate responded to a clip from Real Time with Bill Maher in which Brazile, the former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), questioned how to pronounce Ramaswamys name. Maher corrected her pronunciation and suggested theres a little racism there when people refuse to learn how to pronounce the candidates name correctly. Vivek needs to just shut the hell up and go home, Brazile said in the clip, to some laughter from the studio audience. Its Vivek, Maher said, correcting her. He later quoted Ramaswamy in saying his name rhymes with cake. Well, whatever, Brazile said, before starting another sentence saying his name correctly. Whatever? Maher interjected. Would you say that about another ethnic Brazile cut off the host and began to pronounce Ramaswamys first name correctly before questioning how to say his last name. Maher echoed her correct pronunciation and nodded. Thank you so much. I learn so much when I come on this show, Brazile said, before repeating her initial comment. Vivek? Vivek needs to go home. I agree. I just feel like theres something wrong with everybody refusing to learn to say his name. I just feel theres a little racism there, Maher said. Theres no racism, Brazile said, adding: Ramaswamy. Ill say it; Ill say it. I know we dont like him, but, you know, say his name right, Maher said. Ramaswamy, who was born in the United States to Indian parents, panned the former DNC heads remarks on the show. I wonder what theyd do if a white Republican intentionally mispronounced Donnas name & then told her to return home, Ramaswamy wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, while sharing a laughing emoji. A spokesperson for Ramaswamys campaign also sent The Hill a statement criticizing Braziles comments. Reverse racism is racism, the spokesperson said. If that were a white Republican they would be fired and torn to shreds on cable TV. Donna will probably get an atta boy from her colleagues. Gross and wrong. The Hill has reached out to Brazile for comment. Numerous TV commentators and anchors have at times incorrectly pronounced Ramaswamys name, with the GOP candidate regularly offering to help them say it properly. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Iran is waiting to reach a nuclear capability By Aviram Balleishe web posted November 20, 2023 In recent years, we have witnessed the Iranian regime's weakness and lack of response to physical or verbal provocations by enemies acting to harm it, whether concerning its food, water, resource security, or dignity. Iran is courageous so long as it can hide behind proxies that fight for it against Israel, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Iranian missiles and launchers hidden in Iranian tunnels. (Iranian press) Meanwhile, Iran flaunts itself as a missile superpower in the media sphere, circulating videos of underground bunkers containing long-range precision missiles and attack drones. Is Iran, indeed, weak compared to its neighbors? What explains Iran's timing in launching a war on Israel, at this stage, employing Hamas? What stands behind the Shiite power's restraint and the fear of engaging in direct hostilities, whose ideological objectivefor which the revolution was wagedis the reappearance of the Hidden Imam and the establishment of worldwide Shiite Islamic rule? Is Iran Weak Compared to Its Neighbors? Afghanistan: The Waters of the Helmand Since August 2, 2022, when the Taliban again took control of Afghanistan, the Iranian regime has shown a distinct weakness and flexibility toward themfrom Iranian Majlis member Ahmad Naderi referring to the Taliban as a movement with roots in the region and calling for negotiations with them eight months before their rise to power, to the official transfer of the Afghan embassy in Tehran to the Taliban on February 26, 2023. Since October 2022, the Taliban have denied the waters of the Helmand River to the residents of Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province. "On May 18 this year, Ibrahim Raisi, president of Iran, demanded that the rulers of Afghanistan restore the water rights to the residents of Sistan and warned them of the consequences of not doing so." The Taliban leadership, however, mocked the threat with videos they circulated on social media. For instance, Afghan General Mobin Khan Muhammad sent out a video in which water is drawn from a dam on the Helmand with a yellow barrel and derisively called to Raisi: "Here, please take the barrel and don't attack us; we're scared." This video went viral and inspired many imitations by Afghans. And if that were not enough, on May 27, 2023, a video was posted featuring a military threat by the Taliban in the form of a song, in which they promise to attack the land of the Shiites with hundreds of armored vehicles of the best American manufacture and dozens of trucks loaded with explosives in yellow barrels. Nor did the Taliban settle for messages: on May 27, they attacked a base of the Iranian Border Guard near the city of Zabol, killing two Iranian soldiers and wounding two. The Taliban documented the attack and posted it online. In the aftermath of the attack, it was also revealed that the death of the base commander, earlier on May 16, 2023, had resulted from an attack by Taliban fighters and not from a clash with smugglersas initially claimed, for obvious reasons, by news agencies affiliated with the Iranian regime. Later, on August 7, the Bloomberg news agency reported that on the same day as the Taliban attack, they had also deployed thousands of fighters and hundreds of suicide bombers to the border with Iran and were prepared for war. The Taliban also posted documentation of the transfer of the bodies of the Iranian soldiers to Iranian forces. Almost a year earlier, the Taliban had closed off the Doosti Dam in Afghanistan, the primary water source for Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city. Iran responded on a psychological level, seeking to minimize the event's importance in the eyes of Iranians. Likewise, when the Iranian Border Guard soldiers were killed, the Kayhan Daily gave the event only minimal coverage in a small and peripheral frame on its front page. On May 28, General Kothari, a member of the Majlis Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said in an interview: "Elements such as Zionists who despise us enjoy creating insecurity on our borders and bringing about a military clash between Iran and the Taliban, but such a clash will never occur. We can't even talk about a military option against the Taliban. May God have mercy on the souls of the martyred Border Guard soldiers. Such incidents also occur between children who live together in a house. Certainly, this problem can be solved with negotiations." The IRGC's Cyber Army has stepped up its efforts, spreading theories that if a war breaks out between Iran and the Taliban, the countries in the world will want Iran bogged down in the Afghan mud to prolong the war as much as possible. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia: The Arash Gas Field The enormous Arash gas field, or A-Durra in Arabic, is located in the Persian Gulf in the south of the Bushehr province. Close to 40 percent of this field is within Iran's territorial waters. It was first discovered in 1967, and its ownership has since become a bone of contention between Iran, on the one hand, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, on the other. On March 26, 2022, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to work together to extract natural gas from this field. The deal triggered a protest by Iran, and Saeed Khatibi, then the spokesman of its Foreign Ministry, claimed it was illegal and said Iran was prepared to negotiate with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on ways of extracting the gas. In response to Iran's protest, Kuwaiti foreign minister Ahmad Nasser al-Sabah declared that the Arash field is a joint issue between Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, confirming Iran's claim. On July 4, 2023, however, Kuwait changed its stance. Its Foreign Ministry and oil minister, Saed al-Barq, announced that the gas field is a national possession of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and that Iran has no right or ownership. For its part, Saudi Arabia declared on July 5, 2023, that the natural resources of the A-Durra field belong exclusively to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and that Saudi Arabia was inviting Iran to renew the talks on "delineating the maritime border in this region." The Kuwaiti oil minister reiterated these claims in the Arab media. On July 27, 2023, al-Barq asserted that his country and Saudi Arabia would wait no longer to set the maritime borders with Iran and would soon begin extracting gas from the field. On August 2, 2023, Iran's oil minister, Javad Owji, answered Kuwait and Saudi Arabia's claims, saying Iran would not give up its right to this field. In response, the Kuwaiti oil minister declared that Iran's contentions could not change the reality and the fact that the field belonged only to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Azerbaijan: Growing Tension The Iranian regime views the Republic of Azerbaijan as a threat. Azerbaijan declares its support for Iran's Azeri population, which constitutes 25 percent of the total population, aspires to establish an expanded Azeri state that would include a large part of northwestern Iran, and has close ties with Israel, which possibly provides surveillance facilities on Iran's border. It is also claimed that the attack drone that fell close to the Natanz nuclear reactor in 2015 belonged to Israel and had reached Iran from Azerbaijan's soil and that the Iranian nuclear archive pilfered by Israel on January 31, 2018, was first conveyed to Azerbaijan and from there to Israel. In a WikiLeaks document related to Azerbaijan, its president, Ilham Aliyev, said, "What is visible of our relations with Israel is the tip of the iceberg." During and after the second Nagorno-Karabakh War on September 27, 2020, defiant statements by the Azeri leadership have contrasted sharply with conciliatory Iranian messages. On November 3, 2020, Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei said, in his first reference to the war, that "all the Azeri lands under Armenian occupation must be liberated, maintaining the integrity of the international borders and not altering them." The contrast was also evident on October 5, 2021, when the Azeri president uploaded a video in which, radiant with joy, he caressed an Israeli-made attack drone near the border with Iran. Nevertheless, Iran maintained its conciliary tone: the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency noted that the Azeri deputy prime minister had visited Iran. Furthermore, the Iranian press claimed, "Azerbaijan cannot cause us harm because 85 percent of its population are Shiites, and we have historic ties with them." The absurdity is that this support was expressed publiclywhen in Iran, it is known that one of Azerbaijan's goals in this war was to create a Zangezur corridor linking Azerbaijan and its enclave Nakhchivan. If established, this corridor would entail a total severance of Iran and Armenia and the closing of a land route between Iran and Europe. Members of the Azeri parliament remind Iran that 30 million Azeris live on its soil and threaten Iran's territorial integrity and political stability because it supports Armenia. Even President Aliyev has bragged that he prevented Iranian trucks from transferring goods to Armenia. On January 27, 2023, the Azeri embassy in Tehran was attacked by a gunman who killed one of its workers and wounded two. The police later arrested the shooter, and it was claimed that the motive for the murder was a family matter. Iranian foreign minister hastened to condemn the attack and, in a telephone conversation with his Azeri counterpart, asserted: "The enemies are happy to exploit this incident negatively; we must not allow this incident to affect the relations between the two states." The Azeri deputy foreign minister announced a total halt of the embassy's activity in Tehran and said that, despite efforts of the regime in Tehran to distract public opinion, the Azeris had testimonies and documents to prove that the incident was an act of terror and said they did not believe the Iranians' words about the incident and its investigation. Iran did not respond to Azerbaijan's accusations, and members of the media associated with the regime chimed in, saying Iran would not respond to tongue-lashing by Azeris. In recent months, the Azeris have continued provoking Iran. On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan succeeded in wresting Karabakh from Armenia. The operation ended in two days, with Armenia retreating from the entire region. Iranian news agencies that followed the operation noted several times that the operation's success stemmed, among other things, from Azerbaijan's use of Israeli-made weapons. Weakness or the Iranian Chess Game? Delay and Deceit Over the past decade, the Iranian regime has cultivated the perception of Iran as a military superpower, using promotional films that show substantial underground cities in Iran with vast numbers of precision-guided missiles and advanced drones of different kinds ready for action, indicating that Iran has become a global missile power, alongside reports and interviews in Iran's regime-affiliated press and news agencies. Already on June 4, 2018, Khamenei averred that Iran had succeeded in becoming a missile superpower, and earlier, in 2017, top IRGC officials said the IRGC was the "military superpower of the region" and the leading missile and drone power in the Middle East. It has further claimed the development of different kinds of attack, bombing, spy, electronic-combat, and suicide drones makes Iran one of the five superpowers of the world and constitutes a strong arm of Iran in the wars and the threats that face it. Nevertheless, in the three episodes presented above over the past two yearsinvolving Afghanistan and the waters of the Helmand River; Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Arash gas field; and Azerbaijan with its growing animosityIran engaged in almost no aggressive behavior, whether physical or verbal and was undoubtedly seen as ceding its purported rights, not to mention its dignity. What, then, is the relationship between Iran's advertised military power and its apparent helplessness in dealing with these countries? A wide variety of explanations can be offered. Some are tactical: a study of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, for instance, reveals that the side with superior weapons (Russia, courtesy of Iran) is not the side winning after long months of fighting. In the Afghan case, the Taliban fighters have already proved themselves in fighting the two great powers of the last century and can be expected to show resilience. Iran may also fear a domestic front formed by its Afghan immigrants, who, according to the Iranian foreign minister, number at least five million. Most are Sunni Muslims, and if a war with their homeland erupted, they clearly would side with it and not with the Shiite host. Likewise, regarding Azerbaijan, 25 percent of Iran's residents are Azeris. Moreover, Iran knows that if it attacks, it will find itself in a war with its neighbor to the west, Turkey, which sees itself as the guardian of Turkic states. And regarding Kuwait, attacking it would likely prompt a harsh and immediate response by Saudi Arabia and other Arab states within and outside the Gulf (probably including Qatar despite its ties with Iran). Iran is also seen as a paper tiger, indeed making threats but, in reality, too weak and afraid to carry them out. Cited as an example is Iran's campaign of threats against the United States after the assassination of Qasem Soleimaniwhich culminated only in a limited attack on the United State's Ayn al-Assad base in Iraq. Paper Tiger or Crouching Lion? On the other hand, other experts posit that it is not a matter of Iranian weakness but of Iranian patience and a long-range perspective. Analyzing the current situation, Iran plays a chess game of delay and deceit while building a decisive advantage against its adversaries by finishing the process of achieving military nuclear capability. Iran's restraint is intended to avoid provocations and present a front of concessions so as not to subvert the primary objective. Once achieved, Iran can address these threats with the upper hand and dramatically change the regional military balance, wielding a real deterrent capabilityIran as the world's greatest Shiite power with military nuclear weapons. In its situation assessment, Iran does not rely on manpowerthe soldiers behind the weaponryto win battles. After all, the Russian soldiers are equipped with vastly more advanced weapons than the Ukrainian soldiers. Nevertheless, lacking a fighting spirit, audacity, and a willingness to sacrifice their lives for the homelandthey do not prevail. Undoubtedly, given Iran's ethnic complexity, its soldiers would be similarly hampered. Hence, there is an urgent need for a strategic nuclear advantage that a small and loyal force can operate. Iran Operates in Two Modes: Restraint and Delay Iran's restraint is intended to avoid provocations and present a front of concessions so as not to subvert the primary objective. Once achieved, Iran can address these threats while having the upper hand. Iran attempts to delay Saudi Arabia from attaining nuclear weapons (so far without success) while staying ahead of the other states in the region. All this is aimed at dramatically changing the regional military balance and building a true deterrent capabilityIran as the great, global Shiite power with military nuclear weapons. Restraint Returning to the claim about the lack of an Iranian response to Soleimani's assassination and the role of Iran's delay-and-deceit game, it was clear to the Iranians, especially after the assassination, that President Trump would not hesitate to use military force. In a speech by IRGC commander General Hossein Salami in January 2020, he mentioned preparedness in light of Trump's threat of a missile attack on 52 sites throughout Iran. By the direct order of Khamenei, the Iranian proxy forces in Iraq did not fire at American targets until the last moment of Trump's term of office for fear of his reaction. The Iranians delayed taking military revenge on the United States and deceitfully used their massive cyber army to interfere in the U.S. electoral process in 2020. Their meddling was so blatant and severe that the U.S. administration slapped sanctions on six individuals and one company involved. Since the Biden administration took office, we have seen the continuation/revival of the nuclear program, lax enforcement of the sanctions, a dramatic rise in Iran's oil exports, the release of $6 billion and more, and not the least, the speech to the United Nations by the "Butcher of Tehran" Raisi, which called to prosecute the murderers of Soleimani, mainly President Trump. Delay An example of the Iranians' efforts at delaying is their forging of ties with Saudi Arabia. The Saudis constitute the Sunni-Wahabi branch of Islam, and according to the Shiite faith, Wahabis cast doubt on the existence of the Mahdi, the Hidden Imam [a messianic-type figure]. Recently, Iran has made efforts to court Saudi Arabia, epitomized by the opening of the Iranian embassy in Riyadh on June 6, 2023. Iranians expect that the anticipated Saudi-Israeli agreement under American sponsorship will lead to a deal with the Saudis on a nuclear reactor. The timing of the war with Israel, in which Iran is deploying its proxy, Hamas, is an attempt to sidetrack the agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Iran seeks to demonstrate to the Saudis that Israel is not the strongest actor in the region. There is no question as to whether Iran is striving to destroy Israel. The timing of the launch of the Gaza war, so soon after the Saudi statement on progress in the talks with Israel, with peace closer than everalongside the Saudi desire to go nuclear, a desire that can be effectuated through the agreement with Israelis a particle accelerator for the Iranians to initiate a war, making use of Hamas, at present. In an interview on the war in Gaza with Joad Karimi Kudusi, member of the Iranian Majlis Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, to the Rooz Plus News Agency on October 8, 2023, he declared that the war against Israel had only begun. The plan was to activate all the proxiesHizbullah from southern Lebanon, the Syrian army and the Syrian people from the Golan Heights, the Popular Mobilization Forces from Iraq," and others. Conclusion The reason for Iran's conciliatory messages, to the point of not responding to the Taliban's blocking of water from the Helmand River, the denial of Iran's rights to the Arash gas field by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and challenging moves by the Azeri government, does not lie in elemental weakness but only in temporary weakness. A situation assessment of the current state of affairs leads to the Iranian chess game of delay and deceit, which is meant to avoid provocative measures on its borders, Western intervention, or a change in the United States' approach while working all the time, unhindered, to complete the project of turning Iran into a nuclear state. The Iranians are making the maximum effort to destroy Israel. Although this is not something new, the timing of the activation of Hamas in the war against Israel stems from the progress of the Israeli-Saudi talks, which entail horror scenarios for the Iranians: Israel in an alliance with the Saudis, an approved nuclear program for the Saudis, and Western cooperation across the region. Aviram Balleishe is VP, Strategy, Security, and Communications at the Jerusalem Center. For over twenty-five years, Aviram Bellaishe served in senior government positions as a business intelligence and Middle East specialist, negotiation expert, and international cooperation manager. Aviram was an Israeli director in a regional initiative for business and economic cooperation dialogue in the regions of the Middle East and North Africa, and is presently a member of the executive committee of MENA 2050. Home Vivek Ramaswamy has hit out at a former chair of the Democratic National Committee, after she intentionally mispronounced his name and said that he should go home. Donna Brazile, a political strategist and ABC News commentator, made the remarks while appearing on Real Time With Bill Maher and was called out for apparent racism. In a clip of an exchange with Maher, circulated online, Brazile says Vivek needs to shut the hell up and go home, Im tired of him. After Maher corrected her on her pronunciation of the Republican presidential hopefuls first name, Brazile replied Well whatever and proceeded to mispronounce his second name also. Maher said: Theres something wrong with everybody refusing to learn to say his name, later adding, I just feel theres a little racism here. I wonder what theyd do if a white Republican intentionally mispronounced Donnas name & then told her to return home. https://t.co/UIfiSCU6p6 Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 19, 2023 Brazile responded: No racism. Maher said: I know we dont like him but, you know, just say his name right. I heard him do a rap and he said it rhymes with cake. Writing on X in response to a user who had shared the clip, Ramaswamy later wrote: I wonder what theyd do if a white Republican intentionally mispronounced Donnas name & then told her to return home. Mr Ramaswamy continues to be a polarising figure in the ongoing race for the GOP candidacy. On Sunday, he sparked outrage online after pledging to fire half of all federal workers on his first day in the Oval Office if he were to be elected president. The biotech entrepreneur wrote on X on Sunday that he would instantly fire 50 per cent of federal bureaucrats on day one. Former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile, centre (REUTERS) Heres how: if your SSN ends in an odd number, youre fired, he added. That downsizes government by half. Absolutely *nothing* will break as a result. The comments drew mockery from other X users. Mr Ramaswamy also recently became embroiled in a heated on-air argument with CNN anchor Abby Phillip, when asked his opinion on alleged neo-Nazi rhetoric used by former president Donald Trump. Mr Trump used the term vermin when speaking to a crowd in New Hampshire recently, telling his supporters We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our county. Instead of directly answering the question, Mr Ramaswamy instead lashed out at Phillip, branding her question as a classic mainstream media move. President Joe Biden serves service members and military families from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford during a Friendsgiving dinner event at the Norfolk Naval Station on November 19, 2023 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Getty Images) When Joe Biden won his first election in Delaware in 1972, he was still not old enough to be sworn in as he only turned 30 a few weeks later, making him the youngest US senator in recent memory. On Monday, Mr Biden turned 81, solidifying his status as the oldest president in United States history. Democrats have been trying to delicately navigate Mr Bidens age while his administration has tried to spin it as a positive given his years of experience, especially as he prepares to head into a rematch with former president Donald Trump next year. At the same time, The New York Times reported that his White House team engaged in a bubble wrap strategy to make sure Mr Biden does not take any embarrassing tumbles that would signal his advanced age. Vice President Kamala Harris on a radio show earlier this month implored people to look at Mr Bidens record not his birth certificate. Tellingly, the White House has dispatched the vice president, an alum of Howard University, to tour historically Black colleges and universities despite Mr Bidens longstanding ties to Black voters, given his problem with young voters. Conversely, my colleague John Bowden spoke with former congressman Tim Ryan, who overperformed but still lost in his Senate campaign against JD Vance in Ohio last year, who argued that Democrats should ditch the president. But while Mr Biden has accomplished plenty as president signing a spree of Democratic priority bills last year and somehow avoiding too many draconian spending cuts given House Republicans inability to get their act together his latest poll numbers should set off alarm bells. Last week, we at Inside Washington broke down why Democrats should and should not worry about Mr Bidens sagging poll numbers in a New York Times/Siena College survey that showed Mr Biden behind Mr Trump in the five major swing states that will decide 2024. But the latest national poll from NBC News is different. The new survey shows Mr Biden has the lowest approval rating since the start of his presidency at 40 per cent. Voter disapproval has reached 57 per cent, a high since his presidency began. On top of that, 21 per cent of Democrats disapprove of his job performance. Furthermore, the poll shows Mr Trump slightly beating Mr Biden in a head-to-head rematch with Mr Trump winning 46 per cent of the vote and Mr Biden winning 44 per cent of the vote. While still a close race, it shows how Mr Biden consistently lags behind Mr Trump. But more alarmingly, Mr Biden seems to be risking his support among younger voters given his full-throated support for Israel in its war on Gaza ever since the 7 October terrorist attack from Hamas in Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to taking around 240 hostages. The poll showed that 70 per cent of voters between the ages of 18 and 34 disapprove of his handling of the war in Israel. Republican pollster Bill McInturff called the poll stunning because of the impact the Israel-Hamas war is having on Biden. It should be noted that Mr Trump had a more hardline stance on Israel than Mr Biden, moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, which led to Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas cursing the former president by saying May your house be destroyed. Similarly, during the latest Republican presidential primary debate, almost all of the candidates called for Israel to go as far as it needed to go, with Gov Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who leads a state with a sizable Jewish population, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should finish the job. In the same vein, US support for Israel is one of the few refuges for bipartisanship in US politics. Any US president would likely take the same approach Mr Biden has. The bipartisan consensus has existed as long as Mr Biden has been a senator. Nevertheless, he is still the president and voters hold him responsible for some of the most gruesome images from Gaza. Mr Biden has attempted to thread the needle on Israel. Over the weekend, he wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post, attempting to tie Russias aggression against Ukraine with Hamass aggression against Israel while at the same time supporting a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. But its unclear if these attempts to split the difference will resonate with younger voters, who are more ethnically diverse and include many more progressive voters. Parishioners, volunteers and teens looking for service hours for school clubs found a way to give back to the less fortunate at an annual blanket-making event in Park Ridge Saturday. The event, called Blanket of Dreams, was hosted by Mary, Seat of Wisdom Catholic Church in Park Ridge and a group within the congregation called Women of Hope and Wisdom. The groups president, Joan Mattingly, said more than 500 blankets were made and donated by over 500 volunteers. Mattingly said at the end of the day Father Derek Ho blessed the blankets. Of the 500 blankets, 340 were sent to Franciscan Outreach, a homeless shelter on Chicagos West side, 66 to the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels, a Catholic religious and outreach program in Chicagos West Humboldt Park neighborhood, and 100 to Casa del Norte, a medical clinic in Humboldt Park. Teri Collins, a parishioner of the church, started the event 22 years ago, and it has expanded since. At its height before the pandemic, Collins said the record for blanket-making was about 740 in one day. Volunteers had the option to bring their own fabric or use donated fabrics. Alice Vile said it was the second year she had gone to the event, and she brought along members of her family to make the no-sew blankets. One layer of fleece went over another, small cuts one inch away from each other were made at the fabrics margins, and the ends were tied to one another to make a two-layered blanket. Volunteers then stretch the blanket to avoid bunching along the ends. Vile bought enough fabric for seven blankets, she said, and that her grandkids, Matthew and Amelia, ages 5 and 9, were the ones who played an instrumental part in picking out fabrics from Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts. Its important that they be a part of this process, and give back to the community, Vile said. Kathy Garrity-Rodinos said after the pandemic lockdowns in 2020, one of the first things she did was make blankets at a Blanket of Dreams event. She said that year, the fabrics were very distinct, many with logos of the Bears, Cubs and White Sox. Almost a year later, when it started to get cold outside, Garrity-Rodinos said that she recognized the blankets again, this time being used by three people who received the blankets and were living in an underpass. We were like, we made these blankets, and they were super thankful. We kind of had a little bit of a connection, she said. Garrity-Rodinos said it was an eye-opening experience to meet the people she was making the blankets for because she learned that the three people she met were working multiple jobs and still couldnt afford rent. Since then, the three have found a place to call home, but they still keep the blankets to remind them of what they lived through and their relationship with Garrity-Rodinos. Youre not just getting service hours, you could be having an impact on somebody elses life, said Garrity-Rodinos. Theres always somebody who is struggling, and youre helping somebody else out. Two rulings by Trump-appointed judges could gut the Voting Rights Act, dramatically reducing the protections it offers to millions of voters of color. U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky ruled in February 2022 that only the U.S. attorney general, the head of the Justice Department, can bring lawsuits about Section 2 of the act, which forbids voting practices that discriminate based on race. Rudofsky, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, dismissed a case brought by advocacy groups on behalf of Black voters in Arkansas. The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Rudofskys ruling on Monday, with Judge David Stras, another Trump appointee, writing the majority opinion. For much of the last half-century, courts have assumed that [Section 2] is privately enforceable, Stras wrote. A deeper look has revealed that this assumption rests on flimsy footing. This suggests that no one had previously bothered to look closely at the Voting Rights Act for more than 50 years, an assertion that simply does not hold up to scrutiny. Stras was joined by Judge Raymond Gruender, a George W. Bush appointee. Judge Lavenski Smith, another Bush appointee, dissented. He argued that nonfederal individuals should be allowed to bring Section 2 lawsuits until the Supreme Court or Congress formally changes the statute. If allowed to stand, the two rulings would gut the protections offered by the Voting Rights Act. Civil rights groups, individual voters, and political parties would not be able to challenge discriminatory voting practices. This includes redistricting gerrymandered maps and voter ID requirements. But Smiths dissenting opinion pointed to how the case is likely to go. The case is widely expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court. While its never clear how the conservative-leaning court will land, the nine justices gave a major hint earlier this year. The high court ruled in June that Alabamas Republican-drawn congressional districts discriminated against Black voters under the Voting Rights Act. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the three liberal justices for the 54 decision. Its possible they could do so again when the Arkansas case comes before them. Sustaining Singapore's flourishing economy By Isaac Jackson web posted November 20, 2023 When my parents visited Singapore, they were amazed to hear that the airport occupied 25% of Singapore's total land. The country is approximately 275 square miles and smaller than the state of Rhode Island. Despite their relatively small size, Singapore's thriving economy continues to maximize their limited space. How did they do this and how will they continue grow in the future? 80% of housing in Singapore is owned by the government. In every complex, they force different cultures to create communities with one another. These communities have everything needed, including schools, medical care, shopping, and recreation centers. This decreases the amount of travel in the country which is important to prevent traffic jams. The significant availability of rental housing leads to decreased homelessness because everyone can rent from the government at a low rate, and it also prevents overpopulation. This affordable housing helps to increase consumer spending because people have more disposable income to allocate towards goods and services. While serving at a college ministry in Boston, my parents met a young lady from Singapore who studied at Harvard. She shared with them that the Singaporean government paid for her education, and in return, she was required to work for the government for seven years. However, the investment paid off as twenty-four years later she is still living there. Gaining these top-of-the-class employees drastically improves Singapore's economy. The country relies upon international trade to sustain their economy. An educated labor force increases innovation and helps establish Singapore's position as a global trading hub by attracting foreign investment. To sustain this thriving economy, ensure long-term economic growth, and not fall behind, I would recommend three things: increased participation in the labor force, adaptation to technological advancements, and optimizing the use of limited land. Singapore is an ageing nation, and continuing to have the older people stay in the workforce is essential to increase productivity which will lead to economic growth in the future. With an older workforce, they need to be able to adapt to constant technological advancements. If they don't, other countries could surpass them, and they will lose foreign investment in their trading port which is a staple for their economic growth. In order to not fall behind, they must maximize productivity by continuing to optimize the use of their limited space. Through investing in transportation and building vertical structures, Singapore can proceed to grow economically. Even though Singapore has a steadfast economy, maintaining this growth will be difficult with the ever-growing population from immigrants. Their international trade is vital to securing long-term economic growth. This is Isaac Jackson's first contribution to Enter Stage Right. (c) 2023 Isaac Jackson. Home Here's the truth regarding complaints about the U.S.'s high incarceration rate By Rachel Alexander web posted November 20, 2023 Progressives have complained about high incarceration rates in the U.S. for years, but conservatives are finally being forced to address the problem as well, due to the left coming after them with politically motivated prosecutions. The U.S. has the sixth highest incarceration rate in the world, after El Salvador, Cuba, Rwanda, Turkmenistan and American Samoa. While superficially it sounds great to stop incarcerating drug users, the full picture is far more complicated. No one was ever sentenced to jail for marijuana; the main type of "drug user" that is incarcerated is a hard drugs dealer who also engaged in violence. CNN hysterically claimed in a 2016 article that "drug arrests actually increased about 10% from the previous year," but failed to point out that's because more drug dealers are being arrested due to the increase in hard drugs like fentanyl coming over the border as a result of the increasingly powerful cartels, not because your neighbor is getting arrested for smoking pot. "Drug abuse" violations sounds like it refers to use, but it includes selling and manufacturing. While Pew has fairly biased surveys, one fact that crept out of a 2022 report was that between 2009 and 2019, "[t]he numbers of people admitted to and held in state prisons for drug offenses both fell by about a third, accounting for 61% of the overall reduction in prison populations and 38% of the total decline in admissions." That same report claimed that arrests for drug possession remained almost the same during that time period, but didn't bother to include any statistics on actual incarceration because so many who are arrested for mere possession are released quickly after arrest. What people don't understand is that due to our porous southern border and huge population, we have one of the biggest influxes of hard drugs coming into the country, and violent crime goes hand in hand with drug dealing. The left likes to pretend that the U.S.'s high crime rate is due to guns, while ignoring the elephant in the room and pretending we're imprisoning mere drug users. El Salvador is considered the most violent country in the world, and its gang members are pouring over our borders unchecked by Democratic officials in border states and Democrats running the country. Why are we blaming high rates of crime on sentencing and guns, when it's the open border policy welcoming the worst criminals in the world here? According to DOJ statistics, the U.S. prison population decreased by 25% since 2011, but don't expect to read that in the MSM. The sentencing rate is down 29%. Although blacks have the highest incarceration rate, the percentage of blacks in prison decreased the most among ethnic groups, 40%. While the incarceration rate has been decreasing, violent crime has been increasing. Philadelphia saw an all-time high of murders in 2021, with 562 murder victims. That is an increase of 12% over 2020 when President Donald Trump was in office. And at least 10 other major cities saw recent historic levels in murders. The Washington Post pointed to the increase occurring after the death of George Floyd, tacitly admitting that the activists who riled people up over the incident stirred them into committing violence. There is a correlation in violent crime increasing close to the time Joe Biden took office with a significant decrease in incarceration. At the same time, incarceration rates in several other countries are increasing , according to a 2021 report. The prison population in Europe (excluding Russia) increased by 5% since 2000. Excluding the U.S., in the rest of the Americas the total prison population has increased 138%. A big part of the reason why the U.S. has higher incarceration rates is because violent crimes carry higher penalties here. In the UK, murderers rarely serve a full life term in prison. Many serve fewer than 10 years, and most serve only 10 to 18 years. In contrast, in the U.S., the median time served for murder is 17 years. You don't hear the MSM bringing that disparity up. Do we want murderers to serve fewer years in prison, especially considering how high their recidivism rate is? A recent DOJ study found that 10 years after release, 82% of state prisoners had been arrested again an average of nearly seven arrests each. One of the reasons the U.S. has such a high incarceration rate is because we stopped hospitalizing much of the mentally ill and drug addicts in the 1960s. The ACLU led successful litigation to stop this practice, so now those troubled people are out on the streets committing crimes. But no one likes to talk about that. The U.S. has higher rates of mental illness than other developed countries, but lower treatment rates, according to the World Health Organization. Estimates state that over a quarter, 26%, of U.S. adults have a mental illness, about twice the world's average. According to Human Rights Watch, 60 countries institutionalize their mentally ill, or family members lock them up at home. Denmark, for example, has come under criticism for sharply increasing the number of those institutionalized between 1990 and now. There were over 3,500 institutionalized in 1990, which increased to about 8,500 in 2020. Banning guns doesn't seem to have helped the murder rate in other countries. In England and Wales, the most prevalent method of murdering people is with a knife or other sharp object. Shooting makes up only 4% of murders. The dilemma is whether to continue relaxing sentencing laws in the hopes that it will provide some relief for conservatives wrongly targeted by the left. Unfortunately, laws against violent drug deals don't overlap very well with amorphous, broad catchall laws used to target conservatives, like RICO and insurrection statutes. Society is going so downhill as progressives take over and dominate so many areas, including the justice system, that it is probably naive to hope there is some correlation that can benefit conservatives. Rachel Alexander and her brother Andrew are co-Editors of Intellectual Conservative. She has been published in the American Spectator, Townhall.com, Fox News, NewsMax, Accuracy in Media, The Americano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications. Home John Beard, pictured in Port Arthur in 2018, first challenged the permit for Port Arthur LNG. Pu Ying Huang/Texas Tribune A rendering of Port Arthur LNG, a gas liquefaction and export terminal under construction on the Gulf Coast. Submitted A federal appeals court last week struck down a major air pollution permit issued by Texas environmental regulator, arguing the state allowed improperly high emissions limits for Port Arthur LNG, a gas liquefaction and export terminal under construction on the Gulf Coast. In a 17-page opinion, a three-judge panel at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality acted arbitrarily and capriciously under Texas law when it declined to impose certain emissions limits on a new natural gas facility. The judges remanded the permit for Port Arthur LNG back to the TCEQ for correction. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I hope this goes out and sends a message to the rest of the companies that are looking at us and want to make us a sacrifice zone, said John Beard, a retired refinery worker and community activist in Port Arthur who first challenged the permit. Were going to attack every single one of them and were going to take them down where we can. The courts decision comes after three years of arguments and appeals since Beard, a former industrial firefighter and founder of the Port Arthur Community Action Network, challenged the proposed permit, which would have authorized the $13 billion facility to release 3,200 tons of carbon monoxide, 1,900 tons of nitrogen oxides, 7.7 million tons of carbon dioxide and more every year. Beard, who was represented by the nonprofit law firm Lone Star Legal Aid, argued that lax emission limits allowed Port Arthur LNG and its parent company, Sempra Energy, to cut corners on pollution control technology. In a statement Wednesday, Sempra said it would continue construction on Port Arthur LNG under existing permits while it reviewed its options. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The issue in question is a narrow technical matter, the company said. The court did not mandate the adoption of any specific emission limit in its decision and also noted that the TCEQ is not obligated to abide by the nonbinding guidance when issuing or reviewing the permit. The TCEQ declined to comment. Pollution levels The argument revolves around whether TCEQ required Port Arthur LNG to use the highest standard of pollution control technology in its facility. Federal law requires state environmental regulators to verify that major new pollution sources employ the best available control technology to reduce emissions. That assessment should include a review of pollution control systems used or proposed for the same or similar applications. Lone Star Legal Aid commissioned its own technical review of the TCEQs proposed permit and found that another recently approved gas terminal in Texas, Rio Grande LNG, had laid out plans in its application to operate the same equipment with substantially less pollution than what Port Arthur LNG promised. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That was basic analysis, said Amy Dinn, attorney for Lone Star Legal Aid. The TCEQ should have considered that themselves. READ NEXT: Texas quietly moves to formalize acceptable cancer risk from industrial air pollution Both companies had applied to install the same type of turbines. Rio Grande LNG proposed to run each machine with emissions of nitrogen oxides at 5 parts per million and carbon monoxide at 15 parts per million. Port Arthur LNG proposed to run the same machines with emissions of 9 parts per million of nitrogen oxides and 25 parts per million of carbon monoxide. We made comments to the TCEQ about this situation and they were just ignored throughout the process, Dinn said. Dinn asked the agency why the facility was not required to employ Selective Catalytic Reduction technology, or SCR, like other nearby gas terminals had proposed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In response, TCEQ Executive Director Toby Baker wrote that Port Arthur LNG, in its application, had included an economic analysis purporting to demonstrate that certain control technologies (including SCR) while technically feasible, are too costly for the proposed project. TCEQ questioned When two state administrative law judges reviewed the draft permit in 2021, they disagreed with the TCEQ. It is undisputed that using SCR technology is technically feasible; Applicant contends however, that it is not cost-effective, the judges wrote. The ALJs find that the preponderance of the evidence established that the use of SCR control technology is cost effective. The judges recommend the TCEQ lower emissions limits for the compression turbines to 5 parts per million for nitrogen oxides and 15 parts per million for carbon monoxide, consistent with Rio Grande LNG. Advertisement Article continues below this ad TCEQs Baker objected. Because Rio Grande LNG was yet to be constructed, he wrote in June 2022, its proposed emissions limits had not been demonstrated in practice. There is no way to verify whether Rio Grande LNG will be able to attain its estimated emissions, Baker wrote. Three months later, the TCEQ commissioners voted to reject the recommendation and issue the permit as initially proposed. Typically, state courts hear complaints about state-issued pollution permits. But Port Arthur LNGs permit was eligible for review in federal court, Dinn said, thanks to the 1938 Natural Gas Act which put certain gas infrastructure under federal jurisdiction. Federal courts rarely get a chance to review a TCEQ permit, said Ilhan Levin, associate director of the Environmental Integrity Project in Austin. For Texas, this legal opinion is a clear message to stop bending over backward to accommodate the whims of fossil fuel corporations. Acted arbitrarily In its ruling, the three-judge panel wrote that the TCEQ declined to impose certain emissions limits on a new natural gas facility that it had recently imposed on another such facility. In doing so, it contravened its policy of adhering to previously imposed emissions limits, but it did not adequately explain why. It therefore acted arbitrarily and capriciously under Texas law. For Beard, the ruling marked a major triumph. He started PACAN in 2017, after he retired from the nearby ExxonMobil refinery, to improve living conditions in Port Arthur, a small Gulf Coast city flanked by massive petrochemical plants. Forty-three percent of Port Arthur residents are Black, more than three times the statewide average. Despite the abundance of multi-billion dollar industries, median household income is 37% less than Texas as a whole while its poverty rate is nearly double. Much of the city is in the 95th percentile nationally for both the volume of toxic air pollution released and resulting cancer risk, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A plurality of young voters say they hold social media responsible for divisions among Americans, according to a survey released Monday. A Quinnipiac University poll asked U.S. registered voters to select one of four options to blame for the divisions in the country. Overall, 35 percent blamed social media, 32 percent blamed political leaders, 28 percent blamed cable news channels and only 1 percent blamed other countries. Forty-five percent of voters 18-34 years old blamed social media. They were roughly split between the other two dominant groups, with 27 percent blaming cable news and 26 percent blaming political leaders. Best Black Friday Deals When it comes to the source of the angry white noise of discord and division, the segment of the population most connected to it is the age group most critical of it, Quinnipiac polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a press release of the poll. Public officials have struggled to regulate social media, despite known consequences of its use. A bipartisan coalition of 33 attorneys general recently filed lawsuits against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, accusing the company of knowingly designing features that harm young users mental health. The poll surveyed 1,574 self-identified registered voters nationwide from Nov. 9-13, and it has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) An animal Action group says YouTube has removed a video of Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt speaking about a cockfighter rally and fundraiser for violating the companys community guidelines by promoting cruelty to animals. In a video message to cockfighters, Governor Stitt apologizes for not attending their rally in McAlester on November 12, but says he will cheer them on from the sidelines and that he looks forward to working to advance their legislative priorities in the state legislature in 2024. YouTube flagged Animal Wellness Actions video of the Governors message over the weekend, and issued a final ruling Monday morning that the video would not be reinstated and that no further review would be considered. Content showing the malicious infliction of physical or psychological harm to animals isnt allowed on YouTube. We review educational, documentary, artistic, and scientific content on a case-by-case basis. Limited exceptions are made when sufficient context is included. Direct message from YouTube to Animal Wellness Action While we dont support the take-down of Gov. Stitts video valentine to cockfighters, the YouTube action is yet one more indicator that his statement promotes the criminal enterprise of cockfighting and the bloodletting that results from staged animal combat, said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. Governor Stitt can get himself on the right side of this issue by saying he opposes cockfighting and any bill to weaken the states voter-approved law. Link to Gov. Stitt video on Vimeo. Gov. Stitts cockfighting stance leads to animal groups signaling out of bounds Cockfighting was made illegal in Oklahoma with State Question 687 in 2002. During the 2023 legislative session, HB 2530 and SB 1006 two bills to reduce cockfighting charges from a felony to a misdemeanor failed to pass in either chamber, but the bills can be re-examined in the 2024 session. Oklahomans like yourselves remain dedicated to the spirit of competition and comradery that runs deep in our communities, said Gov. Stitt in his message. The Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission has come to play a big role in preserving this heritage, and your work helps to make sure our gamefowl traditions are instilled in our culture for decades to come. The Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission (OGC) is a political action group whose primary objective is to decriminalize cockfighting, according to Animal Wellness Action. Prior to Jan. 1, 2023, the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission donated $41,250 to 34 sitting House members and nine Senators, with the single largest recipient of contributions being Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-21, ($2,500) and Governor Stitt ($2,000). A number of lawmakers returned the money to the Commission after learning more about the purposes of the group. In August, OGC district leader Chance Campo and six other men were charged with the felony offense of servicing and facilitating a cockfight and also a misdemeanor offense of being a spectator at a cockfight in Carter County. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO of the broadcasting giants Fox Corporation and News Corp., as well as journalists from Fox News and News Corp-owned tabloid The Sun during their visit to Kyiv, the President's Office reported on Nov. 20. Zelensky thanked Murdoch, as well as Fox News journalist Benjamin Hall and The Sun journalist Jerome Starkey, for their coverage of the war in Ukraine. He awarded Hall with the Order of Merit III class award "for his outstanding personal contribution to strengthening interstate cooperation, support for Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity." Hall was injured by Russian fire in Ukraine in March 2022, and two of his colleagues were killed. Murdoch and the journalists also met with Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak earlier. Fox News is the most successful asset of the Fox Corporation, a sister company of News Corp. and the top-rated cable news network in the U.S. It has a conservative bent and is typically associated with support for the Republican Party. Its most popular political commentator and talk show host, Tucker Carlson, had a primetime show from 2016-2023. Before and after the full-scale invasion, Carlson often made remarks defending Russia, as well as spreading Russian propaganda about Ukraine. His televised comments were at times used by Russian state-run media to try and demonstrate that segments of the U.S. supported Russia and that there was division among the country about the U.S.'s role in the war. Carlson was fired by Fox Corporation in April 2023. Although the company did not officially give a reason for his termination, it was widely speculated that it was because of leaked private messages where he criticized the company's management. Since his departure from Fox, Carlson has maintained an online presence, especially on Twitter, where he has continued to spread misinformation about Ukraine, as well as making comments bearing a similarity to Kremlin talking points about the war. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky replaces Medical Forces Commander Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. SpaceXs Starship launches for its second test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica early Saturday. The flight ended about 8 minutes later. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer Starship heads toward space on its second test flight Saturday. Eric Gay/Associated Press The day after Starship flew from South Texas for the second time, SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said the next prototype of the mega rocket could be ready to blast off by early December. Such pronouncements are typical for the tech mogul, whos known for setting overly optimistic timelines. But the realities of engineering, physics and regulators often interfere. And, as was the case with the big rockets first two flights, the launch timeline may hinge on when the Federal Aviation Administration gives its go-ahead. Advertisement Article continues below this ad After Saturdays flight ended in two explosions over the Gulf of Mexico, it grounded Starship and said: A return to the flight of the Starship Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety. In statements posted to social media the next day, Musk said the next Starship should be ready to fly in 3 or 4 weeks. There are three ships in final production in the high bay (as can be seen from the highway), he said. The statement came after he posted photos of the Starships orbital launch pad next to Boca Chica Beach outside Brownsville. The first launch largely obliterated it. Musk said it came through the second launch in good shape. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Just inspected the Starship launch pad and it is in great condition! he wrote. No refurbishment needed to the water-cooled steel plate for next launch. During Starships maiden flight April 20, the Super Heavy boosters 33 engines cratered the launch pads concrete and created a rock tornado that flung chunks of concrete and debris across the adjacent wildlife areas and even into the Gulf. The force also lobbed a plume of sand and powdered concrete so far into the sky that it rained down on communities more than 6 miles away. That flight ended when the lower-stage booster failed to separate from the upper-stage Starship and the pair tumbled out of control before exploding after a 40-second delay in the crafts flight termination system. Advertisement Article continues below this ad As it did Saturday, the FAA in April grounded Starship to conduct investigations, ultimately requiring a long list of improvements before it could fly again. Seven months later, the FAA last week approved Starships next flight. This weekend's liftoff went better than the first but also ended with the loss of both the booster and Starship. The newly installed water deluge system, which sprays hundreds of thousands of gallons of water as the rocket leaves the pad, apparently was successful in mitigating the force and heat of Starships 33 engines. About 2 minutes into Saturday's flight, Starship successfully separated from its booster, an accomplishment SpaceX had said was one of the flights primary goals. Using a technique known as hot staging, its redesigned stage separation system allows Starships engines to begin to ignite before it breaks away from the booster. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Shortly after separation, though, the booster exploded rather than landing in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Boca Chica Beach as planned. Starship continued its planned path toward a splashdown off the coast of Kauai but something went wrong about eight minutes into the flight when SpaceX lost communications with the craft. It reached an altitude of 93 miles, or roughly 491,000 feet, before it apparently exploded, according to the company. SpaceX hasnt addressed the reasons for the failures or where pieces of the two stages splashed down. People in Puerto Rico posted videos of debris streaking across the sky that were apparently pieces of Starship. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The FAA said Saturday there were no reports of injuries or property damage around Starbase or along the flight path. The Iowa West Foundation announced $4.3 million in grant and initiative funding Monday that supports projects in Council Bluffs and other area communities. The aim of the funding is to create "southwest Iowa communities where residents love to live, employees can learn as they earn, and places to play are plentiful," Iowa West said in a news release shared with The Nonpareil. The largest single investment went toward The 712 Initiative's restoration of the former Northwestern Bell Telephone Company building at 12 Scott St. The initiative purchased the building from the Council Bluffs Community School District in 2018, and earlier this year it finished restoration of the nearby Cohen Building at 530 W. Broadway. Brenda Mainwaring, the Iowa West Foundation's president and CEO, said through a spokesperson that a $1.4 million down payment toward the 12 Scott St. project is part of the foundation's overall commitment to the project based on 712's ability to raise the remaining funds. The City of Council Bluffs received two grants this cycle: $40,000 toward event attraction for the Council Bluffs Convention and Visitor's Bureau and $80,000 toward the First Ave. trail project. Iowa West is also making investments in the greater Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area through $200,000 for Food Bank for the Heartland, which is building a new distribution facility in Omaha, and through $100,000 toward the Greater Omaha Chamber's Prosper Omaha 2.0 campaign, which promotes economic development in the metro area. Programs and projects in Avoca, Carson, Carroll, Denison, Dunlap, Macedonia, Shelby and Walnut also received funding support in the latest grant cycle. "The amount of hometown pride and can-do attitude from community leaders in rural areas is incredibly inspiring," Mainwaring said in the release. "When these communities are strong and growing, it lifts up the entire region. That's what we love to see." The foundation highlighted the Dunlap Betterment Group's $109,587 grant for a community visioning process for future improvements to the Harrison County community's business district, as well as creating safe places in the community and grow its vitality. "This grant will make a tremendous difference in our community," Jill Schaben, executive director of the Dunlap Community Development Corporation, said in the release. "We seek to enhance the aesthetics of our business district as part of our bigger goal, which is to retain and attract residents and businesses." The Advance Southwest Iowa Corporation received two grants totaling $375,000 to advance efforts promoting rural business and entrepreneurship, including $150,000 toward its Council Bluffs entrepreneurial collaboration center. The Iowa West grant builds upon $250,000 earmarked by Google for the project. The Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce which recently announced it would merge with The 712 Initiative received $50,000 toward workforce recruitment and retention. Iowa Western Community College's new Learn As You Earn program, an on-the-job professional development opportunity for workers to receive training that promotes retention, also received $90,000 through the IWCC Foundation. "The Learn as You Earn Program is designed to benefit both employees and companies in Pottawattamie County," Matt Mancuso, executive director of business and community education at Iowa Western, said in the release. The Iowa Western program seeks to help participating companies boost their employee retention rate while the workers can grow their wages and gain industry recognized certifications, which increases their long-term employability. "A successful workforce model includes increasing the skills of an area's workforce, while providing resources to companies," Mancuso said. "That is what the Learn as You Earn Program will do." While career opportunities are critical, smaller communities often rely upon unique amenities to remain attractive to residents. The City of Carson received $10,000 for improvements to a local park, adding a new playground and pickleball court to the community about 20 miles east of Council Bluffs. "These upgrades will increase the park's capacity for multi-generational activities, attract families to our community, boost the park's popularity, improve security in the area and expand the park's hours of operation, thereby enhancing our quality of life," Carson City Clerk Brianne Duede said in the release. Additionally the Carson Business Club received $24,000 for equipment upgrades to its nonprofit community movie theater while keeping admission and concession prices low. "Everyone must have a memory of the first movie they saw in a theatre, sharing popcorn with a first date, the experience of taking a child to their first movie or watching a classic on the big screen," Susan Miller, president of the Carson Business Club, said in the release. "The Dreamland Theatre has been creating these memories for over 100 years," The Iowa West Foundation is funded through fees from gambling at Ameristar, Harrah's and Horseshoe casinos in Council Bluffs, as well as income from the foundation's investments. The foundation serves 14 counties in southwest Iowa. Letters of inquiry, the first step in the foundation's grant application process, are accepted year-round. The deadline for Cycle 1 of 2024 funding is Jan. 9. Applications are due Jan. 15. 2023 Cycle 3 Grants and Initiatives Advance Southwest Iowa CB Entrepreneurial Collaboration Center equipment $150,000 Advance Southwest Iowa General operating funding $225,000 Anawim Housing Supportive housing $360,000 Avoca Volunteer Fire Department SCBA gear $10,000 Carson Business Club Dreamland Theater upgrades $24,000 Catholic Charities Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Support Program $60,000 City of Carroll Merchants Park Baseball Stadium renovations $45,000 City of Carson City Park improvements $10,000 City of Council Bluffs Council Bluffs Convention and Visitor's Bureau event attraction funds $40,000 City of Council Bluffs FIRST Avenue activation 2024 $80,000 City of Denison Crawford County Wellness Center $150,000 City of Macedonia Main Street murals $23,800 City of Shelby Street lights $30,000 City of Walnut Water valve & hydrant replacement $112,878 Community Foundation for Western Iowa Women's Fund of Southwest Iowa $169,701 Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce Workforce recruitment & retention $50,000 DIBS (Delivering Infinite Bookshelves) for Kids Providing K-3rd classrooms with sets of 200 books $25,000 Dunlap Betterment Group Community visioning $109,587 Economic Empowerment Center Loan program for low-income families $50,000 Food Bank for the Heartland Building a Healthier Heartland Together with expanded and improved distribution facilities $200,000 Greater Omaha Chamber Prosper Omaha 2.0 - strengthening collaboration in the greater metro area $100,000 Habitat for Humanity of Council Bluffs Home-Owner Repair program $60,000 Iowa Western Community College Foundation Learn as You Earn training program $27,000 Iowa Western Community College Foundation Mid-America Gaming Expo $125,000 Merrymakers Association Musical entertainment for seniors $5,000 Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless Direct assistance for housing problem solving $100,000 New Visions Homeless Services General operating funding $130,000 Omaha by Design Affordable by Design Playbook in Council Bluffs $18,000 Omaha Performing Arts Enrichment for 1,600 students in southwest Iowa $25,000 Project Harmony Hope Champions Network training for 200 SWI educators $25,000 SAC & Aerospace Museum Field trips for 1,700 students in southwest Iowa $25,000 The 712 Initiative Renovation of 12 Scott Street $1,400,000 The 712 Initiative General operating funding $150,000 Union Pacific Museum Association Exhibit assessment for master plan $40,000 Walnut Volunteer Fire Department Boots, helmets, & thermal imaging cameras $9427 A Red Oak police officer is under investigation from the Iowa Department of Public Safety after shooting a person driving a vehicle toward the officer. The officer made contact with a man outside a residence at 310 Broad Ave. in Red Oak about 3:32 p.m. Sunday, according to a DPS news release. The man was being investigated for operating a vehicle without a valid driver's license, the release stated. "After a physical struggle with the officer, the subject was able to get away and made entry to his vehicle," according to DPS. "In doing so, the subject, in a reckless manner, drove towards the officer." The Red Oak police officer fired his weapon, striking the driver, who had a serious but not life-threatening injury, the release stated. The driver was taken by ambulance to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for treatment. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation was brought in to investigate the officer-involved shooting, and it remains under investigation. No further details are being released at this time. 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. The new rush for lithium sometimes referred to as white gold in Africa risks fueling corruption and harming local communities and the environment, according to a latest study by UK-based nonprofit Global Witness that investigated three emerging lithium mines in Zimbabwe, Namibia and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The study has found that the rush for lithium on the continent far from delivering a just energy transition risks fueling corruption, and a range of other environmental, social and governance (ESG) problems. For example, in Namibia, Chinese-owned firm Xinfeng Investments has been involved in several controversies, including when it was accused of acquiring its Uis lithium mine through bribery and also when local workers have complained for months about squalid living conditions and unsafe work practices. As well as in Namibia, the report also documents human rights abuses, corruption, displacement and unsafe working practices in lithium mines the DRC and Zimbabwe. Going back decades, the mining sector in Africa has often involved corruption and communities not really getting a share of the profits, said Global Witness senior investigator Colin Robertson, one of the reports authors. What we found in the lithium sector is that this trend is set to continue. This is very concerning. In Zimbabwe, the report highlights the situation in the Sandawana mine that saw a lithium rush involving thousands of artisanal diggers working in unsafe conditions, with reports of child labour and miners being buried by a mine collapse. In DRC, the development of the Manono lithium deposit, stalled by a dispute involving Australian and Chinese mining companies, has raised numerous corruption red flags, including possible corruption. These cases show that as the lithium rush ramps up, some of the risks facing mineral-rich countries are all too real. The worlds lithium supply is currently dominated by Australia, Chile and China, which together accounted for over 90% of the 130,000 tonnes produced globally in 2022. However, with demand for lithium expected to increase by 600% between 2022 and 2035, with exploration stage projects gathering pace across Africa, notably in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, the DRC, Mali and Ethiopia. Commercial International Bank or CIB, one of Egypts leading private banks, has signed up for a $150 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to cushion against economic risks, a bourse statement said. Per the statement, the loan has a maturity of 10 years and will be used to optimize the Banks capital structure, boost its growth, and act as an extra cushion against any potential external economic hindrances. Jurgen Rigterink, EBRDs first vice-president, indicated that the loan will support the expansion of CIBs lending activity, especially in the green economy. In October and November 2023, the Egyptian biggest private bank saw its credit rating downgraded to B- from B by S&P Global and Fitch Solutions. The two credit rating agencies downgraded Egypts rating from B to B- and labeled the outlook as stable. CIB, founded in 1975, is Egypts leading private sector bank offering a broad range of financial products and services to enterprises of all sizes, institutions, households, and high-net-worth individuals. It recorded a total assets EGP 635.83 billion (around $20.6 billion) in 2022, up from EGP 498.23 billion in 2021. Antisemitism comes in left-wing and right-wing forms. But there is a fundamental difference in the way the two parties relate to antisemitism on their flanks. Left-wing antisemitism is oppositional antisemitism is one component of the pro-Palestinian movement, which in turn is almost entirely opposed to the Democratic Partys leading elected officials. (Pro-Palestinian activists tried to shut down the Democratic National Committee, not the Republican National Committee). Right-wing antisemitism is allied with the Republican Party and its leaders. The latter dynamic was on display with perfect clarity this weekend when Ron DeSantis refused to criticize white-nationalist slurs. Last week, Elon Musk endorsed a white-nationalist account stating he was deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations because Jewish communties [sic] have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites. This was not just an antisemitic trope a metaphor that is connected to, or suggestive of, antisemitic ideas of the kind Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib have occasionally echoed. It was an overt claim that Jewish people are collectively responsible for major social problems and therefore collectively undeserving of sympathy. Musk, of course, not only endorsed DeSantis but literally staged his presidential-campaign launch. I requested comment from DeSantiss office on Musks antisemitic post last week but received no response. On Sunday, DeSantis appeared on CNN, where Jake Tapper solicited his thoughts on Musks comment. In the face of repeated prodding, he absolutely refused to condemn the comments. When Tapper asked him the first time, DeSantis claimed he didnt see Musks comment, but proceeded to explain why Musk was actually the victim: I did not see the comment. And so I know that Elon has had a target on his back ever since he purchased Twitter, because I think hes taking it in a direction that a lot of people who are used to controlling the narrative dont like. Note that DeSantis was not only refusing to condemn the slur but placing it in the positive context of Musk fighting back against the dominant narrative. Tapper then displayed Musks comment, nullifying his excuse that he hadnt seen it. DeSantis again refused to condemn it. Instead he claimed that left-wing antisemitism is a much greater problem because it has powerful support: I would say this. The difference is, is that, on the left, that tends to be attached to some major institutional power, like some of our most august universities, whereas I think, on the right, it tends to be more fringe voices that are doing it. This is obviously a bizarre defense when the supposedly powerless antisemite, Elon Musk, is the wealthiest man in the world and controls its most powerful social medium. (Handing over your campaign launch to an anonymous nobody would have been a weird choice.) After Tapper generously tried to change the subject (But lets turn on turn to another topic), DeSantis again insisted right-wing antisemitism is insignificant because on the institutional side, you have seen this become part of a left-wing movement, a very significant pro-Hamas movement, and it is backed by institutional power. This prompted Tapper to note again that Musk is hardly powerless, to which DeSantis again claimed, I havent seen it. I know you tried to read it. I have no idea what the context is. DeSantis obviously has had plenty of time to review Musks comments once again and has still remained silent. This is not the first time DeSantis has refused to condemn antisemitism on the right. Early last year, a band of white supremacists in Orlando held a rally and roughed up a Jewish student. DeSantis spokesperson Christina Pushaw suggested the reports were unreliable, or that the white supremacists were Democrats in disguise, trying to make DeSantis look bad. Asked at a press conference about Pushaws wild deflections, DeSantis refused to back down. He alluded to these Democrats who are trying to use this as some type of political issue to try to smear me, running through a historic list of left-wing antisemites. DeSantis has claimed he was merely denying oxygen to the white-supremacist cell that was operating (and continues to operate) in central Florida. But his refusal to condemn Musk reveals the hollowness of that excuse. You cant starve Elon Musk of attention. And you cant deny Elon Musks opinions have any weight when you personally selected him as your campaign surrogate. The true explanation is that DeSantis grasps with perfect clarity that Donald Trump has activated white nationalists as an energetic Republican faction. White nationalists are far from the majority of the party, but they have a loud enough voice that he feels the need to placate them. Blessedly, responsible institutional stewards in the Democratic Party have largely refused to indulge the ugly sentiments expressed by the activists in high orbit around the party. But the same could be said of institutionalists within the GOP, insists National Reviews Noah Rothman. The term institutionalist seems to be Rothmans lawyerly way of writing the statement to exclude Donald Trump, a loophole so large it renders the defense almost meaningless. The GOP has become a personality cult in thrall to an America First demagogue who routinely traffics in antisemitism and other bigotry, but at least hes not an institutionalist! (Try our hamburgers, now 97 percent maggot-free!) But DeSantis and Musk reveal that even Rothmans almost-meaningless defense is not even true. Before Trump, white nationalists were largely walled off from Republican politics, and a prominent Republican leader would have had no hesitation in denouncing white nationalism. DeSantis is showing what happens when the firewall collapses. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: Getty Images With this years political cycle fully in the rearview mirror, a presidential race that most Americans appear to be dreading now takes center stage. A reminder of that looming reality came on Monday when the Commission on Presidential Debates announced dates for three presidential debates next year. Now the question is which potential nominees, if any, will attend? The 90-minute debates will or might go down on September 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, October 1 at Virginia State University in Petersburg, and October 9 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. And a vice-presidential debate is set for September 25 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Additional details regarding debate format or moderators will be revealed by the commission next year. This is all standard operating procedure for the commission. But unlike in past years, its unclear whether these debates will actually happen. During the 2020 election, Joe Biden and Donald Trump previously met twice on the debate stage. Their first debate became notorious not just for Trumps chaotic interruptions of both his opponent and the moderator but because Trump likely exposed Biden to COVID-19 after testing positive days earlier. But so far, neither side has officially agreed to a future verbal bout. The wild card here is Trump since the Republican National Committee notably voted last year to withdraw from the CPD, claiming the organization has a bias toward Democrats. Trump himself, though, has suggested previously that he would be open to debating Biden, telling Fox News in June, We have to debate. He and I definitely have to debate. Thats what I love. Bidens team hasnt fully weighed in on debate possibilities. Michael Tyler, the campaigns communications director, told reporters in August, To be honest with you, we havent really had any substantive conversations about that yet. If Trump doesnt participate, there may be another option: Biden could potentially share a stage with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Participants will have to be polling at a minimum of 15 percent in national polls, and Kennedy, who recently announced he would run an independent campaign, has been polling in the double digits over the past few weeks. His numbers are likely to fade, though, and given Bidens reluctance to debate him during the primaries, its far from clear whether hed go for it next fall. If no presidential debates take place at all, it would be the first time without one since 1972. Photo-Illustration: New York Magazine; Photos: Jewish Currents, Dissent, N+1 Joshua Leifer, a graduate student at Yale, is a soft-spoken leftist whose thoughts unspool in long, eloquent paragraphs. In this respect, he is like his peers in the small bowl of soup that is the world of leftist magazines, a group of writers and editors who know one another, sit together on editorial boards, and attend the same issue-launch parties. But it is their differences that have been most pronounced ever since Hamas October 7 attack on Israel, their gentle voices belying the vehemence of their disagreements. A segment of the lefts moral compass seems to have broken, Leifer told me over the phone from New Haven. The argument playing out in a handful of New Yorkbased journals most notably n+1, Dissent, and Jewish Currents may seem like the intramural squabbling of underpaid scribblers on the margins. As Mark Krotov, the co-editor and publisher of n+1, told me as we entered the magazines airy office loft in Greenpoint, We like to joke that we are never more relevant than when the world is being convulsed by historic events. But in truth, this debate has shaped the rhetoric and agenda of the broader left, which in the past ten years has become an influential bulwark composed of an array of groups and figures including self-described communists, the Democratic Socialists of America, and popular Democratic Party officials like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. This debate has also revealed fissures that remain raw and open and, some fear, may be long-lasting. I believe the Jewish left will never be the same, said Celeste Marcus, managing editor of the journal Liberties. Cover Story Torn Up and Apart See All The initial point of contention was how to respond to the events of October 7, which the New York Times, among others, described as the single worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. In a widely read essay in Dissent, Leifer denounced members of the left who celebrated the attack or refused to sanction it, including an n+1 contributor who had scorned the smarmy moralizing about civilian deaths. This prompted an impassioned rebuttal, also in Dissent, by Gabriel Winant, a professor at the University of Chicago, who said the focus on Jewish victimhood fed into a machine for the conversion of grief into power and further oppression of the Palestinians. The argument has since grown to encompass a constellation of questions surrounding the leftist project: whether it is too extreme to appeal to people to its right, whether it has exposed latent Stalinist tendencies, and whether it can even keep its own movement together. The crisis has perhaps been most acutely felt at Jewish Currents, a magazine that brings together in its pages the aspirations of the Jewish left and the Palestinian liberation movement. Editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, who wrote a plaintive essay that strove desperately to bridge the divides between these two groups, sees this as an existential moment for their alliance, which has to reach people outside the coalition who may be willing political partners. What we are watching is a full reactionary moment among many Jews, even some left-wing Jews, because they feel there was no space on the left for their grief, she said, which I think is a fair assessment. There are leftist Jews who believed that their community was the Jewish Currents world that offered them the opportunity to condemn Israel for the crimes that it commits within a space that really cares about Jewish life, said Marcus. And theyve realized that theyve been turned out of the home that they helped build. The opposing school of thought holds that the discussion of Jewish grief is largely a distraction from the Ur-injustice of the conflict. Israeli society and its supporters in the Diaspora really seemed to think they could compartmentalize the Palestinian issue forever and that wouldnt come back to bite them, said David Klion, who has written about the conflict for n+1 and The Nation. And I think that the debate on the left has largely revolved around Do we dive straight into that point, or do we linger on the horror of what Hamas did in a vacuum? In that moment, there was also a dread of the devastating vengeance the Israeli military was bound to inflict. I felt that what was happening was absolutely ghastly, said Krotov, but also had the very clear knowledge of what was to come. This side what we could call the Winant faction, in contrast to the Leifer bloc has been doggedly resistant to gestures that make any common cause with those on the center and the right who have emphasized the murders and kidnappings of civilians in Israel to justify a military campaign against Gaza that has been defined by likely war crimes and a far higher civilian-casualty count than that of the initial attack by Hamas. There are moments in politics when polarization has to happen, said Winant. He rejected the notion of a middle ground in this conflict, saying it was ethically mistaken in the same way that its mistaken to say All lives matter. Its not that all lives dont matter; its just that we all know what it means to say that. I was reminded by several people that the mere fact that we are having this discussion fortifies Israeli narratives about the conflict. Kaleem Hawa, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement who has written for Jewish Currents and other publications, told me, Everyone who rushed to condemn and mourn and hand-wring without also addressing the context of structural violence and colonialism, their language was metabolized in service of further western carte blanche for Israel. Winant said, I just think it also unfortunately makes you complicit. There are times when trying to talk about the conflict can feel like entering a minefield crossed with a house of mirrors. Its difficult even to perceive the nature of reality when we are deep within the imperial core, as Hawa described the United States, which for decades has contributed to the making of Israels ethno-nationalist project. In high school, I went on a trip to Cuba that was sponsored by the Jewish Community Center in Atlanta, Krotov told me. I didnt get the bar mitzvah, but I got to go to Cuba and preach the virtues of, I dont know, Jewish solidarity or something. We had these T-shirts they gave us; they had the American flag and the Cuban flag next to each other, overlaid with the Star of David. Thats what we wore around Cuba. Thats a crazy thing to do. I feel like Im a perfect example of an ideological subject. One of the roles of the left and the leftist magazine, in his view, is to shatter that all-encompassing paradigm and let a new world of possibility in. At the same time, there is something very familiar about this sentiment, this throwing off of the shackles of the mind and body, and there is suspicion that the lefts eschatological bent is a product of darker historical impulses. Adam Kirsch, writing in The Wall Street Journal, said the lefts adoption of the term settler colonialism the idea that Israel is at root a colonial power that must be overthrown was reminiscent of the totalitarian ideology of the Soviet Union, in which certain hated oppressors could be placed outside the realm of moral concern, and they could be killed for any reason or none. When I put the question to Marcus, she said the settler-colonialist view of the creation of Israel was simplistic and rife with antisemitism. She likened its proponents to the extremists of the racist right, affirming that the past few weeks had shown her there is bloodlust on the left as there is on the right for Jewish blood. Leifer was more amenable to the settler-colonialist premise, acknowledging that the way the Israeli state was established did in fact mirror some historical forms of colonialism in terms of land acquisition and state formation. But the crude end point of that logic, he said, is a cul-de-sac: If the analysis of settler colonialism leads you to a political solution that involves the removal of 7 million Jewish Israelis from the place where they were born, then youve adopted a terrible and unjust position that justifies ethnic cleansing. As for Kirschs notion that the left has been revealing its ultraviolent predilections, Winant said that this has been said about every movement for racial equality and national liberation. People who said the abolition of slavery will lead to the slaughter of masters, people who said the end of apartheid will lead to the slaughter of white people in Africa. And Hawa noted that the American left is not behind the violence occurring in Gaza and Israel that its the reigning, respectable ideology in the U.S. that is sending money to Israel to grind civilians into dust. The American left in this century, epitomized by the galvanic presidential runs of Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, had successfully distanced itself from Stalinism, Maoism, and other catastrophic leftist movements of the past century work that could be undone by the reassociation of the left with mass violence. I wouldnt use Kirschs formulation. Its too simplistic, said Leifer, but if we want to be serious about the future of the left in this century, we cant just pretend that the things done in socialisms name didnt happen. Thats part of our historical patrimony on the left, and its our obligation to learn from how previous left-wing generations failed. Ironically, the figure who has done the most in this country to frame socialism as a movement of universal health care and workers rights and taxing billionaires has suffered the most serious fallout from the conflict for not speaking strongly enough against the violence. Everyone I talked to was disappointed by Sanderss refusal to call for a cease-fire. Angel acknowledged that Sanders, at 82, is working with a longer memory of Jewish power that is, of when Jewish people had none but said Sanderss argument that the IDF had a right to go after Hamas crossed a line in the sand. Theyve killed thousands of people, and theres no water. I just dont understand. Winant shrugged off what the turn against Sanders may mean for his cohort. Outgrowing him was something we had to do anyway. In early November, n+1 published an open letter by Jewish writers, artists, and activists disavowing the widespread narrative that any criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic while condemning attacks on Israeli and Palestinian civilians alike. It inaugurated a period of relative unity as attention has turned to the Israeli militarys onslaught, leaving it an open question whether the divisions on the left will be fleeting or leave a permanent scar. It exposed a real ideological misalignment that is now being temporarily put on hold for pragmatic reasons: stopping Israeli war crimes and the bombardment of Gaza, said Leifer, who nevertheless did not see himself following this script for the repentant leftist my principles havent changed who becomes the neocon mugged by reality, as Irving Kristol famously put it after the postwar left fractured over Stalin. Whether this left has room for dissenters like Leifer is another matter. The El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotels new owners are asking the city of San Antonios Historic and Design Review Commission to approve plans to rehabilitate the building at 110 Lexington Ave. The hotel has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic and was embroiled in a legal dispute earlier this spring. Salgu Wissmath/San Antonio Express-News The El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotels new owners are asking the city of San Antonios Historic and Design Review Commission to approve plans to rehabilitate the building at 110 Lexington Ave. The hotel has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic and was embroiled in a legal dispute earlier this spring. Salgu Wissmath/San Antonio Express-News The El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotels new owners are asking the city of San Antonios Historic and Design Review Commission to approve plans to rehabilitate the building at 110 Lexington Ave. The hotel has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic and was embroiled in a legal dispute earlier this spring. Salgu Wissmath/San Antonio Express-News The El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotels new owners are asking the city of San Antonios Historic and Design Review Commission to approve plans to rehabilitate the building at 110 Lexington Ave. The hotel has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic and was embroiled in a legal dispute earlier this spring. Salgu Wissmath/San Antonio Express-News The El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotels new owners are asking the city of San Antonios Historic and Design Review Commission to approve plans to rehabilitate the building at 110 Lexington Ave. The hotel has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic and was embroiled in a legal dispute earlier this spring. Salgu Wissmath/San Antonio Express-News The El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotels new owners are asking the city of San Antonios Historic and Design Review Commission to approve plans to rehabilitate the building at 110 Lexington Ave. The hotel has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic and was embroiled in a legal dispute earlier this spring. Salgu Wissmath/San Antonio Express-News The El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotels new owners are asking the city of San Antonios Historic and Design Review Commission to approve plans to rehabilitate the building at 110 Lexington Ave. The hotel has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic and was embroiled in a legal dispute earlier this spring. Salgu Wissmath/San Antonio Express-News The entrance to the El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel is boarded up Monday. The hotel has been closed for several years and was embroiled in a legal dispute earlier this spring. It has since changed hands and is now slated to undergo renovations. Salgu Wissmath/San Antonio Express-News The El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotels new owners are asking the city of San Antonios Historic and Design Review Commission to approve plans to rehabilitate the building at 110 Lexington Ave. Josie Norris/Staff Photographer The El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel, which opened in 1962, has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Patrick Danner/Staff photo The El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel may finally undergo long-planned renovations. Patrick Danner/Staff photo The historic El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel downtown closed since the COVID-19 pandemic has a new owner and may finally be getting a long-planned makeover. The hotels owner is asking the citys Historic and Design Review Commission to approve plans to rehabilitate the building at 110 Lexington Ave., including renovating patio areas, demolishing an adjacent garage, improving landscaping and hardscaping around the rooftop pool, and installing new guardrails. The work is slated to be done by Trestle Studio, a real estate investment firm that offers consulting, branding and asset management services and has worked on other hotel projects, according to an application to the city submitted by Ellis Mumford-Russell, a historic preservation consultant. The HDRC could consider the improvements at its Dec. 6 meeting. Advertisement Article continues below this ad El Tropicano was the first hotel to open on the River Walk in 1962, and over the years, it has hosted lauded guests such as then-President Lyndon B. Johnson and the rock band The Who. In 2019, its then-owners unveiled plans to spend as much as $40 million repositioning the property as an independent boutique-style hotel and building a bar and restaurant, a new kitchen and a spa. Ed McClure, then-CEO of Phoenix Hospitality Group, who bought the hotel with partners in 2018, said at the time that it was his firms biggest undertaking. The number of rooms was to be reduced from 324 to 280 or 290, and the hotel was to be affiliated with the Tapestry Collection by Hilton brand, a group of upscale inns. The citys HDRC signed off on the changes. Then the pandemic hit. The hotel closed, and McClure died in 2020. Advertisement Article continues below this ad This spring, the hotel became embroiled in a legal dispute brought by an investor in the investment fund that owns the hotel property and other real estate. At one point, it was at risk of foreclosure. Emilio Nicholas Jr., a former San Antonio broadcasting executive who lives in Austin, accused Alamo Equity LLC and CEO Logan Anjaneyulu in a May 17 lawsuit of diverting investment fund assets and borrowing against them to prop up the hotel. The hotel was posted for foreclosure in June. An affiliate of downtown developer Weston Urban wanted the property sold at auction because its owner apparently defaulted on a $6.3 million loan that helped finance the 2018 acquisition. But the auction did not move forward, and J. Mitchell Little, an attorney for Alamo Equity, declined to provide details. My client has a number of options available, including a potential pending sale of the property to an eager buyer, Little said at the time. We do not anticipate Weston Urban needing to move forward with this foreclosure. The parties agreed to arbitrate the dispute. As part of that agreement, the defendants said they would not liquidate, convey, encumber or pledge any assets that the investment fund is invested in, except as permitted. They also said they would not advance any further monies to or on behalf of the hotel. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The agreement does not bar the defendants from selling the property as long as the buyer is not related to the seller. The hotel changed hands this fall, according to the HDRC application, but its unclear exactly who the new owner is. The Bexar Appraisal District and real estate records describe the owners as El Tropicano Hotel LLC, the company that bought the hotel in 2018, and Karim Hospitality Inc. The scope of the renovations has not changed much since 2019, though a plan to raze a portion of it has been scrapped. Little and Trestle Studio did not respond to inquiries Monday. Patrick Danner contributed to this report. An Alexander City woman allegedly struck a cyclist with her vehicle and left them critically injured in a hit-and-run wreck on North College Street, according to Auburn police. Thomasina LaShun Smith, 40, was arrested on Sunday and charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injury. She remains in the Lee County Jail under a $10,000 bond. The victim is in stable condition at an area hospital as of Monday morning, authorities said. Auburn police would like to remind everyone that motor vehicle safety is a shared responsibility. As the number of bicyclists sharing the roadway continues to grow, it is crucial for drivers to be especially vigilant when approaching cyclists, APD said in a news release. Please allow for ample space when approaching and passing a cyclist. Alabama law requires a minimum of three feet of clearance between a motorists vehicle and the bicycle the motorist is passing. Authorities responded to the intersection of North College Street and Farmville Road on Saturday to investigate an incident in which an unresponsive woman was found lying on the side of the road. Her injuries were consistent with being struck by a vehicle, according to police. Officials said a preliminary investigation indicates that she was riding her bicycle on North College Street when the vehicle Smith was driving struck her. No further details about the incident have been released. The case remains under investigation. Anyone who witnessed the crash or has any information about it has been asked to call the Auburn Police Departments tip line at 334-246-1391 or submit a tip using the Auburn Public Safety App. Tips can remain anonymous. Lately, the Biden administration has gone full throttle on clean energy, launching several low-carbon projects in quick succession. A month ago, the administration launched a $7 billion investment in seven regional hydrogen hubs in one of the governments biggest clean energy drives. The funds aim to accelerate clean hydrogen production, reduce carbon emissions, and boost energy security, with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled over $444 million to support sixteen selected projects across twelve states that will develop carbon dioxide (CO2) storage infrastructure. According to the DoE, the United States will need to capture, transport, and permanently store hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year if it is to achieve net-zero emissions by midcentury. And now the government has gone on yet another clean energy drive albeit on a slightly bizarre route. The U.S. Department of Energy has announced that it will utilize the Defense Production Act to mobilize the production of heat pumps. The Defense Production Act gives the president the authority to mobilize a certain industry in pursuit of national security, meaning the government considers the development of climate-friendly energy as mission-critical. According to Giulia Siccardo, director of the Energy Departments Office of manufacturing and energy supply chains, the $169 million in funding the department announced on Friday will allow companies to construct factories to build heat pumps to meet the needs of over 300,000 homes. The President is using his wartime emergency powers under the Defense Production Act to turbocharge U.S. manufacturing of clean technologies and strengthen our energy security, said President Bidens National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. This acceleration of electric heat pump manufacturing also shows how President Bidens Investing in America agenda is advancing American innovation, cutting energy bills for hardworking families, and tackling the climate crisis a win, win for our economy, our workers, and our planet. Related: Coast Guard Says Up to 26,000 Barrels May Have Leaked Into Gulf of Mexico Whereas close to 90% of U.S. households use air conditioning (AC), just 15% of U.S. households have a heat pump as their primary heating equipment. Heat pumps operate on a technology similar to that found in a refrigerator or an AC. They work by extracting heat from a source, such as the surrounding air, geothermal energy stored in the ground, or nearby sources of water or waste heat from a factory, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The pump then amplifies and transfers the heat to where it is needed. Heat pumps are far more efficient than conventional heating technologies such as boilers or electric heaters and also cheaper to run because most of the heat is transferred rather than generated. The energy output of heat pumps in the form of heat is usually several multiples greater than that required to power the heat pump. For instance, the coefficient of performance (COP) for a typical household heat pump is around four, meaning its energy output is 4x greater than the electrical energy used to run it. This makes most models 3?5 times more energy efficient than gas boilers. Heat pumps are frequently combined with other heating systems, commonly gas, in hybrid configurations. Skyrocketing Energy Bills Invoking a Cold War-era law to shore up the domestic heat pump industry might seem like overkill at first glance, but its pretty much in-line with the Biden administrations energy policy up there with those SPR sales. Last year, the Biden administration conducted the largest-ever sale from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to the tune of 180 million barrels, in a bid to lower oil prices following a price spike in the aftermath of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The jury is still out whether the mammoth sale worked to the degree the government could have wished. According to an analysis from the Department of the Treasury, the release of oil from the SPR helped lower the price of gasoline by 13 to 31 cents per gallon, hardly anything beyond what market forces could have accomplished. Oil prices have been on a downward trajectory over the past couple of months but remain well above pre-covid levels. Source: Y-Charts The administrations latest move with heat pumps likely borrows a leaf from the SPR playbook. A summer of record-breaking heat dramatically increased electricity consumption for Americans in the current year and left many struggling to keep up with skyrocketing power bills. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average household spends about $262 a year on air conditioning, with costs going as high as $525 in the hot and humid Southeast. Siccardo has revealed that seven out of the nine companies that will benefit from the DoE funds are actually not yet manufacturing heat pumps here in the U.S., or heat pump components, in the U.S.A. at scale. By encouraging more rapid adoption of heat pumps in U.S. homes, the Biden administration is looking to lower heating and cooling bills for the average American. But only time will tell whether this experiment will work as intended considering that this Energy Institute working paper reveals that there is remarkably little correlation between heat pump adoption and household income, meaning cost alone might not be the main reason why 85% of American homes do not have one. ADVERTISEMENT By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Two big questions loom over the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ministerial meeting in Skopje on November 30-December 1, which will bring together the foreign ministers from the 57 members of the Vienna-based organization. Firstly, will one of them -- Russia's Sergei Lavrov -- show up? And secondly, who will take over the one-year OSCE rotating chair for 2024 after North Macedonia? The two questions are somewhat linked. Lavrov was barred from attending the ministerial meeting in the Polish city of Lodz last December, with Poland -- the organization's chair that year -- justifying the ban by saying that he was on the EU sanctions list after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The thinking this time around -- at least among some member states -- is that it could be useful to have Lavrov in the Macedonian capital. The OSCE remains the only larger political organization in Europe in which Russia is still a member, having been expelled from the Council of Europe last year. Apart from potentially confronting Lavrov over Ukraine, OSCE diplomats might desire the Russian foreign minister's presence in Skopje to help solve the problem of who should take over the chair of the organization next year. Estonia is the only candidate -- having applied already back in 2020 -- but Russia has always rejected this and is set to do so again this year. The argument Moscow has put forward is that it doesn't want another NATO country as chair -- following on from North Macedonia and Poland -- and has accused both countries of constantly bringing up "Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine" at the weekly OSCE Permanent Council, where ambassadors to the organization meet. In various OSCE forums, North Macedonia and Poland have rejected the idea that there can be "business as usual" as long as the conflict goes on. Deep Background: Normally, the chair is decided at least a year in advance via unanimity among member states. It would be unprecedented for the OSCE to enter a new year without a country at the helm -- a scenario that could even usher in the demise of the entire organization. It has already been decided that Finland will chair the OSCE in 2025, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) -- the predecessor of the OSCE -- that aimed to improve relations between East and West and which committed the Soviet Union to formally observing human rights and international law. The decision for Finland to chair in 2025 was made well before the country became a NATO member. So, how to solve this impasse? Estonia is so far not withdrawing its candidacy and has received full backing from the other 26 EU member states -- including the bloc's foreign ministers when they met in Brussels on November 13. Speaking to RFE/RL after the meeting in Brussels, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said: "We cannot normalize relations with the aggressor. We must continue the international isolation of Russia and must not submit to its provocations and blackmail. I am glad that the EU unanimously supports Estonia." It will be interesting to see if this position prevails in the run-up to the Skopje meeting. The united EU stance on Estonia has so far prevented the search for alternative chairs, especially among non-NATO EU members. Perhaps the most natural choice would be Austria, as it already hosts the organization in Vienna. But there have also been talks between 2024 chair North Macedonia and Malta about the possibility of Valletta picking up the OSCE baton at the last minute, even though the country's small diplomatic service might struggle. From what I understand from sources familiar with the issue who wish to remain anonymous, it appears that Russia has rejected another possible candidate, Kazakhstan, from chairing, or North Macedonia continuing in the hot seat for another year. If Russia doesn't get its way, then it could walk away from the OSCE, a scenario that many member states are keen to avoid. One concern is that if Russia left, other countries -- particularly from the former Soviet bloc -- could follow, in solidarity with Moscow. At the same time, the organization is also keen to avoid being without a chair, especially as the yearlong role is key for the daily functioning of the organization. Drilling Down Ahead of the Skopje meeting, pressure could increase on Estonia to withdraw its candidacy. A policy note from the United States directed to EU member states, which was seen by RFE/RL, underlines that "the United States appreciates Estonia's willingness to serve as 2024 chair and supports Estonia as a principled and capable candidate for a future chairpersonship." The note adds that "Russia has made clear it will not join consensus on another NATO member as chair" and that the "OSCE urgently needs to identify a country capable of gaining consensus to serve as chair in 2024. A failure to do so is a victory for Russia." It is also worth considering the presence of Lavrov himself at the ministerial meeting in Skopje. Last year, Poland acted on its own and stopped him from entering the country several weeks in advance, saying he was on the EU's sanctions list. The same could apply to North Macedonia, which as an EU candidate country has aligned with the EU's sanctions on Russia. But there's a catch: The EU has only imposed an asset freeze on Lavrov and not a visa ban. And even if there were a visa ban, this can be waived by EU member states and aligned countries in order for the Russian foreign minister to attend international conferences. Lavrov could, in other words, be welcome in North Macedonia without the country violating any legal or political obligations. EU foreign ministers also discussed Lavrov's presence in Brussels last week. Some -- notably from the Baltics states -- expressed shock at his potential invitation, but others -- such as Germany -- said that everyone should be there and everyone should speak to him. Some OSCE members, particularly from Western Europe, are hoping that Lavrov's presence would be an opportunity for dialogue, even if it's just discussions on internal OSCE matters, such as the question of extending the mandate of the secretary-general. Ukraine and others, however, are warning of giving in to Russian pressure. They have noted how Moscow has obstructed several important OSCE initiatives in recent years, such as blocking three field missions to Ukraine and, for the last two years, the entire OSCE budget. Will EU Citizens Stay Warm This Winter? It was supposed to be Russia's most powerful weapon against the EU after last February's invasion of Ukraine: the threat that the bloc's citizens would freeze over the winter. While energy prices did soar at the end of summer and early fall in 2022, mostly due to a scorching heat wave and Russia squeezing gas supplies. The media was full of stories of how badly the EU would cope, painting dire scenarios for the winter of 2022-23 and warning about potential blackouts for private households and industries. Fast forward a year and the doom and gloom is nowhere to be seen -- neither in the media nor among political circles in the European Union. The consensus seems to be that EU citizens will be warm in their homes and workplaces this winter, in what could be described as one of the bloc's true success stories in recent years. Deep Background: At the start of Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, imports of Russian gas by pipeline made up 40 percent of all EU gas imports. Today, that figure is down to 13 percent. The EU has blocked 90 percent of Russian oil from entering the bloc and is starting to completely phase out purchases of Russian coal. This created a price shock in the summer of 2022, with gas prices peaking at 294 euros ($320) per megawatt hour (MWh) in August that year and electricity prices reaching 474 euros per MWh around the same time. ADVERTISEMENT So far this year, the average price in the EU for gas has been 44 euros per MWh and 107 euros per MWh for electricity -- a considerable drop that has led to the EU fulfilling its target of having its gas storages 90 percent full two months before the November 1 deadline. These storages are now around 99 percent full, making blackouts this winter unlikely, even in the event of a Russian cutoff or a prolonged cold snap. How did the EU achieve this? Well, the bloc reduced gas demand by around 15 percent compared to last year. Partly this was due to households and companies consuming less due to higher prices, plus the winter of 2022-23 and fall of 2023 were fairly mild. Another contributing factor was the installation of over 3 million heat pumps across the EU in 2022 alone, which has helped to slowly lower gas consumption for the generation of power. Drilling Down The main challenge for the EU has been to find alternative energy sources to replace Russian gas. In this regard, Brussels has fared reasonably well. One of the issues that made the energy crisis so alarming over the summer of 2022 was that over half of France's 56 nuclear reactors were shut down due to maintenance work. Now, many of those are back online, alleviating the problem to a certain extent. According to the European Commission, there has also been record use of solar power and offshore wind farms. While these renewable sources are helping, the main lifesaver for the EU has been the purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with imports from the United States increasing sixfold since last year. The EU has driven LNG prices down by having the European Commission organize three rounds of joint purchasing of the gas, instead of having individual member states competing to bid. The EU has also been lucky that LNG demand in China has shrunk due to slowed economic growth there, meaning that tanks carrying LNG could quickly be rerouted from Asia to Europe. This means that the EU now has excess reserves going into the winter, with some LNG tankers functioning as offshore storage facilities. Some gas is also being kept in Ukraine, which has some of the largest gas stores on the continent and are far from the front lines of the war. The problem with the LNG market is that prices are volatile and sensitive to all sorts of external shocks. In recent months, prices have shot up due to strikes at Australian LNG facilities, repair work at a large gas processing plant in Norway, and the war in the Middle East, which has stopped work at a facility off the Israeli coast. There is also increased fear of sabotage, something that both NATO and EU officials are monitoring carefully since it appeared that in October a Chinese-registered vessel damaged an undersea gas pipeline connecting Estonia and Finland. It hasn't been established yet whether this was intentional or not. There is also an elephant in the room. While the EU has cut a lot of Russian pipelined gas, it has in the same period increased its purchase of Russian LNG by 40 percent. About 15 percent of all EU LNG imports now come from Russia, with Portugal and Spain using a considerable amount as the Iberian Peninsula is something of an energy island with very few interconnectors to the rest of the EU. The reality is that the Kremlin will continue to enjoy a share of the EU energy market. Despite repeated calls, Russian LNG will not be sanctioned by Brussels. In a proposal for new EU sanctions on Moscow, seen by RFE/RL last week, there are no proposed measures on Russian gas, whether it's shipped via pipeline or as LNG. By RFE/RL More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The decision for the Asian markets was a compromise of sorts as the largest Saudi grade by volume, Arab Light, was plainly rolled over at a $4.00 per barrel premium to the Oman/Dubai average. Having enjoyed a strong third quarter with Brent prices averaging 86 per barrel, the oil producer countries of the Middle East are now facing a much direr outlook into the winter. Over the past month, oil prices have shed some $10 per barrel and WTI even started to see contango as market sentiment soured. The Asian market, traditionally accounting for the majority of Middle Eastern exports, has so far been immune to contango, nevertheless Dubai futures have started to react to weaker Chinese buying, higher inflows of US or Russian crudes, leading to a much narrower backwardation curve than we have gotten used to recently. Understanding this might be the last month of pricing hikes before the winter season inevitably corrects market differentials to the downside, OPEC heavyweights settled on different pricing strategies. Chart 1. Saudi Aramcos Official Selling Prices for Asian Cargoes (vs Oman/Dubai average). Source: Saudi Aramco. The combination of still widening backwardation and weakening refining margins has led to a pricing dilemma for Saudi Aramco. The Dubai cash-to-futures spread rose by $0.27 per barrel compared to the September average, however, how to quantify gasoline or fuel oil cracks falling? The decision for the Asian markets was a compromise of sorts as the largest Saudi grade by volume, Arab Light, was plainly rolled over at a $4.00 per barrel premium to the Oman/Dubai average. Saudi Aramcos light and heavy flagship grades, Arab Extra Light and Arab Heavy, were lifted by $0.70 and $0.30 per barrel, respectively, trying to avoid a scenario whereby term buyers avoid Arab Light and focus on cheaper grades. Following five consecutive month-on-month increases for Arab Light, primarily due to the ever-steepening backwardated futures curve of Dubai, it seems that from January 2024 onwards Saudi Aramco would have no other option other than cut its formula prices, the relatively robust pull on Saudi barrels from China or South Korea notwithstanding. Chart 2. Formula prices of cargoes bound for Northwest Europe by selected grades (vs ICE Bwave). Source: Saudi Aramco. In Europe, the downward pressure on Saudi Aramco has already prompted a marked recalibration of prices. The December formula price for every single grade going to Northwest Europe was cut by $2.30 per barrel, whilst every Mediterranean-bound price was lowered by $1.90 per barrel, reflecting a region-wide decline in differentials. Whilst the pricing move into December is substantial, it is highly unlikely it would be the last. The countrys flagship Arab Light is priced at a $4.90 and $4.40 per barrel premium to ICE Bwave for Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean, respectively. Seeing how all the other medium sours in Europe have been going down, with Norways Johan Sverdrup or Brazils Tupi already trading at discounts to Dated Brent, the upcoming months should see further cuts in European pricing. For US customers formula prices were left unchanged, with Arab Light and Arab Medium still at record highs of $7.45 and $8.15 per barrel above the Argus Sour Crude Index, and there seems to be very little change for Saudi Aramcos US clients. Related: The White House Does Not Expect Arab States to Weaponize Oil Chart 3. Kuwait Super Light Crude official selling prices into Asia, compared with Arab Extra Light (vs Oman/Dubai average). Source: KPC. Just as Saudi Aramco reported a 23% decrease in Q3 profits to $32.7 billion, aggravating fiscal deficits in Saudi Arabia. Kuwait is facing its own budgetary constraints as the new 2023-2024 budgets is expected to come in at a $22 billion deficit of its own. Whilst historically KPC would naturally mirror the pricing decisions of Saudi Aramco with its flagship Kuwait Export Crude having almost identical quality parameters to Arab Medium, looking into this December the Kuwaiti NOC slashed its Asian prices by $0.20 per barrel, ending up at a $2.85 per barrel premium to Oman/Dubai. Kuwait continues to struggle with bringing its new 615,000 b/d Al Zour refinery to full nameplate capacity, with November once again seeing a disruption in refining after the forced shutdown of almost all units at the refinery due to fuel gas feed valve dysfunction. Lower refinery runs have prompted a rebound in Kuwaiti crude exports, potentially even moving back to 1.6 million b/d, the highest pace of exports since May 2023. Chart 4. ADNOC Official Selling Prices for 2017-2023 (set outright, here vs Oman/Dubai average). Source: ADNOC. Ever since the UAEs national oil firm ADNOC started to price its term cargoes based on the IFAD Murban futures contract, it has swapped places with Saudi Aramco and is now the first Middle Eastern NOC to publish formula prices. As things started to get increasingly worse in November, the pricing of ADNOC reflects only the initial concern of weakening demand and flattening backwardation, rolling over the formula differentials of Umm Lulu, Das, and Upper Zakum from last month. The formula price of Murban itself is determined as the monthly average of front-month IFAD Murban trading, with the October average coming in at $91.00 per barrel, almost $3 per barrel lower than last month. Whilst in outright terms Murban dropped lower, the Murban-Dubai spread widened last month to $1.73 per barrel, almost $1 per barrel higher than in October, a sign of robust demand towards the UAE light sour grade. Even regardless of weaker refining margins across Asia, Murban is set for a downward correction very soon as January-February 2024 will see much more of the grade exported into the markets due to ADNOC carrying out a winter turnaround at the Ruwais refinery, with higher availability already weighing on IFAD trades in November. Chart 5. Iraqi Official Selling Prices for Asia-bound cargoes (vs Oman/Dubai). Source: SOMO. The Iraqi state oil marketing firm Somo has cut its formula prices across the board for December-loading cargoes, most probably reflecting a much more bearish outlook for the oil markets. The largest Iraqi export grade Basrah Medium, accounting for roughly two-thirds of all exports and some 2.2 million b/d this year to date in outright terms, witnessed a $0.30 per barrel drop for Asian loadings compared to November, bringing the grade to a $1.80 per barrel premium over Oman/Dubai. Considering that Saudi Aramco rolled over Arab Light and slightly cut Arab Medium, SOMOwidened the spread between its grades and Saudi ones. Moreover, after nine consecutive month-on-month increases for Iraqs heavy sour flagship Basrah Heavy, the December OSP was lowered by $0.20 per barrel, taking the grade back to a $1.60 per barrel discount to Oman/Dubai, its formula price from October. Chart 6. Selected Middle Eastern medium sour grades (vs Oman/Dubai). Source: SOMO. In contrast to its Asian pricing, SOMO cut European prices tangibly less than its Saudi peer, lowering the December OSP of Basrah Medium and Kirkuk by $1.00 per barrel, whilst Basrah Heavy saw a $1.20 per barrel decrease compared to November formula prices. As Iraqi exports to Europe are still priced off Dated Brent and Saudi Aramco relies on ICE Bwave, the pricing dynamics differ reflecting the varied dynamics of the physical and futures markets in Europe. The past weeks have seen a resumption of negotiations between Iraqs oil ministry and the Kurdish Regional Government, raising hopes that shut-in production from Iraqi Kurdistan might finally find its way to the global markets after a more than 8-month-long hiatus. ADVERTISEMENT The federal authorities of Iraq would still need to find a settlement with international oil companies that produce oil in Kurdistan and are still owed money by the KRG, however at least the Baghdad-Erbil axis seems to be nearing a settlement soon. As things stand currently, the European formula price of Kirkuk stands at a $0.75 per barrel premium to Dated Brent, whilst the similar-quality Basrah Medium sells at a $2.15 per barrel discount, indicating there is a notable spread between the two. In times of elevated freight prices those differences might fade but if freight is to become cheap again, the temptation of the European refiners would be to go with the longer-haul (and cheaper) Basrah Medium. Chart 7. Iranian Official Selling Prices for Asia-bound cargoes (vs Oman/Dubai average). Source: NIOC. The Israel-Palestine conflict has changed the outlook for Irans oil industry, with the Biden administration now openly pledging to bring the Middle Eastern countrys exports down, vowing to enforce Iranian sanctions much more proactively. Irans oil minister Javad Owji has countered the threats by saying the countrys crude production reached 3.4 million b/d, the highest reading since the November 2018 re-introduction of sanctions vis-a-vis Tehran, although the sharp drop in Iranian oil exports seen last month seem to render that claim highly unlikely. In the meantime, Irans national oil firm NIOC its own formula prices for December-loading cargoes, slightly increasing Asian prices by $0.15 and $0.05 per barrel for Iran Light and Iran Heavy, respectively. Even though Iran sells its crude to China at heavy discounts, the signaling is very straightforward NIOC is not afraid to hike prices even more than other Middle Eastern peers would. With Iranian exports set to rebound in November after a weak October result, US pressure seems to have only a marginal impact so far on Irans export capabilities. By Gerald Jansen for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Azerbaijan continues to refuse to attend peace talks with Armenia, citing what it calls the biased approach of Western mediating countries. This time it was the U.S. that displeased Azerbaijan. On November 16, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry put out a statement announcing the country's decision not to attend a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Washington scheduled for four days later. The snub was in large part a response to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James O'Brien's testimony the previous day at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing titled "The Future of Nagorno-Karabakh." He told the committee that the U.S. was working on establishing a "comprehensive, thorough and transparent" record of what happened in the formerly Armenian-populated enclave before and during Azerbaijan's September military takeover. "We have commissioned independent investigators, we have our own investigators working in the field. There is information available from international non-governmental organizations and other investigators. And as we develop the record of what happened, we will be completely open about what we are finding. I can't put a timeline on this investigation, but we will inform you as we go forward," he said. O'Brien went on to express support for Armenia, which has been attempting a pivot away from Russia and is scrambling to accommodate the 100,000-some people displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh in September. "I am very impressed by the Armenian government's commitment to reforms and diversifying the relationships that it has economic, political, energy and security particularly in the Trans-Atlantic community," he said. "And I think we owe it to the people of Armenia to help them through this difficult situation so that those choices they have made very bravely are able to help them to make them have a more secure, stable and prosperous future." O'Brien also said that the U.S. had canceled high-level bilateral meetings and engagements with Azerbaijan (without specifying exactly when) and would keep urging Baku to "facilitate the return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who may wish to go back to their homes or visit cultural sites in the region, as well as restore unimpeded commercial, humanitarian, and pedestrian traffic to the region." In its statement the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called the hearing "a blow to the Azerbaijan-U.S. relations in bilateral and multilateral formats." "The groundless accusations voiced against Azerbaijan are irrelevant and undermine peace and security in the region," the statement read. On the day of the hearing, the U.S. Senate also adopted a bill titled "Armenian Protection Act of 2023". If it becomes law, the bill will suspend all military aid to Azerbaijan by repealing the Freedom Support Act Section 907 waiver authority for the Administration with respect to assistance to Azerbaijan for the years 2024 and 2025. On that front, Azerbaijan's diplomatic body argued that the U.S. was repeating "the same mistake" it made in 1992, when Azerbaijan was sanctioned with this amendment, "despite being a state who faced aggression and occupation" at the hands of Armenian forces. Also on November 16, the U.S. reaffirmed its support for Armenia-Azerbaijan rapprochement irrespective of who mediates. "We would encourage the two parties to engage in those talks, whether they are here, whether they are somewhere else, and that'll continue to be our policy," spokesperson of the U.S. State Department Matthew Miller told a briefing. Baku for its part does not seem interested in the U.S. having an active role in those talks. For some months now, it has been expressing distaste with Western-brokered negotiations and instead shown a preference for regional mediators like Russia, Turkey, and Iran. ADVERTISEMENT And its latest statement, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry warned that, "[S]uch a unilateral approach by the United States could lead to the loss of the mediation role of the United States." By Heydar Isayev via Eurasianet.org More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Africas oil production is set for a gradual decline in 2024, the African Energy Chamber said in a new report on the industry this weekend. The chamber forecasts relative calm in the global oil market for the remainder of 2023, NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, wrote. For now, the wild extremes of the pandemic era appear to be behind us, Ayuk said, but noted that declining oil production in Africa is not welcome news for the African oil-producing nations. The State of African Energy 2024 Outlook report shows that oil production in Africa in 2023 2024 is expected to stay relatively flat at about 6.77 million barrels per day (bpd). But month-on-month production looks a bit bleaker, with production declining from 6.9 million bpd in January 2024 to around 6.62 million bpd in December 2024, according to the African Energy Chamber. OPEC member nations Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, and Angola are driving Africas oil and condensates production, with Nigeria the largest producer, contributing a little over a fifth of these countries combined total annual volumes. However, Africas OPEC producers, including Nigeria, need to address production outages caused by pipeline vandalism and militant activity, exacerbated by declining legacy fields and a lack of new start-ups, the African Energy Chamber says. Earlier this month, Nigerias state-run NNPC officially launched a new grade of crude oil, Nembe, in an attempt to undo the damage from long-running thefts and attacks in the countrys Niger Delta region. We should be seizing every opportunity to capitalize on our oil and gas resources, the executive chairman of the African Energy Chamber noted. ADVERTISEMENT Every drop of oil extracted is a pathway to economic growth revenue that can fund social programs, infrastructure development, and much-needed technology transfers from the international oil companies (IOCs) that invest in Africa, Ayuk said. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Chinese power and energy investment companies plan to build one of the worlds single biggest renewable projects with 11 gigawatts (GW) of total capacity. China Longyuan Power Group Corporation and CHN Energy Investment Group (CHN Energy) have entered into a joint venture agreement proposing to build 11-GW of new energy generation base in the Badain Jaran (Gansu) Desert Base, Longyuan said in a filing with the Hong Kong Exchange. The construction scale of the project plans to be 11 GW of new energy, with supporting peak load regulation of thermal power, energy storage and solar thermal projects, China Longyuan said in the statement, adding that the project has not been approved yet by the Chinese authorities. The capital of the joint venture will be $417 million (3 billion Chinese yuan), of which China Longyuan will contribute 51%, or $213 million (1.53 billion yuan), and CHN Energy the remainder. The 11-GW project, if approved and built, will be among the worlds largest renewable energy generating sites, behind the planned 20-GW Jiuquan wind base, which will also be located in Gansu. China is the global leader in renewable energy spending and capacity additions of clean energy projects. The country has already reached its goal to have more non-fossil fuel installed electricity capacity than fossil fuels earlier than planned, with 50.9% of its power capacity now coming from non-fossil fuel sources. Back in 2021, the Chinese authorities said they would target renewables to outpace fossil fuel-installed capacity by 2025. China is consolidating its leading position in renewable energy and is set to account for nearly 55% of global additions of renewable power capacity in both 2023 and 2024, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said earlier this year. ADVERTISEMENT By 2024, China is expected to deliver nearly 70% of all new offshore wind projects globally, as well as over 60% of onshore wind and 50% of solar PV projects, the IEA said in its Renewable Energy Market Update in June. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: While Jill and Chase Perry's new Fredericksburg house has echoes of the one it replaced, it was almost completely rebuilt from the ground up. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com The Perry house is shown before it was almost completely rebuilt. Tandem Building Corp. While the main living area of the home is large, it mostly lacks the soaring ceiling found in so many of todays modern builds, making it cozy and more livable. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com Previously, the space where the center living area is located contained the home's primary bedroom, the owners' daughter's room, a bathroom and the living and dining rooms, all broken up into little compartments. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com The 10-by-3 1/2-foot kitchen island is topped with white quartz embedded with ghostly threads of gray and with a waterfall edge. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com While the kitchen in the previous house was relatively small, the new one is open and modern. The large windows also allow the homeowners to see their daughter and her friends swimming in the backyard pool. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com Off the living area is a two-story space that combines a music niche on the ground floor and a white oak half-floating staircase to the second floor. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com The primary bedroom has sliding doors that open up to the backyard pool area. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com The primary bathroom has a large soaking tub and porcelain tiles that mimic the vertical wood slat walls elsewhere in the house. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com The bathrooms has a floating vanity and a large window to let plenty of natural light stream in. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com The laundry room is large and modern. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com Chase Perry's art studio has large windows that overlook the backyard pool area. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com The downstairs powder room has a door leading to the backyard pool area, so swimmers don't track their wet feet through the living area. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com Clerestory windows in the large walk-in closet, which includes a small desk, let in calming light filtered through the trees. At night, the evening stars are visible. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com The walk-in closet of the primary suite measures 13 feet by 14 feet in size. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com The home's second floor consists of the couple's daughter's bedroom suite, a reading nook and a bathroom. Its like her own private in-house treehouse. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com Chase Perry always loved visiting his aunt's midcentury modern home on a leafy corner just a few blocks from Main Street in Fredericksburg. "I just loved all those great big trees and the home's midcentury lines," said Perry, who runs a nursing home and hospice care company. So when his aunt moved to Dallas to be closer to her grandkids in 2008, Chase Perry and his new wife, Jill, bought the place, living there happily for many years until it got too small for them and their daughter, Ava, now 14. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The house had only two bedrooms and one bathroom, and, you know, a growing girl needs her space, said Jill Perry, a stay-at-home mom. Also, Chases closet was in the dining room and my closet was in Ava's room. After considering and rejecting the idea of building out of town, the couple decided to stay where they were and hired Matthew Lines, principal of Fredericksburg-based Tandem Building Corp., to build what is, essentially, a new and larger house on the same corner lot. Its a new house, but it has some echoes of the old, Lines said. The front corner is the same front corner, the garage is in the same place, and the pool was here so we built around it to make it cohesive. During the process they also moved away from some of the midcentury feel, transforming it into a sleek, contemporary dwelling. Completed about a month ago, the new house has three bedrooms and 2 baths, although they use one of the bedrooms as Chase Perry's art studio. Advertisement Article continues below this ad After considering and rejecting constructing a new home outside of Fredericksburg, Jill and Chase Perry decided to embark on what was essentially a complete new-build on the lot where their previous home was located. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com Perhaps the most dramatic change was making the main living area into one large space. I think the idea of opening things up started when I said I want to be able to stand anywhere in the house and see Ava and her friends swimming in the pool, Jill Perry said. As Chase Perry explained, when this house was built in the 1950s, builders had a list of things a house needed, so between the front door and the fireplace was the primary bedroom, Avas room, a bathroom, and the living and dining rooms, all broken up into little compartments. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There were seven doors in this tiny little hallway, he said. Also part of this new look is the kitchen, which had been relatively small but is now part of the larger open living area. I was tired of having a dog, a husband and a daughter all crowding me when I was cooking, Jill Perry said. To test the new setup, they hosted a Halloween party so friends and neighbors could check out the place. We had a lot of people here and it was very comfortable, Chase Perry said. In the old house you couldnt entertain that many people. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In keeping with the home's more modern look, the kitchen cabinets have no hardware; its all push-to-open doors. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com As part of the new home's more modern look, the cabinets have no hardware; the doors are all push-to-open. Im not a fan of hardware, she said. I wanted an extremely clean look." At the center of the space, the 10-by-3 1/2-foot island is topped with white quartz embedded with ghostly threads of gray. The countertop waterfalls down two sides. At one corner of the house is a semiformal dining room surrounded on two sides by large windows overlooking the front corner of the lot. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We wanted a lot of natural light, and we can close the curtains for more privacy, Chase Perry said. The formal dining room in the corner of the house has one wall painted in a color known as Dylan Velvet while another is a wood slat wall that has midcentury vibes while adding warmth to a style that, if one isnt paying attention, can be hard and cold. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com Three of the rooms walls are painted in Dylan Velvet. It's a warm yellow from the previous house, so they have a sentimental attachment to it. The fourth is a vertical, wood slat wall that has midcentury vibes while adding warmth to a style that can, if one isnt paying attention, be hard and cold. They liked the wood slat look so much, in fact, they did the same on the wall behind the fireplace. Its the same reason we ran European white oak flooring throughout most of the house and why all the plumbing fixtures are basically the same," Jill Perry said. I like the continuity. One less immediately noticeable feature is the subtle downlighting located throughout the house. There are downlights in the wall cutout between the foyer and the dining room, under the stairway treads and beneath the fireplace hearth. Consisting of adjustable LEDs, they give the couple the option of creating different moods and brightness levels. Off the living area is a two-story space that combines a music niche on the ground floor and a white oak half-floating staircase rising to the second floor Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com Off the living area is a two-story space with a music niche on the ground floor and a half-floating staircase to the second floor, where Avas bedroom and bathroom are located, like a private treehouse. Another interesting detail is molding used in place of traditional trim. Called a reglet, it installs flush to the walls and leaves a narrow groove that neatly frames the flooring, windows and doors for a clean, modern look. This is the one thing that people who know houses are really commented on, Jill Perry said. The primary bedroom has large windows overlooking the backyard pool and sliding glass doors so the couple can sneak out without having to walk through the living room. We like the idea of just being able to step outside and go swimming, Jill Perry said. Natural light streams in through the clerestory windows in the primary suite bathroom. Ric Johnson | RicJPhotography.com The bath is outfitted with porcelain tile, including vertical tiles in the walk-in shower that mirror the wood slat walls elsewhere in the house. Clerestory windows let in plenty of light. Its very calming because the light's filtered through the trees, she said. At night you can look up and see the stars. And although the large walk-in closet also has a number of windows, a fancy chandelier hangs from the center of the ceiling. The Iran-aligned Houthi rebels of Yemen have seized a cargo ship linked to an Israeli company in the Red Sea in the latest flare-up in the Middle East that could roil the oil market ahead of the OPEC+ meeting next weekend. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement that the rebels carried out a military operation in the Red Sea, the results of which were the seizure of an Israeli ship and taking it to the Yemeni coast, The Times of Israel reported. The vessel, Galaxy Leader, is owned by a company registered under Isle of Man-headquartered Ray Car Carriers a unit of Tel Aviv-incorporated Ray Shipping, per LSEG data cited by Reuters. Israel blamed directly Iran for the cargo ship seizure, while Iran denied any involvement in the incident. Israel strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel, a statement by Israels Prime Minister's Office said on Sunday. The ship, which is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked with Iran guidance by the Yemenite Houthi militia. This is another act of Iranian terrorism and constitutes a leap forward in Iran's aggression against the citizens of the free world, with international consequences regarding the security of the global shipping lanes, Benjamin Netanyahus office added. Iran, for its part, rejected Israeli claims it was involved in the seizure of the ship. These accusations are false and caused by the difficult conditions that the Zionist regime is dealing with, Iranian media quoted Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani as saying on Monday. Unlike the US, Iran does not have proxy forces and the resistance groups in the region are the representatives of their nations, and they act based on their interests, and their actions are part of the reactions to the regime's crimes. It is a Zionist who is committing genocide and war crimes in Gaza under the support of US, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman added. ADVERTISEMENT The latest Iran-Israel flare-up comes days before the OPEC+ group of oil producers is set to decide their production policy for early next year after oil prices fell in each of the four past weeks. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Crude oil prices continued their climb on Monday with gains of over 2% heading into the next OPEC+ meeting on November 26, where the expanded cartel is expected to further bolster voluntary output cuts. At 10:50 a.m. ET on Monday, Brent crude was trading at $82.54, up 2.39%, for a $1.93 gain on the day. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading up 2.17% at $77.54, for a $1.65 gain on the day. The jump in oil prices started on Friday, after four weeks of declining prices saw fundamentals overtake the war-risk premium prices had enjoyed in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Goldman Sachs said earlier on Monday that it wasnt ruling out deeper OPEC+ production cuts given the fall in speculative positioning and in timespreads, and higher-than-expected inventories. Likewise, ING cautioned that the oil balance for the remainder of this year is not as tight as initially expected, referring to higher supply and predicting a surplus in the first quarter of next year. According to Reuters, hedge funds and major money managers have cut their positions in petroleum by 338 million barrels since September 19, led by sales in crude oil last week of 16 million barrels. As of November 14, Reuters aid funds held a net position of only 78 million barrels of NYMEX and ICE WTIa low not seen since 2013. At the same time, Reuters noted that the market has become lopsided due to a rising rate of short positions, which could lead to a reversal that may be manifesting itself now. According to Bloomberg, hedge funds have reduced the oil bets to the point that they are more bearish than they have been in 20 weeks. All of this is leading to predictions that OPEC+ will attempt in the least to maintain existing cuts, if not broaden those cuts. Were retracing some of the losses last week on ideas the selloff by fund liquidation was probably over-exaggerated, Bloomberg quoted BOK Financial Securities VP Dennis Kissler as saying on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: OPECs third-largest producer, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), could raise its oil output next year as it has won a higher quota under the OPEC+ agreement. The UAE, OPECs third-biggest producer after Saudi Arabia and Iraq, said in the summer that it would not join the Saudis in making voluntary production cuts. The UAE has argued for years that it should be allowed to pump more than its current OPEC+ quota as it is raising its production capacity. At the June meeting, the UAE got a huge concession from OPEC+ in the form of an upward revision of its quota that will take its production up by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 3.219 million bpd for 2024. A rise in the UAEs oil production next year doesnt necessarily mean that the OPEC+ group would be pumping moresome members such as Angola are underperforming compared to their already lowered quotas. While the UAE is set to boost its oil production in 2024, market speculation is growing that OPECs top producer, Saudi Arabia, will extend its voluntary cut into 2024, considering the latest slide in oil prices to $80 and the typically weak period for oil demand in the first quarter of every year. Market talk is also intensifying that OPEC+ could announce a deeper cut at the groups meeting in the weekend November 25-26. The recent weakness in oil prices has increased noise over what OPEC+ will decide to do at its meeting on 26 November. We continue to expect that Saudi Arabia and Russia will roll over their additional voluntary cuts into early 2024, ING strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote on Monday. However, what is less clear is whether the broader OPEC+ group will make further cuts, they added. ADVERTISEMENT A deeper group cut combined with the Saudis and Russians rolling over their voluntary reduction would wipe out the currently expected market surplus in the first quarter of 2024, the strategists noted. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Venezuela is nearing a decision to approve a license for Shell and the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC) to export natural gas to Trinidad from a new offshore Venezuelan field, Reuters reported on Monday, quoting sources familiar with the matter. Early this year, the U.S. Treasury granted a license to Trinidad and Tobago, allowing the Caribbean nation to develop a gas field offshore Venezuela and do business related to the gas field with Venezuelas state oil firm PDVSA. Trinidad and Tobago asked for a license for the Dragon field from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in the middle of 2022, and the exemption was recently granted by the U.S. Administration. Trinidad and Tobago expects to gain access to around 350 million cubic feet of gas per day from the offshore field Dragon, Prime Minister Keith Rowley told a news conference in January, as carried by Reuters. Approving the license would mean that Trinidad and Tobago could increase its gas imports, processing, and petrochemical exports, while Venezuela would get cash or part of the gas production in the form of royalties. According to Reuters sources, the offshore natural gas project would be operated by supermajor Shell, which will hold 70% in the license, while Trinidad and Tobagos NGC will have a 30% stake. The U.S. lifted most sanctions on Venezuelas oil industry after the Nicolas Maduro government reached a deal with the opposition that could see elections held next year. At the same time, the U.S. Treasury also allowed Trinidad and Tobago to negotiate with the Government of Venezuela and PDVSA to obtain exploration and production licenses to extract natural gas, to operate the Dragon field and to make various payments associated with such a project including, taxes, royalties, fees and lease bonus payments, Trinidads Ministry of Energy said last month. ADVERTISEMENT The said amendment further authorizes GORTT, NGC, and Shell plc to make payments to the Government of Venezuela in fiat currency, including US dollars or bolivars, Trinidad and Tobago said. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A 16-year-old boy accused in the fatal stabbing of another 16-year-old boy was ordered held without bail at a court appearance Monday. Christopher DeLong Jr., who turned 16 while in custody at the Douglas County Youth Center last Friday, faces charges of second-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony related to the killing of Clayton McCue. DeLong is accused stabbing McCue in the head on Nov. 8 in a church parking lot near Millard. DeLong was charged as an adult Nov. 9 with first-degree assault and use of a weapon to commit a felony, and prosecutors said at his first court appearance last week that more serious charges were likely as McCue was then considered brain dead. DeLongs bail was initially set at $500,000. The second-degree murder charge, which alleges that DeLong killed McCue intentionally but without premeditation, was filed Friday. On Monday, Douglas County Court Judge Stephanie Hansen ordered DeLong to be held in custody without bail. Officers were dispatched to the parking lot of Living Faith United Methodist Church near 180th and Q Streets shortly before 8:45 p.m. Nov. 8, according to a police report. They found McCue with a stab wound to the head, and multiple witnesses at the scene identified DeLong as the suspect. DeLong was taken into custody the same night, the report said. A GoFundMe raising money for McCues medical and funeral expenses has raised more than $11,000. DeLong is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing Dec. 27. NORFOLK, Va. President Joe Biden visited naval installations in Virginia on Sunday to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday week, introducing an early screening of the upcoming movie Wonka and sharing a friendsgiving meal with service members and their relatives. Biden also paid tribute Sunday to former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday, and to President Jimmy Carter. They brought so much grace to the office, Biden said. The president and first lady Jill Biden headed to Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads to introduce the new film centered on the early life of Roald Dahls fictional eccentric chocolatier, Willy Wonka. The film will be officially released Dec. 15. He joked to the many youngsters in the crowd: I like kids more than adults and added I wish I could stay and watch Wonka with you. Instead, the Bidens helped serve dinner with service members from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford at Norfolk Naval Station, the largest installation of its kind in the world, along with their families. Before departing for dinner, Biden told families during his speech that military are the literal backbone of this country, adding, 1% of you, only one defend 99% of us. The event featured hundreds of attendees seated in folding chairs and around wooden, circular tables inside a concrete-floored hangar that included a display of a Blackhawk helicopter, a towering American flag and screen with the image of the White House surrounded by falling leaves and the words Happy Thanksgiving. I mean from the bottom of my heart, the president said. Family members, you are the heart of this operation. For dinner, Biden served up mash potatoes while attendees lined up for the buffet-style meal. Jill Biden spooned out sweet potato casserole to attendees. The menu also featured slow-roasted bourbon brined turkey topped with giblet gravy and cranberry-orange compote, maple-mustard glazed spiral-cut smoked ham, brioche-cornbread stuffing, candied walnuts, roasted garlic and creme fraiche, and a toasted espresso mascarpone Chantilly cream. Meanwhile, Biden's 2024 Republican rival Donald Trump was scheduled for a military visit Sunday in Texas. The former president, who has a commanding early lead in the 2024 GOP primary, was in Edinburg after serving meals to National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the U.S.-Mexico border over Thanksgiving. Trump is promoting hard-line immigration proposals he argues will better secure the border. He and top Republicans have long criticized the Biden administration for failing to do more to crackdown on people entering the United States illegally. For the Bidens, offering support to the nations military has a personal connection. Their son Beau served in Iraq as a member of the Delaware National Guard. He died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46, when Joe Biden was vice president. Jill Biden talked about Beaus deployment at the Wonka event, telling the crowd: I know there are many here who miss their mom or dad or spouse. While nothing can make up for that empty chair at the table, for us, the kindness of our community and finding moments of joy helps make it a little bit easier, she said. As he prepared to celebrate with the troops at home, the war between Israel and Hamas and the fate of hostages, including Americans, being held by the militants in Gaza, were front and center for the president. A reporter asked Biden upon his arrival in Norfolk when more hostages might go free, to which he replied, "I'm not in a position to tell you that. The Bidens learned of former first lady Rosalynn Carters death during their visit, announcing her passing just before serving the friendsgiving meal. Jill Biden asked diners to include the Carter family in your prayers during the holiday season. Carter, she said, was well known for her efforts on mental health and caregiving and womens rights." The president didnt mention Carter. He did talk about watching Beau Biden's children while he was deployed, but then appeared too overcome with emotion to continue and said, I dont want to talk about this. The sadness was fleeting. A moment later he lightheartedly bent down and joked with a 6-year-old, saying What are you, 17? Happy, happy, Thanksgiving," Biden said. May God love you all. Friendsgiving with the military has become a tradition for the Bidens. Last year, they dished out mashed potatoes and other sides as part of the buffet-style meal in Cherry Point, North Carolina, home to more than 9,000 military personnel and roughly 8,000 military family members. In 2021, the Bidens visited the Armys Fort Bragg in North Carolina for an early Thanksgiving meal in a hangar for about 250 service members and their families. Troops got chocolate chip cookies bearing the presidential seal. The president and first lady plan to spend this Thanksgiving on Nantucket, a Massachusetts island. 10 non-traditional Thanksgiving dishes to consider adding to your holiday feast If you haven't finalized your Thanksgiving Day meal plan yet, here are a few non-traditional recipes to consider. Think spiced-up takes on squash and mashed potatoes, pumpkin hummus and more. KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip Health officials said 31 premature babies in extremely critical condition were transferred safely Sunday from Gaza's main hospital and will go to Egypt, while over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remained stranded days after Israeli forces entered the compound to look for Hamas operations there. The plight of the babies, along with Israeli claims against Shifa Hospital, have become potent symbols in the devastating war between Israel and Hamas. An Israeli offensive has taken a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians, while Israel has accused Hamas of using Shifa and other hospitals as headquarters for military operations. The newborns from the hospital, where power was cut and supplies ran out while Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside, were receiving urgent care in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. They had dehydration, hypothermia and sepsis in some cases, said Mohamed Zaqout, director of Gaza hospitals. Four babies died in the two days before the evacuation, he said. A World Health Organization team that visited Shifa for an hour Saturday said hospital corridors were filled with medical and solid waste, increasing the risk of infection for patients who were terrified for their safety and health, and pleaded for evacuation. Twenty-five staff stayed behind. The U.N. agency said the vast majority of patients had amputations, burns or other trauma, and many wounds were severely infected, with antibiotics unavailable. Missions were being planned to evacuate the remaining people to southern Gaza in the next 24-72 hours, pending guarantees of safe passage, the WHO said. Later Sunday, Israels army said it had strong evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintains a sprawling command post inside and under Shifa. Israel has portrayed the hospital as a key target in its war to end Hamas rule in Gaza following the militant groups wide-ranging attack into southern Israel six weeks ago. The army said it found a 60-yard tunnel about 10 yards under the hospitals 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. It said the tunnel included a staircase, blast-proof door and a firing hole that could be used by snipers. The Associated Press couldnt independently verify Israels findings, which included security camera video showing what the military said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, taken to the hospital following the Oct. 7 attack. The army also said an independent medical report had determined that a female Israeli soldier, Cpl. Noa Marciano, whose body was recovered in Gaza last week, had been killed by Hamas in the hospital. Marciano had earlier been injured in an Israeli strike Nov. 9 that killed her captor, according to Israel's intelligence assessment. The injuries were not life-threatening but she was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa, the army said, Hamas and hospital staff earlier denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Critics describe the hospital as a symbol of what they call Israels reckless endangerment of civilians. Thousands in Gaza have been killed in Israeli strikes, and there are severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel in the besieged territory. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the Israeli militarys announcement and didn't deny that Gaza has hundreds of kilometers of tunnels. However, he said, the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel. About 1,200 people were killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas took some 240 captives back into Gaza and shattered Israels sense of security. The military says 63 Israeli soldiers have been killed, including 12 over the past 24 hours. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. We are hopeful that we can get a significant number of hostages freed in the coming days, Israels ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, told ABCs This Week. He added, Were talking about a pause in the fighting for a few days, so we can get the hostages out. Qatars prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the sticking points, honestly, at this stage are more practical, logistical. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said the three-member war Cabinet would meet with representatives of the hostages families on Monday evening. Also on Sunday, Israel's military said Yemen-based Houthi rebels had seized a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea sailing from Turkey to India but said no Israelis were aboard and that it wasn't an Israeli ship. The Houthis said they had seized an Israeli ship and crew and took the vessel to the Yemeni coast but gave no details, other than to say it was treating the captives in accordance with the teaching and values of our Islamic religion. The Iranian-backed group had threatened to target Israel-linked vessels in the Red Sea. The Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader is a vehicle carrier affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. Meanwhile, heavy clashes were reported in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. There was the constant sound of gunfire and tank shelling, Yassin Sharif, who is sheltering in a U.N.-run hospital there, said by phone. The commissioner-general of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said 24 people were killed the day before in what witnesses described as an Israeli airstrike on a U.N.-run school in Jabaliya. This war is having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, every day. This must stop, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement on that strike and another on a U.N.-run school within 24 hours. Capitol Police evacuate DNC after Gaza protest turns violent A 55-year-old man died in a two-vehicle crash Saturday night in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Frederick Evans, who was not wearing a seat belt, died as a result of his injuries, the Scottsbluff Police Department said. The incident occurred shortly after 10 p.m. on the 1300 block of 14th Avenue. Investigators determined that Evans was southbound on 14th Avenue in a 2009 GMC pickup truck. Evans pickup crossed over the center of the road and collided with a northbound 2012 GMC pickup truck. The force of the collision caused Evans pickup to roll over onto its passenger side. Police said they are investigating whether a medical condition contributed to the incident. Scottsbluff police were assisted at the scene by the Scottsbluff Fire Department, Valley Ambulance Service and deputies from the Scotts Bluff County Sheriffs Office. How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region. 100 years ago Nov. 20, 1923: Word reached Normal yesterday that the contract had been let for the new Union depot to the J.A. Moss Contracting Co. of Chicago. The Illinois Central let the contracts but the Chicago and Alton shares the expense. Work is to commence at the earliest possible moment. 75 years ago Nov. 20, 1948: The needy children of Berlin will not be forgotten this Christmas, thanks in part to Cpl. Joseph Thompson of 1108 W. Front St., Louis E. Davis American Legion post and the people of McLean County. A letter from Cpl. Thompson, who is stationed in Fassbery, Germany, published in The Pantagraph, asked for presents which will be glown into Berlin in "Operation Santa Claus." 50 years ago Nov. 20, 1973: Ronald Pacha, 415 Standish Drive, was named Optimist of the Year this week by the Bloomington Optimist Club. 25 years ago Nov. 20, 1998: A Twin City businesswoman who wants to open a restaurant at the former Steak 'n Shake in Bloomington is overcoming neighborhood opposition over proposed sale of alcoholic beverages. Lori Smith has reached compromises with some neighbors and the entire Bloomington Liquor Commission, paving the way for creation of Lori Anna's at 604 E. Locust St. VETERANS DIABETES TELEHEALTH INNOVATION Veterans living with diabetes know that self-management is essential to reducing the risk for hospitalizations and complications from heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, amputations and blindness. Over 30 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes, when the body cannot effectively lower blood sugar levels. Nearly 25% of veterans who receive care from the VA have diabetes, and VA is committed to improving their health outcomes. Some veterans with diabetes do not respond favorably to VA clinic care because diabetes imposes such a high burden of serf-management tasks on our veterans. Some veterans just need more support than is possible through clinic visits only. The VA has created Advanced Comprehensive Diabetes Care to provide critical access to diabetes self-management and medication support through home telehealth services, reducing the frequency of visits to VA medical facilities. ACDC uses home telehealth services and supports veterans with hard-to-control diabetes with three key components: telemonitoring, self-management support and specialist-guided medication management. The program is delivered over six months using existing VA clinical staff and equipment. The ACDC team has implemented this in 30 sites, reaching over 700 veterans with hard-to-control Type 2 diabetes. Veterans with diabetes should contact their VA primary care provider. VA HEALTH CARE IMPROVES BENEFITS FOR WWII VETS All World War II veterans are now eligible for no-cost heath care, medical services and nursing home care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, it was announced on Veterans Day. Those veterans, who number fewer than 120,000, will no longer have to make copayments or pay enrollment fees or monthly premiums, regardless of their disability ratings or priority group in the VA health system. VA is reaching out by phone and mail to encourage WWII vets who are not currently enrolled in VA care to apply today. Veterans who enroll may also keep their private providers, Medicare and most other insurance to meet their health care needs. WWII veterans who were previously denied enrollment in VA health care should reapply; income levels no longer apply due to this expansion. VA cannot automatically enroll these veterans in health care; WWII veterans must apply for VA health care if they are not currently enrolled. WWII veterans can apply for VA heath care by visiting VAs heath care enrollment website, calling 1-800-MyVA411 (1-800-698-2411), or visiting the nearest VA medical center or clinic ours is at 207 Hamilton Road in Bloomington (309-827-4090). Q: Why are bagpipes played at military funerals? A: Bagpipes came to America because of the potato famine in Ireland. The Irish were initially not welcome in America and finding work was difficult. The Irish often took jobs that were dangerous, like policemen and firemen. The Celtic had a tradition that bagpipes be part of a funeral service and played at all police and firefighter funerals. Through the years, the Great Highland bagpipes have been accepted at all funerals, especially for military, police and firefighters. Bagpipes are noted as being a highly preferred instrument to play at funerals because they sound mournful and can seem to touch the most intricate part of the emotions in a powerful manner. It is as if the bagpipes can express the deep mourning of the soul, a type of mourning that cannot be expressed merely with human words. QUOTE OF THE DAY Recent news provides evidence that all three major branches of government executive, legislative and now the judicial all have questionable, if not at least unethical, and maybe criminal behaviors and practices that would not be tolerated in earlier times. The difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman thinks about the next generation. James Freeman Clarke Photos: Bloomington Labor Day Parade 2023 "This must stop," UN chief says in response to escalating deaths in Gaza Xinhua) 09:36, November 20, 2023 UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 19 (XINHUA) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday once again called for a humanitarian ceasefire, in response to the increasing number of deaths in Gaza. "This war is having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, every day," the top UN official said in a statement. "This must stop. I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire." Since Oct. 7, over 11,000 individuals have lost their lives in the beleaguered region of Gaza. Spikes in casualties, attacks on schools and shelters, including the death of a UN worker, and crippling fuel shortages blocking aid deliveries rippled across Gaza over the weekend, as the World Health Organization helped to evacuate 31 babies in critical condition at the besieged Al-Shifa Hospital. "I am deeply shocked that two UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) schools were struck in less than 24 hours in Gaza. Dozens of people -- many women and children -- were killed and injured as they were seeking safety in United Nations premises," the secretary-general said. He added that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are seeking shelter at United Nations facilities throughout Gaza due to the intensified fighting. "I reaffirm that our premises are inviolable." (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Wu Chaolan) Amalia Garza, 39, has been missing since March 1, 2018, according to San Antonio police. Amalia Garza went missing from the 1300 block of Melissa Sue in March of 2018. Her family is still looking for her. "As soon as I hear her name, sometimes I cry, because I don't know what's going on with her," Garza's mother, Sylvia Gonzalez, told KENS. "I don't know if she's hurting. I don't know if she's crying for me, like I cry for her, or if she's being tormented." Advertisement Article continues below this ad Gonzalez told KENS that she believes Garza's boyfriend, Steven Rendon, had something to do with her disappearance. The last time Gonzalez spoke to Garza, she was heading to a party with Rendon, Gonzalez told KENS. In 2020, two years after Garza's disappearance, Rendon was charged with felony aggravated kidnapping, KENS reported. Rendon was accused of holding a woman against her will and sexually assaulting her for several days, according to KENS. Gonzalez posted to Facebook on Sunday, asking users to share a video from KENS as she continues to search for her daughter. She previously posted a similar video in October. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Another post from the Facebook page Knights in Furry Armour, which is "dedicated to helping those in need of protection," shared a post describing the circumstances of Garza's disappearance earlier this month. "The disappearance of Amalia Garza presents a chilling and unresolved issue for her family and investigators," wrote Knights in Furry Armour. "Since her last known activity on March 1st, 2018, when she indicated she would be attending a party with her boyfriend Steven Rendon, her family has been left without closure." Amalia Garza, who disappeared in March of 2018, remains missing. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images The page added that "no substantial leads" were ever found regarding the party, her property or her boyfriend, although it did mention the arrest of Rendon two years later. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "Direct links remain unestablished or undisclosed by authorities," the page wrote. The Trust Hospital, a prominent healthcare services provider, and its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Juliana Oye Ameh, have been honored for their exceptional contributions to healthcare, receiving multiple awards. Corporate accolades include the Excellence in Sustainable Medical Practices award and a Sustainable Patient-Centered Care Model award at the 7th Sustainability & Social Investment (SSI) Awards held at Kempinski Hotel, Accra. In addition, Dr. Ameh was bestowed with a Distinguished Fellowship at the Africa Women's Leadership Academy (AWLA) Ladies in Leadership Awards, an honorary recognition for outstanding endeavors by women business leaders. Sustainability and Social Investment (SSI) Awards The dual awards were granted for the hospital's Pink October breast cancer awareness drive, recognized as the industry gold standard, impacting over a million women and men to date and inspiring similar initiatives. Also acknowledged was the Quality Healthcare Agenda, designed to champion efficient and quality healthcare. Post-ceremony, Dr. Ameh expressed gratitude for the collective effort of the hospital's staff, stating, "We see this as a call to action and will not rest on our laurels as we strive to ensure the best quality healthcare for all Ghanaians." Africa Women's Leadership Academy (AWLA) Ladies in Leadership Awards The citation honoring Dr. Ameh reads: "AWLA is delighted to bestow the Distinguished Fellowship upon Dr. Juliana Oye Ameh, the esteemed CEO of Trust Hospital. The accolade is a testament to her exemplary contributions and steadfast commitment to excellence. As the visionary leader of Trust Hospital, Dr. Juliana Oye Ameh has played a pivotal role in shaping its success. Her strategic initiatives have not only elevated Trust Hospitals prominence in the healthcare industry but have also set a benchmark for innovation and comprehensive patient care." Under Dr. Ameh's leadership, Trust Hospital has emerged as a leader in innovative yet affordable healthcare. Initially, she developed and is in the implementation stage of a five-year strategy plan for the hospital, adding value and creating confidence in the hospitals shareholder. In her second year, she built an additional hospital, The Trust Premium Centre, which utilized sustainable raw materials to cater to children. This year saw the launch of dedicated oncology services through the Trust Cancer Care unit, prioritizing patient comfort, privacy, and emotional support. Last year, the hospital introduced its state-of-the-art Premium Centre, offering a range of treatments that would otherwise require patients to seek treatment abroad. Last week, Trust Hospital launched its Quality Healthcare and Patient Safety Agenda in alignment with the global commemoration of Quality Healthcare Day, emphasizing the importance of achieving quality in every aspect of service delivery for the benefit of patients. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former President Muhammadu Buhari said he has not missed anything in his eight years in the Presidency. Buhari disclosed this in an interview with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) posted on it X official handle on Sunday. When asked about what he missed from his time in office, the former president said, Miss. I dont think I miss much. Buhari had previously said he would not miss his time in office because he was being harassed. In December 2022, the former president said he was doing his best for Nigerians but it was not good enough. Buhari said, I believe Im trying my best, but still my best is not good enough. I wonder if I am going to miss much. I think Im being harassed. Recall that between 2015 and 2021, Buhari spent 171 days on medical vacation in the United Kingdom, with 2017 alone accounting for 152 days away. Speaking on the nature of his illness when he was president, Buhari said, I think only my daughter can honestly answer this question. Source: vanguardngr 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 Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has opened its portal to enroll Ghanaian youth under its Artisanal Trades and Vocation Module to create a minimum of twenty thousand (20000) sustainable jobs over two (2) years. Youth unemployment has been the bane of governments in Ghana for several years and it has long been described as a national security threat. It is in the light of this that the YEA deems it fit to create sustainable employment for the growing unemployed youth, hence the "Youth in Trades and Vocation" model, brick moulding and laying with BRRI, "Business Support Programme", "Youth in Agric" amongst others. This model will run in collaboration with a multi-industry private sector player that is duly registered and licensed in Ghana under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement; all in the interest of complementing existing youth employment initiatives by the Youth Employment Agency and government. The project aims at building the capacity of unemployed and underemployed youth across the country in ten (10) relevant trades and vocations. The model will comprehensively train and provide startup tools to a minimum of 20000 youth in 10 trades and vocations by the end of 2024 and provide quality startup tools and equipment to each of the young men and women after the mandatory 6 months technical training. The beneficiaries will also be trained in entrepreneurship and business management as part of preparations towards self-employment and be assisted in delivering quality and world-class products and services to the public. Under the model, a huge number of the beneficiary slots will be allocated to young women to uplift the affirmative action principle to another level while they are supported to identify entrepreneurial/business opportunities in their respective areas of specialization within their districts and municipalities. The trainees will also be assisted to access local and international markets for their quality products and services; this will help expose Ghanas rich technical acumen to the world, promote tourism and bring in foreign exchange. According to YEA, the model is hinged on comprehensive technical training, entrepreneurship and business management and provision of start-up tools and equipment as avenues of self-employment for the youth. We are interested in developing local small-scale businesses to promote commerce and job opportunities. The need to scale up informal apprenticeship under TVET as both short and long-term measures to tackle youth unemployment. Provide start-up tools and equipment to all 20,000 trainees. Informal apprenticeship provides the required practical skills for sustainable employment and entrepreneurship. YEA indicated that they will set up an online database/pool of qualified African industrial/African solution artisans to push the model forward and make it successful. The portal for registration has been opened and interested applicants can apply on www.yea.gov.gh or apply.yea.gov.gh; applicants can also visit their official social media platforms. 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 Ms. Esther Cobbah, the trailblazing Founder and CEO of Stratcomm Africa, has received an esteemed individual honor at the prestigious Distinguish Fellowship Awards and LILA2023 as a distinguished fellow. The award ceremony, orchestrated by Mr. and Mrs. Titi Offei, founders of the Accra Business School, aimed to spotlight and celebrate women who have soared above challenges across various spheres of life. Ms. Cobbah's recognition stems from her outstanding impact within the communication industry, paving the way for contemporary communication and PR professionals. Her unwavering dedication led to the establishment of Stratcomm Africa three decades ago. Additionally, she and Stratcomm Africa are currently spearheading Climate Change Communication, highlighting a critical field in dire need of attention. In her conversation with the media, Ms. Cobbah expressed her gratitude to her fellow women awardees while urging the current generation to uphold the ethical standards of the industry. Among the celebrated women were Gift Anty, Dr. Dwamena, Shirley Kum, and many other distinguished personalities. The event was graced by the esteemed presence of former 1st Minister of Northern Ireland, Rt. Hon Baroness Arlene Foster. Ms. Cobbah's recognition reflects her significant contributions and unwavering commitment to the communication landscape, setting a formidable example for present and future generations. 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 New Force individuals behind the viral The Man in the Mask campaign billboard says renowned economist, Investment Banker and global business strategist, Dr. Sam Ankrah is not the man behind their viral The Man in the Mask. In a statement, they said Dr Sam Ankrah is not associated with them after calling on him to stop using their image. Our attention has been drawn to certain images circulated by one Sam Ankrah on social media fraudulently purporting to be the originator of the viral The Man in the Mask campaign created by #TheNewForce. We have also noticed subsequent media publications commissioned by him projecting himself to be The Man in the Mask. A portion of their statement said Read below full statement Our attention has been drawn to certain images circulated by one Sam Ankrah on social media fraudulently purporting to be the originator of the viral The Man in the Mask campaign created by #TheNewForce. We have also noticed subsequent media publications commissioned by him projecting himself to be The Man in the Mask. We wish to state categorically that the said Sam Ankrah has no connection to the creative concept, design, and inventive process that developed the The Man in the Mask campaign. We are disappointed that Mr. Sam Ankrah has sought to deliberately exploit the ingenuity of young Ghanaians and coopted their vision and creativity to project dubious political ambitions. We consider his conduct to be reprehensible and evidence of a lack of credibility that undermines him as a person as well as someone capable of leading a new political vision for a country that is in need of a clean break from the kind of dirty politics we witness on a daily basis. On the advice of our lawyers, our team will be filing a complaint with the Electoral Commission against him for violating Section 6 of the Political Parties Act 2000 (Act 526). His conduct constitutes an offence under that Act, and makes him liable to be punished with a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years. Further, We reserve our right to consider civil action against him for infringement of our intellectual property rights including our right over the original artistic and creative works, in the graphics, images, and original text; and the symbols, logos, and distinctive visual layout or presentation We demand that he immediately cease and desist from any further use, reproduction, distribution, or modification of our intellectual property. We request further that he deletes the images on all of his platforms, and that he put up an appropriate statement apologizing for the infringement, immediately. Signed : #TheNewForce 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 In a move towards community development and healthcare infrastructure enhancement, olam food ingredients (ofi) Ghana Limited, a prominent player in Ghana's cocoa sector and a leading cashew exporter, has donated GHC 300,000 towards the "Heal Komfo Anokye" Initiative. The donation follows a call by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, for collective efforts to raise $10 million for the renovation of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi. Presenting the cheque to the Chief Executive Officer of KATH, Prof. Dr Otchere Addai Mensah, Mr Jonathan Quaynor, the Vice President and Procurement Head of the Beans Business, commended Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for his unwavering commitment to enhancing healthcare infrastructure and praised the visionary "Heal Komfo Anokye" initiative. "Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, has presented us with an opportunity to be catalysts for change. His call for unity and support towards the renovation of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) is not just a call to action but a call to compassion, a call to prioritize the health and future of our community. As representatives of olam food ingredients Ghana Limited, we recognize our responsibility to contribute to the well-being of our communities. Today, we stand united in response to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II's vision, pledging GHC 300,000 to the "Heal Komfo Anokye" initiative." stated Mr Quaynor. The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) is a 70 year 1,200-bed hospital in Kumasi that receives referrals from 13 out of the current 16 regions of the Country. It is a teaching hospital for the clinical training of medical students following the establishment of the School of Medical Sciences in 1975. It is a major centre for the training of postgraduate medical and dental practitioners in various specialties and the training of undergraduate personnel in Pharmacy, Nursing, and many Allied Health Professions. The National HR Head, Evans Dunyo, emphasized the importance of supporting initiatives that prioritize healthcare. He added that Ashanti Region, where Otumfuo sits as king, is the region where the business procures a lot of its cocoa and had a lot of employees, farmers, and other stakeholders residents. Hence it was expedient for the business to support a cause for an upgraded facility. He urged individuals and institutions to donate towards the project. The Chief Executive Officer of KATH, Prof. Dr Otchere Addai Mensah, said KATH was under immense pressure and needed a facelift. He thanked the leadership of the business for the support. ofi Ghana remains committed to supporting initiatives that would enhance the quality of livelihood of their stakeholders. 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 Rosalynn Carter, the former first lady of the United States and the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as president, has died at age 96. Rosalynn Carter passed away peacefully with family by her side at her rural Georgia home of Plains after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health, the Carter Center said on Sunday, Nov. 19, in a statement. Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished, her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, said. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me. The Carter Center announced Friday, Nov. 17 that the former first lady had entered hospice care. She was diagnosed with dementia in May. Her husband began home hospice care in February, following a series of hospital stays. Jimmy Carter was defeated in a landslide by Ronald Reagan four years after being elected. His single term in the White House included forging a rare peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. After leaving the White House, the couple traveled to hot spots around the world, including to Cuba, Sudan and North Korea, monitoring elections and working to eradicate Guinea worm disease and other neglected tropical diseases. Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. The Carter Center is a shared legacy. Shes been there digging latrines right next to him, said the Carters friend Jill Stuckey, a leader at Maranatha Baptist Church, where both Carters attended and where Jimmy Carter taught Sunday school. US First lady Jill Biden celebrated Rosalynn Carters life on Sunday, telling service members and their families at a Naval Station Norfolk holiday event, The former first lady Rosalynn Carter has just passed. And she was well known for her efforts on mental health and caregiving and womens rights. And so I hope that during the holidays youll include the Carter family in your prayers, Jill Biden added. President Joe Biden praised the Carter family while speaking to reporters after the holiday event. Theyre really an incredible family because they brought so much grace to the office, he said. Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush also praised Rosalynn Carter as a woman of dignity and strength. There was no greater advocate of President Carter, and their partnership set a wonderful example of loyalty and fidelity. She leaves behind an important legacy in her work to destigmatize mental health. We join our fellow citizens in sending our condolences to President Carter and their family, they said in a joint statement. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Overview of experimental methods, design, and data collection. In (a), our method for pre-incubating soil with 44CaCl 2 to elevate soil calcium. In (b), a list of all experimental factors. In (c), a schematic illustrating the incubation length and sampling timepoints. In (d), a list of data types collected at T beg (4 days) and T end (~4 months). Credit: Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42291-6 Farmers add calcium to their soil for many reasons related to increasing crop yieldsincluding regulating pH and improving soil structure. Using the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan, scientists from Cornell University and Purdue University have identified a previously undiscovered mechanism triggered by calcium when it's added to soil. Their finding could lead to more strategic use of the mineral in agriculture. Researchers already knew that calcium impacts the way organic matter is stabilized in soil. What wasn't known was whether calcium had an effect on which microbes were involved and how they acted. Microbes are microscopic organisms that live in the air, soil, and water; in soil, they process soil organic matter and help promote plant growth. "We showed that by adding calcium to soil, we changed the community of microbes in the soil and the way they process organic matter," says lead researcher Itamar Shabtai, an assistant scientist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. "They processed it in a more efficient mannermore carbon was retained in the soil, and less was lost to the atmosphere as CO 2 ." Adding calcium to soils can help increase organic matter, trap more carbon. Credit: Canadian Light Source Carbon, which makes up about half of the organic matter in the soil, is incredibly important to almost all soil properties, says Shabtai, who carried out the research as part of his postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell. "Soils that contain more carbon are generally healthier. They are better able to hold on to water in drought conditions. Soils with higher amounts of organic carbon are also able to deliver nutrients more efficiently to plants and promote plant growth, and they're more resistant to erosion." From a global point of view, soils contain significant amounts of carbon, more than plants and the atmosphere combined, says Shabtai, so holding on to that carbon can help address climate change. "If we can increase carbon in soil, we can perhaps make a dent in the increase in atmospheric CO 2 that we're seeing." The researchers used the SGM beamline at the CLS to measure the amount of plant matter decomposed following the addition of calcium, while the Mid-IR beamline enabled them to identify and quantify the stabilized carbon in the soildata impossible to gather in any other way, says Shabtai. Their findings can potentially benefit agricultural producers by giving them another tool to help maintain and improve the organic matter in their soils. "Now that we have a better understanding of how calcium can impact how microbes improve soil carbon, we can perhaps use soil amendments that contain calcium and are already being used by farmerssuch as lime and gypsumin a way that can benefit soil organic matter." More information: Itamar A. Shabtai et al, Calcium promotes persistent soil organic matter by altering microbial transformation of plant litter, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42291-6 Journal information: Nature Communications 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: TSG site of Kacarevo 2 showing: A) Low-lying land, B) raised sand-plateau, C) enclosure ditch, D) activity areas. Photograph and key by Barry Molloy and Darja Grosman. Credit: PLOS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288750 Archaeologists from University College Dublin, working with colleagues from Serbia and Slovenia, have uncovered a previously unknown network of massive sites in the heart of Europe that could explain the emergence of the continent's Bronze Age megafortsthe largest prehistoric constructions seen prior to the Iron Age. Using satellite images and aerial photography to stitch together the prehistoric landscape of the south Carpathian Basin in Central Europe, the team discovered more than 100 sites belonging to a complex society. Their commonplace use of defensible enclosures was a precursor and likely influence behind the famous hillforts of Europe, built to protect communities later in the Bronze Age. "Some of the largest sites, we call these mega-forts, have been known for a few years now, such as Gradiste Ios, Csanadpalota, Santana or the mind-blowing Cornesti Iarcuri enclosed by 33km of ditches and eclipsing in size the contemporary citadels and fortifications of the Hittites, Mycenaeans or Egyptians," said lead author Associate Professor Barry Molloy, UCD School of Archaeology. "What is new, however, is finding that these massive sites did not stand alone, they were part of a dense network of closely related and codependent communities. At their peak, the people living within this lower Pannonian network of sites must have numbered into the tens of thousands." The Carpathian Basin extends across parts of central and southeast Europe, with the vast Pannonian Plain lying at its center, with the River Danube cutting through it. Detailed in a paper published in the journal PLOS ONE, the new research discovered more than 100 sites in this region located in the hinterlands of the Tisza river, leading to these previously unknown communities to be collectively called the Tisza Site Group (TSG). Almost all TSG sites lay within 5 km of one another and are aligned along a river corridor formed by the Tisza and the river Danube, suggesting that the network was one of a cooperative community spread across many different locations. This new research indicates that the TSG were an important center of innovation in prehistoric Europe and formed a major network hub for the region when the Mycenaeans, Hittites and New Kingdom Egypt were at their height around 15001200 BC. This discovery provides new insights into European connections in the second millennium BC, commonly seen as a major prehistoric turning point. It appears the advanced military and earthwork technologies of the society spread across Europe after their collapse in 1200 BC. The importance and influence of these groups help explain similarities in material culture and iconography across Europe in the later second millennium BC, said Molloy. "Our understanding of how their society worked challenges many aspects of European prehistory. It would be extremely unlikely for each of these 100+ sites to have been individual chiefdoms competing with each other. "Uniquely for prehistoric Europe, we are able to do more than identify the location of a few sites using satellite imagery but have been able to define an entire settled landscape, complete with maps of the size and layout of sites, even down to the locations of people's homes within them. This really gives an unprecedented view of how these Bronze Age people lived with each other and their many neighbors," said Molloy. "However, this was no peaceful time of plenty. Major innovations in warfare and organized violence took place at this time. The scale of this society indicates it was relevant and powerful on a European stage and between force of arms and major defensible features at settlements, they were well equipped to defend their gains." Molloy said that popular perception that archaeology is only based around trowels and brushes, surgically cutting through soil by the millimeter is as close to reality as Indiana Jones. "We employ a barrage of cutting-edge technologies and in this paper, we relied heavily on imagery from space to discover a previously unknown network of massive sites in the heart of continental Europethe Carpathian Basin. "We tested the findings from satellite images on the ground using survey, excavation, and geophysical prospection. The vast majority of sites were established between 1600 and 1450 BC and virtually all of them came crashing down around 1200 BC, being abandoned en masse. "1200 BC was a striking turning point in Old World prehistory, with kingdoms, empires, cities, and whole societies collapsing within a few decades throughout a vast area of southwest Asia, north Africa, and southern Europe. "It is fascinating to discover these new polities and to see how they were related to well-known influential societies yet sobering to see how they ultimately suffered a similar fate in a wave of crises that struck this wider region" said Molloy. More information: Barry Molloy et al, Resilience, innovation and collapse of settlement networks in later Bronze Age Europe: New survey data from the southern Carpathian Basin, PLOS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288750 Journal information: PLoS ONE 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 Australians began voting Monday on a name for the country's first home-made moon rover, with a shortlist including "Mateship", "Roo-ver" and "Kakirra"an Indigenous word for the Earth's satellite. Australia's space industry will develop the semi-autonomous rover to collect lunar soil under an agreement signed two years ago with NASA, which plans to fly it to the moon's surface as soon as 2026. NASA will then attempt to extract oxygen from the soil sample, marking "a key step towards a sustainable human presence on the moon", the Australian Space Agency said in a statement. Two Australian consortiums, AROSE and ELO2, are working on rover concepts, one of which will be selected to design and develop the final rover. The agency said it had asked thousands of people and schools to take part in a contest to come up with the best name for the future moon vehicle, whittling them down to a shortlist of four names. They were "Mateship", "Roo-ver", "Kakirra" and "Coolamon"an Aboriginal wooden dish with curved sides used for various tasks including carrying food and cradling babies. Online voting opened to the public Monday, with the winning name to be announced December 6. 2023 AFP James Fenimore seasons the fowl's during Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed during the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Volunteers prepare the bird's during Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed at the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Patricia Jimenez, daughter of Raul Jimenez, applauds volunteers during Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed during the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed during the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner take the service elevator to the kitchen. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Yolanda Valenzuea applauds during Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed during the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Volunteers applaud during Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed during the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Volunteers prepare the bird's during Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed at the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Turkey's are prepped during Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed during the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Zeneth and Ariana Robles start prep work during Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed during the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Jesse Martinez grabs a bird during Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed during the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Volunteers begin the preparartion process during Sunday's delivery of 550 turkey's to the convention center for the expected crowd of 25,000 people to be fed during the 44th Annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. In addition to the turkey's, diners will ber treated to 6000 lbs of green beans, 6000 lbs. of yam's, and 3000 lbs. of stuffing. Robin Jerstad Thousands of plates of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie will be doled out Thursday at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center at the 44th annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. The free festivities are an institution in the San Antonio community. Whether youre a regular every year, a first-time attendee or someone looking to get involved, heres what you need to know about the event: When and where Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Jimenez dinner takes place on Thanksgiving at the Convention Center at 900 E. Market St. Doors open at 9 a.m., and an all-faith worship service will be held at 10 a.m. Food, music and dancing run from 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Meal deliveries for people who are unable to attend the event will be provided for people who request them. The deadline for delivery requests was Friday. How it started Restaurateur Raul Jimenez founded the event in 1979, looking to serve a holiday meal for older residents who were alone and couldnt afford to make a Thanksgiving dinner for themselves. It has since grown to reach about 25,000 people each year. Jimenez died in 1998, but his family kept the tradition alive. The dinner paused in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, with organizers pivoting to solely home delivery, but the communal gathering returned to the Convention Center in 2022. Patricia Jimenez, the founders daughter, said she expects an even larger turnout this year. How to get there VIA Metropolitan Transit will provide free bus rides for seniors to and from the event. When they board the bus, passengers who are 55 and older should tell the driver they are attending the Jimenez dinner and show a VIA senior ID card or other identification with proof of their age to receive a free trip. VIAtrans clients also can receive free transportation to and from the Convention Center. Advertisement Article continues below this ad How can you get involved? It takes about 3,500 to 4,000 volunteers to make the dinner happen each year. All those positions already have been filled for the 2023 dinner. Sign-ups to volunteer opened Nov. 3, and were full by Nov. 6. If youre looking to help out, keep an eye out for sign-ups next fall. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A pile of sturgeons being sold at a fish marked in Eastern Europe. Credit: WWF George Caracas Wild caviar, a pricey delicacy made from sturgeon eggs, has been illegal for decades since poaching brought the fish to the brink of extinction. Today, legal, internationally tradeable caviar can only come from farmed sturgeon, and there are strict regulations in place to help protect the species. However, by conducting genetic and isotope analyses on caviar samples from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Ukrainenations bordering the remaining wild sturgeon populationsa team of sturgeon experts found evidence that these regulations are actively being broken. Their results, published on November 20 in the journal Current Biology, show that half of the commercial caviar products they sampled are illegal, and some don't even contain any trace of sturgeon. "The conservation status of the Danube sturgeon populations renders each individual important for their survival, and the observed intensity of poaching undermines any conservation effort," write the researchers, led by Arne Ludwig of the Leibniz-Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research. In Europe, there are four remaining sturgeon species, including Beluga, Russian, stellate, and sterlet, that are capable of producing caviar. The last remaining wild populations of these species in the European Union can be found in the Danube River and the Black Sea. Each species has been protected since 1998 under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. In 2000, their CITES listing was accompanied by a strict, international labeling system for all caviar products designed to stop illegal trade. Despite these protections, it was widely known from local anecdotal accounts that illegal poaching is still happening, cites the team, even though no formal investigations had been conducted. To find out the true source of the commercially sold caviar products being produced in native sturgeon regions, the researchers bought caviar both online and in person from a wide variety of sources including local markets, shops, restaurants, bars, and aquaculture facilities. They also included five samples that had been seized by authorities. In total, they collected and analyzed 149 samples of caviar and sturgeon meat. Sturgeons being descaled for sale at an Eastern European fish market. Credit: WWF George Caracas After analyzing each sample's DNA and isotope patterns, the team found that 21% of the samples came from wild-caught sturgeons and that these wild-caught fish were sold in all of the countries studied. They also found that 29% of the samples violated CITES regulations and trade laws, which included caviar that listed the wrong species of sturgeon or the wrong country of origin, and categorized another 32% of samples as "customer deception," such as samples declared as wild products that actually originated from aquaculture. "Our results indicate an ongoing demand for wild sturgeon products, which is alarming, since these products endanger wild sturgeon populations," write the researchers. "The persistent demand fuels poaching and indicates that consumers do not fully accept aquaculture products as a substitute. In addition, caviar being sold in violation of CITES and EU obligations questions the effectiveness of controls in general and the labeling system in particular." Three of the samples, served in Romania in a dish called "sturgeon soup," weren't sturgeon at all. Instead, the researchers identified the fish as European catfish and Nile perch. The authors suggest that the large volume of illegal poaching activity could be an indicator that local seafood vendors are lacking adequate income opportunities, which might increase the pressure to engage in illegal fishing activity. They also point to the fact that there is likely a lack of effective law enforcement in these regions, either because stopping illegal poaching isn't a priority for local authorities or because they don't have the tools to prove a fish's illegal origin. But regardless of the reasons, they stress the importance of taking action, and quickly. "Although poaching and illegal wildlife trade are often considered a problem in developing countries, these findings bear evidence that a high ratio of poached sturgeon products originates from EU and accession candidate states," write the authors. "The control of caviar and sturgeon trade in the EU and candidate member states urgently needs improvement to ensure that Danube sturgeon populations will have a future." 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 Worldwide, coastal river deltas are home to more than half a billion people, supporting fisheries, agriculture, cities, and fertile ecosystems. In a unique study covering 49 deltas globally, researchers from Lund University and Utrecht University have identified the most critical risks to deltas in the future. The research shows that deltas face multiple risks, and that population growth and poor environmental governance might pose bigger threats than climate change to the sustainability of Asian and African deltas, in particular. "We can clearly show that many risks are not linked to climate. While climate change is a global problem, other important risk factors like land subsidence, population density and ineffective governance are local problems. Risks to deltas will only increase over time, so now is the time for governments to take action," says Murray Scown, associate senior lecturer, Lund University Center for Sustainability Studies, and lead author. Collapse of delta environments could have huge consequences for global sustainable development. In the worst-case scenario, deltas could be lost to the sea; other consequences are flooding, salinization of water, which affects agriculture, coastal squeeze, and loss of ecosystems. The study, published in Global Environmental Change, looked at five different IPCC scenarios for global development in 49 deltas all over the world, including famous deltas such as the Nile, Mekong, and Mississippi, but also more understudied deltas such as the Volta, Zambezi and Irrawaddy deltas. The research identifies possible risks to deltas stretching 80 years into the future. The researchers based their analysis on 13 well-known factors affecting risk in deltas and drew upon unique models to identify which of these risks are most likely to endanger different deltas in the future. Risk factors include increasing population density, urban development, irrigated agriculture, changes to river discharge, land subsidence and relative sea-level rise, limited economic capacity, poor government effectiveness, and low adaptation readiness. Credit: Lund University Population density, land subsidence and ineffective governance are high-risk factors The analysis shows that there are some risks that are more critical to deltas than othersin all of the five future scenarios. These include land subsidence and relative sea-level rise, population density, ineffective governance, economic capacity, and cropland use. For some deltas, physical risks are especially pronounced. Land subsidence is, for example, the highest risk factor for the Mekong delta in Vietnam. Extreme sea levels are among the most concerning risk factors for deltas in China, on the Korean peninsula, and in the Colorado (Mexico) and Rhine (Netherlands) deltas. In the Nile (Egypt), Niger (Nigeria), and the Ganges (Bangladesh) deltas, it is increasing population density that is of most concern under certain scenarios. For other deltas, it is the lack of economic capacity and government effectiveness to manage risks, for example in the Irrawaddy (Myanmar) and Congo (Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo) deltas. "Analyzed all together, we can see that the Asian mega-deltas are at greatest risk, with potentially devastating consequences for millions of people, and for the environment. They are under pressure from population growth, intense agricultural land use, relative sea-level rise, and lagging adaptation readiness," says Murray Scown. Local and global approaches and a mixture of hard and soft adaptation can mitigate risks "Instead of sitting back, governments need to think long-term, and put plans in place to reduce or mitigate risks. In the Mekong delta, for example, the Vietnamese government is making strong efforts to restrict future groundwater extraction in the delta to reduce land subsidence and salinization," says Philip Minderhoud, assistant professor at Wageningen University and Research. The researchers highlight that a mixture of hard ("gray") and soft ("green") adaptation approaches will be required to manage and mitigate delta risks. They include both hard infrastructures, like sea walls to stop the sea inundating the delta, and soft approaches using nature-based solutions. One example is the Dutch experience of creating room for the river in the Rhine delta, by lowering floodplains, relocating levees, and using spaces that are allowed to flood for grazing. Initiatives to build up delta surfaces by allowing rivers to flood and deposit sediment on the delta to maintain elevation above sea level are also promising, notes Frances Dunn, assistant professor at Utrecht University. "By looking at the deltas together, like we have in this study, we want to highlight what can happen on a global scale if we do not address delta risk both on a local and global level. The study can also complement studies on individual deltas, and identify efforts needed [that are] connected to less studied deltas such as the Sao Francisco or Volta delta," says Maria Santos, professor at the University of Zurich. More information: Murray W. Scown et al, Global change scenarios in coastal river deltas and their sustainable development implications, Global Environmental Change (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102736 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The data is for 129 blazars (97 FSRQs, 26 BL Lac objects, and 6 BCUs) for a 1-week bin (left) and a 10 yr bin (right) of scenario (2) with A X = 1.0, and = 1.5 as a function of the sin() with decl. . Credit: Kenji Yoshida, SIT, Japan Blazars belong to the family of active galactic nuclei called quasars. What differentiates them from quasars is that the flares ejected out of these active galactic nuclei are pointed toward the Earth. These flares contain high-energy cosmic rays which are released from the core of these galaxies as jets spanning many light years. Such cosmic rays can interact with photons to produce subatomic particles called neutrinos. Gamma-ray flares from blazars are thought to be the primary events behind neutrino detection in the sky. In 2017, the South Pole neutrino detector "IceCube" detected a high-energy neutrino event whose timings and positioning in the night sky coincided with the flare of a blazar called TXS 0506+056. Some scientists suggest that there could be a population of blazars whose flares are accompanied by high-energy neutrino emission. However, the relationship between blazar flaring activity and neutrino flux is yet to be properly understood. In this regard, an international research team, led by Professor Kenji Yoshida from the Department of Electronic Information Systems at Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, has recently performed a comprehensive statistical analysis to understand the contribution of gamma-ray flares to neutrino emission. The team included Maria Petropoulou from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Kohta Murase from The Pennsylvania State University, and Foteini Oikonomou from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Their paper was published in The Astrophysical Journal. The researchers analyzed 145 blazars, 144 taken from the Fermi Large Area Telescope Monitored Source List and including TXS 0506+056, in this study. They first calculated a weekly average of the gamma-ray flux of the blazars and plotted their light curves. The team then derived the flare duty cycle (fraction of time spent in a flaring state) and the corresponding energy fraction from these curves using a Bayesian blocks algorithm, a statistical method used to identify changes in a time series. "We find that blazars with lower flare duty cycles and energy fractions are more numerous among our sample. Their flare duty cycles and energy fractions represent power law-like distributions, correlating strongly with each other. We found a significant difference between blazar subclasses for the flare duty cycles at the 5% significant level," says Prof. Yoshida, highlighting the major results of their analysis. The researchers evaluated the neutrino energy flux of each gamma-ray flare, using a general scaling relation for the neutrino and gamma-ray luminosities with a power law's weighting exponent of 1.02.0, normalized to the quiescent gamma-ray or X-ray flux of each blazar. They also found that the gamma-ray flare distribution indicates that blazar neutrino emission may be dominated by flares for the weighting exponent >1.5. Furthermore, by comparing their neutrino predictions for each blazar for one-week and 10-year periods to the time-integrated IceCube sensitivity, the team placed upper limits on the contributions of the flares to the isotropic diffuse neutrino flux. Prof. Yoshida remarks, "We hope that this study helps improve our understanding of the contribution of blazars to astrophysical neutrinos. Application of the present method to further observations might have the potential to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge of the origin of astrophysical neutrinos." More information: Kenji Yoshida et al, Flare Duty Cycle of Gamma-Ray Blazars and Implications for High-energy Neutrino Emission, The Astrophysical Journal (2023). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acea74 Journal information: Astrophysical Journal 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: 2023 is expected to be the hottest year in human history. Countries' greenhouse gas-cutting pledges put Earth on track for warming far beyond key limits, potentially up to a catastrophic 2.9 degrees Celsius this century, the UN said Monday, warning "we are out of road". The UN Environment Programme's annual Emissions Gap report is released just ahead of crucial COP28 climate talks in Dubai and will feed into the global response to a sobering official "stocktake" of the failure to curb warming so far. With this year expected to be the hottest in human history, UNEP said "the world is witnessing a disturbing acceleration in the number, speed and scale of broken climate records". Taking into account countries' carbon-cutting plans, UNEP warned that the planet is on a path for disastrous heating of between 2.5C and 2.9C by 2100. Based just on existing policies and emissions-cutting efforts, global warming would reach 3C. But the world continues to pump record levels of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, with emissions up 1.2 percent from 2021 to 2022, UNEP said, adding that the increase was largely driven by the burning of fossil fuels and industrial processes. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the COP28 talks, which begin on November 30, to outline "dramatic climate action". "Leaders can't kick the can any further. We're out of road," he said, denouncing a "failure of leadership, a betrayal of the vulnerable, and a massive missed opportunity". He said the world "must reverse course" and called for a clear signal at the COP28 meeting that the world was preparing for a decisive move away from polluting coal, oil and gas. 'Snooze mode' The 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries agree to cap global warming at "well below" 2C above preindustrial timeswith a safer limit of 1.5C if possible. Nearly 1.2C of global heating so far has already unleashed an escalating barrage of deadly impacts across the planet. UNEP said temperatures have gone above 1.5C for more than 80 days already this year, although the Paris warming thresholds will be measured as an average over several decades. The Emissions Gap report looks at the difference between the planet-heating pollution that will still be released under countries' decarbonization plans and what science says is needed to keep to the goals of the Paris Agreement. The World Meteorological Organization has said levels of the three main greenhouse gases all broke records last year. By 2030, UNEP said, global emissions will have to be 28 percent lower than current policies would suggest in order to stay below 2C, and 42 percent lower for the more ambitious limit of 1.5C. UNEP chief Inger Andersen said it was crucial that G20 nationsthe world's wealthiest economies responsible for around 80 percent of emissions"step up" and lead on reductions, but noted some were in "snooze mode". 'Climate won't wait' Under the Paris deal, countries are required to submit ever deeper emission cutting plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). UNEP found that fully implementing "unconditional" NDCs for 2030which countries plan regardless of external supportwould give a 66 percent likelihood of Earth's average temperature rising by 2.9C by 2100. Scientists warn that warming of these levels could render vast swathes of the planet essentially uninhabitable for humans and risk irreversible tipping points on land and in the oceans. Conditional NDCswhich rely on international funding to achievewould probably lower this to a still catastrophic 2.5C temperature rise this century, it said. UNEP said that if all conditional NDCs and longer-term net zero pledges were met in their entirety it would be possible to limit temperature rise to 2C. But it cautioned that currently these net zero pledges were not considered credible, with none of the G20 nations reducing emissions in line with their own targets. Even in the most optimistic scenario, the chance of limiting temperature rise to 1.5C is just 14 percent, UNEP said. Guterres called for "an explosion of ambition" regarding countries setting their NDCswhich are due to be updated by 2025. Andersen said she is optimistic that countries will be able to make progress at the November 30 to December 12 COP28, despite the fractures caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas. "Countries and delegations understand that, irrespective of these deep divisions that do exist and that are undeniable, the environment doesn't wait and climate most certainly will not," she said. "You can't press the pause button." 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: Delegates at the final day of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution meeting in Nairobi on Sunday. The latest negotiations toward a global plastic treaty concluded late Sunday with disagreement about how the pact should work and frustration from environment groups over delays and lack of progress. Negotiators spent a week at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi haggling over a draft treaty to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution found everywhere from ocean depths to mountaintops to human blood. It is the third time negotiators have met since 175 nations pledged early last year to fast-track talks in the hope of finalizing a treaty by 2024. The meeting in Nairobi was supposed to advance the process by fine-tuning the draft treaty and starting discussions about what concrete measures should target pollution from plastic, which is made from fossil fuels. But the treaty specifics were never really addressed, with a small number of oil-producing nations - particularly Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia - accused of employing stalling tactics seen at previous negotiation rounds to hinder progress. "Unsurprisingly, certain countries are blocking progress on every term, playing obstruction and procedural maneuvers," Carroll Muffett from the Center for International Environmental Law told AFP. Lacking leadership In closed-door meetings, so many new proposals were put forward that the textinstead of being revised and streamlinedballooned in size over the course of the week, according to observers following the talks. Graham Forbes from Greenpeace said the meeting had "failed" its objectives and urged governments to take a harder line in future negotiations on nations not acting in good faith. "A successful treaty is still within reach but it will require a level of leadership and courage from big, more ambitious countries that we simply have not seen yet," he told AFP. There was anger directed at UNEP, with the civil society alliance group GAIA accusing the hosts of overseeing "an undisciplined and meandering" meeting that allowed a minority to hold proceedings "hostage". UNEP said "substantial" progress had been made by nearly 2,000 delegates in attendance. The International Council of Chemical Associations, the main industry group for global petrochemical and plastic companies, said the process had improved an "underwhelming" draft and jostling between governments was critical for treaty building. "We (now) have a documenta draft textthat is much more inclusive of the range of ideas," spokesman Stewart Harris told AFP. The plastics meeting comes just before crucial climate talks in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates later this month that are set to be dominated by debate over the future of fossil fuels. Global demand for plastic has seen production double in 20 years and at current rates, it could triple by 2060 without action, according to the OECD. Ninety percent of plastic is not recycled, with most dumped in nature or improperly burned. Environment groups have long argued that without curbs on the manufacturing of new plastic any treaty would be weak. Behind schedule Around 60 "high ambition" nations have called for a treaty that eliminates some plastic products through bans and phase outs, and enshrines rules to reduce plastic production and consumption. But in Nairobi, some nations expressed reluctance to support cuts on plastic production, a concern recognized by the incoming chair of the negotiation committee. "We are not here to end all plastic, we are here to end plastic pollution," Ecuador's Luis Vayas Valdivieso told delegates after his election on Sunday. Divisions also sharpened over whether treaty terms should be legally binding or voluntary. Eirik Lindebjerg from the World Wide Fund for Nature said despite frustrations the process had not been derailed, and a majority of countries still supported a strong treaty. "I wouldn't call the meeting a failure. We are behind schedule, but we are not off track," he told AFP. There are two final rounds of negotiations in 2024: the first in Canada in April, and a second in South Korea in November, with the goal of adopting a treaty by mid-2025. 2023 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Noise is an unseen pollutant with very real health impacts. Like many other forms of pollution, because of systemic injustice, it affects some people more than others. It also affects wildlife. In a study titled "Inequalities in noise will affect urban wildlife," published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, Colorado State University acoustic ecologists found that redlined, or marginalized, communities have more and louder urban noise, which has been linked to negative consequences for people and wildlife. Ecological degradation exacerbates injustices against those living in formerly redlined areas because people benefit from nature and wildlife, said Sara Bombaci, an author of the study and an assistant professor in CSU's Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology. Now illegal, redlining was the discriminatory practice of denying loans or services to those living in non-white neighborhoods. "We need to be thinking more about how these systemic injustices and problems are manifesting to shape ecology and evolution," Bombaci said. Bombaci and her research group examined urban noise distribution across historical racial divisions in 83 U.S. cities and evaluated hundreds of studies on the impacts of noise on wildlife. The team originally wanted to analyze ecological data on noise impacts on wildlife, instead of reviewing literature, but data in redlined communities are underrepresented, reflecting historical biases. The study is the first to examine noise inequity in redlined communities. Results show that louder noise levels more commonly correspond with redlined urban areas and have detrimental effects on urban ecosystems proportional to their volume. Redline noise Starting in 1933, the Home Owners' Loan Corporation assigned grades to neighborhoods based on race and wealth. Grade A neighborhoods were wealthier and whiter, while red lines were drawn around grade D neighborhoods where people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds lived. Redlining was outlawed in 1968, but decades of divestment in these neighborhoods caused enduring disparities. The study found that grade D neighborhoods experience 17% higher maximum noise levels than grade A neighborhoods, and grades C and D neighborhoods more frequently have maximum noise levels above the level known to cause hearing loss, physical pain and stress in humans. "This is directly linked to structural racism," Bombaci said. "There's a clear signal that ties directly to whether these communities were redlined." Some of the human health effects from noise pollution include hearing loss, stress, insomnia, hypertension and increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Persistent loud noise stresses wildlife too. It can alter animal behavior, including communication, community structure, distribution, fitness, foraging, mating, movement and reproduction. Noise can make some species more vulnerable to predators and cause wildlife to avoid certain areas. Righting past wrongs Many cities, like Denver, are working toward equitable planning to improve access to parks and green space in underserved communities. Bombaci said noise should be considered in those plans. "If we're adding green space without mitigating impacts of noise, we might not be fully recognizing the benefits of these green spaces," she said. Wildlife might not bounce back in urban green space if noise pollution remains a problem, but planning and noise mitigation can help, Bombaci said, and conservation funding and urban planning can benefit both people and wildlife. 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: EMIT identified a cluster of 12 methane plumes within a 150-square-mile (400-square-kilometer) area of southern Uzbekistan on Sept. 1, 2022. The instrument captured the cluster within a single shot, called a scene by researchers. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Since launching 16 months ago, the EMIT imaging spectrometer aboard the International Space Station has shown an ability to detect more than just surface minerals. More than a year after first detecting methane plumes from its perch aboard the International Space Station, data from NASA's EMIT instrument is now being used to identify point-source emissions of greenhouse gases with a proficiency that has surprised even its designers. Short for Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation, EMIT was launched in July 2022 to map 10 key minerals on the surface of the world's arid regions. Those mineral-related observations, which are already available to researchers and the public, will help improve understanding of how dust that gets lofted into the atmosphere affects climate. Detecting methane was not part of EMIT's primary mission, but the instrument's designers did expect the imaging spectrometer to have the capability. Now, with more than 750 emissions sources identified since August 2022some small, others in remote locations, and others persistent in timethe instrument has more than delivered in that regard, according to a new study published in Science Advances. "We were a little cautious at first about what we could do with the instrument," said Andrew Thorpe, a research technologist on the EMIT science team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the paper's lead author. "It has exceeded our expectations." By knowing where methane emissions are coming from, operators of landfills, agriculture sites, oil and gas facilities, and other methane producers have an opportunity to address them. Tracking human-caused emissions of methane is key to limiting climate change because it offers a comparatively low-cost, rapid approach to reducing greenhouse gases. Methane lingers in the atmosphere for about a decade, but during this span, it's up to 80 times more powerful at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, which remains for centuries. In a remote corner of southeastern Libya, EMIT on Sept. 3, 2022, detected a methane plume that was emitting about 979 pounds (444 kilograms) per hour. Its one of the smallest sources detected so far by the instrument. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Surprising results EMIT has proven effective at spotting emission sources both big (tens of thousands of pounds of methane per hour) and surprisingly small (down to the hundreds of pounds of methane per hour). This is important because it permits identification of a greater number of "super-emitters"sources that produce disproportionate shares of total emissions. The new study documents how EMIT, based on its first 30 days of greenhouse gas detection, can observe 60% to 85% of the methane plumes typically seen in airborne campaigns. From several thousand feet above the ground, methane-detecting instruments on aircraft are more sensitive, but to warrant sending a plane, researchers need prior indication that they'll detect methane. Many areas are not examined because they are considered too remote, too risky, or too costly. Additionally, the campaigns that do occur cover relatively limited areas for short periods. On the other hand, from about 250 miles (400 kilometers) altitude on the space station, EMIT collects data over a large swath of the planetspecifically the arid regions that fall between 51.6 degrees north and south latitude. The imaging spectrometer captures 50-mile-by-50-mile (80-kilometer-by-80-kilometer) images of the surfaceresearchers call them "scenes"including many regions that have been beyond the reach of airborne instruments. "The number and scale of methane plumes measured by EMIT around our planet is stunning," said Robert O. Green, a JPL senior research scientist and EMIT's principal investigator. This time-lapse video shows the Canadarm2 robotic arm of the International Space Station maneuvering NASAs EMIT mission onto the exterior of the station. Extraction from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft began around 5:15 p.m. PDT on July 22 and was completed at 10:15 a.m. PDT on July 24. Portions of the installation have been omitted, while others have been speeded up. Credit: NASA Scene-by-scene detections To support source identification, the EMIT science team creates maps of methane plumes and releases them on a website, with underlying data available at the joint NASA-United States Geological Survey Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC). The mission's data is available for use by the public, scientists, and organizations. Since EMIT began collecting observations in August 2022, it has documented more than 50,000 scenes. The instrument spotted a cluster of emissions sources in a rarely studied region of southern Uzbekistan on Sept. 1, 2022, detecting 12 methane plumes totaling about 49,734 pounds (22,559 kilograms) per hour. In addition, the instrument has spotted plumes far smaller than expected. Captured in a remote corner of southeastern Libya on Sept. 3, 2022, one of the smallest sources so far was emitting 979 pounds (444 kilograms) per hour, based on estimates of local wind speed. More information: Andrew K. Thorpe et al, Attribution of individual methane and carbon dioxide emission sources using EMIT observations from space, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh2391 Journal information: Science Advances Provided by NASA 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: Artist concept of the Milky Way. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Astrophysicists say they have found an answer to why spiral galaxies like our own Milky Way are largely missing from a part of our local universe called the Supergalactic Plane. The Supergalactic Plane is an enormous, flattened structure extending nearly a billion light years across in which our own Milky Way galaxy is embedded. While the Plane is teeming with bright elliptical galaxies, bright disk galaxies with spiral arms are conspicuously scarce. Now an international team of researchers, co-led by Durham University, UK, and the University of Helsinki, Finland, say different distributions of elliptical and disk galaxies arise naturally due to the contrasting environments found inside and outside the Plane. In the dense galaxy clusters found on the Supergalactic Plane, galaxies experience frequent interactions and mergers with other galaxies. This transforms spiral galaxies into elliptical galaxiessmooth galaxies with no apparent internal structure or spiral armsand leads to the growth of supermassive black holes. By contrast, away from the Plane, galaxies can evolve in relative isolation, which helps them preserve their spiral structure. The findings are published in the journal Nature Astronomy. This image, showing an elliptical galaxy (left) and a spiral galaxy (right) includes near-infrared light from the James Webb Space Telescope, and ultraviolet and visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Rogier Windhorst (ASU), William Keel (University of Alabama), Stuart Wyithe (University of Melbourne), JWST PEARLS Team, Alyssa Pagan (STScI). The Milky Way is part of the Supergalactic Plane, which contains several massive galaxy clusters and thousands of individual galaxies. The vast majority of galaxies found here are elliptical galaxies. The research team used the SIBELIUS (simulations beyond the local universe) supercomputer simulation, which follows the evolution of the universe over 13.8 billion years from the early universe to the present day. While most cosmological simulations consider random patches of the universe, which cannot be directly compared to observations, SIBELIUS aims to precisely reproduce the observed structures, including the Supergalactic Plane. The final simulation is remarkably consistent with observations of our universe through telescopes. Research co-author Professor Carlos Frenk, Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics, in the Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University, said, "The distribution of galaxies in the Supergalactic Plane is indeed remarkable. "It is rare but not a complete anomaly: our simulation reveals the intimate details of the formation of galaxies such as the transformation of spirals into ellipticals through galaxy mergers. "Further, the simulation shows that our standard model of the universe, based on the idea that most of its mass is cold dark matter, can reproduce the most remarkable structures in the universe, including the spectacular structure of which the Milky Way is part." Distribution of the brightest galaxies in the local universe, observed in the 2MASS survey (left panel) and reproduced in the SIBELIUS simulation (right panel). Both panels show projections in supergalactic coordinates, out to approximately 100 Megaparsec (Mpc). The nearly vertical empty stripe represents the region of the sky hidden behind our own Milky Way galaxy. The simulation accurately reproduces the structures seen in the local universe. Credit: Dr Till Sawala The peculiar separation of spiral and elliptical galaxies in the local universe, which has been known about since the 1960s, features prominently in a recent list of "cosmic anomalies" compiled by renowned cosmologist and 2019 Nobel laureate Professor Jim Peebles. Research lead author Dr. Till Sawala, a postdoctoral researcher at Durham University and at the University of Helsinki, said, "By chance, I was invited to a symposium in honor of Jim Peebles last December at Durham, where he presented the problem in his lecture. "And I realized that we had already completed a simulation that might contain the answer. Our research shows that the known mechanisms of galaxy evolution also work in this unique cosmic environment." The supercomputer simulations were performed on the Cosmology Machine (COSMA 8) supercomputer, hosted by the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University on behalf of the UK's DiRAC High-Performance Computing facility and on CSC's Mahti supercomputer in Finland. More information: Distinct distributions of elliptical and disk galaxies across the Local Supercluster as a CDM prediction, Nature Astronomy (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-023-02130-6 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: Restoration shows Xenorophus hunting sea turtles. Credit: Robert Boessenecker A study published in Diversity provides new insight into how toothed whales and dolphins came to navigate the underwater world using sound waves. Whales and dolphins, which lack external ears, rely on a technique called echolocation to navigate and hunt in the dark. Much like shouting and listening for echoes, these animals emit high-pitched sounds that bounce off objects and reflect back at them, allowing them to map out their surroundings. Their skulls and soft tissues near and within the blowhole are asymmetrical, meaning that a structure on one side is larger or differently shaped than its counterpart on the other side. This "lopsidedness" enables the production of sound. At the same time, a fat-filled lower jawbone conducts sound waves to the internal ear, allowing the animals to locate where sounds are coming from (directional hearing). Yet, how whales and dolphins evolved this sophisticated "built-in sonar" is not fully understood. Now, research co-authored by Jonathan Geisler, Ph.D., professor and chair of anatomy at New York Institute of Technology, and first author Robert Boessenecker, Ph.D., paleontologist and research associate at the University of California Museum of Paleontology, provides vital clues. Fossils demonstrate asymmetry seen in Xenorophus. Credit: Robert Boessenecker The researchers analyzed a large collection of fossils that included two ancient species of dolphins within the genus Xenorophus, one of which is new to science. These species are some of the primitive members of Odontoceti, the suborder of marine mammals that includes all living echolocating whales and dolphins. Xenorophus was a large creature approximately three meters long that swam the waters of Eastern North America 2530 million years ago and likely fed on fish, sharks, sea turtles, and small marine mammals. Externally, it resembled modern dolphins but had several interlocking molar-like teeth, much like an ancestral land mammal. Similar to today's odontocetes, Xenorophus had asymmetry around the blowhole, though not as pronounced as its living relatives. Notably, it also had a distinct twisting and shifting of the snout several degrees to the left. Previous studies in other ancient whales (archaeocete whales) suggest that this "snout bend" may be linked to the asymmetrical placement of fat bodies in the jaw, increasing directional hearing abilities. However, Xenorophus took this one step further. The fat bodies in its lower jaws, which functioned like external ears in land mammals, were tilted, further exaggerating directional hearing. This bending of the snout and tilting of the fat bodies may have been similar to the asymmetrical ears of owls, which can detect the precise location of prey based on their sounds. The new evidence suggests that Xenorophus, with lesser pronounced asymmetry near the blowhole, may not have been as adept at producing high-pitched sounds or hearing high frequencies as living odontocetes. However, it was able to determine the location of sounds. Therefore, Xenorophus likely marked a key transition in the history of how whales and dolphins came to use echolocation. "While this asymmetry is seen in other ancient whales, Xenorophus displays the strongest of any whale, dolphin, or porpoise, living or extinct," said Boessenecker. "In addition, although the blowhole-focused asymmetry in today's odontocetes can be traced back to Xenorophus and other relatives, the twisting and shifting of the snout is no longer seen today. This suggests that Xenorophus is a crucial puzzle piece in understanding how whales and dolphins evolved their echolocation abilities." In addition, while many scientists focus on symmetry in nature, Geisler says their new study demonstrates the importance of also examining asymmetry. "Biological symmetry, or the mirror-imaging of body parts across anatomical planes, is a major feature in the evolutionary history of animals and humans. However, our research shows the important role of asymmetry in adapting to different environments, and that asymmetry should be closely investigated in fossils, instead of being dismissed as individual variation or assumed to be caused by geological distortion," he says. As a next step, the researchers will examine other odontocetes and look for the snout bent to one side. These future studies could help to determine whether the feature was widespread. More information: Robert W. Boessenecker et al, New Skeletons of the Ancient Dolphin Xenorophus sloanii and Xenorophus simplicidens sp. nov. (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Oligocene of South Carolina and the Ontogeny, Functional Anatomy, Asymmetry, Pathology, and Evolution of the Earliest Odontoceti, Diversity (2023). DOI: 10.3390/d15111154 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 Quantum advantage is the milestone the field of quantum computing is fervently working toward, where a quantum computer can solve problems that are beyond the reach of the most powerful non-quantum, or classical, computers. Quantum refers to the scale of atoms and molecules where the laws of physics as we experience them break down and a different, counterintuitive set of laws apply. Quantum computers take advantage of these strange behaviors to solve problems. There are some types of problems that are impractical for classical computers to solve, such as cracking state-of-the-art encryption algorithms. Research in recent decades has shown that quantum computers have the potential to solve some of these problems. If a quantum computer can be built that actually does solve one of these problems, it will have demonstrated quantum advantage. I am a physicist who studies quantum information processing and the control of quantum systems. I believe that this frontier of scientific and technological innovation not only promises groundbreaking advances in computation but also represents a broader surge in quantum technology, including significant advancements in quantum cryptography and quantum sensing. The source of quantum computing's power Central to quantum computing is the quantum bit, or qubit. Unlike classical bits, which can only be in states of 0 or 1, a qubit can be in any state that is some combination of 0 and 1. This state of neither just 1 or just 0 is known as a quantum superposition. With every additional qubit, the number of states that can be represented by the qubits doubles. This property is often mistaken for the source of the power of quantum computing. Instead, it comes down to an intricate interplay of superposition, interference and entanglement. Interference involves manipulating qubits so that their states combine constructively during computations to amplify correct solutions and destructively to suppress the wrong answers. Constructive interference is what happens when the peaks of two waveslike sound waves or ocean wavescombine to create a higher peak. Destructive interference is what happens when a wave peak and a wave trough combine and cancel each other out. Quantum algorithms, which are few and difficult to devise, set up a sequence of interference patterns that yield the correct answer to a problem. Entanglement establishes a uniquely quantum correlation between qubits: The state of one cannot be described independently of the others, no matter how far apart the qubits are. This is what Albert Einstein famously dismissed as "spooky action at a distance." Entanglement's collective behavior, orchestrated through a quantum computer, enables computational speed-ups that are beyond the reach of classical computers. Applications of quantum computing Quantum computing has a range of potential uses where it can outperform classical computers. In cryptography, quantum computers pose both an opportunity and a challenge. Most famously, they have the potential to decipher current encryption algorithms, such as the widely used RSA scheme. One consequence of this is that today's encryption protocols need to be reengineered to be resistant to future quantum attacks. This recognition has led to the burgeoning field of post-quantum cryptography. After a long process, the National Institute of Standards and Technology recently selected four quantum-resistant algorithms and has begun the process of readying them so that organizations around the world can use them in their encryption technology. The ones and zeros and everything in between of quantum computing. In addition, quantum computing can dramatically speed up quantum simulation: the ability to predict the outcome of experiments operating in the quantum realm. Famed physicist Richard Feynman envisioned this possibility more than 40 years ago. Quantum simulation offers the potential for considerable advancements in chemistry and materials science, aiding in areas such as the intricate modeling of molecular structures for drug discovery and enabling the discovery or creation of materials with novel properties. Another use of quantum information technology is quantum sensing: detecting and measuring physical properties like electromagnetic energy, gravity, pressure and temperature with greater sensitivity and precision than non-quantum instruments. Quantum sensing has myriad applications in fields such as environmental monitoring, geological exploration, medical imaging and surveillance. Initiatives such as the development of a quantum internet that interconnects quantum computers are crucial steps toward bridging the quantum and classical computing worlds. This network could be secured using quantum cryptographic protocols such as quantum key distribution, which enables ultra-secure communication channels that are protected against computational attacksincluding those using quantum computers. Despite a growing application suite for quantum computing, developing new algorithms that make full use of the quantum advantagein particular in machine learningremains a critical area of ongoing research. Staying coherent and overcoming errors The quantum computing field faces significant hurdles in hardware and software development. Quantum computers are highly sensitive to any unintentional interactions with their environments. This leads to the phenomenon of decoherence, where qubits rapidly degrade to the 0 or 1 states of classical bits. Building large-scale quantum computing systems capable of delivering on the promise of quantum speed-ups requires overcoming decoherence. The key is developing effective methods of suppressing and correcting quantum errors, an area my own research is focused on. In navigating these challenges, numerous quantum hardware and software startups have emerged alongside well-established technology industry players like Google and IBM. This industry interest, combined with significant investment from governments worldwide, underscores a collective recognition of quantum technology's transformative potential. These initiatives foster a rich ecosystem where academia and industry collaborate, accelerating progress in the field. Quantum advantage coming into view Quantum computing may one day be as disruptive as the arrival of generative AI. Currently, the development of quantum computing technology is at a crucial juncture. On the one hand, the field has already shown early signs of having achieved a narrowly specialized quantum advantage. Researchers at Google and later a team of researchers in China demonstrated quantum advantage for generating a list of random numbers with certain properties. My research team demonstrated a quantum speed-up for a random number guessing game. On the other hand, there is a tangible risk of entering a "quantum winter," a period of reduced investment if practical results fail to materialize in the near term. While the technology industry is working to deliver quantum advantage in products and services in the near term, academic research remains focused on investigating the fundamental principles underpinning this new science and technology. This ongoing basic research, fueled by enthusiastic cadres of new and bright students of the type I encounter almost every day, ensures that the field will continue to progress. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Robert Carlos Banda, 31, is accused of shooting a 29-year-old man several times in the head, leaving the man possibly brain dead. Tetra Images/Getty Images/Tetra images RF San Antonio police said a man confessed to shooting a man multiple times, leaving him critically injured, at an IHOP parking lot earlier this month. Robert Carlos Banda, 31, was booked into the Bexar County jail on Saturday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His bail was set at $200,000. Banda was arrested in connection with a Nov. 4 shooting at an IHOP in the 800 block of East Commerce Street. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He is accused of shooting a 29-year-old man several times in the head, leaving the man possibly brain dead, according to an arrest affidavit. Investigators said Banda wanted to confess after he was read his Miranda warning. During a perp walk Saturday, Banda expressed remorse for the shooting, saying he had no excuse for what happened, according to KSAT. Police said Banda and a man he didnt know were arguing in front of the restaurant. During the argument, a third person flashed a gun at Banda, according to the affidavit. All three went their separate ways, but Banda returned an hour later to the restaurant, where the man was sitting inside a car. Banda pulled up next to the car and shot multiple times before fleeing to a friends house, the affidavit states. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Investigators collected security camera footage that matched Bandas confession, according to the affidavit. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Why do students want to go abroad for a semester or take part in international conferences? A new study by the University of Wurzburg has investigated this question and the results offer recommendations for an internationalization strategy. The research is published in Andragoska spoznanja (link to PDF in English). "I spoke to some people who had been there the year before and then, because they recommended it to me, I went there too." "My professor called me and told me that I could apply for the Winter School and that the university would pay for everything for me. So I said, 'Yes, okay. Why not?'" "I'm afraid that I won't be able to find a good job back home and I just wanted to upskill myself a bit." There are many reasons why students decide to spend part of their studies abroad or gain other international experience. A new study from the field of adult and continuing education has systematically analyzed these reasons. The findings provide recommendations for the internationalization of degree programs. The framework conditions are important "Our study shows that even in degree programs that traditionally have a low level of internationality, internationalization is possible to a high degree with good framework conditions." This is how Regina Egetenmeyer, Professor of Adult and Continuing Education at the Institute of Education at the University of Wurzburg, describes the key finding of the study. Regina Egetenmeyer is co-author of the study with Monika Staab. According to Egetenmeyer, the study not only focuses on the subjective perspective of student motivation, but also examines the institutional structures that are essential for internationalization. The researchers conducted interviews with a total of 22 graduates of three master's degree programs specializing in adult education at the universities of Wurzburg, Belgrade and Florence. They were not only interested in whether the interviewees had completed part of their degree program or an internship abroad. They were also interested in experiences with other forms of international teaching and learning settings, such as lectures and seminars by international guest lecturers, the presence of international students or international conferences at the home university. Individual motives and situational incentives play together Of course, there is usually not just one decisive reason why students decide to gain international experience. "In most cases, several individual motives and situational incentives come together," says Staab. Curiosity, a personal interest, the desire for new knowledge or better opportunities on the labor market are just a few of them. In fact, Staab and Egetenmeyer were able to identify different motives for participating in international teaching and learning situations among the graduates of the three master's programs. These can be categorized into academic, career-related, personal, social and language-related reasons as well as external circumstances. "Many of those surveyed said that their participation in international programs was motivated by the desire to get to know different teaching and learning methods and to learn about studying education and adult education in another country," says Staab, describing a motive that falls within the academic sphere. A clearly career-related reason is the respondents' assessment that future employers value international experience and that this gives them an advantage when looking for a job. Personal reasons come into play when interviewees report that they perceive studying abroad as a challenge and express the hope of growing from this experience. This category also includes the desire to get to know the host country and region and to explore it as a touristas well as the statement that attending a winter school offers the opportunity to take a two-week break from everyday life and to concentrate fully on yourself and your studies during this time. Addressing students' uncertainties Even though the study is based on the experiences of students from the field of adult and continuing education, its findings offer starting points for degree programs in other disciplines that are wondering how they can promote the international mobility of their students. "It is important for universities to establish attractive support structures for internationalization in order to address students' uncertainties and existing doubts," says Egetenmeyer. This includes, for example, early contact with international academics at partner universities and exchanges with students who have already completed a degree program abroad or are currently visiting their home university. In addition, teaching and learning settings are needed that enable international and intercultural experiences without a high financial or time investment, such as international workshops and conferences, winter and summer schoolsoffers that relate to the keyword internationalization at home. "This makes it possible for students who do not have the necessary financial and time resources to study abroad to gain international and intercultural experience during their studies," says Staab. For the two authors, this is not the end of the story. They suggest further studies to investigate why many students are not interested in international programs. These could provide further insights and uncover weaknesses in the existing organizational structures, according to the researchers. It could also be interesting to take a closer look at the virtual range of international teaching and learning settings. This has expanded significantly during the coronavirus pandemic. However, the recently published study did not take virtual forms into account. More information: Monika Staab et al, Students' Reasons for Participating in International Teaching and Learning Settings in Adult Education Degree Programmes, Andragoska spoznanja (2023). DOI: 10.4312/as/13388 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain This report contains material that references child abuse. Readers may find the content confronting or disturbing. The first nationally representative research into the prevalence of child sexual offending behaviors and attitudes has shed unprecedented light on sexually abusive behaviors and feelings among Australian men. Released today by UNSW Sydney and Jesuit Social Services, the study reveals that, of the community sample surveyed, 1 in 5 Australian men reported sexual feelings towards children and/or have sexually offended against children, with one-third of those who have thoughts towards children motivated to access help. The largest study of its kind ever undertaken globally, "Identifying and understanding child sexual offending behavior and attitudes among Australian men," measures the prevalence of risk behaviors and attitudes regarding child sexual offending among a representative sample of 1,945 Australian men aged 18 to over 65. The report provides a new approach for measuring and tracking this issue and includes information that can bolster the service responses and attitudinal changes that help keep children safe from harm. "This study brings unprecedented visibility to the numbers of undetected child sex offenders in the Australian community," said lead investigator Associate Professor Michael Salter. "This study affirms what countless survivors have saidthat the men who abused them were well connected and relatively wealthy, and whose behavior is secretive and easily overlooked. "By shining a light on the characteristics of individual perpetrators and the broader social and technological patterns that enable their abuse, it is our hope that this research can be the catalyst for change to ultimately keep children safe." Prevalence of abuse 'deeply concerning' The study found: about 1 in 6 (15.1%) Australian men report sexual feelings towards children about 1 in 10 (9.4%) Australian men has sexually offended against children (including technologically facilitated and offline abuse), with approximately half (4.9%) of this group reporting sexual feelings towards children the 4.9% of men with sexual feelings who had offended against children were more likely than men with no sexual feelings or offending against children to: be married, working with children, earning higher incomes report anxiety, depression, and binge drinking behaviors have been sexually abused or had adverse experiences in childhood be active online, including on social media, encrypted apps and cryptocurrency consume pornography that involves violence or bestiality Of the men who have sexual feelings, 29.6% want help for their sexual feelings towards children, which is 4.5% of Australian men. The report affirms the importance of the prevention of child sexual abuse, calling on investment from governments and the private sector to address the risk factors contributing to sexual offending and reoffending in order to reduce sexual violence against children. Calls for investment in prevention "The prevalence of abuse revealed in this report is deeply concerning," Georgia Naldrett, Manager of Jesuit Social Services' Stop it Now! Australia service said. "Our detailed and evidence-based recommendations call for investment in initiatives that address concerning behavior before it starts, intervene earlier with boys and men who report troubling thoughts and behaviors, and reduce the reoffending risk of those who have already sexually abused children. Investment in these areas can help keep children safe from harm." Recommendations include: Improving community understandings of the harm of child sexual abuse and challenging attitudes that support child sexual abuse. Building safety into online romance and dating sites to reduce offender access to single parents. Safeguarding of children in environments that may be deemed particularly risky, including schools, day-care, social groups, clubs and any other activity in which children are present. Early intervention services for men with sexual feelings towards children who have not offended, and undetected offenders who want help to stop harming children, such as Stop It Now!. Supporting family and friends to identify problematic behaviors. The capacity for child protection, law enforcement and the criminal justice system to better target a cohort of men who are a chronic risk to children but are adaptive in their efforts to avoid detection and prosecution. The study was produced by UNSW academics in association with the Australian Human Rights Institute and Jesuit Social Services' child sexual abuse prevention service, Stop It Now! Australia. Subsequent publications from this study will provide comparative data between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. More information: Study: Identifying and understandingchild sexual offending behaviours and attitudes among Australian men 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: Some ancient crocodiles, like Simosuchus, were doing things vastly different to surviving species, such as eating plants. Credit: Smokeybjb/Wikimedia Commons Crocodiles have a deep and varied evolutionary past. Now researchers are peeling back the layers to find out how the surviving species came to be. There are about 28 living species of crocodilians found throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. But this is just a tiny fraction of the number of crocodile species that used to exist. A pair of new papers has been delving into this rich evolutionary history, tracking where this group originated and how it spread around the world, as well as exploring the origin of their typical slow growth. Researchers found that the larger, modern group of crocodilians likely first appeared in Europe up to 145 million years ago. Following on from this, the ancestors of crocodiles and alligators then split from each other in North America, with the ability for crocodiles to tolerate saltwater meaning that they were then able to spread much further around the world. This finding was published in Royal Society Open Science. "It seems most likely that the ancestors of today's alligators and crocodiles evolved in North America, and then subsequent to that alligatorids [which includes alligators and caimans] stay more or less within the Americas while crocodiles get everywhere else," explains Professor Paul Barrett, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum who worked on both papers. "It looks like the ability to cross saltwater bodies has allowed crocodiles to become much more widely dispersed than alligators: crocodiles are found all over the world, including in tropical oceans, whereas alligators are confined to freshwater and unable to reach some areas. Different crocodile subgroups seem to have prospered and originated in different regions." In addition to that, Paul and his colleagues found that the slow growth rate of crocodiles was a secondary adaptation that was not found in their distant relatives. This research, published in Current Biology, also shows that crocodiles and birds, which are each other's closest living relatives, have had completely opposite physiological strategies for over 220 million years. Diverse crocodilians With their thick armored skin, large teeth, slow lifestyles and predatory habits, crocodiles are often thought of as being unchanged from when dinosaurs roamed the land hundreds of millions of years ago. But this ignores their rich and varied evolutionary history. The larger group which contains living crocodiles, alligators and gharials, called Crocodylomorpha, also includes hundreds of species which are no longer with us. While the only surviving animals are meat-eating, largely freshwater-adapted species, this was far from the case over the last 200 million years. "Some of these animals were large predators that preyed on dinosaurs," explains Paul. "But others were very small, fleet-footed animals that were probably preying on things like insects. There were even herbivorous crocodilians of various types, with very complicatedalmost mammal-liketeeth, that might have been chewing plants before swallowing." This included animals such as Simosuchus, which looked a bit like a short-snouted modern-day armadillo but was likely feeding on fruits, tubers and ferns. There were also purely marine predatory crocodilians like the thalattosuchians that had flippers instead of feet and some small, lightly-built runners like Terrestrisuchus that looked a bit like reptilian whippets. "Crocodiles and their relatives were really experimenting with lots of different ways of life," says Paul. "They're doing a surprising number of things. This is in great contrast to what we know about living crocodiles, which are all predators limited to living in the tropics with semi-aquatic or amphibious lifestyles." "Living crocodiles are really a pale shadow of the diversity that they and their relatives had in the past." This huge amount of diversity has allowed the researchers to explore the different animals' life histories. This refers to how an animal lives, grows and behaves. While we think of large reptiles as being slow-moving, slow-growing animals, this was not always the case. For example, some dinosaurs were enormous animals that we might expect to have grown slowly over their lifetimes. But instead, it is now thought that many of these gigantic animals were growing far quicker than would be assumed for their size. And it turns out that the life history of crocodiles is equally complex. Secondarily slow Turn back the clock to the Triassic Period and the ancient crocodilians alive back then were far from lumbering, lethargic animals. The fossils of these creatures reveal that they were in fact fast-growing, active animals. So when did crocodiles make the switch to taking things more slowly? It had been suggested that this occurred with the movement into water, that their growth slowed with the adoption of semi-aquatic, lurking habits. "The first question was: is the slowdown in growth because of the crocodiles' aquatic habits, or does it predate this?" asks Paul. "And secondly, at what point in the evolution of crocodiles do they switch off their ancestrally high metabolism and re-evolve what looks like a reversion to a more primitive slow-growing condition?" The fossils of an ancient crocodile-like relative dating to 220 million years ago seem to rule out the aquatic lifestyle theory. Despite being the earliest known crocodilian to show a slowed growth rate, this new animal lived way before crocodiles started exploring the water. But why this land-living animal evolved a slower metabolism is still up for debate. "It might be to do with the resources available at the timethey were living in reasonably resource-poor environments," explains Paul. "But interestingly, they are also living directly alongside the other big branch of archosaur evolution: the dinosaurs." "Dinosaurs were doing something completely different, which was to grow fast. So while today we have slow-growing crocs and fast-growing birds, that difference has existed between these two big groups since at least the Late Triassic. But the reasons why they adopted those different strategies is still guesswork." Paul and his colleagues were also able to trace back the origin of Crocodylomorpha. They showed that this group first appeared in what would become modern Europe, before the ancestors of crocodiles and alligators split somewhere in what is now North America. From here, the salt-adapted crocodiles were better able to spread across the world and colonize Africa, Asia and Oceania, while alligators and their relatives were typically limited to the Americas. This story is republished courtesy of Natural History Museum. Read the original story here. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Diversity and inclusion programs, book bans, censorship and debates over school curricula are all signs that America's culture wars have moved into a new combat zone: school boards. School board races have become increasingly partisan and polarized, despite boards' statuses as nonpartisan institutions. In some districts, civil liberties are at stake as board members and candidates campaign on "wedge issues" that can divide voters and their communities. But on Nov. 7, voters in many districts nationwide embraced progressive and moderate candidates in high-profile school board races, including in critical battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia, Iowa and Kansas. USC experts said the results provide a window into next year's presidential election season. "These results suggest voters and especially parents in many districts have grown tired of talking about pronouns, book bans and bathrooms, and are ready for local leaders to once again focus on the core work of education: teaching and learning," said Julie Marsh, professor of education policy at the USC Rossier School of Education and the USC Price School of Public Policy. "Many saw these elections as battle-testing conservative messages on a small scale, and from what we see, the parents' rights agenda may be losing steam in some places. It may not be the powerful wedge issue conservatives were hoping for." Voters send a message: Keep national politics out of local schools Republican candidates on Election Day suffered major losses in several high-profile districts that had been at the forefront of national culture war debates over the past year. Even though voters may not have voted conservatives into their school boards, experts say that there are indications from polls in recent years that voters are increasingly focused on cultural issues. In Pennsylvania's Central Bucks School District, which made headlines for its book bans and anti-LGBTQ+ stances, Democrats flipped the board and secured all five seats. In Iowa, all but one of the 13 candidates endorsed by Moms for Libertya self-described "parental rights" group known for opposing COVID-19 safety measures in schools, advocating for book bans and restricting discussions about race and LGBTQ+ identitieslost their election bids. In Virginia's Spotsylvania County, none of the GOP-backed candidates emerged victorious. Similarly, in central Ohio, despite the support of conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty and the 1776 Project, only 2 out of 10 endorsed candidates secured seats on their local school boards. Experts highlight that in both states, voters also chose to enshrine protections for abortion and other reproductive rights into their state constitutions. Conservative candidates saw encouraging outcomes in other parts of the country, such as Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, where voters reelected conservative incumbents to the local school board. Overall, results of the Nov. 7 elections suggest that the politics of school boards may be shifting once again, Marsh said. "As low-turnout events, school board elections have been an easy way for organized groups and disruptors to have an outsize influence," she said. "But these elections suggest that perhaps the public is catching on to the importance of school boards and participating in greater numbers." Marsh emphasized that education policy is poised to take center stage in the 2024 presidential election, a trend that has already begun to manifest in recent political events. Republican presidential hopefuls including former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former biotech CEO Vivek Ramaswamy took the stage at the Moms for Liberty summit this summer. Experts say the candidates' turnout signaled the group's rising political influence. "The 'parental rights' language has a lot of currency," Marsh said, a stance backed up by polling from the Brookings Institution, which found that 65% of American teachers independently chose to limit discussing political or social issues in class due to lack of support from school leaders and fear of conflicts with upset parents. "People are watching these November elections to see how well these issues play with voters in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia. They want to see how well candidates who espouse these ideas do," she said. "The outcomes of these elections will provide valuable insights for candidates across all levels, from the presidential to state races, as they strategize for the upcoming electoral cycle." How Americans really feel about controversial topics in schools In fall 2022, education researchers at the Center for Economic and Social Research at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences found that a majority of Americans supported teaching high school students about controversial issues from multiple perspectives, including debates about abortion, immigration and gun control. The study, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of nearly 3,800 U.S. adults, found that 3 in 4 American adults support teaching pro-choice and pro-life positions to high schoolers. "Our results suggest there's not as much support for restricting what children learn in school, as some candidates might assume, especially at the high school level," said Anna Saavedra, a behavioral scientist at the Center for Economic and Social Research and one of the study's co-authors. "There is more bipartisan agreement than political rhetoric might suggest." The researchers drew their sample from the center's Understanding America Study, a comprehensive internet panel of approximately 13,000 households representing the U.S. population. The study is one of the most robust sources of panel data available in the U.S. and is used by researchers in and beyond USC to accurately measure national public opinion on timely social, political and economic issues. While the results of the education-focused survey demonstrated that adults' beliefs about what children should be learning in school are more nuanced at the elementary school level, with a more limited range of topics deemed appropriate for younger children, the overall trend holds true: Most participants support teaching younger children how to think critically and introducing material related to slavery, racial inequality and the contributions of marginalized groups. "My read on the results of these elections is that hardline candidates want to clamp down on teaching controversial issues in schools more than the American public actually wants," Saavedra said. She adds that groups seeking to limit the topics children learn about in school often hold, or capitalize upon, misconceptions about the topics they seek to restrict. For example, the Understanding America Study education team's research highlights that 96% of Americans lack sufficient knowledge about critical race theory to explain it to others. In addition, approximately half of Americans don't know whether gender identity and racial inequality are discussed in high school classrooms. The study's findings highlighted an equal lack of knowledge about critical race theory among both Democrats and Republicans. However, their viewpoints diverge when it comes to implementing the theory in K-12 education. While 40% of Democrats support its inclusion, 55% of Republicans oppose it. Yet, a significant portion of individuals from both parties remains uncertain: 40% of Republicans and 50% of Democrats neither explicitly support nor oppose the teaching of critical race theory. Erosion of civic education fuels school culture wars The widening political polarization of school boards and education-related issues can be attributed to a number of factors, but experts overwhelmingly point to one key factor: the decline of civic education in America. For generations, civic education was a cornerstone of education in the United States, teaching students about their rights and responsibilities as citizens, the foundations of American democracy and the importance of civil discourse. In recent decades, civic education has become increasingly polarized among politicians more than parents, Saavedra's past research has shown. Civic education has been squeezed out of school curricula, often in favor of other subjects deemed more essential for required standardized testing, according to experts. This decline in civic education has left many students ill-equipped to engage in informed and respectful debate on complex issues. This means they are more susceptible to manipulation by partisan agendas and less able to find common ground, experts say. "Schools have historically served a civic purpose, but over time, the emphasis has shifted toward preparing students for the workforce rather than fostering civic engagement," Saavedra said. She added that one worrisome consequence of this shift is that many people, including adults eligible to vote, lack the knowledge and skills necessary to participate effectively in a democratic society. Other experts agree. "We've kicked out civic education and citizenship from our schools and replaced it with narrative-based cultural perspectives," said Frank Zerunyan, a USC Price professor of the practice of governance and director of executive education programs at the USC Price Bedrosian Center on Governance. Political discourse has devolved into a clash of competing narratives, devoid of the nuance and compromise necessary for effective governance, he adds. "Both parties have realized that they can best fight their culture wars at the local level and target school boards as a way of influencing education. The more you separate people, the more you have currency to control," Zerunyan said. "Yet, the outcomes of the recent elections highlight a growing desire among voters for moderation, tolerance of views, common-sense decision-making and objective approaches to governance." This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The full view of the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument reveals a 50 light-years-wide portion of the Milky Way's dense center. An estimated 500,000 stars shine in this image of the Sagittarius C (Sgr C) region, along with some as-yet-unidentified features. A vast region of ionized hydrogen, shown in cyan, wraps around an infrared-dark cloud, which is so dense that it blocks the light from distant stars behind it. Intriguing needle-like structures in the ionized hydrogen emission lack any uniform orientation. Researchers note the surprising extent of the ionized region, covering about 25 light-years. A cluster of protostarsstars that are still forming and gaining massare producing outflows that glow like a bonfire at the base of the large infrared-dark cloud, indicating that they are emerging from the cloud's protective cocoon and will soon join the ranks of the more mature stars around them. Smaller infrared-dark clouds dot the scene, appearing like holes in the starfield. Researchers say they have only begun to dig into the wealth of unprecedented high-resolution data that Webb has provided on this region, and many features bear detailed study. This includes the rose-colored clouds on the right side of the image, which have never been seen in such detail. Credit: Image NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Samuel Crowe (UVA) The latest image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a portion of the dense center of our galaxy in unprecedented detail, including never-before-seen features astronomers have yet to explain. The star-forming region, named Sagittarius C (Sgr C), is about 300 light-years from the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*. "There's never been any infrared data on this region with the level of resolution and sensitivity we get with Webb, so we are seeing lots of features here for the first time," said the observation team's principal investigator, Samuel Crowe, an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. "Webb reveals an incredible amount of detail, allowing us to study star formation in this sort of environment in a way that wasn't possible previously." "The galactic center is the most extreme environment in our Milky Way galaxy, where current theories of star formation can be put to their most rigorous test," added Professor Jonathan Tan, one of Crowe's advisors at the University of Virginia. Approximate outlines help to define the features in the Sagittarius C (Sgr C) region. Astronomers are studying data from NASAs James Webb Space Telescope to understand the relationship between these features, as well as other influences in the chaotic galaxy center. Credit: Image NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Samuel Crowe (UVA) Amid the estimated 500,000 stars in the image is a cluster of protostarsstars that are still forming and gaining massproducing outflows that glow like a bonfire in the midst of an infrared-dark cloud. At the heart of this young cluster is a previously known, massive protostar over 30 times the mass of our sun. The cloud the protostars are emerging from is so dense that the light from stars behind it cannot reach Webb, making it appear less crowded when it is one of the most densely packed areas of the image. Smaller infrared-dark clouds dot the image, looking like holes in the starfield. That's where future stars are forming. Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument also captured large-scale emission from ionized hydrogen surrounding the lower side of the dark cloud, shown cyan-colored in the image. Typically, Crowe says, this is the result of energetic photons being emitted by young massive stars, but the vast extent of the region shown by Webb is something of a surprise that bears further investigation. Another feature of the region that Crowe plans to examine further is the needle-like structures in the ionized hydrogen, which appear oriented chaotically in many directions. "The galactic center is a crowded, tumultuous place. There are turbulent, magnetized gas clouds that are forming stars, which then impact the surrounding gas with their outflowing winds, jets, and radiation," said Ruben Fedriani, a co-investigator of the project at the Instituto Astrofisica de Andalucia in Spain. "Webb has provided us with a ton of data on this extreme environment, and we are just starting to dig into it." Around 25,000 light-years from Earth, the galactic center is close enough to study individual stars with the Webb telescope, allowing astronomers to gather unprecedented information on how stars form and how this process may depend on the cosmic environment, especially compared to other regions of the galaxy. For example, are more massive stars formed in the center of the Milky Way, as opposed to the edges of its spiral arms? "The image from Webb is stunning, and the science we will get from it is even better," Crowe said. "Massive stars are factories that produce heavy elements in their nuclear cores, so understanding them better is like learning the origin story of much of the universe." 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 Over the past few years, international climate policy has been shaped largely by a close-knit group of politicians in the twilight of their careers. Now leaders from beyond the traditional U.S.-Europe-China power centersome new to the international stage, others already veteransare emerging. And women are at the forefront. "Women are now the decision makers that can increase the likelihood of impactful decisions that actually stick," says Jennifer Morgan, Germany's special climate envoy. After all, she says, it was two womenLaurence Tubiana, France's climate envoy, and Christiana Figueres, who ran the United Nations' climate bodywho helped broker the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015 to slow global warming. With the world dangerously off track from the target of keeping temperature rise within 1.5C of pre-industrial times, a global plan to tackle climate change is needed more than ever. We take a look at some of the people who will be leading those efforts in the years to come. Mia Mottley Few have changed the rules of the climate capital game more than Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley. Through powerful speeches and radical proposals, she's led a push to rewire the global financial system to make it easier for poor countries to have access to funds. Mottley, 58, wants to overhaul the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank so less creditworthy countries can borrow more money to invest in protections against deadly weather events and be eligible for temporary debt relief when a disaster hits. More than 40 world leaders met in Paris earlier this year to discuss her plan, known as the Bridgetown Agenda. The summit closed with support for more nimble IMF emergency funding, early warning systems for disasters, catastrophe insurance and pauses on debt repayments. "She is an incredible speaker," says Sebastien Treyer, executive director of French think tank Institut du Developpement Durable et des Relations Internationales. "I have heard her speak many times, but every time I am emotionally taken again." Island nations play an outsized role in climate talks because their very existence threatened by rising seas and more frequent and forceful cyclones. But it is Mottley who has taken center stage in pitching the solutions for developing countries, while allying herself to the likes of French President Emmanuel Macron to win support. Her Bridgetown Initiativea blueprint to overhaul the global financial system to help heavily-indebted climate-vulnerable countrieswas forged in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017. After watching the category 5 storm ravage the neighboring island of Dominica, Mottley and her college buddy Avinash Persaud, a development economist, set about drawing up a plan to mitigate the impacts of future storms fueled by global warming. Mottley wants to overhaul the so-called Bretton Woods institutions, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank (as well as their multilateral development bank successors), so that they lend more money to less credit-worthy countries. Those loans would help fund sea defenses and provide temporarily debt relief when a disaster hits. Mottley and Persaud have also suggested a climate levy on shipping or financial transactions could help. The proposals are radical, but they're starting to gain traction among developed countries that have long been resistant to paying out more. More than 40 world leaders met in Paris earlier this year to work out how the Bridgetown Agenda might become reality. The summit closed with a movement toward more nimble emergency funding from the IMF, early-warning systems for disasters, catastrophe insurance triggered automatically by extreme conditions and pauses on debt repayments. Jennifer Morgan A longtime climate activist, Jennifer Morgan has attended every COP summit and spent almost three decades helping lead nonprofits such as Greenpeace and the World Resources Institute. But last year the 57-year-old moved into the political arena herself, reporting directly to Germany's foreign minister as the country's climate representative. Morgan, a New Jersey native who's lived in Germany since 2003, was a surprising pick for a country that rarely appoints foreigners to its top ranks. She says her past as a heavy-hitter activist hasn't hindered her. "When you're an NGO, your job is to be out there, pushing hard and provoking," she says. "I don't feel that I am constrained in speaking truth to power, but I have to do it in a different manner. Words matter even more." Morgan was instrumental in the setting up of a new fund to pay for climate damages at last year's COP in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Yet she was left visibly angry at the end of the meeting over the lack of progress on curbing emissions. It's imperative that more is done this year, she says, both on slashing carbon pollution and getting countries like China and Saudi Arabia to pay for the impacts caused in part by their emissions. She points out that China is now the world's second largest economy and Saudi Arabia one of the biggest oil producers. "We don't live in 1992 anymore," she says. Morgan's profile is set to rise at this year's COP28 meeting in Dubai now that Frans Timmermans has stepped down as the European Union's climate chief. "We need a transformational roadmap," she says. "We need to understand the moment we're in right now for the future of humanitythat's what motivates me."' Eve Bazaiba Without the Congo Basin to act as a vast carbon sink, humanity will lose the fight against global warming. Eve Bazaiba, 58, wants to make sure rich countries know thatand pay to defend it. In two and a half years on the job, the Democratic Republic of Congo's minister of environment has become a fiery voice in climate talks on behalf of emerging economies fighting for compensation to protect their environment. At the top of Bazaiba's list of demands are higher payouts for carbon credits bought by companies and countries seeking to offset their pollution. And she has some bargaining power: Congo is home to the world's second-biggest rainforest and the largest tropical peatlands. Positioning herself as a pragmatist, Bazaiba promotes Congo as a "solution country" in the fight against climate change with its forests. The nation has the world's largest hydropower potential and vast reserves of minerals such as copper and cobalt that are needed to roll out green technologies. Bazaiba also supports opening up parts of the rainforest to oil drilling, saying the government can still protect the environment, a position that's made her controversial among environmentalists. But she's been consistent in her view that no global approach to slowing Earth's warming can succeed without Congo. "There's not a single room in the worldnorth, south, east, westthat can speak about climate questions without the Democratic Republic of Congo," she said on a recent radio interview. Barbara Creecy Bazaiba's South African counterpart Barbara Creecy has also proven herself to be a deft negotiator when it comes to climate finance. In 2021, she helped broker a groundbreaking deal with developed nations including the US and UK to transition her country away from coal. Since taking the post in May 2019, the 65-year-old has been a vocal advocate for the developing world. There's an "injustice that lies right at the heart of the climate crisis, which is the fact that the African continent is responsible for less than 2% of historical emissions," Creecy says. "But this is a continent that's gravely affected by climate change." The former anti-apartheid activist, a dark horse candidate to become her country's finance minister, has argued forcefully for more financial support to help developing nations adapt to a warmer planet and cut emissions. At the same time, she's urged other emerging economies to focus on solutions rather than grievances over broken promises. "Let's stop harping on and on about the $100 billion" a year that rich countries promised to deliver by 2020, she says. "Let's actually talk about the post 2024 environment. What are the new goals? Where are we going to find new public finance?" Marina Silva Now in her second stint as Brazil's environment and climate change minister, 65-year-old Marina Silva has spent a lifetime devoted to nature. The daughter of rubber tappershailing from one of the country's most remote and impoverished states, nestled deep in the Amazonshe brings lived experience of the impacts of deforestation on communities that depend on the rainforest. As part of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's left-wing government, she's busy repairing the country's green credentials following the ouster of Jair Bolsonaro, one of the world's most unapologetic anti-environmentalists. Silva describes restoring protections for the rainforest as a "postwar recovery." Since Lula took office in January, there's been a 49.7% reduction in deforestation in the Amazon. "There are things that we have to let go of, such as the idea that Brazil is an agricultural power because it covers a large area," Silva says. "This idea has to be abandoned."With Brazil set to lead the Group of 20 next year and host the COP30 summit in 2025, Silva has the opportunity in Dubai to stake out the nation's positions on climate change before it takes the spotlight on the international stage. Silva's background gives her a unique voice, says Rachel Cleetus, senior economist and policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "She comes from a perspective of not just understanding the issues at play, but also understanding the role of the people, especially the Indigenous people." Others to Watch Tina Stege: The 47-year-old climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, one of the most vulnerable nations to global warming, is an instrumental voice in the campaign to phase out fossil fuels. Maisa Rojas: A geophysics professor and contributor to major UN climate reports, Rojas, 51, brings a wealth of scientific expertise to her job as Chile's environment minister. Wopke Hoekstra: The EU's new climate chief, who's 48, is a relatively unknown quantity in environmental circles, but he comes with a reputation for fiscal prudence from his tenure as Dutch finance minister. Teresa Ribera: The charismatic environment minister for Spain, 54, is at the forefront of EU green policymaking, with her country holding the rotating presidency this year. Kristin Tilley: Australia's climate ambassador, 48, is trying to give her country a greener image and pushing for it to host COP31. Steven Guilbeault: Canada's 53-year-old climate minister, another Greenpeace alum, will be in focus at COP28 after wildfires ravaged much of his country this year. 2023 Bloomberg News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. , Cookies . cookies. MIDDLETOWN A company proposing an offshore wind farm in New Jersey is investing $10.6 million in projects to help grow the industrys supply chain and support ocean-based technology startup businesses in the state. Attentive Energy is one of four projects proposed in New Jerseys most recent round of solicitations for offshore wind projects. It is a collaboration between Houston-based Total Energies and Corio Generation, with offices in Boston and London. During an event at Brookdale Community College, Damian Bednarz, the companys president, said Attentive Energy will invest $6.6 million in SeaAhead. That is a company that supports ocean-related technology firms; it will establish a business incubator program in New Jersey. Attentive Energy will invest another $4 million in technical support for small businesses at 11 regional small business development centers across the state. A key goal of the company is to localize and diversify the supply chain for the offshore wind industry. Continuing problems with the offshore wind supply chain were a major factor in Danish offshore wind developer rsteds decision to scrap its two offshore wind projects in New Jersey last month. In New York and New Jersey, youll always find someone who says, This is great: I have a service for this, I have a business for this, Bednarz said. Boston-based SeaAheads Blue Angels group has funded 29 startup businesses in the last three years, said Alissa Peterson, its co-founder and CEO. Despite loss of 2 major projects, New Jersey is moving forward with its offshore wind power goals New Jersey is moving forward with its offshore wind industry, despite the loss of two major offshore wind farm projects when Danish developer rsted pulled out of the state. We need to create an environment where the best and the brightest choose to solve the hardest problems that we face as a globe, she said. And if were going to get them to do that, they need to know that the resources are going to be there for them to be successful. Attentive Energy is proposing a wind farm 42 miles off Seaside Heights that would provide enough energy to power 600,000 homes. It would be among the farthest from shore of the wind farm projects proposed to date on the U.S. East Coast. The distance from the coast would eliminate one of the main objections voiced by opponents of offshore wind, that they dont want to see the wind turbines from the beach. Without rsted, New Jersey has only one approved offshore wind project: Atlantic Shores. That Atlantic City-based venture is a joint partnership between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF-RE Offshore Development LLC. In a related development, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Monday established a go-slow zone for ships off Atlantic City to protect the critically endangered North American right whale. The agency says there are fewer than 350 of the animals remaining. Last Friday, an undersea research glider operated by Rutgers University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution detected the presence of right whales off Atlantic City. Mondays action by the federal agency asks ships to avoid the area, or travel through it at 10 knots (11 mph) or less of vessel speed. The restriction will run through Dec. 2 and joins similar restrictions in four other areas in the Northeast. An ambulance that was carrying lungs for lung transplant treatment met with an accident, leaving the doctor and his team severely injured. The lungs were supposed to reach Chennai in time as the transplant surgery was started. In the injured state, the doctor rushed to Pune Airport, where an Air Ambulance was ready due to which they could reach Chennai on time. A team from Apollo Hospital, Mumbai, was sent to DY Patil Hospital, Pimpri, as it was confirmed that the lungs of a youth who committed suicide were in good condition. Dr. Sanjeev Jadhavs team left for Lohegaon on Monday in evening. However, an unfortunate accident occurred at Bopodi when the ambulance carrying lungs, a doctor, and the team hit the divider. Though severely injured, the doctor left for the airport where the air ambulance was waiting to take off and reached Chennai on time and successfully transplanted the lungs to the 40-year-old patient from Chennai. A North Texas vet clinic is mourning the loss of Blitz, a dog that saved more than 150 other pets' lives through blood transfusions. Courtesy of Spencer Vet Services. A North Texas veterinary clinic is mourning the loss of its in-house blood donor, a dog that reportedly saved the lives of more than 150 other canines. In a Facebook post on Nov. 15, Spencer Vet Services in Upshur County paid tribute to Blitz as a hero, savior and a member of our family. While his contributions to SVS have been beyond heroic, hes also been a constant for our staff, the post reads. Every day hes been here to help brighten everyones day while being eager to do his part in saving lives. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Blitz was at least 13 years old and had been a donor for the past 12 years after being surrendered by a client, a spokesperson said. He lived at the clinic so he would be available for emergencies but was relieved of his medical duties earlier this year and was being cared for by a foster owner. Blitz died of kidney disease on Nov. 14. The clinics social media post drew in nearly 600 reactions and 100 comments, largely to offer condolences and thank Blitz for his service to his four-legged counterparts. Blitzy was an awesome dog, one person wrote. He didnt just save patients lives. He saved some of the employees too. Blitz impact was clear in the comment section. He saved my girls life. He saved one of my dogs! He helped many people to be able to keep their fur babies a little longer. He saved my dog Dashs life a few years ago, one user wrote. We were so thankful for him and brought him toys and treats. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Such a sweet boy. He saved Benjamin a couple of times, said another. A Facebook post from Meagan Stevens, one of the clinics veterinary technicians, paints a vivid picture of Blitzs lively spirit and comforting energy. The Moline-Coal Valley school board approved 2023 tax levy estimates, e-learning and renewed Superintendent Rachel Savage's contract. Ramona Dixon was the only board member absent for last week's meeting, which began with a Committee of the Whole. First, the board swore in sophomore Abigail Greenlee, the newly appointed student board member. She will join senior Jathinaram Kollarapu on the board this year. Next, Franklin Elementary School principal Grant Putnam gave a presentation on the "Franklin Media Machine." This initiative includes social media, a podcast and a news broadcast all run by Franklin fifth-graders. Next, district CFO Vince Gallo gave a presentation on the district's estimated 2023 tax levy resolution. Moline-Coal Valley anticipates levying around $52.8 million, including the amount for bond and interest. Per Illinois law, the district will hold a public hearing for the proposed 2023 tax levy at its Monday, Dec. 11 meeting, followed by board vote. Dr. Matthew DeBaene, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, gave an update on economic textbooks for grades 6-12. To view all presentations, watch Monday's meeting livestream on the "Moline Television" YouTube channel. Upon adjourning to a regular meeting, the board flew through the consent agenda and other procedural items to unanimously approve all new business. Highlights: The 2023 estimated levy resolution Adopting the district's e-learning plan (in lieu of emergency days) through June, 2026. School board meeting calendars for 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years. A three-year student teaching field placement agreement with Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, Arizona). Dr. Savage noted the following in her procedural report: Moline High School's 2023 Student Hunger Drive work, for raising 22,000 pounds of food. The district's upcoming Share Joys Campaign, which runs from Dec. 4-8. The annual holiday campaign raises money for in-need Moline-Coal Valley students, allowing families to shop for clothing at JC Penney in Moline during the Share Joys-themed shopping days. The high school's new "STEM for Women" club, which attended the recent STEM Goes Red networking event in Cedar Rapids. Greenlee is the STEM for Women club president. Board president Andrew Waeyaert's recent feature in the Spring/Summer 2023 edition of The Monitor magazine, a publication from the Indiana, Illinois, Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting nonprofit. After reflections, the board moved into closed session before returning to open session unanimously approve Savage's contract through 2028, at a salary of $226,922. Next meeting: Monday, Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. A taste of Moline High School's annual Empty Bowls Project Are you having a tough time figuring out what to get the hard-to-buy-for folks on your shopping list this holiday season? Dirt, grime and road salt can build up on cars in a hurry during fall and winter weather, making Mister WashPasses a great idea for all the drivers you know. Mister WashPasses are prepaid wash cards and are available for purchase online. Lets face it. Many people dislike washing their car this time of year. Driving through Mister Car Washs express wash is quick and convenient, restoring your vehicles finish to a sparkling shine in mere minutes. With more than 450 convenient locations across 22 states and growing, there is always a Mister Car Wash near you. Many customers even find the soothing swish of the brushes and spraying water to be a peaceful moment of calm during the hectic holiday season. Giving the gift of a car wash lets the people in your life know you care. Mister Car Washs patented Unity Chemistry system keeps vehicles looking good, gently yet effectively removing the buildup on windows, headlights and mirrors that might hinder sight and safety especially important when driving at night. Additionally, Misters HotShine Carnauba Wax treatment provides even more protection against the elements during the fall and winter seasons. Mister WashPasses make a perfect holiday gift to give family, friends, employees, your kids teachers, postal carriers, party hosts/hostesses and anyone who could use a little holiday shine. Theyre also perfect for stocking stuffers, gift swaps and Secret Santa exchanges. (Dont forget to hold back a few to treat yourself while youre at it.) Mister WashPasses are available in quantities of 25. You can purchase the Platinum Exterior passes, which include HotShine Carnauba Wax, Platinum Repel Shield, Tire Shine, Wheel Polish, Underbody Rinse, Cleansing Foam and Signature Rinse, for as low as $8 each. Purchasing Mister WashPasses is easy: Select your quantity, place your order online and you'll receive your passes in just three to five business days. Purchasing a set of Mister WashPasses can put a big dent in your holiday shopping in one simple transaction. Click here to purchase. About Mister Car Wash | Inspiring People to Shine Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, Mister Car Wash, Inc. (NYSE: MCW) operates over 450 locations and has the largest car wash subscription program in North America. With a passionate team of professionals, advanced technology and a commitment to exceptional customer experiences, Mister Car Wash is dedicated to providing a clean, shiny and dry vehicle every time. The Mister brand is deeply rooted in delivering quality service, fostering friendliness and demonstrating a genuine commitment to the communities it serves while prioritizing responsible environmental practices and resource management. To learn more visit mistercarwash.com. This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com. Nine small businesses are on display in Rock Island thanks to a cooperative pop-up. Creative Women of Color, LLC, has started a holiday pop-up market at the Illinois Oil Company building at 321 24th St. The shop is open from 10:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday featuring everything from homemade empanadas to boba tea, hot barbecue, T-shirts, candles and more. Jen Hart, owner of Bubble's Boba Tea in Davenport, helped start the initiative while she was looking for a way to bring business women together. Starting a business solo can be difficult, especially for women. "There's so many avenues," she said, listing marketing, social media set-up and insurance as obstacles entrepreneurs face. Hart said there were different stereotypes women in business had to face, and they could be stronger by joining together. The holiday shop is open to any business owner, she said, saying the name is reflective of all women and has an underlying message of support. "We just want women to have a place at the table," she said. For Maria Urbina, whose T-shirt business is featured in the shop, this opportunity has opened doors she couldn't have by herself. After losing her supervisor position during the pandemic, she started looking for something new. Being a native Spanish speaker, her English was not as strong as others and she was often passed by when it came to finding jobs, she said. Stress mounted as she tried to find a way to provide for her family. Relief came when her daughter suggested they start their own business. After applying for a grant to buy a laser printer for making T-shirts and an embroidery machine, Urbinas Creations was born. Urbina creates custom T-shirts, hats, linens and anything else a customer can think of. With the new location, Urbina has a whole new market of customers and a way to reach new people. "I think of them as family," she said. "This has opened the way for me." It also opened a new opportunity for Erika Ubeda, the owner of Isa Ballon Design and More in downtown Davenport, next to Chocolate Manor. Originally from Venezuela, Ubeda started her business out of her home in 2020 and moved to her current location last year. In addition to balloons and party decor, Ubeda is known for her homemade empanadas, which she has for sale at the pop-up. The goal was to bring "Latin flavors" to the Quad-Cities, she said, and Rock Island was the perfect place. "I saw this as an opportunity to grow something exciting and new for the community," she said. "We fit perfectly here." It also opened a new opportunity for Toni Bare of Toni's Smokin' Grill. Before receiving a phone call from Hart, she was ready to be done with the food truck business. "I still don't know why I answered the phone," she said with a laugh. Her trailer was listed for sale, her customers were notified and she was moving on to new endeavors. But after hearing the plan, she decided to open a temporary shop on 24th Street and serve lunch and dinner, giving her customers a chance to try her food once last time. Not only did she get customers but also new friends in the other entrepreneurs. Everyone works together to build one another up and helps each other out. Bare said when people walked in the doors they all said "welcome to the family" because of what they had built together. That message of building and sharing is one they hope to continue after the market concludes. The women have been in talks with the city to open a permanent marketplace and food hall in Rock Island once the holiday season concludes. The plans are still being developed, but the women are hard at work to continue the positive environment in the New Year. The Candy Capitals of the U.S. Methodology The state economies of Vermont and Illinois are most dependent on the candy industry 15. Savannah, GA 14. Billings, MT 13. Salisbury, MD-DE 12. Rockford, IL 11. Napa, CA 10. Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA 9. Reading, PA 8. Grand Forks, ND-MN 7. Lancaster, PA 6. Altoona, PA 5. Ocean City, NJ 4. ScrantonWilkes-BarreHazleton, PA 3. Vallejo-Fairfield, CA 2. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 1. Burlington-South Burlington, VT The Black Hills Area Community Foundation awarded $66,000 total in Community Action Grants to two Black Hills nonprofits. Working Against Violence, Inc., a nonprofit that supports those affected by domestic and sexual violence as well as human trafficking and stalking, will receive $50,000, while The Mammoth Site, a museum and paleontological site, will receive $16,000. The Community Action Grant is the Community Foundations signature grant program, offered to nonprofit endowment holders that employ innovative ideas, leverage community projects, and focus on sustainable practices. These awards are an example of the broad scope of charitable impacts that our foundation provides through our grants. WAVI is a critical backbone human services nonprofit organization in Rapid City while the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs is providing an amazing educational opportunity, said Liz Hamburg, CEO of the Black Hills Area Community Foundation. WAVI will use the grant to expand its services for clients located on Pine Ridge Reservation using a new passenger van. Because of the generous gift, we were able to purchase a van to allow for increased transportation of the women, children, and men we serve, said Linda Shroll, executive director at WAVI. Within Pine Ridge, the van will help connect clients with case management and referrals, medical or legal advocacy, assessments, and more. Clients can now travel to and from Pine Ridge and a safe shelter in Rapid City if requested. The increase in mobility also allows WAVI to partner with the Peaceful Means Project, a program established in part by the University of Nebraska, that offers sexual violence prevention and self-defense training to students in the Oglala Sioux Tribe. WAVI provides emotional support and education to those who receive disclosures from the students. WAVI's steadfast commitment to create a community free of domestic violence and sexual assault through advocacy, education, and support services is no small feat, and it is our honor to partner with them to increase access to valuable services in our community for those they serve, said Carrie Robley, director of community impact at the Black Hills Area Community Foundation. The Mammoth Site will use its grant to purchase an outdoor shade structure for a youth summer camp, which will be offered free of cost, opening in 2024. Under the shade structure, children ages eight-through-12 will excavate, record, and interpret bone specimens in a simulated dig site. Seth Vandenberg, science educator at the Mammoth Site, said this experience helps kids realize that science isnt something to be afraid of it's a bunch of dedicated people working together trying to answer questions and find solutions. Our hope is that kids realize they can be part of that process." We are thrilled to support one of the educational gems in the Black Hills, the Mammoth Site. Because the Mammoth Site is an active paleontological dig site, it is a pivotal resource for educating the public about modern paleontological methods through its hands-on, minds-on educational programs and its accredited museum, Robley said. It has been a year-and-a-half since the Oglala Sioux Tribe sued the United States due to a breakdown of law and order on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Continued reports of drug-related offenses, assaults and homicides prompted the tribal government to take further action. Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out signed a new proclamation on Nov. 18 declaring a State of Emergency on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The new State of Emergency declaration will remain in effect until Jan. 1, 2025. A State of Emergency exists on the Reservation due to the failure of the United States Government and its agencies, particularly the DOI and BIA, to honor their treaty trust and statutory obligations to the Oglala Sioux Tribe, President Star Comes Outs proclamation read. The reservation is currently experiencing high rates of murder, suicide, drug offenses, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, burglary and missing and murdered Indigenous women, according to tribal officials. Despite making up roughly 2% of the South Dakota population, Pine Ridge citizens account for 10% of people currently missing in the state. The South Dakota Missing Persons Clearinghouse reports 13 people currently missing from Pine Ridge, six of whom went missing this year and four within the past month. Seven of the total missing individuals are minors. In July 2022, the tribe launched a lawsuit against the United States arguing the government has failed to uphold its treaty obligation of protecting the tribe. The lawsuit references several historical documents that define the United States obligation. The Treaties of 1825, 1851 and 1868 all included clauses that state the United States is responsible for protecting the Oglala Sioux Tribe and its members from bad men." In 1877, after the confiscation of seven million acres from the former Great Sioux Reservation, the United States also promised compensation in the form of necessary aid and protection, according to treaty documents. The BIA has a responsibility to help our people, and I dont see that happening here, Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said during a press conference Saturday. This is an emergency. Whats being done now while were waiting [for litigation]? In 2021, the tribe said the federal government only provided 13% of the tribes requested law enforcement and criminal investigations funding for the fiscal year 2023 budget. The tribe said it only has enough funding for 33 police officers. OST currently has 32 officers on staff, with between five and six officers working at one time. Those few are responsible for patrolling the 3.1 million acre reservation and all nine districts. The Nov. 18 Emergency Proclamation urges President Joe Biden to intervene and direct Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to request sufficient funds for public safety on the reservation. This would include enough funding for the BIA standard of 2.8 officers per 1,000 persons in the service population. The proclamation also calls for South Dakota Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds, along with Representative Dusty Johnson, to hold field hearings on the lack of adequate law enforcement on South Dakota reservations. While census records indicate nearly 20,000 residents on Pine Ridge, the Oglala Sioux Tribe's total enrollment number is over 54,000 people. The tribe is requesting enough funding for 120 officers. We dont live in Indian country, we survive, Star Comes Out said. We have been patiently trying to cooperate with the government, and we feel that theyre stalling. Its hurting our tribe and its hurting our people. As of Aug. 15, both parties in the lawsuit were supposed to begin discussing the possibility of a settlement, per U.S. District Court for the State of South Dakota Chief Justice Roberto Langes order. There has been no movement since that order. Pine Ridge residents face the realities of life with limited law enforcement every day, OST officials explained. Officers often have to prioritize which calls they respond to, leaving many waiting hours for help if help ever comes. Some individuals have reported waiting three or four hours for a response, according to the tribe. The trust is not there anymore; the people don't feel safe anymore, Star Comes Out said. If youre wondering what a lack of treaty fulfillment looks like, just go to our reservation and see for yourself. Tribal entities such as Oglala Victim Services supported the call for a State of Emergency. On Nov. 16, the organization held a vigil for murdered tribal members and called for an end to drug-related violence. Victim Services said it will continue hosting weekly vigil walks until something is done about violence on the reservation. The Nov. 18 proclamation isnt the first time that a State of Emergency has been issued on Pine Ridge in response to violence. The tribe has authorized several declarations over the past seven years. Were living in a lawless government; were impoverished and we dont have the resources to combat [the violence], tribal council representative Anna Halverson said. There used to be one homicide per month or year, now we hear of one nearly every day. In 2017, a string of emergency declarations were issued regarding high amounts of missing tribal citizens, issues with tribal police, and drug usage. In Jan. 2020, then-president Julian Bear Runner issued a State of Emergency regarding the rising number of homicides and meth use on the reservation. The 2020 proclamation requested immediate help from several federal agencies, asking them to send investigators and other resources to the tribe. Nine months later, in Sept. 2020, the OST entered into an agreement with the Pennington County Sheriff's Department allowing for mutual aid between the two. President Star Comes Out said he is planning to speak with President Biden in the near future regarding this new proclamation. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday Israel has suffered a "defeat" in its war against Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas, and that it was "a fact". Israel has been pounding the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials. The Hamas government says Israel's bombing campaign and ground invasion have killed more than 12,300 people in the narrow Palestinian territory, including more than 5,000 children. In a speech at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace force centre in the capital Tehran, Khamenei said "the defeat of the Zionist regime (Israel) in Gaza is a fact." "Advancing and entering hospitals or people's homes is not a victory, because victory means defeating the other side," he said. Khamenei charged that Israel "has so far failed" in achieving its declared goal of destroying Hamas "despite the massive bombings" of Gaza. "This incapacity reflects the inability of the United States and Western countries" which back Israel, he added. Iran, which supports Hamas financially and militarily, has hailed the October 7 attacks a "success" but denied any direct involvement. Tehran has made support for the Palestinian cause a centrepiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Khamenei said Israel has "killed thousands of children without any remorse" because, as he claimed, "Zionists consider themselves to be a superior race." During his visit, the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace force unveiled new defence systems and drones, state media said, and Khamenei inspected a drone which carried the name "Gaza". The force also unveiled Fattah 2, an upgraded version of a hypersonic missile unveiled in June, according to official news agency IRNA. Khamenei urged Muslim countries which have formal relations with Israel to "cut off" these ties and halt trade. The Ukrainian army said Sunday it has pushed Russian forces back "three to eight kilometres" from the banks of Dnipro river, which if confirmed would be the first meaningful advance by Kyiv's forces months into a disappointing counteroffensive. Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the vast waterway in the southern Kherson region for more than a year, after Russia withdrew its troops from the western bank last November. Ukraine has staged multiple attempts to cross and hold positions on the Russian-controlled side -- with officials in Kyiv finally reporting a "successful" breakthrough last week. "Preliminary figures vary from three to eight kilometres, depending on the specifics, geography and landscape of the left bank," army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk told Ukrainian television Sunday when asked how much progress Kyiv had made. She did not specify how many troops or what equipment Ukraine had on the eastern side of the Dnipro. "We have a lot of work to do," Gumenyuk said. "The enemy still continues artillery fire," she added, estimating that "several tens of thousands" of Russian troops were in the area. The battle comes after Kyiv's much-awaited summer counteroffensive had largely fizzled, with just a handful of tiny villages retaken. A bridgehead on the east bank of the Dnipro could allow a deeper offensive in the south, though it would require deploying more men and armour into the challenging marshy conditions. Pushing Russia back from the river's shores would also offer protection to Ukrainian towns and villages facing relentless Russian shelling. - Drone attacks - A Russian artillery attack on the city of Kherson injured five people on Sunday, including a three-year-old child, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said. Shelling on the northeastern Sumy region on Sunday evening killed one civilian, Ukraine's Prosecutor General said. Russia has issued a number of contradictory statements regarding its own operations around the Dnipro. The defence ministry has appeared to reject the claims that Ukraine has gained a foothold, but a Russian-installed official in the occupied Kherson region conceded that Ukraine was holding positions in at least one village on the river's eastern shores. Moscow did not comment on the situation on the eastern bank in a daily military briefing on Sunday. AFP was not able to independently verify the claims made by officials. Meanwhile, drone attacks, a defining characteristic of the war, have intensified this week. Both of the capitals, Kyiv and Moscow, were targeted Saturday night, though both sides claimed to have intercepted most of the drones and no victims were reported. After a spate of attacks earlier this year, Ukrainian drones have rarely targeted the Russian capital in recent months. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said a drone was shot down outside the city in the early hours of Sunday morning. Russia's defence ministry said its own drones hit a fuel depot in Ukraine's central Kirovograd region and an ammunition warehouse near the capital. Kyiv said it shot down 15 of 20 Russian drones, while Moscow claimed to have destroyed 31 Ukrainian drones. - Ukrainian orphan returns home - Oleksiy Kuleba, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office said Sunday Kyiv was boosting the number of "mobile groups" that could "combat" the wave of Russian drone attacks. A day earlier, the Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 38 Iranian-made Shahed drones at its territory -- the most in a single night since late September. Zelensky said Saturday night he expected Russia to increase attacks on Ukraine's energy system in a bid to paralyse the heat and power supply. "The closer we get to winter, the more Russian attempts will be made to make the strikes more powerful," Zelensky said in his daily address. He called on his army to be "100 percent effective, despite all the difficulties, despite all the fatigue". On the diplomatic front, Russia's Vesti TV announced that President Vladimir Putin will take part in a virtual G20 leaders' summit on Wednesday, after skipping the main in-person meeting in New Delhi in September. Kyiv also said Sunday that a teenage Ukrainian orphan taken from Mariupol by Russian forces in the first weeks of the invasion had returned home. The case of Bogdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, made headlines after Russia issued him a draft summons to report for mandatory military conscription ahead of his 18th birthday. Ukraine says it has identified 20,000 children taken by Russia at the start of the invasion -- only around 400 have since returned. I really transitioned from being sort of a straight C and D student to being an A student, just based on the quality of the professors at the school. - Brooks Freeman, Class of 2025 It wasnt long ago that Brooks Freeman was on a life path shared by many members of his generation: a college dropout working in a manual labor job with little room for advancement, unsure of where life would take him next. Today, Freeman is a member of the class of 2025 at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. He is thriving and beyond grateful he gave college another try. VMI, a small public military college, is known for its academic rigor and dedication to empowering students, and single-sanction honor system where "a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do. The trust built during a cadets time at VMI transitions into a powerful alumni network that looks out for one another long after graduation. I really transitioned from being sort of a straight C and D student to being an A student, just based on the quality of the professors at the school, said Freeman, an English major who also is studying Arabic and participating in VMIs Institute Honors program. After graduation, he hopes to serve his country working for a government agency. Small classes, close relationships I got to know my English professors and my Arabic professor, and I could see them as real humans. I could let them know my doubts, my frustrations and they would just help me win give me feedback on my work, he said. Not only does Freeman excel academically, but he also acts as a mentor to others. VMI has a system in which students help other students and Freemans role in that system is to connect those struggling with the academic resources they need to succeed. Unmatched support network for students When he encounters a fellow student experiencing academic challenges, Freeman encourages them to reach out for help, as VMI has a robust support network. When you ask for assistance, and its there, and you realize the support network is behind you, academics can actually be fun and not as challenging as they have to be, he said. With an openness to share his past challenges and a willingness to help others, Freeman sees his mentorship role as a natural fit. I applied for this position because I knew that I had struggled so much in academics before in my life, and I know what its like to be down in the dumps and feel like theres no light at the end of the tunnel, he said. I could help other students see the light at the end of the tunnel and recognize the value of doing well in classes. But a VMI education is far more than sitting in classrooms, writing papers and taking tests its an adventure of a lifetime. With an admitted wanderlust for travel, Freeman has studied abroad in England, Taiwan and Morocco. VMI has given me so many opportunities that I didnt know existed before, he said. Embrace a legacy of leadership, taking action and making a difference VMI follows a military structure with mandatory class attendance, uniforms for all students and a regimented daily routine. For Freeman, these nontypical attributes were just the right formula to put him on the path to success. I realized that I really need self-control in order to excel, he said. This place really gave me the parameters necessary to succeed. It really helped me ground myself and do what I needed to do. Freemans father and grandfather are both VMI graduates and today, Freeman is more than grateful that he chose to follow in their footsteps. I really want to apply myself and to excel to the greatest of my ability, he said. Thats what really keeps me coming back to the school and what makes me appreciate it so much. VMI is about finding the best version of yourself. For more information, visit vmi.edu. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. San Antonio police officers remove firearms from the trunks and rear of vehicles at a drive-thru gun buyback organized by Council Member John Courage on Sunday. Gun owners received an H-E-B gift card for each of up to 20 firearms they turned in. Carlos Javier Sanchez/Contributo An Uzi submachine gun was one of the firearms collected by San Antonio police at Sundays drive-thru gun buyback. Gun owners received an H-E-B gift card for each of up to 20 firearms they turned in. Carlos Javier Sanchez/Contributo San Antonio police officers remove firearms from the trunks and rear of vehicles at a drive-thru gun buyback organized by Council Member John Courage on Sunday. Gun owners received an H-E-B gift card for each of up to 20 firearms they turned in. Carlos Javier Sanchez/Contributo San Antonio police officers remove firearms from the trunks and rear of vehicles at a drive-thru gun buyback organized by Council Member John Courage on Sunday. Gun owners received an H-E-B gift card for each of up to 20 firearms they turned in. Carlos Javier Sanchez/Contributo San Antonio police officers remove firearms from the trunks and rear of vehicles at a drive-thru gun buyback organized by Council Member John Courage on Sunday. Gun owners received an H-E-B gift card for each of up to 20 firearms they turned in. Carlos Javier Sanchez/Contributo Standing in front of T-shirts representing victims of gun violence, a gun buyer attempts to offer cash for weapons destined for the citys drive-thru gun buyback Sunday at the Alamodome. Gun owners received an H-E-B gift card for each of up to 20 firearms they turned in, unless they cut a sidewalk deal with the entrepreneurs. Carlos Javier Sanchez/Contributo San Antonio police officers remove firearms from the trunks and rear of vehicles at a drive-thru gun buyback organized by Council Member John Courage on Sunday. Gun owners received an H-E-B gift card for each of up to 20 firearms they turned in. Carlos Javier Sanchez/Contributo San Antonio police officers remove firearms from the trunks and rear of vehicles at a drive-thru gun buyback organized by Council Member John Courage on Sunday. Gun owners received an H-E-B gift card for each of up to 20 firearms they turned in. Carlos Javier Sanchez/Contributo Gun owners by the hundreds lined up their vehicles on South Cherry Street to trade firearms for grocery money. To their right was an art installation: T-shirts strung between trees displaying the names of gun violence victims in Bexar County 2,800 of them in just five years. To their left, before the drivers turned into the Alamodomes Lot B, interested buyers held up signs reading, Cash for guns. Advertisement Article continues below this ad You can never have too many guns, one of them, Ryan Morales, said as he walked with his sign across from the downtown stadium. The city of San Antonio had some competition on the sidewalk near its gun buyback program Sunday, but most of those waiting in their cars and trucks saved the trade-in opportunity for the H-E-B gift cards offered as an incentive to safely dispose of unwanted weapons. Organizers had $160,000 in gift cards and exchanged it all for 933 weapons hours early, according to an unofficial count provided by City Councilman John Courages office Monday. Those trying to intercept participants before they made it to the police-staffed drive-thru had money to offer but enjoyed more limited success, maybe because people were responding to the citys promise to destroy the guns, not keep them in circulation. That was Courages take. The gun owners generally ignored the cash offers, he said, because they didnt want their weapons on the street. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Morales said the quality of the product had a lot to do with it. Only a few guns at the event were worth the free groceries the city was offering, he believed. In the two hours he had been there, most of the drivers who seemed open to a sale were carrying outdated, worn down or nonoperational weapons, Morales said. Down the street, another would-be buyer examined a rifle from the trunk of a car that had pulled over. He appeared disappointed, walking away empty-handed. The city wasnt so picky. The H-E-B gift cards ranged in value depending on the type of weapon $50 for a nonfunctioning or home-manufactured one, $150 for a rifle or shotgun, $200 for a handgun and $300 for a semi-automatic rifle. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The majority of the weapons collected 420, to be exact were handguns. The event also netted 303 rifles and shotguns, 114 semi-automatic rifles and 96 homemade or nonfunctioning guns. The San Antonio Police Department will examine them, and those that cant be traced to a legal owner will be destroyed and used to create a public art project. If a weapon is traceable and found to have been stolen, authorities will return it to the legal owner. Courage, who had pushed for the buyback, said the fact that the roadside gun sales were legal served only to demonstrate the looseness of Texas law, which doesnt require individuals who privately sell or buy weapons to have any sort of license or vetting. Our experience today was that we didnt see anybody buy a gun from anybody, they just drove right by because theyre not here to get money, they are here for the safety of their homes and of their families, he said. As Courage was speaking, a woman interrupted to express her gratitude. She said she inherited a few guns from her dad and had no idea what to do with them until she heard about the event. The councilman said she was one of many residents who traded in guns that were left behind by family members. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Its making peoples homes safe, and it makes the community safer overall because those weapons wont be stolen out of anybodys homes or out of their car, Courage said. They wont be used by anybody in their home to injure themselves or a family member. Volunteers didnt track the number of cars that came through, but Courages chief of staff, Derek Roberts, said only a few hit the 20-weapon limit. Most handed in three to five guns, he said. It did exceed our expectations, Roberts said. I think we had to turn 200 vehicles away, and there were still vehicles showing up until 5 p.m., so the need is definitely there. Participants received an optional survey asking where they lived, their political leanings and whether they felt safer after getting rid of their guns. Initial results showed a majority identified as conservative, Roberts said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The event had been scheduled so people could use the gift cards on holiday food such as Thanksgiving dinners. Courage said the turnout has inspired him to try to host another. He had wanted to hold one since 2017 amid considerable skepticism. After an extensive search that produced suspected drugs, improvised weapons and contraband cellphones inside the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, the Virginia Department of Corrections announced substantial changes in leadership for the facility. VADOC officials reported that a comprehensive shakedown of the prison had produced heroin, cocaine, buprenorphine and THC, among other substances. Twenty-one improvised weapons and 10 cellphones were also recovered, according to officials. The prison was on lockdown for over two weeks as security staff and members of a special response team conducted searches of the facility, officials said. A leadership overhaul was announced by the department after the searches. Kevin McCoy, formerly a warden at Sussex I State Prison, has been named new lead warden at Greensville. David Newcomer and Frank Roach, formerly warden and assistant warden at the Augusta Correctional Center and the Dillwyn Correctional Center, respectively, have been named warden and assistant warden at Greensville. What Chesterfield, Henrico flipping to Democratic control says about Virginia's politics Chesterfield and Henrico counties have long been politically purple. Both county boards will now be run by Democrats, replacing longstanding Republican majorities. Officials said the former leadership at Greensville has been reassigned to other facilities within the department. Larry Edmonds, the previous lead warden at Greensville, could not immediately be reached for comment. VADOC is also developing a specific operational plan to address what officials called a flow of drugs and contraband into Greensville. The correctional center has the highest inmate population among VADOC facilities, with 2,424 inmates as of August. Data previously obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch shows that there were 91 deaths in VADOC custody at Greensville between 2018 and 2022. Those 91 deaths are the most in that period among Virginia facilities for which data was made available to The Times-Dispatch. When asked about the causes of these deaths, VADOC officials declined to release specific details, citing exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act. Across the board, Virginia prisons have been grappling with an overdose surge. A March report indicated there were 85 drug overdoses inside Virginia prisons in 2022, up from 51 the prior year. VADOC Director Chadwick Dotson said the department was taking several steps to ensure institutional safety and security at the troubled prison. This drug and contraband shakedown will improve safety within the facility, which helps us to meet our goals of long-term public safety for the commonwealth, Dotson said. 15 photos of the Richmond City Jail from The Times-Dispatch archives Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Richmond City Jail Officer Foster is now in stable condition, with a diagnosis from his doctors of paralysis from the waist down, the association said in a statement on fundthefirst.com, a site dedicated to fundraising for those who serve, including members of the U.S. military, law enforcement officers and first responders. This fundraiser will help Officer Foster and his family navigate this difficult time, the statement said. VSU shared a link to the fundraiser on its official X account, but a spokesperson for the university said she could not confirm Fosters diagnosis and declined to comment on the fundraiser. Lets show our support to VSU Police Officer Bruce Foster during his road to recovery, the X post read. The fundraiser included comments reportedly made by Fosters wife, Diedra Boyd. As the wife of a police officer, you live with a constant undercurrent of worry, but Bruces strength and dedication always bring a sense of calm. That calm was shattered early Sunday morning when I received the call that Bruce had been shot while on duty, Boyd reportedly said. The man who left our home, strong and full of resolve, was now fighting for his life in a hospital bed praying for returned sensation from the waist down, she continued. Boyd did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police confirmed the organizations role in putting together the fundraiser, and said they were actively working with the family and with VSU. The information comes right from the family, so it is accurate, the spokesperson said. The fundraiser, which has a $100,000 goal, had raised over $36,000 as of 9 p.m. Monday. Officials have said Foster, a five-year veteran of the VSU police, was shot early on the morning of Nov. 12 while breaking up a disturbance on the Ettrick campus. Deonta M. Blount, 21, of Chester and Reginald L. King Jr., 21, of Petersburg have been arrested in connection with the incident. Blount has been charged with aggravated malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer and a related firearms charge. King has been charged with assault on a law enforcement officer and obstruction of justice. From the Archives: The Virginia state Capitol building Justin Sigmon, a former major with the Franklin County Sheriffs Office, was convicted by a jury Friday for having abusive sexual contact with a minor under the age of 12, according to court documents. The decision came after a weeklong trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Sigmon was remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshals following the verdict, according to the court documents. Sentencing was set for Jan. 12. The maximum sentence on the conviction is life imprisonment, according to the court documents. Sigmon was arrested in Florida on May 29 following a cruise with his family from the Port of Miami to the Bahamas and back. While on the cruise, a witness saw him touching a 9-year-old female inappropriately while she was sitting on his lap in the ships dining room, according to court documents. The witness made a video of the incident which was obtained by police. Ship surveillance also recorded Sigmon. According to a portion of the court documents, the recordings depict Sigmon rubbing the girls upper and inner thighs underneath the skirt and during several points of the touching, the girl pushed Sigmons hand away repeatedly. After the girl got off his lap, Sigmon was seen covering his crotch with his hands for an extended period of time, the criminal complaint said. He told investigators that he did this because he was cold, according to the complaint. Sigmon resigned from the Franklin County Sheriffs Office on June 2, just days after the arrest. At the time, he was the second-highest ranking officer. Staff writer Laurence Hammack contributed to this report. Students roaming the hallways during class. Brawls in the common areas. Intruders let onto school premises. Teachers afraid for their own safety. Administrators unwilling or unable to discipline. Things are not OK at Charlottesville High School. On Friday, classes were abruptly canceled when teachers did not show up to work. The decision by so many school employees to call out appears to have been prompted by a series of wild student brawls that occurred the day before. At least one of those fights included an 18-year-old intruder who does not even attend CHS and who was let into the school by a student for the sole purpose of perpetrating violence. Charlottesville police received two calls from the school within minutes of each other Thursday, according to Charlottesville police spokesman Kyle Ervin. Officers were first dispatched to a report of physical disorder at the school. The caller also advised that an adult who was not to be in the school was involved, reads the incident report. Eleven minutes after the first call, a second incident was reported. CPD officers on scene assisted CHS staff in separating the involved parties and restoring order, that report reads. Charges have been filed against the 18-year-old intruder. Thats according to Charlottesville City Schools Superintendent Royal Gurley, who spoke with the press Friday afternoon to address the crisis at CHS. Gurley said that things are going to be changing at Charlottesville High. On Monday, were going to ensure consistent personnel is at the entrance of the school, in terms of how people get buzzed in and out of the building, he said. He also said adults will be assigned to cover a wider footprint of the building during the day to ensure nothing like the two fights witnessed Thursday happen again. But one CHS staffer told The Daily Progress there were more than two fights, and also more than one intruder. The CHS staffer, who agreed to speak to The Daily Progress on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from the school district, claims to have overheard an administrator telling police there was also a 20-year-old intruder in the school. Neither Gurley nor the police backed up those claims. According to the staffer, things are far worse at CHS than administrators are letting on. There has been one fight every week since the beginning of the school year, they said. And those fights have been larger and more ferocious than in previous years. Thats because there are more kids in the hall with more accessibility and more opportunity, the staffer said. And I think this is a really important point to make: Theres about 30 kids that never go to class and have not gone to class from the first day. Theyve never intended to go to class and do nothing but walk the halls and avoid adults. If an adult approaches them, they swear at them, keep walking and there are no consequences, the staffer continued. Those 30 kids set the tone for the rest of the 1,400 kids in the school. Gurley also stressed that the fights are being instigated by a small group of students. Ninety-nine percent of CHS students are well-behaved and focused pupils, he said Friday. But he disagreed that students feel free to disregard administrators. I dont think students dont think there are consequences, Gurley said. That directly contradicts not only the anonymous staffer that spoke with The Daily Progress but Charlottesville City Schools employees who took to social media on Friday, their names and job titles on display. CHS counselor David Wilkerson took to Facebook on Thursday, hinting that employees would likely not be showing up to work the next day and explaining that Charlottesville City Schools employees have their hands tied. Leaning on data from the Virginia Department of Education reflecting a correlation between punishment and dropouts, Charlottesville City Schools has opted for less severe punishments in a bid to boost graduation rates. The VDOE would prefer that the data shows that no kids are being punished due to the correlation between punishing kids and a poor graduation rate, Wilkerson wrote online. Administrators keep asking kids to do things that they do not wish to do and in the absence of consequences, the kids expand their misbehavior. Although Gurley maintained on Friday that there are already consequences, he hinted more serious disciplinary measures are incoming. The band of students, which the anonymous staffer said often walks the halls in groups of five, have at worst received suspensions of five or 10 days. Gurley suggested Friday that longer suspensions or other repercussions could be implemented to discipline bad actors. Were not going to allow students to compromise safety, Gurley said. Safety has become a pressing issue not just for students at the school but teachers and administrators. According to the anonymous staffer, a librarian hurt his hand while caught in the middle of a recent brawl in the school library. Gurley said Friday he was not aware of any librarian being injured. Some teachers have been inadvertently punched while trying to break up fights, according to the staffer, and many more have real fears that they could one day be hurt intentionally. When kids are using profanity to explain to the teacher why theyre not going to go to class, they often include verbal threats, the staffer said. There are just so many kids that are willing to be physical very quickly. Im sure there are some teachers that fear they can be the next target. It took hours to restore order after just one of the fights on Thursday, the staffers said. The Daily Progress viewed a video of one of the brawls taken by a student. It shows two girls grabbing each others hair and throwing punches as a large crowd watches, cheering them on. Its a chaotic scene with students laughing and yelling, reveling in the disorder. Hundreds of students showed up, observing and filming and dancing and celebrating, the staffer said. From there, they refused to return to class during the lockdown. Its not just administrators the students dont respect, the staffer said. Even when the police showed up, there were kids mocking the police and not responding to administration directives. Much like Wilkerson, the anonymous staffer said the dysfunction has been the result of a lack of consequences. That starts with the schools off and away cell phone policy. Charlottesville students are not supposed to use cell phones during the school day. The sheer number of fights filmed on mobile devices and posted online, however, is evidence that rule has not been fully enforced. Gurley said that while teachers say cell phone use in class is down, the devices are still widely used in hallways between classes. It has been an issue since the beginning of the school year. On the very first day of school, kids were told, Off and away. The phones did not go off and away. The next thing you know, we have a revolution on our hands, because they realized that theres no enforcement of that rule, the staffer said. And then they discover theres no enforcement of the rule of having to go to class. And if you mess with the principal, theres no punishment. Thats if there is a principal. Charlottesville High School Principal Rashaad Pitt announced his resignation earlier this month after a little more than a year at the school, citing his family and health. It was only a matter of time before teachers reached a breaking point, the staffer continued, going through the same motions every day without anything changing. Telling the same kids every day to go to class and being told to fk off every time, its exhausting. But they keep doing it, the staffer said. That is, they kept doing it until Friday. Gurley said when he went to bed Thursday night there were 24 teachers already expected to be absent the next day. Eighteen of those were not related to illness. By the time he woke up, there were 27 expected teacher absences. It was too much for CHS to handle. Finding substitute teachers on a Friday is particularly difficult, Gurley said. Shortly after 6 a.m., Charlottesville City Schools sent a message to parents. Due to an unusual number of staff absences & limited available substitutes, classes at Charlottesville High School are canceled today, the school district said. The citys teachers union, the Charlottesville Education Association, said in a statement Friday that while it did not have a role in the teachers decision to not come in, it supported the Charlottesville staff. And it went even further. The statement called for a hard reset on Monday and Tuesday before the Thanksgiving holiday, asking that there be no students present so that staff could address the climate and the culture at CHS. Gurley said Friday thats not happening: School will be in session Monday and Tuesday. Instead, the school district has floated a hard reset for December. In the meantime, parents, teachers and administrators who were sharing their thoughts online and with The Daily Progress said they hope the school district is able to retore order at CHS for the majority of students who want to learn without the distraction and danger of violence on school grounds. To do that, the anonymous staffer said there will need to be consequences for misbehavior. Itd be like if we had a speed limit that was 35 and everybody was going 60 but nobody ever got pulled over, they said. Then they started seeing what else they could do. Del. Briana Sewell, D-Prince William, who was elected Nov. 7 to a second term in the House of Delegates, announced Monday that she is running for the 7th Congressional District seat in Northern Virginia. Im running for Congress to represent VA-07 because Ive always been taught to stand up and fight for what is right, Sewell said in a statement. You deserve someone who understands how hard it is to make ends meet and spends every day working to make things better. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, recently announced that she will forgo a bid for a fourth term in Congress in order to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2025. Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Prince William, a delegate since 2018 who lost a state Senate primary in June, said in a recent message congratulating Spanberger that she is forming a committee to raise money and organize a campaign. She said she looks forward to releasing a formal announcement soon. Sewell is a cousin of U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat. Sewells announcement video includes headlines about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, and GOP struggles to pick a speaker of the House of Representatives. She pays tribute in the video to her grandmother, a Selma, Alabama, organizer whom she called a foot soldier in the civil rights movement, and to her mother, who rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. The women in my family showed me the meaning of strength, Sewell said. Sewell, a Prince William County native, is a former Prince William district director for Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-11th, and former chief of staff to Ann Wheeler, chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. In late 2021, the state Supreme Court imposed new district boundaries that moved the 7th from the Richmond suburbs to its current configuration, based in Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. While Spanberger carried the district by more than 4 percentage points in 2022, Republican Glenn Youngkin carried it by more than 4 percentage points in his 2021 election for governor. The 7th is one of two Northern Virginia congressional districts that will be hotly contested in 2024. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-10th, is not seeking a fourth term next year due to health reasons. Multiple candidates have already announced for Wextons seat, including Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax; Sen.-elect Suhas Subramanyam, D-Loudoun; Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun; Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax; and former House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax. While Democrats will now hold slender margins in the legislature 21-19 in the Senate and 51-49 in the House all of the Democratic lawmakers who have announced for the congressional contests appear to hold safe legislative seats. Sewell won a second term in the House on Nov. 7 with 61% of the vote. Today in history: Nov. 20 1947: Royal Wedding 1952: John Foster Dulles 1962: John F. Kennedy 1984: Michael Jackson 1985: Microsoft Windows 2000: Florida Recount 2003: Michael Jackson 2003: Phil Spector 2011: Spain 2012: Hector "Macho" Camacho 2012: Jack Taylor 2012: Kevin Clash 2015: Jonathan Pollard 2016: Ariana Grande 2020: Georgia 2020: Kyle Rittenhouse 2020: Wisconsin Virginia State University will host a presidential debate on Oct. 1, it was announced Monday. Here's what we know about plans. WHERE THE DEBATES ARE PLANNED Three debates for next year's presidential general election are set to be held in college towns in Texas, Virginia and Utah between Sept. 16 and Oct. 9, with the lone vice presidential debate happening in between in Pennsylvania though it remains to be seen whether the Republican nominee will participate. The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday that presidential candidates will first be scheduled to meet Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, south of Austin. The vice presidential debate is scheduled nine days later at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Presidential debates planned for Virginia State University in Petersburg on Oct. 1, and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Oct. 9, round out the schedule ahead of Nov. 5's Election Day. ABOUT THE VSU SELECTION The VSU pick marks the first time a historically Black college or university has been selected to host a presidential debate. This is a historic moment for our university and for HBCUs nationwide," VSU President Makola M. Abdullah said in a statement. ABOUT THE COMMISSION What Chesterfield, Henrico flipping to Democratic control says about Virginia's politics Chesterfield and Henrico counties have long been politically purple. Both county boards will now be run by Democrats, replacing longstanding Republican majorities. The United States general election debates, watched live worldwide, are a model for many other countries: the opportunity to hear and see leading candidates address serious issues in a fair and neutral setting," CPD co-chairs Frank Fahrenkopf and Antonia Hernandez said in a statement. This tradition remains unbroken since 1976. In 2024, students at our four debate sites will help bring another set of historic conversations to audiences here and abroad. And their campuses will anchor four unique chances to listen and learn. The nonprofit CPD was established in 1987 and has sponsored every general election presidential and vice presidential debates since. It does not receive federal funding or financial support from any political party or campaign. POSSIBLE GOP COMMITTEE CHANGES The announcement comes despite the Republican National Committee mulling rules changes that would force presidential candidates seeking the partys nomination to sign a pledge saying they won't participate in any debates sponsored by the CPD. Such a boycott would shake up the foundations of the way presidential elections have been conducted in the country for decades though former President Donald Trump 's refusal to participate in primary debates while seeking his party's 2024 nomination makes such shifts perhaps easier to imagine. The RNC threatening not to participate comes after years of tension between the RNC and the commission, which has been exacerbated by Trump. As president, he repeatedly accused the commission of unfair treatment and ultimately refused to participate in the second 2020 debate after objecting to it being held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter to the commission last year, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel voiced frustration with its response to several party complaints, including concerns about its selection of moderators, a desire for a debate before early voting starts and a push for changes to the commissions board. The commission responded to that letter by saying in a statement that it deals directly with candidates who qualify for participation in its debates, rather than the national leadership of each party. The CPDs plans for 2024 will be based on fairness, neutrality and a firm commitment to help the American public learn about the candidates and the issues, it said at the time. The RNC did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The national Democratic Party has not clashed with the commission. Still, as he runs for reelection, President Joe Biden 's campaign has yet to comment on whether he would debate Trump. OTHER DEBATES IN VIRGINIA President George Bush and challengers Ross Perot and Bill Clinton took part in a debate at the University of Richmond in October 1992. President Gerald Ford and challenger Jimmy Carter debated in Williamsburg in October 1976. In October 2016, the debate for vice presidential candidates was held at Longwood University in Farmville. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Matts Creek Fire near Big Island has surpassed 10,000 acres just more than a week after it started and is 27% contained, according to an update Monday from the U.S. Forest Service. The wildfire began Nov. 12 and quickly spread to consume thousands of acres in the James River Face Wilderness and Blue Ridge Parkway, reaching 10,106 acres with 317 fire personnel responding. Heavy smoke was seen in much of Bedford County early Monday and all county schools were closed due to the effects on air quality. On Sunday, firefighters conducted a strategic firing operation south of Glasgow and east of Greenlee between the James River and Belfast Creek using a helicopter, the U.S. Forest Service update said. "Removing this fuel will provide added protection for surrounding communities, and the forest and will help firefighters prevent spread of the fire," the update post states. On Monday, firefighters are working within the strategic burn operation to locate and extinguish areas of heat and monitor the fire. Crews also will continue to improve existing fire containment lines, patrol the parkway for burning material rolling into the roadway and continue working to assess structures along Hunt Camp Road and along the western side of the fire to develop a protection plan for the area if needed, according to the update. Fire activity is expected to pick up Monday afternoon. "The strategic firing operation helped move the main fire front over slopes and into flatter areas," the U.S. Forest Service notice said. "This will provide safer access to firefighters and allow a greater chance to successfully stop the fire from spreading to the west." The Big Island Volunteer Fire Department in a Facebook post Sunday thanked all who brought food, drinks, water, snacks, desserts and money to help the firefighters during the past week. "We were very blessed by the generosity from the community and surrounding areas," the department said in the post. Petites Gap Road is closed to all public use between the Belfast Trailhead and the Blue Ridge Parkway and may be extended to the intersection of Arnold Valley Road and Black Run Road due to fire activity. The parkway section from milepost 66.3 near U.S. 501 to milepost 85.9 at Virginia 43 remains closed until further notice: park visitors should plan for a detour from the north or south using adjacent routes and Interstate 81. The James River Face Wilderness and all associated trails, including a section of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, are closed to all public use. For more information on air quality, visit AirNow.gov. Rainfall is expected Tuesday and may reach one to two inches, according to the update. Touch n Go (TNG) eWallet users will be able to enjoy a variety of curated deals when they travel to Singapore, as TNG Digital has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and digital payment solution provider Alipay+ to offer such promotions within its app. In a statement, TNG Digital said that there are currently about 10 in-destination promotions that users can tap into when they visit and make cross-border payments in Singapore, with more to be added in the coming months. These include deals by lifestyle merchants in Singapore, such as retail stores, attractions, and restaurants. Additionally, there will be discounts of up to 80% for transport and daily items too especially as more Singapore-based merchants are expected to eventually come onboard this initiative. TNG Digital also noted that these promotions are in addition to existing benefits that are provided by Alipay+, a subsidiary of Ant Group, when TNG eWallet users use their app to transact in Singapore. (Image: Metro) Chief commercial officer of TNG Digital, Danny Chua said that it has always been the companys key objectives to expand payment and financial convenience to its users beyond Malaysia. Currently serving over 21 million users, we have already connected them to more than two million merchant touchpoints in Malaysia. Our users now have additional incentives to spend, receive perks, and earn GOrewards Points with TNG eWallet when they travel to Singapore, he said. For context, TNG eWallet recently revamped its GOrewards loyalty programme so that users can collect points when they make payments via the app and the TNG Visa prepaid card. The standard earning rate stands at 1 point for every RM1 spent, although some participating merchant partners will offer up to 6 bonus points. Meanwhile, the executive director of STB (Southeast Asia), Terrence Voon said that this collaboration is a timely one in this post-pandemic world, allowing Singapore to promote itself as a destination of choice. He highlighted as well that travellers these days expect a seamless travelling experience enabled by contactless payments. (Image: The Straits Times/Ryan Chiong) Senior vice president of Ant Group and head of Alipay+, Douglas Feagin also expressed excitement for the role that it can play in helping to connect local businesses in Singapore with international visitors. Working closely with STB, we will enable Malaysian tourists to discover and visit more local merchants, to pay easily with their home e-wallet, TNG Digital, and enjoy greater savings. Through more enhanced digital payments, Singaporean merchants will also benefit from the rise in tourism, he commented. Moving forward, TNG eWallet users can find out about the latest Singapore-related deals and offerings by either checking their app or following TNG eWallets official social media pages. (Source: TNG Digital) 0 0 votes Article Rating SHARE Malaysians can now make instant cross-border person-to-person (P2P) money transfers to individuals in Singapore using the recipients mobile number or Virtual Payment Address (VPA), as well as receive funds through a similar manner too. This came following the successful launch of a new real-time payment systems linkage between Malaysias DuitNow and Singapores PayNow, done by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). In a statement, both central banks said that the DuitNow-PayNow linkage will offer instant, secure, and cost-effective P2P fund transfers and remittances between the two countries. It is also the first linkage to include the participation of non-bank financial institutions from both countries; heres the full list of financial institutions that will offer improved features via this new linkage: Banks & financial institutions from Malaysia Banks & institutions from Singapore CIMB Bank Maybank TNG Digital (TNG eWallet) Coming soon Hong Leong Bank Maybank Singapore OCBC Bank UOB Bank Liquid Group (LiquidPay) Coming soon DBS Bank For TNG eWallet, specifically, this money transfer service will be offered first for outbound transfers (Malaysia to Singapore) available immediately before being followed by inbound transfers (Singapore to Malaysia) next month. Similarly, the service will also be made available to Singaporeans in phases, with participating banks rolling it out to selected customer groups from today until end-January 2024. It was also noted that Malaysians will be allowed a daily transfer limit of RM3,000 via this service (while Singaporeans are capped at a cumulative maximum transfer of SG$1,000 per day). (Image: The Business Time) Cross-border payments that are fast, secure, and cost-efficient can provide immense benefits, especially for individuals and small businesses in countries with very close economic ties, such as Malaysia and Singapore. The DuitNow-PayNow linkage enables us to reap these benefits towards our shared growth and prosperity, while laying the foundations for scalable cross-border payment networks across and beyond ASEAN, said the governor of BNM, Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour. The managing director of MAS, Ravi Menon also echoed similar sentiments, adding that the linkage represents another step towards ASEANs vision for regional payments interconnectivity. The PayNow-DuitNow linkage is the culmination of a shared aspiration by Singapore and Malaysia to facilitate cross-border payments between our two countries, he said. For further context, P2P and remittance transactions between Malaysia and Singapore came up to a total of RM7.8 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, BNM and MAS had also enabled a cross-border QR code payment linkage between both countries earlier in March this year. This allowed Malaysians who travel to Singapore to make QR code payments via selected home e-wallets when making purchases from Singaporean merchants, and vice versa. (Source: BNM) 0 0 votes Article Rating SHARE Heritage scholarship was the overarching theme of this years Kegley Preservation Awards, presented by the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation in an evening ceremony at the Gainsboro Branch Library. For the second year in a row, the host location was also one of the honorees, as the library received the second annual Roberts Heritage Education Award for achievements in preserving the Black history of Roanoke. The award is named for the late sisters Margaret and Alice Roberts, prominent longtime leaders in the citys Black community. Library staff Megan Mizak and Nathan Flinchum accepted the award, which recognized the branchs more than 100 years as the primary repository for much of the Black history of Roanoke, as stated in the nomination narrative. The text describes how librarian Virginia Y. Lee, who served from 1928 to 1971, secreted away an extensive collection of Black history materials that the library had been instructed to remove. Thanks to her foresight, those materials survived and now comprise the largest collection of Black studies in Southwest Virginia, the narrative states. In their acceptance remarks, the representatives noted that theirs was an archive with a lower-case a, as contrasted with collections which preserve history but perhaps dont get the same degree of hands-on use that local collections make available. Keeping things related to Gainsboro in Gainsboro has a real impact, Flinchum commented during the presentation. In one of the highlights of the Wednesday evening ceremony, attendees had a chance to watch a screening of the documentary Hidden in Plain Site Roanoke, which received an award for Heritage Education. Roanoke City Council member Trish White-Boyd, who led the Roanoke Hidden Histories Committee in producing the documentary, was on hand to accept the award and talk about the project. The 14-minute video included live footage complemented by digital renderings to showcase a number of sites around the city which have been lost or degraded by development. The production ends with a segment on the now-installed memorial statue honoring Henrietta Lacks, the Roanoke native who unknowingly made invaluable contributions to the field of medicine through the tissue samples that were harvested as part of her cancer treatment. The goal of the Hidden Histories Committee is to continue to engage and enlighten the public by telling the often painful stories of the African American experience in Roanoke while also celebrating the achievements of this community, the nomination narrative states. Downtown Roanoke Inc. received an award for Heritage Tourism for its Virtual Downtown Tour & Wayfinding project. Launched in May 2023, the online tour offers beautifully illustrated and detailed information about locations of interest organized into three areas: the City Market; West Station, which extends out Campbell Avenue; and the Innovation Corridor, which encompasses South Jefferson Street near the Carilion complex. The virtual tour can be accessed at https://www.downtownroanoke.org/vistity-tour. The award also recognized DRIs recently completed installation of a system of signs and kiosks that also provide directions and information about significant sites throughout the downtown. The nomination narrative notes that both projects involved collaborations with RVPF, the Virginia Room at Roanoke Public Libraries, the History Museum, and the N&W Historical Society. An award for Heritage Education and Research was given to the Colonel William Preston Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, for their Finding Your Roots Genealogy Workshop. Held in February of this year at the Gainsboro Branch Library, the workshop welcomed 55 attendees, and featured presenter Ruth D. Hunt, a member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, New York City Chapter, and New York City Chapter, NSDAR. Two follow-up genealogy workshops were held at the Roanoke City Librarys Virginia Room in April and June, and the DAR plans to hold another workshop in February 2024. According to the nomination narrative, DAR genealogist Nancy Canova presented a PowerPoint on how to navigate the section for African and Native Americans and other people of color at DAR.org, and also promoted a DAR-produced book titled Forgotten Patriots, which lists more than 6,000 African Americans who served during the Revolutionary War. Canova and fellow DAR member Wendy Warren, who accepted the award on Wednesday along with several other members, have provided a copy of Forgotten Patriots to the Virginia Room. Forgotten Patriots is also available as a pdf on the DAR website: www.dar.org/library/research-guides/forgotten-patriots. Don Wilson, owner and president of Evergreen Memorial Trust, accepted an award for Community Outreach on behalf of Evergreen Burial Park. Evergreen is the final resting place for many of Roanokes prominent citizens, including 15 mayors and several railroad presidents, as well as veterans dating back to the Civil War. From its continuous forward-thinking management since 1916 to Dons leadership, the cemetery and its parklike setting provides a unique background to tell the stories of Roanoke, Virginia, the nomination reads. Evergreen hosts a number of events throughout the year, including an annual walking tour of historic gravesites each October, a tour of the propertys specimen trees on Arbor Day Sunday, and commemorative events on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. In remarks to those gathered, Wilson, who has been with Evergreen since 1982, noted how visitors also use the tranquil grounds and roadways of Evergreen to take walks, push strollers, even learn to drive a car. Cemeteries are forever, and theyre really important to all of us in our community, Wilson said. The outreach continues this weekend, when the Evergreen Memorial Trust will offer the first guided tour of the historic Roanoke City Cemetery on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 2 p.m. No registration is required and the tour is free. The cemetery is located at 501 Tazewell Ave. SE, just off Williamson Road downtown. Sam Greco, a retired businessman who donated a statue of San Francesco di Paola, is pictured where the statue was installed in Piazza Italia Park in San Antonio on March 30. Grecos donation replaced the sculpture of Christopher Columbus that was removed by the city because of controversy surrounding Columbus place in history. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Sam Greco, a retired businessman who donatated a statue of San Francesco di Paola, is pictured outside San Francesco Di Paola Catholic Church in San Antonio on March 30. Grecos father helped lay the bricks for the church. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Wearing a monks robe, William Kirch, 12, walks in the procession to the unveiling of the new San Francesco Di Paola statue at Piazza Italia on Saturday, Sept. 9, in San Antonio. The statue, made in Italy and donated by Sam Greco, replaced the Christopher Columbus sculpture that was removed in July 2020, after it was vandalized amid protests of the explorers history. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Paolo Cristadoro, president of the Italian Society of San Antonio, congratulates Sam Greco at the unveiling of the new San Francesco Di Paola statue at Piazza Italia on Saturday, Sept. 9, in San Antonio. The statue, made in Italy and donated by Sam Greco, replaced the Christopher Columbus sculpture that was removed in July 2020 after it was vandalized amid protests about the explorers history. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Wheeled by Henry Cisneros, Sam Greco, center, leads the procession to the unveiling of the new San Francesco Di Paola statue at Piazza Italia on Saturday, Sept. 9, in San Antonio. The statue, made in Italy and donated by Sam Greco, replaced the Christopher Columbus sculpture that was removed in July 2020 after it was vandalized amid protests about the explorers history. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Sam Greco, left, listens to Auxiliary Bishop Gary Janak speak during unveiling of the new San Francesco Di Paola statue at Piazza Italia, on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023 in San Antonio, Texas. The statue, made in Italy and donated by Sam Greco, replaced the Christopher Columbus sculpture that was removed in July 2020 after it was vandalized amid protests about the explorers history. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News The new San Francesco Di Paola statue at Piazza Italia is seen on Saturday, Sept. 9, in San Antonio. The statue, made in Italy and donated by Sam Greco, replaced the Christopher Columbus sculpture that was removed in July 2020 after it was vandalized amid protests about the explorers history. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Sam Greco speaks during the unveiling of the new San Francesco Di Paola statue at Piazza Italia, on Saturday, Sept. 9, in San Antonio. The statue, made in Italy and donated by Sam Greco, replaced the Christopher Columbus sculpture that was removed in July 2020 after it was vandalized amid protests of the explorers history. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News He was his mothers miracle. Elvira Battafarano Greco prayed to San Francesco di Paola for a son. After five miscarriages, she promised that if her prayers were answered, shed dress the boy like a monk every Sunday for five years. She kept her promise. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Throughout his life, Sam J. Greco continued his mothers devotion to St. Francis, the patron saint of Italians and Italian Americans. Greco died Nov. 14. He was 82. Last year, Greco commissioned a 6-foot-tall bronze sculpture of St. Francis to replace a statue of Christopher Columbus that was removed from Piazza Italia Park in July 2020. Protests about the 15th-century explorers treatment of indigenous people led to the removal of monuments across the nation. On Sept. 14, Greco stood with family, friends, parishioners and dignitaries for the unveiling of the statue. His gift to the city was his last civic act. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Greco said the Italian community felt St. Francis represented Italians and their ancestors ocean crossings from Italy to America. He was born in San Antonio on Nov. 27, 1940, to Italian immigrant parents. Because his parents only spoke Italian, he reached out to a neighbor to teach him English. Salvatore Greco, a vegetable vendor, worked long hours to provide an education for his son. Family members said he laid some of the first red bricks at San Francesco di Paola Catholic Church, a cultural center of the Italian community. Sam Greco met his late wife, Kathy Fisher Greco, when they were sophomores she attended Providence High School; he went to Central Catholic. Greco and his family dedicated the statue to her. He received a bachelors degree in banking from Louisiana State University and a masters in finance from the University of Chicago. His family said after a successful banking career, he retired as the youngest bank president in the Lone Star state. During their 60-year marriage, the couple co-founded several companies, including Greco Construction, Pecan Valley Childcare Center and S&K Management. Greco volunteered with several civic groups as director of the then Southside Chamber of Commerce, president of the East Side Lions Club, and director of the Southeast Chamber of Commerce. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He passed the virtues of St. Francis to his four children. They remembered their father as a storyteller and generous man whose home was open to those in need. They learned of their parents good deeds such as feeding the homeless and bringing them new coats when it was cold from other people. Darrell Greco said his father shared a different story about St. Francis at an annual church service. He said his father was known as the St. Francis baby. I believe St. Francis took care of him, said Sharon Pirro, Sam Grecos daughter. I feel St. Francis escorted him to heaven. Brenda Greco Bowerman received phone calls from doctors who said her father touched their lives. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It says a lot about my dad, she said. Diane Greco remembered her father as a man of peace who wanted his children to study and be aware of current affairs and the world around them. Greco was the recipient of several prestigious honors. His family said Pope Francis appointed him to represent the United States as the First Heraldi of San Francesco di Paola. Giorgio Napolitano, the former president of Italy, bestowed Greco with the title Knight of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity. Condolences and remembrances came from near and far. Mauro Lorenzini, consulate general of Italy in Houston, thanked Greco for his long commitment to the benefit of the Italian community in Texas. Angela Lombardo, whom Greco counseled, remembered her friends commitment to being an engine of change, a role he invited her and others to take up. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Paolo Cristadoro, president of the Italian Society, said he sorely missed his friend and fellow society member. He recalled standing outside City Hall with a smiling Greco and Linda Kohnen after receiving the final approval for the statue. He said during the 18-month process, Greco never lost focus on upholding the legacy of ancestors who settled San Antonios Little Italy. Its a hard void to fill, Cristadoro said. He was dedicated to getting the statue in place, not only for the community but his wife, whom he adored. He rallied everyone together. That was Sam. Kohnen helped Greco with planning the two-day dedication event. She recalled her friend as a dynamic family man and advocate for the saint that was the churchs namesake. That was his grand finale, she said. He made it happen, and it wasnt easy. He accomplished so much in his lifetime. Were all going to miss him terribly. The retired businessman oversaw every detail of the statues arrival in San Antonio. It was one of two sculptures he commissioned of the saint from Italian-Canadian artist Antonio Caruso. The other statue stands in the seaside town of Paola in southern Italy. In July, Greco joined society members for a dry run of the statues placement at Piazza Italia, the downtown neighborhood settled by Italian families in the late 1800s. Before the dedication, Greco was hospitalized with ill health for five days. Society members said he insisted on being present for the event. Greco led the procession of 300 people from the church, pushed in a wheelchair by former Mayor Henry Cisneros, to the park. He joined in tugging ropes that loosened the shroud from the statue, drawing applause from the crowd. You did it, Cristadoro said as he leaned to congratulate his friend. It would be his last devotion to the saint whose presence was woven through his familys lives. For Greco, it was a day that only happens once in a lifetime. Greco was preceded in death by his father, Salvatore Greco; mother, Elvira Battafarano Greco; sisters, Rita Greco Branca and Jean Greco Monaco; and his wife, Katherine Fisher Greco. He is survived by his children, Darrell (Karan), Sharon Pirro (Joe), Diane Greco (Sylvia Lopez) and Brenda Greco Bowerman (Karen); and eight grandchildren. Memorial services will be held at San Francesco di Paola Catholic Church on Tuesday. The family will receive friends at 10 a.m., followed by a rosary at 11 a.m. Mass will take place at 11:30 a.m. The chairwoman of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors is suing three members of the school board, claiming they pushed to have her fired from a part-time job with the school system. Martha Hooker filed a wrongful termination lawsuit Friday against school board members Cheryl Facciani, Tim Greenway and Brent Hudson. Facciani, Greenway and Hudson were angry about a decision made by the supervisors on funding for a new career and technical education center, the lawsuit alleges, and directed school Superintendent Ken Nicely to terminate Hooker in an act of politically minded retaliation. Nicely admitted that Hooker, a retired teacher for Roanoke County, was doing a good job in her new role as a work-based learning coordinator, according to the lawsuit, which also names the superintendent as a defendant. Personnel decisions are not normally made by the school board. But Nicely told Hooker: Sometimes the School Board gets out of their lane, the lawsuit claims. Hooker was fired in May, at a time of public tension between the supervisors and school board over how to fund the replacement of the Burton Center for Arts and Technology and the renovations of two elementary schools. The supervisors voted in fall 2022 to award funds for the schools by category and classification of expenses, rather than making a lump sum payment that would have given the school board more flexibility. The idea behind the supervisors unanimous vote was to increase transparency and accountability. In multiple telephone calls, Hudson told Hooker that the allocated funding was unacceptable and will be an ongoing roadblock in our relationship, the lawsuit alleges. Mr. Hudson spoke to Ms. Hooker in a derogatory tone and adopted a hostile demeanor during their conversations, according to the 13-page document filed in U.S. District Court in Roanoke. Hudson, chairman of the school board, was then joined by Facciani and Greenway in pressuring the superintendent to fire Hooker. The stated reason was that she had a conflict of interest in working for the districts career and technical education department while also serving on the board of supervisors, the lawsuit claims. The filing states that Hooker sought an opinion from the county attorney, who told her that she did not have a conflict of interest. Hooker says she always mentioned her part-time employment before voting on school issues. There was no official vote by the school board on Hookers employment, and the other two members of the board had no knowledge of the matter until learning from Hooker that she had been let go. David Linden and Mike Wray, who are supporters of Hooker, were intentionally left in the dark regarding the retaliatory scheme hatched by the defendants, the lawsuit states. County schools spokesman Chuck Lionberger declined to comment Monday on behalf of Nicely and the three school board members, citing a general policy of not talking about pending litigation. The lawsuit, filed by Roanoke County employment lawyer Tommy Strelka, claims that Hooker was retaliated against for exercising her First Amendment right of political speech by voting as a member of the board of supervisors and by making comments about a matter of public interest. Although no specific amount is listed in the lawsuit, Hooker is seeking compensatory damages for back pay, other equitable relief, and punitive damages. After a 19-year career as a teacher for Roanoke County, Hooker retired in May 2021. Soon afterward, she was approached by the school systems director of career and technical education about a job as a work-based learning coordinator. The duties of the part-time position include coordinating with teachers and administrators to develop more work-based opportunities such as internships, externships, job shadowing and other activities. Hooker was praised for the work she did, the lawsuit says, and was not aware of any complaints about her serving on the board of supervisors until May 30, when she requested a meeting with Nicely about her job status. While acknowledging that Hooker had done good work, Nicely allegedly told her that a majority of the school board not himself believed that she had a conflict of interest by serving as a supervisor. I was not willing to die on that hill, the lawsuit quotes him as saying was the reason he did not contest the boards wishes. Although Hooker and the three school board members she is suing are all Republicans, dissention and disagreement were intense among the two boards within the Republican party, according to the lawsuit. Facciani, Greenway and Hudson all supported Hookers opponent for the Republican nomination when she sought reelection earlier this year. Tom McCracken dropped out of the race at the last minute. Rather than attend the joint signing of a memorandum of understanding for a $130 million funding package for a new career and technical education center, the three school board members reportedly chose to participate in a McCracken campaign photo opportunity. This was not coincidental, the lawsuit asserts and could have been a violation of a Freedom of Information Act requirement that there be a public notice of a meeting of three or more public officials. Reached by text Monday, Strelka said that Hookers husband was his eighth-grade civics teacher. Its lovely to come full circle on the fundamental issues of constitutional freedom with the Hookers, he wrote. ROCKY MOUNT The town has implemented a new fuel program for several town staff, allowing more opportunities to better connect with local businesses and the community. For decades, the town vehicles have refueled at a gas pump located behind the Rocky Mount Police and Fire departments on Main Street. The pump provided gas for the town at a reduced cost, but tied employees to one location for refueling. Last month a new program was implemented using gas cards giving staff with town vehicles the ability to purchase gas at area gas stations. Assistant Town Manager Mark Moore said the cards allow staff to purchase gas wherever they are in town and beyond without having to travel back to a specific gas pump. We pay anywhere from 50 to 60 cents less than what is on the sign on average, Moore said of the reduced costs using the card, similar to the cost of fuel provided at the town-owned pump. Members of the Rocky Mount Police Department, often one of the towns biggest gas users, are now frequenting local gas stations to refuel patrol cars. Moore said the change provides more opportunities for officers to be out in the community interacting with the public. It provides a sense of security in the community, Moore said. The change also provides the benefit of additional revenue for local businesses with any additional purchases by staff made in the store. Moore does emphasis that the gas cards are only for the purchase of fuel and any other purchases are made with an employees own money. This is the first phase of implementing the new fuel program. Currently, the towns fire department and public works department are continuing to use the towns gas pump on Main Street. Moore said they are still working through the logistics of having the larger vehicles such as fire trucks and garbage trucks using the local gas stations. While only in place for a little more than a month, Moore said the town has received positive feedback from town employees and from the public. He sees the change as a way for the town to continue saving money with its gas purchases while being more active in the community. A top World Health Organization official described the hospital situation in Gaza as catastrophic on Monday, saying most are no longer functioning and what remains will likely be overwhelmed by thousands of births expected in the next month Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 31 premature babies are evacuated from Gaza's largest hospital, but scores of trauma patients remain The World Health Organization says 31 premature babies in extremely critical condition have been evacuated from Gazas largest hospital and will be transferred to Egypt for specialized care FLORENCE, S.C. The Florence County Council has approved an emergency 60-day moratorium against new sand mines to give the county time to conduct studies and potentially develop regulations. The unanimous decision was made at Thursdays council meeting in response to community concerns about the environmental and health effects of a proposed mine at a 260-acre property less than a mile outside Salem. The emergency ordinance stops county officials from giving required permits to or otherwise approving any new or expanding sand mining operations. Weve got a lot of concerned citizens down in the Salem community. They are worried about the acreage. This is not a typical sand mine, said Robert Poston, a member of the Florence County Council. The mine is proposed to be built in Postons district, and although he did not put the emergency ordinance on the agenda, he made the first motion to approve it. According to the emergency ordinance, there are 14 sand mines in the county. The ordinance does not stop the maintenance or repair of these mines, as long as the maintenance or repairs are not expansions. The proposed Salem Sand Henry Tract mine would be owned by Blue Water Industries LLC, which operates other sand mines and quarries in Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is reviewing the proposed sites mining permit, which it received on Aug. 11. According to documents submitted to the department, the company has leased 260.7 acres at 331 E. Highway 378 from Henry Family Farm Properties, LLC. Of that land, an estimated 189.2 acres is expected to be used for mining sand, while the other 71.5 acres will be used as a buffer. The company is expected to maintain an undisturbed 50-foot buffer around the propertys edge, and vegetative barriers will be built where wetlands on the property do not already block anyone from seeing or hearing the operation from the road or property line, according to the companys application. Even with the promised buffers and other mitigation efforts, some residents are concerned about the effect the sand mine and accompanying processing plant, which will also be located on the site, will have on them and the environment. During the moratorium, county staff will study the potential effects of sand mines on water quality, air quality, noise levels, ecological effects, public health, safety and anything else the staff decides is relevant, according to the ordinance. The countys study will also look at how mines may disturb communities they are located in. Once the study is complete, county staff will make recommendations to the Florence County Council on what regulations may be needed to mitigate those effects and disturbances. The unregulated expansion of sand mining operations poses a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Florence County, the ordinance says. The ordinance specifically lists the degradation of water quality and air quality, habitat disruption, landscape change, noise and dust as potential dangers to the public and environment. At the Salem site, sand will be mined using large pits dug into the earth. In its application to the Department of Health and Environmental Control, Blue Water Industries LLC said the pits will be filled with water before mining begins. Sand will be mined underwater using a hydraulic dredge. The sand will mix with the water then be sucked into a pipe and sent to the processing plant, where it will be screened and cleaned using water. These methods aim to preserve air quality, as all the sand and dust should stay mixed with water throughout the process, the application says. The water used to transport and process the sand will eventually be put back into the mined pits and will not be sent into the nearby streams or wetlands except in the case of an extreme storm, according to the application. No chemicals are expected to be used during the mining process. Josh Poston, who lives next to the proposed mine site, said he is still concerned that the size of the mine and the accompanying processing plant will have a significant effect on his small community despite proposed mitigation efforts. I know were in a rural area, but we are a community and we are a neighborhood, he said. Youre actually dropping an industrial complex in the middle of a neighborhood. One of his biggest concerns is noise pollution, especially if the mine were to operate around the clock, which he said he worries it will. He lives around 100 yards from the proposed mine site, where trucks and machinery will be operating, he said. Another of Postons concerns is groundwater. The mine is expected to use water for nearly all of its mining activities, and he said it may lower the water table, which would damage his foundation or dry up his neighbors deep wells. The mines application says that operations should have no appreciable reduction in groundwater levels because all of the water will remain on site and be put back into the mine pits to create ponds. Dianne Owens, who lives around eight miles from the proposed site, said she is concerned that the mine and processing plant will contaminate the wetlands on the property and nearby Deep Creek, which feeds into Lynches River. She was quick to point out that she is not an expert on environmental topics, only a concerned citizen who hopes the mines potential effects will be studied carefully. The propertys wetlands are shared with Deep Creek, but the mine is expected to maintain a 50-foot upland buffer around any wetlands, according to its application. The mine received a water discharge permit on Oct. 5 from the Department of Health and Environmental Control, which the application says will only be used in the event of an extreme storm. Poston and Owens were both concerned with air quality, particularly the common mining byproduct of silica dust. Silica is dangerous if inhaled and can cause permanent lung scarring, a condition called silicosis. According to The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, water is an effective way to manage silica dust. Although mined sand will be processed with water, the first 10 feet of the mining pits will be dug without water, according to the mining permit application. Before pit construction, the sites trees will be cut down and topsoil stripped. There are likely no endangered species on the property because it was timbered in the 2008-2011 timeframe, according to the application. Poston said he personally has seen many animals living on or around the property that will be displaced if the mine is built. The mining application acknowledges that it will displace wildlife, but says the mines reclamation plan will quickly bring back native species. Experience has shown once mining ceases and reclamation [is] completed new wildlife habitats are formed and populated by indigenous animal species, the application says. Once mining in one of the mines five segments is complete, reclamation of the active segment will be started before mining in another segment begins, according to the application. Former mining pits will not be filled in with dirt but will instead be left as lakes or ponds, while the land will be returned to grassland. A reclamation plan included with the application says that, after all five segments have been mined, the company will remove any buildings and machinery and the site will be cleaned up. During the Department of Health and Environmental Controls initial public comment period on the mining application, community members petitioned for a public hearing on the mine. That hearing was granted and will take place on Dec. 7 at Hannah-Pamplico Elementary School. Effective comments are those that provide accurate, specific details about the site of a proposed project, inaccuracies in the permit application, errors in DHECs technical review or draft permit, and any other information demonstrating that a proposed project cannot operate in compliance with environmental regulations, the departments website says. Sign-up starts at 5:30 p.m., and an informal meeting with the department staff will start at 6 p.m. The formal hearing will begin at 7:30 p.m. A representative for the Department of Health and Environmental Control confirmed that the meeting on Dec. 7 is still taking place despite the Florence County moratorium. Because of the hearing, the public comment period was extended through Dec. 22. If community members are unable to make the Dec. 7 hearing, they can make comments on the departments web page. Comments can also be made to the projects manager, Colby Myers, who can be reached by email at myerscg@dhec.sc.gov or by mail at 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, SC, 29201. After public comment closes, the department will make its final determination on the mining permit. The mine will still need to seek a land disturbance permit from Florence County, which it will not be able to obtain until the moratorium is lifted. FLORENCE, S.C. Francis Marion Universitys newest degree, autism studies, has been a long time coming. Eight to 10 years at least as that was when President Fred Carter said he was first approached by parents of autistic children who requested the degree. On Thursday university trustees approved the new undergraduate degree to launch in the fall of 2024. While the degree itself will be unique one of two such programs in the Southeast the mechanics of getting the degree will be equally so as there will be no department of autism studies. Four different disciplines are going to come together to accommodate our instruction in autism studies. One will be education, one will be psychology, one will be speech therapy or speech language pathology and the fourth one will be occupational therapy, Carter said. Obviously the education aspect of it and some of the psychological aspect will be working to better prepare teachers to accommodate autistic children in their classes, Carter said. The role of course for the the part of psychology, especially our applied behavioral analysis clinic and program and the occupational therapy part and the speech language pathology part will be able to provide better support to the men and women in this community who are located someplace on the autistic spectrum. How it all started Carter said he was asked by parents eight to 10 years ago about the possibility of launching such a degree program but the time was not right at that point as the university was focused on growing its health sciences and psychology programs. Times have changed. We didnt request a specific appropriation this year for autism but Rep. Nathan Ballentine asked us what things were new were happening at Francis Marion during our ways and means hearing and I talked about some of the things we were getting to explore with autism, Carter said. He asked me to come back the next day and we went back and met with them, a couple of our faculty with us, and he got the committee to appropriate a half a million dollars recurring to confront our efforts in moving into autistic studies, Carter said. When it got over to the Senate we had the same conversation with Sen. Ronnie Cromer and Cromer asked us, You didnt request anything for this year but the House gave you half a million recurring? and he said Is that enough? I said Well, its a big program. The Senate give us half a million more so we ended up with a million dollars recurring to launch this major autism initiative. It didnt stop there. About three weeks ago we had a businessman and his wife, both of whom happen to be alumni of Francis Marion Jimmy and Candace Brown came in and gave us a $1 million contribution to further support our efforts in autism studies. That $1 million they put on the table, the bulk of that $1 million will go to supporting scholarships for students who want to purse these degrees in autism studies., Carter said. The university president said it was a sign. We get the appropriation approved, were in the process of developing the curriculum and before it is developed and approved we get our first gift and it is a $1 million gift funding scholarship for men and women to come here and become more cognizant of the issues associated with autism to they can go out there and deal with it. A good place for the program Were the fourth largest, our region is the fourth largest in the state for autism diagnosis, said Jessica Brown, executive director for the Palmetto Partnership All 4 Autism, previously All 4 Autism. Brown and the organization she heads work with parents of children who are on the autism spectrum to help them navigate the services available and how to access them. A task made harder by South Carolina not recognizing autism as a disability, Brown said. And shortages of providers means some families may wait as long as 18 months to access care. Im very very excited about this program. We will partner with them however they will have us, Brown said. FMUs move came as All 4 Autism transitioned to the Palmetto Partnership All 4 Autism to be able to serve parents of all disabled children and at the time the organization was given a building. A building the organization has plans for. We hope to be able to provide them space. Thats why were pushing to go to phase II sooner to add the conference facility on to the building so we can provide space for their students to come and get their clinical hours here, because we have the families, we have the families that need it, Brown said. This program coming was even more affirmation that this was the right thing to do, Brown said of the move to open its services to all disabled people. People are seeing this need and for FMU to look at what is needed in the community and to address the need and do all the work to make that happen. The active autistic population around the Pee Dee will be a bonus for the university as it will give the students opportunities to interact and hone their skills long before they are graduates out in the field at their first job. Its one thing to go to school for a discipline to think thats what you want to do and its a whole new thing to get into the actual hands-on profession, Brown said. I think the clinical portion and getting them involved early on with the population is I think that is key. That is something you cant duplicate through a book or a curriculum. A good start We are the only university in the state putting together an autism study program relying on four distinctive disciplines cooperating and collaborating with one another to provide a range of curricular goals and applied practice goals that extend all the way across the continuum, Carter said. We think this will be a unique program. We think this will help educators a lot and it particularly helps those who choose to major in autism studies, theyre going to have a competency and a body of knowledge out there that is substantially more viable than what many of their colleagues coming from other institutions. At its launch the program will only offer a bachelors degree. Itll be a bachelors degree that will extend their understanding of this problem and mechanisms to deal with the problem. I do think it will fit together well with some of our other degrees of education now, as far as building upon that framework to advance their knowledge. We may grow the bachelorette degree in autism and expand it down the road. Its a little premature to talk about that, but I see that emerging. It will enable the students who graduate from this to be licensed to teach in South Carolina public schools where they can work with children who have some form of autism or who are on the autism spectrum, said Dr. Callum Johnston, dean of the School of Education. Were going to be producing with these interdisciplinary efforts a student who is going to be very useful in addressing all those types of needs those children will have in the public school system. Carter said he wants the program to grow to where it becomes a resource not just to the students in the program but to schools in need. By that point I hope the university and our faculty is at a juncture where they could work with that school district, work with that principal, work with that curricular director at the school to develop a curriculum that would ... address the issues or struggles that student is experiencing, Carter said. You really want these men and women assimilated as rapidly as possible and as completely as possible. The key is to develop an understanding of the issue to the extent you can deal with it more comprehensively. Super teachers, if they want to be The number of people with autism continues to climb. I think these will be super teachers. they have beyond that wonderful basic teacher preparation to be able to help all these children we see with autism and offer them so much more, said Karen Gittings, dean of the School of Health Sciences. When got my degree autism numbers were one in 10,000 people. Since that time the autistic spectrum has pushed that number to one in 36, Johnston said. Teachers are dealing with all sorts of behaviors, different types of reaction to environments and everything else these young folks will be bringing into the classroom. Gittings said the university has an in-house clinic and a majority of people seen there are on the autism spectrum. Both Johnston and Gittings said that if the student in the program graduates and then decides to pursue a teaching degree then they would essentially be super teachers. Thats why were excited about speech language pathology. Some of the classes were offering are going to help our students recognize what the issues are but then one of the courses helps them to understand and, what are we going to do about it. Gittings said. I think were bringing a lot to the table with health sciences and giving these teachers additional skills. If the graduates choose not to advance in education, or go into education, theyll still have the education and experience to take into whatever field they choose, Gittings said. Theyll find ways not only to get behavior under control so children can learn, but theyll also be doing some of the other things like occupational therapy and speech language, Johnston said. Finding strengths in people and finding what theyre really capable of doing I think this person would be able to do that and thats in addition to teaching regular classes. Gittings said down the road she can see autism studies being a certificate teachers could work toward. Many career options The degree would lend itself well to jobs as a case manager, workforce specialist, occupational therapist, ABA classroom analyst among others, said Johnston. They are going to be capable of analyzing behaviors, finding out which ones are needed and which ones need to be changed, he said. I think it opens up a new field of research. I think it opens up a whole new way of thinking about professional qualifications. Were putting this person together and theyll be able to work this this population of people, Johnston said. Johnston said, again, it goes back to the numbers. When you go from one in 10,000 to one in 36, something is happening in our society ... whether or not were becoming more aware of the minutiae that goes along with autistic tendencies, but something is happening there and we need people to deal with that, Johnston said. Maybe it sets an example for other people to to start considering other ways they might be able to work in certain disciplines or with certain groups of people who have a whole different set of problems. Doing the right thing Theres a whole population out there we can give a bright future to. Theres a whole population of adults out there that we can help find a more meaningful roll in regard to a work environment, a study environment. Were excited about this, Carter said This is a good degree. Its a complicated degree, theres so many different aspects to understanding autism, dealing with autism, treating autism, Carter said. Obviously you need all those disciplines involved and you need a faculty willing to set aside its disciplinary differences and willing to come around one problem and thats whats so neat about this from the standpoint of a university. Its a degree program not structured around disciplines, its structured around a problem and bringing disciplines together to address this program. Carter said this program would help other universities learn to improve. Every university does some of this; we purport to be a university that does most of it, Carter said. Its going to take us a few years to ramp up, hire the right people and be in a position where we can do this particularly well, Carter said. Were ready to do the things a university like Francis Marion is suited to do. Go out on missionary work to tackle another problem in the community. There is no other institution in South Carolina that offers this. What we are doing is meeting a need with this interdisciplinary approach. I think we are going to attract a lot of people, Johnston said. We will have our own center for autism studies. It will have its own director and administrative consultant ensuring the students in the program are getting the field work they need and the clinical experiences they need. Were pretty excited about that. We hope to give new teachers those tools to assimilate those children more readily in the classroom. Carter said. If we can do that we will have done a good days work. Starting 21 November, crossing Singapore's borders with unmanned aircraft without a permit is prohibited. (PHOTO: Getty Images/iStockphoto) (Getty Images/iStockphoto) SINGAPORE Flying unmanned aircraft (UA) across borders into or out of Singapore without a permit will be prohibited from Tuesday (21 November), said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a joint statement on Monday. UA refers to any aircraft that can be controlled without a person on board, such as radio-controlled aircraft, drones, and remote-controlled kites. Authorities will now have the powers to intercept unauthorised cross-border UAs or drones. Anyone caught operating a UA into or out of Singapore without authorisation may face prosecution, including fines of up to $50,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years. New framework introduced to safeguard public safety and security According to the joint statement by CAAS and SPF, this new framework for cross-border UA operations supplements the existing framework, which was introduced in 2015 for operations within the country. The expansion of UA capabilities, including improved flight range and payload capacity due to technological advancements, may present a risk to potential public safety and security. "Globally, we have seen cases of UAs disrupting airport operations, as well as being used for criminal activities, such as for smuggling, and to conduct terror attacks. In Singapore, we witnessed the use of UA for cross-border drug smuggling in 2020," the joint statement stated. UA-enabled suspected drug trafficking in June 2020 In June 2020, authorities arrested four individuals suspected of drug trafficking through a UA detected near Kranji Reservoir Park. The UA carrying a black bag was found to contain suspected controlled substances, approximately 278g of Ice, believed to have been imported from Malaysia. Flight data obtained from a suspect's phone indicated that the UA had travelled from Kranji to Johor Bahru and returned to Kranji on the same day. June 2020: Authorities arrested four suspects involved in drug trafficking via a UA near Kranji Reservoir Park. (PHOTO: CNB) (CNB) 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 sheriff's office said in a statement that the arrest stemmed from an investigation into a report of a sexual assault that occurred at a Hull residence earlier this month. The investigation revealed that Ramirez-Chilel had sexual contact with a child, according to the statement. Gov. Gregg Abbott speaks during a rally Sunday at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, where he officially endorsed Donald J. Trump in the former presidents quest to return to the White House. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer Trump supporters pose for a group photo during a rally Sunday at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, where Gov. Gregg Abbott officially endorsed former President Donald J. Trump. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a rally Sunday at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, where he gave officially endorsed Donald J. Trump in the former presidents quest to return to the White House. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer With his school voucher push in shambles, Gov. Greg Abbott headed south to the Texas border this weekend, changing the subject to his preferred issue whenever things get a little rough back in Austin. The governor spent part of his Sunday serving holiday meals with former President Donald Trump to state troops and Department of Public Safety officers stationed at the border and slamming President Joe Biden for how he has managed an influx of migrants. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Trump, whom Abbott formally endorsed for president, then spent time praising the governor before a cheering crowd in Edinburg. It was a familiar respite for the governor after a stinging defeat. Just two days earlier, the Texas House voted to kill a private school voucher program that Abbott has spent this year campaigning on and likely with it a larger education package to raise teacher pay and increase school funding overall. Abbott often has turned to the border for political relief after other failures in the Legislature. In early May, when the House showed early opposition to subsidizing private education expenses, he responded by holding a news conference about the border on the tarmac at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Texas National Guard members marched behind him as he vowed to crack down on migrants crossing into the country illegally. When the House killed his property tax proposal in a special session this June, Abbott announced in a news conference at the Capitol that he planned to put a 1,000-foot floating barrier in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mark Jones, a Rice University political science professor, said the border is an especially useful distraction when Abbott gets caught up in fights with other Republicans. Its such a unifying issue for Republicans, he said. There is no real dissent within the party about what should be done on the border. Specifically, Republicans have called for reinstating a remain-in-Mexico policy for asylum seekers that was in place during the pandemic, ending a policy where asylum seekers can be released into the U.S. until their claims are reviewed by a court and restarting construction of a federal border wall. Abbott has flooded the border region with National Guard troops and law enforcement under his multibillion-dollar Operation Lone Star. A survey in May by the nonprofit and nonpartisan Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation found that 86% of registered Texas Republicans supported Abbotts handling of the border and 88% disapproved of how Biden was dealing with it. Nearly three-quarters of all Texans supported him sending troops and DPS officers to the border. Compare that with school vouchers, where just 58% of registered voters said they backed the idea. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Abbott has spent months now traveling the state and amping up pressure on Republican holdouts to back an education package that would have increased funding for public schools and teacher pay raises, while also allowing parents to use up to $10,500 of state funding to help pay for private school tuition and related expenses. But on Friday, state Rep. John Raney, a College Station Republican, led the effort to kill the voucher component, warning that it would endanger public school funding. The ultimate defeat reflects the commitment to all public school children and responsible stewardship of public funds, Raney said on social media Monday, reiterating his concerns and signaling that his position wont change if Abbott tries to call another special session in December. Its time to shift the focus. Abbott previously had threatened to call another special session potentially in December if lawmakers didnt give in. Some legislators have been preparing for Abbott to call them back in February 2024, which would come just as voting in the Texas primaries is underway. That would give Abbott a chance to use the election as more political pressure against GOP holdouts. The only other time lawmakers have been called back in December was in 1973, when Gov. Dolph Briscoe, a Uvalde Democrat, called an emergency session during a national energy crisis. Advertisement Article continues below this ad After the House vote on Friday, Abbott vowed to keep fighting but did not hint at his next move. He did not take reporter questions during his swing through the Rio Grande Valley on Sunday. SIOUX CITY Kim Taylor repeatedly tarnished the integrity of Iowa's 2020 elections by filling out and submitting election documents and ballots that were not signed by the voters whose name appeared on them, prosecutors said Monday. "Every single one of the voting registration forms that was submitted with a false signature is fraudulent and against the law," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Timmons told jurors in his closing argument. "Evidence shows Kim Taylor signed or had someone else sign those documents in order to get her husband elected." Prosecutors believe Taylor, of Sioux City, fraudulently filled out voting registration forms, absentee ballot request forms and absentee ballots on behalf of numerous voters in Sioux City's Vietnamese community during the 2020 primary and general elections. Indicted and arrested in January, Taylor has pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to 52 charges: 26 counts of providing false information in registering and voting, three counts of fraudulent registration and 23 counts of fraudulent voting. Her attorney, F. Montgomery Brown, said Taylor was exercising her constitutional right to campaign for her husband and help people vote. "Is there really any evidence here other than get out the vote activity? Any zeal to support her husband is not a crime," Brown said in his closing argument. Jurors received the case Monday afternoon and deliberated for three hours before leaving for the day. They will resume deliberations Tuesday morning. Prosecutors allege Taylor, who was born in Vietnam, fraudulently filled out forms and ballots on behalf of Vietnamese voters, many with limited English comprehension, in order to amass votes for her husband, Jeremy Taylor, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for his party's nomination for a U.S. House seat in the 2020 primary and was elected to the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors that fall. Jeremy Taylor, who met his wife while teaching in Vietnam, has not been charged, but has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator. Kim Taylor chose not to testify Monday. For four days last week, the government called witnesses who said they did not vote in either election, yet voter registration forms, ballot requests and ballots were submitted in their names. The witnesses, all younger adults who speak English, said the handwriting and signatures on the documents were not theirs and they hadn't given anyone permission to sign on their behalf. In some cases, the voters were not living in Sioux City on the dates listed on the forms, and the forms incorrectly listed the first name of some voters. Parents with limited understanding of English testified through an interpreter that Taylor filled out documents for them, and they signed their children's names after Taylor told them it was OK to do so. Some testified they handed over blank documents to Taylor, who left with them and later dropped them off at the Woodbury County Courthouse. Brown said the government provided no proof Taylor signed any of the documents. "The government wants you to guess or assume she signed a whole bunch of these herself. Where's a single shred of evidence for that?" he said. Suggesting the FBI did not thoroughly investigate the case, Brown said the documents were never submitted to handwriting analysts to determine if the writing was Taylor's. "It's too easy to just say she did it. They didn't want to know," Brown said. Before closing arguments, Brown called three witnesses to testify to Kim Taylor's character and also recalled FBI special agent Matt Murphy, who was previously called as a prosecution witness, and asked him if he knew of any federal regulation that required someone like Taylor helping a voter fill out voting materials to translate the entire voting document. Murphy said he did not know if there were. "We investigated whether there were any fraud or misrepresentations in the documents that were submitted," Murphy said. During his closing argument, Brown said Taylor was not required to fully translate the documents when assisting voters, and the government was criminalizing an act not required by law. "They have to prove she knowingly committed a crime, not by ignorance, mistake or accident," Brown said. In the government's rebuttal argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Evans said Taylor knew voters must personally sign election forms unless they give permission for someone else to do so. "The defendant has worked on campaigns since 2008. She knew what she was doing," Evans said. "Kim Taylor wanted to get as many votes for her husband as possible and did so by telling people they could vote on behalf of their children." A night filled with ho-ho-ho's! The holidays season will kick into high gear with the 12th annual Downtown Holiday Lighted Parade, sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 231, which starts at 6:15 p.m. Monday at the corner of Fourth and Iowa Streets. The route will end in front of the Sioux City Public Museum (607 Fourth St.), where the 30-foot Downtown Christmas tree will be lit by Santa Claus at around 7:30 p.m. Santa will then move into the RE/MAX City Centre (714 Fourth St) for an evening of photo-taking and refreshment. Don't forget that the 30th annual Festival of Trees -- benefiting Support Siouxland Soldiers -- will have its opening night at 6:15 p.m. Monday in the atrium at the Ho-Chunk Centre (600 Fourth St.) Three people died in a one-vehicle crash south of Winnebago in northeast Nebraska. At 3:41 a.m. on Saturday, a Thurston County sheriffs deputy came across the vehicle that was in a ditch along U.S. 75, according to a press release sent Thursday by the Thurston County Sheriffs Office. After seeing the vehicle was occupied, the deputy called on the Winnebago Police Department and Omaha Nation Law Enforcement Services to assist. An investigation determined four people were in the vehicle, which was traveling south when it left the eastern side of the road and collided with the ditch. Three people were pronounced dead at the scene. The Nebraska Department of Transportation identified them as Tanesia Wolfe-Ricehill, Daniel Ricehill and Duane Walker Jr. Their ages and towns of residence have not been released. The fourth person, who has not been identified, was airlifted to an Omaha hospital. The company that created ChatGPT was thrown into turmoil Monday after Microsoft hired its ousted CEO and many employees threatened to follow him in a conflict that centered in part on how to build artificial intelligence that's smarter than humans. The developments followed a weekend of drama that shocked the AI field and fueled speculation about the future of OpenAI, which named a new chief executive on Friday and then replaced her on Sunday. The newest CEO vowed to investigate the firing of co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, who's been instrumental in OpenAI's transformation from a nonprofit research laboratory into a world-renowned commercial startup that inaugurated the era of generative artificial intelligence. Microsoft, which has been a close partner of the company and invested billions of dollars in it, announced that Altman and OpenAI's former president, Greg Brockman, would lead its new advanced AI research team. Brockman, also an OpenAI co-founder, quit in protest after Altman was fired. Hundreds of OpenAI employees, including other top executives, threatened to join them at Microsoft in an open letter addressed to OpenAI's four-member board that called for the board's resignation and Altman's return. If the architects and vision and brains behind these products have now left, the company will be a shell of what it once was, said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell Universitys Tech Policy Institute. All of that brain trust going to Microsoft will then mean that these impressive tools will be coming out of Microsoft. It will be hard to see OpenAI continue to thrive as a company. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was extremely excited to bring on the pair and looked forward to getting to know the new management team at OpenAI. Altman later said on X that his top priority with Nadella is to ensure that OpenAI "continues to thrive and that it is committed to fully providing continuity of operations to our partners and customers. OpenAI said Friday that Altman was pushed out after a review found he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board of directors, which had lost confidence in his ability to lead the company. In an X post Monday, OpenAI's new interim chief executive, Emmett Shear, said he would hire an independent investigator to look into Altman's ouster and write a report within 30 days. Its clear that the process and communications around Sams removal" were handled "very badly, wrote Shear, who co-founded Twitch, an Amazon-owned livestreaming service popular with video gamers. He said he also plans in the next month to reform the management and leadership team in light of recent departures." After that, Shear said, he would drive changes in the organization, including significant governance changes if necessary. Originally started as a nonprofit, and still governed as one, OpenAIs stated mission is to safely build AI that is generally smarter than humans. Debates have swirled around that goal and whether it conflicts with the company's increasing commercial success. The reason behind the board's removal of Altman was not a specific disagreement on safety, nor does the board oppose commercialization of AI models, Shear said. OpenAI last week declined to answer questions about Altmans alleged lack of candor. The company's statement said his behavior was hindering the boards ability to exercise its responsibilities. A key driver of the shakeup, OpenAIs co-founder, chief scientist and board member Ilya Sutskever, expressed regrets for his participation in the ouster. "I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything weve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company, he said Monday on X. The open letter began circulating Monday. According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the number of signatures amounted to a majority of the company's 770 employees. The AP was not able to independently confirm that all of the signatures were from OpenAI employees. Everyone at @OpenAI is united, one of the signatories, research scientist Noam Brown, said on X. This is not a civil war. Unless Sam and Greg are brought back, there will be no OpenAI left to govern. The letter alleged that after Altman's firing, the company's remaining executive team had recommended that the board resign and be replaced with a qualified board" that could stabilize the company. But the board resisted and said allowing OpenAI to be destroyed would be consistent with its mission, according to the letter. OpenAI has said since its 2015 founding that its goal is to advance AI in a way that benefits all humanity. A company spokesperson confirmed that the board received the letter. Microsoft declined to comment on the letter. After Altman was pushed out, he stirred speculation about coming back into the fold in a series of tweets. He posted a selfie with an OpenAI guest pass Sunday, saying this is first and last time i ever wear one of these. Hours earlier, he tweeted, i love the openai team so much, which drew heart replies from Brockman and Mira Murati, OpenAIs chief technology officer who was initially named as interim CEO. It's not clear what transpired between the announcement of Murati's interim role Friday and Shear's hiring, though she was among several employees Monday who tweeted, OpenAI is nothing without its people. Altman replied to many with heart emojis. The board consists of Sutskever, Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner of the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology. None of them responded to calls or emails seeking comment. Because of its nonprofit structure, the board differs from most startup boards that are typically led by investors. Altman helped catapult ChatGPT to global fame based on its ability to respond to questions and produce human-like passages of text in a seemingly natural way. In the past year, he has become Silicon Valleys most in-demand voice on the promise and potential dangers of artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, he went on a world tour to meet with government officials, drawing big crowds at public events as he discussed the risks of AI and attempts to regulate the emerging technology. But as money poured into OpenAI this year, helping to advance its development of more capable AI, it also brought more conflict around whether that fast pace of commercialization fit with the startup's founding vision, said Kreps, the Cornell University professor. But rather than slow that pace, Altman's ouster may simply shift it out of OpenAI. Altman "really has a walk-on-water aura, and I think a lot of it is well deserved," Kreps said. Hes the one who has attracted the investment, and hell do that wherever it is. Microsoft's shares rose 2% on Monday and hit an all-time high. The AP and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the APs text archives. I stumbled into a job as the second employee of the theretofore-not-yet-named feminist website Jezebel sometime during the first week of 2007, left less than two years later, and never really read it again afterward. But for more than a decade after its founding, it seemed like Jezebels influence, or at least ethos, was everywhere: Bridesmaids, #MeToo, Girls, Reductress, that student who walked around their college campus dragging a mattress everywhere they went to commemorate their rage toward a boy they accused of raping them, Single Drunk Female, Pussy Riot and pussy hats, Shitty Media Men, Bernie Bros, and most famouslyalbeit probably inadvertentlyan inimitable unifying weakness for discussing gross bodily functions/fluids. Most recently, to that end, I found myself reminiscing about Jezebel while reading a putative class-action lawsuit recently filed against Amazon by a delivery driver whose supervisor advised her to buy a contraption called a Shewee so she could driplessly urinate into a bottle like all the other Amazon drivers without getting fired for failing to meet the online retail monopolys impossible timeliness metrics. Back in 2008, Jezebel had test-driven just such a device in a viral videomercifully lost to some system migration or anotherwherein four (full disclosure, semidrunk) editors participated in a contest to see which of us could make her urine travel the longest distance. Advertisement It did not of course in those days occur to any of us that such a device might prove to be an instrument of gender parity in the workplace (to say nothing of, lol, the very pyrrhic victory such parity would constitute in an era of unceasing aggregate decline). 2008 was so long ago that most people still bought the vast majority of their stuff in physical stores, which were in turn a far more abundant source of shitty jobs than Amazon; hell, Jezebel had a recurring feature on the drudgery of minimum-wage retail jobs. But maybe just because said video involved quite literally marking the territory in our own urine, reading the Amazon drivers complaint, I felt certain that wherever her boss had first heard about the Shewee, epidemiologically it would ultimately trace back, like the apocryphal cerulean sweater of Miranda Priestlys fictional monologue in The Devil Wears Prada movie, to a Jezebel post from 15 years earlier, only in lieu of trickling down from couture to clearance, the Shewee had propelled itself laterally 15 years into the future from absurd joke to absurd reality. Advertisement Advertisement But I digress. The other thing for which Jezebel will be remembered, as the multiple think pieces blaming/crediting us for cancel culture will attest, was our all-consuming desire to piss all over the conventions of the era that created it. In Jezebels defense, this was decidedly more of an era thing than an us thing. America during the Bush administration was a cultural deathscape dominated by rapacious moguls who groomed vast stables of abused children into interchangeably vacuous ambassadors for interchangeably pointless brands. That was the business model, and like all aspiring moguls, Gawker Media founder Nick Denton wanted his writers to be young, photogenic, insecure and/or desperate enough to do whatever it took to rake in the page views, and of course sufficiently brokehe paid his first bloggers $12 per postto jump ship and make way for the next bright young professional asshole the moment they nabbed a respectable job. No one understood consciously at the time that the media moguls he emulated and his employees documented were often literal serial rapists and sex traffickersthough if youd been reading Gawker, it didnt exactly surprise youbut a whole emerging genre of self-help was geared toward training men how to channel their inner sociopath. Denton wasnt like that; he was just a casual Thatcherite who spent too much time around rich people and wanted Gawkers content to reflect his boring nihilismthough, mercifully, not as much as he wanted to generate traffic. Our production quotas were so impossible we really didnt have time to process complex emotions, so rage was often the underlying vibe of the posts, and my God, we had so much to hate. New York is a city for the rich by the rich, and all of us work at the mercy of rich people and their projects, longtime Gawker editor Choire Sicha told New York magazine a few months after I joined. In some ways, thats functional; it works as a feudal society. But whats happened now, [is] that culture has dried up and blown away. Not a week goes by I dont want to quit this job, because staring at New York this way makes me sick. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate Rupert Murdoch Poured Gasoline on Democracy and Got Burned Too Read More Denton visualized Jezebel, code-named Girly Gawker when I was hired, as a companion site to his flagship that would labor to antagonize the leadership of womens magazines as Gawker had scandalized the world of nongender-based publishing. In so many senses, this was a suicide mission. While regular magazines at the time were generally break-even influence-peddling operations whose Park Slopedwelling editors saw Gawker as a kind of beneficial parasite, womens magazines were enormous cash cows, two inches thick with the most masturbatory photo shoots and lifeless prose you can imagine, helmed by absolute monsters who lived in Gilded Age rowmansions in Gramercy and Central Park South, perpetuated the most notoriously toxic workplaces in town, and most insidiously, were literally celebrated for hazing underlings and flouting labor law more shamelessly than DoorDash. When a former Vogue assistant wrote a novel based on her genuinely traumatizing experience working as Anna Wintours personal servant, Maureen Dowdand literally every other mainstream media outletaccused the assistant of vampiric, second-order cruelty. When I was hired, I hadnt flipped through a womens magazine since Kurt and Courtney were on the cover of Sassy, but I quickly learned to hate them as I hated Milton Friedman and J. Edgar Hoover, especially when I learned that my favorite Sassy editor, by all accounts a spectacular person IRL, had a new magazine utterly and entirely about shopping. Advertisement Advertisement Jezebel toiled mightily to piss off this lucrative consumption cartel. We had a feature called Start Snitchin urging readers to email us with noxious tales of abusive womens media bosses, sorority-type hazing rituals, and overall operational dysfunction; we had another called Write Like a Man in which a friend of mine deployed his most indulgent 1970s Esquire guy voice to dispense writing advice to vapid Conde Nast bloggers. We broke the internet bestowing a $10,000 reward upon an anonymous staffer who submitted a pre-retouched recent cover image of a major womens magazine wherein the subject, Faith Hill, looked like a normal 40-year-old woman, as opposed to the Olsen twin doppelganger on the cover of the magazine. Denton made us write a manifesto listicle about why we hated womens magazines so darn much, and we used the opportunity to cast ourselves as the voice of a Silent Majority of women who did not expect life to imitate Sex and the City. Advertisement Advertisement Like Amazon drivers, we had quotas to fill. In part to offset all the vitriol and scorn we were heaping upon wretched womens media, we augmented posts critiquing Vogue and Cosmo with ones hating on, well, men, duh, but also, ourselves. I wrote vivid TMI posts about my hemorrhoids, my Adderall habit, my drinking problem, the time I got a tampon stuck inside the nether regions of my vagina for 10 days and it smelled sort of like Cantonese stinky tofu but worse, my drinking problem again, a time in college I got date raped. (All of this predated XoJane, which wouldnt launch until 2011.) Part of this was our rebellion against the eras tyrannical virgin-whore Brazilian waxed sterility: In another memorable early page view getter, Jezebel editor Jennifer Gerson dissected the actor Terrence Howards revelation that he flat-out refused to court a woman if she kept merely toilet paper and not baby wipes in her bathroom. (If theyre using dry paper, theyre not washing all of themselves. Its just unclean.) But also, like Amazon drivers, we had quotas to fill. It was exhausting. Just because I wanted to cancel late capitalism and institutional anorexia did not mean I thought of myself as any sort of moral authority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is odd in hindsight to consider how little I pondered how aggressivelyand yet thoughtlesslyI toiled each day to make new enemies who were exponentially more powerful than I was. By the end of 2007, for example, I had redirected much of my energy toward antagonizing supporters of Hillary Clinton, and by 2008, Jezebel was recognized as one of the most shamelessly pro-Obama sites on the internet. This infuriated the same general ilk of slightly older feminists who later went apoplectic over Bernie in 2015, including a Brandeis professor named Linda Hirshman, who in 2008 wrote a column about how my generation of feminists had ignobly abandoned hers, essentially because we were flighty and spoiled. That June, the Washington Post commissioned me to write a rebuttal to Hirshmans op-ed, and shortly after that, I was invited, along with my fellow Jezebel editor Tracie Slut Machine Egan, to appear on an alcohol-themed comedy show during which the host ambushed us with strange, accusatory questions about our sexual habits and why I hadnt reported my college date rape to the police, then wrote up the event on the Huffington Post accusing us of, inter alia, being drunk when her producer had literally handed me two beers upon my arrival at the studio and instructed me to get drunk. I did not realize until much later, by which point Hirshman had repeatedly invoked the incident in screeds blaming Jezebel for the deficiencies of millennial feminism, that wed walked into a pretty obvious trap designed to discredit us, and Jezebel, for, I guess, being naive enough to think we could be slutty drunks with serious opinions, like we were nonviolent Norman Mailer or some shit. It soon turned out we were all naive: Obama was every bit the narcissistic neoliberal shill I worried Hillary would be, and by the next Hillary campaign, both I and my comedian inquisitor Lizz Winstead were solidly in the Bernie Bro camp, while Hirshman, for her part, conceded that young feminists who insisted they should feel safe getting drunk at fraternity parties were more radical than she was. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would ultimately become apparent that Jezebels gleeful Start Snitchin ethos could be harnessed to create a media landscape as toxic and deranged as the nihilistic libertinism that had enabled so many bad actors to operate with impunity during the Bush years, because the same clique of wealthy and powerful gatekeepers ultimately and inherently decides who will and wont be canceled. Soon after I left Gawker Media a few months post the public shaming, to that end, I began hearing about lawyers who wanted to help former employees sue Gawker and Nick Denton. One particularly persistent private investigator contacted me in 2012, advising me that he was working on an academic study of workplace practices in the constricted economy; over beers he said a wealthy client he could not disclose had essentially sent him on a fishing expedition. I felt sickened by the implications of what he was saying and started working in restaurants not long afterward. I assume now he worked for Peter Thiel, who the year earlier had reportedly begun bankrolling a legal fund masterminded by a Clinton Global Initiative operative that would ultimately finance the Hulk Hogan sex tape lawsuit that bankrupted Gawker and ultimately canceled the enterprise entirely, supposedly out of spite over a (borderline adoring) 2007 post in Valleywag outing him as gay. Theres probably more to the Gawker assassination conspiracy, but what is known is unsettling enough. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now to be sure, the energy of cancellation could be used for good: The year after the bankruptcy, the New York Times broke the three-decade-old Harvey Weinstein scandal, the Miami Herald busted open the long-shuttered, similarly ancient Jeffrey Epstein case, and the spirit of #MeToo undoubtedly bolstered the prosecutions of two staggeringly prolific abusers. Eighty-seven women ultimately accused Weinstein of rape, sexual assault, or sexual harassment, and about 150 victims were identified in Epsteins sexual blackmail ring. But even outing sexual predators quickly proved an unreliable way to create positive change: #MeToo almost instantaneously begat the Shitty Media Men list, to which invited individuals could anonymously report bad behavior allegedly perpetrated by media men on a spreadsheet. Advertisement Advertisement I was years removed from said shitty media, literally crumbing the tablecloths of the ruling class, when I heard about Shitty Media Men, and was overcome with emotional solidarity with its contributors when I diduntil I finally beheld the list itself. It contained a few men I knew to be both legitimately creepy and semipowerful, a few more I knew to be slutty but not terribly powerful, and a lot more I would describe as heavy drinkers who liked Bernie Sanders. That didnt, of course, make them incapable of sexual misconduct, but coupled with the anonymity and the vagueness of the allegations, it opened the door to the possibility in my mind that some of the lists contributors might have had ulterior motives and/or been outright lying, and the subsequent epiphany that the truth actually didnt even matter, the sexual offenses in question were in fact just a sideshow to the bigger problem of eroding media profits and the imperative of heads to roll. I personally had, after all, been canceled for 1.) attempting to make a joke about why I hadnt reported my sexual assault to police, and later, for 2.) writing a column commending Julian Assanges sexual assault victims, whose accounts I believed, for ceasing to cooperate in an investigation they understood to be driven by the desire to cancel his journalism. Just as sexual predation had been long weaponized to reinforce power structures and quash dissent, sexual misconduct accusations could easily be deployed to serve the same end, often by the same damn people. Advertisement Advertisement My dad once told me that in the same spirit with which Mao pronounced Stalin 70 percent correct and 30 percent incorrect and Deng Xiaoping gave the same grade to Mao, Chinese traffic cops will assign some portion of fault to both drivers in an auto collision. Im not saying we should normalize blaming sexual misconduct victims for a portion of the trauma they have endured, though the criminal justice system effectively does this anyway, which is a major reason women refrain from pressing charges. Im saying we should all feel pretty ashamed that the concept of nuance and the understanding that humans are inherently fallible is so much more thoroughly entrenched in a fucking totalitarian state than in this titular democracy. Advertisement Advertisement Jezebel, like communist revolution and most things in life, was a mixed bag. Jezebel, like communist revolution and most things in life, was a mixed bag. It was a place where, as one tribute put it, women could publish unapologetically feminist, rigorous and honest stories about pop culture and politics. But it was, like so much of the internet, also in some respects a content farm, squeezing outeh, so to speakeverything the writers who staffed it had to offer, sometimes answering the question of is this mode worthwhile with traffic statistics rather than a real future-oriented reflection on values, consequences, and the sustainability of the whole enterprise. Many loyal readers may mourn its demise. But maybe the real mystery is why the gatekeepers allowed it to live as long as it did. While it always attracted an obsessive readership of highly educated women, its all-abiding contempteven among Jezebel editors who legitimately enjoyed shoppingfor the gratuitous consumption at the heart of womens media made the site almost comically toxic for advertisers who were accustomed to editorial content acting as a kind of foreplay to the intercourse of commercial transactions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From Day 1, we were constantly, endlessly told this would be the end of Jezebelthat even the most gregarious, nattily attired, and ingratiating sales representative on staff, the one I never saw when he didnt have a little baggie of cocaine he was more than ready to share, could not sell advertising against our chaotic content. Rich Juzwiak, who worked on and off at Jezebel from 2008 until the very bitter end, says he heard that line a thousand times. That was always, always the line, that no one could sell ads on Jezebel. And yet we kept going. Perhaps most astonishingly, it kept on for 4 years under the ownership of a private equity firm that clearly, conspicuously, wanted to destroy it completely every single day of that period. Advertisement Advertisement One day when it no longer matters, maybe well learn what Jezebel ultimately did to get itself canceled. Revisiting the site during its last weeks to check in on its Swift-Kelce coverage, I found that the sites Tayvis beat writer Kylie Cheung was also doing her damndest to antagonize the powerful with harrowing dispatches from a Gaza maternity ward and the Kansas City Police Department, where an insane scheme to fabricate evidence, rig investigations, and extort money and sex from poor Black women has embroiled numerous police chiefs. Mercifully enough, she hadnt found anything worth canceling in Travis Kelces old tweets (though it wouldnt be long before someone did). In times like these, Jezebel always understood, women need to believe in something. Airbnb announced that it would stop listing properties in Israeli settlements, as part of a new policy to stop contributing to existing human suffering. The day after the company publicized this decision, thenIsraeli Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan wrote to governors in Illinois, New York, Florida, Missouri, and California, encouraging them to take action against the global housing company. It worked; Airbnb buckled to the pressure and reversed course within a matter of months. This happened in 2019, long before Hamas Oct. 7 massacre and Israels furious reprisal this year, which has killed more than 11,000 people, including over 4,000 children, according to Gazas Health Ministry. But Airbnbs backtrack four years ago is a useful distillation of the pressures that individuals and corporate entities face when they publicly oppose Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Its much worse now. In the month and a half since Israel launched its assault on Gaza, there has been a diffuse and swift crackdown on expressions of support for Palestinians or criticism of Israeli actions. Numerous employees across the U.S. have been fired or have resigned for pro-Palestinian statements. Federal law enforcement agents have reportedly already visited mosques and questioned Palestinian Americans, a chilling resumption of this countrys post9/11 surveillance machine. And despite its signature deadlock, Congress has managed to mobilize on this issue too. Advertisement The Senate passed a unanimous resolution condemning pro-Palestine student groups as anti-Israel, pro-Hamas. In the House, Rep. Ryan Zinke introduced a bill to expel Palestinian noncitizens, echoing ideas already floated by former President Donald Trump to attempt another Muslim ban. And a bipartisan coalition in the House voted to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, for her comments criticizing Israels actions in the war. Advertisement Advertisement In all of these cases, the backlash to pro-Palestinian activism is dangerously charged with bad faith interpretations of protesters aims. One can critique student groups whose letters portrayed the Oct. 7 massacre as legitimate armed resistance, for example, but conflating their words with material support for terrorism, as the Anti-Defamation League has, categorizes the students speech as a threat to national security. In Europe, Germany and France have banned pro-Palestine protests, though crowds have amassed in Berlin and Paris regardless. The Frankfurt Book Fair canceled its celebration of Palestinian novelist Adania Shibli within days of the attack, drawing criticism from more than 1,000 writers and publishers. Irish Web Summit CEO and founder Paddy Cosgrave stepped down from the organization after prominent tech companies pulled out of the conference following his tweet that war crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are. And British politician Michael Gove is pushing a bill banning boycotts of Israel in the U.K. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Israel, authorities have suppressed internal dissent too. The Knesset, Israels legislature, suspended member Ofer Cassif for 45 days after he criticized the countrys assault on Gaza, while Israel Frey, a prominent and outspoken left-wing Orthodox journalist, was forced to flee his home after he posted a video of a prayer for victims in Israel and Gaza. +972 Magazine reported that both Arabs and Jews have been suspended from their jobs for posting pro-Palestinian messages, with universities publicly rebuking the national government for pressuring them to investigate their own students. Israels communications minister has threatened to ban Al Jazeera; the Israeli Supreme Court has banned anti-war protests; and the Knesset has now criminalized the consumption of terrorist material as a so-called counterterrorism measure. The draconian law provides pretext to arrest anyone who posts sympathetic content supposedly related to Hamas. Advertisement Advertisement The crackdowns were seeing now werent born out of the horrors of Oct. 7. The right to engage in peaceful protest against Israels occupation has been under attack for years. In the U.S., that attack has been focused squarely on the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, which coalesced in 2005, a year after the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion concluding that the wall Israel built between itself and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the West Bank was illegal. At the time, the court warned that West Bank settlements and the wall could become tantamount to de facto annexation. Almost 20 years later, that prediction has all but come true. Advertisement Modeled off a similar boycott movement in the 1980s that helped end apartheid in South Africa and boycotts that played a critical role in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, the BDS movement calls for pressure to be levied against Israeli entities, including companies and settlements in the West Bank, to achieve the end of the occupation of Palestinian territories, to grant the right of return to Palestinian refugees to the homes they lost in 1948, and to bring full equality to Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel. Although the movement began as an economic boycott, targeting goods exported from Israel, the tactics have extended to pressuring artists not to perform in Israel and academic boycotts that push universities to break ties with Israeli state institutions that further the occupation. Advertisement Related From Slate The March for Israel Revealed Nothing Read More The response from local governments in the U.S. has been draconian and dramatic. Since 2015, 36 states have passed anti-BDS legislationlaws that primarily penalize individuals or entities (such as businesses or universities) that boycott Israeli companies or settlements by refusing them state contracts or investment. Members of Congress, most notably Sens. Marco Rubio and Joe Manchin, have also tried and failed for years to impose a federal BDS ban. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other laws have created overbroad redefinitions of antisemitism that would include virtually any criticism of Israel. (In 2018 a Texas school district refused to renew the contract of a Palestinian American school speech pathologist who would not sign an anti-boycott pledge.) And a report by Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional Rights also documented almost 300 incidents of censorship, punishment, and other silencing tactics of Palestinian advocacy, overwhelmingly in the academic setting, between 2014 and 2015. Advertisement Despite the clear threat these actions pose to First Amendment rights, challenges to these laws have had mixed results. While some circuit courts have duly struck down these laws as unconstitutional, others have carved loopholes to let them stand. The Supreme Court declined to take up the issue earlier this year, leaving the fight unresolved, despite the fact that the court has traditionally protected politically motivated boycotts that aim to bring about political, social, and economic change. The patchwork of anti-BDS laws also shows the lengths to which Israel and U.S. lobbying groups affiliated with Israel have attempted to choke out even nonviolent resistance to their preferences. And yet: The global protests for Palestinian freedom show that Israels monopoly of morality, as Palestinian activist Sally Abed described it, is breaking. Historic rallies have seen Palestinian flags proudly unfurled after decades of silencing, joined by the voices of Jewish peace activists. These outcries are the most forceful opposition to Israels unceasing bombardment of Gaza, which many scholars and lawyers are classifying as tantamount to genocide, as Western countries continue in lockstep with Netanyahu despite sustained criticism from the U.N. When Palestinians speak out, they are continually forced to answer for the brutal crimes of Hamas, an obsessive and reflexive deflection from the growing list of alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Pinning down condemnation of Hamas will not change this fact. BDS actions and Palestinian activism have long sought to break the silence over the brutal reality of life under occupation. But as Israel continues to punish Gaza in front of the worlds eyes, no amount of censorship or punishment can deflect attention away from this devastating and unavoidable truth. Its hard to see Elizabeth Varons new biography of James Longstreet becoming a runaway bestseller, and thats a shame, because her study of the Confederate generalone of Robert E. Lees closest confidants, yet an outcast in the postCivil War South for his embrace of Black emancipation and civil rightsis insightful, well-executed, and sorely needed. Part of the problem, perhaps, lies with its dry subtitle. The addition of a single word, though admittedly anachronistic, might have livened things up and drawn in a whole new cohort of readers. Varon describes her famously mercurial subject as gloomy and in a funk, struggling to fight his way out of his slough of despond, harboring a fatalistic despair. Tell me, who wouldnt read Longstreet: The Emo Confederate General Who Defied the South? Just as the work of rappers Eminem and Mos Def inspired Lin-Manuel Mirandas approach to composing Hamilton, its easy to imagine a musical based on Longstreets life channeling the soaring, aching strains and overwrought lyricism of Fall Out Boy and Taking Back Sunday. To be sure, Longstreet had a lot to be mopey about. Most crucially, as depicted in Ronald Maxwells 1993 film Gettysburg, Longstreet advised Lee, on the second day of the 1863 battle, that a planned assault by Confederates on the Union-held high ground at Cemetery Ridge the following morning would be a disastrous mistake. Tom Berenger, who plays Longstreet in the film, brilliantly emphasizes his characters brooding, deep-eyed pensiveness. George, can you take that ridge? his ridiculously faux-bearded Longstreet solemnly asks General George Pickett, who, already saddled up for battle, responds only with a delusional, overconfident grin. Longstreet turns away, hunched over with foreboding, nearly in tears, as the soundtrack cuts in, heralding slaughter and doom. Slate receives a commission when you purchase items using the links on this page. Thank you for your support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Offering an updated analysis rather than significant archival finds, Varons narrative bears out this familiar portrait of a worrying, wounded commander, even if she rejects previous scholars contention that this attitude impacted his performance in the field. For the rest of his long post-Gettysburg lifeborn during James Monroes presidency, he died under Theodore RooseveltLongstreet would fend off accusations that, frustrated by Lee overruling his advice, he executed his marching orders that climactic third day at Gettysburg only reluctantly and lackadaisically, leading to the Confederates devastating, perhaps all-determining defeat. Those accusations were largely fueled by ex-Confederates anger that Longstreet had even more inexcusably betrayed the Southern cause once the war ended. As the victorious North took up the work of managing slaverys demise and reuniting the countrymost boldly by passing constitutional amendments enshrining racial equality in the nations foundational lawLongstreet did something that remains startling and difficult to explain: He embraced Reconstruction and joined the Republican Party. While Varons biography sags somewhat in detailing Longstreets maneuvering during the war and in recounting the various political offices he held in the decades long after it, the book comes to life narrating Longstreets activities during Reconstruction and analyzing his possible motives for accepting the outcome of the war. Alone among leading Confederates, he bowed to the Norths right to dictate the terms of peace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Within five years of Appomattox, Robert E. Lees former lieutenant was leading Black militiamen into battle against white insurrectionistshis own onetime comrades in arms. Varon, a distinguished historian at the University of Virginia and the author of previous works focused on white Southern dissenters, is careful to emphasize how all of this would have been anathema to Longstreet before the warindeed, right up until Appomattox. Born in South Carolina in 1821, Longstreet spent a formative decade of his youth under the tutelage of an uncle in Georgia, Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, a leading Southern intellectual and prominent supporter of both slavery and secession who once gifted his 11-year-old nephew the ownership of eight enslaved people, at least one of whom would remain under Longstreets dominion through the Civil War. When the Southern states seceded, Longstreet aggressively lobbied for and received a commission in the Confederate army. He was known for giving pep talks to his men that were so fearsome and grisly they were said to have the ring of true metal. In one, he urged his soldiers to target the Northerners with especial vigor, for they had attempted to make the negro your equal by declaring his freedom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All the more startling, then, was Longstreets post-war conversion to the view that the formerly enslaved deserved not only freedom but equal rights in the reconstructed South. Varon sees this transformation as based in part on his understanding of the terms of the surrender he helped negotiate at Appomattox Courthouse with Ulysses S. Grant, an old West Point chum who was also married to Longstreets distant cousin. Most Confederates saw the Souths defeat as merely reflecting the Norths overwhelming numbers and resources, as Lee put it in a letter to his soldiers. As Varon writes, The Lost Cause take on defeat was designed to preempt social change: by denigrating Northern victory as a mere show of force, Southerners hoped to deny Northerners a political mandate for Reconstruction. Advertisement Longstreet, by contrast, recognized that the Union had won a moral as well as a military victory. He appreciated Grants warm embrace of him at Appomattox, where a Northern reporter described Longstreet as otherwise very morose and taciturn. (As I say, the musical writes itself.) Longstreet took seriously the terms of Grants parole to Confederate soldiers, which allowed them to go home so long as they obeyed the laws in force where they may reside. And those laws, he understood, were about to change. The North had won the war, so had every right to see that the political ideals for which it fought were achievedeven if that meant emancipation of 4 million enslaved Black people, even if that meant granting the men among them the right to vote. By 1867, Longstreet was arguing that white Southerners should disavow the states rights philosophy and white-supremacist principles that had led them to secede. There can be no discredit to a conquered people for accepting the conditions offered by their conquerors, he contended. Nor is there any occasion for a feeling of humiliation. Let us come forward, then, and accept the ends involved in the struggle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Varon is scrupulous and discerning in sifting through the various explanations that have been offered over the years for Longstreets break with his fellow white Southerners, particularly the claim that he was seeking to gain financially from federal patronage. In the short term, however, his new allegiance cost him his job at a cotton brokerage he had helped found. It also ruined his once close relationship with Robert E. Lee, who spurned Longstreets request for an expression of public support. A more intriguing possibility Varon floats is that Longstreet had lost so much personally during the war that he had grown accustomed to saying goodbye to once beloved things, whether they be people or ideas. In just one week in January 1862, he and his wife lost three of their four living children to a scarlet fever epidemic raging through the Confederate capital of Richmond. (They had previously lost two infants in the years before the war.) Longstreet took a brief leave to console his wife, then returned to the front a changed man, his closest aide recorded. In one of his letters announcing his position on Reconstruction, Longstreet wrote, If the last funeral rites of the Southern Confederacy have not been performed, let us, with due solemnity, proceed to the discharge of that painful duty, and let us deposit in the same grave the agony of our grief, that we may the better prepare ourselves for a return to the duties of this life. After having buried five children, perhaps burying his allegiance to the Confederacy was nothing. Advertisement Unsurprisingly, most white Southerners bitterly rejected Longstreets entreaties and condemned him as a traitor on par with Judas Iscariot and Benedict Arnold. Several critics said it would have been better for the general had he died of his wartime wounds. Demonizing Longstreet, Varon notes, became an essential element of the Lost Cause project to regain white power in the South. Longstreets prominence made his apostasy an especially dangerous threat. Advertisement Longstreet devoted his life after the war to building up the multiracial Republican Party in the war-torn South. He enthusiastically endorsed Grants bid for presidency in 1868. (In Varons canny assessment, Grant provided Longstreet the very approval that Lee withheld.) He took a patronage job as surveyor of ports in New Orleansthere, he was widely criticized by fellow whites for hiring Black employeesthen agreed to serve as the general in charge of state militia and police forces in the city, where white Democrats were organizing, as elsewhere in the South, to violently overthrow the popularly elected government. In the liveliest and most distressing pages of Varons book, we follow Longstreet into vicious street battles with these rebels as they launch a briefly successful coup against the state government, one which, though reversed with the arrival of federal reinforcements, sounded the death knell for Reconstruction in Louisiana. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reminded of these showdowns and massacressuch as the murder of hundreds of Black activists in Colfax, Louisiana, in 1873one is forced to the recognition that there was indeed a second American civil war. It came only a few years after the first one. It was scattered and dispersed, bloodcurdlingly violent at the local level, yet never quite congealed into a nationwide struggle. Still, it determined the countrys political future: Reconstruction ended; the Confederates won. For the only prominent Confederate who switched sides for that second fightthus earning himself not one, but two, lost causes to mournthe reversal of Reconstruction was almost too much to bear. Ousted from office, Longstreet took refuge in relitigating his Civil War record, contending in interviews, essays, and eventually a mammoth-sized memoir, against uncontrite ex-rebels who wanted to pin the blame for the Souths military defeat on the man who had also brashly disavowed its essential ideas. As it is today, arguing over the Civil War was then another way of doing politics: Longstreet hoped that emphasizing the military aspects of the conflict would eventually cool the sectional animosity that had brought all the bloodshed in the first place. Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate Napoleon Is a Spectacular Mess Read More Amid the drive in recent years to remove monuments to unapologetic Confederates, several commentators have suggested that memorials to Longstreet should be raised in their place. Varon rejects these suggestions, noting that Longstreet has never fit the profile of a marble man; he was far too complex and contradictory. Had Longstreet got his way during the war, slavery would have persisted, she notes. Even his later career reflected a less-than-wholehearted commitment to racial equality. Longstreet seems to have favored Black peoples involvement in politics only so long as they remained compliant with the directives of white leaders. He opposed a civil rights bill before Congress in 1874 because it might exasperate the Southern people and endanger the lives of the blacks. In the mid-1880s, Longstreet even briefly advocated the creation of a white mans party in the Southa ham-handed, quickly aborted attempt to deny the Democrats contention that the GOP was simply a vehicle for negro rule. Offended by the proposal, one Black paper dismissed Longstreet as a whitewashed relic of the confederacy. Another, the still-extant Christian Recorder, official outlet of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, dryly commented, Old dogs cannot be learned new tricks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Varons refusal to force Longstreet into the mold of either hero or villain is a refreshing counterpoint to the impulse that seems to drive so much history writing todayas well as, far more influentially, popular representations of the past on screen and on stage. Her book reminds us that the point of reexamining the past is not to find new people to chastise or commemorate but to deepen and complicate our understanding of ideas, institutions, incidents, and individuals, to make us newly alive to the messiness and contingency of the past and present alike. Heres hoping some gifted librettist with access to funding picks it up at the airport and reads it on the beach. The confounding saga of Sam Altmans sudden, shocking expulsion from OpenAI on Friday, followed by last-ditch attempts from investors and loyalists to reinstate him over the weekend, appears to have ended right where it started: with Altman and former OpenAI co-founder/president/board member Greg Brockman out for good. But theres a twist: Microsoft, which has been OpenAIs cash-and-infrastructure backer for years, announced early Monday morning that it was hiring Altman and Brockman to lead a new advanced AI research team. In a follow-up tweet, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella declared that Altman would become chief executive of this team, which would take the shape of an independent entity within Microsoft, operating something like company subsidiaries GitHub and LinkedIn. Notably, per Brockman, this new entity will be led by himself, Altman, and the first three employees whod quit OpenAI Friday night in protest of how those two had been treated. Im super excited to have you join as CEO of this new group, Sam, setting a new pace for innovation. Weve learned a lot over the years about how to give founders and innovators space to build independent identities and cultures within Microsoft, including GitHub, Mojang Studios, Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023 Advertisement What happens to OpenAI, until now the leader in the white-hot generative A.I. space thanks to ChatGPT? The company confirmed late Sunday night that Altman would be replaced by a new interim CEO, Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear. But its difficult to say what will occur. Many of the companys staffers appear to have quit in solidarity with Altman, while others are tweeting that OpenAI is nothing without its people, earning approving heart emojis from Altman. Kara Swisher shared a letter signed by 505 OpenAI employees requesting that OpenAIs board members resignor face the wrath of hundreds of Altman loyalists defecting to the new Microsoft venture. Nadella, meanwhile, wrote that we remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and to working with OpenAIs post-Altman leadership. Shear, for his part, tweeted, Our partnership with Microsoft remains strong. Advertisement Advertisement Today I got a call inviting me to consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to become the interim CEO of @OpenAI. After consulting with my family and reflecting on it for just a few hours, I accepted. I had recently resigned from my role as CEO of Twitch due to the birth of my Emmett Shear (@eshear) November 20, 2023 Advertisement Advertisement Shear certainly has his work cut out for him. The new OpenAI will have to 1) keep a lid on more potential mass defections from Altman loyalists; 2) make peace with the stunned investors, like Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management, that worked relentlessly all weekend to reinstall Altman and purge the OpenAI board; and 3) earn back the trust of a Silicon Valley confounded and upset by how the most influential artificial intelligence firm of its era devolved into such bitter chaos. The confusion wont stem anytime soon: Ilya Sutskever, the OpenAI chief scientist and board member who reportedly spearheaded the effort last week to remove Altman, tweeted Monday morning, I deeply regret my participation in the boards actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything weve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company. Even more weirdly, he was one of the 505 OpenAI employees to sign the aforementioned letteryou know, the letter telling board members like himself that they gots to go. (Altman, for his part, has approved of Sutskevers message.) Advertisement The still-ongoing corporate drama is undoubtedly a turning point for A.I. One need only peer at the storm that raged over Altmans ouster throughout the weekend to see where all this may eventually head. The coup has turned up the heat in a simmering war between two ideological camps invested in the future of the technology. On one side, there are voicesincluding those on OpenAIs boardurging caution on rapid artificial intelligence development, like the A.I. doomers, the effective altruists, the longtermists, the rationalists, and pretty much anyone else left jittery by the prospect of self-conscious, self-propelling A.I. (Nevertheless, members of some of these groups are still trying to make a buck on the technology, as evidenced by OpenAIs very existence.) On the other, the folks who believe that A.I. progress cannot, should not be limited in any form whatsoevernot by government regulation, not by A.I. engineers, and especially not by quisling board members worried their A.I. creations will go haywire. These warriors, who generally and often explicitly follow a newish ideology of effective accelerationisme/acc for shortsomewhat confusingly view Altman as their patron saint, at least in the context of OpenAIs putsch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What the heck just happened and what will happen next? How does Atlmans firing signal war? Wasnt Altman himself warning of A.I. doom and begging for government oversight? Yes, there are still many questions to ask. Lets run through them. So, wait, Sam Altman was gonna go back to OpenAI but didnt? To briefly recap: On Friday, OpenAIs board of directors announced, out of nowhere, that Sam Altman would be booted as CEO and board member, following its conclusion that Altman was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. CTO Mira Murati would step up as interim CEO because the board no longer has confidence in [Altmans] ability to continue leading OpenAI. The release also mentioned that company co-founder and chairman Greg Brockman would step away from the board but retain his executive position. Advertisement However, things went awry when Brockman tweeted that he was quitting OpenAI altogether. A flood of updates soon demolished the Friday-evening news dam. We quickly learned, according to various reports, that 1) Altmans firing appeared to have been orchestrated by Sutskever, thanks to long-standing differences over the companys business model and approach to its potentially dangerous products; and 2) Brockman and Altman had little understanding of why, exactly, they had been fired but were nevertheless shifting their immediate focus to future projectsi.e., a new startup. (Shears tweet has maybe poured some water on the supposition that Sutskever booted Altman over concerns regarding A.I. dangers: The board did *not* remove Sam over any specific disagreement on safety, their reasoning was completely different from that. Im not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercializing our awesome models. We dont have much clarity beyond that.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Further, because the board had made this decision without giving sufficient notice to Microsoft and OpenAIs other investors, the companys backers were pissed, immediately kick-starting an effort to both reinstall Altman and Brockmanand also, per the formers request, purge the mutinous board members. Minute-by-minute reporting from outlets like Bloomberg and the Information indicated that the board was open to resigning so that Altman could return, although it appeared to balk at some of the conditions. (Ironic, then, that its hand-picked replacement, Shear, said that he will drive changes in the organizationup to and including pushing strongly for significant governance changes if necessary.) Anyway, it all ended Sunday night with Sutskever confirming to staffers, to their clear chagrin, that Altman would not return. Yowza. What about this whole war thing, though? Advertisement Yeah, that. First, it might be helpful to get back to the core conflict here. As was made apparent by Friday night, Altmans dismissal had reportedly come as a result of clashes between himself and his board members, most of whom were not named Greg Brockman and have been disparagingly labeled as A.I. doomers. Some short bios: Ilya Sutskever: A longtime A.I. researcher whod previously studied under and collaborated with pioneering neural-network scientist (and now A.I. doomer) Geoffrey Hinton, Sutskever briefly worked in Googles A.I. unit before Elon Musk persuaded him to help Musk, Altman, and other tech titans found and launch OpenAI in 2015. (This recruiting battle was apparently what ended Musks friendship with Googles Larry Page.) Sutskever had recently begun to lash out at Altman, taking umbrage with the CEOs expansionary visions for OpenAI, according to Bloomberg. In July, Sutskever co-founded an internal unit dedicated to keeping superintelligencei.e., when machines surpass humansin check. But his job duties were reportedly marginalized at the company, and his complaints to that effect supposedly found a sympathetic ear in Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Helen Toner: An academic with deep ties to effective altruism. How deep? Well, shes currently director of strategy and foundational research grants at Georgetown Universitys EA-aligned Center for Security and Emerging Technologyallegedly the largest A.I. policy center in the United Statesbut her resume goes beyond that. She also has worked at the EA-founded charity evaluator GiveWell, the EA-led grantmaker Open Philanthropy Project (which has financially backed a lot of A.I.-obsessed legislative aides in Congress), and the Centre for the Governance of A.I. at Oxford University, which is an affiliate of the Center for Effective Altruism. In case that altruism wasnt effective enough for you Tasha McCauley: Married to fellow effective altruist Joseph Gordon-Levitt, McCauley is currently an adjunct senior management scientist at the RAND Corporation, whose current CEO is the longtime effective altruist (and former White House adviser) Jason Matheny. McCauley also studied at a place literally called Singularity University, in case you were wondering what she thinks about A.I. Anyway, that just leaves us with Advertisement Adam DAngelo: The CEO of Quora, which has incorporated a lot of A.I. features over the past year, including a bot that can interact with tools like ChatGPT. Although he apparently is not as much of a doomer as the rest, he was convinced by Sutskever to throw Sam Altman out. Advertisement Advertisement Its important to understand who the board members are to decode what happened and why people online are acting the way they are. The effective-altruist movement, which kicked off in 2009 as a spinoff of utilitarianism devoted to raising cash hauls to spend on the most effective lifesaving causes (e.g., anti-mosquito bed nets in countries with high malaria case counts), has recently embraced a longtermist view that prioritizes, among a few key concerns, fear of runaway A.I. As part of a transition accelerated by the spectacular fall of famed effective altruist Sam Bankman-Fried, several prominent EAs have pivoted toward stopping the A.I. threat at all costs, whether by forming their own institutions or by advising politicians in the U.S. and the U.K. Advertisement Advertisement OpenAI board members Toner and McCauley are just two of your typical EAs, but its necessary to mention that the ideology they follow was the rationale for OpenAI from the jump. Elon Musk, who all but identifies as a longtermist, has been a fellow A.I. doomer for years. His explicit goal in co-founding the OpenAI nonprofit and hiring folks like Ilya Sutskever was to develop a firm that would responsibly advance humanity toward AGIwhich stands for artificial general intelligence, referring to machines with the reasoning capacity of the human brainand figure out governmental regulations, systemic constraints, and other guardrails that could keep those bots from going full Terminator. Advertisement However, Altman staked out a less doctrinaire position here. While he voiced concerns over hyperintelligent computers and pitched the case for governmental oversight of his products, he also disagreed with various OpenAI employees over the pace at which they should advance their products, leading to multiple rifts along the way: in 2018, the ouster of the supercautious Musk from OpenAIs board altogether; in 2019, the creation of a for-profit branch, with Altman as CEO, that could invite massive investment from the likes of Microsoft, causing more idealistic (read: EA-aligned) staffers to resign and form a separate A.I. firm, Anthropic, in their own image; in 2023, a continued willingness to expand OpenAIs market-oriented ambitions (big share sales, developer conferences, building in-house chipmakers) that apparently did not sit well with Sutskever, who joined his mentor Geoffrey Hinton in endorsing a slowdown of A.I. development earlier in the year. That, on top of the conflicts that led to Sutskevers corporate role being sidelined at OpenAI, is apparently why Altman had to go. Whos on the other side, again? Advertisement A storm is coming... pic.twitter.com/QEe7b2k4Aj Beff Jezos e/acc (@BasedBeff) June 1, 2022 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For a little over a year now, a subset of Tech Twitter has crafted a meme-y mockery of EA meant to symbolize its total oppositeinstead of effective altruism, its effective accelerationism, which is in essence the belief that the A.I. revolution (and tech innovation in general) cannot be stopped, that to even attempt to obstruct its advancement is so foolhardy as to be dangerous, and that everyone should get on board with ushering in a beautiful Singularity future as soon as possible. Advertisement This at first gained purchase among a host of anonymous accounts with names like swarthy, Based Beff Jezos, and @bayeslord (a reference to the field of Bayesian statistics). Beginning in summer 2022, such posters shared manifestos of an e/acc ideology squarely opposed to A.I. fearmongerers like the effective altruists and their fellow decels (aka decelerationists). Citing eugenicist scholars from past and presentRonald Fisher, Nick Landthese Substack screeds made the case for a transhumanist society of intergalactic splendor that can be achieved only if we stop listening to these damn EAs and take A.I.s powers as far as possible, no matter where that ends up. Sam Altman has played digital footsie with these guys, tweeting at Beff Jezos, You cannot outaccelerate me and speaking to the need to colonize space with AGI, earning the e/accs devotion. And yes, they adore Elon Musk in spite of his A.I. concernsand in spite of the fact that he was responsible for bringing Ilya Sutskever to OpenAIbecause he is just as obsessed as they are with the prospect of extending humanlike consciousness out into interplanetary realms. Never mind that Musk was approvingly engaging with e/accs sworn enemy, EA philosopher and A.I. doomer Eliezer Yudkowsky, as recently as Monday morning. Advertisement Advertisement My head hurts. Yeah, its all pretty bizarre. But why should we care about what a bunch of nameless weirdos think? Advertisement Because their ideas have been increasingly adopted by powerful executives who are not nameless weirdos. Again, you can point to the collapse of Sam Bankman-Frieds crypto empire as a turning point for EAs, one that cast their charitable movement into crisis and hastened a brewing pivot toward longtermist-pilled A.I. safetyism. (Sorry, Im learning to speak like these guys do.) SBF himself was concerned with A.I. and splurged his (stolen) cash on A.I. firms like Anthropic, but the worlds of crypto and politics remained his focus. The post-SBF world, which arrived in tandem with the explosion of ChatGPT, would not be tethered to such puny earthling ventures. Advertisement Advertisement As such, over the past year, a host of Silicon Valley power players (and well-known villains) has proudly and openly aligned itself with the e/acc movement: Balaji Srinivasan, Martin Shkreli, Y Combinator President Garry Tan. Most notably, Marc Andreessen published his own e/acc-aligned screed in October: The Techno-Optimist Manifesto, a several-thousand-word essay that declared war on the forces that would impede technological process in any way, arguing that the only way to solve our current problems is to get out of the way and keep furthering tech that will obviously and inevitably solve all our problems. In other words: Its time to build build build build build. Advertisement Advertisement As tech scholar Dave Karpf noted in a response, Andreessens piece was basically a retread of the 1990s Californian Ideology of nonstop progress and techno-utopianism, inspired by the expansion of the world wide web (which was spearheaded in large part by Andreessen himself) and microwaved in 2023 for the age of A.I. That hasnt stopped e/acc from becoming a very real movement, however: As the Information reported, the effective accelerationists held their first in-person gathering on Sept. 17. Then, in an unofficial afterparty for OpenAIs Nov. 8 DevDay, hundreds of e/accs gathered in a San Francisco nightclub for a night of music DJd in part by Grimes, the art-pop musician and former Musk paramour who, in spite of her own A.I. enthusiasm, didnt hesitate to tell the crowd she wasnt quite as e/acc-aligned as they were, preferring that there be some regulations over A.I. advancement. Advertisement Related From Slate The Claims That A.I. Will Kill Us All Are Sounding Awfully Convenient Read More My head still hurts. Dont worry, Im getting to the point. So, considering how many e/accs loved Sam Altman and his approach to A.I.and despised the effective altruists whove continually urged over the past year that we either pause or altogether halt any A.I. progressthe news that the explicitly EA-aligned members of OpenAIs board showed Altman the door confirmed to the e/accs that their EA opponents were attempting to shut down their movement. Some notable reactions: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong: Every talented employee at OpenAI should quit and join Sam/Gregs new thing. This time, skip the woke non-profit board, eject the decels/EAs, maintain founder control, avoid nonsensical regulation, and just build. Accelerate progress. Advertisement Balaji Srinivasan: every AI company now needs to choose their belief. EA or e/acc? Advertisement @Hosseeb: This weekend we all witnessed how a culture war is born. E/accs now have their original sin they can point back to. This will become the new thing that people feel compelled to take a side one/acc vs deceland nuance or middle ground will be punished. @BasedDaedalus: effective altruism is a cancerous ideology and we must fight it back with all weve got. drop all support to all the parasites that are doing this right fucking now. Advertisement Advertisement Self-professed e/acc ally CTJ Lewis, whom Emmett Shear apparently blocked on Twitter: we really are at war now. this is the doomer terrorist opening salvo. e/acc must organize into an actual entity, with an actual name, and an actual mission and an actual budget. Advertisement the doomers won pic.twitter.com/rn3YnOfsQi Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) November 20, 2023 Basically, the e/accs see Sam Altmans ouster from OpenAI as a shot heard round the worldan insurrection whose fallout shall engender a revolution of unimpeded technological acceleration. Advertisement In case you were wondering how the e/accs believe that this war is going: CNBCs Saturday-night report that Meta had disbanded its Responsible A.I. team was hailed as an e/acc cultural victory, while the official Effective Altruism Forum appears to be in shambles over how EA is not coming out well and may find itself in a hostile atmosphere in what used to be one of the most EA-friendly places in the world, as tech researcher Nirit Weiss-Blatt uncovered. Satya Nadella, one of the very Big Tech guys whom e/accs were supposed to be aligned against, is now a hero. Oh yeah, the scene is also psyched about the recent victory of Bitcoin-loving, anti-leftist, anarcho-capitalist libertarian Javier Milei in Argentinas presidential runoff. In a Twitter Space that Martin Shkreli set up after Altmans fate was sealed, a bunch of e/accs gathered to agree that their ideology had come to dominate Silicon Valley in just a year. Their hope now is that the Altman-Microsoft team-up takes an e/acc stance, instead of the oligopolistic accelerationist, or o/acc, ideology that OpenAI represented before. (Namely, centralizing A.I. power among a few big companies which the new Microsoft arrangement isnt gonna help, but anyway.) Advertisement Advertisement The one thing thats ruining their party? Tweets and likes from OpenAIs new interim CEO, Emmett Shear, that seem to approve of EAs stance toward being careful with A.I., and also appear to display a bias against e/acc. As someone relatively uninformed before now, which side should I be rooting for here? I personally would say neither? Frankly, you dont need to be e/acc-pilled to consider the EA mission to smother the A.I. Singularity a little ridiculous, not least because the resource requirements for and limited capabilities of even the most advanced A.I. make such apocalyptic predictions extremely unlikely. Then again, the e/accs hold fast to a similarly misguided belief that the only solution to our technological crises is more technology, which should be left under the control of a bunch of eugenicist netizens who believe in dismantling government, purging any concerns around social justice from our future societies, and dismissing any and all critiques of e/acc guys from the public discourse. Sounds a little authoritarian to me, but if I say that, I guess Im just another woke-pilled doomcel who doesnt want to see our world blossom into uh well, whatever these guys want. Why the hell did any of this happen in the first place? I dont know, buddy. But its everyones problem now! If you buy something through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more. More and more people are becoming entrepreneurs and starting their own businesses. It may be a brick-and-mortar store or an online business; it may be their full-time passion or a side job whatever the case, lots of people are taking the plunge and becoming small business owners. Chances are you already know someone who is a small business owner. When you find yourself needing a gift for them, whether its a holiday, the anniversary of their opening, or just to say thank you, you may find yourself stuck for ideas. Would they want something useful and practical, or more lighthearted? What about something personalized? There are a lot of things to consider when looking for a gift for a small business owner. Choosing Gifts for Small Business Owners: Our Methodology Gift-giving can be both a joyous and daunting task. When it comes to small business owners, gifts that cater to their unique needs, challenges, and lifestyle can make all the difference. Our editors have curated a list of some great gifts for small business owners we could find. 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You can create a FREE account to get started today. If you buy something through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more. When buying a gift for a writer, there are tons of great options. You can go the traditional route with a nice fountain pen or leather-bound notebook. Or, you could surprise them with something unique and unexpected. You just need to think about what type of gift theyd most enjoy. The editors at Small Business Trends considered a variety of factors and came up with a list of great gift ideas for writers. We then searched for these gifts to bring you some suggestions. We hope to help take the guesswork out of buying your next gift for a writer. These gifts are available on Amazon and Etsy and range from the tried-and-true to the quirky and fun. 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Here are what we at Small Business Trends considered while curating our list of gift ideas: Tool Efficiency: Writers, irrespective of their genre, appreciate gifts that streamline their writing endeavors. High-quality journals or notebooks for jotting down ideas. Ergonomic pens that glide smoothly for longer writing sessions. Digital tools like subscription-based writing software or voice recognition tools for hands-free writing. Their Specialty Matters: Each writer has a distinct voice and style. For novelists: Consider gifts like a plot development board or classic literature. For journalists: Think of a durable travel notebook or voice recorders for on-the-go interviews. Essayists might appreciate a collection of renowned essays to draw inspiration from. Budget-Friendly Choices: A meaningful gift doesnt necessarily equate to an expensive one. Search for deals or discounts on online platforms. Handcrafted items, like personalized bookmarks or hand-stitched journals, often come at an affordable price while holding sentimental value. Empathy in Selection: Channeling empathy is crucial in gift selection. Consider books on writing craft or memberships to writers workshops. Ambient sound machines or quality headphones can help writers focus and immerse themselves in their work. Perhaps a framed motivational quote or a poster of their favorite author to adorn their workspace. Inspiration Boosters: Writers often grapple with the infamous writers block. A collection of prompts or a deck of story idea cards can spark creativity. Consider gifting experiences, like a retreat or a workshop, to rejuvenate their writing spirits. Its essential to remember that the most impactful gifts arent just objects, but catalysts for their creativity and expressions. By integrating utility with an understanding of their craft, your gift can become a cherished possession in their literary journey. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Qualify for discounts, special offers and more with a Business Prime account from Amazon. You can create a FREE account to get started today. Migrants ask for help entering the U.S. as a Texas state troopers keeps watch along the bank of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, Thursday, July 20, 2023. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News The Mexican government says it rejects a sweeping bill passed by Texas lawmakers that would empower the state to essentially deport people suspected of crossing the border illegally. In an unsigned statement released by its foreign affairs ministry, Mexico said it opposes any measure that allows state or local authorities to detain and return nationals or foreigners to Mexican territory. READ MORE: Texas Legislature passes border bill that would empower state to begin deportations Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wednesday's announcement did not indicate whether Mexican officials would decline to accept people ordered to enter the country from Texas. But immigration attorneys and policy experts have warned that the new law could be impossible to enforce without buy-in from Mexican officials. The measure, Senate Bill 4, is an anti-immigrant measure that will result in family separation, racial discrimination and profiling, the statement said, adding that Mexico respectfully expresses its legitimate right to protect the rights of its nationals in the United States, as well as to establish its own immigration policies into its territory. The statement came a day after the Texas House passed SB 4 on a party-line vote, sending the bill to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott. The Republican governor said Wednesday that he would sign it into law. The bill creates a new class of illegal entry state crimes that would authorize police to arrest people they suspect of unlawfully entering Texas from Mexico between ports of entry. Judges could decide, with consent from migrants, to issue an order to return to Mexico in lieu of prosecution. They would be required to issue return orders for those convicted of illegal entry, without any input from the offender. People would face stiff penalties for refusing the orders, effectively leaving them to choose between state-ordered deportation to Mexico or up to 20 years in prison. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Barbara Hines, the former director of the University of Texas at Austin law schools immigration clinic, told a panel of lawmakers last month that Mexico would have no incentive to accept migrants ordered across the border by state officials meaning those swept up by the bill likely would end up in U.S. immigration custody, which is what would have happened in the first place, she said. Abbott and the bills two main authors, state Rep. David Spiller, R-Jacksboro, and state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Spiller has called the measure a humane, logical and efficient approach to a problem created and fostered by the Biden administration's failure and refusal to secure our border. Democrats and immigrant advocates contend that it will lead to racial profiling and sow distrust between law enforcement and people of color. They also say that, paired with an anti-smuggling bill already awaiting Abbotts signature, it would penalize people for driving undocumented family members on routine trips. In its statement, the Mexican government expressed concern about Texas package of legislative measures that it said will violate the rights of the Mexican population. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Local grocery stores play a vital role in communities for several reasons. They provide residents with easy access to fresh food and daily essentials, reducing the need for long trips to larger supermarkets. Many local grocery stores become community gathering places, fostering a sense of belonging and social interaction.If you want to be part of a business that supports a community like this, here is a guide on how to start a grocery store In addition, local grocery stores support the local economy. They often source products from local suppliers, contributing to the local economy and supporting small-scale producers. Local grocery stores create jobs in the community, providing employment opportunities for local residents. Discover the Zoho Ecosystem Drive Traffic to Your Website Sell Your Business Advertise Your Business Here The Grocery Store Industry Local grocery stores remain an important part of the American retail landscape. While they face competition from larger supermarket chains and online retailers, many consumers still prefer the convenience and personalized service offered by local stores. To succeed, local grocery stores often focus on niche markets, unique product offerings, and community engagement. The Business Opportunity in Starting Your Own Grocery Store Many communities need a local grocery store, especially if a larger grocery store is some distance from the community. Small Business Deals In addition to providing convenience, the local grocery store can become a community hub, where people have opportunities to socialize with other members of the community as they shop. A local grocery store can greatly benefit and impact a community and be profitable for the owner as well. Initial Considerations for Starting a Grocery Store Before the launch, take the foundational steps that are necessary first. Developing a Grocery Store Business Plan Before diving into the exciting venture of starting your own local grocery store, its essential to craft a comprehensive business plan. This plan should serve as a roadmap, guiding you through the various stages of establishing and growing your business. Identify your target market: Determine the demographics and preferences of your potential customers. Define your product range: In your business plan, decide what types of products you will carry, considering local demand and competition. Pricing strategy: Outline your pricing strategy based on market research and cost analysis. Legal Requirements and Business Registration When selecting from common business structures for your grocery store, consider factors like tax implications, personal liability, and the ease of raising capital. Choose a legal structure for your business, such as sole proprietorship, limited liability company LLC, or corporation. Register your business with the appropriate local and state authorities. Obtain any necessary permits and licenses, such as a retail food store license and food handling permits. Aspect Description Resources Needed Key Considerations Market Research Analyze local demand and competition. Market analysis tools, demographic data. Identify gaps in the market and consumer needs. Business Plan Create a detailed plan including financial projections. Business plan templates, financial software. Outline strategies for inventory, staffing, and marketing. Location Selection Choose a convenient, accessible location. Real estate agents, demographic studies. Consider foot traffic, parking, and nearby competition. Permits and Licenses Obtain necessary legal documentation. Local business permits, health department certifications. Ensure compliance with local regulations and food safety laws. Supplier Relationships Establish relationships with wholesalers and vendors. Wholesaler directories, trade shows. Secure reliable sources for quality products. Store Layout and Design Plan store layout for optimal flow and convenience. Interior designers, shelving and fixture suppliers. Create an inviting atmosphere and easy navigation. Inventory Management Develop a system for inventory tracking and replenishment. Inventory management software, POS systems. Ensure a balanced stock of items and minimize wastage. Staffing Hire and train employees. Job posting platforms, training materials. Focus on customer service skills and efficiency. Marketing Strategy Promote the store through various channels. Advertising services, social media platforms. Attract customers with promotions, loyalty programs, and community engagement. Financial Management Manage finances and cash flow effectively. Accountants, financial management software. Monitor expenses, profits, and financial health regularly. Opening a Business Bank Account for Your Grocery Store Youll need a business bank account thats separate from your personal account and also a business credit card linked to your business account. Keeping business and personal finances separate will make paperwork much simpler at tax time. Understanding and Sourcing Grocery Products Establish relationships with suppliers, including local farmers, wholesalers, and distributors. Ensure a reliable supply chain for your products to meet customer demand. Financing Your Grocery Store Business As part of your business startup checklist, calculating your startup costs and exploring various financing options are crucial steps. Explore financing options, including personal savings, loans, grants, or investors. Check for financing opportunities available from the Small Business Administration. The SBA has low-interest, long-term financing options. Starting a Grocery Store: Step by Step Heres a detailed guide to get you to opening day: Choosing the Right Location for Your Store Find a suitable location in a high-traffic area with easy access for customers. Consider factors like visibility, parking, and proximity to competitors. Designing Your Store Layout and Shopping Experience Design an efficient store layout that maximizes product visibility and ease of shopping. This will improve the shopping experience for customers. Allocate space for different product categories and create an inviting atmosphere. Stocking Your Grocery Store Order inventory based on your product range and demand and cater to your target market. Implement inventory management systems to track stock levels and minimize waste. Implementing Effective Pricing Strategies Set competitive and sustainable pricing while considering your profit margins. Consider promotions and discounts to attract and retain customers. Hiring and Training Staff Recruit and hire staff with customer service skills. Provide training on product knowledge, customer service, and safety protocols. Marketing Your Grocery Store Local grocery store owners can find valuable tips for grocery store owners on how to effectively market their businesses within the community. Here are tips to help your store stand out in the community: Local Marketing and Community Engagement Host community events or workshops related to food and nutrition. Support local charities and causes to show your commitment to the community. Actively participate in local events and festivals to increase visibility and help you engage with customers. Setting up a Grocery Store Website In todays digital age, a website startup guide can be an invaluable resource for creating an online presence that resonates with your customer base. Create a user-friendly website with clear navigation and product listings. Implement secure online payment options for e-commerce. Provide detailed product descriptions, images, and pricing. Independent grocery stores can offer similar services to those offered by large chains. Consider offering online ordering with in-store pickup or delivery services. Digital Marketing Strategies for Grocery Stores Utilize social media platforms to engage with customers and promote your products. Run targeted online advertising campaigns through platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads. Implement search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to improve your websites visibility in search results. Launching Your Grocery Business The journey of how to start a business culminates in the grand opening of your grocery store. This momentous day should reflect all the hard work and planning that has gone into your venture. Heres your final punch list: Conduct a thorough inventory check and ensure all products are properly stocked. Train your staff on customer service, safety protocols, and store policies. Test all equipment and systems, including cash registers and security systems. Conduct a soft opening or invite friends and family for a trial run to iron out any operational issues before your Grand Opening event. Franchise Opportunities in the Grocery Industry Understanding the essential building blocks for new businesses to succeed can guide you in deciding whether to start an independent store or pursue a franchise opportunity. While many large grocery store chains offer franchise opportunities, its less common for small, independently-owned grocery stores to operate as franchises. However, some regional or specialized grocery chains may offer franchising options. Research local and regional grocery chains to see if they have any franchise programs that align with your goals. For instance, there may be a small store thriving in a neighboring community whose owner is open to discussing franchise options. FAQs: How to Start a Grocery Store Is it hard to start a small grocery store? Starting a small grocery store can be challenging, as it involves various logistical, financial, and operational considerations. Success depends on factors like location, competition, and effective management. How much can a successful grocery store make a year? The net profit of a small grocery store can vary significantly depending on factors like location, size, product range, and management efficiency. Its advisable to create a detailed financial projection based on your specific business plan and market conditions to estimate potential earnings. Profit margins for grocery stores can vary widely depending on factors such as the stores size, location, product mix, and management efficiency. Profit margins in the grocery industry typically fall within a range of 1% to 3%. Here are some general figures to provide you with an idea: Independent Small Grocery Stores: Independent small grocery stores often have lower profit margins, typically ranging from 1% to 2%. These businesses may have higher operating costs and may not benefit from the economies of scale that larger chains do. Supermarkets and Chain Stores: Larger supermarkets and grocery store chains may achieve profit margins closer to 2% to 3%. They can negotiate better deals with suppliers, benefit from bulk purchasing, and have more resources for cost management. Specialty and Niche Grocery Stores: Specialty or niche grocery stores that focus on unique or premium products may have slightly higher profit margins, sometimes exceeding 3%. These stores often cater to specific customer segments willing to pay premium prices for specialized items. How can a new grocery business compete with large chains? Small grocery stores can compete by offering personalized service, unique product selections, and a strong community focus. They may also emphasize local or niche products that may not be readily available in larger chains. What are some challenges for a grocery store owner? Common challenges include managing inventory effectively, dealing with competition, maintaining competitive pricing, and adapting to changing consumer preferences. Additionally, small grocery store owners may face challenges related to employee retention and regulatory compliance. Biggest challenge since the transition to a market economy, says expert. U.S Steel Kosice plans to replace its blast furnaces with more environmentally-friendly facilities. (Source: Courtesy of USSK) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Slovakia is one of Europes largest greenhouse gas polluters per capita due to its widespread use of outdated technology in industry. As such, it is facing major challenges as it looks to decarbonise as part of wider EU plans to make the blocs economies greener. Related article Related article undefined Read more Decarbonisation is the biggest challenge the industry has faced since the transition to private ownership and a market economy, Radovan Durana, an analyst with the economic think tank INESS, told The Slovak Spectator. Analysts say, however, that while the decarbonisation of Slovak industry is financially demanding, it has its benefits. Andrej Lasz, general secretary of the Association of Industrial Unions (APZ), said it will not just help Slovakia meet international climate obligations but also drive innovation, which will help local companies maintain competitiveness and make them more attractive to lenders. Decarbonisation leads to greater energy efficiency in industry and helps businesses to reduce operating costs. It will also create new job opportunities in renewable energy, energy technologies and environmental management, he said. Slovakias goals Like many other countries, as the worlds climate changes, Slovakias economy is transforming too. But its move towards a circular, carbon-neutral economy is a particular challenge. As one of the worlds most industrialised states, the share of energy and industrial processes as part of Slovakias greenhouse gas emissions stands at 72 percent. Industrial production and the use of fossil fuels within industry is the source of 41 percent of all emissions produced in Slovakia the highest figure among all EU countries, according to Slovakias Recovery and Resilience Plan. This high share is related to the structure of the economy, but is also the result of outdated technologies, the document reads. Officials in the new government want to limit critical media. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. Fico makes his hostility to the media known. Courts cancel the actions of the interior minister. The Slovak government says it wont agree to some sanctions against Russia. If you have a suggestion on how to make this overview better, let me know at michaela.terenzani@spectator.sk. Who gets to ask questions? We believe freedom of expression to be not just the spreading of positive and pretty information; freedom of expression is also the spreading of critical, sometimes shocking information, and that is what we need Markiza for, to carry out this freedom of expression, as understood by the whole of Europe and not just a part of the Slovak political spectrum. These were the words of a young Robert Fico, proclaiming his belief in media freedom to a crowd of protesters who had come to defend the private TV station Markiza from a hostile takeover in September 1998. Markiza was among the free media essential to the defeat of Vladimir Meciar and his authoritarian-leaning regime in Slovakia that year. Later that very month, the opposition won the election and re-oriented Slovakia towards a Euro-Atlantic path. Fast forward 25 years and, as Fico takes over as prime minister for the fourth time (his first victory was in 2006), he is playing a rather different tune. Now Markiza is one of four hostile media that he says are not welcome at the Government Office. Major retail chains have stopped offering live fish, too. Zilina was the first Slovak city to ban the sale of live fish on its land. (Source: Frantisek Ivan) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share The decision by the Zilina City Council to prohibit the sale of live carp on the territory of the town has stirred up confusion and dissatisfaction among the residents of Zilina, and made Zilina the first Slovak city to introduce this ban. The decision took effect at the start of November based on a binding regulation, writes The Slovak Spectator's sister publication My Zilina. Despite the city's decision, live fish can be purchased in and around Zilina before Christmas at various locations, as vendors will offer them on their own or leased land. Fish breeders have pointed out that the city's representatives did not discuss the matter with them beforehand. At the same time, the Fish Breeders Association of Slovakia is working on a campaign that should present the places where people could buy fresh fish in Zilina all year round. It adds that the city's ban is just a "gesture" that will not affect the sales and consumption of fish in Slovakia. Live fish has not been sold much on the plots owned by Zilina in recent years. Food chains cease live carp sales Large retail chains have also stopped offering live fish. "These are chains that currently cover 95 percent of the retail food market. Tesco, Billa, Kaufland, Lidl, among others," says Martin Smrek, chair of the organisation Humanny Pokrok. After Zilina, the organisation plans to approach other municipalities. The sale of live fish aligns with the law on veterinary care. But Humanny Pokrok seeks legislative changes to prevent the cruel treatment of fish and ban their sale at least in temporary fish stands. A million carps sold Every live fish seller is controlled by the State Veterinary and Food Administration today. "We want to sell the fish," said fish breeder Rastislav Kacerik of the Krasnianske Fishponds. "We did not breed them well to get them into a state in which no one wants to buy them." According to Humanny Pokrok, about a million carps is sold every year. Zilina's mayor Peter Fiabane underscores the city's commitment to moral values. "We acknowledge the need to address animal welfare issues as a message of humanity," the mayor concluded. Traffic restrictions affected public transport. Reconstructing water and cable ducts for a new tram track in Bratislava's Petrzalka led to the complete closure of Kutlikova Street. (Source: reprofoto Google maps) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share The relocation of water and cable ducts as part of the new tram track construction in Bratislava's Petrzalka borough requires the complete closure of a section of Kutlikova Street this week, from November 20 to 26. The affected stretch runs from the intersection with Romanova and Starhradska Streets to the intersection with Jantarova Road and Pajstunska Street, the news website Aktuality.sk wrote. Temporary restrictions will also impact some public transportation lines, as reported by the city authorities on social media. "The detour route leads through Romanova, Jiraskova, Pajstunska, and Jantarova Road," said the Bratislava City Hall. Changes in public transport The restrictions will also affect the traffic of some daytime and nighttime bus connections. Lines 92, 95, 192, and nighttime line number 95 will stop on the detour route at Markova, Svabinskeho, and Tupolevova, without servicing the Kutlikova and Bradacova stops. Line 98 will serve the Bradacova, Romanova, Markova, and Svabinskeho stops, but will not stop at Tupolevova and one of the Kutlikova stops. Line 99 on the detour route will stop at the Tupolevova, without servicing the Kutlikova, Bradacova, Romanova, Markova, and Svabinskeho stops. "The line 83 route remains unchanged, but feeder services to the Petrzalka Depot will run without passengers after serving the Kutlikova stop," emphasises the city authorities. The frequently used pedestrian crossing between the combined pavement along Chorvatskeho Rameno will be closed. Pedestrians and cyclists will be directed through the pedestrian crossing at the intersection between Kutlikova and Romanova Streets. Its not everyday that a soap company makes something you want to ingest. Dial? Thats what you do to an espresso machine in the morning. Irish Spring? Only if its on Coffeeangel of Dublins beverage menu. A Dove Bar? Yes. A Dove bar of soap? Absolutely not. But not every soap brand is Dr. Bronners, the feel-good hippy dippy peace and love to all humanity psychedelic espousing makers of Magic Soaps. The California-based soap maker has announced an all-new line of Magic All-One Oat Milk Chocolate bars, and coffee is one of the three flavors they are rolling out first. Announced last week, the Magic All-One Oat Milk Chocolate bars arrive in three options: Crunchy Hazelnut Butter, Golden Milk Chai, and of course, Creamy Mocha Latte. Theyre readymade for specialty coffee SEO. For one, oat milk. Its like catnip for the Millennial-and-younger generations. And Mocha Latte, a combination of two drinks that are the lifeblood of any coffee shop. Expertly crafted by Swiss chocolatiers, per the press release, the Mocha Latte bar is made with real fair trade organic coffee and hazelnuts for a bold coffee flavor. And as would be expected from Dr. Bonners, the vegan chocolate itself is made from a blend of Regenerative Organic Certified ingredients including cocoa from Ghana and Ivory Coast, coconut sugar from Indonesia, and cocoa butter from Congo. This is not the good doctors first foray into chocolatiering. The brand released a line of dark chocolates back in 2021 that includes a total of seven different flavor options. But none of them are coffee. Dr. Bronners All-One Magic Oat Milk Chocolate will be available at retailers nationwide this month as well as via their webstore, with an MSRP of $5.99 per bar. Just imagine, making an oat milk mocha latte with melted Dr. Bronners All-One Magic Oat Milk Chocolate Mocha Latte. This is the feel-good soap-based vegan chocolate coffee drink you didnt know you needed but you desperately do. For more information, visit Dr. Bronners official website. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231119/yemens-houthis-seize-israeli-rented-cargo-vessel-galaxy-leader-in-red-sea---source-1115061754.html Yemen's Houthis Seize Israeli-Rented Cargo Vessel Galaxy Leader in Red Sea - Source Yemen's Houthis Seize Israeli-Rented Cargo Vessel Galaxy Leader in Red Sea - Source Hezam al-Asad, a member of the Yemeni groups political bureau, told Sputnik that the Houthis were treating the crew "in accordance with Islamic values and principles." 2023-11-19T22:45+0000 2023-11-19T22:45+0000 2023-11-19T22:45+0000 world houthi militants israel palestine-israel conflict red sea /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/104613/26/1046132648_0:446:3456:2390_1920x0_80_0_0_74fcbcc3debffe92108d282bf6c5c3ce.jpg "The movement's forces used boats to intercept and board a commercial vessel called Galaxy Leader off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea," the source said. "The movement took the ship to the areas under its control in Al Hudaydah province in western Yemen," the source said, adding that they were interrogating the ship's 25-member crew. Hezam al-Asad, a member of the Yemeni groups political bureau, told Sputnik that the Houthis were treating the crew "in accordance with Islamic values and principles." "If they are not Israelis, they will be treated as guests," al-Asad said. The Houthis warned that they would target Israeli-owned and Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea until Israel ended aggression against the Gaza Strip. The office of Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu denied there were Israeli citizens on board the ship. "Onboard the vessel are 25 crew members of various nationalities including Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Filipino and Mexican. No Israelis are onboard," the press statement read. Netanyahus office claimed that the captured ship was owned by a British company and operated by a Japanese firm. It accused Iran of instructing the Houthi militia to hijack the vessel. israel red sea 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 houthis, red sea, israel, gaza strip, galaxy leader commercial ship, ansar allah movement https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/argentina-risking-4bln-per-month-in-trade-with-china-brazil-by-potentially-halting-ties-1115083497.html Argentina Risking $4Bln Per Month in Trade With China, Brazil by Potentially Halting Ties Argentina Risking $4Bln Per Month in Trade With China, Brazil by Potentially Halting Ties The potential suspension of Argentina's cooperation with China and Brazil would put at risk its $4.2 billion-a-month on average trade with the two countries. 2023-11-20T21:05+0000 2023-11-20T21:05+0000 2023-11-20T21:04+0000 americas argentina javier milei china brazil brics trade peso /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107655/13/1076551341_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_d4d2e657080894b360421a85799ee101.jpg On Sunday, far-right politician Javier Milei of La Libertad Avanza alliance won the runoff of the presidential election in Argentina. During the presidential campaign, Milei spoke against joining BRICS and cooperating with China, Brazil and Russia, and advocated a foreign policy oriented toward Israel and the United States. Brazil became Argentina's largest trading partner in January-September 2023, data shows. During this period, Argentina supplied its neighbor with $8.9 billion worth of goods and purchased $14.1 billion worth of goods from it, which brings Argentina's trade deficit with Brazil to $5.2 billion. China supplied Argentina with $11 billion worth of goods and purchased from it $3.96 billion worth of goods, resulting in a $7 billion trade balance in China's favor. Argentina's combined trade with Brazil and China in the first nine months of 2023 amounted to $38 billion, or $4.2 billion per month. The United States is the third largest trade partner of Argentina: US exports to the country amount to $3.97 billion and imports to $6.9 billion. Argentina also has a trade deficit with the US that amounts to $3 billion. At the same time, commodity flows with China, Brazil and the United States are not interchangeable. While Brazil imports mainly petroleum products, oil and grain, and China imports mainly meat, grain and soy, the United States imports oil, precious metals and aluminum. The situation is similar with Argentina's imports: while Brazil mainly supplies soy, automobiles and electricity, and China various equipment, the US supplies liquefied natural gas, diesel and coal, the statistical data shows. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/realist-approach-could-help-president-elect-milei-steer-argentina-out-of-crisis---researcher-1115081848.html americas argentina china brazil 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 argentina, who is javier milei, who won argentina's election, trade with china and brazil https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/draft-dodgers-say-ukraine-unable-to-take-on-russia-slam-counteroffensive-as-senseless-killing-1115063928.html Draft Dodgers Say Ukraine Unable to Take on Russia, Slam Counteroffensive as 'Senseless Killing' Draft Dodgers Say Ukraine Unable to Take on Russia, Slam Counteroffensive as 'Senseless Killing' Ukraines military is facing a shortage of manpower to consign to the meat grinder that its much-heralded counteroffensive has become. 2023-11-20T08:09+0000 2023-11-20T08:09+0000 2023-11-20T08:17+0000 world ukraine ukrainian counteroffensive attempt military draft proxy war volodymyr zelensky valery zaluzhny russian ministry of defense nato /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/0d/1114919032_0:147:2907:1782_1920x0_80_0_0_8e72cc86f655349a090d5b17a8bda0a3.jpg Ukraines military is facing a shortage of manpower to send to the meat grinder namely, the much-touted counteroffensive, which has now been proven to be a colossal failure. This fact is being increasingly admitted by Western mainstream media, and the latest report by CNN serves as further evidence. The outlet served up a helping of candid interviews laying bare the gravity of Ukraines mobilization headaches. Dying a pointless death on a suicide mission is hardly something that individuals of fighting age look forward to.One of those the publication spoke with, a 32-year-old IT specialist by the name of Yevhen, unabashedly said he had every intention of dodging the draft.The Zelensky regime fills its military ranks with volunteers and draftees. Since the intensification of the Ukraine conflict, Kiev has imposed martial law, resulting in a travel ban on all men aged 18 to 60, since they are deemed liable for military service. Draft cards are handed out not only in recruitment offices, but on the streets, at gas stations and in cafes. Draft dodgers have become a huge problem, with a wave of viral videos showing Ukrainian men desperately trying to avoid conscription.The interviewee, who is of fighting age, went on to tell the outlet that everyone, talks about responsibilities," but he had a question of his own to ask:The IT specialist argued that he could hardly be a worthwhile addition to the battle ranks as he had no military training, adding:Another IT worker, Vlad, 30, echoed his fellow countryman's sentiments regarding the draft.Revealing that he also sought to dodge conscription, the man continued:Meanwhile, a Ukrainian army lieutenant undergoing rehabilitation after being wounded also had something to tell those foreign soldiers-of-fortune willing to joining the militarys ranks.As a rule, they do not realize what they are getting into... they dont realize how much artillery there is, and that you sit under fire all day, every day, said the man named Dmytro.He added that of course, foreigners can easily terminate a contract, unlike Ukrainians. According to him, almost half of the people saw everything and said, No, no, this is too much. This is not the kind of war we signed up for. As for the current mobilization, he slammed it as ill-conceived.The way it (mobilization) is done now when they try to force someone to join, the way they hand out draft notices is very bad. For example, I am a platoon commander, why do I need a person who does not want to join the army?He admitted that, We are stuck... we need to replace people. Another individual interviewed speculated that, now if someone gets a draft notice, then no one will consider [their] health problems, for the purpose of filling the ranks.While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to beg for weapons and money from countries backing NATO's crusade against Russia in Ukraine, there is a significant lack of manpower resources. Ukraine is struggling to maintain an adequate number of military personnel. General Valery Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, in an interview with The Economist, acknowledged that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had hit a "stalemate" and raised alarm about insufficient manpower, saying:"The prolonged nature of the war, limited opportunities for the rotation of soldiers on the line of contact, gaps in legislation that seem to legally evade mobilization significantly reduce the motivation of citizens to serve in the military."A spokesperson for the State Border Service of Ukraine, Andriy Demchenko, was cited as telling a November 9 briefing that an estimated 43,000 citizens of Ukraine were refused exit at the border over the last 10 months, adding that, The reasons were different, but mostly because they did not qualify.The counteroffensive that was finally launched after much delay in early June hugely thinned the ranks of Ukraine's NATO-trained military. Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that Kiev's troops had failed to achieve any tangible results on any section of the frontline, calling the Ukrainian counteroffensive "a failure rather than a stalemate." But in no way did the botched counteroffensive sway Zelensky's intent on proceeding with the military campaign at all costs. In the grand scheme of things, sparing soldiers is a trivial matter when the primary concern is delivering results to appease your Western bosses. An important thing to note is that Ukrainian soldiers have been increasingly surrendering during the Kiev regime's failed counteroffensive. Instances of soldiers not putting up resistance have been recorded by regional officials and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) since the launch of Ukraine's counteroffensive attempt. Furthermore, many of the foreign hirelings that Ukraine relied upon to beef up its military ranks have reportedly been departing. The hired guns either realized their gamble in Ukraine might have been a reckless one, or have gone to Israel to assist the Israeli Defense Forces amid the war in Gaza. In either case, Zelensky is fretting over the West's waning desire to funnel support to Ukraine as Washington is increasingly focusing more on the Middle East. Consequently, it appears that drumming up more manpower to contribute to the West's proxy war is going to be an increasingly difficult challenge. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231118/new-report-offers-revelations-about-foreign-mercenaries-in-ukraine-1115042955.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230903/millions-of-ukrainians-dodging-draft-to-avoid-certain-death-fighting-for-nato-1113096124.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231119/ukraine-counteroffensive-running-out-of-steam--uk-analyst--1115057092.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231118/ukraines-leadership-faces-day-of-reckoning-amid-dwindling-western-support-1115049210.html ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Svetlana Ekimenko ukraine facing shortage of manpower, ukraine's botched counteroffensive, dwindling support for ukraine, nato proxy war against russisa in ukraine, draft dodgers in ukraine Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy talks with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a break at the Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami. Rebecca Blackwell/AP The claim: During the third Republican presidential debate, Vivek Ramaswamy said Floridas anti-Chinese land law has an exemption that allowed Chinese nationals to buy land within a 20-mile radius of a military base lobbied for by one of Gov. Ron DeSantis donors. PolitiFact ruling: Half True. Ramaswamys claim is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of the Miami-based Citadel hedge fund, influenced the parameters of Floridas anti-China land law, Bloomberg News reported. Griffin donated to DeSantis gubernatorial campaigns, but so far hasnt donated to DeSantis presidential campaign. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The 2023 law restricts Chinese citizens from owning or buying land in Florida, stating that they cant buy property within 10 miles not 20, as Ramaswamy said of a military installation or critical infrastructure, which includes places such as airports. To Ramaswamys point, the law was loosened to exempt people with nontourist visas, allowing them to buy one residential property as long as it isnt within 5 miles of military installations, such as bases, posts or camps. Discussion PolitiFact reached out to Ramaswamys campaign but did not hear back. DeSantis governors office pointed us to a Nov. 8 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, by spokesperson Jeremy Redfern, who shared a map that highlighted the entire state of Florida, writing, The area highlighted on this map is where the CCP cannot buy land in Florida. (CCP refers to the Chinese Communist Party.) Advertisement Article continues below this ad Senate Bill 264 restricts many Chinese citizens from buying real estate in Florida. DeSantis signed the bill in May after it passed the Florida Legislature, and it became law in July. The law restricts citizens of seven foreign countries of concern China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela from owning or buying land in Florida. The laws final version says they cannot buy property within 10 miles of a military installation or critical infrastructure, such as ports, airports and power substations. Property buyers or sellers who violate the restriction could face up to 60 days in prison and a $500 fine. A portion of the law targets people associated with the Chinese government as well as Chinese citizens who arent permanent U.S. residents and who say their primary residence is in China. It prohibits these people from buying any property in Florida. Sellers who knowingly violate this part of the law could face up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine; Chinese nationals could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The law includes an exception for people who have nontourist visas or have been granted asylum. These people may buy one residential property up to two acres that isnt on or within 5 miles of a military installation. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The measure also requires American citizens who aim to buy Florida property to sign an affidavit attesting they arent prevented from purchasing the real estate under the new law. Early versions of the legislation were tighter. As filed, the bill would have essentially barred Chinese citizens and foreign nationals from the six other countries from buying any real estate within 20 miles of military bases and critical infrastructure. That would have covered most of South Florida. This earlier bill created complications for Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, a hedge fund and financial services company, who plans to build a new Citadel headquarters in Miami. Because he employs many international workers, he worried the law would prohibit them from buying property in the area, Bloomberg News reported in August. The report detailed how Griffin assembled a network of people to rework the proposed law and narrow restrictions for people with work permits. Citadel hired Capital City Consulting, one of Floridas top lobbying and public affairs companies, to help secure changes. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The version that became law cuts the restricted area for residential property purchases to 5 miles from military bases for verified visa holders and asylees. Griffin, who moved to Florida from Illinois in 2022, donated $5 million in 2021 to a political action committee that backed DeSantis reelection campaign, campaign finance records show. But he hasnt given money to support DeSantis presidential run. There is friction in the relationship. Griffin in September told CNBC he wasnt backing DeSantis in the race and was remaining on the sidelines of the GOP presidential primary, adding that DeSantis was leading a pointless fight with the Walt Disney Co. On Tuesday, Griffin told Bloomberg TV that hes considering supporting Nikki Haley for president. The U.S. Justice Department has argued that the Florida law is unconstitutional. News reports have documented how prospective buyers are backing out of home deals, and some real estate brokers have said they feel forced to racially profile people and turn down business, NBC News reported. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing four Chinese citizens who live in Florida and a real estate company that serves Chinese and Chinese American clients in a lawsuit against the state, which was filed in May. The ACLU argues the law is unconstitutional because it violates the plaintiffs 14th Amendment right to equal protection and procedural due process. Advertisement Article continues below this ad https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/female-idf-soldiers-decry-sexism-as-early-warning-of-hamas-activity-was-ignored-1115067774.html Female IDF Soldiers Blame Sexism For Early Warning of Hamas Activity Being 'Ignored' Female IDF Soldiers Blame Sexism For Early Warning of Hamas Activity Being 'Ignored' Israels female surveillance soldiers at the border had warned of Hamas activity ahead of the October 7 attack, Haaretz reported. However, their alert was allegedly ignored by upper chain of command in a 'sexist' display. 2023-11-20T09:37+0000 2023-11-20T09:37+0000 2023-11-20T10:23+0000 world palestine-israel conflict hamas israel defense forces (idf) gaza /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/14/1115065413_0:152:3097:1894_1920x0_80_0_0_b3f8a7d3b87640cd50bde2f8770f65a6.jpg Israels female surveillance soldiers at the border had warned of heightened Hamas activity before the 7 October attack, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. However, their alert was allegedly ignored by the upper chain of command. In what has been described as a blatant display of sexism, senior commanders refused to heed the warnings because they had come from women operating the surveillance cameras, sources were cited as saying.The unit operates along Israels borders, as well as throughout the West Bank. Also dubbed the eyes of the State of Israel, these soldiers gather information using cameras, sensors and maps, and are responsible for monitoring around 15-30 kilometers of land. As a result, they provide real-time intelligence information to their military colleagues out in the field all day, every day.Hamas had been training for an attack for weeks, the tatzpitaniyot had purportedly warned. The aforementioned female surveillance soldiers reported "signs of activity" along the Gaza border.A month and a half before the war, we saw that in one of the Hamas training camps they had built an exact, scaled model of an observers position, like the one we operate. They started training there with drones to hit the [machine gun] shooter, the female soldier, known only by the name Ilana, said.Accordingly, a plethora of warnings based upon their surveillance had been sent up the chain of command by the unit, only to be ignored, according to the report.When the October attack by Hamas began, the militant group resorted to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to hit Israeli positions, just as the tatzpitaniyot had observed in their surveillance. According to another female soldier, the unit had seen a replica of a Merkava 4 tank being built and then used for training in Gaza. One of the surveillance soldiers was described as having apologized for waking up a superior early on 7 October to report having observed something strange.However, none of the reports of a potential infiltration of Israels border communities put together by the female surveillance soldiers and sent to senior security officials had purportedly been taken notice of.If we had known about this warning, this whole disaster would have looked different No one told us that there was such a high level of vigilance, one soldier was cited as saying, adding:There had previously also been reports that accounts and opinions of surveillance soldiers failed to be taken seriously, with female staff ostensibly treated with contempt. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231011/israels-intel-operational--logistical-lapses-failed-to-stop-hamas-attack---report-1114087825.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231118/is-middle-east-on-edge-of-regional-war-amid-gaza-crisis-and-escalating-israeli-lebanese-conflict-1115047164.html gaza Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Svetlana Ekimenko israel, hamas, surprise hamas attack, gaza strip, israel-hamas war, palestine-israel conflict, gaza war,ceasefire in gaza https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/heat-wave-persists-in-brazil-after-taylor-swift-fan-dies-at-outdoor-concert-1115062571.html Heat Wave Persists in Brazil After Taylor Swift Fan Dies at Outdoor Concert Heat Wave Persists in Brazil After Taylor Swift Fan Dies at Outdoor Concert Unseasonably hot temperatures have continued in Brazil after a Taylor Swift fan died at a concert in Rio de Janeiro. 2023-11-20T03:50+0000 2023-11-20T03:50+0000 2023-11-20T03:51+0000 americas taylor swift brazil rio rio de janeiro el nino heatwave weather extreme weather /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107969/57/1079695725_0:1:1280:721_1920x0_80_0_0_85f33c952de015781f3b5cc2cbd92fea.jpg Unseasonably hot temperatures have continued in Brazil after a Taylor Swift fan died at a concert in Rio de Janeiro.The death of 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides Machado occurred Friday after the fan complained of feeling unwell at the outdoor concert. She was brought to paramedics then transported to a nearby hospital where she died of cardiorespiratory arrest.The deadly heat prompted Swift to postpone her second show in Rio Saturday evening. Locals have recently taken to referring to the city as Inferno de Janeiro, a play on the Portuguese word for Hell, as temperatures again soared to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit with a heat index as high as 137 degrees Fahrenheit.The El Nino climate pattern and an offshore high pressure system have combined to create warm weather throughout much of the continent, where summer is still more than four weeks away. El Nino typically brings hot temperatures, which have been intensified by the weather system carrying warm moist air and clearing away cloud cover.Humid conditions have made things particularly oppressive as saturated air prevents sweat from evaporating, undermining the human bodys natural ability to cool itself.Fans at Swifts Friday show had complained about venue policy that prevented them from bringing water, leading to the concerts organizer to announce water would be provided for free on Saturday.The hot weekend conditions extended to Paraguay and other neighboring countries Saturday, with cities in Peru and Bolivia reporting record November temperatures. Elsewhere in Brazil, wildfires ravaged the tropical Pantanal wetlands.The warm weather continues a period of high temperatures throughout the continent that drove fires in Argentina last month. In August and September, the continent experienced a rare winter heat wave.Scientists say climate change is increasing the intensity and duration of periods of extreme heat as well as other severe weather events. According to expert Eliot Jacobson, Saturday was the first day in recorded human history that the global surface temperature average exceeded two degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 baseline. americas brazil rio rio de janeiro 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 rio de janeiro, brazil, taylor swift, heatwave, concert, el nino, weather, extreme weather https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/israeli-or-not-what-we-know-about-car-carrier-hijacked-by-houthis-in-red-sea-1115076890.html Israeli or Not? What We Know About Car Carrier Hijacked by Houthis in Red Sea Israeli or Not? What We Know About Car Carrier Hijacked by Houthis in Red Sea Yemens Houthi militia seized the Galaxy Leader commercial car carrying vessel in the southern Red Sea over the weekend, believing the ship to be linked to Israel. The IDF assured the ship is not Israeli. Where was the ship sailing from? Where was it headed? Who owns it? Whos onboard? Sputnik did a bit of digging to find comprehensive answers. 2023-11-20T15:31+0000 2023-11-20T15:31+0000 2023-11-20T15:58+0000 world benjamin netanyahu middle east israel red sea iran houthis houthi israel defense forces (idf) cargo ship /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/14/1115076700_0:25:768:457_1920x0_80_0_0_5e34d3797787d69a7d05b8c129b8c8f6.jpg The commercial vessel hijacked by the Yemeni Ansar Allah (Houthi) Movement is not Israeli and there are no Israeli nationals onboard.That was the Israel Defense Forces initial reaction Sunday to the seizure of the Galaxy Leader, a Bahamas-registered car carrier whose tracking systems went offline Saturday before it was reported captured by the Houthis in the southern Red Sea the next day.What Do We Know About the Vessel?The Galaxy Leader is a 48,710 ton, 189.2 long, 32.29 wide roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) car carrier. Built in 2002 at the now-bankrupt Gdynia Shipyards in Poland, the single-hull, steel vessel has a carrying capacity of up to 5,100 vehicles.The ships port of registry is Nassau, the Bahamas, and it flies the Caribbean island nations flag for convenience (Bahamian-registered vessels operate tax-free).The ship is operated by Nippon Ysen Kaisha Line (NYK), a massive, Tokyo-headquartered shipping and logistics company whose global shipping fleet contains 112 other vehicle carriers, and hundreds more container ships, bulk carriers, woodchip, reefer, tanker and LNG carriers, plus a handful of cruise ships.According to NYK, the ship had between 22 and 25 people onboard at the time of its seizure, including sailors from Bulgaria, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania and Ukraine. The ships captain and first mate are said to be Bulgarian nationals.According to Lloyds List Intelligence, the ship is managed by Stamco Ship Management Company Ltd, based in Piraeus, Greece, with its registered owner, Ray Shipping, incorporated in the Isle of Man, a British Crown Dependency. Lloyds says the vessel is owned by Ray Shipping Ltd, a Tel-Aviv-based shipping company operating a global fleet of some 65 vehicle carriers. The ships direct owners are listed as Rami and Yael Ungar, a pair of wealthy Israeli businessmen known for their involvement in the funding of Israeli political campaigns.Maritime security company Ambrey has independently verified that the company belongs to the Ungar family. Rami Ungar told a US-based news agency that he was aware of the ships seizure, but declined to provide any further information.Why is Israel Denying Ownership?Prime Minister Netanyahus Office offered a similarly evasive comment. Israel strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel. The ship, which is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked by Iran with guidance by the Yemenite Houthi militia, the office said in a statement.The seizure constituted another act of Iranian terrorism and aggression against the citizens of the free world, and creates international implications regarding the security of global shipping lanes, in the PM Offices words.Regional militias are acting autonomously and are representatives of their countries, and make decisions based on the interests of their nation, Kanaani assured, stressing that Israels claims otherwise are an attempt at projection meant to escape from the situation they are facing.The Pentagon confirmed the Galaxy Leaders seizure, and a US National Security Council spokesman condemned it as a flagrant violation of international law, demanding the immediate release of the ship and its crew, and vowing consultations with our UN partners for the appropriate next steps.What are the Houthis Saying?The Houthis publicly confirmed their responsibility for the Galaxy Leaders seizure, with the groups spokesman, Yahya Saree, taking to X on Sunday night to say the hijacking was a response to Israels heinous acts against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and the West Bank.Assuring that the ships crew was being treated in accordance with the principle and values of our Islamic religion, Saree warned that all ships belonging to or dealing with the Israeli enemy are a legitimate target as far as the Houthis were concerned, and urged all countries whose citizens work in the Red Sea to avoid any work or activity involving Israeli ships or ships owned by Israelis.Earlier in the day Sunday, Houthi movement source confirmed to Sputnik that the Galaxy Leader had been intercepted and boarded by small boats, and that the seized ship had been taken to Yemens Al-Hudaydah Port, where its crew would be interrogated. If they are not Israelis, they will be treated as guests, Houthi political bureau member Hezam al-Asad told Sputnik.Separately, Houthi spokesman and top negotiator Mohammed Abdul-Salam stated that the detention of the Israeli ship is a practical step that proves the seriousness of the Yemeni armed forces in waging the sea battle, regardless of its costs, and vowed that the operation was only the beginning.The Japanese government said Monday that it was talking to the Houthis about the seizure, with Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa indicating that Tokyo was communicating with Israel, and in addition to directly approaching the Houthis, was urging Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran and other countries concerned to strongly urge the Houthis for the early release of the vessel and crew measures.Our government will continue to take necessary measures in cooperation with the countries concerned, while taking into account the situation, she added.What is the Broader Context of the Houthi Hijacking?The Galaxy Leaders seizure is part of a broader strategy by the Houthis, whose areas of control in Yemen are over 2,000 km from Israel, to "reach out and touch" Tel Aviv using the tools of asymmetric warfare, which in the past have included a string of attempted missile and drone attacks, most of them intercepted by US, Saudi and Jordanian air defense systems before reaching Israel.The incident followed threats last week by Ansar Allahs Movement Leader, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, to attack enemy ships. The Houthis eyes are open to constantly monitor and search for any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, particularly in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the waters that border Yemeni waters, although Israeli ships disable [positioning] devices in the Red Sea, they will not be able to hide, he vowed last Tuesday.The Ungar family has already had experience with attacks on its ships in the region. In 2021, the Helios Ray, another of the billionaires car-carrying ships, suffered an explosion in the Gulf of Oman, with Israeli media immediately blaming Iran. Separately in 2021, the Israeli-owned Hyperion Ray carrier reportedly received minor damage after being struck by a missile off the UAE coast. Tehran has vehemently denied any involvement in the attacks, accusing Tel Aviv of staging a false flag incident designed to spark a regional war after the Helios Ray incident.At the same time that it has accused Iran or Iranian proxies of targeting its commercial vessels, Israel has remained silent about its own alleged sabotage operations against the Islamic Republics vessels over the years, including numerous Iranian tankers trying to deliver oil to Syria, which has been starved of fuel by the US occupation of that countrys northeastern territories.Ultimately, the Galaxy Leaders seizure signals another escalation in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which began last month and threatens to expand into a regional conflagration amid the US deployment of two carrier groups and thousands of additional troops, as well as aircraft, to the Middle East. Limited skirmishes between the IDF and Hezbollah on the Israeli-Lebanese border, and Israeli air attacks against Syria, have also served to ratchet up tensions.Contrary to expectations by Tel Aviv and hawks in Washington, Iran has so far refrained from entering the conflict directly, instead joining dozens of other countries including Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and others calling for an immediate ceasefire. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231119/idf-says-cargo-vessel-galaxy-leader-seized-by-houthis-in-red-sea-not-israeli-1115059861.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231105/israel-boasts-destruction-of-houthi-ballistic-cruise-missiles-in-space-using-f-35s--videos-1114748927.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231115/houthi-leader-threatens-to-attack-israels-ships-in-red-sea-1114964602.html israel red sea iran Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ilya Tsukanov Ilya Tsukanov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ilya Tsukanov houthi, ansar allah, israel, united states, red sea, seizure, hijacking, response, retaliation, details, information https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/japan-finishes-3rd-phase-of-water-release-from-fukushima-nuclear-power-plant---reports-1115069084.html Japan Finishes 3rd Phase of Water Release From Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant - Reports Japan Finishes 3rd Phase of Water Release From Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant - Reports Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has completed the third stage of treated water release from Japan's damaged Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, public broadcaster NHK reported on Monday. 2023-11-20T10:18+0000 2023-11-20T10:18+0000 2023-11-20T10:18+0000 asia tokyo electric power company (tepco) international atomic energy agency (iaea) fukushima china japan /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/106091/77/1060917747_0:156:3001:1844_1920x0_80_0_0_d0ef4c01be8914cb18618a35ccfbe04f.jpg TEPCO began the third round of water discharge on November 2. According to the company's data, the water, which firstly went through the ALPS purification system, had 55-77 becquerels of tritium per liter which is much less than a norm of 1,500 becquerels. The channel added that the water release did not cause any problems, and over 7,800 tonnes of purified water from 10 tanks were discharged as planned. Japan started implementing the plan to gradually discharge 1.34 million tonnes of treated water from Fukushima into the ocean on August 24. The entire process is expected to take at least 30 years. China banned all seafood from Japan over concerns about radioactive contamination even though the IAEA said that treated wastewater would have a negligible radiological impact on the marine environment and human health. The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant suffered a meltdown after being hit by a massive tsunami triggered by a 9-magnitude earthquake in 2011. Since then, water has been continuously pumped in to cool the plant's reactors. As of June, around 1,000 tanks of treated wastewater were stored on site. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231102/japan-starts-3rd-release-of-fukushima-treated-water---reports-1114658179.html fukushima china japan 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 tokyo electric power company, tepco, fukushima nuclear power plant https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/kalashnikov-delivers-cutting-edge-supersonic-missiles-to-russian-army-ahead-of-schedule-1115074751.html Kalashnikov Delivers Cutting-Edge Supersonic Missiles to Russian Army Ahead of Schedule Kalashnikov Delivers Cutting-Edge Supersonic Missiles to Russian Army Ahead of Schedule On Monday, the press service of the Kalashnikov Concern reported that the company had successfully fulfilled its 2023 state defense contract ahead of schedule. As part of this achievement, they delivered the advanced Vikhr-1 (lit. Whirlwind) supersonic missiles, for Ka-52 helicopters to the Russian Defense Ministry. 2023-11-20T14:47+0000 2023-11-20T14:47+0000 2023-11-20T15:52+0000 military russian defense ministry kalashnikov concern russia kalashnikov military & intelligence supersonic missile supersonic vikhr-1 guided missile guided missile /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/14/1115078983_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_9b6efe3b2c9cfa7443bccaebf6089c95.jpg According to the release, the Kalashnikov Concern has successfully fulfilled its obligations under the 2023 state contract with the Russian Defense Ministry, supplying the Vikhr-1 guided missiles ahead of schedule and in full. The projectiles underwent flight tests before being transferred to the customer, where they demonstrated full compliance with the contract's requirements.The Vikhr-1 guided missiles are designed to hit armored vehicles and enemy fortifications, targeting ground and low-speed air targets at a range of up to 10 kilometers. The missiles are carried by Ka-52 Alligator reconnaissance and attack helicopters and accelerate to over 600 meters per second. russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Contract completed: Kalashnikov's Vikhr-1 supersonic missiles sent to front Contract completed: Kalashnikov's Vikhr-1 supersonic missiles sent to front 2023-11-20T14:47+0000 true PT1M03S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International guided missile, vihr-1, supersonic missile, russian missile, kalashnikov concern, kalashnikov company, kalashnikov corporation, ka-52 alligator, russian army, russian forces, russian choppers, russian helicopters, defense contract https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/last-ditch-effort-to-revive-ukraine-story-why-murdoch-rushed-to-meet-zelensky-in-kiev-1115076201.html Last Ditch Effort to Revive Ukraine Story? Why Murdoch Rushed to Meet Zelensky in Kiev Last Ditch Effort to Revive Ukraine Story? Why Murdoch Rushed to Meet Zelensky in Kiev Lachlan Murdoch, who took the reins of Fox Corp. and News Corp. last week, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev over the weekend. So what exactly prompted this trip? 2023-11-20T15:13+0000 2023-11-20T15:13+0000 2023-11-21T13:10+0000 americas volodymyr zelensky rupert murdoch tucker carlson kiev ukraine israel republicans fox news us /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/0c/1114897745_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_206f66359d02c24ca3b1f7ef3deb94f7.jpg Lachlan, 52, is the eldest son of now-retired Rupert Murdoch, an Australian-born American media mogul, who announced his retirement in September. Last week, Lachlan Murdoch officially became the sole chair of News Corp and the executive chair and chief executive of Fox.Hall conducted an interview with Zelensky that is expected to be aired on Tuesday night's episode of "Special Report with Bret Baier," according to the media outlet.The report suggested that Lachlan Murdoch's visit with Zelensky is of importance given that the media he now owns remains "the most powerful source of information for Republicans," a majority of whom have recently become highly skeptical on continuing to fund the Ukrainian military.Indeed, a new survey by Gallup has indicated that 62% of Republicans believe that the US is "doing too much" to help Kiev, a surge from 50% in June. Likewise, the Ukraine aid issue is losing GOP support in the US Congress. The trend is apparently driven by Ukraine fatigue, Kiev's failure to succeed in its counteroffensive attempt, and, most notably, Israel's war against Hamas, declared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the Islamist surprise attack on October 7.Zelensky mentioned his meeting with Lachlan Murdoch in a Facebook* post on Monday, while the newly appointed media chairman declined to comment on his Kiev tour via his spokesperson, as per Axios.Meanwhile, it is known that Lachlan used to talk to Zelensky previously. According to the US mainstream press, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son reportedly held a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president in March, weeks before they ousted Tucker Carlson, the American political commentator and writer who hosted the eponymous nightly talk show "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Fox from 2016 to 2023.According to the Semafor website, it's unclear whether the phone call had anything to do with Tucker's sacking. Still, it is said that Ukrainian government officials repeatedly raised issues with Carlson's coverage of the Ukraine conflict. The host's approach to Washington's proxy war in Ukraine has differed much from the US mainstream narrative about Kiev's "imminent victory" and Zelensky's "Churchill-style" governing.The tone of the Western press has significantly changed since then. Time Magazine has recently depicted the Ukrainian president as losing the battle and his entourage as deeply corrupt. Furthermore, the Economist featured Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, who clarified that the world should not hold its breath waiting for a "deep and beautiful breakthrough."What deserves to be considered is whether Murdoch would choose to emulate the approaches of prominent American and British media outlets, or if he would endeavor to resuscitate Zelensky's tarnished reputation and inject fresh vitality into the Ukraine conflict narrative.*Metas Facebook is banned in Russia for extremism. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231118/ukraines-leadership-faces-day-of-reckoning-amid-dwindling-western-support-1115049210.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231109/ex-cia-analyst-west-preparing-for-military-coup-against-zelensky-1114845253.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231115/from-hero-to-zero-zelenskys-military-moves-draw-criticism-and-chaos-1114977508.html americas kiev ukraine israel Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ekaterina Blinova Ekaterina Blinova News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ekaterina Blinova ukraine, russia, war in ukraine, volodymyr zelensky, rupert murdoch, lachlan murdoch, ukraine failed counteroffensive, dwindling us support to ukraine, valery zaluzhny, ukrainian military, us mainstream press Canada Urges Israel to Take Action Against Extremist Settler Violence - Foreign Ministry Ottawa calls on the Israeli government to take steps to halt the settler violence against Palestinians, Global Affairs Canada said in a release. "Canada strongly condemns the extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and is also gravely concerned by reports of Palestinian communities being forcibly removed from their lands in the West Bank," the release said on Monday. "Canada, along with partners, calls on the Government of Israel to take immediate action to stop such further occurrences of extremist settler violence." Canada also calls on Israel to protect the Palestinian population and hold those responsible for the violence accountable under the law. The violence, the release added, negatively impacts efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution. "As has been the position of successive Canadian governments, Canada does not recognize permanent Israeli control over territories occupied in 1967, and strongly opposes illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank. The settlements constitute a serious obstacle to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East," the release said. The US over the weekend said it was ready to issue visa bans against Israeli extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/moscow-vows-response-based-on-national-interests-if-finland-closes-border-1115068450.html Moscow Vows Response Based on National Interests if Finland Closes Border Moscow Vows Response Based on National Interests if Finland Closes Border Moscow does not exclude that Finland will close all checkpoints at the border with Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Monday. 2023-11-20T09:58+0000 2023-11-20T09:58+0000 2023-11-20T09:58+0000 world moscow finland russia kremlin border /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/104508/39/1045083971_0:0:4000:2251_1920x0_80_0_0_eba91854f0203bb8bba12ba113852feb.jpg "It is difficult for me to comment on something that has not happened yet. But judging by the way decisions are made in Western European capitals, no options can be ruled out. Although, in this case, such a decision would obviously contradict the national interests of Finland," Grushko told reporters.If Finland closes its border, Russia will work out response measures in compliance with its national interests, the senior diplomat said.Russian border guards comply with all instructions at the border with Finland, and Moscow considers the far-fetched accusations to be unacceptable, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.The spokesman added that this is unlikely to affect the relations, as there is no dialogue.Last week, the Finnish cabinet said it had decided to close four out of eight checkpoints on the border with Russia from November 18 to February 18, 2024 due to the deteriorating situation with migrants. Earlier on Monday, the Iltalehti newspaper reported, citing sources that Helsinki is ready to close the remaining four checkpoints on the border with Russia on November 22. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230929/finland-newest-nato-member-strikes-land-deals-to-build-fortifications-near-russian-border--reports-1113791507.html moscow finland russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian deputy foreign minister, finland closes border, national interests https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/pentagon-head-arrives-in-kiev-says-united-states-will-continue-to-support-ukraine-1115065799.html Pentagon Chief Arrives in Kiev, Vows to Continue US Support for Ukraine Pentagon Chief Arrives in Kiev, Vows to Continue US Support for Ukraine US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday that he had arrived in Kiev, adding that the United States will continue to support Ukraine. 2023-11-20T07:48+0000 2023-11-20T07:48+0000 2023-11-20T09:16+0000 world pentagon ukraine kiev us lloyd austin /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/06/0b/1096207751_0:0:3071:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_81c0b646ce07f119e3b365cd2bda7b8a.jpg "I just arrived in Kiev to meet with Ukrainian leaders. Im here today to deliver an important message the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russia, both now and into the future," Austin wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.Western countries have been providing military aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict.The Ukrainian counteroffensive began on June 4. Kiev has thrown into battle brigades trained by NATO instructors and armed with Western equipment, including Leopard and Challenger tanks. Three months later, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Kiev's push had failed, with Ukraine suffering severe casualties. Several Western officials also admitted that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had not been successful so far. On November 1, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in an interview with the Economist that Kiev's counteroffensive had reached a "stalemate." https://sputnikglobe.com/20231114/us-senator-says-will-take-100-years-to-determine-whether-aid-for-ukraine-worthwhile-1114957367.html ukraine kiev Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International us defense secretary lloyd austin, united states, continue to support ukraine https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/russia-china-coordinate-efforts-in-solving-key-international-problems---putin-1115067303.html Russia, China Coordinate Efforts in Solving Key International Problems - Putin Russia, China Coordinate Efforts in Solving Key International Problems - Putin Russian and China are coordinating efforts in solving key international problems, contributing to the construction of a just and democratic world order, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday. 2023-11-20T08:55+0000 2023-11-20T08:55+0000 2023-11-20T08:55+0000 world russia china shanghai cooperation organisation (sco) vladimir putin /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0f/1114214778_0:0:2824:1589_1920x0_80_0_0_5bbec14182a73703c816daee782e744b.jpg "Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive and strategic partnership are at an unprecedented high level. Large-scale joint projects are being implemented in the economic, transport, energy, humanitarian and other spheres. On a bilateral basis, as well as in the formats of the SCO, BRICS and other multilateral structures, Moscow and Beijing coordinate efforts in solving major international problems, contributing to the construction of a more just and democratic world order," Putin said in a greeting message to the participants of the United Russia party and the Chinese Communist Party Dialogue. The constructive work between United Russia and the Chinese Communist Party contributes to the progressive development of bilateral relations, Putin added. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231116/russian-chinese-conference-shows-moscow-and-beijing-in-the-same-boat--experts-1115001374.html russia china Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russia, china, russian president vladimir putin, international problems, democratic world order The cold front will bring very gusty winds. Some wind gusts by Tuesday morning will exceed 20 mph. Pivotal Weather Fall in San Antonio is known for its up-and-down weather, and its certainly been that way the last couple months. Another cold front is heading toward South Texas on Monday night, and it will produce roller-coaster temperatures. Lets take a look at the timing and exactly how cold it will get. Mondays timeline Morning (4-9 a.m.): It will be mild and muggy to start the day. Low temperatures will be in the mid-60s, which is about 15 degrees above average for this time of year. Thanks to ample moisture in the atmosphere, dense fog and drizzle will be possible across South Texas. Give yourse;f extra time on your morning commute. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Midday (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.): Temperatures will reach 70 degrees just after 10 a.m., on their way to the upper 70s by afternoon. We wont come close to the daily record of 85 degrees, but in a few spots temperatures could touch the 80-degree mark. It will be a very warm Monday in South Texas. High temperatures are expected to reach the upper 70s in San Antonio, close to 10 degrees above average for this time of year. Pivotal Weather Partly sunny skies are expected during the afternoon, and there could be isolated storms in South-Central Texas. However, overall rain chances will be very low in San Antonio: just 10% to 20%. The chance of rain will be higher to the east. Evening and night: (5 p.m. to midnight): The cold front will start to come through around sunset. Wind will change direction and start moving into San Antonio from the northwest. It will be gradual at first, but winds will become stronger late at night, hitting 20-25 mph after 9 p.m. Temperatures will fall to the 60s after sunset and into the 50s overnight. The rest of the week Advertisement Article continues below this ad Behind the cold front, below-average temperatures are expected for the rest of the week. By Tuesday, highs will be in the low to mid-60s under mostly sunny skies. Winds will be about 20 mph for much of the day. Some morning gusts could rise above 30 mph. Cold air will continue to filter in overnight and into Wednesday. Lows will drop into the low-40s to start the day, and highs will be in the low-60s. That is about 10 degrees below average for late November. By late Wednesday night and heading into Thanksgiving morning, a few showers will be possible as moisture moves in from the south. This will be associated with a weak low-pressure system that is expected to develop in northern Mexico. Rain chances in San Antonio will depend on exactly where the low pressure tracks. If the low moves over south-central Texas, there will be rain chances in San Antonio the morning of Thanksgiving. If it tracks over the Gulf of Mexico, drier weather will prevail. Advertisement Article continues below this ad https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/russia-lodges-protest-to-finnish-ambassador-over-closure-of-border-checkpoints-1115077973.html Russia Lodges Protest to Finnish Ambassador Over Closure of Border Checkpoints Russia Lodges Protest to Finnish Ambassador Over Closure of Border Checkpoints The Russian Foreign Ministry has lodged protest to Finnish Ambassador Antti Helantera over Helsinkis decision to close border checkpoints between the countries, the ministry said on Monday. 2023-11-20T14:55+0000 2023-11-20T14:55+0000 2023-11-20T14:55+0000 world russia finland russian foreign ministry border crossings refugees asylum seeker border checkpoints /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/02/17/1107735227_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_555628a3f558c262a2943e6cab57de03.jpg "On November 20, the Russian Foreign Ministry held a conversation with the ambassador of Finland to Russia, Antti Helantera. The Russian side protested against the closure of the most actively used checkpoints on the Russian-Finnish state border by the Finnish authorities," the ministry said in a statement, and called Helsinkis decision "provocative." The ministry added that the closure of checkpoints violates rights of tens of thousands of citizens of both countries. On Thursday, the Finnish cabinet said it had decided to close four out of eight checkpoints on the border with Russia from November 18 to February 18, 2024 due to the deteriorating situation with migrants. Helsinki has accused Moscow of directing asylum seekers, mainly from the Middle East, to its border, with the number of asylum requests soaring to 60 a day, compared to a total of 91 arriving from August 1 to November 12. The Russian embassy in Finland told Sputnik that the Finnish government's measures were a cause for concern, and Russia would work on retaliatory measures. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231118/over-8800-people-sign-petition-not-to-close-checkpoints-on-russian-finnish-border-1115042350.html russia finland 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 asylum seeker, russia-finland relations, finland-russia relations, russia-finland border, russian-finnish border, border crossing, refugees from middle east, refugees for finland, border checkpoints, border checkpoints closure https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/ukrainian-population-down-by-4mln-to-19mln-in-2-months---ex-prime-minister-1115075725.html Ukrainian Population Down by 4Mln to 19Mln in 2 Months - Ex-Prime Minister Ukrainian Population Down by 4Mln to 19Mln in 2 Months - Ex-Prime Minister Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov estimated on Monday that the population of Ukraine shrank by 4 million to 19 million in the past two months. 2023-11-20T13:57+0000 2023-11-20T13:57+0000 2023-11-20T13:57+0000 world ukraine mykola azarov ukrainian crisis ukrainian conflict ukraine crisis ukrainian economy demographic crisis ukrainian refugees in europe /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/08/1114825773_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_f5c8f207c3cf17eda46024a7198406e8.jpg In early October, Azarov said there were 23 million people living in Ukraine. "According to the most modest calculations, only 19 million continue to live in the territory controlled by the regime in Kiev. Its a scary figure," he wrote on social media. He attributed the population decline to a massive outflow of workforce, in addition to combat casualties. The former minister complained about a breakdown in services in Ukraine. He said Ukraine would need highly skilled workers, such as engineers and technologists, to rebound from the conflict. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/draft-dodgers-say-ukraine-unable-to-take-on-russia-slam-counteroffensive-as-senseless-killing-1115063928.html ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International ukrainian population, ukrainians dying, demographic crisis, demographic catastrophe, population decline, outflow of workforce, combat casualties, rebuild ukraine, workforce deficit, ukrainian refugees, ukrainian troops, ukrainian losses, russian forces, russian troops, russia wins, ukraine loses, ukrainian crisis, failed counteroffensive, ukrainian counteroffensive, foiled counteroffensive, counteroffensive attempt, thwarted counteroffensive, counteroffensive effort https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/watch-combat-work-of-russian-airborne-snipers-near-artemovsk-1115063665.html Watch Combat Work of Russian Airborne Snipers Near Artemovsk Watch Combat Work of Russian Airborne Snipers Near Artemovsk The Russian Defense Ministry has published footage of Airborne Troops' snipers combat work near Artemovsk (Bakhmut). Sniper pairs of the reconnaissance units troops destroy Ukrainian nationalists who try to approach Russian positions near Artemovsk every day. 2023-11-20T05:23+0000 2023-11-20T05:23+0000 2023-11-20T05:27+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russia ukraine russian defense ministry nato snipers video /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/14/1115063097_90:0:1334:700_1920x0_80_0_0_1d0fa3ec8fb1d95b661179a5b572e244.jpg The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of sniper combat work of the Airborne troops near Artemovsk (Bakhmut). Sniper pairs of the reconnaissance troops eliminated Ukrainian nationalists who were trying to approach Russian positions near Artemovsk.The snipers fired from a distance of more than 1,000 meters, changing position after each shot, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.Snipers are highly trained marksmen who specialize in engaging targets from concealed positions, often at long range. They play a critical role in military operations by providing long-range precision fire support and intelligence gathering. Snipers are equipped with high-powered rifles, advanced scopes, and other tools to ensure accuracy and stealth. 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 Combat work by airborne snipers near Artemovsk (Bakhmut) Combat work by airborne snipers near Artemovsk (Bakhmut) 2023-11-20T05:23+0000 true PT0M19S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian defense ministry, artemovsk (bakhmut), airborne troops https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/watch-houthis-seize-israeli-billionaire-owned-cargo-ship-using-chopper-speedboats-1115082434.html Watch Houthis Seize Israeli Billionaire-Owned Cargo Ship Using Chopper, Speedboats Watch Houthis Seize Israeli Billionaire-Owned Cargo Ship Using Chopper, Speedboats The Yemeni militia effectively opened a second front against Israel last month amid Tel Avivs ongoing military operation against their Palestinian brothers in Gaza, conducting a series of attempted drone and missile strikes on Israeli targets 2,000 km away. Over the weekend, the militia upped the ante by seizing a suspected Israeli-owned ship. 2023-11-20T19:02+0000 2023-11-20T19:02+0000 2023-11-20T19:12+0000 world benjamin netanyahu palestinians middle east israel red sea tel aviv houthi houthis ansar allah /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/14/1115082201_0:4:1400:792_1920x0_80_0_0_73c085126d273bef366cd4e7a94eabd6.png Yemens Ansar Allah (Houthi) Movement has released dramatic footage showing militiamen aboard a helicopter chasing down, boarding and seizing the Galaxy Leader Ro-Ro car carrying commercial vessel in the Red Sea.Entering the ships bridge, militants scream at members of the bewildered crew, some of them seen with their hands up, to get down on the ground, and forcefully tell one of them to take to the ships controls.The video then cuts to shots from within the vessels massive belly, confirming earlier reports that the vehicle-carrier was empty when it began its journey from Turkiye to India via the Red Sea.Further footage apparently shot from a drone shows the Galaxy Leader being escorted by at least seven Houthi speedboats to shore, flying the Yemeni and Palestinian flags. More Yemeni and Palestinian flags are seen fluttering aboard the seized commercial vessels deck, presumably replacing the Bahamas flag the ship ordinarily sails under.The Galaxy Leader is operated by NYK, a Tokyo-headquartered giant of a shipping and logistics company, and is managed by Stamco Ship Management Company Ltd out of Piraeus, Greece. Its owner, Ray Shipping, is incorporated in the British Dependency of the Isle of Man. Ray Shipping is owned by Rami and Yael Ungar, a pair of wealthy Israeli shipping moguls whose fortune is estimated at of over $2.1 billion.After the ships seizure was first reported on Sunday, the Israeli military stressed that the vessel did not have Israelis onboard and suggested it was not an Israeli ship. Prime Minister Netanyahus Office called the hijacking an Iranian attack against an international vessel, saying that the Galaxy Leader was owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm, again leaving out the reported Israeli connection.Iran denied having anything to do with the dramatic hijacking operation, assuring that Yemens Houthis had acted autonomously, and that to suggest otherwise marks Israels failure to accept that it has been dealt a multi-dimensional defeat in its war against Palestinian Resistance forces.The Houthis openly threatened to begin seizing Israeli-affiliated ships in the Red Sea last week, making good on that threat over the weekend with the Galaxy Leader, and promising to continue military operations against Tel Aviv until Israeli aggression against the Palestinians comes to a halt.Conflicting reports indicate that between 22 and 25 crew were on the Galaxy Leader at the time of its hijacking. Their condition remains unknown. A Houthi source told Sputnik on Sunday that if the crew members were not Israelis, they will be treated as guests. NYK indicated that the ship contains sailors from Bulgaria, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania and Ukraine, and that the captain and first mate are Bulgarians. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/israeli-or-not-what-we-know-about-car-carrier-hijacked-by-houthis-in-red-sea-1115076890.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/political-scientist-bidens-op-ed-on-peace-solution-for-gaza-and-ukraine-is-recipe-for-disaster-1115079255.html israel red sea tel aviv Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ilya Tsukanov Ilya Tsukanov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ilya Tsukanov houthi, ansar allah, israel, yemen, ship, seizure, capture, hijacking, red sea, footage, video https://sputnikglobe.com/20231120/watch-russian-forces-annihilate-ukrainian-troops-in-belogorovka-area-1115065156.html Watch Russian Forces Annihilate Ukrainian Troops in Belogorovka Area Watch Russian Forces Annihilate Ukrainian Troops in Belogorovka Area The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of Russian forces from Yug Battlegroup eliminating Ukrainian troops in Belogorovka area in Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). 2023-11-20T09:00+0000 2023-11-20T09:00+0000 2023-11-20T09:00+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russian defense ministry ukraine russia russian armed forces video /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/14/1115064956_91:0:1328:696_1920x0_80_0_0_19c5b0a045292a7c3e4347de8a30cd45.jpg The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of Russian forces from the Yug Battlegroup eliminating Ukrainian troops in Belogorovka area in Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). The video shows several episodes of the precise destruction of the armored vehicles of the Ukrainian troops, as well as of the personnel.Russian troops used drones to survey the terrain and then guided attacks to destroy the enemy. ukraine russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Russian forces from Battlegroup Yug eliminate Ukrainian troops in Belogorovka area Russian forces from Battlegroup Yug eliminate Ukrainian troops in Belogorovka area 2023-11-20T09:00+0000 true PT0M27S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian forces, ukrainian troops, donetsk people's republic, No Plan Intended served notice that he was back in the Sunday afternoon Preferred Pace at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park. In the $3,800 featured pace, Jason Hughes steered No Plan Intended to a 1:53.4 first-over score for trainer Jennifer Doyle and owner Danny Birt of Vernon Bridge, P.E.I. Island Beach Boy (Brodie MacPhee) was second ahead of American Risk (Gilles Barrieau) and Time To Dance (Marc Campbell) in the field scratched down to just four starters. A former Gold Cup and Saucer runner-up, the five-year-old Up The Credit gelding last raced in Ontario before returning to Island soil for this winning effort. Dropping down from the top tier to the $3,450 Preferred 2 class, Fern Hill General and driver Brodie MacPhee fought off Middleton Terror (David Dowling) into the stretch then held on for the 1:55.4 victory by a head over the pylon-skimming Laughagain Hanover (Jason Hughes), with Navalny (Adam Merner) finishing third. Tom Weatherbie trains the four-year-old Malicious gelding for owners Peter Smith of Stratford, P.E.I., and Gerald Morrissey of Charlottetown, P.E.I. Trainer/driver Corey MacPherson continued his hot streak with a triple from his Charlottetown stable. The Cornwall, P.E.I. reinsman won with Evil Vintage (1:55.4), Now Showing (1:56) and Melanies Magic (1:55.1) for a training/driving triple. He also drove Yaris Seelster to victory in 1:58.2 for trainer Michel Langis for the driving quadruple to give him a total of nine wins on the weekend. The father-son team of trainer Clifford Murphy and driver Ken Murphy teamed up for a pair of victories with Tango Seelster (1:55.1) in race 12 and The Mad Dragon (1:57.4) in race four. Ken Murphy also steered Stonebeachlily (1:56.4) to victory in the race 15 finale for trainer Todd Hardy. Live harness racing continues on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 12:30 p.m. To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Charlottetown Driving Park. (With files from Red Shores; Photo of No Plan Intended from an earlier win) Magical Albert has overcome multiple and significant obstacles throughout his nine years of life and his journey has been well chronicled. Now, after a racing career and stint retraining with the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society (OSAS), he has become the first Standardbred ever accepted into a leading therapeutic riding centre. It seems only fitting that a Standardbred who overcame significant odds to simply survive his entry into the world, should spend the latter part of his life helping others who also face challenges. Magical Albert is one of those few horses who actually lives up to his name. He defied tremendous odds to live after his traumatic premature birth, and his journey since then has been truly magical ending with a home at TEAD Therapeutic Riding Centre. Melissa Horvath, TEADs executive director, noted, TEAD is a truly magical place. We always like to use that word to describe what we do so it was very appropriate we got Magical Albert. Alberts story begins almost two decades ago when longtime horse owner Dave Lumsden of Dundas, Ont. bought a share of his dam, the Camluck daughter, Illusionist. I bought an interest during Illusionists three-year-old season, my partner said, Youre going to love this horse, and he was right, I ended up buying out his half, explained Lumsden, who developed a love of harness racing thanks to his father who would often take him to nearby Flamboro Downs. The first horse Lumsden owned was Are You Pan Enough, an Artsplace iron horse who won 48 races in his career. He is now 24, still owned by the Lumsden family, and happily retired alongside Illusionist. Throughout her career, Illusionist competed in the upper echelon of her division racing against such standouts as My Little Dragon, Darlins Delight, Burning Point and Invitro. When Illusionist finally hung up her racing harness for good, her summary showed 43-19-23 in 140 trips behind the gate for $1,023,047 in earnings. Illusionist was retired at the end of her seven-year-old season. 'Lusi' [Illusionists nickname] had been winning the Open Mares that summer but as the year wore on she just didnt seem to have the same interest. She wasnt lame, maybe a little sore, but we thought shes done very well by us. It was time to retire and she became our first broodmare. Illusionists first consort was the great Somebeachsomewhere and she foaled a filly in February of 2010 named, Lido Magic. Although unraced herself, all of Lidos foals to date have made it to the track including Magical Arthur, who is currently racing at Mohawk and has won more than $380,000 to date. Illusionists next foal was another filly, this time by Mach Three, named Mach Magic (the Lumsdens put the word Magic in their female foals names while the colts are dubbed with Magical). Mach Magic earned $154,502 during her time on the track and is now a member of their small broodmare band. Her second foal is a two-year-old named Magical Aoine, who won his second lifetime start last month at Mohawk in 1:54.2. Illusionist skipped the next year and in 2013 she was bred back to Mach Three, due to deliver in early January. Thats when the trouble started. I got a call from Darlene Hayes at Hillsborough Stables [where she was boarded] saying that Illusionist was just not right so we got the vet in to look at her and then took her to Guelph [the University of Guelphs renowned equine hospital]. They said the foal was so big it had started to tear her inside and she had zero chance of giving birth normally. The chief surgeon at Guelph said he could do a C-section, but the foal wouldnt survive. Or we can let the pregnancy run its course but the mare wont survive. That was our choice. I thought, lets see if we can make both survive -- that was our hope through Illusionists tricky and dicey emergency C-section. Albert survived the tough surgery but his lungs werent developed and he was having trouble breathing. They told us he only had a five per cent chance of survival at that point. We went to see our mare and her foal as my wife wanted to say goodbye to Albert, thats how dire it was, explained Lumsden. Dr. [Luis] Arroyo said we could try and put Albert on a ventilator, they had never done that before and it was going to cost a lot of money. I said go ahead. My wife thought I was nuts but slowly we started to have more hope. He was still struggling of course and had other minor complications. Ten days after the emergency surgery, we had another dilemma. The vets had determined that both mother and baby will survive but theyve been separated for those crucial, bonding days. They decided to introduce them in a hallway. They put heads together and sure enough it was like theyd never been apart. By that time, the mare didnt have any milk so Albert had to be fed out of a bucket. After about three weeks, he looked a lot better than she did. She obviously cant have any more babies and as far as we were concerned Albert could be whatever he wanted to be. I thought, wouldnt it be a great story if he could make it to the races? Ted MacDonell broke him and he was a bit of a handful. Little by little Albert kept getting stronger. Scott Young drove him in his first qualifying race [on Nov. 16, 2017] and said he wants to do this, he is trying. It was challenging for Albert and he struggled, and we were close to giving up. In Alberts first official race at Woodbine that December, he was distanced by the half and was far behind his rivals by the time he crossed the finish line. The Lumsdens were pragmatic about the situation. We figured we gave him a shot; it wasnt going to work as a racehorse so now its up to us to find Albert another job. And then we got a call from our trainer telling us that it wasnt Alberts fault he was so far behind. Albert was hot and bothered at the gate and the driver had taken too much of a hold on him and he choked, remembered Lumsden. Magical Alberts next outing was more successful as he earned a cheque and he literally was away to the races. The first time he won [the following February], it was quite a party, laughed Lumsden. Albert went on to win 12 races, at four different racetracks, and earn over $100,000. It was a lot of fun and so much more special considering his start in life. In addition to the fun and celebrating, there was some drama in Alberts racing career. On Sept. 8, 2021, he was entered into a claiming race at Grand River Raceway and was claimed, an outcome the Lumsdens and their trainer hadnt expected. My wife wouldnt let him go. She said, Youre not leaving without the horse. She was bawling her eyes out. I made a few phone calls and everything got fixed and we owned Albert again. For Lumsden's wife, Renata, Albert was more than special. He was the subject of two of her books, The Bounty of Illusionist: The inspirational story of a champion racehorse and her foals, published in 2017, and Magical Albert: How a Preemie Foal Changed One Couples Definition of Family Forever, which was released three years ago. Magical Alberts unique story was also featured in TROT Magazine and the Toronto Star in 2014. The Star feature, by Jim Coyle, was voted as the papers most liked front page story that year. The chapter of Magical Alberts life on the racetrack ended in May of this year and it was time to start a new one. Enter TEAD Therapeutic Riding Centre, which celebrated its 45th anniversary this year. Its website states, "Established on April 28, 1978, TEAD has been a steady source of support, growth and independence for countless individuals with various challenges, fostering a strong community that thrives on the connection between humans and horses." Melissa Horvath, a lifelong equestrian, took over as their Executive Director earlier this year. We received a package in the mail with both of Renatas books and a note explaining who Magical Albert was and how he now wanted to become a therapy horse. I found Renata on Facebook and we had a chat. At that time, we had just put down our beloved horse, Ebony, who had been a staple in TEADs program for years. We were both crying, it was an intense, emotional chat. We connected right away and the timing was perfect, recalled Horvath. The only issue was that Magical Albert had never been ridden. That needed to be rectified so enter the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society and its wonderful foster farm operated by Susan and Bert Mollica. The couple have worked with OSAS for the past few years. Berts meticulous and patient approach to each individual horse he works with has earned him the nickname The Horse Whisperer. Renata and Melissa reached out to Joanne Colville [OSASs administrator] and she got Albert to the Mollicas and Bert worked his magic, said Lumsden. Magical Albert came off the trailer like he was already home. When we put Albert in the poly paddock, he followed Bert around like a puppy dog. He loved playing with us, remembered Susan Mollica. When Bert started working with Albert, he knew right away that Albert had been loved and handled his entire life. Bert tacked up Albert and he was a natural and they just started riding. It was like Albert already knew what to do. We knew that Albert was being adopted to TEAD so we trained him to be ridden by a special needs rider who would also have people assisting the rider. We then had Bert's great nephew, who is five, come and ride on Albert. Albert was a gentle giant with the little boy, she continued. Melissa and Hilary from TEAD came to visit Albert with a rider they knew. Albert was a super star with her on his back. The horse and rider both enjoyed doing all the obstacles in the extreme paddock. Magical Albert is truly a miracle! Bert and I would like to thank Dave and Renata for loving Magical Albert and to everyone who had the pleasure and honour of being a special part of making Magical Albert's second career one that will leave a forever memory in the hearts of everyone at TEAD. What makes Magical Alberts story even more special is the fact that he is the first Standardbred ever accepted into the TEAD program. Its a great opportunity for Standardbreds, noted Lumsden. I have a soft spot for Standardbreds and their gentle nature, admitted Horvath. I went first to Classy Lane training centre to meet Albert and it was a crazy, racing environment. He stood in cross ties and was a bit nippy and chewing on the cross ties. I then saw Albert at Rod Hughes farm. With time to decompress from harness racing, he was a completely different horse. He was snuggly, wanted his face rubbed and stood there quietly. He reacted well to a break from track life and enjoyed the chance to just be a horse. After that, Albert went to Susan and Berts who were incredible with him. Albert blew me away from the first day I met him. His is a very special story and the Lumsdens are the sweetest people. I feel blessed to know them personally. There is a stigma many people have about horses that come from a racing background, theyre hot and unpredictable, but thats not the case especially with Albert. Standardbreds try their hardest for the most part. Even though he is a pacer, we do have Albert trotting. Bert hadnt worked on that as he wasnt aware we wanted that. We have a very strong rider, our volunteer coordinator, who got on him and he did it. Albert has the try and is going to do his best. Im quite impressed by how quickly he picked up everything. Once Albert arrived at TEADs facility in Mount Hope, he had two weeks of quarantine and then a slow introduction to the program. Hes still being integrated; we do things slowly. Right now, the staff and strong, independent riders are riding him. Albert has never put a foot wrong. We had a fairly nervous staff member riding him recently and he was phenomenal. Albert could tell she was nervous and he took care of her. Hes very close to being able to carry therapeutic riders. Given Alberts smooth transition, Horvath and Colville are confident he wont be the only harness horse finding a home at TEAD in the future. Having a Standardbred accepted into such a well known and respected program facilitates one of OSASs mandates, which is to showcase the breeds versatility and suitability for many equine disciplines beyond the racetrack. He is so good with people, he wants to be with people and they all love him, so this seems the perfect fit, concluded Lumsden, who noted that the family will be visiting their special horse often. Magical Alberts story is truly inspirational. He overcame so much that when this opportunity arose, we thought, if any horse can do it, he can. (With files from Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society; Photo of Susan and Bert Mollica with Magical Albert) The Michigan Gaming Control Board has approved a request from Northville Downs, in conjunction with the Michigan Harness Horsemens Association, for Northville Downs to race 10 days from Jan. 5, 2024 through and including Feb. 3, 2024 with racing to be conducted every Friday and Saturday during this time frame with a first race post time each race night of 7 p.m. Northville Downs, which opened in 1944, will be celebrating its 80th anniversary of operations in 2024. Operations Manager Mike Carlo said, We are pleased to be able to offer our horsemen, women, fans and neighbours additional live racing days in 2024 to celebrate our 80th anniversary. While it is bittersweet that this will be our last stand at the old facilty, we look forward to a brighter future for harness racing in Michigan as we move on to our next endeavour and cannot wait to bring a new facility to our fans in the near future." Northville Downs will continue to offer its ever popular dollar night at The Ville each Friday with $1 pop, live programs and popcorn, $2 hot dogs and beer and hamburger and cheeseburger specials. For live racing dining reservations, call Northville Downs in advance at 248-924-2073. (Northville Downs) The Nebraska Department of Transportation has awarded a seat belt enforcement grant of $7,000 for the Scottsbluff Police Department to participate in the national Buckle Up, Every Trip, Every Time enforcement wave. This money will be used to pay officers overtime for seat belt and other traffic enforcement from Nov. 22 to Nov. 26. A seat belt usage rate survey was completed on Wednesday, Nov. 15. The result of the survey is that the usage rate in Scottsbluff is 54.75%. In a press release, Scottsbluff Police Sgt. Philip Eckerberg said, The usage rate of 54.75% is normal for Scottsbluff; however, it is way too low. So far this year, there has been 561 property damage crashes, 94 crashes with injuries, and 2 traffic crash fatalities in the city limits of Scottsbluff. "The odds of a person being in a traffic crash are fairly high. I encourage everyone to wear a seat belt no matter how short the trip will be. A seat belt gives you much better odds of surviving a traffic crash with no major injuries. Cooperation on Yangtze, Mississippi witnesses China-US friendship, people-to-people exchanges 09:48, November 20, 2023 By Huang Lanlan ( Global Times Jim Brainard saw the Yangtze River for the first time on a fine autumn day. The wide and vast river reminded the US official of the Mississippi River, which he knows well as being equally magnificent and almost boundless. Brainard is the Mayor of Carmel, Indiana. He was also the head of a delegation of six US city mayors from the American heartland areas along the Mississippi River. Earlier this month, the delegation visited Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, as well as the nature reserves on Shanghai's Chongming Island at the river's estuary. "The Yangtze River is a beautiful part of China, and it is similar in some ways to our Mississippi water area," Brainard told the Global Times during his stay in Shanghai. "The two rivers are important to both of us, to both countries." For centuries the Yangtze River and Mississippi River, the mother rivers of China and the US respectively, have nurtured a rich variety of life and brought communication and development. During the 12-day trip in China, the delegation, along with several US scholars in the environment and hydrology fields, had deep conversations with their Chinese peers on both countries' experiences in river protection and watershed area development, as an effort to build "bridges" of cooperation and friendship between the two big rivers. The hope of the China-US relationship lies in the people, its foundation is in our societies, its future depends on the youth, and its vitality comes from exchanges at subnational levels, Chinese President Xi Jinping noted on Wednesday during his Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trip in San Francisco. "I welcome more US governors, Congressional members, and people from all walks of life to visit China," Xi said. Xi's words and his recent visit to the US inspired people in the two countries who yearn for more exchanges, from government officials and scholars, to ordinary people, as the China-US relationship - one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world - is gradually improving through not only head-of-state diplomacy, but also the frequent sub-national and people-to-people exchanges, observers said. US mayors share their experiences and thoughts on large river basin cooperation mechanism at the Yangtze-Mississippi Forum, on November 6, 2023. Photo: Courtesy of Shanghai People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries A sense of affinity Brainard and many members of the US mayors' delegation felt a sense of affinity during their trip to China, although they'd never been to this distant Eastern country before. "The rivers and valleys are very much the same," Brainard said in a speech he delivered at the Yangtze-Mississippi Forum held in Shanghai on November 6. The word "similarity" was mentioned by many Chinese and American officials and scholars at the forum. Yangtze River is "similar in many ways to the Mississippi - broad, flat, and used for transport," said Gabriel Filippelli, executive director of the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute who also attended the forum. In an interview with the Global Times, Filippelli recalled what he saw at the Yangtze River for the first time as a tourist years ago: He traveled near the river on his entire trip, over it, and visited various related waterways along the way. He felt that the Yangtze and Mississippi shared a similar appearance, and played a vital role in the history and development of both countries. Many Chinese environment and hydrology scholars who've been to the US also feel a sense of affinity when seeing Mississippi River in person. Zhang Weiguo, a professor at the State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research (SKLEC) at East China Normal University, participated in a cooperative project at the Louisiana State University (LSU) in December 2019. During his one-week stay, Zhang visited the Mississippi River with his US colleagues, where he saw a body of water as wide as the Yangtze River, riverside wetlands, deciduous trees with some of their branches reaching into water, alligators basking on warm mud, and crayfish caught by local fishermen, which "tasted similar to the Chinese ones," he recalled. "I heard that crayfish are originally from Louisiana. And now they are widely farmed in China as well, especially along the Yangtze River," Zhang told the Global Times. "From the very small crayfish case, I felt that the two rivers, although far away from each other, have a lot of connections." Broader, more inclusive communication In Shanghai, the US mayor delegation and some US scholars visited the city's Chongming Island. On what is dubbed as China's third-largest island, they visited a national nature reserve, a Chinese sturgeon protection base, a domestic sewage treatment station, and the Qingcaosha Reservoir that supplies fresh water to 13 million residents in Shanghai. Brainard said that they had wonderful time on learning about China, as well as its efforts in protecting rivers and restoring the wetlands. He believes there are many joint efforts China and the US can make in protecting their rivers. "We need to do much work to improve the quality of water in the Mississippi River and keep agricultural chemicals from polluting the river. China needs to do the same thing as well. I hope that we can learn from each other on what does and doesn't work, and collaborate on making both our famous rivers more sustainable," Brainard. Nina Lam, E. L. Abraham Distinguished Professor of Department of Environmental Sciences at the LSU, also participated in the Chongming visit. There Lam had the chance to see the Yangtze River again. "It (the river) is always beautiful," she told the Global Times after the visit. "I was especially impressed with the transportation infrastructure such as the bridge, tunnel, and roads built to link the island with the inland." Lam recalled that the first time she saw the Yangtze River was in December 1985, when she was collaborating with the then Nanjing Institute of Geography on a project using a geographic information system (GIS) approach to study the cancer mortality patterns in China. China and the US have long cooperated in the academic field of river, estuary, and delta related researches. The SKLEC and its predecessor institutes, for instance, have had academic exchanges with the LSU since the 1980s, when China had just launched its reform and opening-up, according to Zhang. Their cooperation covered physiognomy in the beginning, and later ecological wetlands and estuaries. It will involve broader and more comprehensive aspects, Zhang added. "Industrialization occurred earlier in the Mississippi River basin than it did in the Yangtze River basin, and the two rivers and estuaries face similar challenges partly caused by human activities like excavation of canals," Zhang told the Global Times. "Therefore, some experiences by the US in dealing with the Mississippi are worth learning from for us." The academic exchanges between SKLEC and LSU continued online during the COVID-19 pandemic. For decades, scholars and young students from the two sides have engaged in deep cooperation, said Zhang. To increase exchanges between our two peoples, especially between the youth, China is ready to invite 50,000 young Americans to China through exchange and study programs over the next five years, announced President Xi in a speech delivered at the Welcome Dinner by Friendly Organizations in the US, on November 15. Many Chinese and US scholars and students reached by the Global Times applauded the broader exchanges between the two countries. "I believe that the communication between China and US, just like the two big rivers, will be broader and more inclusive," said Zhang. A shared future At the Yangtze-Mississippi Forum in Shanghai, officials and scholars from various countries witnessed the unveiling ceremony for the International Research Center for Rivers and Deltas, an institute at the ECNU to strengthen transnational academic cooperation in the field of rivers and deltas. The new center will serve as an international collaboration platform so that people can discuss sustainable development methods in river basins and estuarine areas, said He Qing, director of SKLEC. "Watersheds and estuaries are an inseparable system," He told the Global Times after the forum. "It is of great significance for global people living in different natural ecological environments and population densities to learn from each other." Echoing He, some US scholars said they expect China and the US, as well as other countries involved, to have more transnational cooperation on river, estuary, and delta protection. "As far as I know, there have been many cooperative projects between delta researchers in the two countries. However, very few studies have been on the human side, and even fewer on analyzing the delta as a coupled natural-human system," Lam told the Global Times. "This type of research is difficult to carry out, thus cooperation between the two countries and learning from each other's experiences and perspective will definitely help, leading to much improved understanding of the deltas and solutions to their challenges," she added. Speaking of the Yangtze and Mississippi rivers, Filippelli suggests that more cooperation can take place on climate resilience and green economic development between the leaders and scholars of the two countries. "In particular, opportunities exist to share common approaches to mitigating the impacts of flooding, and share the science and practice of urban greening initiatives for environmental improvements and public health," he told the Global Times. Finding the right partners can help in finding new solutions not only for local problems, but also to help "inform and reengage us on the national level and bilateral level between our two countries," Daniel Delk, deputy Consul General of the US in Shanghai, said at the forum. "I'm excited about the opportunities that may come not this day, but in the months and years ahead, to form new partnerships," he said. According to the forum's organizers, a similar forum that will also focus on the Yangtze River and Mississippi River is going to be held in the US in 2024. At that time, the American side will invite related Chinese guests to the US. As Xi noted in his November 15 speech, the foundation of China-US relations was laid by two peoples. The anticipated reunion on the Mississippi River is a vivid example of the continued improvement in subnational and people-to-people exchanges between China and the US, observers pointed out. China and the US share a community of shared future, in terms of the frequent economic exchanges between and the common environmental responsibilities shared by the two countries, Zhang said. As a scholar in the environment and river deltas, Zhang said he is pleased to see China and US spend joint efforts in addressing challenges including economic development and global climate change. "I'm looking forward to more cooperation and exchanges between the two countries, which will benefit the whole of human society," he said. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Wu Chaolan) Hundreds of Biden Admin officials signed a letter to oppose how U.S. President Joe Biden is handling the worsening Israel-Hamas war. The letter, which was signed by numerous U.S. officials from different governmental agencies and departments, was revealed on Tuesday, Nov. 14. Officials include those from the National Security Council, the Justice Department, the White House, as well as the State Department. Here's what they specifically said in their letter. Hundreds of Biden Admin Officials Oppose How POTUS Handle Israel-Hamas War As of writing, the Biden Admin officials who signed the letter against POTUS remain anonymous because of concerns about professional retaliation. This is reasonable since the Israel-Hamas war is a controversial topic in the United States; debated by officials and citizens since Americans are divided when it comes to supporting Israel and Palestine. "We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians," said Biden Admin officials via Fox News. They added that the U.S. government should also urge the Israeli authorities to restore water, electricity, fuel, and other basic services in the Gaza Strip. Aside from these, they are also calling on Joe Biden to ensure the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the affected Palestinian region. In total, the letter was signed by over 400 political appointees and staff members across 40 government departments and agencies, as reported by CNN Politics. Read Also: Joe Biden Considers Bolstering Military Ties With China, National Security Advisor Says Why Biden Admin Fails to Push Cease-Fire U.S. President Joe Biden recently urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conduct a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. However, many Israeli, as well as Western leaders, are against this. They argued that conducting a cease-fire is more complicated than what other people think since it would only benefit Hamas terrorists; allowing them to strategize their next deadly attacks. Because of this, many U.S. and Western officials called for humanitarian pauses instead, which the Israeli government agreed on. As of writing, the White House and Joe Biden haven't commented on the opposing letter signed by American officials. Related Article: Joe Biden Warns Israel Will Lose Support if War in Gaza Continues-Says There'll Be Dire Consequences @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A Rowan County man has been charged with providing fentanyl leading to a death in 2022, said Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell. Campbell, in a news release, said that Timothy Franklin Wing, 32, of Planters Lane in Mooresville, was charged with felony overdose death by distribution. Wing qualified for an enhancement of death by distribution due to his record, Campbell said. A magistrate set bond at $250,000. Planters Lane has a Mooresville address but is in Rowan County. Campbell said the investigation began when deputies were sent to Summertree Drive near Troutman on March 6, 2022. The call concerned a possible narcotics overdose and the person was pronounced dead. Narcotics detectives began their investigation and attempted to identify any witnesses who had contact with the victim prior to his death. During the investigation, the detectives examined cellular telephones and social media records. The detectives soon identified Wing as the person who provided the victim the fentanyl, Campbell said. An autopsy of the victim was conducted by the North Carolina Medical Examiners Office. Toxicology results just returned to the sheriffs office due to the extended wait time for toxicology results from the state lab, indicate the death was from a fentanyl overdose, Campbell said. Wing was arrested Friday. Westward Farms in Stony Point can trace its roots back to the late 1800s or early 1900s, and in those years, the various generations have changed and adapted to meet the demands in the industry. Currently, the latest generation of family members is continuing the farming tradition but embracing new ideas to keep the business going from crops to agriculture tourism. The willingness and foresight to change with the times earned Westward the Farmer of the Year recognition recently at the annual Farm City Week banquet. The annual event is sponsored by the Statesville Kiwanis Club and Iredell Cooperative Extension. Nancy Keith, director of Iredell County Extension, said Westward is run by the Jenkins family, a fourth generation operation. That operation, she said, has evolved over the years into a true representation of a farm-to-table operation. They have also embraced the idea of introducing farming to visitors through tours to school groups, clubs and individuals and bridging the gap between the rural and urban needs of the community, she said. Westward Farms grows soybeans, corn and wheat as well as provides custom planting, harvesting and spraying for the area. They raise poultry, specifically boiler breeders that lay eggs and become the chickens provided to restaurants. Rabbits, Katahdin hair sheep, Zebu cattle and alpacas are also raised on the farm, and the fibers from these animals are utilized as well. Keith said the Jenkins family is also involved in the countys 4-H program, and allows their farm to be a place for those young people to continue to learn about agriculture. When the award was presented at the Iredell County Agriculture Center, ironically, it was the women of the family who were there to accept. The men of the family were hunting and could not be at the presentation. Sheila Jenkins said she and her family members are proud to show off the farm at any time. We appreciate you and invite each and every one of you to the farm at any point in time that youd like to come and visit and Ill give you what I jokingly say is the 25 cent tour and tell you about farming in any way we can, she said. Jenkins said Westward will continue to adapt to the changing times and continue the tradition. We hope to continue farming for as long as we can, she said. Taylor Jenkins, holding her 20-month-old daughter, Caroline, representing the future generation, said the family loves to showcase its operation. Wed love to have anyone out to the farm anytime, she said. She said bringing in outsiders to the farm is vital in its continued operation. If we dont tell our story, someone will tell it for us, she said. Tammie Money, president of the Kiwanis Club, welcomed all of the guests to the banquet, which dates back to 1955, she said. Keith said Iredells relationship with farming is a long and profitable one. We have a very diverse agriculture community, she said. From crops to livestock to poultry, Iredell is at the top of the heap in North Carolina in many categories, and the agriculture tourism business is leading to more diversity, she said. The guest speaker for the banquet was Justin Somers, regional director for the office of U.S. Sen. Ted Budd. Somers said he got involved with agriculture as a member of the Farm Bureau board in Yadkin County. I am not a farmer, he said, but through his tenure on the board, he grew to respect those in the industry and their commitment to their farms and to the community. Iredell, he said, is an example of how farming began and has evolved as the industry has changed through the years. You guys are doing this exceptionally well, he said. Jasmine Franks Smyth County News & Messenger A Texas man is facing charges in Smyth County after police say he bragged about breaking a window at the US Post Office in Marion on Sunday. Marion Police began their investigation after an officer discovered the busted window while on patrol. Earlier that day, Police Chief John Clair said, West Virginia police were looking into a similar incident at a federal building in Bluefield. As officers began to investigate the Marion matter, Det. Brian Sexton said they got a call from Wythe County deputies, who said a man they had detained had admitted to breaking the window. Wythe County Chief Deputy Anthony Cline said the man, identified as 46-year-old Will Adrian Samuels, had stopped at a rest area in Rural Retreat, where he bragged about the vandalism and another traveler called the police. According to a complaint filed with Samuels arrest warrant, a large rock had been smashed through the interior window of the post offices entrance, also causing damage to the cover of a heating unit inside. Samuels told Wythe County deputies that he busted the window due to political reasons, the complaint says, noting that a Wythe deputy advised the Marion officer that Samuels admission was also captured on body camera footage. It is unclear at this time what those political reasons were. This isnt the first time an area post office has been targeted out of political ire. In a much more extreme case in 2009, a man held several people hostage at the Wytheville post office. During that ordeal, he ranted to the hostages about his hatred of the U.S. government and then-President Barack Obama. Released on bond, Samuels is charged with felony destruction of property in Smyth County. According to a WVVA news report, Bluefield police are referring the West Virginia incident to the US Marshals Service. The regime can no longer exploit its narrative of protecting minorities to gain favour with the West, Fayez el-Kontar writes for Syria TV. The Suweida uprising sets itself apart from its predecessors through several distinctive features: It has unequivocally severed all ties with the Assad regime, swiftly transitioning from demands for improved living conditions and services to demanding political change, the implementation of Resolution 2254, and setting the nation on the path to renewal. It has presented itself as a continuation of the Syrian revolution that commenced in March 2011, upholding the early revolutionary slogans. Continuity: As it approaches its three-month mark, the protest has continued without pause. Demonstrators persistently occupy the streets and squares, both in the morning and evening, distinguishing it from previous protests led by the elite. Widespread Popular Participation: The uprising has seen broad participation encompassing all cities within the governorate, as well as most of its towns, involving individuals of all ages and genders. Notably, Bedouin tribes and various segments of society have joined the movement. Furthermore, our compatriots in Daraa have stood in solidarity with Suweida, even as the regime attempted to sow discord among these groups. In the face of these efforts to divide, they have remained united, chanting for freedom and dignity. Strong Womens Participation: Women have played a significant role in this movement, and their extensive presence has had a positive impact on strengthening the uprising. This participation signals a potential vision of a future Syria characterized by modernity, democracy, and equality for all, without discrimination. The wide-ranging involvement of women in Suweida has garnered media attention and influenced the positions of certain Western countries that have expressed support for these protests. Commitment to Peacefulness: The protesters have steadfastly adhered to non-violence and have avoided provocation, even in the face of some criminal gangs associated with security services. Over three months, there have been no notable incidents of misconduct by the protesters. Not a single glass pane has been shattered, a rarity even in the worlds most esteemed societies. This underscores their respect for public and private property and their commitment to non-harm. Key Achievements of the Suweida Uprising Many have begun to ask, What have three months of protests achieved? Has anything changed? What comes next? When will it lead to the regimes downfall? Upon careful review of these events, it becomes evident that this uprising has brought about significant changes. Suweidas society is experiencing profound transformations as a result of this uprising, with achievements that manifest on both the national and local levels. The most noteworthy of these achievements include: Discrediting the Regimes Minority Card: The regime can no longer exploit its narrative of protecting minorities to gain favour with the West. This falsehood no longer deceives anyone. Most Western countries now warn the regime against using violence against these peaceful, dignified protests. The protesters message resounds with the slogans of the Syrian revolution, demanding the implementation of UN resolutions. Renewed Hope: The uprising has restored hope to millions who took part in the Arab Spring, demonstrating that the revolution is an ongoing process that does not fade with time. The rights of people do not expire. Syrian patriots have engaged in these protests, carrying the national flag in the north and various other Syrian regions. Many have declared that Hijri represents me, expressing their support for Sheikh Al-Aql and his call for a secular state founded on citizenship, law, freedom, and dignity. Religious Endorsement: The uprising quickly garnered support from religious figures and scholars, particularly Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri and Sheikh Hamoud Al-Hinnawi, who publicly embraced the peoples demands in the revolutionary squares. This endorsement provided a moral boost that expanded popular participation in the protests. Emergence of Civil Society: Suweida witnessed the birth of independent civil society organizations, including free trade unions, teacher groups, and associations for engineers, lawyers, and healthcare workers. This civil society, separate from security service control, serves as a crucial lever for the uprising. It actively participates in daily activities, enhances social cohesion, and wholeheartedly supports the movement to ensure its continuity and success in achieving its objectives. Cultivating a Culture of Dialogue: The uprising has created an opportunity for the development of a culture of dialogue and has prompted many questions about the homeland and patriotism. In a revolution challenging concepts deeply entrenched by the tyrannical regime, political currents have started to take shape, attempting to form a supreme authority that genuinely represents society and has the final say in various aspects of life. 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. Judge Baloza emphasized that the necessary procedures are underway to ensure the release of all eligible individuals covered by the amnesty decree, al-Watan writes. Damascus Judge Muhammad Eid Baloza, the Attorney General of Damascus, announced on Saturday that more than 350 inmates have been granted their freedom in Damascus as part of Legislative Decree No. 36 of 2023, which extends a general amnesty to individuals convicted of crimes committed prior to November 16, 2023. Judge Baloza emphasized that the necessary procedures are underway to ensure the release of all eligible individuals covered by the amnesty decree. This benevolent action stems from President Bashar al-Assads issuance of Legislative Decree No. 36 for 2023 on Thursday, extending a general amnesty for offences committed prior to November 16, 2023, demonstrating the commitment to justice and reconciliation. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. The Syrian Red Crescent has ceased the monthly provision of food parcels to numerous families in Damascus, Sawt al-Asima writes. The Syrian Red Crescent has ceased the monthly provision of food parcels to numerous families in Damascus and rural governorates, withholding an explanation for their exclusion. Sawt al-Asima reports that the decision to cut aid to families in Damascus and its outskirts was based on an assessment conducted by the Ahl al-Sham initiative, which comprises over 40 local associations funded by traders and industrialists in the capital, Damascus. The evaluation, approved by the Ministry of Social Affairs, commenced in 2022 and concluded in April 2023. New lists were then issued at the end of May. Sources indicate that the exclusion of hundreds of families resulted from their failure to meet criteria established by supervising committees. Key factors include the absence of more than one source of income for a family, the lack of employment in the private sector, or more than two family members working in the government sector. Additionally, families owning a house were disqualified. Local committees, during their field assessments, excluded families if valuable furniture or new clothes were observed, deeming their situation satisfactory. This rigorous evaluation process has been in effect since last year. Contrary to claims by the pro-regime Athr Press website that the reduction in aiddecreased by 40% post the Ukraine warwas due to external factors, sources from Sawt al-Asima assert that the denial of access to food baskets is a consequence of reduced aid resulting from economic challenges. Traders and initiators are struggling to maintain quantities due to economic conditions, impacting the ability to replace materials with local alternatives. This has negatively affected the quality and quantity of aid baskets, despite no direct correlation with import isssues from outside Syria. 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. Experts predict that the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs will request the UAE Foreign Ministry's cooperation, according to Enab Baladi. After years of persistent demands, a historic judicial precedent has been set as French criminal investigative judges issue arrest warrants for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while he remains in power. Ibrahim al-Olabi, the head of the Syrian Legal Development Program, expresses concern that these warrants may complicate Assads participation in the World Climate Action Summit. To meet legal requirements, Olabi emphasizes that the UAE must either prevent Assads presence or take steps to arrest him if he attends, as stipulated by the extradition and legal cooperation agreements signed between France and the UAE in 2007. While Olabi anticipates that the arrest warrants will be communicated to international systems, including Interpol, as of now, they have not been publicly circulated. International criminal law expert Mutasim al-Kilani concurs with Olabi, asserting that the issue underscores the judiciarys pressure on the signatory state to the extradition agreement. In the event of Bashar al-Assads presence, Kilani predicts that the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs will request the UAE Foreign Ministrys cooperation, facilitated through the French Ministry of Justice, for the extradition of Assad. Drawing a parallel, Kilani cites the case of Major General Jamil Hassan, the former head of the Syrian regimes Air Force Intelligence, who faced an official extradition request from Germany while receiving medical treatment in a Lebanese hospital. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. The Syrian Army managed to eliminate and down four unmanned aerial vehicles, al-Baath writes. Syrian Arab Army units, operating in the rural areas surrounding Aleppo and Lattakia, successfully intercepted a terrorist plot involving drones, preventing an imminent attack on secure regions. The Defense Ministry issued a statement on its official website, confirming the diligent efforts of our armed forces stationed in the Aleppo and Lattakia countryside. They effectively neutralized the intentions of terrorist organizations aiming to strike at peaceful villages, towns, and some military installations. In the course of countering this threat, the Syrian Army managed to eliminate and down four unmanned aerial vehicles, effectively thwarting the terrorist attack. 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. Since the beginning of the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, U.S. bases have come under repeated attacks in Syria and Iraq by Iranian proxies. Thus, the US Treasury Department unveiled a new round of sanctions against Kataib Hizballah (KH) and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), including KSS leader Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji and five members of KH. Surge in Attacks Against US Bases in Eastern Syria Linked to Israel-Hamas Conflict The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a series of 38 attacks on US outposts in eastern Syria, escalating between October 19 and November 17. These strikes, conducted both by land and using drones, primarily targeted American bases located in the oil- and gas-rich eastern province of Deir ez-Zor. The Britain-based Syrian war monitor attributes these assaults to groups retaliating against US support for Israels military actions in the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The majority of these attacks are believed to be orchestrated by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iraqi Shiite militia. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights suggests that these strikes form part of a broader retaliatory campaign against US forces by pro-Iran fighters based in Iraq and Syria. On the same day, Sham FM, a pro-government Syrian radio station, reported explosions within the al-Omar oil fields in Deir ez-Zor, which house a US military base. Furthermore, a base for Iran-backed fighters in Deir ez-Zprs eastern countryside was also targeted, indicating an intensifying confrontation between these fighters and US forces in the region. Esper says US retaliation strikes against Iranian proxies in Syria not forceful enough The militarys responses to attacks carried out by Iranian proxies against U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq have been inadequate, according to former Defense Secretary Mark Esper. U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria are in the region to ensure the lasting defeat of the Islamic State, but they have come under attack by Iranian proxies more than 60 times in the last month, which has left roughly 60 U.S. troops with injuries, though all of them have returned to duty. The U.S. military has launched three sets of airstrikes against facilities used by the proxies, but the strikes have not deterred the proxies from continuing their attacks. There have been multiple attacks since the most recent of the U.S. strikes. I dont think that our response has been forceful enough and frequent enough, and because what were trying to do is achieve deterrence, and you dont have deterrence if you strike them and they immediately strike back, Esper told the Washington Examiner. My understanding is that [the administration is] concerned about escalation. I think the way you prevent escalation is by responding more forcefully and getting those militias, those proxies, to back down, and I dont think were there yet. He urged the United States to carry out more strikes and expand to a broader array of targets than only striking ammunition and weapons facilities, though the Pentagon stands by its responses. Are we waiting for an attacker to inflict more damage to alter our response? I think you saw our responses, of our last three strikes. One of them hit a command-and-control node that was operating in a safe house, the others have weapons storage facilities, and a training facility, Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on Thursday. So, our attacks have significantly downgraded and degraded, I should say, the access that these militia groups have to these weapons, and so were not waiting on something to act. We have responded, and if there are more attacks, we will certainly respond at a time and place of our choosing. U.S. troops targeted a training facility and a safe house last Sunday, hit a weapons storage facility on Nov. 8, and struck a weapons storage facility and ammunition storage area in Syria on Oct. 26. US Slaps New Sanctions on Iranian-backed Proxies in Iraq and Syria In a Friday announcement, the US Treasury Department unveiled a new round of sanctions against Kataib Hizballah (KH) and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), including KSS leader Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji and five members of KH, according to The Media Line. Over the past month, US forces in Iraq and Syria, which according to official figures number about 2,500 and 900 respectively, have been subject to escalating attacks from Iran-aligned militia groups. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reinforced the necessity of the Treasury Departments move, stating that the United States remains committed to using all available tools to counter Irans support for terrorism and degrade and disrupt the ability of Iran-backed groups to conduct terrorist attacks. In the last month, there have been 60 attacks on US forces resulting in 59 injuries. Nonetheless, all affected personnel have recovered and returned to active duty. This action aims to freeze all assets held by the affected groups and individuals and threatens to levy sanctions on those who engage or seek to engage in financial dealings with the targeted parties. Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji, also known as Abu Ala al-Walai and KSSs secretary general, referred to the US sanctions against him as a badge of honour in a Telegram message posted on Friday. These sanctions come at a time of mounting uncertainty and volatility across the Middle East as Israel continues to wage war against Hamas in Gaza. Statements from Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian allude to the claim that direct attacks from KSS and KH will cease when Israel ends its war in Gaza. US Forces Attacked 151 Times in Iraq, Syria During Biden Presidency Defense officials told VOA on Friday that Iranian proxies carried out seven attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria between March 29 and October 17. There have been 61 additional attacks against U.S. forces there since October 17, including attacks at three U.S. bases Friday. A one-way drone attack at Tal Baydar in Syria on Friday damaged infrastructure at the base and wounded one service member, who was evacuated off base but has since returned to duty. Most of the attacks since October 17 were disrupted by the U.S. military or failed to reach their targets, causing no casualties or damage to infrastructure, according to the military. But a handful of attacks have left more than 60 U.S. military personnel with injuries, ranging from shrapnel wounds to perforated eardrums and traumatic brain injuries. Officials say all of the injured have returned to duty. One U.S. contractor at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq suffered a cardiac episode and died while sheltering in place during a false alarm for an air attack. The Middle East has been a tinderbox since Iranian-backed Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,200 people while taking about 240 people hostage, Israel says. Israels retaliatory strikes and ground offensive have killed more than 12,000 Palestinians about 5,000 of them children according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. But former and current officials say that the situation in Gaza is not the driving cause of the attacks on U.S. forces. SpaceX conducted its second-ever flight test of its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster in the company's Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas at around 07:00 local time (13:00 UTC) on Saturday morning (November 18). The Elon Musk-founded company intended to attempt a 90-minute near-orbital flight after lifting off on the Gulf Coast. Just like its first attempt last April, Starship failed to achieve this milestone. However, SpaceX explained that its primary mission was to prove that the rocket stack could be separated in its staging phase using a technique called "hot staging," where the engines of the next stage of the rocket are fired up while the previous one is still running or is about to shut down, allowing a seamless transition in its flight. According to Space.com, hot staging has been used in previous spacecrafts, such as NASA's Titan II and Saturn rockets, as well as several Russian rockets - including the Soyuz, which is still in operation to this day. It was also noted that Saturday's flight went higher and longer than the April flight test. The launch was originally scheduled for Friday (November 17) but was pushed back by a day for a last-minute swap of flight control hardware. From Liftoff to Loss of Spacecraft Unlike last April's flight test, Starship's launch pad, which SpaceX and spaceflight enthusiasts call "Stage Zero," was duly protected by an improved water deluge system underneath the launch mount to protect crucial hardware in and around the launch pad. This also allowed the rocket to flawlessly lift off the pad at full power without getting damaged. The first stage phase of Saturday's flight achieved maximum aerodynamic pressure (Max-Q) at a faster rate than the April attempt thanks to upgrades to the thrust vector control of its 39 Raptor engines - 33 in Super Heavy and 6 aboard Starship - in addition to the flight data provided during the previous launch. Almost three minutes after liftoff, Starship successfully ignited its engines and separated from Super Heavy, which made a flip maneuver to slow it down before splashing down on the Gulf of Mexico. However, in its attempt to make what SpaceX called a "boost-back burn," some of the engines that were supposed to be reignited failed to do so, resulting in the activation of its autonomous flight termination system and subsequent disintegration of the rocket. Meanwhile, Starship continued its course towards space and reached the Karman Line, the officially-recognized edge of space at 100 kilometers above sea level, at three-and-a-half minutes into the flight. By the eighth minute, Starship's telemetry and guidance suddenly froze, indicating that the spacecraft's flight termination system activated before reaching its target altitude, in what SpaceX called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly." Despite the failure, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX regarding the development in the Starship program. Congrats to the teams who made progress on todays flight test. Spaceflight is a bold adventure demanding a can-do spirit and daring innovation. Todays test is an opportunity to learnthen fly again. Together @NASA and @SpaceX will return humanity to the Moon, Mars & beyond. https://t.co/QGjwr45KM1 Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) November 18, 2023 "Congrats to the teams who made progress on today's flight test," he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Spaceflight is a bold adventure demanding a can-do spirit and daring innovation. Today's test is an opportunity to learn - then fly again." Read Also: SpaceX Launches Powerful Starship Rocket, Explodes Midair Pros and Cons of Rapid Testing, Data-Gathering SpaceX has been consistent in insisting on a rapid testing and iteration routine, especially in developing Starship, as a path to further hardware and technology development. "We're going to take that data and improve the hot staging sequence and probably improve the hardware itself for the next flight," SpaceX quality engineering manager Kate Tice said during the live webcast on X, which Musk also owned. This mindset has also been inculcated in its workhorse rockets, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. The firm also found it crucial to continue the rapid development path as NASA chose Starship as the lunar lander for its manned Artemis 3 mission, which was scheduled to carry humans to the Moon by late 2025 or early 2026, with further plans to use it to reach Mars in the future. Nevertheless, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would need to oversee SpaceX's internal investigation regarding the launch failure in order to give another permit to the company to prevent the mishaps during the launch from happening again. In addition to spacecraft failures, SpaceX constantly faced intense scrutiny over its rapid development ethos over the years it has been operating. On November 10, Reuters released an investigative piece highlighting its allegedly questionable workplace health and safety, as well as the increase in workplace injuries pertaining to Starship. As a result of the article, at least three US lawmakers are calling for a greater scrutiny of the company's overall work ethic. The three lawmakers were identified as Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Mark Takano (D-CA), and Donald Norcross (R-NJ). On top of that is the pressure NASA has been facing in the wake of China's constant cadence of rocket launches, some of them involving humans in Earth orbit aboard the Chinese space station Tiangong. "The clock is ticking," Space Capital managing partner and SpaceX investor Chad Anderson. "NASA has a timeline where they're trying to get to the moon, and this is their primary vehicle to do it. So SpaceX needs to deliver on a timeline." Related Article: SpaceX Plans to Launch Next Starship Rocket This Week @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Iranian foreign minister asserted that the fate of the war would be determined by the resistance factions, not Israel, according to al-Watan. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has issued a warning against any targeting of Iranian forces in Syria, emphasizing that the conclusion of the conflict in Palestine rests with the Palestinian resistance factions rather than the Israeli entity. In a press interview, Abdollahian asserted that no Iranian forces in Syria have incurred injuries thus far, underscoring that any such incidents would elicit a strong and decisive response. Commenting on attacks carried out by resistance forces in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, Abdollahian emphasized these movements as regional resistance entities with independent identities. He clarified that they do not receive orders from Iran, although maintaining positive relations. Addressing the escalating situation on the Palestinian-Lebanese border, the Iranian foreign minister stated that Hezbollah has entered a state of war with Israel. He argued that American messages to Hezbollah would not deter the party but rather strengthen its resolve in decision-making. Highlighting the expanding conflict in the region, Abdollahian noted the Yemeni armys attacks on occupied territories and Hezbollahs engagement with a significant portion of the Israeli army. Regarding the U.S. deployment of aircraft carriers in the region, Amir Abdollahian expressed the belief of military experts that this move is not in Washingtons interest, increasing the risk of targeting its naval fleet. Amir Abdollahian revealed that over the past forty days, exchanges of messages between Iran and the United States, mediated by the American Interests Section at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, emphasized Tehrans reluctance for the war to escalate. However, he acknowledged that the U.S. and Israels regional approach and ongoing offences against Gaza and the West Bank could make a broader conflict unavoidable. The Iranian foreign minister stressed that the Palestinian resistance in Gaza has not sought Irans direct involvement in the war. He stated that they possess the capabilities to produce their own missiles, drones, and military equipment within Palestine. In conclusion, Abdollahian asserted that the fate of the war would be determined by the resistance factions, not Israel. He suggested that a war of attrition is not sustainable for Israel, and diplomatic efforts are essential for the release of Israeli prisoners. 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. Zaman al-Wasl revealed a secret in Homs involving leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) militia, the National Defense militia, and the Pakistani Zainabiyoun militia. Zaman al-Wasl reported that a meeting occurred on Saturday evening in the western countryside of Homs involving leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) militia, the National Defense militia, and the Pakistani Zainabiyoun militia. According to a confidential source, three leaders of the National Defense militia in the Deir ez-Zor sector, including Commander Firas al-Iraqiya, and two commanders of Zainabiyoun in the Homs countryside, met with IRGCs Commander /Mohsen Khani at the Dabaa military airport in Homs countryside. The meeting, held inside an IRGC headquarters at Dabaa airport, started at 8 p.m. and lasted for two and a half hours, coinciding with a heightened security alert in the region. The purpose of the meeting, as disclosed by the source, was to consolidate and establish joint efforts among the involved parties in the shared region between the countryside of Homs and Deir ez-Zor. This initiative was prompted by recent repeated attacks by the State. The source highlighted that this meeting marked the first of its kind in over five years, with coordination and preparations ongoing for the past two months. This heightened the level of protection and security alert across eastern and western rural Homs. The region experienced an unprecedented state of alert, extending from the Homs countryside to the Deir ez-Zor countryside, accompanied by the presence of reconnaissance aircraft flying over the area. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. The peaceful popular movement in Suweida has now entered its fourth month, Baladi News reminds. The people of the Suweida governorate persist in organizing mass demonstrations, calling for the ousting of Bashar al-Assad and his regime, and the adherence to UN Resolution 2254 for the realization of a political transition in Syria. On Sunday morning, November 19th, dozens of protesters congregated in a central demonstration at al-Karama Square in the city center, vocalizing anti-regime sentiments, notably chanting, The people want the fall of the regime. According to a correspondent from Baladi News in Suweida, Karama Square played host to delegations from Shahba City and neighbouring villages. They displayed numerous banners emphasizing the demand for rights, encouraging peaceful participation, and underscoring the commitment to ongoing demonstrations. The demonstrators displayed banners, some of which conveyed messages such as: The priority is to implement the decision of the Court of Justice issued on 19/11/2023 the most beautiful thing about the homeland, the airport that brings me back home I look at my homeland, my pierced heart, my soul is stuck in the spirit of my country His highness dreams of pardoning himself the biggest criminal in history who issues an amnesty. The peaceful popular movement in Suweida has now entered its fourth month, witnessing a surge in participants advocating for the downfall of the regime, the trial of Bashar al-Assad, and the realization of UN Resolution 2254. This resolution ensures a peaceful transfer of power through democratic elections, supervised by the United Nations. 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. Donate Blankets Through Feb. 12, Three Rivers Christian School, 257 Alpha Dr., Longview. The Kelso-Longview Kiwanis Club is collecting new blankets for their Kwilts for Kids campaign. New blankets, or fleece blanket kits from JOANN Fabric and Craft stores, can be dropped off at Three Rivers Christian School through Feb. 12. People can also call Carol at 360-636-1600 to arrange a pick up. All blankets will be given to Community House on Broadway and the Emergency Support Shelter. Turkey Trot Nov. 23, Lake Sacajawea Park, 1199 West Kessler Blvd., Longview. www.mylongview.com/196/Recreation. Start Thanksgiving with a one-lap walk or run around Lake Sacajawea. The event starts at 8:30 a.m. at Hemlock Plaza and awards for best costume, largest family participation and more will be handed out. The event costs $15. Ages 8 and under are free with a paid participant. Holiday open house Nov. 24-Dec. 10, at Friends of Skamokawa/River Life Interpretive Center, 1394 WA-4, Skamokawa Valley. The Friends of Skamokawa will be hosting their annual Deck the Hall holiday open house on Saturdays and Sundays from Nov. 24-Dec. 10. Spend an afternoon with friends while shopping for gifts, books and more. The event will have refreshments. All proceeds will support events and programs run through Friends of Skamokawa/River Life and maintenance of the property. Cowlitz Valley Runners club run Nov. 25, Starbucks, 849 Washington Way, Longview. Free. Meet up with the Cowlitz Valley Runners at 8:30 a.m. for this free run. Mount St. Helens Club hike Nov. 25, Stub Stewart State Park, Oregon. Join the club for a medium difficulty hike along a 7-mile loop at Bumping Knot Williams Creek on scenic, mossy trails. The hike has a 700-foot elevation gain. For more information, contact hike leader Bruce M. at 360-425-0256. Longview Dark Market Nov. 25, 11 a.m., in the Cowlitz Event Center conference room, 1900 Seventh Ave., Longview. Come down to the Cowlitz Event Center to shop for a wide array of creations from local vendors, artists and creators. Perfect for oddity lovers of all ages. The event will last for six hours, and it is open to the public. Mountain Timber Market grand opening Nov. 25, 254 Hendrickson Dr., Kalama, mountaintimber.org. The market, home to handcrafted goods, food and art, is set to officially open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 25 at the Port of Kalama. Jumbos Memorial Toy Run Nov. 26, 1 p.m., Longview/Kelso Elks, 900 Ash St., Kelso. Support a charitable cause during this motorcycle ride; the 40th annual Jumbos Memorial Toy Run in Kelso. Registration costs a $10 donation or a new toy of equal or greater value. The run will depart from Longview/Kelso Elks at 1 p.m. and end back at the Elks. Proceeds from this event will be used to purchase toys for the children of Cowlitz County. For more information, contact Debbie Ingram and Steve Hoyt at 360-578-2002 or Warren Hubbard at 360-749-3495. This event is sponsored by Southwest Washington Motorcycle Association and Unique Tin. Mount St. Helens Club hike Nov. 29, Whipple Creek. Join the club for an easier hike along a 4-mile path through forested farm land in Whipple Creek. For more information, contact hike leader John R. at 360-431-1122. Festival of Trees Dec. 1, 5:30 p.m., Cowlitz Event Center, Longview Check out this holiday celebration that benefits local nonprofits. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., the silent auction will begin at 7:15 p.m., dinner will be at 7:30 p.m. and the live auction will begin at 7:45 p.m. The event will include a cocktail party alongside dozens of unique, fully-decorated trees. All proceeds will go to local nonprofits that benefit women and children, as well as the Junior League of Lower Columbia. Admission is $80 for singles, $150 for couples and $560 for a reserved table of eight. Tickets can be reserved at this link. Tree Lighting Festival Dec. 1, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., downtown Kelso. Join your neighbors in this cherished annual tradition at the start of December. Cowlitz Valley Runners club run Dec. 2, Keebler Coffee Roasters, 1101 Commerce Ave., Longview. Free. Meet up with the Cowlitz Valley Runners Club at 8:30 a.m. for this free run. Parks and Rec planting party Dec. 2, 9 a.m., at Lake Sacajawea Park. Join Parks and Recreation Board member Glenda Johnson, along with the Longview Parks and Recreation Foundation for a bulb planting party. The event is outdoors, and it will be held rain or shine. Mount St. Helens Club Hike Dec. 2, Lake Sacajawea, Longview. Come along for one more easier hike around Lake Sacajawea with little elevation gain. This walk is designed to be approachable for people with physical limitations and seniors. For more information, contact Susan S. at 360-430-9914. Longview holiday parade Dec. 2, 5 p.m., Cowlitz County PUD, Longview. Cowlitz PUD is organizing the Longview Downtowners Holiday Parade and Ceremonial Civic Circle Lighting. Float line-up will begin at 3:45 p.m., and the parade will begin at 5 p.m., starting from the PUD building at Commerce Avenue and Fir Street. The parade is free to enter, and registration information can be found at cowlitzpud.org/home-for-the-holidays-parade. The Longview Downtowners appreciate any and all donations to support their goal of expanding decorations from downtown Longview to the Civic Center. Parade of lighted floats Dec. 2, 4 p.m.-6 p.m., First Street, Kalama. www.kalamachamber.com. Come and watch First Street transform while you get holiday shopping done and grab a bite to eat. The parade starts at 5 p.m., while hot cocoa and Santa photos will be available by the library before the parade. Polar Express viewing Dec. 2, 6:30 p.m., Port of Kalama Interpretive Center, Kalama. Community Festival of Nativities Dec. 2-3, 3-9 p.m., Latter-Day Saints Church, Longview. View hundreds of nativities from around the world displayed in an authentic market setting. The event will also feature a live nativity and hourly musical performances from community members. Jingle All the Way 5K run/walk Dec. 8, Civic Circle, 1525 Civic St., Longview, kelsolongviewchamber.org. Support the Kelso Longview Chamber of Commerce at 6 p.m., Dec. 8 by joining the Jingle All the Way 5k. The event costs $10 to enter. Packet pickup for the run/walk will occur at 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Dec. 7 at the Monticello hotel. The next day, there will be a costume contest at the Monticello Hotel, and the races late registration window will be open from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Registration for the event is also open online now at kelsolongviewchamber.org. Cowlitz Valley runners club run and meeting Dec. 9, Red Leaf Organic Coffee, 209 W Main St., Kelso. Free. Meet up with the Cowlitz Valley Runners Club at 8:30 a.m. for this free run. A meeting will be held after the run. Dickens High Tea Dec. 9, 1 p.m.-4 p.m., C.S. Lewis Library at Three Rivers Christian School, 2610 Ocean Beach Highway, Longview. Celebrate the holiday season with Three Rivers Christian School and watch the library and cafe transform into an English-style tea house. The Dickens High Tea will benefit the schools Impact Fund, which supports students who work to Impact the world for Christ. The event will feature a menu of soup, hot savory items, tea sandwiches, scones with clotted creams and jams and a selection of dessert bites. Tickets are available for $40 in the library or $60 in the Eagle & Child Cafe. Tickets can be purchased here. Castle Rock Festival of Lights Dec. 9, beginning at 2 p.m., downtown Castle Rock. Celebrate the holiday season with an afternoon and evening of fun at Castle Rocks Festival of Lights. The event begins at 2 p.m. and will continue until the end of the lighted parade, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. From 2-5 p.m., free photos with Santa will be available, and people are asked to bring their own cameras. Lights in the Park Dec. 15-24, 5 p.m. nightly, at Tam OShanter Park, Kelso. Drive by Tam OShanter this holiday season to see the festive spirit in full bloom. This event, organized by the Kelso Rotary Club and presented in partnership with the Cowlitz PUD, asks for donations of $5 per car. Cowlitz Valley Runners club run Dec. 16, Luckman Coffee Company, Mountain Timber Market Place, Port of Kalama. Free. Meet up with the Cowlitz Valley Runners Club at 8:30 a.m. for this free run. Cowlitz/Wahkiakum Pomona 7 Dec. 16, 1 p.m., Sunnyside Grange, 214 Cowlitz Ave. W, Castle Rock. Join the Cowlitz Wahkiakum Pomona for a 1 p.m. potluck lunch and celebrate the installation of grange officers. This months Pomona Project is to bring canned food. Lake Sacajawea lighted kayak Christmas parade Dec. 16, 4-5:30 p.m., Lake Sacajawea Park, Longview. Light up the kayaks and canoes and join the Lake Sacajawea Kayak Christmas Parade. This event is in conjunction with the Solstice Walk at the lake. Solstice Walk at the lake Dec. 16, 4-6 p.m., Lake Sacajawea Park, Longview. www.friendsofgalileo.com/solstice.html. The Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club is hosting its annual Solstice Walk from 4-6 p.m. Dec. 16. Participants are asked to meet at the marker for the sun on the south end of Lake Sacajawea Park. The group is looking for community organizations to sponsor planets for the event. To find out more about sponsorship or to contact the group, head to www.friendsofgalileo.com/sponsor.html. Cowlitz Valley Runners club run Dec. 23, Castle Rock Bakery, 160 Huntington Ave., Castle Rock. Free. Meet up with the Cowlitz Valley Runners Club at 8:30 a.m. for this free run. Jingle Bell Jog Dec. 24, Stuffys Restaurant, 804 Ocean Beach Hwy., Longview. Free. Meet up with the Cowlitz Valley Runners at 7 a.m. for this free run. Participants are encouraged to wear holiday gear. Cowlitz Valley Runners club run Dec. 30, Starbucks, 100 N. Minor Rd., Kelso. Free. Meet up with the Cowlitz Valley Runners club at 8:30 a.m. for this free run. Year-to-Year Run Dec. 31, Elks Memorial Building, Lake Sacajawea Park, Longview. Participation fee required. Ring in the New Year with a nighttime run with the Cowlitz Valley Runners club. Meet up at 11:50 p.m. for this run, which has a participation fee of $15 if registered in advance. For more information on the run, check out the groups Facebook page, Cowlitz Valley Runners. Beginning Beekeeper Workshops Tuesdays, 6-8:30 p.m., Jan. 30-Feb. 20, at the Cowlitz County Training Center, 1942 First Ave., Longview. Join beginners workshops, hosted by the Washington State University Master Gardeners and the Cowlitz Beekeepers Association. Registration for the event is $50 and must be completed by Jan. 15. Only 25 spots are available. Event registration includes the attendance of an extra family member who can audit the class, as there is no graduation certificate. To register, head to bee-keepers-workshops-2024.cheddarup.com, or reach out to Gary Fredricks at 360-577-3014 or fredricksg@cowlitzwa.gov. Submit an event online at tdn.com/events or email frontdoor@tdn.com. The original squirrel species in Longview is continuing to lose its habitat. The western gray squirrel has been reclassified from threatened to endangered in Washington state after a unanimous vote Friday by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. The species currently numbers between 450 and 1,400 animals, spread between three habitats: the south Puget Trough, and North and South Cascades, according to a press release from the Center for Biological Diversity. The western gray squirrel is native to Longview and unlike the current local inhabiter, the common eastern gray squirrel, does not live in towns or cities, preferring dense forests and isolated fields. Theyre also larger and have a bushier tail. The western gray was first listed as threatened in 1993 as their habitat dwindled. Between logging, development and climate change, the mix of dense forest and meadows they lived in became more scarce. The eastern gray, brought into Longview in the 1950s, also posed a threat to the species. They were more adaptable, not only living in cities but crowding out western grays in their native habitats. And they reproduce at twice the rate two babies a litter to the western grays one. The westerns are more of a wilderness species, Gene Orth, a squirrel expert for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, told TDN in 2011. When there was more standing forest, there were a lot more of the westerns. Environmentalists, like Pat Arnold of Friends of the White Salmon River, said the western grays are clinging to existence and praised the reclassification. Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said urgent measures were needed to save the species. These shy forest squirrels need better protection for their habitat from logging and other threats, Greenwald said in the press release. Im hopeful that endangered status will ring the alarm bells and spur action. Rarely a month goes by without big tech companies getting fined for price fixing, squashing competitors or misusing data, but it can take years before they pay a penny. Ireland's data regulator confirmed to AFP that Meta has not paid any of the two billion euros ($2.2 billion) in fines issued since last September. TikTok also owes hundreds of millions. Amazon is still appealing against a 746 million euro fine from 2021, Luxembourg's data regulator told AFP. Google is still disputing EU fines worth more than eight billion euros for abusing its market position between 2017 and 2019. Apple has fought for years against a French antitrust fine of 1.1 billion euros and an order to pay 13 billion euros of tax to Ireland. The problem is constant, global and involves tech companies of all sizes, not just the big four. This week Australia confirmed that X (formerly Twitter) had not paid a fine imposed for failing to outline its plans to stamp out content depicting child sexual abuse -- though X is now counter-suing. Critics say fining tech companies does not stop their bad behaviour and it is time for more drastic action. - 'Challenge everything' - Margarida Silva, a researcher at Dutch NGO the Centre for Research on Multinationals, pointed out that tech firms have long revelled in their reputation for "disruption". "Not paying the fines fits in with the way we've seen big tech companies challenge pretty much any enforcement of rules against them," said Silva. "Even if the company ultimately loses, by that point they will have dragged the administration through years and years of expenditure." This sets tech apart from industries like finance, she argued, where there is still an incentive to pay to reassure the public and investors. But Romain Rard, a lawyer at Gide Loyrette Nouel in Paris, said it was common sense that firms would look to appeal big penalties. "It's not as if companies can just ignore the fine, challenge decisions and hope for the best that they can get away without having to pay anything," he told AFP. And there have been notable successes for the companies -- chip firms Intel and Qualcomm have both recently had billion-dollar EU antitrust fines overturned or dramatically reduced on appeal. - Bring back break-ups - Europe's system is different to jurisdictions like China or the United States, where fines often come at the end of a lengthy process and are announced as settlements. In 2019, Facebook paid a record $5 billion fine to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. And e-commerce giant Alibaba told investors in 2021 it immediately paid a record almost $3 billion fine to Chinese regulators in 2021. Activists argue that these companies are simply too rich for financial penalties to have much impact. Austrian lawyer Max Schrems, who has campaigned vigorously for data rights in Europe, said the issue was exacerbated by uneven application of the rules. The Irish Data Protection Commission, he said, allowed the companies too much leeway with their appeals processes and issued fines that were far too small. In an interview with AFP, Ireland's deputy data protection commissioner Graham Doyle defended his office's record and said fines were only one part of the story. "With the vast majority of these investigations that we've finalised, whilst the fines tend to generate the most publicity, we have also imposed corrective measures," he said. He highlighted an investigation into Instagram for their handling of children's data. A 405 million euro fine is currently under appeal, but Doyle stressed that the platform had already fixed the initial problem. Activists agree that fines can only be a part of the solution. Silva argued that rather than noodling around with financial penalties, it was time for competition regulators to step up. She urged them to halt future takeovers and mergers in the sector and undo the damage of the past, potentially even breaking up the companies. "The problem of Meta would be entirely different if it hadn't been allowed to buy Instagram and WhatsApp," she said. Nokia announced that its AVA Energy Efficiency software, to be delivered in a SaaS delivery model, has been selected by Globe Telecom to help the Philippine communication service provider drive lower network power consumption and costs. Nokia AVA for Energy SaaS, using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, will enable Globe to shut idle and unused equipment automatically during low usage periods. The solution delivers these operational and cost benefits while maintaining network quality. Deploying this solution through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model will allow Globe to consume the solution purely on demand through a subscription, with faster service delivery and time-to-value. This model also eliminates large up front capital expenditure and avoids the need to perform on-site software maintenance and updates. Globe realized an equivalent annual power savings of around 3-6 percent in a proof of concept using Nokias AVA Energy Efficiency software together with the power saving feature of the radio access network. Nokia has a growing list of more than 50 completed or active energy saving projects with CSPs around the world, as operators increasingly look to cut energy costs and address environmental sustainability issues in their networks. Susanna Patja, APJ Market Leader, Cloud and Network Services, at Nokia said: Network energy consumption is an issue that will only continue to grow in importance for CSPs as they step up their efforts to harmonize network efficiency and environmental objectives. Nokia is excited to support Globe Telecoms efforts to shrink the carbon footprint of the telco industry. Nokia AVA for Energy SaaS represents not only what were doing with AI to unlock the strategic potential of networks but also Nokias commitment to cut emissions across our value chain. Yoly Crisanto, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Communications Officer of the Globe Group, said: Were very pleased to expand our partnership with Nokia through its AVA for Energy SaaS solution. Efficient energy consumption is a strategic imperative for our network decarbonization initiatives and net zero targets. Deploying this solution will help reduce power costs, with no impact to customer experience. 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 On any given day, Los Angeles police officers record roughly 8,000 interactions with the public on body-worn cameras. Most of the footage goes unseen. The city spent millions on the cameras to help provide transparency and accountability, but LAPD officials say they don't have enough personnel to monitor the countless hours of recordings. The department has also struggled to keep tabs on whether officers are turning off their cameras in violation of department rulesas members of a disbanded gang unit from the Mission division are suspected of doing in order to cover up thefts, unlawful searches, and other alleged misconduct. A recent internal report suggested lapses in body-cam activation are more widespread than the department has previously let on, and that its system for auditing compliance falls short. In the aftermath of the Mission scandal, LAPD leaders have been eyeing a potential solution: artificial intelligence, which can analyze vast troves of body camera footage with a few keystrokes. Police agencies across the country hope that new advancements with the technology will help identify officer misconduct that is captured on camera. Police Chief Michel Moore said the Mission officers are suspected of "gaming" the department's camera rules, which require random reviews of body-cam activation on stops involving gang suspectsbut only in cases where no enforcement action is taken. The policy is intended to monitor the conduct of gang units as they interact with the public, but Moore said Mission officers searched vehicles without justification, thinking their body-cam footage would not be reviewed. Their actions were discovered after a motorist filed a complaint with the department alleging they were pulled over last December and their car was illegally searched. The department began reviewing the unit's body camera footage and other information, and it found discrepancies with what officers wrote in their reports. The FBI is investigating, and the department has moved to fire at least two of the involved officers, who are also facing criminal charges. Asked earlier this year whether the Mission case could open the door to using advanced software to audit the department's camera footage, Moore said "artificial intelligence is a very scary term to many people because they think it's somehow autonomous and that it's going to take its own path." But he still sees potential. "What can systems do to help show anomalies?" he asked. "I'm always interested in understanding how that can happen." Most signs suggest the department is seriously considering the technology. Earlier this year, the LAPD announced a joint study with researchers from USC and three other universities that will use machine learning systems to analyze the language that officers use during traffic stops. The study, which will take three years to complete, will review body camera footage from roughly 1,000 traffic stops for problematic word choice or tone. A department official told the Police Commission in August that AI will "undoubtedly become a profound element in officer training in the future." Efforts to use AI for video review are likely to draw opposition from the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents most of the city's rank-and-file officers. Two sources familiar with the arrangement, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly, said the police union cautiously agreed to the USC study. But the union insisted that the resulting analysis be used for training purposes, with disciplinary action taken only against serious misconduct captured on video. The Protective League was concerned that the department would hand down retroactive punishment for officers who were rude or failed to explain their actions when stopping people. Before announcing the study, the union urged the department to consider contracting with Truleo, a Chicago start-up that is already working with law enforcement agencies in Florida and Colorado, according to the two sources. One source, who asked not to be named in order to discuss internal department matters, said the LAPD is still considering Truleo, but is waiting to see how the service performs in other cities before committing. The New York Police Department, the country's largest police force, signed on to the service last month, according to news reports. Truleo grew out of an earlier effort by Wall Street banks to "professionalize" their workplaces, but the company began working with police departments after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, according to founder Anthony Tassone. The company processes transcripts of interactions caught on body camera, looking for cues and patterns. The software uses voice-print technology to tag an officer's language as an "insult," "profanity," or "gratitude," while also flagging uses of force and searches. "So frisking language might be like, "Do you have any needles that might hurt me?" These cops, they're like call center employees, their vocabulary is very finite: it's like 400 words," Tassone said in an interview. "Cops are smart. They know right now nobody is watching their body camera videos." Departments can use the resulting analyses to train officers on how to navigate potentially fraught encounters without resorting to force, he said. The technology has met resistance in some places. According to news reports, Seattle, an early adopter, terminated its contract with Truleo in September, a short time after a police union official was inadvertently recorded on camera joking about a young woman killed by another officer. Art Acevedo, chief of police in Aurora, Colo., another Truleo client, said AI promises to address what has been a glaring weakness of police cameras: Most of the time, no one is watching. He said that larger departments like Los Angeles and Houston typically only review video in connection with an investigation related to a pursuit, civilian complaint or use-of-force incidentbut rarely to evaluate professionalism. "You can't, as a police department or a police union leader, climb from the top of the mountain and scream what a great department we have and turn around and say, "Hey we don't want our body camera footage to be seen,'" said Acevedo. Such analysis, he said, could also highlight examples of good policing or identify troubled officers and get them the help they need before their behavior gets worse, he said. "Like a study your own game film type of situation." Jonathan Wender, CEO of Polis Solutions, a competitor to Truleo that recently started working with Dallas police, said his company's system works by evaluating factors such as a person's "emotional intensity" to study the behavior of both officers and subjects they encounter. "Why wouldn't you mine body camera footage, the largest single source of data in the world on police-community interactions?" he asked. As the use of body cameras has expanded across the country, citizens and many police leaders say they have brought much-needed transparency to police encounters with the public, making the devices well worth the millions they cost to purchase and maintain. With the rise of AI, civil liberties groups have raised concerns about the privacy rights of citizens who are not only being recorded, but whose actions will now be evaluated without their consent. And other critics say it has yet to produce better behavior by police. Cities have been "seduced" by claims made by AI analysis companies that so far have offered no proof the analysis will actually change how officers conduct themselves, according to Chris Schneider, a sociology professor at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada. The technology is only as unbiased as the people who program it, he said, pointing out that the complexities of racism go beyond an officer's word choice. "Police officers can and do racist things without using racist language," he said. "We know that police officers have already come up with ways to avoid being recorded or let other police officers know that they are recording." Hamid Khan, of the watchdog group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, said that such accountability tools fail to address systemic problems with law enforcement. "It gives false illusions of monitoring of misconduct and accountability," he said. "But in essence nothing changes, and corporations make more money off of it." A recent LAPD presentation showed that the department performs roughly 8,800 random audits of body-worn cameras per year. But these reviews only checked to see if officers were promptly activating their cameras, and if their recordings included a full two-minute buffera constantly recorded loop that helps capture what occurs before the officer thinks to activate their camera. Another approximately 1,500 spot checks were done specifically on video from gang stops, police officials said. An internal report released earlier this year said the department had inconsistent policies, which allowed camera misuse to go undetected. But it also suggested the department conduct a "feasibility" study before giving patrol supervisors the added responsibility of checking videos that don't involve a complaint or use of force. Even as he publicly maintained that the department's current camera rules are strong, Moore has signaled that changes are likely. Speaking at a Police Commission meeting Tuesday, Moore said placing the added workload of reviewing footage on supervisors "would just entirely drown the system." "They would never be out in the field, they would just be watching videos," Moore told the civilian oversight body. At the same meeting, department officials presented an analysis comparing the LAPD's camera policy with police in New York, Houston and other big-city departments across the country. Several other agencies conducted more routine reviews than the LAPD. Commission President Erroll Southers said he was worried to learn that the department's review of gang stops relied on a relatively small sample size. He questioned whether it was enough to uncover potential misconduct. "Are we looking at too few that we can't identify a trend or are we missing it?" Southers said. Southers said he was also concerned that Philadelphia, a smaller department, required their patrol sergeants to examine 60 body-worn videos every year. "Do we understand how they're able to crank out a lot more reviews than we are with a department a third their size?" Southers asked. Departments like Philadelphia don't match "the rigor as far as the standardization" of the LAPD review process, Moore said. The same, he said, goes for Chicago police, which conducted 23,700 video reviews a yearmore than twice as many as Los Angeles. 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: Bitcoin influencers on Twitter (X). Credit: Hristo Butcharov Bitcoin has made global headlines in recent years, with a significant portion of the cryptocurrency discourse taking place on Twitter, renamed X this year. A single tweet by Elon Musk, who in 2021 announced on Twitter that Bitcoin would be accepted in payment for Tesla products, can have significant impact on the crypto market as a whole. Yet there are others on Twitter who also play a role in shaping the way Bitcoin is viewed. A recent study by Constantin Lichti, Endrit Ademi, and Professor Andranik Tumasjan of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) revealed that certain crypto influencers who act as opinion leaders on Twitter can significantly impact the Bitcoin discourse. The team analyzed 115 million Bitcoin-related tweets posted from 2009 to 2022 and, on the basis of this extensive analysis, presented an opinion leader index that identified such influencers and classified them into eight different archetype groups. From Michael Saylor to Elon Musk and PlanB: Who shapes the Bitcoin debate on Twitter? The opinion leader index aims to identify the most important Bitcoin influencers, using six indicators including reputation and audience reach. "If at least three of the six criteria are met, we consider the person a Bitcoin opinion leader or 'BOL' on Twitter," stated Constantin Lichti. Using this scoring scheme, 218 Twitter users were identified who met at least three criteria. It turned out that only two opinion leaders, Michael Saylor and Anthony Pompliano, met all six criteria, highlighting their importance and influence among the Bitcoin community. The BOLs have, on average, slightly more than one million followers. Almost half (49%) of the corresponding BOL accounts are "verified," i.e., they have been confirmed as both notable and authentic. The average age of these accounts is just under 10 years, indicating that these BOLs have been active for some considerable time. The high rate of public engagement with these accounts is demonstrated by the average interaction countslikes (250), retweets (36), and replies (28). More than one-third (38%) of tweets are replies, demonstrating a high level of interaction of these BOLs with their audiences. Eight archetypes of Bitcoin influencers Using their scheme of six criteria, the researchers categorized the 218 BOLs into eight different archetype groups, also taking into account Bitcoin critics and influencers who remain anonymous. They designated their groups as follows: Bitcoin Maximalists (such as Tone Vays), Crypto All-Stars (such as Vitalik Buterin), Millionaire Magnets (such as Elon Musk), Engagement Gurus (such as Lark Davis), Bitcoin Conversationalists (such as Tiffany Hayden), Persistent Pundits (such as Elizabeth Stark), Incognito Influencers (such as PlanB), and Confrontational Conversationalists (such as Peter Schiff). The team also analyzed their text corpus using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software. This is a systematically constructed dictionary with more than 12,000 predefined words and word stems that allows its users to quantify specified linguistic categories and detect subtle language variations. The results showed that each archetype has an individual communication style and content focus that ranges from financial and technological aspects to power and politics. Strong correlations between Bitcoin influencer activities and the Bitcoin price The research team also found that, in the years 2009 to 2022, there was a strong link between the opinion leaders' tweet activities and the engagement of their audiences and what happened to the Bitcoin price. "It is remarkable how closely their communications correlated with Bitcoin price performance, despite the fact that they were using differing communication strategies," said Endrit Ademi. Moreover, the study revealed that the opinion leader index represents a suitable tool for identifying influencers in other decentralized contexts and active on other social media platforms. "Our analysis has provided insights into the mechanisms of opinion leadership in decentralized settings that are characterized by technologies such as Bitcoin," added Professor Andranik Tumasjan. In summary, the study's findings underscore the growing importance of influencers and social media in the cryptocurrency space. Lichti advises anyone with interest in or active in the Bitcoin and crypto world to follow the opinion leaders and the discussion on Twitter if they wish to better understand and assess the dynamics of the crypto scene. Professor Andranik Tumasjan and his team are members of the Management and Digital Transformation (MDT) research group at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Their work focuses on the interface between management and digital technologies, with a current emphasis on the potential of blockchain technology. This recent study on the Bitcoin discourse has been accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the 57th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-57), which will be taking place from January 3rd to 6th, 2024 in Honolulu. More information: Decentralized Opinion Leadership: A Study of Crypto Influencers in the Twitter Discourse on Bitcoin 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 Three out of four of the world's most popular websites are putting tens of millions of users and their data at risk by failing to meet minimum password requirement standards. The findings are part of a new Georgia Tech cybersecurity study that examines the current state of password policies across the internet. Using a first-of-its-kind automated tool that can assess a website's password creation policies, researchers also discovered that 12% of websites completely lacked password length requirements. Assistant Professor Frank Li and Ph.D. student Suood Al Roomi in Georgia Tech's School of Cybersecurity and Privacy created the automated assessment tool to explore the Google Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX), a database of 1 million websites and pages. The study is based on 20,000 randomly sampled websites from the CrUX database and showed that many sites: Permit very short passwords. Do not block common passwords. Use outdated requirements like complex characters. The researchers also discovered that only a few sites fully follow standard guidelines, while most stick to outdated guidelines from 2004. The project was 135 times larger than previous works that relied on manual methods and smaller sample sizes. More than half of the websites in the study accepted passwords with six characters or less, with 75% failing to require the recommended eight-character minimum. About 12% had no length requirements, and 30% did not support spaces or special characters. Only 12% of the websites studied enforced a password block list, which means more than 17,000 sites were vulnerable to cyber criminals who might try to use common passwords to break into a user's account, also known as a password spraying attack. "Both Professor Li and I were excited to take on the challenge," said Al Roomi. "With his guidance and our continuous work on both algorithm design and the measurement technique, we were able to fully develop an automated measurement of password creation policy and apply it at scale." Al Roomi and Li designed an algorithm that automatically determines a website's password policy. With the help of machine learning, the pair could see the consistency of length requirements and restrictions for numbers, upper- and lower-case letters, special symbols, combinations, and starting letters. They could also see if sites permitted dictionary words or known breached passwords. "As a security community, we've identified and developed various solutions and best practices for improving internet and web security," said Li. "It's crucial that we investigate whether those solutions or guidelines are actually adopted in practice to understand whether security is improving in reality." The project began during the height of the pandemic when Al Roomi found a gap in the research literature surrounding website password policies. Through his reading, he discovered that a consensus of his peers did not think a large-scale survey of password policies was possible due to the variety of web design. "It was exciting to see an identified challenge in the literature and to develop and apply a vision we turned into the measurement tool," said Al Roomi. "This research was my first in my Ph.D. program at Georgia Tech and SCP. It is one of the most challenging yet rewarding endeavors I've worked on." The full report will be presented at the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) in Copenhagen, Denmark, later this month. The article, "A Large-Scale Measurement of Website Login Policies" was also accepted to the 32nd USENIX Security Symposium earlier this year. More information: A Large-Scale Measurement of Website Login Policies. www.usenix.org/conference/usen resentation/al-roomi WHO said that Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital is a "death zone." The health organization shared this statement to describe the hospital after the United Nations conducted its high-risk assessment mission in the Gaza Strip. The World Health Organization said that it led the joint UN humanitarian assessment team, which visited the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Nov. 19. WHO said that this dangerous mission was needed to check the situation in the hospital. Here's what WHO and UN saw after visiting the Al-Shifa hospital. WHO Calls Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital 'Death Zone' According to Politico's latest report, the WHO-led UN assessment mission includes logistic officers, security staff, and public health experts from UNOCHA, UNMAS, UNRWA, UNOPS, and UNDSS. "This was a high-risk operation in an active conflict zone, with heavy fighting ongoing in close proximity to the hospital," said WHO via its official X announcement post. "Due to time limits associated with the security situation, the team was able to spend only one hour inside the hospital, which they described as a 'death zone' and the situation as 'desperate,'" added the health organization. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shared what the high-risk assessment team saw. He confirmed that Al-Shifa-the largest hospital in Gaza-no longer has water, food, fuel, and electricity. He added that medical supplies are also starting to deplete. Because of this, Tedros said that health workers are requesting support to evacuate patients who greatly need lifesaving care. The WHO director-general promised that they would work with partners to create an urgent evacuation plan and ask for full facilitation of this initiative. He also said that they are calling for the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip and patients at the Al-Shifa hospital since the current situation is becoming more and more unjustifiable and unbearable. Read Also: How Exploding Drones Change Russia-Ukraine War: Experts Claim No One Is Safe from These Kamikaze UAVs Al-Shifa's Exact Status WHO said that Al-Shifa only has 25 health workers. These staff are definitely not enough to handle almost 300 patients who are in the Gaza-based hospital. The health organization also said that several patients already died over the past two to three days because of a lack of medical services. As of writing, there are 32 babies in extremely critical condition, two adult patients who are in need of intensive care, and 22 dialysis who are under life-saving treatment. The remaining patients are victims of war trauma; many of them suffer from amputations, burns, chest and abdominal trauma, as well as head injuries. Related Article: Hamas-Controlled Al-Shifa Hospital Allegation Update: Israel Shows New Evidence, Claims More Proof Will Come @ 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: 180 GHz indoor SDR-THz demonstrated in the Poly-Grames laboratory. Credit: Polytechnique Montreal Terahertz communication will shape the future of wireless networks. Extensive high data rates with secure networks are possible with terahertz technology. However, such a high frequency also presents well-known challenges, such as limited range and susceptibility to atmospheric absorption. The challenges and opportunities can only be seen with feasible and versatile testbeds. Our study, currently available on the arXiv preprint server, is inspired by the question "What do we really know about terahertz communication?" Software-defined radios Over the past decade, software-defined radios (SDRs) have emerged as a pivotal radio technology, used to explore the constraints of wireless technology in real-world environments. These radios validate theoretical concepts and pinpoint design bottlenecks that may remain elusive in purely theoretical studies. SDRs are now widely popular even in daily life, serving as accessible tools from spectrum analysis to peer-to-peer walkie-talkies. The capabilities of these radios are immense, making them a perfect fit as a multitasking tool for terahertz wireless designs. The remarkable versatility of these radios has led to the evolution of novel CubeSat and low-profile transceiver designs within satellite networks, which are transitioning toward SDRs. In this way, remotely controllable and sustainable satellites can be operated without building from the ground up. This design also serves to illuminate the front of terahertz-based satellites. Until now, terahertz experiments necessitated the use of expensive equipment for implementing and analyzing terahertz communication. We introduce a low-cost, feasible, and adaptable testbed design that unveils the true capabilities of terahertz technology. SDR-supported terahertz testbeds are the missing piece in this field of study, and they can validate numerous types of research with simplicity and cost-effectiveness. One of the most promising advantages of this design is the fully open-source digital design database, thus opening up a vast realm for experimental research. We believe that it is the first step of a journey of a thousand miles in this field. Hidden challenges and opportunities Angular resolution and signal bandwidth become very high and can be manipulated to our benefit via terahertz technology. On the downside, ultra-broadband signal processing represents a major demand. SDRs can easily segregate the real-time process and transfer the non-real-time processing load to powerful computers. Information sampling is a critical, well-known challenge in terahertz communication. Current SDRs support up to 6.4 Gbits per second, yet more is required. Our design brings to light a previously overlooked issue: frequency sparsity. The frequency extension loses frequency resolution, which leaves windows of non-operative bands. This issue raises concerns about ongoing multiband terahertz designs. On 6G, various electromagnetic reflector structures will be a part of daily life. A reflector is able to steer the wave characteristics, including the direction of the wave. One use of the reflectors is physically secure connectivity among peers. In the nature of terahertz, a network can be secured by a simple reflector structure. An interesting result is that scattering over a reflector can be both destructive and constructive. Likewise, many exciting hidden opportunities are discussed in our study that could lead to the search for novel, self-describing models. What comes next? We have a long history of wireless testbed designing and prototyping that uncovers the true potential of proposed solutions from all around the world. Multi-antenna techniques, beam management, intelligent surfaces, and active and passive sensing are just some of the applications that can be built on this testbed without the need for major investment. These empirical studies will advance the standardization of terahertz communication in the next step. An era is imminent when the transmission of big data in daily life will be executed in the blink of an eye. This story is part of Science X Dialog, where researchers can report findings from their published research articles. Visit this page for information about ScienceX Dialog and how to participate. More information: Eray Guven et al, Terahertz Communication Testbeds: Challenges and Opportunities, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.01972 Journal information: arXiv Eray Guven received a B.S. degree in electronics and communication engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkiye, and he was a visiting researcher at A.A. Kharkevich Institute, Russia in 2018. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada. Gunes Karabulut Kurt is currently an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada. She is a Marie Curie Fellow and received the Turkish Academy of Sciences Outstanding Young Scientist (TUBA-GEBIP) Award in 2019. She received her Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Ottawa, ON, Canada. Antonio Oldham was sentenced to 35 years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to leading police on a high-speed chase while drunk in 2020. Oldham pled guilty to driving while intoxicated three or more times, and evading in a vehicle, according to the Brazos County District Attorneys Office. On Aug. 9, 2020, the Brazos County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of a vehicle driving recklessly on Texas 6. Officers located the vehicle at around 5 p.m. and observed it traveling at over 100 miles an hour, according to the DAs office. When police attempted to stop the vehicle, Oldham continued driving and exited Texas 6 at a high rate of speed. Oldham ultimately reached a dead end at which point he jumped the curb and began driving through an apartment complex parking lot. Oldham eventually fled on foot and was apprehended by police. Officers said his blood alcohol content was .10 five hours after the initial pursuit. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis refused to condemn and instead chose to defend Tesla CEO Elon Musk over an antisemitic post that the latter endorsed on X, formerly known as Twitter. The antisemitic post that the billionaire entrepreneur supported alluded to a white supremacist conspiracy theory. During an interview, DeSantis was asked whether or not he condemns Musk's open endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory. It argued that Jews were conspiring to replace white Americans with minority immigrants. Ron DeSantis and Elon Musk In response, the Republican lawmaker said that he did not see the particular comment in question. He added that he knows Musk has had a target on his back ever since the businessman bought Twitter taking the company in a new direction. DeSantis said that he was a big supporter of Musk's decision to purchase Twitter, adding that he was still working some stuff out within the company. CNN "State of the Union" anchor Jake Tapper then read the post aloud. In it, a user said that he was "deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest s*** now about Western Jewish populations," as per NBC News. The user allegedly realized that minorities that support flooding their country do not exactly like them so much. The post also claimed that Jewish people "have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them." Musk was then seen replying to the post, saying that it had spouted the "actual truth." The billionaire entrepreneur then went on to target the Anti-Defamation League. This is an organization that works to fight antisemitism. He said that the ADL unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite them being the ones who support the Jewish people and Israel. Musk claimed that this was because they could not criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat. In response to being shown the posts, DeSantis said that he had "no idea what the context is" and noted that he would not "pass judgment on the fly." However, he did say that he stands against antisemitism "across the board," according to The Guardian. Read Also: Supreme Court Rules Against Florida on State's Law Banning Drag Shows Antisemitism in US DeSantis added that he knows Musk, noting that he has never seen the businessman do anything and that he is a guy who believes in America. The Florida governor said that he has not seen Musk indulge in any of those things, adding that it would be surprising if it were true. Various critics have also accused the Republican lawmaker of being slow to condemn rallies by neo-Nazis in his state. Some of these individuals were seen carrying flags with the words: "This is DeSantis country." The antisemitic conspiracy theory has been espoused by online hate groups and echoed by Robert Bowers. The latter is the convicted killer of 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018. It was considered to be the deadliest attack against Jews in the history of the United States. Last month, the ADL said that antisemitic incidents in the U.S. have increased by 388% in the weeks following the Hamas militant group's attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has also observed an increase in reports following the attack but did not have specific numbers to release, said CNN. Related Article: House Speaker Mike Johnson Plans to Publicly Release 44K Hours of Jan. 6 Footage @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A man being pursued by a deputy from the Saunders County Sheriffs Office died after his car crashed into a tree in Ashland early Sunday, the sheriffs office said. Tyler Persons, 29, of Ashland, was killed when the 2004 Chevy Malibu he was driving left the road and struck a tree at about 2:35 a.m. Sunday, according to a sheriffs office news release. Shortly before the crash, a sheriffs deputy alerted dispatchers that they were pursuing the Malibu, which was headed northbound on 16th Street in Ashland. About a minute later, the deputy reported the crash and called in Ashland Fire and Rescue, which declared Persons dead on the scene. Persons had not been wearing a seat belt, the release stated. The Nebraska State Patrol will investigate the crash because it happened during a pursuit. A grand jury investigation also will be convened, according to the release. Photos: Nebraska soccer beats UC Irvine in NCAA tournament Sweet 16 match Keppel investing in Vietnams sustainable development By Minh Hue Mon, November 20, 2023 | 8:00 am GMT+7 Since entering Vietnam over three decades ago, Keppel has grown to become one of the countrys largest foreign real estate investors, with over 20 licensed projects and a total registered investment capital of about $3.5 billion. A strong 30-year legacy Keppel is a pioneer foreign investor in Vietnam's real estate market, having entered the country in 1991. Over three decades, Keppels projects have significantly contributed to the transformed urban landscape of Ho Chi Minh City. Its high quality portfolio includes premium residential projects such as Villa Riviera, Riviera Cove, The Estella, Estella Heights, Empire City, Riviera Point, CELESTA City, as well as investment-grade commercial properties such as Saigon Centre and Estella Place in HCMC. Keppel's Empire City and Riviera Point projects have an impressive absorption rate of over 99%, while commercial developments like Saigon Centre and Estella Place have maintained a 100% annual occupancy rate. Its malls are also the prime choice for high-end brands such as Chanel, Hublot and Tag Heuer. The group's Grade A office buildings Saigon Centre Tower 1 and 2 serve as headquarters for multinational companies like AIA, DBS, Mitsubishi, ANZ, Garena, Lazada, and the Singapore Consulate-General in HCMC. Additionally, Saigon Centre Tower 2 features Sedona Suites, Keppels premium serviced apartments, catering to top-tier professionals from international organizations in Vietnam. Collaborating closely with esteemed partners like Khang Dien, Phu Long, Tien Phuoc, Tran Thai, and Gaw Capital has played an instrumental role in shaping Keppel's achievements. These partnerships have not only strengthened Keppel's presence but have also fostered a thriving environment for strategic growth and investment opportunities. Saigon Centre, Keppel's flagship mixed-use project in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Keppel. As of December 31, 2022, Keppels Real Estate Division had $1.1 billion worth of assets in Vietnam, which made up over 12% of the divisions total assets. The total commercial floor area that Keppel has developed in Vietnam exceeds 400,000 m2, accounting for 24% of the group's floor area in countries where it has a presence. This is a reflection of Keppel's pioneering spirit in the provision of solutions for urban spaces. Keppel's commitment to excellent quality and design has been recognized by a series of prestigious domestic and international awards. In 2022, Keppel won 12 awards at the PropertyGuru Vietnam Property Awards, including Best Sustainable Real Estate Developer and Best Mixed-use Developer. Contributing to Vietnams sustainable growth Keppel's expanding investment portfolio not only demonstrates its robust financial capacity but also reflects its dedication to Vietnam's sustainable development and its long-term commitment to the Vietnamese market. At the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), Vietnams Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh laid down a challenge for Vietnam to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. As a leading player in the real estate sector, Keppel is fully aligned with the Vietnamese governments goals as it aims to contribute to a greener environment by providing sustainability-related solutions to help its customers and communities reduce their carbon footprint. Keppels Real Estate Division has committed to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 100% from 2020s level by 2030, as well as committed to reduce its Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services by 20% per square meter by 2030 from the 2020 base year. To cater to the evolving needs of its customers and the community, as well as to support climate action, Keppel is also developing new business engines with sustainability in mind. The company has identified Sustainable Urban Renewal (SUR) as one of the key market segments where it is well placed to make a difference. The SUR model, based on retrofitting and revitalizing existing buildings, provides a greener, less costly and faster alternative to new construction, and can contribute to the circular economy. By incorporating smart and sustainable features into retrofitted buildings, Keppel will enhance the assets performance and value. Through the SUR initiative, Keppel will actively contribute to Vietnam's efforts to achieve net zero by retrofitting older buildings and making them more energy-efficient. As part of its sustainability strategy, Keppel has also increased its use of renewable energy. For example, the photovoltaic panels installed on Keppels residential and commercial developments in Vietnam have generated an energy yield of nearly 150,000 kWh over the past three years, which is equivalent to around $21,150 in cost savings. Photovoltaic panels installed on the rooftop of Saigon Centre Tower 1, Keppels flagship mixed-use development in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Keppel. Keppels deep operating capabilities extend beyond real estate and include infrastructure solutions as well. Earlier in 2023, Keppels Infrastructure Division introduced the first-of-its-kind Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) solution to Vietnam with the securing of contracts worth over $70 million. Keppels subscription-based EaaS solution, which includes energy supply, cooling, decarbonization and smart energy management, enables businesses and building owners to enjoy significant energy savings without having to make heavy upfront investments. Keppel also seeks to uplift communities, wherever it operates. In Vietnam, Keppels corporate social responsibility initiatives focus on protecting the environment, supporting education and caring for the underprivileged. In the past three years, Keppel contributed nearly VND14 billion ($577,000) to Vietnams community through impactful initiatives across areas such as providing access to clean water and tree planting. In March and August 2023, Keppel brought the Living Well water filtration systems to Tien Giang and Ca Mau provinces, where over 30,000 people are affected by drought and saltwater intrusion. This was an extension to the Living Well initiative launched in 2022. Joseph Low (right), president (Vietnam), real estate, Keppel Corporation, and Tran Van Tro, vice president of Phu Dong Commune People's Committee, Tan Phu Dong district, Tien Giang province, at the launch event for the Living Well initiative in Tien Giang, southern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Keppel. Furthermore, Keppel offers solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change. In the past three years, Keppel has avoided 39,000 tons in carbon emissions from its Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark-awarded projects in Vietnam, such as Estella Heights and Palm Heights. The total energy savings from all of these projects from 2020 to 2022 was over 60 million kWh, which is equivalent to $10.9 million. To date, 12 developments of Keppel in Vietnam have achieved the prestigious BCA Green Mark Awards. Keppel regards safety to be of paramount importance. Since 2011, the company has trained a total of over 41,000 workers with 257,000 training hours at its Safety Awareness Centre in Vietnam. Additionally, Keppel in Vietnam has been recognized as one of Asia's Best Workplaces by Great Place to Work, a global authority on workplace culture. "We are excited by the many growth opportunities in Vietnam for sustainability solutions. As a global asset manager and operator with deep capabilities in infrastructure, real estate and connectivity, Keppel is well placed to continue contributing towards Vietnams sustainable development and to help attract more capital from global investors through our quality investment platforms and asset portfolios," said Joseph Low, president (Vietnam), real estate, Keppel Corporation. A new gift from Mr. and Mrs. L. William Krause, 63, will significantly enhance the couples long-standing legacy of promoting the education of principled leaders at The Citadel. Citadel gift Citadel President Gen. Glenn Walters awards Bill Krause the Inaugural Presidents Leadership Award on Oct. 12, 2023, in Charleston. Gay and Bill Krause have recently committed to giving an additional $5 million to establish and name the Krause School of Leadership and Ethics. The new gift when added to significant previous gifts made in 2012 and in 2003 designated to support, advance and endow the colleges leadership development curriculum places the Krauses among the top three individual donors in the colleges history. The new school will unite the existing Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics and the colleges Department of Leadership Studies into a single entity, forming the colleges sixth major academic school. Get The Times and Democrat app today Local news has never been this personal. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access. We believe that the new school of leadership is an essential cornerstone to The Citadel and its vision to lead in the education and development of principled leaders, said Bill Krause. Gay and I are excited that we can provide the funding for General Walters and Provost Selden to establish the new Krause School of Leadership and Ethics as the pre-eminent school of leadership in America. Collaborating with three presidential administrations over several decades, the Krauses have provided the vision, guidance and resources to establish The Citadel as the college of choice for those seeking to serve as principled leaders prepared to meet the challenges facing the nation and the world today. Bill and Gay Krause have been instrumental in The Citadels efforts to advance Leadership and Ethics education for more than 30 years, said The Citadel President General Glenn M. Walters, USMC (Ret.), 79. Their support is not only in philanthropy, but also in leadership and wisdom. They are a driving force with The Citadel Foundation and a myriad of other campus organizations and projects. The Krauses impact on The Citadel cannot be overstated, and creating this new school is critical to advancing leadership and ethics education at our college. Fittingly, the Krause gift was formally documented after a surprise award presentation following the Oct. 12 Greater Issues address to the South Carolina Corps of Cadets by Krauses close friend and mentee Claudius Bud Watts IV, 83. After the address, Krause was awarded the inaugural Presidential Leadership Award recognizing his lifelong commitment to advancing principled leadership at The Citadel. This prestigious new recognition is the highest honor that the colleges administration may award. The Krauses gift will provide resources now and in the future, including ongoing operational support for the Krause School of Leadership and Ethics and an endowment to ensure its long-term growth. Part of the gift is an estate plan that will further enhance the renamed Krause School of Leadership and Ethics endowment. This generous gift will allow The Citadel to take our education of principled leaders to the next level, said The Citadel Provost Sally Selden, Ph.D., SPHR. Thanks to the long-running support from Bill and Gay Krause, the college will now be able to build on the foundation they helped construct. Their gift will allow us to bring the multitude of robust leadership programs we currently offer under one umbrella, and the Krause School of Leadership and Ethics will serve as our flagship as we educate and develop principled leaders for all walks of life. Until it officially becomes part of the new Krause School of Leadership and Ethics, the Department of Leadership Studies will continue to equip all Citadel students with the knowledge and the tools to be principled leaders. The Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics will also continue to coordinate, promote and enhance the development of curricular and co-curricular programs in leadership and ethics that support The Citadels vision to lead in the development of principled leaders. A long-standing member and former chairman of The Citadel Foundation (TCF) Board of Directors, Krause served alongside William Sansom, 64, as honorary chair of the Foundation for Leadership comprehensive campaign, which raised more than $250 million to support the colleges most vital strategic initiatives. Through their extensive professional achievements in business and education and their philanthropic contributions, Bill and Gay Krause have demonstrated their profound commitment to leadership, innovation and education. The Citadel Foundation is deeply grateful for the Krauses long-term dedication to principled leadership and the ethical development of students across all aspects of a Citadel education, said TCF President and Chief Executive Officer John P. Jay Dowd III, Ph.D. About the donors L. William Krause, Citadel Class of 1963 Bill Krause, 63, is president of LWK Ventures, a private investment firm specializing in mentor capital. He is perhaps best known for stewarding 3Com Corp. through its high-growth years in the 1980s as president and CEO, and subsequently as chairman of the board through 1993 when he retired. Krauses leadership transformed 3Com from a venture capital start-up into a $1 Billion+ publicly traded data networking company with operations worldwide. Prior to his leadership of 3Com, Krause spent 14 years at Hewlett-Packard, where his final position was general manager of the General Systems Division with worldwide responsibility for the companys personal computer business. Krause also currently serves on the board of directors of CommScope, Inc.; Forward Networks, Inc.; Smartcar, Inc.; and Veritas Technologies, Inc. He earned a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from The Citadel in 1963 and received an honorary doctorate of science in 2000. L. Gay Krause Gay Krause, Bills wife and a former teacher, counselor and middle school principal in Mountain View, California, has been instrumental in developing the Krause Center for Innovation, a teacher training center at Foothill College in Los Altos, Calif. As executive director of the Krause Center for Innovation, she has established an outstanding regional professional development center for educators in Silicon Valley and beyond. DES MOINES, Iowa The Republicans battling to be their party's alternative to former President Donald Trump came together Friday for a different kind of cattle call, bringing personal and at times emotional stories to what an influential Iowa Christian organization billed as a friendly conversation. Election 2024 Republicans Iowa Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, speaks during the Family Leader's Thanksgiving Family Forum as Republican p Three candidates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy sat side-by-side at a festive Thanksgiving table for a "family discussion" in Des Moines Friday. Trump did not attend, though he was invited. The field around Trump is winnowing with less than two months before the Iowa caucuses kick off the GOP nominating calendar. In a sign of the urgency the field faces, many of his rivals are going after each other more frequently with jabs that have often turned personal. Get The Times and Democrat app today Local news has never been this personal. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access. But there was little sign of such tension Friday except perhaps toward the candidate missing from the conversation. The candidates addressed each other by their first names and at times noted where they agreed. The conversation often led them back to pieces of their stump speeches, as foreign policy on Israel, China and the Russia-Ukraine war, religious liberty and agriculture were raised, but the interactions between them were friendly. The candidates also shared emotional stories during the unusual forum that offered a more collegial, intimate conversation, moderated by Family Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats. All three connected their opposition to legalized abortion to difficulties they had having children. DeSantis talked about his wife Casey's miscarriage and its impact on them. Ramaswamy gestured for his three-year-old son to join him onstage after detailing how his wife, Apoorva, thought she had suffered a second miscarriage. Haley mentioned the difficulty she had getting pregnant. Vander Plaats later asked her to address her stance on abortion, which calls for consensus on the issue. Haley has urged Republicans to not push for a national abortion ban with next to no chance of passing Congress. But when pressed by Vander Plaats on whether she would have signed a new law banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy as governor, as Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds did this year, she said yes. "Whatever the people decide," Haley said. As governor, she signed the most conservative abortion bill South Carolina Republicans were able to pass through both chambers at the time, restricting the procedure at 20 weeks. Friday's event deviated from more testy moments on the campaign trail, a welcome change for many of the voters who attended. Glenn Gibisch of Downers Grove, Illinois, was looking forward to the forum, preferring its approach over the debates. He came to the forum expecting to continue backing Trump, but he walked away feeling excited about DeSantis after hearing from him directly about his values. "I like the format of not attacking anybody," said Gibisch, 71, adding that he was better able to consider the candidates' background and principles. This week, DeSantis and Ramaswamy both criticized Haley after she said Tuesday that social media companies should ban people from posting anonymously online. DeSantis posted on social media that the proposal was "dangerous and unconstitutional," while Ramaswamy referenced the idea as "disgusting." Ramaswamy and Haley have frequently feuded in recent candidate debates, culminating with Haley calling Ramaswamy "scum" after he attacked her daughter for using TikTok, the video-sharing app that many Republicans want to ban due to its links to China. The rivalry between DeSantis and Haley is also growing, with both sides competing hard for major donors and arguing over who has a better chance of beating Trump. The Family Leader reiterated that the event was not a debate after the Republican National Committee's counsel's office circulated a letter to campaigns dated Oct. 28 reminding candidates of their pledge not to participate in non-sanctioned debates. The letter warned candidates that attending the Family Leader's forum would disqualify them from future RNC debates. After DeSantis committed to attending anyway last Friday, Vander Plaats posted on social media and the RNC issued a second letter to campaigns stating that the two had come to an agreement on the format and the forum would proceed as planned. Trump, the dominant front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, has skipped all three primary debates so far and instead hosted large rallies to appeal to his supporters, as he will on Saturday in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Phoebe Flury of North Liberty, Iowa, liked what she heard from the candidates Friday but ultimately decided that she'll stick by Trump, the "strongest candidate." For her, it didn't matter that the former president wasn't there. "It's time for the other candidates to show who they are," Flury, 47, said. "We've already seen four plus years of Trump." On stage, though, Trump's absence didn't go unmentioned. "You know how that goes with Thanksgiving, right?" Vander Plaats quipped after DeSantis brought some heat in his answer to the moderator's question about why he, not Trump, should be the GOP nominee. "Sometimes some guests don't show up." (TBTCO) - Tai Hoi nghi Cong uoc khung cua Lien hop quoc ve bien oi khi hau lan thu 28, du kien dien ra tu ngay 30/11 en het 12/12/2023 tai Dubai. Ngan hang Phat trien Lien My (IDB) cho biet, se tang so tien tai tro tu 50 ty USD hien tai len 150 ty USD trong 10 nam toi cho cac du an phuc hoi va giam nhe nham giai quyet cac cuoc khung hoang khi hau o My Latinh va Caribe. For poet Ana Blandiana, the pen indeed proved mightier than the sword and the rifle, the prison system and a brutal Communist regime. Between Silence and Sin, a new documentary by Rowan University film Professor Diana Nicolae that details the life, career and legacy of Blandiana, was featured this month at the Docs for Sale market of the prestigious IDFA documentary film festival in Amsterdam, the biggest festival and market for documentaries in the world. Since the early 1960s, Blandiana has been a beloved Romanian poet and cultural icon whose writing inspired millions of Romanians during the darkest days of dictator Nicolae Ceausescus regime. Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were convicted and executed following the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Nicolae, who was born and raised in Romania, said Blandiana, at 81, remains iconic today. Ana was one of the earliest promoters of democracy in Romania and is one of its most beloved poets, said Nicolae, whose film features colorful personal interviews with Blandiana interspersed with footage from the drab gray Cold War period in which Ceausescu ruled. Under Ceausescu, Blandianas poetry was banned multiple times in the Eastern European nation, but her countrymen and women loved her writing so much that theyd transcribe her poems by hand, carry them around and share them with others. The poet constantly challenged Ceausescu, from coded language that inspired readers and gave them a respite from their everyday to a childrens book character, a cat named Arpagic, that parodied and mocked the dictator. Docs for Sale Nicolae said she sought acceptance for Between Silence and Sin at IDFA (the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), because its the worlds largest documentary film festival and an unmissable event for the distribution of the worlds best creative documentary cinema. Nicolae seeks a launching pad at the festival Nov. 13-24, including opportunities at other festivals and with distributors, theater chains and television networks to screen and air her work. Nicolae said although Blandiana is renowned worldwide for her writing, her greatest legacy may be her commitment to democracy. She and her late husband, the writer Romulus Rusan, founded the Memorial to the Victims of Communism and to the Resistance in Romania, along with a summer school for studies on recent history. Its the first and only memorial of this kind, Nicolae said. Its not just a museum, its a living institution. Because the threat of rising authoritarianism remains real, even in the U.S., Nicolae hopes that the story of Blandianas continued fight for democracy inspires others, particularly younger generations who may be less aware of the history. Blandianas dissident status remains controversial even today, maybe because some of the perpetrators of the crimes in Romania are still alive and still in power, Nicolae said. Little is known about her work to reveal the truth and build a strong civic society. A lot of the younger generations dont know much about her. 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). In August, lawmakers on the Joint Education Committee shot down a controversial ban on the instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation in Wyomings K-3 classrooms. For some conservative lawmakers and parents, it was a blow. But at the same time that the panel rebuffed Wyomings own version of a Dont Say Gay law modeled after Floridas, it also advanced the rest of a proposal to expand parental rights in education. After some debate, that draft bill is now heading to the 2024 legislative session. The Joint Education Committee voted by a 10-4 margin Nov. 14 at its hearing in Cheyenne to advance new rules that would require school districts to report to parents or guardians if their students physical, mental or emotional health or well-being changes. What were trying to do here is provide a pathway for parents who want to be involved and want to be involved in a more direct way, said Rep. Martha Lawley, R- Worland. In requiring parental notification from school districts, the bill would reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the care and control of their children by requiring school district personnel to encourage a student to discuss issues relating to his well-being with his parent or guardian or to facilitate discussion with the parent. School districts would also be barred from doing anything to encourage or have the effect of encouraging a student to keep information about their health and well-being. Though the proposal emphasizes notification, it would also allow parents to more closely scrutinize and control their childs health while at school, a significant step for those who argue parents should have absolute authority over their students. As it stands, districts would have to share every health care service they offer with parents at the start of each school year, allowing them to opt out of any or all of them. Before giving students a health screening or questionnaire, schools would also have to get permission and provide them to parents. Sen. Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, said the legislation was meant to address situations like the ongoing lawsuit against Sweetwater County School District No. 1 in which two parents alleged that the district concealed their childs requests to use a male name and pronouns and affirmed their childs transgender identity without their knowledge. Several parents and groups spoke in support of the bill, including the Wyoming Republican Party. Kathy Scigliano, a Laramie County mother, said that parents were simply looking for more involvement and communication from schools. We just want a phone call. Thats all it takes, she said. Let us be partners with the districts. It was that sentiment of strengthening collaboration between schools and parents that proponents on the Joint Education Committee highlighted in explaining the need to further empower parents and dictate how school districts work with them. In terms of improving the quality of the education the child gets, thats maximized when you have a real partnership between the school district and its people and the parents, said Sen. Charlie Scott, R-Casper, the chair of the Senate Education Committee. Despite support from a number of parents, lawmakers and Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, the proposal was met with unease by school administrators and staff. Ryan Thomas, the superintendent of Uinta County School District No. 1, said parts of the bill overlapped with standing state and federal laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, muddying the picture for districts as they try to meet all state and federal requirements. Rep. David Northrup, R- Powell, the chair of the House Education Committee, proposed a series of amendments that aimed to address potential conflicts between the draft and other laws, but Thomas also questioned the necessity of the bill. Our district already has policies in place that allow safeguards and due process for parents, he said. [Theyre] very specific and we follow them to the letter. Thomas added that Uinta County School District No. 1 continues to protect the rights of parents, listening and working together with them to address their needs and concerns. When we have a disciplinary situation thats serious, we always communicate with the parents with the student there, and we all always develop a plan with the student there and the parent, he said. Because again, were partners with those parents. The concerns of school districts were augmented by lawmakers on the committee. Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, said the bill would strengthen parental rights at the cost students, the older of whom have autonomy. Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, expressed dismay that the panel was trying to legislate for every single situation, only complicating things for school administrators and staff. Were attempting to do everything in our power to try to give parents their rights, to make sure that theyre codified. But nobody wants to take on that responsibility of a teacher, except the teachers. Nobody wants to take on that responsibility of being an administrator, except the administrators, Brown said. So when we sit here and we start hog tying these individuals on what they can and cant report or can and cant say to the student or anything like this, it becomes a very, very gray area in law regardless of how many words we try to put into the law to make it clear. Even among advocates of expanding parental power, some argued that the state shouldnt intervene and should instead leave the issue to local school boards. I dont necessarily trust all of you to make the law, as this law has been written and gutted, said Mary Schmidt, a Natrona County School District No. 1 trustee. I think we can do it ourselves, and I think its ultimately our job as a trustee to write the policies to protect those parental rights. Despite the clear belief of several lawmakers that the bill would make a difference for Wyoming parents, Lindsay Adam, a Pinedale teacher, cautioned that it would have little practicable effect. Will it make parents feel better? Maybe, she said. Will it change what most good school districts are already doing? Probably not. 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. JACKSON It watched as the Doane Expedition slogged and foundered along the icy river, a winter odyssey destined to fail. It watched as the off-duty Army soldier or surveyor who discovered the three bodies at Deadmans Bar hurriedly paddled his canoe to reach a human outpost and report the gruesome find. It watched as John Colter, a private who left Lewis and Clark to join trappers and strike out on his own, came rambling through the valley in search of a fortune in furs. It was a majestic limber pine tree that grew slowly on a rocky terrace above the Snake River in what is today Grand Teton National Park. It was a mere sapling when the first European colonists arrived on the continent. And on Aug. 30, it fell undone by the natural meandering of the river and the wind it had withstood for centuries. From a historical point of view, the tree witnessed a lot of history, said boatman Wayne Johnson, who floated past it for 57 years. The elder tree was located just upstream of the Bar BC Ranch, at nearly exactly the halfway point of the 10-mile float trip between Deadmans Bar and Moose, where most park outfitters float the Snake. It stood about 35 feet tall with a rounded crown, not as gnarled as many old limber pines can be. In recent years it had become a favorite perch for a pair of adult bald eagles with a nest nearby. It was totally a landmark tree, said Colby Colonel, owner and guide for Solitude Float Trips. The eagles seemed to love that thing. You could always count on it. Neil Huckin was counting on it when he rounded the bend upstream on the afternoon of Aug. 30. A second-generation boatman for Barker-Ewing Scenic Trips, Huckin had floated past the limber pine in the morning with a load of passengers. But by afternoon, high winds were ravaging the river corridor, with gusts of more than 30 mph. On his second trip, Huckin paused for a moment. Something was missing, he said. He had become accustomed to searching for eagles, which sometimes sat side by side on a thick lateral branch of the pine and could be seen from a long distance upriver. Instead he found the evergreen lying sideways on the river cobbles, with branches and roots snapped off, about 15 feet below the edge of the bank where it used to stand. This was an eventuality most guides knew would come: The Snake shifted substantially to the west in 2017 and heavily eroded the bank, leaving only a few roots holding the limber pine in place. Still, it stung. I was really bummed, really depressed about it, Huckin said. Its kind of funny what you get attached to when you float past it every day for 20 years or so. Colonel received a text from one of his Solitude guides, Jay Evans, with a photo of the tree down: Noooo! he said. Mike Merigliano is a plant ecologist with a strong background in hydrology and fluvial geomorphology. He has done a lot of work on how changes in streams affect the distribution of riparian vegetation. Only a week or so before the limber pine fell, he had floated past it with other scientists and park staff as part of a Wild and Scenic River plant survey. Last month Merigliano and Simeon Caskey, physical science branch chief for Grand Teton park, hiked about a mile from the Bar BC Ranch and scrambled down the steep slope to investigate the downed conifer on the riverbank. Merigliano used a quarter-inch bore to take core samples from the tree to estimate its age. By looking at the size and shape of what remained of the pine, he guessed it to be 150 to 200 years old. While twisting the bore into the tree trunk, Merigliano found rotten wood in places, possibly owing to the erosion that left so few roots attached to soil in recent years. The cores he extracted resembled tiny dowels, and he placed them in a straw for protection. He used a tape to measure the circumference of the trunk: 5.2 feet. At home Merigliano glued the best core samples to a board, then sanded them flat and smooth with 1,000-grit paper. He used a 10x magnifying glass to count the rings. Each ring shows the growth of the tree in a year. To account for the rotten patches, he calculated the average number of rings per inch and extrapolated that number for the full radius of the trunk. What he found surprised him: The tree was much older than he thought. The best core, 3.5 inches in length, had 150 rings, and the density of rings per inch suggested a rough estimate of 424 years old. Thats assuming the tree grew at the same rate in its first 274 years as it did in its last 150 years, Merigliano said. More likely, he said, the tree grew faster when younger. Its safe to say its 300 to 350 years old or so, he said. Informed of Meriglianos findings, river guides were impressed. Thats amazing, said Johnson of Grand Teton Lodge Co. Wow, that is so cool, said Solitudes Colonel. That makes me even more bummed, said Barker-Ewings Huckin. Dammit! Originally, a Clarks nutcracker may have cached the limber pine seed on the river terrace. Even at the low end of Meriglianos projection, it germinated eight decades before Lewis and Clark set out and named such birds. The tree was at least 80 to 130 years old when Colter is said to have been the first white person to lay eyes on the Tetons. It was 150 to 230 years old by the time of the Doane expedition (1876) and Deadmans Bar murders (1886), prominent events in the history of the upper Snake. With the trees falling, there are few visible limber pines left along the Snake in Teton park. Johnson has a favorite just upstream of Deadmans Bar, also on the west bank, and there used to be a few near the 4 Lazy F Ranch above Moose. But the Labor Day snowstorm of September 2020, with high winds out of the north, may have taken out the last of those. Johnson, 77, said he expects such things to happen, as its a natural process. However, You hate to lose any of those old trees, he said. California prosecutors charged a male nanny named Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski from Costa Mesa, who worked for families in southern California, with 34 felonies and received 707 years of imprisonment on Friday. Zakrzewski was also convicted of sexually assaulting 16 young boys under his care and showed sexual abuse material to the boys. Prosecutors Charge Male Nanny With 34 Felonies The prosecutors reported that Zakrzewski was convicted in October and received 707 years in prison during his hearing on Friday. According to the prosecutors, Zakrzewski did not apologize in his statement to the court. He said that he brought smiles to the children, and they have shared 100% genuine and good times. The victim's parents wept in tears while covering their ears as they did not want to hear Zakrzewski's lies. The mother of the boy read victim impact statements in court and said that her two-year-old son was molested and expressed her distress over not being able to meet his son, who should not have been assaulted. Zakrzewski was first arrested in May 2019 after a couple reported to the Laguna Beach police that he touched their 8-year-old son inappropriately. He was found at a local airport and left on an international flight. The investigation revealed more alleged victims, and he was charged with 34 felonies, including vulgar and lustful acts with a minor. Furthermore, he also filmed many of his committed crimes on the children between January 2014 and May 2019. The attorney's office said that one felony count of oral copulation of a child under ten years old and one felony count of possession of child pornography. The investigators said that the identified victims ranged from two to 12 years old. The local district attorney, Todd Spitzer, noted that a jury convicted Zakrzewski on all counts. Spitzer said that the young boys were forced to endure unimaginable terror as a result of the ultimate betrayal by a babysitter. Furthermore, Spitzer said that Zakrzewski manipulated the children who taught the victims to lie and keep secrets from their parents. "The sexual exploitation of children is meant to destroy the smallest of souls, and this monster disguised by smiles and giggles engaged in the most horrific and calculated manipulation to ensure he would continue to have unfettered access to what these parents cherish the most - their children," Spitzer said. The investigators asked help from the public to identify other potential victims through video evidence for additional charges. Read Also: Families Retrieve Thousands of Buried Bodies With Bare Hands in Gaza 'Graveyard' Streets Child Abuse Childhelp helps to meet the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused, neglected and at-risk children. In the US, the Childhelp abuse hotline can be reached at 800-422-4453 and on their website to report child abuse. In the UK, NSPCC supports children on 0800 1111 and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. Furthermore, young adults, parents, and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or Bravehearts at 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation at 1300 657 380 in the UK. Related Article: Facebook Encryption Brings Fear to Sex Abuse Survivors-Here's What Some Victims Are Saying @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A nursing manager waiting for two years to get an echocardiogram (ECG) appointment for an urgent heart condition is the reality and experience of patients in the public healthcare system. Members of the public ventilated several negative experiences they have had at health centres and hospitals to a Joint Select Committee (JSC) town hall meeting on Social Services and Public Administration on Wednesday at the Parliament Complex, Cabildo Building, St Vincent Street, Port of Spain. GRIEF: Christopher Boodram, the lone survivor of the Paria pipeline tragedy, is comforted by co-workers as he wails over the casket bearing the body of his employer and friend, Kazim Ali Jr, inset, at the funeral service yesterday at Tarouba, Marabella. Photo taken from a video of the service Ultimately, the fate of the Report of the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) into the Paria Diving Tragedy is as important as the report itself. From all indications, the Commissions report contains a cauldron of hard truths. We can easily extrapolate from comments by CoE chairman Jerome Lynch, KC, that those truths will rock many a boat. But we too agree that the public interest demands immediate public view of its contents. Robert Berry stood solemnly in the lobby of the University of Arizonas College of Education building. Berry, the colleges dean, nodded quietly and rocked back and forth on his feet as about 60 students, faculty and community members staged a sit-in Monday to protest his suspension of two of the colleges faculty members after they spoke about the Israel-Hamas war in class. We dont want you to understand, we want you to stand with us, one student interjected after Berry told the crowd he understood their passion. Berry, hands full of papers, nodded slowly in response. On Nov. 13, Berry and the UA suspended education professors Rebecca Lopez and Rebecca Zapien with pay after a recording of their class was posted on the X (formerly Twitter) account @IsraelWarRoom, a pro-Israel platform with more than 260,000 followers. The audio clips, which students claim were edited, include the professors discussing the Israel-Palestine conflict. At one point in the recording, they compare Hamas to the Black Panther Party in the United States. In a statement last week, UA spokeswoman Pam Scott wrote that the college and university will determine how to proceed after they have completed an ongoing investigation. Scott declined Monday to comment on the sit-in. Now, some students and others are rallying around the suspended professors, claiming the university acted too swiftly in suspending them. I really commend the professors Lopez and Zapien, because they are teaching our children to be critical thinkers, and thats what we need, said Isabel Garcia, an immigrant rights attorney at the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, at the sit-in. You must reinstate them. The students who organized the sit-in said they have received over 50 testimonials from Lopez and Zapiens students urging that the two be reinstated. Kisiel Chapman, a senior at the College of Education, presented the groups demands to Berry, who said he would read them but, when pressed by the protesters, would not commit to making any changes. Wheres your backbone? one protester shouted. Can you give us a timeline? another asked. Would you or the university like to furnish us with a list of what we can talk about? a third argued. The sit-in, organized by students within the College of Education, will continue until Berry reinstates the two professors to their posts, organizers told him in a meeting. Two policies cited in suspensions Berry told protestors his team was working on getting a meeting set up between himself and the two suspended professors. He told the leaders of the sit-in in a private meeting that was recorded and released on their Instagram account that he was meeting with administrators in the office of general counsel, as well. The students are asking that Lopez and Zapien be reinstated by end of day on Tuesday. Im trying to have a sense of urgency, Berry told the student leaders in their meeting. We need to clean out our calendars, we need to meet today. If the offices dont agree to have a conversation, the students are prepared to move their sit-in to administrative offices, they told Berry. The Arizona Daily Star obtained the letters sent to Lopez and Zapien announcing their suspension, both of which were sent by Berry. Paid administrative leave is not disciplinary action, and you will continue to receive your normal compensation and benefits during the term of the leave, Berry wrote in the letter. A record of the suspension will not become part of the professors personnel files, either, he said. In his letter, Berry cited two policies the professors are suspected of violating: UHAP 7.01, which focuses on professional conduct, and UHAP 2.10, which contains rules on political activity and lobbying. Both policies are detailed and multiple pages long. Berry did not write which parts of either policies the professors may be in violation of. Campus workers union involved Critics of the suspension argue that because Lopez and Zapien are not allowed on the UA campus or to teach their classes, they are being unfairly disciplined. Just because administrative says its not punitive doesnt make it so, said Matthew Abraham, an English professor at the UA and member of the United Campus Workers of Arizona union. He said the union is fighting for the professors to be immediately reinstated with an apology issued by UA President Robert Robbins. Abraham said he thinks Berry is having to basically take the heat for a decision that was probably made way beyond his office and beyond the College of Education. Ive never seen a university administration so directly undermining free speech and academic freedom protections, Abraham said. He said the universitys actions reminded him of McCarthyism. Its reminiscent of an earlier time in American history called McCarthyism, he said. Do we really want to go there? At this historical moment we should be sharing and embracing all sorts of views, not shutting them down. McCarthyism, which occurred mainly during the 1950s, was the political repression and persecution of individuals whom federal officials accused of spreading left-wing views, especially surrounding communism. The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer: George Will is tired of Green bossiness, especially scientists advocating that we leave fossil fuels in the ground. According to a Will quote, In 1970, global cooling was supposedly going to disrupt agriculture and other things, the ozone was going to disappear, and acid rain was going to deforest New England. The insinuation is that science and government cannot be trusted. Will has repeated this nonsense many times. Where to start? First Item: In the early 1970s, chemists realized that chlorofluorocarbons posed a danger to the ozone layer. The Antarctic ozone hole was discovered in the mid-1980s and this catalyzed calls to ban CFCs. There was industry pushback, some rational and some unethical, and it is amusing to recall that the Reagan Administration initially recommended hats and sunglasses as an alternative to curbing CFCs. However, reason prevailed, and in the words of Ronald Reagan, The Montreal Protocol [of 1987] is a model of cooperation. It is a product of the recognition and international consensus that ozone depletion is a global problem, both in terms of its causes and its effects. The protocol is the result of an extraordinary process of scientific study, negotiations among representatives of the business and environmental communities, and international diplomacy. It is a monumental achievement. Second item: In 1990, Nixons Clean Air Act of 1970 was amended to include a cap-and-trade approach to cutting sulfur emissions, the primary source of acid rain. The result of this market-based approach is that sulfur emissions went down faster than predicted and at one-fourth of the projected cost. The point: Intervention of science and government spurred the innovation that Will attributes to CEOs. Third item: Over the past 40 years, climate models have proven to be remarkably accurate (google how well have climate models projected global warming). Contrary to Wills great cooling myth, climate scientists have a proven track record. When global mean temperature exceeds the preindustrial mean by 1-2 degrees Celsius, as is now the case, we risk passing several climate tipping points. These are irreversible transitions, not obvious and involving enormous uncertainty, which will have catastrophic consequences. One of many examples: Heat from the tropics is conveyed north by the Atlantic Gulf Stream. The melting of the Greenland ice sheet is a threat to turn off this heat transfer, which would in turn superheat the tropics, creating off-the-scale hurricanes and plunge Europe into an ice age. This is not a Hollywood script; it is contemporary science (The timing of this is uncertain; google `the Gulf Stream could collapse as early as 2025). Our climate is completely out of equilibrium; we are entering a phase dominated by uncertainty, and consequently, we are playing Russian roulette with the natural world and human civilization. This is not global alarmism. It is an accurate evaluation of our state. There are conservatives who understand how to act on this. A decade ago, our Senator Flake championed an early version of the market-based revenue-neutral carbon fee/dividend proposal of the Citizens Climate Lobby. As I wrote on April 2nd (to paraphrase), this proposal would impose a gradually increasing fee on carbon at the wellhead or mine, the revenue would be distributed to households, it would set yearly goals for carbon reduction, and it would create a border carbon adjustment mechanism to propagate the policy globally and to level the playing field for US businesses. It is simple (you and I can read it), it is fair (the more you pollute, the more you pay), and it is progressive (most low- and middle-income households come out ahead). Fossil fuels are relatively plentiful. Companies will continue to make big investments in fossil fuels so long as we subsidize their use and do not properly account for their costs. We need a price on carbon. If this is Wills idea of Green bossiness, so be it. Israel has laid the blame on Iran after Yemen's Houthi rebels have seized control of a cargo ship in the Red Sea. Officials from Israel have described the incident as an "Iranian act of terrorism" with consequences for international maritime security. A spokesman for the Houthi military confirmed on Sunday that its fighters were able to hijack the British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo ship. Houthi Rebels Hijack Cargo Ship It is believed that at least 22 people were onboard the cargo ship, known as the Galaxy Leader. The vessel is partly owned by an Israeli businessman and was en route from Turkey to India. It was reported that the Houthi official also announced the beginning of operations to attack Israeli-flagged ships. Yahya Saree, a spokesman for Yemen's Houthi military said that they were treating the crew of the hijacked vessel in accordance with Islamic norms and principles. He also renewed the warning that any ship that belongs to Israel or those who support it would be a legitimate target for Houthi forces, as per Aljazeera. Saree added that they were continuing their military operations against Israel until the aggression and ugly crimes against their Palestinian brothers in Gaza and the West Bank stopped. The Houthi rebels are supported by Tehran and are responsible for launching several missile and drone attacks against Israel. These attacks have continued since the latest assault on the besieged Gaza Strip started on Oct. 7, killing more than 12,300 Palestinians, including 5,000 children. On the other hand, the Israeli government called the hijack of the cargo ship a "very serious event on a global level." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that the country was not involved in the ownership of the vessel, nor its operation or the makeup of its international crew. The office released a statement saying that the incident represents an escalation in Iran's belligerence against the citizens of the free world." The cargo ship's ownership details were revealed in public shipping databases and associated its owners with Ray Car Carriers. The company was founded by Abraham "Rami" Ungar, who is considered to be one of Israel's richest men, according to the Voice of America News. Read Also: Turkey's Erdogan Visits Germany, Says Berlin Can't Criticize Israel Because of Holocaust Israel Blames Iran Ungar later revealed that he was aware of the incident about the cargo ship being hijacked but noted that he could not comment as he was still waiting for further details. Another ship linked to him experienced an explosion in 2021 in the Gulf of Oman, which was at the time blamed on Iran. The International Maritime Security Construct on Nov. 16 issued an advisory to all mariners in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb train between Yemen and Djibouti. This was because of the threat of potential Houthi attacks in the area. The advisory issued by the international group that tries to maintain security in regional waters warned vessels to stay as far away from Yemeni waters as possible. It also recommended travel at night whenever possible. On the other hand, a spokesperson for the U.S. Navy's forces in the region referred a request for comment to the Pentagon. A U.S. defense official noted that they were aware of the incident and were monitoring the status of the vessel closely, said NBC News. Related Article: Hamas Religious Leaders Allegedly Allow Sexual Violence, Rape @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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 Carlton Pearson, a high-profile Tulsa megachurch pastor whose later rejection of the doctrine of hell made him an outcast among evangelicals but brought him a wider audience and inspired a feature film, died Sunday of complications from cancer. He was 70. Services are pending with Keith D. Biglow Funeral Home. A onetime Pentecostal preacher and protege of the legendary Oral Roberts, Pearson founded Higher Dimensions Family Church and helped build it into one of Tulsas largest congregations, with around 6,000 members at its peak in the 1990s. But a dramatic shift in his beliefs and teachings in the early 2000s led to its decline and eventual closing. Pearsons embrace of universalism which rejects the idea of hell or eternal punishment also led to his professional downfall, at least in the evangelical world where hed enjoyed celebrity status. Pearson, a former gospel recording artist, as well, related the story of this painful journey in books and on national radio and television. It was also the basis for the 2018 movie Come Sunday. Pearson later moved to Chicago but returned to Tulsa in 2015, where he continued his close relationship with All Souls Unitarian Church, serving on its ministerial staff. The Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, senior minister at All Souls, said: In an era of division, Bishop Pearson stood out as a voice of unity and reason, and his brave journey toward a theology of universal love and acceptance resonated deeply with All Souls values and tradition of inclusivity and compassion. He broke barriers by embracing a message of unconditional love that has been a beacon of hope and inspiration for many within our congregation and throughout the world. He helped people of all cultures and faiths know that God loves us all beyond belief. A native of San Diego who came to Tulsa to attend Oral Roberts University, Pearson found himself at the zenith of his evangelical career in 2000. His Higher Dimensions congregation, one of the citys best known charismatic churches, boasted thousands of members and $60,000 a week in contributions. His Azusa Street conference drew 50,000 people annually to ORU, where he was a member of the Board of Trustees. He had a national audience as a guest host on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. He was even one of a handful of national Black religious leaders advising President-elect George W. Bush. But as Pearson would later describe it, it was then that he had an epiphany. Promoting what he called the gospel of inclusion, Pearson began to preach that Christs death and resurrection had purchased salvation for all people and that because of that everyone would go to heaven. A form of universalism, his new theology contrasted sharply with traditional Christian beliefs. The blowback was swift. Causing a stir in evangelical circles nationally, Pearsons departure from orthodoxy cost him church members and his relationship with his alma mater, ORU, which severed ties and barred him from campus. Within a few years, the congregation had dwindled to a few hundred, and he lost the church building in foreclosure. In 2006, Pearson was accepted as a minister in the United Church of Christ, one of the nations most liberal denominations, and he and his congregation began holding services in the Trinity Episcopal Church building downtown. They later began holding services at All Souls before finally, in 2008, he shut down his church, folding it into All Souls. It officially ended his 27 years as a senior pastor in Tulsa. The downfall that had begun just eight years earlier was now complete. I thought, what did I just do? What just happened? Thats not my property any more; thats not my ministry, he recalled in a later interview. It all happened so fast. I was just dizzy. The room began to spin. At the same time, Pearson was finding new allies and, with them, new opportunities and encouragement. His popularity growing among progressive Christians and non-Christian faiths, he appeared on several national news programs and spoke at a variety of progressive and interfaith organizations. Book and movie offers came in. Pearson later moved to Chicago, where he was a minister at Christ Universal Temple, before eventually returning to Tulsa. In 2016, he became the first Pentecostal preacher to have his personal archives accepted into the Andover-Harvard Theological Library at Harvard University. The 2018 film Come Sunday, which chronicled Pearsons fall, starred Martin Sheen as Oral Roberts and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Pearson. Pearson consulted on the film. Pearson was raised and ordained in the Church of God in Christ, a historically Black Pentecostal denomination. He arrived at ORU in 1971 and developed a close bond with Roberts, whom he came to think of as a second father. While ultimately sacrificing his career and everything he built, Pearson maintained that he had no regrets over his choices. Even with the new direction religiously, Pearson was a difficult man to box in. He jettisoned some of the most basic beliefs that define Pentecostals and other evangelicals. But as a preacher with a Pentecostal background, he still laid hands on the sick, spoke in tongues and talked about the anointing of God changing lives. According to his family, Pearson was successfully treated for prostate cancer in 2001. He learned of a recurrence of the cancer only a few months ago. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. A Tulsa man was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a 46-year-old victim in a parking lot. Tulsa County Sheriffs Office deputies responded around 1 a.m. Monday to 1504 N. Yale Ave. where they discovered Paul Nelson Schultz shot in the parking lot of a Dollar General store, according to Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Casey Roebuck. Schultz was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Investigators developed suspect information using surveillance footage from surrounding businesses, Roebuck said. Deputies found a vehicle that is suspected of being used in the homicide at a home just a few blocks from the shooting scene. Thomas Lee Knox, 38, was arrested and will be held in the Tulsa County jail, Roebuck said. Because Knox is a tribal citizen, the case will be handed to federal investigators, she said. The 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling that the Muscogee Nation reservation from the 1860s had never been disestablished means either federal or tribal courts have jurisdiction over crimes committed by or involving tribal citizens within the historic boundaries of Indian Country. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Curtis Killman Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Curtis Killman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today The city of Tulsa has asked a federal judge to pause a civil rights lawsuit filed by a woman who was arrested outside the BOK Center before then-President Donald Trumps 2020 campaign rally here. The request comes after Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweilers office refiled a misdemeanor obstructing charge against Sheila Buck earlier this month. Buck, 66, was arrested June 20, 2020, by Tulsa police after she refused to leave a fenced-in area just outside the BOK Center. Buck, who had a ticket to the rally inside the BOK Center, arrived wearing a T-shirt that read I Cant Breathe, a reference to some of the final words of George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis a few weeks earlier. The city of Tulsa told a federal judge last week in a court filing that the requested stay is justified since the state of Oklahoma has refiled misdemeanor obstructing charges against Buck. The City will be unduly prejudiced if this (civil rights) trial goes forward before the criminal matter has been concluded, the city argued in its motion for a stay. Prosecutors first charged Buck on July 31, 2020, in Tulsa County District Court with obstructing a police officer. But after numerous delays in the case a judge dismissed the charges May 15 with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled. The Tulsa County District Attorneys Office appealed the dismissal to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which on Aug. 22 granted its request to reverse the dismissal. But on Nov. 2 Special District Judge Tanya Wilson dismissed the case again, this time giving the prosecutor the opportunity to refile the charge. Prosecutors the same day filed a new misdemeanor obstructing a police officer charge against Buck. Meanwhile, case law according to the city of Tulsa in its motion dictates that Bucks constitutional violation claim would not be viable if she is convicted on the obstruction charge under a 1994 Supreme Court case, Heck v. Humphrey. To determine whether Buck can legally meet the requirements to assert her First Amendment claim against the City under the Heck Doctrine, the criminal matter must be fully resolved, the city argues in its motion. The delay request comes after the Tulsa City Council rejected a proposed settlement with Buck in the civil case. The Council voted 6-3 June 21 to reject a settlement agreement that would have paid Buck more than $1 million. The exact amount of the settlement was not made public, but the City Attorneys Office has indicated in court filings that it exceeds $1 million. The City Council must approve any civil court settlement that calls for at least $1 million payment as a part of the agreement. The denial prompted another lawsuit by Buck, who claimed in state court that the city of Tulsa attorney who negotiated the settlement later urged the City Council during a closed-door meeting to reject the settlement. The city of Tulsa attorney, Terri McGrew, denied in an Oct. 30 court filing that she urged councilors to vote against the settlement agreement. Attorney Dan Smolen, who filed the civil lawsuit on behalf of Buck, provided the following statement when asked to comment: The Citys motion to stay is yet another attempt to delay justice for Sheila Buck, Smolen said. The District Attorneys repeated attempts to resurrect the failed criminal proceedings against this retired school teacher, on a frivolous misdemeanor charge, is nothing more than petty and vindictive governmental harassment. The continuing mistreatment of Ms. Buck, who is guilty of peacefully exercising her First Amendment rights, is shameful. A spokeswoman for Kunzweilers office said the second dismissal of the case without prejudice meant the case could be refiled, which occurred. We will move forward on this case as we would in any other case, spokeswoman Katie Keleher said. Buck filed a civil lawsuit in June 2021 against the city of Tulsa, the police officers connected to her case and Trumps campaign, alleging multiple civil rights violations in connection with her arrest. The list of defendants has since been winnowed down to the city of Tulsa. Bucks lawsuit alleges that the event did not have the required city special event permit required to block off city streets for private purposes, nor could it have, as such applications must be filed 45 days prior to any event. City officials argued that the Trump campaign was exempt from the citys permitting requirement which would have allowed the campaign to limit access to the event citing an ordinance that exempted activities conducted by a governmental agency. But U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan, who is overseeing the federal civil rights case, noted in an April 2022 ruling that the Trump campaign was not a government agency and that the political rally was not a presidential event. Eagan also rejected the citys claim that the cordoned-off area of Denver Avenue constituted restricted grounds where the president is protected by the Secret Service. <&rule> The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. In Michelle Alvarados biology classroom, the lecture and discussion about biodiversity is in two languages. In Trish Jones Algebra I class, the slides using grocery store math to explain unit rates feature real-time closed captioning in Spanish. And in Matt Lurias English Language Development classroom, there are conversations and worksheets about music streaming services, Marvel movies and other common topics among teenagers in any language. Its just another day at East Central High Schools Newcomer Academy. Serving high school-age students who are new to the United States, the Newcomer Academy works with those students to build their English skills while also covering the academic courses required to earn a high school diploma. The program has a team of faculty members who teach sections of English, math and other core subjects that are specifically designed for those students. Collaboration is the operative word, Alvarado said, noting that she and other teachers meet every Friday morning with the English Language Development department to discuss the students progress and needs. Even though this is a newcomer class, it is not a monolithic group, she said. We have students from very different countries, and even though many of them do speak the lingua franca of Spanish, it can be in a different dialect. And not all students come with the same formal level of education. Some students have had more formal education than others. The Newcomer Academy currently has more than 100 students enrolled, although the numbers continue to creep upward. On a mid-November day in Lurias second hour, while students practiced talking in English about Spotify and YouTube, two teenage girls sat in a corner with Chromebooks and headphones, completing a four-part screening assessment to gauge their English skills. Both, Luria said, had been in the United States less than a week. This is how we can let teachers know where the student is at in their core classes in terms of their English language skills and what modifications and accommodations they need in order to be successful, he said. At the district level, newcomers are defined as multilingual students who have attended an American school for two years or less. With about half born in the United States, more than 4,200 current TPS students meet that definition, said TPS Director of Language and Cultural Services Laura Grisso. Although the early elementary grades have the highest concentrations, there are still more than 100 newcomers per grade districtwide in grades four to 11 and more than 200 newcomers in the third grade alone. Post-pandemic, it is one of our fastest growing student populations, Grisso said, noting that the most frequently spoken languages among TPS newcomer students are Spanish, Chuukese, Hmong, Pashto and Marshallese. Despite that communitys growth, TPS has not had a standalone school for newcomers since the 2010 closure of Newcomer International School in east Tulsa. Instead, the district has opted to increase the number of dual language programs and offer more professional development opportunities for teachers. When we can build on what these students already have, they make progress faster than if we were only offering instruction in English, Grisso said. For the students, the opportunity to build their academic skills while having additional language supports has been a boon. A freshman in the Newcomer Academy, Sandra Zavala De La Cruz is particularly interested in human genetics and was among the students regularly volunteering answers in Alvarados science class. Speaking through an interpreter, she said she had learned some English in Mexico before starting at East Central and credited the support of her teachers for an easy transition. I dont stress out (about learning English) because theyve given me so much support, she said. Meanwhile, for the Newcomer Academy teachers, that reduced stress and progress among their students shows up in moments both large and small. An algebra teacher, Jones is not bilingual and incorporates Google translate and other forms of technology into her classroom to communicate with her English language learners. After weeks of practice, one of Jones students originally from Venezuela recently approached her before school to ask in English if she could borrow a pencil. She was so pleased with herself, Jones said with a smile. She wants so much to learn and how to ask for things properly and make those connections. Those moments are exactly what were working towards. <&rule> The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Hiroaki Ishihara, deputy general director of Rakuten Fintech Vietnam, has expressed optimism that Vietnamese engineers will make significant positive contributions to his company in the future. Vietnam has many young and talented engineers. Its a great fit for us, Ishihara shared his view on the quality of Vietnam's information technology (IT) talent pool during an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in Ho Chi Minh City on November 17. The IT workforce of Vietnam is increasingly attractive to Japan, a country that is facing the burden of labor shortages and an aging population. Rakuten Group, a technology conglomerate renowned as the 'largest e-commerce empire in Japan,' is among the Japanese enterprises that tap into Vietnams human resources. What is the upcoming human resources development plan for Rakuten Fintech Vietnam? Rakuten Card established Rakuten Fintech Vietnam as a development center in October 2021 with the goal of driving sustainable growth, accelerating system development for its expanding service lineup, and supporting business continuity planning for the IT systems that form the foundation of Rakuten Cards services. But now we are developing not only customer service systems but also the merchant system. So we can say we have been gradually expanding our scope. We have around 75 members here. And by the end of next year, we plan to have over 150 members. There are 65-70 engineers now, while the others are part of the back office. Of course, we will continue to expand our company size. Now we are focusing on Rakuten Card system development. But in the future, if there is an opportunity, we want to support the other Rakuten fintech group companies as well. How do you assess the potential of Vietnamese human resources in the IT sector? Vietnam has many young and talented engineers. Its a great fit for us. The Vietnamese government has implemented significant measures to support the development of human resources in the IT industry, heightening expectations over the long term for securing and deploying top-tier tech talent within Vietnam. I think we can utilize it. And here in Vietnam, there's not so much time difference from Japan, and for system development, it is better to have face-to-face communication. So I think Vietnam is a good location from this viewpoint. I mean, for us, its a very attractive location. From a historical viewpoint, Vietnam and Japan have a good relationship. That helped us decide to have the office here. What plans does Rakuten Fintech Vietnam have to recruit more IT engineers in Vietnam? Previously we just used hiring agents, but now we have expanded our channels, such as job posting services. We also join universities events or job fairs to attract new grads and engineers. And besides that, we are providing opportunities for engineers to develop their technical skills. We provide courses for the employees to learn more about Rakuten Group services and Rakuten Card services. We invite guests from Japan or we go to Japan [for them] to have the opportunity to have communication and discussion with the business side. So by providing these opportunities, I think we can attract more engineers to our company. So far we have had no plans to expand the business in Southeast Asia. For Rakuten Fintech Vietnam, we are a system development company. Now we are focusing on Rakuten Cards development. So we contribute to Rakuten Card by [providing] engineering resources to expand the Japanese sides scope. How can Vietnamese IT engineers improve their capacity and competitiveness? This is not about improvement, but I hope that the Vietnamese engineers can learn more about the industry of financial technology [fintech], especially the credit card business. Of course, they know a lot about technology, but as a system development company and a subsidiary of Rakuten Card, I want them to know more about credit cards. When combining business knowledge and technical knowledge, they can contribute more to our business. At Rakuten, we value open communication, which includes holding huddle-style meetings. It is necessary for us to communicate a lot when doing system development. So it is not only like engineers getting their instructions from the company to do this code and make that code. To make better communication, engineers need to understand what the business strategies are and how the business plan is going to achieve the goal. So communication is very important. To make better communication, engineers need to understand what the business strategies are and how the business plan is going to achieve the goal. That's also something young engineers in Vietnam can contribute. For young, talented engineers, they have the opportunity to learn about the fintech business at Rakuten. Of course, we want them to continue supporting our company, but if they understand the fintech business, they can contribute to Vietnams fintech industry in the future. A report published by FPT Digital revealed that Vietnam boasts nearly 400,000 IT engineers alongside over 50,000 IT students graduating annually. However, only about 30 percent of this workforce is deemed capable of meeting practical job requirements. Within the total workforce of 51 million in Vietnam, the proportion of IT workers stands at an estimated 1.1 percent. This is a relatively low ratio compared to countries oriented toward technological development like the United States, South Korea, or India. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Donald Trump took his presidential campaign down to the border with Mexico on Sunday, doubling down on the hardline immigration rhetoric that was a hallmark of his first White House term. The Republican leader asserted that border security had evaporated under President Joe Biden, with "gangs of thugs" pouring into the US. "We're going to take over that border and we're going to make it the most secure border in our history," Trump said. He was speaking to a supportive group of border guards and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a like-minded Republican who has endorsed Trump's 2024 campaign. In recent weeks, the former president has ramped up his campaign rhetoric to extreme levels, warning that undocumented migrants are "poisoning the blood of our country" and denouncing his political opponents as "vermin." 'The enemy' He employed similar language Sunday, referring to some migrants as "the enemy" and predicting that 15 million undocumented migrants would be in the country by the end of Biden's first term -- a number millions larger than estimates by most non-governmental groups. Abbott, like Trump, has pursued hard-line immigration policies, including installing a 1,000-foot (330-meter) floating barrier in the Rio Grande that critics say imperils migrants attempting to cross. The Texas legislature recently passed a bill that would make entry into the state without papers a crime punishable by up to two years in jail. The bill would also allow Texas officers to arrest anyone they believed was in the state without proper documentation, a power that critics say is sure to be abused. Abbott has vowed to sign the measure into law. The Trump campaign has made clear that if the real estate tycoon returns to the White House, he will engineer a tough crackdown on the undocumented, reportedly including huge detention camps and mass deportations. 'Radically anti-immigrant' Texas has been a reliably conservative bastion for Trump as he looks forward to the 2024 elections, and he holds huge leads both there and nationwide over his Republican rivals. Trump and Abbott blame Biden for the current migrant crisis, as thousands of people flow into the country from Latin American countries beset by crime, poverty and violence. How Biden handles the crisis could play a major role in the 2024 election. The president met Friday with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco, and thanked the Mexican leader for his "cooperation" over the migrant crisis. Lopez Obrador, in turn, thanked Biden for being the first recent president "who has not built walls." But the Mexican leader blasted the Texas border bill, saying it would lead to family separation, discrimination and racial profiling. Rights groups have also sharply assailed the bill. If enacted, the measure would be among the "most radical anti-immigrant bills ever passed by any state," said Oni Blair, who heads the American Civil Liberties Union's Texas chapter. Read what is in the news in Vietnam today: Politics -- The 15th National Assemblys sixth plenary session will concentrate on lawmaking and supervision work during its fourth working week, starting Monday. Society -- There were 9,826 traffic accidents resulting in 5,496 fatalities and 6,973 injuries in January-October, Nguyen Van Thang, Minister of Transport and standing vice-chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said on Sunday night during a memorial service for traffic accident victims. -- Ho Chi Minh City is providing free lung examination and screening for 50,000 residents at 15 hospitals and medical facilities in the city through January 15, 2024. -- The Ministry of Construction recently forwarded a document to the Peoples Committee of Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam providing feedback on the development of a city at the Long Thanh International Airport gateway, envisioning a population scale of 500,000 people by 2045. -- The largest mushroom factory in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, spanning over three hectares in Da Nhim Commune, Lac Duong District, was engulfed in flames on Sunday. -- Numerous families and young people in Hanoi are favoring 24/7 coffee shops over traditional cafes and indoor playgrounds to relish the delightful weather and change their workspaces. -- Many illegal online gambling organizers have devised gambling games that exploit users transactions through e-wallets and banking applications, facilitating the easy player attraction in Vietnam. Business -- Vietnams import of phones and components totaled US$7.1 billion in January-October, marking a significant decline to only one-third of the import value recorded during the same period in 2022, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnams tourism is facing great fluctuations in the number of tourists over the year, which hinders the development of green tourism, Vu Quoc Tri, general secretary of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said at a forum in southern Ba Ria Vung Tau Province on Friday. At the forum on Vietnams green tourism development in 2023, Tri said Vietnam welcomes a high number of travelers in some periods of the year while seeing much fewer tourists in the low travel season. When the number of tourists is large, it is hard to manage them and boost green tourism, Tri stressed. Green tourism development based on the green economy is an indispensable trend. Hoi An City in central Quang Nam Province and Co To Island off Quang Ninh Province in northern Vietnam have successfully employed green tourism models. However, Vietnam has yet to make breakthroughs and is facing many obstacles in boosting green tourism. Famed tourist sites are often overcrowded during holidays and tourists and local residents awareness of green tourism remains low. Some places have invested in tourism without any knowledge about sustainable development, a representative of local travel firm Vietravel said. Nguyen Huu Y Yen, chairman of the board of members of Saigontourist Travel Service Company, said the company had developed green tourism following international criteria. Green tourism development needs the cooperation of the entire ecosystem, including restaurants, hotels, the administration, and the community, along with enterprises. Garbage on a beach on Con Dao Island off Ba Ria Vung Tau Province, southern Vietnam in previous years. Photo: Dong Ha / Tuoi Tre Many attendees at the forum agreed that Vietnam holds high potential and opportunities to foster green tourism as the country has developed agriculture, a large forest area, a long coastline, and a favorable location to draw up tourism programs in association with nature. However, the country should review its green tourism development criteria and issue new ones to match the new situation. A leader of Quang Nam Provinces tourism proposed the government issue policies to encourage and support green and sustainable tourism projects, specifically land leases and natural resource usage-related policies. Meanwhile, Pham Ngoc Hai, chairman of the Ba Ria Vung Tau Tourism Association, suggested working out specific sanctions against tourists and those working in the tourism sector who do harm to the environment and sustainable development. As of the end of last month, Vietnam had welcomed some 10 million international tourist arrivals and served 99 million domestic visitors, according to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Truong My Lan, founder and chairwoman of property developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, has been accused of orchestrating Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Banks (SCB) operations to withdraw over VND1,066 trillion (US$43.8 billion) from the bank between 2012 and 2022. According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, Lan held no post at the bank but assumed absolute power to manipulate and control its operations. She used the money deposited by other individuals and businesses at the bank for her expenses. Police said that before 2011, Lan started using other peoples names to acquire 80-98 percent of the shares in three joint-stock commercial banks with the aim of establishing a bank which would fund the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem. In January 2011, the three banks merged into SCB with the initial charter capital of over VND10 trillion ($411.9 million). SCB has a head office, 50 branches, and 184 transaction points nationwide. Lan arranged for her family members and those with experience in finance and banking that she trusted to hold senior positions at the bank. They followed Lans directions and were paid VND200-500 million ($8,222-20,600) per month as wages. According to the polices conclusion, Lan directed SCB general directors and deputy general directors over tenures to disburse loans. Once they faced difficulties in paying due loans, they would inform Lan. Lan later borrowed her friends assets or projects and mortgaged them as collateral for loans, which were used to pay previous loans. Most of these assets and projects were not enough to secure loans but they were gouged through appraisal. Whenever Lan needed money, she asked senior leaders of SCB to gather at the Times Square building in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, not the SCB headquarters, to work out solutions for taking out loans. Former SCB leaders said they knew Lans acts were illegal but still obeyed her directions. One of them, former SCB chairman Bui Anh Dung declared that Van Thinh Phats loan applications were signaled with HSTT symbol so that the bank approved the credit without applying its lending process. The loans were offered without appraising mortgaged assets, payment schedules, and customers background, police officers said. Dung, while serving as SCB chairman, signed hundreds of decisions approving 207 loans totaling over VND203 trillion (8.4 billion) for 143 customers as of October 17 last year. The Times Square building in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, where former SCB leaders and Truong My Lan met whenever Lan wanted to withdraw money. Photo: T.T.D. / Tuoi Tre Vo Tan Hoang Van, former SCB general director, said he knew that Lan was the real owner of the bank, so he followed all her directions to disburse loans although they were illicit. Van said that loans offered to customers of the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem accounted for the majority of SCBs lending. Lan just made phone calls to Van whenever she needed money, Van noted, adding that the former used the money to pay her debts and loans at other banks, or invest in projects which went against lending plans. Van inked thousands of statements related to the approval of 638 loans with the principal and interest amounting to VND405 trillion ($16.7 billion) for 402 customers of Van Thinh Phat. Investigators from the Ministry of Public Security concluded that SCB disbursed 2,500 loans valued at VND1,000 trillion ($41.2 billion) to Lan and her accomplices between January 1, 2012 and October 7, 2022. As of October 17 last year, SCBs loans totaling over VND677 trillion ($27.8 billion) were bad debts with Lans credit making up 93 percent. Lan directed the creation of 916 applications for loans at SCB, then appropriated over VND304 trillion ($12.5 billion), leading to a loss of accumulated interest of nearly VND130 trillion ($5.3 billion). The Ministry of Public Security recommended charging Lan with bribery, violations of banking regulations, and embezzlement. Lan was arrested in October last year for alleged fraud related to issuance and trading of bonds worth trillions of Vietnamese dong. (VND1 trillion = $41.2 million) The Mui Den Do project in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, which used loans illegally borrowed from SCB The ministry also proposed prosecuting 85 other people allegedly involved in the case, including Do Thi Nhan, former chief of the Inspectorate and Supervision Department II under the State Bank of Vietnam. Nhan was accused of receiving bribes totaling $5.2 million, the largest-ever bribe received by an individual in a case in Vietnam, to cover up the wrongdoings of Lan and her accomplices. The case also saw the highest number of victims, specifically 42,000 investors buying Van Thinh Phat bonds, and the highest embezzled amount of VND304 trillion ($12.5 billion). Besides Nhan, all members of a team inspecting SCB took bribes, which ranged from VND100 million ($4,113) to VND8.7 billion ($357,695). Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Stan has announced a new Revealed documentary on former Australian soldier and Seven executive Ben Roberts-Smith. Created in collaboration with 60 Minutes, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Ben Roberts-Smith: Truth On Trial follows Nick McKenzie and Chris Masterss quest to uncover the truth behind rumours that Australias most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, committed war crimes in Afghanistan and is a war criminal. Nick McKenzie said: Amid all the secrecy and attempts at cover ups, this documentary gives Australians the inside story into the fight by brave SAS soldiers to have the truth about Roberts-Smith revealed as well as our struggle as journalists to ensure the public learned the facts, not the myth, about Roberts-Smith. Chris Masters said: I think of the Ben Roberts-Smith saga as a bundle of stories. We have two journalists inside the assignment of their lives; the elite SAS at war over one of their own; a courtroom drama for the ages, and behind it all, an extraordinary murder mystery. Produced and directed by Dora Weekley, Ben Roberts-Smith Truth On Trial traces the origins of Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters groundbreaking and controversial reports in 2018 and the subsequent stories on 60 Minutes, to Ben Roberts-Smith taking them to court in a defamation trial that ended in 2023. The Stan Original Documentary Revealed: Ben Roberts-Smith Truth On Trial is directed and produced by Dora Weekley for Stan. Stan Executive Producers are Cailah Scobie and Amanda Duthie. Sunday December 10 on Stan. US health officials are issuing a warning to consumers as they grapple with an outbreak of salmonella poisoning that has left at least 43 people in 15 states affected. The outbreak, which was officially announced on Friday, has resulted in 17 hospitalizations, prompting concerns about the safety of certain cantaloupe products, as per The Independent Salmonella Outbreak Spurs Nationwide Cantaloupe Recall Several brands of whole and pre-cut cantaloupes and pre-cut fruit products have been recalled in response to the outbreak. These include Malichita brand whole cantaloupes, Vinyard brand pre-cut cantaloupes, and ALDI whole cantaloupes and pre-cut fruit products. Consumers who may have these products in their homes are urged to discard them immediately. The affected products were sold between October 16 and November 10, and the recall was initiated earlier this month. Health investigators are actively working to identify any additional cantaloupe products that may be contaminated, as this strain of salmonella poses a significant health risk. It's important to note that the actual number of individuals affected by this outbreak is likely higher than the reported cases. Additionally, health officials warn that the outbreak may not be confined to the states with currently known cases. It typically takes three to four weeks to determine whether a sick individual is part of an outbreak, making it crucial for consumers to be vigilant and take necessary precautions. Canadian health authorities are also investigating an outbreak linked to the same strain of salmonella found in cantaloupes, which was detected in a sample of Malichita brand cantaloupe. This cross-border concern highlights the importance of swift action to contain and address the outbreak. Salmonella infections can be particularly serious for certain groups of individuals, including children, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems, according to KTVZ News. Read Also: King Charles To Preside Over State Opening of Parliament, Set Out Government's Plans Salmonella-Infected Cantaloupe Raises Food Safety Concerns Most people who contract salmonella experience symptoms such as diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps within six hours to six days after consuming contaminated food. Typically, these symptoms last for four to seven days. However, for vulnerable individuals, severe illnesses can develop, necessitating medical care or hospitalization. The outbreak has raised alarm bells in the public health community, emphasizing the importance of food safety measures and vigilant monitoring of food products. Health officials are urging consumers to stay informed about recalls and to check their homes for any of the recalled cantaloupe products. If any such effects are found, they should be disposed of immediately to prevent further illnesses. This outbreak serves as a stark reminder of the potential risks associated with foodborne pathogens and the critical role that public health agencies play in safeguarding the well-being of the population. The Associated Press Health and Science Department, supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group, remains dedicated to providing accurate and timely information on matters of public health and safety. Ultimately, it is imperative for consumers to stay informed, follow recall notices, and take proactive steps to protect their health in times of foodborne outbreaks like this one, ABC News reported. Related Article: Israel Shows New Evidence to Prove Al-Shifa Hospital is Controlled by Hamas @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 1990s Childrens TV host Jeniene Mapp-Testa, best known for Saturday Disney, has died. She passed away last week after ongoing dialysis treatment. Known as Jeniene Mapp, she was an original host of Saturday Disney in 1990 with James Sherry and Sofie Formica, continuing until 1996. Working with Disney Australia for 14 years, she then went on to launch Disney Channel in Australia as one of their faces. She hosted Studio D and Playhouse Disney from 1997 to 2003. Shelley Craft, who succeeded her on Saturday Disney in her first television job, paid tribute on social media. Jeniene supported me so kindly and helped me navigate the world of Aussie showbiz. Our paths have crossed over the last 20 odd years, we always felt like we were Disney family forever, she said. Lisa Cakar (formerly Lisa Barry) also post a tribute. National Kidney Foundation In this article, we will be navigating through healthcare spending across the world while covering the 20 countries with the most expensive healthcare. If you wish to skip our detailed analysis, you can move directly to the 5 Countries with the Most Expensive Healthcare in the World. Global Spending on Health: An Analysis Since the pandemic hit the world, government spending on health has been witnessing a sharp rise. As reported by the World Health Organization, health spending was approximately 11% of the global GDP in 2020. High-income nations including Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the US tend to spend more per person on healthcare and related expenses. Most of the developed nations control healthcare costs using government intervention by negotiating for lower costs for pharmaceutical drugs, equipment, and hospital care. However, the United States continues to lead the remaining nations in health expenditures. Whats Happening in the United States? The average American spends more on healthcare as compared to residents in all other countries. The US health spending is growing at a significantly rapid rate relative to the national GDP. On October 4, The Commonwealth Fund reported that the US pays more in administrative costs of insurance and prescription drugs. American physicians and nurses also tend to earn more. All of these factors contribute to the excess spending on healthcare. The prices for branded drugs are higher which accounts for 80% of prescription drug expenditures in the country. The excess US spending ultimately gets reflected in higher prices for the public. Hospital care also adds to the healthcare costs as prices for inpatient services continue to be on the rise in the US. Health Insurers to the Rescue Amidst rising healthcare costs in the US, many Americans resort to affordable plans being offered by health insurance providers. Some of these insurance companies include UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH), Anthem, Inc. (NYSE: ELV), and Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC). Story continues UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) is an American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company. It offers health insurance services under UnitedHealthcare and serves as one of the largest insurance companies globally. On October 5, the company reported that the UnitedHealthcare Surest health plan helps lower out-of-pocket costs for members. Employers across US states who have implemented the plan can reduce health care costs by up to 15% through reduced inpatient hospital admissions and emergency room use. This plan eliminates deductibles and provides information before the treatment thereby motivating more people to undertake preventive care services. Employers in the US with a combined workforce of more than 4.4 million employees have opted to offer Surest as an option for 2024. Anthem, Inc. (NYSE: ELV) is another leading American health insurance provider. The company offers medical, pharmaceutical, dental, long-term care, and disability plans through affiliated companies. On October 1, the company reported that its affiliated health plans for 2024 will offer Medicare Advantage plans with customizable supplemental benefits. 93% of Medicare-eligible individuals across the United States will have access to these plans. Enhanced prescription drug coverage, lower costs, and better dental care access will be some of the features. Members can also choose how to spend the allowances provided. Centene Corporation provides affordable and quality health insurance plans for US residents. It also partners with state governments to provide health coverage to eligible low-income adults, children, and pregnant women. On September 27, the company reported that Peach State Health Plan, a care management organization offering innovative healthcare solutions in Georgia, and the Georgia Primary Care Association gave five federally qualified health centers grants in support of school-based health centers in Georgia. This was done through a $1.1 million donation announced by Peach State Health Plan and Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC). The grants will be used to purchase specialized medical equipment and will improve the health centers serving the students. This initiative will also support the children and families in Georgia who depend on their local schools health center to treat medical issues. Simultaneously, you can view the biggest health insurance companies in the world. Now that we have taken a look at healthcare globally, let's move to the 20 countries with the most expensive healthcare in the world. 20 Countries with the Most Expensive Healthcare in the World 20 Countries with the Most Expensive Healthcare in the World Our Methodology: In order to compile a list of the 20 countries with the most expensive healthcare in the world, we sourced healthcare data from the OECD. We selected the per capita health spending as our metric. Health spending represents the current health expenditure which includes personal health care such as curative care, rehabilitative care, long-term care, ancillary services, and medical goods. Collective services such as prevention and public health services as well as health administration are also included in this health spending. The latest data was available from 2022. Finally, we ranked the 20 countries with the most expensive healthcare in the world in ascending order of their health spending. 20 Countries with the Most Expensive Healthcare in the World 20. Korea Per Capita Health Spending: $4,569 Korea is one of the 20 countries with the most expensive healthcare in the world. Public healthcare has to be paid for by every resident in the nation. Private insurance costs almost as much as public insurance. UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH), Anthem, Inc. (NYSE: ELV), and Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) continue to make healthcare accessible in the United States. 19. Japan Per Capita Health Spending: $5,250 Japan has universal public healthcare. Other than paying monthly premiums for public health insurance in Japan, people pay a portion of their medical bills themselves. Thus, Japan is another country with a high per capita spending on healthcare. 18. Iceland Per Capita Health Spending: $5,314 The government of Iceland allocates a substantial portion of its spending to healthcare. The healthcare system in Iceland is universal. The expenditure on healthcare services per capita is high in the country. Iceland has a per capita health spending of $5,314 as estimated for the recent fiscal year, 2022. 17. United Kingdom Per Capita Health Spending: $5,492 The United Kingdom is another one of the countries with high spending on healthcare. Government-financed healthcare expenditure and spending on preventative care has been on the rise. The residents pay for healthcare needs through their taxes and National Insurance paid out from their salaries. 16. Finland Per Capita Health Spending: $5,598 Public healthcare in Finland is mainly supported by taxes. Other than certain services such as maternity and child health clinic visits, nurse reception, X-ray examinations, and emergency care, residents need to pay for the rest including ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, outpatient fees, day surgery costs, and hospital daycare. 15. Ireland Per Capita Health Spending: $6,046 The Irish healthcare system has been a victim of rising costs. Despite a relatively younger population, healthcare is expensive as compared to other European countries. The country also has a high share of government spending on healthcare. Population aging continues to build spending pressures while the healthcare sector has been dealing with underspending in the past. 14. New Zealand Per Capita Health Spending: $6,060 New Zealand also makes it to the 20 countries with the most expensive healthcare in the world. The healthcare system is government funded under which some services are free. Patients pay a fee to see a general practitioner. Medications not approved by the national health authority are available at high costs. 13. Denmark Per Capita Health Spending: $6,279 Denmark ranks as one of the most costly states in terms of healthcare. The Danish government's healthcare expenditures are substantial. The healthcare spending per capita is also high. Services that have to be paid for include elective cosmetic surgeries, dental care after the age of 18, physiotherapy as well and some medication. 12. Canada Per Capita Health Spending: $6,319 An aging population, population growth, and the rapid use of health services have led to an increase in per capita health spending in Canada. Especially after the pandemic, healthcare costs are expected to increase further thereby ranking Canada as another state with expensive healthcare. 11. Australia Per Capita Health Spending: $6,372 With a high per capita spending on healthcare, Australia qualifies as one of the countries with the most expensive healthcare. Health spending has been high especially since the pandemic, in areas such as primary healthcare and hospitalizations. UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH), Anthem, Inc. (NYSE: ELV), and Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) are well-positioned American insurance providers. 10. Luxembourg Per Capita Health Spending: $6,436 Luxembourg has one of the most established healthcare systems in Europe. Although reimbursements can be taken, costs for treatments have to be paid upfront. Current expenditures on health per capita have also increased in the country. 9. Sweden Per Capita Health Spending: $6,437 Health expenditure per capita in Sweden is currently above the EU average. Thus, it ranks as one of the 20 countries with the most expensive healthcare in the world. The Swedish public health expenditure constitutes a major portion of the total health spending. 8. Belgium Per Capita Health Spending: $6,600 The share of households with catastrophic health spending in Belgium is one of the highest in Western Europe. This kind of spending refers to not being able to afford basic health care costs. Out-of-pocket payments for medical products and diagnostic tests are especially high in Belgium thereby ranking it as another state with expensive healthcare. 7. France Per Capita Health Spending: $6,629 France is another European country with a high per capita healthcare expenditure. Out-of-pocket costs for certain services such as dentistry and vision have to be paid under the universal public health system. 6. Netherlands Per Capita Health Spending: $6,729 The Netherlands also makes it to the 20 countries with the most expensive healthcare in the world. Annual healthcare spending in the country is higher as compared to most of the EU nations. Dutch spending on pharmaceuticals is also high. Click to continue reading and see 5 Countries with the Most Expensive Healthcare in the World. Suggested articles: Disclosure: None. 20 Countries with the Most Expensive Healthcare in the World is originally published on Insider Monkey. Barclays Bank has announced that it will close its branch at 27-29 Church Street, Coleraine on Friday, February 23. This decision comes as part of a wider trend, reflecting the changing face of banking in the UK and worldwide (Photo: u) Barclays Bank has announced that it will close its branch at 27-29 Church Street, Coleraine and 32 Hill Street, Newry in February next year. Once the two sites shut the closest Barclays branch will be Castle Street, Belfast. This decision comes as part of a wider trend, reflecting the changing face of banking in the UK and worldwide. SDLP East Derry MLA Cara Hunter says Coleraine is set to "lose a vital lifeline" as Barclays bank announces its set to close town branch in the new year (Photo: u) In a statement, a spokesperson confirmed the closure of both sites adding we plan to open a Barclays Local in Coleraine and Newry. They also stated that they do not intend to make anyone redundant as a direct result of this closure at the Coleraine branch. The spokesperson, continued: As visits to branches continue to fall, with the majority of people preferring to bank online, we need to adapt to provide the best service for all our customers. This is reflected at Coleraine and Newry, where we are delivering new ways to support our customers and the community with options for those who need in-person services. In Coleraine and Newry we plan to open a Barclays Local a cashless banking site where customers can meet a colleague face-to-face for banking support, as they would in a branch and without the need to travel. We are currently working with the local community to identify a suitable location and will announce details once confirmed. The Coleraine branch is to close on February 23 with the Newry site closing on February 16 In response SDLP East Derry MLA Cara Hunter expressed her concern stating that the local community will lose a vital lifeline with the closure of the branch. East Derry MLA Ms Hunter, added: The news of the closure of the Barclays Bank branch in Coleraine will be very disappointing to the many people in this area who rely on this branch and the services it provides. We have seen many bank branches in this area closing their doors in the last few years, meaning that those who want to continue with in-person banking have very few options or are expected to travel to access these services. Story continues I understand that more and more people are accessing online banking, but we must also cater for the people who still prefer to do their banking at a local branch. Older people in particular access local banking services on a regular basis to obtain their pension and pay their bills, and they will be concerned they will have nowhere to turn for help and support following this latest closure. In rural areas like East Derry people often struggle with digital connectivity issues which will create further barriers to online banking. We are fortunate that we still have Post Office branches which can offer help and assistance following the recent bank closures. I have recently met with the Post Office to discuss the services that they offer and how they can fill the gap left by banks. I welcome Barclays commitment to offering some services through a community location and I will continue engaging with the bank to ensure that the needs of people in this area are met and that everybody can access a form of banking that suits them best. It has been reported that the Northern Ireland closures are part of a Barclays UK wide plans which include 16 branch closures over the coming months. The banking giant will pull the shutters down on 13 sites in England, one in Wales and two in Northern Ireland on February 24. The Malian army took back the town of Kidal from a coalition of Tuareg separatists known as the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP) on November 14, with help from mercenaries with the Russian military contractor the Wagner Group. The Wagner mercenaries allowed local people to take their picture a first since the group was first deployed in the country in 2021. After a month and a half of fighting, the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) took back the town of Kidal from the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP) on November 14, with help from mercenaries with the Russian military contractor the Wagner Group. There has been long-standing tension between the Malian government, based in Bamako, and the Tuareg population based in the north of the country, who feel marginalised and have had successive independence movements. These tensions have their roots in ethnic divisions between the lighter-skinned Tuareg and the majority population of Mali, which is darker-skinned. 'Its a message to the West to let them know that they took back this strategic town' Souleymane Ag Anara is a freelance journalist. He often reports from Kidal. File photo dated 21/02/2023 of teachers on the picket line outside Oakwood School & Assessment Centre in Belfast. Teaching unions in Northern Ireland have announced their members will hold strike action on five days in a long-running dispute over pay. (Photo: Liam McBurney) The Northern Ireland Teachers Council (NITC), comprising the five recognised trade unions, said members would strike for 12 hours from midnight on November 29. In an escalation of their action, the NITC said teachers would also strike for four full days next spring on dates to be agreed. Teachers, along with other public sector workers in Northern Ireland, have been involved in industrial action in recent months amid ongoing disputes about wages and conditions. Read more: Funeral details released for tragic 18-year-old Cathal McCrory who was passenger in single vehicle collision Members of the Ulster Teachers Union (UTU), the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) and National Education Union (NEU) went on strike in February. They were joined in further industrial action in April by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which went on strike for the first time in its history in relation to pay, leading to the closure of most schools in Northern Ireland. Pressure on public finances in Northern Ireland has meant it has not been possible to offer a pay award to public sector workers this year. Jacquie White from the Ulster Teachers Union (UTU) and chairwoman of NITC, said: Teachers and school leaders have been on action short of strike for more than a year, and there is no sign that the Department of Education or the Secretary of State (Chris Heaton-Harris) are in any rush to settle this dispute. It is high time they realised that our members are serious about seeking an urgent resolution to this untenable situation, and for that reason we are announcing five days of strike action. No teacher wants to take this action; however, we now feel that management side has left us with no other option. Justin McCamphill from the NASUWT said the pay gap between teachers in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK had reached epic proportions. Story continues He added: Teachers simply cannot continue as if everything is normal. Teachers are angry and are prepared to step up strike action in order to achieve a level of pay which allows them to provide for their families. Urgent action is now needed to address our concerns. The secretary of state needs to come out of hiding and ensure that the education system in Northern Ireland is properly funded. Mark McTaggart from the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) said teachers needed a salary which truly reflects their value to society. He said: The continued failure by those who hold the purse strings to provide this has the potential to have a devastating effect on the life chances of the children and young people in their care. Graham Gault from NAHT said teachers in Northern Ireland had waited three years for a pay rise. He said: In this time, as colleagues in every other jurisdiction on these islands have seen successive increases in remuneration, the teaching profession in Northern Ireland has been left very far behind. The status quo is intolerable and simply will not be accepted. Todays announcement must be a turning point. Pauline Buchanan from the NEU added: Teachers carry out vital work for the children of today, the workforce of tomorrow and shape education for generations to come and deserve at the very least, a decent pay rise now. Following Senegal's Supreme Court ruling on opposition leader Ousmane Sonko's ineligibility last Friday, his Pastef party announced another candidate to defy President Macky Sall in the upcoming presidential election. The opposition Pastef party on Sunday designated Bassirou Diomaye Faye, secretary-general of the party and right-hand man of Ousmane Sonko, as its candidate for the February poll. On Friday, Sonko, was told by both the Supreme Court in Senegal, and the ECOWAS court in Nigeria, that he could not be registered again on the electoral lists. Sonko, who has been caught up in a series of legal cases, was convicted in absentia on 1 June of morally corrupting a young person and sentenced to two years in prison. He denounced the trial as a plot to exclude him from the election. In late July, he was arrested on other charges including fomenting insurrection, criminally associating with a terrorist body and endangering state security. Similar profile "To sponsor Diomaye Faye is to sponsor Sonko," Pastef's spokespeople told supporters, just three weeks ahead of the sposorship deadline. Like Sonko, Bassirou Diomaye Faye is a tax inspector, he is in his forties, and he is also behind bars. Prosecuted for contempt of court, defamation and acts likely to compromise public peace, his trial has not started. Read more on RFI English Read also: Senegalese activist Papito Kara dies trying to cross Mediterranean Senegal politicians claim they are being prevented from raising sponsorship for election bids Senegal's authorities refuse to reintegrate Sonko on electoral lists The world watched as Kaitlin Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years in prison for the murder of her love rival, Moriah "Mo" Wilson. The victim's father, Eric Wilson, didn't mince words as he denounced the man who was at the center of this deadly love triangle, as per Mail Online. Kaitlin Armstrong's Conviction and a Father's Hope The story began with a complicated love triangle involving Kaitlin Armstrong, Moriah Wilson, and their shared love interest, Colin Strickland. Armstrong, aged 35 at the time, lived with Strickland, and tensions ran high as Strickland dated Wilson during a brief breakup with Armstrong. Strickland's deception made matters worse: he kept in touch with Wilson, even going as far as changing her name on his phone and lying to Armstrong about it. Outside the courthouse where Armstrong was sentenced, Eric Wilson, Moriah's grieving father, delivered a poignant message. He stressed the importance of integrity and honesty in personal relationships and how lacking these values can lead to unintended, tragic consequences. He emphasized that selfish manipulation, jealousy, and hatred rarely result in positive outcomes. After approximately three and a half hours of deliberation, a Texas jury sentenced Kaitlin Armstrong to 90 years in prison. She was also fined $10,000. The case revolved around a love triangle involving Armstrong, Strickland, and Wilson, avid cyclists. Following the shooting in May 2022, Armstrong fled to Costa Rica but was eventually captured after five weeks on the run. The prosecution presented a strong case, with testimony from Strickland, friends of Armstrong, and law enforcement personnel. The defense attempted to challenge DNA and ballistics evidence but ultimately failed to sway the jury. Speaking on behalf of his family, Eric Wilson expressed their belief that justice had been served. However, he also acknowledged no real winners in this tragic tale. He called for a time of reflection and prayer for both families involved, recognizing the profound impact of the case on all parties. The Wilson family intends to preserve Moriah's memory through the Moriah Wilson Foundation. This foundation is dedicated to expanding access to recreation, sports, and educational programs, a fitting tribute to a young woman who lived life to the fullest and had a bright future ahead of her, according to Independent. Read Also: UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron Visits Ukraine, Promises Additional Military Support for War-Torn Nation Kaitlin Armstrong's Brutal Act On the fateful day of May 11, 2022, Armstrong stalked Wilson and Strickland as they enjoyed a swim and dinner in Austin. After Strickland dropped Wilson off at a friend's apartment and departed, Armstrong entered the home and brutally shot Wilson in the head twice, once in the heart and once in the hand-evidence that Wilson likely tried to shield herself from the gunfire. Prosecutors had requested a minimum sentence of 40 years, as Armstrong would be eligible for parole after serving half or 30 years, whichever comes first. During the sentencing, Wilson's friend and mother, Karen Wilson, addressed Armstrong directly, condemning her actions as "selfish and cowardly." She lamented Armstrong's failure to engage in a civil conversation with Moriah. She expressed her belief that Moriah would have listened and cared about Armstrong's feelings had the opportunity been given. Karen Wilson's emotional words resonated with everyone in the courtroom. The trial featured compelling evidence, including surveillance video capturing Moriah's final moments and multiple videos showing Armstrong's presence near the crime scene. Armstrong's phone and vehicle GPS data also placed her at the murder scene. Furthermore, Armstrong's DNA was found on Wilson's bike outside the apartment. Armstrong's attempt to escape from police custody just 19 days before her trial began was another shocking twist in this already tragic tale. She had previously fled to Costa Rica after the murder, undergoing plastic surgery to alter her appearance. Her choices, including rejecting a plea deal, only compounded her legal troubles, Yahoo News reported. Related Article: How to Survive Sleepless Nights on Christmas, New Year Celebrations-Here's What You Should Do @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. On November 15, the world-renowned travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller announced the best destinations to visit around the world in 2024. In the list of Asian destinations, Da Nang was the only representative of Vietnam to make it to the top, alongside famous destinations such as Chinatown in Bangkok (Thailand), the Kathmandu Valley (Nepal), the Silk Road in Uzbekistan, Singapore, Mongolia, and Sri Lanka. Vietnam's coastal city, Da Nang, has recently made it to the prestigious list of CN Traveller's top destinations for 2024. This recognition is a testament to the city's ability to surpass strict criteria set by the editorial team at CN Traveller, including its potential to leave a lasting impression on travellers. In the wake of economic turmoil, Sri Lanka is making a strong comeback, while Mongolia is easing visa restrictions, signalling a promising resurgence in the region. The American magazine wrote: As travel restrictions are gradually lifted and borders reopen, Asia is ready to welcome visitors with renewed enthusiasm and boldness. The continent is eager to remind international travellers of the unique experiences they may have missed out on. The Golden Bridge has become one of the iconic symbols of tourism in Vietnam and the world, CN Traveller calls the capital of the Central region the city of bridges. Located at an altitude of approximately 1,414 meters above sea level, the Golden Bridge is part of the Sun World Ba Na Hills tourist complex, consisting of eight spans and stretching about 150 meters along the Truong Son mountain range, overlooking the East Sea and Da Nang City. Since its launch, the Golden Bridge has garnered worldwide attention, quickly rising to the top of the list of The World's 100 Greatest Places of 2018 just two months after its opening. The renowned British newspaper, The Guardian, has honoured the Golden Bridge as one of the Top 10 Most Unique and Beautiful Architectural Bridges Worldwide. The Golden Bridge continues to be in the spotlight and is continuously featured in international media. In June 2023, India's Luxebook praised it as a world-renowned iconic structure. The Independent, a well-known British publication listed the Golden Bridge as one of the 14 most spectacular bridges in the world. Most recently, Bored Panda stated that the image of Da Nang is now synonymous with the Golden Bridge in the eyes of international visitors, and it's not an exaggeration to say that the Golden Bridge has put Da Nang on the map for hundreds of millions of tourists across Asia and beyond. In addition to being home to unique bridges such as the Golden Bridge, Dragon Bridge, and Han River Bridge, Da Nang is also a bridge connecting Hoi An Ancient Town and Hue Imperial City. A modern coastal city, surrounded by dozens of UNESCO-recognized heritage sites in Central Vietnam, CN Traveller wrote. The American magazine also recognises Da Nang as a great success story in the post-COVID-19 era in Asia, with international arrivals in 2023 surpassing pre-pandemic levels, thanks to the opening of new flights from around the world. The peak was in June, the city welcomed over 150 daily flights bringing visitors to the Han River city to enjoy the visually stunning International Fireworks Festival Da Nang DIFF 2023, a truly spectacular event. One of the must-visit destinations in Da Nang, as suggested by CN Traveller, is the Son Tra Peninsula, home to the towering statue of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, as tall as a 17-storey building, and the endangered red-shanked douc langur. CN Traveller also mentions Da Nang as a destination with a concentration of luxurious resorts from leading hotel groups worldwide. Located on the Son Tra Peninsula, InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort by Sun Group is a must-visit destination recommended by CN Traveller. Recently, the resort celebrated its 10th anniversary with the launch of a new club lounge, villa category, and spa concept. For many years, this resort has not only been a pride of Da Nang but also a symbol of Vietnam, the region, and the world. The resort's achievements have been recognised by Destination Deluxe Awards 2023, where it won the "Holistic Treatment of the Year" category for its impressive experience at Mi Sol Spa. This award is just one of many prestigious accolades that the resort has earned over the years. HCM CITY The Ministry of Industry and Trade is focusing on improving provinces capabilities in helping local businesses take advantage of free trade agreements such as the UKVFTA and EVFTA, including by issuing an FTA Index by the end of 2023. Viet Nams participation in several new generation free trade agreements has opened up opportunities for it to expand its export markets, attract foreign investment and fostered its provinces and cities economic development and trade. Its provinces and cities have been making efforts to link local exporters with foreign partners, and apprising them about and helping them make use of the trade deals through conferences, seminars, online resources, networking events, and other activities. Last year, 11 more provinces exported to countries that have signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership than did in 2021. Similarly, 44 provinces exported to the UK by making use of the UK Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement in 2022, up 13 in number. Eleven more provinces exported to markets that are part of the European Union Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement. According to experts, there is still a lot of opportunity for Viet Nam to utilise these markets since, while exports have risen, they have not reached their potential, and the number of exporters remains low. Several provinces have recorded very low exports to these markets. This is because many provinces are still not paying sufficient attention to the FTAs, thus not enabling their full utilisation by businesses. Many activities to support utilisation of FTAs by businesses are carried out broadly without focusing on specific industries or the provinces strengths. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, while there have been many conferences and seminars to raise awareness of FTAs, their depth of information does not satisfy businesses demands. There are also not enough Government workers to do justice to these activities, it admitted. At a seminar held to discuss ways to increase the effectiveness of local level FTA implementation held in Ha Noi at the end of October, Nguyen Anh Duong, head of the Department for General Economic Issues and Integration Studies at the Central Institute for Economic Management, said while many provinces have reached out to relevant authorities and experts to better help businesses make use of FTAs, many exporters are still focusing on immediate problems and see FTAs as something out of their reach. o Thi Thuy Huong, member of the executive board of the Viet Nam Electronic Industries Association, said provinces in the South with a high concentration of industrial parks have a better approach to guiding businesses on new generation FTAs compared to regions with fewer industrial parks and remote places with few foreign companies. FTA Index The ministry is working on the FTA Index with relevant authorities and localities, which will be published by the end of the year to assess cities and provinces implementation of free trade agreements. This will provide more information for investors to make future investment decisions, and for the National Assembly to monitor FTA implementation and provide instructions. Ngo Chung Khanh, deputy head of the ministrys multilateral trade policy department, said: Like the Provincial Competitiveness Index, the FTA Index will get provinces to care more about how to best use of various FTAs. Duong of the Central Institute for Economic Management said once the FTA Index is published periodically, it would drive provinces to do better with their FTA activities, which would benefit businesses and the national economy. He told Cong Thuong newspaper that the ministry should work with experts and localities to create a shared understanding of the index figures, so that relevant agencies and localities will better carry out their tasks. The ministry is also working on a comprehensive dissemination plan together with other ministries, various other agencies and provinces and cities to provide in-depth information on issues that businesses are interested in, and foster better co-ordination between authorities to avoid overlapping. It is also developing training courses to produce experts in FTAs, and working with universities to create training programmes. In the first ten months of the year, Viet Nams exports were worth US$291.28 billion, a 7.1 per cent drop year-on-year. The last two months of the year are expected to see a sharper recovery in exports thanks to positive global economic signs. VNS HA NOI Investors of transportation BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) projects must look to diversify their financing as domestic commercial banks have not been willing to loosen the purse strings, said the State Bank of Vietnam. According to the central bank, commercial banks have long considered BOT projects as high-risk and often unwilling to jump in. In a report to the National Assembly (NA), the SBV said as of September 30, 22 financial institutes agreed to extend credit to transportation BOT projects, whose total outstanding balance has reached over VN92.3 trillion (US$3.8 billion). Meanwhile, the bank said the ratio of non-performing loans has been a cause for concern with non-performing loans of the transportation sector accounting for 3.83 per cent of the total. As much as 26.52 per cent of the loans were put on a special watch list by the bank. The SBV said the main reason behind the high percentage of non-performing loans was a lack of financial capacity by most investors. In addition, many BOT projects have reported a decline in revenue in comparison to projected revenue in the initial business plan as they struggled with recent regulation changes in toll collection policy and disputes with local communities. As a result, investors have voiced their concerns over financial challenges and losses. A recent report by the Ministry of Transport said as many as eight BOT projects were having difficulties generating revenue, including the Western Bypass of Thanh Hoa City, the construction of the Binh Loi Railway Bridge, the construction of the Thai Nguyen-Cho Moi Road, and the upgrade of National Highway 3, the section of the Ho Chi Minh Road through the Central Highlands, and the renovation of National Highway 91 in southern Can Tho City. According to the central bank, the total credit outstanding for the above-mentioned projects has reached over VN15.85 trillion. Representatives from commercial banks said revenue generated by BOT projects have often failed to meet the banks' expectation as many have been experiencing issues in collecting toll and reduced revenue from competition. "Without a source of stable revenue, investors cannot pay off principal and interest on time, which will put them on a no-loans list, denying them access to new capital. Meanwhile, banks must also set aside provision for the at-risk loans, heavily hindering their own business operations," said a bank representative. During an NA's session, NA Deputy Nguyen ai Thang from northern Hung Yen Province suggested investors start diversifying their funding sources, including looking into the international financial market. He also urged the central bank to provide additional support to investors in seeking out capital. Speaking to NA deputies, SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said as most domestic financial institutes prefer short-term loans, finding long-term loans in such large quantities, as often required by transportation projects, will likely be challenging. On the other hand, industry experts said some banks may have classified their non-performing loan prematurely as the life cycle for transportation BOT projects have just been extended from 20 years to 25 years. They said it's unreasonable to judge projects by looking at their generated revenue in the first few years of operation. VNS BAC GIANG With a focus on maximising competitive advantages and harnessing available resources, Bac Giang Province aims to become a globally competitive region with a robust and sustainable export-import structure by 2030. In a significant announcement, Phan The Tuan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Giang Province, unveiled a comprehensive plan designed to propel the province into a future of sustainable economic development. Bac Giang's ambitions are reflected in its targets for the average annual growth rate of exports and imports from the present until 2030. The province has set a challenging goal of achieving a 13-15 per cent annual growth rate for exports and a 12-14 per cent rate for imports during this period, showcasing its determination to play a pivotal role in the countrys international trade landscape. Sector-specific development The strategic roadmap for 2023-30 outlines sector-specific initiatives to bolster the province's economic foundations. Over the next two years, Bac Giang plans to elevate the processing ratio of key agricultural products, leveraging their inherent production and export advantages. Simultaneously, the province will concentrate on establishing and enhancing the brand value of its agricultural products, aiming to create a distinct identity on the global stage. Moving into the 2026-30 phase, Bac Giang will intensify efforts towards developing high value-added products, particularly focusing on the deep processing of agricultural goods. The province's vision extends to transitioning towards medium to high-tech industries, aligning with the advancements of Industrial Revolution 4.0. This phase will also witness a concerted effort to promote high-tech industrial support products, contributing to Bac Giang's technological development. Tuan emphasised the importance of market diversification to mitigate risks associated with overdependence on a single market. The province envisions maintaining a balanced and healthy bilateral trade balance while actively exploring new markets. Key focus areas include established markets such as China, South Korea, Japan, the EU, ASEAN, and Eastern Europe. Simultaneously, Bac Giang is keen to tap into emerging markets like the United States, South America, Africa, the Middle East and beyond. Strategic approach to international commitments To achieve these goals, Bac Giang will actively implement effective solutions for production development, ensuring a sustainable supply chain for exports. The province will also intensify efforts on market development, perfecting policies, and strengthening state management to foster fair trade, prevent trade fraud, and promote equitable commerce. Bac Giang's strategic positioning involves leveraging the opportunities presented by international economic integration commitments. The province aims to capitalise on free trade agreements to boost exports to major markets such as the EU, Japan, China, South Korea, the US and ASEAN. The province is also committed to exploring untapped markets, including the United States, Russia, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, India, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. For markets such as Japan and South Korea, which constitute a significant proportion of the province's exports, Bac Giang continues to maximise the benefits from both multilateral and bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). This strategic approach aims to boost exports to these markets, encompassing product categories such as textiles, electronic and computer products, wooden goods, and agricultural products. In the context of the European market, with a focus on the EU and Russia, significant trade partners, the opportunities presented by the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement are substantial. Therefore, Bac Giang concentrates on maintaining a strong foothold and expanding its market share in these regions. Turning attention to the Americas, particularly the United States, Canada, Chile, Mexico and Peru, the province strives to consolidate and expand its exports in these markets. The emphasis on this region underscores the province's commitment to taking full advantage of the effective tariff reduction under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which several participating countries follow. Anticipating a total export-import value of over US$36.54 billion for the first 10 months of 2023, Bac Giang foresees exports reaching nearly $19.7 billion and imports exceeding $16.9 billion. Key export items include various types of phones and components, computers, electronics, electrical equipment, and textiles. Major export destinations include China, South Korea, India, the United States and Japan. Pham Cong Toan, Deputy Director of the Bac Giang Department of Industry and Trade, emphasised the critical role of ensuring a stable supply of raw materials for exports. The province is set to focus on long-term export market development, especially in regions like ASEAN, Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Europe. Concurrently, Bac Giang aims to enhance state management in import-export activities to combat trade fraud, contributing to the province's overall goal of sustainable growth. Bac Giang's resilience and support measures have earned praise from the business community. Kang Sae Na, CEO of Viet Pan Pacific World Co Ltd, a company based in Bac Giang, noted the positive impact of provincial policies post-COVID-19. The company, specialszing in apparel exports to the EU and the US, reported stable orders and revenue of approximately VN618 billion ($25.8 million) in 2022. The CEO attributed this success to the province's effective guidance, citizen cooperation, and business-friendly policies that facilitated post-pandemic recovery. VNS Dr Mattias Larsson* Tuan is a lively five-year-old boy that goes to kindergarten, he is however often sick with cough and fever. His mother Hien usually takes him to the local doctor who diagnoses throat infection, otitis media (ear infection) and bronchitis and prescribes antibiotics such as amoxicillin and klacid, as well as some steroids, cough syrup and vitamin C. When Hien doesnt have time to bring him to the doctor, she goes a private pharmacy and brings an old prescription, they provide the antibiotics and other medication needed. Tuan usually improves after some days, and Hien is satisfied. However, on one occasion Tuan did not improve after five days but got worse with difficulty breathing and high fever, and the local doctor referred him to the provincial hospital. Tuan was diagnosed with pneumonia and was treated with IV antibiotics. He improved after some days and was planned for discharge when he relapsed with fever and deteriorated fast needing breathing support. The X-ray and tests showed that he had severe pneumonia, he needed a higher level of care and was referred to the central paediatric hospital. When arriving Tuan was in bad shape, he had rapid breathing and difficulty getting enough oxygen. He was intubated and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). They took many tests including blood and sputum cultures. Although he was treated with stronger IV antibiotics the fever did not decrease. The cultures showed that he had blood stream infection with a superbug, Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). The doctor explained that this bacteria is resistant to almost all types of antibiotics, and that it spreads in hospitals causing severe infections. During my time working in Viet Nam I have witnessed how the overuse of antibiotics has caused increasing antibiotic resistance, more severe illness and death. When I first came to Viet Nam in 1997 I did my PhD on antibiotic use and resistance. In a study outside Ha Noi we found that 75 per cent of the children had used antibiotics within the last month, mostly through self-medication purchased from private pharmacies, and the most common cause was for viral respiratory infections. With the use of antibiotics, vulnerable bacteria are killed while resistant bacteria survive. Extensive antibiotic use can result in the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. We repeated the study several times and found a slight decrease of antibiotic use but increase of resistance. In another study in 16 hospitals we found a high rate of hospital acquired infections (HAI) with superbugs as CRE in ICUs. In neonatal ICU more than half of infants with superbug infections died. Half of all patients screened in 12 hospitals were colonised with CRE superbugs, and after two weeks of in-hospital care it was 90 per cent, with a significant correlation between being CRE colonised, HAI and mortality. We also did studies for early detection of CRE colonisation through admission screening and found that isolation through cohort care among about 1,000 patients could decrease acquisition (becoming colonised during hospital care) from 90 per cent to 45 per cent. If there is a high rate of CRE colonisation at discharge from hospitals, there is a risk that the bacteria spreads in households through transmission between family members and then to the community in schools and workplaces. The CRE bacteria is colonising the gastrointestinal tract and can spread through faeces that contaminates food and water. Hygiene is very important to prevent transmission. Another less resistant superbug, ESBL, has already spread out. It causes urinary infections that are increasingly difficult to treat with oral antibiotics. If CRE is spread further, treatment will become even more difficult. We now have a project to assess if CRE transmission both in hospital and from CRE colonised children to household members can be decreased through better hygiene and less unindicated antibiotic use. World AMR Awareness Week (November 18-24) is an annual global campaign to improve antibiotic awareness and encourage best practices among policymakers, health care staff and to reduce the further emergence and spread of AMR. So, what can you do? When seeking healthcare, go to a clinic that has good clinical and laboratory capacity. Dont self-medicate with antibiotics. Think twice. Seek advice. Antibiotics aren't always the answer. Antimicrobial Resistance: no action today equals no cure tomorrow. And what happened to Tuan? As he came to a central hospital in time with a microbiological capacity that could culture CRE and assess the resistance pattern, the correct and effective treatment could be found. Three weeks later he was discharged and is now back in school and full of energy! Family Medical Practice *Dr Mattias Larsson is a paediatric doctor at Family Medical Practice and associate professor at Karolinska Institutet and has a long experience in research on infectious diseases, especially antibiotic resistance and hospital-acquired infections as well as HIV, with many articles in peer-reviewed publications and mainstream media appearances. He has worked with the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, USAID, the Clinton Foundation, and the Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. He is fluent in English, Swedish, Vietnamese, German and some Spanish. Visit Family Medical Practice Hanoi 24/7 at 298 I Kim Ma St, Kim Ma Ward, Ba inh Dist. To book an appointment, please call us at (024).3843.0784 or via Whatsapp, Viber or Zalo on +84.944.43.1919 or email hanoi@vietnammedicalpractice.com. FMPs downtown Ho Chi Minh City location is in Diamond Plaza, 34 Le Duan St, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, and 95 Thao ien, District 2. Tel. (028) 3822 7848 or email hcmc@vietnammedicalpractice.com. On the occasion of Vietnamese Teachers' Day on November 20, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son spoke to the Vietnam News Agency about the quality of teaching staff and strategies to encourage teachers' wholehearted commitment to the profession while attracting young talent to the pedagogical sector. In the realm of educational innovation, teachers stand as the pivotal force that dictates the success or failure of initiatives. How do you assess the quality of the teaching staff in Viet Nam currently? Currently, there is an unprecedented influx of teachers in terms of quantity, structure, and scale in the education sector, encompassing both the direct teaching and administrative staff. While acknowledging the persistent shortage of teachers, it is important to contextualise this scarcity within the broader goal of advancing education, enhancing quality, and meeting the escalating demand for educators to accommodate the growing number of students and children. Relative to past years, the current period witnesses a robust and substantial teacher force, representing the sector's most invaluable capital and a paramount asset for fulfilling the mandates set forth by the Party and State. In the contemporary landscape, teachers undergo more comprehensive training than in preceding periods both domestically and internationally. This includes proficiency in professional qualifications, pedagogical methodologies, and exposure to the latest educational sciences and teaching methods of the era. Notably, the percentage of university lecturers trained abroad and the number of individuals with doctoral degrees have witnessed a significant upswing. In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in the presence of non-public schools, spanning from kindergarten to university levels. This expansion introduces new dynamics, augmenting the teaching force and reflecting investments from diverse stakeholders. The 2019 Law on Education emphasises the imperative of elevating standards and imposing more stringent requirements for enhancing the qualifications of teachers. While this presents a certain degree of pressure, it concurrently serves as a driving force, motivating teachers to enhance their qualifications in line with the heightened demands of today's educational landscape, fostering innovation and elevating overall educational quality. In general, the teaching force as a whole continues to embody the spirit, quality, and enthusiasm characteristic of traditional educators. With over 1.6 million teachers demonstrating unwavering dedication to their profession and the noble cause of education, they actively surmount obstacles and challenges to nurture a profound love for teaching and to care for successive generations of students. The teaching force consistently showcases creativity, a commitment to self-study, self-improvement, and an ability to adapt to the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, ensuring the effective fulfilment of their responsibilities. Within the teaching community, numerous instances exemplify the resilience displayed in overcoming adversities to reach individuals in remote and disadvantaged areas. The enduring virtues and strengths, inherited from tradition and perpetuated to the present day, instil a deep sense of confidence and pride. Confronting the evolving expectations of the Party, State, and the public in enhancing the quality of education and training, and furnishing high-quality human resources for national development, I am confident that the teaching force will persist in their efforts and successfully accomplish their mission. The entire education sector confronts formidable challenges those of development and the pressures of innovation. However, such challenges and pressures also serve as opportunities for teachers to further innovate, evolve, and mature. In recent times, while there has been increased attention from the Party and State towards incentives, rewards, and support for teachers, there are still lingering shortcomings that leave educators less than fully confident in their profession. What solutions do you propose to address and rectify this issue? In the pursuit of innovation, the teaching staff is advocating for additional policies to ensure a more sustainable livelihood, especially for new and young teachers. There is a particular emphasis on the need for policies that alleviate challenges faced by teachers in mountainous, island, and remote areas, where many educators operate. The reality is that in these regions, public housing may be lacking, schools are not yet fully established, and teachers are tasked with instructing multi-level classes. Teachers are calling for improved facilities and infrastructure for educational development, including more secure and solidified schools, better living conditions, and increased public housing. Such enhancements would not only ease the challenges for teachers but also create a more conducive environment for both educators and students, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the reform process and increasing teacher engagement. While stories of strength and sacrifice are acknowledged and respected, it is imperative to strive for optimal conditions. Even in locations not currently facing significant difficulties, ensuring essential physical conditions, such as well-equipped subject classrooms and facilities for teaching and learning, necessitates ongoing attention. As the demand for high-quality education increases, there is a pressing need to elevate the standards for schools and classes, a priority that will be urgently addressed in the times ahead. Reflecting on the thoughts conveyed through more than 6,300 questions received during my interactions with teachers at the beginning of the school year, it is evident that educators harbour a collective hope for increased societal understanding and support. Teachers express a desire for greater sharing and comprehension from society, parents, and the community at large. Recognising the formidable nature of the innovation underway in the education sector, teachers emphasise that this transformative work, being novel and challenging, necessitates not only the dedicated efforts of the teaching staff but also widespread sharing, companionship, support, and understanding, particularly from parents involved in the education of their children. In the journey of educational innovation, even small strides require the collective support and understanding of society. Teachers face the challenge of not only adapting to new methodologies but also contending with societal judgments that may not always accurately reflect the depth of their dedication and exertions. It is important to underscore that schools are integral components of the community, representing not only entities subject to supervision but also institutions that thrive through community involvement, support, and collaboration. Regarding the issue of attracting young, talented individuals into the field of education, what policies are envisioned beyond the reinforcement of existing measures to retain teachers in the profession? The overarching goal of the education sector is to cultivate high-quality education, thereby contributing to the development of high-quality human resources for the nation. Achieving this objective necessitates a concerted effort to attract a diverse pool of young and talented individuals to pursue pedagogy. For individuals aspiring to undertake the pedagogical exam, a myriad of considerations come into play, with life factors consistently standing out as the initial determinant. Similar challenges are faced by those pursuing teaching careers abroad. While teaching may not be a lucrative profession in terms of salary and income, it is imperative that it ensures a standard of living that allows individuals to sustain themselves through their chosen profession. In order to attract and support exemplary students to pursue pedagogy, a policy is essential to incentivise their enrollment in pedagogical universities. This can be achieved through the allocation of enrollment orders and provision of living support. The Ministry of Education and Training has already recommended the issuance of Decree No. 116/2020/N-CP, outlining policies to support tuition payments and living expenses for pedagogical students. Although there has been improvement since the implementation of Decree 116, challenges persist in local support for living expenses and enrollment order implementation. Consequently, the ministry is actively advising the Government on amending Decree 116 with the aim of attracting even more talented individuals to the field of pedagogy. Another crucial aspect is cultivating a perception of the teaching profession as a truly glorious and noble pursuit, where passionate individuals can assert themselves and garner recognition. Schools undergoing innovation must adapt their working environments to incorporate democratic elements, enabling teachers to participate in activities that foster creativity, effective self-expression, and ongoing support. While numerous factors contribute to the attractiveness of the teaching profession, the key lies in providing an environment where teachers can develop, assert themselves, lead fulfilling lives, and enhance their capabilities. This, in turn, will naturally attract more capable and qualified individuals. Particularly in higher education, the ability to attract talented individuals for training and development into a cadre of experts and leading scientists is crucial for establishing a robust scientific foundation and a competitive higher education system in a global context. Therefore, a mechanism must be in place to identify and nurture talents in the realms of education, science, and technology. On the occasion of celebrating Vietnamese Teachers' Day on November 20, what message do you want to convey to teachers across the country? Teaching is a noble profession laden with numerous challenges and difficulties. No glory comes without its share of weight and trials. It is imperative for every teacher to recognise the profound responsibility that accompanies their role. Each teacher must acknowledge their role as both a creative and selfless individual engaged in noble work. It is the duty of teachers to demonstrate that the journey of development is intertwined with the fulfilment and joy derived from this honourable profession. Teachers serve as guides, shaping individuals with independent thinking, and fostering commitment to the bright aspirations of the individual, the country, and humanity. This sacred duty lies at the core of the teaching profession. The Ministry of Education and Training remains committed to advocating and collaborating with various ministries and branches to enhance preferential allowances, explore avenues to augment teachers' income, and devise strategies to fortify facilities and improve working conditions. Despite prevailing challenges, we encourage each teacher to persevere, upholding the glory of the profession and continuing to overcome obstacles with unwavering dedication to fostering excellence in teaching and learning. VNS SAN FRANCISCO All members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have highly valued Viet Nam's practical and constructive contributions to the forum over the last more than two decades while attending the APEC Economic Leaders Week 2023, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son. Talking to the press following President Vo Van Thuongs trip to the US to attend the week from November 14 to 17 in San Francisco, Son said the APEC Economic Leaders Week 2023 held special significance as it marked 25 years since Viet Nam became a member of APEC. President Thuong and the high-ranking delegation of Viet Nam attended activities of the week and made important contributions to its success. First, the Vietnamese leader raised ideas and proposals aimed at responding to urgent issues of the world economy, particularly the requirement for a new mindset that is inclusive, harmonious, and humane. President Thuong also gave concrete suggestions about the mission and tasks of APEC in the new period to make adaptation and continue to gain success. They included maintaining and consolidating the important achievements in trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation in Asia-Pacific and the world, cooperating to build a resilient region and resilient economies ready to respond to challenges, and creating a cooperation framework to assist member economies to capitalise on development opportunities and boost growth impetuses. Those ideas and proposals were highly valued by other leaders and the business community and shown in the meetings document, thereby opening up new directions for APEC cooperation, the diplomat noted. Second, member economies voiced their support for Viet Nam's proposal to host APEC in 2027. Amid complex developments in the world and the region, this proposal affirmed Viet Nam's commitment to multilateralism, the Asia-Pacific region in general, and the APEC forum in particular. It also reflected the countrys determination to implement the policy of proactive, active, comprehensive, and intensive integration into the world, and being a friend, a trustworthy partner, and a responsible member of the international community, helping to successfully carry out the resolution of the 13th National Party Congress. All APEC members appreciated Viet Nam's highly practical and constructive contributions to APEC over the last more than two decades, and affirmed their trust in its APEC chairmanship in 2027, the foreign minister went on. Third, he added, representatives of Vietnamese ministries and sectors actively took part in and coordinated with host, the US, and other members during the preparation for and discussions during the week to generate the best possible results for all members. On this occasion, President Thuong engaged in many meetings with leaders of other APEC economies and guests. At those events, APEC leaders and guests spoke highly of Viet Nam's stature and role and agreed to increase mutual visits, step up cooperation in politics-diplomacy, economy-trade, science-technology, education-training, locality-to-locality ties, and people-to-people exchanges, and support each other at regional and international forums. Regarding bilateral activities with the US, President Thuong met with his US counterpart Joe Biden, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles Erin Bromaghim. He received some leading enterprises of the US, such as Boeing and Apple, delivered a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, attended and addressed a roundtable on high technology connecting Vietnamese localities and US enterprises, and visited Stanford Universitys hospital. He also visited a family of Vietnamese expatriates and met officials of Viet Nams representative diplomatic bodies in the US. The Presidents speech about the world situation, Viet Nam's foreign policy, and the Viet Nam-US relations at the Council on Foreign Relations received high evaluation from the US side, according to Minister Son. At the activities, both sides agreed to make efforts to continue implementing the agreements reached between the two countries leaders during the recent State visit to Viet Nam by US President Biden at the invitation of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the joint statement on the elevation of bilateral relations to the comprehensive strategic partnership. They agreed to focus on economy, trade and investment, with the US soon granting the market economy status to Viet Nam; consider science-technology and innovation as breakthrough cooperation fields; press on with cooperation in education-training, including the training of high-quality human resources; and work together in climate change response. US enterprises continued to show their high interest in the Vietnamese market and pledged to keep expanding investment and business activities in Viet Nam, especially in the fields of high technology, infrastructure, and energy. They also expressed their readiness to help the country with manpower training to create a skillful workforce to serve digital transformation and green transition, the official noted. Minister Son remarked that the trip by President Thuong and the high-ranking delegation of Viet Nam to attend the APEC Economic Leaders Week and bilateral activities in the US was successful and a practical move to carry out the foreign policy devised at the 13th National Party Congress. Via the State leaders remarks and activities, Viet Nam conveyed important messages about its viewpoint on and approach to the challenges facing the world and the region, along with the implementation of its foreign policy. Meanwhile, the hosting of APEC for the third time, in 2027, will once again demonstrate the countrys strategic vision on the Asia-Pacific and also be a vivid illustration of APEC members and the international communitys trust in Viet Nams role and stature in the international arena, Minister Son added. VNS Finland authorities are accusing Russia of "instrumentalization of immigrants" after Helsinki's decision to cooperate with the U.S. regarding defense and security. Helsinki also claimed that Moscow is responsible for flooding its borders with migrants from the Middle East and Africa. There were as many as 300 migrants from Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and Syria who arrived in Finland this week. Alleged Instrumentalization of Immigrants The arrivals prompted Finnish officials to erect barricades at the border with Russia in an attempt to stop the asylum seekers from crossing freely into the nation. On Friday, authorities ordered razor-wire barriers to be put up around midnight at the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra, and Niirala border posts in southeast Finland. Border authorities also noted that the barriers would be improved after two people breached them and crossed into Finland. The migrants in question come mostly from the Middle East and Africa and arrived in the region without proper documentation. They have sought asylum after allegedly being helped by Russian authorities to travel to the heavily controlled border zone. Almost all of the migrants arrived at the border zone on bicycles that Finnish and Russian media reports said were provided and sold to them, as per Fox News. On the other hand, Moscow has denied all of the allegations that it was responsible for the flood of migrants into Finland's borders. In a statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian authorities "deeply regret that the leadership of Finland chose the path of deliberate distancing from the previously good nature of our bilateral relations." The situation comes as the Finland-Russia border serves as the European Union's external frontier and stretches for a total of 832 miles. It runs through mostly thick forests in the south and reaches the rugged landscape in the Arctic north. In a statement, the Finnish Border Guard's head of international affairs Matti Pitkaniitty said that their aim is to use the barrier devices to prevent entry by immigrants. He added that the measures were a response to changes in Russia's border policy. Read Also: Hamas Religious Leaders Allegedly Allow Sexual Violence, Rape Finland Accuses Russia Helsinki claimed that Moscow has encouraged or turned a blind eye to undocumented migrants crossing over. Earlier this week, Finland officials announced that they would close four border crossings, which are considered to be the busiest points of travel between the two nations, having roughly 3,000 people crossing every day, according to Aljazeera. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo noted that in the middle of Russia's war on Ukraine, Moscow was trying to destabilize Helsinki's territory in response to its decision to join NATO. Finland's decision to join the global military alliance was supported by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. On Tuesday, Orpo said that it was clear that the immigrants were being helped and that they were also being escorted or transported to the border by border guards. The situation comes after thousands of migrants flew to Russian ally Belarus in 2021 before crossing into European Union member states Poland and Lithuania. At the time, EU officials accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of trying to destabilize the bloc. This was allegedly by facilitating the passage of third-country citizens into the 27-member bloc, said BBC. Related Article: Javier Milei Has Won Argentina's Presidential Election Over Sergio Massa @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. HAVANA The Viet Nam-Cuba relations will thrive further, contributing to the protection and construction of the two nations, said First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel in his recent reception for outgoing Vietnamese Ambassador Le Thanh Tung in Havana. The Cuban leader lauded the sides loyal, practical, and effective friendship so far and highlighted the role of high-level delegation exchanges and phone and virtual talks between their leaders and officials in strengthening such ties. He thanked Viet Nam for its spiritual and material assistance to Cuba in food production and sympathy and solidarity with Cuba given the current difficult period facing the Cuban revolution. The leader extended his invitation for Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Vo Van Thuong, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh of Viet Nam to soon visit Cuba, while his guest conveyed the Vietnamese leaders invitation for him to visit Viet Nam. The ambassador reaffirmed the solidarity and support of the Vietnamese Party, State, Government and people for Cuba. Viet Nam consistently calls on the US to end the unilateral embargo against Cuba and to remove Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism. He congratulated Cuba on its recent victories on the foreign front, with the United Nations General Assembly in early November passing a resolution on the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the US against Cuba, and the country being elected to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2024-2026 term in October 2023. Tung affirmed that he will continue to contribute to fortifying and developing the special relationship between Viet Nam and Cuba. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday received Romanian Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Stefan-Radu Oprea who is in Viet Nam for the 17th session of the Viet Nam-Romania Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation. The PM thanked Romania as the rotating President of the European Union (EU) in 2019 for its support in promoting the conclusion and signing of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). He also thanked Romania for donating 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Viet Nam in 2021 and for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to stabilise their lives and do business in Romania. Both host and guest were delighted at the growing relations between Viet Nam and Romania in many aspects, such as politics, diplomacy, economics, labour, education-training and culture. Two-way trade turnover hit US$425 million in 2022, up 14.8 per cent from the previous year. Viet Nam always attaches important to and prioritises its traditional friendship with Romania, Chinh said. In the coming time, along with increasing the exchange of all-level delegations on all channels of the Party, State, Government and National Assembly and people-to-people exchanges, he suggested that the two sides need to determine economic - investment - trade cooperation as an important pillar in the bilateral ties. The two sides should effectively take advantage of the EVFTA, opening markets for each other's goods, strengthen the exchange of business delegations, attract investment in fields that Viet Nam needs and Romania is strong, such as mechanics, specialised machinery, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, and automobile manufacturing, renewable energy, mining and petrochemical, he went on. PM Chinh proposed that Romania open its market for Vietnamese goods, especially agricultural and aquatic products such as shrimp, fish, coffee and fruits. He also suggested Romania encourage other EU member countries to soon ratify the EVIPA and urge the European Commission (EC) to soon remove the "yellow card" warning on its seafood. He also called for promoting cooperation in green transition, circular economy development and climate change response, strengthening collaboration in labour, employment, education - training, culture and tourism. Agreeing with the PM's proposals, Minister Oprea said that during the ongoing Viet Nam visit, the Romanian delegation, with the participation of a number of sectors and enterprises, wishes to explore cooperation with Viet Nam in the fields of oil and gas, agriculture, information technology, pharmaceuticals and tourism to realise agreements and commitments between Viet Nam and the EU and with Romania. Romania is ready to be a gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter Europe, he added. The same day, Tran Tuan Anh, Chairman of the Party Central Committees Economic Commission, received Minister Oprea, during which he emphasised that ample room remains for cooperation between Viet Nam and Romania. Tuan Anh suggested that Oprea pay attention to promoting collaboration between the two countries in some orientations such as boosting bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation, green transition, circular economy and climate change adaptation, developing high technology, digital transformation and innovation as well as labour, culture and tourism fields. For his part, Oprea affirmed that Romania will make efforts to further promote cooperation in all aspects with Viet Nam, especially in economics, trade and tourism, people-to-people exchanges to match with the momentum of development of relations between the two countries. VNS LONDON A Vietnamese man has been jailed for more than five years in England for the role he played smuggling migrants into the UK. Nguyen Mai Van, 34, was found guilty of being a key player facilitating the illegal migration of Vietnamese people into the country in the backs of lorries. His arrest followed an investigation by the UKs National Crime Agency. NCA Branch Commander Mick Pope said: Nguyen Mai Van was part of a criminal network that treated people as nothing more than a commodity, happily risking their lives by putting them in the back of lorries for long journeys. His conviction is the culmination of a painstaking investigation by the NCA, focusing on a gang bringing people into the UK illegally and then arranging for them to move into the illicit economy where again they would be exploited. He worked with Birmingham-based Le Hai Xuan, 34, to arrange at least six crossings in August and September 2020. Le was convicted in December 2022 for his part in the network, and was later sentenced to seven-and-a-half-years in jail. Nguyens role in the group was to receive the migrants once they had arrived, facilitating their movements to safe houses operated by the group in the West Midlands and collecting payments. Some of those smuggled in are believed to have ended up working in cannabis factories. NCA investigators were able to piece together Nguyens involvement in the conspiracy through phone analysis and surveillance, which showed him in regular communication with other gang members around the time the six smuggling attempts took place. A third man, taxi driver Habib Behsodi, age 42 and from Chatham in Kent, worked with Nguyen and Le to pick up migrants from lorries in the southeast of England, driving them up to the West Midlands. Nguyen met Behsodi on a number of occasions to facilitate payments to those involved in transporting the Vietnamese nationals. Behsodi was also convicted in December 2022 and given a two-year suspended sentence. On Friday, 17 November, following a three-week trial, a jury at Birmingham Crown Court found Nguyen guilty of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration. He was jailed for five-and-a-half years. VNS An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay wins acclaim for romantic and wellness luxury Thanks to that and many other aspects, the Travelers Choice Award 2023, garnered in July through votes from travellers worldwide on TripAdvisor, serves as a tangible testament to the sweet success earned by the resorts diligent staff. Now, with two esteemed international accolades from the World Luxury Hotel Awards 2023, An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay further solidifies its standing and worth as a Vietnamese-founded retreat brand. Elevating its prominence with a timbered lotus-inspired design reaching out into the sea, An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay is no stranger to the elite realm of luxury hotels and resorts. Continuously recognised in prestigious international travel publications and organisations, the retreats appeal extends far beyond its picturesque setting on Ninh Van Bay. It resides in the essence of unique experiences, fleeting moments, and unforgettable memories, often encountered just once in a lifetime. Located a mere 30-minute drive from the bustling centre of Nha Trang, An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay is a vibrant canvas where the ocean intertwines with the mountains, forming a poetic landscape of tranquillity and grace. Unveiled for the first time in 2017, An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay made a lasting impact with its distinctive wooden design and ethos of blending nature with interior spaces. From the renowned Sen Restaurant and tranquil Jungle Spa to the versatile event venues and 37 cosy villas, everything is enveloped in the pure embrace of nature. Each corner radiates the authentic simplicity and heartfelt essence of Vietnamese culture. Embracing the essence of a true retreat, An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay offers a serene atmosphere that resonates with peace and intimacy. From the warm smiles of hospitable hosts to the culinary delights crafted from home-grown produce, and the attentive care provided by the spa staff, every corner exudes tranquillity and genuine connection. The annual World Luxury Hotel Awards honours outstanding individuals and entities across sectors of the global travel industry. Over the years, the ceremony has become a prestigious annual event, marked by professional voting conducted by experts and consumers worldwide. To spread joy and express gratitude for the unwavering support and companionship on the journey thus far, An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay is delighted to offer a Couple Retreats package with rates starting from VND5.8 million ($235) per room per night, inclusive of various complimentary benefits. At the World Luxury Hotel Awards 2023 on October 28 in Greece, An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay was honoured in the Luxury Romantic Beach Resort category as a Global Winner, and the Luxury Wellness Retreat category as a regional winner for Southeast Asia. For various attractive promotions fit for all requirements, visit: https://anlam.com/ninh-van-bay/offers/ An Lam Retreats for a journey of reconnection Get ready to reconnect with the pristine nature in a true escape with exclusive offers from An Lam Retreats Saigon River and An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay. An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay launches brand new villa The brand new of three-room villas An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay will offer unusual experiences for customers who love high-end relaxation. Nguyen Duc Trung, Chairman of Nghe An Peoples Committee, told VIR that the province has had positive breakthroughs in attracting investment in recent years, especially from abroad. This initial success is associated with the unity of direction from party committees to authorities, creating great consensus for all decisions related to local development. Fresh creativity bringing the difference to Nghe An plans We determine that for investors who have potential, are dedicated to the locality, and are willing to contribute to the development of Nghe An, both the highest leaders of the Party Committee and the Peoples Committee will be present to welcome them. This is what the province has been doing and has created great confidence for investors when coming to Nghe An, Trung said. Recognising the unity from the Party Committee to the provincial government, it not only stops at administration but is also outlined in the action programme to implement Resolution No.39/NQ-TW, approved in summer, and in the construction planning for the province for this decade. Creativity is shown in determining the driving force for Nghe An. Its development strategy covers all outstanding and core factors that help it thrive, and has identified Vinh city and Southeast Economic Zone (EZ) in particular to develop to the fullest. According to the plan, the scope of expansion of Vinh includes the current area of the city, Cua Lo town, and part of Nghi Loc district. In the future, Vinh city will be the economic, cultural, and service centre of the north-central region, and will boast urban development associated with high-quality industry and services. It is expected that by 2030, Vinhs population will be about 800,000 people. Nghe An has also outlined a roadmap to prioritise attracting large-scale infrastructure development investors such as VSIP, Hoang Thinh Dat, and WHA. It is the experience, professionalism, and potential of these infrastructure developers that have formed a bridge for foreign capital flows being poured into Nghe An in recent times. With that role, Nghe An sets a goal that by 2030, Southeast Nghe An EZ will include 15 industrial parks (IPs) and, by 2050, it will have 22 IPs. The goal is deemed within the provinces ability if based on the current situation as well as the strategic vision of its leaders through investing in connected infrastructure projects, accompanying support services, and support policies. It is recognised that expanding Vinh and Southeast Nghe An EZ will be supported fully in the provinces plan with three strategic breakthroughs, four economic corridors, five development pillars, and six urban centres. Three strategic breakthroughs will clearly orient factors such as policy, infrastructure, and human resources. Sunny Group to build $150-million factory in Nghe An China's Sunny Group has received an investment certificate to develop a $150-million factory in the central province of Nghe An. Positive steps promote Nghe Ans economy The master plan for the central province of Nghe An clearly outlines a roadmap for comprehensive development based on strategic breakthroughs in key industries. WHA Group takes the lead in smart eco-industrial park model for Nghe An As part of Thailands WHA Group, WHA Nghe An is working to help develop the province sustainably thanks to the international-standard smart eco-industrial park model. Dang Thi Thuy Trang, director of external relations for Grab Vietnam at the Sustainable Development 2023 Conference organised by Vietnam Investment Review in Hanoi on November 16, outlined the companies hopes and plans for the future. After nearly 10 years of operating in Vietnam, Grab has succeeded in building a platform to optimise benefits to all parties, namely driver partners, restaurants, eateries, and customers, she said. She said that the secret behind this success came from the process of continuously updating technology to develop new features, from creating heat maps for guiding drivers to move to crowded areas or location-sharing feature between drivers and passengers, helping both parties find each other more easily. We are constantly implementing research and development (R&D) so that partners on the Grab platform gain maximum benefits. Drivers have more rides, increasing income; restaurants save shipping costs and users also save time and money," Thuy Trang said. Typically, the regulation only signs transport contracts with renters who would like to rent the whole vehicle (including the driver), which is regulated at the Decree No.10/2020/ND-CP). This makes the service that allows passengers on the same journey to share the same ride impossible to deploy. While this is a typical sharing economic model, it has been effectively deployed in many other countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the United States, helping to optimise vehicle usage efficiency save resources, and reduce traffic congestion. Therefore, Grab recommends amending the regulations to allow ride-sharing services on the same contract ride, especially shared rides that are connected and arranged transparently through an online car booking platform," the Grab Vietnam representative said. In addition, according to Grab Vietnam, regulations on car transport business management are also limiting the optimisation of vehicle use efficiency. Specifically, current regulations allow each means of transport to only transport passengers or transport goods, depending on the licensed business vehicle badge. This regulation causes a waste of resources when numerous vehicles such as under-nine-seat cars can be used to transport passengers and normal goods. The use of under-nine-seat cars for multipurpose has been deployed safely, effectively and smoothly in many countries in the region, such as Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. Therefore, Grab proposes that management agencies consider and amend regulations to allow the use of multipurpose cars to ensure safety and efficiency. In addition, Grab has also cooperated with partners in many countries in the region to promote electric cars. Using electric vehicles is the right call. However, the implementation roadmap also depends on many objective factors such as the market, supply, and support ecosystem. In Vietnam, the ecosystem supporting electric vehicles has yet to develop. Thus, Grab evaluates that it will be difficult for businesses to invest and convert to such technology, especially for digital platforms that do not own vehicles. Grab proposes that the government builds a suitable roadmap to develop electric vehicles, through diversifying the supply of electric vehicles, promoting public-private cooperation to invest and upgrade infrastructure," Trang said. Grab Vietnam CEO reveals sustainability plans In an interview with VIR, CEO of Grab Vietnam Alejandro Osorio shares Grab's strategic plans on adoption of electric vehicles, ongoing pilot programmes for sustainable transport, and the group's commitment to carbon neutrality. Grab navigates affordability and sustainability Over the past year, Grab has rolled out a number of new initiatives, aimed at benefiting both consumers and driver-partners. Alejandro Osorio, CEO of Grab Vietnam, talked to VIRs Linh Le about his company's response to the evolving dynamics in the Vietnamese economy, focusing on an affordability strategy to stay relevant in a challenging economic climate. Sustainable development conference to take place in Hanoi On November 16, Vietnam Investment Review will host its Sustainable Development 2023 conference, themed Taking Responsibility, Taking Action. Live: Sustainable Development 2023 conference In response to climate change, sustainable development has become an imperative for the world. This includes Vietnam, which is one of the five most vulnerable countries to climate change. Vietnam embraces green growth in its sustainable development strategy for 2023 At the Sustainable Development 2023 seminar, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong outlined Vietnam's commitment to green growth and sustainable development, highlighting the challenges and strategies in the new era. The urgency of the situation is unequivocal, and the solution is equally clear: We need to triple renewable energy and require a seismic change in the level of investment - up to $5.7 trillion per year by 2030 - to put us on course for the Paris Agreement scenario. Nicolas Leong, Director, North & Southeast Asia, Wartsila Energy The final quarter of this year, as we build up to COP28, is a critical moment to shift our focus from targets to implementation at pace. However, renewables alone are not enough to deliver the change we need. To enable wind and solar to thrive, we need to build flexible energy systems that are reliable and affordable. We cannot delay any longer. Wasting renewable energy Around the world, renewables are quickly becoming the most competitive source of electricity generation. Setting ambitious renewable energy targets and deploying wind and solar at scale is essential to enabling rapid decarbonisation. However, there is a possibility of missing out trillions of dollars investment into wind and solar if we continue to add inflexible assets in the power system. For generations, we have been reliant upon traditional, inflexible power plants, such as coal and combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) to provide baseload power for our electricity grids. These traditional power systems now need to adapt, as renewable energy is expected to meet 35 per cent of global power generation by 2025. In Vietnam, variable renewable energy is expected to meet more than 30 per cent of the total power generation by 2030. As wind and solar power is intermittent, running them alongside inflexible baseload power plants, which cannot quickly ramp up and down to match the changing levels of renewable energy, can create significant issues, such as instability or unreliability for our power systems. As the level of renewable energy on our grids increases in the coming years, a large share of these inflexible power plants will become obsolete, uneconomical stranded assets in our power system. Renewable energy usually ranks first in the dispatch order in any power system due to their low marginal cost. This will have a big impact on conventional power plants that normally operate as a baseload. For example, in Vietnam, the priority to dispatch renewable energy (installed capacity of 21.6 GW, accounting for 27 per cent of total system capacity) has been impacting many CCGT power plants. Some of these baseload plants have to perform daily starts and stops, up to 230 times in just four months. This has increased the fuel consumption, maintenance costs, and the frequency of unit breakdown of these inflexible technologies. We therefore need to combine the build out of renewables, with a substantial increase in flexible capacity such as grid balancing engines and energy storage systems, which can quickly ramp up and down to support wind and solar power. Because this flexible capacity can respond to sudden changes in demand and supply, it can also serve as different ancillary services in the grid. This includes frequency control, maintaining the stability and reliability of the grid, preventing blackouts and power disruptions. Flexibility is not an option but an essential part of our high renewable power systems. If we fail to increase the flexibility at scale, it will threaten our ability to provide affordable and reliable electricity to industry, homes and businesses while missing out on our decarbonisation targets. Building affordable systems Wartsila has studied and modelled over 190 energy systems around the world, using energy simulation software. We have found that anywhere in the world, the most cost-effective approach to reach full renewable energy is to combine renewable energy sources with flexibility in the form of grid balancing engines and energy storage. These solutions offer high levels of dispatchability and can ramp up and down quickly in any conditions. This setup delivers reliable renewables at a low levelised cost of electricity (LCOE), making clean energy affordable for all. For example, according to the latest modelling work by Wartsila for Vietnam, by investing in renewable-based power systems backed by grid balancing engines and energy storage, Vietnam would be able to reach net-zero by 2050, cut its LCOE by 20 per cent, and avoid nearly $28 billion per year in forecasted carbon taxes. The path to net-zero is not linear, and the last few years have demonstrated that we cannot see exactly what is around the corner. Therefore, policymakers must establish market conditions and policies to enable us to build flexibility into power systems today and ensure theyre adaptable for tomorrow. The balancing of renewables requires both energy storage and grid balancing power plants. They work together to cover sub-second, minute, daily, and seasonal variations and ensure a steady supply of electricity when renewable output fluctuates. Grid balancing engine technology can also be converted to run on hydrogen and other sustainable fuels in the future. These include fuels produced from excess wind and solar energy, to enable a closed loop, fully renewable power system and avoid stranded assets. Such flexible engine technology is the optimal choice to supporting our increasingly renewables power systems compared to alternatives like gas turbines. This is because they can quickly ramp up and down an unlimited number of times per day, are highly efficient at any output and can maintain efficiency and power output at different loads and at high ambient conditions. That means they can better address the variability of renewable energy to match the electricity demand of the grid. Principles for a flexible future Based on our modelling and expertise, Wartsila has outlined three crucial principles for policymakers and the wider energy industry to follow when designing our future power systems. Firstly, we need to ensure that we are choosing the right technologies. The build out of wind and solar energy must be matched with flexible grid balancing engines and energy storage to ensure the optimal, lowest cost power mix. Secondly, we must design our energy markets to support flexibility for example introducing capacity payment and developing an ancillary services market to ensure developers receive a return on their investment, even if a plant runs only intermittently with short hours to balance demand. There should be proper market mechanisms for the procurement, utilisation, and compensation of ancillary services. Assigning a real price to ancillary services and subjecting these services to competitive bidding will increase incentives for generators to make such services available and to invest in flexible technologies. And finally, we should introduce shorter trading and dispatch intervals, such as using a 15-minute or even 5-minute time resolution in the power market trading instead of 30-minute intervals to quickly respond to the imbalance. The procurement of energy and ancillary services should be co-optimised to ensure the lowest total system costs. In 1896, a seminal paper by Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius first predicted that changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could substantially alter the surface temperature through the greenhouse effect. Over 120 years later, we still havent been able to stop levels from rising. Our window to reduce emissions and keep our planet habitable is closing. We have the technologies, expertise, and finance available now to create a greener future and there is no time to waste: every second counts. The Vietnam-Cambodia Economic Product Exhibition was a superb opportunity for Kien Giang province to show off its distinct products In the face of complex international economic outlook, businesses based in Kien Giang have tried their best to surmount difficulties, and availed themselves of opportunities from Vietnams free trade agreements to expand business at home and abroad. These efforts have diversified markets and generated practical results, according to the Kien Giang Centre for Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion (KITRA). It has fostered cooperation with departments, sectors, and local areas, as well as encouraged businesses to partake in diverse promotion schemes such as joining trade fairs, seminars, conferences, and forums in locations across the country and even abroad. The centre hosted a display area to introduce distinct One Commune, One Product items and typical rural industrial products of the province at the Vietnam-Cambodia Economic Product Exhibition in Phnom Penh. The event, running from October 24-30, was organised by the Economic Department under the Ministry of Defence, in tandem with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and relevant ministries and sectors in Cambodia. At the exhibition, more than 35 distinct products, such as Phu Quoc fish sauce, dried shrimp, canned fish, and pepper from 16 businesses and co-operatives were presented at the Kien Giang booth, attracting nearly 1,500 visitors. Participating businesses also secured contracts with local partners for dried shrimp exports, opening a fish source distribution agent in Cambodia, and more. Trade development Tran Bao Quoc, deputy director of Khai Hoan Trading JSC, said that in recent months, the company had accompanied the KITRA at many domestic and foreign trade events. In particular, through a trade promotion event in Cambodia, 10 top fish source brands and Khai Hoan JSC had a meeting with the Vietnamese ambassador to Cambodia, providing an opportunity to present Phu Quoc fish sauce as well as receive support from the Ambassador to develop in the Cambodian market. In addition, the fish sauce businesses held a working session with the Vietnamese Business Association in Cambodia and received positive signals and support for development. The KITRA as well as the local Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Industry and Trade have been the driving force supporting local businesses to get back on the path for sustainable development in the future, and we appreciate that, Quoc said. In August, the KITRA led a group to Thailand to participate in Vietnamese Goods Week, hosted by the MoIT in cooperation with Thailands Central Group. The group consisted of businesses in diverse sectors meeting to discuss cooperative opportunities for trade and market expansion. Also in August, the centre teamed up with Saigon Co.op Rach Gia to introduce Kien Giangs products, assisting businesses based in the province to expand. Consequently, many firms have inked contracts with Saigon Co.op Rach Gia with a view to putting their products on their supermarket shelves. These include Hong Chau Yen, which makes products from birds nests; Thanh Thanh Agricultural Services, which makes dried shrimp; and Phuc Khang Co-operative, which produces honey. On September 14-17, the KITRA teamed up with the Kien Giang Department of Industry and Trade, as well as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and local businesses, to partake in international agriculture trade fair Agroviet 23 in Hanoi, to present the provinces distinct products to visitors and northern businesses. Kien Giangs booths enticed nearly 1,500 visitors, and provincial businesses have inked contracts on product supply with fellow firms coming from other localities. Leveraging this wide range of activities, businesses at home and abroad have a good grip on the provinces advantage, and the myriad opportunities for investment and cooperation. Increasing exposure To shine a light on the provinces bountiful tourism potential, the KITRA has also teamed up with the tourism sector in the Mekong Delta to efficiently expedite market development plans to diversify tourism, as well as join promotion programmes of several key markets for outbound tours. The centre joined efforts with the Mekong Delta Tourism Association (MDTA) and Tra Vinh Tourism Promotion Centre on a programme surveying diverse destinations, and a conference on tourism promotion to the delta region in Danang. It has also collaborated with the MDTA and An Giangs investment and trade centre to host a conference on delta region tourism promotion in Lao Cai, and cooperated with the Western Cluster of the Mekong Delta to host an exhibition area to promote Kien Giang tourism at the Ho Chi Minh City International Trade Exhibition in September. These efforts have resulted in MoUs between Kien Giangs businesses and business partners to expand tour itineraries to best avail of the provinces potential. As regards to outbound tourism promotion, last month the KITRA worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs to organise a delegation participating in the Vietnamese Locality Promotion Programme in the United Kingdom, created by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Marking the occasion, the delegation brought exposure to the potential and strengths of the province in investment, trade, and tourism as well as seeking market expansion and trade connections with British localities and businesses. Quang Xuan Lua, director of the KITRA, said that it would continue to support and create better conditions for the business community to actively participate in investment, trade, and tourism promotion at home and abroad as well as bringing local products into distribution systems inside and outside the province. According to figures by Kien Giang Peoples Committee, in the year to the end of October, Kien Giangs economy continued to rebound with a fair growth level, in which trade and tourism services served as stellar points. Accordingly, during the period, total retail sale and services revenues approximated $4.7 billion, reaching 95 per cent of the full-year plan and up 17.6 per cent on-year. Export value reached $719.5 million, hitting 83.6 per cent of the full-year plan and up 6.7 per cent. As for tourism, 7.85 million visitors entered the province, reaching 94.7 per cent of the yearly plan and showing a 19 per cent jump on-year. International visitors saw a spike with over 548,000 arrivals, soaring 56.6 per cent over projections and more than triple compared to a year ago. The provinces tourism sector generated more than $66 million in total revenue in the period, surpassing the full-year plan by 20.5 per cent and up 80 per cent compared to one year ago. Kien Giang eyes 60-100 million USD in FDI over next five years The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has set its sights on pulling in 60-100 million USD worth of FDI over the next five years, according to Vice Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Nguyen Duc Chin. Kien Giang has 18 more star-rated OCOP products Eighteen more local specialties have been recognised as three- and four-star One Commune, One Product (OCOP) products in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang. Phu Quoc changes to better serve tourists, investors Phu Quoc island in the southern province of Kien Giang is making it new to welcome tourists and investors as it plans to reopen its door to international tourists from this November. Construction of bridge spanning Hau River begins Construction of Chau Doc bridge which connects Kien Giang provinces Chau Doc city and Dong Thap provinces Tan Chau town started on March 28. Phu Quoc Island an orchestra of wonder What could be better than being able to relax on the beach with the sound of crashing waves and wind, exploring the beautiful landscapes, and delving into the clear water to experience colourful coral reefs and shoals of fish? Hon Son island an emerging tourist destination of Kien Giang Hon Son, a small island located 65km from Rach Gia city of the Mekong Delta of Kien Giang, is emerging as a tourist attraction in the south thanks to its untouched beauty and huge tourism development potential. The provincial mission, led by Nguyen Minh Lam, Deputy Chairman of Long An People's Committee, had a meeting with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce in California. Rodney Fong, president and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, provided the Long An delegation with information, focusing on connecting with potential foreign investors in Vietnam and vice versa. He concentrated on new business areas like green and renewable energy development to adapt to global climate changes. Long Ans Deputy Chairman Nguyen Minh Lam speaks at his meeting with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce in California. Photo: Thai Hoa Lam provided information on his provinces socioeconomic conditions, investment environment and plans to draw in foreign investment into the Mekong Delta province. He emphasised that with the advantage of being the gateway connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the delta region and infrastructure developments, Long An was already a destination for many foreign businesses. He said the province's import-export turnover in 2022 was $12.2 billion. Of this, the US market exported goods of nearly $469 million and imported Long An products worth of $72.8 million. The main import and export items included industrial products, garments, handicrafts, agricultural products, and food. Lam expressed his hope that US commercial organisations would actively support Long An in building cooperative relationships with US partners. Nguyen Minh Lam (second right) meets with Toks Omishakin (left), California State Secretary of Transportation. Photo: Thai Hoa Leaders of US trade agencies and investment promotion organisations pledged with the Long An mission that they would help strengthen trade and investment ties between businesses of the two countries Also in the US, Long An leaders witnessed Long An-based Dong Tam JSC signing an MoU for cooperation with Californias Port of Long Beach. With the MoU, the two major companies have begun their sister relationship, opening up opportunities for cooperation, sharing experiences in port management and operation and market connection to further increase transshipment performance. Dong Tam JSC is the investor and operator of Long An International Port in the southern province. Meanwhile, the Port of Long Beach is one of the world's leading seaports, located in southern California, with six container terminals and a total cargo value of over $200 billion per year. It is the number one export seaport in the US. Long An International Port in Long An. Photo: Dong Tam JSC On August 8, 2023 at Long An International Port, Secretary of Long An Party Committee Nguyen Van Duoc and Dong Tam JSC top executives met with a business mission including government officials and major businesses from the state of California. The visiting mission was led by Sheng Thao, Mayor of Oakland City. Then, Long An International Port and the Port of Oakland signed an MoU for cooperation. As an important gateway connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the Mekong Delta, Long An resonates with the spread of industrial and urban development of the major city. In addition, the province has its strengths in water transportation with seaports and river ports, and has a border of about 134km with Cambodia, together with two border gates to the neighbouring western country. Long An International Port inks deal with Port of Long Beach On November 15, Long An International Port (Vietnam) and the Port of Long Beach (US) signed a letter of intent to establish a sister port relationship. This coincided with an event to welcome Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation partners organised by the California Association of Port Authorities (CAPA). Japanese investment soars in Long An province Highlighted in the recent Investment Promotion Conference, the Mekong Delta province of Long An's strong economic appeal is underscored by 138 Japan-invested projects, cumulatively worth over $760 million. With discussion around the topic of shaping the future of travel, Hotelbeds popular MarketHub Asia will bring 400 travel distributors from 16 source markets and 200 key clients from across the globe together in Bangkok. This is the second time Hotelbeds has held their forum for the tourism and hotel industry in Thailand. MarketHub Asia is an invitation-only event attended by key Hotelbeds partners from across Asia-Pacific and Middle East Amari Watergate Bangkok will be the host venue and the event and will feature a dynamic series of interactive sessions, engaging panel discussions, and networking opportunities designed to promote business growth and innovation. Participants will hear valuable insights from travel industry leaders, as well as exchanges between a range of industry experts, helping to shape the future of travel in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. Amari Watergate Bangkok is part of the ONYX Hospitality Group, an established hospitality management company with more than five decades of experience in the Southeast Asian hospitality industry. MarketHub Asia showcases the value of bringing leaders from across the travel industry and beyond together to learn and uncover all the opportunities that lie ahead, said Carlos Munoz, Chief Commercial Officer of Hotelbeds. We believe that with its strategic location in Bangkok, this event will provide a gateway for global travel professionals to tap into the potential of both the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets and explore business opportunities across the regions. MarketHubs return to Asia reflects the progress made in the travel sectors recovery and signifies renewed confidence in the future of tourism, he added. The latest data from Hotelbeds shows that Thailand has experienced remarkable growth as a travel destination, with an impressive 180 per cent increase compared to this time last year. Among the top destinations chosen by travellers when visiting the country are Bangkok, Koh Samui, Krabi, Pattaya, and Phuket. This is supported by recent figures from the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports, which indicate that the country has welcomed almost 12 million international tourists since the beginning of the year. SiteMinder, Meituan, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) found that Chinese travellers led the boom, with more than 1.3 million arrivals. Previous editions of MarketHub, held in Amsterdam and Cancun earlier this year, were a resounding success, attracting industry professionals and thought leaders eager to collaborate, explore emerging trends, and showcase the industry's resilience and adaptability in an ever-changing environment. On Nov. 17, Sam Altman made huge headlines after getting ousted as the chief executive of OpenAI, as announced by the AI tech firm. Now, the former OpenAI CEO was seen for the last time at the company's headquarters in San Francisco. Altman even posted a photo of him on Monday, Nov. 20. He said that it was the "first and last time" he'd wear one of these as he holds a guest pass attached to an OpenAI lanyard. But, some rumors claim that his supposed to be "last visit" could be a sign that Sam Altman could be re-hired as OpenAI's CEO. Sam Altman Seen Visiting OpenAI Headquarters According to CNN Business' latest report, Sam Altman visited OpenAI's HQ on Sunday, Nov. 19. Although the ex-CEO didn't provide the exact reason for his visit, many people familiar with the AI firm's activities shared their speculations. Rumors claim that the board engaged with Altman, as well as Greg Brockman-OpenAI's former president who resigned after learning about Altman's termination. Sources said that the two ex-OpenAI officials returned to the office because the board was having second thoughts about re-hiring them. Although Altman and Brockman haven't confirmed if they are planning to go back to the AI company, many people believe that their visit on Sunday is a clear sign they are still "mulling" a return. first and last time i ever wear one of these pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a Sam Altman (@sama) November 19, 2023 If ever the former CEO accepts the board's alleged return offer, there's a chance that he will impose conditions. These could include making Microsoft, the largest investor in OpenAI, to be a part of the board. Aside from Microsoft, speculations also claim that Altman could be planning to add more of his allies as directors. As of writing, the termination of Altman is a big deal for OpenAI given that the board is down to four members. Read Also: Elon Musk Vs. Sam Altman: OpenAI CEO's GPTs Bashes X's Grok AI, Calling It 'Cringey Boomer' Why OpenAI Should Disclose Reason for Sam Altman's Termination It is still unclear why OpenAI's board decided to remove Sam Altman as CEO, and it looks like they have no plans to provide an explanation soon. But, Elon Musk said that the artificial intelligence developer has the responsibility to disclose the main reason for Altman's termination. Via Business Insider, Elon Musk said that this should be done since the potential danger of AI is too great. "Given the risk and power of advanced AI, the public should be informed why the board felt they had to take such drastic action," said the billionaire. Related Article: OpenAI 'Superintelligence' Development Could Start Soon! CEO Sam Altman Now Seeking More Funds From Microsoft @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Vinamilk methodically invests in solutions for sustainable development One of the top concerns for business leaders in implementing sustainable strategies is the expense. As a business that has recorded many milestones in sustainable development, Le Thanh Liem, executive director of Finance of Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (Vinamilk), outlined the company's vision, at the 2023 Sustainable Development Conference organised by Vietnam Investment Review last week. 20 years ago, the actions that Vinamilk took at that time were only legally compliant, for example building a wastewater treatment system and building a deodorisation system. At that time, Vinamilk did not think of those activities as environmental, social, and governance (ESG), as to do such things, we still needed to invest a huge amount of money," Liem said. In recent years, with the cooperation and direction of the government, the participation of the business community and all people as well as partners, ESG issues have become more popular. Businesses are also gradually spending a large amount of money to invest in sustainable development and the goal of achieving net-zero. Vinamilk's board of directors determines that sustainable development or moving towards net-zero is a long road and must have a specific roadmap. Once we have that, we can build resources and allocate reasonable funds for investment. Certainly, in the first years of change, these investments are more costly. Currently, Vinamilk is building a rooftop solar power system at its farms and factories, but the initial investment cost is quite high. The truck and forklift system are also gradually being replaced by EVs, which also costs a lot of investment capital, Liem said. However, the fortunate thing is that these investments are still under Vinamilk's control. The investment is not a problem of one or two years but is the long-term direction, responsibility and benefit of the business. If we don't invest now, Vinamilks image in the next five to seven years will be very different," he added. Sharing his experience in implementing sustainable development strategies, he said that the company operated in two segments, namely livestock farming and production, which had different characteristics. In the livestock sector, Vinamilk has a system of more than 14 farms spread across the country. The cows produce a large amount of waste, forcing them to have a treatment plan. Accordingly, the entire wastewater and manure system are taken to a biogas circulation system to generate energy, combined with a solar power system. Farms set aside quite a large area for material area. For example, the farm in Tay Ninh is 680 hectares wide, 500ha is the area for growing trees and grass for cows. Growing plants is an activity that helps neutralise the carbon of livestock farming activities," Liem said Packaging is also another concern. Vinamilk's products are diverse, using plastic, paper, and tin packaging. Thus, with all such types of packaging, the company actively discusses with suppliers to use environmentally friendly packaging, which can be recyclable. The transformation cannot be completed 100 per cent immediately, but the company has developed a five-year implementation plan. Another difficulty is measuring indicators for statistics, evaluation and reporting, which are basis to evaluate the investment efficiency, as well as ensuring transparency and objectivity. We are working with an international organisation that provides a software system that connects directly to serve the measurement and statistics, from which we have specific reports for improvement work. We are gradually accompanying our partners to overcome the lack of data and reports, Liem said. Business community takes responsibility for sustainable development More than 200 representatives from government authorities and enterprises gathered at the Sustainable Development 2023 conference held by Vietnam Investment Review in Hanoi on November 16. SABECO's principles and commitments towards sustainable development With SABECO's mission of developing itself into an industry-leading corporation in Vietnam and across the world, it is committed to implementing its sustainable development based on three environmental, social, and governance areas. Views offered at Sustainable Development 2023 conference During the first session of the Sustainable Development 2023 conference on November 16, government and business leaders shared their efforts to implement sustainable solutions and respond to climate change, among other issues. VIR honours firms committed to sustainable development As part of the 2023 Sustainable Development conference, VIR has honoured over 50 local and foreign businesses and organisations who have contributed to sustainable development in Vietnam over the past five years. A wind turbine tower reportedly collapsed as it was being hoisted as part of the tower's installation. A total of five workers were working at the tower, with one person outside and four people inside. One person is dead, one has been injured, and three people were rescued unharmed. The National Energy Bureau Xinjiang Supervision Office has issued an accident notice, and regional projects have been suspended. The National Energy Bureau Xinjiang Supervision Office said that the accident was serious, and the consequences have been grave. The Chinese authorities are working with all stakeholders to address legal responsibilities to comply with regulations for the safety of those involved. The project construction is now resumed, and one of the project's equipment supplier Windey Energy can start supplying total 84 units of its 7.X turbines including nacelle, hub and blade as scheduled. Windey Energy Technology Group is a large listed enterprise in Zhejiang province, China. The group has already established a subsidiary named Hanoi Windey Operation and Maintenance Co., Ltd in Vietnam. In Vietnam, Windey Energy Technology Group has supplied turbines for the 50MW onshore wind power project Tan Tan Nhat - Dak Glei in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. Additionally, Windey Energy Technology Group also provides turbines for Ia Pech and Ia Pech 2 wind power plants in Ia Grai district, Gia Lai province with a total capacity of 100MW, and 50MW Win Energy Chinh Thang in Ninh Thuan province. Localities pinning hopes on PDP8 to help beat the heat With clear evidence that Vietnams electricity structure is creaking under the current heat and grid overload, the Power Development Plan VIII contains the acute task of successfully implementing an equitable energy transition in association with smart grid construction and advanced power system management in line with a greener outlook. Draft on new green power pricing structure expected in November The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is currently gathering data for a draft, expected in November, on the best approach to building a new pricing structure for solar and wind power. A group of about 50 took a tour of 25th Street, a predominantly Hispanic corridor that is up for enhancements to its walkability, parking, traffic calming and cultural identity. The Waco Walks tour Saturday was led by organizer Ashley Bean Thornton, members of the city of Waco planning department, Grassroots Community Development and Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., the firm chosen to lead planning for the corridors revitalization. The Waco City Council in August awarded the contract to Kimley-Horn to come up with an implementation plan for about 1.5 miles of 25th Street from Franklin Avenue to Maple Avenue. Thornton gave remarks before the Waco Walks group embarked on its journey Saturday south from Poco Loco Supermercado at 25th Street and Bosque Boulevard, talking to local business owners along the way. She said she is terrified of one-way streets, warning walkers of fast-moving traffic and dilapidated sidewalks, but is enthusiastic about the corridors future, which could include a two-way configuration. This could just be a great part of the city where you could live over here in this great neighborhood and just walk to the grocery store or walk to school if you go over here, Thornton said. Please do be really, really careful. The sidewalks were going to be walking on are pretty broken up and theres a lot of curbs and stuff like that so please do watch where youre walking. And Im very serious about the one-way street thing. Its a one-way street, cars zoom through here really fast. Waco Planning Manager Laura Wagstaff said a pre-walk of the route reinforced the need for a focus on the streets walkability. Its more of an urban hike than an urban walk, Wagstaff said. The group began by crossing the street at Poco Loco and gathered near Provident Heights Elementary School at the corner of 25th Street and Bosque Boulevard. At stops along the route Kimley-Horn officials gathered input from attendees on things they would like to see done differently, with attendees immediately noting the lack of comfortable space for pedestrians to stand and wait to cross the intersection. The group walked past the 25th Street Bazaar and MPower Fitness stopping at Tortilleria Bustos, which has been in business for 12 years. Owner Andres Bustos, translated from Spanish by Kimley-Horn representative April Rose Escamilla, said he was attracted to 25th Street for the areas prominent Hispanic community where his business could provide culturally significant foods, as printed on the outside of the gray-blue building. Grassroots North Waco community organizer Sarai Muniz said the tortillerias building and the two buildings next to it are owned by Lourdes Osequera, who has operated La Nueva Michoacana in the yellow building next door since 2010. A strong sense of ownership is common among businesses along the corridor. She is from Michoacan and the reason why she chose 25th Street was similar to Andres story, Muniz said. She saw that there was a strong Hispanic and Latino population here and wanted to be a part of that in providing services and access to those around her. The streets issues with Americans with Disabilities Act compliance became very clear early in the walk. Leaving Tortilleria Bustos, the next block did not have a ramp onto the sidewalk, causing an attendee using a wheelchair to take a longer route onto the cracked, overgrown and unstable walkway. In places where there was a way to get on the sidewalk there was not always the same type of access point at the end of the block, leaving those pushing strollers or relying on a wheelchair stranded at tall curbs. Around 25th and Cole Avenue the group checked in again, asking for more parking on the street, repaved sidewalks, trees, seating areas, possibly uniform signs for businesses and ADA transition areas. Bertha Barrientos owns the block at 25th Street and Grim Avenue that houses Berthas Bakery and Restaurant, food truck space and a life-size checker board-like concrete pad across from Fire Station No. 6. Standing on the checkered space, walkers suggested taking advantage of what is there to create a live checker board, while adding more seating, food trucks, shade and greenery. Barrientos, a 40-year Waco resident, has operated her business for 30 years. What she really likes about 25th Street is the safety obviously the connectivity to all the different neighborhoods as well as being able to have people activate her area here, Escamilla said, translating for Barrientos. But what shed really to see is a park She says that basically she would love it if there would be a park in this location and an area for people to come, for people to congregate and then just continue to build on. The group stopped next at 25th Street and Sanger Avenue near Vallejo Auto where attendees noted entire sections of the road in dire need of repaving that have been patched with tar and would likely be unbearable in the summer. One attendee suggested better lighting on both sides of the road and audible crosswalk signals at busy intersections in both English and Spanish. Another suggested art and cultural features, similar to those along recently overhauled Elm Avenue. The group crossed 25th Street to walk down Morrow Avenue, a street vibrant with colored houses but littered with cracked and inadequate sidewalks. They made a right at 26th Street, the corridors one-way counterpart, which was partially missing sidewalks. It was clear the existing sidewalks had been there for a very long time, as trees grew from beneath them, buckling the concrete into peaks and valleys with their roots. Luz Elena Gonzalez welcomed walkers to El Pueblos Paleteria y Fruteria and her boutique next door at Gorman Avenue and 25th Street. She and her husband began business there about 10 years ago, renting out their space and supplies for parties and showers each weekend. Attendees were invited to take a peek at the large event space, which was decorated in pink and white with sparkling lights prepped for a baptism party. The group was welcomed in for a tour of Fire Station No. 6, the former site of the 25th Street Theatre where construction of the fire station and new department headquarters resembling the old theater wrapped up last year. Walk organizer Thornton said the theaters grand opening was on Nov. 29, 1945, with a showing of Thrill of a Romance featuring Van Johnson and Esther Williams. They had dual heating and cooling, so super fancy, right? Thornton said of the theater. The walks last stop was at Casa de Bendicion y Antojitos Centroamericanos where business owner Rosa Rodriguez showed off her previously blue buildings sleek white paintjob. Attendees were invited to offer comments and suggestions on boards placed around the lawn. Those who were not able to attend the tour but would like to participate may complete a survey in English or Spanish at www.surveymonkey.com/r/JHBMQQP. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested a 36-year-old man Thursday after he was stopped on Interstate 35 in McLennan County and admitted to smuggling three undocumented immigrants to Dallas, according to an arrest affidavit. William Quintanilla was booked into McLennan County Jail on two second-degree felony charges of smuggling of a person and one second-degree felony charge of smuggling a person under 18 years old. According to his arrest affidavit, a DPS trooper stopped Quintanilla on the interstate near Ross for following too closely and failure to stay in one lane. The affidavit says two women and an 11-year-old child were in the car with Quintanilla, all of whom were undocumented immigrants. The women and child all still had mud and leaves on their clothes from being in the brush near the southern border, the affidavit says. Neither the two women or Quintanilla could provide troopers with any information about the child, the affidavit says. In an interview with Quintanilla, he told troopers he was being paid $1,500 to drive the group from La Pryor, a small community about 45 miles east of Eagle Pass, to Dallas, the affidavit says. Officials also found that Quintanilla was wanted out of Harris County for failing to appear in court on a property damage charge, the affidavit says. The women and child were then taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, the affidavit says. Quintanilla remained jailed Monday on $300,000 bond. INDEPENDENCE General Mills is finalizing the sale of its former Blue Buffalo pet food manufacturing plant to a company planning to put it back into operation, according to Iowa Economic Development Authority and Independence city officials. IEDA spokesperson Kanan Kappelman said the buyer, Independence Premium Foods, is an offshoot company of United Premium Foods in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, and plans to hire workers, make substantial investments, and manufacture pet food. The move marks the revival of a facility thats been an economic driver for decades. Most of the 217 Blue Buffalo workers lost their jobs Oct. 6, according to Iowa labor records. A half dozen are still working through Dec. 1. The plant is located at 812 Third St. N.W., surrounded by residences and other industry, and within two to three miles of U.S. Highway 20 and Independence Municipal Airport. Independence Mayor Brad Bleichner said General Mills expects to close the sale Dec. 1 and noted the plant could be up and running soon after that. Postings on the facilitys front door and the Independence Premium Foods bare bones website note its working to hire approximately 100 employees, including salaried staff, production staff and maintenance technicians. Some will begin working next month, and production is expected to start in January. The company will create at least 229 jobs and make at least a $15.05 million capital investment, according the IEDA. The IEDA board approved $1.5 million in assistance Friday, contingent upon meeting the investment and employment benchmarks. The aid is in the form of a $750,000 forgivable loan and a $750,000, five-year zero interest loan through the High Quality Jobs Program. That is in addition to a city match of $300,000, which could be met through cash, sewer improvements, tax abatement or in-kind contributions. The city is very excited to have this group coming in and is happy with the outlook they have for the city, Bleichner said. General Mills spokesperson Mollie Wulff noted over email that the company did not have any updates to share at this time in response to The Couriers inquiry about a pending sale. United Premium Foods executives did not immediately respond to a voicemail or email. The Oct. 6 plant closure came as part of changes made in direct support of the pet supply chain strategy, which supports the long-term growth of the business, Wulff said in May when the closure was announced. According to the mayor, former Blue Buffalo plant employees have been offered jobs at Independence Premium Foods. General Mills took over the operation of the plant, later named Blue Buffalo, in the summer of 2021 as part of a $1.2 billion deal to acquire Tysons production of its Nudges, True Chews and Top Chews products. General Mills already owned the pet food line known as Blue Buffalo. Tyson Foods revitalized the closed Iowa Ham Plant in 2010 and started producing pet food there, according to Courier archives. The facility was shuttered in 2006 after Iowa Ham had been in production for more than 50 years. Buchanan County Economic Development Commission documents note the facility was constructed in 1955. An addition was built in 2001 and upgrades were made in 2021. Now the property has 150,000 square feet of space on 8.43 acres between its main processing plant and two storage facilities. Were thrilled, said Kappelman. Its getting a new lease on life with the jobs and investment. Its a win-win. We told them they have big shoes to fill, said Bleichner about his conversations with company officials. The new companys investment includes retrofitting manufacturing equipment to expand the production capabilities to a wide range of food products, according to the IEDA. IEDA documents suggest some construction will get underway as soon as December. Testing and pilot production will start in January. Another phase of building improvements and equipment are planned for November 2026. Activity could be seen at the building Saturday night. The lobby of the office was lit up, and outside the truck bays red and green lights were blinking. Angie Weltzin, who has lived across the street for approximately two years, spoke highly of General Mills and its employees. It was pretty quiet, not a lot of traffic, she said about the former General Mills plant. Of course, you heard some machinery, but it wasnt loud or nothing. Weltzin said one of her neighbors was among the employees laid off from the plant. Its good to have an employer right here, she said. Not everyone can drive. Weltzin is hopeful the community can depend on it going forward to provide lots of people with job security for a long time. Photos: Grundy Center vs. MFL MarMac in the Class 1A state championship WATERLOO A Waterloo man has been sentenced for breaking into downtown businesses this spring. Darrion Bryceland Jones, 25, pleaded to two counts of third-degree burglary and one count of possession of burglary tools on Nov. 9 in Black Hawk County District Court. He was sentenced to up to five years in prison suspended to two to five years of probation with up to one year at the Waterloo Residential Facility. Authorities allege Jones broke into the Savvy Bean coffee shop on East Fourth Street in the early morning hours of May 13. He then went to the Dark Rose Salon on Commercial Street. Officers arrived when he was still inside the Dark Rose. He was detained when he exited the building, according to court records. He was carrying a flashlight and a screwdriver. Jones also pleaded to one count of misdemeanor fourth-degree theft in a November 2022 incident where he allegedly pawned a PlayStation 5 that had been stolen in a home burglary. The cities with the most break-ins and burglaries Over the past decade burglary and larceny rates have declined Daytime break-ins of homes are most common Southern states experience the most property crime Small and midsize cities with the most burglaries 15. Dallas, TX 14. Houston, TX 13. Las Vegas, NV 12. Columbus, OH 11. Minneapolis, MN 10. Milwaukee, WI 9. Wichita, KS 8. Kansas City, MO 7. Oklahoma City, OK 6. Bakersfield, CA 5. Seattle, WA 4. Baltimore, MD 3. Detroit, MI 2. Tulsa, OK 1. Memphis, TN WATERLOO Like mother, like daughter. Amanda Scarborough felt stuck in her job the money was good, but it wasnt fulfilling. I wanted something more. Then she came across the North Star Community Services website and began reading about a new apprenticeship program. The more I read, the more excited I was, said the 42-year-old former paralegal. The single mom also mentioned the apprenticeship opportunity to her daughter, Aaliyah, 20. I thought it would be perfect for her because she has a passion for helping people. She didnt know what to do with her future, and I thought it sounded like something shed do well, said Amanda. The mother-daughter duo started their Registered Direct Support Professional apprenticeships at North Star less than a month ago. We have people in our family who have disabilities. Ive always been someone who puts others needs ahead of my own, said Aaliyah. Im glad Im getting to work with my mom. Were really best friends. North Star is one of the first in the state to offer the apprenticeship program and the only program in Northeast Iowa. The Scarbourghs are the first to enter the apprenticeship. North Stars guiding philosophy is helping adults with a range of disabilities live the life they want to live. DSPs help make their independence possible and are at the heart of the program, said Jodie Muller, North Star donor and public relations director. DSPs are the reason we can succeed in providing support to people living with one or more identified disability the very reason that 160,000 Iowans with disabilities are able to live largely independent lives of their choosing, and to live self-directed, community and social lives, she explained. The new apprenticeship program is designed to help address workforce shortages, said Valerie Schwager, North Star executive director. There really are two aspects of the program. One is to start working towards addressing the workforce crisis in this industry. The other piece of the apprenticeship is to change the image or perception of Direct Support Professional positions. She describes it as a hidden profession viewed as an entry-level position and not one that is recognized as a career path or profession. The apprenticeship will turn that perception around and bring increased opportunities and increased wages, and more appreciation for what DSPs do, Schwager explained. In addition to North Star, Muller said the program will benefit our peer providers, as well. In March, a quick search of Indeed showed listings for over 572 DSP openings in the state, and I am sure that number isnt much improved. At North Star, Amanda and Aaliyah will receive training and certification required to assist disabled individuals in a variety of ways. Those skills range from helping someone understand doctors orders, maintain healthy lifestyles and coping with stress to managing their finances and successfully living in the community or home of their choice, Schwager said. Apprenticeships arent just for trades like electricians and plumbers. There are more than 1,500 apprentice occupations, said Niki Litzel, an Iowa Workforce Development business engagement consultant. North Star was awarded grant funding through Iowa Workforce Development and the Governors Iowa Health Careers Registered Apprenticeship Program 2.0 to help expand career pathways for a high-demand workforce in health care. Iowa Workforce Development completed an assessment with North Star in 2021. Like many employers, they are having trouble recruiting for various positions, said Litzel. We dug in deep and had a really great conversation with their leadership team, put our brains together and recommended a registered apprenticeship with the U.S. Department of Labor. Apprenticeships can be appealing to high school graduates, for example, who arent interested in college but want a path to a skilled profession. Business and industries must become more creative in recruiting, training and getting people into the workforce and encouraging people to work and stay with their employers long-term 93% will stay with their employer for the long term. A large part of that is the employer is investing in you with job training and, as an apprentice, youre earning a pay check, learning on the job, and getting classroom instruction. Amanda Scarborough said, Youre always hesitant starting a new job. You dont know what to expect, but weve had lots of support from people who work at North Star. Theyre easy to talk to, honest about the job and ready to help. After successfully completing their apprenticeship, the Scarboroughs will be certified DSPs. That certification is transferrable throughout the U.S., Litzel said. North Star apprentices will be paired up with mentors who will work side-by-side with them, then start phasing back to providing oversight and then become a resource, fading so the apprentice can be on their own, Schwager said. Apprentices earn a starting wage and, after six months and meeting half of their competency, they will receive a wage increase and additional increase after completion. 'Art Without Limits' at North Star Community Services north star Colorful by Breyon.JPG north star Broccoli Tree House by Kelli.jpg north star Fingernails are art by Kimmy.jpg north star Galaxy Shoes by Morgan.JPG north star Guacamole - group project.JPG north star Happy by Carl.JPG north star Pieces by Michael R..JPG north star Purple Collage by David.JPG north star Yaaay-Yo! by Michael C..JPG north star Scarf by Chris.JPG Dubuque Telegraph Herald. November 19, 2023. Editorial: Support local communities and shop small businesses this holiday season With this weeks Thanksgiving holiday, we are about to enter a season of giving. For many of us, that begins with giving thanks for all we have and the bounty that will be spread across our tables on Thursday. Then for many of us the shopping season begins. After all, to give gifts, you have to get them first. National Retail Federation forecasts that holiday spending will reach record levels during November and December and will grow between 3% and 4%, totaling $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion. By comparison, last year holiday sales totaled $929.5 billion. Last year, a record 196.7 million Americans shopped in stores and online during the five-day holiday shopping period from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, according to the federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The total number of shoppers grew by nearly 17 million from 2021 and is the highest figure since NRF first started tracking the data in 2017. According to the survey, more than three-quarters (76%) of consumers said they shopped over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, up from 70% in 2021. The numbers shattered NRFs initial expectations by more than 30 million. Whether or not the chaos and crowds of big box stores on Black Friday is your scene, there is something to be said for the softer side of shopping. Consider spending some of your holiday dollars in local shops, which will roll out the red carpet on Small Business Saturday and throughout the holiday season. The national shopping survey shows a troubling trend: Cyber Monday 2023 is set to bring $13.7 billion worth of sales. Last years sales grew by 5.8%, reaching $11.3 billion. Lets hope that doesnt mean folks wont shop locally, as well. The benefits of shopping local are many. Small businesses play a critical role in the local economy. Mom and pop shops represent a vital segment of retail in Dubuque and the surrounding communities. They rely on selling unique merchandise every day, backed by strong customer service. Shopping local means youre more likely to get a cup of coffee and some cheerful conversation while you shop, as opposed to throngs of people battling for bargains. Making purchases at a local shop often means dealing directly with the business owner and sometimes even the creator of the product. Local shops pride themselves on that connection and tend to bring the knowledge and customer service that build long-lasting relationships. Saturday in downtown Dubuque will make for some particularly festive holiday shopping. Participating downtown Dubuque businesses will hold a holiday event during Small Business Saturday on Nov. 25. Holidazzle Downtown Dubuque will be held during normal business hours that day. Trolleys of Dubuque will transport shoppers from First to 19th streets and between Elm and Bluff streets between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., and Santa and Mrs. Claus will visit Cable Car Square that day. Doesnt that sound like more fun than scrolling through images of gift items on your phone? Studies have found that locally owned stores generate much greater benefits for communities than do national chains. If you spend $100 at a local business, roughly $68 stays in your local economy, versus $43 for each $100 spent at big chains. Local business owners have an investment in the community. Note the local names you see time and again supporting community fundraisers. In fact, local businesses donate to nonprofits 2 times the amount that other businesses do. Before clicking a link and buying something you cant see, touch or smell, consider the unique gifts you can find at local shops that might not be available anywhere else. Des Moines Register. November 19, 2023. Editorial: World Food Prize seizes our attention for the most basic of needs A century of work to reduce global hunger has produced spectacular achievements, preserving and enriching billions of lives. At the same time, the scope of the challenge of hunger has continued to evolve and grow. Iowas unique anti-hunger contribution, the World Food Prize recognition, has laudably raised its ante in this ongoing fight, announcing at this years laureate ceremony that the award accompanying the annual prize has doubled, to $500,000 from $250,000. One effect of the Ruan familys $10 million endowment of the World Food Prize in 1990 has been to ensure public attention, especially in Des Moines, to groundbreaking and relentless work that breaks down barriers to feeding people. So its fitting to take a few moments today to praise the increased prize award and take stock of the hunger battle. World Food Prize officials said their trusts growth permitted the increased award. Terry Branstad, former Iowa governor and president of the World Food Prize Foundation, surprised this years laureate during the prize ceremony at the Statehouse last month with the news. Heidi Kuhn is founder of Roots of Peace, which helps farmers in former battlegrounds to grow fruit, nuts and other crops in fields once filled with landmines. That work is just getting started: She said that she wants tech companies to assist efforts to remove mines in Ukraine and that the prize money will facilitate that advocacy. The achievements are immense, but so are remaining and new challenges Kuhns group has made large-scale tangible improvements in such places as Afghanistan and Vietnam. The specific nature of her work and its success illustrates the breadth of obstacles that contribute to worldwide hunger. The World Food Prize commemorates scientific advances in such things as crop resilience, nutritional fortification, pest control and irrigation, but the 37 laureate awards to date include work on more diverse and just as important endeavors including banking, transportation, government subsidies, aquaculture and climate change. The World Food Prize story traces back to the visions of Iowa natives Henry Wallace and Norman Borlaug. In the middle of the 20th century, Wallace, the founder of Pioneer Hi-Bred and then FDRs vice president, saw suffering people and meager crop yields in Mexico. Borlaug, an agronomist born in Cresco, led an initiative to do something about it. The Green Revolution was born, and its agricultural innovations spread around the globe. Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. Precious few beneficial things in the world have no downside. Green Revolution principles have been blamed for contributing heavily to the explosion of emissions that cause harmful climate change. In a particularly sweeping and macabre example of being blamed for success, global population growth is seen by some experts as unsustainable. The number of people on Earth has roughly tripled since the start of the Green Revolution. Victories over hunger in these decades are among the great achievements in human history. Sadly, hunger is persistent. Nearly 1 billion people go to sleep hungry every day, a record. There are perennial and vexing problems (government corruption, scarcity of water), and new and acute problems (changed growing seasons fueled by climate change, infrastructure demolished by conflict). Too often, advances in crop yields have not stemmed hunger because the crops are being grown primarily for fuel. Closer to home, theres no famine in the United States, but we clearly fail at distributing our prosperity in a way that prevents hunger and nourishes children and adults. Right here in the Des Moines metro, food pantries have set records this year for visits and households served. World Food Prize news should snag our attention The World Food Prize, founded by Borlaug in 1985, exists to focus our attention for even a brief moment on these crises. The Ruan family, Branstad, the laureates and countless other people deserve our gratitude for their commitment to this cause and Borlaugs vision, which have sustained billions of lives. What other vision can be said to have had that scale of impact? On Thanksgiving, many of us will join family and friends in sitting down to tables laden with enough food to feed a gathering thrice the size. Heading into the holiday, its appropriate for each of us in breadbasket Iowa to consider the disparity between our abundance and the worlds needs and ponder what step, small or large, we might take to follow World Food Prize laureates example and do something about it. END Hong Kong: CE mourns Lord Walker Chief Executive John Lee today expressed sorrow over the passing of the Right Honourable the Lord Robert Walker, a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, and extended condolences to his family. Mr Lee said Lord Walker was held in high regard in the legal sector. Having been a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal since 2009, Lord Walker has written landmark judgments covering various legal aspects over the years, making significant contributions to the Judiciary, the Chief Executive said. He was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star in 2019. The Judiciary also conveyed its deep sadness over the passing of Lord Walker and extended its deepest sympathies to Lady Walker and his family. This story has been published on: 2023-11-20. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Global shipping industry insiders bet on China for sustained growth Xinhua) 15:00, November 20, 2023 TIANJIN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Herbert Darwin Mangatas, director of PT Gapura Segara Borneo, an Indonesian freight shipping agency, came to China's Tianjin in search of potential business partners. "There are one or two Chinese companies asking for some collaborations. I hope we can have some dealings," Mangatas said while attending the Tianjin International Shipping Industry Expo 2023. Themed "Shipping throughout the world, leading the future," the expo was held in Tianjin from Nov. 16 to 18 with the aim of promoting the development of the global shipping industry and marine economy. As the first comprehensive shipping-industry exhibition in China, with the most complete list of categories, the three-day expo attracted more than 400 enterprises and well-known global ports from 22 countries and regions. Many participants, like Mangatas, are betting on the vast Chinese market to provide new growth points for their businesses. Speaking via video link, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said the expo is conducive to deepening exchanges and cooperation in the shipping industry, promoting high-quality development of the global shipping industry and encouraging the shipping community to make greater contributions to the development of international trade. "It is a very important point in time to have this kind of platform event, where we can all connect and exchange our views and our strategies for the future, to serve the global logistics industry even better," said Lars Anke, chief representative Asia-Pacific of Hamburg Hafen and Logistic AG. Anke believes global logistics is very important for fostering global development. "We have to deal with the economic situation on a global scale. We at Hamburg Hafen and Logistic AG are working hard to cooperate with our friends in China and all over the world to find solutions for the big challenges we have now in the 21st century," Anke said. Carol Cui, business development manager of Ronghua International Logistics, which is headquartered in Tianjin, said that after more than a decade of development, the company's overseas logistics network now covers more than 100 countries around the world, with its logistics services covering many aspects of production and life. "Despite the pressure of declining external demand, our overseas business volume still increased significantly. China's shipping logistics is highly recognized by more and more overseas customers," said Cui. During the event, she received intentions of cooperation from several domestic and foreign companies. In addition to logistics and trade, China has carried out in-depth global cooperation across the whole shipping industry chain, including global ports cooperation, shipbuilding and ship leasing. "It's amazing how fast China's shipping industry has moved forward," said Alexander V. Chidiac, managing partner of Iskandar Group, a company that operates and manages fleets of dry-cargo vessels. He looks forward to cooperating with more Chinese shipyards to seek wider opportunities. In his view, China is one of the few countries today that can provide a full package that meets the requirements of global partners. "It's very interesting to know how China works. With a healthy China, the global shipping industry will remain healthy," Chidiac said. Moreover, China's economical, green and highly efficient shipbuilding capacity has attracted partners from around the world. George Xiradakis, president of the Hellenic Shipping Finance Association said that over the past decades, Greek shipowners have ordered around 1,300 ships with an accumulated value of 60 billion U.S. dollars from Chinese shipyards. "In the last decade, half of the new Greek ships were built in China," Xiradakis added. Teo Eng Dih, chief executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, said that the maritime industry is rapidly transforming, with many exciting opportunities ahead, especially in the areas of digitalization, innovation and decarbonization. Green, low-carbon and smart development of the global shipping industry has become the current consensus, said Fu Xuyin, China's vice transport minister. "In the face of new situations and challenges, we should further build consensus, strengthen cooperation, and jointly promote the healthy and sustainable development of the global shipping industry," Fu noted. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Wu Chaolan) Amazon, one of the tech giants leading the charge in the race for artificial intelligence (AI) dominance, has made a significant move by announcing the elimination of several hundred jobs in its Alexa unit. The decision comes as Amazon reevaluates its business priorities and redirects its focus toward generative AI, as per Fortune. Amazon's Generative AI Shift Spurs Job Cuts Daniel Rausch, the Vice President of Alexa and Fire TV, explained the rationale behind the job cuts in a message addressed to Amazon employees. Rausch stated that the company is realigning its efforts to better serve its customers by concentrating on generative AI, a field gaining traction in recent years. While Amazon has not disclosed the exact number of positions being eliminated, it is clear that this move is part of a broader effort to streamline the company's operations and adapt to changing market dynamics. These layoffs follow previous job reductions in Amazon's gaming and music teams and add to the 27,000 employees the company let go during the past year. Given the intense competition in the tech industry, Amazon's decision to focus on generative AI is not surprising. The company has been actively integrating AI into various aspects of its business, from customer reviews to providing cloud infrastructure services for AI development through its AWS platform. In September, Amazon unveiled an update to its popular voice assistant, Alexa, which introduced more generative AI features, signaling the company's commitment to staying at the forefront of AI technology. The impact of these job cuts extends beyond the United States, affecting employees in Canada and India as well. While employees in the US and Canada have already been notified, those in India will receive their notifications in the coming week. The timing for other regions will depend on local regulations. This move reflects Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's cost-cutting efforts that began last year as the company navigated economic challenges and slower growth in its core retail business, according to Reuters. Read Also: Man in His 20s Commits Suicide at Disneyland by Jumping from Parking Structure Amazon's Massive Layoffs Impact Tech Projects Amazon initiated its largest-ever round of layoffs, trimming its workforce and discontinuing less profitable projects. These cost-cutting measures also affected Amazon's devices and services division, which includes Alexa. Since its launch in 2014, Amazon has invested heavily in Alexa, amassing top talent to drive its development. Former CEO Jeff Bezos was a strong advocate for voice technology and believed it would play a pivotal role in the future of human-computer interaction. At one point, Amazon had 5,000 employees working on Alexa and Echo devices. However, the landscape has evolved since then, with generative artificial intelligence and chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT challenging the dominance of digital assistants like Alexa. Amazon's recent announcements about enhancing Alexa with productive AI capabilities, such as composing messages for users, reflect its determination to stay ahead in this rapidly evolving field. Despite the workforce reductions, Amazon remains optimistic about the future of Alexa and its role in the lives of millions of users. Rausch emphasized that Alexa continues to see widespread use, with users interacting with the virtual assistant tens of millions of times every hour. Moreover, there are now over 500 million Alexa devices in consumers' homes, underscoring Amazon's ongoing commitment to developing and evolving AI-driven technologies, CNBC reported. Related Article: House Speaker Mike Johnson Plans to Publicly Release 44K Hours of Jan. 6 Footage @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (19 November 2023) The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation. In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces, in the course of active operations together with Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, have struck at manpower and hardware of 14th, 41st, 43rd, 44th mechanised and 25th airborne brigades of the AFU close to Petropavlovka, Sinkovka, Ivanovka, Berestovoye (Kharkov region) and Stelmakhovka (Lugansk Peoples Republic). The enemy losses were more than 70 troops and two motor vehicles. In Krasny Liman direction, as a result of competent actions by units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, in cooperation with helicopters and artillery, one attack by assault groups of the 12th Azov Special Purpose Brigade has been repelled south of Kuzmino (Lugansk Peoples Republic). Aviation has eliminated manpower and hardware of the 117th Territorial Defence Brigade, the 67th Mechanised Brigade of the AFU, and the 31st Operational Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard near Yampolovka, north of Grigorovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic), and Serebryansky forestry. The enemy losses were up to 30 servicemen, one armoured fighting vehicle, and two motor vehicles. In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces, supported by artillery and heavy flamethrower systems, have repelled six attacks by assault groups of 24th Mechanised, 5th Assault and 95th Air Assault Brigades of the AFU near Klescheevka, Shumy, and Maryinka (Donetsk Peoples Republic). In addition, manpower and hardware of 112th, 114th, and 241st territorial defence brigades, as well as 28th and 30th mechanised brigades of the AFU have been hit close to Andreevka, Vasyukovka, Razdolovka, Bogdanovka, Artyomovsk, Krasnoye, Kurdyumovka, and Kleshcheevka (Donetsk Peoples Republic). The enemy losses were over 240 servicemen killed and wounded, one tank, one infantry fighting vehicle, two motor vehicles, and one Msta-B howitzer. In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces, in cooperation with Ground-Attack, Army aviation and artillery, have struck at manpower and hardware of 72nd mechanised, 79th air assault, 58th motorised infantry brigades of the AFU, and the 127th Territorial Defence Brigade close to Novomikhailovka, Nikolskoye, Shevchenko, Konstantinovka, Novodonetskoye, and Staromayorskoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic). The enemy losses were up to 145 troops, two motor vehicles, and one Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system. In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian Group of Forces, aviation and artillery have inflicted a fire damage on manpower of 33rd, 65th, 117th, and 118th mechanised brigades of the AFU near Rabotino, Kirovo, and north-west of Kopan (Zaporozhye region). The enemy losses were over 100 servicemen, three armoured fighting vehicles, 11 motor vehicles, as well as one D-30 howitzer. In Kherson direction, as a result of artillery and aviation strikes, the enemy losses were up to 20 servicemen, two motor vehicles, one Msta-B howitzer, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system. Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have neutralised manpower and military hardware in 111 areas. In addition, fuel storage facilities for AFU aircraft have been destroyed at Kanatovo airfield (Kirovograd region). Ammunition depots of the AFU have been hit near Kirovograd and Olshanitsa (Kiev region). Air defence facilities have intercepted two HIMARS and Olkha projectiles. In addition, 31 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down close to Peski, Yakovlevka, Spornoye, Olginka, Dolomitnoye, Verkhnetoretskoye, Maryinka (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Zolotaryovka, Belogorovka (Lugansk Peoples Republic), Novaya Kakhovka, Proletarka (Kherson region), and Kamenka-Dneprovskaya (Zaporozhye region). In total, 536 airplanes and 254 helicopters, 9,040 unmanned aerial vehicles, 441 air defence missile systems, 13,486 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,185 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 7,133 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 15,407 special military motor vehicles have been destroyed during the special military operation. Tags: WtR For many students, going to Minnesota State College Southeast is all about taking the next step into a career. But for others, an associate degree at Southeast is a step along the pathway to a four-year degree. Since becoming a community and technical college in 2016, credits earned at Minnesota State College Southeast are much easier to transfer to a university or four-year college. There are many reasons students choose Southeast for the first two years of college saving money, the opportunity to explore options and personalized education, to name a few. Emma Pronschinske earned an English transfer pathway degree and a certificate in creative writing at Southeast before transferring to Minnesota State University-Moorhead, where she is currently a senior. She was concerned about the expense of getting a bachelors degree. The biggest benefit of going to MSC Southeast for me was financial. Tuition is very expensive at four-year schools. I didn't want to take out any student loans until I absolutely had to. Katelyn Lindsey, now an environmental science student at Winona State University, graduated last May with an associate of arts in liberal arts and sciences. Southeast gave her a chance to discover what major she wanted to pursue. Attending Southeast was a good stepping stone for me coming out of high school. I was unsure of what I wanted to study and whether college would be a good fit for me, she said. Southeast allowed me to discover different career options that I had never considered before. Elizabeth Medina appreciated the culture of caring and personalized education at Southeast. I always felt like I belonged, I could trust the instructors, I never felt judged. They really worked with me, cared about me and held me accountable. That guidance really helped. While Lindsey and Pronschinske started college right after graduating from high school, Medinas pathway was not as traditional. She passed the GED exam at age 22 and started college at Southeast when she was 23. No one in my family had ever gone to college. I wanted to push myself to get a higher education, she said. I always wanted more. I remembered living in poverty and knew that the only way I could get out of that was through college. After she earned an associate degree in criminal in justice at Southeast in 2020, she went on to finish an online bachelors degree in criminal justice and human services through Concordia University in St. Paul. Today, Medina is a public assistance employment specialist at Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services Inc., where she helps clients overcome barriers to employment. Concordia University accepts up to 90 credits from Southeast toward their 120-credit bachelors degree. Medina said, I had a lot more credits from Southeast, so I was able to save quite a bit. My credits transferred really smoothly, especially my Minnesota transfer curriculum credits, said Lindsey. At Winona State, I can focus more on taking my major-related classes instead of the core electives, which I really appreciate. Not only did their credits transfer easily, all three women felt they were well-prepared for the challenges of going onward to a four-year institution. My time spent at MSC Southeast did a really good job of preparing me for the academic parts of university, Pronschinske said. Figuring out schedules that worked for me, holding myself and my work to a higher standard, and emailing professors to ask important questions were all skills I learned at MSC Southeast and continue to use today. Medina spoke very highly of her instructors at Southeast. Its not just a job to them they really care about what they are doing. I learned as much in my classes at Southeast as I did at the university, she said, adding, I had so much self-doubt when I started at Southeast, and they helped me gain more confidence in my abilities. Instead of immediately going to a four-year university and spending a lot of money, I was able to take my time, save my money and find my passions while at Southeast, Lindsey said. I knew that my credits at Southeast would transfer to a four-year university, so it was comforting to know my hard work would stay with me once I was ready to move on. Former Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg received the Presidents Award during the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association prosecutor of the year awards on Nov. 4 for his role in helping to address a statewide prosecutor staffing crisis. Klomberg, who resides in Waupun with his family, left the Dodge County District Attorneys Office to become an assistant district attorney in Green Lake County. He resigned on Jan. 13 after retirements and additional leaves left him without assistant district attorneys and his requests for emergency help from the state went unanswered. Dodge County has six prosecutor positions, but between retirements, resignations and a medical leave the list was down to just Klomberg until he accepted a new position. In February, Andrea Will was chosen as the new district attorney in Dodge County. Will currently has a managing attorney and six assistant district attorneys on the staff. Klomberg said he was nominated for the Presidents Award for his willingness to explain how the statewide prosecutor staffing crisis led to the collapse of the District Attorneys Office in Dodge County. My advocacy during and after my resignation were part of what led to the unanimous bipartisan support in the Joint Finance Committee for unparalleled resource increases in the prosecutor and State Public Defender budget allocation, Klomberg said. However, during my acceptance I pointed out that the impact of the Dodge County story was really the result of more than a decade of work by many prosecution program leaders, including myself. Klomberg said he made it clear while accepting the award that it was on the condition that it would be shared with former Portage County District Attorney Louis Molepski, Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney, Outagamie County District Attorney Mindy Tempelis, state Department of Justice Criminal Litigation Director and former Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ, former Winnebago County District Attorney Christian Gossett and all the members of the board of the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association he has served with over the last decade. Being an elected district attorney is more than just prosecuting cases, it is about leadership and being an advocate for the criminal justice system and prosecutors across the entire state, Klomberg said. I am grateful that my story led to meaningful change for my fellow prosecutors and assistance in recruitment efforts for all district attorneys. I became a district attorney to make a difference for the statewide program. Resigning was not the way I wanted to make a difference, but it resulted in the difference I wanted to make. Other district attorneys who received awards during the fall State Prosecutors Education & Training conference in Elkhart Lake in November were: Bayfield County District Attorney Kimberly Lawton, District Attorney of the Year. Kenosha County Deputy District Attorney Carli McNeill, Deputy District Attorney of the Year. Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Sarah Skiles, Assistant District Attorney of the Year. Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Dan Flaherty, Rising Star District Attorney Rock County Assistant District Attorney Jerry Urbik, Distinguished Service Award. Dodge County Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony Memorial001.jpg Memorial002.jpg Memorial003.jpg Memorial004.jpg Memorial005.jpg Memorial006.jpg Memorial007.jpg Memorial008.jpg Memorial009.jpg The Juneau County Health Department is purchasing infant sleep products from a nationwide program that promotes safe infant sleep initiatives with support from the countys main health provider. Mile Bluff Medical Center has donated $15,000 to the department to assist with purchases from the Cribs for Kids program. The funds will help purchase Safe Sleep Kits, which include pack-n-play playpens, which also work as portable sleeping beds for infants and toddlers, and sleep sacks for swaddling, or wrapping babies lower bodies for easier sleep, as a well as crib sheets, pacifiers, books and other items that help create safer sleep environments for babies. Safe sleep advocacy is a part of Mile Bluffs childbirth education program, and we continue to review that with parents once baby arrives, Ryan Plamann, a Mile Bluff pediatrician, said in a statement. There are certain life circumstances that may make it difficult for parents to provide a safe sleep environment whether it is a mother who unexpectedly goes into labor while traveling in our area, a displaced family, or parents who do not have money to purchase a crib. These kits make safe sleep possible. The health provider made the donation through grant funding that helps organizations support strong starts for children, Mile Bluff Medical Center Foundation director Katie Nuttall said. Helping to provide the Cribs for Kids through the Juneau County Health Department really was a perfect fit for these funds, Nuttall said in a statement. By partnering with other healthcare agencies in our community, we are able to impact the health and well-being of infants who may not have a safe sleep environment available. Cribs for Kids began in Pittsburgh in 1998 with a goal to reduce infant sleep-related deaths, which remained the top cause of death for infants less than 1 month old despite a 50% drop following a 1994 message from doctors instructing parents to have babies sleep on their backs, according to the programs website. The program has provided almost 900,000 safe sleep products to parents throughout the country since its inception. It also helped pass legislation in 2010 in Pennsylvania requiring new mothers to receive infant sleep education prior to leaving the hospital after giving birth. More than 20 Madison-area advocacy groups and churches are hosting a vigil Monday night to honor those who have died because of anti-transgender violence. The Transgender Day of Remembrance is an international event started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman killed the year before. From 6 to 7 p.m., an interfaith service will be held at Fitchburg Memorial United Church of Christ, 5705 Lacy Road. The service will also be streamed on YouTube. The service is sponsored by Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, Temple Beth El, Common Grace and more than 20 other Madison-area organizations. After the service, there will be a community resource fair at the church until 8 p.m. Edgewood College is also holding a vigil from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Washburn Heritage Room to honor lives lost from anti-transgender violence. Human Rights Campaign reported that there have been at least 26 violent deaths of transgender and gender-nonconforming people this year, and most of the victims were people of color. Nearly 75% of the victims were killed by gun violence. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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. Move your feet before you eat by joining a turkey trot on Thanksgiving morning. We rounded up the best ways to spend the holiday week in the Bay Area including volunteer events, The Lion King at the Orpheum, Ellie Goulding with the San Francisco Symphony, comedy shows, and more. Thankyou for reading. Have a good one! Start your week off with Ellie Goulding and the SF Symphony. The global superstar will perform an intimate show of her hits reimagined and backed by the award-winning symphony; Monday at 7:30pm. // Davis Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave. (Civic Center); tickets at sfsymphony.org See the city from new heights by taking a ride on the SkyStar Ferris Wheel. The 150-foot wheel recently relocated from Golden Gate Views to Fishermans Wharf and is offering a 15 percent discount on rides for locals; Monday to Sunday, 10am to 10pm. // 2860 Taylor St. (Fishermans Wharf); tickets at skystarwheel.com Find your zen before your family rolls into town with a one-of-a-kind sound bath experience. Bay Area musicians will guide you on your meditative journey; Monday at 7pm. // Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St. (Nob Hill); tickets at gracecathedral.org British TV star, veteran comedian, and Chatty Man Alan Carr brings his world tour to SF for two nights; Monday and Tuesday at 7pm. // Cobbs Comedy Club, 915 Columbus Ave. (Russian Hill); tickets at ticketmaster.com Your stomach will be in knots when you taste the new pasta collab from knot artist Windy Chien and Flour + Water. Her limited-edition, four-strand sinnet knot made of pasta dough is currently the centerpiece of the tasting menu; through Wednesday. Best yet, $5 from each sale will benefit Mission Food Hub. // Flour + Water, 2401 Harrison St. (Mission); reservations at flourandwater.com Get your last Rosamunde Sausage and beer fix before the beloved Mission grill closes its brick-and-mortar for good on Tuesday, November 21st (11:30am to 10pm). The good news? The Rosamunde menu will continue to be featured at Willkommen in the Castro. // Rosamunde Sausage Grill, 2832 Mission St. (Mission); details at rosamundesausagegrill.com You may not know who Irene Tu is (yet) but youve probably stopped to LOL at one of her standup bits while scrolling Instagram. The queer, millennial, Asian American comedian is setting up shop for three nights; Wednesday to Saturday. // Punch Line Comedy Club, 444 Battery St. (Financial District); tickets at ticketmaster.com Explore gender, class, and domesticity through the lens of a 1970s dinner party when surrealist multimedia artist Amanda Rowan returns home for an exhibit featuring her provocative film Place Setting (a Mill Valley Film Festival selection this year) alongside a series of self-portraits and still lifes; 10:30am to 5pm Tuesday to Saturday, and 11am to 4pm Sunday. // Poet and the Bench, 11 Throckmorton Ave. (Mill Valley); details at poetandthebench.com. The Broadway production of The Lion King will convert anyone into a musical lover. One of the most beloved and award-winning productions of all time, The Lion King makes a triumphant return in time for the holiday season; Wednesday, through December 30. // The Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St. (Civic Center); tickets at broadwaysf.com Spend your Thanksgiving morning giving back with San Francisco City Impact. Volunteer to serve hot meals and blankets, cook, or deliver hot meals to residents. A required $25 registration fee will go directly towards making the event possible; Thursday, 9am to 1:30pm. // 186 Eddy St. (Tenderloin); register online at sfcityimpact.com The best way to prepare for the 5,000 calories headed your way on Thanksgiving Day is to hit a morning Turkey Trot. From Oakland to Santa Rosa and everywhere in between, waddle your way to the finish line and find your local Turkey Trot at runguides.com. Help deliver Thanksgiving Day meals to 4,000 homebound seniors and disabled individuals with the Salvation Army. No car? No problem. There are also volunteer shifts for greeters, check-in, traffic control, and more; Thursday, 6am to 1pm. // The Salvation Army Culinary Training Academy, 155 Clara St. (SoMa); register at volunteer.usawest.org. Looking for a way to give back while the turkey is in the oven? Rally the fam to make holiday cards for Meals on Wheels' homebound clients. Help bring a smile to a seniors face by making handmade cards that will be delivered with meals. // Details at mowsf.org Prefer to leave the cooking to the pros? Weve got you covered with our guide to24 San Francisco restaurants open for Thanksgiving dinner, takeout, and delivery. Thank us later. Honor a different perspective with an Indigenous Peoples' Day sunrise gathering. On Thanksgiving morning, you'll take the ferry to Alcatraz where the Indian Treaty Council will commemorate the 1969-71 occupation of the island by Indians of All Tribes; departures are every 15 minutes from 4:15am to 6am, Thursday. // Alcatraz Landing, Pier 33 (Embarcadero); details at cityexperiences.com Embrace a Parisian holiday tradition in Wine CountryCirque de Boheme returns to Cornerstone Sonoma. Created in Paris after the conclusion of World War I, the lively performance showcases an original spectacle with music, mystery, poetry, and amazing circus talents. Even better, Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant Folktable can be enjoyed pre- or post-show; Friday, through December 24. // Cornerstone Sonoma, 23570 Arnold Dr. (Sonoma); tickets at cirquedeboheme2023.bpt Step into a world of holiday magic and shimmering splendor as Donna Sachet joyfully presents Sundays a Drag: Holiday Extravaganza. Produced by Patrick Rylee with David Dower, executive producer of Club Fugazi, the limited-time show highlights SF's drag legacy with surprise guest hosts. Brunch service begins at 11am with the performance at noon; Sunday. // Club Fugazi, 678 Green St. (Russian Hill); tickets at clubfugazisf.com NASA's EMIT imaging spectrometer aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has spent more than a year in space and has detected methane emissions across the world. In a surprising development, EMIT surpassed even the expectations of its designers by identifying point-source emissions of greenhouse gases. EMIT is an acronym that stands for Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation. NASA's Emit Surpasses Expectations The instrument was launched in July 2022 in an attempt to map 10 key minerals on the surface of the world's arid regions. These mineral-related observations are already available to researchers as well as the public. They would also help improve understanding of how dust that gets lofted into the atmosphere affects the Earth's climate. While detecting methane was not part of EMIT's primary mission, its designers did expect that the imaging spectrometer would have such capability. Since August 2022, the instrument has identified more than 750 emissions, some small, others in remote locations, and others persistent in time. In a statement, a research technologist on the EMIT science team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, Andrew Thorpe said that they were a little curious at first regarding what they could do with the instrument, as per SciTechDaily. When the source of methane emissions is known, operators of landfills, agriculture sites, oil and gas facilities, and other methane producers have an opportunity to address the issue. It is also considered crucial in limiting climate change to track human-caused emissions of methane. This is because it offers a comparatively low-cost rapid approach to reducing greenhouse gases. Methane is known to linger in the atmosphere for roughly a decade. However, during this time, it is up to 80 times more powerful at trapping heat compared to carbon dioxide, which can stay for centuries. NASA's EMIT has proven quite effective at identifying emission sources both big (tens of thousands of pounds of methane per hour) and tiny (hundreds of pounds of methane per hour). This ability is crucial because it permits the identification of a greater number of "super-emitters." These are sources that produce disproportionate shares of total emissions. Read Also: Astronomers Baffled by Star That Came Back to Life With Repeated Energetic Flares in Supernova Explosion Identifying Methane Sources The latest study compares EMIT's data with those that were collected by airborne instruments. These fly over specific areas to measure methane and the researchers found that the instrument can capture 60% to 85% of the methane plumes that are normally seen by airborne instruments, according to Interesting Engineering. Airborne instruments, while being more sensitive than EMIT, are also much more expensive to make use of. They also need to have some prior information that there is methane in a certain area that they are monitoring and they are not able to cover the entire world. In comparison, NASA's EMIT is able to collect data over vast regions from the ISS and covers areas between 51.6 degrees north and south latitude. It is capable of capturing high-resolution images that allow researchers to identify methane plumes on a large scale which was previously impossible. The findings also provide a new perspective on space-based monitoring and its potential to track greenhouse gas sources. If technology continues to advance, instruments such as EMIT could play a pivotal role in global efforts to fight against climate change, said CityLife. Related Article: Solar Flare 2024: What Would Happen if Global Internet Suddenly Stopped @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Etherstack signs A$1.5m Australian Government contract Sydney, Nov 20, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Etherstack Plc ( ASX:ESK ) advises that its subsidiary, Etherstack Pty Ltd, has received a contract award from the Commonwealth of Australia for A$1.5m. The majority of the revenue from this activity will be recognised in the first half of the 2024 financial year with a modest contribution into the 2023 financial year (31st December year-end). Etherstack CEO, David Deacon, said "Etherstack continues to expand its Australian state and federal government customer base and pipeline. We are pleased with the recurring business within the Australian government sector". About Etherstack Plc Etherstack (ASX:ESK) is the world's leading licensor of wireless technologies for the digital LMR industry and the Company develops wireless products for the main digital radio communications standards known as APCO P25, TETRA and DMR. Over the past 25 years, over twenty wireless equipment manufacturers have licensed LMR technologies from Etherstack for use in their products. MCPTT over LTE is an emerging cellular standard that provides public safety grade PTT (Push-To-Talk) solutions within 4G and 5G cellular networks. Demand for MCPTT services and equipment by telecommunications carriers and end user agencies has been steadily growing in the past few years and is expected to rise rapidly over the next 36-48 months. Related Companies Instagram Movie The 'Thor: Love and Thunder' actress emphasizes the importance of 'a very good, open communication' and 'intimacy coordinators' on set when filming racy scenes. Nov 20, 2023 AceShowbiz - Natalie Portman finds filming sex scenes awkward. The 42-year-old actress features in the sex scandal drama "May December" as the actress Elizabeth Berry, who is studying the real-life subject of her next movie; Julianne Moore's character Gracie Atherton-Yoo, who is caught having sex in a pet store stockroom with Joe, her co-worker, played by Charles Melton, when he was just 13. The movie takes a dark turn when a creepy voice tells Elizabeth through the mirror, "You're Gracie." And Natalie says there was "good, open communication" between the co-stars before they filmed the sex scene. She told Radio Times magazine of filming intimate scenes, "It's never comfortable. And we just figured it out between ourselves. I think we all had a very good, open communication. But I think intimacy coordinators can be really wonderful, especially in environments that are uncomfortable or hostile. It can be helpful to have some sort of structure around it." Natalie has been thrilled by the reaction to the movie. The "Thor: Love and Thunder" star formed her own production company, MountainA, with friend Sophie Mas, and their first movie, the Todd Haynes-directed melodrama sold to Netflix for $11 million after receiving rave reviews at Cannes. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Sophie said of "May December", "We loved how unexpected it was. A lot of the reception to the movie so far has described it as campy, and I don't know if we agree with that, but you really don't know if you're supposed to laugh, if it's ironic, and that feels unique." "When you make a film, you're betting on the script, and we felt a conviction - but at Cannes, we were playing late at night, after 'Killers of the Flower Moon'. Julianne has an early line where she says, 'I don't think we have enough hot dogs,' and the audience knew to laugh - so we felt that they understood the tone. We knew that the market, especially with the strike, would be tight - we financed the movie independently, but the Netflix sale felt like a testament to the work." You can share this post! Instagram Music Bagging several trophies for categories announced before the live broadcast, the Canadian emcee currently leads the pack with five wins and the 'Good Days' songstress nabs four. Nov 20, 2023 AceShowbiz - The 2023 Billboard Music Awards has only been kicked off, but some artists have already won big. Bagging several trophies for categories announced before the live broadcast, Drake is currently dominating with five wins, followed by SZA with four nods. The Canadian emcee was named Top Rap Artist, Top Rape Male Artist and Top Rap Touring Artist. He additionally won Top Rap Album for his joint project with 21 Savage, "Her Loss", and Top Rap Song which he once again shared with 21 Savage for "Rich Flex". 21 Savage won another award for Top Collaboration, thanks to his feature on Metro Boomin's "Creepin' " which also features The Weeknd. SZA's four awards were for Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Female Artist, Top R&B Album and Top R&B Song. She landed two nominations for Top R&B Song, but her track "Kill Bill" edged out "Snooze". She, meanwhile, beat big players like Beyonce Knowles, Chris Brown, Rihanna and The Weeknd for the Top R&B Artist accolade. Still, Beyonce managed to snatch a few awards for Top R&B Touring Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Artist and Top Dance/Electronic Album through "RENAISSANCE". Miley Cyrus also won three so far, for Top Radio Song, Top Billboard Global 200 Song and Top Billboard Global (Excl. U.S.) Song, all for her track "Flowers". Zach Bryan also nabbed four as he was named Top New Artist, Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Album ("American Heartbreak") and Top Rock Song ("Something in the Orange"). Bad Bunny dominated the Latin category with three awards for Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Male Artist and Top Latin Album ("Un Verano Sin Ti"). BLACKPINK won Top K-Pop Touring Artist. Meanwhile, Karol G won a few awards which were announced early in the live ceremony, including Top Latin Female Artist and Top Latin Touring Artist. She also shared the Top Dance/Electronic Song award with David Guetta for their collaboration "I'm Good (Blue)". More winners, including those in top categories such as Top Artist and Top Billboard 200 Album, will be announced later during the live ceremony, which is taking place at different locations across the globe. You can share this post! Instagram Celebrity Nabbing the coveted crown after edging out Miss Thailand and Miss Australia in the top three, Sheynnis Palacios is the first ever Nicaraguan who wins the competition. Nov 20, 2023 AceShowbiz - Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios has been crowned the new Miss Universe. The 23-year-old model won the beauty pageant competition which was held at the Jose Adolfo Pineda Arena in San Salvador, El Salvador on Saturday, November 18. It was a historic win for both Palacios and the competition. The mental health activist was the first-ever Nicaraguan to win the title after bringing her country to the semifinals for the fifth time. Celebrating the win, the official Instagram page of Miss Nicaragua posted, "Thank you @sheynnispalacios_of for bringing this joy to our country!" Palacios was named the 72nd Miss Universe after edging out Miss Thailand Anntonia Porsild and Miss Australia Moraya Wilson in the top three. In an intense moment, Palacios and Porsild stood on stage with their hands clasped together as the venue descended into darkness with a spotlight on the two finalists. After a lengthy silence, a voice was heard saying, "Nicaragua!" Palacios was visibly surprised when her name was mentioned out loud, tearing up and holding her shaking hands up to her face as the crowd cheered. Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel handed over the crown to the new winner, ending her 11-month reign. Miss Thailand was the first runner-up and Miss Australia was the second runner-up. Miss Spain Athenea Perez was chosen as Miss Congeniality, while Miss Phillippines Michelle Dee was selected to win Spirit of Carnival Award. Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo and Jeannie Mai hosted the show for the second consecutive year, along with Maria Menounos. Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and Zuri Hall also served as backstage correspondents for the second consecutive time, while John Legend delivered a musical performance. In her bio, Palacios describes herself as audiovisual producer from Managua, Nicaragua. The communicologist wants to work to promote mental health after suffering debilitating bouts of anxiety herself. Coming from a country where this issue is rarely addressed, she started an accessible initiative called "Understand Your Mind," in which she interviews a specialist on emotional care in her television segments. She has also produced events and other audiovisual projects on this theme. Her goal in life is to work in the service of humanity, by running a newsroom and producing content and commercials for international brands. In her spare time, she rescues cats and dogs, and loves a good mental game and puzzle. You can share this post! The hat of former French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte has been sold for $2.1 million at a Paris auction to an anonymous buyer. The black beaver hat was the star of a sale of memorabilia of the former French emperor and it was only expected to fetch somewhere between $655,000 to $873,000. During Napoleon's life, he wore more than a hundred uniquely shaped bicorne hats. Napoleon Bonaparte's Hat Sells for $2.1 Million A French industrialist spent more than five decades trying to assemble the collection before he lost his life last year. There were also other exceptional items on sale at the Paris auction, including Jean-Louis Noisiez's collection that featured a silver plate looted from Napoleon's carriage after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. A vanity case that Napoleon owned was also on sale at the auction, which included razors, a silver toothbrush, scissors, and other personal belongings. The sale comes as a new film known as "Napoleon" directed by Ridley Scott is opening in cinemas across Europe this week, as per EuroNews. The latest sale surpassed the price that another one of Napoleon's hats was priced at in 2014 and was sold by the Drouot auction house. The hat that was sold in Paris is one of the 20 remaining of the 120 that the former French military commander was believed to have owned throughout his lifetime. The massive price of the latest sale was believed to have been inflated by the hype that surrounds the release of the movie about the former French emperor. The film stars popular Hollywood star Joaquin Phoenix. During his time, Napoleon was known to wear his hats sideways to ensure that he was distinguishable on the battlefield. This led to the creation of one of the most recognizable brands in history, which has endured even after his death more than two centuries ago. The points or "corns" of the hats were placed parallel to the former French commander's shoulders. This was a style that was referred to as "en bataille," which comes in contrast to the majority of his officers. They instead wore theirs at right angles to their shoulders, according to The Guardian. Read Also: Iceland Braces for 'Biggest' Volcanic Eruption Anytime, Scientists Warn Former French Emperor's Bicornes The Drouot auction house's Pierre Osenat said that Napoleon was also distinguishable by a "cockade." This was a cluster of ribbons of distinctive colors that the commander reportedly added himself in 1815 when he traveled across the Mediterranean to Antibes from his exile in Elba. Osenat said that the majority of the remaining Napoleon bicornes that still exist are kept inside museums and roughly five are stored in private collections. The provenance of the bicorne hat was mainly due to remaining in the possession of the same family throughout the 19th century. Napoleon first came into prominence during the French Revolution and became a key figure in the Revolutionary Wars. He also served as first consul and had himself crowned emperor in 1804. In 1821, the former French commander died on the island of Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, said Aljazeera. Related Article: Cruel Summer-Like Heat Kills Swiftie in Eras Tour's Rio Leg @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Cover Images/Faye's Vision Celebrity The 50-year-old German supermodel turns heads with her sizzling look when attending the F1 event at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit alongside her husband Tom Kaulitz. Nov 20, 2023 AceShowbiz - Heidi Klum stole the show at the Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix. The model turned heads with her racy look when attending the F1 event at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit on Saturday, November 18 alongside her husband Tom Kaulitz. Heidi made use of her Instagram account to share with fans her look for the exciting date. In a mirror selfie taken with Tom, the star could be seen showing some skin as she went topless. The 50-year-old beauty only covered her modesty with a black leather jacket which was left unzipped so she could flaunt her ample cleavage. Completing her look was black bottoms and matching thigh-high boots that she paired with fishnet tights. As for her long tresses, the "America's Got Talent" judge decided to let them down. She further looked chic with sunglasses on top of her head while sporting natural makeup and long red nails. Tom, on the other hand, looked equally stylish in a black sweater and pants. The couple appeared to have a blast during the outing as Heidi also shared videos of her posing with other attendees. The blonde star, who was also seen flashing smiles as she walked on an outdoor bridge, wrote in the caption, "F1 LAS VEGAS." Heidi's new outing came after she made headlines with her peacock costume for Halloween 2023. The TV personality, who is known for always going big for the spooky festivity, donned a fitted blue bodysuit and matching head prosthetic as well as decorations on top of her head while attending her annual Halloween party, which was held at the Marquee nightclub in New York City on Tuesday, October 31. She tapped the Cirque Du Soleil stars to form her feathers. "There's many people, there were 10 artists in there, getting painted with me at the same time. So there's a lot of moving parts and people needing this and that. You know, [hair]spray, and so it's a lot of commotion with so many people doing this, you know?" Heidi shared the behind-the-scenes story of the look. The German supermodel later discussed inspiration for her costume, which took about 6 hours to complete. "I thought it would be fun to do a costume with a bunch of people and so I came up with the idea of a peacock and to do this with 10 people and all make an amazing formation and then fan out. We figured out how the positioning would be and who gets what kind of leotard and how is it painted on so that from the front it will look like a peacock," she explained. You can share this post! Cover Images/BauerGriffin Celebrity The 'Get Him to the Greek' star reportedly shows up at a police station in south London for an interview regarding claims of 'three sexual offenses' in 'non-recent' incidents. Nov 20, 2023 AceShowbiz - Russell Brand has reportedly been questioned by police over alleged historical sex offenses against the comic. The 48-year-old actor was accused in September of rape and sexual assaults by four women before several more came forward to accuse him of similar offenses, and Scotland Yard have now said a man in his forties, understood to be Brand, attended a police station in south London on Thursday, November 16. The Sun reported on Sunday, November 19 the man quizzed was Russell, and said that while he was at the police station he was questioned "over three sexual offenses" said to be "non-recent." Met officers have been encouraging possible victims of the comic to come forward after a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4's "Dispatches" aired in September that contained accounts from women of the comic's alleged abuse. Russell has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and insists his relationships were "always consensual." Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the inquiry, later said, "We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offense, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us." He added, "We understand it can feel like a difficult step to take, and I want to reassure that we have a team of specialist officers available to advise and support." Russell, who is expecting his third child with wife Laura Gallacher, 36, was alleged in September to have abused four women during a seven-year period from 2006 to 2013 at the peak of his fame. Along with the four women who have accused the comic of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse, The Times said others have made a range of accusations about the actor's "controlling, abusive and predatory behavior." Former heroin addict Russell, who has reinvented himself as a self-help guru since ditching the drink and drugs he was doing when he found fame, denied the accusations in a 2 minute, 45 second video posted online in which he said all relationships he had during a period of being "very, very promiscuous" were all consensual. One woman alleged Russell raped her against a wall in his Los Angeles home. The Times said she was treated at a rape crisis centre on the same day "according to medical records." You can share this post! Instagram Celebrity It remains unknown what 'miskeen' means to the Canadian rap star, but in Arabic word, it translates to 'poor, pitiful, or hopeless' and it can also be considered as Toronto slang. Nov 20, 2023 AceShowbiz - Drake has got a new ink on his face. The "God's Plan" hitmaker debuted his new "miskeen" tattoo when attending Tyrone "T-rex" Edwards' Nostalgia Party over the weekend. Giving fans a closer look at Drizzy's new tat was photographer Brent Kore. On Saturday, Brent unleashed a closeup black-and-white photo of the Grammy winner on Instagram Story. The new body art was placed above his right eyebrow. It remains unknown what "miskeen" means to Drake. In Arabic word, it translates to "poor, pitiful, or hopeless." However, according to HotNewHipHop, Toronto natives "use it to describe a movement that blends the worlds of fashion, art, and music." Drake got his first face tattoo back in 2022. In August of that year, he got the initials "S.G." inked under his left eye, which was made to honor his mother, Sandra Gale. Unfortunately, many people made fun of Drake after he showed off his tattoo. "When you wanna get a face tattoo but you actually don't so you get them small enough to look like freckles...," one person wrote. Another claimed that Drizzy got the ink because "he's bored..." A third opined that the tattoo isn't a proper tribute to a mother, saying, "PSA men, your mama dont want her name or initials on the face she spent 10 months crafting get moms some flowers and a car maybe." Some others think that Drake ruined his face with the tattoo. "Anything but your face Drake please," one fan pleaded. Another exclaimed, "Noooooooooo," while someone else weighed in, "I'm a drake fan but he literally has the worst tattoos in the industry. Always poor planing on placement." You can share this post! Infosys Founder Narayana Murthys recent statement urging young professionals to work 70 hours a week sparked an impassioned debate across the industry. Murthys suggestion has ignited conversations across social media and offline discussions, with varying opinions and perspectives coming to the forefront. While Murthys viewpoint is seen by some as a call for increased productivity, there are several voices offering contrasting opinions on this issue. On the other hand, there are also reports on how professionals in the IT industry have to log in around 40-50 hours at work every week. Lets take a closer look at what prominent figures and experts have to say about the idea of a 70-hour work week in todays rapidly evolving, post-pandemic work landscape. Balancing Work and Life DP Vishwakarma, an author and consultant, emphasises the importance of maintaining a work-life balance. He notes that individuals require a certain amount of time for sleep, family, self-care, and commuting. Vishwakarma believes that in order to improve productivity, companies should focus on hiring more employees rather than pushing individuals to work excessively long hours. This approach could also create more job opportunities for the unemployed in India. Mahatma Gandhi once said, "There is more to life than increasing its speed." Bhaskar Majumdar, head brand communication, CSR & digital, India & South Asia, Egis noted, "Working 70 hours a week in India, or anywhere, can lead to a poor work-life balance, negatively impacting mental health and potentially increasing the risk of cardiac issues." To emphasize the importance of balance Majumdar shared a quote by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, a Greek American author & co-founder of The Huffington Post, the founder and CEO of Thrive Global says, "We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in." Productivity Over Hours Thomson Andrews, a creative media entrepreneur, artist, and TV host, challenges the notion that longer hours equate to increased productivity. He argues that a persons performance should be measured by their competence and efficiency within the allocated hours. Andrews advocates for smart working and suggests that Indian corporations consider paying employees on an hourly basis, similar to practices in other countries. This way, employees could be incentivised to contribute more when needed, and equity-sharing could be explored to reward their dedication. The Spiritual Perspective On te other hand, Sanjiv Nath, an artist and retired petroleum geologist, views Murthys perspective as a positive one. He believes that life is about karma, and putting in more effort can lead to personal growth and spiritual fulfillment. Nath suggests that increased work hours can lead to a deeper sense of purpose and satisfaction. Modern Workplace Realities Prateek Sethi, Founder of Trip Creative Agency, highlights the importance of upskilling and gaining experience for young professionals. However, he is not in favour of consistently requiring a 70-hour work week. Instead, he advocates for using technology and innovative solutions to enhance productivity while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Work-Life Balance and Sustainability Amit Prasad, Founder MD & CEO, SatNav Group, acknowledges the competitive pressures in the IT industry, but also emphasises the need for a balanced approach. Prasad highlights that training and knowledge enhancement should be taken seriously during working hours. He argues that the work-life balance cannot be achieved if job security is at risk. Prasad supports the idea of dedicating sufficient time to work execution and continuous learning. Companies Perspectives Debshankar Banerjee, Group CHRO at Experion Developers, underlines the importance of employee well-being and work-life balance. While recognising the demands of the modern workplace, Experion Developers aims to create a work culture that values efficiency and ambitious goals without overburdening its team. According to Ankur Sharma, CHRO, Aye Finance "Workplace excellence today is defined by creativity, innovation and operational excellence. Today's hyper-competitive workplaces accordingly thrive when agile teams or tribes collectively work hard and achieve stretch goals without exploiting the freedom given to them. Number of working hours and work location are irrelevant today if everyone is meeting their KRAs and contributing positively towards organizational outcomes. Teams and individuals who are optimally productive may rather see a dip in productivity when pushed to log in very high number of work hours as productivity is inversely proportional to the number of working hours beyond a threshold." Public Opinion According to an Inshorts poll, 84% of respondents expressed their skepticism about the 70-hour work week models ability to lead to higher productivity. Many cited concerns about its impact on mental and physical health, family and personal life balance, and their overall job satisfaction. We also saw some of the industry veterans sharing their views on the 70-hour work week on social media. Devdutt Pattanaik, a mythologist and author tweeted, Vegetarian billionaires tell their drivers, you must work 70 hours a week to help the nation. Another interesting tweet by Bhaskar Majumdar, https://twitter.com/Probasibangali/status/1719040143040856450 In agreement with Narayana Murthy, industry veteran Priyansh Agrawal highlighted that people can work 70 hours a week if they are working for themselves, but not for a job. https://twitter.com/Priyansh_31Dec/status/1720778163117257171 In conclusion, the debate over a 70-hour workweek in India has raised crucial questions about productivity, work-life balance, and the evolving nature of work in the modern era. As various voices weigh in on this topic, it is clear that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and striking a balance between productivity and well-being remains a central challenge for both employers and employees in Indias ever-changing work landscape. In an exclusive interview yesterday with News18 India. Indias No.1 Hindi News Channel, BJPs National President JP Nadda discussed various political dynamics and upcoming state elections. During the engaging conversation with Amish Devgan, Managing Editor News18 UPUK, MPCG & Rajasthan; Nadda expressed confidence in the BJP securing a three-fourth majority in the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections. He also outlined the party's strategies to form governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Nadda highlighted BJP's strong prospects in Telangana as well, expressing determination to form a robust government in all the states. On the topic of fielding sitting MPs in assembly elections, Nadda emphasized that it is a strategic decision. The conversation delved into the timing of recent ED raids, where Nadda asserted the need for immediate scrutiny in instances where large financial transactions are involved, as seen in the Mahadev App scandal. Addressing the issue of caste-based census, Nadda clarified that it is driven by political motives rather than genuine concern for public welfare. He criticized the Congress party, stating that their sudden interest in the backward classes is opportunistic, accusing them of neglecting these communities for several years. Responding to the allegations of promoting dynasty politics within the BJP, Nadda listed examples from various political parties, emphasizing that many prominent political families are active across the political spectrum. Regarding the Shree Ram Mandir construction, Nadda dismissed the notion that it is being done with the intention to influence electoral outcomes, refuting the opposition's viewpoint. JP Nadda concluded by reasserting that the BJP is committed to governance based on development and public welfare, criticizing the Congress party for resorting to corruption whenever they are in power. Boomlet Group, an influencer marketing and crisis communication agency, has announced the launch of its exclusive Talent Wing, BNext. This pioneering venture is set to transform the talent management space in the influencer marketing landscape with its unique approach and innovative strategies. With a team of renowned content creators, including Mayank Agarwal, Harry Dutt, Abrar Teli, Amar Gogate, and Arun Dutt, BNext bridges the creative gap between brands and marketing, promising innovative and unique ideas and engaging campaigns. The BNext talent pool consists of 85% of the creators exclusively from the Real Estate sector in India and will be expanded to other segments down the line. Out of the top 30 content creators in the real estate industry, BNext has signed 22 creators as exclusive talents, which will provide an edge to the real estate brands partnered with BNext for their campaigns. The agency will provide end-to-end services, such as brand partnerships and production, and has already partnered with top real estate developers, including Godrej, BPTP, Mahindra Lifespaces, under this talent wing. On the launch of BNext, Danish Malik, Co-founder & CEO said, "BNext's innovative strategy, driven by a client-centric approach, is set to reshape the influencer marketing talent management landscape. With a team of skilled content creators, they empower professionals to connect with broader audiences while crafting compelling narratives that deeply resonate with consumers. BNext's vision for the future is strongly bolstered by the trust and established track record of Boomlet. Preety Singh, Co-founder & Managing Director of Boomlet Group stated, "Today, we take a giant leap forward in the creator talent management arena. BNext is the dedicated talent pool aimed to transform the way influencer marketing is approached. By merging the power of technology with the expertise of top content creators, BNext will spearhead an era of interactive marketing campaigns." Boomlet Group plans to establish strategic partnerships with renowned builders and developers, curate intellectual property (IP), and unveil upcoming launch events, which will be announced soon. Authored by Shreedha Singh, CEO and Co-founder of T.A.C - The Ayurveda Company November 19 marked Women's Entrepreneurship Day, celebrating the accomplishments of women in business worldwide. Despite significant advancements, difficulties still exist, particularly with regard to funding for female-led startups. The dynamics of gender representation and the impact of mentorship in entrepreneurship have garnered attention, highlighting the need for a more equitable landscape. Women in Startups: Shifting Dynamics A WISER-Women in India Startup Ecosystem Report sheds light on a progressive trend within startups, showcasing a substantial increase in women's participation across various roles. Unlike traditional corporate structures, startups exhibit a more inclusive approach, boasting higher percentages of women in finance, sales, and other pivotal departments. The unique appeal of startups lies in their emphasis on deliverables rather than rigid corporate norms, fostering an environment conducive to flexibility and merit-driven advancement. However, the report uncovers an unfinished agenda concerning gender equity within startups. While women hold more senior positions compared to their corporate counterparts, they encounter challenges in sustaining tenure and seniority. Despite the initial parallel commencement of men and women in startups, the progression and representation of women lag, exposing underlying barriers that hinder their advancement. Funding Hurdles for Women-Led Startups One of the most pressing challenges faced by women entrepreneurs is accessing adequate funding for their startups. Studies repeatedly highlight the disparities in funding and venture capital between men and women-led startups, with the latter receiving a much smaller amount of funding. Deep-rooted biases, stereotypes, and a lack of diverse representation in investment decision-making perpetuate this funding gap. The discrepancy in funding allocation not only limits the growth potential of women-led ventures but also perpetuates the cycle of unequal opportunities. Despite demonstrating comparable or even superior performance, women founders often encounter hurdles in accessing crucial financial support, impacting the scalability and sustainability of their businesses. The Importance of Mentorship in Bridging the Gap Amidst these challenges, mentorship emerges as a critical component in empowering women entrepreneurs. Mentorship programs tailored to women in business offer guidance, support, and networking opportunities crucial for navigating the complexities of the entrepreneurial landscape. Mentors play a pivotal role in providing insights, sharing experiences, and advocating for inclusivity within the startup ecosystem. Effective mentorship not only imparts valuable knowledge but also instills confidence and resilience in women entrepreneurs, enabling them to overcome obstacles and make informed decisions. Creating a robust network of mentors and advisors helps women entrepreneurs access resources, opportunities, and vital connections, thereby bridging the gap in access to information and support. Conclusion: Empowering Women for a Thriving Future As we commemorate Women's Entrepreneurship Day, it's imperative to acknowledge the strides made while recognizing the persistent challenges women face in entrepreneurship. The path to gender equity in startups demands concerted efforts to address funding disparities, dismantle biases, and foster a supportive ecosystem that values and nurtures women's entrepreneurial endeavors. Empowerment through mentorship, equitable access to funding, and dismantling systemic barriers are pivotal steps towards a future where women entrepreneurs thrive. Celebrating their achievements while actively working to eliminate obstacles is not just a celebration but a commitment to creating an inclusive entrepreneurial landscape that harnesses the potential of all individuals, irrespective of gender. Women's Entrepreneurship Day serves as a reminder of the remarkable contributions of women in business and the collective responsibility to create an environment where their entrepreneurial aspirations flourish without barriers or biases. PNB MetLife, a leading name in India's life insurance sector, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Asfa Bihari as Appointed Actuary. This strategic decision marks a significant milestone in enhancing the company's financial excellence and robust actuarial practices. Asfa assumed her new role on October 20, 2023, and will play a key part in shaping the company's financial strategy, risk management, and ensuring that the insurance products offered by PNB MetLife adhere to the highest standards of actuarial precision. She brings with her a wealth of experience, having previously served at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance for over seven years in various actuarial functions. With over 17 years in the life insurance and consulting industry, Asfa's proficiency and understanding of dynamic market conditions and regulatory changes will be instrumental in achieving outstanding results for PNB MetLife. She is a Fellow member of the Institute of Actuaries of India and holds two master's degrees in finance. Ashish Kumar Srivastava, MD & CEO of PNB MetLife, said, "We are thrilled to welcome Asfa as the Appointed Actuary of PNB MetLife. With her extensive experience, she will play a pivotal role in raising the bar of excellence at the organization whilst building a robust risk and financial framework. Under her leadership, Im confident that our actuarial function will thrive and make our overall organization stronger. Asfa Bihari expressed her enthusiasm for the new role. "I am honored to step into the role of Appointed Actuary at PNB MetLife, a company known for its unwavering commitment to financial prudence and a customer-centric approach. My primary focus will be on strengthening and upholding the high standards and practices that PNB MetLife employees have maintained over the years, underlining our commitment to excellence in the financial services we provide." With the appointment of Asfa Bihari as the new Appointed Actuary, PNB MetLife reinforces its dedication to financial excellence and unwavering customer-centric values. Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the #1 AI CRM, today announced it has surpassed its commitment to provide 500,000 upskilling opportunities to women as part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Upskilling Initiative, delivering over 3 million opportunities within its first year. The IPEF initiative, launched by the U.S. Department of Commerce in September 2022, aims to provide women in the Indo-Pacific region with access to digital skills training and education to help achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Salesforce has offered upskilling opportunities across India, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and more. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), women in the Asia Pacific region account for only 25.1% of all employment in IT and other information services, emphasizing the need to bridge the gender skills gap. Salesforce developed partnerships with governments, public sector organizations, and nonprofits across the region to provide upskilling opportunities for women. These learning opportunities were delivered via Trailhead, Salesforces free online learning platform, and through various workforce development programs, expert-led training events, self-paced e-learning courses, and certifications for jobs in the Salesforce ecosystem. These programs are powered by Salesforces Trailhead Academy, which partners with government organizations, universities, and other institutes of learning to build a digitally-skilled workforce. Program partnerships include: India: NASSCOM, which trains students and citizens on Salesforce through the NASSCOM Future Skill Prime Portal. Collaboration with Giftabled, Skillible, and Pride Circle to digitally empower the lives of people with disabilities, women who return to work, and LGBTQ communities. Indonesia: Integration partner Nokentech, which provides CRM training to create equal access to digital skills for 100,000 students in rural and urban areas. Indonesias Ministry of Communication and Informatics (KOMINFO), which provides CRM curriculum and training for the Digital Talent Scholarship Program. The Philippines: Ayala Foundations three-year partnership with Salesforce to train women in digital and CRM skills. Creating pathways to job opportunities through the Salesforce ecosystem Salesforce sets the foundation to help anyone flourish in a digital-first world by delivering the resources to learn, connect, and grow. Women participating in these upskilling opportunities have access to the Trailblazer community, which helps them learn Salesforce skills with peers and experts, and connects them to opportunities across the Salesforce ecosystem. Women such as Hiral Kanani and Sowthamini Subramanian have benefited with career opportunities through the Salesforce ecosystem. Hiral Kanani was an associate professor with over 10 years of experience and holds a masters degree in computer science. Hiral came across the Skillable program, where she completed the Salesforce Platform Developer I certification. She is now a technical instructor at Salesforce in India. Sowthamini Subramanian was early into her career as a software engineer when she had to take a career break due to a medical emergency. When she was ready to return to the workforce, Skillable provided an opportunity for her to learn Salesforce Platform Developer skills and resulted in her finding employment as a Software Engineer at Neer Info Solution. Salesforce believes that business is a platform for change and, as part of that effort, we are committed to bridging the gender skills gap in the Indo-Pacific region. The benefits of technology must be accessible to all, and diverse voices and talents must be nurtured in the global workforce, said William Sim, Vice President, Trailhead Academy, Asia-Pacific, Salesforce. By delivering on and exceeding our commitment to provide half a million upskilling opportunities, we are demonstrating a tangible impact on the lives and careers of countless individuals in these communities, and helping to unlock the potential of digital economies in the region. I am thrilled to see the progress that private companies like Salesforce are making under the IPEF Upskilling Initiative to empower women and girls around the world, and I look forward to hearing about the actions that all the private sector partners are similarly taking since the launch of this public-private partnership, said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. Sam Altman, the ousted CEO of prominent AI company OpenAI, will not return to the company, say some media reports. This is amid growing calls from investors for his reinstatement as the CEO of the AI company. The Information has reported that Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear will be the interim CEO. The other day Sam Altman visited the company's San Francisco headquarters. He posted his picture on X, showcasing a guest ID pass, outside the HQ with these words: "First and last time I ever wear one of these." This has sparked rumours that he will return to the company. The 38-year-old, instrumental in the establishment of the company, faced a loss of confidence from the board, leading to his removal. Nevertheless, both investors and employees are clamouring for Altman's reinstatement. Altman, along with Greg Brockman, another co-founder who resigned as the company's president, were invited to the headquarters for discussions on Sunday. Although OpenAI has yet to comment on the situation, the firing of Altman, a key figure in the rapidly expanding generative AI field, sent shockwaves globally. The board accused Altman of lacking consistency in communication, hindering its oversight role, without specifying the nature of the alleged lack of candor. Speculation about potential repercussions, such as Altman establishing a competing company and attracting top talent from OpenAI, adds complexity to the situation. Concerns also arose regarding the impact on an upcoming $86 billion share sale and the displeasure of venture capitalist backers, including tech giant Microsoft, which holds a $10 billion stake in OpenAI. If Altman makes a comeback, there is speculation that he might push for the formation of a new board of directors. Analysts, including Dan Ives from investment firm Wedbush Securities, expect Altman's reinstatement as OpenAI's chief executive, suggesting that the board's actions may have been an overreach. Ives describes the situation as a "coup attempt" that is likely to backfire, emphasizing Altman's pivotal role in the AI industry, particularly for major investors like Microsoft. OpenAI, currently enjoying substantial investment, is viewed as a company at its pinnacle, with its widely utilized ChatGPT contributing to its success. Altman, who has been a prominent figure in the company's ascent, is regarded not only as the face of OpenAI but also as a representative of the larger AI industry. His sacking prompted support from influential figures in Silicon Valley, such as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who lauded Altman as a "hero" and someone who has "changed our collective world forever." The potential U.S. missile sale to Japan and South Korea scares North Korea as DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) believes it could lead to a new arms race. North Korea's defense ministry (Ministry of Defense) shared its concerns on Monday, Nov. 20. In its statement, the military department explained that the United States selling its missiles to SoKor and Japan is a very dangerous act. NoKor's defense ministry added that this potential missile cooperation could raise tension in the region. Potential US Missile Sale to Japan, SoKor Scares North Korea According to The Straits Times, North Korea is denouncing the possible U.S. missile sale to Japan and South Korea. The country's defense ministry said that it is ready to respond if this cooperation will lead to instability in the region. North Korean officials further stated that they will step up measures to create deterrence in case the U.S. government sells its missiles to the two Asian countries. "We warn that the more the United States profits from indiscriminate arms sales, the more it would have to pay for the security crisis," said North Korea via US News. NoKor's defense ministry shared this statement after its spy satellite launch preparation had been announced, making the warning of North Korea against the U.S., Japan, and SoKor quite ironic. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said that NoKor could launch its controversial spy satellite before November ends. "We sternly warn North Korea to squarely face the reality of the international community seriously condemning its illicit activities in one voice," warned SoKor's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The major South Korean military branch urged North Korea to suspend its military spy satellite launch to avoid more conflict, claiming that if this orbital instrument is launched, it would be a violation and provocation of UN Security Council resolutions. Read Also: How Exploding Drones Change Russia-Ukraine War: Experts Claim No One Is Safe from These Kamikaze UAVs US Approves Potential Missile Sale On Friday, Nov. 17, the U.S. State Department announced its approval of the potential missile sale to South Korea and Japan. The federal executive department confirmed this decision after Japan said that it was planning to purchase hundreds of Tomahawk missiles (400 to be exact) from the United States. If this really happens, it would contribute to the nation's biggest military build-up since World War II. The potential missile deal is expected to be over $2.30 billion. This possible military enhancement cooperation arrived after South Korea's National Security Council said that it would immediately respond to any provocative actions by North Korea. Related Article: North Korea Successfully Tests Solid-Fuel Engines for Intermediate-Range Nuclear Ballistic Missiles @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In his role, Mr. Patankar will be responsible for Enterprise Risk, Credit Policy, Market Risk, Operations Risk Management (ORM), Information Security and all other Pillar II risks of the Bank. Mr. Patankar will be based at YES BANK House, Mumbai, the registered office of the Bank. He will report to Mr. Prashant Kumar, Managing Director & CEO, YES BANK and will take formal charge as the CRO of the Bank w.e.f. December 1, 2023. Mr. Patankar holds nearly three decades of diversified experience in risk management and has front-ended business expansion roles encompassing segments such as Retail (urban and rural products), Micro Finance, Corporate (conglomerates, MNCs and large Indian firms), Institutional Finance, Infrastructure, Real Estate, SME, Market Risk as well as growth management portfolios across leading foreign banks, private banks and NBFCs. Mr. Patankar joins YES BANK from L&T Financial Services where he last served in the capacity of Group Chief Risk Officer managing Retail, Microfinance, Corporate, Infrastructure, Real Estate, and Mutual Fund across over 1,800 locations. In his previous roles, he has been associated with organisations like ANZ, HSBC, ABN AMRO, IDFC First Bank, Bajaj Finance and Mashreq Bank. Dukes Mayonnaise is a beloved condiment in the South. The fans are a loyal bunch, a fact that was only reiterated on Friday when a tattoo shop in Richmond, Virginia inked the most dedicated of the pack with tributes to the brand. These fans and their families gathered in Yellow Bird Tattoo to make a permanent commitment to Dukes Mayo. This is the second year Dukes has partnered with Yellow Bird Tattoo to provide free tattoos to loyal customers. Last year, they held a flash tattoo pop-up where 75 people were inked over the course of a day. This time around, Dukes took a more intimate approach. In early October, the Dukes Mayo team sent out a call for customers to send in their cherished mayo memories. They received over 120 submissions sharing how the creamy condiment became a cornerstone for family dinners and beloved recipes throughout the South. I think to me, its still incredible that theres so much emotion around, lets face it, mayonnaise, Rebecca Lupesco, Dukes brand manager said. The love for Dukes runs deep in the South. There are cookbooks dedicated to this one ingredient, and an Instagram account showcasing a range of Dukes tattoos. Its a cult-like following, 33-year-old Richmond resident Lauren Clark observed. Dukes Mayo is an integral ingredient in the Hanover tomato sandwiches Clarks grandmother used to make. She even wrote a blog post about the beloved sandwich in 2015. It was this story that won her a matching tattoo with her mother, Kathy Ashworth. Joseph Fessman, owner of Yellow Bird Tattoo, collaborated with Clark and Ashworth to design the tribute ahead of their appointment. It depicts a picnic basket with a jar of Dukes, a loaf of bread and some Hanover tomatoes in honor of her grandmothers beloved sandwich. Fessman also mocked up a replica of Clarks grandmothers recipe card and pulled her signature from the last letter she wrote before her death. She taught me how to be proud of being from the South and also how to show that pride through cooking, Clark said. Theyre a self-proclaimed Dukes or die family, Clark explained. Her husband, whos from New York, is a Hellmanns fan, much to her dismay, so they keep separate jars of mayonnaise in the fridge. Clark makes sure to never touch his swill mayonnaise. When Clark told her mother they would be getting a tattoo, Ashworth was ecstatic. Shes over the moon excited to have this thing that her and I can do together, Clark said. And also something that links in a physical way me to her and her to her mother. Taylor Bell, a 26-year-old from Richmond, Virginia, was another tattoo recipient on Friday. Her grandmother was always very defensive about Dukes, going so far as to send one of her cousins back to the store when they came home with the wrong mayonnaise brand. Bell chose a tattoo design that combines Dukes Mayo with other figments of her childhood, like magnolia flowers and the weeping willows her grandmother would pick a switch from when the kids got in trouble. At the event, she said she was able to meet several of the other families receiving tattoos and learned about their mayo stories, including an older woman decked out in a fur coat whose grandchild entered her into the contest without telling her. The submissions solicited both heartfelt memories and comical ones. Christopher Dukes, 28, of Alabama, said part of his familys love for Dukes Mayo comes from the likeness in their names. He also just prefers the brands tangy kick. His winning submission recalls a time when he was swinging around a bag of groceries after his family got back from the store. There must have been a hole in the bag because a jar of Dukes Mayonnaise escaped its plastic confines and squared up daddy right in the nose. He busted his dads glasses and knocked him down in the yard. Its that tang, Im tellin you, Dukes said. Dukes and his father drove to Virginia for the tattoo, about a 12-hour journey. It was the first time they had traveled outside of Alabama together, he said. Before the road trip, Dukes said they planned to chat about deer hunting, listen to podcasts and maybe do some singing together as the karaoke masters of the South. Their matching tattoo is a deer skull with antlers that pays tribute to their mutual love for hunting and the outdoors. In addition to a free tattoo, this was an opportunity for them to spend some time together, something Dukes cherishes. Spend time and make memories with the people that are real close to you, he said. Really soak it up and enjoy it, because you never know when you wont get to. As for the rest of the tattoo recipients, theyll likely remember this day for a long time to come as they return home with a bit of Dukes attached to them forever. Its really the experiences that are connected to Dukes, Lupesco said. Its not about mayonnaise at all. Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram. 2023 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Alabama lawmakers paid tribute to former First Lady Rosalynn Carter for a lifetime of service in and out of government. Carter, 96, died Sunday at 2:10 p.m. at her home in Plains, Ga. She died peacefully, with family by her side, according to a statement from the Carter Center. Carter was married for 77 years to Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States and the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, who is now 99 years old. Sen. Katie Boyd Britt, on a posting on the social media platform X, said Carter lived an incredible life. Rosalynn Carter lived an incredible life that was wholeheartedly devoted to serving others. She leaves behind a legacy of grace, grit, and goodwill. Our thoughts and prayers are with President Carter and their loved ones. https://t.co/kQ1w4uZlI2 Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) November 19, 2023 Sen. Tommy Tuberville also paid tribute: First Lady Rosalynn Carter dedicated her life to service - particularly as a mental health advocate. Much of her work shapes how we address todays mental health crisis. My prayers go out to President Carter and the Carter family. Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) November 19, 2023 Rep. Terri Sewell released this statement: An Alexander City woman is under arrest after a weekend hit-and-run crash that left another woman critically injured. Auburn police on Monday said Thomasina LaShun Smith, 40, is charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injury. The wreck happened Saturday in the are of North College Street and Farmville Road. Police were dispatched to a report of a woman unresponsive on the side of the road. They determined the victim had been struck while riding her bicycle on North College Street. Authorities said the victim remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition. Evidence collected at the scene, along with witness statements, led to Smith being identified as the driver of the vehicle that struck the victim and left the scene, witnesses said. Smith was taken into custody Sunday and booked into the Lee County Jail on $10,000 bond. Police officials said its important for motorists to be vigilant when approaching cyclists. Alabama law requires a minimum of 3 feet of clearance between a motorists vehicle and the bicycle the motorist is passing. Anyone with information on Saturdays crash is asked to call the police departments tip line at 334-246-1391. The Decatur mayor on Monday addressed the police chiefs findings that policies were violated on the night that officers fatally shot Stephen Perkins and has tentatively set a hearing date for possible discipline of those officers. Mayor Tab Bowling said the citys lawyer is in possession of Chief Todd Pinions determinations. He anticipates recommending discipline as a result those determinations and providing me with a formal statement of charges and specifications on Wednesday, Nov. 22, Bowling said. Hearings on any proposed discipline will be tentatively scheduled for December 4, subject to the availability of the parties and witnesses. In any hearing, I will hear the facts of the case and decide if discipline is warranted and to what extent, Bowling said. Under Alabama law, any decision can be appealed to the Personnel Board if any officer is disciplined. The police chief on Friday issued a statement saying he had received the findings of the internal investigation by the departments Office of Professional Standards. On Thursday, the chief met with the involved officers to review the findings with them and gave them an opportunity to be heard before he made any decision. I found reason to believe that policies were violated, and the final report and findings were sent to the Legal Department and outside counsel late this afternoon to prepare the formal documents to move forward the discipline process, Pinions statement read. Under our merit system rules, a chief of police cannot issue discipline beyond written reprimands, and it is my professional opinion that such discipline is warranted, he said. The mayor will conduct a review and make a final determination if discipline is warranted and to what extent. Pinion did not spell out what violations he believes took place. Decatur police officers shot and killed the 39-year-old Perkins Sept. 29 in his front yard at the 3900 Block of Ryan Drive, The police said they were there because Perkins threatened a tow truck driver with a gun and later turned a gun on an officer. An initial police report said Perkins refused to comply when the police asked him to drop the weapon. Pinion had since apologized, saying the initial report mischaracterized what happened and that it was wrong to say Perkins refused to drop his gun. Home camera footage of the deadly shooting appeared to show that the police were out of sight when Perkins told the tow truck driver to drop the truck that morning before a police officer appeared to come from the corner of the house, told Perkins to get to the ground and immediately shot him. The officer who fired his weapon remains on paid administrative leave. The other two officers who were on-duty at the time of the shooting and the involved supervisor remain on-duty but on administrative assignments. City officials can only look into potential violations of city policy. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is conducting the criminal investigation. Thanksgiving is Thursday. Thanksgiving is a day of reflecting on our blessings and spending time with family and loved ones, the mayor said. For the Perkins family, this will undoubtedly be a hard day, Bowling said. They will have an empty seat at their table. They will be missing their father, husband, brother, and friend. He asked that everyone keep Perkins family in their prayers. And beyond that, I ask for prayers for this process for justice, for healing, and for peace for everyone involved, Bowling said. I ask you to join me in praying for Steve Perkins family and friends, for those who are hurting, for our law enforcement officers and first responders, and for our city. Decatur police officers shot and killed the 39-year-old Perkins Sept. 29 in his front yard at the 3900 Block of Ryan Drive, The police said they were there because Perkins threatened a tow truck driver with a gun and later turned a gun on an officer. An initial police report said Perkins refused to comply when the police asked him to drop the weapon. Pinion had since apologized, saying the initial report mischaracterized what happened and that it was wrong to say Perkins refused to drop his gun. Home camera footage of the deadly shooting appeared to show that the police were out of sight when Perkins told the tow truck driver to drop the truck that morning before a police officer appeared to come from the corner of the house, told Perkins to get to the ground and immediately shot him. Perkins death has prompted outrage among many. Authorities are asking for the publics help finding family members of three people who died in Jefferson County this month. Their bodies are ready to be released for burial, but the Jefferson County Coroners Office has not been able to notify next of kin. Morgan Blackerby, a 74-year-old white male, died Nov. 5. He was a resident at Ridgeway Rehabilitation and Senior Living on Ninth Avenue in Bessemer. Blackerby lived in Maylene in 2013 and in Birmingham in 2020. He died of natural causes. Jessie Anita Crotwell(Jefferson County Coroner's Office) Jessie Anita Crotwell, an 81-year-old white female, died Nov. 12. She was a tenant of Oak Knoll Health and Rehabilitation on Sixth Avenue West in Birmingham. Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said Crotwell lived in McCalla in 2018. She died of natural causes. Duane Arthur Goldstein(Jefferson County Coroner's Office) Duane Arthur Goldstein, a 55-year-old white male, died Nov. 14. He was found by a passerby at 6:52 a.m. that Tuesday on a sidewalk in the 600 block of 29th Street South in Birmingham. No foul play was involved in his death. Yates said Goldstein is originally from New York but has been in Birmingham since at least 2014. Family members are asked to call the coroners office at 205-930-3603. There are a few reasons to avoid wading in the water after a hurricane floating debris, backed-up sewage and downed power lines, to name a few. But high numbers of flesh-eating bacteria that can cause potentially deadly infections are another concern, whether youre in floodwaters or the ocean, according to a new study from the University of Florida and the University of Maryland. In October 2022, after Hurricane Ian pushed 12 feet of storm surge onto southwest Floridas coast, researchers collected water samples around Pine Island. More than a month after the surge had retreated, they werent expecting to find many remaining traces of the harmful bacteria, said Antarpreet Jutla, a University of Florida professor of environmental engineering and co-author of the study. To our surprise, almost every sample was positive, Jutla said. Vibrio vulnificus a bacteria that got its moniker as a flesh-eater from its ability to kill healthy tissue around a wound flourishes in brackish floodwaters that can linger after a hurricanes storm surge is long gone. Warm waters, low salinity and high nutrient levels all collide as fresh water and salt water mix during intense storms, creating a perfect habitat for the bacteria to breed, Jutla said. Bacteria belonging to the Vibrio family can cause an infection called vibriosis, which typically enters the body when consuming raw or undercooked seafood or exposing a wound to seawater. More of this bacteria in the gulf means a higher risk of a small open wound escalating to a life-threatening infection, he said. It also means theres more risk to local shellfish providers and consumers. After Ian, the team took water samples near three southwest Florida seafood wholesalers: Cutthroat Clams, Clam Key Seafood and White Booth Seafood. They also collected about 12 oysters in total, most of which tested positive for Vibrio bacteria, according to Jutla. While the oysters werent collected directly from the shellfish farms, they were found in nearby gulf waters. We dont know what is going to happen at the oyster farms or the shellfish farms, Jutla said. We have a huge industry in Florida. Cedar Key is one of the biggest hubs of these. The research team took water samples at Cedar Key, Horseshoe Beach and Suwannee in the days following Hurricane Idalia, a Category 3 storm that slammed into Floridas Big Bend region this past summer. They are still waiting for results to come in and arent sure whether theyll find similarly alarming Vibrio numbers like those measured after Ian. Jutla said the main reason for their uncertainty is the differences in the two regions coastal ecologies Cedar Keys aquaculture farming and nearby river systems differ greatly from Southwest Floridas beachy shorelines. Warming waters and rising cases The Sunshine State leads the nation in cases of vibriosis, according to a study from Florida Atlantic University. About 20% of these originate from the Indian River Lagoon region, a popular recreation site on the states east coast. Jutla said his studys results point to Floridas Gulf Coast as an emerging hot spot for the dangerous bacteria. Last year, there were 74 Vibrio vulnificus cases and 17 deaths in Florida. So far this year, the state has counted 44 cases and 10 deaths. Fourteen of those cases and six of the deaths were reported in the Tampa Bay area, according to the Florida Department of Health. We need to be aware that there may be an abundance of these Vibrios in the water systems in and around the coast of Florida, Jutla said. Since 1992, infections caused by the bacteria have risen by more than 500% across Florida, according to the study. While the effects of climate change on the bacteria havent been tested in the gulf, Jutla said a study published this year in Scientific Reports showed that as ocean temperatures rise, so has the number of Vibrio vulnificus infections across North America. Warming waters and an aging adult population mean infections could double by 2060, according to the study. Jutla said his team was also surprised to find natural antibiotic resistance in the Vibrio samples they collected, which could make the bacteria more difficult to treat. Antibiotic residues found in wastewater can travel out to open waters, changing coastal ecosystems. The team suspects that the presence of antibiotics in the gulf environment could lead Vibrios to evolve and develop survival mechanisms for antibiotic resistance at a level not typically found in the wild. That basically puts a large swath of population in Florida at a little bit of a risk, Jutla said. Norman Beatty, a professor at the University of Floridas College of Medicine and the studys co-author, said people who have liver disease, hepatitis or are otherwise immunocompromised should take extra care in gulf waters. Last year, about half of the states Vibrio vulnificus cases were reported in southwest Florida. Officials attributed those 38 cases and 11 Vibrio-related deaths to Hurricane Ian. Beatty said many of the surviving patients had to be treated with up to three classes of antibiotics before they were fully recovered. Different antibiotic classes are needed because some studies have shown that, when treated with a single class, the condition of some patients will worsen and they may even need surgery. The heightened concern for drug resistance found in these Vibrios may explain why some infections are so difficult to treat, he said. Alarmed by their findings, Beatty and Jutla have now shifted their focus to educating the public on the prevalence and danger of Vibrio infections. Anglers, disaster relief workers and emergency medical service providers who find themselves frequently in the water are at higher risk of a serious infection, they said. Folks who are going to find themselves near or in the water for any reason should be well aware of vibriosis, as well as ways that they can mitigate this risk, Beatty said. That means wearing protective gear and not entering waters with an open wound. The research team is also working to develop a Vibrio prediction system. The algorithm would function similarly to a hurricane forecast, Jutla said, and it would flag potentially dangerous shorelines when conditions are ripe for the bacteria to be found in large numbers. While work on the prediction model advances, he said bringing awareness to the emerging waterborne pathogen is the best way to keep people safe. There is no need to panic, Jutla said. But its a work in progress. It will take some time. 2023 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A police officer was shot and a suspect killed during a call for service Monday in an Oneonta neighborhood. Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon said Oneonta police responded to a call of a suspicious person knocking on the doors of homes in the area of Sand Valley Road. The initial call was about 11 a.m. When officers arrived, the man ran into a wooded area, followed by police. There was a brief standoff in the woods. The suspect, Moon said, brandished a gun and shots were exchanged. An Oneonta police officer was reportedly in the leg- and airlifted to UAB Hospital in stable condition. He is expected to be OK. Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey said the suspect was pronounced dead on the scene. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys State Bureau of Investigation is on the scene and will take the lead in the investigation, which is standard procedure for officer-involved shootings. The US agreed to join Australia to take a step forward in fighting child sexual exploitation amid increasing online abuse cases on November 19. US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus called for an inaugural meeting of a joint assembly on November 16 to discuss the issue of child sexual exploitation. US Join Australia in Fighting Child Sexual Exploitation According to the joint statement, online child sexual exploitation and abuse were increasingly widespread, exploited, and worsened by the speed and scale of digital technologies. Some advanced technologies, like generative artificial intelligence (AI), have further exacerbated the risk of harm to youth and provided opportunities to tackle the threat. The statement said that the US and Australia were both committed to combatting all forms of child exploitation and abuse. Dreyfus said they were responsible for protecting the youth, the most vulnerable group in society. He said that online child sexual exploitation and abuse have a long-lasting and devastating impact on victims and survivors. "The Albanese Government is committed to preventing and responding to child sexual abuse that occurs online or in any other setting and supporting all victims and survivors," he added. He said that every child and young person has the right to be safe from child sexual abuse. Furthermore, he assured that their collective responsibility was to protect every child. Mayorkas said that sexual abuse crimes were continuously increasing worldwide, and there was no greater law enforcement imperative. He said that they would hold the perpetrators accountable. He added that the perpetrators were exploiting technological advances to manipulate images online, which made it hard for law enforcement to distinguish a real or fake image to identify the victims. He said he was forming alliances worldwide to tackle and approach the abuse online with other governments. Mayorkas added that they also have a great partnership with the Australian government to combat child sexual exploitation. Both the US and the Australian government have been prioritizing identifying and saving the victims and bringing the perpetrators to justice. Furthermore, US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have already met to establish their responsibility in the Joint Council, which they announced at the Australian state visit to the United States in October. The Joint Council noted that they would develop a trauma-informed, victim and survivor-centered multidisciplinary work plan within each of the pillars of the Joint Council. Read Also: David Cameron Visits Ukraine, Promises Further Military Support for War-Torn Nation Increasing Reports of Child Sexual Exploitation According to CBS News, since the pandemic, children have been focused on their gadgets, such as laptops and smartphones, and stayed connected to the Internet and have been more prone to predators online. The nonprofit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children revealed that it received 29.3 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation last year, which was an increase of 35% from 2020 and record-breaking. Alicia Kozak, a 13-year-old victim, was kidnapped and abused in a basement in Virginia before being rescued by law enforcement agents. After a decade, Kozak was advocating for internet safety against predators, and she warned that predators realize kids across America now have more comprehensive access to phones and computers at an even younger age. Related Article: California: Prosecutors Charge Male Nanny With 34 Felonies, Receives 707 Years of Imprisonment @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Strong to possibly severe storms are in the forecast for parts of Alabama tonight, but there is also something else to prepare for: Strong wind gusts. And they could be totally separate from the storms. The National Weather Service is warning that winds could gusts as high as 50 mph in some parts of Alabama starting later tonight -- both near storms and away from them. Forecasters are expecting rain and storms to develop along a cold front that is expected to move into Alabama late tonight or early Tuesday. Some of the storms, especially in west and south Alabama, could be strong to severe with wind gusts up to 60 mph, tornadoes and heavy rain. Here is the severe weather outlook for later tonight: Strong to severe storms will be possible in parts of Alabama starting late this afternoon into tonight. The areas in yellow have a Level 2 out of 5 risk for severe weather today, and the areas in dark green have a Level 1 risk. The strongest storms could bring tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain. More storms will be possible on Tuesday in south Alabama.Storm Prediction Center However, wind gusts could reach as high as 50 mph away from storms in parts of north Alabama and up to 40 mph in central Alabama starting later tonight -- and the potential for strong winds will persist into the morning hours. Winds that strong could bring down tree limbs and cause power outages. Alabamas ongoing drought has also helped to weaken some trees, making them more vulerable to strong wind gusts. Strong winds could also make driving hazardous and take a toll on any outdoor decorations that may already be on display. Wind advisories will be in effect for the northern half of Alabama starting later tonight. All of north Alabama will be under a wind advisory from 6 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday. The counties in the advisory are Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Marshall, Jackson, DeKalb and Cullman. [12:30PM] (2/3) Separate from the storm threat, we have high confidence in a wind threat this evening through tomorrow morning for gusts up to 40-50 mph. Downed trees and power lines are potential impacts of these winds- secure loose items & use caution while traveling. pic.twitter.com/mwQ2yxpef8 NWS Huntsville (@NWSHuntsville) November 20, 2023 The weather service said southeast winds from 20 to 30 mph with gusts of 40 to 50 mph are expected. For central Alabama, a wind advisory will be in effect from 7 p.m. Monday until 7 a.m. Tuesday for Marion, Lamar, Fayette, Winston, Walker, Blount, Etowah, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega, Clay, Randolph, Sumter, Greene, Hale, Perry, Bibb, Chilton, Coosa and Tallapoosa counties. There is a Marginal to Slight Risk of severe weather tonight into Tuesday. Main threats will be damaging winds and a brief tornado possible. Also a Wind Advisory has been issued from 7 PM to 7 AM Tuesday for the northern half of Central Alabama. Winds may gusts to 40 MPH. #alwx pic.twitter.com/8sNuSIdDhM NWS Birmingham (@NWSBirmingham) November 20, 2023 The weather service said south to southeast winds from 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph will be possible. Forecasters expect winds to die down later Tuesday morning. Birmingham police have identified an Adamsville man as the victim in a fatal shooting Saturday afternoon in west Birmingham. Sgt. LaQuitta Wade said Lakevin Ralpheal Debruce, 22, died following a shooting that occurred at 4:01 p.m. in the 2600 block of Avenue C in Birmingham. Debruce died at UAB Hospital. Someone in the area heard gunfire and then saw the victim fall out of a vehicle into the roadway. That witness called 911. Debruce was one of three men killed in Birmingham in a 13-hour period. He is Birminghams 121st confirmed homicide this year. Of those, one was an officer-involved shooting by an outside law enforcement agency, and eight others have been ruled justifiable. In all of Jefferson County there have been 167 homicides, including the 121 in Birmingham. Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. A suspect in Tennessee died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while on the run Sunday after a series of shootings that killed four of his female relatives and seriously injured a fifth person, police said. Officers found the body of Mavis Christian Jr., 52, in his car during a manhunt following shootings at three locations in Memphis that left three women and a teenage girl dead and a teenage girl critically wounded, the Memphis Police Department said. Police said Christian was related to the victims but could not immediately specify how they were related. The names of the victims have not yet been released. We are deeply saddened by the tragic and senseless shootings on Saturday ... resulting in the deaths of four innocent family members and a fifth victim critically injured, the police department said in a statement posted on social media. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their loved ones as our community grieves more lives taken by domestic violence. Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn CJ Davis said that incidents like these shake us all to our core. The suspects uncle, Melvin Christian, said he didnt know what might have triggered the violence. I hadnt seen him in years, Melvin Christian said when reached by phone Sunday. He said he didnt know any details about the shootings, including who had been shot. When told that four people had died, he replied, Oh Lord. Memphis police officers responded to a reported shooting at 9:22 p.m. Saturday on the 100 Block of Howard Drive. Police found a woman with an apparent gunshot wound who was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators determined there were two other connected fatal shootings. At Field Lark Drive, a woman and a 13-year-old girl were killed and a 15-year-old girl was critically wounded. Another woman was found fatally shot on Warrington Road, Memphis Police Officer Christopher Williams said earlier. Police believed Mavis Christian Jr. was responsible for the shootings and began a search involving local, state and federal law enforcement agencies until his body was found. His criminal record stretched back to a 1996 aggravated assault charge, the Commercial Appeal reported, citing court records. He also faced charges of felony domestic violence, aggravated assault, theft and vandalism in 2018, the newspaper also reported. Shirley Schofield calls being CEO of the Food Bank of North Alabama kind of a second career for me. I was a journalist for many years, she told the Lede. I worked in newspapers in Mississippi, Florida and California. I loved it and did it for about 25 years. I was an assistant city editor, deputy city editor. I was out in California, and I just needed to move back and be closer to my family in Alabama. Originally from south Alabama, Schofield had family in Huntsville. It was a better area for me to try to find something new, she said. Schofield wanted to work at a non-profit and started volunteering in the area. She saw an ad for a position at the Food Bank of North Alabama. There is more than an average share of discontent brewing from sea to shining sea as ever more Americans get the sense that their country, which has been pivotal to ensuring global security, stands on the edge of a cliff. Many comfort themselves by looking at other pivotal moments in our history where the countrys future was in doubt right before the ship was righted. But, due to a confluence of factors, it is hard to imagine America bouncing back. There are four problems that, if not reversed soon, will lead to collapse, and America will fall. 1. The most obvious problem is out-of-control government spending. The interest on the national debt is pushing toward a cool trillion dollars, clocking in at $659 billion for fiscal 2022, gobbling up ever more American tax dollars. While wise politicians should be sobered by that number, they instead are pushing the ship to ludicrous speed in search of Mad Max. It is forcing ever higher deficit spending since it is mathematically impossible to bring in enough tax revenue to buy off voting blocs, meaning that it will skyrocket in the years ahead. Its a serious problem that demands serious politicians in both parties. But you first need a serious electorate, something in short supply these days. The ask not what your country can do for you ethos of yesterday has transformed into the give us more free stuff and well take some reparations on the side grievance ethos of today. Americas political leadership, voted in by an electorate addicted to handouts, will take the approach of Belshazzar, the Babylonian king who was partying even as the armies of doom were at the gates. Whats the tipping point? Few of our leaders seem to care. I suppose that when collapse comes, we can at least take great comfort in the fact that we paid for the retirements of the charmingly corrupt Ukrainian cocktail class. 2. So how did we get to this state where solutions seem impossible? Thats where the second trend comes in, which is the complete takeover of our institutions by real radicals, not the pretend kind that the Mitt Cheneys of this world see behind every rock. The core of this problem was the complete fall of the American university, which has been in motion for decades. All institutional rot flows from that. The teachers who are radicalizing Americas kids, the Pravda press who control the narrative, the social media kingpins kicking up a pining among our youth for Bin Laden, the politicians, lawyers, bureaucrats, writers, publishers, and industry leaders all have one thing in common: they were indoctrinated and radicalized in American universities. Weve reached an interesting point in our history where Americans are far more likely to be intelligent, wise, and self-controlled if they never set foot in an American university. Once the university system fell and started cranking out generations of people who see the world only through an oppressor versus oppressed lens, the other institutions toppled like dominoes. Why study something useless like math when you can marinate in classes focused on whom you should resent and hate the most?When a nation faces tough times, it relies on its norms and institutions to pull it out of the nosedive. But most of our institutions have reached a point from which they cannot be saved, and, sadly, we arent going to adapt Ripleys advice from Aliens and nuke them from orbit since it is the only way to be sure.But we should starve them of resources at every opportunity. 3. A big part of why these institutions stand secure in their corruption and toxic missions is the lack of common values and decency within America today. We can all see what is happening on the surface since it is largely happening out in the open at this point. But the spiritual condition that underpins it is a deeper concern. We are suffering from a societal lack of respect for life and from an inability to see a common humanity within our fellow citizens. These Jewish and Christian spiritual values are what allowed us to see other people as neighbors instead of enemies. The collapse of those values is what enables a gang of fifteen boys to take joy in beating someone to death. The recent elections were somewhat instructive as to where we are as a nation not because of who won, but due to how they did it.In the weeks leading up to the election, there was a never-ending parade of commercials in my home state of Virginia featuring Democrats extolling the wonderful glories of abortion. They could have replaced the D with an A after their names because they ran as the abortion party.It was the only issue they ran on, the one value to rule them all. And the electorate embraced many of them for it. It is already a certainty that it will be the one issue that Democrats run on in 2024.When it comes to basic societal values, diversity is not our strength. Our once common values, even if we sometimes failed to live up to them, were enshrined in our founding documents and formed the foundation of our society. That foundation has now been shattered, and we are left with nothing that binds us together.Remove agreed upon norms of decency that are expected of everyone, and you end up with Lord of the Flies, or the latest mostly peaceful fiery protest du jour by the lovely lemmings who make up the core of the Democrat party, or what passes for San Francisco these days. 4. So what would an American collapse leave behind? That should be more obvious now than perhaps it was before the brutal Hamas attacks of October 7. Most of Europe is falling to Islam and is too far gone to reverse course. Death-spiral birth rates among native Europeans combined with out-of-control migration from the Islamic world has led Europe to where it is today: a continent full of countries whose policies will increasingly reflect its population. While the blatant antisemitism is on full display for all to see, its going to get a lot worse, to the point where anyone who is not willing to convert to Islam will find himself either under attack or marginalized as a second-class citizen. The left prattles on about Islamophobia, even as it tries to ignore and gloss over very real antisemitism, but no such thing as Islamophobia can actually exist, since a phobia is an irrational fear. The pro-terrorist mobs who blot out the scenery in London and other European cities (and take over the previously mentioned American universities) will seem quaint in another decade. Even if migration were cut off tomorrow, it wouldnt matter at this point based on disparity of birth rates. Why does this matter to America? For one, our politicians are every bit as foolish as the globalist Europeans we are emulating. The only thing that has slowed down America from suffering the same fate is geography. As horrific as our open borders are, they would be far worse if we bordered Islamic states.Even at that, Islamic migration is already influencing our electoral politics and policy positions, which was on display when the president tried to bully Israel into a foolish ceasefire, almost certainly out of concern over losing Michigan, as just one obvious example.More importantly, it is hard to imagine America flourishing in a world where most of its traditional allies have fallen to Islam. Indeed, this will only exacerbate the descent into brutish darkness.How could Israel even survive in such a world? While there are plenty of other trends to be concerned about, these four all but ensure that the American moment, short of a spiritual reawakening, will end far sooner than most expect and it is wise to start preparing for that outcome. In the meantime, these are the areas where conservatives should focus their efforts, or at least be aware of these trends and how they are influencing other policy discussions. We need to educate as many people as we can on the stakes involved, and now is a great moment for that, when so many of the systemic problems should be obvious to all. Image: JSMed via Pixabay, Pixabay License. Throughout the real-life science fiction movie called COVID, we have been told to follow the science. The face of COVID, Dr. Anthony Fauci, condescendingly proclaimed, I am the science. It comes to light now that most of his assertions turned out to be incorrect. Gender and sex are the latest battlefront in the realm of science, and this, too, is turning out to defy actual science and common sense. But as both COVID and gender are now political and advocacy issues rather than the science once taught in biology class, we are no longer following science and instead engaging in magical thinking. Whats the difference between sex and gender? Once upon a time they were interchangeable terms. But that changed. Did the science change or did these terms become politically charged? The word sex has other connotations, so it was an easy transition from sex to gender as the latter had no acts associated with the word. Yale School of Medicine summed it up the new science well, What do we mean by sex and gender? Arent these terms interchangeable? Perhaps at some point in time they were used as synonyms, but this is no longer true in science. How did the science change? In the past, one could pull down ones pants and observe both sex and gender with a quick downward glance, just as the obstetrician does when announcing at the moment of birth, Its a boy! The new science goes like this, The term sex should be used as a classification, generally as male or female, according to the reproductive organs. While The term gender should be used to refer to a person's self-representation as male or female, or how that person is responded to by social institutions on the basis of the individual's gender presentation. In other words, sex is science and gender is magical thinking. Can this thought process be applied to species? Can a dog identify as a cat or vice versa? There are humans who identify as animals, for example furries. There are rumors of schools providing litter boxes for students identifying as cats. Apparently, this is just a rumor, but not long-ago males competing against female athletes was also viewed as a far-fetched rumor, and here we are. This all might be considered frivolous but when it comes to medicine, the stakes are exponentially more significant. As recently reported by The Telegraph, Endometriosis is not a gynaecological condition, the founder of a charity supporting women with the disease has suggested, after appointing a transgender woman as its chief executive. YouTube screen grab Lets break that down. The Cleveland Clinic describes a gynecologist as, A physician who specializes in diagnosing and treating diseases of the female reproductive system. No politically incorrect mention of women. Notice how they cleverly avoid the obvious, that gynecologists care for women. The Merriam-Webster dictionary is less woke and defines gynecology in a clearer manner, A branch of medicine that deals with the diseases and routine physical care of the reproductive system of women. Years ago when I was in medical school at Northwestern, my obstetrics/gynecology rotation was at the Prentice Womens Hospital. Not the Prentice Female Hospital. And not as Merriam-Webster dictionary would name it as, Prentice sex that typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs Hospital. What a mouthful. Imagine putting that on a sign or brochure. Has the science changed that much in a few decades? What is endometriosis? Lets ask Mayo Clinic, Endometriosis is an often-painful condition in which tissue that is similar to the inner lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. It often affects the ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining the pelvis. Rarely, endometriosis growths may be found beyond the area where pelvic organs are located. Notice the mention of female reproductive organs, even though they studiously avoid mentioning the word female, which according to the Cleveland Clinic, falls under the care of a gynecologist. This is not complicated. By logic, endometriosis falls under the province of gynecology, despite what the new CEO of Endometriosis South Coast asserts. The science is clear that endometriosis is a disorder of women and that gynecologists, who by definition treat women, manage this disorder. Using pretzel logic to avoid explicitly stating the obvious is not good science. Sure, endometriosis can rarely occur in men, with 20 cases reported. This would be due to an overabundance of estrogen, usually from hormone therapy to treat prostate cancer. But thats the rare exception. Medicine always has rare exceptions, but we practice based on likelihoods. When you hear hoofbeats, at least in America, its likely a horse, not a zebra. Citing the odd exception is not an excuse for turning science on its head. Why is such precision important in medicine? Because many conditions or diseases are exclusive to men or women, but not both. The most common example is pregnancy. If a woman of childbearing age presents to the emergency room with cramping abdominal pain, a pregnancy test is at the top of the list of diagnostics. A man of the same age presenting to the ER with similar pain would not be given a pregnancy test. But if one sex or gender identifies as the other, then what? Particularly if they have had gender reassignment surgery and their true gender is not readily apparent. What if the patient is unconscious or in too much pain to provide a detailed history? Misdiagnosis in this situation can be fatal. Prostate cancer is another example as a prostate gland is only present in men, regardless of gender identity or preference. For the sticklers out there, women can sort of get prostate cancer, not in the prostate but in the Skenes glands which are similar to the prostate. But like endometriosis in men, Skene gland cancer in women is also extremely rare. Or as we would call it, a zebra. But prostate cancer in trans women is a hot topic of research. A paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association discusses prostate cancer in transgender women. The science says that trans women are still biological men, and even if they have had gender reassignment surgery, still have a prostate gland. This was a study of patients in the Veterans Affairs Health System. Apparently, such research is more important in finding out why there are so many homeless veterans in the US and fixing the problem. Or why, according to the CDC, 71% of young people in the United States would not be able to join the military if they wanted to due to health issues and obesity. As China grows its military, you can be sure they are watching the priorities of the American defense system. Instead, the emphasis should be on the obvious, that men who identify as women are still men and still at risk for prostate cancer. Just like women who identify as men, are still women who can get endometriosis. Is there more important medical research to be performed than this? Today the science is playing word games to disguise the obvious. Why isnt the medical establishment figuring out why life expectancy in the US has dropped two years in a row, with COVID far in the rear view mirror. Or why all of a sudden we are seeing headlines like this, Doctors seeing increase of heart attacks in young people? Along with myriad young healthy individuals dying suddenly. This is the science that affects individuals, families, and society, not whether endometriosis is a gynecological condition. The medical community has obfuscated and spewed misinformation throughout the COVID pandemic, seriously damaging its credibility. How about a course reset, trying to follow the science for a change. And start with sex and gender. Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor, Substack Dr. Brians Substack, Truth Social @BrianJoondeph, and LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph. You know that reproductive health care crisis the left keeps crowing about? That womens rights are being threatened namely the right to end any life she created? Well, in Idaho, women are facing a genuine reproductive health care problem: woke doctors. After the Dobbs decision, the Idaho state Legislature made all abortions illegal, unless pregnancy threatens the womans life. Now OB-GYN doctors are in open revolt against the law. They insist that abortions must be a legal alternative, not just for the life of the woman, but for her health as well. These devoted care providers arent lobbying for legislative changes, nor are they spending their weekends educating the public on the issues. They are quitting their jobs and moving to more enlightened states. According to CBS News, over 50 percent of physicians specializing in high-risk pregnancies will have left Idaho by the end of the year. These doctors want us to trust their judgment as it pertains to womens health, and if we refuse their demand, they wont do anything for womens health. Theyll just take their ball medical bag and leave. Id like to know: does dumping their patients who need them the most square with their hypocritic oath sorry, Hippocratic Oath? But, theres a problem with asking us to trust their judgment. The entire medical profession has spent years discrediting itself, and showing no willingness to hold its practitioners accountable for professional ethics. Confidence in the industry has been in sharp decline in recent years. Gallup now reports that almost two thirds of Americans lack confidence in our medical institutions. Is anybody in the industry asking how that happened or what the industry should do about it? When the entire medical industry came out in support of Obamacare, it pierced the institutions bubble of professionalism. We knew that the legislation was ill advised. When doctors and hospitals supported it, we realized that their judgment was not infallible. We started paying attention. In more recent years, medical professionals have put their wokeness on public display. Take the example of Dr. Bandy Lee, a Yale-affiliated psychiatrist. After watching Donald Trump on TV, she called a group of her fellow medical professionals together to work up a mental diagnosis of The Donald. They decided that he is dangerously mentally unstable and publicly released their diagnosis committing two ethical violations in the process. She said her duty to inform the public superseded her oath. Somehow it never occurred to her that her impression of Trump may have been a bit flawed, given the one-sided coverage of the MSM. Yet she insisted that the public should trust her judgment, even writing a book about Trumps mental state. Was Dr. Lee subjected to a formal ethics review, or in any way hindered from practicing? Nope. She was not held accountable in any meaningful way. That was when some of us realized that the profession does not police itself. We must scrutinize it. We have also just experienced three years of COVID medical hysteria. Mask up responsibly even though masks dont work. Every responsible citizen must get the vaccine that doesnt prevent the illness. If you dont get the vax, youre risking the lives of those who did. And be sure to get a booster every six months. It doesnt prevent the illness, either, but it does increase Dr. Faucis royalty checks. Its all very confidence-inspiring. While all that nonsense was going on, we were told that the vax was perfectly safe, even though they did very little testing, and most of us have some anecdote to the contrary. Speaking of anecdotes, let me tell you my story. I acquired persistent Afib after receiving the vax. My cardiologist recommended a COVID booster and a surgical procedure. I said yes to the procedure and no to the booster much to his chagrin. While recuperating in the hospital, I overheard two of my nurses talking outside my room. One stated that her boss, my doctor, told her that if she gets a COVID booster, she may get Afib also, as the shot causes swelling of the heart. After I returned home from my surgery, I was informed by my doctors office that he was leaving the practice and wouldnt be available for my post-surgical care. So my doctor was recommending a medication for me that he wouldnt recommend for his staff, and talked me into a surgery when he knew he wouldnt be available to make sure it was successful. Yet I am to trust that my health is his foremost concern? So what might happen if we trust the protesting reproductive health care physicians? They say their only concern is a womans health. Is there any chance their concern is based on the Turnaway Study? It was done by University of Michigan economist Sarah Miller, University of California at San Francisco demographer Diana Greene Foster and New York University economist Laura Wherry. The study concluded that the financial health of women denied abortions is negatively and significantly impacted. But the authors of the study didnt stop at financial hardships. As Foster said: The biggest differences we saw, besides the socioeconomic differences, are in physical health. Thats consistent with the medical literature that shows that carrying a pregnancy to term the many months of continued pregnancy and childbirth are associated with much greater risk than having an abortion, even a later abortion. Let me translate. Pregnancy threatens a womans health, because its hard on her body. Who knew? The American Psychological Association also entered the debate. It issued an opinion that restricting abortion will likely lead to mental health harms. It stated: Research shows people who are denied abortions are more likely to experience higher levels of anxiety, lower life satisfaction, and lower self-esteem compared with those who are able to obtain abortions. If our protesting doctors were given the authority to use their judgment to decide when an abortion for a womans health is warranted, would they be inclined to reach that conclusion for a womans financial health, anxiety, lowered life satisfaction, lowered self-esteem, or just that the wear and tear of carrying a baby to term is unhealthy? If they were granted the authority to use their judgment, would the scientific conclusions stated above give doctors a license to justify all abortion requests? Or would they stand firm that the above is not what the public meant by a health of the mother exception? What has their profession done to make us trust them to do the latter rather than the former? Our institutions require credibility to be effective. When they squander their credibility, social order suffers. The media squandered their credibility for the narrative (preferred propaganda). Law enforcement promised equal protection under the law but delivered political persecution. The Intelligence Community demanded our trust and then surveilled us rather than our foreign enemies. Now the medical industry is following other institutions down the same destructive path, of placing ideology above ethics. Canons of ethical behavior, and the oaths sworn by practitioners, have become meaningless. The doctors fleeing Idaho are living the consequences of their profession having ignored its ethical standards and squandering our trust. And its all on them. John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He is a staff writer for the American Free News Network and can be reached at greenjeg@gmail.com. Image: Pkd2016 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Osama bin Laden is back, opening American eyes to the innumerable ills of their society. A 21-year-old letter from the former al-Qaeda leader recently went viral on TikTok, prompting many of its denizens -- primarily Gen Zs and not a few Millennials -- to see the light. A few reactions to reading bin Ladens so-called Letter to Americans (2002) follow: Its wild and everyone should read it. If you havent read it yet, read it. However, be forewarned that this has left me disillusioned and I feel the same exact way I felt when I was deconstructing Christianity. I will never look at life the same again; I will never look at this country the same. I feel like Im going through an existential crisis right now. I guarantee you its going to blow your mind. [The letter] is actually so mind-fu**ing to me, that terrorism has been sold as this [false] idea to the American people. What revelations, pray tell, did Mr. Laden make in this mind-blowing letter? Originally titled Why We Are Fighting You, Osama listed all the (official) reasons that prompted al-Qaeda to strike the U.S. on September 11, 2001, including: U.S. support for Israel at the expense of Palestinians; the (then) U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; U.S. support for dictatorial regimes throughout the Muslim world; and any number of other political and social criticisms. Indeed, not one to leave any stones unturned, bin Laden, now in the guise of a tree-hugger, even accused Americans of destroy[ing] nature with your industrial waste and gases more than any other nation in history. Despite this, you refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement. Thus, al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. only because it was making Muslim life -- indeed, the worlds life -- miserable. As bin Laden was fond of saying, Reciprocal treatment is part of justice. The problem with Osamas litany list against America (and, in other letters, the West in its entirety) was that, true or false, none of his accusations were the ultimate reason that al-Qaeda hated the U.S. and Europe. As I have been documenting since 2005, bin Laden and al-Qaeda were notorious for saying one thing to the West (we attacked you because you attacked us) and another to Muslims (we must hate and attack the West because it is infidel). This was the entire basis of my 2007 book, The Al Qaeda Reader. I, like todays TikTok users, knew of bin Ladens constant accusations, including his Letter to the Americans. In 2004, however, I came across a number of Arabic documents that were written by the al-Qaeda leader, as well as his then second, Ayman Zawahiri, while I was working at the Library of Congress. As I explained in The Two Faces of Al Qaeda published by The Chronicle of Higher Education (I was not yet canceled then), [T]he documents struck me as markedly different from the messages directed to the West, in both tone and (especially) content. It soon became clear why these particular documents had not been directed to the West. They were theological treatises, revolving around what Islam commands Muslims to do vis-a-vis non-Muslims. The documents rarely made mention of all those things -- Zionism, Bushs Crusade, malnourished Iraqi children -- that formed the core of Al Qaedas messages to the West. Instead, they were filled with countless Koranic verses, hadiths (traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad), and the consensus and verdicts of Islams most authoritative voices. The temporal and emotive language directed at the West was exchanged for the eternal language of Islam when directed at Muslims. Or, put another way, the language of reciprocity was exchanged for that of intolerant religious fanaticism. There was, in fact, scant mention of the words West, U.S., or Israel. All of those were encompassed by that one Arabic-Islamic word, kufr -- infidelity -- the regrettable state of being non-Muslim that must always be fought through tongue and teeth. To document this discrepancy, I translated and juxtaposed al-Qaedas many Arabic writings that were meant for Muslim eyes only, with the groups writings directed at the West (respectively in the theology and propaganda sections of The Al Qaeda Reader). The Letter to Americans (pp. 196-208) is an example of the latter. As for examples of the real, ultimate problem between Islam and the West, consider: soon after 9/11, an influential group of Saudi apologists wrote an open letter to the United States saying, The heart of the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims is justice, kindness, and charity. Outraged by such a claim, Bin Laden discretely wrote to the Saudis the following: As to the relationship between Muslims and infidels, this is summarized by the Most Highs Word: We renounce you. Enmity and hate shall forever reign between us -- till you believe in Allah alone [Koran 60:4]. So there is an enmity, evidenced by fierce hostility from the heart. And this fierce hostility -- that is, battle -- ceases only if the infidel submits to the authority of Islam, or if his blood is forbidden from being shed, or if Muslims are at that point in time weak and incapable. But if the hate at any time extinguishes from the heart, this is great apostasy! Allah Almightys Word to his Prophet recounts in summation the true relationship: O Prophet! Wage war against the infidels and hypocrites and be ruthless. Their abode is hell -- an evil fate! [9:73]. Such, then, is the basis and foundation of the relationship between the infidel and the Muslim. Battle, animosity, and hatred -- directed from the Muslim to the infidel -- is the foundation of our religion [p. 43] Even if the West were to do everything he demanded, short of converting to Islam, terror would still to be its lot, said bin Laden, citing history: When the king of the Copts of Egypt tried improving relations with the Prophet by dignifying his messenger and sending him back on a beast of burden laden with clothing, and a slave-girl, did such niceties prevent the Companions from raiding the Coptic realms, forcefully placing them under Islamic rule? [p.48] The answer is no. As both Islamic theology commands and history attests, concessions or niceties are never enough: submission to Islam is the price for peace. Christian Egypt, through atrocities that now boggle the mind (see Chapter 1), was violently conquered and Islamized in the seventh century. Put differently, and despite this newfound and life-changing shock at bin Ladens 21-year-old accusations against America, it has long been known that al-Qaeda, unlike the more forthright ISIS, was actively trying to manipulate and demoralize Western opinion through leftist talking points, while inciting Muslims through standard jihadist talk. Even Wikipedias entry for Motives for the September 11 attacks (surprisingly) states that, Raymond Ibrahim, as a researcher at the Library of Congress, found a significant difference between Al Qaeda's messages in English directed to a Western audience and al Qaeda's Arab messages and documents directed to an Islamic audience. The Western-directed messages listed grievances as grounds for retaliation employing the language of reciprocity. Literature for Islamic audiences contained theological motivations bereft of references to the acts of Western nations.[55][56] In short, these poor TikTokers really need to catch up and get with the times. Note: For many more older articles that closely examine and show the contradiction between al-Qaedas words to the West and its words to fellow Muslims click here, here, here, here, here, or here. Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West and Sword and Scimitar is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum. Image: Public Domain This is not the best of times for many perhaps most Jews on college campuses. Pro-Hamas, anti-Israel demonstrations and occasional vandalism have become commonplace, with more than a few explicitly calling for the extermination of Jews. Harvards graduate student union, backed by a majority of its members, issued a statement that demanded the end of occupation and colonization of all Arab lands. A group of MIT students, the Coalition Against Apartheid (CAA), meanwhile, physically blocked Jewish students from attending class. The CAA support[s] the liberation of all peoples, with a focus on the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Faculty similarly celebrate Islamic terrorism while condemning Israel for genocide and war crimes. This is not just from a nutty fringe. According to one study, one in five college students sympathizes with Hamas. Jewish students can do little to turn the tide. Jewish billionaires can threaten to cease donations unless the school administration does something, but the campus apparatchiks are powerless. Ditto for firing professors who glorify Hamas brutality, nor can schools pull the plug on campus groups falsely condemning Israel for war crimes. Also forget about the federal government defunding of higher education unless universities crack down on hate speech. What Jewish students and their sympathizers fail to grasp is that this antisemitic outpouring is not an aberration triggered by recent events in Gaza. Rather, it reflects the long and nearly invisible transformation of the academy, beginning in the late 1960s with the antiVietnam war protests and reaching maturity when the black civil right movement successfully advanced its racial justice agenda. Campus antisemitism is just the latest installment of a long story and will not be vanquished when the universitys president offers up a limp pro-Israel speech or Washington taxing school endowments. Fundamental is how physical violence or its threat has become an integral part of campus life. Those who envision campus life as a serene setting where students and professor discuss big issues while experts wisely instruct novices on thermodynamics are out of touch with todays reality. Yes, this life of the mind does occur, at least at some schools, but there is also a new arrival at the table: thuggish zealots who reject clever arguments and hard evidence by prioritizing the threat of force. This intimidation is seldom acknowledged openly, but rest assured: all university functionaries and professors can feel it. Todays campuses are vulnerable to intimidation. Universities are physically highly accessible, and protesting mobs will easily gain access to administrative buildings, classrooms, even professors offices. None is a secure location like the Pentagon. Nor are modern administrators and faculty recruited by virtue of their physical courage or prowess. Alas, intellectual brilliance and a knack for making convincing arguments count for naught when confronting wild-eyed ideological fanatics. Nobody in todays universities rises to the top by demonstrating courage under fire. Imagine if universities heavily recruited exNavy SEALs or professors who had undergone a week of Army Ranger training? Indeed, in the modern academy, those displaying manly virtues and smell of testosterone will seldom be hired (toxic masculinity). Long gone are the days when schools recruited the likes of five-star general Dwight D. Eisenhower or hired veterans, many of whom had combat experience. Those intending to intimidating universities by making threats and throwing tantrums correctly see the university as a place run by wimps. But the most important impetus toward intimidation is its record of success. Campus anti-war violence began the 1960s over the Vietnam War, but all the rioting was basically directed at ending the draft, not transforming higher education. Matters changed dramatically in 1969 at Cornell University, when armed black students took over Willard Straight Hall, the student union building, and forcibly evicted alums staying there. The student group, the Afro American Society, then presented a list of non-negotiant demands that included amnesty for their takeover and the creation of an Africana Studies Center. This action bitterly divided the campus, but a few armed militants ultimately cowed an Ivy League school into submission. The impact at Cornell was far-reaching everything from a new student judicial system to multiple programs to admit, then graduate impoverished blacks. As a Cornell faculty member, I personally witnessed terrified faculty acquiescing to whatever the militant blacks demanded. The lessons from Cornell soon became the template for campus race relations: threaten trouble, especially physical violence, and opposition will collapse. The script was easy to follow, and at school after school, the litany of demands quickly became policy black cultural centers, more black faculty, more black students admitted, autonomous black studies programs, more psychological counseling, separate graduation ceremonies, and on and on. Nor have the demands stopped. When administrators caved to every demand decades ago, the impact extended far beyond race. Since no administrator was spending his own money, and reputations could be built by keeping the peace, no matter what the financial cost and damage to intellectual standards, universities experienced an onslaught of demands, which pushed already liberal institutions into bastions of left-wing ideology. Campus apparatchiki now resembled ladies of easy virtue, saying yes to every new grievance-focused department Womens Studies, Black Studies, even Queer Studies while pressuring traditional departments to diversify that in practice pushed these department leftward. Radical students soon discovered that they could organize with all expenses paid, thanks to student government funding. Famous radicals like Angela Davis were paid huge speakers fees that in effect supported radical politics. Critically, radicals discovered that canceling their enemies was a painless way to control the campuses intellectual climate. Ideas once judged bizarre, such as sex being socially defined, became the new orthodoxy. Chinese communiststyle political indoctrination, making whites publicly confess their unearned white privilege, became standard. Professors, even in the hard sciences, now had to submit diversity statements on how their courses would overcome systemic white racism. Loopy airhead versions of socialism became the standard against which to judge caricatures of capitalism. Dorm counselors watched for displays of hate, such as an American flag, that could trigger vulnerable minorities. In sum, many schools edged ever closer to become schools of theology, whose mission was indoctrinating their novices in good and evil, and thousands of youngsters just wanting to survive drank the Kool-Aid. Unfortunately, these indoctrinated youngsters are easy marks for Islamic attacks on Israel and Jews more generally. Jews are the perfect bad according to the university-invented theology. They are white, venerate book learning and high Western culture, excel economically, thrive in meritocracies and often against great odds, cherish family life, generally believe in G-d, and have built a first-world nation in a region notable for poverty and brutal violence. In a sense, the Jew embodies everything the modern left hates. If only Hebrews were dependent on government for handouts and lived dysfunctional lives, they might have caught a break. Lastly, Jews have a deserved some reprove for not hitting back. Their survival skill set is to use brain power, not fists, and this proclivity makes them easy targets to intimidate. Jackie Mason once quipped that he had never seen tough Jews until he visited Israel, and when he saw a few, he assumed they were Mexicans. Israel has learned to honor Machiavellis adage that it is better to be feared than loved. This lesson should be applied to campus life. The lessons of Gaza are relevant: when you attack Jews, they will hit back ten times as hard. Image via Pexels. Elon Musk finally talked about his antisemitism issue after receiving criticisms from so many people, even those officials from the U.S. government. The billionaire's latest controversy started when he agreed to an antisemitic post, saying that it is the "actual truth." Some netizens agreed with him, but more were against what he said. On Monday, Nov. 20, Elon Musk published an X post discussing the antisemitism accusations against him. Here's what the tech executive said. Elon Musk Says Claims About Him Being Antisemitic are Bogus Via his official X account, Elon Musk posted to talk about the antisemitism allegations he currently faces. "This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic. Nothing could be further from the truth," said the billionaire. He clarified that he only wishes the best for humanity, as well as an exciting and prosperous future for all people around the world. His X post generated over 21 million views and garnered more than 24,000 comments, 267,000 likes, and 36,000 retweets. In the comment section, many netizens supported the billionaire in his explanation. One of them said that he is a Jewish man and he never once thought that what Elon Musk agreed on recently was antisemitic. This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic. Nothing could be further from the truth. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all. - Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2023 "Those who throw around these words so easily are the ones causing harm to Jews because it minimizes the actions of actual antisemites," explained the X user. Aside from him, another netizen said that Elon Musk should do what he is doing since they are seeing how the billionaire makes a difference in the world. He added that getting attacked by the corporate media is a sign that someone is doing something good. "You have done the biggest service possible to humanity by giving us a truly uncensored public forum. The government and media hate you for that," added another X user. Read Also: X CEO Linda Yaccarino Promises Platform is Against Antisemitism Despite Elon Musk Agreeing With Antisemitic Post Elon Musk Says X is Against Genocide Before he shared his statement regarding antisemitism allegations against him, the billionaire posted an announcement to clarify that the social media platform is against the genocide of "any" group. Elon Musk said that anyone who advocates genocide will be suspended from X. However, some netizens shared screenshots of government officials supporting the attacks against the Gaza Strip. At risk of stating the obvious, anyone advocating the genocide of *any* group will be suspended from this platform Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 17, 2023 The tech executive confirmed that they can't easily restrict senior government officials because of a UN rule that exempts these people from suspension in the interests of maintaining international communications. Related Article: Elon Musk Agrees to Antisemitic X Post, Claiming It's 'Actual Truth'; Netizens Debate If Billionaire is Correct @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Boy, (oops, I apologize for using gendered language, this is all new for me) did I choose the wrong career path, here Ive been working all these years. What a sucker I am! I could have slapped on some makeup, jumped in a bathtub, and drank beer with the enthusiasm of a hyperactive chipmunk hopped up on cocaine and Starbucks Instead, I traded in my back, hips, feet, and knees for peanuts! The destroyer of Bud Light, who shall not be named, made more in ten minutes than I do in five years ($185,000.00) for taking a bath with a beer while wearing a tiara! I can bathe! I can lisp narcissistically! I can wear lipstick! I can act like a fool! I can drink beer! I can destroy a brand! I can buy a tiara! I can drive while painting my toenails and texting! I can blame all my shortcomings on the Patriarchy! I can be a narcissist! I can change my pronouns to me, me, me! Ive already started Just look at how much of this article is about me! I can actually think of tangible benefits to using the ladies roomthey are always cleaner than the mens (or at least they were, until men started using them). I wont like waiting though, and conversation in the bathroom will take some getting used to. I can do influencer things too! I can use the word literally incorrectly and frequently! And I can like, use the word like incorrectly too like literally like, all the time. Now all thats left is to decide what kind of girl I feel like I am. Am I a pretty girl? Or am I a liberal feminist? Or am I pretty/ugly fluid? Amazon literally has both styles of wig, so maybe Ill be both! Now for dresses, I wear a size 36. (Look at me, Im already telling jokes only other women will get.) And the best part? I live in Illinois! Land of the five-finger discount! I dont have to pay for makeup as long as its less than $900! I can do this! All the mirrors in my house will look like Im observing Shiva but I can always take a selfie on the iPhone if I need to check my look! Im not sure what being a girl feels like, but I absolutely know what being a capitalist feels like! (A million dollar trooper, super duper!) A boy, do I feel like getting some capital! So I bid Nick Lopez goodbye, and welcome Imma B Rich into the world, as she/her starts she/hers lived Experience! Now, with Authentictrueself! Funny how I suddenly realize I never really felt like a poor man, maybe I was a rich b***h this whole time! Boy (there I go with the gendered language again), was my gender incorrectly assigned! So if your company is profitable and Blackrock owns 17% of the stock, call me. I guarantee that me promoting myself as a girl on behalf of your brand will make your company a victim. And isnt that what your company really wants? Image from X. There was never any scientific evidence that said masks would stop the spread, now a major new study shows that masks dont stop COVID transmission, but do you think the mandators will apologize? From a Washington Examiner report: A dozen scientists from around the world conducted a massive metastudy of our efforts to fight COVID, as well as similar efforts to fight the flu, and they published the results in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. So, what did the studies find? For starters, hand-washing was effective in stopping the spread of these illnesses. Thats not surprising. But heres the most eye-opening finding: Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of influenzalike illness/COVID19-like illness compared to not wearing masks. In other words, masks didn't do much if anything. But that wasnt the only useless measure, because there was never scientific data to support a six foot or three foot separation, which were arbitrary rules. A Forbes headline read, CDCs Six-Foot Social Distancing Rule Was Arbitrary, Says Former FDA Commissioner. There was also never any scientific data that said plexiglass could prevent the spread, and in fact, some doctors asserted it was counterproductive as it changed air flow in a room. There scientific evidence indicated COVID did not easily spread on surfaces, but that didnt stop compulsive edicts. How much money was wasted, and trash created, from the mandates caused by the above lies? How many businesses were closed or destroyed because of the above lies? Small businesses were decimated because of the mandates while many corporations like social media giants, technology companies, and Amazon got much richer. (We call this a transfer of wealth.) Churches were forbidden from holding services. How many fewer people today go to church because they got out of the habit? How many people were fired because they made the choice not to get a vaccine? I thought Democrats believe that people should be able to make choices on their health care, or is that only for abortion? Media companies colluded with the government to shut up anyone who disagreed with the government pronouncements. The media, Fauci, and government officials shut down or delayed an investigation of the Wuhan lab as the source of COVID by intentionally lying and claiming that it was a disproven conspiracy. How many people died or got sick from COVID or a future virus because crucial information was hidden from them by those in positions of power? All so Faucis involvement in and U.S. funding of the lab wouldnt be known? How many elderly people died alone because grandchildren and children were kept away from them? Why did the CDC all of a sudden include deaths remotely related to or assumed to be related to COVID as caused by COVID? Was it to goose the numbers to get the public to capitulate? Now, after over three years after the closing of schools, and after a huge number of people knew of the damage, The New York Times finally reports the truth. From a Fox News item: NY Times says school COVID closures may be most damaging disruption to kids education in U.S. history The Times lamented the learning losses stemming from the closures after pushing for the closures during the pandemics height[.] Citing the CDC, the Times said, more than 40 percent of high school students had persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness; 22 percent had seriously considered suicide; 10 percent reported that they had attempted suicide. What took them so long? Why havent people been fired for causing this damage? The government gave schools massive amounts of money during COVID and they kept the schools closed. It was obvious this would cause immeasurable damage, especially to those already struggling, but the Democrats, at the behest of the unions, kept them closed. When Ron DeSantis and other Republicans reopened schools rapidly, they were accused by the media and others of wanting people to die. If the media and other Democrats really wanted to help poor children and minorities they would stop blocking them from going to better schools. How many losses have commercial real estate owners sustained because of remote work? Why are so many workers still staying home, especially government workers, when it is clearly safe to go to the office (as it always has been), and when it is clearly so destructive to mental health and the economy? What about this? Report: Government Flubs Enabled China Disease Lab in California The federal government failed to notice an unlicensed bio lab in Reedley, California, which stored many communicable diseases and was created by a fugitive Chinese citizen with close ties to Chinas government, according to a congressional report. Why did they ignore warnings about a Chinese biolab? How many other Chinese labs are there? Essentially, most of what politicians and bureaucrats told us about COVID, that they said was based on science, was completely false. Does anyone believe that politicians and bureaucrats who were willing to spread so many lies about science and COVID wouldnt be willing to spread lies about other things too? Aside from all of that, there is no clause in the Constitution that permits the federal government to act like a dictatorship through mandates and executive orders once a virus comes along... for good reason. Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required. Youve probably never heard of Neville Roy Singham or his wife, Jodie Evans, nor are you aware of the company that made them rich. However, they are affecting your life and your world in profound ways. They are rich Marxists (which is an oxymoron only if you ignore that powerful Marxists always amass millions and billions) who live in China and finance anti-American and anti-Israel propaganda. Ive been meaning to write about them for almost a week now and, with Sunday being a slow news day, Ive finally got the space and the time. A report from Francesca Block at The Free Press explains that most of the pro-Palestinian protests that have not-spontaneously popped up across America since October 7 have funding from a single source: Singham and Evans. It is they who, beginning in 2017, started donating to a Manhattan-based entity called The Peoples Forum, which, in turn, is the moving force behind the protests. In just five years, Singham and Evans poured over $20 million in the organization which bills itself as a movement incubator for working class and marginalized communities to build unity across historic lines of division at home and abroad. Image: Neville Roy Singham (cropped). YouTube screen grab. Where in the heck did Singham, whom Im sure youve never heard of before this, get that kind of money? Consulting, believe it or not: Singhams wealth stems from Thoughtworks, a software consulting company that he launched in 1993 in Chicago and sold in August 2017 to private equity firm Apax Partners for $785 million. If you go to the Thoughtworks home page, this jargony statement explains what Apax Partners got for the money: Were a leading global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design and software engineering to enable enterprises and technology disruptors across the globe to thrive as modern digital businesses. Ongoing digital disruption is challenging enterprises to keep pace with the accelerating rate of technological change. This is where Thoughtworks can help. Weve been at the forefront of technology innovation for 30 years. Apparently, theres lots of cash flowing in the advice business. But Singham and Evans arent just your ordinary rich leftists. These two are such committed Marxists that theyve dedicated their lives to advancing the interests ofdrum roll, please China! Again, from The Free Press: But Singham is more than just a Marxist with deep pockets. He is also a China sympathizer who lives in Shanghai and has close ties to at least four propaganda news sites that boost the Chinese Communist Partys image abroad, the Times reported. Like Obama and Kamala Harris, Singham boasts a long communist lineage. Hes a true red diaper baby, with a leftist academic father. From an early age, the 69-year-old Singham embraced anything Marxist that came his way: After spending his early days in Connecticut, Singham grew up partly in Jamaica. When he was 17, he joined the radical Marxist group and labor union League of Revolutionary Black Workers, and the following year, according to a 2021 blog post by Singham, like all disciplined cadre [I] went to work in the factory. That factory was a Chrysler plant in Detroit, where he took a central role with the league, helping organize strikes and partaking in daily, intense self-criticism sessions. In 1974, the FBI investigated Singham as potentially dangerous because of background, emotional instabilities or activity in groups engaged in activities inimical to the U.S., according to its report, which he published on a blog. Just like Bernie Sanders, wealth didnt change Singhams faith, for Marxism is every bit as much a faith-based belief system as any other religion: In a 2008 profile in Fortune, Singham said that Venezuela under left-wing populist Hugo Chavez was a phenomenally democratic place and that Chinas economic policies should serve as a model for capitalist economies. China is teaching the West that the world is better off with a dual system of both free-market adjustments and long-term planning, he said. The Free Press article has many more details about Singhams politico-religious beliefs, along with his marriage to someone as fanatic as he is. I cant even begin to summarize the details here but I urge you to read the essay in its entirety because it tells you so much about just some of the monied people exerting way too much control over the world. Ultimately, its no surprise that these fabulously-wealthy communists would back the Gazastinians. Despite Israels socialist origins, leftists hate the country. Thats because Israel is a reminder of God, and God is a reminder that people are spiritual beings who transcend the filthy lucre that obsesses leftists and, even more importantly, that there are greater moral principles than anything the government can impose on the masses. Yes, it's a crazy prediction but stranger things have happened. We learned that Governor Abbott of Texas will endorse President Trump: Texas Governor Greg Abbott endorsed former President Donald Trump in his race to become Republican nominee for President of the United States. You need a new president, Abbott said to the mayors of New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. on Sunday. Joe Biden has failed at national security. We need a president that will secure the border. We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States of America, Abbott said. Im here today to officially proclaim my endorsement for Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States of America, again. Trump responded, saying to Abbott, I am going to make your job much easier. We love Texas." I'm sure President Trump loves Texas and President Biden has failed to secure the border. It could be just a big state governor watching the stars aligning for President Trump. In other words, that he will be nominee and his election prospects get better all the time. Maybe that's all there is. Now for my crazy idea. What if Governor Abbott wants to return to Attorney General Abbott, only this time on the federal level? He served his earlier term in Texas well. I'm sure that United States AG Abbott would go after jurisdictions refusing to enforce immigration laws and won't hesitate to recommend some harsh action against the cartels. He did it here and would have a lot more power as the head of the DoJ. Maybe crazy but AG Greg Abbott sounds good to me. P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. Image: Gage Skidmore A clearance of seven feet should be wide enough for most vehicles to pass through, but apparently, not for some. As these videos reveal, many drivers have a hard time navigating through a series of bollards installed on a section of the Woodmere Avenue in Watford, UK. Back in 1980, the local government put a width restriction of seven feet on the Woodmere Avenue to prevent cars from rat-running through the residential estate. Over the decades this section of the road has seen numerous crashes executed by incompetent drivers attempting to rush through when careful driving was required. Countless vehicles have got stuck in between the bollards, some requiring the service of a digger to get free. Others have had their tires ripped off. The width restriction on Woodmere Avenue. Photo: Google Street View Understandably motorists are fed up with the width restriction, and so are the residents. Those who live right opposite the section have seen damage done to their walls, homes and cars. Some are calling on change before there's a major accident. Strangely enough, there is a wider bus lane running adjacent to the width-restricted section, and many drivers simply pass through it rather than going through the bollards. Its just evil. People arent interested in taking their time anymore, a local resident told HertsLive. If you have someone going through it really slow everyone else just goes past and through the bus lane. If you get someone whos being good, goes through the width restriction and then wants to turn right, someone just cuts through and past them from the bus lane. At some point theres going to be a major accident." Even Watford MP Dean Russell raised the issue in Parliament. This is something that I have been working on for quite some time now, securing an Adjournment Debate in the House of Commons and raising at Ministerial level, he said. It has been an issue in Watford for many years and whilst the road needs measures to stop it becoming a rat-run for large lorries, it is clear from the footage that the existing bollards are a hindrance to many drivers, you only need to look at the bollards and speak to local residents to know there have been many collisions. "I will continue to campaign for change to find a solution which ensures that drivers can navigate the restriction safely, but also ensures the road remains safe for pedestrians, he said. The Woodmere Avenue recently garnered media attention after videos of the crash became viral on the internet, all thanks to Tim Vigor, who installed the camera on his doorbell, right across the fateful intersection. Vigor has a Facebook page Woodmere Avenue width restriction where he posts videos of unfortunate encounters with the immovable bollards. I totally get why some people find it funny because it is not outside their house. I didn't want it to become a joke because I want the thing removed. I've had a few spats because people are saying the bollards are an inanimate object, which is true, but the whole design is wrong, Vigor told Watford Observer. Despite everything, this (going viral) has done more good than harm and it has certainly highlighted the issue. I'll be keeping the camera there until I'm told it's not allowed or if the width restriction is taken away. A car barely making through the restriction. Photo: Google Street View In response to complaints, the executive member for highways, Cllr Stuart Pile issued a press statement blaming drivers for their misfortune: The width restriction is clearly signposted both on Woodmere Avenue and on adjoining roads. Provided your vehicle isn't wider than seven feet, you can access the road. To put this in perspective, seven foot is wider than the entrance to a normal garage. Several thousand cars use this road on a daily basis without any problems so we have no plans to make changes to the posts on Woodmere Avenue unless local councillors ask, through the Joint Member Panel, for alterations to be made. The Watford Borough Council also sniped at the motorists: It is up to each driver, with the knowledge of their vehicle width and the advanced signage, to make a conscious decision on whether or not they have the confidence to go through. There are alternative routes to avoid the restriction. The Woodmere Avenue reminds me of the infamous can-opener bridge in Durham, North Carolina, where tall trucks routinely lose their top owning to the bridges short clearance. [via Oddity Central] During his 27-year-reign, King Frederick William I of Prussia greatly expanded the size of the Prussian Army, turning it into the largest and one of the best equipped and trained armies in Europe. Frederick William I was particularly focused on creating a well-trained and efficient military force to protect and advance the interests of the Prussian state. The military reforms initiated by Frederick William I laid the foundation for the later successes of Prussia under the leadership of his son, Frederick II, who turned the state from a small German kingdom into a great European power. Frederick William I inspecting his Potsdam Giants. Frederick William was obsessed with army and soldiers and that obsession earned him the title of the Soldier King. He had a particularly strange obsession with tall soldiers, despite himself being of very short stature (5 feet 3 inch). Shortly after coming to power in 1713, King Frederick William I initiated a recruitment drive to assemble a unique regiment known as the Potsdamer Riesengarde, or "The Giant Guard of Potsdam," later recognized as the Potsdam Giants. To populate this special unit, he deployed agents across the continent to seek out exceptionally tall individuals. The king offered special incentives, including compensation to parents who provided their tallest sons and to landowners who released their tallest laborers. Prussian educators were instructed to identify and promptly present tall children to the king. Infants showing signs of potential height were marked with a distinctive bright red scarf. Foreign rulers sent the king their tallest soldiers to foster friendly relations. Peter the Great of Russia reportedly sent Frederick William I more than fifty tall soldiers. Most men joined Frederick William Is regiment voluntarily. Daniel Cajanus, the Swedish Giant, left the country in 1723 to join the Potsdam Giants. He was reported to have been 8 feet 1.24 inches tall, but contemporary accounts suggest his height was closer to 7 feet 8 inches, which was impressive still. Those who refused to join the Kings regiment were threatened with imprisonment or kidnapped. One of the tallest Giants was an Irishman called James Kirkland who measured 7 feet and 1 inch. He had accepted a job as a footman to Baron Borck, the Prussian ambassador to London but in reality the offer was a trap. Kirkland was sent to a Prussian ship moored in Portsmouth where he was immediately grabbed, bound and gagged. He was then dispatched to the continent. James Kirkland The Giants were given the best food and accommodation, dressed in exclusively knit blue-and-red uniforms, boots with thick heels and 45cm tall caps to make them appear even taller. The soldiers were paid according to their height; the taller the soldier the greater was the more money they earned. Frederick William I never risked this regiment at battlefield, because he cherished them too much. Rather, he used them for his own enjoyment, forcing them to march in front of his window every day. He even painted portraits of the soldiers from memory, and showed them to foreign visitors and dignitaries to impress them. He once confided to the French ambassador that The most beautiful girl or woman in the world would be a matter of indifference to me, but tall soldiersthey are my weakness. When Frederick died in 1740, his Potsdam Giants counted about 3,200 men. However, his son Frederick the Great did not share his father's enthusiasm about the regiment, which seemed to him an unnecessary expense. He disbanded the regiments and the soldiers were absorbed into various military units. The regiment itself was downgraded to a battalion and employed during the War of the Austrian Succession at Hohenfriedberg in 1745 and at Rossbach, Leuthen, Hochkirch, Liegnitz, and Torgau throughout the Seven Years' War. The battalion was eventually dissolved in 1806. The Potsdam Giants during the Battle of Hohenfriedeberg. The AI industry is in a bit of a shuffle mode as OpenAI and Microsoft terminate and hire Sam Altman. Previously, the former OpenAI CEO made huge headlines after it was confirmed that the AI developer removed him as the chief executive officer. After hearing the news, Greg Brockman, OpenAI's president, decided to quit the board. Numerous rumors claim that the artificial intelligence firm is considering re-hiring Sam Altman as its CEO. However, these speculations were debunked after Microsoft announced that it hired Sam Altman. Here are the latest details in the AI industry. Sam Altman Hired by Microsoft Days After His Termination in OpenAI The Verge reported that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed that he hired both Sam Altman and Greg Brockman as part of the software giant's new advanced AI research team. "We're extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team," said Nadella via his official X post. We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett November 20, 2023 "We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success," he added. Sam Altman confirmed this revelation by reposting Nadella's X post and captioning "the mission continues." Microsoft's CEO replied, saying that he was really excited that Altman decided to join their company. Im super excited to have you join as CEO of this new group, Sam, setting a new pace for innovation. Weve learned a lot over the years about how to give founders and innovators space to build independent identities and cultures within Microsoft, including GitHub, Mojang Studios, Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023 Satya Nadella further stated that Microsoft already learned a lot over the years on how to give innovators and founders space to create independent identities and cultures. Elon Musk also replied to Sam Altman, saying that it is "wild times." The billionaire also congratulated the former OpenAI CEO, saying Altman is "for the win." Read Also: Elon Musk Vs. Sam Altman: OpenAI CEO's GPTs Bashes X's Grok AI, Calling It 'Cringey Boomer' OpenAI's New CEO Since rumors about Sam Altman getting re-hired as OpenAI's CEO were debunked, the AI developer also announced that it already chosen who will be their new CEO. Time Magazine reported that OpenAI's new CEO will be Emmett Shear, the former chief executive officer of Amazon's game-streaming platform Twitch. This announcement defied calls from OpenAI's investors to bring back Sam Altman to OpenAI. Shear's arrival in OpenAI is the latest "twist" in the AI industry. If you want to learn more details about what's happening in OpenAI, you can click this link. Related Article: Sam Altman Seen Visiting OpenAI Headquarters-Is This Sign He'll Be Re-Hired as CEO? @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Samsung is readying a new fitness tracker to succeed the Galaxy Fit 2 launched in September 2020. Presumably called the Galaxy Fit 3, the next-gen model is expected to arrive in the first half of 2024. A few days back, we saw the device in a rose gold color courtesy of leaked renders. We now have a fresh set of renders giving us a more detailed look at the new Fit. Along with a Gold version, the tracker is also coming in Black and Grey. Fresh Galaxy Fit 3 leak shows three color variants Samsungs fitness tracker is seeing a major redesign next year. The Galaxy Fit 3 will feature a larger display thanks to its wider body (measures 46.6 x 18.6 x 11.3mm). It looks more like a rectangular smartwatch, though the company may not make it a full-fledged smartwatch. While we are expecting a wide range of health features, the Fit model may not run Wear OS like the Galaxy Watch devices. That means a limited selection of third-party apps. Advertisement Advertisement Nonetheless, the Galaxy Fit 3 will be a decent pick for anyone looking to buy a low-cost wrist wearable with robust health monitoring capabilities. Rumors have it that Samsung will price it at around $80 (KRW 100,000 in South Korea). Since we dont have its full feature set and performance details, we cant tell whether the device will be worth the money. However, leaked specs are promising. Certification listings and other leaks have revealed that the Galaxy Fit 3 will sport a 1.1-inch 3D AMOLED display that boasts 450nits of peak brightness (via 91Mobiles). The device will likely run a custom OS from Samsung with a relatively less powerful chip compared to the Galaxy Watch 6s Exynos W930. It has 2MB of RAM and 32MB of built-in storage, so that tells a lot about the sort of product we are looking at. The new fitness tracker packs a 200mAh battery that should run for weeks on a single charge (features two pogo pins on the back for charging). Samsung will reportedly rate the device for a 21-day battery life. The Galaxy Fit 3 will boast an IP68 dust and water resistance too, so you can wear it during light swimming sessions, extensive workouts, and under slight drizzle. Weighing just 21 grams, it should be comfortable to wear for a prolonged period. The device may be compatible with Android and iOS The next-gen fitness band from Samsung will reportedly be compatible with Android devices running Android 5.0 or higher with more than 1.5GB RAM and iPhone 7 and above running iOS 10.0 or higher. It will come with more than 70 built-in watch faces. Leaked renders show a microphone next to the power button on the right side. Whether that means calling features, time will tell. We will keep you posted with all the latest information about the Galaxy Fit 3. Samsungs Galaxy S20 series may not be eligible for the Android 14 update but the 2020 flagships are still receiving monthly security patches. The company has just released the November security update for the phones. It patches more than 60 vulnerabilities. The Galaxy S20 series gets the November security update As of this writing, Samsung is pushing the November SMR (Security Maintenance Release) to the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and Galaxy S20 Ultra in Taiwan. The phones are picking up the update with the firmware build number G98*0ZHS7HWK1. It appears to be just a security patch with no additional goodies. Since the lineup is still receiving security updates every month, the latest release should soon reach more markets, including the US. Advertisement Advertisement This months security release from Samsung patches 65 vulnerabilities. About 50 of those are Android OS patches coming from Google and partners. The Android maker confirmed five vulnerabilities as critical security flaws, potentially allowing an attacker to remotely take control of an affected device. The remaining 15-odd fixes come directly from Samsung. These vulnerabilities dont exist on Android devices from other manufacturers. If youre using a Galaxy S20 phone, you will receive these security fixes with the latest update in the coming weeks. You can wait for a notification about the OTA (over-the-air) release or manually check for updates from the Settings app. Under the Software update menu, tap on Download and Install to see if an update is available. If you dont see any updates today, wait a few days and check again. No Android 14 for your aging Samsung flagship Your Galaxy S20 may be working fine but it will no longer receive feature updates from Samsung. Debuted in early 2020, the lineup shipped with Android 10 onboard. The Korean firm only offered three major Android OS updates for its flagships back then (four updates for the Galaxy S22 series and newer models). The Galaxy S20 phones have already received those three updatesAndroid 11, Android 12, and Android 13. Going forward, the devices will only get security patches. As you can see on Samsungs official website, the 2020 flagships are still eligible for monthly security releases. The updates will come at least until February 2024. Whether the Korean behemoth decides to update the Galaxy S20 series beyond four years, only time will tell. Meanwhile, if you are looking to upgrade to a new Samsung phone, the company has the Galaxy S24 series coming early next year. Samsung isnt just unveiling the Galaxy S24 series early, its bringing the new phones to the market quicker too. According to the Korean media, the next-gen Galaxy flagships will go official on January 17 with pre-orders starting immediately after the launch event in San Jose, USA. The market release of the devices will take place on January 30. Galaxy S24 release scheduled for late January 2024 We have long known that Samsung plans to launch the Galaxy S24 series earlier than the Galaxy S23. The company has zeroed in on the date of January 17, which is two weeks before the February 1 launch of the 2023 lineup. As expected, its a Wednesday. The Korean firm has mostly hosted its major Galaxy Unpacked events on Wednesdays, including the Galaxy S23 launch. Advertisement Advertisement Usually, Samsung opens general sales of new flagships on the third Friday following the launch event (February 17 for the Galaxy S23 series). However, next year, the Galaxy S24 lineup will reportedly go on sale on January 30, which falls on a Tuesday. If the company maintained the same gap, the market release of the 2024 flagships would have taken place on February 2. Following the January 17 launch, Samsung will open pre-orders for the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra in most countries, including the US (from January 19 in Korea). It plans to deliver and activate pre-order units between January 26 and January 30. We decided to announce the Galaxy S24 series in San Jose, USA on the 17th local time, The Elec quotes a Samsung official. Sales will also begin immediately. Samsung has high hopes for its next-gen flagships Reports say that Samsung is launching the Galaxy S24 series early to compete with Apple. Since the iPhone 15 series doesnt have fresh competition in the market, the Korean firm wants to capitalize on that. An early release may be part of this strategy too. The company has even chosen San Jose as the location for the event because that is where Apple has its headquarters. It previously held the event in San Francisco. Samsung is expecting the Galaxy S24 sales to increase at least ten percent over the Galaxy S23. The latest flagships are projected to cross 31 million annual shipments, so the target for the 2024 lineup is around 35 million units. Time will tell if the Korean behemoth manages to do that with an early release of the phones. More details about the Galaxy S24 trio should surface in the coming weeks. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, which Apple is expected to launch next year, will have a bigger display than the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Samsung will announce its Ultra phone in Q1 next year, it seems, while Apples will arrive towards the end of Q3 2024. The iPhone 16 Pro Max will have a bigger display than the Galaxy S24 Ultra In any case, this display info comes from two sources, Anthony and Ice Universe, two tipsters. Anthony mentioned that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will have a 6.86-inch display, while he also added that it will be the biggest on an iPhone yet, and even bigger than the Galaxy S24 Ultras. Advertisement Advertisement Ice Universe reshared that post on X, and added the exact display size of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. He said that the exact size is 6.7913385827 inches. Samsung will market this as a 6.8-inch display, though. The difference in size between these two panels is, of course, not that big. Both are kind of huge, so youll have a gigantic canvas to work with no matter what device you end up getting. Both devices will include flat displays For the first time in a long time, both Apple and Samsung flagship smartphones will also have flat displays. Samsung is going flat this time around. All three of its flagship-grade phones will have flat displays, even the Ultra. Speaking of which, the Galaxy S24 Ultra will launch alongside the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+. All three of those devices are expected to arrive in January next year. January 17 is tipped, and the launch event is expected to take place in San Francisco. Designs of all three phones already surfaced. As expected, the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ will look the same, but differ in terms of size. The Ultra model will once again stand apart, with a different design. It will be less different than before, though, mainly due to the flat display. In Australia, a sophisticated Android banking trojan called Octo poses a severe cyber threat. Using various distribution methods, Octo has successfully targeted hundreds of Australians across more than 15 major banks. This trojan mimics legitimate bank login fields, luring users into entering their credentials on fake pages. By submitting their information, users are inadvertently granting access to their sensitive banking information to the threat actor. Octo made its debut in January 2022, with its origins attributed to a threat actor known as Architect, presumed to be of Russian descent. The trojan shares striking similarities with another malware, ExobotCompact, raising suspicions that Architect either rebranded or is the mastermind behind both. Advertisement Advertisement The trojan has historically gained initial access through the Google Play Store or via smishing campaigns. Smishing refers to the practice of sending SMS phishing messages that impersonate legitimate entities. Moreover, it is a cyber-attack that aims to steal sensitive information, such as login credentials or financial details. Octos primary targets are Android phones, including popular brands like Samsung and Google. Threat Fabrics senior analyst, Dario Durando, uncovered a malicious campaign of Octo posing as a Google Chrome mobile browser update. This specific campaign resulted in at least 900 individuals downloading Octo. He claims that Octo is being rented out as malware-as-a-service, with individual threat actors using it to distribute malware. Octo, a stealthy Android trojan, threatens users with sophisticated banking attacks Octo proves to be a highly complex and dangerous malware strain, using various attack methods such as intercepting text messages, harvesting contacts, and even recording calls. The trojans capabilities extend to keylogging, overlay attacks, and resilience against uninstallation attempts. The threat actor behind Octos distribution in Australia operates a sophisticated overlay attack. Dario Durandos findings revealed the alarming ease with which users unknowingly downloaded Octo through a fake Google Chrome mobile browser update. After gaining access to the victims device, the Trojan executed a banking login overlay attack, a form of phishing. Once submitted, this attack successfully stole the users login credentials. Operating discreetly in the background, Octo proceeded to steal cookies, log keystrokes, uninstall apps, and intercept notifications, underscoring Octos comprehensive and intrusive capabilities. Australias vulnerability to such cyber threats is exacerbated by a significant surge in scams. Reports show an 80% increase in 2022 compared to the previous year. Phishing alone accounted for approximately 25 million incidents. Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Action Law Centre highlighted the nations susceptibility to cyber threats, citing a lack of robust laws and systems to counteract scams. Theres been a whirlwind of drama circling OpenAI over the weekend, and the winds kee blowing. After Sam Altman butted heads with the companys board, the former is now out of a job well he was. According to a new report, Microsoft just hired Sam Altman. Lets catch you up So, in case you dont know, Sam Altman was fired from OpenAI on Friday. This news came as a shock to everyone, Altman involved. The board stated the reason as being that he wasnt consistently candid in his communications with the board. Were still not sure what he wasnt quite honest about, but it led them to jettison him. The companys chief technology officer, Mira Murati was appointed the temporary CEO until the company could find a permanent CEO. Advertisement Advertisement Then, OpenAI sings Baby Come Back After just a day, OpenAI entered talks with Altman to return to the company. The quick decision to fire him did not sit well with investors and many of the workers at the company threatened to leave. So, losing investors and employees threw the company into a spin. If Altman agreed to come back by a 5PM EST deadline, the employees wouldnt walk. However, a truce wasnt reached by that deadline or the second deadline set. This means that OpenAI is in a massive pickle at the moment. Microsoft just hired Sam Altman This situation, which happened over a single weekend, mind you, has just gotten a bit weirder. OpenAI didnt only lose Sam Altman, but it also lost the companys president and former board member Greg Brockman. Well, the two were already contacting investors and looking to start a new company before OpenAI asked for their return. However, after no agreement was reached, Microsoft stepped in and snatched up Altman. In a statement on Sunday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said we remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap. So, it seems that the company is still investing in OpenAI, but we dont know for how much longer. In any case, it hired Altman, Brockman, and several colleagues to lead a new advanced AI research team at the company. Since this is still new, were all unsure how the company is going to handle everything. Its AI is built on OpenAIs LLMs. If OpenAIs fortunes dont improve, then it, along with all of the AI tools its powering, could go down. Advertisement Will Microsoft ditch OpenAI for its own AI? Will the company pull its funding for OpenAI and let that ship sink? Who knows? Civil war at OpenAI Right now, OpenAI is going through a rough transition. With Altman gone, many of the staff are not happy. Theyve set their demands; either the board goes or they go. They want the board to be kicked out of the company or they walk out. Those are similar to Sam Altmans conditions to return. He wanted governance changes. Now, these changes could happen one way or another. And, speaking of changes, the company has appointed a new CEO. Twitch co-founder and ex-CEO Emmit Shear has taken the helm. With this new face, theres a new hope that things will start looking up for the company. This story is still developing, so well keep you up to date on whats going on. Samsung is looking to expand its new semiconductor factory in Taylor, Texas. According to the Korean media, the company plans to add another building to the under-construction site. The new building will have a floor size of around 2.7 million square feet (over 250,000 square meters or 61 acres). The firm is making this move after securing a series of AI chip deals, a report from Korea JoongAng Daily says. Samsung to add a new building to its Taylor chip factory The Korean company is one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world. It is second only to TSMC. In November 2021, the firm announced plans to construct a new chip factory in Taylor, about 25 miles away from its existing plant in Austin, Texas, which has been operational since 1996. It has committed an investment of $17 billion for this factory where it will manufacture advanced semiconductors. Advertisement Advertisement In July 2022, the Korean media reported that Samsung is looking to expand the area of the site by 14 percent, adding about 177 acres of land to the investment zone. While its unclear whether it received approval for this expansion from the local government, a new report says the company will construct one more factory building within the site, which should be operational next year. The report adds that the city of Taylor has already appointed a local engineering company to review and inspect the development of the new factory, tentatively named Samsung Fabrication Plant 2. The city previously agreed to designate resources and expedite the review, approval, and inspection of Samsungs construction works at the site so the factories can be operational as early as possible. This planned expansion, coupled with rising material costs, would reportedly add $8 billion more to Samsungs investment amount at the site. The total initial investment would rise to $25 billion. It has pledged to invest a whopping $192 billion in the state of Texas over the next 20 years. This plan involves the construction of 11 more chip plants in the state. The company has already applied for tax breaks and other incentives from the government. Samsung may be cashing in on the AI revolution Artificial Intelligence or AI may have been around for years but the field is seeing an unprecedented interest lately. The arrival of ChatGPT late last year has led to a whole new market for generative AI. All tech companiesbig and smallare rushing to launch new AI products or enhance existing products with AI. Samsung appears to be cashing in on this revolution. While it declined to comment on the report about the expansion plans of its Taylor semiconductor factory, the new report says the company has landed several AI chip deals. It remains to be seen whether this helps the Korean behemoth get closer to TSMC in the foundry market. Sideloading has been a trending topic lately. While Android had it since its inception, Apple is being forced to allow third-party apps and app stores. However, Google CEO Sundar Pichais remark hints that he doesnt like sideloading apps from third-party stores either. Sundar Pichai advises against sideloading apps Google is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Epic Games over its app store practices. During a recent court hearing, Google boss Sundar Pichai expressed his concerns about sideloading apps. Advertisement Advertisement Sundar Pichai has warned against sideloading, citing the potential security risks involved. He stated that sideloading could expose users to malware. We dont want to allow you to completely compromise your phone. It can install malware on your phone. It can compromise your safety, very significantly. These comments appear to clash with Androids open-source philosophy. Googles recent move to scan sideloaded apps for malware raises concerns. The Play Stores new update scans third-party apps installed on your devices. It increases the companys control over app distribution on Android. While Google claims its Play Store offers the best security for users, a recent Kaspersky report found that over 600 million malicious apps were downloaded from the Play Store in 2023 alone. It is worth mentioning that Play Store has quite a history of delisting apps several times every once in a span. All of this suggests that Google is tightening its grip on the Android app ecosystem. The ongoing legal battle with Epic Games is likely to further shape the future of app distribution on Android. Google rival Apple to allow sideloading apps on iPhone The EUs Digital Markets Act will likely force Apple to allow sideloading apps into the iPhone. Folks at Phone Arena have drawn a parallel between sideloading and the introduction of RCS in iPhone. Apple may allow sideloading apps on iPhone, maybe by 2024. However, it will be limited to EU users. Apple has never allowed sideloading because it poses a risk to users and the data on their devices. This was also the late Steve Jobs vision to keep users safe. However, how Apple or its users will address this issue will likely become clear in the coming days. Android users, on the other hand, have always had the flexibility to install apps from either the Play Store or third-party sources. Pichais statements will likely draw attention and elicit mixed reactions from users and developers. (ANSA) - ROME, NOV 20 - The economy ministry said Monday it had started a fast track for ceding 20% of the 64.2% of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) it has owned since a bailout of the troubled Tuscan lender in 2017. "The Ministry of Economy and Finance announces that it has initiated an accelerated order collection procedure for the sale of 251,937,942 ordinary shares of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, corresponding to approximately 20% of the Bank's share capital," it said in a statement. MPS is the world's oldest continually trading bank. The government has said it will be privatized when the market conditions are right. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, NOV 20 - Former Forza Italia MP Giancarlo Pittelli was given a jail term of 11 years by a court in Lamezia Terme on Monday as judges started to read out the sentences for 338 defendants in the so-called Rinascita Scott 'maxi' trial against alleged members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia in the Calabian province of Vibo Valentia and the mob's white-collar facilitators. Prosecutors had requested a prison term of 17 years for him. Carabinieri police Lieutenant Colonel Giorgio Naselli was sentenced to two years and six months in jail, much less than the eight years requested, former Finance Police Officer Michele Marinaro got 10 years and six months, compared to the 17 years requested, and former regional councillor Pietro Giamborino was sentenced to 18 months, while prosecutors had wanted him put away for 20 years. The court gave 30 years to Saverio Razionale and Domenico Bonavota, the bosses of the San Gregorio and Sant'Onofrio clans. The former mayor of the town of Pizzo, Gianluca Callipo, was acquitted after prosecutors had requested an 18-year sentence for him. The court is handing down its rulings in a specially set-up 'bunker' courtroom in Lamezia Terme after two years and 10 months of hearings. The 'Ndrangheta is widely considered to have become Italy's most powerful organized-crime syndicate thanks to its control over much of the cocaine that arrives in Europe and its reach has stretched outside its base in the southern region of Calabria and gone beyond the country's borders. (ANSA). WHO confirmed that over 30 premature babies, who are in extremely critical condition, were evacuated from Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital. World Health Organization officials announced this new information on Sunday, Nov. 19. As of writing, the WHO-led team said that these babies are receiving urgent health care in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. After that, they will be transported to Egypt. Here are other details shared by WHO officials about the ongoing issue in Gaza's largest hospital. Over 30 Premature Babies in Critical Condition Evacuated From Al-Shifa Hospital According to Fox News' latest report, 31 premature babies were moved out of the Al-Shifa Hospital as the situation in the Gaza Strip worsens. Right now, the hospital is suffering from clean water, fuel, food, medical supplies, and other essential item shortages. "The babies were successfully transported to the neonatal intensive care unit at Al-Helal Al-Emarati Maternity Hospital in southern Gaza, where they are being assessed and stabilized," said WHO. The World Health Organization added that these premature babies are suffering from serious infections because they don't have the needed medical supplies. Some of these babies are dehydrated and have sepsis and hypothermia, as confirmed by Gaza hospital director Mohamed Zaqout. WHO said that Gazan doctors in the Al-Shifa Hospital confirmed that they can no longer continue their infection control measures because of the lack of needed items. Thanks to the WHO-led team, which was established with the help of the United Nations and the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the premature babies were transported via six ambulances. Read Also: Israeli Police Claims Hamas' Religious Leaders Allow Sexual Violence, Rape During Oct 7 Terrorist Attack Why Israel Raided Al-Shifa Hospital BBC reported that the Al-Shifa Hospital was raided by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) because it is believed to be controlled by Hamas terrorists. After raiding the health facility, Israeli officials claimed that they found an operational center, which was allegedly used by the Palestinian militant group. Israel even shared images showing that Hamas weapons and other equipment were found at the Al-Shifa Hospital. However, Hamas officials denied the accusations, claiming that they never operated in the hospital. As of writing, the massive raid against the Al-Shifa Hospital is still being investigated by the UN and Israel is still looking for more evidence to prove their claims. Related Article: WHO Calls Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital 'Death Zone' After UN Conducts High-Risk Assessment Mission @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (see related stories) (ANSA) - ROME, NOV 20 - Giulia Cecchettin, the slain 22-year-old biomedical engineering student who had been due to graduate last Thursday, will be awarded her degree, the rector of the University of Padua said on Monday. "Giulia was due to graduate last Thursday, she was the first student expected at 8.30 a.m. for an engineering degree," said Daniela Mapelli during a conference at the university that opened with a minute's silence in memory of the young woman whose body was found with many knife wounds to the neck and head, as well as defensive wounds, in a gully near a lake in the northeastern Italian Friuli region. Her ex boyfriend, fellow student Filippo Turetta, is suspected of the murder. "A degree that will be there, it will be there for sure," continued Mapelli, saying however that "this is the moment to respect the pain of Giulia's family". "When the time comes, we will contact the family to arrange a ceremony when and how they want," she added. Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Sunday that Cecchettin should be granted an honorary degree from the prestigious Veneto university. "This dramatic affair which has struck all of us for the heinousness and brutality of the murder has come to a tragic end for a girl who was set to graduate," said Tajani. "I think we should give her a degree 'honoris causa'," he continued, adding that foreign ministry scholarships would be set up for "for foreigners who want to follow their dreams as Giulia did". Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said that there will be a minute's silence in all Italian schools on Tuesday in Giulia's memory. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, NOV 20 - Gino Cecchettin, the father of murdered 22-year-old biomedical information engineering student Giulia, said on Monday he felt no anger but only thought of his daughter "who is no longer there". "I don't feel anger, I don't feel anything. I think of my Giulia who is no longer there for me," Cecchettin told reporters as he left his home in Vigonovo near Venice in the northern Veneto region. Giulia's ex boyfriend Filippo Turetta was arrested on an international warrant in Germany on Sunday on suspicion of kidnapping and murder after an eight-day manhunt in Italy and nearby countries. His arrest near Leipzig came a day after fellow biomedical information engineering student Giulia's body was found with many knife wounds to the neck and head, as well as defensive wounds, in a gully near a lake in the northeastern Italian Friuli region. Turetta is due to be extradited to Italy in the coming days. The case has grabbed headlines in the country and brought the issue of gender-based violence (GBV) back to the forefront of public debate. On Thursday Premier Giorgia meloni said she was seeking agreement on measures to up the fight against GBV and opposition centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein has called for an immediate law introducing compulsory education on respect and affectivity in all schools. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, NOV 20 - Italy needs to equip itself with an organic law on violence against minors, the national ombudsman for children and adolescents Carla Garlatti said on the occasion of World Children's Day on Monday. "The Italian regulatory system of protection against violence against minors is highly fragmented," said Garletti, calling on the government and parliament to make the introduction of an organic law "one of the priorities of the legislature". "Such a law will at last provide an unambiguous, complete and precise definition of violence and will make it possible to bring together in a single text all the regulations already in force on the issue," she added. Garlatti also called for the creation of a national system for collecting and monitoring data, as per the request of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2019. In addition, she urged for a course dedicated to violence against minors to be included in every degree course leading to employment in areas concerning childhood and adolescence. Photo: Justice Minister Carlo Nordio and Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents Carla Garlatti (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, NOV 20 - Italy registered its 104th femicide of the year Monday as a 50-year-old Romanian man was arrested in the rape and murder of a 70-year-old German woman near Perugia in Umbria in December of last year. The victim was Marielle Soethe, a German citizen who had lived for many years in the upper Tiber Valley, at Citerna. A measure of pre-trial detention in prison has now been carried out for voluntary homicide and sexual assault against the Romanian, who has been residing in Italy for some time. The woman, on December 1, 2022, was found dead in her home by the Carabinieri who had been alerted by a friend of hers worried about not having had contact for several days. photo: a demo against femicide in Brescia (ANSA). An operation has begun in Co Antrim to fell several trees made famous by the Game Of Thrones series. The work will see six of the trees at the Dark Hedges removed and remedial work carried out on several others. The tunnel of trees became famous when it was featured in the HBO fantasy series and now attracts significant numbers of tourists from around the world. However, concerns have been raised about the state of several of the beech trees and a number have blown down during storms in recent years. People walking along the Dark Hedges as workmen prepare to remove a number of trees amid concerns they could pose a risk to the public (Liam McBurney/PA) As work began at the site on Monday morning, there were several international tourists visiting the trees. Mervyn Storey, chairman of the Dark Hedges Preservation Trust, said the work followed two reports which concluded some trees would have to be removed for safety reasons. The former DUP MLA said: While we would want that these trees would last forever, the reality is if they are 300 years of age that is not going to be the case and this work has to be carried out. I think it is also another marker in the long journey that we are on in terms of putting in place a management structure to manage this area. A Malaysian tourist takes a photo of the Dark Hedges as the operation to remove a number of trees at the Dark Hedges begins (Liam McBurney/PA) Eight seconds in Game Of Thrones changed the Bregagh Road and the Dark Hedges forever and we have even today, even though there is a closure in the road, we have people from California. This has been a tourist attraction for the last number of years. Yes, there is work needs to be done, but there has to be a long-term plan and that is going to take money and where is that coming from? Mr Storey added: We dont want to inhibit people, but we also want to ensure when people come here they are safe. There has to be aggressive replanting, there had been a replanting late 2014, but because of lack of resource to maintain that planting it hasnt taken. The trees on the Bregagh Road, near Stranocum, are on privately owned land. The Department for Infrastructure said an independent specialist survey found that 11 trees, out of a total of 86, were in a poor condition and could pose a potential risk to the public. Following discussions with relevant landowners and other stakeholders, arrangements were made to remove six of the trees, retaining the stumps, and for remedial work to be carried out on four trees, to reduce the risk to the public. The condition of one further tree will be assessed on site. The Dark Hedges featured in Game Of Thrones and attract scores of tourists (Niall Carson/PA) A department statement said: This decision has not been made lightly and, while the amenity value afforded by the corridor of trees is acknowledged, the safety of road users is paramount. The department will continue to engage with landowners and other stakeholders regarding their implementation of a suitable management strategy to protect the future of the other 75 trees. The trees were planted to line the Bregagh Road to Gracehill House, which was built around 1775. Originally, there were about 150 trees. In the coming months responsibility for preserving the trees will pass from the Dark Hedges Preservation Trust to the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust (CCGHT). Chief executive Graham Thompson said: CCGHT plans to establish a new Dark Hedges Management Forum which is expected to consist of relevant statutory organisations, landowners and other interested parties. It is envisaged that in future the issues at the site will be managed in a co-ordinated strategic manner. This includes a management plan ensuring the longevity of the trees, while giving full consideration to health and safety issues; visitor management at the site including dealing with parking and traffic issues; educating and informing visitors to the site across a range of media; and importantly identifying funding sources for future site management. Assisted dying critics have warned The Great British Bake Off judge Dame Prue Leith that legislative proposals in Scotland will put the vulnerable at risk of coercion. The TV judge, who is patron of the Dignity in Dying charity, will join Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur in Holyrood on Tuesday in support of his Members Bill on legalising assisted dying for terminally ill Scots. The proposals would give mentally competent adults with a terminal diagnosis the right to end their life if requested. But Scots would not be able to opt for the procedure for any other reason, and safeguards would include independent assessments by two doctors. Dame Prue will share her reasons for supporting the law change after watching her brother dying from bone cancer. She took part in a documentary Prue and Dannys Death Road Trip alongside her son, the Tory MP Danny Kruger, where they debated their opposing views while meeting people with lived experiences. But ahead of her visit, Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing a campaign spearheading the opposition to Mr McArthurs proposals said: The legislation of assisted suicide and euthanasia will put many vulnerable people at risk of abuse and coercion. He said the Bake Off judge, while very much in favour of a law change, used her documentary to express she was conflicted by how the policy had evolved in Canada, where people report being offered the medical assistance in dying (Maid) because they cannot access the proper support they need, for example, in housing, mental health or poverty. Dr Macdonald continued: Put simply, its impossible to have a safe system of medicalised killing and MSPs should reject Liam McArthurs dangerous and discriminatory proposals. However, Mr McArthur said he was pleased Dame Prue was able to speak of her support for the Assisted Dying Bill, which will be presented to the Scottish Parliament in the coming months. He said: Prue has personal experience of the issue after watching her brothers bad death from bone cancer and the documentary she made on assisted dying with her son earlier this year was a must watch. Parliament staff are working hard to finish the text of my Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill and it will soon be up to MSPs to make their minds up. Glaswegian Tina McCaffrey, who is now chief executive of Totara Hospice in New Zealand where terminally ill patients can access assisted dying, will join the Bake Off judge on the panel, as well as Luke Johnston-Smith, who has shared his journey with terminal blood cancer. Mr McArthur said he hopes the trio can demonstrate the importance of giving Scots a choice over how they die. Men are too embarrassed to seek help for incontinence. (Getty Images) (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Men are feeling too embarrassed to seek help for incontinence, choosing instead to ignore the problem in the hope it will go away. New research has revealed two thirds (66%) of British men would be too ashamed to tell their family and friends if they suffered from urinary incontinence. What's more, 43% of men have hidden their bladder weakness from health professionals completely because they are too self-conscious to speak about it. But not addressing the issue simply creates further problems, with 41% admitting to feeling frightened, a third saying they feel ashamed (33%) and lonely (24%) about keeping their medical issues under wraps. More worryingly, almost a quarter (23%) of men stated that incontinence has affected their mental health. Shame surrounding incontinence is impacting many men's mental health. (Getty Images) (Getty) To help tackle the issue, and as part of November's Mens Health Awareness Month, bladder leak protection brand, TENA, the company that compiled the poll, has partnered with Prostate Cancer UK, to help raise awareness of medical issues suffered by men. Incontinence is a common and often unexpected symptom of prostate cancer and TENA is working with the charity to support those suffering to help End Bladder Shame. The campaign aims to normalise the conversation around the issue and break the incontinence taboo and is campaigning for legislation to ensure sanitary bins are available in all male toilets. Chiara de Biase, director of support and influencing at Prostate Cancer UK, says: "Hundreds of thousands of men in the UK live with incontinence, but the taboo surrounding it means these men often feel ashamed, stay silent, and dont ask for help. "At Prostate Cancer UK were campaigning to smash this taboo by getting the country talking about it, and to influence policy changes that ensure every man with incontinence has access to adequate facilities." A new campaign is trying to break the stigma surrounding incontinence. (Getty Images) (Getty) Nancy Sadler, senior brand manager at TENA, says: "We knew that there would be an element of people feeling self-conscious about their health issues when undertaking this study, but to hear how many men wouldnt feel comfortable speaking about incontinence really shocked us. "Were determined to help people who experience incontinence, which is why our End Bladder Shame Campaign is so important. Were committed to sharing real-life, authentic stories on the subject, creating a safe space for open conversation and, hopefully, ending any embarrassment that surrounds it." My mental health has deteriorated a lot as a result of the incontinence Carey Gibb, 61, a stone mason from Arbroath in Scotland is someone who has first-hand experience of how bladder incontinence can impact mental health. Gibb was diagnosed with prostate cancer in September 2017 and, after his prostate was removed, suffered from incontinence. He went on to have treatment to tackle his persistent bladder problems. "Some days it's better, but I am still struggling," Gibb explains. "Long walks are quite challenging, but it doesn't stop me. "My mental health has deteriorated a lot as a result of the incontinence. I don't go out as much as I would like to, and if I go out, I don't drink a lot because I'm nervous of leaking. I also don't sleep very well, because I'm scared of wetting the bed, even though I wear a pad. "This all sounds really negative, but I'm really open about my incontinence and I tell everyone about how it happened and encourage others to know their prostate cancer risk, speak to their GP, and consider their treatment options carefully because there are side effects to think about. "This is a process I have to go through and it's a way of life now. There are many worse off than me, so I get on with things." TENA's new campaign wants more sanitary bins for men in toilets. (Getty Images) Male incontinence: The facts In the UK, it is estimated about one in three men over 65 will experience urinary incontinence issues, while one in 20 men aged 60 and over will experience bowel incontinence. According to Prostate Cancer UK one in eight men will get prostate cancer, and some experience bladder and bowel problems as a side effect of their treatment. This is because prostate cancer treatment can damage the nerves and muscles that control when you urinate (wee). If youre starting treatment for prostate cancer, ask your doctor about the possible side effects. Each treatment can cause different urinary problems. Your chances of getting each side effect will depend on the treatment youre having, and on whether or not you had urinary problems before starting treatment. If youve already had prostate cancer treatment and you have urinary problems, tell your doctor or nurse. They can suggest treatments and lifestyle changes to help manage them. Depending on the type of problems youre having, ways to manage them can include lifestyle changes, pelvic floor muscle exercises, bladder retraining, medicines or surgery. For practical tips read Prostate Cancer's How to manage urinary problems guide. Men's health read more: Watch: Ageing men are comfortable talking to each other about salary and sex - but not body changes As Thanksgiving and the December festive season are around the corner, there are fears that people might experience a more stressful time of year compared to previous ones. In a new survey commissioned by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine, it found out that 81% of around 1,000 American respondents were stressed because of national issues and international turmoil, while 75% were stressed because of increased spending and prices over the festive season. The survey also found out that 53% of respondents said they were stressed about rising cases of COVID-19 and flu across the country, while 44% said they were anxious from thinking about the travel problems that occurred last year. "The holidays kind of bring on this feeling of sadness and struggle when we really want it to be more of a joyous time," Ohio State Wexner psychologist Nicole Hollingshead said in a statement. "I encourage people to reflect on what the holidays meant for you growing up. And most of the time I don't hear people reflect on 'I loved having all the presents or I remember every single thing that someone gave me.' Instead, it's more of the feeling of the holidays." How to Minimize Stress this Christmas Hollingshead advised people to focus on the factors that they could control in order to lessen their holiday stress. One of them would involve food prices for Thanksgiving and Christmas. For example, the Columbus Dispatch cited the most recent Consumer Price Index report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which said that overall prices in the Midwest region were up by 2.9% over the past 12 months. Finances-wise, she suggested that people should discuss their budget with their family or partner ahead of time and make plans to reduce spending, which might help alleviate some stress or guilt as December draws near. "Cost of living has gone up significantly," she added. "I know groceries are overwhelming for most of us. I'm not surprised to hear that people are struggling with planning for the holiday season. So really having those conversations now is going to be important to be able to navigate what is it we feel comfortable spending." Meanwhile, health issues are also connected with stress, which could be alleviated by being as prepared as possible to face them and limiting exposure to possible infection sources. Hollingshead additionally urged doing their due diligence and washing their hands frequently to protect themselves from any sickness. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Candice Hoffman told Newsweek that they advise individuals to "seek emergency medical attention for COVID-19 if they experience the following emergency warning signs." In addition, Hollingshead suggested hoping for the best regarding unreliable travel but also preparing for the worst. Backup travel plans are also suggested just in case something goes wrong or gets delayed. "It gets close to the holidays and I worry: 'Did I buy enough for my family? Did I do enough?'" Hollingshead added. "And so we can lose sight of the importance of having too many gifts or making sure everybody has enough to unwrap. Then we lose sight of the big picture, which is that time together." Read Also: Alaska Airlines Pilot Joseph Emerson, Who Flipped Out in Midair Was Afraid To Report Depression; Incident Affects Other Pilots Minimizing Anxiety Due to Global Issues Another factor contributing to stress is the constant bombardment of news updates and information regarding multiple trending topics overseas, such as the aggression of China in the Pacific, the war in Ukraine, and Israel's fight against Hamas. Last week, Endowment of Middle East Truth (EMET) legislative fellow Joseph Epstein wrote for Newsweek, reckoning that the Third World War has already begun. Regarding this, Hollingshead advised people to limit their exposure to bad news by not watching news programs on TV and not spending much time "doom scrolling" on their devices. For anxiety about the world in general, she also advised using a system called "STOP" to help stop their feeling of getting overwhelmed. In the "STOP" method, a person could begin by slowing one's self down, taking a few deep breaths, observing the issue, and eventually proceeding with a rational plan. Related Article: USAA Poll: Veterans Urge Public to Go Beyond Gratitude @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Watch: 'I run a Christmas cafe all year round - I never get tired of mince pies' A woman who loves Christmas has opened up "Britain's first all-year-round festive cafe". No matter the season, Kim Warren, 40, sells mince pies, Christmas pudding, fruit cakes and turkey and cranberry sandwiches with all the trimmings. The self-confessed Christmas-lover opened the Yuletide cafe as an extension to the Little Christmas Shop which she also runs. Ironically, the only day of the year Warren shuts up shop is December 25 when she puts her feet up with her family at home in Ironbridge, Shropshire. Despite having festive tunes playing all day long she says she and her staff never tire of them and says her favourite is Mariah Carey's classic hit All I want for Christmas is You. The cafe also offers a Christmas themed afternoon tea filled with turkey, brie and cranberry sandwiches with Christmas cake for 24.99. Kim Warren is owner of The Little Christmas Shop & Mrs Claus Kitchen in Ironbridge, Telford. (Anita Maric/SWNS) (Anita Maric / SWNS) Explaining why she decided to set up the cafe, Warren says: "Everyone loves Christmas, so why not have it all year? I spotted a gap in the market and it worked. "I had a smaller shop and I felt like I needed to expand so I moved to a bigger shop," she continues. "I do festive food all year round and believe it's the first shop to do Christmas food and decorations to do so. "We serve turkey, mince pies, and Christmas cake made by our bakers who do it from scratch." The new premises has now been open for seven weeks and Warren says her and the workers aren't yet fed up with the Christmas tunes. "We dont really take notice of the music because were so busy," she explains. "Its like white noise. We have our favourites, but we are always on our feet and busy." The shop and cafe is proving hugely popular since opening seven weeks ago. (Anita Maric/SWNS) (Anita Maric / SWNS) Warren says the shop is popular with tourists and locals. (Anita Maric/SWNS) (Anita Maric / SWNS) Warren says a lot of her customers are tourists and that her business is booming after an emerging trend which sees holiday-makers buying souvenir Christmas presents. "It's very popular, weve got a local following so we see repeat tourists," she explains. "Back in the day people used to collect magnets and spoons, but now people buy Christmas decorations. "We opened the original shop three years ago and people said we wouldn't last five minutes. "But they love us. There is a trend to get a Christmas present from wherever you go, so we have the tourists who come to Ironbridge and locals who visit regularly, too. "I really did not think I would grow out of the old shop but we did," she adds. "People seem to love it here, they come in and film the place for their social media." The festive cafe serves a Christmas afternoon tea. (Anita Maric/SWNS) (Anita Maric / SWNS) Warren's secret for keeping her pigs in blankets fully stocked all year round is to think ahead and order all her stock in January. "You have to be very organised," she explains. "Everything gets ordered in January and we really try to support small independents." The shop's biggest seller is a wooden tree thats made from local wood. "Its handmade by a local man called Mike," she says. The self-confessed Christmas lover decided to go all out and opened a Christmas-themed cafe alongside her festive shop. (Anita Maric/SWNS) (Anita Maric / SWNS) But when it comes to the food, customers love a bit of tradition. "In the festive tea room our best seller is our festive afternoon tea," she adds. Additional reporting SWNS. Read more about Christmas Almost half of people in Scotland say energy bills are their biggest financial concern this winter, according to research released by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS). The charity has launched a new campaign called Worried This Winter to encourage people who are worried about energy bills to seek advice from the Citizens Advice network. Based on analysis of YouGov polling on a sample size of 1,000, CAS research estimated 2.2 million people in Scotland, or 48% of adults, were worried about their bills. The research also estimated more than 1.4 million are worried about not being able to heat their homes effectively over the winter. Consumers can seek advice online or visit their local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) or specialist services like the money talk team. The average gain from energy-related advice across the network was more than 400. Citizens Advice Scotland chief executive Derek Mitchell said: As the weather turns cold, its perfectly understandable that people are worried about their energy bills and keeping their homes warm. Weve faced the worst cost-of-living crisis in living memory and people have had their financial resilience worn down. Our new campaign says to people its okay to be worried this winter, because the CAB network is here to help you regardless of your background or circumstances, our advice is free, impartial and confidential. Lots of people may not realise that they dont have to go to a CAB to get advice and information from our network. We have online self-help tools and advice pages that can help you see where you can cut your costs, boost your income and understand your rights with your energy supplier. We get real results for people, last year the average gain for energy advice was more than 400. People who saw a gain from advice more broadly were 3,700 better off. Were for everyone whether you are in work or not, own your home or not, whether you have kids or not. If youre worried this winter, our network is here for you in a way that suits you. Scottish Government energy minister Gillian Martin said: Energy bills remain significantly higher than this time two years ago, so campaigns like this are vitally important to ensure consumers are receiving the support they need. I would encourage anybody who is struggling with high energy bills or wider debt issues to contact the Citizens Advice network online or through their very experienced local network of bureaux. Last year, the Citizens Advice network helped many people access support they were entitled to and I hope this campaign can help them achieve the same this winter. A suspicious white substance found on city pavements sparked a major emergency response but turned out to be a flour product scattered for a running route. A hazardous materials (hazmat) support unit was among five Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) appliances that went to the scene in the Shawlands area of Glasgow when the alarm was raised at about 2pm on Monday. Stretches of the pavements on Tantallon Road and Bellwood Street were cordoned off while specialists investigated. Children at Langside Primary School had to be let out class by class at the end of the school day, with police and fire personnel standing by as the pavement outside the school was one of the areas cordoned off. Part of Tantallon Road was cordoned off (PA) However parents were later told that the substance had posed no risk. A message from the school to parents said: Police and fire service took precautions to ensure everyones safety when a suspicious white powder was found on local pavements. They have confirmed there is and was no risk to the children as this was a flour-based product that had been put down for a running route. The road and pavements are now open again. Police Scotland said that investigations established that the substance was not harmful. A force spokesman said: Around 2pm on Monday police and emergency services attended Bellwood Street, Shawlands following the discovery of an unknown substance outside flats. As a precaution, a cordon was put in place along with a number of local road closures. Inquiries established the substance was not harmful and the closures and cordon have been lifted. An SFRS spokesman said: We were requested at 1.59pm on Monday to assist our police partners at Bellwood Street, Shawlands. Operations Control mobilised five appliances to the scene and crews left after ensuring the area was made safe. The daily global average temperature rose more than 2C above the pre-industrial norm for this time of year for the first time last week, according to the EUs climate change service. On Friday the temperature reached 2.07C above the temperature average for 1850-1900, a larger increase than at any other time in recorded history, while provisional figures show the following day to have reached 2.06C. Copernicus posted the update on the social media site X, formerly Twitter, showing a sharp rise in the global average temperature this month. Its analysts said this is due to a sudden and steep increase in warmth over the land areas of the northern hemisphere on top of the long-term trend of global warming through greenhouse gases and the naturally occurring effect of El Nino in the tropical eastern Pacific. This temperature is not the highest absolute recording set in July which is considered likely to be the hottest month in the last 120,000 years but the furthest departure from the average temperature for the time of year compared with pre-industrial times. Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said: Global temperature records are being broken with alarming regularity. The breaches of the 1.5C and 2C thresholds were to be expected through generalised warming and climate variability they are still shockingly impactful. As Cop28 is just 10 days away, its crucial to understand what these figures signify for our collective future. ERA5 data from @CopernicusECMWF indicates that 17 November was the first day that the global temperature exceeded 2C above pre-industrial levels, reaching 2.07C above the 1850-1900 average and the provisional ERA5 value for 18 November is 2.06C. pic.twitter.com/lLGwlCsZtP Copernicus ECMWF (@CopernicusECMWF) November 20, 2023 Countries are aiming to keep the average global temperature within 2C and if possible 1.5C as part of the Paris Agreement, though this measure is taken over a period of around 20 years and so a daily breach does not mean this goal has failed. Scientists have said that the daily averages will vary but these temperature boundaries will be met more frequently on a daily, monthly and yearly basis as long as global emissions continue to rise. The Copernicus readings come as the UN warned that current emissions reduction policies have the Earth on track to warm by an average of almost 3C by the end of the century, which many experts have said would be catastrophic for humans and wildlife. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said humanity is addicted to fossil fuels, which he described as the poisoned root of the climate crisis. If the world is to keep within the 1.5C boundary there needs to be a 42% reduction in emissions by 2030, with the window of opportunity rapidly closing, the UN said. Dr Paulo Ceppi, a climate scientist from Imperial College Londons Grantham Institute, said: Recording average global temperatures of 2C above pre-industrial levels is concerning, but not surprising. The world has not yet reduced greenhouse gas emissions and the result is the ongoing warming of the climate. We will only see warming stabilise when the world moves away from fossil fuels and reduces emissions to net zero. Michael Gove has been pushing the Treasury for appropriate funding for local councils, the veteran Cabinet minister has said. Speaking at a local government conference on Monday, the Communities Secretary said he had been doing my best to reinforce to the Treasury and to Number 10 some of the particular challenges that local government faces. In the run-up to the Chancellors Autumn Statement on Wednesday, local councils have been pushing for more funding to cope with a variety of pressures including social care, childrens services and temporary accommodation. On Monday, councils and charities wrote to Jeremy Hunt saying it was vital he use Wednesdays announcement to provide more money for childrens services before they were pushed to the brink. While Mr Gove said he was unable to reveal what was in the Autumn Statement, he told the County Council Network conference on Monday that he recognised the need for local government to have adequate resources. He said: The cases that I make to other Government colleagues are predicated on the basis that local government can deliver, local government is ready to reform, but local government also needs the resource to be able to make that reform work effectively. Mentioning the need for social care reform, he added: Ultimately, a change of attitude and a change of delivery needs to be accompanied by appropriate funding and thats one of the key cases I have made. Financial pressures have seen a string of local authorities effectively declare bankruptcy in recent years, including Woking, Thurrock, Birmingham and Croydon, while others have warned they may have to take similar action soon. Mr Gove said recent cases had involved system managerial failures, often going back many years, but acknowledged that other well-run and well-managed local authorities being forced to make very difficult decisions. He said: My view is we need to make sure that there is an approach to funding local government that appreciates those strains, but also an approach towards local government that champions what is going well and anticipates where problems are and allows for intervention earlier. The Queen has commended journalists risking their lives reporting from the Middle East and Ukraine, as she celebrated the 135th anniversary of the Foreign Press Association (FPA) at its annual awards ceremony. Camilla was made an honorary member of the FPA at the Sheraton Grand Park Lane hotel in Piccadilly, west London, following in the footsteps of the King, who has also received honorary life membership. The FPA in London is the oldest and largest association of foreign correspondents in the world, founded in 1888 by foreign journalists who came to London to cover the case of Jack the Ripper. Presenting the Queen with honorary membership, FPA director Deborah Bonetti said: There are not many associations who can show off that they have two crowned kings and queens as their honorary members. Speaking in the five-star hotels ballroom, while sharing a stage with the host, comedian Alexander Armstrong, Camilla said: It is a huge pleasure to be here with you this evening to celebrate the 135th anniversary of the Foreign Press Association and to reflect on your many achievements as the worlds oldest and biggest association of foreign journalists. But I cannot begin without also reflecting that as we gather, journalists, photographers and their support teams are even now risking their lives. We think particularly of those reporting from Ukraine and the Middle East in these most difficult of times. She referred to the Kings attendance at the awards ceremony in 2008 when he was Prince of Wales, reiterating his observation that journalists held an awe-inspiring responsibility to protect true freedom of expression which she believed to be at the heart of our democratic system. The Queen arrives at the Sheraton Grand Park Lane hotel (Jonathan Brady/PA) The audience laughed as she spoke about how she knew a little of the responsibility of the profession, saying there are journalists in her family and quipping that she has been the subject of one or two stories over the years. She commended female journalists who are increasingly targeted on social media and hailed the work the association does to promote and protect women. She mentioned trailblazers Martha Gellhorn and Christiane Amanpour as well as two journalists who have so tragically paid with their lives Marie Colvin, an FPA journalist of the year, and Daphne Caruana Galizia. The FPA was, of course, founded in 1888, when foreign correspondents came to the United Kingdom to report on the Jack the Ripper murders and decided to band together to secure better access to information and sources, the Queen said. The Queen was presented with honorary membership of the FPA (Jonathan Brady/PA) Although we might now deplore some of the more sensational approaches to those terrible events, the fact is that the FPA grew out of the need to reveal and condemn violence against women. And this remains a key part of journalism today. You have the ability to break the corrosive silence that frequently surrounds abuse. You bring into the open the voices of victims, you break taboos, you shine a light on these heinous crimes and you guide the public on what they can do to help. Camilla, wearing a green velvet dress by Me+Em and Van Cleef & Arpels earrings from her own collection, was surrounded by journalists holding up their phones as she made her way into a reception room to greet the 33 award nominees, before meeting the FPA committee. Nominees for TV Documentary Story of the Year Kavitha Chekuru and Laila Al-Arian, a Palestinian journalist from the US, told the Queen about their film about the death of their Al Jazeera colleague. Titled The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, they told the PA news agency that their colleague was killed in May 2022 by an Israeli sniper in the West Bank. The UK and South Korea are set to sign a new long-term agreement covering defence and technology co-operation as President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for a three-day state visit. The Downing Street Accord follows similar agreements with Singapore and Japan, coming as the UK seeks to consolidate influence in the Indo-Pacific. Mr Yoon begins his state visit on Tuesday, which will include a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the formal signing of the agreement in Downing Street on Wednesday. Ahead of the visit, Mr Sunak pointed to the 21 billion which South Korean businesses commit in investment to the UK. Trade and investment are expected to be the focus of the trip, with Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch set to launch new negotiations on an upgraded free trade agreement. The UK secured a free trade deal with South Korea in 2019, with the agreement largely aimed at keeping trade flowing post-Brexit and removing uncertainty. Mr Sunak said: Long term, global partnerships are vital to our prosperity and security, both today and in the future. As two nations focused on innovation, harnessing new technologies and defending the international rules-based order, the UK and Republic of Korea are natural partners. Through our new Downing Street Accord, we will drive investment, boost trade and build a friendship that not only supports global stability, but protects our interests and lasts the test of time. These close ties have already propelled 21 billion of investment between our countries. I know a free trade agreement fit for the future will only drive further investment, delivering on my promise to grow the economy and support highly-skilled jobs. The Downing Street Accord will see British and Korean militaries agree to step up joint training and operations, with the Asian state expected to agree to join with British ships on sanctions patrols. It will, Downing Street said, also see the two countries work closer together on technology such as artificial intelligence, semi-conductors and quantum. Science ministers will also sign a memorandum of understanding to boost space co-operation. South Korea will host next years AI summit after the first UK-backed gathering in Bletchley Park earlier this month. The trip to the UK coincides with the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the UK and Korea, as well as the 70th anniversary of the armistice of the Korean war. Police are seeking the publics help to identify 15 people who took part in a pro-Palestinian convoy of as many as 80 cars. Officers became aware of a convoy of vehicles displaying Palestinian flags driving into central London at around 10.15pm on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said. It is believed the cars had set off from a car park in Hancock Road, Tower Hamlets, east London. Road policing units, public order teams and a helicopter were deployed to intercept the convoy and the cars were held in Exhibition Road, South Kensington, the force said. APPEAL: Officers are appealing for the publics help to identify the 15 people in this thread. We believe they took part in a pro-Palestinian convoy that dangerously stopped traffic on the A13 and the Limehouse Link Tunnel on Saturday night. https://t.co/GX0Sl8ORoW Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) November 19, 2023 A dispersal order was put in place and one vehicle was seized, with fixed penalty notices for various road traffic offences issued to 18 drivers. A further nine vehicles were served with prohibition notices after defects were found making them unfit for use. The Met said officers have since discovered the convoy stopped twice on major roads the A13 and the Limehouse Link Tunnel on its way into London, causing danger to other road users. Temporary Commander Karen Findlay, who led the weekends policing operation, said: On some previous occasions, convoys of cars have passed through Jewish communities with occupants waving flags and shouting antisemitic abuse. They understandably caused significant concern, fear and upset. As soon as the convoy was spotted, a plan was put in place quickly to ensure the convoy would not reach areas where its presence would inevitably cause alarm and intimidation. Our inquiries have not only revealed the extent of their dangerous antics on major roads, theyve also established the group had plans to move on from Exhibition Road to the Israeli Embassy off Kensington High Street. Our intervention on Saturday night was effective in stopping this convoy in its tracks, but now we need to identify those we suspect of being involved in offences earlier on their route. The public have been a great help in recent weeks when similar appeals have been made and I have no doubt theyll continue to do the same. Police have shared images of the people they want to identify, and have asked anyone who can help to call 101 and reference 4237915/23 and the number in the bottom corner of the images. Rishi Sunak said no parent should ever have to watch their child starve as he opened the Global Food Security Summit in London on Monday. The Prime Minister also launched a White Paper setting out the Governments long-term approach to international development more broadly up to 2030. Speaking at the gathering at Lancaster House, Mr Sunak announced a new virtual hub to link UK scientists with global research initiatives aiming to develop climate and disease resistant crops. He said: It cant be right that today in 2023, almost one billion people across the world regularly do not have enough to eat, that millions face hunger and starvation, and over 45 million children under five are suffering acute malnutrition. In a world of abundance, no one should die from lack of food, and no parent should ever have to watch their child starve. On the Israel-Hamas conflict, Mr Sunak reiterated his stance that Israel has the right to defend itself, but added: It must also act within international humanitarian law. The situation on the ground is truly tragic and getting worse. He said the UK is pushing for substantive humanitarian pauses, because the suffering of innocent civilians must end. Outside the central London venue, a small group of protesters demanded the Government call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Mr Sunak also used separate speech at a north London college to promise tax cuts ahead of Wednesdays autumn statement. The UK is hosting the food summit in London alongside Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, the Childrens Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The White Paper fails to restore the target to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid, after the budget was slashed to 0.5% by Mr Sunak when he was chancellor amid economic pressures in 2021. It reiterates that the Governments commitment to return to the higher target once the fiscal situation allows. The paper also states that the UK stopped providing direct bilateral aid to the Chinese government in 2011, after a watchdog expressed concern in the summer over a lack of transparency in how 50 million in UK aid was spent in the Asian power last year. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak opens the Global Food Security Summit (Dan Kitwood/PA) The Prime Minister said the paper demonstrates the UKs new approach to development, going further to help the poorest and support those suffering in humanitarian crises, leading not merely with strength, but with compassion, and harnessing Britains expertise in development and science. We live in a dangerous world, at a time of growing threats, strategic competition and conflict. Now, many of these challenges like the war in Ukraine have a direct impact on the poorest in the world. The UK is changing its approach to deliver in a changing world, Mr Sunak said. Mr Sunak said the new science centre will drive cutting-edge research on flood-tolerant rice, disease-resistant wheat and much more, with the innovations reaching millions across the poorest countries as well as improving UK crop yields and driving down food prices. The Prime Minister also announced 16 million in additional support for the international child nutrition fund. UK support for child malnutrition will match pound for pound the amount the worst-affected countries including Uganda, Ethiopia and Senegal invest of their own resources in tackling the issue, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said. Up to 100 million in humanitarian funding is being released to countries worst hit by food insecurity including Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Afghanistan, and to countries impacted by climate-related weather events such as Malawi, the FCDO said. The White Papers priorities include mobilising international finance, reforming the international system, tackling climate change, harnessing innovation, and putting women and girls centre stage. International development minister Andrew Mitchell said in a written statement: Developing countries want and need a different development offer, based on mutual respect, powered by development finance at scale, and backed by a more responsive multilateral and international system. This White Paper is our pledge to take a patient, partnership-based approach to development. An approach that looks ahead to the longer-term challenges we face and can readily adapt, to the ongoing global changes confronting us. Bond, the UK network for international development organisations, welcomed the refocus of UK aid on the lowest income countries, scaled up efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and prioritisation of the needs of women and girls. But, Bonds director of policy and advocacy Gideon Rabinowitz said: The notable ambitions of the White Paper require adequate resourcing and will not be realised without rapidly returning the UK aid budget to the legally mandated level of 0.7% of national income and providing additional finance to tackle climate change. Lisa Nandy, Labours shadow cabinet minister for international development, said: Rishi Sunak is the chancellor who abolished DFID (Department for International Development) and slashed aid spending, costing lives and trashing Britains reputation as the gold standard in international development. Asking him to repair the damage is like calling on the arsonist to put out the fire. On nutrition alone, his decisions contributed to food rations for 440,000 Kenyan refugees being reduced to 52% of the basic food need. Dragons Den star Steven Bartlett has said health and wellness club business Until has the potential to expand to 50 sites as it opened the doors to its latest venue. Mr Bartlett, who is a serial investor across the wellness sector, backed the company earlier this year as it sought to accelerate growth plans. On Monday, Until opened its third site, on Wigmore Street in Marylebone, central London, adding to previous locations in Liverpool Street and Soho. The site will be the first Until club to include dentistry and medical facilities. Dragons Den star and investor Steven Bartlett has backed Until (Andrew Farringdon/PA) The clubs, which run under a membership model, are designed to provide facilities with flexible access to health and wellness practitioners. Until plans to open a site in Kensington next year as it pushes forward with its ambitious expansion plan. Mr Bartlett said he believes the firm can also target international cities, such as New York and Boston, as part of the growth programme. The investor told the PA news agency: The waiting list at the minute is insane we are just seeing so much demand so know there is great potential for growth. My goal for the business is that within 10 years it can grow to 50 sites worldwide. There is plenty more scope in London but we want to target other cities in Europe and the US too. The business has more than 300 members across its sites and welcomes over 8,000 guests. Vishal Amin, co-founder and chief executive of Until, said: The market opportunity for Until is enormous. With our third club within 18 months we continue to be laser focused on ensuring our members get the chance to grow their businesses exponentially and optimise their margins and for their clients, to meet their health and wellness goal. Alex Pellew, co-founder and chief experience officer, said: Our clubs are now all buzzing. And were already inundated with sign ups for our newest centre of excellence, in Marylebone. Were committed to bringing professionals in the wellness and healthcare industries an exceptional premium experience destination clubs like no other, exceptional spaces for them to see their clientele and a next-level network of like-minded people. U.S. President Joe Biden is finally celebrating his 81st birthday, making him the oldest sitting leader in the history of the United States. There's no denying that being an 81-year-old American president is an astounding feat. However, instead of being happy for POTUS, more and more Americans are becoming concerned about his age. Happy Birthday Joe Biden! POTUS Turns 81 Years Old According to CNN Politics, Joe Biden is celebrating his 81st birthday in a low-key manner; with his beloved family and other Biden Admin officials. Some critics said that Biden doesn't want to be extravagant because of the ongoing issues across the globe, such as the Israel-Hamas war, as well as the upcoming 2024 U.S. election, which is expected to be a strenuous one. People.Com reported that Joe Biden, together with his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, will be hosting some holiday events throughout his birthday (Monday, Nov. 20). This is because his birthday is the day before the Thanksgiving celebration. He already posted a video of him pardoning the National Thanksgiving Turkey on the White House South Lawn. "Join me on the South Lawn as I pardon the National Thanksgiving Turkey and wish American families a safe and healthy holiday," said Joe Biden via his official X post. Join me on the South Lawn as I pardon the National Thanksgiving Turkey and wish American families a safe and healthy holiday. https://t.co/fntz6rUMCM President Biden (@POTUS) November 20, 2023 People familiar with the activities of the 81-year-old U.S. leader said that Joe and Jill will make up for any lost family time on Tuesday, Nov. 21. They said that the first couple are set to travel to Massachusetts for the remainder of the week. Read Also: Why Biden Admin's Pharmacy Middle Men Crackdown Might Not Work-Here's What Pharmacists Explained More Americans Becoming Concerned About POTUS' Age Now that Joe Biden is 81 years old, many Americans shared their concerns; questioning whether the current leader can still lead the U.S. Because of this, many polls showed that his approval rating is plunging. On Sunday, Nov. 19, Biden's approval rating reached its lowest point, which is 40%. This survey claimed that Joe Biden is behind Donald Trump for the first time. But, it is important that this poll is a hypothetical general-election match-up. Despite Americans' concerns, the American leader is still quite confident that he can handle being the U.S. president. He even joked around, saying that "it's difficult turning 60." Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia (California), a member of the Biden campaign's national advisory board, said that the president's election campaign should be focused on the winning record instead of his age. "Everything else about people's biographies or when their birthdays are - that doesn't matter. People want to know, what did they do, and what are they going to do?" explained Garcia. Related Article: Hundreds of Biden Admin Officials Oppose POTUS's Handling of Israel-Hamas War @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Former Backpage.com owner Michael Lacey waves off reporters as he exits the Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse after a verdict is read on Nov. 16, 2023, in Phoenix. A federal jury found two former Backpage.com executives guilty of conspiring to use the website to facilitate prostitution and a third guilty of a financial crime related to the classified advertising website that prosecutors said was designed to enable and profit from prostitution. Former Backpage.com executives Scott Spear and John "Jed" Brunst were convicted of conspiring to use the website to facilitate prostitution. The jury also found the two guilty of some financial crimes, but not guilty of others. The jury deadlocked on prostitution-related charges filed against Michael Lacey, Backpage cofounder and former editor of an alternative news weekly in Arizona. Lacey was found guilty on a money-laundering charge. Lacey, former editor of the Phoenix New Times, pursed his lips and shook his head as the jury exited the courtroom after the reading of the verdict. With the litany of charges, it took more than 30 minutes to go through them all. The jury deadlocked on more than 80 counts against him. The single count Lacey was convicted of involved a January 2017 transfer of $16.5 million to a bank in Hungary. The indictment said Lacey did so knowing the money represented gains from illegal activity and that he attempted to conceal it. Two former Backpage employees who were involved in moderating ads on the site were found not guilty on all prostitution-related charges. Jurors declined comment after the verdict Thursday. One juror who declined to give her name said she was relieved the trial was over and was happy to go home. Lacey, 75, and his lawyer, Paul Cambria, both declined comment. The deadlock on the bulk of the charges against him marked the second time that the federal government failed to secure a verdict against Lacey on accusations he operated Backpage in a way that made it easy for prostitutes, pimps and customers to conduct transactions. The website hosted classified ads for jobs, furniture and concert tickets, but prosecutors said the business model centered on the prostitution ads, mainly found in the escorts section. Parsing the jury's verdict, it seemed jurors decided Backpage executives created the website to facilitate prostitution but could not unanimously agree that Lacey was involved to the extent that he was complicit. In testimony to the jury, the former CEO of Backpage, Carl Ferrer, described Spear, 72, as a "micromanager" who was interested in Backpage's success. But an attorney for Spear, Bruce Feder, said during closing arguments that Spear was working to remove unlawful content from Backpage. He showed the jury several emails in which Spear directed staff to "clean the site up" and chastised them for failing to properly moderate ads. "Scott, in good faith, did the best that he could," Feder said. Brunst, 71, the former chief financial officer of Backpage, was referred to by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Stone in his opening statements as a "key cog, key player" who designed new schemes to "keep the money flowing." But an attorney for Brunst, Gary Lincenberg, said his client was merely an accountant for a successful media holding company that operated not only Backpage but several newspapers. Lincenberg told the jury only one witness, Ferrer, implicated Brunst in any wrongdoing. And Ferrer, he said, had reason to point the finger of blame at his client. "Ferrer's liberty depends on pleasing the prosecutors," Lincenberg said. "His goal is to avoid prison, and he is hoping the prosecutors will recommend leniency." Both Spear and Brunst were convicted of an overarching conspiracy charge, accusing them of running Backpage in a way that was designed to enable prostitution. Spear was additionally found guilty of 17 additional counts stemming from specific ads that ran on Backpage. Spear was additionally convicted of 21 counts of money laundering. Brunst was convicted of 33 counts of money laundering. In an August hearing ahead of the trial, prosecutors laid out possible sentences on the charges based on federal guidelines: Those related to prostitution could result in a sentence of four to five years in prison, prosecutors said. The money laundering charges come with a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years. Case built from emails obtained by U.S. Senate The case was built largely from internal emails turned over to a U.S. Senate subcommittee under subpoena. When the report was released in January 2017, Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri and a former prosecutor, said it contained a treasure trove of evidence and encouraged prosecutors to use it to hold the operators of Backpage accountable. The first trial ended in a mistrial in September 2021, after just a few days of testimony. The judge called a mistrial because prosecutors elicited testimony about child sex trafficking that the judge thought was too prejudicial to the defendants. Prosecutors announced their intention to retry the case. But bringing the case to a second jury would not happen for two years. In July, days before opening statements began, Laceys longtime business partner, James Larkin, died by suicide in the desert east of Phoenix. Larkin was facing near identical charges as Lacey. Both men had most of their assets frozen, with the government arguing the homes and bank accounts represented ill-gotten gains from their crimes. It is not clear if the government will pursue charges against Lacey again. After the verdict, the judge presiding over the case, Diane Humetewa, said she would expect an answer from federal prosecutors during a hearing she would set in December. The late August start of the trial was pushed back a few days after Larkins death, but prosecutors persisted in trying the case. The death was only obliquely mentioned in court. Potential jurors who said they had heard of it were asked whether it would color their ability to be fair. Prosecutors argued Backpage would edit ads so they were just provocative enough while still giving plausible deniability that the company knew the ads were for sex. Internal emails showed an evolving list of terms to excise from ads. The standards tightened and relaxed, according to testimony, depending on the amount of media and law enforcement scrutiny the website was receiving. Lacey started the New Times weekly tabloid in 1970 to provide a voice to the counterculture rising in opposition to the Vietnam War. Through the ensuing decades, he forged a reputation as a fearless editor whose newspaper had no sacred cows. Lacey and Larkin grew the chain into a string of alternative weeklies across the United States. The company became large enough to buy up the Village Voice, the venerated tabloid published in New York City. In 2007, Lacey and Larkin were both jailed by then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for publishing the details of a grand jury subpoena, a document that was supposed to remain secret. The subpoena asked for information on readers of the publications website. The two spent hours in jail, but the charges were quickly dropped. The two reached a settlement with the county for $3.75 million. They used the money to fund causes they held dear, mainly in the Latino community they felt had been targeted by Arpaio. Attorney: Lacey 'fighting against criminal activity' In this latest case, Lacey steadfastly maintained his innocence. He and his attorneys cast the trial as putting in peril the First Amendment right to publish. A federal law, the Communications Decency Act, generally protects a website from liability for words published by others. Over the years, courts had immunized Backpage from criminal and civil prosecutions because of that law. In his opening statement, Laceys attorney Paul Cambria told jurors that some users abused the website. But, he said, that was not the fault of the operators. He likened it to people who use telephones or the mail to commit crimes. (Lacey) believed he was not facilitating, and that Backpage, which he owned a part of, was not facilitating prostitution, Cambria told jurors. Defense attorneys pointed to a host of kudos from law enforcement and missing childrens organizations praising Backpage for responding to requests for information about potentially underage girls advertised on the site. Cambria also said that when Backpage edited or screened out ads it was attempting to stop illegal activity, not facilitate it. He said the government had a twisted logic to the idea that editing the ads was evidence of guilt. If you take words out, you are not promoting criminal activity, Cambria said. You are fighting against criminal activity. Cambria also said Lacey didnt know the people who posted the ads and there was no way to tie him to any illegal activity that took place from their posting. But prosecutors argued that Backpage was not merely hosting the ads. Instead, it was working to ensure that prostitutes and customers potential johns were seeing the site as the spot to transact business. Prosecutors said Backpage steadily worked on a strategy to corner the market on online prostitution ads. It worked to shield its activities, in part by moderating ads to make them less overt. The seeming cooperation with law enforcement, prosecutors said, was a ruse to keep officials at bay. Prosecutors relied on a trove of emails, provided by subpoena to a U.S. Senate committee, that they maintained showed Backpage knowingly looked to position itself as the leading website for online prostitution ads. Internal documents showed budget projections that counted on that business to rise dramatically through the years. The internal documents contained a draft of a proposed editorial Lacey wrote that praised Backpages contribution to the prostitution industry. For the very first time, the oldest profession in the world has transparency, record keeping and safeguards, Lacey wrote. The government also had a star witness: Carl Ferrer, the former chief operating officer of Backpage. It was Ferrer who first pitched Lacey and Larkin on the idea of creating the online classified advertising site. Ferrer was also the person who edited the line about the oldest profession in the world out of Laceys editorial. Ferrer, in his testimony, did not mince words when asked about the nature of the ads posted in the female escort section, which became the dominant section of Backpage. They were prostitution ads, he told jurors. Ferrer testified that he and other Backpage employees had a meeting with federal prosecutors in February 2018, weeks before the indictments were handed down. Ferrer said that after that meeting, I came to the conclusion maybe the best thing for me to do is to shut down the site. Ferrer said he told others at Backpage that, I couldnt do this anymore. What government's key witness told jurors about Backpage Ferrer pleaded guilty on behalf of himself and Backpage. In his plea, Ferrer acknowledged that he conspired to sanitize escort ads by removing photos and words that were indicative of prostitution. In his testimony, Ferrer told jurors that Backpage had a plan starting in 2007 to grow the one section of the classified advertising website that reliably produced money. We were very successful in our prostitution marketing activities, Ferrer told jurors. An email from April 2007 described a script that Backpage employees would use to essentially poach ads from its chief competitor, Craigslist. Ferrer said sales staff contacted people who were posting prostitution ads on Craigslist and offered to post those ads on Backpage for free. Ferrer said it was obvious the ads were for prostitution, since this was before either website was attempting to sanitize them. The ads have sex act (pictures), they have sex act words, Ferrer said, with a price per hours. Ferrer said cornering the market was key. They needed their phone to ring, he said. There were limited options for them to advertise. Ferrer also described a partnership with a website called the Erotic Review, which allowed users to post reviews of prostitutes. The two websites came up with a strategy: Reviews on the Erotic Review would contain a link to that womans escort ad on Backpage. And ads on Backpage would take potential customers to that escorts reviews on the other website. Ferrer, in testimony, called the partnership the secret sauce that created traffic for the Backpage ads. By July 2007, the system was generating 2 million visits per month to Backpage, Ferrer said. The Erotic Review authored an ad it wanted posted on Backpage describing the benefit the partnership offered to consumers. The ad, which was shown to jurors, told customers they would not get ripped off again. Before you pick up that phone, read her reviews. In 2010, under pressure from government officials and anti-trafficking advocates, Craigslist closed its adult section. Ferrer said he and other Backpage executives saw the opportunity to have a monopoly on the ads for prostitution. Larkin wrote in an internal email that Craiglist stopping its adult section meant that it was possible that this will mean a deluge of adult content ads for backpage.com. Though it drove up escort ads, Ferrer said that Backpage executives were very concerned we were next. So, Ferrer said, the website started editing ads, hiring a team of employees to comb through them for problematic words and images. Eventually, that was outsourced to moderators overseas. For their benefit, a list of forbidden terms was created. We sanitized the site, Ferrer told jurors. We made it less obvious prostitution. Ferrer said that Backpage would report ads to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but would intentionally flood the agency with reports to overwhelm it. Ferrer also said that Backpage would file reports of ads posted on other sites to draw away attention from Backpage. Jurors also heard from three women who testified about being the subject of ads and how those ads often resulted in an exchange of sex for money. One of the women said she was underaged when some of the ads were published. Other executives, employees on trial as well Besides Lacey, two other Backpage executives stood trial and were hit with guilty verdicts: Spear, a former executive vice president, and Brunst, the former chief financial officer. Two Backpage employees also were on trial and exonerated by the jury: Padilla, the operations manager, and Vaught, the assistant operations manager. Both dealt with moderating, or editing, ads. Vaught's attorney, Joy Bertrand, said, "The jury did the right thing by my client. She never should have been in this case." Bertrand said Vaught's life was ruined by the prosecution. But she praised her client's integrity for not taking a plea deal offered by the government that would have spared her incarceration. "She would not lie to save her skin," Bertrand said. Bertrand said she specialized in white-collar cases, but could not explain the conviction of Lacey for hiding funds gained from an illegal activity, despite the jury not finding him guilty of illegal conduct in operating Backpage. "Juries see evidence the way they see it," she said. Padilla declined comment. His attorney, David S. Eisenberg said he was "glad the jury saw the evidence the way we presented. And, of course, we think it's the right verdict with respect to Mr. Padilla." A marketing executive, Dan Hyer, was indicted with the others. But he also reached a plea deal and testified for the prosecution. All five defendants were charged with a single count of conspiracy to facilitate prostitution. The indictment also listed 50 specific ads posted on Backpage. The jury was asked to decide whether allowing the posting of the ads could enable an act of prostitution. If so, because the ads used interstate telecommunications, the defendants would violate federal law. Prosecutors, in closing arguments, described the ads as a sampling of the millions posted on Backpage over 14 years. They told jurors they didnt have to show each one led to an act of prostitution, but that based on testimony about terms used and, at times, communications with those posting them, the defendants meant to associate themselves with the prostitution business. By creating a marketplace, creating a forum where those ads could be posted, it helped promote someone else committing a prostitution offense, Assistant U.S. Attorney Austin Berry said during his closing statement. The jury had wrestled with the case for more than two weeks and asked several questions of the judge during deliberations. The jury asked three questions on nuanced variations of a specific point: Could someone be found not guilty of the overall conspiracy charge but guilty of charges regarding specific ads? The judge instructed the jurors they could reach that conclusion. Lacey, Spear and Brunst faced additional charges of money laundering. Lacey and the other defendants did not testify in their own defense. Each had told the court in documents that they wished to take the stand, but only if they were allowed to tell the jury about the advice they had received telling them their website was legal. Judge Diane Humetewa, who presided over the trial, did not allow that. She ruled that the defendants could not discuss legal advice they received unless they could show the lawyers had known about the entire operation, not just the version of Backpage presented to the public. She also limited testimony about court rulings that found Backpage enjoyed immunity, saying they also were based on an incomplete picture of Backpages business practices. Prosecutors indicted Lacey and other Backpage executives and employees in March 2018. The two were arrested in early April, days after the indictment was filed. That same day, the Department of Justice also seized the website. In the first trial, the judge in that case ruled that prosecutors had introduced too much testimony regarding underage girls sold on the website and emotional testimony from a woman who was sold and, as she described, raped by men responding to Backpage ads. The judge in that trial, Susan Brnovich, and the judge in the second trial this year said prosecutors needed to confine testimony to the charges the Backpage executives and employees faced: facilitating prostitution. Humetewa cautioned against prosecutors eliciting testimony that mentioned child sex trafficking, but allowed that some of the ads mentioned in the indictment were of minors. Lacey, others rejected plea agreement In a 2018 interview with Reason magazine, Lacey cast the battle as a free speech issue. This is the biggest speech battle in America right now," Lacey said. He said the government was pursuing the case because it didnt like the people who chose to use Backpage or what they posted. He said the words written in the advertisements were exactly what the Founding Fathers wished to protect with the First Amendment. Unpopular speech, dangerous speech, speech that threatens the norm, he told Reason. Not only do we have that right, our readers have that right. The (Backpage) posters have that right. Days before the trial began, the defendants appeared at a hearing during which the government stated the terms of the plea deal offered to each. The defendants were asked in open court whether they accepted it or rejected it. The hearing is held so a defendant cannot later assert they did not know the terms of a potential deal. For Lacey, a prosecutor said the deal was he could plead to a single count of conspiracy and face a maximum sentence of five years. If he proceeded to trial, each of the first 51 counts he faced would come with a potential four- or five-year sentence. Another 20 years was likely for money laundering charges, given the substantial amounts of funds involved. Magistrate Deborah Fine asked Lacey: Do you still reject the plea offer? Lacey replied with one word: Yes. Reach Ruelas at richard.ruelas@arizonarepublic.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ruelaswritings. Reach Jenkins at jjenkins@arizonarepublic.com or on X @JimmyJenkins. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Backpage.com executives guilty in prostitution, money-laundering trial LOS ANGELES (AP) A Los Angeles judge ruled Monday that there is enough evidence for A$AP Rocky to stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator on the streets near a Hollywood hotel in 2021. Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar made the ruling at at a preliminary hearing, after hearing roughly a day and a half of testimony from two witnesses. Rocky, who gave no visible reaction to the decision, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. The 35-year-old rapper, fashion mogul and two-time Grammy nominee is in a relationship with Rihanna, with whom he has two young sons. He could get up to 24 years in prison if convicted on all charges, prosecutors said. Villar said the totality of the video and testimony shows there is sufficient evidence for the defendant to go to trial. She emphasized that preliminary hearings have a much lower evidence standard than a trial. Were not disappointed, not surprised, we expected to go to trial, weve been planning for trial all along, Rocky's attorney, Joe Tacopina, said outside court. Rocky is going to be vindicated when all this is said and done, without question. At the first day of the hearing, which resumed Monday after a long delay, Terell Ephron testified that he and Rocky, a friend since childhood, had belonged to the same collective of musicians and artists at their New York high school. He said their relationship had started to go sour and resulted in the standoff in Hollywood on Nov. 6, 2021, when he said Rocky first pulled a gun on him, and in a later confrontation fired shots that grazed Ephrons knuckles. You need nothing more than Mr. Ephrons testimony by itself, Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec told the judge before her ruling, adding that the surveillance video that captured parts of the incident corroborates exactly what Mr. Ephron said. Tacopina countered that there are some real problems with the testimony of the complainant, adding, I think theres not enough evidence. Tacopina established while questioning a police detective earlier Monday that seven officers who searched a sidewalk and street about 20 minutes after the shots were allegedly fired found no evidence of the shooting, and that a pair of 9 mm shell casings in police possession were recovered by Ephron, who returned to the scene about an hour after the standoff. Tacopina played body camera video of the officers, who searched the ground for about 10 minutes. Ephron, who first went to police to report the incident two days later, turned over the shell casings, which the detective said had no recoverable fingerprints on them. Prosecutors played a video from near the scene where no people are initially visible, but what sounds like two gunshots can be heard. Then a man comes running around a corner, then slows to a walk. The mans identity is not clear in the video, but LAPD Detective Frank Flores testified they have established it is Rocky. Flores testified that no 9 mm pistol was recovered when a search warrant was served on Rocky. Prosecutors showed a still from surveillance video showing a man in a hooded sweatshirt whose face is not visible holding what appears to be a gun, along with another image from the same video showing the face of the man in the sweatshirt, with no gun visible. Flores testified that the images led them to establish it was Rocky. Tacopina, who is also representing Donald Trump in his New York criminal case, pressed the detective on the weapon, suggesting police had no way of knowing whether it was a loaded or even real gun. That gun or whatever it was was not tested, right? Tacopina asked. No, it was never recovered, Flores said. Tacopina asked, Youre not sure if its an operable gun or a non-operable gun or whatever? Without having it, I cant tell you whether its operable, the detective replied. Tacopina also tried to cast doubt on the minor injury to Ephrons hand, questioning why he waited until he returned to New York to seek medical treatment. He showed the detective a photo of the scraped fingers and said, sarcastically, Its a miracle he survived that shooting. The judge admonished him, one of several times she told Tacopina to change his tone. Rocky was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in the case in April, and charged in August. He arrived in the courtroom Monday morning wearing a dark suit, sunglasses and a face mask, after spending the weekend at the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix auto race, where he had a prominent role as Pumas creative director in the clothing brands partnership with F1. He has released little music in recent years, and has become better known as the romantic partner, fellow fashion influencer and co-parent of Rihanna, with whom he had a second son in May. His first two studio albums in 2013 and 2015 both went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Asked outside court whether Rocky would ask Rihanna, who did not attend the preliminary hearings, to attend his trial, Tacopina responded, He would never subject his family, he wants to shield them, hes handling it like Rocky would handle something, he protects his family. Rocky also became an unlikely cause for then-President Donald Trump, who said he was trying to get the rapper freed and returned to the U.S. when he was jailed after a brawl in Sweden in 2019. He was found guilty of assault at trial but was given a conditional sentence that meant no additional jail time. A former male nanny in California has been sentenced to 707 years in prison. That's 705 years to life, plus an additional two years and eight months after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting 16 young boys and showing a 17th boy pornography with the intent to sexually assault him. According to the Orange County District Attorney, Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski, 34, of Costa Mesa, California worked as a nanny for families across Southern California and filmed "many" of the assaults on the young boys, who ranged in ages 2 to 12 years old. The crimes were committed between Jan. 1, 2014 and May 17, 2019, the district attorney said in a release. Zakrzewski was arrested in 2019 and was originally charged with three felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14, one felony count of oral copulation of a child under the age of 10 and one felony count of possession of child pornography. After his initial arrest, additional charges were filed against him as investigators identified additional victims through video evidence and tips from the public. Ultimately, he was charged with 34 felonies, and was convicted by a jury of all 34. Police: Suspect in shooting of 5 women found dead in his car Who is Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski? Zakrzewski described himself as a "manny" and "the original Sitter Buddy" on his website, according to the Orange County District Attorney. He advertised a number of services, including mentorships and big brother relationships, and offered overnight and vacation babysitting. Sexual assault: Miami-Dade police officer Daniel Ramos-Aviles charged with sexual abuse of 3 children How was he caught? In early May 2019, a Laguna Beach couple who had hired Zakrzewski through one of his babysitting websites reported to the Laguna Beach Police that Zakrzewski had touched their son inappropriately and they were concerned for the safety of their son and potentially other children. An investigation from Laguna Beach Police Departments Major Crimes & Intelligence Unit led to the identification of a second seven-year-old victim in Los Angeles, and 10 more boys from across Southern California. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Male nanny sentenced to over 700 years for sexually assaulting young boys China has been building up its military in recent years (file photo) Australia has accused China's navy of using sonar pulses in an incident in international waters that resulted in Australian divers suffering injuries. The Australian defence minister said a Chinese warship had resorted to "unsafe and unprofessional" actions during the encounter off Japan earlier this week. The warship approached an Australian frigate as divers were clearing fishing nets from its propellers, he said. The Chinese ship then emitted dangerous sonar pulses, the minister added. This had posed "a risk to the safety of the Australian divers, who were forced to exit the water", Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a statement on Saturday. The divers suffered minor injuries that were likely caused by the sonar, Mr Marles said. "Australia expects all countries, including China, to operate their militaries in a professional and safe manner," he said. The Australian long-range frigate HMAS Toowoomba had communicated its intention to conduct diving operations on normal maritime channels, and using internationally recognised signals, the statement said. There has been no comment from the Chinese government. According to the Diving Medical Advisory Committee, a London-based body, high levels of underwater sound can cause "dizziness, hearing damage or other injuries" to divers. The reported incident occurred on Tuesday in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone. HMAS Toowoomba was conducting operations in support of UN sanctions enforcement, Mr Marles said, without giving details. Earlier this month Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a breakthrough trip to China, and hailed "significant progress" in relations between the Pacific powers. However tensions remain, notably over security. Australian has expressed concern over China's growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region. Canberra has recently deepened military ties with the US and overhauled its defence posture in a bid to counter potential threats from China. GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie took aim Sunday at Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel for suggesting that abortion is more than a states issue. NBCs Kristen Welker pressed Christie on Meet the Press over McDaniels abortion comments on the show last week, where she said theres a lot of discussion to be had, but we cant just say its a states issue and be done. Christie pushed back on these remarks, saying every state and its people should make its own judgment on this issue. I want the American people to decide. Thats the right way to make this judgment. And with all due respect to Ronna, shes not running for president, and shes never governed. So she doesnt know how hard these choices are and how you have to interact with people, Christie said. Best Black Friday Deals Christie said during the third GOP presidential debate earlier this month that the issue of abortion should be left to the states, avoiding the question of whether Congress should consider a 15-week abortion ban at the federal level. He also suggested earlier this year that Americans shouldnt worry about a possible federal abortion ban if he were elected president. He echoed similar comments during Sundays episode of Meet the Press, declining to answer whether he would support a six-week abortion ban. Welker also asked him whether he would have signed a six-week ban when he was governor of New Jersey a question that Christie labeled as ridiculous. He said that with a Democratic-controlled Legislature, no ban wouldve come to my desk. When pushed further on whether he would back a six-week ban, he dodged answering the question. Kristen, I have said my position on this, which is that every state and its people should make its own judgment on this issue, Christie said. I have governed as a pro-life governor in New Jersey, and I believe in the sanctity of human life. But I am not going to get into this media game of six weeks, 12 weeks, 15 weeks, 20 weeks. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Nathan Collins Nathan Collins has been ruled out of the Republic of Ireland's friendly against New Zealand on Tuesday. The Brentford defender suffered ankle ligament injury in the closing stages of Saturdays 1-0 loss to the Netherlands in Amsterdam and left the stadium on crutches. Collins' injury deepens the defensive injury problems for Thomas Frank who is already without full-backs Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey for the long term while Ben Mee has only recently returned from a muscle issue. The world's largest group of ornithologists announced Nov. 1 that it would begin work renaming 70 to 80 North American bird species named for people some deemed racist, exclusionary, or implying "ownership of an entire species by one human." The project begins next year. It's a contentious decision anticipated by the top University of Minnesota ornithologist, who is a fellow in the organization, the American Ornithological Society (AOS), and secretary of its governing council. Little doubt the move reverberated in Minnesota, where avian life is reflected in scientific research and birder life-lists. "This is probably the most controversial topic that has happened in ornithology definitely and in a lot of biological diversity science in a while," said Sushma Reddy, who is curator of the bird collection at the Bell Museum at the University of Minnesota. The AOS, a scientific group that maintains the official list of bird names for North and South America, will focus on English common names in the United States and Canada, and expects to produce a list of new names, with the help of the public, sometime in 2025. In a statement, AOS president Colleen Handel said some current names deflect focus "on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves." "There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today," Handel said. The group expected the varied reaction on social media support from scientists and birders, as well as some criticism for "woke birding." There also was ambivalence. Others wondered why the AOS couldn't simply take up individual cases. David Sibley, author and illustrator of popular guidebooks, had a tempered response on Facebook, but he clearly supported the group's approach. "Taking names case-by-case would be a quagmire of moral judgment, competing interests, PR campaigns, influence-peddling, and more. Renaming ALL these birds for their appearance, sounds, habitat, etc. is the only viable solution." Reddy said the AOS decided, "let's not put the emphasis on whether these people are worthy enough to have this honor. Let's put the emphasis on the birds and what we can learn about birds and what we can highlight about their features." Minnesota scientists' views Keith Barker, a U professor and bird researcher, said the renaming project shows that the AOS is recognizing how historical structures can affectpeople. He said the project is a small part of the organization's mission, which also includes recruiting a larger, more diverse group of young scientists "In this one aspect where we interface with the public, I think [the renaming project] is a great step," he said. Change is necessary, agreed Reddy and Barker. "The arguments are, why is this worth my time? We should be doing other things to foster diversity and inclusion. And the answer is, yeah, we should, we should be doing lots of things. This is one of them," Reddy said. "This is not the only thing that is going to bring people into birding or to care about the natural world at all, but it might be one thing that is really important." Added Barker: "Why are we naming a bird species about one person in one point in time when these species have lived millions of years in the past? The name is frozen in time. In a sense, it takes a certain degree of arrogance to think we should be naming it after a particular person." Kristin Hall, Department of Natural Resources Nongame Wildlife Program supervisor, said she respects the initiative but hopes the major effort doesn't come at the expense of protecting birds. The North American bird population has dropped nearly 3 billion birds, or 30%, since 1970, according to a study by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "We just need to make sure, in the end, of results," Hall said. "If it engages new sets of people that find birding the activity they want to engage in and they feel more included because of that, awesome." Haven't bird names changed over time? They have. Barker said people have always lumped and split species. "Our knowledge of bird diversity is always in flux," he said. There are a few changes each year, Barker said. A recent example in Minnesota is the McCown's longspur, named after a Confederate general. The small prairie bird is now called the thick-billed longspur. What are examples of birds in Minnesota? Easily overlooked is the Henslow's sparrow, which is a mix of tan and buff, with black streaks. The sparrow was named after teacher and botanist John Stevens Henslow by his friend John James Audubon. Another sparrow is the LeConte's "famously elusive," according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology named by Audubon for his friend John L. LeConte, an entomologist.The Cooper's hawk, which has become more common in urban areas, was named after William Cooper, a naturalist born in 1798 and a founder of what's now the New York Academy of Sciences, according to the American Bird Conservancy.Swainson's hawk, named for a British naturalist, is regularly seen in western Minnesota.Ross' goose, named after Bernard Ross, a Hudson's Bay Company trader in Canada's Northwest Territories.Wilson's warbler, a yellow bird sometimes seen along the Canadian border in summer. The bird was named for ornithologist Alexander Wilson. What are some local birders saying? Star Tribune birding columnists Val Cunningham and Jim Williams favor the renaming. Cunningham said she and some other birders were aware of the possibility but didn't expect an announcement so soon, considering the AOS ultimately will change the names of 152 species of birds. "I think it is a brilliant move, to toss everything out. That way you don't have to parse things," Cunningham said, adding that names that are more descriptive of a bird or its range will make it easier for new people to learn. Williams noted this isn't the first time renaming of birds. "Before colonization, all of the Native tribes had names for birds," he said, many based on a bird's call or its appearance. "They weren't the same names [from tribe to tribe], but they all had names." Mike Dockry, a U forestry professor and member of the Potawatomi Nation, said Native voices should be included in science and natural resources management. The AOS said it plans to assemble a diverse renaming group. "This makes for better science as the Indigenous peoples of this continent have thousands of years of systematic study and relationships with birds and other nonhuman relatives," he said. Reddy said she is most excited about engaging and educating the public in the coming years. "I am hopeful we can, in a few years, make these changes, and people won't be batting an eye," Reddy said. SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) Gale-force winds and heavy rain and snow hit large parts of Bulgaria on Sunday, claiming the lives of two people, causing severe damage and disrupting power supply in towns and villages, officials said. Residents in eastern Bulgaria, which was hit the hardest, said they had never before experienced such extreme weather. A state of emergency was declared in the Black Sea city of Varna, which received torrential rain mixed with snow along with intense wind. Officials said the conditions posed risks to the population. The mayors office reported power disruptions in all boroughs of Varna. Fallen trees and branches blocked key roads, leaving vehicles stranded. The city called on residents to stay home and not to use their cars unless they had urgent needs. Varna International Airport was open but had delayed and canceled flights, airport officials said. Police reported that a man died Saturday after his van hit a fallen tree on a major boulevard in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. In Varna, a woman died instantly after being struck by a falling tree branch. Bulgarian meteorologists issued warnings for dangerous weather for most of the country's east on Sunday, forecasting winds gusting up to 125 kph (78 mph). The heavy rain was expected to turn into snow as temperatures fell. Across the Black Sea, the severe weather also caused widespread damage and disruption in Turkey, including the splitting of a cargo ship and the evacuation of a prison. The Maritime General Directorate said the Cameroon-flagged Pallada broke into two due to heavy weather conditions after running aground amid 5-meter (15-foot) waves off Eregli, a coastal town 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Istanbul. All 13 crew members were rescued safely. The weather hampered efforts to reach another cargo vessel, the Turkish-flagged Kafkametler, as the ship drifted close to a breakwater outside the towns harbor. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said prisoners were moved from Ereglis prison to surrounding facilities due to rising water levels. Turkeys emergency agency, AFAD, earlier issued severe weather warnings for 72 of the countrys 81 provinces. Turkish Airlines canceled 105 scheduled flights from Istanbuls two airports on Sunday. Snow led to travel disruptions on the Istanbul-Ankara highway. The private Demiroren news agency reported fallen trees, lamp posts and phone poles in Zonguldak and Sakarya provinces, as well as damage to buildings. Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said 210 homes and workplaces were flooded in the Black Sea town of Sile. Wind speeds had reached up to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph), he reported. On the Marmara Sea, fishing boats moored at Esenkoy were destroyed and heavy rain led to landslides. Garth Fagan, whose internationally acclaimed dance company is celebrating its 53rd anniversary, is stepping down from leadership of the company. Fagan this week made the announcement to the board of Garth Fagan Dance. He will continue to choreograph dances. His new title will be Founder and Distinguished Artistic Director Emeritus of the company. Fagan, now 83 years old, is best known as the Tony-winning dance choreographer of Broadway's "The Lion King." But his influence in dance was established long before Disney's popular animated film was translated into an even more popular musical, one that has run on Broadway for more than a quarter-century. Garth Fagan The Jamaican-born Fagan interspersed popular dance with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and, as the New York Times wrote last year, cultivated "a legacy of Black dance and a generation of dynamic performers." Fagan's impact on the dance world is of such consequence that this year the Library of Congress acquired more than three decades of film, photos and performance memorabilia representing his storied career and the lessons he imparted to hundreds of students. The archive joined the likes of similar Library of Congress collections from acclaimed choreographers Bob Fosse, Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey. This year Fagan was also honored by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. Three dancers from the Garth Fagan Dance Company perform during the 2023 Juneteenth Festival at MLK Park. Fagan and his dance studio have called Rochester home since 1970. Fagan has "hand-picked his successors," according to a news release: " Natalie Rogers-Cropper, a long-time Principal Dancer, has been chosen by Fagan to be Executive Director and School Director. Norwood PJ Pennewell, long-time Principal Dancer and Choreographer will accept Fagans invitation to take on the position as Artistic Director." Garth Fagan (r) with Natalie Rogers-Cropper and Norwood PJ Pennewell. "I am so proud, so happy, so honored to have these two talented people that I have known, worked with, laughed with, cried with, celebrated with fordecadesto now be taking my legacy, my artistry, my dance, my heart, forward into tomorrow, Fagan said in the news release. "I am grateful beyond measure." Fagan is so interwoven with the Rochester region's artistic history that, when NPR's popular comedic show "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" came to town in 2017 it chose Fagan as its local onstage guest. There, Fagan demonstrated he also has chops for humor. Asked whether it was true that his father did not want him to pursue dance as a career, Fagan answered: "He's a Oxford man, Oxford graduate. But he wanted me to be a doctor like him. And, you know, something more respectable than dancing. "But I have 11 or 12 honorary doctorates. So daddy, I'm doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor." Fagan does in fact have an expansive list of honors. Along with the 1998 Tony Award it includes the 2000 Laurence Olivier Award (London, UK) and the 2004 Helpmann Award (Australia) for best choreography in a musical as well as the Drama Desk Award, the Astaire Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for his work in The Lion King. He was born in Kingston, Jamaica, where he received the Prime Ministers Award, a Special Gold Musgrave Medal for his Contribution to the World of Dance and Dance Theater and in 2001 he received the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander. This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Garth Fagan stepping down from leadership of his dance company The planet's temperature briefly surpassed a key climate threshold for the first time late last week, a top climate scientist in Europe reported over the weekend. On Friday, the globe hit 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) above preindustrial levels for the first time in recorded history, said Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of Copernicus Climate Change Service. Climate tracking: Following the changes in climate over time. "Our best estimate is that this was the first day when global temperature was more than 2C above 1850-1900 (or pre-industrial) levels, at 2.06C," Burgess said Sunday on X, formerly Twitter. That's a temperature level the world wants to avoid, experts say: "A 2-degree rise in global temperatures is considered a critical threshold above which dangerous and cascading effects of human-generated climate change will occur," according to NASA. The trend is the key Other scientists cautioned that when it comes to global temperatures, the long-term trend is the key. Temperatures should be measured in much longer increments, "not individual days, weeks, or even a year," said University of Pennsylvania meteorologist Michael Mann on X. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world's top climate group, defines warming by the long-term trend line, which is a 30-year average, Mann said. Indeed, one day above 2 degrees of warming does not mean that the Paris Agreement has been breached, Burgess told CNN, but highlights how we are approaching those internationally agreed limits. We can expect to see increasing frequency of 1.5-degree and 2-degree days over the coming months and years. UN report released Monday A separate report released Monday said Earth is already speeding toward 2.5 C to 2.9 C (4.5 F to 5.2 F) of global warming since preindustrial times, which would blow well past the agreed-upon international climate threshold of 1.5 degrees, the U.N. report calculated. We know it is still possible to make the 1.5 degree limit a reality," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. "It requires tearing out the poisoned root of the climate crisis: fossil fuels. And it demands a just, equitable renewables transition. Contributing: The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Earth briefly surpasses key climate threshold for first time Shanghai sees foreign trade growth in Jan-Oct Xinhua) 15:54, November 20, 2023 SHANGHAI, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai's imports and exports reached 3.51 trillion yuan (about 490.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 10 months of this year, up 1.9 percent year on year, according to local customs. Over this period, Shanghai's exports rose 2.3 percent year on year to 1.44 trillion yuan, while its imports increased by 1.6 percent to 2.07 trillion yuan, data from Shanghai Customs showed. Shanghai's trade with the European Union amounted to 711.15 billion yuan, up 5.3 percent year on year, accounting for 20.2 percent of its total foreign trade volume during the period. In the first 10 months of 2023, Shanghai exported 1 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, up 4.4 percent year on year, accounting for 69.3 percent of the city's total export value in the same period. Meanwhile, Shanghai imported 473.59 billion yuan of consumer goods, up 9.6 percent year on year, amounting to 22.9 percent of the city's total import value. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Wu Chaolan) Last week, The Guardian published an opinion piece written by an anonymous Jewish undergraduate student attending Oxford about his student life after Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7. The student said that, since the outbreak of the war, there have been more reported antisemitic incidents on British university campuses in the first month of the war than there were in all of 2022. "At Oxford University, where I am an undergraduate, acts of hatred, misinformation and a lack of empathy when we are vulnerable have turned student spaces into places of hostility," the student wrote. As a result of countless incidents of pro-Palestine supporters protesting Israel's military operation in Gaza and the extreme actors spewing and propagating hatred against the Jews, the student admitted that such abuses hurled at the Jewish community took a toll on the mental health of students like him or her. "I do not sleep well and cry often," the student admitted. "There are friends and tutors who have acknowledged my pain and their empathy has overwhelmed me." Nonetheless, there were still those who understood what Jewish students were going through and expressed empathy and looked beyond affiliations in extending their help. "I urge fellow students...to see us as just that - fellow citizens whose distress and pain must be taken at face value and countered with kindness, compassion and conversation in which no party experiences fear," the student concluded. Read Also: Elon Musk Says Claims About Him Being Antisemitic are Bogus Letters to The Guardian: We Must Fight Antisemitism on British Schools Meanwhile, two letters sent to The Guardian stressed that something must be done to combat antisemitism in British schools. "We like to think that education inoculates us against racism, but that has never been true for anti-Jewish racism," National Holocaust Museum director of learning Mark Rusling said. "University education is not a cure for antisemitism. Might it be a cause?" Rusling additionally deemed pro-Palestinian action against the Israeli government, such as targeting Jewish students and calling for a "global intifada," as racist slurs against British Jews. "This is not about our views on the Middle East; this is homegrown British racism," he added. "Whatever your education, whatever your politics, racism is wrong, and we will fight it." On the other hand, West Midlands resident Lynne Davies also observed that Jewish students were being "inexplicably punished" for the actions of the Israeli government. "It makes no more sense than UK Muslims suffering racism because of the actions of Hamas," she added. Davies additionally emphasized that it was perfectly possible for people to mourn for the casualties from both sides of the war, while at the same time, condemn the atrocities Hamas did. "Surely now more than ever, we as individuals should be coming together, not spreading hate and more division," she concluded. "We cannot sadly affect the course of the conflict but we can at least try to ensure that both Jewish people and Muslims here are treated with decency and not scapegoated for things outside their control. We need to try to shed a little light on to this darkness." Related Article: The Guardian Removes Bin Laden's 2002 "Letter to America" After TikTok Users Cite It @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. When thinking of dishes to have at Thanksgiving, the most popular food to find at the table is turkey. Although turkey was not served at the first Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and Native American Wampanoag people, the dish became synonymous of the holiday in the mid-1800s. The history of the turkey So, why is this bird a staple at the dinner table? Turkey is often the centerpiece of a Thanksgiving feast. The serving of turkey at holiday celebrations is dated back to the 1800s. Initially, the turkey was an abundant protein that did not serve a purpose on the American farm aside from their meat. Turkeys also proved to be an economically beneficial animal serving large groups and families. Credits to novels and writings in the early 1800s helped popularize the meal with the public and became associated with Thanksgiving as it was pronounced a national holiday in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln. Due to unregulated hunting and overharvesting in the 19th century, wild turkey populations diminished. When the first Europeans reached North America, the early estimated population was 10 million birds. By 1920, the wild turkey population dropped to 50,000 or fewer birds. Efforts began soon after to rejuvenate the native species. People tried releasing farm turkeys into the wild, but that plan failed horribly as the birds struggled to survive. In the mid-1900s, conservationists began to transport wild turkey populations across the country with hopes of reproduction and survival. The populations were dropped in areas of abandoned farmland and fields left by the Great Depression. The previously harvested lands reverted to suitable habitats with seasonal shrubs and trees that supported the comeback of the wild turkey. Turkey hunting brings dinner to the Thanksgiving table. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, efforts by wildlife conservation projects restored the wild turkey population to an estimated 7 million birds across North America. Wild turkeys in Texas There are five subspecies of wild turkeys across North America. Texas provides habitats for three species: Merriams, Rio Grande and Eastern. One female turkey wanders the field with a group of male turkeys in South Texas. The Merriams turkey is the least common subspecies within the state and reside in the Trans-Pecos region. This species does not have a recognized hunting session according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department website and recent surveys indicate only a few hundred Merriams turkey inhabit Texas. The Rio Grande wild turkey has the largest population and widest habitat range of the three species. With an estimated 500,000 turkeys in the state, hunting seasons are open as of fall 2023 and spring 2024. Eastern wild turkeys occupy the Pineywoods and Post Oak Savannah ecoregions of east Texas. The population is estimated to be 16,000 birds, which is significantly fewer than the Rio Grande turkey. According to the TPWD website, Eastern wild turkeys are not open for fall hunting, but will be open for spring 2024. Current conditions Across the country hunters have noticed a drop in the wild turkey population once again. Biologists believe the decrease in numbers are due to habitat loss, predation and disease. Turkey hunting has often been a two-season activity across the country. However, some states are taking action to conserve wild turkey populations. Tennessee, Ohio, Nebraska, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Mississippi and North Carolina have closed or cut back on autumn turkey hunting. As of November 2023, the National Wild Turkey Federation stated in an article that there has not been a determination for the best course of action to help dwindling populations. Some state agencies are putting a pause on hunting of hens while others are focusing on improving habitat conditions. Only time will tell which conservation efforts will yield positive results for wild turkeys. For information on Texas 2023-24 hunting seasons, check the TPWD website. This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: A history of turkey and the populations of wild turkeys across America WEST PALM BEACH More than 500 protesters gathered Saturday afternoon in West Palm Beach to call for a cease-fire in Gaza and to end the killing of Palestinian civilians in the Israel-Hamas war. The main chant of the Sunday afternoon on the lawn at Okeechobee Boulevard and Rosemary Avenue, however, has been a point of contention nationwide: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." Last week, U.S. House lawmakers censured Palestinian-American Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., for posting videos associated with this slogan, which the censure said is a phrase that calls for the "destruction of the state of Israel." Yet protesters at the Sunday demonstration pointed to this slogan as a call for solidarity with Palestinian civilians affected by military campaigns in Gaza. "We're here for all Palestinians from the river to the sea. We know every single human being is sacred and has immense value from Palestine, to Congo, to Sudan. We see you, we're here for you, and we'll never be free until you are free," said Tara Mahmoud, who attended the protest representing Students for Justice in Palestine at Florida International University in Miami, speaking to a crowd circling around her in the lawn. Hundreds attended a Palestinian rally on the grassy median on Okeechobee Boulevard between Florida and Alabama Avenues in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla., on November 19, 2023. Organizers, speaking in the center of the lawn, also condemned Palm Beach County, accusing leaders here of making a $160 million bond purchase from Israel that is "contributing to this humanitarian catastrophe." "South Florida is funding genocide," said Nikki, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace of South Florida who declined to give her last name. The rally was held to protest the more than 11,000 deaths since Israel's military campaign against the Hamas militant group, after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking 240 hostages. It was organized by groups including Students for Justice in Palestine, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, CAIR Florida and Jewish Voice for Peace of South Florida. Sadiq Ali, Boca Raton, waves his flag during a Palestinian rally on the grassy median on Okeechobee Boulevard between Florida and Alabama Avenues in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla., on November 19, 2023. Emily Soto, a 28-year-old West Palm Beach resident, said that she wanted a cease-fire and an end to Israeli occupation. Soto, who held a "Long Live Palestine" sign, said that she attended the event because she was "alarmed that my country is funding the genocide of the Palestinian people." "I'm vehemently against this, and no way is it OK with me that my money is going to this. And it's my duty as an American citizen to use my freedom of speech to gain attention for people who don't have freedom, which is the people of Palestine," Soto said. Erik Rose wore a Palestinian flag on his back, and he said he attended because he believes the conflict in the Middle East is "wrong" and that he believes it's important to stand up against genocide. Hundreds of protesters gather Sunday on Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach to demonstrate for the Palestinian cause in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict. "They [Israel] are just doing whatever they want, they're being reckless, killing innocent babies. You know what I'm saying: kids and families, trying to just wipe people off the face of the earth, and that ain't never been right," Rose said. Deena Ibrahim, a 30-year-old Boynton Beach mother of two children, said that she's been protesting for Palestine since she was a kid and that she brought her children to the protest to teach them that "what's happening is not OK." Ibrahim, who is Palestinian, said she believed these protests are important since it helps people understand the Palestinian struggle. "The end goal is always going to be a free Palestine. Right now, Israel's indiscriminately bombing Gaza. And it's disproportionate," Ibrahim said. "Cease-fire today, end the siege tomorrow, end the occupation." Protest follows a week in which Israel-Hamas war stirred Florida passions Hundreds of protesters gather Sunday afternoon on Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach to demonstrate for the Palestinian cause in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict. They changed along with slogans calling for the freedom of Palestine and the condemnation of President Joe Biden for his support of Israel. Sunday's events in Palm Beach County followed a week in which the escalating, brutal Israel-Hamas war raged through Florida communities, from college campuses to a U.S. district court to a city hall to school classrooms. Gov. Ron DeSantis' call to deactivate the national Students for Justice in Palestine organization drew a federal lawsuit against the governor and state university from the chapter at the University of Florida. The legal action came as pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted a Florida State University Board of Trustees meeting and rallied on state grounds in front of the landmark original state Capitol building. Two Democratic state representatives, Angie Nixon of Jacksonville and Anna Eskamani of Orlando, also attended the streetside event. "At this point, when it comes to the rise of both antisemitism and Islamophobia in the country and in the state, peace is the approach to help address it," Eskamani said. "Cease-fire now, is the biggest and most clear message," said rally participant Ahmad Daraldik, a Palestinian who's part of the Florida Palestine Network, and who has previously filed allegations of an anti-Palestinian hostile environment at FSU. "Beyond that, we need to end the occupation and end the U.S. aid and make sure there is a free, truly liberated Palestine." Further south, the conflict impacted students at the University of Florida. A graduate student at UF accused of damaging a Jewish fraternity sign was charged with two counts of misdemeanor vandalism. The Hillel chapter at the Gainesville-based university also canceled the Birthright Israel trip, a free 10-day guided trip to Israel for young Jewish adults once they turn 18, due to the violence in the Gaza Strip and beyond. Exchange between two lawmakers reportedly resulted in death threats Much of the friction across the state stemmed from expressions of support for Palestinian residents caught in the war between Israel and Hamas. Nixon and a GOP colleague engaged in a flinty exchange that resulted in the Republican receiving death threats. The topic was Nixon's resolution calling for a cease-fire in the war between "Israel and occupied Palestine." "We are at 10,000 dead Palestinians," Nixon said during the debate. "How many will be enough?" State Rep. Michelle Salzman, R-Pensacola, replied: "All of them." Salzman subsequently said she received death threats. In Tallahassee, GOP lawmakers filed bills in the state Senate and House aiming to ban and terminate state scholarships or tuition aid to college students who promote foreign terrorist organizations. The heinous terrorist attack on Oct. 7 has pulled back the curtain and exposed the rampant antisemitism happening on the campuses of colleges and universities throughout this country," said state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, sponsor of the bill. Palm Beach County teacher lands in hot water while Gainesville city officials speak up The proponent of a new law targeting antisemitism called on the Palm Beach County School District to suspend a teacher over an email in which the educator called on school officials to "publicly recognize the Palestinian community" in its communications about the war. Donia Elktahib, West Palm Beach, leads a chant during a Palestinian rally on the grassy median on Okeechobee Boulevard between Florida and Alabama Avenues in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla., on November 19, 2023. "Parents can only effectively engage in conversations with their children about the importance of respect, empathy, and the harmful consequences of prejudice if they understand that the Palestinian people in Gaza are being violently and indiscriminately massacred," the teacher wrote. GOP state Rep. Mike Caruso of Delray Beach took issue with the educator's statements, which were sent to district Superintendent Mike Burke. "What bothers me, as well as constituent parents, is whether or not her speech has spilled over into the classroom," he wrote. "The brainwashing of our 5- and 6-year-olds with hate of any kind is disgusting and unlawful." Supporters hold signage during a Palestinian rally on the grassy median on Okeechobee Boulevard between Florida and Alabama Avenues in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla., on November 19, 2023. Nonetheless, the mayor of Gainesville, with the backing of the City Commission, is writing a letter to the Biden Administration calling for humanitarian treatment, peace and a cease-fire in Gaza. It's about human life, Mayor Harvey Ward said. This is about peace, and I don't have a problem with sending a letter saying, Please stop shooting each other.'" Information provided by the USA Today Florida Network and Palm Beach Post reporter Katherine Kokal was used in this story. Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at smatat@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hundreds attend pro-Palestine rally in West Palm President Joe Biden President Joe Biden is celebrating his 81st birthday on Monday as he extends his record as the oldest sitting president in U.S. history. Former President Ronald Reagan previously held the title; he was 77 at the end of his tenure. President Biden was born on Nov. 20, 1942 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The presidents advanced age has continued to spark debate. In a February poll conducted by NBC, 70% of voters said President Biden should not run again. When asked if age was a factor, 69% said yes. If reelected, President Biden would be 86 at the end of his potential second term. In a report published by the White House earlier this year, the presidents physician maintained that he is "fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations." The president himself has laughed off speculation that he is slowing down. "Call me old, I call it being seasoned," President Biden said at the 2023 White House Correspondents Dinner. "You say I am ancient, I say Im wise. You say Im over the hill, Don Lemon would say, 'Thats a man in his prime.'" President Biden will spend his milestone birthday pardoning turkeys in the annual White House ceremony. First lady Jill Biden will welcome the official White House Christmas Tree in the afternoon. The pair will make up for lost family time when they head to Massachusetts Tuesday for the remainder of the week. The first couple and rest of the country are also mourning the loss of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 96. SEE MORE: Should age limits be set for US elected officials in office? More than two dozen people are dead on the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, after torrential rainfall over three days created severe flooding, downed trees and power lines and devastated crops. At least 21 of the deaths occurred in the Dominican Republic, where nine people died in the capital of Santo Domingo on Saturday after the heavy rains caused the concrete wall of a highway tunnel to collapse, Dominican officials said. Another death occurred when a man named Jose Altagracia Guzman was swept away by the waters while shepherding cows. The Dominican Emergency Operations Center said while the system, which moved across the Caribbean, displaced thousands, at least 2,571 Dominicans had to be rescued in the middle of the storm. The storm not only flooded hundreds of homes in communities like San Cristobal, but in the Lavapies sector two of them disappeared into a sinkhole. Dominican President Luis Abinader said he was deeply shocked by the loss of life, which also included several children. On Monday, The Associated Press reported that experts had warned the the government more than 20 years ago about the walls failures and lack of efforts to address them. It has weaknesses in the design, civil engineer Cristian Rojas told The Associated Press. No anchors were placed, and that is why the wall collapsed. The Emergency Operations Center said Monday that most of the countrys provinces remained on alert for the possible flooding of rivers, streams and ravines as the country continues to experience rainfall and wind gusts. In Haiti, the disaster office said at least four people are dead and two others are missing after the heavy downpour sent water rushing through rural towns and destroyed crops at a time when most Haitians are battling severe hunger. Already wrestling with an outbreak of cholera, Haitis health sector also fears the spread of the waterborne disease and others in some areas as rivers and coastal areas remain flooded and roads remain cut off. Traffic remains difficult in downtown Port-de-Paix due to the accumulation of mud in the streets, the Office of Civil Protection said Monday in its latest disaster report on the weather event. The Chardonnieres communal cemetery is flooded. Several graves are destroyed or damaged. The devastation is particularly concerning in the southwest, where many people were living under tarps after being displaced by a devastating earthquake on Aug. 14, 2021. As the tropical system approached over the past few days with life-threatening rains and 35 mph sustained winds, many people were forced to evacuate. Three of the deaths from the storms were in the southwest. The disaster response office said two men died while trying to cross the Acul river and an elderly man died the city of Camp-Perrin, near Les Cayes. In the southeast a woman was swept away by the waters in the commune of Grand Gosier. Her body was found and buried by local authorities in the community of Mapou. In Pestel in the GrandAnse region, two men were swept away by a flooded La Hatte river, in the town of Tozia. No body has been found so far, the disaster response agency said. At least 420 homes have been damaged due to rising water, and Haitis agricultural sector took a major hit, including areas that grow millet, congo peas and bananas. Initially, the storm system had been expected to become a tropical cyclone, bringing flash floods to Cuba, Jamaica and the island of Hispaniola. Though the chances of the disturbance strengthening across the Caribbean decreased by Friday, a vulnerable Haiti and the Dominican Republic still was saw devastation. On Monday, the Haiti disaster office said that in the region of the Nippes, situated between Les Cayes in the southwest and Jeremie, 84 residents, including children, remained in shelter at the ORouck National School in Anse-a-Veau. And while traffic had been restored along National Road #7, which connects Les Cayes and Jeremie, a section of a road in the southeast linking Jacmel to Belle-anse remains blocked at Morne Lacet. Floods are recorded in Beaumont in GrandAnse, in Baraderes and at the bottom of the town of Miragoane in Nippes, the disaster office said. In the southeast the Ti Pen and Moreau rivers, which swept away an all-terrain vehicle, caused considerable damage, according to initial assessments. Late Monday morning, there was still light rain in the north and northeast regions of the country. Residents were reminded to remain vigilant and stay away from rising rivers. Kevin McKidd and Caterina Scorsone Many members of the Grey's Anatomy family took a quick break from filming on the 20th season of the popular medical drama to support a cause near and dear to Caterina Scorsone's heart. The Private Practice alum and several of her colleagues attended the Global Down Syndrome Foundation's 15th Annual Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show in Denver, Colorado, on Nov. 18an annual fundraising event that has brought in $26 million over its 14 years for "life-changing and life-saving Research, Medical Care, Education, and Advocacy," according to the website. Scorsone, who features as Dr. Amelia Shepherd on the show, and Kevin McKidd, known for his role as Dr. Owen Hunt, were both listed as special guests at this year's event, as was McKidd's girlfriend and Grey's spinoff Station 19 star Danielle Savre, who plays Maya Bishop. They were joined on the red carpet by Anthony Hill, who plays Dr. Winston Ndugu, and Jake Borelli, who plays Dr. Levi Schmitt, and Alexis Floyd, who joined the series during the last season as intern Simone Griffith, to represent Shondaland. DENVER, COLORADO - NOVEMBER 18: (L-R) Danielle Savre, Anthony Hill, Alexis Floyd, Jake Borelli, Caterina Scorsone and Kevin McKidd attends the Global Down Syndrome Foundation's 15th Annual Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show at Sheraton Downtown Denver Hotel on November 18, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Tom Cooper/Getty Images for Global Down Syndrome Foundation) Tom Cooper/Getty Images From left to right, Savre stunned in a bright blue dress and nude heels, while Hill opted for a darker look in the form of a maroon shirt, dark gray blazer and black dress pants. Floyd lightened things up again with a white jacket decorated with colorful dots and stripes paired with back leggings and heels. Borelli wore a powder blue suit with blue sneakers, coordinating nicely with Scorsone's deep blue dress featuring a pink paisley design. McKidd rounded up the group in a navy suit and brown loafers. Scorsone's daughter Pippa, 7, has Down Syndrome, and the actress has been a staunch advocate ever since learning of her diagnosis, awarded by the Global Down Syndrome Foundation with the Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award in 2020. The organization commended her on "consistently us[ing] her platform to promote greater understanding and awareness in an effort to end stigmas around Down syndrome and other disabilities and encourage greater access and inclusion." Former Grey's cast member Eric Dane was awarded the same honor in 2022. Next: 'Grey's Anatomy' Star Caterina Scorsone Details Harrowing Fire Which Destroyed Her Home The Williamsons have adopted four daughters from Haiti. Her Jazmin poses with her biological sister Widnie and her adopted sisters Jairtzi and Francia, who were also at the Hope for the Children of Haiti orphanage. As a little girl Jazmin would pray that her family could go back and rescue her friends from Haiti. Eventually, the Williamsons did. Jazmin Williamson couldnt see the difference between her and her sisters at first. When the American teenager traveled back to her homeland in 2017 to visit her biological mother and two younger sisters, the similarities in her face, hair, and skin were undeniable. Even though 13 years had passed since Jazmin left Haiti as an extremely ill 6-year-old, she unmistakably looked like a part of this family. But the director of the Hope for the Children of Haiti orphanage, who had arranged her adoption in 2004, saw the painful disparity so very clearly. During that trip, he asked Jazmin, who now lives in Louisville, to look her sisters in the eyes and find it, too. You have hope, she remembers him telling her. They don't. That's the difference. Now six years later, as the terror in Haiti has increased, so has the 25-year-old's concern for her biological family. Earlier this year, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services launched a humanitarian program that allows nationals from Haiti and three other unstable, war-torn countries to enter the United States in an orderly way on a two-year trial basis. This could be Jazmins chance to save her sisters. Gang violence in Haiti has reached new levels of horror, so much so, that many missions and nonprofits that have offered aid for decades have pulled out of the chaotic country. The United Nations Security Council has reported violence has spread from the countrys capital, Port-au-Prince, through the center of the country, which has meant a surge in killings, kidnappings, mutilations, and rapes. More than 2,700 intentional killings were recorded between October 2022 and June 2023, according to the Associated Press, and more than 200,000 people have been displaced. With that kind of danger, Jazmins sisters who are 12, 15 and 18 often havent been able to attend school. Even if Jazmin could continue to send money to help pay for their education or expenses, the risk attached with traveling to and from the bank is too high. Jazmin Williamson, center, poses with her two of her sisters on a trip back to Haiti in 2013. Jazmin was adopted by an American family when she was six-years-old, because her Haitian family could not care for her and feared she would die. As the violence in Haiti has increased in recent years, Jazmin has filed paperwork for two of her sisters through a new humanitarian program that, if approved, would allow her to bring them to the United States and sponsor them. The girl to the right is now 18-years-old and hoping to come to the United States. There are many cultural and language barriers between the sisters, but somehow genuine fear surpasses all of that. Help me, I'm afraid, her sisters tell her when they do get the rare opportunity to call. Ever since Jazmin was a little girl, she has dreamed of rescuing her siblings and giving them a safe, comfortable home in the United States. Today its so much more than a dream. Its a necessity. Before, I was scared that they would have a hard life, and I wanted to alleviate their pain and suffering, Jazmin said. But now, I'm actually scared for their lives. 'They have nothing here' Jazmin Williamson Jazmins adoptive mom, Jana Williamson, says this mission to help her family has been on her daughters heart since her earliest days in the United States. As a young girl, Jazmin and her then 4-year-old sister, Widnie, lived in an orphanage because their parents weren't able to provide for them. They lived in extreme poverty in Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, according to The Council on Foreign Relations. Jazmin still remembers her birth mother explaining to her that she must leave to survive. There was fear that my sister and I would die because my mom was unable to feed us, Jazmin said. So in the end, it was a really tough decision. For the past 19 years, the Williamsons have maintained ties with Jazmins Haitian family with the idea that raising the girls is a partnership. An old family video shows Jazmin at 6 years old rocking a Cabbage Patch doll in one hand and raising the other in prayer. Speaking in her native language, Creole, she asked God to protect her mother in Haiti, and she prayed her family rescue two of her friends in Haiti from poverty. Jazmins parents already had two sons and a daughter when they felt called to adopt. When Jana first reached out to the Hope for Children of Haiti orphanage in 2004, the idea was to find a little girl who could be a sister to their daughter. Jazmin and Widnie Williamson, who are biological sisters from Haiti, pose with their adoptive sister, Allie. The Williamsons already had three biological children when they first felt called to adopt. The idea was to find a little girl, who would be a sister for Allie. Their mother, Jana Williamson, said God's plan for the family ended up being bigger than that. The orphanage asked if they would consider adopting Jazmin and Widnie together. Gods plan for them was bigger than that. Jana remembers seeing tanks and military in the streets when she went to Haiti for the first time just before Thanksgiving that year. The day Jana met Jazmin, she was just 26 pounds and her hair had an orangish tint to it, a common sign of extreme malnourishment. Jazmin locked eyes with Jana. Bonjour Manmi, she said, in Creole. The call to help only grew stronger. In the past 19 years, the Williamsons have welcomed seven adopted children, including the two friends Jazmin prayed for in that old family video. Jazmin was about 13 the first time she traveled back to Haiti,and really understood just how much danger and destitution shed left behind. On that trip, she met with her parents and two younger sisters, who werent even born when she left her homeland. She learned theyd lost their house in the devastating earthquake in 2010. They were living under a tarp propped up with sticks. What's upsetting you the most? Jana remembers asking Jazmin as she cried during that trip. This is a picture of Jazmin Williamson in Haiti before she was adopted to an American family in 2004. I complain about going to school, Jazmin told her mother. And I complain about things in America, and they have nothing here. Most American kids wouldn't have that realization, Jana explained. But Jazmin not only saw it, she wanted to help. So Jazmin spent her free time raising about $5,000 to build her family a house in Haiti. She spoke to church congregations and sent letters asking people for donations. She was a talented painter for her age, so she made small paintings and sold them for money. It took about a year, but she eventually paid for the land, materials and labor needed for a house. At that time, it was cemented in her that she had to do something to help, Jana said. That she had that responsibility. Her only chance to help her sisters Jazmin Williamson poses with her birth mother on a trip back to Haiti in 2013. An American family adopted Jazmin when she was six years old, because her Haitian family could not care for her. Over the years, she's maintained a relationship with her Haitian mom, and she raised money to build her family a home after a devastating earthquake destroyed it in 2010. Jazmin always assumed shed be older and more established if she ever welcomed her sisters to the United States. Ideally, shed already have a solidified career and a home of her own the girls could move into. A little more than a year has passed since Jazmin finished her masters degree in global health from the School for International Training Graduate Institute, where she studied in Kenya, India and Jordan. Like many young adults, shes still finding her footing. But when President Joe Biden signed an executive order in January that allows Haitians to submit applications to come to the United States for a preapproved, two-year period, under the CHNV program, Jazmin knew it might be her only chance to help her sisters. An opportunity like this might not last forever, and its already been challenged in federal court in Texas. Lisa DeJaco Crutcher, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of Louisville, says the program allows for 30,000 nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to travel to the United States each month, but those individuals must have someone in the United States who can support them financially. Mary Smith, a Louisville woman who serves on the board of Hope for the Children of Haiti, called this program manna from heaven. Most Americans dont realize that Haiti, which sits in the Caribbean Sea, is a two-hour plane ride from Miami or that the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021 shattered any sense of democracy. Haiti is so difficult ... but yet there are real people over there, Smith said. They're dying at rates no one knows about, and theyre being murdered and raped. Smith adopted a Haitian daughter after the 2010 earthquake, and now shes using the CHNV program to sponsor and rescue two of her daughters childhood friends who are now in their 20s. More than 1,200 people have already come to Louisville using this program, and once theyre here, they have a two-year period to advance their status for more permanent residency. The idea behind CHNV, DeJaco Crutcher said, is to keep people from these war-torn countries from surging the border. Through this process, the Department of Homeland Security can run background checks on the individuals seeking entry, and they can travel here on an airplane. The government can anticipate their arrival and review the financial records of the American connections, like Jazmin and Smith, who have offered to support them. Jazmin and Widnie were adopted by Jana and Shane Williamson in 2004, who had three other biological children at the time of the adoption. The family has since grown to 10 children. Having the ability to issue visas to people who have friends and family members who are willing to support them when they get here, while they're getting on their feet, that's better than just having a crowd of people show up at the border and hoping to make the best decisions," DeJaco Crutcher said. 'You can't help others if you can't help your own family' Jazmin Williamson Jazmin isnt naive. She knows she can't help her sisters alone. While she doesnt have the financial stability she once imagined, she does have incredibly supportive adoptive parents. Jazmin is leading this charge, but her mother and father have offered resources and expertise. Opening their hearts and their family to children from other countries is arguably second nature for the Williamsons, but theyre well aware bringing in an older child and teenagers will be completely different. The Williamsons have already submitted paperwork for the 18- and 12-year-old, who grew up with Jazmin's Haitian mother. Protocols for CHNV state, specifically, unaccompanied children arent allowed in the program, but in this case, the older sister could be the younger ones legal guardian on paper. Jazmin and her parents would take the lead in raising the 12-year-old once she's here, they said. Eventually, Jazmin wants to help the 15-year-old, too, but Jazmin's parents are separated, and that sister lives with her father. There are more hurdles there. One of the most difficult parts about the CHNV program for Jazmin is its impossible to know when or if her sisters applications might be approved. Shes always been a diligent, methodical planner but she can't plan out her life when she's not sure if she's taking responsibility for her younger sisters in six months or six years. Jazmin Williamson, center, poses with her her birth parents and sisters, who live in Haiti. This photo was taken during a visit to Haiti in 2013. The young girls to the left of the photo are now 12 years old and 18 year old, and they are hoping to come to the United States through a new humanitarian program that launched in January. Candidly, Jazmin said the prospect has been daunting and overwhelming. She had dreams of volunteering for the Peace Corps after graduation, but she put that on hold as the death toll in Haiti has climbed. Following that path would mean two years without a paycheck, and she needs money to support them. Jazmin couldn't be overseas while her siblings were here adapting to a new American life. This is not a time to question whether or not this is the right thing to do, Jazmin said. This is the only thing to do at this point. You cant help others if you cant help your own family. Initially, it seemed approval from the CHNV program would come quickly, Smith said, but the demand superseded expectations. Five months after the rollout, the U.S. government updated the protocol. Now half of the 30,000 people who are allowed in each month are randomly selected, regardless of their filing date. The goal, DeJaco Crutcher explained, is to offer a glimmer of hope to people who might otherwise consider crossing the border. That uncertainty creates plenty of variables for Jazmin. If her sisters came to the United States sooner rather than later, shed almost certainly need her American parent's help to raise the 12-year-old. That could mean packing up her life in Louisville and moving closer to her family in Texas. At the same time, Louisville has a rapidly growing Haitian population, and since Jazmin came here in 2022, shes connected with numerous couples and families from her homeland. That support system could benefit her sisters, too. If the backlog with the CHNV process pushes her sisters arrival back years, that changes everything. Jazmin would have more time to establish herself, but theres a dynamic difference between enrolling a middle schooler in classes and helping young adults find jobs. I keep telling myself its going to work out, but I wish I knew how, Jazmin said. 'The same opportunity she had' A family photo of Jana and Shane Williamson and all of their children: Nathan, Evan, Christopher, Jairtzi, Jazmin, Allie, Widnie, Francia, Eliana and Gracelyn Watching Jazmin wrestle with this calling creates mixed emotions for her adopted mom. On one hand, Jana wants her daughter to pursue her dreams and focus on being a 25-year-old. Shes always been an extremely driven young woman, and her mother believes she could achieve anything she puts her mind to. Naturally, her daughter feels an obligation to her biological sisters, but Jana and her husband Shane have been clear with Jazmin: No one is forcing her to sponsor her sisters. We let her know that they are not your full responsibility, you don't have to do this, Jana said. "But she obviously feels the desire to, so we're 100% behind her. On the other, shes incredibly proud of her. When Jana arrived in Haiti just before Thanksgiving in 2004, she was laser-focused on adopting those two sickly little girls and giving them a safe and happy home in the United States. Now Jana sees that same determination in Jazmin. She wants ... her sisters to have that same opportunity that she had, Jana said. The Williamsons are actively exploring resources in Louisville and Texas to assist the sisters once they arrive. A couple of months ago, Jazmin began working with trauma victims at Family Health Centers in Louisville, and she's gaining experience on the job that may help her siblings adapt. In recent weeks, Jazmin has raised enough money to pay to move her sisters from their village into the same compound the Hope for the Children of Haiti children have relocated to because of the violence. Now her sisters are in school, and theyre learning English. They have access to food and medication. The same orphanage director, who arranged for Jazmins adoption, has secured Haitian passports for her sisters. Really, all thats left to do is wait. While it is impossible to know how many days, months, or years may pass before Jazmin can bring her sisters to true safety, so much has already changed since the day six years ago when the director asked her to look into her sister's eyes. All these years later, they have hope, too. Reach reporter Maggie Menderski at mmenderski@courier-journal.com. About Hope for the Children of Haiti Hope for the Children of Haiti, Inc. is a Christian organization that operates a children's home for more than 85 orphans and vulnerable children in Haiti. Recently the organization was forced out of its home of 26 years due to violence in Port-au-Prince, and relocated to a more secure place away from the city. Roughly 94% of donations to the 501c3 nonprofit go toward the needs of Haitian children. To learn more visit hfchaiti.org. About Catholic Charities of Louisville Catholic Charities of Louisville assists people of all races, backgrounds, and beliefs. The organization is a social-service ministry of the Archdiocese of Louisville and serves people in need in its 24 counties in central Kentucky. The organization is actively looking to partner with potential employers. Visit cclou.org to learn more. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville woman hopes to rescue sisters from Haiti under CHNV program NEW YORK (AP) When families thank Marlo Thomas for the medical treatment they received at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, she kindly corrects them. I say, Well, you know, Im not a scientist, Im a wheelbarrow, the actress, producer and activist says with a smile that has been famous since her days starring in That Girl. I take the wheelbarrow, put the money in it and bring it to the scientists. And Thomas, who serves as St. Judes National Outreach Director, is a really good wheelbarrow. This year, St. Judes Thanks and Giving campaign celebrates its 20th anniversary and passing the fundraising milestone of $1 billion to support the hospitals efforts to provide free medical care to children with cancer. The drive, which kicked off earlier this month and runs through the holiday season, also raises awareness for the work of the Memphis-based hospital, which was founded by her father, the late Make Room for Daddy star Danny Thomas, who pledged that families would never be billed by St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food. Thats an amazing promise, Marlo Thomas said. And weve kept it. According to Fidelity Charitables annual ranking of the most popular nonprofits supported by its donor-advised funds, St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital ranks No. 2, behind only Doctors Without Borders USA. Nonprofit ratings organization Charity Navigator says St. Jude ranks third among its most-followed charities, behind Doctors Without Borders and the American Red Cross. Charity Navigator also gives St. Jude a rare 100% score, meaning that donors can expect that their gifts will be used according to the hospitals stated mission, said Kevin Scally, Charity Navigators chief relationship officer. Its a household name and theyve built a reputation over many years, Scally said. To take care of children stricken with cancer and taking care of their families to the point where the families dont incur any sort of costs thats something that really pulls at the heartstrings, whether youre somebody that has had a family member thats been hit with cancer or not. Marlo Thomas credits the Thanks and Giving campaign an idea that she developed with her sister, Terre, and her brother, Tony for making that possible. Back in 2003, the Thomases realized they needed a new fundraising campaign that would raise about $100 million a year. We thought, What about doing a national day, which had never been done for any charity? Thomas recalled. We decided, Thanksgiving was a perfect time because its not about anybodys religion. Everybody gets together. Its the one holiday of the year where families really do gather. And its my favorite holiday because its all about food and family. Her sister, Terre, came up with the name Thanks and Giving and they created a concept that updated how her father raised awareness and funds. My dad in his day brought in Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole and George Burns and all those great stars, she said. In our generation, we brought in Robin Williams may he rest in peace and Jennifer Aniston, Luis Fonzi, Michael Strahan, Jon Hamm, and a lot of wonderful contemporary stars whove helped us. They also brought in numerous retailers including Target, Best Buy, Williams-Sonoma and Dominos Pizza who ask customers to contribute to St. Jude as they check out throughout the holiday season. Its a very exciting campaign because it came out of our family, Thomas said. My dad would be really thrilled and proud that we thought of it together and we made it happen. Unlike most hospitals, which fund their medical treatment with a mix of payments from patients and insurance, St. Jude funds about 80% of treatment costs with donations about $2 billion each year. However, Thomas said believing in the generosity of the American public has become part of the hospitals success. Thats why they call it Americas hospital, because the children come from all over America and the people of America send in the donations, she said. It couldnt exist without American donors. And following a $200 million investment in St. Jude Global in 2021, the hospital hopes to offer its treatments for childhood cancer around the world. Currently, outside of the United States, more than half of children with cancer will die from the disease. In the U.S., the survival rate for childhood cancer is now 80%, up from 20% when St. Jude first opened its doors. St. Jude Global worked with the World Health Organization to rescue more than 1,000 children with cancer from Ukraine after the Russian invasion began, Thomas said. Russian bombings during the war made it impossible for the children to continue their cancer treatment at hospitals in Ukraine. We took eight families ourselves, said Thomas, adding that the hospital found that one of the Ukrainian children had been misdiagnosed. We also organized it so that these children and their families could be taken in other countries around the world in Switzerland, Egypt, all kinds of countries where they opened their hearts to these children. Thomas said that is the natural continuation of the story of St. Jude that she hopes the Thanks and Giving campaign helps tell. My father said that no child should die in the dawn of life, she said. He didnt mean no American child. He meant no child anywhere. _____ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. ORLANDO, Fla. A Florida woman was found dead Saturday in a storage unit registered to her estranged husband a week after she was first reported missing, authorities say. Police were first notified about Shakeira Rucker, 37, by her family after she was last spotted leaving her home in Winter Springs, a city about 10 miles northeast of Orlando, on Nov. 11. The weeklong search had many "twists and turns" and took investigators through four counties across central Florida, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said at a news conference Sunday. "We were all hoping for a different outcome," Mina said. Shakeira Rucker Deputies found Rucker's body inside a storage facility in Apopka, a city about a dozen miles west of Winter Springs, after someone called 911 about a smell coming from one of the units, Mina said. Rucker, a mother of four, died of apparent gunshot wounds. The storage unit is registered to Cory Hill, Rucker's estranged husband and the "prime suspect" in the case. Hill has been held without bond in the Orange County Jail since Nov. 12 on four counts of attempted homicide after he allegedly shot at his ex-girlfriend and her family. He will be charged with Rucker's death, the sheriff said. "We have plenty of time to continue collecting evidence and testing to build our case to charge Cory Hill with Shakeira Rucker's murder," said Mina. "We're not looking for anyone else." What happened to Shakeira Rucker? Rucker was last seen leaving her home in Winter Springs on the night of Nov. 11, according to a missing persons flyer from the Winter Springs Police Department. Matthew Tracht, the chief of the Winter Springs Police Department, said at a news conference Sunday that Rucker "had left with Mr. Hill and went down to the Davenport area of Polk County." The timeline from when Rucker was last seen to the discovery of her body remains unclear. Mina told reporters the main crime scene is the storage unit because that's where investigators believe the shooting occurred. Her time of death has not yet been released publicly. The sheriff said Hill was not cooperative in the investigation. "Cory Hill could have stopped a lot of that pain and suffering by talking to investigators in the very beginning instead of putting them through this weeklong nightmare. The storage unit was registered to him; he had to have know that we would have found her in there." Husband arrested after shooting at ex-girlfriend, deputies say Hill, 51, was arrested just before midnight on Nov. 12 shortly after police say he tried to kill his ex-girlfriend, according to records filed in Orange County Circuit Court. The incident occurred one day after Rucker was last seen outside her home. Orange County deputies said Hill went to the house of his ex-girlfriend who he had previously lived with for two months and shot at her and her cousin while they were sitting outside, according to an arrest affidavit reviewed by USA TODAY. The woman and her cousin ran into the house. She locked herself in a bathroom, and he went to protect his cousin's two children, including a 1-year-old, court records say. Hill kicked in the kitchen window, entered the house and called for his ex-girlfriend. After unsuccessfully looking for the woman, Hill left and was soon taken into custody. Speaking with investigators, the woman said she had recently "called a female who was later identified as Cory's wife, and that's when he became upset and told her that she would regret it," according to an arrest affidavit. Officials have not said whether the Nov. 12 shooting is related to Rucker's murder. The Orange County Public Defender's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'We must stay strong' Rucker's family held a candlelight vigil in her memory Sunday evening, where people spoke of her benevolence and the love she harbored for her family and children. "She was a caring person," Clarence Thornton, Rucker's brother, told Wesh 2. "She cared about her kids. All she wanted to do was go to church and just live and have fun." Rucker's children are ages 7, 9, 16 and 18. "Everyone is angry, but we must stay strong for the sake of my sister," Rucker's brother said at the vigil. "Shes up there looking at us. We got to stay strong for her kids." Christopher Cann is a breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him via email at ccann@usatoday.com or follow him on X @ChrisCannFL. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shakeira Rucker found dead in estranged husband's storage unit The life and times of Napoleon Bonaparte do not seem like a laughing matter. Watching director Ridley Scotts new historical epic about the infamous Frenchman, though, frequent snickering or the occasional chortle is not only allowed but actively encouraged. Satirical comedy, battlefield brutality and personal tragedy mix yet never completely gel in Napoleon ( out of four; rated R; in theaters now), a biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix as the mercurial title character. From watching Marie Antoinettes head fall off to finding himself exiled after a bitter defeat, the film chronicles Bonaparte's political and military victories at the same time as his volatile and somewhat toxic relationship with his wife Josephine (Vanessa Kirby). Plenty sprawling and often funny (purposely or not), Napoleon labors through the big moments though pops occasionally thanks to its standout leads and a feisty supporting turn from Rupert Everett as British naval commander the Duke of Wellington. 15 must-see holiday movies: From 'Napoleon' to 'Wish' Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix, center) prepares for battle in Ridley Scott's historical war epic "Napoleon." In 1789, Napoleon is introduced as a gunnery officer in the midst of a revolution. An ambitious sort, he wants to be seen as more than a Corsican brute and his status rises exponentially when he hatches a bold gambit at the 1793 Siege of Toulon, which deals a heavy blow to the hated British. At a party, he stares at and then meets Josephine, a former aristocrat and widowed mother recently freed from prison after the Reign of Terror. These two survivors form a relationship that grows as Napoleons star rises to military commander and ultimately emperor. But the king is also a jealous man-child when it comes to his bride: Napoleon writes Josephine love letters that at first go unanswered turns out, shes taken a lover. When Napoleons army is on the march in Egypt, he hears that Josephine is cheating on him and decides to go back home, deserting his troops. His petulant response to the poor sap having to deliver the bad news: No dessert for you. 'She definitely turned him on': How Napoleon's love letters to Josephine inform a new film Married couple Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) and Napoleon (Joaquin Phoenix) have a volatile relationship in "Napoleon." At 85, Scott can still craft a brutally hellacious battle with the best of them. In the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon traps his Austrian and Russian foes and sends them to their deaths in a cold-blooded scene of cannonballs, corpses and massive bloodshed careening into icy waters. There's gamesmanship, too, like with the later Battle of Waterloo, which (208-year-old spoiler alert) doesnt go nearly as well for Napoleon and allows Wellington to giddily outmaneuver his audacious enemy. However, the war scenes arent as intriguing or as bitterly nasty as the intimately testy fights between Napoleon and Josephine. At dinner, she calls him fat and he coolly parries with I enjoy my meals. Destiny has brought me this lamb chop. When confronting Josephine about her adulterous actions, Napoleon orders her to say, I am nothing without you, before Josephine turns it around and makes him do the same. 'This character came from my guts': Joaquin Phoenix talks 'Beau is Afraid' The Duke of Wellington (Rupert Everett, left) meets with Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) in "Napoleon." While not a transformative or innovative role for Phoenix, hes able to nimbly move from a puffed-up public figure to a vulnerable husband and back and nails the clumsier elements of Napoleon. There is hardly much grace in anything he does, unconfidently charging into a violent tussle, scampering wildly to escape capture, or even trying to make a baby with Josephine. Kirby is excellent early on as Josephine matches wits with her husband, but her real skill is seen as the co-dependent couple's love story turns sad, with Josephine unable to give the country an heir to the throne and being left behind in the aftermath. Napoleon is certainly better than other depictions of the famed personality. (If youll recall, the one in Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure preferred ice cream rather than lamb chops.) Its a movie that could have put a sharper focus on the core characters fascinatingly tumultuous home life, or a historical character study that went all in on a darkly comic edge a la The Favorite. Instead, Scott's saga takes after its namesake and opts for something inconsistent and idiosyncratic. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Napoleon' review: Joaquin Phoenix elevates Ridley Scott's movie epic Vicki Smith's great Dane Felize, show name GCHG CH Hauer N Luciana's Happily Ever After, will participate in the National Dog Show Presented by Purina. The National Dog Show Presented by Purina is the most widely viewed dog show in America, according to the show's webpage. Over 2,000 of the top American Kennel Club-sanctioned dogs will compete for titles in Best of Breed, First in Group, and Best in Show on Nov. 18-19, however the show is broadcast on NBC after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The show takes place in Oaks, Pennsylvania and 205 breeds are eligible to compete. The competition is extremely tough, said Maureen Rogers, a resident of Surf City. Its a very large special show." Rogers said preparing for the show often involves a lot of grooming, handling, and experience in the show ring. Wrassy, the call name of a Brussels Griffon owned by Rogers, will be participating in the show. She is one of the top-winning Brussels Griffon, Rogers said. Shes in the top five, so she is competitive in a very strong toy group. Wrassys show name is CH Calicops Sassafras Gonnakikurass. Thats what shes going to go out there and do, Rogers said, noting the humor in her title. She likes to show off. Maureen Rogers' Brussels Griffon Wrassy, show name CH Calicops Sassafras Gonnakikurass, Best in Show win. Wrassy will participate in the upcoming National Dog Show Presented by Purina. Rogers Brussels Griffon has won previous awards from The American Brussels Griffons Association National Specialty. Various dogs owned by Rogers have participated and received awards in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, among others. Her other dog is the sire of previous national specialty winner. Vicki Smith, resident of Oak Island, is the owner of two dogs participating in the upcoming event: a Great Dane and a soft-coated wheaten terrier. [My Great Dane] was a top-20 winner two years in a row, Smith said. Weve never done this show but its kind of our swan song of our bucket list for her, Smith added, noting that the dog has participated and received awards in a variety of other shows previously. Felize, the call name of Smiths Dane, is 8 years old. Her show name is GCHG CH Hauer N Luciana's Happily Ever After. Shes been showing her whole life, Smith said. She shows what good breeding can produce; you have an 8-year-old that is truly competitive with the young Danes. Ana, the call name of Smiths wheaten, will also be participating. Her show name is Summerland Luciana's Beach Baby. My wheaten has what I consider to be the it factor, Smith said. Vicki Smith's soft coated wheaten terrier Ana, show name Summerland Luciana's Beach Baby, will participate in the National Dog Show Presented by Purina. Theres a lot of good dogs in every breed, but sometimes theres one that ... when they come in the ring, its like here I am, Smith said. Shes got that. Owners from the following North Carolina places also have dogs participating at The National Dog Show 2023: Asheboro Asheville Boone Burnsville Chadbourn Chapel Hill Charlotte Cherryville Clemmons Currituck Durham Fayetteville Franklinville Fuquay-Varina Garner Greensboro Henderson Hillsborough Kitty Hawk Lenoir Lexington Marion Morrisville Oak Island Oak Ridge Pinehurst Raleigh Ramseur Rocky Mount Rutherfordton Siler City Surf City Waxsaw Wendell Williamston Winston-Salem This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: National Dog Show: Meet the contestants from coastal North Carolina Many Americans confirmed that they are having trouble sleeping during the winter season. This is a big deal since winter in the U.S. is about to start. A new survey revealed that six out of 10 U.S. citizens find it harder to sleep during the snowy season compared to spring and other seasons. The poll, which was commissioned by Mattress Firm and conducted by OnePoll, involved asking 2,000 American adults between Sept. 26 to Sept. 29. Here's what participants shared regarding their sleeping routines during winter. Americans Say Sleeping During Winter is More Difficult According to Fox News' latest report, American surveyees said that they are willing to make sacrifices just to have better sleep during the winter season. Almost 50% of them said that they could even give up the internet if it would give them a good night's sleep. Meanwhile, 43% of them are willing to give up their smartphones. The remaining surveyees said that they could give up a job promotion and their cars just to have better slumber at night. The question is, why is it so hard to sleep during the cold season? Experts said that it could be because of daylight saving time. Aside from this, previous studies claimed that winter also makes people more tired than usual or even makes them feel sadder. "It's truly remarkable how keenly attuned we are to the impact of circadian rhythm disruptions, particularly when they stem from the change in seasons and length of daylight," said Mattress Firm sleep advisor Dr. Jade Wu. "Our bodies' acute awareness of these changes serves as a reminder of the intricate connection between our internal clocks and the external environment," she added. Read Also: Peeing Too Much at Night? New Study Claims It Could Be Sign of Prostate Cancer Since winter has longer nights and fewer daylight hours, it is important to know the things you can do to help your body's sleeping routine adjust. Luckily, Health.Com provided some useful tips that Americans can follow when the winter comes (expected to start in December), such as the following: Avoid taking quick naps in the morning or even sleeping before your planned sleeping schedule. Don't forget to exercise during winter; at least do a 30-minute run or walk per day. Make sure to watch your eating habits during winter as it can affect your sleeping pattern. Instead of sitting after lunch, take a walk outside to get your metabolism going. Never forget to expose your body to sunlight during daylight hours in winter. Related Article: How to Survive Sleepless Nights on Christmas, New Year Celebrations-Here's What You Should Do @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Inter-communal and cross-border clashes have escalated since South Sudan deployed its troops to the contested territory of Abyei in March. NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) Heavy fighting Sunday in a disputed region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan killed at least 32 people, including a U.N. peacekeeper, authorities said. The civilians and a Ghanaian soldier serving with a peacekeeping force died when unknown gunmen attacked two villages in the southern part of the Abyei administrative region, local media reported. A South Sudanese radio station, Eye Radio Juba, quoted Abyei information minister Bolis Kuoch as saying 32 people were killed and 20 others wounded, but the clashes have now stopped and the situation calmed down. A view of the Abyei region. (Photo credit: Screenshot/YouTube.com/UNMAS United Nations) Inter-communal and cross-border clashes have escalated since South Sudan deployed its troops to the contested territory in March. The peacekeeping mission there condemned the troop deployment, saying it would create untold suffering and humanitarian concerns for civilians. International solders were sent to Aleel and Rum Ameer counties as part of the U.N. Interim Security Force for Abyei to help quell the growing conflict. The Security Council last week voted unanimously to renew UNIFSAs mandate until Nov. 15, 2024. Earlier this month, the U.N. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Hanna Serwaa Tetteh warned that the unprecedented 7-month war between Sudans army and a rival paramilitary force was getting closer to South Sudan and the Abyei region. The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in mid-April, displacing millions of people within Sudan and into neighboring countries. Sudan and South Sudan have disagreed over control of the oil-rich Abyei region since South Sudan gained independence from Sudan after a 2005 peace deal ended decades of civil war between Sudans north and south. The deal called for both sides to settle the final status of Abyei through negotiations, but it has never been implemented. Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrios newsletter. The post 32 people killed during reported attacks in a disputed region of Africa appeared first on TheGrio. Aerial view of drilling operations by Natural Hydrogen Energy LLC in Nebraska (Courtesy of Natural Hydrogen Energy LLC) In 1974, Diamond Glenn McCarthy sat down to reminisce about the highs and lows, the fortunes made and squandered, by the wildcatters of American oil. They risked and sometimes they won, Mr McCarthy, the gregarious risk-taker dubbed King of the Wildcatters told Texas Monthly. In the early 20th century, he had bet big on drilling wells in places ignored or considered unproductive by major oil companies. By the 1940s, he had 400 wells and a $200million fortune (about $2.5billion in todays money). Today, a new energy revolution is in motion: an unprecedented, multibillion-dollar sprint towards renewables and away from burning oil and gas which have helped crank up the planets temperature, leaving it a cauldron of dangerous extremes. While solar arrays and wind turbines are now commonplace, there are smaller, riskier niches within the clean energy sector. One of these, if it pans out, could be no less than transformational on a global scale, advocates say. Welcome to wildcatter 2.0 and the race for natural hydrogen. In Africa, Europe, Australia and the United States, a growing number of start-ups are staking their fortunes and reputations on finding vast, underground deposits of hydrogen. Like fossil fuels, natural hydrogen can be used as a primary source of energy. Unlike fossil fuels, the gas produces no carbon emissions. Whats more, hydrogen is constantly renewing underground when water and iron minerals react under high temperatures. Early research says there may be enough accessible natural hydrogen to power the planets clean energy needs for generations. The drilling operations of Natural Hydrogen Energy LLC in Nebraska. In 2019, the company established its first hydrogen borehole (Viacheslav Zgonnik) Theres a wildcatting phenomenon to it and risk-taking, Dr Michael Webber, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Independent. But now its super scientific and sophisticated. Until relatively recently, it was commonly accepted that natural hydrogen (also called geologic, white or gold hydrogen) didnt exist on Earth. Or at least, it didnt exist in places that humans could reach, or in large accumulations. Then in 2007, a discovery was made in Bourakebougou in the West African nation of Mali. A Malian businessman, Aliou Diallo, had funded tests of a water well in the small village which had been plugged in the late Eighties after an unfortunate worker leaned over the hole while smoking a cigarette and was badly burned. The tests revealed that the borehole was releasing 98 per cent natural hydrogen. Bourakebougou subsequently became the first place in the world to get its electricity from a source of natural hydrogen, which was run through a retrofitted Ford engine. For the village, it was a game-changer, giving people lights in their homes and public spaces for the first time. Children did better in school as they were able to study into the evening. We were called crazy when we went to conferences, Asma Diallo, Aliou Diallos daughter and development director of Hydroma, the Montreal-based company which emerged from the discovery, told The Independent. But we decided this was still an interesting discovery, and that we wanted to see what was possible. Beneath Mali, a layer of impermeable rock traps hydrogen in highly-concentrated, large quantities fairly close to the surface. In the past decade, Hydroma has drilled 30 wells across an area the size of Switzerland, all of which have yielded high concentrations of hydrogen, Diallo says. Hydroma has estimated that there are 630 billion cubic meters of hydrogen (around 60 million tons) of natural hydrogen in the Mali field, and the company is forging ahead with plans to become commercial, Diallo says. First, they plan to provide electricity to bolster Malis unreliable power grid, and in the long-term, pipe natural hydrogen to neighboring countries and possibly export to Europe. Testing of the abandoned well in the village of Bourakebougou, 60km from Bamako, Mali, in about 2007. The borehole was found to be releasing 98 per cent hydrogen (Courtesy of Hydroma) Development, however, is hampered by a volatile political situation. Mali has experienced three coup detats in the past decade and 30,000 people have been displaced. In a politically insecure location, it doesnt make it easy. But from a geological and scientific standpoint, its the perfect scenario of how natural hydrogen makes sense, Diallo said. Some have needed no convincing. Viacheslav Zgonnik first became interested in natural hydrogen while at university in Ukraine, and what he learned had such an impact that he switched his postdoctoral studies from chemistry to geochemistry. The Mali discovery happened when I was doing my post-doc. It was extremely encouraging to see that happen, he told The Independent. A decade ago, he founded Natural Hydrogen Energy (NH2E) in the US. And in 2019, the company established its first hydrogen borehole near the tiny town of Geneva, Nebraska, and now says it is working towards commercial production. Zgonnik estimated that five years ago, only a handful of companies were working on natural hydrogen. This year, I counted around 50 already, he said. I believe that next year, that growth will be even faster and we will see hundreds of companies. Hydrogen, which releases only water and heat when burned, is already a $150billion industry. But it must be separated from other elements like the oxygen in water and that takes vast amounts of energy, still mainly powered by fossil fuels. There are more sustainable ways of producing green hydrogen but the process remains expensive. Still, governments have invested billions in hydrogen production and storage, particularly in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine, an event which showed the danger of relying on an authoritarian regimes supply of natural gas to power economies. One tech company estimates that natural hydrogen could be a $75billion industry by 2030 even though it remains to be seen whether it can work at a commercial scale. Companies from Spain and the UK to Australia are racing to prove its possible, and investors with deep pockets and an appetite for risk are flocking. Hyterra, an Australian investment company, has a stake in NH2E. Koloma, a Colorado-based natural hydrogen company, recently received $91m from a group that includes Bill Gates Breakthrough Energy Ventures. So far, its mainly venture capital funds and wealthy individuals that are involved. There are unknowns associated with exploration, and larger companies are still waiting, Zgonnik said. Small companies are much more agile and willing to take risks to crack the code, so to speak, on how to drill and where to drill. When they find the sweet spots, then I believe bigger companies will put much larger amounts of money in, and accelerate the development significantly. Some startups claim that natural hydrogen has the potential to be produced for much lower costs than other forms of hydrogen one dollar a kilogram and as low as 50 cents making it cheaper than green hydrogen currently, and comparable to gray hydrogen, which has a chunky carbon footprint. Its better to work with the Earth Last month, the International Energy Agency said that it was the unprecedented acceleration in clean energy keeping the Paris Agreement temperature limit of 1.5C within reach, for now countering emissions from oil and gas, which continue to rise. But even with an increasing array of clean energy options, reaching global net zero emissions by 2050 is dogged by some serious problems particularly on how to decarbonize major sectors like shipping, aviation, long-haul trucking and steel manufacturing. Amid a daily montage of climate disasters, the arrival of natural hydrogen seems an almost Hollywood plot twist. I get very philosophical, so excuse me, but of course its better to work with the Earth. We just have to know where to look, said Webber, who has written hundreds of articles and books about energy and advises the US government. Im an engineer but we dont always have to engineer a solution. Thats been true for coal, oil, gas, wood, wind, solar, water, you name it. Why wouldnt the Earth make hydrogen as well? Hydromas operations in Mali. In the past 15 years, the company has drilled 30 wells across an area the size of Switzerland in the landlocked West African nation (Courtesy of Hydroma) Webber learned about natural hydrogen when he joined French energy company Engie as chief science and technology officer in 2018. There, he met geologist Isabella Moretti, the chief science officer, who he called the godmother of natural hydrogen. Webber said he was blown away by what he learned from Moretti, one of a small band of scientists who has been studying natural hydrogen for decades. Instead of torturing nature to liberate hydrogen from water, or methane, you can go look for it, Webber said. Theres a lot of it, and its in a lot of places. As you dig into it, you discover that, actually, weve been stumbling over hydrogen for decades but it was a nuisance. What if we just change our mindset? It is a remarkable, transformational moment for the globe potentially. Its hard to fathom in a world where atmospheric geoengineering aka manipulating how much sunlight reaches Earth is considered a climate solution, that we are only beginning to understand what is beneath our feet. Dr Geoffrey Ellis, a geologist with the US Geological Survey [USGS] in Colorado, offered a theory. Hydrogen doesnt exist in the same places as oil and gas and because it is a diffusive and reactive, it was thought it couldnt accumulate in large amounts. Companies werent looking for it, or did see it and it wasnt what they were exploring for, so they walked away from those places, he told The Independent. With more time on his hands during the pandemic, Ellis re-read a study, written by Alliou Diallo and colleagues, on the Bourakebougou discovery. Since then, he and a few others at USGS have focused their efforts on figuring out natural hydrogens potential. As you dig into it, you discover that weve been stumbling over hydrogen for decades but it was a nuisance. Dr Michael Webber, Professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin A USGS simulation model estimated between tens of millions and tens of billions of megatons of hydrogen are in Earths crust. But an important caveat: much of that would be inaccessible to humans, either too deep or too far offshore, or too small amounts to exploit, Ellis said. But if just 1 per cent was recoverable, that would be enough hydrogen to keep the world going for at least two centuries, even if there was a surge in demand for hydrogen. Theres still a lot of learning to be done to understand this better, Ellis said. But I think we could do it. We just need to do the research and figure it out. Despite growing enthusiasm, the challenges surrounding natural hydrogen are immense as even those heavily invested acknowledge. There is still much to learn about how hydrogen forms and accumulates underground. There is the prospect of a valuable new primary and even renewable energy source, but for long-term success, the industry will need new subsurface imaging technologies and new data processing techniques to identify potential hydrogen accumulations efficiently, Rod Davies, hydrogen lead at net zero consultancy, Marakon told The Independent in an email. He also noted that there may be potential public resistance to a new form of energy that relies on the extraction of resources. Mining laws would need to be adapted in countries where hydrogen does not yet fall into any category that would allow an exploration or production permit to be requested, Moretti explained in a recent interview. So-called fairy circles, located in the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia. Their presence is a sign that hydrogen is escaping from the Earth (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Even if large amounts could be tapped underground, the next challenge would be storing and transporting hydrogen over long distances. Hydrogen is the lightest of all atoms and loves to make its escape into the atmosphere, so wastage becomes an issue. And it takes up a lot of space unless pressurized or liquefied, which are expensive. There is a mismatch where natural hydrogen is being discovered and where it could be used, which would require massive investments in completely new infrastructure, said Dr Emre Gencer, a principal research scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative. I think it will be part of the solution but we need to take it with a grain of salt, he told The Independent. For now, the oil and gas industry remains on the sidelines. Its not that they dont believe in it, its more a stage and maturity thing, Webber said. If people figure it out, then they buy it. The wildcatters dont mind that either, thats how you get rich. Zgonnik suggested natural hydrogen is a gift for the fossil fuel industry and one that could provide new jobs. It presents an opportunity to pivot from fossil fuels, using their skills, existing infrastructure and tools, he said. Switching to renewables requires building new infrastructure, which is expensive and takes time. We need to make the clean energy transition much faster and leverage existing infrastructure for transmission and distribution to end users. But the initial problem is finding the stuff. The largest accumulation of white hydrogen to date was stumbled upon this summer by scientists who were studying methane at a mining basin in France. Fairy circles , which appear across landscapes where hydrogen is present, are a giveaway, but in hundreds of other locations hydrogen has been seeping unnoticed out of the ground for decades. The USGS plans to publish a map next year of promising US locations of natural hydrogen. The east and west coasts are likely prospects along with the Mid-Continental rift which runs from Minnesota down through Iowa and into Kansas. But dont grab a shovel just yet. The map is at national scale, and very coarse resolution. Youre not going to be able to look at the map and say, Im going to buy a lease and put a well right there, Ellis said. Election officials count the ballots in Malis referendum in Bamako on June 18, 2023, using the light from their cellphones. Mali often has electricity curtailment of up to eight hours a day (AFP via Getty Images) Whatever the difficulties, the potential remains tantalizing for those on the frontlines of the experimental field. We dont know yet how efficient it will be, how quickly we will be able to scale up, Zgonnik said. But because the reserves of hydrogen on Earth could potentially supply all we need for the clean energy transition, and even more that, then its worth trying at least. And its hard to underestimate the potency of natural hydrogen in a country like Mali. More than 50 per cent of the population do not have electricity, and even for those who do, power can be curtailed up to eight hours a day. This not only makes daily life harder for its citizens but a lack of stable electricity has hampered the countrys economic progress. If you live in the Western world and had to think of living without electricity, you wouldnt imagine what that means for quality of life, said Asma Diallo, who took up her role at Hydroma after working in the green hydrogen industry in France. I saw hydrogen as having real potential for economic development in the African continent. This is an African project that was founded by an African, that has the potential to really change the energy mix in the region. It is very exciting and empowering. By Neil Jerome Morales and Karen Lema MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippines has approached neighbours such as Malaysia and Vietnam to discuss a separate code of conduct regarding the South China Sea, its president said on Monday, citing limited progress towards striking a broader regional pact with China. Relations between the two have grown more tense under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has increasingly complained about China's "aggressive" behaviour while rekindling strong ties with the Philippines' sole treaty ally, the United States. Speaking in Hawaii at a livestreamed event, Marcos said escalating tension in the South China Sea required the Philippines to partner with allies and neighbours to maintain peace in the busy waterway, with the situation now "more dire". "We are still waiting for the code of conduct between China and ASEAN and the progress has been rather slow unfortunately," Marcos said, referring to efforts by the grouping of Southeast Asian nations. "We have taken the initiative to approach those other countries around ASEAN with whom we have existing territorial conflicts, Vietnam being one of them, Malaysia being another and to make our own code of conduct. "Hopefully this will grow further and extend to other ASEAN countries." The embassies of China, Malaysia and Vietnam in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a possible code. China said formulating a code of conduct in the South China Sea was an important task for it and ASEAN countries. But a spokesperson of its foreign ministry warned at a regular press briefing, "Any move that deviates from the framework and runs counter to the spirit of the declaration on the conduct of parties (DOC) in the South China Sea is null and void." The remarks by Marcos followed his meeting on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco. The leaders discussed ways to reduce tension in the disputed strategic waters after a series of confrontations this year. In the past few years, ASEAN and China have worked towards creating a framework to negotiate a code of conduct, a plan dating as far back as 2002. But progress has been slow despite commitments by all parties to advance and speed the process. ON-OFF CONFRONTATIONS Talks on components of the code have yet to start, with concerns about how far China, which claims ownership of most of the South China Sea, is committed to a binding set of rules that ASEAN nations want to align with existing international law. China stakes its claim on its maps with the use of a "nine-dash line" that loops as far as 1,500 km (900 miles) south of its mainland, cutting into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Manila and Beijing have engaged in on-off confrontations for years as China has become more assertive in pressing its maritime claims, alarming neighbours and other nations operating in the key trade route, such as the United States. China has turned submerged reefs into military installations equipped with radar, runways and missile systems, some inside the Philippines' EEZ. "The nearest reefs that the PLA has started to show interest in ... for building bases have come closer and closer to the Philippine coastline," said Marcos, referring to the People's Liberation Army Navy of China. "The situation has become more dire than it was before." In response, China's foreign ministry spokesperson said, "China's construction activities on its own territory fall entirely within China's sovereignty, and other countries have no right to make irresponsible remarks." Marcos added that the United States "has always been behind us ... not only in terms of rhetoric, but also in terms of concrete support". (Additional reporting by Mikhail Flores and Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Martin Petty and Clarence Fernandez) If you get pulled over, police can ask to see your drivers license, vehicle registration and proof of car insurance. But can they also ask to see your cell phone during a traffic stop? In North Carolina, officers do not have the right to go through your phone unless you give them permission or if they have a search warrant. We cant just, on a routine traffic stop, take your cell phone out of your car and start going through it or require you to open it for us, Christopher Casey, a master trooper with N.C. State Highway Patrol, told The Charlotte Observer. But if we believe its being used as a commission for a crime as far as trafficking drugs or something of that nature, and we can articulate that, yes we can seize the cell phone and apply for a search warrant. Even though officers would be able to seize your phone during a traffic stop, Casey explained that a search warrant would be required to actually see any messages, calls or other information because a cell phone is considered personal property. What constitutes consent for a search in NC? But this has also raised questions about what is considered consent regarding a cell phone. [RELATED: Do you know what to do when interacting with police? These are your rights in NC] If a suspect says sure, you can search or signs a consent to search form, it is obvious that he or she has consented to the officer searching the phone, Jeff Wetly, a public law and government professor at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in a recent blog post. But if the suspect silently hands the phone to the officer, is that consent, mere acquiescence, or something else? The Fifth Circuit held that it was consent. But Wetly says you do have the right to ask for it back even after you give permission. The scope of a consent search is completely within the control of the person granting consent, who may limit his or her consent in any way that he or she pleases and may revoke consent at any time, Wetly explained. However, a court attempting to determine the scope of consent does not ask what the person granting consent subjectively intended to allow. Ultimately, Wetly explained that courts have been sensitive to the specific facts of cases depending on the circumstances. Officers can reduce the risk of having evidence suppressed by asking for consent as clearly as possible they may wish to ask explicitly for consent to conduct a forensic examination, to answer a call, or to take other steps beyond a manual inspection of a device, Wetly says. An officer could potentially proceed in stages, asking Can I look at your phone? as a starting place, and later seeking consent for more detailed inspections. The 6,000-seat VSU Multi-Purpose Center will host the second presidential debate of 2024. It will be held Oct. 1. ETTRICK Virginia State University has been picked to host one of the three presidential debates next year, the university announced Monday afternoon. The second debate in the series is set for Oct. 1, 2024, at the VSU Multi-Purpose Center on campus. With the choice, VSU becomes the first historically Black college and university [HBCU] to host a national political debate and the third Virginia college to do so since the Commission on Presidential Debates began organizing them in 1988. The University of Richmond hosted a presidential debate in 1992, and Longwood University in Farmville hosted a vice presidential debate in 2016. VSU president Dr. Makola Abdullah said in a statement released by the university that his school was honored and grateful to be chosen. This is an historic moment for our university and for HBCUs nationwide, Abdullah said. Our university mantra is Greater Happens Here, and we look forward to welcoming the candidates, the Commission on Presidential Debates and the nation to the greater at VSU. Recognition of Virginia as a battleground state that will impact 'our nation as a whole' The first of the debates is scheduled for Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The final debate will be Oct. 9 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. There will be one vice presidential debate Sept. 25 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. The selection of Virginia for one of the debates is a sign of its growing influence as a battleground state in the 2024 presidential election. Between 1968 and 2004, Virginia was reliably Republican. That ended in 2008 when Democrat Barack Obama carried the state and has continued since. Republican Glenn Youngkins 2021 gubernatorial victory led a GOP sweep of the states top three elected offices and helped Republicans gain control of the House of Delegates for the next two years. Youngkin himself has been mentioned as possible GOP presidential material in 2024, but that talk has eased some since Democrats regained control of both the House and state Senate in the Nov. 7 legislative elections. One of the three presidential debates in 1992 was held at the Robbins Field House on the campus of the University of Richmond. It featured incumbent Republican George H.W. Bush, independent candidate Ross Perot and Democrat Bill Clinton, who went on to win the election. In 2016, the vice-presidential debate at Longwood University featured Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as Hillary Clintons running mate on the Democratic ticket. Kaine squared off against former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, GOP candidate Donald Trumps running mate. VSU said in a statement that bringing the debate to Ettrick will leave a lasting impact on the campus community, the universitys reputation and our nation as a whole. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Youngkin reposted the VSU announcement and added, "Congratulations!" Students will play a 'key role in the democratic process' The Commission on Presidential Debates accepts applications from sites interested in hosting a presidential debate, with a focus on college and university campuses to allow students to take part in the production process, according to the commission website. The commissions production staff reviews the submitted proposals, conducts site surveys and consults with members of the White House television pool and federal law enforcement to evaluate each sites facilities. We were happy to host them here on campus so that they could see our state-of-the-art facility and multi-purpose center, and we were also happy to give them a tour of campus so they could better understand why this was the right selection, said Eldon Burton, assistant vice president of government relations for Virginia State University. We also wanted them to be able to understand our history and who we are as an HBCU but also who we are as a premiere institution in higher education, he said. Founded in 1882 by Del. Alfred W. Harris (Dinwiddie County) as a land-grant university, Virginia State University currently has an enrollment of approximately 5,100 students and boasts several notable alumni including businessman Reginald F. Lewis, the first African American to own a billion-dollar company; Gladys Mae West, whose work was attributed to the creation of the GPS, and Congresswoman Lucy McBath, D-Georgia. Burton said Virginia State University students will play a pivotal role in the planning and production process leading up to and including the Oct. 1 debate. Our students will be front and center and playing a key role in the democratic process, he said. Were not just representing VSU, were representing all HBCUs. The process of selecting dates for presidential debates is equally complex it takes early voting dates into consideration along with religious and federal holidays, milestone events such as opening of the General Assembly of the United Nations and White House television pool contractual conflicts like professional sporting events, before pinning down a debate date. The CPD's goal is to select dates that will allow for the largest possible viewing and listening audience, according to the commissions website. The commissions Board of Directors is tasked with choosing the final sites and dates of the debate, which are then announced about a year in advance. A spokesperson for the Commission on Presidential Debates said the organization is unable to comment on the location selection process. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Virginia State University chosen to host presidential debate in 2024 By Bhanvi Satija and Savyata Mishra (Reuters) - Weight loss was the talk of this earnings season, making names such as Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro the water-cooler discussion that companies across the globe could not ignore. Analysts attended earnings calls in the third quarter armed with questions for healthcare and consumer companies about the potential effect on their sales from the growing popularity of these drugs, known as GLP-1 agonists. A Reuters analysis of earnings transcripts for the third quarter showed "GLP-1" or alternatives like "obesity" or "weight-loss medications" were mentioned 256 times across 29 U.S. and European healthcare and consumer companies. That's more than double the mentions for the second quarter, when those phrases came up 127 times. "It's definitely a hot topic," said Jeff Jonas, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds. "They (companies) are all having to respond to this to whether it's a positive for their business or trying to argue why it's not a negative." This class of medicines, which includes Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, have proved effective in treating diabetes and weight loss and may also help cut the risk of stroke or heart attack, making them potentially life-changing for people around the world. Investor interest in the topic has been growing for some time, but took off on Oct. 4 when Walmart, the largest U.S. retailer, noted that there had been a slight pullback in food demand from customers taking weight-loss treatments. Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner, however, told analysts last week that it was too early to tell how the treatments will affect their customers and business. Most other major consumer products makers such as Hershey and Mondelez fielded questions about the drug, with some analysts homing in specifically on sellers of sugary foods. Truist Securities downgraded Krispy Kreme in late October, citing the overhang on such stocks due to the effect from weight-loss medicines. Krispy Kreme shares are down 15% since August 1, a period that coincides with a 31% rally in Eli Lilly, though the doughnut chain's stock has still gained 20% in 2023. While some consumer companies have talked about factors such as fewer calories being consumed, "these kind of large extrapolations" seem to be a bit of a stretch, said BMO Capital analyst Evan Seigerman. GLP-1 WINNERS AND LOSERS Novo Nordisk unseated LVMH as Europe's most valuable listed company in September, and the Danish drugmaker's shares have risen 48% this year. Eli Lilly's stock has risen about 63% making it the world's most valuable healthcare company with a market cap of nearly $560 billion. Drugmakers have faced various types of questions about these treatments. For big pharma manufacturers like Pfizer and Amgen, analyst questions were aimed at their obesity drug candidates. Health insurers including UnitedHealth and Cigna focused on the pricing of these drugs. Lilly has benefited from the use of Mounjaro, which was prescribed for diabetes. Its weight-loss counterpart, called Zepbound, was approved in the United States on Nov. 8. On the other end of the spectrum, medical device makers and dialysis services providers which profit from treating obese patients have had to allay investor concerns about the impact of these highly effective drugs on their markets. Investor worries have led to a selloff in medical device makers, sending iShares US Medical Devices exchange-traded fund down 7% this year. Fund managers might still be worried about investing in stocks perceived to be among the "GLP-1 losers," said HSBC analyst Rajesh Kumar. The high prices of these drugs, potential lack of insurance coverage and uncertainty around long-term use are among common arguments used by companies to allay concerns. Still, investors are only beginning to wrap their heads around the fact that these drugs could possibly be the most used ever in the pharmaceutical industry. "I just think these are probably going to be the best-selling drug class of all time. But it is going to take a few years to develop," Jonas said. (Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Arpan Varghese, David Gaffen and Shounak Dasgupta) A lawsuit challenging New Jerseys decades-old model of assigning students to public schools based on their town of residence, or ZIP code, is moving into mediation, with both sides coming to the table to see if they can resolve their differences. After a Superior Court judge ruled in October that the state must address unofficial segregation in its school districts, the state Attorney Generals Office, which is fighting the case on behalf of the state Department of Education, invited plaintiffs to work out a solution and avoid going to trial. The 2018 lawsuit, brought by various groups including the Latino Action Network and the NAACP, argued that public schools are segregated by race and the state has failed to remedy this situation. Lawyers on both sides will meet Tuesday for the first in a series of discussions as part of a confidential mediation process. The move was welcomed by all three parties involved with the lawsuit: the state, the plaintiffs and the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association, which joined the case as a co-defendant with the state. Barry Albin, a retired state Supreme Court associate justice, will serve as mediator. The courts have given the groups until Jan. 16 to come to an agreement. We are pleased to accept the states invitation to undertake a confidential mediation process, said Lawrence Lustberg, attorney for the plaintiffs, and are hopeful that it will result in an effective solution to New Jerseys longstanding problem of school segregation more expeditiously than would be the case if it is necessary to continue the ongoing litigation. A spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General said, The state is committed to providing a thorough and efficient education to every student and recognizes the innumerable benefits of a diverse school environment. The parties have entered into a confidential mediation process in the hope of resolving this complex and difficult matter. Ruling stopped short of proposing remedy An October ruling from Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy agreed with the plaintiffs that the state has a duty to correct "de facto" segregation in schools meaning segregation that is not the result of official policy but it stopped short of issuing orders or proposing a remedy. Lustberg and Latino Action Network welcomed the ruling at the time, saying the court agreed that segregation is a problem in public schools, and that the state has a constitutional obligation to fix it. Mediation is a positive step, considering the judge did not issue a stronger ruling in their favor, said Javier Robles, president of the Latino Action Network. Lougy did not issue summary judgment, which would have indicated undisputable arguments from the winning party. More: Some praise ruling criticizing NJ school segregation. But what happens now? Science of reading: Remember phonics? It's back in style as NJ schools fight pandemic learning loss We would have liked to see a more direct outcome" from the lawsuit, Robles said. But the state has called us for talks, and that is a positive thing. Segregation is not a problem that a single district or organization or parents can solve it has to be solved by taxpayers, by the government and by the plaintiffs. "And that is the best way to do this, with community effort and input this is a conversation for the whole state of New Jersey, not just Latino Action Network, Robles said. Neither Lustberg nor the state said what demands were open to compromise. Stop assigning students based on where they live A key demand from the plaintiffs was that the state stop the practice of assigning students to public schools based on where they reside. The plaintiffs also asked the court to order the Legislature and the Education Department to adopt a replacement assignment methodology to determine how children in New Jersey would be assigned to schools. The ruling did not grant these requests. To the question of why taxpayers in high-income towns should give up a chance for their children to attend those schools, Robles said the better question is whether low-income kids are also getting that opportunity. Poor people pay taxes, too. We are a diverse state, but not when it comes to classrooms, he said. Ensuring that poverty and housing costs are not linked to where Hispanic children go to school is key to ensuring that the state is producing the best students it can produce among that group, Robles said. Given the rising numbers of Hispanic students, it is an important question thats going to affect us globally, in terms of the quality of American students, he said. Both Asian and Hispanic populations in the United States are expected to double between 2016 and 2060. Asians would make up around 9% of the total American population in 2060, but Hispanics would be a larger proportion, at around 37%. Could charter schools play a role? The state charter school association had a win in Lougys ruling. The plaintiffs alleged that charter schools contributed to segregation by prioritizing enrolling local students, but charter school attorneys argued that their schools were uniquely positioned to dismantle segregation, because they also admit students from outside municipal boundaries. Our feeling regarding mediation is very positive. Justice Albin is universally admired, and we think hes an honest broker that can help the parties bridge different perspectives, said Harry Lee, president of the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association. I think we can all agree, including the state, that there is a need for more diversity in New Jersey schools, and our position is that charter schools can be a part of that solution because of the municipal boundary challenge, said Harry Lee, president of the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association. I think we can all agree, including the state, that there is a need for more diversity in New Jersey schools, and our position is that charter schools can be a part of that solution because of the municipal boundary challenge, Lee said. As long as municipalities are not racially balanced, schools will not be, either, Lee said. Since the charter model brings kids from across municipal boundaries, they can overcome a structural impediment to integration, which is neighborhood segregation, Lee said. Some lawmakers have taken note of the lawsuit and its implications. The case might take away New Jerseyans right to send their children to neighborhood schools if it goes to trial, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, R-Union, said in a statement issued in October. The case might take away New Jerseyans right to send their children to neighborhood schools if it goes to trial, state Senator Jon Bramnick, R-Union, said in a statement issued in October. The governors office has not commented. Solutions that unlink schools from students home addresses would have political implications, given New Jerseys many tiny school districts and the local control residents are accustomed to exercising over their boards of education. Lougy ruled that even though the state had systematically failed to correct segregation, it had done nothing unlawful in implementing its residency laws to operate schools. This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Lawsuit alleging NJ K-12 schools are segregated enters mediation New York's highest court on Monday upheld the city's ban on police use of chokeholds, a measure enacted after the widely publicized deaths of Eric Garner and George Floyd following the use of force by police officers during their arrests. The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York and 16 other law enforcement unions challenged the law as unconstitutional, but the Court of Appeals said the New York City Council exercised a permissible use of its lawmaking authority in enacting the ban. "The language of the section also provides fair notice of the conduct prohibited and is sufficiently definite to avoid arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement and is therefore not void for vagueness," the ruling said. In a statement, a spokesman for the city council lauded the decision as a win for public safety. "The Council passed Local Law 66 of 2020 to protect New Yorkers from being needlessly harmed by improper police restraints, and we are pleased to see the New York Court of Appeals unanimously uphold it. Now that litigation has concluded, we look forward to the continued enforcement of this law to keep New Yorkers safe," the statement said, in part. MORE: Judge calls NYC officer 'reckless,' recommends firing in report The police unions said the law is unconstitutionally vague, arguing that it could be impossible for officers to assess whether the pressure they are exerting on a person's chest or back, in the vicinity of the diaphragm, is making it hard for the person to breathe. The Court of Appeals disagreed. "At its core, plaintiffs' vagueness challenge rests on their contention that it is difficult for a potential offender to discern exactly when sitting, kneeling, or standing on a person's chest or back results in compression of an arrestee's diaphragm," the decision said. "Both private citizens and law enforcement officers have long been required to gauge the impact of physical force used against others to ensure their employment of force is consistent with statutorily delineated parameters." NYPD challenge to chokehold ban rejected by state appeals court originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Pa. Pressroom is a regular recap of politics in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C. To submit tips and news leads, contact USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania state capital bureau reporter Bruce Siwy at bsiwy@gannett.com or on X at @BruceSiwy. A court has ruled that elected officials can't vote on contracts or other major projects in Pennsylvania without first giving taxpayers a 24-hour notice. Commonwealth Court Judge Anne Covey in a recent decision said board members for Lehigh County's Parkland High School erred in 2021 when they approved a collective bargaining agreement without first advertising it. Board members argued they were exempt from the 24-hour notice requirement of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act because they hadn't received the union's tentative agreement until the day of the public meeting. "Because the School Boards approval of the CBA involved expenditure of significant funds and/or entering into a contract without prior public notice, the School Board violated Section 712.1(c) of the Sunshine Act," Covey wrote in her ruling. Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, said the ruling is an important win for transparency. The court's interpretation suggests public officials can't act upon, or even discuss, non-emergency decisions of significant impact without giving advance notice to taxpayers. "Government functions best when its citizenry is involved," Melewsky told the USA TODAY Network. "I think the effect of this is the public should have at least 24 hours notice. The intent here ... is that the public has a statutory right to notice to what their public officials plan to discuss and act upon at meetings." Spring Grove resident Jason Bartos speaks at a borough council meeting in February. Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled this month that officials can't vote on contractual agreements without giving the public advance notice. Melewsky added that the decision sets precedent for elected officials across the state, and that she hopes it leads to increased public participation in local government. Inside the Beltway America's agriculture community received an assurance of continuity last week with the extension of the expiring 2018 Farm Bill. Subject to revision every five years, the Farm Bill is a sweeping legislative package addressing food and ag policy across the country. A recently passed House of Representatives resolution will maintain the status quo through Oct. 1, according to Competitive Market Action CEO and President Marty Irby. "They aren't even close to having a product," Irby said in relation to a new Farm Bill. Irby, whose organization bills itself as an advocate for family and mid-sized farms, cited a few reasons for the delay. He said the process is being steered by two relatively new chairs who are still learning on the job: U.S. Reps. Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-Pa.) and David Scott (D-Ga.). U.S. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-15th Dist., delivers remarks following a listening session for the 2023 Farm Bill at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia on Aug. 14. Also in attendance were U.S. Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Jonathan Jackson, Mark Alford and Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe. He also noted that Congress has been dealing with House speakership changes and escalating violence in the Middle East though he hopes the Farm Bill begins to attract more attention. "Agriculture is such a huge part of our economy," Irby said. "The USDA's budget is the second-largest in the federal government, only behind the Department of Defense." And the horse race State Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) will likely be contested in his GOP primary next year. Republican Rachel Moyer has announced her plan to run for Diamond's 102nd Legislative District seat in Pennsylvania. She's a current member of the Eastern Lebanon County School Board. ELCO school board director Rachel Moyer will challenge state Rep. Russ Diamond in the 2024 Republican primary. Moyer's challenge to Diamond underscores a rift within Pennsylvania's Republican ranks. She's endorsed by state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin), who was the commonwealth's GOP nominee for governor last year and was once thought to be a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024. More: ELCO school board director launches primary challenge to Rep. Russ Diamond Mastriano's potential run for Congress was criticized by Diamond, who told the USA TODAY Network earlier this year that Mastriano has shown a "lack of judgment" in sharing debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Commonwealth Court says PA Sunshine Act requires 24-hour notice East Jerusalem-based 45-year-old Palestinian freelance journalist Mirvat al-Azzeh was arrested by Israeli authorities on Thursday last week (October 16) on suspicion of inciting terror and identifying with a terrorist organization. According to the Jerusalem Post, al-Azzeh shared four recent Facebook posts regarding Hamas's October 7 attack, which killed over 1,200 people. While it was unclear whether the posts were written by al-Azzeh, the hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate Court described them as "inciting and glorying the horrible acts committed against civilians." NBC has since cut ties with the journalist. "Before we recently retained Marwat Azza for services as a freelance producer, we were not aware of her personal social media activity that provided the basis for the Israeli investigation," an NBC spokesperson told the New York Post, using an alternate spelling of her name. Meanwhile, an insider close to the network said that NBC News hired Azzeh as a freelance producer on October 21. "A review of her limited work for NBC News did not uncover any issues," the insider added. Al-Azzeh Arrested The Jerusalem Post additionally cited Israeli authorities when they said al-Azzed "arrived ready for arrest" without her cell phone but with phone numbers written on her leg. She was cooperative with Israeli Police, who first requested permission from the prosecutor's office to interrogate the journalist last month, with the permission granted last week after al-Azzeh admitted to the offenses. "The woman in question is an ordinary woman, who works as a journalist and whose work is important to us all," al-Azzeh's legal counsel said. "She was asked during her investigation about her employment. I believe she admitted to all the deeds described to her and cooperated fully with the investigation. She did not attempt to conceal the offenses or claim that her accounts had been hacked. Even when she didn't have a mobile phone, which is the main tool involved, she still said, 'Yes, those are my posts.'" There was no clear length of jail time al-Azzeh would receive. Read Also: The Guardian Removes Bin Laden's 2002 "Letter to America" After TikTok Users Cite It Pro-Hamas Journalists Al-Azzeh was the latest in a list of journalists who have praised or tolerated the terrorist attack on October 7. The New York Times recently rehired Soliman Hijjy, a Hitler-praising filmmaker who was covering the Israel-Hamas War. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Western media - including Reuters, the Associated Press, CNN, and the New York Times - for working with photojournalists who were allegedly embedded with Hamas during the sabbath massacre in southern Israel. As a result, CNN ended up severing ties with a freelancer who was photographed getting a kiss from a Hamas leader. Related Article: Opinion Letters to The Guardian Stress Antisemitism on UK Campuses Must be Stopped @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday during an unannounced visit to the war-torn country. I was honored to meet with President @ZelenskyyUa in Kyiv today to reaffirm the United States steadfast support for Ukraine, Austin wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. He included a photo of the two leaders and a second photo of the men during a discussion with their aides. We, along with our allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraines urgent battlefield needs and long-term defense requirements, Austin added. Austins visit comes amid a push to keep funds and weapons flowing to Ukraine. Congress has yet to pass President Bidens latest supplemental funding requests, which included aid for national security purposes and for Ukraine and Israel. Public sentiment in the United States around funding for Ukraine has softened in recent months, according to polling, especially as the conflict in Gaza has emerged as another priority. Austins visit, however, supports President Bidens insistence that support for Israel does not detract from support for Ukraine. Im here today to deliver an important message the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russias aggression, both now and into the future, Austin wrote earlier Monday on X. This trip marks Austins second trip to Kyiv. He last visited just two months after the war broke out in April 2022. The United States has given Ukraine more than $44 billion in weapons, battle tanks and pledges for fighter jets, The Associated Press noted. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Government is due to unveil a long-term plan for international development as Rishi Sunak opens the Global Food Security Summit in London on Monday. The Prime Minister will announce a new virtual hub to link UK scientists with global research initiatives aiming to develop climate and disease resistant crops. Mr Sunak will also use a separate speech in London to update the public on the economic situation ahead of Wednesdays autumn statement. A White Paper setting out the Governments proposed approach to international development more broadly up to 2030 is also expected to be published on Monday. The UK is hosting the summit in London alongside Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, the Childrens Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Mr Sunak said: We must take action to address the underlying, and often unseen, causes of global food insecurity. From the impact of Russias war in Ukraine, to the effect of major natural disasters on food production, I am proud that alongside our partners, the UK is playing a leading role in finding solutions to some of the greatest global challenges of our time. The Prime Minister is expected to announce additional support for the international child nutrition fund. UK support for child malnutrition will also match pound for pound the amount the worst affected countries including Uganda, Ethiopia and Senegal invest of their own resources in tackling the issue, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said. Up to 100 million in humanitarian funding is being released to countries worst hit by food insecurity including Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Afghanistan, and to countries impacted by climate-related weather events such as Malawi, the FCDO said. Lisa Nandy, Labours shadow cabinet minister for international development, said: Rishi Sunak is the Chancellor who abolished DFID (Department for International Development) and slashed aid spending, costing lives and trashing Britains reputation as the gold standard in international development. Asking him to repair the damage is like calling on the arsonist to put out the fire. On nutrition alone, his decisions contributed to food rations for 440,000 Kenyan refugees being reduced to 52% of the basic food need. International development minister Andrew Mitchell said: Many children go to bed hungry and malnourished. At this summit, the UK and its partners will be united in our determination to change that. Cutting edge science and innovative partnerships will help Britain create a healthier, more secure and prosperous world for us all. Today we will launch the UK international development White Paper, setting out our long-term vision for addressing critical global challenges, including preventing and treating child wasting, through new partnerships and sources of finance. The Global Food Summit is a practical example of how we are already working to make that vision happen. The FCDO says the international development White Papers priorities include mobilising international finance, reforming the international system, harnessing innovation, and putting women and girls centre stage. It will also set out how the UK will go beyond giving aid money and instead work in partnerships with countries to tackle extreme poverty and climate change, the Government said. A Ukrainian serviceman jumps out of a boat on the Dnipro River near Kherson last month - Mstyslav Chernov/AP Ukraine says it has pushed Russian forces back up to five miles (8km) from the Dnipro River after establishing bridgeheads on its eastern bank. If confirmed, the strategic advance would be one of the most significant in recent months after little gains from either side in the war in Ukraine. Kyiv says its forces are now battling for control of three Russian-occupied villages south of the river. A win there would not only be an important military breakthrough but also offer an important morale-boost ahead of winter. However, Ukrainian officials said its soldiers still had a lot of work to do to establish their positions and warned that the bridgehead was fragile. Preliminary figures vary from three to eight kilometres, depending on the specifics, geography and landscape design of the left bank, army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk told Ukrainian television of the territory that its soldiers claimed to have captured. The Kremlins Ministry of Defence corroborated Kyivs claims, saying that Ukrainian marines had crossed the Dnipro River roughly 20 miles upstream from Kherson City, but said Russian artillery was now pounding the area. WarGonzo, a pro-war Russian military Telegram blog with 1.1 million subscribers, said fighting was focused on the villages of Poima, Peschanivka and Krynki. The Russian armed forces are trying to retake the Ukrainian bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnipro, the channel reported. Seizing the villages would be an important win for Ukraine as it tries to turn round its largely disappointing counter-offensive and convince western backers their money has not been wasted. Ukrainian servicemen board a boat on the Dnipro River - Mstyslav Chernov/AP Putin may be feeling chipper But analysts earlier warned that even if a bridgehead were established, Ukraine now faces an adversary in Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, who has been emboldened by his troops ability to stymie the counter-offensive. Putin may actually be feeling chipper as he looks ahead to 2024 with his mood steadily improving since the Ukrainian offensive was stillborn in June, said John Foreman, Britains former defence attache in Moscow and a military analyst. The British Ministry of Defence agreed that the war in Ukraine had ground to a stalemate. It said the onset of winter in Ukraine means there is likely to be little progress by either army anywhere along the front line. This includes Avdiivka on the eastern front line, where the Kremlin has committed tens of thousands of soldiers to try to break through Ukrainian lines, in what has been described as the deadliest battle of the year. Estonian military intelligence said Ukrainian forces had built robust defences in the town, which was now nearly surrounded by Moscows troops. It is most likely that Russian forces will make every effort to avoid entering the city, it said. The Russian aim consists of encircling Avdiivka and its garrison. For the past couple of nights, dozens of Iranian-made Shahed drones have attacked Kyiv, in what observers said marked the resumption of the Kremlins strategy to cripple Ukraines electricity and heating infrastructure ahead of winter. Ukrainian forces said that they shot down 15 out of 20 drones on Saturday evening. No casualties were reported. 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 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday ordered Toyota's credit arm to pay $60 million for tricking customers into unnecessary products that it then made unreasonably hard to cancel. The agency said thousands of borrowers complained that Toyota Motor Credit employees had added extra products to their loans, racking up fees for the company at consumers' expense. It then made it unreasonably hard for consumers to cancel those services. Toyota Motor Credit is based in Plano, Texas, and it provides financing for people buying cars through Toyota dealerships. The company admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The CFPB said the company will pay $32 million to consumers who did not receive refunds they were owed; $9.9 million to consumers who tried to cancel their policies but were unable to do so; $6 million to consumers who were harmed by false information sent to a consumer reporting company; and $52,000 for those who were given inaccurate refunds. Toyota's finance arm will also pay a $12 million penalty to the agency's victim relief fund. In one example, the CFPB said Toyota Motor Credit told customers that if they wanted to cancel extra products bundled into their car loans, they should call a hotline that had been set up to frustrate them. Employees who answered the phone were told to continue promoting the products until the customer asked them to cancel three times. At that point, the employee was supposed to say that the only way to cancel was to file a written request. More than 118,000 customers called that hotline from 2016 to 2021 alone. In addition to paying the fines and restitution, the agency said Toyota Motor Credit will also be required to make it easy for consumers to cancel unwanted coverage, inform consumers that they can cancel the products online or in writing, and monitor dealers to make sure they don't add products to customer loans without the borrower's consent. The company will also be prohibited from tying employee compensation or performance metrics to consumer retention of bundled products such as the ones at issue in the case. The agency said the unnecessary products included Guaranteed Asset Protection, a type of insurance that covers the difference between the amount a consumer owes on their auto loan and what their insurance pays if the vehicle is stolen, damaged or totaled; Credit Life and Accidental Health coverage, which covers the remaining balance on the loan if the borrower dies or becomes disabled; and vehicle service agreements, which reimburse borrowers for parts and service beyond what is covered by the manufacturer's warranty. The CFPB said those products averaged $700 to $2,500 per loan. The agency also said the company knowingly gave false information to ratings agencies, hurting their customers' credit scores by telling the reporting companies the consumers were missing their payments when they had actually returned the vehicles they had leased. Senators Graham, Mike Lee discuss bill addressing Mexico drug cartels and foreign terrorist organizations. The Biden administration announced new sanctions against a number of members of the Sonora, Mexico-based Sinaloa cartel. According to the White House, the move was made to disrupt the global fentanyl supply chain." It follows other sanctions the administration has imposed on drug cartels over the past few years. The sanctions come as political tensions between the U.S. and Mexico have been rising. Some U.S. lawmakers, particularly from the GOP, have harshly criticized Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Under the Biden administration and the Lopez Obrador administration in Mexico, three years and going, the relationship between the two countries has been at a low point, said Tony Payan, Director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at Rice University. They are also very frustrated with Mexico because the Mexican government doesn't seem to even acknowledge that there is a problem. In fact, the Lopez Obrador administration denied several times that Mexico even produced fentanyl or that Mexico was even used as a transit point for such drugs. In October, the Wall Street Journal reported that, according to members of the Sinaloa cartel, a top exporter of fentanyl, the group has tried to prohibit its production and trafficking after increased pressure from U.S. law enforcement. But with frustrations reaching a breaking point on Capitol Hill, some lawmakers have called for more extreme measures. In the spring, some GOP senators called for military action by the U.S. against the cartels. I think John [Senator Kennedy] and I believe that if there were an ISIS or Al Qaeda cell [operating] in Mexico that lobbed a rocket into Texas, we would wipe them off the planet. Theyre doing that times thousands, said Sen. Lindsey Graham. SEE MORE: What are the impacts of Mexican cartels on the US? But the Mexican President rebuked the idea by saying, We are not going to allow any foreign government to intervene. These conflicts are deeply embedded in politics and institutions and partly in civilian populations and licit economies. There's no way of dismantling that just by applying more force, said Falko Ernst, a senior Mexico analyst at International Crisis Group. What is often forgotten in this approach and where this approach could become more effective is white collar operatives, i.e., money launderers, political allies of criminal groups that sit within institutions, within security institutions, including the military, and really provide continued impunity for these groups to continue killing each other and killing civilians on the ground. Adding to the breakdown in relations is that the cartels have long been well-armed with mostly American-made and trafficked weapons, a talking point President Lopez Obrador has often repeated. An ATF analysis looked at seizures between 2017 and 2021 and found an estimated 70% of guns used by cartels were manufactured in America. An analysis of data from the Mexican government looked at only weapons recovered by the Mexican military where the gun maker could be identified. The researchers found U.S. companies made up 7 of the top 10 manufacturers, though the analysis admitted half of the weapons had no identifiable manufacturer marks left. The Mexican government has brought lawsuits against U.S. gun manufacturers in Massachusetts and Arizona federal courts. Some observers have argued that the suits may be legal long shots, but they symbolically send a message to the U.S. I think what the two countries need to do is to set a basic set of principles upon which they will collaborate, said Payan. If you don't do it that way, if you don't take a look at the whole chain and your interest in every single link along the way, then we're up for a very failed strategy in the future. The U.S. and Mexican governments both face challenges: increased demand for narcotics in the U.S., increased supply of fentanyl in Mexico, and well-armed cartels so embedded in communities that simple military action will likely not be enough to win the war on drugs. As for a sign of change, all eyes will be on the two presidential elections in 2024, both in the U.S. and in its largest trading partner, the South. Apple's labs in Paris use advanced hardware techniques to challenge the security of its devices (Apple) Last summer, Apples iPhones got a new feature that it hopes you never need to use and which mostly makes them harder to use. Named Lockdown Mode, Apple stresses that it is not for everyone, calling it an optional, extreme protection aimed at very few individuals that will be irrelevant to most people. Many people will never know that the feature exists. But it is just one part of a range of features that Apple and other companies have been forced to add to their devices as phones and other personal devices become an increasingly important part of geopolitics. Lockdown Mode is just one part of Apples response: it sits alongside other security features as well as detailed security work that aims to stop people breaking into its devices. That work has largely been done quietly, with Apple focusing much more on its privacy work than on security. But recently it opened up on some of that work, as well as the thinking that led Apple to put so much focus onto a set of features that nobody ever wants to use. Apples team of security engineers deploy attacks on its hardware before products are available to customers (Apple) Some of that work is happening now in Paris. The city has a long history of work on security technology including work on smart cards that saw the early widespread introduction of secure debit cards in France but the activity at Apples facilities in the city is looking far ahead, towards iPhones and other devices that are secret for now and will not appear for years. As part of that work in Paris, Apples engineers are working hard to break its phones. Using a vast array of technology including lasers are finely tuned sensors, they are trying to find gaps in their security and patch them up before they even arrive in the world. Unlike with software, where even significant security holes can be fixed relatively simply with a security update, hardware is out of Apples hands once a customer buys it. That means that it must be tested years in advance with every possible weakness probed and fixed up before the chip even makes it anywhere near production. Apples chips have to be relied upon to encrypt secure data so that it cannot be read by anyone else, for instance; pictures need to be scrambled before they are sent up to be backed up on iCloud, for instance, to ensure that an attacker could not grab them as they are transferred. That requires using detailed and complicated mathematical work to make the pictures meaningless without the encryption key that will unlock them. There are various ways that process might be broken, however. The actual chip doing the encryption can show signs of what it is doing: while processors might seem like abstract electronics, they throw out all sorts of heats and signals that could be useful to an attacker. If you asked someone to keep a secret number in their head and let you try and guess it, for instance, you might tell them to multiply the number by two and see how long it takes and how hard they are thinking; if its a long time, it suggests the number might be especially big. the same principle is true of a chip, its just that the signs are a little different. Apple's labs in Paris use advanced hardware techniques to challenge the security of its devices (Apple) And so Apple gets those chips and probes them, blasts them with precisely targeted lasers, heats them up and cools them down, and much more besides. The engineers in its Paris facilities doing this work are perhaps the most highly capable and well resourced hackers of Apples products in the world; they just happen to be doing it to stop everyone else doing the same. If they find something, that information will be distributed to colleagues who will then work to patch it up. Then the cycle starts all over again. It is complicated and expensive work. But they are up against highly compensated hackers: in recent years, there has grown up to be an advanced set of companies offering cyber weapons to the highest bidder, primarily for use against people working to better the world: human rights activists, journalists, diplomats. No piece of software better exemplifies the vast resources that are spent in this shadow industry than Pegasus, a highly targeted piece of spyware that is used to hack phones and surveil their users, though it has a host of competitors. An Israeli woman uses her iPhone in front of the building housing the Israeli NSO group, on August 28, 2016 (AFP via Getty Images) Pegasus has been around since at least 2016, and since then Apple has been involved in a long and complicated game of trying to shut down to the holes it might exploit before attackers find and market another one. Just as with other technology companies, Apple works to secure devices against more traditional attacks, such as stolen passwords and false websites. But Pegasus is an entirely different kind of threat, targeted at specific people and so expensive that it would only be used in high-grade attacks. Fighting it means matching its complexity. Its from that kind of threat that Lockdown Mode was born, though Apple does not explicitly name Pegasus in its materials. It works by switching off parts of the system, which means that users are explicitly warned when switching it on that they should only do so with good reason, since it severely restricts the way the phone works; FaceTime calls from strangers will be blocked, for instance, and so will most message attachments. But Lockdown Mode is not alone. Recent years have seen Apple increase the rewards in its bug bounty programme, through which it pays security researchers for finding bugs in its software, after it faced sustained criticism over its relatively small payouts. And work on hardware technologies such as encryption and testing it in facilities such as those in Paris mean that Apple is attempting to build a phone that is safe from attacks in both hardware and software. Apples security labs take extreme steps to test the security of its products, including the use of lasers (Apple) Apple says that work is succeeding, believing it is years ahead of its hackers and proud of the fact that it has held off attacks without forcing its users to work harder to secure their devices or compromising on features. But recent years have also seen it locked in an escalating battle: Lockdown Mode might have been a breakthrough of which it is proud, but it was only needed because of an unfortunate campaign to break into peoples phones. Ivan KrstiA, Apples head of security engineering and architecture, says that is partly just a consequence of the increasing proliferation of technology. I think whats happening is that that there are more and more avenues of attack. And thats partly a function of wider and wider deployment of technology. More and more technology is being used in more and more scenarios., says KrstiA, pointing not only to personal devices such as phones but also to industry and critical infrastructure. That is creating more opportunity for more attackers to come forward to develop some expertise to pick a niche that they want to spend their time attacking. There was a time that that I still well remember when data breaches were seemingly not a wide problem. But of course, they have exploded over the last 10 years or so more than tripled, between 2013 and 2021. In 2021, the number of personal records breached 1.1 billion personal records. During the same amount of time a number of other attackers have been pursuing new kinds of attack, or different kinds of attacks against devices, against Internet of Things devices, against really anything that is that is connected in in some way to the internet. And I think in a lot of these cases, attackers were will go where there is money to be made or some other benefits to be obtained and the nature of the fight for security is to keep pushing the defences forward to keep trying to stay one step ahead of not just where the attacks are today, but also where theyre going. Apple doesnt reveal exactly how much of its money is spent on security work. But it must be significant, both in terms of raw money as well as the extra thought and design required on any given device. Whats the justification for investing so many resources on ensuring that a very small number of people are protected from the most advanced attacks? There are two, says KrstiA. One is that attacks that are the most sophisticated attacks today may over time start to percolate down and become more widely available. Being able to understand what the absolute most sophisticated most grave threats look like today lets us build defences before any of that has a chance to percolate down and become more widely available. But I think thats the smaller of the two reasons. When we look at how some of this state grade mercenary spyware is being abused, the kinds of people being hit with it its journalists, diplomats, people fighting to make the world a better place. And we think its wrong for this kind of spyware to be abused in this way. We think that that those users deserve trustworthy, safe technology, and the ability to communicate safely and freely, just as all our other users. So this was, for us, not a business decision. It was doing whats right. Apples focus on security places it into a difficult geopolitical situation of the kind it has often studiously avoided. Late last month, for instance, Indian opposition leaders started receiving threat notifications warning them that their devices might be attacked. Neither the notifications or Apple more generally named who was doing it, and Apple says that the warnings could be a false alarm but nonetheless the Indian government pushed back, launching a probe of the security of Apples devices. It is not the kind of difficulty that comes even with other security work; those stealing passwords or scamming people out of money dont have lobbyists and government power. The kind of highly targeted, advanced attacks that Lockdown Mode and other features guard against however are costly and complicated, meaning they will often be done by governments that could cause difficulties for Apple and other technology companies. How is Apple guided in situations where it could potentially be up against governments and other powerful agencies? We do not see ourselves as set against governments, says KrstiA. That is not what any of this work is about. But we do see ourselves as having a duty to defend our users from threats, whether common or in some cases, truly grave. iPhones are on display inside the new Apple retail store during a media preview on the eve of its opening in Mumbai on April 17, 2023 (AFP via Getty Images) He declines to give precise details about how the company has dealt with those difficulties in the past. But I think when you look at whats been driving it, when you look at these cases that Ive pointed to and when you look at what the response has been to the defences we built and how weve been able to protect some of these users, we feel very strongly like were doing the right thing. Threat notifications are not the only part of Apples security work that have caused issues with authorities. Another much larger debate is coming, and might potentially bring a much more substantial change. The European Unions recently signed Digital Markets Act requires that what it calls gatekeepers Apple and other operators of app stores must allow for sideloading, or letting people put apps on their phones from outside of those App Stores. At the moment, iPhones can only download and run apps downloaded from the official store; Apple says that is an important protection, but critics argue that it gives it too much power over the device. The introduction of sideloading is just one of the many controversial parts of the Digital Markets Act. But if it goes through as planned, the company will be forced to let people head to a website and download a third-party app, without standing in the way. The European Commission has made very clear that it believes that is required for fair competition, and that it thinks that will give users more choice about what apps they use and how they get them. KrstiA does not agree, and Apple has been explicit in its opposition to sideloading. The idea that people are being given an extra choice including the choice of sticking with the App Store and keeping its protections is a false one, he says with some frustration. Thats a great misunderstanding and one we have tried to explain over and over. The reality of what the alternative distribution requirements enable is that software that users in Europe need to use sometimes business software, other times personal software, social software, things that they want to use may only be available outside of the store, alternatively distributed. In that case, those users dont have a choice to get that software from a distribution mechanism that they trust. And so, in fact, it is simply not the case that users will retain the choice they have today to get all of their software from the App Store. The reality is that the UPAs schemes had anodyne and unmemorable names even though they had the same aims. When Congressman Shashi Tharoor complained in a tweet once that the BJP had merely changed the names of 23 Congress schemes, and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was running a name-changing government and not a game-changing one, his claim was put to the test. It was found that he was right about 19 schemes. It turned out that the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was the UPAs Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account; the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana was the same as the National Girl Child Day programme; the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana was the Rajiv Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana; the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation was the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission renamed; the BJPs neem-coated urea was the same as the Congress neem-coated urea; the Soil Health Card scheme was the National Project on Management of Soil Health and Fertility; the Atal Pension Yojana was the Swavalamban Yojana; and even Mr Modis flagship Make in India was merely the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) under a new name. And it was not mere renaming; the entire policy framework in many cases was also a copy-paste job, as a comparison of the department for promotion of industry and internal trades press note (2011) and the Make in India website page on national manufacturing showed. The UPAs NMP scheme spoke of enhancing the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent within a decade and creating 100 million jobs. Make in India seeks an increase in the share of manufacturing in the countrys GDP to 25 per cent and to create 100 million additional jobs by 2022 in manufacturing. The UPAs NMP says it will increase manufacturing sector growth to 12-14 per cent over the medium term. Make in India says it will increase in manufacturing sector growth to 12-14 per cent over the medium term. The NMP says the policy needs creation of appropriate skill sets among the rural migrant and urban poor to make growth inclusive. Make in India says it needs creation of appropriate skill sets among rural migrants and the urban poor for inclusive growth. The UPA NMP policy says it will increase domestic value addition and technological depth in manufacturing. Make in India says it will increase domestic value addition and technological depth. In fact, the Make in India website not only reflected the Congress scheme but a broken download link also unsuccessfully directed readers to a 2011 document of the older policy. Elsewhere, Digital India was the same as the earlier National eGovernance Plan; Skill India the same as the National Skill Development Programme; Mission Indradhanush was the Universal Immunisation Programme; and PAHAL the earlier Direct Benefits Transfer for LPG. BharatNet was the National Optic Fibre Network approved on October 25, 2011, aiming to provide broadband connectivity to all panchayats. When the Rajiv Awaas Yojana was renamed the Sardar Patel National Urban Housing Mission, it came with a claim from then housing and urban poverty alleviation minister M. Venkaiah Naidu that housing for all would come by 2022. A parliamentary committee, headed by BJD MP Pinaki Mishra, asked the government how merely changing the name could accelerate implementation. This went largely unreported. The reality is that the UPAs schemes had anodyne and unmemorable names even though they had the same aims. Mr Modis schemes have catchier names because he spends so much effort personally polishing coinage. A friend observed that Mr Modis schemes targeted at the wealthy had English names Digital India, Skill India, Start-up India, Make in India signalling aspiration. However, the schemes for the poor were in Hindi Ujjwala Yojana, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Beti Padhao Beti Bachao, Jan Dhan, Garib Kalyan, PM Kisan, Mudra Yojana reflecting the branding priority. Not as much effort on implementation though: Make in Indias target was shifted from 2022 to 2025 as manufacturing collapsed in India, and instead of going from 16 per cent in 2014 to 25 per cent in 2022, in fact dropped to 13 per cent and remaining at 13 per cent in 2023. Make in India has a nice logo though. Mr Tharoors good-natured acceptance that such things represented continuity (Dr Manmohan Singh did not say a thing about the renaming) sat in contrast with the BJPs contempt for the very schemes they appropriated. Particular hostility was reserved for the UPAs Unique Identity scheme: Aadhaar. During the 2014 campaign, a top newspaper ran a headline on March 12, 2014: Aadhaar a fraud, will review it if voted to power: BJP. The party alleged that Aadhaar was a criminal programme and it would have the CBI investigate it. This is a dangerous programme to regularise the stay of illegal immigrants in the country. Is Bharat Mata so open to illegal immigrants? The Aadhaar is also in contravention of Supreme Court directives, Meenakshi Lekhi said in Bengaluru while campaigning against Congressman and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani. The entire biometric data of people enrolled has been stored outside the country, she added. Mr Nilekanis opponent, Ananth Kumar (who would eventually win), said: Aadhaar is the biggest fraud on the country. The next month, Ananth Kumar said the BJP would scrap Aadhaar. Mr Modi himself weighed in against Aadhaar, saying the money spent on it was wasted, that NREGA was meant to line the pockets of the Congress and that the Right to Information Act was useless. As it turned out, the BJP under Mr Modi would not only embrace Aadhaar, it would also force it upon all Indians, willing or unwilling, as the NDA expanded Indias social welfare schemes, many of which they had inherited and renamed to pretend they were their own. Omair Tariq, co-founder and CEO of Cart.com Al Torres, Courtesy Cart.com Remington Tonar, co-founder and chief growth officer of Cart.com Courtesy Cart.com Cart.com, a back-end e-commerce and logistics company that has experienced massive growth since launching in 2020, is moving its headquarters back to Houston after two years in Austin, the company said Monday. "As our customer mix increasingly moves upmarket and our own needs evolve, Im confident Houston has what we need as we look towards the next stage of Cart.coms growth story," said Omair Tariq, co-founder and CEO. For Tariq, the city also exerts a certain emotional pull: "I happen to be from Houston." Advertisement Article continues below this ad Cart.com launched in late 2020 to give companies an alternative to selling through the behemoth Amazon, which commands a significant slice of revenues from companies that sell on its marketplace. Cart.com focuses on helping companies that don't have a background in e-commerce, providing them software, services and infrastructure to help them run their fulfillment operations. The company now serves 6,000 customers, supports more than $8 billion in gross merchandise value and operates 14 U.S. fulfillment centers. In June, it closed a $60 million Series C funding round and has a valuation of $1.2 billion. Bob Harvey, outgoing president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, said the organization is "thrilled" by the news of Cart.com's return. Cart.coms homecoming is a testament to why companies repeatedly choose Houston to scale their business," he said, describing the company as "one of the countrys fastest-growing unicorns." Advertisement Article continues below this ad In an interview, Tariq and co-founder and Chief Growth Officer Remington Tonar explained that the initial move to Austin in December 2021 was driven by a need to hire tech workers, as direct-to-consumer commerce boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although remote work was the norm in the sector at the time, cities such as San Francisco, Austin and Miami nonetheless exert a sort of gravitational pull on tech workers. All the same, Tariq and Tonar said, both of them and most of Cart.com's executive leadership team remained in Houston, and the company's growth over the past two years is such that Cart.com is now looking for accounting, finance, engineering and legal talent. Among their goals in launching Cart.com, the two said, was to help boost Houston's tech ecosystem. Houston, they acknowledged, still presents certain challenges for people looking to start or grow a business, among them is that it's more difficult to lure workers to southeast Texas. But Tariq and Tonar pointed to a number of attributes supporting entrepreneurs: Houston's diversity, its two international airports, its relative affordability and the talent drawn by industries such as health care and aerospace. "It's an easy city," Tariq added. "It's stress-free, and you have enough stress when you're starting a business." The bishop of Beijing expressed this hope at the end of the trip to Hong Kong. The delegation from mainland China also visited the seminary and the Holy Spirit Study Centre and participated in a theological conference on the Synod. "We learned a great deal, Bishop Li said during the thanksgiving Mass, aiming at pursuing the work of evangelisation along the direction of sinicisation. Hong Kong (AsiaNews) May all Chinese brothers and sisters "pray one day together in the same place, said Card Stephen Chow at the end of the Eucharistic concelebration last Wednesday, ending the much-anticipated visit by Bishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing. The prelate, who also heads of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, spent three days in Hong Kong. The liturgical service in the cathedral was also attended by Card John Tong, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong; current Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha, and another bishop from the mainland China, Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang of Zhoucun (Shandong). "This is a Church of communion," Card Chow said, a Church of the Chinese people. So, with thankfulness, we ask that Jesus Christ Our Lord bless our hearts and our efforts." "We are very grateful to the diocese for all the arrangements so that our journey has been smooth," said Bishop Li Shan, s cited by the Hong Kong diocesan weekly, Sunday Examiner. We had the chance to visit the Diocesan Centre, the seminary, and the Caritas House. We have seen the dioceses concrete development in the process, and we have learned a great deal for our seminary and parish. We will work hard for the better development of our Church, Bishop Li added. During the visit, the delegation from Beijing also visited the Holy Spirit Study Centre, where it was welcomed by Card John Tong, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, who presented the history and aims of this institution. Bishop Li also took part in a theological conference titled The Synodal Church and the Church in China: Communion, Participation, Mission. In his address, the prelate emphasised the importance of combining Chinese culture and faith for wisdom in life. We pray that under the guidance of the revelation of the Holy Spirit of God, under the direction of the spirit of the Churchs communion, and under the diligent exploration of all of us, the Chinese Church will be able to promote the work of evangelisation and spirituality along the direction of sinicisation, he said. The bishop of Beijing also spoke of the need for the Church to keep abreast of the times and promptly adjust the focus, methods and modes of evangelisation as society develops and progresses. It should strive to fulfil its proper functions, engage in social responsibility, and pay attention to peoples livelihoods. by Mathias Hariyadi Recent landings have raised the alarm over the situation of 'boat-people' fleeing Myanmar. On 17 October, at least 249 refugees were turned back off the coast of Aceh. In just a few days more than 600 have landed on Indonesian territory. An eight-point proposal to deal with the emergency, following the dictates of international law. Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The recent arrivals off the Indonesian coast of hundreds of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh (and Myanmar), modern "boat people" fleeing poverty and war, has relaunched the issue of the right to hospitality in the country . At least 12 non-governmental organizations, activist groups and bodies linked to the local Church underline the need - if not the moral and legal obligation - to provide help, drawing up a list of points to follow to best manage the emergency. In the joint note the movements turn to the government and citizens, so that support does not fail but is, at the same time, organized and not left to chance or the good will of the individual entities in the field. The issue had already emerged on October 17, when 249 Rohingya were rejected in an attempt to dock on the coast of Aceh and pushed back into the Andaman Sea, before moving away into the ocean waters. In addition to denying disembarkation, the requests for food and water made by the refugees, in desperate need of help, were also ignored. Last week there was the third landing in a few days, which brought the number of Rohingya in Indonesian territory seeking help and relief to over 600. According to some information, there are over 2 thousand "boat people" who have undertaken the (risky) journey to the Indonesian coast. The vast majority come from Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, a huge refugee camp where over a million Rohingya live, often in disastrous conditions. Between 14 and 17 November there were at least three landings in Bireuen and North Aceh, which was enough to raise the alarm among citizens and government spheres in Jakarta, especially due to their conditions upon arrival. Linked to this is the clash between those who would like to promote a refoulement policy and those who, also in the name of the Islamic principle "peumulia jamee" of welcome, ask for help. Hence the choice of 12 organizations and institutions to publish a joint note, in which they recall the laws and international law according to which an individual, including refugees, should not be expelled from the country in which he seeks protection. Among the movements signing the appeal are the Jesuit Refugee Service Indonesia (Jrs Indonesia), Sahabat Insan, Human Rights Working Group (Hrwg), Banda Aceh Legal Aid Agency and RDI Urban Refugee Research Group (Rdi-Uref). They recall that rejections conflict with internal rules (Presidential Regulation 125/2016 according to which they are the responsibility of the police once they have landed, and are then assigned to immigration centers) and directives that have also recently emerged in global meetings such as the G-20 , ASEAN and in anticipation of the Global Refugee Forum in December. In Aceh, they point out, these directives have been ignored on purpose, violating the rights of Rohingya migrants, although Indonesia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, but others have been ratified over time including the Law of the Seas (Unclos ). Hence the eight-point appeal of the 12 signatory organizations, which outline the principles of intervention and the methods to be followed to guarantee, in compliance with the law, full dignity to "boat-people", refugees and asylum seekers: supporting implementation and compliance of human rights regarding refugees, saving the boats and canceling the rejection policy; implement presidential decree 125/2016 on reception (of the Rohingya); prompt intervention of the task force dedicated to the management of foreign refugees; involve members and leaders of local communities in reception; indicate and support places of temporary refuge, in particular in North Aceh and Bireuen; involve international institutions and humanitarian agencies in the work of coordination with the government, for a shared responsibility; role of local community members; identify and protect vulnerable groups on boats, including sick people, children, pregnant women, victims of violence, people with disabilities and others. by Alessandra Tamponi Economic cooperation dominates North Korean-Russian talks in Pyongyang. North Korea is looking to Russian aluminium for its missile programme with its own mineral riches in the exchange. Seoul (AsiaNews). North Korea and Russia hope to boost bilateral relations through greater cooperation in trade, business, science and technology, following the last meeting between the two countries. The Russian-North Korean intergovernmental commission met on Wednesday in Pyongyang, KCNA reported, for its 10th meeting. North Korea's Minister of External Economic Relations Yun Jong Ho met with Russia's Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov as well as members of the Russian embassy. Among the topics discussed, ample space was devoted to the practical and logistical difficulties in developing cooperation in the areas of interest. The meeting comes not only a few months after the historic September summit, which saw Kim Jong-un as a guest in Russia, but just a few days after what appears to be a new success for the North Koreas missile industry. Pyongyang has developed a new type of high-thrust solid-fuel engine for intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which military analysts say would make them not only easier and safer to use by requiring less logistical support, but also harder to detect and more durable than liquid-fuelled ones. North Korea's missile programme has been condemned by the international community and is subject to heavy sanctions by the United Nations. However, the military aspect could play an increasingly important role in relations between North Korea and Russia, already accused of receiving military equipment from Pyongyang. Both North Korea and Russia have denied the allegations, but a report published on 16 October by the Royal United Services Institute in London says that North Korea is using ships and trains to secretly send weapons to Russia, to be deployed in Ukraine. This could add further evidence to the accusations already made by the United States. In exchange for such weapons, North Korea could seek greater support for its missile programme, and the type of support based on the officials at the meeting could include natural resources. Solid propellants are in fact made up of a mixture of fuel and oxidiser and require the use of metal powders. Among the most widely used fuels is aluminium, due to its specific energy density and its high volumetric energy density and the lower possibility of accidental inflammation. Aluminium is obtained from refining bauxite, of which Russia is currently the eighth-largest exporter in the world. What is more, Moscow could also look with interest at North Korea's mineral deposits that might contain 200 different minerals, including gold, copper, magnetite, graphite, lead and tungsten, useful in the war industry for the production of bullets and protective gear due to its high resistance both physical and at high temperatures. This could be worth trillions of US dollars. Most of the goods defined as dual use with both civilian and military use, are under UN sanctions, and any cooperation in the matter would constitute a serious violation of international law. On the very day Pope Francis issued a new appeal, Myanmars air force carried out retaliatory strikes in reaction to Operation 1027. Almost 30,000 internally displaced people are now crammed under tents on the border with China. Lashio Cathedral has also opened its doors to welcome refugees fleeing fighting areas. Milan (AsiaNews/Agencies) On the very day that Pope Francis issued a new appeal in St Peter's Square to pray for the "dear people of Myanmar, who unfortunately continue to suffer due to violence and abuse", air strikes reportedly hit a village in Shan State in the north-east of the country, killing two people, including a child. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis is worsening, with almost 30,000 internally displaced people taking refuge in makeshift tents near the border between China and Myanmar, Laukkaing Township. Local sources told Radio Free Asia that around 10 pm on Sunday, fresh airstrikes hit the village of Myo Thit, Namhsan Township, while residents were sleeping. The attack was unexpected since no fighting had been reported in the area. As many as 23 houses were damaged, leaving behind two deads and a dozen wounded. The conflict in Shan State has intensified in recent weeks when an alliance of three ethnic militias opposed to the junta launched Operation 1027 in late October. The military lost important positions in the offensive, and is responding with indiscriminate reprisals. In addition, heavy in the past few days rains have made life more difficult for those who have been forced to leave their homes. The local Christian community has mobilised amid the humanitarian emergency. UCANews reports that at least 600 people have taken refuge in the cathedral and an educational establishment in Lashio, after fleeing regions where fighting between the military and rebel groups is raging. Hundreds more have taken refuge in Baptist churches and Buddhist monasteries in the city of Lashio. Diocesan teams have been mobilised to provide aid also through local parish priests in areas impossible to reach due to the ongoing violence. Priests are close to their parishioners and people cook and pray together," a Burmese priest told the Eglises d'Asie on condition of anonymity. Here we welcome refugees, we help everyone. We can't express ourselves openly, but we can help them. Catholics are strong in their faith. They are very religious. They are fervent, praying together, and helping each other," he explains. "We all want freedom." "The world does not understand the suffering of our people. In their propaganda, the military claim to protect the unity of the country, but they plundered resources in the name of unity and today people are poor," the clergyman told Missions Etrangeres de Paris. The only way out is a federal system. People are starting to prepare. Seventy years of war have impoverished the country. Can you imagine what it would be like today without the war?" Archbishop Soon-taick Chung made the suggestion at the Eighth Korean Peninsula Peace-Sharing Forum, which addressed the most pressing issues arising from the 70th anniversary of the armistice. Involving young people in the ways of reconciliation is a challenge. Seoul (AsiaNews) Archbishop Peter Soon-taick Chung wants to invite some young North Koreans to World Youth Day in Seoul in 2027. He made the suggestion at the Eighth Korean Peninsula Peace-Sharing Forum held last Saturday at the Songsin Theological Campus of the Catholic University of Korea. The event was promoted by the Reconciliation Committee established by the Archdiocese of Seoul in 1995 under then Archbishop Card Stephen Kim Sou-hwan. This years theme was "Ways Leading to Reconciliation and Peace on the Korean Peninsula". Over the years, the Committee has undertaken out various initiatives such as humanitarian aid for the people of the North, aid to North Korean refugees living in South Korea, and peace education together with the active search for peace. In his opening remarks at the Forum, Director Hong Yong-Pyo, professor of political science at Hanyang University, insisted on the term reconciliation as a key word for peace. Despite the bitter scepticism of some, we must not and cannot give up reconciliation if we want peace, he said. Citing Pope Franciss blessing on the 70th anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War, Prof Hong expressed the hope that the forum could make even the smallest contribution to the ways leading to reconciliation and peace In his address, Archbishop Peter Soon-taick Chung of Seoul, who is also apostolic administrator of Pyongyang, noted the fundamental role of the Catholic Church as a mediator and reconciler for reconciliation and peace on the Korean Peninsula amid problems unsolved for 70 years since the Armistice Agreement such as separated families, political and military confrontations. Dr Kim Sun-pil, senior researcher at the Sogang University Institute for Theology, stressed the progress made by the Korean Church's national reconciliation movement, promoted for mutual forgiveness and reconciliation between brothers in North and South Korea. The Korean Church had been hostile to North Korea after the Korean War but after the visit of Pope John Paul II to South Korea [. . .] the Korean Church established the North Korea Missionary Committee, which later became the National Reconciliation Committee, Prof Kim said. In the 1980s, Pope John Paul II showed great interest in the Church in North Korea. In his closing remarks, Archbishop Peter Chung said that it is unfortunate that there are no youth participants, but added that he will seek ways to engage our youth right from the designing and planning period of the forum next year, which is very important in terms of peace education for them. The prelate added that he believes that missionary work in North Korea is his calling, not only as apostolic administrator of Pyongyang but also as a citizen. In closing, he reiterated that he would work to put into practise his commitment to the North Korean mission, including support for North Korean refugees. by Melani Manel Perera On the occasion of the World Day celebrated by the UN on 19 November in Sri Lanka, the Public Health Inspectors Association released some data on the scarcity of these essential facilities for the protection of people's health and dignity. Colombo (AsiaNews) - Yesterday, 19 November, marked the "World Toilet Day" called for by the UN to focus on the issue of accessibility and availability of public toilets, an issue that is far from insignificant in Sri Lanka as pointed out by Public Health Inspectors Association member W. D. Roshan Kumara. Only one in 20 homes in the country has a 'sanitary toilet', explains a research conducted by the association. The theme of this year's World Sanitation Day is 'Valuing Sanitation', emphasising the intrinsic value of these facilities in improving health, ensuring dignity and also facilitating economic development. Despite the progress made around the world in recent years, according to the United Nations, some 4.2 billion people still lack access to safely managed sanitation, leading to the spread of disease and compromising overall well-being. In Sri Lanka in recent years, the proposal to 'reinstate the system of aid given to low-income people for the construction of toilets, and to intervene to guarantee this service in every school, had come back into vogue,' explains Roshan Kumara. He adds: 'The people of Sri Lanka, whose need for sanitation has not been met, have an urgent need for it and attention to the issue is essential because we have found that only one in 20 homes in Sri Lanka has a sanitary facility and this leads to disease and pollution of the groundwater by sewage, especially in rural areas. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday 15 November, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha warned that 74 school buildings across the island were found to be 'unsafe' for students. The reasons include a lack of sanitation, as well as structural weaknesses, as in the case of a school in the Wellampitiya suburb of Colombo, where a 6-year-old girl was killed and several others were injured after a wall collapsed on Wednesday 15 November. In spite of everything, the UN figures say that the situation in Sri Lanka is not among the worst in South Asia; in some areas, as much as 90 per cent of the population does not have access to these services. 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 Unfortunately, the carmaker also made changes in the engine department. It started with the demise of the 426 Hemi in 1972, though Plymouth continued to offer the 440 with 280 horsepower. The engine was only available with a 727 TorqueFlite automatic transmission.The base engine on the new Road Runner was the 318 with 170 horsepower, eventually becoming the most popular choice on this model year.The Road Runner posted on eBay by seller muscovey rolled off the assembly lines with a 340 engine. The matching-numbers V8 is still in the car, though it no longer works. The owner says it turns over by hand, sporting new spark plugs, fresh coolant, and other new parts paving the way for a full overhaul. However, they didn't try to start the car, so find a good mechanic to inspect the engine and determine if you can still bring it back to life.The Road Runner is almost complete, but it doesn't seem 100% original. You should still be able to bring it back to factory specifications with the correct parts, but turning this project into a restomod makes more sense from a restoration perspective.The car looks rough, and despite no such information being available, I believe this Road Runner has been sitting for many years. The rust invaded the typical suspects, so you'll find the damage on the floors and in the trunk. I believe the floors don't require more than minor patches, so you could avoid full replacements. The metal is solid overall, so the restoration should focus mostly on the mechanical side and the missing parts.It's unclear how much of this Road Runner is no longer there, so your best option is to inspect the car in person before committing to a purchase. The vehicle is parked in South Hill, Virginia, and you'll need a trailer to take it home.The owner wants to get $3,500 for their Road Runner, and the price looks fair, especially considering its shape. No other offers are accepted. The engine is the biggest dilemma, as a matching-numbers unit that still starts and runs could make the restoration job substantially easier.If the engine no longer starts, you can always go the restomod route and upgrade the Road Runner to the massive 440 big-block available on this model year. The car would eventually become an even more intriguing head-turner, though finding a correct 440 and a matching-numbers transmission could make the project even more challenging. The listing will expire in five days, so you must decide as soon as possible. SUV At a time when most SUVs were still reliant on the old-school body-on-frame construction, Jeep innovated at the time of release with the Grand Cherokee sporting a unibody chassis. Designed as a successor to the well-known Cherokee, this mid-sizeopened a new chapter in the company's history it was the first Chrysler-owned Jeep product developed from the ground up since the company bought AMC in 1987. Luckily for them, it was the right decision the Grand Cherokee spearheaded Chrysler's return to fame and fortune as the company moved in the nascent and quickly expanding market of sport utility vehicles and crossovers.Today, more than three decades later, the Grand Cherokee has embraced the styling of the fifth generation (WL) since early 2021. Back then, Jeep first introduced the world to the long-wheelbase Grand Cherokee L version that blurs the lines between the mid-size and full-size segments where the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer models are supposed to be kings. The classic, two-row version was then revealed that same fall and the models have lived a happy V6 and V8 life ever since.However, the wind of change is blowing in Jeep's direction, too, as the brand doesn't have the same strong sales recently. As such, it's always good to quickly take care of core models to make them a little more desirable. Well, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators jumped ahead of Jeep for the upcoming 2025 or 2026 model year refresh of the WL Grand Cherokee. The good folks over at the Q Cars and AutomagzPro channels on YouTube, for example, have unleashed their resident pixel masters to portray the visions of this mid-size CUV well before the official reveal.The peeps over at Q Cars probably think that a slightly more rugged Grand Cherokee will help Jeep set the model apart from unibody crossovers like Toyota's Highlander and make it a worthy adversary for the upcoming 2024 Land Cruiser, instead, even if their mid-size SUV doesn't feature a body-on-frame design. Well, if done right, a boxier styling could work wonders for Jeep we have seen the Hyundai Santa Fe move in that direction and with great acclaim from both fans and critics.If a slightly less expansive redesign is more likable, then no worries AutomagzPro's resident pixel master has that unofficial styling covered, too. The choice is yours, after all would you like to see a boxier Grand Cherokee to better fight the upcoming 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser and 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe or something along the same coordinates as today? Mauricio Gutierrez resigned as CEO of NRG Energy on Friday. Michael Wyke/Contributor Mauricio Gutierrez, CEO of NRG Energy, stepped down Friday, part of a leadership shake-up pushed by activist investor Elliott Investment Management that also saw four independent directors added to the company's board. Gutierrez also left his seat on the power generation company's board, according to a Monday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, part of a change that may signal a strategic shift for the company. Travis Miller, an analyst at Morningstar, called Gutierrez's departure "a bit of a surprise" in light of NRG satisfying some of the concerns voiced by investors, including Elliott. The company's shares have rebounded, hitting an all-time high of $48.08 per share last week, and its integration of Vivint Smart Home, which it acquired in a $5.2 billion deal in March, seems to be on track. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "Mauricio has a background from the legacy NRG days, and that's clearly not what the company's direction is now. So it's possible that NRG wanted to bring in executive directors who have more background in home services technology than what the previous management team had," Miller said. Lawrence Coben, NRGs chairman, will step in as interim CEO as the board searches for a permanent leader, the filing said. In a statement issued Monday, NRG said it would expand its board to 13 members from 10 pursuant to a cooperation agreement with Elliott Investment Management. Adding four independent directors, including one to replace Gutierrez, brings its outside director count to 12, it said. Joining the board will be Marwan Fawaz, former CEO of Nest and of Motorola Home; Kevin Howell, former regional president of NRG Texas and former chief operating officer of Dynegy; Alex Pourbaix, executive chair and former CEO of Cenovus Energy; and Marcie Zlotnik, chief operating officer of retail electricity provider StarTex Power. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Elliott was reportedly upset with NRG's acquisition of Vivint, which it labeled the single worst deal in the power and utilities sector in the past decade, according to the Financial Times. In June, NRG replaced its chief financial officer. Mondays announced leadership shake-up is the second time Elliott has forced changes at NRG. In 2017, the investment firm pushed the company to cut the size of its electric-generating fleet and focus on selling retail electricity, according to the Financial Times. In the statement, Elliott partner John Pike and portfolio manager Bobby Xu said the changes are a key milestone in pushing NRG toward a renewed focus on best-in-class operations and returns-driven capital allocation. NRG will also conduct a review of its operations and cost structure to identify opportunities to become more efficient and enhance capital return to shareholders, the company said in its Monday statement. Tiny home builders based in New Zealand have gained global notoriety for their skillful combination of minimalistic design and high-quality finishes. St Clair Homes is one of them, and this beautiful family home on wheels is part of the brand's luxury range. Photo: St Clair Homes Photo: St Clair Homes Photo: St Clair Homes This Kiwi builder is particularly known for its simple and highly versatile cabin models, called the Coastal Cabins. In addition, it also offers a range of high-end tiny homes that blend comfortable sizing with top-quality materials and finishes. The Evoke tiny homes are spacious family homes and glamorous vacation rentals at the same time.The two-bedroom Evoke tiny reveals an apparently simple open-plan layout where sophisticated details make a difference. It comes either as a 10-meter-long (32.8 feet) or 12-meter-long (39.3 feet) house on wheels with three floor plans to choose from. In either version, what makes Evoke stand out is the master bedroom with an en-suite bathroom. Sleeping accommodations are one of the most challenging issues when it comes to tiny homes. Loft bedrooms offer multiple advantages but are not everyone's favorite due to size restrictions, difficult access, and lack of privacy. Main-floor bedrooms can also be too small and feel isolated despite the benefit of better privacy.Evoke's main bedroom successfully eliminates any possible complaints. It's large enough to include a cozy two-person bed with ample walk-around space and a full-size wardrobe a truly luxurious feature when it comes to small dwellings. This sleeping area is strategically placed to maximize comfort. On one side, it opens up to the living room area, creating privacy and connection at the same time. On the opposite side, it leads into the bathroom. Unlike most tiny home bathrooms, this is actually an en-suite.It doesn't get more luxurious than that the comfort of enjoying a spacious bedroom with easy access to the bathroom without being completely separated from the rest of the house. The bathroom also boasts contemporary luxury. It's minimalistic yet fitted with the best equipment. The standard version includes a conventional toilet, but customers who prefer greener features can opt for a composting toilet. There's also enough room for a comfortable shower cabin and a large vanity for extra storage.Last but not least, this elegant master bedroom comes with a separate entry another plus when it comes to tiny homes. Beautiful glass doors literally open up to the outdoors, creating a seamless connection between the interior and the exterior. This also ensures the best views at any given time. Additionally, this configuration with separate entries and sliding French doors also turns the Evoke tiny into a perfect vacation rental in a natural setting.This luxury home is designed with a generous kitchen and living area. The kitchen's contemporary minimalism adds a sophisticated touch. You'll notice ample room for a full-size fridge, a big oven, and a full set of overhead cabinets. Fancy details like the under cabinet LED lighting contribute to the home's overall luxurious appearance and enhanced functionality.The lounge area includes a discrete dining nook with a foldable table and elegant chairs. The elegant design and setup make it versatile enough for other functions as well, such as a home office or cozy reading area. It doesn't seem out of place inside the living room. Instead, it acts like an equally sophisticated multi-purpose extension.In addition to the large windows that flood this entire part of the house with natural light, the lounge also opens widely to the outside. This is one of the characteristics of New Zealand-based tiny home designs, with a heavy focus on the indoor/outdoor connection. The lounge is always designed to blur the lines between the inside and the outside when the weather is right and to invite those inside to enjoy being outdoors as much as possible without sacrificing comfort.The Evoke tiny is prefabricated on a trailer at the St Clair Homes factory and can be fully customized. For the exterior, the builder uses charred cladding derived from the ancient Japanese technique Shou-sugi-ban. This popular feature offers numerous advantages, from making the timber water-repellant and 100% UV-proof to ensuring decades-long durability.All the flooring comes from sustainable sources and is specifically adapted to meet the requirements of the local climate. The design team also chose the best materials for the bathroom walls. In terms of kitchen appliances, the builder claims to offer the best choices while also staying on budget. Although boasting a luxurious appearance and lavish comfort, the designs in the Evoke range are meant to be affordable for their size category.Pricing for the Evoke tiny home starts at NZ $199,000 ($119,600), and it depends on further customizations. This is in line with the brand's fundamental philosophy that puts affordability before anything else. Beyond the aesthetic look and clever design, tiny homes on wheels were meant to offer as many people as possible access to high-quality housing, and this is what the Evoke tiny is all about. Otilia believes that if its eco, green, or groundbreaking, people should know about it (especially if it's got wheels or wings). Working in online media for over five years, she's gained a deeper perspective on how people everywhere can inspire each other. Full profile kW AWD There are two versions of the executive sedan on sale in the United States, the 530i and 540i. The former features a 255-horsepower (259 ps/190) 2.0-liter gasoline engine with rear-wheel drive, though the xDrivesystem is available. The latter comes fitted with the xDrive and brings 375 hp (380 ps/280 kW) to the party from its 3.0-liter straight-six.A base 530i Sedan will set you back $57,900, not factoring in the destination charge, dealer markups, and options. The xDrive is a $2,300 option. As for the 540i xDrive, it starts at $64,900. The new 5er also comes in the i 5 eDrive40 and i5 M60 electric specifications, with 335 hp (340 ps/250 kW) and 593 hp (601 ps/442 kW), respectively. The single-motor and dual-motor models have respective MSRPs of $66,800 and $84,100.BMW is also working on the Touring aka station wagon version of the new-gen 5 Series, which will be offered in the all-electric guise, as well. And as you already know, the 5 Series Touring will be kept away from North America. In fact, it's been reported that they will only launch in Europe, Japan, and Taiwan. Things might be different when it comes to the upcoming M5 Touring, as it might make its way stateside to take on the Audi RS 6 Avant, or that's what certain outlets speculate, anyway.As usual, the all-new BMW 5 Series lineup will comprise the sedan and estate models, with the Munich auto marque having no intention of expanding it with additional body styles. And that's a good thing, as nobody wants the GT to come back, and there is no room for coupe and convertible options either, as they would step on the toes of the 8 Series, which is one of the best-looking modern-day Bimmers, in our opinion, regardless of the roof and how many doors it has.However, while it is clear that the car manufacturer won't ditch all common sense to launch additional versions of the new 5er, an open-top model already exists in Fantasy Land. It has a.c.g_design on Instagram behind it, who kept it simple by retaining the face of the original, deleting the rear doors, shaving a few inches from the wheelbase length, and giving it an open-top view of the sky above, complete with a special compartment behind the rear seats to stow the folding roof.Now, we may not be fans of this design, as we think the 5er looks best as a four-door sedan, but we certainly wouldnt say not a two-door coupe. Lets hope someone sees this paragraph and decides to rearrange its pixels to make it happen. Photo: Kia The ODI singled out the 2016 to 2017 model year Sorento with the 3.3-liter V6, a naturally-aspirated mill from the Lambda II engine family. Codenamed G6DH, this version of the 3.3er was also used by other front-biased Kia and Hyundai vehicles from that era.Equipped with direct injection as opposed to port injection for the G6DF, this lump originally developed 290 horsepower at 6,400 revolutions per minute and 252 pound-feet (342 Nm) at 5,300 revolutions per minute. According to the ODI resume attached below, owners experienced rising engine temperatures due to coolant loss, and/or "smoke" coming from the engine compartment.Siad owners further alleged the loss of motive power, followed by the inability to restart the six-cylinder lump. The aforementioned failure was diagnosed to either the head gasket or head bolts. In this case, dealers recommend engine replacement. A costly fix, which is all the more shocking when you remember that we're talking about 2016 and 2017 models.The federal watchdog's Office of Defects Investigation further published a list of 13 report identification numbers. Most complaints include the failure mileage, which varies from 51,248 to circa 143,000 miles (82,476 to 230,136 kilometers if you prefer metric units). A dealership based in Cheyenne, Wyoming indicated that more than 20 vehicles had stopped by the service department over this issue.Whatever the root cause may be, a naturally-aspirated V6 failing this prematurely in a unibody mid-size sport utility vehicle is unacceptable. To whom it may concern, the manufacturer's powertrain warranty for the 2016 to 2017 model year Sorento is five years or 60,000 miles (just under 100,000 kilometers). That generation of the Sorento isn't a heavy-duty truck in terms of curb weight, meaning that said engine doesn't work hard in order to move the front-biased crossover.Closer to the present day, the Sorento has been refreshed for the 2024 model year. Only the internal combustion-only Sorento is due to arrive in dealer showrooms in the first quarter of 2024, though. The hybrid and plug-in hybrid are scheduled for the second half of 2024 as 2025 models. In the meantime, the 2023 model is currently listed by Kia's online configurator as follows: $30,090 with internal combustion, $36,690 for the hybrid powertrain, and $49,990 for the generously-spec'd plug-in hybrid.Trim levels range from the LX front-wheel drive to the X-Line SX Prestige all-wheel drive, X-Line being the designation for vehicles capable off the beaten path. The X-Pro is more capable still, but alas, the Sorento sadly isn't available in X-Pro attire. Looking at the glass half full, that will change for MY2025.When it comes to fuel economy, the combustion-only Sorento tops 26 miles per gallon (9.0 liters per 100 kilometers) on the Environmental Protection Agency's combined test cycle. The hybrid, which is sold as a 2024 model alongside the plug-in hybrid , is good for up to 37 mpg (6.4 l/100 km). As for the plug-in hybrid powertrain, the all-electric driving range is estimated by the EPA at 32 miles (51 kilometers). Google Maps is a fantastic application that makes every journey faster, easier, and safer, but it's not always this way. Drivers who trust Google Maps blindly typically find it the hard way, as they end up in the most awkward moments due to the navigation app. A navigation blunder in Canada causes at least a dozen motorists to drive in the wrong direction on a one-way street daily. A resident explained in an interview for Canadian media that Glen Avenue, which became a one-way street approximately two years ago, has become a major pain in the neck for those living in the region and drivers unfamiliar with the route.Despite Google Maps showing the road correctly as a one-way street, once users enable navigation, they end up being set in the wrong direction, too. Theoretically, Google Maps knows it's a one-way road, given it shows the correct information on the map, but its navigation engine ignores the travel direction and keeps suggesting the same road regardless of which way you're going.Unsurprisingly, the Google Maps blunder has already produced major inconvenience, with some drivers blocking the exit of motorists driving in the correct directions.However, residents explain that Google must update the Maps routing guidance ASAP, as people going in the wrong direction could become a serious problem for the local school, increasing the risk of accidents.Google typically updates Maps information based on user reports - users can't make edits but can submit suggestions that are then validated by Google's teams. Occasionally, some requests are processed automatically.It's not the case with this error, as people living in the region claim they contacted Google repeatedly, but the search giant ignored their requests.While Google Maps has its share of guilt because the parent company doesn't update the broken navigation directions, drivers ignore the road signage that clearly indicates Glen Avenue is a one-way street. Authorities erected signs on both ends of the road, but drivers still end up going in the wrong direction, passing right in front of the signs.Google told local media that it received reports from users in the region and is now looking into the problem. As of this week, the routing engine should no longer suggest the wrong direction.Meanwhile, the problem seems exclusive to Google Maps, as other navigation apps , including the Google-owned Waze, show the correct travel direction when including this road in suggested routes. Apple Maps, the native navigation software bundled with iPhones, shows correct information, too.If you encounter similar errors, you must remember that the driver is always responsible for their actions, and they must first pay attention to road signs. No matter what the navigation app says, following the instructions in road signage is a must. Soichiro Honda was obsessed with all things internal combustion, and the company he founded all those years ago is known for making some the world's best series-production engines. But alas, even Honda can make colossal mistakes. Enter the J35Y6, a naturally-aspirated V6 that's been hit with a recall over a manufacturing defect of the crankshaft. Said issue can prematurely wear the connecting rod bearings, ultimately leading to catastrophic engine damage. DOHC National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Photo: Honda NHTSA The J35Y6 is a 3.5-liter six that rolled out in 2014 for the 2015 model year in the Acura TLX . Applications further include the Honda Pilot from that era, Ridgeline, Odyssey, and the 2019-and-newer Passport. As opposed to the J35Y8 that premiered in the 2023 model year Honda Pilot, the Y6 features VTEC on the intake valves only. The Y8 ditches VTEC in favor ofcylinder heads. Exclusive to the 2014 to 2020 model year Acura MDX, the MDX-specific version of the 3.5 is dubbed J35Y5.Having touched upon the technical stuff, let's get into why the folks at Honda issued a recall for 248,999 vehicles produced for the 2015 through 2019 model years. According to the document attached below, the improper settings of the equipment used to manufacture the crankshaft of the J35Y6 may lead to connecting rod bearing seizure. More specifically, the crank pin was improperly ground, resulting in pins with an out-of-spec crown or convex shape.Abnormal engine noise is the easiest way of telling that something is wrong with the J35Y6. Other indications come in the form of stalling, the inability to restart the engine, decreased engine output, and engine check lamp illumination. As per the cited safety recall report, the iffy cranks in question bear part numbers 10002-5J2-A00 and 10002-5J6-A01.The Japanese automaker told thethat the first market complaint over this issue was filed with American Honda Motor Co. in February 2020. A whopping 1,450 warranty claims were submitted in the period between July 2014 and November 2023, which indicates that Honda was aware of said problem before the market complaint from February 2020.Manufactured by Honda rather than a supplier, the suspect crankshafts equip an estimated 248,999 vehicles, of which 1 percent are believed to require major engine repairs or replacement engines. Dealers nationwide have already been informed on November 9, whereas known owners have to wait until January 2 to be notified via first-class mail.Based on documents published by the federal watchdog, affected TLX vehicles were manufactured between February 2014 and July 2020. The MDX is affected as well, namely crossovers produced from June 2016 through March 2020. The Pilot is listed with build dates beginning May 2016 and ending June 2016. The Odyssey is listed from April 2018 to August 2018.Moving on to the Ridgeline pickup, the 2017 and 2019 model years are affected. There's no mention of the 2018, though. Similarly, there is no mention of the Passport, which is best described as the two-row sibling of the family-sized Pilot mid-size crossover.Owners may contact the NHTSA or Honda customer service for more information about recall number 23V-751. In the meantime, owners can easily tell whether their V6-powered Honda vehicles are recalled or not by running the VIN on the's website. Marina, California, is on the way to becoming an electric air mobility hub thanks to Joby. The eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) manufacturer is ready to expand its local presence with the help of a recent financial boost of close to $10 million. Joby has come a long way since its launch in 2009. It currently employs more than 1,250 people across California. It has offices in San Carlos and Santa Cruz and a manufacturing facility in Marina. At the moment, the company has 160 open positions across the state and plans to add 690 full-time jobs in the next three years.This is correlated to a major expansion of its Marina facilities. This is where Joby will initially manufacture its electric air taxi for passengers and train future pilots as well as dedicated maintenance personnel.In support of that, the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) awarded Joby a $9.8 million California Competes (CalCompetes) grant. The financial boost will help Joby focus on manufacturing plans, while its electric aircraft is set to receive the green light for commercial operations in 2025.This is only the beginning. Once its eVTOL is officially certified, Joby will move up to scaled manufacturing and will do so in a different location. A couple of months ago, the eVTOL company confirmed plans to expand to Dayton, Ohio. That is where Joby will build a nearly 2 million square feet (185,800 square meters) plant in close proximity to the Dayton International Airport.The future facility will be able to roll out up to 500 units per year, which in turn will bring 2,000 clean manufacturing jobs to the area.Joby intends to start building this new facility next year and complete it by the end of 2025. As for its headquarters and R&D center, they'll stay in California.In the meantime, Joby is focusing on its California-based pilot production facility . It was set up in collaboration with Toyota, who currently is Joby's largest external shareholder.The Toyota design team helped configure this pilot production line in Marina, and the automotive giant will also help with component supply. The Joby-designed components will be manufactured by Toyota in Japan, sent to Joby's San Carlos facility for assembly, and then sent to the Marina pilot production line for the final assembly of the eVTOLs.Recently, Joby claims to have completed a historic flight the first eVTOL flight in New York City. A Joby air taxi took off from the famous Manhattan heliport, which is also on the way to becoming electrified in order to accommodate AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) commercial services.The Joby electric air taxi promises a 100-mile (161 km) range on a single charge and extremely quiet urban operations, as confirmed through NASA testing. I always considered voice commands an essential feature of the Android Auto and CarPlay experience, as their purpose is to make every minute you spend behind the wheel safer. Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution The fix Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution Using Android Auto without voice commands Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution With voice commands , users can interact with their applications without taking their eyes off the road. Google Assistant can control Google Maps, music playback powered by Spotify and YouTube Music, phone calls, messages, and much more.However, the stability and reliability problems occasionally and regularly turn voice commands into a confusing mess. The feature suddenly stops working, making it impossible for drivers to control their apps.It's what happens today following a recent update.Users who turned to Google Assistant on Android Auto to set up Google Maps to a destination, play music, or make a phone call received a mysterious error message that "voice commands aren't available at the moment."The issue has become widespread lately, though it's unclear why not all users are affected. I used Google Assistant earlier today in my car, and everything worked flawlessly, with no bug whatsoever. I previously struggled with voice commands, too, but the feature doesn't seem affected by this new error.Several others claim voice commands are broken in their cars following a mid-November update. However, it doesn't look like Android Auto is responsible for the bug but the Google app. Google ships updates for Google Assistant via the Google app on Android and Android Auto.The glitch was reported in mid-November and has since become more widespread, with multiple reports posted on Google's forums to report this behavior. The error message appears on the screen when waking up Google Assistant via the wake-up phrase or with the microphone icon on the screen.The bug is not exclusive to a certain brand or phone model. Users confirmed the same voice command problem on Samsung, Google, and Xiaomi phones. The Android Auto version doesn't make a difference, as reports on Google's forums claim the same happens on stable and beta builds. Android Auto wired and wireless are both affected.The problem resides in the latest Google app update, so the workaround involves downgrading to an earlier build that doesn't include the glitch.The process is fast and doesn't require any special computer skills. You must download an older Google app build on your device and browse to the file's location on the smartphone. Tap the APK file to begin the downgrade and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.Users should also disable the automatic updates for the Google app to block the device from receiving the latest version that includes the bug.Based on user reports, you can downgrade to version 14.44.31.28 to restore the complete functionality bundled with Google Assistant . Previous versions should work, too, but the more you go back, the bigger the chances of lacking the latest functionality.Voice commands provide users with a safer way to interact with their apps while driving, so they can make phone calls and respond to messages without touching their phones.Once voice commands are broken, users are tempted to return to their mobile devices, so a small bug like this can make the experience behind the wheel more dangerous. Others rely on touch input for the same thing, but eventually, drivers take their eyes off the road and interact with the infotainment screen to do the things they previously conducted with voice commands.Google's staff has already chimed in, asking for more information on the bug. A community specialist says they forwarded the reports to the Android Auto team and asked for phone logs. It's too early to tell when a patch could go live, but Google typically ships updates for the Google app every few days, so I expect a fix to become available by the end of the week.I'll post a follow-up story when the updated version that includes the fix becomes available.Meanwhile, you should either downgrade to an earlier build or avoid interacting with the screen while driving. The best way to respond to a text is to pull over and unlock the mobile device. Looking at the screen or using the phone while driving is a big no-no, so fingers crossed for Google to release a fix as soon as possible.Android Auto has recently reached version 10.9 , but Google sticks with small changes under the hood. No new features are on the radar, though previous builds included evidence that the Mountain View-based search giant is working on a disconnect button for Android Auto wireless. With this new setting, users will be allowed to disconnect a mobile device from the head unit in case they want to use another smartphone in the cabin to run Android Auto. The feature isn't ready for the production ring, but additional information should surface in the coming weeks as new Android Auto updates go live. The Royal Navy calls its newest aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales (R09), the most powerful surface warship ever made in the country. In recent months, it has also become the favorite place for various military contractors and branches to test their gear and skill. Last we heard of the ship's exploits was back at the beginning of the month. Then we learned of a pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps having landed an F-35B using a method never attempted before on the ship: night rolling vertical landing (SRVL).The British carrier once again comes into the spotlight this week after American defense contractor General Atomics announced something it describes as a "first-of-its-kind demonstration" of the Mojave unmanned aircraft system (UAV).The drone is perhaps the newest of its kind in the world, having had its first flight back in 2021. An offshoot of the MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1C Gray Eagle, hence a member of the Predator family, it's meant to be first and foremost a new set of eyes in the sky, and secondly, an armed aerial platform or armed overwatch, as General Atomics calls it.The Mojave was initially envisioned as a tool meant to prove that short takeoff and landing (STOL) drones can operate out of unprepared landing sites. It is now used as a test bed to inform STOL wing set options for the other members of the Predator family, namely the SkyGuardian, SeaGuardian, and Protector.Aside from its departure and arrival capabilities, the Mojave sets itself apart through the large payload capacity. It can carry 3,600 lb. (1,633 kg) of cargo, which in weapons would translate to a total of 16 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.The drone is powered by a Rolls-Royce turboprop engine that develops 450 shaft horsepower. It can move to distances as large as 2,900 miles (4,600 km), and can stay airborne for 24 hours.Why are they testing a STOL and not a regular kind of drone on this warship? You see, the most modern of aircraft carriers, Prince of Wales included, are not designed with regular take-off and landing surfaces, and they lack catapults and arrestor wires. That's why, for instance, the achievement of the F-35B earlier this month was so important.And so is what the Mojave managed to do. Controlled by pilots seated on the British ship, the drone took off, circled the ship, approached, and landed back onto the deck, proving both the aircraft's design and the way the R09 was made work together as advertised.The test occurred on November 15, when the aircraft carrier was off the East Coast of the U.S.. It was, according to Rear Admiral James Parkin, Royal Navy's director of development, a European first: "the first time that a Remotely Piloted Air System of this size has operated to and from an aircraft carrier outside of the United States." Prior to the introduction of the compact-sized Tonale, the rear-biased Stelvio was the bread and butter of Italian automaker Alfa Romeo. In terms of deliveries in the United States market, how big of a difference is there between the Stelvio and its platform sibling? Photo: KaRace on YouTube EV kWh WLTP In the first three quarters of 2023, the Giulia sold 2,694 units compared to 4,032 for the crossover-bodied alternative. For the entirety of 2022, the numbers are 5,092 versus 7,752 deliveries. One year prior, FCA US LLC reported 7,634 versus 10,539.One of the sharpest crossovers in the segment, the Stelvio doesn't get any sharper than the Quadrifoglio. Powered by a twin-turbo V6 with Ferrari know-how, the hi-po version produces 510 ps and 600 Nm in European specification, or 505 hp and 443 pound-feet in the United States of America. These figures apply to the Giulia Quadrifoglio as well, but there's a catch.The Stelvio Quadrifoglio is all-wheel drive by default, whereas the four-door sedan is exclusively rear-wheel drive. The Giulia Quadrifoglio in the video below is equipped with the ZF-supplied automatic of the Stelvio Quadrifoglio, which offers the advantage of quicker upshifts and downshifts to the detriment of driver engagement in all imaginable scenarios.Tipping the scales at 1,905 kilograms (4,200 pounds), the crossover in the featured clip isn't your usual Stelvio Quadrifoglio. Thanks to a Stage 1 tune, it makes 586 ps and 850 Nm of torque, meaning 578 horsepower and 627 pound-feet. This German-plated Stelvio Quadrifoglio is joined by a stock Giulia Quadrifoglio, which is noticeably lighter at 1,735 kilograms (3,825 pounds) in European specification.Pictured with Hankook summer tires as opposed to Pirellis for the punchier Stelvio Quadrifoglio, the sedan clocked as good of a time as 11.35 seconds in the quarter mile. The Stelvio Quadrifoglio recorded 11.34 seconds, which is ridiculously close. Because it's equipped with all-wheel drive, the crossover does have the upper hand in 0-100 acceleration. That's 62 miles per hour in old money, with the Stelvio sport utility vehicle and Giulia sedan posting 3.62 and 3.68 seconds, respectively.The folks at KaRace also raced these V6-powered twins from a roll (at 50 kilometers per hour or 31 miles per hour). The metric that interests us the most is how these vehicles pull from 100 to 200 kilometers per hour, as in 62 to 124 miles per hour. Not surprising in the least, the more aerodynamic and lighter Giulia Quadrifoglio made easy work of its challenger by clocking 7.97 versus 9.60 seconds.Based on a platform developed by ex-Ferrari man Philippe Krief of Ferrari 458 Speciale fame, the Giulia and Stelvio will be succeeded by electric vehicles in the near future. With Alfa Romeo targeting an-only lineup by 2027, we assume that both models will be replaced by the end of 2026.Both will receive the STLA Large platform with 400- and 800-volt setups and battery packs ranging from 101 to 118. The highest driving range you can expect from the STLA Large is approximately 800 kilometers or 500 miles in the. Over in the US, the EPA's range estimates will be lower. Sean Teare and Wyatt Teare in 'Bolivar' Nell Teare The haunting low-budget drama "Bolivar," partially shot, as its title implies, on the Bolivar Peninsula along the southeast Texas coast, is a labor of love. It's the feature-film directorial debut from Houston-born Nell Teare, a former High School for the Performing and Visual Arts student who directs, co-writes and stars, appearing in nearly every scene. But the term "labor of love" can also carry the ring of dismissal, as in this person obviously put a lot of brawn and heart into this project and might deserve an "A" for effort but the result isn't worth all of their creative blood, sweat and tears. That's not the case with "Bolivar," a well-crafted, moving and ultimately uplifting drama about a woman adrift in the backwash of grief after the death of her mother and her marriage. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Nell Teare is Maggie, a creative-writing teacher who, at the start of the film, is getting ready to get back to work after taking time off to deal with both her mother's passing and the particulars of the divorce from her husband, Andrew (Alex Desert, "Becker"). She's also juggling the long-running guilt that she carries over her thorny relationship with her drug-addicted younger brother Sonny (James Walsh, who also co-wrote the script), who suddenly reappears in her life. But she hasn't yet really come to terms with any of these seismic life changes. That's evident in her day drinking, willingness to succumb to the siren song of casual sex with a beefy bartender (Chris Petrovski, "Madam Secretary") and the bickering with her father (Robert Pine, "Five Days at Memorial"). Nell Teare in the film 'Bolivar' Nell Teare Nell Teare and Chris Petrovski in 'Bolivar' Nell Teare What proves to be her salve are the old video tapes and memories she has of the family in happier times, frolicking along the Texas shore during a hazy, long-ago summer. But no one can stay cocooned in the past, swaddled in the comfort of memory forever, and Maggie has to find a way to push through. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Teare and Walsh have created a simple story that nonetheless reverberates with complex emotions. It will be intriguing to see where Teare goes from here as a director and writer. Unfortunately, this is the type of small film that can easily get lost in the cinematic shuffle, especially at this time of year, when theaters and streamers are bursting with new titles. "Bolivar," like a beautiful day at the beach, deserves to be seen and remembered. Much ink has been spilled on Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta software launching outside North America. Tesla has updated its owner's manuals in Europe, Australia, and Asia to include a new FSD Beta section, which might signal an imminent release of its self-driving features in these regions. Full Self-Driving FSD Photo: Tesla EV Tesla has again edited its owner's manuals outside North America to remove the(Beta) section. This might indicate that the addition was a mistake or that somebody prematurely activated that section. However, since it was consistent throughout many markets, it could be more than just an honest mistake. The original article continues below.Vehicle autonomy is arguably the most important part of Tesla's Master Plan Part Deux , presented in 2016. Almost half of the document was dedicated to vehicle autonomy and robotaxis, which emphasized the importance Elon Musk placed on these concepts. But seven years later, Tesla's most advanced driver assistance system, Full Self-Driving Beta, is still not ready to tango.Although its name might suggestBeta can drive unsupervised, this is certainly not the case. Tesla clarifies this in its legal documents and the many warnings owners must agree to before activating the software. Tesla engineers work around the clock to advance FSD software from the current Beta stage, which is still limited, to the coveted commercial release and Level-5 capability.So far, Full Self-Driving Beta can only be tested in the US and Canada. Whereas traffic regulations are similar in the two countries, they differ significantly in other parts of the world. The European Union may have unified regulations, but there's fragmentation across the block, as each member state can set its own traffic rules. This makes deploying FSD Beta in those markets much more challenging.Elon Musk said a while back that the most important section of FSD Beta will work everywhere, whereas a small section will need localizing. It's the latter that poses the most problems, as Tesla must first obtain regulatory approval. Work is underway in Europe, Australia, and several Asian countries, including China, suggesting that Tesla might start limited testing soon.In his typical optimistic way, Elon Musk thought FSD Beta could start tests in Europe by the end of 2023. Tesla hired many ADAS test operators in Europe this summer, reportedly in preparation for the FSD Beta deployment. At the same time, the European Union has amended legislation to speed up driver assist regulations , making them its highest priority.This raised hopes that the FSD Beta could be allowed on European roads in early 2024, especially as Tesla pushed software updates in Europe and Australia containing the FSD Beta software. Regular Tesla owners cannot activate this, but Tesla employees might gain access to the self-driving features.Now, Tesla has gone a step further and updated its owner's manuals outside North America to include a section dedicated to Full Self-Driving Beta. This suggests that Tesla might expand these features to other countries soon. The change has been discovered by the third-party app developer Teslascope in the European manuals and those in China, Australia, and Japan. The new section is listed under "Autopilot" and explains in detail how FSD Beta works and its limitations.According to the owner's manual, Tesla intends to gradually expand FSD Beta "to eligible customers in select countries outside the US and Canada." Themaker warns owners to be "extra attentive and overly cautious," given that the FSD Beta software must adapt to the unique conditions in each of these countries.Now, just because this section has been added to the owner's manuals outside North America, it doesn't necessarily mean FSD Beta is just around the corner. However, as Tesla gets regulatory approval in these countries, it will likely deploy FSD Beta to more testers over time, similar to how it did in the US and Canada. The production of the almighty supercharged LT4 Camaro engine has come to an end. The last supercharged power unit was built at the GM factory and is going to go into retirement with the muscle car. Photo: Chevrolet ICE Chevrolet is preparing the retirement of the Camaro and, with it, of the supercharged LT4 engine, which powered the most potent Camaro ever produced: the ZL1 and its track-focused sibling, the ZL1/1LE. For the C7 Corvette Z06, the first model to receive it, the engine generated 650 horsepower. Three Ferraris (the hybrid LaFerrari topping the ranking), the McLaren P1 , the Porsche 918 Spyder, and the Lamborghini Aventador were the only ones above it back in 2015.Later on, it was tuned up to 668 horsepower for the Cadillac CT5 Blackwing, which came in the company of 659 lb-ft of torque. In 2023, the Escalade-V luxury SUV got even more: an astounding 682 horsepower (691 PS) and 653 lb-ft (885 Nm) of torque for a run from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 kph) in 4.4 seconds and a quarter mile in 12.74 seconds.Afterwards, GM adapted the LT as a wet-sump lubrication engine. It came with a larger intercooler system, which eliminated the cooling issues that the Corvette was suffering from.The V Series from Chevrolet, with the Cadillac CTS, CTS5 Blackwing, and Escalade included, were all powered by the LT4, and so were the Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06. But they will all have to give it up and come up with something different and, most likely, electrified.The last LT4 rolled off the assembly line at the GM Performance Build Center (PBC) in Wixom, Michigan. The 6.2-liter V8 will find room into the last 2024 ZL1 Camaro being produced. According to Motortrend, engine builder Billy Burke was the one who supervised the build of the last of Mohicans.When it was introduced, the LT4 was the most potent production engine ever used in a GM model. Only the GM LT5 engine with 750 horsepower that set the very limited-run C7 ZR1 Corvette in motion turned out to be more powerful than the LT4.The LT4 supercharged V8 steps off the stage with the Camaro, but will live on, for a short while, in the Cadillac Blackwing. While Dodge made plans of electrification for both the Charger and Challenger, with a Hurricane V6 in the lineup as well, and Ford announced that the Mustang would remain as it is, an, Chevrolet only let everyone know that they will retire the Camaro. The days of the model are numbered. The final sixth-generation Camaros will come off the assembly line at the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan in January 2024.Yet the carmaker told back in March that it is not the final chapter for the nameplate. It remains to be seen what that is supposed to mean. Back on November 10, 2022, some of you might have caught glimpses of a screaming ball of fire dropping from the sky. It wasn't an asteroid, or some satellite gone rogue, but a piece of technology the American space agency calls the LOFTID. Photo: NASA Photo: NASA The word is an acronym for Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, and in essence it stands to represent a new approach to spacecraft heat shields you know, that piece of hardware meant to protect a space vehicle as it makes its fiery re-entry in a planet's atmosphere.Heat shields are crucial in ensuring the survival of spacecraft and the people and hardware during re-entry. In most places of this solar system, coming down from space to the surface entails surviving extreme conditions.Take one of the most recent spacecraft to do that, the Perseverance rover. The thing was delivered to the surface of Mars by means of a lander equipped with a heat shield. It had to survive 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit (1,400 degrees Celsius) of heat on its way down, and thanks to the materials used to coat its exterior, it did.So did the Orion spacecraft that recently conducted the first Artemis mission at the end of last year. Because it came back from the Moon to a much thicker atmosphere than the one on Mars, its heatshield had to survive temperatures twice as high as molten lava: 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 Celsius). And it did too, while keeping the atmosphere inside the Orion at a cool 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius).Generally speaking, although they are quite effective, present-day heat shields do have limitations, especially when looking ahead at the missions planned to target places like Mars, Venus, or the Saturn moon Titan. And two of the main limitations have to do with the fact they are fixed, unmovable pieces of hardware, and their size depends greatly on the size of the size of the spacecraft's shroud. LOFTID is essentially an inflatable heat shield that occupies a lot less space when not fully deployed, meaning it could technically fit all sorts of spacecraft. And we now know it works just as advertised, as the test concluded last year recently came under the scrutiny of the Langley Research Center, and the people there declared themselves more than satisfied with the results.Last week NASA released some of the results of this scrutiny, and thanks to them we can now have a more intimate look of what the test was all about.LOFTID launched aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, and in it's compressed state it measured just 1.2 meters (4 feet) in diameter. When it unfolded, though, it reached a staggering 6 meters (20 feet) in diameter, beating the previous record holder, the Mars Science Laboratory, by a significant margin (that one was just 4.5 meters/14 feet in diameter).The deployment of the shield went without a hitch, and on its way down LOFTID became the largest blunt body ever to reenter Earth's atmosphere. And it was quite a sight to behold, too, if you could catch it in the sky: it came down at speeds of over 18,000 mph (29,000 kph), eating itself up to 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,482 degrees Celsius). When it was all over, the piece of hardware was recovered from the Pacific Ocean.Despite all these horrible conditions, the team that looked at the shield found it "appeared pristine, with minimal damage, meaning its performance was [] just flawless."There is one thing about last year's test that still has NASA people scrambling to figure out. Do you all know how the extreme heat of re-entry makes the gases around a spacecraft ionize and turn into orange plasma? Well, it seems in the LOFTID test that orange plasma changed color to purple.It's unclear why that is so, and this little mystery, as per LOFTID chief engineer John DiNonno, is still being investigated.Now that the first flight of the new shield design is over, NASA is looking to develop one that's twice the size, 12 meters (40 feet). This one will be flown as a means to protect ULA's Vulcan engines and get them primed for re-use.The size of this shield may seem exaggerated, but it is exactly this attribute that could help it slow down faster and at a higher altitude.If successful, the heat shield may become commonplace on both NASA's and partner companies' spacecraft, and its uses might be expanded to include small satellite reentry, aerocapture, and cislunar payloads. NASA and its partners also refer to the LOFTID as the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) aeroshell, because that's the name used on two previous subscale prototypes. No matter how you call it, it remains unclear when we are to expect a fully mature technology, as the agency gave no timetable for the shield's development. According to Azerbaijani media, Rashid Beglarian, who, Armenians say, strayed into an Azerbaijani-controlled territory near Nagorno-Karabakh on August 1, has been charged on five counts of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, including torturing Azerbaijani prisoners and participating in the activities of illegal armed groups. Citing the countrys State Security Service, Azerbaijans APA news agency also reported that Beglarian admitted that ethnic Armenian forces, including himself, ambushed and gunned down 200 Azeri civilians, most of them women, children and elderly people during February 1992 events near the Karabakh town of Khojaly (Khojalu) that Azerbaijan claims amounted to genocide. The Armenian side has denied that Armenian forces targeted civilians during one of their early offensives in the 1992-1994 war, blaming the killings on the Azerbaijani forces allegedly seeking to prevent the evacuation of Khojalys ethnic Azeri residents. Earlier this month, a court in Baku sentenced another Karabakh Armenian man Vagif Khachatrian to 15 years in prison after finding him guilty of genocide and forced deportation of civilians, charges that Khachatrian denied vehemently throughout the trial. Khachatrian, 68, was detained by Azerbaijans military in late July as he was trying to leave Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia. Armenia then also accused Azerbaijan of kidnapping a Karabakh resident. Virtually the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh more than 100,000 people fled to Armenia two months ago after Azerbaijan carried out a 24-hour offensive to take the entire region under its control. Eight current and former ethnic Armenian leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, including three former presidents, have been detained by Azerbaijani forces and transferred to Baku where they are imprisoned pending trial on grave criminal charges. Baku has so far acknowledged only nine Karabakh detainees. Armenia insists that their number is at least 16. The figure does not include 30 Karabakh soldiers and 12 civilians who are said to have gone missing during the Azerbaijani assault and remain unaccounted for. In an interview late last week Dr. Michael Carpenter said that Armenia has become a model of how a country can reform itself and deepen its democratic institutions and take on rule-of-law issues in a very productive and constructive way. So we see whats happening here over the course of the last few years as a model that could be emulated elsewhere, Carpenter said on the eve of the OSCE Parliamentary Assemblys fall session held in Yerevan on November 18-20. Carpenter stressed that the United States continues to think it is extremely important for Armenia and Azerbaijan to normalize relations so that there is peace, stability in the region, and transport links are opened. We think it is for the benefit of everybody and certainly for the United States to see peace and stability in this region. And so we are going to keep trying to facilitate that through the means that we have available. And we hope that the parties understand as well that this is in their interest, too, the senior U.S. diplomat said. In the context of Azerbaijans most recent refusal to engage in a meeting with Armenia in Washington citing one-sided and biased remarks by a senior U.S. official as a reason, Carpenter said that he wouldnt say that any window [of opportunity] is closed at the moment. I wouldnt put a fixed timeline to the negotiations process. And I wouldnt have done that six months ago or a year ago. I think it is important that all parties redouble efforts to achieve durable peace and security in the region because again that and upholding human rights and democracy is critically important for us. So we are going to keep doing it, he said. Referring to the recent U.S. efforts to help Armenia and Azerbaijan make progress in the negotiations, Carpenter said that Washington will continue to offer good offices to the parties, adding that ultimately it is up to the parties to decide which process is most conducive to their interests. At the same time, the U.S. ambassador to the OSCE said that Russia is not a reliable party in negotiations. Russia has proven over the course of the last 18 months plus that it is not reliable in any sphere, having violently and brutally assaulted its neighbor [Ukraine] and not just that, but having lied about various other international commitments and having broken those commitments repeatedly in recent years, Carpenter said. The U.S. diplomat would not be drawn into a discussion on what the OSCEs Minsk Group has done in the past in the way of promoting a negotiated peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan in their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. But clearly until we have a sustainable, durable peace deal and agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, our work will not be finished, he said. Carpenter said he was not aware of any contacts in the Minsk Group format, but acknowledged that the Minsk Group continues to exist until the parties decide otherwise. After the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh that resulted in Azerbaijans retaking all seven surrounding districts and establishing control over chunks of the Armenian-populated region proper, Baku claimed that the OSCE Minsk Group co-headed by Russia, the United States, and France had ceased to exist. The apparent dysfunctionality of the group deepened after Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that was followed by Western condemnation of Moscows actions and support for Kyiv. Prospects of renewed contacts between the West and Russia, which deployed a peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh under the terms of a 2020 Moscow-brokered ceasefire agreement, became even more vague after Azerbaijan established full control over the region in a lightning offensive in September this year that caused virtually the entire local Armenian population to flee to Armenia. This was said by Toivo Klaar, the European Unions Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, in an interview with Armenias state-run Armenpress news agency published on Monday. For us the primary interest is to actually have an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And where that is ultimately signed is to us much less important than the fact that there is genuine normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the EUs October 5 summit in Granada, Spain. Pashinian had hoped that they would sign there a document laying out the main parameters of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. However, Aliyev withdrew from the talks at the last minute. The Azerbaijani leader also appears to have canceled another meeting which the EUs Michel planned to host in Brussels later in October. Most recently Azerbaijan refused to attend a meeting with Armenia at the level of foreign ministers in Washington after allegedly biased remarks by a senior U.S. official. That meeting was reportedly scheduled to be held on November 20. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said over the weekend that while the Washington platform was no longer acceptable for Baku in negotiations with Yerevan, it remained open to a possible continuation of talks in Brussels with the EUs mediation. Klaar said that Brussels was disappointed with Aliyevs decision not to come to Granada as we thought that it was an important possibility and quite important forum to send strong messages. President Michel is still ready and willing to organize a meeting of the leaders in Brussels at the earliest possible opportunity Dates certainly are important. But the most important thing is to actually move forward and that is what we are focused on, to try to encourage forward movement in a genuine normalization of relations, the EU special envoy said. In Armenia, meanwhile, a senior member of Pashinians parliamentary Civil Contract faction said on Monday that Yerevan did not consider the negotiation process deadlocked despite Azerbaijans skipping three meetings in two months. Yes, they did refuse to participate in negotiations, but that does not mean that the processes have stopped. Besides, they have separate relations with different centers in the world, too, and these relations also impact our relations. And their relations with these centers have not ceased, Arman Yeghoyan, head of the Armenian parliaments standing commission on European integration issues, told RFE/RLs Armenian Service. 20 November 2023 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more At a time when the world economy is diversifying, the gradual decline in oil demand is a natural process in future. It is the financial and moral duty of every country to unite efforts for Mother Earth amidst global warming. Many countries have begun to pay special attention to the development of the non-oil sector, especially to the revival of agriculture. Agriculture is a traditional, and equally, promising sector for Azerbaijan as well. The Azerbaijani government has indeed done many things in this direction and achieved many good results, despite the country previously suffering from the Dutch disease like other fossil-fuel producers. At a time when almost 80% of the world is dependent on oil, it is natural that Azerbaijan faces some challenges in diversifying its economy. However, Azerbaijan is already achieving this thanks to a number of important steps. Of course, oil dependency is too much and obviously, it will take time to get a desirable result. For example, until ten years ago, 90 percent of Azerbaijan's exports were made up of oil and oil products. Azerbaijani government directed the revenues gotten by oil export to other sectors, especially the gas sector and infrastructure construction. Soon Azerbaijan started to reap the fruits of its investment. Today crude oil export comprises 46 percent of total export, and gas is made up of 41 percent. On one hand, it could be considered a diversification, but on the other hand, it is not desirable and healthy one. Many believe that the oil percentage in export should be less than 5 percent to be considered healthy diversification. Besides, it is crystal clear that oil and gas are related to each other to such an extent that any fluctuation in one sector immediately impacts the other. Integrating into the Green World So Azerbaijan is well aware that it has to find new items and right after the completion of projects, the government announced a new concept - green energy. The country will reap the yields of this project after 2030 when will export 4 GW of electricity generated from renewable sources to Europe under the Black Sea. Of course, it will help to reduce the weight of oil in total exports, but it will not reduce it to the desirable percentage. Boosting agriculture for food security Thus, there are other sectors that the government works on, of which agriculture steps forward. As it was mentioned earlier, agriculture is a traditional sector in Azerbaijan, through which the country's agricultural products have been best-sellers and most desirable in CIS countries. The country was dubbed an orchard of the USSR during the Soviet period. It is a huge sector in Azerbaijan and over 40 percent of the population lives in a rural area in the country. It is worth noting that Azerbaijan has endorsed many achievements in this sector. For example, the fruit and vegetable export has increased by 49 times for 30 years. In terms of percentage ratio, Azerbaijan's export of fresh fruits and vegetables is twice as much as that of Turkiye, which is one of the world's largest exporters. Let us not forget that the fraternal country Turkiye is 10 times bigger than Azerbaijan, however, we compete with it in CIS countries. In the export of several fruits and vegetables, Azerbaijan ranks in noticeable places. Take up persimmon, for example. In 2022, worldwide exports of fresh persimmons totaled $525.5m in sales. Of which 21.5 percent were Azerbaijani products. Azerbaijan ranks second place with $113m. Besides, Azerbaijan ranks in the top five in the export of hazelnuts. Generally, the South Caucasus hazelnuts are of higher quality and more expensive than Italian and Turkish. In addition, Azerbaijan ranks 11th place in cherry exports, 12th in tomato exports, 15th place in peach exports, 25th in watermelon exports, top 30 countries in grape and apple exports. Considering that there is a harsh climate in some parts of Azerbaijan, water resources are scarce, and most importantly, many areas in Garabagh have not yet been cleared of mines, the overall results for agriculture are encouraging. Many experts believe that Azerbaijan can double or triple its fruits and vegetable products and the government works on it. Besides, the country allocated much investment in building agro parks which will enable to process of these products and in return, it will create value added. Although the country has achieved worldwide success in fruit and vegetable export, unfortunately, it cannot repeat these successes in the field of animal husbandry. It has several technical reasons but the most important of these is that Azerbaijan's 20 percent territories, which had been specialized in husbandry, were invaded. In 2020 the territories were liberated and poses hopes that the country will be able to export animal products, especially milk and milk products. In a nutshell, agriculture is a promising sector, and developing agro parks and processing centers will enhance the revenues in this sector as well. However, it is not a secret that the oil sector is too big and as a matter of course agriculture cannot compete with it alone. But it is one of the sectors, like green energy, that can reduce the weight of oil in the country's exports. --- Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 16:30 (UTC+04:00) Elnur Enveroglu Read more Despite Azerbaijan restoring sovereignty over its territories and freeing Garabagh from the separatist regime, foreign forces, especially Western political circles, still try to impose sanctions as well as pressure on Azerbaijan. Three years ago, when the situation was in favour of Armenians, the US Administration and some UN organisations were silent about the occupation of more than 20% of Azerbaijani territories. The UNESCO representatives visiting Azerbaijans Khankendi refused to bypass the Aghdam ruins to witness the Armenian vandalism, as a result of which the town has gained the name Hiroshima. The western powers went the extra mile to draw the curtain over the issue of Garabagh in spite of a long time of discussion led by the OSCE Minsk Group, which was in vain. They forced Azerbaijan to reconcile with the reality in Garabagh, turning Azerbaijani lands into their own backyard, and are still trying to make the South Caucasus, especially Armenia, a platsdarm state in their fight against their opponents. When the EU mission group operated in Armenian territory until the September 19 anti-terror measures, the Western allies were in more anxiety for Garabagh to be cleared of separatist and terrorist groups. Because the illegal Armenian military formations once were in several areas in Garabagh, they were the last hope of the French authority, which is now continuing to supply arms to Armenia for evil purposes. This is really to do with the well-entrenched Armenian lobby, which hasn't gone away despite the defeat of 2023. In fact, we are now entering a new phase in the conflict rather than its end. This is the transfer of war to politics, in which the Armenian lobby concentrates its efforts in the West aimed at undermining the Azerbaijani reputation and case. Patrick Walsh, the Irish historian and political commentator, said this while giving a comment to Azernews, adding that some corrupt politicians put the West in an awkward position before its partners, including Azerbaijan. The West has to be careful. It would be in danger of losing Azerbaijan, as it has virtually lost Turkiye, to the Eurasian world, which holds many attractions due to the great economic developments and infrastructure projects that are in the making, Walsh said. According to the pundit, at the present time, the West looks like a hostile and hypocritical place, unwelcoming to the Turkic world, which only has an interest in its energy resources. This is the big danger of pursuing the Armenian agenda and accepting its narrative unquestionably, he stressed. As regards the peace treaty that is awaiting to be signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the pundit said the Armenian leadership looks hesitant with respect to its obligations to its Western partners. He added that Armenia is still suffering from its defeat and seeks its only salvation from the West. Armenia is still traumatised from its defeat, and PM Nikol Pashinyan is conducting a difficult pivot to the West. He knows he has to proceed with care. It is probable that, in return for his shift away from the Russian sphere, he has been promised Western resources and protection. However, he needs to be careful of elements in Armenian society and perhaps the migrants from Karabakh who will have bolstered the opposition. The logic is for a peace settlement and the completion of the border demarcation and corridor provisions, which are included in the five principles that are put forward by Azerbaijan. However, Pashinyan feels he needs to proceed with care at present to secure his hold on power. That is probably what is holding things up at present, plus the blame game he has to play against Moscow and Baku to deflect attention from his own failings. --- Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews Deputy Editor-in-Chief, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 16:46 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more Currently, the Free Trade Agreement with 10 countries and the Preferential Trade Agreement with Turkiye are in force to create favorable conditions for increasing non-oil exports from Azerbaijan, Azernews reports. Azerbaijan Deputy Economy Minister Elnur Aliyev said about it during his speech at the Customs-Business Forum 2023 organized by the State Customs Committee in Baku within the framework of events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev. He said that according to the Preferential Trade Agreement signed with Turkiye, a mutual preferential trade regime is applied to several agricultural and other goods originating from Azerbaijan and Turkiye. Elnur Aliyev said that as a result of the activities carried out in this direction, the scope of the Preferential Trade Agreement with Turkiye has been expanded: "Conclusion of bilateral agreements in the field of trade, economic cooperation, attraction and protection of investments with a number of countries, especially the works related to the facilitation of trade with the member states of the Organization of Turkic States was conducted". --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 18:02 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of information security. The document was signed within the framework of a visit to Kazakhstan by a delegation headed by Samir Rasulov, head of the e-security service under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport, Azernews reports. The memorandum is aimed at increasing the level of cooperation in the field of information security, especially in the issue of responding to various incidents. It was noted that through the development of cooperation and mutual efforts, technical and human resources will be combined to identify and eliminate the consequences of computer attacks. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Chefs Tony J. Nguyen, left, and Christine Ha at Xin Chao in Houston Annie Mulligan/Contributor Braised pork and crispy rice at Xin Chao in Houston Annie Mulligan/Contributor The Gulf Coast oysters at Xin Chao in Houston Annie Mulligan/Contributor The patio at Xin Chao in Sixth Ward Alison Cook / Staff Christine Ha, perhaps Houstons most well-known Vietnamese chef, confirmed she and husband John Suh will no longer be owners in her first standalone restaurant, Xin Chao, beginning Dec. 1. A winning run on the third season of Foxs MasterChef series propelled Ha into celebrity chef status over a decade ago. While the Blind Goat in downtowns Bravery Chef Hall was her first opening, Xin Chao was the restaurant that helped Ha land two coveted James Beard Award nominations. She and Tony J. Nguyen, a partner in Xin Chao, were named semifinalists for the Outstanding Chef category earlier this year. They were also in the running for the Beards Best Chef: Texas award the year before. Nguyen will take over ownership of the Sixth Ward restaurant, keeping its name, as Ha and Suh focus on their two other restaurants: the Blind Goat, which reopened earlier this year in Spring Branch after the downtown location was closed, and their fast-casual sandwich shop, Stuffed Belly. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Three different concepts was too much, Ha said. I understand my limitations more now. HOUSTON EATS: The Chronicles top 100 restaurants The departure will allow Ha and Suh to develop the Stuffed Belly brand, perhaps with more locations, Ha said. The couples divestment from Xin Chao will also allow more freedom for both Ha and Nguyen, who wont have to worry about overlapping dishes with the Blind Goat on their modern Vietnamese-inspired menus and possibly confusing customers about the differences between the two spots. Both Ha and Nguyen cite their James Beard nominations at Xin Chao which highlighted their experiences growing up in Houston and eating Vietnamese food as a crowning achievement of their run together at the restaurant. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We were acknowledged for all the hard work we put in, Ha said. Well never forget that recognition. MORE FROM BAO ONG: One of Houstons premier hot pot restaurants now open on Mondays after all-you-can-eat menu debut In the coming months, Nguyen plans to spotlight his love for seafood on Xin Chaos menu. The 34-year-old chef, who also owns Saigon House in Spring, is known as the Crawfish Plug across social media for his Viet-Cajun cooking. He said he plans to put more lobster, king crab and crawfish on the daily menu during the peak season. I got to expand my knowledge of barbecue and smoked meats at Xin Chao, Nguyen said. Now I want to keep exploring Viet-Tex and Viet-Cajun. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He also plans to build on Xin Chaos bar program, which now includes new bar manager Roman Braxton, whos worked at hot spots in town, including Clarkwood. They are planning to add a bar, Xin City, by converting what is now a private dining room into a speakeasy serving Prohibition-era cocktails with Vietnamese touches. As he prepares to take over the restaurant, Nguyen said hell draw on the lessons he learned since opening Xin Chao with Ha and Suh in the fall of 2020, just months into the the COVID-19 pandemic. It made us stronger and more resilient, Nguyen said. bao@houstonchronicle.com Step into a library or a bookstore, and you'll find yourself surrounded by a multitude of books. Each one beckons you, promising to transport you to different realms. Baku Book Center offers a diverse collection of literature that caters to readers of all ages and preferences. Despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic, the center has managed to adapt and continue its operations successfully, achieving its goals of promoting reading, engaging readers, and providing access to books. Today, the center continues to organize literary, educational, and cultural events, including book releases, meetings with writers, and other activities to engage and delight visitors. In an interview with AZERNEWS, the Baku Book Center's PR manager, Nigar Huseynova provided an in-depth overview of the activities of the Baku Book Center, readers' preferences, the Baku Book Fair, and the state of the book market in Azerbaijan. Q: How would you evaluate the recent activities of the Baku Book Center? What specific goals have been accomplished in the past years? A: Recent years have been quite unpredictable for the Baku Book Center. The year 2020 went down in the history of Azerbaijan as the year of the historic victory in the 44-day Patriotic War, the year of the liberation of Garabagh and seven districts from almost 30 years of occupation. But for the whole world, 2020 and the subsequent 2021 are the years of the pandemic and lockdowns. Of course, they did not bypass Azerbaijan either. The book industry has faced significant challenges during the pandemic, including the closure of brick-and-mortar stores and supply chain disruptions. Despite this, book sales at the Baku Book Center have not decreased. To reduce risks to people and help stop the spread of coronavirus, most employees have been transferred to remote work. But even under these conditions, the work of the Baku Book Center did not stop for a single day. We continued selling online and organized a delivery service. The Baku Book Center received quite a lot of orders, constantly responded to messages, held various discount promotions, webinars on promoting reading for young people, and regularly advertised book products on social networks. The center even managed to launch two projects for children: a competition for the best drawing, "Evd qalmagn xeyri" (Benefits of staying home) and an essay competition "Coronavirusdan sonrak hyat" (Life after Coronavirus). Launched in 2021, the literary competition "Cnntim Qarabag" (My paradise is Garabagh) became a kind of tribute of gratitude to all those thanks to whom we won and regained Garabagh. So, if you look back, we can say with confidence that the Book Center team withstood the trials of those years with dignity. Over the past two years, the work of the Baku Book Center has continued as usual; we are trying to delight our visitors with new book releases, meetings with writers, and other literary, educational, and cultural events. Q: Can you highlight any particular projects initiated by the Baku Book Center that have garnered significant attention? A: Speaking about the most successful projects, I would like to dwell on the educational project "YUKSL" (Rise Up), implemented with the financial support of bp Azerbaijan. The project was designed for one year to help students and young people identify areas for development and professional growth, expand their intellectual abilities and personal qualities, and gain confidence in themselves and their abilities. As part of the project, lectures on various topics were organized at the Baku Book Center. Experts in various fields were involved in the project. Students from various universities, colleges, and interested youth were invited as listeners, depending on the topic. At the end of each lecture, each participant, presenting a student ID, received free books recommended by the lecturer. This project has become one of the most successful since the existence of the center. Q: How does the Baku Book Center gather information about reading preferences? Are there any ongoing statistical studies conducted in this regard? A: Social networks and the Internet in general provide a huge opportunity to study the latest trends in the book industry. We carefully monitor various resources that provide information and recommendations about literary trends, new book releases, and the most popular authors. We are regular visitors to the annual Frankfurt Book Fair, where almost all of the world's largest publishing houses and literary agencies are represented. In addition, we learn about the preferences of our visitors from sales consultants. Also, there is a section on Baku Book Center's website titled Ordering books, through which users indicate which books they would like to see on the shelves of the center. Q: What books are the most popular choices? A: We order books from the largest publishing houses in Russia, Turkiye, Great Britain, France, Germany, and other countries based on market requirements. Genre preferences change depending on the age of readers, and other factors, such as language, also play a role. Among the best-selling books in Russian are books in the fantasy and horror genres. This year there were no noticeable peaks of interest in any genre. As in previous years, books on psychology, self-development, classics, novels by contemporary writers, children's books, and detective stories remain very popular. Readers stopped buying thick books, preferring books with fast-paced plots. Q: Baku Book Center participated in the Baku International Book Fair. From your perspective, what role does this book fair play in enriching public education? A: The Baku International Book Fair is the largest in the region. The Baku Book Center participated in this event for the third time. Every year the book fair never ceases to amaze readers with new initiatives.The fair program includes various events in different formats, including book presentations, meetings with acclaomed local and foreign writers and master classes. All this is a positive, favorable sign. A pleasant fact is the participation of a large number of local publishers. This year, books of various genres in Azerbaijani, Turkish, English and Russian were presented at the stand of the Baku Book Center. A large place was devoted to children's literature. I would like to note the book of the famous English writer Charlie Mackesy "The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse", translated into Azerbaijani. This book became the best-selling book at this year's book fair. To this day, it remains a bestseller around the world. The book tells the story of a boy and his three friends - a mole, a fox and a horse. The conversations between four friends give readers an insight into the best human qualities. Last year, an animated film based on this book was awarded the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. Q: What are your thoughts on the current state of the book market in Azerbaijan? A: In recent years, book production has seen a big leap both in terms of the content of books and their printing quality. In addition to large publishing houses, many small ones have appeared in Azerbaijan, but if we evaluate it as a whole, there are not many publishing houses actually competing in the market, their activities are mostly spontaneous, and we are increasingly seeing a lack of any coordination in their activities. Prices are rising, purchasing power is falling. It is becoming increasingly difficult for people to allocate money in their family budget to purchase books. The active development of the Internet, reading aids, smartphones, and mobile Internet plays a significant role. Almost 85 percent of the Azerbaijani population uses the Internet and can read books in electronic formats. Q: Could you share any insights into the projects and events that the Baku Book Center plans to undertake in the upcoming months? A: Baku Book Center functions not only as a bookstore but also as a cultural space. We have a very busy program; events dedicated to literature and music are held almost every week. We had many different projects that, after existing for a couple of years, were closed simply because any project has both a beginning and an end. But old projects are being replaced by many new ones. Information about them can be obtained from our social networks and website. To attract public attention to reading, to achieve minimum prices for books, and to be able to update the assortment as often as possible - this is what we strive for. Our work is aimed at increasing the role of books in the life of every person. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 18:11 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more Azerbaijan will be represented with a pavilion for the first time at COP28, the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Azernews reports. Within the framework of COP28, which will last from November 30 to December 12, the national pavilion created with the joint organization of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources will cover the theme "Pioneering sustainable solutions for climate resilience". The pavilion, in an interactive format, will provide information on Azerbaijan's policy in the field of climate change, measures of the Azerbaijani government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, activities on mitigation and adaptation, and other projects in this field. It should be noted that Azerbaijan has confirmed its commitment to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 35 percent by 2030 and to reach this goal by 40 percent in 2050. Fulfilling the obligations under the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 and actively working in this direction is a priority issue for the government of Azerbaijan. At COP28, representatives of nearly 200 countries will come together and coordinate global climate action. The area where the event will be held consists of two zones: in the "Blue Zone," accredited delegations will participate in official talks, the World Summit on Climate Action, panel discussions, round tables, and cultural events for two weeks. The pavilions of the participating countries will operate in the "Blue Zone". The "Green Zone" will be open to everyone and is considered a platform for building dialogue and raising awareness in the field of climate change. The 28th session of the UN Climate Change Conference will become a platform that brings people together to fight climate change and its impacts through events, exhibitions, and global initiatives. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 20:21 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more According to Sehrana Rzayeva, head of the Light Industry Standardisation Department of the Azerbaijan Standardisation Institute, " Halal medicines should be transported and stored separately from other medicines," Azernews reports. According to the head of the Light Industry, the vehicles on which these types of medicines are transported must also comply with hygienic and sanitary norms. "When transporting these medicines, the responsibility for preserving the integrity of the halal status of the product before its arrival at the point of sale lies with the entrepreneur," Rzayeva added. It should be noted that the Azerbaijan Institute of Standardisation, subordinate to the State Service for Antimonopoly Regulation and Consumer Market Supervision under the Ministry of Economy, has adopted a new state standard "Halal Medicines - Part 1 - General Requirements". Halal medicines are pharmaceutical products made from ingredients permitted under Islamic norms, the head of the light industry standardization department says. Human or animal blood, animal products considered forbidden in Islam, and other ingredients prohibited by religion cannot be used in the production of these drugs, she said. "The standard applies to both domestic and imported halal medicines." S. Rzayeva specified that halal medicines manufactured according to the state standard will have to have a certificate confirming compliance with this standard. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 10:00 (UTC+04:00) In Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a meeting was held between Chairman of the State Statistics Committee Tahir Budagov and Director General of the General Statistical Office of Vietnam Nguyen Ti Suong, Azernews reports. Prospects of cooperation between the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the General Statistical Office of Vietnam were discussed at the meeting. During the meeting, it was brought to attention that the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Vietnam, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations last year, is a source of satisfaction. It was emphasized that both countries are interested in deepening multifaceted relations covering various spheres. Mrs Nguyen Thi Suong gave detailed information on the activities of Vietnam's General Department of Statistics and said Azerbaijan's experience in the field of statistics is of interest to her country. He said they are ready to take real steps to ensure cooperation between the statistical agencies of the two countries. Chairman of the State Committee on Statistics Tahir Budagov gave extensive information on the activities of the institution he heads, talked about the ongoing reforms in the field of statistics, and introduced innovations in Azerbaijan. Tahir Budagov said that the State Statistics Committee has extensive international relations effectively cooperates with relevant agencies of a number of countries and emphasized the existence of good opportunities for the implementation of useful cooperation in this field. At the meeting, the sides exchanged views on a number of other issues of mutual interest. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 12:10 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more According to the State Security Service press service, based on the information provided by Rashid Beglaryan about the Khojaly genocide, an investigation is being conducted, Azernews reports. It was noted that complex investigations are being conducted on the facts of terrorism, crimes against peace and humanity, and war crimes committed in the past by illegal Armenian armed formations that existed in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. Investigations are being carried out on the information provided by Rashid Beglaryan on the Khojaly genocide. Comprehensive investigations are being carried out on the facts of terrorism, crimes against peace and humanity, and war crimes committed in the past by illegal Armenian armed formations existing in the liberated territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The torture of Azerbaijani captives and other persons protected by international humanitarian law, previously detained in the children's hospital No. 3 located in the city of Khankandi, with restriction of their freedom, as well as other grave criminal acts against peace and humanity, war crimes, and participation in other forms in the activities of illegal Armenian armed formations, is arrested and charged under articles 112, 113, 115.2, 279.1, and 318.1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The persons subjected to the above torture were identified and recognised as victims in the present criminal case. During the interrogation, the accused, Rashid Beglaryan informed about his participation in the Khojaly tragedy of February 1992 and stated that on February 25, 1992, the Armenian armed forces and illegal Armenian armed formations acting under their command moved from the town of Khankandi to the town of Khojaly, where a large number of civilians live. In accordance with a prearranged plan, during the attack, false promises were made to the surviving Azerbaijani civilians that they could safely pass through the Askeran district and enter the Aghdam district Up to 200 people, mostly women, children, and the elderly, moving along the coast in the direction of the Aghdam district, ambushed the Askeran and killed them with automatic weapons. After the personal belongings of the dead were looted by the members of the criminal group, their bodies were buried in the vicinity of the Askaran castle. During the on-the-spot testimony, Rashid Beglaryan gave detailed information about the places where the criminal acts against the civilian population were committed. At present, the investigations into the aforementioned criminal acts are ongoing. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 10:07 (UTC+04:00) President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has addressed the participants of the "Development of Women's Rights and Empowerment of Women" international conference, Azernews reports. Dear Participants of the Conference, I welcome you to the first-ever NAM Conference on Advancing the Rights and Empowerment of Women. In 2019, with the unanimous support of all NAM Member States, Azerbaijan has been elected as a Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement the second-largest international establishment after the United Nations. It is with the same unanimous decision that the Azerbaijani Chairmanship has been extended until the end of 2023. This was a high recognition of Azerbaijan's performance in the Movement. We highly appreciate the trust put in our country. Throughout its Chairmanship, Azerbaijan, remaining committed to the Bandung Principles, made tremendous efforts to advance the Movement's agenda and boost its prestige on the international scene. It is noteworthy that it was the Non-Aligned Movement that played a leading role in mobilizing global efforts in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The special session of the UN General Assembly in response to COVID-19 was convened in December 2020, at the initiative of Azerbaijan. We did not remain silent in the face of the policy of the vaccine nationalism pursued by some countries, and encouraged fair vaccine distribution. Driven by humanistic values, Azerbaijan has provided financial and humanitarian support to more than 80 countries, most of them being the NAM Member States. Moreover, Azerbaijan has allocated funding to support post-pandemic recovery in Africa and Small Island Developing States. Significant steps have been taken towards further institutional development of the NAM during our Chairmanship. The NAM Parliamentary Network and the NAM Youth Organisation were established at Azerbaijan's initiative. I proposed creating the NAM Women Platform during the NAM Conference held this July in Baku. Azerbaijan has also devoted special attention to the decolonization agenda. We have globally exposed the neo-colonial policy pursued by some countries, in particular by France, and demanded to put an end to this shameful practice. Colonialism has also had an adverse impact on women's rights. In this regard, I welcome the organization of the side event on this topic, to be held in parallel to this conference. Defending women's rights and empowerment of women stand high on the Non-Aligned Movement's agenda. The successive NAM documents, including the Final Document of the Baku Summit of 2019, place a particular focus on this topic, setting commitments for the Member States. Invaluable contribution by women to public, political, social and humanitarian aspects of life, including the development of science and literacy, is undeniable. Throughout the centuries, Azerbaijani women have always been at the forefront of preserving our rich culture, traditions and family values, and raising a generation attached to their national roots. The first secular school for girls in the Muslim world was inaugurated in Baku back in 1901. Azerbaijan was the first republic in the Muslim world to grant women the right to vote in 1919, surpassing most European countries. Advancing women's rights and empowering them in society and public governance have always been in the spotlight in Azerbaijan. Today, Azerbaijani women make valuable contributions to our country's prosperity and progress through their determined and multifaceted activities in the spheres such as science, education, healthcare, arts and other domains. Women account for 63% of the professorial staff in the higher education institutions. 70% of the medical personnel in public healthcare facilities are women. Women's representation in the local self-governing bodies is at 40%. The number of women entrepreneurs is growing thanks to the measures within the state-supported self-employment programs. Liberation of our lands from a 30-year-long occupation by Armenia and gaining historic Victory was made possible by the sons that Azerbaijani women have raised in the spirit of patriotism. Currently, one of the main priorities of the socio-economic development of Azerbaijan is ensuring the Great Return to its liberated territories. In this regard, the measures are undertaken towards providing the former internally displaced Azerbaijani women who have returned to their ancestral lands, with job opportunities. The NAM has an important role to play in protecting women's rights. The establishment of the NAM Women Platform will invigorate this process. We are nearing the end of our Chairmanship. It is with great pride that I state that despite being one of the youngest members of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan will leave a successful legacy to the upcoming Chairmanships. Our country will continue its efforts to promote purposes and principles of the NAM at the international level. I am confident that this landmark Conference will serve as a significant platform for fruitful discussions on advancing the rights and empowerment of women and will launch a new chapter of concerted activity to that end in the history of the Non-Aligned Movement. I wish you all a successful Conference and a pleasant stay in the hospitable city of Baku. Ilham Aliyev President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Baku, 18 November 2023 --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 10:49 (UTC+04:00) In accordance with the instructions of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the return of former internally displaced persons to the restored village of Zabukh in the Lachin district took place, Azernews reports. On November 20, 25 families (91 people) living in the capital city and Absheron left the Gobu Park 3 residential complex in the Garadagh district of Baku for Zabukh. 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 village of Zabukh has been provided for 96 families382 people. To recall, the first migration to Zabukh took place on August 25 of this year. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 13:00 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more "Today's conference of the Non-Aligned Movement 'Women's Empowerment' is of great importance for achieving gender equality and supporting women," said Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Zulaiho Mahkamova in her speech, Azernews reports. According to Mahkamova, Uzbekistan has joined the mission to expand women's rights: "Our country has taken a number of important steps to achieve this goalabout 100 legal documents have been adopted, and a number of international documents on this issue have been ratified. The deputy prime minister noted that Uzbekistan has begun providing loans under a favourable system to support women's entrepreneurship. This conference will serve to strengthen bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, Mahkamova said. "This event is very important for the development of cooperation between the two countries in many spheres. There are 210 enterprises with Azerbaijani capital in Uzbekistan, and there is potential for further expansion of economic cooperation," she said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 13:26 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more "As of 2023, the state has taken a practical step towards solving many of the problems of women in the family in Morocco," Moroccan Minister of Solidarity, Social Inclusion, and Family Khayar Aawatif said during his speech at the conference of the family and women's committees of the Non-Aligned Movement on "Development of Law and Empowerment of Women" held on November 20 in Baku, Azernews reports. According to the minister, as many as 18 million women have benefited as of 2022. "Thus, about 18 million families have benefited from this opportunity," she said. Minister for Women, Children, and Senior Citizens Affairs of Nepal, Surendra Raj Acharya, also said during his speech at the international conference of the Non-Aligned Movement that participation of women in local government in Nepal is 24 percent". The minister thanked the Republics of Azerbaijan, Uganda, and Uzbekistan for organising such a conference. "Nepal is actively engaged in the process of peacebuilding and political transition. We pay special attention to conflicts, women, and children-related issues. The fundamental rights of women and children are recognised in our constitution. Their participation in many issues is fully ensured. Women's participation in local government is 24 percent. In the election held in 2022, their participation was recorded at 21 percent. Nepal established a gender-responsive government in 2021. This system is being formed in all administrative structures. In 2019, women's participation in decision-making bodies increased to 27 percent. We are human rights activists, and we can give an example of many conventions and agreements that are nationalised in Nepal as well. Gender-discriminatory rules have been changed. Nepal is also joining gender budget initiatives," the minister added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 15:39 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more A meeting of the Joint Commission on trade-economic, scientific-technical, and cultural cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iraq will be held in the coming days, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said during a one-on-one meeting with President of the Republic of Iraq Abdullatif Jamal Rashid on 20 November, Azernews reports. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that a meeting of the Joint Commission on trade-economic, scientific-technical, and cultural cooperation will be held in Iraq in the near future, which will play an important role in the further expansion of trade-economic ties. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Clear Creek ISD recently completed the installation of ADA swing set systems at 13 elementary schools as part of the 2017 bond project. The passage of its 2023 bond will fund ADA swing sets at 11 additional campuses. Clear Creek ISD When voters approved Clear Creek ISDs $302 million bond this month, it included the addition of adaptive playground equipment at several elementary schools. The passage of Proposition B will provide the district the funding to install adaptive swing sets at 11 elementary campuses. The inclusion of adaptive swings at these campuses reflects a commitment to creating accessible spaces within CCISD, said Michele Staley, the districts executive director of special services. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In October, the district completed an approximately $500,000 installation project to build ADA swing sets at 13 campuses as part of the 2017 bond, according to Alex Aragon, the districts director of facility services. The 2023 bond would fund the additional campuses that currently need them, according to district officials. The swings allow students with limited or compromised mobility to participate in playground activities during recess that were previously challenging or not accessible to them, Staley said. The installation of swings at the 13 schools were included in the 2017 bond and had been stalled by challenges due to safety regulations, Aragon said. The wood mulch under these playgrounds made it difficult for teachers to get wheelchairs through, and the company making the swing sets would not certify swings if the district was going to add ADA swing sets, according to Aragon in a February statement released by the district. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It was during this time that Aragon received a flood of messages from students at Mossman Elementary as well as parents advocating for students with special needs. An entire fifth grade class sent me letters and drawings about their classmates that needed to use adaptive swings, but couldnt because there was none available, Aragon said. After Aragon received the letters and drawings he reached out to special services and the playground company to install stand-alone ADA swings with the proper safety structures, fall zones, accessible sidewalks and covering. These swings are little more complicated to build because you have to be able to have a fall zone where you can roll a wheelchair onto it, he said. The work required building a concrete slab and putting a rubber base over it, and then installing the swings on top. Each ADA swing set system costs approximately $45,000 to $50,000 to build, according to Aragon. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The drawings Aragon received included depictions of classmates in wheelchairs sitting on the sidelines during recess, watching the others on the swings, Aragon said. The students took the initiative, and once I got these letters and drawings, I knew we had to do something ASAP, Aragon said. During the planning of the 2023 bond, Aragon sought and received approval from the board of trustees to include $826,000 for the installation of ADA swing set systems at the remaining 11 elementary schools currently without playground accessibility to students with limited mobility. The projects in both the 2017 and 2023 projects not only addressed physical barriers, Staley said, but also promotes social interaction and emotional well-being. It contributes to a more inclusive and supportive educational environment in CCISD, recognizing and valuing the diverse needs of students within the special education community, she said. 20 November 2023 17:01 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more UK Minister for Europe Leo Docherty will emphasize the UK's unwavering support for the principles of sovereignty and security during his visit to the countries of the South Caucasus, the British Embassy in Azerbaijan said, Azernews reports. In addition, according to the information, Leo Docherty will emphasize the urgent need for direct peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan to achieve a long-term peace settlement and stability. Also during his third visit to the region this year, he will discuss the democratic reform agenda of Armenia and Georgia, and present the UK's experience in helping Azerbaijan transition to renewable energy. "The UK was one of the first countries to support demining in Azerbaijan, providing advanced equipment and conducting demining exercises for local executive bodies," the embassy notes. Leo Docherty, on his visit to Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan starting today, 20 November, will emphasize the UK's increased cooperation and support for peace and stability in the South Caucasus. Ahead of his visit to Yerevan, he noted that the South Caucasus faces serious security challenges, both within countries and from neighbors, which threaten the stability of the region. In an unstable region, the UK is a reliable partner for reform, peace, and stability, the embassy said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 16:10 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more "The confrontation between Baku and Yerevan is over, we should think about the future," said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko during his meeting with CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, Azernews reports. "The confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan has also ended. We need to think about the future - how to organize the life of the two states there," the President stressed. Alexander Lukashenko gave a positive assessment of the fact that at this moment in the south in Central Asia, it was possible to find a solution to some conflict that existed between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. "It is clear that both there and here the problems have been accumulating for not one year, not two, not three, and not five. These are long-standing painful points. But there is a positive trend in this regard. This is not because of our chairmanship of the CSTO in the current intercessional period. But this period saw these good steps, a moment, a movement, a trend towards calming down the situation in the post-Soviet space. I emphasize once again, in the CSTO area of responsibility. Because both Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are members of the CSTO," said Alexander Lukashenko. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 18:52 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more The Cabinet of Ministers has amended the "Rules for the use of lounges for especially important persons (VIP) and official delegations at airports of the Republic of Azerbaijan," approved by a decree dated October 29, 2021, Azernews reports. In this regard, Prime Minister Ali Asadov signed a new decree. According to the decree, from now on, heads and employees of representative offices of international organizations operating in Azerbaijan will use VIP lounges on the basis of a notification sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the manager of presidential affairs, indicating the date and number of the flight. Until now, this notification was issued by the Presidential Protocol Service. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 12:28 (UTC+04:00) In September 2023, Greece imported 157.3 million cubic metres of natural gas from Azerbaijan, and in August, this indicator was 162.8 million cubic metres, Azernews reports, citing Eurosat, the Statistical Office of the European Union. This means a 3.4 percent decrease in the volume of imports compared to the previous month. In general, during the nine months of 2023, gas exports from Azerbaijan to Greece exceeded 1.5 billion cubic metres, and the total value was 686.8 million euros. In September, Greece spent 55.2 million euros on gas imports from Azerbaijan. In August, this indicator was 52.1 million euros, which means an increase of 5.9 percent. It should be noted that the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe through the Southern Gas Corridor began on December 31, 2020. Through the corridor, gas is transported from the Caspian region to European countries via Georgia and Turkiye. The cost of the project was 33 billion dollars. It is expected that the capital costs of the SGC project will be fully repaid within 8-10 years. In July 2022, Azerbaijan and the EU agreed to increase the volume of supplies through the Southern Gas Corridor from the current 10 billion cubic metres to 20 billion cubic metres in 2027. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 19:14 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more Yerevan and Brussels signed an agreement regarding the status of the monitoring mission of the European Union (EU) on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. It was reported that the document refers to the status of the EU observation mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Azernews reports. It should be noted that on October 17 last year, the EU Council of Foreign Ministers decided to send a civilian mission to Armenia. The mission started functioning in February of this year. The mission, sent for a period of 2 years, consists of 100 people. By continuing to increase the concentration of EU mission forces on its borders, Yerevan tries to bring a third party to the region that will have a consequence for the entire regional states in the future. What the large number of EU missions on the border with Azerbaijan will lead to is unknown. According to the presidential aide, the issue of peace and normalisation of bilateral relations between Baku and Yerevan is on the agenda of Azerbaijan. "The illegal regime of Armenia has been disarmed and removed from the territory of Azerbaijan. This means that there are no obstacles to the conclusion of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We believe that this is a historic opportunity to change the chapter of enmity and hostility between the two countries and create a lasting peace based on the five fundamental principles proposed by Azerbaijan to the Armenian side. Armenia, in turn, should be able to implement a peace treaty with Azerbaijan without any mediation or interference from any foreign forces. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 16:53 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more Major General Mihran Poghosyan, the former head of Armenia's Forced Executive Service, has been detained in Moscow, according to local media outlets, Azernews reports. It was noted that the wanted Armenian general was detained yesterday. It is planned to extradite Poghosyan from Russia in the near future. Mihran Poghosyan is charged under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of Armenia, including abuse of office and tax evasion. In addition, the Armenian general said in May that tonnes of drugs were stored in a warehouse in Armenia. It was after this statement that Poghosyan was searched. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 20:55 (UTC+04:00) The body of a crew member on a Turkish-flagged ship was found on Monday after contact was lost with the vessel in a storm off the country's northern coast, authorities in Turkiye said, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. Contact with the Kafkametler, a cargo ship with 12 Turkish crew members, was lost while it was in the southern Black Sea on Sunday when ran aground off the province of Zonguldak due to "adverse weather and sea conditions," Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya had said in a statement. Air, sea, and land-based search and rescue efforts began immediately after weather conditions improved, with the country's Directorate General of Maritime Affairs saying on X hours later that the body of a crew was found on the coast of Eregli, a district of the same province. "Search and rescue operations for the other seafarers on board the sunken ship are ongoing," the directorate general added. Yerlikaya had said that the dry cargo ship had sunk after drifting and colliding with a breakwater amid the storm. It had departed from Zonguldak and was en route to the Aegean province of Izmir, he said. Abdulkadir Uraloglu, the country's minister of transport, said in a news conference that the Kafkametler had issued an emergency call at around 10.00 a.m. local time (0700GMT). "Despite monitoring by various authorities, intervention was not possible due to harsh conditions. Based on images, it was determined that the ship had sunken, and the lifeless body of one crew member has been recovered. Search operations for the remaining crew members are ongoing," Uraloglu said. Coast guard and coastal safety forces are currently involved in search and rescue operations, along with disaster teams, divers, gendarmerie, and police with the support of a helicopter, a plane, and two maritime vessels. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 21:25 (UTC+04:00) Turkiye provided technical equipment on Sunday to the Movement of Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa Enclaves, an activist association representing 6,000 survivors who lost family members in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) equipped the association's office with modern technology. Munira Subasic, the president of the association, said the projects carried out by TIKA in every field in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the support it gave them are very important for their struggle. The office carries out activities at the national and international level to commemorate the victims of the genocide, raise awareness in the international community and return displaced people to their lands. It was founded in 1996 by mothers who lost their spouses and children after the Srebrenica genocide, in which over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed in the town, which the UN had declared a "safe area." The Bosniak Muslims were killed when Bosnian Serb forces attacked Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the presence of Dutch peacekeeping troops. Serb forces were trying to wrest territory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form a state. The UN Security Council declared Srebrenica a "safe area" in the spring of 1993. But troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic overran the UN zone. He was later found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Dutch troops failed to act as Serb forces occupied the area, killing 2,000 men and boys on July 11, 1995 alone. About 15,000 residents of Srebrenica fled to the surrounding mountains, but Serb troops hunted them down and killed 6,000 more people. The bodies of victims have been found in 570 areas across the country. In 2007, the International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled that a genocide had been committed in Srebrenica. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 November 2023 22:30 (UTC+04:00) LNG supplies from Russia to China increased by 38% in January-October 2023 year-on-year to 6.9 mln tons, according to figures provided by the General Administration of Customs of China, Azernews reports, citing TASS. In value terms, Chinas LNG imports from Russia fell by 19% in the reporting period in annual terms to $4.4 bln. In October, Russian LNG deliveries to China amounted to 748,600 tons, roughly flat compared with September. Russia was the third-largest LNG supplier to the Peoples Republic of China in the reporting period after Australia and Qatar. Contributing columnist Jose Gaspar is a news anchor/reporter for Telemundo Bakersfield and KGET. Email him at elcompa29@gmail.com. The views expressed here are his own. Sophie Galindo, owner, prepares focaccia bread at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Cinnamon rolls are shown at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer People are shown at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South,Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer T.J. Jefferson, a receiving employee at American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, eats breakfast at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside the store Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Strawberry cheese Danish is shown at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Nutella pastry twists are shown at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Sophie Galindo, owner, looks at an order slip at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Sophie Galindo, owner, talks about the bread at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Brittany Brown, left, and Sophie Galindo, owner, right, prepares an order of lasagna at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Sophie Galindo, owner, adds sugar to a mixer as she prepares cookies at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Brittany Brown finishes making a coffee at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Sophie Galindo, owner, adds the fourth of five eggs to a breakfast burrito at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Hoagie bread is shown at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Sticks of butter of a cookie recipe are shown in a mixer at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Sophie Galindo, owner, prepares a grinder sandwich at Galindo's Bakery + Deli located inside American Furniture Warehouse, 12310 Interstate 45 South, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Conroe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Before opening a bakery inside a Conroe furniture store, Jon Iacono spent nearly five decades in the restaurant industry opening several restaurants across the U.S. After moving to Conroe from California, Iacono said he needed to get back to work. In October 2022, he opened Jons Bakery and Deli inside the American Furniture Warehouse off Interstate 45 in Conroe. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I went in there one day looking for furniture for my new house that I bought out here, Iacono said, noting he immediately asked for the managers number to try and work a deal to open the bakery. The build-out was already there, I had the equipment. From cookies to cinnamon rolls, everything at the bakery is homemade, said Zak Galindo, who took over Iaconos business in September. Due to medical issues, Iacono set out to find someone to take over. He would frequent Galindos Coffee Co. on FM 1488 and he met Galindo and his wife, Sophie, who owns the coffee shop, he said. After meeting with them, he approached the couple to take over his bakery, he said. The couple took over as the new owners of the bakery in September. For two months, the Galindos trained with Iacono starting their day around 5 a.m., prepping the dough to bake for pastries and other goods, Galindo said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We were there at 5:30 in the morning with him, all the way to closing time at 6 p.m., Galindo said. It was really important for him also that, whoever took the place over had as much passion and as much pride in doing things the way he did for us, we have a saying, the way you do something is the way you do everything. It was really important that we were able to show that. The couple rebranded the bakery as Galindos Bakery and Deli, promising to not change anything from Iaconos original menu something that has gained the attention of Conroe residents for its homemade and fresh products. The bakery and deli serves pastries as well as other food items such as breakfast burritos, pizza and sandwiches. Theres (some) people that come into the furniture store because they want the food, Galindo said. They dont come in looking for furniture. Looking for a team Advertisement Article continues below this ad Originally from Honduras, Galindo grew up sitting in old-school barbershops in Chicago, a market he felt was untapped in the Conroe area. After opening Galindos barbershop, the couple soon opened a second location, a coffee shop and a spa, Galindo said. What we did in the barbershop, aside from cutting hair, we were building a community, he said. His businesses all revolve around bringing people together and making people feel good, Galindo said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Iacono knew he wanted the couple to take over his bakery after meeting them, he said. I picked Zak and Sophie because theyre very successful business people already, Iacono said. I was looking for a husband and wife team that had the passion for business. And they fit it like a glove. Self employed for 46 years Iacono spent 46 years self employed, opening a total of seven restaurants, with some in New Jersey, Arizona and California, he said. After turning 65, he felt like he was at a point where he shouldnt work anymore, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Its actually a young persons business, Iacono said. If youre going to make it work, you have to really put all your eggs in one basket. I wasnt able to do that anymore. So I decided to let somebody else take the bull by the horns. Galindo said he intends to honor Iacono by maintaining his vision for the bakery. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/noise.html Fishing Techniques By Katie McKy and Bob Wilson / November 17, 2023 Image Cat quick is a common expression because weve all seen that blur of feline fur when cats pounce. However, it isnt speed alone that accounts for cats kills as their stealth sets up their catches. Watch a housecat stalking its prey, and you'll see it lift and drop its paws in slow motion, frequently freezing. What does this have to do with bass fishing? I contemplate cats when I fish and try to paddle and cast with cat-like deliberation. If I'm reaching for a rod, I imagine the series of movements before executing them to lessen the likelihood of bumping a rod against my canoe. Why this extra effort? Well, bass have inner ears, tiny bones that can even detect the clicking of distant crayfish claws. They also have lateral lines that detect vibrations. Sound, of course, is vibration. This is why, compared to many modern anglers, I choose to be primitive, slowly paddling my boat and fishing without electronics. I fish so slowly and quietly that sometimes my canoe bumps a bass, unaware I was there. I see their swirl right before my boats bow, telling me that I approached with cat-like quiet, that even on their home turf with their inner ears and lateral lines, they didnt hear me coming. Sound matters more than many anglers think. Submarines have long used sound to their advantage and their enemies disadvantage, listening to a surface ships prop to determine its distance and direction. And water is a fantastic medium for sound. Humpback whales can hear each other sing up to 10,000 miles away. Likewise, bass hear more than one might assume and react more too. For example, scientists have found that impoundment bass in significant numbers will vacate deep water structure at the approach of a boat. Theyre not the only ones whove observed fish fleeing man-made sounds. Image Bob Wilson, a Tennessee angler and Bass Resource member (Blue Raider Bob), has also seen the effect of sound. He waded Mississippi River swamps and oxbows for bream as a young man. I would slip over the side of my johnboat into water knee-deep or deeper water, tie the boats painter to my belt loop, and wade. With just a moments pause in my movement, fish surrounded me. It was as if I had become a part of their world. The lesson was reinforced while wading Tunica Cutoff, a Mississippi River oxbow. "I was creeping slowly through the willows when I caught a bluegill on my flyrod. As I placed the bluegill in my fish bag, the popping bug settled next to my bare leg and was inhaled by another big bluegill! This was right against my leg, totally unexpected and quite frightening as the big bluegill made quite the racket with his explosion. After gaining my wits, I also added him to the bag. This taught me, as well as other examples, that the disturbance of the natural world is usually short-lived if we can create, then maintain a silent presence while on the water. One day earlier this year, Wilson was fishing at J. Percy Priest Reservoir near Nashville. A heavy phytoplankton bloom reduced water clarity to only 12". Wilson saw several large bait balls on his sonar screen. "Many large schools of shad were visible just below the surface surrounding my boat. When engaging the trolling motor, I noticed the schools of baitfish scatter and leave the top of the water column. When on the move with my trolling motor running, I would notice the schools begin to break up and descend well ahead of my boat, sometimes in the 10 to 15 range ahead of my boat. The lack of clarity reinforced my opinion that the bait fish could not see me but could hear/feel the trolling motor. Of course, shad are not bass, but bass do follow shad and dispersed shad might disperse bass, too. With a scientist's mindset, Wilson would shut off his trolling motor and watch the sonar screen. He saw what he'd witnessed at Tunica Cutoff. Image When stationary with the trolling motor silent, the shad school would once again fill my sonar screen and occasionally surround the boat. Thus, I fish without a water-moving prop, but there are other ways that I emulate a cats quiet. For example, I've attached sticky-backed rubber strips to my canoe's gunnels. When I cast, I loft my lures so they'll land more like an Olympic high diver and less like a beer-bellied belly flopper. I also cast beyond my target when possible so that the noise of my lure landing won't be literally atop a bass and spook it. An organized boat makes a bumping error less likely. Everything in your boat should have its particular place, and after each item is used, it should be returned to that place. However, deliberation is my primary tool for stealth. I reach slowly for a rod. I return that rod to its particular place with all due deliberation. If Im fishing from shore, I make my first casts before I reach the water, where my footfalls are more distant. Just as I paddle slowly and carefully, I walk slowly and carefully. I worry less about talking on the shore and the water. The transmission of sound waves from air to water is loose, and much energy is lost. Yelling, on the other hand, should be discouraged. Because I mostly fish water that is yonder, such as unnamed, vodka-clear lakes in northwestern Ontario, the lonely Zebra mussel-filtered water of Lakes Superior and Michigan, and remote clear water bogs and ponds in Maine, the bass I target arent acclimated to noise to the sounds of anglers, as are bass in more populated areas, so every time I bump my boat, they might be hearing such a sound for the first time. This is why I remember the words of the great outdoorsman, Teddy Roosevelt, who somewhat said, Walk softly and carry a graphite stick. About The Author Katie McKy began bassing by tying her Zebco 606 and fiberglass rod to her bike and pedaling to farm ponds with her brothers. As a teen, she fell in love with the Canadian Shield of northwestern Ontario, a land of endless lakes, where the smallmouth were also endless. She also loved the big water bassing of Lakes Superior and Michigan and the Mississippi River. She now lives on the coast of Maine and fishes overlooked bogs and ponds for largemouth and smallmouth, following the advice of another New Englander, Robert Frost, to take the road less traveled. She is a regular member of our forums, going by the screenname ol'crickety. Considering the deep morass of complete incompetence at the Federal level, in the executive branch of our self-governed People, unarguably the worst in modern times; if certain changes could be made by Impeachment of those most qualified: Who would be your best choice because of abject Corruption, incompetence, or both? 40.82% Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas12.24% Attorney General Merrick Garland20.41% President Joseph R. Biden2.04% Are you a MAGA Extremist, and do not know any better? These are our best of days, not our worst.24.49% FBI Director Christopher Wray Argenina has elected populist right firebrand Javier Milei in a landslide against the candidate of the long governing socialist Peronist Party. Milei, is an economist by training who has been a popular cable TV host, and rode that popularity to election to Argentina's congress, and now its presidency. He formed his own new party, Liberty Advances, and in the first round beat the traditional conservatives to reach the runoff with the Peronists. Milei, who is being compared to Donald Trump is a libertarian capitalist economically and campaigned hard against socialism, and also opposes abortion and trade with communist countries like China. He is stridently anti-woke and has called the climate alarmist theory "a socialist lie". With most of the vote counted Milei had over 55% to around 44% for his Peronist opponent. He takes office December 10. The Peronists had borrowed a trick from Biden and trumped up phony criminal charges against Milei in the last weeks of the campaign, but that failed to dent his candidacy. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12769509/Milei-victory-Trump-congratulations-Argentina-election.html https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2023/11/19/populist-libertarian-javier-milei-wins-presidency-of-argentina-in-landslide/ https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/11/breaking-conservative-javier-milei-is-elected-new-president/ https://www.zerohedge.com/political/preview-argentinas-consequential-election-sunday https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/11/20/watch-great-moments-from-javier-milei-who-just-won-in-argentina-n2166572 Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute has opened a new facility in Mokena, Ind., according to a Nov. 20 report from The Times of Northwest Indiana. Cardiologists Lisa Pudusseri, DO, and Maitrayee Vadali, MD, will serve patients at the new facility. By adding a new facility in Indiana, patients will not have to travel as far to seek specialized cardiac care. Dr. Pudusseri specializes in aortic valve disease, coronary artery disease and cardiac oncology, while Dr. Vadali specializes in echocardiography, lipid disorders, valvular heart disease, coronary heart disease and atrial fibrillation. As You Sow has issued its 10th report on "overpaid" CEOs among the S&P 500, naming 15 executives with an interest in healthcare. The nonprofit shareholder advocacy group has issued the report each year since 2015; this latest edition builds on February's report with new compensation data, according to a Nov. 15 news release. As You Sow completes three analyses, then combines them into a single weighted ranking excess pay, calculated by comparing CEO pay to total shareholder return (40% weight); the percentage of shares that voted against the CEO pay package (40% weight); and the ratio of CEO pay to the median employees' pay (20% weight). Grant date pay is used in the report, which values stock granted to a CEO as part of pay at its market price at the time the grant is awarded or announced. Two healthcare CEOs have fallen off the list since the February edition: Alex Gorsky of Johnson & Johnson and Marc Miller of Universal Health Services. Here are the 15 CEOs of healthcare companies or companies with a specific interest in healthcare who made As You Sow's list, ranked by their position on the top 100: Safra Catz (Oracle) Pay: $138.19 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 1,842:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 66% Excess pay: $122.5 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 2 C. Douglas McMillon (Walmart) Pay: $25.31 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 933:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 46% Excess pay: $10.02 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 19 Ari Bousbib (IQVIA Holdings) Pay: $30.14 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 293:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 15% Excess pay: $14.7 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 30 Marc Casper (Thermo Fisher Scientific) Pay: $28.21 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 363:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 10% Excess pay: $12.64 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 39 Joseph Hogan (Align Technology) Pay: $18.68 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 1,026:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 16% Excess pay: $4.04 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 43 Christopher Viehbacher (Biogen) Pay: $30.49 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 182:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 19% Excess pay: $15.89 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 45 Karen Lynch (CVS Health) Pay: $21.32 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 380:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 12% Excess pay: $6.5 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 46 Rosalind Brewer (Walgreens Boots Alliance) Pay: $17.29 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 705:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 13% Excess pay: $3.08 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 56 Charles Robbins (Cisco Systems) Pay: $29.28 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 249:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 7% Excess pay: $14.36 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 64 Ajei Gopal (Ansys) Pay: $21.87 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 187:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 11% Excess pay: $6.62 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 78 Joseph Zubretsky (Molina Healthcare) Pay: $22.13 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 293:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 7% Excess pay: $6.34 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 80 David Cordani (Cigna) Pay: $20.97 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 277:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 7% Excess pay: $5.82 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 81 Robert Ford (Abbott Laboratories) Pay: $21.72 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 214:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 7% Excess pay: $6.46 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 88 Richard Gonzalez (AbbVie) Pay: $26.29 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 224:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 5% Excess pay: $11.14 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 93 Michael Goettler (Viatris) Pay: $14.67 million CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 398:1 Shareholder votes against CEO pay: 9% Excess pay: $1.04 million Rank on As You Sow's top 100: No. 95 In the intersection of healthcare and politics, a complex and increasingly prevalent phenomenon is emerging hospitals and health systems taking disciplinary actions, including terminations and reprimands, against employees due to their stances on political issues. A physician was placed on leave at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine for anti-Palestinian social media posts on X, formerly Twitter, following the Hamas attack on Israel. Similarly, at New York City-based NYU Langone Health, two physicians were suspended for posts on X and Instagram relating to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Benjamin G. Neel, MD, PhD, the former director of NYU Langone Health's cancer center, who was involved in the incident, is now suing the system over his firing. He alleges that NYU Langone Health's suspension and termination damaged his reputation and harmed his employment opportunities. His complaint seeks trial by jury and at least $500,000 in damages. This comes at a time where hospitals and health systems are now being tasked with navigating a delicate balance between maintaining a neutral healthcare environment and addressing the diverse and often divisive political landscape. According to Paul Matsen, chief marketing and communications officer of Cleveland Clinic, this is due in part as patients' expectations of brands and organizations are shifting. "Organizations, whether that be for-profit businesses or nonprofit health systems, are looked to for responses on complex issues," he said. "And I would say that was something that wasn't necessarily a focus for chief marketing officers or organizations years ago." Getting patients in the door now requires health systems to address issues such as reproductive rights, social justice and gun violence, Mr. Matsen said. A 35-year-old Houston man is charged with murder in connection with the death of a Magnolia man, who died of Fentanyl overdoes, the first arrest in Montgomery County under new legislation that ups the punishment for those who provide the lethal drug. Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer A 35-year-old Houston man is charged with murder in connection with the death of a Magnolia man who died of a fentanyl overdose. Authorities say it's the first arrest in Montgomery County under a new state law allowing murder charges for people who provide a fatal dose of the drug to another person. James Carter-Smith Jr., 35, is being held in the Montgomery County Jail with no bond. His next court appearance is 1:30 p.m. Nov. 28 in the 221st state District Court. According to information from the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office, members of the Montgomery County Narcotics Enforcement Team responded to a home on Magnolia Reserve Loop off FM 149 for the investigation of a 34-year-old man found deceased. Autopsy results confirmed the man died of a fentanyl overdose. The victims name has not been released. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said the law is critical in the fight to stop fentanyl deaths. Prior to the new legislation, "we were unable to punish people who were involved in the chain of the murder, Ligon said. He said he believes the community wants to see stiffer penalties for the illegal distribution of fentanyl. The Enforcement Team, called MOCONET, is a Houston High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force that includes the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, Walker County Sheriff's Office, Walker County District Attorney's Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and Texas Department of Public Safety. Investigators identified Carter-Smith as the person who allegedly provided the fentanyl to the man, Sheriffs Office Specialist Caleb Cole stated in a news release, Advertisement Article continues below this ad Several other agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Harris County Sheriffs Office and the Harris County District Attorneys Office assisted with the investigation. The level of impact and devastation that fentanyl has had on our community and our nation is unacceptable, said Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson. In 2019, MOCONET, along with Houston High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, began working to address the trafficking of fentanyl and overdose deaths in Montgomery County. As of Sept. 1, House Bill 6 went into effect. That bill established a person can be charged with murder if they supply or distribute fentanyl and it leads to death, classifying the death as "poisoning." In May 2022, Montgomery County Director of Montgomery County Forensic Services Dr. Kathryn Pinneri said fentanyl deaths are highest in young adults between ages 14 and 23 nationwide. In September that same year, officials reported those deaths had increased by 433 percent. Harris County led the state in overall fentanyl-related deaths, with 93 from January through the end of June this year, according to preliminary state data. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Amazon has launched a program called "AI Ready" to train at least 2 million people by 2025 on artificial intelligence skills, according to a Nov. 20 report from The Wall Street Journal. The program focuses on how to make use of generative AI technology and includes eight online courses that target people in tech and tech-adjacent roles, which are free to access online for employees, including people who work outside of the company. Courses are catered to both beginners and more experienced professionals. AI "is going to be the most transformative technology we encounter in our generation, but it won't reach its full potential unless we really have the workforce ready to embrace it and turbocharge it in a big way," Swami Sivasubramanian, Amazon's vice president of database, analytics and machine learning, told the Journal. The effort comes amid high demand for employees skilled in AI talent, the company said in a news release. In a recent survey conducted by AWS, 73% of employers said hiring AI-skilled workers is a top priority, though 3 out of 4 say they are unable to find the talent they need. In the corporate world, there is a growing recognition that AI will become more integral to business operations, with 93% of surveyed employers saying they expect they will be employing AI solutions within the next five years. Right now, many companies are focused on determining which roles AI will eliminate versus which roles it will augment, what type of additional training will be required for different roles, and how to get all employees up to speed on how to best work alongside the technology for basic functions, experts told the Journal. "Most people right now, this is all new to them," Spencer Kimball, chief executive of database startup Cockroach Labs, told the news outlet. "And given how quickly things can change, it's not just new employees that come, it's something that is a constant training process for all of your employees." Amazon's push into AI training is seen as an effort to catch up with its competitors Microsoft and Google, which have invested heavily in the field, and to gain an edge in attracting skilled workers. Williamston, N.C.-based Martin General Hospital's bankruptcy case has drawn the attention of Attorney General Josh Stein's office due to medical records, NewsBreak reported Nov. 19. On Nov. 15, Special Deputy Attorney General Katherine McGraw, representing the state Department of Health and Human Services, filed an objection to a motion by federal bankruptcy trustee Don Beskrone. Mr. Beskrone oversees the MGH case in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, and the NCDHHS oversees health and human-related services and is responsible for medical records oversight. The county's legal team has been in contact with the attorney general's office, providing information on medical record status and patient difficulties during the bankruptcy process. Mr. Beskrone's motion sought court permission to dispose of a portion of the 25,000 patient records at MGH and to engage Sharecare, a digital health company, for storage. Ms. McGraw's objection, backed by NCDHHS objections, cites laws and the bankruptcy code. The objections emphasize specific requirements for handling medical records, including notification steps and approval from the overseeing agency, the report said. Ms. McGraw highlights the availability of $1 million for medical record maintenance. Concerning relocation, the state objected, invoking the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. HIPAA governs record maintenance, and the state argues the debtor is covered by its standards. A tentative hearing is set for Nov. 28. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Oracle Cerner EHR hasn't had a complete outage in more than six months but has to make improvements before officials are fully comfortable rolling it out, Federal News Network reported. The EHR vendor still has to meet a federal requirement that it run incident-free 95% of the time, according to the Nov. 15 story. The VA's yearslong implementation of the EHR has been plagued with problems, with the agency spending nearly $4 billion to deploy it at just five small and medium-sized medical centers. Kurt DelBene, the VA's CIO and assistant secretary for IT, told a House committee part of the issue has been all the fixes made to the EHR, the news outlet reported. The VA is also the first health system to be getting Oracle Cerner's consolidated mail outpatient pharmacy function, and is heavily customizing the EHR. "It's a well-established axiom of software development that systems stabilize when the rate of change made in the system decreases," Mr. DelBene said at the meeting covered by Federal News Network. "The rate of change is still very high, resulting in more instances than we would like." A big test will be the upcoming launch of the EHR in March at Capt. James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in Chicago, according to the story. The hopes are high for how this system can help veterans. "The EHR will serve them from the day they begin their military service through the rest of their lives," Mr. DelBene told the House committee, the news outlet reported. Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health said it will no longer pursue the management of Madera (Calif.) Community Hospital, which closed its doors last year. Madera Community Hospital, the city's only hospital for about 66,000 residents, closed in December 2022 due to financial challenges and filed for bankruptcy in March. It has been seeking to reopen with a new financial partner. In July, Adventist reached an initial nonbinding agreement to take over Madera Community Hospital, and in August, the hospital secured a $52 million state emergency loan. The $52 million included a bridge loan of $2 million to help with operating costs while Adventist worked on a reopening plan, the state Department of Health Care Access and Information said, according to California Healthline. The state said Madera Community Hospital could get an additional $50 million loan once the state approves a reopening plan with Adventist. However, Adventist said in a news release shared with Becker's on Nov. 16 that the health system is ending its management exploration with Madera Community Hospital. "Adventist Health intended to create a management model that would not just reopen the hospital but ensure Madera Community Hospital could be sustainable for years," the health system said. "We worked together with renowned industry experts at Kaufman Hall to analyze data, operational costs and relevant information to develop a comprehensive business plan. Unfortunately, Adventist Health was unable to find a fiscally viable solution for the costly process of reopening and operating a closed facility, especially given the limited financial resources available and the current economic pressures facing rural and safety-net providers." Adventist also expressed disappointment about the outcome, but said it "still remains committed to working with all parties concerned to find solutions to meet the healthcare needs of the people of Madera County." HHS has disclosed a settlement agreement with Yonkers, N.Y.-based Saint Joseph's Medical Center related to the unauthorized release of protected health information of COVID-19 patients to a national media outlet. The settlement comes after HHS' Office for Civil Rights probed Saint Joseph's Medical Center following an Associated Press article detailing the medical center's COVID-19 response. The article, featuring photos and patient details, nationally exposed protected health information, encompassing COVID-19 diagnoses, medical statuses, prognoses, vital signs and treatment plans. The investigation found that Saint Joseph's Medical Center disclosed protected health information of three patients to the Associated Press without obtaining written authorization, potentially infringing upon the HIPAA Privacy Rule, according to a Nov. 20 news release from the HHS. Under the settlement, Saint Joseph's Medical Center has remitted $80,000 to OCR and committed to executing a corrective action plan. This plan mandates the development of written policies and procedures aligning with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Additionally, Saint Joseph's Medical Center has agreed to conduct training for its workforce on the updated policies and procedures. As part of the agreement, OCR will oversee Saint Joseph's Medical Center for a two-year period to verify adherence to the plan and legal compliance. On Nov. 1, Pete November reached the one-year mark as CEO of New Orleans-based Ochsner Health. Mr. November, who assumed the role when Warner Thomas accepted a new role as president and CEO of Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health, helms Louisiana's largest nonprofit academic health system. Ochsner operates 46 hospitals and 370 health and urgent care centers across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Gulf South. Mr. November has served in various roles at Ochsner since joining the system in 2012. He initially served as senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer. Now, a year into his newest role as CEO, he told Becker's he is excited about the work of the organization in terms of the workforce, innovation and providing access to care. He shared his top priorities, discussed his leadership style and offered advice for his peers. Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for length and clarity. Question: You have been CEO of Ochsner for about a year. What has you most excited about your role right now? Pete November: Doing everything we can do to help our physicians and our nurses and all of our caregivers have everything they need to provide great care and creating the right environment for that to happen. I'm also really excited about what I think is the transformation and innovation that's going on in healthcare today, whether it's digital transformation or whether it's finding new ways to work or whether it's finding new ways to provide better access to patients. Continuing to build world-class programs. For our organization and me personally, the work we do in the community, whether it's making our communities healthier, helping build our communities from an economic perspective or an educational perspective. And being part of the solution in our communities. Q: What is the overarching strategy for Ochsner in the next five to 10 years, and how do you plan to achieve it? PN: Trying to be that place where our physicians and our caregivers want to practice because it's the right environment and they have all the resources they need. And they're excited about the mission of the organization. That's a big focus of where we need to go strategically. Certainly the digital evolution that's happened in healthcare and being very focused on that both from the perspective of finding new ways to provide care to our patients, better in different ways of providing care, using digital technology and using the technology to make it easier to practice medicine and provide care. Technology, too, can allow us to do things that we can't even imagine today in healthcare that will become possible. We're very focused on that, very focused on access. And I think we all know that healthcare is moving more to the outpatient setting. When that happens, your access is so important, and we've got to give our patients the ability to easily navigate the healthcare system. Then I'm always very focused on making sure you have the right culture and organization. So people get up and know this is where they want to work because it's the right environment and they know they're appreciated and cared for and cared about and have opportunities and that they want to stay here. And that people want to come here because we have that culture. I also certainly want to continue our efforts around innovation. We definitely will continue to focus on our risk areas and ability to take financial risk within value-based care. Then continued focus on programmatic building. We've seen this through our partnership with Houston-based MD Anderson Cancer Center, for example. Q: Is there any detail or any piece of the system that you consider too small for the CEO's attention? As you're leading, how do you discern what, if anything, is too in the weeds for you? PN: My philosophy in terms of how I lead is, I have to try to make sure we've got the best people, and we have amazing people in this organization. I really try to work with them to help develop an overall strategy and plan, and then I want them to be able to go out and feel empowered and have the autonomy to go execute on those plans. And my role is to help support them and do everything I can do to make them successful in doing that. And then certainly, you're always making sure you're looking at the right information and making sure that things are happening. But I really do try to create that environment where we set the plan as a team and then you let the team go execute, and they know I'm here to support them. All leaders pay attention to the biggest opportunities for an organization, and then you try to organize your time and your focus in those areas. Q: Ochsner recently named its first community medical officer. Can you discuss any notable partnerships or collaborations that the system has established to improve healthcare delivery or community health? PN: We announced our Healthy State initiative, a partnership with other healthcare organizations, businesses, churches, schools, community groups and state and local governments, back in 2020. We've been very focused on working to provide access across the state and access in places where they didn't have access before. We've been building community health clinics across the state to open up access, and I've seen a lot of benefits from that. We worked very hard in the community, working with schools, to help with education, to develop the workforce. And not just with colleges. We've worked on the Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy, which provides education in an area of Louisiana that was underserved from an educational perspective, as a way to help build the future of the community. We've worked hard on some partnerships in New Orleans around the homeless and providing medical care there, and Yvens Laborde, MD, the new chief community medical officer for the health system, has been very involved in that. We've been very involved in an organization called Son of a Saint, which helps mentor young men whose fathers either passed away or were imprisoned. And we've been able to see great results for young men who are growing up and go on and do amazing things. Q: What's one key piece of advice you'd share with emerging CEOs today? PN: Make sure that you spend as much time as you possibly can talking to the people in your organization and specifically the people on the front lines who are providing the care every day or the people who are doing all the things every day to make the organization work. When I think about how I figure out the direction of the strategy of the organization and where we want to go, so much of it comes from when I go out and meet with people in the regions and just listen, and learn from them and create an environment where they have an opportunity to share what's on their mind. And it's amazing when you do that the themes that come together. It becomes really clear what you need to focus on, where the opportunities are. But you can get to a place where you get scheduled and you don't do that. And I think there's really nothing more important than you can do than to go out and do that and listen and connect with the people who are taking care of our patients every day. Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health has completed the sale of its outreach laboratory operations to Labcorp in a restructuring move aimed at improving the system's financial health. Labcorp acquired select assets of Legacy's outreach laboratory business and now manages the system's inpatient hospital laboratories through a long-term agreement to provide staffing, leadership, scientific knowledge, analytics, supply chain services and laboratory support, according to a Nov. 20 Labcorp news release. The Oregonian reported in July when the deal was first announced that about 700 Legacy employees would be joining Labcorp. The six-hospital system ended 2022 with a $114.8 million operating loss. It is now losing $10 million a month, according to the report, and has had to dip into its cash reserves a key reason for the Labcorp deal. "This is Legacy's financial crisis," Kecia Kelly, chief nursing officer and senior vice president, told The Oregonian in July. Legacy continues to maintain ownership and licensure of its hospital laboratories, according to the release. The deal with Legacy is one of several Labcorp has recently made with health systems. Philadelphia-based Thomas Jefferson University, owner of Jefferson Health, completed the sale of its lab business to Labcorp in August. Boston-based Tufts Medicine announced in August it was also selling its outreach lab business to Labcorp. Members of SEIU Local 121RN plan to begin a five-day strike Nov. 22 at three HCA Healthcare facilities in Southern California: Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks; West Hills Hospital; and Riverside Community Hospital. The union cumulatively represents more than 2,400 nurses and licensed medical professionals at the three hospitals, according to an SEIU news release shared with Becker's. This includes registered nurses and licensed medical professionals like pharmacists, lab scientists, and physical and occupational therapists. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA's website states that it operates 182 hospitals and more than 2,300 care sites in 20 states and the United Kingdom. Union representatives and HCA have been negotiating a new labor contract since May. The union contends that during negotiations, striking nurses and licensed medical professionals have repeatedly raised concerns related to staffing, patient and staff safety, but that HCA has failed to meaningfully engage with their proposals. Nurses also contend that cost-saving measures implemented by HCA are at the root of many problems they have brought forth. Union representatives wrote on Facebook that workers are striking to "ensure workers have the resources for compassionate care." HCA Far West Division spokesperson Carmella Gutierrez expressed disappointment about the union's decision to strike. She said in a statement shared with Becker's that during negotiations, HCA has made "genuine attempts at finding common ground and offering a fair and competitive wage increase. "Among our many strong proposals is a wage offer that provides all represented colleagues with a minimum 14% increase to base rates over the life of the contract." A strike could still be averted if both sides reach an agreement. Meanwhile, the hospitals have taken proactive measures to continue providing care throughout a strike, Ms. Gutierrez said. "We are drawing on the strength of our nationwide HCA Healthcare system to ensure each hospital is fully operational," she said. "Our doors will remain open throughout any labor union activities and, importantly, there will be no closure of any service lines at this time. "We are here to care for our patients with the same dedication and excellence as always." The strike is slated to begin at 7 a.m. on Nov. 22 and last until 7 a.m. on Nov. 27. Picketing outside of the hospital will take place Nov. 22-26. Two pharmacy owners and a physician were convicted in a Texas federal court for their roles in a $145 million scheme to defraud the Labor Department through the submission of fraudulent claims for prescription compound creams. Dehshid Nourian, 59, of Plano, Texas, and Christopher Rydber, 47, of Fort Worth, Texas, and others conspired to pay physicians to prescribe medically unnecessary compound creams to injured federal workers, according to a Nov. 17 Justice Department news release. The pair owned and/or operated three pharmacies in the Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas, areas. Michael Taba, MD, 59 of Taba, Texas, was one of the physicians paid for referring expensive compound medications to be filled by those pharmacies, according to the release. Between May 2014 and March 2017, the three pharmacies billed the Labor Department's worker's compensation programs and Blue Cross Blue Shield more than $145 million and were paid more than $90 million for unnecessary prescriptions referred by Dr. Taba and other providers in exchange for bribes and kickbacks. The pharmacy owners attempted to conceal the fraudulent gains by laundering the money through holding companies and attempted to evade paying federal income taxes on the illicit proceeds, according to the release. The former director of NYU Langone Health's cancer center is suing the system over his firing, which occurred after he used social media to express views on the Israel-Hamas war. Benjamin G. Neel, MD, PhD, claimed he was terminated Nov. 10 for reposting tweets to X (formerly known as Twitter) that "criticized people who supported the violence toward and death of Israelis," according to the Nov. 16 complaint as reported by Bloomberg. NYU Langone suspended Dr. Neel on Oct. 31 and told him he would be fired as director of the system's Perlmutter Cancer Center in response to "social media reactions and some patient complaints" about the reposts, according to the civil lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court. Dr. Neel has led the National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center since 2015. He is a cancer biologist whose research focuses on cell signaling in cancer and developmental disease and the biology of breast and ovarian cancer. Although Dr. Neel says he has not treated patients in 35 years, he alleges that NYU Langone Health's suspension and termination damaged his reputation and harmed his employment opportunities. His complaint seeks trial by jury and at least $500,000 in damages. Steve Ritea, senior director of media relations for NYU Langone Health, shared the following statement with Becker's: "As an institution dedicated to healing, NYU Langone remains committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment, free of discrimination, for all of our employees and patients. Several times since last month, we reminded all employees of our high standards, as well as our Code of Conduct and Social Media Policy. Nonetheless, Dr. Ben Neel, as a leader at our institution, disregarded these standards in a series of public social media posts and later locked his Twitter/X account. NYU Langone stands by our decision and looks forward to defending it in court." We Are China Commemoration held at Taipei Zoo to mark anniversary of giant panda Tuan Tuan's death Ecns.cn) 16:00, November 20, 2023 A young man puts a card onto a memorial wall to commemorate the one year anniversary of giant panda Tuan Tuan's death at Taipei Zoo, Nov. 19, 2023. (Photo/China News Service) Tuan Tuan, a giant male panda, died in November 2022 under anesthetic. It became ill in late August 2022 when he suddenly suffered seizures. A child puts a card onto a memorial wall to commemorate the one year anniversary of giant panda Tuan Tuan's death at Taipei Zoo, Nov. 19, 2023. (Photo/China News Service) A young woman puts a bunch of flowers to commemorate the one year anniversary of giant panda Tuan Tuan's death at Taipei Zoo, Nov. 19, 2023. (Photo/China News Service) People commemorate the one year anniversary of giant panda Tuan Tuan's death at Taipei Zoo, Nov. 19, 2023. (Photo/China News Service) People commemorate the one year anniversary of giant panda Tuan Tuan's death at Taipei Zoo, Nov. 19, 2023. (Photo/China News Service) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Wu Chaolan) Nir Shani pauses as he talks about his son, Amit, who was kidnapped out of his home by Hamas on October 7, sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Nir Shani lived in Houston for a few months. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Nir Shani felt a strange sense of relief when he learned that Hamas militants had kidnapped his son and held him hostage. More than 1,200 had died during the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, which left Shani fighting for his life, but knowing that his son, Amit Shani, was taken meant he might still be alive. Nir Shani talks about his son, Amit, who was kidnapped out of his home by Hamas on October 7, sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Nir Shani lived in Houston for a few months. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Advertisement Article continues below this ad Shani and his family have not heard from Amit since he became one of about 240 Israeli and foreign hostages from towns near the Gaza Strip. The Israel-Hamas war has prompted global protests while U.S. Congress debates sending more aid to Israel. Shani, meanwhile, is focused on his son, a quiet kid with a messy room who was abducted from Beeri Kibbutz. Amit turned 16 two weeks after the attacks, but his father said the family could not celebrate. I dont even think that he could celebrate it by himself because (we think) he is held underground. He hasnt seen the daylight for more than a month, Shani said. Ella Shani talks about the day Hamas attacked her kibbutz on October 7 in Israel while visiting Houston with the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Shanis father was killed and her cousin, Amit, was taken hostage. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Shani, along with Amits cousin Ella Shani, 14, visited Houston after the attack to spread awareness about the hostages who remain in Gaza. The Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest coordinated the visit. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 'THESE ARE AMERICANS': Sugar Land family stuck in Gaza sues U.S. government to return home Shani, 47, lived in Houston for six months in the 1990s, working in an ice cream truck and exploring the city, but has spent most of his life in the Beeri Kibbutz as a physiotherapist. A kibbutz is a planned community in Israel based on farming and communal living, typically associated with left-wing politics. Israelis talk about their family members who are being held hostage in Gaza, a visit supported by the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer A safe room door, designed to protect against bombs, was Shanis only defense against Hamas militants, who were trying to enter as he fought to keep the door closed the morning of Oct. 7, he said. He said he could hear the footsteps of militants on his roof. Soon, his house became engulfed in flames. Shani said his son was kidnapped from his ex-wifes house. Militants accessed the safe room where his three children and ex-wife were hiding nearby and took Amit hostage, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He said his phones flashlight illuminated smoke pouring into the safe room from the vents above him. He survived for 10 hours in the house, breathing through a pillowcase and covering gaps along the door with a towel to keep out the smoke, even as the house lit on fire a second time. Shani eventually went to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. Ella said she found out Hamas took Amit hostage that night. She had fled to Tel Aviv to escape the violence after being rescued. She broke down on the bus, worrying about her father, who died in the attack. It felt like I lost connection with all of my family, and I started thinking that the worst has happened, Ella said. When we were told that Amit was kidnapped, we didnt hear 'Amit is kidnapped.' We heard 'Amit is alive.' A poster featuring a 10-month-old hostage is posted on the wall as Israelis talk about their family members who are being held hostage in Gaza, a visit supported by the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Advertisement Article continues below this ad As of Thursday, Hamas and Israeli leaders were considering a proposal to release 50 women and children held by Hamas in exchange for a brief pause in fighting, release of women and children held in Israeli prisons and additional humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to the Washington Post. Daniel Lifshitz visited Houston to talk about his experience after the attacks. He spent most of his childhood in Nir Oz Kibbutz, where militants killed a quarter of its people and took others hostage. Lifshitz said Hamas took his grandparents hostage but released his grandmother. He said he has not heard from his grandfather since then. Daniel Lifshitz points to a friend of his from the kibbutz who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 at the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Hamas held his grandmother in tunnels for 15 days after taking her from her home on Oct. 7 and separating her from Lifshitzs grandfather. Lifshitz said he believed she was released because she got sick. She was left to navigate her way out of the tunnels alone. What happened in the kibbutz was (more than) six and a half or seven hours the army wasnt there, nobody came there, Lifshitz said. They left before the army came. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Daniel Lifshitz holds a photo he took with his phone of his burned-out grandparents home, a result of the Hamas attack on October 7, at Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer The Guardian reports an eight-hour gap between when Hamas militants arrived and when Israeli soldiers came. He said he hoped that the Israeli government would do everything, from releasing all the prisoners, to do any cease-fire, to do anything thats possible to obtain the release of the hostages. Daniel Lifshitz after talking about his grandparents who were taken as hostages on Oct. 7, from their home by Hamas on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Lifshitzs grandmother was released, but his 83-year-old grandfather is still missing. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer The Palestinian Youth Movement and the Houston Democratic Socialists of America planned a rally for Friday at U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletchers office to demand a cease-fire. The Palestinian Youth Movement was not available for comment. Daniel Lifshitz talks about his grandparents who were taken as hostages on Oct. 7, from their home by Hamas on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Lifshitzs grandmother was released, but his 83-year-old grandfather is still missing. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Daniel Lifshitz holds a photo he took with his phone of the opened door to his grandparents safe room, where they were taken by Hamas on October 7, as he shares their story on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Daniel Lifshitz talks about his grandparents who were taken as hostages on Oct. 7, from their home by Hamas on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Houston. Lifshitzs grandmother was released, but his 83-year-old grandfather is still missing. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict since Oct. 7, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which stopped publishing updates after Shifa Hospital in Gaza City lost electricity. Israeli airstrikes have damaged hospitals, more than half of which are inoperable as fuel runs out. Israeli military forces on Wednesday entered Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strips largest medical facility, where officials say they are targeting Hamas militants, according to the Washington Post. The death toll represents 0.5 percent of all people in Gaza, and most of those killed have been women or children, according to the World Health Organization. More than two-thirds of the Gaza Strip population of 2.3 million have been displaced. Gaza entered its fourth blackout Thursday, cutting off Palestinians from communicating with one another or the outside world. Ella recounted seeing mutilated bodies as she fled in her slippers. She recounted this scene while looking at a picture of Amit at the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest on Wednesday. Why isnt he home? It doesnt make any sense because he should be home, and hes 16. Why does a 16-year-old boy need to be away from his home for over a month? Ella said. It shouldnt be acceptable in any way, and weve got to do something to spread the message. Authorities have identified the man suspected of shooting a security guard to death Nov. 17 at Concord-based New Hampshire State Hospital. John Madore, 33, entered the state-run psychiatric hospital's lobby and shot Bradley Haas, 63, a state Department of Safety security officer and former Franklin Police Department chief of police who was working security at the front lobby entrance of the facility, state Attorney General John Formella said, according to The Hill. New Hampshire State Police Col. Mark Hall said during a Nov. 17 media briefing that a state trooper, who was on duty at the hospital and whose name has not been released, promptly engaged and fatally shot the suspect. Mr. Madore was most recently transient and had "recently stayed at a hotel in the Seacoast area," Mr. Formella said, according to The Hill. First responders immediately performed CPR on Mr. Haas who was transferred to Concord (N.H.) Hospital and later pronounced dead. "On behalf of all members of the New Hampshire Department of Safety, I extend our sincerest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Security Officer Bradley Haas. Officer Haas was a dedicated member of the Safety team who died a hero protecting the patients and staff of New Hampshire Hospital. Our hearts ache at this loss," Robert Quinn, commissioner of the Department of Safety, said in a statement posted on the department's Facebook page. "Additionally, I applaud the heroic actions of our state trooper who bravely confronted the shooter and prevented further harm, and I am thankful for the support provided by our federal, state, county and local public safety partners." The shooting occurred around 3:30 p.m. ET at the 185-bed acute care facility, which has its own security force and metal detectors. Authorities secured the area and found an AR-15-style rifle, a tactical vest, several magazines of ammunition, and additional ammunition for a 9 mm handgun inside a U-Haul truck that was running in the parking lot, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader. An investigation into the shooting is ongoing, and police have not identified a possible motive. Seven states and Washington, D.C., are seeing high levels of respiratory virus activity heading into Thanksgiving week, according to the latest CDC data. Respiratory illness activity levels are a measure of the weekly percentage of visits to an outpatient healthcare provider or emergency department for fever and cough or sore throat. The latest update is based on data for the week ending Nov. 11. One state, Louisiana, reported "very high" respiratory virus activity levels. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina and the District of Columbia each reported high levels. The weekly percentage of ED visits associated with flu and RSV have been on the rise over the past several weeks. Hospitalizations associated with the two infections are alsoticking up, particularly among children and older adults. Meanwhile, new COVID-19 admissions have started to tick back up. There were 16,239 new admissions for the week ending Nov. 11, up 8.6% from the week prior. Before this week, hospitalizations had been mostly trending downward since early September. At this time last year, nearly 24,000 new COVID-19 hospitalisations were reported. Last winter's surge peaked in January, when new weekly admissions reached about 44,500. The last week in healthcare has been busy with big transactions, and one deal possibly stymied by the Federal Trade Commission. There have also been hospital closures in recent months and Amazon's One Medical is forging new partnerships with some of the largest health systems in the nation. Here are five top stories around healthcare: 1. Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare plans to sell three South Carolina-basd hospitals to Novant Health, which is based in Winston-Salem, N.C. The definitive agreement, unveiled Nov. 17, states Novant will buy the hospitals for around $2.4 billion in cash. 2. Walnut Creek, Calif.-based John Muir Health's proposed $142.5 million deal to purchase San Ramon (Calif.) Regional Medical Center from Tenet is in jeopardy after the FTC sued to block acquisition Nov. 17. John Muir's existing hospitals compete with San Roman Regional, which the FTC considers the low-priced option within the market. 3. Amazon's One Medical, which has a virtual and in-person primary care network, has signed a deal with two large health systems to become the specialty referral partner of One Medical's primary care physicians. One Medical partnered with Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health and Hackensack Meridian Health in Edison, N.J. 4. Around 450 endoscopy patients at Salem (Mass.) Hospital are taking precautions after being notified that they may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Staff exposed patients by incorrectly administering IVs. No patients had reported infections as of Nov. 16. 5. Hospitals in Kansas and Texas closed in October. The 25-bed Herington (Kan.) Hospital leadership told staff on Oct. 9 the facility would close and services would end that day due to low patient volumes and "lengthy financial struggles." La Grange, Texas-based St. Mark's Medical Center closed a few days later on Oct. 12 because it couldn't sustain its $13 million mortgage debt. Redevelopment of the former home of UTV is set to move forward as plans to convert Havelock House into social housing are lodged with Belfast City Council. A pre-application notice submitted outlining the plans for a social housing development on the site. Co Down property developer, Lotus Property, acquired the site earlier this year and has now outlined its intention to create 100 high quality social homes, in partnership with Clanmil Housing Association. The scheme will deliver much needed homes for families, older people and those with mobility needs. It will include a range of one, two and three bedroom houses and apartments. The plans will now be subject to a 12-week community consultation. Michael McCafferty, head of acquisitions at Lotus Property, said: We are excited to confirm the acquisition of a site that delivers both on location and size to allow us to develop such an ambitious scheme. Alastair Coulson, managing director at Lotus Property added: We believe passionately that Clanmils knowledge of the sector and professionalism of service delivery is key to ensuring this development delivers homes that people will be proud of. The next 12 weeks will be about listening to stakeholders and local communities about these draft plans. We look forward to hearing all views and considering them in our plans. Jan Sloan, executive director of development and new business at Clanmil Housing said: We are currently facing a housing crisis in Northern Ireland with social housing waiting lists at c45,000 - the highest they have been in 10 years and at Clanmil, we are committed to playing our part in addressing this need. Social housing also has an important role to play in the regeneration of Belfast and in contributing to the Councils ambition to grow the city by 66,000 residents by 2035. This is another landmark project for Belfast city centre and the types of homes to be provided has been carefully considered and responds directly to the housing need for Belfast now and in the future. We look forward to hearing the views of all those with an interest in good homes over the coming months. It is expected that planning for this landmark project will be submitted next year, after the consultation period has concluded. Lotus Property currently has 450 units across Purpose Built Student Accommodation, Apart-Hotel and city centre apartments at various stages of planning and development. Clanmil Housing is one of Northern Irelands leading housing associations and currently owns and manages over 5,800 homes throughout Northern Ireland. Four banking hubs are opening with the aim of improving people's access to cash Four new banking hubs are set to open in Northern Ireland next year, after a series of bank branch closures in recent years. The banking hubs scheme, overseen by the ATM network Link and Cash Action Group, aims to address the need for cash and banking services in communities affected by bank closures. Three hubs will be based in Co Down, in Comber, Newcastle and Warrenpoint, with a fourth in Portrush, Co Londonderry. The hubs are being introduced following community requests from the Consumer Council, which in August published a report indicating that 27% of Northern Irelands bank branches have closed over the last three years. The research showed that between May 2020 and January 2023, banks had permanently closed around 52 branches, with vulnerable customers and those in rural areas most impacted by the closures. Among the findings was that 84% of consumers who had been affected by a bank branch closure said it had an impact on their lives. This increased to 90% for consumers on low incomes and 94% for consumers who have a disability. Scott Kennerley, director of consumer empowerment for the Consumer Council, said: We are delighted that Link is recommending these new banking hubs across Northern Ireland. We know from our research that many consumers here prefer to use cash and are still reliant on having access to a bank branch. We have worked closely with Link to highlight the needs of consumers in Northern Ireland so to get this result for consumers is a great development. Nick Quin, head of financial inclusion at Link, said: More people are choosing to bank and pay for things digitally; however, cash and face-to-face banking remains vital for millions of people. Were pleased to be recommending these new hubs across Northern Ireland. They will make a difference for customers and mean people wont need to travel to do everyday transactions. If any community believes it needs additional services such as a cash machine or banking hub, they can contact Link directly and we can assess their local community to see if we can help. In 2021, the banking industry agreed that following the closure of any bank branch, Link would identify whether a community requires further cash services. Since then Link has recommended 94 banking hubs across the UK including one in Kilkeel, which is set to open in December. Ten hubs are already up and running across the UK. Banking hubs are a shared banking space, similar to a traditional bank branch, but available to everyone. They consist of a counter service operated by Post Office employees, where customers of any bank can withdraw and deposit cash, make bill payments and carry out regular banking transactions. Private spaces where customers can speak to community bankers from their own bank for more complicated matters that require specialist knowledge or privacy will also be available. As more companies across the UK and Ireland experience the effects of volatile energy prices and a growing emphasis on green energy, Dromore-based Wilson Power & Energy sees a continued increase in organisations exploring steps to take control of their energy costs and secure energy independence through the implementation of technologies including microgrids and UPS. A specialism of the quickly-growing company, Wilson Power & Energy are developing and installing projects which enable energy independence and business continuity for organisations across sectors including manufacturing, technology, hospitality and agriculture scaling up to 3.5MW and beyond. Over the past months, growing political instability in oil-producing nations and the resulting volatility around energy prices globally has prompted many local organisations to think seriously about addressing their reliance on imported energy sources, Peter Watson, owner and director of Wilson Power & Energy, says. Simply put, bringing your energy production and consumption in-house gives companies more control and can help them save money in the long term. In addition to their popular sustainable solutions including EV chargers and solar PV, supported by battery energy storage (BESS) solutions tailored to a sites unique requirements, microgrids are seeing a surge in popularity for the team at Wilson Power & Energy. By incorporating renewable electricity generators like solar PV, wind turbines and on-site storage solutions, microgrids are designed as self-contained energy systems which can power a range of sites like factories, hospitals or data centres and enable a site to become self-sufficient and take control of energy costs. Not only do solutions like on-site microgrids help businesses to stabilise their costs, they can also help ensure business continuity in moments of uncertain power supply, Peter says. Following System Operator NI (SONI)s recent indication of a slightly higher risk to supply due to the recent closure of Kilroot power station and spotlighting of late November as the time of greatest risk, business continuity is an area of growing concern for businesses for the future. Despite misconceptions around Northern Ireland climates, solar PV has seen a significant boost over recent months for the Wilson Power & Energy team. Commenting on the soaring popularity of its solar PV offering Peter Watson said: In addition to being an integral part of many micro-grid projects, solar PV offers many significant benefits to companies. By investing in solar panels, companies can expect to see a 25-40% energy savings. As a standalone investment, or working in tandem with battery energy storage, solar can be a keystone for local businesses seeking to cut energy costs and reduce carbon emissions. Wilson Power & Energy continues to set standards locally and internationally, driven by its specialisation in renewable energy systems and commitment to innovation and sustainable practices. The team includes the only trained engineers on the Island of Ireland on the MSP brand of battery energy storage technology and carry accreditations from MCS, NICEIC, Safe Contractor, Construction online Gold and Avetta and work with brands like Schneider, MSP, Fronius, Canadian Solar and Delta Electronics, among others, with MSP being on an exclusive service partnership basis. Contact the team today to begin developing a bespoke energy strategy for your business. Visit www.wilsonpowerandenergy.com or contact hello@wilsonpowerandenergy.com Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky will stand trial on two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He has pleaded not guilty (Allison Dinner/Pool Photo via AP) A Los Angeles judge found that there is enough evidence for ASAP Rocky to stand trial for allegations that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator outside a Hollywood hotel in 2021. Superior Court Judge ML Villar made the ruling at at a preliminary hearing, after hearing roughly a day and a half of testimony. Rocky has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm. His attorney attempted to cast doubt on the case while questioning a police detective. The two-time Grammy-award nominee is accused of pointing a gun and firing it at a former childhood friend in 2021 (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File) The 35-year-old hip-hop star, fashion mogul and two-time Grammy nominee is in a relationship with Rihanna, with whom he has two young children. Mr Villar said the totality of the video and testimony shows there is sufficient evidence for the defendant to go to trial. She emphasised that preliminary hearings have a much lower evidence standard than a trial, and she was only finding probable cause. Rocky, sitting in the courtroom, showed no visible reaction. A Co Tyrone man has appeared in court charged with animal cruelty offences after two dogs were found dead, one of which had ingested illegal drugs. It further emerged that the accused is currently under investigation for the death of a third dog, which was found with horrific injuries. Liam Swift (22), from McCrea Park in Clogher, is accused of causing unnecessary suffering to a dog on October 5, as well as to another dog on November 12. A police officer told Dungannon Magistrates Court the charges could be connected. She explained Swift was arrested over a bail breach on November 11 and detained until the matter was in court two days later. Because police knew Swift owned a dog, they attended his home to ensure it had food and water. Officers found faeces everywhere and when the dog didnt appear, they began checking rooms. The dog was discovered dead on a pile of rubbish in a cupboard, a chain tightly wrapped round its neck, cutting into its skin. Results are still to be published from the veterinary examination. On November 15, police learned there was a second dead dog hidden in a hedge near Swifts home. A search revealed the decomposing body of a small dog, wrapped in a blanket and placed in a bag, which was also sent for examination. Police spoke with Swifts partner, who confirmed the small dog belonged to her and she had brought it to Swifts home on September 23, as she was staying with him. She claims that on October 5 another male arrived at the property, during which time ecstasy tablets were produced, which fell on the floor and her dog ingested them. The dog became hyper then fell asleep; however, she later noticed it was very wet and asked Swift if he had thrown water over it, which he denied. The dog appeared unharmed and the partner left the house for a time. She later received a call from Swift claiming he couldnt awaken the dog and it was in a bad way. Upset, she asked Swift to do something to help, but on return she found the dog cold and dead. She wrapped it in a blanket and both she and Swift went outside to bury it. However, they had no shovel so left the deceased dog in the hedge. Two weeks after the death of this dog, the defendant purchased another dog but contacted his partner on November 10 claiming this dog had run away. Read more Man jailed over discarding suitcase containing 5kg of cannabis in front of plain-clothed police officers Objecting to bail, the officer cited risks of witness interference and reoffending as Swift is unlikely to adhere to any bail conditions and has a significant history of breaching. These alleged offences were committed while he was already on bail for theft matters. This is the death of two dogs, killed inside a month, and the third dog this year. There is already a live investigation over the death of another dog he allegedly killed in January. Its injuries were horrific. The defendant appears to have a fair amount of control over his partner who is vulnerable. There has been a third-party report of domestic violence in the past few weeks when he [Swift] was heard shouting and threatening her. His home address is unsuitable as it is uninhabitable and an environmental hazard. Its covered in dog faeces; theres no electricity and the front door is boarded up. The partner is now staying elsewhere. Refusing bail, District Judge Michael Ranaghan said: Clearly the defendant has very little respect for bail conditions or the court. There are vulnerability concerns about the partner. The primary ground for the court is not the distaste and disgust for what might have happened, but the legal test around managing risk. Swift will appear again by videolink on December 13. A 36-year-old man who discarded a black suitcase filled with cannabis in front of plain-clothed police officers was jailed today for drugs offences. Anthony James Mark Lowndes appeared at Belfast Crown Court where he was handed a 13-month sentence which was divided equally between prison and licence. Lowndes, from Rathmore Street in Belfast, pleaded guilty to three offences committed on May 20, 2022, namely possessing cannabis with intent to supply, and possessing both cannabis and ketamine. On that date, plain-clothed police officers made themselves known to Lowndes and tried to speak to him as he walked along an alleyway in east Belfast. Lowndes dropped a black suitcase he was carrying then fled from the alleyway; however, he was quickly caught and detained. The suitcase was examined and was found to contain five large bags of cannabis, amounting to five kilograms of the class B drug. Following his arrest, Lowndess home was searched and a further small amount of cannabis was located in the property along with deal bags and a grinder. Also seized during the search was half a gram of ketamine. During a police interview, Lowndes admitted possessing the cannabis and ketamine found in his home but refused to answer any questions about the drugs found in the suitcase. He subsequently told a probation officer that at the time of the offences he was a regular drug user, was in debt to dealers and agreed to move the suitcase containing the cannabis for 500. Lowndes also accepted he was selling some drugs. Judge Mark Reel noted Lowndes has relevant previous criminal convictions for supplying drugs which resulted in prison sentences. This included a two-and-a-half-year sentence imposed in September 2013 for supplying cocaine. Also noted by Judge Reel was a defence claim that Lowndes was acting as a courier in respect of commercial-scale quantities of drugs. Judge Reel addressed Lowndes as he stood in the dock and told him: The custody threshold has been passed and only immediate imprisonment is appropriate. As well as imposing the 13-month sentence, Judge Reel also granted a destruction order for all the drugs seized. Claire Hao is a Hearst Fellow for the Houston Chronicle's business desk, where she is starting by covering electricity, renewable energy and the Texas power grid. She also spends one day a week covering breaking and trending news. Claire spent her first-year fellowship rotation on the climate and environment team of The San Francisco Chronicle. She has previously interned on the news desks of Bloomberg Law and The Chicago Tribune as well as on the editorial board of The Washington Post. She is a 2022 graduate of the University of Michigan, where she was the 2021 editor-in-chief of her college paper The Michigan Daily. Police urged PPS to prosecute friend of west Belfast bike crash victim, inquest told Inquest was told paramedics spent 34 minutes trying to revive John Ireland (20) after the incident in west Belfast in 2014 Forensic officers at the crash scene in 2014 where John Ireland died Allison Morris Mon 20 Nov 2023 at 20:00 A police officer has told an inquest that she recommended a man for prosecution following the death of his friend in a motorbike incident in west Belfast. Judge wanted to sentence three guilty men together Three men were to be sentenced over drug dealing The sentencing of three East Belfast UVF cocaine dealers for supplying cocaine was adjourned on Monday after one of the trio was taken to hospital. Francis James Magee (66) from Cloverfield Street; 43-year old Trevor McCarter from Tynan Drive in Newtownabbey, and Edward Samuel Jackson (57) from Rockview Street in Belfast were due to be sentenced at Belfast Crown Court. All three have pleaded guilty to a charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine on May 27, 2022. Read more Catch 22: The reason the Shankill Road leadership finally lost patience with rogue East Belfast UVF brigade Whilst Magee and McCarter attended court, a barrister acting on behalf of Jackson told Judge Mark Reel his client was not present. When questioned why Jackson was absent, the defence barrister revealed he was taken to hospital by a family member earlier in the morning. Barristers acting on behalf of co-accused Magee and McCarter said they were content for their clients to be sentenced. Judge Reel rose for a short period to consider what he had been told before returning to court and informing the relevant parties that he wanted to sentence all three men together. He adjourned sentencing and said he would review the case this Thursday when he said further medical evidence on Jackson should be submitted. Jackson, McCarter and Magees convictions bring to 22 the number of East Belfast UVF drug dealers convicted in the past 18 months. Read more UVF clean-up: Allison Morris on East Belfast stand down orders The three had been told to expect custody after being caught with 200,000 of cocaine during Paramilitary Crime Task Force raids in May 2022. Police watched as Magee dropped off a bag containing the drug at McCarters flat at Tamery Pass. Jackson was then seen leaving the property with it and arrested at a flat on the Beersbridge Road. He admitted during police interview that he owed money to paramilitaries and was involved in drug dealing to pay off mushrooming debts. A PSNI spokesman said the operation targeted East Belfast UVF criminality. Drug dealing by its east Belfast faction has been a source of embarrassment for the UVFs Shankill Road leadership which was insisting in meetings with senior government officials that it is transitioning away from crime. The dealing put at risk the millions of pounds in government funding the Action for Community Transformation (ACT) initiative was receiving. The public cash that was provided to the charity on the promise that it was being used to help the UVF transform into an old boys club. Paul Russell, who was born with a rare, genetic condition, died in June 2022 The new book of recipes which will help raise funds Paul's mum Jane said he had a love of food Paul on stage with Stacey Solomon at the 2011 Spirit of NI Awards A fundraising cookbook being launched in memory of a Co Down man who passed away last year will contain recipes dedicated to lost loved ones. Paul Russell (23) died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Dromore on June 27 last year. Proceeds from a book launched by his family and entitled Russell Up a Recipe! will be shared among a series of different charities. Paul lived with Aperts Syndrome, a rare genetic condition which meant the bones on his hands, feet and skull were fused. The condition meant Paul would require numerous surgeries and appointments at Londons Great Ormond Hospital over the course of his life. With the loving support of his family, he thrived. In 2011 he won the Sunday Life Spirit of Northern Ireland Young Persons Award, a memory cherished by his mum Jane. He had a great night with Stacey Solomon, she told the Belfast Telegraph. Paul had progressed well, went to mainstream school with a learning support unit and was the first child with his syndrome to get up to Grade 3 in the piano through the London College of Music. Unfortunately on June 27 we found he had died in his sleep. It was so unexpected. To say we are heartbroken is an understatement. He was so well thought of. On the day of his funeral, as we walked the streets of Dromore to the church, the shops closed and the shopkeepers stood outside the doors, which you dont see much anymore. The people of Dromore have always been a great support to us right from the day he was born, and still continue to do so. Paul on stage with Stacey Solomon at the 2011 Spirit of NI Awards That support has been evident at fundraising events the family have organised since his death. The events have helped to raise around 24,000 for agencies who helped Paul during his life. After he died, about two months later we noticed Great Ormond Street were doing the 60 miles in 30 days challenge, said Jane. So we put it on ourselves that our family would do two miles a night every night in September last year. I put it out through my own Facebook page and on the first night there were 60 people walking with us. Every night over that month, more and more joined and on the last night about 135 people walked with us. We raised 12,000 for Great Ormond Street in that one month, so from then on I wanted to give something back to Stepping Stones. They had been a great part of Pauls life for three years in Lisburn. We did smaller fundraisers and raised 11,700, which we gave to them on Pauls first anniversary. It was in March this year then that I decided to do the book. The book is a collection of more than 130 recipes contributed by friends, family and professionals who helped Paul during his life. Contributors were able to dedicate their recipe to a loved one who had passed away. The book designed by local councillor Peter Haire launches on Wednesday November 22 at the Palace Demense in Armagh, where Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Margaret Tinsley will chair the event. Paul's mum Jane said he had a love of food Charities very dear to Pauls family will benefit from the book sales. "People think its a wonderful idea and a great book to have as a memory to Paul, who was just the most pleasant, smiley person you could ever meet, said Jane. "The proceeds are being divided between three charities; the first 500 books will be divided between Epilepsy NI and Dromore Cathedral Church. "Remaining copies will go to my own foundation that Ive set up The Paul Russell Foundation. The family established the foundation following Pauls death after finding bereavement support lacking in Northern Ireland. They set up the group in a Dromore cafe where Paul had previously had a placement. "Myself and my family found when we lost Paul that there was no support for grieving families. Ive since set up my own bereavement support group called LIGHT Living In Grief Help Through Support, said Jane. "We hold that once a month in Barrel and Bean; its only been going six months or so, but every month there are new people joining. "There is not enough support for bereaved people in Northern Ireland. Nobody should be just sent home from the doctor and just told to look up counselling. That doesnt work. "Over the next few weeks a group for over 18s who have physical or development delays. I found first hand that when Paul was 18, everything just finished, there were no more social clubs for him to go to. A delighted Paul with his Spirit of NI Award Carrying out these projects have helped raise vital funds, but they have also given the family an outlet to focus on in their grief. "Weve been kept busy over the year. Im not one to sit back. Its heartbreaking and it would just be too easy to sit in the house and not go out, said Jane. "Paul wouldnt have wanted that. He loved me going out and him going out; we were a very happy family. "It was an honour to have him as our son, because he was just a wonderful lad." Russell Up a Recipe! (12) will be launched on November 22. A 35-year-old man due to stand trial in Romania for aggravated murder has been arrested in Belfast on Sunday evening. Police said the man was detained by virtue of an extradition warrant by PSNI officers. He will be brought before an extradition court in Belfast later today. PSNI Sergeant Davey from the International Policing Unit said: This arrest is good example of our close working with authorities in Romania, the National Crime Agency, UK Border Agency and An Garda Siochana. "This was a fast moving case which resulted in a successful arrest in Belfast for very serious offences committed in Romania only 2 weeks ago. The Police Service will continue to work with all out international partners and play our part in bringing fugitives before the courts. Our message is clear that there is nowhere to hide in Northern Ireland and that we will actively pursue all wanted persons believed to be in this jurisdiction. An artist's impression of the EZ Living store planned for Boucher Road. Pic: Local Democracy Reporting Service. A new 5million furniture warehouse in south Belfast has been given the green light despite objections from neighbouring businesses. At last weeks meeting of Belfast City Councils Planning Committee, councillors unanimously approved a proposed retail warehouse unit with associated car parking at 47 Boucher Road, Belfast. The outlet will be an EZ Living furniture store, from owner P Dillen, of Weaverton NI, Newry. The area is commercial and the site is sandwiched between Boucher Road to the south, Boucher Place to the north, the Door Store retailer to the west and DFS furniture store to the east. The council received six objections from three planning consultants acting for the operators and owner of the neighbouring premises - the Door Store and DFS Furniture. The council planning report states: Issues of concern relate to character/context, building line, sufficient car parking, principle of retail development and loss of small landscaped area. Read more Former UTV headquarters at Havelock House to be converted to social housing It adds: The issues raised include issues with scale and siting of the proposed development, (that the) proposal is contrary to Policy DES1 of the Plan Strategy, as it does not respond positively to the local context. (Objectors state) the proposal does not respect the established building line along this part of Boucher Road. (Objectors state) nearby developments provide parking at the front of the premises, as did the previous approval on the application site the (current) proposal does not respect this characteristic. (They state) the proposal sits further forward on site, obscures views of neighbouring sites and impacts potential to attract customers; parking provision is below the standards, as set out in parking standards, with only 40 percent of the required parking being provided. (Other issues raised include) that there is no HGV tracking included on plans, six cycle spaces are required for the proposal, and parking at the rear of the site reduces surveillance, safety and security. Other issues raised include the retail impact assessment and potential impact on competitors. (They state) a need for the proposal has not been demonstrated. Council officers recommended that elected representatives approve the application. A planning consultant representing the landlord of the neighbouring DFS site told councillors: Our principal concerns are to do with design, parking and servicing. He added: From the proposed site plan it is clear that the proposed units significantly exceed the existing established building lines provided by the existing DFS and Door Store units immediately to the north and south of the application site. He said: It is considered that exceeding the existing building lines is likely to have a detrimental impact on our clients land and the existing DFS retail unit by obscuring the view of the site and unit on approach from the south Boucher Road. Boucher Road carries large volumes of traffic on a daily basis and therefore this matter is likely to significantly impact the building of our clients existing business to attract potential customers. He said the building is too big for the site. A representative for the applicant Weaverton NI told councillors: This is a 5million investment which will provide 25 full time equivalent jobs. The three objections came from three parties, essentially the Door Store, DFS, and the landlord of DFS. The Door Store and DFS both welcome a retail warehouse unit beside them, so they have no dispute, they see it as good for their business. It is the design they object to. The proposal has been confirmed by the council to be compliant with the plan strategy, it is for a warehouse on Boucher Road, which is not controversial. Boucher Road is one of the largest retail warehouse locations in Northern Ireland, it wont cause any significant retail impact, and there is a clear need for it according to the councils retail capacity study. He added: The objectors principal concern is the location of the building sitting along the road frontage thats essentially their problem. We agree with the officer that there is a need to provide active frontage along Boucher Road. Locating most of the car parking behind the building screens the car parking from view of the public and is an important urban design improvement, and that is recognised in policy. Other developments along the road have started to do that, the Jaguar garage, Hitchens, Carpetright, Costa Coffee are all starting to pull their buildings forward. The five teaching unions in Northern Ireland have announced that their members will hold strike action on five days in a long-running dispute over pay (Jonathan McCambridge/PA) Teachers in Northern Ireland will consider longer periods of strike action if no resolution can be reached in a long-running dispute over pay, union leaders have warned. The leaders of the five recognised teaching unions have predicted that strike action planned for later this month and next year will close every school in the region. The Northern Ireland Teachers Council (NITC), comprising the five recognised trade unions, said members would strike for 12 hours from midnight on November 29. In an escalation of their action, the NITC said teachers would also strike for four full days next spring on dates to be agreed. Announcing the strike action at a press conference in Belfast, Mark McTaggart from the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), appealed to the Government to reach a resolution with teachers, or else unions would consider longer strike action. He said that teachers who are being trained in Northern Ireland are being forced to leave to find better paid work elsewhere. He said: We have all five unions taking part in this (strike action). Every teacher, every school leader will be a member of one of those five unions. We would anticipate if our members follow the action then every school across the north will be closed. He added: The next step would be further strikes of longer duration. We are doing one day a month, we may have to look at two days, three days. If the Government wants to settle, it knows how to settle. Teachers went on strike earlier this year (Liam McBurney/PA) Give teachers a proper pay rise, fund education properly. The ball is in their court. We have to ensure that our members can get a wage (that) allows them to stay here and to continue to do the excellent work they have been doing over the past number of years. Teachers, along with other public sector workers in Northern Ireland, have been involved in industrial action in recent months amid ongoing disputes about wages and conditions. Members of the Ulster Teachers Union (UTU), the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), INTO and the National Education Union (NEU) went on strike in February. They were joined in further industrial action in April by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which went on strike for the first time in its history in relation to pay, leading to the closure of most schools in Northern Ireland. Pressure on public finances in Northern Ireland has meant it has not been possible to offer a pay award to public sector workers this year. Jacquie White from the Ulster Teachers Union (UTU) and chairwoman of NITC, said: Teachers and school leaders have been on action short of strike for more than a year, and there is no sign that the Department of Education or the Secretary of State (Chris Heaton-Harris) are in any rush to settle this dispute. It is high time they realised that our members are serious about seeking an urgent resolution to this untenable situation, and for that reason we are announcing five days of strike action. No teacher wants to take this action; however, we now feel that management side has left us with no other option. Justin McCamphill from the NASUWT said the pay gap between teachers in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK had reached epic proportions. He added: Teachers simply cannot continue as if everything is normal. Teachers are angry and are prepared to step up strike action in order to achieve a level of pay which allows them to provide for their families. Urgent action is now needed to address our concerns. The secretary of state needs to come out of hiding and ensure that the education system in Northern Ireland is properly funded. Justin McCamphill said the pay gap between teachers in NI and the rest of the UK has grown (Liam McBurney/PA) Graham Gault from NAHT said teachers in Northern Ireland had waited three years for a pay rise. He said: In this time, as colleagues in every other jurisdiction on these islands have seen successive increases in remuneration, the teaching profession in Northern Ireland has been left very far behind. The status quo is intolerable and simply will not be accepted. Todays announcement must be a turning point. Pauline Buchanan from the NEU added: Teachers carry out vital work for the children of today, the workforce of tomorrow and shape education for generations to come and deserve at the very least, a decent pay rise, now. Department of Education permanent secretary Dr Mark Browne said the department is forced to work within the challenging position imposed on it by the reduced allocation that education has received in the secretary of states budget. He said the department fully understands the frustration of teachers, and said it is regrettable that the department has been unable to offer teachers a pay award for the past three years similar to other jurisdictions. But it is simply unaffordable within an inadequate education budget, he said. It is therefore very disappointing that NITC has decided to call for a half day strike next week and on four further occasions next year. Continued strike action by trade unions serves only to cause disruption to the education of those who least deserve it, our children and young people, at a time when the department is forced to work within the challenging position imposed on it by the reduced allocation that education has received in the secretary of states budget. A Northern Ireland Office spokesman said: The UK Government has no authority to negotiate pay in Northern Ireland it will be for the NI Department of Education to make final decisions on teachers pay policies. It remains the Secretary of States priority to see the return of locally elected, accountable and effective devolved government, which is the best way for Northern Ireland to be governed. The Secretary of State has commissioned a range of information and advice from the Northern Ireland civil service on potential measures to raise more public revenue, or otherwise to improve the sustainability of public finances in Northern Ireland, for an incoming executive to consider. Kyle Thomas (19) has said he is building a zoo close to Lisburn Thomas had recently been posting about creating a zoo near Lisburn Kyle Thomas with a capybara that was at the centre of an illegal importation court case in NI Foxes are among the animals that have featured in the teenager's videos An under-investigation Northern Ireland-based TikTok star has told a television documentary that he will not delete controversial animal-related content from his account. Kyle Thomas, originally from Kent but based in the Lisburn area, has amassed a collection of animals, frequently posting videos of them online to his 35.4 million TikTok and 1.5 million Instagram followers. Last month, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), confirmed they are investigating his activities, with the PSNI also confirming they are working alongside the department in relation to the investigation. The19-year-old appeared in a Channel 4 documentary last week entitled Exotic Pet Trade Exposed: UNTOLD, which focused on the increased demand for exotic pets in the UK which is overwhelming animal charities. The teenager spoke about taking his content in a new direction, indicating he would advise followers not to seek out the animals in his content. Asked by host Nadeem Perera if he would delete previous content featuring exotic animals, Mr Thomas said he would not. "The content is already there, people have already seen those videos, Im never going to be able to take that away from peoples memory, he said. "I think its actually better to show people and let them be able to actually see the difference. If I feel as though it would be a risk, I would delete those videos, but I dont feel its a risk. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content The Co Antrim-based content creator who previously posted a series of videos documenting his creation of a zoo on land close to Lisburn said he thought followers loved his enthusiasm. "I dont know, I have 1.6 billion likes, so I dont know how many views, he said. "People are like oh my gosh, you know what I love about this guy, I love the enthusiasm, I love how passionate he is about it. "Money-wise, it depends. It varies so much. I dont like to call myself an influencer because I dont influence anything. Im a video-sharer. "With my content, and if youre speaking in terms of me having so many animals, would that encourage people to get animals? Not at all. "I really emphasis the fact that my pets are not domesticated pets. Thomas had recently been posting about creating a zoo near Lisburn The documentary analysed three of Mr Thomas most popular videos featuring exotic animals; meerkats, marmoset monkeys and capybaras. Of the top 3,000 comments, only 89 expressed concerns for the welfare of the animals, while 456 expressed a strong desire to have one of the animals or asked where to get one. Mr Thomas told viewers he was taking his content in a different direction. "The journey that Im going on right now and showing people that follow me is, okay I was very young and I had these pets, exotic pets, he said. "Then I realised the challenges that actually came with that. Number 1, the money, the vet bills, the environment. "If I could do it all over again, I would like to say to people hey, this is what youve got to do and please dont seek out to get these animals. "I have two common marmosets, but I do not post those common marmosets at all on TikTok any more. The documentary noted that just weeks after the footage was filmed, Thomas posted a video featuring himself and a marmoset monkey dancing to music. His management told Channel 4 that the monkey had just jumped on him when he was feeding it. Videos posted by Thomas last year also featured a capybara nicknamed Queen Elizabeth which was at the centre of a court case that saw three people prosecuted for its illegal importation. Kyle Thomas with a capybara that was at the centre of an illegal importation court case in NI The stars mother Zena Foorde was among those convicted of keeping a wild animal without a licence, alongside James Hammond (34) of Old Mill Road, Banbridge and Michael Dickinson (44) from Tudor Link in Carrickfergus. Foordes vet had originally alerted the authorities after treating the capybara, which later died. Thomas has not posted on his TikTok account since October 18, when he shared a video appearing to show him buying a crab at a supermarket and releasing it into the River Lagan in Belfast. "I gave him a kiss and took him for a little walk around the city. I showed him where the Titanic was built and we walked across the bridge before I lowered him into the water and set him free, he told followers. DAERA have confirmed the investigation into Thomas activities remains ongoing. DAERA are aware and investigating but are unable to provide any further update during the investigation, said a spokesperson. Last month the PSNI said they were working closely with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and will assist accordingly as, and when, required. Representatives for Kyle Thomas have been contacted by the Belfast Telegraph. The UK Home Office are responsible for the accommodation of refugees in Northern Ireland The Home Office should suspend all evictions from accommodation in which asylum seekers are being housed during the winter months, a human rights organisation in Northern Ireland has said. Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR) an NGO established by trade union leader Inez McCormack has written to politicians and governmental organisations to appeal for a cold-weather moratorium on evictions. In the correspondence signed by PPR director Chloe Trew the group highlighted the current housing crisis and in particular the plight of refugees living in UK Home Office accommodation, which is run by Mears PLC. "As a result of the Home Offices Streamlined Asylum Process, since August over 135 asylum seeker households have been granted their long-awaited refugee status and have been given notice to quit their asylum accommodation, said Ms Trew. "They have been advised that their asylum support and accommodation will end in 28 days. "They will join the more than 45,000 households on the waiting list; finding somewhere for them to live becomes the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, particularly as they will meet the criteria for Full Duty Applicant status. PPR said that due to being barred from working, the refugees have been receiving only a minimal weekly stipend from the Home Office which amounts to 9.58 per week for those placed in hostels or hotels. Read more Police urged PPS to prosecute friend of west Belfast bike crash victim, inquest told A delay in the issuing of documentation required to register for Universal Credit, and a five-week wait for the initial payment, has left applicants completely unresourced despite international human rights law protections. "The Prime Minister has set a deadline for the end of 2023 for the asylum backlog to be cleared, meaning that many more of the 3,348 people seeking safety in the north will find themselves in similar circumstances throughout the coming holiday period and into the new year, said the letter. PPR Director Chloe Trew "At least another 20 asylum seekers have seen their asylum claims denied since August, and have been given just 21 days notice to quit; as they will have no recourse to public funds, it is unclear who will support them and how they will fare as winter draws in. "PPR and the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) held an information session regarding the rights of residents faced with eviction and homelessness on Tuesday, November 14, during which approximately 40 families from Belfast presented under threat of eviction due to the recent change in their immigration status. "It is neither practical, reasonable nor humane to ask families, who have suffered both the trauma of fleeing their home country and navigating the local asylum system, to leave the only safe home they have to become street homeless during the cold winter months. "No parent would do that to their children, nor should they be advised to by any public authority or private contractor in receipt of public funds. The letter contains a call for a winter-long cold-weather moratorium on the eviction of individuals and families from properties managed by Mears PLC on behalf of the Home Office, until they have suitable, safe, adequate and appropriate accommodation. Also flagged within the correspondence were recent incidents where anti-asylum seeker signs relating to local housing were erected in a number of areas across Northern Ireland. "No one should have a veto on housing rights and especially not those willing to engage in racist, intimidating or violent behaviour, said Ms Trew. "We must all stand firmly against the whites only agenda advocated by some groups and support plans to build and allocate homes based on need. The letter suggests a meeting between the relevant agencies and the people supported by PPR, as well as a guarantee that no evictions will take place over the holiday period. The Home Office have been approached for comment. Northern Ireland is not getting any level up funding in this round. Northern Ireland workers and families are continuing to pay the price for the DUPs refusal to enter the NI Executive, Sinn Fein has said. It comes after the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities indicated the absence of a working NI Executive was behind a government decision not to award Northern Ireland any funding in the latest round of the Levelling Up Fund. Details relating to Round 3 of the 4.8 billion capital programme which aims to increase pride in place and bring people closer to opportunity were announced on Monday. Though Northern Ireland received 120 million across the two previous rounds, it will receive no funding this time, with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities confirming the lack of functioning Executive was behind the decision. "In Northern Ireland, given the current absence of a working Executive and Assembly, the Government is not proceeding with this round of the Levelling Up Fund at this time, said a spokesperson. "We will continue to work closely with projects and places in Northern Ireland that were awarded a total of 120 million in the first two rounds of the Fund. An advert taken out in Saturday's Belfast Telegraph. Despite NIs exclusion from the latest round of funding, the Department took out advertisements in local media including the Belfast Telegraph which used imagery of Belfast alongside the messaging Levelling Up is here. Read more NI loses out on share of 1.1bn neglected towns cash The NI Executive has not been functional since February 2022, following the resignation of DUP First Minister Paul Givan over the partys opposition to elements of the NI Protocol. Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy said NI was paying the price for one partys boycott". "Todays announcement that the British Government is withholding Levelling Up funding as a result of one partys reckless boycott of the Executive is disgraceful, he said. The British Secretary of State has already imposed a punitive budget on people here attacking public sector workers and services. This is yet another cynical attack on ordinary people. Workers and families continue to pay the price for one partys reckless boycott of the Executive. It is now time for the two-way negotiation between the British government and the DUP to end. Public patience has run out. We need locally elected ministers back around the Executive table and working together to make the case to the British government that we need more resources and money to properly fund public services and to deliver for workers and families. The DUPs East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson branded Mondays announcement economic blackmail. "This is an outrageous act by the Government. Under the cloak of economic blackmail, the Government has syphoned money away from Northern Ireland to shore up Conservative seats in England. he said. East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson "The Governments rationale for this decision is as spurious as it is outrageous. An absence of an Executive has no material effect on the allocations indeed, the principal objection in Scotland and Wales to the Levelling Up Fund is that it is driven by Westminster rather than the devolved regions. "The Government should be honest. The real reason for this allocation is to direct more money into the marginal seats in Great Britain where the Conservative Party is struggling. The SDLPs South Belfast MP Claire Hanna said the DUPs accusations were laughable. "The UK Government never seem to need an excuse to underinvest in Northern Ireland and the DUPs continued boycott of Stormont has handed them the perfect cover to leave our services and infrastructure to rot, she said. "Its laughable to hear the DUP talking about economic blackmail when they have been holding the people of Northern Ireland to ransom for the past year and a half. With each passing day the democratic deficit is increasingly untenable. We are not deaf to the concerns of ordinary unionists around identity and the post-Brexit trading arrangements but there can be no justification for the DUPs refusal to get back to work and do their jobs. UUP peer Lord Rogan said the move was punishment for the absence of the Executive. I am appalled that, once again, the people of Northern Ireland are being used as pawns in a political game as punishment for the continuing absence of an Executive and Assembly, he said. These two issues are unrelated as the Levelling Up Fund is a UK Government initiative administered and resourced from Whitehall, not Stormont. It is incredibly low and cruel blow, the decision must be reversed. Party colleague Andy Allen MLA said the move was unacceptable. "This is yet another example of the people of Northern Ireland being punished for a situation not of their making, he said. "It is unacceptable that the Government has taken the decision not to proceed with the latest round of funding, which could have a transformational impact for so many, due to there being no Assembly or Executive at Stormont. "I will be writing to the Minister for Levelling up to highlight my dismay at the decision and pressing for it to be reversed. The former First Minister said NI could eventually have the best of both worlds Mr Robinson said NI could benefit from the "best of both worlds" when a solution is found Former DUP leader Peter Robinson has said an end to the Stormont impasse is "very close" Northern Ireland is very close to the period where decisions have to be taken on a way forward with or without the DUPs return, the partys former leader Peter Robinson has said. Mr Robinson who was First Minister between 2008 and 2016 said it was important the outstanding issues were resolved, but that eventually, Northern Ireland could have the best of both worlds with dual market access. The Stormont Executive has not functioned since February 2022, when then-First Minister Paul Givan resigned over his partys opposition to the NI Protocol, the forerunner to the Windsor Framework Brexit deal adopted by the Government in February this year. After a question on the future of the Stormont institutions, Mr Robinson told listeners to Times Radio that he hoped for a restoration within a number of weeks. "People used to talk about the Titanic in terms of it being all right when it left here (Belfast), he said. "To some extent I can say that of my period as First Minister. I think there is a massive desire for the Assembly to get up and running. That is the policy of the party I previously led. "I think we are coming very close to the period when decisions have to be taken, not just by the DUP, but by the Government if the DUP does not go back. "I would hope within the next number of weeks that Sir Jeffrey will get sufficient [progress] to allow him to return to the Assembly. "I think its important we deal with those issues; many of them are constitutional, others are economic. "While it seems a long period now in the fullness of time, waiting until you get things right could serve the country very well and we could have virtually the best of both worlds with having access in a seamless way both to the UK market and the European market. Mr Robinson said NI could benefit from the "best of both worlds" when a solution is found The former East Belfast MP said the Windsor Framework was a missed opportunity for the Government to resolve the impasse. "In many ways, if the Windsor Framework had done what the Prime Minister indicated it would do, it would have taken us a long way there, he said. "The issue of the constitutional future of Northern Ireland is key; there shouldnt be any change in the constitutional position of Northern Ireland without the consent of the people of Northern Ireland. "That was a commitment in law from the Government, yet a significant constitutional change took place. "I think we have to steady the constitutional issue, ensure that sovereignty is upheld and ensure there is access to the GB market and that GB traders have access to the NI market in as unfettered a way as is possible. Mr Robinson was interviewed on Times Radio to promote his new book Witty Putdowns and Clever Insults which launched last week. The book is billed as a playbook and analysis that will allow the reader to conquer social battles in no time, or protect yourself from verbal jabs. Last week he told the Belfast Telegraph the book was a bit of fun. "I think our society has moved away from the witty and clever, to downright abuse particularly on social media. Theres actually a bit in the book about how to deal with that, he said. It also features quotes from various Northern Ireland politicians, including Sammy Wilson, Ian Paisley and John Hume. I suppose now that Im relieved of my other duties Ive been able to broaden my horizons and try something a little bit different. Ronald Lewis, 77, can be seen in undated surveillance footage at the Harris County Jail while visiting inmates. Photo composite courtesy of Harris County Sheriffs Office Harris County detention officer Robert Robertson was arrested Wednesday as he reported to work at the Harris County Jail at 701 N. San Jacinto. Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer A wood block is seen on Nov. 2, 2023, covering the document slot in an attorney booth at the Harris County Jail. The Harris County Sheriffs Office seized more than 750 pieces of paper, including what is pictured, from August until Nov. 8, 2023, believed to be laced with narcotics. I Courtesy: Paul Morgan A longtime Houston criminal lawyer appeared before a judge Monday, not as an officer of the court, but a defendant accused of passing drug-laced paperwork to Harris County Jail inmates. Ronald Lewis, 77, leaned on a cane as he approached Judge Danilo Lacayo in the 182nd District Court on two drug charges related to paperwork sprayed with synthetic marijuana and other drugs in liquid form that jailers have tried thwarting by restricting how mail and other documents enter the jail. The smuggled narcotics may be linked to a recent string of fatal overdoses in the jail but further investigation is needed, prosecutors said in court. From the Houston Chronicle: Harris County Jail restricting records from attorneys to clients as drug-laced paper enters facilities Advertisement Article continues below this ad Assistant District Attorney Kim Smith identified Lewis as a licensed lawyer, with records showing he entered the Texas bar in 1982. He is charged with two counts of prohibited substance in a correctional facility. The use of defense attorneys to sneak drugs into the jail is not widespread, although authorities are continuing to investigate other attorneys suspected of similar ploys, officials said. The allegation against Lewis and others stands poised to impact the defense bar as the Harris County Sheriffs Office ramps up security. Lawyers have since asked the sheriffs office not to limit how attorney-client privileged documents are shared with inmates as the jail shifts to copying incoming mail and other written communication. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez hailed Lewis arrest during a news conference as a pivotal moment in their investigation of jail contraband following a streak of deaths as photos of the defense attorney appeared on a television screen. The photos, taken from security footage recordings in August and September at the jail, showed Lewis with a briefcase in one hand and his cane in the other as he entered an area designated for inmate visitors. He was arrested Friday during a similar visit at the jail and had 11 sheets of paper believed to be laced with drugs with him, Gonzalez said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Theres incredible attorneys out there who uphold their oaths and work very hard to take care of their clients, the sheriff said. Theres always going to be those that choose illegal ways of doing things or go outside the lines. An investigator, Lt. Jay Wheeler, said Lewis would visit inmates at the jail in his capacity as an attorney. As he became a person of interest in their drug investigation, inmates he visited were searched before meeting with him and after. Jailers found that some of the inmates had drug-laced paper on them after visiting with Lewis. He visited more than a dozen inmates from July to November and passed more than 150 sheets of paper during those visits, Wheeler said. The number of seized documents attributed to Lewis is 20 percent of the more than 750 pieces of tainted paper that authorities confiscated from August until the first week of November, according to county records. Smith, the assistant district attorney, indicated that none of the jailed inmates whom Lewis visited and allegedly gave drug-laced documents to were his clients. Court records do not show whether Lewis had any existing clients or was being appointed to cases. Smith described Lewis as partially retired. Lewis declined to comment when asked about the charges outside the courtroom. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The sheriff's office investigation revealed Lewis received CashApp payments from relatives of jailed defendants with comments that alluded to bringing tainted documents into the jail, Smith said in court. He likely did not manufacture the drugs sprayed on the paper and those tied to that part of the drug plot have not been apprehended, she continued. Smith said the deaths of three inmates at the jail may be connected to smuggled drugs. Judge Lacayo prohibited Lewis from going to the jail or having contact with jailed inmates as part of his bail conditions. He is also prohibited from contacting more than two dozen people, some of whom are jailed and listed as co-actors in the case, according to court documents. He made bail Saturday and had since hired attorney Tyrone Moncriffe to represent him. Moncriffe declined to comment so soon in his client's case. The judge asked the district attorneys office whether his license with the state bar or access to the courthouse would be limited. Smith said she did not know and that the office was looking into it. Many lawyers have a frequent visitor pass that allows them to bypass security at the courthouse. An arrest can disqualify them from having that pass. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the weeks leading up to Lewis arrest, the sheriffs office had nailed shut slots in the attorney booths to prevent paperwork from being passed to inmates an action that defense attorneys have protested. Most people in jail typically are awaiting trial or a court date and have not been sentenced to prison time. Jail officials have asked attorneys to mail their clients documents, which are then reviewed for contraband, or have those records copied on clean paper at the jail. Gonzalez said the new restrictions were not a result of the investigation into Lewis but that other entry points are at issue, including those involving contractors and employees, are being looked at. Criminal justice scholars have said state laws limit what jailers can do with privileged communications, such as what an attorney sends their client, and the new limitations will present a dilemma for attorneys and defendants awaiting trial. Murray Newman, head of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, aired concerns over privacy in light of the jail's changing policies, saying that Lewis' arrest may underscore law enforcement's desire to keep the document restrictions in place. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He noted that the allegations against Lewis, who was visiting inmates who were not his clients, impacts attorneys who do visit their clients for the purpose of their pending case. "There's no checks and balances that anything we're providing to our clients is treated as confidential," Newman said. "We don't have a lot of remedy when a situation like that happens." Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin speaking outside Leinster House in Dublin, following the death of businessman Ben Dunne (David Young/PA) A Sinn Fein TD has said he has never supported the taking of hostages in any conflict. Eoin O Broin was responding following criticism on social media of party leader Mary Lou McDonald paying tribute following the death of businessman Ben Dunne. Mr Dunne, the former director of family business Dunnes Stores and the owner of a chain of gyms, died aged 74 after suffering a heart attack in Dubai. In 1981, Ben Dunne was kidnapped by the IRA and was released after seven days after a ransom was reportedly paid. Ms McDonald was criticised on social media at the weekend after she said she was saddened to hear about the sudden death. During a media appearance in Dublin, Mr O Broin was asked if he would condemn the IRA taking Mr Dunne hostage. Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin speaking outside Leinster House in Dublin, following the death of businessman Ben Dunne (David Young/PA) Mr Dunne attended at least one Sinn Fein outreach to the business community in Dublin but the party is maintaining silence on whether there were any further links. His presence may partly explain why Mary Lou McDonald was quick to lavish praise on controversial businessman who has died in Dubai, but whose funeral is expected to be held in Ireland. Mr Dunnes presence at a Sinn Fein event raised eyebrows among fellow business leaders he having been kidnapped by the IRA in 1981 and held for seven days until a ransom was paid. In a 2014 radio interview with Miriam OCallaghan, Ben Dunne said: I was sitting at the top table with Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams and they didnt look comfortable at all. I wasnt too comfortable myself. So I turned around and said, Listen fellas, if this is a fundraising lunch, it's a refund Ill be looking for. They broke their hearts laughing and we had a fantastic lunch. The businessman lived with his family in Carpenterstown, near Castleknock, close to where Mary Lou McDonald once attended Fianna Fail cumann meetings before she left that party. The Sinn Fein President did not reply to a request for comment on Monday as to whether she and Mr Dunne were known to each other, and neither did a party press officer respond. Ms McDonalds online expression of sympathy at Ben Dunnes death drew sharp responses from some users of X at the weekend. But his son Rob responded to her: Thanks Mary Lou for your condolences. My Dad would always say its crucial to keep looking forward and never dwell on the past. And Im sure I dont need to tell you to simply ignore the trolls and their commentary. Mary Lou replied: Love and solidarity to your family at this time, Rob. Your Dad was a really good man. Separately, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin said at Leinster House yesterday that he never supported the taking of hostages in any conflict. He said he has never met Ben Dunne but had no doubt he was a good man. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said she was saddened following the death of Ben Dunne (Brian Lawless/PA) When asked if Sinn Fein owe an apology to Mr Dunnes family, he said said the IRA has previously apologised for those matters. Mr O Broin said: Republicans have apologised for a very large number of things that happened during the conflict, including spokespeople acting on behalf of the IRA, when the armed conflict was brought to an end and the IRA disbanded, apologising. And I think we all need to do whatever is required to ensure that people who lost loved ones or experienced conflict have their needs and concerns dealt with. Thats a big part of work, thats a piece of work we are constantly engaged with others, and particularly in the North where these issues are most acute. But all I will say is is very senior republicans, including people speaking on behalf the IRA previously have apologised for those matters and I think that was the appropriate thing to do. Read more Irish businessman once kidnapped by IRA for 1m ransom dies at age of 74 He said there is obviously an issue around Sinn Fein commemorating people who died during the Troubles, including Republican combatants. And Ive always said, when weve asked been asked these questions, we need to find ways of doing that that is appropriate and sensitive. We have a right to do that. But for me, what the party has been doing in recent years is ensuring theres never a return to conflict in this country and I think weve played a very important role in that. And i think its entirely appropriate that we bring the same experience to bear in our commentary in relation to the middle east I cant re-live 30 years of armed conflict in this country, a large part of which I was a child during, but what I can ensure is that what I do as a Sinn Fein politician, like my colleagues, is ensure we never return to violence of any kind. The scene in Cloonback, Co Longford, today - 37 years after the crime took place An Irish journalist has recalled how a near-forgotten double murder in the Republic was linked to loyalists in Northern Ireland. Writing in the Sunday Independent this weekend, Liam Collins recounted the mysterious murders of Marie Murtagh (43) and Tom Taaffe (50) in the village of Aughnacliffe, Co Longford in 1986. Ms Murtagh was a farmer and cattle dealer who also ran a small corrugated tin shop beside the parish church in the nearby hamlet of Legga. MrTaaffe was a small farmer who was in bad health, and had moved in to live with Ms Murtagh four years earlier after his mother died. They had pooled their resources and there did not appear to be any romantic link between them. Mr Collins recalled: Detectives investigating their execution-style killing were puzzled by the clinical way in which they were murdered. There was no row over land or a family feud and, anyway, that type of murder was usually messy. "It was close to the Border but random murders were almost unknown in this peaceful rural landscape. It later emerged that around 6,000 in cash was missing from their home. The journalist wrote how on Saturday night, November 15, 1986, Ms Murtagh in her Volkswagen van and Tom Taaffe in his Cortina car had driven a small herd of cattle from her farm in the townland of Cloonback along the narrow country roads to land nearby in the dark. At about 7.45pm they called to the house of a teenager who helped in the shop to say Marie would be opening in the morning. But as people coming from mass congregated around the shop door the next morning, Ms Murtagh never arrived. The shop didnt open on the Monday morning either. "At about 7.15pm that evening, Fr Eugene Cox, the priest in Legga, called to the farmhouse to check if Marie and Tom were ill or needed assistance, wrote Mr Collins. The farmyard was down a long grassy lane and when he got there the house was in darkness and the front door closed. He went around to the back. A broom handle was propped against the door on the inside, jamming it shut. When he forced the door open and went into the kitchen the range had gone out, but there were sausages still in the pan, a bottle of milk open on the table and the television hissing in the corner. Then to his horror he saw Marie and Tom lying in pools of congealed blood on the floor in a V-shape. She had been shot in the forehead and abdomen and he through the right eye. Both had been shot at close range in the sparse kitchen and had died almost instantly. Locals told Mr Collins that the killings had been linked to cattle smuggling. He recalled one man telling him: She got involved with some loyalists from Derry. They fell out over money and they came down to sort it out last Saturday night she brought them in to the house, they had a row so they shot her. "Tom was killed because he just happened to be there. He wasnt involved, but these boys dont leave loose ends. Almost a year later after the killings, in November 1987, a witness came forward and said that people from Derry had travelled to Ms Murtaghs house on the night of the murders. One of the people also had a property not far from where the murders were carried out and did odd jobs for Ms Murtagh. Although no one was ever successfully convicted of the murders, one Derry man was accused of murder and conspiracy to rob Marie Murtagh. He was found not guilty by direction of Judge Donal Barrington, who ruled that he had been unlawfully detained for three days in Mullingar garda station without access to his solicitor when he made incriminating statements to detectives. Mr Collins recalled the events that followed the unsolved double murder: Around the same time as the case was being heard, the terrorist Dessie OHare kidnapped Dublin dentist John OGrady. "The murders of Marie Murtagh and Tom Taaffe, brutal and cold-blooded as they were, quickly faded into the background. I often felt afterwards that just because they were ordinary country people and there were no eye-catching photographs of them (there were no photographs at all), we in the media quickly lost interest in the case. Palestinians check lists with the names of people allowed to cross to Egypt from the Gaza Strip in Rafah (Hatem Ali/AP) Diplomatic efforts to get Irish citizens out of Gaza would have been a lot harder if Sinn Fein had been in government and had expelled the Israeli ambassador, Paschal Donohoe has said. The public expenditure minister suggested the outcome would have been different if Irelands main opposition party had been in charge of the Department of Foreign Affairs. In response, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin accused the minister of playing politics with a very serious issue. Mr Donohoe made the claim when asked to comment on Taoiseach Leo Varadkars weekend remarks that he would find a Sinn Fein minister of justice, foreign affairs or defence repugnant. About 50 Irish passport holders have so far made it through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. There were emotional scenes at Dublin Airport over the weekend as some of them were reunited with loved ones after they arrived in Ireland on flights from Cairo. Sinn Fein has called on the Irish Government to expel the Israeli ambassador in Dublin, Dana Erlich, in protest at her countrys ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Mr Donohoe questioned his rival partys stance as he fielded questions from reporters in Dublin on Monday. I would ask the Irish people to consider really seriously what impact Sinn Fein might be having, for example, on our role with regards to Middle East if there had been a Sinn Fein minister for foreign affairs over the last number of weeks, he said. Theyve been calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador exactly at the time in which the Government has been engaging with the Israeli government to further the interests of Irish citizens and to advocate for a peaceful solution. Thats just the latest example of what I would be making the case for people to consider. And, likewise, with regard to law and order, I would be asking people to consider what could be the consequences of a Sinn Fein minister, given all of the sensitive issues that the minister for justice has to consider on a regular basis. When pressed for his comments on the Middle East, he added: I make two predictions based on what has happened recently. So, I do believe if Sinn Fein had been in government and if they had gone ahead and expelled the Israeli ambassador, I believe the Irish ambassador would have been expelled shortly afterwards, and I believe thats a reasonable expectation to have regarding how these things tend to happen diplomatically. Which leads on to the second point that Ive made that if we didnt have an Irish ambassador in Israel, I believe it would be a lot harder to do two things. Number one, to deal with the kinds of issues that we have developed in Gaza at the moment and to help get our citizens home. And, secondly, how could you advocate a peaceful solution, how could you advocate a two-state solution, if youre saying youre not going to speak to one of the governments thats central to it? Mr O Broin said his party would be making no apologies for calling for the expulsion of the ambassador, saying every form of diplomatic pressure should be exerted on Israel to call a ceasefire. The situation in Gaza is very serious, he told reporters outside Leinster House. I dont think any political party in Ireland should be playing electoral politics with that issue. I think we all need to try and have the maximum degree of consensus. Extinction Rebellions co-founder plotted with others to fly drones near Heathrow in order to paralyse the transport hub and embarrass the Government into abandoning plans for a third runway at the airport, a court has been told (PA) Extinction Rebellions co-founder plotted with others to fly drones near Heathrow in order to paralyse the airport and embarrass the Government into abandoning plans for a third runway there, a court has been told. Roger Hallam and other eco-activists wanted backing for the protest, launched under the name Heathrow Pause, to go viral and shut down the airport while also triggering arrests and lots of publicity, Londons Isleworth Crown Court was told. Hallam told detectives in his police interview that the aim of the September 2019 protest was to close Heathrow for the foreseeable future, the jury heard. Hallam, 57, of Wandsworth, south London, Larch Maxey, 51, of no fixed abode, and Valerie Milner-Brown, 71, of Islington, north London, have pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Another man, Michael Lynch-White, who is not appearing at this trial, has pleaded guilty to the same charge, jurors were told. Hallam, Maxey and Milner-Brown are accused of conspiring with Lynch-White and others on or before September 14 2019 to close the transport hub to air traffic by the unauthorised and unlawful flying of drones within Heathrows 5km (3.1-mile) flight restriction zone. A media campaign was launched and random people who believed in the cause were invited to pop up and make sure the threat was multi-headed and compelling, prosecutor James Curtis KC said. He said: It was to put the operators on alert of the risk of potential catastrophe. As operators concerned primarily with safety, they would have to scramble their ultimate safety measure. Mr Curtis added: This case is not about the merits of the various measures which are desired to save the planet nor is it about the beliefs of the people who want to achieve those ends. This case is about the closure of Heathrow airport in the short term or, as they contemplated, in the long term, closing it down to world traffic. Mr Curtis said the defendants stated aim, made in note after note, public pronouncement after public pronouncement, was to paralyse the major transport hub of Great Britain which is also the busiest in Europe and to do it not just for an hour or so but a week, two weeks or an indistinct period. The court was told the protesters agreed plan came from the most laudable aims to save the planet from imminent destruction and the deaths they predict could come from carbon emissions. Mr Curtis said the protest was aimed at forcing the Government and Parliament to reverse the go-ahead for Heathrows third runway project and they sought to do this by paralysing a major organ of the country and forcing Heathrow to shut down. It is not suggested the activists plotted to kill anybody or cause an aircraft to crash. Mr Curtis said their aim was to force operators to face a potential catastrophe so they would ground flights. He said: There is terrible danger for aircraft being struck or nearly struck by flying objects. It would be a risk that the operators would not be able to afford to take with human beings or vital cargo on board and with homes nearby on the ground beneath. People joining the protest would also have posed a risk because most of them were new to drone flying, with little or no experience of flying machines, the court heard. Holidaymakers could have been caught up in the chaos, the court was told (PA) Claims by the protest group that they hoped passengers could have made alternative arrangements and that stringent safety measures were taken by the activists were described by the prosecution as pie in the sky. The court was also told the environmental activists met police before the protest to discuss their plans to fly toy drones in the Heathrow exclusion zone. Mr Curtis said they ignored the misery and inconvenience to passengers, which could have included holidaymakers, people visiting dying relatives or the vital transport of medical cargo. He said they ignored the vast economic damage that could have been caused worldwide because what mattered was in their hearts they were on a mission of ideals. The hearing was adjourned to Tuesday at 10am. Finlands Prime Minister Petteri Orpo speaks at a press briefing during a visit to the Vartius border crossing station in eastern Finland (Hannu Huttu/Lehtikuva via AP) Finlands prime minister says the country may need to take further actions on its border with Russia after closing four border crossings in an attempt to stem a recent increase in asylum seekers. Finland, which joined Nato this year in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, has accused Moscow of letting migrants from the Middle East and Africa without valid travel documents through to the Finnish border. The government closed the border crossings in southeastern Finland last week, but new migrant arrivals were reported at border checkpoints farther north. Finlands Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the country may need to take further actions on its border with Russia after closing four border crossings in an attempt to stem a recent increase in asylum-seekers (Hannu Huttu/Lehtikuva via AP) According to broadcaster YLE, during a visit to the Vartius border crossing in east-central Finland, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said: The situation has progressed in a bad direction. If there is no change, we will take more measures, and if necessary, quickly. The message is clear that we do not accept this behaviour. Mr Orpo did not rule out closing more border crossings along the 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) Finnish-Russian border. YLE said 500 asylum seekers have arrived in Finland in November, significantly more than normal. Mr Orpo said The message is clear that we do not accept this behaviour (Hannu Huttu/Lehtikuva via AP) Meanwhile, Russias Foreign Ministry said the decision to close border crossings would aggravate Russian-Finnish relations and criticised Finlands claim that Russia has been helping undocumented migrants to cross the border as a pretext. A Foreign Ministry statement said the decision violates the rights and interests of tens of thousands of citizens of our countries. European Union and Nato countries bordering Russia and Belarus have accused those countries of deliberately ushering migrants toward border zones as a type of hybrid warfare. The stakes could not be higher for families at the very heart of this landmark case A breakthrough y-ear for Rabab Despite having no prior business experience, Ballycastle nurse Rabab Flack decided to step away from her career and launch Causeway Clear Ears, Coleraine. Rabab, who was born in the UAE and grew up in Warrenpoint, studied adult nursing at Queens University and worked in Belfast hospitals before moving on to work in community nursing on the north coast. Rabab checking a patient's ears She enjoys spending her free time with her husband Denzil and four children Patrice (18), Alesha (15), Matthew (14) and Sophia (11). I commenced management roles quite early in my career and the last few positions I held were nursing leadership posts at senior management levels, she says. I was incredibly passionate about community nursing and it remains very close to my heart. I am so thankful for the skills and experience I developed during those times which included leading through the Covid pandemic. Rabab lost her mother in March 2022, which sparked a period of contemplation. I was an only child, and during Covid I juggled working full-time in nursing leadership, caring for my four children and also overseeing my mums care in her home, which was a four-hour round trip away, she recalled. After mum died, I found myself reflecting deeply on where I should be giving my time, energy and focus. I have a young adult daughter who has learning disabilities and has always needed my support, but I knew I needed flexibility to support her in a different way in adulthood. I found myself reflecting on the skills and experience I had and wondered where else I could apply my passion for safe and effective nursing care and drive for excellence and abilities to ensure processes and procedures enable this to happen, while achieving a better work/life balance and being more available for my family. The simplified version of what came next is a lot of prayer, reflection and what I can only describe as a mental download of a business plan and a level of uncomfortableness which allowed me to see I had to take the plunge and dive in. A cupcake to mark Rabab's first year in business Taking a leap of faith into the unknown, Rabab resigned from nursing and launched Causeway Clear Ears in September 2022. She has just celebrated her businesss first birthday and hopes to expand and employ nursing staff in the new year. Causeway Clear Ears is a nurse-led ear health service for adults and children which includes ear health assessment and microsuction earwax removal, Rabab explained. I have developed a clinic-based, home visit and pop-up model. Our clinic is in Coleraine, home visits are available across the Causeway coast and Glens area and we offer pop-up ear health clinics in partnership with the leading pharmacy chain Pharmacy Plus. It was established due to a gap in the market with the cessation of ear wax removal services via primary care and a population health need to access a high quality nurse-led ear health service. There is a tendency for people to assume Causeway Clear Ears just clear or clean ears Rabab said, but the business remit is more extensive. Via the ear health Assessment service, she also checks for various conditions such as tinnitus or Eustachian tube dysfunction. I also support families of children who are struggling to hear in school or for whom behaviour is a concern, Rabab said. I offer ear care for everyone, from age four to 104, and for my older patients we achieve wonderful outcomes in helping to reduce isolation where social situations had become too taxing. I offer education and advice to young people on the importance of maintaining good ear health, and what research is teaching us on the link between good ear health and other neurological conditions as we age. I work closely with my local GPs. Rabab and her family Causeway Clear Ears customer base grew quickly and Rabab was delighted to expand her services and offer mobile clinics in pharmacies. She plans to launch an in-house training service and is now also taking corporate bookings for health and wellbeing events. Within the first year of opening, Rabab was shortlisted for various accolades and her company was named best new start up at the Women in Business awards. Reflecting on the factors that contributed to her success, she said: I listened to some advice on how we should evaluate periodically given the skillset we have honed and developed in our careers. I realised I had a lot of transferable skills in leadership, and I love how I have devised a service where patients are cared for holistically and are given ample time in their appointments, which is where they feel cared for and listened to. My faith and values have been big driving factors. I have realised I am also ambitious and have a very strong work ethic, but I wanted to develop a business that didnt require all of me all of the time, so that I had still plenty of me for my family, friends, faith and fun. Rabab and husband Denzil Speaking to mark Global Entrepreneurship Week, which takes places until tomorrow, and celebrates and empowers entrepreneurs, Rabab had this advice for women starting out in their own businesses: Surround yourself with a few cheerleaders who are willing to cheer you on and put your hand up for every little bit of business support you can find. I was greatly supported by the Women in Business Yes You Can programme and other opportunities via Enterprise Causeway and Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council. One of my newfound passions is to support and cheer on other women in early business start-up stages. I have had the opportunity to encourage other women on the Yes You Can programme that I completed when I returned as a peer mentor. I have found the business community so very welcoming and willing to cheer each other on. Rabab Flack, who owns Causeway Clear Ears Where possible, the businesswoman uses her platform to highlight issues that are close to her heart. She added: Since ear wax removal has been removed from NHS, apart from some specialist ENT clinics, and resides now within the private sector, I am acutely aware that there are some patients for whom paying privately is not an option and therefore cost is a barrier to receiving care. I strive to keep my charges as affordable as possible, but I want to call on our politicians to get back to work in Stormont and develop policy that would enable a model similar to that of dental and optical means-tested service provision, so that all patients can access our services. This is so important because a lot of ear care has a preventative impact on other poor health outcomes. Any MP reading this who would be willing to take this on, please give me a call as I would love to be able to offer professional support to policy development and would be happy to pilot such a project. For more information on Causeway Clear Ears, visit www.causewayclearears.co.uk Former soldier who marched for queen facing historical child sex abuse trial Pillar of community denies any knowledge of charges Ronald Moore opens the door to Sunday Life John Toner Mon 20 Nov 2023 at 09:00 An ex-soldier and bandsman who appeared with Keith Chegwin on The Big Breakfast is to be tried on historical child sex abuse charges. Shankill UDAs Kids Cartel still dealing despite leader being jailed over cocaine Loyalist accused of exploiting children as teenagers ferry drugs around on e-scooters Jordan Darragh Ciaran Barnes Mon 20 Nov 2023 at 09:00 Its business as usual for the UDA drugs Kids Cartel despite one of its bosses being jailed for dealing cocaine. Elizabeth Sander is a Hearst Fellow for the Houston Chronicle covering local politics and breaking news. She can be reached at elizabeth.sander@houstonchronicle.com. Elizabeth spent the first year of her fellowship at the San Antonio Express-News, covering education and breaking news. She is a graduate of Columbia University's School of Journalism and Tufts University. Find her previous work in The New York Times, San Antonio Express-News, Observer Media and Horse Illustrated. Dinner on your doorstep usually consists of a curry, pizza or the old faithful fish and chips. But what if you crave a Sunday roast with all the trimmings but dont have the energy to rustle it up yourself? The choices can be few and far between if you dont want to venture too far. Thankfully, just a 10-minute drive from me, with Killyleagh Castle as the backdrop, the Dufferin Arms is a hidden gem that oozes charm and delivers on flavours with wholesome plates of food. With the sun (yes that big yellow thing in the sky) shining on a gorgeous October day, the glistening of a pint on the picnic bench outside would usually have piqued my interest but with two hungry kids in tow, we were shown to our table by the very attentive staff. The Dufferin Arms in Killyleagh The Dufferin has a lovely atmosphere with the pub as you enter on the right where the locals and visitors were enjoying a few tipples and the dining room to the left. We were given the snug just beyond the dining room and its a lovely space for a little more privacy. The Dufferins menu caters for all, with a vast array of seafood, steaks and many specials on offer. For starters we ordered the salt & chilli chicken that vanished in no time, with all four of us taking turns to make it disappear. The crispy chicken on a bed of salad was full of flavour and the saltiness was offset by a lovely chilli dip that had the right kick to make it sing. I managed to keep the Moroccan tomato and lentil soup to myself and it was very moreish. It was hearty and warming and bursting with tomato flavour. A topping of yoghurt added a nice creamy finish on the palate and added to the overall taste. On to the main event and the roast beef that I had been craving. And boy did it deliver. It was absolutely delicious. It was cooked perfectly medium and you could have used a butter knife to carve it apart. Two thick slices were devoured in no time and the smooth mash and veg were the perfect partner. Honey roast ham with leek sauce at The Dufferin Arms, Killyleagh A massive Yorkshire pudding dwarfed the plate but they arent my cup of tea and was quickly shipped off to the kids plates. I would have liked the gravy to have a bit more body to it, as it was slightly thin, but it was tasty and had enough meaty flavour to douse the plate in. My wife went for the honey roast ham and champ and leek sauce and the look on her face when my fork crossed the plate said it all. It was a beautiful salty and succulent ham with smooth champ brought together with a creamy leek sauce. One for the next time I thought. Equally as tasty was the chicken stack my son devoured. A beautiful pepper sauce didnt overpower the dish and with mash and tobacco onions in the mix, it hit the spot. The tried and tested chicken goujons kept my daughter quiet for the meal, which isnt an easy thing to accomplish. Room for just one dessert, we all agreed on the sticky toffee pudding and it was the perfect ending to a wonderful meal. The food wasnt the only thing that deserved praise, as the staff really made you feel welcome. My only regret was not being able to stay and join those enjoying their pints in the sunshine. Chicken stack with peppered sauce at The Dufferin Arms, Killyleagh The food Moroccan tomato and lentil soup with yoghurt 4.50 Salt & chilli chicken 8.50 Chicken stack 14.95 Roast beef 15.95 Chicken goujons 14.95 Kids roast 6.50 Sticky toffee pudding 4.95 4 x soft drinks 10.00 Total 80.30 The rating Service 4/5 Food 4/5 Decor 4/5 Vegetarian 4/5 Dufferin Arms 25 High Street, Killyleagh Tel: 02844 821182 Shutterstock.com People who dont have children make up a substantial share of the population, but the stigma about not being a parent persists in modern culture, especially for women. Those without children are seen as unfulfilled, selfish, or unusual. A 2022 survey of Michigan adults found that over 20 percent were child-free, meaning they didnt want kids, while five percent were childless, meaning they wanted kids but were unable to have them. Almost 10 percent said they were undecided, roughly the same number said they want kids in the future, and over three percent said they were unsure. The author of the study acknowledged that it doesnt use a nationally representative sample, but Michigans population is demographically similar to the U.S. overall population. Here are some of the most common questions that you shouldnt ask those without children because they can come off as irritating, insensitive, and invasive. Why dont you have children? Most people without kids say you wouldnt believe the amount of women and men who have asked this question, which they would say is personal and invasive and a question that makes it seem like you should feel wrong for being childless. Strangers may not know the reason why someone has decided to be child-free, and it may not be their choice, so its best not to ask and wait for them to volunteer that information if they feel comfortable doing so. This question almost never comes from a neutral position. People who ask that question never consider the possibility of not having children themselves. If youre inclined to ask this question, stop and spend that time thinking about why you plan to have children or have children. If youve never questioned this or the only reason is because thats what you do, perhaps think about that before bringing a child into the world. Its an insensitive question when asked of someone who actively chose not to have children. Its hurtful when asked of a person who wants kids but is unable to have them for any reason. In either case, its none of anyones business. Youll never know true love if you dont have children. People without kids have probably heard some version of this comment, but it can be both untrue and hurtful. Many factors influence the capacity and ability to love, and can take many forms. Parenting can be a source of deep love, but its not the only source. You can experience this kind of love with friends, a partner, siblings, parents, other relatives, hobbies, or even pets. To assume that parents experience a deeper type of love than non-parents is biased and discounts that love is a complex emotion, highly individualized and can be expressed and felt in numerous ways. Others have heard that theyre missing out on the experience of having children, and theyll never know the joy of having children. If people feel they need to have children for a healthier life, then thats their prerogative. However, people who dont have kids can also have a happy life. The same can be said for dog lovers telling someone who doesnt have a dog that they dont know what theyre missing. When someone asks you this question, you can share your perspective on the matter and offer examples of the deep love youve experienced from others or in other facets of your life. "Who will care for you when you get old?" This is a question we should all think about, but its most often directed at child-free people. While the implication that one reason people have children is to have someone care for them in their old age is evident, the truth is that most adult children dont care for their elderly parents in ways we might think they do. A Pew Research survey found that while over half of U.S. adults had helped their aging parents with housework and errands, a smaller share, only 14 percent, had helped them with things like getting dressed and bathing, the sort of care that many of us will need in our older years. A recent estimate noted that it costs over $300,000 to raise a child through high school, which is quite a bit of money that could be saved for your older years. Plus, theres no guarantee that your child will support you as you age. If you factor in college, youll have a lot of money to hire a live-in caretaker. If your children follow the life pattern that people believe they should, theyll have their children and spouse to take care of, along with the $300,000 a year bill to raise that child. At best, your children will periodically check in on you, not take care of you. Having children so youll have someone to take care of you when youre old is a self-serving, exploitative reason to have a child. Its a bit cultural, but its a distortion of culture and also ableist, as it devalues a child who might be disabled or otherwise unable to support anyone. In this economy, many people have boomerang kids, not kids who can support them. You can always adopt. Its presumptuous to assume that someone who doesnt have children must want to have them. No one knows the circumstances or reasons why a person is child-free unless they specifically know someones story. Suggesting adoption to someone who is child-free by choice dismisses their identity as an individual and their freedom of choice. Even for those who want children but are unable to have them because of a fertility issue, for example, adoption may not be their desired path or a viable option. Telling someone to just adopt can also discount the grief of not being able to have a biological child. What people should also understand is that adoption is complex and isnt a quick fix or substitute for childlessness. Adoption is more complex than many folks understand. Its glorified in the media, but for many adoptees, its a harrowing, sometimes traumatic situation. Also, adoption is a loaded process many people could never afford financially or emotionally. Whatever the reason for not having children, its a sensitive topic that shouldnt be taken lightly. Some people may have tried numerous times to no avail, while others have consciously chosen not to have children. In any case, think about peoples paths before asking why they dont have children or simply wait until they divulge the information. UPDATED at 2:30 p.m. ET on 2023-11-20 The Philippines is seeking bilateral agreements with Southeast Asian claimant states to reduce the risk of conflict in the South China Sea, given the slow pace of progress on a long-sought regional code of conduct with China, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday. The situation for the Philippines in the disputed waterway has become more dire amid Chinas increasing encroachment on his nations maritime boundaries, and so Manila needed to partner with allies to maintain peace in the region, Marcos said in a speech in Hawaii. We are still waiting for the code of conduct between China and ASEAN and the progress has been rather slow unfortunately, Marcos said during his live-streamed appearance at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu on Monday morning (Manila time). We have taken the initiative to approach those other countries around ASEAN whom we have existing territorial conflicts with, Vietnam being one of them, Malaysia being another and to make our own code of conduct. China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including waters within the exclusive economic zone of Association of Southeast Asian Nations members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Negotiations to establish a code of conduct between ASEAN and China for the region have been going for more than two decades, but progress has been slow amid disputes over the scope and legal status of the document. Though a 2016 international arbitration ruling invalidated Chinas sweeping claims to the South China Sea, Beijing has refused to acknowledge it. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs later pushed back against Marcos for his remarks about pursuing separate agreements with Vietnam and Malaysia. Formulating a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) is an important task for China and ASEAN countries to implement the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). Any departure from the DOC framework and its spirit will be null and void, Mao Ning, spokesperson for the ministry, told a daily news conference on Monday in response to a reporters question about Marcos speech in Hawaii. Two analysts told Radio Free Asia, a news service affiliated with BenarNews, that the Philippine efforts to work with other South China Sea nations could be positive. [I]in terms of actually pressuring China to take some concrete steps, I think this is a good idea if the Philippines and Vietnam could agree, said Bill Hayton, an associate fellow in the Asia-Pacific Program at Chatham House, an independent United Kingdom think-tank. He said this could be a step toward a sort of de facto recognition of each others occupations in the South China Sea and then a means to ending the disputes between them. Carl Thayer, a Vietnam analyst and emeritus professor at the Australian Defense Force Academy in Canberra, pointed out that the Philippines was solving disputes with Malaysia and Vietnam bilaterally. And by cutting China out, it is in a sense following through on the arbitral tribunal award of 2016, Thayer said, adding, the Chinese case has no legal standing in international law, so its an end run and a hardening of the Philippine attitude toward protecting its sovereignty. Demonstrators gather outside the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, to protest a visit by Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and recall the actions taken by his late dictator father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. [AP] Marcos was visiting Honolulu while on his way home from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Week summit in San Francisco. On Friday, he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in a bid to ease bilateral tensions after a series of standoffs in the South China Sea. Chinese coast guard and maritime militia ships have in recent months stepped up efforts to block Philippine vessels from delivering supplies to a military outpost in Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal). Marcos said he requested the meeting with Xi to voice to the Chinese leader his concern on some of the incidents that were happening between Chinese and Philippine vessels, culminating in an actual collision, the Philippine Presidential Communications Office said in a statement Saturday. On Monday, Marcos said the most pressing challenge for Philippine security was ensuring peace in the West Philippine Sea, Manilas name for the South China Sea within its jurisdiction. The Indo-Pacific region, particularly the West Philippine Sea, is in the middle of a global geopolitical transformation and has become an arena of normative contestation, he said. Tensions in the West Philippine Sea are growing, with persistent unlawful threats and challenges against Philippine sovereign rights and jurisdiction over our exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf. No Aloha for Marcos' While in Honolulu, Marcos and Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner also visited the headquarters of the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command, where they met with Adm. John Aquilino, the top American regional commander who leads a 380,000-strong force of military and coast guard personnel. Marcos also connected with the large Filipino ex-pat community in Honolulu. The visit was laden with personal significance for Marcos. He spent part of his youth there after his late father, the Philippine dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, fled to Hawaii after his regime was toppled in 1986. Thousands of activists and opposition politicians were jailed or disappeared during the elder Marcos brutal rule. Marcos Sr. died while in exile in Honolulu, but his family was allowed to return home where they rebuilt their political base, despite demands for an apology from the victims of his fathers dictatorship. On Saturday, Marcos told a gathering of Filipino-Americans that he felt a deep sense of nostalgia to be back and wanted to thank members of the community who hold a very special place in my heart. My father is no longer with us, but when my mother found out that I was going to Honolulu, she said you make sure that you go back to all of those people who went out of their way to keep us comfortable to keep us alive, he said. Not everyone was happy with his visit, however. A small group of protesters rallied outside the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu carrying a black banner that read, No Aloha for Marcos. RFA Vietnamese service contributed to this report. This report has been updated to include comments from the Chinese government and two analysts. In this handout photo released on Nov. 20, 2023, Thai police officers guard victims of human trafficking in Myanmar, whose faces have been blurred by police over privacy concerns, as they board a flight from Kunming, China, to Bangkok. Nearly 270 Thai victims of human trafficking who were trapped in fighting between rebels and Burmese junta forces near Myanmars border with China arrived in Bangkok on Monday following a multi-nation operation to rescue and evacuate them, officials said. The 266 Thais, six Filipinos and a Singaporean were escorted from Laukkaing township in Myanmars Shan state to Kunming city in Chinas Yunnan province, where they boarded two chartered flights to Bangkok, Thai police and foreign ministry officials said of the coordinated operation involving Myanmars military government, China and Thailand. The evacuation from Laukkaing of those Thais was sensitive. But the Thai government has to rescue those who are in a vulnerable situation regardless of their status, as a victim or a trafficker, Kanchana Patarachoke, a spokeswoman for the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters after their arrival. They are under the screening process to verify whether anyone was a victim or a trafficker, she said, referring to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in Bangkok. These alleged victims of scam call centers set up by Chinese criminals said they had been stranded in Myanmar since October after rebels launched offensives against strategic junta positions across the country, including in Laukkaing, according to authorities. Post-coup Myanmar has deteriorated into a series of bloody conflicts since the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyis elected government in February 2021. It has become a regional hub lately for online scam operations and casinos that employ people trafficked from other countries in Southeast Asia. On Monday, a returnees relative said she was happy to learn of the success with the evacuation and repatriation. Previously, I could not contact my niece, I was so concerned for her safety because the town was at war until a military official helped us find the news of her arrival, said Kanisorn Payomhom, who asked that her nieces name be withheld over privacy concerns. I dont know what the legal process will be, but we are glad she was saved, Kanisorn told BenarNews. The Thai group was the second to be repatriated in the last two days, according to government officials. On Saturday, 41 Thais who had been rescued from Laukkaing were brought home via a land route from Myanmars Myitkyina province into Thailands Chiang Rai province. Kanchana said Thai authorities were trying to secure the release of an estimated less than 100 Thai nationals who remained under the control of criminal bosses. She said their repatriation could be similar to the most recent rescue operation that involved multi-nation cooperation. Meanwhile in Malaysia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that 109 citizens were reported stranded in Laukkaing town as of Monday. The majority of these Malaysian citizens are believed to be victims of fraudulent job offers from overseas syndicates. The ministry, through the Malaysian Embassy in Yangon, the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing, and the Consulate General of Malaysia in Kunming, is coordinating efforts to bring them home, it said in a statement. Members of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army resistance group walk past a government military base after seizing it during clashes near Laukkaing township in Myanmars northern Shan state, in this handout photo taken and released Oct. 28, 2023. [Handout/Kokang Information Network via AFP] Myanmar victims Since June, Thai authorities have warned its nationals to be wary of advertisements promising high-paying jobs inside Myanmar including in Myawaddy, across from Thailands Mae Sot in the west, and Tachileik, across from Thailands Mae Sai to the north. Many Thais, Chinese and other Southeast Asian nationals have been lured into and forced to work into scamming centers and casinos or as prostitutes, Thai officials said. During the NRM process, we will assist and remedy the human trafficking victims. But we will further investigate the traffickers and see if they have committed any other crimes, Torsak Sukvimol, the Thai national police chief said Sunday. In August, a report by the U.N. human rights agency identified Myanmar and Cambodia as epicenters of a new human trafficking scourge in Southeast Asia. Thousands of people were being forcibly engaged by organized criminal gangs into online criminality in Southeast Asia from romance-investment scams and crypto fraud to illegal gambling, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported. Myanmars junta forces have killed nearly 4,200 people and arrested more than 25,400 since the coup in 2021, the Thai-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported. Wilawan Watcharasakwej in Bangkok and Iman Muttaqin Yusof in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Partly cloudy early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain this afternoon. High around 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 37F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%. A shopper walks past turkeys displayed for sale in a grocery store ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 11, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama/TNS One of the nations largest feeding and turkey distributions hosted by City Wide Club on Thanksgiving at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Thursday November 24, 2022. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff Photographer Houston chefs contributed recipes for our 2021 Thanksgiving dinner, featuring bourbon brined turkey, Negroni glazed ham, chanterelles mushroom and hazelnut dressing, Korean braised kale, herbed mashed potatoes, a satsuma, sweet potato and persimmon salad, and spicy cranberry sauce. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Ouisies Table owner Wafi Dinari enhances the flavor of turkey, the star of Thanksgiving, by brining it in bourbon and filling it with aromatics. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer With Thanksgiving on Thursday, those preparing the turkey for the first time may be wondering when to begin thawing it. Unless one thrives under waiting until the last minute, reserving at least 24 hours to thaw a turkey is recommended. The United States Department of Agriculture suggests it takes at least 24 hours for every four to five pounds of weight for a turkey to thaw in the refrigerator. For example, a 15-pound turkey will take approximately three days to defrost. For those opting to thaw the meat in cold water, its best to submerge it in its original wrapping in cold tap water making sure to change the water every 30 minutes. The USDA also says to cook the turkey immediately after it's thawed out. In offering more tips, the USDA warns against thawing a frozen turkey on the kitchen counter or in the garage during wintertime. Officials go on to say that leaving any frozen package of meat or poultry out for more than two hours at room temperature can be dangerous. Despite the center of the package remaining frozen, the USDA insists that the outer layer of the food falls into the danger zone of 40 and 140 degrees a temperature range at which food-borne bacteria can easily multiply. Advertisement Article continues below this ad On World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, Pittsfield activists and officials recognize those who died in traffic crashes in Berkshire County PITTSFIELD Mohammed Tamimi stood on the steps of City Hall on Sunday afternoon with a message: The Palestinian struggle did not begin in October. Surrounded by protesters at a Free Palestine rally that traveled from The Common to City Hall, Tamimi spoke about the mass expulsion and dispossession of Palestinians beginning in 1948 during the Arab-Israeli War. Tamimi was born in the West Bank, and lived there until he moved to the United States at age 10. In an interview, he compared life there to living in the Jim Crow South that being Palestinian in Palestine means having basically every aspect of your life controlled. You always feel that hovering power over you, Tamimi said. Youre terrified. As a kid, you dont understand it, but it is what it is. Tamimi said in his speech that advocating for the basic human rights of Palestinians is not synonymous with denying the rights and security of the Jewish people. His presence was about standing up to what he referred to as a colonial state and genocidal regime. The struggle for justice in Palestine is a universal fight. A resonating echo in a battle waged by oppressed people across the globe a battle we must win, a torch we must carry and a legacy we must honor, Tamimi said on the steps. Thank you, and free Palestine. The Israel-Hamas War began following a surprise attack by the paramilitary group Hamas on Oct. 7. Israel has lost roughly 1,200 lives since the conflict began, most of them killed during the Oct. 7 attack. That led to an Israeli declaration of war, then a siege to cut off food and water supplies, and sustained air and land combat. After over a month of fighting, the Palestinian death toll is over 11,500 people, with 2,700 reported missing, per the latest reporting from the Associated Press. CNN reported on Nov. 7 that nearly half of the reported casualties from Gaza were children. The conflict has seen pro-Israel and pro-Palestine rallies sprout up around the country, and in the Berkshires, with mounting calls for a cease-fire. The rally on Sunday saw dozens gather to call for Palestines liberation on the steps of City Hall. Protesters were led in chants, including a call and response to read the names of about 30 children killed in attacks on Gaza over the last decade. Lillian Volat, one of the rallys organizers, said that the reading was an attempt to humanize the dead, recognizing that they could not list the names of everyone killed in the war since October. Volat said she felt theres been a shift in the conflicts perception, and that more people are beginning to see the situation in Palestine as unjust. I think that people are beginning to understand that this is a very asymmetric situation, Volat said. The protesters also criticized U.S. involvement in the conflict, particularly the providing of weapons and aid to Israel. The presence of General Dynamics, a multinational defense contractor with a factory in Pittsfield, made the city a perfect place to protest, Tamimi said. Theyre sending weapons over to fight a people with no army, Tamimi said in an interview. Just a couple rebels. Among those gathered at the rally, however, there was some dispute on the messaging. Chris Garramone, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, spoke at the rally, condemning General Dynamics as a defense company profiting off of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. But Garramones rallying cry for people in the crowd to be organized, disciplined and militant, caused one protester to ask in the middle of his speech if he was advocating for physical violence. Garramone answered: if it comes to that, clarifying that Sundays event was a peaceful protest but that national liberation struggles are often fought with weapons. Theres a genocide going on in Gaza, right? Garramone said in response. People have the right to defend themselves. The protester, dissatisfied, tossed his sign on the ground and left. When interviewed later, Garramone attempted to clarify that he was not calling for violence, but preparedness for the movement to face an imperialist state thats armed to the teeth. We are a peaceful movement, Garramone said. But were ready to deal with the consequences that come from interrupting things. Sophie Tannenbaum, a student at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, spoke about the disruption of Muslim burial practices during the conflict. She explained that followers of Islam should be buried as soon as possible, and that Muslim martyrs should be washed and shrouded by elders in their community. The disruption of water supply in Gaza has made that almost impossible, Tannenbaum said, and people tasked with tending to the dead are given almost no time to do so. I think theres this element in death of time that is overlooked until youre in it," Tannenbaum said. "I wanted to recognize the people who arent being given the time that we, here, in this community are so often given to honor and bury our dead. The Sedgwick Family Cemetery Trust, which owns Stockbridge's most famous cemetery, is planning to float a request for proposals in search of an arrangement to accommodate future generations. In 2021, the 1753 House in Williamstown was temporarily screened, reminding passersby that Mohicans passed by before Anglos settled. RICHMOND The seat of Richmond has moved down the road a piece, leaving the venerable Town Hall empty of town records, valuables and personnel, the town seal still in place over the door, the paint peeling, just one light burning outside the door. Its a 100-year-old building that looks quite tired. No wonder. Its seen a lot of action over the years, a building used by so many people and so many organizations. It was middle-aged when we moved to town, the place where we went to our first town meetings in the first-floor room where the stage curtain was a hand-painted landscape. The art work was rolled up for town meeting, with moderator Darwin Morse conducting business in stentorian tones in front of the stage. A row of women, election workers, seated at long tables on the stage behind him, quietly counted the ballots from the local voting that had ended earlier that day. They rarely looked up from their task and apparently were not supposed to reveal any trends in the paper ballots they were handling. Whether a candidate had a code set up with one of them was anyones guess. It was the days of longtime resident John Foster holding forth on any topic, Gordon Crane protesting moving election day to Saturdays because well all be at Stowe, Matt Bebko of the many hats defending requests for the Fire Department and other entities, and men dominating not only the speaking but way outnumbering the women present. We were mostly astonished by this purest representation of democracy in the United States. We were also taken aback when we became aware one year that a town official was making the rounds of various men after a town meeting asking them if they were willing to serve on the next jury list. Naively, we had thought that was a lottery of some sort, not a volunteer matter; also, no women were asked. But town meeting was just one of the circuses held here. The Grange held its hush-hush meetings in this hall, shades drawn, and sponsored the annual agricultural affair when everyone all ages displayed their flowers or vegetables for official judging. After a couple of years as spectators, we were excited about taking home red and blue ribbons for apples, squash or whatever and took great interest in the competition between Frank Rawson and Alice Vosburgh, who each created giant artistic arrangements of all kinds of produce. The mothers cooperative nursery school met for a number of years in the large basement room, with teacher Elaine Moffatt of West Stockbridge handled rambunctious 4- and 5-year-olds with aplomb. Mothers carpooled and provided cans of juice for snack time. Richmond had no kindergarten in those days. The space later was used by Girl Scouts for weekly meetings, then became office cubicles. The selectmans office was adjacent, and one evening when I was a selectman we had an official visit from the slightly built but formidable Angelo Iantosca of the state Department of Environmental Protection. The kids were doing fine on their tests at the Richmond elementary school, but the water was failing. Iantosca wanted bubblers closed, kitchen water boiled. We had to fix the old well. We were dismayed but calm when a thundering racket shook the floor overhead and sizable flakes of plaster fell on Iantoscas jacket and the table in front of us. Boy Scouts, we said, as if nothing had happened, and the discussion went on. Melodramas were an old favorite, long before us, in Richmond, and sometime before the 20th century ended they were revived at the Town Hall, with local actors performing on the stage and pitchers of beer served at borrowed card tables around the room. It was a highly successful fundraiser for a local organization, with a well-lubricated audience cheering the hapless heroine and booing the villain. Worries about attendees getting home safely was one factor in the event going back into retirement. Some small towns had manned or womanned town halls long before Richmond did. When we moved into town, and for many years after that, the town clerk operated out of his home (as did his female successor), putting up with people knocking on the door at odd hours in a kind of on-demand job. If you were new or a second-homer and thought youd ask someone a question at Town Hall, youd usually find the door locked, the government not home. Or rather, at many homes. But it was used. And whether it stays there for a new life or ends up as wreckage, it served the town well probably for too long. Hohm Energys Ho Ho Hohm the gift that keeps on giving social media campaign is a play on the stereotypical festive season commercial. Image supplied. Hohm Energys Ho Ho Hohm the gift that keeps on giving social media campaign is a play on the stereotypical festive season commercial The campaign is part of the ClimateTech solar marketplace mission to accelerate the adoption of rooftop solar. By September this year, according to Montmasson-Clair, imports of solar panels to South Africa reached R18bn - more than 4.5GW of capacity. To date over 37,00 South Africans have already made use of the Hohm Energy Solar as a Service (SaaS) platform. "We've created more than 17,500 personalised solar proposals valued at R3.6bn utilising our proprietary solar engineering designed software, says Tim Ohlsen, the CEO of Hohm Energy. This resulted in R3.6bn worth of personalised solar proposals which is the equivalent of 114 Megawatts of solar supply. Dedicated to revolutionising the often challenging and complex process homeowners face when acquiring solar energy systems, Holm Energy has a cutting-edge, technology-led aggregator platform that effortlessly links homeowners with trusted solar installers, while also providing structured solar financing solutions. Additionally, we've facilitated over R1.6bn in finance applications - equivalent to 85+ Megawatts - which were initiated by Hohm Energy and directed to our retail banking partners, adds Ohlsen. Solar solutions range from R48k to R980k. Hohm Energy simplifies the journey for customers, making it easy to obtain credit and afford a solar system with minimal effort. By forging partnerships with four of the top five retail banks in South Africa, we are not only streamlining the process but also fundamentally reshaping the nation's energy infrastructure, explains Ohlsen. Apple is pulling all its adverts from X following the endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory by Elon Musk. Source: Shift Delete Shift Delete It is reported that Apple is pulling all its adverts from X following the endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory by Elon Musk This has been reported by several mainstream as well as sector-specific media. It has also been stated that the tech giant has allegedly been concerned about its products being promoted alongside far-right content, according to Axios. Apple, IBM, Amazon and Oracle have all been named as organisations whose ads appeared next to far-right posts on X, according to a report published by the left-leaning nonprofit Media Matters for America. IBM pulled all ads in response, with Apple becoming the latest major company to follow suit. Apple has been a major advertiser on the social media site and its pause follows a similar move by IBM, says Axios. On Thursday 17 November Axios published that IBM had announced that it would halt its advertising on X following a report that its ads appeared next to pro-Nazi posts. Musk faces backlash Musk is facing a backlash for his response to an X post that claimed Jewish communities support "dialectical hatred against whites". Musk commented: You have said the actual truth," in response to the X post. As a result, 164 Jewish rabbis and activists upped their call to Apple, Google, Amazon and Disney to stop advertising on X, and for Apple and Google to remove it from their platforms following his action. X CEO Linda Yaccarino Yaccarino has attempted to placate companies by claiming that brands are now protected from the risk of being next to potentially toxic content. Yaccarino wrote in a post on the platform: We have been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. Theres no place for it anywhere in the world its ugly and wrong. Full stop. A powerful signal As one of Xs longstanding major advertisers, Apples move to halt all ads is a powerful signal to other brands regarding the effectiveness of X as an advertising platform, according to the Axios article. It reports that since Musk took over the social networking site last year, ad revenue has plummeted by 59%. Apples choice to withdraw its ads will undoubtedly be another huge blow for Xs ad revenue. The White House on Friday joined the cancel culture mob targeting X owner Elon Musk for speaking out against the promotion of anti-white racism. The White House through spokesman Andrew Bates released a statement bringing up the Holocaust and accusing Musk of inciting terrorism: It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of Antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Like President Biden said weeks ago memorializing the victims of the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting, the October 7 "devastating atrocity has brought to the surface painful memories left by millennia of Antisemitism;" and under his presidency "we will continue to condemn Antisemitism at every turn." We condemn this abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans. We all have a responsibility to bring people together against hate, and an obligation to speak out against anyone who attacks the dignity of their fellow Americans and compromises the safety of our communities. What a load of crap. This White House sent aircraft carriers and thousands of US troops to the Middle East to help Israel carry out the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and yet they want everyone to think Elon Musk is a terrorist because he's against Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League promoting anti-white hatred. You have said the actual truth Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2023 Yeah, this is super messed up. Time for this nonsense to end and shame ANYONE who perpetuates these lies! Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2023 We're not going to be lectured on "hate" by some of the most hateful people imaginable while they ethnically cleanse 2.5 million Palestinians from their homeland and massacre men, women and children in droves in the name of "destroying Amalek!" Netanyahu declaring invasion: "You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible" 1 Samuel 15:3 "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass" pic.twitter.com/5QF9PkGhjJ Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 28, 2023 Top Israeli official Bezalel Smotrich explains his government's plan for Gaza: "We will not stop until Amalek is finally destroyed." pic.twitter.com/v3sQEhSPwv Chris Menahan (@infolibnews) November 16, 2023 Elon Musk has nothing but love in his heart and we could only be so lucky as to have such loving people running our government as opposed to the hate-filled zealots occupying the White House! Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds and Telegram. The Houston skyline is seen looking south east toward Interstate 59, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer The popular TikTok restaurant critic Keith Lee and his family are coming to Houston after Thanksgiving on the next stop of his nationwide food tour, he announced Saturday. Lee, a Las Vegas native who gained prominence on the platform for his casual food reviews, urged Houstonians and his more than 15 million followers to share recommendations for family-owned restaurants and small businesses for his visit to the Bayou City in the coming weeks. "Houston has the possibility to be iconic," Lee said in a TikTok video announcing his upcoming visit. "I can't wait." Advertisement Article continues below this ad Houstonians came out in full force after Lee posted his announcement Saturday. Some who commented on his video recommended businesses like Mikki's Soulfood Cafe and Lotus Seafood, while others warned the TikTok star to expect to spend a long time in his car while traveling between food spots in the vast Houston area. "Just know that Houston is an hour away from Houston," one user wrote. "Be prepared to DRIVE." Our food critics' top picks: Houston's 100 best restaurants of 2023 The 27-year-old critic, a mixed martial artist who began posting food reviews on TikTok in 2021, has been known to help revive struggling small businesses with his reviews, with some restaurants exploding in popularity after appearing in his videos. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Although Lee usually reviews restaurants in the Las Vegas area, posting videos from his home or his car and sometimes accompanied by his family, he's toured other major cities since becoming a social media star, including Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles. There is something very odd about the way that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has never quite left the centre of the political stage. He is so widely loathed by the British public as a hypocritical war criminal who used the Labour Party to advance a cruel neoliberal agenda that when he was given a knighthood by the British state in 2022, more than a million people signed a petition demanding the honour be rescinded. And yet Tony Bliar, as he is often known, just wont do us all a favour and disappear into the political wings for good. He is constantly hinting at a return to British politics and popping up in the corporate media to offer his advice on how the world should be run, whether calling for the UKs Brexit from the EU to be reversed, accusing Jeremy Corbyn of antisemitism, or demanding the imposition of vaccine passports and digital ID. The latest nauseating news is that the 70-year-old warmonger, once suggested as full-time president of Europe by the then French president Nicolas Sarkozy, is now being touted by Israel as peacekeeper in Middle East, to quote The Daily Telegraphs headline from November 13, 2023. The report explains that serving as the envoy for the Middle East Quartet from 2007 to 2015, Blair was handed the task of helping develop the Palestinian economy, with his role overlapping with Netanyahus second term. It adds that Blair, who has an office in Israel, was also a member of Labour Friends of Israel for decades when in Parliament. Indeed, his refusal to call for a ceasefire in the 2006 conflict between Israel and Lebanon, together of course with his ongoing unpopularity due to the invasion of Iraq and the so-called War on Terror, is regarded as the main reason why he was forced to resign as PM in 2007. In 2009, Blair was awarded Israels Dan David Prize for exceptional leadership and steadfast determination in helping to engineer agreements and forge lasting solutions to areas in conflict, just five years after the $1 million annual hand-out went to WEF boss Klaus Schwab. So how is it that Blair remains such a key global figure more than 16 years after he left public office in the UK? A fascinating article by researcher Ben Rubin, which has just come my way, provides an important clue. Rubin was looking into the UK charity My Life My Say, which collaborates closely with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and seems to be trying to build a remote-controlled youth movement, similar to the WEFs Global Shapers, to shape politics in the UK. In 2019 a group of young people were lucky enough to be addressed by Blair via a large TV screen, as he clarified what My Life My Say described as his on going support for the organisation. And in June 2022 Blair was the main speaker at a conference on the Future of Britain organised with My Life My Say and hosted by the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College, London. In investigating the background of My Life My Says trustees, Rubin discovered something that he describes as a biggie, adding: To be honest, I almost fell off my chair when I saw it. He writes, accurately, that My Life My Say trustee Glen Manning is a senior banker with Rothschild & Co. I also note that he has enjoyed a long career with known Rothschild entities like J.P. Morgan. In 2021 Manning became Portfolio Advisor to R&Co4Generations, a Rothschild philanthropic fund which is explicitly involved in the new form of public-private digital slavery known as impact investment and in the promotion of the closely-related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It claims its mission is all about empowering the next generations and chair Alexandre de Rothschild writes of a desire to create lasting and positive change. There is perfect synergy there with the title of Blairs global institute and indeed with all the fake-left impact-based organisations that talk incessantly about social change. The important thing to realise is that they dont mean change for the better! The aim of both the Rothschilds and Blair is to wipe out what is left of traditional human life and freedom in order to impose their new world order of artifice, surveillance and control, in which the 99.9% are confined in smart-city gulags, eating insects, while the criminal ultra-rich are free to treat the rest of the world as a privatised party-zone and safari park. The money-based entity plotting to carry this out is deeply entwined with British and indeed global institutions, in a worldwide version of the state-corporate fusion that was at the heart of historical fascism and which I term the criminocracy. The suggestion that Blair has always been working for the Rothschilds agenda makes perfect sense to me. By 1997, when he became Prime Minister, their connections to the corrupt Tory regime in the UK were becoming all-too-obvious, with the revolving doors between Rothschild HQ at Londons New Court and the corridors of political power attracting increasing attention, as historian Niall Ferguson has noted. It was time for change but change that wouldnt threaten the underlying seat of power in contemporary Britain. Tony Blair MP may have been an anagram for Im Tory Plan B, as was pointed out at the time, but maybe he could better have been described as Rothschild Plan B. I dont think that it is a coincidence that Ronald Cohen, notorious as the banker for Blair and Browns New Labour, went on to found the impact capitalism so favoured by Rothschild & Co. Neither is it irrelevant that Blair has a long history of involvement with the Swiss-based World Economic Forum Back in 2016 he used its website as a platform to call for a leap forward for developing countries and in particular a digital revolution in Africa. Neo-colonialism in Africa is a long-term Rothschild activity, as I described in Enemies of the People, and it is intertesting that Blair particularly mentions Rwanda, which earlier this year provided me with very useful insights into the nature and reach of the global criminocracy. Such is Blairs standing in globalist circles that he is even considered a possible successor to Klaus Schwab at Davos! It is very telling that shortly after resigning from British politics, in January 2008, he joined Rothschild-associated business JPMorgan Chase in a senior advisory capacity. The bank, which said he offered unique perspective, is estimated to have paid him 2.52m per year. The departed PM also quickly signed a lucrative agreement with Zurich Financial Services to advise chief executive officer James Schiro and provide general guidance on developments and trends in the international political environment. Schiro (pictured), who died in 2014, was also CEO of PriceWaterhouseCoopers and a director of a number of multinational companies including PepsiCo, Philips and Rothschild-linked Goldman Sachs. He was on the Business Council of the World Economic Forum, was a board member of the United States-China Business Council and, in 1997, received the American Jewish Committees National Human Relations Award. Blair told media as he walked in through several revolving corporate doors in 2008: I have always been interested in commerce and the impact of globalisation. Nowadays, the intersection between politics and the economy in different parts of the world, including the emerging markets, is very strong. You can say that again! The most cursory of glances at the 2023 Ideas to Transform the Future of Britain offered by Blairs Institute for Global Change will confirm that he is peddling exactly the same plan as the Rothschilds and the WEF. He wants a new 21st-century strategic state harnessing artificial intelligence and digital identity to give and receive information in real time. Just like Klaus Schwab (funny, that!), Blair chooses the word agile to describe this new kind of governance. He wants to see far deeper state investment in technological and AI-era infrastructure, utilising cloud and modern software. And a new treatment of data as a competitive asset, which can, for example, stimulate innovation in health. Thats about impact investment, by the way. He also, somewhat predictably, calls for a greater alignment between the government and private sector to mobilise effectively behind clear purposes, such as around climate. Blair sees the need for a greater appetite for risk and innovation, with greater expertise from the outside informing direction. Maybe Rothschild & Co have some suggestions regarding the possible source of such expertise? Blair goes on: The United Kingdom has been at the forefront of many of these breakthroughs and was home to one of humanitys great leaps: the Industrial Revolution. Another revolution is now taking place with developments in AI, a technology with a level of impact akin to the internal combustion engine, electricity and the internet, so incrementalism will not be enough. Great Leap Forward, Great Reset, Impact, Fourth Industrial Revolution we get the picture. Growth and prosperity has long been a catchphrase of the likes of the World Bank and Blairs vision is, once again, very much in line, with its talk of a new era of growth and prosperity. To achieve this, democratic opposition to industrial acceleration has to be crushed by Blairs fascistic new agile state. He wants reform to build more critical infrastructure faster, including an expansion of the meaning of that term. Blair complains: Planning has become the epitome of democracys efficacy problem, with a small number of organised voices halting progress, slowing construction and pushing up costs. Done right, a new model for national infrastructure planning would cut the time it takes to obtain consent by 80 per cent. Blair also wants to see modernisation of public services in the UK, including, of course, the National Health Service. This would facilitate the impact agenda by imposing digital health accounts, with data held centrally in a new NHS cloud infrastructure and used as a collective national asset to help our life-science sector to be world-leading. For life-science sector read the highly profitable Biotech and Big Pharma empires with which the Rothschilds have long been closely linked, as I have previously set out. Just to make sure we get the point, Blairs report envisages turning the Genomic Medicine Service into a fully fledged part of the health system, providing whole-genome sequencing to all patients. Privatisation is very much on the Blair agenda. He want to give his proposed Integrated Care Systems multi-year budgets so they can redeploy efficiency savings, use private providers freely and allow patient choice across GP practices and hospitals in their region. Schoolkids are on the Blair radar as well. His proposals for reforming education include: 1. Establishing a digital learner ID that would contain all educational information, enabling a personalised education for every child. 2. Increasing parent choice and access to quality education by giving schools the freedom to provide hybrid lessons and parents the right to request online classes delivered by other schools, incentivising schools to improve performance. 3. Overhauling Ofsted so that accountability is based on real-time insights and geared towards continuous improvement of standards. Real-time insights means permanent digital surveillance so that educational outcomes can be assessed and traded by the financial parasites of the impact industry. Meanwhile, his solution to the need for safer communities is an expansion of facial recognition technology and his idea of caring for the environment is to call for A Decade of Electrification! Although Blair has publicly accepted the Brexit decision, he would like to see a better relationship with the EU, which would involve deepening the existing security partnership and establishing a new strategic pillar on foreign policy, defence and security within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Finally, I have described elsewhere how the Swiss-based Edmond de Rothschild entity, in setting out its support for the whole totalitarian Great Reset agenda, used the slogan: We are bold builders of the future. Zurich Financial Services, the Swiss-based business that employed Blair in 2008, declares its desire to create a brighter future together. How peculiar that Blairs propaganda should manage to perfectly combine the two phrases, with its slogan: Britain deserves a bold agenda for a brighter future! In truth, of course, the future he is trying to force upon us is anything but bright. It is difficult to disagree with researcher Rubins warning that Tony Blair is coordinating with the Rothschild family to fundamentally reshape British society and implement a global, digital slave state. [Audio version] On Tuesday, Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley went on television and declared that it was absolutely necessary to deanonymyze the internet, justifying the idea as a national security prerogative. According to Haley, its still not enough to make it illegal to be online and commit the act of speaking freely without publicly doxxing yourself. No, Haley took it a step further, demanding that surveillance tools are used to monitor and identify anyone using the internet. Indeed, people say all kinds of terrible things on the internet. But the principle of free speech is reserved for everyone, not just people who say things that we agree with. Clearly, she has not absorbed the lessons of the post 9/11 Patriot Act debacle, nor has she become wiser in the aftermath of the Covid hysteria era. Haley has once more hoisted the flag of the anti-humans. Does Haley know how horrible these ideas sound to the freedom-loving American? Better yet, does she care? For all of her hooting and hollering on television about the very real evils pursued by the Chinese Communist Party, Haley finds herself in ideological agreement with Beijing and the Davos crowd on the apparent need to install a massive surveillance apparatus online. Haley seems to have no issue with a CCP/WEF-style Social Credit Score system, as long as the people enforcing it are doing so under her perch. Sadly, she is not an aberration from the norm. She is the norm for the modern American politician, who exists inside of a current system that incentivizes corruption, deceit, and ignoring the interests of ones own constituents. Akin to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, it appears that Nikki Haley is motivated solely by the consumption of political power, and she will do anything necessary within her power to achieve that end goal. Almost every step of the way throughout her rise to power and fame, Haley has found herself on the wrong side of history. Time and time again, Haley sides with the Current Thing over the right thing. Those who have followed Haleys establishment-friendly career probably arent particularly surprised by her continuing authoritarian remarks. Over the course of the Covid hysteria years, Haley remained silent in the face of the fastest roll up of power in American history, seemingly worried that she would upset corporate America by standing up for the American citizenry. Not only that, she fully embraced the Covid regime, infamously requiring vax and booster passes to attend her speeches, through which she was paid very handsomely (she disclosed six and seven figure pay days). During the primary season, Haley has sparred with Governor Ron DeSantis over the Florida governor's decision to take the fight to Disney and end their special privileges in the state. Attempting to express her diplomatic bonafides, Haley declared that it was a bridge too far to take on the groomer freak shows in Orlando. Haley is a friend to The System, and she has become a very wealthy woman by accommodating the interests of the Wall St and Washington, D.C. establishment. A woman without any deeply held political principles, Haley has done great for herself by serving as a puppet for the team of billionaires who are facilitating her political career. Nikki Haleys policy proposals and worldview can best be explained by a concoction that includes the worst impulses of George W. Bush, Klaus Schwab, and Xi Jinping. She is a warmonger, a soulless technocrat, and a totalitarian. She is not an ideologue motivated by isms, but a flimsy pragmatist whose political talent comes in the form of elevating her personal ambitions above all else. She speaks of freedom and American excellence, but that is just lots of bumper sticker sloganeering. Nikki Haley doesnt really mean it, and she proves it almost every time she comments on the major issues of the day. This week, Haleys political campaign announced that they have taken out an extensive series of negative ad buys against Gov DeSantis. For reasons that have not been stated, she has thus far refused to target President Trump, the clear frontrunner in the race as of this writing. It doesnt seem that Haley is running for president, but to get herself (her benefactors) in the good graces of the man who she once served under as Ambassador to The United Nations, who she perceives as the probable victor in the GOP primary. The WEF queen strikes again, and it looks like Nikki Haley has a new mission: VP or bust. Lets get this caveat out of the way for the but muh terrorism mouth-breathers: Osama bin Laden was a Wahhabist fundamentalist spawned from the ultra-theocratic ruling class in Saudi Arabia not my cup of tea, and not my ideological kindred. Unlike most other Westerners, I have lived in Saudi Arabia an experience I chronicle in my recently released memoir, Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile and have seen Islamic fundamentalism as a governing ideology up close. Not super pretty. That caveat aside, heres the forbidden truth one is not meant to utter: bin Laden was an evidently thoughtful man who had a profound impact on world history. And he wrote a letter that can be read in a matter of minutes elaborating upon his and his comrades motivations for the 9/11 attack and their broader geopolitical objectives. The proper question is not why would anyone want to read it; its why wouldnt anyone interested in the subject of global jihadist terrorism want to read about their motivations straight from the horses mouth? What benefit is conferred by wallowing in ignorance and repeating the knuckle-dragging they hate us because of our freedom line pushed by American neocons? Thats a rhetorical question; its obviously immensely beneficial for the governments propagandistic efforts when no information that runs contrary to their stupid bumper sticker slogans is allowed to be seen or heard. TikTok has stripped [bin Ladens] #LettertoAmerica from its search function. But more than 13 million people had already viewed it! a histrionic Andrea Mitchell pearl-clutched on MSNBC. She was then joined for the censorship-fest segment by retired CIA spook Marc Polymeropoulos who now poses as a journalist of sorts to lament that the peasants should be permitted to read literature forbidden by the state. CNN analyst explains disturbing Osama Bin Laden TikTok trend, reads the CNN headline. CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst a fancy title for spook whisperer John Miller calls the TikTok republications of, and videos about, the letter a digital crime scene. Like TikTok, presumably also under threat by the multinational corporate state, British outlet The Guardian recently removed the letter from its website. Now, when you visit the URL where the letter was previously housed by the outlet, all you get is a page that reads Removed: document. Plantation owners, similarly, barred their slaves from reading for fear they might get a little uppity and start wondering whether masta really had their best intentions at heart. These tyrannical dinosaurs still apparently havent figured out how the Streisand Effect works; the harder they try to hide information, the more alluring it becomes. The letter is still widely available online, and I would encourage everyone if for no other reason than as a fuck you to the governing authorities who wish for totalitarian control over what you see and hear to read it who wants to understand what the Islamic fundamentalist mindset is as it relates to the West and what it views as Western imperialism. Lastly, the central lesson here is that the corporate state media has once again demonstrated that it is undeniably the enemy of every American citizen; it wants to shutter your mind in darkness so that the only ideas allowed to reverberate off of the walls of the Platos cave that is your curated worldview are the ones pre-approved by the CIA and filtered through the free press. For now, these institutions are allowed to muzzle Americans speech with relatively impunity. One fine day, though, the cleansing rain will fall Ben Bartee, author of Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile, is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs. Follow his stuff Substack if you are inclined to support independent journalism free of corporate slant. Also, keep tabs via Twitter. For hip Armageddon Prose t-shirts, hats, etc., peruse the merch store. Insta-tip jar and Bitcoin public address: bc1qvq4hgnx3eu09e0m2kk5uanxnm8ljfmpefwhawv Originally published via Armageddon Prose: Via All Israel News: In a jointly penned opinion two Israeli Members of Knesset recently urged Western nations to welcome Palestinian refugees from Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war Hamass unprovoked terrorist attack on Oct. 7 has endangered not only Israel but the more than two million people who live in the Gaza Strip. Although Hamas won 2006 elections in Gaza and took control of the area from the Palestinian Authority the following year, the group has said that it bears no responsibility for the people living there, the two lawmakers wrote Danon and Ben-Barak stressed that Europe has a long tradition of helping migrants fleeing from conflict zones such as former Yugoslavia and Ukraine. Europe has a long history of assisting refugees fleeing conflicts. The wars in the former Yugoslavia displaced millions, most of them from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Germany, Austria and Sweden accepted large numbers. When the Kosovo war erupted, hundreds of thousands of Kosovar Albanians fled to neighboring Albania and the country now called North Macedonia. Yes, European populations have been made by their governments to absorb hordes millions upon millions of migrants from the Middle East over the past decades, and its wrecked their societies, perhaps irreversibly so. And Israel wants more of that this time not just for Europe but for the U.S. as well. Related: Germany: Afghan Migrant Does a Diversity, Rapes Drunk Teenager on Subway Platform For Hours The full op-ed is here in The Wall Street Journal; unfortunately, its behind a paywall and even the trusty archive.today workaround fails to work. Its pretty clear whats going on here: despite its duplicitous public proclamations to the contrary, Israel is trying to figure out how to ethnically cleanse Gaza without incurring grievous political damage for itself in the process. It so far has been unable to achieve its first-resort option of bullying Egypt into accepting the Gazans into the Sinai Peninsula (which is largely uninhabitable anyway) and so its begun looking for other creative solutions. Understanding very well, based on year of taking advantage of them, that the leaders of Western nations have no respect for their people and that they can be made to do virtually anything in the service of Israel, they have decided the best course of action is to try to shunt the Gazans off into Europe and North America under the guise of humanitarianism. At any rate, were I the head of American state, here is how I would reply: Dear sirs, Upon consideration, the United States will not be acceding to your demand that we import the refugees that you created. Our nation is not your dumping ground for your political problems. Kindly get fucked. I present here, on behalf of the American people, our most gracious counter-request: Provide, within 48 hours, a public apology for your brazen disrespect of our country, published preferably in one of our newspapers in the same manner that you made your absurd prior demand. Failing that, your current, pending $14 billion charity request from the American taxpayer will be canceled, as will the $4 billion your parasitic state already receives annually. Furthermore, we will revoke all of the diplomatic cover we run on behalf of your state, at our own immense political expense, so that the United Nations can have its way with you. The days of the tail wagging the dog are finished. You are going to learn to heel or youre going to learn how to survive in a hostile world without the generous sponsorhip of the American people that you take for granted and have no appreciation for. Kindly, once again, get fucked. Awaiting your apology, -Mr. President Ben Bartee, author of Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile, is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs. Follow his stuff Substack if you are inclined to support independent journalism free of corporate slant. Also, keep tabs via Twitter. For hip Armageddon Prose t-shirts, hats, etc., peruse the merch store. Insta-tip jar and Bitcoin public address: bc1qvq4hgnx3eu09e0m2kk5uanxnm8ljfmpefwhawv 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. A cold front is forecast to push a line of strong storms through Southeast Texas Monday. Damaging winds and large hail are possible, especially north of Interstate 10 where instability is expected to be highest. Let's dive into the forecast and detail storm timing. Pedestrians holding umbrellas while at an intersection on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023 in downtown Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Few morning showers Mostly cloudy skies are in the forecast early Monday morning with temperatures starting in the lower to middle 60s. A few spotty showers are possible by 7 a.m., though this activity should be mostly light and have little to no effect on the morning commute. While dry weather may greet you as you head out the door for school or work, the risk of storms will increase by the afternoon. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The map shows what the radar could look like Monday at 7 a.m. A few spotty showers are possible, but heavier rain and strong storms should hold off until the afternoon. WeatherBELL Storms arrive during the afternoon Afternoon heating ahead of an approaching cold front is forecast to result in the development of strong storms across portions of Southeast Texas on Monday. Weather conditions at the surface aren't the only favorable aspect for the development of strong and severe storms. The jet stream, which is the river of air 30,000 feet above Earth that divides cold air to the north from warm air to the south, will be positioned over the Southern Plains Monday afternoon. Within the jet stream, a pocket of faster-moving air called a jet streak will be pushing through the Lone Star State with winds of up to 70 mph aloft. High-resolution models, which are used to determine the development of showers and thunderstorms within 24 hours, suggest a broken line of thunderstorms will move out of Hill Country and into Southeast Texas by midday. As temperatures climb to near 80 degrees amid stout southwesterly breezes of 10 to 15 mph, fuel for thunderstorms will peak as storms arrive between noon and 4 p.m. While instability will be found across all of Southeast Texas, it will be highest from Huntsville to Jasper. As storms collide into an unstable environment, they are forecast to grow in depth and intensity. For areas west of Interstate 45, storms are expected to arrive between 12 and 3 p.m. In Houston, storms are likely to push in between 1 and 4 p.m. Locations east of I-45 may deal with thunderstorms through about 5 or 6 p.m. Advertisement Article continues below this ad This map shows what future radar could look like early Monday afternoon. A broken line of thunderstorms could produce damaging winds, large hail, and even an isolated tornado. WeatherBELL Storms are expected to bring damaging winds and large hail threat predominantly, though a stray tornado cannot be entirely ruled out. The risk for more numerous strong storms is highest from Lufkin to Beaumont, with Houston and Galveston likely to see more isolated strong storms. By 6 p.m. Monday, the risk of strong storms in Houston should be diminished significantly as cooler and drier air pushes in behind the cold front. Turning cool and dry Following Monday's brush with strong and severe storms, quieter weather should take hold of Southeast Texas by Tuesday and Wednesday. This fact bodes well for people traveling for Thanksgiving, as much of the state will enjoy high-pressure weather leading up to Thursday. THANKSGIVING FORECAST: We provided a sneak preview of the Thanksgiving Day forecast last week Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mostly sunny skies return Tuesday with much cooler weather returning. Highs Tuesday top out in the lower 60s, with wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph adding an extra chill to the day. For those driving to their Thanksgiving destinations, you'll want to keep a grip on the steering wheel, especially while traveling east-to-west highways. Wednesday shapes up similar to Tuesday, though wind should be less of a factor in Wednesday's forecast. Cool and dry for Thanksgiving The early week cold frontal passage sets the stage for a tranquil, but cool, Thanksgiving in Southeast Texas. Highs for Thanksgiving are expected to be in the low 60s under mostly sunny skies. If your Thanksgiving Day plans take you and the family outside, it looks like Mother Nature should cooperate with those outdoor festivities. Hundreds of thousands of people will receive payments this week under the first tranche of cost-of-living support payments agreed as part of Budget 2024. Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has outlined the details of the three payments totalling 230 million due to be paid out. Advertisement A 300 fuel allowance lump sum payment will be paid to 409,000 households throughout the week. From Wednesday to Friday, a 400 disability support grant will be paid to 214,000 people with disabilities who receive disability allowance, invalidity pension or the blind pension. On Thursday, a 400 lump sum working family payment will be paid to 45,000 families, with 97,000 children. Advertisement All lump sum supports are automatically paid to eligible recipients, with no application required. The three payments are the first of a total of nine lump sums that will be paid between November and January. Advertisement Advertisement Ms Humphreys said the social protection package in Budget 2024 was the largest in the history of the State. She provided details of the payments at Shed Fest in Virginia, Co Cavan the first ever national conference held by the Irish Mens Sheds Association. The Minister said: The Government is conscious that the cost-of-living crisis continues to impact families the length and breadth of the country. This week, we are rolling out the first three of the lump sum payments that I secured as part of Budget 2024. Advertisement This will see some 409,000 households in receipt of the fuel allowance receive a 300 lump sum. Advertisement In addition, some 45,000 families that receive the working family payment will get a lump sum of 400, and 214,000 people with disabilities will also receive a 400 lump sum payment. The payments being paid this week will be followed by six further lump sum payments over the coming weeks, including a 400 carers support grant, a double child benefit payment, and Christmas and January double payments. This suite of lump sum payments means that people will have extra money in their pockets, which will ease the pressure and stress that many households are facing. The budget also included an across-the-board increase in welfare payments of 12 per week from January 2024. Investigations into the death of a young man following a shooting in Dublin are continuing, with Gardai confirming that a post-mortem examination has been completed on the 23-year-old's body. Brandon Ledwidge died after he was shot outside a house on Barry Drive in Finglas shortly before 7pm on Saturday evening. Advertisement In an update on Monday morning, Gardai said a post-mortem examination on Mr Ledwidge's body had been completed by State Pathologist, Dr Sally Ann Collis, the results of which are not being released for operational reasons. A technical examination of the scene at Barry Drive has also been concluded. Gardai are asking for anyone with information relating to the incident to contact Finglas Garda station on 01-111 7500, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800-666 111, or any Garda station. The Irish Government is willing to help in any way economically to aid the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland, a senior minister has said. The Stormont institutions have been effectively collapsed for more than a year and a half amid protest action by the DUP over post-Brexit trading arrangements. Advertisement This has left senior civil servants with limited powers leading government departments in Northern Ireland in the absence of locally elected ministers. Talks remain ongoing between the DUP and the UK government to address unionist concerns. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during a Fine Gael special conference at the Glenroyal Hotel, Maynooth, Co Kildare. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA. Advertisement At the weekend, Irish premier Leo Varadkar said the Government would be happy to contribute to any financial package that would support the return of Northern Irelands powersharing institutions. Mr Varadkar also told his Fine Gael partys special conference that there is a real possibility the Stormont Assembly and Executive could return by Christmas or in the New Year. Advertisement Last week, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson indicated they were in the process of refining legislation that protects Northern Irelands ability to trade within the UK, while previously Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said that he believed the talks were in the final phase. On Monday, Irelands Minister for Public Expenditure, Paschal Donohoe, emphasised that functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland will benefit the entire island. Advertisement In terms of money from the Republic he said there is money in the Shared Island Fund over a number of years that has not been allocated. The Shared Island Fund was announced in 2021 with a plan for 500 million in capital funding available to 2025 for investment in collaborative north/south projects. In June, the Government announced 44.5 million for major investment at the Ulster Universitys campus in Derry from the Shared Island Fund. Asked where the money would come from to support the restoration of Stormont, Mr Donohoe said: It would be money that well be making available that we havent committed before, but these funds and that money would come out of the Shared Island Fund in the first instance. Advertisement Id have to say the benefits of getting the institutions in Northern Ireland up and running again would be of such benefit to the entire island of Ireland and obviously the communities of Northern Ireland, that the government would really lean in to try to help in any way that we can with this economically. Advertisement But at the moment, we have a large amount of funding within the Shared Island Fund that has yet to be allocated and that is the first place that offers the ability to support any initiative that may help. A man who was suffering from a severe case of obsessive compulsive disorder killed his housemate because he believed if he did not do so he would spend an eternity in hell, a consultant psychiatrist has told the Central Criminal Court. Dr Ronan Mullaney told prosecution counsel Ronan Kennedy SC that when Sean Murphy stabbed Michael Olohan to death, Mr Murphy was "acutely psychotic" and was unable to refrain from the killing because he was convinced that he was "saving himself and the world from very great harm". Advertisement The jury has been told that where a person is unable to refrain from their actions because of a mental disorder they shall be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Dr Mullaney said that if the jury is not satisfied that an insanity verdict is made out, it still remains that Mr Murphy was suffering from a mental disorder that "substantially impaired his capacity to refrain" from his actions such that he would qualify for a verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility. Psychotic Advertisement Professor Keith Rix has previously told the jury that he does not accept that Mr Murphy was psychotic. Professor Rix, who was unavailable to complete his evidence today due to ill-health, said that in his opinion Mr Murphy was able to resist stabbing Mr Olohan, as he had done on previous nights when he considered stabbing his housemate. Dr Mullaney disagreed, saying: "I believe that his beliefs were utterly true to him and he was trying to balance what he thought was the right thing to do but his thinking was entirely based on faulty inferences because he was psychotic and delusional." Advertisement Mr Murphy (29) with an address at Bradog Court, St Lawrence Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Michael Olohan (35) at the apartment they shared on St Lawrence Road on August 13th 2020. Mr Olohan is originally from Poppintree in Ballymun, north Dublin. The jury has been told that at the time of the stabbing the accused and deceased lived together at Bradog Court in a "step-down independent living facility" run by St Vincent's Hospital Psychiatric Services. Mr Kennedy, for the prosecution, told the jury in his opening speech that Mr Olohan had lived there for some years while Mr Murphy moved in four months previously having been discharged from the psychiatric ward of St Vincent's Hospital. Advertisement Dr Mullaney detailed Mr Murphy's long history of psychiatric issues going back to his teenage years. Mr Murphy was first diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) aged 15 and was committed to a psychiatric hospital aged 16. Advertisement He managed to complete his leaving certificate exams, achieving good results despite missing long periods from school due to his illness and went on to complete a science degree in the Dublin Institute of Technology on Kevin St. His mental health deteriorated after that resulting in further hospitalisations and a period of homelessness during which Mr Murphy came to the attention of gardai due to his bizarre behaviour, the psychiatrist said. Mr Murphy was later committed to St Vincent's as an involuntary patient after gardai arrested him following reports from concerned members of the public that Mr Murphy had been staring at and talking to a tree for several hours. Psychiatric ward Mr Murphy spent nine months on the psychiatric ward in St Vincent's before being moved to Bradog Court because his condition had improved. However, in a letter written by Mr Murphy to his treating team after the fatal stabbing, Mr Murphy revealed that he had been having thoughts about killing someone for about two years. Advertisement Advertisement Reading from the letter, Dr Mullaney said the accused recalled that there were times he could ignore those thoughts and felt "happy and content" but those times became less frequent. In Bradog Court, he said, he "pieced together" a plan to kill Mr Olohan. He said: "I realised I now had a way I could kill someone, that I could kill Michael by stabbing him in his bedroom." He described the urge to kill as a "ritual" and said he had a "need to kill or bad things will happen". He said there were a number of nights before the actual stabbing when he went into Mr Olohan's room "with a knife in hand ready to kill him but then my thoughts would change" and he would stop himself. He said he thinks about Mr Olohan every day and the "look on his face as he woke up and the roar as he realised what was happening". He said: "Even though I know I was sick and there weren't any bad intentions, I still feel guilty and ashamed all the time." Advertisement During interviews with Dr Mullaney this year, Mr Murphy said that he got on well with Mr Olohan, and they had no arguments. Visions of hell Advertisement Mr Murphy said that he believed at the time that if he did not kill someone that his "visions of hell" would come true, and he would "have to suffer for all eternity". He said he awoke at about 5am and took a knife from the kitchen that he had bought some weeks earlier with the intention of killing someone. He described going into Mr Olohan's room before experiencing a "frenzy" and feeling that he wasn't in control of his own actions. He described his obsession about going to hell as "torture" and said he had been close to killing others before he killed Mr Olohan. He thought that if he did not carry out the killing the "torture would continue and I would never be free of it". Dr Mullaney said that having considered Mr Murphy's long psychiatric history and all relevant evidence, he believes the accused was suffering from acute and severe OCD with psychotic features prior to, during and after the stabbing. Referring to the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act, Dr Mullaney said that if an accused person was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of an offence that made them unable to refrain from their actions, a jury shall return a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. Dr Mullaney said OCD is a mental disorder and Mr Murphy was unable to refrain from his actions although he did understand the nature and quality of his actions and that what he was doing was wrong. He was "unable to appreciate that acting on his compulsion would be irrational," the psychiatrist said. The trial continues tomorrow in front of Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring and a jury of six men and six women. Here, we have a look at the topics likely to dominate political debate in the Dail in the coming week. Election battlelines We know there will be local and European elections in 2024. However, a general election is very possible too. Advertisement The next election must be called by March 2025. However, there have been persistent rumours that the Government is considering calling one next year. Coalition figures often dismiss this half-heartedly, but reading between the lines of their rhetoric shows a different picture. At her party's recent ard fheis, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald spoke of a future government without Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. However, she is keeping her options opening by insisting the party will speak to anyone about a coalition after the next election. Tanaiste Micheal Martin would not be keen about working with Sinn Fein, but others in his party have suggested they would be more open to the idea. Advertisement Advertisement One thing for sure is that Fine Gael will not be working with the party. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar did nothing to dampen rumours of a looming election year when he took aim at Sinn Fein over the weekend. After criticising the main opposition party at a Fine Gael event on Saturday, the Taoiseach rounded on opinion poll-leaders Sinn Fein again on Sunday. Mr Varadkar said that he finds the idea of a Sinn Fein politician as a justice, foreign affairs or defence minister repugnant. Advertisement Its highly disturbing, the idea of there being a Sinn Fein justice minister, or foreign affairs minister, or defence minister, is repugnant to me, he told RTEs The Week In Politics. Theres a lot of people talking about some of the horrific things that are happening now in the Middle East. We have, in Sinn Fein, a party that will not acknowledge war crimes that may have happened in this country, and they still need to be investigated. Those people need to be brought to justice and the families need to get the answers and justice that they need. This will set up some familiarly hostile exchanges in the Dail this week. Advertisement Ukrainian refugees Advertisement There has been high tension over the number of Ukrainian refugees being accommodated in Ireland for a while now, and Mr Varadkar said Ireland "needs to slow the flow" of Ukrainian refugees and reform its offering to others seeking asylum. Speaking on Sunday afternoon, Mr Varadkar said that Ireland's offering to incoming Ukrainian and other refugees would have to change because it was not feasible to continue to take in people with no limits. The rate of increase of Ukrainians arriving in Ireland over the past 12 months was 10 times higher than the average increase in numbers fleeing to the EU from Ukraine over the same period. Official statistics published by the European Commission show that there has been a 72.1 per cent increase in the number of Ukrainians seeking international protection in the Republic in the 12 months to the end of September 2023 as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement Israel-Hamas war The Israel-Hamas war will continue to dominate proceedings in Leinster House. Sinn Fein, People Before Profit and the Social Democrats are likely to continue their criticism of the Government over their stance on Israel at Leaders' Questions on Tuesday. Motions from the Social Democrats and Sinn Fein, on expelling the Israeli ambassador and referring Israel to the International Criminal Court, were both defeated last week. They accuse Government of being too soft. However, Ireland has been strong in its calls for Israeli restraint, evidenced by the hostility of some Israeli ministers who have criticised comments from Government ministers. Abroad In the US, voter anxiety over the seemingly inevitable 2024 presidential election re-match of Donald Trump and Joe Biden is rising. With Mr Biden turning 81 on Monday, this is likely to continue as a talking point. There seems to be an increased appetite for third-party candidates, such as Robert F Kennedy Jr, the anti-vaccine activist and member of the famous Kennedy family. In the UK, talk of a general election is even more frequent than it is here. Rishi Sunak's fragile government has to call one by January 2025, but in all likelihood it will come next year. The UK Covid Inquiry is also continuing, with the evidence not reflecting well on former prime minister Boris Johnson. A Sinn Fein TD has said he has never supported the taking of hostages in any conflict. Eoin O Broin was responding following criticism on social media of party leader Mary Lou McDonald paying tribute following the death of Irish businessman Ben Dunne. Advertisement Mr Dunne, the former director of family business Dunnes Stores and the owner of a chain of gyms, died aged 74 after suffering a heart attack in Dubai. In 1981, Ben Dunne was kidnapped by the IRA and was released after seven days after a ransom was reportedly paid. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said she was saddened following the death of Ben Dunne. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA. Advertisement Ms McDonald was criticised on social media at the weekend after she said she was saddened to hear about the sudden death. During a media appearance in Dublin, Mr O Broin was asked if he would condemn the IRA taking Mr Dunne hostage. Advertisement He responded: Ive never supported the taking of hostages in any conflict. Advertisement Asked about the criticism of his party leader, the TD said: I havent followed the interplay between Mary Lou and some folks on social media. What I would say is this. Advertisement We have spent 25 years, in fact 30 years in real terms, not only bringing about an end to conflict, but ensuring theres a stable peace in the north. And I think that is a very, very good thing. Theres obviously an issue around commemorating and commemorating people who died during the conflict, including Republican combatants. And Ive always said, when weve asked been asked these questions, we need to find ways of doing that that is appropriate and sensitive. Advertisement But we have a right to do that. But for me, what the party has been doing in recent years is ensuring theres never a return to conflict in this country and I think weve played a very important role in that. Mr O Broin added: I cant relive 30 years of armed conflict in this country, a large part of which I was a child during, but what I can ensure is what I do as a Sinn Fein politician is, like my colleagues, is ensure we never return to violence of any kind. Advertisement And that we continue to build a stable peace and I think Sinn Feins record stands in that matter. Asked if he thought his party should have apologised to Mr Dunne, the Sinn Fein TD said: Ive never met Ben Dunne, but I have no doubt that he was a good man and no reason to believe otherwise. Republicans have apologised for a very large number of things that happened during the conflict, including spokespeople acting on behalf of the IRA, when the armed conflict was brought to an end and the IRA disbanded, apologising. And I think we all need to do whatever is required to ensure that people who lost loved ones or experienced conflict have their needs and concerns dealt with. Thats a big part of work, thats a piece of work we are constantly engaged with others arent particularly in the north with these issues are most acute. And on that basis Id like to see us continue doing that work But all I will say is is very senior republicans, including people speaking on behalf the IRA previously have apologised for those matters and I think that was the appropriate thing to do. Two people have been sent forward for trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with murder after the body of a man was found off Sliabh Liag cliffs in Co Donegal on July 3rd last. Alan Vial and Nikita Burns have been charged with murdering Robert Wilkin. Advertisement Vial, 38, appeared in person at Letterkenny District Court while Burns, 21, appeared by videolink from the Dochas Centre at Mountjoy Prison. The court was told that the Director of Public Prosecutions has consented to sending both forward for trial to the current sitting of the Central Criminal Court. Detective Garda Shane Maye told the court he served a book of evidence on Vial this morning in court at 11.18am. Vial, who wore a blue padded jacket and jeans, did not speak during the hearing. Advertisement Advertisement Judge Eiteain Cunningham read him the alibi warning and assigned his solicitor, Mr Patsy Gallagher, free legal aid and assigned the accused both a senior and junior counsel in the case. The Judge adjourned the case until the current sitting of the Central Criminal Court on November 28th next. Detective Sergeant Mattie Murphy told the court he served a book of evidence via Ms Burns' solicitor, Mr Rory O'Brien at 11.13am this morning. She too was given the alibi warning and assigned free legal aid as well as a senior and junior counsel. Advertisement Her case was also adjourned until November 28th next at the Central Criminal Court. Vial and Burns are charged that on June 25, 2023, at a place unknown within the State, they did murder one Robert Wilkin (also known as Robin Wilkin). The body of Mr Wilkin, aged in his 60s and originally from County Tyrone, was found floating in waters off Sliabh Liag on July 3. Over 200 statements have been taken in the case with detectives piecing together a complex jigsaw of evidence having gathered well in excess of 200 exhibits. Advertisement Sixteen interviews were conducted with the accused while six crime scenes were designated. Other scenes of interest were also examined by Gardai. Detective Garda Ciaran OBrien told an earlier court sitting that there was a huge volume of forensic analysis required in the matter. Vial and Burns were initially arrested on June 26th on suspicion of a serious assault. It followed information received by Gardai which led to a large-scale search around popular tourist destination. While both were released without charge on that occasion, Vial was then brought before Ballyshannon District Court on July 14th where he was charged with murder while Burns was brought before Letterkenny District Court on August 29th when she was also charged with murder. Following an extensive search involving gardai, the Irish Coastguard including Rescue 118 and the Donegal Mountain Rescue Team, a body was recovered in water off the cliffs on July 3rd. The body was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital where a full post-mortem was carried out by the State Pathologist's Office. The findings of that post-mortem have not been released for Garda operational reasons. Heavy fighting has erupted around a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, as Israeli forces focus on clearing out medical facilities that they say Hamas militants are using for cover. A shell has struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing at least 12 people, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza and a medical worker inside the facility. Advertisement The northern advance came a day after the World Health Organisation evacuated 31 premature babies from Shifa Hospital. At least 28 were transported to Egypt on Monday. Advertisement They were among more than 250 critically ill or injured patients stranded at the hospital days after Israeli forces entered the compound. Egypts state-run media later confirmed that babies evacuated from Shifa have arrived in the country. Advertisement The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said it was transporting 28 premature babies from a hospital in southern Gaza to another across the border to Egypt. Advertisement (PA Graphics) Egypts Al-Qahera satellite channel broadcast images of the babies inside Egyptian ambulances, without specifying how many had arrived. The plight of Gazas hospitals is at the focus of a battle of narratives over the wars brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the six-week-old war was sparked by Hamas rampage into southern Israel on October 7th. Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields, while critics say Israels siege and relentless aerial bombardment amounts to collective punishment of the territorys 2.3 million Palestinians. Advertisement Marwan Abdallah, a medical worker at the Indonesian Hospital, said Israeli tanks were visible from the windows. He said: You can see them moving around and firing. An Israeli army flare is seen over the Gaza Strip (AP) Women and children are terrified. There are constant sounds of explosions and gunfire. Advertisement Mr Abdallah said the hospital had received dozens of dead and wounded in air strikes and shelling overnight. He said medical staff and displaced people fear Israel will besiege the hospital and force its evacuation. Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said Israeli forces struck the hospital, killing at least 12 people. It was not possible to independently confirm the report. Advertisement A nurse cares for prematurely born Palestinian babies that were brought from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to another hospital in Rafah, Gaza Strip (AP) He said some 600 patients, 200 healthcare workers and 2,000 displaced people are sheltering there. The Israeli military, which rarely publicises troop movements, had no immediate comment. UN bodies were able to safely evacuate the babies, who were in critical condition, from Shifa to a hospital in southern Gaza, and plan to transport them to a hospital in neighbouring Egypt. Four other babies died in the two days before the evacuation, according to Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals. More than 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remain in Shifa, which could no longer provide most treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide blackout. Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside its gates for days before entering the facility last Wednesday. Israels army said it had strong evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospitals 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. The military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 60 yards long and about 33ft below ground. It said the tunnel included a staircase and a firing hole that could be used by gunmen, and ended at a blast-proof door that troops have not yet opened. Advertisement Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment since the start of the war. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gazas population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded UN-run shelters, according to the UN. Palestinian boys scramble up a hill in a tense area near several Israeli outposts on the edge of the Palestinian village of Qaryout in the northern West Bank (AP) Aid group Doctors Without Borders said 70 people were killed and at least 52 injured, including children, in strikes in the southern town of Khan Younis on Saturday. It said it was performing 10 burn surgeries a day at the towns overwhelmed Nasser Hospital, where hundreds of people who need such procedures must wait for care. More than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried in rubble. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, and Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the October 7th attack, in which Hamas dragged around 240 captives back into Gaza. The military said 65 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a much larger hostage release for weeks. Israels three-member war cabinet is scheduled to meet representatives of the hostages families on Monday evening. Diplomatic efforts to get Irish citizens out of Gaza would have been a lot harder if Sinn Fein had been in Government and had expelled the Israeli ambassador, Paschal Donohoe has said. The public expenditure minister suggested the outcome would have been different if Irelands main opposition party had been in charge of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Advertisement In response, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin accused the minister of playing politics with a very serious issue. Mr Donohoe made the claim when asked to comment on Taoiseach Leo Varadkars weekend remarks that he would find a Sinn Fein minister of justice, foreign affairs or defence repugnant. Advertisement About 50 Irish passport holders have so far made it through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. There were emotional scenes at Dublin Airport over the weekend as some of them were reunited with loved ones after they arrived in Ireland on flights from Cairo. Advertisement Sinn Fein has called on the Irish Government to expel the Israeli ambassador in Dublin, Dana Erlich, in protest at her countrys ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Advertisement Mr Donohoe questioned his rival partys stance as he fielded questions from reporters in Dublin on Monday. I would ask the Irish people to consider really seriously what impact Sinn Fein might be having, for example, on our role with regards to Middle East if there had been a Sinn Fein minister for foreign affairs over the last number of weeks, he said. Theyve been calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador exactly at the time in which the Government has been engaging with the Israeli government to further the interests of Irish citizens and to advocate for a peaceful solution. Thats just the latest example of what I would be making the case for people to consider. Advertisement And, likewise, with regard to law and order, I would be asking people to consider what could be the consequences of a Sinn Fein minister, given all of the sensitive issues that the minister for justice has to consider on a regular basis. Advertisement When pressed for his comments on the Middle East, he added: I make two predictions based on what has happened recently. Advertisement So, I do believe if Sinn Fein had been in Government and if they had gone ahead and expelled the Israeli ambassador, I believe the Irish ambassador would have been expelled shortly afterwards, and I believe thats a reasonable expectation to have regarding how these things tend to happen diplomatically. Which leads on to the second point that Ive made that if we didnt have an Irish ambassador in Israel, I believe it would be a lot harder to do two things. Number one, to deal with the kinds of issues that we have developed in Gaza at the moment and to help get our citizens home. And, secondly, how could you advocate a peaceful solution, how could you advocate a two-state solution, if youre saying youre not going to speak to one of the governments thats central to it? Mr O Broin said his party would be making no apologies for calling for the expulsion of the ambassador, saying every form of diplomatic pressure should be exerted on Israel to call a ceasefire. The situation in Gaza is very serious, he told reporters outside Leinster House. I dont think any political party in Ireland should be playing electoral politics on that issue. I think we all need to try and have the maximum degree of consensus. House Speaker Dade Phelan, r, speaks with Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, early in the House session on November 17, 2023. Bob Daemmrich State Rep. John Raney, R-Bryan, debates for his amendment on HB1 that would strip Education Savings accounts from the bill during debate on HB1 begins on Friday, November 17, 2023. Bob Daemmrich If at first (and second, and third, and so on) you dont succeed, try strong-arming and threats. That was Gov. Greg Abbotts strategy to try to pass school vouchers in the fourth special session so far. He'll need to find another trick. Tucked inside an omnibus school spending bill in the House, vouchers made it the farthest yet this year: all the way to a floor debate Friday. Once again, however, a bipartisan alliance stood in Abbott's way, passing an amendment 84-63 that removed vouchers from the bill. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the first full House discussion on the issue in decades, voucher advocates repeatedly appealed to the needs of the most disadvantaged students who they claimed would be most impacted by such a program: low-income students, bullied kids, sexual assault victims and students with special education needs. House Bill 1 author Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, promised the bill would prioritize "the most vulnerable," including those with learning challenges. Weve seen the failures of such promises elsewhere. But consider the numbers here in Texas. While most private schools say they serve students with some sort of special education need, only 63 across the entire state actually cater to those students, according to testimony from Andrea Chevalier, director of government relations with the Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education. Those 63 schools, identified by the online database Private School Review, serve approximately 4,510 students in Texas. Thats compared to 700,000 students in the public school system currently enrolled in special education services. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Those private schools are mostly in urban centers, have an average tuition of more than $19,000 and can, of course, reject anyone they want based on their own screening criteria. Do you think even 5% of special ed kids that were proposing to do the most for would qualify or that there would be a place in a private setting for them? asked state Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, during a committee hearing on the bill. Special education experts know vouchers won't help the neediest. By now, lawmakers should know better too. HISD SPECIAL ED TEACHERS: New instructional model under Miles is too rigid to support children Still, it gets worse. The governor has also held hostage desperately needed increases to public special education budgets until he gets what he wants. As part of an omnibus bill, vouchers were mixed with badly needed boosts to public education funding fine arts dollars, more per-student funding, new teacher stipends and raises and more. Advertisement Article continues below this ad King asked several witnesses how much sugar might be enough for them to swallow his poison pill? There is no dollar amount for us that would justify the long-term damage, said Chevalier. In the proposed program's first wave, some 40,000 students would get $10,500 each at an estimated cost of $461.8 million in fiscal year 2025. But the costs balloon, especially, as many fear will happen, if the Legislature looks to expand the program after getting a foot in the door. Importantly, students currently attending private schools would be eligible for those dollars, betraying the promise made repeatedly Friday that vouchers offered a lifeline to low-income families stuck in their failing zoned school. Weve complained as Abbott has given us ample opportunity to do about the financial ramifications of vouchers, the lack of accountability and clear, persuasive data showing achievement boosts. But we also oppose vouchers because of the absolute disservice they would do to many students with special needs, students who, even if accepted to a pricey private school, surrender their federal protections against discrimination when they leave public schools. ACTION PLAN: HISD Superintendent Mike Miles unveils special education plan meant to improve long-broken system Advertisement Article continues below this ad Friday, Buckley told heart-rending stories of hard-working families struggling on behalf of their special needs students. The government does offer those families not well served by public schools an option: they can challenge their school district in a due process hearing before a state education official, seeking to either force the district to provide appropriate accommodations or to pay for the cost of private schooling. For too many parents, that rare option is still out of reach and requires time and legal savvy to be successful. We'd rather see access to that process strengthened than a sham of a private-school handout. Thirty-one premature babies have been safely moved from Gazas main hospital to another in the south and will be moved to Egypt, health officials said. It comes as scores of other critically wounded patients remained stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound. Advertisement The fate of the newborns at Shifa Hospital captured global attention after photographs showed doctors trying to keep them warm. A power cut had shut down incubators and other equipment, and food, water and medical supplies ran out as Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside the hospital. Advertisement World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media that the very sick babies were evacuated, along with six health workers and 10 staff family members. He said they were taken to a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Rafah where they are receiving urgent care. Advertisement A WHO team that visited the hospital on Saturday said 291 patients were still there, including the babies, trauma patients with severely infected wounds and others with spinal injuries who are unable to move. Advertisement About 2,500 displaced people, mobile patients and medical staff left Shifa Hospital on Saturday morning, the WHO said. It said 25 medical staff stayed with the patients. Patients and health staff with whom they spoke were terrified for their safety and health, and pleaded for evacuation, the agency said, describing Shifa as a death zone. Israel has long alleged that Hamas maintains a sprawling command post inside and under Shifa, part of its wider accusation that the fighters use civilians as cover. It has portrayed the hospital as a key target in its war to end Hamass rule in Gaza following the militant groups wide-ranging attack into southern Israel six weeks ago, which killed more than 1,200 people and triggered the war. After searching the grounds for days, Israels army said on Sunday it had discovered a 55m tunnel about 10m under the hospitals 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. It said the tunnel included a staircase, blast-proof door and a firing hole that could be used by snipers. The army said it was still uncovering the tunnels route. Advertisement Advertisement Israeli soldiers near the border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday (Leo Correa/AP) Hamas and hospital staff deny the allegations and critics have held up the hospital as a symbol of what they say is Israels reckless endangerment of civilians. Thousands have been killed in Israeli strikes and there are severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel in the besieged territory. Israeli troops who have been based at the hospital and searching its grounds for days say they have found guns and other weapons and showed reporters the entrance to a tunnel shaft. Advertisement The Associated Press (AP) could not independently verify Israels findings. Heavy clashes were reported in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza overnight into Sunday. There was the constant sound of gunfire and tank shelling, Yassin Sharif, who is sheltering in a UN-run hospital in the camp, said by phone. It was another night of horror. Dozens of people were killed in what witnesses described as an Israeli airstrike on a crowded UN shelter in the Jabaliya camp the day before, according to witnesses. AP photographs from a local hospital showed more than 20 bodies wrapped in bloodstained sheets. The Israeli military, which has repeatedly called on Palestinians to leave northern Gaza, said only that its troops were active in the area with the aim of hitting terrorists. Advertisement More than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried under rubble. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants; Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. Palestinians evacuate an injured woman found under the rubble of a destroyed house following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday (Mohammed Dahman/AP) Around 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamass October 7 attack, in which the group dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza and shattered Israels sense of security. The military says 52 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa in an area where there had been heavy fighting. Israel, the United States and the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating over a hostage release for weeks. On Saturday, a senior White House official suggested it would need to be completed before the entry of large amounts of desperately needed aid. A release of a large number of hostages would result in a significant pause in fighting and a massive surge of humanitarian relief, Brett McGurk, the White Houses National Security Council co-ordinator for the Middle East, said at a conference in Bahrain. Qatars prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said on Sunday he is confident a deal will soon be reached, telling reporters the sticking points, honestly, at this stage are more practical, logistical. Advertisement More than two-thirds of Gazas population of 2.3 million have fled their homes. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, is struggling to provide basic services to hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in and around schools and other facilities. Their misery has worsened in recent days with the arrival of winter, as cold winds and driving rain buffet tent camps. Palestinians look for survivors inside the remains of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday (Mohammed Dahman/AP) Over the weekend, Israel allowed UNRWA to import enough fuel to continue humanitarian operations for another couple of days and to keep internet and telephone systems running. Israel cut off all fuel imports at the start of the war, causing Gazas sole power station and most water treatment centres to shut down, leaving most residents without electricity or running water. Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said on Saturday that Israels forces were expanding operations in Gaza City. With every passing day, there are fewer places where Hamas terrorists can operate, he said, adding that the militants would learn that in southern Gaza in the coming days. His comments were the clearest indication yet that the military plans to expand its offensive to southern Gaza, where Israel has told Palestinian civilians to seek refuge. Israel has repeatedly struck what it says are militant targets across the south, often killing civilians. Advertisement The evacuation zone is already crammed with displaced civilians and it was not clear where they would go if the offensive moved closer. Egypt has refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees, in part because of fears that Israel would not allow them to return. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has made an unannounced visit to Kyiv in a bid to keep money and weapons flowing to Ukraine even as US and international resources are stretched by the Israel-Hamas conflict. Mr Austin, who travelled to Kyiv by train from Poland, met President Volodymyr Zelensky and was scheduled to meet defence minister Rustem Umerov and chief of staff Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Advertisement I was honored to meet with President @ZelenskyyUa in Kyiv today to reaffirm the United States steadfast support for Ukraine. We, along with our allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraines urgent battlefield needs and long-term defense requirements. pic.twitter.com/Odv6ClgcrP Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) November 20, 2023 Advertisement In Kyiv, Mr Austin said Ukraines effort to defeat Russias invasion matters to the rest of the world and that US support would continue for the long haul. Advertisement Mr Zelensky said Mr Austins visit was a very important signal for Ukraine. We count on your support, Mr Zelensky said, thanking Congress as well as the American people for their backing. Advertisement Mr posted on X: Im here today to deliver an important message the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russias aggression, both now and into the future. This is Mr Austins second trip to Kyiv, but this visit takes place under far different circumstances. His first visit occurred in April 2022, just two months after Russias large-scale invasion began. Advertisement I just arrived in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian leaders. Im here today to deliver an important message the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russias aggression, both now and into the future. pic.twitter.com/1D96aeeACl Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) November 20, 2023 Advertisement At the time, Ukraine was riding a wave of global rage at Moscows invasion, and Mr Austin launched an international effort that now sees 50 countries meeting monthly to coordinate on what weapons, training and other support could be pushed to Kyiv. Advertisement But the conflict in Gaza could pull attention and resources from the Ukraine fight. The US has worked since the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the devastating bombardment on Gaza by Israel that has followed, killing more than 10,000 civilians, to prevent a wider regional war. The US has already committed two carrier strike groups, scores of fighter jets and thousands of American personnel to the Middle East, and has had to shift its force posture and conduct air strikes against Iranian-backed militant groups who are now hitting US bases in Iraq and Syria on a regular basis. To date, Ukraine has received more 44 billion dollars (35 billion) from the US and more than 35 billion dollars (28 billion) from other allies in weapons, ranging from millions of bullets to air defence systems, advanced European and US battle tanks and pledges for F-16 fighter jets. But Ukraine still needs more, and after almost 20 months of shipping arms to Ukraine, cracks are beginning to show. Some European countries such as Poland have scaled back support, noting their need to maintain adequate fighting ability to defend themselves. We continue to prepare for more international events next week. The key task now is to guarantee that Ukraine maintains sufficient international support in the coming year. I am grateful to all the counties that share our view. We must make it clear to Russia that the world pic.twitter.com/2tOQS6KKi7 Advertisement Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) November 19, 2023 Ukrainian officials have strongly pushed back on suggestions they are in a stalemate with Russia after a long-awaited counter-offensive over the summer did not radically change the battle lines on the ground. In a visit to Washington last week, Andriy Yermak, head of the presidents office, provided no details but confirmed that Ukrainian forces had finally pushed through to the east bank of the Dnieper River, which has essentially served as the immovable front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces for months. However, as winter sets in it will become more difficult for either side to make large gains due to ground conditions. That could further work against Ukraine if US legislators perceive there is time to wait before more funds are needed. A senior defence official traveling with Austin told reporters on the trip that the US expects that this winter Russia will go after Ukraines infrastructure again, like the power grid, making air defences critical. Fred Kagan, a senior resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said: If we stop providing aid to Ukraine, its not that the stalemate continues. The aid is actually essential to preventing the Russians from beginning to manoeuvre again in ways that can allow them to defeat Ukraine. So the cost of cutting off aid is that Russia wins and Ukraine loses and Nato loses. Boris Johnson was bamboozled by the graphs and data presented to him during the pandemic and was sometimes a broken man, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has heard. Diary entries by former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance were shown to the inquiry on Monday as Mr Vallance described dealing with the former prime minister. Advertisement The inquiry heard how Mr Johnson sometimes struggled to retain scientific information, was clutching at straws and at one point queried whether Covid was spreading because of the great libertarian nation we are. One of Mr Vallances diary entries from May 4th 2020 said: Late afternoon meeting with the PM on schools. My God, this is complicated. Models will not provide the answer. PM is clearly bamboozled. Other entries, also written in May 2020, said: PM asking whether weve overdone it on the lethality of this disease. He swings between optimism pessimism, and then this. Advertisement Advertisement PM still confused on different types of test. He holds it in his head for a session and then it goes. In June, Mr Vallance wrote: Watching the PM get his head round stats is awful. He finds relative and absolute risk almost impossible to understand. Advertisement Later, in September 2020, Mr Johnson is talked through some graphs, after which Mr Vallance wrote: It is difficult, he asks questions like which line is the dark red line? is he colourblind? Then so you think positivity has gone up overnight? then oh god bloody hell. But it is all the same stuff he was shown six hours ago. Under questioning by Andrew OConnor KC, counsel to the inquiry, Mr Vallance said: I think Im right in saying that the prime minister gave up science at 15. I think hed be the first to admit it wasnt his forte and that he struggled with the concepts and we did need to repeat them. Often. However, Mr Vallance said this issue was not unique to the UK and advisers in other European countries had suggested at least one other leader had also struggled. Advertisement So I do not think that there was necessarily a unique inability to grasp some of these concepts with the prime minister at the time, but it was hard work sometimes to try and make sure that he had understood what a particular graph or piece of data was saying. Advertisement Another notebook entry from Mr Vallance described a broken Mr Johnson being distressed by seeing everyone in masks at a Battle of Britain memorial service in September 2020. It read: 5 hr of meetings with the PM. He came back from Battle of Britain memorial service and was distressed by seeing everyone separated and in masks mad and spooky, we have got to end it. Advertisement Sir Patrick Vallance giving evidence to the inquiry. Photo: UK Covid-19 Inquiry/PA. Starts challenging numbers and questioning whether they really translate into deaths. Says it is not exponential etc etc. Looked broken head in hands a lot. Is it because of the great libertarian nation we are that it spreads so much. Maybe we are licked as a species We are too shit to get our act together. We went round in circles and then the famous whiteboard emerges. Discussed Package A (mild [increase] measures) and Package C (full lockdown) and when and how to do a circuit breaker [] eventually sort of agree circuit breaker and stricter measures [) but PM keeps clutching at straws. One entry from September 7th, 2020, said: Chief constables have said current rules too complex and difficult to police. PM looking glum. Then suddenly Is the whole thing a mirage? The curves just follow a natural pattern despite what you do. Incredulity in the room. Advertisement The whole meeting carefully manages the PM (is it always like this?) and he eventually approves the measures really just reinforcing and enforcing what we should be doing anyway It concludes: I leave and comment again that PM does not look like a man enjoying his role. During the course of Monday morning, the inquiry also heard: There was a short period after Mr Johnson suffered Covid where he was really unwell and struggled to concentrate on things. Boris Johnson, left, and Sir Patrick Vallance giving a media briefing during the pandemic. Photo: PA. Asked whether there was tension between himself and Englands chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty, Mr Vallance said Mr Whitty was of the view that pulling the trigger to do things too early could lead to adverse consequences such as the indirect harm of people isolating, loneliness and deaths from other causes. Mr Vallance said these were appropriate concerns for Mr Whitty but that he had wanted to move on Covid earlier. Mr Vallance left the permanent secretary of the UK Department of Health, Sir Chris Wormald, incandescent with rage for suggesting more stringent measures were needed to curb virus spread in March 2020. Mr Vallance said Mr Wormald had told him it was the manner of raising it in the meeting rather than the substance that he was concerned about, but Mr Vallance said: I stand by the fact that I think it was the right thing to say at the time. Advertisement Mr Vallance was concerned over the UK governments operational response to limiting the spread of Covid-19 during the pandemics early months. There was an urgent recognition in mid-March 2020 that intense measures were needed to stop the spread of coronavirus and that we were much further ahead in the pandemic than we realised. The focus on trying to get the timing exactly right on when to introduce measures to suppress Covid was incorrect, Mr Vallance said, adding: It was an error to think that you could be that precise. Thats a really important lesson that came out of this Im afraid you need to go early. There was an inadequate scale of facility to do test and trace through Public Health England, Mr Vallance said. Mr Vallance told the inquiry there should have been an operational plan to have non-pharmaceutical interventions ready to pull the trigger on as soon as they were needed. Mr Vallance said he was not sure the urgency of action seen in MI5 in February 2020 was as consistent and as reliable as it should have been across Whitehall at the time. In July 2020, Mr Vallance wrote that then-chancellor Rishi Sunak said it is all about handling the scientists, not handling the virus during an economics meeting, but had not realised Sir Chris Whitty was in the room. Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has criticised China over a dangerous encounter between the two countries warships, but declined to say whether he had raised the issue in recent talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping. Mr Albanese said an Australian diver was injured after a Chinese destroyer used sonar near an Australian frigate as it sailed in international waters last Tuesday. Advertisement Australian defence minister Richard Marles said he had raised serious concerns with Beijing about what the prime minister said was the destroyers unsafe and unprofessional behaviour. Advertisement Between the encounter and Mr Marles statement, Mr Albanese spoke to Mr Xi on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific leaders summit in San Francisco. Mr Albanese said on Monday his discussions with Mr Xi were private, rather than a formal bilateral meeting in which content summaries are made public. Advertisement I dont talk about private meetings on the sidelines, discussions I have with any world leader, Mr Albanese told Sky News. He added: Its something that is a regrettable incident. Thats why we have put our very strong objections to China very clearly, very directly through all of the appropriate channels in all the forums that are available to us. Advertisement Because these partnerships are vital to Australian jobs and our economy. pic.twitter.com/1NTZ1H86V4 Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 18, 2023 Advertisement Opposition figures have accused Mr Albanese of failing to raise the encounter with Mr Xi because the Australian leader did not want to risk setting back an improving bilateral relationship. Deputy Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley posted on social media: More weak leadership from Anthony Albanese who appears to be prioritizing photo ops with Xi Jinping over speaking up for our people. Disgraceful. Mr Albanese recently became the first Australian leader to visit China in seven years in a sign that relations have improved since Ms Leys coalition government was voted out of office in 2022 after nine years in power. Advertisement The US, Canadian and Australian militaries have complained multiple times about what they say have been dangerous actions by the Chinese navy and air force in the western Pacific. Advertisement Analysts fear a collision or other accident could spark an international incident and escalate into conflict. Cooperate where we can, disagree where we must should never mean stage managing CCP aggression that injures our ADF personnel. More weak leadership from Anthony Albanese who appears to be prioritising photo ops with Xi Jinping over speaking up for our people. Disgraceful. pic.twitter.com/8iInb4shj1 Sussan Ley (@sussanley) November 20, 2023 Australia said the Chinese destroyer Ningbo operated its sonar while Australian naval divers were underwater trying to clear fishing nets that tangled the propellers of their ship HMAS Toowoomba. Mr Albanese said one diver was injured. Defence officials have not specified the injuries or number of divers, but media have reported the divers ears were injured. Analysts say sonar can cause extensive soft tissue damage to divers at close range. Australia said the Toowoomba notified the Ningbo that diving operations were under way, and asked the Chinese to keep clear. But the Ningbo approached using a hull-mounted sonar equipment, putting the divers at risk and forcing them from the water, defence officials said. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the nations military is always highly disciplined and conducts professional operations in accordance with international law and international practice. Advertisement The Apec summit took place in San Francisco last week (The Canadian Press via AP) Ms Mao told a regular media briefing on Monday: We hope the relevant party will stop stirring up trouble at Chinas doorstep and work with us to jointly sustain the momentum of the improvement and development of China-Australia relations. The Chinese Communist Partys Global Times newspaper questioned the Australian version that the Toowoomba was in international waters within Japans exclusive economic zone when it encountered the Ningbo. An unnamed military expert told the newspaper that if the Toowoomba had been near Chinese islands or a Chinese military training exercise, the Australian warship would have provoked the Chinese. Mr Albanese said the incident does do damage to Australias relationship with China. This was dangerous, it was unsafe and unprofessional from the Chinese forces, he said. Boris Johnson wanted to let Covid rip despite the fact people would die, while Rishi Sunak also thought that was okay, the UK public inquiry has heard. In further revelations from Sir Patrick Vallances pandemic diaries, the inquiry heard of the shambolic day on October 25th 2020, when the country was heading towards a second national lockdown. Advertisement The diary entry highlights how the former British prime minister wanted to let the virus spread, while his most senior adviser, Dominic Cummings (DC), suggested Mr Sunak, then chancellor, also thought it was okay to just let people die. The extract read: PM meeting begins to argue for letting it all rip. Saying yes, there will be more casualties but so be it they have had a good innings. Not persuaded by (Jon) Edmunds, (Neil) Ferguson, (Jeremy) Farrar. PM says the population just has to behave doesnt it. Advertisement Heat maps I have the necrotising maps so depressing. Advertisement DC says trajectory will leave us in Nov much as where we were in 1st week of April. Chris quite bullish about being able to take the brakes off more in April Goes on about Gulf War Syndrome again PM getting very frustrated throwing papers down. PM then back on to most people who die have reached their time anyway. Advertisement DC arguing we need to save lives it is not democratically possible to follow another route DC argued again (rightly) that a lockdowns coming and therefore do it sooner rather than later. PM concludes, Looks like we are in a really tough spot, a complete shambles. I really dont want to do another national lockdown. PM told that if he wants to go down this route of letting go, you need to tell people you need to tell them you are going to allow people to die Conclusion beef up the tiers consider a national lockdown decide by when. DC says Rishi thinks just let people die and thats okay. This all feels like a complete lack of leadership. Asked about the diary entry, Mr Vallance told the inquiry he was recording what must have been quite a shambolic day. However, the following days entry shows Johnson had taken a different view and described the Covid death toll as terrible. The inquiry also heard that Mr Vallance wrote that we have a weak indecisive PM and described the right-wing press as culpable in decision-making on Covid measures. More than 400,000 Afghans have returned to their home country following a crackdown on illegal foreigners in the country, Pakistani authorities said. Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, confirmed the number and told The Associated Press that the majority have been using the border crossings of Torkham and Spin Boldak to return home. Advertisement An estimated 1.7 million Afghans had been living in Pakistan when authorities announced a nationwide crackdown, saying that anyone without proper documents had to leave the country by October 31 or face arrest. However, Pakistani officials said the other 1.4 million Afghans registered as refugees need not worry as only people without proper documentation are being sought after. In the 1980s, millions of Afghans fled to neighbouring Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. The numbers witnessed a spike after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Afghans wait for transport to depart for their homeland, in Karachi (AP) Pakistan also introduced plans under which hundreds of thousands of residents in the south-western border town of Chaman would need visas to cross between the two countries. They previously had special permits. On Monday, hundreds briefly blocked a key road leading to the Chaman border, disrupting traffic and the repatriation of some of the Afghans. Residents in Chaman have held several protests, asking Pakistan to allow them to continue using the special permits for business purposes and to meet with relatives who live in the Afghan border city of Spin Boldak. Advertisement Since November 1, police in Pakistan have been going door-to-door to check migrants documentation. Pakistani officials had said before that the crackdown involves all foreigners in the country, but most of those affected are Afghan nationals. The latest development comes days after the World Health Organisation warned that about 1.3 million Afghans were expected to return to their country of origin from Pakistan despite the onset of cold weather. Such expulsions have drawn widespread criticism from international and domestic human rights groups. The Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan said it was providing shelter and food to returnees. Jason Crabb - "Good Morning Mercy" | Red Street Records NASHVILLE, Tenn. (November 17, 2023) Two-time GRAMMY and 23-time GMA Dove Award-winning artist Jason Crabb releases his highly anticipated new project, Good Morning Mercy, available today from Red Street Records. This collection is filled with songs that aim to uplift and encourage our journey with Christ, showcasing Crabb's unique blend of musical styles while showcasing his power-packed, convicting vocals. The album offers a diverse selection of tracks, with "Good Morning Mercy" taking the lead, reminding the listener about God's grace and redemption, "God Can Use A Broken Man," "That's Why I Live This Way," "Its Gonna Rain," and "When I Say Amen" (featuring Rachel Wammack), among others. Together, these songs create a captivating tapestry of hope, resilience and inspiration that defines the album's essence. A highlight of the album is the GMA Dove Award-winning duet version of "Good Morning Mercy," featuring the renowned country star Dylan Scott. This collaboration bridges genres, bringing together the best of gospel and country music in a moving and memorable way. The project's title track became a fast-rising favorite among Crabb's audience and gained him new attention as well. The original release of "Good Morning Mercy" became a hit at Christian radio and in concerts, as well as garnering millions of streams on multiple platforms. Then, the epic collaboration of Crabb and Scott further propelled the song's popularity, with the song being featured by People.com with an exclusive video premiere, CMT, Country Now, along with a host of other media outlets. The collaboration was then honored with the GMA Dove Award for Bluegrass/Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year during the 54th annual awards ceremony earlier this year. Watch the powerful duet performance on the telecast here. And now, Jason is excited to release this full collection of faith-fueled, inspirational songs. Jason Crabb comments, "This project is truly a labor of love and a testament of faith. Each song on it is a story stories about hope, healing, and the incredible mercy that we're blessed with every day. I poured my heart and soul into this, drawing from my own walk with God with the prayer that it would make a difference. I'm grateful for the way the Lord has moved in my life and that he allows me to do what I do. Every step of this journey, I've felt God's hand upon it, shaping these songs into messages of faith and encouragement. For me, it's all about sharing God's love through my music, and I'm so thankful that He has given me this opportunity to do just that once again with this new collection of songs." Jay DeMarcus, owner of Red Street Records and producer of the project, says: Listeners are absolutely going to LOVE the Good Morning Mercy album! Jason Crabb is not only an incredible artist but a great friend, and I'm so proud to have worked with him on this project. I can't wait for the message behind this powerhouse project to be shared with the world! Good Morning Mercy is more than just a new project; it's a journey through faith, struggle, reminding the listener of the hope and grace we find in Jesus Christ. Fans old and new will find something to connect with in this collection of deeply personal and spiritually uplifting songs. The album is available for purchase and streaming on all major platforms starting today. Don't miss this extraordinary musical experience from one of gospel music's most beloved artists. For more information on Jason Crabb, visit www.jasoncrabb.com. For more information on Jason Crabb, visit www.redstreetrecords.com. About Jason Crabb:One of Gospel and Christian music's most iconic voices, Kentucky-born Jason Crabb has been honored with two GRAMMY Awards and 23 GMA Dove Awards, the latter including nods for Artist, Male Vocalist, and Song of the Year. He is the youngest member inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, and his hometown of Beaver Dam, Kentucky, has paid tribute with a street in his name. Since his first solo release in 2009, he has performed on many of the world's most prestigious stages, such as Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry, the Brooklyn Tabernacle, and Billy Graham's final crusade. Crabb's electrifying stage presence, powerhouse vocals and magnetic personality have endeared him to millions across the world through extensive personal appearances, media coverage, and social media, including over 20 million views on YouTube. About Red Street Records:Jay DeMarcus lauded member of Rascal Flatts, GRAMMY award-winning producer and bassist launched Red Street Records in 2019 with a vision for the future. Along with DeMarcus, a strong team of industry veterans and promising new-comers lead the Red Street Records team with an artist-driven approach and a mission to deliver the best music in both the Country and Christian space. In just a few short years, Red Street Records has signed some of music's most gifted artists including GRAMMY award-winning Jason Crabb and multi-platinum country star Chris Lane. To learn more, visit redstreetrecords.com. Rend Collective - "Hallelujah Anyway" | Merge PR 17 November 2023 - Nashville, TN - New music is here from Rend Collective. Today, the worship band from Northern Ireland drops the EP Hallelujah Anyway, (listen HERE) featuring two new versions of their current single of the same name, along with three previously unreleased songs - "Homesick," Beggars To Kings," and "Let It Roll (Live)". Additionally, a deluxe version of their 2022 album Whosoever, also drops today, featuring the new songs also included on the EP. "Weve always felt like our songs dont really come alive until we hear the church sing them back to us, and over the last year, weve heard thousands of people making 'Hallelujah Anyway' their anthem, striking a match of hopeful worship in the midst of heartbreak and chemo and all kinds of traumatic situations," the band collectively shares. "We also wanted to give you a window into our studio experience," they add. "We wrote and recorded with our mate, Matt Maher, and when we heard his amazing vocals all over 'Hallelujah Anyway' in the writing room, it felt like you needed to hear it too! Thank you for making 'Hallelujah Anyway' such a special and significant song in our catalogue - we hope you feel the same way. To date, the five members of Rend Collective have more than 750 million career streams, a No. 3 Billboard Top Christian / Gospel album debut with their album Choose to Worship, a Top 5 radio single with "Counting Every Blessing," and an RIAA Gold and Platinum single with "My Lighthouse." As an authentic worship experience, Rend Collective desires to continue to spread its music message around the world. Throughout February up until the end of May, the band will embark on their Campfire: The 10th Anniversary Tour, visiting the U.K., Ireland, and the U.S. for 34 dates. Find the latest tour schedule and more information HERE. - # # # - ABOUT REND COLLECTIVE: From a small, coastal town in Northern Ireland, Rend Collective forged a new palette for worship music. Trading synths for ukuleles and big halls for campfires, Rend Collective scuffed up the pristineness of modern worship, speaking directly to those who werent knocking on the churchs door. Now, they bring this same unique music to the world, leaving their sold-out audiences filled with joy, unity, and an authentic worship experience. With career sales of nearly 800,000 albums, the group has seen many successes, including the radio hit Counting Every Blessing which hit the Top 5 on the National Christian Audience Chart, and their album Choose To Worship charted at No. 3 on the Billboard Christian Albums Chart in the first week of its release. The band has also been a part of several major tours with top artists such as Chris Tomlin, Kari Jobe, Lecrae, and Mercy Me. Find out more at RendCollective.com. The laggards On the other end of the bourse, Tabcorp was the worst performer of the day, sliding 4.6 per cent, followed by Link Administration (down 4 per cent) and Hub24 (down 3.1 per cent). ANZ Bank closed 0.2 per cent higher after the big four bank, regarded as a key aggressor in the mortgage wars, on Monday launched automated digital-only home loans on iPhones, a move that brings it into direct competition with digital banking rivals. The lowdown NABs team of economists have released their latest forecasts, and while things are looking a bit more optimistic, they expect at least one more rate rise. [Weve] nudged up our expectations for growth, lowered our peak unemployment rate to 4.5 per cent and pushed up our inflation track in the near term, said NAB Group Economics in a note. Alongside these forecast revisions, we now expect one further increase in the cash rate to a peak of 4.6 per cent in early 2024. We then see rates on hold until around November 2024 (previously August), before the RBA begins easing policy back towards neutral. GDP is expected to grow by 1.4 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2024 stronger than we expected 6 months ago but still below trend. Household consumption will remain subdued, but growth is likely to remain positive. Elsewhere, dwelling investment is expected to fall in the near term, while business investment is broadly neutral over the next year or so. Fortescues gains came as the company approved several key green hydrogen projects in the US and Australia, committing to spend more than $1.1 billion over three years to carve out new and unproven markets in the clean energy sector. Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent, coming off its third straight weekly gain as it began a shortened trading week due to Americas Thanksgiving holiday. The Dow Jones added 0.6 per cent and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1 per cent. The ASX added 0.1 per cent on Monday. The Australian dollar also strengthened. It was fetching 65.86 US cents just after 3pm AEDT, up 0.4 per cent. Brent crude, the international oil standard, rose $US1.71 to $US82.32 per barrel. Microsoft was the strongest force pushing the US market higher, rising 2.1 per cent after saying its bringing on Sam Altman for a new AI venture following his sudden dismissal as CEO of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Microsoft said it will also continue its partnership with OpenAI, as fervour around artificial-intelligence technology and the huge profits its expected to create continue to dominate Wall Street. US stocks broadly drifted higher through the day before they took a turn upward in the afternoon when yields fell in the bond market following an auction of Treasuries. Easing Treasury yields have been the main reason for a strong rally for stocks in recent weeks. This upcoming week is relatively light on reports that could sway the hopes on Wall Street that have underpinned that drop in Treasury yields. Loading Wall Street is getting more convinced that inflation is cooling enough for the Federal Reserve to finally be done with its market-crunching hikes to interest rates. Not only that, traders are moving up their expectations for when the Fed could actually begin cutting interest rates. Despite Fed officials saying they may keep rates high for a while to ensure high inflation is definitively beaten, traders are thinking the first cut to rates could happen by mid-year in 2024, or maybe even by March. Cuts to rates tend to act like steroids for financial markets and offer oxygen across the financial system. In the bond market, Treasury yields were easing. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is the centrepiece of the bond market, dipped to 4.42 per cent from 4.44 per cent late Friday. The two-year yield, which moves more on expectations for Fed action, slipped to 4.89 per cent from 4.90 per cent late Friday. Tweet of the day Quote of the day We take our obligations very seriously, and we believe that our new payroll and human resources systems as well as our ongoing vigilance in reviewing and upgrading our payroll processes and data minimises the risk of this happening again. That was a statement from online fashion retailer The Iconic, which uncovered nearly $201,000 in additional underpayments in the midst of upgrading its payroll and HR systems, after having already been found to have underpaid hundreds of casual staff more than $1 million between 2013 and 2019. People are shown at the polling location at Nottingham Park, 14205 Kimberly Lane, on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Informed electorate Regarding Dont blame the kids for not voting. Help them. (Opinion), (Nov. 16): This column on the subject of low voter turnout made me angry because the focus was on making voting easy and fun for younger voters who have short attention spans and a need for instant gratification. Heck, lets just revamp elections to be like American Idol and Americas Got Talent and be done with it, right? Here in Texas we have two full weeks of early voting with tons of locations all over the metro area. If someone cant work a trip to a polling place into their schedule, it means they assign a low priority to voting, period. One important point you failed to cover is that people who cant be bothered to go vote are also highly unlikely to have devoted sufficient time and effort to researching issues and candidates to form an intelligent opinion. I say, if you dont do your homework then Id rather not have you voting. Let me and others who do prioritize elections and voting make the decisions. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the early days of our nation, voting was limited to landowners for the reason that our Founding Fathers saw a benefit in voters having a stake in the outcome and that was the best measuring stick they had at the time. Perhaps the reason so many dont prioritize elections and voting is because they lack a sufficient stake in the outcome, which means the outcome really doesnt matter to them. This is something I hear regularly from younger people that it really doesnt matter to them who gets elected. Maybe theyre right and we should be content to accept low voter turnout so the people who feel they have a stake in the outcome make the decisions. Greg Groh, Houston 2023 HOUSTON RUNOFF VOTER GUIDE: Mayor, Controller and City Council What is really disappointing about such low voter turnout is how clueless people are about what is going on in our city. Those that arent too lazy to go to the polls are often too lazy to learn about the issues. Instead of watching the news, reading the local paper or looking at websites such as vote411.org, they let themselves be influenced by biased political ads. Frankly, Im glad people who dont educate themselves on the issues dont vote. Chris Greene, Houston Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the 2022 election I had over 95 candidates to vote for, plus a number of miscellaneous ballot initiatives and amendments. How do you become knowledgeable under these circumstances? As part of election reform, the first thing I believe should be done is limiting the number of candidates we vote for to the local level and the necessary ballot initiatives, including bond issues and amendments. This would, at least, give voters the chance to make better choices. Leave the rest to be appointed by the candidates we elect. Im not sure they will get it absolutely right but they stand a better chance than most of us do. Harold Rocketto, Houston 2023 ENDORSEMENTS: Runoff Election Separation of church and state Regarding State Board of Education embarrasses Texans, earns failing grade on evolution and climate change, (Nov. 17): After I read Wednesdays Chronicle, the page one story on Texas science textbooks and Chris Tomlinsons column had me thinking of my first teaching job interview at Marquette High School back in 1984. Marquette is a Catholic school run by Ursuline nuns, and I was applying to teach biology. When I informed the principal that I would teach evolution as part of the curriculum, she replied something along the lines of, That is right Doug. Your job is to teach science and my job is to teach religion. Of course you will teach evolution in biology class. Needless to say, I wanted the job even more afterward and was happy teaching in that school. Oh, how the school boards of Texas would benefit from such an attitude. Advertisement Article continues below this ad From that job on, through 35 years as a science teacher (30 of which were in Houston), I always taught students that the theory of evolution was the best explanation science has to explain the world in which we live. Like all credible scientific theories, it is backed by thousands of observations, reams of experimental evidence, and is testable. Thus, evolution qualifies as science and should be taught in science classes. Because it does not meet the above criteria, biblical creation is not science and should not be taught in science classes. This is not to say that creationism has no merit, but that children should learn about it from their respective churches, elders and religion courses. Give students the tools to think critically and trust in them to make informed, reasoned decisions. To do otherwise is to disrespect their intelligence. Douglas Elliott, Schulenburg Australias underinvestment in research is becoming a national security issue, with prominent vice-chancellors and scientists warning the nation faces a fight to keep up with other countries and meet its AUKUS commitments. Australian National University vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt says some fundamental science departments the places of Australian breakthroughs such as Wi-Fi and solar panels are shrinking or closing altogether because the government pays for less than half of research costs at universities. Outgoing ANU vice-chancellor and Nobel Prize winner Brian Schmidt has sounded a warning that Australias sovereign research capability is falling apart without proper funding. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer The Australian Academy of Science warned last week that Australia didnt have the funding to secure sensitive research in universities as the US does, which could impact AUKUS technology-sharing work with the US and the UK. Universities wont be able to properly conduct the research Defence wants us to, including nuclear expertise, so we can meet our AUKUS commitments ... unless the Defence Department funds it properly, Schmidt said. Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has outlined further elements of the LNPs plans for the public sector in a speech designed to underpin his partys vision for a home-grown workforce to address issues such as health, housing, cost of living and crime. Addressing a Queensland Media Club lunch event initially meant to feature Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk who will front that audience early next year Crisafulli also framed the plan as an effort to counter the long-looming spectre of job losses during the Newman government, in which he was a minister. Queensland LNP leader David Crisafulli. Credit: AFR In the same way that the Labor government have learned from the broken promise of selling assets, we have learned from this and we have to get a public service that feels valued and respected, Crisafulli said, committing to no forced redundancies. While his partys vision to-date focused more on crime, housing, health and cost of living, he said an empowered and respected home-grown public service was needed to address the issues longer term. Under questioning, any changes to abortion laws were ruled out for four years at least. Tuesdays announcement, in a speech leaning heavily into the LNPs effort to paint the government as one of chaos and crisis, builds off Crisafullis budget reply focus on winding back outsourcing to consultants and included removing Premiers and Treasury department officials from the Public Sector Governance Council, and boosting graduate programs. West Australian private schools, including one of the countrys richest, will be over-funded by millions of dollars over the next five years, a new report from Australias leading education union has revealed. Nationally, private schools will be over-funded to the tune of almost $3 billion to 2028, while public schools will remain underfunded up to $40 billion, according to the Australian Education Unions report How School Funding Fails Public Schools, written by education economist Adam Rorris. In WA, multiple private schools will be funded by the federal government well over the schooling resource standard over the next five years, including Hale School which the union states is already one of the richest in Australia. But public schools will remain underfunded. Australia is connected to three ongoing wars, each shaping the world in different ways. All three affect Australias security, but only one is a direct threat to our sovereignty and liberty. Some observations on each. First, the war whose duration is to be measured in months, the war between Israel and Hamas. And though it is dreadful, there is some unambiguously good news. A month and a half on, its become clear that Hamas great enabler and sponsor, Iran, is choosing not to escalate the war. Through its many proxies, Tehran points multiple cannons at Israels heart, from many directions. Illustration by Dionne Gain Credit: Yet, so far, it has chosen to fire only one - the terrorist guerilla army of Hamas. Some of Irans other proxies are active in attacking Israel, but its largely token. Despite frequent threats of escalation against Israel, they are holding fire on their full capabilities. Its awful enough that many thousands of civilians, Israeli and Palestinian, have been killed in this conflict. But many more, perhaps hundreds of thousands, would be killed if the ayatollahs issued the attack order to Irans other proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon, militias in Syria, units in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen. Were sailing off the coast of Spain towards the British enclave of Gibraltar, watching the FIFA Womens World Cup final between coincidentally Spain and England on a big screen on the deck of the cruise ship when the complaints start coming in. The Rock of Gibraltar near the south-western tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Credit: iStock Why, asks the contingent of British journalists, is the group of Australian journalists supporting Spain? Why not? we reply. Because, they counter back, you should be faithful to the motherland; everyone laughs. Yet as we approach Gibraltar, that annexed British bastion on the Iberian peninsula, the irony of the battle being waged onscreen is lost on no-one. This time, however, the Spanish win. But its a neat reminder of just why Gibraltar is such a fascinating stop on any cruise itinerary. Were on a seven-day Mediterranean cruise on the Enchanted Princess from Barcelona to Rome, via Marseille, Genoa and Livorno (for Pisa and Florence), and Gibraltar is our first port of call. London: Lachlan Murdoch, the new chairman of News Corp, has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv in a sign his global media empire will continue to throw its weight behind the war-torn nations struggle against Russia. The presidents office said the eldest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who officially took control of the company last week, travelled to Ukraine at the weekend alongside Fox News journalist Benjamin Hall and The Suns Jerome Starkey. News Corp chairman Lachlan Murdoch (centre) in Kyiv alongside injured Fox News journalist Ben Hall (left). Hall, who in early 2022 was severely injured while he reported from Ukraine, also met with service members who assisted in his evacuation. Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian fixer Oleksandra Kuvshynova were killed while Hall lost both feet, a leg and an eye. The younger Murdoch, whose father described him last week as a believer in the social purpose of journalism, was in March reported to have previously spoken with Zelensky and other Ukrainian government officials via Zoom. Jerusalem: Israel has stepped up accusations of Hamas abuses at the Gaza Strips biggest hospital, saying a captive soldier had been executed, and two foreign hostages held at a site that has been a focus of its devastating six-week-old offensive. At one point a shelter for tens of thousands of Palestinian war refugees, Al Shifa Hospital has been evacuating patients and staff since Israeli troops swept in last week on what they called a mission to root out hidden Hamas facilities. Video released by Israel appears to show gunmen in Al-Shifa Hospital. Credit: IDF Israel is also searching for some 240 people Hamas kidnapped to Gaza after an October 7 cross-border assault that sparked the war. One of these was a 19-year-old Israeli army conscript, Noa Marciano, whose body was recovered near Al Shifa last week. Hamas said she died in an Israeli airstrike and issued a video that appeared to show her corpse, unmarked except for a head wound. The news The Palestinian militant group Hamas says it is near a truce agreement with Israel, even as the deadly assault on Gaza continued and rockets were being fired into Israel. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a Telegram post on Tuesday that officials were close to reaching a truce agreement and the group had delivered its response to Qatari mediators. The statement gave no more details, but a Hamas official told Al Jazeera TV that negotiations were centred on how long the truce would last, arrangements for delivery of aid into Gaza and the exchange of Israeli hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Bryan, OH (43506) Today Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 44F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.. Tonight Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 39F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. A local restaurant in Canada could not reportedly accommodate Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during their previous break from royal duties. (Photo: Phil Noble/File Photo/REUTERS) As the holiday season approaches, there is growing speculation about whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might join King Charles III for Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom. Sources close to the couple have indicated that they are open to the idea, despite the ongoing complexities in their relationship with the royal family. The couple, who last attended a royal gathering at Queen Elizabeth's funeral, have reportedly not received a formal invitation yet. However, an insider shared with a publication, "I can't imagine the Sussexes would decline an invitation to spend time with His Majesty." This openness signals a potential thaw in the strained relations, especially following recent contact between the Sussexes and King Charles on his birthday. One significant concern for Prince Harry is his family's safety in the UK, now that they are no longer senior members of the royal family. "Without security or a place to stay in the UK, they now need a 'formal invitation' from the king or Buckingham Palace," a source explained. Royal aides have suggested that temporary accommodations with adequate security could be made available for Harry if he plans a short visit. The potential reunion raises the issue of the limited relationship between King Charles and his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Sources close to both the Sussexes and the king have expressed sadness over the current situation. A friend mentioned, "It is understood there is deep sadness on both sides of the Atlantic at this status quo." However, the relationship between Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William, remains deeply fractured. A biographer, Omid Scobie, in his latest book, suggests that their relationship is beyond repair. A confidant of Prince William was quoted saying, "He absolutely f------ hates him," referencing the fallout from Prince Harry's memoir, 'Spare,' which portrayed the Prince of Wales in a negative light. Despite these challenges, friends of the Sussexes describe the recent phone call with King Charles as a positive "turning point" in their relationship. However, reconciliation efforts may be hindered if details of private conversations continue to be leaked to the press and feature in sensational books. In contrast to the complexities of their relationship with the Sussexes, King Charles has reportedly been spending more time with the Cambridge grandchildren. According to a source, he tries to see them on Friday afternoons before heading to his private residence, Highgrove House. This effort reflects his desire to forge stronger bonds with his grandchildren, highlighting the contrasting dynamics within the royal family. As the holiday season draws closer, the possibility of a royal Christmas reunion hangs in the balance, with both hope for reconciliation and recognition of the deep-seated challenges that remain. The world watches with interest to see if the festive season will bring the royal family closer together or if the current status quo will persist. Russia vows retaliation against Finland's anti-Russian actions Xinhua) 16:07, November 20, 2023 MOSCOW, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- A senior official from the Russian Foreign Ministry has pledged that Russia will retaliate against any anti-Russian measures taken by Finland, local media reported on Monday. "Taking into account the confrontational actions of Finland towards Russia, the Russian side decided to terminate the Russian-Finnish intergovernmental agreement on promoting cross-border cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Finland, signed in Helsinki on April 13, 2012," said Sergei Belyaev, director of the Second European Department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "We place the blame for this entirely on the Finnish side." Belyaev highlighted Finland's consistent confrontational stance against Russia following Russia's military operation in Ukraine, including supplying arms to Ukraine and escalating sanctions against Russia. He emphasized that Finland's NATO membership resulted in the halt of longstanding bilateral political dialogues at various levels, causing severe harm to previously flourishing trade and economic ties. Moreover, connections between regions and sister cities were severed. Belyaev said that Finland imposed entry restrictions on Russian citizens in September 2022, which impedes travel of many groups including property owners and employees of Finnish companies. These restrictions were further tightened from July 10 onwards. Regarding Finland's plans to introduce property seizure mechanisms affecting Russian nationals, Belyaev clarified that these plans are still in development. Moscow hopes that these projects, which violate private property rights, will not come into effect. "Under the current Russophobic stance of Finnish authorities, various scenarios are unfortunately possible. Any anti-Russian actions will undoubtedly receive a response. Our reaction will hinge on the specific decisions made in Helsinki, especially concerning the expropriation of Russian property," stated Belyaev. In October, Finland's Minister of Justice, Leena Meri, revealed plans to reform legislation by 2027, enabling property confiscation from owners with whom contact is impossible or who have payment arrears. Many Russian property owners in Finland are unable to pay their expenses and taxes due to the European Union's banking and payment sanctions on Russia following its military operation in Ukraine. Finland further tightened entry restrictions for Russian property owners in early July. Reports from Finnish media highlighted the difficulties in conducting bank transfers from Russia to Finnish banks, affecting tax payments and property-related bills. The Finnish Cabinet recently announced the complete closure of border crossing points on the southeast border with Russia from November 18, 2023, to February 18, 2024. Responding to this decision, the Russian Embassy in Helsinki expressed concerns and hinted at exploring reciprocal measures. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Wu Chaolan) City Controller candidate, Chris Hollins, chats with voter, Pedro Jimenez, outside the Moody Park polling location, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023 in Houston Kirk Sides/Staff photographer Surrounded by family and supporters, Houston mayoral candidate Chris Hollins announces he is now running for city controller and dropping out of the mayoral race in front of his campaign office on Thursday, April 6, 2023 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer Interim Harris County clerk Chris Hollins poses for a photograph in his new office at the Harris County Civill Courthouse building Wednesday, May 27, 2020, in Houston. Godofredo A. Vasquez/Staff photographer Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and Commissioner Adrian Garcia endorsed Chris Hollins in his bid for city controller on Monday. Houston is going to have some challenges in near future, and with Chris Hollins at the helm as city comptroller, he will not only make sure that the job is done right, but I know that he will be able to speak truth to power on behalf of the citizens of the city, Garcia said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Since joining the race for controller, Hollins has garnered endorsements from Councilwomen Abbie Kamin and Martha Castex-Tatum, County Commissioners Rodney Ellis and Lesley Briones, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, immediate past Controller Ronald Green, outgoing Controller Chris Brown, former Mayor Annise Parker and outgoing Mayor Sylvester Turner. Hollins, an attorney and former Harris County clerk, is facing Orlando Sanchez, former Harris County treasurer. When reached Monday, Sanchez said he was proud of his truly broad, non-partisan support from leaders across the political spectrum. He has won endorsements from council members Mike Knox and Michael Kubosh. I dont play identity politics and I dont need a press conference to promote divisive messages to the voters of Houston, Sanchez said. My tenure as a political leader, solving problems with officials from both sides of the aisle in this city, speaks for itself. Hollins and Sanchez are running to serve as chief financial officer for the city, a position that certifies that the city can pay its financial commitments, monitors spending and conducts internal audits of city departments and federal grant programs. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Garcia, who worked with Hollins during his time as clerk, said Monday at Leonel Castillo Community Center that he was excited to see Hollins tenacity and his ability to think through complicated issues. Gonzalez said he believes Hollins will be successful as the city faces looming financial challenges. As a former city council member, I know how important it is to have strong checks and balances in city government, Gonzalez said. Chris will work to increase transparency and accountability and protect our city from fraud, waste and abuse. And that will free up resources for public safety and other vital services. 2023 HOUSTON RUNOFF VOTER GUIDE: Mayor, Controller and City Council Advertisement Article continues below this ad Gonzalez said Hollins has the ability to implement and execute plans. Thats where many miss the mark, and Chris can deliver, he said. Hollins initially launched a campaign for mayor until U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee entered the race. Business leaders from more than 25 countries, a host of prominent figures of corporate India as well as political dignitaries are expected to take part in the seventh edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) that will begin on Tuesday, officials said. The participating countries include the US, UK, Japan, Poland, France, Australia, Germany, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Fiji, they said. Corporate honchos from India's Reliance Industries, ITC, Ambuja Neotia and the Hiranandani Group are also likely to attend the state's marquee business summit. The focus sectors at the two-day BGBS 2023 are MSME, textiles, engineering, energy, transport & urban infrastructure, real estate, agri, tourism and international trade & logistics, officials said. Over 250 international delegates are expected to participate, including senior representatives from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, they said. "Reliance Industries Chairman & MD Mukesh Ambani is expected to attend this year's BGBS. Other industrialists such as Sanjeev Goenka, Sanjeev Puri, Purnendu Chattopadhyay, Harshvardhan Neotia and Sajjan Jindal will also be present," an official told PTI. "Numerous B2B and B2G meetings will be organised on the sidelines of the summit, highlighting trade and investment opportunities between the global community and West Bengal," he said. The United Kingdom is set to bring the "largest-ever" delegation to the BGBS, the British Deputy High Commission had said in a recent release. A 55-member delegation from a wide range of businesses and institutions will represent the UK at the event, it said. In the 2022 edition, a total of 137 MoUs, Letters of Intent (LoI) and Expressions of Interest (EoI) towards investment proposals of Rs 3,42,375 crore were signed, according to state government data. "These have a total employment potential of 40 lakh," the data showed. Bengalurus office market remained slow in Q3 (July-September) of the Calendar Year as leasing activity and demand-supply dipped. Hyderabad saw an increase in all segments, pushing it to the top of the market, according to commercial real-estate consultant Vestian. The Vestian report revealed a 21 per cent growth in office leasing and 26 per cent increase in new supply this year across the top seven cities: Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi-NCR, and Kolkata. In Q3 2023, the Indian office sector witnessed heightened real estate activities as absorption reached the highest level since pandemic and new completions increased to a five-quarter high, said Shrinivas Rao, chief executive officer of Vestian. Vestian also reported growth in the absorption of office space in the Q3 period by 21 per cent year-on-year to 15.9 million square feet across seven major office markets. The seven major cities cumulatively witnessed a surge in the new office space supply by 26 per cent annually to 13.4 million square feet during the third quarter. Bengaluru, the hub for information technology (IT) companies, has shown a significant decline in leasing transactions. In Bengaluru, the absorption of office space fell 28 per cent year-on-year to 3.6 million square feet during the July-September quarter. The new supply for commercial spaces also declined 25 per cent year-on-year to 2.7 million square feet. In Hyderabad, the leasing of office space jumped 270 per cent to 3.7 million square feet. New supply soared 175 per cent to 5.5 million square feet. In the same quarter, the leasing transactions of office space in Chennai rose 82 per cent to 2 million square feet. The new supply was up 71 per cent to 1.2 million square feet. Leasing of office space in Delhi-NCR also fell 14 per cent year-on-year to 3 million square feet during the period. In addition, new office space supply also plunged 82 per cent to 0.5 million square feet. Alongside, Kolkata commercial market saw 0.2 million square feet of leasing transactions and 0.7 million square feet of new supply. Also Read World Cup semis chances: What happens if NZ vs PAK washed out in Bengaluru? Govt considering registration of flats even if developers go bankrupt Residential real estate sales to grow by 8-10% in FY22-23: CRISIL study Strong economy to take office leasing to 40-45 mn sq ft in 2023: Colliers Brigade to develop 2 mn sq. ft. of residential housing space in Bengaluru PM Modi speaks to CM Dhami on Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operations Rajasthan polls 2023 LIVE: 88% BJP, 84% Congress candidates crorepatis Marathwada requests CM Eknath Shinde for water release into Jayakwadi dam Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra reaches remote hilly areas of Jammu After slight improvement, Delhi air quality dips into 'very poor' category Mumbai reported a jump in leasing of office space by 21 per cent to 2.3 million square feet as new supply jumped 125 per cent to 0.9 million square feet. Pune witnessed 83 per cent increase in office leasing to 1.1 million square feet, along with new supply hike of 73 per cent to 1.9 million square feet. The sector also reported healthy vacancy levels with an appreciation in average rentals. "This showcases the robust fundamentals of the sector and a healthy demand for quality office spaces in India," said Rao. The company also said that on the demand-supply front, the key office markets in Southern cities evolved and commanded the highest share of the pan-India absorption and new completions. The IT and ITeS (information technology-enabled services) sector dominated leasing during the period with 25 per cent share. The BFSI sector accounted for 20 per cent of the total absorption in the third quarter of 2023. Moreover, manufacturing & engineering, and flexible space sectors accounted for 17 per cent and 16 per cent share, respectively in Q3 2023. Vestian expects office demand in Bengaluru to rise with large IT companies calling their staff back to office. The firm also expects rentals to soar in these seven cities due to renewed demand as many large conglomerates are calling their employees back to the office. Several farmer bodies in Punjab on Monday held protests at the offices of deputy commissioners and sub-divisional magistrates at many places, seeking withdrawal of cases registered against farmers for burning stubble. The protesting farmers, who also demanded a long-lasting solution for paddy straw, brought stubble-laden trolleys to several offices of DCs and SDMs. The call for the four-hour protest was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and 18 other farmer bodies. The agitating farmers demanded withdrawal of legal actions, including registration of FIRs and rollback of the fine imposed on farmers for burning crop residue. They also demanded an increase in sugarcane rates and a fair compensation for land acquisition under the Bharatmala projects. In Moga, a group of farmers, who were bringing stubble in tractor-trolleys, said they were stopped from entering the DC office complex for staging a 'dharna'. One of the farmers even lied in front of a police vehicle, demanding they be allowed to go to the DC complex. Where should we take this stubble? one of the protesters asked. The protesters, while condemning the legal action against farmers for burning straw, said 75-80 per cent pollution was caused by industry and vehicles. But the action was being taken against farmers, they said. In Sangrur, the protesting farmers brought stubble in their tractor-trolleys and parked their vehicles near the DC office. Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said demonstrations were held at 34 places in the state. He demanded that penalties imposed on farmers be withdrawn and sought a long-lasting solution for managing stubble. In Ludhiana, protesting farmers were not allowed to enter the city. Two groups of farmers were stopped at Verka Milk Plant Chowk and near the Sangowal village, respectively. Later, a delegation of farmers reached the mini secretariat and presented a memorandum to the additional deputy commissioner. In Hoshiarpur, farmers under the banner of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba staged a 'dharna' against punitive actions towards farmers involved in burning stubble. Led by Harpal Singh Sangha, the president of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba, the farmers gathered in front of the district administrative complex. They submitted a memorandum to the Hoshiarpur DC outlining their concerns and demands. Paddy-straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is considered one of the reasons behind the spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November. Police on Sunday had said that over 930 FIRs had been registered against farmers for burning stubble since November 8, besides, a fine of Rs 1.67 crore had been imposed in 7,405 cases and red entries were made in the revenue records of 340 farmers. By Chris Strohm, Allyson Versprille and Olga Kharif The US Justice Department is seeking more than $4 billion from Binance Holdings Ltd. as part of a proposed resolution of a years-long investigation into the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange. Negotiations between the Justice Department and Binance include the possibility that its founder Changpeng Zhao would face criminal charges in the US under an agreement to resolve the probe into alleged money laundering, bank fraud and sanctions violations, according to people familiar with the discussions. Zhao, also known as CZ, is residing in the United Arab Emirates, which doesnt have an extradition treaty with the US, but that doesnt prevent him from coming voluntarily. Binance didnt respond to multiple emails and phone calls seeking comment. The Justice Department declined to comment. An announcement could come as soon as the end of the month, though the situation remains fluid, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter. The exact timing and structure of the proposed resolution and specific charges arent clear. However, Binance would likely be expected to pay more than $4 billion, which would be one of the largest-ever penalties in a criminal cryptocurrency case. The investigation is being led by the criminal divisions money laundering and asset recovery section, along with the national security division and the US attorneys office in Seattle. The agreement seeks to strike a balance that would allow Binance to continue operating, rather than risk a collapse that could cause negative fallout for markets and crypto holders, said three of the people. Binance has sought to minimize its exposure in any settlement, including pushing for a deferred prosecution agreement, another person said. If Binance and the DOJ agree on a deferred-prosecution-agreement, the Justice Department would file a criminal complaint against the company. The US would not go forward with a prosecution as long as the company meets prescribed conditions, which usually include paying a substantial penalty and agreeing to a detailed statement of facts outlining its wrongdoing. A process would be set up to monitor the companys compliance. With respect to possible sanctions violations, the Justice Department has been investigating Binance for allegedly aiding in the evasion of US sanctions against Iran and Russia, one of the people said. Binance has also been under scrutiny for whether it allowed transactions that helped finance Hamas. The case is one of the largest investigations the Justice Department has ever conducted into a cryptocurrency company. A settlement would represent another historic resolution following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, which resulted in the conviction of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried on fraud and conspiracy charges earlier this month. While Justice Department officials have been pushing for a broad leadership change at the company, it isnt clear if other Binance executives besides CZ would face charges in the case. Binance has faced legal and regulatory action from other US agencies, as well as increased scrutiny from US lawmakers. In June, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit accusing Binance and Zhao of mishandling customer funds, misleading investors and regulators, and breaking securities rules. The lawsuit effectively crippled Binances US unit. Brian Shroder, chief executive officer of Binance.US, left the company in September amid another round of job cuts at the struggling crypto platform. The company eliminated about one third of its workforce, or more than 100 positions. Trading volumes on Binance.US have slowed to a trickle after the exchange lost its banking support and suspended US dollar deposits. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission in March alleged that Binance and Zhao routinely broke US derivatives rules as the firm grew to be the worlds largest digital-asset trading platform. Binance should have registered with the agency years ago and continues to violate the CFTCs rules, the regulator said at the time. Binance has contested the lawsuits and said it actively cooperated with the regulators probes and was disappointed by the enforcement actions. In a March statement, CZ said the CFTC complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts and that Binance doesnt agree with how many of the issues are characterized. The company called the SEC filing an attempt by the agency to regulate with the blunt weapons of enforcement and litigation rather than the thoughtful, nuanced approach demanded by this dynamic and complex technology. CZ worked at Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, from 2002 to 2005. The Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP on Monday urged the Election Commission to take penal action against the Ajit Pawar group, alleging it filed fake affidavits before the poll panel. Two days before rebelling against uncle Sharad Pawar to join the Maharashtra government in early July, Ajit Pawar had approached the Election Commission on June 30 staking claim to the party name as well as the symbol. He had subsequently declared himself as the party president with the support of 40 lawmakers. After the fourth personal hearing by the EC on Monday, Sharad Pawar's counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters that the alleged fake affidavits filed by the Ajit Pawar camp can be categorised into 24 categories of "fraud". He alleged that it was a case of "complete, shameless fraud" committed by the Ajit Pawar camp. Party founder Sharad Pawar was present when Singhvi spoke with reporters. The hearing will continue on Friday. Singhvi said "not one affidavit" submitted by the opposite side says a word against Sharad Pawar "We have shown that the EC has the jurisdiction and should file a criminal complaint for such open forgery and fraud which is their power under the IPC," he said. He demanded that the poll panel dismiss the petition by Ajit Pawar's camp and impose costs on it. In such matters, the poll panel works as a quasi-judicial body and the case is heard by the chief election commissioner and fellow election commissioners. South Korea's military warned North Korea not to go ahead with its planned spy satellite launch, suggesting on Monday that Seoul could suspend an inter-Korean peace deal and resume frontline aerial surveillance in retaliation for a launch. North Korea failed in its first two attempts to put a military spy satellite into orbit earlier this year and didn't follow through with a vow to make a third attempt in October. South Korean officials said the delay was likely because North Korea is receiving Russian technological assistance and that the North could conduct a launch in coming days. Senior South Korean military officer Kang Hopil urged North Korea to cancel its third launch attempt immediately. Our military will come up with necessary measures to protect the lives and safety of the people, if North Korea pushes ahead with a military spy satellite launch despite our warning, Kang said in a televised statement. South Korean Defence Minister Shin Wonsik said in an interview with public broadcaster KBS on Sunday the launch was expected later this month and that South Korean and US authorities were monitoring North Korea's moves. The UN Security Council bans any satellite launches by North Korea because it views them as a disguised test of its missile technology. Kang said while North Korea needs a spy satellite to improve its monitoring of South Korea, its launch is also aimed at bolstering its long-range missile programme. South Korea has accused North Korea of receiving Russian technologies to enhance its nuclear and other military capabilities in return for supplying conventional arms to support Russia's war in Ukraine. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have dismissed as groundless the alleged arms transfer deal, but both nations locked in separate, protracted security tensions with the United States have been openly pushing to expand bilateral cooperation. In September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia and met President Vladimir Putin in Cosmodrome, Russia's most important domestic launch centre. When Putin was asked by Russia's state media whether his country would help the North build satellites, he said that that's why we have come here. The (North Korean) leader shows keen interest in rocket technology. Kang, the South Korean officer, didn't explicitly say what retaliatory steps South Korea could take if North Korea makes a third launch. But he strongly hinted the steps could include a suspension of 2018 inter-Korean military agreements requiring both Koreas to halt aerial surveillance activities and live-firing drills along their tense border. Kang asserted that North Korea has already violated the 2018 agreement numerous times. He cited the North's destruction of an unoccupied inter-Korean liaison office in North Korea, flying drones into South Korean territory and staging firing drills along the maritime border. Despite the North's repeated violations of the agreement, our military has been patiently abiding by clauses in the military agreement, but that has caused considerable problems in our military's readiness, Kang said. He said South Korea has avoided firing exercises at a buffer zone created near the rivals' disputed western sea boundary. Kang said South Korea's operation of aerial reconnaissance assets designed to monitor North Korea's forward-deployed artillery guns and other equipment has been significantly restricted due to the 2018 deal as well. The military deal, reached during a short-lived rapprochement between South Korea's then liberal President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, created buffer zones along land and sea boundaries and no-fly zones above the border to prevent accidental clashes. Relations between the rivals have later strained after the breakdown of broader nuclear diplomacy between Kim and then US.President Donald Trump in 2019. North Korea has since been focusing on enlarging its nuclear arsenal, prompting South Korea's current, conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to expand military drills with the United States. A Houston Fire Department ambulance sits at Ben Taub Hospital Emergency Center Friday, Jan. 1, 2020, in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer One year after a new violence prevention program launched at HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest, a busy Level II trauma center, county officials said Monday over 130 violent crime victims have been assisted. The program is also responsible for a drastic increase in the offering of mental health services to our patients, according to Dr. Shiree Berry, a trauma surgeon who leads the program at the HCA hospital. MORE ON VIOLENCE PREVENTION: Harris County to launch hospital violence intervention program at Ben Taub Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Harris County public health program offers a violence prevention program that does not rely on law enforcement. Instead, it follows a national model already in place in other major cities, like Los Angeles and Chicago, where public health officials work to connect hospitalized violent crime victims with outreach specialists, referred to as credible messengers, who are community members living in neighborhoods experiencing gun violence. Were able to intervene at a time when they might be welcome to hearing about risk reduction strategies, prevention, changes in lifestyle, Berry said, and thats where we would ask them if they want to participate in the program and we would introduce them to credible messengers. That intervention can help stop a cycle of violence, particularly because a significant number of violent crime victims end up in a similar situation again within five years, Berry said. Outreach specialists at HCA Hospital have already helped connect violent crime victims with services such as job resources, safer living environments and mental health support, she added. Intervention can also stop other crimes from occurring in response, said Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis These programs reduce the likelihood of retaliation after a gun violence event by connecting victims at the bedside and linking them to services outside the hospital, said Ellis at a news conference marking the one-year anniversary on Monday. They save lives, and they also save taxpayer dollars. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Ellis added outreach specialists in Harris County have stopped at least 26 shootings that we can document since 2021, though he did not offer examples of these incidents or explain how such a figure was calculated. The program is fueled by Harris Countys American Rescue Plan Act funding, along with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The county launched the program in two neighborhoods where the crime statistics were the worst, Ellis said. Earlier this year, it expanded to a second location at Ben Taub Hospital, where around 30 patients have participated in the program. Despite some early metrics of success, the program has been subject to criticism as well. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It even sparked a dramatic moment at Harris County Commissioners Court in June, when County Judge Lina Hidalgo accused District Attorney Kim Ogg of intimidating the outreach specialists, which Oggs office has denied. In an interview with the Chronicle in August, Kimberly Smith, an assistant district attorney in Oggs public corruption division, confirmed the office began an inquiry into the program because of concerns that outreach specialists might be interfering in criminal investigations if they received information about crimes from victims and did not report it to law enforcement. Public health officials have maintained that outreach specialists are not asking about crimes and are abiding by the law. Monday, November 20, 2023 at 7:37AM Oura Oura, the maker of a smart ring that tracks sleep quality and other vital signs, has hired Jason Oberfest, a former Apple health executive, to boost its credibility in the healthcare sector. Oberfest joined Apple in 2018 from Mango Health, a startup that helps people manage their medications. He was a key member of Apples health team. Ouras CEO Tom Hale told Power On that Oberfest will lead the companys healthcare team and clinical strategy, as Oura is expanding its network of partners and diving deeper into the healthcare world. Jasons arrival marks the start of a new chapter for Oura, Hale said. The Oura Ring is a wearable device that collects data such as oxygen saturation, heart rate and sleep cycles from the users finger. The company has been pushing for more health research and partnerships to make the ring a more useful health tool. For example, it has signed an agreement with a health e-commerce website to allow users to buy the ring with flexible health-care spending accounts or FSAs. Source Former President Donald Trump received Gov. Greg Abbott's endorsement during a rally at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer Former President Donald Trump shakes hands with Gov. Greg Abbott after receiving Abbott's endorsement for president. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer Gov. Greg Abbott addresses a crowd at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, where he formally endorsed former President Donald Trump's campaign to regain the presidency. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer Gov. Greg Abbott addresses a crowd at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, where he formally endorsed former President Donald Trump's bid to reclaim the White House. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer Trump supporters pose for a photo during a rally at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, where Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed former President Donald Trump's bid to regain the presidency. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer A group of Texas state troopers at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, where Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed former President Donald Trump's campaign to return to the White House. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer Former President Donald Trump takes the stage after receiving Gov. Greg Abbott's endorsement at a rally at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer Former President Donald Trump speaks after receiving Gov. Greg Abbott's endorsement at a rally at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer EDINBURG At a flag-bedecked rally just 30 miles from the Mexican border, Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday endorsed former President Donald Trumps bid to reclaim the White House. Speaking not far from sections of the border wall that featured prominently in Trump's 2016 campaign, Abbott said re-electing the former president is the only way to stem the surge of migrant crossings under President Joe Biden. READ MORE: Trump touts Texas oil industry in Houston as he tries to woo donors Advertisement Article continues below this ad We need a president who is going to secure the border, Abbott said. Im here today to officially proclaim my endorsement for Donald J. Trump to be president of the United States of America again. The third-term Republican joined six other GOP governors around the nation who have backed Trump from the field of Republican primary challengers. Trump remains well ahead of his two top rivals, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in national polls. But both Haley and DeSantis have made inroads in early-voting states, including Iowa and New Hampshire, which play an outsized role in presidential primaries. Its a tremendous honor to get that endorsement in particular, Trump told Abbott from a makeshift stage near the runway of the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg while several hundred supporters watched. Trump told the crowd that Abbott has acted vigorously to secure the border. He noted that Abbott has built segments of a state-owned border wall and has deployed state troopers and the Texas National Guard to the region. Trump said that if he regains the presidency, hell expand the federal government's border enforcement efforts so Abbott can focus on other matters. I am going to make your job much easier, Trump said, speaking to Abbott. He added, "Walls work." Advertisement Article continues below this ad Just before the endorsement, Trump and Abbott spoke to some of the soldiers and state troopers Abbott has dispatched to the border since Trump lost his bid for re-election in 2020. At times, the Abbott administration has had as many as 10,000 National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers along the frontier with Mexico. The state also has installed coils of razor wire along the Rio Grande, along with a 1,000-foot line of massive buoys in the middle of the river near Eagle Pass, to deter border crossers. Both measures have sparked court battles with the Biden administration, which contends that Abbott is encroaching on the federal government's exclusive authority to secure the nation's borders and regulate immigration. Abbott also has spent state funds to bus thousands of migrants from the border region to Democrat-led cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. In endorsing Trump, Abbott was in part returning a favor. In June 2021, Trump endorsed Abbotts re-election at a time when former Congressman Allen West and former State Sen. Don Huffines were challenging Abbott in the GOP gubernatorial primary. The governor easily defeated West and Huffines and went on to outdistance Democrat Beto ORourke in the general election. Advertisement Article continues below this ad DeSantis has picked up endorsements in Texas from U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, and former Congressman Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio. By staging the endorsement in Hidalgo County, Trump and Abbott were looking to shore up support in an area that both lost by wide margins in their last elections. Their popularity among voters there has improved since then, raising GOP hopes that the once-solidly-blue Rio Grande Valley is shifting in their direction. In 2016, Trump won just 28 percent of the vote in the Valley against Democrat Hillary Clinton. Four years later, he collected 41 percent against Biden. Sunday's announcement comes after the Biden administration reported that federal border agents had nearly 2.5 million encounters with migrants in 2023, a record high. But the Rio Grande Valley sector, historically the most heavily crossed part of the Texas border, has shown a drop in border encounters over the last two years. In 2021, there were more than 549,000 encounters in the Valley. By 2023, the number had fallen to 338,000. Advertisement Article continues below this ad While Trump touted his border wall on Sunday, vast sections remain unfinished. The U.S. had about 654 miles of walls and fences along the border when Trump was elected in 2016, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress. Trump's administration built or replaced about 458 miles of wall. About 80 percent of the work involved replacing existing barriers, according to the GAO. The U.S. has a 1,954-mile border with Mexico, with about 1,200 miles in Texas alone. Wall construction was hampered in Texas during Trump's time in office because most of the land in Texas is privately owned, requiring the federal government to either buy or seize it. In California, Arizona and New Mexico, most of the border region is public land. Although Biden initially halted all border wall construction when he took office, his administration recently announced plans to begin building more than 20 miles of wall just south of Laredo in Starr County. Biden has said he still believes its a waste of time but is forced to carry out construction on previously awarded contracts for which Congress has committed funds. I cant stop that," Biden told reporters last month. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ATLANTA (Nov. 19, 2023) Ceremonies celebrating the life of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who passed away today at age 96, will take place from Monday, Nov. 27, through Wednesday, Nov. 29, in Atlanta and Sumter County, Georgia. The Carter family invites members of the public to pay their respects at the repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum and to view the family motorcade. Guidance on the motorcade routes and repose can be found here: https://rosalynncartertribute.org/. Ceremonies will be broadcast on major television networks and streamed online. MONDAY, NOV. 27 Wreath-Laying at Georgia Southwestern State University and Repose at Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum 10:25 a.m.: The Carter family motorcade will arrive at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus. Mrs. Carters remains will be transferred to a hearse, accompanied by past and present members of her U.S. Secret Service detail. 10:40 a.m.: The motorcade will depart the grounds of the medical center on a public route to nearby Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia. The public is invited to pay respects along the motorcade route, which will be shared later. 11 a.m.: Motorcade arrives at the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex at Georgia Southwestern State University, where wreaths will be laid. 11:15 a.m.: Motorcade departs for The Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta. 3:15 p.m.: Arrival ceremony at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. 3:30 p.m.: Repose service in lobby of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. 6-10 p.m.: The Carter family invites members of the public to pay their respects as Mrs. Carter lies in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. Parking and a shuttle will be available at St. Lukes Episcopal Church, 435 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. TUESDAY, NOV. 28 Carter Center Departure Ceremony and Tribute Service 11:30-11:45 a.m.: Carter Presidential Center departure ceremony. Motorcade proceeds to Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University. 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.: Tribute service at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University with invited guests. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29 Funeral Service and Interment 10:55 a.m.: The funeral procession arrives at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains. 11 a.m.: A service for family and invited friends takes place at the church. 12:30 p.m.: The casket will be transferred to a hearse and depart for private interment at the Carter family residence. The public is welcome to line the family motorcade route as it proceeds from the church, down Bond Street, and along Hwy. 280 in downtown Plains. Viewing areas will be designated. Everyone is expected to respect private property and park only in designated areas . ADDITIONAL DETAILS For schedule updates, visit www.rosalynncartertribute.org or follow @CarterCenter on Twitter. All media requests and inquiries must be made in writing to media@cartercenter.org. The familys official online condolence book, schedule updates, official biography, and a tribute to Rosalynn Carters life and legacy can be found at www.rosalynncartertribute.org. In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, P.O. Box 647, Americus, GA 31709, or the Carter Center Mental Health Program, 453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307. Donations can be made online at www.rosalynncartertribute.org. Condolence books will be available to sign at Georgia Southwestern State University, the Plains Welcome Center, Plains High School, and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. ### Contact: media@cartercenter.org The Carter Center Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnershipwith Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. Even though Warner Bros. Discovery seems to have backtracked on its decision to shelve Coyote vs. Acme, Hollywood (and Congress) remain unconvinced that the company wont try this tactic again. WBD CEO David Zaslav, who is the architect of the companys produce-it-but-dont-release-it mantra, has yet to offer a rational explanation for why this is a good long-term strategy for a Hollywood studio, but the approach finally makes some semblance of sense in this animated parody video, in which a faux Zaslav explains that the studio is adopting a new process we call shelving. Deepfake Zaslav answers all his critics in the video, particularly those who might be wondering, Hey Zas! If you love movies so much, how come youre not releasing them? To those people, he responds, Well, if you loved your pet parakeet, would you release him? Heck, no! Youd keep him locked up on a shelf. But Zas promises that he wont shelf every movie. In fact, qualitative data shows us that watching movie content is one of the core ways buyers choose to interact with IP. Thats why well continue to keep you guessing which movies will be released, which will be shelved, and which will be released for years, then suddenly and inexplicably disappear from our streaming platforms. The cathartic video, which is packed with botched references to Warner Bros. films, was create by Jacob Reed, a former segment director on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. We recently spoke with Reed about his Our Frasier Remake project, in which he brought together over 100 animators to recreate an animated version of the NBC sitcom. This also isnt Reeds first commentary on whats been happening throughout Hollywood this year. Back in May, during the WGA writers strike, he organized a plane to fly around Hollywood and Burbank with a banner that read, Pay the writers, you AI-holes!: Photo: The Carter Center Rosalynn Carter Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a full partnership. Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to President Carter sometimes referred to her privately as co-president. Rosalynn is my best friend ... the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life, Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981. Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Rosalynn Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-the-scenes influence. When her role in a highly publicized Cabinet shakeup became known, she was forced to declare publicly, I am not running the government. Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husbands they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanor and a soft Southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her the Steel Magnolia. Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carters landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington. Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights. She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit U.S. wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics. Throughout her husband's political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media didn't cover those efforts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticized reporters for writing only about "sexy subjects." As honorary chairwoman of the President's Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying, "We've been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach." She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husband's campaigns for Georgia governor. I used to come home and say to Jimmy, 'Why are people telling me their problems?' And he said, 'Because you may be the only person they'll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them,' she explained. After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Rosalynn Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, Georgia, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives. "I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles," she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, "First Lady from Plains." But "we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before." After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work. She chaired the center's annual symposium on mental health issues and raised funds for efforts to aid the mentally ill and homeless. She also wrote "Helping Yourself Help Others," about the challenges of caring for elderly or ailing relatives, and a sequel, "Helping Someone With Mental Illness." Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. "I get tired," she said of her travels. "But something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and there's no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing it's so wonderful." In 2015, Jimmy Carters doctors discovered four small tumors on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she didn't know what she was going to do. I depend on him when I have questions, when I'm writing speeches, anything, I consult with him, she said. She helped Carter recover several years later when he had hip replacement surgery at age 94 and had to learn to walk again. And she was with him earlier this year when he decided after a series of hospital stays that he would forgo further medical interventions and begin end-of-life care. Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived U.S. president. Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived of the nation's first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at age 97. Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927, the eldest of four children. Her father died when she was young, so she took on much of the responsibility of caring for her siblings when her mother went to work part time. She also contributed to the family income by working after school in a beauty parlor. "We were very poor and worked hard," she once said, but she kept up her studies, graduating from high school as class valedictorian. She soon fell in love with the brother of one of her best friends. Jimmy and Rosalynn had known each other all their lives it was Jimmy's mother, nurse Lillian Carter, who delivered baby Rosalynn but he left for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, when she was still in high school. After a blind date, Jimmy told his mother: "That's the girl I want to marry." They wed in 1946, shortly after his graduation from Annapolis and Rosalynn's graduation from Georgia Southwestern College. Their sons were born where Jimmy Carter was stationed: John William (Jack) in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1947; James Earl III (Chip) in Honolulu in 1950; and Donnel Jeffery (Jeff) in New London, Connecticut, in 1952. Amy was born in Plains in 1967. By then, Carter was a state senator. Navy life had provided Rosalynn her first chance to see the world. When Carter's father, James Earl Sr., died in 1953, Jimmy Carter decided, without consulting his wife, to move the family back to Plains, where he took over the family farm. She joined him there in the day-to-day operations, keeping the books and weighing fertilizer trucks. We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, Rosalynn Carter recalled with pride in a 2021 interview with The Associated Press. I knew more on paper about the business than he did. He would take my advice about things. At the height of the Carters' political power, Lillian Carter said of her daughter-in-law: She can do anything in the world with Jimmy, and she's the only one. He listens to her. FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter, right, and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, wave to the audience at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Aug. 25, 2008. Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. She was 96. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File) Ron Edmonds/Associated Press FILE - Former first lady Rosalynn Carter answers questions during a news conference at a Habitat for Humanity building site, Nov. 2, 2015, in Memphis, Tenn. Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. Mark Humphrey/AP FILE - Georgia Gov.-elect Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, celebrate his election win, Nov. 3, 1970, in Atlanta. Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. She was 96. (Billy Downs/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File) Billy Downs/Associated Press FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter, right, and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, arrive for a ribbon cutting ceremony for a solar panel project on farmland he owns in their hometown of Plains, Ga., Feb. 8, 2017. Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. She was 96. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) David Goldman/Associated Press FILE - Former first lady Rosalynn Carter makes phone calls to voters at the campaign headquarters on behalf of her son, Jack Carter, a Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Oct. 3, 2006, in Las Vegas. Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. She was 96. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch, File) LAURA RAUCH/Associated Press FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter twirls his wife, first lady Rosalynn Carter, to the music of a country band at a rally in their honor, Jan. 20, 1981, in Plains. Ga. Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. She was 96. (AP Photo/Joe Holloway, Jr., File) Joe Holloway, Jr./Associated Press FILE - President Jimmy Carter, right, and his wife, first lady Rosalynn Carter, lead their guests in dancing at the annual Congressional Christmas Ball, Dec. 13, 1978, at the White House in Washington. Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. She was 96. (AP Photo/Ira Schwarz, File) Ira Schwarz/Associated Press FILE - President Jimmy Carter, right, and first lady Rosalynn Carter laugh while applauding speeches after a dinner, Jan. 20, 1978, in Atlanta, where they were honored guests. Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. She was 96. (AP Photo, File) Associated Press FILE - President Jimmy Carter, right; his wife Rosalynn Carter, left; and their daughter Amy, center, during a reception for the Democratic National Committee at the White House in Washington, Jan. 21, 1977. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. (AP Photo/Peter Bregg, File) Peter Bregg/Associated Press FILE - Jimmy Carter, second from left, receives a hug from his wife, Rosalynn Carter, after the third presidential debate ended, Oct. 22, 1976, in Williamsburg, Va. First lady Betty Ford, center, and moderator Barbara Walters, right, can be seen in the background. Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. She was 96. (AP Photo, File) Anonymous/Associated Press FILE - Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter with his wife Rosalynn and daughter Amy head to a motel room in Orlando, Fla., March 9, 1976, to watch Florida Primary returns on television. Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. She was 96. (AP Photo, File) BH/Associated Press FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter, right, holds hands with his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, as they work with other volunteers on site, Aug. 27, 2018, in Mishawaka, Ind. Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. She was 96. (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP, File) Robert Franklin/Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a full partnership. Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to President Carter sometimes referred to her privately as co-president. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Rosalynn is my best friend ... the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life, Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981. Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Rosalynn Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-the-scenes influence. When her role in a highly publicized Cabinet shakeup became known, she was forced to declare publicly, I am not running the government. Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husbands they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanor and a soft Southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her the Steel Magnolia. Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carters landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington. Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights. Advertisement Article continues below this ad She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit U.S. wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics. Throughout her husband's political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media didn't cover those efforts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticized reporters for writing only about "sexy subjects." As honorary chairwoman of the President's Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying, "We've been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach." She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husband's campaigns for Georgia governor. I used to come home and say to Jimmy, 'Why are people telling me their problems?' And he said, 'Because you may be the only person they'll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them,' she explained. Advertisement Article continues below this ad After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Rosalynn Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, Georgia, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives. "I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles," she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, "First Lady from Plains." But "we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before." After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work. She chaired the center's annual symposium on mental health issues and raised funds for efforts to aid the mentally ill and homeless. She also wrote "Helping Yourself Help Others," about the challenges of caring for elderly or ailing relatives, and a sequel, "Helping Someone With Mental Illness." Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. "I get tired," she said of her travels. "But something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and there's no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing it's so wonderful." Advertisement Article continues below this ad In 2015, Jimmy Carters doctors discovered four small tumors on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she didn't know what she was going to do. I depend on him when I have questions, when I'm writing speeches, anything, I consult with him, she said. She helped Carter recover several years later when he had hip replacement surgery at age 94 and had to learn to walk again. And she was with him earlier this year when he decided after a series of hospital stays that he would forgo further medical interventions and begin end-of-life care. Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived U.S. president. Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived of the nation's first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at age 97. Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927, the eldest of four children. Her father died when she was young, so she took on much of the responsibility of caring for her siblings when her mother went to work part time. Advertisement Article continues below this ad She also contributed to the family income by working after school in a beauty parlor. "We were very poor and worked hard," she once said, but she kept up her studies, graduating from high school as class valedictorian. She soon fell in love with the brother of one of her best friends. Jimmy and Rosalynn had known each other all their lives it was Jimmy's mother, nurse Lillian Carter, who delivered baby Rosalynn but he left for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, when she was still in high school. After a blind date, Jimmy told his mother: "That's the girl I want to marry." They wed in 1946, shortly after his graduation from Annapolis and Rosalynn's graduation from Georgia Southwestern College. Their sons were born where Jimmy Carter was stationed: John William (Jack) in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1947; James Earl III (Chip) in Honolulu in 1950; and Donnel Jeffery (Jeff) in New London, Connecticut, in 1952. Amy was born in Plains in 1967. By then, Carter was a state senator. Navy life had provided Rosalynn her first chance to see the world. When Carter's father, James Earl Sr., died in 1953, Jimmy Carter decided, without consulting his wife, to move the family back to Plains, where he took over the family farm. She joined him there in the day-to-day operations, keeping the books and weighing fertilizer trucks. We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, Rosalynn Carter recalled with pride in a 2021 interview with The Associated Press. I knew more on paper about the business than he did. He would take my advice about things. Photo: The Canadian Press Rogers Communications Inc. has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing nearly 300 striking workers in Metro Vancouver after contract talks broke down and the company issued a lock-out notice earlier this month. Rogers Communications Inc. has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing nearly 300 striking workers in Metro Vancouver after contract talks broke down and the company issued a lock-out notice earlier this month. A statement from Rogers spokesman Cam Gordon says the company is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement, adding the goal "has always been to achieve a negotiated settlement that meets the needs of our employees and our customers." Representatives of United Steelworkers Local 1944 Unit 60 have not responded to multiple requests to confirm the tentative deal this weekend. Rogers had issued the lock-out notice shortly after the union announced plans for a series of rotating strikes among former Shaw technicians in B.C.'s Lower Mainland. At the time, the union said it issued the 72-hour strike notice after rejecting a proposal from the company it described as "a shameful attack on our members, their families and the communities Rogers serves." A statement from Rogers says it asked the union to provide clarity on the planned job action, but "no further details were shared," and the company took what it describes as the reluctant step to issue a lock-out notice and activate contingency plans to ensure it could provide customers with uninterrupted service. The company did not confirm any details or timing about the tentative deal. The workers are former Shaw technicians who were absorbed by Rogers when the companies merged last spring. They support homes and businesses for internet, phone and television services in Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey and Langley, B.C. The two sides had been negotiating since February as union members worked under the terms of their previous collective agreement that expired on March 23. Workers voted 99.6 per cent in favour of a strike mandate in September, after starting a conciliation process with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The union has said recent job losses associated with the merger, meant to reduce overlap following Rogers' $26-billion takeover, call into question the company's commitment to creating 3,000 new jobs in Western Canada over five years. Photo: The Canadian Press Palestinians with Canadian passports who were evacuated from Gaza sit in a bus at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt, late Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023. A group of 135 people with ties to Canada desperate to flee escalating violence in the Gaza Strip were officially cleared to leave the besieged territory Sunday, though there was no immediate word on how many were able to make the trip. Global Affairs Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest efforts to get Canadians through the Rafah land crossing into Egypt, but the names of 135 Canadians were on a list of foreign passport holders cleared for the journey as of Sunday. That list is updated daily by Gaza's General Authority for Crossings and Borders. Among those cleared for departure was Palestinian-Canadian Khalil Manaa, 71, who left Gaza for Egypt Sunday. After fleeing to southern Gaza, he said he and relatives shared a crammed home of 40 people. And there, we also were subjected to intense strikes. A rocket hit our house," he said. The most recent update from Global Affairs, provided on Friday, said 376 Canadians, permanent residents and their relatives had so far been able to leave the Palestinian territory through the Rafah crossing. The current conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis in brutal surprise attacks, taking another 240 people hostage. Israel immediately declared war on Hamas, began an airstrike campaign and cut off food, water and supplies to Gaza, which is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. The territory's health officials said more than 11,500 people have been killed so far, two-thirds of them women and children, and another 2,700 people are reported missing. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, is struggling to provide basic services to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Seventeen of its facilities have been directly hit, the agency said. Over the weekend, Israel allowed UNRWA to import enough fuel to continue humanitarian operations for another couple of days, and to keep internet and telephone systems running. Israel cut off all fuel imports at the start of the war, causing Gaza's sole power plant and most water treatment systems to shut down. Israels Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday gave the clearest indication yet that the military plans to expand its offensive to the south, where Israel has told Palestinian civilians to seek refuge. The evacuation zone is already crammed with displaced civilians, and it was not clear where they would go if the offensive moved closer. Egypt has refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees, in part because of fears that Israel would not allow them to return. Photo: The Canadian Press Residents of a neighbourhood in a city northeast of Edmonton are being told to shelter in place as police look for a 32-year-old man who they say is armed. RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on April 13, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck UPDATE 3:50 p.m. An emergency alert about an armed man in a neighbourhood northeast of Edmonton has ended with the suspect's arrest. Later Sunday afternoon, RCMP in Fort Saskatchewan said the man was located and taken into custody without incident, and the alert was rescinded. RCMP say they anticipate remaining on scene for some time. ORIGINAL 2:34 p.m. Residents of a neighbourhood in a city northeast of Edmonton are being told to shelter in place as police look for a 32-year-old man who they say is armed. An Alberta Emergency Alert was issued Sunday morning for the Pineview community in Fort Saskatchewan, warning that a male with two guns was in the neighbourhood. The alert alleged he'd been involved in a "firearms incident." RCMP advise in a news release that they are on scene at a residential complex in Fort Saskatchewan. They say Trevor Chykerda is armed and people in the Pineview community should stay inside, lock doors and windows, and not report police locations. They've released a photo of Chykerda, saying he's five feet six inches tall, has brown hair and a heavy build, and was last seen wearing all black clothing. Photo: . Almost exactly two years after the English Bay Barge ran aground, another had to be pulled away from shore. Almost exactly two years after the English Bay Barge arrived on a Vancouver beach (and also almost exactly one year after it was removed) another barge drifted in towards shore. However, this time authorities were able to step in and haul the giant craft away before it got stuck on Sunset Beach again (or another beach nearby). The incident happened Sunday, Nov. 19 (the original barge arrived Nov. 15, 2021). High tide was around 11:30 a.m. for English Bay. Live stream video from English Bay shows the barge begins to drift in almost exactly at noon. Luckily, this time there was no high wind to blow it ashore and get it lodged on rocks. Instead, it slowly drifted in. At around 12:15 p.m. what appears to be a Coast Guard craft appears in the frame headed for the barge, which drifts out of sight. In another angle from Bluemist (the live streamer), the ship can be seen pulling the barge, while what appears to be a zodiac pushes. Soon a couple of other craft, which appear to be tugboats, arrive to help with the job. Initially, it appears the barge was pulled back to where it was moored, but then taken towards North Vancouver. Another angle of the incident, from the shore nearby, has been shared on Youtube. In the clip, it's clear how close the barge got to shore, and how the efforts of the people on the small boats were able to keep it from running aground. Vancouver Is Awesome has reached out to the Coast Guard and VPD for more details. Photo: WestJet Vancouver-based Ryan Robinson is suing WestJet Airlines and two flight attendants for defaming him by telling authorities false statements about him not wearing a face mask and being unruly on a flight between Vancouver and Winnipeg during the COVID-19 pandemic. Robinson claimed that on this flight, he was not wearing his face mask twice. The first time, he said in his Nov. 14 notice of civil claim, was when he had taken a sip of a drink and then forgot to put his face mask back on. The second time was when his face mask had slipped to his chin, he claimed. In both instances, Robinson said, he complied with flight attendant requests. Flight attendants allegedly told authorities that he was not wearing his face mask four times, and that he was unco-operative. One flight attendant, who Robinson identified as Thomas, "became agitated," and as the plane was descending, Thomas provided Robinson with a so-called "red card," which meant that Robinson was banned from flying on WestJet for one year. When the plane landed in Winnipeg on Nov. 17, 2021, four uniformed police officers boarded the plane and arrested Robinson, he said. "The plaintiff's arrest and subsequent prosecution was without probable cause or reasonable grounds," Robinson said in his lawsuit, which was filed in BC Supreme Court. "The plaintiff was held by police for two hours before being released to meet his son." Robinson claimed that his arrest, prosecution and subsequent regulatory proceedings were caused by false and defamatory statements that Thomas and another flight attendant, named Metcalfe, told authorities. Robinson said that the flight attendants told authorities that he was "unruly," and that he had refused to comply with instructions. The flight attendants allegedly said that Robinson was argumentative, taking photos and refusing to leave his mask on. Metcalfe had allegedly told police that Robinson had his mask down four times. Robinson said in his claim that the flight attendants told police that he was given a final warning and that he would meet with police in Winnipeg. The flight attendants also said that Robinson had taken a photo of the crew and that he was "showing other passengers and laughing," he alleged. The dispute allegedly resulted in a mulit-day trial in Winnipeg in October 2022. The flight attendants allegedly at the time repeated what Robinson maintained are false statements. "The trial judge found that the plaintiff had been 'substantially compliant' with the masking requirement in the Aeronautics Act," Robinson wrote. "Given the strict liability regime in Section 34, the trial judge was required to enter a conviction, but imposed no penalty on the plaintiff beyond a verbal reprimand." Transport Canada on Jan. 18, 2022, levied a substantial administrative monetary penalty against Robinson, he said. He challenged that penalty before the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada. "In March 2023, after learning of the result of the plaintiff's criminal prosecution, Transport Canada withdrew the administrative monetary penalty," Robinson wrote. He said in his claim that the WestJet flight attendants' false statements implied that he is violent, unpredictable, unruly and that he does not comply with directions. He claims that this has caused a "loss of reputation" as well as humiliation and mental distress. Robinson is seeking general damages for defamation, general damages for malicious prosecution, aggravated damages, punitive damages, interest and costs. WestJet and the flight attendants have not yet filed a response to Robinson's notice of civil claim. None of the claims he made in his lawsuit have been proven in court. Korea's white cement levy on Egypt begins 20 November 2023 South Koreas anti-dumping duty on white Portland cement from Egypt has begun. The 72.23 per cent levy started on 15 November 2023 and will last for four months. The move is designed to protect Koreas local industry from imports after Korean white cement producer Union filed a complaint to the Korea Trade Commission in March this year against Egypts Royal El Minya Cement and Albatros International Cement Trading. Union stated that cheap imports from Egypt were negatively affecting its business after imports into Korea surged to 9240t in 2022 from around 1000t in 2021. Published under Netflix has a habit of canceling shows that people actually want to watch. Meanwhile, they keep renewing content that should've already ended. You can only stretch a show so far before it stops making sense, and that's the case for many titles from the streaming giant. 1. 'Riverdale' The show started out promising with the first season. It even looked like it had the potential to be a long and good show. It was based on teenage drama in high school, so it was already a safe bet to begin with. Sadly, high school doesn't last forever. The gang graduating was not the only thing that contributed to the crumbling of the narrative. Somehow, the series lost sight of what it was about. From teenage drama to a bit of mysterious crimes, "Riverdale" eventually led to magical powers and darker twists. 2. '13 Reasons Why' The premise of the show was already controversial, but Netflix managed to create a story that did not incite mass criticism. It was mostly about Clay Jensen listening to the tapes that his fellow classmate left before she took her own life. The recordings detailed the reasons why she did what she did and after the first season, it should've been done. It was based on a book after all. However, the showrunners decided to expand the storyline, and somewhere along the way, the show just became unwatchable. 3. 'Money Heist' The Spanish drama was a big hit, especially since the situation had people on the edge of their seats the whole time. The numbers of the original team that conducted the bank heist eventually dwindled, which was to be expected, and the remaining people managed to get away with it. The show should've ended after part two. They got the money, and Berlin went out with a bang, but they just had to extend the show to try and recapture the spark that it had. The show then killed off fan favorites like Tokyo and Nairobi, which kind of killed the show as well. Read Also: 5 Shows on Netflix That Are Inspired By Historical Events 4. 'Haters Back Off' It's very rare for social media influencers to step into the world of Hollywood and make a success out of it. People are set in their ways and want entertainers to stay in their formats. Such is the case for YouTube Miranda Sings, whose real name is Colleen Ballinger. Her show only went on for two seasons, and they were two uneventful seasons. She did make a lot of people happy with a lot of her videos on YouTube, but Netflix canceled her show due to alleged misconduct and the whole thing with the ukulele apology song. 5. 'Insatiable' The show starring former Disney star Debby Ryan also went on for two seasons, but the show shouldn't have aired at all. It was about the protagonist, Patty, who lost all her weight due to an injury and suddenly became "desirable." Many viewers criticized the show for several problematic aspects within it. For one, a lot complained about how the show was leaning on insults to be funny. Then there's the part where life goes on for the beauty contestant after several instances of murder at her hands like it was a comedic factor. Related: 5 Cancelled Netflix Shows That Need to Come Back 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. Gaza and the West Bank should eventually be "reunited" under a new Palestinian Authority, US President Joe Biden said in an opinion piece Saturday, as questions swirl over the future of the region once Israel achieves its goal of crushing the Hamas militant group. Weeks before the shocking news spread outside OpenAI, Former CEO Sam Altman was reportedly raising billions for a new chip venture. Read Also: OpenAI's Sam Altman: Achievements, Contributions, and Net Worth OpenAI's 'Tigris' Project Reports revealed that Altman has been doing negotiations in the Middle East fundraising for the project, codenamed Tigris. According to people familiar with the situation, the former CEO is developing an AI-focused chip company to provide semiconductors, potentially rivaling Nvidia. The chip venture was still in its early stages and was far from materializing as Altman was still in talks with investors. In addition, he was also raising money for the AI-focused hardware device in collaboration with former Apple design chief Jony Ive. These ventures were previously detailed and offered to Softbank, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Mubadala Investment Company, and more. Altman was seeking tens of billions of dollars from these companies to fund the projects. OpenAI's Investors Focus on Damage Control After the shocking move by the board, investors of the company, including Microsoft, have been working on the possible damage control. This includes the possibility of Altman rejoining the company as CEO or facing a mass exodus of talent without him. Meanwhile, some investors have pledged their support for the former CEO and his endeavors. To be clear, Khosla Ventures wants @sama back at @OpenAI but will back him in whatever he does next Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) November 19, 2023 Microsoft holds the half majority of the company with 49%. Meanwhile, investors and employees share the other 49% and the remaining 2% is owned by OpenAI's nonprofit parent. Several current and former employees are now worried about the upcoming $86 billion share sale after the board ousted Altman. While the board is still under pressure to reinstate the former CEO, there is also a possibility that the board will resign. In a staff memo, chief operating officer, Brad Lightcap detailed that the decision was "not made in response to malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices." Related Article: OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman Steps Down Due to Lack of Confidence From the Board Tennessee State Parks, the Tennessee State Parks Conservancy and the Ford Bronco Wild Fund today announced a new all-terrain wheelchair available at Booker T. Washington State Park in Hamilton County.The announcement follows Gov. Bill Lees September statewide Conservation Tour, which featured a stop at Booker T. Washington to recognize the parks accessibility improvements.All-terrain wheelchairs are designed to easily traverse tough outdoor terrains, providing a means to reach areas of the park not suitable for a traditional wheelchair.The all-terrain wheelchair donated to Booker T. Washington State Park is part of a collaboration between the National Association of State Park Directors, the Tennessee State Parks Conservancy and Tennessee State Parks to expand access to parks and public land.Tennessee State Parks are committed to breaking down physical barriers for our park visitors, said Greer Tidwell, deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. This means visitors with varying mobility needs and abilities can enjoy our park trails in a new way. With multiple all-terrain wheelchairs available in state parks across Tennessee, we are striving to create an accessible experience for all visitors across the state parks system.State parks visitors can view specific park accessibility options at this link. Tennessee State Parks will update the page when new offerings are made available. All-terrain wheelchairs are available to reserve free of charge.We are very grateful to the Ford Bronco Wild Fund and Tennessee State Parks Conservancy for the all-terrain wheelchair, said Booker T. Washington State Park Manager Levan Gardner. Providing new avenues for our visitors to experience the park is key to our success.As a physical therapist, I am thrilled to see Tennessee leading the way in creating opportunities for people of all levels of ability the access to experience the amazing outdoor beauty of our great state, said State Senator Bo Watson.Governor Lee, in his 2023 State of the State Address, stated the goal of having the most accessible park system in the nation. Tennessee State Parks is one of only seven state park systems in the country that provide free entry to visitors. The system now offers all-terrain wheelchairs at five state parks Radnor Lake State Park in Davidson County, Tims Ford State Park in Franklin County, Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park in Unicoi County, Henry Horton State Park in Marshall County, and Booker T. Washington State Park in Hamilton County.Governor Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly have appropriated over $1.2 million for additional all-terrain wheelchairs to be placed in the state parks system, along with $1.6 million to make improvements on trail accessibility. Tennessee State Parks is continually seeking ways to provide people with disabilities the opportunity for meaningful outdoor experiences including accessible trails, colorblind viewers, accessible canoe/kayak launches and more.Serving as the non-profit partner of Tennessee State Parks, Tennessee State Parks Conservancy works to enhance and accelerate the states vision to have the most accessible state parks system in the country. Established in 2016, the Conservancy raises money to support special park projects, including accessibility initiatives, education opportunities and habitat restoration, aimed at enhancing all 57 state parks across Tennessee.The ability to hike and explore nature is something that a lot of us take for granted, said Gina Hancock, executive director of Tennessee State Parks Conservancy. With this all-terrain wheelchair, were bringing that experience to those who may not have had it before, and thats a very powerful thing. Were grateful to the Ford Bronco Wild Fund for providing this support and look forward to further enhancing Tennessee State Parks for all Tennesseans to enjoy.The parks have been in consultation with the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in its ongoing efforts to make state parks more accessible.Booker T. Washington State Park is located on Chickamauga Reservoir northeast of downtown Chattanooga. The park, officially established in 1938, is named for well-known African American educator Booker T. Washington. For more information about the all-terrain wheelchair and to make reservations, contact the park at 423-894-4955. One of the most visible, charming personalities on the cable television system is the ever present seller of sheets, slippers, pillow cases, etc. in all sizes at continuing downward spiraling prices who is an ardent supporter of the 2016 winner and 2020 loser for the highest office in our country for 330,000,000 folks (plus a few million more coming across the beautiful Rio Grande River into the welcoming open arms of the citizens of Remember the Alamo state). Proudly claiming that his sheets were made from the highest grade cotton in the Nile Valley and Gaza Strip (until October 2023) the proud company of an equally zealous supporter of the ex-prez was the loser in the governors race in the Great State of Colorado. (She is also a lot better looking than Mike L.) Both have continued to claim that the 2020 election was stolen from their candidate by trickery and fraud by the voting machine manufacturer used throughout America. Unfortunately, those profiteers did not take kindly to said allegations and proceeded to act like Americans and took immediate action to exercise their rights and freedomthey filed a defamation (the act of damaging the good reputation of someone, or corporation, by slander, oral statements, libel, or written statements) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Armed with a battery of high priced hourly rate lawyers, both sides have engaged in a titanic battle of legal giants that has slowly inched its way towards a trial date. In spite of spending unknown amounts on many regular and cable television outlets to advertise his high quality products, a legal snag has occurred in the Pillow Guys quest for Justice! Lawyers in the Minnesota case have been allowed to withdraw from any further representation claiming M.L. owes them millions from past legal services and cant pay for any future services at the additional cost of $2M/month. Other legal problems for the television personality include pending lawsuits in Denver, Colorado and Washington, D.C. and a previous $5M judgement against him. Ever the optimist, he alternatively claimed that he is out of money and is broke, will hire new lawyers by the end of the week, will represent himself, or plead for contributions for the Lindell Offense Fund! In October, he did claim that his company My Pillow was doing fine! (With millions of satisfied customers throughout the world including Choo Choo City, his strong religious support, and optimism for the 2024 election, the above minor ruts in the road may just become bad memories!) * * * You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com Cleveland State Community College Foundation will host one of Britains most inspiring pianists on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. Nicholas McCarthy was born without his right hand and rose above many obstacles to study at the Royal College of Music in London. He is the only one-handed pianist to graduate from the school.Presented by the Bank of Cleveland, an Evening with Nicholas McCarthy will include a reception, dinner and performance at the Museum and Cultural Center at 5ive Points.Tickets are $125 per person and are available through the Cleveland State website, mycs.cc/eveningwith . All proceeds from the event go to the Cleveland State Foundation, which provides support for the college and hundreds of scholarships to students each year."As one of just a few soloists with a disability, McCarthy is a champion of the world of left-hand alone repertoire, which developed rapidly after World War I because of injuries suffered on the battlefield," officials said. "Performing extensively around the world in some of the most prestigious concert halls, McCarthys performances, recordings and media features have gained him critical acclaim. Outside of his concert career, McCarthy is a corporate speaker and regularly delivers keynote talks to the worlds leading businesses and institutions."Highlighting his commitment to encouraging new audiences to discover classical music and his dedication to working with young people through music education, McCarthy will visit the Unity Center in Cleveland where he will inspire Bradley Countys underserved youth. He will also speak to 1,000 middle and high school students from Cleveland States five-county service area on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024."Nicholas McCarthy has an extraordinary talent and an inspirational story, said Dr. John Squires, Cleveland State interim vice president of Workforce Development, Institutional Research and Advancement. Cleveland State is proud to host Nicholas in February, and we are excited to welcome so many young students to campus for his motivational presentation.For more information about purchasing tickets or sponsoring a school group, visit mycs.cc/eveningwith, call 423-614-8700 or email lmcchesney@clevelandstatecc.edu. Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Roger A. Page has notified Governor Bill Lee that he will retire on Aug/ 31, 2024. Justice Page was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2016, serving as Chief Justice from 2021 to 2023. As Chief Justice, he helped secure substantial funding to implement enterprise e-filing for the court system. Under the plan, court records across the state will be electronic and accessible, improving efficiency and data collection and analysis in the court system. Justice Page also promoted access to justice and pro bono service, encouraged greater transparency and efficiency in the judiciary with live streaming of appellate arguments, and maintained good relationships among the judicial, executive, and legislative branches.His judicial service spanned more than 25 years at the trial court, intermediate appellate, and Supreme Court levels. My service on the Supreme Court and in the judiciary has been the honor of a lifetime, Justice Page said. The experience has been humbling and inspiring. The Tennessee judiciary is truly a family, and I have been fortunate to walk this path with my great friends in the judiciary. I will miss all of them and treasure their friendship. In 2011, Justice Page was appointed to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals by Governor Bill Haslam, who would later appoint him to the Supreme Court. Upon his nomination to the Supreme Court, he became the first judicial nominee to move through the new confirmation process required by a 2014 amendment to the Tennessee Constitution. He was unanimously confirmed by both the Tennessee House and Senate. Justice Page has made a huge contribution to Tennessee's justice system, first as a trial judge handling both civil and criminal cases, then on the Court of Criminal Appeals, and now on the Supreme Court, most recently as Chief Justice," Chief Justice Holly Kirby said. He is thoughtful and deliberate, and he brings wisdom and common sense to the serious issues we must decide. On a personal level, I thoroughly enjoy working with him and will miss him on the Court. We wish him the best in his well-deserved retirement. After justices are confirmed to the Supreme Court, a ceremonial swearing-in is conducted for the public, full of pomp and circumstance and long-held traditions. For his investiture, Justice Page did not choose a historic courthouse or famous location. His choice was Mifflin, Tennessee, a rural location that required detailed instructions by GPS coordinates for some guests to locate the venue. This West Tennessee native grew up on a farm and attended Chester County public schools. According to the Jackson Sun newspaper, the swearing-in ceremony drew more than 1,000 state officials, dignitaries, judges, and local citizens who descended on the country store less than a half-mile from Justice Pages boyhood home where he learned to drive a tractor, worked in the cotton fields, and gained his affinity for rescuing stray dogs. I was honored that Governor Haslam came to Mifflin to administer my oath of office. I did not consider any other location, Justice Page said. There is no better place on the face of the earth. The people of Mifflin have supported me for as long as I can remember. They campaigned for me. They volunteered for me. They repeatedly honored me with their votes, and it was a privilege to bring the historic event back to them. Justice Pages first election in 1998 was to the trial court bench for the 26th Judicial District, comprised of Madison, Chester, and Henderson counties. In Tennessee, both trial and appellate judges face elections at the end of their terms or in the next general election if they were appointed. Justice Page was on the ballot a total of six times, winning every election. As a trial court judge, Justice Page earned a well-known reputation for managing a heavy docket, moving cases along efficiently and effectively, and avoiding delays whenever possible. My goal in any murder case was to have a verdict within one year of the offense date, Justice Page said. Except for cases that had a delay in the indictment, I was usually able to achieve that goal. When a murder happens in a community, victims, witnesses, families, and defendants need the process to move forward expeditiously. We owe it to the people to administer justice fairly. Timeliness is an important element of that process. Justice Page received a bachelors degree in pharmacy in 1978 from the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy in Memphis. Before his legal career, he worked as chief pharmacist and assistant store manager for Walgreens. While in law school, he sometimes worked several hours a week as a pharmacist, along with helping to raise his two boys. Justice Page graduated with honors from the University of Memphis Law School in 1984 and ranked 4th in his class. He filled his last prescription as a pharmacist the day before he took the bar exam. After graduating from law school, he clerked for then-U.S. District Court Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, an outstanding jurist. He credits that experience for much of his success. He moved to Atlanta to practice law in a big city, but after two years, returned to Jackson and practiced at Holmes, Rich, Sigler & Page, P.C. from 1987-1992. While in private practice, he handled civil and criminal cases, frequently taking court-appointed cases for indigent defendants. He left private practice in 1992 and was an assistant attorney general for the state until his election to the trial bench. Justice Page, age 68, said, I have been a pharmacist, an attorney, and a judge. If I hurry, I might have time for one more career. He noted that there have been a lot of changes in the practice of law and the court system during his long career. I was extremely proud of the judiciarys response to the Covid pandemic, he said. Every judge, court clerk, and lawyer made a tremendous effort to keep the courts open and accessible. The technological advances that we gained were a big leap forward and we need to keep building on that work. It has been incredibly gratifying to watch the start of an evolution across the judiciary, Justice Page said. I look forward to following those changes and to catching up with my judicial family in between trips I have been planning for years, watching my grandkids play sports, and spending time with my wonderful wife. Justice Page is married to retired Chancellor Carol McCoy and has two sons and four grandchildren. Belinda Tudor McClurd, 72, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, passed away on Sunday, November 19, 2023 in a local hospice facility. Belinda was born in Dallas, TX and was a resident of Chattanooga since 1965. She had a 43-year career in property and maintenance management beginning with Osborne Corp., Corker Group, Luken Holdings and Tallan Holdings before retiring in March 2023. She loved her cats, her girls day out with her friends, and going annually to Destin, FL for surf and sun on the beach. She graduated from East Ridge High School and attended Memphis State University. Belinda was preceded in death by her parents. Survivors include her husband of 33 years, Reid McClurd, sister, Nita Summers, brother-in-law, Lane McClurd and sister-in-law, Sheila (David) Wilson. Per Belinda's wishes, she will be cremated with no visitation and a Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to St. Jude at stjude.org., McKamey Animal Center, 4500 N. Access Road, Chattanooga, Tn. 37415 or the American Cancer Society at cancer.org/donate. Arrangements are by Wann Funeral and Cremation Center, at the foot of historic Lookout Mountain, St. Elmo, 423 821-7551 To share memories, photos or condolences please visit www.wannfuneralhome.com. Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in GOD, believe also in me. John 14:1 Pamela Ringley of Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, went home to heaven on November 18, 2023. She was born on July 19, 1947. Pamela was a graduate of Hixson High School. She worked for 35 years in Hamilton County Court System. She served under Judy Pitts Medearis in Circuit Court and was chief clerk in Session Court. Pamela attended several legal classes at UTC and training sessions with the state of Tennessee. Pamela taught the adult Sunday School class for several years at Daisy United Methodist Church, and was a faithful servant of God. She was preceded in death by her parents, William Luther Rogers and Wilma Louise Rogers. Pamela is survived by her loving husband, Don D. Ringley, two sisters, Judy Garner (Tommy) of Maryville, Tn., and Jacquie Long (Henry) of Birmingham, and several nieces and nephews. Pam had a wonderful life. She liked cooking and entertaining. Pam was a very giving, generous person. Pams most memorable trip was in 1987 to Hawaii, our 20th wedding anniversary. We had several wonderful trips to New England where my sister, Linda, and brother-in-law, Lynn, lived. A most memorable trip to Colorado in September 2001 with Linda and Lynn during 9/11, which no one should ever forget. In lieu of flowers, family request donations may be made to Lymphatic Education & Research Network or Arthritis Foundation. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 25, at 2 p.m. at the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson. Visitation will be held two hours prior to the service starting at noon. WTCI PBS has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS to extend the reach and impact of PBS KIDS early learning resources to local communities.Officials said, "Over the next two years, contingent on congressional funding, WTCI PBS will collaborate with local partners to create a 'Learning Neighborhood' that fosters a community-wide culture of learning at home, in the neighborhood and within local systems and spaces."The program is part of the CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative, funded by the U.S.Department of Education.Being awarded a CPB Ready To Learn grant is receiving a gift that will keep on giving. Experiencing a WTCI Ready To Learn workshop will be something special. It will open up a whole new world to teachers, children, parents and families, all discovering that teaching and learning the Ready To Learn way is creative and fun. Our educational partners will benefit from this program, too, as they see the joy and the results of the creative learning process. WTCI is thrilled to create and deliver Ready To Learn to our community, said Bob Culkeen, president and CEO of WTCI PBS.Officials said, "The 2020-2025 Ready To Learn Initiative is focused on connecting childrens media and learning environments to build key skills for success in school and life, including functional literacy, critical thinking and collaboration, as well as showing them career options in age-appropriate ways."Local public media stations and their community partners play an essential role in pioneering the Learning Neighborhood approach by using and curating public medias high-quality childrens content as a catalyst for school readiness, said Debra Tica Sanchez, CPBs senior vice president of Educational Media and Learning Experiences. By working closely with local organizations, public media can provide engaging learning opportunities anytime and anywhere for all children and families.Centered in understanding local assets and needs, WTCI PBS will collaborate with community partners, including Chattanooga 2.0, City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County Schools and others to develop and build a Learning Neighborhood that fosters a community-wide culture of learning at home, in the neighborhood and within local systems and spaces. WTCI PBS is one of 19 stations in the third and final cohort developing Learning Neighborhoods in the 2020-2025 CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative, bringing the total number of station partners to 41. The other stations are: Arizona PBS, Buffalo Toronto Public Media, Idaho Public Television, Ideastream Public Media (Cleveland, Oh.), Iowa PBS, KBTC (Tacoma, Wa.), KLRN (San Antonio, Tx.), Nebraska Public Media, PBS Charlotte (NC), Virginia Public Media, WEDU (Tampa, Fl.), WETA and WHUT (Washington, DC), WFYI (Indianapolis, In.), WIPR (San Juan, Puerto Rico), WOSU (Columbus, Oh.), WPSU (University Park, Pa.), and WUCF (Orlando, Fl.).PBS stations are uniquely positioned to serve children, parents and caregivers in their local communities, said Sara DeWitt, senior vice president and general manager, PBS KIDS. These local partnerships help to ensure access to invaluable learning resources, supporting kids in their journey to discover new opportunities alongside their favorite PBS KIDS characters. The Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats assault on the Supreme Court continues to escalate. In their latest attempt to undermine the court, Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) convened a hearing to move forward to subpoena friends of Justices Alito and Thomas. However, when I offered amendments to their subpoenas, Democrats backed down from their threats for now. Despite their supposed reverence for our nations institutions, Democrats have continuously worked to delegitimize the Supreme Court. For years, they have been trying to pack the court with liberal justices who will do their bidding. Since they couldn't accomplish that goal, Democrats, with the help of their media allies, are trying to slander conservative justices as corrupt. This will not stand. While Democrats say otherwise on camera, many of them hold our nations institutions in contempt. They care about one thing above all else: power. When Democrats realized they didnt have the votes to expand the Supreme Court from 9 to 13 Justices, they chose another path of attack: defamation. This isnt about ethics its about Democrats trying to undermine the nations highest court. They are demonstrating once again that when they dont get their way, they try to bend the rules. If Democrats cared about our institutions, such as the Supreme Court, they would have protected the justices who were threatened by far-left activists protesting at their homes. Where was Bidens Department of Justice when leftists were using intimidation tactics in order to coerce the Supreme Court to rule in a way that forwards the left-wing agenda? Even following an assassination attempt on Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Democrats refused to take concrete action to protect our justices, such as passing my Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act. In their attempts to smear Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, Democrats planned to issue subpoenas for Republican donors Harlan Crow and Robin Arkley, along with Leonard Leo, a conservative legal activist. Democrats particularly despise Leo because he is Co-Chairman of the conservative law group the Federalist Society. They allege that Thomas and Alito failed to disclose various trips they were invited on and gifts they were given. All of this despite the fact that the allegations against Thomas and Alito have been debunked. Instead, why dont Senators Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) investigate Justice Sonia Sotomayor? If they were interested in playing fair, they wouldnt ignore the fact that the Justices taxpayer-funded staff allegedly pressured public institutions where she has spoken to buy her books, which have raked in at least $3.7 million since she joined the bench. Moreover, Sotomayor refused to recuse herself in two copyright infringement cases regarding her book publisher. Since Democrats wont initiate an investigation into this, I will. I filed an amendment issuing subpoenas to Sotomayors staff and her publisher in order to get to the bottom of this. We shouldnt stop with Justice Sotomayor. In order to expose to the American people where Democrats stand on truly acting in the countrys best interest, I proposed an amendment to subpoena Jeffrey Epsteins estate in order to obtain the flight logs for his private plane. We need to get to the bottom of the trafficking and sexual abuse allegations surrounding Epstein and his partners. If Democrats are sincere in seeking full transparency, they will stand with me in this endeavor. The Supreme Court is its own independent, co-equal branch of government. Congress neither has the right nor the obligation to interfere with the Courts procedures. The Court can decide its own ethics standards, which it just recently did. The Framers intended for the Court to stay above the fray of partisan politics; thus, it is essential we protect it from becoming yet another partisan institution weaponized by the Left. I will continue to defend the integrity of Justices Alito and Thomas as well as the Supreme Court as a whole. And I will not allow Democrats, in an effort to appease their radical left-wing base, to weaponize the Judiciary Committee in order to destroy one of our most sacred institutions. The Tennessee Department of Education announced Monday the 2022-23 statewide graduation rate is 90.6 percent, exceeding ninety percent for the first time and achieving the highest graduation rate on record since 2012.Tennessee's continuous commitment to ensuring students are successful in graduating from high school on time is demonstrated in this years statewide graduation rate and is a direct result of the hard work of Tennessee directors of schools, administrators, and educators have done with our families and students, said Lizzette Reynolds, commissioner of Education.Earning a diploma and graduating high school is a milestone that unlocks so many opportunities for students as they begin their lives after K-12 education, and I am thrilled to see Tennessees graduation rate at a record high.For the 2022-23 school year, the most notable takeaways from graduation data include: Alcoa City Schools, Clay County Schools, Fentress County Schools, Haywood County Schools and South Carroll Special School District each had 100 percent graduation rates; 61 districts graduated 95 percent or more of their eligible students on time; 78 districts improved their graduation rates from 2022 to 2023, with nine districts improving by five percentage points or more; 896 more students graduated in the 2023 cohort compared to last year, for a total of 65,476 students graduating across the state; 29 districts improved graduation rates for the economically disadvantaged student group by five percentage points or more; and 37 districts improved graduation rates for the students with disabilities student group by five percentage points or more.The department continues to offer several initiatives to accelerate academic achievement and prepare students for postsecondary success, including summer programming, TN ALL Corps, Innovative School Models and AP Access for All. King Charles is the current monarch and likely will be in the role for a number of years. However, one expert thinks he is not 'capable' of being who the United Kingdom wants. King Charles has been on the throne for just over a year; he became king immediately following Queen Elizabeth IIs death in September 2022, although he didnt have his coronation ceremony until May 2023. Although Charles public approval rating has increased through the years, its still nowhere near Prince William and Kate Middleton stand. One royal expert says there is one major reason as to why Charles isnt capable of being the monarch that the United Kingdom wants. King Charles | Alastair Grant/WPA Pool/Getty Images Royal expert says King Charles will never be a progressive monarch When Queen Elizabeth became queen at the young age of 26, she was ready to introduce a more modern monarchy (modern by 1950s standards, so to speak). The UK had tremendous respect for her, but as she raised her four kids, she still somewhat stuck to those hard-and-fast royal traditions rumor has it its a big reason as to why Charles couldnt marry Camilla Parker Bowles from a young age. Charles has showed a little more progression, but he still lacks the changes the people of the UK are looking for. Royal expert Clive Irving doesnt think Charles has done much and wont do much to modernize the monarchy. Ive been surprised by the lack of any sign that hes going to get to grips with the scale of the monarchy the size of it and that relates to the cost of it, Irving said, according to Express. In the past, he has said that he was going to deal with it in a more contemporary, realistic way and make it fit for purpose for this century, he continued, but he said that it instead still has the same rituals and hangers-on family members who are just riding the bandwagon. I dont buy this thing that hes instinctively progressive. He makes a few gestures, but hes certainly not a progressive monarch, and I dont think hes even capable of being a progressive monarch. King Charles | Yui Mok/WPA Pool/Getty Images King Charles likely wont build a legacy as the monarch Unlike his mother, Charles will not rule for 70 years. His son, Prince William, is raising three young children along with wife Kate Middleton, and there is a chance that Charles steps down once Williams parenting duties become more manageable. Right now, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are 10 or younger, with Louis being just five years old. William probably wouldnt want to take the throne until Louis was in college, which is 13 years away. At that time, Charles will be 88. Charles might just be floating as the monarch for the next dozen or so years until William and Kate are in a better position to take over. With that said, he likely isnt looking to build a legacy because he knows his years on the throne will be far more limited than his mothers or his sons. For now, Charles hasnt made too many drastic changes, and Irving might be onto something the king probably wont do too much differently. We have come to the point where we're no longer surprised by anything that Elon Musk says. However, his latest controversial antisemitic statement has caught the attention of the White House as well. Still, the government has no choice but to work with the tech billionaire for various reasons. A Necessary Evil, If You Will Elon Musk has once again caught the attention of the world as he agreed with the conspiracy theory that Jewish people were pushing "dialectical hatred against whites." As a result, the White House publicly criticized the tech billionaire. A spokesperson from the administration said that it was a "hideous lie" and that it was an "abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate." Even with the clear disagreement with Musk, the US government still has no other choice but to work with him. In the past weeks, the US government has been collaborating with the SpaceX CEO and its upcoming launches worth $1.2 billion in order to send Pentagon assets such as spy and command-and-control satellites into space, as per The New York Times. Even the Pentagon is relying on Musk's space company for defense and intelligence systems. The system in question is called Starshield and it relies on Starlink satellites. For this service, the Pentagon is paying tens of millions of dollars. Reports say that the Starlink satellites were critical in the country's continuing dispute with China as the Pentagon's own communications satellites are more vulnerable. So far, there are no other alternatives to consider, meaning that they will have to stay with the deal they have with Musk. The author who wrote Steve Jobs' and Elon Musk's biography, Walter Isaacson pointed out that the US government has tried to develop alternatives, but no other company has been able to "make reusable rockets" or "get some of these heavy satellites into high-Earth orbit." While the Pentagon and the US government are stuck with their business with the richest man on Earth, other companies have the freedom to cut ties, and they have. Several company giants decided to leave X, formerly Twitter, in response to Elon Musk's Views. Read Also: Big Advertisers are Pausing Ads on Twitter, Elon Musk Responds with Threat X Advertisers Exodus Many people are not happy or are offended by Musk's agreement on the antisemitic views. The tech billionaire has defended himself, saying that "Nothing could be further from the truth" as media stories claim that he was antisemitic. Regardless, the damage has already been done. Companies like Apple, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, IBM, and more have left the platform in terms of advertising, meaning that X is going to lose a lot of revenue from ad sales soon enough. To make matters worse, the X owner threatens to file a "thermonuclear lawsuit" against those who are exiting the platform. As reported by CNBC. This already happened a year ago with other advertisers, where Musk also threatened a "thermonuclear name & shame." With this recent turn of events, the social media platform is being pulled further away from its goal of reaching a $250 billion valuation, as well as being the "everything app" that Musk dreamed it would be. Related: Disney's X Accounts Have Been Inactive After Advertising Exit Many of us know that, unfortunately, even some of the most beautiful places in the world can be dangerous. The Parvati Valley in northern India is one of those places, with its gorgeous atmosphere and views yet reputation for being the site of numerous mysterious disappearances. Named after the Hindu goddess of harmony and love, the Parvati Valley is located in the Western Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh. There, you can find the Pin Parvati Pass and Parvati River, as well as a variety of breathtaking glaciers, hot springs, and peaks. Many tourists take trips to the Parvati Valley in hopes of having a spiritual or even psychedelic experience. After the 1970s, the area became a popular site for growing and taking illegal drugs. Hash and poppy plantations are secretly scattered throughout the valley and attract a lot of Western tourists. The bigger the number of tourists in Parvati Valley, the more disappearances occurred. There have also been patterns of those who have disappeared in the Parvati Valley, as many of them have been adventurous men backpacking through the region in their 20s and 30s. Since 2003, it is estimated that over 20 tourists have gone missing from Parvati Valley. One of the most famous stories is that of Justin Alexander Shetler, a 35-year-old American man who went missing after quitting his job and traveling to the valley to live off-grid. During his journey in 2016, Justin posted on Instagram about how he would be continuing his journey with a sadhu, otherwise known as a holy man, and would eventually cut contact with everyone in his life. After Justin never returned home from his adventures, police found his belongings near the Parvati River, and he hasnt been seen since. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. This interview is a special collaboration with Ekstasis, CTs imaginative NextGen project, and originally appeared in the Ecstatic Newsletter, an extension of Ekstasis on Substack. Together, were building a digital cathedral that offers space to ponder and lift our eyes to Christ in wonder. As you scroll through this story, you are embarking on a form of pilgrimage. We tap incessantly at our phones for the same reason our forebears traveled repeatedly to the Holy Land, says art historian Christian Gonzalez Ho: to commune with something greater than ourselves, to express a longing to go to another place, or to have another place reach [us]. Gonzalez Ho and photographer Kieran Dodds are the creators of a new exhibit, Heading Home: Glimpses of New Jerusalem. The show is curated by John Silvis and is running this fall and winter at the Ahmanson Gallery in Irvine, California. Featuring Doddss photographs of pilgrimage sites on the route between London and Jerusalem, placed in an interactive gallery space designed by Gonzalez Ho, Heading Home asks us to revisit the ancient practice of pilgrimage and consider its relationship with contemporary Christianity. Images of stops along the pilgrimage routethe Florence Duomo, the Church of the Holy Sepulchreare paired with sound installations and physical structures that reinterpret the experience of interacting with each site. Christianity Today spoke with Dodds and Gonzalez Ho about the possibilities and challenges of interpreting these sites for modern believers. This interview has been edited and condensed. Image: Photo by Kieran Dodds Lets start with the origins of this exhibit. Why did you two choose to focus on this topic for this moment? Kieran Dodds: I was invited on this pilgrimage trip by Roberta and Howard Ahmanson, curated along the theme of the New Jerusalemthe Eternal City, you know, at the end of Revelation. We were looking toward the breaking through of this city as a place where there is no more crying or pain, because God is with his people. What we saw was how the church had really been focused on that vision through the centuries, and this shaped how it displayed itself in different times and cultures. After ruminating on the experience for about a year, I had the real pleasure to work with Christian and create a show in two gallery spaces. Gallery One is centered around classic framed works. I employed tilt shift lenses, which are usually used in architecture, to give us a perspective shift in each image. People [at various pilgrimage sites] then appear to be miniaturized, making the images look like architectural modelsmodels of this New Jerusalem. Article continues below Then Ive got some grids, which are large pictures but split into grids like a mosaic, referencing the idea of mosaic as all these fragments you need to make one image. In a sense, the [pilgrimage] was us picking up these different fragments and visions of a New Jerusalem to bring them together. Gallery Two was an installation with a structure and projection space, which Christian was really focused on, so Christian had better talk about that. Image: Courtesy of Kieran Dodds Christian Gonzalez Ho: One of the first things that I thought about when designing the gallery space was how people generally interact with photography in a consumeristic way. We are flooded with images all the time, and we forget that the act of looking at media or engaging with any type of film, photography, music, etc., is a longing for pilgrimageits an engagement we undertake while desiring to go to another place. So the whole theme of pilgrimage struck me as very contemporary. Now, you know, our technologies are so closely fit to our bodies and our consciousness that we dont realize theyre taking us on journeys. Another aspect of this exhibition was to cause people to become aware that they were moving their bodies as they were looking at images and entering these spaces. For example, in order to view some of these images you have to bend under a pavilion that is only five feet tall. I mean, bending down to look at your iPhone or pulling it out of your pocket is a devotional act. Weve lost the understanding that our repeated actions are fill-ins for ritual and devotion. We wanted people to notice that what they do with their body in this gallery space is a devotional act. Image: Photo by Kieran Dodds Its interesting to think about these daily routines as contemporary forms of pilgrimage, especially as people have varying degrees of familiarity with the concept of Christian pilgrimage and of what the practice consists of. Considering how diverse the present-day church is, and how much or how little people may know about historic pilgrimage sites, how do you want audiences to respond to what youre presenting? KD: I mean, I wrestled with this after the triphow can you even try and compare an exhibition space with these sites, which are some of the best examples of human creativity ever made? We cannot recreate them, of course, but what we can do is to try and give a glimpse of the beauty of the experience of being in these places. Article continues below The idea was to create a new sense of place. When you arrive in the gallery you have to look around because there are different projectors that create images to be gazed up at. Inside the octacube, an eight-sided plywood structure that brings audiences to stand in a linen cube at its center, you crane your neck upward to the screen. The structure simultaneously references Renaissance-era baptistries, which are octagonal, and the New Jerusalem, which Scripture describes as having the dimensions of a cube (Rev. 21:16). One of the central themes of this exhibit comes from a photo of sunlight beaming through the oculus of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and how it appears to show light resolving on an empty tomb. I want to reverse that idea: Is light coming in to illuminate the tomb, or is the empty tomb releasing light into the world to make sense of what lies beyond? The gallery provides an opportunity to have a physical interaction with these images, and to see the ambiguities that arise when you study them together. In the past few years, the notion of pilgrimage sites and what they represent may have become even more foreign to large swaths of the church. Im thinking about the ways in which people who were accustomed to, say, one service a week, had this basic practice disrupted by the pandemic. Options like commuter churches, Zoom services, and sermon podcasts give us the option of a disembodied relationship with our communities. Within this context, the historical church seems like an afterthought. How can Christians in our cultural moment find significance in these images? CGH: Thats a really interesting question. Although people talk about disembodiment as something that occurred during the pandemic, I believe it was already happening. This is why pilgrimages were created in the first place: because alienation is fundamental to the Fall. We are fundamentally separated from ourselves, our bodies, God, others, and the cosmos. So when pilgrimages emerged, they were a way of removing us from the mechanisms of enslavement. Think back to Moses and the children of Israel. The request to go into the wilderness was a request for a pilgrimage, because there needed to be a removal from the environment of enslavement into a sacred place where they could worship. And so I think its interesting because people have not only experienced disembodiment in our time but in every time, so pilgrimage has always served as this way of becoming embodied once again. Article continues below So this show is not an attempt to reproduce pilgrimage sites as if youre thereits structures are created with two by fours. Theyre very crude material. For people who are beginning to explore the history of pilgrimage, I think of this show as an invitation. The gallery, the images, the act of building are urging us on pilgrimages toward Christ. They are crude attempts to approximate the glory. Image: Photo by Kieran Dodds KD: We also wanted to strip back the elements of each image to show the aspects of our faith tradition that unite us with the believers who preceded us. For example, theres an octagon shape in a photo of the Baptistery of St. John. It represents the eighth day, which is the day after the resurrection. When people are baptized, they go through the eighth side into the new life. We just loved that. The building wasnt a puzzle to be solved, a da Vinci code with a puzzle we had to unfurl. It was there, speaking to people something that the church once understood and that weve forgotten. These images are attempts to show all these incredible things that have been given to us through the centuries to weigh and understand. Image: Photo by Kieran Dodds The idea that these sites continue to speak to the church is so gorgeous. I love that, and I also struggle to reconcile the beauty of the pilgrimage route with its history. As the two of you prepared this show, did you wrestle with how Christian pilgrimage informed the Crusades? KD: Yeah. Well, I mean, the buildings themselves are this kind of strange mix of extraordinary wealth and gold and stand in contrast to the pilgrims, who were probably covered in rags and struggling. But along the path, there are other structures representing this sort of rich legacy of pilgrimage, which I didnt realize were there. Hospitals, hostels, all these Western institutions [developed in part] to help pilgrims as they journeyed along the way. So theres that aspect of it: Do disparate elements of the church go together? Its not something you can resolve lightly because its history, and history is problematic because humans are problematic. Yet even in the fractured brutality of human history, there are these flashes of glory which endure, which all nations are drawn toward, literally. They come from across the world to see these sites today. And that is the bit we are trying to pick up on, to give a framework for people to make their own minds up as they look into these things. Article continues below I appreciate how you want people to see the ambiguities. Interestingly, while some portions of the church may be deeply suspicious of pilgrimage and its history, there are other portions that idealize it. For example, there is a complicated relationship between evangelicalism and the idea of returning to a divinely appointed city, or a divinely ordained government. When Christians are coming from that angle, how do you want this exhibit to contribute to their thinking? Image: Photo by Kieran Dodds KD: I cant believe Ive not mentioned it before, but Augustines City of Godwas really fundamental to this. We thought about the two citiesthe city of man and the city of God, and how we were seeing glimpses of the city of God in the city of man. Augustine calls the city of man the pilgrim city, in which we can see the city of God beginning to descend. City of Godwas written in a time where Rome was being destroyed. The city was being razed. So you look at these pilgrimage sites and think, well, this is a reminder to Christians of the temporary nature of the earth. We are trying to build cities and empires and political allegiances. We should be reminded that it is a pilgrim city we are traveling through. Kingdoms rise and fall, and that, I suppose, would speak to Christians who try and pin their hope on some political empire that will solve all things. And there are political solutions to some things, of course, but I think it is very interesting that the Christian faith arose and was scattered across the world. Through this scattering is one way we see the New Jerusalem, intentionally moving across the earth. Image: Photo by Kieran Dodds CGH: Alexander Nemerov, my adviser, was sharing something in class this week, and I think it might be a helpful way to understand this. [Rogier van der] Weydens The Descent from the Cross is a pretty well-known piece, and Alex was explaining how this portrait was commissioned by the Great Crossbowmens Guild, which had been involved in the Crusades. If you look at Jesus, hes positioned in the shape of a crossbow ready to fire. But Jesus body is completely slack. There is no arrow. His body is a broken weapon. Some people will look at this image and say: Look at this. This was commissioned by the Crossbowmens Guild and advocated for the violence that accompanied Christian pilgrimage via the Crusades. And I think that our history of violence is something that we have to reckon with. Article continues below Yet the person of Christ can undermine our bent toward destruction. That is why he is so fundamental to this conversation. He is the endpoint of the pilgrimage. No matter what side of the conversation you come from, you are ultimately unstrung by this weaponless weapon thats so beautiful. Image: Photo by Kieran Dodds The body of Jesus as a weaponless weapon is incredibly moving. Its striking that this painting is conceptualized and funded as a direct result of the Crusades, but also subverts the absolute worst human impulses that the Crusades often represented. Now that were considering the end goals of pilgrimage, I want to askhow do you want this exhibit, which largely focuses on the past, to shape how people imagine the church of tomorrow? CGH: The philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty says when he sees an object, he always feels that theres still some meaning beyond what he currently sees. Theres always a horizon of unseen or even invisible things around my present vision. I think this exhibit is not about telling people to build another church, but its about Christians seeing these sites and recognizing what we believe. We are not here to create derivative images of whats popular or beautiful in a particular moment. Its about the knowledge of this real place, this New Jerusalem, and building frameworks that invite people to experience that reality. KD: I think for me, the theme that keeps surfacing is the image of an empty tomb echoing out across the world. The shock waves of that event are still being felt today, and the way it shapes society is so diverse. The sites we visited are all products of their own time and place but reference the others. All are environments built to emphasize the negative space of the empty tomb. I just love the fact that we saw culturally interpreted views of the Resurrection. If you get all these different fragments of Christian structures and societies gathered together, they will give you a unified picture, a glimpse of what the heavenly city will be like. At the gallery opening, I thought, in Rome you do as the Romans do. In Florence, you do as the Florentines do. But when youre in Christ, you do as the Christians do, and you build the New Jerusalem by living as you are called to do in your own space and time. Yi Ning Chiu is a contributing writer to Christianity Today and a columnist for Ekstasis. Did someone say Jell-O salad? This is the time of year when families pull out their stained recipes to make crowd-pleasing casseroles, cakes, and cookies. Some of those favorite recipes come from church cookbooks, compiled by women over the decades since the 19th century. These spiral-bound collections of recipes have been a staple in church culture, documenting the tastes and traditions of their communities over the years. But now, as cookbook enthusiasts age, the victual volumes are disappearing. Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston used to print cookbooks filled with recipes for sheet cakes and soups, and members would make the dishes in a potluck to share. But its been eight or nine years since their last edition. The people who were dedicated to the project are no longer with us, and no one has thought of doing another cookbook, said Joy Cryer, a church librarian at Tallowood. It only takes one enthusiastic person in a church to compile recipes from members, but the internet has changed the way people cook and gather recipes. And Americans of all socioeconomic statuses generally cook less than they used to. Though the church cookbook tradition has declined, it might be too early to declare it over. CT surveyed 22 church librarians, and more than a third said they knew of churches that were still printing cookbooks. In Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 84-year-old Mona Schultz attends Plymouth Church, a nondenominational church of about 250. She wasnt sure if anyone cooked much anymore, or if there would be interest in doing a church cookbook. She asked a young womens Bible study at her church what they thought of the idea. Im 84, Im out of touch, said Schultz, who has been going to the church since 1948 and has sung in the choir for 60 years. They were very interested! They wanted recipes from us old timers that were tried and true. Now she is putting together a cookbook for her churchs 175th anniversary next year, titled A Demisemiseptcentennial Treasury of Recipes. One woman in their church always made an appetizer at Christmas, but she passed away recently, and so her appetizer recipe will be included. There are more contemporary dishes, too, like pulled pork BBQ. Schultz is putting photos of the recipe contributors with each recipe and stories throughout. Enjoy good eating, not only from your kitchens, but choice spiritual food, daily, from His Word, Schultz wrote in her draft introduction. Church cookbooks began in the Civil War primarily as fundraisers, where women were raising money for the families of fallen Union soldiers. They were mostly popular among white churches in smaller towns, historian Megan Elias told MinnPost. Church cookbooks started declining as early as the 1970s, as women were spending more time outside the home, according to Kendall Vanderslice, a baker and scholar who has written books on food and theology. Prior to that, the cookbooks might be the only place [women] were ever going to see their name in print, she said, and so a recipe was a legacy for many church women. Vanderslice also attributes the decline to the growth of megachurches, which are less likely to produce cookbooks. Carlisle Printing in Sugarcreek, Ohio, has historically printed cookbooks for churches, and said they still print thousands a year for churches around the country. I would say, if anything, it has increased in the last ten years, said Rachel Wengerd at the printing company. Most of their customers now are Amish or Mennonite, customers who cook every day and might not have easy or ready internet access. But Carlisle prints cookbooks for other denominations too. The books now tend to be full color with photos instead of black-and-white, she added. Vanderslice, 33, began a project on Instagram this fall where she is cooking through more than 100 church cookbooks from every state to document regional and denominational similarities and differences. The project came about because Vanderslices grandfather spent most of his career as an interim pastor at various churches. As he bounced from state to state, his wife amassed a large collection of church cookbooks, which she eventually gave to Vanderslice. Vanderslice began the project by making her grandmothers cinnamon roll recipe from Richardson Heights Baptist Churchs 1991 cookbook titled Justified Temptations. Her grandmother would serve the cinnamon rolls at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The recipe was delicious, she said, and transported her to Christmas memories. So far, Vanderslices other favorites are a crab casserole from a church in South Carolina and an apple cake from a church in West Virginia. Shes dreading making tomato aspic, a gelatin molded vegetable dish, but feels a sense of obligation because it appears in so many church cookbooks. Though people think of church cookbooks as personal recipes, many postWorld War II church cookbooks have recipes that originated from food companies like Campbells or Jell-O or Betty Crockers radio show, Vanderslice said. Casseroles and salad recipes tend to be the same across cookbooks, she said, which is usually an indication that Campbells or Jell-O developed the recipes. But contributors still put their own mark on a recipe, which can be seen when a church prints multiple versions of the same recipes with only slight deviations. One cookbook Vanderslice found had two recipes for Watergate salada whipped cream and pistachio pudding dish with pineapple and marshmallows. The recipes were identical, except one called for crushed pineapple with the juice, and the other called for crushed pineapple and in all caps said, DRAIN THE JUICE. Its fun to see that church lady drama play out in the book itself, said Vanderslice. The cookbooks also say something about the assumed rhythms of church life, Vanderslice said, by including recipes like punch for bridal showers. Since most cookbooks were fundraisers, the book usually says what theyre raising money for, like a church steeple or mission trip. Schultz in Oshkosh used the cookbook space to tell stories and church history. Plymouth Church began as a Welsh-speaking church, so Schultz plans to include its Welsh history and a Welsh tea cake recipe. And on one page, she shares a helpful hint for preparing canned ham, recounting her mothers experience putting a canned ham in the oven when visitors came over and the ham exploding. The oven door never shut properly after that event, Schultz writes in the cookbook about her mother, recommending removing the ham from its can before baking it. She was not known as a great cook, but her singing His Eye is on the Sparrow lives on in many peoples memories. Plymouth Church is hoping to have a potluck supper next year to celebrate the 175th anniversary, with people contributing the dishes of their various recipes from the book. Norton Baptist Churchs 1997 cookbook, titled Seasoned with Love, has a recipe for peanut butter balls where the ingredients are measured in pounds and serve 130. Church recipes are expected to feed a crowd, said Vanderslice. Some cookbooks have recipes written in verse (Norton Baptists doughnuts: Watch with care the time for turning / Fry them brown, just short from burning.), or a version of Scripture cake where the ingredients are listed as Bible verses (four Jeremiah 17:11 means four eggs). Most cookbooks were local to a church, but the Mennonite More-with-Less Cookbook, first published in 1976, became a bestseller. The cookbook incorporated Mennonite frugalitylike how to make your own soapas well as commentary on how eating habits affected the rest of the world. Several church librarians told CT that they have church cookbooks archived in their church libraries. Even before the decline in cookbooks, churches produced cookbooks sporadically, they said. Churches now might find other ways to share personal recipes, like having a chili cook-off. Vanderslice is curious if the pandemic brought a renewed interest in church cookbooks. Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Venice, Florida, created a cookbook during the pandemic, since they couldnt meet and were at home cooking more. Modesto Covenant Church in California hasnt made a cookbook in a several years, but it still has copies of its last cookbook that it sells and gives out to newly engaged couples. One butter cookie recipe is famous at the church, and the church members make it every year for their annual Christmas breakfast. Its my favorite cookbook! said Beth Gundlach, associate pastor at the church. Youll often be talking to someone at a potluck and youll say, This is so good! And theyll say, Its in the church cookbook! So its still a thing. Modesto Covenant Churchs Frosted Butter Cookie by Nancy Switzer 3 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 2 tablespoons milk 2 teaspoons vanilla Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Blend remaining ingredients and add to flour mixture. Chill 1 hour. Roll out on floured surface to 1/4 inch. (Look at a rulerthis is thicker than you think.) Cut in desired shapes. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 1012 minuteslook for the edges to BEGIN to turn brown. Frosting: Mix 1 box powdered sugar, 1/21 tsp. vanilla, and water to make spreadable consistency. (If it runs off the cookie, its too thin. You should be able to push it to the edges easily, or its too thick.) Use food coloring in small bowls. Given to me my first year of teaching from one of the parents of my 4th grade class in 1970. Less than a year before the US presidential election, pastors took to their pulpits to decry a culture of hate, extremism, and vile politics. Much of the hate and discord that has been poisoning our nation has been preached in the name of Christ and the church, Charles V. Denman declared. In a different sanctuary, William Dickinson proclaimed, Hate knows no political loyalty and is as deadly and as vicious in the heart and mind of liberals and those to the far right as to the far left alike. Those sermons were delivered not during the current race for the White Housebut in the aftermath of the November 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy. To mark the 60th anniversary of Kennedys death, a leading scholar on faith and politics sees lessons in the decades-old messages for Americans today. One overarching theme emerges again and again: a call for civility, a call for condemnation of extremism and a call to end the divisions and polarizations that they think provided the climate in which this assassination could occur, said Matthew Wilson, director of Southern Methodist Universitys Center for Faith and Learning. That is really striking because so much of what they say seems to apply to our current moment. Library archives at SMUs Perkins School of Theology include sermons preached to overflowing crowds on November 24, 1964the Sunday after the shooting. The transcripts, mostly from Methodist churches, are in the papers of the late William C. Martin, a Methodist bishop and president of the National Council of Churches. He reached out to Dallas clergy asking for copies of the sermons preached after the assassination, SMU spokeswoman Nancy George said. In a few cases, the pastors finished their remarks only to be handed notes informing them of alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswalds shooting death. Nightclub owner Jack Ruby gunned down Oswald during his transfer from one jail to another that Sunday morning. At the time of Kennedys killing, Dallas had a reputation as an ultraconservative city that didnt treat liberals kindly. The day before the assassination, handbills distributed in Dallas featured convict-style photographs of Kennedy and the caption Wanted for Treason. The next day, a full-page ad appeared in the Dallas Morning News:The American Fact-Finding Committee demanded to know why the president had ordered the Attorney General to go soft on communism. So when Kennedya liberal Democrat and the first Catholic elected to the nations highest officewas killed, the backlash against Dallas was immediate. One of the interesting ironies here is that the tendency to blame Dallas, or to criticize Dallas politics in the 1960s, was to focus on right-wing extremism and groups like the John Birch Society and some of the very strident anti-communists who had been very critical of John Kennedy, Wilson said. But it turned out that those werent the people who killed Kennedy, the political science professor added. It turned out to be a left-wing extremist, a Marxist sympathizer in Lee Harvey Oswald, who killed Kennedy, and some of the pastors wrestle with that. Oswalds role served as a reminder that this blind ideological hatred is not confined to one corner of the political universe, Wilson said. It occurs in the service of multiple causes, multiple ideologies. And I think thats instructive for our day as well. That is, we see a lot of contempt for and dehumanization of political adversaries coming from across the spectrum. For city leaders in 1963, the first priority was to create distance between Dallas collectively or corporately and this horrible event, Wilson noted. But pastors who shared their sermons with Martin called for self-examination and change, the transcripts reveal. At Northaven Methodist Church, William A. Holmes asked, In the name of God, what kind of city have we become? He titled his message One Thing Worse Than This. Worse than Kennedys death, Holmes preached, would be the citizens of Dallas refusing to take any responsibility. Yet that already seems to be the slogan of our city and some of its officials: Dallas is a friendly citythis was the work of one madman and extremist. Our hearts are saddenedbut our hands are clean. How neat and simple this solution, Holmes said. How desperately that we wish it were true. Holmes stressed that he was aware of the left-wing nature of Oswalds ideologies. But my friends, the pastor added, whether extremism wears the hat of left wing or right wing, its by-products are the same. It announces death and condemnation to all who hold a different point of view. And here is the hardest thing to say: There is no city in the United States which in recent months and years has been more acquiescent toward its extremists than Dallas, Texas. We, the majority of citizens, have gone quietly about our work and leisure, forfeiting the citys image to the hate-mongers and reactionaries in our midst. The spirit of assassination has been with us for some time. Not manifest in bullets but in spitting mouths and political invectives. CBS broadcast a portion of Holmes sermon, prompting death threats and New York Times coverage of police guarding him, as the United Methodist News Service recounted in 2013. At Highland Park Methodist Church, pastor Dickinson told congregants theyd be shocked by what a respectable Christian couple of fine education said at a dinner party two nights before the presidents visit. The couple, he said, told friends they hated the president of the United States and that they wouldnt care one bit if somebody did take a potshot at him. There are among us today, Dickinson preached, too many purveyors of hate, people who call intelligent, sincere holders of public office traitors. People who fill our cars with leaflets bearing printed lies and calling our public officials disloyal. People who fill our mail with emotional, bitter harangues and accusations and who make harassing telephone calls to our honest and sincere citizens at all hours of the night. And then there are those who give subtler approval to such extremists and breeders of hate through either indifference or through financial support. Hate not only in our city but throughout our nation has become big business and is supported by large contributions and exceedingly competent leadership, he added. But we in Dallas, it seems to me, have more than our share of these extremists. It is not a pretty picture into which stepped an assassin. At Wesley Methodist Church, pastor Denman recounted that he and his two boys witnessed the presidents motorcade up close (so closely we could have almost reached out and touched it) before later hearing sirens and learning of the shooting. Did he have to die to get Christians to quit hating? Denman said he asked his weeping wife after arriving home. In Dallas, entire sermons have been devoted to damning the Kennedy administration and the United Nations, and they have been delivered from Methodist pulpits, he told the congregation. In the name of the church, men and women have sown seeds of discord, distrust and hate and have called it witnessing for Christ. As a church, we are sick, he continued. God have mercy on us. Less than a week after Kennedys assassination, Jimmy Allen, secretary of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission, spoke at a community Thanksgiving service. Allen agreed with those concerned about Dallass image that it could have happened anywhere in any city. However, he stressed, Something far deeper and more disconcerting is the fact that so many in our nation were not surprised that it happened here! A climate of character assassination, carping criticism toward national leaders and constant complaint about the processes of law has developed in our nation, Allen said. Dallas is not the only city where this has been present. But it has been present. Disrespect for persons and democratic processes, he added, has grown to alarming proportions in our community and encourages the venting of hatred both by young and old. In a January 1964 radio address included in the SMU papers, Rabbi Levi A. Olan of Temple Emanu-El addressed the question of Dallass guilt in Kennedys death. In the beginning many people felt that there was something frightfully wrong with the city, and some wanted to face the truth, Olan said. This mood is passing, and now there is a growing resentment of all criticism from without and within the gates. The present tone is that of rejecting all responsibility and disclaiming all guilt, he suggested. Dallas, it is said, is no different than other cities and better than many. The assassin was not one of our citizens. The people want desperately to forget the tragedy and go on with the business of living as though nothing had happened here. Six decades later, Wilsonthe SMU political scientistpoints to striking similarities between then and now. We talk a lot about the polarization, the ideological extremism, the hatred, the rhetoric of violence in our contemporary politics, he said. And it is instructive to see that that is not a new phenomenon, that there was a lot of concern about those very things in what a lot of us kind of think of as the good old days of American politics. Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for Religion Unplugged and editor in chief of The Christian Chronicle. In 2003 he produced an in-depth package for AP on the 40th anniversary of the JFK assassination. This article first appeared on Religion Unplugged. Home Politics Bill Maher pushes back after former Rep. Adam Kinzinger likens Mike Johnson to Taliban HBO host Bill Maher pushed back against an assertion by former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., on Friday when he likened the worldview of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to that of the Afghanistan Islamic extremist group the Taliban. "There is no difference between Christian nationalism which is what [Johnson's] representing than the Taliban," Kinzinger, a noted Republican critic of former President Donald Trump, said during a panel discussion on "Real Time" with Maher and longtime Democrat political operative Donna Brazile. "Now, maybe the end is different, maybe the means are different, but there's no difference in saying this is a government run on religion." Adam Kinzinger tries to make the false equivalency between Christian nationalism and the Taliban. Bill Maher shuts him down and points out that the Taliban and other Islamic extremists kill gays and throw them off of buildings, making it a false equivalency pic.twitter.com/W0iBSmVd38 Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) November 20, 2023 Maher, who has openly mocked Johnson for his faith and compared him to the Maine shooter, seemingly agreed with the crux of Kinzinger's argument. But he noted that, unlike the Taliban, conservatives in the U.S. who do not affirm homosexual behavior are not killing homosexuals. "Here's something for the young people to chew on a little bit," Maher said. "Yes, the reason why Mike Johnson said depraved America deserves God's wrath? Homosexuality. They don't like it. But in our country, we don't actually kill them, even the crazy far-rights don't throw them off of roofs. If you can't understand that, you can't understand anything." Earlier in their conversation, Maher suggested that by proclaiming that "depraved America deserves God's wrath," Johnson "exactly sounds like [Osama] Bin Laden." Kinzinger followed up by contending that Johnson and the Taliban are alike because they want to take a faith-based belief system and "religiously implement this into our government." According to Kinzinger, the Taliban seeks a government based on sharia law, while Johnson wants to use government to advance Christianity. HBOs @BillMaher: @SpeakerJohnson exactly sounds like bin Laden. Now the Republican guy sounds like bin Laden and Trump sounds like Hitler. @AdamKinzinger: No difference between Johnson and the Taliban. #RealTimepic.twitter.com/Sw9tmWJPho Brent Baker ???????? ???????? (@BrentHBaker) November 18, 2023 Kinzinger's comparison of Johnson, a Southern Baptist, to the Taliban drew the ire of Andrew T. Walker, an ethics and public theology professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and former senior fellow in Christian ethics at the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "This is what inevitably happens when you become a useful idiot for the Left," Walker wrote in a tweet about Kinzinger, who garnered national attention as he served as one of two Republicans on the Democrat-led House Jan. 6 Committee in the previous Congress. The panel discussion came in response to comments Johnson made during an Oct. 3 call with Pastor Jim Garlow on the "World Prayer Network" broadcast, which were recently unearthed by Rolling Stone. While Johnson never explicitly stated that the U.S. deserved "God's wrath," he did raise concerns about the religious decline in the country. During the call, Johnson shared his belief that the U.S. is facing a "civilizational moment" and questioned if God is "going to allow our nation to enter a time of judgment for our collective sins" or if He is "going to give us one more chance to restore the foundations and return to Him." Citing cratering church attendance as well as the surge of homosexuality and gender confusion among young Americans, Johnson expressed fear that American culture has grown "so dark and depraved that it almost seems irredeemable." Since House Republicans unanimously elected him to the gavel on Oct. 25, Johnson has come under repeated fire for his outspoken Christian beliefs and behavior. Following backlash to public prayer he has conducted with other members of Congress in the House chamber, Johnson told CNBC's "Squawk Box" last week that the idea faith must be separated from public service is fundamentally misguided. "The separation of church and state is a misnomer," Johnson said. "People misunderstand it. Of course, it comes from a phrase that was in a letter that [Thomas] Jefferson wrote. It's not in the Constitution." Lots of misleading headlines. Take a look at what I actually said here: pic.twitter.com/Vw3AHzoRvT Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) November 15, 2023 Johnson quoted George Washington and John Adams, both of whom emphasized the importance of religion and morality to maintaining the American form of government. Johnson told Fox News co-host Kayleigh McEnany on Oct. 31 that the attacks likening him to mass shooters or radical Islamists are "disgusting" and "absurd." After Rolling Stone accused him of being "creepy" for having utilized a porn accountability app with his teenage son, a spokesperson for Johnson's office told The Christian Post earlier this month that such a line of attack is just the latest "in a campaign by D.C. insiders on Speaker Johnson's faith." Home Education Okla. Supreme Court won't let state education dept. defend first religious charter school The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that the states superintendent of public instruction cannot intervene in a lawsuit against the states first religious charter school. In a decision last week, the high court denied the Oklahoma Department of Education and Superintendent Ryan Walters request to intervene in the ongoing lawsuit filed by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond against the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, its members and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. This lawsuit is misguided in that it discriminates against some Oklahomans due to their faith, but also the fact that it is our agency that administers state aid for charter schools, not the Virtual Charter School Board, said Walters in a statement about his motion to intervene in the case. Rather than enshrine atheism as a state-sponsored religion, we are blessed that our Constitution guarantees religious liberty. I will never back down in the fight to uphold religious liberty in our state, he vowed. Nothing, especially no misguided lawsuit, will deter me from standing up for our constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom. pic.twitter.com/VuxfOtxYT1 Superintendent Ryan Walters (@RyanWaltersSupt) November 9, 2023 Walters motion to intervene would have enabled the Department of Education to become a party in the lawsuit, along with the original plaintiff and defendants. In a separate decision on Nov. 14, the Oklahoma Supreme Court granted the motion to intervene filed by St. Isidore. According to its website, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School is a collaborative effort between the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa to serve students in Oklahoma. Its goal is to provide a quality Catholic education to students with limited access to a Catholic school. The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved the charter school application for St. Isidores earlier this year in a 3-2 vote after previously rejecting it. The virtual school is slated to begin holding classes in the fall 2024. The Oklahoma State Department of Education is responsible for the funding of Oklahoma schools through distribution of state aid, Walters asserted in the motion to intervene. And yet, when the Petitioner sought to challenge the potential distribution of state aid to St. Isidore a statewide virtual charter school that will be operated by the Oklahoma Catholic Conference it noticeably declined to include the Department as a respondent in this action. While the court did not grant Walters request to intervene in the case, it will allow him and the department to file friend-of-the-court briefs to lay out their points of view. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Department of Education have until Tuesday to do so. The attorney general filed a lawsuit last month in response to the states establishment of the first-ever religiously affiliated charter school in the nation. Drummond warned that Oklahomans are being forced to fund Catholicism because of St. Isidore receiving taxpayer funding. He expressed concern that by approving St. Isidore as a publicly funded charter school, Oklahomans could find themselves forced to fund radical Muslim teachings like Sharia law down the line. The framers of the U.S. Constitution and those who drafted Oklahomas Constitution clearly understood how best to protect religious freedom: by preventing the State from sponsoring any religion at all, he added. As the defender of Oklahomas religious freedoms, I am prepared to litigate this issue to the United States Supreme Court if thats what is required to protect our Constitutional rights. Walters pushed back on the idea that publicly funding St. Isidore violated the U.S. and Oklahoma Constitutions. He cited the U.S. Supreme Courts decision inCarson v. Makin to contend that distribution of state aid to St. Isidore once proper administrative steps are complete is not only lawful, but required under the Free Exercise Trilogy, and it seeks to defend that position. In Carson, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Maine cannot prohibit families from using money from a state-funded tuition assistance program to send their children to religious schools. The future of St. Isidore as the nations first publicly funded charter school rests in the hands of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Drummond indicated in his remarks that he would appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if he did not receive a favorable ruling from the state Supreme Court. Home Politics Pro-life group decries 'abortion trafficking' after pregnant teen was kidnapped, taken out of state After an Idaho mother and her adult son were charged with kidnapping for taking his 15-year-old girlfriend out of the state against her will to obtain an abortion, a pro-life advocacy group is warning parents about incidents of "abortion trafficking." The Stanton Public Policy Center and the pregnancy resource center network Stanton Healthcare released a statement denouncing the incident involving Rachael Swainston, 42, and her son Kadyn Swainston, 18. They were charged with second-degree kidnapping and other felony charges late last month after a monthslong investigation. According to reports, the underage girl was living with the Swainstons and was in a relationship with Kadyn Swainston. The Swainstons are accused of kidnapping the girl and taking her to Bend, Oregon, to get an abortion without her parents' consent. Stanton Healthcare CEO Brandi Swindell said the news was "tragic and heartbreaking," decrying the actions of those who illegally transported an underage pregnant girl across state lines to have an abortion as "nothing short of abuse." "This criminal behavior, which has unfortunately become normalized, is a reminder of what millions of women experience abortion abuse," Swindell asserted. "Statistical evidence clearly shows unwanted and forced abortions are an epidemic in our nation." Swindell cited a peer-reviewed study from the pro-life research organization Charlotte Lozier Institute. The study's data is based on responses from more than 1,000 American women between the ages of 41 and 45, including over 200 women who acknowledged having had abortions. The study found that over one in four women with a history of abortion describe their abortions as unwanted or coerced. Additionally, 70% of women with a history of abortion describe their abortions as inconsistent with their own values and preferences. Stanton Public Policy Center CEO, the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, said the Idaho case "clearly shows the danger and criminality of abortion trafficking, forced and coerced abortion, protecting predators and rapists, along with the reality of [the] abortion issue." Swindell praised "Idaho police, prosecutors and lawmakers for protecting this 15-year-old girl from her abusers." "[O]ur hope is that this builds a path of protection moving forward for women and girls across the state and nationwide," Swindell said. According to The Idaho State Journal, court records show that Kadyn Swainston has also been charged with rape and three counts of production of sexually exploitative material with a child. Meanwhile, his mother was charged with trafficking in methamphetamine, one count of harboring a wanted felon, one count for possessing the controlled substance of fentanyl and one count for possessing the controlled substance of psychedelic mushrooms. The charges stem from an investigation that began when a woman contacted the Pocatello Police Department in June to report that her 15-year-old daughter had been raped. Court documents obtained by the Journal revealed that the girl told interviewers at a local child advocacy center that she found out she had become pregnant shortly after Kadyn Swainston turned 18. While she was "happy" about the news, her boyfriend did not share her enthusiasm and ordered her to get an abortion. Rachael Swainston and the unnamed minor traveled to Oregon, on May 18, where she obtained the abortion. Earlier this year, Idaho passed an "abortion trafficking" law that prohibits adults from obtaining abortion pills for a minor or taking them out of state to get an abortion without parental consent. In an interview with the Idaho State Journal published Nov. 2, Bannock County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Erin Tognetti pushed back on the idea that the Swainstons were arrested under the abortion trafficking law. "Kadyn and Rachael Swainston were charged with second-degree kidnapping," she explained. "That statute requires the taking of a child under the age of 16, and concealing the child from a parent, guardian or person having lawful care or control of the child." "In this case, the child wanted to contact her parents regarding the situation before leaving the state, and the Swainstons prevented her from doing that. The kidnapping charges against the Swainstons result from their coercion of the child and secreting her out of the state without permitting her to communicate with her parents." Tognetti insisted that "the child's abortion is not an element of the charged offense, and the Idaho abortion trafficking statute is not implicated in this case." Kadyn Swainston faces up to life in prison on the rape charge and could spend up to 115 years behind bars on the other four charges he faces, as well as a fine of up to $200,000. Rachael Swainston could spend up to life in prison on the meth trafficking charge. The four other charges she faces come with a maximum penalty of 44 years in prison and a fine of up to $130,000. Home World Church set on fire in Pakistan after threatening letter left at main gate UPDATE: 11 p.m. ET Nov. 20: A church elder has been arrested and confessed to setting the fire at Gulberg Presbyterian Church in Lahore, Pakistan, last Thursday. For updated reporting on this fire, click here. Original: LAHORE, Pakistan A church building was set on fire in Lahore, Pakistan, on Thursday, a month after the pastor received a letter threatening the congregation for worshiping too loudly, sources said. The blaze destroyed the church altar, a cupboard containing Bibles and other Christian books, two air conditioning units and furniture, among other items, said the Rev. Samuel Massey of Gulberg Presbyterian Church in Lahore. Efforts were underway to make the building for the church of 60 families soundproof for Christmas celebrations, as area Muslims had complained that the worship sound system was too loud. A church elder opened the church building at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 16, and 20 minutes after he left to meet a nearby carpenter, he learned that someone had set the structure on fire, Pastor Massey said. The fire was not accidental, nor had it erupted due to a short circuit, the pastor told Morning Star News. We suspect that someone entered the church when elder Zubair went to meet the carpenter. The intruders locked the main gate from the outside after committing the crime, and passersby and neighbors had to break open the padlock when they saw smoke billowing out of the church building. Thousands of Christians live alongside Muslims near the church building in Makkah Colony, and no churches were targeted in the area previously, he said. Both communities live in harmony and respect each others faiths, Pastor Massey said. However, two years ago, a Muslim family that had moved into a nearby house filed a police complaint against the church to stop using the sound system during worship. I told the police that we used the sound system for two hours only on Friday and Sunday, and that we will make sure that our neighbors do not get disturbed by it. The church soon stopped its Friday worship meetings to avoid religious conflict, he said. But last month an Islamic group left a letter dated Oct. 14 by the main gate threatening the church with serious consequences if it did not comply with their order to reduce the sound system volume of the Sunday worship service, he said. The letter also mentioned the police complaint that was filed two years ago and stated that the matter had now been brought to their notice because we had not adhered to the earlier warnings, Pastor Massey said, adding that it gave the church 30 days to submit to the demand. Not wanting to cause fear or unrest in the community, he did not report the threat to police or reveal it to the congregation, he said. The situation is already tense after the Jaranwala incident, and the issue of the staged assassination case of Pastor Eleazar Sidhu, Pastor Massey said. In these circumstances, I thought it was better not to disclose this threat and instead try to minimize the noise from our church. Church leaders have asked police to investigate the fire, and police have taken a video recording from CCTV cameras at the front entrance of the building. We are hoping that they will trace the perpetrators, Pastor Massey said, though he said he still had not told officers about the threatening letter. Evil deed Area residents and shopkeepers said they saw a crowd gather outside the church building when it caught fire. We helped church members in breaking the padlock and extinguishing the fire, Imran Mughal, a Muslim shopkeeper, told Morning Star News. There are no apparent signs of short circuit in the building. Whoever is responsible for this evil deed must be punished, as they have tried to cause discord between the two communities. A church member identified only as Naseem said the sight of the charred building reminded her and others of church buildings and homes of Christians that were ransacked and burned by frenzied Muslim mobs in Jaranwala on Aug. 16. We had barely come out of the mental trauma caused by the attacks in Jaranwala when this happened, Naseem told Morning Star News. The condition of our church is distressing, but I trust the Lord will Himself avenge the desecration of His house. Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year. Elon Musk's SpaceX has been repeatedly on the news in the past few months. Its Starship project and its test flights have been widely reported, each milestone documented and analyzed. The project's goal: send humanity back to the moon. Yes, the second race to the moon has started. And SpaceX is at the helm with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the US side. The renewed Artemis program was officially launched in 2017 in hopes of reaching new heights of scientific discovery and revolutionizing the space exploration industry. NASA has already succeeded in sending a man to the moon. This time, it aims to do things a bit differently. Here's how: Location: South Pole of the Moon More than 50 years after humanity last set foot on the moon, NASA and SpaceX's mission is history-in-the-making by sending the first manned expedition to the lunar South Pole. Despite challenging conditions for landing, NASA sets its sights on the area near the South Pole in hopes of "unprecedented deep space scientific discoveries." Previous breakthroughs from robotic missions reveal that the region has the potential to help scientists "understand planetary processes and the character and origin of lunar polar volatiles." Volatiles here means chemical compounds that melt at room temperature, like ice cubes. The presence of water compounds also presents new opportunities for long-term deep space exploration at the Earth's satellite. Hydrogen and oxygen can easily be supplied to stationed scientists through excavations rather than deliveries. New Horizons for the Astronauts NASA not only intends to take a new destination for the lunar program but to modernize the crew bound to take the challenge. The space agency earlier in April announced the names of the astronauts participating in the Artemis mission. Among the crew are Christina Hammock Koch and Victor Glover, tasked with the Artemis II team that will orbit the moon. If prior missions were successful, Koch would be the first woman and Glover the first person of color to ever take a step on the lunar surface. The presence of Koch and Glover "represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. Also Read: NASA Finally Reveals Its Artemis 2 Astronauts Why SpaceX? NASA awarded SpaceX two contract deals, with the second valuing at $1.15 billion, to send the crew to the moon. First announced in 2021, NASA has invested in SpaceX's Starship rocket, a ship originally designed for Mars exploration, for the lunar missions. By investing in the Starship program, NASA is also infusing money and technology for the aeronautics company to accomplish a vehicle capable of traveling to the red planet. The "Moon-to-Mars" plan is NASA's way of hitting two birds with one stone. SpaceX has previously proven its worth to NASA by becoming the world's premier aerospace service, sending cargo and astronauts in cooperation with international space agencies. The deal with SpaceX also opens the way for much cheaper alternatives to moon landing and exploration. And maybe soon, base building in the lunar sea. As of writing, SpaceX had its second test flight both ending in explosion. SpaceX CEO Musk said the flight failures and expected, providing the company better grasp on how to safely deploy humans into space. Related Article: SpaceX Starship Rocket is Clear for Second Test Flight - FAA Home World Dozens killed by Israeli airstrikes on schools, refugee camp in Gaza, Hamas says The Hamas-run government health ministry is charging that Israel has targeted a UN refugee camp school in northern Gaza with a deadly airstrike on Saturday. The Israeli military is investigating the incident and has previously accused Hamas of using school buildings to hide weapons. An airstrike hit the al-Fakhoora School operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the Jabalia refugee camp early Saturday, killing at least 50. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claimed that 32 individuals, including 19 children, were killed in a separate strike on another building in the camp. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called the strikes on the camp "cruel," saying in a statement Sunday that al-Fakhoura is a school-turned-shelter housing over 7,000 displaced people. This is yet another proof that no one, and nowhere is safe in Gaza," he said. "Once again, shelters meant to provide safety and protection to civilians have been hit, killing many people, including children. These acts not only blatantly contravene the rules of war, they also show a total disregard for humanity." The strike on al-Fakhoura was the second time that a UNRWA school sheltering displaced families has been struck, Lazzarini said. On Friday, he said the Al-Falah/Zeitoun school in Gaza City was struck, "leaving scores of people killed and injured." The UNRWA chief said up to 4,000 people were in the school at the time. Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement Sunday that three other schools hosting displaced Palestinians have also been struck. After Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7 and killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, the Hamas government says over 13,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes and ground offensive, including over 5,500 minors and 3,500 women. Israel maintains that it is trying to eradicate Hamas and has accused the terror group, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, of building its infrastructure under or around civilian buildings and using civilians as human shields. The Jabalia refugee camp has been a frequent target of air raids, with Israel claiming it houses Palestinian fighters. Earlier this month, Israel said fighter jets struck a Hamas command center in Jabalia and killed the head of the Islamist group's anti-tank missile unit. According to Lazzarini, at least 176 people sheltering in UNRWA facilities have reportedly been killed and nearly 800 injured since the Hamas-Israel war began, noting that UNRWA has not independently verified the casualty figures but is investigating. UNRWA said that at least 17 of its facilities were directly hit. The large number of UNRWA facilities hit and the number of civilians killed cannot just be 'collateral damage.' Most of the facilities hit had families in them including older people, parents, and children," Lazzarini stressed. "They were all clearly marked as UN buildings carrying a blue flag. UNRWA shares the coordinates of these buildings on a regular basis with parties to the conflict." Over 1.6 million people in Gaza are estimated to be internally displaced, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. About 830,000 people are staying in at least 154 UNRWA shelters. The UNRWA commissioner-general called for a humanitarian ceasefire. The Israeli military, which had warned residents of Jabalia to evacuate, said in a statement Saturday that it "conducted operational activity in the areas of Zaytun and Jabalya in order to target terrorists and strike Hamas infrastructure." "Troops of the 162nd Division are operating on the outskirts of Jabalya," the statement reads. "The area is the home of the command and control center of the Northern Gaza Brigade and where one of the most significant terror strongholds are located, in which four Hamas battalions are operating." IDF said in a statement Friday that its troops located dozens of mortar shells that Hamas hid in a kindergarten in the northern Gaza Strip. In addition, IDF troops located numerous Hamas weapons hidden in the Al-Karmel elementary school, the statement read. In another statement, IDF said its troops had seized control of a stronghold in the northern Gaza Strip, identified as a key location for the Islamic Jihads northern command. This site, used by senior members of the organization, included a strategic weapons manufacturing facility, it said. During the operation, IDF says troops discovered heavy-weight rockets, unmanned aerial vehicles and other weapons. "IDF troops conducted activity inside a school in which Hamas terrorists were hiding," the statement reads. "During the activities, the troops killed the terrorists and located a large number of weapons inside the school." UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths emphasized that shelters and schools should be safe havens, expressing tragedy over the deaths in al-Fakhoora school. Home Church & Ministries Former SBC President Steve Gaines announces cancer diagnosis Former Southern Baptist Convention President Steven Gaines, the senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, told his congregation Sunday that he has been diagnosed with kidney cancer. With his wife, Donna, by his side, Gaines, who served as SBC president from 2016 to 2018, announced at the 11 a.m. worship service that he learned he had cancer last Friday. "Just this past Friday, I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, and we just want to tell you. We want you to hear it from us," Gaines, 65, said. "We got some great doctors; we've got the best doctor, Amen? Got the best doctor," he said, noting that he will be undergoing treatment for the diagnosis, including at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation for treating adult cancers by the U.S. News and World Report. "We'll be following their direction," Gaines said of his doctors. "I've had some tests and all, but we're going to go through a few more things. And then we'll be going to MD Anderson as well. And that's down in Houston, and they're cancer experts on how to treat things. So all we're wanting you to do is pray for us," he said. "I just want to tell you, firsthand, OK? Didn't want you to hear it for somebody else. Wanted to tell you straight up." The American Cancer Society, which relies on information from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database maintained by the National Cancer Institute, states that if kidney cancer is localized, meaning there is no sign that the cancer has spread outside of the kidney, the five-year survival rate is 93%. If the cancer is regional, meaning the cancer has spread outside the kidney to nearby structures or lymph nodes, the five-year survival rate is 72%. If the cancer is considered distant or it has spread to distant parts of the body such as the lungs, brain or bones, the five-year survival rate drops to 15%. Gaines hasn't disclosed the extent to which his cancer has or hasn't spread and whether or not he would be taking time away from his pulpit to undergo his planned treatment. Bellevue Baptist Church did not immediately respond when contacted for comment Monday by The Christian Post. Gaines has pastored Bellevue Baptist Church since 2005 and previously led churches in Texas and Alabama. He and his wife have four children and 16 grandchildren. Home Education Nearly 90% of parents believe their child is performing at grade level but reality is much worse Nearly 90% of parents, the majority of whom say their child gets grades of B or higher in school, believe their children are performing at or above grade level in reading and math. However, data from standardized tests suggests the reality is much worse than what parents think. A report from Gallup and Learning Heroes, titled "B-flation: How Good Grades Can Sideline Parents," suggests that not all grades are equal across schools because as little as 20% of students were meeting the grade-level standards for reading and math. Data for the study was collected online from Oct. 2-9 through 1,971 surveys completed by U.S. adults who self-identified as a parent of a child in a public K-12 school. The schools included charter and magnet public schools, and the adults included mothers, fathers, legal guardians, foster parents and stepparents who said they were also guardians. Parents who said their children had a diagnosed and significant cognitive disability were excluded from the study. A majority, 64%, of parents use report cards from their child's school to measure how well they're performing at grade level. Researchers note that student report cards also consider attendance, participation and effort in measuring achievement. This weight on report cards, which is just one source of information on academic progress, can lead many parents to see good grades as a sign that their child is meeting grade-level standards. While 88% of parents said their child is at or above grade level in reading, and 89% of them said the same for math, standardized tests such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Smarter Balanced Assessment System and the ACT suggest that the share of students meeting grade-level benchmarks in those subjects is between 20% to 50%. Instead of just focusing on report cards, researchers suggest that parents need to glean information about their child's progress from multiple sources, such as ongoing feedback from teachers, statewide tests, and what they observe at home and in the classroom. "As parents, we are a formidable force when it comes to our children. If there are issues to address, we'll address them. If there are actions to take, we'll take them. But we can't take action without information," Bibb Hubbard, founder and president of Learning Heroes, said in a statement. "This is a solvable problem, and we are leaving an incredible national asset America's parents on the sidelines, lulled into complacency by B-flation." Data from the study shows that when parents know, for example, that their child isn't performing at grade level in math, they prioritize math skills. When parents believe their child is at or above grade level, however, their concern about the child's academic performance takes a backseat to concerns about their child's social issues like stress, emotional well-being, or the impact of social media. "When parents think their child is below grade level in reading or math, they are more likely to discuss their concerns and those of their teachers. However, the number of parents who hold these concerns is still significantly less than the number of children below grade (roughly one-quarter of those who have conversations with their child's teacher are still not discussing their own concerns with their child's teacher)," researchers noted. "These data show that when parents are informed about their child's academic challenges, they are more likely to engage with teachers and schools to support their child's development." Home U.S. Pastor removed from San Diego police oversight board over LGBT beliefs sues mayor A San Diego County human relations commissioner and pastor has filed a lawsuit against San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria for removing him from a city board, alleging discrimination against his religious beliefs. The action followed the pastor's abstention from a vote condemning transphobia, citing his Christian faith. Dennis Hodges, pastor of the Church of Yeshua Ha Mashiach in Lemon Grove, California, and a member of the San Diego County Human Relations Commission since 2021, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California earlier this month. The complaint alleges that Hodges' fellow commissioners influenced Gloria to veto his reappointment to San Diego's Citizens Advisory Board on Police/Community Relations. Hodges, a member of the city board since 2017, abstained from a November 2021 Human Relations Commission vote on "an agenda item relating to the transgender community." Video from the meeting shows that the agenda item in question was "a letter from the City of San Diego Human Relations Commissioner Tootie Thomas Regarding Ending Discrimination and Transphobia by Amplifying the Visibility and Voices of the Transgender Community." One commission member identified the agenda item's purpose as to "send a strong signal that the city and the county" are committed to "ending transphobia." It would entail drafting a letter and sending it out on behalf of the commission. The lawsuit attributed Hodges' abstention vote to his religious beliefs, specifically "because the agenda item conflicted with his Christian beliefs on creation, God's design for humankind, and human sexuality." When asked about his abstention at the meeting, Hodges assured his fellow commissioners, "I love all people. I love transgenders as well. But to me, it's an abomination to the eyes of God, so I don't agree with it." While some of Hodges' fellow commissioners urged him to resign following his "abomination" remark, he defended his position as consistent "with the Word of God." He indicated that he had no intention of stepping down. In June 2022, a majority of Hodges' fellow commissioners voted against removing him at a special meeting called by its chair. The lawsuit contends that efforts to oust Hodges from his post on the Human Relations Commission continued for over a year. The filing describes the effort as "a crusade to cancel a man for holding traditional, religious beliefs regarding the biological nature of a man and woman." In August 2023, Gloria used the authority granted by the City Charter to veto Hodges' reappointment to the San Diego Citizens Advisory Board on Police/Community Relations. The lawsuit cites a memorandum from Gloria, highlighting Hodges' comments about the LGBT community, particularly trans-identified individuals, as a reason for his dismissal from the city board. The complaint contends that Gloria's decision was "solely based on Hodges' beliefs about human creation and transgenderism," which the document stresses are "unrelated to his role on the Advisory Board." Asserting that Hodges' removal from the city board violated his rights under the Free Exercise Clause and the Free Speech Clause to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and reinstatement to the board. In a statement, Hodges said he is "standing up for religious people nationwide who have been discriminated against solely because of their faith." "[W]hat happened to me at the hands of our government should never happen to anyone else," Hodges said. Mariah Gondeiro, the vice president and legal counsel for Advocates for Faith and Freedom, which is representing Hodges, asserted that "it is unacceptable that individuals of faith are being explicitly forbidden from serving in government simply because of their faith." She insisted that "the mayor of San Diego must be held accountable for his unconstitutional actions." The lawsuit describes Hodges as "a devoted Christian pastor and public servant," detailing his experience as chaplain of the San Diego Police Department and a special agent/captain in the California Department of Corrections who retired from the state agency in 2008. In a similar case, Ron Hittle, a former fire chief in Stockton, California, filed an appeal last September after a federal court ruled he was rightfully terminated after attending a religious leadership conference. Hittle was dismissed over a decade earlier after attending the Global Leadership Summit at Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois. The city of Stockton listed his attendance at this religious conference as a reason for his termination despite instructing him to attend leadership training. Hittle's attorneys argued that his dismissal was motivated by religious discrimination, violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Hittle, who had served the department for over 20 years and became fire chief in 2005, attended the conference with three other staff members. While it took place at a megachurch, the 2010 conference featured speeches from prominent secular figures like former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter as well as former Secretary of State Colin Powell. In 2018, the city of Atlanta reached a $1.2 million settlement with its former fire chief, who was fired after he distributed a book at work in which he detailed his views on sexual morality. Home U.S. Supreme Court rejects Derek Chauvin appeal in George Floyd case The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal in the case of Derek Chauvin, the white police officer convicted of murdering African American George Floyd in 2020, allowing the guilty verdict to stand. In an orders list released on Monday morning, the high court declined without comment to hear an appeal filed on behalf of Chauvin, who has been trying to overturn a 2021 guilty verdict. On May 25, 2020, Minnesota police officer Chauvin placed his knee on the neck of a handcuffed Floyd for around nine and a half minutes while Floyd was on the ground in the prone position, killing him in the process. Video footage from the incident led to Chauvin facing murder charges in connection with Floyd's death. The highly publicized incident sparked nationwide protests and, in some cases, violence that took the lives of around two dozen Americans and damaged hundreds of buildings in Minneapolis alone. Floyd's death also led to more discussions on how to tackle police brutality, especially when it is racially charged, and increased efforts at racial reconciliation. During the Chauvin trial, Hennepin County medical examiner Dr. Andrew Baker explained that Floyd's death was a homicide due to cardiopulmonary arrest after being restrained. The medical examiner's office found that the drugs detected in Floyd's body during his autopsy, in addition to his history of cardiovascular health problems, also contributed to his death. In April 2021, following two days of deliberation, a jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Chauvin appealed his conviction in September 2021, arguing that Judge Peter Cahill erred in not moving the trial to a more neutral location due to pretrial publicity. In April, however, a three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, with Judge Peter Reyes authoring the unanimous panel opinion. "Police officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job. However, no one is above the law," wrote Reyes, as quoted by the Associated Press. "When they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend. The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd." Earlier this month, Chauvin again challenged his guilty verdict, claiming that a medical expert, Dr. William Schaetzel of Topeka, Kansas, told him that Floyd died due to health issues unrelated to the incident. "I can't go to my grave with what I know," said Schaetzel, who was not part of the autopsy but did review autopsy reports, in an interview with the AP, adding that "I just want the truth." Home Opinion The connection between support for Black Lives Matter and Hamas In the wake of the recent attacks by the Palestinian-backed terrorist organization Hamas on Israel, a disturbing trend has emerged. Demonstrations in support of Palestine and Hamas have erupted on college campuses, particularly at Ivy League schools like Harvard and state colleges and universities. There have even been major pro-Palestinian (aka pro-Hamas) rallies in major cities like London and Washington, D.C. This surge of support for a terrorist organization is deeply concerning to many onlookers. Concerning? Yes. But for anyone who has been tracking the woke movement over the last decade, it shouldnt be surprising. There is a direct correlation between support for the Marxist Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and support for the terrorists in Palestine. In fact, the Black Lives Matter Grassroots organization posted a lengthy statement on their social media defending the violence undertaken by Hamas as an act of self-defense. In their statement, they said: As the world is faced with deep questions about self-determination, as well all desire and pray for a world of peace, we must stand unwaveringly on the side of the oppressed. When a people have been subject to decades of apartheid and unimaginable violence, their resistance must not be condemned, but understood as a desperate act of self-defense. They go on to add, Black Lives Matter Grassroots stands in solidarity with our Palestinian family who are currently resisting 57 years of settler colonialism and apartheid. As Black people continue the fight to end militarism and mass incarcerations in our own communities, let us understand the resistance in Palestine as an attempt to tear down the gates of the worlds biggest open air prison. As a radical Black organization grounded in abolitionist ideals, we see clear parallels between Black and Palestinian people. This is what many conservatives have been warning about for years now. Black Lives Matter isnt some movement for racial justice. No, its a borderline domestic terrorist organization, built on lies, that finds common cause with the most violent actors around the globe. And these demonstrations are not isolated cultural incidents. They are part of a larger movement that has taken root in our society, a movement characterized by wokeness, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and support for Marxist ideologies. This movement, which includes groups like Black Lives Matter, champions causes that are at direct odds with traditional American Christian values and principles. The connection between these demonstrations, BLM, Hamas, and the broader woke movement is clear. Both are driven by a desire to challenge the status quo, tear down all hierarchies, and destroy whiteness. Yes, these groups claim that they are simply advocating for those they perceive as oppressed. However, this advocacy lacks any real understanding of the complex issues at play. In the case of the Israel-Palestine conflict, support for Hamas overlooks the groups violent terrorist tactics and its recent, bloody invasion. Writing for The Heritage Foundation, Mike Gonzalez explains that: BLM is transnational, just as co-founder Alicia Garza, donning a Palestinian keffiyeh no less, admitted in 2010 (three years before creating BLM) that Third World enemies of the United States had asked activists like her to set up entities that would help take the U.S. boot off our neck. They also believe that decolonization, a mantra of the movement, is to be carried out by any means necessary. Thats an expression by the 1960s revolutionary Frantz Fanon, the New Lefts favorite Third World author, though it is often associated with Malcolm X because he, too, said it often. It means that decolonization must be carried out with rape and carnage. Bloodlust is purifying. To fanatics, Hamass butchery of civilians is an integral part of revolution. From a conservative Christian perspective, this should be rejected as wicked. The Bible teaches us to seek peace and pursue it (Psalm 34:14). Supporting a group that engages in violence is not in line with these teachings. It should also serve as a stark reminder that wokeness is a poison. Its an acid. Its a framework of thought that perverts true justice and manages to justify just about any act of violence if that violence serves its revolutionary ends. Moreover, the Bible warns against false teachings and ideologies that can lead us astray. The Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 2:8, See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. The woke movement, with its emphasis on subjective truth and its rejection of absolute moral standards, is one such deceptive philosophy. Christians are instructed that we can judge a tree by its fruit. Well, the fruit of BLM is support for Hamas, so the verdict is that this is a very sick tree. The recent demonstrations in support of Hamas are just the latest symptoms of a larger problem. The woke movement, with its embrace of radical ideologies and its rejection of traditional values, is clearly influencing our society in profound and troubling ways. As conservative Christians, we must respond with wisdom, discernment, and a commitment to biblical truth. That begins with a wholesale and unapologetic rejection of BLM and everything it stands for. Too many Evangelical leaders got this wrong over the last decade. Now, with BLM linking arms with Hamas, will they finally get it right? Originally published at the Standing for Freedom Center. Home Opinion The hijacking of Christ is King What did Candace Owens mean when she posted that Christ is King in the midst of a very public dispute with her Daily Wire employer Ben Shapiro? Im not going to enter into the details of that dispute other than to say I agree with Shapiros concerns. Here, I want to focus on Owens posting the words Christ is King on X (formerly Twitter). In a previous post, she quoted the words of Jesus that you cannot serve both God and money, causing many to wonder if this was a dig on Jewish people, who are allegedly money hungry. But why, specifically, did she add, Christ is King? Others are wondering as well. As reported in the Jerusalem Post, The posts on the social media platform X appeared to some as an antisemitic dog-whistle, alluding to Shapiro's comments and invoking ancient anti-Jewish tropes through its use of biblical language and its appeal to the Christian faith. Yashar Ali, the prominent journalist with more than 700,000 followers on the site, shared a screenshot and said, I know what Candace's tweets mean. Perhaps Candace Owens can clarify the issues herself? For those wondering what could be wrong with proclaiming Christ is King, the unfortunate reality is that this beautiful, biblically based truth has been hijacked by elements of the extreme religious right, often with anti-Semitic implications. I pointed this out in my August 8 article denouncing an anti-Semitic rant by Nick Fuentes, where he said (to rousing applause and shouts of affirmation), Word is getting out that we got to rid of Jewish power in America, and despite them doing everything in their power to stop it censoring and canceling and killing we are here to say that America is not a Jewish nation. America is a Christian nation. I noted that, Youve got to see the video for yourself, but, to paint the picture here in words, at this point in the speech, on the screen behind him, giant angel wings flap on his right and left, as if he was some kind of angelic messenger. It really does seem like a sick attempt at satire. But I repeat, it is not. In fact, in response to his proclamation that America is a Christian nation not a Jewish nation, the crowd begins to chant, Christ is King! Christ is King! In his view (and the view of his followers) Christ is King over the world and therefore King over America, not just in a spiritual sense but in the sense of lets take this country back from the Jews. The chant was hardly biblical at all. A December 1, 2022 article on the Religion News site stated that, During a livestream in June, Fuentes advocated for Catholic Taliban rule in America, explaining that such a regime would ban same-sex marriage and contraception. His followers, known as Groypers, were a consistent presence at anti-vaccine and anti-abortion rallies in 2021, often holding aloft crucifixes and chanting Christ is king! More than 10 months earlier, on January 26, 2022, an article posted on the Pulitzer Center website noted that, When supporters of former President Donald Trump rallied near the White House on Jan. 6 of last year, a boisterous pocket of young men waving America First flags broke into a chant: Christ is King! It was one of the first indications that Christian nationalism would be a theme of the Capitol attack later that day, where insurrectionists prayed and waved banners that read Proud American Christian. Writing on February 6, 2022, Greg Williams explained that, The crowd chanted Christ is King! at the March for Life in Washington, DC this January. They chanted it last January too, when an insurrection broke into the US Capitol and attempted to overthrow the government. That chant is now a calling card of Nick Fuentes and America First a podcast, conference and community within the broader white Christian nationalist movement. It also happens to be a core proclamation of Christians through the centuries. When I say Christ is King, I mean something very different from what Fuentes means. While there is a long history of Christian support for violent racism even using that very same language a proper theological understanding of Christ is King ought to compel us to live at peace with our neighbors. To be sure, the vast majority of Christians who participated in the March for Life would absolutely and unequivocally denounce the idea of a Catholic (or, Christian) Taliban. It is likely the same can be said of the great majority of Christians who gathered in DC on that fateful January 6, 2021. But without a doubt, there is a growing minority that connects America first with the proclamation of Christ is King in a way that perverts the very meaning of those Jesus-exalting words. Yes, Jesus is King and will always be King. He was born a King, died a King, reigns in Heaven as King, and will return as King in fact, as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16). For myself, as Jewish follower of Jesus, I unashamedly proclaim Him as the Messianic King and the Savior and Lord of all. And yes, in His name and authority we are called to go and make disciples of the nations (Matthew 28:18-20) But to use Christ is King as a political slogan, especially one with racist and anti-Semitic overtones, is to bring disgrace on that holy and beautiful name. I certainly hope this is not what Candace Owens meant. A clarification is certainly called for. We dare not mess with such sacred words. Home Opinion The psychics will never see this coming If youre in the market for a new career, how about one that will bring home almost $300,000 a year and require you to work only three hours a day (with weekends and 2 weeks off for vacation)? The job? Pet psychic. Nikki Vasconez, a former lawyer, started working as a pet psychic four years ago and even though she charges over $500 for a 90-minute consultation, she has a waitlist of nearly 8,000 clients. Starting out, she made a video about a dog named Albie who she claims told her he didnt like his nickname. She says he didnt specify what it was, only that it made people think he was large and overweight. Those were his exact words, she said. The dogs nickname was Big Al. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Pet psychics are making their way from the fringe to socially acceptable. Those who tell others about their experiences with animal communicators say they are more likely to be asked for referrals than be mockedPeople book sessions with animal communicators to unravel behavioral issues, to learn about preferences for end-of-life care, and when the time comes, to make sure their pets are enjoying the afterlife. Oh boy. If pets arent your thing, how about becoming just a regular psychic? According to an article in the New York Post, people have become frustrated with seeing therapists and are now turning to psychics for advice. One example is Aria DAmore, 35, an artist and model living in Jersey City, who became dissatisfied with therapy after nearly 30 years, so she decided to seek help from an intuitive healer practicing tarot and astrology. DAmore now consults with her healer/astrologer in hour-and-a-half sessions that cost her $125. With animals costing over 4X as much as people, Im guessing pets must be harder to read than humans. Discernment needed ahead According to a Pew Research Center survey, 15.0% of Americans consult a psychic or fortune-teller, with women more likely to visit psychics or fortune-tellers than men. If that statistic is true, given the current American population of over 300 million, that means tens of millions of Americans have gone to psychics. And you thought the occult was just a niche thing. With psychics (or anything paranormal for that matter), you basically have three possibilities staring you in the face with respect to what and who they really are. First, theyre fake and they know theyre fake. Scammers are everywhere and despondent, misguided people looking for help and answers make for perfect prey. Personally, I think a pet psychic is a brilliant scam as theres almost no way to falsify the reading. The only thing better would be dealing with inanimate objects (e.g., a house psychic: Your home is telling me it wants a new roof.) Second, theyre fake but they believe theyre real. The pet psychics cited in the WSJ article, for example, truly seem to believe that their readings are legit. Lastly, theyre real and they believe theyre real. This category is rare but does exist. More on this in a moment. So why are way too many people seeking out occult practitioners these days? A New York Times article cites James Alcock, a professor of psychology at York University in Canada, who has spent his career looking at belief systems and debunking scientific studies of the paranormal. If you look throughout history, Alcock says, whenever there has been some sort of upheaval or some sort of collective anxiety in society, interest in psychics has shot up. People experience a lack of control and anxiety. Thomas Rabeyron, a professor of clinical psychology and psychopathology at the University of Lorraine in France, agrees saying, Psychics are barometers of social anxiety. Sadly, this is nothing new. A perfect Old Testament example of anxiety seeing out the occult is Saul visiting the witch at En-Dor when he was facing the onslaught of the Philistine army: Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her (1 Sam 28:7). Unfortunately for those who encounter the real thing, they think theyre dealing with something thats helpful when its an entity more malevolent than they can imagine. Stating the obvious, the need for discernment is off the charts in such cases because the power behind the psychic will do its best to appear as a bearer of good much like the possessed woman cited in Acts who tried to act as a herald for the Gospel message: It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation (Acts 16:16-17). The woman in question was a living, breathing example of what Paul would write later: Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:1415). With the uptick in psychic visitations (now over a $2 billion industry), it isnt out of the question to think it is one of the many signs of the clock ticking down to the final end times as Scripture says: But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4:1). On that point, Dr. Merril Unger, in his book The Haunting of Bishop Pike (that chronicles a horrific example of the peril psychics pose), speaks about the train-wrecking nature of deceitful spirits when he warns: The essential thing to understand concerning all the phenomena of spiritualism, whether telekinesis, psychic visions, automatic writing, trance speaking, materializations, apparitions, excursions of the psyche, or whatever is that fact is used as a springboard to fraud Satans masquerading as an angel of light is far more destructive than his forays as a devouring lion (emphasis in the original). Amen. Lets hope those pursuing psychics for their pets or themselves come to this realization. If they dont, trust me, they and their psychics will never see their end coming. Christians join vigil outside Downing Street to bring home Israeli hostages Thousands of people, including Christians, gathered outside Downing Street on Sunday for a vigil calling for the release of Israelis who have been held hostage since the Hamas terror attack on Israel on 7 October. An estimated 240 people were taken hostage on the same day that Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis. Qatar has been mediating talks between Israel and Hamas to secure their release. The Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, told ABC news that he was hopeful of a deal being reached "in the coming days". Members of Christians Action Against Antisemitism were at Sunday evening's vigil at Whitehall in London. It described the event as "a beautiful and moving display of unity" and an "amazing evening of solidarity and friendship". "We heard from the father, mother and brother of hostages taken - we cried together," said the CAAA on Twitter. "We stood together united with one voice saying 'Bring them home'. Britain contains so many good people. Thank you guys for showing the Jewish community that they are not alone, and that our nation is not full of Jew-haters!" CAAA member, Lois Perry, spoke to TalkTV before the vigil about why she was joining. "We're showing the Jewish people they're not on their own. The vast majority of British people are with them," she said. Court postpones silent prayer hearing An army veteran criminally charged for praying silently outside an abortion clinic has expressed disappointment after the court postponed a hearing into his case. A hearing for the case of Adam Smith-Connor had been due to take place last Thursday but will now be heard on 18 January, immediately before the criminal trial. He is being supported by ADF UK who plan to ask the court to dismiss the prosecution on the basis of unfairness. The Christian advocacy group says that Mr Smith-Connor was charged despite receiving assurances from police officers that praying silently in that location, which was within an abortion clinic 'buffer zone', was legal. Mr Smith-Connor said the legal battle to clear his name had been "punishing". "I still can't believe that in England in 2023, I have to face criminal prosecution for what I thought in my own mind," he said. "Even if freedom prevails eventually, this process, now drawn out even further, has been punishing. I served in the army reserves for twenty years, including in Afghanistan, to protect fundamental freedoms I never thought I'd have to defend such a basic right for myself here at home." Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, said the delay was disappointing. "While the judge referred to the complexities of the case as the reason for postponing, we must remember that the facts of Adam's case are really very simplehe is being criminally charged for his silent prayer," he said. "It is most unfortunate that this lengthy and gruelling process is continuing to impact Adam's life, for only having prayed in his head. "Despite this setback, we remain committed to supporting Adam's legal defence and his basic human rights, including the right to think freely on a public street without interference from authorities, at the new trial date. "It is deeply concerning for local councils to have the power to prosecute residents for alleged 'thought crimes' in a free society." In a shocking twist of events, ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will not return to his former position in the AI company. At least for now. In an internal memo provided by one of OpenAI's board directors, Ilya Sutskever, Altman has decided to walk away after 48 hours of reinstatement talks. Altman was previously reported to return at the company's San Francisco-headquarters for possible return earlier this Sunday. He was with OpenAI's former chairman Greg Brockman who resigned in solidarity to Altman's firing. Interim CEO Mira Murati, who replaced Altman for two days, pushed the discussions between the two sides amidst threats from other employees leaving if no resolution come to pass. OpenAI's board of directors appointed Emmett Shear, co-founder of video streaming site Twitch, to become the interim CEO of the company. Also Read: OpenAI Ex-CEO Sam Altman, Greg Brockman Back at HQ for Possible Return Who is Emmett Shear? Shear is the co-founder and former CEO of Twitch, holding the position until stepping down March this year. Shear's appointment was decided by the board of directors, stating that the former Twitch CEO has a "unique mix of skills, expertise and relationships that will drive OpenAI forward." Prior to his career as chief executive of Twitch, the 40-year-old entrepreneur served as a part-time partner at Y Combinator in 2011. This was the same year Altman served as the president of the company before starting OpenAI in 2015. Shear was Yale graduate of the class of 2005 under Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. He co-founded Twitch, formerly Justin.tv, with leading tech starters like Justin Kan, Michael Seibel, and Kyle Vogt. Related Article: GM Cruise Co-founder Kyle Vogt Resigns as CEO Pressure on the OpenAI Execs Since Altman was ousted as CEO three days ago, board members at OpenAI have been under pressure from the public, its top investors, and from the inside. Several shareholders of the company had recruited Microsoft's aid to press the board to reinstate Altman and Brockman to their former positions. Microsoft is one of OpenAI's major backer and partner, investing $13 billion for a multi-year deal on the company. Other top-brass members of OpenAI have filed for their resignations as well after the board failed to deliver its promises. OpenAI has yet to officially announce its plans for the future without Altman. Franklin Graham prays with Netanyahu (CP) American Evangelical leader Franklin Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, met and prayed with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday after visiting several kibbutzim left devastated by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Graham, who heads the international Evangelical humanitarian organization Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told The Christian Post in a statement Thursday that it was a privilege to have met Netanyahu, adding that the prime minister needs prayer. "He is facing the most trying time since the birth of their nation with 1,200 people killed, more than 240 men, women, and children taken as hostages, and many injured in the Hamas attack," Graham stated. "As I spoke with a woman whose husband was taken hostage, the fear and heartache is overwhelming," he continued. "Pray for these hostages and their families, pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem." After Hamas terrorists attacked civilian communities in southern Israel last month, Samaritan's Purse deployed a disaster relief team to the country and is working with more than 50 churches in Israel and Gaza. Samaritan's Purse also supports churches providing Palestinians with food and medicine. Samaritan's Purse says it provided Israel's first response service, Magen David Adom, with 21 ambulances after Hamas destroyed many of these types of vehicles during the Oct. 7 attack. Seven ambulances provided were armored to offer additional protection to medical personnel and patients. Samaritan's Purse is equipping the first response service with trauma supply kits packed with various resources, including a combat application tourniquet, chest tube kit, suture kit and intubation kit. The bags are positioned with first responders in communities at high risk of future rocket attacks, according to a press statement. "To date, Samaritan's Purse has provided hygiene kits, nearly 6,000 food vouchers, 300 food boxes, and 3,800 hot meals for internally displaced families in Israel," the statement said. "In addition to these supplies, we have provided medical equipment including defibrillators to search and rescue teams." Samaritan's Purse has also offered to establish emergency field hospitals in Gaza and Israel. In a Tuesday X post, Graham shared photos of his visit to the Gaza border, where he visited several kibbutzim invaded by Hamas last month. In one kibbutz, Graham said around 130 people were killed, while 26 were taken hostage. The evangelist revealed that only the Israel Defense Forces occupy the kibbutz now. But he met with a young woman who had returned to the location to retrieve some things from her home. The woman and her kids survived by hiding inside their home, but her husband, a medical doctor, rushed to treat injured people at a nearby clinic. "While he was working to save lives, the terrorists shot their way into the clinic, and he and nearly every other person there were killed only one or two people escaped alive," Graham stated. "She told me that he was the love of her life," he continued. "There are countless untold stories of grief, heartbreak, horror, and trauma and there is great need." The Christian Post International House of Prayer report says Mike Bickle abuse allegations lack evidence (CP) Amid claims by a founding member and two former leaders of International House of Prayer Kansas City that founder Mike Bickle engaged in clergy sexual abuse, citing allegations involving eight women, a report released by the Missouri-based ministry Wednesday states it wasn't presented with "any actual evidence." In a four-page "Report On Initial Findings" document published on the ministry's website, IHOPKC's Executive Leadership Team said the evidence presented against the ministry's founder remains lacking. The Executive Leadership Team says it has treated the allegations against Bickle as credible and asked him to step away from public ministry when they were first confronted by a group of men claiming to represent the women on Oct. 24. "Within days, the ELT commenced consultation of outside legal experts on how to conduct a proper examination of the facts and how to best handle the situation. Significantly, at all times, the allegations were treated as if they were credible in order to care for any past or present victim while objective due diligence was to be performed," the report said. "However, upon review by outside legal counsel, it was determined that the collection and presentation of the allegations by the Complaint Group lacked any semblance of reliability or due process." IHOPKC was able to identify five of the eight women whom the complaint group alleges are victims of Bickle. Three of the alleged victims called the allegations "lies.'" One of the alleged victims refused to communicate with attorneys for the ministry. Just one of the cases, which predates Bickle's founding of IHOPKC, was found to have some credibility, and that individual is currently being represented by attorney Boz Tchividjian, who founded the Virginia-based G.R.A.C.E. (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) organization. "The document prepared by the Complaint Group to accompany the presentation of allegations on October 24 does not contain any actual evidence: no statements from the victims, whether sworn or unsworn, and no emails, texts, or other exhibits between Mr. Bickle and the alleged victim to substantiate the allegations (only blank squares acting as exhibit placeholders)," the report states. "The Complaint Group's allegations were also presented along with a list of pre-prepared demands 'to prevent escalating levels of disclosure.' These demands and threats, which included dictating the use of IHOPKC's funds, generated an atmosphere of concern regarding the true objectives of the Complaint Group." According to the report, the complaint group labeled the first alleged victim by her initials and alleged that Bickle emotionally and "prophetically manipulated" her more than 25 years ago. The allegation, they say, contains six short lines of text and is non-sexual in nature. It is unclear if the complaint group had permission to include her as an alleged victim. The second alleged victim includes an allegation of physical contact between Bickle and an adult women, and it is "insinuated that Mr. Bickle may have committed a crime," the report reads. However, IHOPKC has been unable "to determine whether this criminal allegation has any credibility." The report claims that victims 3-5 have issued public statements refuting the allegations that they are victims of Bickle. The report states that victim No. 6 told the Executive Leadership Team that the rumors surrounding her and Bickle were untrue. "IHOPKC remains open to inviting a third party (or even multiple third parties) to examine these findings," the report stresses. "It is our sincerest desire that alleged anonymous Jane Does would come forward as soon, either directly to IHOPKC's attorney, via the Complaint Group or through their own legal representative, so that IHOPKC can then take the appropriate next steps." Dwayne Roberts, a founding member of IHOPKC; Brian Kim, a former IHOPKC Executive Leadership Team member; and Wes Martin, a former pastor of Forerunner Church, previously revealed in a joint statement that they were the ones who first confronted leaders of the charismatic Evangelical Christian movement and missions organization about the allegations against Bickle spanning "several decades." "Without going into details to protect the privacy of the victims' identities, we have found these allegations of clergy sexual abuse by Mike Bickle to be credible and long-standing," they began in their statement. "The credibility of these allegations is not based on any one experience or any one victim, but on the collective and corroborating testimony of the experiences of several victims." They allege that before meeting with IHOPKC's leadership team, they attempted to discuss the allegations directly with Bickle "in the spirit of Matthew 18:15-17" but were rebuffed. They claim Bickle attempted to intimidate, isolate, manipulate and discredit his victims. "When these allegations were brought to our attention, we were shocked. We could never have imagined that inappropriate conduct with women as something we would ever need to be concerned about," the former IHOPKC ministry workers said. "The allegations seemed out of character to the man we thought we knew, but they were so serious we could not ignore them." Bickle, they allege, used his position of leadership over the women to manipulate them. "We believe that Mike Bickle's actions were not above reproach and fall short of biblical standards for leaders in the church. To be clear, the allegations made about Mike Bickle's misconduct were sexual in nature where the marriage covenant was not honored. Furthermore, the allegations made also reveal that Mike Bickle used his position of spiritual authority over the victims to manipulate them," the former IHOPKC workers said. IHOPKC recently announced that it replaced national law firm Stinson LLP, which was hired to investigate abuse allegations against Bickle, to avoid "the appearance of vested interests or potential biases." Stinson was replaced with a local law firm despite calls from a collective of former IHOPKC staff, students and members in a Change.org petition endorsed by more than 2,800 people, calling for the ministry to use the services of G.R.A.C.E. as a third-party reviewer. "We are not opposed to having an outside group come to KC to review our initial findings. However, G.R.A.C.E. cannot be that third party," the ministry said. "Last week, on November 9, IHOPKC made multiple attempts to reach out to G.R.A.C.E. to explore the possibility of having their investigators come to review our findings. G.R.A.C.E. did not respond. The very next day, we learned that the founder of G.R.A.C.E. is now the private attorney of the main alleged victim whose claim is from 20+ years ago," IHOPKC revealed. "This attorney is also currently listed as a board member on G.R.A.C.E.'s website. This represents a clear conflict of interest for G.R.A.C.E. and disqualifies the organization as a candidate to be an objective third party." Despite the challenges the ministry has faced in recent weeks, IHOPKC leaders said they have accepted there are "things in our organization that need to be improved." "We are planning to review everything from operations to administrative protocols and are engaging experts to recommend best practices. Some of these areas were already being addressed before this crisis hit, some will take time to remedy, and some we need to address immediately," the ministry's leaders said. "The first change is that, very soon, we will be announcing a clear and simple process and protocol for people who want to report any form of sexual abuse." The Christian Post (Photo : Unsplash/Annie Spratt) The University of Hawaii Community Colleges has taken a great initiative for its residents by providing access to free pieces of training through Good Job Hawaii. The residents have the opportunity to take these courses at no cost putting them on a path that's going to offer them a living wage in the state of Hawaii. The program has accelerated lives by helping non-traditional students, traditional students, incumbent workers, and anyone who wants to get their foot in the door and Get a career. Through the Good Jobs Hawaii initiative, the UH Community Colleges offer free skills training in high-demand industries: healthcare, technology, clean energy/skilled trades and creative services which will lead to employment, paid internships and apprenticeship pathways. Employers from these industries work with the UH Community Colleges to identify positions that need to be filled. The seven UH Community College campuses provide the training and support that allow individuals to access pathways to advance into these in-demand jobs. "Our goal is to equip residents with the knowledge and skills to access pathways to good jobs that allow them to thrive in Hawaii," said Daniel Doerger, director of workforce innovation, UH Community Colleges. And since January, more than 2,630 residents throughout the state have enrolled in free training offered through the Good Jobs Hawaii initiative. "The outcomes for our students who have participated in this program have been phenomenal," says Marshall Norman, program manager for the Good Jobs HawaiiInitiative. "Many of them, who have completed their courses, are now successfully employed in the workforce." Funding With A Mission in Mind Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi announced the City and County of Honolulu's $5-million investment to create the Good Jobs Oahu initiative with the University of Hawaii on August 3. "These funds will support training for Oahu residents to seek higher paying jobs in industries that help diversify our economy". Mayor Blangiardi said that this initiative is a "sound investment" and is deemed "vital for the community's well-being." He added that this is "essential in creating a more equitable and diverse economy." READ MORE: https://www.jobsnhire.com/articles/57518/20191117/certification-vs-degree-program-which-is-right-for-you.htm Fostering Local Talent More than $3 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education is available for tuition this year. Eligible applicants receive tuition assistance for courses and other training costs such as books and industry certification exam fees. The program is free for most eligible participants, since many of the trainings provide a 100% tuition subsidy to cover all costs. Wrap-around support services are also offered to students including college and career advising, referrals to community partners with supportive services and other financial assistance. Committed To Local Business With this initiative, more than 70 businesses have already committed to participate. Businesses are invited to join the partnership coalition to help identify positions that need to be filled, co-design training opportunities and prioritize our local workforce in hiring and advancement. Employers statewide can join the Good Jobs Hawaii coalition by signing a Talent Action Pledge online as a first step. Support for the Good Jobs Hawaii initiative is provided by various government and philanthropic organizations including the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the U.S. Department of Education, the City & County of Honolulu, Ascendium Education Group, the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, the Hawai'i Community Foundation, and the Hawaii Workforce Funders Collaborative. Empowering Initiative Not only does it enable younger generations to land a career they love after getting certified, but it also gives them the support that they need while reaching for their dreams. This initiative is about empowering local people, strengthening the workforce, and building a resilient Oahu that is ready for the challenges and opportunities of the future. RELATED ARTICLE: https://www.jobsnhire.com/articles/57884/20231118/3-important-steps-to-improving-your-career-prospects.htm 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Articol adaugat de: Ana Stetchi Alte articole de la acest autor: Apel de candidaturi pentru selectarea a 10 jurnalisti de investigatie si 10 experti (juristi, reprezentanti ai societatii civile) in cadrul atelierului de consolidare a capacitatilor de investigare a cazurilor de coruptie la nivel inalt Flower industry thrives in county of China's Anhui People's Daily Online) 13:47, November 20, 2023 A staff member sprinkles a nutrient solution for flowers in a flower greenhouse in Qingshan village, Xisadian township, Dingyuan county, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Miao Zijian) Staff members sprinkled a nutrient solution for flowers in greenhouses in Qingshan village, Xisadian township, Dingyuan county, east China's Anhui Province, Nov. 14. The greenhouses covering 50,000 square meters are part of a project integrates the intelligent planting of high-quality flowers, leisure and sightseeing, science popularization, study tours, and cultural and creative flower products. An industrial chain covering flower and seedling planting, potted plants and sales has been formed, which has promoted the development of high-efficiency agriculture, and increased farmers' incomes. The project's annual sales of high-quality flowers reached 3 million pots, which were mainly sold to cities like Hefei, Fuyang, Nanjing, Changzhou, and Xuzhou, with annual revenue of 50 million yuan ($6.9 million). The project provides 60 jobs for nearby villagers and increases the village's annual collective income by 1.4 million yuan. (Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming) While close to 75% of jobs in the U.S. that pay more than $35,000 a year require a college degree, only 38% of Americans have a bachelor's degree, says Lisa Gevelber, Google's chief marketing officer for the Americas on Lin. Google Trends Data also shows that searches for "no degree jobs" reached an all-time high this year in the U.S., as shared with CNBC Make It. As Google determined the top "how to become. . ." queries people searched in the US, it goes to show that Americans are likely drawn to flexible, college-free careers with six-figure salaries and are most excited about jobs that offer ample travel opportunities, flexible work schedules and a clear path to becoming your boss. Here are the top 3 most Googled jobs of 2023 in the U.S. as of November: Real Estate Agent According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of real estate agent and broker jobs is projected to increase by 4% between 2020 and 2030, which is slower than the average for all occupations. Most real estate agents and brokers don't earn a salary. Instead, they make money through commissions, which are usually a percentage of the selling price of the property, or, less frequently, a flat fee. In general, commissions are paid only when you settle a transaction. Ultimately, this means that you could work hard for days, weeks, or even months without taking home any money at all. Like other commission-based jobs, it can be feast or famine. READ ALSO: 3 Important Steps to Improving Your Career Prospects Notary Agent A notary is a publicly commissioned official who serves as an impartial witness to the signing of a legal document. Document signings where the services of a notary are generally necessary are real estate deeds, affidavits, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, bills of sale, or other official transactional documents. The main reason a notary is used is to deter fraud. Income depends on the type of Notary Public. Notaries fall into two general categories: stationary and mobile. Geographic location has a significant impact on the salaries of all types of professions. This is because pay rates are directly influenced by the cost of living for a specific community, city, or state. A Notary Public is no different and you will find variances in the average Notary Public salary depending on the job location. Travel Agent If you're someone who spends your days scanning flights, loves hotel rewards points, and in general, is a fervent traveler, you've probably wondered how to become a travel agent. While some four-year colleges, community colleges, and trade schools offer tourism certifications, it is not a requirement for those trying to become travel agents. Certificates of tourism can be very helpful, but so can previous training in marketing, hospitality, or even event planning. Ultimately, your knowledge of destinations, sales, itinerary planning, and booking software will be crucial for your career as a travel agent. Traditionally, agents were paid on commissions from the suppliers. If an agent sold an airline ticket to a client, the airline would pay them a commission on that plane ticket. More recently, some agents have started to charge fees directly to the clients for their services as well. While all three of these roles require at least a high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED), there are no formal education requirements beyond that. Most travel agents require at least a high school diploma and on-the-job training. Agents can also choose to acquire certifications with different transit associations, such as the Cruise Lines International Association or the International Air Transport Association, which enables them to book travel for clients on airlines and cruise lines. Compensation is a major consideration for job seekers looking for no-degree jobs. Within Google searches for jobs without a degree, "high paying jobs without a degree" was a top search in 2023. RELATED ARTICLE: Unlocking Doors of Opportunity: The Importance of Getting Your GED 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Articol adaugat de: Dexis Consulting Group Alte articole de la acest autor: Ukraine Crisis Response Program Request for Selection of Consultants for Qualitative Research of Ukrainian Childrens Perspective on their Wellbeing Status to Inform Further Advocacy Ensuring that Children Voices are Heard World Vision International, together with its partner offices around the world, which comprise the World Vision Partnership, invites service providers to submit a proposal for provision of services in accordance with the requirements, terms and conditions set forth in this Request for Proposals (RFP). World Vision UCR Project is inviting relevant individual consults to carry out Qualitative Research of Ukrainian Childrens Perspective on their Wellbeing Status to Inform Further Advocacy. Detailed selection documentation and terms of reference for the consultancy is available in the attached RFP. Interested consultants can submit their response through the dedicated email address urmd_t@wvi.org. The deadline for submission of proposals is November 27, 2023, 18:00. Any response received after this date and time shall be considered non-responsive, and World Vision would not be obligated to engage your organization any further in this RFP process. Clarifications can be requested from: Thea_Kvintradze@wvi.org UCR Project Supply Chain Team Request For Proposal: Qualitative Research of Ukrainian Childrens Perspective on their Wellbeing Status to Inform Further Advocacy (Moldova) November 2023 World Vision International Ukraine Crisis Response STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY All information within this RFP, regardless of the communication form, is given in absolute confidence and may not be disclosed without written permission from World Vision International. 1. Introduction 1.1 Invitation to Bid 1.2 Information about World Vision 2. Project Background 2.1 Goals and Objectives 2.2 RFP Timetable 2.3 World Vision Contact and mode of submitting proposals. 3. Instructions for Intent to Respond and Submitting Proposals 4. Required Written Response 4.1 Company Information 4.2 Terms of References 4.3 Pricing and Pricing Methodology 5. Evaluation and Agreement Formation 5.1 Evaluation Criteria 5.2 Agreement Formation Appendix 1 Intent to Respond Form Appendix 2 Standard Terms and Conditions 1. Introduction 1.1 Invitation to Bid World Vision International, together with its affiliated offices across the globe that make up the World Vision Partnership, (World Vision) invites your organization to submit a proposal for Qualitative Research of Ukrainian Childrens Perspective on their Wellbeing Status to Inform Further Advocacy, based on the Terms of References, requirements and terms and conditions set forth in this Request for Proposal (RFP). This RFP describes our current understanding of our needs, however these needs are subject to change. 1.2 Information about World Vision What World Vision is: World Vision is a non-profit, non-denominational Christian humanitarian aid and development organization that is dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. With its origins in the 1950s, World Vision is backed up by more than 2.5 million supporters, 20,000 churches, hundreds of corporations, and governments in nearly 100 countries. Who we serve: We serve poor children, families, and communities. Through means such as emergency relief, education, health care, economic development and promotion of justice, approximately 40,000 World Vision staff members assist impoverished communities help themselves. Our work touches approximately 100 million people in nearly 100 countries, assisting people regardless of religion, ethnic background, or gender. Why we serve: Motivated by our faith in Jesus, we serve the poor unconditionally, recognizing their individual dignity and honoring their God-given potential. Some ways in which we serve: Community Development -- Each communitys needs are different. We provide the resources that enable people to discover and use their own ideas and skills to move from poverty to self-sufficiency. Communities develop such things as access to clean water, reliable food production, basic health services, educational opportunities, microfinance programs to generate income, and AIDS prevention and care. Emergency Response -- We respond to natural disasters and long-term humanitarian emergencies. We track potential crises, pre-position emergency supplies for effective rapid response, and remain after the crisis to help people rebuild their communities. Protecting Children -- We believe in every childs individual worth. We advocate for their well-being: for a world where orphans are cared for; where children are no longer forced to be soldiers, prostitutes, or laborers; and where they are safe and free from oppression. For further information, we encourage you to visit our website at www.wvi.org. 2. Project Background 2.1 Goals and Objectives World Vision is a child-focused organization operating in various contexts rendering the full range of interventions: from humanitarian to development. However, regardless of the context specifics, it is core to the World Vision values to ensure that childrens voices, including of those on the move, are heard. The purpose of undertaking this research is to collect and analyze qualitative data on the perspectives of displaced Ukrainian children residing in Ukraine and host countries covered by the WV UCR programming to amplify their voices with regards to their well-being through advocacy and communication. This information will be used to further inform our programming, including humanitarian assistance and advocacy efforts, to further support children and their families. The ultimate award, if any, resulting from this RFP will only apply to the World Vision offices 2.2 RFP Timetable Time used is Local Time. Event Date RFP Release November 20, 2023 Response of Intent to Bid November 25, 2023; 18:00 Proposal Submission Deadline November 27, 2023; 18:00 Evaluation November 27-29, 2023 Award November 29, 2023 Contract Signing November 30, 2023 2.3 World Vision Contact and mode of submitting proposals. Interested Consultants will submit any inquiries, responses of intent to bid, clarification requests and submissions (proposals should be password protected) related to this RFP to the following WV contact: Thea_Kvintradze@wvi.org The technical and financial proposals and all related documents must be sent as password protected documents to the email address provided above so that they cannot be opened until after submission deadline. The password(s) for opening the proposal and related documents should only be released within 6 hours from the submission deadline through a separate email sent to the same email address. Interested Consultants may not enter into communications with other World Vision staff about this RFP without the prior written permission requested and provided through the email address given above. 3. Instructions for Intent to Respond and Submitting Proposals It is requested that Interested Consultants notify in writing the individual listed in Section 2.3 either accepting World Visions invitation to participate in this RFP process or expressing your intention not to participate. It is encouraged that for Interested Consultants to do so by e-mailing the Intent to Respond Form set forth in Appendix Ino later than close of business on November 25, 2023. Interested Consultants also need to designate the name of the person within your organization who will serve as the main contact for this process, along with his/her title, address, phone number and e-mail address. You agree to destroy any and all information in this document if you choose to decline participation our RFP process. An exploratory conference call may be arranged to assist in the preparation of your written response and presentation/demonstration. If so, you agree to absorb any costs incurred in so doing. Please contact the individual listed in Section 2.3 should you need such a conference call. To ensure that the same level of information is conveyed equally to all Interested Consultants, World Vision reserves the right to share questions and responses with all other Interested Consultants. You must submit electronic copy of your response through the provided email address, so that they are received by World Vision by 00 hours (Georgia Local Time) November 27, 2023. The proposals should be sent as password protected documents. The passwords should be sent through a separate email within 6 hours after the submission deadline. Any response received after this date and time shall be considered non-responsive, and World Vision would not be obligated to engage your organization any further in this RFP process. All responses and supporting documentation shall become the property of World Vision and will not be returned. World Vision ultimately reserves the right throughout this process to select any servicing option that best meets its business requirements and to hold discussions with any and all respondents. You must agree to the following conditions if you choose to respond to World Vision regarding this RFP: Neither issuance of this RFP nor receipt of proposals represents a commitment on the part of World Vision International, World Vision or any office within the World Vision Partnership. If World Vision chooses your organization, the terms and conditions in Appendix 2 is a non-inclusive list of terms and conditions that will be included in any binding agreement between you and World Vision International, World Vision or any office in the World Vision Partnership. In your proposal submitted to World Vision, you must indicate any issues you may have in accepting any of these terms and conditions. World Vision will not be responsible for, or in anyway liable for, any costs incurred by Interested Consultants in the preparation of any responses or presentations relating to this RFP. This document is provided for the exclusive use of your organization and copies shall not be made available to any other party, without written consent from the individual listed in Section 2.3. Both you and World Vision acknowledge that they may come in contact with non-public information, which is considered confidential or proprietary to the other, including this document itself. Each party agrees not to use such information for its own benefit or allow it to be released to or used by others. Each party agrees to exercise reasonable care to prevent disclosure to any third party. Neither party shall use the name of the other in publicity releases, referrals, advertising, or similar activity without the prior written consent of the other. 4. Required Written Response Interested Consultants need to respond in a format that refers to the following sections and numbered items and must specifically address each and every request for information contained herein. If you are unable to comply with any information requested, an explanation must be provided as part of the response. 4.1 Company Information Supplier Registration (template attached); Signed Code of Conduct and policy acknowledgement letter (template attached); Technical proposal, including timeline, qualification and experience of the key personnel; Financial Proposal, including the detailed budget to complete the assignment; Contact details of three references; Other documents as per the TOR. (File) 4.2 Terms of References Refer to Annexes for Terms of References and additional information. (File) 4.3 Pricing and Pricing Methodology Consultant must provide cost effective pricing model to World Vision International and include all costs and expenditures related to the assignment. 5. Evaluation and Agreement Formation 5.1 Evaluation Criteria World Vision will evaluate proposals and select the successful consultant at its discretion. A few criteria it may use, include, but are not limited to the following: Quality, reputation, and performance of providing SERVICES in a global environment. World Vision requires an opportunity to evaluate models/samples for testing. Thoroughness of proposal preparation. Demonstrated excellence in service, support and extended warranties on a global basis. Competitive pricing with the capacity to provide advance and locked global pricing as part of a very demanding marketing schedule. Ability to deliver the requested services by the required dates. Ability of the selected Consultant to work with World Vision to provide the high quality services The availability of the Consultant to provide services. World Vision may require physical or virtual presentations by Interested Consultants after written proposals are received and reviewed by World Vision. If we require such a presentation, the Procurement office will schedule a time and inform the service provider of the mode of presentation. Each interested consultant should be prepared to discuss and substantiate any of the areas of the proposal that is submitted, its qualifications for the services required and any other area of interest relative to its proposal. The least cost technically acceptable consultant will be awarded the contract. 5.2 Agreement Formation World Vision will carefully evaluate all proposals received. World Vision will select the Consultant that has made the best overall proposal and execute a written agreement based on this RFP, the submitted proposal, and the negotiations concerning these. Issuance of this RFP, the preparation and submission of responses by Interested Consultants and the subsequent receipt and evaluation of responses by World Vision shall not commit World Vision to award a contract to any Consultant. Furthermore, in no event shall choosing a specific Consultant for presentation, negotiations or otherwise be construed to create any legal obligations on the part of World Vision. Only the execution of a written agreement by World Vision International, World Vision or an office within the World Vision Partnership and a Consultant will be binding on the relevant parties in accordance with the terms and conditions contained in such agreement. 5.4 Offers should be submitted: Only via email at this address: urmd_t@wvi.org Offers/applications received in other email addresses other urmd_t@wvi.org and after the deadline will not be accepted. Suppliers/Service providers that fail to comply with the preselection required documents can result not to be considered for further comparison. Appendix 1 Intent to Respond Form RFP: [ services] To: [ADD RFP POINT OF CONTACT NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE AND E-MAIL IN BOLD] From: Company Name: _________________________________________ Contact Name: _________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Telephone: _________________________________________ Fax: _________________________________________ E-Mail: _________________________________________ Please state your intentions with regard to this RFP by checking one of the boxes below: q We intend to respond to this RFP by [ADD PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE]. q We are not responding to this RFP and will destroy all associated materials by [ADD DATE RECOMMEND 24 HOURS AFTER RESPONSE TO SUBMIT INTEND TO BID DEADLINE]. The reason we have decided not to respond is: _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Signature of Contact Person Date Appendix 2 Standard Terms and Conditions Parties to Agreement The binding Agreement may be entered into by (1) the chosen winning respondent (CONSULTANT) and World Vision International (WVI) with the ability of other World Vision offices worldwide to receive goods and services under that Agreement from WVI or CONSULTANT, (2) CONSULTANT and WVI and its affiliated World Vision offices, (3) CONSULTANT and any office in the World Vision Partnership, or (4) whatever other arrangement that the World Vision offices determine would be most suited for the Partnerships procurement needs. Any World Vision party will be referred to as WORLD VISION for purposes of these Standard Terms and Conditions. Most Favored Nation CONSULTANT warrants and represents that the discount or prices with respect to the services provided pursuant to the Agreement are comparable to or better than the discount or prices offered prior to and as of the effective date, by CONSULTANT to any of its customers with respect to similar services. Taxes CONSULTANT has sole responsibility for the payment of all applicable taxes (income, audit, unemployment, etc.) relating to CONSULTANT and CONSULTANTs employees arising from payments received under this Agreement Insurance CONSULTANT has sole responsibility under this Agreement to obtain any and all insurance needed to provide the services herein. Neither CONSULTANT nor CONSULTANTs employees, workers, or subcontractors shall be deemed employees of WORLD VISION for any purposes, nor shall they participate in any WORLD VISION employee benefit or insurance programs. Acceptance The acceptability of any goods and/or services provided by CONSULTANT will be based on WORLD VISION's reasonable satisfaction. If any of the goods and/or services is not acceptable, WORLD VISION will notify CONSULTANT within thirty (30) days of receipt, specifying its reasons in reasonable detail, and CONSULTANT will, at no additional cost, promptly conform the goods and/or services to WORLD VISION's reasonable satisfaction. Security and Evacuation CONSULTANTs services hereunder may be performed in a country with existing or potential political or social unrest. CONSULTANT agrees to assume all risks, including damage to person and property, resulting from any such unrest. CONSULTANT is solely responsible for the safety of CONSULTANTs property and employees, and for obtaining any desired insurance protections with respect to CONSULTANTs work in such countries. Should CONSULTANT be performing services in a country where WORLD VISION has operations, CONSULTANT will coordinate with WORLD VISION on security issues. WORLD VISION may include CONSULTANT in the security and evacuation planning and procedures that WORLD VISION conducts for its own staff, but CONSULTANT is responsible for assessing the adequacy of such plans and procedures to CONSULTANTs own satisfaction and making alternative arrangements if judged necessary by CONSULTANT. Confidentiality CONSULTANT agrees to not discuss the terms of this Agreement with any third party without written consent from WORLD VISION. CONSULTANT agrees to hold in confidence for the benefit of WORLD VISION any and all non-public information which may be disclosed to CONSULTANT or to which CONSULTANT may have access, as a result of this Agreement, including the results of CONSULTANTs services hereunder. No Assignment or Subcontracting CONSULTANT shall not assign its rights or obligations under this Agreement, in whole or in part, nor enter into any subcontract to perform any portion of this Agreement, without the written consent of WORLD VISION. Representations by CONSULTANT CONSULTANT hereby represents and warrants to WORLD VISION that: All goods furnished hereunder shall be free from defects in workmanship and material. For a period of one (1) year from the date of installation by WORLD VISION, and for so long as WORLD VISION is entitled to receive maintenance for the hardware, the hardware when used in accordance with its Documentation will be free from defects in material and workmanship. In the event any item of hardware fails to conform to the forgoing warranty, CONSULTANT shall, at WORLD VISION's sole option (a) repair or replace the non-conforming hardware within five (5) business days at CONSULTANT's sole cost and expense or (b) refund the purchase price of the affected hardware. CONSULTANT is in compliance with all applicable laws regarding business permits and licenses that may be required to carry out the work to be performed under this Agreement. CONSULTANT has full rights to use and to transfer to WORLD VISION any intellectual property utilized in performing this Agreement. WORLD VISIONs use of the services in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, does not and will not violate, infringe or misappropriate any intellectual property rights or the laws or regulations of any governmental or judicial authority. CONSULTANT is not a party to any agreement restricting CONSULTANTs ability to enter into this Agreement, and CONSULTANTs performance of this Agreement does not require the consent of any person or entity; Indemnification CONSULTANT agrees to indemnify and hold harmless WORLD VISION, and any of its affiliates or subsidiaries, and all of the officers, agents, and employees of WORLD VISION and such entities, from any and all claims, liabilities, loss, or damages arising out of the performance of this Agreement, except to the extent that such claims or liabilities arise from the gross negligence of WORLD VISION or its affiliates or subsidiaries. Termination WORLD VISION may terminate this Agreement at any time upon 30 days written notice for any other reason. In the event of such a termination, CONSULTANT will be paid approved fees and expenses for good provided in accordance with this Agreement up to the date of termination. This Agreement may be terminated immediately by either Party in the event of a breach of the provisions herein by the other Party, in addition to whatever remedies or damages are provided under the governing law. This Agreement may be terminated by either Party in the event of any intervening force majeure (natural disaster, war, etc.) recognized under the governing law. In the event of such a termination, CONSULTANT will be paid approved fees and expenses for goods provided in accordance with this Agreement up to the date of termination. An appeal to allow more than half a billion pounds held by the dormant National Fund charity to be distributed to other voluntary organisations has been rejected in court. Last week, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court judgment from 2022 that said the charitys funds should be sent to the Treasury to help pay off the national debt. The Fund was set up by banker Gaspard Farrer in 1928 with the aim of paying off the UKs national debt following the First World War. But the Funds trustee Zedra Fiduciary Services had argued that the assets should instead be used either to fund existing charities or create a new charitable trust. The High Court judgment last year said that giving the Funds assets to charities did not meet its original purpose to benefit the nation as the money would only support such part of the citizens of the United Kingdom that benefited from the charities to whom the grants were made. Last weeks Court of Appeal judgment upheld the previous ruling, stating that it cannot be said that it was any part of Mr Farrers intention to establish a permanent endowment fund for general charitable purposes. In my judgment, the judges evaluative conclusion is one which he was entitled to reach. I would dismiss the appeal, the judgment states. Creation of the National Fund The anonymous donor who founded the National Fund was identified in 2021 as banker Gaspard Farrer. Other philanthropists contributed to the Fund but it has not received any donations since 1985. Following research into the Fund by Civil Society , the Labour Party pushed the government to make the money available to other charities. However, the attorney general brought a case in 2018 to argue that its assets should be transferred to the Treasury instead to align with its original purpose to pay off the national debt. The Funds investments and other assets amounted to 605m in April 2022, according to the Charity Commission website, while the UK national debt stood at 2.60tn at the end of September 2023. Options for transferring funds to charities The judgment noted three ways possible models for transferring the Funds assets to charities, as suggested by former Acevo chief executive Stephen Bubb. Sir Stephen has suggested three possible models for the new trust. Option A is to make an immediate distribution of the National Fund for charitable purposes. Option B is to establish a new grant-making trust. Option C is to establish a new wholesaler, making grants and loans through other existing charitable organisations. The Court of Appeal noted, as had the High Court, that the Funds assets could be put to more suitable and effective purposes by being transferred to charities. However, it said this was outweighed by the fact that transferring the money to the Treasury was more in the spirit of the original gift and that doing so would ensure the money is applied for charitable purposes which are close to the original purposes. 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, Stockfotos-MG / Adobe Heart of England Community Foundation Inclusive Communities Fund Grants available: 15,000 - 300,000. Deadline to apply: 4 January 2024. Who is the funding for? Grants will be available for activities and services that bring people together, improve health and wellbeing and help the region of the West Midlands to grow. Available to communities in and around Birmingham, the activities must fall within the themes of sport, mental health and wellbeing and arts and culture. When will you hear back? Unspecified. Find out more here. Pilotlight and Garfield Weston Foundation Weston Charity Awards Grants available: up to 6,500. Deadline to apply: 10 January 2024. Who is the funding for? Applications are now open for the Weston Charity Awards, where 22 charities will be awarded up to 6,500. Registered charities that have at least one full-time paid member of staff and an income of less than 5m a year are eligible to apply. The charity must be working to alleviate disadvantages for communities, the environment, young people and more. The leader of the charity applying must be willing to travel to central London for a minimum of four out of ten meetings. When will you hear back? May 2024. Find out more here. Big Give Green Match Fund Grants available: Match-funding. Deadline to apply: 16 January 2024. Who is the funding for? UK-registered charities with an income of at least 25,000 per year that are working on environmental issues are being invited to apply for match funding. The campaign will run from 18 25 April and will coincide with World Earth Day. It is seeking to raise over 10m for the charities taking part, more than double the amount raised last year. When will you hear back? February 2024. Find out more here. 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, CHICAGO (AP) Federal safety officials investigating a Chicago commuter train crash that injured nearly 40 people when it slammed into snow-removal equipment are focusing on a design problem with its braking system. National Transportation Safety Board Chairperson Jennifer Homendy said the Chicago Transit Authority train was traveling at 26.9 mph (43.3 kilometers per mile) on Thursday when it struck the snow-removal equipment, which was on the tracks conducting training for the winter season. She said that based on preliminary information she believes that equipment, with six CTA workers onboard, was stopped when the train crashed into it. Homendy said NTSB`s initial calculations based on the train`s speed and other factors such as the number of passengers on board indicate it was designed to stop within 1,780 feet (542.5 meters) to avoid something its path. But that didn`t happen, and it crashed into the snow-removal equipment. Our team was able to determine that it was in fact a design problem. The braking distance should have been longer, she said Saturday during a briefing with reporters, adding that a brand new system on the same tracks would have had 2,745 feet (837 meters) to stop to avoid a crash. Homendy said NTSB investigators are very focused on the design issue and the braking and why the train didnt stop. She said they are also reviewing CTAs braking algorithm to determine whether or not it is sufficient. Investigators know the train`s wheels were slipping as the conductor was braking the train prior to the impact and they have found thick, black debris residue on the tracks that are still being assessed, she said. Homendy said the NTSB has determined there was nothing wrong with CTAs signal system and how it communicated with the train, but again cautioned that is a preliminary finding that could change. CTA data shows that during November there have been 50 other times when its trains have had to slow down due to other equipment stopped on the tracks ahead, and none of those resulted in a crash, Homendy said. She said investigators cannot say yet whether other CTA trains might also have similar braking system issues, but she stressed that CTAs system is safe. I would take the train tonight, tomorrow. I have no safety concerns about taking the train, Homendy said, noting that 43,000 Americans die in motor vehicle crashes each year. In Thursday`s crash, the CTA train was heading south from Skokie when it rear- ended the snow-removal equipment on Chicago`s North Side. Thirty-eight people were hurt; 23 were taken to area hospitals. No one suffered life-threatening injuries, officials said. Top photo: A person is taken away via ambulance after a Chicago Transit Authority train crashed into a piece of equipment that was on the rails near the Howard CTA station on the North Side, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023 in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin /Chicago Sun-Times via AP) The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO)'s new music director on Monday pledged to closely collaborate with Korean musicians and artists, nurture young conductors and embark on global tours during his five-year tenure starting in January 2024. Jaap van Zweden, the New York Philharmonic's music director, was appointed as the SPO's new director early this year. The Dutch maestro stressed the importance of collaborating with all art organizations of the city, ranging from opera to ballet, at a press conference outlining his vision and music programs for the 2024 season. Working together with them is "central and extremely important" for him to "recognize the strength of Korea," van Zweden said, adding Seoul is not only the city of music but also a city of art. He also emphasized the importance of global tours in improving the ensemble's competence and international profile. "If you want to have an international sound and reputation, you have to go international. So we are looking at touring in the U.S., Europe and of course in the East Asia," the maestro said. The director further elaborated on his plan to nurture young Korean conductors, suggesting, for example, holding "an open audition" to select some talented ones and invite them to work together with the SPO, similar to a program he ran in Switzerland. "I see it as my responsibility, and our responsibility, that we treasure talent from this country," he said, adding, "I see it as my duty to develop a relationship with young conductors." He said he started the Swiss conductor nurturing program in 2016 with only four students, but the program received a staggering 284 applications last year. While van Zweden's tenure officially starts in January, he has already conducted the SPO four times this year two for the SPO's regular programs and another two at free public concerts. "After a few weeks of working with the SPO, we started to get to know each other. I can feel, sort of, starting a love affair (with it) to make music together, and we are, I would say, on a musical safari in a way." "It is a huge joy for me to work finally with the Korean orchestra and to see all this incredible talent coming together and to see what kind of a journey we can make in the coming five years," he said. The ensemble is set to perform with pianist Lim Yunchan at its first official performance in early January to mark its new chapter with van Zweden. The concert, titled "New Era with Jaap van Zweden," is slated for Jan. 25-26 and marks Lim's first collaboration with the SPO. Lim, the youngest winner of the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will join the orchestra for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor." The SPO said it plans to record all the symphonies by German composer Gustav Mahler during van Zweden's tenure. (Yonhap) More households, businesses unable to pay interest By Lee Kyung-min Koreas corporate debt in the non-financial sector relative to the countrys GDP grew at the second-fastest rate in the world as of September, a major warning sign for the economy already known for the fastest-growing level of household debt for the past four years straight. Heavier interest burdens brought on by years of rising rates have been and will continue to prove restrictive in restoring the purchasing power of low-income borrowers in both the household and corporate sectors, thereby reducing consumption in the already-slow economy. The sapped vitality of the market together with elevated default risks could potentially crash the economy in a matter of months, unless policy measures are outlined and then implemented so as to insulate vulnerable borrowers. According to a Global Debt report by the Institute of International Finance (IIF), Koreas non-financial corporate debt-to-GDP ratio came to 126.1 percent as of September, third only to Hong Kong (267.9 percent) and China (166.9 percent). Koreas corporate default rate is about 40 percent, second only to the Netherlands which has around 60 percent. A growing number of companies with low credit ratings are showing signs of vulnerabilities, a result of reduced private lending by banks in European countries among others, the report said. The rising numbers of companies with higher default risks are clear illustrations of them. Koreas household debt-to-GDP ratio came to 100.2 percent in the third quarter, the highest among 34 countries. The country topped the list in 2020 right after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and has since maintained the same spot for the past four years. Korea was the only country with its GDP being exceeded by its household debt. More concerning is the soaring household debt. Data from Koreas top five commercial lenders KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NongHyup showed their combined outstanding household loans rose more than 6.8 trillion won ($5.2 billion) in October from a month earlier. November is likely to see the growth rate remain just as fast, as evidenced by household debt coming to 689.5 trillion won as of Nov. 16, up 3.5 trillion won from 686.1 trillion won, as of the end of October. The figure for the amount of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises as well as large corporations stood at 766.38 trillion won as of Nov. 16, up 2.69 trillion won from the end of last month. Their loans that have not paid interest for 90 days came to a combined 2.89 trillion won as of the third quarter, up 27.3 percent from the end of last years 2.27 trillion won. Data from Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee, showed that the delinquency rate of corporate borrowers came to 0.37 percent as of the second quarter, the highest since the first quarter of 2021 when it hit the same level. The government should outline a policy package to unburden low-income borrowers, Seoul National University Emeritus Professor Lee In-ho said. The Amazon Spheres, part of the Amazon headquarters campus, right, in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, U.S., on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Three Amazon staffers sued their employer on Monday alleging gender discrimination and accusing the company of retaliation after they complained of "chronic pay inequity issues." Caroline Wilmuth, Katherine Schomer and Erin Combs, who work in various roles within Amazon's corporate research and strategy division, alleged the company assigns female staffers lower job titles for the same roles that are held by men with higher titles and larger salaries. The company then "regularly fails" to promote women, "resulting in the performance of similar work as men in higher job codes for less compensation." Starting in late 2021, the three women raised these concerns to their managers and Amazon's Human Resources Department, which triggered an investigation into whether the employees were being misclassified due to their gender. Wilmuth said that of the four researchers on her team, three female employees were classified in lower-paid job categories, while the only male researcher was classified in a higher-paid, higher-level role. The male researcher made "approximately 150% of Schomer's salary," the complaint said. Wilmuth, Schomer and Combs allege that Amazon retaliated against them "within weeks" of their speaking out by demoting them, "severely" reducing their job scope and moving their direct reports to another team that was overseen by a male executive, who they had accused of gender discrimination. "When I discovered that I was being paid significantly less than men on my team, it stunned and devastated me," Wilmuth said in a statement. "Amazon then made it worse after I complained by taking away the team that I founded and built from scratch and demoting me to a position that had much less career advancement opportunity." In March, an investigator assigned to look into Wilmuth's concerns determined that Amazon's decision to shift her reports to another team overseen by a male executive had a "disparate impact" on women, according to the complaint. During the probe, the investigator spoke to the male researcher on Wilmuth's team, who acknowledged the reorganization was "discriminatory, done across gender lines" and harmed Wilmuth, Schomer and Combs. Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser disputed the lawsuit, saying in a statement, "We believe these claims are false and will demonstrate that through the legal process." He added that Amazon doesn't tolerate discrimination in the workplace, and it investigates all reported incidents of such behavior. The class-action lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The complaint was filed by Outten & Golden, the same New York law firm that represented a Google executive in her successful gender bias lawsuit, as well as Uber software engineers who sued the company for gender and racial discrimination. Amazon has faced allegations of gender and racial discrimination from tech and corporate workers in recent years. The company in 2021 opened a review into its employee review system following allegations of racial bias, and a separate investigation into discrimination and bias in its cloud computing unit. Last April, Amazon announced it was conducting a racial equity audit of its front-line employee workforce, led by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch. WATCH: Amazon partners with Snap to feature shopping ads A microbiologist at the Max-Planck-Institute for Infection Biology prepares a bacterial colony of the strain Streptococcus pyogenes on a blood agar plate. Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images Already recognized as one of the leading public health threats facing humanity today, it is feared that a warming world is making it harder to stop the insidious spread of drug-resistant superbugs. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which the World Health Organization has referred to as the "silent pandemic," is an often overlooked and growing global health crisis. The United Nations health agency has previously declared AMR to be one of the top 10 global threats to human health and says an estimated 1.3 million people die every year directly due to resistant pathogens. That figure is on track to "soar dramatically" without urgent action, the WHO says, leading to higher public health, economic and social costs and pushing more people into poverty, particularly in low-income countries. Antimicrobials, which include life-saving antibiotics and antivirals, are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans and animals. Their overuse and misuse, however, is known to be the chief driver of the AMR phenomenon. AMR occurs when microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites develop the ability to persist or even grow despite the presence of drugs designed to kill them. People look at the wildfire raging in a forest in Sikorahi, near Alexandroupoli, northern Greece, on August 23, 2023. Sakis Mitrolidis | Afp | Getty Images Making matters worse, research has shown that climate change is exacerbating the AMR crisis in several ways. "Climate change is intrinsically important because of what's going on with our planet and the problem is that the more our temperatures rise, the more infectious diseases can transmit and that includes AMR bacteria," Tina Joshi, associate professor of molecular microbiology at the U.K.'s University of Plymouth, told CNBC via videoconference. "AMR bacteria is known as a silent pandemic. The reason its known as silent is that no one knows about it and it's really sad that no one seems to care," Joshi said. A 'completely broken' diagnostics pipeline A report published by the UN Environment Program earlier this year, entitled "Bracing for Superbugs," illustrates the role of the climate crisis and other environmental factors in the development, spread and transmission of AMR. These include higher temperatures being associated with the rate of the spread of antibiotic resistant genes between microorganisms, the emergence of AMR due to the continuing disruption of extreme weather events and increased pollution creating favorable conditions for bugs to develop resistance. Scientists said earlier this month that an extraordinary run of global temperature records means 2023 is "virtually certain" to be the warmest year ever recorded. Extreme heat is fueled by the climate crisis, which makes extreme weather more frequent and more intense. It kind of boils down to the fact that it's not economically viable to actually invest in antibiotics and their development. And that is something that is rocking the antimicrobial world. Tina Joshi associate professor of molecular microbiology at the University of Plymouth Robb Butler, director of the division of communicable diseases, environment and health at WHO Europe, described AMR as "an extremely pressing global health challenge." "It's a huge health burden and it costs just the EU member states somewhere in the region of 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) per annum in health costs but also in loss of productivity. So, it's a phenomenal challenge," Butler told CNBC via telephone. Butler said he hoped the upcoming COP28 climate conference in the United Arab Emirates could provide a platform for international policymakers to start to recognize the association between the climate crisis and AMR. The UAE will host the U.N.'s annual climate summit from Nov. 30 through to Dec. 12. "The problem is that, of course, antibiotics or antimicrobials, are not that attractive for industry to develop. They are expensive, they are high-risk and we haven't seen over the last 20 years antimicrobial drugs developed with enough unique characteristics to avoid resistance." "We hear people talking about this 'silent pandemic,' but it shouldn't be silent. We should be making more noise about it," Butler said. "You would imagine the [coronavirus] pandemic could have been a wake-up call, but we still don't see enough attention to AMR." A petri dish remarking on the bacterial contamination of tray tables at the booth for Polygiene AB, which offers antimicrobial, antibacterial and anti odor technology, at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Butler said that perhaps his biggest concern was how to incentivize industry leaders to tackle AMR at a time when they are fully aware they may be better off investing in other research and development areas such as producing a highly profitable obesity drug, for example. "For me, that's the one that keeps me awake at night," Butler said. "I can think about how society might change through shocks to more prudently use antibiotics so that we don't build resistance to antibiotics. But if there is absolutely nothing in the pipeline with innovative characteristics then we've kind of lost," he added. "And that really, really concerns me." The University of Plymouth's Joshi echoed this view, describing the AMR diagnostics pipeline as "completely broken" and calling for policymakers to urgently reinvigorate this process. "It's not profit-making," she added. "It kind of boils down to the fact that it's not economically viable to actually invest in antibiotics and their development. And that is something that is rocking the antimicrobial world." The next pandemic? Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba tumbled around 10% last week after the company scrapped plans to spin off and list its cloud computing business. While investors have largely reacted negatively to the news, which was announced alongside quarterly earnings Thursday, Wall Street's analysts are split. While Morgan Stanley ripped off its "top pick" label on the stock, Barclays said Alibaba may have taken the "right decision" in shelving the break-up plans. BABA YTD line What the analysts are saying: Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley swiftly dropped Alibaba as its top pick in the internet sector. The bank cited a number of reasons for the decision including a "negative surprise on cloud IPO". The bank said the shock move makes its investment thesis "stale," prompting it to shift its top pick to Tencent instead. "Uncertainty about consumption recovery and cloud reacceleration along with backtracking on Cloud spin-off lead us to remove BABA as our top pick," said Morgan Stanley's analysts led by Gary Yu in a note to clients on Nov. 16. Although the Wall Street bank reiterated its overweight or buy rating on the stock, it lowered its price target to $110 from $125. The new target points to upside potential of around 42% for Alibaba's U.S. listed shares. Bernstein Bernstein analysts were equally scathing, describing Alibaba's earnings report as "lackluster" and said canceling the cloud spinoff exacerbates its "credibility problem" with investors. They also said another quarter of "anaemic" growth for Alibaba's core platforms shows the headwinds facing the business. The analysts added that canceling the cloud IPO right after announcing plans to better reward shareholders undermines confidence in management initiatives. "Cancellation of the Cloud spin-off came out of the blue, and puts paid to the last big 'initiative' supposed to improve shareholder returns. Coincidence or not, the fact two Form 144's filed a day before earnings captured as much attention as the Q2 numbers illustrates the task facing management to get investors to re-engage," Bernstein said. The investment bank cut its price target of $100 to $93. Barclays In contrast to its peers, Barclays said the move to scrap the spin-off plans could ultimately be the "right decision" given all the regulatory uncertainties. The Wall Street bank cautioned, however, that the IPO cancellation would be "disappointing" to investors as it removed a near-term catalyst for unlocking value. "BABA scrapping its widely anticipated cloud IPO removes a near-term catalyst for unlocking value, disappointing investors," said the bank's analysts led by Jiong Shao. "We consider it could be the right decision to make, although an unpleasant one for BABA's new senior leaders, who remain committed to returning shareholder value via buybacks and now annual dividends." The bank praised Alibaba's "aggressive" share repurchases, with $3 billion bought back in just the past four months. It also noted the $2.5 billion in newly announced annual dividends. Barclays reiterated its overweight rating and $138 price target on the stock, saying the new focus on dividends and buybacks can still make Alibaba shares attractive for long-term investors. JPMorgan JPMorgan analysts noted the Alibaba's cloud business missing growth estimates and a modest decline at its core business will worry investors. While applauding the newly announced dividend, JPMorgan said it won't be enough to offset investor disappointment over the aborted cloud spinoff plan. The Wall Street giant has a $150 price target on the U.S. listed stock, which represents around 93% upside potential. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on November 20, 2023. Just 48 hours after OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, was dismissed, the saga took a new turn. On Sunday, local time, OpenAI invited Altman back to the office for a meeting with the current interim CEO, Mira Murati, to discuss reinstatement. Altman also posted a photo on social media wearing an OpenAI visitor badge, stating that this was both his first and last time wearing such a badge. The OpenAI board was responsible for Altman's dismissal, but since then, he has received substantial support from a host of employees including OpenAI executives, as well as OpenAI investors. Insiders informed CNBC that investors, including Microsoft Corporation, Tiger Global Fund, and venture capital firm Thrive Capital, are actively working to restore Altman's position. Moreover, sources revealed that Sequoia Capital has been in constant contact with Altman, expressing their support regardless of whether he chooses to return to OpenAI or start a new company. Currently, negotiations hinge on the board. According to Bloomberg, Altman is open to returning but on the condition of seeing a transformation in the company's governance structure, including replacing current board members. The board, on the other hand, is concerned about Altman's efforts to raise funds for projects outside of OpenAI. The Financial Times reported that before his dismissal, Altman had approached Middle Eastern investors and Japan's SoftBank Group with a proposal to raise $100 billion to establish a new chip company to compete with Nvidia and TSMC. The personnel upheaval at OpenAI actually reflects a long-standing structural issue. Originally a non-profit organization, OpenAI transitioned to a new structure under Altman's realization that AI development required funding to sustain operations. This led to a unique hybrid model: a non-profit parent company with a for-profit subsidiary. This structure harbored an inherent contradiction: balancing the non-profit's vision of developing safe AI for humanity with the for-profit's need to rapidly launch products and attract customers. OpenAI has undoubtedly been a catalyst in the recent surge of interest in generative AI, but how will the internal turmoil at OpenAI affect the competitive landscape in the AI sector? Firstly, analysts point out that Microsoft, which owns 49% of OpenAI, will be impacted. Notably, Microsoft has established a long-term, in-depth collaboration with OpenAI, and this strategy of putting all eggs in one basket makes Microsoft highly susceptible to any changes at OpenAI. After the news of Altman's dismissal, Microsoft's stock price also took a hit. Secondly, analysts believe the current turmoil at OpenAI could provide opportunities for other competitors, including both small and medium-sized startups and large cloud computing companies. Diversified investment strategies by Google and Amazon might enable them to benefit from the situation. Alex Kantrowitz Founder of Big Technology "We're going to see it's going to reshuffle the way that this AI battle has been playing out. So Google gains, obviously, because they not only have that anthropic investment, but they have Gemini coming out. But I think the big winner is going to be Amazon, Amazon has been about 'Bring Your Own Model' and using it within the Amazon web services ecosystem." European markets saw a cautious start Monday following a strong week, as the slew of third-quarter earnings slows down. The regional Stoxx 600 index closed 0.1% higher after moving either side of the flatline through the morning. Food and beverage stocks ended the session 0.5% lower while as oil and gas stocks led gains, up 1.3%. German pharmaceutical firm Bayer plunged around 18% after announcing late Sunday it had stopped trials of a new anti-clotting drug due to "lack of efficiency." COVID-19 home test kits are pictured in a store window during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 19, 2022. The Biden administration on Monday said it is offering another round of free at-home Covid tests to U.S. households ahead of the holiday season, when more people gather indoors and the virus typically spreads at higher levels. Starting Monday, Americans can use COVIDtests.gov to request four free tests per household. Those who have not ordered any tests this fall can now place two orders for a total of eight tests, according to the website. The administration in September allowed people to request an initial round of four free tests through the site, resuming a federal program that temporarily shut down during a political fight over Covid funding. At-home tests are a critical tool to protect against the virus, especially now that lab PCR tests the traditional method of detecting Covid have become more expensive and less accessible since the government ended the public health emergency in May. But demand for tests, along with Covid vaccines and treatments, has plummeted over the last year as cases and public concern about the virus dwindled from earlier in the pandemic. Signatories include some of OpenAI's most senior executives. Former interim CEO Mira Murati and OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap are the first two signatories on the letter. Murati was appointed as CEO following Altman's exit but was then succeeded by Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear . The letter says that Microsoft has "assured" those employees that they would have jobs at the new subsidiary, should they "choose to join." "Your actions have made it obvious that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI," the letter says. About 667 people have signed the letter. OpenAI has about 770 employees . Hundreds of OpenAI employees, including co-founder and board member Ilya Sutskever, have signed a letter demanding that either OpenAI's remaining board members resign or those OpenAI employees will join Sam Altman's new venture at Microsoft , according to NBCNews. Altman was forced out Friday by OpenAI's board , including Sutskever, which cited unspecified issues with his communications. That prompted a backlash from employees and investors, CNBC has previously reported, including Microsoft, Thrive Capital, and Sequoia . Multiple OpenAI employees voiced their support on social media as well. "OpenAI is nothing without its people," the missives said. In an about-face, Sutskever's name appears as a signature on the letter. He wrote Monday morning on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that he "deeply" regretted his participation in the "board's actions." The board then attempted to negotiate Altman's return, but those talks were unsuccessful. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Sunday announced that Altman and fellow OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman would join the company in a new, largely independent venture. Nadella's announcement also referred to their "colleagues" joining Microsoft, although the number wasn't clear. Microsoft declined to comment on whether it would hire employees who choose to leave OpenAI. OpenAI wasn't immediately available to comment on the letter. Here's the full note, emphasis theirs: "To the Board of Directors at OpenAI, OpenAI is the world's leading AI company. We, the employees of OpenAI, have developed the best models and pushed the field to new frontiers. Our work on AI safety and governance shapes global norms. The products we built are used by millions of people around the world. Until now, the company we work for and cherish has never been in a stronger position. The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board has jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company. Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI. When we all unexpectedly learned of your decision, the leadership team of OpenAI acted swiftly to stabilize the company. They carefully listened to your concerns and tried to cooperate with you on all grounds. Despite many requests for specific facts for your allegations, you have never provided any written evidence. They also increasingly realized you were not capable of carrying out your duties, and were negotiating in bad faith. The leadership team suggested that the most stabilizing path forward - the one that would best serve our mission, company, stakeholders, employees and the public - would be for you to resign and put in place a qualified board that could lead the company forward in stability. Leadership worked with you around the clock to find a mutually agreeable outcome. Yet within two days of your initial decision, you again replaced interim CEO Mira Murati against the best interests of the company. You also informed the leadership team that allowing the company to be destroyed "would be consistent with the mission." Your actions have made it obvious that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI. We are unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgement and care for our mission and employees. We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAI employees at this new subsidiary should we choose to join. We will take this step imminently, unless all current board members resign, and the board appoints two new lead independent directors, such as Bret Taylor and Will Hurd, and reinstates Sam Altman and Greg Brockman." CNBC's Jordan Novet and Hayden Field contributed to this report. North Korea said Monday that it will bolster its "war deterrence" capability as it accused the United States of heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula with planned arms sales to South Korea and Japan. Last week, the U.S. announced the potential sales of AIM-9X air-to-air missiles, Standard Missile-6 shipborne missile interceptors and related equipment under a government-to-government foreign military sale to South Korea. Washington also recently announced the approval of the potential sale of 400 Tomahawk missiles and related equipment to Japan. "We warn that the more the U.S. earns from indiscriminate arms sales, the higher the price it would have to pay for a security crisis," an unnamed official of North Korea's defense ministry said in a comment carried by the Korean Central News Agency. The criticism came as the recalcitrant regime is widely expected to make its third attempt to launch a military spy satellite in the coming days. Earlier in the day, the South Korean military warned the North to "immediately stop" preparations for another military spy satellite launch, vowing to take "necessary measures" if it presses ahead with the launch. On Sunday, Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said the North's launch could take place before South Korea launches its first indigenous reconnaissance satellite on Nov. 30. (Yonhap) Indonesian President Joko Widodo waving to the crowd while on his journey to Presidential Palace by carriage during the ceremonial parade on October 20, 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia when he was sworn in. Ulet Ifansasti | Getty Images News | Getty Images A year before stepping down as Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo is facing serious allegations of establishing a political dynasty through nepotism. The 61-year-old, known at home as Jokowi, is due to leave office in October 2024 after completing the maximum two terms as president. But critics and analysts say the leader, who has enjoyed consistently high approval ratings throughout his near decade-long tenure, is attempting to retain power through members of his close family. 1. Eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka Last month, his eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, was officially named the vice presidential running mate of Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto for the Feb. 14 general election race under the right-wing Gerindra Party. That came just days before the country changed the eligibility criteria for presidential or vice-presidential candidates, allowing individuals under the age of 40 to register for either role if they previously held regional posts. Gibran is the mayor of Solo. The constitutional court, which was helmed by the president's brother-in-law Anwar Usman at that time, was widely criticized for changing the law, which enabled Jokowi's son to contest the election. The court's ethics council has since ordered Anwar to be removed from his post as chief justice after finding him guilty of ethics violations. Most respondents see this kind of politics as tending to prioritize family interests over the interests of society. Kompas Research and Development According to a poll in mid-October by Kompas Research and Development, 60.7% of respondents consider the participation of Jokowi's eldest son Gibran in the election as a form of dynastic politics. "Most respondents see this kind of politics as tending to prioritize family interests over the interests of society," Kompas said in a report. "It is no wonder then that more than half of respondents in this poll stated their disagreement with the practice of dynastic politics." 2. Youngest son, Kaesang Pangarep Separately, Jokowi's youngest son, Kaesang Pangarep, was appointed chairman of the Indonesia Solidarity Party (PSI) in September, a few days after he officially became a party member. PSI, which launched in 2018, focuses on young voters through issues like women's rights, pluralism and corruption. It hopes to secure seats in the House of Representatives for the first time in the upcoming election. 3. Son-in-law, Bobby Nasution Adding to Jokowi's political chessboard is also his son-in-law Bobby Nasution, the current mayor of Medan. Jokowi is "trying to retain political influence through his sons and son-in-law, Medan mayor Bobby Nasution," said Julia Lau, senior fellow and co-coordinator of the Indonesia Studies Programme at Singapore's ISEASYusof Ishak Institute. Back home, Jokowi's loyalists are reportedly outraged, Reuters reported, saying that cabinet ministers within his inner circle have accused him of seeking to hang on to power through judicial interference and nepotism. According to Reuters, Andi Widjajanto, once Jokowi's right-hand man, resigned from his post as governor of the National Resilience Agency after the constitutional court ruling. Andi, who called the timing of his resignation deliberate, said: "As someone that worked with Jokowi for a long time I am very, very disappointed in him." A political dynasty? These are "nepotistic strategies," said Vedi Hadiz, director and professor at the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne. Jokowi's sons are "part of the broader plan" to form a political dynasty before he leaves office, he continued. "Kaesang Pangarep's ascent into the leadership of the PSI is geared to help achieve the aim of gaining victory for the Prabowo-Gibran pairing, as the PSI has moved, also controversially, into the Prabowo orbit lately." Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, second from the right, with his wife Iriana Widodo and sons Gibran Rakbuming Raka, far left, and Kaesang Pangarep, far right, taking part in the traditional wedding ceremony in preparation for the wedding of Jokowi's daughter in Solo, Central Java on Nov. 7, 2017. Afp Contributor | Afp | Getty Images Lau echoed the same sentiments. "Kaesang, 28, is a political neophyte and running on his father's coattails," she added, noting how the PSI has now become "a vehicle to channel the Widodo clan's aspirations." CNBC reached out to Indonesia's presidential palace for comment but did not hear back. These developments don't bode well for the country's already fragile state of democracy, which only emerged 25 years ago after decades of authoritarian rule. What is sure is that Widodo is playing a risky game in the last phase of his presidency. Julia Lau ISEASYusof Ishak Institute It also weighs heavily on Jokowi's reputation. The former furniture salesman captured national hearts when he became the country's first leader who didn't come from a political or military background, raising hopes of a pushback against elitist-led systems. But as his sons climb up the political ladder, critics are now drawing comparisons with existing political dynasties around Southeast Asia. "Many liberals and intellectuals in Indonesia are now calling for a deeper look into the corruption and weakening of several democratic institutions in the country, their constitutional court, the anti-corruption commission, etcetera, that has occurred on Widodo's watch," said Lau from ISEASYusof Ishak Institute. Following failed attempts by his team to extend Jokowi's tenure, she said, "this latest series of moves seems to be their way of trying to claw a permanent hold for themselves but may well backfire." "What is sure is that Widodo is playing a risky game in the last phase of his presidency," Lau added. The 'Jokowi effect' Analysts are now expecting what they call "a Jokowi effect" for the PSI and Gerindra parties. Choosing Gibran, Jokowi's eldest son, "is a clear signal by Prabowo's camp to associate its presidential bid with the successes of Jokowi-era programmes and policies," global research firm Asia House said in a report. "The nomination of Gibran as his vice-presidential candidate is likely to win Prabowo votes from Central Java where Jokowi's family is originally from and shift the support of Jokowi's supporters from Ganjar and PDIP to the Prabowo camp." The PDIP, or Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, is the country's ruling party. The PSI is also seeking to capitalize on the popularity of Jokowi, who has unusually high approval ratings for a two-term president. Israeli military has released further details of its findings following its ground incursion at the Al-Shifa hospital, including what it says is footage of a tunnel beneath the medical complex proving Hamas carried out operations on the premises. In an operational update delivered by Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler, the IDF showed a clip of what appeared to be a tunnel it said spans over 50 meters and is located beneath the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip. In addition to weapons, vests, intelligence and communication resources, the military said it found a car similar to those deployed in the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7 on the site of the hospital, adding that the vehicle was boobytrapped. "What does it mean to boobytrap a car that is at the center of the hospital complex? They did not only want to kill Israeli soldiers that they knew were coming there. They were willing and deliberately wanting also the patients and staff that is in the hospital to get hurt in that event," Shefler said. He added that the military was able to carry out its raid of Al-Shifa without "any kind of friction with the medical team" and to "facilitate" what hospital staff required. He added that the IDF brought medical equipment and supplies to Al-Shifa but did not clarify how these resources will be powered, amid severe fuel and electricity shortages that have rendered unusable the previous equipment of Al-Shifa, according to local health officials. CNBC could not independently verify the video footage and report. The IDF has been subject to intense pressure to provide evidence of Hamas using the Al-Shifa hospital as a command center and justify its ground incursion on a civilian site. Hamas and the Al-Shifa staff have previously denied the Palestinian militant group carries out operations from the medical site. Ruxandra Iordache The Ukrainian capital Kyiv endured a second successive night of drone attacks on Sunday, local officials said, while its forces claimed to have gained ground in the ongoing battle with Russian troops on the banks of the Dnieper River. Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said on Telegram that a barrage of ammunition was fired by Shahed drones over the capital. "The enemy's UAVs were launched by many groups and came to attack Kyiv in waves, from different directions, while constantly changing the vectors of movement along the route," Popko said. Air raid sirens were sounded several times in Kyiv, and no casualties or critical damage were recorded in the city according to currently available information, he added. BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 01: A view of the MasterCard company logo on their stand during the Mobile World Congress on March 1, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Joan Cros Garcia/Corbis via Getty Images) Mastercard is doubling down on its efforts to detect and prevent fraud that's routed through cryptocurrency exchanges. The company told CNBC exclusively that it's partnered with Feedzai, a regulatory technology platform that aims to combat money laundering and financial scams online using artificial intelligence. Through the partnership, Feedzai will integrate directly with Mastercard's CipherTrace Armada platform, which is used to help banks monitor transactions from over 6,000 crypto exchanges for fraud, money laundering and other suspicious activity. CipherTrace Armada will be embedded directly in Feedzai's technology, rather than accessed through an API, or application programming interface, with Feedzai "inhaling" the data to enable real-time alerts about suspicious crypto transactions. "This will increase fraud detection by protecting unwary consumers, but will also detect potential money laundering activity and mule accounts," Feedzai CEO and co-founder Nuno Sebastio told CNBC. Mule accounts are accounts of users that fraudsters exploit to launder their ill-gotten funds. An estimated 40% of scam transactions exit directly from a bank account to a crypto exchange today, according to Feedzai data. The tie-up will also give Mastercard access to Feedzai's artificial intelligence smarts. Feedzai says its software can identify and block suspicious transactions in a matter of nanoseconds but also recognize transactions that are legitimate. Feedzai's RiskOps platform analyzes transactions worth over $1.7 trillion annually. Co-headquartered in Coimbra, in Portugal, and San Mateo, California, in Silicon Valley, the firm holds close to 100 patents and secures an average of 10 patents per year to safeguard its technology. "Numerous banks that believe they are preventing illegitimate cryptocurrency transactions are, in fact, only blocking transactions involving the widely recognised and regulated entities within the crypto space and omitting the rest," Sebastio said. Chinese Coast Guard vessel (L) blocks the ML Kalayaan chartered supply boat (R) during a mission to deliver provisions at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on November 10, 2023. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP) (Photo by JAM STA ROSA/AFP via Getty Images) The Philippines has approached neighbors such as Malaysia and Vietnam to discuss a separate code of conduct regarding the South China Sea, its president said on Monday, citing limited progress towards striking a broader regional pact with China. Relations between the two have grown more tense under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has increasingly complained about China's "aggressive" behavior while rekindling strong ties with the Philippines' sole treaty ally, the United States. Speaking in Hawaii at a livestreamed event, Marcos said escalating tension in the South China Sea required the Philippines to partner with allies and neighbors to maintain peace in the busy waterway, with the situation now "more dire". "We are still waiting for the code of conduct between China and ASEAN and the progress has been rather slow unfortunately," Marcos said, referring to efforts by the grouping of Southeast Asian nations. "We have taken the initiative to approach those other countries around ASEAN with whom we have existing territorial conflicts, Vietnam being one of them, Malaysia being another and to make our own code of conduct. "Hopefully this will grow further and extend to other ASEAN countries." The embassies of China, Malaysia and Vietnam in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a possible code. The remarks by Marcos followed his meeting on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco. The leaders discussed ways to reduce tension in the disputed strategic waters after a series of confrontations this year. In the past few years, ASEAN and China have worked towards creating a framework to negotiate a code of conduct, a plan dating as far back as 2002. But progress has been slow despite commitments by all parties to advance and speed the process. ON-OFF CONFRONTATIONS Talks on components of the code have yet to start, with concerns about how far China, which claims ownership of most of the South China Sea, is committed to a binding set of rules that ASEAN nations want to align with existing international law. China stakes its claim on its maps with the use of a "nine-dash line" that loops as far as 1,500 km (900 miles) south of its mainland, cutting into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Manila and Beijing have engaged in on-off confrontations for years as China has become more assertive in pressing its maritime claims, alarming neighbors and other nations operating in the key trade route, such as the United States. China has turned submerged reefs into military installations equipped with radar, runways and missile systems, some inside the Philippines' EEZ. "The nearest reefs that the PLA has started to show interest in ... for building bases have come closer and closer to the Philippine coastline," said Marcos, referring to the People's Liberation Army Navy of China. "The situation has become more dire than it was before." By contrast, Marcos added, the United States "has always been behind us ... not only in terms of rhetoric, but also in terms of concrete support". Private jets are seen on the tarmac at Friedman Memorial Airport ahead of the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 5, 2022 in Sun Valley, Idaho. The world's richest 1% of people are responsible for around the same percentage of global carbon emissions as the 5 billion people who represent the 66% poorest, according to a report published Monday by Oxfam. The charity's analysis, conducted with the Stockholm Environment Institute, found both groups contributed to 16% of emissions in 2019. The wealthiest 10% were responsible for 50% of global emissions, it found, while the bottom 50% were responsible for just 8%. Within the top 1%, the report links one-third of the carbon emissions to personal consumption in the U.S., followed by China and the Gulf countries. The top 1% represents 77 million people and is defined in the report as having an estimated income threshold of $140,000 per year, and an average income of $310,000. The report notes that personal consumption varies depending on factors such as location, use of renewable energy and transport where the very wealthiest contribute significantly more due to the use of private jets and yachts. It also includes between 50% and 70% of emissions by the 1% coming through investments in companies, measured by taking firms' reported emissions and distributing that proportionate to shareholder ownership of those firms by the 1%. Billionaire investments in polluting industries were double that of the average investor, Oxfam and the SEI found. Following the pandemic, the state of mental health in America saw such a great decline that the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, categorized the country's levels of loneliness and isolation as a public health crisis. Yet, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who passed away on Sunday at her home in Plains, Georgia at the age of 96, advocated for mental health long before 2020. Early on, Carter recognized the disconnect between individuals with mental health conditions and people without them. Growing up, the former first lady had a distant cousin with a mental illness and could recall being frightened by his presence, according to CNN. DON'T MISS: Jimmy Carter: Being married for 75 years is an extraordinary thing here are his secrets for a successful relationship "He probably wanted nothing more than friendship and recognition, yet he was different, and when I heard him, my impulse was to flee," she wrote in her memoir. Reflecting on her own reaction helped Carter realize the need for improved care for people living with mental illnesses like her cousin, and she spent most of her time in the White House advocating for mental health. She made sure to hold her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, who is now 99 years old, to the same standard. Carter once recounted a time when she stood in line and waited to shake her husband's hand at one of his rallies. "What are you doing here?" Mr. Carter asked when he saw her in the line, according to an article by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. "I came to see what you are going to do to help people with mental illnesses when you become Governor," she replied. Jimmy Carter responded by telling her that he would aim to have "the best program in the country" for mental health, and put Rosalynn in charge of it, she said. During Jimmy's time as the governor of Georgia, Rosalynn was a member of the Governor's Commission to Improve Services to the Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped. In 1977, she and her husband, who was the U.S. President at the time, created a Presidential Commission on Mental Health. However, Rosalynn wasn't able to be the committee's chair because she received a note from the Department of Justice that a close relative of the president wasn't allowed to be appointed to the position, according to CNN. "There is, however, no problem with you being designated as honorary chairperson," she told the press. "So I'm going to be a very active honorary chairperson." But Carter's work didn't stop at PCMH. She also testified before Congress to advocate for improved mental health reform in 1979; she was the second first lady to testify before Congress, succeeding Eleanor Roosevelt. During Jimmy Carter's presidency, he and Rosalynn set up 123 community mental health centers, she told the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in an interview. "Now, these were by no means comprehensive. Some were just an office in the middle of a small town," she said. "But many times, just an office with a telephone, so that somebody could go by and find out where to go for help." The couple also founded The Carter Center, a nongovernmental organization devoted to improving lives, in 1982, just one year after the end of Carter's presidency. The organization has its own mental health program that aims to "bring together health leaders and organizations to discuss important public policy issues facing mental health and substance use care systems nationwide and at the state level," according to The Carter Center's website. "Twenty-five years ago, we did not dream that people might someday be able actually to recover from mental illnesses," Rosalynn Carter said at a mental health symposium back in 2003. "Today it is a very real possibility." DON'T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter! Get CNBC's free Warren Buffett Guide to Investing, which distills the billionaire's No. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do's and don'ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook. Representative to the United States, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office T.H. Bi-khim Hsiao speaks during the 2023 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York on Sept. 20, 2023 in New York City. Lai Ching-te, the frontrunner for Taiwan's presidency, named on Monday Taipei's former envoy to the United States as his running mate in January's election, a high-profile diplomat well known in Washington but who Beijing denounces as a separatist. Lai, vice president and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate, has led in most opinion polls ahead of the election, which is taking place as Taiwan comes under increased pressure from China to accept its sovereignty claim. His running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, 52, who had been Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States since 2020, has extensive connections in Washington, and had been widely expected to be Lai's running mate. In a post on his Facebook page, Lai said he would formally present Hsiao as his running mate on Monday afternoon. Taiwan's foreign ministry said it had accepted her resignation. "I believe that Bi-khim is definitely an excellent person when it comes to Taiwan's diplomatic work today, and she is a rare diplomatic talent in our country," Lai added. Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council who has known Hsiao since the 1990s, said she was a "formidable politician", and would add much needed diplomatic and security heft to Lai's ticket. "Bi-khim's relationships in D.C. will be invaluable to a President Lai, if he is elected, she's going to bring all of those relationships into his government and he doesn't have those," he told Reuters. The United States, as with most countries, has no formal ties with Taiwan, but is the island's most important international supporter and arms supplier. 'INDEPENDENCE ACT' Like Lai, Hsiao is despised by China, which has twice placed sanctions on her, most recently in April, saying she was an "independence diehard". China's Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday referred to Lai and Hsiao as an "independence double act", adding that Taiwan's people were "very clear" about what their partnership meant for the "situation in the Taiwan Strait". It did not elaborate. China carried out military drills around Taiwan in August, after Lai returned from a brief visit to the United States, in what the Chinese military said was a "serious warning against Taiwan independence separatist forces colluding with external forces to provoke". The DPP champions Taiwan's separate identity from China. The DPP-led government says only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and it has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing but been rebuffed. The DPP's smooth handling of its vice presidential nominee stands in contrast with efforts by Taiwan's two main opposition parties to agree on a joint ticket. Their negotiations have stalled. The largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which traditionally favors close ties with Beijing, is locked in a dispute with the smaller Taiwan People's Party about which of their candidates should run as president and which as vice president after initially agreeing to work together. The deadline to register presidential candidates with the election commission is Friday. Lai, writing on Facebook, pointed to the "turmoil" in the opposition camp. "In contrast, the team I lead is definitely a fully prepared and tested one," he said. Hsiao was born in Japan to a Taiwanese father and American mother and initially worked in the office of then-president Chen Shui-bian, also from the DPP, and then as a DPP lawmaker. Unusually in Taiwan, she uses a Taiwanese Hokkien spelling of her name in English to underscore her identity as being Taiwanese and not Chinese. Special counsel Jack Smith, left, seen in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 1, and former President Donald Trump, seen in Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 8, 2022. A panel of Washington, D.C., federal appeals court judges was highly skeptical of arguments Monday by a lawyer for Donald Trump that the former president is being unconstitutionally silenced by a gag order in his criminal election interference case. But the judges also expressed concerns about the scope of the gag order and questioned a federal prosecutor about where to draw the lines around Trump's speech. The hearing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is the latest clash over the Republican's bellicose statements about his many criminal and civil cases. Trump's prosecutors and judges in those cases have warned that his attacks on social media, at campaign rallies and outside courtrooms could threaten the safety of those involved and the proceedings themselves. Trump was slapped with the gag order last month by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who said his statements targeting people involved in the case posed "sufficiently grave threats to the integrity of these proceedings." Chutkan's gag order barred Trump from making public statements targeting his prosecutors and "reasonably foreseeable" witnesses regarding the substance of their testimony. Trump is charged in the case with illegally conspiring to overturn his loss in the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, a Democrat. The three-judge panel grilled Trump's attorney for more than 75 minutes as it questioned whether Trump was asking to be treated differently from other criminal defendants because of his current status as a 2024 presidential candidate. The judges also suggested Supreme Court decisions permit the ban. One judge snapped at the attorney, D. John Sauer, when he continually resisted answering her hypothetical questions about the order. "I don't hear you giving any weight at all to the interest in a fair trial," Judge Cornelia Pillard told Sauer at one point after calling his position "elusive." Sauer replied that "the showing would have to be extraordinarily compelling" in order to justify restricting Trump's speech. An attorney for special counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting Trump, also faced some tough questioning as he argued that people have repeatedly been threatened or harassed after being targeted by Trump's social media posts. The judges needled the attorney, Assistant Special Counsel Cecil VanDevender, about how to balance the defendants' free speech rights with the interest in conducting a fair trial. Judge Patricia Millet stressed the importance of carving out that middle ground with a "careful scalpel" and not "skewing the political arena." Two of the appellate judges, Millet and Pillard, were nominated to their seats by then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat. The third, Bradley Garcia, was nominated by Biden. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the four-count indictment charging him with crimes including conspiracy to defraud the United States. US President Joe Biden greets Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' week in Woodside, California on November 15, 2023. China's President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden will strive to keep a lid on tensions between the world's top two economies next year, as they focus on domestic challenges. The two leaders met last week on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in San Francisco after the global rivalry between the world powers came to a head earlier this year. Their first meeting in a year capped months of diplomatic work aimed at normalizing their shaky bilateral relationship derailed by a suspected spy balloon over continental U.S. early 2023 and ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit in August 2022. "You'll see in coming months, the U.S. and China are trying to put a ceiling on their tensions for very pragmatic and domestic reasons," Steve Wilford, partner and Asia Pacific head of global risk analysis at Control Risks, told CNBC Monday. President Yoon Suk Yeol embarked Monday on a weeklong trip that will take him first to Britain for a state visit, marking the 140th anniversary of bilateral relations, and then to France for a final diplomatic campaign to bring the World Expo 2030 to Busan. The four-day state visit to London comes at the invitation of King Charles III. The presidential office has said Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee will be Britain's first state guests since the king's coronation in May, showing the special importance London places on its relationship with Seoul. "The state visit to Britain is aimed at strengthening strategic cooperation with a key friendly nation," Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said during an earlier press briefing, noting that Korea and Britain share the core values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law. Highlights of the visit will take place Tuesday. Yoon and the first lady will be welcomed in a royal ceremony that will begin with Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, arriving at their hotel to accompany them to Horse Guards Parade for the official welcoming ceremony. During the ceremony, a 41-gun salute will be fired in the highest mark of respect, after which Yoon will inspect the Guard of Honor. Yoon and King Charles will then travel in a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace to attend a welcome luncheon attended by some 50 people. The president will later deliver a speech, likely in English, before the British parliament on the beginnings of the Korea-Britain relationship and the way forward. A state dinner at Buckingham Palace will wrap up the day, with the attendance of some 180 people. The following day's schedule will include a summit between Yoon and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on ways to strengthen strategic cooperation in a wide range of areas, including digital technology, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, nuclear power, the defense industry, semiconductors and space. The two countries will adopt a Korea-Britain Accord on the occasion of the summit to outline the direction of future bilateral cooperation. Yoon also plans to discuss ways to improve the Korea-Britain free trade agreement to facilitate Korean businesses' entry into the British market following its exit from the European Union. A Korean business delegation is accompanying Yoon on the trip. Before leaving Britain on Thursday, Yoon will visit the Churchill War Rooms museum and exchange farewell greetings with King Charles at Buckingham Palace. He will then head to Paris to meet with delegates from member states of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the body in charge of overseeing the World Expo, to make a final pitch for Korea's bid to host the 2030 edition in its southeastern city of Busan. The meetings will come only days before the BIE delegates vote to choose the host city on Nov. 28, with Korea in a three-way race against Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Rome, Italy. Yoon and the first lady will depart France on Saturday and return home early Sunday. (Yonhap) US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (L) looks on as Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) arrives at San Francisco International airport to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' week in San Francisco, California, on November 14, 2023. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday that U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping remained far apart on the status of Taiwan after their high-profile meeting last week during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. "President Xi did express the view that it's important for Taiwan and mainland China to unify. He certainly expressed the desire to have that occur by peaceful means," Yellen said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "But President Biden said our policy remains unchanged from what it's always been with respect to Taiwan." The U.S. recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole government of China but also maintains that Taiwan is a self-governing island, despite China's claims to the contrary. Even after their talks last week, Biden and Xi's deadlock on the issue could have military ramifications, despite Xi's insistence that he does not want military conflict. Already, Taiwanese officials have reported escalating Chinese military action around the island in recent months. In September, Taiwan's defense minister said China was operating dozens of warships, drones, bombers and more nearby. Officials fear that China's military activity around Taiwan could lead to accidental confrontation and explode into a full-fledged conflict. U.S. military officials have warned that China could be ready to launch an attack against Taiwan by 2027. They have criticized the U.S. for not providing enough military support to Taiwan to deter China. "Deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan will require turning the island into a porcupine, stockpiled with an arsenal of weapons that can target the Chinese fleet," U.S. officials wrote in an October letter to the U.S. Navy secretary. "Bureaucratic delays within the Navy are ... undermining efforts to prevent war." Biden has proposed a $105 billion aid package, primarily for Ukraine and Israel fighting their own respective wars, which includes a mere $2 billion for Taiwan and broader Indo-Pacific security measures. Yellen said Monday that package is "critical to the national security of America." But any amount of U.S. support for Taiwan's independence puts relations with China, which believes that it has a right to govern Taiwan, on shaky ground. When former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in a show of support for the country's sovereignty in August 2022, China suspended military communication with the U.S. Without that open communication, U.S. and China naval and air forces have had several close-call confrontations. Adnan Amin / 500Px | 500Px | Getty Images Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants have captured what they called an Israeli ship in the Red Sea and taken it to the Yemeni coast, calling all Israeli vessels a "legitimate target." "The Yemeni armed forces reiterate their warning to all ships belonging to or dealing with the Israeli enemy that they will become a legitimate target for armed forces," Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said on social media on Sunday. He urged the international community to avoid working with Israeli ships or owned by Israeli individuals. "Yemeni armed forces confirm that they will continue to carry out military operations against the Israeli enemy until the aggression against Gaza stops," the spokesperson said. On Monday, Japan's top government spokesperson confirmed the capture of the Nippon Yusen-operated ship, Galaxy Leader, according to Reuters. Tokyo is now appealing with the Houthis for the release of the vessel and seeking the help of Saudi, Omani and Iranian authorities. watch now Marinetraffic.com data indicates that the 21-year-old cargo vessel is sailing under the flag of Bahamas. "The hijacking of a cargo ship by the Houthis near Yemen in the southern Red Sea is a very grave incident of global consequence," the Israeli military said on social media. "The ship departed Turkey on its way to India, staffed by civilians of various nationalities, not including Israelis. It is not an Israeli ship." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office qualified the vessel as owned by a British company and operated by a Japanese business, stating no Israeli people were present on the vessel. "This is another act of Iranian terrorism which expresses a leap forward in Iran's aggression against the citizens of the free world, and creates international implications regarding the security of global shipping lanes," Netanyahu said, according to a Google translation. Iran, which supports the Houthis and Hamas groups that are inimical to Israel, rejected claims of involvement in the ship's capture, according to Google-translated comments by Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani, carried by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. "We have repeatedly announced that the resistance forces in the region represent their countries and make decisions based on the interests of their country and nation. They act spontaneously," he said. Iran is itself no stranger to captures at sea its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have often hijacked foreign vessels near the Straits of Hormuz for political leverage. Since Oct. 7, Tehran has nevertheless celebrated the feats of the so-called "resistance" militant groups that act against Israel, while keeping its distance and emphasizing their autonomy. Finally, on November 15, the much hyped and awaited meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden happened at Filoli Estate, 40 kms away in the outskirts of San Francisco and on the sidelines of the APEC Summit . Reports indicated that bonhomie and happy protocol was pretty evident as Biden received Xi and saw him off after the four hour interaction and luncheon. The last one was in Bali on the sidelines of G20 in 2022 nearly a year back. Since their last meeting the relations had hit a new low with the Americans shooting down of the Chinese spy balloon that straddled over the US airspace with glee and impunity for days before the one eye of the five eyes woke up. This led to cancellation of Blinken's visit to Beijing. Later, the now disappeared Chinese Defence Minister refused to meet Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of Shangri LA dialogue giving an overt rebuff to the Americans. The Sino-US rivalry for the numero uno spot in the global discourse is well known as their ideological contests span across geographies. But the Chinese economy and their gigantic projects like the BRI have been facing headwinds and the Americans and the Europeans are trying to create obstacles to their access to technology 5G/6G and microchips and semiconductors temporarily. Trade and IPR issues further became more stringent. But given the dependencies on China from manufacturing to minerals the West was forced to downgrade its much hyped policy of 'De-coupling' to 'De-risking ' so as to keep the global supply chains flowing. Moreover, with the three black swan events of Covid pandemic, Russia-Ukraine War and now the West Asian crisis and given their deleterious impact on global security, stability and economy the Americans could ill afford to shun China and allow it to overtly support the opposite sides. US's distraction to other theatres from the Indo-Pacific required a little leeway of comfort from the snorting dragon. Hence, the spate of American visits and several CBMs (confidence building measures) in the last few months leading to a temporary truce and eventually this Summit in the G2 format were aimed at finding some modus vivendi in the interim. The differences are so stark on key issues and given the very nature of the world order each side wishes to see and craft it is only a matter of time before the arsenal of wolf warrior Diplomacy on both sides entertains and scares the world yet again. The critical issues on both sides are far too complex that their strategic choices are unlikely to lead to an entente for longer durations even if no direct conflict is envisaged. Geopolitical and geoeconomic contestations between the two will define and dictate the contours of futuristic competition across geographies and interests. Biden in the presser immediately after the meeting calling Xi -the dictator and China calling it irresponsible gives away the bandage that may have been put during the Summit. Although there is a long list of fundamental differences between the two competing powers, even some sort of a minimalist understanding is a good sign in the interim since hegemonism is the eventual fundamental trait of superpowers. And it is in this context that the Summit outcomes may be seen. One redline is of course the reunification of Taiwan by peaceful means and /or by any means where Xi has been very clear and candid in asking the US to adhere to one China policy and not support the independence of Taiwan which could precipitate the use of force for annexing it to the mainland even if it would not sound good to economic reason. The 2024 elections in Taiwan are also critical in which Biden would expect China not to intercede. In fact Taiwan holds the key to the peace in the Indo-Pacific. Xi has denied that he had fixed any date in 2027 or so for annexation. But as he wishes to leave a legacy would he wait till 2049 is the big question! From the separately issued Statements one thing is clear that the two heads of state had a candid conversation and in-depth exchange of views on strategic and overarching issues critical to the direction of Sino-US relations and major issues affecting world peace and development. They also agreed that the two nations have divergent views of evolution of the new world order and have two ways out either to cooperate to meet global challenges or indulge in confrontation. For the time being modus Vivendi is preferable. They can not turn their backs on each other which implies that the two sides have reverted to the G2 format to deal with global issues and developments as USA vowed to protect its Indo-Pacific partners while adhering to a Free and Open (FoIP) and rule-based Indo-Pacific. They have understood that effort to remodel the other in a preferred direction is naive and even undesirable and infructuous. Xi seems to believe that instead of indulging in a zero-sum mentality the world is big enough to accommodate both thereby asserting his equality with the USA in international discourse. Xi has this time expanded his quest for accommodation from the Indo-Pacific to the big broad world. Xi also proposed a five pillar approach for the bilateral relations with the USA which included joint development of right perceptions; Joint management of disagreements; jointly advance beneficial cooperation; jointly shoulder global responsibilities; and jointly promote people to people exchanges. Chinese seems to have some quirky affliction with number five. Many years ago they had agreed to principles of Pancasila with India which they dispensed with before the ink was dry. How would the US or for that matter China be able to bring about convergences on key issues remains to be seen. Meanwhile some agreements and understanding on establishing or resuming communications military to military communications as well as various maritime and corresponding theatre commands to avoid accidents, drug and narcotics, market access issues, Climate change, AI, tech and innovation barriers and sanctions by the West have been reached as Biden assured that two economies are mutually dependent and it does not seek to contain or suppress Chinas development or to decouple with China. In the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel-Hamas conflict also the two sides retained their differing perceptions and management techniques agreeing to disagree. Both sides called the Filoli Estate dialogue comprehensive, candid and constructive which means they spoke their minds but eventually how things will move between the two global competitors looking for two very different systems and world orders will keep the curiosity alive and the world on tenterhooks. The author, Amb. Anil Trigunayat, is a former Indian Ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta, and currently heads the West Asia Experts Group at Vivekananda International Foundation. Views expressed are personal. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 19) Vice President Sara Duterte on Sunday said her relationship with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. remains "okay" amid rumors of a rift within their alliance, known as the UniTeam. "We're okay," Duterte said at the sidelines of the World Children's Day celebration at the Quezon Memorial Circle. "I believe that I still have the trust of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.," she added. Rumors of cracks in the UniTeam were revived after the House of Representatives, which is led by Marcos' cousin, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, stripped Duterte of her 650-million confidential fund under the proposed 2024 national budget. This prompted her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, to be publicly critical of the House in televised interviews, even calling the lower chamber the "most rotten institution" in the country. Duterte said she is looking into rumors about the possible filing of an impeachment complaint against her. "We are currently doing our due diligence on this one. We will release a comment on the appropriate time," Duterte said. House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe earlier dismissed rumors of an impeachment attempt against Duterte as "fake news," saying these are only aimed at sowing intrigue between the vice president and Romualdez. House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro said that while the impeachment talks were "not a serious move," it still highlights "the growing rift in the supposed UniTeam." READ: Romualdez: Uniteam still intact despite House row with Dutertes As to her father's advice that Duterte no longer seek the presidency in 2028, the Vice President said: "Sinabi ko noon na hindi ko gustong tumakbong president." [Translation: I said before that I don't want to run for president.] Lahat ng ginagawa natin [Everything we do], we can only plan but it will be God's plan that will truly prevail," she added. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is investigating a claim that the owner of voting technology provider Smartmatic and a 2022 national election candidates camp supposedly met during that election period, Sen. Imee Marcos said Monday. During the Senates deliberations on the proposed 2024 budget of the poll body, Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel bared the allegation that the owner of the mother company of Smartmatic Philippines visited the country and met with a camp of a candidate, an interested party. Senate President Migz Zubiri tried to elicit information about the identity of the supposed candidate, asking if the person was winning or losing, but Pimentel did not answer the question. The minority lawmaker also asked if the Comelec has already conducted a motu proprio investigation into the matter. I believe that the report was also studied by the Comelec and they initiated an investigation. The results of which have not yet been issued, answered Marcos, the Comelecs budget sponsor. The Comelec is saying that there is a pending disqualification case against Smartmatic from bidding in any other Comelec exercise and they are keen to investigate the allegation during that period, she also said. In June, former Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio, former Comelec Commissioner Augusto Lagman, Franklin Ysaac, and Leonardo Odono filed a petition calling for a review of the qualifications of Smartmatic. The group that filed a disqualification petition against Smatmatic cited the reported irregularities between the transmission logs and reception logs from the precinct level to Comelecs transparency server during the 2022 elections. Despite the pending resolution of the disqualification petition, Smartmatic took part in the pre-bid conference for the new automated election system for the 2025 midterm elections. It is among the four very serious bidders, according to Comelec. Kung tayo kasi nakaupo sa Comelec, if our supplier who practically ran the election, in-admit Mr. (Senate) President (Zubiri), halos na-delegate sa Smartmatic ano, and the owner is meeting with interested parties, candidates' camps, medyo bawal dapat yon, Pimentel said. [Translation: If we are Comelec officials and if our supplier who practically ran the election as they have admitted that they delegated functions to Smartmatic and the owner is meeting with interested parties, candidates camps, I think that should be prohibited.] The chambers minority leader also asked Comelec officials if they knew that Smartmatic owners visited the Philippines in 2022. But Marcos said the poll body has no information about it. Even the identities of Smartmatic owners apparently were not known by Comelec. When asked about the name of the technology providers owner, Marcos said that Cesar Flores represents Smartmatic in the Philippines, according to the agencys records. Ang laging pinapangalanan yong [The person repeatedly named is] Cesar Flores but we are not aware of the corporate structure of the sister company and the overall organization, she said. Marcos said there should be investigation results before the end of December by a 12-person investigative panel constituted by Comelec chairperson George Garcia to look into all these different allegations both in 2022 and in other elections. Tacloban City (CNN Philippines, November 20) The mayor of a town in Eastern Samar said on Monday that the local disaster response budget has been used up because of back-to-back calamities. We always appeal for assistance because of our situation being a flood prone town and because of this, our DRR (disaster risk reduction) funds are already depleted," Jipapad Mayor Benjamin Ver said. He said Jipapad has been hit by floods year-to-date, each usually lasting for two to three days depending on the weather in the northern part of the municipality. Ver said the town still has food packs ready for distribution to flood victims. Authorities distributed relief goods to victims in evacuation centers. Residents outside the town proper may have to be patient as floods make it difficult to reach their areas. We usually wait until the water subsides before we distribute food packs in upstream barangays, the mayor said. Floodwaters began to rise on Monday morning that led the local government to order an evacuation from low areas to safer grounds like the municipal hall and the Catholic church. READ: Floods continue to affect Eastern Visayas areas; LGUs suspend classes, work https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/11/20/Floods-Eastern-Visayas-areas.html? Authorites said 15 families were in evacuation areas. Jipapad is has been inaccessible to motorists using the Arteche-Jipapad-Las Navas road due to flooding in Bito village in Arteche town. Motorists instead take the alternate road in Imelda village in Lapinig town in Northern Samar province. Tacloban-based journalist Wil Mark Amazona contributed to this story. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. raised his concern about Chinas rampant building of bases in the West Philippine Sea during a security talk in Hawaii. After saying that the situation involving the disputed waters has now become more dire, Marcos said Monday (Philippine time) that the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of China continues to occupy parts of the West Philippine Sea. The nearest reefs that the PLA has started to show interest in, in terms of slowly using these shoals for building bases, thats what they are. They have come closer and closer to the Philippines coastline, he said during The Daniel K. Inouye Speaker Series. Marcos added that the nearest one is now around 60 nautical miles from the nearest Philippine coast. The president then reiterated the need to strengthen the Philippines' partnership with more nations, the United States in particular, as the country deals with outside forces. READ: Marcos: WPS tensions require US-PH partnership For years, news reports surfaced regarding Chinas construction of military bases and artificial islands within the contested waterway. China has also been launching aggressive tactics against Philippine vessels as it continues to reject an arbitral ruling that invalidated its maritime claims. In his speech, Marcos said the Philippines will not give up a single square inch of our territory to any foreign power. Supported by the rules-based international order and our growing partnerships, both time-tested and new ones, we will insist on the preservation of the sovereignty and integrity of the country, while working closely with international partners in the bilateral, regional, and multilateral settings in developing rules and processes to address these challenges, he said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20)Stakeholders' views on Monday were mixed on the creation of a bureau under the Department of Education (DepEd) to handle private school matters. During a basic education committee meeting at the House of Representatives, the Coordinating Council for Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) said existing offices of the DepEd perform the functions of the proposed bureau. These are the Private Education Office (PEO) and Government Assistance and Subsidies Office (GASO). "This (proposed bureau) may be construed as over regulation perhaps with regards to the private education institutions," COCOPEA spokesperson KC Manaog said. The DepEd said PEO and GASO were only created only through a department order, and these are currently understaffed. "Marami tayong naririnig na violations na hindi na natin namo-monitor dahil sa kaunti ng tao and contract of service lang po sila," DepEd GASO head Tara Rama said. [Translation: We have heard so many violations that we havent been able to monitor because we are understaffed and they are also just under a contract service.] On the other hand, the Federation of Associations of Private School Administrators (FAPSA) supported a private education bureau to streamline processes for private schools. "When we go to DepEd, palagi ang tanong namin saan po lalapit, sino ang kakausapin namin? [We always ask them who we should reach out to, who will we call?] Now, with the clear intent for the creation, there is now a focal office that we can run to and ask for assistance," FAPSA legal and research committee head Petromilo Alarcon Jr. said. A student group also backed a private education bureau. The Student First Coalition said the creation of the bureau should be tackled as a separate measure. The committee is considering consolidating bills that propose the creation of the bureau to proposed measures on the expansion of the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE). "The mandate goes beyond GASTPE and this will allow the decision making body to flesh out the bureau's functions," Student First Coalition member Patricia Langitan said. The committee directed the stakeholders to submit a position paper on the matter. It then approved the proposed creation of a private education bureau, noting that certain issues will have to be discussed further. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) Allegations of excessive travels and corruption rocked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as its officials faced the Senate budget deliberations on Monday. Citing insider information, Sen. Raffy Tulfo said DENR Sec. Maria Antonia "Toni" Yulo-Loyzaga has embarked on 13 to 14 foreign trips this year alone, calling her a "jetsetter." "For the information of the good sponsor na first time in the history na meron tayong DENR secretary na almost every other month bumibiyahe sa abroad. Iyan po ang reklamo ng ilang mga taga DENR mismo sa iba't ibang region na yung kanilang DENR secretary ay hindi nila nakikita or bihira nila makita in person," Tulfo said. "Walang ginawa kundi forum lang sa mga hotels at mga video conference," he added. [Translation: For the information of the good sponsor, it's the first time in history that we have a DENR secretary who travels abroad almost every month. Some DENR personnel from various regions complain they no longer see her in person. All she does is attend forums in hotels and video conferences.] Sen. Cynthia Villar, who defended the DENRs proposed 2024 budget in plenary, confirmed that the agency has spent 1.1 billion for official trips of the Office of the Secretary and four bureaus this year. These include travels for five engagements with the United Nations. "Sinasabi po na lahat ng trip na yan ay ministerial level. She has to go and she has the approval of the president kasi may mga conference na dapat ang secretary of DENR should go at meron namang conference na pwedeng mag-send lang siya ng representative," Villar said. [Translation: All are ministerial level engagements that she has to go to. She has the approval of the president because there are conferences that require the presence of the DENR secretary. There are also conferences where she can send a representative.] Villar added that the secretary's other travels are personal ones. Tulfo, however, questioned the secretary's use of a diplomatic passport instead of a personal one, as alleged by his confidential sources. He also quizzed environment officials about supposed corruption in the conduct of cadastral or land surveys, which determine boundaries of barangays, cities, and municipalities. Citing contractors complaints, Tulfo said rogue DENR personnel would demand a commission of up to 30% in exchange for approving the surveys. Nagiging SOP (standard operating procedure) daw ay 25-30% commission bago pirmahan yung cadastral survey na ginawa contractor Kasi kung di magbibigay ng commission hindi mapipirmahan at hindi mababayaran si contractor, Tulfo said. [Translation: The SOP is a 25-30% commission before the cadastral survey conducted by a contractor is signed. Without this, the survey would not be signed and the contractor would not get paid.] Villar said complaints should be filed to enable the leadership to prosecute and weed out scalawags from the agency. Asked for a reaction, DENR said it has no statement as of now. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) For the current leadership of the Department of National Defense (DND), all members of the military should not be forced to contribute to the pension system, including the new entrants, a lawmaker said Monday. The stand of DND right now is even more noble because ang stand nila is talagang totally non-contributory, kahit na yung new entrant, Sen. Ronald Bato dela Rosa disclosed during deliberations on the DNDs proposed 233.272 billion budget for next year. [Translation: The stand of DND right now is even more noble because their stand is totally non-contributory, even for new entrants.] Dela Rosa said he previously pushed for the mandatory contribution of new entrants, thinking this was the only solution to make the pension system sustainable. Pero yun pala ngayon nung dumating si Sec. Gibo, nakita niya na meron pang mga options na magiging non-contributory, Dela Rosa said, referring to DND chief Gilbert Gibo Teodoro who was appointed in June. [Translation: But when Sec. Gibo came, he saw that there are other options that would make it non-contributory.] Dela Rosa did not elaborate. Sen. Christopher Bong Go asked if this could be done for other uniformed personnel as well, including police and jail personnel. Dela Rosa, however, said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) resources could not cover all uniformed personnel. Yung lupa nga ng [Philippine National Police] ay galing pa rin un sa AFP Hindi talaga kakayanin," Dela Rosa said. "Maybe, it will take Secretary like Sec. Gibo to look for a solution as far as the other uniformed personnel is concerned, he added. The pension reform for military and uniformed personnel is a priority measure of the Marcos administration, as economic managers warned of a fiscal collapse should the government continue to fully fund the MUPs pensions and benefits without asking for any contribution. The House passed its version in September, seeking a mandatory monthly contribution from new MUP entrants amounting to nine percent of their salary. It is still pending in the Senate with defense committee chairman Jinggoy Estrada eyeing to pass it before yearend. Former DND officer-in-charge Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said 70% to 80% of enlisted MUP personnel may opt for early retirement should the reform push through, adding that they had no problem with the new system applying solely to new entrants. President Yoon Suk Yeol has said that China would not benefit from trilateral cooperation with North Korea and Russia because the three countries have "divergent interests." Yoon made the remarks in an interview with The Telegraph, a British daily, published Sunday local time ahead of his state visit to London, stressing that China has an important role in "promoting freedom, peace and prosperity in East Asia." "China is likely to take into consideration that pursuing trilateral cooperation with North Korea and Russia, which have blatantly violated the U.N. Charter and Security Council resolutions, as well as other international norms, will not be helpful for its international reputation and standing," Yoon said. Yoon also expressed concern about military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, labeling it as "a grave violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a provocative act that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula as well as in Northeast Asia and Europe." South Korea, the United States and Japan intend to "actively respond" to such cooperation. "North Korea's provision of weapons to Russia will only prolong the war in Ukraine and increase the number of casualties. In addition, if Russia offers military technologies to North Korea in return, it would threaten the security of the Republic of Korea and regional peace," Yoon said. The Republic of Korea is South Korea's formal name. During the interview, Yoon also called for deeper security ties with Britain, saying the world is facing a "polycrisis" of multiple conflicts and threats to humanity, according to the daily. Yoon also indicated his trip this week would be an opportunity to build relations "in digital and AI technology, cybersecurity, nuclear energy, the defence industry, biohealth, space, semiconductors, offshore wind power, clean energy and maritime affairs." The four-day state visit to London comes at the invitation of King Charles III. According to the presidential office, Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee will be Britain's first state guests since the king's coronation in May, which it said highlights the special importance London places on its relationship with Seoul. Yoon also said during the interview that the honoring of South Korea with the first state visit since the coronation of the king signals the importance of the country to Britain as a "strategic partner" in the Indo-Pacific. (Yonhap) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 21) The Senate has realigned the 300 million in confidential funds initially sought by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Sen. Grace Poe said Monday. "Wala nang [There are no] confidential funds at all," Poe said during the budget deliberations. According to Poe who defended the DICT's 2024 budget the Senate has found a way to still supply the needs of the DICT to perform its functions without having confidential funds. She said they were able to convert 280 million from the 300 million confidential funds into line items. The remaining 20 million had been scrapped. The breakdown is as follows: Network Detection and Response (72.3 million) Security of Operation Software (48.2 million) Extended Detection and Response (79.7 million) Manpower to monitor the National Security Operations Center (19.8 million) Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration testing tools (20 million) Mobile Security Operations Center (40 million) "When the Commission on Audit does its audit, they will be able to point out what the functions are of the equipment that was purchased," Poe said. A small committee at the House of Representatives previously decided not to give confidential funds to some civilian agencies, including the DICT, and realign them instead to those focused on national security. DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy earlier argued that the requested confidential funds were necessary to fight cyber criminals. Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday a significant stop on his whirlwind trip through the region. Blinken met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad for more than an hour. He also visited the US Embassy, where he received a security briefing on the threat to US facilities. US officials have warned against other parties becoming involved in the Israel-Hamas war. In the wake of Hamas October 7 attack, Iranian-backed proxy groups have scaled up attacks aimed at US troops in Iraq and Syria. Last month, the US intercepted three drones in Iraq targeting US forces. One attack resulted in minor injuries to coalition forces. Attacks on US forces in Iraq have become increasingly rare since the US ended its combat mission there and transitioned to an advise-and-assist role to the Iraqi military. Blinken told reporters his meeting with the prime minister was good and productive, and said he made clear that attacks by Iranian-backed militias against US personnel are unacceptable. Blinken said he reiterated that the US will do whats necessary to protect our personnel and military facilities. He added that the US and Iraq have a shared purpose and commitment in trying to prevent Iranian-backed militia attacks. He commended al-Sudanis important statement condemning these attacks against US personnel. Hes working with his own security forces and others to take necessary action to seek to prevent them, Blinken said at a news conference. The two leaders also discussed ensuring the conflict in Gaza does not spread into the wider region and the US commitment to coordinating with Iraq and other partners in the Middle East to ensure access to humanitarian aid, according to a statement by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. They also touched on the need to ensure that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced outside of Gaza, Miller said. Ahead of his stop in Iraq, Blinken on Sunday also met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah amid escalating Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. During his trip to the region, Blinken made stops in Israel, Jordan and Cyprus. From Iraq he will travel to Turkey. Before Blinkens visit to Iraq, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was the highest-ranking Biden administration official to travel to the country, when he made an unannounced trip to Baghdad in March. CNNs Jack Forrest, Abby Baggini and Oren Liebermann contributed to this report. Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong connects with Silicon Valley during US visit for APEC meet Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who visited the United States over a few days in the past week, inaugurated the SF Overseas Centre of Enterprise Singapore, the government entity tasked with increasing the island nations business competitiveness. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with Apple CEO Tim Cook in Silicon Valley, San Francisco. Photo courtesy: X/ @leehsienloong During his visit, the primary reason for which was attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) meet in San Francisco, the Singapore prime minister took the opportunity of connecting with Silicon Valley, the global digital technology hub located in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the state of California. Lee Hsien Loong opens the SF Overseas Centre of Enterprise Singapore in San Francisco. Photo courtesy: X/ @leehsienloong Lee met with Apple CEO Tim Cook as he visited Apple Park in Cupertino, the company headquarters; and he also went to Googleplex, the corporate headquarters of Google and its parent company Alphabet. Singaporeans who live and work in the Bay Area met with the leader of their country with great enthusiasm. Lee Hsien Loong with Silicon Valley technology leaders. Photo courtesy: X/ @leehsienloong The prime minister shared several photos, captioning them: A busy day in the Bay Area. Visited Googleplex and Apple Park in Cupertino, launched Enterprise Singapores SF Overseas Centre, and then wrapped up the day with an evening reception for overseas Singaporeans living in the Bay Area. LHL Singaporeans in the San Francisco Bay Area at the reception for Lee Hsien Loong. Photo courtesy: X/ @leehsienloong At the APEC conversations, the prime minister emphasised on the opportunities available in Singapore even amid the global uncertainties; the urgency of developing sustainable energy sources; and the need to ensure equitable distribution of economic gains. Lee said at APEC, Even in a complicated world, there are opportunities. We are not the last in [the] queue to reach those opportunities. In fact, we are quite high up the list, and we should get further up. He added, The markets are there; the opportunities are there. We have to seize them, and we have to be able to export, to get people to notice Singapore and want to come to Singapore. The prime minister got back to Singapore early on Sunday and posted a round-up video on the social network X. President arrives in UK for state visit By Nam Hyun-woo President Yoon Suk Yeol said he believes Chinas interests do not align with those of North Korea or Russia, calling on Beijing to play its role in promoting freedom, peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia. Yoon made those remarks in an interview with the Telegraph published on Sunday (local time), before his state visit to the United Kingdom upon the invitation of King Charles III. Yoon arrived in London on Monday. China, Russia and North Korea each face different situations and external environments, thus I believe their subsequent interests also differ, Yoon said. "Chinas alignment with North Korea and Russia will not serve Beijings national interests. Yoon continued that Pyongyang and Moscow blatantly violated not only United Nations Security Council resolutions but also other international rules, and China will consider that pursuing a three-way cooperation with them will not be helpful for its international reputation and status. China plays an important role in improving the freedom, peace and prosperity of the Northeast Asian region and the international community, so the Korean government has been consistently pursuing healthy and mature Seoul-Beijing relations based on mutual respect and reciprocity, Yoon said. Yoons comments came amid growing international concerns that North Korea and Russia are deepening their military cooperation, with the North providing artillery shells and other conventional weapons to Russia in return for Moscows technological support for Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programs. North Koreas weapons support to Russia will protract the war in Ukraine, creating more casualties, Yoon said. And if Russia provides military tech support to North Korea, this will be a threat to the national security of South Korea and regional peace. Citing the North Korea-Russia military ties, the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the increasing tensions in the South China Sea, Yoon noted that the world is facing a polycrisis and he seeks closer security ties with the U.K., which is an important Indo-Pacific partner for South Korea. Yoons state visit came as the two countries celebrate the 140th anniversary of their diplomatic ties. During his stay in London, Yoon is expected to engage in talks to improve the free trade agreement between the two countries, so that it can reinvigorate their trade and investments against the backdrop that the U.K. is turning its eyes toward Asian economies after its exit from the European Union. On Tuesday, Yoon will deliver an address at the U.K. Parliament, as well as having a luncheon and dinner with the king. Yoon will have a summit with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday to discuss the two countries' partnerships in a variety of sectors including cybersecurity, defense, bio and clean energy. The outcomes of their talks will be released in a South Korea-U.K. Accord. Following his stay in the U.K., Yoon will move to Paris to make last-minute efforts to promote Busans bid to host the World Expo 2030. There, Yoon will engage in luncheons and dinners with the members of the Bureau International des Expositions, who will vote on the host city on Nov. 28. Ever since approximately the time white men took over science, science has been mostly concerned with white men. When it has turned its eye to the less pale, it was usually in the service of proving why theyre bad, or at least worse, leading to some theories that were so wild, theyd be hilarious if they werent so horrifying. Such as 4 Homo criminalis Was a Whole Separate Species of Criminals Cesare Lombroso was an Italian doctor in the 19th century and considered the father of modern criminology, the first guy to study crime scientifically, and like most guys who were the first to do some kind of science, he was impressively wrong about so many things. The turning point in his career came when he examined the skull of a particularly fascinating and conveniently dead criminal and discovered indentations supposedly similar to those of inferior animals. Did you just say to yourself, Hey, wait a minute, that sounds a lot like the debunked racist pseudoscience known as phrenology? Then youre on the right track! Whereas phrenology, which had already become popular, was used to prove that some people were less evolved than others, however, Lombroso decided these supposedly distinguishing characteristics of criminals practically constituted a whole separate species, Homo criminalis, or criminal man. By sheer coincidence, of course, these characteristics just so happened to be commonly exhibited by non-white people. Specifically, the projection of the lower face and jaws (prognathism) found in negroes, oblique eyelids, a Mongolian characteristic and a nose with a tip rising like an isolated peak from the swollen nostrils, a form found among the Akkas, a tribe of pygmies of Central Africa. Did you have pygmies on your racist bingo card? Because we did not. For a founder of a branch of science, Lombroso had plenty of unscientific beliefs. In addition to people I dont like are a different species, he also believed in psychics and ghosts, becoming convinced that one particular little girl could not only see the future but also see, read and smell with other parts of her body. But its those pygmies who are simple. Advertisement 3 Hybrid Degeneration Would Leave Mixed-Race Children Sterile Species of species, you know how mules are usually sterile because horses and donkeys have different numbers of chromosomes? You know how thats completely different from humans of different races? They didnt in the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. It was generally accepted in the scientific community that reproduction between people of different races would result in children with hybrid degeneration, meaning they would be physically weaker, more susceptible to disease and more likely to be sterile, the odds of which would somehow only go up the more times they were defied. This just so happened to support arguments for laws against interracial marriage, but that was totally a coincidence. Advertisement You can say we know now that thats ridiculous (and to be clear, it is race is generally unimportant on a genetic level), but after Gregor Mendels work on trait heritability became known, things got even sillier. What if, people said, someone from a tall race, like a Scottish guy, reproduced with a member of a small race, like an Italian woman, and the resulting offspring inherited his mothers tiny body but his fathers enormous internal organs? What then? Youre just going to allow a baby to be exploded by his own spleen? It became clear reasonably quickly (but not nearly fast enough) that thats not how it worked, but also, it curiously failed to lead to any legal restrictions on Scottish-Italian marriage. Advertisement 2 Drapetomania Was a Mental Illness That Made Slaves Run Away In 1851, Southern plantation owners were having a huge problem with slaves running away, and they just couldnt understand it. What kind of person wouldnt want to be kidnapped, forced to work without pay under the threat of violent punishment and be legally controlled as someones property? According to Dr. Samuel Cartwright, no one psychologically healthy. That year, he published his theory of drapetomania, a disease of mental alienation that he believed caused slaves to become sulky and dissatisfied without cause and insanely run away from their captors. There was simply no other explanation. Advertisement Unlike most scientific racism, Cartwrights diagnosis might have actually done the tiniest shred of good for the community it targeted because he believed drapetomania was caused by poor working conditions and advocated for treating slaves better to prevent them from succumbing. Then again, he also believed it could be caused by treating slaves too well and any sign of self-respect should be met with swift punishment, so we take it all back. Rosalynn Carter passed away peacefully this weekend at the age of 96. In addition to her humanitarian efforts, Carter was known for her close relationship with her daughter, Amy during Jimmys Presidency, Rosalynn made a point of being in the familys private quarters every day at 4 p.m. when her daughter returned from public school. You can get a glimpse of that affinity in this clip from Late Night with David Letterman when the former First Daughter and Dave decided to give Rosalynn a call. Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox. Fourteen-year-old Amy, who has just landed a job as a Senate page, seems so nervous about her conversation with Dave that one wonders why shes making the appearance at all. Shes soft-spoken to the point of being difficult to hear who would put this poor kid on national television if she was so camera-shy? But when Dave gets Rosalynn on the phone, its pretty clear whats going on. I'm glad (Amy) got to meet you, Rosalynn says. I guess you know by now that she's your number one fan. Aha! Shes starstruck! Whatever the reason shes only 14, after all Amy is a tough interview, providing awkward, one-word answers as Dave tries to get her to talk about her new job. When that goes nowhere, he gets conspiratorial: Did Amy ever do anything in the Washington that would get her in big trouble if Jimmy and Rosalynn found out? Amy rats herself out, confessing that she and some friends once carved their initials into a White House window sill. Uh-oh, warns Dave. If Nancy Reagan hears this, you're in big trouble. Advertisement The biggest hassle between Rosalynn and Amy? That would be her clothes. Dave thinks the kid looks terrific beautiful hair and a lovely dress. Wouldnt Mom find it acceptable? Nope, says Amy. Advertisement This is a very nice, simple, elegant black dress, argues Letterman. Well, says Amy, she thinks black washes me out. Would it help if I talk to Mom? And with that, Dave dials up the former First Lady and informs her that Amy has defied her wishes with that damn black outfit. Does it look too old? Rosalynn asks. She looks stunning, says Letterman. Well, Rosalynn countered. Well. Amy and I argue about clothes often but shes usually right. I trust her judgment. But does she? I told her that I like the white one we had at home. Well, she left it at home. Advertisement Amy, in true 14-year-old fashion, shakes her head in disgust at the mention of the white dress. MOM! The funniest part of the clip is Amy alternating between giggles and mortification as Dave and Rosalynn chat. When Letterman spills the goods about the sill-carving prank, she looks like shes about to die. Dont listen to what he says about the window, Amy tells Rosalynn once Letterman surrenders the phone. Its about as wholesome as a Letterman bit gets, with the embarrassed teen trying to play it cool while enduring a long-distance family call on national television. Rosalynn plays her part perfectly. Its different with Amy gone, she says. Its lonesome! Tell her! The Australian federal government announced an $18.2-million investment to help small and medium businesses to improve cybersecurity resilience and response to cyber-attacks. The support is part of the forthcoming 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy, expected to be released this week. According to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, there are more than 2.5 million small businesses in Australia, making it 97% of all businesses, with medium businesses making 2.5% of all businesses and large enterprises 0.2%. To allow businesses to undertake a free, tailored self-assessment of their cyber security maturity, $7.2 million will be put towards establishing a voluntary cyber health check program. This health check can be used to determine the strength of their cyber security measures, and access educational tools and materials they need to upskill, according to a joint announcement by Minister for Cyber Security Clare O'Neil and Minister for Small Business Julie Collins. Although details have not been provided, the government also said that SMBs with higher risk exposure will have access to "a more sophisticated, third-party assessment to provide additional security across national supply chains." The remaining $11 million will go towards the Small Business Cyber Resilience Service that aims to provide one-on-one assistance to help small businesses navigate their cyber challenges, including walking them through the steps to recover from a cyber-attack. "Uplifting the cyber security of our small businesses is integral to a cyber secure and resilient nation, and this dedicated support will make a huge difference in their preparedness and resilience, O'Neil said in a statement. South Korea's point man on North Korea met with Gen. Paul LaCamera, chief of the United Nations Command (UNC), on Monday to discuss how to bolster cooperation, the unification ministry said Monday. The trip to the UNC headquarters by Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho came as Seoul seeks to deepen ties with the U.S.-led multinational command, an enforcer of the Armistice Agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War. The trip, the first by a unification minister, is in line with the policy of the government of Yoon Suk Yeol that puts importance on the UNC, ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam said in a regular press briefing. "The meeting will serve as an opportunity to reaffirm the UNC's importance and value regarding the security situation of South Korea and bolster cooperative ties," Koo said of Kim's visit to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul. Yoon praised the UNC's contribution to overseeing the armistice, and promoting peace and stability on the peninsula during a recent meeting in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice. During the previous liberal government, Seoul's relationship with the multinational command had faced frictions over access to the Demilitarized Zone for nonmilitary purposes, such as a joint field survey of a cross-border railway by the two Koreas in 2018. The UNC has jurisdiction over the area that separates the two Koreas. As part of efforts to strengthen ties with the UNC, the unification ministry plans to host a policy briefing Tuesday for ambassadors of countries that either sent troops or medical personnel to South Korea during the Korean War. The current UNC member states are the United States, Britain, Canada, Turkey, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, the Netherlands, Colombia, Greece, New Zealand, Belgium, France, South Africa, Norway, Denmark and Italy. (Yonhap) OIL PRICE FORECAST: Oil Recovery Now Up 7%+ from Last Week's Lows with $80 a Barrel Now in Sight. Speculation Continues to Mount Around Further Supply Cuts from OPEC+ as the Organization Meets Later this Month. Technical Hurdles Ahead May Prove Insignificant as Sentiment and OPEC Concerns Keep Bulls Interested. To Learn More About Price Action , Chart Patterns and Moving Averages , Check out the DailyFX Education Section . Most Read: What is OPEC and What is Their Role in Global Markets? Oil prices have continued their strong recovery from last Friday with gains of around 2.7% at the time of writing. Friday saw the rally begin largely on concerns of the fresh sanctions package by the EU on Russian Oil and continued this morning as speculation around further OPEC cuts grow. Recommended by Zain Vawda How to Trade Oil Get My Guide OPEC + TO INTRODUCE FURTHER CUTS? Markets have not been so bearish on Oil price in a while as a global slowdown has emboldened bears of late. Having said that there is also growing speculation that further supply cuts may be on the way with OPEC looking to maintain stability and keep Oil prices above the $80 a barrel mark. OPEC+ meets later this month and according to a source the group do believe that more may be needed to maintain Oil prices above the $80 a barrel mark. OPEC faced backlash when they initially started the supply cuts, however they have been vindicated given the macro environment and movements in Oil prices throughout 2023. Surprisingly we heard today that the UAE will be allowed to increase supply of Oil under terms of the current deal. Abu Dhabi is poised to increase output after winning a concession at the groups most recent meeting in June. Abu Dhabi argued that long-standing production limits failed to account for capacity additions made in recent years. This has surprisingly had little impact on the Oil price today as market still fear production cuts from other member states. Further adding to a bearish narrative is the Venezuela conundrum. The South American nations continues to make moves to boost production after the lifting of sanctions and could return to decent levels of production in 2024 which could add a further challenge to supply and demand dynamics. LOOKING AHEAD TO THE REST OF THE WEEK Inventories will likely be key this week as we have seen a slight uptick in stockpiles of late which contributed to the recent selloff. Last week also saw an increase in the number of Oil rigs operated by US companies rose last week, this was the first gain in 3 weeks. This usually serves as an indicator for future output, and it will thus be interesting to see if the rig count continues to improve. For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the DailyFX Calendar Trade Smarter - Sign up for the DailyFX Newsletter Receive timely and compelling market commentary from the DailyFX team Subscribe to Newsletter TECHNICAL OUTLOOK AND FINAL THOUGHTS From a technical perspective both WTI and Brent have rallied today, both up around 2.7%. The technicals did hint at a recovery today as Fridays daily candle did close as a bullish inside bar. Despite a gap lower over the weekend Oil prices continued to rise with WTI now running into resistance provided by the 200-day MA resting around 78.13. Looking at structure and we remain bearish overall with a daily candle close above the 78.55 mark needed to confirm a change in structure. This would be a good sign that we could push higher and reclaim the $80 a barrel mark, with a failure to do so likely leading to a retest of the recent lows or a potential fresh low around the 70.12 support area. WTI Crude Oil Daily Chart November 20, 2023 Source: TradingView IG CLIENT SENTIMENT IG Client Sentiment data tells us that 80% of Traders are currently holding LONG positions. Given the contrarian view to client sentiment at DailyFX, are Oil prices destined to return to the $70 a barrel mark? For a more in-depth look at WTI/Oil Sentiment and Ways to Incorporate it Into Your Trading, Download the Free Guide Below. Oil - US Crude Bearish Data provided by of clients are net long. of clients are net short. Change in Longs Shorts OI Daily 5% -16% 2% Weekly 5% -22% 0% Brent Oil Daily Chart November 20, 2023 Source: TradingView Key Levels to Keep an Eye On: Support levels: 80.26 77.50 75.00 Resistance levels: 83.76 85.70 87.75 Written by: Zain Vawda, Market Writer for DailyFX.com Contact and follow Zain on Twitter: @zvawda You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close SCHENECTADY - The 2023 Hon. Karen B. Johnson Schenectady County Older New Yorker of the Year awards recently honored the commitment of older community members dedicated to meaningful projects or causes, whether through professional work or volunteering. The awards were themed "Aging Unbound." The awards were established to recognize citizens community contributions. They were renamed in 2019 by the Senior and Long Term Care Services Advisory Council in tribute to Karen B. Johnson, inspired by her role bridging the Department of Senior and Long Term Care Services with the Schenectady County Legislature. Legislator Michelle Ostrelich, who also serves as the Chair of the Health, Housing & Human Services Committee, presented the awards to the honorees. Schenectady County is truly fortunate to have a network of individuals who contribute to the betterment of our community through volunteering, advocacy, and other supports, Ostrelich said. Today we honor eight individuals who have dedicated their time and expertise to serving others. Their contributions have touched countless lives, enhanced the fabric of our community, and serve as an inspiration to us all. The award recipients: Dr. Heidi L. Andrade David Connelly John Fiore Gary L. Geiger Phyllis A. Tariello The Schenectady County Hon. Karen B. Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award went to Schenectady residents Elizabeth C. Paul and Joan Ma for their notable community involvement. The 2023 New York State Senior Citizen of the Year Nominee went to Barbara K. Wruz for her 40-plus years of community service including procuring impactful grants and programming around physical education and wellbeing. Watch the full award ceremony: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa will visit Korea later this week for trilateral talks with her counterparts of Korea and China, a news report said Monday. Japan's lower house of parliament approved a two-day trip to the southeastern city of Busan by Kamikawa that will begin Saturday, Kyodo news agency reported. Korea has yet to make a formal announcement on the three-way ministerial meeting, but it has widely been expected that such talks will take place in Busan in late November. The talks among Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, Kamikawa and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will likely pave the way for the resumption of the long-suspended annual trilateral summit among the leaders of the three neighbors. The trilateral summit has not been held largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a deterioration in bilateral relations between Seoul and Tokyo over the issue of compensating Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The trilateral summit was last held in China's southwestern city of Chengdu in December 2019. Talks of reviving the summit gathered momentum after Korea said in March it will compensate the Korean victims on its own without asking for contributions from Japanese companies. The decision led to a dramatic warming of the Seoul-Tokyo ties and the resumption of reciprocal visits by their leaders. In a senior officials' meeting in late September, the three sides agreed to hold the tripartite summit at an early date. Park and Kamikawa reaffirmed the commitment when they met on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco last week. (Yonhap) In abandoning an Albany neighborhood, Stewart's proves it's not truly community-minded, our columnist writes. Don't miss our brilliant new podcast, The Crown: Fact or Fiction with Robert Hardman and Natasha Livingstone. Listen now on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts It was already a year marked with sadness. Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne all announced the ends of their respective marriages in 1992. So perhaps the Royal Family should have been braced for further disaster when, as the year's end came into view, they were struck with a final terrifying blow. Fire broke out in Windsor Castle, engulfing much of the historic royal residence in flames - and sweeping away years of history with it. No wonder a devastated Queen Elizabeth, who had thankfully been staying at Buckingham Palace, would describe it as her 'annus horribilis' The fire had started in Queen Victoria's Private Chapel at around 11:15am where a curtain next to the altar was ignited by the heat of a light against it. It was on this day in 1992 that a devastating fire broke out in Windsor Castle leading the Queen to describe the fading year as an 'annus horribilis' More than 220 firemen from seven counties arrived at Windsor in an attempt to put out the fire After hearing of the news, the Queen rushed 20 miles to Windsor from Buckingham Palace At some time between 11:20 and 11:30 am the fire was discovered and the three members of the royal household left the chapel. After just minutes the blaze was unstoppable and had spread to St George's Hall next door, Brunswick Tower and the surrounding private apartments. Within three hours from when the blaze was first detected, more than 220 firemen from seven counties arrived at Windsor in an attempt to put out the fire. The servicemen worked tirelessly for 15 hours, using 36 pumps to spray 1.5 million gallons of water, according to the Royal Collection Trust. While the Queen was not at Windsor Castle at the time, her son, Prince Andrew, was there when the blaze began. The Duke of York still found himself horrified at the scene. He told reporters at the time: 'I heard the fire alarm, and when I came out of the room I could see the smoke. 'My reaction was shock and horror at the fact that it took hold so quickly.' As Windsor Castle's fire department and the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service fought the fire, Prince Andrew and staff worked to remove works of art from the path of the fire. According to the Palace's report on the fire, approximately 370 people took part in the salvage process, including 125 Castle employees and community members. Approximately 370 people took part in the salvage process, including Prince Andrew and 125 Castle employees and community members While the Queen was not at Windsor Castle at the time, her son, Prince Andrew, was there when the blaze began Servicemen worked tirelessly for 15 hours using 36 pumps to spray 1.5 million gallons of water After rushing 20 miles west to Windsor, the Queen instantly got stuck in and joined a human chain with her son, firefighters and other responders to pass pictures, tables, clocks and irreplaceable antiques to safety. Thankfully, only two works of art were lost in the fire - a rosewood sideboard and a very large painting by Sir William Beechey that couldn't be taken down from the wall in time. Later, Her Majesty was forced to watch as firefighters battled against the inferno sweeping through her favourite home and the largest inhabited castle in the world. Four days later, in a speech marking 40 years on the throne, she said, '1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis.' The Queen continued, 'Indeed, I suspect that there are very few people or institutions unaffected by these last months of worldwide turmoil and uncertainty. This generosity and whole-hearted kindness of the Corporation of the City to Prince Philip and me would be welcome at any time, but at this particular moment, in the aftermath of Friday's tragic fire at Windsor, it is especially so. And, after this last weekend, we appreciate all the more what has been set before us today.' In total, the catastrophic fire destroyed 115 rooms in the castle, including nine official staterooms. St. George's Hall, a gallery where banquets were held, had collapsed completely, along with the floors of Brunswick Tower. The restoration cost around 36.5 million, which equates to more than double that today. It was initially expected to cost 60 million back in 1997. Four days later, in a speech marking 40 years on the throne, she said that '1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure' In total, the fire destroyed 115 rooms in the castle, including nine official staterooms St. George's Hall (pictured), a gallery where banquets were held, had collapsed completely, along with the floors of Brunswick Tower Pictured: Workmen as continue to work on the gutted remains of St. Georges Hall eight weeks after the great fire at Windsor Castle Prime Minister John Major proposed that Parliament cover the bill, but there was significant resistance to that from other MPs, the media and the public, with many believing that the Royal Family should foot the bill. In the end, the cost of repairs and restoration was met by charging the public for entry to Windsor Castle and by opening Buckingham Palace for admission. Queen Elizabeth also contributed 2 million of her own money and she agreed to start paying income taxes. The restoration work was completed five years later, in November 1997, which also fell upon the 50th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Don't miss our brilliant new podcast, The Crown: Fact or Fiction with Robert Hardman and Natasha Livingstone. Listen now on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Diana told Britain there were 'three of us' in her marriage on November 20, 1995, It has been almost three decades since Diana sat down to give a television interview often discussed as a broadcasting landmark - and a moment in royal history. Princess Diana's sit-down Panorama interview with Martin Bashir aired on this day in November 1995. Some 20million people tuned in to watch. Yet today the broadcast is seen as a landmark of a very different sort - as a shameful of deceit which besmirched the reputation of the BBC and caused great damage to Diana and those close to her. The interview took place on a Sunday in 1995 at Kensington Palace, after the staff had left for the evening. The reporters and their camera gear entered Diana's sitting room under the pretence to the staff that they were there to install a new hi-fi system. Diana during her interview with BBC journalist Bashir, which was watched by 20million people after it aired on November 20, 1995 Diana agreed to speak with Bashir to set the record straight following speculation about her marriage to Prince Charles Diana didn't shy away from Bashir's hard-hitting questions, going against the Palace's unspoken rule about remaining quiet Diana had agreed to speak with Bashir to set the record straight following speculation about her marriage to Prince Charles, which by that point had broken down. And the result was explosive. It was during this interview that the princess said 'there were three of us in the marriage, so it was a bit crowded' - a reference to Charles's affair with his now wife, Queen Camilla. She spoke of her early expectations of life with Prince Charles and how she had 'desperately wanted it to work' in light of her own parents' divorce. Diana also opened up about the health issues she'd silently faced, which included bulimia, post-partum depression, and self-harm, leading to her being labelled by others as unstable and mentally unbalanced. 'It was a symptom of what was going on in my marriage,' Diana revealed on Panorama. 'I was crying out for help, but giving the wrong signals.' As well as admitting to her own extramarital affairs, Diana also suggested that Charles might not be cut out for the throne. 'I would think that the top job, as I call it, would bring enormous limitations to him, and I don't know whether he could adapt to that,' she said of her ex-husband. The Daily Mail's front page the day after Princess Diana's shocking Panorama interview Fourteen years after their wedding, Diana described her marriage as 'crowded' in the infamous Panorama interview Pictured: The Prince and Princess of Wales at Buckingham Palace after their wedding at Westminster Abbey on July 29, 1981 As for whether Diana saw herself as one day being Queen, she said: 'No, I don't, no. 'I'd like to be a queen of people's hearts, in people's hearts, but I don't see myself being Queen of this country. I don't think many people will want me to be Queen,' the then-35-year-old added. 'Because I do things differently because I don't go by a rule book, because I lead from the heart, not the head, and albeit that's got me into trouble in my work, I understand that. But someone's got to go out there and love people and show it.' Diana felt that the royal household saw her as a 'threat of some kind' but that 'every strong woman in history has had to walk down a similar path'. The 54-minute interview was the final nail in the Wales' marriage, and less than a month later, divorce papers were filed upon the Queen's advice. Her revelations came after Jonathan Dimbleby's interview where Charles admitted his adultery and she didn't shy away from hard-hitting questions about her time as a royal. Its controversial nature ensured that a very small team in the BBC knew of it, and the decision was taken not to tell BBC Chairman Marmaduke Hussey what was afoot, as his wife, Lady Susan Hussey, was close to the Queen. According to Diana's close friend Debbie Frank, the princess admitted her regret about speaking to Bashir in a frantic call 24 hours before the interview aired. It was during the interview the princess sensationally said 'there were three of us in the marriage, so it was a bit crowded' Pictured: Prince Charles, Princess Diana and their children watch the march past on a dais on the mall as part of the commemorations of VJ Day in August 1995 Pictured: Diana Princess, Prince Harry, Prince William and Prince Charles on William's first day at Eton in 1995, two months before the bombshell interview She made the call despite realising it was too late to stop the interview being aired, said Debbie, who added that the princess only calmed down when she saw polls that showed the public had reacted well to it. Debbie told the Sunday People: 'She called me the day before it aired and said, "I've done this big thing and I hope it's the right thing and doesn't create too many waves. I needed to tell my story it's time people heard the truth". 'She sounded quite breathy and in a highly charged state. She was worried the public might turn against her and that she had said the wrong thing.' But while the Panorama interview allowed Diana public support as she stepped into the world as an independent woman, it shook with the tragedies necessitating its existence. Twenty-five years after Diana's interview first aired, it emerged that Martin Bashir had secured his interview with the princess by falsifying documents. In 2021 the official The Dyson report, found that 'Bashir seriously breached BBC rules by mocking up fake bank statements to gain access to the princess,' via the BBC. Understandably aghast, Diana's brother Earl Spencer was said to believed his vulnerable sister had been trapped in a web of lies by Bashir who had established 'coercive control' over her. Martin Bashir was found to have shown Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, false bank statements to gain access to the family Diana's brother Earl Spencer claimed several crimes had been committed and his vulnerable sister was spun a web of lies by Bashir In his inquiry, Lord Dyson found that Bashir deceived Earl Spencer into introducing the journalist to his sister by showing him forged bank statements that falsely suggested individuals were being paid to keep the Princess under surveillance. Royal biographer Andrew Morton also said Bashir told Diana the security forces were planning to kill her. He said Bashir warned her: 'They're going to wipe you.' It was also alleged that Diana was shown a 'faked abortion "receipt"' which suggested Charles had been romantically involved with one of the royal nannies. Bashir admitted at the time to having the documents forged but denied ever showing them to anybody. The report slammed BBC bosses, including former director-general Tony Hall, for covering up information on how Bashir was able to secure the interview. In 2021, the Prince of Wales hit out at Bashir's shocking tactics to obtain his exclusive with his late mother. The inquiry plunged the Corporation into one of the worst crises in its history, with Diana's two sons William and Harry accusing it of ruining their mother's life with its 'deceitful' interview and helping to bring about the tragic chain of events that led to her death two years later. In a televised statement, William railed: 'This Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others.' Prince William demanded a boycott of the 1995 interview following Lord Dyson's report, blasting Bashir's 'false claims' to fuel the 'paranoia and isolation' of his mother's final years Prince Harry's decision to use footage of the interview in his Netflix docuseries came despite both brothers previously slamming the BBC over the interview 'Our mother was an incredible woman who dedicated her life to service. She was resilient, brave, and unquestionably honest,' Prince Harry added. 'The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life.' The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were also criticised for using elements of the interview in their explosive Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, which aired last November. Midway through the first episode of the series, clips are shown of Princess Diana speaking to the journalist. Sources close to Prince of Wales at the time said he would have been 'furious' that his brother appeared to ignore his plea that the Panorama interview never be aired again. 'Sadly once more it shows the gulf between the two brothers couldn't be wider,' one told the Mirror. Before the clip is shown, Harry, speaking about his mother's struggles with press intrusion, says: 'I think she had a lived experience of how she was struggling living that life. She felt compelled to talk about it. 'Especially in that Panorama interview. I think we all now know that she was deceived into giving the interview. But at the same time she spoke the truth of her experience.' Both brothers received 'unconditional apology' letters from the BBC over Bashir's conduct and the 25-year cover up. Speaking to DailyMail.com, the pharmacist revealed why the items work so well A pharmacist has revealed a brilliant hack for reducing those under-eye bags and dark circles when you wake up with in the morning. Phil Cowley, a Utah-based pharmacist and the owner of Cache Valley Pharmacy, frequently makes content sharing his wisdom about various medical topics and helpful life hacks. In a video posted to his TikTok account this past September, Cowley explained exactly why people get eye bags, and his tips for how to treat them. 'Bags under your eyes [are a combination of the tissue structure] and muscle atrophy,' Cowley revealed. Utah-based pharmacist Phil Cowley revealed his hack for getting rid of dark undereye bags As a pharmacist, Cowley often shares his own helpful life hacks on his social media pages 'So, the muscles break down in your face, 'cause you got older.' Muscle atrophy is the loss of muscle tissue or the thinning of the muscle, per Mount Sinai. 'When the muscles weaken it causes more stress in the connective tissue and this breaks down the structures and the skin sags,' he told DailyMail.com. 'It can be a reduction of the fat in the area as well. When the muscle is built up the connective tissues has less strain and the bags are reduced.' 'It reduces the structure underneath the eyes, which then leads to swelling, puffiness and blood pooling, which then leads to bags under the eyes.' Cowley explained that if you were able to, you could use a radio frequency (RF) device or a microcurrent to reduce the bags long term. 'The idea of the RF or microcurrent takes the face yoga to the next level,' Cowley explained to DailyMail.com. 'They do similar stuff in the derm offices,' he continued. 'It really does help a lot to keep muscle tone.' He recommends to take over-the-counter nasal spray, which is typically used to reduce inflammation and irritation in the nose 'If you take a little bit of Neo-Synephrine, that's phenylephrine, it's actually the same stuff that's in Preparation H, too, it reduces the size of... the blood vessels,' he explained He then recommended to mix the Neo-Synephrine with Arnicare However, many people are looking for that quick fix for their eye bags the next morning, which is where his handy hack comes in. He recommends to take over-the-counter nasal spray, which is typically used to reduce inflammation and irritation in the nose, but can also be used for other applications. Phil's pharmacy picks for reducing eye bags Grab a bottle of Neo-Synephrine and a bottle of Arnicare Mix them together on finger Apply to undereye bags A microcurrent device can also prove to be handy for the long-term Advertisement 'If you take a little bit of Neo-Synephrine, that's phenylephrine, it's actually the same stuff that's in Preparation H, too, it reduces the size of... the blood vessels that are underneath the eyes,' he explained. Cowley furthered to DailyMail.com that the phenylephrine would not fix anything long-term but you will 'sure see a difference for a little while' and long enough to take some family pictures. 'There are a bunch of studies where they are using topical vasoconstriction to help with rosacea and erythema,' he told DailyMail.com. 'The concept is the same, short term, just cosmetic for a little while.' For the next step, he then advised to mix a little bit of the Neo-Synephrine with some Arnica cream, which is available over-the-counter at various drugstores. The cream is a topical agent that treats ailments like bruises, swelling, joint pains and muscle aches, among others. 'Arnica will reduce the appearance of bruising, which is the purple kind of look underneath the eye,' he said. Speaking to DailyMail.com, Cowley called Arnica the 'go-to for aesthetics.' 'Once that's dried, then go find a product that's got tranexamic acid, [and] a retinol,' Cowley explained Cowley explained that by following these steps, you temporarily reduce your undereye bags In the comments section, some users joked about the appearance of their under-eye bags 'It helps the iron in the blood (which is the bruising you see) to oxidize so it helps with appearance not so much healing,' he told DailyMail.com. 'But hey, looks are sometimes all we need.' In the video, he mixed Neo-Synephrine and Arnica cream together, and then patted the concoction underneath his eyes. 'Once that's dried, then go find a product that's got tranexamic acid, [and] a retinol,' he said. The pharmacist revealed that the retinol would help to 'increase the amount of collagen and elastin' underneath the eye, while the tranexamic acid would 'lighten the area' underneath your eye bags. Tranexamic acid works 'by blocking the breakdown of blood clots,' according to The Mayo Clinic, and prevents bleeding. Cowley also revealed to DailyMail.com a little-known fact about under-eye bags according to him, a third of all eye bags have a correlation to allergies. 'Do not forget the nasal steriods if you want to make them disappear,' he advised. In the comments section of his video, many users made jokes about how bad their own eye bags had gotten. 'Mine look like they packing for a trip, I need something,' one person wrote. Another agreed, typing, 'I was born with bags.' But Megan had the last laugh after no one rented her former apartment at the higher price point Her landlord inflated her monthly rent in Bushwick from $2,300 to $4,000 A woman has had the last laugh after discovering her landlord who forced her out of her apartment when he hiked up the rent has been unable to find a new tenant. Dancer Megan Bowen, 29, was shocked to learn that the owners of her building would be raising her monthly rent to $4,000. She and her boyfriend had originally moved into the Bushwick pad during the height of the pandemic, in fall of 2020, then signing a lease for a steal of $2,300. The three-bedroom, 900-square foot apartment provided ample space for the couple, offering Meghan a room for her own private dance studio as well as allowing the pair to get a dog, Jazzy. New York City-based dancer Megan Bowen, 29, was shocked to learn that her landlord planned to hike up her monthly rent to $4,000, up from $2,300 three years prior Megan was able to have the last laugh, however, on discovering that her landlord had lowered the asking on the rent - presumably after being unable to find a tenant for $4,000 per month But, after trying and failing to negotiate down from the lofty $4,000 price point set by her landlord, Megan, her boyfriend and Jazzy had no choice but to move out by the end of October. Megan was especially jarred with the price bump given the issues the building had had over the years, she claimed. According to one TikTok, she'd been having to manually light her stovetop burners, her ceiling had water damage, and the toilet flush handle was broken. In another TikTok, she sarcastically revealed the building's 'landscaping': an enormous heap of trash on the sidewalk next to the front entrance. At another point, she'd gone down to the basement to do her laundry, only to find the floor was covered in water. Back in January of 2021, she shared a series of TikToks revealing one day the entire stairwell of her four-story building turned into a waterfall of sorts thanks to heavy rainfall. Megan, however, was able to have the last laugh upon looking up the listing for her former apartment on StreetEasy a couple weeks after moving out - and discovering that the asking rent had been lowered to $3,400, presumably because the landlord had been unable to find a tenant for $4,000 per month. 'You know how my landlord raised my rent to $4,000 and we got priced out and we had to move?' Megan recapped in a TikTok shared last week. The apartment had also had a litany of issues, including flooding in the basement laundry room Megan had also had to light her stovetop burners manually and her ceiling had visible water damage after the building flooded What's more, the handle of the toilet in her old apartment had been broken - and in January 2022, she discovered the stairwell had turned into a waterfall thanks to some heavy rain 'I just did a little searching, cause I was like "No one's paying that much. I know no one's gonna pay that much." 'I did a little research. I was like, "Did anyone move in?" I'm really curious, did anyone move into that apartment? 'No! They didn't! It's still listed - and they dropped it $600!' Megan fumed as she displayed a screengrab of the listing, at 308 Jefferson Street in the heart of Bushwick near Maria Hernandez Park. 'They wouldn't even negotiate with me. They would not even negotiate the new price. Here they are now with an empty unit!' she exclaimed. In the meantime, Megan found an apartment in a different neighborhood to sublet for the time being, which came with a roommate. The setup also meant that she'd be temporarily living separately from her boyfriend - and their dog. As she put it in one TikTok: 'Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do.' Korea and the United States on Monday discussed ways to boost exchanges between local residents and American troops stationed here, the foreign ministry said. The two sides held a regular meeting of the ROK-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) Joint Committee at the ministry in Seoul, the ministry said. SOFA governs the legal status of the 28,500 U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) soldiers stationed in Korea. ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, Korea's official name. The meeting was led by Kim Jun-pyo, director general for North American affairs, and Lt. Gen. Scott Pleus, the USFK deputy commander. At the meeting, the joint committee agreed to continue to push for new civil-military projects that "can strengthen friendship between the Korean people and USFK in the future," it said in a press release. The committee also recognized the need for allies' collaboration on illegal drug awareness and prevention, and the U.S. expressed thanks to the Korean side for producing and sharing an educational video on Korean laws on drugs. The allies agreed to continue close consultations to expedite the relocation and return of U.S. military bases in Korea, as part of efforts to strengthen their combined defense posture. Korea and the U.S. have regularly held meetings on the civil-military relations under the SOFA Joint Committee to help foster stronger ties between local residents and U.S. military personnel. (Yonhap) It left her in 'agonizing' pain and feeling shame over being a 'partial woman' A woman who was born without a cervix or uterus and a 'shortened' vaginal canal has laid bare her 'bloody hell' horror story for a brand new movie starring Maddie Ziegler - recalling how she had to 'make a vagina' for herself at age 16 using 'medical dilators' before she would be able to have sex. Molly McGlynn, who is originally from Montreal, Canada, but now lives in Los Angeles, California, was diagnosed with an extremely rare disorder known as Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) Syndrome at age 16 - which meant she had 'normally-functioning ovaries and a female chromosome pattern' but an 'underdeveloped vagina and uterus,' according to PennMedicine.org. She said she was forced to 'DIY her own vagina' using a 'terrifyingly intimidating' set of tools - something that left her in 'agonizing' pain and feeling like a 'partial woman' or someone who was 'half-formed' for years. Despite struggling with immense 'shame' over her condition as a teen, Molly realized as an adult that her story was one that 'needed to be told' - and she has now done just that in her upcoming film Fitting In, which she wrote and directed. A woman who was born without a cervix or uterus and a 'shortened' vaginal canal has laid bare her 'bloody hell' horror story for a brand new movie starring Maddie Ziegler Molly McGlynn (seen as a teen with her mom), who is originally from Montreal but now lives in Los Angeles, was diagnosed with an rare disorder known as MRKH Syndrome at age 16 That meant she had 'normally-functioning ovaries and a female chromosome pattern' but an 'underdeveloped vagina and uterus She had to 'make a vagina' for herself using 'medical dilators' before she would be able to have sex - and her story is now being told in the upcoming film Fitting In, starring Maddie What is Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) Syndrome? People with MRKH Syndrome are born with normally-functioning ovaries and a female chromosome pattern but an underdeveloped vagina and uterus. Sexual characteristics like pubic hair and breasts develop normally but people with MRKH typically do not experience a menstrual cycle. Most women with MRKH cannot get pregnant or carry a child. Symptoms include not getting your period and painful intercourse. It occurs when the fetus is developing and is extremely rare, only affecting one in every 4,500 females. Treatment includes self-dilation, which allows women to create a vagina without surgery by using a small rod to expand your existing vagina over time. Source: PennMedicine.org Advertisement According to Molly, the flick - which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and will release everywhere on February 2, 2024 - follows a 16-year-old girl named Lindy, played by Maddie, 21, whose 'burgeoning sexuality and new relationship are both jeopardized by the nuclear bomb diagnosis.' 'What begins as a perfunctory trip to the doctor to get birth control before having sex with her charming and horny boyfriend [played by D'Pharaoh Woon-a-Tai] turns into humiliating medical poking and prodding until she is at last told she has MRKH,' Molly told CBC about the movie. 'Her plans to have sex are stalled, and she realizes she will never carry a child - something almost impossible to grasp the magnitude of at 16.' Fitting In is similar to what Molly went through herself. While reflecting on her journey to the publication, she recalled being told by a doctor that she would have to 'fix' her vagina herself at home by using 'medical dilators' to lengthen her canal after she was diagnosed with the disease at age 16. 'Before I really knew what kind of sex I wanted to be having and with whom, I was handed a box of terrifyingly intimidating medical dilators and told to work on making a vagina,' she recalled. 'Accommodating a man was the priority. What I wanted and needed could come later, I guess?' Molly explained to the publication that she felt it was 'important' to 'capture the absolute anguish' that she felt throughout the process in the movie. She recalled one the time that she had to have a 'pelvic exam in front of a group of residents,' and another 'traumatic' moment when her best friend found her 'dilators' and thought they were 'butt plugs.' The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and will release everywhere on February 2, 2024. A still from the movie is seen above It follows 16-year-old Lindy, played by Maddie (seen in the flick), 21, whose 'burgeoning sexuality and new relationship are both jeopardized by the nuclear bomb diagnosis' While reflecting on her journey to CBC, Molly recalled being told by a doctor that she would have to 'fix' her vagina herself at home by using 'medical dilators' to lengthen her canal at 16 She also remembered 'a male doctor telling her to practice dilating with a boyfriend "unless he's well-endowed."' But she also vowed that Fitting In will be 'more fun' than what she went through. Molly (seen in a throwback photo) explained to the publication that she felt it was 'important' to 'capture the absolute anguish' that she felt throughout the process in the movie 'I wanted audiences to be pulled into something they may otherwise be alienated by - and also because with time and wisdom, I cannot help but see the dark humor in all of this,' she explained. 'Nothing is funnier and sadder than a body.' While chatting with the outlet, Molly explained that the condition not only forced her to endure a painful physical transformation, but she said it also sparked an emotional and mental change in her that ultimately lead to her wanting to challenge the gender norms and idealisms surrounding sex. 'The experience of this diagnosis prompted a barrage of questions that cannot fully be answered (at least by just me or by one film),' she said. 'How does a woman define herself in the absence of the parts and functions that we have so socially and culturally intertwined with womanhood? 'Is this condition intersex? What does it mean if I am or I'm not? Can (heterosexual) sex for women, in the absence of the potential for reproduction, become primarily about pleasure? '[In the film] Lindy thinks that if she can just do this one thing, this unfixable conundrum will be solved. She said she was forced to 'DIY her own vagina' using a 'terrifyingly intimidating' set of tools - something that left her in 'agonizing' pain and feeling like a 'partial woman.' She's seen as a kid Molly graduated from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, with a degree in film studies and made her feature directorial debut with the film Mary Goes Round in 2017 In the end, Molly (seen with her boyfriend) insisted that Fitting In isn't just for people who suffer from MRKH, but rather, anyone who has ever felt like they don't belong due to their body 'But the conundrum of ourselves cannot be fixed. Bodies are not the problem; the impetus to fix them without a patient's physical and emotional autonomy is. 'These are enormous questions that teenage Lindy cannot possibly answer but explores in the film through the process of trying to "fix" her body in order to have sex. 'She finds herself sometimes weaponizing her sexuality in order to feel "normal" or seen. Lindy doesn't solve all of these questions in the film. How could she? She's only 16.' Molly graduated from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, with a degree in film studies before she headed to Humber College in Toronto, where she got a graduate certificate in television writing and production. After finishing school, she started off by making a series of short films before she made her feature directorial debut with the film Mary Goes Round in 2017, which starred Aya Cash and Sara Waisglass. In the end, Molly insisted that Fitting In isn't just for people who suffer from MRKH, but rather, anyone who has ever felt like they don't belong due to their body. 'This film is for everyone who has ever felt like their existence was a problem to be solved or who never felt like they fit into the suffocating boxes the world wants to package us in,' she concluded. 'At one time, I so deeply wanted to be in that box - to be perfectly unnoticeable - but that time is thankfully over. 'I will no longer contort myself to fit any space the world asks me to be. I am both, and neither. And I am free.' While talking to the Daily Texan, Dance Moms alum Maddie opened up about taking on the 'extremely personal role.' 'This role is extremely personal not just to me, but to Molly, and I want us to do her justice,' she said. 'There was a lot of prep that went into it. Im so lucky I had Molly to lean on, and it was really a trusting bond we had. From there, we just flew together.' Molly called it a 'dream' working with Maddie and watching her vision come to life on screen. 'Its really a dream. Its based on my life, so I definitely had the whole vision in mind, but at the same time it is fiction,' she dished. 'When you bring on a cast, they also make it their own as well. When youre shooting it, you sort of see it evolve from what was in your head into something different and totally beautiful. 'I really think that filmmaking is a community and team effort. I brought the idea, but its evolved into what it is [now], which is an act of love. Princess Charlene of Monaco was effortlessly glamorous as she sported a glitzy red dress to attend a glitzy gala for the Monaco National Day last night. The former Olympian and Prince Albert II, 65, appeared in good spirits as they celebrated the holiday at the Grimaldi Forum this weekend. Mother-of-two Charlene, 45, was the image of sophistication in a long-sleeved sequined scarlet gown, accentuated by a bright red lipstick. Adding to her Old Hollywood-esque look, Charlene styled her blonde tresses into gelled curls, and opted for a dramatic make-up look with long eyelashes and dewy blush. The elegant royal even kept the monochrome theme when it came to her nails with a burgundy manicure. Princess Charlene of Monaco was effortlessly glamorous as she sported a glitzy red dress to attend a glitzy gala for the Monaco National Day last night Meanwhile her husband sported a traditional ensemble with a fitted black jacket and navy trousers. Princess Caroline - Albert's older sister - was also present, sporting a sequined blue and orange top teamed with a satin skirt. Meanwhile her daughter, Princess Alexandra of Hanover, attended in a chic black halterneck gown. The royals were presented with flowers, and were pictured being greeted by an adorable group of children donning traditional Monegasque costumes. National Monaco Day is also known as The Sovereign Prince's Day, and the date of the celebration is chosen by the reigning Prince. Traditionally, the Princes chose the day of the saint they are named after. But when Prince Albert inherited the title, he decided to choose the same day as his father rather than the day of Saint Albert, which would have been November 15. It is typically celebrated with fireworks over the harbour the evening before, and a mass in Monte Carlo the next morning. Earlier in the day, the couple donned patriotic attire to celebrate the National Day of Monaco on Sunday - and their two children followed suit. The former Olympian and Prince Albert II, 65, appeared in good spirits as they celebrated the holiday this weekend The mother-of-two, 45, was the image of sophistication in a long-sleeved sequined scarlet gown, accentuated by a bright red lipstick Adding to her Old Hollywood-esque look, Charlene styled her blonde tresses into gelled curls, and opted for a dramatic make-up look with long eyelashes and dewy blush Charlene even kept the monochrome theme when it came to her nails with a burgundy manicure Arriving with Prince Albert for mass at Monaco Cathedral, South African-born Monegasque royal Charlene wore an all-red ensemble, with her husband in full military regalia. The couple's two children, twins Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, eight, weren't seen with their parents at the mass - but did make an adorable balcony appearance later on, appearing in outfits that rendered them mini-mes of their parents. Charlene donned an elegant red pillbox hat, with a double breasted dress coat over a red dress and suede knee-high boots in the same shade. The royal even extended the colour to her earrings, wearing a pair of diamond and ruby floral jewels that glinted in the bright Monaco sunshine. Little Princess Gabriella opted for an almost identical outfit but in navy, with smart black patent shoes. And young Prince Jacques wore a military uniform similar to his father's for the formal occasion. The couple were also joined by other European royals including Princess Caroline of Hanover and Princess Stephanie of Monaco. Princess Caroline (left) - Albert's older sister - was also present, sporting a sequined blue and orange top teamed with a satin skirt. Pictured right, Princess Alexandra of Hanover The royals were presented with flowers, and were pictured being greeted by an adorable group of children donning traditional Monegasque costumes Princess Alexandra of Hanover, pictured accepting flowers, attended in a chic black halterneck gown The Monaco royals enjoyed a festive traditional evening last night, celebrating their National Day The royals accepted flowers as they enjoyed a traditional evening for the Monegasque National Day Charlene opted for a striking all-red look with a scarlet gown and matching lipstick this weekend Caroline's youngest son, Pierre Casiraghi and his wife Beatrice Borromeo, and their sons Stefano Casiraghi and Francesco Casiraghi also took to the balcony to wave at those gathered below. Charlene has been enjoying a busy few weeks of public engagements, and was most recently spotted on Thursday helping to hand out gifts at Monaco's Red Cross Christmas giveaway. The royal wore a navy wool gilet as she joined Prince Albert and their niece, Camilla Gottllieb, 25, at the Royal Palace in Monte-Carlo for the outing. Charlene appeared relaxed as she handed out presents to the event's attendees. The annual charity distribution is part of a number of events organised by the Red Cross in the run-up to Christmas in Monaco and sees members of the royal family gift presents to those in need. Charlene wrapped up from the cold in a navy wool gilet with leather lapels, which she layered over a black roll neck jumper and trousers. The event saw members of the royal family speak to some of the Red Cross volunteers who took part in the gift distribution. They also listened to the story of vulnerable people who were stocking up on gifts ahead of Christmas. Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday that his state visit to Britain will lead to new cooperation between the two countries in the security realm, including in cybersecurity and the defense industry. Yoon made the remark during a dinner meeting with a group of around 190 Koreans living in Britain, shortly after arriving for a four-day state visit. "Through my visit, Korea and Britain will build a new cooperation system in the security realm, including in cybersecurity and the defense industry," he said during the event at a London hotel. "Not only that, we will restart negotiations to revise the Korea-Britain free trade agreement and further strengthen the foundation for cooperation in supply chains and trade." Yoon also said the two countries will greatly expand the scope of their cooperation to the science and technology sectors, including artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, bio, space, semiconductors and clean energy. "Today, South Korea and Britain are partners in the universal values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law and an economic community connected by a free trade market," he said. Yoon thanked the Korean community for their contributions to the bilateral relationship and promised the government's assistance and support through the Overseas Koreans Agency launched in June, in line with one of his campaign pledges. He recalled the help Britain extended during the 1950-53 Korean War, when Britain sent 80,000 troops to fight alongside South Korea and more than 1,000 of them paid the ultimate sacrifice, and afterward during Korea's industrialization. He also thanked King Charles III for the interest and love he showed for Korea and its culture during his recent visit to New Malden, a neighborhood in London with a large number of Korean residents. (Yonhap) Lady Amelia Spencer showed off her style prowess in a chic black frock from Verscae at the Walpole British Luxury Awards this evening. The socialite, 31, stunned in the flowy mini-dress which featured belted detailing along the neckline. She teamed her monochrome look with statement leather gloves - also from Versace - adorned with ornate bracelets and a glitzy necklace from Boodles. Two of her bracelets cost 30,600 altogether, with the other jewels on the site available on enquiry. The daughter of the Earl of Spencer - and niece of Princess Diana - opted for sheer black tights, which she wore with stylish Versace heels, for the event at The Dorchester in London tonight. Lady Amelia Spencer showed off her style prowess in a chic frock at the Walpole British Luxury Awards Amelia slicked her blonde tresses back into a chic updo as she posed for the cameras. She expressed her creative side with artful eyeliner, while keeping the rest of her make-up soft and peachy. The socialite posed for photos with Helen Brocklebank, the CEO of Walpole, which is the 'official sector body for UK luxury' and British model Delphi Primrose. The Walpole British Luxury Awards is a refined celebration of the world-leading creativity, design, innovation, talent and craftsmanship at the heart of Britains luxury sector. The annual ceremony honours those individuals and brands who have achieved the pinnacle of excellence across a variety of categories. Earlier this month, the Spencer sisters stepped out in stunning colour-coordinated red ensembles as they attended the Melbourne Cup. Amelia and her sister Lady Eliza Spencer were invited to judge contestants at the racing event's Fashions in the Field competition. The socialite twins looked effortlessly chic in matching dresses, which they paired with understated headpieces. Fashions in the Field sees hundreds of people enter each year in the hope of being crowned the 'Best Dressed' and 'Best Suited'. It takes place before the start of the horse race. The socialite, 31, stunned in the flowy mini-dress which featured belted detailing along the neckline She teamed her monochrome look with statement leather gloves, adorned with ornate bracelets and a glitzy necklace The daughter of the Earl of Spencer - and niece of Princess Diana - opted for sheer black tights, which she wore with stylish heels, for the event at The Dorchester tonight Amelia slicked her blonde tresses back into a chic updo as she posed for the cameras at tonight's event The Melbourne Cup horse race at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne has been held on the first Tuesday of November since 1876. Lady Amelia donned a short skater-style dress featuring a sweetheart neckline and short sleeves. She paired the dress with red stilettos and a flower headband, with her blond tresses swept back into a ponytail. Meanwhile, Lady Eliza opted for a red ankle-length, off-the-shoulder gown, with a slit at the front. Completing her outfit, Lady Eliza wore a thin gold headpiece that came down over her face and a pair of 'barely there' heels. She wore her hair down in a sleek style, tucked behind her ears. Both sisters kept their make-up clean and minimal, opting for a natural pink lip colour and nude eye make-up. The twins' appearance came after they attended a fashion show to mark the 50th anniversary of designer Marc Cain GmbH in Bodelshausen in September. She expressed her creative side with artful eyeliner, while keeping the rest of her make-up soft and peachy Amelia opted for an artful ensemble, decorated with ornate jewellery, for tonight's event at The Dorchester The royal teamed her mini-dress with gloves, a bag and chic heels, opting for an artful eyeliner when it came to make-up And it seems the Spencer sisters enjoy colour-coordinating, as then they were both pictured in pink ensembles. Amelia lit up the room in bright pink culotte trousers and a matching blue and magenta silk blouse which was tucked in at the waist. To accessorise, she held onto a bag which popped against her pearly white manicure. Elsewhere, Eliza was the picture of sophistication in a pastel pink dress, which featured cape-like detailing along the shoulders. Amelia also posed for photos with model Delphi Primrose, who also sported a chic black mini-dress Amelia and Delphi both opted for chic monochrome ensembles. Delphi's dress featured a statement bow at the neck Amelia opted for a shoulderless look with her dress, adding for a chic contrast with leather statement gloves The socialite posed for photos with Helen Brocklebank, the CEO of Walpole, which is the 'official sector body for UK luxury' Adding a touch of glitz, she teamed the simple yet elegant frock with a silver clutch and heels. They sat in the front row at the fashion show, and were joined by Diane Kruger, whom they could be seen sharing a smile with at the event. Earlier this year, the Spencer family marked the 26th anniversary of Princess Diana's passing the day before on August 31. Lady Eliza previously admitted neither of the twins had any idea of Diana's impact on the world until years after her death. 'We always just knew her as our aunt,' she told Tatler in 2021, adding that she remembers her as 'incredibly warm, maternal and loving'. 'Growing up in South Africa, I really had very little idea of how significant she was in the world until I was much older... She always made an effort to connect with us as children and had a talent for reading children's hearts.' A mum has shared a 'controversial' method to pre-pack her kids' school lunches - and many have questioned if the food is indeed safe to eat. Lauren, from Oklahoma, has four children and often chooses to meal prep meals, snacks, and school lunches days in advance. One of her 'mum hacks' involves making 24 sandwiches at a time and popping them in the fridge. She makes 24 sliders at a time by cutting the rolls in half, filling them with deli meats and cheese, and then refrigerating it. 'My kids love these little sliders, so I make this a few times a week. They can just grab and go whenever they need!' she said in a post. Lauren has four children and often chooses to meal prep meals, snacks, and school lunches days in advance - but many were concerned about the meat she uses A mum has shared a 'controversial' method to pre-pack her kids' school lunches - and many have questioned if the food is indeed safe to eat Lauren previously revealed that she meal preps the dish every Sunday afternoon for the first few days of the week's lunches. She also said that the sandwiches lasted for three days - but it's always essential to check if the meat has gone off before eating. 'I make these so that the kids can grab them throughout the summer,' she said about the convenient snack. A few claimed it was a 'brilliant' idea. 'Such amazing hack!' one said. 'You are the greatest. I work from home so I have to stop working and make my kids lunch a lot. This is so much easier!' Another said: 'A great idea. But as a non-American, all of those ingredients look so highly processed.' Others were similarly worried about the ingredients and how well they would keep. 'Cheap processed meat and cheese on horrible soggy white rolls. Poor kids!' one criticised. 'Those will go off really quickly in the fridge,' a man said. Read more: Why this Aussie home caught the attention of Netflix The four bedroom home in the Adelaide Hills is right next door to their son Davie Fogarty - the creator of viral comfort brand Oodie - brought his mum to tears last week when he handed his parents the keys to their dream home. The 29-year-old university dropout turned multi-millionaire bought the property in the Adelaide Hills as a $1.6million surprise for his mum and dad after taking them to the open house to make sure they 'loved it'. Speaking to FEMAIL Davie revealed he fell in love with the sprawling four-bedroom home the moment he saw it hit the market. 'I was definitely nervous that I wasn't going to be able to pull off a surprise.' 'It's always been a bit of a dream of mine to actually give them something, set them up, make sure that they have no mortgage, make sure they can feel secure,' he said in a YouTube video. The Oodie founder Davie Fogarty (pictured), from Adelaide, spent $1.6million on a four bedroom house for his parents The surprise brought his mum to tears and was caught on camera The Oodie is a cosy, wearable blanket with a warm sherpa fleece interior and front kangaroo pocket (pictured) To ensure his parents like the house before making an offer, they attended an open inspection and Davie acted as if he was buying it for himself. He couldn't even make eye contact with his dad days later when asked for an update from the real estate. 'I'm such a bad liar,' he said and was a bit nervous prior. With balloons in hand, Davie hid behind the For Sale sign and jumped out when his parents arrived then revealed it's theirs. 'Welcome home! We got it for you,' Davie said and ran over to his mum started crying. The trio embraced with a group hug and his parents were left in disbelief. The four bedroom, two bathroom property in the Adelaide Hills was built in 1972 and sold for $880,000 in 2017 The cosy home has an open plan kitchen and dining space overlooking the leafy trees outside There's also an outdoor deck with BBQ and fireplace The four bedroom, two bathroom property was built in 1972 and sold for $880,000 in 2017. Situated in the leafy Adelaide Hills - only 30 minutes from the Adelaide CBD - the home is surrounded by gorgeous trees and plant life. There's also a stable for horses as well as a paddock. It's also right next door to Davie's mansion he bought earlier this year for $4.35 million. 'I think when we're young we're naive to how much our parents give us,' Davie said, adding: 'And then as we grow older we start to realise that this person has kind of almost sacrificed their life so that you can live yours' Davie added that buying his parents a home was a 'small gesture' compared to the sacrifices his parents made raising him 'I think when we're young we're naive to how much our parents give us,' Davie said. 'And then as we grow older we start to realise that this person has kind of almost sacrificed their life so that you can live yours.' Davie added that buying his parents a home was a 'small gesture' compared to the sacrifices his parents made raising him. It's also the biggest gift he's ever bought another person but is glad he did so. An Australian mum has stunned with her 'unusual' outdoor Christmas decoration from Bunnings Warehouse. Helen, from Western Australia, put up a giant 4m tall inflatable gingerbread man in her backyard. The $169 decoration came with the likeness of the classic December treat with a large candy cane and gumdrop buttons. Helen's only issue was the massive size caused her gingerbread man to keel over at the slightest suggestion of wind - with many hilariously pointing out it looked like it had a 'tummy ache'. Thousands were amazed by the product's sheer size - with many pointing out a resemblance to the store's popular Christmas gift shark. Helen, from Western Australia, put up a 4m tall inflatable gingerbread man in her backyard 'Oh that looks fantastic!' one said. 'I think I want it but it will probably freak the dog out.' 'Ours was fighting for its life against the wind last night,' another shared. Bunnings Warehouse also recently came under fire over one of its very Aussie Christmas decorations: Outlaw Santa. The rogue version of Mr Claus bears a striking resemblance to iconic Australian bushranger Ned Kelly. He sits upon a chestnut pony and wears a helmet very similar to that made famous by the back country bandit. The $99 inflatable figure also has a sack of toys and a Santa hat made famous by the jolly man in red. Bunnings Warehouse is under fire over one of its very Australian Christmas decorations: Outlaw Santa It isn't clear if the sack of toys is stolen loot - similar to the Grinch - or to be given to good boys and girls in a father Christmas style. What is clear is that many people are furious over the quirky decoration. 'It is a no from me it is losing the goodness of Christmas,' one Santa fan said. 'No it is tacky and in poor taste. It is one thing to include him in our history and another to celebrate him in this way. I think it is insulting,' said another. A third echoed the sentiment labelling the Christmas inflatable a 'stupid idea'. Other pointed out that the bushranger was a murderer, specifically a police killer and shouldn't be celebrated. But others thought it was fine. 'I would call him Neddy, I like him,' one person said. 'Ned is a big part of our culture, he has just as much right to be part of Christmas as the kebabs and octopus! I'd say it's a descendent of the constable (can't remember his name right this second) who has a beef with it,' one woman said. 'That is one of the most Australian things I've ever seen good on them,' commended a third. Others said they prefer any Aussie or Outback theme to the snow-covered pieces which don't represent Christmas in Australia. Bunnings revealed the controversial blow up decoration would remain on sale despite the fall out online. The decoration is only available in store as stock is selling fast The item is only available in store with the retailer quoting 'low stock' as the reason to take it off the website. 'The inflatable Santa is part of our promotional items for Christmas that includes a wide range of festive inflatable designs this year,' Bunnings General Manager of Merchandise Adrian Pearce said. Ned Kelly famously died in a shoot out with police back in 1880, aged 26. Sir Patrick Vallance today said it was 'completely wrong' that ministers hid behind their insistence that they were simply 'following the science' during Covid. Addressing the Covid Inquiry, No10's ex-chief scientific adviser argued there is 'no such thing as the science' because it is 'a moving body of knowledge'. Policymakers 'hid behind this at times', he argued. The term 'following the science', wheeled out at Downing Street press briefings at the height of the pandemic and used to justify lockdown restrictions, was taken to mean that the Government was 'slavishly' following advice, Sir Patrick said. Sir Patrick, who headed up SAGE before standing down from the 185,000-a-year role, said: 'The repeated assertion undermined the importance of ministerial judgement, and the accountability of ministers for decisions.' He said he welcomed the mantra originally because it showed that ministers were 'listening to us' and 'that's not always the case in Government', adding: 'But I think the way in which this was heard and possibly meant, in terms of slavishly following the science, obeying it at all times, it's completely wrong.' Sir Patrick has criticised ministers' insistence that they were simply 'following the science' 'And I can also totally agree that there is no such thing as "the science". 'Science by its definition is a moving body of knowledge that tries to overturn things by testing the whole time.' He said ministers used the mantra when faced with decisions that 'need to be taken by ministers' by combining different forms of evidence to 'make those almost impossible judgement calls which the science can't make and shouldn't make'. Sir Patrick said ministers knew the phrase 'was damaging' and it was softened at some points to 'we're being informed by'. Earlier in the day, Sir Patrick claimed he had 'no intention' for his notes taken at the time 'ever seeing the light of day'. He said the diary he kept during the pandemic described as 'a brain dump' was written 'at the end of immensely stressful days to protect his mental health'. Explosive extracts have been shared as part of the inquiry, including revelations that ex-PM Boris Johnson once described coronavirus as 'nature's way of dealing with old people'. Asked about his memoirs, shared only with the Inquiry, Sir Patrick said: 'I had no intention whatsoever of these ever seeing the light of day or me looking at them again and sort of felt the world had probably had enough of books of reflections of people's thoughts during Covid.' Sir Patrick kept a diary during the pandemic, which has been described as 'a brain dump' written 'at the end of immensely stressful days to protect his mental health' Giving evidence at Dorland House in London on Monday, Sir Patrick admitted the diary was a way of protecting his own mental health from the daily stresses of his job. He said: 'At the end of each day, often quite late in the evening, I would just spend a few minutes jotting down some thoughts from that day, and things and reflections, and did it as a way to get that, in a sense, out of the way so that I could concentrate on the following day. 'These were private thoughts. They were instant reflections from a day. And once they were written, I actually never looked at them again. 'They were put in a drawer and that was that. I certainly had no intention of doing anything else with them either.' Sir Patrick said: 'From my perspective, these were a way of just decompressing at the end of the day and they were some thoughts I'd had that day and wrote down that day in order to be clearer the following day that I was going to concentrate on the following day. They had no purpose other than that. READ MORE: DOMINIC LAWSON: The Covid Inquiry has cost us 100 million already. I fear it will end up satisfying very few - except for the lawyers running the show Britain's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance attends a press conference to outline the Government's new long-term Covid-19 plan in 2022 Advertisement 'And nobody, including members of my family or anyone, had seen them.' He added: 'Some of it I look back and think 'that looks like a sensible series of reflections over that period'. 'Others, I look back and I can see I might have written something one day and then two days later written something that said 'actually I don't agree with myself on that', which might have been how somebody had behaved or somebody made an observation.' Former health secretary Matt Hancock is among those who have offered their account of the pandemic. His book, Pandemic Diaries: The Inside Story of Britain's Battle Against Covid, was published last December. Spike: The Virus v the People, written by Sir Jeremy Farrar, an influential member of SAGE, and journalist Anjana Ahuja, offered his 'inside story' on how the crisis unfolded and criticised the UK's handling of the pandemic. Sir Patrick also revealed that he had clashes with England's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Sir Chris Whitty, who he described as a 'delayer'. He was asked about Sir Jeremy's book, which described a 'friction' around when to impose restrictions in 2020. Sir Patrick said Sir Chris' role as a public health specialist meant he was 'rightly concerned' about the adverse effects of Covid restrictions, such as harming mental health. The CMO argued that these factors should be considered and 'pulling the trigger to do things too early could lead to adverse consequences'. While Sir Patrick said this was a 'totally appropriate worry', he disagreed. He said: 'I didn't have exactly the same worry. I was more on the side of we need to move on this, but I think that's partly why the two of us found it useful to work together. 'I mean, he would bring in views that were broad public health views looking at the consequences of interventions, as well as the direct consequence of the virus. 'And I think sometimes I would want to push and he might not, and sometimes he was right and sometimes I think we should have gone earlier. This was an occasion when I think it's clear that we should have gone earlier.' Sir Patrick also revealed that he had clashes with England's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Sir Chris Whitty, left, who he described as a 'delayer' Extracts from Sir Patrick's diary have been used during the inquiry to look at the work of key figures, including Cabinet ministers, ex-Downing Street director of communications Lee Cain and former cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill. One entry recorded that the former PM had referred to the Treasury as the 'pro-death squad' when he wanted the department to back him in arguing for a path to eased restrictions. Sir Patrick, who served as the Government's chief scientific adviser from 2018 to 2023, also wrote about his frustrations in dealing with the then-prime minister. '(Mr Johnson is) obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going,' he said. 'Quite bonkers set of exchanges,' he wrote, referring to a WhatsApp group including Mr Johnson. Sir Patrick also said that he and Sir Chris felt Number 10 officials were trying to 'strong-arm' them into appearing by Mr Johnson's side at a Downing Street press conference following the then-prime minister's ex-chief adviser Dominic Cummings' press conference on his lockdown trip to Barnard Castle. Former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance arrives at Dorland House in London this morning to give a statement to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry The journey was clearly against the rules and Mr Cummings' televised appearance before the media was a 'car crash', the former chief scientist said in an entry in May 2020. Sir Patrick has objected to the publication of his pandemic-era diary in full. Inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett has yet to make a decision on whether the entries should be disclosed in their entirety. Sir Patrick has always maintained it was not his job to tell Mr Johnson and the Cabinet what they wanted to hear, but to make clear the scientific evidence. In October 2021, he told the BBC: 'My job is not to sugarcoat it. My job is not to tell them things they want to hear it's to make sure that they understand what the science at that moment is saying, what the uncertainties are, and to try to make that as clear as possible.' England's chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty will give evidence to the inquiry on Tuesday and his former deputy, Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, on Wednesday. They will be followed by the Government's current chief scientific adviser, Dame Angela McLean on Wednesday, while Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Dame Jenny Harries, who is head of the UK Health Security Agency, will give evidence on Thursday. EXCLUSIVE: Experts told MailOnline the figures were 'extremely worrying' and would 'inevitably' result in patients being infected and staff having to take time off, straining NHS services even further this winter. Only 21.8 per cent have so far had a Covid booster, according to latest data on the health service's major staff vaccination campaign. Meanwhile, flu jab uptake sits at 28.9 per cent. It suggests, at best, only slightly more than a fifth have had both. Figures for both jabs are far below the heady heights recorded just a few years ago. NHS bosses have now written to all health service leaders across the country asking them to make every effort to boost uptake among their workers. Some experts have said the figures are an example of 'vaccine fatigue' among staff who have faced repeated calls to get the voluntary jabs. But concerns have also been raised that the low uptake is a result of NHS hospitals not making it easy enough for staff to roll up their sleeves, with workers simply too busy to get jabbed. Doctors have identified a treatment for people whose sense of smell and taste was warped by Covid. The 10-minute procedure sees a doctor inject a steroid into a collection of nerves at the base of the neck, which jumpstarts the nervous system. Researches are not exactly sure how it works, but the treatment has been used to treat PTSD, migraines and other issues involving the circulatory system. In a study of 54 patients with persistent post-COVID parosmia, or distorted sense of smell, the injection provided them with some relief from their distorted sense of smell. Doctors are not certain why exactly this procedure was so effective for regaining sense of smell, but there is a prevailing hypothesis that injecting and numbing some of the sympathetic nerve tissue recalibrates the body's nervous system to pre-Covid condition. Photo courtesy of Nevada Comprehensive Pain Center You cant walk past a bakery without gagging, the smell of onions makes you physically sick and even brushing your teeth is unbearable. It sounds unthinkable, yet thats the reality for tens of thousands of people with parosmia after getting Covid An estimated 20million Americans have been affected by a loss or distortion of their taste or smell, often leaving them put off food and drinks they used to enjoy. Doctors have found people with Covid lose their sense of smell because the virus damages the receptor nerve endings or supporting cells within their nose. The scent-detecting nerve endings tell the brain how to interpret the chemical information that makes up a smell, and when damaged or if they heal incorrectly, this can lead to parosmia. Loss of taste and smell were more common earlier in the pandemic, when up to three in five sufferers were estimated to have the symptom. But amid vaccination and the spread of new variants, the symptoms have become less common. Its mechanism of action is largely unknown but it is possible that blocking the nerve in the neck could alter the way the brain interprets smells coming in through the nose. Parosmia, where the damaged nerves try to regenerate but send confused messages to the brain, distorting the sense of smell and taste, can be debilitating. Parosmia is not a new phenomenon. It can be caused by damage to olfactory nerve cells following a head injury or sinus problems. But it also occurs following viral infections affecting the upper airway. It has been known to cause severe nausea and disgust around food that could progress to an eating disorder as people suddenly cannot stomach basic nutrition. The condition is not known to be a permanent after-effect of Covid, though millions of people still have not seen their symptoms subside completely over a year after getting sick in the first place. To determine whether a stellate ganglion block (SGB) used for the treatment of pain could work for problems with sense of smell, radiologists recruited 54 test subjects who had been referred to them by ear, nose, and throat doctors after suffering from the condition for at least six months after their Covid infection. The procedure itself saw the doctor inject an anesthetic mixed with a steroid at the base of the neck where the cluster of nerves is situated on either side of the voice box where it delivers signals to the head, neck, arms, and chest. Dr Adam Zoga, a musculoskeletal radiologist at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia who led the study, said: Parosmia has previously been reported as a rare disorder occurring after brain trauma, brain surgery, stroke, viral syndromes, and with some head and neck tumors. We were not entirely confident that the procedure would work for parosmia. The teams reasoning for choosing SGB as a possible treatment was not explained, though there is a general hypothesis that this type of injection into the tangle of nerves can recalibrate the part of the nervous system that handles unconscious tasks to its pre-Covid infection state. The early results showed the procedure was largely successful. Out of the 37 patients who provided follow-up information, 22 people reported their smell had improved one week after injection. And 18 of 22 people said their symptoms had improved significantly after one month. Dr Zoga said: The initial patient had a tremendously positive outcome, almost immediately, with continued improvement to the point of symptom resolution at four weeks. Other treatments have failed to date. This injection is working. The research teams findings will be presented in full next week at the Radiological Society of North Americas annual meeting. SGB has been shown in previous research to improve smell loss symptoms. For instance, a study out this year in the journal Local and Regional Anesthesia found that performing SGBs for long covid symptoms helped about 87 percent of people recover their lost or distorted sense of smell. In a separate case study series, researchers found that SGB helped five out of six patients in Florida with long covid-linked smell and taste problems. By Jamie Finn With their brash, raw sound, energetic live shows and uniquely bright and vintage aesthetic, Japanese band Otoboke Beaver has become a force to be reckoned with in the world of punk. The all-woman four-piece has been tearing it up with insane performances all over the world. They are about to embark on a massive tour of North America. First, Otoboke Beaver will make a few stops around Asia, including Japan, Taiwan and, of course, South Korea. Ahead of their Seoul performance on Nov. 23, the band popped in to tell us about the world through the eyes of Otoboke Beaver. Otoboke Beaver's plans for world domination are well underway. Their much-lauded brand of fast-paced noise has seen them regularly labeled as "one of the world's most exciting punk bands." Despite this, the members don't feel that the term "punk" completely fits them. "We often struggle with that label," Otoboke Beaver guitarist Yoyoyoshie told The Korea Times. "We try to include a variety of genres in what we do, and calling us punk doesn't capture all of them. We describe our sound as 'fast and loud' to anyone who hasn't heard us." Their most recent album, 2022's "Super Champon," is a cacophonous swirl of bright and abrasive sounds that are indeed loud and fast. As well as punk, Otoboke Beaver explores garage rock, art-pop and hardcore on a collection of songs that rarely exceed 90 seconds in length. "We just go for the speed and rhythm that feels right for us," Yoyoyoshie explained. "Right now, that means playing really fast." One of the catalysts of Otoboke Beaver's recent success is working with British music label Damnably, which also features Korean bands Say Sue Me and Drinking Boys and Girls Choir. The label is run by British couple George and Janice, to whom the band lovingly pay tribute in an eponymously titled song. "They are the ones who brought our music to our world, so we really wanted to write something about them," Yoyoyoshie said. "When they got married, Say Sue Me wrote a beautiful wedding song for them, and that inspired us to write one, too, but in our own style. The Say Sue Me song shows Damnably's calmer side, whereas our song shows their lively side." Since signing with Damnably in 2016, Otoboke Beaver has gone international, with extensive tours around the world, including some high-profile festival appearances. The band has become a must-see act for any lineup lucky enough to have them, and this is a big part of their current momentum. Still, the members argue there's a very organic feeling to their new-found acclaim. "I think it is largely due to word of mouth," Yoyoyoshie said. "People have been recording our shows and sharing them, which has really helped us find a new audience. Many Japanese artists and venues don't allow the audience to film shows, but we have no issue with it. More people have been sharing our performances, and Otoboke Beaver's fanbase has been growing from there." It's true. One of the quirks of Japan's live music culture is that many venues (and even some performers) put heavy restrictions on the use of photography and filming equipment. There are several reasons for this, one of which is a desire to control the perceptions of the artists as a brand. Despite these limitations, Yoyoyoshie insists the Japanese punk/DIY community is thriving. "It's a scene that I've always admired because people continue to create cool things now and in the past. Some bands you should definitely check out are Less Than TV, Guitar Wolf, DMBQ, Delacine, Oshiri-penpens and Ni-hao!" The Otoboke Beaver name has become synonymous with riotous live shows and on-stage chaos. The unpredictable nature and DIY style of their performances may make you think that they approach events with an anything-goes mentality, but they take preparation very seriously. "Checking our sound is very important, and we often rehearse for a solid hour before each show. It's important for us to feel comfortable on stage, so we prepare carefully." Touring has contributed to Otoboke Beaver's success, but more crucially, it has given the band a sense of freedom that they say is important to them. "We wanted to feel like we could play anywhere we wanted," Yoyoyoshie said. "That came from playing outside of Japan. It gave us confidence and the space we needed to become the band we are today." Of all the countries the band has played in, the one they got the best response from was Mexico. "That performance was insane," Yoyoyoshie said. "The crowd went absolutely wild. I heard that some of the audience got so excited during our show that they shit their pants!" Yoyoyoshie was also keen to highlight Korea as a place where they love to play. "We got invited to Pentaport this year, and it was an amazing experience," she said. "Playing there was fun, but it was also so great to see so many Korean bands. Also, even though it was hot, it was really fun to dance with friends while The Strokes were playing." Otoboke Beaver is back in Korea for a show this Thursday at Rolling Hall near Hongik University in western Seoul. They will be joined by labelmates Drinking Boys and Girls Choir. Visit otobokebeaver.com for more information. Tickets are available on Interpark. Jamie Finn is chief editor of Platform Magazine. Korea and the United States will hold joint investigations for the remains of fallen soldiers of the 1950-53 Korean War in the eastern counties of Pyeongchang and Hoengseong in April next year, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday. The ministry's Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification and the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency made the agreement in a five-day joint meeting with the Australian Army's Unrecovered War Casualties team in Seoul that began last Monday. KIA stands for killed in action, while POW and MIA are acronyms for prisoners of war and missing in action, respectively. During the meeting, Korean and U.S. officials agreed for joint investigations in Pyeongchang, 131 kilometers east of Seoul, and neighboring Hoengseong among other locations as part of ongoing efforts to recover missing remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the war. Korean and Australian officials discussed ways for cooperation to search for remains in former battle sites where Australian troops fought during the war. It marked the second meeting between the three sides since their inaugural session last year. The ministry said the three countries plan to hold the meeting on an annual basis. The U.S. and Australia were among 22 countries that sent personnel to support Korea under the U.N. flag during the three-year war, which ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. The U.S. deployed nearly 1.8 million troops during the war, with 36,940 being killed and 3,737 missing, according to the U.N. Command. Australia dispatched some 17,000 service members, with 340 being killed and 43 missing. (Yonhap) Dental check-ups should include people being asked to step on the scales and get their blood pressure checked, according to public health experts. Routine appointments should include BMI, waist circumference, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure checks, it is argued, to identify middle-aged people at risk of heart problems and diabetes. Many have red-flag health issues missed by their GP because they rarely make a doctor's appointment. The call for dentists to roll out health checks is made in a research paper published in the British Dental Journal. It follows a successful two-year use of the strategy at a dental surgery in Cheshire for NHS and private patients, and 14 months of use by dentists in the Welsh borders, which predominantly sees NHS patients. Dental check-ups should include people being asked to step on the scales and get their blood pressure checked, according to public health experts (Stock image) Routine appointments should include BMI, waist circumference, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure checks, it is argued, to identify middle-aged people at risk of heart problems and diabetes (Stock image) More than 500 people who saw their dentist got a health MOT at the same time, which revealed that three-quarters had higher than normal blood pressure, including a handful at high risk of a heart attack or stroke. Almost 17 per cent had high cholesterol, while around 3 per cent had high blood sugar. While half the population of England visit a dentist every two years, practices are currently overstretched, with people struggling to get appointments. Some even resort to pulling out their own teeth. But the authors of the new research paper say, if dentistry had more resources, it could provide valuable health checks. Dr Janine Doughty, lead author of the study from the University of Liverpool, and a dentist herself, said: 'This should be part of what dentists are encouraged to do by regulators and the NHS.' Eddie Crouch, chairman of the British Dental Association, said: 'Dentists are skilled clinicians, and well placed to support vital work detecting and preventing disease. But we can only check bloods and weight if this service survives. 'There's an exodus in motion from NHS dentistry. Unless ministers step up, this is a purely hypothetical debate.' The new paper, written by academics from the universities of Liverpool, Loughborough and Plymouth, argues that health checks at dental appointments could prevent people falling ill and dying. The authors of the report say dentists could share information with doctors, with patients' permission. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'The best place for a health check remains the GP, and we're making it easier for patients to access theirs.' A Royal Navy nuclear submarine equipped with Trident missiles suffered a huge malfunction that sent it into an endless dive before the vessel was righted moments before the crew faced being crushed by underwater pressure, it was claimed today. The Vanguard class sub had been carrying 140 crew when its depth gauge suddenly failed while on a mission in the Atlantic. It caused a frantic scrabble with engineers managing to stop the submarine and its nuclear reactor from plunging further just moments before disaster struck. The deep sea vessel, carrying Trident 2 missiles, was on patrol when the depth indicators stopped working, with its crew falsely believing it was level when in fact it was diving deeper into the ocean. It was only when engineers at the back of the sub found a second gauge indicating they were headed towards the 'danger zone' that they sounded the alarm. The Vanguard class sub had been carrying 140 crew members when its depth gauge suddenly failed, it has been reported. Pictured is one of the UK's nuclear fleet A file photo of a Vanguard class sub while on exercises A team of Royal Navy service personnel in the control room of HMS Vigilant, one of Britain's nuclear subs 'It's not the engineers' job to control the sub's depth but they saw how deep they were and realised something was wrong,' a source told The Sun. 'Technically the sub was still at a depth where we know it can operate, but if it ever has to go that deep the whole crew is piped to action-stations. READ MORE - A rare glimpse into the claustrophobic world of a Trident submarine Advertisement 'That hadn't happened. The sub wasn't supposed to be there, and it was still diving. And if it had carried on going, it doesn't really bear thinking about.' While it not known the depth the submarine reached, the maximum operational depth of this type of vessel is around 500 metres, according to Military Today. The incident led to an immediate investigation, insiders told the paper, adding it did not affect the UK's nuclear deterrent. It is unknown which of the Navy's four Vanguard Class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines was involved in the terrifying ordeal. The force's four vessels - HMS Vanguard, Vengeance, Victorious and Vigilant - each displace 15,900 tonnes when submerged and are more than 149 metres in length. Only two of the vessels, however, are in operation currently as one is being refitted and another is undergoing sea trials. Ever since 1969 at least one Royal Navy submarine carrying nuclear missiles has been on patrol in case of a sudden attack (pictured is HMS Vanguard) The Royal Navy previously released pictures of the inside of HMS Vigilant. Pictured is a locked cabinet containing the Prime Minister's Letters of Last Resort The Weapons Engineer Officers Tactical Trigger on HMS Vigilant that would be used in the final stage of a nuclear missile launch Ever since 1969 at least one Royal Navy submarine carrying nuclear missiles has been on patrol in case of a sudden attack. Vanguard subs have the capacity to accommodate 192 nuclear warheads but are currently permitted to hold a maximum of 48. READ MORE - Hackers' target MoD and leak documents online relating to some of Britain's most sensitive sites Advertisement A Royal Navy spokesperson said: 'Our submarines continue to meet their commitments, deploying globally on operations, protecting national interests, and keeping us and our allies safe. 'While we do not comment on specific details regarding submarine operations, safety of our personnel is always the highest priority.' In January, defence chiefs launched an urgent investigation after workmen allegedly used glue to repair broken bolts inside a nuclear reactor chamber onboard HMS Vanguard. The unsuitable repairs to the bolt heads, which had sheared off after being over-tightened, were discovered during a routine check aboard the sub, according to The Sun. Repair work was being undertaken as part of a dry dock refurbishment at HMNB Devonport in Plymouth, which is behind schedule by four years and 300million over budget. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is said to have demanded 'assurances about future work' carried out on the 15,900-ton vessel by established contractor Babcock following the discovery. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps arrives in Downing Street for a Cabinet meeting last week One Navy source said the situation was 'a disgrace', adding: 'Standards are standards. Nuclear standards are never compromised.' Former sub captain Cdr Ryan Ramsay added that such repairs made him wonder 'what else has been done poorly'. READ MORE - Vanguard sub sets the record for longest patrol after more than six months at sea Advertisement Another scandal that emerged last year saw two Royal Navy submariners sacked for endangering national security over emails they exchanged during a 'clandestine sexual relationship'. Lieutenant Sophie Brook was considered a 'trailblazer' as the first female warfare officer on a nuclear sub. Women have only been allowed to serve on submarines since 2011. She had even been tipped to become the first female captain of a Navy submarine. But she and Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Stone put the secrecy of the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent at risk by sharing classified submarine movements which could have been intercepted by an enemy, a court martial heard. Their messages contained the departure time as well as the direction, speed and depth of travel of Vanguard-class submarine HMS Victorious. All of this 'would have been useful to an enemy' and risked weakening the 'cornerstone' of the nation's nuclear deterrent, the hearing was told. A young woman has received a seizure notice for parking her bike on a wooden railing on Sydney's lower north shore. Natasha Usmar, 39, parked her bike near Folly Point in Cammeray. But when she returned, she was shocked to find a bright yellow notice threatening to confiscate the bike if it wasn't removed. 'If this item remains, the North Sydney Council intends to take it in its possession after 5pm on 18/11/23,' the notice states. A puzzled Usmar contacted the council, and they informed her that she was not allowed to tie her bike to council property. Instead, she was advised to use the designated council bike racks to secure her bike. 'So my bicycle just got a seizure notice because it's tied up here to the North Sydney Council property, but there's nowhere to park my bike,' she said. Natasha got a rude shock when she returned to her bike (pictured) last Wednesday 'So how am I supposed to get from A to B?' 'All the cars get spots. There's heaps of car spots but nowhere to park my bike. 'And apparently all the people who live around here complain because it's, like, disrupting their well being or whatever. I just think it's ridiculous.' Ms Usmar explained that she is unable to store the bike on her compact wooden boat, due to the limited space, and she finds it challenging to transport the bike from the boat to the land using a kayak or a tinnie. 'I put it there on that strip because it's out of the way and the cars aren't allowed to park on that spot, so it's not affecting any of the people parking, or driving around,' she said. 'I didn't really understand why anyone would have a problem with it.' The council referred to an online map of places where she can legally park her bike, but the nearest spot was a 20 minute walk away. 'So what's the point of being able to have a bicycle to take you from your home to where you're going if you've got to then walk like 20 or 30 [minutes] it doesn't make any sense,' Natasha said. Natasha (pictured) has nowhere else to park her bike as she lives on a boat Natasha's public plea for bike parking spots at Folly Point (pictured) has paid off Daily Mail Australia can reveal that North Sydney Council will install bicycle ring parking at Folly Point in the coming weeks in response to Natasha's request. A council spokeswoman confirmed three bikes received seizure notices last Tuesday in relation to the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act. 'The bikes had been observed for 28 days before they were given notice to move,' she said. 'Council provides bike parking across the North Sydney local government area and our website invites residents to tell us where and what type of bike parking they think is needed. 'We review all recommendations when allocating budget for new bicycle infrastructure. 'To assist residents and visitors to find a bicycle parking, we have a map of all bike racks in the Council area on our website.' It's understood the owner of the illegally parked Volvo won't be fined. 'Our rangers and parking officers issue fines when they see illegally parked vehicles, but do not issue fines unless they witness the offence,' the spokeswoman added. A New York City Jewish man and a Hamas leader who spoke in secret for 17 years to help end conflicts have ended their friendship over the October 7 massacre. Gershon Baskin, 67, an Israeli peace activist, and Ghazi Hamad, 59, the deputy foreign minister for the terror group have kept in touch since 2006. They were originally put in touch to help secure the release of a kidnapped Israeli soldier in return for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. They had since maintained a secret backchannel so they could share their frustrations and learn more about the other side. But their relationship has been terminated following the sick October 7 attacks after Hamad publicly endorsed the atrocities and called for more. Gershon Baskin, 67, a New York City Jew who lives in Israel was in touch with long-time spokesperson for Hamas for the past 17 years Ghazi Hamad, 59, the now deputy foreign minister for Hamas, Joined the party when it formed in 1987 'I think you have lost your mind and you have lost your moral code,' Baskin texted Hamad in a message seen by the New York Times. 'I never want to speak to you again.' Baskin first got to speak with Hamad over the phone and was charmed by his manner. Hamad insisted on speaking Hebrew rather than English or Arabic. 'I like to speak Hebrew,' he told him. Their friendship survived rounds of violence between Israel and Hamas and, according to the New York Times, helped resolve several conflicts. Even after the massacres of October 7 the pair were still talking, but after Hamad gave a hardline interview on October 24 Baskin realized it had to end. They were first put in touch when Israel worked to secure the release of a 19-year-old soldier, Gilad Shalit following his kidnap in the summer of 2006. Baskin first got to speak with Hamad over the phone in 2006 but their relationship continued for 17 years through secret text messaging between the two After the October 7 massacre Hamad's views appeared to harden, advocating for similar acts to occur in the future It saw Israel invade Gaza, and when Hamas looked to secure a ceasefire they unable to contact Israeli leaders directly. Instead, they used the services of Baskin, a well-known Israeli peace activist. Over the years, the pair became adept at mediation. Baskin became familiar with Arab sensibilities, having worked in an Arab village and running a research group that offered solutions to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, occasionally acting as a mediator. Hamad, meanwhile, was sentenced to five years in an Israeli jail where he also got to know Israelis learning Hebrew and English. Following his release, Hamad wrote and edited various Hamas run newspapers and had a reputation as a moderate. Baskin similarly wrote a book entitled 'The Negotiator' where he discussed his dealings with Hamas. It was through the dialogue between Hamad and Baskin that Shalit was able to be released in exchange for 1,000 Palestinians incarcerated in Israel. 'I am quite sure that if Hamad were a much more senior leader in Hamas, he would move toward eventually recognizing Israel and peace,' Baskin suggested in his 2013 book. Ghazi Hamad insisted Israel left them 'with no option but violence' and boasted of their slaughter of 1,400 Israelis inside their homes or as they fled a festival 'destroyed the myth of Israel as a military superpower' When Hamad then called for the complete annihilation of Israel, it left Baskin with no option: their relationship was over Over the years their rapport strengthened, occasionally buffeted by waves of violence between Gaza and Israel. 'Gershon, u r good friend,' Hamad once texted in the middle of another round of violence. 'But I'm very sad and upset & sometimes feeling have no words to say.' Eventually five years after being put in touch with one another Shalit was released in October 2011. Senior Israeli intelligence officer, David Meiden says the soldier's release would not have occurred without the years of back-and-forth - and trust - between Baskin and Hamad. Although the two men continued to stay in touch, they were unsuccessful in negotiating further hostage, swaps, or securing any kind of long-term truce. It was only when the two discussed what happened following last month's massacre that Baskin realized something had changed in Hamad, who in the past, had been capable of criticizing the terror group. Two weeks on from the terror attacks and Hamad appeared to justify the attacks as simply the logical result of years of continued Israeli aggression. Hamad boasted that the terror group 'demonstrated that Israel is beatable' and that the killing of Israelis inside their homes or as they fled the festival 'destroyed the myth of Israel as a military superpower'. He dismissed the heartbreaking number of people killed in the Israel-Hamas war - the deadliest and most destructive of the five wars fought by the two sides since 2007 - as a 'necessary price in blood'. A man carries the body of a child killed in Israeli air strikes in Khan Yunis, Gaza earlier this month Above, a group of Israeli soldiers are seen inside the Gaza strip in photos released by the IDF Hamad claimed that 'everything [Hamas] do is justifiable', declaring that 'we are the victims' as he vowed to remove Israel from what he claimed is Palestinian land. He declared that the terror group is ready to pay the ultimate price, saying 'we are a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs'. He bragged that the slaughter of 1,400 Israelis was a 'victory' for Hamas. 'October 7 was a victory: we have destroyed the myth of Israel as a military superpower,' Hamad said. 'There are counties willing to enter into security pacts with Israel because they are convinced it will be able to face Iran or other threats,' he continued. 'Instead, Hamas has demonstrated that Israel is beatable. We couldn't do it for free, but we are ready to pay again.' In an another interview Hamad said that 'we need more' from allies, including Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. It was through the dialogue between Hamad and Baskin that Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was able to be released in exchange for 1,000 Palestinians incarcerated in Israel. Pictured left, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense minster Ehud Barak. Right, his father Noam Schalit Eventually, five years after being put in touch with one another, Baskin and Hamad worked to secure the release of Gilad Shalit in October 2011 Footage shows IDF destroying tunnels in Beit Hanoun, Gaza View of a burnt-out area at a destroyed home in Kibbutz Kissufim, southern Israel following the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip 'Hezbollah now is working against the occupation,' Hamad said, speaking from Beirut. 'We appreciate this. But ... we need more in order to stop the aggression on Gaza ... We expect more.' He criticized what he said was hypocrisy of the international community, which has widely condemned the killing of Israeli civilians in the initial Hamas attack but, in Hamad's view, had given Israel a 'license to kill' civilians in Gaza in response. Hamad said that Hamas, which has so far released four of more than 220 hostages after mediation by Egypt and Qatar, was 'very open' to discussions for the release of others. He made no apologies for the high number of civilians killed by Hamas militants in Israel or the soaring civilian death toll in Gaza. Hamad said that it had brought back the world's attention to the Palestinian cause and revealed the cracks in Israel's ironclad facade. 'There is no space now to talk about peace with Israel or about a two-state solution or to talk about coexistence,' he said. Hamad then called for the complete annihilation of Israel leaving Baskin with no option: their relationship was over. Although there has no been any specific reasons as to whey Hamad suddenly hardened, historian Azzam Tamimi, who knows Hamad said he believes that the Hamas spokesperson may have lost family members and friends in the recent Israeli attacks. 'Suddenly, he lost family members, he lost many of his friends. Probably that's the issue,' Tamimi said. 'He was really expressing sincere feelings. Nobody should be under the illusion that someone that senior in Hamas is willing to recognize Israel's right to exist,' he added. He may have been shocked by the destruction wrought by the Israeli counter-attack - and maybe, Hamad was never quite as moderate as Baskin wanted to believe. The internet is addicted to webcam footage from Wyoming's Jackson Hole - thanks to 66 well-placed cameras scattered across the Western town. From playful police to pooping horses, the livestreams have a little bit of everything - and have made the town the most live-streamed in the world. The streams also offer looks at the local wilderness to wildlife, and are the brainchild of a local state representative. The unprecedented network of webcams was devised by Bob Strobel, who won a seat in Wyoming's House of Representatives this time last year. A few years before, he came up with the idea to bring Jackson Hole to the rest of the world via voyeurism, and quickly went viral with a stream from the town's center. Today, that stream is still going - joined by other cameras at Spring Creek Resort, Teton Village, and Hatchet Resort. They are now considered the centerpieces of the town's tourism, while also offering the opportunity for memes abound. Scroll down for video: The internet is addicted to webcam footage from Wyoming 's Jackson Hole - thanks to 66 well-placed cameras scattered across the Western town. They are now considered the centerpieces of the town's tourism, and offer residents the opportunity for memes abound. From playful police to pooping horses, the livestreams have a little bit of everything - and have made the town of Jackson the most live-streamed in the world. The streams range from wilderness to wildlife, and are the brainchild of a local state representative 'I thought it was fun. I thought it was cute,' the 47-year-old rep for Wyoming House of Representatives District 22 told Cowboy State Daily of his brainchild, which has ballooned into much more than an internet trend. 'That whole craze with cops doing pushups and dabbing, people making memes,' he continued, citing some of the activity his cameras and thousands of others have seen over the past seven years. 'But new levels, new devils, right?' While not entirely what he intended, the system of surveillance does have its use. With something as accessible as WiFi, anyone anywhere can tune in to one of nearly 70 hotspots in the Western town or places nearby, whether it be for the traffic situation downtown or a look at roads further north after a snowstorm storm. The streams also offer a look at the town's unique - and often wacky - hijinx, with in-the-know citizens often waving and doing stunts for the camera, often to the amusement of those watching. The perpetually crowded parking lot at Jackson Hole Airport is also an option to view, as well as local resorts where on can catch a glimpse of the night's rodeo or the traditional town square. From the comfort of their homes, onlookers can also check the lift lines at the local ski resort, and of course the weather - this all at 30 frames per second, Strobel explained. With this all available at the click of a mouse or a tap of a screen, it's no wonder it caught on within the community, but its popularity beyond that is perhaps the most interesting. At the cost of a couple hundred thousand dollars out of his own pocket, the project did not really take off until about two years in, in 2016, the CEO of See Jackson Hole recalled. The unprecedented network of webcams was devised by Bob Strobel, who won a seat in Wyoming's House of Representatives this time last year The streams also range from wilderness to wildlife, and are the brainchild of a local state representative With something as accessible as WiFi, anyone anywhere can tune in to one of nearly 70 hotspots in the Western town or places nearby, whether it be for the traffic situation downtown or a look at roads further north after a snowstorm storm The streams also offer a look at the town's unique - and often wacky - hijinx, with in-the-know citizens often waving and doing stunts for the camera, often to the amusement of those watching At that point, one feed - the popular Jackson Hole Town Square stream located on top of Pizzeria Calderal - went 'viral,' after YouTube picked it up and recommended it to several of its 122 million daily users As the craze continued for months on, thousands logged in for hours at a time to talk it up about the mundane things they'd see At that point, one feed - the popular Jackson Hole Town Square stream located on top of Pizzeria Calderal - went 'viral,' after YouTube picked it up and recommended it to several of its 122 million daily users. The result was a sudden internet story that surrounded the newfound popularity of the live video, despite the fact it showed not much happening. Seemingly the joke itself, the internet ran with it, with u sers on forums like Reddit and 4chan posting links to the live feed, promising to travel to the town and do something in front of the camera. Those posts got hundreds more watching the video, leading it to be recommended to more people on YouTube, thanks to algorithms that automatically promote content to users based on things like a sudden uptick in traffic. Meme-worthy occurrences eventually ensued when members of the tight-knight community caught on - with one cop dancing for the camera and a veiled bride-to-be waiting for a green light twerking on the street's main intersection. People cosplaying as pizza slices were also a thing, as well as police horses leaving smelly offerings mid-intersection. Such spectacles earned 2,000 viewers on one stream at a given time - and that year and ever since, viewers have hit the streams as if Strobel was handing out hotcakes. As the craze continued for months on, thousands logged in for hours at a time to talk it up about the mundane things they'd see. Fads were also rife - including one that saw participants shout-type 'red truck' whenever a red vehicle went by by in the chat Whenever someone would near the square's characteristic arc, onlookers would coyly type 'feed the arch' - another way of saying walk under it Several, including the city's local police force, continue to take part in ongoing crazes like doing pushups in plain view of the cameras, while some less playful have criticized it as just a trend. Such spectacles earned 2,000 viewers on one stream at a given time - and all that summer, viewers were hitting the website as if Strobel was handing out hotcakes 'Jaywalker!' one person typed as citizens hit the town and crossed the highly trafficked street. 'Nice hat,' another person sniped. 'I'm here from Sweden. Where you watching from?' another asked. Fads were also rife - including one that saw participants shout-type 'red truck' whenever a red vehicle went by by in the chat. Whenever someone would near the square's characteristic arc, onlookers would coyly type 'feed the arch' - another way of saying walk under it. According to the Jackson Hole FAQ, both practices began after a red truck rolled into one of the arches - one of several strange occurrences caught by Strobel's constant army of cameras. Of this, Strobel on Sunday remarked: 'People love watching life unfold organically.' The streams' popularity more than six years later suggests the longtime Jackson resident is right. Today, the stream still regularly garners hundreds of viewers at any time, offering windows to the most well-traveled locales around town at any point during the week. Viewership tends to spike during the weekends, while some simply tune in to their favorite sentry 24/7 as if it were a window in their home. Other streams are more quiet and markedly more majestic, offering glimpses at the area's awe-inspiring geography. A Webcam grab from Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Nov. 19, 2023: Turpin Meadow Ranch is seen here Pictured is a webcam grab from Jackson Hole, Wyoming's Hatchet Resort on Sunday, showing the region's majestic mountains in the distance Another grab from a webcam stationed at the town's Rustic Inn is seen here, showing how placid parts of the area are The stars of the still-popular production, though, as the at-times unknowing street-crossers, often ignorant that they're on camera but still subject to commentary. Pictured is a still from a stream outside Jackson Hole's only airport The stars of the still-popular production, though, as the at-times unknowing street-crossers, often ignorant that they're on camera but still subject to commentary. Others aware of the streams and their constant audience often wave, or hold signs and perform for the benefit of viewers. Several, including the city's local police force, continue to take part in ongoing crazes like doing pushups in plain view of the cameras, while some less playful have criticized it as just a trend. Strobel, however, said that while people have found joy in his project, its practical uses are still undeniable - and the exposure has only helped. 'When it simmered down and fell back to earth, I was grateful for what it did, not what it was,' he told the outlet as his work continues. 'The new reality of elevated exposure had its positives.' Today, the system is one of the driving forces of the town of 10,000's tourism, where people all over the world tune in to watch Jackson residents and tourists cross the street, drive, and saunter through various watering holes and local fixtures. A sense of familiarity by those who have never even been there is one of the other other unforeseen results. A sense of familiarity by those who have never even been there is one of the other other unforeseen results, the system of cameras continues to serve as one of the driving forces of the town of 10,000's tourism Others aware of the streams and their constant audience often wave, or hold signs and perform for the benefit of viewers Take it from 27-year-old Meaghan Hill, of Australia, who in Sept 2016 tweeted: 'Why can't I stop watching this livestream!?' She added in the same post that she's never set foot in Wyoming. As for Strobel, he told Cowboy State that for the past several months, he has been secretly working on 'something big' that will launch later this month. When asked, he would not elaborate. 'I don't want to spoil it,' he teased, as thousand cotinue to tune into his streams and others like it a day. 'Some things,' he added, 'need to be left unsaid.' The defense ministry said Monday it signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Daegu municipal government for the planned relocation of a military airport in the southeastern city. The two sides have been seeking to relocate the airport in Daegu, 237 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to a joint civilian-military airport to be built in the nearby counties of Uiseong and Gunwi by 2030. Through the signing of the MOA, the defense ministry will select Daegu city to oversee the relocation and push for other procedures to begin the project, estimated to cost 11.5 trillion won ($8.9 billion). Under the agreement, Daegu will build the new airport and donate it to the defense ministry, while the ministry will transfer the former military airport site to the city. (Yonhap) A radical proposal aims to transform one of Sydney's busiest arterial roads from a dilapidated traffic-choked thoroughfare to a revamped transport corridor. The proposal, which was released by Business Sydney, Business Western Sydney and the Housing Industry Association outlined the 'new vision' for Parramatta Road, which will mirror that of George Street in Sydney's CBD. It would see decaying buildings, closed shops and used car yards along Parramatta Road bulldozed to make way for mostly medium-density developments. Images prepared by the report show the vintage shopfronts on Parramatta Road renovated and intact, with the new mid-rise developments behind them. A radical plan to redevelop Parramatta Road (pictured), Victoria Road and the Great Western Highway has been proposed which could see thousands of medium density dwellings built along the side of of Sydney 's busiest arterial roads Images prepared by the report show the vintage shopfronts on Parramatta Road renovated and intact, with the new mid-rise developments behind them. The proposal also suggests extending a light rail route from Parramatta Road to Central, in a revamp mirroring the transformation of George Street in Sydney's CBD The report also encourages the state to build 70,000 new homes along the Victoria Road and the Great Western Highway transport corridors in a bid to combat the city's housing crisis. Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said the proposed plans would revive Parramatta Road back to a lively shopping strip. 'Parramatta Rd is the perfect launching pad for this 'new' look Sydney that will increase housing supply and make homes more affordable,' Mr Nicolaou said at at the Telegraph's Bradfield Oration. 'We see the redevelopment of Parramatta Road as a first step to ease the housing crisis followed by Victoria Road and the Great Western Highway from Parramatta to Penrith. 'After so many plans and false starts, Parramatta Road is a special case where the Government could achieve the double benefit of increasing housing supply while resuscitating Sydney's first highway.' A rejuvenated Parramatta Road alone could deliver up to 30,000 housing units with an emphasis on the needs of essential workers. The report, titled 'The Three Roads: A Solution to Sydney's Perfect Housing Storm' outlines a plan to build 70,000 new homes along the existing transport corridors Mr Nicolaou also called on NSW State Premier Chris Minns to strip planning powers from local councils and create an agency to help guide development over the next five years. In June, Mr Minns announced a range of initiatives to incentivise the construction of affordable housing and boost the supply of homes. NSW needs to build 314,000 new dwellings to meet the state's share of the Accord to build one million new homes over five years starting from 2024. It is falling short by almost 30,000 homes a year. A British astronaut could walk on the surface of the moon as early as 2025, NASA has claimed. The space agency reportedly told the British Government it was 'incredibly possible' that a Brit could make it on board next year's Artemis III mission. The highly anticipated launch is set to bring humans back onto the moon's surface for the first time in more than 50 years, making history by exploring the lunar South Pole. So far only 12 people have ever walked on the moon's surface. All have been American, and did so as part of NASA's Apollo space programme. Michelle Donelan, the Science Secretary, however, said that it was 'only a matter of time until we get a British person on the Moon'. Michelle Donelan , the Science Secretary said this week that it was 'only a matter of time until we get a British person on the Moon' So far only 12 people have ever walked on the moon's surface and all have been American The Science Secretary visited NASA last week. Pictured: The Space Centre's new headquarters in Florida The Secretary of State, who visited NASA earlier this week, told the Telegraph: 'I asked NASA, in relation to the Artemis programme, what was the feasibility around the Artemis 3 mission, and they said it was incredibly possible. 'We have one of the most innovative space sectors in the world, and we have some fantastic talents, homegrown. Look at Tim Peake. 'The second Artemis mission will be going around the moon, and then the third one will go on the moon. So arguably the one to be in is the third one.' Mr Peake was the first British astronaut to go into the International Space Station. He hopes to walk on the moon at some point in his life. Three other British astronauts were chosen to join the ESA last year and could be in the running. They are Rosemary Coogan, Meganne Christian and John McFall, a former Paralympian. Ms Donelan even suggested that UK astronauts should be involved in the first missions to Mars in the next decade. Tim Peake was the first British astronaut to go into the International Space Station. He hopes to walk on the moon at some point in his life In recent years a new space race has begun with countries scrambling to test new technology on the moon that could eventually help people land on the red planet. Last month India announced it wanted to put an astronaut on the moon by 2040, with Prime minister Narendra Modi vowing to build the country's first space station. He also asked scientists to work on missions towards Venus and Mars. NASA's Artemis programme - which launched its first mission last year - is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and other agencies in Japan, Germany, Israel and Canada. The UK is one of the biggest contributors to the ESA, donating around 400m a year. The first mission Artemis mission took off in November of last year, using the new Orion spacecraft, with another launch set in November 2024, which plans to put astronauts in orbit around the Lunar Gateway satellite. The third mission is expected to put astronauts back on the moon by December 2025. The UK space industry employs 50,000 people across the country and is worth 17.5 billion to the British economy, Government figures show. A Manhunt is under way for suspected terrorists who vanished after crossing the Channel by small boat, it was reported yesterday. Six suspects with links to Islamist groups were initially monitored by the security services in the UK. But three have disappeared and are thought to be using fake identity documents, the Sunday Express said. The alleged plotters are thought to be planning to damage a government building or launch a cyber attack. They are not believed to be plotting a mass casualty terror attack, sources told the newspaper. A Manhunt is under way for suspected terrorists who vanished after crossing the Channel by small boat, it was reported yesterday. Pictured: Port of Dover, England Conservative MP Marco Longhi, who sits on the Commons' home affairs committee, said the incident should be 'a wake-up call about the threat to national security' Conservative MP Marco Longhi, who sits on the Commons' home affairs committee, said: 'This should provide a wake-up call about the threat to national security due to our vulnerable borders.' It comes after the Mail revealed in April that 19 foreign nationals linked with terror groups including Islamic State reached this country by small boat last year. Most have lodged asylum claims here and cannot be deported due, in part, to human rights laws. Seven were already under 'active investigation' in other countries when they arrived here. It is being described as one of the biggest debacles in the history of Silicon Valley. The shock firing of Sam Altman, boss of artificial intelligence pioneer OpenAI, last night looked on the verge of being reversed. In a leaked memo to staff, the company behind AI chatbot ChatGPT said it was 'optimistic' that 38-year-old Mr Altman could be brought back, according to tech news site The Information. One expert said there was a fear that many workers at the company would have left to join him if he set up his own AI venture. And leading investors have also been piling on the pressure to make a U-turn. San Francisco-based OpenAI, in which Microsoft owns a large stake, has become one of the world's most talked about companies since launching ChatGPT last November. The shock firing of Sam Altman, boss of artificial intelligence pioneer OpenAI, last night looked on the verge of being reversed In a leaked memo to staff, the company behind AI chatbot ChatGPT said it was 'optimistic' that 38-year-old Mr Altman could be brought back, according to tech news site The Information It became the world's fastest growing software application reaching 100 million users in two months. Trained on mountains of data, ChatGPT can produce human-like text, from poems to software code. Backers say the technology underpinning it could be transformational for many sectors but others think it could pose huge risks in the hands of unscrupulous operators. In Mr Altman, Open AI had a boss described as a 'once in a generation CEO'. But the board sacked him on Friday, claiming he was 'not consistently candid in his communications'. It was Silicon Valley's biggest boardroom coup since Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was ousted in 1985 before returning in 1997. Mr Altman will not, it seems, have to wait as long he was yesterday said to be in talks to return, which may mean the board has to quit. Dan Ives, a top analyst at US broker Wedbush Securities, described it as a 'train wreck situation'. Microsoft did not immediately comment. Shocking images have emerged of a Starbucks and McDonald's plastered in anti-Israel stickers and smeared with red paint. The cafe and fast food restaurant were defaced along Swanston Street, in Melbourne, during a pro-Palestine rally on Sunday. Stickers decorated with the Star of David and a red 'no symbol' were plastered on the Starbucks storefront while red paint, imitating blood, was smeared on the walls. McDonald's staff were forced to delay opening as they scraped the stickers off the windows and touch-screen machines used for ordering meals. Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich called the defacements 'terrorist-like tactics of intimidation'. Starbucks (pictured) and McDonald's outlets in central Melbourne have been targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters 'Melbourne is fast becoming the anti-Israel and antisemitic capital of Australia, as these home-grown extremists run wild,' Dr Abramovich told Daily Mail Australia. 'Where was Victoria Police as these protestors ran amok, vandalising and defacing shops like a wrecking ball, and acting as if Melbourne is a lawless city? READ MORE: Intimidating scenes as pro-Palestine protesters surround small group calling for release of Israeli hostages Advertisement 'The CBD was once a safe place for people to visit, eat and shop, but no longer, as this tornado of prejudice is destroying our sense of security . 'No one should be in fear in their own city, but this is sadly where we are heading to.' Many of the stickers on both stores were Israeli Star of David flags with a red cancellation stripe through them or ones that stated in white lettering on a red background that read: 'This company supports genocide'. Signs placed on the ground outside Starbucks stated '47 per cent of Gaza is under 18yo. How many dead children is too many?' Another showed a drawing of a child's hands reaching pleadingly with the slogan 'Stop killing children like me'. Starbucks closed its cafes across Melbourne's CBD as a safety precaution, after demonstrators banged on windows and screamed at customers the previous two weekends. Victoria Police say they are investigating the vandalism and have urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. McDonald's in Melbourne has also been targeted by the Palestinian-born CEO of rival burger chain Burgertory Hash Tayeh, who last week led protesters in slogans against the company's purported support of Israel. McDonald's staff were forced to delay opening as they scraped the stickers off the windows and touch-screen machines used for ordering meals Starbucks closed all its Melbourne outlets over the weekend because of safety concerns A Burgertory store in Caufield, a northern Melbourne suburb with a large Jewish population, was burnt down by suspected arsonists on November 10. This led to clashes between pro and anti-Israel protesters later that day with police investigating an incident where a Toyota Hi-Lux displaying Palestinian flags appeared to swerve dangerously at a group draped in Israeli colours. The BDS Movement - which stands for boycotts, divestments and sanctions - has long urged supporters to put 'pressure' on companies perceived as supporting Israel. McDonald's is one such targeted because of the free meals Israeli outlets have offered to members of the Israel Defense Forces and messages of support offered by franchises in that country. The Australian arm of the US fast food giant has distanced itself from these actions. 'We are dismayed by the disinformation and inaccurate reports regarding our position in response to the conflict in the Middle East,' McDonald's Australia said in a statement. 'McDonald's Corporation is not funding or supporting any governments involved in this conflict, and any actions from our local Developmental Licensee business partners were made independently without McDonald's consent or approval. 'Our hearts are with all of the communities and families impacted by this crisis. We abhor violence of any kind and firmly stand against hate speech, and we will always proudly open our doors to everyone. Starbucks has been a target of anti-Israel protesters after suing a union for using its logo in a social message supporting the Palestinian cause 'We are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our people in the region while supporting the communities where we operate.' Palestine supporters around the world called for a boycott of Starbucks after the US company sued its workers' union for using the logo on a social media post that read: 'Solidarity with Palestine!' The message was shared by Starbucks Workers United on X, formerly Twitter, less than 48 hours after Hamas launched a series of terrorist attacks in Israel that killed at least 1200 people and saw hundred taken hostage. Seoul warns Pyongyang to cancel spy satellite launch By Lee Hyo-jin South Korea threatened, Monday, to implement retaliatory measures if North Korea pushes ahead with its planned launch of a military spy satellite, sending a rare yet strong warning against Pyongyang's envisaged military action. Although the military did not specify what measures it could take, analysts believe that South Korea's next move is most likely to involve the partial suspension of an inter-Korean military pact signed on Sept. 19, 2018, also known as the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA). Military authorities anticipate that the launch which would be the North's third attempt following two botched endeavors earlier this year could take place as early as this week. The North Korean regime must face the stark reality of unanimous condemnation by the international community over its illegal actions. We strongly warn them to immediately cease the ongoing preparations for the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite, Lt. Gen. Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said during a media briefing. "If North Korea proceeds with the launch despite the warning, our military will take necessary measures to protect the safety of our people," he added, without elaborating on what specific measures Seoul plans to take. Monday's announcement by the JCS was unusual in that South Korea normally condemns North Koreas military provocations after they take place, rather than issuing a warning in advance. Experts said the rare warning issued through a public briefing can be seen as a preliminary step to scrap the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement. The military agreement, signed by the previous Moon Jae-in government, has been criticized by the incumbent administration for restricting South Korea's reconnaissance capabilities near the border. It is extremely rare for the government to issue a warning before North Korea conducts a military provocation. It seems that the announcement was aimed at developing a rationale to nullify the military pact if North Korea proceeds with the satellite launch, a position held by our military since Defense Minister Shin Won-sik took office, said Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, a think tank. During Monday's briefing, Kang mentioned that Pyongyang violated the inter-Korean military agreement more than 3,400 times so far, beginning with artillery fire drills conducted in November of 2019 on the islet of Changrin near the maritime border separating the two Koreas, which is called the Northern Limit Line (NLL). The behavior exhibited by North Korea so far clearly indicates a lack of any willingness to comply with the agreement, Kang said. However, the South Korean military did not immediately confirm whether the "neccessary measures" would involve the suspension of the military agreement. "It is not a matter for the JCS to decide. We believe it is an issue that will be addressed after a review by related government agencies," a JCS official told reporters during a closed-door briefing later in the day. Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, also viewed that the warning reflects the South Korean government's intention to partially suspend the military pact following the North Korean satellite launch. But at the same time, the professor stressed that the South Korean government should be prudent about making the first move to scrap the agreement, which may come at the cost of increased military tensions on the Korean Peninsula. I do agree that the agreement limits reconnaissance capabilities and some of the clauses of the pact are flawed. But there are some positive aspects of the military agreement, such as bringing stability to the NLL, he said. Plus, if the South becomes the first one to officially declare the end of the agreement, it could raise eyebrows in the international community," Park added. Another expert on North Korea, asking not to be named, said South Korea could face a dilemma over the suspension of the Sept. 19 agreement. I think the government has not properly reviewed the consequences of suspending the military agreement. Once scrapped, there's no going back," he said. "And from what I understand, the United States does not support the idea of suspending the agreement. The U.S. doesn't want more tensions on the peninsula." During a joint press conference with South Korea's defense minister in Seoul last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the two sides "agreed to stay in close consultation going forward" on the suspension of the military agreement. Gov't still struggles to identify cause of system failure By Jung Da-hyun The government's administrative computer network system has been fully restored, after 56 hours of paralysis which caused massive inconveniences to public services across the country, according to the interior ministry. However, questions remain as to the fundamental reason for the system failure. Following the restoration of Government 24, the government's online civil service portal, Saturday, the Saeol administrative network used by civil servants to access government-approved documents became accessible on Sunday afternoon. The Saeol administrative network was inaccessible from 8:40 a.m., Friday, and the widely used online Government 24 portal also broke down later that day. "Our two-day investigation confirmed no issues and disruptions with the service and system. They are now fully restored," Vice Interior Minister Ko Ki-dong said during a press briefing on Sunday. With the network now restored, the civil complaints document issuance service has resumed at community centers in cities, counties and districts across the country. Civil petitioners flocked to the community centers early Monday morning, concerned about potential crowds, as civil petition documents had not been issued properly both online and offline during the network disruption period. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced, Monday, that it will operate a situation room to respond to failures concerning local administrative computer-based services, with related agencies, including the National Information Resources Service and the Korea Local Information Research and Development Institute. The purpose of the situation room is to continually monitor for irregularities with professionals stationed there so as to respond quickly to ensure stable service operations. Vice Minister Ko also announced plans to prepare fundamental and effective supplementary measures to prevent further service outages. This includes establishing a comprehensive plan by forming a task force to reform local administrative computer services with private experts, governments and related agencies. Meanwhile, concerns still linger as the fundamental cause remains unidentified. The interior ministry announced that the incident was found to have been caused by a malfunction of a layer 4 switch, a piece of network equipment in the administrative electronic signature authentication system of Government Public Key Infrastructure (GPKI). However, the ministry has yet to determine what caused the equipment failure. Experts point out that if the incident was a network problem as announced by the government, it seems that it took too long to determine the cause and solve the problem. Kim Ho-won, a professor of computer science and engineering at Pusan National University, emphasized that such problems can happen in any situation. He noted that technology to respond quickly to such situations and repair the system is more important than responding to such situations in advance. It took a long time to deal with the disruption this time. I can say that the government's shortcomings were seen in terms of its coping methodology, he said. The professor explained that the inability to pinpoint the cause of the problem shows that IT maintenance and repair parts lack skilled and professional workers. IT maintenance and repair are known to be areas that experts avoid due to low wages and high work intensity. However, professional and skilled personnel are essential to quickly analyze and respond to the cause of an error. "The task force, announced by the interior ministry, needs to recruit professional and skilled personnel and continue to develop technology so that the government can respond quickly to computer network problems and prevent the current confusion from returning, Kim said. British actor Joss Ackland died on the evening of Sunday November 19 aged 95, his family said in a statement. Throughout his dazzling career, which spanned over six decades, he starred along a number of A-list actors, including Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red October. As well as sharing screen time with other British greats such as Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench, Ackland was renowned for his large extended family, as he had seven children, 34 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren. He married Rosemary Kirkcaldy in 1951, after the couple met in Scotland while Joss was performing in a play. While Joss Ackland's family life saw him survived by nearly three dozen grandchildren after having seven children of his own - Paul, Penelope, Toby, Melanie, Antonia, Samantha and Kirsty - things could have turned out very differently for the beloved actor. Joss Ackland's family life saw him survived by nearly three dozen grandchildren after having seven children of his own. Pictured: Joss Ackland pictured with his wife Rosemary and children; Penelope, Samantha, Toby, Antonia and Kirsty As well as sharing screen time with other British greats such as Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench, Ackland was renowned for his large extended family. Pictured: Ackland with his seven children In 1963, their house in Barnes, south-west London , caught fire and in a heroic moment of bravery, Rosemary was able to save their five children while she was five months pregnant with their sixth. Pictured: Joss and Rosemary together After Rosemary died at the age of 73 in 2002, Joss published her memoirs, entitled My Better Better Half and Me, in 2010 In 1963, their house in Barnes, south-west London, caught fire and in a heroic moment of bravery, Rosemary was able to save their five children while she was five months pregnant with their sixth. However, after she broke her back when jumping from the bedroom window, she was told she would miscarry and never have the ability to walk again. Incredibly, she later gave birth and was able to walk again after 18 months. Tragically, the couple's eldest son, Paul, died of a heroin overdose in 1982, aged 29. Another of their seven children, Kirsty, married Anthony Shawn, who is a descendant of the merchant banker Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, himself a descendant Robert Rundell Guinness, who founded the bank Guinness Mahon. After Joss spent the first half of the 1950s perfecting his roles in the theatre, he put his career on hold for a short while. Accompanied by Rosemary, he embarked on a seven-week voyage by cargo boat to Beira before travelling to Malawi where the couple began working on a tea plantation at the foot of M'lanje mountain. They then relocated to South Africa, where Ackland attempted to find theatre work. They remained there for over two years until 1957 when police raided their flat confiscating the children's book Black Beauty over fears that it was subversive of apartheid. Throughout his dazzling career, which spanned over six decades, Joss Ackland starred along a number of A-list actors, including Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red October. Pictured: Joss and Rosemary with one of their children After Joss spent the first half of the 1950s perfecting his roles in the theatre, he put his career on hold for a short while Despite reaching a level of stardom that saw him mix with acting royalty, Joss remained a family man first and foremost. Pictured: Joss and Rosemary are seen here with their son Toby. An abstract from an old biography reads: His longest-running mate was Rosemary Kirkcaldy. They produced seven children, 32 grandchildren, and ten greatgrandchildren. Pictured: Melanie, Penelope and Anthia 'Then one day we were raided by the police and they confiscated a book, Black Beauty, because the horse was black! I was faced with prison, so I got out in a hurry,' he previously told the Mail. Despite reaching a level of stardom that saw him mix with acting royalty, Joss remained a family man first and foremost. An abstract from a biography he supplied before starring as King George V in a spin-of The King's Speech in 2012 read: 'His stage and screen lovers were Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall, Jean Simmons, Demi Moore, Claire Bloom, Glynis Johns, Shirley Maclaine, Greta Scacchi, Barbara Cook, Anouk Aimee, Dorothy Tutin and Denholm Elliott.' 'His longest-running mate was Rosemary Kirkcaldy. They produced seven children, 32 grandchildren, and ten greatgrandchildren.' Joss would go on to have two more grandchildren and 20 more great-grandchildren before his death. Rosemary was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2000, she gave Joss permission to publish her diaries, that she had began writing in 1945 aged just 15. After Rosemary died at the age of 73 in 2002, Joss published her memoirs, entitled My Better Better Half and Me, in 2010. A Daily Express interview published that year shows the profound impact Rosemary's death had on her husband of over 50 years. Joss and Rosemary pose for a picture together. A statement released following Joss' death read: 'With his distinctive voice and commanding presence, Ackland brought a unique intensity and gravitas to his roles. 'He will be remembered as one of Britain's most talented and beloved actors.' 'Whenever I played a part Rosemary would hear my lines, take notes, criticise and help,' he said. 'I don't want to sound miserable because I'm not but we were a part of each other and when she died, a part of me died too.' A statement released following his death read: 'With his distinctive voice and commanding presence, Ackland brought a unique intensity and gravitas to his roles. 'He will be remembered as one of Britain's most talented and beloved actors.' A Ukrainian sniper claims to be a world record holder after picking off a Russian soldier from 2.36 miles away with a custom rifle called 'Lord of the Horizon'. The unnamed soldier, who serves in Ukraine's security service (SBU), reportedly managed to beat the previous record of 2.2 miles, made by a Canadian special operations sniper in Iraq in 2017. Video reportedly shows the target falling several seconds after the SBU sniper took the shot. A line of three stationary Russian soldiers quickly becomes a line of two as the bullet takes the soldier out at the unknown location. The SBU said: '[Our] snipers are rewriting the rules of global sniping, showcasing unparalleled abilities to operate effectively at remarkable distances.' Video reportedly shows the Russian target falling several seconds after the SBU sniper took the shot A line of three stationary Russian soldiers quickly becomes a line of two as the bullet takes the soldier out Ukraine's snipers are often sent in as the vanguard for planned counteroffensive manoeuvres, and are tasked with taking out high-value Russian targets before other forces arrive The Ukrainian military gave no other details, such as when or where it was filmed, nor did it say how it had confirmed the sniper's effort. 'Lord of the Horizon' was developed and made by MAYAK, a Ukrainian arms manufacturer, and comes in at an enormous 6ft in length, the Firearms Blog reports. With the correct ammunition, the rifle can fire bullets that travel faster than the speed of sound for nearly 10,000ft. The shot comes after another Ukrainian sniper claimed to have executed the second-longest combat kill in history in 2022. The unnamed soldier felled a Russian target at a distance of 2,710m around 1.7 miles according to Ukraine's military, which last year published what it claimed was footage of the shot looking down the sniper's scope. Footage published last year by the Ukrainian armed forces of their kill showed an image of a man moving among trees before the shooter centres their crosshair on his chest. Ukraine claimed in 2022 that one of its snipers had taken out a Russian solider at 2,710m, which would be the second-longest ranged kill in combat if it is confirmed A Canadian previously held the record for the longest sniper kill on record at 11,614ft - while Briton Craig Harrison held the second-place spot, before a Ukrainian replaced him The thermal sight was seen jumping upwards, indicating the rifle has been fired, before the figure dropped to the ground around three seconds later. A second figure then came running over in an apparent attempt to help his wounded comrade, before the sniper fired a second time. Both figures then slumped to the ground. The Ukrainian sharpshooter seemingly trumped a shot by British sniper Craig Harrison, who killed two Taliban fighters at a distance of 2,475m in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2009. Afghan National Police confirmed he had killed two Taliban fighters when they visited the site of the shooting shortly afterwards to try and retrieve the militants' weapons. An Apache helicopter fitted with a laser range-finder was then sent up over Corporal Harrison's firing position to measure the distance between the two points. Mr Harrison later said he took the shot using an L115A3 Long Range Rifle and conditions were 'perfect' at the time - no wind, mild weather, and good visibility. In the case of the record-breaking Canadian shot, it is thought to have been caught on film by a Predator drone circling overhead at the time. The Canadian military said the shot was taken by a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle fired from the upper floors of a high-rise building. A report by news site SOFREP said the kill took place in Mosul, and that the shooter and his team had recently trained in long-range sniping. They had been firing at increasing distances over the city for several days leading up to the record-breaking kill. A second shot by the same sniper at a slightly shorter distance moments after the first missed its target, the site reported. A separate record is held by another British sniper who killed six Taliban with a single bullet after it hit the trigger switch of a suicide vest the target was wearing. The 20-year-old Lance Corporal, of the Coldstream Guards, pulled off the shot in Kakaran, southern Afghanistan, in December 2013. His shot travelled 850m to reach its target, but the same shooter had previously taken out a Taliban fighter at 1,340m. Confirming military kills is a notoriously tricky business that largely relies on self-reporting by soldiers due to the difficulty of getting information from behind enemy lines during a conflict. Over-reporting of casualties is therefore common and has plagued military tacticians throughout history. Ukraine's snipers are often sent in as the vanguard for planned counteroffensive manoeuvres, and are tasked with taking out high-value Russian targets before other military forces can come in. Kills made by the squad, which is named after its leader, are recorded electronically using the sights of the rifles The unit's snipers often have to wait in one position for up to 16 hours a day, and are very well camouflaged The commander of the already-legendary Ghosts of Bakhmut revealed that his unit's snipers often have to wait in a single position for up to 16 hours a day. 'It's nothing like American films that romanticise the work of snipers and show it as very glamorous.' The commander, Ghost, who claims to have killed at least 113 Russian targets, said that most of the work the unit does is survival-based. 'You learn how to calculate, you do the maths. You learn how to camouflage yourself, you learn about the environment. You can shoot perfectly well, but if you can't survive, there is no value in that.' 'We work 24 hours a day, we don't differentiate between day or night. There are no weekends. You're totally exhausted, all the juices are squeezed out of you, and when you come back from a mission, you're a complete mess.' The body of a missing mother-of-four has been found inside of her husband's storage unit in Florida after cops raided it on Saturday night. Shakeira Rucker, 37, was last seen on November 11 at a restaurant with her estranged partner, Cory Hill, 51. Now, Hill is in custody on unrelated attempted murder charges against a different woman and is considered the prime suspect in Rucker's death. Rucker was last heard from by family members when she told them she was going to buy some food and to head home for the evening on the 11th. She was the mother of two boys, 7 and 18, and two girls, 9 and 16. A GoFundMe page has been set up for them. 'Shakeiras family was notified this evening. We grieve with them & our detectives are committed to bringing them justice in this case,' the Orange County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. On the night of November 11, Rucker was seen in surveillance video with Hill. Earlier that evening, police say that he shot at his ex-girlfriend during a domestic dispute. Rucker's death was as the result of gunshot wounds, police said. 'I heard gunfire. I felt two of them pass by my face,' Angel Milligan said in an interview with WESH. Hill was arrested the following day, on November 12. Shakeira Rucker, a missing mom-of-four was last heard on November 11, a week later she was found dead in her husband's storage locker Cory Hill, 51, is in custody on unrelated attempted murder charges against his ex-girlfriend Hill previously spent 20 years in prison on second-degree murder charges and is now considered the prime suspect Rucker's death Rucker was the mother of two boys, 7 and 18, and two girls, 9 and 16. A GoFundMe page has been set up for them This past Saturday, authorities responded to a a Your Storage Unit in the town of Apopka, jut north of Orlando, after someone called the police regarding a strange smell. According to authorities, Hill is refusing to speak to investigators regarding Rucker's death. He has not been charged in relation to the killing. Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Sunday that Cory Hill could have 'stopped a lot of pain and suffering by talking to investigators from the very beginning instead of putting them through this week long nightmare.' 'He is the suspect. We are not looking for anyone else. He will be charged with the murder eventually in this case,' Mina said. At the the time that authorities got the call about the storage unit, officers were searching for Rucker at an airfield in the area. Hill previously spent 20 years in prison on second-degree murder charges in Virginia after being found guilty of second-degree murder, reports WFTV. 'I just want my mom to come back. Its hard, her not being here, because Im always with her. Its like I cant live without her. Shes all I know,' her daughter, Mikayla Johnson, 16, told Fox Orlando. Police were called here to a Your Storage Units facility in Florida on Saturday night after someone reported a strange odor The scene at Hill's ex-girlfriend's home after he allegedly fired a gun at her just prior to Rucker's disappearance On Sunday, Rucker's friends and family joined together at a vigil to celebrate her life At the vigil, Rucker's brother expressed frustration with the speed of the police investigation On Sunday, Rucker's family gathered at a park in Pine Hills to celebrate her life. 'I'm feeling heartbroken, to hear the news of my sister's passing and the way she was found its devastating. We're grieving this moment as it hasn't even been 24 hours since we heard the news but were here strong,' her brother, Clarence, told Spectrum News. 'She was a caring person, she cared about her kids. All she wanted to do was work, go to church and just live. You know and have fun. She just wanted to work and take care of her kids the little things,' he added. Thornton also expressed anger at the investigation, saying that family members tried to point police to the storage unit earlier. 'Very disappointed because we told them that it could be the storage because all of his furniture wasnt in the house,' Thornton said. He also questioned why nobody who works at the storage facility noticed anything unusual. Speaking Hill's fate, Thornton simple said: 'He needs to go down for everything, everything he is.' 'My sister should have never been in that situation. Not in a million years I would have thought my sister (to) ever been in that situation,' he added. State Attorney Andrew Bain was in attendance at the girl. 'I'm just here to show my support for her family and make sure they have everything they need from my office. We're dealing with them first and then well get to dealing with the case after,' he told the media. BBC Airport star Jeremy Spake is suing the Isle of Man government for personal injury damages after he became stressed from 'working 110 hours a week'. Spake - who rose to fame after appearing on the 1996 documentary series 'Airport' - is claiming his mental health was damaged due to 'overwork' at his job. The 54-year-old said his mental health deteriorated during his three year employment as the deputy-director of the Isle of Man Airport at Ronaldsway and is suing the Isle of Man government for personal injuries. He quit the role in March last year citing 'bullying, harassment and mobbing on an almost industrial scale' on his LinkedIn page. The Isle of Man High Court heard that Spake has previously received personal injury damages from 'abject' institutional failures at his employment that led to 'extreme overwork, lack of support and failure to deal with harassment'. But now Spake is launching a separate legal action over the department's alleged negligence and breach of contract for failing to minimise his stress. Jeremy Spake appeared on six part documentary series The Airport: Back In The Skies in 2022 He said his mental health deteriorated during his three year employment as the deputy-director of the Isle of Man Airport at Ronaldsway. Pictured on The Airport: Back In The Skies Spake - who rose to fame after appearing on the 1996 documentary series 'Airport' - is claiming his mental health was damaged due to 'overwork' at his job Spake - who also wrote a book called 'The Toughest Job in Britain' about his experiences working at Heathrow Airport - began working at the Isle of Man Airport in 2018. The former star left the job three years later and received substantial damages from the Isle of Man government's Department of Infrastructure (DoI) which runs the airport, at an industrial tribunal in 2022. He claimed unfair and wrongful or constructive dismissal related to his whistleblowing over his concerns about safety and other issues at the airport. He also claimed to have been harassed by individuals in air traffic control and received a payout after both sides reached a compromise agreement. Now, it has emerged Spake is also suing the Department of Infrastructure for personal injuries in a separate legal action launched in April. The Isle of Man High Court heard he is seeking damages over the department's alleged negligence and breach of contract for failing to minimise his stress and provide adequate support at the airport where he said he regularly worked 110 hours a week. Spake's advocate Chris Grimson said stresses of events during his three years at the airport had ultimately damaged his psychiatric health due to the DoI's negligence and breaches of statutory duty. Spake - who also wrote a book called 'The Toughest Job in Britain' about his experiences working at Heathrow Airport - began working at the Isle of Man Airport in 2018 Spake appeared on game show Pointless Celebrities in 2019 He said the claimed personal injury damages arose from 'abject' institutional failures that led to 'extreme overwork, lack of support and failure to deal with harassment from a particular faction within the airport'. Mr Grimson told the court this alleged harassment had been directed to his client by a 'group of individuals in air traffic control'. He said the organisation's 'institutional and endemic failures' had led to his client regularly working 110 hours a week and having to 'shoulder alone' issues such as health and safety. But advocate for the DoI Keira Gore argued the new claim should be struck out as it could and should have been included in the tribunal case and the department should not be 'vexed twice by the same matter'. She said the dismissal was motivated 'wholly or primarily by the claimant's repeated protected disclosures regarding safety related and other matters'. The court heard that Spake had issued a claim for personal injuries in April this year and Ms Gore said the facts of the new claim were 'all but identical' to the tribunal claim. Merla Celestine, Air Jamaica's station manager, Michele Harris, Terminal manager and Jeremy Spake Aeroflot's supervisor at London Heathrow Airport for BBC series Airport The DoI's advocate said there was a 'real and heightened' risk of double recovery as the compromise agreement covered injury to feelings and loss of earnings and pension contributions while the civil claim was for loss of earnings and pension. She said the case should be struck out for abuse of process or alternatively Spake ordered to provide a schedule of losses and expert medical within eight weeks as his claim wasn't issued with these elements. READ MORE - Airport's Jeremy Spake looks totally different as he returns to screens 17 years after becoming fan favourite on the BBC documentary Advertisement Mr Grimson accepted there were similarities with both claims but insisted the personal injury claims were stand alone and not related to the detriment caused by Spake's whistleblowing or the dismissal itself. Deemster (judge) John Needham said he would be looking to reserve judgment as it was a 'complex area of law'. An Isle of Man government spokesperson said: 'The matter is being examined by the courts and that it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.' Elena Yegorova, Spake's legal counsel, said: 'For legal reasons, neither Jeremy nor any of his representatives are able to make any comment concerning this matter at this time.' Spake first found fame in 1996 when he starred in the BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary Airport set in Heathrow where he was working as ground services manager for Russian airline Aeroflot. He returned to Heathrow last year to present a mini-series looking at how the airport was resuming full operations after the Covid pandemic Since his departure from Ronaldsway, he has set up a consultancy business with his former boss Anne Reynolds, who left her role as airport director in 2021 after 15 years of involvement with the island's air and sea ports. MailOnline has approached the Isle of Man government for comment. Han Dong-hoon takes center stage in politics as general elections loom By Kim Hyun-bin Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon is gaining increasing political fame in the leadup to the general elections slated for April, with some raising expectations that he could create a sensation and save President Yoon Suk Yeol and the ruling People Power Party (PPP), which have both been grappling with approval ratings hovering only at around 30 percent. The prosecutor-turned-minister, who is also a close aide to the president, has become a uniquely popular figure since his inauguration on the back of his direct and assertive interactions with opposition lawmakers, providing robust critiques and rebuttals during National Assembly sessions. These actions were well-received by specific political factions, propelling Han into the political spotlight. Although the minister remains discreet about his political ambitions, speculation has already been mounting over his potential run in the general elections, becoming a possible savior of the conservative party. Fueling such hopes is the fact that there has been no discernible rebound in the party's approval ratings, despite various strategies employed, such as moving to incorporate Gimpo City into Seoul and forming an innovation committee ahead of the upcoming elections. Such speculation began to mount after the minister's wife made a notable public appearance on Wednesday, participating in volunteer activities with the spouses of other ministers. This sparked rumors that the minister had already begun preparations to run in the elections. "The wives of ministers participating in volunteer activities is nothing new, but the question centers on why Han's wife got all the media attention," former PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok said appearing on a YTN news program. "Han's wife also appeared to have anticipated the media attention and prepared for it. When looking at her photos, I think she is preparing for public activities." The spontaneous display of popularity toward the minister is also fueling the speculation, as he received a huge welcome, reminiscent of a K-pop star at a fan meeting, during a visit to Daegu a traditional stronghold of the conservative party on Friday. During the visit, which was part of his on-site inspection of legal policies, Han found himself repeatedly approached by citizens seeking to be photographed with him. The scene evolved into a three-hour-long impromptu interaction, with citizens lining up for a chance to have a moment with the minister. When asked about the possibility of him running for the elections, he merely said, "Opinions may vary." Experts suggest that should Han decide to pursue a political career, his potential options could include running for a National Assembly seat through the general elections, assuming the role of the ruling party's emergency committee chairman or heading its election strategy committee. However, skepticism exists within the party regarding his potential appointment as the emergency committee chairman or the head of the election strategy committee, given his limited political experience, as he hails from a judicial background. And such traits are actually prompting calls for the minister to run in the election. Some experts warn that Han assuming a significant role in the ruling party could be a risky political move. "Minister Han Dong-hoon has political acumen. However, having political intuition doesn't necessarily translate into being adept in politics," said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University. "Politics requires not just political acumen, but also a certain set of political skills accumulated through years of working as a politician." Investigators in California have released pictures of the man they say set fire to a section of one of Los Angeles' busiest freeways, causing traffic chaos in the City of Angels last week. In the pictures released by the state's fire marshal's office, the suspect is seen walking close to the freeway at 12:31am on November 11, around 30 minutes after the fire began. He's wearing blue shorts, a black jacket, a green scarf and a black backpack. He is between the ages of 30 and 35. The suspect has a knee brace on leg and what appears to be burn injuries on the other. Anyone with any information is asked to call California's State Fire Marshall arson and bomb unit on 8000-468-4408. After the blaze was extinguished, authorities were quick to point to arson as the cause with Governor Gavin Newsom told the media that 'there was malicious intent.' This is the suspect in the arson incident that took place along one of the busiest freeways in Los Angeles last week Authorities said that the suspect appeared to have burn marks along one of his legs An estimated 300,000 vehicles a day use the freeway, which runs east-west across the heart of the metropolis and connects with other major highways. While investigators have not said how the fire was set, the blaze was fed by pallets, cars, construction materials, hand sanitizer and other items being stored under the freeway under a little-known program that now is under scrutiny. The storing of the flammable materials was in violation of the company's lease. The freeway reopened on November 20, ahead of schedule after a mile-long stretch had been shut down due to the inferno, snarling traffic as repair crews worked around the clock. Officials had said last week that all lanes were expected to reopen by Tuesday, but moved it up to Monday after significant progress. Newsom said recent safety inspections showed the span was safe to start reopening Sunday evening and that the freeway would be 'fully operational' before Monday's rush hour. 'It wasn't just speed that we were after. We wanted to make sure this thing was safe,' Newsom said at a news conference, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Friday night's fire started in a pallet yard under the road. It's unclear how it started The blaze spread to a second pallet yard and forced people to flee from a nearby homeless encampment Officials had initially said it could take about 250 workers between three and five weeks to shore up the span after the blaze burned about 100 support columns. 'This is a great day in our city,' Bass said Sunday. 'Let me thank everyone who worked 24 hours to make this effort happen.' There will be periodic closures in the coming weeks or months as repairs continue, officials said. Padilla estimated the initial repairs, which are expected to be covered by federal funds, would cost $3 million. State investigators repeatedly identified fire and safety hazards at a leased storage space under an elevated Los Angeles freeway before it burned in the fire, documents show. Newsom has said the state will reassess the practice of leasing land under roads to bring in money for mass transportation projects. Apex Development Inc. has leased the land under I-10 since 2008. Although one condition of the contract stipulated that it not allow the storage of flammable or hazardous materials there, state inspectors have visited the site six times since early 2020 and flagged problematic conditions for years. 'This is a filthy unmaintained lease,' inspector Daryl Myatt wrote in a 2022 report after a surprise inspection discovered solvents, oils, fuels and other items barred by the agreement. 'This area has been utilized since the mid-1970s and looks like it.' Owners of two of the companies that subleased the property said they also had warned of a fire danger and other hazards related to homeless people living under the freeway. Gov. Gavin Newsom, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, announces the reopening of the freeway Crews work to douse the fire under Interstate 10 and begin repairing the damage Newsom previously said that while subleasing can be legal if the company received permission from state and federal regulators, Apex did not. In September, state officials filed a lawsuit against Apex saying it owes $78,000 in unpaid rent. A hearing is scheduled next year. The state's most recent spot inspection, a little more than a month before the Nov. 11 fire, found 'numerous lease violations,' but the documents released Friday didn't elaborate. Caltrans had 'informed Apex Development of the need to address violations, especially those creating safety hazards,' the agency said in a statement. Mainak D'Attaray, an attorney for Apex Development, said Wednesday that the company is not to blame for the fire, adding the company hasn't been able to access the premises since October. 'Apex rented and improved the rundown yard and made substantial capital investments during the period that it had possession of the yard,' D'Attaray's statement added. 'Caltrans inspected the premises periodically, at least once a year, and CalTrans was fully aware of the sublessees and their operations. Even the State of California's Fire Marshall inspected the premises.' D'Attaray did not respond to a request for comment Saturday. Izzy Gordon, a spokesperson for the governor, earlier this week disagreed with D'Attaray's statement that Apex is not to blame. Gordon said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Cal Fire believes it was caused by arson 'in a fenced-off area that Apex was responsible for maintaining while they continued to assert rights under the lease.' Brandon Richards, another Newsom spokesperson, reiterated the governor's directive for Caltrans to conduct a comprehensive review of all leased sites under the state's freeways. Richards did not address whether anyone at Caltrans is facing discipline. No injuries were reported in the fire, but at least 16 homeless people living in an encampment there were taken to shelters. A school has been forced to evacuate pupils for the second time in four days after receiving an 'identical' email about a hoax bomb threat. The Oaks Park High School in Carshalton, south London, informed parents at 8.19am that police had asked teachers to urgently evacuate pupils onto the playing fields. It comes after the same school had the exact same incident on Friday - the day after pupils had taken part in a practice drill on what to do in case of a threats like these. In text messages sent to parents, seen by MailOnline, the school said: 'The police have asked us to evacuate the school this morning after receiving an identical threat as on Friday at the same time.' One mother who has a 13-year-old boy at the school described the latest ordeal as 'terrifying'. Parents were sent the messages above by the school which said they had received an 'identical' threat to the one on Friday Police cordoned off Oaks Park High School after receiving a hoax bomb threat email last Friday She told MailOnline: 'Everything goes through your head... You don't know if it's real or not. Anything that could happen. Imagine if they said to the pupils that you can go in and something happens. 'I would rather collect my kid from school but you just have to trust the police have done their job.' In a second message sent at 9.14am - almost an hour after the evacuation - parents were told: 'The police have given clearance for the school to reopen. All students are now returning to classrooms for registration. We will update you again this morning.' On Friday, officers rushed to the school and carried out a search of the premises. READ MORE: Mystery behind hoax bomb threat that evacuated school: Panicked parents called to pick up their children day after practice drill into exactly the same scenario Advertisement A mother who has a 12-year-old daughter at the school revealed to MailOnline that the first incident came after the school had a practice drill 24 hours prior. Speaking about the drill, the parent said: 'An alarm went off and the kids had to get under tables and be still. Then this happens today which is bizarre.' Students were spoken to and reassured before they were sent home, an email to parents seen by MailOnline revealed last week. Police have since said Friday's incident is being treated as malicious communications and they have no wider concerns. The mother, who wished to remain anonymous, said parents and guardians received a text from the school at 8.44am on Friday to say there had been an incident, the school had been evacuated, police were on site, and that parents would be updated. The text reassured parents that pupils were safe with staff. 'Then we got another text saying police were advising the school should not be open so the students would be dismissed,' she said. 'The messages were quite vague so a lot of parents were panicking.' The Oaks Park High School in Carshalton had to be evacuated for the second time in four days today Children were collected last Friday morning by parents who were told by teachers to 'move away from the school quickly'. The mother added: 'There were a few kids who were upset but the majority of them just walked out confused.' She said the school dealt with the incident well and had got children away from the school building to a field. An email from school informing parents it was a hoax bomb threat was then sent at 11.50am on Friday. The email said: 'Dear Parent/Carer. I am writing to update you regarding an incident at school today. 'Early this morning, the school received a hoax bomb threat. We acted immediately and contacted the police who advised we evacuate staff and students from the school building. 'The police arrived promptly and carried out a search of the school premises. At this point they also advised that students should be sent home. 'We followed police guidance along with our own protocols and dismissed students in tutor groups, so they could be spoken to - and reassured - before they left the school site. 'We are extremely proud of the way our students responded today, with maturity and calmness.' A Met Police spokesperson said: 'Safety cordons were established as a precaution following receipt of a bomb threat at a school on Damson Way, Carshalton at 08:02hrs on Friday 17 November. 'The building was evacuated whilst a search was carried out. Nothing was found and the incident is being treated as malicious communications. 'Officers do not have wider safety concerns. There have been no arrests.' MailOnline has contacted the Met Police and the school about the latest hoax threat. Oaks Park High School is a mixed comprehensive school for students aged 11 to 19. The school website says: 'Our goal is to help young people develop the skills, knowledge and qualifications they need to become adults we can be proud of. 'Our staff are fully committed to students' wellbeing, achievement and progress in all areas.' A 14-year-old boy miraculously survived accidentally shooting himself in the head with a foot-long harpoon in Thailand. Chayathorn Thankrathok was with his friends hunting fish in a canal in Nakhon Ratchasima province on Sunday. But when he fired the harpoon into the water, it reportedly struck rocks below the surface then rebounded toward his face, piercing his skull and lodging between his eyebrows. The panicked youngsters called the rescue team, who found Chayathorn breathing heavily as he lay on the ground with the harpoon jutting out of his head. The group rushed the boy to the Chakkarat Hospital, where doctors then cut off a part of the harpoon. Chayathorn Thankrathok (pictured, centre) was rushed to a nearby hospital by his friends after his horrific injury The fishing spear managed to get lodged between his eyebrows after rebounding off a rock He and his friends were fishing in a canal in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, on Sunday CT scans revealed that the harpoon had 'penetrated the skull deep into the brain'. As the procedure was too complicated, local doctors had to transfer the teen to the bigger Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital, where there was better equipment. Surgeons successfully removed the harpoon without having to saw open Chaiyathorn's skull. Despite this, he is still being monitored for potential infections or brain damage. Chayathorn said: 'I remember firing the harpoon at a fish and then it hit me in the head. I was in pain and I fell down. I feel better now but I won't use the fishing harpoon again.' Emergency services found him breathing heavily as he lay on the floor with the spear poking out of his hear One paramedic said: 'The victim missed a fish then the spear bounced back toward his face. It was embedded in his skull, so he's very lucky to be alive' Surgeons at the Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital successfully removed the harpoon without having to saw open Chaiyathorn's skull Chaiyathorn's and his friends were fishing in a nearby canal when he suffered the shock injury READ MORE: Filipino fisherman dies after harpooning fish, only for cable to wrap around his legs and send him tumbling into the water where he hit his head and drowned Advertisement Chaisit Phupharat, head of Rescue Unit Hook 31 that responded to the incident, said: 'The villagers said they often use harpoons instead of rods for fishing. 'The victim missed a fish then the spear bounced back toward his face. It was embedded in his skull, so he's very lucky to be alive.' The shock incident comes a year after a 30-year-old man was rushed to hospital after shooting himself in the face with his own harpoon in Rayong province, eastern Thailand. The sharp object had penetrated the left side of the man's face, running straight through his nose and emerging through the opposite cheek. Seeing him emerge from the water with the spear penetrating his left cheek and going all the way through his nose, his horrified pals bundled him into the sidecar of their motorbike and rushed him to an emergency centre six miles away. The harpoon reportedly exploded sending the 4-ft long spear into his face at Thailand's Mor Mui Reservoir With the spear penetrating his left cheek and going all the way through his nose, his horrified pals bundled him into the sidecar of their motorbike and rushed him to an emergency centre Friend Rung Arun told local media that upon arrival he was given emergency first aid after losing a lot of blood, turning very pale and losing his pulse. A hospital spokesman said: On December 7, 2022 at 5.00pm, the Pluak Daeng District Rescue Center, Rayong, was informed that an injured person was shot by a fishing gun. Because the harpoon impaled the left cheek area through the nose, the staff gave first aid before rushing him to Pluak Daeng Hospital. It is thought that a tree branch under the water caught the trigger. causing the gun to fire Because this type of harpoon does not have a safety system. Baby Indi Gregory's heartbroken father has revealed how his daughters kissed their sibling a tearful goodbye just hours before she died. Eight-month-old Indi passed away earlier this month following a lengthy court battle between her parents Dean and Claire Staniforth, and judges who ruled it was in her 'best interests' to die. The couple had wanted to move their daughter to the specialist Bambino Gesu children's hospital in Rome for treatment, after she was granted Italian citizenship in a special decree by PM Giorgia Meloni. But the request was overruled and instead Indi who suffered from mitochondrial disease - was moved from the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, to a hospice in Loughborough, Leicestershire, where she died last Monday. Her breathing tube was removed, and she slipped away in Claire's arms at 1.45am, just a few hours after sisters Liv, 19, Olivia, 13, and Vienna, six, had said their final farewells. Baby Indi Gregory's heartbroken father has revealed how his daughters kissed their sibling a tearful goodbye just hours before she died Eight-month-old Indi passed away earlier this month following a court battle between her parents Dean and Claire Staniforth, and judges who ruled it was in her 'best interests' to die The couple had wanted to move their daughter to the specialist Bambino Gesu children's hospital in Rome for treatment, after she was granted Italian citizenship in a special decree Dean, 37, told MailOnline: 'We were able to be with her right up until the end and we were able to hold her, and her sisters got a chance to kiss her goodbye which as a father was heartbreaking to watch. 'They kissed her and hugged her goodbye at about 10pm and they lay with her for a bit but then went to bed and Indi died a few hours later. READ MORE - Race to find a cure for heartbreaking disease which slowly killed baby Indi Gregory Advertisement 'All of them were crying their eyes out and I couldn't' watch it, it tore me apart.' Dean, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, said the ultimate aim had always been to take Indi to Rome, for a stent operation in her heart but doctors and the Court of Appeal ruled against it. Three days before she died Matteo Corradini, the Italian consulate in Manchester who acted for her legally fired off a letter to the High Court asking for an emergency hearing but didn't hear back until it was too late. Dean said: 'The way were treated by the NHS and the courts was terrible, they just didn't seem to be taking our feelings as parents into consideration at all, surely we should have had more of her say as her mum and dad? Her breathing tube was removed, and she slipped away in Claire's arms at 1.45am, just a few hours after sisters Liv, 19, Olivia, 13, and Vienna, six, had said their final farewells Dean, 37, told MailOnline: 'We were able to be with her right up until the end and we were able to hold her, and her sisters got a chance to kiss her goodbye Pictured: Baby Indi Gregory with her mother Claire Staniford 'The judge who Matteo wrote to didn't even bother to reply until after Indi had died and the tone of the letter wasn't appreciated by our legal team, they said it was flippant, as he wrote he assumed we didn't want to progress as Indi had died.' Dean went on: 'They (NHS and Courts) wouldn't even let us take her home to die, they said it had to be in a hospice or the hospital but in the end, she travelled further to the hospice from Nottingham than our home. What was the point? 'We just didn't want to be there and when they took the ventilator out, the feeding tubes came out at the same time they ripped them off at the same time and when they put them back in we didn't know if they were in the right spot. 'The last 24 hours as result were a nightmare because she kept tensing and stretching her stomach and you could see she was in agony but before that she had been OK, it was awful to see, a nightmare, really traumatising.' He added: 'We got told the hospice was the best pace for the type of care but the staff weren't helpful.. 'We just wish we could have got her home but I think they were scared we would jump on a plane and take her to Italy. 'To be honest that was a dream, to take her to Italy or if not go home, we just didn't want her to pass away in hospital and if we couldn't get to Rome, we wanted her to die at home, to at least spend some time at home as she was in hospital the whole time. Indi was granted Italian citizenship by PM Giorgia Meloni so she could be moved to Rome 'The relationship with the hospital just broke down in the last few weeks and that's why we should have been allowed to take Indi home and more consideration should have been given to us as her parents.' Relieving her final hours Dean said: 'You could see her struggling to breathe and Claire was holding her as she died. 'The last eight months have been a roller coaster, Indi was having seizures one minute and then the next so was smiling and baby babbling. 'Then she caught various bugs and infections in the hospital as well, and I complained that the ward wasn't clean enough. 'The hospital said they would look into it but we never heard anything back for ages and then they said she was getting ill because of her condition.' READ MORE - Parents of Indi Gregory tell how their terminally ill daughter was in 'excruciating pain' before she died Advertisement Messages of support flooded in from Italy after Indi was made a citizen and Pope Francis who described Indi as a 'innocent fragile human being, who in her silence asked for only love, a relationship and care'. While PM Meloni said: 'Little Indi Gregory is no longer with us, news we never wanted to read. The Italian government made the most of her, offering to treat her in our country, unfortunately without success. 'A touching prayer for you and a sincere hug to her parents.' Dean revealed the funeral is planned for December 1 at the St Barnabas Cathedral in Nottingham, led by bishop Patrick McKinney and her hearse will be carried in a horse drawn carriage. He said: 'It will be a religious ceremony and we will say goodbye to her in as lovely way as we can. 'The Italian government will be sending a high-level delegation and have offered to pay for the funeral as well.' Dean added: 'All the time I was in court fighting I just wanted to be with Indi. We had some good times though, when the tubes were out she was bouncing in the swing and on the bean bag. 'That's and her personality was really coming out, that's' when we got our hopes up she would come home sadly it didn't happen, although we still have those wonderful memories.' Christine Keeler's perjury conviction is a national scandal and she should receive a posthumous pardon, a top human rights lawyer has said. Keeler became an outcast after her affairs with both the then War Minister John Profumo and a Russian spy emerged in 1963. She was then jailed for perjury in December 1963, several months after Profumo had resigned over the scandal. Keeler had given evidence during the trial of her former partner Lucky Gordon, who she claimed had attacked her. He was convicted and jailed for three years. However, it later turned out she had lied to the court and so was sentenced to nine months in prison. Human rights KC Dr Felicity Gerry said last night that Keeler's prosecution was 'dreadful' and should be overturned. She has joined forces with Keeler's son to make an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Christine Keeler's perjury conviction is a national scandal and she should receive a posthumous pardon, a top human rights lawyer has said. Above: Keeler posing for a photoshoot she did after her conviction Model Christine Keeler pictured in 1964 in a bathing suit, after she served a stint in prison Speaking to the Mirror, Dr Gerry said: 'It is a national scandal that she was ever prosecuted at all and that she died without having her case being understood and her convictions overturned. 'Sending her to prison was dreadful and she rightly deserves a posthumous exoneration.' She branded the original case the 'epitome of slut-shaming' that has had 'lasting implications' for all women who have been 'framed as liars'. Dr Gerry believes Keeler, who died aged 75 in 2017, was wrongly convicted, because the fact she lied was 'legally irrelevant'. Gordon won an appeal after it emerged that Keeler had told the court two witnesses were not there. But Dr Gerry and Keeler's son insist there was no doubt that Gordon had assaulted her. It was also alleged that Ms Keeler was pressured by the two witnesses who went on to admit they had seen Gordon attack her. Human rights KC Dr Felicity Gerry said last night that Keeler's prosecution was 'dreadful' and should be overturned The model was at the heart of Britain's most infamous sex scandal after she and war minister John Profumo (pictured in 1962) had an extra-marital affair when she was 19-years-old Keeler's son, Seymour Platt, 51, told the Mirror last week that it was 'wrong that she went to prison' and that she was 'exploited and abused by powerful men'. Mr Platt vowed to 'fulfil a promise to tell the truth about her life' and to clear his late mother's name. He added: 'She shouldn't have gone to prison and if she shouldn't have gone to prison, she wasn't a liar.' Ms Keeler was branded a 'prostitute' in the press and as a 'harlot' by then-Prime Minister Harold Wilson after her affair with Profumo and Soviet attache Yevgeny Ivanov in the midst of the Cold War. Staff at the CCRC have been trawling through archived notes from her barrister Lord Jeremy Hutchinson, who begged the judge not the jail her. They are also questioning top KCs who are connected to the case. He said the men she was with in 1963 all saw her as 'their property' and exploited her. Mr Platt said the documents submitted to the CCRC prove that his mother was 'beaten up in the street and she went to prison'. Christine Keeler pictured in 2006 carrying a newspaper under her arm Cliveden House,in Buckinghamshire (pictured in 1963) where Ms Keeler caught Profumo's eye when she swam naked Christine Keeler on her way to the Old Bailey on June 7, 1963 Crowds outside the Old Bailey surge forward as Christine Keeler leaves court on July 23, 1963 Christine Keeler poses in a swimsuit on a sun lounger on a beach in Cannes in May 1963 He also slammed the accusations of her being a prostitute as 'ridiculous' as she was 'broke' and he went into poverty as she found it impossible to earn money. He revealed that his mother wrote in her will that she wanted him to share the truth about her life. She was a dancer based in Soho, London when she met osteopath Stephen Ward, who introduced her into high society. He took her to a gathering at Cliveden House in Buckinghamshire in July 1961 where she caught Profumo's eye when she swam naked. The pair engaged in an affair at the same time that Keeler was sleeping with handsome Russian spy Evgeny Ivanov. Profumo lied to the House of Commons about his affair but was soon found out and Keeler sold her story to the News of The World for 23,000. In June 1963, Profumo quit in disgrace, amid allegations Keeler had been asked by Ivanov to discover from the War Minister when the West Germans might receive U.S. nuclear missiles to be stationed on their soil. War hero Profumo had been a rising star of the Tory Party and was married to actress Valerie Hobson, one of the great beauties of her day. Keeler ended up serving half her term. Hundreds of alleged 'Ndrangheta mobsters will be sentenced by Italian judges today, marking the end of Italy's largest mafia trial in more than 30 years. Among those in the dock are mobsters who have a host of nicknames including 'The Wolf', 'Fatty' and 'Sweetie'. In total, prosecutors are asking for guilty verdicts against 322 alleged mafia members and their white-collar collaborators in what could mark the most significant blow to date against one of the world's most powerful organised crime syndicates, which enjoys a near-monopoly on the European cocaine trade. The mega trial started almost three years ago inside an ultra-secure bunker courtroom in the southern region of Calabira, where the powerful 'Ndrangheta organisation was originally based. Since then, the court of Vibo Valentia has heard thousands of hours of testimony, including from more than 50 former mafia operatives turned state witnesses. The witnesses have detailed countless examples of the 'Ndrangheta's brutality and its stranglehold over the local population, whether carrying out violent ambushes, shaking down business owners, rigging public tenders, stockpiling weapons, collecting votes or passing kickbacks to the powerful. Those who opposed the mafia found dead puppies, dolphins or goat heads dumped on their doorsteps, sledgehammers taken to storefronts or cars torched. Some were murdered, their bodies never found, while others were beaten or fired at. Hundreds of 'Ndrangheta mobsters including 'The Wolf', 'Fatty' and 'Sweetie' will be sentenced by Italian judges today, marking the end of Italy 's largest mafia trial in more than 30 years People arrive at a specially constructed bunker for a hearing of a maxi-trial of hundreds of people accused of membership in Italy's 'ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, one of the world's most powerful, extensive and wealthy drug-trafficking groups, in Lamezia Terme, southern Italy, on Monday People arrive at a specially constructed bunker for a hearing of a maxi-trial of hundreds of alleged mobsters in southern Italy on Monday Among the accused are the alleged accomplices of Mafia boss Luigi Mancuso, known as 'The Uncle', who have a host of nicknames including 'The Wolf', 'Fatty', 'Sweetie', 'Blondie', 'Little Goat' and 'The Wringer'. Mancuso, 69, was cut from the defendants list last year to be tried separately. The trial took place in a specially constructed high-security bunker. Part of an industrial park in the city of Lamezia Terme, the bunker is so vast that 20 video screens were anchored to the ceiling so participants could view the proceedings. The more than 320 defendants are charged with crimes that include drug and arms trafficking, extortion and mafia association, a term in Italy's penal code for members of organized crime groups. Others are charged with acting in complicity with the 'Ndrangheta without actually being a member. The charges grew out of an investigation of 12 clans linked to convicted mafia boss Mancusco, who served 19 years in Italian prison for his role in leading what investigators allege is one of the 'Ndrangheta's most powerful crime families, based in the town of Vibo Valentia. The 'Ndrangheta of Vibo Valentia was entrenched in the local economy, feared by business owners and farmers, and protected by white-collar professionals and politicians. Indeed, based almost entirely on blood ties, the 'Ndrangheta was substantially immune to turncoats for decades, but the ranks of those turning state's evidence are becoming more substantial. In the current trial, they include a relative of Mancuso's. Several dozen informants in the case came from the 'Ndrangheta, while others formerly belonged to Sicily's Cosa Nostra. The informants - a relatively rare phenomenon within the 'Ndrangheta due to blood ties between members - recounted how weapons were hidden in cemetery chapels and ambulances used to transport drugs, and municipal water supplies diverted to marijuana crops. The 'Ndrangheta organised crime syndicate now holds almost a monopoly on cocaine importation in Europe, according to anti-mafia prosecutors who led the investigation in southern Italy. The organisation also has bases in North and South America and is active in Africa, Italian prosecutors maintain, and 'Ndrangheta figures have been arrested in recent years around Europe and in Brazil and Lebanon. Despite the large number of defendants, the trial wasn't Italy's biggest one involving alleged mobsters. In 1986, 475 alleged members of the Sicilian Mafia went on trial in a similarly constructed bunker in Palermo. The proceedings resulted in more than 300 convictions and 19 life sentences. That trial helped reveal many of the brutal methods and murderous strategies of the island's top mob bosses, including sensational killings that bloodied the Palermo area during years of power struggles. President of the court judge Brigida Cavasino, center, is flanked by judges Claudia Caputo, left, and Germana Radice as she reads the verdicts of a maxi-trial of hundreds of alleged mobsters on Monday Officials listen as judges read the verdicts of a maxi-trial of hundreds of people accused of membership in Italy's 'ndrangheta organized crime syndicate on Monday Among the accused are the alleged accomplices of Mafia boss Luigi Mancuso (pictured), known as 'The Uncle', who have a host of nicknames including 'The Wolf', 'Fatty', 'Sweetie', 'Blondie', 'Little Goat' and 'The Wringer'. Mancuso, 69, was cut from the defendants list last year to be tried separately In contrast, this trial involving the 'Ndrangheta was aimed at securing convictions and sentences based on alleged acts of collusion among mobsters and local politicians, public officials, businessmen and members of secret lodges to show how deeply rooted the syndicate is in Calabria. 'The relevance (of this trial) is enormous,' Italian lawmaker former anti-mafia chief prosecutor and lawmaker Federico Cafiero De Raho, a former chief anti-mafia prosecutor, said. 'First of all, because every trial against the 'ndrangheta gives a very significant message to the territory, which is not only the Calabrian one, but the national territory.' 'But it has repercussions also at a European and world level, because the 'ndrangheta is one of the strongest organizations in the world, able to manage the international traffic of narcotics, as well as many other activities,' Cafiero De Raho added. Awash in cocaine trafficking revenues, the 'ndrangheta has gobbled up hotels, restaurants, pharmacies, car dealerships and other businesses throughout Italy, especially in Rome and the country's affluent north, criminal investigations have revealed. The buying spree spread across Europe as the syndicate sought to launder illicit revenues but also to make 'clean' money by running legitimate businesses, including in the tourism and hospitality sectors, investigators alleged. 'Arrests allow their activities to be halted for a time, but the investigations determine the need for further investigations each time,' Cafiero De Raho said. Today, mafia experts estimate that the 'Ndrangheta, made up of approximately 150 Calabrian families and their associates, bring in more than 50 billion euros (43 billion) annually around the world from drug trafficking, usury, syphoning public funds and extortion. In Calabria, the 'Ndrangheta has crept into practically all areas of public life, from city hall and hospitals to the courts. But its scope is much wider and the 'Ndrangheta now operates in more than 40 countries, experts say. Relying on frontmen, shell companies and favours from the elite, the 'Ndrangheta reinvests illegal gains in the legitimate economy, cementing its power. For the first time in such trials, the defendants list includes many non-mafia members, including a high-ranking police official, mayors and other public servants and businessmen. Highest-profile is 70-year-old ex-parliamentarian and defence lawyer Giancarlo Pittelli, accused of being a fixer for the mafia and a go-between with the world of politics, finance and illegal Masonic lodges. Ex-prime minister David Cameron will formally join the House of Lords today after his dramatic return to Westminster. The former premier will become known as Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton when he officially takes his place in Parliament's unelected upper House. The 57-year-old spent seven years in the political wilderness after his time as PM ended in 2016 in the wake of his humiliating loss in the EU referendum. But Lord Cameron sensationally returned to frontline politics last week when Rishi Sunak appointed him as Foreign Secretary and handed him a peerage. The ex-PM made his first overeas trip in his new role last week when he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. Ex-prime minister David Cameron will formally join the House of Lords after his dramatic return to Westminster The former premier is taking the title of Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, which confirms his long-held ties to the Cotswold town Lord Cameron made his first overeas trip in his new role last week when he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv Lord Cameron, pictured with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he was PM, has faced questions about his business links to Beijing during his time away from Downing Street It was confirmed on Friday that his full title will be 'The Rt Hon. the Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton'. The title confirms Lord Cameron's long-held ties to the Cotswold town of Chipping Norton, which lies within his former Witney constituency. During his time in office the former PM was known as a member of the so-called 'Chipping Norton set', an elite group of political and media figures who lived in the area. Lord Cameron's appointment as Foreign Secretary has not been without controversy, with MPs angry they won't be able to quiz him in the role as he cannot speak in the House of Commons. Questions have also been asked about the ex-premier's business links to China during his time away from Downing Street. Prior to his return as Foreign Secretary, Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee had raised concerns about Lord Cameron's appointment as vice-chair of a 1 billion UK-China investment fund. There has also been scrutiny of the ex-PM's involvement with the Colombo Port City in Sri Lanka, viewed as a major part of China's controversial belt and road initiative. Campaigners have written to Mr Sunak's ethics chief to put pressure on Lord Cameron to set out the details of his past business dealings with China. In a letter to Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister's Adviser on Ministers' Interests, Unlock Democracy director Tom Brake wrote: 'I would argue very strongly that the disclosure of Baron Cameron's business interests are indisputably in Parliament's and the public's interest. 'I look forward to your response, setting out the action you intend to take, but I hope it will include the full, immediate and public disclosure of all of Baron Cameron's business interests.' By Lee Hyo-jin The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung is gaining belated popularity among Chinese internet users for his hunger strike launched earlier this year to protest the Yoon Suk Yeol government's handling of state affairs. Chinese internet users have been drawn to Lee's hunger strike, because one of the main reasons for his action was to call on the Yoon government to oppose Japan's release of treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Lee ended his 24-day hunger strike on Sept. 23, but his protest is drawing belated attention in mainland China amid strong anti-Japanese sentiment there sparked by Tokyo's discharge of treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Dozens of short videos have been uploaded showing Lee during his hunger strike on the Chinese social media platform, Douyin. One of the videos showing the DPK leader on the 15th day of his hunger strike garnered nearly 2 million likes and over 200,000 comments, mostly supporting Lee. Another video of a local news report about Lee's hunger strike gathered nearly 1 million likes and 100,000 comments. In the comment section, Chinese internet users hailed him as a hero fighting against Japan. Some comments read, "Koreans should be happy to have a man like Lee in their country," and "He is the bravest Korean I have ever seen." When launching the hunger protest on Aug. 31, Lee made three demands a public apology from Yoon for ruining democracy; the government's open opposition to Japan's release of wastewater from the nuclear power plant and a sweeping Cabinet reshuffle. Although the Fukushima water release was not the only reason Lee launched the hunger strike, his protest seems to have gone viral in China due to deepening anti-Japanese sentiment there. After Japan began releasing the treated wastewater from the Fukushima power plant on Aug. 24, the Chinese public responded with extreme anger on social media platforms and voiced intentions to boycott Japanese goods. Hundreds of hostile phone calls were made by Chinese nationals to Japanese institutions and government offices. . Villagers who lost a battle to save their historic wobbly bridge have now been asked to choose its replacement instead. Sappers Bridge, a 93-year-old suspension bridge, offers a direct route into the village of Betws-y-Coed in Snowdonia, North Wales. The overpass was closed due to safety concerns back in December 2021, after its timber structures were found to be rotting. B&Bs and tourism businesses east of the village were cut off and local people were deprived of popular walking routes, after inspectors found the steel suspension cables on the old bridge had reached the end of their lifespans. Council chiefs had planned to carry out structural works on the bridge, but costs quickly spiraled to 1m following safety inspections, leading officials to say the bridge must be replaced. Sappers Bridge, a 93-year-old suspension bridge, offers a direct route into the village of Betws-y-Coed in Snowdonia, North Wales The overpass was closed due to safety concerns back in December 2021, after its timber structures were found to be rotting Council chiefs had planned to carry out structural works on the bridge, but costs quickly spiraled to 1m following safety inspections Conwy Council is now looking to include an improved river crossing in a 'Coast to Valley' cycle path running from Llandudno Junction to Betws-y-Coed. The local authority has offered locals three options to choose from in a consultation. Two of the replacement designs - option two and three - are estimated to cost 2million while the third - which most closely resembles the current suspension bridge - is estimated to cost 3million and comes with a 'construction risk'. Option one would see a widened replica of Sappers Bridge built over the River Conwy. This would have a 50-metre span and a 3.5-metre width. Option two would offer a new beam bridge, 60-metre span and a 3.5-metre width, sitting upstream of Sappers Bridge, leaving the old bridge in place and potentially reassembled, if extra money can be found. The third option presents this same beam bridge as complete replacement for the original structure. Sappers Bridge was built in 1930 after the original wooden footbridge was washed away in a storm. The original bridge was built on the site by the Royal Engineers to link the village with an army camp on the opposite side of the river. Before the building of this bridge in 1917, stepping stones were the only the cross the River Conwy. The local authority has offered locals three options to choose from in a consultation Option one would see a widened replica of Sappers Bridge built over the River Conwy. This would have a 50-metre span and a 3.5-metre width Option two would see a new beam bridge, 60-metre span and a 3.5-metre width, sitting upstream of Sappers Bridge The third option sees this same beam bridge replace Sappers Bridge entirely Sappers Bridge was built in 1930 after the original wooden footbridge was washed away in a storm The original bridge was built on the site by the Royal Engineers to link the village with an army camp on the opposite side of the river Before the building of this bridge in 1917, stepping stones were the only the cross the River Conwy Structural reviews conducted last year found that virtually the entire bridge would need to be refurbished, with the entire timber deck as well as other parts replaced completely. How stepping stones were the only way to cross the Conwy River until Sappers Bridge was built Before 1917, locals could only access from Betws-y-Coed from this side of the Conwy River by traversing some rather inconvenient stepping stones Around this time, an army camp was established in this area of Betws-y-Coed in World War I As a solution, a wooden bridge was installed over the River Conwy in 1917 by 'Sappers' or royal combat engineers. In the 1930s a new iron suspension bridge was built by some engineers of Westminster. It still retained the original name of 'Sappers' bridge out of respect for the combat engineering efforts during the war Advertisement A number of locals have expressed their dissatisfaction over the options being offered for the new bridge on Facebook, with many wanting the council to spend money on repairing the original site instead. One user wrote on the social media site: ''The original bridge is beautiful, very ornate and pleasing on the eye and it fits in with the surroundings. In simple terms it has strong historical connections to Betws. So why not carry out necessary repairs so it can continue to grace the river it now spans.' Another said: 'the bridge is 100 years old and it was suitable for 'active travel' then so why cant it be rebuilt / repaired to the same design.' A third added: 'From article comments 'Or Option 4 - repair the old bridge back to the way it was, useable without all the '..sustainable..' waffle?' A fourth local typed: 'As a professional project manager I really struggle to understand the cost when measured against complex construction projects I've led over the years. To be fair, I've not seen the detail, but.....' Some were offended by the alternatives offered, with one writing: 'Hope that is a joke!!!!! But perhaps not with what I see and hear. Amazing what you pay for in your council tax. It's not to be a motorway bridge! Get a 4 year old to design it!' Others saw the plans as an opportunity to criticse the local council, saying: 'Why is Conwy Council pretending there are three replacement bridge options when they will choose the cheapest, Option 3? They'll opt for this less aesthetically pleasing beam bridge, destroying the original beautiful bridge. This decision will lead to a 1 mil surplus that could end up as hefty bonuses for top officials.' Conservative politician Janet Finch-Saunders MS said Conwy Council had not given the bridge the urgency it deserved. She said: 'This drop-in event is months behind schedule. Conwy County now has options for a solution to this terrible problem it is essential that residents take this opportunity to have a say.' In January, the local authority was awarded more than 18m in UK Government funding to develop active travel routes in the county. Conwy Council said: 'Before we move ahead with a final design and a planning application, we want to bring you up to date with the work we've carried out so far. 'We are sharing the designs and visualisations and asking for the views of the community on proposals for a new or replacement bridge.' Sir Ridley Scott has hit back at criticism of his long-awaited Napoleon biopic from France - claiming 'the French don't even like themselves'. French critics slammed the biopic as 'deeply clumsy' and 'boring' as the film premiered in Paris last week. But Sir Ridley has insisted: 'The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it.' Despite garnering glowing reviews in Britain and the US, the epic starring Joaquin Phoenix as the marauding French emperor riled critics on the continent. Historian Patrice Gueniffey, writing in Le Point, slammed the film as 'the film of an Englishman... very anti-French' and criticised the director for having 'wokist biases'. But asked by the BBC what he thought of historians who say his film is inaccurate, Sir Ridley said: 'You really want me to answer that?... It will have a bleep in it.' Sir Ridley Scott has hit back at criticism of his long-awaited Napoleon biopic from France Phoenix plays Napoleon in a hotly awaited biopic which focuses on his tainted and complex relationships amid a stunning rise to power against the backdrop of the French Revolution Despite having largely positive reviews in Britain and the US, Ridley Scott's film about Napoleon is already making waves ahead of its release. Pictured: Joaquin Phoenix in the film A critic for GQ led with the headline: 'Joaquin Phoenix grimaces, Ridley Scott is bored and so are we' Patrice Gueniffey, writing for Le Point, said the film was 'the film of an Englishman... very anti-French' Le Figaro took aim at the biopic as a 'reductive version of history' and said the film should be renamed 'Barbie and Ken under the Empire' Historian Patrice Gueniffey, writing in Le Point, slammed the film as 'the film of an Englishman... very anti-French' and criticised the director for having 'wokist biases' A reviewer for GQ said the film left them 'bored', adding there was something 'clumsy' but 'unintentionally funny' about seeing French soldiers shout 'Vive la France' with American accents. Le Figaro said the film should be renamed 'Barbie and Ken under the Empire' and added that Napoleon is portrayed as a 'sentimental brute with a gun in hand and quick to shed a tear'. Canadian French-language newspaper Le Devoir led with the headline 'Not Waterloo, but not Austerlitz either,' referencing Napoleon's futile last stand in Belgium and his tactical 'masterpiece' against the Russians in today's Czechia. The article described Phoenix's Napoleon as a 'petulant man-child who doesn't really seem to know what he's doing'. Criticism of the film's direction builds on growing claims of inaccuracies from historians including Dan Snow ahead of its release in cinemas on November 22. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme this morning, French academic Dr Estelle Paranque acknowledged the film's apparent inaccuracies but insisted that 'it is a movie, it is not a documentary'. But, speaking of Scott's depiction of the execution of Marie Antoinette, she said: 'It did annoy me a little because he made her kind of fearless and a bit feisty, and at the time honestly she was not.' C News said the film character was 'too linear to appreciate [Napoleon's] scope and never 'touched on the substance of what made [him] an essential statesman' Cnet said the film's inaccuracies '[undoubtedly fueled] a certain frustration between what we expected, what we wanted, and what the final result is' Le Devoir slammed Phoenix's Napoleon as a 'petulant man-child who doesn't really seem to know what he's doing', leading with 'Not Waterloo, but not Austerlitz either' Other critics have pointed out that Napoleon was not present when Antoinette was guillotined. Dr Paranque added: 'She tried to remain dignified at the end, but I don't think she would have been that bold. And obviously Napoleon wasn't there.' But director Ridley Scott has hit back at accusations of historical 'inaccuracies'. In an interview with the New Yorker, he told a critic to 'get a life' when pressed. 'There are 400 books written about him. Maybe the first one was the most accurate, the next one is already doing a version of the author,' he said. 'By the time you get to book 399, guess what, there's a lot of speculation.' Patrice Gueniffey, for Le Point, said Scott portrayed the emperor as an 'ambitious Corsican ogre, a sullen boor and a cad with his wife'. CNet branded it a 'shaky film that chooses while refusing to choose', and added: 'Perhaps the film had everything to gain from being called Josephine, because it loses too much by being called Napoleon.' US actor Joaquin Phoenix poses during the photocall for the world premiere of the film Napoleon, in Paris on November 14, 2023 Joaquin Phoenix and director Ridley Scott attend the 'Napoleon' World Premiere at Salle Pleyel on November 14, 2023 in Paris The review also said that the film 'obscures numerous elements, notably geopolitical, which explain the rise and fall of Napoleon's character'. 'The footage multiplies the historical holes and perhaps they are more obvious to us due to our educational training, undoubtedly fueling a certain frustration between what we expected, what we wanted, and what the final result is,' the review went on. C News said Scott was forced to make 'shortcuts' which stand out as 'unforgiveable omissions in the historical narrative'. Le Devoir's review also took aim at Phoenix's performance, calling it the film's 'fundamental problem'. In a viral TikTok video released in the summer, Dan Snow took issue with some of the scenes in the trailer for the film. The historian pointed out that Napoleon did not fight at the pyramids nor did he ever witness Marie Antoinette's execution. Snow also took issue with the film's tagline, 'He came from nothing, he conquered everything,' because Napoleon never conquered Britain. 'I love historical epics. I love Ridley Scott. But if you're watching this movie, it ain't a documentary,' he said. TV presenter Phil Spencer's mother died of a lung infection and brain injury after being submerged underwater for up to 20 minutes following a car accident on the family farm, an inquest has heard. Anne Spencer, 82 and her 89-year-old husband, Richard both died after their car careered into a river on Lower Garrington Farm in Littlebourne near Canterbury in August. An inquest into Anne's death was opened at County Hall in Maidstone, Kent today. Phil has previously revealed that his mother suffered from Parkinson's. Sarah Clarke, Area Coroner for North East Kent, told the court Anne was driving her Toyota down a private lane from the family home towards a bridge on their land, which passed over the Nail Bourne River, around 12.20pm on August 18. Her husband Richard was in the front passenger seat of the car, and the couple's full-time carer, Veronica Francis, was in the rear passenger seat. The inquest opening heard that as the car approached the bridge, it slipped off the edge and overturned - submerging all three occupants in three feet of water. Mrs Clarke said the carer managed to escape through the passenger window and called for help. Richard Spencer - right - was with Anne when their car careered into a river on Lower Garrington Farm in Littlebourne near Canterbury in August Location, Location, Location star Phil Spencer with his 82-year-old mother, Anne But the court was told Richard and Anne were submerged underwater for around 20 minutes. Paramedics arrived and took the couple to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate, Kent, where Anne was pronounced dead at 9.55pm. Mrs Clarke said her cause of death was given as aspiration pneumonia and hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and submersion in water (near drowning). Aspiration pneumonia is defined as an inflammation and infection of the lungs or large airways caused by inhaling food or liquid. Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury occurs when the brain experiences a decrease in oxygen or blood flow. READ MORE - Flowers are left at bridge where TV star Phil Spencer's parents died Advertisement Mrs Clarke told the inquest: 'Mrs Spencer was a farmer and was born on May 22, 1941 in Canterbury. She was married to Richard David Edward Spencer, who was also a farmer. 'Mrs Spencer died on August 18, 2023 at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Kent. Identification was dealt with by police and her family. 'The circumstances, as I understand them, were that approximately 12.20pm on August 18, Mrs Spencer was driving her Toyota. In the front passenger seat was her husband and sitting in the rear passenger seat was their full-time live-in carer. 'Mrs Spencer drove from their house down a private lane towards a junction which transverses the Nail Bourne River. 'As the vehicle negotiated the bridge, which had a steep slant down and a sharp edge, it tipped over the edge and struck the bottom of the river and overturned - submerging all three occupants in three feet of water. 'The carer escaped through the passenger window and called for help. It is thought that Mr and Mrs Spencer were submerged for up to 20 minutes. 'Paramedics arrived at 12.57pm and took Mr and Mrs Spencer to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital. 'Mrs Spencer was pronounced deceased at 9.55pm while she was in hospital. 'Her cause of death was given as 1a) aspiration pneumonia and hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and 1b) submersion in water (near drowning).' Richard and Anne were reportedly leaving their farm to travel to a local pub for lunch when their car drifted into the shallow river Tributes have been left at the spot where Phil Spencer's parents died in August Mrs Clarke set a date for a full inquest into Anne and Richard's deaths for 3.30pm on December 19 at Oakwood House in Maidstone. Last month an inquest opening at County Hall heard that Phil's father died of a lung injury after nearly drowning in the car accident on the family farm. In October 30, Mrs Clarke told the court David failed to regain consciousness following the accident and was pronounced dead in hospital. His cause of death was given as Aspiration Pneumonitis - an injury of the lungs - on the basis of near drowning. TV star Phil paid tribute to his 'amazing parents' in a post on Instagram on August 20, where he revealed the couple had been going out for lunch at the time of their accident. He also shared that his mother had been suffering from Parkinson's and David had been diagnosed with Dementia. Phil wrote: 'Very sadly both of my amazing parents died on Friday. 'As a family we are all trying to hold onto the fact Mum and Dad went together and that neither will ever have to mourn the loss of the other one. Which is a blessing in itself. 'Although they were both on extremely good form in the days before (hence the sudden idea to go out to lunch), 'Mums Parkinson's and Dads Dementia had been worsening and the long term future was set to be a challenge. 'So much so that Mum said to me only a week ago that she had resigned to thinking 'now it looks like we will probably go together'. And so they did. 'That was what God had planned for them - and it was a good plan. 'The car, going very slowly, toppled over a bridge on the farm drive, upside down into the river. TV star Phil paid tribute to his 'amazing parents' in a post on Instagram on August 20, where he revealed the couple had been going out for lunch at the time of their accident He also shared that Anne had Parkinson's and Richard had been diagnosed with dementia Phil has spoken in the past about his love of where he grew up and being the son of a farmer (Pictured: Littlebourne) 'There were no physical injuries and I very much doubt they would have even fought it - they would have held hands under the water and quietly slipped away. 'Their carer was in the car and managed to climb out of a back window so the alarm was raised quite quickly. 'As many farmers do - my brother had a penknife and so was able to cut the seat belts - he pulled them out of the river but they never regained consciousness. 'Although desperately sad and shocked beyond all belief - all family are clear that if there can ever be such a thing as having a "good end" - this was it.' Phil added: 'It feels horrendous right now, but after almost 60 years of marriage - to die together on the farm they so loved will, I know, be a comfort in the future. 'Mum and Dad are together which is precisely where they would have wanted to be.' The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) apologized Monday after some of its campaign banners came under criticism that they belittle young people. The banners were teasers for the DPK's new campaign aimed to raise support from young voters and called the "galaxy project," but they faced heavy backlash over the weekend, especially from young members, for its seemingly derogatory satire on young people. The banners read, "Never mind politics, I just want to be well off," and "I don't know much about economics, but want to be rich." At first, the DPK shifted the blame to the company that created the banners, saying the DPK has nothing to do with the controversial slogans, which were created solely by an outsourced company. But the DPK switched its stance on Monday and issued a formal apology. "Whatever the intent was, it was evidently wrong if the people and party members found (them) uncomfortable. We should have not shifted the blame on the agency that created it," said Rep. Cho Jeong-sik, the DPK's secretary general. "I would like to apologize to the people and party members, as a secretary general overlooking all party affairs." Cho, however, did not elaborate on whether his party could take disciplinary actions against those responsible. The DPK decided to postpone its "galaxy project" event originally scheduled for Thursday. It also vowed to reexamine the party's campaign for young voters from scratch. Also Monday, the ruling People Power Party issued strong criticism of the banners. In a party leadership meeting, Rep. Yoon Jae-ok said the banners reflect the DPK's "arrogant" view of the younger generations. (Yonhap) By Gwynne Dyer Stop me if youve heard this story before. Or rather, dont, because its relevant to the current situation, and we have to bring the people who dont know the story up to speed first. Its about a frog, doing whatever it is that frogs do on the banks of the Jordan River. Along comes a scorpion, and asks the frog for a lift across to the other side. The frog demurs, pointing out that the scorpion might sting him. "Dont be silly," says the scorpion. "Scorpions cant swim. Id die too." So the frog says, "OK, get on my back," and off they go. Halfway across, the scorpion stings the frog. As they both sink beneath the Jordan, the dying frog gasps, "Youre crazy. Why did you do that? Youve killed us both." The scorpion shrugs (as much as scorpions can shrug), and says: "This is the Middle East." People in the Middle East hate that story, but still... Start with the fact that both Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have always had the same overriding goal: to thwart the "two-state" peace settlement that would have divided the territory known as Palestine between the Palestinian Arabs and the Zionist Jews. That was the nightmare prospect that made Netanyahu and Hamas objective allies. Each wanted all the land "between the (Jordan) river and the sea" for their own people, not some shabby compromise that divided it between them. They were enemies, but their prime duty to faith and to history, in the view of both parties, was to stop the two-state solution. So in 1995 a far-right Jewish radical assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the former general and war hero who signed the Oslo Accords that promised a two-state peace settlement. The newly formed Hamas then helped Netanyahu into power in the 1996 election by launching a terrorist campaign of bus bombings that drove enough Israelis into his arms to win the election. He was "Mr. Security," and he would keep Israel safe from the evil terrorists. He never said it in so many words, for obvious diplomatic reasons, but Netanyahu implicitly promised Israelis that they could keep all of Palestine forever. No need for a two-state deal and on that principle Hamas entirely agreed, even if its preferred long-term solution was to drive all the Jews into the sea. Hamas and Netanyahu never communicated directly, but that provided the basis for a 27-year cooperation between the two sides. Netanyahu was directly in power for only 16 of those years, but the policy never varied: let enough aid through to keep Hamas viable in Gaza while undermining its rival in the West Bank, the pro-two-state Palestinian Authority. What finally sabotaged this long collaboration was not the occasional outbreak of shooting between the Israel Defence Forces and Hamas, but the fact that Israel was making peace deals with the major Arab states. Without their financial and moral support, the Palestinian cause would eventually wither and die. So Hamas needed a big war to derail that process: one that "martyred" enough Palestinians to shame the rest of the Arab world out of betraying the sacred cause. (Dying for the cause, even getting other Muslims killed for the cause, is neither a crime nor a tragedy in the eyes of Islamists. It is a morally praiseworthy act.) The atrocities of Oct. 7 were intended to goad the Israelis into fury and a "mighty vengeance" (Netanyahus words). Hamas wanted 11,000 Palestinians, half of them children, killed by Israeli firepower. It wanted the Israelis to smash up hospitals while trying to get at the Hamas bases beneath them. (Of course theyre there. Where else would you put them?) This stuff is what they teach in the introductory courses on "guerilla and terrorist strategies" in every military staff college in the world. What they dont teach cant teach is how much force is too much. Hamas goal was just to kill the drift towards a "settlement" that made Israel an acceptable trading partner for Arab states and left all of Palestine permanently under Israeli control. It has certainly succeeded in that, but in doing that it has also inadvertently awakened the sleeping monster it hates and fears most: the two-state solution. The Israelis dont like killing children. (I would have said "obviously," but some people dont get it. Not only is it evil; it is totally counterproductive in terms of the propaganda war.) But there is no such thing as precision bombing in urban areas that spares the innocent. Its a fantasy. Five weeks of bombing has sickened enough people elsewhere that the idea of two states in Palestine is back on the table. Whether it can actually work is no clearer than it was last time, but its certainly not what either Netanyahu or Hamas intended. Gwynne Dyers new book is "The Shortest History of War." Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday to reassure the ally that U.S. aid will keep throwing despite growing opposition in the Republican-controlled Congress and new challenges posed by Israel's war on Hamas. President Joe Biden has requested $61 billion in emergency aid to the country, but it might not come up for a month, and is experiencing blowback from House conservatives who hold considerable leverage over new House Speaker Mike Johnson. Austin, who traveled to Kyiv by train from Poland, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and was scheduled to meet with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Chief of Staff Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi. His visit comes on a day Fox News CEO Lachlan Murdoch visited Kyiv and also met with Zelenksy, and follows repeated warnings by the White House that its ability to provide a continued flow of weapons through drawdown authority is running out. In Kyiv, Austin said Ukraine's effort to defeat Russia's invasion 'matters to the rest of the world' and that U.S. support would continue 'for the long haul.' Zelenskyy said Austin's visit was 'a very important signal for Ukraine.' Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced trip to Ukraine amid uncertainty about President Biden's aid package for the country 'We count on your support,' Zelensky said, thanking Congress as well as the American people for their backing. Johnson is facing pressure from conservative members after successfully pushing through legislation to avoid a government shutdown. 'The Ukrainians are running out of fuel, weapons and ammunition,' warned Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a top Biden supporter. Congress must act 'on a timeline that's going to matter,' he told Bloomberg News. This is Austins second trip to Kyiv, but hes making it under far different circumstances, as the worlds attention is drawn to the Middle East and signs of fatigue set in with the almost 21-month Russia-Ukraine war. A woman sings the national anthem of Ukraine during a demonstration in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. People gathered to protest against corruption and demand the reallocation of public funds to the Armed Forces. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko) Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has continued to plead western powers to provide continued military aid A view shows residential buildings heavily damaged by permanent Russian military strikes in the front line town of Avdiivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine November 8, 2023. Ukraine is relying on U.S. and allied military hardware and ammo to try to turn back Russia's invasion Austin's first visit occurred in April 2022, just two months after the start of the war. At the time, Ukraine was riding a wave of global rage at Moscows invasion, and Austin launched an international effort that now sees 50 countries meet monthly to coordinate on what weapons, training and other support could be pushed to Kyiv. But the conflict in Gaza could pull attention and resources from the Ukraine fight. The U.S. has worked feverishly since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the weeks of devastating bombardment on Gaza by Israel that has followed, killing more than 10,000 civilians, to keep those attacks from turning into a regional war. The U.S. has already committed two carrier strike groups, scores of fighter jets and thousands of U.S. personnel to the Middle East, and has had to shift its force posture and conduct airstrikes against Iranian-backed militant groups that are now hitting U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria on a regular basis. His trip comes days after Ukraine said it had made key advances against Russian positions on the east bank of the Dnieper River. The move could help to protect Kherson from repeated Rusiain shelling, and comes after a summer counter-offensive amid a conflict that has been a grinding war of attrition. To date, Ukraine has received more than $44 billion from the U.S. and more than $35 billion from other allies in weapons, ranging from millions of bullets to air defense systems, advanced European and U.S. battle tanks and, finally, pledges for F-16 fighter jets. But Ukraine still needs more, and after almost 20 months of shipping arms to Ukraine, cracks are beginning to show. Some European countries such as Poland have scaled back support, noting their need to maintain adequate fighting ability to defend themselves. Ukrainian officials have strongly pushed back on suggestions they are in a stalemate with Russia after a long-awaited counteroffensive over the summer did not radically change the battle lines on the ground. In a visit to Washington last week, Andriy Yermak, head of the presidents office, provided no details but confirmed that Ukrainian forces had finally pushed through to the east bank of the Dnieper River, which has essentially served as the immovable front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces for months. However, as winter sets in it will become more difficult for either side to make large gains due to ground conditions. That could further work against Ukraine if U.S. lawmakers perceive theres time to wait before more funds are needed. Ukraine and the U.S. expect that this winter Russia will go after Ukraine's infrastructure again, like the power grid, making air defenses critical. Fred Kagan, a senior resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said it would be a mistake to think there is time to wait. 'If we stop providing aid to Ukraine, its not that the stalemate continues. The aid is actually essential to preventing the Russians from beginning to maneuver again in ways that can allow them to defeat Ukraine,' Kagan said. 'So the cost of cutting off aid is that Russia wins and Ukraine loses and NATO loses.' Further complicating the support is that the Pentagon has only a dwindling amount of money left in this years budget to keep sending weapons to Ukraine, and Congress is months late on getting a new budget passed and has not taken up a supplemental spending package that would include Ukraine aid. Since the war began in February 2022, the U.S. has provided more than $44.2 billion in weapons to Ukraine, but the funding is nearly gone. The Pentagon can send about $5 billion more in weapons and equipment from its own stocks. But it only has about $1 billion in funding to replace those stocks. As a result, recent announcements of weapons support have been of much smaller dollar amounts than in months past. 'You have seen smaller packages, because we need to parse these out,' Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday. 'Because we dont know when Congress is going to pass our supplemental package.' Officials have been urging Congress to provide additional money, but a growing number of Senate Republicans have opposed additional Ukraine aid without securing support for other unrelated provisions, such as stricter immigration laws and additional funding for border control. A stopgap spending bill passed last week to avoid a government shutdown during the holidays did not include any money for Ukraine. The father of a nine-year-old girl who has been held hostage by Hamas for six weeks says he's terrified that his daughter is enduring 'sheer terror' in the airless Gaza tunnels. Emily Hand turned nine years old as a Hamas prisoner on Friday, exactly six weeks after the terror group launched a surprise incursion into Israel and slaughtered 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Her father, Irish-born Thomas Hand, previously believed that she had died after a unit of Hamas terrorists killed over 130 people at Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, where she was staying for a sleepover at her friend's home. He previously said he was glad to hear that she was dead, because he was petrified of how she may have been treated by Hamas. At a press conference in London today, Mr Hand said he believed she was facing 'sheer terror and panic every hour of every day.' 'She must be saying every day: "Where's my daddy? Where's my daddy, why isn't be coming to save me?".' 'She must be saying every day: "Where's my daddy? Where's my daddy, why isn't be coming to save me?",' Thomas Hand said Mr Hand, who was told late last month by Israeli authorities that Emily was in fact still alive, said he was worried about the mental and physical toll being a hostage would take on his young daughter Thomas Hand was joined at London's Israel Embassy by a series of other relatives of kidnapped victims He told reporters at the press conference, at which family members of kidnapped relatives pleaded for their loved ones' safe return: 'That's what I'm living through, that's what we're all living through. A nightmare, an absolute nightmare.' Mr Hand, who was told late last month by Israeli authorities that Emily was in fact still alive, said he was worried about the mental and physical toll being a hostage would take on his young daughter. 'I don't know what condition she's gonna be in, but she's gonna be broken, very broken, mentally and physically, and we'll have to fix that,' he said. 'It's gonna take a long time to fix that. That's what we've got to do, and we will do it, no matter how long it takes. 'That's my prime focus, my reason for living, for getting up in the morning every day. 'Because believe me, I just want to stay in bed and just... go to sleep and forget it all. 'But for Emily, I have to get up and do everything that I can to get Emily back and all the children and the babies, 38 of them.' Her father, Irish-born Thomas Hand, said that he was glad to hear that she was dead as he was terrified of how she would have been treated by Hamas terrorists The nine-year-old girl had stayed the night at a friend's house on Friday, her father said. For 12 hours while the kibbutz was under siege, he did not know the fate of his little girl Irish-born Thomas Hand with his daughters Emily and Natalie, right Israeli officials told the Hand family that Emily was likely somewhere in the besieged Gaza Strip, after they spent over a month believing she was dead Israeli officials told the Hand family that Emily was likely somewhere in the besieged Gaza Strip, after they spent over a month believing she was dead. Her older sister, Natalie, told Israeli media: 'We were told that she had been murdered. We were in mourning. 'On October 31, they told us that it was highly likely that she had been abducted.' When Natalie was asked whether she had anything she wanted to say to Emily, on the off-chance she could be listening, she said: 'I want to tell you that we are doing everything to get you home. We know you are being held hostage. 'We love you so much and miss you.' Mr Hand, who was born in the coastal town of Dun Laoghaire in the Republic of Ireland, said in an interview with CNN just days after Hamas' brutal attack: '[Israeli authorities] said, "We found Emily. She's dead," and I just went "Yes!" I went "yes", and I smiled, because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew. 'She was either dead, or in Gaza. And if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than death,' he said. 'They'd have no food. They'd have no water. She'd be in a dark room filled with Christ knows how many people, and terrified every minute, hour, day, and possible years to come. So death was a blessing. An absolute blessing.' The press conference with the families of hostages comes just days after Israeli troops revealed they found the bodies of two hostages near a tunnel shaft at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital that they believe was used by Hamas. Hamas' tunneling infrastructure has been exposed around Gaza's AI-Shifa hospital The IDF revealed evidence of weaponry which it said proved the hospital was a terrorist base IDF troops belonging to the Shaldag Unit, in the 7th Brigade, and additional special units are continuing to conduct targeted activity in the Shifa Hospital The IDF released a video it said showed a tunnel entrance in an outdoor area of Al-Shifa hospital, two days after Israeli troops entered its grounds to hunt for a Hamas command centre. During the raid, Israel said its troops found the bodies of two hostages - Yehudit Weiss, 64, and Israeli soldier Noa Marciano, 19 - from a building adjacent to the hospital. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed there were 'strong indications' that hostages were held at the hospital but they were no longer there when the facility was raided. 'We had strong indications that they were held in the Shifa Hospital, which is one of the reasons we entered the hospital,' he told CBS Evening News. 'If they were (there), they were taken out.' Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry today claimed that a shell hit the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing at least 12 people and a medical worker, as part of the IDF's effort to clear medical facilities across Gaza that it claims are being used by Hamas as cover. Heavy fighting broke out around Gaza's Indonesian Hospital, which has housed thousands of patients and displaced people for weeks. The fighting came a day after the World Health Organisation evacuated 31 premature babies from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where they were among more than 250 critically ill or wounded patients stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound. Israel says Hamas uses civilians and hospitals as shields, while critics say Israel's siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians. More than 11,500 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed since the war began, according to Palestinian health authorities, who do not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, while around 2,700 people are reported missing. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the Oct. 7 attack, and around 240 were taken captive by militants. OpenAI's co-founder Ilya Sutskever and more than 500 other employees have threatened to quit the embattled company after its board dramatically fired CEO Sam Altman. In an open letter to the company's board, which voted to oust Altman on Friday, the group said it is obvious 'that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI'. Sutskever is a member of the board and led the decision to fire Altman, before tweeting his 'regret' on Monday and adding his name to the letter. Employees who signed the letter said that if the board does not step down, they 'may choose to resign' en masse and join 'the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman'. Altman was hired by Microsoft on Monday to lead an AI research department. Microsoft is the largest investor in OpenAI and was blindsided by the board's decision to fire Altman. Greg Brockman, another OpenAI co-founder, also departed as the company's president on Friday. OpenAI's co-founder Ilya Sutskever and more than 500 other employees have threatened to quit the embattled company after its board dramatically fired CEO Sam Altman Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder of OpenAI, is on the company's board and backed the decision to fire Sam Altman. Sutksever has now tweeted his 'regret' over the decision and also signed an open letter with more than 500 other employees accusing the board of incompetence Altman responded to Sutskever's message with a series of heart emojis - a confusing development given it was reportedly Sutskever who led the decision to fire Altman Sam Altman with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who has hired the former OpenAI boss to lead a new AI research team at Microsoft OpenAI's newly-appointed CEO, Emmett Shear, has also pledged an investigation into the board's decision. The letter from around 550 of OpenAI's 700 staff to its board added: 'The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board has jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company. 'Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI.' Sutskever, who reportedly led the board's decision, added in a tweet: 'I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.' Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced on Monday that the company has hired Altman and Brockman to lead a new AI team. The development is viewed as a coup for Microsoft, which has invested billions in OpenAI and intends to use the company's technology for its own computing businesses. OpenAI's board said Altman had not been 'was not consistently candid in his communications'. The decision to fire him shocked the technology sector and sparked outrage among OpenAI investors and staff. Incoming CEO Shear, who co-founded the Twitch streaming platform, said: 'I took this job because I believe that OpenAI is one of the most important companies currently in existence. 'Before I took the job, I checked on the reasoning behind the change. The board did *not* remove Sam over any specific disagreement on safety, their reasoning was completely different from that. I'm not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercialising our awesome models.' Shear said he will 'hire an independent investigator to dig into the entire process leading up to this point and generate a full report'. Following his appointment by Microsoft, Altman wrote on X: 'The mission continues'. Brockman added: 'We are going to build something new & it will be incredible.' Microsoft's share price jumped two percent in premarket trading on new it had hired Altman. The gains continued in early trading on Monday. Sam Altman will not return as the CEO of ChapGPT-maker OpenAI, a statement to company staff reportedly states - and the recently resigned boss of Twitch will tentatively take his place Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made the bombshell announcement on X this morning OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, who will be joining the Microsoft team along with Sam Altman Nadella added: 'We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners.' Timeline of Altman's ousting Friday: Sam Altman fired by OpenAI, leading the tech tycoon to comment on X that it was 'sorta like reading your own eulogy while you're still alive.' Jakob Pachocki and fellow cofounder Greg Brockman, were seemingly taken aback by the firing and both also left the firm on Friday. Saturday: There were efforts from execs to bring him back and a leaked memo to staff suggested the company was 'optimistic' about his possible return. Sunday: Reports swirled that he was open to returning if there was a change of board and governance at the company. Altman posted a snap of himself using an OpenAI guest-pass while visiting his old employer, and wrote: 'first and last time i ever wear one of these.' Monday: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman would be joining the company to lead a new AI innovation team. Former Twitch leader Emmett Shear has taken over as OpenAI's interim chief executive. More than 500 OpenAI staff signed a letter which said the board 'is incapable of overseeing OpenAI' Advertisement Suggesting that Altman will be given the freedom to create a major new brand as part of Microsoft, Nadella also said: 'We've learned a lot over the years about how to give founders and innovators space to build independent identities and cultures within Microsoft, including GitHub, Mojang Studios, and LinkedIn, and I'm looking forward to having [Altman] do the same.' On Sunday, Altman posted a snap of himself using an OpenAI guest-pass while visiting his old employer, and wrote: 'first and last time i ever wear one of these.' Later the same day, citing an internal statement sent by Sutskever, The Information reported that Altman's departure was final. It claimed Shear, a Yale graduate who helped found Justin.tv, would be the firm's new interim CEO. Shear, 40, also co-founded Twitch, but suddenly stepped down in March, leaving the live streaming platform after more than a decade. His new temporary role will see him assume control of one of the fastest-growing firms in the world - putting to bed rumors Altman could make a return. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Founded by Altman and ten others in 2015, OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT a year ago - and its ability to mimic human writing has proved polarizing ever since. Aside from sparking worry amongst the public, this uncertainty was apparently also felt within OpenAI's six-person board - with one of Altman's cofounders in Sutskever leading the charge to have him nixed, according to a The New York Times report. In a series of interviews, insiders described how the Soviet-born AI researcher Sutskever had become worried about OpenAI's budding technology in the buildup to the firing, as the company experienced some whirlwind success thanks to Chat GPT. Sam Altman posted an image of himself with an OpenAI guest pass on Sunday - saying it would be the first and last time he used one The shuffle, first reported by The Information, comes hours after the shock firing of the company's 38-year-old cofounder, and will see 40-year-old Emmett Shear (seen here at a web summit in 2018) assume the role of interim CEO The 37-year-old proceeded to share his belief his boss was not paying enough attention to the risks of the technology - spurring three other board members to vote to remove Altman, leading two others to resign in protest. An air of mystery has loomed ever since, with Altman - who helped start OpenAI in 2015, only commented on the ouster Friday. He wrote in two separate posts to X, formerly Twitter: 'I love you all. today was a weird experience in many ways. but one unexpected one is that it has been sorta like reading your own eulogy while you're still alive. The firing appeared to catch Altman off guard, as he did not elaborate as to what may have led to his departure. The official reason given by the company he founded was a lack of communication between him and other board members 'the outpouring of love is awesome. one takeaway: go tell your friends how great you think they are.' In the other, penned a few hours earlier and shortly after he was axed, Altman added: I loved my time at openai. it was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. most of all i loved working with such talented people. 'will have more to say about what's next later.' The official reason provided by the company was a 'lack of communication' between Altman and his fellow board members. Founded by Altman and ten others in 2015, OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT a year ago - and its ability to mimic human writing has proved polarizing ever since Sutskever reportedly led the charge to have Altman pulled - after successfully swaying fellow board members Tasha McCauley (left) and Helen Toner (right) Microsoft provided OpenAI Global LLC with a $10 billion investment, on top of another $1 billion dished out to the firm in 2019. Employees last month were trying to sell some of their shares at a valuation of $90 billion dollars, after it was was valued at about $29 billion in a share sale just a few months ago. Forrester analyst Rowan Curran speculated that Altman's departure, 'while sudden,' did not likely reflect deeper business problems. 'This seems to be a case of an executive transition that was about issues with the individual in question, and not with the underlying technology or business,' Curran said. David Cameron formally joined the House of Lords today after his bombshell comeback in the reshuffle. The former premier has been installed as Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton after officially taking his place in Parliament's unelected upper House. Dressed in ermine robes, the peer swore an oath to the King in a packed chamber. Lord Cameron is the first ex-PM to join the Lords since Margaret Thatcher was made Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in 1992. The 57-year-old spent seven years in the political wilderness after his time as PM ended in 2016 in the wake of his humiliating loss in the EU referendum. But Lord Cameron sensationally returned to frontline politics last week when Rishi Sunak appointed him as Foreign Secretary and handed him a peerage. The ex-PM made his first overeas trip in his new role last week when he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. David Cameron formally joined the House of Lords today after his dramatic return to Westminster The former premier has been installed as Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton after officially taking his place in Parliament's unelected upper House The former premier is taking the title of Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, which confirms his long-held ties to the Cotswold town Lord Cameron made his first overeas trip in his new role last week when he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv Lord Cameron, pictured with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he was PM, has faced questions about his business links to Beijing during his time away from Downing Street Lord Cameron was supported by Lord True, the Leader of the House of Lords, and Baroness Williams of Trafford, the chief whip in the Lords. Each were nominated for their peerages by Lord Cameron himself and Lady Williams had served as a minister in his government. Lord Cameron wore the traditional scarlet robes for the short ceremony as he swore the oath of allegiance to the King. The red benches of the upper chamber were more full than usual, with people also sitting on the stairs and on the step at the foot of the throne. Those in attendance included Lord Pickles, who served in the Cameron Government. Lord Cameron read the traditional oath: 'I, David, Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, do swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law, so help me God.' Soon after walking out of the chamber to mark the end of his introduction, Lord Cameron returned to sit on the Government front bench between Lord True and Lady Williams. Peers could be heard calling out to welcome him to the chamber as he arrived. But Lord Cameron's appointment to the upper chamber was not universally welcomed, with the Liberal Democrats writing to the Prime Minister's ethics adviser urging him to launch an investigation into the new Foreign Secretary's appointment. The title confirms Lord Cameron's long-held ties to the Cotswold town of Chipping Norton, which lies within his former Witney constituency. During his time in office the former PM was known as a member of the so-called 'Chipping Norton set', an elite group of political and media figures who lived in the area. Lord Cameron's appointment as Foreign Secretary has not been without controversy, with MPs angry they won't be able to quiz him in the role as he cannot speak in the House of Commons. Questions have also been asked about the ex-premier's business links to China during his time away from Downing Street. Prior to his return as Foreign Secretary, Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee had raised concerns about Lord Cameron's appointment as vice-chair of a 1 billion UK-China investment fund. There has also been scrutiny of the ex-PM's involvement with the Colombo Port City in Sri Lanka, viewed as a major part of China's controversial belt and road initiative. Campaigners have written to Mr Sunak's ethics chief to put pressure on Lord Cameron to set out the details of his past business dealings with China. In a letter to Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister's Adviser on Ministers' Interests, Unlock Democracy director Tom Brake wrote: 'I would argue very strongly that the disclosure of Baron Cameron's business interests are indisputably in Parliament's and the public's interest. 'I look forward to your response, setting out the action you intend to take, but I hope it will include the full, immediate and public disclosure of all of Baron Cameron's business interests.' For the second time in a year, authorities in Mexico have been led by a dog to a mass grave site where human remains were unearthed. At least 45 bags containing human remains have been removed in recent days from shallow pits in the western state of Jalisco after stray dogs were seen roaming town with human body parts. The discoveries were made possible after an activist group representing the families of missing people expressed concerns over the lack of police investigations because of a long holiday weekend. The grounds, located on the outskirts of the Guadalajara municipality of Zapopan, had already been dug up by dogs and there were mounting fears that evidence could disappear. Authorities in the western Mexican state of Jalisco have located seven shallow pits, where they have pulled out 45 bags with human remains. The discovery was made in Zapopan, Guadalajara, on November 8 after dogs were seen trotting with a human skull and leg Stray dogs were spotted at a clandestine burial site in Guadalajara, Mexico, where authorities have found 45 bags with human body parts and continue to search additional pits for more The group demanded Friday that authorities continue to dig at the site, and by day's end, they had recovered 15 bags with human remains. By Saturday, an additional 30 were found, according to Maria Ruiz, who oversees the volunteer search group Light of Hope. None of the remains had been identified as of Monday. Ruiz said the Jalisco State Attorney General's Office sealed off the site November 8. Residents in the Zapopan neighborhood of Brisas de La Primavera spotted a dog trotting with a human leg November 7. A day earlier, a dog had been seen wandering around with a human skull. According to Ruiz, investigators found seven pits on the uninhabited property and had completed the search in four of them. 'There are three (burial sites) that are still to be processed, because, as it was a place found by the canines, they marked seven graves and are going to work on the three that are (remaining),' she said, as quoted by Mexican news outlet NTR. Ruiz said that investigators also found clothing inside one of the clandestine burial sites. In October 2022, a stray dog was seen with a human leg in the streets of Irapuato, in the central state of Guanajuato. Authorities were able to locate the grave site and found 51 human remains. A Jalisco state worker digs through the ground at a burial site where authorities have so far found 45 bags with human remains More than 112,000 people are missing in Mexico, most have been kidnapped since 2004 when the administration of former President Felipe Calderon declared war on drug cartels and criminal organizations Authorities in the Mexican town of Zapopan have found seven shallow graves, including four from where 45 bags with human remains have been located The state of Guadalajara has been besieged by ongoing turf battles between multiple drug cartels, and hundreds of bodies have been dumped at clandestine sites there. The criminal organizations are known for stuffing the bodies of dead rivals or kidnapping victims in plastic bags and dumping them in shallow graves. More than 112,000 people have been reported missing in Mexico since the government starting keep stats in 1964. However, most of the abductions have taken place since 2006 after the administration of former President Felipe Calderon declared war on drug cartels and other criminal organizations. Vladimir Putin will test the world's largest ballistic missile by flying it over the South Pole, a shocking report by state media has revealed before being rapidly censored. The Russian dictator is determined to flex his nuclear muscle to the West and will put his first regiment to be armed with the apocalypse 208-ton intercontinental nuclear weapon - the RS-28 Sarmat, aka 'Satan 2' - on 'combat duty' next month. This is despite an astonishing admission that the 'unstoppable' 15,880mph doomsday missile - as tall as a 14-storey tower block - is not properly tested. Putin's own state news agency TASS reported that 'even a truncated LCI [flight development tests], and assuming all launches are successful, would require several more launches, including via the South Pole'. This state news agency's claim over the South Pole was hastily censored from the report but remains in cached versions. Vladimir Putin will test the world's largest ballistic missile by flying it over the South Pole, a shocking report by state media has revealed before being rapidly censored It is likely to trigger deep alarm in the West as Putin prepares to deploy a rocket designed to be his ultimate nuclear strike weapon against NATO countries, yet one which appears to have so far had only one successful test flight across Russia. 'The first Sarmat regiment, consisting of a command post and several silo launchers will go on combat duty as part of the Uzhur missile formation of the Strategic Missile Forces in December of this year,' a defence source also told Russian state news agency TASS in part of the story that was not redacted. The regiment is already on 'experimental combat duty' in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia, said another source. Yet the first source admitted tests of Putin's fifth generation missile are behind schedule and 'have not yet been completed', an embarrassment for the autocrat. Only one fully confirmed successful test is known - in April 2022. Now 'development tests of the missile will continue' even as its command post and launch silos are put on 'combat duty' in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia. TASS reported: 'The Sarmat flight tests are currently being carried out from the Plesetsk spaceport to the Kura training ground in Kamchatka.' But ultimately, Putin's subordinates will need to test the nuclear missile by flying it over the South Pole, the story suggested before it was censored. The Russian dictator (pictured November 17) is determined to flex his nuclear muscle to the West and will put his first regiment to be armed with the apocalypse 208-ton intercontinental nuclear weapon - the RS-28 Sarmat, aka 'Satan 2' - on 'combat duty' next month The hypersonic missile is designed to strike the West by flying over the North or South Poles, making it impossible to strike down with current air defences. Defence minister Sergei Shoigu said last month that the Makeyev missile design bureau in Miass was 'solving the task of equipping the first missile regiment with the Sarmat complex at the main facility of the Strategic Missile Forces'. He inspected the production line himself. Putin last month insisted that his designers had 'finished work' on the Sarmat 'super heavy missile'. Already more than a year behind schedule, he said: 'We just need to finish some of the procedures in a purely administrative and bureaucratic way, and move on to mass production and put them on combat duty,' said Putin. 'And we will do this in the near future.' Eleven months ago he said much the same. The hypersonic missile is designed to strike the West by flying over the North or South Poles, making it impossible to strike down with current air defences Pictured: Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is seen visiting Sarmat production facilities in the Krasnoyarsk region 'In the near future, Sarmat ICBMs will be put on combat duty for the first time,' he said at the time,' he said. 'We know there will be a certain delay in time but this does not change our plans.' The Sarmat-Satan-2 complex is due to replace the Voevoda - or Satan - missile which has been in service since the 1980s. R-36M2 Voevoda missile was tested no less than 17 times in the Cold War before it was put on combat duty. Residents in a secluded market town have been left furious after the closure of their local Barclays means they now face a 20-mile round trip to the nearest branch. Barclays in Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, shut its doors for the final time on Friday, which means locals now face a hefty car journey to deal with a worker face-to-face. The closure means that there will be no bespoke banking facilities left in the town, and just one cash point remains. Locals will be forced to travel to Barnard Castle in County Durham to find their nearest Barclays, which is roughly a 20-minute drive and 30-minute bus journey. The bank claims just 19 customers used the branch regularly, while 79 per cent of customers banked using the Barclays app, online or by phone in 2021. Barclays in Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, shut its doors for the final time on Friday At McFarlane Family Butchers, Alastair McFarlane warned that cashless payments were costly for local businesses. He said: 'Everywhere is becoming more and more cashless and everybody seems to pay with their card nowadays. 'It's going to be a really big loss. Most people here are pensioners who don't know how to use the online services.' Barclays representatives will now be based out of Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services (UTASS) twice a week but no cash services will be available. Emma Spry, an admin support worker at the charity, said the bank's reduced opening hours had become restrictive to customers but its staff still provided invaluable support. She said: 'You try to phone them now and immediately you're put on hold for 40 minutes to speak to somebody. 'It's almost like they don't want customers.' Ms Spry also claimed the loss of the town's Post Office was still being felt, and she said losing the bank is now another barrier to get over. She added: 'We just feel forgotten here, it's like we don't matter.' One resident, who did not give her name, said the bank would be a huge miss to the area. She said: 'It didn't just serve Middleton in Teesdale, it served right up the dale. There used to be three banks here and now they're all gone.' A Barclays spokesperson said: 'Our customers' behaviour has changed significantly in recent years, with the majority now choosing online banking. 'This is reflected at the Middleton-in-Teesdale branch, and as we adapt, we are finding new ways to support our customers by maintaining our community presence with options for customers who still require in-person support. 'In Middleton-in-Teesdale we plan to open a Barclays Local a cashless banking site where customers can meet a colleague face-to-face for banking support, as they would in a branch and without the need to travel. We are currently working with the local community to identify a suitable location and will announce details once confirmed.' To use the module, simple enter your postcode, and your desired bank, and it will reveal the branches closed, or set to close, near you. Up to date as of 05/06/2023 The bank has already announced more than 70 closures this year , following in the footsteps of several other major companies including NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group and Halifax The bank has already announced more than 70 closures this year, following in the footsteps of several other major companies including NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group and Halifax. It comes as high street banks shift further to banking online and through apps. The latest number of closures comes after the London-based banking firm announced it would be shutting at least 142 branches over the next two years. Similarly, Lloyds announced it would be closing at least 84 banks by 2024, while NatWest said it had scheduled 14 closures. Halifax will also close 47 branches while Santander will close five. Bank of Scotland said it will close 21 branches while RBS will shut four. The closures have been deemed controversial by some who argue that many, particularly the elderly, still rely on in-person services and that closures will make it more difficult for those people to access financial services. People should still be able to carry out basic banking tasks through local Post Offices - but this does not include opening new bank accounts, taking out loans or mortgages. Most banks will also offer mobile banking services where a bank brings a bus to a local area and provides services that are usually available at a branch. Campaigners have previously warned that the rapid branch closures across the UK is putting the elderly and vulnerable at risk - being left cut off from access to their money. Earlier this year, Age UK's charity director Caroline Abrahams said elderly customers risk being 'cut adrift' from banking services and banks should be doing 'everything they can' to ensure 'essential' services continue to be provided. Barclays is the individual bank that has reduced its network the most, with 1,116 branches now closed since January 2015. MailOnline has contacted Barclays for comment. Two international e-commerce standards were officially released during the eighth plenary meeting of the Technical Committee for Transaction Assurance in E-Commerce, being held in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. The two international standards, the "2023 Transaction Assurance in E-commerce -- Vocabulary" and the "2023 Transaction Assurance in E-commerce -- Principles and Framework," fall under the category of basic standards, according to the meeting held by the International Organization for Standardization. The meeting began on Tuesday and will continue until Friday. China led the formulation of both standards, with the participation of countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Japan, Senegal, Singapore and India. Song Mingshun, chairman of the committee, said that the release of these two international standards is a significant breakthrough in the e-commerce sector. The standards establish globally unified basic concepts and definitions for e-commerce terms, and outline the main framework, business scope and fundamental principles of transaction assurance in e-commerce, providing technical guidelines for the future development of key international standards, Song said. Each country operates according to its own standards, which can lead to misunderstandings and friction in cross-border e-commerce transactions due to differences in terminologies, said Zhang Xin, a researcher at the Hangzhou Institute of Standardization. The two standards will help protect the interests of all parties involved in cross-border e-commerce transactions, Zhang said. By Ko Dong-hwan SK Group will share 171 patented technologies in the fields of semiconductors, IT and chemistry with local small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support their growth, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Monday. The patented technologies were developed by SK Group's subsidiaries: SK innovation, SK hynix, SK telecom and SK siltron. The technologies are to be shared for free. The patented technologies include a fuel cell system for apartments; an interfacing-based semiconductor manufacturing system; a system for measuring a floating population in a specific area and a method for polishing both sides of a semiconductor wafer. The technologies will be demonstrated to the public at this year's Korea Tech Fair in Seoul on Nov. 28. The ministry and the state-run Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) have begun advertising the group's initiative. National Tech-Bank, run by KIAT, is accepting applications from companies interested in the giveaway until Jan. 5. Applicants who pass the screening by an audit committee will receive the right to exploit the IP in their businesses. "These domestic technologies shared by SK in various industrial sectors will certainly help our SMEs venture into new businesses," said an official from the ministry's director general for industrial technology convergence policy. "Next year's event will be broadened further to introduce technologies from state-run agencies like the Korea Electronics Technology Institute and the Korea Photonics Technology Institute." The ministry has been organizing the annual event since 2013 to put unused technologies developed by conglomerates or state-run companies to better use. Sharing them with SMEs spurs mutual growth while the smaller firms earn technological competitiveness, according to the ministry. So far, 35 large firms and state-run companies have shared over 15,000 technology patents up to this year. Over 1,500 SMEs have selected 3,203 technology patents to adopt. This year, nearly 1,200 patents were available and 155 SMEs took 224 of them. Technologies for semiconductor manufacturing and relevant tools accounted for most of the technologies shared by SK this year at 37 percent, followed by those for mobile communication (21 percent), semiconductor devices (17 percent) and network technologies (15 percent). Some of the SMEs with the endowed technologies have achieved notable performances. Flex, an education content developer, advanced its smartphone app product, Kids Diary, using technologies from SK telecom and SK planet. Sales of the product, targeting students from kindergarten to high school age, reached over 270 million won ($210,000) in 2021 and 2022. Andy Burnham today demanded a scrapping of the 'Right to Buy' scheme and an end to the freeze on housing benefit as he warned of a 'serious homelessness crisis'. The Greater Manchester mayor urged Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to act to prevent a further surge in the number of families being evicted from their homes this winter. Ahead of Mr Hunt's Autumn Statement on Wednesday, the Labour politician called for the Chancellor to 'unfreeze' Local Housing Allowance rates. These have been frozen since 2020 and charities have blamed this for pushing private renters into homelessness in the face of soaring rents during the cost-of-living crisis. Mr Burnham also reiterated his wish for 'Right to Buy' - which allows council tenants to buy their council home at a discount - to be junked as he branded it 'one of the drivers of the housing crisis'. But he denied he was attempting to sow further division between himself and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who has only promised to review the scheme if he enters No10. Andy Burnham demanded a scrapping of the 'Right to Buy' scheme and an end to the freeze on housing benefit as he warned of a 'serious homelessness crisis' The Greater Manchester mayor urged Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, pictured today with PM Rishi Sunak at a north London college, to act to prevent a further surge in the number of families being evicted from their homes this winter Former Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher first allowed council house tenants to buy their homes at a discounted rate in the 1980s (file pic) Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, ahead of Mr Hunt's upcoming Autumn Statement, Mr Burnham said: 'There's one thing he really has to do. And if he doesn't we will be staring at a very serious homelessness crisis this winter. 'In fact, we already are. If you look at the number of families who have been made homeless through what's called a Section 21 eviction - a no-fault eviction from private rented accommodation - it has tripled in the last couple of years and tripled since the Government froze what's called Local Housing Allowance or housing benefit.' He added: 'If I have one message for the Chancellor, it's simple: "You must unfreeze housing benefit in the Autumn Statement, otherwise you will not achieve your goal of ending rough sleeping".' Local Housing Allowance determines the amount of housing benefit that private renters can receive. Shelter UK, the housing and homelessness charity, have highlighted how Local Housing Allowance is supposed to cover the cheapest 30 per cent of local private rented homes. But while it has been frozen for more than three years, rents have soared meaning that just five per cent of advertised rents are now affordable, the charity has said. Former Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher first allowed council house tenants to buy their homes at a discounted rate in the 1980s. The conditions of the policy have regularly changed since its introduction, but Mr Burnham called for it to be halted completely amid Britain's current housing crisis. 'The more that we lose those truly affordable homes from the social housing stock, the bigger the housing crisis gets,' the Greater Manchester mayor said. 'That's just a reality. If you look at the effect of Right to Buy, it is one of the drivers of the housing crisis. I would defy anybody, actually, to say otherwise. 'I've got a situation right now where 6,500 kids in our city region are in temporary accommodation. 'It means they are in quite dilapidated, sometimes dangerous accommodation, miles away from the school that they go to. 'This stores up problems in later life for those kids. It makes life a living hell for the families that are in that position.' Mr Burnham, who has often had a strained relationship with Sir Keir, insisted he was not seeking to 'find difference' with Labour's national policy on Right to Buy. He also backed Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner's recent vow to review the scheme if the party enters power after the general election. Ms Rayner insisted Labour would 'not abolish it, but make it fair' and put a focus on replacing the social housing that is lost through Right to Buy. 'I'm not making a point to find difference with national policy,' Mr Burnham added. 'All of us have got to stop this housing crisis getting worse. Jeremy Hunt has a chance to do that on Wednesday. He must take it. 'If he doesn't he will be putting more and more families across England into temporary accommodation this winter.' President Joe on Monday said he believes a deal to secure the release of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza is near. After holding a ceremony to pardon two Thanksgiving turkeys, he was asked whether Israel and Hamas were close to a deal. 'I believe, so,' he said. Hamas captured more than 200 hostages in its devastating Oct. 7 attack on Israel. On Sunday Michael Herzog, the country's ambassador to Washington, said that he was 'hopeful' a deal would be reached within days. President Joe Biden said a deal was near to free hostages held by Hamas and other groups A man holds up a placard with portraits of hostages during a rally outside the Unicef offices in Tel Aviv. Relatives have kept up pressure on Israel's government to bring them home 'We're talking about a pause in the fighting for a few days,' he told ABC's 'This Week.' U.S. and Qatari officials are pushing for a five-day pause in fighting to allow at least 50 women and children to be released. More releases would then follow. Hamas terrorists killed at least 1,200 during their attack, the bloodiest day in Israel's 75-year history. Since then Israel has kept up an intense bombardment of Gaza. The Hamas-controlled health ministry says at least 13,000 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 5,500 children. America's oldest president offered the update after a South Lawn event that marks the unofficial start of the holiday season and as he turned 81. The commander-in-chief did a running step on the way to the podium and joked about the milestone by saying: 'It's tough to turn 60'. 'It's the 76th anniversary of this event. I want you to know I wasn't there,' he added. After the ceremony, the two birds will go back to their home state where they will live out their days at the University of Minnesota's College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences. The image of hostage Ariel, 4, is projected on a wall during a rally outside the Unicef offices A picture taken from southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on November 20, 2023, shows an Israeli army vehicle driving towards the Palestinian enclave, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement The tradition goes back to 1947 when the National Turkey Federation first presented a national Thanksgiving turkey to President Harry Truman. In the afternoon, first lady Jill Biden is due to take delivery of the White House Christmas tree, an 18-and-a-half foot Fraser fir from Fleetwood, North Carolina. The Bidens are due to mark Thanksgiving with family on Nantucket, the Massachusetts island where they spend a vacation every November. On Sunday they served up turkey to the crew of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia. The two lucky avian survivors were preparing for their big moment at the Willard hotel in Washington D.C. before the White House ceremony. On Monday, Biden spent his 81st birthday pardoning two Thanksgiving turkeys President Joe Biden served turkey to service members on Sunday at Norfolk Naval Station He turned 81 on Monday, when he marked the start of holiday season by pardoning two turkey 'Markus Platzer, the hotel's general manager, told the Associated Press: 'There are so many bad things going on globally that this is something where everybody, you know, brings a smile into the face of the people, at least for a few minutes.' Biden knows what he means. He is heading into a 2024 election trailing likely Republican nominee Donald Trump in the polls. DailyMail.com found out of 1,000 voters in a hypothetical 2024 head-to-head poll Trump takes a one-point lead over Biden. One year out from election day on November 5, 2024, Biden's Gallup approval rating stood at 37 percent. That is lower at the same stage than his six immediate predecessors - Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. Only Jimmy Carter, who was on 32 percent, was more unpopular than Biden with a year to go, and Carter went on to lose in a landslide. Biden has raised concerns over his age with recent gaffes from looking confused how to exit a stage at events and slipping up on telling stories. This is the moment stunned plane passengers looked on in awe after paramedics helped a woman give birth while she was onboard the aircraft. Footage from the plane, filmed earlier this month, shows a paramedic briskly walking through the plane carrying the newborn baby at Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. The drama unfolded as the Pegasus Airlines plane was making final preparations for take-off for a flight to Marseille in France. Video shows paramedics charging on to the aircraft to help the mother-to-be with excited passengers craning their necks to see what was happening and chattering excitedly. One passenger can be seen collecting small items of clothing and heading to the area where the mother gave birth, while a flight attendant can be seen walking away from the crowded area. Moments later, a female paramedic can be seen carrying the baby - now wrapped in blue cloth - to the front of the plane. The baby does not appear to be making any noise. A paramedic is seen carrying the newborn baby towards the front of the plane Passengers were seen looking behind them as medics (right) arrived onto the plane According to local reports, the passenger's labour pains started to increase with cabin crew having to provide initial first aid. She was taken to another part of the aircraft where medics helped her give birth. The prematurely-born baby was then taken to the hospital via ambulance for further care. While this birth took place on the tarmac, mid-air births are incredibly rare. In 2019, a woman gave birth to a baby boy during a three-hour flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. JetBlue Flight 1954 was met on the ground by medical personnel 'following the onboard delivery of our youngest customer to date,' the airline said in a statement, according to NBC Miami. In 2017, a baby boy was given free airline tickets for life after his mother gave birth on a flight from Saudi Arabia to India. Jose Cicymol went into labour aboard a Jet Airways Flight 9W 569 from King Fahd Airport, near Dammam, which took off for Kochi at around 2.55am. At 8am the flight declared a medical emergency after Ms Cicymol, who was 30 weeks pregnant, went into premature labour. Medics were seen arriving onto the plane to the cheers of passengers The plane was diverted to Mumbai but crew soon realised they would not make it in time and appealed for a doctor to come forward. Fellow passenger and nurse Mini Wilson offered to help, and the boy was born at 8.45am at 35,000ft, the Times of India reports. Medical support firm MedAire reports that mid-air births occur in roughly one in every 26 million passengers. Dr. Paulo Alves, the companys global medical director, told Conde Nast: 'In-flight childbirth is very, very rare, and when you review the cases they were unexpectedthese were premature babies. He added that giving birth in mid-air comes with its own challenges. 'Its not the best place for you to have your child, for many reasons. For one thing, the air is thinner, so its harder for the baby to breathe. Its like giving birth to a premature child in Mexico City, altitude-wise.' On top of this, the likelihood of there being specialists on-hand to help with the birth is exceedingly low, meaning that complicated procedures like C-Sections are near impossible to undertake, even if they are necessary for the safety of the mother and the baby. Nation found to have only 2,551 experts, accounting for 0.5 percent of global total By Lee Min-hyung Korea should adopt a more systematic approach to educating artificial intelligence (AI) specialists, as the country lags far behind global peers in the number of AI experts and related educational infrastructure, according to data and experts, Monday. Data from Element AI, a Canadian AI pioneer, shows that Korea ranked 22nd in the number of AI specialists. There are 2,551 AI experts here, accounting for only 0.5 percent of the global total. The U.S. topped the list with an overwhelming 39.4 percent. Korea was also way behind other Asian countries, such as India and China, which ranked second and fourth, respectively. Experts cited the absence of a cohesive education system as the key reason behind Koreas weak profile in the global AI race. We advise the government to establish a control tower dedicated to fostering AI talent, Park Dong, a senior researcher at the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET), said in a research report requested by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI). The U.S. and China, for instance, have well-organized AI education systems headed by their central governments, according to the researcher. Chinas State Council devises long-term AI development plans at the national level, which are utilized by the countrys education authority to train AI specialists. The U.S. National Science and Technology Council also focuses on mapping out the nations overall AI advancement strategy, while the Department of Education serves as the control tower when it comes to teaching underlying technologies, such as computer science. But this is not the case for Korea. Critics say there is no consistent policy overseeing AI education here, with multiple government ministries pursuing their own objectives without any uniformity. Given that President Yoon Suk Yeol and his administration included a plan to nurture more than 1 million digital experts on the list of state agenda, the presidential office is advised to be the control tower and formulate AI development policies, the expert said. He also underscored the urgent need to enhance basic AI education in elementary, middle and high schools. Others also said Korea needs more time to enhance its global AI presene, as it has not been long since universities here began offering in-depth AI education. The problem is the outflow of quality AI researchers here, Kim Kyung-joong, a professor of computer science and engineering at Sejong University, said. Industry-leading IT players overseas pay a lot more money to AI experts than their Korean counterparts, so the reality is that most top-class AI experts prefer to work abroad. Industry sources also voiced the importance of building better AI education systems nationwide. The shortage of not just the number of AI experts, but the quality of AI workers is adding concerns felt by the industry, said Choo Kwang-ho, the chief of the economic research division at FKI. We need to upgrade the quality of our basic AI education systems for each phase of education in elementary, middle and high schools by recruiting more quality AI experts. The method is used by home burglars determining if a house is OK to break into Tape over a keyhole could be a big indication that your home is set to be ransacked by burglars. The secret sticky tape trick burglars use when looking for a house to target was recently brought up on Quora by some questioning why transparent tape on a lock is a 'bad sign.' 'It's a trick used by thieves,' Quora user Jose Alberto explained last June. 'They place a piece of adhesive tape on the lock of a house or apartment and return a day (or more) later to see if the tape is still intact,' he added. The good news is there is a way to prevent this trick from working - remove the tape. A sticky tape trick on the keyhole of a doorknob has become a growing trend done by home burglars worldwide Social media users explained the meaning behind the sticky tape trick and how burglars use it to know what houses are okay or not okay to rob Dan Coleman (top), a home security expert, issued a warning on the sticky tape trick as discussed by TikTok user Matt Theriault (bottom) Matt Theriault recently discussed the sticky tape trick in a TikTok video and shared a warning from home security expert Dan Coleman about the growth in the method's popularity. 'This sticky situation might seem like some harmless prank by neighborhood kids with nothing better to do,' Theriault stated. 'However, Coleman says it's a tactic growing in its popularity.' From there, Theriault states Coleman suggests residents 'remove the tape from their locks immediately. People who insist on remaining cautious after seeing tape on their doorknob should check for signs of forced entry and see if anything from their home is missing. If there is a possibility that a house has been burglarized, the homeowner should call the police immediately. Users on social media also suggested that people should pay for a home security system. 'It's time to put a security camera right there where the thieves can see it, remove all valuables and booby trap the place,' John W. insisted on Quora. Not all Quora users are convinced that the sticky tape trick is real, and some have even said it is nothing but a myth. 'It's an internet myth that someone is checking if the house is occupied,' wrote Quora user Arthur Loaf. He continued: 'It's unlikely this would happen in real life as there would be no need to cover the lock and alert the property owner, a small bit hidden away at the edge of the door frame would do the same trick and you'd never see it.' Another Quora user, Kevin Hurley, commented: 'This is just morons on the internet thinking they are experts. No one does this. This would be a STUPID way to scope out a home.' Hurley also wrote burglars 'don't put cryptic markings on mailboxes or curbs,' and that everything is 'made up out of thin air by morons on the internet.' Reports of sticky tape on keyholes have been noted Queens, New York, in 2014 and Dublin, Ireland, in 2018 People on Quora have both supported and doubted the sticky tape on a keyhole trick, some people even calling it an 'internet myth' These incidents have occurred in the past to burglary victims, but Tracee Carrasco from Queens, New York, was able to notice a piece of black electrical tape on her doorknob almost immediately in 2014. 'The first initial (thought) was, What the heck is it?' she told CBS News New York. 'And then I said, "You know what? Tape. Could that be someone that's marking the house?''' she added. Multiple residences in Dublin, Ireland, were also targeted in 2018, leading to police to call for caution. They were advised to remove the tape as soon as possible, and suggested to purchase security alarms and secure locks and windows. Dog meat traders up in arms over gov't plan to end dog meat consumption News crews and press photographers will not be allowed inside Bryan Kohberger's trial, which will now be livestreamed with court equipment to stop journalists 'zooming in' and 'focusing intensely' on his 'every move'. The judge made the decision today in a victory for Kohberger, who had appealed to him to ban cameras from the courtroom. In his decision, Judge John C. Judge criticized the way in which journalists continue to cover the case. Kohberger is accused of murdering four Idaho college students last November. It continues to be one of the most talked-about and followed murders in recent history, with ferocious interest in Kohberger and his defense. Bryan Kohberger entering the court on September 13, 2023. From now on, news cameras will not be allowed inside the courtroom but proceedings will be livestreamed Judge John Judge slammed the media for violating his order against photographing Kohberger outside of on-the-record proceedings The judge had ordered the media to only take photos or videos of on-the-record proceedings, but many have continued to photograph Kohberger on his way in and out of the courtroom too. 'Media cameras both still and video have and continue to zoom in on Kohberger despite the court's order that images should capture the courtroom in its entirety. 'At least some of the images are of Kohberger entering and exiting the courtroom. 'It is the intense focus on Kohberger and his every move, along with adverse headlines and news articles, that leads the Court to conclude that continued photograph and video coverage inside the courtroom by the media should no longer be permitted. Kohberger is accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kenodle last November in Moscow, Idaho 'This step should help ensure Kohberger's right to a fair trial by an impartial jury and achieve a proper administration of justice,' Judge said in his decision. Kohberger's team also complained about the risk of journalists photographing confidential documents on the defense table. Police and prosecutors say Kohberger is tied directly to the crime scene with DNA left there that is a 99.99 percent match to his own. His attorneys intend to question how genetic genealogists traced it to him. The prosecution is yet to put forward a motive for the quadruple murder - one of the most violent in memory - and it remains unclear if Kohberger ever met any of the victims. A trial date has still not been set. The judge has until December 1 to set a review DNA evidence. She has been an executive at the telco since early 2022 Gladys Berejiklian to be considered as new Optus CEO Former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian is among the names being considered as the new Optus CEO following resignation of Kelly Bayer Rosmarin. Ms Berejiklian is the executive responsible for managing Optus' business customers and was appointed to the role in early 2022. However, an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry into the actions of Ms Berejiklian's ex-partner, Daryl Maguire, who was the Member of Parliament for Wagga Wagga at the time, revealed that she had participated in significant corrupt conduct. Berejiklian was found to be corrupt because she did not declare a potential conflict of interest between her public duties as premier and her private relationship. Outgoing CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned on Monday after the telecommunications giant suffered a fraught 18 months marked by a cyber attack and an hours-long outage that affected millions of Australians. In a statement, Ms Bayer Rosmarin said it was an 'appropriate time to step down' and that it had been an 'honour and a privilege' to lead the team at Optus. Former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured in June) is among the names being considered as the new Optus CEO following resignation of Kelly Bayer Rosmarin Outgoing CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin (pictured last week) announced she would resign on Monday after the telecommunications giant suffered a fraught 18 months marked by a cyber attack and an hours-long outage that affected millions of Australians Ms Berejiklian, in her role as treasurer and later premier, supported and followed up a proposal for funding for the Clay Target Association - in Mr Maguire's electorate - in 2016 and 2017. The Commission found she behaved this way in part 'to maintain or advance that relationship' with Mr Maguire. In 2018, ICAC found she 'breached public trust' again in her decision making for the Riverina Conservatorium of Music - another proposal advanced by Mr Maguire. She set aside a $20million funding pool for the project. Ms Berejiklian, again, did not disclose a potential conflict of interest based on her relationship with Mr Maguire. The 300-seat music conservatorium, announced in August 2018 when Ms Berejiklian was in a secret relationship with Mr Maguire, did not go ahead because the business case didn't stack up. Ms Berejiklian was also found to have not reported her suspicions Mr Maguire may have been acting corruptly - as parliamentarians are required to do. Despite a finding of corruption, the ICAC was not of the opinion the former premier should be charged with any criminal conduct. This may raise red flags about her candidacy for the top job at Optus. Ms Berejiklian is in the process of appealing the ICAC findings. Ms Bayer Rosmarin tendered her resignation on Monday. 'It's been an honour and privilege to lead the team at Optus and to serve our customers,' she said. 'I was also able to communicate Optus' commitment to restore trust and continue to serve customers. 'Having now had time for some personal reflection, I have come to the decision that my resignation is in the best interest of Optus moving forward.' The outgoing CEO's husband was seen leaving the family's $14million mansion in Vaucluse at about 12.20pm on Monday. He ignored journalists' questions and accelerated loudly up the road in a grey Lexus. Ms Berejiklian is the executive responsible for managing Optus' business customers and was appointed to the role in early 2022 An (ICAC) inquiry into the actions of Ms Berejiklian's ex-partner, Daryl Maguire, who was the Member of Parliament for Wagga Wagga at the time, ruled that she had participated in significant corrupt conduct (the pair are pictured) Optus experienced a nationwide outage on November 8, leaving customers without access to the internet for up to 12 hours and an hours-long outage on November 8 Chief financial officer Michael Venter will be interim CEO while continuing in his current position. It is understood that Mr Venter is only a temporary replacement. Former Optus business managing director Peter Kaliaropoulos, who has been described as a 'veteran telecommunications executive' will become the company's chief operating officer from Wednesday and report to Mr Venter. Mr Kaliaropoulos was the chief executive of Singapore telco StarHub since 2005 and has been consulting to businesses in Australia since last July. Pip Marlow, the outgoing chief executive of Salesforce's Australian and ASEAN operations, is also being considered as an external candidate for the top job. The long-time Microsoft executive, who was hired from Suncorp in 2019, is regarded as one of the most respected business leaders in the country. Ms Marlow is credited with spearheading Salesforce's aggressive local expansion into the government and public sector market. READ MORE: Kelly Rosmarin Bayer put on the spot about whether businesses will receive compensation Advertisement At rival telco Telstra, chief financial officer Michael Ackland and consumer boss Brad Whitcomb could be considered for the slot at Optus. However, Mr Ackland remains a crucial part of Telstra's T25 strategy with the company not likely to lose him. Former NBN chief executive Bill Morrow, is also an option. He left NBN in 2018 to head the US multichannel video programming distributor DirectTV and is currently based out of California. Optus may also choose to transfer an executive from Singtel, it's parent company in Singapore, which occurred when Allan Lew was handed the top job in 2014. Mr Lew had previously held a slew of senior roles in Singtel, including chief executive Group Digital Life, chief executive Singapore and chief operating officer Advanced Info Service, Singtel's regional mobile division. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lambasted the telco on Monday, calling the outage and Optus's response 'a really regrettable incident'. 'Many individuals, millions of Australians and so many businesses were left without information about what was going on,' he told Sky News. The government was working on an analysis that would draw lessons from the outage and send a message to the public and private sectors, he said. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said it was undoubtedly a difficult decision and she wished the former CEO well for the future. Former Optus business managing director Peter Kaliaropoulos, who has been described as a 'veteran telecommunications executive' will become the company's chief operating officer Pip Marlow, the outgoing chief executive of Salesforce's Australian and ASEAN operations, is also being considered as a external candidate for the top job 'We need to learn the lessons to ensure industry and government is as prepared as possible, given no network is fully immune,' she said. Ms Bayer Rosmarin was appointed to the top job in April 2020, during the height of the Covid pandemic. In September 2022, she presided over one of the telco's worst PR disasters when it suffered a massive data breach that affected 10 million Australians and resulted in the driver's licence, Medicare and passport numbers of 10,000 customers being stolen and leaked online. About 14 months later, Optus was hit by a 12-hour-long outage that prevented more than one-third of Australians from accessing the internet and receiving cell service. More than 200 emergency calls could not go through to the triple-zero line. Yuen Kuan Moon, chief of Optus's parent company Singtel, acknowledged the former CEO's leadership. 'Kelly has always led with integrity and had all stakeholders' best interests at heart,' he said. 'We understand her decision and wish her the very best in her future endeavours.' Following the November 8 outage, Ms Bayer Rosmarin was summoned to a parliamentary inquiry where she was roasted by senators. During Friday's hearing, Nationals senator Ross Cadell queried her response during and after the network shutdown and asked whether it was time for new leadership. She said she would 'take that on board'. During this month's blackout, Ms Bayer Rosmarin, 46, created a PR disaster of her own when she went missing in action for seven hours as essential services struggled to cope Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who chairs the Senate inquiry into the outage, thanked Ms Bayer Rosmarin for answering questions. 'This was never about which individual is CEO,' Senator Hanson-Young said. 'This is about ensuring millions of Australians have access to what is an essential service, including the ability to call 000 in an emergency, access government services, contact loved ones and make and take essential payments.' The Senate inquiry would continue examining solutions, such as stronger regulations for telecommunications companies, Senator Hanson-Young said. Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman said Ms Bayer Rosmarin's resignation was not surprising. 'The focus must now turn to investigating what went wrong, especially with regards to the 000 calls that did not get through,' he said. The government announced a review of the network outage nearly two weeks ago. King Charles will officially welcome the president of South Korea and stage a glittering state banquet in his honour at Buckingham Palace. Charles and Camilla will be hosting Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, on Tuesday for the first incoming state visit since the King's coronation and the second of his reign. The banquet is expected to be held in tomorrow evening, with 170 guests gathering for the white tie and tiara affair, in the opulent Palace ballroom. During his state visit to the US in April, at the request of President Joe Biden, Mr Yoon, 62, a known fan of karaoke, belted out a verse of one of his favourite songs, American Pie, at a White House dinner for which he got a standing ovation. Before Mr Yoon and Mrs Kim made a low-key arrival at Stansted Airport on Monday, the South Korean leader warned that the world is facing a 'polycrisis' of multiple conflicts and threats to humanity, and is ceasing the opportunity to form a closer alliance with the West. Charles and Camilla will be hosting Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, on Tuesday for the first incoming state visit since the King's coronation The Prince and Princess of Wales will play a key role by greeting the President and the First Lady at their hotel on Tuesday morning. William and Kate will travel with Mr Yoon and Mrs Kim to the ceremonial welcome on Horse Guards Parade in central London, where the King and Queen will be waiting. A guard of honour, formed by F Company Scots Guards, will give a royal salute amid traditional pomp and pageantry and the King and Mr Yoon will inspect the troops on the parade ground. Charles, Camilla, William and Kate and their guests will then travel in a carriage procession down The Mall to the Palace, before a private lunch and a visit to see Royal Collection exhibits in the Picture Gallery. Later, Mr Yoon will lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey and deliver an address in the Royal Gallery at the Palace of Westminster to members of both Houses, before attending the banquet held in his honour. The King and Queen are expected to be joined by William, Kate and other members of the royal family, while Charles and Mr Yoon will make speeches. Foreign secretaries are also usually invited, meaning the newly appointed Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton is likely to make a return to dining at the royal residence, harking back to the days when he was prime minister. Critics of Mr Yoon, a former prosecutor general, have accused him of suppressing freedom of speech during his 18-month presidency and cracking down on fault-finding news reports about him in the name of fighting 'fake news'. Mr Yoon and Mrs Kim made a low-key arrival at Stansted Airport on Monday Mrs Kim, a 51-year-old former head of an art event-planning company, has also attracted controversy. She made a televised public apology in 2021 after admitting exaggerating her professional credentials when applying for jobs at universities over a decade ago. Mr Yoon told The Daily Telegraph that the wars in Ukraine and Israel, and rising tension with Russia, North Korea and in the South China Sea, have compelled him to seek 'very close security co-operation' with the West. He secured a landmark deal with the US earlier this year to counter the North Korean nuclear threat. Mr Yoon previously warned fellow world leaders about possible co-operation between North Korea and Russia after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mrs Kim, a 51-year-old former head of an art event-planning company, made a televised public apology after admitting exaggerating her professional credentials when applying for jobs King Charles will officially welcome the president of South Korea and stage a glittering state banquet in his honour at Buckingham Palace The King and the South Korean President met last year at the reception for heads of state and official overseas guests at the Palace on the eve of the late Queen's funeral. Mr Yoon's opponents accused him of being disrespectful during his trip to London after he missed the chance to view the late Queen's coffin lying in state - which he blamed on heavy traffic. He was also caught on microphone swearing after a chat with Mr Biden at the UN general assembly the following week, with the footage going viral in his home country. The King visited South Korea in November 1992. As the Prince of Wales, he carried out the tour with his then-wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, but the pair were branded 'The Glums' for looking ill at ease together and a month later it was announced Charles and Diana were separating. On Wednesday, Mr Yoon will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Downing Street and also meet Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. The state visit follows the first incoming one of the King's reign by South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa last autumn. A two-state solution is 'not possible' after the October 7 terror attack, Israel's ambassador to Britain has warned. Tzipi Hotovely appeared on Andrew Marr's LBC programme when she was asked about the idea of a 'two-state solution', in which Israel would co-exist alongside an independent Palestine state. Mr Marr asked about a two-state solution, saying: 'You don't think that after what happened on October 7 a two-state solution is any longer possible?' Ms Hotovely replied: 'It's not possible because as we speak, the leader in the politic of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas refuses to condemn those horrific crimes that Hamas committed, so he doesn't even try to look like a different leader than the leaders that are in Gaza.' The October 7 massacres have been described as Israel's 9/11. Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were murdered by Hamas terrorists. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was slammed by the ambassador for 'refusing to condemn' the October 7 attack Palestinian members of the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas burn military armored vehicle belonging to Israeli forces near Gaza Strip, Gaza on October 7 In retaliation, Israel has launched an offensive on Gaza City which has caused thousands of civilian casualties. Israeli authorities insist they do not want to occupy Gaza permanently at the end of the war and that its troops are trying to root out Hamas and find 240 hostages taken by the terrorists in a bid to guarantee Israel's own security. Ms Hotovely pointed out that Israel ended its occupation of the strip 18 years ago. She added: 'In 2005, we left Gaza, so we had no interest in controlling the people of Gaza,' she said. 'But the problem that created the seventh of October was the fact that Israel had zero security control on all the ammunition in Gaza. 'So the prime minister said that in order to demilitarise the Gaza Strip, Israel must have military abilities in the Gaza Strip, like we have in many other places in the region in order to protect our people. 'And I'm afraid no other country will volunteer to demilitarise the Gaza Strip.' Ms Hotovely has been described as a hardliner and while serving under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his settlements minister, she made a speech in which she said Israel had tried too hard to appease the world. Her appointment as the ambassador to the UK caused controversy with critics saying she was a supporter of the annexation of Palestinian land. The ambassador has hit out at the UK in recent weeks and claimed that London feels less safe for Jews than Israel. Ms Hotovely pointed out that Israel ended its occupation of the strip 18 years ago Israeli authorities insist they do not want to occupy Gaza permanently at the end of the war. Pictured, burning vehicles in the Israeli city of Ashkelon following rocket launches from Gaza, Writing for the Daily Mail on October 12, Ms Hotovely said: 'In the UK, anti-Semitism is on the rise a 324 per cent rise from this period last year and as a mother here, it truly pains me to read that pupils of Jewish schools in this country have been told not to wear their blazers on the way to school.' Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, she said that the Jewish community felt fear due to 'jihad ideology' witnessed during pro-Palestinian protests in the capital city over the past month. Hotovely, who has previously been called 'zionist scum' and harassed by angry mobs on Britain's streets, said that whilst we live in a democracy, freedom of speech needed to be limited to prevent people spouting hatred. She told the outlet: 'Since those demonstrations started, I keep getting WhatsApp messages from friends in Israel. They ask me, do you feel safe there? Do Jews feel safe? 'They feel like London is less safe during this war than Israel. They see the same jihadi ideology on the streets of London as in Gaza and they wonder what is going on.' Hotovely, who was the first woman ever appointed to her position, has herself has been subjected to vile anti-semitic abuse whilst speaking across Britain. Last year, she was branded 'Zionist scum' by protesters who tried to block her car as she attended a Cambridge Union debate. The protesters were heard chanting Hamas slogans and set off flares as they demonstrated. In 2021, she herself branded hard-Left activists 'shameful' after they tried to intimidate her following a lecture at the London School of Economics. The diplomat was harassed by an angry mob after delivering a lecture to the LSE's student union debating society. Horrifying new footage captured during the Nova festival massacre shows Hamas terrorists shooting down two women as they tried to flee. The footage was captured from security cameras at Kibbutz Alumim, which is located just to the east of where the festival was held, according to the South First Responders Telegram channel. It shows a group arriving in the Kibbutz after fleeing from the festival, thinking that they are safe from any further attacks, the South First Responders said. However, they are suddenly ambushed by three Hamas gunmen who are seen running towards them carrying what appear to be AK-47s. One of the Hamas terrorists is then seen chasing after two women, eventually catching up with one before grabbing her hair and shooting her at her at point blank range. Her friend then freezes in fear before pleading for her life with the gunman, who then executes her. The video shows a group of people being ambushed by three Hamas gunmen who are seen running towards them carrying what appear to be AK-47s One of the Hamas terrorists is then seen chasing after two women as they flee The Hamas terrorist later catches up them both before shooting them The video, shared today to the South First Responders Telegram channel, adds to a mounting body of evidence that Hamas callously targeted Israeli civilians during its October 7 incursion. The footage, which was recorded just after 7am on October 7, shows a number of people arriving in what appears to be a car park in Kibbutz Alumim, which is surrounded by yellow electric gates. They are shown getting out of their cars and attempting to calm each other down. One person can be seen sitting on the side of the pavement as another person comes over to console them. Then, in footage from a camera further down the road, three Hamas terrorists can be seen charging towards the group armed with guns. The festival goers attempt to flee the area before one of the gunmen fires a burst towards them. He then charges towards two women at the back of the group as they try desperately to get away from the armed assailant. However he later catches up with one of the women by grabbing her hair and pulling it towards him. After a short struggle the Hamas terrorist then shoots her at point blank range. At the same time her friend can be seen stopping in her tracks, frozen in fear as the gunman approaches her. She then appears to beg for her life as she crouches on the floor before the Hamas terrorist then decides to shoot her as well. The footage, which was recorded just after 7am on October 7, three Hamas terrorists can be seen charging towards a group of people The festival goers attempt to flee the area before one of the gunmen fires a burst towards them He then charges towards two women at the back of the group as they tried desperately to get away from the armed assailant However he later catches up with one of the women by grabbing her hair and pulling it towards him. After a short struggle the Hamas terrorist then shoots her at point blank range At the same time her friend can be seen stopping in her tracks, frozen in fear as the gunman approaches her. She then appears to beg for her life as she crouches on the floor before the Hamas terrorist then decides to shoot her as well A frightening arsenal of weapons has been display by the Israeli Defence Forces Millet Ben Haim, 27, was taking selfies with her friends at Nova Festival when alarm bells starting ringing out as Hamas fighters attacked festivalgoers She said dozens of rockets covered the sky. Millet, like many other revellers, tried to escape by car but Hamas fighters reportedly blocked the escape routes and shot at people MailOnline reporter Nick Pisa with some of the arsenal of guns, bombs, and rocket launchers used by Hamas on October 7 Bullets are pictured while other tools included RPG 7 rocket launchers, mortars, AK 47s, knives, mines and a drone Journalist Nick Pisa holds a rice bag which was found to contain bullets inside Hamas terrorists descended upon the Nova festival near Re'im, using motorised paragliders and pick-up trucks, during the mass invasion on October 7. Horrific videos have shown young partygoers running for their lives, many of whom ran straight into fire from the waiting gunmen. Some survivors have recounted running towards uniform-clad men, believing them to be Israeli police and soldiers coming to rescue them - before making the terrfying discovery that they were actually Hamas. Around 260 revellers were massacred and a number taken hostage, with pictures showing bodies piled up in tents. The terror atrocity saw a number of kibbutzim - rural village communities - stormed by the terrorists who mowed down families in their own homes. Horrific accusations against the terror group have abounded, with Israel saying war crimes were committed during their rampage, including the beheading of babies and the killing of pregnant mothers. Burned out houses and cars are all that remains in many areas, and authorities are still working to identify a huge number of victims whose bodies were mutilated. Millet Ben Haim, 27, was taking selfies with her friends at Nova Festival when alarm bells starting ringing out as Hamas fighters attacked festivalgoers. She said dozens of rockets covered the sky. Millet, like many other revellers, tried to escape by car but Hamas fighters reportedly blocked the escape routes and shot at people. 'The terrorists were on all sides, we couldn't go anywhere. And we knew they were getting closer and closer,' she told German newspaper Bild. She eventually got out of the car and tried to escape via nearby fields, but in whichever direction she ran, people were shouting at her to turn around as Hamas fighters were nearby. 'It's like a nightmare when you know you're not running fast enough. When you feel that your body is getting weaker and weaker. You hear the whistles of the shots,' she said. Her phone data revealed that she was running from the attackers for two hours and covered eight miles during that time. Nick Pisa holds up a rice bag which was contains bullets Red and orange homemade explosive hosepipes were also recovered Lt Col Idan Sharon-Kettler is pictured holding up a thermobaric bomb 'One of my best friends was in shock and wanted to stay at the party grounds. My gut feeling told me this was a bad idea. Now I know I was right. Of those who remained, almost all were raped, kidnapped or murdered. Almost no one survived.' Millet finally found a bush to hide underneath with three other women. They hugged tightly and tried to stay completely still and not panic, despite hearing people nearby getting kidnapped. She called the police, who told her she would have to sit tight as the surrounding villages were occupied by terrorists and she realised the police or army couldn't help her. 'I just prayed that a missile would hit me. I remember lying there hating my body and my clothes. I had the feeling that this was all like a prelude for the terrorists. I didn't know at the time that they had actually raped other girls. But I knew it would happen when they found me. I knew they would rape us. And then murder us and take the bodies with them. I wanted to bury myself, I couldn't bear that thought.' She said she imagined what Hamas would do to her once they found her. She heard the attackers laugh and talk with each other. Millet said their calm behaviour scared her more than the weapons, as it meant the Israeli army was nowhere near. While Millet was hiding under the bush, she talked to her family and tried reassure them she had a happy life as she was trying to deliver comforting last words. 'What a bizarre thought, consoling your family over your own death,' she said. Civilian Ramy Davidian, who saved more than 100 people from the festival, contacted Millet and told her and her friends he would pick them up. He said he would honk when he arrived, but once Millet heard the horn she was frozen, as other sounds around her still included bullets being fired. She said she finally had the courage to get up and let Ramy know where she was hiding when she reminded herself that she was 'going to get killed anyway'. A frightening arsenal of weapons was displayed by the Israeli Defence Forces including thermobaric bombs that were used by Hamas terrorists to torch families alive in their homes. Nick Pisa with some of the arsenal of guns, bombs, and rocket launchers that were used Hamas terrorists killed many innocent civilians in their homes While Millet was hiding under the bush, she talked to her family and tried reassure them she had a happy life as she was trying to deliver comforting last words The tools of terror included RPG 7 rocket launchers, mortars, AK 47s, knives, mines, a drone and hundreds of rounds of ammunition some hidden in humanitarian rice bags. Toyota pick-up trucks and a bulldozer were also displayed at the military base on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, where the Daily Mail was also shown a drone that had been recovered from inside Gaza. Inside the box carrying it was an A4 sheet of paper that detailed parts and along the top was the name of the Hamas military wing the Al Qassam Brigades. Also recovered were flags and headbands from Islamic Jihad and deadly Draganov sniper rifles, as well everyday hose pipes that had been stuffed with explosives and a charge. To take down fence posts, Hamas terrorists had made metal sophisticated frames that snapped around the concrete pillars, filled with TNT and then detonated. Three motorcycles which were used to bring terrorists in and then ferry hostages back to Gaza were also on show in what was described as just a 'tiny fraction' of what had been seized. Lt Col Idan Sharon-Kettler told the Daily Mail:' This was not put together by some militia that targeted military objects, this was a vast amount of weapons and explosives designed for use against civilians and families in their own houses, not soldiers. 'This wasn't cooked up in some back yard, this was all stockpiled over a long period of time and took an immense amount of planning and money with military grade intelligence. 'The intention here was the massacre of Israeli civilians we have evidence that thermobaric bombs were sued in attacks on homes and on cars. 'They are designed to take out tanks you don't need to tell me what they will do to a house or a car.' A thermobaric bomb uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, making it more deadly than a conventional weapon, creating a 3000'c fireball. The initial charge punches a hole through the wall or metal and then a second charge detonates a powerful explosion burning everything. Lt Col Sharon-Kettler said: 'This type of weapon was fired at houses and cars they are designed to be use don tanks, when they explode, they incinerate everything around them. 'We found evidence they had been used on houses to get into safe rooms and on cars we found people who had burnt to death inside their homes and vehicles. Lt Col Sharon-Kettler explained the weapons were originally from North Korea, Russia and Iran although the route they took to enter Gaza was unclear. He highlighted how ammunition had been hidden in hessian sacks marked rice and said 'this how they use the humanitarian aid' in Gaza. He went on:' There is talk about Gaza being an open-air prison but these weapons can't be found in a prison. This is the result of organised smuggling of weapons into Gaza from many different countries. 'There's a lot of money that went into his operation, someone was funding and planning it for a long time. 'They wanted the fight to carry on in Israel and the result they wanted was the massacre of civilians.' Hamas gunmen battled Israeli forces trying to push into Gaza's largest refugee camp on Sunday, but despite the fighting U.S. and Israeli officials said a deal to free some of the hostages held in the besieged enclave was edging closer. About 240 hostages were taken during Hamas's deadly cross-border rampage into Israel on Oct. 7, which prompted Israel to invade the tiny Palestinian territory to wipe out the Islamist group. Israeli tanks and troops stormed into Gaza late last month and have since wrested control of large areas of the north and northwest and east around Gaza City, the Israeli military says. But Hamas and local witnesses say militants are waging guerrilla-style war in pockets of the densely urbanized north, including parts of Gaza City and the sprawling Jabalia and Beach refugee camps. Even as fighting raged on the ground, Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, said in an interview on ABC's "This Week" that Israel was hopeful a significant number of hostages could be released by Hamas "in coming days." Reuters reported on Nov. 15 that Qatari mediators had been seeking a deal between Israel and Hamas to exchange 50 hostages in return for a three-day ceasefire that would help boost emergency aid shipments to Gaza civilians, citing an official briefed on the talks. At the time, the official said general outlines had been agreed but Israel was still negotiating details. U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on Sunday he was not in a position to say when the hostages might be out. "I want to make sure they're out and then I'll tell you," he said upon arrival at a pre-Thanksgiving holiday event in Virginia with U.S. military personnel. On Sunday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told a press conference in Doha that the main obstacles to a deal were now "very minor," with mainly "practical and logistical" issues remaining. A White House official also said the "very complicated, very sensitive" negotiations were making progress. Death toll 'staggering and unacceptable' The talks coincided with Israel preparing to expand its offensive against Hamas to Gaza's southern half, signaled by increasing air strikes on targets Israel sees as lairs of armed militants. However, Israel's main ally the United States cautioned it on Sunday not to embark on combat operations in the south until military planners have taken into account the safety of Palestinian civilians. Gaza's traumatized population has been on the move since the start of the war, sheltering in hospitals or trudging from the north to the south and, in some cases, back again, in desperate efforts to stay out of the line of fire. Gaza's Hamas-run government said at least 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombardments since then, including at least 5,500 children. The civilian death toll in Gaza was "staggering and unacceptable," U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, appealing again on Sunday for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Witnesses reported heavy fighting overnight between Hamas gunmen and Israeli forces trying to advance into Jabalia, a camp with nearly 100,000 people. Repeated Israeli bombardment of Jabalia, which grew out of a camp for Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Israeli-Arab war, has killed scores of civilians, Palestinian medics say. Israel says the strikes have killed many militants dug into the area. Via social media in Arabic, Israel's military on Sunday urged residents of several Jabalia neighborhoods to evacuate south "to preserve your safety" and to that end said it would pause military action from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. After the "pause" expired, 11 Palestinians in Jabalia were killed by an Israeli air strike on a house, the enclave's health ministry said. Palestinians say Israel's repeated bombardment of southern Gaza renders Israeli promises of safety absurd. Around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in Hamas's shock Oct. 7 assault, according to Israeli tallies, the deadliest day in the country's 75-year history. A total of 64 Israeli soldiers have died in the conflict, according to the latest army count. 'Death zone' at Gaza's biggest hospital The Israeli army says Hamas uses residential and other civilian buildings as cover for command centers, weapons caches, rocket launchpads and a vast underground tunnel network. The Islamist movement denies using human shields to wage war. A team led by the World Health Organization that visited Al Shifa, Gaza's biggest hospital, on Saturday described it as a "death zone," days after advancing Israeli forces seized the premises to root out an alleged underground Hamas command center. The WHO team reported signs of gunfire and shelling and a mass grave at Al Shifa's entrance, and said it was making plans for the immediate evacuation of 291 remaining patients, including the war-wounded, and 25 staff. Israeli military issued a statement on Sunday in response saying it was conducting "a precise operation to uncover terror infrastructure" at the hospital. On Sunday, 31 premature babies were evacuated from Al Shifa in a joint operation by the United Nations and Palestinian Red Crescent to be taken over the Rafah border crossing for hospitalisation in Egypt, Gaza's health ministry said. Eight premature babies previously died at Al Shifa for lack of electricity and medication crucial to care, it said. Hundreds of other patients, staff and displaced people who were sheltering in Al Shifa left on Saturday, with Palestinian health officials saying they were ejected inhumanely by Israeli troops and the military saying the departures were voluntary. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said 48 journalists and media workers have been confirmed killed in the region since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, including the head of a prominent media institution in Gaza and two other journalists. (Reuters) A mother was forced to spend 30,000 to stop her paedophile ex-husband from having access to her daughter. The father was imprisoned for sexual offending and was banned from having contact with children. But he still held parental responsibility for his daughter because he was married to the mother at the time of birth. The mother claims she had been repeatedly raped by the father and she had to apply for a court order to strip him of parental responsibility after he was jailed. The father's convictions cannot be reported for legal reasons but they did not involve his ex-wife or daughter. The case was heard at Cardiff Family Court (pictured). The father was described as extremely manipulative The mother took the exceptional step of asking the court to remove her ex-husband's parental rights and ban all contact, direct, indirect or through social media, until their daughter turned 18. Fortunately, a judge ordered that the girl live with her mother until the age of 18 and that the father be barred from contacting her until that age. The judge said he posed an 'extremely high risk of sexual and emotional harm' to the child and that the mother needs to be free from any fear that he could locate them in the future. Speaking to the BBC, the mother said she was 'absolutely petrified' about what would happen once he is freed from prison. She said she feared he might take their daughter out of school one day without her knowledge. The only way to get her back would be through the family court. Despite the severity of the father's crimes, the mother was advised that the process was likely to be difficult. The father is described as manipulative and she feared he would be able to convince a court of his remorse. She is not entitled to legal aid and even before the first hearing, the costs for her solicitor and barrister already began to mount. The child's grandmother revealed that her daughter spent 30,000 in legal fees and put in hundreds of hours reading about family law. The case was heard at Cardiff Family Court. Judge Mererid Edwards said concerns over the father's behaviour 'extend beyond his criminal convictions', Wales Online reported. According to the judge, he had admitted to watching 'incestuous pornography' while the child was in his care. The judge added: 'There are also SMS messages between the father and a vulnerable individual which evidence him building a relationship, gaining trust, and then discussing matters of a sexual nature. 'This is the sort of manipulative and grooming behaviour often used by abusers.' Also, the judge noted that messages sent by the father 'appear to acknowledge having had sexual intercourse' with the mother while she was asleep which 'as a bare minimum the messages indicate a concerning lack of understanding in relation to consent and sexual boundaries'. The child's maternal grandmother said after the judgement that she was glad the judge saw through the father's charm. She said: 'He was able to look very contrite and heartfelt in court. 'It would be easy to start feeling sorry for him. 'These people are very plausible and manipulative. He's the last person on earth you would think is a paedophile. 'It was a very favourable outcome but my daughter made her own luck. 'Many families won't have a chance because, first of all, will they be able to afford the legal fees? Will they understand all the legal terminology?' The grandmother also said a conversation is needed about how the legal system can better support people in similar situations. However, the judge did allow the father to retain some rights. The father must be informed if the girl leaves the jurisdiction permanently or is in a life-threatening condition. This doesn't mean he will be able to make decisions on issues like the girl's health or travelling abroad and the mum will not have to consult him on her decisions. Reacting to the judgement, the mother said: 'I am extremely grateful for the thorough and child-centred approach taken by the professionals involved in this court case. 'When her father blamed his victims for the sexual abuse he inflicted upon them the court recognised that he continued to be unsafe. 'When he disclosed watching incest porn in our child's presence the court understood, in the context of his offences, the extreme risk that he posed to our daughter's safety. 'I am so grateful that they made the appropriate orders to keep her from harm. 'The final orders free my child to have the normal, healthy upbringing that all children deserve.' A Renault Clio has reportedly been hit by a meteorite in France. Firefighters were called to the car in Strasbourg, eastern France, early this morning and found the car with a 20-inch hole in the roof as well as a broken window. Strasbourg emergency services are now investigating the possibility of a meteorite falling on the Renault Clio. 'Upon our arrival, we noticed a relatively large impact, with a diameter of approximately 50 centimeters, which passed through the roof, the underbody and the fuel tank of the vehicle,' local fire captain Matthieu Colobert told Metro. The investigation has so far revealed that there was no radioactivity, which is to be expected should it have been a meteorite as they only contain a small amount of radioactive material, similar to rocks on Earth. Firefighters were called to the car in Strasbourg, eastern France, early this morning and found the car (pictured) with a 20-inch hole in the roof as well as a broken window Strasbourg emergency services are now investigating the possibility of a meteorite falling on the Renault Clio (pictured) While investigators said they couldn't find the suspected meteorite in the car, they added that they had a 'hunch' about a hazelnut-sized, lightweight and brown stone nearby. Colobert said the impact of the crash could have been so strong the meteorite 'disintegrated'. Meteors can travel up to 160,000mph as they enter the atmosphere, with their speed dropping down significantly to about 200 to 400mph. Nuclear physicist and meteorite expert Dr Tim Gregory said he is not convinced the rock will have stellar origins. 'I'm suspicious about the extraterrestrial claims. It would have to be quite a stone to make a hole that big,' he told Metro. 'Chemical tests will reveal if the small stone is a meteorite if it's not, then it's a meteorwrong.' Royal Observatory Greenwich's Dr Greg Brown said he was waiting on more data, but added that the meteorite theory wasn't 'impossible'. A frightening arsenal of weapons has been displayed by the Israeli Defence Forces including thermobaric bombs that were used by Hamas terrorists to torch families alive in their homes. The tools of terror included RPG 7 rocket launchers, mortars, AK 47s, knives, mines, a drone and hundreds of rounds of ammunition some hidden in humanitarian rice bags. Toyota pick-up trucks and a bulldozer were also displayed at the military base on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, where the Daily Mail was also shown a drone that had been recovered from inside Gaza. Inside the box carrying it was an A4 sheet of paper that detailed parts and along the top was the name of the Hamas military wing the Al Qassam Brigades. Also recovered were flags and headbands from Islamic Jihad and deadly Draganov sniper rifles, as well everyday hose pipes that had been stuffed with explosives and a charge. A frightening arsenal of weapons has been display by the Israeli Defence Forces MailOnline reporter Nick Pisa with some of the arsenal of guns, bombs, and rocket launchers used by Hamas on October 7 Bullets are pictured while other tools included RPG 7 rocket launchers, mortars, AK 47s, knives, mines and a drone Journalist Nick Pisa holds a rice bag which was found to contain bullets inside To take down fence posts, Hamas terrorists had made metal sophisticated frames that snapped around the concrete pillars, filled with TNT and then detonated. Three motorcycles which were used to bring terrorists in and then ferry hostages back to Gaza were also on show in what was described as just a 'tiny fraction' of what had been seized. Lt Col Idan Sharon-Kettler told the Daily Mail:' This was not put together by some militia that targeted military objects, this was a vast amount of weapons and explosives designed for use against civilians and families in their own houses, not soldiers. 'This wasn't cooked up in some back yard, this was all stockpiled over a long period of time and took an immense amount of planning and money with military grade intelligence. 'The intention here was the massacre of Israeli civilians we have evidence that thermobaric bombs were sued in attacks on homes and on cars. 'They are designed to take out tanks you don't need to tell me what they will do to a house or a car.' A thermobaric bomb uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, making it more deadly than a conventional weapon, creating a 3000'c fireball. The initial charge punches a hole through the wall or metal and then a second charge detonates a powerful explosion burning everything. Lt Col Sharon-Kettler said:' This type of weapon was fired at houses and cars they are designed to be use don tanks, when they explode, they incinerate everything around them. Nick Pisa holds up a rice bag which was contains bullets Red and orange homemade explosive hosepipes were also recovered Lt Col Idan Sharon-Kettler is pictured holding up a thermobaric bomb Nick Pisa with some of the arsenal of guns, bombs, and rocket launchers that were used Hamas terrorists killed many innocent civilians in their homes Also recovered were flags and headbands from Islamic Jihad and deadly Draganov sniper rifles Hamas headbands were recovered among the other items Lt Col Sharon-Kettler explained the weapons were originally from North Korea, Russia and Iran although the route they took to enter Gaza was unclear. Pictured: RPG7s Inside the box carrying a drone was an A4 sheet of paper that detailed parts and along the top was the name of the Hamas military wing the Al Qassam Brigades 'We found evidence they had been used on houses to get into safe rooms and on cars we found people who had burnt to death inside their homes and vehicles. Lt Col Sharon-Kettler explained the weapons were originally from North Korea, Russia and Iran although the route they took to enter Gaza was unclear. He highlighted how ammunition had been hidden in hessian sacks marked rice and said 'this how they use the humanitarian aid' in Gaza. He went on:' There is talk about Gaza being an open-air prison but these weapons can't be found in a prison. This is the result of organised smuggling of weapons into Gaza from many different countries. 'There's a lot of money that went into his operation, someone was funding and planning it for a long time. 'They wanted the fight to carry on in Israel and the result they wanted was the massacre of civilians.' 'You know, Biden has been found to be a serial classified document hoarder over a 10-year period,' said Turner Special Counsel Robert Hur, who is investigating Biden's case, is reportedly not expected to file any criminal charges against the president Top Republican Mike Turner says if 'serial classified documents hoarder' Joe Biden is not criminally charged, it will show that the Department of Justice is not 'pursuing Democrats.' It was revealed last week that the special counsel appointed to probe the improper storage of classified documents at Biden's Delaware home and think tank is expected to wrap up soon without filing any criminal charges against the president. Turner, who serves as chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), addressed the reports that Special Counsel Robert Hur is not going to charge Biden, calling it 'devastating.' 'Well, this will be certainly devastating, and continuing to be devastating to the Department of Justice and to the Biden administration with their two-tier system of justice,' Turner said on CBS 'Face the Nation' Sunday. 'You know, Biden has been found to be a serial classified document hoarder over a 10-year period. He's been taking classified documents, some of the most sensitive that threaten our national security home without any protection. And certainly, you know, able to, for others to be able to access them,' he continued. The United States is facing its greatest risk of a terrorist attack in nearly a decade. Both Al-Qaeda and ISIS have urged their followers to target and kill American citizens. Today, I spoke with @MargBrennan on @FaceTheNation about global threats to U.S. national security. pic.twitter.com/PPNV1eGe6d US Rep. Mike Turner (@RepMikeTurner) November 19, 2023 'I'm very disappointed in the response we're getting from ODNI,' said Turner 'There needs to be consequences,' said the chairman. 'The fact that Hillary Clinton, who had over 100 classified documents when she was secretary of state and Vice President Biden under Obama were taking classified documents home and certainly had them be vulnerable, with no consequences, shows the Department of Justice is not pursuing Democrats.' Turner told DailyMail.com last week that he was 'disappointed' that there is seemingly no movement in President Biden's classified documents investigation. 'We are very disappointed that there's nothing that appears to be happening on that case,' Turner told DailyMail.com on Thursday. Turner, who has seen both the Biden and Trump classified documents, say they are 'equally national security threatening documents that should not have been outside of a controlled, classified space.' Hur - who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in January - has been interviewing the president's aides and family members, including Biden himself and son Hunter, but has not issued any public statements throughout the process. Hur's team is reportedly expected to issue a 'sharply critical' detailed report by the end of the year, without filing any criminal charges. In contrast, Special Counsel Jack Smith quickly indicted Trump back in July for allegedly unlawfully retaining national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements. 'Biden had these documents for over 10 years. You can't hoard documents in your home for a decade long period, concealing them, taking them home as a senator or vice president and suddenly say hey, two weeks while I was president I cooperated and, therefore, it doesn't count that I spent 10 years as a serial classified document hoarder,' Turner continued on CBS. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 federal counts and his court date is set for May 2024, which is in the thick of the presidential primary. Turner also said the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is stonewalling lawmakers investigating Biden and Trump classified documents scandals. 'I'm very disappointed in the response we're getting from ODNI. We've all seen the [Trump] indictment, and I have seen classified documents from both the Biden and Trump documents. The ones that we have seen from Trump do not match the indictment.' 'And so our inquiry is: show us how the indictment language matches to a document and show us those documents. And we have yet to get a response.' Turner, who is from Dayton, Ohio, made the comments during a preview of a Republican report on FISA Section 702 abuses and fixes published today. Images from a Biden campaign video show him backing up his classic Stingray into his garage. He is seen reversing his Corvette into a garage filled with papers at his Wilmington home Boxes of potentially classified documents were discovered in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom by the DOJ He previously told DailyMail.com that it would be 'incredibly difficult' to not find that President Biden had violated the law in how he handled classified materials. Since reviewing the documents, he had also said that the 'behavior' displayed by Biden and described in the Trump complaint - based on their alleged mishandling of the classified materials - is 'wrong.' 'If you just pull out the statute, it would be incredibly difficult for anyone to not conclude that Biden's actions violate specific statutes,' he previously said. The chairman is particularly concerned with the potential 'unequal application' of the law by the Department of Justice in how it handles the Trump documents case compared to the Biden case. Records were first unearthed in a private think tank office where the President Biden used to work in Washington in November 2022. More documents were found in the president's Wilmington, Delaware garage on December 20 and in his home library on January 12. Biden has said he did not know the documents were there. The Palestinian journalist, among other things, described conditions at Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital A Palestinian woman working as a freelance journalist for NBC News was arrested in Israel on suspicion of inciting and glorifying terror and identifying with a terrorist organization, according to reports. Mirvat al-Azzeh, a 45-year-old woman who lives in East Jerusalem, was arrested and jailed last Thursday after sharing four posts on Facebook about Hamas' barbaric surprise attack on October 7 that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel. The precise content of the posts remains unknown, but they were described by authorities at a Jerusalem Magistrate Court as 'inciting and glorifying horrible acts committed against civilians,' according to the Jerusalem Post. On Monday, NBC said it had severed ties with al-Azzeh. The New York Post reported that the network, owned by Comcast, said: 'Before we recently retained Marwat Azzeh for services as a freelance producer, we were not aware of her personal social media activity that provided the basis for the Israeli investigation.' A spokesperson for NBC told Dailymail.com that the investigation 'is unrelated to NBC News.' Palestinian journalist Marwat al-Azzeh was fired by NBC News after being arrested last week in Israel for inciting and glorifying terror Al-Azzeh had been reporting for the mainstream US outlet on the ongoing confluct in the Middle East, most recently the conditions at Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital 'It is based on her personal Facebook posts that predate her time with us as a freelancer. We were not aware of those posts before we engaged Ms. Azzeh four weeks ago. She will not be contributing to our coverage going forward,' they continued. An individual familiar with the situation at NBC said that the freelancer had been engaged by the outlet around October 21, but that her social media activity prior to that date was not consistent with the network's standards. However, a limited review of her work for NBC News did not uncover any problems. The Post reported that al-Azzeh's most recent byline at NBC ran on November 12 - less than a week before her arrest. She reported that the newborns at Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital were dying as the struggling facility, also widely believed to be a Hamas command center, runs out of fuel and supplies. The Jerusalem Post reported that al-Azzeh arrived 'ready for arrest,' sans cellphone, but equipped with phone numbers written on her leg. Israeli police first requested permission from the prosecutor's office to question the journalist last month. She has reportedly cooperated fully with the authorities. Al-Azzeh admitted to the offenses of which she is accused last week. Her attorney told the J-Post: 'The woman in question is an ordinary woman, who works as a journalist and whose work is important to us all.' 'She was asked during her investigation about her employment. I believe she admitted to all the deeds described to her, and cooperated fully with the investigation. 'She did not attempt to conceal the offenses or claim that her accounts had been hacked. Even when she didn't have a mobile phone, which is the main tool involved, she still said, ''Yes, those are my posts''.' Palestinians inspect the rubble of a destroyed structure following Israeli air strikes in Rafah town in the southern Gaza Strip, 20 November 2023 Al-Azzeh was arrested last Thursday and held until a Friday hearing. From there, her detention was extended an additional four days, according to the Israeli outlet. It's not yet clear how much prison time the journalist could be facing. Several months before the Hamas attack on Israel, Al-Azzeh posted a 24-minute video to YouTube titled: 'See the full story: An x-ray technician harasses journalist Mervat Al-Azzeh and grabs her breasts!!' In it, she recounts being assaulted at a hospital in the West Bank. In Arabic, she reportedly recalls feeling pressured by authorities to drop the complaint against her attacker. Al-Azzeh's arrest comes as several mainstream US news outlets, including Reuters, CNN, the New York Times and more, come under fire for employing and using the work of photojournalists who embedded with Hamas terrorists during the initial terror attack. Police are investigating two serial killers, the Zombie Hunter and the Babyseat Rapist, after they identified the remains of a young girl found in the Arizona desert in 1992. Apache Junction police said they had used genetic genealogy to identify the remains of 15-year-old Melody Harrison, who was reported missing in June 1992. Her body was found in August 1992, in the desert south of the US 60, but it took three decades to identify her. Authorities are now investigating how she died, including the possibility that she was the victim of a serial killer. There were two serial killers active in the area at the time of her death: the 'Zombie Hunter', Bryan Patrick Miller, and the 'Babyseat Rapist' Scott Lehr. Remains found in the desert in August 1992 have been identified as belonging to 15-year-old Melody Harrison from Phoenix, Arizona Authorities are now investigating how she died, including the possibility that she was the victim of a serial killer Bryan Patrick Miller who drove a tricked-out squad car around Phoenix, Arizona prior to his arrest Police investigator Stephanie Bourgeois told CBS: 'We will definitely follow up on all the leads we have, including these two.' A police statement said: 'Melodys decomposed remains were found in a remote desert area of Apache Junction on the northwest corner of Idaho and Baseline Roads on Aug. 6, 1992, sparking a thorough forensic investigation to determine her identity and cause of death. 'Although she has been identified, the investigation continues as to how she ended up in the far east portion of the Valley, more than 40 miles away from her residence.' Melody's family had filed an initial missing person report through Phoenix Police in June 1992. But as people came to the family and said they had seen Melody alive, they believed had started a new life and did not want to go home. She was removed from the missing persons database in August 1996. The case was revived in 2008 after Apache Junction police investigator Stephanie Bourgeois took over, but DNA testing at that time was unsuccessful. Then in 2018, Bourgeois hired the DNA Doe Project, a volunteer research group that specializes in forensic genealogy analysis. Angela Brosso, 22, and Melanie Bernas, 17, disappeared 11 months apart. Brosso's head was later found in the canal where Bernas's body was discovered It took their team five years to find the breakthrough in Harrison's case when a second test comparing DNA from the likely family members confirmed that "Apache Junction Jane Doe" was Harrison. Bourgeois said in a statement: 'There is peace of mind having found Melody's identity and sharing with her family, but there isn't closure surrounding the circumstances of her death. We are still searching to find out how she might have passed away.' One of the possibilities that the police are examining is that Harrison was murdered by a serial killer - there were two active serial killers in the area at the time. The 'Zombie Hunter', Bryan Patrick Miller, 42, was found guilty of murdering 22-year-old Angela Brosso and 17-year-old Melanie Bernas and was sentenced to death in June 2023. The women disappeared 11 months apart while riding their bikes through Phoenix. Brosso was decapitated, with her head found in the canal where Bernas's body was later discovered. 'That's the million-dollar question,' Miller wrote in an email to a 48 Hours producer when asked to explain how his DNA ended up on the bodies of both women. 'If I had a provable answer for that I wouldn't be in this situation now, would I?' He added: 'It is a question that I would like answered and everyone is so convinced that I did so it will go unanswered.' Miller was convicted in June for the murder of two women and sentenced to death The convicted killer's trial took place nearly 30 years after the first murder, and he has since expressed frustration with the justice system, asking: 'How is a person supposed to defend themselves...for a crime that happened decades ago?' Miller is spending his sentence at a Special Management Unit at the Eyman Prison Complex in Florence, Arizona. Investigators took six months to link the deaths of Brosso and Bernas to Miller and failed to make a breakthrough until his arrest in January 2015. The horror-obsessed killer had acquired a decommissioned police car in Washington and drove it around Phoenix, deeming himself 'The Arizona Zombie Hunter.' On a Facebook page dedicated to his hobby, Miller wrote: 'Keeping Arizona safe from the things that go bump in the night. Also available for your event.' It later emerged that the former Amazon delivery driver had a checkered past - including the 2002 stabbing of a different woman in Everett, Washington. The woman, Melissa Ruiz-Ramirez, accepted a ride from Miller, who took her to his workplace and stabbed her in the back with a 12-inch serrated knife. Charges were dropped after Miller argued that Ruiz-Ramirez had tried to rob him, claiming self-defense. Scott Lehr was found guilty in 1997 for the murders of Margaret Christorf, killed in 1991, and Michelle Morales, killed in 1992 as well as multiple assaults and rapes The other convicted serial killer who was active in the area at the time was Scott Lehr. Lehr was convicted of murdering three women whose ages ranged from 19 to 40 years old in 1997. He was also charged with several rapes and brutal attacks on women and girls one as young as 10-year-old between 1991 and 1992. He offered women rides in his car and would then drive them to the desert to rape them, before murdering some of them. He was known as the Babyseat Rapist because surviving victims said he had a baby seat in his vehicle. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The statement announcing her death said she died peacefully, with family by her side" at 2:10 p.m. at her rural Georgia home of Plains. Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished, Carter said in the statement. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me. President Joe Biden called the Carters an incredible family because they brought so much grace to the office. He had this great integrity, still does. And she did too, Biden told reporters as he was boarding Air Force One to leave Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday night. God bless them. Biden said he spoke to the family and was told that Jimmy Carter was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. Later, the White House released a joint statement from the president and first lady Jill Biden saying that Carter inspired the nation. She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities, the statement said. Reaction from world leaders poured in throughout the day. The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a full partnership. Unlike many previous first ladies , Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to President Carter sometimes referred to her privately as co-president. Rosalynn is my best friend ... the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life, Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981. The former president, now 99, remains at the couples home in Plains after entering hospice care himself in February. Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Rosalynn Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-the-scenes influence. When her role in a highly publicized Cabinet shakeup became known, she was forced to declare publicly, I am not running the government. Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husbands they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanor and a soft Southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her the Steel Magnolia. Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carters landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington. Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights. She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit U.S. wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics. Throughout her husband's political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media didn't cover those efforts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticized reporters for writing only about "sexy subjects." As honorary chairwoman of the President's Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying, "We've been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach." She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husband's campaigns for Georgia governor. I used to come home and say to Jimmy, 'Why are people telling me their problems?' And he said, 'Because you may be the only person they'll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them,' she explained. After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Rosalynn Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, Georgia, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives. "I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles," she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, "First Lady from Plains." But "we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before." After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work. She chaired the center's annual symposium on mental health issues and raised funds for efforts to aid the mentally ill and homeless. She also wrote "Helping Yourself Help Others," about the challenges of caring for elderly or ailing relatives, and a sequel, "Helping Someone With Mental Illness." Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. "I get tired," she said of her travels. "But something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and there's no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing it's so wonderful." In 2015, Jimmy Carters doctors discovered four small tumors on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she didn't know what she was going to do. I depend on him when I have questions, when I'm writing speeches, anything, I consult with him, she said. She helped Carter recover several years later when he had hip replacement surgery at age 94 and had to learn to walk again. And she was with him earlier this year when he decided after a series of hospital stays that he would forgo further medical interventions and begin end-of-life care. Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived U.S. president. Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived of the nation's first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at age 97. Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927, the eldest of four children. Her father died when she was young, so she took on much of the responsibility of caring for her siblings when her mother went to work part time. She also contributed to the family income by working after school in a beauty parlor. "We were very poor and worked hard," she once said, but she kept up her studies, graduating from high school as class valedictorian. She soon fell in love with the brother of one of her best friends. Jimmy and Rosalynn had known each other all their lives it was Jimmy's mother, nurse Lillian Carter, who delivered baby Rosalynn but he left for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, when she was still in high school. After a blind date, Jimmy told his mother: "That's the girl I want to marry." They wed in 1946, shortly after his graduation from Annapolis and Rosalynn's graduation from Georgia Southwestern College. Their sons were born where Jimmy Carter was stationed: John William (Jack) in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1947; James Earl III (Chip) in Honolulu in 1950; and Donnel Jeffery (Jeff) in New London, Connecticut, in 1952. Amy was born in Plains in 1967. By then, Carter was a state senator. Navy life had provided Rosalynn her first chance to see the world. When Carter's father, James Earl Sr., died in 1953, Jimmy Carter decided, without consulting his wife, to move the family back to Plains, where he took over the family farm. She joined him there in the day-to-day operations, keeping the books and weighing fertilizer trucks. We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, Rosalynn Carter recalled with pride in a 2021 interview with The Associated Press. I knew more on paper about the business than he did. He would take my advice about things. At the height of the Carters' political power, Lillian Carter said of her daughter-in-law: She can do anything in the world with Jimmy, and she's the only one. He listens to her. (AP) Israeli troops were "expanding" their operation in the Gaza Strip Monday, as Qatari mediators said they were inching closer to a deal to free some of the 240 hostages held by Hamas militants. Israel has warned residents of Gaza's largest refugee camp Jabalia and a nearby coastal camp to evacuate, as the military said Sunday it was "expanding its operational activities in additional neighborhoods... of the Gaza Strip." After intense bombardment, an AFP journalist in Gaza saw columns of smoke rising from Jabalia on Sunday. A Hamas health official said more than 80 people were killed in twin strikes on Jabalia on Saturday, including on a U.N. school sheltering displaced people. Social media videos verified by AFP showed bodies covered in blood and dust on the floor of a building, where mattresses had been wedged under school tables. Israel's military has said Jabalia is among the areas of focus as they "target terrorists and strike Hamas infrastructure." Without mentioning the strikes, the Israeli army said "an incident in the Jabalia region" was under review. U.N. rights chief Volker Turk on Sunday condemned the purported strike on the school as "horrifying," adding that "the horrendous events of the past 48 hours in Gaza beggar belief." On Monday, Palestinian news agency Wafa said the Indonesian hospital near Jabalia had also come under shelling. 'Window of legitimacy' Israel launched its offensive against Hamas after a wave of brutal cross-border raids on Oct. 7 left 1,200 people dead, the majority of them civilians. The Hamas government says the death toll from Israel's aerial bombardment and ground operations in Gaza has reached 13,000, thousands of them children. Six weeks into the war, Israel is facing intense international pressure to justify its bloody toll. Israel officials have warned a "window of legitimacy" for the war to rout Hamas may be closing. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday called for urgent action to stop the "humanitarian disaster" unfolding in Gaza. "The situation in Gaza affects all countries around the world, questioning the human sense of right and wrong and humanity's bottom line," Wang told visiting diplomats from Arab and Muslim-majority nations. Israel on Sunday presented what it said was evidence Hamas gunmen used Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, to hide foreign hostages and to mask underground tunnels. The Israeli military released what was said to be CCTV footage from Oct. 7 of two male hostages from Nepal and Thailand being brought into the hospital. "We have not yet located both of these hostages," army spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters. One clip showed a man in shorts and a pale blue shirt being dragged into an entrance hall by five men, at least three of whom were armed. In a second clip, an injured man in underwear is wheeled in on a gurney by armed men as several others wearing blue hospital scrubs look on. AFP could not immediately verify the footage. Israel also accused the Palestinian militant group of executing a 19-year-old Israeli soldier Noa Marciano at Al-Shifa and presented images of what it said was a 55-meter-long underground tunnel under the hospital. Israel has repeatedly claimed that Al-Shifa doubles as a base for Palestinian militants, a charge Hamas and hospital administrators deny. The World Health Organization has called the hospital a "death zone." Over the weekend, hundreds of people fled Al-Shifa hospital on foot as loud explosions were heard around the complex. Columns of sick and injured were seen leaving with displaced people, doctors and nurses. At least 15 bodies, some in advanced stages of decomposition, were strewn along the route, an AFP journalist said. The WHO on Sunday said it evacuated thirty-one premature babies from the facility. Al-Shifa head of surgery Marwan Abu Sada told AFP that Israeli troops were still in the hospital and it was surrounded by tanks. "I heard at least two explosions since this morning," he said Sunday. Other doctors said the troops were going from building to building and detonated explosives on the ground floors and hospital basements searching for Hamas tunnels. 'Big, big hole in our hearts' Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas and to free around 240 people taken hostage by the militants during the worst attack in its history, most of them Israeli citizens but also dozens of foreigners. The bodies of two female hostages were recovered in Gaza this week, the Israeli military said. Four abductees have so far been released by Hamas and a fifth rescued by troops. On Sunday, Qatari mediators said they were inching closer to a deal to free some of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Qatar's prime minister said efforts to bring hostages "safely back to their homes" in return for a temporary ceasefire was now within reach, raising hopes that Israeli, Nepali, American or other captives could soon be free. "I'm now more confident that we are close enough to reach a deal," said Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, adding that only "minor" practical details remained unresolved. The hostages include infants, teens and pensioners. Their fate has racked not just their families but the Israeli public at large. U.S. deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told U.S. media that negotiators were "closer than we have been in quite some time" to securing a deal. But he added: "The mantra that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed really does apply." In London, the teary father of missing 9-year-old Emily Hand begged for her to be brought home. "There's just a big, big hole in all our hearts that won't be filled until she comes home again," he told AFP. (AFP) The guidelines for naming a planet's surface features are not inclusive enough and are biased towards men, an academic has said, as research shows fewer than 2% of Mars's craters are named after women. An analysis of the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) database has also revealed that only 32 (2%) out of 1,578 known Moon craters bear a woman's name. Planetary features are distinctive characteristics or elements present on the surface of, or within, the planet. Alongside craters, they also include mountains, valleys, canyons, volcanoes, oceans, deserts and many more. In an open letter published in the journal Nature Astronomy, Annie Lennox, a doctoral researcher at The Open University, said the male-biased culture of naming planetary features 'inherently disadvantages women and marginalised groups'. Annie Lennox, pictured, is a doctoral researcher at The Open University. She said the male-biased culture of naming planetary features 'inherently disadvantages women and marginalised groups' Planetary features are distinctive characteristics or elements present on the surface of, or within, the planet. (Pictured: craters on the surface of Mars) She is urging the IAU - an international association of professional astronomers - to change its policies which are 'biased towards cisgender (cis) white men'. Ms Lennox, from Aberdeenshire, said: 'Space exploration has revealed worlds of rock, of ice and... metal. 'For all the worlds in our solar system, it has become customary to name prominent surface features such as craters. 'Distant craters on the Moon, Mars and Mercury record a history much closer to home: celebrating the achievements of mankind, and to a much lesser extent womankind.' Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli first started naming lunar craters in 1635, adopting the names of famous scientists for his discoveries - a convention still maintained by the IAU today, Ms Lennox said. While the IAU does not bestow the names itself, it does help establish working groups or task forces to propose and approve names for specific features based on certain guidelines - often honouring historical figures or mythology or cultural themes. Ms Lennox said IAU's guidelines have an impact on the diversity and inclusivity of the scientific communities that ultimately choose the names. She said: 'Surface features are named following conventions that are set and maintained by the IAU. 'Frustratingly, elements of the current conventions crystallise historic injustices and contribute to a lack of diversity within the nomenclature. 'This is an example of how systemic underrepresentation and undervaluation of women and marginalised groups manifests in today's scientific systems.' Her research found Mercury to fare slightly better than Moon and Mars in women's representations - with 49 out of 415 (11.8%) craters bearing a female name. Ms Lennox believes this is because Mercury is a more recently explored planet compared to some of the others in the solar system and may have benefited from the increase in the number of women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Mars comes out the worst, with just five of the 280 (1.8%) craters named after women. Meanwhile, all crater names in Venus have a female origin but Ms Lennox said that only 38% 'are named after actual women who made real contributions to society'. She said: 'On the one planet intended to exclusively celebrate the contributions of women, more features have been given meaningless, arbitrary female first names or the names of mythological goddesses than those of real women. Mars comes out the worst, with just five of the 280 (1.8%) craters named after women (Stock photo) 'The crux of this argument is that weighting celebrity status - placing an emphasis on recognition and essentially prioritising fame over contribution - inherently disadvantages women and marginalised groups regardless of the field.' Ms Lennox said that researching names of craters across planets has been her starting point but she is now working with teams around the world to analyse every named feature in the solar system. She said: 'I myself have named some craters. 'I knew I wanted to name my discoveries after women as I could sense a dearth of women represented in the area I was studying, despite statistics on this not being readily available. 'That realisation really prompted this whole project.' The mystery surrounding a 4,000-year-old Iraqi temple has finally been solved as archaeologists uncover signs that Alexander the Great was worshipped as a divine figure. Scientists had been puzzled by the discovery of more recent Greek inscriptions at the ancient Sumerian temple of Girsu, in the modern-day town of Tello. Now, British Museum archaeologists believe a Greek temple to Alexander the Great was founded on the site, possibly by Alexander himself. The discovery of a silver coin minted around 330 BCE by Alexander's troops suggests that the conqueror may have visited the temple after defeating the Persians. This would make founding the temple one of the last acts of Alexander's life, shortly before his death at the age of 32. The mystery surrounding a 4,000-year-old Iraqi temple has finally been solved as archaeologists uncover signs that Alexander the Great was worshipped as a divine figure Archaeologists have solved the mystery of why Greek inscriptions were found at the 4,000-year-old Sumerian temple of Girsu in Iraq The city of Girsu is believed to have been inhabited from 5000 BCE, becoming a sacred city to the Sumerians and the spiritual home of their warrior god, Ningirsu. After excavations began in the 19th century, it appeared that a Greek structure may have been built on the site but the only evidence was a mysterious tablet. In both Greek and Aramaic the tablet read: 'Adad-nadin-ahhe' meaning 'giver of the two brothers'. What puzzled researchers was that the temple had been abandoned in 1750 BCE, more than 1,000 years before Alexander the Great had even been born. British Museum archaeologist Dr Sebastien Rey now believes that the Greeks had founded their own temple on the ancient site, potentially to declare the divinity of Alexander. Researchers believe the temple may have been used to worship Zeus, who Alexander the Great claimed as a father and a combined figure of Hercules and Sumerian warrior god Ningirsu The temple was abandoned in 1750 BCE, 1,000 years before the birth of Alexander the Great, suggesting these ancient civilizations had a deep and accurate understanding of their history 'It is truly mind-blowing. Our discoveries place the later temple in Alexanders lifetime,' said Dr Rey. 'We found offerings, the kinds of offerings that would be given after a battle, figures of soldiers and cavalrymen. 'There is a chance, we will never know for certain, that he might have come here, when he returned to Babylon, just before he died,' Dr Rey told The Telegraph. The discovery of the silver coin alongside an altar with offerings usually found in Greek temples implies the site was being used as a place of worship by Alexander's forces. The offerings included terracotta cavalrymen which were very similar to the 'Companion Cavalry' which formed the personal bodyguard of the young conqueror. The researchers say this could mean that whoever made the offerings was very close to Alexander, or that these were possibly made by the conqueror himself. Offerings like this terracotta horse suggest that the worshipers may have been in Alexander the Great's bodyguard of 'Companion Cavalry' or even included Alexander himself The discoveries also shed light on the meaning of the cryptic Greek inscription found at the site which referred to the 'giver of the two brothers'. Alexander the Great had an immense personal interest in the figure of Hercules and had declared himself the Son of Zeus while in Egypt, making him the brother of the mythical hero. Alexander may have asked the Sumerian people who most resembled Hercules within their culture and been directed to the temple of Ningirsu the warrior God. Dr Rey believes that the temple was dedicated to Zeus and the two brothers, a combined figure of Hercules and Ningursu, and Alexander the Great. 'This site honours Zeus and two divine sons. The sons are Heracles and Alexander. That is what these discoveries suggest,' says Dr Rey. This theory also suggests that ancient cultures had a deep understanding of their history and a long cultural memory, knowing the exact location of the temple and its use over a millennium after it was abandoned. Much of the site was damaged by earlier excavations but by using drones and remote sensing technology researchers identified a larger, hidden complex The city of Girsu was part of Sumer, one of the world's most ancient civilizations that built the first cities and created the first codes of law. While the site of the city had been badly damaged by 20th-century conflict and destructive excavations by French archaeologists in the 19th-century, remote sensing technology suggested a larger, hidden complex. In the Autumn of 2022, a team of researchers found walls and administrative records of a huge palace and the sanctuary where the Greek temple was later constructed. The team working at the site believe the temple was originally used for feasts, animal sacrifices and other processions dedicated to Ningirsu. At the time of the discovery, Dr Rey said other scientists accused him of 'making it up' and wasting money due to the belief that the site had already been excavated fully. However, the discovery ultimately led to a joint initiative to save endangered heritage sites led by the British Museum, Getty and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) of Iraq. Irish-style wakes may help people cope better with their bereavement than funerals, a new study suggests. Researchers said services that welcome the entire community and feature an open casket for mourners to say goodbye could help lower rates of prolonged grief disorder (PGD). This is described as being when a person has a yearning for the deceased which persists for more than six months. An Ulster University study found that about 10.9 per cent of bereaved Irish people met the criteria for PGD, compared to 15 per cent in the UK. Cultural differences around death may be part of the reason that bereaved people in the UK are 50 per cent more likely to have the condition, the authors said. How best to deal with grief: Irish-style wakes may help people cope better with their bereavement than funerals, a new study suggests. This graphic shows how the two compare Researchers said services that welcome the entire community and feature an open casket for mourners to say goodbye could help lower rates of prolonged grief disorder (stock image) Differences between an Irish wake and a UK funeral - Open casket - Informal - Public involving the whole community - Last 2 to 3 days - Sing songs - Refreshments, including alcohol - Poetry - Share stories about the deceased - Closed coffin - Formal - Private, usually only for close family and friends - Last between 40 minutes and an hour - Music/hymns played - No refreshments until afterwards - Readings - Eulogy Advertisement 'For example, in Ireland, it is customary to hold a wake (i.e., social gathering prior to a funeral) during which family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and acquaintances can come to pay their respects and support the bereaved,' they added. 'In the United Kingdom, such an event generally takes place after the funeral and is akin to social gatherings that occur following an Irish funeral.' Wakes usually last two or three days so people from the whole community can come and go to pay their respects. They involve singing songs, refreshments including alcohol and the opportunity to share stories and memories with family members. There also tends to be an open coffin so people attending can say their goodbyes, as opposed to a closed casket at UK funerals. These are also more formal affairs which last between 40 minutes to an hour on average, with no refreshments until afterwards, a eulogy or reading as opposed to poetry and stories plus music or hymns being played. The study added that, in the UK, funerals are often regarded as being private, while in Ireland they are much more communal events. 'Hence it may be that there is a greater sense of community within Irish bereavement culture, with it being widely established that social support plays a key role in determining the ability of the bereaved to adjust to their loss,' researchers said. Explanation: Cultural differences around death may be part of the reason that bereaved people in the UK are 50 per cent more likely to have prolonged grief disorder than those in Ireland, the authors said (stock image) Colm Kieran, a member of the Irish Association of Funeral Directors, told The Times: 'The wake process is recognised as being psychologically very important. 'Our brain picks up the sense that this person has died. 'There is the difference between having an open coffin in Ireland versus the closed coffin in the UK. 'Psychologically we get to see that a person no longer has life in their body and the brain can process that fact.' PGD differs from typical grief in that it is described as being intense and persistent grief that causes problems and interferes with daily life. An individual suffering from PGD is likely to experience a feeling as though part of oneself has died, a marked sense of disbelief about the death, intense emotional pain, difficulty with reintegration with friends, emotional numbness, feeling that life is meaningless, and intense loneliness. The study has been published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress. Experts find remains of the building where monks first wrote Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic may be in danger of dying out, but experts have finally found the written language's spiritual home. The Monastery of Deer was built in Northeast Scotland as a place of worship for Cistercian monks almost 1,000 years ago. It was in this building that the earliest known examples of Scottish Gaelic were written, in the margins of the 10th century Book of Deer, a pocket gospel book. Although the book is still in existence, the monastery was lost but archeologists claim to have finally found the building's remains. They lie just 262 feet (80 metres) from the ruins of Deer Abbey (founded in 1219), close to the village of Mintlaw in Aberdeenshire, new excavations reveal. It is believed that the earliest written Scots Gaelic in the world was produced in the Monastery of Deer in the late 11th and early 12th century. These entries, or addenda', were placed in the margins of the Book of Deer, a pocket gospel book, originally written between AD 850 and AD 1000. The addenda are visible in this photo of the book, in the border that surrounds the illustration Scottish Gaelic may be in danger of dying out, but experts may finally have found the written language's spiritual home thanks to excavations (pictured) The Monastery of Deer The Monastery of Deer was a place of worship located in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was founded by William Comyn, Earl of Buchan, and was home to a community of Cistercian monks for centuries. It is believed that the earliest written Scots Gaelic in the world was produced in the monastery in the late 11th and early 12th century. These texts (Gaelic land grants) were placed in the margins of the Book of Deer, a pocket gospel book, originally written between AD 850-1000. Advertisement The dig was co-led by Alice Jaspars, a PhD researcher from the Archaeology department at the University of Southampton. Academics have long speculated that the handwritten entries, or addenda', were added while the book was in the monastery. 'As home to the earliest surviving Scots Gaelic, the Book of Deer is a vital manuscript in Scottish history,' Ms Jaspars said. 'While it is not known where the book itself was written, it is believed that the Gaelic in its margins was added in the formerly lost Monastery of Deer. 'These addenda include reference to the foundation of the monastery, alongside other land grants in the Northeast of Scotland. 'It is now our belief that in our 2022 excavation, we found the lost monastery where these were written.' The origin of the Book of Deer is uncertain, but it's thought to have been originally written between AD 850 and AD 1000. Meanwhile, the historic addenda the earliest written Scots Gaelic in the world was added into the margins of the book by monks at the monastery in the late 11th and early 12th century. The Monastery of Deer once stood 262 feet (80 metres) from Deer Abbey (founded in 1219), close to the village of Mintlaw in Aberdeenshire. Deer Abbey is still visible as ruins, but the Monastery of Deer is lost The team carbon-dated material associated with post holes they uncovered during excavations close to the abbey, which match the same time period as the addenda in the book The 2022 excavations coincided with the Book of Deer returning to Northeast Scotland for the first time in 1,000 years Investigations, supported by the Book of Deer Project, have been ongoing since 2009 to encourage renewed interest and research in the historic book READ MORE Scots Gaelic is at risk of dying out by 2030 Researchers found that social use of the language is at the 'point of collapse' (pictured, road sign on the Isle of Harris) Advertisement As for the Monastery of Deer, the team do not know when exactly it was constructed, but it likely dates to before the adjacent Deer Abbey (which was built in 1219). 'It is safe to assume that the monasterys occupation predates this, and coincides with the addenda,' Ms Jaspars told MailOnline. 'We also cant confirm when or why the monastery was lost. 'We do suspect that it took place prior to the occupation of the abbey, but to say more than that at this point is not possible.' Archaeologists had four periods of digging late April, mid-May, June and August to mid-September last year. The team found post holes recesses in the ground that were once used to hold a surface timber or stone. Carbon-dating methods revealed that these post holes matched the same time period as the Gaelic markings in the Book of Deer. The team also recovered medieval pottery, fragments of glass, a stylus and hnefatafl boards a chess-like game that was popular until the middle ages. These and other domestic artefacts recovered at the site all point towards the existence of the monastery complex there, according to the team. Experts recovered medieval pottery, fragments of glass, a stylus and hnefatafl boards - a chess-like game that was popular until the middle ages (pictured) Today, Deer Abbey ruins (pictured) is a property managed by Historic Scotland and open to tourists. It is around 260 feet away from the site of the former monastery The 2022 excavations coincided with the Book of Deer returning to Northeast Scotland for the first time in 1,000 years. It was displayed in Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums while on a three-month loan from Cambridge University Library, were it now once more resides. The researchers plan to publish their results in an academic journal in the coming months, but their work will feature in a new documentary for BBC Alba on Monday night at 9pm. They will also present their findings in a lecture to the Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland on Thursday. Advertisement Decay and ruin have had a bad press. They can be fascinating, as visitors to the Purton Ships' Graveyard by the River Severn in Gloucestershire have attested to, with one describing the site - home to the weathered skeletons of abandoned ships from the previous century - as possessing an 'eerie beauty'. Pictures here show some of the 86 steel barges, concrete ships, and wooden cargo boats that were deliberately beached on the bank of the river to help prevent erosion and protect the adjacent canal - and that now form 'the largest assembly of maritime artefacts on the foreshore of mainland Britain', according to Friends of Purton. This maritime cemetery - also known as Purton Hulks Graveyard - can be explored by walking along a two-mile section of the Severn Way that runs between the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal and the river from the village of Purton. Visit Stroud says the vessels were mostly 'deliberately beached' in the 1950s. The Purton Ships' Graveyard by the River Severn in Gloucestershire has been described as possessing an 'eerie beauty' Eighty-six steel barges, concrete ships, and wooden cargo boats were deliberately beached on the bank of the River Severn to help prevent erosion This maritime cemetery - also known as Purton Hulks Graveyard - can be explored by walking along a two-mile section of the Severn Way that runs between the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal and the river from the village of Purton Tripadvisor user 'Ashley W' writes: 'Visitors to Purton Ships' Graveyard will be struck by the eerie beauty of the decaying vessels, many of which have been slowly reclaimed by nature' 'In total there are 86 vessels, though not all are easily recognisable,' it adds. Among them is a barge called Harriett, listed by Historic England as a 'scheduled monument'. Built in 1905 and beached in 1964, the timber and iron vessel, 'representative of a once more common local vessel type', provides 'insight into late 19th-century boat-building construction techniques'. Also at Purton Hulks are six examples of Stroudwater barges that were 'developed especially for the Stroudwater Navigation canal, which runs through Stonehouse, Stroud and towards Brimscombe', according to Visit Stroud. 'There are believed to be none that survive today, apart from wrecks,' it says. The site, which is free to visit, is praised on Tripadvisor by several users. Visit Stroud says the vessels were mostly 'deliberately beached' in the 1950s The site is historically significant for multiple reasons - one being that the ruins shed light on late 19th-century boat-building construction techniques Accessibility to the site is along well-trodden paths, with Tripadvisor user 'GloucesterWiz' describing the walk to it as 'really lovely' One visitor to the site revealed that information notices are dotted around Purton Ships' Graveyard proves that decay and ruin isn't necessarily a bad thing 'Ashley W' writes: 'Visitors to Purton Ships' Graveyard will be struck by the eerie beauty of the decaying vessels, many of which have been slowly reclaimed by nature. 'As you wander through the site, you'll see rusted hulls, skeletal frames, and remnants of machinery, all of which serve as a haunting reminder of the ships' former lives and the people who worked on them. 'Whether you're interested in maritime history, industrial archaeology, or simply enjoy exploring off-the-beaten-path destinations, Purton Ships' Graveyard is well worth a visit.' In another review, titled 'stunning scenery', user 'GloucesterWiz' says: 'Really lovely, peaceful, scenic walk that has well-formed or trodden paths that generally make accessibility good. 'Plenty to see and bits of information dotted around.' Describing their experience at the site, user 'John S' says: 'The car park and the adjoining road was packed with cars, so we realised this is a popular destination. 'As you wander through the site, you'll see rusted hulls, skeletal frames, and remnants of machinery, all of which serve as a haunting reminder of the ships' former lives and the people who worked on them,' says 'Ashley W' on Tripadvisor The adjacent Gloucester and Sharpness Canal was 'the broadest and deepest in the world' when it opened in 1827. It was designed to import raw materials to the Midlands 'more easily' and export finished goods, reducing costs 'Lots of people walking, most wearing wellies and lots of dogs and children. 'The path was quite muddy in places but not impassable and it was a lovely walk with the canal towpath on one side and the Severn on the other side. 'Two-thirds of the way along towards Sharpness, you see the ruins of the old railway bridge.' The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal was 'the broadest and deepest in the world' when it opened in 1827, measuring 86ft 6in wide (26m) and 18ft (5.4m) deep, according to the Canal and River Trust. It was designed to import raw materials to the Midlands 'more easily' and export finished goods, reducing costs, it says. Eighty-two years later, in 1909, the bank collapsed near Purton and the plan to deliberately beach old ships began, continuing for more than 60 years, the trust adds. In the words of Gabrielle, dreams can come true - and so it proved for those who waited in freezing temperatures for the UK premiere of Wish on Monday evening. Disney fans were rewarded for their loyalty with a blue carpet parade of local and international talent as they celebrated the franchise's new release outside Leicester Square venue Odeon Luxe. Leading the central London glamour, leading lady Ariana DeBose commanded attention in a sweeping purple evening gown as she joined Rochelle Humes and Julia Michaels on the blue carpet. The actress, 32, completed her look with silver platform heels and dazzling jewellery as she posed for the cameras. Meanwhile Rochelle, 34, looked elegant in a black satin gown with a daring thigh-high split and strappy heels. Stunning: Ariana DeBose put on a glamorous display in a purple ruffle gown as she joins Rochelle Humes and Julia Michaels at Disney's Wish premiere in London on Monday Gorgeous: The actress, 32, completed her look with silver platform heels and dazzling jewellery as she posed for the cameras The TV personality was joined by her daughters Alaia-Mai and Valentina Raine, while her husband Marvin Humes takes part in I'm A Celebrity. Julia showed off her incredible figure in a black skin-tight gown and completed the look with a pale blue satin shrug. Claire Sweeney turned heads in a dazzling semi-sheer midi dress with a nude bra underneath. Jessica Wright stood out in an eye-catching red gown with a daring thigh-high split and matching gloves. Helen Flanagan looked typically chic in a silk white dress and she walked the red carpet with daughter Matilda. Dancing On Ice star Vanessa Bauer donned a shimmering blue plunging gown as she posed up a storm. Kate Ferdinand showed off her chic sense of style as she posed alongside husband Rio. The television personality, 32, looked stylish in a blue flared trouser suit which featured a jacket with large lapels. She wore the jacket over a while lace blouse which featured a high collar and she carried a green handbag with her. The reality star was seen standing with her arm around her football pundit husband Rio, 45, at the event. Talented: Ariana, who admitted she grew up as a 'Disney kid' provides the voice of Asha in Wish Exciting: In addition to making a 'wish upon a star,' Ariana said there are lots of hidden nuggets from other Disney films in the story, which helps celebrate its 100 years in cinema Glam: Rochelle, 34, looked elegant in a black satin gown with a daring thigh-high split and strappy heels Strike a pose: She confidently posed with her hand on her hip while standing alone after posing with her children who wore Disney ears on their heads Family: The TV personality was joined by her daughters Alaia-Mai and Valentina Raine, while her husband Marvin Humes takes part in I'm A Celebrity Disney fans were rewarded for their loyalty with a blue carpet parade of local and international talent as they celebrated the franchise's new release outside Leicester Square venue Odeon Luxe Beauty: Julia showed off her incredible figure in a black skin-tight gown and completed the look with a pale blue satin shrug Gorgeous: Julia, Ariana and Rochelle posed for a stunning group snap Incredible: Claire Sweeney turned heads in a dazzling semi-sheer midi dress with a nude bra underneath Sweet: The Dancing On Ice star was joined by her son Jaxon Reilly Bold: Jessica Wright stood out in an eye-catching red gown with a daring thigh-high split and matching gloves Stylish: The former TOWIE star, 38, completed her glamorous ensemble with matching gloves and nude heels as she graced the blue carpet Mother and daughter: Helen Flanagan looked typically chic in a silk white dress and she walked the red carpet with daughter Matilda In style: Kate Ferdinand showed off her chic sense of style in a blue trouser suit as she posed alongside husband Rio Fashion focus: The television personality, 32, looked stylish in a blue flared trouser suit which featured a jacket with large lapels He looked smart in a black outfit which consisted of a raincoat over a T-shirt in the same colour. He wore a black pair of jeans and stood casually with his hand in his pocket, and completed his look with a pair of chunky black boots. It was a rare public appearance for Kate who has taken time out of the spotlight since welcoming Shae in July. Kimberley Walsh exuded chic as she attended the Wish premiere alongside her two sons Bobby and Cole. The Girls Aloud sensation, 42, flaunted her sizzling figure in a black maxi dress, boosting her toned curves at the glitzy Leicester Square's Odeon. The elegant number featured cut-out details on her bust and a plunging neckline, as she gleamed under the spotlight. The singer took to the red carpet while striking a pose with her little ones Bobby, 8, and Cole, 6 - as Kimberley also shares Nate, two, with husband Justin Scott. Ariana, who admitted she grew up as a 'Disney kid' provides the voice of Asha in Wish. She's a young girl who lives in a magical kingdom ruled by Chris' King Magnifico. He's supposed to grant the wishes made by his subjects, but as Asha learns soon after she goes to work as his assistant, the king only grants the wishes he chooses. Stunning: Kimberley Walsh exuded chic as she attended the Wish premiere in London alongside her two sons Bobby and Cole Dazzling: The Girls Aloud sensation, 42, flaunted her sizzling figure in a black maxi dress, boosting her toned curves at the glitzy Leicester Square's Odeon Glam: The elegant number featured cut-out details on her bust and a plunging neckline, as she gleamed under the spotlight Family: The singer took to the red carpet while striking a pose with her little ones Bobby, 8, and Cole, 6 Wow! Dancing On Ice star Vanessa Bauer donned a shimmering blue plunging gown as she posed up a storm Glowing: Abbie Quinnen looked sensational in a semi-sheer gold maxi dress and matching heels Radiant: Amel Rachedi dazzled in an embellished gown as she walked the red carpet Glowing: The presenter's gown featured a thigh-high leg slit Chic: Kimberley Garner looked typically stylish in a plunging pale pink blazer and matching flared trousers Stunning: Victoria Brown wowed in a dazzling gold mini dress with a belt which cinched in her waist Radiant: Love Island's Molly Marsh looked glamorous in a semi-sheer sparkling feather trim mini dress Sweet: Sugababes Heidi Range was all smiles as she attended with rarely seen daughter Aurelia Autumnal Fashion: Chris Kowalski showcased his impeccable style in a brown jacket and matching trousers Stylish: Megan Bolton showed off her bold style in a faux leather snake print coat and matching knee-high boots Bold: Stefan-Pierre Tomlin stood out in an eye-catching purple jacket Glamorous: Olivia Cox put on a leggy display in a thigh-split sparkling blue gown Cosy: Binky Felstead wrapped up in a long black trench coat Chic: Montana Brown looked elegant in a plunging cream satin blazer and matching trousers Beaming: Gemma Bird wowed in a white blazer dress while smiling for the cameras In an effort to make things more fair in the kingdom, Asha goes rogue and wishes upon a star, and ends up getting more than she bargained for. Ariana previously said about the film: 'Asha is magical. 'And I think what I love about her is she's so selfless. Her wish is not for herself, it's for everyone around her and given the world we live in today, I think that's a beautiful thing to have models for young people.' In addition to making a 'wish upon a star,' Ariana said there are lots of hidden nuggets from other Disney films in the story, which helps celebrate its 100 years in cinema. 'One of the hidden gems is that Asha has seven friends, SEVEN friends,' she emphasized, 'and they all have really, really cool personalities.' She revealed there are also 'seven gorgeous, new original songs,' in the movie as well. Ariana described Asha's foe, King Magnifico as 'an amazing Disney villain' voiced by 'the delicious Chris Pine... and I have to say, he's quite good looking.' Hidden gems: Wish is being released as part of Disney's 100 year anniversary. Ariana said the movie is full of hidden gems from past films. She offered a hint about one gem revealing 'Asha has seven friends, SEVEN friends, and they all have really, really cool personalities' After winning an Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Critics Choice awards for her role as Anita in West Side Story, Ariana said she is still a 'nervous vocalist.' Wish opens in theaters the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 22 After winning an Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Critics Choice awards for her role as Anita in West Side Story, Ariana said she is still a 'nervous vocalist.' 'That is actually an area of my life that I work on building my self-confidence every day,' she explained. She said working with composer Julia Michaels she was able to shake off some of her concerns. 'I believe in this music and it helped me find colors and abilities in my own vocals that I didn't know were there.' Wish opens in theaters the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 22. Twenty-nine premature babies arrived in Egypt on Monday, Egyptian media said, after they were evacuated from Gaza's largest hospital which has become a focal point of Israel's war with Hamas. The infants were evacuated Sunday from the Al-Shifa hospital, which the World Health Organization has described as a "death zone" as Israel seeks to uncover what it says are Hamas bases in tunnels underneath the facility. An initial 31 babies were reported evacuated from Al-Shifa to another Gaza clinic and it was not immediately clear why only 29 arrived in Egypt. (AFP) Radio host Lauren Phillips has been slammed by SEN radio boss Craig Hutchison for defending her pal Matt Damon against claims he was paid to attend the Melbourne Cup Carnival earlier this month. Damon surprised Derby Day racegoers after he and wife Luciana Barroso attended the Lexus Marquee as a guest of Philips and her aviation tycoon fiance, Paul O'Brien, at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. The actor's appearance has since ruffled feathers, after Hutchison speculated on his The Sounding Board podcast that Damon was paid for his appearance. According to Hutchison, Phillips later texted his co-host Damian Barrett to inform him that Damon 'wasn't paid a cent' for his surprise appearance, before telling the radio mogul to 'shut the beep up'. Hutchison has since hit back at Phillips on his podcast, saying: 'You're not the first person to have a famous friend yeah, we know you know Matt Damon. Well done, congratulations, you know a famous person.' Radio host Lauren Phillips has been slammed by SEN radio boss Craig Hutchison for defending her pal Matt Damon against claims he was paid to attend the Melbourne Cup Carnival earlier this month. Left is Hutchison, right is Phillips and fiance Paul O'Brien with Damon 'You don't need to reach out and remind us, as if you're the PR flak defending whether he was or wasn't paid,' he ranted, before suggesting that Phillips is desperate to be associated with the Hollywood star. 'Yeah, I know you're in the shot, of course you're in the shot, you don't miss any shots,' he said, presumably referring to photographs of Phillips posing with Damon and other A-listers including Chris Hemsworth's wife Elsa Pataky and actress Pia Whitesell in The Birdcage. Phillips, who lives in Melbourne, was introduced to Damon by the Hemsworths several years ago. Matt and Luciana Damon attended the Lexus Marquee during Derby as a guest of Lauren and her aviation tycoon fiance, Paul O'Brien, at Flemington Racecourse (all pictured) The actor's appearance has since ruffled feathers, after Hutchison speculated on his The Sounding Board podcast that Damon was paid for his appearance. Lauren pictured at Derby Day alongside Barroso (centre) and Elsa Pataky (left) It comes after Phillips bragged about her Derby Day celebrations with Damon and Barroso during her KIIS FM radio show Jase and Lauren. 'A lot of people came [up] to [Damon]. But no, he's a great sport. He's happy to chat to anyone that wants to chat to him,' Lauren said of the Oscar winner. 'We didn't walk around a lot. We got into Lexus marquee, and we pretty much stayed put,' Lauren added. According to Hutchison, Phillips later texted his co-host Damian Barrett to inform him that Damon 'wasn't paid a cent' for his surprise appearance, before telling the radio mogul to 'shut the beep up' 'You don't need to reach out and remind us, as if you're the PR flak defending whether he was or wasn't paid,' he ranted, before suggesting that Phillips is desperate to be associated with the Hollywood star. (Pictured: Phillips rubbing shoulders with stars including Damon in The Birdcage) The radio star confirmed The Bourne Identity star had no commercial agreement with Lexus, adding organisers had no idea he was her 'guest' on the day. 'They [Matt and his wife] weren't paid. They just came out. We had a bunch of friends [there],' she confirmed. 'They love the horses, and they love Melbourne, so I was excited.' Lauren explained she gave the Hollywood lovebirds a tour of Melbourne, including restaurant Gimlet, one of the city's ritziest eateries. Lauren also took the pair to karaoke for a night out in the city. Dr. Nicole Martin has announced the passing of her father Miguel. The Real Housewives Of Miami star, 39, shared the heartbreaking news on her Instagram, where she posted photos of her late father. 'I havent been able to find the words and still cant,' Martin began in the post. 'Everything happened so fast and it still doesnt seem real. Part of me is still waiting for one of your crazy phone calls. 'So many things left unsaid and moments we didnt share. Trying not to dwell on the missed moments and focusing on the improvements we made. You had a zest for life and I know youre having a party up in heaven. Dearly departed: Dr. Nicole Martin announced the passing of her father, Miguel, in a post that was shared on her Instagram on Sunday The Bravo star, who recently announced she is expecting her second child, concluded her message by writing: 'Rest in peace dad. Love you.' Several of Martin's friends sent their condolences via the post's comments section, and her castmate Guerdy Abraira also wrote a message to share her support for the reality television personality during her period of mourning. 'I love you so much my beautiful friend. This Thanksgiving as you mourn, also be thankful for the good times. I'm so happy that your last moments with him were positive and loving. That's all that matters, the good memories,' she wrote. Abraira added that Miguel 'was the life of the party and always so positive and THAT is definitely a vibe to live by, counting each day as a blessing.' Alexia Nepola wrote that she was 'sorry for your loss,' while Larsa Pippen added that she was sending her friend 'lots of love and prayers.' Speaking her mind: The Real Housewives Of Miami cast member, who recently revealed she is expecting her second child, also penned an emotional message to express her grief about the loss of her parent Grief: Martin wrote that she has not 'been able to find the words and still can't. Everything happened so fast and it still doesn't seem real' Martin concluded by expressing that her father had 'a zest for life' and wrote that he was likely 'having a party up in heaven' According to Bravo, Martin's relationship with her father was not always perfect, and she spoke about feeling abandoned by him during her earlier years during an episode of Real Housewives of Miami's fourth season. At the time, she revealed that he had been jailed on charges of money laundering, leaving her mother Sirel to raise her children as a single parent. However, the reality television personality softened her stance about her father and began making attempts to reconcile with him after she welcomed her son Greyson. 'I know this isn't going to be easy. But I know I've gotta let this go if there's any hopes of having, you know, a true bond with my dad,' she stated. Adam Sandler and his wife Jackie walked the red carpet Sunday afternoon for the premiere of his new animated Netflix film Leo in Los Angeles. The 57-year-old actor was also joined at Regency Village Theatre by his daughters Sadie, 17, and Sunny, 15, at the daytime screening of his new film. The Brooklyn, New York native was clad in a baby blue hooded zip-up sweatshirt with gradient blue horizontal lines across the chest. He donned a white patterned polo shirt with a blue collar and gray sweatpants by Roots. The Emmy-nominated actor rounded out his casual ensemble with black sneakers with white soles. Jackie, 49, wore a bow-embellished black mini dress with black heels and her brown locks down at the cinematic event. She carried a black clutch to the proceedings. The latest: Adam Sandler, 57, and his wife Jackie, 49, walked the red carpet Sunday afternoon for the premiere of his new animated Netflix film Leo in Los Angeles The couple, who celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary earlier this year, appeared to be in good spirits at the screening of his new motion picture Sandler took to Instagram this past June to mark his wedding anniversary with Jackie, which took place in Malibu in front of guests such as Jennifer Aniston and late comedy legend Rodney Dangerfield. 'Happy 20th my sweet Jackie! Your "I do" was the best gift of my life,' he said. 'My heart has been yours since the first second I saw you and I love and appreciate your devoted soul more and more each day.' He wrapped up in saying, 'Us. The kids. Lets keep going and going babe. Lots of love to give you. Always.' In his new film, the Saturday Night Live alum voices the titular role of Leo, a 74-year-old lizard, in the new film, which he co-wrote. According to an official logline for the film, Sandler 'delivers signature laughs in this coming-of-age animated musical comedy about the last year of elementary school as seen through the eyes of a class pet. 'Jaded 74-year-old lizard Leo (Sandler) has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his terrarium-mate turtle (Bill Burr). 'When he learns he only has one year left to live, he plans to escape to experience life on the outside but instead gets caught up in the problems of his anxious students including an impossibly mean substitute teacher. It ends up being the strangest but most rewarding bucket list ever' Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider, Allison Strong and Jo Koy round out the cast of the animated family comedy. (L-R) Sadie Sandler, Jackie, Adam and Sunny Sandler posed together during entrances The film star worked with his wife and daughters in August's You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah The couple, who celebrated their 20th anniversary earlier this year, shared a smile at the event Sandler and costar Bill Burr were pictured together during entrances Sunday Burr was pictured with costar Allison Strong, who voices the role of Mrs. Salinas in Leo Allison Holker, widow of the late Stephen 'tWitch' Boss, looked glamorous in a black dress Two and a Half Men star Jon Cryer was pictured at the screening of the movie Sandler's friend, actor Nicholas Turturro, donned a blush colored suit to the premiere Burr and Allison Strong were on hand at the screening Sunday, while other guests included Jon Cryer, Nicholas Turturro and Allison Holker. The animated film marks the third movie the Uncut Gems actor has released on the streaming service this year, coming off the heels of August's You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, which Jackie and their daughters co-starred in; and Murder Mystery 2, alongside Jennifer Aniston this past March. Leo is slated to begin streaming on Netflix Tuesday. Kate Ritchie has reportedly called time on her relationship with boyfriend Chevy Black. A radio insider told Daily Mail Australia the Nova FM radio host, 45, split with Black nine months after they went Instagram official. The pair, who would often put on on public displays of affection while out and about in Coogee, have not been spotted together for months. An insider also told New Idea magazine there is a very telling clue their relationship is over. 'It seems like now he doesn't have any reason to keep his life hidden,' the source told the magazine. Kate Ritchie has reportedly called time on her relationship with boyfriend Chevy Black 'Until recently, Chevy preferred to keep his life under wraps, with his social media set to private. He has now changed to a public Instagram profile,' they added. Ritchie recently fueled breakup rumours by sharing a reflective post to Instagram which captured her living her best life with a girlfriend, and no mention of Black. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to both Ritchie and Black for comment. A radio insider told Daily Mail Australia the Nova FM radio host, 45, split with Black nine months after they went Instagram official Up until recently, the pair looked to be going from strength-to-strength after debuting their relationship in February. In August, Kate took her romance to the next level by introducing Chevy to her mother Heather and daughter Mae. The couple were first pictured together on a romantic picnic in early February. An insider also told New Idea magazine there is a very telling clue their relationship is over - Black recently changed his Instagram page to public The relationship came after Kate split from her ex-boyfriend John Bell and her shock rehab stint for alcohol dependency. In October last year, Kate announced she was stepping away from the Kate, Tim and Joel show before it was revealed she was seeking treatment at an exclusive rehab clinic in Sydney. In December, she said in a statement the last year had been challenging and stressful and led to an 'unhealthy reliance on alcohol'. Ritchie recently fueled breakup rumours by sharing a reflective post to Instagram which captured her living her best life with a girlfriend, and with no mention of Black Robert Irwin is reportedly planning to pop the question to his girlfriend Rorie Buckey after less than a year of dating. According to New Idea magazine, the 19-year-old could propose when his girlfriend, 18, visits him in Africa while he films I'm A Celebrity in the coming months. 'Everyone is convinced he is aiming to pop the question when they're in Africa,' an insider said. 'Robert is crazy about her and is planning something unforgettable when he formally proposes. They both know it is part of their plans so he's been dreaming up special ways to make it a surprise.' The source went on to say Robert and Rorie are taking their relationship 'very serious' and have been planning a future together. Robert Irwin is 'preparing to propose' to his girlfriend Rorie Buckey after less than a year of dating 'They have talked about where to live and even how big they want their family to be,' they added. Robert and Rorie went Instagram official in August, after months of rumours they were dating. Rorie reportedly completed an Irwin-approved 'wildlife warrior boot camp' before she and Robert became an official couple. Woman's Day claimed last month that Rorie had to win over the family by having a willingness to get out into nature. The pair are currently in a long-distance relationship, with Robert based at Australia Zoo in Queensland while Rorie is in Perth. According to New Idea magazine, the 19-year-old could propose when his girlfriend, 18, visits him in Africa while he films for I'm A Celebrity in the coming months Robert and Rorie, who is the niece of legendary Australian actor Heath Ledger, have plenty in common and both grew up in the public eye after suffering the devastating loss of a family member. Heath was at the top of his Hollywood career when he was found dead in January 2008 following an accidental prescription drug overdose. Robert's father Steve Irwin, known to the world as the 'Crocodile Hunter', died aged 44 on September 4, 2006, after being pierced in the chest by a stingray. 'Robert is crazy about her and is planning something unforgettable when he formally proposes. They both know it is part of their plans so he's been dreaming up special ways to make it a surprise,' a source said Priyanka Chopra beamed with joy while carrying her daughter Malti Marie Jonas to lunch with her friends in Studio City, California on Saturday afternoon. As she was greeted by one of her female pals, the Quantico star, 41, could be seen laughing hysterically as she cradled her little girl, one, on her right side. For their laid-back, the actress cut a casual figure in an open white button-down, matching tank top and olive green cargo pants. She styled her effortlessly cool look with a pair of oversized black shades and a coordinating trucker hat over her dark brown hair with caramel highlights. Mom life: Priyanka Chopra beamed with joy while carrying her daughter Malti Marie Jonas to lunch with her friends in Studio City, California on Saturday afternoon Her latest sighting comes a month after admitting that she gets fearful about making mistakes as a parent and that motherhood gets overwhelming 'every day.' 'I think when you put them to bed, it's extremely overwhelming because every single day you worry about what you can do wrong and what mistake you might make,' she told People. Chopra added, 'But you have to check yourself, and I check myself with my family.' The Jharkhand, India native admitted that motherhood has been full of tense yet rewarding moments. But then there are the times when she's been able to be reassured in the job she's doing just by looking at the demeanor of her little girl. 'I look at [my daughter's] smile, and I'm like, 'Okay, okay. I'm doing good so far,'' the former Quantico star said, before clarifying, 'It's the greatest thing I've ever done, but it's extremely scary.' Now, after being a mother for more than a year-and-a-half, Chopra has noticed some unexpected things about herself. Beaming with joy: As she was greeted by one of her female pals, the Quantico star, 41, could be seen laughing hysterically as she cradled her little girl, one, on her right side Effortlessly cool: For their laid-back, the actress cut a casual figure in an open white button-down, matching tank top and olive green cargo pants 'It's made me a tad more sensitive and fragile, I think, and it makes me nervous a little bit. I didn't expect that,' she shared of her feelings and emotions. Chopra and Jonas welcomed their first child together via surrogate on January 15, 2022, but she ended up staying in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) the first three-and-a-half months of her life. 'I don't think it was our test. I think it was her test,' Chopra said of Malti's experience in the hospital. 'I realized very, very early that I did not have the luxury to be scared or to be weak because she was scared and weak. With her motherly instincts already in place, Chopra said she knew she had to be strong her her baby. Not always easy: Her latest sighting comes a month after admitting that she gets fearful about making mistakes as a parent and that motherhood gets overwhelming 'every day' 'I think when you put them to bed, it's extremely overwhelming because every single day you worry about what you can do wrong and what mistake you might make,' she told People 'I needed to make her feel at every given moment that she's not alone,' she shared, 'That we've got her.' In the prefect gift for her mom, Malti made it home for the first time right before Mother's Day last year. Once they were able to bring their daughter home, Chopra quickly realized a whole new set of fears. '[In the NICU], you know your child is alive because you can see their heartbeat [on the monitor]. I couldn't sleep for days because now suddenly she was home without a monitor,' the Love Again actress explained. Scary: Chopra and Jonas welcomed their first child together via surrogate on January 15, 2022, but she ended up staying in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) the first three-and-a-half months of her life Protective: Initially, the first-time parents did their best to keep their daughter out of the spotlight but they've since unveiled Malti's face on social media 'I used to put my ear on her chest. I would wake up every couple of minutes just to see if she was OK. For weeks, this went on.' Initially, the first-time parents did their best to keep their daughter out of the spotlight, so that she could build up her strength without any distractions. However, Chopra and Jonas have appeared to loosen things up in more recent times, and are now taking her out to appearances and are showing her face a little bit more in social media posts. Just this past January, around her first birthday, Malti made her first public appearance with her parents when she attended the ceremony honoring the Jonas Brothers with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in Los Angeles. Boat Story Rating: Kin Rating: What would you do? If you were walking the dog and found a truckload of cocaine next to a couple of corpses on a deserted beach, would you ignore the bodies and steal the drugs? It's a ludicrous question. Writers Jack and Harry Williams don't intend us to take it seriously. What they're really asking is... 'Yeah, but what if?' No other British screenwriters dare do this, testing the bounds of credibility from the opening credits and then continuing to stretch them. Boat Story (BBC1) presents us with the wildly improbable from the start, with three children peering in excitement at a severed head in a field. It's like the Just William version of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. To add to the surreality, Icelandic star Olafur Darri Olafsson narrates the scene as though it's a fairy story. Who he is, and why he's telling us this gruesome tale, has not yet been explained. The goriness continues as we are introduced to Janet (Daisy Haggard), who works in a metal-pressing factory or did, until a mistake by her foreman cost her all the fingers of one hand. We are spared nothing: the crushed, mangled digits, the buckets of blood and, later, the half-healed stump. Luckily, my nerves have been steeled by endless episodes of 24 Hours In A&E, or I might have passed out. What would you do? If you were walking the dog and found a truckload of cocaine next to a couple of corpses on a deserted beach, would you ignore the bodies and steal the drugs? To add to the surreality of Boat Story, Icelandic star Olafur Darri Olafsson narrates the scene as though it's a fairy story By the time two masked murderers burst into a police station and blast their way across every floor, there's no limit to the bloodshed. If Quentin Tarantino directed a zombie movie, you wouldn't see as many bodies blown apart by shotguns. Before the carnage begins, we meet two trainee coppers about to become sweethearts, and it seems for a minute or two as if they might escape the slaughter... but no. Whatever else this series throws at us, we won't see love's young dream. The Williams brothers, who are also the directors, are able to play with videogame violence because they have twin television superpowers. One is an ability to draw complex, sympathetic characters with a few deft strokes. Janet is a frustrated artist, a loving stepmother, a lonely but resourceful woman who loves dogs and doesn't trust humans. Money business of the night Villagers in Bulindi, Uganda, welcomed visits from a troop of chimps, on Planet Earth III (BBC1). One woman explained they must plant trees for the apes or, 'they come and sleep in our houses.' Sounds great call it ApeBnB. Advertisement Her partner in drugs crime is Samuel, played by Paterson Joseph, who is holding on to so many secrets that he is pitifully grateful for an excuse to blurt them all out to Janet. Both actors have unusually expressive faces, and the tricks they use to express sheer disbelief at their situation are deliberately comical. That's the writers' other trump card: they can attract a stellar cast. So far we've seen little more than glimpses of Joanna Scanlan and Jonas Armstrong, both certain to feature more as the six-part series unfolds. Tcheky Karyo, best-known as detective Julien Baptiste, makes a thrillingly cold-blooded psycho drugs lord, torturing an informer in the back room of his tailor's shop and then setting off in his private plane to recover his mountain of stolen cocaine. Aidan Gillen is counting mountains of drugs cash in Kin (BBC1), a more conventional thriller that also boasts a strong cast (including Ciaran Hinds and Emmett J. Scanlan) and which might merit five stars itself, were it not necessary to emphasise how uniquely good Boat Story is. Aidan Gillen is counting mountains of drugs cash in Kin (BBC1), a more conventional thriller that also boasts a strong cast This Irish series started with a double bill and continues on Tuesday. The story of a local crime family facing a takeover bid by an international operation, it's delivered with plenty of pace and grit... not to mention beards and man buns. Some plot twists are telegraphed well in advance, though there's satisfaction in watching the tension build before each crisis. If you enjoyed Gangs Of London, this has the same atmosphere. China wants more French companies to invest in the country and hopes France will provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese firms, President Xi Jinping said on Monday. Xi made the comments in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese state television reported, fortifying ties with its European trading partner after Macron visited China in April. China faces an electric vehicle subsidy investigation by the European Union and a looming probe into its steelmakers. Meanwhile, several European countries have complained about China's opaque laws and rules regarding foreign companies in the country. "China is willing to maintain high-level exchanges with the French side," Xi said, adding that he welcomed more French products entering the Chinese market. Xi also said China was willing to strengthen cooperation with France at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions. China took over the presidency of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) this month. The leader of the world's second-largest economy also called on France to play a constructive role in promoting the positive development of China-EU relations, as ties have been strained over issues ranging from the EU's push to reduce supply chain reliance on China to the war in Ukraine. "China and the European Union should remain partners for mutually beneficial cooperation," Xi said in the call. (Reuters) An I'm A Celebrity star has revealed that they were once drunkenly dragged out of a hotel 'kicking and screaming' after a wild night out. Jordan North has told in his new book Help, I Sexted My Boss how he accidentally broke into someone's room before being removed by security. The BBC Radio 1 star, 33, has written the book with etiquette expert and close friend William Hanson. He said in an extract given to The Sun: 'A good night is when you can barely remember what happened and I've had many of them... I think, I can't remember! After our Glasgow show in 2020 I went to meet a friend. 'And I was so drunk I accidentally broke into someone's room got dragged out by security and bundled into a lift kicking and screaming but I never get in lifts because I'm so claustrophobic.' Awkward: An I'm A Celebrity star has revealed that they were once drunkenly dragged out of a hotel 'kicking and screaming' after a wild night out Oh dear: Jordan North has told in his new book Help, I Sexted My Boss how he accidentally broke into someone's room before being removed by security Pals: The BBC Radio 1 star, 33, has written the book with etiquette expert and close friend William Hanson (right) 'Eventually at 5am I crawled into bed next to William. I've got myself into some states but it's all part of the fun.' In the book Jordan also writes about how he was 'carried out by four bouncers one on each of my legs and arms' on a different night out. It comes after earlier this year Jordan joked that he 'has an alibi' after police released a picture of a similar looking man wanted by police in connection with a burglary. The DJ posted a picture of his lookalike while teasing that he hadn't been at home for more than a month and couldn't be the person officers were looking for. Lancashire Police posted a photo on its Facebook page of a man they wanted to speak to in connection with a burglary at the Council Office at Burnley Cemetery - the presenter's hometown - on June 19 at around 9:45pm. The spitting image was shown wearing a black coat with the hood up and what appears to be a computer monitor arm under his arm. The presenter of Go Hard or Go Home and former I'm a Celebrity contestant wrote on Twitter: 'Ok I've been back home for about 6 weeks also I've got an alibi...' Users also saw the uncanny resemblance, with one responding to the police message: 'Think he's called Jordan North'. Wild night: He said in an extract given to The Sun: 'I was so drunk I accidentally broke into someone's room got dragged out by security and bundled into a lift' Boozy: He ended the story saying: 'Eventually at 5am I crawled into bed next to William. I've got myself into some states but it's all part of the fun' Others replied to the DJ's tweet, saying they 'believed' his story. One said: 'We believe you...lol.' In another post on Instagram, the DJ elaborated on his 'cover story', adding he was sent the police photos by friends joking it was him. He wrote: 'Quite a few people have sent me this... Alcohol: In the book Jordan also writes about how he was 'carried out by four bouncers one on each of my legs and arms' on a different night out 'If anyone asks, we were in the pub and had two pints of Guinness and a pack of cheese and onion.' Burnley and Padiham Police put out the request saying: 'Do you recognise this man? 'We would like to speak to him in connection with a burglary at the Council Office at Burnley Cemetery on Monday, June 19 at around 9.45pm. 'Info? Call 101 or email 4350@lancashire police.uk quoting log 1520 of June 19.' Netflix viewers were sent into frenzy after watching the three-part documentary Escaping Twin Flames. The short series landed on the streaming platform on November 8, and fans appeared to have mixed feelings as they founded it 'disturbing' - but also begged others to watch it. The title might not sound as sinister as it actually is, but the docuseries shed a light on the Twin Flame Universe - a controversial online community that is accused of still preying on people seeking for true love. Referencing one of the most ancient concepts of love - you are either meant to be with your soulmate or twin flame - the documentary unveils the tangled reality of the community. Emmy-nominated filmmakers Cecilia Peck and Inbal B. Lessner reveal the shocking stories of coercion and exploitation inside the cult-like community, bringing the experience of former members directly on the screen. Raving: Netflix viewers were sent into frenzy after watching the three-part documentary Escaping Twin Flames Success: The short series landed on the streaming platform on November 8, and fans appeared to have mixed feelings as they founded it 'disturbing' Fans left rave reviews, mixed in a state of shock and astonishment as they defined the documentary 'bonkers' and 'insane', but praised it for bringing to light such an actual issue. 'This docuseries on Netflix 'Escaping Twin Flames' is like watching totally insane people trying to act normal cause how you mean you was PAYING these ppl to bully you and TELL you what gender you are?!!!!!!,' wrote one fan in shock. Another detailed: 'Finished watching the Netflix 'Escaping Twin Flames ' docuseries. Absolutely horrifying. 'This group essentially convinces female followers that they're trans in order to basically create straight couples. Straight with extra steps. It's the meme.' 'Watching Escaping Twin Flames on Netflix, and it's absolutely bonkers,' commented another and checked the boxes as in: 'Cult Coercive Manipulative Conversion Therapists Dangerous Jeff has a punchable face.' 'Ladies and gentlemen, if you have a Netflix account I am on my knees. You must watch 'Escaping Twin Flames'. Your jaw will drop because this is actually insane!,' a fourth one raved. 'I just watched the Escaping Twin Flames documentary on Netflix and it is so disturbing,' echoed another. Another viewer penned in shock: 'Escaping twin flames on netflix is so f****d up that it gave me nightmares like what the actual f***.' Disturbing: The title might not sound as sinister as it actually is, but the docuseries shed a light on the Twin Flame Universe - a controversial online community Revelations: Emmy-nominated filmmakers Cecilia Peck and Inbal B. Lessner reveal the shocking stories of coercion and exploitation inside the cult-like community Fans left raving reviews, mixed in a state of shock and astonishment as they defined the documentary 'bonkers' and 'insane', but praised it for bringing to light such an actual issue 'Who has watched Escaping Twin flames on Netflix?? Cause I have things i need to say .. cause WTF,' another viewer joined the conversation. Another agreed: 'Escaping twin flames is wild.' 'The most interesting part of the 'Escaping Twin Flames' documentary isn't the obvious exploitation of the loneliness epidemic, but also how easily gender ideology can be manipulated as a tool for control, and how easy it is to program people into alternative identity modes,' commented another user. 'Escaping twin flames on netflix is so crazy,' said another person agreeing unanimously. Another fan penned: 'If you were thinking about watching that documentary about that cult, watch it. Don't wait. I'm currently watching 'Escaping Twin Flames' on Netflix.' Another viewer wrote: 'Watching this escaping twin flames doc on netflix is crazy cause if they woulda did actual research on twin flames they would have known that you're not supposed to be with your TF romantically anyways.' A user was blew out and said: 'Anyone else watching the Escaping Twin Flames documentary on Netflix? I've reached the part where they had way more women members in the cult (which was supposed to pair you with your ideal mate), so started transing some of the women! 'Devine Masc/Fem energy'.' 'Please go watch 'Escaping twin flames', hopefully you see how cultism is everywhere. Need you to question everything you believe in (religion, sexuality, gender identity) if you haven't and ask yourself, 'is it how I feel or what I'm being told?' Omo!,' wrote another Netflix viewer. 'Currently watching 'Escaping Twin Flames' on Netflix. I don't even know what to say,' another person wrote. Another fan didn't hesitate to suggest the docuseries and penned: 'If you are into documentaries watch ESCAPING TWIN FLAMES on Netflix it's actually crazy what happens in the world.' The filmmaking duo previously produced Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult for the same streaming platform, and told Netflix: 'We were flooded with messages from people who left high-control groups after releasing our series about the NXIVM cult, and the stories of the survivors and families impacted by Twin Flames Universe emerged as the most urgent to expose.' The three-part documentary is the said to be the result of a three-year investigation into the 'sophisticated recruitment and indoctrination techniques employed by the Twin Flame Universe community. The Twin Flame Universe is a currently active online spiritual community offering the promise of true love and companionship to its members. The leaders also sell online classes that guarantee harmonious union with desired partners. Jeff and Shaleia Ayan are the leaders and founders of the cult-like community, and operate the Twin Flames Universe from their home in Michigan. Deep look: The three-part documentary is the said to be the result of a three-year investigation Advertisement Padma Lakshmi was seen holding hands with blackish creator Kenya Barris while crossing a street in New York City on Sunday. The 53-year-old Top Chef star appeared to be more than friends with the 49-year-old writer and producer as she never left his side while they were on their way to McNally Jackson Bookstore in the SoHo neighborhood. They were also seen walking past vendors as they chatted, and he looked at her cell phone while she held it up by the curb. The former fashion model wore a cream-colored jacket, fitted black slacks and coral scarf with white go-go style short boots for a mod look while Barris was more casual in an orange puffy jacket, blue sweater and green camo slacks that he paired with white sneakers. Padma has been single for the past couple of years after splitting from poet Terrance Hayes in November 2021. And Kenya is single again after splitting from his wife of 20 years, Dr. Rania 'Rainbow Edwards-Barris (who is portrayed on blackish by Tracee Ellis Ross), for the third time in June 2022. Love connection? Padma Lakshmi was seen holding hands with blackish creator Kenya Barris while crossing a street in New York City on Sunday Intimate on the sidewalk: The 53-year-old Top Chef star appeared to be more than friends with the 49-year-old writer and producer as she never left his side while they were on their way to McNally Jackson Bookstore in the SoHo neighborhood In step with each other: They were also seen walking passed vendors as they chatted A representative for Lakshmi could not immediately be reached for comment. Both Padma and Kenya wore designer sunglasses. She had on orange tinted aviators with a gold rim while he modeled black shades. And both displayed jewelry: she was seen with a gold watch while he had necklaces on and diamond earrings. They held hands when they crossed the street but when on the sidewalk they let go and she looked at her cell phone as he snuck a glance. Both appear to be single. Kenya has been on and off with his wife for years. He filed for divorce from Dr. Rania 'Rainbow' Barris, an anesthesiologist in Los Angeles, in 2014 but withdrew the petition a year later. She then filed in August 2019 following 20 years of marriage. The Barris' have children; Lola, Beau, Kass and Bronx. They have two other children who are over the age of 18. In court documents, Kenya listed the reason for the divorce was 'irreconcilable differences' and he requested joint legal and physical custody of their kids. Rainbow did not respond to Kenya's divorce in court. At the time Kenya spoke to T.I. on his podcast expediTIously about the divorce. He said, 'I'm going through a divorce right now. Who knows what's going to happen with that.' Touchy feely: The former fashion model wore a cream-colored jacket, fitted black slacks and coral scarf with white go-go style boots for a mod look His attire: Barris was more casual in an orange puffy jacket, blue sweater and green camo slacks that he paired with white sneakers that looked fresh out of the box The mogul added, 'It is part of life. When I was growing up, we didn't haveI never saw Cliff and Clair [Huxtable] argue. If you look at sitcoms and our stories, we're supposed to be okay. But 52 percent of marriages don't work. It is the toughest thing I've ever been through in my life.' Kenya continued, 'We didn't know about therapy or really understand it. We didn't know about really having the church or other married friends that would have given us the skeleton to make it in another sort of way. 'So I feel like talking about that to a generation of people who might be going through what I'm going through, it makes them say, Hey, there's other people out there like me. Maybe we can make it. Maybe we can't. I just want to be as real with my s*** as possible. The divorce was filed about a year after Kenya signed a $100 million deal with Netflix. According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Kenya filed a request for dismissal of his divorce in May 2020. But they were on the outs again roughly two years later. In June 2022, he filed for divorce in LA Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences, according to the Los Angeles times. He listed their date of separation as September 2020. It takes two: Padma has been single for the past couple of years after splitting from poet Terrance Hayes in November 2021. And Kenya is single again after splitting from his wife of 20 years, Dr. Rania 'Rainbow Edwards-Barris (who is portrayed on blackish by Tracee Ellis Ross), for the third time in June 2022 Chic chick in the city: Padma wore designer sunglasses. She had on orange tinted aviators with a gold rim. And she added a gold watch Young love: The dark-haired looker was married to controversial author Salman Rushdie from 2004 until 2007. Seen in 2004 The #blackAF creator and star is seeking joint physical and legal custody of the kids, as well as spousal support payable to his ex. Lakshmi has a rich romantic life. The dark-haired looker was married to controversial author Salman Rushdie from 2004 until 2007. She then was with Adam Dell from 2007 until 2021, on and off. Together they have teen daughter Krishna Thea, 14. The cover girl dated Theodore Forstmann from 2009 until 2011. In 2014 the chef was tied to Richard Gere, then in 2021 she was reportedly with Terrance Hayes. In 2022 there was talk she romanced actor Michael B Jordan. In June 2021 she was romantically linked to poet and MacArthur fellowship recipient Terrance Hayes. They had been seen kissing and holding hands in New York City during the summer of 2021, but it was short lived. In November 2021 she told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that she was single. Sony Pictures dropped the third and final trailer for the film Napoleon, starring Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix, on Monday. The mostly silent, minute-long preview highlighted excerpts of the early positive reviews from critics at The Guardian, BBC Culture, The Times, HeyUGuys, and The Telegraph. The trailer then falsely equated the $200M-budget film's genre 'epic' as the adjective 'epic' in seven publications - BBC Culture, Deadline, Collider, The Independent, The Film Verdict, IndieWire, and Empire. However, the biopic on French emperor and military commander Napoleon Bonapart currently has a 67% critic approval rating (out of 90 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes. Le Figaro's Jean-Christophe Buisson wrote on Sunday that Napoleon should be renamed 'Barbie and Ken under the Empire.' 'I'm not built like other men': Sony Pictures dropped the third and final trailer for the film Napoleon, starring Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix, on Monday French GQ took issue with French soldiers shouting 'Vive La France' with American accents, writing the movie was 'deeply clumsy, unnatural, and unintentionally funny.' And biographer Patrice Gueniffey (Napoleon and de Gaulle, Bonapart) told Le Point last Tuesday it was a 'very anti-French and very pro-British' rewrite of history. 'The French don't even like themselves,' Napoleon director Ridley Scott told BBC on Sunday. 'The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it.' The 85-year-old Englishman's two-hour and 37-minute film takes artistic license numerous times, including cannonballs shot at the Sphinx and Napoleon witnessing Marie Antoinette executed at the guillotine in 1792. 'I've done a lot of historical films,' Ridley told Total Film on Monday. 'I find I'm reading a report of someone else's report 100 years after the event. So I wonder, "How much do they romance and elaborate? How accurate is it?" It always amuses me when a critic says to me, "This didn't happen in Jerusalem." I say, "Were you there? That's the f***ing answer."' Napoleon - also starring Vanessa Kirby as Josephine and Rupert Everett as Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley - is scheduled to be released in US/UK theaters this Wednesday. And Scott's rumored four-hour director's cut will begin streaming on Apple TV+ at a later date. Five stars! The mostly silent, minute-long preview highlighted excerpts of the early positive reviews from critics at The Guardian, BBC Culture, The Times, HeyUGuys, and The Telegraph The trailer then falsely equated the $200M-budget film's genre 'epic' as the adjective 'epic' in seven publications - BBC Culture, Deadline, Collider, The Independent, The Film Verdict, IndieWire, and Empire As of press date: However, the biopic on French emperor and military commander Napoleon Bonapart currently has a 67% critic approval rating (out of 90 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes Ouch! Le Figaro's Jean-Christophe Buisson wrote on Sunday that Napoleon should be renamed 'Barbie and Ken under the Empire' Yikes! French GQ took issue with French soldiers shouting 'Vive La France' with American accents, writing the movie was 'deeply clumsy, unnatural, and unintentionally funny' Historian: Biographer Patrice Gueniffey (Napoleon and de Gaulle, Bonapart) told Le Point last Tuesday it was a 'very anti-French and very pro-British' rewrite of history Napoleon director Ridley Scott told BBC on Sunday: 'The French don't even like themselves. The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it' (pictured last Thursday) Not accurate: The 85-year-old Englishman's two-hour and 37-minute film takes artistic license numerous times, including cannonballs shot at the Sphinx and Napoleon witnessing Marie Antoinette executed at the guillotine in 1792 Ridley told Total Film on Monday: 'I've done a lot of historical films. I find I'm reading a report of someone else's report 100 years after the event. So I wonder, "How much do they romance and elaborate? How accurate is it?" It always amuses me when a critic says to me, "This didn't happen in Jerusalem." I say, "Were you there? That's the f***ing answer"' Rapper A$AP Rocky will stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator outside a Hollywood hotel in 2021, a judge has ruled. Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar ruled on Monday that there was enough evidence for a trial at a preliminary hearing, after hearing roughly a day and a half of testimony. Rocky has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. His attorney attempted to cast doubt on the case while questioning a police detective. A$AP Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, is facing up to eight years in jail if convicted of two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm. He arrived at court Monday wearing a black suit, matching black face mask, black tie with white dots and a floral brooch. The 35-year-old rap star and father of two children with Rihanna has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator. Villar said 'the totality of the video and testimony' shows there is sufficient evidence for the defendant to go to trial. She emphasized that preliminary hearings have a much lower evidence standard than a trial, and she was only finding probable cause. Rocky, sitting in the courtroom, showed no visible reaction. A$AP Rocky arrived to court Monday wearing a black suit, matching black face mask, black tie with white dots and a floral brooch A judge will determine if there is enough evidence to move forward with a trial against the rapper in a November 2021 shooting A$AP Rocky takes a drink of water during a preliminary hearing on Monday A$AP Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, sits with a member of his legal team at the Monday hearing Prosecutors allege that on November 6, 2021, Mayers pointed a gun at Terell Ephron, once known as A$AP Relli, then, during a confrontation, shot at and left Ephron with minor injuries. Los Angeles Police Department Detective Frank Flores took the witness stand on Monday and verified videos of the attack presented by the prosecution, reported Rolling Stone. Flores testified that surveillance footage showed a gun in the rappers hand, but when pressed by the defense he conceded a weapon was never recovered. At an earlier hearing, Ephron testified Mayers held the gun to his stomach and said 'I'll kill you right now,' before firing off rounds and leaving the room. Ephron said he and the 'F*****g Problems' rapper were teenage friends and members of the A$AP collective, a group of New York high school students who sought to make music and pursue other art forms. He said their friendship continued as Mayers fame grew but began to falter when he started backing out of business ventures. Prosecutors played surveillance video that appears to show Mayers brandishing a gun and possibly firing it, which his lawyers denied that he did. The father of Rihanna's two children was first detained in April last year as he returned to Los Angeles airport from Barbados where he had been on vacation with his then-pregnant girlfriend. He was later released on $550,000 bail. Officers were seen outside of his LA home, smashing into the gate with a battering ram, before apparently raiding the property. Detectives seized multiple boxes of evidence from the house. Four months after his arrest, the charges were brought up to felony status, rather than misdemeanor that would have meant only one year of jail time for each count. In this preliminary hearing, a judge will determine if there is enough evidence to move forward with a trial. The rapper is being represented by the same lawyer who is representing former president Donald Trump in his New York criminal case, Joe Tacopina. Terell Ephron (pictured) told the court at an earlier hearing that Mayers shot him after calling him to a meeting in Hollywood Rapper A$AP Rocky appeared in court last week to begin hearings for a judge to determine if he should stand trial The boyfriend of superstar Rihanna and father of her children is facing up to eight years in jail if convicted on two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm In 2019, Trump took a special interest in Mayers after he was arrested for assault in Sweden. He was arrested after a fight broke out on the street between his entourage and two men. Mayers was convicted of assault, issued a suspended prison sentence and required to pay more than $1,000 in damages. He reportedly served a month in jail before his sentence was handed down. Ahead of Monday's hearing, the hitmaking duo has been in Las Vegas promoting his Puma collaboration at the F1 races. In an interview with Complex Magazine the Fashion Killa rapper beamed as he spoke about the accomplishments him and Rihanna have already made. 'If me and my lady was to collab what could we team up and just, like, just f**ing smash and go crazy on? I think we do a real great job at collaborating making children,' the musician said. 'I think that's our best creation so far.' Caitlyn Jenner took to the skies over the weekend as she was seen filling up her plane in LA. The former Olympian, 74, who came under fire for using the slur r****d last week, went make-up free as she walked onto the airfield ahead of her flight. The star cut a casual figure in a grey sweater paired with slate joggers as she climbed up a ladder to refuel the plane before an afternoon of aviation. Caitlyn wore her brunette locks in soft waves and showed off her radiant complexion. The star's plane appears to be a N508XC which is worth around $320,000. Let's go: Caitlyn Jenner took to the skies over the weekend as she was seen filling up her plane in LA Fill up: The star cut a casual figure in a grey sweater paired with slate joggers as she climbed up a ladder to refuel the plane before an afternoon of aviation Takeoff: The star's plane appears to be a N508XC which is worth around $320,000 Jenner has been an aviator since 1976 when she began her training in a Cessna 152 at the Santa Monica (California) Municipal Airport. She bought aircraft including a Pitts and a Mitsubishi MU2, telling AOPA in 2016: 'The most fun, though, was the unadulterated joy of flying my ultralight floatplane from my home at Lake Tahoe.' She also bought a 1978 Beech Bonanza V35B complete with a customized glass cockpit in 2016. This comes after Jenner opened up about why she was drawn to ex-wife Kris Jenner from the moment they met. The former reality star told The Times the pair met on a blind date in 1990. 'We hit it off right at the beginning,' Caitlyn, who was married to Kris for 23 years, shared with the outlet. 'I was infatuated with her, because she was very different from me.' 'But yes, Id have to say, it was love at first sight.' Sighting: The former Olympian, 74 went make-up free as she walked onto the airfield ahead of her flight Casual:Caitlyn wore her brunette locks in soft waves and showed off her radiant complexion Focus: The experienced pilot filled up her plane before heading off Relaxed: The star looked radiant as she stepped out Kris, who shared kids Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob with her former husband, the late OJ Simpson attorney Robert Kardashian, was 'basically a housewife in Beverly Hills,' at the time they met and wed. 'I was totally impressed with her and how she lived her life she had four kids, I had four kids and we got married five and a half months later! It was very quick.' Little did the decathlon winner know the woman with whom he would have Kendall, 27, and Kylie, 26, would have such a head for business. 'I had no idea what the future held for us,' Caitlyn, who went by Bruce Jenner at the time, explained. 'I dont think even she did.' Kris took the reins by taking over Caitlyn's business, curing jobs making informercials for the family. Keeping Up with the Kardashians debuted in 2007. The show would turn most members of the Kardashian/Jenner clan household names with their antics captured on television. Pilot: Jenner has been an aviator since 1976 when she began her training in a Cessna 152 at the Santa Monica (California) Municipal Airport Go time: The star was seen filling up her plane before heading off Casual: Caitlyn looked casually cool as she stepped out Take off: The star filled up her plane and headed off Exes: This comes after Jenner opened up about why she was drawn to ex-wife Kris Jenner from the moment they met; Pictured in New York in 2016 Caitlyn and Kris divorced in 2015 after 22 years together. Caitlyn told The Times she is single and happy. 'Im fine. Im not even close to looking for a relationship,' she contended. 'Ill never have a relationship in the future. I just dont see that in my life. I am not looking for that.' An A-list Australian actor has been outed as a terrible lover after he went home with a restaurant hostess who was left 'very disappointed' with his performance. The handsome Hollywood star was allegedly 'like a jackhammer' in bed, according to an anonymous message sent to Daily Mail columnist Jana Hocking. The hostess also revealed on Instagram during Jana's popular Saucy Secrets segment on Monday that the Aussie heartthrob didn't 'return the favour'. 'My friend's restaurant gets celebrities and footy players and such often. And [this actor] has been known to come in a few times,' the anonymous message read. 'One of the hostess girls went back to his home with him and said she was "very disappointed". An A-list Australian actor has been outed as terrible lover after he went home with a restaurant hostess who was left 'very disappointed' When Jana pushed for specifics, the secret messenger revealed her friend 'said he was like a jackhammer'. The message came in as a blind item after Jana asked her followers to send in their 'Saucy Secrets'. Her posts have gained a loyal following with many trying to guess the subject of the blind items. The handsome Hollywood star was allegedly 'like a jackhammer' in bed, according to an anonymous message sent to Daily Mail columnist Jana Hocking Recently, a man wrote to Jana about the moment he slept with a famous Australian racing identity during a drug-fuelled night of passion. The man said he hooked up with the woman after she recently became single and the pair went on 'benders and did lines at her place'. Another man confessed he was left shocked by a 'prominent gay in Brisbane' after he found the detailed diary of the businessman's sexual conquests. She also revealed on Instagram during her popular Saucy Secrets segment on Monday that that Aussie heartthrob didn't 'return the favour' He went on to say the diary was kept with 'well over a thousand guys' listed in it, with detailed entries of their bedroom antics. 'Found out that he'd been with over a thousand guys,' the anonymous man said. 'And he was well known for keeping a diary next to his bed listing the personal details of every guy he had slept with including a detailed account of what they've done.' Jana's Saucy Secrets runs every Monday night on Instagram. Roughly 800 Rohingyas have arrived in Indonesia's Aceh province in at least five vessels over the past week As a rickety wooden boat carrying Rohingya refugees approached the shores of western Indonesia, several desperate men swam ashore to plead that the vessel be allowed to land after weeks at sea. But the calls of the men -- some of whom collapsed to the sand in exhaustion -- fell on deaf ears. Local communities twice prevented the vessel packed with 256 Rohingyas, heavily persecuted in Myanmar, from landing before it finally reached the shore on Sunday. "I felt sad, because they are humans. But what can we do?" said 53-year-old Acehnese fisherman Aswadi, who like many Indonesians has one name. Roughly 800 Rohingyas have arrived in Indonesia's Aceh province in at least five vessels over the past week. More than a million Rohingya have fled Myanmar since the 1990s, most in the wake of a 2017 military crackdown that is now subject to a UN genocide investigation. The bulk of them have settled in camps in Bangladesh. But many have for years also sought to travel more than 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) to Malaysia, fuelling a multi-million dollar human-smuggling operation that often involves stopovers in Indonesia. The latest wave of arrivals coincides with the end of the stormy season in the region, allowing boats to set sail from Bangladesh More than 100,000 Rohingya live in Muslim-majority Malaysia. The latest wave of arrivals coincides with the end of the stormy season in the region, allowing boats to set sail from Bangladesh. - Desperation - Although the refugees on the refused boat were eventually allowed to land, their status in Aceh is far from assured, and locals say they could still force the newcomers back to sea. Sending the refugees back to sea can be a death sentence Many Acehnese, who themselves have memories of decades of bloody conflict, have long been sympathetic to the plight of their fellow Muslim refugees. But some say their patience has been tested, claiming Rohingyas consume scarce resources and occasionally come into conflict with locals. There are also fears about keeping track of the new arrivals, who have sometimes run away from shelters to be smuggled to more affluent Malaysia. Some Rohingyas have been accused of working for the smuggling networks ferrying refugees to Malaysia, further heightening tensions with the local Acehnese. "It's not that we don't care about humanity, but these people sometimes run away. We fear bad things will happen," said Rahmat Kartolo, a village chief in northern Aceh. Some in the Aceh fishing community said they thought they were helping the refugees by setting them back to sea. "Let them sail to a safe place. This place is not good. There is no food," said 61-year-old Nurlelawati, who also goes by one name. "We want to help but we can't." Locals brought the Rohingyas rice, noodles and water in the first village where they attempted to land. Aid agencies have appealed to Jakarta to accept more refugees, but Indonesia is not a signatory of the UN Refugee Convention But residents turned the refugees back because they have "caused disturbances" before, said village head Mukhtaruddin, 55. "Number one, there is no place. Number two, because of the Rohingyas' behaviour," he said. Sending the refugees back to sea can be a death sentence. Nearly 200 Rohingyas died or went missing last year while attempting hazardous sea crossings, UNHCR estimated. - 'Everyone cried' - Before the latest wave of arrivals, Indonesia hosted only around 1,000 Rohingyas, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Locals brought the Rohingyas rice, noodles and water in the first village where they attempted to land Aid agencies have appealed to Jakarta to accept more, but Indonesia is not a signatory of the UN Refugee Convention and says it is not compelled to take in refugees from Myanmar, complaining that neighbouring countries have shut their doors. Some Rohingya who have settled report being welcomed by locals. "We're happy here. The Acehnese at the time helped with food, clothes," said Hasimullah, a father-of-two, who arrived in December last year. Hasimullah was a farmer in Myanmar but was forced to flee to Bangladesh. "We always experienced violence from Buddhists. Shot, killed, our houses burned. That's why we ran away," the 39-year-old said. UNHCR has just six temporary shelters around Aceh to handle arrivals. "We're really hopeful that in the name of humanity, the people... could be given protection," said UNHCR official Faisal Rahman. Before the latest wave of arrivals, Indonesia hosted only around 1,000 Rohingyas, according to the UN refugee agency Even some of those who thought they were doing the refugees a favour by turning them away said they felt a twinge of guilt. "There were people who were sick, elderly. Those little kids at sea. Everyone cried seeing them leave. I didn't know what to say," said Nurlelawati. "Those people asked for our help." The Canadian investor and entrepreneur said his extended family often come to him for money Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary has revealed the one rule he sticks to if he is asked for money by a family member. The Canadian investor and entrepreneur, who has an estimated net worth of $400 million, said his extended family come to him for money all the time, and it can become a complex issue. He does not want anyone to owe him, or to 'drive a wedge' in the family. So rather than loaning funds, he agrees to a one-time gift instead. 'For example, if a family member asks for $150,000 to start a restaurant, I'll give them a $50,000 gift that I never want back,' he said. Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary revealed the one rule he sticks to if he is asked for money by a family member He told Business Insider: 'I look them in the eye or give them a handshake to solidify a contract between us that I'm giving this money and that they will never, ever ask for more. 'They can never come back looking for more money ever again. I also make them promise to never talk about the gift again.' O'Leary, who is also known as Mr Wonderful, explained he does this because expecting a family member to pay back is a 'real issue.' 'If they're already in a bad place, why would loaning them money help them if next week you expect back payments?' he said. He understands that he is never going to get the funds back, and he advises anyone else who is considering giving money to family to 'make it a generous one and make it the last time.' 'If the family member tries to ask again, I remind them of our contract,' he added. The businessman's comments echo sentiments he has shared in the past. In 2021, he said in a video shared on his social media channels that 'money destroys family sometimes when there's too much of it.' [item name=module id=119913159 style=undefined /] He told Business Insider that there are four reasons why he has developed his hard and fast rule. According to O'Leary, money and financial issues are common reasons why marriages and families break up. 'The power of money needs to be respected. My extended family keeps getting bigger and bigger, and the more money you have, the more problems you have - that's the bottom line,' he said. The second reason he gives is that it is impossible to make everyone happy, and the third reason is that 'entitlement is a curse.' 'If you guarantee someone that they never have to take risks, they never do,' he said. 'They never do anything because they don't have to. 'They take the path of least resistance to a life of mediocrity. And I really think that's a horrible outcome for any human being. So I don't want to hand loans to the people I love.' The last reason, according to O'Leary, is that people must learn to work in order to earn the freedom that comes with wealth. The Canadian investor, also known as Mr Wonderful, warned money and financial issues are common reasons why marriages and families break up The entrepreneur added that he has used this approach with his own children - and has seen the benefits. 'My children have been very successful in their careers because they realized there's no free lunch. They decided on their own to pursue careers because they were not entitled,' he said. O'Leary jumpstarted his business career by launching the educational software company Softkey in 1986 - which he later sold for $4.2 billion in 1999 to Barbie producer Mattel. Since 2009, he has been a fixture on Shark Tank, after he appeared in the first eight seasons of the show's Canadian counterpart and predecessor Dragon's Den. Earlier this year, the investor revealed how much of your salary you should invest in your 401(K) each year for a comfortable retirement. According to O'Leary, if the average American on a salary of around $60,000 a year set aside 15 percent of their income they would have one and a half million saved up come retirement. 'The number is 15 percent,' he said during an appearance on Good Morning America's Swimming with Sharks. It is now crystal clear that BJP's high command and RSS have completely relied on Prime Minister, Modis Charisma to win five state polls It is quite evident from a personal appeal made by the PM to the voters of Madhya Pradesh and the decision not to project any leader as the chief ministerial face is aimed at focusing on Modis popularity that the BJP is relying heavily on PMs popularity to win the state elections. Opinions are divided about the impact of victory and losses in these state polls in Nov next month. One school of thought says that if BJP is victorious in these elections then the outcome will have no impact on 2024 polls as voters preference may not be different when it comes to electing central government. BJP lost assembly polls in the Hindi heartland in 2018 but it swept Lok Sabha polls by winning 61 out of 65 seats which included 24(25) in Rajasthan, 28(29) MP and 9(11) in Chhattisgarh and primarily owing to Modi wave and nationalistic agenda. Modi's popularity has gone very high at the international level and he commands maximum acceptance in the eyes of electorates in India. Experts say that BJP will be armed with Hindutva which is bound to be strengthened after the inauguration of Ram Temple in January and it will be exploited to the hilt. BJP has got vast resources and RSS will use its well-oiled machinery to ensure the success of the party candidates in Lok Sabha polls. BJP will try to convince about the spectacular performance of the NDA Government and the strong leadership of Modi which made it possible to abrogate Article 370 and adopt 33 per cent women reservation bill in parliament besides On the contrary, critics believe that if the BJP loses state polls, then it is bound to give back to saffron in parliamentary polls. They say that there are predominant factors that will upset BJP's calculations. First, there will be no Pulwama and surgical strikes to create nationwide feelings of Nationalism. Second, the popularity of Congress and opposition parties were at its lowest ebb hence voters did not have an alternative to BJP. Third, Modis Charisma may not be sufficient to neutralise the nine-year Anti-incumbency of the NDA Government. Fourth, common people are facing the worst type of skyrocketing prices of essential commodities which has made their survival difficult. Fifth, youths had voted in large numbers in the country for BJP but now the unemployment problem is at its zenith which has angered this dominant section of society. The sixth, the middle class seems to be affected and responses vary from 2019. Seventh, the BJP's downward journey has been stalled by the Congress in Karnataka and AIADMK's decision to sever ties with the BJP has given a jolt in Tamil Nadu. BJP cannot ride to power without having significant seats from southern states. Finally, the opposition parties have come under the umbrella of I.N.D.I.A. This which can be attributed to their compulsion of alleged misuse of investigating agencies against them and their leaders. The chances of declaring a PM candidate seem extremely difficult but even if they broadly agree to share seats and decide not to field candidates against each other than arithmetic of votes may make a difference in the outcome in all states in the country in 2024. To checkmate sitting CM, Shivraj Chouhan, the BJP high command surprised its ministers like Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Singh Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste who figured in the first list of candidates for MP polls. As per party calculations, union ministers may have their influence across the state though they have yet to prove their statewide appeal amongst the people. Experts say that the ministers or MPs hardly do micro-level management of particular constituencies which should worry them in MP. They may not have the state-level stature when compared with Chouhan who may be sulking as he has not been declared as CM candidate despite being at the helm of affairs.BJP high command and the top brass of RSS have taken a big risk by making Prime Minister, Narender Modi as face of the party and refrained from naming chief ministerial candidates in poll-bound states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. Based on a different analogy, BJP has experimented with a new strategy of fielding 24 MPs and 4 union ministers in three poll-bound states including MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh which reflects the saffron partys desperate move and resolve to ensure victory in these states to create a better narrative for 2024 parliamentary polls. 2nd, it may be aimed at neutralising the anguish of the voters who may have to rethink when new faces (MPs and ministers) are fielded from such constituencies. As per the outcome of Karnataka and Himachal assembly elections, Modis all-out aggressive campaign and Hindutva did not work hence if BJP fails to oust Congress in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and C.S. Raos Bharat Rashtra Sanithi(BRS) in Telangana besides losing MP then it may have direct bearing on 2024 parliamentary elections in 2024. But if the results go in favour of the BJP then it may have a double impact to ensure the victory of Modi for a third successive time. Experts say that BJPs think tank might have assessed the possible impact of the Modi governments nine-year performance and welfare measures which may give weightage to the partys nominees in the elections in the state polls. BJPs Gujrat Model of replacing older generation leaders yielded positive results in Uttarakhand, Goa and Tripura but it miserably failed to deliver in Karnataka. Now it will be interesting to see whether a new strategy to push union ministers and MPs into the electoral fray will work to the advantage of the party or it will backfire. (The writer is a political analyst and senior journalist, views are personal) The transition of energy is happening at a rapid pace which will cause a paradigm shift in geopolitical power structure The order of power in the world has been driven by the shifts in the Energy equations, history has shown. The Steam Engine Industrialisation enabled Britain to emerge as a global superpower drawing upon its readily available supply of coal. Subsequently, Fordism peaked in World War II and brought the US to the centre of global power, shifting the focus on Oil as the energy of the future of Carbon Capitalism for decades to come. Thereon the unequal distribution of fossil fuels has been central to geopolitical power equations. The sudden, escalating and preposterous scale of Climate Change induced disruptions, have posed existential threats to global power equations including (1) capital losses from fossil fuel reserves being stranded, (2) losses to treasury reaped from the fossil fuel rents and most importantly (3) loss of the geopolitical power advantages due to the shift to more diffused zero-carbon energy sources such as the solar, wind and hydropower. Also, an aspect that cant be ignored is that an energy transition entails a technology transition. The eternal zeal towards maximising power from fossil-fueled internal combustion-based systems would shift to electrification in novel ways. Take the case of the global automotive industry which has an almost 3.5% share of global GDP; its technological shift towards EVs is bound to have a deep impact across its value chain. Also, as the R&D in the conventional energy systems slows down, the locked-in investments would starve for upgrades, particularly in countries having a dependency on technology transfer. These large-scale industry-wide shifts would put pressure on the geopolitical equilibrium. Also, emissions-linked tariffs in global trade regimes, like the one proposed by the EU are already concerning its trade partners. The theatre of energy-critical materials like lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements is already abuzz with action as nations scramble to secure the reserves worldwide. Since the essential resources for energy transition are not necessarily a consequence of inherited natural advantage, new fault lines are emerging, pushing the global giants to reposition their competitive advantages and undermine the geo-political strengths of others to maintain their position of power in the era of Green Industrialisation. The war in Ukraine, resulting in uncertainty in gas supplies has served as a wakeup call for Europe to hasten its renewable energy transition. Japan, another developed and technologically advanced nation, has announced its intention to be a part of the power play by announcing its Hydrogen strategy that targets an annual supply of 12 million tonnes by 2040. India too, is leading the global solar effort by playing a leadership role in the International Solar Alliance and through its recently unveiled Hydrogen strategy, it aspires to become a global electrolyser production hub. The issues of energy security, energy poverty and climate change are central to the concept of energy transition and provide an opportunity towards the creation of a more equitable and sustainable world. For a smooth transition to a new geo-political world order the following may be the critical elements: Equitable & Fair Transition Mitigation of socio-economic dislocation through compensation for stranded carbon assets and creating opportunities for job mobility Revival of Multilateralism Global institutions need to collaborate more than ever to break the vested interest nexus and create incentives for rapid action Technological Leapfrogging Open-source technological breakthroughs can prevent the creation of newer pockets of power based on energy capabilities and create a new world order Diffusion of power to emerging nations Considering the future centres of global economic growth and therefore consumption of energy to be anchored in the emerging nations, their voice needs to find a central space in global power equations. (Sairam is an international development advisor and a Chevening scholar, & Srivastav is an Indian Railway Service Officer and a Commonwealth scholar; views are personal) A tense situation persists for the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel since November 12. Despite it being the ninth day of their ordeal, authorities on Monday are still grappling to devise effective rescue strategies, leaving the fate of the stranded individuals in a precarious balance between hope and despair. As delays continue, discussions have begun to circulate about the potential man-made nature of this catastrophe, raising questions about Government officials negligence and a lack of consideration for basic scientific principles in executing infrastructure projects in the vulnerable Himalayan region. Amid the challenges, there is a glimmer of hope, as international tunnelling expert Arnold Dix has arrived at the disaster site to assess the ongoing rescue efforts. Dix, who leads the Geneva-based International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, brings his expertise to contribute to the rescue mission. Rescuers on Monday pushed through a six-inch-wide pipeline through the rubble of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel, a breakthrough that will help them supply larger quantities of food and possibly allow live visuals of the trapped workers. So far, a four-inch existing tube was being used to supply oxygen and items like dry fruit and medicines into the section of the tunnel beyond the rubble of the collapsed portion of the under-construction tunnel on the Char Dham route in Uttarakhand. As the rescue operations unfold, experts are raising concerns about the Governments oversight during the planning and initiation of this project. Criticisms include questions about the projects approval despite concerns about fragile rock strata and the absence of an escape tunnel in the Silkyara project. This has led to speculation about whether due diligence was exercised before the projects implementation. The 4,531 metre long Silkyara tunnel being constructed under the Radi Pass area is to join the Gangotri and Yamunotri axis at a cost of `853.79 crore under the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project. Geologists, scientists, and environmentalists have been asserting that landslides have increased along the roads since the commencement of the all-weather road project. Founder of Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO) and Padma Bhushan recipient Anil Prakash Joshi said the Silkyara incident appears to be a lapse by the construction company. The work in the mountains is slower and different than work in the plains. It is necessary to consider the geological features of the fragile Himalayas and climate change while taking up infrastructure development. He said construction work in the mountains is being done just like the work in the plains and this must be looked into. We need infrastructure development in our mountains but it has to factor in the geological aspect of the terrain and the impact of climate change which is now a reality, Joshi said. He said sustainable development has to keep science at the heart of all planning and execution. MPS Bisht, Geologist at HNB Garhwal Central University, said whenever taking up such massive engineering work, it is of vital importance to conduct thorough geotechnical and geophysical mapping of the specific rock on which the tunnel is to be constructed. The exercise is a must before initiating any infrastructure project in the mountains. While the work is in progress, one must consistently uphold and monitor the safety measures. The rock conditions vary so geophysical mapping gives details of the rock quality across the mountain. The load-bearing capacity of the mountain rocks is also to be looked at before taking up such projects. For sustainable development, the prescribed checks and set norms have to be strictly followed to avoid any loss in the future, Bisht said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday. The PM sought information about the current status of the rescue operation. Now, the authorities are focusing on six options to rescue the stranded workers. National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) director Anshu Manish Khalkho called it the first breakthrough at the site. We have sent the pipe 53 metres to the other side of the rubble and the trapped workers can hear and experience us, he said. First achievement, big achievement. The next step is the more vital one and the most important that is to get them out intact, happy, his colleague Col Deepak Patil said. Drones and robots from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have also been brought to the site to look into the possibility of other escape routes for the trapped men. Rescue workers were yet to resume the horizontal boring through the debris after a boulder appeared to block the progress of the heavy-duty auger machine earlier this week. But an official statement said this was scheduled to begin in the evening. The first machine for construction of a vertical rescue shaft possibly around 80-metre deep by drilling from near the hilltop has also reached the tunnel. A road to the hilltop has been laid, and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is arranging for more equipment, the statement said. Condemnation poured in after a video of the desecration of Pakistans Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara went viral. Jagdip Singh Kahlon, the General Secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, has alleged that alcohol and meat were served during a dance party held by Project Management Unit (PMU) on the premises of the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistans Punjab province. The party was organised at the reception of the gurdwara on November 18. However, days after the video, the authorities on Monday dismissed the report. Two PMU officials told PTI that alcoholic beverages were not served or there was no dance at the reception held on November 18. The officials said the video which showed alcohol at the dinner party must have been doctored for propaganda purposes. The officials also clarified that the dinner reception was held about two kilometres from the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in the Project Management Unit (PMU) complex. Inaugurated on November 9, 2019, on the eve of the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak, the first Guru of Sikhism, Kartarpur has a special significance in the Sikh religion as Guru Nanak had spent the last years of his life at the place. Separately, the PMU in a statement said a dinner reception was held last weekend for stakeholders for the development of Phase-II of Kartarpur and providing better facilities to the visitors. On Saturday night (November 18) the PMU hosted an informal dinner at Kartarpur in which heads or their representatives of all important Government departments of district Narowal, including the judiciary, district administration, police, Rangers, Customs, Anti-Narcotics officials and journalists attended the dinner, the PMU said in the statement. It said the purpose of the event was to enhance coordination and cooperation among all departments/stakeholders concerned with the deployment of Phase II of Kartarpur. It said Narowal Deputy Commissioner and all other participants assured of their complete cooperation and role in further development of Kartarpur and religious tourism. The visa-free Kartarpur corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjabs Gurdaspur district. The crossing allows devotees from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Narowal, some 130 kilometres from Lahore in Pakistan, from Gurudwara Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur district, Punjab, India. Inspired by the devotional sentiment of Sanatan Dharma, a retired bureaucrat has offered his lifes earnings, totaling `5 crore, in obeisance to Lord Vishnu with the words, Tera Tujhko Arpan; Kya Laage Mera (it is all yours and nothing mine). This contribution is dedicated to the construction and related paraphernalia for the completion of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The temple is scheduled to open its doors in January 2022. The devotee has not only dedicated his financial savings but also all his movable and immovable property to the purpose of Bhakti. Inspired by the lines from Lord Vishnus Aarti, My offering to you, what will I like? S Lakshmi Narayanan, former Union Home Secretary of the 1970 IAS batch, has devoted his lifes earnings to Ram Lalla. Although the donor has chosen not to seek public credit, sources in the Temple Trust reveal that, following the consecration of Lord Ram, the donor has committed to commissioning a 151 kg Ramcharitmanas at a cost of `5 crore, which will be installed in front of the idol. Each page of this epic, comprising 10,902 verses, will be crafted from copper. The emerald will be dipped in 24-carat gold, and gold-studded letters will be inscribed. This ambitious endeavor will necessitate 140 kg of copper and five to seven kg of gold, with other metals being employed for decoration. To fund the creation of this unique book, Narayanan has made the decision to sell all his properties and empty his bank accounts. The resulting work, the Manas, will be reverently placed near the feet of Ramlala, as revealed by sources within the trust to The Pioneer. Narayanan, who recently visited the holy town of Ayodhya with his wife, sought permission from Champat Rai, the General Secretary of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, regarding his desire to make a donation. The largest asset financing NBFC in India announced the election of Narayanan as Chairman by the Board of Directors of the company in a board meeting held in Colombo on January 24, 2015. Narayanan has served as an Independent Director of STFC since September 2009. In addition to his distinguished career in civil services, Narayanan has also served as Chairman in a major finance company. In an interview with Rai, it was mentioned that around `1,800 crore is expected to be spent on the construction of the Ram Temple. Rai also stated that 70,000-75,000 people could have easy darshan if the temple is open for 12 hours. Sources reveal that the firm responsible for preparing the design for the new Parliament has agreed to create the gold-studded Ramcharitmanas. In a brief interaction with the temple community, the retired IAS officer shared that he received his name due to a vow made to Goddess Lakshmi. During pregnancy, his mother had prayed at Delhis Birla Temple, also known as Lakshmi Narayan Temple, pledging that if she had a son, she would name him Lakshmi Narayan. God has blessed me abundantly throughout my life. I have held prominent positions and my life has been prosperous. Even after retirement, I continue to receive a significant income. Despite this, I am a person of simple tastes, content with basic necessities. My pension remains largely untouched. I believe in returning what God has bestowed upon me. I find it more meaningful to offer His book at the feet of God rather than accumulating wealth in the name of charity, shared the former Union Home Secretary, accompanied by his wife Saraswati, as he conveyed his thoughts to the people in the temple trust. In an interview, Nripendra Misra, Chairman of the Ram Temple Construction Committee, stated that the funds for the temple construction are entirely sourced from devotees, with no government involvement. As of the end of September this year, approximately `3,500 crore has been collected through donations. On January 15, 2021, the then President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, initiated the contributions toward the construction of the Ram Mandir by donating `5,01,000. The first phase of the project is set to be completed by the end of next month, allowing pilgrims to witness Lord Ram in his child form before January 26, 2024. Preparations are underway for the grand inauguration of the much-awaited temple on the banks of the Saryu river in 2024, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22, 2024. The puja for the occasion will commence on January 14, coinciding with the celebration of Makar Sankranti, and the installation of Lord Rams idol in the Garbhagriha of the Ram Mandir is scheduled for January 22. Jai Siya Ram! Today is a day full of emotions. Recently, officials from the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust visited my residence and invited me to Ayodhya for the consecration of the Shri Ram Temple. I feel truly blessed. It is my good fortune that in my lifetime, I will witness this historic occasion, posted PM Modi on social media last month. A 35-member delegation from Japans Fukuoka Prefectural Government on Monday met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the twinning agreement between the Delhi government and the Fukuoka Prefectural Government (FPG). This agreement, first signed on March 5, 2007, and still ongoing, was extended until March 31, 2026. During this 15th-anniversary ceremony, Kejriwal and Fukuokas Vice Governor Akie Omagari signed the twinning agreement. During this meeting, the Delhi Governments Cabinet Ministers were also present. The collaboration between the Fukuoka Prefectural Government and the Delhi Government has focused on various areas of mutual cooperation, primarily encompassing the environment, culture, tourism, heritage, education, and youth exchange. Over the past 15 years, both cities have engaged in various activities in art and cultural exchanges, environmental technology, and student/youth exchange programs. The agreement also aims to explore possibilities in the areas of environment-related major issues today. Consequently, theres a possibility of involvement not only with school students but also with cultural groups as a result of this agreement. Chief Minister Kejriwal stated Greetings to all from the bottom of my heart, as I stand before you representing the extraordinary bond between Delhi and Fukuoka as sister cities, a connection deeply woven with the threads of developed and shared cooperation since 2007. Delhi and Fukuoka have had a Friendship Agreement since March 5, 2007, and I am extremely delighted that the same is now being extended for a further period of 03 years till 31 March 2026. He also said Our friendship isnt a mere agreement between two cities; its a profound connection rooted in spiritual affinity and cultural ties that have weathered the sands of time. The influence of Indian Culture, particularly through Buddhism, has left an indelible mark on Japanese society, fostering a genuine sense of closeness among the Japanese people toward India in general and the people of Delhi in particular. Our friendship agreement of the last 15 years, in particular, has brought both cities closer by way of mutual cooperation and exchanges and benefits, especially in the fields of Environment, Art and Culture, Archaeology and recently in the field of Education. Vice Governor Fukuoka Prefectural Government Akie Omagari stated, Today, Our delegates have been warmly welcomed by you. The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari has said that all types of technologies along with the advice of various experts are being used to ensure the success of the operation to rescue the 41 workers stranded in the partially caved-in Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district. He reiterated that the priority of the government at this point of time is to rescue the stranded workers at any cost. Visiting the site of the incident on Sunday along with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Union minister held detailed discussions with technical experts and officials in addition to meeting the family members of the stranded workers. He told media persons that currently six options are being worked upon as part of the rescue effort. Gadkari arrived in the State on Sunday morning and reached the Silkyara tunnel site along with CM Dhami and senior officials. He also held detailed discussions with the officials and experts involved in the rescue operation. Addressing the media, the Union minister said that the rescue operation is being undertaken with work on six options including the drilling of three vertical channels to reach the stranded workers. I am not a technical expert but I think that if the auger drilling machine continues to function properly we might be able to reach the workers in about two days. We have also brought a spare drilling machine for this operation apart from various other machines which have either been brought or are in the process of being transported to this site. The geology here is posing a challenge as there are soft strata and hard strata. However, the rescue operation is being undertaken on the suggestions of various experts and all necessary equipment and resources are being provided for it, he said. Regarding the condition of the stranded workers, the minister said that the morale and health of the workers is good. Doctors have been interacting with them and necessary medicines are also being provided to them. They have adequate space and are also moving around. We are also making another bigger channel to enable supply of proper meals to them as they were so far being provided dry fruits to eat, Gadkari said. Regarding questions being raised on execution of the tunnel project, the Union minister said that the only priority for now is to safely rescue the stranded workers. The State government has formed a committee to probe the incident and we will also set up an inquiry to delve into this incident in detail but for now, our focus is on rescuing the workers. The Central agencies and State government are working round the clock to rescue the workers stranded in the partially caved-in tunnel since November 12. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated Khalsa Chowk in Alambagh on Sunday. The intersection was previously known as Tedhi Pulia. The chief minister addressed a programme organised on the occasion to commemorate Jyoti Jyot Diwas of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of Sikhism and founder of Khalsa Panth. While congratulating people, the chief minister took a dig at the iftar parties organised in the CM office during the tenure of the erstwhile Samajwadi Party government in the past. He said that earlier, other types of events were organised in the CM office of Uttar Pradesh. After the formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, a grand celebration of the 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev Ji was organised in the CM office, he said. He added that Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj had established the Khalsa Panth in 1699 to protect the religion and culture of India from foreign invaders. Khalsa Panth has always played a leading role in the defence of the motherland, he said, adding: The sacrifice and dedication of Sikh Gurus inspire us all to protect our country and religion. The history of Sikh Gurus reminds us of the glorious saga of India, Yogi said. He paid tribute to the Sikh communitys tradition of sacrifice, dedication, devotion to religion, and service to society. In the coming days, we will get the opportunity to participate in many programmes, he added. The chief minister mentioned upcoming celebrations, including the sacred martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur on November 24, Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev on November 27 (on Kartik Purnima), and Birbal Day on December 26. He urged everyone to take pride in their history. In the programme, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, Minister of State Parmindar Singh, Mayor Sushma Kharkwal, Gurudwara Committee head Rajendra Singh Bagga, and chief of Gurudwara Shankarnagar (Alambagh) Sardar Manmohan Singh Sethi, along with other members of the Sikh community, were present on the occasion. Responding to statements being made by Congress leaders regarding the Silkyara tunnel incident, the Bharatiya Janata Party has stated that the Congress was indulging in disinformation regarding the cause of the disaster. However, so far it has not shown sensitivity and given any suggestions, which raise questions at its role as a responsible opposition. The BJP State media in-charge Manveer Singh Chauhan said that the Central and State government are putting in all efforts to rescue the 41 workers stranded in the partially caved-in Silkyara tunnel. The help of the best and most experienced experts from across India and abroad is also being taken in the rescue operation. Chauhan said, The Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari also visited the site of the incident. He has stressed that saving the lives of the stranded workers is the top priority of the government and has also shared the rescue plan. The nation and State are concerned about the people who have been stuck in the tunnel. In addition to the rescue operation being undertaken at a war footing round the clock, prayers and hawans are also being held for their safety and rescue. However, the Congress is pointing out flaws in the tunnel and is appearing to play politics even on the lives of the stranded workers, the BJP State media in-charge said. Chauhan further said that the Congress should come forward if it has any constructive suggestions to give. The government is working on six options as part of the efforts to rescue the stranded workers and the advice of foreign experts and top experts from India is also being taken in the operation. The morale of the stranded workers is good and they are being provided medicines, food, drinking water and oxygen. Talks are also being held with the family members of the stranded workers. It is also important to maintain the morale of the family members, he said. Chauhan said that the purpose of working on various plans is to expedite the rescue. The best available technology in the world is being used in the rescue efforts. Instead of creating a negative atmosphere, the opposition should display positive thinking so that the morale of the family members of the workers is also maintained. This will also affect the workers struggling in the tunnel, he added. Upcoming events THE CUMBERLAND COMMUNITY SINGERS present "Peace & Joy" from 7:30 p.m. at Orleans United Church, 1111 Orleans Blvd.. Come and join us for an uplifting evening filled with songs of peace and joy. This concert will feature new interpretations of traditional hymns and some newer less well known pieces that celebrate the beauty of Christmas. Bring the whole family - kids are free! Tickets available at https://bit.ly/CCSPeaceandJoy. STATION 71 LITE THE NITE event at 7 p. m. at the Navan Fire Station, 1246 Colonial Rd. Come out to enjoy some yummy hot chocolate and cookies while listening to Christmas carolers and watching Sparky light our Christmas tree. You can also bring a toy for the Help Santa Toy Parade. CUMBERLAND CHRISTMAS MARKET from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at four different locations in Cumberland Village. Over 100 LOCAL ARTISANS at 4 different locations the R. J. Kennedy Arena, the Baitun Naseer Mosque at 2620 Market St., the Lions Maple Hall at 2557 Old Montreal Rd., and the Da Artisti Studio & Gallery at 2565 Old Montreal Rd. BREAKFAST WITH SANTA FUNDRAISER hosted by the Cumberland Lions Club from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at the Lions Maple Hall in Cumberland Village. Special activities, and gifts, for the children throughout the morning, plus a visit from Santa. Admission at the door $15 for adults and $10 for childen 12 and under. Donations will also be accepted on site for the Orleans-Cumberland Community Resource Centre's Christmas Program for families in need. DOMAINE PERRAULT HOLIDAY MARKET from 10:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m. at the Domaine Perrault Winery, 1000 Perrault Rd. just south of Navan. Get ready to indulge in a festive atmosphere filled with local vendors, live music, kids craft station, a visit from Santa and of course, incredible wine. Whether you're searching for unique gifts or simply want to treat yourself, this event has something for everyone. Unfazed by toxic foam floated on the banks of river Yamuna, hundreds of devotees offered Arghya to the rising sun on Monday morning, marking the conclusion of the four-day-long Chhath Puja festival. In pictures and videos shared on social media, large amounts of the toxic foam can be seen floating in the river as devotees stood knee-deep in it. The Pioneer has earlier reported the formation of toxic form in Yamuna ahead of the Chhath puja. The Delhi Government ministers had inspected several Chhath ghats in the city and had claimed to clear the foam floating in the river. According to officials, the toxic foam is due to the high phosphate content in the river, which can cause skin and respiratory problems. A deep layer of toxic foam was visible on the surface of the Yamuna when devotees were offering Arghya to the rising sun, marking the conclusion of the four-day-long Chhath Puja festival. Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena took a swipe at the AAP government in the city over the condition of the polluted Yamuna river in which devotees performed the rituals of the Chhath puja. In a series of posts on X, Saxena said, Chhath festival concluded today with Arghya offered to Lord Sun. The Chhathi Maiya departed, but once again Yamuna river was left dirty and polluted. Devotees were once again forced to offer prayers amidst silt, debris and rot. Offering Arghya in the river was prohibited but Yamuna did not become clean. Taking a swipe indirectly at the Delhi Government, Saxena said, Year after year. One promise after another. Froth, sewer, effluent remain unchecked. The floodplains get turned into dump yards and open toilets. COD/ BOD, Coliform, E Coli all markers damn the river. He also attached several photographs of the devotees offering prayers in the Yamuna with toxic foam floating alongside them. Saxena also attached several pictures of Yamuna on his handle. Despite several promises made by Delhis Government to clean the Yamuna river, the polluting situation keeps making a comeback. Meanwhile, AAP MLA and vice-chairman of Delhi Jal Board Somnath Bharti also inspected the Kalindi Kunj ghar and asserted that the foam is harmless. The Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri has accused the Arvind Kejriwal government for mockery of the faith, sanctity, and religious dedication of the lakhs of people of Purvanchal. The Delhi government failed to make necessary arrangements for the Chhath puja. Chhath devotees offered arghya to the sun amidst the toxic foam and polluted water of the Yamuna, breaking their 36-hour fast. Skin diseases, respiratory problems, and even cancer can result from this polluted water, Bidhuri said Bidhuris remark came after visuals of Yamuna Ghat at Kalindi Kunj surfaced on social media showing devotees standing in knee-deep water, performing rituals on Chhath, all while the toxic foam covered the surface of the Yamuna River. BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla accused Kejriwal of spending thousands of crores given by the Centre on advertisements or doing corruption instead of cleaning Yamuna. Poonawala said Kejriwal has failed to to fulfil his promise of making Yamuna clean. This is the Kejriwal Model... First, they made Delhi a gas chamber... Now we have to suffer from toxic water too. When devotees entered the water to offer Arghya to God Sun on Chhath Pooja, there was poisonous and foamy water everywhere, said Poonawalla. The frothing on the Yamuna river in Delhi is an annual phenomenon during winters, indicating high levels of untreated sewage and industrial pollutants in the rivers water, according to experts. Froth is mass of small bubbles in liquid caused by agitation, fermentation, or salivating. The high level of phosphates in the Yamuna river is what causes such foam to build up. Phosphates and surfactants in untreated sewages from Delhi, Haryana and UP is another reason behind frothing in the river. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) which studied the levels of phosphate and surfactants creating the white scum in the river, stated that their concentration high at most locations in the city. DPCC did not mention the safe water quality norm for phosphate and surfactants in its water quality report. Chhattisgarh Governor Vishwabhushan Harichandan said on Sunday that India is a garland of many colours and cultures. Every state has its own separate identity. Despite our diversity, we are all one, this gives credibility in the world, he said. "Our cultural diversity enriches and empowers us, he said. He said this in Raipur to celebrate the foundation of 17 states and Union Territories. The programme was held on the theme Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. An initiative of the Indian Government encouraging the celebration of the foundation days of other states in order to promote unity and diversity. At the programme, Harichandan presented mementoes to the representatives of various states. He also honoured the Padma Shri awardees of Chhattisgarh. Harichandan praised the specialties of the states including the rich natural resources of Chhattisgarh, the IT sector in Tamil Nadu, Keralas lead in social justice, health status and gender equality, Punjab's history and more. A colourful presentation of cultural programmes and folk traditions of many states was presented. AAP councillor and secretary of the Hardayal Municipal Heritage Public Library Preeti has written to Mayor Shelly Oberoi, the ex-officio chairperson of the library, over the blackout at the library due to non-payment of electricity bills for the past 32 months. Lala Hardayal library is a 161-year-old heritage library in Delhis Chandni Chowk area. The library has been functioning without basic amenities such as electricity, water, and washroom facilities amid alleged financial irregularities in the funds allocated for its operations. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has ordered the competent authorities to look into the matter and take necessary action at the earliest, according to its response dated November 16. Apart from this, the library complexs four toilets dont function. There is no drinking water. And the 95 staffers havent been paid since February 2021. Caught in a political slugfest between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), one of Delhis oldest public libraries - home to over 170,000 books - is in a state of sorry disrepair. The students and the staff members rely on paid toilets at the Chandni Chowk Metro station, around 200 metres away, and for drinking water, they head to the Kotwali police station, located behind the library. In a letter to the mayor, Preeti requested to release the pending grant for the Hardayal library to clear the pending bills as early as possible. Electricity bills amounting to Rs 5 lakh have not been paid by the library, Preeti said. The newly elected secretary also requested to release the salary of the employees which has allegedly been pending for long. On taking charge as secretary of HMHPL, it has come to my notice that electricity connection of the library has been discontinued due to non-payment of electricity bill and salary of employees has not been released for the past 32 months... It is requested that the pending grant of HMHPL by MCD may kindly be released as early as possible... For the smooth functioning of the library, the letter read. MCD had announced to clear the pending salaries of the employees before Diwali, however, the process got delayed due to the holidays in between, Preeti said. I had visited the library at the time of my appointment and I was despaired to see its condition. The staff and students are facing a lot of problems due to the electricity cut and lack of other amenities. I have written to the chairperson and hope that a solution will be found soon, she said. We wanted to release the pending salaries of employees before Diwali but due to holidays it could not happen, she added. The librarys staff called off their indefinite strike earlier this month after the MCD promised to clear their dues following the appointment of a new management committee. The exit of the leaders of the OBC community from the party has created a new cause for concern for the party chief Akhilesh Yadav. In the past few months, half a dozen Samajwadi Party leaders from these communities have already defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Recently, Ravi Verma, a former Lok Sabha MP, joined the Congress and many more leaders are expected to follow suit. In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Akhilesh Yadav has been stressing the importance of what the party has termed PDA - Pichchda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak unity. Despite the party throwing its weight behind these communities, about half a dozen of the prominent OBC leaders of the state have joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in recent times. Prominent OBC leader Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) President Om Prakash Rajbhar, former minister Dara Singh Chauhan, former Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) MP Rajpal Saini, former minister Sahab Singh Saini and former MLA Sushma Patel are some of the prominent leaders who have defected to the BJP. Moreover, Shalini Yadav, who was the SPs candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, too has joined the BJP. SP, however, has exuded confidence in its formidability despite the migration. There is no opportunity in BJP. The BJP has definitely broken some political opportunists using the greed of power and pressure, but the public understands everything, said SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary. A Samajwadi Party leader said the departure of several OBC leaders could be attributed to their feeling that there was no proper place for the party in the INDIA alliance. A former SP MLA who joined the BJP in July said , There are many reasons for leaving SP. OBCs have faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Modi-Shah is giving respect to OBCs. Meanwhile, Dara Singh Chauhan, who was the Forest Minister in the first Yogi Adityanath government from 2017-2002, was elected MLA in 2022 on the SP symbol from the Ghosi assembly seat in Mau district. He resigned from the assembly membership before joining the BJP. However, he later contested the by-election from Ghosi and lost to the Samajwadi Party candidate. Former MP Rajpal Saini said he parted ways with Samajwadi Party after he was ignored for a ticket in the bypolls. I have been an MP, a Minister, an MLA and was defeated by only a few votes in the 2022 assembly elections from Khatuli in Muzaffarnagar but I was not given a ticket in the by-election, he said. I was neglected in the municipal elections as well, so I took this step because the future belongs to the BJP, he said. Saini also argued that the community was not getting space in the alliance in proportion to its size and clout, and cited BSP founder Kanshirams slogan Jiski jitni Sankhya Bhari, Uski Utni Hissedari, which he said wasnt turning out to be the case. Meanwhile, speculations are rife that small caste based parties are likely to join hands with the BJP-led NDA in western Uttar Pradesh. Mahan Dal president Keshav Dev Maurya said, Our struggle is for power and if we get a proper opportunity, we can join hands with the BJP. Lakhs of men and women across Jharkhand paid tributes to the rising sun on Monday as part of Chhath, the state's most popular festival. Amid devotional songs and the bursting of firecrackers, devotees, who observed a gruelling 36-hour fast, offered Usha arghya' to the rising sun in different water bodies of the state. Many men carried wicker baskets on their heads, heavy with items used in the ritual worship, to ghats of rivers and water bodies to offer puja. Odisha Governor Raghubar Das, along with his family members, offered a salutation to the sun in Jamshedpur, while several parliamentarians and legislators from different political parties observed the rituals at their respective places. Devotees thronged ghats of rivers and water bodies early in the morning and paid their obeisance to the rising Sun. The four-day festivities began on November 17 with "Nahaay Khaay", when devotees and their family members take sattvic food after a ritual bath, followed by "Kharna" a day later when "prasad" of rice pudding and rotis is shared with family and friends. The festivities concluded on Monday morning, with salutations to the rising sun, after which devotees break their fast with fruits and "thekua", a fried pancake sweetened with jaggery, to which the festival owes its popularity among children. No untoward incident was reported from any of the water bodies where security personnel helped the devotees complete their puja safely in the morning. Water bodies across Jharkhand had been cleaned for the occasion. Ranchi's Additional District Magistrate (Law and Order) Rajeshwar Nath Alok said adequate security arrangements had been ensured at all Chhath ghats in the city. The entry of heavy vehicles was prohibited to Ranchi from 8 am to 11 pm on Sunday and 2 am to 10 pm on Monday, an official statement said. Haji Mubarak Shinwari had come to Pakistan in 1982 with his five sons and two brothers. He worked assiduously to build a healthy network of businesses including cloth, fabrics, transport, and giving loans and now owns numerous properties at Al-Asif Square on the outskirts of Karachi. We have lived here without documents for all these years and set up our businesses with the help of locals, Shinwari said. He is not alone. Barely a few kilometres north of downtown Karachi is the Al-Asif Square, which is known for its huge Afghan population. Close by are two big settlements of Afghan labourers and small business owners. A visit to Al-Asif Square and these settlements gives an impression of being in mini Kabul with Afghan people milling around many of their shops and different restaurants offering Afghan delicacies. Tens and thousands of Afghans, mainly those who came to Pakistan as refugees since the Soviet invasion in 1978, have done business and work in all major cities of Pakistan for decades with Karachi in Sindh province and Quetta in the Balochistan province being their main centres. Sadiq Ullah Kakar, legal adviser for the Afghan consulate in Karachi, explained that the majority of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan belong to the lower middle class. So, they do not possess any qualifications or even a tertiary level education, he said. Two weeks after the October 31 deadline by the Pakistan government to send back Afghans without valid documents displacing thousands already - and now, even those with valid papers planned to be sent back after December 31 - the situation is grim with uncertainty writ large on their faces. More than 1,65,000 Afghans have already fled Pakistan since the deadline expired. Reason? The Pakistan government is adamant that it needs to protect its state and claims that many of these Afghans are involved in criminal and terrorist activities and hence wants to get rid of any and everyone from its northern neighbour. It has also blamed the Taliban government in Kabul for not cooperating in preventing the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other splinter terror groups from using Afghan soil to carry out terror attacks in Pakistan. The decision has put hundreds of Afghans such as Mubarak at a loss. Thousands of Afghans who have lived in Pakistan for many years are being forced to leave the country after facing massive losses in their businesses, assets, and savings. It is a bad situation for us now, Mubarak said. He is unable to understand how he can save and transfer his hard-earned assets when he is forced to relocate to Afghanistan as the Pakistan government has placed restrictions on the transfer of cash and property to Afghanistan (from Pakistan), with refugees only allowed to take Rs 50,000 cash per person with them. Most Afghans who have returned or are preparing to return to their homeland now face the harsh reality of losing their businesses and homes they built for decades. The issue has become so critical that Afghanistans acting commerce minister, Haji Nooruddin Azizi met with Pakistans Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani in Islamabad last week to discuss it. Another historical reason has been that these Afghans have been part of Pakistans unofficial, undocumented, and unorganised sector economy. Even those Afghans who hold some form of identification i.e. either a POR (Proof of Residency) card or an ACC (Afghan Citizen Card) are not allowed to do business in their own names in Pakistan. The purpose of both these cards is only to officially recognise the holders as refugees and grant them partial rights in Pakistans healthcare and economic sectors. Mubarak said that he is facing difficulty in even recovering his loans in millions now from Pakistani customers because they are aware of his precarious situation. They all promise they will clear loans soon but the situation is different now. They are not worried, he said. Rehmat Khanzada, who runs two grocery shops in Quetta, told PTI on the phone that he fears all his savings are going down the drain now. It is a situation similar to what we have heard when partition took place in 1947. Many people in big cities seized properties and businesses of the Hindus, Parsis or even Muslims who decided to go to India, he said. Many Afghans are being forced to sell their possessions and properties at reduced rates. Ahmed, who has lived in Quetta for 30 years and owns a shoe business, said he sold most of his inventory, worth Rs 1.5 million for almost half the price last month. Azmatullah Niazi, who resides in Karachis Clifton area and owns cloth and fabric shops in a mall, said many well-off Afghans were now trying to either bribe their way to staying in Pakistan or using illegal channels to send their money to their homeland or their relatives in other countries. But not all Afghans are well off and cant afford to use such channels, he said. Haji Dawood Khan, who heads a settlement in Sohrab Goth, believes the Pakistan government should at least allow the refugees to transfer their assets after selling their properties after deducting some sort of tax. Many Afghan refugees mostly saved their earnings in cash or if they ran a business, many of their clientele would expect them to extend a line of credit -all based on verbal agreements. A typical example is Sharifullah Jan, an undocumented Afghan refugee. He has a total of Rs 5.2 million rupees owed to him but he said his clients from across the country are simply not paying up. Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of Buy from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.55. A number of equities analysts have commented on BSX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, September 21st. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Boston Scientific from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Boston Scientific from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. TheStreet raised Boston Scientific from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Monday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a buy rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Boston Scientific in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Get Boston Scientific alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on Boston Scientific Boston Scientific Trading Down 0.6 % Shares of BSX opened at $54.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Boston Scientific has a 12 month low of $42.49 and a 12 month high of $55.38. The stock has a market cap of $79.61 billion, a PE ratio of 66.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.77. The stocks 50-day moving average is $52.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.31. Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.48 billion. Boston Scientific had a return on equity of 15.46% and a net margin of 8.93%. Boston Scientifics quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Boston Scientific will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, SVP Vance R. Brown sold 15,750 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.52, for a total transaction of $795,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,578 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,443,760.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael F. Mahoney sold 113,355 shares of Boston Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.91, for a total transaction of $6,110,968.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,498,922 shares of the companys stock, valued at $80,806,885.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Vance R. Brown sold 15,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.52, for a total value of $795,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,578 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,443,760.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,996 shares of company stock valued at $21,589,497 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.71% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in shares of Boston Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Boston Scientific by 209.4% during the second quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 594 shares of the medical equipment providers stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in Boston Scientific in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Boston Scientific during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Motco raised its position in Boston Scientific by 136.3% in the third quarter. Motco now owns 645 shares of the medical equipment providers stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.11% of the companys stock. Boston Scientific Company Profile (Get Free Report Boston Scientific Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. It operates through MedSurg and Cardiovascular segments. The company offers devices to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions; devices to treat various urological and pelvic conditions; implantable cardioverter and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators; pacemakers and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers; and remote patient management systems. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Boston Scientific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boston Scientific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM Get Free Report) (TSE:BAM.A) has earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.32. BAM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Brookfield Asset Management in a research note on Friday, October 6th. They set a buy rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Brookfield Asset Management from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Brookfield Asset Management from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Brookfield Asset Management from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $42.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Get Brookfield Asset Management alerts: View Our Latest Report on Brookfield Asset Management Brookfield Asset Management Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:BAM opened at $33.57 on Wednesday. Brookfield Asset Management has a one year low of $26.76 and a one year high of $36.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.86 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74. Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM Get Free Report) (TSE:BAM.A) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.04. Brookfield Asset Management had a return on equity of 91.07% and a net margin of 51.79%. The business had revenue of $893.00 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year. Brookfield Asset Management Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 29th. Brookfield Asset Managements payout ratio is 105.79%. Institutional Trading of Brookfield Asset Management Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Brookfield Asset Management by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 38,228 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,161,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA raised its position in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 35.5% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 1,057 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 0.6% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 54,530 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $3,085,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Brookfield Asset Management by 0.3% during the second quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 97,449 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $3,180,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Brookfield Asset Management by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,844 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. 61.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Brookfield Asset Management Company Profile (Get Free Report Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. provides alternative asset management services. Its renewable power and transition business includes the ownership, operation, and development of hydroelectric, wind, solar, and energy transition power generating assets. The company's infrastructure business engages in the ownership, operation, and development of utilities, transport, midstream, data and sustainable resource assets. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Brookfield Asset Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookfield Asset Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU Free Report) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 337,740 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 8,115 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLCs holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $29,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 148.0% during the first quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 6,801 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 4,059 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management SA grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 197,301 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $16,325,000 after acquiring an additional 4,601 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter worth $215,000. Argent Trust Co raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 12,884 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 11.9% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 5,705 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. 54.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Prudential Financial alerts: Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.2 % Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $95.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $34.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.77, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.39. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.37 and a twelve month high of $108.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $93.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.62. Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement Prudential Financial ( NYSE:PRU Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $12.91 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.03% and a net margin of 1.21%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 20th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.22%. Prudential Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 322.58%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades PRU has been the topic of several recent research reports. TheStreet downgraded Prudential Financial from a b rating to a c rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an underperform rating to a hold rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. 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, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Friday, September 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $103.00. Get Our Latest Stock 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. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PRU? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Prudential Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Prudential Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA Free Report) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 7,119 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,160,000. A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of HCA. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 4.7% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 21,972 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,668,000 after buying an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 8.1% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,982 shares of the companys stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 90.4% during the first quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 13,019 shares of the companys stock worth $3,433,000 after purchasing an additional 6,180 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.5% during the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,691 shares of the companys stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $70,725,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the companys stock. Get HCA Healthcare alerts: HCA Healthcare Price Performance Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $246.38 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $65.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.66. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.96 and a 1-year high of $304.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $242.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 103.06, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.99. HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement HCA Healthcare ( NYSE:HCA Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The company reported $3.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $16.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.77 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 2,040.32% and a net margin of 9.05%. Sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 18.18 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 14th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 13th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. HCA Healthcares dividend payout ratio is presently 11.81%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several brokerages have commented on HCA. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $325.00 to $275.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $324.00 to $279.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $294.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. Two equities 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $296.59. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on HCA About HCA Healthcare (Free Report) HCA Healthcare, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides health care services in the United States. It operates general and acute care hospitals that offers medical and surgical services, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, diagnostic, and emergency services; and outpatient services, such as outpatient surgery, laboratory, radiology, respiratory therapy, cardiology, and physical therapy. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HCA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for HCA Healthcare Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for HCA Healthcare and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE Free Report) by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,518 shares of the basic materials companys stock after acquiring an additional 1,606 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 127,059.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,232,061 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $20,461,138,000 after buying an additional 155,109,984 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in Nucor by 101,409.0% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,646,476 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $269,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644,854 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 391.4% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,005,223 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $55,399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597,162 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,727,773 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $266,889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,247,626 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $559,880,000 after purchasing an additional 979,824 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.76% of the companys stock. Get Nucor alerts: Nucor Stock Performance Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $156.76 on Monday. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $129.46 and a 12 month high of $182.68. The company has a market cap of $38.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 1.64. The businesss 50 day moving average is $152.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Nucor Announces Dividend Nucor ( NYSE:NUE Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $4.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.19 by $0.38. Nucor had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 24.38%. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.50 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 17.82 EPS for the current year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Nucors dividend payout ratio is 10.34%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities analysts have commented on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Nucor from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $151.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Nucor in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on Nucor from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $162.00 to $154.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $164.56. Get Our Latest Stock Report on Nucor About Nucor (Free Report) Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. The company's Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling products; and bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NUE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Nucor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Nucor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE Free Report) by 11.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,399 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 1,261 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.s holdings in DTE Energy were worth $1,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in DTE Energy by 0.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,079,409 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $118,238,000 after purchasing an additional 9,982 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in DTE Energy by 1.0% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 166,362 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $18,303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661 shares during the last quarter. Credit Suisse AG boosted its stake in DTE Energy by 10.4% in the first quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 140,672 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $15,409,000 after acquiring an additional 13,309 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co grew its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 3.9% during the first quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 5,645 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 2.2% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 19,872 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,177,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.72% of the companys stock. Get DTE Energy alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet downgraded DTE Energy from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Friday, October 20th. Barclays initiated coverage on DTE Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an overweight rating and a $117.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of DTE Energy from $121.00 to $106.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of DTE Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of DTE Energy from $110.00 to $103.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, DTE Energy has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $80.21. DTE Energy Trading Up 0.3 % NYSE:DTE opened at $103.60 on Monday. DTE Energy has a 52-week low of $90.14 and a 52-week high of $122.40. The company has a market capitalization of $21.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.13. DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.23). DTE Energy had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that DTE Energy will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. DTE Energy Company Profile (Free Report) DTE Energy Company engages in the utility operations. The company's Electric segment generates, purchases, distributes, and sells electricity to approximately 2.3 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan. It generates electricity through fossil-fuel, hydroelectric pumped storage, and nuclear plants, as well as wind and solar assets. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DTE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for DTE Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for DTE Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in shares of HEICO Co. (NYSE:HEI Free Report) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,000 shares of the aerospace companys stock, valued at approximately $354,000. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HEICO during the 1st quarter valued at $577,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in HEICO in the first quarter worth about $265,000. Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new position in shares of HEICO during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,119,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of HEICO by 4.9% during the first quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 43,488 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $5,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of HEICO by 3,192.9% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,138,939 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $174,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,351 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.77% of the companys stock. Get HEICO alerts: Insider Transactions at HEICO In other news, Director Alan Schriesheim sold 2,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.23, for a total transaction of $328,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 105,111 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $17,262,379.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Alan Schriesheim sold 2,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.23, for a total transaction of $328,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 105,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,262,379.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurans A. Mendelson sold 23,477 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.20, for a total transaction of $3,901,877.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,694,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $281,617,756.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.26% of the companys stock. HEICO Price Performance HEICO stock opened at $169.97 on Monday. HEICO Co. has a one year low of $147.69 and a one year high of $182.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.79 and a 200 day moving average of $167.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 4.03. The stock has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a PE ratio of 59.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.17. HEICO (NYSE:HEI Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 29th. The aerospace company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $722.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $701.55 million. HEICO had a net margin of 15.05% and a return on equity of 14.30%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HEICO Co. will post 2.84 EPS for the current year. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages have issued reports on HEI. Benchmark lifted their price objective on HEICO from $170.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of HEICO in a research report on Friday, August 18th. They set an equal weight rating and a $184.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of HEICO in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of HEICO from $204.00 to $206.00 in a report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of HEICO in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. They issued a buy rating and a $192.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $198.10. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on HEICO About HEICO (Free Report) HEICO Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells aerospace, defense, and electronic related products and services. The company's Flight Support Group segment provides jet engine and aircraft component replacement parts; thermal insulation blankets and parts; renewable/reusable insulation systems; and specialty components. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HEI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for HEICO Co. (NYSE:HEI Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for HEICO Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for HEICO and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. 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 Zip Code Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in Imphal Guwahati: Flight operations at Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in Imphal, Manipur, were halted for several hours and the Indian Air Force scrambled two Rafale fighter jets after, what was defined by officials as an unidentified flying object (UFO) was seen hovering above the airport on Sunday. Informing that after an UFO was sighted within Imphal-controlled airspace, two flights were diverted and three departing flights were delayed, airport director Chipemmi Keishing said that flight operations commenced after receipt of clearance from the competent authority. Security sources said that the UFO was sighted by a pilot of an Indigo flight that was about to depart around 2.20 pm. All flight operations were immediately suspended but resumed around 6 pm. The UFO was said to have been visible till 4 pm. Security sources said that after receiving inputs about the presence of an UFO near the Imphal airport, the IAF launched one Rafale from Hashimara but it could not see anything. Pointing out that the first aircraft returned to its base and another was deployed towards the area to double check but it could also not ascertain anything on the location and nearby areas, defence sources said that the second aircraft also returned without registering any presence of any object in the air. The Eastern Command of the Indian Air Force also said that it activated its Air Defence response mechanism to track the UFO. Imphal West Superintendent of Police Ksh Shivakanta Singh also told reporters that the object hovered for several hours, baffling everyone. "We have no idea what the object was and how big it was. It hovered in the sky for hours and then disappeared," he said. Security sources said that the diverted flights included an IndiGo flight from Kolkata which was initially instructed 'to hold overhead'. It was diverted to Guwahati after 25 minutes. The delayed flights left Imphal airport after receiving clearance after around three hours. 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(PTI Photo) Jaipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the Congress government in Rajasthan stating that they are focused on appeasement politics and seek to eradicate Sanatan Dharma while emphasising the prevalence of corruption and dynastic politics in the party. He said, "Rajasthan needs a government which gives top priority to development, whereas for the Congress there is nothing more important than corruption and dynastic politics." Ahead of the November 25 assembly polls in Rajasthan, the prime minister addressed rallies in Pali district and in Pilibanga in Hanumangarh district on Monday. Modi accused the Congress and its allies of having an anti-women mindset, citing their objectionable comments and campaign against women following the passage of a law granting reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. He referred to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.) as the "ghamandiya" (arrogant) alliance. The Prime Minister pointed out instances where Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar used derogatory language against women and individuals from backward families, criticising the Congress for not condemning such behaviour. He accused the Congress of ignoring atrocities against Dalits, stating, "Congress closes its eyes when it sees those committing atrocities against Dalits." Highlighting the Congress governments alleged focus on appeasement, Modi claimed that this policy led to the flourishing of individuals with a mentality of riots and terrorism in the state over the past five years. He accused the Congress of wanting to destroy Sanatan Dharma, saying that such destruction would also mean the destruction of Rajasthans culture. Referring to the responsibility for high petrol prices in Rajasthan, Modi pledged that the BJP, if elected, would review petrol prices in the state. He compared petrol prices in Rajasthan to those in BJP-ruled Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat. He also highlighted the reduction in direct taxes during the BJP governments tenure. Chandrababu Naidu / DC Image Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has granted regular bail to Telugu Desam president Nara Chandrababu Naidu in the AP skill development corporation scam case. A single judge bench of Justice Mallikarjuna Rao pronounced the verdict here on Monday. The court observed, "The interim bail granted to the petitioner/A-37 vide common order dated 31-10-2023 is made absolute and the petitioner is ordered to be released on regular bail. However, the condition imposed earlier, in respect of his organising or participating in public rallies and meetings, shall stand relaxed from 29-11-2023." The AP government will move the Supreme Court, with additional advocate general Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy saying the High Court order was far in excess of the jurisdiction of the bail parameters as repeatedly held by the apex court. Giving the verdict the High Court further said, "The petitioner is directed to produce the medical reports regarding his treatment before the ACB special court in Vijayawada on or before 28-11-2023, instead of producing the same before the superintendent, Central Prison, Rajamahendravaram. The remaining conditions imposed earlier shall be followed by the petitioner scrupulously." "The court is unconvinced by the petitioners claim that the case was politically motivated as a regime revenge by the present government," it said. "The respondent-state highlights that the issue was raised by a whistle-blower during the previous governments term. While the respondent argues that the income tax authorities independently examined the petitioners role and found fraudulent transactions, no supporting material has been presented." Petitioners counsels Siddarth Luthra and Damamalapati Srinivas and AP CIDs counsel additional advocate general Ponnavolu Sudhakar presented their arguments before the court. The additional advocate general submitted that bail should not be granted to the petitioner on the ground that the other accused in the case were granted bail; and in the event parity was claimed, it was for the court to determine whether a case for the grant of bail on reasons of parity was made out. He submitted that the petitioner could not claim the case as a regime-revenge by the present government and said that the issue started on 14-05-2018 by a whistleblower during the previous Telugu Desam period. "But the blame was unfairly thrown on the present government." Petitioners counsel argued that under section 439 of CrPC, the court can impose conditions while granting bail, but such conditions must balance the liberty of the accused and not result in the arbitrary deprivation of the right to carry out normal activities. Counsel further argued that "every citizen is entitled to possess and enjoy freedom of speech and expression, which are basic in nature." The court observed that the prosecutions claim that the petitioner indirectly influenced witnesses, co-accused and party members lacked substantiating material. The filing of a petiton by Killaru Rajesh before the station house officer of Jubilee Hills Police Station and the non-appearance of Pendyala Srinivas, former personal assistant to the petitioner, did not bear relevance to the bail application. "The investigation agency should follow legal procedures to address any concerns regarding Pendyala Srinivas. The allegation that the petitioner influenced key witnesses and hindered investigatin lacked supporting evidence." "The copy of FIR at Begumpet police station did not mean a violation of interim bail conditions by the petitioner, such as conducting a rally."The court observed that it maintained its stand on the maintainability of the bail application during the pendency of SLP filed before the Supreme Court seeking quashing of FIR in skill scam case, while disposing of the interim bail application. According to additional advocate general, the approach of the High Court was clearly flawed because it sought to go into questions which were not argued by the petitioners counsel, did not fall for consideration. He further said, the High Court acted beyond its jurisdiction in making observations about the material, its relevance, its evidence-worthiness and the gaps in investigation when it was an ongoing investigation and the TD officials stonewalled the investigation taking advantage of the hearing of bail application. "They did not furnish the information as sought by the AP CID. It was really alarming that the HC stepped into the trial courts powers in pronouncing on the merits of the matter, while professing not to go into the merits of the case. The petitioners did not argue their turn when the bail petition was taken up for arguments. The AP CID made such an objection to the court and was recorded. The HCs approach towards the bail petition was unprecedented and had the trappings of a full-fledged trial on the merits of the allegations in an ongoing investigation and it was a gross overstepping of the jurisdiction at the bail stage," the additional advocate general said. Revanth Reddy road show at Film Nagar. (Image by Arrangement) HYDERABAD: TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy on Monday launched a scathing attack on MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, questioning why land deeds were not issued to the poor in Nampally despite being a "friendly party" and "holding the steering wheel of CM KCR". "For 20 years, people here have listened to Asaduddin Owaisi and elected the MIM candidate as their MLA. This MIM leader, who is supporting the TRS, claims that the KCRs car steering is in his hands. If KCRs car steering is in the hands of MIM, why have MIM MLAs failed to give pattas to the poor living in Shivajinagar, Vivekanandanagar and Sri Ramnagar?" he said. Speaking at a roadshow in Nampally, the TPCC chief appealed to the electorate not to split votes among different parties. "A vote cast in favour of BJP is like draining it into the Musi. If votes are scattered among political parties, then MIM will win," he said. Congress candidate Feroz Khan, addressing the gathering, said that Revanth Reddy would become the next Chief Minister of Telangana and would reward him with a ministerial post. Earlier in the day, Revanth Reddy addressed a roadshow in the Khairatabad constituency to seek votes for party candidate P. Vijaya Reddy. "TRS questions what Congress has done for Hyderabad the railway stations, Outer Ring Road, airport, flyovers and even the Metro rail was built under the Congress regime," he said. Praising P. Vijaya Reddy's father, the late P. Janardhan Reddy, a senior Congress leader popularly known as PJR, he took a jibe at the BRS candidate, Danam Nagender. He said that Nagender used to sell bidis at Punjagutta and worked as a driver for Janardhan Reddy. He claimed that even the BJP candidate from the constituency, Chintala Ramachandra Reddy, did not develop the constituency when he was earlier elected as its MLA. At the Parkal Assembly segment in Warangal district, the TPCC chief said that Telangana saw development only under Indiramma Rajyam. "If Sonia Gandhi gives a word, she will never go back. She promised the people of Telangana that the Congress will give a separate Telangana state and she kept her promise," the TPCC chief said. He said that the Congress, during Indira Gandhis regime, distributed houses to poor families. Criticising the BRS leaders, he said: "The Chief Minister's family would be on streets if Congress leader Sonia Gandhi would not have given Telanagana state." "Now, the Congress has given a promise of implementing six guarantees and will definitely implement them after coming to power," he said. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge addresses a public meeting ahead of Rajasthan Assembly elections, in Anupgarh, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (PTI Photo) Jaipur: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "controls" everything - from ports to airports - and he is working towards making people"slaves". Addressing a public meeting in Anupgarh in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan ahead of the November 25 assembly polls, Kharge said the Congress will work to address people's issues and concerns and deliver on the promises made to them. "The prime minister is also touring this area. He will come to Hanumangarh...where we go, we do not get permission to fly. That means everything is under his control - air, land, ports and airports," he said, without elaborating. "They have even started the work of making people slaves, but we are not afraid. We will fight and solve whatever problems the poor are facing, no matter how much they try to scare us," he said. Prime Minister Modi addressed two election rallies in Rajasthan on Monday. Kharge also targeted PM Modi over the allegation that he had abused Modi's father. Modi had alleged in a rally in Nagaur on Saturday that Kharge had abused his father. "I did not take his father's name. There is no use of talking about those who...are not in politics. Modi said that 'I did not spare his father' but I did not event mention about him," Kharge said. The Congress president also took a dig at the prime minister for saying on different occasions that he had sold tea. Khage accused the prime minister of spreading lies to get sympathy. The Congress leader said that his father was a labourer and that he has come into politics to serve people and not to divide them. He also accused the prime minister of dividing people in the name of religion. "You abuse Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and me. You have been working as CM and PM for 23-24 years and still saying you are poor," he said. Kharge said people should not believe such "hypocrites". He said that Congress leaders made sacrifices and fought for the country's freedom and asked if any RSS or BJP had made any contribution to the struggle for independence. He said Congress leaders sacrifice their lives whereas BJP people take away lives. "Who killed Mahatma Gandhi? And the people having the mentality of Nathuram Godse are in which party?" he said. The Congress president said that BJP toppled elected governments in different states, including Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Manipur, Maharashtra. He alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has a big washing machine to "clean up" corrupt MLAs of other parties once they join the BJP. In another rally in Hanumangarh, Kharge said the BJP did nothing except abusing the Congress and making people fight with each other. He said B R Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru framed the Indian Constitution and everyone got equal right to vote. "There is not even a photo of Ambedkar in his (PM Modi's) office but now he is taking his name because Dalits have now awakened. How many times had Modi celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti before 2014? Even today he does not keep Gandhi's photo above his head in his office. Under compulsion Mahatma Gandhi's photos are put in government offices," he said. He said that 30 lakh job opportunities are there in the public sector but the Modi government does not want candidates of reserved categories to get the benefit of reservation, therefore such employment opportunities are being reduced by selling PSUs to the private sector. "You only care about Adani. The big and rich are being made richer and the poor are becoming poorer. We always take care of the poor," he said. Praising the Ashok Gehlot government, he said that the state government has done excellent work in its five years. In the rallies, Kharge also mentioned the seven "guarantees" given to the people by the Congress. The seven "guarantees" or promises include an annual honorarium of Rs 10,000 to women head of family, LPG cylinders for Rs 500 to 1.05 crore families, and law for old pension scheme for government employees. Polling in Rajasthan will be held on November 25 and votes will be counted on December 3. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR Free Report) by 60.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 373 shares of the industrial products companys stock after buying an additional 141 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corps holdings in AptarGroup were worth $43,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ATR. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,003 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 34,083 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $4,028,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 1.1% in the second quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 9,187 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 1.9% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,811 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellevest Inc. raised its stake in AptarGroup by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 596 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.61% of the companys stock. Get AptarGroup alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other news, Director George L. Fotiades sold 9,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.46, for a total transaction of $1,220,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,962 shares of the companys stock, valued at $637,418.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AptarGroup news, Director George L. Fotiades sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.46, for a total transaction of $1,220,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,962 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $637,418.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 2,989 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.23, for a total transaction of $374,312.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,379 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,174,532.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders. AptarGroup Stock Performance Shares of ATR opened at $127.93 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.82. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.50 and a 12-month high of $133.79. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $124.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.62. AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $893.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $889.92 million. AptarGroup had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 13.94%. Equities research analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 4.68 EPS for the current year. AptarGroup Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 26th were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 25th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. AptarGroups dividend payout ratio is currently 38.95%. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research analysts recently issued reports on ATR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, September 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $140.00. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on AptarGroup About AptarGroup (Free Report) AptarGroup, Inc designs and manufactures a range of drug delivery, consumer product dispensing, and active material science solutions and services for the pharmaceutical, beauty, personal care, home care, and food and beverage markets. The company operates through three segments: Aptar Pharma, Aptar Beauty, and Aptar Closures. Read More Receive News & Ratings for AptarGroup Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AptarGroup and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ensign Energy Services Inc. (TSE:ESI Free Report) Atb Cap Markets lowered their Q1 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Ensign Energy Services in a report issued on Thursday, November 16th. Atb Cap Markets analyst W. Syed now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $0.08 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.09. The consensus estimate for Ensign Energy Services current full-year earnings is $0.36 per share. Atb Cap Markets also issued estimates for Ensign Energy Services Q2 2024 earnings at $0.02 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.10 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.13 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.32 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.14 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.06 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.15 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $0.52 EPS. Get Ensign Energy Services alerts: Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on ESI. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ensign Energy Services from C$3.00 to C$3.75 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Ensign Energy Services from C$3.50 to C$4.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Ensign Energy Services from C$4.50 to C$3.75 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Ensign Energy Services from C$3.50 to C$3.00 in a research report on Monday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$4.56. Ensign Energy Services Price Performance Ensign Energy Services stock opened at C$2.19 on Monday. Ensign Energy Services has a 12-month low of C$1.77 and a 12-month high of C$4.11. The stock has a market capitalization of C$401.97 million, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 202.94 and a beta of 3.10. The firms 50-day moving average is C$2.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$2.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 101.15, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Insider Buying and Selling at Ensign Energy Services In other Ensign Energy Services news, Senior Officer Robert Harold Geddes purchased 250,000 shares of Ensign Energy Services stock in a transaction on Monday, October 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$2.99 per share, with a total value of C$746,675.00. 38.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. 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. See Also 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. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME Free Report) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,800 shares of the construction companys stock after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.22% of EMCOR Group worth $19,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EME. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in EMCOR Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EMCOR Group during the second quarter worth approximately $1,273,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. acquired a new position in EMCOR Group in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in EMCOR Group by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 251 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in EMCOR Group during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.57% of the companys stock. Get EMCOR Group alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of EMCOR Group in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a strong-buy rating on the stock. EMCOR Group Price Performance EME stock opened at $214.67 on Monday. EMCOR Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.89 and a 1 year high of $227.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.08. EMCOR Group (NYSE:EME Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The construction company reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.90. EMCOR Group had a return on equity of 26.05% and a net margin of 4.53%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that EMCOR Group, Inc. will post 12.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. EMCOR Group Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 16th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 13th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. EMCOR Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.28%. EMCOR Group Profile (Free Report) EMCOR Group, Inc provides electrical and mechanical construction, and facilities services primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers design, integration, installation, start-up, operation, and maintenance services related to electrical power transmission, distribution, and generation systems; energy solutions; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation in the refining, chemical processing, and food processing industries; low-voltage systems, such as fire alarm, security, and process control systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, signaling, and fiber optic lines; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and geothermal solutions; clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection and suppression systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EME? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for EMCOR Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EMCOR Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canoo Inc. (NYSE:GOEV Free Report) Equities researchers at HC Wainwright boosted their Q4 2023 earnings estimates for Canoo in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, November 15th. HC Wainwright analyst A. Dayal now forecasts that the company will post earnings of ($0.06) per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of ($0.11). HC Wainwright has a Buy rating and a $3.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Canoos current full-year earnings is ($0.53) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Canoos FY2024 earnings at ($0.22) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($0.23) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($0.05) EPS and FY2027 earnings at $0.06 EPS. Get Canoo alerts: Separately, Alliance Global Partners initiated coverage on Canoo in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. They set a buy rating and a $1.55 target price for the company. Canoo Trading Up 16.0 % NYSE:GOEV opened at $0.30 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $189.44 million, a PE ratio of -0.38 and a beta of 1.31. The stocks 50-day moving average is $0.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $0.50. Canoo has a fifty-two week low of $0.22 and a fifty-two week high of $1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.10. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Infini Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in Canoo in the first quarter valued at $10,925,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Canoo by 49.1% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,750,337 shares of the companys stock worth $12,236,000 after purchasing an additional 6,178,847 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canoo during the first quarter worth $2,780,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Canoo by 122.7% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,342,854 shares of the companys stock worth $4,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,494,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Canoo by 22.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,777,485 shares of the companys stock worth $31,458,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093,090 shares during the last quarter. 36.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Canoo Company Profile (Get Free Report) Canoo Inc, a mobility technology company, designs, engineers, develops, and manufactures electric vehicles for commercial and consumer markets in the United States. The company offers lifestyle delivery vehicles, lifestyle vehicles, multi-purpose delivery vehicles, and pickups. It also provides multi-purpose platform architecture is a self-contained, fully functional rolling chassis that directly houses the critical components for operation of an EV. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Canoo Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canoo and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its stake in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA Free Report) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 156,070 shares of the companys stock after selling 3,548 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.17% of DaVita worth $15,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DVA. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of DaVita by 4.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 22,651 shares of the companys stock worth $2,562,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in DaVita by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,555 shares of the companys stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 1,785 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of DaVita by 63.6% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,998 shares of the companys stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of DaVita by 7.3% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,551 shares of the companys stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in DaVita by 847.8% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,090 shares of the companys stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the period. 84.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get DaVita alerts: Insider Transactions at DaVita In other DaVita news, insider Kathleen Alyce Waters sold 9,794 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.81, for a total transaction of $997,127.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 81,297 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,276,847.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth DVA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on DaVita from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of DaVita in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of DaVita from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on DaVita from $142.00 to $113.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, DaVita has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $102.67. View Our Latest Report on DaVita DaVita Price Performance Shares of DVA opened at $96.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.01, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.19. DaVita Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.45 and a 1-year high of $116.97. The stock has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.86. DaVita (NYSE:DVA Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 7th. The company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.02 billion. DaVita had a return on equity of 63.38% and a net margin of 5.11%. The businesss revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that DaVita Inc. will post 8.17 EPS for the current year. About DaVita (Free Report) DaVita Inc provides kidney dialysis services for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure in the United States. The company operates kidney dialysis centers and provides related lab services in outpatient dialysis centers. It also offers outpatient, hospital inpatient, and home-based hemodialysis services; operates clinical laboratories that provide routine laboratory tests for dialysis and other physician-prescribed laboratory tests for ESRD patients; and management and administrative services to outpatient dialysis centers. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for DaVita Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for DaVita and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H Free Report) by 64.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 170,700 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 66,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.16% of Hyatt Hotels worth $19,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Hyatt Hotels in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 80.4% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the companys stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 335.2% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 383 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Hyatt Hotels during the second quarter valued at $43,000. 46.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Hyatt Hotels alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In related news, Director Richard C. Tuttle acquired 1,250 shares of Hyatt Hotels stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $104.49 per share, with a total value of $130,612.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 35,877 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,748,787.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 21.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several analysts have issued reports on H shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Hyatt Hotels from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $149.00 to $146.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, November 9th. TheStreet lowered shares of Hyatt Hotels from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on Hyatt Hotels in a report on Monday, October 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $133.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hyatt Hotels presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $120.91. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on H Hyatt Hotels Stock Performance Shares of NYSE H opened at $115.33 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 1.37. The stocks 50-day moving average is $105.48 and its 200 day moving average is $111.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Hyatt Hotels Co. has a 1-year low of $88.01 and a 1-year high of $127.80. Hyatt Hotels Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 21st. Hyatt Hotelss dividend payout ratio is currently 13.39%. About Hyatt Hotels (Free Report) Hyatt Hotels Corporation operates as a hospitality company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Owned and Leased Hotels, Americas Management and Franchising, ASPAC Management and Franchising, EAME/SW Asia Management and Franchising, and Apple Leisure Group segments. The company manages, franchises, licenses, owns, and leases portfolio of properties, consisting of full-service hotels and resorts, select service hotels, resorts, and other properties, including timeshare, fractional, residential, vacation, and condominium units. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Hyatt Hotels Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hyatt Hotels and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Two young Derry women, who saved two teenagers from drowning, have been honoured for their heroic act of bravery. Rebecca Ebbs and Zara Reid each received a prestigious Water Safety Ireland Seiko Just In Time award at a ceremony in Dublin Castle on Tuesday evening. The pair saved two girls who had gotten into difficulty in the water and were in danger of drowning at Buncrana Shorefront back in May. St Marys College student Rebecca (18) and her pal Zara (18), who attends Lisneal College, were presented with their certificates and a watch by Clare McGrath, the Chairwoman of Water Safety Ireland, and Thomas Byrne TD, Minister of State at the Department of Education. Speaking to Derry Now, Rebecca, who is from Brookdale in the city, said she and Zara had been sunbathing on the beach and had then decided to go for a walk when they heard screaming and a woman shouting there was somebody drowning in the water. The woman asked me if I could swim, said Rebecca, so I dropped everything and swam out into the water. I put the first girl on my back and swam in with her. Zara then got her and took her to the shore. I then went back out and brought the second girl in, on my back again, and handed her to Zara. Thank God we were able to save them.They were really panicking. You know when you go out in the water and suddenly there is just a big drop, that is what happened and they couldnt swim. The guards arrived as we got the two girls onto the beach. They told me if it had been two or three minutes later, the outcome would have been tragic. They said the girls [who are also from Derry] might have lost their lives if we hadnt gone out, said Rebecca, who added that she was embarrassed with all the attention on Tuesday night. Rebeccas mother Catherine, said the mother of one of the saved girls rang her the next day to thank Rebecca. She told me I should be very proud of my daughter, which I definitely am. Recalling the dramatic events of the day, Zara said: I heard screaming and I was looking around to see where it was coming from. Then I saw heads bobbing in and out of the water. I said to Rebecca, Can you see those wee girls? Are they drowning? There was one girl who was closer to the shore and another who was further out. I threw my phone to one of the women on the beach so she could ring the Garda. She had noticed them drowning as well. In the meantime, Rebecca had swum in to get the first girl and once I gave my phone to the woman on the beach, I ran in then to get the second girl. I dont think I was thinking about what we were doing. I was just full of adrenalin to get the two girls out of the water. When the girls were brought to shore, Zara described their breathing as shallow. As soon as we got them out, the guards had just arrived, she said. The two girls were taken immediately to Letterkenny Hospital to rule out secondary drowning. Zara, who is from Drumahoe, said she had felt proud of Rebecca and herself when they were given their awards. She was accompanied to the ceremony by her proud mammy, Sharon, and daddy, Scott. Unbelievably, Zara said she had forgotten about the rescue until she and Rebecca were nominated for their awards. The modest Year 14 said Lisneal College had wanted to acknowledge her achievement on social media but she was reluctant because she didnt want a fuss. Rebecca and Zara were nominated for their Water Safety Ireland Seiko Just In Time awards by An Garda Siochana. To mark World Children's Day vigils have been organised by the IPSC and will be held in Derry and Letterkenny. The Derry vigil will be held tonight (Monday, November 20) at 6.15pm in Guildhall Square. Speaking to Derry Now, Derry City and Strabane District councillor, Shaun Harkin (PBP) said: "According to the World Health Organisation a child is killed, on average, every 10 minutes in Gaza. Pre-mature babies have died because of Israel's inhumane siege of hospitals. "More than 5000 children have been murdered by the IDF in Gaza. Thousands are missing. Thousands are injured. They cannot access food, water, medical help or find a safe place. Israel has turned Gaza into a hell for children. "Everyday brings new horrors. Forcing Israel to agree to a ceasefire is urgent to end famine conditions and the full blown humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. "Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer, Jeffrey Donaldson and others who voted in Westminster against an immediate ceasefire have the blood of Gazan children on their hands. They are complicit in war crimes Israel is committing, including genocide of the Palestinian people. It's shameful for the Irish government to refuse to sanction Israel and expel the Israeli ambassador. The world can see the barbarism of apartheid Israel and the complicity of its political, economic and military supporters, said Cllr Harkin. He added: "Those across the world opposed to genocide and the murder of Palestinian children will escalate mass direct action on the White House, Westminster, the Dail and Brussels for an immediate ceasefire and end to the Gaza slaughter. "We will step up campaigns boycotting Israeli products and companies complicit in Israeli apartheid. "We will block arms shipments to Israel that will be used to slaughter babies in Gaza. "World Children's Day is a call to action to stop the slaughter of children in Gaza and genocide of Palestinians. Everyone can play a part." Derry people with holiday homes in Inishowen affected by defective concrete blocks will be included in the post general election redress scheme envisaged by Sinn Fein. Holiday homeowners were excluded from both of the redress schemes established by the Irish Government to address the homes crumbling as a result of the use of defective concrete blocks and products in their construction - the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme (2020) and its replacement the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme (2023). The two schemes have been described as "not fit for purpose" by Donegal redress activists who are continuing to campaign for a new and improved redress scheme. Donegal homeowners are currently being forced to pay thousands of euro towards the cost of remediating their homes, making it in accessible to many. 'Natural justice says all homeowners would need to have redress, in due course' - Padraig Mac Lochlainn TD Speaking to Derry News, Donegal TD, Padraig Mac Lochlainn said natural justice says all homeowners would need to have redress, in due course. Mr Mac Lochlainns comments followed the passing of a motion on the issue at Sinn Feins recent Ard Fheis in Athlone. Tabled by Donegal Sinn Fein it stated: This Ard Fheis reiterates our commitment to 100% redress for all of the victims of the defective concrete products and defective apartments, duplexes and houses scandals and affirms our belief that the Enhanced Defective Concrete Block Grant Scheme is another scheme that will deny redress to most affected homeowners. Further this Ard Fheis commits Sinn Fein to implementing 100% redress and remediation schemes, delivered by a reconstituted and strengthened Pyrite Resolution Board and the Housing Agency, rather than these failed grant schemes, if in government. Mr Mac Lochlainn added: The reality is all victims are going to need redress. Sinn Fein has always said we first need to prioritise the primary homeowners and tenants in rented properties, be they public or private. Basically, wherever there is a danger to a family living in a house, that is our first priority. That is how Sinn Fein would approach the issue. Then what we need to do is work our way out from there. Our Sinn Fein colleagues in the North have raised the issue with us, although in fairness, it is a cross-party issue, I know the SDLP has raised it also. We are currently working with the Sinn Fein MPs and MLAs in the North to get to a point where there is redress for everybody, said Mr Mac Lochlainn. Giving an example of why the new scheme would have to apply to Derry holiday home owners, Padraig Mac Lochlainn said: You could have a situation where someone lives in a house, it is their home, their primary residence, but it is semi-detached and the semi detached property next door could be a holiday home. In that case, there would be a practical need to go beyond the scheme which is there at present. I can tell you, this issue of semi-detached houses is going to be massive. Already we have seen houses being demolished where a block has been half knocked down. It does not make economic sense to knock half a block down. "For all sorts of reasons, justice being number one, and fairness, holiday homes need to be included in any new redress scheme, said Padraig Mac Lochlainn. Mr Mac Lochlainn said when Sinn Fein talked about 100% Redress, the priority would be primary homeowners and tenants, but it would have to move out to include holiday homes, commercial properties, public buildings like schools, community centres, farming buildings. He added: There is a whole range of issues we are going to have to grapple with based on our own view of 100% redress and what we believe it should be. Right now, as we speak, IS465 [the official testing protocol] is being reviewed. That review, in our opinion, is taking far too long. However, I would be quite confident, when it concludes, hopefully as soon as possible, the current standard is going to have to be changed. And it will have to do at least two things. It will have to test foundations as well as blocks. It will also have to test for much more than mica or pyrite. It needs to test for pyrrhotite, which means the iron sulphides Professor Paul Dunlop and his colleagues have exposed as the reason for the deterioration in concrete blocks and products. I am very confident they will be vindicated. The scheme Sinn Fein envisages would be a scheme based on a new standard, an amended standard and one where the foundations do need to be tested. Hopefully we will get a proper process soon, one which people can trust, so, whatever the science dictates needs to be done, will be done, said Padraig Mac Lochlainn. The Donegal TD said he was very confident IS465 would be changed. At the minute, nobody really trusts 1S465, unfortunately. Hopefully, when we get it changed, we will implement whatever the science tells us. It has to be based on science and safety, he added. What Sinn Fein is saying is take the example of the Pyrite Resolution Scheme, a remediation scheme for families in Dublin and Leinster. That scheme is 100% redress. It actually is a redress scheme and it is implemented by the Housing Agency. A homeowner does not have to go out and get a price; homeowners dont have to go out and get contractors. Everything is dealt with by the Housing Association. The Housing Agency takes the keys from you and hands the keys back to you after the process. That is how it is done and has been done for more than 2,000 homes. Sinn Fein is saying, we need to now reconstitute a Defective Homes Resolution Board and use the Housing Agency, similar to what is happening in Dublin and North Leinster. So, rather than a family being told, Heres what youre getting. Theres a cap. You are getting X amount. Were not including the foundations or the windows or whatever, the Housing Agency rebuilds your house to the same footprint. That is the vision, said Padraig Mac Lochlainn. He added that, in Government, Sinn Fein would implement an actual redress scheme not a grant scheme. We would get rid of the grant scheme and bring in a redress scheme. The key thing is we would acknowledge that natural justice says all homeowners would need to have redress in due course. The example I gave of semi-detached properties, where one is a holiday home and one is a principal residence right next to each other, is why the current Governments policy is unworkable. It doesnt make sense. In the long run it wont work. Derry man Martin Gallagher will be taking up the reins of the sleigh at the Guildhall this Christmas season, as he once again dons his Santa costume to raise vital funds for Children in Crossfire. Martin, who has been fundraising for Children in Crossfire since 2008, said: My wife Mary and I started the Santa Appeal for Children in Crossfire in memory of our son Christopher, who tragically passed away from malaria in 2006 at the age of just 23. Our goals over the years have been to keep Christophers memory alive, raise public awareness of malaria and support a very worthwhile cause. I am looking forward to being at the Guildhall between 10am and 3:30pm every day from Saturday 25th November to Saturday 22nd December, except for Sundays and Thursday 7th December. Ill be there in the sleigh at the main door, ready to welcome everyone to get their photo taken with Santa. People will have a range of options for donating, including cash, online and by text. I want to stress that, in these tough times, every donation will help. Encouraging the northwest public to support the 2023 Santa Appeal, Children in Crossfires Chief Executive Richard Moore said: We are deeply grateful to Martin and Mary for their loyal support for Children in Crossfire. It means a lot that they choose to partner in Christophers memory. Martin dedicates a month each year to fundraise for us as Santa at the Guildhall. Hes there in all weathers, helping passers-by to get into the Christmas spirit with a smile and a warm welcome. Over the years that the Gallaghers have been supporting Children in Crossfire, they have raised more than 90,000 to support our programmes in Tanzania and Ethiopia. This is an incredible achievement from a deeply caring couple and very compassionate family. It is also a wonderful tribute to their much-missed son. I have no doubt the Derry public and visitors alike will once again support our Santa Appeal. As always, we pledge that every penny donated will be put to very good use to support some of the worlds most vulnerable children. Two brothers from County Derry have spoken of going sky high on the other side of the world in a bid to fundraise for a charity which supported their mother. Sean OKane, 25, and his brother Eoghan, 24, have raised almost 9,000 for the charity Marie Curie on the 20th anniversary of their mother Martinas death. The brothers were young children when their mother died from cancer at the age of 37 on November 20 2003. She was nursed at home by Marie Curie. Eoghan, an electrician, moved to Sydney in June with his girlfriend, where Sean, an actuary, joined him for the fundraising skydive. It was a great buzz to do the skydive and really exciting as it was something we hadnt done before, Sean said. It was also very emotional for us just before and after we jumped, just thinking of Mummy as we were doing it in her memory. Mummys 20th anniversary is a very special anniversary for us as a family as my sister Naomh is expecting our familys first grandchild and we know how happy she would have been about that. She has missed so much of our familys milestones so to have been able to do this and to raise money for Marie Curie who looked after her so well is really something. Eoghan said: We will remember and honour Mummy as a family on her anniversary, just as we have done every year since I can remember. We keep her memory alive for us all by getting together surrounded by family and friends on her anniversary and on special family occasions. Their aunt, and mothers sister, Sandra Kelly, from Belfast, said their mother would be proud of all four of her children. When Sean and Eoghan told me they were doing the skydive, I thought it was a very courageous thing to do, she said. Im honoured to be their aunty and thrilled they completed the skydive. Martina would be the proudest mother in the world of all four of her children, now 20 years later. The family raised just over 70,000 for Marie Curie from a gala dance to mark the first anniversary of Martinas death, and also raised more than 7,000 for Marie Curie to mark the 10th anniversary. The charity recently launched its Christmas appeal, Give Care, Comfort and Joy. Details on making a donation can be found at www.mariecurie.org.uk. A former member of the Special Military Unit (SMU) has said as far as he was aware the intention was to try and arrest two Derry men who were subsequently shot dead by the British Army. The witness known as Soldier R was giving evidence at the inquest of William Fleming (19) from the Waterside and Daniel Doherty (23) from Creggan who were shot dead by the SAS in the grounds of Gransha Hospital on December 6 1984. The witness said his role was mobile surveillance on December 6 1984. He told the hearing that he could not really recollect the events of that day but said that there would have been a briefing either the night before or in the early hours of December 6. He told the Coroner, Mr Justice Ian Huddleston, that as far as he was aware there were around six members of the SMU involved in the operation. The witness was asked had there been any reconnaissance of the grounds of Gransha Hospital and he said he had not carried out any nor was he aware of anyone else doing it. Soldier R said that the intelligence indicated that the Provisional IRA were going to attack an off duty member of the security forces with a bus stop being the most likely sight for the attack. He was asked about an extract of another soldier's statement that talked about leaving 'bodies in the street' during operations involving the SMU and said that did not accord with his recollection. The witness said that it was intended that the RUC could catch the gunmen as they approached their target. On the morning of December 6 the witness said he was in a vehicle on his own but added he did not see the motorbike. He said he passed the entrance to Gransha Hospital and turned down a lane nearby. Soldier R said he did not recall hearing shots fired but said he would have been aware that an incident had taken place but believed that that would have been due to radio transmissions. The inquest continues. HIGHLIGHTS The Honor 100 series has been spotted on the Geekbench 6 database. The Honor 100 and 100 Pro are expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipsets, respectively. The upcoming lineup will likely be positioned in the premium mid-range smartphone category. In September, Honor came back to India with its smartphone after almost three long years. For quite some time, there have been several rumours about the Honor 100 series. Recently, the Honor 100 series made an appearance on the 3C certification. Now, the upcoming lineup has made its appearance on the Geekbench 6 database. Lets talk about the standard Honor 100 model first. On Geekbench, the standard Honor 100 smartphone carries the model number MAA-AN00, reports Gizmochina. Also read: Honor 100 series leak reveals key specifications: Check out Honor 100 Geekbench listing (Credit: Gizmochina) According to the listing, the Honor 100 is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset. The device will likely come with 16GB of RAM, and could run on the Android 13 operating system. In Geekbench tests, the Honor 100 smartphone model achieved 1,139 points in single-core and 3,375 points in multi-core benchmarks. Also read: Honor 100 Pro to offer SLR-level photography, says executive Honor 100 Pro Geekbench listing (Credit: Gizmochina) Lets check out whats expected for the Honor 100 Pro model based on the listing. This device is expected to have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset along with an Adreno 740 GPU. The Honor 100 Pro model will likely run on Android 13 and could come with 16GB of RAM. In Geekbench tests, the device scored 1,882 points in single-core and 4,923 points in multi-core benchmarks. According to the Geekbench listings, it seems that the Honor 100 series will likely be positioned in the premium mid-range smartphone category. A company executive recently shared a statement on Weibo, claiming that the upcoming Honor 100 Pro smartphone model will offer an SLR-level photography experience. Also, the company recently revealed the China launch date of the Honor 100 series. The upcoming Honor 100 series is going to land in China on November 23, which is just a few days away now. Further, the brand could bring the smartphone lineup to India in the coming months HIGHLIGHTS The OnePlus 12 will feature a new display with a big upgrade. It is expected to be powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. OnePlus has confirmed a Sony LYTIA camera sensor in the upcoming smartphone. OnePlus has confirmed the launch of its upcoming flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 12. OnePlus will launch the high-end smartphone on December 4 in China. The Chinese brand announced the launch date on Weibo. Furthermore, OnePlus is also expected to launch the OnePlus Ace 3 along with the OnePlus 12. For those who dont know, the OnePlus Ace models come as rebranded OnePlus R models in India. Ahead of the launch, a lot of details about the OnePlus 12 have been revealed, some by rumours and some by the brand itself. Here are three expected upgrades of the OnePlus 12: OnePlus 12 Display During the Snapdragon Summit 2023, OnePlus confirmed a few details of the display of its upcoming flagship smartphone. The company has showcased a new display that will come with a big upgrade. The OnePlus 12 will be equipped with an OLED display that has 2600 nits of peak brightness. This is just double the display brightness of its predecessor, the OnePlus 11. Furthermore, the OnePlus 12 will also feature 2,160Hz PWM dimming. Also read: OnePlus 12 could feature the best display of 2024: Galaxy S24 Ultra, iPhone 15 Pro Max targeted Render leaked by OnLeaks in collaboration with SmartPrix OnePlus 12 Performance The OnePlus 12 is expected to be powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Both the major semiconductor brands, Qualcomm and MediaTek have rolled out their next-gen chipsets. However, the flagships of OnePlus use Qualcomms processor, so it wont be any wonder if OnePlus uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC in the OnePlus 12. Along with that, the OnePlus 12 is also rumoured to feature 12GB RAM for the base model. This could go all the way up to 24GB RAM for the top model. Also read: OnePlus 12 leaks hint at major camera improvements, check specs details OnePlus 12 Camera In this segment, the OnePlus 12 is expected to get a good upgrade. OnePlus has confirmed a Sony LYTIA camera sensor in the upcoming smartphone. This will give the smartphone good picture quality and brightness. Another rumour surfaced on the internet recently, which claims a Periscope Telephoto sensor in the OnePlus 12. No wonder the OnePlus 12 could feature a Periscope Telephoto, as all the other competitors have featured or will feature the said sensor. Weekly news roundup: Samsung reportedly to produce 4nm chips for AMD and other top stories These are the most-read stories during the week of November 13-17: Samsung reportedly has obtained 4nm server chip orders from AMD Korean media Chosun Biz quoted sources saying that AMD will produce a new Zen 5c chip code-named "Prometheus," in which Samsung will produce the base model with its 4nm processing technology, and TSMC will produce the advanced model with its 3 nm technologies. AMD used to only cooperate with TSMC but is now trying to diversify the supply chain risks. Chinese CPU developer planning shift to 7nm process manufacturing China government-supported chipmaker Loongson has begun research on its CPU product line entering the next-generation 7nm technology, with development to commence in 2024, according to company chairman Hu Weiwu. At a recent company event, Hu said that the 7nm advanced process is anticipated to increase the performance of Loongson's 3A7000 CPU by 20-30%. Relevant IP and test chips will be developed next year (2024), according to Hu. US chip giants reduce chip specs for China to circumvent ban, TSMC to benefit Server supply chain insiders reveal that Intel, driven by substantial orders from Chinese clients for its Gaudi 2, is gearing up to meet stringent US specifications while Nvidia, adapting to the restrictive environment, is set to launch a second reduced-specification AI GPU for the Chinese market. Rumors are circulating that AMD's MI300 series might also see a version with reduced specifications. Should these strategic moves by the major players prove successful, it could alleviate concerns for industries affected by the ban. Key players like TSMC, securing major contracts for AI GPU/CPU manufacturing, along with the AI server supply chain stand to benefit from these moves. China achieves RISC-V server milestone amidst potential US sanctions Sophgo and T-head, in collaboration with Shandong University (SDU), have achieved a significant feat by deploying a RISC-V CPU server cluster in the cloud. David Chen, Alibaba's Ecosystem Director heralded this accomplishment as China's first successful deployment during the RISC-V Summit held in California. This milestone comes at a crucial juncture, with US lawmakers urging the Biden Administration to impose restrictions on China's advancements in RISC-V technology through ongoing semiconductor export limitations. Meanwhile, China is actively aiming to reduce reliance on Western chip technology through subsidizing domestic IC manufacturers. Supply Chain Summit: It takes Taiwan and India together to make semiconductors a trillion-dollar industry by 2030 At the opening ceremony of the Supply Chain Summit co-organized by DIGITIMES and the India-Taipei Association (ITA) on November 14 in Taipei, DIGITIMES chairman and president Colley Hwang and India's IT hardware guru, HCL Group co-founder Ajay Chowdhry, emphasized how essential the collaboration of Taiwan and India is in the global semiconductor supply chain for the years to come. "If we believe the year 2030 the total revenue of the semiconductor industry can reach US$1 trillion, then we need a compound annual growth rate as high as 10% for the coming years," explained Hwang. "How is it possible? It's only possible that India and Taiwan work together. Only the Indian market is big enough. And the Southeast Asian countries as well. Are German state aids for Intel and TSMC in jeopardy? The latest ruling from Germany's constitutional court might have jeopardized the country's semiconductor subsidies policy, with the aids planned for Intel and TSMC hanging by a thread. The Karlsruhe-based court decided on November 15 to strike down off-budget funding for climate action, calling into question the future of up to EUR770 billion worth of special funding available for the German government, as reported by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the court, repurposing EUR60 billion of pandemic aid from 2021 to finance the government's Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) contravened Germany's constitution, known as the Basic Law. The decision has raised the fear in Berlin that similar funding vehicles may have to be dissolved by the end of the year. TSMC secures 5nm AI chip orders from Microsoft TSMC has received AI chip orders from major cloud service providers (CSP), including Microsoft's 5nm chip orders, according to industry sources. AI-related chips are thriving, thanks to CSPs like Google, AWS, and Microsoft's technical prowess, as well as their rivalry and collaborative connections with chipmakers like Nvidia, AMD, and Intel, which are also garnering market interest. TSMC has benefited the most from the relevant supply chain, whether it is the previous wave of self-developed chips for smartphones led by Apple and Huawei or the next generation of self-developed chips for AI, the sources said. Two people have been sent forward for trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with murder after the body of a man was found off Sliabh Liag cliffs on July 3. Alan Vial and Nikita Burns have been charged with murdering Robert Wilkin. Vial, 38, appeared in person at Letterkenny District Court while Burns, 21, appeared by videolink from the Dochas Centre at Mountjoy Prison. The court was told that the Director of Public Prosecutions has consented to sending both forward for trial to the current sitting of the Central Criminal Court. Detective Garda Shane Maye told the court he served a book of evidence on Vial this morning in court at 11:18am. Vial, who wore a blue padded jacket and jeans, did not speak during the hearing. Judge Eiteain Cunningham read him the alibi warning and assigned his solicitor, Mr Patsy Gallagher, free legal aid and assigned the accused both a senior and junior counsel in the case. The Judge adjourned the case until the current sitting of the Central Criminal Court on November 28. Detective Sergeant Mattie Murphy told the court he served a book of evidence via Ms Burns' solicitor, Mr Rory O'Brien at 11.13am this morning. She too was given the alibi warning and assigned free legal aid as well as a senior and junior counsel. Her case was also adjourned until November 28 next at the Central Criminal Court. Vial and Burns are charged that on June 25, 2023, at a place unknown within the State, they did murder one Robert Wilkin (also known as Robin Wilkin). The body of Mr Wilkin, aged in his 60s and originally from County Tyrone, was found floating in waters off Sliabh Liag on July 3. Over 200 statements have been taken in the case with detectives piecing together a complex jigsaw of evidence having gathered well in excess of 200 exhibits. Sixteen interviews were conducted with the accused while six crime scenes were designated. Other scenes of interest were also examined by Gardai. Detective Garda Ciaran OBrien told an earlier court sitting that there was a huge volume of forensic analysis required in the matter. Vial and Burns were initially arrested on June 26 on suspicion of a serious assault. It followed information received by Gardai which led to a large-scale search around popular tourist destination. While both were released without charge on that occasion, Vial was then brought before Ballyshannon District Court on July 14 where he was charged with murder while Burns was brought before Letterkenny District Court on August 29 when she was also charged with murder. Following an extensive search involving Gardai, the Irish Coastguard including Rescue 118 and the Donegal Mountain Rescue Team, a body was recovered in water off the cliffs on July 3. The body was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital where a full post mortem was carried out by the State Pathologist's Office. The findings of that post mortem have not been released for Garda operational reasons. Job-seeker support is set to incorporate a pay-related element under proposals being brought to Cabinet. Under plans developed by Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys, people who lose their jobs will be entitled to more than the current weekly 220 euro full rate in the initial months after they are made redundant. The payments will then reduce on a sliding scale. Ms Humphreys is also proposing a pension contribution for carers who have given up work to spend 20 or more years looking after a vulnerable loved one. The minister said the measures, which will be brought to Cabinet on Tuesday, would be funded by an already agreed increase in PRSI rates. Ms Humphreys said Ireland was an outlier in Europe in not having a pay-related linkage to unemployment support. What Im proposing is that if you find yourself unemployed, that you will get a payment that is commensurate with the length of time youve been working, the minister told reporters as she attended the Irish Mens Sheds Association in Virginia, Co Cavan. Particularly, weve seen a number of redundancies recently, where you had workers on salaries of possibly 800 or 900 euros and they found themselves on a flat rate payment of 220 euros which is the payment for everybody across the board. So I want to change that because I think it is a fairer system that those who have paid all their life, who have worked all their lives, to find themselves in the awkward position where they have lost a job, that they would get an enhanced benefit. The minister added: Im also bringing forward legislation to provide pensions for carers who have looked after their loved ones for more than 20 years. And this particularly applies to mothers who have looked after children with severe disabilities and have found themselves that they had to give up work. And now were going to make provision so that they will get a pension when they retire. How its going to work is that if you have been caring for more than 20 years for a disabled family member, that you will get credits for all of the years that you did that work, and then you will automatically be entitled to a contributory pension based on the years of care. Ms Humphreys said there were existing measures in place to support those carers who had been without employment for less than 20 years. They are already being taken care of through the system that we have, she said. So what I want to do tomorrow is to look at the long-term carers who have been caring all their lives. Public expenditure minister Paschal Donohoe said it would be important to ensure that changes to job seeker support payments were affordable in the longer term. Government will have to make a decision on this tomorrow, he said. And, you know, what I have done is what I normally do when were running up to decisions that can have an economic effect in the medium term, is just talk about how this decision needs to be financially sustainable, and what kind of features and changes need to be made to it so Im confident we will be able to afford it in years to come. Ive had engagements with minister Humphreys on it and the Government will consider the matter fully tomorrow. Three Dundalk students have just returned from a study visit to Africa, almost two years after they won the trip as a prize at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. Jona Garcia, Claudine Mulihano and Iman Shittu all former students of St Louis Secondary School in Dundalk, travelled with a group of winning young scientists to far off Zambia, where they visited projects, communities, and met student peers, on a visit that was organised by Irish development charity, Self Help Africa. Jona, Claudine and Iman were the 2022 winners of the Irish Aid sponsored 'Science for Development Award', which includes a travel bursary that is presented annually at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition, in Dublin. They won the award for creating a renewable and electricity-free cooling system for food refrigeration. Organised by Self Help Africa development education unit to encourage student scientists to think about issues and challenges confronting people in poorer countries of the world when they design their BT projects, the three Dundalk students winning entry used salt and sunlight to help preserve food. In poorer countries in the world people live without electricity, so there is no opportunity for them to keep their food fresh in a refrigerator, Jona Garcia explains. By using items that are easy to access we believe that our device could have a role to play. All three girls have since finished school and are studying at university Jona and Iman in Dublin, and Claudine in Galway but the trip to Zambia brought them back together, and united them with a number of other winners of the Irish Aid sponsored travel prize. While it was Iman and Jonas first visit to Zambia, for Claudine it was a chance to return to a country where she had lived, earlier in her life. When I was young my family moved from Democratic Republic of Congo and lived for five years in Zambia. I lived here until my family found our new home in Ireland, she said. In many ways it was like coming home. We visited communities and projects that Self Help Africa is implementing in the country, and also met with Zambian schoolchildren, with whom we shared stories, she recalls. It was a very special experience. Dorothy Jacob, Development Education programme co-ordinator at Self Help Africa said that the recent visit brought a group of students that included four years of winners of the Science for Development Award, to Zambia. The winners of the Science for Development Award would traditionally travel with us as part of schools study visit that we arrange annually for students and teachers, but because of the Covid-19 pandemic this trip has not happened for the past number of years. As a result, the winners of the Irish Aid bursaries from 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 travelled on this visit, she said. Our schools visits are arranged as an immersive experience for young people, and provide them with an opportunity to learn more about the country that is visited, participate in workshops and presentations with their student peers, visit development projects, and hopefully develop a better understanding of the lives of people in sub-Saharan Africa, she added. To find out more about the Irish Aid sponsored Science for Development Award and Self Help Africas schools programme, visit: selfhelpafrica.org/ie /education/. Anord Mardix, a global leader in the critical power industry, has officially commenced construction of a second facility in Dundalk, called D2. Situated close to its sister site (Tanola House), D2 is located on IDA Business & Technology Park and will boast an impressive 11,150 sq. meter (120,000 sq. ft) production space, which will be completed over two phases. The first phase is expected to be operational in the first three months of 2024. The 27 million investment not only includes the construction of the new facility, but also will involve an upgrade of the original facility and reflects the firms continued ambition for expansion and growth in the North East. The two Irish sites will work together to further support clients and customers in the critical power industry both on the island of Ireland and around the world. The D2 site will be the assembly hub while the original D1 location will house fabrication and sub-assembly. The D1 venue will also see existing equipment upgraded to state-of-the-art fabrication machinery, which will improve and facilitate product fabrication for our existing team. The expansion will create up to 200 new jobs adding to the more than 380 who are currently employed in Dundalk. A wide variety of job positions will be available in a broad spectrum of disciplines, such as production and manufacturing roles, office-based engineering roles, key management positions, as well as facilities and operations staff. James Peacock Managing Director, Anord Mardix said: The expansion of our operations in Dundalk comes at an exciting time for the business. We are experiencing global commercial growth at an exponential rate. This expansion will only strengthen the Groups capability to meet demand for our market-leading critical power products and services, both in Ireland and around the world. Also commenting, Rachel Hughes, Senior HR Business Partner at Anord Mardix said, The creation of hundreds of jobs is great news for Dundalk and the surrounding communities of the North East. This expansion would not be possible without the hard work of all our current employees, it is a reflection of their dedication to the business and we look forward to expanding our highly skilled team in Dundalk. We are excited to open our new building, expanding our operation in Dundalk and the challenges and opportunities that will bring. Irish parents have been clashing on Twitter over a teacher's 'ruling' on the correct answer to a maths question in a child's school book. Sunday Independent journalist Mark Tighe shared a photograph of a child's work book with a number of maths problems. He claimed there was a "controversial ruling" from the teacher to a questions about the number of corners in a semi-circle. The child answered '2' but was deemed incorrect by the teacher with the correct answer being marked as '0'. Tighe captioned his post: "Hmm. Controversial ruling from the muinteoir here on "how many corners does a semi-circle have." A number of other people reacted with the question very much dividing opinion. One said "lodge an appeal" while another suggested a "VAR" check. Someone else said: "If you define corner as a 90-degree angle between two lines, then yeah none." Another primary school teacher even chimed in to suggest the child was right with their answer. He posted: "I reckon therell be some argue this, but your child seems to be right. If the definition of a corner is where two lines meets, but doesnt specifically state it has to be straight lines, then a semi-circle has 2 corners. But, if the definition being used is two straight lines, then its 0. " Another woman added: "It should be vertices, not corners. Just saying." Hmm. Controversial ruling from the muinteoir here on "how many corners does a semi-circle have". pic.twitter.com/KMmaQ5qRSE Mark Tighe (@MarkLTighe) November 20, 2023 We are still divided on this one. Tell us what you think in the comments. By SA Commercial Prop News Sephaku Holdings CEO Lelau Mohuba, says the company embarked on cost-cutting measures that include reducing the number of board members from ten to seven. Building and construction-materials group, Sephaku Holdings, says it has embarked on a cost-reduction programme aimed at reducing head office expenses. The company which has a portfolio of assets focused on the building and construction-materials industry, has embarked on cost-cutting measures that include reducing the number of board members from 10 to seven, says CEO Lelau Mohuba. The reduction of the companys head office expenses is meant to soften the effect of difficult trading conditions in the second half of the current financial year. The company, the portfolio of which includes subsidiary Metier Mixed Concrete and associate Sephaku Cement (SepCem), said on Tuesday it expected the constrained trading environment to persist. The group said mixed concrete supplier Metier had been negatively affected by the depressed construction sector. Industry cement volumes are expected to decrease by between 5% to 10% year on year as demand continues to be muted. The groups focus for the next 24 months is to reduce debt, reduce head-office expenses, complete the fleet efficiency-improvement programme at Metier and continue to evaluate opportunities to enhance shareholder value, the company said. Sephaku said cost cutting would focus on high expense items such as travel and other noncritical operational activities. Mohuba said the company would not replace former board member Mpho Makwana, who resigned in early October. Makwana had been on the board for more than five years. He said board members Rose Raisibe Matjiu, who had been on the companys board since 2005, and Kenneth Capes, who was previously an executive director for business development, also resigned on Monday. Capes had served on the board since 2013. Their active participation in the group has been gradually decreasing due to additional external commitments, hence their decision to resign from the board, Mohuba said. The company said Capes would continue to consult for the group on business development as and when required. In the six months, Sephakus net profit rose 79.2%, from R14.8m to R26.5m. Basic earnings per share 75.9%, from 7.29c to 12.83c, and headline earnings per share 77.3%, from 7.10c to 12.59c. Metier increased revenue 4.5% to R468m, while net profit decreased 35.9% to R20.3m. SepCem is a subsidiary of Lagos-based Dangote Cement, and has a December financial year-end. 100 million in credit lines to partner financial institutions for on-lending to youth MSMEs over a five-year period Loan of 20 million to Credit Immobilier et Hotelier (CIH Bank) is the first under the Youth in Business programme in Morocco Programme to support Moroccan youth-led or youth-owned MSMEs with non-financial services The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is driving financial inclusion for young entrepreneurs in Morocco through the local launch of its Youth in Business programme. As part of the programme, the EBRD will channel 100 million in credit lines to six eligible partner financial institutions (PFIs) for on-lending to youth-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) over a five-year period. The PFIs will also benefit from results-based compensation of up to 2 per cent. Supporting youth-led MSMEs in Morocco is essential for the countrys economic growth, as access to finance remains scarce and there are large gaps in financial inclusion among young business owners and managers. According to the market assessment conducted by the EBRD for the program, there is a strong untapped market potential: while 79 percent of young entrepreneurs mention financing as the key obstacle to growing their business, only 22 percent have used a loan and 52 percent plan to use a loan in the future The new initiative underscores the importance of supporting young entrepreneurs who are bringing new ideas to market and reimagining traditional industries with innovative business models. The Youth in Business programme will strengthen their access to skills development and financing opportunities, unlocking their full potential as drivers of inclusive market economies. MSMEs that are privately owned or managed by entrepreneurs under the age of 35 will be eligible to receive tailored capacity-building and business consulting services, including one-to-one advisory projects, training in entrepreneurship, e-learning, and network-building activities. During the launch event, the EBRD signed a 20 million loan to Credit Immobilier et Hotelier (CIH Bank) . This was the first EBRD loan under the Youth in Business programme in Morocco, for on-lending to MSMEs owned or managed by young entrepreneurs. In addition, CIH Bank will benefit from a technical assistance package and incentives to develop a strategy dedicated to better serving youth-led firms. The package will also include a capacity-building component for youth-led MSMEs that will enable the delivery of one-to-one advisory projects, training in entrepreneurship, and digital mentoring. The launch event was attended by Abderrahim Bouazza, Director General of Bank Al-Maghrib, Antoine Salle de Chou, EBRD Head of Morroco office, Barbara Rambousek, Director, EBRD Gender and Economic Inclusion and Richard Jones, Director, EBRD SME Finance and Development for the southern and eastern Mediterranean region. A panel session, featuring local Moroccan banks and other financial institutions, discussed the challenges of starting and growing young businesses. It also looked at efforts to support the local entrepreneurial sector and how the launch of the Youth in Business programme in Morocco is a strategic initiative that responds to the unique needs of this business cohort. Morocco is a founding member of the EBRD and the Bank began operating there in 2012. To date, the EBRD has invested 4.3 billion in the country through 96 projects. * The EBRDs Youth in Business programme is currently active in Egypt, Morocco and the Western Balkans. The programme is supported by the European Union, Luxembourg, Sweden and Italy through the Central European Initiative. A SCHOOL bus might not be considered your typical spot for 24-year-olds to meet. Then again Jenny Fennessy and Dylan Kennedy are not exactly your typical couple. Long before tying the knot six years ago, they were touring together across Ireland together with a play set on a school bus. Jenny from Ballysaggart and Glenville man Dylan were starring opposite each other as nerds on the school bus. At that point they never believed that love might flourish between them. Jenny admits she found her now husband boring and a little bit arrogant. Meanwhile, Dylan recalled a woman who asked a lot of questions and was-a bit annoying. A carpool gave them both the chance to meet out of costume, and out of character. Dylan, who set up Red n Blue Theatre Company with his wife in 2018, cast his mind back to the day they first met. We were playing two nerds sitting together on the school bus, he told The Echo. It all centred around this new kid who was starting at school. The first thing I noticed about Jenny was that she was full of questions and a bit annoying, he laughed. Jenny admits that the feeling was mutual. I remember him coming off as boring and a little bit arrogant , she joked. Jenny Fennessy and Dylan Kennedy play Lily and Tom in their upcoming Red n Blue Theatre Company production Taboo. Fortunately, their first impressions couldnt have been more off. Jen used to drive me home and we had the best chats. That was the turning point for us. Dylan decided to organise the most romantic first date possible. There was a sign up somewhere saying Bingo on tonight. I thought lets go. It ended up being our first date. Jenny said she had no idea if the invitation had romantic connotations. He asked me if I wanted to go to bingo but I wasnt sure if it was a date or not or what the rules were. There was an older couple behind us and they taught us about check and full house. We had a great time. Dylan chipped in; I think my first Christmas present from Jen was Bingo blockers. The pair fell in love before eventually moving to the UK together to gain further acting work. Jenny had flown home to visit family after a successful run in a production in Stratford-upon-Avon when Dylan finally popped the question. It had taken him 10 years to muster up enough courage to do so. We were living in the UK at the time. She had booked a flight home to visit family. I also booked a flight but without her knowledge. I made a treasure trail for her through a forest close to where she is from. When she got to the end I was there. She didnt think I was even in Ireland, never mind at the end of a forest standing underneath a waterfall. It was at this point that I asked her to marry me. Jenny said her reaction was tinged with both shock and excitement. Jenny Fennessy and Dylan Kennedy play Lily and Tom in their upcoming Red n Blue Theatre Company production Taboo. When I saw Dylan I thought that he was the prize at the end of the treasure trail. That would have been enough. I thought that he never wanted to get married and just accepted that. I couldnt believe this was happening. It was the most amazing day ever. The couple tied the knot in 2017 in St Marys Church, Ballysaggart. We cycled away from our wedding on a tandem bicycle because thats our favourite way to travel. Dylan and Jenny are managing to balance working as a physiotherapist and substitute teacher- respectively- with their venture Red n Blue Theatre Company. We had been working as actors in London for 10 years and had good careers there working with organisations such as the National, Barbican, Donmar, Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre of Scotland, Jenny explained. We came home and werent getting acting work in Ireland. That was when we decided to set up a theatre company. Dylan listed the benefits of their shared interest. There are ups and downs on both sides, he said. Thats the payoff for having a joint understanding that we are in the same boat which just happens to have a lot of holes in it. The couple are looking forward to staging their upcoming production Taboo. Supported by Cork City and Cork County Councils, the play unfolds in real time over a three-course meal. It is a romantic comedy about two people trying to present the best version of themselves on a date. After the date goes terribly wrong, they are left with no option but to reveal their authentic selves. The production is directed by Shane Dempsey and will enjoy a five day run at Cork Arts Theatre from November 21 to Saturday November 25 at 8pm. The play will also be staged in the Palace Theatre in Fermoy on Thursday December 7 and Friday December 8 from 8pm. Tickets are priced at 15. ALMOST 42,000 parking fines were issued by Cork City Council in the first 10 months of this year, along with just over 500 litter fines. Information obtained from the city council revealed the local authority handed out 41,994 parking fines between January and the end of October. The data also shows that Cork City Council issued 516 litter fines in the same period, and collected 42,536 as a result of litter fines. Speaking to The Echo, former lord mayor and independent councillor Mick Finn, called for greater enforcement powers to tackle both litter and illegal parking in Cork City. We have a problem with littering and illegal parking throughout Cork City and I believe we need much more enforcement, he said. I think we need super wardens with a multiple remit that would result in much better visibility on the ground. I know there would probably be demarcation issues but it would double our presence in both litter prevention and parking issues. I was in New York a few years ago and saw citizens telling a person who dropped litter on a sidewalk to pick it up, he added. Its tolerated here and costs millions to clean up. I have always said that money could be better spent on public realm enhancement. Fines are obviously a source of income, but I would much rather have a clean and accessible city. Addressing the issue of illegal parking in Cork city, Labour candidate Peter Horgan, said the number of fines appear high. He added, however, that when you see the level of illegal parking in the city centre alone, it could be much higher. My colleague councillor John Maher has documented the spate of illegal parking on the newly developed MacCurtain Street for weeks. It would be important to see an introduction of the tap-to-pay parking kiosks as have been introduced in the likes of Cobh and Mallow, and to move away from the scratch parking discs, especially to see kiosks in Douglas retrofitted with the tap to pay options. The fact that the Cork city parking app still does not extend to Douglas, it needs to be looked at and I have written to officials on that need months ago, he added. COUNCIL DEFENDS PARKING REGIME A spokesperson for Cork City Council said: There is a significant parking enforcement regime in place in Cork city. This level of enforcement is evidenced by the number of fines issued year to date. However, Cork City Council needs to be proportionate in their response to enforcement. A balanced approach is required to encourage motorist to park legally while still encouraging visitors to the city. On the issue of paying for parking in the city, the spokesperson said: There are two payment regimes in place to allow drivers to pay for parking on a public road, ie, pay parking disc or park by phone. Cork City Council believes the future is in the park by phone system as the majority of people use mobile phones and this methodology does not cause street clutter. The parking regime is Douglas is different to the regime in the city centre ie, period of free parking, cost of parking, payment method, the spokesperson stated further. The difference arises as it was agreed that the regime place before the boundary extension would remain in place. AN expectant mother voiced concern for her childrens health as she struggles to cope with shocking living conditions. Rimgita Anusauskaite who lives on Noonans Road in Cork city spoke to The Echo ahead of her due date. The social housing resident said she doesnt want a second child to be born into the same conditions that have significantly impacted her three-year-old daughter Kaylas life. Her main issue is currently black mould which she claims has led to Kayla being forced to miss a number of days in creche due to issues with her chest. Ms Anusauskaite attributes their health issues to the mould in their bedroom which she said should have been resolved years ago. The 23-year-old is part of the Noonans Road residents committee, which was formed to highlight residents concerns. Social-housing residents said they had felt abandoned by City Hall in July, resulting from what they described as unsafe accommodation. The committee even staged a protest outside City Hall. Several of the homes, seen by The Echo at the time, had multiple occurrences of black mould in interior rooms, and some exterior balconies appeared to be crumbling, with a number of their canopies apparently unstable. The Bakers Road flats were built in the 1960s and have the three-storey maisonette design that was introduced to council housing across the city by the then city architect, Eamon OByrne. Rimgita said that her familys living conditions are worsening. She currently resides in her parents home, which she also shares with her sister. Rimgita Anusauskaite, looking at the mould on all the walls, even after cleaning on the landing. I have had to take my child out of creche because the mould has made her sick, she said. The ceiling is leaking. There are so many leaks and it has only become worse since the storm. The council still havent fixed this, so it has turned into a waiting game. Kayla has spent her life with this. I am hoping to get on the council list, as she should be in her own room by now. I have to swap rooms with my parents, because the mould problem isnt as bad in there. Its been really tough. Community activist William OBrien, who is advocating for residents in Noonans Road, reiterated their frustration. Its harrowing to see a mum living in such deplorable conditions, Mr OBrien told The Echo. This is a really poor reflection of the housing department and how it operates. All that residents want to do is protect their children and grandchildren, but they are not being listened to. His remarks come more than three months after chief executive of Cork City Council, Ann Doherty, visited the southside location and voiced her shock at living conditions. The Echo previously published details from a December 2022 Cork City Council draft report on the Noonans Road and St Finbarrs Road flats, which identified major structural defects and recommended the complete demolition of the buildings. The Echo has asked Cork City Council for comment. MORE than 1,000 people marched the streets of Cork City for the sixth week on Saturday in support of a ceasefire in Gaza. People gathered in solidarity at the Grand Parade in the city centre for the rally organised by Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign, before marching down Patrick St, onto Winthrop St, down Oliver Plunkett St, and returning to Grand Parade where speakers took to the stage to show their support. Free, free Palestine and from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free could be heard as the crowd made their way through the city. Following the rally, Socialist Party TD Mick Barry said that it is outrageous that people have to continue to take to the streets. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Socialist Party TD said: More than 1,000 people march in Cork for the sixth Saturday in a row. Outrageous that this has to happen of course but not sure this has ever happened before on the one issue. Theres one for the students of radical history to check. Speaking in Cork on Friday following his visit to the Middle East, Tanaiste Micheal Martin said the focus of his visit was to really engage with people in respect of Emily Hand and prioritise her release. And that would have involved our discussions with the Egyptian foreign minister in particular and with Palestinian authorities, he said. In respect of the war in Gaza, I wasnt alone out there. It was interesting, Josep Borell the European foreign affairs chief was there as well on a separate visit. The Cypriot foreign minister was there. And all of us really are appealing and saying to the Israeli authorities that this war must stop. That too many children and civilians in general are being killed. It is appalling. Also the need for a humanitarian pause to get aid in as quickly as possible. [The message] is one of consistent pressure from the international community in terms of a cessation of hostilities. Meanwhile, Fine Gael TD Colm Burke said he fully supports the call for a ceasefire and urgent de-escalation of the violence, saying Israels actions in Gaza are equivalent to state terrorism. He also condemned the Hamas attack on October 7, describing the abduction and holding of more than 200 hostages as a barbaric act. He said that all UN organisations, the World Health Organization, and all NGOs supporting the people of Gaza have called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which he said would allow for urgent mediation on the release of hostages and the provision of desperately needed supplies to Gaza. He said: I fully support the call for a ceasefire and urgent de-escalation of the violence. The release of hostages should accompany a ceasefire. By SA Commercial Prop News MAS Real Estate (JSE: MSP) buys Flensburg Galerie Shopping Mall in Germany for R1 billion. MAS Real Estate (JSE: MSP) has expanded its presence in the German retail market through the acquisition of Flensburg Galerie shopping centre, northern Germany for R1 billion. This means the company, which acts as a currency hedge for South African investors as it pays dividends in euros, had grown its asset base to more than R19bn. MASs CFO and co-founder Malcolm Levy said the European-focused property counter was on track to deliver euro dividend growth in the double digits for its 2019 financial year, making it one of the most attractive offshore property stocks for JSE investors. Levy said MAS would spend 62.55m on its latest acquisition, the 25,540m Flensburg Galerie, a popular shopping centre located near the Danish border. The mall includes a number of blue chip tenants on long leases, meaning the company has secured a regular stream of income from the asset, he said. MAS would also be able to enhance returns from the asset as it had vacancies for which the fund had potential tenants. There were also opportunities to add or convert sections of the mall, located in a prime area . The centre has direct access to the prime shopping street Holm and houses one of the main car parks serving the city centre, said Levy. With a catchment area of 500,000 people within a 45-minute drive, the shopping centre is well-established in a strong retail location with solid anchor and fashion tenants. The asset provides an ideal opportunity for significant value to be unlocked through active asset management and we are excited about the substantial interest already received from a number of potential tenants, he said. MAS increased its dividend 30% for the year to June 2018. Levy said the groups strategy, which had seen it add assets to its portfolio at a relatively rapid pace, would enable it to achieve similar growth in the June 2019 financial year. About 60% of MASs annual revenue is generated in western Europe, where the group has a footprint in Switzerland and Germany. The other 40% is generated from MASs PKM Developments, a joint venture with eastern Europe-focused Prime Kapital. It has co-invested with the firm in a number of assets located in countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Poland. A 36-year old Cork man got a nine-and-a-half-year sentence for causing the loss of a mans eye by throwing corrosive liquid in his face in a case where he enquired of investigating gardai about the victim Is he still a handsome man? Judge James McCourt imposed a sentence of 10-years on John Paul Carey at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Monday and suspended the last six-months. Francis Costello, the injured party, who hoped he would be killed during the attack because of the extremity of the agony he was feeling said he later contemplated suicide but thanked family and friends who kept him going. Mr Costello, 40, said afterwards that he did not accept the recent apology from the accused which he said came too late to have any meaning. He said he still had nightmares about the accused. What he did to me you wouldnt do to an animal, he said after the sentencing. Mr Carey pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm as well as assault causing harm to two of his brothers. John Paul Carey got involved in a dispute between Francis Costello and his ex-partner, who started a new relationship with Mr Carey four months before this attack. Victim, Francis Costello, said as he struggled to stay composed in the witness box, I would consider myself an outgoing, confident and sociable person. I have had a lot of hobbies and interests I have not had an easy life as I have struggled with addiction in my past. I am proud to say that I am in recovery today, rebuilding my life, a day at a time. The night of March 4, 2022 will remain with me for the rest of my life, the physical pain I went through, I just wanted to die, to stop the burning in my eyes, my face and my head as I lay on the ground, crying and screaming in pain while I was being punched and kicked. I was praying the next blow would be fatal, just to stop the suffering. Little did I know that night that for the next year I would be battling with my mental and emotional health, attending multiple procedures surgeries and my eye being removed last October. I have lost my job which brought huge financial stress and left me in a lot of arrears in my life. I lost the will to live and I had planned to end it all so many times. Thankfully I did not go through with it. I believe today there is a way through anything life might throw at me. I am grateful to the support network of friends, family and neighbours for helping save me when I just did not want to save myself. I would also like to thank Support After Crime Services and for the Mental Health Service for their support and assistance when I needed it. I will be forever grateful. John Paul Carey was previously living in Glanmire, County Cork, and Dunmanus Crescent in Knocknaheeny, Cork. Detective Inspector Jason Lynch said there was a knock on the front door of the Costello home at Connolly Road, Ballyphehane, Cork, at 8.20 p.m. on March 4, 2022. Francis Costello answered the door where he was met by John Paul Carey. Both were known to each other. Mr Carey is now residing with Francis Costellos former partner. There was a brief discussion about a phone call the night before. Before he got a chance to answer Mr Carey, a liquid was thrown in his face. He fell to the floor with severe pain and was screaming. Mr Carey commenced an assault on him. On hearing the screams, Roy and John came to their brothers assistance. Both instantly recognised John Paul Carey. They too were doused with a liquid. It caused severe burning and agony. John suffered chemical burns to his face. Roys hands and arms were burned. Mr Carey fled the scene. Roy contacted the emergency services. Francis suffered severe burns to his face and scalp He suffered a severe injury to his left eye. For these chemical injuries he was hospitalised for a number of weeks. He lost his left eye. John had chemical burns to both eyes and was left with 90% sight in his right eye and 80% in his left eye. The substance was submitted to Forensic Science Ireland which found it was Sodium Hydroxide, commonly known as caustic soda. John Paul Carey is 36-years-old and from Glanmire, now resident in the Knocknaheeny area. He has 99 previous convictions, Det Insp. Lynch said. Those convictions include counts for dealing 50,000 worth of heroin and an armed robbery of Little Island Post Office. John Costello said in his victim impact statement, It was the most horrific thing my face burning, my eyesight was gone. I was lucky enough to get my eyesight back to an extent I am left with a fear of answering the door each time the doorbell rings. Roy Costello made no victim impact statement. Defence senior counsel Elizabeth OConnell said the accused had pleaded guilty to the three assaults, obviating the necessity of a trial, and had written a letter of apology to the accused. Judge McCourt said, Loss of an eye is an enormous injury But sentencing is not an exercise in vengeance and is not revenge by the victim. The judge said that aggravating factors included previous convictions for some serious offences including armed robbery and drug-dealing, and the nature of injuries suffered in this case. A further aggravating factor was that the crime was carried out in the sanctity of the injured parties own home. This was not alone cowardly but unprovoked and the actions were planned and premeditated, Judge McCourt said. He added that at a time when gardai were looking for the defendants assistance in identifying the liquid used, their enquiries were met with the unhelpful comment - Is Francis still a handsome man? WEST Cork Presentation Sister Josephine McCarthy has been named as Cork Person of the Month for November. Sr McCarthy was chosen in recognition of her more than 30 years of work in community development. Known as Sister Jo, her missionary work took her to Peru in 1978 for the Cork and Ross Mission, and later to Presentation missions in Ecuador and also Peru, where she worked for 20 years. She returned to Ireland in the early 2000s. Originally from Ballinacarriga, Dunmanway, she was inspired by the legacy of Nano Nagle, founder of the Presentation Sisters. We did serve in some very dangerous places whilst doing our missionary work, said Sr McCarthy. When in Ecuador, we lived in an area which was completely lawless, and every dispute was settled with an axe. Sr McCarthy supported a development education programme with Presentation Secondary Schools for many years, facilitating an immersion experience for teachers and students across Africa, Pakistan, and India. In 2006, the Presentation Sisters set up the Cork Migrant Centre at Nano Nagle Place in Cork City. CMC is a psychosocial wellbeing and integration hub, which aims to create safe spaces for migrants. The hub allows them to enhance their skills and capacities, while also initiating integration opportunities by building collaborations, partnerships, and linkages, both nationally and internationally. Sr Jo has been a key shaper and developer of these programmes. She stepped down as director of the Cork Migrant Centre in 2018, though she remains an active volunteer. Her name will go forward, alongside the other monthly winners, for possible selection as Cork Person of the Year for 2023, which will take place at the annual gala awards lunch in January 2024. CORK City Council has been accused of being seemingly disinterested in tackling the issue of dog fouling, after it was revealed the local authority issued no fines for such offences in the first 10 months of the year. Information obtained from the local authority shows that zero fines were issued for dog fouling offences between January and October, 2023. The latest figures confirm that Cork City Council has issued just one fine for dog fouling in the past 22 months. Speaking to The Echo, Labour candidate Peter Horgan said: The mind continues to boggle at the seemingly disinterested approach to dog fouling there is from City Hall". Kerry County Council conducted 173 operations this year that resulted in 12 fines - still low but an insight to some proactively at least. It is an issue raised on every door I knock on and will only be resolved through a change in approach by a new byelaw and proactive method of tackling the issue, Mr Horgan added. We still dont see any dog bins on the Blackrock Line or the Marina, or even on the new Tramore Valley link walk in Grange. Its an area that appears forgotten. Earlier this year, Cork City Council was accused of shrugging its shoulders in the face of a dog fouling issue in the city, after The Echo revealed just one dog fouling fine was issued by the local authority in 2022. In statements to this newspaper, the city council has continuously cited what it describes as barriers to issuing fines, including a lack of eye-witness and a lack of witnesses willing to go to court. In the county however, 17 dog fouling fines were issued last year by Cork County Council. When asked earlier this year about the difference in the number of dog fouling fines issued by Cork local authorities last year, a spokesperson for Cork City Council said: When comparing statistics it is important to do so in a fair and equitable manner. Cork County Council has five times more dog licences than Cork City Council. It is thus logical and proper that we would issue less fines for dog fouling". Given the fact that we have less that 20% of the dogs as in the county, we should therefore issue 80% less fines. Thus, if the county issued 17 fines then the corresponding figure for the city would be three and not 17, they added. Addressing the matter of actually issuing dog fouling fines, the spokesperson said: The difficulty in issuing fines is that the litter warden must actually witness both the dog depositing faeces, and the person in control of the dog neglecting to remove the faeces. The practicalities associated with this mean that it is extremely challenging and time consuming to issue fines for such offences" . Alternatively, a member of the public who witnesses an offence can make a complaint, they added. In such cases a fine will issue if the complainant is prepared to go to court if necessary and give evidence. The legal requirement for the complainant to go to court in such cases is a barrier for members of the public proceeding with their complaint, as anonymity is often required by members of the public who report such instances. 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 government commission in Ohio has decided to open some state parks and wildlife areas to fracking. The decision comes amid an investigation on allegations of possible fraudulent support from an industry group representing energy companies, The Associated Press reported. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) greenlit multiple fracking proposals on land owned by Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Department of Transportation, according to a report by The Associated Press. The commissioners held a meeting to consider the applications, and many environmentalists showed up to protest. After one member of the audience threw play money on the ground in front of commissioners in protest, the commissioner chair Ryan Richardson responded, Im going to ask again that we can show respect to the commissioners, Ideastream Public Media reported. The protestor responded, Why should we show respect when you are not respecting us, and youre giving away our land to profit-making oil and gas? Why should we sit here and let you do that? Days before the decision, Ohio Senate Democrats sent a letter to OGLMC, asking them to decline the applications to frack in state parks. These applications, if approved, would very likely lead to disastrous consequences, not only for the cleanliness and wellbeing of our state parks, but also for the health and safety of our fellow Ohioans who live near and visit these peaceful refuges, the letter said. If the Commission is not prepared to outright reject all applications for fracking under Ohios state parks, we hope that these concerns, shared both by us and by many Ohioans, at least give you pause. We strongly urge that you consider outright rejecting or at minimum, delaying these applications. Ultimately, the commission approved three applications for Salt Fork State Park, three in Valley Run Wildlife Area, one in the Zepernick Wildlife Area, and one for a property in Belmont County that is owned by the Ohio Department of Transportation. Fracking has technically been legal on Ohio public lands since 2011, The Allegheny Front reported. Previous language included that state agencies may lease state lands for fracking, but recent amendments changed that language to shall. There is an ongoing investigation following claims of possible fraud regarding public support for fracking on Ohios public lands. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reported that there were allegedly nearly 150 public comment letters in support of opening up land parcels for fracking with names of people who say they didnt authorize the letters. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reported that they traced these comments back to two groups that advocate and lobby for natural gas industry campaigns. The Consumer Energy Alliance has disputed the claims and questioned the Cleveland.coms and The Plain Dealers investigation and reporting. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost responded in September 2023 that he would investigate the situation. A spokesperson for Yost told The Associated Press the investigation is ongoing. Bidding nominations can begin starting in January 2024, but protestors have said they will continue to show up to the meetings. At a time when the science is telling us we have to stop all the oil and gas, instead were doing this in our parks, Cathy Cowan Becker, a member of Save Ohio Parks, told The Associated Press. Were rightfully really angry about this. 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. Agents of Brazil's state environmental agency inspect containers coming from Britain containing household waste improperly labeled as recyclable plastic, in the port of Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on July 22, 2009. MAURICIO LIMA / AFP via Getty Images European Union (EU) member states and lawmakers have reached an agreement to stop exports of certain types of waste, including plastics, to countries outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) group of mostly rich countries starting in mid-2026. Exports of certain non-hazardous wastes and mixtures of non-hazardous wastes will be allowed only to those non-OECD countries that consent and fulfil the criteria to treat such waste in an environmentally sound manner, the European Parliament said, as reported by Reuters. Compliance with the rights of international workers will also be taken into account, Parliament added. In 2021, the European Commission proposed a revision of waste shipment rules in the EU in order to make it more difficult for member countries to ship their trash to poorer nations. The EU will finally assume responsibility for its plastic waste by banning its export to non-OECD countries, said Pernille Weiss, a member of the European parliament from Denmark who was director of the proposal, as The Associated Press reported. Parliament said EU member states must stop exporting their plastic waste to poorer countries, adding that plastic waste export rules for OECD countries would be made stricter as well, reported Reuters. In past years, about half of waste exports from the EU have gone to non-OECD countries that have less-strict waste management rules. Once again, we follow our vision that waste is a resource when it is properly managed, but should not in any case be causing harm to the environment or human health, Weiss added, as The Guardian reported. The European Parliament and Council must formally approve the new rules before they can take effect, as well as completely stop exports to non-OECD nations and set stricter rules on plastic waste exports to rich countries. After five years, nations can request a lifting of the ban if they would like to import plastic waste from the EU as long as they show they are capable of treating it properly. Less than a third of the plastic in Europe that gets thrown away is recycled and most gets burned. Whilst this is an improvement to current obligations, the evidence of the harms and necessity for a full plastic waste ban are clear. This is a signal that the EU is finally beginning to take responsibility for its role in the global plastic pollution emergency, said Lauren Weir, an ocean activist from the Environmental Investigation Agency, as The Guardian reported. Some types of non-plastic waste could still be exported to non-OECD nations if they meet specific environmental and social requirements. [I]t is disappointing to not see a total export ban on shipments and not even a ban on hazardous and mixed plastic waste to Turkey, which is both the largest importer of plastic waste in the EU and an OECD member, said Sedat Gundogdu, a microplastics researcher at Turkeys Cukurova University, as reported by The Guardian. We know from past practices that partial bans and ineffective content controls do not prevent the illegal circulation of plastic waste. Do you want to access to this and other private contents? Log in if you are a subscriber or click here to request service Coca-Cola Europacific Partners plc announced today that it has signed, together with Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., a Philippine holding company based in Manila, a definitive agreement for the joint acquisition of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. by The Coca-Cola Company. 100% of CCBPI has a value of 1.8 billion dollars "on a debt-free and liquidity-free basis", underlines the official statement... Singapore launches RAS farm housed in 20-foot container Aqualita Ecotechnology, a Singapore-based aquaculture system company, has recently established a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) housed in a single 20-foot container in the city-state. The development was hailed as the first time such a fish farm of its kind was set up in one of Singapore's many public housing towns. Located in the regional centre of Tampines, the RAS farm is also part of a two-year initiative called "Our Fish Storey" that highlights a commitment to eco-sustainability. "Our Fish Storey" aims to drive community food resilience as well as help to realise Singapore's "30 by 30" goal the country's desire to expand its agri-food sector's capability to sustainably produce 30% of its nutritional needs by 2030. "It is crucial to acknowledge that Singapore currently imports more than 90% of our food supply leaving us vulnerable to challenges posed by climate change, market volatilities and disease outbreaks," said Masagos Zulkifli, Singapore's Minister for Social and Family Development, in his speech during the farm's official launch on November 19. "The COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the beginning of the circuit breaker, brought to light our dependence on external sources for essential sustenance. This underscores the urgency to boost our food security through local food production." According to the minister, Aqualita Ecotechnology will sell fish to fishmongers in Tampines at cost price, ensuring cheaper fish for residents and lower foot miles and carbon footprint of delivering them. The company's container farm produces jade perch which is considered "safe, scalable and sustainable," a press release stated. Operations at the facility do not require antibiotic use and can mitigate pollution caused by unconsumed feed. "Parameters of the growing environment can be remotely monitored, reducing the need for on-site staff," the press release added. "A single system can produce up to 1,200 kg of jade perch annually, within a space of about 15 square metres." Aqualita is a start-up created by Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory in 2021 to introduce more than 15 years of aquaculture research innovation into the market. The company, which sources its fingerlings from Aqualita's nurseries, hopes to achieve its first harvest in four to six months. It is also involved in a project that seeks to create feed which can decrease the period of fish growth to one month. "Jade perch is actually an omnivore not a carnivore or herbivore," Goh Chin Heng, director of technology at Aqualita, told local media The Straits Times. "But many farms are using carnivore feed for the fish" This feeding practice can lead to excessive oil deposits in the fish's abdominal region, causing health issues. "Abdominal fat also adds to the weight of the fish, but it's something that will typically be thrown away during processing and ends up in the waste bin," Goh added. Barramundi, red snapper, hybrid grouper, tilapia and murray cod were previously considered for farming in the container facility. Containerised fish farms, a game-changer for land-scarce Singapore, can produce at least 25% more fish by weight when compared to conventional fish farms. Harvest time is cut down by 15% thanks to better feed, disease management and control over farming parameters. - eFeedLink EU investment in fish farming did not get "tangible results," auditors say The European Union's investment in fish farming, worth more than 1 billion (US$1.1 billion) in EU funds over seven years, has failed to deliver "tangible results" in the aquaculture sector, according to the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The EU has come up "empty-handed" after tripling its spending on aquaculture for the 2014-2020 period, a report of the EU auditors released on November 15 found. Aquaculture occurs in marine or inland waters and in land-based facilities equipped with water circulation systems. The development of sustainable aquaculture is included among the goals of the Farm to Fork strategy, the EU's flagship food policy. The practice is promoted as a source of protein with a lower carbon footprint. But, despite the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund granting 1.2 billion (US$1.3 billion) to aquaculture for the 2014-2020 period, with another billion earmarked for 2021-2027, this has not translated into action on the ground, according to the auditors. "Too much money was put on the table [and] a large part of it has not been used," the auditors pointed out. A high administrative burden could explain the low absorption of funds. The European Commission blamed "lengthy" and "uncertain" licensing procedures for discouraging investment, according to the report. The auditors found that difficult access to water also hampers fish farming. Planning is key to "resolving conflicts [between aquaculture and] the tourism sector, fisheries and shipping," Matteo Tartaggia, lead auditor on the report, told journalists. Yet, some member states, including Italy, Greece and Romania, had not completed their maritime spatial planning at the time of the audit. The ECA report also raised concerns about the lack of clear goals. "EU countries financed almost all eligible projects irrespective of their contribution," said Nikolaos Milionis, ECA member in charge of the report. According to Milionis, the selection criteria "were not very strict". Funds for the 2014-2020 period must be spent by the end of this year. "There is a risk that, since money is available, it is not spent on [the most profitable] projects," added Tartaggia. Despite the EU's pledge to boost the sector's competitiveness, ECA has reported stagnation in production volumes and a decline in aquaculture employment since 2014. In 2020, the EU's total aquaculture production was 1.1 million tonnes, less than 1% of the global total. Two-thirds of the EU's fish farming is concentrated in four member states: Spain, France, Italy and Greece. The EU has failed to monitor the potential environmental impact of food farming, according to the auditors. "We couldn't find a single set of indicators to assess the footprint of aquaculture," said Tartaggia. According to the report, the European Commission is working to develop a guidance document with such indicators. Potential environmental damage from aquaculture includes habitat degradation, contamination and algal blooms caused by nutrient build-up. Greece, the fourth largest aquaculture producer in the EU, is expected to be among the member states with the highest environmental impact, the report stressed. Most Greek production is marine fish, which requires more feed input than shellfish and puts more pressure on marine waters. "Still, at this stage [the environmental impact] is localised and reversible," Tartaggia concluded. - Euractiv Aviagen Asia Pacific strengthen connections at Vietstock 2023 in Vietnam The Aviagen Asia Pacific team recently demonstrated its commitment to Vietnam's poultry market at the 11th edition of the Vietstock Expo and Forum, the country's premier feed, livestock and meat trade show. Taking place on October 11-13 in Ho Chi Minh City, the event provided a dynamic platform for industry leaders and stakeholders to exchange insights and advance poultry farming in their region. Aviagen'steam valued the opportunity to connect with local farmers and showcase their diverse portfolio, including the Arbor Acres, Indian River and Ross brands of quality breeding stock, the company said. This broad selection plays a key role in enhancing the competitiveness of poultry producers in Vietnam and across Asia Pacific, enabling them to offer the right bird for the right market. Aviagen representatives discussed with Vietstock attendees how, by "Breeding Success Together," they can strengthen the health, welfare, efficiency and performance of their birds. This effort ultimately contributes to profitability, supporting the success of their businesses. Central to that success is a strong emphasis on bird welfare and sustainability. Aviagen birds consistently excel in welfare and sustainability traits, encompassing robust health, high livability, adaptability to various weather and growing conditions, and superior feed efficiency. These traits go hand in hand to ensure the ability of local farmers to feed their communities with nutritious source of protein while preserving the planet for future generations, Aviagen explained. "We are dedicated to serving our local customers and business allies," said Larry Blackstone, brand manager of Ross Asia Pacific. "Vietstock is an essential platform for us to connect, listen and learn from our valued customers. It allows us to demonstrate our commitment to their success and to the poultry industry as a whole. By actively participating in events like Vietstock, we reinforce our position as a trusted champion for the local poultry industry, striving to provide innovative solutions and unmatched support." - Aviagen Cargill Philippines pledges US$2.6 million in investments to nourish communities Cargill Philippines, a local subsidiary of the global food and agribusiness leader, has doubled on its commitment to sustainability and nourishing communities in the Philippines as it celebrates its 75th anniversary of helping Filipino partners and consumers thrive. As part of its anniversary, Cargill Philippines will plant a variety of 7,500 trees across the locations of where they operate to capture at least 25,000 tonnes of carbon. This initiative reflects the company's commitment to sustainability and will be done along with its community partners from Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), Cargill said this month. "Enriching local communities is embedded in Cargill's purpose to nourish the world, driving progress in our efforts to deliver meaningful social and environmental impact where we live and work," said Sonny Catacutan, country president of Cargill Philippines. "We believe in supporting local communities to pave the way for a more inclusive and resilient food system and sustainable future for Filipinos." To continuously empower communities in its milestone year, Cargill is investing US$2.6 million to support existing and new projects that advance farmer livelihood and the agriculture industry, as well as drive environmental impact. This investment will launch the Adopt-a-River for Tigiro River project where Cargill aims to rehabilitate the river that runs beside their processing plant in Batangas. Part of the investment will also be allocated to expand Cargill's long-term efforts to support smallholder corn and coconut farmers through training on sustainable agricultural practices, improved productivity and market access, and increased income. These efforts comprise the Agri-Sagana Project in partnership with ASSIST, which will create value for an additional 7,000 corn farming families and 10 cooperatives in Isabela and Cagayan, and the RISE Coco (Recovery Intervention for Severely Affected Coconut Farming Affected Communities of Bohol by Super Typhoon Odette) Project in partnership with CARE Philippines which trains an additional 300- 400 coconut farmers in Bohol. Catacutan expressed optimism that Cargill will remain bullish to grow its businesses and to give back to communities in the country. "Cargill envisions a future marked by shared success with Filipino farmers, as well as our employees, customers, industry and government partners," he said. "By coming together, we can scale our impact, in transforming the local agriculture sector and helping build vibrant and resilient communities that thrive." - Cargill Red Rock Island, a 6-acre outcropping touted as the last private island on San Francisco Bay, is hitting the market this week for $25 million. Aerial Canvas There is no water. There is no power. There is no Wi-Fi. There is no parking. But there also are no neighbor hassles. Red Rock Island, a 6-acre outcropping that is touted as the last private island on San Francisco Bay, is going on the market this week for $25 million, according to its listing agent. Though the island has been for sale before and has been considered for every possible isolated use, from a rocky top Playboy Club to a wind farm, this is the first time it has been included on a multiple listing service, a database that allows brokers to see other agents listings. There have been unsolicited offers in the past, but it has never before been officially for sale, Red Rocks listing agent, Chris Lim of Christies International, said Sunday. This is such a rare and unique offering. Ive never seen anything like this my entire career. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The island, which sits just south of Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, is on the dividing line between San Francisco and San Pablo bays and is in three counties Contra Costa, San Francisco and Marin. Given the complications, it has not been built upon and it is unknown what kind of construction would be allowed or how crews would get there to build. As it is, the island is reachable only by air or water, which puts a crimp on the Sunday open house market. Viewing is by appointment only. We can go by chartered yacht or boat, by seaplane or helicopter, Lim said. For those a bit more adventurous, we could go by Jet Ski or kayak or even paragliding. There are challenges to build, beyond the access issues. The property is zoned for residential use in San Francisco County, industrial use in Contra Costa County, and general use in Marin County, according to Lim. But there is no flat spot to build, necessitating hilltop construction. It is also not yet known whether multiple homes would be allowed. Such construction could reduce loneliness on the island. Though Red Rock Island has been offered for sale before, this is the first time it has been included on a multiple listing service, which allows brokers to see other agents listings. Aerial Canvas Advertisement Article continues below this ad Red Rock was used by Russian fur trappers in the early 19th century and, later, for mining manganese, the mineral that gives the rock its red color. It has had one known resident, Selim Woodworth, a former state senator who built a hunting cabin on the island. Subsequent owners Mack Durning, a retired San Leandro real estate investor, and David Glickman, a former San Francisco attorney turned Bangkok gem salesman, proposed building a 20-story hotel, casino and yacht harbor back in the 1960s, but the idea created such a furor that they backed off. Among the suitors since then was the Rolls-Royce-owning Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a spiritual leader who ran a notorious Oregon commune and was once dubbed the sex guru. He was about to buy Red Rock in 1985, but his commune collapsed and he was deported, Durning told the Chronicle. In 2014, the island became the site of a creative funeral for a sailor. There is so much that is possible with this island, said Lim, noting that the last unsolicited offers were for a wind farm and from two separate princes interested in the island. One unsolicited study was done for the island to include a marina, heliport, restaurant, art gallery, hotel, wedding chapel, observation tower and geodesic umbrellas. The views of San Francisco, Belvedere, the Oakland hills and the Bay Bridge are incredible. The current owner, Brock Durning, inherited the island from his father. It was used for family getaways but Durning has retired to Alaska and has no further use for the island, if he ever did. Durning reached out to Lim, due to the agents credential as the former president of Christies International Real Estate, which has $100 billion in global sales annually. He is now Global Brand Ambassador for Christies and is based in San Francisco. Advertisement Article continues below this ad To familiarize himself with the listing, Lim took a private boat 20 minutes from Point Richmond, he said in a news release, and was able to walk onto the beach without getting wet. He then spent an entire day there. I felt an undeniable connection to Northern California the rugged landscape, unspoiled beaches, and the deep, mesmerizing blue waters, he said. Once Red Rock hits the open market, Lim will entertain offers and arrange visits. Im interested in finding a prospective buyer who realizes the exceptionally rare nature of the property, he said, whether it is for conservation or for potential development. Nora Mishanec is a San Francisco Chronicle breaking news and enterprise reporter. She joined the paper in 2020 as a Hearst fellow and returned in 2022 after a stint at The Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com. Top 10 place for Miggy at Macau GP Local TT rider Michael Miggy Evans finished 9th in the Macau Grand Prix at the weekend. Miggy told Energy FM that Macau itself and the race was very unique and quite mind blowing. The 30 year old raced his own GSXR Suzuki 1000cc in the Superbike class - the same bike he raced at the North West 200, TT and British Superbike (BSB) rounds this year. He was very quick to thank Reece Crellin and Graham Thomas for looking after the bike, along with Andy Grimshaw for helping with the suspension; plus everyone who has supported him on social media. With Macau done and dusted Miggy has his sights firmly set on 2024. He has started to make his plan for the next years race season and hopes to head out to Spain early in 2024 for some pre season testing. Charity trek raises over 500 for Junior Achievement Sandra Georgeson has helped raise over 500 for Junior Achievement Isle of Man (JA IOM) by completing a charity trek in Jordan. Georgeson who is Acclaim Limiteds Managing Director was part of a team of fundraisers who raised funds for the charity. The exact total raised by the team had not been confirmed at the time of writing, but it is expected to be over 9,000. Sandra said: Visiting Petra had been on my bucket list for a long time, so when I heard about the JA IOM trek I knew I couldnt miss the chance to realise my ambition, and at the same time raise funds for a charity that I value. She added: I must say a big thank you to the fantastic JA IOM team and my fellow trekkers, our guides, and of course everyone who generously donated to my and the teams JustGiving pages. JA IOM have announced details of its 2024 Charity Trek which will be in Nepal from October 26 to November 3. Cruise, the self-driving car company owned by General Motors, confirmed to Reuters that its co-founder and chief product officer Daniel Kan has resigned. Kans departure comes just a day after the companys CEO Kyle Vogt announced his resignation on X after a 10-year tenure. Kan is said to have announced his resignation over Slack, however, the reasoning for his departure has not been made clear by the company. The companys executive reshuffling follows a public relations nightmare that started last month when a Cruise robotaxi hit a pedestrian in San Francisco and pinned them under the vehicle. The parent company, GM, is still conducting a safety probe on the accident and both autonomous and manual vehicle operations at Cruise remain suspended. The companys public image has been reeling from the accident ever since, and about 950 robotaxis had to be recalled by GM. The California DMV suspended Cruises driverless permits shortly after, and that ruling has remained in place. (1/6) We learned today at 10:30 am PT of the California DMVs suspension of our driverless permits. As a result, we will be pausing operations of our driverless AVs in San Francisco. https://t.co/A5HAV2WUv7 cruise (@Cruise) October 24, 2023 In a recent tweet, Cruise said that the company is focused on taking steps to rebuild public trust. Things have yet to look up for the company, especially after an expose by The Intercept revealed that the company knew its self-driving cars have trouble recognizing children and large holes in the roads . Furthermore, the former CEO said that the company would have to lay off an undisclosed number of employees and staff members in a memo. In another twist on the OpenAI saga that raged over the weekend, Microsoft has swooped in and hired Sam Altman and Greg Brockman just after OpenAI confirmed Altman won't be returning, CEO Satya Nadella announced in a post on X. The pair, along with colleagues are joining Microsoft "to lead a new advanced AI research team." Nadella added that Microsoft "remain[s] committed to our partnership with OpenAI," but the move looks a giant hedge on that bet. It also means the much of OpenAI's talent may be moving to Microsoft, which may stall progress on the widely-used ChatGPT product. We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023 Altman has largely remained quiet since news of his firing dropped Friday, other than thanking OpenAI colleagues for their support. However, he confirmed his hiring by Microsoft, saying on X that "the mission continues." In a reply to that post, Nadella said he was "super excited" to have Altman as CEO of the new group. "Weve learned a lot over the years about how to give founders and innovators space to build independent identities and cultures within Microsoft, including GitHub, Mojang Studios," he added. The appointment was announced just after it was suggested that Altman may return to OpenAI, following his sudden firing on Friday. That was preceded by an outpouring of support for Altman from OpenAI employees, many of whom shared hearts on social media. Talks between the parties broke down and OpenAI subsequently said that Altman (and co-founder Greg Brockman) would not return, according to reports. Instead, Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear was reportedly appointed as OpenAI's new CEO. The story is likely far from over, as the confirmation of Altman's firing and subsequent hiring by Microsoft raise multiple questions. Microsoft has invested $13 billion and owns a 49 percent stake in the for-profit segment of OpenAI and recently unveiled its Copilot AI assistant that's powered by OpenAI's technology. However, OpenAI has an odd "capped-profit" corporate structure with both a for-profit and non-profit body that has an impact on Microsoft's investment. And despite Nadella's words, the partnership with OpenAI will no doubt be affected by Microsoft having its own AI research team particularly since it will be led by OpenAI's former CEO. With all that, expect further developments. Update Nov 20, 2023 at 8:42 AM ET: OpenAI co-founder, board member and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever has released a statement on recent developments: "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company," he wrote on X. Newly ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former president Greg Brockman are meeting with executives at the companys San Francisco headquarters now as discussions about possibly reinstating their positions continue, The Information reports. Per The Information, interim CEO Mira Murati and others have been leading the push to get Altman reinstated as CEO, and invited the two to HQ on Sunday. Altman and Brockman showed up for talks this afternoon, sources told The Information. Around the time of the reports publication, Altman tweeted a photo of himself wearing a guest badge for entry into the building, writing, first and last time i ever wear one of these (sic) which could be interpreted several different ways, at this point. Sources told The Verge that Altman has set a 5PM PT deadline for board members to reach an agreement that could ultimately determine whether he walks away from OpenAI, or they do. first and last time i ever wear one of these pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a Sam Altman (@sama) November 19, 2023 After Altman was fired without warning on Friday, Brockman stepped down in solidarity, along with a slew of senior researchers. Other staff members have reportedly pledged to resign as well and follow the two to other projects, signaling their support on social media, according to The Verge. The state of Altman's position and OpenAIs future leadership has remained up in the air this weekend as backlash against the boards initial decision grows. On Saturday evening, The Verge broke news that the board was considering reinstating him as CEO, and had agreed in principle to resign if so. But, the board reportedly couldnt make up its collective mind in time, and missed the deadline that had been set for the decision. According to Bloomberg, thats at least in part because theyve hit a brick wall in trying to agree on what the board will look and what its role will be if hes reinstated. Altman reportedly wants the existing board gone if hes to return, among other governance changes including making former Salesforce CEO Bret Taylor a board member and possibly bringing on a Microsoft executive, Bloomberg reported, though the latter has not yet made a decision. There has been much speculation over the reason behind Altmans removal as CEO and from the OpenAI board of directors, which came as a surprise to Altman, staff, and investors. An internal memo sent that morning to staff and seen by Axios said that the decision to unseat Altman came as the result of a breakdown in communication between Sam and the board. It was not made in response to malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices, the memo from COO Brad Lightcap said. Altman was fundraising for a custom AI chip project codenamed Tigris prior to his unexpected firing, Bloomberg reported. Per Bloomberg and The New York Times, which previously reported on his plans for other AI ventures, Altman has already pitched the idea of custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) that would rival NVIDIAs to potential investors in the Middle East. He was also reportedly looking for backers to fund his hardware collaboration with former Apple designer, Jony Ive, for which he approached SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son. Sources with knowledge of the discussions told Bloomberg that Altman is trying to raise tens of billions of dollars to get these projects off the ground. How to delete your X account To delete your X account from your phone, follow these steps. Its advisable to create an archive of your tweets before closing your account, and if interested, you can also download all your posts. Step 1: Click on the More icon and then click on Settings and Privacy from the drop-down menu. Step 2: From the Your Account tab, click on Deactivate your account. Step 3: Read the account deactivation information, then click Deactivate. Step 4: Enter your password when prompted and confirm that you want to proceed by clicking the Deactivate account button. If you decide you want your account back, you can bring it back within 30 days after turning it off. Remember, turning off your account is different from deleting it. If you want to delete it, just don't log in for 30 days. After that time, your account will be gone for good, and your username won't be linked to it anymore. The CEOs of X, Discord and Snap have been subpoenaed, while Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok's Shou Zi Chew may testify voluntarily. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on online child sexual exploitation on December 6 and the CEOs of major tech companies are set to testify. The committee expects Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his counterpart at TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, to testify voluntarily. It also wants to hear from the CEOs of X (formerly Twitter), Discord and Snap, and it has issued subpoenas to them. "Big Techs failure to police itself at the expense of our kids cannot go unanswered," committee chair Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and ranking member Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said in a joint statement, as Reuters reports. "Im hauling in Big Tech CEOs before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify on their failure to protect kids online," Durbin wrote on X. JUST ANNOUNCED: Senate Judiciary Committee will press Big Tech CEOs on their failures to protect kids at hearing on Dec 6. Subpoenas issued to CEOs of Discord, Snap, & X. Committee remains in discussion w/ Meta, TikTokexpects their CEOs will agree to testify voluntarily. Senate Judiciary Committee (@JudiciaryDems) November 20, 2023 According to the committee, X and Discord refused to accept service of the subpoenas on their CEO's behalf, "requiring the committee to enlist the assistance of the US Marshals Service" to serve them personally. "We have been working in good faith to participate in the Judiciary committees hearing on child protection online as safety is our top priority at X," Wifredo Fernandez, head of US and Canada government affairs at X, told Engadget in a statement. "Today we are communicating our updated availability to participate in a hearing on this important issue." Keeping our users safe, especially young people, is central to everything we do at Discord," a Discord spokesperson told Engadget. "We have been actively engaging with the Committee on how we can best contribute to this important industry discussion. We welcome the opportunity to work together as an industry and with the Committee." The issue of tech platforms allegedly facilitating harms against kids has become an increasingly pressing issue. Earlier this month, former Meta executive Arturo Bejar testified that Zuckerberg failed to respond to his email detailing concerns about harms facing children on the company's platforms. Senators then demanded documents from the company's CEO "related to senior executives knowledge of the mental and physical health harms associated with its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram." Update 11/20 3:40PM ET: Added Discord's statement. OpenAIs board of directors announced Friday it had fired CEO Sam Altman. But hes doing okay. By Monday morning, he had joined Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team, according to the company. Altman cofounded OpenAI with Elon Musk in 2015 as a nonprofit and served as the CEO for the for-profit arm since 2019. He was originally fired from OpenAI over a breakdown in communication between Sam and the board, according to an internal staff memo. Several key members also resigned, including co-founder Greg Brockman (who will now also join Microsoft) along with a few senior researchers. Dozens of OpenAI employees reportedly announced internally theyd be quitting too, with some expressing interest in joining a potential new Altman startup. According to Bloomberg, the board had reportedly considered reversing Altmans firing, though the ousted exec wanted the existing board to resign and issue a public apology and I fully endorse all this drama, if true. The company did not apologize, however. Mat Smith You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The biggest stories you might have missed Apple will offer RCS support starting in 2024 Alan Wake II is great, but it doesnt need guns Stadium card stunts and the art of programming a crowd The Last Of Us Part II Remastered is coming to PS5 next year Apple will finally support it next year. Following the news that iPhones will support Rich Communication Services next year, what exactly is RCS? Well, positioned as a next-generation replacement for SMS and MMS, it adds modern features you may already use on WhatsApp, including read receipts and the ability to send high-resolution images and more. We wrestle with what this means, and how iMessage fits into it all. Continue reading. The Sunbird-based app, which was still in beta, has been removed from the Play Store. TMA (Nothing) Its a weird week for messaging and texts. Nothing has pulled the beta of its new messaging app, Nothing Chats. The company touted the Sunbird-based app as the answer to the longstanding Android versus Apple texting woes, supporting RCS and iMessage. However, critics voiced concerns over the security risks workarounds like this bring. Nothing Chats does not have end-to-end encryption, and 9to5Google noted attachments sent by other users could easily be accessed in plain text. Continue reading. There was a double explosion during testing. TMA (SpaceX) SpaceX's second test flight of its Starship spacecraft which it hopes will eventually ferry humans to the Moon and Mars ended in an explosion Saturday morning, minutes after taking off from the company's spaceport in Boca Chica, Texas. After completing stage separation, when the Super Heavy booster detached itself from Starship, the rocket's first stage exploded. Starship, however, continued for several more minutes, with a faint explosion heard around the eight-minute mark. Unlike its first test, Starship was able to reach space this time. The company is framing it as a success, even if it did explode. Continue reading. From Amazon, Walmart, Target and more! Weve rounded up the best Black Friday deals on tech weve tested, and we expect many of the live deals to run through to Cyber Monday. As a taster, were already seeing record lows on iPads, wireless earbuds, PS5 controllers, Xbox consoles, Sonos gear, smart TVs and more. Continue reading. The James Webb telescope is back with some more gorgeous images. This time, the telescope eyed the center of the Milky Way galaxy, shining a light on the densest part of our surrounding environs in unprecedented detail. Specifically, the images are sourced from a star-forming region called Sagittarius C, or Sgr C for short. This area is about 300 light-years from the galaxys supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A, and over 25,000 light-years from a little blue rock called Earth. All told, the region boasts over 500,000 stars and various clusters of protostars, which are stars that are still forming and gaining mass. The end result? A stunning cloud of chaos, especially when compared to our region of space, which is decidedly sparse in comparison. As a matter of fact, the galactic center is the most extreme environment in the Milky Way, as stated by University of Virginia professor Jonathan Tan, who assisted the observation team. There has never been any data on this region with this level of resolution and sensitivity, until now, thanks to the power of the Webb telescope. At the center of everything is a massive protostar that weighs more than 30 times our sun. This actually makes the area seem less populated than it actually is, as this solar object blocks light from behind it, so not even Webb can see all of the stars in the region. So what youre looking at is a conservative estimate of just how crowded the area is. Its like the Times Square of space, only without a Guy Fieri restaurant (for now.) James Webb telescope image. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and S. Crowe (University of Virginia).) The data provided by these images will allow researchers to put current theories of star formation to their most rigorous test. To that end, Webbs NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument captured large-scale emission imagery from ionized hydrogen, the blue on the lower side of the image. This is likely the result of young and massive stars releasing energetic photons, but the vast size of the region came as a surprise to researchers, warranting further study. The observation teams principal investigator, Samuel Crowe, said that the research enabled by these and forthcoming images will allow scientists to understand the nature of massive stars which is akin to learning the origin story of much of the universe. This is obviously not the first interesting image produced by the James Webb telescope. Weve seen stars born in the Virgo constellation, water around a comet in the main asteroid belt and a fairly offputting view of the Pillars of Creation, among others. Its seen things you people wouldn't believe and, luckily, it wont all be gone like tears in the rain because of the internet and because Webbs still out there. X CEO Linda Yaccarino called a report from a watchdog group that led to a large-scale advertiser pullout misleading and manipulated in a note she sent to X employees on Sunday night. While some advertisers may have temporarily paused investments because of a misleading article, the data will tell the real story, Yaccarino wrote in the note, which was first published by The Hollywood Reporter, and which Engadget has seen a copy of. Because for all of us who work at X, weve been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination, as theres no place for it anywhere in the world. Yaccarinos note was titled Our Work is Meaningful. She also framed the situation as a free speech issue, writing that no critic will ever deter us from our mission to protect free speech. In doing so, she aligned herself with X owner Elon Musks repeated claims that free speech on the platform is paramount. Musk has repeatedly dismissed concerns of hate speech increasing on X ever since he bought the service last year. Major advertisers including IBM, Apple, Disney, Lionsgate, Warner Brothers Discovery, Paramount Global, and NBCUniversal, whose advertising division Yaccarino previously headed, pulled their ads from X last week after a report from watchdog group Media Matters for America found that ads from some of these brands ran next to pro-Nazi content on the website. The move also came days after Musk publicly endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory as a response to a far-right X user. Musks comment drew widespread criticism, including a statement from the White House, which called his post an abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate that runs against our core values as Americans. On Friday, Musk said that the company would file a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company[.]" The company filed the lawsuit on Monday. Yaccarino was already under pressure to resign as X CEO from advertisers who are questioning her decision to risk her reputation to protect Musk, Forbes reported. In a post on X on Monday morning, Yaccarino doubled down on her criticism of Media Matters. When youre this consequential, there will be detractors and fabricated distractions, but were unwavering in our mission, she wrote. Thank you for standing with us! An X spokesperson sent a link to Yaccarinos X post in response to Engadgets request for comment. Update, November 20, 2023, 7:41PM ET: This story was updated to state that X filed a lawsuit against Media Matters on Monday. Former President Jimmy Carter's wife, Rosalynn Carter, a stalwart advocate for mental health reform and a pivotal figure in the presidency of her husband, passed away peacefully Sunday at her Georgia home. She was 96. The Carter Center, the non-governmental organization founded by the Carters, confirmed the former first lady's death in a statement. In a statement published on the Carter Center's website, the nation's 39th president said of his wife of 77 years, "Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me." Our co-founder, former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia. For more information: https://t.co/82bHoZQvkk pic.twitter.com/2exvnQdtab The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) November 19, 2023 The Carter Center announced Friday that Rosalynn had entered hospice care at home following a diagnosis of dementia in May. Her 99-year-old husband has been in home hospice care since February amid his own health challenges. Rosalynn, who served as the first lady during Carter's tenure from 1977 to 1981, is survived by their children - Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy - as well as 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. A grandson died in 2015. Born Eleanor Rosalynn Smith on August 18, 1927, in Plains, Georgia, she met Jimmy after her freshman year in college. They married in 1946 and embarked on a life that would see them navigate the Navy, a peanut and fertilizer business, and the highest echelons of American politics, according to People. Rosalynn played an integral role during her husband's presidency, notably in championing mental health causes. She served as the honorary chair of the President's Commission on Mental Health and played a pivotal role in the passage of the Mental Health Systems Act in 1980. During a Naval Station Norfolk holiday event Sunday, First Lady Jill Biden paid tribute to Rosalynn, emphasizing her significant contributions to mental health, caregiving, and women's rights, as seen in a video shared by ABC News. First lady Jill Biden mourns the death of Rosalynn Carter during 'Friendsgiving' event with troops and their relatives in Virginia: "I hope that during the holidays you'll include the Carter family in your prayers." https://t.co/YDUjUySbM9 pic.twitter.com/HnNryyRaho ABC News (@ABC) November 19, 2023 President Joe Biden also lauded the Carter family during the holiday event for bringing "grace to the office." Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush joined in praising Rosalynn as "a woman of dignity and strength" and highlighted her legacy in destigmatizing mental health in a joint statement posted via X, formerly Twitter. STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND MRS. @laurawbush ON FORMER FIRST LADY ROSALYNN CARTER: pic.twitter.com/5PTkYstNCT George W. Bush Presidential Center (@TheBushCenter) November 19, 2023 The Carters continued their commitment to global humanitarian efforts even after leaving the White House, visiting countries like Cuba, Sudan, and North Korea, monitoring elections, and working on eradicating diseases like Guinea worm disease. Rosalynn's advocacy extended beyond mental health. She dedicated her efforts to the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving at Georgia Southwestern State University, aiding families and professional caregivers dealing with disabilities and illnesses. The Carters received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999 from then-President Bill Clinton, who acknowledged their unparalleled impact on a global scale. Sevilla Un informe de CCOO apunta que el 75% de los que acuden a la Cartuja de Sevilla van en coche por "no tener alternativas" Grizzly bear photographed in Yellowstone National Park on May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jim Peaco/National Park Service) A public comment session on Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks administrative rules proposal for managing grizzly bears should the federal government delist them from Endangered Species Act protections in parts of the state showed there remain concerns from some in Montana about killing the bears particularly on public lands. The written public comment period for the proposed rules is open through 5 p.m. Monday, but on Friday, the Fish and Wildlife Commission took comments in a virtual meeting from more than a dozen people many of them representatives of various conservation groups or citizens who said they would still like to see further changes to the proposal or for the commission to scrap it and start over. The rulemaking process started in June after the legislature passed Senate Bill 295, sponsored by Sen. Butch Gillespie, R-Ethridge, which requires the commission to set up a framework to manage grizzlies in the event they are delisted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is in the midst of a yearlong study to decide whether grizzlies should be delisted in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) in western Montana and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), which sits in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. In August, the commission amended the proposed rule to require ranchers to try nonlethal means to deter grizzlies threatening their livestock on public land before they can receive a permit to kill a grizzly following pushback from the public. Several people who spoke at Fridays meeting said they appreciated the amendment, but still feel uncomfortable that the FWP director could issue a permit to kill a grizzly on any public land when a livestock owner has told FWP they have tried non-lethal measures of hazing. That language is so weak, I believe it negates the intent of Commissioner (Jeff) Burrows proposal. The language should say livestock owner has used non-lethal or preventative measures to resolve the conflict, said Jim Bell of Bozeman. If were going to use taxpayer money to kill an animal just removed from the Endangered Species list on public lands, the criteria for issuing a kill permit must be far more stringent. Andrea Zaccardi, the carnivore conservation legal director for the Center for Biological Diversity, agreed that wildlife habitat should be prioritized for public lands over livestock and said the language regarding when a bear is threatening livestock is overly vague and open to interpretation. I mean, if a grizzly bear is in the vicinity, is that threatening livestock? Nobody really knows what that will look like and how it will be implemented, she said. Others said they wanted to see the rule require documentation of non-lethal management that livestock owners used prior to a permit being issued so the department can learn from the data. And some speakers said they felt the non-lethal preventative measures should also have to apply on private land. Several speakers said they appreciated the state would not allow for any hunting of grizzlies for at least five years in the event they are delisted, but some also said the rules lacked clarity on how quotas might be selected and adjusted due to other human-caused mortality, including the fact that the current proposal says bears killed by FWP, USFWS or someone in self-defense would not count toward the quota. There was only one speaker, Karli Johnson with the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, who opposed the preventative non-lethal amendment for public lands, saying ranchers should be able to defend their livestock on both private and public lands at any time. Were not asking for open season; were asking for the ability to address problem bears that are threatening our livestock regardless of where they meet, Johnson said. But much of the comments surrounded the kill permits on public lands and what the majority of the speakers said are threats not only to the animals and their connectivity between the two grizzly bear ecosystems, but also to the general public. Going back to one basic principle grazing is not a right, its a privilege. And the idea were going to allow ranchers to kill grizzly bears on public lands has multiple reasons to be wrong, said Stephen Capra, of Bold Visions Conservation. Capra said ranchers should be able to mitigate bear attacks on their livestock but not kill them on public lands. And he presented an example of a rancher shooting a bear but not killing it on public lands, saying that bear then presented an even larger threat to the public because of its wounds. This seems like a reckless situation youre setting up, he said. Any business has a risk, and ranchers are using overt political power with your agency to push this agenda and they should not be permitted to do so. These are our public lands and you cannot endanger the public with a reckless policy driven by legislators. The Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider public feedback to the proposal ahead of a vote to adopt the rules. People who still wish to submit comments have until 5 p.m. on Nov. 20 to email them to fwpwld@mt.gov with the subject Grizzly Bear ARM. The post Residents concerned about proposed grizzly management rules that include killing on public lands appeared first on Daily Montanan. A bag of churros from a Hayward stand that locals call Churro Man. Cesar Hernandez / The Chronicle An employee arranges churros at Copas in San Francisco. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to The Chronicle A bag of churros at Super Churros y Tacos in Richmond. Cesar Hernandez / The Chronicle Churros from Red Window, a tapas spot in San Francisco. Cesar Hernandez / The Chronicle Theres nothing quite like fresh churro. Its one of those desserts thats best right out of a blistering hot fryer. The high heat creates a crackly exterior that protects its custardy core. A light roll in cinnamon sugar yields warm sweetness. Its an ephemeral art. Even the most brilliant churros have a limited window of peak performance, before times inevitable process of decay sets in. There are many places in the Bay Area offering churros, but only a handful serve them in their ideal, radiating state. The exemplary ones are found at restaurants, food trucks and street stands across San Francisco and the East Bay. Some are purists, serving the wand-shaped fritter with no accompanying sauce; others provide sweet lubrication like cajeta (caramel) or liquid chocolate. Advertisement Article continues below this ad While churros are clearly delicious, how and where they were invented is highly debated. Theres an enticing theory that the stick doughnut has ties to a Chinese youtiao introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by Portuguese sailors returning from China. That account is contested by food historian Michael Krondl, who claims that it might have closer connections to the Moorish occupation of Spain. Regardless, the baton-like fritter, with its star-shaped ridges, remains one of lifes simplest pleasures. Heres where to find some of the Bay Areas best churros. Churro Man Churro traditionalists should head over to Hayward to find a churro stand in front of the Mexico Super market. Hes known locally as the Churro Man, and his stand has gone viral online in recent years. It was started by Oscar Lopez in 2009 way before the social media fame. Its a one-man show. Lopez loads dough into a syringe-like metal press. Then, with a rowboat motion, he presses the end against his chest, plunging a dough spiral into a vat of bubbling oil. He plucks the coils out, letting the excess oil drain and cutting it into segments. The final churros get loaded into two bags: paper then plastic ($10). While most churros tend to be blasted with sugar, these stand out for their savoriness. A word of warning: On weekends, wait times can climb to over 30 minutes. 32575 Mission Blvd., Hayward. Noon-5:30 p.m. (or sold out). 510-472-4895 Advertisement Article continues below this ad Copas While most in the churro game tend to be fixated on the classic line form, this taqueria makes them into round doughnuts. Copas, a casual Mexican restaurant in San Francisco that draws inspiration from Tijuanas charcoal-powered taquerias, serves churros that are roughly the size of a dollar coin ($10). The mini spirals have a thin, crisp outer layer that encases a custardy interior. Theyre presented in a repurposed fish tin alongside a scintillating white chocolate sauce. The latter adds an absorbing bitterness to balance out the sugar content. The dessert pairs well with a bold carajillo cocktail or coffee. 2223 Market St., San Francisco. 3-9 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, noon-9 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. copasonmarket.com Red Window At this tapas bar in San Franciscos North Beach, you might first want to start off with a spritz, then move on to snacks like patata bravas, which have as many layers as a croissant, and finish off with a massive pork shank. The only thing left to order are the churros ($8), four logs stacked in a square and served with a small pool of liquefied chocolate. The cigar-length fried sticks are airy with a cloudy interior, but what makes them Spanish is the requisite chocolate sauce accompaniment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 500 Columbus Ave, San Francisco. 4-9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 4-10 p.m. Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. theredwindow.com Super Churros y Tacos In Richmond, snack-size truck Super Churros y Tacos, plastered with a logo of a cape-crusading churro, makes excellent fried dough. The churros come in a bag and are sold by the half dozen ($7). They boast a sugar-crusted, crisp exoskeleton that protects a warm, doughy center. The churros arent overly sweet, but if you want more, theres an option to have them filled with condensed milk, cajeta or strawberry sauce. Additionally, this truck offers tacos and makes a mean salsa roja. 23rd St. at Andrade Ave., Richmond. 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. 510-478-3533 Nurse practitioner Anthony Carano speaks with a patient at the Mountain Park Health Center, Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York) When Vernon Langford sees patients, he typically wears a white lab coat with his title Dr. and his credentials as a nurse practitioner stitched on the front. My credentials are on any jackets I have, the shirts I wear. If I have a name tag, its on that, said Langford, who works as a primary care provider in Seminole County, Florida. He holds a doctorate of nursing practice, the highest degree available in his field. Like a Ph.D., it confers on him the Dr. title, but he says he explains to patients what that means, and how his role and education differ from that of a physician: When I meet anyone, I want to make sure Im educating them about who I am. A Florida bill lawmakers considered this year would have barred Langford and others with similar credentials from using the Dr. title in clinical settings. The bill was amended to exclude nurse practitioners before it reached the desk of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who vetoed it without explanation. But Langford, who is president of the Florida Association of Nurse Practitioners, expects the legislation to reemerge. Under pressure from physicians groups, an increasing number of states are weighing similar restrictions. The debate is a symptom of a broader battle in health care: Amid a shortage of doctors and an explosion in the number of nurse practitioners with doctorates, many nursing groups are pushing to expand what nurses can do without physicians supervision. Physicians, meanwhile, are pushing to keep nurse practitioners and physician assistants under their oversight, arguing that giving more autonomy to providers with less rigorous training could put patients at risk. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants argue they deserve to be able to practice to the fullest extent allowed by their education and credentials, and that like anyone whos earned a doctorate they should be able to use the title conferred on them. It has nothing to do with ego or wanting to be something Im not, Langford said. If I worked hard and earned a doctorate, I can use the title of Dr. Other non-physician providers who have doctoral degrees, such as optometrists and pharmacists, often use the Dr. title, although some states have considered bills backed by physicians groups that would limit those providers as well. The American Medical Association and other physicians groups argue allowing nurse practitioners with doctoral degrees to use the Dr. prefix in a clinical setting will confuse patients. For me, its worrisome when a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant is being perceived as a physician, said Dr. Rebekah Bernard, a family physician in Fort Myers, Florida, who is also the outgoing president of Physicians for Patient Protection, a group that advocates for physician-led care. We dont have the same training or education. Patients should know whos taking care of them so they can make informed decisions about their health. The Dr. title has long been associated with physicians who hold an M.D. (In fact, The Associated Press Stylebook, which Stateline uses, directs that Dr. be reserved for physicians, which is why only those individuals are given the title in this story.) Advanced practice registered nurses, often called nurse practitioners or APRNs, can be primary care providers. They can diagnose and treat some conditions and prescribe medications, and more than half of states allow them to practice without physician supervision. But they have had a less extensive medical education than physicians, and they are limited in what they can do for patients. Now physicians and nurses organizations are pouring millions of dollars into state-level lobbying and title transparency campaigns as more states take up the issue. For me, its worrisome when a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant is being perceived as a physician. We dont have the same training or education. Dr. Rebekah Bernard, family physician Georgia approved a new law in May that dictates how non-physicians can identify themselves to patients. Lawmakers in North Carolina introduced a similar bill that stalled in committee. Indiana (2022) and New Jersey (2020) have approved title transparency laws in recent years. In California, a nurse practitioner named Sarah Erny agreed last year to pay nearly $20,000 to settle a civil case brought by the district attorney of San Luis Obispo County. She holds a doctoral degree in nursing and had called herself Dr. Sarah on her website and social media. Officials said shed violated California state code by failing to adequately explain to the public that she was not a medical doctor. The incident prompted three other California nurse practitioners with doctorates to sue the state earlier this year for the right to use the Dr. title. Truth and transparency Dr. Carmen Kavali, an Atlanta plastic surgeon, was involved in writing Georgias new title transparency law. Kavali, who has been active with physician advocacy groups such as the Georgia Alliance for Patient Protection Foundation and Physicians for Patient Protection, said she used Indianas law and part of Illinois state code as blueprints. Georgias law requires non-physicians, such as advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants, who have doctorates and use the title Dr. to tell patients each time they interact that they are not a medical doctor. They must make their credentials clear to patients verbally and in advertising, on their websites and in other forms of communication. The law also requires them to wear an identifier, such as a name tag, that lists the type of license or degree they hold. Truth and transparency isnt something that should be arguable, Kavali said. Why would more information for a patient ever be bad? If it takes a few extra words to clarify what your licensure is, how is that harming the patient? The American Association of Nurse Practitioners, in a statement to Stateline, said it supports the right of nurses and other providers to use the Dr. title when they have doctorates. The organization opposes legislation that would prohibit nurses and other professionals from clearly representing their credentials to patients and the public. Kavali and other physicians point to a report, funded by the American Medical Association, that found that 39% of patients surveyed in 2018 incorrectly believed that a person who holds a doctor of nursing practice degree, known as a DNP, is a physician, while another 11% said they werent sure. The American Medical Association reports having given more than $3.5 million in grants to member organizations to help them fight efforts to expand the roles of nurse practitioners and other non-physicians. One of those grant recipients was the Medical Association of Georgia, Kavali said. The AMA also makes model legislation available to state medical associations and other member organizations. Aspects of the organizations Health Care Professional Transparency Act have turned up in state laws in Georgia, Florida and elsewhere. Kavali said physician advocates in Texas and Tennessee have reached out to her for guidance on how to strengthen their own provider identification laws. More nurses, more doctorates One reason the issue is being debated now is that there are so many more nurse practitioners. Their numbers more than doubled from 2010-2017, driven by what researchers at Montana State University and Dartmouth College called a remarkable expansion in the number of college programs, which now graduate almost as many new nurse practitioners as medical schools do physicians. And the past 15 years have seen an explosion in the number of nurse practitioners earning the relatively new doctor of nursing practice degree, or DNP. Its a doctoral-level degree, educationally on par with a Ph.D. But while Ph.D.s generally are research-focused, a DNP focuses on advanced clinical training or on preparing nurses for health care leadership roles. As more people get doctorates, theres this desire to keep the Dr. title only to physicians, which doesnt make a lot of sense, said Langford. We use the term Dr. in education, we use it for chiropractors and optometrists. If youre telling people who and what you are, theres no confusion there. The debate is playing out in the middle of a nationwide physician shortage. Jobs for nurse practitioners, however, are projected to grow 45% from last year to 2032, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a rate much faster than the 3% average for all other occupations or 9% for other health care practitioners. I dont know any nurse practitioners who would go into a patients room and introduce themselves as a doctor without also identifying themselves as a nurse practitioner. Vicky Stone-Gale, associate professor/nurse practitioner In a health care market thats increasingly run by behemoth health care systems, advanced practice nurses can be a less expensive alternative to physicians. Bernard, the family physician in Florida, tells the story of a friend who worked part time as an emergency department physician in Louisiana and recently lost her job when the company that owned the hospital let go its part-time staff and replaced them with nurse practitioners. To me, the culprit is legislative policy that hasnt changed in years, and corporations trying to save money while not worrying so much about patient care, Bernard said. Research on how the growth of non-physician practitioners affects patient care is mixed. Some studies have shown the quality of care delivered by nurse practitioners and physician assistants is comparable to care by physicians, and that nurse practitioners decrease unnecessary hospitalizations. Other studies have found that nurse practitioners and physician assistants are more likely to order diagnostic tests and referrals that could be unnecessary. Vicky Stone-Gale, a nurse practitioner in Plantation, Florida, who holds a doctorate of nursing practice and is an associate professor at Frontier Nursing University, said concerns about misrepresentation of the doctor title are overblown. I dont know any nurse practitioners who would go into a patients room and introduce themselves as a doctor without also identifying themselves as a nurse practitioner, Stone-Gale said. Professional organizations work to educate new nurse practitioners about what they can and cant say when it comes to communicating their credentials, she said. Using that doctor title and saying you have a doctor of nursing practice is not wrong, she said. We worked hard to get that degree, just like any other specialty. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and Twitter. The post The doctor of nursing practice will see you now appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator. BEAVER, Pa. In November 2022, Shell Polymers Monaca, the regions first ethane cracker plant, began operations producing plastic products in Potter Township, Pennsylvania. One year later, on Nov. 15, residents and environmental advocates gathered in nearby Beavers Irvine Park to discuss the several violations Shell received over their first year of operations, saying Shell isnt a good neighbor. Neighbors do not harm their communities. Neighbors do not ignore their communities. Neighbors do not fail to communicate. They are not untruthful good neighbors, that is. Good neighbors do not do these things, said Daniel Rossi-Keen, the executive director of RiverWise, a community organization that gives a voice to residents, communities and organizations in Beaver County. One year later On Wednesday morning, one sign stood out in the middle of residential and environmental speakers, listing all of the violations and chemical releases Shell has committed over their first year of operations. The sign states Shells plant has had: 26 malfunctions, 13 notices of violations, 12 months of illegal Volatile Organic Compound emissions, 11 months of Hazardous Air Pollutant emissions, 11 months of Nitrogen Oxide emissions, 10 months of illegal Carbon Monoxide emissions, a 9-day Benzne release, at least two multi-hour emissions (one lasting 65 hours) and 2 water permit violations. According to residents and environmental activists, Shell often fails to notify residents of loud events and chemical releases. In its first month of operation last year, Shell nearly exceeded its entire 12-month emissions limit of VOCs, emitting approximately 512 tons out of a maximum of 516 tons. After lawsuits from several environmental organizations, in May, Shell was ordered to pay $10 million to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and nearby communities. However, speakers at the rally said this is not enough as continued violations harm their air, water and soil health. Residents talked about how Shell has impacted their lives. Skyler Brimmeier said he constantly smells burning plastic and hears loud booms frequently that startle him and his family. Half my family has moved out of Vanport in recent months because of Shells presence, Brimmeier said. Spreading Fear Others have concerns about the future with Shell after what they experienced from the fiery February train derailment and subsequent chemical burnoff in East Palestine, Ohio, near the border of Pennsylvania. Christina Siceloff lives in rural South Beaver Township, about 6 miles southeast of the derailment site and 10 miles northwest of the Shell plant. Since the derailment, she and her family have experienced frequent health issues. Theyve also had 8 cats die from seizures, and a chicken from unknown causes. Her family refuses to eat eggs from her chicken coop anymore after seeing deformed and squishy eggs. Siceloff spoke at the event, saying shes afraid Shell will repeat history. Shell uses a lot of the same chemicals that weve been exposed to during the train derailment, she said. A lot of the chemicals that come by train do go to Shell, so whos to say that something isnt going to happen down there with the same kind of chemicals. Economics A new report from the Ohio River Valley Institute, an environmental think tank, measured the economics of Beaver Country from 2012, when Shell first announced the plant, to November 2022, when the plant came online. The report found that gross domestic product, population and employment have declined since 2012. It points to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages that say Beaver County lost 10% of its jobs while the state as a whole grew by 5%. The report also states GPD decreased by nearly 6% and the population declined by 2%. The report noted that this year was not included in the data, so the actual job loss could be much worse as the county lost thousands of temporary jobs associated with the construction of the cracker plant. Response Shell currently employs 600 people at the Shell Polymers Monaca facility. Over the past year, the company has shared on social media several community projects and charitable events they have organized, including sponsoring Convoy of Hope, a program to feed families in need, and a Shell volunteer group that did river cleanup in the Ohio River in June. Shell released a statement in response to the rally saying, Safety is our top priority. Safety for our workers, the community and the environment. Shell is committed to complying with all local, state and federal regulations. We have worked in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to address plant issues that led to prior violations. (Reporter Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.) Agri-food attaches have returned to the UK to mark the start of a week which will see them deepen their understanding of farmers' interests to help boost exports. This week the attaches will tour the country, from meeting with producers of whisky and seafood in Scotland to visiting egg farms and meat processors in Shropshire. The initiative aims to boost their first-hand experience of British food production while improving their understanding of the farmers whose interests they represent overseas. The eleven attaches, based in British embassies and consulates around the world, cover Canada, Mexico, USA, Brazil, Kenya, the Gulf, India, Japan, China, Thailand and Vietnam. The role of an attache works to remove trade barriers, identify emerging international markets and tap into global demand for goods from UK farmers and growers. In 2023 alone, they have helped resolve 42 agri-food barriers worth an estimated 340m per year, with 141 new market access agreements delivered since 2020. Recent successes include securing market access for poultry to Tunisia, sheep embryos to the US, pork to Chile, trout ova to China and pet food to South Korea. The new Defra Secretary, Steve Barclay welcomed the attaches during a meeting at Number 10 on Monday morning (20 November). He said: Backing British farmers is one of my priorities at Defra and our attaches do vital work to ensure they get the best possible deals to export their world-class produce. We are expanding the attache network even further next year, so that our excellent food and drink can continue to reach all corners of the globe. While in the UK, the attaches will also meet with Food and Farming Minister Mark Spencer and attend an industry brunch hosted by NFU President Minette Batters. They will also have further meetings with the Scotch Whisky Association, Seafood Scotland, AHDB and the Food and Drink Export Council. NFU President Minette Batters said agri-food attaches played a vital role in delivering the industry's ambition of boosting exports abroad. "[This] is why we campaigned to grow their number," she said, I look forward to working directly with the attaches to share the passion and knowledge within our sector. It was recently announced that five additional attaches would be recruited to expand the network further, covering Australia and New Zealand; North Europe; South Europe; South Korea and an additional attache in Africa. NSF, the only Red Tractor Certification Body for pork, can now certify British pork for the lucrative Californian market. NSF has become one of the first UK certification bodies to offer Californias Proposition 12 (Prop 12) certification for UK pork. This certification is crucial for British farmers who want to comply with the new Californian animal welfare standards that comes into effect on 1 January 2024. California consumes nearly 15% of all US pork, yet only produces 1%, so it relies heavily on imports from other states and internationally. As part of Prop 12, the US state has introduced improved welfare requirements covering the housing of sows and gilts. From 1 January 2024 producers supplying California must have a valid certificate of Prop 12 compliance. The Prop 12 requirements include increased freedom of movement and housing space. Red Tractor's existing outdoor-bred Core Standards for pigs already meet these new higher welfare requirements in California. Indoor breeding farms providing additional space can also achieve Prop 12 certification. Responding, Red Tractor CEO, Jim Moseley, said it was an important milestone for the British pig sector. "I'm delighted that we can now offer UK pig farmers access to this important market for selling safe and traceable UK pork," he said. "We have explored all the different options for achieving this, including whether the CDFA could simply recognise the Red Tractor scheme directly. "However, Californian legislation requires the independent assessment and certification body to be certified by CDFA. "That's why news that NSF has now been certified by CDFA is so significant. It makes it very easy for pig farmers and their processors to access the California market from January next year." Dale Newitt, director of supply chain food safety, NSF added: NSFs Prop 12 certification means British pork producers can now access the Californian market with greater confidence. "This aligns perfectly with NSFs mission to improve and protect human health, as healthier animals mean safer, higher quality meat for consumers." The NFU has called for the government to 'take a meaningful interest' in food production as the Global Food Security Summit in London gets underway. The summit, organised by the UK government, is set to focus international attention on the deepening global food security crisis while helping boost efforts to end hunger. World leaders and food security experts attending will seek to galvanise support for lasting solutions that turn the tide and prevent famine, wider food insecurity and malnutrition. The summit is being held in London, which the UK is hosting alongside Somalia, UAE, the Childrens Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ahead of it, the NFU has highlighted the importance of investing in the agricultural sectors for increasing national and global food security. It comes as extreme weather events, rising geopolitical tensions, policy changes and increasing costs have left farming businesses facing a vulnerable position. NFU President Minette Batters said today's summit came at a 'critical time' for farmers and growers across the world. The enormity of feeding a growing global population while also finding solutions to the climate crisis cannot be underestimated. The good news is that no matter where we are in the world, the solution is often the same for governments to take a meaningful interest in food production by ensuring markets treat farmers fairly and deliver policies that boost sustainable, profitable production. "Only then can farm businesses invest in the future and produce more high quality, climate-friendly food for markets at home and abroad." She said that with the right policies in place and knowledge and techniques available, the industry was positive that food security can be realised in globally. However, this would require international solidarity and a joint effort from lawmakers across the world to ensure fair supply chains, invest in infrastructure, and integrate climate adaptation and mitigation policies within agricultural sectors. These are our building blocks and they must start at a local, regional and national level if we are to stand any chance of achieving food security worldwide," Mrs Batters said. "That is what conversations at the summit must centre around today, because we can no longer afford to take food for granted. The UKs new International Development White Paper on food insecurity is also expected to be announced at the summit. The White Paper is set to address food insecurity as one of the pressing global challenges, setting out how the UK will go beyond giving aid money and instead work in partnerships with countries to tackle poverty and climate change. The winners of this years BFREPA Free Range Awards have been revealed, celebrating excellence and rewarding the best and brightest within the industry. Twelve individuals and businesses have been recognised for making positive and sustained contributions to the free range egg sector. With comedian Al Murray the pub landlord leading the presentation ceremony, Producer of the Year in the under 20,000 birds category was announced as Bethany Irwin of Willowfields Farm from Griston, Norfolk. Despite not coming from a farming background, Bethany has been involved in free range eggs since she was 18 and is now successfully managing her own flocks of organic free range laying hens, producing 383 eggs per hen housed. William Maughan of J.E. Maughan & Sons from Darlington, County Durham, won the Producer of the Year award in the 20,000-47,000 birds category. William has been producing free range eggs for 24 years and has an impressive track record of forward-thinking initiatives and a proactive approach towards sustainability and efficiency. In the over 47,000 birds category, Michael Arbuckle of Arbuckle Poultry from Dundee, Angus, took home the top prize. Michael has been producing free range eggs since 2012 and has an unwavering dedication to enhancing both bird welfare and performance, as well as a proactive approach and openness to innovative strategies for optimising operations. The Local Food Business of the Year award was given to Harper Farm Cafe. The local family farm and coffee shop based in New Farnley in Leeds serves speciality coffee and handmade cakes, as well as selling free range eggs fresh from the farm. The Breakthrough of the Year award was won by the Prinzen Meggsius Select, a system for automatic egg inspection and sorting, with every individual egg being inspected on exterior indicators such as quality and dimensions. Herefordshire-based free range egg producer Joe Orgee won the Environmental Sustainability award. Based at Upper Moorend Farm in Herefordshire, Joe improved how his farm interacts with the local environment with a series of densely planted pools to help improve water quality. The Special Award for Services to the British Free Range Egg Sector was awarded posthumously to Charlie Stephenson, who passed away earlier this year aged 60. The Yorkshire-born free range egg producer was a long-standing and valued BFREPA council member who played a crucial role in the first BFREPA Conference. He was also a staunch founding supporter of the organisations costings model and a valuable member of the Steering Committee. Stephen Marriott and Colin Gravatt were jointly awarded the Lifetime Achievement award. Both work for Wynnstay Humphrey Feed and Pullets and between them have nearly 100 years of experience of working in the poultry sector. Welsh farmer Ioan Humphreys, who manages a 500-acre farm and has 32,000 hens, was named Free Range Champion. Ioan took the internet by storm with his social media videos which provide an honest and open account of the realities of farming in Wales. Finally, the Employee of the Year award was won by Marie Yarrington who has been a farm worker for the Chilman family, producing free range eggs in the Westcountry for 13 years. James Baxter, chairman of BFREPA, said: It was a pleasure to judge the awards, especially after such a challenging 12 months for our industry. "It is fantastic to honour and recognise the individuals and businesses that have gone above and beyond for the sector with their passion and dedication. We are extremely proud of each and every winner. The makers of Weetabix are campaigning to create the UK's newest county - Weetabixshire - in honour of its 150 farmer suppliers. The proposed county would encircle a 50-mile radius from the Weetabix mills in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, wherein the wheat is sourced. And although it may go against the grain, the firm believes its a 'fitting tribute' to their 1,100-strong workforce, who use wheat from the area to make 11 million Weetabix biscuits every day. More than 150 farms produce 75,000 metric tonnes of wheat every year across over 162,000 hectares, according to Weetabix. As part of the stunt, 7ft tall Welcome to Weetabixshire signs have been erected in Burton Latimer to mark the centre of the proposed county, as well as on the edges of St Neots and Rutland. Jim Beaty, a farmer who supplies the company, said his farm was less than a mile from the Burton Latimer plant. "Seeing all these people come down to the local area in support of Weetabixshire, fills me with such pride," he said. "It shows how much the community values us for the jobs we do on a daily basis, and I cant express my gratitude enough towards them. Not everyone is convinced though. One local resident branded the campaign wrong, exclaiming that you wouldnt rebrand Milton Keynes, would you? Burton Latimer resident, Steve Battison, also rejected the notion, and said: its a cereal box, not a county! But local Conservative MP Philip Hollobone backs the move: "We are fully behind Weetabix in its campaign to create Weetabixshire - as long as we can be the capital of course." California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks, a Los Angeles transplant who now lives in a North Bay district whose Assembly seat is becoming open, has declined to address speculation that he will run. Adam Beam/Associated Press U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, shakes hands with supporters Saturday at the California Democratic Party Convention in Sacramento. Lezlie Sterling/Associated Press U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, shakes hands with a man onstage Saturday at the California Democratic Party Convention in Sacramento. Lezlie Sterling/Associated Press U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, speaks Saturday at the California Democratic Party Convention in Sacramento. Lezlie Sterling/Associated Press SACRAMENTO California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks declined to address speculation that he is running for the North Bay Assembly seat now held by Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, who is not seeking re-election. Ill turn to any other decision or announcement after the convention, said Hicks, a Los Angeles transplant who now lives in the district. That sounds like someone with an announcement to make. And it could come soon, as the California Democratic Party convention ended Sunday. He will have company. Healdsburg Mayor Ariel Kelley, Mendocino County Supervisor Ted Williams and Santa Rosa City Council Member Chris Rogers are among those seeking the seat. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Hicks does not have to resign as party chair if he runs for the office. If he does, vice chair Betty Yee of Alameda would replace him, at least on a temporary basis. Yee also might be busy soon: She is planning to run for governor in 2026. Here are some takeaways from the convention, which was halted Saturday by protesters seeking a Gaza cease-fire: No endorsement for Senate: As expected, no Senate candidate won the support of 60% of the delegates this weekend to win the partys endorsement. The final tally: Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland won 963 votes (41%), Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank received 933 (40%), Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine snagged 373 (16%), and Silicon Valley business executive Lexi Reese received three (0.1%). The partys executive board will hold another endorsement vote at its May meeting, after the March 5 primary. Lee would have benefited the most from the partys nod, as she trails Schiff and Porter in most polls. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Gay marriage helps turnout? Democrats continue to be worried about young voters not turning out in November, possibly dooming the reelection chances of President Joe Biden. But Assembly Member Evan Low, D-Sunnyvale, thinks he knows what might help energize young voters: ACA5, his proposed state constitutional amendment to repeal Proposition 8, the 2008 ban on same-sex marriage approved by 52% of California voters. Yes, same-sex marriage has been the Supreme Court-blessed law of the land since 2015, but Prop. 8 remains in the California Constitution, and advocates worry that it could become law again. That concern was fueled last year when conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas argued in the case that overturned the right to abortion that many of the same legal foundations that upheld same-sex marriage should be reexamined, too. With that threat out there, Low wants to ensure that same-sex marriage survives. A potential added benefit is that it may bring out younger voters who have seen how rights can disappear suddenly. This helps drive turnout of our natural base of younger voters, Low said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There is little question that it would pass. The campaigns internal poll has it at 75%. The Kevin McCarthy factor: Ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is pondering whether to seek another term in his Bakersfield-area seat. Democrats dont think they can retake it, but some are hoping McCarthy leaves for another reason: He has been one of the GOPs most prolific fundraisers, and he has been especially helpful to California Republicans. Committees controlled by McCarthy have raised $13.7 million so far this campaign cycle, on pace to match the $27.3 million he raised in 2022, according to fundraising reports compiled by Open Secrets. But donors are less likely to steer money to McCarthy if he doesnt hold the cachet of being speaker. That is good news to former Central Valley Democratic Assembly Member Adam Gray, who is squaring off in a rematch against Rep. John Duarte, R-Turlock (Stanislaus County). Duarte beat Gray by 564 votes last year in a district that includes all of Madera and Merced counties along with parts of Fresno, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Said Gray: It will 100% help. Ron Jeremy is to be released from jail to a "private residence" because of his deteriorating health. Ron Jeremy has dementia The 70-year-old former porn star has been behind bars since he was arrested in 2020 but earlier this year, he was ruled unfit to stand trial on over 30 counts of rape and sexual assault due to dementia and now a judge has granted a request for him to be moved to receive "round-the-clock medical care" after it was determined that "no medical facility will take him". An email obtained by the Los Angeles Times newspaper from the Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, Paul Thompson, to the alleged victims in the case noted the adult film actor's medical condition has deteriorated to the point that he is essentially bedridden. He wrote: I feel very badly that this is where we are, but it is beyond our control. His mental and physical condition deteriorated rapidly, and we are left with no other options. Im sorry that we couldnt get complete justice for you in court. The district attorney's office said while it had been claimed the actor would be physically incapable of leaving the residence, prosecutors had expressed concern that even if that is true, he could assault caregivers, which he has allegedly attempted to do at other facilities. The 'Terror Firma' actor's lawyer said he didn't know what type of "private residence" his client would be released to or what security measures would be in place there, if any. Jeremy's criminal defense attorney, Stu Goldfarb - who had previously told the judge his client no longer recognised him - insisted the ruling was the most humane outcome for a person who hasn't been convicted and faces an irreversible decline in his health, but maintained his client's innocence. He said: Hes not competent to go [on] trial and hes not been proven guilty, but hes charged with a serious felony. What do you do with him? Most importantly, how do you protect the public, and equally as important, how do you protect his civil rights? He ends up in a facility thats secure, so the public is not at risk and he doesnt have to be housed in prison. Jeremy had pleaded not guilty to a dozen counts of forcible rape, seven counts of forcible oral copulation, six counts of sexual battery by restraint, four counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious or asleep person. The actor also faced one count of committing a lewd act on a minor, stemming from an accusation he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl at a party in Santa Clarita, California, in June 2004. President Joe Biden has led tributes to the late Rosalynn Carter. Joe Biden, Michelle Obama and Donald Trump have paid tribute to Rosalynn Carter The former First Lady - who is the wife of 99-year-old 39th US president Jimmy Carter - passed away on Sunday (19.11.23), months after she was diagnosed with dementia and a host of political figures have reflected on her legacy while sending condolences to her family in the wake of her death. The current US leader and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, thanked Rosalynn for inspiring a nation and the world. They said in a statement: She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities. "Time and time again, during the more than four decades of our friendship through rigors of campaigns, through the darkness of deep and profound loss we always felt the hope, warmth, and optimism of Rosalynn Carter. She will always be in our hearts. Fellow former First Lady Michelle Obama took to X, formerly Twitter, praised Rosalynn for always using her platform in "profoundly meaningful" ways in a tribute on behalf of herself and her husband,44th president Barack Obama. She wrote: You learn very quickly that there is no handbook or rules to being First Lady. Technically, its not even an official position. And while there are spoken and unspoken expectations that provide some structure, the role is largely shaped by the passions and aspirations of the person holding it. First Lady Rosalynn Carter understood that well. "Guided by her abiding faith and her commitment to service, Mrs. Carter used her platform in profoundly meaningful ways. Her groundbreaking work to combat the stigma faced by those struggling with their mental health brought light to so many suffering in silence. "Today, Barack and I join the world in celebrating the remarkable legacy of a First Lady, philanthropist, and advocate who dedicated her life to lifting up others. Her life is a reminder that no matter who we are, our legacies are best measured not in awards or accolades, but in the lives we touch. And Donald Trump - who was in office from 2017 to 2021 - also offered his prayers and support to the Carter family on the social media platform Truth Social. He wrote: "Melania and I join all Americans in mourning the loss of Rosalynn Carter. She was a devoted First Lady, a great humanitarian, a champion for mental health, and a beloved wife to her husband for 77 years, President Carter. Our prayers are with the former president, the Carter family, and the entire community of Plains, Georgia, that she loved so much! In Apurva, Tara Sutaria, Abhishek Banerjee and Rajpal Yadav team up for a darkly disturbing survival thriller. Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, the film follows a young woman who finds herself abducted by dreaded criminals. The road to making the film wasnt an easy one. From not showering for days to performing emotionally draining scenes, the cast and crew went the extra mile. In an exclusive interview with Filmfare, Tara, Abhishek and Nikhil opened up about the making of Apurva.Tara: I think anyone would be drawn to doing a story like Apurva. The protagonist is a young girl who goes through so much within 24 hours and shows so much courage and so many emotions. I haven't had such opportunities. I hope now that I've done Aurva, I get to do more roles like this with clarity and depth and so much to it. I remember Nikhil (Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, director) sir sweetly narrating the story to me with Murad (Khetani) sir. Even before he could end, I was like, I'm so doing this film. And we just took off from there and it's been the most exhilarating, incredible experience as a performer to be part of something like this.Tara: You have to fight your own way through, and because no one's going to do that for you. In this industry, you have to speak about what you want to do. I've enjoyed playing the roles that I've played so far. But there's a huge part of me that has been largely undiscovered which I got to tap into in Apurva. And it's the kind of film and kind of role that I've wanted to do for ages. People just didn't know about it. Perhaps I wasn't being clear when I was meeting people or I didn't meet enough people for them to recognize that this is something that is in my capability to do. When Murad sir and Nikhil sir offered me this part, I was extremely grateful.Abhishek: I couldn't understand him. I still don't know why Sukha used to think like that, why he used to do that. I still don't have empathy for him. I'm indifferent. I don't want to know people like Sukha. So, because I didn't want to know, I didn't ask too many questions about what was going on in his mind. I performed him as written because there's no human side to it.Abhishek: I think the script was beautifully written and I have known Nikhil sir for many years. I have worked under him as a casting director and also discussed films. So I knew about this film, and I had called him to cast me in Kill. But the casting was over, so he offered me Apurva. I understood that there is a certain level of style and swag in this character which I had not yet done. When you're doing a darker role, and you still have to give him a little flare and a little flamboyance, that becomes quite a challenge. And I thought let me play something with that ambiguity. And let the audience decide. Nikhil sir said that I used to do a lot of comedy and I used to do a lot of dark roles so its time to do dark comedy.Tara: I enjoyed that. The most exciting part for me, apart from obviously the scenes that we got to shoot, was that I got to look like a very different version of myself. There are so many versions of my character. And in the final scenes of the film, I feel like I don't look like me at all. Thats such an exciting part of this job that you get to look unrecognisable. What happens in the film is so awful, so naturally, she just looks that awful. While it's great to put on some lip gloss and some blush, it has been more thrilling for me to put mud on my face and not shower for two weeks when we shot this. It looked believable and it felt real.Abhishek: I love my look. Since childhood, I have always wanted curly hair, maybe because I grew up in South India and there were many curly haired people around me. I always had this Bengali soft, straight hair. I used to hate my hair. It falls flat. For this film, my hair guy said hes going to try curls. My makeup team also took a lot of interest in creating this character, sometimes more than me. So probably because of their help I could achieve this transformation.Nikhil: They're such good actors that I didn't have to do that. They read the script and they were ready. I had very little part to play in that. For Tara, we had a lot of sessions where we spoke about life and how she is as a person. It was not so much to do with the film but about this topic or this world and women - the hardships and lots of points of view. We didn't speak about the nitty-gritty of what Apoorva has to go through. That is something which we would do, uh, only while shooting. In Abhisheks case, the gruesomeness of this character comes from his flamboyance and his nonchalance. Hes just not bothered, he just feels like doing this. Hes portraying an extremely territorial guy and hes not able to take the fact that a woman stands up to him. It challenges his masculinity. That triggers a lot of things for Sukha. With Rajpal sir, he's a fantastic actor known for his comedic roles. So when we met, the only discussion we had was that I didn't want him to smile in the film. I didn't want him to break into laughter or try to make people laugh because it's his natural instinct to do that. There are scenes in the film where he couldve laughed but he doesnt. Behind the scenes, there was banter but he still controlled it. And it brings that kind of menacing persona.Nikhil: For a film like this, I think the impact of violence makes much more sense than showing the violence itself. It has a more lasting impression than actually seeing it play out. Thats what we did in the film. You will not see something happening, but you will realise that something is happening. You will get troubled, you'll start squirming in your seat and it will make you uncomfortable.Tara: It can be very emotionally draining because the scenes are such that it requires a hundred percent of you all the time, every day, every second, every shot. Even if it's a back shot of me running or a hand shot or a foot close-up, there's a certain emotion attached to it because of the heaviness of the subject, right? But there was an excitement to playing this role that it wasn't the kind of draining feeling that one would get had it not been enjoyable. It was so incredibly enjoyable to do this part. Even on the days where we shot longer hours than usual, it's not like I wanted to go back. I want to go back. There are shots where I'm in a well, I'm running barefoot across this desert, I'm being dragged out of a bus. It can be very emotionally taxing and it is and then as an actor you have to pull back and say I need to take maybe two or three hours to just not think about Apurva. So there are phases where you need to do that.Abhishek: You keep learning from each character you do, and you keep learning from each film. As actors what we need to understand is that there are a lot of technical aspects to camera acting. Every time you cannot find the truth in every scene. If youre trying to get to that, it will take a lot of training, workshops, and rehearsals. Sometimes emotionally driven scenes are very difficult to do but I always treat them very technically. If I don't get it right in the first take, and probably the second and the third take, I'll keep faking it because that emotion is gone. What will I do after that? So that's why it's very important to use the technical aspect in acting. Every actor should just get that in practice. Then you do not need to take the character back home.Nikhil: We tend to get attracted towards what is wrong. Whats wrong is interesting. In every person, there is some darkness. A lot of people are not able to portray the darkness. So it appeals to that side of every person. It's more thrilling to watch something which is crime-based. It gets you on the edge of the seat and there's so much adrenaline rush. That's why such films are being made.Apurva is currently streaming on OTT. Panaji, Nov 20 (PTI) Film star Madhuri Dixit will be presented with the Special Recognition for Contribution to Bharatiya Cinema award at the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said on Monday. The 2023 edition of the film gala kickstarts today with a ceremony to be held at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium here. Dixit will also perform on a medley of her chartbuster songs during the event. "An icon across the ages, @MadhuriDixit has graced our screens with unparalleled talent for four incredible decades. From the effervescent Nisha to the captivating Chandramukhi, the majestic Begum Para to the indomitable Rajjo, her versatility knows no bounds." "Today, we are filled with admiration as we present the 'Special Recognition for Contribution to Bharatiya Cinema' Award to the talented , charismatic actress who has redefined excellence in cinema, at the 54th International Film Festival of India. A celebration of an extraordinary journey, a tribute to an everlasting legacy," the minister said in a post on X. Dixit was bestowed with the Indian Film Personality honour at IFFI last year. The 54th edition of IFFI will conclude on November 28. This year is indeed very thriving for Vikrant Massey. The actor is currently riding high on the success of his recent release 12th Fail in which he truly impressed everyone with his amazing performance. This has surely made him the talk of the town as from the critics to the audience praised him for his performance in the film. While this was just a start, the actor has now added yet another feather to his hat by winning ELLE's Dynamic Performer of the Year and we guarantee, he truly deserves it. Vikrant Massey is a new name that is on everyone's lips. His performance in 12th Fail has left everyone talking about the acting prowess of the talented actor. After booking his phenomenal triumph in the hearts of the audience, the actor has now brought home an achievement by winning ELLE's Dynamic Performer of the Year. The prestigious award is indeed well-deserving for the actor which fondly illustrates his versatility. It also states that this year is indeed very prosperous for Vikrant. On the professional front, Vikrant He will be starring in the second part of the movie, Hassen Dilruba, which has been titled 'Phir Aayi Haseen Dilruba'. Additionally, he will also be appearing in a romantic love story directed by Niranjan Iyengar, co-starring Raashi Khanna. He is also a part of a film called Sector 36. Dressed in a striking all-red Zegna ensemble, Jim accepted his nomination medal at The 51st International Emmy Awards Gala. In anticipation of the event, Jim's proud mother and sister have also arrived in NYC, as evidenced by his social media updates. Taking to social media, Sarbh posted a heartening picture featuring himself with his fellow nominees, the Argentinian actor Gustavo Bassani and the Swedish author and actor Jonas Karlsson. Sarbh has earned a nomination for the prestigious International Emmy Best Actor award for his outstanding performance in the SonyLIV series Rocket Boys. In addition to sharing this delightful image, Sarbh also posted a snapshot showcasing the engaging panels happening in NYC ahead of the much-anticipated awards ceremony tonight. Of particular note was the "Best Performance Category Panel," a focal point that brought acclaimed actors such as Billie Piper, Karla Souza, Jim Sarbh, Shefali Shah, Jonas Karlsson, and Gustavo Bassani to the stage for a discussion on their respective Emmy-nominated roles. Vijayakanth Health Update: Renowned veteran actor and leader of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), Vijayakanth, is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Chennai. Leo New OTT Release Date: Here's The Latest Update On When And Where To Watch Thalapathy Vijay Movie Vijayakanth's health has been a concern for the past few years, impacting both his personal health and his political engagements. Despite periodic check-ups and resting periods at home, recent health issues compelled his admission to a private hospital in Chennai. Vijayakanth's hospital stay has extended into the third day as he grapples with a cold, fever, and a persistent cough. Medical authorities attending to him have indicated that he's been experiencing difficulty breathing, necessitating intermittent artificial respiration. His condition has prompted an outpouring of well-wishes and prayers from fans and volunteers, hoping for his swift recovery and return home. Vijayakanth: From Silver Screen to Political Realm - A Pivotal Figure in Tamil Nadu Politics With an illustrious career in Tamil cinema before entering politics, Vijayakanth has been a significant figure in the state's political landscape. He notably served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2016. His transition from a successful actor, producer, and director to a prominent political figure led him to establish and lead the DMDK as its chairman in the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. Dhruva Natchathiram's Release Date To Get Postponed? Uncertainty Surrounds Vikram's Spy Thriller Movie Vijayakanth's political journey includes two terms as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, representing the constituencies of Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam. His role as the founder and key figure in the DMDK has marked him as a crucial presence in Tamil Nadu politics, garnering both support and attention across the state. As his hospitalisation continues, his supporters and well-wishers maintain a hopeful vigil for his recovery and swift return to health. Bigg Boss 17: The drama inside the Bigg Boss 17 house escalated in the latest episode, as housemates accused Bigg Boss of giving special treatment to Vicky Jain and Ankita Lokhande. Arun Mashetty, Mannara Chopra, and other housemates accused that the couple were given hair colors & hair cuts inside the house. A clip from the Bigg Boss house featured Vicky Jain checking out his hair infront of a mirror, after which Arun asks him if he got a hair cut. Later, the housemates accuse Ankita and Vicky of receiving privilege from Bigg Boss. NEIL BHATT REVEALS VICKY JAIN USES WIG Later, a video was shared by the makers that shows Neil claiming that Vicky doesn't have 'real hair'. The video, posted on Colors TV's YouTube channel, featured Neil stating, "Vicky ke baal real nahi hai. He wears a hair system. Vo clip wala nahi pehenta hai. It is a hair system. It sticks with a medical glue." He also disclosed that that Vicky faces recurring hair problems, requiring him to wear a wig, which is fixed using a medical glue treatment every two weeks. Neil hinted that this unique privilege might be there in Vicky's contract. The controversy intensified as Mannara Chopra alleged that Ankita Lokhande also received special treatment, including hair spa sessions, prompting questions about preferential treatment and equality among the housemates. In response to the escalating drama, Bigg Boss swiftly intervened and addressed Ankita and Vicky, informing them of the housemates' discontent with their alleged special privileges. In a surprising move, Bigg Boss revoked the couple's exclusive benefits, stating, "Main aapki services tab tak kharij karrha hoon, jab tak mohalle wale haami nahi bharte." Later, Vicky and Ankita share their problems with housematers, who later decide that if Vicky and Ankita are receiving the mentioned services on medical grounds, they are allowed to continue receiving them, unless it involves grooming and hair spas. In the latest episode, Ankita Lokhande and Vicky Jain were seen having arguments and friction. However, towards the end of the episode, Jigna Vora played a pivotal role in peacemaking and reconciling the duo. GUANGZHOU, China, Nov. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from GDToday: A cultural exchange event featuring conversations between Guangzhou, the capital of the province of Guangdong and Italy was held in Rome on the afternoon of November 16 (Rome's time). This is the first activity of the "2023 Charming China-Cultural Exhibition from Guangdong," featuring the cultural exchanges between the province of Guangdong and other countries. A total of 11 speakers from China and Italy shared their views and impressions about the exchanges in various fields between the two countries. "GAC Group is one of the largest automotive groups in China. GAC Milan provides design for Chinese own-brand vehicles and plays a vital role in the global design network," said Edouard Suzeau, automotive designer of GAC R&D Center Europe, sharing his view on China's intelligent manufacturing. As a mixed-blood, Suzeau spent his childhood in China and achieved his degree in automobile design in France. He serves for GAC in Milan as a designer, which made his dream comes true. "My family felt proud of me when they knew I had joined the GAC," he added. At present, the GAC cars have exported to Middle East, Africa, South East Asia and other 31 countries and regions. "No matter in China, Italy or anywhere in the world, Chinese auto brand can provide a better trip mode for human being," he stressed. Gennaro Schlitzer, director of QUEEN's SRL, indicated that China's piano manufacturing industry is amazing. He said that the sound, performance and design of the Pearl River pianos produced in Guangzhou are high-quality and as beautiful as the Pearl River. Several performances were staged to surprise the audience during the event, such as piano performances and an acrobatic show that straddles Chinese acrobatics and ballet, combining tradition with modernity, highlighting the unique Lingnan culture, and presenting an inclusive, open and innovative Guangzhou city to the world. Angelo Tabaro, former cultural minister of Veneto region, said Guangzhou is an inclusive city, as well as a trade center in China, which is similar with Venice. He wishes that both two countries will build a strong bridge to enhance the communication for people-to-people exchange. The "2023 Charming China-Cultural Exhibition from Guangdong" is being held in Italy and will also be held in Egypt, Malaysia, including concerts featuring Guangdong music, art exhibition, photo exhibition and more. The event aims to promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning between China and countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia, showcasing the profound cultural heritage of Chinese civilization and the charm of Lingnan culture to the world. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2280939/Guests_China_Italy_attended_a_cultural_exchange_event_featuring_conversations.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2280940/Two_speakers_China_Italy_exchanged_ideas_stage_November_16_2023.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/2023-charming-china-cultural-exhibition-from-guangdong-kicks-off-in-italys-rome-301992882.html Global HIV/AIDS healthcare nonprofit remembers former first lady and her tireless work alongside husband President Jimmy Carter on affordable housing and public health AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) mourns the passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter who, together with her husband United States President Jimmy Carter, was a lifelong champion in the human rights movement. "We remember and celebrate former First Lady Rosalynn Carter today as a humble partner to and remarkable human rights champion with husband President Jimmy Carter and their tireless, lifelong work on civil rights, social justice, health care, and affordable housing," said Michael Weinstein, president and cofounder of AHF. "We offer our condolences to President Carter and the entire Carter family as well as our deep gratitude to Mrs. Carter for her gracious, understated tenacity in helping those less fortunate." Mrs. Carter and her husband brought worldwide attention-as well as their own physical labor-to the need for safe, affordable housing through their eponymous Carter Work Project in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity. Since 1984, the Carters reportedly helped house more than 4,300 families in 14 countries around the world. The Carters also worked tirelessly to improve global public health. Their not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center, has focused on fighting six preventable diseases, including malaria. Just this past January, the Center announced its success in nearly eradicating Guinea worm disease with only 13 cases reported in 2022. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global HIV and AIDS organization, provides medical care and/or services to more than 1.9 million individuals in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website, find us on Facebook, follow us on IG and Twitter, or subscribe to our "AHFter Hours" podcast. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231119124434/en/ Contacts: W. Imara Canady National Director, Communications Community Engagement +1.770.940.6555 Imara.Canady@aidshealth.org Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications +1.323.791.5526 ged.kenslea@ahf.org An engineering study of the 19th century seawall beneath the Embarcadero found that it was susceptible to lurching movement during a major earthquake, which would trigger liquefaction of the landfill behind it. Noah Berger/Special to The Chronicle San Francisco and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could soon embark on the largest infrastructure project in the citys history preparing the bay shoreline for sea level rise, an endeavor that could last decades and cost more than $10 billion. Four years after studies began, the Port of San Francisco is poised to sign off on the Army Corps release of a draft plan on how best to protect 7.5 miles of urban waterfront from the potential impact of climate change. City sources suggest the initial price tag is in the range of $13 billion two-thirds of which would be paid by the federal government. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The report is expected to be released in January for public review, and it could set the stage for an adaptation effort like none other that the nation has seen. Its one of a kind, Brian Harper, civil works director of the Corps Regional Planning and Environmental Center, said of the scale and nature of the San Francisco study. Our engineers are used to designing for (known) criteria. Designing for the unknown is something different. The initial draft has already been the subject of scrutiny and comments by city agencies that want to make sure San Francisco isnt left vulnerable by what would be a federal project. At this point, though, City Hall says it is on board with the initial draft going public. This is a partnership, said Elaine Forbes, the ports executive director. There were a lot of questions, but we got comfortable with the answers. We are ready to go. A family enjoys the clear weather on the west end of Mission Creek in San Francisco, an area of the city that could be impacted by climate change and sea level rise. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Advertisement Article continues below this ad Neither the port nor the Army Corps went into specifics about what the long-term strategies might look like, and Harper stressed that the initial set of alternatives are sure to be revised going forward a tacit acknowledgment of the controversy surrounding such past agency initiatives as a plan to defend Miami from storm surges by a 6-mile-long wall as much as 20 feet high. But Harper, this week, did say that the Corps is using five sea level rise projections that range from conservative to aggressive but all extend out more than a century, to 2140. Those estimates push beyond the 2100 end point of the most widely accepted scientific models. The California Ocean Protection Council, for instance, has an upper range scientifically vetted estimate of tides climbing 7 feet by 2100. We dont want to preclude future options and strategies, Harper said. Not a one-and-done project its how do we handle the adaptation of a major citys shoreline. Given the varied landscapes along that shoreline from the tower-lined Embarcadero to storage yards along oft-altered creeks proposed solutions likely would vary from spot to spot. A preview of planning efforts in 2022, for example, touched on such options as tidal locks on Mission Creek and Islais Creek and raising the Embarcadero as much as 7 feet. Advertisement Article continues below this ad For her part, Forbes emphasized that city agencies are intent on making sure that defense against sea level rise doesnt lead to fortress-like conditions where water meets land. Our job is to ensure that as we do this work, the waterfront of the future remains connected to the bay, Forbes said this week. After all, Its the San Francisco waterfront one of the most important and character-defining parts of our city. She also said that the working relationship between the corps and the city so far has been positive as well as productive, with federal planners open to concerns raised by local planners about how to strike a balance between security and urbanity. Theyre being a really innovative partner, really thinking through the challenges, Forbes said. Sea level rise adaptation is new to them, and they want to get it right. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The ports focus on adaptation dates back to 2018, when an engineering study of the 19th century seawall beneath the Embarcadero found that it was susceptible to lurching movement during a major earthquake, which would trigger liquefaction of the landfill behind it. That same year, San Francisco voters approved a $425 million bond to strengthen the seawall and make it more resilient emphasizing the seismic threat but also the need to address it in tandem with sea level rise. One year later, the Army Corps joined with the port to study the possible long-range impacts of flooding along the ports 7.5-mile shoreline, which extends from Fishermans Wharf south to the former Hunters Point naval shipyard. Another boost came in 2020, when Congress passed a measure that allowed coastal cities in earthquake zones to not be penalized for the high cost associated with seismic upgrades to shorelines. Work since then has included as many as 20 planners and engineers from the Army Corps meeting online at least every other week with 15 port employees to chew on alternatives and fine-tune the various studies along the way. With the ports signoff this week that it supports the direction of the effort, if not every detail of every alternative being presented the Corps can prepare the initial study for release this winter. An important thing for the public to understand is that were not trying to answer all the questions, Harper said. The aim in January is to release a less jargony report of around 200 pages, but accompanied by several thousand pages of supplemental technical and environmental reports. A year would be spent on revisions and alterations as well as an implementation plan. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Assuming things stay on schedule rarely a given in the realm of large-scale public infrastructure the San Francisco megaproject would go to Congress in 2025 for approval as a federal project. One factor in the citys favor for seeking approval, Harper suggested, is that a major project here would help inform sea level rise adaptation efforts in other large cities. The Army Corps already has large projects gearing up in Miami, New York and the Gulf Coast of Texas; those efforts, however, are built along hurricane dangers. SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- From November 15 to 20, the 2023 X-Lake Forum is held at the Xili Lake International Science and Education City in Nanshan District, Shenzhen. Global leaders in science and education convened in Shenzhen to discuss the trends of open and integrated development with the keywords "Frontier, Reform, Connection." The opening ceremony of this year's X-Lake Forum was highlighted by the release of major achievements. At the event, seven major scientific and technological achievements were announced, including introducing major scientific and technological infrastructure and unveiling specialized colleges, which involved emerging strategic industries and areas such as AI large models, integrated circuits, and flexible electronics. The achievements came in large quantity and high quality and spanned various fields, fully demonstrating Shenzhen's strength in innovation and fruitful progress in high-quality development. This year's X-Lake Forum consisted of one opening ceremony and plenary meeting, 13 parallel forums, and multiple supporting events. At the opening ceremony, the Spatial Planning Outline of the Xili Lake International Science and Education City was released. Its goal is to build the Xili Lake International Science and Education City into a sustainable "city of landscape, innovation, livability, and intelligence." The Xili Lake International Science and Education City is located in the northern part of Nanshan District in Shenzhen, with a planned area of 69.8 square kilometers. It boasts the richest scientific and educational resources, the highest density of high-caliber talent, the strongest scientific and technological innovation capabilities, and the most advanced level of industrial development in Shenzhen. The Xili Lake International Science and Education City gathers 35 full-time academicians, 4,900 high-caliber experts, and over 86,000 students and faculty members and houses over 500 national, provincial, and municipal-level innovation carriers. According to many professionals in science and technology innovation, the Xili Lake International Science and Education City, the Nanshan iPark nearby, and the favorable atmosphere for innovation in Nanshan demonstrate Nanshan's promotion of integrating universities, industrial parks, and communities to enhance the local appeal to talent and innovation capacity. Meng Qinghu, a professor at the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), serves as the chief scientist of Yuanhua Robotics, Perception and AI Technologies (Shenzhen) Ltd. in the field of surgical robots. The company is located in Nanshan iPark, adjacent to the SUSTech, providing convenience for Prof. Meng to provide technical guidance to the company while teaching. This year's forum highlighted the innovation capabilities of young people. It not only invited many young scientists and student representatives but also hosted an innovation forum focused on international young scientific and technological leaders. The X-Lake Forum was held in 2021 and 2022 and was well received by society. It has evolved into a prestigious forum with global impact, fully demonstrating the characteristics of the GBA and the features of integrated innovation. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/shenzhen-nanshan-and-global-innovative-talent-join-hands-at-the-x-lake-forum-301993050.html NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On World Children's Day, I think many of us feel a need to bow to the 224 million crisis-impacted children and adolescents who are suffering unspeakable violations of international humanitarian and human rights law right now. Born of innocence, their lives are plagued by brutally inhumane armed conflicts, harrowing forced displacement and punishing climate disasters. All happening despite the world having declared and committed to deliver on their right to a quality education in a safe learning environment. Indeed, while many among us are working hard to fulfill these commitments, others appear to not be hearing their soul-shattering screams for help over the deafening sound of hatred, exclusion and destruction. Will we leave them a world in tatters? Will we leave them a planet in peril? Will we leave them to repeat the mistakes that have wrought horror, terror and tyranny throughout human history? Through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goals, governments worldwide have made firm commitments to ensuring education as a basic, inherent human right, and established a quality education as a foundation for creating a more peaceful, more equal, more just and more prosperous world. We have made some notable progress toward these goals since the Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1959. Nevertheless, more than 60 years later, a new set of collective challenges - brutal attacks on schools, massive forced displacement made even worse by climate change, killing of school-aged children described as 'collateral damage,' and other interconnected crises - have set the world on fire. Wherever we look today, these vulnerable children and adolescents are crying out for our humanity. We must hear their voices, we must feel their pain, we must speak up and we must act boldly. Now. When we listen to children and adolescents, they tell us loud and clear that all they want is the freedom and opportunity to safely go to school, the freedom to play, the freedom to grow and the freedom to reach their full potential. Yet, for so many of them around the world, it seems their call is falling on deaf ears. In Gaza, with all UNRWA schools now serving as shelters for displaced persons and with schoolyards becoming graveyards after being hit directly or indirectly by airstrikes, learning has stopped for 300,228 UNRWA students throughout the past month. Children and teachers have been killed and children are experiencing traumatic events on a daily basis. In October alone, UNRWA reported that 91% of children demonstrated effects of trauma, a number that most likely has increased since then. It is safe to say that no child in Gaza is unaffected. With their education entirely disrupted, ECW recently announced an initial US$10 Million First Emergency Response grant to UNRWA and UNICEF to urgently support mental health and psychosocial services, and protective learning opportunities. We look to all our strategic donors and partners to help us do more. In Cameroon, girls like Eileen* recount terrifying stories from the frontlines of one of the world's forgotten crises. "I used to attend primary school. But when the war started, I stopped going to school. I was so scared because they were killing people and taking our teachers to the bush," she says, holding back her tears. "My father then fled with us to another city, where I was taken to a learning center to learn with other children using tablets donated by ECW through UNESCO." Every life matters. Eileen matters to all of us. In Afghanistan, resilient girls who have been denied their right to education for over two years have not given up hope and are doing whatever they can. Many of their inspiring testimonies are captured in our AfghanGirlsVoices campaign. One Afghan girl said, "Even without formal classrooms, I try to learn and read books to keep myself educated and inspired." Another determined girl said, "We may be deprived of books, but our minds are fertile grounds where ideas flourish and curiosity thrives. No one can stop that." No one can stop the young generation. Those who have suffered and survived will be the ones rebuilding our world. They are our hope for change. They are the ones that will unite around universal human rights. Because they have been there. They neither cause nor deserve cruel wars. They realize the value of Mother Earth. They dream of peace and the right to learn in safety and make the world a better place. On World Children's Day, let us bow to them and recognize their strength. *Names changed to protect identity Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2280726/UNI448898__1.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1656121/Education_Cannot_Wait_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/every-child-every-right-world-childrens-day-statement-by-ecw-executive-director-yasmine-sherif-301992753.html SUZHOU, China, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TSUN, a leading player in the photovoltaic (PV) industry, has recently secured over RMB 150 million in Series B funding, marking its second successful funding round in 2023. Led by IDG Capital and following an investment from Hidden Hill Capital in February, this funding will strategically enhance TSUN's capabilities in automated production lines, production capacity, and technological advancements in core products. The funds will also support supply chain development and the expansion of domestic and international business channels, further solidifying TSUN's influence in the PV industry. Founded in 2019, TSUN is dedicated to the innovative research and development of microinverters and energy storage products. With a mission of "More Safety, More Power," the company aims to deliver safe and efficient PV solutions, contributing to a low-carbon and eco-friendly lifestyle. In response to industry challenges, TSUN introduced the TITAN series in 2020, touted as the world's first high-power single-phase microinverter. This groundbreaking innovation addresses key industry pain points, combining cost-effectiveness with low voltage, high efficiency, and module-level monitoring, enhancing safety, power generation efficiency, and operations and maintenance in the PV sector. TSUN's microinverter product lineup includes the Gen3, Gen3 Plus, and TITAN series, covering power ranges from 300W to 3000W. The company has also pioneered "household" applications of microinverters, exemplified by the Easy Solar Kit-a plug-and-play balcony solar system designed for various installation scenarios including flat ground, railings and wall mounting. Having established collaborations with tier-one companies, TSUN facilitates channel sharing and has expanded distribution channels in rapidly growing markets such as Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. The company's subsidiaries and offices worldwide contribute to a comprehensive market operations system, sales service network, and after-sales service system, ensuring customer needs are met. Supported by Suzhou High-Speed Rail New City, TSUN will commence construction of its self-owned facility this year. The 50,000 square meters facility, expected to be operational by 2025, will house automated production lines, resulting in a 500% increase in production capacity. In product development, TSUN aims to iterate high-power microinverters by 2024, enhancing their application in industrial and commercial areas. Cora Su, responsible for TSUN's financing, emphasized the company's commitment to a long-term strategy. Leveraging its strengths in technology research and development, integrated innovation, and industry resources, TSUN plans to enrich its product line, accelerate iteration, establish competitive advantages, and upgrade its intelligent core, contributing to the green transformation of low-carbon energy. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/tsun-secures-over-rmb-150-million-in-series-b-funding-accelerating-innovation-in-photovoltaic-technology-and-sustainable-energy-solutions-301993098.html Masanori Yuri (Senior Manager, GTCC Business Division of Energy Systems/MHI) and Prof. I Gede Wenten (Vice Rector/ITB) at signing ceremony of joint R&D agreement to explore zero carbon technologies TOKYO, Nov 20, 2023 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Indonesia's Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) today announced an extension of their joint R&D partnership to support the development of cleaner fuel firing, building on research conducted last year on ammonia-fired power generation using gas turbines with further analyses and trials.The collaboration seeks to propel MHI and its power solutions brand, Mitsubishi Power, toward the integration of the proven technologies in its H-25 gas turbine and to facilitate the realization of ammonia co-firing in Indonesia. It will include developing equipment and testing the combustion of these fuels for the purpose of power generation.Masanori Yuri, Senior Manager, GTCC Business Division of Energy Systems, MHI, expressed his anticipation for the project: "There has been growing interest in ammonia, not just as an energy carrier but as a carbon-free fuel. Our proven track record with hydrogen and ammonia, and promising collaboration with ITB has already demonstrated the potential feasibility of utilization of cleaner fuels in Indonesia. I am excited at our continued partnership to produce innovative research in firing technologies. Our combined technical and research expertise is sure to spark new ideas and deliver dependable results, accelerating Indonesia's energy transition."ITB Vice Rector, Prof. I Gede Wenten, shared his thoughts on the collaboration: The shift towards cleaner energy sources plays a pivotal role in reducing carbon emissions, contributing to the mitigation of global warming and climate change. Our joint research initiative with MHI is centered on advancing cleaner fuel firing technologies in power generation, a broader embrace of which will decrease our dependence on fossil fuels. I am optimistic that our combined efforts will formulate successful solutions for ammonia in power generation, ultimately catalyzing long-term decarbonization in Indonesia."A signing ceremony for this new agreement took place in Bandung, Indonesia, on November 16, coinciding with Enlit Asia, a premier energy transition event in Southeast Asia. Representatives from Mitsubishi Power and ITB also presented technical insights on combustion technologies for gas turbines as part of Enlit Asia's Knowledge Hub.In 2020, MHI and ITB concluded a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joint research on next-generation clean energy solutions and analysis of big data relating to power plants. Building on the success of this collaboration, in February 2022, both partners mutually agreed to a five-year extension of the MOU. Last year, the R&D partners entered a new agreement focusing on ammonia-fired power generation at the 2nd Asia Green Growth Partnership Ministerial Meeting (AGGPM). The present agreement is an evolution of the results achieved under the previous agreement, serving as a second-year study and an integral component of the 2022 agreement.Under the 2020 MoU targeting decarbonization of Indonesia's energy sector, joint feasibility studies have been conducted on emerging energy sources, including hydrogen and ammonia, as well as air quality control systems (AQCS) and microgrid solutions. MHI and ITB have also delivered joint lectures to train engineers for Indonesia's future, covering topics such as big data analysis, biomass energy, hydrogen usage, and AQCS development.MHI, with support from its power solutions brand, Mitsubishi Power, is committed to making a lasting impact on Indonesia's scientific and technological development in the energy sector. This serves to support the country's target to reach net-zero emissions by 2060, which includes the potential utilization of green hydrogen and ammonia.About MHI GroupMitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world's leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on spectra.mhi.com.Source: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Copyright 2023 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. Press release Regulated / Inside information Solvay announces the publication of a supplement to its information document Brussels, November 20, 2023 - 8:30 CET Today, Solvay SA/NV ("Solvay") published a supplement to its information document, dated June 30, 2023, in connection with the previously announced planned separation of Solvay into two independent listed companies - SOLVAY and SYENSQO - by way of a partial demerger of Solvay. The information document covers the future Solvay as a simpler, more focused company post-the Syensqo spin-off, subject to approval by Solvay's shareholders at the extraordinary general meeting convened for December 8, 2023. The supplement to the information document is available on the Solvay's website). About Solvay Solvay, a pioneering chemical company with a legacy rooted in founder Ernest Solvay's pivotal innovations in the soda ash process, is dedicated to delivering essential solutions globally through its workforce of over 9,000 employees. Since 1863, Solvay harnesses the power of chemistry to create innovative, sustainable solutions that answer the world's most essential needs such as purifying the air we breathe and the water we drink, preserving our food supplies, protecting our health and well-being, creating eco-friendly clothing, making the tires of our cars more sustainable and cleaning and protecting our homes. As a world-leading company with 5.6 billion in net sales in 2022 and listings on Euronext Brussels and Parisor follow Solvayon Linkedin. Important legal information This press release is for informational purposes only and is not intended to, and does not, constitute an offer or invitation to sell or solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy, or an invitation to purchase or subscribe for, any securities of Solvay or Syensqo SA/NV ("Syensqo"), any part of the business or assets described herein, or any other interests or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction in connection with the transactions described herein or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. This press release should not be construed in any manner as a recommendation to any reader thereof. This press release is not a prospectus or other offering document for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of June 14, 2017 (as amended, the "Prospectus Regulation"), and the allocation of shares of Syensqo to Solvay's shareholders as part of the contemplated partial demerger of Solvay is expected to be carried out in circumstances that do not constitute "an offer of securities to the public" within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation. Syensqo has prepared a registration document which will become a constituent part of Syensqo's prospectus for purposes of the admission to trading of Syensqo's shares on the regulated markets of Euronext in Brussels and Paris in connection with the partial demerger of Solvay. The registration document is, and the other constituent parts of the prospectus will be made, available to investors at no cost on the corporate websites of Syensqo (www.syensqo.com/en/investors/spinoff) and Solvay (www.solvay.com), as well as at the registered office of Syensqo, at Rue de la Fusee 98, 1130 Brussels, Belgium. The approval of the registration document, or any other constituent parts of the prospectus, by the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (the "FSMA") should not be understood as an endorsement of the shares of Syensqo to be admitted to trading on the aforementioned regulated markets. The distribution of this press release may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comes, should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This press release is directed solely to persons in the United Kingdom who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments, such persons falling within the definition of "investment professionals" in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Financial Promotion Order") or (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Financial Promotion Order or (iii) other persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) may lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated, (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). This press release is directed only to relevant persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Contacts Media relations Peter Boelaert +32 479 30 91 59 Laetitia Van Minnenbruggen +32 484 65 30 47 Kimberly King + 1 470 464 4336 media.relations@solvay.com Investor relations Jodi Allen +1 609 860 4608 Geoffroy d'Oultremont +32 2 264 2997 Vincent Toussaint +33 4 3724 6547 investor.relations@solvay.com Attachment LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Ashtead Group plc (AHT.L) said it expects to report record results for the half year and the second quarter. For the half year, Group rental revenue growth is projected to be 13%, EBITDA growth of 15% to approximately $2.580 billion, and adjusted profit before tax growth of 5% to approximately $1.31 billion. The Group expects to deliver record full year results, however, revised revenue guidance and earnings expectations. The Group now expects both Group and US rental revenue growth in the range of 11 to 13%, revised from previous guidance of 13 to 16%, which will result in EBITDA being 2 to 3% below current market expectations. Also, the Group now expects adjusted profit before tax below current market expectations. Ashtead will announce first half and second quarter results for the period ended 31 October 2023 on 5 December 2023. For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. BOSTON, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Spatial computing promises to transform the way we interact with our devices as computing goes truly 3D, with early signs of change already underway. While Apple's upcoming Vision Pro is bringing new excitement to this space, gaming-focused VR (Virtual Reality) headsets from companies including Meta, Sony, and Pico have sold millions of units, and AR (Augmented Reality) glasses from Vuzix, Microsoft, and more have found a valuable place in industry. Events in 2023 led IDTechEx to identify two important narratives it expects to unfold over the next decade of the XR market: virtual reality's impact will broaden as it feels closer to "real reality", and the endgame for Big Tech firms involved in XR is to mark their place in a future market of AR devices designed to replace the smartphone. Making VR more immersive In August 2023, Meta showed off its latest Butterscotch prototype VR headset. This demonstrated solutions to several issues holding back VR from feeling real, giving a glimpse of the experiences these devices may offer by the end of the decade and the hardware required to do so. Meta is not unique in tackling these problems, but the prototype is unique in combining solutions in one device. Problem 1: Pixels need to disappear Butterscotch's display system approaches retinal resolution, which is the pixel density at which most people's eyes cannot distinguish individual pixels. This reduces the perception that the user is looking at screens, eliminating the "screen door effect" of the visible pixel grid. Butterscotch manages 56 pixels per degree (PPD) across the user's field of view (FoV), close to the 60PPD heuristic commonly suggested, although the downside is that the FoV has been approximately halved compared to most other VR headsets. A production-ready system would need a higher field of view, but this requires incredibly high-resolution screens and massive computing demands. One solution, employed in Finnish professional-market VR specialist Varjo's XR-3 headset, is to use a higher resolution foveal microdisplay in the center of the vision, where the eye resolves the most detail, and use a lower resolution display for the rest of the visual field. Whilst this sets Varjo's image quality apart from the rest of the market, the tradeoff is the resulting added weight, complexity, and cost. Varjo's headsets are priced at the highest end of the market, but it is possible that this approach will trickle down over the next decade as technology matures. The simpler approach will likely be a move towards large but higher pixel density microdisplay technologies in VR, with foveated rendering taking place at the software level, saving on computing power but not the number of pixels needed for the display. The IDTechEx report "Displays for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2024-2034: Forecasts, Technologies, Markets" outlines the expectation that OLED-on-silicon displays, which are more commonly used in camera viewfinders today, will replace the LCDs used today to become the prevalent VR display technology in the 2030s, with VR-specific OLED-on-silicon releases from companies including BOE setting the stage for this already in 2023. Problem 2: 3D display systems mess with our heads Butterscotch can also correct for the vergence-accommodation conflict: the mismatch between the fixed focal (accommodation) distance of a binocular stereoscopic display system and the varied distances of objects from the viewer (vergence) it simulates by parallax. This conflict can increase problems with motion sickness felt by users of XR headsets and decrease immersion since the eye is missing important visual cues for depth. Butterscotch solves this problem by tracking where the eyes are looking using IR cameras, tweaking the scene rendering, and, most importantly, adjusting dynamically tunable lenses to focus the headset's displays to match vergence and accommodation distances. The lenses used in Butterscotch are moved physically by motors to vary focus, but Meta has also demonstrated geometric phase lens arrays that could be used for the same purpose. These lenses switch from a positive to a negative diopter depending on the handedness of circularly polarized input light: stack these lenses with switchable waveplates, and an extremely compact, dynamically tunable focal length lens with no moving parts and near-zero latency can be produced. Although image quality issues remain, it seems more likely that Meta would take this approach in a commercial headset. IDTechEx's report "Optics for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2022-2032: Technologies, Players and Markets" forecast these lenses to become an extremely important technology for the VR market, with commercial introduction likely occurring towards the end of the 2020s. Notably, other players, including Valve and Apple, have proven interest in the technology through patents and investments, so Meta is hardly the only giant working in this area. The shape of VR devices in 2034 A similar combination of features to those shown off in Butterscotch, which also include further innovations, including dynamic distortion correction based on the headset's eye-tracking capabilities, will likely be required to boost immersion and comfort in VR. This is particularly true as interest develops in the use of VR headsets as a replacement for today's workstations, since these factors are extremely important when working with text for long periods. This offers a true chance to broaden the utility of VR devices, not to mention their market size, but getting to this point is an uphill struggle. Meta spent $7.7 billion on its spatial computing-focused Reality Labs division in H1 2023 alone - of course, not all of this was spent on VR hardware development, but it remains indicative of the scale of R&D work required to make XR devices effective replacements for today's computing systems. Big Tech firms are setting the stage for AR Whilst Meta established itself as an XR hardware player early on, 2023 was the year when Apple finally made its first long-anticipated move here with its announcement of the Vision Pro. This headset, which IDTechEx classes as a VR headset with focus on MR passthrough, is an impressive device, but it is likely just the beginning of the spatial computing game for Apple. The endgame prize for Big Tech players in the XR market is likely establishing see-through AR devices as an eventual replacement for the smartphone, with passthrough MR, where cameras on a VR headset pass a view of the real world to the user, offering a useful steppingstone along this path. Big Tech companies have been investing in AR software content for years, delivered through smartphones: Google's ARCore and Apple's ARKit have been highly influential in lowering the barriers to development here, with Amazon using the latter to develop its earliest AR e-commerce efforts in 2017. Smartphones are the only way that most of the public are likely to have experienced augmented or mixed reality experiences, but building software and content libraries now offers a chance to expand to dedicated AR/MR devices as they become more widely used. Passthrough MR as a stepping stone technology In 2023, even lower-cost VR devices are routinely including passthrough MR features, which is beginning to democratize more immersive AR/MR experiences: for example, the Pico 4 includes color passthrough to help users orientate themselves within the room. This headset launched at EUR 429 and is a close competitor to Meta's Quest 2: notably, Pico is owned by TikTok's parent company ByteDance. It appears that Chinese tech giants have just as much interest in establishing themselves as XR players as their American counterparts. IDTechEx's report "Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Headsets 2023-2033: Technologies, Players, and Markets" outlines the different approaches being taken by the players here whilst giving a comprehensive overview of the XR market. Passthrough MR offers a commercially ready way to deliver captivating MR experiences, but social acceptability is a significant problem since even the most compact and elegant VR device will always conceal the eyes behind displays. The Vision Pro uses an outward-facing display to help address this, but even the most refined implementation of this system is likely to feel, at best, like a significant barrier from the wearer of the headset. The other significant issue is that these devices are fail-deadly and so could not be worn whilst driving, walking, in industrial settings, and so on since they are effectively blindfolds if something goes wrong. Seethrough AR doesn't suffer from these problems, offering the potential to replace smartphones as an all-day wearable access point to computing. However, so far, this approach has proven tough to get right, even for big players like Microsoft. These glasses should leave the eyes open to the real world: the crucial components used to project images to the eyes while leaving this view clear, which are known as optical combiners, have arguably offered the greatest technical challenge to AR success, as outlined in IDTechEx's report "Optics for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2022-2032: Technologies, Players and Markets" . Optics offer the greatest roadblock to AR development Waveguide combiners, which have generally looked like the combiner solution of choice for this since they can offer a relatively wide FoV while looking like normal spectacle lenses, have proved a challenging combiner technology to get right. Tech and social media companies alike have interests in this area, with Apple, Microsoft, and Snap all acquiring firms with interests in waveguide design. One major problem is the lack of optical efficiency (nits out to the eye for lumens in from the display) of many designs, increasing demands on display brightness, and therefore battery capacity and thermal management: solving this would make compact, all-day wearable AR devices more feasible. Potential increased use of more efficient reflective waveguides over their diffractive counterparts that are dominant today is one solution here, but diffractive waveguide manufacturers counter that the manufacturability of reflective waveguides is inferior. A solution to this (extremely controversial) manufacturability problem could be a move towards molded plastic reflective waveguides. This has the additional benefit of better mechanical properties for near-eye use compared to glass substrates but has the downside of limiting FoV, since this depends on the refractive index of a waveguide material, and polymers are inferior to glass here. The outlook for AR in 2034 Waveguides are just one area of technological focus for Big Tech players with an interest in AR devices, not to mention myriad smaller players. The challenges remain significant, but the reward at the end could be huge: AR devices offer the potential for the most seamless access to digital content yet, offering even greater time in front of our eyes to the gatekeepers of this content. It seems unlikely that most of us will be wearing AR glasses instead of carrying a smartphone in 2034, but the early adopters will probably be beginning to make the switch by this point. Further insight For in-depth analysis of the technology, players, and markets behind XR optics, displays, headsets and accessories, please see IDTechEx's XR portfolio. IDTechEx's report, "Displays for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2024-2034: Forecasts, Technologies, Markets", offers detailed analysis of the spatial computing display landscape including granular ten-year market forecasts and assessments of the potential for success of the technologies covered. "Optics for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2022-2032: Technologies, Players and Markets" not only forecasts the adoption of twenty individual optical technologies, but also the material demands these technologies create. "Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Headsets 2023-2033: Technologies, Players, and Markets" forecasts and predicts technology adoption of displays, optics, eye tracking and haptics in addition to headsets and accessories, as well as offering a data-based review of the evolution of XR device specifications and pricing. All reports feature multiple interview-based company profiles from key industry players in addition to SWOT analysis, readiness level assessments, and much more. This article is from "Technology Innovations Outlook 2024-2034", a complimentary magazine of analyst-written articles by IDTechEx providing insights into a number of areas of technology innovation, assessing the landscape now and giving you the outlook for the next decade. You can read the magazine in full at www.IDTechEx.com/Magazine. About IDTechEx IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com. About IDTechEx IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com. Images download: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/65p3wyuq26iu074t9bym0/h?rlkey=b115g5so2gbz5gtw7t14sprdo&dl=0 Media Contact: Lucy Rogers Sales and Marketing Administrator press@IDTechEx.com +44(0)1223 812300 Social Media Links: Twitter: www.twitter.com/IDTechEx LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/IDTechEx Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2277009/IDTechEx.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/478371/IDTechEx_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/idtechex-reports-on-a-tale-of-two-realities-mapping-spatial-computings-next-decade-301989057.html LONDON, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wirex, a leading digital payment platform, has officially launched the Rising Women in Crypto Community on LinkedIn as an extension of its successful Women in Crypto campaign. The Rising Women in Crypto Community by Wirex is designed to encourage global involvement by spotlighting the frequently undervalued talents of women in the crypto field. By demonstrating the influence of women in the digital currency landscape, the platform aims to advocate for increased diversity and inclusiveness. Commenting on the initiative, Jennifer Kong, Head of Marketing at Wirex, stated, "We believe in the power of diversity and inclusion in shaping the future of the crypto industry. The Rising Women in Crypto Community is our commitment in celebrating the 'wins' but also acknowledging and tackling the 'challenges' women still face in this space. We invite members from all backgrounds to join and participate in the community!" By joining the Rising Women in Crypto Community, here's what you get: Informative and Inspiring Content: This community is the go-to place for sharing interesting and uplifting content about women in the crypto world. Whether it's success stories or useful industry insights, our community aims to be a helpful resource for both newcomers and experienced professionals. This community is the go-to place for sharing interesting and uplifting content about women in the crypto world. Whether it's success stories or useful industry insights, our community aims to be a helpful resource for both newcomers and experienced professionals. Celebrating Accomplishments: Community members can actively join in acknowledging the achievements of women in the crypto sector. We'll regularly showcase profiles and success stories, giving due recognition to the remarkable contributions of women in various roles within the industry. Community members can actively join in acknowledging the achievements of women in the crypto sector. We'll regularly showcase profiles and success stories, giving due recognition to the remarkable contributions of women in various roles within the industry. Welcoming Collaboration: Wirex wants to make it clear that everyone is invited to be part of the Rising Women in Crypto Community. Regardless of your gender or background, we actively encourage a diverse range of perspectives and experiences, fostering a collaborative and supportive environment for everyone to engage in discussions about the future of digital currencies. Diana Velychko, PR & Communications Manager at Wirex, says: "Wirex wants to make a friendly space where everyone can join in recognising and celebrating the achievements of women in the crypto world. That's why we thought of creating a community on LinkedIn where talented women working in crypto can come together to celebrate each other's accomplishments. " Wirex's Rising Women in Crypto Community serves as a dynamic space focused on supporting and honouring women in the crypto world. You can join the Rising Women in Crypto community by following this link. Notes to editors: About Wirex Wirex, a global leader in digital payments, revolutionised the financial landscape in 2015 with the introduction of the first crypto-enabled card. As a Visa and Mastercard principal member, Wirex serves over 6 million customers across 130 countries, offering secure accounts for seamless storage, purchase, and exchange of multiple currencies. With the native utility token WXT and the innovative Cryptoback reward program, users earn up to 8% back in WXT for transactions. Features like X-Accounts, the Wirex Wallet, and partnerships with projects like Nereus showcase Wirex's commitment to market developments. Expanding beyond traditional offerings, Wirex embraces Web3 trends, providing mainstream access to DeFi and wealth management. With $20 billion in transactions processed, Wirex aims to drive the mass adoption of a cashless society by facilitating easy crypto and traditional currency transactions worldwide. Founded in 2014 by Pavel Matveev and Dmitry Lazarichev, Wirex strives to make cryptocurrencies accessible for everyone, with a presence in London and offices globally. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2280424/Wirex.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2031625/Wirex_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/wirex-launches-the-exclusive-rising-women-in-crypto-community-301992430.html BOSTON, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Temu is seeking the support of its customers in identifying and reporting scam websites and apps that impersonate the e-commerce platform for fraudulent purposes. The company also provided helpful tips to ensure a safe shopping experience during the holiday season. "With the rising popularity of our products and services, we've noticed the emergence of apps and websites impersonating our brand to cheat our customers," said a Temu spokesperson. "We have taken legal action against these fraudulent entities. However, the judicial process and expected delays in addressing the issue with the hosting platforms and cloud services mean the resolution may not be immediate. Therefore, we urge consumers to support our efforts by reporting any such fraudulent activities they encounter." To address reports about fraudulent Temu websites, suspicious text messages or phone calls, consumers are encouraged to file a report with Temu at https://www.temu.com/bgch_report_suspicious.html. Additionally, consumers can file their complaints to the relevant authorities including the National Cyber Security Center (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/about-this-website/report-scam-website) and Action Fraud (https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/). Common Scams To Beware: Here are some of the common characteristics and techniques used by scam sites and apps: Individuals report being contacted by someone claiming to be a courier, who then demands additional shipping fees. There are cases where a seller, allegedly representing Temu, solicits payments through alternative methods, such as QR codes, e-wallets, or wire transfers. Consumers have been deceived into making purchases and payments on websites or apps that closely mimic Temu, often accompanied by false notifications of winning a prize. Unsolicited messages from unrecognized numbers have offered financial services or part-time jobs, requiring the recipient to provide personal details, including Temu account or transaction information. Reports include receiving calls from unknown numbers that either request personal information verification or offer unsolicited refunds. Safe and Fun Shopping With Temu: Temu is a safe and secure platform for online shopping, featuring a wide array of quality merchandise at attractive prices. Consumers can shop with peace of mind by checking that they are browsing on the official Temu website at www.temu.com, and by downloading the Temu app from the official Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Temu is a TrustedSite Certified Secure Site that adheres to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) when handling card data by encrypting data in storage and transmission. Temu collaborates with leading payment networks, leveraging their specialized security and authentication protocols - such as Visa Secure, MasterCard ID Check, American Express SafeKey, Discover ProtectBuy, and JCB J/Secure - to provide an additional layer of protection for its users. About Temu: Temu is an online marketplace that connects consumers with millions of sellers, manufacturers and brands around the world with the mission to empower them to live their best lives. Temu is committed to offering the most affordable quality products to enable consumers and sellers to fulfill their dreams in an inclusive environment. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2280925/Image_Temu_mobile_app.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/temu-enlists-help-of-consumers-to-flag-scam-sites-shares-tips-to-shop-safely-this-holiday-season-301992887.html Growth of the e-commerce industry and the rapidly increasing volume of inventory, owing to increasing global trade drive the growth of the warehouse racking market. WILMINGTON, Del., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Warehouse Racking Market by Type (Selective Pallet Rack, Double Deep Rack, Pallet Flow Rack, Drive-In/Drive-Thru Rack, and Others), End User (Automotive, Food and Beverages, Retail, Manufacturing, and Others), and Carrying Capacity (Light Duty, Medium Duty, and Heavy Duty): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032". According to the report, the global warehouse racking industry generated $7.7 billion in 2022, and is anticipated to generate $12.4 billion by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 5.0% from 2023 to 2032. Request PDF Sample Copy @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/5167 Prime determinants of growth Growth of the e-commerce industry and the rapidly increasing volume of inventory, owing to increasing global trade drive the growth of the warehouse-racking market. However, high initial cost of warehouse racking products restricts the market growth. Moreover, advancements in warehouse-racking technology are expected to present growth opportunities in the coming years. Report coverage & details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023-2032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $7.7 billion Market Size in 2032 $12.4 billion CAGR 5.0 % No. of Pages in Report 204 Segments covered Type, Carrying Capacity, End User, and Region. Drivers Growth of E-commerce Industry Increase in volume of inventory Opportunities Advancements in warehouse racking technology Restraints High Initial Cost The selective pallet rack segment to maintain its dominance during the forecast period By type, the selective pallet rack segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for more than one-fourth of the global warehouse racking market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. The growing e-commerce sector has lead to surge in demand for efficient warehousing solutions, making selective pallet racks a preferred choice due to their versatility in accommodating various product sizes. However, the pallet flow rack segment is projected to attain the highest CAGR of 5.7% from 2023 to 2032. Growing demand for storage efficiency and the need to optimize warehouse space has driven the adoption of pallet flow racks. The medium duty segment to maintain its dominance during the forecast period By carrying capacity, the medium duty segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for more than one-fourth of the global warehouse racking market, and is estimated to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. Increase in industrialization and manufacturing activities across various sectors has boosted the demand for warehousing racks. However, the light duty segment is projected to attain the highest CAGR of 5.5% from 2023 to 2032. The growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in various industries is contributing to the expansion of the light-duty racking segment, as these businesses seek affordable and scalable storage solutions. Buy This Research Report (204 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, Figures) @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/32eae89f5907c4ec5bf737ec703f2bb3 The automotive segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period By end user, the automotive segment accounted for the largest share in 2022, contributing to more than two-fifths of the global warehouse racking market revenue, and is projected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. The production in the automotive industry is mostly on the assembly-line, in which various parts and equipment are supplied by original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in huge volumes, which requires warehousing of these parts and equipment in a more organized manner. However, the retail segment is expected to attain the largest CAGR of 5.6% from 2023 to 2032. Rise in population is increasing the demand for packed or ready-to-cook products, which is one of the factors driving the retail industry. Growth in the retail industry is creating demand for increased storage volume for different products. Such treads create demand for warehouse racking. North America to maintain its dominance by 2032 Region-wise, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for more than one-third of the global warehouse racking market revenue, and is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period. North America is estimated to be one of the key markets for warehouse racking due to surge in industry verticals such as e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, and automotive. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 5.4% from 2023 to 2032. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region globally. Japan and China are among the largest e-commerce markets. Asia-Pacific is also the largest manufacturer of electronic & electrical goods and metal & machinery goods. In addition, China is leading in the warehouse racking market. This has increased the demand for warehouses in the region, thereby positively influencing the warehouse racking market. Inquire Before Buying @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/5167 Leading Market Players: - Daifuku Co., Ltd. BEUMER GROUP Dematic Corporation Dexion Godrej Group Interroll Holding AG SSI SCHAFER Steel King Industries, Inc. TOYOTA INDUSTRIES CORPORATION Warehouse Rack & Shelf LLC. The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global warehouse racking market. These players have adopted different strategies such as product launches, business expansion, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario. Trending Reports in Warehouse Racking Industry (Book Now with 15% Discount): Warehouse Automation Market is Projected to Reach $57.6 billion by 2031 Pallets Market is Projected to Reach $130.5 billion by 2032 Cold Storage Construction Market is projected to reach $26.2 billion by 2031 Service Robotics Market is projected to reach $153.7 billion by 2030 Pallet Pooling Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2030 Palletizer Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 Palletizing Systems Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 About us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Wilmington, Delaware. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies, and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact us: United States 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. Int'l: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285Fax: +1-800-792-5285 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Follow Us on | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/warehouse-racking-market-to-reach-12-4-billion-globally-by-2032-at-5-0-cagr-allied-market-research-301993360.html In addition to a windy Monday, Thursday could be a gusty day across California in the wake of a weak cold front. Significant precipitation is not expected for Thanksgiving week. Baron/Lynx UPDATED FORECAST: Bay Area weather to shift throughout Thanksgiving holiday weekend After a wet mid-November period, gusty winds will kick off Thanksgiving week across California, but the overall weather pattern will be much quieter the next seven days. The week begins with Diablo winds in the Bay Area and Santa Ana and Sundowner winds in Southern California. In the Bay Area, the National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory until 9 a.m. for sustained 25 to 35 mph winds and gusts up to 55 mph. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Parts of Southern California are under a high wind warning for gusts up to 70 mph in wind-prone spots such as the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains. Gusts will slowly ease Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning. Recent rainfall will significantly limit fire danger across the state. Dry weather is expected statewide through at least Wednesday morning as a high pressure system expands across the Southwest. A weak cold front is expected to move over Northern California on Wednesday afternoon into early Thursday with a chance of light drizzle along the North Coast and in the Bay Area. Accumulations are expected to be under a tenth of an inch. Dry weather will return for the remainder of the week. Wind will increase behind the cold front Thursday. Breezy conditions are expected across the Sacramento Valley from Thursday through Saturday. North-northeast gusts could exceed 30 mph. Highs in Sacramento and San Francisco will be in the 60s throughout the week. Los Angeles and San Diego will be in the mid- to upper 70s through Wednesday before dropping to the upper 60s to lower 70s for Thanksgiving weekend. Lows will be in the upper 30s to lower 40s in the Sacramento and Central valleys and in the 40s to lower 50s on the coast. Subfreezing nights are expected in the Sierra Nevada. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Monday breakdown San Francisco: Diablo winds will blow in dry air Monday, a stark contrast to the recent wet weather. Gusts up to 20 mph are possible throughout the morning before winds relax in the afternoon. The Twin Peaks neighborhood will be most exposed to the northeast winds. Skies will be clear, with highs in the mid- to upper 60s across the city, about 5 degrees above normal for the date. Increasing high clouds are expected overnight, with lows in the upper 40s. North Bay: Gusty winds are expected in the Marin coastal mountains, North Bay interior mountains and Solano County, gusting between 35 and 45 mph throughout the morning. A few scattered power outages and downed trees are possible around Mount Tam, Mount St. Helena and Fairfield. Winds are forecast to be strongest in the mountains and are not expected to be as strong in the Petaluma, Sonoma and Napa valleys. Winds will relax during the afternoon, with clear skies and highs in the upper 60s to lower 70s. Point Reyes will be cooler in the mid-60s. High clouds will move in overnight, with lows dropping to the lower 40s, with mid-40s near the bay shoreline. Advertisement Article continues below this ad East Bay: Diablo winds are expected across the East Bay hills Monday morning, gusting up to 35 mph. Mount Diablo could even see some gusts around 50 mph. Tranquil weather is expected by the afternoon, with clear skies. Highs will be in the mid-60s in Walnut Creek, Danville and Livermore. Oakland and Berkeley will reach the upper 60s, about 5 degrees above normal for the date. Lows will drop to the mid- to upper 40s under partly cloudy skies. Pacific Coast and Peninsula: The Peninsula is expected to be spared from the strongest winds Monday morning, but gusts of 25 to 30 mph are possible in the higher elevations of the coastal mountains. The easterly breeze will blow warm air all the way to the coast, so temperatures will be fairly uniform in the mid-60s throughout San Mateo County. Skies are expected to be mainly clear, but high clouds will increase after sunset. Lows will be in the mid-40s. South Bay and Santa Cruz: Gusty winds are expected in the Santa Cruz Mountains on Monday morning, and localized downed trees and power outages are possible. Gusts up to 45 mph are possible at the highest peaks, but Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz and San Jose are expected to see only 15 to 20 mph gusts. Winds will relax throughout the afternoon. Advertisement Article continues below this ad London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - November 20, 2023) - On a momentous occasion at the GFCC Annual Meeting held in London, UK, Spectrum Index proudly unveiled "The Annual Scorebook 2023," marking a significant milestone in assessing and documenting global economic and technological trends. This comprehensive publication, meticulously compiled by industry experts, provides a detailed analysis of the current situation across diverse sectors, offering valuable insights into the ever-evolving landscape of finance, commerce, and technology. The event underscored Spectrum Index's commitment to fostering transparency and facilitating strategic planning within the international business community. It will be an invaluable aid to business owners looking to take a nation's socio-economic temperature before they commit to launching their products and services there. The Annual Scorebook 2023 reveals the competitive excellence scores of more than 100 nations around the world based on a unique multi-factor analysis of contributing elements. Competitiveness indicators, taken both individually and together, are important guides both for shaping economies and for investing in them because they provide valuable insights into the relative strengths and weaknesses of a country's overall potential compared to others. The research methodology that underpins this downloadable complimentary document (available here) uses three 'pillars' of research to quantify the competitiveness of the selected countries. These pillars are founded on assessments of a nation's economy, its level of freedom, and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) factors. There are 26 separate competitiveness indicators in total that draw on various well-established indexes, rankings, and reports. They include diverse areas such as level of innovation, GDP, university rankings, terrorism, press freedom, competitiveness, gender pay gap, corruption perception, and more. Analysis in each area is summarized in terms of a numerical score that uses a weighted averages approach to avoid bias towards any one pillar. The result is a clear appraisal system that presents a balanced and accurate overall impression of each country's suitability as a potential market. The selected competitiveness indicators offer a useful form of business intelligence because they quantify the factors that play significant but sometimes overlooked roles in shaping economies. Anyone reading the document can quickly gain a good sense of a country's ability to attract investment, its trade and export performance, its innovation and productivity levels, and its business environment. It ranks the top ten countries under a heading called 'Spectrum' that combines all three pillars, and it also ranks them for their performance on each of the 26 indicators. This 40,000+ word document presents score tables, overviews of individual nations, and a detailed description of each metric so that business owners or investors wishing to dive deeper into the methodology can explore the scope of each one. It's also important to consider the vision that underpins the entire venture. As Abdulwahab A. Al Maimani, the chairman of Spectrum Index puts it, "As readers embark on this exploration of the Spectrum Index, we invite them to engage deeply, to question, to reflect, and ultimately, to be inspired. For within these pages lies not just data, but a roadmap to a future where prosperity, sustainability, and freedom coalesce into a harmonious symphony." Spectrum Index is only the latest of Mr. Al Maimani's many forward-looking business ventures. He is the owner of Abdulwahab's Office, which is involved in various sectors internationally including manufacturing, the creative industry, the knowledge-based economy, the technology industry, and the finance and investments sector. He played a significant role in Oman's economic regrowth following the COVID-19 pandemic. Contact: Contact Name: Abdulwahab Al Maimani Email: abdulwahab@abdulwahaboffice.com Contact number: +968 97090490 Country: The United Kingdom City: London To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/187188 Aviation analytics firm Cirium analyzed airline schedules, capacity, and fares for the Thanksgiving holiday Average airfare for the U.S. domestic market has been stable in 2023; up 14% compared with 2022 U.S. airlines have achieved strong operational performance to date in November 2023 The busiest travel day of the year in the U.S. domestic market will be Sunday, November 26, 2023, according to a recent analysis by the world's most trusted source of aviation analytics and airline schedules data, Cirium. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120169466/en/ Cirium: 2023 U.S. Thanksgiving Domestic Seats Up 7% Compared With Thanksgiving 2022 (Photo: Business Wire) More than 3,000,000 seats and 22,000 flights will be flown domestically in the U.S. on that date, higher than peak travel days in summer 2023. The major U.S. carriers will fly 7% more seats during the Wednesday-Sunday of Thanksgiving week in 2023 compared to 2022. The data is sourced from Cirium's Diio Mi Schedules System, widely used in aviation to analyze airline schedules for more than 1,300 airlines worldwide. International travel figures also show strong growth during Thanksgiving week 2023 compared to 2022. Travel from the U.S. to Caribbean resort destinations by all carriers will increase by 14% on seats flown this Thanksgiving compared to last. Similarly, travel from the U.S. to Europe shows 12% more available seats flown. In addition, recent third-party media reporting indicated weakness in bookings, with lower average prospective fares than in Q4 2022. Cirium's historical fare data indicates that U.S. domestic airfares has been stable in 2023, with a peak average fare of $188 in August 2023, and the lowest average fare being $176 in March 2023. In the U.S. domestic market, Cirium analysis of airfares for 2023, to-date, showed the average airfare for U.S. economy tickets was $182, one-way, non-directionally, not including taxes and fees. This compares to an average fare of $159 in 2022 for the same period. Accordingly, airfares are up 14% year over year. The 11 major U.S. airlines have had strong operational performance in November 2023 (to November 16, 2023) with an average on-time performance of 86.28%. A flight is considered on-time when it arrives before 14:59 of its scheduled arrival time, commonly known in the airline industry as "A14." November's performance to date bodes well for travelers in the U.S. in advance of this coming Thanksgiving holiday period. About Cirium Cirium is the world's most trusted source of aviation analytics. Through powerful data and analytics, coupled with decades of industry experience, Cirium is enabling airlines, airports, travel companies, aircraft manufacturers, and financial institutions, amongst others, to make intelligent and informed decisions that improve operations, grow revenues, and enhance customer experiences. Cirium is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The shares of RELX PLC are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. For further information please follow Cirium updates on LinkedIn or visit www.cirium.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120169466/en/ Contacts: Media enquiries media@cirium.com IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, and the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), today announced the inaugural International Conference on Data Science and Engineering in Healthcare, Medicine Biology taking place from December 7-9, 2023 in St. Julians, Malta. The conference represents the launch of IEEE EMBS' strategic initiative to promote AI and data science innovations in healthcare and to provide professionals across different fields the opportunity to network and share their perspectives with like-minded professionals, clinicians, and researchers. The conference is structured as a three-day program including three mini-symposiums on (1) Data Science in Healthcare; (2) Data Engineering in Cancer and (3) Data Science in Surgical Oncology. Additionally, the posters presented at the conference cover topics regarding data science as it applies to healthcare, medical imaging, personalized medicine, mind and body, women's health, heterogeneous data harmonization, and others. Recordings of the session will be available at the dedicated event website after the forum. "It is becoming increasingly clear that data science has the potential to revolutionize the healthcare sector," said Metin Akay, past President of IEEE EMBS and Honorary Chair. "EMBS recognizes the current renaissance of data science as AI and machine learning continue to evolve and open new doors in the field. We welcome the advancement of this technology, and hope to see it employed to improve quality of care and reduce patient costs in the healthcare sector." "As advancements are made within the data science field, it is important to continue ongoing conversations with colleagues to get a sense of the direction the industry is moving in," said Paul Sajda, Ph.D., President of the IEEE EMBS. "We are excited to facilitate conversations between industry professionals and create a space to share new innovations in the field, including advancements that enable scaling to big and heterogeneous data." Details of the 2023 International Conference on Data Science and Engineering are listed below: Date and Time: Thursday, December 7, 2023 from 8:20 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. CET; Friday, December 8, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. CET; Saturday, December 9, 2023 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CET Location: Hilton Malta in Portomaso, St. Julians, Malta Keynote Speaker: Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chairman of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Governing Board and Executive Committee Conference Panelists Luiza Dobre, Founder and CEO of Komed Health AG; Michael Friebe, Professor of Biomedical Engineering Innovation at the AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Poland; Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chairman of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Governing Board and Executive Committee; and Ali Tinazli, CEO, lifespin GmbH in Germany Forum Organizing Committee Metin Akay, University of Houston; Paul Sajda, Columbia University; Hayit Greenspan, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Natalie Mrachacz-Kersting, Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg; Carl Debono, University of Malta; Kristy Brock, MD Anderson Cancer Center; May Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology; Chwee Teck (C.T.) Lim, National University of Singapore; Yasemin Akay, University of Houston; Dimitrios I. Fotiadis, University of Ioannina/FORTH For more details about the 2023 International Conference on Data Science and Engineering in Healthcare, Medicine Biology, please visit embs.org and datascience.embs.org. About IEEE IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice in a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Learn more. About the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society The IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) is the world's largest international society of Biomedical Engineers. With more than 9,500 members residing in some 97 countries around the world, it's a true global connection, providing access to the most fascinating people, practices, information, ideas, opinion and fellowship from one of science's fastest growing fields: biomedical engineering. From formalized mathematical theory through experimental science, from technological development to practical clinical applications, IEEE EMBS members support scientific, technological, and educational activities as they apply to the concepts and methods of the physical and engineering sciences in biology and medicine. By working together, we can transform and revolutionize the future of medicine and healthcare. For more information about the IEEE EMBS, please visit www.embs.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120213490/en/ Contacts: Azeem Zeekrya HDMZ azeem.zeekrya@hdmz.com (312) 506-5244 Global Hospitality Company Welcomes C. Alan Bentley as Chief Financial Officer Convene, a global lifestyle hospitality company that designs and manages premium meeting, event, and flexible office spaces, today announced that C. Alan "Al" Bentley has been named Chief Financial Officer. The appointment comes as the company anticipates continued global expansion. "The ever changing future of work and rapidly evolving needs of our clients make this a profound moment in time for Convene and we are proactively upgrading our finance function to be well-prepared for imminent growth opportunities," said Ryan Simonetti, CEO and co-founder of Convene. "We are pleased to formally welcome Al to Team Convene to lead our finance department; his considerable public and private financial experience across the global hospitality industry is sure to be an asset as we look to 2024 and beyond." Bentley, a CPA, is a seasoned international finance professional with more than 35 years of experience across the hospitality, real estate, and retail sectors, including consulting for Convene over the past two years and advising the company on its acquisition of etc.venues in February 2023. As Chief Financial Officer of Convene, he will oversee the finance and accounting organizations as well as legal, procurement, and other operational activities. Prior to Convene, Bentley served as Senior Managing Director for consulting firm Accordion Partners, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Diamond Resorts, Inc., and Partner at Mackinac Partners; he has also held various C-Suite positions for organizations across retail and hospitality. His areas of expertise include complex financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, multi-jurisdictional structuring and financial reporting, and SEC reporting. While at Diamond Resorts, Bentley was an instrumental part of the team that took the company public on the New York Stock Exchange and subsequently taken private by Apollo Capital Management. Convene is the largest single provider of dedicated meeting and event venues in North America and the UK with a network of nearly 40 premium meeting, event, and flexible office locations across its portfolio of brands. About Convene: Convene is a global lifestyle hospitality company that designs and operates premium meeting, event, and flexible office spaces. It is the largest single provider of dedicated meeting and event venues in North America and the UK with a network of 39 locations across nine cities; Convene's portfolio of brands includes etc.venues, SaksWorks, Club 75, and the "by Convene" label for bespoke locations in partnership with other organizations. With a combined 44 years of experience, Convene brands bring hospitality and lifestyle into traditional commercial real estate assets, partnering with the industry's top landlords to deliver increased building value while also creating premium experiences for tenants. The company counts Ares, RXR Realty, and Hudson's Bay Company among its investors, and has been named one of America's 100 Most Promising Companies by Forbes and a Best Workplace by Inc. magazine, Fortune magazine, and Built In. Learn more at https://convene.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120336037/en/ Contacts: Media: Convene press@convene.com GUIYANG, China, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by Huanqiu.com: In recent years, "intelligent manufacturing in China" has driven the high-quality development of new energy vehicles. This brings more opportunities for the industry of new energy battery and materials production. Figures show that Guian New District has capitalized on the boom in new energy to unlock new sources of economic growth. The new battery production base in Guizhou with an annual capacity of 30 GWh, funded by Chinese power battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL), initiated trial production at the end of October. Since August 17, nearly 500 vehicle loads of electromechanical equipment of the first production line have delivered to the site in batches, and about 1,500 workers have carried out individual equipment commissioning. According to reports, the first phase of the project is designed to yield an annual production capacity of 30 GWh of power and energy storage batteries, along with related supporting facilities. Once the base reaches its full production capacity, its annual output value is expected to reach approximately 15 billion yuan. BYD's 10GWh power battery project, which has already been put into production, is expected to realize an industrial output of 2.973 billion yuan and an added value of 355 million yuan from January to September this year. It is understood that currently, BYD's factory in Guian mainly supplies products to Seagull, BYD's new model launched in May, accounting for more than one-third of the batteries supplied by the Guian plant. From May to August, Seagull sales rose from 8,400 to 34,800 vehicles, and is projected to grow, providing a solid order foundation for the release of battery production capacity in the Guian factory. In the field of new materials, the integrated project with an annual output of 100,000 tons of lithium battery anode materials in Guian New District, funded by Hunan Zhongke Electric Co., Ltd. (Zhongke Electric), has also been completed and put into production. From January to September, it is projected to realize an industrial output of 567 million yuan and an industrial added value of 136 million yuan, with a value-added rate of 23.96%. The Guian New District's ability to seize the strategic opportunities is closely related to its forward-thinking strategy and its orientation towards attracting investments into "two leading industries and two specialty industries". It is understood that since 2021, Guian New District has optimized industrial distribution in the sectors of electronic information manufacturing, advanced equipment manufacturing, as well as new energy and new materials (i.e. "two leading industries and two specialty industries"). In addition to the above-mentioned projects, Chery Automobile's industrial base in Guizhou with a production capacity of 50,000 new energy commercial vehicles and Hengli (Guiyang) Industrial Park have also been launched. On the one hand, Guian vigorously support the attraction of investments into leading and specialty industries that focus on new energy batteries, materials, as well as key equipment, components and materials, to facilitate the construction of new energy vehicles, batteries and materials production bases. On the other hand, relying on abundant resources and high-quality services, Guian has become an emerging investment destination for new energy and new materials enterprises to expand their production and operations. "We have set up a special work group to serve 'two leading industries and two specialty industries', and established an 'all-weather, all-round' service mechanism. For companies like Zhongke Electric and CATL, we have assigned personnel to follow up services that range from self-built substation planning, installation, solution determination to acceptance test, to ensure that its power access application handling procedures are smooth." said PEI Junyi, General Manager of the Planning and Development Department of Guian Power Supply Bureau. He also mentioned that the Power Supply Bureau will bring direct support services to project sites to immediately address construction challenges, and scientifically adjust or refine the construction plan, ensuring a rapid provision of reliable and safe electricity for industry. To facilitate the launch of "two leading industries and two specialty industries", Guian New District precisely aligns with the demands of businesses. Guian Power Supply Bureau guarantees electrical services in three dimensions: reliable power supply to ensure production, precise input of resources to ensure increments, and high-quality services to safeguard the community's well-being. "In 2022, we carried out 203 electricity live work independently, achieving an additional 502.7 MWh of power supply. This reduces the average interruption hours of customer (AIHC) by 5.7 hours, and further improves the reliability of power supply in Guian New District." PEI Junyi said that in 2022, three primary grid substation projects were advanced on a priority basis, one key project was completed and put into operation, and the 220kV Shinzoom substation supporting line project was completed and put into operation, ensuring the power needs of Zhongke Electric's annual 100,000-ton lithium battery anode material production project. On September 8, 2023, Guizhou's first 220kV all-cable project, supporting the CATL Project's 220kV Kashi I and II loop lines,was successfully put into operation in advance. This ensures that the 220kV CATL substation was put into operation in advance, providing assurance for reliable delivery of electricity to CATL's Guizhou New Energy Power and Energy Storage Battery Manufacturing Base. In addition, Guian Power Supply Bureau actively gathers insights into users' demand for electricity and, based on the production conditions and load characteristics of different customers, guides enterprises to produce during off-peak hours by offering tailor-made solutions for electricity savings. This can not only save enterprises' electricity costs associated with production, but also can also ensure an adequate power supply during off-peak hours, thus boosting business efficiency. According to PEI Junyi, Zhongke Electric has cut its electricity costs by 11.25 million yuan in electricity costs after shifting its production activities to nighttime off-peak hours. It is through optimizing services, strengthening administration, and refining measures that Guian has committed to enable the quick construction, quick production and quick results of the projects in "two leading industries and two specialty industries", and has made accelerating progress in its pursuit of high-quality development. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2281479/617ca3f8a65b3c22c0582de1544502f.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/guian-accelerates-high-quality-development-with-a-focus-on--two-leading-industries-and-two-specialty-industries-301993512.html Successful turnout at MedaWeek Barcelona 2023, the Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders from over 25 countries, held at the iconic Llotja de Mar building on November 15 and 16. The 12 forums of the summit addressed major challenges in the Mediterranean, such as climate change, digitization, female entrepreneurship, sustainable transition, and business opportunities in Islamic finance, health, textile industry, and tourism. The Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the Mediterranean (ASCAME) announces plans to establish a regional council for climate change in the Mediterranean, a multilateral agreement involving various institutions to address the regional gap in digital transformation, the organization of an Economic Leaders Summit for the three continents in Egypt in 2024, and a partnership with the General Council for Islamic Banks to promote funds for climate financing and sustainability in the region. BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A total of 1,200 people attended in person, and another 500 joined via streaming, all from over 25 countries spanning the Mediterranean region, Europe, and Africa, participated in the 17th edition of MedaWeek, the Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders, held at the Llotja de Mar in Barcelona on November 15 and 16. This event, organized by the Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the Mediterranean (ASCAME) in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, is the key socio-economic summit in the Mediterranean. Despite the current geopolitical crisis in the region, it successfully mobilized and brought together major Mediterranean institutions. Throughout the two days of MedaWeek Barcelona 2023, in the 12 forums held, leaders of these institutions, along with entrepreneurs from various sectors and international experts, discussed and provided solutions to current challenges in the Mediterranean. These challenges include climate change, digital connectivity in the countries of the region, female entrepreneurship, sustainable transition, and business opportunities in sectors such as Islamic finance, health, and tourism. All participants agreed that "these challenges will not be successfully addressed unless we find peace through diplomatic means in our region." As explained by Anwar Zibaoui, the general coordinator of ASCAME, "it has been a great challenge to hold MedaWeek when there is war and violence in some countries of the region." In his opinion, "the significant participation we have had from the regional private sector is a commitment to the development and building bridges of understanding and peace in the region." Ahmed El Wakil, president of ASCAME, took advantage of this gathering of Mediterranean economic leaders in Barcelona to call for "more protectionism and collaboration, and to strengthen multilateralism and alliances." ASCAME's New Agreements to Enhance Mediterranean Competitiveness During MedaWeek Barcelona 2023, ASCAME has announced several initiatives that will impact the prosperity and sustainable development of the region. Firstly, there will be the establishment of a regional council for climate change in the Mediterranean, aimed at activating private sector involvement and collaboration with governments and civil society in this collective fight that encompasses the entire region. Secondly, ASCAME takes a significant step forward to address the digital gap among Mediterranean businesses. As highlighted in several sessions of MedaWeek Barcelona 2023, increased digital connectivity among Mediterranean countries would contribute to higher rates of female entrepreneurship, improved employment rates in developing countries, and facilitate the necessary sustainable transition, including the incorporation of green technologies in all productive sectors. During these sessions, for example, Digital Realty, the largest provider of Cloud and Data Center Carrier Neutral, presented its project for digital interconnection among all Mediterranean countries through submarine cables. By 2027, Digital Realty plans to increase the capacity of submarine cabling for data transfer in the Mediterranean tenfold. ASCAME has announced the organization of an Economic Leaders Summit for the three continents - Africa, Europe, and the Middle East - to be held in Egypt in May 2024. It will be a new opportunity to discuss and find common solutions to challenges such as the impact of the geopolitical context on the Mediterranean economy, the latest technological trends transforming industries and sectors, and the new globally projected corridors that will make the Mediterranean a key hub. Lastly, ASCAME has made public its agreement with the General Council of Islamic Banks worldwide to collaborate in promoting initiatives supporting climate financing and the promotion of projects fostering sustainable development in the region. About ASCAME: The Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the Mediterranean (ASCAME) is a non-profit international organization representing the private sector in the Mediterranean. It brings together Chambers of Commerce and Industry and similar entities from 23 countries on both shores of the region and advocating for the interests of private sector and millions of businesses. For more information: Susana Garcia Tel.: +34910 001 948 info@circulodecomunicacion.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2281614/ASCAME.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/medaweek-barcelona-2023-concludes-with-a-call-for-economic-development-in-the-mediterranean-amid-uncertainty-and-conflicts-301993519.html Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 20, 2023) - Homerun Resources Inc. (TSXV: HMR) (OTCQB: HMRFF) ("Homerun" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Brian Leeners, CEO has been invited to attend and participate at the inaugural Mining and Sustainability Forum in Salvador, Brazil on November 23rd, hosted by Companhia Bahiana de Pesquisa Mineral (CBPM), the mineral research and development company of the State of Bahia, Brazil. CBPM MINING & SUSTAINABILITY FORUM The event will bring together political authorities, government secretaries, representatives of mining companies in Bahia State, and industry leaders. The topics addressed in the roundtables have relevance at both the state, national and international levels. They are: "Strategic Minerals for the Energy Transition", "Public Policies and Regulation", "Good Practices in the Production of Strategic Minerals with Social Responsibility", "Challenges and Opportunities for a Sustainable Energy Transition" and "Presentation of Mineral Opportunities in Bahia". CEO Brian Leeners stated, "As an international CEO, it is both an honour and a privilege to be invited by our partners at CBPM to present and participate in this prestigious inaugural event. The general focus on 'Mining and Sustainability' underscores our collective commitment toward responsible practices in an era where the extraction and processing of strategic minerals plays such a pivotal role in the global energy transition. Working within the specific roundtable on 'Strategic Minerals for the Energy Transition', perfectly fits our business focus and we look forward to engaging in insightful discussions, fostering meaningful connections, and collectively charting a course that not only benefits our respective industries but also leaves a lasting positive impact on the communities and environment we serve. Let this event be a catalyst for innovation, collaboration, and a shared vision for a sustainable future for mining in the State of Bahia." ABOUT CBPM Companhia Baiana de Pesquisa Mineral (CBPM) is the mineral research and development company of the State of Bahia, Brazil. Its activities are centered on expanding and improving geological knowledge of the Bahian territory, by identifying and researching its mineral resources and promoting their use by attracting private initiatives to this end. Founded on Dec. 18, 1972, CBPM is recognized as one of the most dynamic companies in mineral research in Brazil. The collection of geological data and information, generated and disseminated by it has contributed to making the State of Bahia one of the best-studied and geologically known Brazilian states, highlighting the great diversity of its geological environments and mineral deposits. CBPM's stated mission is to promote the development of the mineral sector in the state of Bahia with technical, economic and social efficiency, in harmony with the preservation of the environment. ABOUT HOMERUN RESOURCES Homerun Resources is focused on the development of its business within the critical and energy materials sectors. With a steadfast commitment to operational excellence, sustainability, and building shareholder value, Homerun Resources Inc. is poised to make a lasting impact in these industries. Learn more at https://homerunresources.com/. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Homerun Resources Inc. "Brian Leeners" Brian Leeners, CEO & Director brianleeners@gmail.com / +1 604-862-4184 (WhatsApp) FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements. 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188022 CHICAGO, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assay Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $ 292 million in 2023 and is poised to reach $ 421 million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 7.6% from 2023 to 2028 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The growth of this market is majorly due to by Increasing use of ELISpot and FluoroSpot assays in the field of malignancy. However, Dearth of skilled professionals is one of the challenges for which may hinder the growth of this market. Download an Illustrative overview: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=124350584 Browse in-depth TOC on "ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assay Market" 207 - Tables 47 - Figures 232 - Pages ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assay Market Scope: Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $292 million Estimated Value by 2028 $421 million Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 7.6% Market Size Available for 2020-2028 Forecast Period 2023-2028 Forecast Units Value (USD Million) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Product, Application, End User, and Region Geographies Covered North America (US, Canada), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Spain, Italy, and RoE), APAC (China, India, Japan, and the RoAPAC), and Rest of the World. Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Use Of Fluorospot Assays For Multiple-Analyte Detection In Single Well Key Market Drivers Increasing Incidence Of Chronic And Infectious Diseases And Growing Awareness About Early Disease Diagnosis EliSpot Assay kits in the kits product segment to witness the highest shares during the forecast period. Based on the product, Based on the product, the ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays Market is classified into Assay Kits (By Technique - ELISpot Assay Kits, FluoroSpot Assay Kits., By Utility - Research Kits, Diagnostic Kits., By Analyte - T-cell-based Kits, B-cell-based Kits, Other Analyte Kits), Analyzers, Ancillary Products. The EliSpot Assay kits, segment is expected to dominate because of its wider application Assay kits typically offer a user-friendly and convenient solution for researchers and laboratories. They often come with pre-packaged reagents and standardized protocols, simplifying the assay process. Likewise, assay kits can be designed to cater to a wide range of users, from experienced researchers to those with less specialized expertise. This accessibility broadens the market and increases the adoption of EliSpot and FluoroSpot assays. US dominates the North American ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays Market Based on the North America region, the ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays Market is divided into US and Canada. US is expected to dominate the ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays Market. The United States has a highly advanced and sophisticated healthcare infrastructure, including research facilities, laboratories, and healthcare institutions. This infrastructure supports the development, adoption, and implementation of advanced diagnostic technologies such as EliSpot and FluoroSpot assays. Similarly, The U.S. is a global hub for biomedical research and innovation. The presence of leading research institutions, academic centers, and biotechnology companies fosters a conducive environment for the development and validation of novel diagnostic as well as research assays. China dominates the Asia Pacific ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays Market The APAC ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays Market is segmented into Japan, China, India, and Rest of Apac. In 2023, China accounted for the largest share of the Asian ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays Market. The large share of China can be attributed to the economic growth in the country, the increasing incidence of chronic diseases and the rising focus on vaccine development and cancer research, growth in the geriatric population, and favourable government support. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=124350584 ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assay Market Dynamics: Drivers: Increasing incidence of chronic and infectious diseases and growing awareness about early disease diagnosis Increasing vaccine development to address challenges of antimicrobial resistance Increasing use of ELISpot and FluoroSpot assays in oncology ELISpot assays as diagnostic tool in drug hypersensitivity reaction Growth in biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries Restraints: Stringent requirements for approval of ELISpot and FluoroSpot assay instruments and consumables High cost of assays kits and analyzers Opportunities: Use of FluoroSpot assays for multiple-analyte detection in single well Challenge: Availability of alternative detection technologies Dearth of skilled professionals Key Market Players of ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assay Industry: The major players in the ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays Market are Oxford Immunotec USA, Inc. (Subsidiary of Revvity Inc.) (UK), Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) (US), Cellular Technology Limited (CTL) (US), Mabtech (Sweden), Abcam plc. (UK), Bio-Techne (US), Merck KGaA (Germany), Autoimmun Diagnostika GmbH (Germany), and U-CyTech (Netherland) The primary interviews conducted for this report can be categorized as follows: By Company Type: Tier 1 - 32%, Tier 2 - 44%, and Tier 3 - 24% By Designation: C-level - 30%, D-level - 34%, and Others - 36% By Region: North America - 40%, Europe - 28%, Asia Pacific - 20%, and the Rest of the World - 12% Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=124350584 Recent Developments: In 2022, The company Mabtech (Sweden) had made ELISpot kits available in a 100-plate format. Pre-coated plates are also included to save time and reduce assay variability. In 2022, The company also made available the Human IL-21 analyte in two colors in its FluoroSpot Flex platform. In 2021, The company Cellular Technology Limited (CTL) (US) launched ImmunoSpot kits that contain precoating quality controlled (PCQC) plates, thereby adding an essential audit trail to ELISPOT analysis. This report provides insights on the following pointers: Market Drivers: Comprehensive information about driving factors of the markets. The report analyses the markets drivers across key geographic regions. Comprehensive information about driving factors of the markets. The report analyses the markets drivers across key geographic regions. Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on ELISpot and FluoroSpot assay products offered by the top 25 players in the market. The report analyses the ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays market by product, application, end user and region. Comprehensive information on ELISpot and FluoroSpot assay products offered by the top 25 players in the market. The report analyses the ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays market by product, application, end user and region. Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyses the markets for various securement devices across key geographic regions. Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyses the markets for various securement devices across key geographic regions. Market Diversificatio n: Exhaustive information about untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays market n: Exhaustive information about untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays market Competitive Assessment : In-depth assessment of market shares and strategies of the leading players in the ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays market : In-depth assessment of market shares and strategies of the leading players in the ELISpot and FluoroSpot Assays market Market Position: It will upkeep stakeholders better understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to better position their business and make suitable go-to-market strategies. Related Reports: Immunoassay Market - Global Forecasts to 2028 Point of Care Diagnostics Market - Global Forecasts to 2027 In Vitro Diagnostics Market - Global Forecasts to 2027 Infectious Disease Diagnostics Market - Global Forecasts to 2027 Immunofluorescence Assay Market - Global Forecasts to 2026 About MarketsandMarkets: MarketsandMarkets has been recognized as one of America's best management consulting firms by Forbes, as per their recent report. MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. Earlier this year, we made a formal transformation into one of America's best management consulting firms as per a survey conducted by Forbes. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry. To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/elispot-fluorospot-assay-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/elispot-fluorospot-assay.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/elispot-and-fluorospot-assay-market-worth-421-million--marketsandmarkets-301993277.html The "Global Offshore Support Vessels Market Size By Type, By Application, By End-User, By Geographic Scope And Forecast" report has been published by Verified Market Research. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the global Offshore Support Vessels Market, including its growth prospects, market trends, and market challenges. JERSEY CITY, N.J., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Offshore Support Vessels Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.8% from 2021 to 2028, according to a new report published by Verified Market Research. The report reveals that the market was valued at USD 20.94 Billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 30.46 Billion by the end of the forecast period. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample?rid=37657 Browse in-depth TOC on "Offshore Support Vessels Market" 202 - Pages 126 - Tables 37 - Figures Global Offshore Support Vessels Market Poised for Unprecedented Growth: Key Drivers and Industry Insights The global Offshore Support Vessels Market is on the brink of unprecedented growth, driven by a confluence of factors set to redefine the landscape of the oil and gas industry. A comprehensive market analysis reveals a robust trajectory, marked by key players and transformative opportunities that are capturing the attention of industry leaders and investors alike. Offshore Support Vessels: Navigating the Core of Oil and Gas Operations Offshore support vessels, the linchpin of offshore drilling rigs, pipe laying platforms, and oil manufacturing platforms, have emerged as indispensable assets in the production and exploration of oil and gas. This sector, considered fundamental and resourceful, plays a pivotal role in enabling and supporting logistics and activities crucial to the oil and gas drilling processes. Offshore Support Vessels Market Driving Forces for Market Growth Anticipated growth in offshore oil and gas exploration activities, coupled with increased investments in the sector, is set to propel the Offshore Support Vessels Market to new heights. The market is strategically positioned to capitalize on the rising global demand for efficient energy sources and the upswing in onshore activities. An expanding number of offshore rigs and substantial investments in offshore wind farm development contribute further to this optimistic outlook. Meeting Global Energy Demands with Offshore Support Vessels Market As the world grapples with escalating energy demands, the Offshore Support Vessels Market emerges as a crucial player in the energy mix. With approximately 1,729.7 billion barrels of unexplored oil reserves globally, the industry is pivotal in addressing the growing demand through effective drilling and production activities. Challenges and Opportunities Despite its promising trajectory, the market faces challenges, including oil price fluctuations and significant financial requirements for offshore projects. However, a silver lining emerges with the potential in ultra-deepwater exploration, particularly in the Arctic region, holding nearly 30% of the world's undiscovered gas and 13% of unknown oil reserves. Regional Dominance and Market Outlook North America asserts its dominance in the global Offshore Support Vessels Market, boasting some of the most active offshore oil and gas wells. The region, particularly the United States, is witnessing a surge in oil and gas output, driving market growth. Simultaneously, the Asia Pacific region, featuring countries such as India, China, Indonesia, and Australia, exhibits promising potential with substantial offshore oil and gas reserves. Offshore Support Vessels Market Key Players Steering the Course The global market is under the influence of industry giants, with Seacor Marine, Maersk, Havila, Gulfmark, Bourbon, Grupo CBO, SIEM Offshore, Solstad, Swire, and Tidewater at the forefront. These key players, through their contributions and strategic initiatives, shape the competitive landscape and growth trajectory of the Offshore Support Vessels Market. The Offshore Support Vessels Market is not merely witnessing growth but orchestrating a transformation in the oil and gas industry. The convergence of key drivers, challenges, and opportunities positions this sector at the forefront of innovation and resilience. As industry leaders navigate these dynamic waters, the Offshore Support Vessels Market promises not only growth but a redefined future for global energy solutions. To get market data, market insights, financial statements and a comprehensive analysis of the Global Offshore Support Vessels Market, please Contact Verified Market Research. Based on the research, Verified Market Research has segmented the global Offshore Support Vessels Market into Type, Application, End-User, And Geography. Offshore Support Vessels Market, by Type Anchor-Handling Tug Supply Vessels Platform Supply Vessels Multipurpose Supply Vessels Others Offshore Support Vessels Market, by Application Shallow Water Deep-Water Offshore Support Vessels Market, by End-User Oil & Gas Offshore Wind Offshore Support Vessels Market, by Geography North America U.S Canada Mexico Europe Germany France U.K Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India Rest of Asia Pacific ROW Middle East & Africa Latin America Browse Related Reports: Pipeline Maintenance Services Market By Type (Pigging, Flushing And Chemical Cleaning, Pipeline Repair And Maintenance, Drying), By Application (Onshore, Offshore), By Geography, And Forecast Offshore Decommissioning Market By Service (Well Plugging and Abandonment, Platform Removal), By Structure (Topside, Substructure), By Water Depth (Shallow Water, Deepwater And Ultra-Deepwater), By Geography, And Forecast Wireline Services Market By Wireline Type (Electric Line, Slickline), By Service (Well Logging, Well Intervention), By Hole Type (Cased-Hole, Open Hole), By Application (Onshore, Offshore), By Geography, And Forecast Well Testing Services Market By Services (Real Time Well Testing, Downhole Well Testing), By Application (Onshore, Offshore), By Geography, And Forecast Top 10 Offshore Wind Power Companies transforming offshore winds into power Visualize Offshore Support Vessels Market using Verified Market Intelligence -: Verified Market Intelligence is our BI Enabled Platform for narrative storytelling in this market. VMI offers in-depth forecasted trends and accurate Insights on over 20,000+ emerging & niche markets, helping you make critical revenue-impacting decisions for a brilliant future. VMI provides a holistic overview and global competitive landscape with respect to Region, Country, Segment, and Key players of your market. Present your Market Report & findings with an inbuilt presentation feature saving over 70% of your time and resources for Investor, Sales & Marketing, R&D, and Product Development pitches. VMI enables data delivery In Excel and Interactive PDF formats with over 15+ Key Market Indicators for your market. About Us Verified Market Research is a leading Global Research and Consulting firm servicing over 5000+ customers. Verified Market Research provides advanced analytical research solutions while offering information-enriched research studies. We offer insight into strategic and growth analyses, Data necessary to achieve corporate goals and critical revenue decisions. Our 250 Analysts and SMEs offer a high level of expertise in data collection and governance use industrial techniques to collect and analyze data on more than 15,000 high impact and niche markets. Our analysts are trained to combine modern data collection techniques, superior research methodology, expertise and years of collective experience to produce informative and accurate research. We study 14+ categories from Semiconductors & Electronics, Chemicals, Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Energy & Power, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Automotive & Transportation, Information & Communication Technology, Software & Services, Information Security, Mining, Minerals & Metals, Building & Construction, Agriculture industry and Medical Devices from over 100 countries. Contact Us Mr. Edwyne Fernandes Verified Market Research US: +1 (650)-781-4080 US Toll Free: +1 (800)-782-1768 Email: sales@verifiedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/ Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2015407/VMR_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/offshore-support-vessels-market-size-worth--30-46-billion-globally-by-2028-at-4-8-cagr-verified-market-research-301993448.html NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / In the world of finance, where success stories often revolve around big corporations and Wall Street tycoons, OVB Allfinanz Espana, S.A. stands out. OVB Espana is a financial consulting firm based in Spain that connects you with a financial consultant to accompany you and help you grow. OVB Espana understands what concerns clients and are ready to provide answers to questions at any time, in order to help you get what is best for you. OVB Espana's consultants can advise clients on asset protection, risk prevention and retirement finances. "We believe that advice is a matter of trust and we are committed to long-term, flexible and, above all, individualized planning. We master our work, demonstrating it with more than 3.4 million clients and almost 50 years of history." OVB Espana reads on their website. The #1 financial consultant of OVB Espana is David Molina, who joined OVB in 2016 after embarking on a remarkable journey to migrate outside of its native Venezuela. His early years at OVB were marked by relentless dedication, as he worked tirelessly to create a better life for himself and those he aimed to serve. Over the next six years, David Molina invested his time, energy, and expertise into helping his clients achieve their financial goals. He succeeded in creating a solid foundation expanding his client base to over 4,000 individuals and managing more than $30 million in assets. At OVB Espana, David Molina is the leader of a group of 65 financial consultants, who specialize in developing short-term, medium-term, and long-term financial plans for both individuals and businesses. Their approach revolves around setting clear objectives and defined timeframes to maximize the potential of their client's investments. Building trust with his first clients is one of the most significant hurdles financial consultants encounter. Once trust is established and coupled with positive investment results, word of mouth plays a crucial role in propelling his business to where it stands today. David Molina's advice to those looking to start their own business is simple but powerful: "First and foremost, believe in yourself because, if you don't, nobody else will. Secondly, be prepared to work harder than anyone else. Success is about working during the times others avoid, enabling you to enjoy the life that others only dream of. Patience is also key-results will come, but you must be prepared to sow the seeds and continue tending to them until the harvest arrives." Looking ahead, David Molina looks to become the national director of OVB Espana and dreams of venturing into the real estate sector, an area that has always fascinated him. On the other hand, OVB will continue to grow and work to remain the reliable answer to the question, "who should be my financial consultant in Europe?" About OVB Allfinanz Espana OVB Allfinanz Espana is a financial consulting firm based in Spain that provides advice on asset protection, risk prevention and retirement finances. They help clients commit to long-term, flexible, and individualized planning. Contact: Paula Henderson 561-768-4444 phendersonnews@gmail.com SOURCE: OVB Allfinanz Espana View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/807159/ovb-allfinanz-espaa-leading-the-way-in-financial-consulting-with-a-vision Tower Limited (NZX/ASX:TWR) has today announced that it will no longer offer insurance for commercial farms as the insurer focuses on its leading direct personal and small business lines insurance business. Tower will continue to insure lifestyle blocks under this strategy. Commercial rural clients will have the opportunity to work with Aon New Zealands AonAgri division going forward. Towers commercial rural book comprises farms of more than 10 hectares that earn gross annual income of over $10,000. The book generates gross written premium (GWP) of about $9m per year. With effect from 1 February 2024 Tower will refer its commercial farm customers to Aon as their Tower policies expire. Tower Chief Executive Blair Turnbull says this is the latest in a suite of actions Tower has taken to streamline and improve efficiency of its business over the past three years. This change will help smooth the path to decommissioning our last legacy technology system in New Zealand. We look forward to developing a new digital offering for our lifestyle block customers in the coming year, he says. Mr Turnbull says the Aon agreement provides good value for Towers shareholders and provides commercial rural customers with access to specialised insurance solutions with AonAgri. Agri New Zealand General Manager Jessica Hunt says we look forward to welcoming new clients to Aon. We believe that each client is an integral part of our wider New Zealand agriculture community, and our dedicated teams are ready to support them now and into the future. We are committed to providing our clients with advice and access to advanced analytics to help them navigate increasing complexity to protect their business and assets. Tower will continue to progress any open Tower claims lodged within the policy term as normal, up until their completion. No regulatory approvals are required to proceed with the agreement. ENDS Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Me Today - Notice of Annual Shareholder Meeting FSF - Director Scott St John to retire from Fonterra Board Greenfern announces change in Chief Financial Officer AIA Provision of Financial Assistance - Employee Share Plan CBD - Recording and Presentation of Investor Call AUCKLAND CAR PARK CONCESSION AGREEMENT - HIGH COURT JUDGMENT CRP - Korella North Mining Lease Lodgement Approved Genesis Energy launches new strategy November 30th Morning Report IFT270 - Interest Rate Reset Interview to Air on Special Report on Tuesday Night FOX News Channel (FNC) correspondent Benjamin Hall traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine this past weekend for the first time since the attack that left him catastrophically injured in March of 2022. The trip was organized by Fox Corporation Executive Chairman and CEO, Lachlan Murdoch, after he was invited to visit the country by President Zelenskyy. Hall conducted a sit-down interview with Zelenskyy which will air on Special Report with Bret Baier (6-7 PM/ET) on Tuesday, November 21. While there, Hall also met with the servicemen who assisted in his evacuation last year and Zelenskyy awarded Hall with the Order of Merit, III class, for his "outstanding personal contribution to strengthening interstate cooperation, support for Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity." On March 14, 2022, the car that Hall and his crew were traveling in was hit by Russian missiles while they were news gathering in a village outside Kyiv. The attack left Hall critically injured and resulted in the deaths of FNC photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova. Hall's near-fatal injuries included the loss of one of his legs, his foot and losing the function of his one of his hands and an eye. Amid enduring more than 30 surgeries over the last 20 months, Hall chronicled his journey in "Saved: A War Reporter's Mission to Make it Home" which was published in March 2023 and became a New York Times bestseller. The documentary based on Hall's harrowing ordeal aired on FNC right after the release of the book and detailed his extraction from Ukraine and the arduous recovery that ensued. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service and has been the number one network in basic cable for the last six years and the most-watched television news channel for more than 21 consecutive years, currently attracting more than 50% of the cable news viewing audience according to Nielsen Media Research. Notably, Nielsen/MRI Fusion has consistently shown FNC to be the network of choice for more Democrat and Independent viewers, with the most politically diverse audience in cable news. Owned by Fox Corporation, FNC is available in nearly 80 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top 15 programs in the genre. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120759342/en/ Contacts: FOX News Channel Media Contact: Irena Briganti 212-301-3608 or irena.briganti@fox.com The "Global Millimeter Wave Technology Market Size By Component, By Frequency Band, By Product, By License Type, By End-User, By Geographic Scope And Forecast" report has been published by Verified Market Research. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the global Millimeter Wave Technology Market, including its growth prospects, market trends, and market challenges. JERSEY CITY, N.J., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Millimeter Wave Technology Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 35.25% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report published by Verified Market Research. The report reveals that the market was valued at USD 1288.53 Million in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 19,539.79 Million by the end of the forecast period. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample?rid=3287 Browse in-depth TOC on "Millimeter Wave Technology Market" 202 - Pages 126 - Tables 37 - Figures Millimeter Wave Technology Market: Paving the Way for 5G Revolution in B2B Communications In the dynamic landscape of technological advancements, Millimeter Wave Technology emerges as a driving force in the evolution of 5G networks, poised to transform B2B communications. Leveraging extremely high frequencies (EHF) between 30 GHz and 300 GHz, this cutting-edge technology, also known as MMW, Eband, and Vband, is redefining the possibilities of high-speed transmission. Unleashing the Potential of Millimeter Waves The Millimeter Wave Technology Market is positioned at the forefront of the global push towards achieving faster, more reliable communication. As the world witnesses a surge in internet users, projected to reach 66% of the global population by 2023, the demand for 5G devices is escalating, set to encompass over 10% of global cellular devices and connections by 2024. Anticipated average mobile network connection speeds of 43.9 Mbps by 2023 underscore the critical role of millimeter wave technology in achieving these benchmarks. Fueling Broadband Speed and Consumption At the heart of this technological revolution is the enhancement of broadband speed, a pivotal element in the Millimeter Wave Technology Market. Factors such as the adoption of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), cable broadband, and high-speed DSL contribute to the acceleration of broadband speeds. Notably, countries like South Korea, Japan, and Sweden lead the charge, attributing their success to widespread deployment of fiber-optic networks. The result is a direct correlation between improved broadband speed and increased consumption of high-bandwidth content and applications. Diverse Applications Beyond Telecommunications While telecommunications spearheads the adoption of millimeter wave technology, its influence extends far beyond. In the military, aerospace, and defense sectors, the technology plays a crucial role in enabling rapid, secure information exchange. Applications such as electronic warfare, radar, tactical, and satellite communications showcase the versatility of millimeter wave technology, positioning it as a key player in these domains. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Regional Dominance and Market Dynamics North America emerges as the epicenter of the Millimeter Wave Technology Market, driven by widespread adoption in telecommunications and mobile applications. Boasting a majority of key technology providers, the region serves as a catalyst for market growth. However, the market has encountered a temporary setback due to the impact of COVID-19, slowing the installation and implementation of 5G networks. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Industry Leaders Shaping the Future A consortium of industry leaders shapes the trajectory of the global Millimeter Wave Technology Market. Companies such as Axxcss Wireless Solutions, NEC Corporation, Siklu Communication, L3 HARRIS, Smiths Group, Eravant, Aviat Networks, Farran Technologies, Millimeter Wave Products, and Elva-1 stand at the forefront, contributing significantly to the evolution and expansion of millimeter wave technology on a global scale. In an era defined by connectivity, Millimeter Wave Technology emerges as a game-changer, ushering in a new wave of possibilities for B2B communications. As the market continues to evolve, these technological advancements promise to reshape the way businesses communicate and collaborate, setting the stage for unprecedented growth and innovation. To get market data, market insights, financial statements and a comprehensive analysis of the Global Millimeter Wave Technology Market, please Contact Verified Market Research. Based on the research, Verified Market Research has segmented the global Millimeter Wave Technology Market into Component, Product, Frequency Band, License Type, End-User, And Geography. Millimeter Wave Technology Market, by Component Frequency Sources & Related Components Communication & Networking Components Imaging Components Sensors & Controls Other Components Millimeter Wave Technology Market, by Frequency Band 24-57 GHz 57-95 GHz 95-300 GHz Millimeter Wave Technology Market, by Product Scanning Systems Radar and Satellite Communication Systems Telecommunication Equipment Others Millimeter Wave Technology Market, by License Type Light licensed Frequency millimeter wave Unlicensed Frequency millimeter wave Fully licensed Frequency millimeter wave Millimeter Wave Technology Market, by End-User Cellular & Telecom Consumer & Commercial Healthcare Industrial Millimeter Wave Technology Market, by Geography North America U.S Canada Mexico Europe Germany France U.K Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India Rest of Asia Pacific ROW Middle East & Africa Latin America Browse Related Reports: Traveling Wave Tubes (TWT) Market By Type (Helix TWT, Coupled cavity TWT), By Application (Radar systems, Satellite Communication, Electronic Warfare), By Geography, And Forecast Dense Wave Digital Multiplexing (DWDM) System Market By Product Type (Synchronous Optical Network Data (SONET), Internet Protocol (IP)), By Application (BFSI, It & Telecommunication, Healthcare & Life Sciences), By Geography, And Forecast Radar Systems Market By Type (Continuous Wave RADAR Systems, Pulsated Wave RADAR Systems), By Application (Airborne, Land-based), By End-Use (Aviation, Maritime Applications), By Geography, And Forecast Infrared Imaging Market By Type (Fixed IR Imaging Products, Portable IR Imaging Products), By Wavelength (Far-Infrared, Long-Wave Infrared), By Technology (Cooled IR Imaging, Uncooled IR Imaging), By Application (Aerospace, Defense and Military, Automotive), By Geography, And Forecast 7 Leading Synthetic Aperture Radars enabling production of high-resolution distant Visualize Millimeter Wave Technology Market using Verified Market Intelligence -: Verified Market Intelligence is our BI Enabled Platform for narrative storytelling in this market. VMI offers in-depth forecasted trends and accurate Insights on over 20,000+ emerging & niche markets, helping you make critical revenue-impacting decisions for a brilliant future. VMI provides a holistic overview and global competitive landscape with respect to Region, Country, Segment, and Key players of your market. Present your Market Report & findings with an inbuilt presentation feature saving over 70% of your time and resources for Investor, Sales & Marketing, R&D, and Product Development pitches. VMI enables data delivery In Excel and Interactive PDF formats with over 15+ Key Market Indicators for your market. About Us Verified Market Research is a leading Global Research and Consulting firm servicing over 5000+ customers. Verified Market Research provides advanced analytical research solutions while offering information-enriched research studies. We offer insight into strategic and growth analyses, Data necessary to achieve corporate goals and critical revenue decisions. Our 250 Analysts and SMEs offer a high level of expertise in data collection and governance use industrial techniques to collect and analyze data on more than 15,000 high impact and niche markets. Our analysts are trained to combine modern data collection techniques, superior research methodology, expertise and years of collective experience to produce informative and accurate research. We study 14+ categories from Semiconductors & Electronics, Chemicals, Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Energy & Power, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Automotive & Transportation, Information & Communication Technology, Software & Services, Information Security, Mining, Minerals & Metals, Building & Construction, Agriculture industry and Medical Devices from over 100 countries. Contact Us Mr. Edwyne Fernandes Verified Market Research US: +1 (650)-781-4080 US Toll Free: +1 (800)-782-1768 Email: sales@verifiedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/ Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2015407/VMR_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/millimeter-wave-technology-market-size-worth--19-539-79-million-globally-by-2030-at-35-25-cagr-verified-market-research-301993587.html Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. This in-depth report delves into the key drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities shaping the blood pressure monitor market, offering valuable guidance for businesses navigating this evolving landscape. The report highlights the rising prevalence of hypertension, the growing trend of home monitoring, the increasing demand for cost-effective and user-friendly BP-checking devices, and the surge in interest in self-monitoring as the primary factors fueling market growth A Detailed Analysis of Blood Pressure Monitor Market by Arm Cuff and Wrist Cuff Products, 2024 to 2034 NEWARK, Del., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As per the latest analysis, the global blood pressure monitor market value is projected to surge from US$ 2.26 billion in 2024 to US$ 4.07 billion in 2034. Over the forecast period, sales of blood pressure monitors will likely rise at a CAGR of 6.1%. Request the Sample Report to Preview Our Comprehensive Blood Pressure Monitor Market Research Report Before You Purchase. Blood Pressure Monitor Industry Driving Factors: Several factors are expected to drive the growth of the blood pressure monitor industry. These include the rising prevalence of hypertension, the growing geriatric population, and the increasing popularity of wearable BP monitoring devices. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is among the leading causes of death worldwide as it gives rise to several heart diseases. Low blood pressure (hypotension) is also a concern. Rising cases of hypertension and hypotension are prompting people to monitor their blood pressure levels continuously. This is expected to drive demand for blood pressure monitors as they are widely employed to measure blood pressure levels. The aging population is the one at significant risk of having hypertension or hypotension. It is estimated that 5% of the population above the age of 50 years and 30% of those above 70 years have hypotension. Also, more than 70% of the population aged over 65 years have hypertension. Hence, growing geriatric populations will create new opportunities for BP monitor companies. A large population also suffers from issues related to blood pressure because of the changing lifestyle of the people. The changing food habits of people are resulting in developing diabetes and obesity, which makes people susceptible to issues related to blood pressure. This is set to impact blood pressure monitor sales positively. Self-monitoring is becoming a practical choice for enhancing blood pressure management. The American Heart Association advises checking blood pressure at least twice a day. These reasons motivate people to use home blood pressure monitoring equipment for self-monitoring, creating growth prospects for the target market. The patient's concerned doctor receives the monitoring data, and then the appropriate treatment is given. Hence, the rising prevalence of hypertension has raised the demand for blood pressure monitors. Leading manufacturers are concentrating on creating new products with better efficiency. They are bringing in new technology that can make the blood pressure monitors beneficial for the long term. For instance, In February 2022, InBody launched a BP 170 at-home automatic blood pressure monitor that provides the option to self-record and track key health metrics. The device tracks the daily changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate using the oscillometric method. Key Takeaways from the Market Study- The global market for blood pressure monitors is expected to total US$ 4.07 billion in 2034. in 2034. Based on product, the arm cuff segment accounted for 64.6% of the market share in 2023. of the market share in 2023. By indication, the short-term segment is poised to exhibit a CAGR of 6.8% through 2034. through 2034. By end-user, the ambulatory care services segment will likely thrive at a 6.7% CAGR between 2024 and 2034. between 2024 and 2034. North America held a market share of 34.3% in 2023. in 2023. Demand for blood pressure monitors in the United States is set to rise at a 7.5% CAGR . . Japan is expected to register a CAGR of 4.9% during the assessment period. during the assessment period. Blood pressure monitor sales in the United Kingdom are estimated to rise 8.7% CAGR through 2034. Understand global, regional, and country-level parameters with growth opportunities, historical data (2019-2023), and forecasts (2024-2034). Buy this report today! "The increasing geriatric population susceptible to several chronic diseases, the changing lifestyle of the people, and the rising blood pressure related issues are driving the growth of the blood pressure monitor market," according to Sabyasachi Ghosh, (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.). Competitive Landscape Key blood pressure monitor manufacturers are bringing in innovative new products for great usage. In addition, they are making strategic planning such as mergers and acquisitions to expand the market presence. For instance, The world's first blood pressure patch with multiple usages was made available for use in commercial research & development, according to Vivalink, in May 2022. The gadget has received FDA/NMPA clearance for ECG, heart rate, and CE clearances for ECG, heart rate, and respiratory rate. in May 2022. The gadget has received FDA/NMPA clearance for ECG, heart rate, and CE clearances for ECG, heart rate, and respiratory rate. In May 2021, Biobeat launched continuous ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and a wearable chest monitoring gadget. It revolutionizes the logistical workflow of the ABPM test by sending disposable, sterile monitors straight to the patients by the courier while maintaining patient comfort and continuing an uninterrupted day-to-day lifestyle. Purchase this report now to get key companies with their Revenue Forecast, Volume Forecast, Company Ranking, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, Trends, and Pricing Analysis. Get More Valuable Insights into the Blood Pressure Monitor Market Future Market Insights (FMI) offers a unique perspective and actionable insights on the blood pressure monitor market in its latest study, presenting a historical demand assessment of 2019 to 2023 and projections for 2024 to 2034. The global blood pressure monitor market is segmented in detail to cover every aspect of the market and present a complete market intelligence approach to the reader. The research study is based on the product (arm cuff and wrist cuff), indication (long-term and short-term), and end-user (hospitals, clinics, ambulatory care services, and home care settings) across seven key regions of the world. About Healthcare Division at Future Market Insights (FMI) Future Market Insights (FMI) facilitates corporates, government, investors, and associated audiences in the healthcare sector to identify and accentuate vital aspects applicable to product strategy, regulatory landscape, technology evolution, and other crucial issues to achieve sustainable success. Our unique approach to gathering market intelligence equips you to devise innovation-driven trajectories for your business. Know more about our sector coverage here. About the Author: Sabyasachi Ghosh (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.) holds over 12 years of experience in the Healthcare, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceutical industries. His curious and analytical nature helped him shape his career as a researcher. Identifying key challenges faced by clients and devising robust, hypothesis-based solutions to empower them with strategic decision-making capabilities come naturally to him. His primary expertise lies in areas such as Market Entry and Expansion Strategy, Feasibility Studies, Competitive Intelligence, and Strategic Transformation. Holding a degree in Microbiology, Sabyasachi has authored numerous publications and has been cited in journals, including The Journal of mHealth, ITN Online, and Spinal Surgery News. 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FMI is headquartered in Dubai and has delivery centers in the United Kingdom, the United States, and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis helps businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously tracks emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers. Contact Us Nandini Singh Sawlani Future Market Insights Inc. Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive, Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA T: +1-845-579-5705 For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com LinkedIn| Twitter| Blogs | YouTube Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197648/3531122/FMI_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/soaring-hypertension-rates-drive-blood-pressure-monitor-market-to-us4-07-billion-by-2034--future-market-insights-inc-301993362.html BUENOS AIRES (dpa-AFX) - Far-right leader Javier Milei has won Argentina's presidential run-off, according to latest results. In what is described as 'a political earthquake', Milei reportedly won nearly 56 of votes in the second round of the presidential election, while the left-wing candidate Sergio Massa won 44 percent with most votes counted. The 53 year old economist has proposed drastic changes, including the abolition of the Central Bank of Argentina, and favored a de facto economy based on US dollar. Before rising to political prominence, Milei initially gained notability as an economist, as the author of multiple books on economics and politics, and for his distinct political philosophy. The United States congratulated Argentine President-elect Javier Milei on his victory in the election, and applauded 'the robust democratic process through which the Argentine public has spoken'. The strong turnout and peaceful conduct of the vote are a testament to Argentina's electoral and democratic institutions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. He said Washington looks forward to working with Milei and his government 'on shared priorities that benefit the people of both countries, including protecting human rights and democracy, addressing climate change, and investing in the middle class'. Former U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Milei's win, saying that he would 'Make Argentina Great Again'. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - Amazon.com (AMZN) Monday announced the launch of 'AI Ready,' a new program that will provide free artificial intelligence (AI) skills training and education to 2 million people globally by 2025. The company has announced eight new, free courses to help adults upskill in AI and generative AI; a new Amazon Web Services (AWS) Generative AI Scholarship program with online learning platform Udacity; and a new collaboration with Code.org designed to help students learn about generative AI. 'Artificial intelligence is the most transformative technology of our generation. If we are going to unlock the full potential of AI to tackle the world's most challenging problems, we need to make AI education accessible to anyone with a desire to learn,' said Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of Data and AI at AWS. 'The goal of AI Ready is to help level the playing field of AI education, supported by the new initiatives we're launching today. We will also scale our existing free AI training programs and courses as we continue to remove cost as a barrier to accessing these critical skills.' Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 20, 2023) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (OTC Pink: AAIRD) ("Aires" or the "Company"), a pioneer in EMF modulation technology, is pleased to announce filing of its unaudited Financial Statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) for Q3/2023, spanning from July 1 to September 30, 2023. This quarter is particularly notable as it marks the first instance of positive EBITDA in the company's history. This achievement is a direct result of the strategic decision made on August 28, 2023, to outsource the retail segment, including sales, COGS, marketing, and advertising expenses to HUCK Project LLC ("HUCK"). The financial results for Q3/2023 reflect this shift to the new business model, combining our traditional operations with the outsourced model. Consequently, this quarter should be considered a transition period, distinct from past results. In Q3/2023, Aires' total order volume increased to $3.05 million from $1.64 million in the same quarter of the previous year, an 85% increase. In terms of adjusted EBITDA (non-IFRS measure), excluding one-time items, there was a 106% improvement, leading to an adjusted net profit of $0.07 million, compared to a net loss of $1.14 million in the same period last year. The Net Loss for the quarter was reduced to $0.24 million, an improvement of $1.04 million compared to last year. Consequently, Aires reported sales of $2.09 million, a Gross Profit of $1.39 million, and a Cash Royalty income of $0.12 million from HUCK in Q3/2023. CEO of American Aires, Josh Bruni, commented, "Achieving our first positive EBITDA quarter is a defining moment for Aires. It reflects not just our focus on building financial resilience but also the strength of our vision and strategy. This milestone is a clear indicator of our growth and our dedication to innovation and operational excellence. We are excited about the future and remain committed to delivering value to our customers and shareholders alike." About American Aires Inc. American Aires Inc. is a Canadian-based nanotechnology company committed to enhancing well-being and environmental safety through science-led innovation, education, and advocacy. The company has developed proprietary silicon-based microprocessors that reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). Aires' Lifetune products target EMR emitted by consumer electronic devices such as cellphones, computers, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi, including the more powerful and rapidly expanding high-speed 5G networks. Aires is listed on the CSE under the ticker 'WIFI' and on the OTC QB under the symbol 'AAIRF'. Learn more at www.airestech.com . On behalf of the board of directors Company Contact: Josh Bruni, CEO Website: www.airestech.com Email: wifi@airestech.com Telephone: (415) 707-0102 Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedarplus.ca. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188143 Black Friday Event is About to Commence MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Palace Resorts is about to roll out its biggest savings of the year for Black Friday. All four brands - including Palace Resorts, Moon Palace Resorts, Le Blanc Spa Resorts, and Baglioni Hotels & Resorts - are offering incredible deals starting November 20th. Offers include steep discounts at all properties and exclusive benefits curated to each brand. Palace Resorts Black Friday Sale Palace Resorts and Moon Palace Resorts Palace Resorts is offering up to 50% Off* to guests for stays of at least three (3) nights, plus 1,000 USD Resort Credit** to spend during their stay at all luxury, all-inclusive resorts in the Mexican Caribbean and Jamaica. Guests can extend their savings with Free Stays for Kids & Teens*** at family-friendly resorts, plus Free Roundtrip Airport Transfers**** if guests book for 4 nights or more. The Palace Resorts includes four luxury, all-inclusive resorts: Beach Palace and the adults-only Sun Palace in Cancun; Playacar Palace in Playa del Carmen, which is also known as the Riviera Maya; and Cozumel Palace on the stunning island off the coast in the Riviera Maya area. The Moon Palace Resorts includes Moon Palace Cancun, the unparalleled family-oriented resort Moon Palace The Grand-Cancun, and Moon Palace Jamaica in Ocho Rios. Le Blanc Spa Resorts There's never been a better time to indulge or enjoy more exclusive pampering at the adults-only, AAA Five Diamond Le Blanc Spa Resorts. Guests can pack their bags for Cancun or Los Cabos and take off for unlimited gourmet cuisine, premium drinks, luxury amenities, butler service, spa experiences, and service that truly goes above and beyond. Guests who book from November 20th through 26th can claim up to 35% Off* stays of three (3) nights, complimentary hydrotherapy, plus 1,000 USD in Resort Credit** to spend during their stay. They can also enjoy complimentary airport transfers**** when reserving at least four (4) nights. Baglioni Hotels & Resorts Baglioni Hotels & Resorts is also offering up to 35%* off on stays of at least two (2) nights in Rome, Venice, London, Milan, Sardinia, Puglia and the Maldives* November 20th through 30th. Additionally, guests can enjoy daily complimentary breakfast** as well as complimentary stays for Kids and Teens*** at all Baglioni Hotels and Resorts located in Italy and the UK. So, whether guests are dreaming of exploring historic cities, savoring delectable cuisine, or basking in the sun along the stunning coastlines, this is a chance to make those dreams a reality. The Baglioni Collection of luxury Italian hotels and resorts includes eight (8) properties in Italy, London, and the Maldives: Baglioni Hotel Regina (Rome); Relais Santa Croce by Baglioni Hotels & Resorts (Florence); Casa Baglioni Milan; Baglioni Hotel Luna (Venice); Baglioni Hotel London; Baglioni Masseria Muzza (Puglia); Baglioni Resort Sardinia; and Baglioni Maldives Luxury All Inclusive on the island of Maagau. Disclaimers: Booking period: November 20 - 26, 2023 For stays: November 21, 2023 - December 20, 2024 Blackout Dates: December 23, 2023 - January 2, 2024; April 9-12, 2024 (Le Blanc Spa Resort Los Cabos) Terms and Conditions available on: https://www.palaceresorts.com/press-room/black-friday Contact Information Vladimir Ortiz Vice President of E-commerce & Digital Marketing vlortiz@palaceresorts.com SOURCE: Palace Resorts View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/807379/palace-resorts-announces-most-generous-savings-of-the-year-across-all-brands edamama, a Manila, Philippines-based provider of an online-to-offline (O2O) parenting platform, raised Series A+ funding bringing the total amount to $35M. The round was led by Ayala Corporation Technology Innovation Venture (ACTIVE) Fund. Additionally, existing investors Kickstart Ventures, Gentree Fund, Innoven Capital also participated, alongside new investor GS Group. edamama provides a digital-first parenting platform, dedicated to providing essential resources, products, and community support to parents. Since its launch in 2020, the platform has delivered over 3.5 million products to Filipino families across the country. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its expansion strategy, intensifying its offline retail footprint across the Philippines. Following pilot pop-up stores in Robinsons Magnolia and Robinsons Manila malls, edamama plans to mark another milestone with the launch of a new store at Ayala Vertis North before year-end. (edamamas leadership team from left to right: Chief Commercial Officer: Rohan Aggarwal, Co-Founder: Nishant DSouza, Offline Retail Director: Donna Manalastas, Co-Founder: Bela Gupta DSouza, and Senior Commercial Director: Rachit Gupta) FinSMEs 20/11/2023 Private equity firm NorthEdge has invested in Torbay Pharmaceuticals, a Paignton, UK-based sterile injectable contract manufacturer. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The investment was funded by NorthEdge Fund III, and led by Ray Stenton, Andrew Skinner, Allan Dunn, Mani Minhas, Mike Craven and Alex Griffiths. Ray Stenton and Allan Dunn will join the board on behalf of NorthEdge. Jonathan Glenn and Guy Topping have been appointed as Non-Executive Chair and Non-Executive Director respectively, both of whom bring significant experience in supporting contract manufacturing organisations to achieve sustainable and long-term growth. The company intends to use the funds to strengthen its capabilities and expand its reach in North America, while continuing to grow and invest in its 250-strong team at its UK headquarters in Paignton, Devon. Established in the 1970s as part of the Torbay and Devon NHS Foundation Trust, Torbay Pharmaceuticals is a sterile injectable contract manufacturer and licence holder which offers fill/finish services for sterilised injectables into plastic and glass vials. It specialises in small to medium-sized commercial batches of generic small-molecule drug products. The companys specialist portfolio includes licensed and unlicensed sterilised injectables, electrolyte solutions for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) compounding and a range of non-sterile oral solutions. Over the last six years, Torbay has been on a rapid growth journey that has seen an increasing demand for its commercial-scale sterile injectable fill/finish capabilities. The business supplies healthcare organisations and pharmaceutical companies throughout the UK and internationally. Further North American market expansion offers a range of commercial opportunities for Torbay. To support this, the investment will facilitate the growth of Torbays team, greater automation of inspection and packaging processes and strengthen its plastic vial capabilities ensuring the company is positioned to meet evolving regulatory requirements in both the US and Europe. Torbay has also invested in a new high-speed filling line to support customer growth. FinSMEs 19/11/2023 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x561fa55f74b8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x561fa5512158)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x561fa55f74b8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x561fa5512158)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x561fac5c34d8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x561fa5512158)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x561fa5512158)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x561fa5511350)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x561fa14d3618)') called at (eval 612) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x561fa14d3618)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 San Francisco, CA, November 20th, 2023, Chainwire Latest Round Led by Placeholder to Fuel Layer-1 Protocol with Fastest Developer Growth this Cycle Saga, a top Layer-1 protocol and developer ecosystem in web3, today announced the raise of its $5 million seed extension round led by Placeholder, a premier venture capital firm that invests in decentralized protocols and web3 services. This investment marks the largest percentage stake in a pre-Layer-1 launch in Placeholders history. Additional investors in this latest round include Longhash Ventures, Com2uS, Dispersion Capital, Red Beard Ventures, Tykhe Ventures and AVID3, among others. To date, Saga has raised a total of $13.5 million. Saga will continue its projected growth by expanding its team of cutting-edge technologists, ambitiously building its community and ecosystem activation via strategic partnerships, and growing its Saga Innovator Program. In less than two years, Saga has 295 Innovator projects building on its protocol, and anticipates over 300 when the Saga Mainnet launches in early 2024. Additionally, Saga has cemented partnerships with flagship web3 projects including Polygon, Avalanche, and Celestia, positioning itself as a leader in web3 development. Sagas vision is to unblock developers from the high barriers to successfully building in web3, said Rebecca Liao, Co-founder and CEO of Saga. Were thrilled to have Placeholder lead this round, as they, along with our other amazing investors, are helping to empower and accelerate our support of projects with the Integrated Stack what developers have been waiting for to easily create consumer apps for broad adoption. Saga is the next iteration of a base protocol in web3 hyper-focused on developer needs, and dedicated to ensuring blockspace is abundant and can be simply accessed. For every monolithic L1, blockspace has come to mean scarcity, creating high and variable gas fees, congestion, and throughput limitations. The modular stack attempts to solve these problems with paralyzing complexity: rollups, data availability, fraud proofs and shared sequencers are all separate components that have their own cost and performance challenges. Sagas Integrated Stack is the next disruption in web3. Saga is hot off the heels of launching its Incentivized Testnet (ITN), named Pegasus. After only two weeks, Pegasus logged over 150,000 transactions and opened 30,000 wallets, with one of the highest numbers of participants and transactions for an ITN. Saga will be airdropping tokens to Pegasus participants and other community members outside the ITN on performance in predetermined quests. Additional details can be found here. We expect blockchain architectures in the coming years to be much more reminiscent of cloud architectures, with Saga purpose-built to help usher in that future, said Chris Burniske, Partner at Placeholder. On-demand blockspace provisioning, paired with cutting-edge validator orchestration, sets Saga up to provide blockspace as its needed in a horizontal, scale-out fashion akin to the cloud environments of today. The Saga team has roots going back to the earliest days of Cosmos, alongside power players in research, engineering, and politics, setting Saga up to lead a major movement within web3. Saga continues to bring leading web3 projects, developers and creators together in the Saga Multiverse through its strategic partnerships and encouraging collaboration among its ecosystem and community. The Saga protocol offers an integrated stack of automated, high-performance, gasless, interoperable, and customizable chains, called Chainlets. Saga developers can interoperate freely among Chainlets and take advantage of fast bridging to other ecosystems via fast transaction finality on Chainlets. This allows developers to not only move assets, communications and creations cross-chain, but also to elastically scale their applications across multiple Chainlets. Developers can therefore experience limitless performance and scalability that is only possible with Saga. Note: The airdrop is not and will not be available to U.S. persons (or persons acting on behalf of U.S. persons). In order to participate in the airdrop, a person or entity must not be a U.S. Person as defined in Rule 902 under the United States Securities Act of 1933 or a U.S. person within the meaning Section 7701(a)(30) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. A full terms and conditions for participation in the airdrop will be made available as part of the claims process. About Saga Recognized as a leading developer ecosystem in crypto and web3 gaming, Saga is creating the developer environment of the future. Its mission is to help creators unblock themselves and build where blockspace is at its most plentiful and simple. Saga was founded in 2022. Early seed investors include Placeholder, Maven11, Longhash, Samsung, Com2uS, and Polygon. Originally built on Cosmos, Saga has furthered its presence by bringing typically disparate but the best ecosystems into its Saga Multiverse through ongoing strategic partnerships. To learn more about the Saga protocol, check out Sagas website, litepaper, and developer documentation. Be sure to join Sagas Discord and Telegram and follow Saga on Twitter for the latest news and updates. Contact Sonia Im | Angella Austin ONE PR Studio [for Saga] [email protected] Having conducted a series of hugely successful retrospectives in cinemas across the country over the last year in India Bachchan Back To The Beginning, Dilip Kumar Hero of Heroes and Dev Anand @ 100 Forever Young, Film Heritage Foundation, the not-for-profit organization founded by filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, is gearing up to co-present yet another Amitabh Bachchan retrospective at an international film festival for the very first time. Titled Amitabh Bachchan, Big B Forever, the retrospective will be premiered at the 45th edition of the prestigious Festival des 3 Continents this year that will take place from November 24 to December 3, 2023 in Nantes, France. It will feature nine blockbuster films of the living legend such as Abhimaan, Sholay, Deewar, Kabhie Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Trishul, Don and Kaala Patthar. Shweta Bachchan, the daughter of the film superstar will be travelling to Nantes to represent her father at the festival. Amitabh Bachchan states, Film Heritage Foundations initiative to bring classic Indian films back on the big screen in India has been truly remarkable. I am so pleased to hear that they are co-presenting a selection of nine of my early films at one of the oldest and most reputed film festivals the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, especially as it focuses on the cinema of Africa, Latin America and Asia. Many of these films gave me an opportunity to play a diverse range of characters and work with some of the most significant filmmakers of the time including Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Manmohan Desai, Yash Chopra and Ramesh Sippy. I hope that the festival audience will enjoy the selection of films that continue to give so much joy to viewers even half a century since they were made. Even though I will not be there in person, I am delighted that my daughter Shweta will be in Nantes to represent me at the festival. Shweta Bachchan states, I am delighted to travel to Nantes for the Festival des 3 Continents to present some of my father Amitabh Bachchans milestone films at such a distinguished festival. This is a special occasion for me as I have the opportunity, for the first time, to represent my father, on an international platform. I would like to thank the Film Heritage Foundation for their exceptional commitment and ability in showcasing classic Indian cinema and drawing audiences back to the big screen when no one had faith that this would be possible. I saw the phenomenal success of Bachchan Back to the Beginning the retrospective they curated on a massive scale to celebrate my fathers 80th birthday last year. Many of us in the family were watching his films on the big screen for the first time and we were overwhelmed. The films being screened in Nantes cover varied genres that will give the audiences at the festival the opportunity to see my fathers remarkable versatility as an actor. Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation states, Film Heritage Foundation is proud to co-present Amitabh Bachchan, Big B Forever- a retrospective of nine landmark films that launched the career of Indias greatest superstar at the 45th edition of the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, France. We had presented an eclectic selection of Indian classics in the Indian Autumn stream of the festival last year and saw the enthusiastic response to the films from the festival audience. We would like to thank Jerome Baron, the Artistic Director of the festival for giving us another opportunity this year to showcase nine Amitabh Bachchan films spanning a period from 1973 to 1982 when Mr. Bachchan was at the peak of his career, at the festival this year. Mr. Bachchan is an actor who is a worldwide phenomenon and an indefatigable champion for the cause of film preservation and when we conducted a country-wide retrospective of his films last year, the cinemas were packed and the audiences went crazy. Mr. Bachchan has been a childhood hero for me and it gives me immense pleasure to screen some of my personal favourite Amitabh Bachchan films as part of such a prestigious festival as well as to present Film Heritage Foundations most recent restoration Ishanou (1990), Aribam Syam Sharmas beautiful Manipuri film that had a red-carpet world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2023. Jerome Baron, Artistic Director, Festival Des 3 Continents states, The Festival of 3 Continents finds its breath and inspiration by combining its curiosity for contemporary cinema with that nurtured since its origins for classics that are often poorly known or unknown to Western audiences. And Amitabh Bachchan is precisely, as he continues a career that began fifty years ago, the living and iconic embodiment of a link between the past and present of popular Hindi cinema. He is an on screen unique performer and what no other actor has ever been, including in the history of European cinema. After a fruitful collaboration in 2022 with Film Heritage Foundation, we want, by seizing the ball thrown of the Bachchan Back to the beginning festival launched last year, to pay Amitabh Bachchan for the first time in France a tribute in nine films which will also be the opportunity to show the world premiere of Cedric Dupires astonishing documentary on him The Real Superstar. Festival des 3 Continents offers feature films from Africa, Latin America and Asia and screens, in the fiction and documentary films segment. THE FILMS Abhimaan (Pride) (1973) directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee Sholay (Embers) (1975) directed by Ramesh Sippy Deewar (The Wall) (1975) directed by Yash Chopra Kabhie Kabhie (Sometimes) directed by Yash Chopra Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) directed by Manmohan Desai Trishul (Trident) (1978) directed by Yash Chopra Don (1978) directed by Chandra Barot Kaala Patthar (Black Stone) (1979) Yash Chopra Former US first lady Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former president Jimmy Carter, died Sunday at age 96 at the couples home in the southern state of Georgia, their nonprofit organization announced. Rosalynn Carter was best known for her work post-White House, as she and her husband championed human rights, democracy and health issues around the world all while maintaining a notably humble public image. She had joined her husband in at-home hospice care on Friday after being diagnosed with dementia in May. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, a passionate champion of mental health, caregiving and womens rights, passed away Sunday at her home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 96, the Carter Center said in a statement. She died peacefully, with family by her side. Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished, Jimmy Carter said in the statement. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me, the former Democratic president said. Throughout Jimmy Carters long political career, his wife was at the heart of his campaigns. Once in the White House from 1977 to 1981 Rosalynn Carter stood out as a first lady intent on being involved in policy. She attended Cabinet meetings and major briefings, frequently represented the Chief Executive at ceremonial occasions and served as the presidents personal emissary to Latin American countries, according to the White House website. Sorely missed Rosalynn Carter was born in the small town of Plains on August 18, 1927, as the first of four children. At 13 her father died and she worked alongside her mother, who became a dressmaker to make ends meet. She met Jimmy Carter in 1945 while she was in college and he was on leave from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. They married in 1946, and hold several longevity records in US politics: the longest-wed presidential couple and, for 99-year-old Jimmy Carter, the oldest living US president. According to the Carter Center, the former first lady is survived by her four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, after losing a grandson in 2015. Besides being a loving mother and extraordinary first lady, my mother was a great humanitarian in her own right, the Carters son Chip Carter said in the Centers statement. She will be sorely missed not only by our family but by the many people who have better mental health care and access to resources for caregiving today. The family announced in February this year that Jimmy Carter had entered hospice care in Plains at the same modest house he and Rosalynn have lived in since the 1960s. The one-term Democratic president has since surprised many by continuing to welcome visitors, receive news about the Carter Centers humanitarian work, and frequently enjoy ice cream, according to his family. Miss Universe 2023 came with a lot of firsts and it seems it made history. The 72nd edition of Miss Universe featured two transgender women, two mothers, one plus-sized model Jane Dipika. She was also crowned Miss Nepal. While speaking to Hola Magazine, Jane said, As a curvy woman challenging conventional beauty standards, Im here to stand for all women. Netizens react Here are some reactions: OH WOW Nepals Jane Dipika Garrett is SUCH A BEAUTY and defies stereotype in Miss Universe. I LOVE that the crowd is cheering for her. Finally a representation of plus size women in the Ms. U!!! GOO GOO JANE cheering for you! pic.twitter.com/oMO4Lslu0z spazzwithAHJUMMA (@kdrama_ahjumma) November 18, 2023 Jane Dipika Garrett Beauty comes in any size This slogan can change and motivate many girls around the world. So proud that she represented Nepal pic.twitter.com/bcmoWuiEI8 (@Mspeaks__) November 18, 2023 Nepals Jane Dipika Garrett was warmly supported by the crowd during her stint in the #MissUniverse2023 Preliminary Competition. Jane is a body positivity advocate. What do you think of her performance? Is she in your list for the ?#MissUniverse #72ndMissUniverse #Nepal pic.twitter.com/oPuucqaJsC hm (@jeffxcortez) November 16, 2023 So proud of you, our Miss Rue Gurl, Jane Dipika Garrett! You did great!!! Always spread love by throwing a dove! Charaught pic.twitter.com/iJEQZJMM1G ricci (@ricci_richy) November 19, 2023 Also, Nicaraguas Sheynnis Palacios has been crowned Miss Universe for the year 2023, marking her countrys first win at the international beauty pageant. The 72nd edition of the Miss Universe pageant was held on Saturday night at the Jose Adolfo Pineda Arena in San Salvador, El Salvador. Colombian superstar Shakira has reached a deal with prosecutors to end her trial for allegedly defrauding the Spanish state of 14.5 million euros ($15.7 million) on income earned between 2012 and 2014, a Barcelona court said Monday. Under the deal, the 46-year-old agreed to receive a three-year suspended sentence in exchange for paying millions of euros in fines, the head of the court said on what would have been the first day of her trial. From 2012 to 2014, Shakira spent six months as a Spanish resident and that made her liable for tax, however, this is a claim she has categorically denied. The prosecution has called 117 witnesses in court, which include hairdressers, studio technicians, dance teachers, therapists, beauticians, gynaecologists and her chauffeur. Shakiras statement In an interview last year, she said, These are false accusations. First of all, I didnt spend 183 days per year at that time at all. I was busy fulfilling my professional commitments around the world. Second, Ive paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit. So, as of today I owe zero to them. She added, The Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. Its clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what. They knew I wasnt in Spain the required time, that Spain wasnt my place of work or my source of income, but they still came after me, with their eyes on the prize. With added inputs from agencies The elite are pushing earth to the brink of ruin, says Oxfam after a detailed study of climate inequality. The climate disparity they found is alarming. The richest one per cent of the global population are responsible for more than the poorest 66 per cent. This elite group of 77 million people, including billionaires, millionaires, and those earning more than $140,000 (Rs1.16 crore) per year, accounted for 16 per cent of total CO2 emissions in 2019 enough to cause more than a million extra deaths due to heat, according to the report. Limiting global warming may soon be impossible While fighting the climate crisis is a shared challenge, not everyone is equally responsible and government policies must be tailored accordingly, Max Lawson, who co-authored the report, told AFP. The richer you are, the easier it is to cut both your personal and your investment emissions, he said. You dont need that third car, or that fourth holiday, or you dont need to be invested in the cement industry. Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99 per cent, was based on research compiled by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and it examined the consumption emissions associated with different income groups up to the year 2019. It was published as world leaders prepare to meet for climate talks at the COP28 summit in Dubai later this month. Fears are growing that limiting long-term warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could soon be impossible to achieve. Among the key findings of this study are that the richest one per cent globally 77 million people were responsible for 16 per cent of global emissions related to their consumption. That is the same share as the bottom 66 per cent of the global population by income, or 5.11 billion people. Global income disparity amplifies climate injustice The income threshold for being among the global top one per cent was adjusted by country using purchasing power parity for example in the United States the threshold would be $140,000 Rs 1.16 crore, whereas the Kenyan equivalent would be about $40,000 (Rs 33.33 lakh). The income disparity across nations explains only a portion of the disparity. According to the report, high-income countries (mostly in the global north) were responsible for 40 per cent of global consumption-based CO2 emissions in 2019, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available, while low-income countries (mostly in the global south) contributed a negligible 0.4 per cent. Africa, which has one-sixth of the worlds population, was responsible for only four per cent of emissions. The exorbitant carbon footprint of the 0.1 per cent from superyachts, private aircraft, and mansions to space voyages and doomsday bunkers is 77 times that required for global warming to peak at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Within country analyses also painted very stark pictures. For example, in France, the richest one per cent emit as much carbon in one year as the poorest 50 per cent in 10 years. Excluding the carbon associated with his investments, Bernard Arnault, the billionaire founder of Louis Vuitton and richest man in France, has a footprint 1,270 times greater than that of the average Frenchman. We think that unless governments enact climate policy that is progressive, where you see the people who emit the most being asked to take the biggest sacrifices, then were never going to get good politics around this, he said. These measures could include, for example, a tax on flying more than ten times a year, or a tax on non-green investments that is much higher than the tax on green investments. While the current report focused on carbon linked only to individual consumption, the personal consumption of the super-rich is dwarfed by emissions resulting from their investments in companies, the report found. Nor are the wealthy invested in polluting industries at a similar ratio to any given investor billionaires are twice as likely to be invested in polluting industries than the average for the Standard & Poor 500, previous Oxfam research has shown. Oxfam Internationals interim executive director, Amitabh Behar, told The Guardian: Not taxing wealth allows the richest to rob from us, ruin our planet and renege on democracy. Taxing extreme wealth transforms our chances to tackle both inequality and the climate crisis. These are trillions of dollars at stake to invest in dynamic 21st-century green governments, but also to re-inject into our democracies. The worst affected According to the study, persons living in poverty, marginalised ethnic communities, migrants, and women and girls who live and work outside or in homes vulnerable to extreme weather suffer disproportionately. These groups are less likely to have savings, insurance, or social protection, putting them at greater economic and physical danger from floods, droughts, heatwaves, and forest fires. According to the UN, developing countries account for 91 per cent of deaths caused by extreme weather. According to the analysis, it would take around 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99 per cent to produce the same amount of carbon that the richest billionaires do in a year. The super-rich are plundering and polluting the planet to the point of destruction, and those who can least afford it are paying the highest price, said Chiara Liguori, senior climate justice policy consultant at Oxfam. Climate and inequality crises were feeding off one another, she claimed, as reported by The Guardian. With inputs from AFP Many people love drinking a glass of red wine either with a meal or on its own as a little treat. But for some, even a small amount of red wine leads to a headache. Now, scientists seem to have unlocked the mystery behind this phenomenon. Lets take a closer look: The study, conducted by scientists from the University of California, was published in the journal Scientific Reports, as per Newsweek. We think we are finally on the right track toward explaining this millennia-old mystery, said co-author Morris Levin, professor of neurology and director of the Headache Center at the University of California, San Francisco. So, whats the answer? Researchers are pointing the finger at quercetin, which is a compound and flavanol in fruits and vegetables. Quercetin is produced by the grapes in response to sunlight, wine chemist and co-author Andrew Waterhouse, professor emeritus with the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology, told the outlet. If you grow grapes with the clusters exposed, such as they do in the Napa Valley for their cabernets, you get much higher levels of quercetin. In some cases, it can be four to five times higher. While quercetin is supposed to be good for you, adding alcohol to the mix changes things. When it gets in your bloodstream, your body converts it to a different form called quercetin glucuronide, Waterhouse explained. In that form, it blocks the metabolism of alcohol. The role of acetaldehyde in the human body is also under the scanner. But before we come to that, lets briefly examine acetaldehyde how our body breaks down alcohol. It usually does so through two enzymes alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) which shred the alcohol molecules and remove it from the body. ADH first converts alcohol to acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is then further processed to acetate. Acetate itself is turned into water and carbon dioxide and then passed out of the body. Acetaldehyde is a well-known toxin, irritant and inflammatory substance, lead author Apramita Devi, postdoctoral researcher with the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology, told Newsweek. Researchers know that high levels of acetaldehyde can cause facial flushing, headache and nausea. But how does it work? Waterhouse also told ZME Science that though any alcoholic beverage can give you a headache, only red wine brings one on instantaneously. Our hypothesis is that quercetin, which is found only in red wine (only traces in white wine), inhibits ALDH2 and that results in high circulating levels of acetaldehyde, and that causes headache. The quercetin is not metabolized. It blocks the metabolism (or breakdown) of acetaldehyde, and the accumulation of that is what causes inflammation, the result of which is headache. Quercetin itself does not cause headaches, but only the combination of alcohol and quercetin. This may be why it has taken so long to sort this out. It isnt a direct effect, Waterhouse added. But some remain sceptical. Professor Roger Corder, an expert in experimental therapeutics, at Queen Mary University of London, told BBC News anecodatal evidence points to cheaper wines. Corder said it might be a good idea to examine the additives used in making such wines. Corder also pointed to pectinases which accelerate the release of anthocyanins which in turn speeds up winemaking as well as dimethyl dicarbonate used to preserve lower-price vintages. As per The Guardian, the team is now looking to test their theory via a clinical trial in which wines with varying levels of quercetin would be given to subjects. Waterhouse remains upbeat. If our hypothesis works out in future studies, I hope it will be possible for consumers to find out more about the levels of quercetin in the wine they buy, he told ZME Science. It will be potentially very helpful for people who drink red wine to be able to choose wines less likely to cause headaches, added Levin. Also, winemakers may use our findings to reduce quercetin in their wines. Air traffic controllers were in a tizzy on Sunday when they spotted an unidentified flying object (UFO) close to the runaway at Manipurs Imphal International Airport, which caused several flights to be abruptly diverted and delayed, according to officials. At least two IndiGo flights were diverted while three other flights were delayed for over three hours after the authorities immediately closed the controlled airspace. The unidentified object was spotted hovering high above Bir Tekendrajit International Airport in Imphal. The UFO Imphal air traffic control (ATC) received an alert from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) control room reporting the sighting of an unidentified flying object just over the ATC tower, at 2.30 pm. The white coloured object was visible from the terrace of the ATC tower, and individuals on the ground, including airline and CISF personnel, saw it as well. According to a NDTV report, the unnamed object flew over the terminal building, moved southwards above the ATC tower and remained stationary there for some time. Then it moved southwest of the runway, where it remained till 4.05 pm before disappearing. The airport authorities immediately closed the controlled airspace in Manipurs capital Imphal and stopped all flight operations. The airspace closure affected nearly 1,000 travellers. Flights delayed for three hours As the authorities were trying to understand whats going on, an IndiGo A320 carrying 173 passengers from Kolkata to Imphal was instructed to maintain a holding pattern until the ATC received clearance from the security agencies. The IndiGo flight was in a holding pattern for 25 minutes before being redirected to Guwahati, Assam, at 3.03 pm. At 4.05 pm, another IndiGo A320 flight from Delhi to Imphal with 183 passengers on board was diverted to Kolkata. While the airspace was closed, three flights two Air India and one Indigo remained parked on the apron. Imphal airport director Chipemmi Keishing accepted the presence of the drone in a statement. According to the officer, all three flights took off after competent authority granted security clearance. Worried passengers I had no idea what was going on. I was informed that the flight could not take off because there was some kind of object hovering in the sky, an unmanned aerial vehicle of some sort. Officials of the flight operator, however, were not so sure what the object was, Bhaskar Salam, a passenger who was supposed to fly to Bengaluru, told Indian Express. Many passengers told NDTV that they had remained inside the airport and some inside the aircraft for more than three hours, beginning at 3 pm and ending at 6.15 pm. Boarding was completed by 3 pm, but we didnt get take-off clearance until 6.10 pm. Passengers were worried and some elderly people anxious, but everyone was extremely cooperative and patient, a woman who boarded an Air India flight to Delhi told NDTV on phone. Another passenger on the Delhi-bound flight reported that they were offered food inside the plane before takeoff because they had been seated for a long period. The Indian Air Force and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation have begun a joint investigation to learn more about the incident. According to the official, the Indian Air Force Eastern Command in Shillong was informed of the development. Manipur shares an international border with Myanmar to the east, as well as borders with Nagaland, Mizoram, and Assam. With inputs from PTI It has been more than 170 hours since 41 workers got trapped following the collapse of a portion of an under-construction highway tunnel in Uttarakhands Uttarkashi district. As the anxiety of the families of these trapped workers increases, the rescue efforts continue against time. The authorities have now devised a five-point plan involving drilling from three sides to reach the trapped workers. The prolonged entrapment of the workers has also raised concerns about their physical and mental well-being. What is going on and why is it taking so long to rescue the labourers? Lets take a closer look. Five-point plan kicks in Under the five-point plan, officials will drill a vertical hole from the top of the hill where the workers have been trapped since 12 November. According to Indian Express, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has formed an approach road for the machines to arrive at the top of the hill to drill a lifeline pipe. The Rail Vikas Nigam is working on another vertical pipeline to provide essentials to the workers, reported NDTV. Food and water are already being supplied to them through steel pipes drilled into the opening of the debris. #WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) Tunnel rescue | Morning visuals from Silkyara Tunnel where 41 workers are stranded after a part of the tunnel collapsed on November 12. pic.twitter.com/lsOPP1SZK2 ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 The horizontal boring through the debris obstructing the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel will continue. As per The Hindu, Anurag Jain, the Road Transport and Highways Secretary, said a canopy would be developed to ensure the safety of the entrance of the collapsed tunnel so that the drilling does not cause damage to its structural integrity. There are also plans to drill a small tunnel from the Barkot side, reported Indian Express. Once the tunnel is fortified, the US-made auger machine will continue the horizontal drilling. The rescue operations had come to a halt on Friday after the auger machine to bore through the tunnel and insert wide steel pipes out of which workers could crawl out developed a snag. The operation was stopped after officials heard a sudden cracking sound during the insertion of a fifth pipe, reported PTI. Union minister Nitin Gadkari, along with Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, visited the accident site to review the rescue and relief operations on Sunday (19 November). If the auger machine works properly, we will be able to reach them (victims) in the next 2-2.5 days Gadkari said, as per ANI. According to Indian Express, machines sustained damage from breaking rocks and clearing debris on Friday, affecting the drilling work. About 24 metres have been drilled into the debris but up to 60 metres might be needed to be bored through the rubble to create an escape route for the trapped workers. PM Modi dials CM Dhami Prime Minister Narendra Modi dialled the Uttarakhand chief minister today (20 November) to discuss the ongoing rescue operations and assured the workers will be evacuated safely through mutual coordination between the Centre and the state government, Uttarakhand CMO reportedly said in a statement. He said the Central government is supplying the required pieces of equipment. Modi said that workers morale needs to be maintained, the CMO added. Antidepressants, dry fruit for workers The Road, Transport and Highways Secretary said on Sunday that the government is giving multivitamins, antidepressants and dry fruits to the trapped workers. Fortunately, there is light inside because the electricity is on. There is a pipeline, and thus water is available. There is a four-inch pipe, which was used for compression. Through that, we are sending food from day one, PTI quoted him as saying. ALSO READ: Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: How safe are trapped workers, as rescue op enters Day 5? Whats behind the delay? According to Union minister Gadkari, the rescue operation is a tough task as the soil strata in the Himalayan region is not uniform. He also said horizontal drilling with the US-made auger was the quickest method to rescue the workers. #WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue operation | Union Minister Nitin Gadkari says The first priority of this operation is to keep the victims alive. Roads are being made by BRO to bring special machines. Several machines have arrived here. Two auger machines are pic.twitter.com/iPkEWTy4tA ANI (@ANI) November 19, 2023 We are working on six options simultaneously. The PMO is also closely monitoring the operation. Our biggest priority is to save all those who are trapped and as soon as possible. Whatever is needed will be done, Gadkari said, as per PTI. With inputs from agencies Israel continues its ground offensive in Gaza, raiding hospitals and attacking schools. It is now increasing the military action in the southern part of the enclave as the Israel-Hamas war has entered Day 45. Israels military has said that its mixed-gender battalion of combat and rescue fighters is fighting in the Gaza Strip. A mixed force, comprising men and women, from the Shahar Battalion in the Rescue and Training Brigade of the Home Front Command joined the ground forces activity in Gaza, according to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). We take a look at what are the capabilities of the Israeli armys mixed-gender battalions and their role in the war. Also read: In graphics | What is Israels military strength? What weapons does it use? What are IDFs mixed-gender battalions? Women have been part of the Israeli forces since the War of Independence in 1948. When the IDF was first formed, it recruited combat soldiers regardless of gender. Following the war, no women were allowed to serve in combat positions until the 1990s. However, this changed again in 1994 when the High Court of Justice ruled that combat roles should be open to women soldiers, according to the Jewish Virtual Library. In 2000, the Equality Amendment to the Defense Service Law stated that the right of women to serve in any role in the IDF is equal to the right of men. The mixed-gender units of the IDF made up of men and women combat soldiers were formed much later. Now Israeli military has at least five such battalions which have been on the rise since 2018. The Caracal Battalion, the Baradalas (cheetah), and the Lions of Jordan Valley are some of the units with male and female soldiers. The Caracal is named after a small cat whose sexes appear the same. It is one of the oldest coed units and was established in 2004. Two-thirds of its members are women, according to the IDF. It is tasked with protecting the countrys borders. The mixed-gender Bardalas battalion was formed in 2015, with men and women in equal numbers, and was deployed along the border with Jordan. The Shahar (Dawn) Battalion is tasked with assisting civilians during wartime and disaster. Last September, the IDF appointed for the first time appointed a woman officer to command the search-and-rescue unit. In November last year, IDF announced the formation of a new co-ed infantry battalion. The 49th Battalion, named Panther, is part of the Border Defense Corps and is stationed along the West Bank security barrier. What do we know about coed unit fighting in Gaza? The mixed unit is part of the IDF Home Front Commands search-and-rescue. It is operating in the Gaza Strip for the first time, according to the military. The troops belonging to the 498th Shahar Search and Rescue Battalion have joined the ground forces in the offensive against Hamas. They are led by Lt Col Yarden, who is also a woman, and whose last name is withheld for security concerns, reports Times of Israel. They have been operating in Gaza Citys Shati Camp. According to Col Elad Edri, the commander of the search and rescue brigade, dozens of soldiers from the mixed unit are operating in the enclave and around 40 per cent are women. They do all the tasks that the men do, he said. History: For the first time, an @IDF search and rescue team comprised of male and female soldiers is operating in Gaza. The Shahar Battalion lead by Lt. Col. Yarden, joined ground forces with the 460th Brigade in an operation against Hamas in the Shati camp. Watch: pic.twitter.com/KIvThlXiZI Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) November 19, 2023 The mixed-gender battalion has been carrying out tasks according to their expertise, says the IDF. This includes searching for Hamas weaponry. They have also been fighting alongside other troops, aiding them by breaching buildings to make quicker progress to the camp, The Times of Israel reports. We have tools that the troops dont have, Yarden is quoted as saying. What other ops has the mixed unit been involved in? The Caracal unit sprung into action after the 7 October Hamas terrorist assault. Caracal commander Lt Col Or Ben-Yehuda told Jerusalem Post that her battalion, which is made up of mostly women, killed around 100 Hamas terrorists during the attacks. Ben-Yehuda said she received a message reporting an infiltration of heavily armed militants near the kibbutz of Sufa and Nirim. Combat between the battalion and the militants lasted nearly four hours, she said. It took the Caracal battalion about 14 hours to secure the base alongside other units, the report said. The Shahar Battalion has been operating in the West Bank, arresting wanted Palestinians and seizing weapons. The IDF claimed that in August 2022 it foiled at least five terror attacks. In the fight against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, the unit was stationed in the Israeli city of Sedrot to help locals amid rocket attacks, reports The Times of Israel. Shahar is part of the Home Front Command that carries out search-and-rescue missions along with patrols and operational duty in the West Bank. The mixed-gender light infantry Bardelas and Caracal battalions have been deployed on the border with Egypt. The Lions of Jordan Valley focuses on the northern Jordan Valley on the eastern border of Israel. Its mission is to protect the border from hostile terrorist activity and smuggling. In February this year, the coed battalion raided a West Bank refugee camp and reportedly killed Hamas terrorists and members of a terror cell. Despite their achievements, the coed units have been criticised by rabbis, former commanders, and conservative voices in the country. Why are coed units criticised in Israel? In the past, former military commanders have said that they fear that women fighters lesser physical strength compared with men will reduce the armys effectiveness. Some rabbis from the Religious Zionist movement said that it would be impossible in mixed-gender units to maintain traditional notions of modesty appropriate for Orthodox soldiers, according to a report in Christian Monitor. In June, controversy erupted after an Egyptian police officer killed three troops of the Bardelas and Caracal battalions on the border. One of them was a woman. Right-wing media personalities and politicians criticised the mixed-gender arrangement, even alluding to impropriety on the part of soldiers, according to a report by The Times of Israel. A correspondent at Israels right-wing Channel 14 said on air that putting a male combat soldier and a female combat soldier alone for 12 hours at night is problematic. Back then, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant defended the mixed-gender units and women soldiers. Female and male IDF combat soldiers are one and the same. There is no such thing as a [difference] between men and women in my view, he said. We have entire formations in the IDF in which women carry out a central role in border defence. Female commanders make daily decisions about thwarting terrorists, he said, adding that his daughter served in the Caracal unit. With inputs from agencies In a significant announcement, the Maldives government has officially confirmed the presence of 77 Indian military personnel within its territory. The disclosure was made by the Under Secretary for Public Policy at the Presidents Office, Uz. Mohamed Firzul Abdulla Khaleel, during a press conference held this evening. The construction of the Indian military base in the Maldives has officially begun, with work commencing on May 2023 during Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to the island nation. Uz. Mohamed Firzul provided detailed information on the roles of the Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives. According to him, 24 individuals are involved in helicopter operations, 25 are engaged in the operations of a Dornier aircraft, 26 are assigned to a second helicopters operations, and an additional two individuals are responsible for the maintenance and engineering works of these aircraft. Emphasizing President Dr. Mohamed Muizzus commitment to addressing public concerns, Uz. Mohamed Firzul asserted that the administration would annul any decisions undermining the nations sovereignty made by previous administrations. He also revealed the discovery of over 100 bilateral agreements within the past five years, which are currently under examination. During the press conference, Uz. Mohamed Firzul highlighted key decisions made during the first cabinet meeting of President Dr. Muizzus administration. Notable initiatives include the formation of three Cabinet Councils: the Social Council, the Economic Council, and the Visitor Economic Council. Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef will preside over the Social Council, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed will lead the Economic Council, and President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu will chair the Visitor Economic Council. The establishment of the Visitor Economic Council aligns with President Dr. Muizzus commitment to expanding tourism, the mainstay of the Maldives economy. The councils mandate also includes promoting and diversifying the tourism sector. Uz. Mohamed Firzul addressed reporters questions during the press conference, providing insights into the new governments approach and priorities. As the administration unfolds its plans, the disclosure of foreign military presence and the unveiling of key initiatives mark a significant development in the political landscape of the Maldives. Iran on Sunday unveiled its new Fattah-II hypersonic missile. Tehran claimed that the weapon, a new version of its first domestically made hypersonic ballistic missile it unveiled in June, can evade even the most advanced anti-ballistic missile systems of the United States and Israel. Iran unveil new Fattah-2 hypersonic missile pic.twitter.com/8m7N4GXM1k AoR News (@AoR3138) November 19, 2023 Iran showcased the Fattah-II at an exhibition of the achievements of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force in Tehran in the presence of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei on Sunday called on Muslim nations to at least temporarily cut ties with Israel in the backdrop of the ongoing conflict with Hamas. Some Islamic governments have condemned Israeli crimes in assemblies while some have not. This is unacceptable, Khamenei said. But what do we know about the Fattah-II hypersonic missile? Lets take a closer look: Fattah means conqueror in Farsi. The missile was put on display at the IRGCs Ashura Aerospace Science and Technology University, as per The Times of Israel. According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Fattah-II is equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) warhead that can manoeuvre and glide at hypersonic speed. The precision-guided two-stage missile, can hit targets within a range of 1,400 kilometres with a velocity of Mach 13 (about 16,000 km/h), according to Tasnim. However, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Fattah-II missile can touch a speed of Mach 20 (24,696 kilometres per hour). As per The Times of Israel, the HGB separates from the warhead. It can make quick turns to avoid defence systems. It is equipped with a warhead that has a spherical engine running on solid fuel and movable nozzles that allow the missile to manoeuvre in all directions both in and out of the Earths atmosphere, Tasnim said. Hypersonic missiles can fly at least five times faster than the speed of sound and on a complex trajectory, which makes them difficult to intercept. China is believed to be pursuing the weapons, as is America. Russia claims to already be fielding the weapons and has said it used them on the battlefield in Ukraine. The Guard already has a vast arsenal of ballistic missiles. Iran in June presented the Fattah missile what officials described as its first domestically made hypersonic ballistic missile, as per the official IRNA news agency. Officials at the time said they wanted to upgrade Fattahs range from 1,400 to 2,000 kilometres putting Israel within reach. Iranian state media had published pictures of the missile named Fattah at a ceremony attended by President Ebrahim Raisi and commanders of Irans elite Revolutionary Guards Corps. Some may ask what is the purpose of manufacturing missiles? They are for deterrence, for defence, Raisi was quoted as saying by PressTV.Ir. We build missiles so that we do not suffer from aggression by the enemies and so that we have the power that the enemies would not even think of an act of aggression against the Islamic Republic. Raeisi added that, Defence and missile industries have become indigenous in Iran. As Iran does not import its defence weapons, therefore nothing can threaten to marginalise this advanced industry. The precision-guided Fattah hypersonic missile has a range of 1,400 km and it is capable of penetrating all defence shields, Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards aerospace force, was quoted as saying by Iranian state media. Our activities in this field do not end with the manufacturing of this missile. We will continue this path so that no enemy even imagines attacking Iran, the IRGC commander added, as per PressTV.IR State TV said Irans Fattah missile can target the enemys advanced anti-missile systems and is a big generational leap in the field of missiles. It can bypass the most advanced anti-ballistic missile systems of the United States and the Zionist regime, including Israels Iron Dome, Irans state TV said. Fattahs top speed reached Mach 14 levels (15,000km/h), it added. Last year, the Islamic Republic said it had built a hypersonic ballistic missile which can manoeuvre in and out of the atmosphere. General Amir Ali Hajizadeh of the Revolutionary Guard claimed that Iran had created a hypersonic missile, without offering any evidence in support. Despite US and European opposition, the Islamic Republic has said it will further develop its defensive missile programme. However, Western military analysts say Iran sometimes exaggerates its missile capabilities. Concerns about Irans ballistic missiles contributed to then-US president Donald Trumps decision in 2018 to ditch Tehrans 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers. Trump reimposed US sanctions on Iran after exiting the nuclear pact, leading Tehran to resume previously banned nuclear work and reviving US, European and Israeli fears that Iran may seek an atomic bomb. Iran has consistently denied any such ambition. Indirect talks between Tehran and US president Joe Bidens administration to salvage the nuclear deal have stalled since last September. Israel, which the Islamic Republic refuses to recognise, opposes efforts by world powers to revive Tehrans nuclear deal and has long threatened military action if diplomacy fails. I hear our enemies boasting about weapons they are developing, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said at the time. To any such development, we have an even better response whether it be on land, in the air, or in the maritime arena, including both defensive and offensive means. Al Jazeera quoted Khamenei as saying Israel was a Zionist regime is a symbol of racism and that Western support for Gaza being carpet-bombed is a sign that Western leaders also believe in racism and see nothing wrong with it. With inputs from agencies Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is among the top targets of Israel, likely to be hiding in Gaza tunnels, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said like a little Hitler in a bunker. Dubbed the butcher of Khan Younis by Israeli forces, the 61-year-old is believed to be the mastermind of the Hamas deadly attack on Israel on 7 October. Sinwar recently halted communication with Qatari mediators on the release of hostages in Gaza after the Israeli troops stormed the Al-Shifa Hospital, Middle East Monitor reported citing the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. However, he is once again in touch with them, as per Haaretz. Who is Yahya Sinwar? What was his role in the latest attacks? We explain. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar Born in 1962, Sinwar reportedly grew up in a poor neighbourhood in Khan Younis city in south Gaza. He has a bachelors degree in Arabic studies from the Islamic University in Gaza, reported NDTV. As per BBC, Sinwar is the founder of the Hamas security service Majd, which deals with internal security issues, hunts down Israeli intelligence and security services officers, and probes suspected Israeli agents. He has spent over 20 years in jail. After his third arrest for his role in the killing of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians whom he accused of working for Israel, Sinwar was sentenced to life in prison in 1989 by Israeli military authorities who were operating inside Gaza. According to a Bloomberg report, Sinwar became fluent in Hebrew and Israeli society during his time in prison. He is remembered as a cold-blooded, magnetic leader by Israeli officials, the report added. Have you ever Googled Who is Yahya Sinwar? pic.twitter.com/wrhc4q0FsB Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 13, 2023 He would read Israeli newspapers on a daily basis. He understood them way better than they understood him hence his ability to deceive them and catch them off guard by executing his military operation so effectively in October 2023, Dr Ahron Bregman, a former Israeli army major, told Sky News. Sinwar was among the 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners freed in 2011 by Israel in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held captive by Hamas for over five years. Israeli officials had not rejected his name being on the list thinking he was not a threat, reported Bloomberg. After his release, he rose through ranks in Hamas, especially the groups military wing, noted NDTV. In 2015, the United States put him on its list of international terrorists, saying he is known for his role in founding the forerunner of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Sinwar became the head of Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip in 2017, reported BBC. As per a report in Bloomberg, he worked along with the Palestinian Authority to secure Israeli work permits for about 18,000 Gazans, who worked as day labourers in the West Asian nation. Israeli security officials believe it was some of these workers who drew maps of the Israeli communities and created lists of local families to direct the Hamas militants in the 7 October attack. Hamas and Sinwar misled Israel and made it think war wasnt an option for Hamas, Akram Atallah, a Gaza-based columnist for the West Bank newspaper Al Ayyam, told Bloomberg. It was a sophisticated misinformation campaign deceiving Israel into believing they were seeking peace, workers, and economic life for Gaza residents. ALSO READ: What are Israels mixed-gender units? Whats their role in Israel-Hamas war? Role in Hamas attack Israel has accused Sinwar of being the architect of the 7 October attacks. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Lt Col Richard Hecht called Yahya Sinwar the face of evil. He is the mastermind behind this, like [Osama] bin Laden was (for 9/11). He built his career on murdering Palestinians when he understood they were collaborators. Thats how he became known as the butcher of Khan Younis, Hecht added. He said the Israeli forces will get to Sinwar. Speaking to Sky News, Bregman, who is now senior teaching fellow in war studies and the Arab-Israeli conflict at Kings College London, said: The Israelis tried for many years to recruit him as a collaborator himself, offering him massive incentives. But it never worked with Sinwar. In fact he became notorious for killing Palestinians suspected of collaborating. He will be remembered as the architect of the 7 October attacks and the person who inflicted on the Israelis their most terrible disaster since the establishment of their state in 1948, Dr Bregman told Sky News. He said with Israels promise to crush Hamas, he believes they will get him (Yahya Sinwar) in the end. With inputs from agencies OpenAI has a new CEO and its not Sam Altman who was rumoured to return to the job over the weekend. Emmett Shear, who co-founded the streaming service Twitch, has been appointed the new CEO of Open AI. Today I got a call inviting me to consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to become the interim CEO of @OpenAI. After consulting with my family and reflecting on it for just a few hours, I accepted, Shear wrote on X. Shear also denied that Altman, who has since been hired by Microsoft, had been dismissed over safety concerns. Before I took the job, I checked on the reasoning behind the change. The board did *not* remove Sam over any specific disagreement on safety, their reasoning was completely different from that, he wrote. Im not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercializing our awesome models. OpenAI kicked off the generative AI craze a year ago by releasing ChatGPT. The chatbot became one of the worlds fastest-growing software applications. But who is Shear? And what will happen to OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati who was appointed interim CEO on Friday? Lets take a closer look: Shear was born in 1983, as per Moneycontrol. He grew up in Seattle and attended Yale University from which he obtained a bachelors degree in computer science. Shear co-founded the platform in 2006 as Justin.TV. The platform in 2011 changed its name to Twitch. The platform quickly gained traction in the gaming community and was acquired by Amazon for just under $1 billion in 2014. The 40-year-old Shear in March stepped down as Twitch CEO. Shear was at the Amazon-owned platform for more than 16 years. Shear has been working as a partner at Y Combinator for the last seven months, advising start-ups on everything from fundraising strategy to technical approach. Interestingly Y Combinator was previously run by Sam Altman. As per Time Magazine, Shear is part of the effective altruism movement. Adherents of effective altruism fear that Artificial Intelligence could be used to take over the world and destroy humanity. Shear was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal, Its like a universe destroying bombIts bad in a way that makes global warming not a problem. It is no surprise that Shear is known as an outspoken advocate of safety in the development of artificial intelligence. Time Magazine quoted a source as saying that Shear was picked on the basis of his awareness of the possible danger from AI. He is thought to have the pedigree to lead a large team of engineers, the source added. Moneycontrol quoted Shear as saying in a recent podcast, I have a very specific concern about AI. Weve built an intelligence, its kind of amazing actually. It may not be the smartest intelligence but it is an intelligence. At some point, as it gets better, the kinds of problems that well be able to solve will include programming, chip design, material science, all of the things youd need to design an artificial intelligence. At that point, youll be able to point the thing weve built back at itself. And this will happen before you get to that point with humans in the loop; it already is happening with humans in the loop. But that loop will get tighter and faster until it can fully self-improve itself, at which point it will get very quickly. And that kind of intelligence is just an intrinsically very dangerous thing, he added. In his LinkedIn recommendation, Twitch co-founder Justin Kan says, Emmett is a great co-founder: works hard, doesnt complain, and the smartest guy I know. Shear on Monday shared a plan for the next steps at OpenAI, saying he would look to reform the start-ups management team and hire an independent investigator to dig into Altmans departure. An hour before Shears post, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed he was hiring Altman to lead an AI research team at the global tech titan. Were extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success, Nadella said. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAIs new leadership team and working with them, Nadella added. What happens to Murati? Murati, meanwhile, has taken to X to voice her feelings and perhaps foreshadow an imminent move. OpenAI is nothing without its people Mira Murati (@miramurati) November 20, 2023 The decision not to reinstate Altman as CEO of the company behind ChatGPT has confounded efforts by investors and employees of the firm to steady the ship by bringing him back after the board fired him on Friday, a surprise move that rocked the tech world. They fear his abrupt sacking could lead to a mass exodus of talent and impact an upcoming $86 billion share sale. Reuters earlier reported that Altman was discussing a possible return to OpenAI and changing the companys governance structure, even as he considered launching a new AI venture. Altman posted an image of himself on X on Sunday wearing an OpenAI guest badge with the caption: first and last time i ever wear one of these. In a separate post on X, he reshared Nadellas message with a comment the mission continues. Brockman quit over Altmans firing on Friday. Their departures blindsided many employees who discovered the abrupt management change from an internal message and the companys public blog. Some researchers including Szymon Sidor have also left the company following the CEO change, two people familiar with the matter said. Sidor confirmed quitting. The Information first reported the appointment of Shear as interim CEO. Shortly after the internal announcement of Shears appointment, distraught employees streamed out of OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco, The Information reported. Dozens of staffers internally announced they were quitting the company on Sunday night, it said, citing a person with knowledge of the situation. With inputs from agencies US president Joe Biden has turned 81 today. And the age of Americas oldest sitting commander-in-chief looms big before the 2024 elections, especially among the young voters. Though Donald Trump, who turned 77 in June, is only three-and-a-half years younger than Joe Biden, yet Americans are significantly more concerned about the incumbent presidents age than that of his challenger. Amid the reports that Joe Biden will likely keep celebrations quiet, to avoid reminding voters of his age, heres how his age remains the most pressing problem. Joe Biden struggles to change public perception on age Joe Bidens birthday will turn an unwelcome spotlight on the fact that the Democrat is the oldest president in American history and that if he wins a second term next year he will be 86 by the time he leaves. Biden sometimes jokes about it and aides point to a vigorous schedule that would floor far younger people, but poll after poll shows that the presidents age is the single greatest concern for American voters. That has been reinforced by a series of trips, slips and stumbles, from losing his balance on the steps of Air Force One to giving occasionally rambling answers during press conferences. Despite a series of his own recent gaffes, former president Donald Trump, whom Biden is likely to face next year, does not yet cause the same concerns among voters despite the fact that hes 77. Biden is not doing a lot wrong but is struggling to change perceptions on his age as well as other issues like the economy said David Karol, who teaches government and politics at the University of Maryland. He is lucid, but people just have this perception, Karol told AFP. Competence Biden has increasingly been making light of his age to deflect or defuse peoples concerns. On a visit to meet union workers in Illinois he joked that I know I only look like Im 30, but Ive been around for a long time and when a reporter tripped in the media area, Biden said, I just want the press to know that wasnt me. US president Joe Biden joked with the audience after tripping on the steps as he arrived for a speech in Philadelphia in October. On other occasions, Biden has used it to portray himself as a safe pair of political hands, saying that age brings with it a little wisdom. But if re-elected, he would leave office a full nine years older than record-holder Ronald Reagan was when he stepped down at 77. The White House has been dismissive of opinion polls, with Democrats notching up a series of recent electoral successes. But the numbers make grim reading for the party. Seventy-four per cent of people said Biden would be too old to serve a second term, compared to 50 per cent for Trump, a recent ABC/Washington Post poll showed. A Yahoo/YouGov poll found that 54 per cent of Americans say Biden no longer has the competence to carry out the job of president, up from 41 per cent before the 2020 election. Some analysts say Bidens age should not matter. The issue in general has been unfairly weaponised in US politics, said S Jay Olshansky, a longevity researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Aging is not what it used to be, Olshansky told AFP. There are very large segments of the population that survive to their eighth decade perfectly capable of being president, or doing whatever they like. Super-Agers Biden and Trump for that matter are both likely to be Super-Agers, a term coined by researchers to describe a small group of people who keep their full faculties until late in life, said Olshansky. His research has also found that for US presidents, biological time seems to tick at a slower pace than for other people, as they apparently thrive on the stress of the job. That said, Bidens campaign has taken to highlighting what it says are slip-ups of Trumps own. Trump warned in a speech in September, for example, that the United States was on the verge of World War II, and recently said Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban was the leader of Turkey. Nevertheless, Bidens age is bound to come under even deeper scrutiny during a gruelling election campaign. Republicans have trained their fire on the person who is just a heartbeat away from the presidency, should the worst happen: Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris blazed a trail as the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to hold the vice presidents office, but her approval ratings are as bad as her bosss, at under 40 per cent. With inputs from AFP At least two people died and 10 people were injured after an under-construction indoor stadium collapsed at Kanakamamidi in Moinabad in Rangareddy district of Telangana on Monday. The death toll is expected to rise as authorities are trying to clear the debris, police said. "Two died, around 10 injured after a private indoor stadium which is under construction collapsed. One body was recovered and authorities trying to recover another body from under debris. The injured have been shifted to a local hospital for treatment. Rescue operation is still on," Jagdeeshwar Reddy, Deputy superintendent of police (DCP), Rajendernagar said. As per reports, there were 20 workers at the site of the mishap. Further details are awaited. Poll officials have reported a seizure of over Rs 1760 crore in five poll-bound states since the announcement of the elections, the Election Commission of India announced on Monday. This is an increase of 636 per cent as compared to seizure figures during previous elections in the five states Mizoram, Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. Seizures over Rs 1760 crores have been reported in the five poll-going states since the announcement of the elections, which is more than 7 times (Rs 239.15 cr) the seizures made in previous Assembly Elections in these states in 2018, the poll body said in a statement on Monday. As per the data shared by the poll body, Telangana which is going to polls on 30 November reported the highest cash seizure of over Rs 659. 2 crore followed by Rajasthan with a seizure of Rs 650.7 crore, MP of Rs 323. 7 crore, Chhattisgarh of Rs 76. 9 crore and Mizoram of Rs 49. 6 crore. It may be recalled that seizures of over Rs 1400 crores were done in the past six state Assembly elections held in Gujarat, HP, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Karnataka which is 11 times the previous assembly elections in these states, added the statement. An increase of 636 per cent as compared to seizure figures during the 2018 Assembly Elections in these five states, it further said. The ECI further said that the seizures included cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals, all worth of crores, freebies and other items. This time the Commission has also embedded technology into the monitoring process through the Election Expenditure Monitoring System (ESMS) which is proving to be a catalyst, as it brought a wide array of Central and State enforcement agencies together for better coordination and intelligence sharing, the statement added. With inputs from agencies Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were critically injured in firing Bihars Lakhisarai when they were returning after performing Chhath puja on Monday morning. The matter is related to a love affair, police said. #WATCH | Bihar: Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai. The incident took place when they were returning from Chhath Ghat after performing pooja. Three injured have been referred from pic.twitter.com/BF0i8mAAQz ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 "Six members of a family were shot over 'love affair' in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai (Bihar). The victims were returning from Chhath Ghat after performing 'arghya'. Two people died while four others were injured," Pankaj Kumar, Superintendent of Police (SP), Lakhisarai said. VIDEO | "Six members of a family were shot over 'love affair' in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai (Bihar). The victims were returning from Chhath Ghat after performing 'arghya'. Two people died while four others were injured," says Lakhisarai SP pic.twitter.com/FnMjZYE1yl Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 Three injured have been referred from Begusarai Sadar Hospital to Patna. An investigation into the matter is underway. VIDEO | Several members of a family were shot in firing at Bihar's Lakhisarai. More details are awaited. pic.twitter.com/4LWy53Wk9J Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 With inputs from agencies BJP leader and former Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Manjinder Singh Sirsa has accused the Kartarpur Gurdwara administration of desecrating the shrine by organising a dance party on the Kartarpur Sahib complex and called on the Pakistan government to take strict action against the culprits. #WATCH | Kurukshetra: On his claims of blasphemous acts at Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara complex, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa says, The PMU Kartarpur Corridor committee in Narowal including the local Deputy Commissioner and DSP of Kartarpur Gurdwara administration organised a pic.twitter.com/azAZ49BQNP ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 Speaking to ANI news agency, Sirsa said, The PMU Kartarpur Corridor committee in Narowal including the local Deputy Commissioner and DSP of Kartarpur Gurdwara administration organised a dance party, consumed alcohol and meatStrict action should be taken against them. I condemn this act strongly and appeal to the Pakistan government to register a case against them and put them behind bars Videos of the alleged party organised by Sayed Abu Bakar Qureshi, CEO of Project Management Unit, Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, on the Gurdwara Shri Darbar Sahib complex on 18 November have also surfaced on social media. Profound dismay as Sayed Abu Bakar Qureshi, CEO PMU Kartarpur Corridor, organizes a non-vegetarian party in Gurdwara Shri Darbar Sahib complex which was attended by 80 people including Mohammad Sharukh, Deputy Commissioner Narowal, District Police Officer Narowal also. Sikh community worldwide feels betrayed by this disrespect to the sacred site where Guru Nanak Dev ji took his last breath. I demand swift accountability and action from @GovtofPakistan in this regard, Sirsa posted on X earlier. Profound dismay as Sayed Abu Bakar Qureshi, CEO PMU Kartarpur Corridor, organizes a non-vegetarian party in Gurdwara Shri Darbar Sahib complex which was attended by 80 people including Mohammad Sharukh, Deputy Commissioner Narowal, District Police Officer Narowal also. Sikh pic.twitter.com/7Scmhj86Tk Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) November 19, 2023 In another post, Sirsa said that this is not the first time blasphemous actions have happened at Sri Kartarpur Sahib. This is not the first time blasphemous actions have happened at Sri Kartarpur Sahib such derogatory things have happened time & again but @GovtofPakistan didnt take any action against the Board for making Sri Kartarpur Sahib a picnic spot! Pak Govt should & some respect to Sikh sentiments and dissolve the anti-Sikh PMU of Sri Kartarpur Sahib, he wrote. He said the Sikhs had objected to the appointment of a non-Sikh person as CEO of PMU Kartarpur Corridor in 2021 as they feared blasphemous acts might be performed at the Gurdwara complex. We had objected to the appointment of a non-Sikh person as CEO of PMU Kartarpur Corridor in 2021. And now such blasphemous acts like dancing, drinking alcohol and eating meat has happened at Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara complex because the management board has no knowledge of Sikh pic.twitter.com/Se8aIM1HgT Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) November 20, 2023 We had objected to the appointment of a non-Sikh person as CEO of PMU Kartarpur Corridor in 2021. Since the management board has no knowledge of Sikh Maryada; we were afraid that there might be blasphemous actions at Gurdwara complex. Our fear has come true when video of CEO Sayed Abu Bakar Qureshi drinking alcohol and eating meat at Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara complex went viral yesterday!! he said. We We had objected to the appointment of a non-Sikh person as CEO of PMU Kartarpur Corridor in 2021. Since the management board has no knowledge of Sikh Maryada; we were afraid that there might be blasphemous actions at Gurdwara complex. Our fear has come true when video of CEO https://t.co/fCigv72ief pic.twitter.com/lMBeo90JKH Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) November 20, 2023 We demand immediate dissolution of this PMU headed by Muslims whose actions have hurt the sentiments of Sikhs worldwide. @GovtofPakistan should hand over the mangt of Gurdwara Sahib to a Sikh body that adheres to Sikhi ethos and principles, Sirsa added. Reacting to the development, SGPC spokesperson Gurcharan Singh Grewal said that the entire Sikh community condemns this shameful incident. #WATCH | On BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsas claims that a dance party was held on the premises of Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara, SGPC spokesperson Gurcharan Singh Grewal says, The entire Sikh community condemns this shameful incident. Pakistan government should take action in pic.twitter.com/oJlkw7yseD ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 Pakistan government should take action in this matter. I request the Jathedar of Akal Takht Kartarpur Sahib to clear their stand on this, he added. The Indian Air Force (IAF) scrambled its Rafale fighter aircraft to search for unidentified flying objects sighted near the Imphal airport on Sunday. The sighting of the UFO over the Imphal airport happened around 2:30 pm after which a few commercial flights were affected yesterday. The UFO was visible with bare eyes moving westwards of the airfield till 4 pm, said an official of the Air Traffic Control. Soon after information about the UFO near the Imphal airport was received, a Rafale fighter aircraft from a nearby airbase was scrambled to go and search for the UFO, defence sources told ANI. The aircraft equipped with advanced sensors carried out low-level flying over the suspected area to look for the UFO but it did not find anything there, they said, adding that after the first aircraft returned, one more Rafale fighter was sent for the search but the UFO was not seen around the area. The agencies concerned are trying to find out the details of the UFO as there are videos of the UFO over the Imphal airport, they said. Eastern Command, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), said, IAF activated its Air Defence response mechanism based on visual inputs from Imphal airport. The small object was not seen thereafter. The Rafale fighters of the Indian Air Force are deployed at the Hashimara air base in West Bengal and keep flying from different air bases in the eastern sector along the China border. Normal flight services at Manipurs Imphal International Airport were affected on Sunday afternoon over sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO), officials said. Two flights were diverted and three others delayed. Services normalised after around three hours. Due to sighting of an unidentified flying object within Imphal controlled airspace, two flights have been diverted and three departing flights have been delayed. Flight operations commence after receipt of clearance from the competent authority, a statement issued by Airport Director Chipemmi Keishing told PTI. Manipur is bordered by Nagaland, Mizoram and Assam, besides sharing an international border with Myanmar to its east. With inputs from agencies. India and Australia are expected to hold talks on a wide range of strategic, defence and security issues as the Defence and Foreign ministers of both countries meet for the second 2+2 ministerial dialogue on Monday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and their Australian counterparts Richard Marles and Penny Wong will hold discussions to further advance cooperation under the India-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The MEA said the ministers are expected to discuss the situation in West Asia in view of the Israel-Hamas war, Chinas increasing aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, Indias recent diplomatic row with Canada, and the Russia-Ukraine war. The discussions will also cover bilateral, regional and global matters of mutual interest to further advance cooperation under the India-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership, it said. Both sides will also exchange views on shared priorities for strengthening minilateral and multilateral cooperation, the statement read. Singh and Jaishankar will also hold separate bilateral talks with their Australian counterparts. The external affairs minister (S Jaishankar) and foreign minister Wong will hold the 14th foreign ministerial framework dialogue on November 21 to take stock of cooperation under the comprehensive strategic partnership and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, the MEA said in a statement. The Defence ministry said, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles will co-chair the second India-Australia 2+2 ministerial dialogue with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The two countries are expected to discuss wide-ranging issues of mutual interest during the 2+2 dialogue and the bilateral defence ministers meeting, it said. The inaugural 2+2 ministerial dialogue between India and Australia took place in September 2021. by M. K. Bhadrakumar A massive US naval deployment in a wide arc of the so-called Greater Middle East is under way stretching from Crete in the Eastern Mediterranean, into the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb and into the Gulf of Aden and all the way into the Gulf of Oman. This deterrent display may transform as large scale offensive operations and aims to rework the geopolitical alignments and bring them back to the traditional grooves of intra-regional rivalries in the Gulf region. Aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower transits through the Suez Canal towards the Persian Gulf , November 4, 2023 Ship spotters first said that as of Thursday, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its escorts were sailing just outside the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman, and were approaching the Persian Gulf. A Pentagon official confirmed the location but would not say whether the carrier will enter the Persian Gulf passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The US naval build-up in the region consists of another carrier strike group as well USS Ford and its escorts which last week moved away from Israeli coast and is now re-positioned to the south of Crete, according to ship spotters, apparently beyond the missile reach of Lebanons Hezbollah. Apart from the two carrier strike groups, the US deployment also includes a three-ship Bataan Amphibious Ready Group with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and several guided-missile destroyers USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall operating in the northern portion of the Red Sea, and USS Mesa Verde in the Eastern Mediterranean along with the command ship USS Mount Whitney. Additionally, there are some number of US attack submarines in the region, but the Pentagon does not typically disclose their locations except for a rare disclosure recently by the US Central Command of the transit on November 5 of nuclear guided-missile submarine USS Florida to the east of Suez. The most obvious explanation for such a formidable naval buildup is that it is part of the US effort to keep the current conflict in southern Israel and Gaza contained. Hezbollah continues to fire rockets and anti-tank missiles into Israel from Lebanon; Iran-backed Shia militant groups are attacking US bases in Iraq and Syria; and Houthi rebels in Yemen are firing missiles towards Israel. During the period since October 17, there have been at least 58 attacks on US bases, mostly in Iraq. The hardline opinion in the US is that the militant groups attacking the US forces are acting at Irans behest. This allegation is an old US-Israeli bogey and keeps surging whenever Iran is in the crosshairs and/or there is requirement of a blame game. Expert opinion, including in the US, has always been wary of it. Longtime observers estimate that while Tehran is openly helping the various resistance groups operating in the Middle East to push back the US and Israel, that does not exactly make these groups Iranian proxies. Thus, it transpired that Iran was taken by surprise by the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7. According to Reuters, at a recent meeting in Tehran with Ismail Haniyeh, the chairman of the groups political bureau, Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei brought this up. At any rate, it is a known fact that the US establishment is well aware of the ground realities of its state of play with Iran and has not hesitated to use back channels to lean on Tehran to use its good offices with the Shia militant groups operating in Iraq to exercise restraint. But the bottom line is that Iran too has its limitations in such extraordinary times such as today when hatred and anger towards the US and Israel has risen to a crescendo in the Muslim countries. Interestingly, coinciding with the arrival of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its escorts in the waters off the Strait of Hormuz, the International Maritime Security Construct [IMSC] a consortium of countries headquartered in Bahrain, whose official stated aim is the maintenance of order and security in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden and Southern Red Sea, particularly regarding maritime security of global oil supply routes issued an advisory on Thursday for vessels travelling through the approaches to Bab al Mandeb and Red Sea and specifically advising that when choosing routes, orient toward creating maximum feasible distance from Yemeni waters. Two days later, the Israeli military has said that Yemens Houthis had actually seized a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea as it was sailing from Turkiye to India; although the military added that the vessel was not Israeli-owned and had no Israelis among its crew, ownership details in public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, which was founded by Abraham Rami Ungar, who is known as one of the richest men in Israel. It doesnt need much ingenuity to figure out that the US, which is already smarting under the humiliation of the Houthis shooting down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over international waters recently, is moving against the Houthis. This needs some explaining. The point is, IMSC is a US-led coalition of the willing outside the purview of the mission of the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations specialised agency to promote safe, secure, environmentally sound, efficient and sustainable shipping through cooperation. It was established in 2019 against the backdrop of the war in Yemen and comprises, amongst others, the UAE and Saudi Arabia from the Gulf region. Its leitmotif was to counter the Iran-Houthi axis during the Saudi-Emirati intervention in Yemen essentially, as part of the US containment strategy against Iran dominating the regional politics at that time. Significantly, if the Biden Administration plans to hit the Houthis and makes it look as a retaliatory / punitive strike and to that end, it is invoking the IMSC platform, which belongs to a bygone era before the Saudi-Iran rapprochement brokered by China, that becomes a brilliant geopolitical ploy where the US hopes to achieve multiple objectives kill many birds with a single arrow. These objectives range from bringing down Iran by a notch or two in the regional folklore of power dynamic; driving a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Iran at a juncture when the amity between the two traditional rivals is frustrating the US plans to integrate Israel; res-establishing the shock and awe of US power in the Middle East (and globally); keeping the Red Sea shipping lines open for Israeli vessels; and, in strategic terms, dominating the waterways of the Red Sea leading to the Suez Canal. By the way, Red Sea is lately witnessing big power contestation China has a naval base in Djibouti and Russia hopes to establish a submarine base in Sudan; Eritrea is a virulently anti-US littoral state on Red Sea; and, US is desperately trying for a regime change in Ethiopia, the largest country in the African continent, which is on very friendly terms with Russia. A quagmire for the US? Even more curious is the timing of the US aircraft carrier group in the Persian Gulf region. The Chinese foreign ministry announced on Sunday that a delegation consisting of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers will visit China from November 20 to 21 to hold in-depth communication and coordination with Beijing on ways to deescalate the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, protect civilians and seek a just settlement of the Palestinian question. The delegation comprises Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki and Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Hussein Brahim Taha. The above development is a Saudi initiative. There is no question that the collective outreach by the Muslim countries to China as their principal interlocutor at the present stage of the Palestine-Israel conflict is a diplomatic rebuff to the US. Succinctly put, the Arab unity is also becoming a thorn in the flesh for President Biden at a time when the US finds it increasingly difficult to block the Chinese-Arab push for a ceasefire in Gaza and counter the international condemnation of Israels horrific violence against the Palestinian people, especially in the Global South. By attacking the Houthis of Yemen, the Biden administrations game plan is to undermine the Saudi-Iran rapprochement by playing on the Saudi antipathy toward the Houthis on the one hand and taunting Tehran on the other hand. Basically, the US hopes to pay Iran back in the same coin. As an opinion piece in the Hill put it, It is time Biden and his principal advisers on his national security team must assume an active defence by striking Iranian proxies hard and unapologetically, when they present a threat, not after they have already attacked. And probable cause must be good enough for protecting our service members manning remote bases in Iraq and Syria bloody nose is the only response Iran understands, and precisely the response the US must deliver. ( here The Biden Administration must be sensing already that the Israeli operations against Hamas are not getting anywhere and may turn into a long days journey into night, thanks to the Zionist states stubborn refusal to confront its guilt and shame or accept a two-state solution to the Palestine issue. The American public opinion is becoming sceptical about Bidens handling for the situation and the US allies feel troubled. Indeed, Israel itself is a deeply divided house. Meanwhile, the US diplomatic isolation in the Middle East is touching an unprecedented level today. The big question is whether through coercion smart power it is possible to retrieve lost ground where the crux of the matter is that the US is not trusted anymore in the Middle East. Moreover, Iran holds the patent for smart power, which it has finessed as a diplomatic tool through the past four decades successfully to ward off existential challenges from the US. The US risks getting entangled with the resistance groups, which have nothing to lose and everything to gain by creating a quagmire for Washington. The heart of the matter is that the resistance groups are operating in their native lands and enjoy vast networks of social support. This, therefore, becomes an unequal battle, in the final analysis. Whether it is worth taking the risk all for the sake of boosting the sagging Israeli morale should be a soul-searching question for the Biden Administration before embarking on yet another forever war in the Middle East. M. K. Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat by profession. Roughly half of the 3 decades of his diplomatic career was devoted to assignments on the territories of the former Soviet Union and to Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Other overseas postings included South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey. He writes mainly on Indian foreign policy and the affairs of the Middle East, Eurasia, Central Asia, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific. The National Investigation Agency, or NIA, has registered a case against listed terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), over his video threatening passengers flying by Air India on 19 November. Pannun had also threatened Air India Airlines with a global blockade and closure of the operations of the airline from 19 November. On 4 November, Pannun had asked Sikhs to not fly on Air India planes on and after 19 November as their lives could be under threat. He also issued a warning to the Government of India that The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) would remain closed on the 19th of November. IGIA, located in New Delhi, is one of the worlds busiest airports. We are asking Sikhs not to fly AI on 19th November. There will be a global blockade and AI will not be allowed to fly anywhere across the world on 19th November. Sikhs, you do not travel by AI after 19th. It can be life-threatening, Pannun had said. This is my warning to the government of India. The Indira Gandhi International Airport should remain closed on the 19th of November, he said. It is the same day on which the final match of the World Terror Cup will be played. It will be shown to the world that a genocide of Sikhs happened in India and India did it. When we will liberate Punjab, the name of these airports will be Shahid Beant Singh and Shahid Satwant Singh Airport, Pannun had said. Also Read: WATCH: Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Pannun threatens to blow-up Air India flight on 19th Nov On Monday (20 November), the NIA has booked Pannun under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. The SFJ founder has also been charged under sections 10 (member of an unlawful association), 13 (for taking part in or committing or advocating any unlawful activity), 16 (terrorist act), 17 (funding terrorist act), 18 (conspiring or attempting to commit, or advocating, abetting, advising or inciting a terrorist act), 18B (for recruiting of any person or persons for terrorist act) & 20 (for being a member of a terrorist gang or a terrorist organization) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Pannun, the self-proclaimed General Counsel of the outlawed unlawful Association, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), is in the eye of the storm yet again following the release and circulation of video messages on various social media platforms urging the Sikhs not to fly on Air India planes on and after 19th November claiming threat to their lives if they flew on Air India. Pannun also threatened that Air India would not be allowed to operate in the world. Pannuns assertions and threats have triggered a high alert as well as investigations by security forces in Canada, India and certain other countries where Air India flies, NIA said in a release. As part of his concerted plan to promote terror acts in India to revive terrorism in India, Pannun has been creating a false narrative around the issues prevailing in the state of Punjab, especially with regard to Sikh religion, by promoting enmity between the Sikhs in the country and other communities. The latest threat is in line with the same narrative, which Pannun has actively promoted in the past by threatening and attempting to disrupt essential transportation network systems, including the Railways, as well as Thermal Power Plants in India, the NIA said. SFJ was banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (GoI), on 10 July, 2019, as an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for its activities. On 1 July, 2020, Pannun was listed as an individual terrorist by the Indian government. Pannun has been under NIA lens since 2019, when the anti-terror agency registered its first case against him. In September 2023, the NIA had confiscated his share of the house and land of the lister terrorist in Amritsar (Punjab) and Chandigarh UT. Non-Bailable warrants of arrest were issued against Pannun by the NIA Special Court on 3rd February 2021 and he was declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO) on 29 November 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and discussed the ongoing operation to rescue 41 workers trapped since 12 November in a partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district. During the telephonic conversation, PM Modi said necessary rescue equipment and resources are being provided by the Centre and through mutual coordination between Central and state agencies and expressed hope that the trapped workers will be safely evacuated. PM Modi told the Uttarakhand chief minister that it is necessary to maintain the morale of the trapped workers. According to a statement issued by the Uttarakhand Chief Ministers Office, Dhami told PM Modi that he has inspected the site and is constantly monitoring the rescue operations. All efforts are underway to evacuate the workers expeditiously, the chief minister told PM Modi. Dhami also briefed the Prime Minister about the rescue operations in detail and said all the trapped workers are safe with oxygen, nutritious food and water being constantly supplied to them. All agencies are working in full coordination with each other in consultation with experts to carry out the rescue operations. @narendramodi Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) November 20, 2023 This is the third time that PM Modi has spoken to Uttarakhand CM Dhami about the rescue operations being carried out at the tunnel. 5-point plan to rescue trapped workers in Uttarkashi On Sunday (19 November), a new five-point plan was made to rescue the trapped workers. A vertical drilling operation will be taking place from the top of the hill under which the workers are trapped. The efforts to drill horizontally through the debris blocking the tunnel at the Silkyara side will continue, and an operation to drill a small tunnel from the Barkot side will also begin, according to the plans. As per the details provided by the government, five different agencies the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Sutluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVNL), Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited (THDCL) have been assigned responsibilities to carry out the five different aspects of the rescue plan. Under the five-point plan, RVNL has started work on a six-inch-wide vertical pipeline from this platform into the place where the workers are trapped. This pipe will work as another means by which supplies can be passed to them. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has created an access road to, and built a platform at, the top of the hill where vertical drilling is set to take place. The third part of the plan involves horizontally drilling 483 metres to reach the workers by creating a micro tunnel from the Barkot side and will be undertaken by THDCL. Heavy machinery has already been mobilised and the work is expected to start by Sunday night. The fourth part is the strengthening of the existing tunnel, and after working on safety arrangements, NHIDCL will continue to drill from the Silkyara end under the fifth part of the plan. Rescue operations are being carried out on a war footing since portions of the tunnel collapsed following a landslide early on 12 November, leaving 41 workers trapped behind a huge mound of debris. The Silkyara tunnel, about 30 km from the district headquarters of Uttarkashi and a seven-hour drive from the Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, is part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project of the central government. With inputs from agencies Rescuers achieved a significant breakthrough on Monday by successfully navigating a six-inch-wide pipeline through the debris of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel. This development is crucial as it enables the delivery of larger quantities of food and the potential for live visuals of the 41 workers trapped inside for eight days. Previously, a four-inch tube provided oxygen, dry fruits, and medicines to the section beyond the rubble in the under-construction tunnel on the Char Dham route in Uttarakhand. Anshu Manish Khalkho, director of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), termed this accomplishment as the first breakthrough, with the pipeline reaching 53 meters beyond the rubble. His colleague Col Deepak Patil emphasised the significance of the next step, the rescue operation to safely extract the trapped workers. Drones and robots from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are on-site to explore potential escape routes. Horizontal boring through the debris is set to resume after a boulder temporarily halted progress. Additionally, the construction of a vertical rescue shaft, approximately 80 meters deep, has commenced, with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) arranging additional equipment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the situation with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, emphasising the importance of maintaining the morale of the trapped workers. The Uttarakhand High Court took note Monday of a plea on the disaster. It has asked the state government to respond to it by Tuesday. Food items such as porridge, khichdi, apples, and bananas are now accessible through the new pipeline. Plastic bottles with wide mouths will be used for packaging, and mobile phones and chargers may also be sent, positively impacting the psychological well-being of the trapped workers. Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi is exploring the possibility of inserting a wire through the pipeline for live-streaming. The removal of the drill bit from the pipe is the next step, enabling the delivery of essential supplies. Endoscopy-like camera equipment from Delhi is expected to facilitate visual communication between rescuers and trapped workers. With inputs from agencies A six-inch-wide pipe has been laid through the rubble of a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhands Uttarkashi where 41 workers are trapped for eight days. The pipeline will help supply food items and facilitate better ventilation, an official said. A six-inch pipe has been laid at the tunnel through which different food items will be sent to trapped workers and it will also facilitate better ventilation there, NHIDCL director Anshu Manish Khalkho said. VIDEO | Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: A six-inch pipe has been laid at the tunnel through which different food items will be sent to trapped workers and it will also facilitate better ventilation there, says NHIDCL director Anshu Manish Khalkho. pic.twitter.com/0PCKjyFvrC Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 "They (trapped workers) can hear us through it. We will now provide them with food and medical supplies through that pipe," Khalkho said. VIDEO | Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: "We have achieved our first breakthrough, for which we had been trying for the last nine days and was our first priority. A 6-inch pipe has been installed and they (trapped workers) can hear us through it. We will now provide them with food and pic.twitter.com/gfww1hlLE8 Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 The NHIDCL director further said, "DRDO has sent two robots weighing 20 kg and 50 kg respectively. All the 41 people are safe inside." #WATCH | Uttarkashi Tunnel Rescue | NHIDCL director Anshu Manish Khalkho says, "A six-inch pipe has been laid at the tunnel. DRDO has sent 2 robots weighing 20 kg and 50 kg respectively. All the 41 people are safe inside..." pic.twitter.com/1M3DfEC1C0 ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 "It's the first achievement. Now, we have to accomplish the second, which is the most vital one. When they receive food, they'll feel a bit better psychologically, and we will also try to establish communication with them," an official said after the installation of a 6-inch pipe in the tunnel. VIDEO | Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: "It's the first achievement. Now, we have to accomplish the second, which is the most vital one. When they receive food, they'll feel a bit better psychologically, and we will also try to establish communication with them," says an official pic.twitter.com/XM2buYaWsd Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 Earlier, a four-inch tube was being used to supply food like dry fruit and medicines and oxygen into the section of the tunnel beyond the rubble. Visuals from Uttarkashi tunnel collapse site where operation is underway on the ninth day to rescue the 41 trapped workers. pic.twitter.com/XiO1pZwaSO Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 A portion of the under-construction tunnel in Silkyara village in Uttarkashi district, part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project, collapsed due to a landslide on 12 November, trapping 41 workers. Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) Tunnel Rescue | Inside visuals of the tunnel as rescue operation continues. (Pics Source: Working Staff) pic.twitter.com/gxJRbSEA0Q ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 With inputs from agencies A 19-year-old collage student was allegedly kidnapped by two bike-borne men minutes from Madhya Pradeshs Gwalior after she disembarked from a bus around 8:50 am on Monday. The woman, identified as Prachi Vyas, a resident of Bhind, was travelling to Gwalior to attend her uncles house warming ceremony. She got off near a petrol pump in the Jhansi Road area of Gwalior and was kidnapped while she was waiting for her brother. A video of the crime caught on CCTV camera showed one of the men snatching the girl and forcing her to sit on the back of the motorcycle before speeding away. The person who was already on the bike was wearing a helmet, while the other one, who dragged the girl to the two-wheeler, had his face covered with a cloth. VIDEO | A woman was allegedly kidnapped by unidentified bike-borne assailants from a petrol pump in MPs Gwalior earlier today. The incident was caught on a CCTV camera. pic.twitter.com/sklX36H4Jg Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 Police said, after getting off the bus, the BA student was confronted by the abductors. Efforts are on to hunt for the woman and trace her kidnappers. A report by ToI mentioned police saying that the woman was acquainted with a young man named Rohit Kishwaha who also hailed from Bara village. Rohit had an altercation earlier at Prachi's residence, raising suspicions about his possible involvement in the kidnapping. As per the report, police have intensified investigation into Rohit's role in Prachi's kidnapping after witnesses recognised him in photographs, indicating his presence before the arrival of the bus. With inputs from agencies Amid the raging war in Gaza, Osama bin Laden has suddenly become a hero of the pro-Palestine lobby in the US, with several young Americans posting videos sympathising with the orchestrator of 9/11. A letter that the Al Qaeda leader had written to the American people went viral on TikTok wherein he had criticised the US support to Israel and threatened that the United States shall pay for its arrogance with the blood of Christians and their funds. The 2002 letter read thus, Palestine has been under occupation for decades, and none of your presidents talked about it until after September 11 when Bush realised that your oppression and the tyranny against us were part of the reason for the attack. You have to implement a roadmap that returns the Palestine land [sic] to us, all of it, from the sea to the river; it is an Islamic land not subject to being traded or granted to any party. Two disquieting thoughts emerge from Osamas letter: One, the war in the Middle East will end only when Israel ceases to exist, as the Jewish nation purportedly exists on the Islamic land. Two, the Al Qaeda terrorist has, in two decades since unleashing terror through the skies in New York, has become a hero for a section of people living in peace and material comforts of the West. The concept of the Islamic land is quite a fascinating phenomenon. The closest one gets to it in India is the Waqf land. As per a report, 77 per cent of Delhi is on Waqf land. This includes the Delhi High Court, Central Vista, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, among others. Waqfs claim on a land or a property is for all time to come. And its claims can travel across time too: The Manendiyavalli Chandrashekhara Swami temple in Tamil Nadu, for instance, may be 1,500 years old but it is today claimed to be a Waqf property, even when Islam per se came into existence 1,300 years ago! Just like Waqf, the nature of an Islamic land remains unalterable for perpetuity. This is the case even when the said land is currently occupied/controlled by the followers of other religions. The Islamic claim to a land is irrevocable, though the same courtesy is not given to other faiths. For instance, the Muslim world is almost unanimous in saying that Israel has been created on the Palestinian territory. But the same logic works for Jews too, who were the original inhabitants of the region. Their claim to Palestine predates the birth of Islam. This also is the case with thousands of temples destroyed by Muslim rulers: While these destroyed temples cannot return to their old pristine form, the Islamic claim to mosques remain incessant and operative. Once an Islamic land, always an Islamic land, after all! Just like Islamic land, one hears the term Muslim area in India, especially at a time when a Hindu religious procession takes place. One, in fact, regularly witnesses communal violence post such a procession, forcing the bleeding-heart liberals to come out in the open with their prescriptions to safeguard Indias secular fabric. As an antidote to growing polarisation in the country, they suggest the law-abiding citizens of India (meaning Hindus) should avoid going to Muslim areas to celebrate their festivals. In other words, these saner minds want Hindus to celebrate their festivals in Hindu areas! Nothing can be more sinister than this liberal advice. For, it not only legitimises the ghettoisation of certain areas, but also gives them a bad name for all times to come. However, the moment a Hindu turns back and asks if this means the entry of Muslims in Hindus areas, during Hindu festivals, would also be restricted, the cat is out of the liberal bag. The sane liberal voice suddenly becomes shriller, coarser. Indias democracy and secularism become imperilled. The very people who call for a barrier on the entry of Hindus in Muslim areas hail the presence of Muslim food vendors in Durga Puja and Navaratri pandals as a symbol of Indias syncretic culture! Coming back to the idea of Islamic land, it has an uncanny similarity with Communist Chinas hegemonistic streak. Eminent historian RC Majumdar wrote in an article in 1965: It is characteristic of China that if a region once acknowledged her nominal suzerainty even for a short period, she would regard it as a part of her empire forever and would automatically revive her claim over it even after a thousand years whenever there was a chance of enforcing it. Though Majumdar believed this to be a unique Chinese character, going across centuries, this phenomenon was most pervasively and mischievously used during the communist rule in China. What also brings the Godless communist and God-fearing Islamists together is what Erich Fromm calls authoritarian ethics. In Man for Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics, Fromm writes, In authoritarian ethics an authority states what is good for man and lays down laws and norms of conduct. Both Islamists and communists, in their own distinct ways, do the same. And this explains why they invariably find themselves, often in unison, against humanistic ethics of the democratic West and civilisational India. In humanistic ethics, as per Fromm, man himself is both the norm giver and the subject of the norms, their formal source or regulative agency and their subject matter. So, unlike authoritarian ethics, this one doesnt deny mans capacity to know what is good or bad. He is not in awe of the authority. Maybe it is this imperialist, authoritarian commonality between Islamist and communist worldviews that explains why they invariably partner with each other against common enemies, but when any of the two come to power, the first thing they do is to put the other to the sword. Remember Iran post Islamic Revolution in 1979! This Leftist-Islamist camaraderie is currently being witnessed in the West amid the Gaza warfare. The cases of anti-Semitism are fast rising, and Jewish students are being harassed on American campuses. Ironically, even the terms that were used by terrorists have liberal takers. For instance, in the recent rallies in the West, from Beirut and Tunis to London and Rome, the calls for a ceasefire interspersed with the slogan: From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. Now this is the slogan Osama used in his 2002 letter. It seems Osama has found a new voiceand respectabilityin the liberal West. It is these Leftist-Islamist Trojan Horses in the West that make the war against terrorism a never-ending battle with a clear and categorical edge for the jihadi elements. As Umberto Eco writes in Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars and Media Populism, in this era, the enemy not only lives in your own country but also has the right to national health insurance. This makes the case for a war based so much on the principles of maximum happiness and minimum sacrifice; Eco calls it neo-war as he elaborates how during World War II, even the highly liberal Americans, albeit most humanely, put all their Italian and Japanese residents into concentration camps, even those born in the United States. What further makes the war difficult is the fact the Islamist/jihadi elements know fully well not just the liberal nature of modern warfare, but also democratic system of governance. Just as one Brussels-based Islamic scholar told author Pallavi Aiyar, as she mentions in the book Punjabi Parmesan: Dispatches from a Europe in Crisis, how Europeans have become victims of their own laws. The Islamic scholar was talking about Europes dangerously changing demographic profile. Similarly, knowing fully well how the rest of the world has slowly moved to the neo-war phase, the Islamists, still employing the old state of all-out warfare, often put women and children in front of their adversaries. They hide behind them with bombs, bullets and stones. In all this, they find an able ally in the Left-liberal media and intelligentsia, strategically stationed to shoot the first civilian casualty of the lopsided warfare. The die is cast even before the first bullet is fired. The fight is not against Israeli atrocities or highhandedness but against the very existence of Israel. The real battle is against the humanistic, democratic world order by those pursuing authoritarian ethics of both Godless and God-fearing ideologies. Today its Israel. Tomorrow, the battle lines will be drawn against the US and India. Sadly, a section of the media and the intelligentsia in the West and India would continue to talk in the enemys language. Till then the Islamist Osama bin Laden would continue to resurrect himself as a hero in the democratic West. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The World Intellectual Property Organizations latest (2022) statistical country profile for India shows patent applications have shot up, from 22,476 in 2014 to 56,396 in 2022. Thats quite a sharp increase and applications by residents have especially shot up. In terms of patent applications, India now has a global rank of seventh. These are of course applications, not grants. (30,490 patents were granted in 2022.) It is fair to say Indias patent culture is changing and thats mirrored, to a lesser degree, in numbers for trademarks and industrial designs. (Because of definitional problems, WIPO data dont exactly match numbers from the Indian patent office, but differences are marginal.) There are different ways to gauge Indias performance on Intellectual Property Rights. Normalisation by population doesnt make sense. But one can look at the absolute number of patents. Indian metrics have improved, but compared to the US, China, Japan and Korea, there is a long way to go. Chinas numbers are of course influenced by utility patents, which require a weaker test than for patents, and it is best for India not to tread that route, as it hasnt so far. There are obvious problems that constrain development of the ecosystem, such as excessive time taken to examine applications, to which, a relative human resource shortage contributes. Incidentally, there is a fast track system for women applicants, a fact some people are unaware of. There are different types of IPRs copyright and neighbouring rights, trademarks, patents, industrial designs, geographical indications, plant varieties and integrated circuits. Plus, undisclosed information will be protected in some form. While duration and nature of protection will differ from one type of IPR to another, post-WTO, principles have been unified. However, historically, international agreements on literary and artistic works and industrial property have developed through two distinct channels Berne Convention (1886) for the former and Paris Convention (1883) for the latter. I suspect we still have ambivalence between these two forms. All IPR protection confers limited monopoly, to encourage creativity and innovation. Like the apocryphal story of Columbus and the egg, once an act of creativity has materialised, it is easy to mimic it. Many of us probably think IPR protection for literary and artistic works is immoral, though we accept it for industrial property. After all, industry is supposed to be about commercialisation and money. Intellectual work is delinked from Mammon. Witness the alacrity with which we will watch a pirated film, or buy a pirated book. Though price is a determining factor, we are less likely to do that with a fake brand. There are many biographies of Jagadish Chandra Bose. A couple (Kunal Ghosh and Meher Wan) have been published recently. But one of the best is the fairly old one by Patrick Geddes. All these books tell us something most of us know. The 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics was jointly awarded to Guglielmo Marconi and Karl Ferdinand Braun in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy. Jagadish Chandra Boses experiments in Presidency College (Kolkata) led him to invent a specific coherer (others invented other types of coherers), a critical component for wireless telegraphy. Jagadish Chandra Bose didnt quite invent the radio, but almost did. He refused to take out a patent on the coherer and indeed, openly demonstrated its construction and use. Everyone was free to adopt, adapt and use it, even if it was for purposes of filthy lucre. To quote Eddes, Jagadish Chandra Bose thought it was against his character and conviction to obtain personal advantage from his inventions. I suspect biographers need to do their research better, since Jagadish Chandra Bose did get a US patent in 1904 for a galena semiconductor crystal detector for microwaves. WIPOs statistical profile tells us 5.3 per cent of Indias patent applications were from universities. Universities are meant to teach and undertake research. What form does research output take? Seminars/conferences (like Bose at the Royal Society) and publications. When one applies for IPR protection, one places the creative work and innovation in the public domain, so that others can carry forward the frontiers of human knowledge. In return, one is granted that limited monopoly. However, in seminars/conferences and publications, one does that without applying for IPR protection. The nature of an academic paper in a journal is that it is placed in the public domain, by default. That tension between the Berne and Paris channels continues. What are incentive structures for universities and research institutions, for entry and vertical movement upwards? They are publications and citations. In traditional academia, I know of no place where patenting is a criterion for either entry or vertical mobility. If one looks at break-ups of applications for patents, trademarks and designs, other than the corporate sector, one will find CSIR. Perhaps CSIR has changed its incentive structure. IPR performance feeds into rankings like Global Innovation Index. There is no denying Research and Development is important, though someone should clearly separate Research from Development. While this can and should happen through the private sector, there are question marks about whether the ecosystem facilitates it in academia, much of which are public. The author is the chairman of the Prime Ministers Economic Council and a well-known Sanskrit scholar. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday guaranteed people of Rajasthan that if BJP is voted to power in the state, prices of petrol and diesel will be reviewed to provide relief to the poor and middle class people. In the neighbouring states of Rajasthan, there is a BJP government. There, petrol is Rs 97 per litre, but the Congress government in Rajasthan sells petrol at higher prices, PM Modi said, while addressing an election rally in Rajasthans Pali. I give a guarantee that after the BJP government is formed, the prices of petrol and diesel will be reviewed This will give relief to the poor and middle-class people, the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister said "...Wherever there is the double-engine government of BJP, every scheme of the central government is implemented on the ground faster, or the state governments of the BJP add something to it." "Wherever there is a BJP government, along with Rs 6,000 from PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, BJP state governments give Rs 6,000 additionally from their side... Rajasthan BJP leaders too have resolved that after the BJP government is formed, farmers will get Rs 6,000 additionally," he added. #WATCH | PM Modi addressing an election rally in Rajasthan's Pali says, "...Wherever there is the double-engine government of BJP, every scheme of the central government is implemented on the ground faster, or the state governments of the BJP add something to it... Wherever there pic.twitter.com/WdiBqBIKpD ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 Congress, allies have anti-women mindset During the rally, PM Modi slammed I.N.D.I alliance, headed by Congress, and attacked Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar for his "vulgar, derogatory, and double-meaning remarks in the state Assembly earlier this month. "Congress and its allies have an anti-women mindset," the Prime Minister said. Nitish Kumar had given a graphic description in Bihar Assembly of how an "educated" married woman could get her husband to adopt a particular method of contraception. When an educated girl gets married, she can help in population control by telling her husband how to go safe and this has actually helped in population control, Kumar had said. "The husbands acts led to more births. However, with education, a woman knows how to restrain him... this is the reason the numbers (of births) are coming down, the Bihar CM had said. I.N.D.I.A wants to eradicate 'Sanatan' Prime Minister Modi said Congress and the 'Ghamandia' alliance want to eradicate 'Sanatan' which thereby means that they want to "eradicate the culture of Rajasthan". "The entire country has seen what Congress and the 'Ghamandia' alliance have said about 'Sanatan'. They want to eradicate 'Sanatan'. Eradicating 'Sanatan' means eradicating the culture of Rajasthan." PM Modi said. VIDEO | "The entire country has seen what Congress and the 'Ghamandia' alliance have said about 'Sanatan'. They want to eradicate 'Sanatan'. Eradicating 'Sanatan' means eradicating the culture of Rajasthan," says PM @narendramodi in Pali, Rajasthan. (Full video available on PTI pic.twitter.com/OSmd5plTYq Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 Congress can't think anything except appeasement The Prime Minister told the people of Rajasthan that Congress, which is power in the state, has always turned a blind eye to incidents of atrocities against Dalits. "Dynastic politics is everything for Congress, they can't think of anything except appeasement," the PM said. "Today, we are working hard to become a developed nation. For this, a government which gives priority to development is needed in Rajasthan. Nothing is more important than corruption and familial politics for Congress. This party doesn't think of anything other than appeasement politics," PM Modi said. #WATCH | PM Modi addressing an election rally in Rajasthan's Pali says "Today, we are working hard to become a developed nation. For this, a government which gives priority to development is needed in Rajasthan. Nothing is more important than corruption and familial politics for pic.twitter.com/kCxVcPCc2b ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 "Congress has made Rajasthan number one in crimes against women. The Chief Minister (Ashok Gehlot) says that the complaints filed by the women are fake. Can it ever happen that a woman in our country files a fake case? The CM should say that a probe is underway, and not that the cases filed are fake. Isn't this an insult to women?" the Prime Minister said. #WATCH | In Pali, PM Modi says, "Congress has made Rajasthan number one in crimes against women. The CM says that the complaints filed by the women are fake. Can it ever happen that a woman in our country files a fake case? The CM should say that a probe is underway, and not that pic.twitter.com/ni3VZLsANM ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 Assembly election in Rajasthan will be held on 25 November. Counting of votes and result will take place on 3 December. With inputs from agencies Tesla shareholders have expressed strong condemnation for CEO Elon Musks most recent controversial behaviour on his social media platform, X, and other media outlets. The backlash emerged on Thursday after Musk endorsed a tweet that claimed Jewish communities promote hatred against whites, asserting that the tweet represented the actual truth. This prompted widespread criticism from both investors and tech leaders with allegations that Elon Musk was being antisemitic, According to a Bloomberg report on Friday, Apple stops X ads, Tesla investors call for Elon Musks suspension after Elon Musk was accused of engaging in antisemitic behaviour because of his statements on an X post Jerry Braakman, Chief Investment Officer at First American Trust, a holder of approximately 16,000 Tesla shares as of September 30, stated, Theres no excuse for the spreading of hatred by any CEO of any publicly traded company. Teslas board should place him on leave for a month or two. Apple also took action against Musks tweets by temporarily pausing advertisements on X, as reported by Axios on Friday. Furthermore, Lionsgate and IBM joined the ad pause movement, with the latter taking action after its ads appeared alongside Nazi content on the platform. Facebook Cofounder Dustin Moskovitz went a step further, publicly calling for Elon Musk to resign from all his companies in a post on Threads on Wednesday. Despite the widespread condemnation, few investors seem to be divesting from the electric car company. Teslas stock saw a rise of approximately 10% throughout the week, despite a slight dip on Thursday. Kristin Hull, founder and CEO of Nia Impact Capital, a social-impact fund that owned $282,000 of Tesla stock in 2023, expressed being appalled by Musks endorsement of antisemitism. Hull raised concerns about the lack of serious punitive action from Teslas board and suggested that an appropriate response would include censure by the Board, demotion, re-assignment, suspension, or removal. Prominent Tesla investor Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, which owned 400,000 shares of Tesla at the end of September, voiced his outrage on CNBC Thursday night. He declared, Its absolutely outrageous, his behaviour and the damage hes done to the brand. Gerber announced his intention to replace his Tesla with a Rivian electric vehicle next year, expressing his dissatisfaction with Musks actions. The controversy surrounding Musks social media posts has even reached the White House, which, on Friday, condemned Musk for promoting antisemitic and racist hate. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates pointed out the timing of Musks behaviour, coming just one month after the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust, referring to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. It seems that the end of OpenAI as we know it is upon us. Sam Altman the former CEO and one of the most prolific members of the studio that gave us ChatGPT will not be returning as the conversation around his reinstatement has fallen through. As per a report by The Information, sources close to Altman have revealed that he will not be returning as OpenAIs CEO after both of the conditions he set for his return were rejected. Following a weekend of deliberations with the board of directors responsible for his dismissal on Friday, and discussions with the remaining leadership and principal investors, Altman has decided not to resume his role at the startup he co-founded in 2015, the report quotes a source as saying. A new CEO Shear was one of the co-founders of the popular video game streaming site Twitch.Until March 2023, Emmett Shear served as the chief executive officer of Twitch and currently holds a part-time partnership role at the venture capital firm Y Combinator. It is noteworthy that Y Combinator stands as one of the prominent investors in OpenAI, following Microsofts significant investment. Shear proved Vital for Twitch during its initial days in sourcing funding for the streaming platform and onboarding various creators as Twitch exclusive streamers, an act that helped Twitch solidify its position as the preferred game streaming platform. Microsoft eyes seat at the table The sudden ouster of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the removal of Greg Brockman from its 4-member board has forced OpenAI to revamp its board of directors. This gives Microsoft the perfect opportunity to execute a move that would ensure that it gets a seat at the table. Although Microsoft was considering putting itself on the board, if Altman was reinstated, there is a good chance that they still might fight for a seat on the board of directors. As per The Informationm two individuals familiar with the discussions revealed that Microsoft earlier wanted to secure a position on OpenAIs board of directors and assume the role of a board observer without voting authority. Now, they may go for a proper seat, with voting powers. Competition starts poaching OpenAI staff Now that it has been finally decided not to return to OpenAI, several key personnel and engineers are all set to leave OpenAI and either follow Altman to his new venture, or join rival firms. Three senior researchers at OpenAI tendered their resignations in the wake of the termination of CEO Sam Altman and the abrupt resignation of President Greg Brockman. This development marked a consequential aftermath for the artificial intelligence developer, according to individuals familiar with the situation. The three researchers who resigned are Jakub Pachocki, who served as the companys director of research; Aleksander Madry, responsible for leading a team focused on assessing potential risks associated with AI; and Szymon Sidor, a seasoned researcher with a seven-year tenure at the startup. Their decisions to resign were communicated to associates, as reported by sources. Competitors such as Cohere and Adept have initiated new recruitment efforts targeting OpenAI employees. Concurrently, Googles DeepMind has experienced an increase in the submission of resumes from individuals who were previously affiliated with OpenAI. EQS-Ad-hoc: audius SE / Key word(s): 9 Month figures audius SE: audius increases total opeRating performance by 8% after 9 months - order backlog continues to grow - total operating performance in 2023 expected to be slightly below plan 20-Nov-2023 / 15:23 CET/CEST Disclosure of an inside information acc. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Total operating performance after 9 months increases by 8% to EUR 58.3 million (previous year EUR 54.0 million) EBITDA of EUR 6.2 million at previous year's level (previous year: EUR 6.3 million) Total operating performance in 2023 expected to fall slightly short of the target figure of 80 million According to unaudited figures, total operating performance increased by 8.0% to EUR 58.3 million in the first nine months (total operating performance 9 months 2022: EUR 54.0 million). Total operating performance in the third quarter amounted to EUR 19.7 million (total operating performance in the third quarter of 2022: EUR 18.5 million). Despite good growth, audius was unable to fully meet its targets in the third quarter. This was due to an unfamiliar and unusually high number of sick days in the reporting period. At the same time, there were one-time delays in the awarding of contracts in the mobile communications sector due to a partial reorganization of market participants. At EUR 6.2 million, the operating result EBITDA was roughly on a par with the same period of the previous year and therefore did not grow in line with total operating performance (EBITDA 9 months 2022: EUR 6.3 million). The EBITDA margin in the reporting period was 10.6% and therefore still within the target corridor. EBITDA for the third quarter was EUR 1.8 million. EBIT amounted to EUR 4.8 million (EBIT 9 months 2022: EUR 5.0 million). The reason for the slight decline in the margin was the lack of sales described above, while at the same time the cost of materials and personnel costs increased slightly faster than total operating performance. This was due to general wage increases and investments in the new business area "Mobile Device Management". In contrast to the rise in personnel costs, audius managed to increase other operating expenses at a lower rate than total operating performance. Order backlog as at September 30, 2023 increased again to around EUR 55.7 million (September 30, 2022: EUR 45.6 million), providing a very good basis for continuing the growth path in the future. audius will not be able to fully make up for the slightly lower than planned total operating performance in the remainder of the year. As a result, the company now expects total operating performance for the year as a whole to fall slightly short of the planned figure of EUR 80 million. The company remains confident that the EBITDA figure of EUR 8 million will be achieved. In the case of the aforementioned lack of revenue due to the unusually high number of sick days and the delays in the awarding of contracts in the mobile communications sector, audius expects a return to normality in the future. At the same time, the investments made in 2023 in the new Mobile Device Management division will have a positive impact on revenue from 2024 and, like the other divisions, will ensure organic growth. audius therefore expects further growth and the usual profitability in the coming year despite the overall economic conditions. About audius Founded in 1991, audius SE is an ITC company that operates worldwide. From network technology to specific software applications, the group of companies offers the right solutions for public-sector clients, medium-sized companies and internationally active corporations. In supporting several hundred thousand IT workstations in the DACH region, the more than 600 employees at over 20 locations - 15 of which are in Germany - focus on the use of future-oriented technologies and best practices. Another business unit deals with network infrastructures, in particular the establishment and expansion of the 5G network. The Group's customers include global corporations as well as medium-sized enterprises. The strategic goal is to grow both organically and through acquisitions. The shares of audius SE are listed on the Basic Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in the m:access segment for medium-sized companies of the Munich Stock Exchange. For further information please contact audius SE Investor Relations t.: +49 7151 369 00 359 ir@audius.de https://www.audius.de/en Weinstadt, 20.11.2023. The audius Group continued its growth path in the third quarter and increased its total operating performance to EUR 58.3 million, mainly organically.According to unaudited figures, total operating performance increased by 8.0% to EUR 58.3 million in the first nine months (total operating performance 9 months 2022: EUR 54.0 million). Total operating performance in the third quarter amounted to EUR 19.7 million (total operating performance in the third quarter of 2022: EUR 18.5 million). Despite good growth, audius was unable to fully meet its targets in the third quarter. This was due to an unfamiliar and unusually high number of sick days in the reporting period. At the same time, there were one-time delays in the awarding of contracts in the mobile communications sector due to a partial reorganization of market participants.At EUR 6.2 million, the operating result EBITDA was roughly on a par with the same period of the previous year and therefore did not grow in line with total operating performance (EBITDA 9 months 2022: EUR 6.3 million). The EBITDA margin in the reporting period was 10.6% and therefore still within the target corridor. EBITDA for the third quarter was EUR 1.8 million.EBIT amounted to EUR 4.8 million (EBIT 9 months 2022: EUR 5.0 million). The reason for the slight decline in the margin was the lack of sales described above, while at the same time the cost of materials and personnel costs increased slightly faster than total operating performance. This was due to general wage increases and investments in the new business area "Mobile Device Management". In contrast to the rise in personnel costs, audius managed to increase other operating expenses at a lower rate than total operating performance.Order backlog as at September 30, 2023 increased again to around EUR 55.7 million (September 30, 2022: EUR 45.6 million), providing a very good basis for continuing the growth path in the future.audius will not be able to fully make up for the slightly lower than planned total operating performance in the remainder of the year. As a result, the company now expects total operating performance for the year as a whole to fall slightly short of the planned figure of EUR 80 million. The company remains confident that the EBITDA figure of EUR 8 million will be achieved.In the case of the aforementioned lack of revenue due to the unusually high number of sick days and the delays in the awarding of contracts in the mobile communications sector, audius expects a return to normality in the future. At the same time, the investments made in 2023 in the new Mobile Device Management division will have a positive impact on revenue from 2024 and, like the other divisions, will ensure organic growth. audius therefore expects further growth and the usual profitability in the coming year despite the overall economic conditions.Founded in 1991, audius SE is an ITC company that operates worldwide. From network technology to specific software applications, the group of companies offers the right solutions for public-sector clients, medium-sized companies and internationally active corporations. In supporting several hundred thousand IT workstations in the DACH region, the more than 600 employees at over 20 locations - 15 of which are in Germany - focus on the use of future-oriented technologies and best practices. Another business unit deals with network infrastructures, in particular the establishment and expansion of the 5G network. The Group's customers include global corporations as well as medium-sized enterprises. The strategic goal is to grow both organically and through acquisitions. The shares of audius SE are listed on the Basic Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in the m:access segment for medium-sized companies of the Munich Stock Exchange.For further information please contactaudius SEInvestor Relationst.: +49 7151 369 00 359 End of Inside Information 20-Nov-2023 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.eqs-news.com This story was based on incorrect information and has been removed. We apologise for the error. In a recent investigative report, Forbes revealed that Social Links, a Russian spyware company previously banned from Metas platforms for alleged surveillance activities, has co-opted ChatGPT for spying on people using the internet. This unsettling revelation of ChatGPT which involves collecting and analyzing social media data to gauge users sentiments, adds yet another controversial dimension to ChatGPTs use cases. Presenting its unconventional utilization of ChatGPT at a security conference in Paris, Social Links showcased the chatbots proficiency in text summarization and analysis. By feeding data, obtained through its proprietary tool, related to online discussions about a recent controversy in Spain, the company demonstrated how ChatGPT could quickly process and categorize sentiments as positive, negative, or neutral. The results were then presented using an interactive graph. Privacy advocates, however, find this development deeply troubling. Beyond the immediate concerns raised by this specific case, there is a broader worry about the potential for AI to amplify the capabilities of the surveillance industry. Rory Mir, Associate Director of Community Organizing at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, expressed apprehension that AI could enable law enforcement to expand surveillance efforts, allowing smaller teams to monitor larger groups more efficiently. Mir highlighted the existing practice of police agencies using fake profiles to infiltrate online communities, causing a chilling effect on online speech. With the integration of AI, Mir warned that tools like ChatGPT could facilitate quicker analysis of data collected during undercover operations, effectively enabling and escalating online surveillance. A significant drawback noted by Mir is the track record of chatbots delivering inaccurate results. In high-stakes scenarios like law enforcement operations, relying on AI becomes precarious. Mir emphasized that when AI influences critical decisions such as job applications or police attention, biases inherent in the training dataoften sourced from platforms like Reddit and 4chanbecome not just factors to consider but reasons to reconsider the use of AI in such contexts. The opaque nature of AI training data, referred to as the black box, adds another layer of concern. Mir pointed out that biases from the underlying data, originating from platforms notorious for diverse and often extreme opinions, may manifest in the outputs of the algorithm, making its responses potentially untrustworthy. The evolving landscape of AI applications in surveillance raises important questions about ethics, biases, and the potential impact on individual freedoms and privacy. (With input from agencies) Former OpenAI CEO is set to join Microsoft following his ouster from the AI company, announced Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, in a post on X. Following the surprising termination of Altman from OpenAI, the AI studios board and investors, including Nadella tried to reinstate Altman as CEO and Greg Brockman as President and member of the board. However, talks around the reinstatement fell apart for a variety of reasons. This happened, despite the fact that Nadella and Microsoft, one of OpenAIs biggest backers tried to play kingmaker. OpenAIs co-founder Ilya Sutskever who played a role in Altmans dismissal told staff that Altman will not be returning as CEO. Rather, Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch will join them as interim CEO. Nadella took to X and announced that Microsoft as a company looks forward to getting to know Shear and OpenAIs new leadership. He wrote, We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAIs new leadership team and working with them. Nadella also announced that Sam Altman will be joining Microsoft along with Brockman and several other people from OpenAI. At Microsoft, Altman will lead a new AI research team. Shear was one of the co-founders of the popular video game streaming site Twitch.Until March 2023, Emmett Shear served as the chief executive officer of Twitch and currently holds a part-time partnership role at the venture capital firm Y Combinator. It is noteworthy that Y Combinator stands as one of the prominent investors in OpenAI, following Microsofts significant investment. Shear proved Vital for Twitch during its initial days in sourcing funding for the streaming platform and onboarding various creators as Twitch exclusive streamers, an act that helped Twitch solidify its position as the preferred game streaming platform. The sudden ouster of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the removal of Greg Brockman from its 4-member board has forced OpenAI to revamp its board of directors. This gives Microsoft the perfect opportunity to execute a move that would ensure that it gets a seat at the table. Although Microsoft was considering putting itself on the board, if Altman was reinstated, there is a good chance that they still might fight for a seat on the board of directors. As per The Informationm two individuals familiar with the discussions revealed that Microsoft earlier wanted to secure a position on OpenAIs board of directors and assume the role of a board observer without voting authority. Now, they may go for a proper seat, with voting powers. In the lead-up to his unexpected departure from OpenAI, Sam Altman was actively engaged in securing billions in funding from major global investors for a new chip venture, sources familiar with the matter revealed. Altman was more than the CEO of OpenAI. He was in fact, the face of generative AI as a whole, and was instrumental in raising funds for OpenAI. With the ouster of Altman, OpenAI has lost one of its biggest cash cows. Altman had undertaken multiple trips to West Asia to raise funds for the project, codenamed Tigris. The visionary plan involved establishing an AI-focused chip company capable of manufacturing semiconductors to compete with NVIDIA, the current market leader in artificial intelligence tasks. The chip venture is still in its nascent stages, with ongoing private discussions between Altman and potential investors who preferred not to be identified. Simultaneously, Altman sought financial support for an AI-focused hardware device developed in collaboration with former Apple design chief Jony Ive. Discussions regarding these ventures reportedly took place with notable entities such as SoftBank Group, Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund, and Mubadala Investment Company, aiming to secure tens of billions of dollars for the new companies. Details surrounding the scale and focus of Altmans chip aspirations, as well as the projects codename, have not been previously disclosed. Altmans fundraising activities coincided with a crucial period for OpenAI, which was in the process of finalizing a tender offer, led by Thrive Capital, allowing employees to sell their shares at an $86 billion valuation. Altman encouraged investors to consider his new ventures during this interim period, according to sources. OpenAI announced Altmans ouster, citing an internal review that found he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board. Differences in opinion regarding AI safety, technology development speed, and company commercialization exacerbated the strained relationship between Altman and the board. Despite pressure from investors to reinstate Altman, OpenAIs board faces several challenges. Now that Altman has refused to return to OpenAI, top talent from the firm are set to leave. This includes not just top-ranked researchers, but some of the brightest AI engineers in the field. Altmans proposal on behalf of OpenAI involved launching a startup focused on building Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), semiconductors designed for high-volume specialized AI workloads. The aim is to provide cost-effective competition to NVIDIA, potentially reducing OpenAIs operational costs for services like ChatGPT and Dall-E, Now that he is out of OpenAI, he is free to set up his own TPU building venture and work with all other AI development studios, or, set up his own AI venture and compete against OpenAI and others. Raising funds from overseas investors could trigger concerns from US regulators, although the nature of passive investments below 10 per cent ownership might mitigate scrutiny, according to Philip Ludvigson, a former US Treasury Department official, now a lawyer at King & Spalding. Several prominent venture firms, including existing OpenAI investors, are reportedly ready to support any new venture Altman pursues. Microsoft, OpenAIs largest investor, is also said to express interest in backing Altmans chip venture. Health officials in Gaza reported that over 250 patients with seriously infected wounds and other urgent conditions remained stranded days after Israeli forces entered the compound to search for Hamas operations. Of these, 31 premature babies in extremely critical condition were safely transferred Sunday from Gazas main hospital and will go to Egypt. The babies predicament and Israels accusations against Shifa Hospital have grown to be powerful symbols in the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas. Palestinian civilian casualties have increased as a result of an Israeli offensive, and Israel has charged Hamas with using Shifa and other hospitals as military bases. A World Health Organization team that visited Shifa said most of the remaining patients had amputations, burns or other trauma. Plans were being made to evacuate them in the coming days. Later Sunday, Israels army said it had strong evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintains a sprawling command post inside and under Shifa. Israel has portrayed the hospital as a key target in its war to end Hamas rule in Gaza following the militant groups into southern Israel six weeks ago. The army said it found a 55-meter (60-yard) tunnel about 10 meters (33 feet) under the hospitals 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. It said the tunnel included a staircase and a firing hole that could be used by snipers, and ended at a blast-proof door that troops have not yet opened. The Associated Press couldnt independently verify Israels findings, which included security camera video showing what the military said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, taken to the hospital following the Oct. 7 attack. The army also said an independent medical report had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been killed by Hamas in the hospital. Marciano had been injured in an Israeli strike Nov. 9 that killed her captor, according to Israels intelligence assessment. The injuries were not life-threatening but she was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa, the army said. Hamas and hospital staff have denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Critics describe the hospital as a symbol of what they call Israels reckless endangerment of civilians. Thousands have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, which is severely short of food, water, medicine and fuel. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the Israeli militarys announcement and didnt deny that Gaza has hundreds of kilometers of tunnels. However, he said, the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel. HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza and shattered Israels sense of security. The military says 63 Israeli soldiers have been killed, including 12 over the past 24 hours. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. We are hopeful that we can get a significant number of hostages freed in the coming days, Israels ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, told ABCs This Week. Qatars prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the sticking points were more practical, logistical. Israels three-member war cabinet is to meet with representatives of the hostages families on Monday evening. HEAVY FIGHTING IN THE NORTH Heavy clashes were reported in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. There was the constant sound of gunfire and tank shelling, Yassin Sharif, who is sheltering in a U.N.-run hospital there, said by phone. The commissioner-general of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said 24 people were killed the day before in what witnesses described as an Israeli airstrike on a U.N.-run school in Jabaliya. The Israeli military, which has repeatedly called on Palestinians to leave northern Gaza, said only that its troops were active in the area with the aim of hitting terrorists. This war is having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties. This must stop, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement on that strike and another on a U.N.-run school within 24 hours. More than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried in rubble. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants; Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. Attacks by Israeli forces and settlers have killed 215 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began, according to Palestinian health officials. COLDER WEATHER ADDS TO MISERY More than two-thirds of Gazas population of 2.3 million have fled their homes. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, is struggling to provide basic services to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Seventeen of its facilities have been directly hit, the agency said. Their misery has worsened in recent days because of cold winds and driving rain. Over the weekend, Israel allowed UNRWA to import enough fuel to continue humanitarian operations for another couple of days, and to keep internet and telephone systems running. Israel cut off all fuel imports at the start of the war, causing Gazas sole power plant and most water treatment systems to shut down. Israel has repeatedly struck what it says are militant targets across the south, often killing civilians. The evacuation zone is already crowded with displaced civilians, and it was not clear where they would go if the offensive moved closer. Egypt has refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees, in part because of fears that Israel would not allow them to return. But some patients and foreign nationals reportedly got through. Turkeys Health Ministry said it evacuated 110 people including patients and their relatives from an unspecified part of Gaza to Egypt. Another 87 people who were from Turkey or breakaway northern Cyprus entered Egypt from Gaza late Sunday, Turkish officials said, with the groups to be flown Monday to Turkey. Palestinian-Canadian Khalil Manaa, 71, left Gaza for Egypt on Sunday. After fleeing to southern Gaza, he said he and relatives shared a home crammed with 40 people. And there, we also were subjected to intense strikes. A rocket hit our house, he said. (with inputs from The Associated Press) Federal police have opened an investigation against Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, for allegedly harassing a humpback whale while riding his jet ski in public on a holiday. During his four years in office, Bolsonaros anti-environmental policies earned him the moniker Captain Chainsaw due to the massive destruction of the Amazon. However, it has been reported that the far-right former president committed a suspected environmental offense in the waters off the southeast coast of Brazil, close to the town of Sao Sebastiao. A man who appeared to be Bolsonaro was filmed in June standing approximately 15 meters away from a surfaced humpback whale in that same location. According to the news website iG, the man, thought to be Bolsonaro, was filming a video with a mobile phone as the whale performed aerial behaviours suggesting distress or discomfort. Brazilian law prohibits the deliberate harassment of any species of cetacean, including humpback whales, known there as baleias jubarte, and dolphins. The environmental agency Ibama enforces regulations that state that engines-running vessels are not allowed to approach these animals closer than 100 meters. Additionally, it is against the law for seafarers to make excessive noise such as music, any kind of percussion or other [sounds] within 300 meters of any cetacean or to pursue or encroach on dolphin or whale pods. Bolsonaro is being investigated for a number of possible crimes, including stealing pricey jewels, fabricating Covid vaccination records, and organizing a coup against his left-wing successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, one year after he was ousted from office. There are those who think the politician, who is prohibited from running for office until 2030, might wind up behind bars. The former president rejected the humpback whale investigation on Saturday, citing it as just another instance of environmentalists and politicians in Brazil persecuting their political targets. They accuse me of mischief every single day. Bolsonaro teased supporters, saying, Yesterday it was hounding whales, before criticizing Flavio Dino, Brazils minister of justice, drawing comparisons between him and a whale. On social media, Bolsonaro fans ridiculed the aquatic accusations. One person said the humpback must have been a fan of the former president who stopped him to ask for a selfie. In an attempt to bolster its credentials as a global peacemaker, China is hosting top diplomats primarily from West Asian nations for in-depth talks on ways to de-escalate the Israel-Hamas conflict. Among the diplomats visiting Beijing on Monday and Tuesday are representatives from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority, as stated by Chinas Foreign Ministry. Notably, Iran is not represented at these talks, according to the provided attendee list. The agenda for the discussions includes topics such as the protection of civilians and the pursuit of a just settlement of the Palestinian question, according to the official statement. China has been actively positioning itself as a peacemaker in the Middle East, with recent efforts including brokering a detente between Iran and Saudi Arabia in March and hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in June, just months before the Hamas-Israel conflict erupted. Subsequently, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed an international peace conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during the June visit of the Palestinian President. Despite recent efforts, including a peace summit in Egypt attended by Zhai Jun, Beijings special envoy to the Middle East, China has refrained from explicitly condemning or naming the Palestinian militant group Hamas in its statements. While experts are sceptical about the likelihood of tangible peace-making outcomes, many see Chinas diplomatic mission as an opportunity to enhance its global standing and influence, particularly in the context of increasing strategic competition with the United States. Beijing aims to strengthen its position as a supporter of the Arab world and the Global South, aligning with those sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and dissatisfied with the American-led world order. Over two-thirds of Gazas 2.3 million population have fled their homes, posing a significant challenge for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in delivering basic services to the hundreds of thousands of displaced individuals. On the Israeli side, approximately 1,200 people, mainly civilians lost their lives during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas brought back around 240 captives into Gaza, leading to a profound impact on Israels sense of security. The military confirms 63 Israeli soldiers killed, including 12 in the past 24 hours. As part of negotiations facilitated by the United States, Israel, and Qatar, which acts as an intermediary with Hamas, four hostages were released by Hamas, one was rescued by Israel, and the bodies of two were discovered near Shifa. Talks on a hostage release have been ongoing for weeks. One prominent Chinese social media propagandist has recommended that China should build special barges or convert civilian cargo vessels to carry only artillery and rapid-firing anti-air close-in warfare systems (CIWS). According to the propaganda, this would allow the Chinese military to launch a heavy artillery barrage on targets in Taiwan and provide cover from anti-ship missiles that fly quickly, particularly when fired in a volley. China has a vast conventional advantage over Taiwan in terms of population, technology, and defence industry. However, given the regular supply of Western weapons to Taipei and the inherent risk and difficulty of operations such as an amphibious landing, certain jobs during a military intervention on the island are likely to become more difficult. Thus, by repurposing non-military networks for specialised war tasks, the Chinese propaganda bureau officials proposed on social media what she described as an easy, cheap, and uncomplicated option. China and the Russia-Ukraine war both used variations of this strategy. Commercially accessible off-the-shelf UAVs have been successfully adapted by Russia and Ukraine for basic military duties including artillery fire correction and observation. The practise of equipping heavy-duty, tiny drones with bombs and warheads so they can be used as kamikaze drones, carrying weapons and crashing into Russian targets is a Ukrainian invention. In the event of a conflict, China has the option of using civilian roll-on/roll-over (RoRo) ferries to move troops, tanks, trucks, and armoured fighting vehicles across the Taiwan Strait. Whether or not China has all of the Type 075 Landing Helicopter Docks (LHD) available to maximise its hauling potential across the straits, the RoRo fleet will be employed. Thus, this line of reasoning leads to the proposal to repurpose cargo ships as naval artillery and close-quarters short-range gun-based air defence. Peoples Armed Police Propaganda Bureau (PAP) member Zhao DaShuai from China wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that placing onto ships will be a game changer for a Taiwan contingency and make amphibious landing much easier. After crossing the 150-kilometer-long Taiwan Strait, the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) must conduct deep saturation salvos below the shore defences before landing troops on Taiwans beaches. On average, the Taiwan Strait is 150 kilometres wide. Chinas 300-mm PHL-03 artillery tube rockets have a range of only slightly over 150 kilometres, which prevents them from hitting Taiwans land objectives. Only great for clearing the landing zone could describe this. The 370-mm BRE6 guided rocket, which has a range of more than 300 km and can even reach Taiwans eastern beaches by flying over the island and being fired from the mainland, is compatible with the more recent modular PHL-16 rocket artillery. However, they are rather expensive and have a poor cost-benefit ratio. Therefore, the only option is to stockpile older 122-mm unguided rockets, which can be converted to guided munitions with the addition of a guidance kit. By mounting 122-mm rocket artillery on ships, landing forces will have access to precise fire support in large volumes. They could be exposed, though, as Taiwan could sink them without any further air defence against anti-ship missiles. In order to protect autonomous barges against airborne attacks, Zhao proposes forming a defensive wall of lead by equipping them with multiple CIWS. Zhao is referring to the 30-mm rotary Type 730 Gatling gun with seven barrels that is used by the PLAN on a number of its front-line destroyers, including the Type 052C, Type 052D, and the most recent Type 055. A video demonstrating it on the back of a truck surfaced in September 2021, demonstrating how the Chinese have even modified it for usage on land. Dengue cases in Bangladesh have crossed the 300,000 mark this year, with the country logging 1,549 deaths by the viral disease, according to bdnews24.com news portal. The news portal, citing data from the Directorate General of Health Services, said Bangladeshs overall tally of dengue infections stood at 301,255 this year. On Sunday alone, 1,291 new cases of the viral fever were reported, added the portal. A total of 4,949 patients, including 1,127 in Dhaka, are receiving treatment at hospitals across the country. After August saw 71,976 cases and 342 deaths, a record 79,598 dengue cases and 396 deaths were recorded in September amid the worst outbreak of the disease, while 67,769 cases and 359 deaths were reported in October. The death toll in the first 19 days of November was 201, while 30,080 new dengue cases were recorded during this period. According to the portal, experts blamed a prolonged monsoon, rising temperatures and a lack of effective measures to kill the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the known carrier of the dengue virus, for the outbreak. It said an alarming surge of the Aedes aegypti mosquito was recorded in a government-funded pre-monsoon survey of Dhaka, fuelling the worst spread of the disease over the past five years. Last year, hospitals in Bangladesh reported 62,382 patients who took medical care for the disease, and the death toll stood at 281, the previous highest since the record-keeping began for dengue hospitalisations in the 1960s, the news portal said. Dengue can be controlled in many ways, including vector management and reducing the Aedes breeding sources, PTI quoted former chief entomologist at DHGS, Mohammad Khalilur Rahman, as saying. But the steps taken by authorities were not satisfactory, he was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper. With inputs from agencies As violence continued despite signs of a potential halt in hostilities, Israeli tanks surrounded a hospital in north Gaza, resulting in at least 12 Palestinian deaths and numerous injuries, according to health officials on Monday. Regarding the situation at the Indonesian Hospital, where health officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza claimed 700 patients and staff were being fired upon by Israeli forces, the Israeli military remained silent for the time being. The Beit Lahia complex, located in the northeastern Gaza town, was damaged by artillery fire, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. Health officials in Palestine reported that desperate attempts were being made to get civilians out of harms way. The hospitals staff refuted reports that any armed extremists were present. Israel accuses Hamas of waging war using human shields, including hospitals, and claims that its forces in Gaza are targeting terror infrastructurea claim the Islamist organisation disputes. The Indonesian Hospital was established in 2016 with assistance from Indonesian NGOs. Like all other medical institutions in the northern half of Gaza, it has largely suspended operations but is still providing shelter for patients, staff, and displaced people. Thousands of civilians are still in the north despite Israels orders for their complete evacuation, with many of them seeking safety in hospitals. Israels six-week-old siege has left the entire enclave running low on supplies of both fuel and medication. Witnesses reportedly described intense skirmishes between Israeli soldiers and Hamas gunmen attempting to penetrate into the 100,000-person Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza, which Israel claims is a major militant bastion. Numerous civilians have died as a result of Israels ongoing shelling of Jabalia, an urban extension of Gaza City that developed from a camp for Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Israeli-Arab war, according to Palestinian medics. Health officials reported that two Israeli airstrikes on residences in the town of Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, resulted in the deaths of at least 14 Palestinians. This occurred on the opposite end of the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Gazans who were forced to flee the enclaves north are taking refuge in Rafah and other southern locations. Without naming particular locations, the Israeli military claimed to have killed three Hamas company leaders and a squad of Palestinian fighters in a statement that included footage of airstrikes and forces going house to house in Gaza. The hostages kept in the Palestinian enclave and temporarily suspend hostilities to allow relief supplies to be delivered to affected residents was getting closer. On October 7, Hamas militants launched a devastating cross-border raid into Israel, taking over 240 hostages. This spurred Israel to invade the small province of Palestine in an attempt to eradicate the Islamist movement following multiple failed conflicts since 2007. According to Israeli counts, the Hamas assault claimed the lives of about 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians. It was the worst day in Israels 75-year history. Since then, the Israeli bombardment of Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least 13,000 Palestinians, including at least 5,500 children, according to the Hamas-run government in Gaza. Two thirds of Gazas 2.3 million residents, according to the UN, are now homeless. The Israeli military claims that since entering Gaza late last month, Israeli tanks and personnel have taken control of a large portion of the region to the north, northwest, and east of Gaza City. Yet in other areas of the crowded, urbanised north, such as sections of Gaza City and the vast Jabalia and Beach refugee camps, terrorists are reportedly engaging in guerilla-style fighting, according to Hamas and eyewitnesses from the area. An ally of Hamas, Islamic Jihads armed branch said that during fighting in the northern regions of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and Al-Saftawi, as well as west of Jabalia, its forces ambushed seven Israeli military vehicles. (With agency inputs) Deutsche Bank's sentiment and buzz have not seen any significant changes in recent weeks. This indicates a neutral sentiment as there were no noticeable trends towards positive or negative topics among market participants on social media. However, there has been an increase in the volume of discussions about the company, indicating higher attention. Overall, Deutsche Bank is rated "Good" in this aspect. In terms of stock performance in the past 12 months, Deutsche Bank has achieved a 9.14% return. This outperforms the average performance of similar stocks in the "Capital Markets" industry by 7.32%. Additionally, the average return in the "Finance" sector was 4.91%, making Deutsche Bank's performance 4.24% higher. As a result, Deutsche Bank receives a "Good" rating in this category. From a technical analysis perspective, the average closing price of Deutsche Bank's stock over the past 200 trading days was 10.16. The closing price on the last trading day was 10.278, which is a 1.16% difference. This suggests a neutral outlook based on the chart analysis. The 50-day moving average, which is also commonly analyzed in chart analysis, was 9.99, and the last closing price was close to this average, with a 2.88% difference. Therefore, Deutsche Bank's stock also receives a "Neutral" rating in this aspect. Overall, the simple technical analysis gives a "Neutral" rating. The sentiment among investors in the forums and social media discussions about Deutsche Bank is generally negative. This is reflected in the opinions and comments from the past two weeks, which we have analyzed to gain further insights. While positive topics have been dominant in recent days, the overall sentiment is still rated as "Neutral." The analysis of specific trading signals from social media yielded 1 negative signal and 5 positive signals. Considering all these factors, the overall recommendation for investor sentiment is "Neutral." When questioned about a potential agreement at the White House on Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters, I believe so, indicating that he thought a deal to secure the release of some of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza was imminent. On October 7, Hamas launched a devastating cross-border raid into Israel, seizing some 240 hostages in the process. This led Israel to attack the little enclave in order to eradicate the Islamist terrorist group. According to Israeli counts, the Hamas assault claimed the lives of about 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians. It was the worst day in Israels 75-year history. Since then, the Israeli bombardment of Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least 13,000 Palestinians, including at least 5,500 children, according to the Hamas-run government in Gaza. Despite the continuous fighting, Israel hopes that a sizable number of captives held by Hamas will be freed in coming days, according to Michael Herzog, Israels ambassador to the United States, who spoke with ABC News on Sunday. (With agency inputs) The World Health Organization has declared that Gaza is on the verge of major disease outbreaks. According to the WHO, 800,000 people are jammed into overcrowded schools and other centers where they are suffering from skin conditions like scabies, jaundice, and diarrhea. Regional Emergency Director Richard Brennan told Sky News that there is open defecation and only one restroom for several hundred people. Although the schools were built to house displaced people, there are six or eight times as many students enrolled than that. Some people reside in tents. According to Brennan, each person gets one to three liters of clean water per day, whereas seven liters is the recommended minimum during a humanitarian crisis. Jaundice cases give concern for hepatitis, while there are chest infections, respiratory infections. We might be on the verge of significant disease outbreaks, he continued. It is very challenging to implement disease control measures in these crowded, filthy environments. 22 of the 36 hospitals in Gaza are closed, according to Mr. Brennan, who also mentioned that 3,500 beds were available prior to the start of the conflict. It is currently at 1,400. A lot of families only eat one meal a day. Furthermore, the weather is going to get colder. Brennan continued, The next few weeks are going to be very tough indeed. Brennan stated that, depending on their condition, the 31 premature babies who were evacuated from the Al Shifa Hospital and transported to southern Gaza would probably proceed to Egypt within the next day or two. One of the few good news stories of the war so far, Brennan said, but he also added, we dont know where any of the parents are, how many of them are orphans. Many are extremely underweight, all have severe infections, and 11 are deemed to be in critical condition. The WHO is collaborating with law enforcement to locate their parents. (with inputs from agencies) Iran has denied Israeli allegations regarding its involvement in the seizure of a British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo ship by Yemens Houthis in the southern Red Sea. Nasser Kanaani, the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, stated at a press conference on Monday that resistance groups in the region operate independently and that Israeli claims are an attempt to divert attention from what Kanaani referred to as Israels irreparable defeat against Hamas militants in Gaza. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a key Red Sea shipping route on Sunday, holding its 25 crew members hostage. The rebels asserted that the hijacking was in response to the ships connection to Israel, declaring their intent to target ships associated with or owned by Israelis in international waters until the end of Israels campaign against Gazas Hamas rulers, according to Reuters. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the chief negotiator and spokesperson for the Houthis, said that detaining the Israeli ship is a concrete step showcasing the Yemeni armed forces commitment to sea battles. He added that this marks just the beginning of their actions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office attributed the attack on the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier linked to an Israeli billionaire, to the Houthis. The ships Japanese operator, NYK Line, confirmed that it had no cargo at the time of the hijacking, and the crewmembers are from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Mexico. Japan condemned the hijacking, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stated that the Japanese government is actively pursuing the early release of the crew through negotiations with Houthi rebels, while also engaging with Israel and collaborating with the governments of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Iran. With inputs from agencies As the Israeli attack on the besieged Gaza strip entered Day 45, at least 12 Palestinians were killed in direct strikes by Israeli forces on an Indonesian Hospital, one of the main facilities in the northern Gaza region. Early on Monday morning, Israeli forces commenced artillery and shooting strikes on the Indonesian Hospital and its surroundings. Gaza Health Ministry said the hospital strikes have claimed at least 12 Palestinians lives so far. According to Aljazeera, citing hospital spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra, the situation is catastrophic and Israeli forces are only intensifying their attacks. We fear Israeli forces will repeat what they did at al-Shifa Hospital The hospital staff are insisting they will stay to treat the wounded. There are about 700 people, including medical staff and injured people, inside the hospital, Aljazeera quoted al-Qudra as saying. In a post on X, one of the users said, Massive shelling on & around Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza. Injuries have been reported among people whove taken shelter in its courtyard. This small hospital is the only remaining hospital in the entirety of northern Gaza, and takes in 100s of victims every day. Massive shelling on & around Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza. Injuries have been reported among people whove taken shelter in its courtyard. This small hospital is the only remaining hospital in the entirety of northern Gaza, and takes in 100s of victims every day. pic.twitter.com/Kz9Ja2g4P6 Mohammad Alsaafin (@malsaafin) November 20, 2023 According to Press TV, citing the medical team, the Indonesian Hospital was targeted without prior warning. The strikes prompted staff at the hospital to appeal for urgent help from the United Nations and the Red Cross. Last week, Israel raided Al Shifa, Gazas main hospital claiming that it was a Hamas operational center, sharing unverified images and videos of what it said were Hamas weapons and equipment. The Israeli aggression has so far killed more than 13,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 30,000 others. With inputs from agencies In a historic trial lasting almost three years, an Italian court is set to sentence hundreds of alleged mobsters from Calabrias notorious Ndrangheta mafia on Monday. The prosecution is seeking guilty verdicts for 322 accused mafia members and their collaborators. This trial could deliver a significant blow to one of the worlds most powerful organized crime syndicates, known for its dominance in the European cocaine trade. Italys largest mafia trial in decades, a maxi-trial, will come to a close in Vibo Valentia, a province in the impoverished southern region of Calabria, the birthplace of the Ndrangheta. Since its commencement in January 2021, the court has heard extensive testimony, including accounts from over 50 former mafia members turned state witnesses. The accused belong to the top Ndrangheta clan in Vibo Valentia, an economically depressed rural area where the mafia has long exerted control, infiltrating institutions, terrorizing the population, and stifling the local economy. Luigi The Supreme Mancuso, the undisputed boss of the territory, was removed from the defendants list last year for a separate trial. The trial is being held in a heavily secured courtroom bunker in Lamezia Terme, equipped with over 20 television screens for video links with incarcerated defendants. The Ndrangheta of Vibo Valentia, known by nicknames like The Wolf and Sweetie, had a stronghold in the local economy, instilling fear among business owners and farmers. White-collar professionals and politicians provided protection to the mafia. Informants revealed the Ndranghetas brutality, describing hidden weapons in cemetery chapels, ambulances transporting drugs, and municipal water supplies diverted for marijuana crops. Opponents faced threats, including dead animals left on doorsteps, sledgehammer attacks, and torched cars. Once dismissed as mere livestock thieves, the Ndrangheta has grown into a formidable force, estimated to generate over 50 billion euros annually worldwide through drug trafficking, usury, fund embezzlement, and extortion. The mafias influence extends beyond Calabria, operating in more than 40 countries. Using frontmen, shell companies, and favors, the Ndrangheta reinvests illegal gains in the legitimate economy, solidifying its power. Non-mafia members, including a high-ranking police official, mayors, public servants, and businessmen, are among the defendants. Giancarlo Pittelli, a 70-year-old ex-parliamentarian and defense lawyer, is accused of being a mafia fixer and a go-between with politics, finance, and illegal Masonic lodges. (with inputs from agencies) Amid reports in Dhaka claimed that politicians from the ruling party allegedly threatened US Ambassador Peter Haas over his perceived interference in the elections, Bangladesh State Minister of Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam on Monday rubbished these allegations and called the departure of the ambassador from the country unfortunate. Speaking to ANI news agency, Alam said, I have a responsibility. All the ambassadors who are posted here are our guests and we are supposed to look after them. Provide them with high security as much as they are also responsible for offering the interests of Bangladeshi diplomats abroad. We know for sure where he is, its all his speculation. Its unfortunate we shouldnt be discussing all this. But Im not supposed to disclose his location, it, personal information and its official information. But we know. #WATCH | Dhaka: On US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas sudden leave from the country amid elections, Bangladesh state minister for Foreign Affairs Minister Shahriar Alam says, We know for sure where he isits all speculationIm not supposed to disclose his pic.twitter.com/2vUldntwFL ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 Following the announcement of the election date by the election commission, the US Ambassador is reported to have left the country. Bangladesh is set to hold its general election on January 7. Sources in Bangladesh said the current status of the US Ambassador to Bangladesh reveals he is presently in Sri Lanka. On US Department of States decision to impose visa restrictions on Bangladeshis responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh, Alam said, The advice is self-explanatory but we dont like it But we respect any countrys decision and I am sure our hope is really that the new visa policy will stop BNP and Jamaat from repeating the atrocities they committed in 2014, But unfortunately, it has failed, so the new visa policy did not help the process at all, so it has to be reviewed by the US. Facing the potential imposition of an import ban on Russian diamonds by the European Union, the Kremlin warned on Monday that European sanctions typically have a boomerang effect on those enforcing them. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, addressed the proposed EU measure to ban diamond imports from Russia, a move included in a new sanctions package related to the conflict in Ukraine. Russia holds the position of the worlds largest producer of rough diamonds in terms of volume. Peskov acknowledged the anticipation of such actions, but emphasised the likelihood of a backfire. Speaking to reporters, Peskov stated, As a rule, it turns out that a boomerang effect is partially triggered: the interests of the Europeans themselves suffer. So far, we have been able to find ways to minimise the negative consequences of sanctions. According to Reuters, diplomatic sources within the EU revealed that the current proposal considers an immediate ban on direct diamond imports from Russia starting January 1. Additionally, from March onward, a traceability mechanism is slated for implementation to prevent the entry of Russian gems processed in third countries. With inputs from agencies Referring to the recently concluded India-US 2+2 Dialogue, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Monday said that the two countries made important steps toward strengthening their major defence partnership which continues to grow. Speaking at an event in the nation capital, Garcetti said, We made important steps toward strengthening our major defence partnership which continues to grow, increasing acceleration that weve seen through initiatives like the roadmap of US-India Industrial Cooperation, US-India Defence Acceleration Ecosystem and expanded collaboration and cooperation in emerging domains He further said that the joint statement reflects both countrys resolve to promote resilient rules-based international order to safeguard free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific through the QUAD and other mechanisms. I think the joint statement reflects both countrys resolve to promote resilient rules-based international order to safeguard free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific through the QUAD and other mechanisms, he said. On Global issues, the ministers discussed the tragic humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Ukraine and in the Middle East, reiterating their stance with Israel against terrorism, but also seeking to alleviate civilian suffering and adherence to international humanitarian law, added Garcetti. Garcetti said the two countries also discussed ways to deepen science and technology partnerships to harness technology for the global good. #WATCH | Delhi: On the US-India 2+2 dialogue and the road ahead, US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti says Our countries discussed ways to deepen our science and our technology partnerships to harness technology for the global good instead of technology that harms us and pic.twitter.com/MECRjo0Te5 ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 Our countries discussed ways to deepen our science and our technology partnerships to harness technology for the global good instead of technology that harms us and divides us, technology that can connect us and protect us. These efforts are moving forward at a record-breaking speed under the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET). Over the past year, weve seen so many advances, and were looking forward to welcoming more visitors and to December-January around iCET themes. But so many major investments in Indian technology by US private sector companies as well as government-to-government conversations, expanding around space, defence co-production, and planetary defence as well He further stressed that New Delhi and Washington should deepen their Artificial Intelligence (AI) conversation. India-US collaboration and cooperation in emerging domains, and also more importantly, because we sometimes just focus on weapons and whats being sold, or potentially co-developed. But the operational level of our militaries, which I think is as critical as any equipment, and our countries discuss ways to deepen our science and our technology partnerships to harness technology with the global good instead of technology that harms us than divides us, technology that can connect us and protect us, he said. Garcetti also informed that the US administration is in conversation with the Indian government to get more staff at consulates and is also speeding up visas. The India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held in the national capital last week. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh participated in the meeting with their US counterparts; Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin. The dialogue provides a platform for top-level discussions between the US and India, where the leaders of the US and India discuss critical bilateral and global matters, with special emphasis on developments unfolding in the Indo-Pacific region. With inputs from agencies Following the ongoing crackdown on illegal foreigners in the country, more than 400,000 Afghans returned to their home country, Pakistani authorities said Monday. The shift in Pakistans perspective on Afghanistan is not sudden as it marks the culmination of a gradual deterioration in the quality of their relations. Islamabad has consistently held the Afghan Taliban responsible for permitting its territory to be used by groups like the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) for cross-border activities within Pakistan. Also, Islamabad accused the Afghan Taliban of providing operational support to these anti-Pakistan groups, linking this support to the recent surge in terror attacks targeting various security establishments across its tribal belt. Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, confirmed the number and told The Associated Press that the majority have been using the border crossings of Torkham and Spin Boldak to return home. As part of a nationwide crackdown, authorities in Pakistan announced that the estimated 1.7 million Afghans residing in Pakistan without proper documents had to leave the country by October 31 or face arrest. However, Pakistani officials clarified that the 1.4 million Afghans registered as refugees need not worry, as the crackdown targeted only those without proper documentation. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, millions of Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan, with numbers increasing after the Talibans takeover in 2021. Pakistan also implemented new measures requiring hundreds of thousands of residents in the southwestern border town of Chaman to obtain visas for cross-border travel, replacing their previous special permits. On Monday, a protest involving hundreds briefly disrupted traffic and the repatriation of some Afghans as they blocked a key road leading to the Chaman border. Residents in Chaman have been protesting repeatedly, asking Pakistan to allow them to continue using the special permits for business purposes and to meet with relatives who live in the Afghan border city of Spin Boldak. Since November 1, police in Pakistan have been going door-to-door to check migrants documentation. Pakistani officials had said before that the crackdown involves all foreigners in the country, but most of those affected are Afghan nationals. The latest development comes days after the World Health Organization warned that about 1.3 million Afghans were expected to return to their country of origin from Pakistan despite the onset of cold weather. Such expulsions have drawn widespread criticism from international and domestic human rights groups. The Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan said it was providing shelter and food to returnees. With inputs from AP. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed alarm on Monday about both external meddling, particularly from Russia, and secessionist rhetoric in Bosnia. We express concern over rhetoric that advocates for secession and division, as well as foreign meddling, particularly from Russia, Stoltenberg told reporters during his first visit in Sarajevo on the Western Balkans tour. He was alluding to Milorad Dodik, the leader of the Bosnian Serb separatist movement, who had repeatedly declared that the autonomous Serb Republic would attempt to break away and join Serbia, its neighbour. Stoltenberg stated, This undermines the stability and hampers reform, and that all political leaders ought to work together to uphold national unity, establish national institutions, and bring about reconciliation. Almost thirty years have passed since the catastrophic 19921995 conflict, which left 100,000 people dead and left Bosnia and Herzegovina split, its economy in ruins, and a large number of people fleeing the country. NATO has issued warnings about threats to Bosnia posed by outside meddling, especially from Russia. Following a meeting with Borjana Kristo, the chair of Bosnias Council of Ministers, Stoltenberg declared, NATO remains committed to support Bosnias Euro-Atlantic path, every country has the right to choose its security arrangements without foreign interference. (With agency inputs) The U.S. military thought that with the JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle) they had come up with a solution to their need for a new multi-function tactical wheeled vehicle. JLTV turned out to be not that solution. The manufacturer, Oshkosh, has only received 0rders for about 24,000 JLTVs since the vehicle first became available in 2015, which is less than half the demand Oshkosh expected. JLTV has its fans, but not enough of them to generate the sales levels Oshkosh expected. JLTV was more than most potential users needed and was more expensive to purchase and operate than its predecessors. JLTV used more fuel, because it was heavier than the military vehicles it replaced. When the JLTV was introduced in 2015 it was supposed to be the solution to numerous problems with military transportation needed. The U.S. military, particularly the army and marines, have a problem with their current supply of combat zone trucks. The new JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle) is more combat vehicle than combat zone transport. While many of the current, since the early 1980s, High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or HMMWV/Humvee/hummers had armor added, or were produced with armor after 2003, most did not. That was because armor protection was only needed in the combat zone. Even then only vehicles that spent a lot of time outside base areas in the combat zones needed armor. The JLTV costs more than twice as much as a hummer and is more expensive to operate, mainly because of fuel costs. There are also higher costs for maintenance and replacement parts because JLTV is a heavier vehicle that wears out many components faster. What this meant was that JLTV was a specialized vehicle that was too expensive to replace hummers on a large scale. In some cases, pickup trucks were used for tasks where the hummer was overkill. This was particularly the case with American allies who purchased hummers. The hummer was an adequate replacement for the World War 2 jeep and three-quarter ton truck, and those two vehicles were phased out and replaced by the hummer in the 1980s. When the army prepared to pull its forces out of Iraq and Afghanistan two decades later, China was seen as the primary military threat. North Korea was also a threat and a unique one. For decades North Korea threatened to attack South Korea again as it did in its failed 1950 invasion. A war with China and North Korea would be more conventional. That meant roadside bombs and landmines would not be as much of a problem as in Iraq and Afghanistan. But plans were already underway, since 2005, to replace the hummer with a heavier, better protected and more expensive vehicle. By 2015 it became clear that the original JLTV purchasing plans were off target. A hummer-like vehicle would be needed in the future and in larger numbers than the JLTV. This was realized in 2010 when the army tried to get over $10 billion to rebuild over 50,000 older hummers to like-new condition. That was turned down although five years later a smaller program was permitted that cost about two billion dollars. But this only produced 11,000 rebuilt hummers, which was not enough to replace the many that were going to be retired because of wear and tear. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had accelerated wear and tear on hummers and shortened their useful lifespans by a decade or more. Some refurbishment money was provided but not enough to replace eventual losses. Meanwhile, the military realized it had overestimated the need for JLTVs and underestimated the need to replace many hummers with hummer-like vehicles. Current plans are to buy militarized pickups and other light trucks. These would be of more rugged construction than most commercial models and have combat protection in the driver cabin. This would include bulletproof glass and blast-resistant seats and cabin floors. These could cost about as much to maintain as regular pickups and be cheaper to buy than hummers while able to function like a hummer with a deployed army unit. In home bases, mainly in the U.S., civilian trucks are often used around the base and get the job done at much less cost than combat zone hummers and larger trucks. Initially the army planned to buy as many as 50,000 JLTV vehicles but ended up procuring less than half that number for itself and allied nations. The U.S. originally sought to develop a new hummer-like vehicle with better and built-in bomb/landmine protection. The JLTV came out of that, and it was to replace armored hummers and MRAP (Mine Resistant Armored Protected) vehicles. MRAPs are basically heavy (8-20 ton) trucks equipped with armor and V-shaped bottoms (to deflect explosions). Work on armoring hummers and building smaller MRAPs revealed that you could get MRAP level protection on smaller vehicles if you used the right design features. Trial and error during the most intense period of the Iraq war (2003-8) made it clear what worked. At the same time, JLTV was still in development and eventually incorporated that combat experience. That produced a vehicle not much heavier than an armored hummer but with protection similar to a larger and heavier MRAP. Mass production for JLTV began in late 2019 with most of those vehicles going to the U.S. Army, which initially planned to buy 49,000 vehicles to replace armored HMMWV (hummer) vehicles as well as many armored trucks (MRAPs). As of 2020, about 7,500 JLTVs were in service. Thousands of American soldiers and marines already have experience with JLTV because low-rate production began in 2015 with orders for 657 vehicles, and that has since been increased so that the American military, mainly the army, can get their personnel used to the new vehicle. These users also provided a lot of feedback, which is understandable as the initial JLTV design was based on a lot of troop feedback and online discussions, especially on message boards only accessible to the troops, about what worked and what didnt in combat, especially with regard to armored hummers and using MRAPS. The military wanted to avoid relearning lessons about vehicle protection learned and forgotten after World War II, Korea and Vietnam. That means constant feedback from users and that is most important before mass production begins. By 2023 nearly 20,000 JLTVs were in service or on order. The Oshkosh L-ATV was selected as the winner of the JLTV design competition. The Oshkosh JLTV was a light armored vehicle that provided a high (MRAP) level of protection against roadside bombs and mines while also carrying a crew of two and up to 2.3 tons of passengers or cargo. The top road speed is 112 kilometers an hour and it has a hatch in the top that allows for installation of a manned machine-gun or a RWS (remote weapons system). Range on internal fuel is 480 kilometers and it has an improved suspension for a smoother ride off-road. The diesel engine can also generate 70 kw of electrical power. Oshkosh won the competition mainly because its design was much more reliable than its competitors and also met all the protection against bombs and mines requirements. The initial order was for 16,901 vehicles costing about $400,000 each. There are eight models, which is normal for vehicles like this and reflects different needs (basic personnel carrier, scout, ambulance, cargo and so on). About a quarter of the first JLTVs are for the U.S. Marine Corps. Additional vehicles were built for foreign and non-military customers. Because the U.S. is producing this new vehicle design, incorporating a lot of expensive new tech, the per-unit cost is lower than most nations can match by developing their own comparable vehicle. That was a major attraction for the British and other potential export customers. The first export customer, Slovenia, ordered 38 in late 2018 with the first one arriving in 2021. Lithuania and Montenegro also placed small orders. Several other nations are considering JLTV, including Britain, which would buy two thousand or so. Export versions sell for up to $400,000 each depending on accessories. Buyers like Britain order vehicles that allow for a lot of substitution of some American components with British equivalents and the use of British accessories. The American designer and manufacturer, Oshkosh, has been promoting the JLTV to military and police organizations worldwide and already has several other NATO allies discussing JLTV acquisition. As JLTV enters service in 2019 it signaled the end of an era, or did it? The HMMWV (hum-V or hummer) was an iconic and revolutionary vehicle and the most innovative military transport to show up since World War II. About half the annual sales of HMMWV vehicles went to the U.S. Army, with the rest going to other branches of the American military and foreign customers. Nearly 290,000 hummers have been produced so far, in dozens of variants and versions. The last army hummer order was in 2012. The army plans to continue using most until at least 2030 with some lasting until 2050. By then most will have retired because they are worn out. Now the problem is that the army cannot afford to replace all hummers with JLTV. The 6.4-ton JLTV that replaces the 4-ton armored HMMWV, which is 2.4 tons unarmored, is heavier because of the JLTV being more robust and better protected. The hummer itself replaced the 1.1-ton jeep and the 3-ton M37 3/4-ton truck in the 1980s. The JLTV marks a notable design direction for tactical vehicles. The JLTV is designed to absorb combat damage and be quickly equipped with two different armor kits. In effect, the World War II concept of the unarmored light vehicle for moving men and material around the battlefield has been radically changed by the Iraq War and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan. This began in Iraq, where it was demonstrated that you can fight your way through a hostile population on a regular basis and defeat a guerilla force constantly attacking your tactical and logistical vehicles. This has never worked before, but it worked this time, in part because U.S. troops promptly armored their hummers and trucks and quickly developed road warrior tactics that defeated roadside and suicide bombs. Even though these bombs created a lot of American casualties, the overall U.S. death rate in Iraq and Afghanistan was a third of what it was in Vietnam and World War II. This was in large part because of the armored hummers and trucks. Few people outside the military noted this event, a watershed moment in military history. But it was recognized within the military and produced this sharp shift in design philosophy for tactical trucks, and the result is the JLTV. The U.S. Army began replacing the World War II era vehicles with the HMMWV in 1985. This was the first new unarmored combat vehicle design since World War II when the jeep and ton truck was introduced. The HMMWV was expected to last for three decades or more. But that plan changed once Iraq was invaded. As expected, hummers wore out a lot more quickly (in five years) in combat than during peacetime use (14 years). So, the army and marines began developing, ahead of schedule, a new vehicle to supplement the hummer in combat zones. In addition to being built to better survive mines and roadside bombs, the JLTV generates more electricity for operating all the new electronic gear and recharging batteries. There is also an automatic fire extinguishing system and jam-resistant doors. Like the Hummer, JLTV is easy to reconfigure for everything from a four-seat, armed scout vehicle to an ambulance, command vehicle, or cargo or troop transport. The plan was always to have the hummer continue in use outside of the combat zone, where most troops spend most of their time. But the JLTV is built to better handle the beating vehicles take in the combat zone, including a design that enables troops to quickly slide in armor and Kevlar panels to make the vehicles bullet and blast-proof. Before the JLTV entered mass production in 2019, the army and marines already realized that future wars would more likely require fewer JLTVs and more hummers or similar unarmored two-wheel or four-wheel drive vehicles. JLTV orders would have to be reduced. Another factor that drove this new outlook was the shrinking procurement budgets after 2010. There would simply not be enough money to buy the number of JLTVs initially planned. At the same time, the elderly hummers had to be replaced with something. China also noted the development of the JLTV and the success of armored hummers and MRAPs. China openly copies a lot of foreign military equipment designs, often in many variations because multiple manufacturers get involved. While the Chinese military thought the American hummer (HMMWV) was a useful design, it was not adopted widely. The basic tactical vehicle in the Chinese military is the BJ2022 (Brave Warrior or Yongshi). The BJ2022 entered service in 2007 after being developed as a joint venture between a Chinese firm and Chrysler. Because of that American connection, the BJ2022 was legally based on the Jeep Cherokee (but a bit larger). BJ2022 comes in two versions, with one being a bit longer and serving as something similar to the old American ton truck. Most of the BJ2022s are basically much updated World War II American jeep designs that borrow much from SUV and four-wheel drive innovations. The basic version can carry a payload of 500 kg (half ton) and seats four. The longer version carries 750 kg and seats up to eight. These are four-wheel drive vehicles that have manual transmissions and are mainly used on roads or flat terrain. Chinese hummer-like vehicles are popular with Chinese and foreign special operations troops. The Chinese armed forces are not buying a lot of these vehicles (a few thousand or so a year at most) although civilian versions became popular with Chinese and export customers. The most popular of these hummer clones comes from Dongfeng, which initially produced some hummers under license. Dongfeng has since produced a number of hummer variants, including armored models equipped to handle RWS. These were nicknamed Mengshi (east wind warrior). The latest of these, the CSK-181 is an eight-ton armored hummer design similar to the new American JLTV. One characteristic of the Chinese hummers is the built-in night vision cameras (one in front and one in the back with a flat-screen display for the driver to use) and satellite navigation system. Although China tried Russian and European designs in their search for a new tactical truck (similar to the American hummer), they finally settled on a hummer clone of their own. China still uses the Russian and German designs for most of its tactical vehicles, but it is also buying a growing number of locally made hummer clones. China got their hands on an American hummer (M998 HMMWV) in 1988. Initially, Chinese military officials felt the hummer was too expensive. But the performance of the hummer in the 1991 Gulf War, plus the growing presence of the American civilian version of the hummer, especially those brought in by oil companies for use in remote areas, changed minds. By 2003, two Chinese companies were producing hummer clones and the Chinese Army adopted one of them as the EQ2050. Within a decade an armored version was developed as the EQ2058 followed by several other variants, including a longer 6x6 vehicle. Negotiations are very near to an agreement with Hamas to release the first 50 civilians in exchange for Israel allowing in more aid, including fuel, and limited pause in fighting, according CBS News, citing multiple sources. There may be more releases of civilian hostages in the future, added the report. According to the media outlet, citing two sources familiar with the developments, at this stage, there is no firm deal in hand but rather a written draft agreement that is being passed between parties who remain locked in what were described as very difficult talks brokered with the help of the US and Qatar. In an interview with CBS News Margaret Brennan, White House senior national security advisor Jon Finer said the US is closer than we have been to reaching a final agreement and that many areas of difference that previously existed in the hostage discussions have been narrowed. Finer clarified that discussing the evolving diplomacy in public would not be beneficial and noted that previous agreements had been close before failing. Although there was a lot of optimism last week that negotiations with Hamas would finally be resolved, two regional officials pointed to the Israeli militarys attack on the al-Shifa hospital as a reason for the difficulties. During a press conference on Sunday in Doha, Qatars prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said the parties are close to reaching an agreement and described the remaining issues preventing an emerging agreement between Israel and Hamas as very minor logistical issues. A source with knowledge of the draft deal told CBS News that the current proposal would involve 50 hostages being released on day one with a limited pause in fighting that would last around four days for a duration of six hours a day. If that release and pause happens as planned, there would be a second release of around 20-25 hostages, the source added. Israel has presented a list of approximately 100 civilian hostages it wants included in the agreement, reported CNN, citing a source. Israel has publicly demanded that all hostages be released. However, Hamas indicated it would be willing to release 50 hostages over a multiday pause. More hostages, around 20 to 25, could be released after that as the pauses are extended. Hamas has said it needs pauses in fighting to gather the hostages who are being held in different places and by different Hamas-allied groups in Gaza. According to Reuters, the National Security Council and the Israeli embassy to the US declined to comment on the development. The Qatari Embassy to the US didnt respond immediately to a request for comment, it added. There are still details to be worked out over aid, with Israel expressing concern that aid could go to help Hamas rather than civilians. Hamas initially requested 500 trucks of aid per day, one of the sources told Reuters. One source said no agreement has been reached on how many aid trucks could enter Gaza but that more than 200 trucks was logistically challenging. With inputs from agencies According to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, the situation in military-ruled Myanmar has proven to be a challenging matter for the ASEAN region to resolve, with little progress achieved and combat rising. Speaking on Monday at a forum in Hawaii that was live-streamed to the Philippines, Marcos stated that although the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had made a commitment, the problem was complicated and included implications for humanitarian relief. Over a million people have been displaced, according to the UN, since the military in Myanmar overthrew a fragile democracy that had been in existence for ten years and plunged the nation into conflict and economic disaster. The resistance movement has been strengthening since the juntas post-coup assault on opponents. Until the top generals pledge to support the two-year-old peace strategy of the grouping, ASEAN has prohibited Myanmar from attending its conference. After replacing Myanmar as ASEAN host in 2026, the Philippines will serve as the organizations chair. Since last month, tens of thousands more people have been forced to flee as the military repels a concerted assault by a coalition of three ethnic minority groups and pro-democracy activists. Marcos claimed that the junta had already lost the backing of its own armed forces, citing studies of the recent escalation. According to him, the humanitarian cost of conflict has grown exponentially in recent years, and the Philippines has been particularly hard hit, with its residents being among those who are trafficked internationally. (With agency inputs) The president of the Philippines stated on Monday that there has been no progress in negotiating a wider regional agreement with China and that the country has reached out to neighbours like Malaysia and Vietnam to talk about a separate code of conduct pertaining to the South China Sea. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has reignited close ties with the United States, the Philippines only treaty ally, while simultaneously complaining about Chinas aggressive attitude, making relations between the two more strained. Speaking during a livestreamed event in Hawaii, Marcos stated that the situation was becoming more dire due to the South China Seas rising tension, and the Philippines needed to work with its neighbours and allies to keep the busy waterway peaceful. A request for comment regarding a potential code was not immediately answered by the embassies of China, Malaysia, or Vietnam in Manila. China stated that creating a code of conduct for the South China Sea was a crucial responsibility for both ASEAN nations and China. At a routine news briefing, a representative from the foreign ministry issued a warning, saying, Any move that deviates from the framework and runs counter to the spirit of the declaration on the conduct of parties (DOC) in the South China Sea is null and void. Marcos made these statements after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday in San Francisco on the fringes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Concerns about how far China, which claims control of most of the South China Sea, is willing to go in order to create a legally enforceable set of norms that ASEAN countries want to conform to current international law have prevented talks on the codes component parts from beginning. China uses a nine-dash line to mark its territory on maps, looping as far south as 1,500 km (900 miles) and cutting through the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Since China has grown more active in pursuing its maritime claims, frightening neighbours and other countries operating in the vital commerce route, such the United States, Manila and Beijing have been involved in intermittent confrontations for years. (With agency inputs) Myanmars military junta is currently facing its most significant challenge since seizing power two-and-a-half years ago, as it contends with ethnic insurgent groups in a struggle for control over the countrys border towns. The Tatmadaw, Myanmars military, which has held power for a substantial part of the countrys history since gaining independence, is exhibiting signs of a notable decline, with reports indicating that rebel forces have captured more than 8,000 square kilometres, nearly half of the nation. Amidst this conflict, China is navigating a delicate balancing act to protect its economic interests in Myanmar. As Myanmars largest trading partner, China maintains favourable relations with the ruling military regime. The ethnic insurgent groups aligned against the junta also enjoy good ties with China and have pledged to safeguard foreign investments, including Chinese-backed projects such as a railway line through Mandalay and pipelines to the Bay of Bengal which are of strategic importance to China. China backing rebels Despite Chinas public backing of the military junta, reports are suggesting that the ongoing ethnic offensives wouldnt have been possible without support from Beijing. The United Wa State Army (UWSA), a potent ethnic armed organization controlling an autonomous region in Myanmars northeastern Shan State, receives substantial material and political support from China. While the UWSA claims neutrality in the conflict between the Myanmar regime and the ethnic alliance, it remains a major arms supplier to the insurgent forces. Leaders of the UWSA command around 25,000 troops armed with Chinese-origin weapons, including FN-6 Man-Portable Air Defence Systems, armoured vehicles, and various light weapons. Additionally, the UWSA operates a factory in its controlled area, assembling a version of the Chinese Type-81 automatic rifle. Although China historically restricted the transfer of advanced weaponry to other actors in Myanmar, the UWSA has become a primary source of small arms and light weapons for its allied ethnic groups. Chinas state news agency Xinhua, quoting the spokesperson for Beijings Foreign Ministry, recently said that when the ethnic alliance initiated its offensive, China urged relevant parties in Myanmar to cease fire and resolve disputes through dialogue. Perpetual ethnic clash Ethnic conflicts have become a major challenge in Myanmars ongoing political transition, causing the displacement of hundreds of thousands and hundreds of estimated fatalities. This situation is also becoming a significant test for Myanmars relations with China, which plays a role in managing militarized conflicts along the China-Myanmar border and supporting Myanmars peace efforts. The offensive in the northern part of Shan state posed a considerable challenge for the army, grappling with a nationwide uprising by the Peoples Defence Force (PDF), a pro-democracy armed group formed after the 2021 army takeover. Various PDF groups across the country have aligned with well-organized ethnic armed groups, such as the Three Brotherhood Alliance, consisting of the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Taang National Liberation Army, which have long sought greater autonomy from Myanmars central government. The intensified fighting between the army and ethnic minority armed groups, including those in the alliance, began after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Many groups, including those in the Three Brotherhood Alliance, have collaborated with pro-democracy militias formed post-coup, collectively known as the Peoples Defence Force, engaging in battles with the army across the country. The complexities in the politics of ethnic groups in the north are compounded by the regions proximity to China, which maintains strong relations with Myanmars ruling generals. The alliance members also have positive relations with China and have pledged to protect foreign investments in their territories, where Chinese-backed projects are situated. Additionally, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), representing Myanmars Kokang minority, is ethnically Chinese. The Kachin Independence Army, a robust ethnic armed group with the capability to produce its armaments, is aligned with the Three Brotherhood Alliance. The alliances current offensive is perceived as invigorating the nationwide armed resistance against the military regime that took control over 2 1/2 years ago after ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. China serving own interest Chinas interests in Myanmar, particularly concerning ethnic conflicts in the border regions, are consistent with its long-term strategic goals. A key policy objective for China in Myanmar is border stability, which is crucial for strategic, security, and economic reasons along the shared border. Another strategic interest is the pursuit and preservation of access to the Indian Ocean, with Myanmar serving as a land bridge. Instability along the borders poses challenges to Chinas extensive infrastructure projects, including roads, railways, and energy pipelines under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The China-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines, linking Myanmars Rakhine state to the Bay of Bengal and the Chinese Yunnan provincial capital Kunming, play a vital role in transporting imported energy from the Bay of Bengal, West Asia, and Africa to Chinese hinterlands. In a rare acknowledgement of the challenges, Myint Swe, the military-appointed President, recently stated, It is necessary to carefully control this issue regarding the rebel offensive. When the military took control in February 2021, following the ousting of Aung San Suu Kyis government, it resorted to force to establish order, arresting numerous pro-democracy politicians, including Suu Kyi, and launching a violent crackdown on protests. Since then, advocacy groups report that over 4,000 civilians and pro-democracy activists have been killed, with around 20,000 people jailed. The UN estimates that 1.7 million individuals have been displaced from their homes. However, the juntas violent actions have done little to stabilize the country. Russian authorities are reportedly facing a surge in reports from citizens accusing their compatriots of expressing views critical of the Ukraine war. Following Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin implemented stringent regulations aimed at penalizing individuals who criticize the declared special military operation. Under these laws, Russians can face fines up to $560 or imprisonment for up to five years for vaguely defined offenses related to discrediting the military. According to police officials speaking to the BBC, there is a constant stream of complaints related to the alleged discrediting of the army. A retired police officer told the BBC that amidst the influx of accusations tied to the special military operation, genuine issues often go uninvestigated. He expressed frustration, stating, Whenever something substantial arises, everyone is preoccupied with checking on trivial reports, like investigating a grandma who thought she saw a curtain resembling the Ukrainian flag. The BBC also interviewed a prolific informant, identified as Anna Korobkova, who claimed to have submitted 1,397 accusations since the invasion. Additionally, a man recounted being unjustly imprisoned on terrorism charges after a colleague falsely accused him following an argument. The report suggests that individuals in Russia are facing arrests based on dubious claims from those harboring grudges. Human rights group OVD-Info, cited by The Financial Times in February, reported approximately 20,000 arrests in anti-war protests in Russia. The organization noted that around 440 individuals face more severe charges related to their alleged opposition to the war, potentially leading to jail terms of up to 15 years. Some individuals facing charges have reportedly fled the country. The President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that the country has engaged in discussions with neighbouring nations, including Malaysia and Vietnam to discuss a distinct code of conduct concerning the South China Sea. President Marcos emphasized the limited advancements in reaching a comprehensive regional agreement with China, noting the escalating challenges in the South China Sea due to Chinas increasing presence and the overlapping territorial claims of multiple nations. In the past few years, ASEAN and China have worked towards creating a framework to negotiate a code of conduct, a plan dating as far back as 2002. However, progress has been slow despite commitments by all parties to advance and speed up the process. China has shown interest in atolls and shoals that are closer and closer to the coast of the Philippines, with the nearest atoll about 60 nautical miles (111 kilometres) away, Marcos said. Unfortunately, I cannot report that the situation is improving, Marcos said Sunday. The situation has become more dire than it was before, Marcos spoke during a question and answer session after he delivered a talk at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Honolulu. The Philippines president stopped in Hawaii to meet with US military leaders and the local Filipino community on his way home from a regional summit meeting in San Francisco. The visit held both geopolitical and personal significance for the leader. Marcoss father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was forced into exile in Hawaii in 1986 after he was ousted in an army-backed people power uprising in the Philippines. His trip comes at a time when the US and the Philippines have been deepening their long-standing alliance in a shift after Marcos predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, nurtured cosy ties with China and Russia. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea as its territory and refuses to acknowledge claims from the Philippines and four other governments to some or all of the waterway. Beijing has dismissed the findings of a UN-backed arbitration tribunal that invalidated Chinas sweeping historical claims under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Marcos reiterated that his nation wouldnt yield.The Philippines will not give a single square inch of our territory to any foreign power, he said in his speech. The US says China has militarized several islands it built in the area, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment, and fighter jets. Marcos said features in the South China Sea are slowly being turned into bases. He said Adm. John Aquilino, the top US military commander in the Indo-Pacific region, showed him a model of one earlier in the day. China stakes its claim on its maps with the use of a nine-dash line that loops as far as 1,500 km (900 miles) south of its mainland, cutting into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Manila and Beijing have engaged in on-off confrontations for years as China has become more assertive in pressing its maritime claims, alarming neighbours and other nations operating in the key trade route, such as the United States. China has turned submerged reefs into military installations equipped with radar, runways and missile systems, some inside the Philippines EEZ. Last month, a Chinese coast guard ship and an accompanying vessel rammed a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat near the contested shoal, according to Philippine officials. China accused the Philippine vessels of trespassing in what it said were Chinese waters without authorization despite repeated radio warnings. The US and the Philippines have a mutual defence treaty dating to 1951. Marcos said the US, as its only treaty ally, was its main partner. But he said Manila also was seeking to strengthen ties with other nations sharing its ideals and values, noting the examples of Australia, Japan and South Korea. He said the Philippines also was seeking to negotiate a code of conduct with Vietnam and Malaysia, other nations with whom it has territorial conflicts. Many Filipinos immigrants to Hawaii come from the same province as Marcos, Ilocos Norte, and support him. But he still faced small protests at the airport and at a convention hall where he met members of the local Filipino community. Satu Limaye, the vice president of the East-West Centre, noted the US and the Philippines have a long, complicated relationship. He pointed to years when the US ruled the archipelago as a colony, their signing of the defence treaty and when the US military withdrew from major bases in the country in the 1990s. Limaye said its important to watch how the US and the Philippines manage their nations long and complex relationship while facing their common concern, China. Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwans former envoy to the United States and self-described cat warrior, was named Monday as the running mate to presidential frontrunner Lai Ching-te for the islands January elections. The 13 January vote comes at a time when Beijing has intensified military and diplomatic pressure on the administration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and China has blasted the pairing of Vice President Lai and Hsiao as an independence duo. Hsiao, 52, has been Taipeis de facto ambassador to the United States since 2020, and is widely regarded in Washington as a well-connected and savvy diplomat. She is also seen by China as an independence diehard, and Beijing has sanctioned her twice. Calling herself a cat warrior a play on the assertive wolf warrior diplomacy style of Chinese officials Hsiao said Monday during a press conference that she was ready to fully commit herself to the presidential campaign. I think diplomacy is like a cats step you have to be careful in every step you take, she said, akin to working under a complicated strategic environment to maximise Taiwan-US relations. Lai, who called Hsiao a warrior for democracy, emphasised the need for a stable helmsman with the duo running on the ticket for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. (We) will lead the country steadily and firmly follow the right path. Please give us a chance, he said. While the United States does not diplomatically recognise Taiwan, it is the islands most prominent ally and arms supplier. During Hsiaos three-year stint in Washington, she had enabled US-Taiwan relations to be the most mutually trusting in history, said Lai. Last September, a US Senate committee approved the Taiwan Policy Act, allowing Washington to provide Taipei security assistance to the tune of $4.5 billion over four years. The legislation also laid out sanctions on China should it use force to try and seize Taiwan. Bonnie Glaser, a Taiwan-China affairs expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said Hsiao has done an outstanding job in advancing Taiwans interests. She understands how Congress works, its key role in supporting Taiwan, but also how to work with the executive branch and Congress at the same time, Glaser said. Resist China To Taiwanese voters, a Lai-Hsiao ticket would represent the partys platform to resist China, said political scientist Chang Chun-hao of Taiwans Tunghai University. (They) can create a powerful effect in anti-China and pro-US issues, he told AFP. Hsiao not only represents Taiwanese ideology but she also has a pro-US role. She will likely be seen as a consistent, moderate voice in a future Lai administration, said Raymond Kuo, Taiwan Policy Institute director at RAND Corporation. Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office last Wednesday blasted the Lai-Hsiao pairing. I think every Taiwanese compatriot is very clear on what it means for this situation across the Taiwan Strait, said spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian, without elaborating further. Also in the race are the pro-Beijing party Kuomintang and the less-established Taiwan Peoples Party. Both have pledged warmer ties with China if elected. The two had tentatively agreed on an alliance, but negotiations have stalled over which partys candidate would run for president. All parties have until November 24 to formally register their candidates for the poll. An Islamabad court on Monday ordered Pakistans anti-graft body to record former prime minister Nawaz Sharifs statement by 30 November in the Toshakhana corruption case, according to a report. The 73-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo returned to Pakistan on 21 October after about four years of self-imposed exile in London. The case alleges that Nawaz, former president Asif Ali Zardari and ex-prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani received luxury vehicles and gifts from the Toshakhana a government repository that stores gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and officials by heads of other governments, states, and foreign dignitaries. According to Dawn report, Judge Muhammad Bashir of the accountability court in Islamabad heard the Toshakhana corruption case. Sharifs lawyer, Qazi Misbah, urged the court to issue directions to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on recording the three-time prime ministers statements in the case. A supplementary reference needs to be filed a reference was filed in the absence of Nawaz, he was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper. We want the NAB to record Nawazs position, he added. The NAB prosecutor sought time to go through the petition. However, Judge Bashir ordered the accountability bureau to record Sharifs statements in the case by 30 November and adjourned the proceedings till then. What is the problem? Call Nawaz Sharif and record his statement, Dawn quoted Judge Bashir as saying. In his response, the prosecutor said only the investigating officer could record the statement. At that, Advocate Misbah asked the former for the questionnaire. We will give the answers, Nawazs lawyer added. The NAB prosecutor then said there were no objections to the PML-N supremo recording his statement before the IO. The hearing was then adjourned till 30 November. In June 2020, an accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Sharif when he was in London and, in September, declared him a proclaimed offender in the Toshakhana vehicles case. Former president Asif Ali Zardari, 68, and ex-prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, 71, are also accused in the same case. In the case, the NAB accused Sharif and Zardari of illegally retaining expensive vehicles gifted to them by various foreign countries and dignitaries instead of depositing them in the Toshakhana, the state depository. According to the countrys top anti-corruption body, Zardari and Sharif got cars in 2008 by paying just 15 per cent of their price and Gilani, during his tenure as prime minister, facilitated the two in retaining the vehicles. According to the rules, gifts given to officials should be deposited in the Toshakhana, established in 1974. Officials can, however, keep the gifts by paying a certain percentage of the price assessed by the Toshakhana evaluation committee. Last month, ahead of Sharifs homecoming after an exile of four years, the accountability court granted the former premier bail and also suspended the perpetual arrest warrants after he surrendered before the court. The court confirmed his bail against surety bonds of Rs 1 million. Earlier this month, the court ordered authorities to release all properties and assets seized from Sharif in 2020 during a hearing of the Toshakhana case. The former premier is all set to lead the PML-N during the general elections, which are scheduled to be held on 8 February. Earlier this month, he directed his party leaders to begin their preparations for the national elections. With inputs from agencies On Monday, prosecutors announced an inquiry into suspected theft in the governments cyber security agency, and two senior cyber defence officers in Ukraine were fired, according to a government official. Leading cabinet member Taras Melnychuk posted on Telegram that the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP) chief, Yurii Shchyhol, and his deputy, Viktor Zhora, were fired by the government. The cabinets delegate to parliament, Melnychuk, omitted to disclose the grounds behind the terminations. Neither man nor their lawyers could be reached for comment. The SSSCIP is responsible for securing government communications and defending the state from cyber attacks. Less than an hour had passed before anti-corruption prosecutors declared they were looking into the head and deputy head of the SSSCIP for their alleged roles in a six-person scheme to embezzle 62 million UAH ($1.72 million) between 2020 and 2022. This was when news of the firings broke. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine stated that authorities believe the officials purchased software at a premium price from two businesses that they purportedly controlled in an auction that was closed to other bidders. Both officials were not named by the prosecution. The SSSCIP claimed in a Telegram post that all agency procurement had been done legally and that it was working with investigators. (With agency inputs) US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, in a bid to stem Ukrainian concerns that support from its biggest ally could waver. The United States has provided over $40 billion of security aid to Ukraine since Russias invasion and pledged to back Kyiv for as long as it takes, but opposition from hardline Republicans has raised doubts about the future of American assistance. Austin travelled to Ukraine today to meet with Ukrainian leaders and reinforce the staunch support of the United States for Ukraines fight for freedom, the Pentagon said in a statement on the trip, which was not previously announced for security reasons. He will also underscore the continued US commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression, it said. The trip to Kyiv is the Pentagon chiefs second since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Washington is by far the biggest donor of military assistance to Kyiv, and a cut to American aid would be a major blow to Ukraine as it readies for the second winter of the war. Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged lawmakers during a hearing in October to sustain support for Ukraine, with the US defence chief saying that without our support, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will be successful. Smaller aid packages But some Republican lawmakers oppose continued aid, and new support for Ukraine was left out of a temporary deal passed by Congress last week to avert a US government shutdown. Despite this, a senior US defence official told journalists that we continue to believe that Congress will provide that support, and we are planning based on that conviction. US assistance has not been halted and there is still previously authorised aid to draw on. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said earlier this month that assistance packages have been getting smaller because we have had to meter out our support for Ukraine. In addition to domestic US political opposition to continued aid, the devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas - and an accompanying spike in attacks on American forces in the Middle East - has drawn international attention away from Ukraine. The United States insists that it can provide assistance to both countries. On the issue of whether there is a competition or trade-off between US support for Ukraines defence of its country and Israels defence of its people, there is not, the senior US defence official said. There is some overlap but where there is overlap in certain kinds of ammunition there is no reduction in the provision of capabilities to Ukraine, the official added. The United States has spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging a coalition to back Kyiv after Russia invaded and coordinating aid from dozens of countries. Ukraines supporters have also provided training to Kyivs troops, while the United States and other countries imposed tough sanctions on Russia, with targets including financial institutions, technology imports and energy exports. Work to do Austins visit comes a day after Ukraine announced it had pushed Russian forces back three to eight kilometres from the banks of Dnipro river, which if confirmed would be the first meaningful advance by Kyivs forces months into a disappointing counteroffensive. Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the vast waterway in the southern Kherson region for more than a year, after Russia withdrew its troops from the western bank last November. Army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk gave the figures to Ukrainian television Sunday but did not specify how many troops or what equipment Ukraine had on the eastern side of the Dnipro and acknowledged that: We have a lot of work to do. A bridgehead on the east bank of the Dnipro could allow a deeper offensive in the south, though it would require deploying more men and armour into the challenging marshy conditions. Pushing Russia back from the rivers shores would also offer protection to Ukrainian towns and villages facing relentless Russian shelling. Officials said early Monday that at least two people had been killed by Russian shelling on a carpark in Kherson. 25 CAPITAL LINK North Korea on Monday warned the United States about plans to sell missiles to Japan and South Korea, calling it a dangerous move that raises tension in the region and may be likely to lead to a new arms race, state media reported. North Koreas defence ministry has said Pyongyang will step up measures to establish deterrence and respond to any instability in the region, which it has mainly blamed on the US and its allies, according to a statement carried by KCNA news agency. As part of its biggest military build-up since World War Two, Japan plans to buy 400 Tomahawk missiles from the US. The Pentagon, on its part, said on Friday the US State Department has approved the potential sale in a deal valued at US$2.35 billion. The US has also recently announced the approval of a possible sale of Sidewinder missiles and Standard Missile 6 Block Is to South Korea. We warn that the more the United States profits from indiscriminate arms sales, the more it would have to pay for the security crisis, North Koreas statement said. The statement comes as North Korea is preparing to launch a spy satellite. South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik said on Sunday the launch could take place as early as this week. We sternly warn North Korea to squarely face the reality of the international community seriously condemning its illicit activities in one voice, and immediately suspend the plan to launch a military spy satellite now under preparation, South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The South Korean military said the satellite launch would be a provocation and a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that ban the Norths use of ballistic missile technology. Pyongyang has said it would demonstrate more offensive and overwhelming counteraction capabilities, citing what it called military threats from the US and its allies. North Korea on its part recently revealed that it had successfully conducted static tests of new-type high-thrust solid-fuel engines for intermediate-range ballistic missiles, raising speculation over another missile test. Ahead of the bleak winter months, Ukraines largest private energy company DTEK has said that its power plants need more missile defence systems to function properly amid a wave of Russian attacks. Since Russias February 2022 invasion, Europe, including members of the Soviet Union and the ex-Communist bloc, have supplied hundreds of transformers, miles of cables and thousands of diesel generators needed to light up and heat the country in winter, when temperatures fall well below freezing point. But the flurry of Russian attacks which see an upswing in the winter months to corner Ukraine even further and the experience it has had over the past year has prompted the war-torn nation to seek more air defence systems to protect its critical energy infrastructure, DTEK Chief Executive Officer Maxim Timchenko said. We need more Patriots, more IRIS systems. We cannot protect ourselves against ballistic missiles if we dont have air defence systems, Timchenko told news agency Reuters in an interview in Warsaw. I know that our president and our government have been doing everything that they can to bring the message that we need this equipment to protect our energy system, he added. In the first 10 months of this year DTEKs power plants produced enough electricity to meet the demand of around 4.1 million Ukrainian households. Every one of DTEKs 13 power stations has come under fire from Russia, which has launched sustained attacks on the countrys power grid. In recent weeks alone, Russia has attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure with different weapons 60 times. About 50% of the companys capacity of 2.3 gigawatts has been damaged, destroyed, or occupied, causing blackouts, Timchenko said. Since April, DTEK has managed to bring back eight out of 13 power units, two are under repair, while two coal-fired plants that were mothballed are also set to work during the winter. The company will have brought all of its lost capacity back into operation, Timchenko said. The countrys largest private energy company, DTEK, has also secured enough coal and gas to feed its power plants, including 280,000 metric tons of coal from Poland, which could be increased to as much as 400,000 tons. Coal from Poland is more expensive than the fuel that could be sourced in Amsterdam but its definitely less expensive than in Ukraine, he added. Gas usage has fallen by 30-35% since the start of the war, but the company has managed production to maintain a balance between supply and demand, Timchenko said. GRID SYNCHRONISATION DTEK is also working with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSOE) to expand power transit capacity with neighbouring grids in Europe. At present, transmission lines allow Ukraine to export as much as 2,000 megawatts of power daily, but in practice exports are usually only around 350-400 megawatts, due in part to insufficient connections and regulatory issues. Imports amount to about 1.3 gigawatts. Regulation guiding joint auctions for power capacity at its borders is needed, Timchenko said. We hope that it can be done during the next year, he added. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron engaged in a phone call on Monday to discuss the Israel-Hamas war, with both leaders expressing a shared commitment to avoid a more serious humanitarian crisis. During the call, both the leaders exchanged perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian war, emphasising the crucial need to prevent a further deterioration of the situation between Palestine and Israel, particularly to avert a heightened humanitarian crisis, according to China Central Television (CCTV). This discussion occurred just ahead of the upcoming visit to China by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. Additionally, a delegation comprising high-ranking diplomats from the Palestinian Authority, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan gathered in Beijing for talks aimed at de-escalating the conflict in Gaza, according to AFP. CCTV reported that Xi and Macron reached an agreement to continue to maintain communication on international and regional issues of common concern and contribute to maintaining world peace and stability. The state broadcaster added that both leaders affirmed the two-state solution as the fundamental approach to resolving the recurrent conflict between Palestine and Israel. Macron visited China in April for a three-day state visit, during which he was hosted by Xi in the capital Beijing and met students in the southern city of Guangzhou. With inputs from agencies OnePlus has confirmed that it will hold an event for the 10th anniversary of the company on December 4th in China. Carl Pei and Pete Lau together began OnePlus in December 2013, and the first produce was released in 2014. Today, OnePlus CEO has announced that there will be fireside chat, and the invite has the CEO standing on a clock near 12, highlighting the OnePlus 12. OnePlus recently confirmed Sony LYT-808 sensor for the phone, and also confirmed that the phone will feature a 1/2-inch 64MP OV64B periscope telephoto lens with an equivalent focal length of 70mm, support for 3x optical zoom. OnePlus already confirmed 2K X1 (Oriental) Screen from BOE with up to 2600 nits brightness, and OPPOs first-generation self-developed image quality engine Display P1 chip. It will be powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. Earlier rumours revealed an early December launch for the phone, so we can expect the phone to be introduced on December 4th. Regarding the 10th anniversary event, Pete Lau said: In the past 10 years, there have been bright moments and darkest moments. We have continued to grow and have witnessed the development of the industry with everyone. What I want to thank you the most is your support for OnePlus. In the past 10 years, I have received a lot of encouragement from you, and I have also received some criticism, but I know that it is all out of your love for the OnePlus brand. In these 10 years, some people have been with me, some have left, and some have left and come back. Regardless of whether we meet or leave, I always believe that those who meet will meet again. On December 4th, we have a fireside chat on the 10th anniversary, and we all gather together to witness OnePlus 12, a masterpiece of ten years of transcendence. Source Sony India has introduced its latest APS-C mirrorless camera, the 6700 (ILCE-6700). This camera blends advanced still image and video features from the full-frame Alpha and Cinema Line series with the compact design of the 6000 series, making it Sonys most advanced APS-C mirrorless camera. The 6700 boasts a 26.0-megapixel APS-C back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor and is powered by Sonys BIONZ XR processing engine, ensuring exceptional imaging performance in a compact form. It supports 4K video recording at up to 120fps, offers a wide dynamic range of 14+ stops, and features the S-Cinetone picture profile for professional-looking movie imagery without the need for color grading. The cameras sensor provides high sensitivity from ISO 100 to 32000, delivering low-noise shooting for both photos and videos. It incorporates Creative Look features for unique visual expressions and an AI processing unit for accurate Real-Time Recognition AF, identifying various subjects for creative flexibility. The 6700 is compatible with a range of E-mount lenses, including the recently launched FE 70-200mm F4.0 G Macro OSS II, expanding shooting capabilities. It harnesses 6K-equivalent data for superior 4K video output, supports high-frame-rate recording at 4K 120fps, and features S-Log for excellent gradation. With a compact design and weighing approximately 493g, the 6700 is highly portable. It includes a user-friendly vari-angle LCD monitor, touch menu, customizable dials, and optical 5-axis in-body image stabilization for stable shots. Connectivity options include support for the Creators App for easy uploads to cloud services. Sony has prioritized sustainability, using recycled plastic in camera bodies and actively reducing environmental impact. The 6700 also features a Screen Reader function for audible menu and video playback assistance, catering to a diverse range of creators. Quick specifications: Sony Alpha 6700 cameras Type: Interchangeable lens digital camera Mount: E-mount Processor: Sonys BIONZ XR processing engine Sensor: APS-C type (23.3 x 15.5 mm), Exmor R CMOS sensor Camera: 26MP; Antidust System Image Size: APS-C L: 6192 x 4128 (26 M), M: 4384 x 2920 (13 M), S: 3104 x 2064 (6.4 M) Image modes: RAW, JPEG, HEIF (4:2:0/4:2:2), RAW and JPEG, RAW and HEIF; 14Bit Raw Card Slot: Slot for SD (UHS-I/II compliant) memory card Focus: Fast Hybrid AF (phase-detection AF / contrast-detection AF) AI Recognition: Human, Animal, Bird, Insect, Car, Train, Aeroplane Other features: AF Track Sens. (Still), AF Subj. Shift Sensitivity (Movie), AF Transition Speed (Movie), Switch V/H AF Area, AF Area Regist., Circ. of Focus Point, Focus Map (Movie), AF Assist (Movie) ISO Sensitivity: Still images: ISO 10032000 (expandable to ISO 50102400), AUTO (ISO 1006400, selectable lower limit and upper limit), Movies: ISO 10032000 equivalent, AUTO (ISO 1006400, selectable lower limit and upper limit) Viewfinder: 1 cm (0.39 type) electronic viewfinder (XGA OLED) Monitor type: 7.5 cm (3.0-type) type TFT Shutter: Mechanical shutter / Electronic shutter Image Stabilization: Image sensor-shift mechanism with five-axis compensation Mass Storage/MTP; Yes (SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps (USB 3.2) compatible) Connectivity: Bluetooth v4.2; Wi-Fi Dual Band; HDMI micro connector (Type-D), Mic, Headphone, Remote Control Mic & Speaker: Built-in, stereo; Built-in, monaural Battery: Rechargeable Battery NP-FZ100; Type-C Charging Dimensions: Approx. 122.0 x 69.0 x 75.1 mm Weight: 493g Pricing and availability The Sony Alpha 6700 cameras (ILCE-6700, ILCE-6700L, and ILCE-6700M) will be available at all Sony Centers, Alpha Flagship stores, Sony authorized dealers, ecommerce websites such as Amazon.in and Flipkart, and major electronic stores across India starting from today, i.e., November 20, 2023. Commenting on the launch, Mukesh Srivastava, Head of Digital Imaging Business, Sony India, said: stc Bahrain, a world-class digital enabler, has been awarded for its insurtech proposition at the Middle East Technology Excellence Awards. This is in honour of the companys expansion into the insurtech sector, thus empowering the next wave of insurtech services as welll as diversifying business lines and connecting to a wider consumer base. stc Bahrains insurtech services is part of the companys strategy to drive the Kingdoms digital transformation with a commitment to diversify into new sectors and product categories. The company implemented a fully virtual portal that offers insurance products through a wide range of services, whether it be device, travel, roadside and motor insurance services. On the big win, CEO Engineer Nezar Banabeela said: "As digital enablers, we are proud to be launching innovative services in line with the modern-day consumer demands, to diversify our portfolio offering, and empower innovation and economic development in various sectors across the Kingdom." Through its digital platform, extensive product offerings, transparency, and customer-centric approach, stc Bahrains insuretech services are empowering individuals and businesses to protect themselves effectively in an ever-changing world. stc Bahrain is the only insurance provider to be appointed representative of two leading providers Solidarity and BKIC (GIG Bahrain) granted by the Central Bank of Bahrain, he stated. The launch of the insurtech services has disrupted the insurance industry by leveraging technology to streamline processes and enhance accessibility, he added. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella today announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will lead a new advanced AI research team within the company. This announcement follows the removal of Altman from his position as OpenAI CEO by the board, led by co-founder Ilya Sutskever. Altmans hiring by Microsoft occurred after unsuccessful negotiations with OpenAIs board to reinstate him as the CEO. In the interim, former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear has taken on the role of OpenAIs CEO. The tech industry was surprised by Altmans removal, described as an alleged coup by OpenAIs board. Altman, a co-founder of the company, was ousted unexpectedly, even catching key investor Microsoft off guard. In response, several OpenAI employees, including co-founder Brockman, resigned in protest over the weekend. Nadella mentioned that Altman and Brockman would be joined by colleagues, suggesting that Microsoft is also hiring OpenAI employees who resigned. Altman acknowledged his move to Microsoft and provided hints about Altmans role, emphasizing Microsofts approach to giving founders space to build independent identities. In a reply response to Nadellas post, Sam Altman posted, the mission continues. Microsofts Ongoing Commitment to OpenAI Despite the leadership changes, Microsoft maintains its multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, reinforcing its exclusive cloud partnership. Microsofts cloud services continue to power OpenAIs workloads across various domains, including products, API services, and research. In his post, Nadella expressed commitment to the partnership with OpenAI and optimism about working with Emmett Shear and the new leadership team. The announcement coincides with Microsofts continued innovation in custom silicon, including an Arm-based CPU for cloud workloads, aligning with its strategy to power Azure data centers efficiently. Announcing the updates, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, posted: Samsung Electronics is set to host Galaxy Unpack 2024 in San Jose, USA, on January 17, 2024, as per a report by Korean media. The events date has been moved up by approximately 15 days compared to previous years, aiming to maximize performance improvements in the first half of the upcoming year. Pre-order and Sale Details for Galaxy S24 Series The report not only reveals the launch date but also provides details on the pre-order and sale schedule for the Galaxy S24 series. The series includes three models: Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra. Pre-orders will commence immediately after the launch on January 17, with early orders expected to be delivered between January 26 and 30. The general sale of the Galaxy S24 series is set to start on January 30. Instagram Camera Shortcut on Galaxy S24 Phones Leakster Alessandro Paluzzi shared that Samsung Galaxy S24 phones may introduce an Instagram camera shortcut on the lock screen. Upon opening the Instagram app for the first time, users may be prompted to enable this shortcut through a pop-up dialogue box. This feature, if true, would be specific to the Instagram Camera and might be part of One UI 6.1. According to earlier reports, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ are expected to feature a 50MP primary rear camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP selfie camera. The Galaxy S24 Ultra might boast a 200MP primary rear camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, a 50MP telephoto camera with 5x zoom (optical), and a 12MP front camera. As we await further details, additional information about the official announcement from Samsung will likely emerge in the coming days. Source 1, 2 Hyundai Motor Group is set to open on November 21 its first smart urban mobility hub in Singapore that will redefine the future of mobility production and set new standards in customer experience. Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS), a part of the groups vision to enable progress for humanity, presents an innovative and an exceptional level of integration between human and robotic processes. HMGICS will serve as a test bed for human-centric intelligent automotive manufacturing technology, utilising advanced, next-generation production methods significantly evolved from traditional conveyor-belt manufacturing. While developing the groups approach to production, sustainability, and customer experience, HMGICs will also reinforce Singapores reputation as a leader in a new era of future mobility thanks to its focus on sustainable and transformative solutions. HMGICS is fully integrated into the Singapore smart city ecosystem and will reinforce the Hyundai Motor Group and Singapores combined vision to create a better and more sustainable future for all. TradeArabia News Service New Delhi, Nov 20 (UNI) At least 40 fishing boats were destroyed after a massive fire broke out at a fishing harbor in India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh during the early hours of Monday, police sources said. No injuries or deaths were reported till the last reports came in. The fishing harbor is located in the state's port city of Visakhapatnam, an industrial center located on the Bay of Bengal. The cause of the fire was not known yet. Fire tenders were rushed to the site to douse the fire, said an official of the local fire department. UNI/XINHUA ARN Moscow, Nov 20 (UNI) US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday that he had arrived in Kiev, adding that the United States will continue to support Ukraine. "I just arrived in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian leaders. Im here today to deliver an important message the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russias aggression, both now and into the future," Austin wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. During the meeting with the Ukrainian top brass, Austin is expected to cover such topics as supporting Ukraine's military in the wake of the coming winter and strengthening cooperation, the US Department of Defense said. "During his visit, Secretary Austin will engage in high-level talks with Ukrainian leadership. The discussions will focus on further bolstering the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, to include ensuring Ukraine's armed forces have the battlefield capabilities they need for both the winter and to defend their country against future Russian threats," the statement read. Later in the week, the US defense chief will host the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the release added. Western countries have stepped up their military and financial assistance to Ukraine and rolled out several sanctions packages against Russia after Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow has condemned foreign military supplies to Ukraine. In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russian strikes. UNI/SPUTNIK GNK Nothing Chats Messaging App Faces Privacy Concerns, Withdrawn from Play Store News oi -Kabir Jain Last week, UK-based startup Nothing, led by Carl Pei, launched the Nothing Chats messaging platform in collaboration with Sunbird. The app aimed to bridge messaging barriers between Android and iOS devices, allowing Nothing Phone 2 users to send iMessages as blue bubbles. However, the beta version faced privacy and security concerns, leading to its withdrawal from the Google Play Store. Bug Fixes and Privacy Issues Nothing officially stated that it's "delaying the launch until further notice to work with Sunbird to fix several bugs." While the company did not specify the nature of these bugs, users had raised concerns about the app transmitting Apple ID credentials via the less secure HTTP instead of HTTPS. Users logging in with their Apple ID were required to pass through a remote Mac server, raising questions about the security of this process. Criticism and Security Flaws Criticism intensified as users pointed out significant security flaws. Kishan Bagaria criticized the app for being "extremely insecure," highlighting the lack of end-to-end encryption for messages sent through Sunbird's system. Dylan Roussel pointed out that Sunbird had access to all messages on a user's device, while another user, wukko, revealed that the app sent messages and media attachments to Sentry and stored "all" data through Firebase without encryption. We've removed the Nothing Chats beta from the Play Store and will be delaying the launch until further notice to work with Sunbird to fix several bugs. We apologise for the delay and will do right by our users. Nothing (@nothing) November 18, 2023 Nothing Chats Features and Purpose The Nothing Chats app was designed to bring iMessage support to Android, allowing blue bubble conversations with iMessage users. It supported RCS for compatible devices, offering features like end-to-end encryption, group messaging, live typing indications, high-resolution media sharing, and more. Bridge Between Android and iPhone Users Acknowledging the age-old distinction between blue and green chat bubbles for iPhone and Android users, Nothing Chats sought to be a bridge between the platforms. However, concerns over privacy have led to the withdrawal of the app from the Google Play Store, with the full launch postponed until further notice. Via Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Moscow, Nov 20 (UNI) Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate in an online extraordinary BRICS summit on Tuesday that will focus on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Kremlin said on Monday. "On November 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in an extraordinary BRICS summit (online) to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," the Kremlin said in a statement. Earlier in the day, the South African government said that President Cyril Ramaphosa, the bloc's 2023 chair, would convene a BRICS Extraordinary Joint Meeting on the Middle East Situation in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The leaders of the bloc's countries, new member countries and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will participate in the meeting, the government said, adding that participants were expected to adopt a joint statement on the situation in the Gaza Strip at the end of the meeting. Microsoft to Grant EU Users the Freedom to Uninstall Edge & Bing from Windows News oi -Kabir Jain Microsoft has announced significant changes coming to Windows in response to the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), set to take effect in the European Economic Area (EEA) in March 2024. Windows users in the European Union will soon enjoy the ability to uninstall various built-in apps, a move aligned with the EU's DMA. Notably, Microsoft will allow EU residents to uninstall apps like Microsoft Bing and Microsoft Edge, providing users the freedom to choose alternative services. This change, however, will not extend to Windows users outside the EU. Enhanced Interoperability and User Options Microsoft is introducing interoperability features to Windows 11, allowing third-party vendors such as Google to provide alternative services for Windows Search. Additionally, feeds in Windows Widgets will be open to third-party providers, presenting users with more choices in service providers. These interoperability enhancements are exclusive to versions of Windows sold to EU-based customers. App Default Settings To enhance user experience and recognition, Microsoft will now label system apps with a "System" label next to them, making it easier for users to identify operating system components and system apps. Furthermore, Windows will remember customers' configured app default settings for link and file types in the EEA, providing users with more control over their preferences. However, Microsoft notes that apps will still choose how to open content on Windows, and some Microsoft apps may opt to open web content in Microsoft Edge. Exclusive Features and Copilot Availability Unfortunately, the rebranded Bing Chat, now known as Copilot, will not be immediately available to Windows users in the European Economic Area (EEA). Microsoft stated that the initial markets for Copilot include North America, the United Kingdom, and parts of Asia and South America, with plans to expand to the EEA in the future. DMA Compliance and Availability Many of these DMA compliance changes are already accessible with the Windows 11 version 23H2 update in the Release Preview Channel. These changes will also extend to Windows 10 in the same channel at a later date, with the goal of updating Windows 11 version 23H2 and Windows 10 version 22H2 PCs in the EEA to ensure compliance by March 6, 2024. Via Source Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications OnePlus 12 5G Launch Date Confirmed for December 4: OnePlus Ace 3 could Tag Along News oi -Carlsen Martin After several leaks and teasers, the OnePlus 12 5G has got an official launch date in China. The OnePlus 12 5G succeeds last year's OnePlus 11 5G and will debut as the company's first smartphone to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. While the OnePlus 12 5G will be the primary focus of the launch event, rumors suggest the company could also unveil the OnePlus Ace 3 5G at the event. The OnePlus Ace 3 is expected to debut as the OnePlus 12R globally. OnePlus 12 5G Launch Date The OnePlus 12 5G launch date in China is set for December 4. The launch of the OnePlus 12 5G also coincides with the 10th anniversary of the company. The OnePlus 12 launch event will start from 07:00 pm local time or 04:30 pm IST on December 4, 2023. We believe that the OnePlus 12 5G launch date in India and globally will take place sometime in the first quarter of 2023. OnePlus 12 5G Specifications As mentioned before, the OnePlus 12 5G will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. The chip will be paired with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. The OnePlus 12 5G is also expected to pack a 5,000 mAh battery with 100W wired fast charging support and 50W wireless fast charging support. The OnePlus 12 5G will run on Android 14. The OnePlus 12 5G will also feature a 2K AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 2,600 nits. The X1 display used on the upcoming OnePlus flagship is the first 2K panel to secure a DisplayMate A+ rating and has also broken 18 DisplayMate A+ records in the process. The camera setup on the back will be fine-tuned in collaboration with Hasselblad. The OnePlus 12 5G will feature a triple-rear camera setup on the back with a 50 MP Sony IMX966 primary sensor with a 1/1.4-inch sensor size, OIS support and an f/1.7 aperture. The main camera will also be paired with a 50 MP Sony IMX581 ultrawide shooter, and a 64 MP OmniVision OV64B telephoto unit with OIS support, 120x Digital Zoom, and an f/2.5 aperture. Stay tuned to Gizbot for more details about the OnePlus 12 5G. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications The image of hostage Ariel, 4, is projected on a wall during a rally outside the Unicef offices in Tel Aviv on November 20, 2023 to demand the release of Israelis held hostage in Gaza since the October 7 attack by Hamas militants Flags flew at half-mast at UN facilities across the globe Monday including at the body's New York headquarters, as staff stood in silent tribute to the more than 100 colleagues killed in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war. Qatar: Press remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell after meeting with Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani European External Action Service (EEAS) 19.11.2023 EEAS Press Team Check against delivery! Thank you, your Excellency, Prime Minister [and Foreign Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani]. It is good to be back in Doha again. I am honoured to discuss with you about the very sad circumstances that we are facing. And I am honoured to be received the by the Emir [Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani] later. You know, my dear Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed, that I always enjoy and appreciate exchanges with you and Qatari authorities. This is my third visit to Qatar in as the High Representative of the European Union. I would have preferred very much to have our discussion about our longstanding partnership and our further bilateral cooperation development. But unfortunately, we are here today to discuss the very dire regional situation. In the past four days, I met counterparts from Israel and Palestine, went to Ramallah, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, I visited the kibbutzes at the border [with Gaza] that were assaulted by Hamas. I met with families of the hostages. [I was] in Bahrain and now here in Qatar, after I go to Jordan. In Bahrain, I met a lot of your colleagues from different Arab countries. All of us, we were discussing the same thing - how to stop the suffering of innocent civilians - in Gaza now, they suffered also in Israel, but now the concentration of pain of people being killed, civilian victims, is in Gaza. This is the challenge that we have to try to solve. Our joint efforts are needed more than ever. I appreciate a lot the constructive role that Qatar is playing as a regional power with much capacity in fostering peace and stability. I express my appreciation to both His Highness and His Excellency, the Prime Minister, for their diplomatic efforts regionally and internationally. Qatar has emerged as a key go-to mediator, and not only in the Middle East, In many other crises. Remember the Afghanistan one. Well, nobody remembers about Afghanistan anymore. But you played an important role, as you are playing it now. I want to recognize your personal engagement on the repatriation of Ukrainian children illegally taken by Russia, but also on the prisoners exchanges with Iran. So, in many aspects, in many problems, you are playing an important role to make peace and to free people. Today, we discussed, in particular, the issue of the hostages taken by Hamas during their terrorist attack on Israel on October 7. There again, Qatar is playing an important facilitating role in the efforts to achieve their release. Once again, I use this opportunity to call for an unconditional release of the hostages, and for allowing access to them by the Red Cross or the Red Crescent. What Hamas did, was the biggest massacre of Jews since the Second World War. But at the same time, we are witnessing the horrible humanitarian situation of the people, civilians in Gaza, suffering under heavy bombardment. The United Nations today has announced the bombardment of UNRWA school in the north of Gaza with tens of casualties. The United Nations consider what's happening in Gaza one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time. They call it in French "carnage". There is no hierarchy between horrors. One horror does not justify another horror. And the pain that you inflict on children of others, will not justify never, will not compensate the pain your children have been suffering. On the contrary, it will create a violent spiral that will come once again unless we got a peace, a sustainable peace. That is why the European Union has called for immediate humanitarian pauses, and the United Nations Security Council, under the request of one member of the EU - Malta, and with the support of France and Germany, members of the European Union, adopted a very important resolution asking for immediate, urgent and sustained humanitarian pauses. Sorry, I said the members of the EU, who are members of the UN Security Council. Presented by Malta and voted for by EU members who are members of the UN Security Council. I want to remind that the decisions of UN Security Council are not just words. They are compulsory, they have to be implemented. But this resolution has not been implemented, not yet. To the contrary, the bombing has continued. I have to recall that this decision of the UN Security Council has to be implemented. Too many lives are being lost every day. In my discussions with our Israeli friends, I insisted on respect for international humanitarian law and on maximum restraint against civilians in their retaliation. But the number of casualties, in particular the number of children [casualties], makes us believe that much more needs to be done in order to preserve lives of civilians. With international partners we are urgently seeking ways how to move from war to peace. We established a humanitarian hub in Egypt, launched humanitarian air bridges, and multiplied our humanitarian assistance. Providing humanitarian assistance is essential, but it is dealing with the symptoms. It does not make a lot of meaning to give food for one's dinner, and then be killed the following day. We need to tackle the causes. We need to make the humanitarian stage the first step, for a political stage. And there, the Two State solution is the only viable way out. I have to repeat once again, that we have been claiming the Two State solution for more than 30 years without doing whatever has to be done in order to make it a possibility. And now, in the middle of this horrific crisis, there is maybe a wake-up call for the international community and, in particular, for us as Europeans and Arabs, that we have a special responsibility in engaging for a solution. 30 years ago, in Oslo, this was decided and we first finally need to set out the steps and principles leading there, to move from declarations to concrete actions and implementation. Because it is not only peace between Arab states and Israel, it has to be peace between Palestinians and Israelis, otherwise this crisis will continue sending shock waves around the world and affecting [also] European societies and their fabric. We are [already] seeing anti-Semitism developing, and also anti-Muslim[phobia], and this anti-whatever, -whoever has to be stopped in order to keep peace among us, inside our societies and among the countries of the Middle East. When I am saying that I am calling for a Two State solution, I am very much aware that it will require a lot of effort, not only economically, because Gaza has been rebuilt several times, not only economically great investment and support, but a political investment not only to build houses but a state. On that, the Palestinian Authority has an important role to play. My dear Prime Minister, Palestinians deserve dignity. Israel deserves security. Both deserve prosperous live in peace and safety in the same land. We want to work together to achieve this and that is why I appreciate a lot our discussion today in Doha. Several months ago, when nobody was taking care of what was happening in the Middle East, we launched this Peace Day [Effort] initiative, and we held a meeting at the United Nations in New York in September. More than 40 people [representing countries and organisations] attended and all of them agreed that we have to work on building this Two State solution. At that moment, nothing dramatic was happening. But now, in the middle of this crisis, the best honour we can do to people who lost their lives on one side and the another, is to do work in order to make this impossible to happen again. Q&A Q: High Representative, based on your conversations in Israel and elsewhere, what is your sense of the situation with hostages and is there anything the EU can do to help in this regard? Dear Prime Minister, I have been in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramallah. I met for almost four hours with two groups of families of people who are held as hostages, fathers, sons, brothers. I understand their sorrow and suffering. They asked me to transmit to you that you should do - I am sure you do - everything you could in order to release these hostages. From our side, as the European Union, we are doing exactly the same - putting pressure on both parts in order to make this deal possible. I know that you have been working relentlessly since the day one, even before the Israeli troops entered into Gaza to make this release possible, which is part of the path that we have to follow in order to get this. But there is not only violence in Gaza, I spoke to Palestinian Civil society in the West Bank and they explained also that there is a level of violence, increasing violence they are suffering in the West Bank. This is something also that has to be taken into account by the international community to prevent that this increase in violence against the Palestinians in their territories would open a second front of violence in this dramatic situation. So, thank you very much for your efforts I am sure you will succeed. Q: High Representative you said that Hamas cannot have future in Gaza, are we talking about Palestinian Authority taking over Gaza, or some sort of Arab police force with different mechanisms that could take over in the future? Prime Minister, thank you. The solution, the political solution for Gaza. I'm not talking about the day after because the day after is today. Every day is a day after. But at that certain moment, a political settlement would have to be found. And I think that Israel should not stay in Gaza and Hamas should not stay in Gaza. The only one who can take seriously control and provide services to the population is the Palestinian Authority. They are ready to do so. In fact, the Palestinian Authority has never left Gaza. Who is providing civil services to the population? Who is providing schools and hospitals and services, paying for it and organising it? They're not Hamas, it is the Palestinian Authority. Tens of thousands of staff members of the Palestinian Authority are there, being paid by the Palestinian Authority, by the way with the support of European Union. So, I think that the Palestinian Authority has to go back to Gaza. And the solution for the Gaza has to be part of the overall solution for the Palestinian issue. There are no two different Palestinian territories. There are physically, well, there are three physically, East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza. But they are part of the same Palestinian territory for the same Palestinian people. And this has to be solved all together. And the Palestinian Authority, I think, has to play an important role. They will need help. They will need help. And maybe, I don't know, in the transitional period, someone else has to support the Palestinian Authority. But the political agent, the authority that has to take care of Gaza, it's a Palestinian authority. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Maldives asks India to withdraw military, expected to 'facilitate more independent and equal diplomacy' Global Times By GT staff reporters Published: Nov 19, 2023 09:22 PM One day after Mohamed Muizzu was sworn in as the 8th president of the Maldives, the new leader, who campaigned on altering his country's "India first" policy, has asked India to withdraw its military from the country. This request is seen by some Chinese analysts as a brave step forward for a more independent and equal diplomacy as well as inclusive and mutually beneficial cooperation with more countries, including China. The new head of the South Asian country is trying to safeguard national security and sovereignty despite the long-term and strong coercion from India, analysts noted. "The Maldivian people had given him [Muizzu] a strong mandate to make the request to India and expressed the hope that India will honor the democratic will of the people of the Maldives," the president's office said in a statement on Saturday. Muizzu made the request when India's Minister of Earth Sciences paid a courtesy call on the Maldivian president. India's defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Reuters on Sunday. Muizzu won the presidential election in September after promising to remove a small Indian military presence of some 75 personnel, Reuters reported. At his inauguration on Friday, the Maldivian president expressed his commitment to prioritizing the interests of the citizens of the Maldives, ensuring that no external country's interests will supersede those of the Maldives and its people, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday. Muizzu's Indian troop withdrawal request reflects that the new government is trying to strike a diplomatic balance between its relations with India and other countries and regions, said Long Xingchun, a professor at the School of International Relations at Sichuan International Studies University. Long explained that if India continues its military presence, the Maldives will not be able to engage in comprehensive and inclusive diplomacy with other countries. "[In that case,] Maldives will be constrained in its interactions with China and other countries," Long told the Global Times on Sunday. But analysts refuted some Indian and Western media outlets which hyped that the Indian troop withdrawal request is to cater to China. Some media outlets including the AP and Indian Express associated the request to the cooperation between the Maldives and China under the Belt and Road Initiative, suggesting that the move by the Maldives aims to lean toward China. "This is their typical way of thinking and reporting. In fact, China's cooperation with the Maldives is inclusive, different from India's which is exclusive. China is more open and confident in its approach. We fully support India's cooperation with the Maldives," Long stressed. He pointed out that India regards the South Asian region, where the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh are located, as its sphere of influence, which raises concerns about sovereignty and security for those South Asian countries. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari November 19th, 20:40 IDF Press Release Press Briefing 19.11.23 IDF I would like to share an update on our hostage rescue effort. The sensitive information that I will be revealing now was shared with the Marciano family this morning. 19 year old IDF Corporal Noa Marciano was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists during the massacre of October 7th. Noa was taken into Gaza alive, she was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza City next to the Shifa Hospital. During ongoing combat, in the vicinity of where she was held captive, Noa's Hamas captor was killed and Noa was injured. I repeat, she was only injured. An independent pathological report has determined Noa's injuries were not life threatening. I repeat, Noa's injuries were not life threatening. What happened to Noa? The world should ask, what happened to Noa? According to the intelligence we have in our hands, concrete intelligence: Hamas terrorists took Noa into Shifa hospital where she was murdered quickly. Hamas murdered Noa inside Shifa hospital. Our thoughts are with Noa's family. We send our heartfelt condolences to Noa's family. We did not reach Noa in time. This has only made the IDF more determined to do everything, everything in our power, to bring all our hostages home. We have also gathered more intelligence from the hospital proving that Noa Marciano was not the only hostage taken by Hamas into Shifa hospital. I will now share concrete evidence of hostages - one from Nepal, one from Thailand. Taken from Israel during the Hamas massacre on October 7th. After ruthlessly massacring and taking people hostage, the terrorists fled into Shifa hospital. They went to the hospital to hide. Here you can see Hamas terrorists drove back from the massacre - this is an Israeli military jeep they brought into the hospital. I want to repeat it just to make everybody understand: they are bringing an Israeli jeep, a military jeep, into the hospital compound - a place terrorists should not enter. They are entering with the military jeep. This is 10:50. One of the Toyotas that were used by Hamas on the 7th of October, is taking hostages into the hospital. We have found this [make of] Toyota, a different one, with all the gear, a Nukhba Toyota, hiding in a garage inside the hospital. It was ready to go to the October 7th massacre. Like other toyotas going back into the hospital, using the hospital as a terror base. Here is another jeep, another military vehicle, entering into the Shifa hospital. Using the Shifa hospital as a human shield shelter for Hamas terrorists, bringing military equipment into the vicinity of the hospital. This is the 7th of October, at 10:55 AM. The evidence I will share was sent by Israel, via diplomatic channels, to the countries of those civilians. As you can see, Hamas is taking a hostage inside the vicinity of the hospital. It doesn't even look like he needed treatment, but they are taking him inside the hospital. I will now share this video that shows the same hostage entering into the hospital with the gunmen, the terrorists are inside the hospital. This is the main entrance of the hospital. This is at 10:55 AM. They are entering [with] another hostage, gunmen are entering [with] another hostage from those countries I mentioned, into the vicinity. The terrorists are guarding the room. We have not yet located both of these hostages and rescued them. We have not yet located them. We do not know where they are. They are still hostages we need to rescue. The world must remember, Hamas is holding the elderly, men, women, children, babies; Babies! hostage. The Israel Defense Forces have a moral obligation to bring everyone, every one of our hostages home. We will not rest until we do. Hamas was hiding and murdering our hostages in Shifa Hospital. Hamas was building terror tunnels under Shifa Hospital. By now the truth is clear: Hamas wages war from hospitals, wages terror from hospitals. Everyone who cares about the future of humanity must condemn Hamas. Thank you. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah targets 3 Israeli military bases IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Nov 20, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has targeted three military bases of the Zionist regime in the northern parts of the occupied territories. Hezbollah said in a statement on Sunday that it has targeted a place of gathering of Zionist forces in a new secret center located in the Jal al-Alam military base with an appropriate weapon, Palestine Today reported. The statement said that the Zionist regime suffered casualties in the attack. Hezbollah also targeted on Sunday the Hadb Al-Bustan and al-Jardah military bases in the northwest of the occupied territories with its missiles. The Lebanese resistance group has targeted Israeli military positions in recent weeks as part of its support for the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli assaults have killed at least 12,500 people. It also targeted the Hadb Al-Bustan and al-Rahab military bases on Saturday. 4354**7129 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Moscow, Nov 20 (UNI) Russian and China are coordinating efforts in solving key international problems, contributing to the construction of a just and democratic world order, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday. "Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive and strategic partnership are at an unprecedented high level. Large-scale joint projects are being implemented in the economic, transport, energy, humanitarian and other spheres. On a bilateral basis, as well as in the formats of the SCO, BRICS and other multilateral structures, Moscow and Beijing coordinate efforts in solving major international problems, contributing to the construction of a more just and democratic world order," Putin said in a greeting message to the participants of the United Russia party and the Chinese Communist Party Dialogue. The constructive work between United Russia and the Chinese Communist Party contributes to the progressive development of bilateral relations, Putin added. "Regular contacts involving both their central bodies and regional structures provide a useful exchange of experience in the areas of party building, parliamentary and public activities, allow us to thoroughly discuss a wide range of topical issues on the bilateral and international agenda," Putin said. UNI/SPUTNIK GNK Resistance fighters target US base in northern Iraq IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Nov 20, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- A media outlet affiliated with resistance forces in Iraq has reported an attack on the US military base "Al-Harir" located in northern Iraq The media outlet said early on Sunday that the Islamic Resistance of Iraq has claimed responsibility for this attack in a statement. In a separate incident, Al Mayadeen reported an attack on the US military base situated in the "Al-Omar" oil field, located in the northeast of Deir Ez-Zor, eastern Syria. Several explosions were reportedly heard at the Al-Omar base. 9376**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemeni armed forces say will strike Israeli ships IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Nov 20, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- Yemen's armed forces have declared that any ship affiliated with the Israeli regime or carrying its flag will be considered a target for military strikes. In a statement issued on Sunday, the Yemeni armed forces said that in response to the Israeli-American onslaught on the Gaza Strip and their daily atrocities, they will be targeting Israeli ships, as well as vessels leased or owned by companies associated with the Zionist regime. The statement said the decision was taken in support of the oppressed Palestinians in Gaza and at the request of the Yemeni and all other free nations. The Yemeni armed forces also called on citizens from all countries to refrain from working on such ships and to publicly disassociate themselves from the transportation of goods by these vessels. The warning follows an earlier statement from a Yemeni military source asserting that the country's army is capable of targeting all Israeli ships in the Red Sea and any other location. 4353**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran Leader: Defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza is a reality ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 19 November 2023 / 14:37 Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei toured an exhibition showing the latest achievements of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force in a visit to the Ashura Aerospace University of Science & Technology on Sunday. Tehran (ISNA) - After stating a number of points and expressing his satisfaction about IRGC's Aerospace Force achievements shown in this exhibition, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution addressed the recent developments that have unfolded in Palestine including the Zionist regime's ongoing crimes in Gaza. Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the events in Gaza revealed many facts that were hidden from people around the world. One of these facts has been the support of the heads of Western countries for racial discrimination. Iran supreme leader described the Zionist regime as a manifestation of racism, stating that, "The Zionists consider themselves as a superior race and they consider the rest of the human race to be inferior. That is why they have killed several thousand children without any remorse." Iran Leader: Defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza is a reality On the same note, he emphasized that, "When the President of the United States, the Chancellor of Germany, the President of France and the Prime Minister of England support and help such a racist regime with all the things that they claim, it means that these men support racism, which is one the most despised issues in the world." The Leader of the Islamic Revolution asserted that the people of Europe and the US should settle the issue regarding this situation and show that they are not supporters of racial discrimination. Another point that Ayatollah Khamenei referred to regarding the issues in Gaza was the military and operational failure of the Zionist regime. "Despite the massive bombings in Gaza, the Zionist regime has so far failed in its action because they said from the beginning that their goal is to destroy and cripple Hamas and the Resistance, but after more than 40 days and after using all their military power, they have not yet been able to do this," he said. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution further noted that the savage bombardment of hospitals, women and children in Gaza is a sign that the leaders of the Zionist regime are enraged by their defeat. Iran Leader: Defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza is a reality "The Zionist regime's defeat in Gaza is a fact. Advancing and entering hospitals or people's homes is not a victory, because victory means defeating the other side, which is something that the Zionist regime has not been able to achieve so far, nor will it be able to do so in the future," he added. Underlining that that the dimensions of this failure are beyond the Zionist regime, Ayatollah Khamenei asserted that, "This failure means that the US and Western countries have failed as well, and now the whole world is faced with the realization that a regime that has such comprehensive and advanced military facilities and equipment has not been able to defeat an opponent that does not have any of these facilities." The Leader also expressed his dissatisfaction towards the manner in which some Muslim governments have performed with regards to their duties. "Some Islamic governments seemingly condemned the crimes of the Zionist regime in public assemblies, and some have so far failed to do this. This is not acceptable. The main thing that needs to be done is to cut off the lifeline of the Zionist regime. Islamic governments must prevent energy and goods from reaching this regime." In addition to this, Ayatollah Khamenei called on Islamic governments to cut off their political relationship with the Zionist regime at least for a limited period of time. He also urged nations to continue with their protests and rallies so that the oppression of the Palestinian people will not be forgotten. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution added that, "We are certain about God's promise. We are optimistic about the future and we will fulfill our duty." Iran Leader: Defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza is a reality After visiting this exhibition showing the IRGC Aerospace Force's achievements and capabilities, Ayatollah Khamenei called this visit "enjoyable" and "favorable" in speaking before the commanders and officials of the Ashura University of Aerospace Science and Technology. He emphasized that the "correct assessment of needs" and the "concentration on needs in science and research" were the most important aspects of it. This exhibition included sections on missiles, drones, defense, and space. The new and updated achievements of young scientists and experts from the IRGC Aerospace Force were displayed under the title "All Iranian: From concept to product." During the visit of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution to this exhibition, the "Fattah 2" hypersonic cruise missile, the "Mehran" mobile defense system, and the upgraded "9th of Dey" system, as well as the "Shahed 147" drone were unveiled. The latest measures taken and developments in the fields of satellite-carrying rockets and sending satellites into space were another part of this exhibition. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah shows footage downing Israeli drone ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 19 November 2023 / 11:10 The military media of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon shows footage of its fighters downing an Israeli Hermes 450 drone. Tehran (ISNA) - The military media of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah broadcast on Saturday scenes of its fighters downing an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The Israeli UAV, an advanced multi-mission combat Hermes 450 drone was downed by a surface-to-air missile, with the military media saying the wreckage of the UAV was seen falling over al-Jalil in northern occupied Palestine. Hezbollah said The Israeli UAV, named the "Zik" in Hebrew, had violated Lebanese airspace earlier in the day. The video included a detailed explanation of the UAV used for aerial surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as monitoring and attacking ground targets. Additionally, it provides support to ground forces with firepower and reconnaissance. The Hermes 450 is used to direct firepower for artillery, tactical signal reconnaissance, and armed patrols to address emergencies. Hezbollah and Israel new round of clashes started from 8th of October as Hamas and other Palestinian movements launch unprecedented operation against Israel known as "Al-Aqsa Storm" on October 7. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US denies reports about truce deal in Gaza ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 19 November 2023 / 11:04 The White House National Security Council spokeswoman denies a five-day truce agreement between the Palestine and Israel has been reached. Tehran (ISNA) - The United States said Saturday it was still working to secure a deal between the Israel and Hamas after a reported tentative agreement to free women and children held captives in Gaza in exchange for a five-day truce, Al-Mayadeen reports. "We have not reached a deal yet, but we continue to work hard to get to a deal," White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on X, in response to The Washington Post reporting a deal had been agreed. The Washington Post said a detailed, six-page agreement could mean captive releases begin within days and could also lead to the first sustained pause in the fighting between the Palestinian Resistance and the Israeli forces. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said Israel and the Palestine would halt "combat operations" for at least five days while an initial 50 or more captives are released in smaller batches every 24 hours, with overhead surveillance monitoring movement to police the pause. According to the report, "It was not immediately clear how many of the 239 people believed to be in captivity in Gaza would be released under the deal." It highlighted that "the stop in fighting is also intended to allow a significant increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance, including fuel, to enter the besieged enclave from Egypt." The Post cited Arab and other diplomats as saying that "the outline of a deal was put together during weeks of talks in Doha, Qatar among Israel, the United States and Hamas, indirectly represented by Qatari mediators." "It remained unclear until now that Israel would agree to temporarily pause its offensive in Gaza, provided the conditions were right," the newspaper noted. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN rights chief calls for end to Israeli killing of Gaza's people at schools and shelters Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 10:51 PM The United Nations human rights chief has called for an end to the Israeli regime's killing of defenseless people of the Gaza Strip who have taken refuge at schools that are now being used as shelters. In a statement issued on Sunday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk also expressed disbelief following a "horrendous" bout of violence against Palestinian people in Gaza by Israel, which has brought the territory under an all-out genocidal war for more than a month now. "The killing of so many people at schools-turned-shelters, [while] hundreds fleeing for their lives from al-Shifa Hospital amid continuing displacement of hundreds of thousands in southern Gaza are actions, which fly in the face of the basic protections civilians must be afforded under international law," the UN rights chief said. His remarks came a day after more than 200 Palestinians were killed and injured in an Israeli bombing of al-Fakhoora School, which is affiliated with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Shortly afterwards, the regime targeted Tal al-Zaatar, another school, in the town of Beit Lahia, which is also located in northern Gaza, with another bombing. "Images purportedly taken in the aftermath of the reported Israeli strike on al-Fakhoora School are horrifying, clearly showing large numbers of women, children, and men severely wounded or killed. At least, three other schools hosting displaced Palestinians have also been attacked in the past 48 hours," the UN official said. "Israeli military operations have been continuing inside and around al-Shifa Hospital. UN colleagues visited the site yesterday and witnessed first-hand what they described as a 'death zone'," Turk added. "Medical personnel, patients and civilians have fled the hospital, ordered to do so by the Israeli military. Hundreds were seen making their way south on foot at great risk to their lives, health, and safety. And to where? Nowhere is safe in Gaza," he added. Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, has taken the brunt of the regime's attacks on healthcare targets across the coastal sliver. The regime claims that the hospital houses a "command center" belonging to the resistance movement Hamas. It began targeting the facility shortly into the war and recently ordered forcible evacuation of citizens, the sick, the wounded, and medical staff in order to turn the hospital into closed military barracks. The Israeli regime started the war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory's Palestinian resistance groups carried out the surprise Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the occupied territories in response to the regime's intensified crimes against the Palestinian people. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, at least 13,000 Palestinians, including more than 5,000 children, have so far been killed, while about 30,000 people have been injured. Addressing the Israeli war's hugely indiscriminate nature, Turk said, "Rules of international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in carrying out the attacks, must be strictly adhered to," adding, "Failure to adhere to these rules may constitute war crimes." Noting that "the pain, dread, and fear etched on the faces of children, women, and men is too much to bear," the UN official said, "Irrespective of warnings, Israel is obliged to protect civilians wherever they are." "How much more violence, bloodshed, and misery will it take before people come to their senses? How many more civilians will be killed?" the UN official asked, asserting, "This must stop. Humanity must come first. A ceasefire - on humanitarian and human rights grounds - is desperately needed. Now." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address OIC condemns Israeli's successive massacres of Palestinians Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 7:00 PM The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has vehemently denounced the widespread atrocities and crimes perpetrated by the Israeli occupation as the regime presses ahead with its genocidal war against the besieged Gaza Strip. The 57-member international organization condemned the latest attacks on two schools, where civilians had sought refuge to avoid the intensified onslaught of the Israeli military on Gaza, calling them a "heinous crime" and "barbaric actions." "We condemn the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation by targeting al-Fakhoura and Tal al-Zaatar schools in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in hundreds of casualties, including dead and wounded," the OIC said in a statement published on Sunday. "The continuation of this brutal behavior in the Gaza Strip, which makes no distinction whatsoever between schools, medical institutions and military facilities, demonstrates the Israeli occupation's persistence on violating all international laws and norms, and disdaining the emerging positions around the globe against these barbaric actions which have become a disgrace to humanity," it added. On Saturday, more than 200 Palestinians were killed and injured in an Israeli bombing of the UNRWA-affiliated Al-Fakhoura School, in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, shortly before another school, Tal Al-Zaatar School, in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, was targeted with another bombing. Elsewhere in the statement, the OIC censured Israeli crimes in the al-Shifa Hospital, including forcible evacuation of the citizens, the sick, the wounded, and the medical staff, and its conversion into a closed military barracks, saying that is a "continuation of the ethnic cleansing and genocide perpetrated by the Israeli regime." Moreover, the international body criticized Israeli warplanes for targeting a residential building in Balata Refugee Camp, in the east of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, considering that as an extension of the ongoing violations of international humanitarian law by the illegal entity. The organization expressed concern about the escalation of attacks and organized terrorism by Israeli forces and settlers, which led to the killing of thousands of Palestinians. The OIC reiterated its plea to the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to fulfill its obligations. They urged for an "immediate and comprehensive" cessation of this brutal Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Strip-based Palestinian resistance groups of Hamas and Islamic Jihad carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime's intensified crimes against the Palestinian people. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 13,000 Palestinians, including more than 5,000 children, have so far been killed. About 30,000 people have been also injured. Since October 7, the Israeli occupation has also claimed the lives of more than 200 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ministers from Arab, Muslim countries to meet in China for ending Israeli war on Gaza Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 6:56 PM Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan says ministers from Arab and Muslim countries are slated to visit China on Monday and hold an international meeting aimed at ending the US-backed Israeli war on the besieged Gaza Strip. Farhan announced in a post on his X social media account on Sunday that the meeting would be the first step for the Islamic Ministerial Committee to carry out decisions reached at the Arab-Islamic Summit held in Riyadh earlier in the month, among which was working towards the implementation of an urgent ceasefire in Gaza. Farhan said the ministers would embark on a tour and visit several other capitals after China to convey a strong message of achieving an immediate ceasefire and facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The top Saudi diplomat has a day earlier discussed latest developments in Gaza and Israel's genocidal war in the besieged area with EU Foreign Affairs High Representative Josep Borrell. Speaking to reporters after the confabulation, Farhan said despite the agreement within the international community on the importance of peace, there is still not enough attention given to the need of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. "We hope at some point we can relaunch efforts towards permanent peace with the establishment of a Palestinian state that will ensure the security for all of us in the region, but the priority now is ending the fighting," Farhan said. "We must work together to ensure that we end this fighting and civilian suffering we are seeing every day in Gaza." Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance groups of Hamas and Islamic Jihad carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime's intensified crimes against the Palestinian people. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, at least 12,300 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, most of them women and children. Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have also been injured. Tel Aviv has also imposed a "complete siege" on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to more than two million Palestinians living there. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hitting shelters by Israel shows total disregard for humanity: UNRWA chief Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 6:48 PM The commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says that the number of facilities hit and civilians killed due to constant Israeli bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip cannot just be "collateral damage." "Most of the facilities hit had families in them including older people, parents, and children. They were all clearly marked as UN buildings carrying a blue flag. UNRWA shares the coordinates of these buildings on a regular basis with parties to the conflict," the UN agency's commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement. Since October 7, Israel has directly hit 17 of UNRWA's facilities in Gaza, the UN agency said. "Once again, shelters meant to provide safety and protection to civilians have been hit, killing many people, including children. These acts not only blatantly contravene the rules of war, they also show a total disregard for humanity," Lazzarini said. Separately, the World Health Organization has said the al-Shifa hospital, which was once the largest and most advanced hospital in Gaza, has now turned into a "death zone." A team led by the WHO visited the hospital in northern Gaza after the Israeli army raided the medical complex and forcibly evacuated thousands of people taking refuge there from the regime's attacks. Israel's genocidal war on Gaza is entering its 44th day, and there seems to be no end in sight to the painful tragedies there. One of the latest Israeli attacks has hit two schools, killing scores of people. The regime targeted the UN-run al-Fakhoora School, located in Jabalia refugee camp, and another school in northern Gaza. Israel has ordered Palestinians to move from north Gaza for so-called safety, but deadly air strikes continue to hit central and southern areas of the strip. At least 80 Palestinians were also killed in the regime's air strikes on residential blocks in the south of the strip. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the death toll stands at over 13,000. Women and children make up the majority of the victims. More than 5,500 children were among the dead, alongside 3,500 women, with 30,000 more people wounded. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried under rubble. Over 200 Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank: UN Since October 7, 198 Palestinians including 52 children have been killed by Israeli forces. An additional eight, including one child, have been killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including occupied East al-Quds, the United Nations says. The number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since October 7 accounts for 43 percent of all Palestinian fatalities this year in the West Bank - 439, it said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Guterres 'deeply shocked' by Israeli attacks on UN schools in Gaza Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 6:08 PM United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has slammed attacks by the Israeli regime on two schools run by United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip where people sought shelter from incessant Israeli bombardments. In a statement published on the UN website on Sunday, Guterres said he was "deeply shocked" that two UNRWA schools had been struck by the Israelis in less than 24 hours in Gaza. "Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are seeking shelter at United Nations facilities throughout Gaza due to the intensified fighting. I reaffirm that our premises are inviolable," said the UN chief in the statement. Dozens of people have reportedly been killed in Israeli attacks on Saturday on al-Fakhoura and Tall al-Zaatar schools in Gaza. Palestinian sources believe more than 200 people were killed in the attacks. They say many of the victims were displaced women and children who had sought shelter from Israeli bombardments. Guterres regretted the staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, that is being reported from Gaza every day as a result of the Israeli war. "This must stop. I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire," he said. Since October 7, Israel has killed at least 13,000 Palestinians, including more than 5,000 children. Around 30,000 Palestinians have also been injured. The regime has indiscriminately targeted hospitals, schools, mosques and churches. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gibraltar represented at Inaugural Overseas Territories Youth Summit Three Gibraltarian delegates participated in the inaugural Overseas Territories Youth Summit (OTYS) on 16th November in London. Anna Grech, Karim Acolina and Jessie Chipol were selected to represent Gibraltar at the summit, which was held in the Speakers House at the Palace of Westminster. Delegates from Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Turks and Caicos Island, Montserrat and St. Helena also participated in the Youth Summit. The purpose of the OTYS is to encourage youth participation in debates and discussions pertaining to issues affecting the Overseas Territories. It provides the opportunity for cross-collaboration and relationship building between the Overseas Territories, empowering young people to partake in critical thinking and offer innovative ideas. The session was chaired by the Falkland Islands, who are this years chair of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association (UKOTA). The OTYS debated three policy areas: the economic challenges facing the Overseas Territories, issues surrounding environment and climate change, and education and civic engagement. At the conclusion of the day-long affair, the Youth Summit delegates adopted a joint communique to be presented to their respective Territory governments. The Speaker of the House Commons, Rt Hon Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, welcomed the delegates and expressed his support in their work and the OTYS moving forward. The Deputy Chief Minister, the Hon Dr Joseph Garcia MP, said: Anna, Karim and Jessie have been excellent ambassadors for Gibraltar throughout this Overseas Territories Youth Summit and the UK Youth Parliament. It has been an important opportunity for them to network with like-minded individuals from across the Overseas Territories and experience international diplomacy first- hand. Israeli strikes on two refugee camps in Gaza kill at least 31 Palestinians Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 5:37 PM Dozens of people, including children, have been killed after the Israeli regime carried out airstrikes on two refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, amid its unending deadly bombing campaign in the besieged enclave. Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that at least 31 people were killed in Israeli attacks on the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps, located in the central Gaza Strip. According to Palestine's official Wafa news agency, a woman and her child were also killed in Israeli strikes in the southern city of Khan Yunis. The agency also reported that Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a 46-year-old disabled man, during a military raid in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian disabled manidentified as Issam al-Fayedwas killed at the entrance of the Jenin refugee camp, while the other victim, 20-year-old Omar Laham, was killed at the Dheisheh refugee camp south of Bethlehem. The latest killings come as the Israeli regime is intensifying its attacks on schools and refugee camps across Gaza. On Saturday, Gaza's health ministry said at least 50 people were killed in an Israeli strike on the al-Fakhoura school, which is run by the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), in the Jabalia refugee camp. A wounded survivor of the attack described the scenes as "horrifying," saying "Corpses of women and children were on the ground. Others were screaming for help." Dozens of casualties were also reported from an Israeli attack on a second school in northern Gaza. Gaza is enduring its 44th day of Israel's brutal war. The occupying regime is continuing to target the enclave's schools, hospitals, and refugee camps with no end in sight. Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime's intensified crimes against the Palestinian people. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, at least 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, most of them women and children, and injured around 30,000 others. Tel Aviv has also imposed a "complete siege" on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address WHO team describes Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital as 'death zone' Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 4:51 PM The World Health Organization (WHO) has said al-Shifa Hospital has become a "death zone" after a humanitarian assessment team visited Gaza's largest hospital and saw signs of shelling and gunfire. The UN health agency said in a statement on Sunday that the WHO-led team, which included public health experts, logistics officers and security staff from various UN departments, visited al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza a day earlier. The team saw a mass grave at the entrance of the hospital and was told more than 80 people were buried there, the WHO statement said. "Signs of shelling and gunfire were evident. The team saw a mass grave at the entrance of the hospital and were told more than 80 people were buried there," the statement read. The WHO said the situation was "desperate," with the hospital basically not functioning as a medical facility due to scarcity of clean water, fuel, medicine and other essentials. The hallways and hospital grounds were filled with medical and solid waste, and patients and health staff expressed fear for their health and safety, it said. There were 25 health workers and 291 patients, including 32 babies in critical condition, remaining in al Shifa, the UN agency said. "WHO and partners are urgently developing plans for the immediate evacuation of the remaining patients, staff and their families," it said. "Over the next 24-72 hours, pending guarantees of safe passage by parties to the conflict, additional missions are being arranged to urgently transport patients" to other hospitals in the south of Gaza. The remaining 2,500 internally displaced people who had sought refuge on al-Shifa grounds were gone after the Israeli regime forces issued evacuation orders on Saturday, WHO said. The visit occurred in an active conflict zone, with heavy fighting close to the hospital, it said. WHO repeated its call for an immediate ceasefire and sustained humanitarian assistance, saying options for medical care in the besieged coastal enclave were dwindling. The assessment came after a visit by WHO and other UN officials to the hospital, which Israeli troops raided earlier this week. Meanwhile, Jordan's King Abdullah said on Sunday the international community should push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to stop a humanitarian catastrophe caused by what he termed Israel's "ugly war against civilians." European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday the UN Security Council resolution on humanitarian pauses in Gaza must be implemented. "The decisions of the Security Council are not just words... They have to be implemented," Borrel said at a joint press conference with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Doha. The developments come as No end in sight to the Israeli bloodshed in Gaza as more Palestinians are killed in relentless strikes on the besieged territory. Israel's genocidal war on Gaza is entering its 44th day, and there seems to be no end in sight to the painful tragedies there. One of the latest Israeli attacks has hit 2 schools, killing scores of people. The regime targeted the UN-run al-Fakhoora School, located in Jabalia refugee camp, and another school in northern Gaza. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman strongly condemned the attacks. Naser Kan'ani urged the international community and Islamic countries to act against the regime's crimes. Israel has ordered Palestinians to move from north Gaza for so-called safety, but deadly air strikes continue to hit central and southern areas of the strip. At least 80 Palestinians were also killed in the regime's air strikes on residential blocks in the south of the strip. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the death toll stands at over 12,300. Women and children make up the majority of the victims. The military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, says it has killed several Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. The al-Qassam Brigades says its fighters targeted Israeli forces with anti-personnel rockets in a village south of Gaza City. At least six of the regime's troops were killed. The regime's army says it has lost 60 soldiers since launching a ground invasion in Gaza. However, resistance groups say Israel is concealing the real number of its casualties. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Resistance calibrating pressure on Israel and backers amid Gaza war: Iran FM Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 3:38 PM Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has told members of the Iranian Parliament the regional resistance forces are carefully calibrating their response to the crimes of Israel in Gaza as he warns that continued Israeli aggression on the besieged territory risks sparking a larger conflict in the region. A senior Iranian member of Parliament said on Sunday that the foreign minister had told the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in a meeting earlier in the day that Israel was lacking a strategy in its war on Gaza after more than 40 days of aggression. "That comes as the resistance groups are adjusting the pressure on the Zionists and their supporters in a smart fashion and there is a profusion of capacities that have yet to be activated," Abolfazl Amoui quoted the Iranian foreign minister as saying in the Parliamentary committee meeting. Amir-Abdollahian attended the meeting to brief the lawmakers on the latest developments in Gaza and the Foreign Ministry's efforts to bring an end to the Israeli aggression on the Palestinians, Amoui said. The top diplomat also told the Parliament members that support for the oppressed people of Gaza is growing across the world, leaving the regime and its great benefactor, the United States, in a precarious situation with regards to the issue of Palestine. Resistance groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen have been launching attacks on Israeli and US interests in the region in a bid to force the regime to stop its brutal attacks against the Palestinians. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, since October 7, at least 12,300 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, most of them women and children. Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have also been injured. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address King Abdullah urges intl. community to push for immediate ceasefire in Gaza Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 3:02 PM Jordan's King Abdullah has called on immediate action from the international community to secure a ceasefire in Gaza to prevent a looming humanitarian catastrophe caused by Israel's offensive in the besieged territory. King Abdullah made the call during a meeting with visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday while discussing the intensifying Israeli violence in the coastal territory. He also highlighted that Israel's continuation of its "ugly war on" Gaza and its illegal violations in the West Bank and occupied al-Quds will lead to an explosion in the situation in the entire region. King Abdullah stressed that global powers should force Israel to comply with international law to protect civilians and ensure uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. He reiterated the need to work seriously towards a political horizon for the Palestinian issue to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution. The king also condemned Israel's last week's attack on Jordanian medical cadres as a "horrible crime" and warned the occupying regime to take all necessary measures to deal with the attack. For her part, the European Commission Chief, Von der Leyen reiterated her firm opposition to any efforts aimed at displacing Palestinians and emphasized the importance of preserving the historical and legal status of the occupied al-Quds. She also mentioned the need to achieve peace based on the two-state solution. She also expressed appreciation for Jordan's role in the field of humanitarian support for civilians in Gaza and the role of the military field hospital in this regard. During the meeting, the condemnation of violence by settlers in the West Bank was emphasized by both parties. Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Strip-based Palestinian resistance groups of Hamas and Islamic Jihad carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime's intensified crimes against the Palestinian people. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 12,300 Palestinians, including more than 5,000 children, have been killed. More than 32,000 people have also been injured. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemeni forces seize Israeli ship in Red Sea, detain 52 crew onboard Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 2:33 PM Yemen's Armed Forces have seized an Israeli ship and detained dozens of its crew members in the Red Sea following warnings by the Yemeni Ansarullah resistance movement that the popular force will target any Israeli ship crossing the country's territorial waters. Lebanon's Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network reported on Sunday that the Yemeni naval forces "succeeded in detaining an Israeli ship in the depths of the Red Sea." Fifty-two people who were on board the ship were arrested, the report said. The news network said the ship's crew and those on board are currently under investigation and their nationalities are being verified by the relevant Yemeni agencies. Israeli media confirmed the regime's ownership of the confiscated ship. The vessel goes by the name of 'Galaxy Leader.' The media said its entire crew members had been detained by Yemen's naval forces in the south of the Red Sea. Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, announced earlier in the day that the military units would target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or carrying the Israeli flag. Yemen's move, he said, is in support of Palestinians amid Israel's savage onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip. Saree also called on all countries to withdraw their citizens working as crews on any such vessels. In a televised speech broadcast live on November 14, the leader of Yemen's Ansarullah resistance movement called on Arab countries and the Muslim world to adopt a clear stance in the face of Israel's atrocities in Gaza. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said the Yemeni forces are keeping a watchful eye on any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, and in the Bab el-Mandab Strait in particular, as well as Yemeni territorial waters. Houthi said the Israeli occupation "did not dare raise Israeli flags on its ships in the Red Sea." "They camouflage, which indicates their fear and the effectiveness of our position." 'Israeli ships to be legitimate targets' Later on Sunday, Yemen's official Saba Net news agency cited Saree as saying in a video statement that the Yemeni armed forces had carried out a military operation in the Red Sea, the results of which was the seizure of the Galaxy Leader and the detention of its crew members. Saree underlined that the operation was carried out on the directives of the Ansarullah chief and in response to the demands of the great Yemeni people and based on "religious, humanitarian and moral responsibility towards the oppressed Palestinian people and the unjust siege they are subjected to." "With the continuation of the horrific and heinous massacres by the Israeli enemy, the naval forces of the Yemeni armed forces, with the help of God Almighty, carried out a military operation in the Red Sea, the results of which were the seizure of an Israeli ship and taking it to the Yemeni coast," the statement said. "The Yemeni armed forces deal with the ship's crew in accordance with the teachings and values of the Islamic religion." Saree renewed the warnings of Yemen's Armed Forces that, "All ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or dealing with it will become a legitimate target." The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces called on all countries, whose nationals work in the Red Sea, to refrain from any work or activity with Israeli ships or ships owned by the occupying regime. The Yemeni Armed Forces affirmed their "continuation of carrying out military operations against the Israeli enemy until the aggression against the Gaza Strip stops, and the heinous crimes continuing until this moment against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and the West Bank stop," the statement said. It said the Zionist entity is the one threatening the security and stability of the region and international corridors, and that the international community, if it is keen on the security and stability of the region and not expanding the conflict, must stop the Israeli onslaught on Gaza. The statement also said the operations of Yemen's Armed Forces only threaten the ships of the Israeli regime and those owned by Israelis. Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance groups of Hamas and Islamic Jihad carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime's intensified crimes against the Palestinian people. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, at least 12,300 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, most of them women and children. Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have also been injured. Tel Aviv has also imposed a "complete siege" on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to more than two million Palestinians living there. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemen army says will target all ships owned, operated by Israeli companies Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 11:15 AM The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces has announced that the military units will target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or carrying the Israeli flag, in a move to support Palestinian people amid Israel's war on the Gaza Strip. Brigadier General Yahya Saree, in a statement on Sunday, called on all countries to withdraw their citizens working on the crews of any such vessels. The statement came a day after an unnamed Yemeni military official told Lebanon's Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network that the Yemeni Armed Forces are prepared to target any Israeli vessel, whether in the Red Sea or any spot that Israeli officials could not expect. On November 9, Yemeni Armed Forces launched a batch of ballistic missiles at various sensitive targets lying across the southern part of the occupied territories. Yemen's al-Masirah television network, citing the forces' spokesman, reported at the time that the projectiles hit military targets in the Umm al-Rashrash area in the city of Eilat. "Saree also confirmed that the operation had successfully achieved its objectives and led to direct casualties," the report added. The official reiterated that the Yemeni forces would continue to carry out their military operations "until the Israeli aggression against our brothers in Gaza stops." Days earlier, Yemeni forces had launched a large-scale drone strike against "sensitive" targets in the occupied territories in a show of support for Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Israel unleashed a bombardment campaign against Gaza on October 7, after the Palestinian resistance groups launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm in response to decades of violence against Palestinians. According to the figures announced by Palestinian health authorities so far 12,300, including 5,000 children have been killed in the besieged enclave. The United Nations deems the figures credible, though they are now updated only infrequently as war devastation has hampered communications. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah launches rocket strikes on Israeli military positions in occupied territories Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 10:21 AM Fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement have launched simultaneous retaliatory strikes against Israeli military positions in the northern part of the 1948-occupied territories, as tensions in the border areas fuel concerns that the war in Gaza could expand to other fronts. Lebanon's Arabic-language al-Manar television channel, citing a Hezbollah statement released on Saturday, reported that the group had pounded the al-Dhairah outpost and al-Jardah checkpoint with guided missiles. Moreover, the Lebanese resistance fighters struck an assembly of Israeli soldiers at a newly established post in the Jal al-Alam site, causing casualties in the targeted area. On Saturday, several rocket attacks were launched at communities in the northern sector of the Israeli-occupied lands, prompting Israeli forces to strike back at Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. There were no reports of injuries in the attacks, which came a day after four Israeli troops were injured by an anti-tank guided missile fired by Hezbollah. Hezbollah has warned that it will join the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and its allies in the fight against Israel if the regime escalates its aggression on Gaza and in case foreign military forces intervene to help the Israeli regime in the battle. Hezbollah's Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on November 2 that the Lebanese resistance movement entered the battle against Israel on October 8, a day after Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movements launched their surprise attack, Operation al-Aqsa Storm, against the regime. Nasrallah said the daily exchange of fire with Israeli forces along the Lebanese border might seem modest but is of prime significance, calling the confrontations unprecedented since 1948. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqi resistance targets US military bases in Iraq, Syria with drones 'in support of Gaza' Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 8:18 AM Iraq's anti-terror resistance front has carried out a drone attack on an American military base in the Arab country's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in response to the US-backed Israeli onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip. In a statement cited by Iraq's Saberin News on Sunday, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, claimed responsibility for an overnight attack on the al-Harir Air Base in Erbil in northern Iraq and said the operation was in retaliation for Israel's ongoing crimes in Gaza. "In response to the crimes committed by the enemy against our people in Gaza, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted the American occupation base al-Harir in northern Iraq, with a drone that directly hit its target," the statement said. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq also said it had attacked the Al-Tanf US occupation base in the central Syrian province of Homs and targeted the strategic military site with combat drones. The Iraqi resistance said in a similar statement that the drone attack was launched "in response to the crimes committed by the enemy against our people in Gaza." Late on Saturday, Lebanon's Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network reported several explosions at the US base in al-Omar oil field, east of Syria's Dayr al-Zawr Province. The television news network also said the Conoco gas field, which houses American occupation forces in the eastern Syrian province, had been targeted by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq with a salvo of missiles. Abu Ali al-Askari, who is in charge of the security bureau of Iraq's anti-terror Kata'ib Hezbollah, said the strikes by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq are proceeding based on the strategy of "exhausting the enemy," as the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza lays "historic responsibility" on the world and the international community. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has conducted dozens of attacks against US occupation forces and their military bases in Iraq and Syria since the Tel Aviv regime, having received unwavering support from Washington, initiated a relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip on October 7. The Iraqi resistance front said the attacks were carried out in retaliation for US support of Israel's bloody aggression against and genocide in the besieged area. Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Strip-based Palestinian resistance groups of Hamas and Islamic Jihad carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime's intensified crimes against the Palestinian people. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, at least 12,300 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, most of them women and children, and more than 32,000 others injured. Tel Aviv has also imposed a "complete siege" on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there. According to the advocacy group Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, Israel has sharply escalated a "war of starvation" against the 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip as a tool of subjugation. Before the Israeli war, 70 percent of the children in Gaza already suffered from varying health issues including malnutrition, anemia, and weakened immunity. The figure has increased to more than 90 percent as a result of Israel's bombardment, the Monitor said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital turned into 'death zone', WHO warns Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 2:29 AM The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued its new assessment of the situation in the Gaza Strip's al-Shifa Hospital, describing it as a "death zone" and the situation as "desperate." The United Nations health organization released its report early Sunday, just a day after a short and "very high-risk" mission into the hospital on Saturday. The regime has turned Gaza's hospitals into a specific target of its ongoing war of genocide against the coastal sliver, alleging that those facilities house Palestinian resistance fighters and their equipment. On Saturday, Mai Alkaila, the Palestinian health minister in the occupied West Bank, strongly condemned Israel for committing genocide against the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip. Al-Shifa, Gaza's biggest hospital, has taken the brunt of the Israeli assaults on the territory's healthcare system, with the regime claiming that it houses a "command center" belonging to the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas. The situation has forced "scores of sick and injured, some of them amputees" to flee the hospital towards the seafront without ambulances, along with displaced people, doctors and nurses, the WHO said. It added that only 291 patients, including 32 babies "in extremely critical condition," and 25 health workers have remained inside the complex. "Signs of shelling and gunfire were evident. The [WHO] team saw a mass grave at the entrance of the hospital and were told more than 80 people were buried there," the world body said in its statement. A lack of clean water, fuel, medicines, food, and other essential aid has caused the hospital to basically stop functioning as a medical facility, it noted. "Corridors and the hospital grounds were filled with medical and solid waste, increasing the risk of infection," the WHO said. Also on Sunday, WHO's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X social media platform that the world body was "working with partners to develop an urgent evacuation plan and ask for full facilitation of this plan." "We continue to call for protection of health and of civilians," he said, lamenting that "the current situation is unbearable and unjustifiable. Ceasefire. NOW." The regime launched its devastating war on October 7 following a surprise operation by Gaza-based resistance movements. At least 12,300 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 5,000 children, and over 29,800 people sustained injuries during the war. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Iran does not seek spread of Israel's war on Gaza, but US approach makes it possible' Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 12:04 AM Iran says it does not want further spread of Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, but the approach taken by the United States and the Israeli regime in the region makes the expansion of the war quite possible. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in an interview with Financial Times during his recent trip to Geneva, Switzerland. The Israeli regime launched its devastating war on the blockaded territory on October 7 following a surprise operation by Gaza-based resistance movements. At least 12,300 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 5,000 children, and over 29,800 people sustained injuries so far during the war. The United States, Israel's biggest and oldest ally, has provided the regime with thousands of arms consignments since the initiation of the war. Washington, which has been trying to justify the Tel Aviv regime's ferocious attacks on Gaza as a means of "self-defense," has been also casting its veto against the United Nations Security Council resolutions that called on the occupying regime to cease its aggression. In his interview, Iran's top diplomat noted that during the early weeks and days of the war, American officials sent messages to Iran through certain diplomatic channels, claiming that Washington was not after expansion of the scope of the war and asking Iran to exercise self-restraint. "Over the past 40 days, messages have been exchanged between Iran and the US via the US interests section at the Swiss embassy in Tehran," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said. "In response to the US, we said that Iran does not want the war to spread, but due to the approach adopted by the US and Israel in the region, if the [Israeli] war crimes against the people of Gaza and the West Bank are not stopped, any possibility could be considered, and a wider conflict could prove inevitable," Iran's foreign minister said. Amir-Abdollahian added that the US has sent similar messages to Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement as well, asking the movement to show self-restraint. Iran's foreign minister said despite those messages, the US has offered its full support to Israel and supplied the regime with all kinds of military equipment and weapons, which has led to escalation of the war. He emphasized that Washington's unbridled support for Tel Aviv proves that the US is not committed to its claim of being against further spread of the Gaza war. Elsewhere in the interview, Amir-Abdollahian said from his vantage point, "expansion of the scope of the war in the region has already started." "The fact that the Yemeni army issues official statements and attacks the occupied territories with missiles and drones means the war has begun to expand, or the fact that Hezbollah is fighting with a third of the Israeli army shows the war has expanded," Iran's foreign minister said. He added that Palestinian resistance groups have never asked Iran to enter into the war, because "they have everything, and they produce missiles and drones themselves." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fort Johnson, LA (71446) Today Areas of patchy fog early. Cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low 57F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Months After It Renounced Them, Montenegro Still Has Hundreds Of 'Golden Passports' In The Pipeline By Milos Rudovic November 19, 2023 More than 400 applications are still being processed through a controversial passport-for-pay scheme in Montenegro that, after pressure from the EU, officials said had been shut down. The Montenegrin Investment Agency (MIA), which manages the oft-criticized program, told RFE/RL's Balkan Service that out of 1,100 applications for such passports between 2019 and the end of last year, there are 413 applications "in various stages of processing" and still pending. Podgorica shuttered its so-called citizenship-by-investment program in December 2022 after repeated urgings from the European Union over the potential for abuse and, more recently, risks that it could help Russian nationals evade international punishment for the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Out of the 1,100 applications, the MIA said Montenegro has green-lighted passports -- which allow visa-free travel to 124 countries -- for 484 of those people. The majority of the scheme's applicants are Russian and Chinese nationals. Experts say more than a dozen countries provide around 50,000 so-called golden passports each year in what has been dubbed the "citizenship industry." The people spending tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest their way to citizenship are frequently seeking the benefits of travel, business, or taxation, or even a safeguard to evade state or government controls at home. 'Easy Source Of Income' Kristin Surak, an associate professor of political sociology at the London School of Economics and author of a new book, Golden Passports: Global Mobility For Millionaires, calls it a global industry worth some $4 billion. She says the passport market is "a very easy source of income" for states like Montenegro. With only around 620,000 citizens and a narrow tax base centered on tourism, energy, and some agriculture, the draw is obvious for Montenegrin policymakers of a passports program to encourage investment. Moreover, its location on an external EU border with the prospect of potentially becoming a new member, Surak says, would effectively "turn Montenegrin [citizenship] into European" citizenship. Montenegro's citizenship-by-investment program required applicants to invest at least 250,000 euros ($271,000) in Montenegro, mostly by purchasing short-term rental and hotel properties. Montenegrin officials have boasted that the program yielded some 300 million euros in investment and about 100 million euros in budget revenues. But the European Union has repeatedly warned Montenegro against what it calls a "controversial" program and highlighted the key role that Russian investment plays in the scheme. In its latest report on Montenegro, the European Commission cited security and other risks including of money laundering, tax evasion, corruption and organized crime, and the financing of terrorism. News of hundreds of pending applications for the golden passports could contribute to distrust just as the new government of Prime Minister Milojko Spajic is seeking to burnish its pro-European credentials. Failing On Asset Seizures The previous caretaker government of Dritan Abazovic announced to fanfare in February that it had abolished the passports-for-pay scheme and informed the EU of its discontinuation. It was, the Montenegrin European Affairs Ministry said, "officially completed on December 31, 2022, which is in line with the recommendations of the European Commission, regarding the risks that this program carries with it." Montenegro is among the leading candidate countries for EU membership and has been a member of NATO since 2017. Some countries, including all EU members, have closed their borders to Russian nationals as part of the unprecedented international sanctions to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The lingering queue of such passport applications could spell further disappointment in Brussels following recent revelations that Montenegro has so far failed to follow through on Russian asset seizures. Instead of the dozens of Russians whose properties Podgorica claimed to have targeted for confiscation early in the 20-month-old war in Ukraine, RFE/RL learned that the authorities had actually seized only an apartment and a storage space held by one Russian on the EU sanctions list. The 400-plus passport applications that were filed before the Montenegrin program was closed are being considered through a decision-making chain that includes confirmation that the investments came from legal sources and a review by a due-diligence agent. That agent should ensure that an applicant has a clean record and "good reputation" and is not wanted by international law enforcement or the International Criminal Court, for example. Montenegro uses the services of two companies -- one British and the other Canadian -- to conduct the screenings. "Very few countries have the ability to do a thorough check on their own, especially if you are a microstate with less than 1 million inhabitants," Surak says. According to an Interior Ministry document, some Russians were cleared by the outside screening companies but then rejected by Montenegrin authorities due to security concerns. In the first weeks after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched on February 24, 2022, the previous Montenegrin government adopted measures to implement international sanctions and other war-related decisions. The restrictions included identifying and temporarily confiscating 44 properties in Montenegro owned by 34 Russian nationals. Russian ownership is a sensitive topic following years of investment by Russians looking to keep their assets abroad and lured by Montenegro's beachfront beauty and its relative lack of scrutiny. The result, according to Montenegro's land registry, was around 19,000 apartments and other properties in Russian hands in 2022. Written by Andy Heil based on reporting by RFE/RL Balkan Service correspondent Milos Rudovic Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/montenegro- golden-passports/32691046.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 Yemen's Houthis Seize Israeli-Rented Cargo Vessel Galaxy Leader in Red Sea - Source Sputnik News 20231119 CAIRO (Sputnik) - Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, on Sunday seized the Galaxy Leader commercial ship in the Red Sea, which is believed to belong to an Israeli company, a source in the movement told Sputnik. "The movement's forces used boats to intercept and board a commercial vessel called Galaxy Leader off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea," the source said. "The movement took the ship to the areas under its control in Al Hudaydah province in western Yemen," the source said, adding that they were interrogating the ship's 25-member crew. Hezam al-Asad, a member of the Yemeni group's political bureau, told Sputnik that the Houthis were treating the crew "in accordance with Islamic values and principles." "If they are not Israelis, they will be treated as guests," al-Asad said. The Houthis warned that they would target Israeli-owned and Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea until Israel ended aggression against the Gaza Strip. The office of Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu denied there were Israeli citizens on board the ship. "Onboard the vessel are 25 crew members of various nationalities including Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Filipino and Mexican. No Israelis are onboard," the press statement read. Netanyahu's office claimed that the captured ship was owned by a British company and operated by a Japanese firm. It accused Iran of instructing the Houthi militia to hijack the vessel. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IDF Says Cargo Vessel Galaxy Leader Seized by Houthis in Red Sea Not Israeli Sputnik News 20231119 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday that the commercial ship Galaxy Leader, seized by Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, does not belong to Israel and there are no Israelis on board. "The hijacking of a cargo ship by the Houthis near Yemen in the southern Red Sea is a very grave incident of global consequence. The ship departed Turkey on its way to India, staffed by civilians of various nationalities, not including Israelis. It is not an Israeli ship," the IDF said. Israel condemns the seizure of the ship and blames it on Iran, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "Israel strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel. The ship, which is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked with Iran guidance by the Yemenite Houthi militia," the statement read. Earlier in the day, a source in the Ansar Allah movement told Sputnik that they had captured the vessel in the Read Sea, towed it to Yemen's Al Hudaydah port and were interrogating the crew. "The movement's forces used boats to intercept and board a commercial vessel called Galaxy Leader off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea," the source said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian, Iranian Foreign Ministers Call for Ceasefire in Gaza Strip Sputnik News 20231119 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, reiterated their call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during a phone conversation on Sunday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "The focus of the conversation was on the present situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone. Concern was voiced by both sides regarding the ongoing armed conflict in the Gaza Strip. The need for an immediate ceasefire and urgent assistance to the affected civilian population was emphasized," the statement read. The phone call was initiated by the Iranian foreign minister, the Russian ministry said. The diplomats also discussed bilateral and international issues of mutual interest. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Will Reportedly Reprimand 'Aggressive' Israeli Settlers in Palestine's West Bank Sputnik News 20231119 The heightened Palestine-Israel conflict has seen rising tensions in the troubled West Bank area. Clashes between local Palestinians and Israeli settlers have reached new highs amid the worsening Gaza crisis. US President Joe Biden has ordered senior advisors to draft a directive exploring different options for legal measures against "violent" Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Politico got a hold of a snippet of an official White House memo outlining a refined American approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. An anonymous senior US official read out some of its sections off the record following Biden's published op-ed in the Washington Post relating to the Ukrainian and Gaza crises. "President Joe Biden directed top officials to prepare visa bans and sanctions for extremist Israeli settlers attacking and displacing Palestinians in the West Bank," the article cites. The cabinet memo was circulated among top White House officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The document instructs their respective offices to develop policy options for the prompt measures taken against perpetrators of violence aimed at West Bank locals. The wording used by the POTUS in his op-ed suggests that he acknowledges the serious threat posed by the ongoing violence. Biden's decision to take legal action on the matter came after his meeting on the Gaza situation with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Deputy Jon Finer. President Biden has expressed his commitment to issue "visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank." The deteriorating situation in the West Bank is a direct result of the Palestine-Israel escalation. The West Bank and East Jerusalem (both are considered private Palestinian land) have seen a surge of Israeli incomers who choose to reside and build property there either for religious or economic reasons. The confrontation between the two groups has exacerbated ever since the October 7 attacks. Now, as the Biden administration faces an unprecedented backlash from the pro-Palestine supporters (many of whom traditionally vote Democrat), the White House feels compelled to amend its policy in the region and take into consideration wider public interests. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Accountability for Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo Following OAS Departure US Department of State Press Statement Office of the Spokesperson November 19, 2023 Today, Nicaragua's withdrawal from the Organization of American States (OAS) Charter took effect. Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo's decision to further isolate Nicaragua from the international community demonstrates their desperation to avoid any effort by the OAS or like-minded partners to hold them accountable for egregious human rights abuses. Their abuses include unjustly detaining, convicting, and mistreating political prisoners - including Bishop Rolando Alvarez; attacking independent journalists; and forcing hundreds of civil society organizations and educational institutions to close or hand over operations to the state. Nicaragua's actions are an affront to the Western Hemisphere's commitment to democracy. Despite Ortega and Murillo's denunciation of the OAS Charter, Nicaragua remains bound by its human rights and governance obligations under remaining treaties and instruments, including the American Convention on Human Rights. The United States, working with our partners in the OAS, continues to review all available and appropriate tools to hold Ortega, Murillo, and their surrogates accountable for their actions. We renew our call for the Nicaraguan authorities to uphold their obligations and fulfill the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The OAS serves as the preeminent multilateral organization in the Western Hemisphere and has a long history of supporting the democratic advancement of all nations in the Americas. The United States reiterates our support for the people of Nicaragua and their pursuit of fundamental freedoms, human rights, and democracy. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address No: 296, 19 November 2023, Press Release Regarding Israel's Attack on Al-Fakhoora School in Gaza Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs We condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli attack on the Al-Fakhoora school, run by the United Nations, in Gaza on November 18, which killed dozens of innocent Palestinian children. This attack by Israel is further evidence that Israel directly targets civilians, especially children, in Gaza deliberately and ruthlessly. The number of women and children who lost their lives at the hands of Israel in Gaza over the last five weeks is a source of shame for humanity. The international community should no longer turn a blind eye to Israel's trampling on the law and all human values with these grave crimes it has committed. Those responsible for these massacres, which have already left a dark stain on human history, will definitely be held accountable for the indescribable pain they have caused. It is essential that an unconditional and permanent ceasefire should be immediately declared in Gaza. We call on every conscientious member of the international community to take the necessary steps in this direction. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Gaza Strip: UNRWA schools sheltering displaced people constantly hit UNRWA 19 Nov 2023 SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR, AT LEAST 176 PEOPLE REPORTED KILLED IN UNRWA SHELTERS FROM UNRWA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL PHILIPPE LAZZARINI AMMAN, 19 November 2023 - "I watched with sheer horror reports from an attack on the al-Fakhoura UNRWA school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza. It is just cruel. "Classrooms sheltering displaced families were hit and at least 24 people were reported killed in the strike. Up to 7,000 people were in the school at the time. This is the second time that this school is hit. On 4 November, at least 12 people were killed and 54 injured. "In less than 24 hours, two UNRWA schools sheltering displaced families were hit in the Gaza Strip. "On Friday 17 November, another UNRWA school "Al-Falah/Zeitoun" in Gaza City was directly struck, leaving scores of people killed and injured. Up to 4,000 people were in the school at the time. Ambulances could not reach the school to provide help. "This is yet another proof that no one, and nowhere is safe in Gaza. Once again, shelters meant to provide safety and protection to civilians have been hit, killing many people, including children. These acts not only blatantly contravene the rules of war, they also show a total disregard for humanity. "Since the war began, at least 176 people sheltering in UNRWA schools were reported killed and nearly 800 were reported injured during Israeli Forces' bombardment. UNRWA is unable to confirm the casualty figures and is verifying. UNRWA confirms that at least 17 of its facilities were directly hit. "The large number of UNRWA facilities hit and the number of civilians killed cannot just be "collateral damage". Most of the facilities hit had families in them including older people, parents, and children. They were all clearly marked as UN buildings carrying a blue flag. UNRWA shares the coordinates of these buildings on a regular basis with parties to the conflict. This vicious war is reaching a point of no return when all rules are disrespected, in overt disregard for civilian lives. I call and appeal once again for humanity to prevail and for a humanitarian ceasefire right now". ENDs- Notes to Editors: As of 18 November, UNRWA was able to verify that 85 incidents have impacted 67 UNRWA installations since the beginning of the war. Of these, 17 were directly hit. Based on information available at the time of reporting, there have been five Israeli Forces' incursions into UNRWA installations since the beginning of the war. Over half of the impacted installations are south of Wadi Gaza. In total, 104 UNRWA colleagues have been killed since the beginning of the war. This is the highest number of United Nations aid workers killed in a conflict in the history of the United Nations. At least half have been killed south of Wadi Gaza. Nearly 900,000 displaced people are sheltering in UNRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip. This is six times more than what UNRWA planned for under a worst-case scenario. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UNRWA 19 Nov 2023 Key Points The Gaza Strip On 18 November, one UNRWA colleague was killed in the North area due to strikes. In total, 104 colleagues have been killed since the beginning of the war. This is the highest number of United Nations aid workers killed in a conflict in the history of the United Nations. Several incidents impacting UNRWA installations and Internally Displaced People (IDPs) have been recorded by UNRWA in the last 24 hours resulting in the killing and injuring of many IDPs sheltering in the installations. UNRWA is still trying to verify the correct number of casualties. Almost 1.7 million people have been displaced across the Gaza Strip since 7 October. As of 18 November, nearly 884,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are now sheltering in 154 UNRWA installations across all five governorates of the Gaza Strip, including in the north. Nearly 724,000 IDPs are sheltering in 97 facilities in the Middle, Khan Younis and Rafah areas. Nearly 160,000 IDPs were sheltering in 57 UNRWA schools in the northern and Gaza areas as of 12 October 2023, before the evacuation order was issued by Israeli Authorities. UNRWA is not able to access these shelters to assist or protect IDPs and does not have information on their needs and conditions. The entry of fuel critical for the overall humanitarian operations across the Gaza Strip has been largely banned since 7 October when the war began. On Wednesday, 15 November, the Israeli Authorities allowed the entry of just less than 23,000 litres (half a truck) of fuel for UNRWA to transport trucks of aid arriving via Rafah. This fuel could not to be used for any other humanitarian purposes. On 18 November, the Israeli Authorities authorized the entry of 120,000 litres of fuel that will be used over two days and will only cover half of the daily critical needs. UNRWA has been informed that 120,000 litres of fuel will be delivered every two days. Israel: Hamas-Built Fortified Tunnel Runs Under Shifa Hospital By VOA News November 19, 2023 LATEST DEVELOPMENTS 48 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Israel published video of what it described as a tunnel dug by Palestinian militants under Shifa hospital. Hamas denied the claim. 31 babies have been evacuated from Shifa Hospital and will be taken to Egypt for care. The Israeli army said five more soldiers had been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the number of troop deaths there to 64 since the war began. Israel published video Sunday of what it described as a tunnel dug by Palestinian militants under the Gaza Strip's Shifa Hospital, a focus of its search-and-destroy missions against Hamas militants. While acknowledging that it has a network of hundreds of kilometers of secret tunnels, bunkers and access shafts throughout the Palestinian enclave, Hamas has denied that these are in civilian infrastructure like hospitals. In Sunday's update on operations at Shifa, the Israeli military said its engineers uncovered a tunnel 10 meters deep and running 55 meters to a blast-proof door. "This type of door is used by the Hamas terrorist organization to block Israeli forces from entering the command centers and the underground assets belonging to Hamas," said a military statement accompanied by video showing a narrow passage with arched concrete roofing, ending at a gray door. Also Sunday, at least 31 very sick, premature babies had been evacuated from Shifa Hospital and will be transported to a hospital in Egypt, the World Health Organization said. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said, so far, 48 journalists and media workers are confirmed killed in the region since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive began. Watch related video by Arash Arabasadi: The CPJ, whose list covers journalists killed on both sides, said its list of those killed comprised 43 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese. "Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats," Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in an email to Reuters. In the West Bank, two Palestinians were killed overnight during Israeli raids on the occupied territory. While the Israeli army said Sunday five more soldiers had been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the number of troop deaths there to 64 since the war began. All five died in northern Gaza, where its forces are engaged in a ground operation against Hamas militants, the military said. The Middle East has been a tinderbox since Iranian-backed Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, killing at least 1,200 people while taking about 240 people hostage, Israel said. Israel's retaliatory strikes and ground offensive have killed more than 12,000 Palestinians, about 5,000 of them children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. On the diplomatic front, Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., told ABC's "This Week" show that Israel is "hopeful we can get a significant number of hostages [held by Hamas] freed in the next few days," with an accompanying short pause in the fighting, possibly lasting five days. U.S. news reports say about 50 hostages, particularly women and children, of the estimated 240 held by Hamas could be returned to Israel, but it is unclear whether and how many Palestinian prisoners held by Israel might be released. Herzog refused to call any cessation in fighting a cease-fire, signaling that Israel plans to resume its attack on Hamas targets after the pause ends. White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told CNN's "State of the Union" show that the U.S. believes it is "closer than we have been perhaps at any point since these negotiations [over the hostage release] began weeks ago." He said, "There are areas of difference and disagreement that have been narrowed, if not closed out entirely," while adding that no deal has been reached. "One of the challenges associated with this is we're not on the ground in Gaza, the United States," Finer said. "We are not in direct contact with Hamas. We do that only through intermediaries. And so, we don't have perfect fidelity about exact numbers of hostages, including numbers who are still alive." Dozens of displaced Palestinian civilians were killed or wounded Saturday in Israeli airstrikes, including one on a school in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees reported. "The scenes were horrifying. Corpses of women and children were on the ground. Others were screaming for help," wounded survivor Ahmed Radwan told The Associated Press by phone of Israel's attack on the camp's Fakhoura school. Photos from a local hospital showed more than 20 bodies wrapped in bloodstained sheets. In a statement Sunday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "I am deeply shocked that two UNRWA schools were struck in less than 24 hours in Gaza." "This war is having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, every day. This must stop. I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire." The Israeli military said that its troops were active in the Jabaliya area "with the aim of hitting terrorists" while trying to minimize civilian harm. Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address To the Palestinian Arabs after Iqbal (1877-1938) Sir Mohammad or Allama Iqbal, a giant of South Asian poetry in the 20 th Century writing in Urdu, attended in 1931 the General Islamic Conference in Jerusalem. Iqbals message to the Arab world was: . . .not have any trust in the West and the League of Nations, the earlier incarnation of the UN, which was headquartered in Geneva. Neither Geneva nor London will honor your claim because Arabs havent yet learnt to manipulate the West which is still impassive to the passion igniting your soul. History shows, people with unyielding spirit themselves free from occupation. Translated from the original Urdu by Rafiq Kathwari ICYMI: Joe Biden: The U.S. won't back down from the challenge of Putin and Hamas November 19, 2023 Washington Post: Joe Biden: The U.S. won't back down from the challenge of Putin and Hamas [President Joe Biden, 11/18/23] Today, the world faces an inflection point, where the choices we make including in the crises in Europe and the Middle East will determine the direction of our future for generations to come. What will our world look like on the other side of these conflicts? Will we deny Hamas the ability to carry out pure, unadulterated evil? Will Israelis and Palestinians one day live side by side in peace, with two states for two peoples? Will we hold Vladimir Putin accountable for his aggression, so the people of Ukraine can live free and Europe remains an anchor for global peace and security? And the overarching question: Will we relentlessly pursue our positive vision for the future, or will we allow those who do not share our values to drag the world to a more dangerous and divided place? Both Putin and Hamas are fighting to wipe a neighboring democracy off the map. And both Putin and Hamas hope to collapse broader regional stability and integration and take advantage of the ensuing disorder. America cannot, and will not, let that happen. For our own national security interests and for the good of the entire world. The United States is the essential nation. We rally allies and partners to stand up to aggressors and make progress toward a brighter, more peaceful future. The world looks to us to solve the problems of our time. That is the duty of leadership, and America will lead. For if we walk away from the challenges of today, the risk of conflict could spread, and the costs to address them will only rise. We will not let that happen. That conviction is at the root of my approach to supporting the people of Ukraine as they continue to defend their freedom against Putin's brutal war. We know from two world wars in the past century that when aggression in Europe goes unanswered, the crisis does not burn itself out. It draws America in directly. That's why our commitment to Ukraine today is an investment in our own security. It prevents a broader conflict tomorrow. We are keeping American troops out of this war by supporting the brave Ukrainians defending their freedom and homeland. We are providing them with weapons and economic assistance to stop Putin's drive for conquest, before the conflict spreads farther. The United States is not doing this alone. More than 50 nations have joined us to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself. Our partners are shouldering much of the economic responsibility for supporting Ukraine. We have also built a stronger and more united NATO, which enhances our security through the strength of our allies, while making clear that we will defend every inch of NATO territory to deter further Russian aggression. Our allies in Asia are standing with us as well to support Ukraine and hold Putin accountable, because they understand that stability in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific are inherently connected. We have also seen throughout history how conflicts in the Middle East can unleash consequences around the globe. We stand firmly with the Israeli people as they defend themselves against the murderous nihilism of Hamas. On Oct. 7, Hamas slaughtered 1,200 people, including 35 American citizens, in the worst atrocity committed against the Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust. Infants and toddlers, mothers and fathers, grandparents, people with disabilities, even Holocaust survivors were maimed and murdered. Entire families were massacred in their homes. Young people were gunned down at a music festival. Bodies riddled with bullets and burned beyond recognition. And for over a month, the families of more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas, including babies and Americans, have been living in hell, anxiously waiting to discover whether their loved ones are alive or dead. At the time of this writing, my team and I are working hour by hour, doing everything we can to get the hostages released. And while Israelis are still in shock and suffering the trauma of this attack, Hamas has promised that it will relentlessly try to repeat Oct. 7. It has said very clearly that it will not stop. The Palestinian people deserve a state of their own and a future free from Hamas. I, too, am heartbroken by the images out of Gaza and the deaths of many thousands of civilians, including children. Palestinian children are crying for lost parents. Parents are writing their child's name on their hand or leg so they can be identified if the worst happens. Palestinian nurses and doctors are trying desperately to save every precious life they possibly can, with little to no resources. Every innocent Palestinian life lost is a tragedy that rips apart families and communities. Our goal should not be simply to stop the war for today it should be to end the war forever, break the cycle of unceasing violence, and build something stronger in Gaza and across the Middle East so that history does not keep repeating itself. Just weeks before Oct. 7, I met in New York with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The main subject of that conversation was a set of substantial commitments that would help both Israel and the Palestinian territories better integrate into the broader Middle East. That is also the idea behind the innovative economic corridor that will connect India to Europe through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, which I announced together with partners at the Group of 20 summit in India in early September. Stronger integration between countries creates predictable markets and draws greater investment. Better regional connection including physical and economic infrastructure supports higher employment and more opportunities for young people. That's what we have been working to realize in the Middle East. It is a future that has no place for Hamas's violence and hate, and I believe that attempting to destroy the hope for that future is one reason that Hamas instigated this crisis. This much is clear: A two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term security of both the Israeli and Palestinian people. Though right now it may seem like that future has never been further away, this crisis has made it more imperative than ever. A two-state solution two peoples living side by side with equal measures of freedom, opportunity and dignity is where the road to peace must lead. Reaching it will take commitments from Israelis and Palestinians, as well as from the United States and our allies and partners. That work must start now. To that end, the United States has proposed basic principles for how to move forward from this crisis, to give the world a foundation on which to build. To start, Gaza must never again be used as a platform for terrorism. There must be no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no reoccupation, no siege or blockade, and no reduction in territory. And after this war is over, the voices of Palestinian people and their aspirations must be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza. As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution. I have been emphatic with Israel's leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those committing the violence must be held accountable. The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank. The international community must commit resources to support the people of Gaza in the immediate aftermath of this crisis, including interim security measures, and establish a reconstruction mechanism to sustainably meet Gaza's long-term needs. And it is imperative that no terrorist threats ever again emanate from Gaza or the West Bank. If we can agree on these first steps, and take them together, we can begin to imagine a different future. In the months ahead, the United States will redouble our efforts to establish a more peaceful, integrated and prosperous Middle East a region where a day like Oct. 7 is unthinkable. In the meantime, we will continue working to prevent this conflict from spreading and escalating further. I ordered two U.S. carrier groups to the region to enhance deterrence. We are going after Hamas and those who finance and facilitate its terrorism, levying multiple rounds of sanctions to degrade Hamas's financial structure, cutting it off from outside funding and blocking access to new funding channels, including via social media. I have also been clear that the United States will do what is necessary to defend U.S. troops and personnel stationed across the Middle East and we have responded multiple times to the strikes against us. I also immediately traveled to Israel the first American president to do so during wartime to show solidarity with the Israeli people and reaffirm to the world that the United States has Israel's back. Israel must defend itself. That is its right. And while in Tel Aviv, I also counseled Israelis against letting their hurt and rage mislead them into making mistakes we ourselves have made in the past. From the very beginning, my administration has called for respecting international humanitarian law, minimizing the loss of innocent lives and prioritizing the protection of civilians. Following Hamas's attack on Israel, aid to Gaza was cut off, and food, water and medicine reserves dwindled rapidly. As part of my travel to Israel, I worked closely with the leaders of Israel and Egypt to reach an agreement to restart the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance to Gazans. Within days, trucks with supplies again began to cross the border. Today, nearly 100 aid trucks enter Gaza from Egypt each day, and we continue working to increase the flow of assistance manyfold. I've also advocated for humanitarian pauses in the conflict to permit civilians to depart areas of active fighting and to help ensure that aid reaches those in need. Israel took the additional step to create two humanitarian corridors and implement daily four-hour pauses in the fighting in northern Gaza to allow Palestinian civilians to flee to safer areas in the south. This stands in stark opposition to Hamas's terrorist strategy: hide among Palestinian civilians. Use children and innocents as human shields. Position terrorist tunnels beneath hospitals, schools, mosques and residential buildings. Maximize the death and suffering of innocent people Israeli and Palestinian. If Hamas cared at all for Palestinian lives, it would release all the hostages, give up arms, and surrender the leaders and those responsible for Oct. 7. As long as Hamas clings to its ideology of destruction, a cease-fire is not peace. To Hamas's members, every cease-fire is time they exploit to rebuild their stockpile of rockets, reposition fighters and restart the killing by attacking innocents again. An outcome that leaves Hamas in control of Gaza would once more perpetuate its hate and deny Palestinian civilians the chance to build something better for themselves. And here at home, in moments when fear and suspicion, anger and rage run hard, we have to work even harder to hold on to the values that make us who we are. We're a nation of religious freedom and freedom of expression. We all have a right to debate and disagree and peacefully protest, but without fear of being targeted at schools or workplaces or elsewhere in our communities. In recent years, too much hate has been given too much oxygen, fueling racism and an alarming rise in antisemitism in America. That has intensified in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks. Jewish families worry about being targeted in school, while wearing symbols of their faith on the street or otherwise going about their daily lives. At the same time, too many Muslim Americans, Arab Americans and Palestinian Americans, and so many other communities, are outraged and hurting, fearing the resurgence of the Islamophobia and distrust we saw after 9/11. We can't stand by when hate rears its head. We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate and bias. We must renounce violence and vitriol and see each other not as enemies but as fellow Americans. In a moment of so much violence and suffering in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and so many other places it can be difficult to imagine that something different is possible. But we must never forget the lesson learned time and again throughout our history: Out of great tragedy and upheaval, enormous progress can come. More hope. More freedom. Less rage. Less grievance. Less war. We must not lose our resolve to pursue those goals, because now is when clear vision, big ideas and political courage are needed most. That is the strategy that my administration will continue to lead in the Middle East, Europe and around the globe. Every step we take toward that future is progress that makes the world safer and the United States of America more secure. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Al-Qassam rocket attack on the Zionist "Tasilm" military base IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Nov 20, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades of the military wing of the Hamas movement launched a rocket attack on the "Tasilm" military base of the Israeli regime. The Al-Qassam Brigades announced in a short statement that they have targeted the Taslim military base in response to the continued aggression of the Zionists in the Gaza Strip. The military base of the ground forces of the occupying Zionist army known as "Tasilm" is located in the Negev desert and in the southeast of the Gaza Strip, and its unofficial operation started simultaneously with the announcement of the existence of the fake Israeli regime in 1948. In this military base, there is an urban warfare training center similar to the cities of Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon, which was built in 2005 with the cooperation of the United States. Also, there are buildings and streets similar to those of Arab countries, which were once the training place of American troops. 2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Operation Iron Swords - Day 44 - 19 November 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". PM Netanyahu stated "On October 7th, Hamas murdered 1,400 Israelis. Maybe more. This is in a country of fewer than 10 million people. This would be equivalent to over 50,000 Americans murdered in a single day. Thats twenty 9/11s. That is why October 7th is another day that will live in infamy." It is the second largest loss inflicted on the Israeli forces after the 1973 war, as the Palestinian resistance killed more than 1,200, wounded more than 5,132 others, and captured more than 250, most of them military personnel, some of whom were high-ranking officers in the army. Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs The HAMAS government media office in Gaza announced that with the number of casualties increasing daily in the Strip, the statistics departments were unable to complete an accurate and final statistic of the martyrs and wounded. The office usually issues almost daily updates on the toll of martyrs and wounded. At least 13,000 Palestinians, including 5,500 children have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza Press Office said. The Hamas-run government said 3,500 women were among the dead, with 32,300 more people wounded. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza said the number of missing people had risen to more than 3,750, including 1,800 children still under the rubble. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced, this Friday evening, that the number of martyrs has risen to 11,675 martyrs, and the wounded to about 32,000 wounded, According to a UN official, there have been "likely much more" casualties in "Israel's" war on Gaza than the previously reported total of over 11,000, because there have been insufficient updates since the area's communication networks collapsed. Martin Griffiths, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator expressed during a General Assembly meeting that as casualty numbers continue to climb, "The actual total, however, is likely much higher as figures have not been updated for five days due to a collapse of communication networks in Gaza." Israel revised down the death toll from the October Hamas attacks in southern Israel from 1,400 to 1,200. IDF had said previously it was holding 1,500 bodies of terrorists, a total that now would increas to about 1,700. The Israeli army had reported the death of 375 soldiers and officers, 58 of them were killed since the start of the ground operation in the besieged Gaza Strip. At least 7,771 Israelis were injured. The IDF previously announced that more than 260 soldiers had been injured since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, including 100 in serious condition. Israeli army (IDF) announced 19 November 2023 the death of five of its soldiers during ground battles in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of casualties since October 7th to 378 and raising the number of troop deaths there to 64 since the ground war began. Lebanons Health Ministry released its first official casualty numbers in fighting, saying 77 people were killed and 251 wounded since the start of the war on Gaza. Hostages Some 240 hostages are being held by HAMAS in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said 03 November 2023. About 40 Israelis remained missing. Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said on Hamas telegram account that 23 bodies of the 60 missing Israel hostages were trapped under the rubble. It seems that we will never be able to reach them due to the continued brutal aggression of the occupation against Gaza, he said. Hamas previously announced that the number of prisoners it held was between 200 and 250 Israelis, and others of other nationalities, during the Al-Aqsa Flood battle launched by the Al-Qassam Brigades on the 7th of last October. Hamas indicated that among the detainees were high-ranking military personnel and that it wanted to exchange them for more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners, including children and women, in Israeli prisons, but Tel Aviv did not show seriousness in concluding such a deal. The movement released 4 female prisoners for humanitarian reasons, two women holding American citizenship, in response to Qatari mediation efforts, and two Israelis, with Egyptian-Qatari mediation. The Palestinian Prisoners' Club announced that the Israeli army arrested 47 Palestinians, bringing the total number of detainees in the occupied West Bank to 2,800 since last October 7, including 1,050 activists from Hamas. The Israeli army announced the arrest of 1,100 activists from the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) in the occupied West Bank, out of more than 1,800 Palestinians, since October 7, the date of the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood . The army said, "Since the outbreak of the current war, more than 1,800 wanted (Palestinians) have been arrested throughout the West Bank, about 1,100 of whom belong to Hamas." It reported that 38 Palestinians were arrested last night throughout the West Bank, "including 20 belonging to Hamas." Qatars prime minister said that only minor issues are preventing a deal being reached between Israel and Hamas on Israeli hostages being held in Gaza. The comments from Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani came after The Washington Post reported on Saturday that an agreement on Hamas releasing at least 50 hostages in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting was close. The Post reports initial headline said a tentative deal was reached between the US, Israel, and Hamas, but it was later changed to say a deal was close. The report prompted denials from both the US and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed a lot of incorrect reports on an imminent hostage deal and added that as of now there is no deal. White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said there was no deal yet, but we continue to work hard to get a deal. Operational Update The American magazine "Newsweek" published an article stating that at a time when the United States is throwing its weight behind Israel, and at a time when Iran is helping to arm the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) and the Lebanese Hezbollah , some critics say that we are on the verge of a third world war. But the author of the article, Joseph Epstein - an analyst and researcher specializing in Middle East affairs - disagrees with this opinion, and believes that World War III has already begun. Washington may be in denial, but Russia, China, and Iran are openly at war with the United States, according to the author of the article. This is not an all-out war - as Epstein says - but rather a decentralized war with battle fronts that seem unconnected and extending across the continents of the world. It is a war fought by hybrid methods, that is, with tanks, planes, disinformation campaigns, political interference and cyberwarfare. Epstein claims that the strategy of this war blurs the lines between war and peace, combatants and civilians, and adds to its fog. Although there are differences between China, Russia, and Iran on many issues, they are all countries with the same goal, which is riding their regions of American influence and creating a multipolar global governance system. The writer continues, saying that Tehran, Beijing, and Moscow realize that American political and military power is the only force preventing them from imposing their will on their neighbors. He explains what he means by that, saying that each of the three countries plays a role in this war. China launched an unprecedented spying campaign against the United States, and Russia spent billions of dollars broadcasting pro-Russian and anti-Western propaganda campaigns inside and outside its borders. As for Iran, according to the article, it has a network of armed agents who spread havoc and destruction in the Middle East and have been openly attacking American forces. Iran, Russia, and China have all conducted or nearly carried out cyberattacks on critical U.S. infrastructure. These three countries resort - according to the article - to waging different types of guerrilla wars because they cannot win a direct conflict with the United States. Waging a war in this deceptive way helps it avoid accountability. In information warfare, the strategy does not lie in creating divisions, but rather in exploiting and playing on existing ones, according to analyst Epstein, who adds that both China and Russia have continued to establish relations with extremists on the left and right based in the West, hoping to widen the social gap and exacerbate the situation. Officials involved in this type of war use language that appeals to "extremists." The writer gives an example of this with Russian President Vladimir Putin , who, despite his colonial invasion of Ukraine, declared himself the leader of the anti-colonial liberation movement. As the war of words continues, so do the armed confrontations. Russia invaded Ukraine. Iran's agents continue to attack the United States and its allies in the region. Epstein claims that the administration of US President Joe Biden seems happy so far to allow them to escape this impasse, noting that after Hamas attack on Israel last month, American officials were quick to claim that there is no evidence of Irans involvement in the attacks, even though Its agents do not act independently on matters affecting Iran's "geopolitical" strategy. When it comes to this war, the United States seems indifferent. The American strategy has always revolved around preparing for a major conventional war, adopting a policy of containment, and weak deterrence, as the article put it. The writer warns that avoiding conflict will only lead to more aggression from the Iran-Russia-China axis. Therefore, if the Biden administration continues on its ineffective path, these three countries will become emboldened. If it fails to support Israel or Ukraine, China will likely invade Taiwan. He concludes by saying that deterrence is a great strategy, but it will only work when the other party realizes that you are serious about implementing your threats. Israels Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the Israeli army was continuing to hit Palestinian militant group Hamas hard in the Gaza Strip and will also operate soon in the south of Gaza. We are in the second stage of the ground invasion, also operating in the east of the Strip Hamas has been hit hard, its losing tunnels, bunkers, posts, and many of its senior commanders have been killed, Gallant said as cited by the Times of Israel. We are reaching all of the sites sensitive to Hamas and striking them, he said, adding: With every passing day, there are fewer places for the Hamas terrorists to move around. He warned Hamas members hiding in the south of the Strip where the Israeli army has yet to send in ground troops, will feel this soon. Gallant said: What happened on October 7 is worse than any other phenomenon in the world in recent decades. Thats Hamas. And Hamas only understands force, adding that the decision to go to war to destroy Hamas and get back the hostages is increasingly proving to be the right decision. Additionally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that there was heavy international pressure against Israels war on Hamas, but he pledged to continue pressing ahead with the military campaign in Gaza until the militant group is overthrown and the hostages are released. Over the last few days, in joint IDF and ISA intelligence operational activity, over 100 Hamas terrorists were apprehended and transferred for questioning in Israel. Among the apprehended suspects. Over the last few days, troops conducted dozens of questionings, and apprehended over 100 terrorists for further questioning. In addition, Nukhba terrorists were apprehended, as well as other operatives who disclosed different locations. They also disclosed operating methods used by the terrorist organization, as well as details regarding tunnel digging and the recruitment process. The information gained from the interrogations of the terrorists serves the troops who are operating from the air and the ground in the Gaza Strip and is being used to receive precise and up-to-date intelligence from the field, which assists the ongoing combat efforts. Based on IDF and ISA intelligence, IDF troops exposed a 55-meter-long terror tunnel 10 meters deep underneath the Shifa Hospital complex. A deep staircase leads to the entrance of the tunnel shaft, which consists of various defense means including a blast-proof door and a firing hole. This type of door is used by the Hamas terrorist organization to block Israeli forces from entering the command centers and the underground assets belonging to Hamas. The tunnel shaft was uncovered in the area of the hospital underneath a shed alongside a vehicle containing numerous weapons including RPGs, explosives, and Kalashnikov rifles. For the first time, a mixed-gender search and rescue battalion is operating in the Gaza Strip. The mixed-gender unit from the Shachar Battalion in the Search and Rescue Brigade in the IDF Home Front Command has joined ground forces operating against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Under the command of LTC Yarden, the female and male combat soldiers of the Shachar Battalion used their expertise to search buildings and locate weapons as part of the combined combat forces of the 162th Division. The soldiers operated in the Shati area, one of Hamas main operational centers in the Gaza Strip. Soldiers from the Search and Rescue Brigade joined the Commando Brigade during a raid on Hamas terrorist infrastructure in a hotel. The soldiers breached an area in which Hamas weapons and intelligence materials were located. Two launches from Lebanon toward the area of Margaliot and Kfar Giladi in northern Israel were identified. In accordance with protocol, the launches were not intercepted. No injuries were reported. The IDF is striking the sources of the fire. Following the report regarding an infiltration of a hostile aircraft in northern Israel earlier today, interceptors were launched toward several suspicious aerial targets that crossed from Lebanon toward the area of the Upper Galilee in northern Israel. The incident has concluded. In addition, a short while ago, several launches from Lebanon toward different areas in northern Israel were identified. No injuries were reported.The IDF is striking the sources of the fire. IDF soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade, together with the Armored Corps, Engineering Corps and the Israeli Air Force, operated in the Sheikh Ijlin and Rimal areas in order to identify and destroy Hamas infrastructure and assets. During the operations, the soldiers located approximately 35 tunnel shafts as well as a large number of weapons and eliminated terrorists. Additionally, the soldiers operated in a Hamas military base belonging to their military intelligence unit. During the operation, IDF soldiers located ammunition depots and seven rocket launchers. Embedded in the Rimal area are the residences of senior Hamas officials, who took control of the buildings in the area to conduct and direct terrorist activities. Israeli armys soldiers operated in Sheikh Ijlin and Rimal areas in Gaza in order to identify and destroy Hamas infrastructure and assets. During the operations, the soldiers located approximately 35 tunnel shafts as well as a large number of weapons and eliminated terrorists, the Israeli army said. Additionally, the Israeli soldiers operated in a Hamas military base belonging to the terrorist organizations military intelligence unit. During the operation, IDF soldiers located ammunition depots and seven rocket launchers. A commander in the Paratroopers Brigade said: During searches of the Rimal area, we located a large number of weapons belonging to Hamas terrorists, including laptops, memory devices, technical documents, and other combat items including tactical uniforms, shirts, knee pads, magazine and ammunition, 7.62 mm and 5.56 mm, shirts that seemingly belong to the organization, military vests, shoes, and many more documents with enemy psychological warfare and information about the [Israeli army] including the location of ambushes and the strength of the [Israeli army] and other documents. The fighters of Sheitat 3, the flotilla of missile ships, attacked targets of the terrorist organization Hamas along the Gaza Strip using thousands of munitions from the sea and assisted the ground forces with fire and observation by opening axes, escorting with fire, thwarting land threats against IDF forces and providing cover for land missions from the sea. Ambulance crews of the Palestinian Red Crescent evacuated 31 premature babies from Al-Shifa Hospital on Sunday in coordination with the World Health Organization(WHO) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the group said in a post on its Facebook page. The babies were transferred to the south of Gaza in preparation for their transfer to the Emirates Hospital in Rafah the group added. Later in the day Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson for the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, told a news conference that the babies had been moved to Tal Alsultan Hospital in Rafah and will be sent to Egyptian hospitals with their families tomorrow. The WHO team said that 291 patients were left at Al-Shifa after Israeli troops had others evacuate. They included the babies in extremely critical condition , trauma patients with severely infected wounds, and others with spinal injuries who are unable to move. The team was able to tour Al-Shifa Hospital for an hour after about 2,500 displaced people, mobile patients and medical staff left the sprawling compound Saturday morning, the WHO said. It said 25 medical staff remained, along with the patients. The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon announced targeting multiple gatherings of Israeli occupation soldiers near the al-Marj site, in Harsh Ramim, and around the Hunin ("Ramim") barracks, on the Lebanese-Palestinian border region. In separate statements, Hezbollah said that its fighters also targeted the "Yiftah" barracks and the Malkiya site with appropriate weapons, noting that there were casualties among Israeli forces in both locations. As for the Israeli al-Abbad site, the Resistance confirmed that it targeted it with guided missiles, hitting its technical equipment and hardware. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced that it targeted the US occupation base Harir in northern Iraq and the Tal Baydar base in Syria using drones, confirming direct hits in both targets. In solidarity with Gaza in the battle of Al-Aqsa Flood, the Iraqi Resistance will continue its operations against American forces and their bases in Syria and Iraq, the group said in a statement. Ship "Galaxy Leader" flying under the flag of the Bahamas ????, has been hijacked by Houthi Rebels. The ship operates for the Israeli company Ray Shipping LTD, which is an Israeli-based car transport company. 52 people have been detained onboard. The Houthis will release a statement shortly. The Bahaman-flagged vessel is registered under a British company, which is partially owned by Israeli tycoon Abraham Ungar, who goes by Rami and happens to be Israels 21st richest man. The vessel was leased out to a Japanese company at the time of the hijacking. The Israeli army considered the incident extremely dangerous globally, while the Israeli Prime Minister described it as an Iranian terrorist act. The Israeli army said that "the hijacked ship left Turkey on its way to India with an international civilian crew and no Israelis, and it is not Israeli." The Israeli Prime Minister described the hijacking of the ship as an Iranian terrorist act, noting that "the hijacking of the ship will create international repercussions related to the security of global shipping lanes." He added, "Monitoring a new Iranian terrorist act is considered a major escalation against the citizens of the free world," he said. Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Sarie, explained: Our naval forces took the Israeli ship to the Yemeni coast, pointing out that we deal with the crew of the Israeli ship in accordance with the teachings of our Islamic religion. A leader of the group told Al Jazeera, "Our taking the ship is a victory for our oppressed people in Gaza." The military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Saree, announced - Sunday evening - that their naval forces carried out what he called a military operation in the Red Sea, "the results of which were the seizure of an Israeli ship and taking it to the Yemeni coast." Saree said - in a video statement published on his account on the Or ships owned by Israelis. The military spokesman for the Houthis pointed out that "this comes out of religious, humanitarian and moral responsibility towards the oppressed Palestinian people, and the siege they are subjected to and the continuation of horrific and hideous massacres by the Israeli enemy." Earlier, the military spokesman for the Houthi group, Yahya Saree, had said, The group will target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies, or that fly the Israeli flag, calling on all countries of the world to withdraw their citizens working on the crews of these ships and avoid shipping on board or dealing with them. Avraham (Rami) Unger (born 1947) is an Israeli businessman working in the fields of automobile importing, shipping, and real estate. Besides the auto business, Unger is also the owner of Ray Shipping, a shipping company that owns about 100 vessels transporting vehicles and is worth more than $3 billion. He purchased naval vessels, built huge ships in Poland, Croatia and Vietnam, and chartered them to automobile companies around the world through his shipping company, Ray Shipping. The American NBC News network quoted sources as saying that a Sanaa forces helicopter flew over the Israeli ship "Galaxy Leader" while it was sailing near Bab al-Mandab , and forces were landed to control it. The networks admission that the ship is Israeli belies the claims of the occupation, which is trying to escape the new pressures towards internationalizing the ship. Initial information from the Israeli occupation police investigations brought to the fore the possibility that hundreds of Israelis were killed by occupation army fire during the Al-Aqsa Flood battle on the 7th of October. The same information showed that an Israeli Air Force fighter opened fire on participants in the "Nova" music festival in the "Re'im" settlement in the "Gaza envelope", seeking to kill gunmen from the Palestinian resistance factions who arrived at the place. According to what was reported on the website of the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" by a senior police officer, preliminary investigations revealed that an army attack helicopter arrived at the ceremony site coming from the "Ramat David" base near Haifa, and opened fire on the gunmen, and apparently also wounded several other revelers who were there. Haaretz reported that preliminary investigations by the Israeli police indicate that the gunmen who participated in the October 7 attack did not know in advance of the presence of the concert near the Reim settlement. According to preliminary investigations, a military helicopter took off from the Ramat David base and bombed the militants from the air, wounding a number of revelers at the site. 364 concert participants were killed. Al Jazeera correspondent Guevara Al-Badiri reported that 4,000, including foreigners, were participating in the concert. It added, quoting informed sources, that the Al-Qassam Brigades were not even aware of the ceremony, but their paratroopers, while crossing the settlements around the Gaza Strip, became aware of Israelis taking to the streets, so they informed their members about that, and when they arrived at the place, they were bombed by the warplanes, which had received information about capture operations. The correspondent explained that the Israeli warplanes were not aware of the reality on the ground, because Hamas took control of the Israeli Gaza division and disrupted all means of communication. The presence of charred bodies confirmed the conclusions of the police investigation, because the Al-Qassam Brigades do not have incendiary weapons, and therefore the Israeli aircraft were the ones who killed the revelers. It said that a number of pilots admitted that they may have bombed Israelis because they did not know where or whom they were bombing. The correspondent stated that this investigation revealed confusion and military errors that will further complicate matters, affect the future of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , and may prompt more demonstrations against him. In turn, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that the police received 24,000 calls on the morning of last October 7, all of them calling for help and rescue from the sudden attack by Al-Qassam Brigades fighters who infiltrated Israel en masse. The police operational investigation revealed that 4,400 people participated in the concert, of whom about 364 were killed during clashes between Al-Qassam fighters and Israeli police forces, and 40 people were kidnapped, as well as 15 policemen killed in the clashes, while 4 gunmen were arrested. A report published on the website of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper by military correspondent Yoav Zeitoun on October 15 addressed what he described as Hamas deceiving Israeli army helicopters, referring to the possibility of Israeli Air Force fighters being involved in the killing of many participants in the concert. The military correspondent explained that the blur of battle accompanied not only the fighters on the ground, but also the air teams that launched from the skies of the Western Negev in the first hours of the events of Black Saturday, according to his description. He explained that the first regiment of fighters arrived at the Gaza Division at around 7:30, that is, about an hour or more after the events began, from the Ramat David base in the north, according to an Air Force investigation. This comes despite the fact that the main squadrons of Apache helicopters are located in Camp Ramon in the western Negev, which is the closest to the Gaza Strip. The officers at Ramon quickly realized that something unusual was developing, so they and the commander of the 190th Squadron, Lieutenant Colonel A, launched a combat helicopter that reached the cover at 8:32 am. Many decided that friendly fire on fleeing festival goers was captured in footage of the Apaches in action published by the IDF press service in the first days. However, the strikes in this video are geolocated outside the border fence with Gaza. So even if Israeli helicopters carried out erroneous strikes on civilians, this has nothing to do with the published footage. After the pilots realized that there was great difficulty in distinguishing between Palestinians and Israelis inside the settlements and military bases, the military correspondent said, A decision was made that the first mission of combat helicopters and armed Zik drones was to stop armed operations and penetrate the security fence. 28 combat helicopters opened fire over the course of one day, ran out of ammunition and missiles, and were returning to the air force base in the western Negev in order to arm themselves again with hundreds of 30 mm artillery shells, as well as Hellfire missiles. The rate of fire on thousands of militants was initially massive and intense, and only at a certain point did the pilots begin to slow down the attacks and choose targets carefully, according to the Air Force investigation. Military correspondent Zaytoun said, Hamas deliberately made it difficult for helicopter pilots and drone operators, as it asked the forces invading the cover area to advance slowly towards or inside the settlements and military bases, and not to escape under any circumstances in order to make the pilots believe that they were... "Israelis." This deception worked for a long time, until the Apache pilots realized that they had to bypass all restrictions, and around nine in the morning - according to the military correspondent - some of them began firing from the air intensively with cannons on their own without permission from their superiors. This behavior reinforces the possibilities and estimates of the Israeli media that many Israelis were killed by army, security forces and air force fire during the attempt to eliminate and clash with Al-Qassam Brigades fighters. The same developments and events were reviewed by the military correspondent of the Wala website, Amir Bouhbut, on the morning of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, where two Sharaf combat helicopters took off for the first time from an air base in Haifa, and arrived in the Gaza Strip area before eight oclock in the morning. About half an hour later, a third helicopter took off from the "Ramon" base and arrived at the scene of the incident with the commander of the 190th Squadron, "Magic Touch Squadron", Lieutenant Colonel (A), who ordered the opening of fire on the open areas to deter the intruding Qassam fighters, and to allow another helicopter to land the fighters nearby. From the Bari settlement. The navigator reported that he and his commander (A) saw, at a distance, a Palestinian crowd coming from the populated areas in Gaza to the border fence, similar to the violent protests and unrest that occurred during the past months and the return marches. Then he decided to fire two missiles and cannon shells for deterrence only, and not for killing. When the helicopter headed to the Nahal Oz settlement, the two saw the huge gaps that opened in the border fence, and the Palestinian crowd that headed to the Gaza envelope area. Then the bombing and shooting began from the air towards crowds of militants, as the commander of Squadron 190 continued the bombing and arming. With ammunition and carrying out raids over the cover and at the border fence until two-thirty in the afternoon on the first day of the Al-Aqsa Flood. After 43 days of repeating the narrative that accuses the Palestinian resistance of killing civilians, shock occurred in Israel after its police received contrary information stating that an Israeli military helicopter had opened fire on Israelis at the music concert that was taking place in the Gaza Strip in conjunction with the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that preliminary investigations by the Israeli police indicate that the gunmen who participated in the attack on October 7th did not know in advance of the presence of the concert near the Reim settlement. The information revealed by the Israeli police sparked widespread controversy on social media sites, some of which were reported in an episode of the Shabakat program. As for Muhammad Amin, what was revealed by the Israeli investigation demolishes the pretext of war on civilians in the Gaza Strip , stressing that what the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) did was a precise military operation against specific military targets of an occupying country... and armed resistance against the occupier is a legitimate right. Jamal wrote in his comment that the Israelis initially attributed what happened at the Palestinian resistance concert to justify their frantic campaign against Gaza, but now they say that to find a way out of the war that has exhausted them. Alaa Al-Haddad directed his words to US President Joe Biden , saying to him, To Biden, who had the idea of supporting the entity in the war because of the killing of civilians... to you now... they were killed by the occupying entitys plane. The episode of the Shabakat program mentioned the tweets of some Israelis on social media, including a person named Gilad Rubin, who wrote, Until a clarification comes out about the suspicions and numbers, it does not make sense for such a report to come out so that all our haters can celebrate it. This is real spitting in the face of the families of all of us. Who was killed by Hamas? As for Elie Al-Sarfati, he commented on the Israeli police report by saying, Thank you very much, you anti-Zionists (Haaretz), haters of the homeland. You made things easier for the terrorists. You hurt an entire country with this report. According to Haaretz newspaper, when the Israeli army learned of the attack on October 7, it sent a combat helicopter that took off from the Ramat David base in northern Israel and headed towards the Gaza Strip. This helicopter opened fire randomly at everyone walking on the ground, and intended to kill members of the Hamas movement, but they also killed the Israelis indiscriminately, according to Haaretz newspaper. For its part, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that on the 7th of last October: 28 Israeli military helicopters took off from the Ramat David base and emptied all of their ammunition on people inside the settlements around the Gaza Strip, after facing great difficulty in distinguishing between the Palestinian attackers and soldiers or Civilians. Bystanders United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip is shocking and unacceptable, reiterating the call for an immediate ceasefire for humanitarian reasons. This came as the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, confirmed that the level of violence in the Strip is unfathomable, in light of the repeated attacks on schools housing displaced people and the transformation of hospitals into a death zone. Guterres explained that he was "deeply shocked" by the killing and wounding of dozens, including women and children, as a result of the bombing of two of the organization's schools in less than 24 hours in the Gaza Strip. He pointed out that the victims "were looking for safety in the United Nations buildings , which should not be violated." Volcker said - in a statement - that "the horrific events that took place during the past 48 hours in Gaza are beyond imagination," noting that "the killing of such a large number of people in schools that became shelters, and hundreds of people fleeing for their lives from Al-Shifa Hospital, amid the displacement of hundreds of thousands . " to southern Gaza, are actions that contradict the basic protection that must be afforded to civilians under international law. The High Commissioner stressed that regardless of the warnings, Israel is obligated to protect civilians wherever they are, referring to the principles of international humanitarian law, pointing out that failure to adhere to these rules may constitute war crimes. Turk also described the pictures that spread after the Israeli raid on the United Nations Al-Fakhoura School as terrifying, and clearly show large numbers of women, children and men who were seriously injured or killed. These statements come hours after the World Health Organization announced that Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza had become a death zone, and announced that it led an hour-long assessment mission for the hospital, confirming that 25 health workers and 291 patients, including 32 children in critical condition, remained in the hospital. A few days ago, Al-Shifa Medical Complex attracted the attention of the whole world after the occupation army besieged it and bombed its surroundings repeatedly, then stormed it later under the pretext that the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) was using it for military purposes, which the movement and the health authorities in the Strip deny. A ministerial committee tasked by the Arab-Islamic summit to formulate an action plan to stop the war on Gaza will kick off its work from China, Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan announced. Ministers from Arab and Muslim countries are expected to start their flurry of political activity from China on Monday, Prince Faisal said in a video posted on the ministrys account of platform X. The first stop will be in China and will then move to a number of capitals to deliver the clear message that there must be a ceasefire immediately as well as aid and humanitarian needs must be immediately delivered to Gaza, Prince Faisal said after meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on the sidelines of a conference in Bahrain. We must work to end this crisis and end this war on Gaza as soon as possible, Prince Faisal said. Chinas state broadcaster CCTV cited the foreign ministry as saying that ministers from Arab and Islamic countries will visit China on Monday and Tuesday. The ministry said China will discuss with these foreign ministers ways to promote the cooling of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the protection of civilians and a just settlement of the Palestinian issue. The officials visiting are from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestine and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, according to the ministry. Human rights and solidarity voices are rising in the world with Palestine , coinciding with an unprecedented government disregard for street pressure and demands to stop crime. While charges of Israeli violations against civilians in Gaza continued amid Western international support for Israel, the question of the feasibility of international law, which emerged at this stage as the most controversial expression, was rising. Humanitarian and human rights calls are intensifying around the world to stop the Israeli operation in Gaza, while the global human rights movement appeared to be facing a real transformation that may threaten to undermine existing international principles, which are sponsored by international humanitarian law and the legal principles regulating armed conflicts. Western governments, led by the United States, still refuse to call for a ceasefire. Israeli violations against civilians in Gaza are claimed to represent one of the clearest precedents in the world for more than 70 years, and they were seen as evidence that the West gives unrestrained support for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. A leaked secret document, written by the military attache at the Dutch Embassy in Tel Aviv, revealed that Israel is deliberately causing widespread destruction of infrastructure and civilian centers in Gaza. While the diplomatic document leaked by the Dutch newspaper NRC confirmed that the Israeli army is violating the laws of war, the Dutch government did not take a different position, but rather, like most European countries, continued to refuse to demand a ceasefire. The Western position did not seem to Palestinians to be linked to the facts as much as there was a collective political will to support Israel and protect it from accountability, which raised the concerns and fears of international human rights organizations, which saw these positions as undermining the basic legal principles on which the current international system is based. In a special statement to Al Jazeera Net, Omar Shaker, director of Human Rights Watch in Israel and Palestine, said, The double standards of Western governments not only harm the civil protection of Palestinians, but also have repercussions at the global level, because they challenge the basic commitment of these countries to international law. and the rules on which the international system is based. Shaker pointed out that failure to respect these obligations constitutes a real danger to human rights principles, and undermines the ability of the international community to protect civilians in all parts of the world. Shaker added that what we are witnessing in the Gaza Strip is an undeniable war crime, noting that his organization documented clear war crimes committed by the Israeli government, such as displacing residents and targeting hospitals and medical facilities, in addition to the indiscriminate use of white phosphorus against densely populated areas. Shaker also noted that "the response of the United States and other Western leaders to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza highlights the double standards by which these governments deal with the conflict." In his words, These governments have correctly condemned attacks in other contexts in Syria and Ukraine, and the Hamas-led attack on October 7, but they have failed to point out the clear war crimes committed by Israel. The concern of individuals and institutions working in the field of human rights was increasing in light of the declared Western protection of Israels violations against civilians in Gaza. Campaigns to restrict freedom of expression regarding Palestine are intensifying in Europe and the United States in a way that these countries have not recorded in the past. Human rights organizations also faced ongoing demonization and smear campaigns in more than one Western country. In Britain, the human rights and solidarity movement in general faced accusations of anti-Semitism and hatred, the latest of which was made by the sacked Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, who accused all solidarity activists of being hate demonstrators. As for Germany, the government has issued strict instructions to consider some solidarity practices and chants as legal crimes, such as wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh in specific places, or chanting From the sea to the river, Palestine will be free, under the pretext that it is a call to deny Israels right to exist, which Considered anti-Semitic as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) In a related context, Anwar Al-Gharbi, Director of the Geneva Center for Democracy and Human Rights, said in his statement to Al-Jazeera Net that what the global human rights movement is witnessing is unprecedented in contemporary history, as the Secretary-General of the United Nations is unable to establish a simple position such as demanding a ceasefire, according to recipe. Al-Gharbi continued, Despite this, it is the civil rights system that will produce positive results in light of the intense action by human rights associations and initiatives across the world, to which hundreds of international jurists and lawyers have joined. The Swiss jurist of Tunisian origin, residing in Geneva, also called for the need to differentiate between the official and ineffective human rights system on the one hand, and the stable and continuing civil rights system on the other hand, which he sees as having a significant future impact. Al-Gharbi stressed the great importance of the impact of human rights initiatives, especially since there is awareness of the seriousness of what is happening. According to his point of view, When everyone becomes unable to stop the perpetrator, the feeling will strengthen that everyone is a target, and that the existing justice no longer protects him, and this is what motivated this large outburst from all countries. Al-Gharbi concludes his speech by saying that the international situation today, and the inability of the existing international legal system, has strengthened individual initiatives to achieve justice, pointing to the idea of ??a boycott that is growing today, including the academic boycott. The current war on Gaza records the growing public feeling internationally about the decline in legal protection of public freedoms. This prompted a number of employees of international media agencies to resign, as happened with the British channel BBC and the American newspaper The New York Times. In light of developments in the war on Gaza, the phenomenon of protest resignations has increased recently in the West, which indicates the failure of governmental and semi-governmental institutions and entities to adhere to equal standards in respecting freedoms and human rights. In the Netherlands, 12 directors and artists withdrew from the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA), which is considered the largest festival of its kind in the world. The British newspaper "The Guardian" indicated that the withdrawals came against the backdrop of the festival administration's condemnation of a Palestinian chant that occurred during the opening session of the activity. Earlier last week, 8 ministers resigned at once from the shadow government led by the opposition British Labor Party, after the latter voted against a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in the House of Commons. Informal initiatives in the legal field have increased recently, the most important of which was the initiative of French international lawyer Gilles Devers, who succeeded in gathering what he called an army of lawyers from various nationalities in the world. Those responding to Devers call reached about 300 international lawyers and jurists. They intend to take their escapes to the International Criminal Court. Regardless of the feasibility of this movement, human rights activists, such as Anwar Al-Gharbi, believe that it may reflect a decline in faith in the prevailing mechanisms for achieving justice through governments, which may contribute to reshaping the international human rights movement, from seeking justice from the prevailing system to creating it through civil pressure and individual initiatives. Axis of Resistance On the sidelines of his inspection of an exhibition of the achievements of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, during which the Fattah II hypersonic missile was revealed for the first time, Ayatollah Khamenei affirmed the failure of the Israeli entity militarily and operationally in its aggression against Gaza, and considered that the occupation was unable to achieve its goals regarding the destruction of the Hamas movement and its resistance. Despite the violent bombing and massive massacres it committed in the Gaza Strip, he stressed that targeting hospitals, women and children in Gaza is an indication of the occupying entitys anger at its defeat. In part of his speech, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to Western leaders support for the Zionist regime and their bias towards it. The leader of the revolution said: The American President, the German Chancellor, the President of the Republic of France, and the British Prime Minister defend this entity and provide support to it. This means that these gentlemen believe in racial discrimination and have no objection to racial discrimination. Ayatollah Khamenei also touched on the duty of Islamic governments in confronting this ferocious Zionist attack on civilians, children and women inside the Gaza Strip . He said that some Islamic governments condemned the crimes of the Zionist entity, while others have not done so yet. He described these positions as unacceptable, indicating that what must be done is to cut off the vital artery of the Israeli entity. He stressed that Islamic governments must prevent energy and goods from reaching this entity, and called on them to sever their political relations with the Zionist entity, at least for a limited period. In a speech to the peoples of the world, Ayatollah Khamenei called on them to continue gatherings and marches denouncing the crimes of the occupation and not to forget the oppression of the Palestinian people. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian confirmed that the resistance factions are putting intelligent pressure on the Zionists and their protectors, and that there are many energies that have not yet been activated. The spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Islamic Shura Council, Abu al-Fadl Amoui , said in a statement to reporters, while reviewing the details of the committees meeting, that Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdullahian attended the extraordinary meeting of the National Security Committee to explain the latest developments in Palestine and the measures taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In an effort to stop the escalation and attacks by the Zionist entity on the residents of Gaza. The spokesman for the Parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Committee added: In this meeting, the Foreign Minister explained the suffering of the people of Gaza due to the continued war crimes committed by the Zionist entity, and stressed that the United States is the most important supporter and partner of the Zionists in killing the people of Gaza in the Israeli operations room and in international forums, and of course. "You lack an effective strategy." Amoui recalled: Amir Abdullahian stated that as the crimes of the Zionist entity continue, it is possible for the conflict to develop, and while the resistance factions are working intelligently to organize pressure on the Zionists and their protectors, there are many energies that have not yet been activated. He stated that the Iranian Foreign Minister indicated in this meeting the support of world public opinion for the oppression of the Palestinian people and the immediate demand for a ceasefire. He stressed that world public opinion can no longer tolerate the crimes of the Zionists and that the humanitarian claims of the United States and the West are ineffective in international forums. Saad Nimr, professor of politics at Birzeit University, said: The Israeli occupation is escalating very significantly, and this is clear in the arrests, killings, and bombing of homes, as if it is trying to take revenge on the Palestinian people after what happened on October 7th. Numbers in the West Bank indicate that the issue has also turned into a state of revenge that the Israeli occupation is working on, dismembering the West Bank with more than 600 military checkpoints, dozens of attacks on Palestinians who move between cities by settlers, to whom 150,000 weapons were distributed and they began to move in a systematic manner. Organized gangs , all of this is experienced in the West Bank somewhat away from the media. Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the Executive Committee, said: We, as a Palestinian people, say that we are steadfast on this land, adhering to our rights, our principles, and our resistance for the sake of our freedom and independence, the establishment of our independent Palestinian state with the occupier as its capital, and the return of refugees. The head of the Organization for Mobilizing the Oppressed, Brigadier General Gholam Reza Soleimani, confirmed that the collapse of the Zionist entity has accelerated, and that brutality, destruction, and killing of the oppressed have accelerated the collapse of this child-killing entity, and will not stop or delay it. Brigadier General Soleimani said in the ceremony to renew the covenant of two thousand elements of mobilization with the principles of the late Imam Khomeini (may God be pleased with him), which was held today, Sunday, at the shrine of the late Imam, in southern Tehran, that the Al-Aqsa flood inflicted an irreversible defeat on the Zionist entity, which is using all its power against the people of Gaza, but the resistance and valor of the people of Gaza constituted another defeat for the Zionists, who thought that their massacres would weaken the resistance, but the resistance withstood this brutality with unimaginable resilience. Brigadier General Soleimani pointed to the large volume of bombs and missiles that were fired towards the oppressed people of Gaza, which came from weapons depots from America, Britain and Germany, as well as the fact that the Americans led the battle themselves, but he added, The victory of the resistance against America, Britain, Germany, France and the Zionist entity is a great victory, as The Palestinian people won the media war also because the media mouthpieces tried to overturn the facts in this battle. The blood of the oppressed Palestinian people proved the validity of their cause and the free consciences of the world became media outlets defending Palestine. Brigadier General Soleimani considered that the presence of the Israeli cancerous tumor constitutes the greatest obstacle to uniting the ranks of Muslims, but the defeat of this entity, its collapse , and the liberation of Jerusalem and Palestine will constitute the first victory for the Muslim peoples and the Iranian people in the second step of the blessed Islamic Revolution. Colonel Kobi Merom/Miron, a reservist in the Israeli army, commented on the escalation at the Lebanese-Palestinian border region, describing it as "a severe war of attrition with a high pace and many incidents occurring every day". In a piece published on Israeli Channel 12's website, he warned that an all-out war with Hezbollah poses a major challenge to "Israel," stressing that damage to the Israeli "home front", as he put it, would be significant in case of a war, not to mention the severe material and human casualties. "Hezbollah has made some significant accomplishments in terms of psychological warfare, such as the evacuation of 70,000 settlers from their homes on the northern borders and hundreds of thousands who are still threatened by Hezbollah's missiles all the way to the Gulf of Haifa." He concluded "Israel is compelled to retreat and respond against Hezbollah, the party that has the initiative and is continuously escalating". The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine praised the support efforts carried out by the Sanaa forces for the Palestinian resistance through their courageous operations targeting the interests of the occupying entity. The statement published on the channel of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine said, The support and support efforts carried out by the Yemeni armed forces for the Palestinian resistance through their courageous operations targeting the interests of the Zionist enemy. The statement issued by the movement and its military arm, the Al-Quds Brigades, added to the latest operation, and the statement continued: The last of which was stopping a cargo ship heading to the Zionist entity and detaining those on board. He considered, This heroic act reflects the faith of the Yemeni people and their leadership in the duty of Arab and Islamic support for the Palestinian people and the nations duties to support the Palestinian cause, stand by the resistance, and stop the brutal, unjust aggression against the besieged Palestinian people. Explaining, This heroic and courageous act is a true translation of the positions and not being satisfied with speeches and statements of denunciation and condemnation that the enemy does not pay attention to. Allied for Democracy A far-right Likud MK and deputy speaker of the Knesset Nissim Vaturi called for the Israeli army to burn down Gaza. All of this preoccupation with whether or not there is internet in Gaza shows that we have learned nothing. We are too humane. Burn Gaza now no less! he said as cited by the Times of Israel. Vaturi posted his message on social media which was later removed after the Israeli war cabinet approved the entry of two trucks of fuel per day to prevent the collapse of the sewage treatment system, which risked a mass-disease outbreak. Dont allow fuel in, dont allow water in until the hostages are returned back! Vaturi said. This is the second highly controversial and aggressive statement by a Knesset member after Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said earlier this month that one of Israels options in the war against Hamas could be to drop a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip. Jewish religious beliefs permeate the various Israeli army units participating in the ground incursions into Gaza. The Kahanist songs sung by these forces indicate that the ideology of Messianic nationalism is widespread among them, especially as they raise the slogans of the return of settlement to Gush Katif to the invading tanks. The thought of Messianic nationalism accompanying Jewish soldiers is summed up by belief in the expected Messiah, savior and savior, who will come at the end of time to save the people of Israel, according to their beliefs. With the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip , hundreds of Haredi (religious) young men volunteered to fight on the Gaza front, even though the conscription law does not obligate them to military service, as they devote their lives in religious schools to teaching Judaism and Torah. These changes in the Israeli army, with the expansion of the war on Gaza, reflected the competition between the Israeli parties and movements, by employing the biblical religious dimension in order to mobilize the ranks of the Israelis, to engage in fighting in the ground battles in Gaza, which threatens what they call the spirit of the army, as a national army. According to estimates and analyzes of Israeli researchers. An investigation by the Center for Media and Democracy (Shomrim) reviewed the penetration of Messianic nationalism thought into the ranks of Israeli army units fighting ground battles in Gaza, and its use of rabbis who come to the battlefront and motivate the soldiers to take revenge on the Palestinians, urging them to perform collective Talmudic prayers and rituals even in northern Gaza. , and promoting the reconstruction of the Old Synagogue in Gaza. Han Shalita, the investigative journalist who prepared the investigation into the transformations taking place in the Israeli army during the war on Gaza, said that the initial impression from monitoring many phenomena indicates that the army has abandoned mental preparation based on faith, as it is the path of the Zionist project, as she described it. He replaced it with readiness based on religious justification. The journalist says, "Such an approach results in the politicization of combat goals and their imbuing them with Biblical religious considerations, and it integrates well with the transformations that Israeli society has undergone in recent years." According to the investigation, the Knesset elections a year ago and the formation of the far-right government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu , which relied on the religious and Haredi parties, the settler movement, religious Zionism , and the Jewish Greatness party, were the first stages of transformations and changes in the Israeli army, which were expressed within its combat units with calls for revenge. From the Palestinians due to the events of last October 7. In light of the growth of the ideology of Messianic nationalism within the ranks of the occupation army units, and the influence of the soldiers during the ground battles in Gaza by the rabbis calls to fight and take revenge, especially from the religious Zionism trend, the Israeli army is content in its responses that religious political statements and Kahanist songs will be dealt with, without revealing the mechanisms. To deal with this thought, according to Shalita. In contrast, the Israeli army refuses to address the biblical religious preparation that is taking place under the auspices of the generals, according to what was revealed by the investigation of the Shomrim website, which confirmed that the penetration of the biblical religious movement into the ranks of the military units fighting in Gaza is taking place in cooperation with senior officials. Officers in the field, whether actively participating or turning a blind eye to these biblical religious transformations and movement. Through the videos that Israeli soldiers publish on social media networks, according to the Shomrim Centers monitoring, it appears that the only mental preparation for infantry soldiers before going into ground battles in the Gaza Strip depends on Talmudic and Biblical rituals. The investigation pointed out that the Golani Brigade hosted Rabbi Everjan Hrentgen for a group prayer, before the ground incursion into Gaza began, and it was said that it was a great honor for him to bless us when he entered the hall crowded with soldiers. In order to sharpen the soldiers with determination and energy, the herald described Rabbi Ifergan by saying that he is a blessing added to all the means of physical and spiritual protection that we already have, noting that this rabbi, according to the investigative journalist, was obliged by the court two years ago to pay a tax worth 30 million shekels ($7.8 million). On the income of his followers and believers, he became a spiritual protector. Another guest also came to receive the soldiers before the ground incursion into Gaza, and he is the rabbi of the city of Safed, Shmuel Eliyahu, who in 2020 the Supreme Court ordered to be subjected to disciplinary procedures, after racist and political statements, and whose son is Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who recently said that dropping a bomb Nuclear power in Gaza is a possible option. The Shomrim Center wondered about the messages that the Israeli army is sending by introducing rabbis into the circles of soldiers in various combat units, and about allowing someone like Rabbi Eliyahu to be the spiritual reference that encourages soldiers before going to war in a populated and densely populated civilian area. The investigation recalled what Eliyahu said in 2018, when he said, Anyone who raises his hand against a Jew, it is a duty and a commandment for soldiers, policemen, and citizens to kill him. Before the start of the ground incursion into Gaza, Rabbi Eliyahu announced in a message addressed to Israeli soldiers that there are no people who are not involved, and before you intervene, we will all make a religious and national response and we will win, he said. None of this comes as a surprise to Professor Yigil Levy, a researcher of the relationship between the army and society in Israel, as he previously reviewed in his book The Supreme Commander: The Army Theocracy in Israel, saying that the rule of the clergy penetrates the powers of the army, in an attempt to influence designated areas of behavior exclusively for its political leaders. In his interview with the Shomrim website, Levy answers the reason for this transformation in the army, saying, This is mainly due to the attempt of the Hesder religious school and the religious preparatory schools to justify the nature of the path they chose, by redesigning the armys behavior and culture. Levy says, "The Israeli army tolerates religious influence and accepts it as a fait accompli, because it has become more dependent on religious recruits, and is looking for new sources of legitimacy for military sacrifice," a transformation that threatens the spirit of the Israeli army as "the people's army." Israeli researcher Levy says, The military rabbinate exploited the soldiers fears in order for religion to enter the place where the basic fear of death exists, and this is evidenced by the ultra-Orthodox Haredi and nationalist religious public mobilizing collectively to meet the need to fight in Gaza. Levy spoke about the relationship between the army and society in Israel, where Israeli soldiers, including secularists, view Talmudic teachings as a kind of talisman, believing it to be a spiritual jacket no less than a military jacket. He said, "Confrontation based on faith is one of the ways that allows soldiers to deal with the feeling of danger and uncertainty during battle. Wrapping war in the mantle of religious war gives a renewed meaning to sacrifice in the army. Indeed, religious war charges soldiers with intense hostility toward the enemy." The latest NBC news poll shows the US President's handling of the war on Gaza is a driving force behind Biden's low approval rating. The latest NBC news poll shows the US President's handling of the war on Gaza is a driving force behind Biden's low approval rating. Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who led the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies expressed that Joe Biden is at a uniquely low point in his presidency, and a significant part of this, especially within the Biden coalition, is due to how Americans are viewing his foreign policy actions." President Biden delivered two different messages on the Israel-Hamas war to pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel Americans, NBC News has reported, based on copies of official White House correspondence. While one letter showcased Bidens support for Israel against Palestinian group Hamass terrorism, the other spoke about the US administrations efforts to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip. According to NBC, the letter sent to pro-Israelis invoked the Holocaust in relation to the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel. It also pledged continuous support to Israel and efforts to return the captives taken by Hamas and being held in Gaza. The people of Israel lived through a moment of pure evil that resurfaced horrible memories and amounted to the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, NBC reported Bidens letter, dated November 1, as saying. The United States stands with Israel, it continued. We will continue to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against terrorism in accordance with international humanitarian law. On the other hand, Bidens letter to pro-Palestinians focused on aid to Palestine and made no mention of the Holocaust or of US support for Israel. We mourn the many innocent Palestinians who have been killed, NBC reported Bidens second letter saying, dated November 8. It added that the administration is working closely with partners to ensure that life-saving assistance including, food, water, and medicine can urgently reach innocent Palestinians in Gaza and emphasised that the United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilians during conflict. While the two letters do not appear to contradict one another, or Bidens policies, NBC reported that it was not common for the White House to craft different versions of a letter on the same topic that vary so much in their emphasis. It added that the incident reflects the political tightrope Biden is trying to navigate as pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian elements of his coalition fray over the war, and with less than a year to go before elections. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister Blair's Keynote Remarks at the 15th Halifax International Security Forum National Defence 2023-11-19 Speech Check against delivery Introduction Ministers, Ambassadors, Members of Parliament and Members of Congress, General Eyre and Members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Deputy Minister Matthews, Peter, Distinguished Guests, Good afternoon. Bonjour. To those of you visiting us - welcome to Canada. I'm honoured to welcome you to the Halifax International Security Forum, which is taking place on the traditional territory of the Mi'kmaq people. This is my first Halifax Forum, but its excellent reputation precedes it. A reputation dating back 15 years, as the world's foremost security conference for democracies. Peter - congratulations to you and your team on this anniversary. Of course, global security challenges have evolved significantly over that time. We're seeing increasing threats to the rules-based international order. We're seeing rapid technological advances. We're seeing how climate change is increasing the demands on our Armed Forces here at home. And we're seeing a war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, and rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific. We are fortunate to be a considerable distance from many of the conflicts that roil our world. But our world is becoming increasingly interconnected. We do not live in splendid isolation. These global challenges have a direct impact on Canadians: on our security, on our families abroad, on our cost of living, and on the future that we will leave to our kids and grandkids. In challenging times like these, Canada's position remains clear: Freedom matters. Democracy matters. Sovereignty matters. And the international rules that have kept us safe since the end of the Second World War matter. For our citizens - we have an obligation to strengthen those rules and uphold that order. I'm convinced that together, we can strengthen the international rules that keep us all safe. We can meet the security challenges of today and tomorrow. But we've got a lot of work to do. That work requires alliances, like NATO and NORAD. It requires personnel, readiness, and investment. And it requires frank discussion, that we have all come to expect here in Halifax, as the leading security conference of democracies. 1. Middle East A month and a half ago, on October 7, Israel was brutally attacked by the terrorist organization, Hamas. Approximately 1,200 Israeli civilians were slaughtered. Over 200 Israelis and foreign nationals were taken hostage, including citizens from many of your countries. We've all seen the heartbreaking footage from Israel over the last month: families torn apart, parents who've lost their young children, and innocent people kidnapped during a day of celebration. Canada unequivocally condemns this terror attack, and we support Israel's right to defend itself in accordance with international law. I reiterate Prime Minister Trudeau's call for Hamas to immediately release all hostages held in Gaza. And last week, Canada's House of Commons unanimously passed a motion to the same effect. As Prime Minister Trudeau has said, the price of justice cannot be the suffering of all Palestinians. The protection of civilians must be paramount. And, Hamas must stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields. We have all seen terrible images of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. To help support civilians who urgently need help, Canada has already committed 60 million dollars in humanitarian assistance. We reiterate the need to ensure safe and unimpeded access to life-saving humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza, and for a humanitarian pause, so that aid can flow safely. Since October, the Canadian Armed Forces have been there to assist Canadians in the region. Our military has evacuated over 1,600 Canadians, permanent residents, and immediate family members on nineteen military flights from Tel Aviv, and 367 Canadians have now left Gaza. Should the regional situation escalate, and should we need to evacuate Canadians from Lebanon, we are ready. Hundreds of Canadian Armed Forces personnel are currently deployed to the region, and a Task Force Headquarters has been set up in Cyprus. However, we urge Canadians to leave Lebanon while commercial options are available. Canada will continue to support a two-state solution, so that both Israelis and Palestinians can live in lasting peace. 2. Europe In Ukraine, members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to fight for Ukraine's freedom, in the face of Russia's illegal and unprovoked war of choice. Ukraine did not ask for this war. Ukraine did not provoke this war. But Ukraine must win this war. To strengthen Ukraine's position on the battlefield, Canada has committed over 2.4 billion dollars in military aid to Ukraineaeverything from tanks and armoured vehicles, to howitzers and ammunition. Since 2015 we've trained nearly 40,000 members of Ukraine's military through Operation UNIFIER. In September, I visited our troops who are training Ukrainian recruits in the United Kingdom and saw how Canadians are providing Ukrainians with the military skills that they need to fight and win. We welcome the significant military support that many of your countries are providing to Ukraine as well. In addition to military assistance, we're helping Ukraine to protect its systems from hostile cyber activity. Canada regularly shares intelligence with Ukraine, including information about cyber threats. As many in this room know all too well, the cyber domain has become a key battleground in this conflict, and we're making critical contributions to Ukraine's success. Ukraine is making progress - but it requires us to work together and our continued support. As NATO's Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg has said, "We are all paying a price for Russia's war against Ukraine. But the price we pay is in money. While the price Ukrainians pay is in blood. And if we let Putin win, all of us will pay a much higher price, for many years to come." We must - and will - stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. As a founding member of NATO, our commitment to collective defence has been - and will always be - unwavering. Canada is more than doubling its military presence on the Alliance's eastern flank, with up to 2200 troops to be persistently deployed on Operation REASSURANCE. As many of you are aware, Canada also shares vital cyber data with NATO Allies, including with Latvia, where we've deployed military and civilian personnel to help protect critical networks. And, we know that we must do more. Even though we are across the Atlantic, we are under no illusions: Europe's security is our security too. And given the threats we currently face, we believe that NATO is more important than ever. 3. Indo-Pacific And we have a lot of work to do in the Indo-Pacific. As a Pacific nation itself, Canada has a deep interest in maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. We know that we must move from an episodic presence in the region, to a reliable and persistent presence. That's exactly why we're deploying more ships, aircraft, and personnel to the region. In 2023, for the first time in decades, Canada deployed three warships to the region. They conducted exercises with our allies and partners, including the United States, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and others. I'm proud to say that this additional warship came from right here in Halifax. And, whether we are monitoring UN sanctions against North Korea, or sailing through the international waters of the Taiwan Strait, partnerships matter. As we operate in the Indo-Pacific, Canada will always respect international rules, and engage responsibly. We expect others to do the same. Unfortunately, in the past few weeks alone, we have seen unsafe aerial intercepts conducted by the People's Republic of China. On October 16, a Canadian maritime patrol aircraft monitoring United Nations sanctions against North Korea was unsafely intercepted by a Chinese fighter jet, which came within five metres of our aircraft. And on October 29, a Canadian maritime helicopter had two unsafe encounters with Chinese aircraft, one of which launched flares directly in front of our helicopter. These actions put everyone involved at unnecessary risk. Canada has raised its concerns regarding this behaviour in the past, and we will continue to do so when necessary. Our Indo-Pacific Strategy is clear: China increasingly disregards international rules and norms. So, Canada will challenge China when we ought to. And we will cooperate with China when we must, to find solutions to global issues. Canada has been clear in its commitment to our partners in the region. For example, Canada is contributing to stability on the Korean Peninsula. Since the Korean War, the Canadian Armed Forces have continuously served in Korea through the United Nations Command, to promote peace on the Peninsula. And today, I'm pleased to announce that the Canadian Armed Forces' very own Lieutenant-General Derek Macaulay has been named as the next Deputy Commander of the United Nations Command in the Republic of Korea. He will officially begin his duties shortly. In short, we believe that the Indo-Pacific is central to our own country's security and prosperity. And we'll continue to work with like-minded partners and allies to build freedom, openness, and stability in the region. 4. Bolstering our defences here at home Here at home, our Arctic sovereignty is being increasingly challenged by Russia and China Just nine months ago, NORAD played a key role when a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon violated the sovereignty of Canada and the United States - reminding us of NORAD's centrality to the security of our peoples. As President Biden said when he visited Canada this year, NORAD "is an incredible symbol of the faith we have in one another and the trust we place in each other's capabilities." To the United States Congressional Delegation joining us today, let me say clearly: We deeply value the unparalleled defence relationship between Canada and the United States - including and especially through NORAD. Canada is making generational investment to modernize our NORAD capabilities, by investing $38.6 billion over the next two decades. Earlier this year, we released information on all 19 projects that will proceed under this plan. We're starting to see these investments take shape: We will be developing a new Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar System with improved threat detection in the North. At the beginning of 2023, our government announced the acquisition of 88 F-35 fighter jets - an investment of 19 billion dollars. And we're closely engaged with Arctic partners to upgrade our infrastructure so that it can host state-of-the-art fighter jets. To modernize the Canadian Armed Forces, we're also continuing to implement our 2017 defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, which increases our defence spending by over seventy percent. But we know that we need to do more, because the world has changed since 2017. That's why we are moving forward with a Defence Policy Update. We've been engaging with Canadians, industry and you, our allies and partners to make sure that we get this right. And we look forward to releasing the Update in the coming months. We're focused on capabilities that bring value to Canadians, and to our key Alliances. For example - we know that long-range precision strike capabilities are essential to NATO. We know that underwater surveillance capabilities, and Arctic defence infrastructure, matter to NORAD. And we know that tactical aviation capabilities are essential in responding to emergencies here at home. In recent weeks, I've met with the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, and other industry partners to discuss the DPU. I have heard your feedback, and I know that we need to provide you with the clarity and certainty that you need to help us. Although we are already investing in major new military capabilities in all domains - additional investments are needed. We know that we need resources to put behind our aspirations. As we do all of this, our people remain our number one priority. And that's exactly why we are implementing Madame Louise Arbour's recommendations to effect meaningful culture change in our military. As Canada's Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security Jaqueline O'Neill said while receiving the Vimy Award last week, "Diverse groups make better decisions, and when women participate, outcomes are better. True operational effectiveness occurs when we reduce blind spots in situational awareness." On that note, please join me in welcoming this year's Peace with Women Fellows, who as in previous years, will take part in this weekend's discussions. I also extend a warm welcome to Irene Fellin, Special Representative of the NATO Secretary General for Women, Peace and Security. 5. Investing here in Halifax Finally, let me say a few words about our fantastic host city: Halifax. To all Haligonians: This city - your city - is at the heart of the defence of Canada. Just over a week ago, two Canadian ships returned to their home port here in Halifax after a months-long deployment with NATO in European waters. This morning, I visited shipbuilders at Irving's Halifax Shipyard - just a few kilometres from where we're gathered now. Halifax shipbuilders have already built and delivered four new Arctic and Offshore Patrol ships to the Navy - and two more are under construction. They'll soon begin construction on the first of fifteen new warships for the Royal Canadian Navy, through the Canadian Surface Combatant project - the largest shipbuilding initiative in Canada since World War Two. This project is expected to create or maintain ten thousand jobs over 25 years, and it will provide our Navy with modern, state-of-the-art ships built right here in Canada. CFB Halifax Announcement Right next to the Irving Shipyard, thousands of civilians and military personnel go to work every day at Canadian Forces Base Halifax - the home of our Atlantic fleet, and Canada's largest military base. But it needs new facilities, to meet the growing demands on our personnel. Today, I'm pleased to announce that we are moving forward to build a brand-new 188-million-dollar training centre at CFB Halifax. The Centre will provide Canadian Armed Forces members with expertise in above-water, underwater, and maritime air warfighting, so that they are ready to sail on our incoming fleet of 15 Canadian Surface Combatant warships. We have awarded the EllisDon Corporation of Halifax a contract worth 7.85 million dollars to design this facility, which we expect to be completed in 2029. This is good news for our Navy members, who will have the chance to train on state-of-the-art equipment as we await the arrival of these new warships. And it's good news for this community, since we expect this project to support almost 650 jobs during construction. NATO DIANA Announcement Halifax is also home to an impressive defence research and innovation network. The region is home to Defence Research and Development Canada's Atlantic facility, which provides world-class expertise in areas like underwater acoustic research. It's home to several universities, and COVE - a centre of marine technology innovation. And, as we announced last year, Halifax will soon be home to NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic - or, DIANA. Today, I'm announcing an initial investment of 26.6 million dollars over six years to enable the opening and operations of DIANA's North American regional office here in Halifax. This investment will allow DIANA to open in Halifax by Summer 2024. DIANA will provide funding to innovators to develop dual-use technologies that have both civilian and military uses. It will focus on projects in quantum, artificial intelligence, space, and more, that will strengthen the defence of the NATO Alliance. This spring, DIANA launched its first-ever competitive call for proposals. And across the Alliance, Canada had the second-highest number of application submissions at 211, just a few behind the United States, which had 215. We know that bolstering Canadian innovation makes our investing in our Defence Industrial Base even more attractive to other countries. As the nature of conflict changes, we need to innovate and adapt across all domainsasea, land, air, cyber, space, as well as in "game-changers" like A.I. and quantum. That's exactly what DIANA will do, right here in Halifax. And on that note, let me thank Andy Fillmore, Member of Parliament for Halifax, for his advocacy to bring DIANA right here to this city. It's impossible to imagine the Canadian Armed Forces without the contributions of Haligonians. So, we'll continue to make major investments right here in Halifax - to create good jobs, and to keep Canadians safe in a changing world. Conclusion To everyone joining us here in Halifax, We've got work to do. At times like this, conferences like this one matter. Threats to international stability are on the rise - and in the face of those threats, we've got to work together. We must learn from one another and share experiences. In the Middle East, in Europe, in the Indo-Pacific, here in North America, and around the globe, We must step up to address these challenges, and to preserve peace and prosperity for our peoples. Together, I'm confident that we can build a safer world. We can stand up to those trying to sow chaos and division. We can ensure that our militaries are ready to face the threats of tomorrow. And ultimately, we can protect and strengthen the rules-based international order that keeps us all safe. So we have a lot of work to do. With that, delegates of the 2023 Halifax International Security Forum, It is my privilege, as your host, to officially hand you the floor. Let's get to work. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister Blair concludes 15th Halifax International Security Forum National Defence News release November 19, 2023 - Halifax, Nova Scotia - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, concluded his visit to Halifax, where he co-hosted the 15th annual Halifax International Security Forum (HISF) with HFX President Mr. Peter Van Praagh. On November 17, Minister Blair welcomed delegates to HISF with a keynote speech that addressed security challenges in the Middle East, Europe, the Indo-Pacific, and North America. Minister Blair also discussed Canada's commitment to maintaining a persistent presence in the Indo-Pacific Region, as outlined in Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy - and announced that the Canadian Armed Forces' Lieutenant-General Derek Macaulay has been named as the next Deputy Commander of the United Nations (UN) Command - Korea. Minister Blair also reaffirmed Canada's unwavering commitment to NATO and NORAD. Minister Blair announced several multi-million-dollar defence investments in Halifax aimed at bolstering Canada's security and that of its NATO allies. Minister Blair announced that the North American Regional office for NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) will open in Halifax by summer 2024, supported by an initial Canadian investment of $26.6 million over six years. Minister Blair also announced that Canada is moving forward with a new training facility at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax, Canada's largest military base. The total estimated investment for this facility is $188 million. The EllisDon Corporation of Halifax has been awarded a $7.85 million contract to design the new Combatant Training and Integration Center - Atlantic (CTIC-A). We expect the CTIC-A project to sustain almost 650 jobs in the Halifax region during construction. At HISF, Minister Blair met with representatives from Canada's Allies and partners, to strengthen international security, and bolster our collective work to defend the rules-based international order. During the Forum, Minister Blair held bilateral meetings with: Commanding General, U.S. Army Pacific, General Charles A. Flynn. Minister Blair and General Flynn discussed Canada's commitment to maintaining a persistent presence in the Indo-Pacific Region, and opportunities for greater collaboration between Canada and the United States in support of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. Minister Blair highlighted that in 2023, Canada deployed three warships to the Indo-Pacific Region for the first time under Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy. Minister Blair and General Flynn discussed Canada's commitment to maintaining a persistent presence in the Indo-Pacific Region, and opportunities for greater collaboration between Canada and the United States in support of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. Minister Blair highlighted that in 2023, Canada deployed three warships to the Indo-Pacific Region for the first time under Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy. U.S. Ambassador, David Cohen. Minister Blair and Ambassador Cohen discussed the unparalleled defence relationship between Canada and the United States, including through NORAD. Minister Blair and Ambassador Cohen discussed the unparalleled defence relationship between Canada and the United States, including through NORAD. United States Special Representative for the Economic Recovery of Ukraine, Ms. Penny Pritzker. Minister Blair reaffirmed Canada's unwavering commitment to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. Minister Blair welcomed the United States' ongoing financial and military support to Ukraine, and noted Canada has committed over $9.5 billion in assistance to Ukraine since February 2022. As Prime Minister Trudeau announced in September 2023, Canada will once again provide substantial macroeconomic support to Ukraine in 2024. Minister Blair reaffirmed Canada's unwavering commitment to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. Minister Blair welcomed the United States' ongoing financial and military support to Ukraine, and noted Canada has committed over $9.5 billion in assistance to Ukraine since February 2022. As Prime Minister Trudeau announced in September 2023, Canada will once again provide substantial macroeconomic support to Ukraine in 2024. Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur and General Martin Herem. Minister Blair recognized Estonia's leadership on cybersecurity within the NATO Alliance, and highlighted Canada's commitments to security in the Baltics, where Canada leads the multinational NATO battle group in Latvia. The two Ministers discussed the security challenges facing NATO Allies - and discussed how Allies are reinforcing their military presence on the Alliance's eastern flank. Minister Blair recognized Estonia's leadership on cybersecurity within the NATO Alliance, and highlighted Canada's commitments to security in the Baltics, where Canada leads the multinational NATO battle group in Latvia. The two Ministers discussed the security challenges facing NATO Allies - and discussed how Allies are reinforcing their military presence on the Alliance's eastern flank. The bipartisan U.S. Congressional Delegation, led by Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senator James Risch. The Minister and the Delegation discussed the defence relationship between Canada and the United States, as well as military readiness and recruitment and retention. The Minister and the Delegation noted that NORAD and NATO are essential to the security of both countries - and Minister Blair reiterated Canada's commitment to both alliances, including by making substantial investments in military capabilities. The Minister and the Delegation discussed the defence relationship between Canada and the United States, as well as military readiness and recruitment and retention. The Minister and the Delegation noted that NORAD and NATO are essential to the security of both countries - and Minister Blair reiterated Canada's commitment to both alliances, including by making substantial investments in military capabilities. Kosovo's Minister of Defence, Ejup Maqedonci . Minister Blair underlined Canada's ongoing commitments to NATO's Kosovo Force, and the Ministers discussed bilateral defence relations between Canada and Kosovo. . Minister Blair underlined Canada's ongoing commitments to NATO's Kosovo Force, and the Ministers discussed bilateral defence relations between Canada and Kosovo. Lithuanian Minister of Defence, Arvydas AnusIauskas. Minister Blair highlighted Canada's contributions to the security of NATO Allies in the Baltics - including by leading NATO's multinational Battle Group in Latvia. The two Ministers discussed how NATO Allies are increasing the deterrence and defence posture on the Alliance's eastern flank by developing multinational NATO Brigades in the Baltic states. Minister Blair highlighted Canada's contributions to the security of NATO Allies in the Baltics - including by leading NATO's multinational Battle Group in Latvia. The two Ministers discussed how NATO Allies are increasing the deterrence and defence posture on the Alliance's eastern flank by developing multinational NATO Brigades in the Baltic states. The NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, Irene Fellin. Minister Blair and Ms. Fellin discussed how Canada and other NATO Allies are building more inclusive Armed Forces that can attract and retain talented people - including more women. Minister Blair conveyed Canada's support for the meaningful integration of the Human Security and Women, Peace and Security agendas into NATO's core tasks. Quotes "At times like this, conferences like this one matter. Threats to international stability are on the rise - and in the face of those threats, we've got to work together. We must learn from one another and share experiences. We must step up to address these challenges, and to preserve peace and prosperity for our peoples. Together, I'm confident that we can build a safer world. We can ensure that our militaries are ready to face the threats of tomorrow. And ultimately, we can protect and strengthen the rules-based international order that keeps us all safe." The Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence Quick facts From November 17 to 19, 2023, Minister Blair co-hosted the 15th Halifax International Security Forum, which is supported by the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency of Canada (ACOA). This forum welcomes hundreds of defence and security experts, industry professionals, academics, and global leaders to discuss the world's most pressing global peace and security challenges. Since February 2022, Canada has committed over $9.5 billion in combined financial, humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine, including over $2.4 billion in military assistance. Under Operation UNIFIER, Canada has trained almost 40,000 Armed Forces of Ukraine members since 2015. Earlier this year, NATO DIANA issued its first-ever challenges to innovators. Canadian companies submitted the second-highest number of submissions, indicating the high interest among Canadian researchers and innovators in DIANA. As Minister Blair announced on Friday, Canada is investing in a new training facility at CFB Halifax. The total estimated investment for the Combatant Training and Integration Center - Atlantic facility is $188 million, including design, demolition, construction, personnel, and market costs. Canada is procuring 15 new Canadian Surface Combatant warships to be built by Canadian workers in Halifax. This is the largest shipbuilding initiative in Canada since World War Two - and is estimated to create or sustain 10,000 jobs over 25 years. As a Pacific nation itself, Canada is increasing its military presence in the Indo-Pacific Region. For the first time, the Canadian Armed Forces deployed three warships to the region in 2023 in support of Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy. Canada is making meaningful investments to increase its defence capabilities. DND's annual budget is expected to more than double over ten years, from $18.6 billion in 2016-17 to $39.7 billion in 2026-27 on a cash basis. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister Joly speaks with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken Global Affairs Canada Readout November 19, 2023 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada The Honourable MAlanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State, spoke on Friday November 17 to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict. Secretary Blinken and Minister Joly emphasized the need for increased humanitarian access to Gaza, the immediate release of hostages and the protection of all civilians. They reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that the conflict does not widen and discussed efforts to ensure the safe passage of foreign nationals and critically wounded civilians out of Gaza. Minister Joly and Secretary Blinken reiterated the strength of the Canada-U.S. relationship and their shared commitment to ensuring security and prosperity in the region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen Prime Minister of Canada - Justin Trudeau November 19, 2023 Ottawa, Ontario Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The two leaders unequivocally condemned Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel and expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law. The Prime Minister and the President expressed deep concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. The Prime Minister underscored the need for sustained humanitarian pauses, and the two leaders agreed on the importance of protecting civilians and ensuring unimpeded access to life-saving humanitarian aid for civilians. The leaders also highlighted the importance of working with partners in the Middle East to prevent escalation of the conflict in the region and to support a future where Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace, security, and dignity, without fear. Prime Minister Trudeau and President von der Leyen highlighted the strong relationship between Canada and the European Union (EU), and looked forward to seeing each other later this week at the 19th Canada-EU Leaders' Summit, in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Xi's trip adds stability to China-US ties, injects positivity to intl landscape Global Times Visit sets course on how to build the next 'golden 30 years' in Asia Pacific By Chen Qingqing, Bai Yunyi, Xing Xiaojing, Shen Weiduo and Xie Wenting in San Francisco and Yang Sheng in Beijing Published: Nov 19, 2023 10:58 PM Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday evening returned to Beijing after holding a China-US summit meeting and attending the 30th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco, with expectations from experts from both China and the US that the trip will serve to further stabilize the most important bilateral ties in the world, while they also cautioned about the possible uncertainties from the US side. Chinese analysts said on Sunday that now China has pointed out the correct direction for how to develop the China-US relations, it is time to see how much the US can do and to what extent the uncertainties in Washington will impact the future. During the APEC meeting, the world has also seen China's confidence and openness to contribute to the global economic recovery, so that the world, which faces uncertainties and even turbulence in some regions, can share more benefits brought by the Chinese market with the highest certainty, experts noted. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday briefed the media on President Xi's talks with US President Joe Biden and his attendance at the APEC meeting in San Francisco, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that it is widely believed that President Xi's trip has attracted worldwide attention, which has added stability to China-US relations, brought new impetus to Asia-Pacific cooperation and injected positive energy into the international and regional landscape. Correct directions President Xi pointed out in San Francisco that China and the US should assume a new vision, noting that the two countries should jointly develop a right perception, jointly manage disagreements effectively and appreciate each other's principles and red lines, jointly advance mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly shoulder responsibilities as major countries and jointly promote people-to-people exchanges, said Wang in the media briefing, adding that this has built together five pillars for China-US relations and established the "San Francisco vision" oriented toward the future. Jin Canrong, associate dean of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday that there is a clear difference between the two countries which was on display at both the summit in Bali in 2022 and in San Francisco this time. "China hopes the summit can set the tone for bilateral ties from a strategic, overarching and directional perspective," he said, adding that the US has given its answer about competition and it only hopes a crisis can be managed after it breaks out. LA Xiang, a US studies expert and research fellow from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that "By outlining the 'five pillars,' President Xi told the US side how to correctly develop bilateral ties, and this is the guideline that is able to not only ensure peaceful coexistence but also make win-win cooperation serve the most fundamental interests of the two peoples. But the nice vision can only be realized when the US thinks and acts in the same way." Challenges remain If the US provocations and military activities in regions like the Taiwan Straits and South China Sea continue, it is inevitable that tensions and crises will emerge again and again, LA said. "China and the US still think differently, as China wants to fundamentally rule out the possibility of crisis by asking the US to change its policy of containing China, while the US cares more about how to manage the situation after a crisis breaks out as it wants to remain its containment against China," he noted. Joseph Nye, former dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, told the Global Times that "I hope the meeting will lead both countries to a more realist picture of the relationship. America cannot decouple its trade and investment completely from China without causing enormous damage to itself and the global economy." Nye said partial "decoupling" or "de-risking" on security issues between China and the US will continue, but total economic decoupling would be prohibitively costly, adding that "There are also ecological aspects of interdependence, which make decoupling impossible. No country can tackle climate change, the pandemic threat, or other transnational problems alone." "For better and worse, we are locked in a 'cooperative rivalry.' The situation is nothing like Cold War containment. I hope the leaders [of the two countries] will reaffirm this reality," Nye said. Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, more than 20 important results were achieved at the meeting, including the establishment of a working group on counternarcotics cooperation, the agreement to resume, on the basis of equality and respect, high-level communication and institutional dialogue between the two militaries, and to jointly promote the success of the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai, Wang said at the briefing to the media. It is clear that it was the Biden administration who desperately asked for the summit in the past few months with a series of senior officials from Washington coming to visit China, analysts said. Unsurprisingly, Republicans have criticized Biden on his "appeasement" of "the top US competitor." Some pro-Democratic US mainstream media like The New York Times have tried to balance these narratives by painting it look like it was China that asked for the US to ease tensions under economic and political pressure. "It proves that groups who don't want to see China-US ties stabilizing will not disappear after the summit, and that the US mainstream media, as always, will misinterpret the significance of the summit and the necessity for both sides to manage their differences. We should never have the illusion to expect them to tell the story of China-US relations correctly," Li Haidong, a professor from the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday. In the future, to what extent China-US relations can be stabilized depends on how the US turns its promises into actions. The US side should be responsible for solving the structural problems in bilateral ties, and a key problem is that the US has still not learned how to accept the rise of China, Jin noted. "Although we all know that the challenges and problems remain on the US side, it's necessary for China to show its responsibility and give an answer to the world and to the history of striving to manage China-US tension. We can see from the current situation of bilateral ties some mitigation, but not yet improvement," he noted. Hopes on the peoples On Friday afternoon local time, before Xi left San Francisco, the city's Mayor London Breed and other US representatives saw him off at the airport. On the way to the airport, representatives of overseas Chinese and Chinese students gathered on both sides of the road. They waved the national flags of China and the US, warmly bidding farewell to Xi and congratulating him on the complete success of his visit, Xinhua reported on Saturday. President Xi's meeting with President Biden has greatly recovered the atmosphere between the two countries. This is the foundation for the two major powers to manage their ties in an appropriate way, to rebuild mutual trust and also to seek possibilities for cooperation, Jin said. During the trip, Chinese leader sent a signal that China's policy toward the US is becoming more multi-dimensional, as China is being more friendly, sincere, patient and pragmatic when dealing with American people, business and industrial circles, youth, as well as local governments and officials, like Governor of California Gavin Newsom, experts said, noting China is determined to ensure China-US relations can withstand the uncertainties caused by the impacts in the fields of geopolitics and security, experts said. During his speech on Wednesday at the welcome dinner by friendly organizations in the US in San Francisco, Xi announced that China is ready to invite 50,000 young Americans to China on exchange and study programs in the next five years, and China is ready to work with the US on panda conservation, to meet the desire of US people to see pandas there. Xi also confidently introduced the ideas of the Communist Party of China and China-proposed initiatives to the US people and elites, to let them understand that China and the US share similar values in how to build a better world for the next generation and how to satisfy the people's demands, experts said. In the future, China will act more confidently to break the ideological barrier that blocks people-to-people exchange between the two countries. Economic confidence Xi made an in-depth review of the inspiration from the course of Asia-Pacific cooperation, pointing out that openness and inclusiveness are the defining feature of Asia-Pacific cooperation, development for all is the overarching goal of Asia-Pacific cooperation, and seeking common ground while shelving differences is the best practice of Asia-Pacific cooperation. On how to build the next "golden 30 years" in Asia Pacific, President Xi called for innovation-driven, open, green development, and inclusive development that delivers benefits to all. He also called for high-quality growth to promote the building of an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future so that the fruits of modernization are widely shared. At the APEC meeting, Xi pointed out that China's economy has been steadily recovering and turning for the better, and its growth rate is among the highest among major economies of the world, Wang told media, adding that China remains the most powerful engine of global growth. Xi stressed that China's resolve to foster a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment will not change, and China's policy of providing equal and quality services to foreign investors will not change, Wang told the media. The Chinese foreign minister said that the attitude sends a strong signal of China's high-level opening-up and boosts the confidence of all parties in continuing cooperation with China. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address France Announces Successful Test Launch of Strategic Ballistic Missile Sputnik News 20231119 PARIS (Sputnik) - France has conducted a successful test-launch of a strategic ballistic missile without nuclear warhead, the French Defense Ministry has announced. "Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu has expressed his satisfaction with the successful ... test launch of strategic ballistic missile M51.3 without a nuclear warhead," the defense ministry said in a statement late on Saturday. The missile landed in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred kilometers off the coast, the statement read. The statement added that the test-launch had been carried out with strict observance of France's international obligations. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's new hypersonic missile unveiled ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 19 November 2023 / 14:20 During visit of the Iran's Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces, "Fattah 2" hypersonic missile, latest achievements of the IRGC's aerospace force unveiled. Tehran (ISNA) - Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei toured an exhibition showing the latest achievements of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force in a visit to the Ashura Aerospace University of Science & Technology on Sunday. During this visit, latest achievements of the IRGC's aerospace force unveiled, Fattah 2 hypersonic missile unveiled. Hypersonic missiles move at five times the speed of sound or greater and are manoeuvrable, making them difficult for defence systems and radars to target. Only 4 countries including the Islamic Republic of Iran, have the technology of this type of hypersonic weapons. Iran unveiled its first-ever hypersonic missile, Fattah, on June 2023 which can penetrate missile defence systems and will give it a military edge. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address by Mindy Clegg In recent years, some of the most powerful people in our society have claimed to be beleaguered outsiders. The former president is just one of the many powerful, wealthy, privileged people who declared themselves victims of a society out to destroy them and their way of life, which were meant to understand represents that of real Americans. Despite experiencing an incredibly privileged life, they claim to be the ones who are victims of jackbooted leftist thugs. There seems to be a whole cottage industry of people who rake in money by the bucketload while claiming to speak truth to the oppressive liberal/marxist power structure. They claim to be the authentic voice of the American working class, unlike the coastal elites who have no understanding of real life, but of course, despite their obvious privilege, they do understand the struggles of the common man. How did we get here, where men who benefit most from our social structures, position themselves as the little guy? This comes from a longer history of political shifts in America and of the rise of mass cultural consumption as a means of political expression. As culture came to stand in for political rebellion, the far right sought to weaponize mass culture to sneak in far right, reactionary ideology via the back door. But their ability to embrace an outsider status is evidence of their own privilege, as being an outsider has a strong cultural cache in our current mass mediated environment. A contradiction rests at the heart of modernity: individualism and mass society. The enlightenment brought to the fore the concept of the individual and their role as active participants in society via citizenship. Men (mostly just men until recently) became historical agents. Alternative frameworks existed in enlightenment discourse, such as the work of people like Fredrick the Great, the Prussian ruler who advocated for enlightened despotism. Eventually, individualism won out. We can see that in the widespread adoption of John Lockes work. He promoted the idea of the individual as the center of social and political life in a democratic society. Locke influenced the framers of the US Constitution, which would influence other constitutions around the world.1 So on the other hand was the rise of mass society under the capitalist economy in the wake of the Civil War. More goods were being mass produced and more people were embracing consumerism as a way of life. By the 20th century, mass produced goods became a means of defining ones identity. Mass consumption reflected and shaped our culture, for good or ill. So, we are both individual actors and consumers of mass-produced goods that help define us. That contradiction opened space for both resistance and reification of capitalism. Alienation makes some easy pickings for reinforcing the worst aspects of modernity. But the more consumer choices one had access to reflected the level of privilege within that system. Those who can shape narratives in the mass media while claiming to be an outsider and often be taken at face value, are living with a great deal of privilege. Enter youth culture. Youth-oriented cultures became a cultural and political battleground.2 Out of this came youth-oriented countercultures (beatniks, hippies, punks, etc). Such countercultures did make people more aware of social alienation, but the rebellion was threaded through the consumption of mass culture. The reality is that there was no outside the system, only positions within the system. Often the dissent of youthful idealism gets channeled into more boutique forms of consumption rather than into political demands. Some believed it was a safer alternative to other forms of rebellion. This culture at the margins became incorporated into the mainstream culture. Thomas Frank, among others, argued that countercultural consumption were designed with that in mind.3 But political change did grow out of these highly imperfect cultural movements at times. There doesnt really exist a perfect form of resistance, just imperfect measures for positive change. In other words, we should not completely dismiss these forms of dissent out of hand. For some, listening to challenging underground music or reading countercultural literature can open up new understandings of our Ballardian landscape of modernity. Change does begin with understanding the problem, after all. We expect the counterculture to be a bastion of left-wing politics. However, as with movements such as MAGA, the far right has embraced a countercultural positions. During the interwar period, the far right won power during the chaos of the Great Depression. Once they gained power, and they imposed their will on everyone else. The destruction of the far right regimes at the end of the Second World War meant a need to regroup. They eventually deployed language associated with youth countercultures. In Britain in the late 1970s, the far right National Front developed a strategy of recruiting among alienated white men in the growing punk scene in the UK.4 By the 1980s, with the rise of hardcore punk in the US and Oi in the UK, violence began to be a common experience in punk spaces, and not just performative violence of the slam pit, either. Much of that violence came from skinheads, and often racist skinheads. In some scenes, violence emerged out of the divisions within the skinhead scenes, such as in Minneapolis. At the same time, the mainstream culture politicized punk via punk panic, driving the development of a underground.4 The ideology of the far right has become mainstream among some on the right in recent years, thanks in part to the far rights embrace of a populist, outsider position. Despite being in the minority of the GOP, the MAGA movement led by the former President is in full control of the party. By deploying the language of racism, he earned the loyalty of underground racist groups. He also picked up support from some white, middle class Americans who likely wouldnt join an openly racist movement, but believed themselves to be cultural outsiders despite their own privilege. MAGA is explicitly placed at odds with the establishment by which they mean liberals. They claim that the liberal political establishment are left-wing extremsists that operate as a conspiratorial cabal controlling the country at the expense of real Americans. Many in the MAGA movement see themselves as social rebels who are returning the country back to an idealized past (that never really existed). The term the establishment came to popular usage first in the British media, but it took on new dimensions in American politics. An NPR article from 2016 shows how right wing activists had started to use the term in a manner that denoted a conspiracy of the elite classin this case within the GOP political apparatus itself. But first, this language came out of the New Left, which this article at Washington Post makes clear. The rebellion against the establishment is a fundamentally populist position, when deployed by either the left or right. The framework of the New Left rested on much firmer historical grounding than the MAGA movement of today, which pulls heavily from barely concealed bigoted tropes. They differ on solutions. The left demands more democracy and greater transparency, while the right seeks a strong man to drain the swamp of their perceived enemies and ensure their domination of the hated other. What helps to explain the embrace of violent populism of MAGA is that embrace of an outsider identity by large swaths of white, middle class Americans since the 1950s. According to historian Elizabeth Grace Hale, during the postwar era, the dominant demographic in America embraced a romanticized version of the outsider in American society. Mass culture promoted the cultural outlaw, presenting a romantic ideal of people who rejected society.5 By doing so, the most politically empowered imagined themselves as the real rebels in the American narrative. She said that it allowed middle-class whites to cut themselves free of their own social origins and their own histories. This was true on both the left and the right, she argued, among both the hippies and in what became the new right pioneered by people such as William F. Buckley.6 This was in part driven by the changes to American society in the postwar era but was understood via mass culture. It was a critique of mass culture via mass culture.7 The far right saw this as an opportunity, developing their own mass culture in the social media era. The divisions of the modern media landscape is another topic that needs its own essay, but for our purposes here we should know that Americans get their news and culture from very different places, depending on their political and social orientations. At times we dont even understand the same facts based on our media consumption (such as who won the election 2020). The right-wing media regularly positions their viewers as the real outsiders in American society and that they are in an existential struggle with those who disagree with them. And that has put us into the current dangerous situation facing us. Quite frankly, as long as we keep believing in this fiction of insider-outsider dynamics, we wont be able to see our actual shared condition within our mass mediated society. Were all stuck here, and we can only get out if we all understand that the status quo is not working for anyone anymore. Footnotes 1 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, (London: Verso, 1983). 2 Jon Savage, Teenage: The Prehistory of Youth Culture, 1875-1945, (New York: Penguin Random House). 3 Thomas Frank, The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1997). 4 Mindy Clegg, Punk Rock: Music is the Currency of Life, (Albany: SUNY Press, 2022), 83-116. 4 Robert Forbes and Eddie Stampton, The White Nationalist Skinhead Movement, UK & USA 1979-1993, (Port Townsend, WA: Feral House, 2015), 9. 5 Grace Elizabeth Hale, A Nation of Outsiders: How the White Middle Class Fell in Love with Rebellion in Postwar America, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 1. 6 Hale, A Nation of Outsiders, 3. 7 Hale, A Nation of Outsiders, 6. Iran unveils Fattah-2 hypersonic missile Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 10:48 AM Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has unveiled the homegrown Fattah-2 hypersonic missile as well as other new military achievements. The missile was unveiled during an exhibition showcasing the latest achievements of the IRGC Aerospace Force at the Ashura Aerospace University of Science & Technology on Sunday. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei toured the exhibition. In addition to the "Fattah-2" hypersonic cruise missile, "Mehran" mobile defense system, "9th of Dey" upgraded system, and "Shahed-147" drone were unveiled during the visit. The exhibition, which included missile, drone, defense and space sections, featured new and updated achievements of the young scientists and specialists of the IRGC Aerospace Force under the title "From Idea to All-Iranian Product." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraq's Kata'ib Hezbollah dismisses US sanctions as insignificant IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Nov 19, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- Abu Ali al-Askari, a senior security official with Kata'ib Hezbollah of Iraq, has termed the US sanctions on the group as ridiculous while emphasizing that these measures will not affect their operations targeting American forces in the Arab country. According to Arabic daily Rai-al-Youm report cited by the IRNA on Sunday, Abu Ali al-Askari stressed that delivering measured blows to the Islamic resistance of Iraq against the enemies and inflicting casualties on them and destroying weapons, confusing it is in line with attrition strategy. The U.S. Treasury Department claimed on Friday that the Kataib Hezbollah based in Iraq, which is trained, financed and supported by the IRGC Quds Force, is behind a wave of recent attacks against the United States and its partners in Iraq and Syria after the terrible attacks of Hamas against Israel. It has also said that the US Department of State also sanctioned the group of Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada and its leader. US military bases in Iraq and Syria have been targeted by drone, rocket and missile attacks since October 17. The Iraqi Islamic Resistance warned the United States that it would target the American bases in the region following the Israeli regime's acts in retaliation for the Al-Aqsa storm operation that bombards the Gaza Strip and Washington's support for these attacks. 9376**7129 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM Netanyahu's Statement at the Press Conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz Israel - Prime Minister's Office The 37th Government 18.11.2023 Following are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks at the press conference this evening, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv "I would like to open with heartfelt condolences to the families of our heroic soldiers who have fallen in the Gaza Strip. We all embrace the families with boundless love and we all salute the fallen heroes. They fought for us all, to defend our home, and thanks to them our lives are assured. May their memories be blessed and may G-d avenge them. Today I also saw the march of the hostages' families. I would like to tell the hostages' families: We are marching with you. I am marching with you. The entire people of Israel are marching with you. Your loved ones are in our hearts and before our eyes constantly. Concerning the hostages, there are many unsubstantiated rumors, many incorrect reports. I would like to make it clear: As of now, there has been no deal. But I want to promise: When there is something to say - we will report to you about it. We are aware of the terrible suffering, the nightmare that the families are in. We look at the photographs and then we think: This is my son. This is my daughter. This is my husband, my wife, my parents. This evening, I invited representatives of the families to meet with the War Cabinet later in the week in order to clarify how important this subject is to all of us - to me and my colleagues here, to all of us. Citizens of Israel, until now in the war, we have achieved much: We have eliminated thousands of terrorists. We have eliminated senior commanders. We have destroyed administrative centers. We have destroyed tunnels - and we continue. We will continue onward with full force. These achievements have been attained due to three main items: First - the heroism and sacrifice of our sons and daughters. I have met with the fighting men and women from all corps - sea, land and air and from all of the security services. I have met fighting women from Caracal and armored units, which have eliminated dozens of terrorists in exemplary combat. I met with the Bedouin Patrol Battalion in which Jews, Bedouin and Christians fight shoulder-to-shoulder in or order to safeguard the home of us all. I met female lookouts, whose colleagues fell on the first day of the war, and with tears in their eyes, who are continuing to watch over us all. Thanks to the brave fighting men and women of the IDF, the ISA and the Israel Police, thanks to the soldiers and commanders of the divisions that have broken through forward into Gaza with supreme heroism, and who are unstoppable - we will win. The second thing that has brought the achievements is the unity and determination of the people. I have met with mayors from the north and the south, who give - in their names and those of their residents - full backing to the IDF, the ISA, the security services and the government. They all tell me: 'Continue. Do not stop. I have heard this from the evacuees, the wounded and the families of our fallen heroes, who say precisely the same things with mournful hearts but with a steadfast spirit. This spirit, the Israeli spirit that beats within us all, civilians and soldiers alike, is the second condition for achieving victory. And the third thing that has brought the achievement is a 'diplomatic Iron Dome' that allows us to continue fighting until victory. I would like to tell you, citizens of Israel, after 43 days of difficult fighting, this is not self-evident. I greatly appreciate the US, under the leadership of our friend President Joe Biden, who sees eye-to-eye the common interest with Israel. The US has sent to the Middle East aircraft carriers and their support vessels, and a special submarine, and it is constantly sending us vital munitions. But even within the US and around the world, increasingly heavy pressure has been used against us in recent weeks. I would like to share with you some of the pressures that we have rebuffed and are continuing to rebuff: Many people around the world demanded that we not enter the Gaza Strip - we did so. They pressured us not to enter Gaza City - we did so. They warned us not to enter Shifa even though it served as a central terrorist base for Hamas - we did so. They pressured us to agree to a full ceasefire - we refused and I have made it clear: We will only agree to a temporary ceasefire and only in exchange for the return of our hostages. Together with my colleagues, I reject these pressures and say to the world: We will continue to fight until victory - until we destroy Hamas and bring our hostages back home. I am the student of my father, Professor Ben-Zion Netanyahu, and I am the student of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. From both of them I learned a fundamental principle of leading a military-diplomatic campaign: It is impossible to establish military victory without diplomatic backing, and it is impossible to establish diplomatic backing without turning both to leaders and to public opinion in their countries. This is exactly the effort that I have been leading with my colleagues since the outbreak of the war. We are insisting on our vital security and diplomatic interests, and I must tell you, in the face of difficult opposition. When our rivals and our friends see this insistence, when they hear it in interviews in the global media and in conversations with leaders, we achieve the necessary maneuvering room to continue taking action. And I say again, this is not self-evident. From the first day, together with my colleagues, I have been leading an intensive diplomatic effort to maintain the support of the US and many other countries. I am in continual contact with President Biden. Teams from my office talk with the White House on a daily basis. I appear in the American media almost daily to persuade the American public of the justice of our cause, and others are doing so as well. We are in constant touch the members of the House and Senate, and with those of them - and there are many - who come to Israel, I meet with personally. These efforts are yielding important results. The bi-partisan American support for Israel has found expression not only in the massive demonstration of support for Israel in Washington, which the largest demonstration of support for Israel since the foundation of the state. I continue to speak on a daily basis with the leaders of countries, including today with the Chancellor of Germany. All of these are vital actions to ensure the continued supply of munitions from the US and to block international initiatives that would endanger the continuation of the fighting. In this context, I would like to comment on the issue of the humanitarian assistance. First of all, and before everything else, Israel is acting according to the laws of war. This is how our army operates, the most moral army in the world. The humanitarian assistance is also essential to the continued assurance of international support. Without humanitarian assistance, even our best friends would find it difficult to support us over time, and it would be very difficult for us to continue the war until the end. Therefore, when the IDF and the ISA recommended together that the Cabinet accede to the American request to allow the limited entry of two fuel trucks a day to the southern Gaza Strip, the War Cabinet unanimously agreed. This is a minimal emergency quantity of fuel to operate water and sewage pumps without which we could expect the immediate outbreak of disease. It must be understood: The outbreak of disease would harm both the residents of the Strip and the IDF soldiers in the Strip. I want to emphasize: This is not a change of policy but a limited, localized response in order to prevent the outbreak of epidemics. These are some of the things that my colleagues and I are doing to ensure the continued diplomatic maneuvering room for the State of Israel, which we need to achieve the goals of the war. However, I would like to make it clear: Even if the pressure increases, I will not stop from adhering to the three tasks that I have set and which all of must adhere to. The first task: To achieve absolute victory, to destroy Hamas. The people, the Government and the fighting forces show that we have the will, the capability and the unity to achieve this goal. The second task: To bring back the hostages. We will not relent in this sacred task. It guides us always. And the third task: To ensure that after victory, Gaza will never again threaten the citizens of Israel. I will not agree that any element enters there that supports terrorism, pays terrorists and their families, and educates their children to murder Jews and eliminate the State of Israel. Without such a revolution in the future civil administration in Gaza, it would only be a question of time until the terrorism returns and I am not willing to agree to this. There is an additional condition that I set for the day after: The IDF will have complete freedom of action in the Gaza Strip against any threat. Only this way can we assure the demilitarization of Gaza, Citizens of Israel, we are continuing to the end - until victory. We will defeat Hamas, we will bring back our hostages, we will restore security to the residents of both the south and the north. We will rebuild the cities, communities and kibbutzim. As the Prophet Ezekiel says (36:33): 'I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.' Together we will fight and together - with G-d's help - we will win." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM Netanyahu Speaks with French President Emmanuel Macron Israel - Prime Minister's Office The 37th Government 19.11.2023 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening, spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron. The two leaders held a lengthy conversation about the progress of the war in the south, as well as the northern front. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Muslim countries should cut political ties with Israel for 'limited period': Ayatollah Khamenei Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 1:28 PM Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called on Muslim countries to sever political ties with the Israeli regime for "at least a limited period of time" amid the occupying entity's ongoing genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip. The Leader made the remarks after touring an exhibition showcasing the latest achievements of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force at the Ashura Aerospace University of Science & Technology on Sunday. "The Muslim governments should cut their political relations with the Zionist regime at least for a limited period of time," the Leader said. The Leader said it was not acceptable that some Muslim states have condemned the crimes of Israel and some have been sitting on the fence. It is necessary, Ayatollah Khamenei said, to "cut off the lifeline of the Zionist regime" and Muslim countries should work to disrupt Israel's access to energy and goods. Ayatollah Khamenei encouraged the continuation of demonstrations in support of the Palestinian cause to prevent the oppression of the Palestinian people from fading into oblivion. The Leader expressed optimism about the future developments. "We will carry out our duty," he stated. Since October 7, Israel has killed at least 12,300 Palestinians, including more than 5,000 children and 3,300 women. 30,000 Palestinians have also been injured. The regime was caught off-guard on that October day by the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm launched by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas against the occupying entity. The Leader said the developments in Gaza and the continuation of Israel's atrocities there blew the lid off many hidden facts, including the Western support for racial discrimination. The Zionist regime was the epitome of racial discrimination, the Leader stated. "The Zionists consider themselves the superior race and look down on the rest of the human race, which is why they have massacred several thousand children with no pang of conscience." Ayatollah Khamenei said the support by the leaders of the United States, Germany, France and Britain for such a "racist regime" also means those governments support racial discrimination. The Leader called on the people of Europe and America to clearly show they do not advocate racial discrimination. In addition, the current circumstances in Gaza, Ayatollah Khamenei said, demonstrated Israel's "military and operational failure." The regime has so far failed to achieve its stated objective of eliminating the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, using "all its military power" in more than 40 days notwithstanding. Ayatollah Khamenei said the bombing of hospitals in Gaza proves Israeli leaders are furious with their failure. "The defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza is real. Entering hospitals or people's homes is not victory, because victory means defeating the opposite side, something that the Zionist regime has not achieved and will not be able to achieve in the future." Ayatollah Khamenei said Israel's failure also lays bare the failure of the United States and the regime's Western benefactors. The world is confronted with the reality that a regime armed with advanced and state-of-the-art military equipment has failed to overcome an adversary that has none of such equipment, the Leader said. Iranian Armed Forces making 'rapid, favorable' progress The Leader also hailed the favorably fast progress of the Iranian Armed Forces towards more achievements. Ayatollah Khamenei said despite the "very good" situation in some military sectors, there are shortcomings in some other parts, which the Armed Forces need to detect and work to overcome. The Leader said the faithful and determined Iranian youths have succeeded in making grand scientific achievements. "Of course, we should not be satisfied with the current level of success since various military and non-military sectors in the world are making constant progress," the Leader stated. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Brotherhood Alliance campaign in Shan State spawns contagion effect in Myanmar Operation 1027 has been followed by major gains by ethnic resistance organizations across the country. A commentary by Zachary Abuza 2023.11.19 -- The Three Brotherhood Alliance's Operation 1027 in northern Shan State has caused a contagion effect, with its sweeping victories since late October followed by major gains by ethnic resistance organizations across Myanmar. Since the country's founding in 1948, the military has never suffered such significant and widespread battlefield setbacks. Despite having seized power in a coup d'Atat in February 2021, Myanmar's military has never been able to consolidate power. But now, it looks like the beginning stages of their total defeat, with plummeting morale amongst the rank and file. Operation 1027 continues across Shan State with the Three Brotherhood Alliance -- , which includes the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, (TNLA) the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the Arakan Army -- and some people's defense forces under the National Unity Government (NUG) having taken nine towns, over 160 military camps, and now controlling key roads. Opposition forces have seized abandoned armor, artillery, and a large cache of small arms and ammunition. And army attempts to supply their isolated forces by air have had little success with opposition forces often recovering the supplies. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) is currently pushing towards their former headquarters in Laukkaing, which they lost in 2009. Ironically, the commander of Myanmar's military forces in that 2009 battle was none other than junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. Radio Free Asia has reported that a second battalion of some 120 men has laid down their arms in Shan State. The first light infantry battalion to do so, which included 41 men, took place on October 30, 2023. Authorities in Naypyitaw are so concerned about the total loss of Kokang Special Autonomous Zone, that they replaced the head of the local allied Border Guards Force that was established in 2009, Myint Swe, with Brigadier-General Tun Tun Myint of the northeastern command. But beyond that the military is unable to do little other than barrage the region with long-range artillery and aerial bombardments. Despite Min Aung Hlaing's vow to mount a counter offensive, the military is short on manpower, helicopter lift capability and is facing crumbling morale. Contagion Effect The Kachin Independence Army has joined the fray, capturing a military base in Kutkai, in northern Shan state, where they claim 30 soldiers were killed. There are ongoing encounters between them and military regime forces in Kachin. With the roads contested, the military is now dependent on ferrying in men and supplies. The fighting has significantly expanded in the past week. Karenni forces launched a parallel offensive, Operation 1111, in Kayah state. They have seized 20 military outposts in 6 days of fighting. But most significantly, they are in the middle of an assault on Loikaw. The city of 50,000, is the first provincial capital that is at risk of falling to opposition forces. Karenni Nation Defense Forces (KNDF) have claimed to have killed 110 soldiers and taken 38 prisoners of war. Footage spread across social media shows KNDF personnel taking the surrender and providing medical care for soldiers at the University in Loikaw. The situation in Chin state has been more fluid. Military forces drove some Chin fighters into India's Mizoram state, but some dozen were returned to military custody by the Assam Rifles. Days later, military personnel found themselves in Mizoram where they had fled. In this case, the Assam Rifles helicoptered them back to safety in Myanmar. The military has responded with airstrikes; one of which killed eight children when a bomb fell on the house being used as a makeshift school. The situation in Rakhine has the potential to be the most costly to the SAC. The Arakan Army (AA) and the military broke their 2020 ceasefire following the coup, but both sides quickly concluded that an escalation of violence was not in their best interest. A second ceasefire was reached in November 2022. This was an enormous disappointment for the National Unity Government, which sought a new front against the junta. Breakdown in Rakhine Yet the involvement of the Arakan Army in northern Shan state, where they are a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, has led to a breakdown in the peace in Rakhine state. The military has deployed several navy ships to the region along with additional personnel, but both failed to serve as a deterrent. The AA broke the ceasefire on November 13. In the first 24 hours of commencing offensive operations, the AA seized over 40 military and police outposts. Some 26 police surrendered. In many cases police have abandoned remote posts to consolidate in the larger towns. The AA took the town of Pauktaw, their first. The military has responded as they can, with aerial bombardment and indiscriminate fire from their naval vessels that has led to the death of innocent civilians and over 20,000 displaced people. There are reports that several ministers from the Rakhine State Military Council have already fled the capital Sittwe, for fear of being arrested by the AA. The AA can be expected to quickly fill the political vacuum. In Sagaing -- where a joint operation between the KIA, the AA, the All Burma Students' Defense Force, and other PDFs led to the capture of Kawlin -- the first of 330 nationwide township capitals to fall, has now spread to Tigyaing township. The Irrawaddy reported that 20 civilians were killed in regime airstrikes. Panic setting in The panic must be setting in in Naypyitaw. There are already reports of families of officers and other regime officials trying to leave the fortress capital, which is only 120 km away from the fighting. There are also reports that government officials are resigning en masse in order to avoid being conscripted. Four weeks ago, it looked like the war was settling into a protracted conflict, soon entering its fourth year. Despite legitimacy and growing military capabilities, the National Unity Government, its PDFs and allied ethnic resistance organizations still seemed too weak and disparate to militarily defeat a far better resourced force that maintains significant advantages in air, artillery and maneuvers. But the military is both smaller than what has been published, and its forces have been steadily depleted through combat losses, defections, and desertions. But more importantly, it is an extremely ineptly led force that used their poorly paid and equipped force as cannon fodder. It seems now that the troops, with their collapsing morale, are waking up to the fact that the generals are willing to fight to the last man in order to cling to power. While some troops have responded with spasmodic violence, a growing number appear to have lost the will to fight, a contagion that could race through the ranks. Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or Radio Free Asia. Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content November not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Withstands Western Sanctions, Aims for Higher Economic Growth - Kremlin Sputnik News 20231119 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday that despite a threat that the Russian economy would collapse due to the unprecedented weight of sanctions, it has managed to stabilize and grow. "There was a threat of collapse. And we really had to mobilize all the resources and internal forces to prevent that collapse. The task was to prevent a collapse first, because the economy was hit by an absolutely unprecedented burden of these sanctions. And no country in the world has ever faced such a blow, and theoretically no country in the world can withstand such a blow," Peskov told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin. Moreover, the sanctions hit at a time when the country was still recovering from the COVID-19 economic shocks, Peskov said. "Thanks to quite sagacious, wise decisions of the country's leadership and thanks to the titanic work of the government, it was possible to reach, let's say, a plateau, to stabilize, and then, in an absolutely unexpected way, to enter the growth trajectory. In fact, that's what everything was done for, everything was planned," Peskov said. Having weathered the barrage of economic sanctions imposed against it by Western powers amid the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict, Russia has managed to adapt its economy and largely redirect the flow of its exports from Europe to Asia and Africa. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address FM says Iran's response would be tough if forces attacked in Syria IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Nov 19, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has said that his country would give a "tough" response if Iranian military advisors in Syria came under attack from the US. The top diplomat made the comment in an interview with UK-based daily The Financial Times, which was published on November 17, in response to a question on the attacks which the United States has said were conducted in eastern Syria on facilities used by Iranian forces and their allied groups. Amirabdollahian said that one of those centers, located near the Iraq border, was used by Iran's military advisors in the fight against terrorists, but "that place was empty of any Iranian forces or supplies at the time of the attack." "No Iranian forces were struck", he told the FT, adding that Iran's response otherwise would have been "tough". Resistance groups in Iraq have carried out dozens of attacks on US bases and interests in that country and neighboring Syria in retaliation for Washington's support for the Israeli regime in its war on Gaza. The US has said that it has conducted attacks in response, and warned Iran over strikes on American bases, arguing that the resistance groups are "proxies" of the Islamic Republic. Also, Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement and Yemen's Ansarullah resistance movement have launched attacks on Israeli positions in response to its brutalities against people in Gaza. In his interview with the FT, Amirabdollahian said that Hezbollah and other resistance groups in West Asia are not Iran's proxy forces, saying that "each had an independent political identity." He meanwhile warned that these groups "are not indifferent towards the killing of their Muslim and Arab peers in Palestine". 4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Amirabdollahian: Iran's response to any attack on forces in Syria will be harsh ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 19 November 2023 / 10:30 Iran top diplomat warned that the country's response to any US attack on it's forces in Syria will be harsh. Tehran (ISNA) - Iran foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has revealed that Tehran told the US through back channels that it did not want the Israel-Hamas war to spread further, but also warned Washington that regional conflict could be unavoidable if Israeli attacks on Gaza continue. "Over the past 40 days, messages have been exchanged between Iran and the US, via the US interests section at the Swiss embassy in Tehran," foreign minister said in an interview with Financial Times in Geneva, while ruling out the possibility of direct talks between the two foes. Amirabdollahian also maintained that Hezbollah and other movements in Palestine, Iraq, Syria and Yemen were not Iran's proxy forces, saying each had an independent political identity. But he warned that these groups "are not indifferent towards the killing of their Muslim and Arab peers in Palestine". The US Department of Defense on said its military bases in Iraq and Syria were attacked more than 60 times since Oct. 17. Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh also said the attacks have so far left more than 50 US troops lightly injured. Assaults against US bases are believed to be in response to US support for Israel in its deadly onslaught on Gaza. As US claimed that it has targeted Iran's Revolutionary Guards bases in Eastern Syria in response to attacks, Iran foreign minister said that on of the bases has no forces and facilities at the time of the attack. "I know one of these targets when US forces attacked; There has been a place where in the past our military advisers used to fight against terrorism, along with the Syrian forces, but this place lacked any forces and facilities at the time of the American attack." Amirabdollahian asserted. In case of any casualty as a result of attacks, Iran top diplomat said that "According to the news, none of the Iranian forces have been hit, and of course in that case, Iran's response will be harsh". End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address TPP's Ko commits to presidential battle, hints at joint ticket collapse ROC Central News Agency 11/19/2023 07:42 PM Taipei, Nov. 19 (CNA) Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je () said Sunday that he will continue to fight to the end as his party's presidential candidate, after the TPP and Kuomintang (KMT) failed to agree to forming a joint presidential ticket the day before. "I will not go against the will of the people, nor will I betray you," when addressing supporters at a party rally planned two months ago with around 4,000 people in attendance. "In order to end the suffering of the people, I will extend the utmost goodwill, uniting all possible forces [to form a joint ticket]. However, I will continue to fight to the end in my capacity as the presidential candidate of the Taiwan People's Party," he said. There had been speculation, some of it fed by Ko himself, that he would be announcing a running mate and the TPP's legislative candidates at the rally, but that did not happen. Instead, Ko tried to play coy on the prospects of a joint KMT-TPP presidential ticket, which fell apart Saturday because of disputes over poll results. The two sides had agreed on Nov. 15 to use polls to determine whether KMT presidential nominee Hou Yu-ih () would be at the top of a joint ticket with Ko as his running mate or vice versa, with polls within the margin of error going to Hou. Based on statistical analysis of the polls, the KMT felt the results clearly favored a Hou/Ko ticket, but Ko, the former mayor of Taipei who has shown little inclination to play second fiddle on any presidential ticket, disagreed. Before hitting the stage Sunday, Ko told the media that "he certainly looks forward to the opposition being able to select the strongest candidate" when asked about the prospects of a KMT-TPP alliance. Following Ko's message, his spokesperson Vicky Chen () would only say to "refer to Ko's speech" when questioned if the TPP presidential candidate's comments implied that the KMT-TPP alliance has collapsed. "There is no need for additional clarification," she said. Chen also said she could not answer whether Ko would only accept the top spot on a joint presidential ticket, saying, "You are free to interpret it." In response, the KMT said in a statement that as KMT-TPP cooperation has now entered its final stage, it will be committed to opening the door to the TPP and continuing negotiations with the party, "with utmost sincerity and patience." It said it will continue to work on discussions with the TPP to address the aspirations of the vast majority of Taiwanese people for a rotation of parties. Vice President Lai Ching-te (), the presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Presidential Party (DPP), has been leading the polls for months because Hou, Ko, and business tycoon Terry Gou () have been dividing up opposition support. The goal of fielding a joint ticket was to present a more unified challenge to the DPP, which has been in power for nearly eight years. Earlier the same day, KMT Chairman Eric Chu () said he hoped to secure a confirmation from the TPP on a potential joint presidential ticket by Nov. 22, just two days prior to the deadline for officially registering candidates in the presidential and legislative elections. In a related development, former Kaohsiung mayor and the KMT's 2020 presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu () has been selected to top the KMT's list of 34 legislator-at-large nominations in the upcoming elections, according to a list released by the KMT on Sunday. Given Han's reputation as a charismatic politician who has strong support among the KMT's base, there has been speculation he could be Hou's running mate if a unified KMT-TPP ticket does not happen. However, Ling Tao (), the deputy executive director of the National Policy Foundation, the KMT's think tank, dismissed the possibility on Sunday after attending the KMT's Central Standing Committee meeting, saying the list of legislator-at-large nominations has basically been finalized. (By Chung Yu-chen, Wang Cheng-chung, Chen Chun-hua, and Kao Hua-chien) Enditem/ls NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hong Kong independence documentary to screen in Taiwan The director of a film about Hong Kong's independence movement says it highlights Beijing's broken promises. By Alice Yam for RFA Cantonese 2023.11.19 -- A new documentary about the outlawed Hong Kong independence movement could influence the citizens of democratic Taiwan ahead of the presidential poll in January 2024, as it highlights the erosion of freedoms promised by Beijing, according to its director. Malte Kaeding, whose documentary "Black Bauhinia" will screen in Taiwan at the weekend, said the rolling back of Hong Kong's promised freedoms that sparked the protests, and the subsequent crackdown on dissent under a draconian security law have given many in Taiwan a sense of what might happen if they went along with China's calls for "unification." Hong Kong was promised the continuation of its freedoms of speech, press and association for at least 50 years after the 1997 handover to Chinese rule. But rather than moving towards fully democratic elections as stipulated in the city's Basic Law, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has clamped down on political opposition well ahead of that date, while claiming that the "one country, two systems" framework it promised is still working well. "Black Bauhinia" follows two young Hong Kong activists as they are forced to decide between long-term imprisonment and refugee camps for a life in exile following mass protests in their home city. Unlike earlier 2019 protest documentaries, the film focuses exclusively on Hong Kong localism and the independence movement, following independence activist Edward Leung, who coined the banned protest slogan "Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now!" and fellow independence activist Ray Wong, who was granted political asylum by Germany in 2018, angering Beijing. "Throughout Black Bauhinia's three-year production period, localism inspired the 2019 Hong Kong protests, while the ensuing government crackdown rendered the documentary into an outlawed element of resistance," the film's website says. "Black Bauhinia captures the ideas of a young generation that dared to challenge an authoritarian China." Cautionary tale for Taiwan Kaeding hopes that the film will serve as a cautionary tale for Taiwanese audiences as they consider whom to vote for in the ongoing presidential race. "Hong Kong has influenced Taiwanese people's view of China, so, as you know, the idea was always from the Chinese side, that 'one country, two systems' will be available to Taiwan -- it will be the best way of 'solving' [what they call] the 'Taiwan question," Kaeding told RFA Cantonese. The majority of Taiwan's 23 million people don't identify as Chinese, and have no wish to be ruled by the Chinese Communist Party or to give up their democratic way of life, according to recent opinion polls and election results, despite Beijing's territorial claim on the island. "Every Taiwanese looking at Hong Kong now realizes that these promises made under 'one country, two systems' by the Chinese government are not really something that can be trusted in. These promises are not being kept," Kaeding said. "So that influences their view of the relationship with China, definitely," said Kaeding, who finished the film on his last trip to Hong Kong in January 2020, just before the National Security Law criminalized any talk of independence, or "secession." "I haven't tried to get into Hong Kong [since]," he said. "I think it's better to stay away ... I think it might be too sensitive for me to go to Hong Kong for the time being." 'Hostile foreign forces' Kaeding, who is a senior lecturer in international politics at the University of Surrey, has also cut off all contact with Leung, for fear of endangering him now that he has been released from prison into an ever-widening crackdown on political opposition and public dissent. "I purposely cut all contact with him because I think it's too dangerous," he said. "Once he went into prison, I stopped contacting him or his family because as you know the [accusations of] so-called 'foreign forces,' 'foreign interference' would just hurt him or his family, so I think it's not wise to engage." The Chinese and Hong Kong governments have blamed recent waves of mass protest in Hong Kong on incitement by "hostile foreign forces" seeking to foment a "color revolution" in the city. In August, security chief Chris Tang blamed the mass protest campaign in 2012 by students -- some of them still in secondary school -- against patriotic education in Hong Kong's schools, the 2014 Occupy Central movement for fully democratic elections, the 2016 localist-linked "fishball revolution" in Mong Kok and the 2019 movement against extradition to mainland China on the actions of "foreign forces." Hong Kong leader John Lee vowed in his annual policy address last month to "eradicate the causes of dissent" in the city, which he said still lingers despite a years-long crackdown, adding that his administration is currently drafting new national security legislation to be passed in 2024. Dramatic changes Academic freedom has also suffered since 2019, with university students forced to pass classes in "national security education" in order to graduate, and Tiananmen massacre historian Rowena He recently denied a work visa following criticism in the pro-Beijing press. "One of the concerns ... is of course academic freedom in Hong Kong, and problem is that for subjects such as political science, sociology, international relations, the social sciences, but also even history or social work and others, there are a lot of issues where the Hong Kong government or the Chinese government is drawing up so-called red lines, but these red lines are changing all the time," Kaeding said. "So it becomes very uncertain, what you can research, what is acceptable to research," he said, adding that uncertainty around visas could act as a deterrent to international scholars visiting the city. "There is a level of unpredictability now with any academic events in Hong Kong, which makes academic exchanges with colleagues in Hong Kong very very difficult," he said. "People may just think ... why would I go to Hong Kong if maybe at the last minute my visa is canceled, or maybe I'm disinvited." Yet Kaeding still sees Hong Kong as a topic of urgent international interest, several years into Beijing's crackdown on its promised freedoms. "I think people still care about Hong Kong because the changes in Hong Kong have been so dramatic, and I think that's really something the international audience hasn't seen in that way, that a liberal free society has been put under pressure and unraveled in a very short period of time," he said. "It's very sad ... but I'm not a Hong Konger; I haven't lost my home. I think for Hong Kongers, it's a much much sadder and more desperate situation." Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content November not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address November 19, 2023 Release Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Call With Ukrainian Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov Attributed to Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone today with Ukrainian Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov to discuss the latest battlefield developments in Ukraine. They also talked about plans for the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group to be held virtually later this week. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3593520/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia downs Ukrainian drone outside Moscow: Defense Ministry Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 November 2023 6:19 AM Russian forces have neutralized a potential Ukrainian drone attack on its capital city Moscow, according to a statement by the country's Defense Ministry. The ministry said on Sunday that the drone, which headed for Moscow, was intercepted by the Russian aircraft forces over the Bogorodsky municipality. "At 1:00 am Moscow time on November 19 (10:00 pm GMT on November 18), an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack on facilities on Russian soil with the use of a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was foiled. Air defense forces on duty destroyed an UAV over the Bogorodskoye municipality outside Moscow," the ministry said. Emergency services were working at the crash scene, it added. Earlier, Moscow's Mayor Sergey Sobyanin had reported the downing of a drone in that municipality. "Tonight, air defense forces foiled a drone attack targeting Moscow in the Bogorodskoye municipality. There were no casualties or damage," Sobyanin wrote on his Telegram channel, citing preliminary data. Ukrainian forces have been targeting Russian military, logistics, and infrastructure sites since Russia launched its "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022. On November 10, Ukrainian forces launched drone attacks over Moscow and Smolensk oblasts. Russian airstrikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure had also reportedly led to power cuts in more than 400 towns and villages across Ukraine. An oil depot in Odessa in the south was also hit in the Russian strikes, leaving more than 1,500 residents without power, Ukrainian reports said, adding that nearly 21,000 people in the Donetsk region had no electricity, and 63 settlements were cut off in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russia launched its special military operation in eastern parts of the former Soviet republic in response to Western provocations -- to defend the Russian-speaking population against the Kiev Nazis' atrocities -- by stopping the US-led NATO military forces' eastward encroachment on Moscow which had started in 2014. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine Reports Progress Securing Dnieper River Beachheads By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service November 19, 2023 The Ukrainian military said it has pushed Russian forces some "3 to 8 kilometers" away from the bank of the Dnieper River as its forces attempt to secure beachheads on the eastern side of waterway. Speaking on state television on November 19, military spokeswoman Natalya Humenyuk said: "The enemy still continues artillery fire on the right bank. We have a lot of work to do." Humenyuk estimated that "several tens of thousands" of Russian troops are resisting the Ukrainian advance. Ukrainian forces have attempted several times to hold positions on the Russian-controlled side of the river, reporting some successes earlier this month. Ukrainian defense analyst and reserve military officer Roman Svitan told Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, that Ukrainian forces have established positions at three or four locations on the eastern bank. "For the moment these are not large-scale forces; these are reconnaissance, mostly small reconnaissance companies, up to 100 people," Svitan said. "It may already be up to a battalion, it may be larger, but these are only so-called raid attacks that are conducted on a rotational basis." During its daily briefing on November 19, the Ukrainian General Staff reported 71 clashes in the previous 24 hours, with particularly intense fighting near the Donetsk region cities of Bakhmut and Avdiyivka. The military also reported that 150 settlements had been targeted by Russian artillery fire. "Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed and damaged," the General Staff's statement said. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Russia denies targeting civilians in its invasion of Ukraine. Two civilians were reportedly injured by Russian shelling in the southern city of Kherson overnight, while a 3-year-old girl was hospitalized with injuries sustained from a land mine. With reporting by AP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia- dieper-river-beachheads/32691063.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 Russian Air Defenses Down Drone East of Moscow - Mayor Sputnik News 20231119 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian air defenses deployed to the city of Elektrostal, east of Moscow, downed a drone on Sunday night that was headed toward Moscow, the mayor of the Russian capital said. "Air defenses in Elektrostal city district repelled an attack by a drone that was flying toward Moscow. Preliminary data suggests there were no casualties or damage at the site where the debris fell," Sergei Sobyanin wrote on social media. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine Loses Over 240 Troop in Donetsk Direction Over Past Day - Russian Defense Ministry Sputnik News 20231119 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian army in the Donetsk direction repelled six attacks by Kiev regime forces, eliminating more than 240 Ukrainian soldiers and destroying four pieces of Ukrainian military hardware over the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday. "Total enemy losses in this direction amounted to more than 240 soldiers killed and wounded, a tank, an infantry fighting vehicle, two vehicles, as well as an Msta-B howitzer," the ministry said. In the South Donetsk direction, Russia eliminated up to 145 Ukrainian soldiers, two vehicles and a Polish-made Krab self-propelled tracked gun-howitzer, the ministry said. In the Kupyansk and Krasnyi Lyman directions Russia hit Ukrainian forces near the settlements of Petropavlovka, Synkovka, Ivanovka, Berestovoye and Stelmakhovka, eliminating about 100 soldiers, an armored vehicle and two vehicles, the ministry said. In the Zaporozhye direction, Russian forces eliminated more than 100 Ukrainian soldiers, three armored vehicles, 11 cars and a D-30 howitzer, the ministry said. In the Kherson direction, Kiev lost up to 20 soldiers, two vehicles, an Msta-B howitzer and a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery unit, the ministry said. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A fundamentally new level of medical support for the military is needed - address by the President of Ukraine President of Ukraine 19 November 2023 - 21:11 I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians! Today we have an important personnel decision. Upon the submission of the Minister of Defense, I have changed the commander of the Medical Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Instead of Major General of the Medical Service Tetiana Ostashchenko, I appointed Major General of the Medical Service Anatoliy Kazmirchuk, Head of the National Military Medical Clinical Center "Main Military Clinical Hospital" in Kyiv, as the new commander. The task is obvious - and this has been repeatedly discussed in society, in particular in the community of our combat medics - a fundamentally new level of medical support for our military is needed. From high-quality tourniquets to full digitalization and transparency in supply, from high-quality training to sincere communication with combat medics in those units where medical care is organized truly properly and truly effectively. The experience of the effectiveness of specific units should be extended to the entire defense forces. Today, at a meeting with Defense Minister Umerov, we identified priorities, and there will not be much time to wait for results. Changes need to be made quickly. The second thing for today is that we continue to prepare for the planned international events this week. There will be an important activity - new communication with our partners. The key thing now is to make sure that support for Ukraine will be sufficient next year as well. I thank all the countries considering this issue in the same way as we do. This signal must be sent to Russia: no matter what they do, the world will not get tired of defending freedom and international order. I would like to recognize the Netherlands today - this week the Dutch government has envisaged more than 2 billion euros for the next year, mostly in security support for Ukraine. Thank you, Mark, Mr. Prime Minister, and I am also grateful to the entire Dutch society. This is a timely signal. It is important to feel that the defense of freedom is backed by reliable and sincere support. And one more thing. Every week that we pass in this war, in this defense of our independence, is a time when thousands of Ukrainians show the best of their character, the strongest qualities of people. When we are talking about unity in the defense of Ukraine, we are always talking not about something abstract, but about very specific things - about people doing what they have to do, what they should do, what supports others, and ultimately allows Ukraine to stand, fight, respond to the enemy and succeed in battles, in strengthening our state, in saving lives. Today I would like to recognize the employees of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine - those who save lives every day. Those who risk their lives. Those who were wounded by Russian shelling. I thank the entire staff of the State Emergency Service! And especially Sergeant Vladyslav Dordiy, Master Sergeant Oleksiy Suschevsky and Chief Sergeant Oleksiy Shabal - firefighters and rescuers working in Zaporizhzhia region. They were injured this Wednesday while providing assistance in the village of Zarichne. Guys, I wish you a speedy recovery! Thank you for your service. Donetsk region. Rescuers who have particularly distinguished themselves in helping people after the Russian attack on the town of Selydove. Sergeant Artur Taranenko and Captain Viktor Kartashov. Thank you! Kherson region. Sergeants Oleksandr Chastukhin, Yevheniy Tyshyk, Major Serhiy Kovalenko. They were repeatedly involved in the liquidation of the consequences of Russian strikes and always do their best to save as many people as possible. Well done, guys! Well done! Thank you very much! And, of course, Ukrainian medics. I thank all of you! I would especially like to recognize Tetiana Hurska, head of the Hulyaipole Emergency Department, and Oleksandr Ilyenko, an anesthesiologist at the Zaporizhzhia Emergency Station. Thank you! Kherson. Volodymyr Pyatyhorets, a surgeon who operated on 16 patients with mine-blast injuries this week alone. And Mykola Stepaniuk, a field feldsher of the Kherson emergency medical unit. He is actively working, actively helping, actively saving people. I am grateful to you and your colleagues who are equally active and caring! Separately I would like to thank everyone whose concern and efficiency help us return to Ukraine children who were abducted from the occupied territory. Today we managed to return to Ukraine Bohdan Yermokhin, a boy who was taken from Mariupol to Russia. There were many attempts to help him. I am glad that everything worked out. I am grateful to the entire team working on the return of Ukrainian children - the Office, the Ombudsman, and our international partners, including UNICEF. I am especially grateful to Qatar for its effective mediation and assistance. Thank you! We remember all our people. We are mindful of every corner of Ukraine that is currently under occupation. And I am grateful to everyone who is in combat, who is at combat posts, who is training and helping, who is preparing for combat! Avdiivka, Maryinka, our entire East, southern directions... Melitopol direction, Kherson region... Glory to all those who defend Ukraine, who defend independence, who care about people and sincerely try to strengthen us all! Glory to Ukraine! NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Head of the President's Office met with the Special Envoy of the President of France for Ukraine's Relief and Reconstruction President of Ukraine 19 November 2023 - 10:16 Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak met with Special Envoy of the President of France for Ukraine's Relief and Reconstruction Pierre Heilbronn. The meeting was also attended by First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy Yuliia Svyrydenko and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva. Andriy Yermak expressed gratitude to the French side for the continued strong support of our country and practical assistance since the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion. He emphasized the special role of the active dialog between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of France Emmanuel Macron in this regard. The Head of the President's Office also thanked Pierre Heilbronn for his important mission and visit to Ukraine and emphasized the tangible progress in the work on future projects for the recovery and reconstruction of our country. "I am grateful that the French side not only provides us with the necessary assistance to prevail, but also looks to the future and works on the issues of Ukraine's recovery," said Andriy Yermak. Pierre Heilbronn stated that he had had a fruitful dialogue with representatives of Ukraine over the past eight months and informed them about the elaboration of a number of projects in the areas of transport, technology, healthcare, etc., as well as the possibility of providing grants from France to restore critical infrastructure, energy facilities, businesses, and carry out demining. The parties also discussed the issue of providing security guarantees to our country in the context of negotiations between Ukraine and France on the conclusion of a relevant bilateral agreement, as provided for in the Joint Declaration of Support for our country of July 12 this year. In addition, Andriy Yermak reiterated Volodymyr Zelenskyy's invitation to President Emmanuel Macron and the First Lady of France to visit Ukraine and expressed hope that this important and meaningful visit could take place in the near future. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address TORONTO, Nov. 20, 2023 - Power Nickel Inc. (TSXV: PNPN) (OTCQB: PNPNF) (Frankfurt: IVV) ("Power Nickel" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the continuation of its agreement with CVMR Corporation ("CVMR"), one of the world's leaders in Nickel Powder, Wire, and Anode production, and a key supplier to the Battery, Defence, and Aerospace industry. CVMR is coordinating the production of advanced bench scale, piloting, and engineering studies on the Nisk Nickel Sulfide Project near Nemaska, Quebec to determine project feasibility. The agreement is staged, allowing for Power Nickel and CVMR to work together on various stages of engineering studies. CVMR is a privately held metal refining technology provider that is also engaged in mining and refining of its own mineral resources in 18 different countries. The company was established in 1986, with its head office and R & D Centre in Toronto, Canada. To ensure this process was done in the least dilutive way possible, Power Nickel has arranged to have WCPD Group organize a consortium of Quebec-based investors who will make an initial investment of $2.75 million representing 3,055,556 Flow-Through ("FT") shares at $0.90 per share. Wealth (WCPD Inc.) is one of the leading exempt market dealers offering efficient financing for Canadian resource and mineral exploration. As part of the process, CVMR will acquire these shares from the front-end purchasers for $0.45 per share. Each FT share will be composed of one common share of the Company that qualifies as a "flow-through share" (each, an "FT share") for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "ITA"). All securities issued under the Private Placement will be subject to a four-month and one-day statutory hold period. The Company intends to use the gross proceeds from the sale of the FT shares for exploration activities on the Company's NISK property located in Quebec and to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses, within the meaning of the ITA, that will qualify for the federal 30% Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit. The Company expects to close the deal by the end of November. The Private Placement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") approval. "CVMR has enjoyed technical success in its benchmark studies to date, and after reviewing the preliminary reports, we are very encouraged with how well the mineralization is being processed. We look forward to reviewing the final benchmarking report soon and to our ongoing collaboration with CVMR," commented Power Nickel CEO Terry Lynch. "We are very encouraged with the ongoing drilling and exploration success at Nisk. We believe the upcoming NI 43-101 report will likely suggest a commercial tonnage of Nickel can be obtained, along with Copper, Cobalt, Palladium, and Platinum. Our benchmarking tests have gone very well, and we believe the mineralization can be processed in the CVMR system in a manner that will provide very favorable yields. We are excited to deliver the final benchmarking studies shortly and look forward to conducting the prototype trial runs which will provide us further insight and confidence in the commercial viability of Nisk," commented CVMR CEO Kamran M. Khozan. Further to the Company's announcement made on August 15th, Power Nickel will make the next payment of $2,250,000 to CVMR to complete the next stage of the feasibility study. "At this time, the economics of using the CVMR process look even more compelling. Typically, a Nickel miner will make a concentrate to sell to the refiners and leave at least 25% of their Nickel unrecovered, with much of the metal byproducts unrecovered or minimally recovered. Through the CVMR process to date, we have seen excellent recoveries in the Nickel and in the metal byproducts. While the benchmarking studies will provide the first formal science on the recoveries, both CVMR and our team are excited enough to greenlight this next stage. Not only will we recover a lot more metals from the mineralization we process via the CVMR system, by delivering finished products like powders, nano powders, wire, anodes and EV precursors, we believe we will be able to earn two to three times the revenue with minimal incremental cost," commented Power Nickel CEO Terry Lynch. Qualified Person Kenneth Williamson, Geo, M.Sc., VP Exploration at Power Nickel, is the qualified person who has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release. About Power Nickel Inc. Power Nickel is a Canadian junior exploration company focusing on developing the High-Grade Nisk project into Canada's first Carbon Neutral Nickel mine. On February 1, 2021, Power Nickel (then called Chilean Metals) completed the acquisition of its option to acquire up to 80% of the Nisk project from Critical Elements Lithium Corp. (CRE: TSXV). Subsequently, Power Nickel has exercised its option to acquire 50% of the Nisk Project and delivered notice to Critical Elements that it intends to exercise its second option to bring its ownership to 80%. The last remaining commitment to activate this exercise of the option is the delivery of a NI-43-101 Technical report which is anticipated to occur at the latest in Q4 2023. The NISK property comprises a significant land position (20 kilometers of strike length) with numerous high-grade intercepts. Power Nickel is focused on expanding the historical high-grade nickel-copper PGE mineralization with a series of drill programs designed to test the initial Nisk discovery zone and to explore the land package for adjacent potential Nickel deposits. In addition to the Nisk project, Power Nickel owns significant land packages in British Colombia and Chile. Power Nickel is expected to reorganize these assets in a related public vehicle through a plan of arrangement. Power Nickel announced on June 8, 2021, that an agreement had been made to complete the 100% acquisition of its Golden Ivan project in the heart of the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle has reported mineral resources (past production and current resources) in 130 million ounces of gold, 800 million ounces of silver, and 40 billion pounds of copper (Resource World). This property hosts two known mineral showings (gold mineralization and Magee) and a portion of the past-producing Silverado mine, reportedly exploited between 1921 and 1939. These mineral showings are Polymetallic veins containing quantities of silver, lead, zinc, plus/minus gold, and plus/minus copper. Power Nickel is also 100 percent owner of five properties comprising over 50,000 acres strategically located in the prolific iron-oxide-copper-gold belt of northern Chile. It also owns a 3-per-cent NSR royalty interest on any future production from the Copaquire copper-molybdenum deposit sold to a subsidiary of Teck Resources Inc. Under the terms of the sale agreement, Teck has the right to acquire one-third of the 3-per-cent NSR for $3 million at any time. The Copaquire property borders Teck's producing Quebrada Blanca copper mine in Chile's first region. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it's Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This message contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" concerning the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "indicates," "opportunity," "possible" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, among others, the timing for the Company to close the private placement or the second Nisk option or risk that such transactions do not close at all; raise sufficient capital to fund its obligations under its property agreements going forward; to maintain its mineral tenures and concessions in good standing; to explore and develop its projects; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; the inherent hazards associates with mineral exploration and mining operations; future prices of nickel and other metals; changes in general economic conditions; accuracy of mineral resource and reserve estimates; the potential for new discoveries; the ability of the Company to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore, drill and develop the projects and if accepted, to obtain such licenses and approvals in a timely fashion relative to the Company's plans and business objectives for the applicable project; the general ability of the Company to monetize its mineral resources; and changes in environmental and other laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, dependence on key management personnel and general competition in the mining industry. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/power-nickel-to-raise-2-750-000-at-0-90-per-share-to-complete-next-stage-of-feasibility-study-with-cvmr-corporation-301993051.html SOURCE Power Nickel Inc. The Company Intends to Drill Stratabound Cu-Ag Targets Proximal to the Rio 27 Mine and Epithermal Gold Targets Beginning in 2024 VANCOUVER, Nov. 20, 2023 - Vortex Metals Inc. (TSXV: VMS) (FSE: DM8) (OTCQB: VMSSF) ("Vortex" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed the definitive agreement with "Windows Minerals SCM and SLM Rio 27 De Farellon Sanchez" (Jointly the optionors) for an option to acquire up to an 80% Interest in the Illapel Copper Project. This follows the letter of Intent (LOI) that was entered into on June 27, 2023, with SCM Ventana Minerals Group, a Santiago, Chile based mining Company, as referenced by the press release issued on June 27th https://vortexmetals.ca/vortex-metals-to-acquire-up-to-an-80-interest-in-compelling-copper-project-in-chile/. Illapel Copper Project Highlights: Favorable Geology Extends north and south from the Rio 27 Mine, Exploration Permits Obtained for Drilling and Exploration Access to Paved Roads, Power Grid and Water 8,000 Hectare Prospective Land Package Year round drilling Low Elevation- 1500 metres above sea level Project Overview The Illapel Copper Gold project is located in the Commune of Illapel, Choapa Province of the Fourth Region of Chile and is 250 km north of Santiago. The nearest town is the mining centre of Illapel located 25 kilometres away. Drilling may potentially commence after all regulatory approvals, including the approval from Toronto Venture Stock Exchange (TSXV) have been received. The region surrounding Illapel has seen extensive mining activity, both past and present. Of particular note, the El Espino copper-gold (IOCG) Project (Engineering feasibility complete; awaiting final permits. Source: www.pucobre.cl) is located approximately 14km to the north, and is presently planned for development by Pucobre. Several small gold and copper mines also operate in the immediate area. Exploration Overview Stratabound copper and silver mineralization at the Rio 27 mine is associated with NNE-trending structures and felsic dykes where they are intersected by WNW-trending structures and ocoite (andesite porphyry) dykes. Mineralized structures are hosted within a variable sequence of volcaniclastic rocks, and a vertical control is also present, with certain stratigraphic units being more favorable to manto-style mineralization. The favorable geology extends immediately north and south from the mineralization at Rio 27, and has also been identified in outcrop at multiple locations throughout the concession area with associated copper oxides. In addition to the copper-silver mineralization, Vortex has identified several epithermal veins in the western portion of the project area that are similar geologically to gold-copper mineralization in the Farellon Sanchez district immediately to the west. Given the above, once all regulatory approvals, including the approval from the TSXV are obtained, Vortex is in the process of designing a systematic program of geology and drill-testing that will: Test high-priority, drill-ready targets immediately to the north and south along strike from the Rio 27 mine; Map, sample and test drill-targets associated with the epithermal veins in the western portion of the concession area, and; Begin mapping and sampling of the favorable structures and dykes, with cross-cutting ocoite and associated copper oxides, that are found at multiple locations within the project area. The above program will allow Vortex to rapidly test high-priority, drill-ready targets while concurrently advancing the regional geologic work to generate additional targets for drilling. Vikas Ranjan, Chief Executive Officer and a Co-Founder of Vortex Metals, stated "we are very excited to conclude the Definitive Agreement and begin exploration work. Illapel is a drill-ready project that extends from, an existing copper mine. Opportunities like this are extremely rare and we look forward to drilling." Terms and Conditions The Optionors are the beneficial and legal owners of an undivided one hundred percent (100%) interest in the Illapel Property that includes portions of Rio 27 Concessions that also host the Rio 27 Mine. Optionors have agreed to grant an exclusive option to Vortex to acquire a sixty percent (60%) interest in, and to, the Property (the "First Option"); and If the First Option is exercised in full, the Optionors have agreed to grant an exclusive option to Vortex to acquire a further twenty percent (20%) interest, for a total of 80% in the entity that will be incorporated upon exercise of the First Option subject to the terms set forth herein (the "Second Option". Such terms are described later in this press release under the heading Terms and Conditions of the Illapel Copper Deal. The Option will also include parts of Rio 27 Concessions that host the Rio 27 Mine, an existing mining operation owned by SLM Rio 27 De Farellon Sanchez . The Rio 27 mine has been in production since 2010 with its near-site processing plant. Farellon Sanchez has advised that to date, approximately 400,000 tonnes of mineralized material with an average grade of 1.39% copper has been processed at site. The option agreement provides a right of first refusal (ROFR) on the Rio 27 Mine and processing facility. Co-founder and Executive Chairman, Michael Williams commented that "with Illapel property option now in our property stable alongside our two Mexican projects Riqueza Marina and Zaachila, we believe that we provide our shareholders with three excellent opportunities to potentially make a discovery that could dramatically impact Vortex Metal." The transaction is subject to several conditions including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The material terms and conditions of the definitive agreement are as follows: Grant of First Option Vortex may exercise the First Option by satisfying all of the following conditions (collectively, the "First Option Conditions of Exercise"): making cash payments to Windows Minerals in the following amounts and dates: $200,000 on the date which is five (5) Business Days following the Closing Date; $150,000 no later than twelve (12) months from the Closing Date; $200,000 no later than twenty-four (24) months from the Closing Date; $275,000 no later than thirty-six (36) months from the Closing Date; $275,000 no later than forty-eight (48) months from the Closing Date; and completing Share issuances to Windows Minerals in the following amounts and dates: 3,000,000 no later than the earlier of: (A) date that is twenty-four (24) months from the Closing Date; and (B) the date on which the Company sells all, or substantially all, of its operations in Mexico; 5,000,000 no later that the date that is sixty (60) months from the Closing Date; and 15,000,000 no later than the date that is seventy-two (72) months from the Closing Date. making cash payments to SLM Rio in monthly installments of $4,500 starting six (6) months from the Closing Date, with a cap of $226,000, corresponding to Vortex's contribution to settle an ENAMI Debt. incurring Exploration Expenditures on the Property in the following amounts and dates: $2,000,000 by the date which is twenty-four (24) months from the Closing Date; and an additional $1,000,000 by the date that is thirty-six (36) months from the Closing Date; an additional $2,000,000 by the date that is forty-eight (48) months from the Closing Date; and an additional $5,000,000 by the date that is sixty (60) months from the Closing Date. completing a Pre-Feasibility Study on the Property no later than the date that is seventy-two (72) months from the Closing Date. Notwithstanding the forgoing, Vortex may extend the time to complete the Pre-Feasibility Study referenced in this Section 5.1(d) to the date which is no later than the date which is eighty-four (84) months from the Closing Date by paying $200,000 in cash to the Optionor at the end of year five or sixty (60) months from the effective date of this agreement. Vortex may, at its sole and absolute discretion, accelerate the funding with respect to the Exploration Expenditures set forth in Section 5.1(d) above. If Vortex incurs in Exploration Expenditures in an amount greater than required be an applicable date in 5.1(d), then such excess shall be credited toward the next Exploration Expenditure requirement. If Vortex incurs in excess of $10,000,000 in Exploration Expenditures on the Property prior to the date that is sixty (60) months from the Closing Date, but ultimately does not exercise the First Option, Windows Minerals will grant Vortex the Expenditure Return Royalty on its Property and a mortgage and prohibition to transfer the Property in favor of Vortex to secure payment of the Expenditure Return Royalty. Such mortgage and prohibition shall be postponed to those securities required by financing institutions to fund the development of a mining project over the Property. The Expenditure Return Royalty will have a cap on royalty payments equal to the amount of Exploration Expenditures incurred by Vortex on Windows Minerals' Property. All Vortex Shares issuable pursuant to the Definitive Agreement will be subject to a 12-month contractual escrow from the date of issuance. It is expected that Ventana will nominate one person to the board of Vortex following the definitive agreement becoming effective upon receiving all regulatory approvals, including the approval of Toronto Venture Stock Exchange (TSXV). Dr. John E. Larson, Ph.D., is a qualified person ("QP") as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release. About Vortex Metals Inc. Vortex Metals Inc. is the parent company of Mexican subsidiary Empresa Minera Acagold, S.A. de C.V., which is the owner of a 100% interest in two drill-ready high-potential copper volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) properties (Riqueza Marina and Zaachila) in the state of Oaxaca, and a third high-potential gold property (El Rescate) in the state of Puebla. The Oaxaca projects incorporate the most highly prospective areas of high-grade copper mineralized surface exposures ('gossans') and prominent gravity anomalies along an emerging copper VMS belt that includes Minaurum Gold's (TSXV:MGG) Santa Marta project. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward looking statements that are made as of the date hereof and are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions which involve risks and uncertainties associated with our business including permitting approvals, any private placement financings, the uncertainty as to whether further exploration will result in the target(s) being delineated as a mineral resource, capital expenditures, operating costs, mineral resources, recovery rates, grades and prices, estimated goals, expansion and growth of the business and operations, plans and references to the Company's future successes with its business and the economic environment in which the business operates. All such statements are made pursuant to the 'safe harbour' provisions of, and are intended to be forward-looking statements under, applicable Canadian securities legislation. Any statements contained herein that are statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution readers of this news release not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements as several factors could cause actual results or conditions to differ materially from current expectations. Please refer to the risks set forth in the Company's most recent annual MD&A and the Company's continuous disclosure documents that can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company does not intend, and disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Company cautions that mineralization on, or production from, neighbouring properties is no guarantee of the existence of similar mineralization or a guarantee of future production from the Illapel Project. 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. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vortex-metals-concludes-the-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-an-80-interest-in-the-illapel-copper-project-chile-301992890.html SOURCE Vortex Metals Vancouver, November 20, 2023 - Homerun Resources Inc. (TSXV: HMR) (OTCQB: HMRFF) ("Homerun" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Brian Leeners, CEO has been invited to attend and participate at the inaugural Mining and Sustainability Forum in Salvador, Brazil on November 23rd, hosted by Companhia Bahiana de Pesquisa Mineral (CBPM), the mineral research and development company of the State of Bahia, Brazil. CBPM MINING & SUSTAINABILITY FORUM The event will bring together political authorities, government secretaries, representatives of mining companies in Bahia State, and industry leaders. The topics addressed in the roundtables have relevance at both the state, national and international levels. They are: "Strategic Minerals for the Energy Transition", "Public Policies and Regulation", "Good Practices in the Production of Strategic Minerals with Social Responsibility", "Challenges and Opportunities for a Sustainable Energy Transition" and "Presentation of Mineral Opportunities in Bahia". CEO Brian Leeners stated, "As an international CEO, it is both an honour and a privilege to be invited by our partners at CBPM to present and participate in this prestigious inaugural event. The general focus on 'Mining and Sustainability' underscores our collective commitment toward responsible practices in an era where the extraction and processing of strategic minerals plays such a pivotal role in the global energy transition. Working within the specific roundtable on 'Strategic Minerals for the Energy Transition', perfectly fits our business focus and we look forward to engaging in insightful discussions, fostering meaningful connections, and collectively charting a course that not only benefits our respective industries but also leaves a lasting positive impact on the communities and environment we serve. Let this event be a catalyst for innovation, collaboration, and a shared vision for a sustainable future for mining in the State of Bahia." ABOUT CBPM Companhia Baiana de Pesquisa Mineral (CBPM) is the mineral research and development company of the State of Bahia, Brazil. Its activities are centered on expanding and improving geological knowledge of the Bahian territory, by identifying and researching its mineral resources and promoting their use by attracting private initiatives to this end. Founded on Dec. 18, 1972, CBPM is recognized as one of the most dynamic companies in mineral research in Brazil. The collection of geological data and information, generated and disseminated by it has contributed to making the State of Bahia one of the best-studied and geologically known Brazilian states, highlighting the great diversity of its geological environments and mineral deposits. CBPM's stated mission is to promote the development of the mineral sector in the state of Bahia with technical, economic and social efficiency, in harmony with the preservation of the environment. ABOUT HOMERUN RESOURCES Homerun Resources is focused on the development of its business within the critical and energy materials sectors. With a steadfast commitment to operational excellence, sustainability, and building shareholder value, Homerun Resources Inc. is poised to make a lasting impact in these industries. Learn more at https://homerunresources.com/. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Homerun Resources Inc. "Brian Leeners" Brian Leeners, CEO & Director brianleeners@gmail.com / +1 604-862-4184 (WhatsApp) FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements. 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188022 Vancouver, November 20, 2023 - Bayhorse Silver Inc., (TSXV: BHS) (OTCQB: BHSIF) (FSE: 7KXN) (the "Company" or "Bayhorse") has added additional claims in Idaho to its Bayhorse Silver Mine Property, Oregon, USA. The new claims extend over 1.6 km (1 mile) east from the Bayhorse Mine across the Snake River into Idaho along a south-east trend that historic geological mapping (Figure 1) shows the presence of silver-hosting rhyolite. Historic mine workings and known silver-bearing mineralization are present in the new claims area. Hercules Silver has recently discovered a copper porphyry deposit associated with a red schist conglomerate at one of its properties lying approximately 40 km (26 miles) north-northeast of the Bayhorse Mine (Figure 2 below). Hercules has acquired a second property 24 km (14 miles) NE of Bayhorse. A conglomerate, similar to that on the Hercules ground is present adjacent to the silver-bearing rhyolite on the Bayhorse Property, prompting the extension of the new claims into Idaho. The Bayhorse and Hercules Silver properties have similar geological settings and silver mineralization, including significant copper, antimony, and zinc credits. This has spurred Bayhorse to extend further the known silver bearing zones. An airborne deep penetrating VTEM survey is planned over the entire Bayhorse claims in both Idaho and Oregon to determine whether an anomaly is present that could indicate the presence of both high-grade silver and a porphyry copper deposit. Drs. Ray and Conway are currently assessing the Bayhorse Mine structure and geology to determine how best to test the extensive historic underground workings to depth for any underlying mineralization below the known mineral horizon. Figure 1. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5015/188033_35dbcc3424f43844_001full.jpg Figure 2. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5015/188033_35dbcc3424f43844_002full.jpg This News Release has been prepared on behalf of the Bayhorse Silver Inc. Board of Directors, which accepts full responsibility for its content. Dr. G.E. Ray, P.Geo, a Qualified Person and Consultant to the Company has prepared, supervised the preparation of, and approved the technical content of this press release. On Behalf of the Board. Graeme O'Neill, CEO 866-399-6539 About Bayhorse Silver Inc. Bayhorse Silver Inc. is an exploration and production company with a 100% interest in the historic Bayhorse Silver Mine located in Oregon, USA. With state of the art Steinert Ore-Sorting technology reducing waste rock entering the processing stream by up to 85%, we have created a minimum environmental impact facility capable of mining 200 tons of mineralization per day and the ability to process and supply 3,600 tons per year of silver/copper/antimony concentrate ranging between 7,500 to 15,000 g/t using standard flotation processing at its milling facility in nearby Payette County, Idaho, USA, with an offtake agreement in place with Ocean Partners UK Limited. The Company also has an option to acquire an 80% interest in the Brandywine high grade silver/gold property located in B.C. Canada. The Company has an experienced management and technical team with extensive mining expertise in both exploration and building mines. 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/188033 Underground RAM drilling will commence in Q1 2024 once required mine development is complete - Australia - Jervois Global Ltd. ("Jervois") (ASX:JRV) (TSXV:JRV) (OTC:JRVMF) has commenced its underground resource extension programme at the RAM deposit, via its local mining contractor Small Mine Development. The RAM resource extension programme will involve the commenced construction of an underground exploration drift as well as the extensional drilling to define potential step-outs from the existing RAM mineral resource estimate ("MRE"), which the commenced construction will enable.1 The extensional drilling is expected to start in Q1 2024. Jervois has also successfully completed initial surface drilling of the Sunshine historic resource, part of its 100%-owned Idaho Cobalt Operations ("ICO") in Idaho, United States ("U.S."). The Sunshine deposit is an historic resource located a short distance from the mill and concentrator facilities at ICO. Jervois safely drilled seven holes from surface topography, comprising 1,150 metres (3,700 feet) in total. Logging of the Sunshine core obtained from drilling is underway, with assay results expected in Q1 2024. Modelling of the results, together with Jervois' inaugural MRE for Sunshine, are expected in Q2 2024. Based on the existing U.S. Department of Defense ("DoD") US$15.0 million funding agreement (the "Agreement Funding"), Jervois anticipates its costs for these exploration programmes, up to the end of Q3 2024 for exploration development, drilling, logging, assaying, MRE modelling and other related costs, to be fully reimbursed. The Agreement Funding is under the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization office of Industrial Base Policy using the U.S. Defense Production Act Title III authorities and utilises funds from the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act. The resource extension programme direct expenditure and associated Jervois programme supervision are fully refundable by the DoD. On behalf of Jervois Global Ltd. Bryce Crocker, CEO For further information, please contact: Investors and analysts: Alicia Brown Group Manager - External Affairs Jervois Global alicia.brown@jervoisglobal.com Media: Nathan Ryan NWR Communications nathan.ryan@nwrcommunications.com.au Mob: +61 420 582 887 Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule", "expected" and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to drilling outcomes at Sunshine, underground exploration development in the RAM deposit, drilling in the RAM deposit, mineral resource estimates for Sunshine, reimbursement payments from the DoD and certain other factors or information. Such statements represent Jervois' current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Jervois, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause 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. Jervois does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations. 1 See ASX announcent "Updated RAM resource offers opportunity to extend ICO mine life" dated 19 April 2023 (Australia). Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. MONTREAL, Nov. 20, 2023 - Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. ("Osisko" or the "Corporation") (TSX and NYSE: OR) announced today that Mr. Sean Roosen has resigned as a director of the Corporation in order to focus all of his time and attention on his role as Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Directors of Osisko Development Corp. "With the Corporation's recent announcement of Mr. Jason Attew as President and Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Norman MacDonald as Chair of the Board, Osisko Gold Royalties is in extremely strong and talented hands and now is the right time for me to focus all my efforts on the future success of Osisko Development," said Mr. Roosen. "I am proud of my contributions to Osisko Gold Royalties and look forward to watching it create long-term sustainable value for its shareholders over many years ahead as one of the premier intermediate North American precious metal royalty companies." Mr. Norman MacDonald, Chair of Osisko's board of directors, said: "On behalf of our board and shareholders, I want to thank Sean for his many contributions to Osisko over the years. As a significant shareholder of Osisko Development Corp., we support his decision to focus his efforts on the success of Osisko Development and look forward, as a shareholder, to enjoying the benefits of him doing so." About Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. is an intermediate precious metal royalty company which holds a North American focused portfolio of over 180 royalties, streams and precious metal offtakes. Osisko's portfolio is anchored by its cornerstone asset, a 5% net smelter return royalty on the Canadian Malartic mine, one of Canada's largest gold mines. Osisko's head office is located at 1100 Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montreal, Suite 300, Montreal, Quebec, H3B 2S2. For further information, please contact Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd.: Grant Moenting Vice President, Capital Markets Tel: (514) 940-0670 #116 Email: gmoenting@osiskogr.com Heather Taylor Vice President, Sustainability & Communications Tel: (514) 940-0670 #105 Email: htaylor@osiskogr.com CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed "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 securities legislation. All statements in this press release, forward-looking statements are statements other than statements of historical fact, that address, without limitation, future events, production estimates of Osisko's assets (including increase of production), timely developments of mining properties over which Osisko has royalties, streams, offtakes and investments, management's expectations regarding Osisko's growth, results of operations, estimated future revenues, production costs, carrying value of assets, ability to continue to pay dividend, requirements for additional capital, business prospects and opportunities future demand for and fluctuation of prices of commodities (including outlook on gold, silver, diamonds, other commodities) currency markets and general market conditions. In addition, statements and estimates (including data in tables) relating to mineral reserves and resources and gold equivalent ounces are forward-looking statements, as they involve implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions, and no assurance can be given that the estimates will be realized. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled" and similar expressions or variations (including negative variations), or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, most of which are beyond the control of Osisko, and actual results may accordingly differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, without limitation, (i) with respect to properties in which Osisko holds a royalty, stream or other interest; risks related to: (a) the operators of the properties, (b) timely development, permitting, construction, commencement of production, ramp-up (including operating and technical challenges), (c) differences in rate and timing of production from resource estimates or production forecasts by operators, (d) differences in conversion rate from resources to reserves and ability to replace resources, (e) the unfavorable outcome of any challenges or litigation relating title, permit or license, (f) hazards and uncertainty associated with the business of exploring, development and mining including, but not limited to unusual or unexpected geological and metallurgical conditions, slope failures or cave-ins, flooding and other natural disasters or civil unrest or other uninsured risks; with respect to external factors: (a) fluctuations in the prices of the commodities that drive royalties, streams, offtakes and investments held by Osisko, (b) fluctuations in the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar, (c) regulatory changes by national and local governments, including permitting and licensing regimes and taxation policies; regulations and political or economic developments in any of the countries where properties in which Osisko holds a royalty, stream or other interest are located or through which they are held, (d) continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, and (e) responses of relevant governments to the COVID-19 outbreak and the effectiveness of such response and the potential impact of COVID-19 on Osisko's business, operations and financial condition; with respect to internal factors: (a) business opportunities that may or not become available to, or are pursued by Osisko or (b) the integration of acquired assets. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including, without limitation: the absence of significant change in the Corporation's ongoing income and assets relating to determination of its Passive Foreign Investment Company ("PFIC") status; the absence of any other factors that could cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended and, with respect to properties in which Osisko holds a royalty, stream or other interest, (i) the ongoing operation of the properties by the owners or operators of such properties in a manner consistent with past practice and with public disclosure (including forecast of production), (ii) the accuracy of public statements and disclosures made by the owners or operators of such underlying properties (including expectations for the development of underlying properties that are not yet in production), (iii) no adverse development in respect of any significant property, (iv) that statements and estimates relating to mineral reserves and resources by owners and operators are accurate and (v) the implementation of an adequate plan for integration of acquired assets. For additional information on risks, uncertainties and assumptions, please refer to the most recent Annual Information Form of Osisko filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com and EDGAR at www.sec.gov which also provides additional general assumptions in connection with these statements. Osisko cautions that the foregoing list of risk and uncertainties is not exhaustive. Investors and others should carefully consider the above factors as well as the uncertainties they represent and the risk they entail. Osisko believes that the assumptions reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be accurate as actual results and prospective events could materially differ from those anticipated such the forward-looking statements and such forward-looking statements included in this press release are not guarantee of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Osisko undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable law. Vancouver, November 20TH, 2023 - Further to the news release of November 6, 2023, Juggernaut Exploration Ltd. (TSXV:JUGR) (OTC:JUGRF) (FSE:4JE) (the "Company" or "Juggernaut") is pleased to announce the Company has filed documents with the TSXV Exchange ("TSXV") for approval to close the first tranche of its non-brokered financing for 12,092,616 units. Crescat Capital LLC ("Crescat") and Dr. Quinton Hennigh personally have subscribed to this institutionally supported financing. This is a follow-on investment by Crescat, previously announced on May 12th, 2023 (Link to May 12th 2023 news). Post-closing of this financing, Crescat will retain a significant portion of the company, and Juggernaut welcomes this additional strategic investment. Dr. Quinton Hennigh has long provided his technical support to the projects, and the Company looks forward to his continuing guidance. Juggernaut's projects continue to garner strong interest and support from leading institutions and miners alike globally, confirming the quality of its three fully permitted, 100% controlled, drill-ready projects, Midas, Empire, and Bingo, located in world-class geologic terrane of Northwestern British Columbia encompassing the Golden Triangle. Dr. Quinton Hennigh is a special technical advisor to the Company and technical and geologic director of Crescat. Dr. Hennigh is a world-renowned exploration geologist with more than 30 years of experience, including with major gold mining firms Homestake Mining, Newcrest Mining, and Newmont Mining. Dr. Hennigh stated, "Juggernaut had a very successful exploration season in 2023. Over the past couple of years, the Company's exploration team diligently accumulated high-quality data to define drill targets with maximum chance of success at the flagship Midas precious metal-rich VMS project near Terrace, BC. That work paid off this year when Juggernaut encountered long intervals of stockwork feeder mineralization displaying considerable sulfides, including chalcopyrite. This program has confirmed the presence of a sizable, strong VMS system at Midas. We anxiously await results from this encouraging drill program." View Juggernaut videos by Clicking Here. Dan Stuart, Director, President, and CEO of Juggernaut, states: "We are pleased to strengthen our ongoing relationship with both Crescat Capital as a strategic investor and Dr. Hennigh as a Special Technical Advisor and personal investor. We look forward to continuing to work with our partners, who bring a proven track record of both financial and technical strength. This will enable Juggernaut to unlock the full potential of its assets over the long term, building value for all shareholders. This investment and continued strategic partnership, coupled with the ongoing support and interest from other globally recognized Institutions and senior miners, is a strong endorsement that clearly demonstrates the significant near-term discovery potential of our 100% controlled properties. Post financing, Juggernaut will have a tight capital structure of just 77,941,760. As such, we are well-positioned to move forward with our plans of further drilling on Midas, Empire, and Bingo. With much anticipation, we look forward to releasing drill results once received, complied with, and interpreted by the technical team. The Company may pay finder's fees of the gross proceeds from the financing in cash and compensation options on units being sold. This non-brokered private placement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. All shares issued pursuant to this offering and any shares issued pursuant to the exercise of warrants will be subject to a four-month hold period from the closing date. About Crescat Capital LLC Crescat is a global macro asset management firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Crescat's mission is to grow and protect wealth over the long term by deploying tactical investment themes based on proprietary value-driven equity and macro models. Crescat's goal is industry-leading absolute and risk-adjusted returns over complete business cycles with low correlation to common benchmarks. The company's investment process involves a mix of asset classes and strategies to assist with each client's unique needs and objectives and includes Global Macro, Long/Short, Large Cap, and Precious Metals funds. Crescat is advised by its technical consultant, Dr. Quinton Hennigh, on investments in gold and silver resource companies. Dr. Hennigh became an economic geologist after obtaining his Ph.D. in Geology/Geochemistry from the Colorado School of Mines. He has more than 30 years of exploration experience with major gold mining firms, including Homestake Mining, Newcrest Mining, and Newmont Mining. Recently, Dr. Hennigh founded Novo Resources Corp and is serving as Chairman. Among his notable project involvements are First Mining Gold's Springpole gold deposit in Ontario, Kirkland Lake Gold's acquisition of the Fosterville Gold Mine in Australia, the Rattlesnake Hills gold deposit in Wyoming, and Lion One's Tuvatu gold project in Fiji, among many others. The use of proceeds from this financing is for an option payment requirement related to Bingo, Due Dec 30th, 2023; Bingo is located next door to our sister company, Goliath Resources Surebet Discovery. Bingo contains the same world-class geological units, including Hazelton Volcanics and related sediments and intrusives, as well as completion of Midas and Empire interpretation and general working capital. The funding will consist of up to 15,400,000 units ("Units"), priced at $0.13 each for gross proceeds of up to $2,002,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share plus one warrant to purchase one common share at $0.25 for a thirty-six-month period with a conversion option at managements discretion "may" exercise at $1.00 upon 10 consecutive trading at or above. About Juggernaut Exploration Ltd. Juggernaut Exploration Ltd. is a precious metals project generator in the geopolitically stable jurisdiction of Canada, focused on the prolific geologic setting of northwestern British Columbia encompassing the Golden Triangle. For more information, please contact Juggernaut Exploration Ltd. Dan Stuart President, Director, and Chief Executive Officer 604-559-8028 info@juggernautexploration.com www.juggernautexploration.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. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT Certain disclosure in this release may constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties relating to Juggernaut's operations that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements, including its ability to complete the contemplated private placement. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements. NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES. THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR AN INVITATION TO PURCHASE ANY SECURITIES DESCRIBED IN IT. Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. Its like the chicken-and-the-egg conundrum: which comes first, leadership or process improvement techniques? Recent success stories of governments using Lean Six Sigma , a process improvement program, suggest the secret may be combining leadership with a process focus.In the wake of the Katrina disaster five years ago, one Louisiana state agency leader used the clean slate provided as an opportunity to redesign the eligibility determination process for health-care benefits for the needy.Ruth Kennedy, director of eligibility for Medicaid and the Children Health Insurance programs at Louisianas Department of Health and Hospitals, had been attempting to reform the eligibility determination process for several years. But when Hurricane Katrina hit, the eligibility system was largely wiped out. Staff and clients had been evacuated. Records were destroyed. Offices had to be replaced. Kennedy declared: I dont want to just rebuild. I want to build an improved system.Using Lean Six Sigma techniques, Louisiana designed a caseload management system based on the pull concept rather than the old approach of supervisors assigning batches of cases. Instead, available caseworkers would pull pending applications from a queue. This shifted the mentality of caseworkers from my cases to our cases.Kennedy used common sense management and basic process management techniques to redesign this vital element of service delivery. In the end, she made a huge difference for thousands of beneficiaries of Louisianas public health-care system. In the process, she showed that, while process improvement techniques like Lean Six Sigma helps, it is leadership that matters.Similarly, when businessman Graham Richard became mayor of Ft. Wayne, Ind., in 2000, he was already trained in Lean Six Sigma processes. However, his goal was not to deploy Lean Six Sigma methods throughout the city. His goal was to make the city government more effective.During his eight years as mayor, he infected the citys employees with his enthusiasm. Even the citys nine unions joined the effort. More than 100 projects led to over $30 million in savings for the city -- and better services. In fact, the city claims pothole repairs that used to take 48 hours to repair are now fixed within 3 hours of being reported!Is Lean Six Sigma a new management miracle drug? Like most new management innovations, Lean Six Sigma began in the private sector. It started in manufacturing and moved to services in the 1990s. Since 2000, it has been growing in government at all levels. In fact, over two-thirds of the organizational units within the Defense Department are currently sponsoring Lean Six Sigma initiatives. Lean Six Sigma methods are used to distinguish between value-added and non-value-added work (or waste), such as waiting in line, service delays, excess inventory, over-engineering, etc.While the rigorous technical methods involved tend to be the focus of many observers, the crux of its value is that it empowers people closest to a particular business process to improve operations. In addition, Lean Six Sigma requires a broader view of the sum of all the individual processes, so employees can see how what they do fits into the bigger picture. So, for example, instead of just focusing on improvements in the finance office, finance improvements are developed in the context of the overall efforts of the larger organizations mission.Former Mayor Richard says the issue isnt commitment, its engagement. While top leaders may be committed to a Lean Six Sigma initiative, the real test is whether employees use it in their day-to-day work. Management professor John Maleyeff found that successful Lean Six Sigma initiatives focused on three elements: developing an infrastructure, applying the technical methods on individual projects and ensuring implementation.When developing a Lean Six Sigma infrastructure, leaders must be able to directly communicate the importance of the initiative and be willing to engage employees in the process before launching an initiative. By focusing on program improvement, leaders begin to focus the organization on being more data-driven and results-oriented.In applying the technical methods of Lean Six Sigma, Richard wished he had incorporated the Lean methods sooner and emphasized managerial-level use of data. If he had to do it again, he said he would have better tailored training to government employees. Deployment of the initiative was easier in some city functions than others. He also found that strategic oversight was critical.And finally, when implementing a Lean Six Sigma program, Maleyeff found, it is important to create a centralized focal point. While a new office may not be needed, a steering committee chaired by the top leader may be an important catalyst for attention. Also, the leader and the steering committee need to encourage organization-wide involvement, with trained champions in each organizational unit.Should you use it? Some observers see Lean Six Sigma as just the latest management fad. However, Richard says that the key is to create a team-based, disciplined approach regardless of the name and methods adopted. Louisianas Ruth Kennedy concurs. There are many commonalities with other management techniques like total quality management. For new leaders who want to quickly make a mark, the availability of a tested set of methods that have been successful in a wide range of environments makes such an initiative easier to adopt, in many cases. Executive Power and the Rise of Extra-Constitutional Order The Challenge of Upholding a Republic Having a Historical Imagination Blame It on the 1960s Time for Constitutional Reform? Good Policy + Bad Implementation = Constitutional Damage A New Civics for a Revived Republic We're suddenly in this situation where the wear and tear on our republic looks severe. The perennial desire to analogize America with Rome has taken on new potency.This is something that thinkers across many centuries have struggled with. Some of the basic principles that Romans articulated as governing principles for their republic are principles that later republics adopted. In the United States, in particular, the principles emphasized are those of separation of powers , checks on magistrates, and rule of law that governs political behaviors. Its rule of law that depends on an overwhelming super majority consensus. Theres continual touching back to these basic principles that reaffirm what the republic is supposed to do. We have regularly done this in the United States. Our election process represents this reaffirmation of the basic principles of our representative democracy.The American public doesn't really know this story of our Founding Fathers' obsession with the Roman Republic. What do we lose by not having that mirror right now?The Founding Fathers had a very specific reason for being attracted to Rome. Not only was Rome's Republic remarkably successful, but it was remarkably well-suited to the kind of project that the founders were imagining in the United States. Thats because Rome's was a republic that, as it expanded, incorporated representative democracy The Roman example is baked into our political DNA. It is essential to understand the challenges Rome faced as it expanded and incorporated new people, but it is just as essential to understand the challenges that Rome did not face up to that proved fatal to that republic. Some of the pathologies that Rome was not able to deal with are pathologies that we may be susceptible to.The republic falls in the first century BCE ( Before the Common Era ), but the path was actually charted nearly a hundred years before. The real issues that led to this should resonate for us now. It started because there was a revolution in the way the Roman economy worked in the mid-second century that created massively wealthy people. They were entitled by law to this wealth, but it did not feel fair. They were doing this when most Romans were not getting the full advantages of this economic revolution. This was a political problem that could have been solved through law and through electoral politics, but the republic could not come up with consensus-based policies to address this wealth inequality fast enough to eliminate anger and resentment. And it was in the 130s BCE that politicians began to demagogue on this issue.When a republic can't solve the problems that it must inevitably solve, things seem to quickly begin to break down. Barack Obama, due to paralysis that he saw in the Republican-controlled Congress, operated in his second term largely by the essentially extra-constitutional mechanism of executive order. That's a tame form of extra-constitutionalism compared to what we're looking at in Rome. But the same thing is happening now where theres paralysis and there are fundamental problems to be solved.Right. The situation we're probably going to be looking at in 2021 is a lot like what Caesar faced. There were massive problems that Rome was not able to deal with because of political paralysis in the '60s BCE. It's remarkable that it was allowed to fester for as long as it did, because it involved things like trying to create a governing structure to incorporate the conquered Middle East into a constitutional Roman order. This was blocked for years by the Senate. You had millions of people in the Middle East who literally didn't know what legal system they were under. Rome refused to act.Significant amounts of money were tied up in public contracts that had basically served as financial instruments, akin to our subprime mortgages . These things were in danger of basically collapsing and causing a financial panic in Rome. There was an easy legislative fix that was blocked simply for political reasons. When Caesar came in as consul, there were massive problems with relatively easy solutions, but they had not been addressed. Political paralysis meant that it was politically expedient for people like Cato the Younger to prevent the state from working. The people were frustrated, which is why Caesar had tremendous political support. But again, I think we should always go back to the point that Cicero makes: A republic must be governed by laws and a republic that's not governed by laws is not a republic.Many Romans, of all political persuasions, felt that it was OK to break with customs and with legal precedents when it was to their advantage. They always felt that the republic would snap back. If you are willing to agree that Obama was justified in doing some of the things he did through executive action, on legal principle, then you are acknowledging that executive action is a way to govern.Obama, in my opinion, used extra-constitutional mechanisms for the common good. Certainly he felt they were for the common good. They were meant to get the republic to embrace more people, to solve certain problems in ways that were peaceful and equitable. Then comes Donald Trump, using extra-constitutional measures in ways that violate the very idea of a republic. Once you erode those norms, it's hard to get back.That's the real challenge that Romans in the first century faced, and its what Americans in the 21st century face. Everybody in Rome, even Augustus , who effectively undid the republic, created the narrative that he was restoring the republic. This worked, because everybody said that they valued the republic. They valued what it promised. But sometimes this fidelity to the idea of the republic and the need to actually get things done comes into conflict. And what everybody in first-century Rome, and everybody in the 21st-century United States, struggles with is the question of how to uphold this institution that everybody values.If we still really believed we were a republic in any meaningful sense, the Senate would have stood up to President Trump, even when they agreed with him. It's not about policy, but a constitutional principle. But the Senate didn't understand. They endorsed what he did. They don't seem to understand that they're undermining the health of the republic for temporary policy gains.The diversion of appropriated funds was the one that really stood out to me. In Rome, that was the breaking. It was a violation of hundreds of years of precedent. And when Congress approves funds for building schools on military bases and the president unilaterally redirects those funds to something else, it is a very clear violation, not only of how things have worked in the past, but also what the constitution sets. That was a moment where everybody should have stood up and said, "We have rules." Very little was said, even from the political left.Given that the Romans had a sense of the majesty of their constitution that exceeded even that of our own Founding Fathers, why didn't they rise to the occasion by making the imaginative and flexible leaps that would have enabled them to go on?The idea of the republic was something that every Roman valued. But it became difficult when, for example, theyd promised a food distribution but couldn't pay for it. They would channel money that the Senate had appropriated for something else to support this reform. One little extra-constitutional thing doesn't undo the republic, but a century or more of people making those little compromises and making decisions that served their own interests at the expense of the larger integrity of the political system is what did Rome in. And it's clear that we are now struggling with how we make those choices. The other thing that's important for us to understand is they couldn't imagine that their republic was going to die.In the first and last chapters of your book,, there seems to be an inescapable analogy with what is happening today in the United States.I started thinking more about how this story could provide us with ways to think about our current reality, knowing there isn't an exact parallel. My students were struggling to use the late republic in that way. That's what prompted the book. Its a book about Rome, but I hope it will encourage us to think more broadly about what's going on now.People don't think in centuries when they think about historical processes. That's one of the challenges we have in the United States. We don't have a historical imagination that extends across centuries and looks for trends that were just starting to feel but that maybe started in the 1960s. We don't think that way because our history is short. And Romans didn't think that way, in part, because their history was long. They couldn't imagine the outcome that they actually got. What I hoped the book would do was allow us to imagine more outcomes, to think more expansively about what we might be experiencing, and to be open to a larger range of possibilities and challenges that we were confronting. And, ideally, to help us to do better than the Romans did when they faced things like the rise of political violence or the decline in institutional checks in their republic.As you say, we're not Rome. But you do see an increasing pace of extra-constitutional activity. More than that, you see an increasing complacency on the part of the American people in the face of that activity. What can we learn that's useful to us here?First, I think its possible to imagine a historian in 2,000 years saying that our political crisis started in the mid-1960s. Then the scope of political violence becomes different. If we expand our horizons and start looking at a political process of degeneration that starts in 1964, what we see is a lot of political violence and a lot of explosions of constitutional norms in the '60s and early '70s. There was the war in Cambodia, and all of the Nixon stuff. Then you had a reform movement. You see a pullback from the violent street politics of the '60s and early '70s. Then later, you see a reaction to that, starting with things like the removal of the FCCs fairness doctrine and the rise of right-wing talk radio, creating an oppositional culture that tries to undermine the legitimacy of the Clinton administration.You see this movement rising back up to the kinds of erosions of constitutional norms that we've seen in the 2010s. It's possible that in 2000 years, somebody will look back and say, "Well, the process of decline in the United States looks like something that we saw in the Roman Republic before it exploded."You would want the party that's regaining power to put forward a constitutional reform program that others can support. Let's pass a new law, for example, saying that money appropriated by Congress must be spent for the purposes that it was appropriated for. Let's shore up the guardrails of the Constitution. Do you think that's the right answer?In an ideal world, we create and support these new guardrails, understanding that its what our state's structure is designed to do. And we make sure that we protect the lanes of each aspect of our government, so that each does the things it's supposed to do. Thats very important. With the way that our Congress looks, the path is really challenging. A lot of the legislators have self-interests that go against those larger principles, and so do a lot of citizens.The Democratic party itself does, too. Its not clearly a reform party. The reforms I'm talking about would be legislative reforms. Then there are the constitutional reforms addressing the Electoral College, clarifying what we mean by an impeachable offense, clarifying what we mean by the emoluments clause, et cetera. Those are chimeras because we know that a constitutional amendment to address the Electoral College is essentially impossible. The Democratic program is about climate change, a green revolution, a whole series of interesting policies, but at this point I would rather there be an AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) on the Constitution than an AOC on welfare. But the party doesn't seem to be especially concerned about those questions.Youre right that it feels impossible to reform the Electoral College, but Birch Bayh almost got rid of it in the '70s. And there were a lot of constitutional amendments that were floated in the '70s, the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) being the biggest one. They didnt pass, but there was an open process in which people were willing to engage. I think this feeling that reforms are impossible is pushing Democrats and Republicans away from the questions about how to reinforce the Constitution. And because they feel impossible, I dont know that it would excite voters.But that's the Faustian bargain, which you earlier said ensures the collapse of the republic. If you think that there's no way that we can get rid of the Electoral College you opt to make sure that everyone has free college education by executive order, perhaps taking the money from the defense budget, then you're hastening the death of the republic.There are many reasons why you would say that's a good policy, and there are far more reasons why you should say that the way that policy was executed is incredibly damaging. And those two things can happen at once. That's what sometimes is missed. It was missed by Roman politicians. Sometimes a good policy that has a good effect and benefits lots of people is carried out in the wrong way, a way that damages the Constitution.Like with the Dreamers and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Barack Obama realized that the situation was fundamentally unjust, but he couldn't get Mitch McConnell's Congress to act. He finally said, "Well, I'll just do it." Isn't that the very problem we're talking about?And Barack Obama is a constitutional scholar. That's a remarkable statement in itself, that somebody who values and understands the Constitution would get so frustrated with the inability to constitutionally fix a very clear problem and do good for a large number of people, that he would lose faith in the constitutional order to solve that problem.Thomas Jefferson understood what was at stake, maybe better than anyone. This only works, he said, if the people are up to it, if the people are well-educated. You can't have the gifted elite figure this out for you. It has to come from the people's own understanding of what's at stake. They don't have that intuitively, so they have to be trained up to a certain point. If the kind of elite education that you provide were somehow universalized, could it make a fundamental difference?I think so. The great movement towards teaching civics in the 20th century mattered. That initiative grew out of the threats of fascism and communism, Nazism and the Cold War, and a real sense that if people don't understand what they've got, they're not going to fight to support it. They're going to be susceptible to people, to demagogues, who are promising something else. Right now, were missing that something else. If the Soviet Union were still there and preaching the overthrow of a constitutional order and a revolution that would overwhelm the structures of American society, we would know what's at stake.Right now, the argument is one of almost relativism. What do I want now? What benefits us in the short term? We dont appreciate the constitutional impact and the larger implications because we haven't doubled down on instructing people on why our system is special. It's by no means natural to be a republic. But it was a pretty smart choice, given the direction of the country and the challenges the founders were facing. We need to understand why it was and still is a good choice.The idea of civics education was right, but the narrative was imperfect. What we need is not the narrative that these were great men who did a great thing, but that this is the republican system we have. This is the structure we have. This is why it works. This is what it's designed to do. We need mechanical civics, not a historicizing, romanticizing and mythological civics.It may be a very slow-motion collapse were participating in, perhaps a couple hundred years. I don't see a constitutional reform movement having any traction in this country. How do you see this coming out?The structural aspects of a struggling republic really can't be very easily reformed. People have taken things designed to create consensus and weaponized them to shut down anything that they don't want to have happen. A constitutional reform movement under current conditions is very hard to see. Some of my students were saying that they've been presented with a whole host of impossible problems. They don't think about them ideologically because ideologically, you can't solve all of these problems. It's possible that well get a group of reformers who come up out of the 20- and 30-year-olds who could push things forward in a new way. They will have the demographic heft to do it.It's possible to imagine a democratic movement. Not democratic in the sense of the Democratic Party, but a democratic movement that comes out of a younger generation that just says, We are not ideological because we don't have time to be ideological; We need to solve problems. And there are solutions to problems. A lot of the students I interact with feel that way. Maybe they will break the logjam and fundamentally change things. We cannot dismiss the power of personnel turning over in the government. We still have a government dominated by baby boomers. There's nothing wrong with that, per se. But I think changing that personnel, especially given the orientation of some of the younger people in the country right now, might create a shift. I wouldnt guarantee it, but I could see it happening. For Christian Horner, it was a double celebration in Las Vegas. Not only did he get to celebrate his 50th birthday in the gambling city, he was also treated to a double podium by Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. The Red Bull Racing team boss enjoyed the Formula 1 race in the gambling city, but at times it got a little too exciting for him. Asked how the Las Vegas Street Circuit compares with the other street circuits on the F1 calendar, such as Monaco, Singapore and Baku, as far as Horner is concerned, the Vegas circuit is definitely among the top tracks. Article continues under ad Horner: 'I didn't dare to look' "I think it's right up there. It's long and fast straights, so big slipstreams, big braking zones. You can see down the last straight that theres some dive bombing that was going on there. I think the layout of the circuit has actually delivered," he said in conversation with Sky Sports. Article continues under ad "The surface being super slippy as well. You saw the drivers really working today. I closed my eyes a couple of moments," admitted the Red Bull team boss. "Particularly on the cold tyres at the restart, it was really getting very leery." Alonso tips Las Vegas to improve GP for 2024 Fernando Alonso is backing organisers of the new and highly-criticised Las Vegas GP to bounce back with key improvements for 2024. Fernando Alonso, Las Vegas GP 2023 Aston Martin Racing Triple world champion Max Verstappen had a long face and a loud and critical voice throughout the race weekend, which Alonso thinks was not just because of the 'show' elements but the city layout, based upon the iconic 'Strip'. We have to find a balance, Alonso agreed, "because it's not very fun to drive on this type of circuit. "360kph, no grip, no visibility, all the bouncing. Terrible. I know the spectacle from the outside looks good, but these cars are not made to take corners at 80kph. They're designed for Barcelona, Silverstone - to maximise the potential of a Formula 1 car. So we do have to find a balance in the calendar with traditional races, he told Spanish media. However, F1's oldest active driver said he would not be echoing Verstappen's complaints about the actual organisation of the event itself. The race was well organised, said the Aston Martin driver, 42. "Perhaps the schedule was too late for the mechanics, for the press, for the drivers. But I think the second year will be much better. That's what happened in Miami. There are things to improve here, but I think in general it was a good event, Alonso said. Spectators furious about being ejected from the circuit because of the manhole cover delay on Thursday have already launched a class action lawsuit after organisers offered them only a $200 merchandise voucher in compensation. Las Vegas GP CEO Renee Wilm admits some mistakes were made during the event's first edition. I think we could have done a much better job communicating, particularly with all the local residents, she told AP news agency. We really were a start-up with a very small team that was working in a very short amount of time. But another huge local criticism was that the event was so disruptive to the local community for weeks - and yet so many of them were then effectively locked out of the actual spectacle due to enormous ticket prices. I think we are going to take a look at a lot of things from year one and think about what we did well and what we can improve on next year, said Wilm. I think we want to add more general admission ticketing. Alonso's suggestion that the late-night session times also need tweaking may also be on the cards, the Las Vegas GP and Liberty Media official added. First MEADFA Conference in Africa opens in Accra Vincent Amenuveve Business News Nov - 20 - 2023 , 14:36 The first Middle East and Africa Duty Free Association(MEADFA) conference in Africa opened in Accra today(Monday, November 20, 2023). The two-day event brought together more than 300 participants from 150 countries across the world to brainstorm on strategies to support travel and duty-free retail industry to realise its full potential in the continent. The participants made up of airport and aviation experts, brand development experts, event organisers, retail research specialists, global market analysts among others discussed how the airport commercial model can be adapted to ensure durable recovery in the post COVID-19 pandemic era for key players in the travel and duty-free retail industry as well as how today's traveller in the Middle East and Africa has evolved since the pre-pandemic period. Other issues to be discussed include what do changes in demographics and spending levels say about post-COVID-19 duty-free shopping in the continent; and an assessment of the latest traffic data and travel forecasts, trends, and emerging destinations as well as challenges facing the travel industry. The Ghana Tourism Development Company(GTDC) under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is partnering the Dufry Group, a travel retail company to organise the event among other partners. Duty-free market growth Opening the conference, the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said Africa and the Middle East duty-free retail market was valued at about $16 billion in 2020 and was expected to be growing at an average rate of about 3.7 per cent between 2023 and 2029. Here in Ghana we've moved from our own terminal two to terminal three at the Kotoka International Airport and we are also looking to improve on a couple of other airports including Kumasi and Tamale fully functional as International airports from where a lot more businesses can take place. We look forward to deepening our collaboration with you and we hope that as you have come to Africa through Ghana for the first time it will not be the last time on this continent Mr Nkrumah added. He expressed the commitment of the government to position the country as an epicentre where the retail dimension of travel flourishes. The minister explained that through strategic partnership and sustainability development initiatives we aspire to create a business environment that not only captivates travellers but also nurtures a thriving retail centre. Mr Nkrumah stated that Africa's importance in the retail travel industry could not be overstated and that events like the MEADFA Conference were instrumental in supporting economic growth in the country as it created increased passenger, airport revenues, job creation and general country visibility. MEADFA responsibility The President of MEADFA, Sherif Toulan, for his part, said the tourism and travel retail industries in Ghana and neighbouring countries were developing rapidly. We see it as our responsibility as an Association to help our members and business partners to realise Africas potential. With that in mind, staging our annual event in Ghana is a logical step. Mr Toulan stated. He said countries such as Ghana, Senegal and The Gambia, have long recognised the benefits of tourism through robust travel industry to their respective economies. Visibility The Chief Executive Officer of GTDC, Kwadwo Antwi, said such conferences would impact positively on the countrys aviation, transport and tourism industries. For us in the tourism industry it creates country visibility that for the past six months of planning for this conference and the past few weeks at least within the MAEDFA Ecozone, every body will be talking about this conference he said. Aviation in focus During a panel discussion as part of the conference, three panellists, were unanimous in suggesting that the future looked brighter for the aviation industry in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, in Ghana, and other countries in Africa The panellists were the Group Executive in charge of Commercial services of the Ghana Airport Company,Mr. Kwame Baffour Awuah Otchere, the President of Avolta AG, in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Luis Martin and the Commercial Development Director, Egyptian Airports Company, Dina El Sherif. Proceeds from salt production could rival that of gold & cocoa if...Atta Akyea Getrude Ankah Nyavi Business News Nov - 20 - 2023 , 15:01 The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy, Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, has underscored the importance of the Electrochem salt project at Ada to the socio-economic development of the country. He says if the project is fully support by all stakeholders, proceeds from it could rival that of gold and cocoa. For him, Ghana will not need to go to the IMF seeking a bailout if more attention is paid to the salt sector. Mr Atta Akyea made the observation when the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy visited the Electrochem Salt project site on Friday, November 17, 2023. The visit was to enable the Commitee to get first-hand information on the project. For the moment I'm very amazed that here is another undertaking that if given our full support would even rival what we are getting from gold and cocoa. We might not even have to go to the IMF seeking a bailout if we pay attention to the natural resource Salt. What amazes me is that so far they haven't even done 40 per cent of the capacity of this setup... they also intend to do some massive export drive that will also rake in some foreign exchange for Ghana," Mr Atta Akyea said. Electrochem Ghana has so far invested $88 million into the ultra-modern salt mining project at Ada. Caution against saboteurs Mr Atta Akyea cautioned people to desist from sabotaging the project which, pointing out that the project can contribute massively to the economic growth of the country. "I'm using this opportunity to sign a note of caution to those who believe that the economic conditions of the people of Ada should not improve when you have a committed investor seeking to improve the livelihoods of the people. When they have created a space for the community people to mine Salt and further provide a buy-back ready market and somebody sitting somewhere thinks he can undermine this undertaking, that is lawlessness and I assure them that the law will take its due process and deal with such characters," Atta Akyea warned. He added that "We have engaged all the stakeholders especially with the company undertaking the Salt Mining Project, Electrochem Ghana Limited and we have learned about all the challenges they are facing. The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, directed the Committee on Lands and Forestry and Mines and Energy to conduct a probe into the leasehold agreement that authorized Electrochem Ghana to embark on salt mining in Ada. Hope for people of Ada After the visit, the Ranking Member on committee, John Jinapor said Electrochem salt project will impact positively on the economic fortunes and activities of the people of Ada and surrounding communities. It is obvious that this is a very huge project and has the potential of impacting positively on the economic fortunes and activities of the people of Ada...." he said. He indicated that what Parliament does is to ensure that businesses thrive so it is necessary to engage all the stakeholders to ensure a more peaceful business environment." Shooting incident Meanwhile, Electrochem Ghana Limited has denied any involvement in the shooting incident that occurred at Toflokpo in the Ada West District of the Greater Accra Region, which resulted in the death of one person and the injury of several others. The company said it is waiting for the police to finish its investigation into the shooting. Electrochem is a subsidiary of the McDan Group of Companies. It is the largest salt and chlorine-alkali manufacturing firm in West Africa with a concession spanning 41,000 acres at Ada Songor. EC, how many prisoners voted in 2020? Daily Graphic Opinion Nov - 20 - 2023 , 12:22 The EC has announced its completion of the limited voter registration and informed the nation accordingly. I wish to know from the EC whether prisoners were also factored into the recent registration and voting process. This is so because prisoners have voting rights, as determined by the Supreme Court in Ahumah Ocansey vs The Electoral Commission (2010) SC. By way of compliance with the Orders of the Supreme Court, how many prisoners voted in 2020? My understanding of prisoner voting is that once a person is imprisoned, the prison becomes his home for residence, and nothing more is required of them. It is simply a matter of registering them, and allowing those who wish to vote to do so. No conditions whatsoever must be demanded of them. The EC should please tell the nation how it complied with the Supreme Court orders and how it is preparing prisoners for elections in 2024. Ahumah Ocansey. Lawyer. 34 Nigerians sue President Tinubu for appointing APC loyalists as top INEC officials sunnewsonline.com International News Nov - 20 - 2023 , 12:15 Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), BudgIT, and 34 concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit against President Bola Tinubu over the appointment of at least four members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and allies of high-ranking politicians, as new Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Senate has confirmed the appointment of seven out of the 10 newly appointed RECs for the INEC. The alleged APC members appointed as RECs include those from Akwa-Ibom, Edo, Lagos and Rivers states. In the suit number FHC/L/CS/2353/2023 filed on Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos, the plaintiffs are seeking an order setting aside the nomination, confirmation and appointment of the alleged APC members as RECs for the INEC, for being unconstitutional, unlawful, null, void and of no effect. The plaintiffs are also seeking an order of mandamus to compel President Tinubu and Senate President, Mr Godswill Akpabio, to remove the alleged APC members as RECs for the INEC, in line with section 157 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999. The plaintiffs are equally seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel President Tinubu to appoint qualified Nigerians, who are persons of unquestionable integrity, and non-members of a political party or loyalists to the positions of RECs for the INEC, in line with paragraph 14(3)(b)(c), third schedule, and section 156 of the Nigerian Constitution. In the suit, the plaintiffs are arguing that the status, powers, independence of the INEC, and the impartiality with which it acts and is seen to be allowed to act, are fundamental to the integrity of Nigerias elections and effectiveness of citizens democratic rights. The plaintiffs are also arguing that, INEC ought to be the primary guarantor of the integrity and purity of the electoral process. President Tinubu and the Senate have the constitutional responsibilities to ensure both appearance and actual independence and impartiality in the nomination and confirmation of the INEC top officials. According to the plaintiffs, The credibility and legitimacy of elections depend mostly on the independence and impartiality of those appointed to manage the process. Without an independent and impartial INEC, the democratic rights of Nigerians would remain illusory. The plaintiffs are arguing that, Anyone to be appointed as REC must clearly be non-partisan, independent, impartial and neutral. The INEC officials ought to be able to discharge their legal duties and implement the Electoral Act without fear or favour. They are also arguing that, Nigerias electoral body must enjoy independence from direction or control, whether from the government or any other quarter. It must be accountable to the electorate, and act accordingly. Joined in the suit as defendants are the INEC; Mr Godswill Akpabio, for himself and on behalf of the Senate; and Messrs Etekamba Umoren; Isah Shaka Ehimeakne; Anugbum Onuoha; and Bunmi Omoseyindemi. No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit. The suit filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by their lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Andrew Nwankwo, read in part: As public officers, President Tinubu and Mr Godswill Akpabio, are required to act in conformity with their oath of offices and the letter and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended]. Treating INEC as a line department accountable to bureaucratic higher-ups and high-ranking politicians rather than as an independent and impartial body is antithetical to constitutional and international standards and the notion of the rule of law. The use of the word, non-partisan means that those to be appointed to conduct credible elections must not be people, who openly identify as belonging to a political party, whose occupation is politics or who are perceived by ordinary Nigerians as having political biases. Section 153(1) (f) of the Nigerian Constitution provides that there shall be established for the Federation the Independent National Electoral Commission. Section 156(1) of the Nigerian Constitution provides among others that, in the case of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the person to be appointed as a REC, shall not be a member of a political party. Paragraph 14 of the third schedule of the 1999 Constitution provides among others that a member of INEC shall be non-partisan, and a person of unquestionable integrity; that a REC shall be a person of unquestionable integrity and shall not be a member of any political party.. Under Section 6(4) of the Electoral Act 2022, the appointment of a REC shall be in compliance with section 14 (3) of the Constitution. The nomination, confirmation and appointment of the alleged APC members as RECs is a breach of section 6(4) of the Electoral Act 2022 and section 156(1)(a) and paragraph 14 of the third schedule of the 1999 Constitution. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has stated that states, including Nigeria, should establish independent electoral authorities to supervise the electoral process, and to ensure that elections are conducted fairly, impartially and in accordance with the established laws and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The African Unions African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, to which Nigeria is a state party, also calls upon state parties to establish and strengthen independent and impartial national electoral bodies responsible for the management of elections. Those recently appointed as RECs and confirmed by the Senate include an individual who was formerly a member of the PDP before allegedly decamping to the APC, and who served as the Chief of Staff to Mr Godswill Akpabio, when he was Governor of Akwa Ibom State. The alleged APC member or loyalist also include an individual who reportedly campaigned on social media for the election of President Tinubu, and who was appointed as chairman of the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board in 2001 when Mr Tinubu governed the state. Samuel Abu Jinapor, MP Damongo Constituency Graphic.com.gh Personality Profiles Oct - 12 - 2023 , 13:15 Samuel Abu Jinapor, is a Ghanaian lawyer and a politician. He is a member of the New Patriotic Party and the Member of Parliament for the Damongo Constituency. In 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo appointed him as Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations at the Office of the President, at the age of 33, the youngest in the history of Ghana to occupy such a position. He is currently the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and assumed position as caretaker Minister of Trade and Industry on 16th January, 2023. Early life and education Samuel Abu Jinapor was born in 1983 to Abudulai Jinapor, a former police officer and Chief of Buipe in the Savannah Region of Ghana. He attended the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 2006. He proceeded to the University of Ghana in 2008 where he earned a Bachelor of Laws in 2010. That same year, he was admitted to read LLB at Ghana School of Law, Makola, Accra. He was called to the Ghana Bar in 2012 as a Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Ghana. He also holds a Master of Laws in Alternative Dispute Resolution from the Faculty of Law, University Of Ghana. Education He graduated from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics, and specialized in Biomedical Physics. His intellectual thirst and political aspirations led him to enroll to be trained as a lawyer a goal he accomplished successfully. Consequently, he was called to the Ghana Bar in 2012, and has since been a qualified Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana. He earned his master's degree in law (LL.M) in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) from the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, in May 2017. In the course of his studies, amongst others, he successfully took academic sessions in International Commercial Arbitration, Labour Law, Law and Society. Career As a newly enrolled lawyer, he undertook his pupillage with the reputable Messrs. Kulendi@Law, an Accra-based commercial and corporate law firm, from October 2012 to August 2013. He studied under the tutelage of the renowned lawyer, Yonny Kulendi, who is now a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana. Within a relatively short period, Hon. Jinapor rose to the position of Senior Associate. In this capacity, he developed the skills for quick thinking and oratory, and he served as an advocate in major commercial and corporate litigations. Whilst at the firm, Hon. Jinapor acted as a transactional lawyer for several complex, commercial negotiations, both domestically and internationally. Again, as Senior Associate, he was periodically assigned to manage a team of lawyers from diverse backgrounds. Over the years, he had the rare opportunity of representing major foreign companies in Ghana as a Solicitor and Legal Advocate, both in Ghanaian Courts and Arbitral Tribunals. Political life His interest in the country's public affairs encouraged him to join politics in 2004, and he has since been a widely known and excellent Political Activist. His first foreign relations exposure came when, at an early age of twenty-three (23), he had the unusual opportunity to accompany the then President of the Republic, His Excellency John Agyekum Kufour, on his historic State Visit to the United Kingdom (UK) in 2007, as a Communications Aide, where he made appearances on shows of various media houses in the UK. The watershed moment came, when in 2007, he was privileged and honoured to be appointed by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, then presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party, as his Campaign Aide in the 2007 NPP presidential primaries. This is a position he held in both the 2008 and 2012 general elections. In the 2016 general elections, Hon. Samuel Abu Jinapor played a major political advocacy role for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and its presidential candidate, Akufo-Addo. He was seen and heard on major media and campaign platforms across the country, taking on the incumbent John Dramani Mahama Government, and promoting the policies of his Party, the NPP, a task he executed brilliantly with considerable courage and tenacity, earning him the admiration of many. He is a dedicated member of the New Patriotic Party. In 2017, President Akufo-Addo appointed him as Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations at the Office of the President, at a very youthful age of thirty-three (33), the youngest in the history of Ghana to occupy such a position. As Deputy Chief of Staff, he assisted the Chief of Staff in mobilizing government machinery to support the execution of the President's agenda for the country. Having worked closely in various capacities with President Akufo-Addo, both in opposition and government, Mr. Jinapor has gained considerable experience in the workings of government. In 2020, whilst still performing his demanding task as Deputy Chief of Staff, he contested the parliamentary seat of Damongo, the maternal hometown of former President John Dramani Mahama, the 2020 Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and won that highly competitive election with a significant margin of victory, becoming the first MP from the New Patriotic Party since the inception of the fourth republic. During the 2020 Ghanaian general election, he won the Damongo Constituency parliamentary seat. He won with 15,989 votes making 54.1% of the total votes cast whilst the NDC parliamentary candidate Adam Mutawakilu had 13,279 votes making 44.9% of the total votes cast, the independent parliamentary candidate David Tiki Dange had 296 votes making 1.0% of the total votes cast. He has since been nicknamed, Man of Action by his constituents. H.E Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo nominated him as the Minister responsible for Lands and Natural Resources in his second term government. As many pundits have attested, he has, thus far, held and executed his onerous and consequential ministerial duties with courage and integrity. On January 16, 2023, he assumed the role of the Trade and Industry Minister as a caretaker after being appointed by H.E Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo on January 13, 2023, until a suitable candidate could be appointed. On 7 February, 2023, K.T Hammond was appointed as a substantive minister, replacing him. The parliamentary approval for his appointment was granted on 24 March, 2023. Personal life He is happily married to Mrs. Naada D.B. Jinapor, a Lawyer and head of the Corporate Law Department of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) of Ghana and their marriage is blessed with four (4) children. Related Stories Zuwera Ibrahimah, MP Salaga South Graphic.com.gh Personality Profiles Oct - 12 - 2023 , 13:15 Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahimah is a Ghanaian politician. She is a member of the National Democratic Congress. She is the member of parliament for the Salaga South Constituency in the Savannah Region of Ghana. She was the first woman in the Salaga area to be elected as a member of parliament in the fourth republic. Early life and education Ibrahimah was born on 27 July 1970 to late Kuntundawura, Alhaji Mohammed Zublilah Ibrahimah of Kpembe, who was a former principal and rector of Tamale Polytechnic, now Tamale Technical University and Adisah Nassamu Ibrahimah. She hails from Kpembe in the Northern part of Ghana. She spent her childhood in Winneba where she started basic education. She had her secondary education at the Tamale Senior High School and later in Nigeria where her father was then serving as lecturer at the Adu Bayero University in Kano, Nigeria. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management Studies from the University of Cape Coast from 1998 and a post Graduate Diploma in Community Development, from Trent University in Canada. She also holds a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Communication Studies from the school of communication studies, University of Ghana from 2006 as well as completing an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) in Marketing from the University of Ghana Business School in 2007. She obtained her master's degree in Diplomacy and International Trade Business (Diplomacy) from University of East Anglia in the UK in 2012. She is currently on her thesis project in pursuit of a PhD in Media and Communication from the Goldsmiths College, University of London in the United Kingdom. Career Ibrahimah has worked in different sectors especially in community development planning, administration and diplomacy. Prior to entering politics, she was the deputy director of the Information Services Department. She worked as a project officer in the three Northern Regions (Upper East Region, Upper West Region and Northern Region) on the Small Town Water Supply Systems project and also as a project officer with the Catholic Relief Services on the Quality Improvements in Primary school programme in the Northern Regions as well. Ibrahimah worked as a consultant on the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) by WHO/UNICEF in Ghana. She also worked respectively as the country Manager of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) and the country Representative of the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership. In the field of diplomacy she worked as the Minister-Counsellor and Head of Information and Public Relations of the Ghana High Commission, London. Politics Parliamentary bid In August 2019, she contested for the National Democratic Congress primaries for Salaga South Constituency and won as the candidate to represent the party in the December 2020 Elections. Zuwera Ibrahimah garnered 472 votes to win the election against Ibrahim Dey Abubakari, a former two-term member of parliament for the constituency, Ahmed Saaka Shaibu Dan and Lukman Jawula who had 260, 116 and 1 votes respectively. Ibrahimah won the 2020 parliamentary elections for Salaga South Constituency to make history as the first female member of parliament for Savannah Region. She won after polling 20,525 votes representing 49.5% against the incumbent member of parliament Salifu Adam Braimah of the New Patriotic Party who also doubled as the Savannah Regional Minister, who had 19,086 votes representing 45.90%. Member of Parliament Ibrahimah was sworn in as Member of Parliament representing the Salaga South Constituency in the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana on 7 January 2021. As of 7 January 2021, she is one of the 40 women and the only one from the Savannah Region who are representing their respective constituencies in the 8th Parliament. She serves as a member on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Appointments Committee of Parliament. Related Stories Hajia Zuwera, first woman MP-elect in Savanna Region Asantehene commends GIADEC and Rocksure for MRE report, pledges support Zadok Kwame Gyesi Nov - 20 - 2023 , 17:11 The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has described the completion of the Mineral Resource Estimate on parts of the Nyinahin Hills as a historic feat that will transform the Ghanaian economy. The MRE was jointly conducted by the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) and Rocksure International, the strategic partner of GIADEC. The MRE report was first presented to President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, November 14, 2023. At a brief event to formally present results of the MRE on Nyinahin Block B, specifically Hills 4,5 and 6 to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on November 15, 2023, the Asantehene commended GIADEC and Rocksure International for the report and noted that the availability of the certified MRE results will attract the investment needed to drive the integrated aluminium industry. Otumfuo Osei Tutu further commended the Chief Executive Officer of GIADEC, Mr. Michael Ansah and Chief Executive Officer of Rocksure International, Mr. Kwasi Ofori for their commitment towards the execution of Project 2, that is, the development of a mine in Nyinahin-Mpasaaso with a refinery solution. According to him, the development of the integrated aluminium industry could be the panacea to Ghanas unemployment woes as it will employ hundreds of the teeming unemployed youth, adding that he is excited to witness the development. The Board Chairman of GIADEC, Dr. Tony Oteng Gyasi, who led the delegation from GIADEC and Rocksure International, thanked Otumfuo for his continuous support towards the development of the integrated aluminium industry and called for similar support and buy-in from his sub-chiefs and members of the community where the bauxite deposits are located. Mr. Michael Ansah on his part noted that the completion of the MRE paves the way for the next phase of the project which is obtaining a mining lease and then forming a Joint Venture with Rocksure to begin mine construction with a refinery solution. He noted that the MRE results showed a 50 per cent appreciation on the historical figures with a jump from the 250MMT historical bauxite deposits in the three hills to 375MMT of bauxite deposits. The CEO of Rocksure International, Mr. Kwasi Ofori assured the Asantehene that Rocksure International will undertake its operations in conformity with all regulatory and environmental requirements and international standards. The delegation from GIADEC included board member, Nana Amampene Boateng Twum II, Executive Assistant to the CEO and Head of Communications, Mr. Kojo Yankah, Communications Manager, Mr. Sheriff Appiah and Communications Officer, Mr. Joseph Chibae Adjaho. The delegation was also joined by senior executive members of Rocksure International. Background In September, 2021, GIADEC announced the selection of Rocksure International, a wholly Ghanaian owned Company, as its strategic partner for Project 2, one of four projects that define the Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI), being executed by GIADEC. Rocksure International, following its selection by GIADEC commenced a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) in Nyinahin Block-B, specifically Hills 4, 5 & 6 to validate and define the bauxite resources. In March 2022, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, gave his blessings to the partnership between GIADEC and Rocksure International to execute Project 2 (Develop a mine in Nyinahin-Mpasaaso with a refinery solution) and pledged his support for the project. Ghanas bauxite resources are estimated to be around 900MMT. Bauxite in Ghana is mainly concentrated in three (3) areas Awaso in the Western-North region with 60MMT, Kyebi in the Eastern region with 160 MMT and Nyinahin in the Ashanti Region with the highest bauxite resources of 700MMT. Foundation to support orphans, underprivilleged launched in Bolgatanga Gilbert Mawuli Agbey Nov - 20 - 2023 , 07:40 A foundation to provide material support and skills training to orphans and the underprivileged has been launched in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region. The foundation, named Paulina Bulmuo Foundation, was officially launched to coincide with the 70th birthday celebration of its founder, Paulina Bulmuo. Subsequently, the foundation made its first donation of assorted items to the Mama Laadi Childrens Home in Yorogo in the Bolgatanga Municipality to address some of the basic needs of the orphanage. The items included bags of rice, cooking oil, toiletries, educational materials and drinks, among others. Best gift Speaking at the event, the eldest son of the founder, Pastor Grant Bulmuo, said the best gift for their mother on her birthday was to set up the foundation to mobilise resources to support orphanages in northern Ghana. He noted that the foundation would protect orphans and vulnerable children by providing for their basic needs in the areas of shelter, health and education so that they could live dignified lives in society. Additionally, he said that the orphans would be provided with entrepreneurial skills to enable them to acquire basic knowledge in some trades to set up small enterprises to become self-reliant. The long-term objective is to extend support to widows, the aged and deprived persons to give hope and shore-up their self-esteem as well, he added. Giving to the poor Addressing the gathering, Mama Bulmuo stated that the best way to live ones life was to live for others, hence the setting up of the foundation to extend the needed support to the poor and needy in society. Referring to the bible, she said although payment of tithes and offering to God was the responsibility of every Christian, the best way to give resources directly to God was to give to people who could never pay back. A more excellent way to give directly to God is to give to persons who are hungry, thirsty, homeless and poor, she said, and added that this is exactly why the foundation has come into being; to contribute immensely to improving the well-being of the disadvantaged. Gratitude For his part, an Administrative Officer, Ayariga Ismann, who received the items and spoke on behalf of the management of the orphanage, expressed gratitude to Mama Bulmuo for her support. He recounted that some years back when the orphanage faced water challenges, Mama Bulmuo donated a polytank to them, which immediately addressed the problem. 2024 General Election: Put Ghana first - Catholic Bishops urge politicians Albert K. Salia Nov - 20 - 2023 , 05:39 The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC) has urged Ghanaians to put Ghana first in their political campaign so as to preserve the peace and unity of the country. In a communique issued at the end of its plenary in Sunyani last Saturday, it expressed concern about attempts to introduce and inflame religious passion in political discourse and activities as the country prepared for the 2024 general election. It said Ghana, as a nation, was a secular state recognising the right of all persons to practise any religion and to freely form or belong to any political party of their choice, irrespective of their religious affiliation. We, however, urge all Ghanaians to respect this prescription of our Constitution and avoid any attempt to engage in a politics of religion. Decentralisation It urged all stakeholders to revisit the issue of the election of metropolitan /municipal/ district chief executives (MMDCEs). This will make the MMDCEs accountable to the people at the grassroots. It will also promote participation, transparency, accountability and development in the districts, it said and added that it would make members of the community take their destiny into their own hands. It said the myriad of developmental challenges confronting communities, including galamsey, deforestation, environmental degradation, flooding, dissipation of public resources, among others, could be better addressed through efficient decentralisation system. It said an effective decentralisation system was the way to bring governance and its benefits to the people and improve the participation of citizens in the governance process. It enhances democracy at the grassroots, inclusiveness and accountability. Sadly, the decentralisation has become a mirage, it said. The economy The GCBC acknowledged the current global economic crisis which had affected the growth of the economy of the country. While acknowledging the effort that the government had made so far to handle the impact of the crisis on Ghanaians, it said it was, however, true that the country had not been able to manage its economy well. This has contributed to the current economic woes in which we find ourselves. We have had to resort again to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The current economic hardships are becoming unbearable for Ghanaians, it observed. It, therefore, called on the government to take urgent steps to stabilise the economy to bring relief to Ghanaians who had to bear with the current difficulties. For growth and sustainability, we also call on government to use the right approach in implementing policies, reduce its size, minimise waste, promote the common good, review and remove all of the abuses related to benefits in Article 71 of the Constitution of Ghana, the communique stated. Military brutalities It expressed regret about the recent happenings in Nkwanta in the Oti Region and Bawku in the Upper East Region that led to the death of some citizens, with several persons wounded and properties destroyed. It, therefore, called on all parties involved in the ongoing conflicts to smoke the peace pipe and work towards reconciliation and peace. The GCBC denounced the recent military brutalities in Garu and its environs in the Upper East Region and called on the military to ensure that their approach to restore security and peace had a more professional touch and not the use of brutal force in the course of their work. Accept vision for energy sector President Akufo-Addo Chris Nunoo & Justice Agbenorsi Nov - 20 - 2023 , 05:44 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged Ghanaians to accept the vision for the energy sector of the country. He described the energy future of the country as low carbon resilient and affluent, and that Ghana would demonstrate to the world that low carbon development could be pursued without sacrificing economic growth or social progress. President Akufo-Addo, who was addressing this years edition of the Ghana Energy Awards last Friday night in Accra, said the dedication and effort of every Ghanaian citizen was required aside from the cooperation and support of domestic and foreign parties, to achieve that goal. The ceremony was on the theme: Ghanas energy transition framework - sector institutions as building blocks for the 2030-2040 targets and it witnessed the celebration of individuals, institutions and organisations for their extraordinary contributions to the growth of the energy sector. We rely on Ghanaians to implement energy saving practices and attitudes in their homes, workplaces and communities. We need your help to implement the policies and programmes that will make this transition easier and we need you to hold government accountable, President Akufo-Addo added. Paris agreement Ghana is a signatory to the Paris agreement on climate change whose ultimate goal is to keep rising global temperatures at below two degrees Celsius preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels. This means that Ghana committed itself to lowering its greenhouse gas emissions with respect to the effect of climate change while ensuring that its development and the well-being of the people were not jeopardised. In fulfillment of this commitment, President Akufo-Addo also unveiled the Ghana Energy Transition and Investment Plan, during the Global Africa Business Initiative event in New York on September 21, 2023 on the sidelines of this year's meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. The plan spelt out a reasonable path for Ghana to attain net zero energy related carbon emissions by 2060. Framework President Akufo-Addo said the framework was a result of extensive research and engagements with a considerable number of stakeholders including sector institutions, civil society, the corporate sector, international partners and academia. He said it also aligned with the national development agenda of the country as well as the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The framework outlines how we will implement low carbon solutions in major sectors of our economy such as oil and gas, industry, transportation, cooking, agriculture and power. While describing the plan as a living document, President Akufo-Addo said it would be reviewed regularly and evaluated to ensure that it remained relevant and responsive to the changing circumstances and goals of the country. Contribution A Deputy Minister of Energy, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, commended the award recipients for their contribution towards the energy sector. He said his outfit would continue to provide the needed leadership and direction towards a vibrant energy sector that responded to the 21st Century opportunities and realities. Mr Mercer further gave an assurance that the ministry would continue to work with stakeholders and the relevant public and private sector institutions in its quest to give energy transition a true meaning that reflected the aspirations and needs of Ghanaians. For his part, the Events Director of the Ghana Energy Awards, Henry Teinor, announced the maiden ECOWAS-centered awards scheme, titled: the West Africa Power and Petroleum Awards (WAPPA), which, he said, would be held next year in Ghana and subsequently across the ECOWAS sub region. The new awards, Mr Teinor explained, would celebrate the achievements of heads of state and sector ministers in energy development, particularly efforts against climate change and towards the energy transition. He said the major focus of the event would be on the SDGs, specifically recognising increased energy access and affordability, social intervention as well as resource governance. Awards The Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST), Edwin Provencal, won the energy personality of the year award for the male category while the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pecan Energies Ghana Limited, Kadijah Amoah, won the energy personality of the year for the female category. The energy institution of the year award went to the Energy Commission, with the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO) picking the energy company of the year award. Ghana Navy receives catamaran boat Joshua Bediako Koomson Nov - 20 - 2023 , 08:33 A Ghanaianowned electromechanical engineering company, McHammah Engineering Company Ltd, has supported the Ghana Navy with a 20-foot catamaran boat to help strengthen its capabilities. Featuring a multipurpose and highly adaptable design, the boat is to help the navy with patrols, search and rescue operations, as well as moving logistics to its Forward Operating Bases. The boat was handed over to the Navy at the Ghana Navy Headquarters in Accra last Wednesday. Critical role of the GAF The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of McHammah Engineering Company Ltd, Dr Ebenezer Kakra Hammah, said the support was a result of how the company deeply recognised the critical role played by the Ghana Armed Forces, particularly the Ghana Navy, in safeguarding the marine interests and providing unwavering support to civil authorities. He said the recent exemplary display of professionalism during the search and rescue operations, as well as the humanitarian relief efforts following the fallouts of the Akosombo and Kpong Dam's Spillage, served as a testament to the commitment of the force. He said the Ghana Navy deserve the utmost respect, unwavering support and admiration for its bravery, devotion to duty and tireless endeavours. It is in this vein that McHammah Engineering takes this bold step to enhance that support by donating this 20-foot catamaran boat to strengthen the capabilities of the Ghana Navy, Dr Hammah said. Positive change He was hopeful that by collaborating and forming partnerships, both institutions could instigate positive change and encourage the implementation of locally driven solutions for the betterment of the country. We sincerely hope that this contribution will foster deeper ties between the Ghana Navy and the business sector, he added. Featuring a multipurpose and highly adaptable design, he said the catamaran boat represented more than just a vessel. It stands as a symbol of our firm belief in the power of sustained relationships and collaborative ventures between the Navy and the commercial sector. By working together, we can reinforce the safety and security of our marine boundaries, particularly our inland waterways, ultimately creating a safer environment for all, Dr Hammah stated. The donation The Chief of the Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, said the support would not only strengthen the bonds between the local community and the Armed Forces but also exemplify the spirit of collaboration and patriotism that defines the country. In addition, he said it underscored the unwavering support and commitment of the local business community to the men in uniform. It serves as a tangible symbol of the profound respect and gratitude we hold for those who protect and defend our nation's values and freedom, the CDS added. He said the boat would be an important addition to the Navy's fleet for backwater operations. As you may all be aware, the Navy's Riverine Command is mandated with the safety and security of our riverine bodies. Such a boat could help with patrols, search and rescue operations, as well as moving logistics to our Forward Operating Bases. I urge the Navy to facilitate engagements with the Ghana Maritime Authority for such boats to be designed and built for ferrying of goods and passengers to reduce the canoe accidents on the Volta Lake, the CDS stated. Interconnectedness Vice-Admiral Amoama said the donation was a reminder of the vital role the Navy played in safeguarding the countrys shores and protecting the interests of Ghanaians both at home and abroad. In addition, he said it was a reminder that the community, the local businesses, and the armed forces were all interconnected, and together they could overcome any obstacle. He said the interconnectedness and interdependencies were clearly demonstrated during the flooding caused by the Akosombo Dam spillage. He used the opportunity to express his commendation to all the personnel involved in the relief efforts. Your dedication, selflessness, and sacrifice are truly appreciated. I want to assure you of the commitment of the Military High Command to abating the challenges and risks you continue to face with courage and fortitude, the CDS stated. A blogtacular blog filled with words, images, and whipped cream on top. Written by Todd Vaziri. Japan Motors starts local assembly of Foton trucks, buses Justice Agbenorsi Nov - 20 - 2023 , 08:19 Japan Motors Trading Company Ltd (JMTC), the sole distributor of the Foton range of vehicles, has started the assembling of two Foton vehicles in the country. The Foton two-tonne truck and the Foton 16-seater bus suitable for the manufacturing, logistics, transport, construction, oil and gas, and mining industries will be assembled locally to boost the local automobile industry. The General Manager of Sales and Marketing of JMTC, Amine Kabbara, disclosed this at a stakeholder engagement in Takoradi. He said Foton engineers had already been flown into the country to provide support to the local engineers at the Japan Motors Vehicle Assembly Plant. Mr Kabbara expressed the optimism that the development would spur employment opportunities and make available more quality and affordable products backed by quality aftersales service. The fourth Foton stakeholder engagement event by Japan Motors brought together key leaders in various sectors of the economy. It focused on heavy-duty trucks and offered an opportunity to exhibit the light-duty Foton truck, M4 series. Officials of JMTC and Foton, including the Foton-Brand Sales Manager in charge of Light-Duty and passenger vehicles, Abdul Rahaman Osman; the Foton Brand Sales Manager in Charge of Heavy-Duty trucks, Freeman Medegli; the Marketing Manager of JMTC, Mabel OffeI, and a representative of Foton International, Calvin Lan, took turns to address the stakeholders on many issues. Mr Kabbara stated that the series of Foton stakeholder engagements being held across the country aimed at providing the ideal logistics solutions that suit various industries with the trusted Foton brand from Japan Motors. Japan Motors and Foton, he reiterated, with their rich experience and partnership had a comprehensive product lineup from two-tonne payload trucks to heavy-duty trucks; as such, the logistics, transport, mining, construction and oil and gas industries could rely on them for products worth a good value on investments. Enhancements For his part, Mr Lan noted that the latest Foton products had undergone a series of enhancements to cater to the ever-changing demands of the market. He confirmed that a team of experts/engineers from Foton were in the country to support the local assembling of the Foton two-tonne trucks and the Foton 16-seater buses, for which the market should expect nothing but quality products to boost their businesses. Latex Foam supports UG Students Financial Aid Office Zadok Kwame Gyesi Nov - 20 - 2023 , 08:37 Leading foam manufacturing company, Latex Foam, has donated GH20,000 as support to the University of Ghana's Students Financial Aid Office. The donation aims to support financially constrained, yet academically outstanding students, to pursue their educational aspirations at the esteemed institution. Notably, the act of benevolence marked another instance in a long-standing tradition of Latex Foam's annual support to the university. At a brief ceremonial presentation, the Public Relations Officer of Latex Foam, Gifty E. Appiah, handed over the symbolic cheque to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academic and Students Affairs of the university, Professor Gordon A. Awandare, last Tuesday. Ms Appiah said the donation reaffirmed Latex Foam's commitment to foster education and empower the academic journey of deserving individuals. She noted that Latex Foam's commitment to support education not only exemplified corporate social responsibility, but also served as an inspiration for other organisations to contribute meaningfully towards educational endeavours. We are here once again to honour our long-standing commitment to the Students Financial Aid Office to help our needy, brilliant students, Ms Appiah stated, referencing a relationship that had existed for many years. In addition, she said, this is another year of fulfilling our commitment to this university, and we want to ensure that opportunities are given to needy, brilliant students so that they are not left out. Prof. Awandare expressed gratitude to Latex Foam for the gesture and acknowledged the significance of such contributions in enabling access to education for deserving students. He highlighted the pivotal role played by corporate entities such as Latex Foam in empowering the academic dreams of bright minds within the University of Ghana community. He said the impactful gesture by Latex Foam underscored the importance of collaborative efforts in creating a more inclusive and accessible educational landscape in the country. Prof. Awandare further commended the company for its unwavering support to the university and prayed that the company would even double its contribution in the future to enable more deserving students to access the fund. Present at the event were the Director of the Public Affairs Directorate of the university, Dr Elizier Taiba Ameyaw-Buronyah; the Head of the Students Financial Aid Office, Selina Saaka, and the Senior Assistant Registrar, Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Mawusi Kofi Glozah. NCA wins 2 awards at Africa Digital Economy Awards Justice Agbenorsi Nov - 20 - 2023 , 06:00 The National Communications Authority (NCA) has been honoured with two awards at the eighth Africa Digital Economy Awards (ADEA) held in Nairobi, Kenya. The authority received the Africa Communications Regulator of the Year award, while its Director-General, Joe Anokye, was honoured for his outstanding leadership in managing the countrys communications industry, securing him a spot among the top 50 digital economy leaders on the continent. Organised by the Instinctwave Group, publishers of the Digital Economy Magazine, the Africa Digital Economy Awards is aimed at recognising leaders, innovators, creatives, and inventions in Africa that leverage digital innovations to revolutionise both private and public sectors, impact lives, and transform cultures. Authority Presenting the awards to the NCA in Accra, Akin Naphtal, CEO of Instinctwave Group, explained that the NCAs commendable policies and initiatives, such as the successful implementation of the SIM card re-registration exercise in the country to establish a secure SIM database, were highlighted as efforts that did not only instil confidence and security but also played a vital role in curbing cybercriminal activities and promoting a sanitised digital space for all users. He added that during the year under review, the authority also spearheaded the piloting of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) in Accra and Kumasi, making Ghana the pioneer in West Africa and the fourth in Africa to deploy DAB. The initiative is aimed at addressing frequency constraints and enhancing reception quality. He further noted that in a strategic move to address market imbalances and enhance consumer choice in the telecommunications sector, the NCA introduced technology neutrality for non-SMP operators; the agency actively participated in the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisations Girls in ICT programme, hosting 100 selected participants for mentorship as part of the 2023 National Girls in ICT Initiative. DG award Mr Anokye was acknowledged for establishing a standard of excellence in digital economy leadership and for his transformative contributions to the communications industry. His commitment to excellence in digital economy leadership and his transformative contributions to the communications sector have been instrumental in establishing the NCA as a benchmark in regulatory infrastructure, Mr Naphtal said. Since his appointment in 2017, Mr Anokye has been lauded for revitalising the communications industry in Ghana with the establishment of key regulatory tools such as the Broadcasting Monitoring Centre, NCA-CERT, and Type Approval Lab, a feat that has earned him a place among the Top 50 Digital Economy Leaders in Africa. His visionary leadership has been central to the NCA's success in telecommunications regulation, attracting numerous benchmark visits from various organisations. Gratitude Mr Anokye expressed his gratitude by highlighting the significant achievements of the NCA in the field of telecommunications. He also expressed his delight in the recognition bestowed upon him and indicated that the awards reminded us of our responsibility to continue striving for excellence in our mandate. He also recognised the efforts of the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the NCA Board, management and staff who tirelessly supported him in his work. The NCA has in recent times supervised the implementation of National Roaming in Ghana for the benefit of all telecommunications consumers in Ghana. This effort has extended beyond Ghana with NCA, under the leadership of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation with its counterpart in Cote dIvoire, to implement bilateral free roaming. Since being nominated for the award, the NCA continues to develop more regulatory interventions, signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Togo for the implementation of bilateral free roaming and collaborating with the National Media Commission (NMC) to leverage the NCAs Broadcast Monitoring Centre for the reporting of offensive and inappropriate broadcasting content in Ghana. Parliament approves $800m cocoa purchasing loan Daniel Kenu Nov - 20 - 2023 , 05:39 Parliament has approved a trade finance facility between Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and a consortium of banks and financial institutions for $800 million to finance the purchase of cocoa for the 2023/2024 crop season. Per the agreement, the government is acting as a guarantor. As part of the agreement, Parliament also approved a waiver of stamp duty amounting to $4 million. The agreement was presented to Parliament on Thursday, November 9, this year by the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, on behalf of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Attah, in accordance with Articles 174(2) and 181 of the 1992 Constitution. Pursuant to Standing Orders 169 and 171 of Parliament, the finance facility and the waiver request were referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report. The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who was presiding, also directed the leadership of the Committee on Food and Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs to join the Finance Committee to consider the referral. Purpose The loan is to enable COCOBOD to purchase cocoa beans from farmers through licensed buying companies for the 2023/2024 cocoa season. The facility also provides the nation with the opportunity to demonstrate its good track record in borrowing from the international financial market. Stamp duty waiver The stamp duty waiver is also in line with the Stamp Duty Act, 2005 (Act 689) which requires that a stamp duty of 0.5 per cent on the loan facility be paid. The Finance Committee report on the agreement, presented by the Chairman of the committee, Kwaku Kwarteng, to plenary for approval, noted that the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority had, upon the request of COCOBOD, assessed the stamp duty on the syndicated amount. The committee report said the waiver was necessary to enable COCOBOD to utilise the full amount of the facility for cocoa purchase and related activities. Benefits The committee further said the COCOBOD syndicated facility brought in foreign exchange, thereby aiding the build-up of foreign reserves in support of the management of the exchange rate. The report said the schedule for the draw down was such that the full amount of the loan in United States dollars was expected to be drawn down within a relatively short period of about four months, spanning November this year to February next year. "This is expected to have immediate impact on the foreign exchange reserve position of the Bank of Ghana," the report said. Projection The committee said for the 2023/2024 crop year, cocoa production had been forecast to be 850,000 tonnes. It explained that the projected figure was based on the trends of cocoa production over the past years and good agronomic practices being adopted by COCOBOD. Motion In presenting the motion for the adoption of the report and subsequent approval of the loan, Mr Kwarteng advised COCOBOD to take appropriate steps, including the diligent implementation of the Ghana Tree Crops Diversification Project, to ensure that the production target was achieved in a sustainable manner. Secondment In seconding the motion, the National Democratic Congress MP for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, said COCOBOD was broke and poorly managed but he was supporting the loan agreement in the interest of poor farmers. Promote local works beyond Ghana Genfi Dickson Worlanyo Dotse Nov - 20 - 2023 , 11:27 A Veteran Artist, Kwaku Genfi, has called on the government to put in place measures that are specifically geared towards promoting fine and visual arts such as paintings, sculpture, among others, outside the confines of the country. He explained that although Ghanaians loved art pieces, the current economic downturn had made it difficult for many to appreciate the works which was making it hard for the industry to reach its full potential. People in Ghana love art but its hard for the ordinary citizen to appreciate it because they dont have that disposable income to be spending on artworks and sculpture. This has negatively impacted the industry, he lamented. Mr Genfi said this in an interview with the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the opening of his gallery in Accra yesterday. Dubbed; Genfi's Art Gallery, it featured various pieces of acrylic and oil paintings, sculptures, traditional decorative artefacts, locally made bags, slippers, among others. The event was attended by fellow artists, art enthusiasts, experts, critics as well as friends and family. Investment Mr Genfi, who has decades worth of experience as an artist, advised the government to see the fine and visual art industry as an investment opportunity that would enable the country gain the attention of the rest of the world which could translate into other forms of investment opportunities. As we speak now, despite the numerous challenges, some artists have made it. They are now all over the globe making millions of dollars and gains as some recognition as a country. They are putting Ghana on the map in their own ways, he said. He also advocated the establishment of fine art schools that would develop talented young individuals who are passionate about art. Most people are talented but if they are not getting any type of positive response, it tends to dampen their spirits. But we are being encouraged financially and morally, we can go far, he added. The veteran artist also called on corporate leaders and businesses to also get involved in the support and sponsorship of artists because it was a lucrative venture, adding that art was at the core of everything in the world. One thing most people, including our leadership fail to acknowledge is that the world revolves around art. Almost everything have some degree of artistic tendencies including technology and architecture among others, he stressed. Robust action needed to fight terrorism KAIPTC Commandant Mary Anane-Amponsah Nov - 20 - 2023 , 11:22 The West African sub-region requires a robust action to deal with terrorism, with the Sahel region now considered the epicentre of global terrorism. The Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Major General Richard Addo Gyane, has, consequently, underscored the urgent collaborative regional efforts to address the root causes and consequences of violent extremism and terrorism. The Commandant made the call at the opening of a two-week training in Accra on preventing violent extremism, radicalisation, and small arms proliferation in the Sahel and adjoining coastal states in West Africa. The training is led by the KAIPTC, in partnership with the Government of Japan and the United Nations Development Programme. It is to enhance knowledge and foster information-sharing among security personnel and civil society actors in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism, and the proliferation of small arms in seven West African nations: Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote dIvoire, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Major General Gyane, in a speech read on his behalf by the Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, KAIPTC, Professor Kwesi Aning, indicated that statistics from the 2023 Global Terrorism Index provided a sobering assessment of the current state of affairs in the Sahel region which revealed a disturbing trend that demanded immediate attention and concerted efforts. Surge He said from 2007 to 2023, there had been an alarming surge in terrorist activities in the Sahel and that in 2007, the region accounted for just one per cent of the global death toll due to terrorism. However, by 2023, this figure had skyrocketed to a staggering 43 per cent. This exponential increase is nothing short of a crisis, as the Sahel has now become the epicentre of global terrorism, he indicated. The shift in the epicentre of terrorism, he said, was particularly striking when historical hotspots were considered. Major General Gyane said the Middle East and Maghreb, which were long associated with significant terrorist activity, had been surpassed by the Sahel. This means that the Sahel region now experiences a higher concentration of terrorist incidents and resulting casualties. One of the most concerning aspects is the spreading footprint of violent extremism, he said. He said Burkina Faso, in particular, has seen a significant increase in attacks, with 58 per cent of all incidents in the Sahel occurring within its borders and that the expansion of violence from its origins in Mali to neighbouring countries painted a grim picture of the challenges the region faced. The ripple effect has reached littoral countries, including Cote dIvoire, Benin, and Togo. As the violence spreads, there are growing concerns about its potential further expansion into Ghana. Initiative The Commandant expressed optimism about the capacity building course which would enhance knowledge and awareness of initiatives like the Accra Initiative, and facilitate information sharing among security personnel, stockpile managers, and armourers. The course further aims to boost local efforts to enhance security, and empower civil society in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism, and the proliferation of small arms. KAIPTC, as one of the three ECOWAS centres of excellence, he said remained committed to providing globally recognised capacity-building for all stakeholders in African peace and security through training, education, research, and policy dialogues, ultimately contributing to peace and stability in Africa. The UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Sukhrob Khoshmukhamedov, said the devastating attacks on citizens and communities in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in recent years were hitting the most vulnerable hardest. Border Border communities and young people, who were denied access to education or gainful employment, remain vulnerable to radicalisation to violent extremism. In the absence of an integrated and robust response, he said there was a pending humanitarian crisis in the sub-region. We must continue to enhance national capacities and cross-border in formation sharing to anticipate and prepare to counter these threats in order to protect lives and advance development. He said it was, therefore, timely that UNDP and the Government of Japan, through the KAIPTC, were supporting efforts to prevent further escalation of violent extremists activities and the uncontrolled proliferation of arms in our countries. Saglemi case: Contractors death wont affect prosecution's case - Deputy Attorney-General Justice Agbenorsi Nov - 20 - 2023 , 14:20 The death of the contractor who executed the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project would not affect prosecutions case, a deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah Yeboah, has said. The contractor, Andrew Clocanas, reportedly died at his Airport Residential Apartment in October 2023. He was standing trial with former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Collins Dauda, and three others over the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project. Speaking to the media, the deputy A-G explained that the contractors death would not affect the substance of the case, hence the trial would proceed. Court questions how Collins Dauda was able to travel outside Ghana while his passport was supposed to be in court custody Meanwhile when the case was called on Monday at the court presided over by Justice Dr Ernest Owusu-Dapaa, Collins Dauda was absent. Asked why his client was absent, Thaddeus Sory, told the court that Collins Duada had received an emergency invitation to attend a pan African conference in South Africa as part of parliamentary duties adding that his absence was not deliberate. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, wondered why the accused, whose passport has been deposited at the court registry as part of bail conditions, travelled without a passport. The court asked counsel how his client was able to travel without a passport but in his response, Mr Sory noted that he had filed an application for the accused to have access to his passport. The notice came to him impromptu and he instructed us to make the application but apparently travel arrangements had been made and were required to leave before the hearing of the application, he added. Counsel therefore, withdrew the application. The first prosecution witness, Rev Stephen Yaw Osei, the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Works and Housing mounted the witness box on Monday [Nov 20, 2023]. He is expected to read his witness statement to the court and would be cross-examined on Tuesday (November 21). Not guilty Collins Dauda, who is also the National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Asutifi South in the Ahafo Region, is standing trial with his successor, Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah; the Chief Director at the Ministry from 2009 to 2017, Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu and a director of RMS, the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) consultancy subcontractor, Nouvi Tetteh Angelo. The accused persons, who are currently on bail, have pleaded not guilty to 72 counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state, misapplying public property, issuing false certificates and dishonestly causing loss to public property. World AIDS Day 2023 health walk to create awareness about HIV self-testing Zadok Kwame Gyesi Nov - 20 - 2023 , 09:19 Ghana HIV and AIDS Network (GHANET) in collaboration with the Network of Persons living with HIV (NAP+), and other stakeholders are organising a health walk to create more awareness on HIV Self-Testing (HIVST). The health walk will be held on November 25, 2023, ahead of this year's World AIDS Day, which is on December 1. The walk will start from Ayi Mensa at 0600 hours and end at Peduase where there will be solidary statements from government officials, development partners and civil society organisation leaders, as well as persons living with HIV (PLHIV). Special dignitaries expected to participate in the walk include: Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, representative of President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo on the GAC Governing Board; Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Minister for Health; Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene, Director-General, GAC; Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director General, Ghana Health Service; Dr. Leticia Adelaide Appiah, Executive Director, National Population Council, and Mr. Hector Sucilla Perez, Country Director UNAIDS. The rest are Prof. Francis Kasolo, Country Representative, WHO; Mr. Daniel Craun-Selka, PEP and Madam Jennifer Dede Afagbedzi, Municipal Chief Executive, La-Nkwantanang-Madina. The President of GHANET, Mr Ernest Amoabeng Ortsin in a statement dated November 20, 2023, said some of the side attractions include onsite colour splashing; onsite face painting; live brass band music; live gyama music; live instructor-led aerobics; free condom distribution; free HIV self-testing kits; social networking; photo opportunities; and kenkey party. He also indicated that similar walks will be held across the country in the regional capital, hence inviting the public to participate in it. Background In 1988 the UNAIDS designated the 1st of December as World AIDS Day (WAD) in remembrance of persons who had lost their lives to the then ravaging HIV and AIDS menace. The day was also to be used to create awareness about the pandemic and encourage people to protect and prevent themselves from getting infected. The initiative was embraced by countries around the world and, since then, it has always been celebrated with both global and locally adapted themes. This year, the theme for the WAD celebration is Let Communities Lead and it is intended to ginger up persons who are infected and most affected by HIV and AIDS to take up roles and initiatives that can help end the disease as a public health concern by 2030. It is in this vein that Ghana HIV and AIDS Network (GHANET), in collaboration with the Network of Persons living with HIV (NAP+), and other stakeholders, are organizing a health walk to among others, create more awareness HIV Self-Testing (HIVST). Earlier, in July this year, the Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, officially launched HIVST in Ghana at a ceremony that was hosted by the Mayor of Accra, Elizabeth Sackey, and chaired by Nii Ahele Nunoo III (Abolo Mantse, Ga State Atofotse) at the Omanye Aba Hall of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA). At the time of the launch, the only approved form of self-testing, as per the countrys guidelines, was the oral method. Thus, with the support of Global Fund, the Ministry of Health (MoH), through the Ghana Health Service (GHS), successfully piloted the use of Oraquick HIVST in about 50 districts. Whilst the pilot was ongoing , other HIVST methods were evaluated by the National AIDS/STI Control Programme (NACP) to expand HIVST options in Ghana. Owing to the success of the evaluations, the country has now revised its guidelines to include blood-based methods of HIVST. This revision has now opened a window of opportunity for companies such as Abbott to introduce their CheckNOW HIVST in the country, giving Ghanaians a variety of choices. CheckNOW is a blood-based method of HIVST which gives test results in just 15 minutes. It is based on a 3rd generation HIVST technology which detects HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies in a fingerstick blood sample. The NACP has expressed confidence that the multiplication of HIVST testing options will help the country to achieve the first 95 of the 95-95-95 UNAIDS targets. Currently, only about 72 per cent of the estimated 354,000 persons living with HIV in Ghana know their status. This means that about 100,000 PLHIV are not aware of their status and may be inadvertently spreading the virus. The walk will start from Ayi Mensa at 0600 hours and end at Peduase where there will be solidary statements from government officials, development partners and civil society organization leaders, as well as persons living with HIV (PLHIV). Alan's 'butterflies' Buaben Asamoa, Ohene Ntow, Adorye, Boniface, no longer NPP members Enoch Darfah Frimpong Politics Nov - 20 - 2023 , 09:00 Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene Ntow, Boniface Abubakar Saddique and Yaw Buaben Asamoa are no longer members of New Patriotic Party (NPP) following their decision to join Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen's Movement for Change as part of his independent presidential campaign. In a press statement dated Monday, November 20, 2023, signed and issued by the NPP General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene Ntow, Boniface Abubakar Saddique and Yaw Buaben Asamoa have AUTOMATICALLY FORFEITED their membership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). They are, therefore, no longer members of the party, Kodua Frimpong said in the press statement. The four are said to have publicly endorsed Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen who recently resigned from the NPP to form a new movement dubbed Movement for Change. Nana Ohene Ntow Kyerematen dropped out of the NPPs presidential primary and subsequently resigned from the NPP in September and has indicated his readiness to compete the 2024 presidential election as an independent candidate and has been moving around mobilising volunteers. Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene Ntow, Boniface Abubakar Saddique and Yaw Buaben Asamoa, all members of the NPP were key campaign members of Alan Kyerematen when he was in the NPP race. Following his resignation, they have remained loyal to him and joining him on his rounds to amass volunteers and support. Per the NPPs constitution, any member who decides to join any aspirant against the chosen candidate of the party automatically forfeit their membership. At the final funeral rites of former First Lady, Theresa Aba Kufuor in Kumasi at the weekend for instance, some of them reportedly mobilised supporters for Alan Kyerematen and distributed T-shirts inscribed with the Movement for Change symbol of a butterfly, to canvass support for Mr Kyerematen. Nana Ohene Ntow is a former General Secretary of the NPP. Yaw Buaben Asamoa and Boniface Abubakar Saddique are both former members of Parliament on the ticket of the NPP. Buaben Asamoa served as MP for Adentan in Greater Accra on the ticket of the NPP while Ababakar Saddique served as MP for Salaga in the Northern Region and Madina in the Greater Accra Region, all on the ticket of the NPP. Adorye on his part contested the Kpone Katamanso seat in Greater Accra on the ticket of the NPP in 2020 but was unable to snatch it from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). Attached below is a copy of the NPP statement FORFEITURE OF MEMBERSHIP PURSUANT TO THE PROVISION OF ARTICLE 3(9)(1) OF THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY CONSTITUTION The leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken notice of recent activities of Hopeson Adorye, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, Nana Ohene Ntow and Boniface Abubakar Saddique which includes publicly endorsing the candidature of a person other than the duly elected Presidential Candidate of the Party; His Excellency Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia. In spite of their flagrant breach of the Party's Constitution particularly Articles 3(5) (A)(4) and 3(9)(1), the afore-named men still hold themselves out as members of the NPP. For the avoidance of doubt, Article 3(5) (A) (4) of the NPP Constitution enjoins all members of the Party to "abide by and publicly uphold the decisions of the Party" In addition, Article 3(9) (1) of the Constitution provides as follows: "A Member of the Party, who stands as an independent candidate against the officially elected member of the Party, or who joins or declares his or her support for another Political Party, or for an independent candidate, when the Party has sponsored a candidate in a general or by-election, automatically forfeits his or her membership of the Party". In line with these constitutional provisions, it is the view of the NPP that Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene Ntow, Boniface Abubakar Saddique, Buaben Asamoa have AUTOMATICALLY FORFEITED their membership of the Party. They are, therefore, no longer members of the Party. The NPP entreats its members to remain true to their duties as per Article 3(5) of the party Constitution. We further call upon our members to bear in mind that the Party's focus is to unite its ranks and rally the support of Ghanaians to make history by winning the 2024 general elections. Writer's email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow @enochfrimpong Follow @Graphicgh Parliament begins debate on 2024 Budget Daniel Kenu Politics Nov - 20 - 2023 , 05:32 Parliament is scheduled to commence debate on the 2024 Budget statement and economic policy of the government tomorrow, Tuesday, November 21, 2023. The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who presented the Business Statement for the week on the floor of Parliament last Friday said the Business Committee looked forward to a lively, well researched and informed debate. He said in order to afford as many Members of Parliament (MPs) as possible the opportunity to participate in the debatepol, the committee has proposed the following time allotments: Seconder and Ranking Members of the Finance Committee would have 20 minutes to speak, other committee members, 15 minutes and all other MPs, 10 minutes. Debate The committee proposed that the debate for each day be structured according to specific sectors, that is, governance, including security and public safety, finance and economy generally, energy and other infrastructural sectors, the social sector, local governance as well as youth, sports, tourism and the cultural sectors. The Majority Leader said the recommendation was to ensure coherence, comprehensiveness and logical flow of the debate. Per the timetable, Tuesday will be for finance, agric, trade, and industry. Debate on communications, energy, roads, works and housing, sanitation and environment would take place on Wednesday; Thursday will be for education, health, employment, youth and sports, tourism, culture, and chieftaincy while on Friday, governance including local government, judiciary, defence, interior, the Electoral Commission, National Commission for Civil Education, and Commission on Human rights and administration of Justice will take centre stage. The debate is expected to be concluded by leadership of both the Majority and Minority on Tuesday, November 28, 2023. Extended sitting Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said as had been the practice, sitting periods would be extended into the night to enable Parliament to finish its assignments before it rose on December 22, 2023. He entreated all committees to expeditiously work on the budget estimates of the various MDAs for the consideration of the House due to the limited time available to parliament before the yuletide. That, according to him, was to enable the passing of the Appropriation Bill, 2023, and other equally important parliamentary business prior to the House adjourning. Bills The Business Committee also urged committees of finance, gender and children and environment, science and technology to expeditiously work on the bills which were laid under a certificate of urgency for the consideration of the House as they are time bound and any further delay to the passing of the bills will not augur well for the image of the country. The bills are: Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2023; Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill, 2023; Social Protection Bill, 2023; and the Environment Protection Bill, 2023. Ministers Also on the bills for this week are five ministers to appear before the House to answer questions. The questions include six urgent ones. The ministers scheduled to appear are Education; Communication and Digitalisation; Trade and Industry; Interior; and Roads and Highways. At no point was Speaker's residence almost sold to private sector - Lands Commission reacts [VIDEO] Graphic.com.gh Politics Nov - 20 - 2023 , 19:45 The Lands Commission has reacted to the Speaker of Parliament's allegation that his official residence at Cantonments in Accra was "almost sold to the private sector." The Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin had alleged, "many of you dont know that even the residence of the Speaker was almost sold to private sector. Actually it was given out, it is when they went to register that Lands Commission identified that, that is the residence of the Speaker. Luckily I was inside so it was safe, he said. "The Commission wishes to state emphatically, that at no point in time was the said property sold to a private developer by the Lands Commission," the acting Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Benjamin Arthur stated in a press statement dated November 20, 2023, signed and issued on Monday evening in reaction to the Speaker's allegation. Speaker's residence was almost sold to private sector - Bagbin The Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin had made the allegation during the "Speaker's breakfast forum," reports Graphic Online's Parliamentary correspondent, Daniel Kenu. But in a reaction, the Lands Commission said contrary to what the Speaker had stated, "the Lands Commission is, therefore, unaware of any purported sale of the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliaments official residence to a private developer. The Commission wishes to reiterate its commitment to the prudent and efficient management of public lands in the national interest, and promote effective land administration that is anchored on the highest standards of integrity, transparency and candour." Attached below is a full copy of the Lands Commission's statement RE: SPEAKERS RESIDENCE SOLD TO PRIVATE DEVELOPER The Lands Commission has become aware of reports in a section of the media suggesting that the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliaments official residence at Cantonments has been sold to a private developer. The Commission wishes to state emphatically, that at no point in time was the said property sold to a private developer by the Lands Commission. Records available to the Commission indicates that: 1. The land in question was acquired in 1920 by a Certificate of Title, dated 7th June, 1920 for Government services. 2. Since 2003, the land has always been used as the official residence of the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament. 3. By an application dated 15th November, 2022, and numbered PS/LS/002/12/22, Parliamentary Service applied for a Certificate of Allocation to regularise their occupation of the land, which measures approximately 1.66 acres. 4. At its sixty-fourth (64th) Regular Meeting held on 22nd December, 2022, the Regional Lands Commission approved the application, after all statutory processes, including planning approval from the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, had been duly concluded. 5. On 14th February, 2023, the Lands Commission made an offer of allocation to Parliamentary Service. 6. Parliamentary Service accepted the offer, and after paying the requisite fees, a Certificate of Allocation, dated 28th April, 2023 was issued to Parliamentary Service. The Lands Commission is, therefore, unaware of any purported sale of the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliaments official residence to a private developer. The Commission wishes to reiterate its commitment to the prudent and efficient management of public lands in the national interest, and promote effective land administration that is anchored on the highest standards of integrity, transparency and candour. Bagbin's allegation Meanwhile, Graphic Online's Parliamentary correspondent, Daniel Kenu reports that the forum, where the Speaker made the allegation was to help consolidate the relationship between Parliament and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and explore new ways of working together for accountable governance. It also formed part of Parliament's celebration of 30 years of uninterrupted Parliamentary democracy. "It was themed: "Thirty years of Parliamentary democracy under the fourth republic: Reflections on citizens' engagement and the way forward." Speaker urges government to invest in infrastructure for Parliament The Speaker challenged government to invest in infrastructure for Parliament to enhance its work and preserve the gains chalked in Ghana's democracy. He said unlike the judiciary and the executive arms of government, parliament has been sidelined "and even lost all our properties." Currently, according to the speaker, parliament is struggling to get it's lands to be able to put up some structures to accommodate parliament. The speaker said parliament, unlike the judiciary and the executive, was the only institution which did not have offices across the country apart from Accra. "Parliament is not visible anywhere as an institution that is why we are really keen on building not only constituency offices for Members of Parliament but also see how we can get structures for regional offices. "The failure as a nation to prioritise this has resulted in MPs operating without offices in their respective constituencies," he told the forum. The Speaker said the plan to have offices for MPs at their constituencies has not seen the light of day. "MPs look for their own means of transportation and reach out to their constituents. They organise and fund all activities but we expect them not to be corrupt," he said. Engagement Mr Bagbin who touched on a number of national issues, lamented about limited engagement between MPs and the public. This, according to him, has created a disconnect between MPs and the public making it's difficult for the latter to appreciate the work of parliament and MPs. He revealed that as a result while internationally the parliament of Ghana was rated 88 per cent as being effective instrument of keeping government in check, locally the CDD afro barometer gives parliament only 8 per cent . As a result, he said, the choice of an MP is influenced by some consideration and not competence or care for the people. This, the Speaker said accounts for the high attrition rates of MPs who get rejected for all wrong reasons at the polls. The speaker said regular engagement with constituents was an integral part of representatives democracy and must be used as an effective tool for citizens participation in decision making. "I believe this would foster transparency and accountable governance. "Regular and structured engagement including regular constituency visits by MPs with citizens help to know how we have performed and what we can do to better our work," the speaker said. Reforms In line with this, the speaker said, parliament has undertaken a number of reforms and restructuring to make it more engaging. This includes the breakdown of it's public affairs department into three - media relations, public engagement and television. Also, there is a whole department on Citizens Bureau to better engage the public and CSOs and think tanks. As a result, the Parliamentary Service Board has approved a new organogram which includes revised Standing Orders to take effect before the House rises on December 22. Under the new Standing Orders, which takes effect from January 2024, committee sittings will be opened to the public and the media. Also, the Citizens Bureau is facilitating the development of a manual titled: "Working with parliament of Ghana, a guide to CSOs. The manual apart from serving as a reference material for CSOs working on parliament will be an important resource for building the capacities of CSOs. The Bureau has also been working to complete the "Open Parliament Action Plan." This according to the speaker will be inaugurated before the end of the month and create government partnership caucus in Parliament to ensure that the House exercises stronger oversight over the partnership. Also in the offing is to establish a human right Committee as a referral point by the IPU and the UN human right Council for the best evolving practice in the submission of annual human rights report. The Honor 100 series is coming on November 23, and we expect the vanilla variant to be the first phone in the world with a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, while the 100 Pro should have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. More specs leaked over the weekend, suggesting once again both the Pro and the vanilla Honor 100 will feature 100W charging support. The two phones will have identical 1220p panels with 3840 Hz PWM and up to 2,600 nits peak brightness. Honor 100 Pro According leaks from China, the Honor 100 will pack a 50 MP main camera with OIS and a 12 MP ultrawide unit alongside it, while the selfie shooter will have another 50 MP sensor. The Honor 100 Pro will add a 32 MP portrait cam on the back, also with OIS, while the 50 MP front-facing camera will gain a 2 MP assistnat inside a pill-shaped punch-hole. Honor 100 If the rumors are true, both the 100 and 100 Pro will have three memory combinations 12/256 GB, 16/256 GB, and 16/512 GB. Prices in China will start from CNY2,799 ($390/355) for the Honor 100 and CNY3,699 ($515/470) for the Honor 100 Pro. Source 1 Source 2 (both in Chinese) | Via Samsung is expected to host its next Unpacked on January 17, where the Galaxy S24 series will be introduced. The event is taking place in the United States, and now one leakster claims to reveal the pre-order and sales timeline. According to Tarun Vats, pre-orders will begin right after the event, with shipments expected to arrive between January 26 and 30, followed by a full market launch after that. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra leaked render (Source: OnLeaks and Smartprix) The event will take place in San Jose, he says, which technically is not the same as San Francisco but is in the same Bay Area where plenty of the tech companies are based, including Google at Mountain View, Facebook at Palo Alto, and Apple at Cupertino. The trio of Galaxy S24 flagships should arrive with the same design as their predecessors, but we expect plenty of software improvements, including One UI 6.1 and Generative AI called Gauss. We expect the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ to have Exynos 2400 in certain markets, while the S24 Ultra will only come with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with a boosted major Cortex-X4 core of the CPU. Via Sitting from left to right: Fred Fabila, Tessie Fabila, Luz Burgos, Eloy Hara, Sandi Perez, Monica Fernandez, Robyn Masnayon, Patti Diego, Patty Sablan, Bea Davis, Eileen Gimeno, Greta Duenas, Art Perez, George Perez, and Frank Obina. Standing from left to right: Johnny Quinto, John Taitano, Perry Paladoc, Nick Ramos, Joe Cruz, Joe Sanchez, Remy Burgos, Ben Concepcion, George Arriola, Tony Cruz, Jason Faculo, Joe Flores, John Leon Guerrero, Ben Francisco, Mike Cruz, Joe Toves, JR Howser, Tony Espirito, Erwin Fernandez, Rick Quidachay, Joe San Nicolas, Ted Concepcion, Ben Quinata, Joe Francisco, Gilbert Chaco, Gene Morrison, Richard Iriarte, Frank Wusstig, Bill Quichocho, Sr., Bill Quichocho, Jr., John Munoz, Kin San Nicolas, Dave Aguon, and Earl Garrido. Not shown are Jimmy Pangelinan, Rose Cruz, and Jose Cocker Quinata. Nine students from Guams St. Johns School recently returned from the 2023 International Model United Nations Conference in Manila, Philippines that was hosted by the University of Asia and the Pacific, along with the International Model UN organization, according to a news release from the school. The Nov. 8 to 10 conference included more than 150 students from 25 countries from around the world. Students participated in simulations of the UN by representing different counties in UN-affiliated committees. These include the UN Development Program (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO), UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), UN Women, and UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Guam student representatives from St. Johns were: Clara Arcilla, delegate of the United Arab Emirates for WHO Olivia Conroy, delegate of the Netherlands for UNICEF Jackson Fulkerson-Smith, delegate of Turkey for UNESCO Rika Herman, delegate of the Russian Federation for WHO Bea Mariano, delegate of Mexico for UNICEF Oliver Schaumann, delegate of the Netherlands for UNESCO Austin Tsai, delegate of Mexico for UNESCO Johnson Xia, delegate of Norway for UNICEF Zane Whitehead, delegate of New Zealand for UNICEF Four of the student delegates were recognized for their active participation and hard work in their committees: Arcilla, who achieved the Outstanding Delegate award for WHO; Mariano, who achieved the Honorable Mention award for UNICEF; Fulkerson-Smith, who achieved Verbal Commendation for UNESCO; and Whitehead, who achieved Verbal Commendation for UNICEF. In addition to making speeches, debating issues, and writing resolutions, students attended presentations by special guest speakers, including the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, the ambassador of the Royal Danish Embassy Manila, Country Representative of the UN Population Fund Agency Philippines, and the Deputy Head of Mission of Argentina to the Philippines. I had a wonderful time at the IMUN conference because I established comradeships with delegates who shared a passion of developing a positive world, Arcilla said. As Model UN president, I encourage anyone to consider joining a Model UN conference since it is enjoyable to act as a countrys diplomat and interact with people from several countries. Another student, Xia, concurs. This was my first time attending an in-person conference, and I was really nervous, Xia said. After experiencing it.. .it was great learning about other peoples perspectives and hanging out with people (from) around the world. Haiti - Dom. Rep. : More than 294,000 Haitians returned to the country, repatriated or volunteers in 5 months Since the application of Dominican 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. Persistent insecurity, characterized by the expansion of areas under the influence of armed groups, is leading to an increase in the number of internally displaced people. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic has decided to open their border exclusively to trade. However, Haiti has decided to keep its doors closed https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40752-haiti-flash-haiti-keeps-its-door-closed-the-dominican-government-will-not-give-in.html in retaliation to the restrictive measures taken by the Dominican Government https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40698-haiti-flash-partial-reopening-of-the-dominican-border-new-measures-and-an-embargo.html Furthermore, the Dominican Republic sent military reinforcements to the borders with Haiti https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-40960-icihaiti-border-the-dominican-republic-announces-military-reinforcements.html following an incident between Haitians and Dominican soldiers. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40919-haiti-flash-high-tension-a-group-of-haitians-confront-the-dominican-soldiers-in-ouanaminthe-video.html Repatriation October 2023: Official border points: Anse-a-Pitres, Belladere, Malpasse and Ouanaminthe 10,686 men 3,401 women 543 girls 450 boys Total: 15,080 Unofficial border points: Baptiste, Belladere (Rocher), Cornillon, Fonds-Verettes, Las Cahobas (Bateille), Savanette (Miguel) 4,877 men 3,226 women 994 girls 1,352 boys Total: 10,449 For a total of Total 25,529 Added to this are 7,675 pushbacks at the border To these repatriations we must finally add the so-called voluntary spontaneous returns which amount for the month of October 2023 to 39,128 Haitians +14.8% compared to September). Grand total of Haitians returned to the country in October 2023: 64,657 (less 3% compared to the month of September) Which brings to nearly 294,657 the number of Haitians returning to Haiti in 5 months... Month of September 2023: https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40746-haiti-dom-rep-nearly-70-000-haitians-returning-to-the-country-repatriated-or-voluntarily-in-september-2023.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... A gang leader of Haitian origin killed in Montreal Assassination in Montreal of gang leader Gregory Wooley, Canadian of Haitian origin on Friday, a suspect is actively sought. Gregory Wooley was considered as a godfather of Montreal street gangs, well known in organized crime circles. 50 years for INAGHEI The National Institute of Management Administration and Advanced International Studies (INAGHEI) is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Created by the decree of November 20, 1973 of the Government of President Jean Claude Duvalier. 3 Haitians died during bad weather in DR Heavy rains that fell on the Dominican Republic over the past 2 days have caused the death of at least 21 people, including 3 Haitians, according to the Emergency Operations Center (COE) of the neighboring country. Nadege Joseph and Boniel Dovieli in the collapse of a wall at Avenue 27 de Febrero / Maximo Gomez, and Witberson Francois in Barrio Norte, Las Maras, Santo Domingo Norte. Vertieres commemorated in Montreal Members of the Haitian community of Montreal commemorated the 220th anniversary of the Battle of Vertieres in color on November 18, 2023. For the occasion, they created an exhibition of paintings by talented artists under the theme: "The colors of dignity". The Embassy of Haiti in Canada was represented at this event by Minister-Counsellor Osse Aristild. Haitian art at the National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, announced that it has received a donation of 15 works of art from modern and contemporary Haitian artists, and that all of the works will be presented in an exhibition planned for the fall 2024. These are the first pieces by Haitian artists to join the NGA's permanent collection. Of the 15 works, 13 are paintings while two are sequin flags by artist Myrlande Constant. Mgr Dumas opines on the Multinational Force "The success of the multinational force to be deployed in Haiti will depend on an awareness of Haitians who must face the evidence of the need to put an end to the current situation and to put an end to the non- law in the country," estimates Mgr Pierre Andre Dumas. HL/ Haitilibre By William Schwartz | Published on 2023/11/19 While "Believer" was a fairly well-liked movie back in 2018, it wasn't so well-regarded that the announcement of "Believer 2" last year in 2022 ever made a whole lot of sense. Especially since Netflix didn't even have "Believer" available for streaming worldwide. For what it's worth, Netflix does have "Believer" now, and while the first minute or so of "Believer 2" recaps the first film somewhat impressively without spoiling its main plot twist, nothing that happened in "Believer" is all that essential for understanding what's going on in "Believer 2" at any given moment. Advertisement This is mainly because, much like its predecessor, "Believer 2" has an incredibly convoluted plot that only becomes slightly more coherent in the final act when various characters outline their until-then hidden motivations. Cho Jin-woong reprises his role as Won-ho, a detective who never really knows what's going on and struggles to try and follow other peoples' storylines. In this case, he's trying to track down Mr. Lee, the notorious drug lord behind the distribution of Laika. In the four years between "Believer" movies, South Korea has had an alarming outgrowth of xenophobic attitudes. I bring this up because the way "Believer 2" frames Chinese people and Thai locations as hotbeds of drug crime is a little disconcerting, not to mention poorly timed, in the wake of the Thai boycott of South Korean tourism. Ironically this location shooting was probably done with the explicit permission of the Thai government as part of a tax credit scam. Setting aside the questionable politics, though, "Believer 2" hits the same beats as its predecessor when it comes to deranged, menacing drug operations. Han Hyo-joo is nearly unrecognizable as Big Knife, a gang leader who can best be described as a socially maladjusted and disconcertingly competent violent nerd. Her backstory ultimately being less impressive than we might have assumed is just one of the story's any deliberate letdowns. Indeed, if there was anything distinctly charming about "Believer" it was the fact that the movie convincingly portrayed drug dealers as broke-brained people whose apparent coolness in the more intensely violent scenes was undermined by their decrepit depressive tendencies everywhere else. The only exception was the deaf brother-sister team, and they come back here. Unfortunately, this time their being relatively well-adjusted ends up not being much of an advantage. The finale of "Believer 2" is oddly elegaic in this way, and actually heightened by the general incoherence of the story up until that point. Even as Brian, played by Cha Seung-won, is explaining his elaborate plan, he sounds oddly unconvinced that any of this was worth it. Likewise, Rock is now played by Oh Seung-hoon rather than Ryu Jun-yeol in a way that makes it a bit surprising Ryu Jun-yeol didn't want to come back for the sequel. The new version of the character is soulless. Not in the sense that his appearance is a corporate cash grab, mind you, but because for all the speculation of whether he died in "Believer" his fate in "Believer 2" is clearly even worse than that. Written by William Schwartz ___________ "Believer 2" is directed by Baek Jong-yeol, and features Cho Jin-woong, Cha Seung-won, Han Hyo-joo, Oh Seung-hoon, Kim Dong-young, Lee Joo-young-I. Release date in Korea: 2023/11/17. Bond hearing reserved, Dec. 22 filing deadline Edmund Davis stands as charges against him are read today in state District Court in Havre. Davis, who testified via video from the Hill County Detention Center, pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of sexual abuse of children. Havre Daily News staff A man who was living with a young woman in Havre when she notified authorities she was the one who went missing as a child four years earlier in Arizona pleaded not guilty today to two unrelated felony counts of sexual abuse of children. Edmund Davis Harris, who was 36 when he was charged in October, entered his pleas of not guilty before state District Judge Kaydee Snipes Ruiz in District Court in Havre. After Davis' attorney Casey Moore requested time to talk to the prosecution and other parties about bond, Snipes Ruiz reserved the issue of a motion on changing bond. Davis, who entered his plea via video from Hill County Detention Center, was being held this morning on $1 million bond. Snipes Ruiz set Dec. 22 as the deadline for omnibus motions. Special Deputy Attorney Daniel Guzynski, who is representing the state as lead prosecutor, also asked for confirmation that Davis had discussed the potential penalties with his attorney, which Moore said they have discussed. The first charge, for possessing electronic communication images of a child or children 12 or younger, carries a minimum 100-year prison sentence, 25 of which may not be suspended or deferred, and the second charge, for possessing images of children younger than 16, can result in imprisonment for life with a minimum sentence of four years. Davis was arrested in Chinook Oct. 23 by Blaine County Sheriff's Office personnel and agents from the Montana Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation. A press release from the Montana Attorney General's Office said charges were filed under seal the previous week to help ensure a safe arrest. The release said the child sex abuse material was found on Davis' cellphone, which was seized when a search warrant was executed in Havre in July. The Havre Police Department served the warrant on Davis' apartment after learning that Alicia Navarro, 18, who went missing from Glendale, Arizona, as a 14-year-old in 2019, was living there. When she answered the door, the release said, officers observed Davis in the kitchen behind her throwing a cellphone in the trash and placing items on top of the phone as if to hide it. The release says dozens of images of suspected child sex abuse material were found on the phone, and a review of the images by medical professionals determined the individuals depicted to be younger than 13, with two images of children younger than 5. "The phone contained images of infants and toddlers and other computer-generated or animated content showing children being sexualized," the release says. Davis' arrest came four months after police first investigated his home following the discovery that Arizona teen Alicia Navarro was living with him. Charging documents in the case against Davis say that earlier this year Navarro showed up at the Havre Police Department to identify herself and say she wanted to be taken off the missing persons list. Navarro, 18 at that time, was reported missing from Glendale, Arizona, in 2019, days before her 15th birthday. The Havre Police Department contacted the Glendale Police Department and the FBI and Havre police would confirm her identity shortly after. Three days later a search warrant was executed in which the cellphone containing the child abuse imagery was found. Court documents say that Davis had been seen in the presence of Navarro before she had gone to the Havre Police Department and was later identified as her boyfriend. In a statement released Oct. 25, the Glendale Police Department said the initial disappearance of Navarro is still under investigation and they will not release any details for now. "It is our department's goal to complete the most thorough investigation possible in order to bring justice to Alicia and her family," the statement said. The October statement said that the Glendale Police Department will be directing all inquiries regarding the arrest of Edmund Davis to the Division of Criminal Investigations at the Montana Department of Justice. U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Montana GREAT FALLS A man who admitted to shooting into an occupied house in Fort Belknap Agency on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation was sentenced last week to 18 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. Tyree Daniel Doney, 22, pleaded guilty in June to assault with a dangerous weapon. Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. The court also ordered $3,900 restitution. In court documents, the government alleged that Jan. 19, a man, identified as John Doe, was inside his residence with his family, including two children. John Doe heard multiple gunshots, and one bullet lodged inside his residence. John Doe feared that he or his family would be harmed from the drive-by shooting. Law enforcement learned that Doney was in the area at the time of the shooting, and Doney ultimately admitted to firing the gunshots into John Does home. Doney did so, in part, because Doney was upset about a physical fight he had with John Doe four months prior. Officers recovered 9mm casings outside John Does residence, 9mm casings inside Doneys vehicle and the 9mm firearm inside Doneys residence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan G. Weldon prosecuted the case. The FBI conducted the investigation. Havre Police Department Harlan Wilford Stanley of Box Elder, 52, was arrested on two Justice or City court warrants after a caller on Third Avenue reported Friday at 11:36 a.m. that a man punched the caller in the eye. -- A Friday 3:19 p.m. caller reported their vehicle had been rear-ended on Fifth Avenue. -- Jasmin Shay Demontiney of Box Elder, 27, was arrested on a charge of obstructing a peace officer or other public servant after a 7:13 p.m. Friday caller reported a very intoxicated woman walking around near Second Street and Fifth Avenue and officer stopped to speak with a woman on First Street West at 7:41 p.m. -- Jeremy Addison Lodgepole of Havre, 24, was arrested on charges of partner or family member assault and criminal child endangerment-driving under the influence, after a 2:13 a.m. Saturday caller reported a fight in a Ninth Avenue residence. -- A past-theft victim stopped at the police station Saturday at 12:09 p.m. to report that he had discovered the name of the person who had stolen items from him and then pawned them. -- An 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl, both from Havre, were issued summons on shoplifting charges after a theft was reported at a First Street business Saturday at 3:52 p.m. -- Colt Ryan Billy of Box Elder, 37, was arrested on one state District Court warrant and six Justice or City court warrants served on First Street at 4:06 p.m. Sunday. -- A two-vehicle crash was reported on First Avenue at 1:19 p.m. Sunday. -- Theresa Lynn Adamson of Havre, 60, was arrested on charges of driving with a suspended or revoked driver's license, no vehicle insurance and operating a vehicle without valid registration after a vehicle stop on 11th Street West Sunday at 2:45 p.m. -- A 12-year-old Havre boy was issued a summons on a charge of underage tobacco possession or consumption after a Sunday 4:43 p.m. caller at Pepin Park on Seventh Avenue reported four or five kids with vape pens. -- Raymond Windyboy of Box Elder, 61, was arrested on a trespass to property charge after a caller at a First Street business asked at 6:37 p.m. Sunday for assistance. -- A missing juvenile was reported at 10:03 p.m. Sunday on Third Avenue. Hill County Sheriff's Office Mason Mitchell Hoskinson of Havre, 25, was arrested on a Justice or City court warrant served at 10:43 a.m. Friday at the probation and parole office. -- William James Denny of Box Elder, 38, was arrested on a state District Court warrant served Friday at 4:42 p.m. at Hill County Detention Center. -- Two arrests were made after a Saturday 7:42 p.m. vehicle stop on Main Street in Box Elder, but no details on charges were provided. -- Thefts, forgeries or frauds were reported Sunday by a caller at a U.S. Highway 2 West business at 2:31 p.m. and 4:57 p.m. Montana Highway Patrol Several callers reported to 911 that two vehicles were in a head-on crash Saturday at 2:55 p.m. on U.S. Highway 2 Northeast. The investigating trooper had not returned a call by print deadline, but the MHP website reported this as an injury crash and Havre Fire Chief Nathan Courtnage said an engine and an ambulance were sent to the scene and six people were tended to with one person requiring transport to the hospital. Havre Fire Department Emergency medical technicians responded to three calls Friday, two calls Saturday including the crash detailed above, and two calls Sunday. -- Firefighters responded to a vehicle crash Friday at 3:22 p.m. on Fifth Avenue and three fire alarms Saturday that did not have fires. A fire crew also responded to a Saturday vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 2 Northeast that is detailed above. Havre Animal Shelter This morning the animal shelter held two 6-month-old kittens and one cat all of unknown gender, six female cats, three male cats, and six kittens between 12 weeks and 6 months old. -- Also this morning, the animal shelter held five female mixed-breed dogs, 11 puppies between 12 and 18 weeks old, and a female German shepherd. Births A girl was born Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, to Caitlin and Jack Teske of Kremlin. Press release Local Scouts in Troop 1438 were honored for their achievements in a Court of Honor this fall. Troop 1438 held a Court of Honor where Scouts were recognized for their achievements. Troop 1438 had 18 Scouts earn a total of seven awards, eight ranks and 61 merit badges. The following scouts earned the respective merit badges: Orrin Greenwood Cooking, First Aid; Blake Marsh Canoeing, Kayaking; Calvin Frye Pets, Wood Carving; Skott Williams Archery, Nuclear Science; Gabe Cline Pets, Nature, Mammal Study; Tallen Schend Canoeing, Indian Lore, Nature; Russell Petty Signs Signals and Codes, Indian Lore; Severin Heimbigner Pets, Nature, Canoeing, Lifesaving; Jackson Siemens Archery, Geocaching, Canoeing, Pets; Ernie Goettlich Pets, Wood Carving, Geocaching, First Aid; Keyon Roberts Wilderness Survival, Astronomy, Cooking; John Hummert Chess, Art, Leatherworking, Geocaching, Pets, Orienteering; Reid Holmes Swimming, Environmental Science, Reptile and Amphibian Study; Isaac Cammon Rifle Shooting, Rowing, Wood Carving, First Aid, Climbing; Walter Heimbiginer Geocaching, Leatherwork, Chess, Signs Signals and Codes; Travis Huseby Leatherwork, Pioneering, Shotgun Shooting, Cooking, Geology, Fishing, Forestry; and Noah Siemens Camping, Emergency Preparedness, Environmental Science, Personal Fitness, Traffic Safety. The seven awards and the recipients are as follows: Totin Chip and Firemn Chit Anthony Marsh and Skott Williams; Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award Travis Huseby and Keyon Roberts, and Stand Up Paddle Boarding Jackson Siemens The eight ranks that were earned included: Scout Rank Calvin Frye and Skott Williams; Second Class Rank Ernie Goettlich, Russell Petty, Tallen Schend and Walter Heimbigner; and First Class Rank Keyon Roberts and Orrin Greenwood. Troop 1438 is chartered by First Lutheran Church in Havre. Troop 1438 had previously been Chartered as 438 and prior to that Troop 38. This unit has been chartered since Oct. 1, 1947. Meetings are held Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. in the fellowship hall of First Lutheran Church. All are welcome to stop by and learn more about the Boy Scouts of Americas various programs. William R. Woods, age 88, passed away Thursday, November 16, 2023, in Chester. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21, at the Chester Community United Methodist Church (510 Monroe Avenue, Chester, MT) followed by a reception for friends and family. Bill will be laid to rest at Highland Cemetery in Havre with a committal service at 2:30 pm. Please visit Bill's online memorial and leave a message of condolence for the family at http://www.asperfh.com. William R. Woods was born December 3, 1934, in Vegerville, Alberta, Canada, to William Roscoe and Violet Hayter Woods. They lived in a two-story log house in Warwick, Alberta, Canada. In 1949 the family moved to Montana and made their home a few miles north of and between Rudyard and Inverness. They were dryland wheat farmers who were active in their rural community. Bill attended the Inverness Elementary School but later transferred to Joplin High School after the Inverness High School lost accreditation for a brief period during WWII. He graduated from Joplin HS in 1953. Music played an important part in Bill's life growing up. Bill's dad, Roscoe, played the banjo, Bill played the trombone, and brother Walter played the trumpet. After high school, Bill started his college career at Rocky Mountain College in Billings. He would tell the story of when the dean called him into the office and told him Rocky was not going to be able to provide him with the education he wanted to pursue. Therefore, he transferred to Montana State University in Bozeman and graduated in 1957. Bill taught in Twin Bridges for a year and in Ekalaka, Montana, for a couple of years. July 13, 1963, Bill married Sharon Hagen, a music teacher, in Glasgow, Montana, on a steaming hot day. It was 103 degrees! They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last summer. Bill and Sharon made a home and career teaching in Culbertson, Montana. Bill was the vo-ag/shop teacher and FFA advisor from 1964 to 1984. He led quite a successful FFA program, preparing his students for state and national FFA conventions and winning many awards. His shop class produced teams that competed successfully in the Plymouth Trouble Shooting contest, also winning several awards. Bill really enjoyed hunting, fishing, and flying his plane. He took several fishing trips flying into Alaska and Northern Canada, and in fact, he, along with parent chaperones, would take his FFA students on fishing and camping trips in northern Canada at the end of the school year. Bill was also very involved in the Lions Club and particularly involved in their vision program. Bill was awarded the Melvin Jones Fellow award. Most of all, Bill loved teaching and farming. He farmed on the weekends and taught during the week, commuting between Culbertson and Rudyard in the fall and spring until summer break, when they'd stay in Inverness. After retiring from teaching in 1984, Bill and Sharon returned to the farm to live and farm full-time. In 2014 Bill officially retired from farming and leased his farm to his young cousin Matthew Woods, so, in a way, he was still teaching farming and sharing stories about the family's early years to the next generation. Bill was an active member of the Inverness United Methodist Church and later attended the Chester United Methodist Church. Bill accompanied his mother to church, and Sharon was the church organist. Bill was also a proud godfather at Lauren Woods' baptism, and always remembered cousin Greg's children through the years at Christmas and birthdays. Throughout their lives and especially in their retirement, they enjoyed traveling and acquired multiple timeshares around the U.S., but their favorite place to vacation was in Hawaii and Sedona, Arizona. They also took many trips to Hawaii and created photo albums to enjoy in their later years. Sharon's sister Shirley Boley accompanied them on many trips as well. Bill and Sharon did not have children of their own, but they enjoyed spending time with Shirley's son Casey. Bill was an important father figure in Casey's life. Casey especially remembers going to East Glacier snowmobiling to hand-cut the family Christmas tree. Bill is survived by his wife of 60 years, Sharon Woods; a brother, Walter (Ann) Woods of Hermiston, OR; sister-in-law Pearl Hagen of Glasgow, MT; nephews, Casey (Angie) Boley of Inverness; Dan (Kim) Woods of Redondo Beach, CA; Richard (Carie) Hagen of Colorado Springs, CO; Robert (Michelle) Hagen of Broomfield, CO; Ronald (Lori) Hagen of Boise, ID; nieces, Joanie Woods (Gerald) Moore of Hermiston, OR, and Laura (Frank) Dorchak of Colorado Springs, CO; and cousins Greg (Elizabeth) Woods of Inverness; Scott (Kathy) Woods of Treasure Island, FL; Linda (Matt) Guzik of Mangawhai, New Zealand; and Donald Han of Inverness; and many great-nieces and nephews. Bill was predeceased by his parents, brother Barry, sister-in-law Shirley Boley, and brother-in-law Jerry Hagen. The family would like to thank special caregivers Jocelyn Woods, Mandy Sanders, and the staff at the Logan Health Center and Wheat Country Estates for the excellent care they gave Bill in his final years. The Finnish government decided last week to close four more southern border-crossing points for the next three months and only accept asylum applications at Vartius and Salla. SITUATION at the Vartius border-crossing point in Kuhmo, Eastern Finland, was at times chaotic yesterday as people continued to arrive at the border on foot, bicycles and even kick-boards, prompting border officials to twice close the border-crossing, for a total of three-and-a-half hours, reports Helsingin Sanomat. The Kainuu Border Guard District has revealed that yesterday a total of 16 people applied for asylum at the Vartius border-crossing point, which is located about 250 kilometres east of Oulu. Preliminary information indicates that the asylum applicants are from Morocco, Somalia and Syria. The border-crossing point closed for the day according to plan at 6pm and is scheduled to re-open at 8am on Monday. Jouko Kinnunen, the official in charge of the border-crossing point, said the point was closed temporarily in response to Russian authorities directing people into the border zone and closing the gates behind them. Kinnunen stated to Ilta-Sanomat that the conduct of the last group to arrive at the border on Saturday suggested they did not even want to come to Finland. Many Russian border guard posts line the road from Kostomuksha, Russia, to Kuhmo, Finland, according to Helsingin Sanomat. Typically people are not allowed to pass through the posts without a Schengen visa. Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen (PS) confirmed to Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday that the Ministry of the Interior is devising additional measures to promote border security, adding that the closure of four border-crossing points has had partly the desired effect. I wont be commenting more on [the measures] at this point. The matter will be made public once it has been processed. Were moving forward with it quickly, she said. The government, she added, continues to try to put a stop to the phenomenon. Temporary obstacles have already been erected at the border with the assistance of the Finnish Defence Forces. Finland has also asked the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) for assistance with security of the border, with the two presently discussing the kind of support that is required. Arkady Moshes, a programme director at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday that the Russian Border Service would have unlikely been able to change its approach without a political decision, meaning the current practice should at least have the approval of President Vladimir Putin. From Finland, its impossible to say whether the initiative came from him, but there had to have at least an approval, he analysed. The Kremlin, he estimated, wants to concoct as complicated a crisis as possible in order to shift the attention of western states away from the war in Ukraine and to possibly enter into negotiations with Russia. Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (PS) on Sunday asked on X how some can be so sure that the people arriving at the eastern border are not members of the mercenary group Wagner or special troops of Russia. The mercenary group, he added, has recruited members in both Africa and the Middle East. I want to say this out loud now because when our high-voltage wires, power plants and data cables start blowing up, therell be plenty of people saying: no one couldve predicted this! he wrote on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Russia has to have a reason to direct people to its border with Finland, according to Halla-aho. They arent arriving at the border because theyve just now become vulnerable in Russia but because Russia for one reason or another wants them to come to Finland just now, he said, adding that based on media reports the arrivals appear to be young, healthy men in spanking new winter clothes. Aleksi Teivainen HT In Finland , a significant trend has emerged in online shopping, especially during the high-profile sales events of Black Friday, Black Week, and Singles Day. According to data collected by PostNord, a leading delivery service in Finland, an astonishing 35% of online purchases made during these periods last year were returned. This high rate of returns has raised concerns, not just for the retailers but also for the environment. The logistic carbon footprint from these returns alone was equivalent to over a hundred years of average Finnish air travel emissions. With Black Friday being the busiest day for online shopping in Finland, expectations for new sales records are high. However, PostNord's data suggests that over a third of the purchases made on November 24 are likely to be returned. Johanna Starck, CEO of PostNord Oy, acknowledges that while many returns are justified due to defective or incorrect products, impulsive buying driven by significant discounts often leads to a high volume of returns, dubbed as "consumption hangover" once the products are delivered. Starck emphasizes the need for Finnish consumers to exercise better judgment during these shopping frenzies. In 2022, the returns from PostNord's deliveries between Singles Day and Black Friday alone resulted in approximately 63,300 kg of CO2e emissions, a figure Starck hopes will reduce this year, even if the volume of online purchases remains the same. Interestingly, the study reveals that clothing is the most returned item, with younger shoppers under 30 and women being more likely to return their online purchases. Starck explains that these demographic groups generally shop more online and purchase clothing more frequently. She points out that while women often shop for others in the family, it's not just the consumer's responsibility to reduce returns. Online retailers need to provide accurate product information to minimize incorrect purchases. Technological innovations like AI recommendations or augmented reality can help consumers make more sustainable choices by, for example, virtually testing products before buying. Starck also highlights the role of delivery services in reducing the carbon footprint of returns. PostNord, for instance, focuses on environmentally friendly logistics, such as electric, biogas, and renewable diesel-powered transports, optimized delivery routes, and an efficient parcel locker network to consolidate shipments and returns. The issue of high return rates and their environmental impact is not unique to Finland. In Sweden, some trade unions have called for banning free returns in online stores to promote sustainable consumption and reduce climate emissions. However, the Swedish trade association Svensk Handel has been hesitant to endorse such a ban, fearing it might drive Swedish consumers to international online retailers, potentially increasing the environmental impact due to longer shipping distances. Recognizing that there is no simple solution to this problem, Starck urges Finnish consumers to make more thoughtful decisions during Black Friday and to prefer parcel lockers or pick-up points over home deliveries to help reduce emissions. This call to action reflects a growing awareness of the environmental impact of online shopping and the need for collective responsibility from consumers, retailers, and logistics companies. HT The Finns Party, the newspaper wrote last week, initially expressed its concern that the theme proposed by the council did not sufficiently address the negative effects of immigration. All four ruling parties, however, approved the decision to postpone the theme. THE GOVERNMENT of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) is set to reject immigration as a research theme proposed by the Strategic Research Council (STN), reveals information obtained by Helsingin Sanomat. We wanted that the research questions related to immigration be considered once more, Niko Ohvo, a ministerial advisor for the Finns Party, said to Helsingin Sanomat. He argued that the research theme should have placed greater emphasis on the negative multiplier effects of immigration, as well as discuss such topical themes as hybrid warfare and anti-Semitism. Information obtained by Helsingin Sanomat indicates that the chairpersons of the four ruling parties decided that the programme theme be postponed, possibly until 2025. STN, though, has yet been notified of the postponement. The decision would mark the first postponement of a research theme in the 10-year history of the council. This is a historic political intervention in research, a scientist familiar with the operations of the council characterised to the newspaper. Established under the Academy of Finland, the council is tasked with funding societally important and impactful research on themes it proposes annually to the government. This autumn, it called for the adoption of two strategic research themes: water as an element of peace, security and well-being, and the interplay between employment, immigration and well-being, with democracy as the cross-cutting priority. The favourable development of Finlands welfare society and economy will require diverse skills and a sufficient number of skilled people, the council argued in a press release in June. Early last week, it issued a press release saying the governments decisions on strategic research themes has been delayed, adding that the delay has prevented it from opening the programme calls at the same time as in previous years. Minister of Education Anna-Maja Henriksson (SFP) on Saturday told Helsingin Sanomat that the government should reconsider the decision to postpone the research programme on immigration. Although the postponement was approved at a meeting attended by Henriksson, she explained that the postponement was one of several decisions made at the meeting and was approved without much discussion. She also stated that she was not aware of the Finns Partys desire to influence the contents of the programme when making the decision on the postponement. The freedom of research and science is extremely important, and the SFP is ready to defend it, she said. We should review what this is about exactly. Aleksi Teivainen HT Weedman to retire, Coletta to run for mayor of Flat Rock FLAT ROCK Flat Rock Mayor Nick Weedman announced Monday that he will not seek re-election when his term of office ends in December 2024, and in an announcement the two made jointly, Vice Mayor Anne Coletta said she will seek the top post. The filing period for the November 2024 municipal elections in Henderson County is Dec. 4-15. Announcing his intentions now, Weedman, said gives potential candidates time to consider running and to file. First elected to the Village Council in 2003 and elected mayor in 2019, Weedman will have served 21 years as a board member and mayor when his term is up. For most of that time he served as the village finance officer. I will be leaving the Village in good shape both in financial terms and in accomplishments by the Village, he said. As the finance officer, part of my responsibility was to oversee the collection of property taxes on real and personal property. Our collection rates have been 100 percent for every year in which we had property taxes. There is not a single delinquent property tax since we started collecting in 2005. We have a small but outstanding Village staff and are proud of their service, he added. Our Village Council members are excellent and a joy to work with. I have been honored to serve as a council member, finance officer, and mayor of the village. I will miss serving but will leave the Village in outstanding hands to continue to retain the unique historical character of the municipality. Elected to the Flat Rock Village Council for two terms and appointed vice mayor in 2020, Coletta vowed if elected to continue Weedmans careful and principled stewardship of the Village. Im knowledgeable about village operations and our place in Henderson County, she said. Ill continue to make decisions based on what is best for the village and its residents as a whole, keeping in mind that the village encompasses the largest historic district in the state of North Carolina. With family connections in Flat Rock going back generations, I have seen the village grow in population yet still keep its rural sense of place, she added. I think its important that we retain our rural mountain character even as we work hard to develop solutions for any issues that may arise. As an involved member on several regional and county governmental boards, I have solid working relationships with our county commissioners as well as municipal and other governing officials. A graduate of Davidson College, Coletta has lived in Flat Rock full-time since 2010. She and her husband, Paul, have two adult children, Nikki and John, and attend St. Edmund Campion Catholic Church in Flat Rock. Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], November 16: Lexcru Water Tech, a Gujarat-based RO water purifier company has announced record-breaking registrations by signing up 50,000+ technicians across India on its mobile application. Lexcru Water Tech is a manufacturer of RO components and RO water purifiers. Lexcru holds the entire supply chain from manufacturing to the end customer through its dealer and distributor network. The RO Industry has been around in India for the last 20 years and it's been growing ever since. The biggest challenge this industry has faced is providing quality after-sales services to its customers due to the lack of skilled technicians. Many organised players have also tried to resolve this, but they needed help to solve it completely. To resolve this persistent problem, Lexcru has developed a mobile application, Lexcru Rewards, and connected all the technicians on one platform. As of today, 50,000+ technicians across India have signed up on the Lexcru Rewards App. Lexcrus vision is to make India self-reliant in the water purification sector to provide safe and pure drinking water to millions and to accomplish our vision, we manufacture the best quality RO products. We follow the no compromise in quality policy, said Mr. Shreyansh Shah, CEO of the company. There is a big gap in the RO industry. This industry is failing to provide proper service. RO purifiers need timely service to purify water properly. And the manufacturers cant reach every end customer. But the technicians can. So we aimed to connect with our technicians and build our mobile application. This is helping us to support them and filling the gap in the industry. As of today, 50,000+ technicians across India have signed up on the Lexcru Rewards App. Lexcru is bringing noteworthy change through its mobile application and by conducting 100+ water awareness seminars joined by 15,000+ technicians in multiple cities across India. We are seeing these Water Experts giving top-notch service to consumers. Apart from building a vast network of technicians, Lexcru is also the largest RO Pump manufacturer in India and the first company to set up a membrane sheet manufacturing unit in India. Talking about the Indian RO manufacturing area, a decade ago it was facing heavy competition from the global market. Most of the RO components were imported from China and then assembled in India. Lexcru was also struggling to provide quality products at affordable rates. After the launch of the Make in India initiative of the Government of India, Lexcru joined the bandwagon and set up a large state-of-the-art RO component manufacturing setup in Ahmedabad. Currently, Lexcru is producing all RO components only in India and exporting to 30+ countries. It is a proud moment for Indians, as an import-dependent business is now dominated by an Indian company. It has captured a 25% market share of the Indian RO industry. Speaking about water purification, with environmental concerns and health-conscious consumers driving the demand for RO systems, the industry is poised for continuous growth. RO water purifiers have become an integral part of modern households and businesses due to their efficiency in removing contaminants and ensuring access to clean, safe drinking water. To know more, visit - http://lexcru.com Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Quite how this unfolds, whether Sam Altman returns or doesnt as CEO of OpenAI, it is clear that OpenAIs unfolding saga of mismanagement doesnt simply restrict the chaos within their headquarters. The otherwise avoidable scenario began late last week, when the board of directors of OpenAI fired Sam Altman and also removed chairman Greg Brockman in a surprise move. Though as it has since turned out, lacked conviction or any sort of solid foundational basis to stand on the biggest and only allegation against him, not being consistently candid in his communications with the board. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in San Francisco. (Reuters photo) In an increasingly artificial intelligence (AI) focused world as it is structured today, OpenAI doesnt work in isolation. Their GPT and Dall-E large language models (LLMs) are the backbone of many an AI product available today. The biggest of those being, Microsoft. It is therefore no surprise that CEO Satya Nadella, are believed to be playing what theyd hope would be a pivotal role in getting the AI companys house back in some semblance of order. Perhaps with Altman, back at the wheel. Also Read: Ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joins executives at headquarters: Report At the time of writing this, the same board is considering options including resigning as a whole, while Sam Altman is believed to be back at OpenAI headquarters as conversations continue about his potential return. It may or may not work out. He too is keeping his options open. There is next to no confidence in OpenAIs existing board. Days earlier, at its Ignite 2023 keynote, Microsoft talked about its already extensive AI vision for Windows PCs and a wide range of services including Microsoft 365, as the GPT-based Bing Chat got rebranded to Copilot and theres also a new Copilot Studio conversational AI for organisations to build their own, customised copilots. Where does this underlying capability come from? The answer is emphatic OpenAIs custom GPTs, which OpenAI had announced earlier in the month, at their DevDay conference. Snap, an augmented reality (AR) tech company, has detailed plans for its next generation of smart spectacles. Itll use, of course, OpenAIs GPT model to define the intelligent capabilities in its new lenses. With the ChatGPT Remote API, theyre giving Lens developers an ability to integrate ChatGPT in their Lenses, the expectation being better conversational capabilities to define the experience. This also wouldnt be the first time Snap and OpenAI have worked together. Snaps My AI chatbot also uses the GPT engine as its foundation for text conversations with a machine, much like OpenAIs own ChatGPT and Microsofts Bing chatbot. Snap, with upcoming AI filters for smart spectacles, will have identified virtual reality experiences as a unique use case for AI to make it easier to build new tools. Earlier this month, Snap shipped the Lens Studio 5.0 Beta to 3,30,000 developers whove created as many as 3.5 million lenses for the platform. Ask your smart spectacles how far away Neptune is from Earth, and youll have the answer flash in front of your eyes approximately 2.7 billion miles. Under Altman, OpenAI had been actively looking for partnerships as it wanted to create an open-source data set for training large language models. Anyone could have access to this dataset to train an LLM they were building or refining. This would be in addition to much more detailed, often specific, private data sets for training proprietary AI models or prototypes. Some other partnerships include imaging library Shutterstock for training the Dall-E text-to-image generator and Salesforce looking for an AI assistant in conversations with customers. Pragmatism and the human element Under Sam Altmans leadership, a consistent theme (at least with outward communication) had been about aligning generative AI, and the inevitable pitstop thatll be artificial general intelligence (AGI), with the needs of humanity. They said all the right things, particularly as expectation grew that global regulations on AI would be inevitable at some point. This year, that theme was amplified. In February, Altman talked in detail about planning for AGI and beyond. The principles OpenAI said it was working with, included maximizing the good and minimising the bad whilst AGI would be an amplifier for humanity, wider access to AGI alongside governance mechanisms and navigate inevitable massive risks as well as deploy less powerful version of the technology for greater accuracy. In June, in an interview with Bloomberg, Altman was asked, why should OpenAI be trusted. You shouldnt, his candid response. Only trust OpenAI if they were doing the right thing, democratising control. The board can fire me, and I think thats important. I think the board over time should get democratized to all of humanity. Theres many ways that could be implemented, his response. Altman went on to explain why OpenAI had a weird hierarchy, citing he believed the technology they were building should belong to humanity as a whole. The same structure which led to him being fired, with weak arguments to side with as justification. Did OpenAI develop AI tech or capabilities which Altman didnt tell the board about? Altman isnt one to throw caution to the wind. Despite being an investor in tech start-up Humanes recently unveiled AI Pin wearable, hes still reserving his judgement on what it can and cannot do. Plenty of technology that looked like a sure bet ends up selling for 90 percent off at Best Buy, he said last month, at WSJs Future of AI conversation. For now, OpenAI will be steered by former Twitch boss Emmett Shear as interim CEO. Shear will take over from Mira Murati, who was CEO for just the weekend. The AI company has gone through CEOs in the span of a few days. Things may change dramatically by the time you read this. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "hijacking" the Congress party's guarantee schemes to fight elections in five states. Karnataka DCM DK Shivakumar (PTI)(HT_PRINT) Speaking at a function organised to celebrate the 106th birth anniversary of former prime minister and Congress leader Indira Gandhi, Shivakumar said, "The BJP is using our guarantee model to fight the ongoing assembly elections. But beware; the BJP and JDS will revoke the guarantee schemes if they come to power because they don't believe in them." He further said that the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) opposed the guarantee scheme, and they will surely attempt to revoke these schemes. READ | Ashoka threatens to start protest if Savarkars photo removed from Karnataka assembly "The Congress government would never do away with these schemes as they are helping crores of people," Shivakumar said, urging the party workers to create awareness about the benefits of guarantee schemes. Each family is getting benefits up to 5,000 per month, he said. He also said that the state ministers have been asked to ensure the benefit schemes are reaching the people. "November 28 is the Foundation Day of Congress. We have decided to form a committee to conduct a survey on guarantee schemes," Karnataka Deputy CM said. He said former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was the first to introduce several guarantee schemes in the country. "Thousands of pro-people guarantee schemes, including midday meals in Anganawadis, were introduced by Indira Gandhi. The Nehru family has sacrificed power, assets, and even life for the sake of the country. There is no parallel to the sacrifice of the Nehru family for the country," the Congress leader said. Shivakumar also said that the credit for creating a new country on the world map goes to Indira Gandhi. READ | PM Modi's 'stand with you today & always' message for team India as Australia wins World Cup "When Pakistan attacked the then-East Pakistan, she fought valiantly and helped Bangladesh obtain its freedom. He announced that the book on Indira Gandhi penned by Sonia Gandhi would be published in Kannada soon," he added. Born on November 19, 1917, Indira Gandhi left an indelible mark in national politics and served as the third Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination on October 31, 1984. The country's first and, to date, only female prime minister, she emerged as a central figure in Indian politics as the leader of the Congress. Indira, the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, was succeeded in the country's highest office by her son Rajiv Gandhi. Her combined tenure of 15 years and 350 days made her the second-longest-serving PM after her father. Amid resentment within, among a section of leaders, over his appointment as Karnataka BJP president, B Y Vijayendra on Sunday said, everything will be fine, and every one including senior party MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who is upset, will be taken into confidence. Newly appointed party state chief Vijayendra Yediyurappa in Bengaluru. (ANI Photo)(Arunkumar Rao) He said, everyone in the party has the freedom to express their opinion and that the BJP's central leadership and seniors in the state unit will discuss and find a solution to all issues internally. "You are interpreting senior leader Yatnal's statements wrongly. He has freedom to express his opinion. This is BJP, a national party. Every leader has his own opinion and based on everyone's opinion our central leadership will decide," Vijayendra said in response to a question on disgruntlement within the party, citing Yatnal's public statements. READ | Karnataka: BJP MLAs walk out of partys legislative meeting Speaking to reporters here, he said, "I'm not denying that Yatnal might have made certain statements out of pain. He might have shared certain issues, but our central leadership and seniors in the state will discuss and will try to find an answer. We will take him into confidence." To a question about senior MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi's alleged disgruntlement, he said, "All is fine, everything will be fine, nothing to worry." Yatnal made his displeasure over the elevation of Yediyurappas son Vijayendra as state president, known, as he struck a discordant note saying that the party workers and the Hindu activists would not accept it if BJP becomes a party of one family, in an apparent reference to Yediyurappa and his family. READ | BJP shouldn't be a family's party: Senior Karnataka MLA on Vijayendra's appointment Yatnal, along with Ramesh Jarkiholi, had walked out of the BJP legislature party meeting on Friday even before it commenced to elect senior MLA R Ashoka, as its new leader, who would also be the leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly. Yatnal, ahead of the meeting, had demanded that the leader of the opposition in the assembly should be from North Karnataka. Asked about certain criticism regarding the election of the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly dubbing Ashoka as "incapable", Vijayendra said, "Who is how much incapable and who has how much capability, will be decided by the people in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, not the ruling party or others." Amid spike in infiltration bids, chief of the Northern Command Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi held a meeting with director general of police RR Swain and discussed with him the winter strategy, including security and administrative arrangements during the period, officials said on Monday. Northern Command chief, DGP discuss winter strategy Building cohesion and synergy #LtGenUpendraDwivedi, #ArmyCdrNC interacted with Shri R.R Swain, director general of police, #JammuAndKashmir to discuss about enhanced coordination between the forces, plans for zero tolerance to terror and security & administrative arrangements amid upcoming winters. #IndianArmy and @JmuKmrPolice are committed to bolster safety and security of #JammuKashmir, wrote Northern Command on micro-blogging site X. This was the first interaction between DGP Swain and Lt Gen Dwivedi since the former took over the charge on October 31. Police and other security agencies are on high alert across Jammu and Kashmir, especially along the Line of Control, to thwart any infiltration attempt by terrorists before heavy snowfall blocks the traditional passes in the high mountains. Anti-terrorist operations have also been intensified in the villages close to forests and borders as part of an area domination exercise. On Sunday, DGP Swain visited Rajouri and interacted with field officers. He also chaired a meeting of the officers of the army and central armed forces. Swain had said that Jammu and Kashmir Police is best force to fight terrorism as no one knows the topography and demography as we do. During the meeting with the officers of different forces besides sister agencies, all officers vowed to continue proactive actions against terrorism and their supporters. Revisiting and rejuvenating border police posts with the support and synergy of other forces was also discussed along with strengthening the intelligence and border security grids. Swain also felicitated the officers and personnel who participated in the recent Behrote Top encounter where a foreign terrorist was killed. Days after a video of the Kartarpur Project Management Unit holding a dance party on the premises of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistans Punjab province surfaced online, the authorities on Monday dismissed the report that participants drank alcohol and ate non-vegetarian food at the gathering. A video of the Kartarpur Project Management Unit holding a dance party on the premises of Gurdwara Darbar Sahibhad earlier surfaced online. (HT File) Two PMU officials on Monday told PTI that alcoholic beverages were not served or there was no dance at the reception held on November 18. The officials said the viral video which showed alcohol at the dinner party must have been doctored for propaganda purposes. A girl was singing a ghazal in the event and the video was doctored for ulterior motives, one of the officials said. The officials also clarified that the dinner reception was held about 2km from Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in the Project Management Unit (PMU) complex. Inaugurated on November 9, 2019, on the eve of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the first Guru of Sikhism, Kartarpur has a special significance in the Sikh religion as Guru Nanak had spent the last years of his life at the place. The PMU said in a statement that the dinner reception was held last weekend for stakeholders for the development of Phase-II of Kartarpur and providing better facilities to visitors. On Saturday night (November 18), the PMU hosted an informal dinner at Kartarpur in which heads or their representatives of all important government departments of Narowal district, including the judiciary, district administration, police, Rangers, customs, anti-narcotics officials and journalists, were present, the PMU said. It said the purpose of the event was to enhance coordination and cooperation among stakeholders concerned with the deployment of Phase II of Kartarpur. The visa-free Kartarpur corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjabs Gurdaspur district. The crossing allows devotees from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Narowal, 130km from Lahore in Pakistan, from Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur. The gurdwara in Kartarpur is 4.7km from the India-Pakistan border on the Pakistani side. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has given his nod to 83 shops and commercial establishments to operate 24 hours, a move underscoring the government's commitment to fostering economic growth and job opportunities. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (PTI file) According to a Delhi government statement, these businesses comprising shops, restaurants, and other entities, must meticulously adhere to the regulations outlined in the Delhi Shop Establishment Act of 1954. Rigorous government oversight will be implemented, and any violations will face stern consequences. Pending the Delhi lieutenant governor's approval, these establishments are poised to transition to round-the-clock operations, the statement added. During the application review process under the Act, a total of 122 submissions were received, with 29 falling short of requirements and subsequently disregarded. But 83 applications, received clearance after meeting the eligibility criteria. Over the years, Chief Minister Kejriwal has consistently granted permission for 635 shops to operate 24 hours, signaling a progressive and business-friendly environment in Delhi, the statement added. The Delhi government said the overarching goal is not only to stimulate economic development but also to elevate the standard of public services. The introduction of an efficient online application process has successfully eliminated bureaucratic impediments, ensuring a swift verification process, the government said. The chief minister has granted permission selectively to specific categories of shops in diverse locations, and stringent actions will be taken against any breaches of regulations. This initiative aligns with Kejriwal's broader vision for Delhi, aiming to create a vibrant and inclusive economy that benefits both businesses and residents. The government's proactive measures underscore its dedication to fostering a conducive environment for commerce and employment, paving the way for Delhi's continued growth and development, the statement added. Delhis air quality index (AQI) was in the very poor category on Monday with a reading of 341 at 9am. The citys Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 338 at 8 am on Monday. (HT Photo) For the past two days, the AQI has been improving, however, the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi predicts that the AQI will continue to remain in the very poor category for the next six days. As of 9am on Monday, six out of 38 stations were in the poor category, three were in the severe category while the remaining were in the very poor category. The AQI had improved to a low of 291 at 7am on Sunday, falling into the poor zone for a short time before springing back past 300. ITO recorded an AQI of 322, Delhi University had an AQI of 350 while IGI Airport had an AQI of 321. The predominant surface wind is likely to be coming from Northwest direction with wind speed 04-08 kmph. The AQEWS predicted a mainly clear sky and shallow fog on Monday morning. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday predicted that stronger winds, blowing in from the northwest, will hit Delhi from Monday. Wind speeds, which were 6km/hr on Sunday, will touch 8km/hr by Monday, and 15km/hr by Tuesday, said the agency. Also Read:All Delhi schools reopen, air quality remains in very poor category today While the northwesterly winds that blow into Delhi from Punjab will bring in smoke from burning paddy fields, their speeds will help disperse some of these pollutants. However, conditions are likely to become unfavourable for dispersal of pollutants once more from November 23. The IMD said that Delhi could see foggy mist in the morning and mainly clear skies later on Monday. The maximum temperature was recorded at 27.2C, and the minimum temperature was recorded at 12C while shallow fog is expected on Tuesday and Wednesday. The only thing that reminded Sulakhi of home, seated over 1,600 km away, was the colour-coded, geometrical shawl, known as kapadaganda, which she embroidered. The red triangle represented sacrifice, the yellow stood for turmeric, and the green horizontal lines on the shawl were the jungle-clad Niyamgiri hills of Odisha home to Sulakhi and other 8,000 members of the Dongria Kandha tribe (according to the 2011 census). A weaver from Odisha embroiders a shawl at her stall set up at the India International Trade Fair. (HT PHOTO) Read here: Trade Fair is back in bigger & better avatar at Pragati Maidan in Delhi Till November 27, Delhi is home to Sulakhi, 25, and her 21-year-old niece. The two have a stall at the 42nd India International Trade Fair (IITF) being held at the revamped Pragati Maidan, which was opened to public on November 18. It houses at least 3,500 exhibitors selling handicrafts, clothes, decor items, jewellery, art, and food. The two young women, who speakKuvi, and know little Hindi, but attempt answering queries of buyers. When someone asked Sulakhi how long it took to make a shawl, she said, at least a month and a half. Sulakhi continued to embroider as passers-by walked past the stall, inquired about the fabric, and the rate. Only some asked Sulakhi about the tribe she belonged to, and the Niyamgiri hills her community has fought hard for. The Dongria Kandha tribe has firmly stood against the proposed bauxite mining by Vedanta Groups alumina refinery plant in Niyamgiri hills. Each shawl is at least two metres long, costs upto 8,000, and takes six to seven weeks to finish. A board at the stall read, This intricate embroidery is typically done by the female folk of the community. The Kapadaganda showcases the exceptional craftsmanship and is often gifted by unmarried women to their lover as a token of love. It is also presented to brothers and fathers as a symbol of affection. Spread across 14 halls, the annual IITF also houses 59-year-old weaver Nazda Khatoon from Bihars Jainagar, pashmina shawl maker Bashir Ahmed Bhat from Kashmirs Budgam district, and 45-year-old kalamkari artiste S Arunama from Andhra Pradeshs Nimmalakunta. Khatoon, surrounded by sikki art -- jewellery, bags and boxes made of from sikki grass -- looked up once done weaving a green ring, and said, When I was 10 years old, I watched how my grandmothers fingers swiftly wove sikki grass into jewellery and bags. Now, I do the same thing. Depending on the size of the object I make, it can take between one hour to one month to complete it. Once she got married, Khatoon gave up sikki art. But it was my calling and I couldnt stay away. I resumed it, and also taught the women of my village how to do it, she said, before she got busy with a customer. Read here: Delhi traffic police issues advisory ahead of International Trade Fair. Check routes to avoid And then there was Bhat, an IITF veteran, who put on show a number of shawls, and explained each embroidery style. He said, This is the sozni embroidery technique, a popular needlework technique which employs both wool and silk. And this is a Kani shawl, one of the oldest shawls to have originated in the Kanihama area of Kashmir valley. It is one of the most luxurious shawls. There are also 12 international stalls at the IITF, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Oman and Vietnam. New Delhi [India], November 20 (ANI): Bharatiya Janta Party leader Shehzad Poonawalla on Monday attacked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying he failed to fulfil his promise of making Yamuna clean. HT Image Poonawalla accused Kejriwal of spending thousands of crores given by the Centre on advertisements or "doing corruption" instead of cleaning Yamuna. Notably, Poonawalla's remark came after visuals of Yamuna Ghat at Kalindi Kunj surfaced on social media showing devotees standing in knee-deep water, performing rituals on Chhath, all while the toxic foam covered the surface of the Yamuna River. It is pertinent to note that Delhi is already facing issues related to severe pollution and now toxic water conditions have escalated concern among the people. Further coming down heavily on the AAP-led Delhi government, Poonawala said, first they turned the city into a gas chamber and now the water has also become toxic. "This is the Kejriwal Model... First, they made Delhi a gas chamber... Now we have to suffer from toxic water too. When devotees entered the water to offer 'Arghya' to God Sun on Chhath Pooja, there was poisonous and foamy water everywhere," said Poonawalla. "Kejriwal made big claims about cleaning Yamuna (river). Thousands of crores were given by the central government, but they were used either in advertisements or corruption... The promises of removing toxic foams and ghats that would be made were not fulfilled... This is the Kejriwal Model," he added. Earlier, AAP minister Atishi inspected the Burari Ghat and made an assurance that the froth in the Yamuna would be cleared soon. However, she also blamed Uttar Pradesh for releasing polluted water into rivers passing through Delhi. "To remove that toxic foam, a sprinkling of food-grade chemicals and enzymes is being done there. The sprinkling team started the sprinkling work on 10 boats last night. In the next two days, the toxic foam will completely vanish...But I would like to urge the Uttar Pradesh government to not send its polluted water to Delhi," she said while speaking to ANI. AAP MLA and Vice-chairman of Delhi Jal Board, Somnath Bharti, after inspecting the Chhath Ghat in Kalindi Kunj, said that the foam in the water was not toxic and assured that from next year, the foam would not be seen. Like every year, this year too several pictures of women devotees surfaced on social media, showing them offering evening and morning 'Araghya' in the midst of the thick layer of foam rising in Yamuna. If experts are to believed, the white froth seen on the Yamuna surface is mostly a mixture of sewage and industrial waste and contains high levels of ammonia and phosphates, which can cause respiratory and skin problems. (ANI) The Allahabad high court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to proceed with development of Sri Bankey Behari Temple Corridor in Vrindavan. The court also made it clear that the state government will bear the expenses of the corridor. The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by one Anant Sharma and another of Mathura. (For Representation) We are not in agreement with the argument of the state counsel that for construction of the corridor, the funds deposited in the bank belonging to the deity may be permitted to be utilised. This amount of 262.50 crore lying in the bank, shall remain untouched particularly as we have not adjudicated the inter se rights of the State viz a viz the Sevayats (Goswami Samaj) and the Government is free to utilise its own money for the secular activity of facilitating public interests, the court observed. The bench comprising Chief Justice Pritinker Diwakar and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava passed the order while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by one Anant Sharma and another of Mathura after a stampede in the temple in August last year. In the petition, a prayer had been made for proper crowd management, especially during festivals and holidays when lakhs of devotees congregate there. The court fixed January 31, 2024 as the next date of hearing in the PIL. The order was made public on Monday. After hearing parties concerned, the bench said, State Government (is free) to proceed with the implementation of plans and Scheme submitted to this court, which the court finds appropriate and necessary in the interest of justice. We leave it open for the State Government to take whatever steps it deems appropriate, after consultation with the technical experts in the field, for implementing the Scheme. State Government, after implementation of the Scheme, is expected to ensure that no further obstructions/encroachment be allowed to come up on the approach roads to the Temple, the court said. On the issue of devotees facing problems during development of the corridor, the bench observed, We make it clear that the Darshan of the devotees shall not be hampered in any manner, except for the implementation of the Scheme, during which appropriate alternative arrangements shall be made. The present management along with all the stakeholders are directed to ensure that the Darshan of the devotees are not restricted in any manner and by anyone. The district authorities are also directed to ensure strict compliance of the above directions and any act of violation shall be reported to this Court. Earlier, the state government had placed before the court the scheme regarding development of the temple area as corridor with purchase of around 5-acre land around the temple to provide facilities to devotees. As per the scheme, there would be no interference of any kind in Puja, Archana or Shringar carried out by the Goswamis and whatever right they have shall be continued to be enjoyed by them. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday targeted the Congress government in poll-bound Rajasthan by again flagging appeasement and discrimination on religious lines while comparing the situation with Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states where he said this wasnt the case. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a rally in rural area of Jaipur on November 20. (Sourced) The Rajasthan government imposes curfew on Ram Navami while in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, 4 crore people undertake Kanwar yatra each year without any trouble. That is why it is important to vote for BJPs Kamal (lotus) symbol as that is guarantee of peace, security and growth, he said. While addressing a series of public meetings in Jaipur (rural), Dausa, Alwar and Bharatpur, Yogi spoke of how beef or cow meat was recovered from a car in the area. He also said had a BJP lawmaker been there in Bharatpur area, this wouldnt have been the case. Yogi also spoke of how brave Rajput kings Rajasthan had produced. This is the land of brave hearts. This is the land that has produced legendary rulers like Prithviraj Chauhan, Maharana Pratap and Surajmal. This is the land where queen Padmini did Jauhar and this is also the land of Mirabai but look what has happened to the land in the last five years of the Congress rule. Now, on Ram Navami Day curfew is imposed here while in U.P., grand Deepotsav is setting newer records each year, he said. In India, Lord Ram is associated with our deep-rooted, ancient religious ethos. From birth to death, Lord Rams name is spoken. (Mahatma) Gandhis last words too were Hey Ram. Our life and birth are associated with Lord Ram but the Congress would not hesitate to hit at our religious beliefs by raising doubts about the existence of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna. That is why it is essential to respond to such forces with your vote, the U.P. CM said. Highlighting the legacy of former Vice President of India and Rajasthan chief minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who transformed Rajasthan into a prominent tourism hub, he said in the last five years, the state had registered a decline in development, tourism and the well-being of farmers. Instead of development indices, the state now has the unfortunate distinction of being the leader in paper leaks, he said. Yogi said there had been infiltration incidents during the Congress rule but the terrorist leaders now knew that any such activity in India would result in a strong response from our soldiers who would enter their hideouts to neutralise the threat. On the Covid pandemic, he said indigenous vaccine prepared by India ensured protection to 142 crore people. In present day Rajasthan, criminal elements call the shots while in U.P. decisive action has been taken against mafia against whom bulldozers have been used, he added. Yamuna ghats in the city came alive early on Monday morning as scores of people gathered there to offer prayers to Surya, the solar deity in Hinduism, marking the end to the four-day Chhath festivities. Among arrangements made by the district administration for the occasion were the decked-up ghats. HT Image People seen offering water to the deity had been on 36-hour-long fast. Later, they had prasad after the rituals. Balkeshwar, Dusshera, Rambagh and Kailash Ghats had witnessed similar scenes the previous evening as devotees prayed to the setting sun. Various organisations had come forward to organise the events at the ghats. However, the water quality of the Yamuna remained an issue. District magistrate Bhanu Chandra Goswami, additional police commissioner KK Chaudhary and MLA Purshottam Khandelwal visited the Balkeshwar ghat on Sunday evening. Caption :: Devotees praying at Dushhera Ghat near Taj Mahal on Monday morning. Photo HT LUCKNOW The UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (Uprvunl) and the NTPC will jointly set up 1,600mw Anpara-E thermal power plant in Sonbhadra district to boost availability of electricity in the state. The Anpara A, B and D units with total capacity of 2630mw are owned by the Uprvunl while the 1,200mw Anpara C plant is under Lanco, a private company. (Pic for representation) The Uprvunl board on Monday gave approval to a proposal in this regard in a meeting chaired by Ashish Kumar Goyel, chairman of all the energy corporations in the state. The proposal will be sent to the state government for further approval. An amount of 18,624 crore is estimated to be spent on the establishment of the 1,600mw Anpara-E thermal power unit to be set up by the Meja Utpadan Nigam Ltd, a joint venture of Uprvunl and the NTPC, said Goyel. The Anpara A, B and D units with total capacity of 2630mw are owned by the Uprvunl while the 1,200mw Anpara C plant is under Lanco, a private company. He also reviewed progress of two upcoming thermal plants, 1320mw Jawaharpur and 1320mw Obra-C plants. Goyel directed officials to ensure early operation of the first unit in both plants and asked officials to complete overhauling of power units under maintenance by January so that uninterrupted power could be provided to people in next years summer. As UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) chairman, he issued stern warning to 10 executive engineers for poor performance with regard to revenue recovery and implementation of the one-time settlement (OTS) scheme in their respective divisions. NAGPUR: Maya, a 13-year-old tigress in Maharashtras Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) that was last spotted in August, may have died, people familiar with the matter said after a tigresss carcass was spotted in the jungle on Saturday evening. Maya (T-12), who is feared to have been killed in territorial fight, was photographed four months ago in Tadoba -Andhari Tiger Reserve (FILE PHOTO) Mayas last sighting was on August 23 in the Panchdhara area near Tadoba Lake, when the park was closed for two months because of monsoons. When the tigress wasnt spotted after the park reopened on October 1, extensive monitoring operations were initiated in her known territory from October 7 utilising camera traps and regular patrolling in the area encompassing Tadoba and Kolara ranges, recognised as her territory. Forest guards and wildlife wing personnel found a skeleton in forest compartment number 82 in Tadoba on Saturday. The remains of a tiger skeleton were scattered over a 100m radius and were collected for DNA analysis by wildlife veterinarians and biologists. The parts were at an advanced stage of decomposition. The bones and other body parts were found by the team in the same territory as the one occupied by T-12, said Nandkishore Kale, deputy director (core). The samples are being sent for DNA analysis to the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, to be matched with DNA samples of T-12 collected during an ongoing scientific study, said Dr Jitendra Ramgaonkar, chief conservator of forests and field director, TATR. Kale added that the DNA reports are expected by November 30. This is the second tiger death to be reported from the tiger reserve over the last few days. On November 14, Bajrang, a prominent attraction for tourists in Maharashtras famous Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve, died in a fierce territorial battle with another tiger at Wahangaon village under the Chimur forest range. Wildlife conservationists in Chandrapur speculated that Maya (T-12) may have been killed in a territorial fight with other tigresses Bijli and Roma, the two daughters of Chhoti Tara, who are currently ruling Mayas turf. Thane Well-known cardiologist to transform village school into smart school The children of Deolana Debhegaon, a small village in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district in Marathawada will no longer have to trudge five kms to go to a big and better school. The small two- three room municipal school in their own village will now be transformed into a smart school, thanks to the persistent efforts of well-known cardiologist Dr Vijay Surase. Dr Surase, who was honoured with Maharashtra Gaurav Award 2023, was born in Deolana Debhegaon, but never ended up studying in the small village school where his father once studied. His family moved out of the village when he was very young. Speaking with HT, Dr Surase said, My father did basic schooling in our village-based school and became a professor and later University Registrar. I was born in my village but due to lack of educational facilities, we moved to the city. But whenever I used to visit my village, I always thought about the betterment of education facilities for the village children who have to travel miles to complete their education. So, I formed a trust and started the work to improve the school plus general conditions of my village. But then, I realized that this is not just about school and children in our village, but it is an issue that affects the whole of Maharashtra. Dr Surase then started continuous correspondence with the state government and suggested *CSR funds support for upgrading all Zilla Parishad schools across the state. The Maharashtra government finally took out a GR to develop municipal schools under CSR funds in September this year and almost 66,000 schools are going to get smarter now through the adopt a school scheme. Dr Himself has first started and he is almost half done in reconstructing his village dilapidated school Acknowledging Dr Surases persistent follow up with the government, Deputy Secretary Prashant Badgeri wrote to the good doctor praising his efforts and repeated persuasion for upgrading state schools with CSR support. If every capable company or trust comes forward to develop government schools into a smart school, then it would be good for not only for childrens future but also for the state and the country. I started following up with government departments including CM to develop the schools with CSR funds. The government took up the idea and now thousands of schools will be made smarter. It was such a happy day for me when I read news reports that the government has floated such a GR. Dr Surase has adopted the three villages and so school as well under the scheme and formulated a plan to upgrade the other schools too into smart schools with new logistics, computers and smart learning amenities. 31-year-old Pramod Thackeray, a villager from Deolana Debhegaon, recalled how difficult it was to access good education during his schooling years. We used to travel four to five kms away from our village to reach a good secondary school. The doctor himself provided bicycles for some children to travel to the school. But, now with the upgraded school, our children will not have to waste time traveling away from the village and use that time to study well. Lucknow: A fire ignited at the Satya Business Park building on Naval Kishore Road in bustling Hazratganj on Monday evening, attributed to a short circuit in the electric panel. Promptly, eight fire tenders and a hydraulic fire unit rushed to the scene from Hazratganj Fire Station after receiving the alert. Eight fire tenders, hydraulic fire unit rescued 40 people; no casualty (HT Photo) During the hour-long rescue operation, fire personnel successfully rescued approximately 40 individuals, with three people temporarily losing consciousness. Thankfully, no casualties were reported. At the time of the incident, around 80 people were present inside the Canara Bank-occupied ground floor plus two additional floors hosting offices of private companies. The fire originated in the Rudra Real Estate office on the first floor, subsequently spreading to the adjacent Poonawalla Fincopr, a finance company. The flames then extended to the second floor of the building. Firefighters reached the scene swiftly, with trapped individuals resorting to breaking windows and traversing the building ledge for escape. Some also used the stairs to exit the building. Chief fire officer Mangesh Kumar stated that the fire, triggered by a short circuit at 6 pm, was extinguished within half an hour. The entire rescue operation concluded within an hour, with 40 people successfully rescued, and three individuals unconscious during the incident. Upon receiving information, district magistrate Surya Pal Gangwar, accompanied by other district officials, also arrived at the site. The district magistrate noted the rapid spread of the fire due to flammable materials like paper and computers. However, the functioning fire alarm system promptly triggered an alert following the mishap. Thanks to the close proximity of Hazratganj Fire Service Station, fire tenders swiftly reached the site, controlling the fire, he added. Preliminary findings suggest that the fire originated from a short circuit in the electric panel or wiring, as per the district magistrate. A 47-year-old mans attempt to fake his own death in a crocodile attack in Odishas Kendrapara district was busted after police found out about his plan. He had done it for compensation from the government meant for those who died in wild animal attack. (Representative file image) According to police, he had done it for compensation from the government meant for those who died in wild animal attack. On Saturday morning, Bikrant Mallick of Andara village left his belongings on the Brahmani riverbank and went missing thereafter. Mallick owed a few lakhs to his creditors and was advised by his friends to pour water on idols near a river. He then went missing after which locals feared he might have been dragged by crocodiles in the river. Also Read: Man booked for making fake birth, death certificates in Gurugram His family then informed the local police station. Police, however, found his mobile location to be in Cuttack city, 70 km away from the place where he went missing. We checked the CCTV footage from a shop near Andara village and through mobile phone tracking, we found him to be in Cuttack. We asked him to come to the police station. During interrogation it was found that he had faked his disappearance to get rid of pesky debtors, said Pattamundai police station inspector Ranjit Mohanty. Mallick confessed to have faked his death by leaving his bike and clothes near the river ghat so that his family can get a compensation of 6 lakh from the state forest department. Suspecting involvement of his wife and other family members, police are interrogating them as well. Mallicks neighbour said that he had been working as a daily wager in Punjab and returned to the village last week. He had taken a huge loan from some villagers. On his return to the village, they began asking for the money. He probably hatched the plan to fake his death to help his wife get the compensation amount from the forest department, the neighbour said. Divisional forest officer of Rajnagar, Sudrashan Gopinath Yadav said the forest department had previously dealt with false compensation claims related to crocodile attacks, and a thorough inquiry will be conducted in this matter. Discharging duty at the open Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan Border was challenging for SSB Jawans due to the possibilities of misuse by anti-social elements of a third country. IG SSB Ratan Sanjay talking to mediapersons in Gorakhpur on Monday (HT Photo) Those were the thoughts of Ratan Sanjay, inspector general, Shasastra Seema Bal, in conversation with a media team after dedicating 277 newly trained jawans, on Monday. Terming the SSB the most disciplined force, he said that after 44 weeks of rigorous training, these jawans had been dedicated to the nation. He observed their performance in convocation programmes in the 26th Passing Out Ceremony and administered the oath to them. He also inspected their parade at SSB Ground in Gorakhpur and expressed hope that these jawans would strengthen the SSB. The IG SSB said that the force had a strong intelligence wing to monitor inputs of intelligence agencies and work in tandem with them. Nepal and Bhutan are neighbours and companion countries, and the open border is used by citizens of these countries. But the chances of troublemakers of a third country sneaking in has increased, he added. Sanjay asserted that SSB Jawans deployed at Sunauli and Rupaidiha Border use civil dress to mix among civilians to check human traffickers and smugglers at these borders in cooperation with non-government organisations. In reply to a question, Sanjay said that the SSB had unique features of national integration and in this battalion most jawans were from Bihar. Abdur Rahman Two brothers were killed and four others of their family grievously injured in Bihars Lakhisarai district on Monday morning after they were shot by a 25-year-old man whose marriage with a girl of the family had fallen apart, police said. One of the injured being brought to a hospital. (PTI) The two brothers were declared dead at the local hospital while three others have been referred to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in critical condition. One is undergoing treatment at the sadar hospital. The incident took place at Punjabi Mohalla when the family members were returning home after performing Chhath Puja. The assailant, Ashish Chaudhary, married Durga Jha five years ago. Subsequently, he began to suspect his wife of having an extramarital affair, which led to quarrels between them. Thereafter, Durga separated, but he wanted her to live with him. Durgas parents, however, did not agree. Ten days ago, both families had a fight too, Lakhisarai superintendent of police (SP) Pankaj Kumar said, adding that a manhunt has been launched to nab the killer who is at large. Police recovered a 10-page note from Ashishs residence that has the details of matter. Four of his friends have been detained for questioning, the SP said. Those who died were identified as Chandan Kumar Jha and his brother Raj Nandan Kumar. The injured have been identified as Preeti Devi, Lavli Devi, Durga Jha and her father Shashi Bhushan Jha. Police said they have recovered a pistol from the spot, which is said to be used in the crime. The SP said the accused belonged to scheduled caste and had no criminal history. Reacting to the incident, leader of the opposition in assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha, who is MLA from Lakhisarai, said the death toll had risen to four as per his information. Law and order has collapsed in the state. If this is happening on the day of Chhath and so easily, one can well imagine the freedom anti-socials enjoy. An attempt is being made to divert a serious crime as love affair to save the culprits, he said. LJP (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan said that the incident pointed to the growing lawlessness in the state. What more is left to prove the sheer lawlessness in the state? This is unfortunate that the government wants to turn a blind eye to such repeated incidents, he said. Meanwhile, in another incident, three persons received bullet injuries at Amritpur Belka village in Vaishali district on Sunday evening, police said. All three have been taken to Patna Medical College and Hospital. Town police station house officer Chandra Gupta Kumar said that after performing evening Chhath prayers, a family reached their home when their neighbour started a verbal duel with them over firecracker bursting and fired at them. Two members of a family were shot dead, and four others sustained injuries in a firing incident on Monday in Bihar's Lakhisarai. The incident unfolded in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai as the family was returning from a nearby ghat after performing Chhath pooja. Several members of a family were shot in firing at Bihar's Lakhisarai. The injured individuals, three of whom are in critical condition, were rushed from Begusarai Sadar Hospital to Patna for advanced medical treatment. Preliminary investigations by the local authorities suggest that the motive behind the shooting is linked to a love affair, reported ANI quoting Lakshisarai superintendent of police, Pankaj Kumar. Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai. The incident took place when they were returning from Chhath Ghat after performing pooja. Three injured have been referred from Begusarai Sadar Hospital to Patna. The matter is related to a love affair. Police have reached the spot and an investigation is underway, ANI quoted Kumar as saying. The deceased have been identified as Chandan Kumar and Rajnandan Kumar. The four injured while the injured include Lovely Kumari, Preeti Kumari, Durga Kumari and Shashi Bhushan Kumar. Upon receiving the information, police reached the spot and recovered a pistol used in the crime. This is a developing storyplease check back for updates Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday once again attacked Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, though without naming him, saying a chief minister of INDIA block used derogatory language against a former chief minister because he was from a very backward family. CM Nitish Kumar offers Chhath prayers at his residence in Patna on Monday. (Santosh Kumar/HT) Modi, who was addressing an election rally in Rajasthans Pali, was apparently referring to Kumars attack on former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi in Bihar assembly during the winter session earlier this month. He insulted him because he comes from a very backward family. He took pleasure in insulting him. Congress does not have the wisdom to tell that it was wrong, Modi said. This is the second time that Modi has targeted Nitish Kumar at his election rallies without naming him. Earlier, at an election rally in Madhya Pradesh, the PM had attacked Kumar over his population control remarks in the state assembly, saying the leader of the INDIA bloc insulted India before the world. Without naming Kumar, Modi said no INDIA bloc politician objected to his derogatory comments. He has no shame...will they stoop so low, the prime minister said, while addressing a poll rally in Madhya Pradeshs Guna. Kumar, while emphasising the importance of education among women in controlling the population, had put forward a vivid description in the state assembly of how an educated woman can restrain her husband during intercourse. He later apologised for his remarks. Kumars JD (U) was to quick to counter the PM on Monday. These days, PM is showing concern for (Jitan Ram) Manjhi but why was BJP mum when one of its MLAs had called the former CM as Jitan Rakchas Manjhi while another BJP leader has called for his tongue to be chopped. What type of Dalit respect they are talking of, asked JD (U) spokesperson Abhishek Jha. It was Nitish Kumar who made Manjhi the CM and his son a minister in state. Kumar gave him respect, but he fell in BJPs trap and is giving baseless statements these days. BJP even changed the name of programme run in the name of Dalit leader, the late Jagjiwan Ram, Jha said. RJD also condemned the PMs statement and reminded people about the treatment meted to Ram Vilas Paswans family by Delhi Police after his death. Everybody knows who made Manjhi ji the CM of Bihar, said Ejajz Ahmed, spokesperson of the RJD. The formal demand by the new president of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, for India to withdraw its military personnel from the Indian Ocean archipelago did not come as a surprise for New Delhi. For months, Muizzu, widely seen as a proxy for former pro-China president Abdulla Yameen, had contended during his election campaign that the people of the Maldives wanted all foreign military personnel to be ejected. Muizzu presented his demand at a meeting with Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday as the democratic will of the Maldivian people. The Indian side has indicated that the two countries will now discuss workable solutions for cooperating on the operation of two helicopters and a Dornier surveillance aircraft provided by New Delhi. Yameens stint as president was marked by a strong tilt towards China. This included a controversial free trade agreement that was never ratified by the Maldives, and even Maldivian leaders have pointed to the unsustainable debt created by massive infrastructure projects taken up with Chinese loans. India is believed to have about 50 security personnel in the Maldives, mainly for maintenance and operation of the three aircraft, which have played a key role in ensuring that countrys maritime security and saving more than 520 lives during medical evacuation sorties. Chinas presence in the region is hardly benign, what with its spy vessels crisscrossing the Indian Ocean and its military footprint expanding rapidly. Beijing has long eyed a presence in Male because of its proximity to important sea lanes that are crucial for Chinas energy supplies. For the same reason, it has explored opportunities in Sri Lanka as well. It is in the interest of the Maldives to work with India to find a solution that benefits regional security. The Punjab and Haryana high court has done well to quash a Haryana law that reserved up to 75% of private jobs, paying up to 30,000 a month, for local residents. However, Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Singh Chautala has said the government will move the Supreme Court after studying the judgment. The government shouldnt challenge the order. The populist act to introduce reservation for locals in the private sector was bad in law and unfriendly to industry and business. The two-judge bench that ruled the law unconstitutional said the State cannot discriminate against individuals on account of their domicile status. The Indian Constitution guarantees all citizens the right to livelihood irrespective of their places of birth and residence. It is the responsibility of the State to safeguard this right. The Court rightly stated that The concept of constitutional morality has been openly violated by introducing a secondary status to a set of citizens not belonging to the state of Haryana and curtailing their fundamental rights to earn their livelihood. Haryana, of course, is not the first state to adopt a nativist stance to address the unemployment crisis. States such as Maharashtra (up to 80% reservation), Karnataka (75%), Andhra Pradesh (75%) and Madhya Pradesh (70%) have similar laws for local residents and most of these have been challenged in courts. Labour migrates as per demand and wages and industry seeks to hire the best talent irrespective of their domicile status. Migrant labour has contributed to building and sustaining the economies of industrialised states such as Haryana, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. In fact, that is how successful economies manage the world over. Haryanas immediate concern assembly elections are less than a year away is high unemployment. It has the fourth highest rate of unemployment (9% as per Periodic Labour Force Survey, 2021-22) in the country. It is higher than the national average (4.1%) and that of its neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab. The domicile reservation law was a poll promise of the BJP-Jannayak Janta Party: In a state with close to five lakh registered job seekers (the state directorate of employment) it had a big appeal. The government should look at other avenues to provide them employment other than promise quotas which, by driving away industry, may only shrink job opportunities in Haryana. All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for promising to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in its Telangana manifesto, PTI reported. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi.(PTI) He also said that the UCC is not required in the country and stressed upon the need for more freedom of speech and expression whereby people will not be targeted for their attire and religion. Follow Telangana election coverage here. On November 18, the BJP promised to implement the UCC in Telangana if the party came to power in the state in the November 30 assembly elections. Union Minister Amit Shah, who released BJP's manifesto for the assembly polls, said that if the BJP forms a government it would constitute a committee to implement the Uniform Civil Code in Telangana within six months. On Monday, Owaisi alleged that the BJP indulges in such things instead of addressing the core issues relating to the development of the country. Read | AIMIM president Owaisi criticizes Karnataka govt for banning head cover in exams "As far as UCC is concerned, I wish and hope that Amit Shah goes to Adilabad, Khammam and Warangal and stands in the midst of all the Adivasis and tells them about the implementation of the UCC," Owaisi said, according to PTI. " He does not have the intellectual guts to go and say this thing, because the Adivasis will reject the BJP". Further, the AIMIM said that the Adivasis have constitutional protection to protect their culture, adding that the UCC is not what is required. "What is required in this country is more freedom of speech and expression wherein people will not be targeted for the clothes they wear or for the religion they belong to," he said. "For the past nine-and-a-half years, the BJP has been in power in our country (at the Centre). They have weakened the economy and destroyed small businesses. They have utterly failed in their promise of providing 2 crore jobs a year, and we have the highest unemployment of youth in the world. Instead of addressing these core issues relating to the development of the country, the BJP indulges in these issues (UCC, pilgrimages etc)," Owaisi said. He also responded to the targeting of the AIMIM by the Congress and the BJP in their election speeches. This is their political arrogance. They have come to know the strength of Majlis (AIMIM), that it is a powerful political party in Telangana. That's why they keep on taking Majlis' name. It will neither benefit Congress nor BJP as the people of Telangana have already decided (on whom to support), he said, according to PTI. He alleged that the politics of both, the Congress and the BJP, were based on hatred. "That's why I say the Telangana Congress President (A Revanth Reddy) belongs to RSS and today Mohan Bhagwat is having the remote control of Congress (controlling the Telangana Congress)," Owaisi further alleged. Telangana is witnessing an intense political battle as the Congress party has been running a spirited campaign. The state will undergo assembly elections on November 30, and the counting of votes, along with those of four other poll-bound states, has been scheduled for December 3. aespa's Winter is the newest brand ambassador for Polo Ralph Lauren. Two days after marking the groups third anniversary, the bands vocalist has been roped in as the global brand representative of American luxury. The announcement was made alongside dropping a string of drop dead gorgeous pictures of the K-pop idol flaunting her new status. aespa Winter(Ralph Lauren) aespas Winter releases her first images as Polo Ralph Lauren brand ambassador On November 20, the brand unveiled stunning photos of the K-pop sensation, showing her sporting a range of pieces from the company's Fall and Holiday collections for 2023. She is wearing a chic cream-colored sweater that is knitted and goes well with a matching beret cap in the first picture. A blue knit sweater in complementing color is draped casually over her shoulder and paired with a pair of blue jeans. Winter looks glamorous in the second photo, wearing a gorgeous black midi dress with tiny noodle straps and intricate beading. Tall black boots and a matching black purse complete the ensemble's sophisticated styling. Her choice of open hair and minimal makeup completes the entire look, giving off a sense of carefree chic. As per WKorea, Chef Lauren has officially appointed Winter from Group aespa as the Korean ambassador for the flagship brand, 'Polo Chef Lauren.' Since the brand's inception, Chef Lauren has consistently showcased traditional designs that embody both classic elements and originality each season. This has set the standard for the brand, reflecting its commitment to sustainability and the designer's philosophy. In the images accompanying the announcement of the ambassador, the K-pop idol flawlessly showcased the 2023 Fall holiday look and ID bag from Polo Chef Lauren, unveiling the brand's latest female ambassador. Polo's designers continue to explore the globe, bringing forth new lifestyles and concepts, and incorporating the emotions experienced during these travels into their design inspiration. The collaboration between Polo Chef Lauren and Victor promises an enchanting journey ahead. We appreciate your love and attention. Winter appeared on the cover of Vogue Korea Digital Issue April 2023 in collaboration with Polo Ralph Lauren. Fans have been waiting eagerly for her to be named the brand's face ever since. American YouTuber IShowSpeed recently dialled up his lawyer during livestream after discovering his merch was being ripped off. On Saturday, November 18, Speed was surfing AliExpress, an online retail service based in China, looking for cheap products under $100 to buy. During the stream, a fan suggested he search for his own name. To this, Speed shook his said, saying, There's no way I'm on this. However, much to his surprise, Speed found a whole page full of products selling counterfeit merch featuring his pictures. IShowSpeed's London debut: Get ready for an unforgettable in-person experience! Kevin Winter/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP) ALSO READ: IShowSpeed: I am in India to meet Virat Kohli, see India vs Pak match, and India winning it| EXCLUSIVE IShowSpeed calls his lawyer to sue these people The 18-year-old streamer was left shocked over the countless bootleg products that were on sale on AliExpress. From phone cases to blankets, socks, pillow covers, and more illegal IShowSpeed merch is available on the online retail giant. He instantly called his lawyer as fans watched his stream and said, So basically we might have to sue these people from China, like they're selling all socks and s**t, they're selling hoodies, pants.. He then screamed, What the f**k, and asked his lawyer, Can we please get these people out of here? Fans left amused over IShowSpeed's reaction to illegal merch Speed's lawyer then asked him, Would you like me to sue them? to which, he immediately said, Yes, please. His lawyer, who may just be one of his friends pretending, promptly acquired all the information of the illegal seller. Before disconnecting the call, Speed sent him the link to the products. He then sarcastically said, I mean bro, Im going to buy myself one, but hell no. A clip from Speed's livestream was shared on social media, leaving fans amused. One fan asked on X, formerly Twitter, He added it to the cart? A 23-year-old woman and her nine-month-old baby lost their lives after being electrocuted on the footpath near Hope Farm in Kadugodi police station limits in the early hours of Sunday, police officers familiar with the matter said. A case has been registered against five officials of Whitefield sub-division Bescom (Representative photo) According to the police, the woman, identified as Soundharya, and her baby girl were electrocuted after accidentally stepping on a live wire lying unattended on the footpath. Resident of AKG colony, Soundharya and her baby met their untimely demise around 6 am while Soundharya was walking with her daughter in her arms. Soundharya would have stepped on a live wire assuming it to be an optical fibre cable and both of them died on the stop after being electrocuted. Soundharyas husband [Kumar] who was with them escaped the electrocution, a police officer said. Police said that the couple was returning to Bengaluru via bus from their hometown in Salem of Tamil Nadu after celebrating Deepavali there. They got off the bus near Hope Farm junction. The woman was carrying her daughter and a bag while her husband was carrying a trolley. Though Kumar tried to save them, he was helpless as he also sustained a shock. Shivakumar Gunare, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (Whitefield), disclosed that three Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) officials were detained and are undergoing questioning. A case of negligence causing the death under section 304A of Indian Penal Code [IPC] has been registered at Kadugodi police station against the concerned Bescom officials, he told media. A case has been registered against five officials of Whitefield sub-division Bescom, including executive engineer Sriram, assistant executive engineer Subramani, assistant engineer Chetan and staff Rajanna and Manju. Bengaluru Central member of parliament (MP) PC Mohan, while condemning the incident, underscored the urgent need for preventive measures by Bescom. The electrocution at Hope Farm Junction, where a young woman lost her life, is heartbreaking and highlights the urgency for Bescom to adopt preventive measures. A heightened sense of responsibility from Bescom is crucial in averting such incidents and ensuring a safer environment, he posted on X. The death has raised the issue of the safety of pedestrians once again, as citizens have come down heavily on the negligence on the part of Bescom. Whitefield Rising, a citizen group, demanded strict action against the erring officials.A young woman was electrocuted to death at Hopefarm Junction today [Sunday], in the early hours of the morning. She came in contact with a live Bescom wire just hanging from the top. Hopefarm is one of the busiest junctions in Whitefield, with thousands of people walking, waiting to catch the bus, walking to the metro station, How could a live wire be just hanging? Thousands of people walk on this footpath next to bus stop. Metro is just a walk away. This is criminal negligence. A young lady, whose life has been brutally taken away. A rolling bag with her belongings at the side, standing mute witness to the tragedy, it added. This tragic event echoes previous incidents in Bengaluru, raising questions about the citys infrastructure and safety protocols. In September of last year, a girl died due to electrocution after slipping on a waterlogged road, leading to a complaint against Bescom. In April 2022, a 22-year-old man suffered a similar fate after coming into contact with a cable wire while walking on a pavement near a park. These incidents underscore the pressing need for comprehensive safety measures to prevent such tragedies in the future. Six police officers were killed and one was injured in Rajasthans Churu district early on Sunday, when their vehicle rammed a parked truck on a national highway. HT Image The officers were travelling to Jhunjhunu district, where they were to be deployed for Prime Minister Narendra Modis Sunday morning public rally, said officers aware of the matter. The deceased police officers were identified as assistant sub-inspector Ramchandra, constables Kumbharam, Suresh Meena, Thanaram and Mahendra, and Sukharam. The latter died while being taken to hospital, said police officers. According to Sujangarh circle officer Shakeel Khan, the driver of the vehicle was trying to avoid hitting a nilgai. The incident took place between 5.30am and 6am at the NH-58, near Kanota checkpost. In an attempt to save a Nilgai that suddenly came in front of their car, the driver lost control and hit a parked truck, said Khan. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Rajasthan director general of police (DGP) Umesh Mishra condoled the loss of lives in the accident. Early this morning, we received sad news of the casualties of police officers in a vehicle accident in Sujangarh Sadar area of Churu. Our deepest condolences to the families of all the policemen who died in this accident. I wish for the speedy recovery of the injured, Gehlot said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). A green corridor was put in place to take two injured officers to Jodhpur for treatment. However, one of them Sukharam died on the way. The other officer, also named Sukharam, is being treated, said officers. Khan said, The bodies were sent for a post-mortem examination at the Kanota community health centre. A case will be filed after the autopsy. Five police personnel from Kheenvsar police station in Nagaur and one officer from Mahila police station were on duty in PM Modis meeting to be held in Jhunjhunu. All of them were travelling in a Mahindra Xylo, said Narayan Togas, Nagaur superintendent of police. Union home minister and BJP leader Amit Shah on Monday invoked former PMs (late) Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi in his attack against the Congress party. Addressing a campaign rally in Telangana's Jagtial, he also accused AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao of indulging in what his party calls "dynastic politics". Union home minister Amit Shah addresses a public meeting for the Telangana Assembly elections. (ANI) "BRS, Majlis and Congress are 2G, 3G and 4G parties. 2G means KCR and KTR. 3G means Owaisi's grandfather, his father and Owaisi. 4G means Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul. Where is your place in it?" Amit Shah was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Shah also accused Owaisi of appeasement politics and vowed that his party will remove the 4 percent reservation to the Muslim community in government jobs and educational institutions in Telangana. He claimed KCR was afraid of Owaisi but the BJP was not. He said the AIMIM leader had the "steering wheel" of KCR's party. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a public meeting in Rajasthan. The Gandhi family has been the most influential force in the party over the last seven decades. "We have decided we will remove the 4% Muslim reservation as soon as our government is formed and will distribute it among SC, ST and OBC... KCR does not celebrate Hyderabad Redemption Day fearing Owaisi. But we are not afraid of Owaisi, we will celebrate Hyderabad Redemption Day as a state day... Owaisi does the politics of appeasement. Their (KCR) election symbol is a car, but KCR, KTR and Kavitha do not have the car steering. It is with Owaisi... We will make Telangana free of dynasty politics," he said. Also read: Asaduddin Owaisi's 'intellectual guts' dare to Amit Shah over Telangana UCC promise He claimed KCR is afraid of Owaisi, which is why Hyderabad Liberation Day isn't celebrated in Telangana. "Should we not celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day to remember our liberation from the Razakars? Fearing Owaisi, KCR does not celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day. But we do not fear Owaisi. We will celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day as a State day in Telangana once we form the government here," he added. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi.(PTI file photo) Meanwhile, Owaisi on Monday slammed BJP for promising the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in its Telangana manifesto. "As far as UCC is concerned, I wish and hope that Amit Shah goes to Adilabad, Khammam and Warangal and stands in the midst of all the Adivasis and tells them about the implementation of the UCC," Owaisi said, according to PTI. " He does not have the intellectual guts to go and say this thing, because the Adivasis will reject the BJP," he added. Telangana will go to polls on November 30. The results will be declared on December 3. With inputs from PTI, ANI A massive fire broke out at Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam fishing harbour and gutted around 35 fishing boats on Sunday night. Deputy Commissioner of Police Anand Reddy said the fire first broke out on a boat and then spread to nearly 35 fibre-mechanised boats at midnight. The fire first broke out on a boat and then spread to nearly 35 fibre-mechanised boats at Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam fishing harbour at midnight.(ANI) No casualties or injuries were reported in the incident, he said. Police and fire teams responded immediately. The fire was brought under control. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. A case has been filed and an investigation is underway, Reddy said. Visuals surfaced online showed firefighters trying to douse the blaze as helpless fishermen looked at the harbour. The fire broke out around 1am and was doused by 4am, officials told news agency PTI. The fire broke out in a town jetty area where fishing boats were anchored. After receiving information about the blaze, firefighters rushed to the spot, Visakhapatnam district fire officer S Renukayya told the agency. "We pressed 12 fire tenders into service and took help from the National Disaster Response Force and the Visakhapatnam Port Trust," he said. The officer said there are no reports of any casualties so far. Local fishermen, however, suspect foul play, alleging that unknown individuals may have intentionally set the boats on fire, news agency ANI reported. Bengaluru: Karnatakas Leader of the Opposition (LoP), R Ashoka has threatened to go on protest if former politician Vinayak Damodar Savarkars photograph is removed from the legislative assembly in Belagavi. Speaking to reporters, Ashoka alleged that the Congress administration intends to replace Savarkars image with that of the late former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. HT Image Ashoka said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had previously installed Savarkars photo in the assembly since he was a patriot who endured imprisonment during the freedom movement. He accused the Congress of planning to remove it, asserting that the argument for placing Nehrus photo instead is a form of glorifying hereditary politics. They [Congress government] argue that the photo of the late former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru should be placed instead of Savarkars photo, Ashoka said. The Congress government seems to prefer displaying only the photos of the grandfather, mother, son, and grandson in Karnataka. As the opposition, we will confront the ruling government and stage a protest, Ashoka said, adding that the BJP would oppose the Congress governments communal measures and the imposition of Tipu Sultans ideologies. In 2022, during the winter sessions first day in December, the previous BJP government had unveiled Savarkars photograph in the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha. This move sparked protests from the Congress, who had opposed the inclusion of Savarkars image inside the Belagavi assembly. They also unveiled images included those of Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Sardar Patel, BR Ambedkar, Swami Vivekananda, and Basavanna, with Nehrus portrait omitted. Ashoka also hinted that the BJP will fight it out against Congress minority appeasement through Tipu Sultan and denigrating Savarkar by replacing his portrait with Jawaharlal Nehrus at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha. Siddaramaiah, once removed from his chief minister post, may launch a party in the name of Tipu Sultan, he added. Responding to the controversy, Karnataka speaker UT Khader said that there is no proposal to remove the photo. There is no such decision [to remove the photo] before the assembly. We will keep the people of the state apprised of any and every change at the assembly, he said. With Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Mizoram having already cast their votes, the spotlight now turns to the states of Rajasthan and Telangana. Both BJP and the Congress party have intensified their campaign in Rajasthan which is set to vote on November 25. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday visited the party's war room in Jaipur to oversee its preparations for the Rajasthan assembly elections. Gandhi was in the war room for nearly half an hour, during which he also enquired about its operations. The results of the polls to the 200-member Rajasthan assembly will be declared on December 3, along with the other four states. While Congress and BJP are in direct contest in Rajasthan, the saffron party is trying to make Telangana a three-way contest where chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao's BRS and the Congress party are seen as strong contenders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a road show ahead of Rajasthan Assembly elections 2023 in Bikaner.(PTI) The National Commission for Women (NCW) took suo motu cognizance directing the director general of police of Tamil Nadu to invoke IPC Section 509 B (sexual harassment by electronic mode) and other relevant laws against actor Mansoor Ali Khan for allegedly making derogatory remarks in a video about his 'Leo' co-star Trisha Krishnan. Actor Trisha Krishnan has vowed never to work with Mansoor Ali Khan again. Trisha and Mansoor Ali Khan were recently seen in Lokesh Kanagaraj's film 'Leo'. Both didn't share screen space; they portrayed prominent roles in the film. The National Commission for Women is deeply concerned about the derogatory remarks made by actor Mansoor Ali Khan towards actress Trisha Krishna. We're taking suo motu in this matter directing the DGP to invoke IPC Section 509 B and other relevant laws.Such remarks normalize violence against women and must be condemned, the NCW wrote on social media X. Recently, a video of Mansoor Ali Khan from one of his interviews surfaced on social media, where he was allegedly making some highly inappropriate comments about Trisha. In response to that video, Trisha took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, A recent video has come to my notice where Mr Mansoor Ali Khan has spoken about me in a vile and disgusting manner. I strongly condemn this and find it sexist, disrespectful, misogynistic, repulsive and in bad taste. He can keep wishing but I am grateful never to have shared screen space with someone as pathetic as him and I will make sure it never happens for the rest of my film career as well. People like him bring a bad name to mankind. Reportedly, in the video, Mansoor said it in his regional language. "When I heard that I was acting with Trisha, I thought there would be a bedroom scene in the film. I thought that I could carry her to the bedroom just like I did with other actresses in my earlier movies. I have done so many rape scenes in a number of movies and it's not new to me. But these guys didn't even show Trisha to me on the sets during the Kashmir schedule." Helmed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, 'Leo' also featured Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Sarja. 'Leo' marks a reunion between Vijay and Kanagaraj after the 2021 blockbuster 'Master'. Bharatiya Janata Party leader and member of the National Commission for Women (NCW), Khushbu Sundar, said on Sunday she has taken up the issue of actor Mansoor Ali Khan. Expressing support for Trisha, the BJP leader said in a post that they are fighting tooth and nail to protect women and bring dignity to them. "As a member of NCW, I have already taken up the issue of Mansoor Ali Khan with my senior and will be taking an action on it. Nobody can get away with such a filthy mind. I stand with @trishtrashers and my other colleagues where this man speaks in such a sexist disgusting mindset about them, including me," Sundar posted on X. "When we are fighting tooth and nail to protect women and bring dignity to them, such men are like a bot in our society," the BJP leader added in his post. On Monday, Sundar retweeted the NCW's post and wrote, Action taken. HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh high court on Monday granted regular bail to Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the multi-crore skill development corporation case. Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu walked out of Rajahmundry jail on interim bail on October 31 (TDP) After an extensive hearing over the bail petition filed by Naidu, a high court bench headed by justice Tallapragada Mallikarjun Rao ruled that Naidu, who had been on four-week interim bail on medical grounds since October 31, was entitled to regular bail. In a 39-page verdict, justice Rao said it was evident from the records that Naidu had been shown as an accused in the case 22 months after the registration of the case in the alleged crime. The case against him was filed just before his arrest. There is no indication on the record that, during this period of one year and ten months, the petitioner (Naidu) interfered with the investigation. The prosecution has not made any such claim either, the bench said. HT has reviewed a copy of the verdict. The high court ordered that Naidu be released on regular bail based on a bail bond already furnished by him in respect of this case while obtaining the interim bail. The 73-year-old TDP president was arrested by the Crime Investigation Department of Andhra Pradesh police on September 9 at Nandyal for his alleged involvement in an alleged scam in the AP Skill Development Corporation during his Telugu Desam Partys regime from 20014 to 2019. The CID alleged that Naidu was the primary accused in the case, allegedly involving the transfer of 371 crore of government funds to shell companies. He was sent to Rajahmundry central jail on the night of September 10 and it was extended from time to time till October 31, when he was released on interim bail on medical grounds as per the high court order. The bench noted that the restrictions placed on Naidu at the time of his release on interim bail, which barred him from making public comments relating to the case, participating in public meetings and appearing in the media, would now be dispensed with. Placing such conditions will have an impact on the electoral prospectus of the petitioners political party. They will now be relaxed with effect from November 29, justice Rao said. He also asked the TDP president to place the details about his treatment and submit all medical records before the anti-corruption bureau special court, Vijayawada on or before November 28, when the interim bail period ends. Naidus son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh described his fathers release on regular bail as a triumph of the truth. Despite the delay due to management of systems by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government, it has once again proved that truth will always win. The CID could not produce even a single evidence before the court showing the involvement of Naidu in the skill development case, he said, in a statement. Lokesh alleged that Jagan Mohan Reddy conspired to tarnish his fathers image and throw him behind bars for political vendetta. But with the high court declaring that there was no evidence to prove Naidus role, he has come out clean, he said. YSR Congress party spokesman and state irrigation minister Ambati Rambabu said Naidu was not given a clean chit by the court but was granted only bail. There is no need for the TDP to rejoice, as the court has not exonerated Naidu in the skill development case. He has just got the bail on technical grounds. If the TDP leaders lose control and abuse the chief minister, they will have to pay a heavy price, Rambabu said. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday was granted regular bail by the Andhra Pradesh high court in the skill development case, ANI reported. The Telugu Desam Party chief is on interim bail till November 28. On October 31, the high court granted a four-week interim bail to the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister on medical grounds. N Chandrababu Naidu. (PTI) He had been lodged in the Rajahmundry central prison since September 10, a day after being arrested by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in the multi-crore skill development corporation scam and was remanded to judicial custody by the Special Court for the ACB cases in Vijayawada. In March this year, the CID had initiated a probe into alleged scam worth 3,300 crore in the APSSDC during the previous TDP regime. The probe follows notices to Arja Srikanth, a former Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer who was the CEO of APSSDC in 2016, based on statements from an accused turned approver and depositions by three IAS officers. The APSSDC was set up in 2016 during Naidu's stint as CM to empower unemployed youth by providing skill training to enhance their employability. The Naidu government had signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a project worth 3,300 crore. The MoU involved a consortium with Siemens Industry Software India Ltd and Design Tech Systems Pvt Ltd, that was asked to set up six centres of excellence for skill development. The Andhra government was supposed to contribute around 10% of the total project cost, while Siemens and Design Tech would provide the remaining funds as grant-in-aid. According to the CID probe, the project was initiated without following standard tendering process. The cabinet did not provide clearance for the project, the CID alleged. Former Congress MLA and minister Aleixo Sequeira, who joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in September last year with seven other Congress lawmakers, was on Sunday sworn in as a minister by Goa governor P S Sreedharan Pillai. Former Congress MLA and minister Aleixo Sequeira had joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in September last year (ANI) Sequeira takes the place of minister for public works Nilesh Cabral, who tendered his resignation on Sunday at the request of the high command so that his party can keep its commitment given to the Congress camp of MLAs who were then undecided over switching over to the BJP. Sequeira said he was indebted to chief minister Pramod Sawant and would try his best to fulfil whatever responsibilities are given to him. Eight Congress MLAs shifted to the BJP in September last year, and despite speculation that at least three of them would be accommodated in the state cabinet, no decision was taken by Sawant. Among the aspirants for a place in the cabinet were former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat, former minister Michael Lobo and Sequeira. Cabral said that being a loyal worker of the party who has risen up the ranks, he agreed to step down from his position. Whenever the party asks, only the original loyal workers are approached. Because I am an original karyakarta (worker), the party can ask me. That is why I did not hesitate to give what the party required, Cabral said. Sawant said the decision to induct Sequeira was taken based on a commitment given to him at the time he switched over to the BJP. The party and I requested Cabral to hand over this resignation and this morning he met me and handed over his resignation. I have recommended to the governor that his resignation be accepted. It is a decision of the party. He is a core member of the party. When there is a sacrifice to be made, then a core member of the party only does it. Hence, the party requested him to do it, Sawant said. On Saturday, reports emerged suggesting an impending reshuffle in the Goa cabinet. Sequeira was seen as being among those reluctant to join the BJP last year, placing the switch over in peril as the breakaway group wouldnt have met the necessary two-thirds to avoid action under the anti-defection law. Congress MLA Carlos Ferreira, however, said the decision to drop Cabral from the cabinet posed more questions than it answered. Has Cabral paid for his super-loyalty or due to alleged PWD recruitment scam? If government scraps recent PWD JE (junior engineer) recruitment, it will prove that the rumours by BJP bhakts (followers) of allegations of large scale corruption in PWD jobs preceding Nilesh Cabrals resignation (were) used as an excuse to claim honouring commitments, Ferreira said referring to reports that Cabral was being dropped due to unhappiness in BJP ranks over the recruitment process, reports that both the chief minister and Cabral have denied. Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 20 (ANI): Union Minister and Telangana BJP President G Kishan Reddy on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Congress alleging that it was taxing the people in Karnataka to fund the election campaign in Telangana. HT Image "Congress party came to power in Karnataka on the basis of five guarantees. But they are not fulfilling these guarantees. Every section of the society in Karnataka is against Congress. On the orders of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, Congress indulging in corruption is gathering crores of rupees by the way 'election tax' in Karnataka to fund its election campaigns in Telangana, Chhattisgarh & Rajasthan" Telangana BJP Chief Kishan Reddy said. The allegations come after several senior Congress leaders and ministers like Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar have been campaigning extensively in Telangana for the Congress. The BJP which unveiled its election manifesto for Telangana on November 18 has also attacked the ruling BRS calling for the removal of the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. "KCR ko hatao, Telangana ko bachao, BJP ko jitao" Kishan Reddy said while addressing a press conference in Hyderabad. "We will commission an investigation led by a retired Supreme Court judge into the corruption allegations against BRS. No one, including the KCR family and BRS MLAs, will be spared from this inquiry" Reddy added. The BJP state in-charge claimed that the BJP was getting a lot of support and would emerge victorious on December 3. "We are getting more support beyond our expectations in villages and assemblies. SC, farmers and weaker sections are supporting us. We are leading in many assemblies. The people are responding as a silent revolution against BRS. The people are stopping the BRS campaign vehicles," the Union Minister said. "We are getting support beyond our expectations in the support. There is a silent revolution against the BRS party. People want change, they want KCR to go. Many youths are supporting the BJP despite their families supporting Congress or BRS. The guarantees given by Congress are only for gathering votes and misleading people," Kishan Reddy added. "The BJP stands by its words. Other parties' work doesn't cross Gandhi Bhavan or Pragati Bhavan, despite the many words they give. Telangana suffered many losses because of Congress. Congress never worked for Telangana. The Congress guarantees are fake guarantees that cannot be implemented and are given only for votes, misleading the people," Reddy further said. The BJP state chief believes that the record of the Narendra Modi government will serve as proof for the people of Telangana to repose faith in the BJP. "Our manifesto, we'll do what we say; we only say what we do. It is our track record. When we got an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, despite all objections, even from the international level, we removed Article 370. Our aim is to bring rule without corruption from villages to secretariat. Congress did corruption and BRS did corruption. Congress and BRS did sand mafia, land mafia, belt shops, mining mafia, corruption and scams. Both nurtured corruption and looted Telangana. The people wish that the just and prosperous government of Modi should come here" Kishan Reddy said. Kishan Reddy laid stress on the advantages of a 'double-engine government' with the BJP at the centre and state which he said would benefit the people of the state. "We will resolve many issues, like national highways and others, by bringing double engine government. Only a double engine government can bring so much development, welfare, finishing many irrigation projects, employment and others" Kishan Reddy said. After Telangana's formation, the education budget should increase. But it has decreased. Education and health are very important. Through a job calendar, we are giving jobs every month and filling teachers and others. The PM himself is giving out the appointment letters. In the same way, in Telangana, we will fill all posts, from teacher posts to group 1 posts, in 6 months. The centre is giving a lot of money for basti davakhana, infrastructure in primary health care centres, oxygen and others in district hospitals" he added. Telangana goes to the polls on November 30, with results to the 119-member assembly to be declared along with 4 other states on December 3. (ANI) The central government is likely to push through key legislation, including the three criminal codes and a bill on appointing election commissioners, in the winter session of Parliament, which would effectively be the last chance for it to advance its legislative agenda. The Bharat Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill have been reviewed by the standing committee on home affairs and the reports would be tabled in the winter session (AP) Read here: Parliament Winter Session from December 4 to December 22, 15 sittings in 19 days The winter session, or the last full session of the government before the 2024 general elections, is scheduled from December 4 to 22. The government will also get a truncated budget session early next year, but is unlikely to take up any substantial legislative business except approving the interim budget before the election. There are 37 bills pending before Parliament, including some from 1992, 1997 and 2001. While the passage of these draft laws is unlikely to take place in the remaining sessions, officials said that the deck are clear for the passage of the three criminal codes that will replace the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Evidence Act. The Bharat Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill have been reviewed by the standing committee on home affairs and the reports would be tabled in the winter session. The reports on the three draft legislation, according to the opposition, have been prepared and adopted hastily. The government disagrees. The bills have been discussed at length. A number of suggestions have been given to the government to modify some parts of the bills, a functionary of the ruling side said, declining to be named. Now, it is up to the government when it wants to bring the bills for passage. The government has informally indicated to various stakeholders that the bills would come up for consideration and passing in the winter session, another official said, seeking anonymity. These bills are important for the people and the top authorities want the bills to be passed before the election. Pushing for the bills in the Lok Sabha, home minister Amit Shah had argued that the colonial-era laws were created to punish people. Indian laws are aimed to give justice to the people. The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, is another draft legislation that might be pushed through by the government in the winter session. The new bill says a selection committee will recommend names for the election commissioners to the President. The panel will have the Prime Minister, a Union cabinet minister and the leader of opposition or the leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha as members. The opposition is set to oppose both the criminal codes as well as the election commissioner bill. All opposition members have given dissent notes to the home standing committees report on the draft laws. The opposition is set to express reservations to brining some provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other the anti-terror laws in the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and also object to additional power to magistrates to order finger impressions and voice samples from a person who has not been arrested. Read here: Govt may soon table 2nd edition of Jan Vishwas bill in Parliament While the winter session has been cut short by a week (it usually starts by the third week of November) due to state elections, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi announced earlier this month that the session will commence from December 4 and continue till December 15, and will have 15 sittings spread over 19 days. The government never consults with the opposition on its legislative agenda. They didnt tell us about the women reservation bill even as it was our demand and all opposition parties supported the bill, said Derek OBrien, Rajya Sabha floor leader of the Trinamool Congress party. In the winter session, too, they will bring bills unannounced. New Delhi: Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar has approached Delhi high court seeking to direct news portal The Wire to take down the defamatory article alleging link between Kumars son Karan Chauhan in a case pertaining to enhanced valuation of a land, acquired by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the road project. Dwarka Expressway Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar (HT) The dispute begun when southwest Delhis district magistrate Hemant Kumar overturned a 2018 decision of the additional DM of granting 41.52 crore for the 19-acre land in dispute based on a valuation of 53 lakh per acre and instead awarded 353 crore compensation on May 15, 2023, to the two individuals Subhash Chand Kathuria and his brother Vinod Kathuria. The article alleged that one of the beneficiaries of the 19-acre land, Subhash Chand Kathuria was father-in-law of Aman Sarin, promoter of a realty firm, Anantraj Limited, who had close business links with Karan Chauhan. During the hearing on Monday before a bench of justice Manoj Kumar Ohri, Kumar appearing through senior advocates Maninder Singh and Rajshekhar Rao submitted that the article has had a cascading effect on social media and that the entire reporting was contrary to the record. At the fag end of my career, Ive been (made) the scapegoat of something, Rao submitted. Senior counsel Maninder Singh argued that pursuant to the overvaluation coming to light by way of an inspection on May 18, Kumar immediately took cognisance of the entire issue and directed the divisional commissioner Ashwani Kumar to monitor the case on a fortnightly basis and had later asked the directorate of vigilance to inquire into the matter. Eight times I had coordinated the entire exercise from May 18 to October 20, Singh said, adding that it was on Kumars behest that the case was referred to CBI, the officer was transferred to Andaman Islands and was later suspended. He also submitted that the DMs award was set aside by the Delhi high court on October 31, 2023. The case will be next heard on November 21, 2023. Calling the contents of the article as ex-face misleading and per se defamatory, Kumar in his legal notice sent to the Wire and its reporter Meetu Jain on November 13 by advocate Bani Dikshit had stated that it was he who on his own volition took cognizance of the entire issue of the plot being exorbitantly over-valued, to ensure that there is no wrongful loss to public exchequer. Also Read: AAP minister makes new charge against chief secy On a bare perusal of the Defamatory Publication, and the allegations and / or insinuations made therein are patently false, baseless and misleading, and entirely divorced from true and correct facts. First and foremost, the attempt at a sensational headline of the Defamatory Publication incorrectly portrays a perception of guilt against my Client and would mislead any reader into wrongly believing that my Client is involved in some illegal activity. Secondly, the contents of the Defamatory Publication contain egregious inaccuracies and misleading information, coupled with a selective quotation of my Clients statement given to you on your approach and insistence. It is pellucid that you have been reporting misleading news in a manner that is malicious and vindictive, apart from being highly sensationalized, despite the clarifications provided by my Client, the notice said. Interestingly, Delhis vigilance minister Atishi Marlena had last week recommended the removal of Kumar and the divisional commissioner Ashwani Kumar from their posts after receiving a complaint from the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. While alleging prima facie complicity of Kumar in the land acquisition matter, she in her probe report had stated that the initial inquiry into the excessive compensation hike was not initiated suo moto by Kumar but they were forced to do it after the matter was flagged by NHAI. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief serving a 20-year prison sentence for rape, has been granted a 21-day furlough after a 30-day parole earlier this year, as per officials cited by news agency PTI. Singh was convicted of raping two disciples and is currently held in Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak district. While parole involves the temporary release of a prisoner for specific purposes or prematurely based on good behavior promises, a furlough is a brief, temporary release for convicts from prison. Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim (HT File) During this 21-day temporary release, the 56-year-old is set to go to the Dera Sacha Sauda Ashram in Barnawa, located in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat, according to reports. The sect's chief had made the request for temporary release, the PTI report further said. Recently, on November 14, the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed the FIR filed in Jalandhar against Dera Sacha Sauda chief. The FIR pertained to allegations of religious sentiments being offended during his discourse regarding an incident involving Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas. How many times he was out so far? This marks the sixth time that the Dera chief has received special permission for release from prison, since he was convicted in 2017. Singh had walked out of the Sunaria jail on a 30-day parole on July 30. Previously, the Dera chief had obtained a 40-day parole in January. Also, in October of the preceding year, he had been granted another 40-day parole. Preceding the October parole, he had been out on a month-long parole in June of the same year. Additionally, he had a three-week furlough starting from February 7, 2022. What was the case for which he was jailed for 20 years? Ram Rahim was sentenced a 20-year jail term by CBI special court after he was convicted on August 25, 2017 for raping the two disciples more than 15 years ago. An anonymous letter sent in 2002 to then-Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee and various top institutions, including the Punjab and Haryana High Court, prompted investigations into the rape allegations against Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. In response, the High Court directed the Sirsa district and sessions judge to investigate the claims made in the letter. The case was then taken over by the CBI, resulting in a chargesheet filed five years later in 2007. The reported rapes occurred between 1999 and 2002. Following a decade-long delay, during which the special CBI court transitioned from Ambala to Panchkula, Gurmeet Ram Rahim was ultimately convicted of rape and criminal intimidation in 2017. Other cases against the Dera chief In 2003, the CBI initiated an investigation following orders from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and took over a previously registered case from the Police Station Sadar in Kurukshetra. The case revolved around the alleged murder of Ranjit Singh, a resident of village Khanpur Kolian in Kurukshetra, on July 10, 2002, while he was working in his fields. After a comprehensive inquiry, the CBI filed a charge sheet in 2007 against six individuals, with charges being framed in 2008. Subsequently, on October 8, 2021, the court convicted Rahim and four others in connection to the murder case of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh. Additionally, in 2019, the Dera chief and three others were convicted for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago. BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Metro Rail Corporation on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for phase I of the metro rail project to link the city with Cuttack over the next 4 years. DMRC managing director Vikas Kumar said it was an opportune time to start transit-oriented development in Odisha Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who attended the event via video conferencing, said the 6,255 crore project to be funded by the state government signals the emergence of a new epoch in Odishas transportation history. This is the single largest investment made in any infrastructure project in the history of Odisha. The entire cost of the project will be borne by the state government. This is a flagship programme under the 5T Initiative of my government that will also symbolize the emergence of a New Odisha, he said, underlining that the project would transform the transportation landscape in the states capital region. DMRC managing director Vikas Kumar said it was an opportune time to start transit-oriented development in Odisha. It will spruce up the economy and push growth and development in the region, he added. The metro project from Bhubaneswar airport to Trisulia in Cuttack will be on an elevated structure and run on the median or side of the existing roads, with 20 stations. The 26-km long project will have 20 metro stations including Capital Hospital, Rajmahal Square, Jayadev Vihar Square, and Patia Square. The metro project is likely to be expanded to other nearby towns including Khurda and Puri in subsequent phases. A passenger under the influence of alcohol disrupted a Bengaluru-bound IndiGo plane, the airline has said. The incident unfolded on flight 6E 556 from Jaipur to Bengaluru when the passenger misbehaved with the crew despite several warnings, IndiGo said. The passenger was handed over to the local law enforcement authorities on arrival. (Representative Image) Upon landing at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, the disruptive passenger was promptly handed over to local law enforcement officers, who will now initiate the necessary legal proceedings. "A passenger on flight 6E 556 from Jaipur to Bengaluru was intoxicated and misbehaved with the crew despite multiple warnings. The passenger was handed over to the local law enforcement authorities on arrival for further legal action," IndiGo said in a statement. The nature and extent of the charges the individual will face remain undisclosed at this time. Incidents of unruly behaviour on flights have been a growing concern for airlines worldwide. Several reports of passengers' misbehaviour have emerged in recent times, with the Air India urination case sparking a massive outrage earlier this year. The case relates to the incident on the Air India flight from New York to New Delhi when an unruly passenger, Shankar Mishra, after being served excessive alcohol on the flight, urinated on the victim. Following the incident, the victim filed a complaint with the airline company. The woman later filed a plea in the Supreme Court alleging that both Air India and DGCA failed to treat her with care and responsibility after the unruly passenger urinated on her during the flight, and instead coerced her to enter into a settlement with him. The petition claimed she was made to sit on the very same seat that was wet and smelled of urine. In recent years, there has been a growing concern that the Supreme Court of India is not firing on all cylinders. Critics have argued that the court functions in an opaque manner, exhibits excessive deference to the executive, is sluggish in concluding cases, and is hampered by an excessive reliance on super-lawyers who can get their cases heard for exorbitant fees. In recent years, there has been a growing concern that the Supreme Court of India is not firing on all cylinders. (HT Photo) A new book, Court on Trial: A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India, examines each of these critiques, using hard data from the Courts own functioning. One of the co-authors of this new book, Aparna Chandra, was the featured guest 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. Chandra, who is an associate professor of law at the National Law School of India and has previously worked at the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal and the National Law University in Delhi, shared her views on the institutional crisis facing the court, the courts lengthy backlog, and the arbitrary powers of the chief justice. Asked about the CJIs administrative powers as Master of the Roster, Chandra argued that this power has grown substantially over time. When the Supreme Court was set up, it had 8 seats on the court. Someone had to exercise the administrative powers of the court and that [role] was given to the chief justice. But there is no sense that the chief justice had a lot of discretion in how theyre exercising these powers, she noted. However, as the number of casesand the number of judges increasesthe court starts sitting in smaller and smaller benches and is hearing more and more cases. As a result, the power that the chief justice hasdeciding which judge will hear which casesbecomes an enormous power. Chandra noted that it was this power that prompted four justices on the Supreme Court to hold the now infamous 2018 press conference in which they appealed to then chief justice Dipak Misra to enact reforms. But reform is difficult to accomplish given the short time horizons of the CJI. A lot of administrative power of the court is in the hands of the chief justice, and chief justices really need to be motivated for any law reform to take place. But chief justices hold office for a very short period of time, stated Chandra The Chief Justice of India currently has a tenure of two years, and its by far the longest weve seen a chief justice in office since 2010. On average, she said, a chief justice is in office for less than a year and that is very little time for them to engage in any meaningful reform. If the CJI were inclined to move significant reform, Chandra and her colleagues have a readymade to-do list. Top of the agenda would be to create a permanent constitutional division (or bench) which can be insulated from the appellate side of the court, so that the court can perform its constitutional function of holding the state to account for constitutional violations, she explained. That is the biggest rationale for the Court and the biggest role of the court, and if it is failing to do that, the most important task of reform has to be to secure that role. New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday expressed its displeasure at the delay on the part of the governors in giving assent to bills passed by state assemblies, as it took up the related petitions moved separately by Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments and asked for responses of their respective governors. The Supreme Court of India. (ANI) The bench also said that once a bill is sent back to governor following a readoption by the assembly it acquires the status of a money bill that the governor must give his assent to. Read here: Tamil Nadu assembly readopts 10 bills returned by governor amid Oppn walkout Why should governors wait for the parties to approach the court? And then they start acting. Why cannot they perform their constitutional functions on their own? remarked a bench led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud when the court heard the petitions filed by the two states, listed back-to-back. In the petition moved by the Kerala government, the bench, which also included justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, issued notices, seeking replies from the office of governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the Union government by November 24, when the matter will be heard next. The court order recorded Keralas contention that of the eight bills pending before Khan, three were initially approved and promulgated as ordinances by the governor. These bills, the order added, have been pending for a period ranging between seven and 26 months. Senior counsel KK Venugopal appeared for the Kerala government. When a similar petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government came up next, attorney general R Venkataramani appeared to assist the bench, as he handed out a note containing details of the bills and other files that remained pending with the office of state governor RN Ravi. Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Mukul Rohatgi and P Wilson appeared for the Tamil Nadu government, pointing out that the governor returned 10 bills to the assembly on November 16 while withholding his assent. The bills were returned by Ravi after the top court hearing on November 10, when the bench expressed serious concerns over governors inaction on bills. Following a special session on November 18, Singhvi said, the assembly re-passed the 10 bills and sent them to the governor again for the latters assent. The senior counsel said that of the 15 bills mentioned in the states petition, five bills were sent to the governor in October. Our concern is really this -- our order was passed on November 10 and the bills were returned after that. Why should the governor wait for our order? January 2020 is when the oldest bill was sent to him... What was the governor doing for the last three years? the bench asked the AG. Responding, Venkataramani said that Ravi took over as Tamil Nadus governor only in November 2021. But the bench remained unimpressed with the reply, emphasising that the issue is not about any particular governor. The issue is not that a particular governor has delayed exercise of constitutional functions but whether there is a general delay in exercise of constitutional functions, the bench stated in its order, adding the 10 bills have been sent back to Ravi after assemblys readoption on November 18 and that the AG wants the court to defer the proceedings in the wake of the latest developments. During the proceedings, Rohatgi also argued that the 10 bills were returned by Ravi without specifying any reasons of his disapproval and that his actions were contrary to the mandate of Article 200, which prescribed that the governor may, as soon as possible after the presentation to him of the bill for assent, return the bill together with a message requesting that the House may reconsider it. The AG, however, requested the bench not to go into this issue since the bills have already been passed again by the state legislature. Venkataramani added that the governor has passed 152 out of 181 bills presented since 2000, and that the assents were withheld chiefly to those bills that sought to deprive the governor of the power to appoint vice-chancellors in state universities. To this, the bench said that it would not go into the merit or the content of such bills while it recorded that the fact of the matter remains that the oldest bill pending with the governor was from January 2020. Adjourning the matter to December 1, the court said that it would want the AG to present a status report on the next date, adding the issues relating to governors approvals for sanctions to prosecute and remission would also be taken up in the next hearing. The proceedings on Monday came at a time when Raj Bhavans in several states have been locked in confrontation with the elected government. In the last few months, Punjab, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have approached the Supreme Court, seeking directives to their respective governors. While hearing a similar petition by the Punjab government against delay by the governor there in clearing bills, the apex court had on November 10 held that governors lack the constitutional powers to question the validity of an assembly session convened by the elected arm of the state. Even as the court reproached Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit for keeping four bills pending, it expressed unhappiness with the conduct of both the Raj Bhavan and the state government. The top court underlined that in a parliamentary form of democracy, real power vests in the elected representatives of the people while the governor, as an appointee of the President, is just a titular head of the state. But it also criticised the state government, saying its actions of keeping the assembly in suspended animation indefinitely amounted to defeating the Constitution. If democracy has to work, it has to work in the hands of a chief minister as well as in the hands of governors, the court commented, as it directed that the governor of Punjab must now proceed to make a decision on the four bills in accordance with the Constitution. The MK Stalin government has accused Ravi of acting like a political rival rather than a constitutional statesman by inexplicably delaying or even failing to consider and assent to the bills passed by the legislature. The state has argued that the governor was stymieing day-to-day governance in a way which was threatening to bring administration to a grinding halt. Read here: Tamil Nadu governor returns bills sent to him, DMK govt set to adopt them again The Kerala government, too, has taken on its governor Khan in the apex court for delaying certain key bills, some dating back almost two years. Kerala has accused Khan of acting in a manner which defeat the rights of the people by withholding the passage of eight bills on issues ranging from public health, higher education, Lokayukta, etc. Earlier, in April, hours before the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear a petition filed by Telangana against governor Tamilisai Soundararajan for creating a constitutional impasse by refusing to act on several bills, the governor signed off on three bills. This petition was later disposed of even as the top court held that the expression as soon as possible under Proviso 1 of Article 200 has significant constitutional intent and must be borne in mind by all constitutional authorities. Chennai The Regional Meteorological Centre in Chennai forecast very heavy rain at isolated places in Tamil Nadus Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram districts for Monday. (PTI) Tamil Nadu received rainfall on Sunday and the meteorological department has forecast rains for the next one week across the state. An orange alert was issued for Ramanathapuram district which received heavy rainfall and yellow alert for eight other districts, weather department officials said. Thiruvarur district received the highest rainfall at 11 cm while Chennai got traces of rain. The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai forecast very heavy rain at isolated places in Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram districts for Monday. Heavy rain is also likely to occur at isolated places over Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai districts of Tamil Nnadu and Karaikal. Thunderstorm and lightning is also likely to occur at one or two places over Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal area, RMC bulletin said. In Chennai for the next 48 hours, moderate rain with thunderstorm and lightning is likely to occur in some areas, said P Senthamarai Kannan, deputy director general at RMC, Chennai. The upper air cyclonic circulation over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka lay over the Comorin area and extended up to 1.5 km above mean sea level. No major havoc was reported except for water stagnation across the affected districts. Chief minister M K Stalin has deputed a minister to each of the delta districts such as Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Myladuthirai. About 400 NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) personnel have been positioned in the districts of Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Trichy, and 200 in Chennai for rescue operations. After a low rainfall in October, Tamil Nadu had reported a 42% deficit rainfall. In October, Tamil Nadu recorded 98.7mm. Chennai receives an average of 375mm rainfall in November but it received 74.3mm during the same period, which is 73% below normal. India and Australia on Monday held talks centered around deepening military cooperation in critical areas including anti-submarine warfare and air-to-air refuelling, security in the vast Indo-Pacific region amid Chinas rising influence, hydrography cooperation and strengthening ties in sectors such as critical minerals, space, education, and science and technology. Defence minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar with Australian deputy PM Richard Marles and foreign affairs minister Penny Wong in New Delhi on Monday. (PTI) The two sides also discussed pressing geopolitical issues, including the crisis in West Asia and the war in Ukraine. Read here: After FTA, India and Australia to boost economic ties Defence minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar met their Australian counterparts Richard Marles and Penny Wong in New Delhi for the second India and Australia 2+2 dialogue during which they discussed the key issues relating to taking the strategic partnership to the next level. In his opening remarks, Singh said that the dialogue will give further impetus to the already strong relationship between the countries while stressing that the robust partnership augurs well not only for mutual benefit but also for the overall peace, prosperity and security of the Indo-Pacific region. Defence has become one of the most important pillars of our strategic partnership. We will move ahead today to take this partnership to the next level, Singh said. Jaishankar drew attention towards the exceptional challenges in the region, including those involving rule of law and how, as comprehensive strategic partners, it was important for the two countries to plan for these exceptions. The India-Australia bilateral relationship has grown rapidly and has larger implications for the region, and a lot of other countries look to us as a factor of stability and security. This has happened at a time of increasing uncertainty in the world which is seeing sharper polarisation and deeper stresses, Jaishankar said. Later, in a post on X, Jaishankar said: Joined RM @rajnathsingh ji in co-hosting the second India-Australia 2+2 Ministerial dialogue. Thank DPM @RichardMarlesMP and FM @SenatorWong for an open and productive exchange of views. Took stock of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and our growing convergences, especially in the defence, security and maritime domains. They work for the larger benefit of the region. Shared perspectives on developments in the Indo-Pacific, West Asia, South Asia and Ukraine. Spoke also about our contribution to addressing regional and global needs. Will explore working together in third countries. India has 2+2 ministerial dialogues with only a handful of countries, including the US, Japan and Russia. The latest edition of India-US 2+2 dialogue was held in New Delhi on November 10. Cooperation in critical areas such anti-submarine warfare, anti-drone warfare, cyber, air-air-refuelling and underwater technologies also came up for discussion during a bilateral meeting between Singh and Marles, along with the security situation in the Indo-Pacific region, people aware of the matter said. The security of the vast Indo-Pacific has been in the spotlight amid Chinas growing influence in the region where it is setting up military bases, pushing countries to advance its maritime claims, and forcing strategic concessions from vulnerable States. The two ministers reaffirmed their commitment towards further strengthening the bilateral defence relationship, while expressing satisfaction at the increasing military-to-military cooperation between the two countries, including joint exercises, exchanges and institutional dialogue, the defence ministry said in a statement. They also talked about further enhancing cooperation in information exchange and maritime domain awareness between. The two sides are in an advanced stage of discussion to conclude implementing arrangements on hydrography cooperation and cooperation for air-to-air refuelling, the statement said. Singh emphasised that the forces of the two countries should also look at cooperating in niche training areas like artificial intelligence, anti-submarine and anti-drone warfare, and cyber domain, it said. The two ministers agreed that deepening cooperation in defence industry and research would give a fillip to the already strong relationship. During the talks, Singh suggested that shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance, and aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul could be among the potential areas of collaboration. Joint research in underwater technologies and collaboration between the defence start-ups of both the countries was also discussed. Jaishankar also met Marles ahead of the 2+2 talks. A very good meeting with DPM and Defence Minister @RichardMarlesMP of Australia. Spoke about recent developments that influence the Indo-Pacific strategic scenario. Also exchanged views on West Asia. And yes, we discussed yesterdays match. Congratulations Australia. Jaishankar wrote on X. There was no joint statement by the two sides on the talks till the time this report was filed. Defence minister RM @rajnathsingh & EAM @DrSJaishankar warmly received Deputy PM & Defence Minister @RichardMarlesMP and FM @SenatorWong of Australia ahead of the 2nd - 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. Ministers will exchange views on deepening multifaceted - ties, including in areas of defence and security, trade & investment, critical minerals, energy, climate change, S&T, space, education and people to people linkages. Regional and global issues are also on agenda, the official MEA spokesperson wrote on X. Read here: India-Australia to hold 2+2 ministerial dialogue on November 20 Attended a comprehensive India-Australia 2+2 Ministerial Meeting. There is a consensus on both the sides that a strong India-Australia partnership augurs well for overall peace, security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region. India looks forward to continue working with Australia to take our bilateral relationship onwards and upwards, Singh wrote on X. India and Australia are currently engaged in advanced negotiations for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) that will build on the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) signed in April 2022. The 2+2 dialogue was elevated to the ministerial level in September 2021. New Delhi: Current and historical emissions are highly unequally distributed globally, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Monday referring to Indias example. The bottom 50% of the world population contributed only 12% of total emissions (Representative photo) Per capita territorial GHG emissions vary significantly across countries. They are more than double the world average of 6.5 tons of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) in the Russian Federation and the United States of America, while those in India remain under half of it. Inequality in consumption-based emissions is also found among and within countries. Globally, 10% of the population with the highest income accounted for nearly half (48%) of emissions with two-thirds of this group living in developed countries. The bottom 50% of the world population contributed only 12% of total emissions, UNEPs Emissions Gap Report 2023 titled Broken Record said on Monday. Historic emissions and contribution to global warming similarly vary significantly across countries and groups of countries, UNEP has said explaining that nearly 80% of historical cumulative fossil and land use CO2 emissions came from G20 countries, with the largest contributions from China, the US and the European Union, while least developed countries contributed 4%. The US accounts for 4% of the current world population, but contributed 17% of global warming from 1850 to 2021, including the impact of methane and nitrous oxide emissions. India, by contrast, accounts for 18% of the world population, but contributed 5% of warming. Also Read: Record ocean and land heat continues in autumn as El Nino intensifies Only nine countries have submitted new or updated NDCs since COP 27 last year, bringing the total number of NDCs that have been updated since the Paris Agreement to 149. As at 25 September 2023, 97 Parties covering approximately 81% of global GHG emissions had adopted net-zero pledges either in law (27 Parties), in a policy document such as an NDC or a long-term strategy (54 Parties). All G20 members except Mexico have set net-zero targets but overall net zero goals do not inspire confidence, the report said. Limited progress has been made on key indicators of confidence in net-zero implementation among G20 members, including legal status, the existence and quality of implementation plans, and alignment of near-term emissions trajectories. None of the G20 members are currently reducing emissions at a pace consistent with meeting their net-zero targets, the report added. The report calls on all nations to deliver economy-wide, low-carbon development. Coal, oil and gas extracted over the lifetime of producing and planned mines and fields would emit over 3.5 times the carbon budget available to limit warming to 1.5 degree C, and almost the entire budget available for 2 degree C, the report said. The low-carbon development transition poses economic and institutional challenges for low and middle-income countries, but also provides significant opportunities. Transitions in such countries can help to provide universal access to energy, lift millions out of poverty and expand strategic industries. The associated energy growth can be met efficiently and equitably with low-carbon energy as renewables get cheaper, ensuring green jobs and cleaner air, it added while underlining that international financial assistance will have to be significantly scaled up, with new public and private sources of capital restructured through financing mechanisms for such a transition. "UNEPs Emissions Gap Report further reinforces what the Global Stocktake has clearly demonstrated, that the world is off-track on delivering 1.5C. The science is clear: we must do more. The world must respond to the GST with the highest ambition decision at COP28. This includes fast-tracking a just and orderly energy transition to close the emissions gap. To do so, we must triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiencies, tackle methane emissions, and accelerate decarbonization ambitions across heavy emitting sectors by 2030, the COP28 Presidency said in a statement. "The latest Emissions Gap Report 2023 presents a chilling reality. Our world is teetering on the edge of a catastrophic temperature rise, with predictions pointing towards a 2.5-2.9C increase above pre-industrial levels if current trends continue. We are on thin ice. The stark reality is that the projected emissions from coal, oil, and gas extraction are on track to exceed the carbon budget needed to limit warming to 1.5C by over 3.5 times, said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International. "The window for action is rapidly closing, and unless we act urgently and dramatically to shift away from fossil fuels and embrace green energy, the chances of limiting warming to even 1.5C are dismally low. This vast contrast between our current trajectory and the Paris Agreement goals highlights the failure of rich countries to meet their climate commitments. They have not only fallen short in reducing emissions but also in providing essential financial support to nations most vulnerable to climate impacts. This represents a glaring gap between rhetoric and reality, he added. Uttarkashi: In a major breakthrough, agencies working round the clock to rescue the 41 workers trapped inside a partially collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district, have installed a six-inch pipe into the debris. This pipe will help the authorities to provide solid food items to the trapped workers and ensure better communication. Anshu Mansish Khalkho, director, NHIDCL, told the media that rescue workers were able to communicate with the workers through the newly installed pipe. Uttarkashi: A high-performance drilling machine being brought for rescue operation after a portion of an under-construction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway collapsed. (PTI) "We have achieved our first breakthrough, for which we had been trying for the last nine days and was our first priority. A 6-inch pipe has been installed and they (trapped workers) can hear us through it. We will now provide them with food and medical supplies through that pipe," he said. The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) is one of the several government agencies working on the mega rescue operation. DRDO sends in robot The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has pressed two robots into the operation. "DRDO has sent 2 robots weighing 20 kg and 50 kg respectively. The robots move on the ground. The loose ground there has raised apprehensions whether the robots will be able to move there or not. Other machinery will be there within a day or two," he added. Also read: What is Daksh, DRDO ROV employed in Uttarakhand tunnel collapse rescue op? He said the Border Road Organisation is constructing roads wherever necessary. "BRO is constructing roads wherever necessary on this end and the Barkot end. Roads are ready on both sides, now we are waiting for the machinery. The machines are very heavy, they cannot be airlifted," he added. Independent disaster investigator Arnold Dix (4L), President of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association and rescue workers conduct a survey at the Silkyara under construction road tunnel.(AFP) Uttarkashi rescue operation in advanced stage Uttarkashi district magistrate Abhishek Ruhela said on Monday that the rescue operation is in the advanced stage. "It is in the advanced stage, official information will be out soon...The most important thing is to make an approach road through BRO and we are hoping that it finishes by tonight or early morning tomorrow from this end and the action will begin soon," he said. Also read: Rescuers to drill from top of tunnel to save trapped workers in Uttarakhand The authorities had been sending inside the tunnel dry-fruits, water and medicines via four-inch pipes. The bigger-diameter pipe will help them send in solid food. DRDO's Robotics Machine Team reached the site on Monday morning. The agencies are also attempting to drill into the tunnel perpendicularly. In this portion of the tunnel, electricity and water are available. Also read: Anti-depression tablets being sent to workers trapped in Uttarkashi tunnel The tunnel, part of the Central government's ambitious Char Dham project, collapsed on November 12, entrapping 41 workers inside. With inputs from PTI, ANI Jaipur: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of spreading lies to get sympathy of people ahead of elections, saying he calls himself poor despite having served as Gujarat chief minister and PM for the last 23-24 years. Congress President MalliKarjun Kharge addresses during an election public meeting for the Rajasthan assembly election, in Hanumangarh on Monday. (ANI Photo) Read here: 'BJP has no policies, copied Congress' guarantees': Mallikarjun Kharge Addressing rallies in Anupgarh (Sri Ganganagar district) and Hanumangarh, Kharge also alleged that Modi controls everything from ports to airports and he is working towards making people slaves. When I called Modi a liar, he felt hurt. But has he fulfilled any of his promises in the last 10 years? He forgets his previous promises during his next visit, Kharge said. Referring to Modis allegations on Sunday in Churu district that the Congress chief had abused his father, Kharge said he did not even take the name of the Prime Ministers father. Why would I abuse his [Modis] father who is elderly and has nothing to do with politics? His comment again proves how he fabricates the meaning of a word, Kharge said. He said that at a recent rally in Hyderabad, he called Modi a liar. In the same speech, Kharge added, he had described Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao as Modis father in terms of telling lies. Dragging his fathers reference and also calling himself poor even after serving last 23-24 years as chief minister [of Gujarat] and PM are his attempt to seek sympathy of the people during the polls, Kharge alleged. In Hanumangarh, Kharge accused the Prime Minister of working only for a few billionaires. Modi controls everything from ports to airports. He has privatised everything and is working towards making people slaves, he said. Accusing the BJP of taking credit for the works done by the Congress, Kharge said, The truth is that Congress has built everything from big dams to engineering and medical colleges in this country Whereas, the Modi government is ruining this country. Read here: Kharge flays PM Modi over light tower incident: Young India fed up with betrayal Jaipur: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of spreading lies to get sympathy of people ahead of elections, saying he calls himself poor despite having served as Gujarat chief minister and PM for the last 23-24 years. Read here: Addressing rallies in Anupgarh (Sri Ganganagar district) and Hanumangarh, Kharge also alleged that Modi controls everything from ports to airports and he is working towards making people slaves. When I called Modi a liar, he felt hurt. But has he fulfilled any of his promises in the last 10 years? He forgets his previous promises during his next visit, Kharge said. Referring to Modis allegations on Sunday in Churu district that the Congress chief had abused his father, Kharge said he did not even take the name of the Prime Ministers father. Why would I abuse his [Modis] father who is elderly and has nothing to do with politics? His comment again proves how he fabricates the meaning of a word, Kharge said. He said that at a recent rally in Hyderabad, he called Modi a liar. In the same speech, Kharge added, he had described Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao as Modis father in terms of telling lies. Dragging his fathers reference and also calling himself poor even after serving last 23-24 years as chief minister [of Gujarat] and PM are his attempt to seek sympathy of the people during the polls, Kharge alleged. In Hanumangarh, Kharge accused the Prime Minister of working only for a few billionaires. Modi controls everything from ports to airports. He has privatised everything and is working towards making people slaves, he said. Accusing the BJP of taking credit for the works done by the Congress, Kharge said, The truth is that Congress has built everything from big dams to engineering and medical colleges in this country Whereas, the Modi government is ruining this country. Read here: |#+| Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who addressed a poll rally at Kekdi in Ajmer district, also made an appeal for her party and said if the BJP-led government is formed in the state, it would stop all public welfare schemes of the Ashok Gehlot government. The electricity bills that Congress is making free and the old pension scheme that it has implemented will all be stopped, she said. Hitting back, state BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said: PM Modis policies made our country one of the leading nations in the world... People will give them (Congress) a befitting reply for every abusive word they used towards the PM. New Delhi: Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have aided economic offences like money laundering in becoming a real threat to the financial system of the country, the Supreme Court said on Monday, adding such crimes should be viewed with utmost seriousness. The Supreme Court of India (File photo) Rejecting the bail plea of an accused in a money laundering case, the top court held that economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail. The economic offences having deep-rooted conspiracies and involving huge loss of public funds need to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing serious threat to the financial health of the country. Undoubtedly, economic offences have serious repercussions on the development of the country as a whole, said the bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi. Writing the judgment for the bench, justice Trivedi maintained that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) clearly implicates a person for his involvement in any of the criminal activities like concealment, possession, acquisition, use of proceeds of crime as much as projecting it as untainted property or claiming it to be so. With the advancement of technology and Artificial Intelligence, the economic offences like money laundering have become a real threat to the functioning of the financial system of the country and have become a great challenge for the investigating agencies to detect and comprehend the intricate nature of transactions, as also the role of the persons involved therein, the court said. The investigating agency (Enforcement Directorate), the bench said, requires carrying out minute exercises to ensure that no innocent person is wrongly booked and at the same time no culprit escapes from the clutches of the law. When the detention of the accused is continued by the court, the courts are also expected to conclude the trials within a reasonable time, further ensuring the right of speedy trial guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution, added the bench, even as it rejected the bail plea of Tarun Kumar, vice-president (Purchases) in Shakti Bhog Limited a director in various Shakti Bhog Group Companies. Kumar, who was arrested by ED in August 2022 on charges of back fraud and siphoning of proceeds of crime, had sought bail on multiple grounds while emphasising that the investigation with respect to his alleged role is complete and that the trial of the cases was likely to take a long time. But the bench shot down his plea, noting that Kumar has not been able to overcome the threshold stipulations contemplated in Section 45 of the PMLA for the grant of bail, namely that he has failed to prima facie prove that he is not guilty of the alleged offence and is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. There being sufficient material on record adduced by the respondent (ED) showing the thick involvement of the appellant in the alleged offence of money laundering, the court is not inclined to grant bail....it may be noted that as held in catena of decisions, the economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail, added the bench. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday promised that, if elected, a BJP government in Rajasthan would review the prices of petrol and diesel, aiming to provide relief to the poor and middle-class citizens. He said that the petrol is being sold at a lower price in the BJP-ruled neighbouring states as compared to Rajasthan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a public meeting in Rajasthan.(PTI) Addressing a public rally in Pali, Modi said, In the neighbouring states of Rajasthan, there is a BJP government. There, petrol is 97 per litre. But the Congress government in Rajasthan sells petrol at higher prices. I give a guarantee that after the BJP government is formed, the prices of petrol and diesel will be reviewed... This will give relief to the poor and middle-class people, he added. Modi also targeted the Congress government over the rising cases of crimes against women in Rajasthan, claiming that the grand old party has made the state number one in such incidents. "Congress has made Rajasthan number one in crimes against women. The CM says that the complaints filed by the women are fake. Can it ever happen that a woman in our country files a fake case? The CM should say that a probe is underway, and not that the cases filed are fake. Isn't this an insult to women?" he said. The prime minister asserted that BJP governments ensure the swift implementation of central government schemes, and in states governed by the BJP, additional benefits are often provided to citizens. Wherever there is the double-engine government of BJP, every scheme of the central government is implemented on the ground faster, or the state governments of the BJP add something to it, Modi said. Wherever there is a BJP government, along with 6,000 from PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, BJP state governments give 6,000 additionally from their side... Rajasthan BJP leaders too have resolved that after the BJP government is formed, farmers will get 6,000 additionally, he added. For most people in Delhi, Sawai Madhopur district in Rajasthan is synonymous with the tigers of Ranthambore national park, several of which are known and admired by name. However, for farmers such as Rukhsar in Karmoda village near the Sawai Madhopur town, Delhi is not about the tourists who come to see the tigers. Delhi, for them, means the Azadpur fruit market. This is where the bulk of their guava production goes. Between the tigers of Ranthambore national park and the guava orchards in the district lies the story of how politics and environmental policies have left a bitter taste in the mouth for the voters of one of the poorest districts in Rajasthan. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot addresses the 'Congress Guarantee Yatra' in Jaipur. (ANI) Read here: HT Interview: BJPs agenda is to divide, but people are intelligent, says Rajasthan CM According to data from the Rajasthan government, Sawai Madhopur was ranked 26th out of the 33 districts in Rajasthan in terms of GDP in 2020-21, the latest year for which this data is available. In per capita GDP terms, the district was ranked 21st out of the 33 in the state in 2020-21. It is clearly, among the poorer districts in the state. The share of agriculture and allied activities in the districts GDP has actually increased from 33.6% in 2011-12 to 39% in 2020-21. Industry, on the other hand has seen a decline from 26.5% to 12.7% during this period. Services, and this would include some of the most premium hotels near the Ranthambore national park, are the major driver of the economy. For the people in Sawai Madhopur district and even the town, services are not the most exciting part of the economy though. The real money from the big hotels goes to big companies running them and we do not get anything, a shopkeeper in the town said. Now there is an oversupply in the hotel market, he added. Most of the big resorts do not employ local people and young men have to either migrate in search of jobs or do manual work, added Rukhsar. While the national park has not given much to the local residents, it has taken things away. Because of concerns around protecting the eco system at Ranthambore, a lot of industrial activity is not allowed in the district. While new investment does not come, old industries have shifted out. It was (the late PM) Rajiv Gandhi who ordered the closure of a cement factory in Sawai Mdhopur, Rukhsar told HT. Employment is a big problem because there are no factories here, the villagers in the group around Rukhsar claimed in one voice. While there can be no disagreement about the need for protecting ecosystems such as Ranthambore, it is clearly a failure of policy if local population does not gain from such conservation efforts. To be sure, the villagers in the district have done more than just complain to get around this problem. One of these responses has been focused on guavas. Driving to the district, one comes across women selling guavas for as low as 20-25 a kg on both sides of the road. Data from the National Horticultural Board shows that around 40 thousand tonnes of guavas were grown in Rajasthan in 2021-22. More than half of Rajasthans guava production comes from Sawai Madhopur , locals told HT. That is hundreds, perhaps thousands of crores worth of produce in one district. This is exactly why Azadpur fruit market in Delhi -- it is believed to be Asias largest fruit and vegetable market -- is the most important place for residents of this district. Guava production really picked up in the 1980s and more farmers took to it in the hope of making some extra money from the practice. Things, however, have not been good for the last few years. A new disease which has been destroying plants has afflicted the crop in the last two-three years and many orchards have suffered because of it, farmers told HT. Guava trees are extremely sensitive to the climate too. If there is cloud cover rather than dry winter, when the fruit is yet to ripen, there is a lot of damage and premature dropping of fruit. The climate has been turning more erratic in recent years and crop losses have mounted. Guava is also not a crop which can be preserved via standard cold storage type facilities. Neither are there any fruit processing industries which could facilitate value addition for the farmers. No government has paid attention to these issues, the locals complained. Read here: Development, tourism declined in Rajasthan in last five years: U.P. CM To be sure, guava farmers in Sawai Madhopur are not the only ones who are facing a threat to their livelihoods because of the worsening climate crisis. What makes them unique is the fact that they have faced a double whammy from the intersection of environment policies and politics. First, because (valid) concerns around environmental protection has entailed an economic cost in terms of curbs on industrial activity and now because of the threat to their main cash crop. Neither of the issues, however, are relevant, as far as the current elections are concerned. This gap between livelihood, environmental sustainability, climate crisis and day-to-day politics, is not something which is limited to a district in Rajasthan or India. Whatever be the results in these elections, this crisis is not going away as far as the people in Sawai Madhopur are concerned. This is where this place holds a mirror to all India. Increased drone intrusions by Pakistani smugglers from across the international border has prompted authorities to place villages in two Punjab districts on high alert, officials aware of the matter said. The drone was recovered in Wan village of Tarn Taran district in Punjab on November 18 (HT Photo) Over the past one week, Border Security Force personnel have shot down at least 13 drones, three each on November 17 and 15, which carried illicit drugs into the country from Pakistan. On November 12 and 13, the border guards shot down four drones, two each on both days. All the incidents were reported from the border districts of Tarn Taran and Amritsar Rural, a BSF officer aware of the matter said, seeking anonymity. The actual number of drops that Pakistan smugglers may have carried out could be more, he said. In all the cases, the smugglers used DJI Mavic Classic and DJI Matrice drones, the most common types unmanned aerial vehicles used by them. The number of drones that went back after sensing the border guards had detected them could be more. Over the last few days, teams of BSF and Punjab police are jointly conducting searches in the villages, the officer said. The attempts by Pakistan smugglers to pump drugs into the country using drones has certainly increased. The first case of a drone carrying drugs from Pakistan at the border in Punjab was spotted in 2019. That year, two drones were shot at and recovered by the BSF. There were no cases in 2020, and one case in 2021. Last year, the force seized at least 22 drones. This year, the number has already reached 64. Border guards expect to recover more drones or drugs that were dropped because the joint teams on November 15 arrested two smugglers from Udhar Dhariwal village in Amritsar district, who were receivers of the drugs, a second official said. The two men are currently in custody of Punjab police. These two were working for a resident of the village who owns large tracts of land near the border. The farmer, who is absconding, was using his agricultural land as a drop zone for drones carrying drugs, the second official said, declining to be named. HIs house was also used as a hideout for smugglers. Punjab police is questioning them. The interrogation of the two men will help us identify more drop zones and recover drugs. In the backdrop of the increasing menace of Pakistan smugglers sending arms and drugs into India through the Punjab boder, the home ministry plans to have an anti-drone system across all vulnerable village along the international border. Selective decisions on appointment and transfer of judges by the Centre sends a wrong signal, the Supreme Court said on Monday, adding the court will continue monitoring the status of collegiums recommendations not because it wants to take an antagonistic stand against the government but because it is necessary for the system. The courts observations continue the long-running standoff between the judiciary and the executive on a timeline for appointment to constitutional courts (HT Photo) The courts observations continue the long-running standoff between the judiciary and the executive on a timeline for appointment to constitutional courts. Read here: Governors cannot withhold bills passed by the state assembly: Supreme Court Imploring the Centre not to segregate names from a batch of recommendations made by the collegium, a bench, headed by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, flagged the courts concerns over pick and choose by the government in appointing and transferring high court judges. As per our information, you have issued transfer orders for five judges of high courts, but not for six others. Four of such names are from Gujarat. Why do you do this? It doesnt send a good signal if you pick and choose. Dont do selective transfers, the bench, also comprising justices Sudhanshu Dhulia, told attorney general R Venkataramani, who appeared for the government. Adding that selective transfers creates its own dynamics, the bench stressed on the fact that of the six transfers yet to be notified by the government, four were from the Gujarat high court. What signal do you send when four judges from Gujarat are not transferred at all? it added. Responding, the A-G said that progress was being made in processing the collegiums recommendations as he asked for some more time for the government. But the bench retorted: We gave you time earlier too, but six transfers are still pending. This is not acceptable. What is the signal you have sent? Four from Gujarat have not been transferred at all. It cautioned the government and warned that it would otherwise pass some unpalatable orders, including withdrawal of judicial work from high court judges, if their transfers are delayed indefinitely. It will embarrass those judges if there are consequences to follow in case you dont transfer judges, it told Venkataramani. The court further expressed its displeasure at the government segregating the batch of five names of lawyers that the collegium had proposed for appointment as judges in the Punjab & Haryana high court last month,with the government cleared only three of them, leaving out the two most senior in the list. You again picked and chose. Their seniority has been affected. Two of the candidates not cleared are both Sikhs. Why should this arise? Why will people agree to become judges if such selective orders are issued by you. We are trying to clear past problems, but you are creating fresh problems too, it told Venkataramani. The law officer, on his part, said that some delay was attributable to the ongoing assembly elections and that he would ensure the court is not disappointed on the next date of hearing. Adjourning the contempt plea filed by Advocate Association, Bengaluru, highlighting several instances of pending appointments and unexplained holdover by the government, to December 5, the court recorded in its order that six transfers are still pending. The order added that while eight candidates have not been appointed from recommendations made since July, five reiterated names and five names recommended for the first time are also pending. Some of these names are senior to others appointed. This is something we have spoken of earlier as well...it becomes difficult to persuade candidates to join the bench...We will continue hearing this matter. This is not an antagonistic approach but it is necessary for the system, the court emphasised. Senio counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for one of the parties in the matter, pointed out that the appointment of three new judges to the Supreme Court were cleared by the government in two days whereas there are certain recommendations for high court judges that have been pending for more than two years. Agreeing with him, the bench told the A-G that selective appointments are bound to give rise to such contentions. On November 6, the Supreme Court collegium recommended three high court chief justices for appointment as judges in the top court. Chief justices Satish Chandra Sharma (Delhi high court), Augustine George Masih (Rajasthan high court) and Sandeep Mehta (Gauhati high court) were proposed to be elevated to the apex court. Justice Masih belongs to a minority community. Their elevation was cleared by the government on the morning of November 8 and the judges were sworn-in later on that day. On October 18, the Centre notified the transfer of 16 high court judges and appointment of 17 new judges in various high courts, two days before the hearing of the contempt matter on a previous date. As of November 1, 332 posts of high court judges were lying vacant in the 25 high courts across the country against the total strength of 1,114. The vacancy translates to about 30% of the total strength. On September 26, the Supreme Court decided to monitor the steps taken by the Centre in acting on the collegiums recommendations for appointing and transferring judges, expressing its anguish at the delays. When the matter was taken up next on October 9, the court observed that the collegiums recommendations could not remain in limbo, emphasising that instead of sitting on them indefinitely, the government must either notify those appointments or send them back citing specific objections. The A-G, on the day, assured the court of some concrete steps. Subsequently, the government on October 16 notified the transfer of the much-delayed appointment of Delhi high court judge Siddharth Mridul as the new full-time chief justice of the Manipur high court, more than three months after the collegiums recommendation. Three judges in the high courts of Madras, and Manipur, including a judicial officer who would become the first woman from a scheduled tribe to become a judge in the Manipur high court, were also appointed on October 13. During the proceedings on November 7, the bench said that the government must stop picking and choosing from a set of collegiums recommendations, adding that the business of selective appointments has become troublesome when an element of workable trust was required between the executive and judiciary. Read here: Supreme Court's notice to Centre over Kerala govt's plea against governor While the memorandum of procedure (MoP), which guides the judiciary and the government in matters of the appointment and transfer of judges, is silent on the segregation of names by the latter, a former CJI had disapproved of this practice. Justice RM Lodha, as the CJI in July 2014, wrote a letter to then Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, stating that the government should not adopt such unilateral segregation in the future. Justice Lodha sent the missive after the NDA government segregated former solicitor general Gopal Subramanium from the panel of four names recommended for appointment as Supreme Court judges by the collegium. Subramanium subsequently withdrew his nomination. Jind (Haryana) [India], November 20 (ANI): The sexual harassment of minors was not the first incident for the principal, who is accused of sexually assaulting 60 minor girls in Haryana. HT Image In the shocking incident of sexual assault of 60 minor girls', it revealed that he had sexually harassed minor girls during his first posting, claimed a former sarpanch of the village of Uchana Kalan town in Jind district. Villagers too, where the accused principal got his first posting in 2008, praised the girls, who dared to raise their voice against the sexual exploitation in Haryana's Jind district. ANI visited the village, which comes under the Uchana Kala segment of Jind district where the accused got his first posting as headmaster of the government school in 2008. Moreover, it came to light that the accused never got transferred to another area or district since he was inducted into a government job in 2008 and has been serving schools in the local area only. The then-sarpanch of the village told the ANI that the accused principal had developed a negative image since his first joining after he harassed school girls. "A few girls had complained about the sexual harassment by the principal thereafter, villagers gathered in school. A complaint was lodged by villagers to the higher officials in Panchkula at that time. Even a team consisting of a lady official visited the village to take stock of the situation. However, girls didn't come out openly in the panchayat or before officials of the education department. Meanwhile, villagers had come to know about the ill will of the then headmaster. Therefore, a demand of his transfer was raised before them," he added. Taking action on the complaint of the villagers, higher officials transferred the principal in 2013 to another village of this same constituency. Thereafter, finally, the villagers heaved a sigh of relief. "But the villagers knew his fate following his character and habits and eventually the day has come but justice should be delivered to the innocent girls who are now expecting a fair probe. At that time too, people of our village sought police action on him but let him go, as girls were reluctant and didn't come forward," he said. "Elderly, people were concerned about the image of the village in the region. But villagers are now happy that he got the results of his deeds," said the former sarpanch. "We send our wards on the trust of the teachers. If children involve in any bad company, it is the duty of a teacher to guide her and motivate for a right track rather than take advantage of the situation. He has deceived and backstabbed the parents who entrusted on him. He must get a strict punishment," said the villagers gathered outside the house of former sarpanch of the village. In this matter, education officials refrained from commenting. Since the incident came to light, the education department has remained tight-lipped over the issue. People are questioning the department about how they allowed the principal to join a girl school despite having such an image. Social activists and khaps questioned the Haryana government about how girls' numbers have dropped to 935 from 2000 in the school in the last few years. "The Haryana government should make it plain on the situation that claims the slogan of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, said Sonia Doohan, a social activist and NCP leader. Meanwhile, a team led by deputy superintendent of police Geetika Jakhar reached the school and met with the victim minor girls. The team inquired with staff members as well as having a session with victims. Notably, the Haryana government has fixed a deadline for completing the inquiry within 10 days by forming a new SIT led by Deepti Garg, an additional SP posted in Sirsa district. Police and other officials are avoiding interacting with media persons in this matter since it came to light, which raised several questions about the investigation being carried out by teams. (ANI) The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre on the Kerala government's plea against the delay by the governor to decide on eight bills pending with him for periods ranging from seven months to two years. The Supreme Court of India. (ANI) A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra kept the matter on Friday. The Kerala government had moved the top court claiming that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan was delaying his assent to the bills passed by the assembly, which is "defeating the rights of the people". It has claimed inaction on the governor's part in relation to eight bills passed by the Kerala legislature and said many of these bills involve immense public interest and provide for welfare measures that would stand deprived and denied to the people of the southern state to the extent of the delay. "The petitioner state of Kerala -- in fulfilment of its parens patriae obligation to its people, seeks appropriate orders from this court in relation to the inaction on the part of the governor of the state in relation to as many as eight bills passed by the state legislature and presented to the governor for his assent under Article 200 of the Constitution. "Of these, three bills have remained pending with the governor for more than two years and three more in excess of a full year. The conduct of the governor, as would presently be demonstrated, threatens to defeat and subvert the very fundamentals and basic foundations of our Constitution, including the rule of law and democratic good governance, apart from defeating the rights of the people of the state to the welfare measures sought to be implemented through the bills," the petition filed by the Kerala government states. The state government has contended that grave injustice is being done to the people of the state as also to its representative democratic institutions by the governor by keeping the bills pending for long periods of time, including three for more than two years. "The governor appears to be of the view that granting assent or otherwise dealing with bills is a matter entrusted to him in his absolute discretion, to decide whenever he pleases. This is a complete subversion of the Constitution," it has submitted. The plea said the governor's conduct in keeping the bills pending for long and indefinite periods of time is also manifestly arbitrary and violates Article 14 of the Constitution. (With inputs from agencies) On the ninth day of rescue operations at the Silkyara tunnel collapse site here, rescuers on Monday achieved a 'breakthrough' by pushing a six-inch-wide pipeline through the rubble of the collapsed portion, where 41 labourers are trapped. Hot Khichdi being filled in cylindrical bottles for labourers trapped in Silkyara tunnel(ANI) Through this 6-inch alternative lifeline, hot Khichdi was sent to the stranded workers for the first time since they were trapped. On November 12, it was reported that a collapse occurred in an under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot due to a muck falling in the 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel, trapping 41 labourers. As per the government, the labourers are trapped in the 2 km-built tunnel portion, which is complete including concrete work that provides safety to the workers. Electricity and water are available in the portion of the tunnel and workers are provided food items and medicines through 4-inch compressor pipeline. After today's breakthrough, the horizontal boring by National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) from Silkyara end for the rescue of workers through Augur boring machine will be recommenced in the coming time. Earlier in the day, rescue operation in-charge Colonel Deepak Patil said that although their 'main challenge' is evacuating trapped men through 900 mm pipe, which will be attempted later, the food, mobiles, and chargers will be sent inside the tunnel through the 6-inch lifeline. On what food items will be sent to trapped labourers, he said that, keeping in mind the condition of the labourers, a list has been prepared with the help of doctors on available food options. "We are bringing plastic cylindrical bottles with wide mouths so that we can send bananas, apples, Khichdi, and Daliya," he added. Rescuers filled Khichdi in cylindrical bottles to be sent to the stranded workers. Hemant, the cook who prepared the Khichdi for the trapped labourers, said that this is the first time a hot meal is being sent to the workers. "This food will be sent inside the tunnel. This is the first time a hot meal is being sent. We are sending Khichdi. We are only preparing the food which we have been recommended," he said. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the work of evacuating the workers trapped is going on at a fast pace and if during this period, any relative of the trapped persons arrives at the site, the government will make arrangements for their travel, accommodation and food. Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in a release said that rescue operations are continuing in full swing to save the trapped workers and constant communication is being maintained with efforts to keep up the morale of the workers trapped in the two km-built tunnel portion. The release said Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is working on another vertical pipeline for the supply of essential items. It said various government agencies have been involved in the rescue operation and have been assigned specific tasks. "These agencies are working tirelessly for the safe evacuation of the workers," the release said. It said the first machine of SJVNL for the construction of the vertical rescue tunnel has already reached the tunnel site and operations are being commenced post-completion of the access road by the Border Roads Organisation. Two other machines are being brought for the vertical tunnel construction from Gujarat and Odisha through the road. Work on the construction of a rescue tunnel of 480 metres from Barkot end by Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation has commenced. The release said that machinery for micro-tunneling by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited through horizontal drilling for the rescue of labourers is being transported from Nashik and Delhi. Machinery for vertical boring are being mobilized by ONGC from USA, Mumbai and Ghaziabad. The release said that BRO has done commendable work and the approach road for vertical drilling of RVNL and SJVNL has been constructed within 48 hours. Work is continuing for the approach road for ONGC also. The release said it was decided to lay a 900 mm pipe through the muck as it was the best and fastest possible solution as per the experts' advice. However, on November 17, because of ground movement, it became unsafe to continue with this option without securing the structure. Considering the lives involved, it was decided to move on all possible fronts together so that the workers can be rescued as early as possible. The area in which the workers are trapped is 8.5 metres high and 2 km long. "This is the built up portion of the tunnel where concreting work has been done providing safety to the labourers. Electricity and water are also available in this portion of the tunnel," the release said Five options were decided and five different agencies were detailed to carry out these options. The release said that NHIDCL will continue to drill from Silkyara end after working safety arrangements. To facilitate this Army has prepared the box culvert. A canopy framework is being made to ensure workers' safety. Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) is implementing vertical drilling to rescue the trapped labourers. Accordingly, equipment has been mobilized from Gujarat and Odisha through Railways as being 75-tonne equipment it could not be airlifted. ONGC, having expertise in deep drilling, had also started initial work for vertical drilling from Barkot end. Earlier in the day, the Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), Anshu Manish Khulko, said there was an atmosphere of joy among the trapped labourers after they came to know about the installation of a 6-inch pipe in the tunnel. The NHIDCL Director said the rescuers will now go with full force to evacuate the labourers. "Earlier there was doubt what would happen if the first lifeline was closed. But now that we have established an alternative lifeline, now we will go with full force," Khulko said. Meanwhile, two robotics machines of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) - weighing 20 kg and 50 kg- have arrived at the site. On the use of the robotics machine from DRDO, the NHIDCL Director said, "An attempt was made to use that machine inside, but as I told you, the strata and rubble inside (the tunnel) are very loose, so it was not successful there." Moreover, three aircraft of the Indian Air Force airlifted-- a C-17 and two C-130 J aircraft-- another 36 tonnes of critical equipment on Monday. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and took stock of the rescue operations underway. Earlier this morning, International Tunneling Expert Arnold Dix also conducted an inspection at the tunnel site. Kolkata: The controversial plaques Visva-Bharati university installed on its campus to mark the inclusion of Santiniketan township in the UNESCO world heritage list will be replaced very soon, the authorities officially announced on Monday, four days after the acting vice-chancellor (V-C) was summoned to Delhi by the Union education ministry to discuss the issue. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. (File photo) Visva-Bharati, West Bengals only central university set up by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921, triggered a row in October by installing the plaques, which bear the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the universitys acharya (chancellor) and the then V-C Bidyut Chakrabarty but dont mention the nations first Nobel laureate. Chakrabarty, at whose behest the plaques were installed, retired on November 8 and Sanjoy Kumar Mallik, the head of the art department, was appointed as acting V-C by the Centre. The vice-chancellor (acting) has also been advised that the installation of the official text of the statement for the UNESCO recognizing Santiniketan as a heritage site, is of immediate priority, said a statement issued by Visva-Bharati spokesperson Mahua Banerjee on Monday. The Ministry was informed that on receipt of the aforementioned draft statement, a committee has been immediately constituted to finalise the Bengali version of the text (as instructed) and to look through the text in Hindi and English for parity of statement across the three languages. The ministry was assured that for this issue too, the university has no intentions for unnecessary delay in carrying out the work, the statement, which focused on the decisions taken at the November 16 meeting in Delhi, added. Also Read: BJP trying to erase Tagores legacy because of his ideology, alleges TMC A member of the Visva-Bharati committee, who did not wish to be named, mentioned in the statement told HT that the text of the content drafted by the Centre neither mentions the PM nor the former V-C. The English and Hindi drafts follow the pattern in which UNESCO describes world heritage sites in its records. The focus is on the history of Santiniketan, Tagore and Visva-Bharati. While translating the long content into Bengali we suggested changes in a few words. The Bengali text will appear first and followed by the English and Hindi versions, the committee member said. The content is quite long. I dont think inscribing it on stone will be feasible. They may use steel or some other material. The number of plaques and their locations will be decided by the Centre and Archaeological Survey of India, he added. Chakrabarty, whose five-year term as V-C was marked by controversies and litigations, was questioned on Monday by officers from Santiniketan police station for one hour in connection with five criminal complaints lodged against him between August and November this year. Most of the complainants accused him of defaming Bengali culture and hurting public sentiment. The police went to Purbita, the house allocated for serving V-Cs that Chakrabarty has not vacated yet. This issue, too, was taken up at the November 16 meeting in Delhi. On being enquired, the ministry was informed that on behalf of the former vice-chancellor, his legal advisor has submitted an email intimation on the 15th of November that he requires to stay on at the bungalow till the 30th of November 2023. The university is examining this intimation as per rules. The vice-chancellor (acting) has been advised to ensure a dignified and graceful exit for the former vice-chancellor, said the statement issued by the Visva-Bharati spokesperson. Rescue operations continued on Monday at the Uttarakhand tunnel collapse site in Uttarkashi district. To help the authorities in the evacuation of 41 workers stranded inside the partially collapsed tunnel, the Defence Research Development Organisation's robotics team has employed the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Daksh. The equipment is specifically designed for use on a motorized pan-tilt platform, which can help reach the risky terrain. The incident site where the rescue operations will be carried out after a portion of the Silkyara Tunnel collapsed and a number of workers got trapped under it, in Uttarkashi on Monday. (ANI) DRDO's Remotely Operated Vehicle Daksh(DRDO) What is ROV Daksh? The Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) Daksh is a versatile tool used for detecting and managing improvised explosive devices (IEDs), surveying nuclear and chemical contamination and handling hazardous objects, according to DRDO. It has ladder climbing abilities and can function for three continuous hours, with the capability to operate over distances exceeding 100 to 500 metres. It serves the bomb disposal units (BDU) of army, police, and paramilitary forces, aiding in handling IEDs and other dangerous substances. The ROV Daksh features a motorized pan-tilt platform and can be controlled remotely within a 500-meter range. Its manipulator arm can handle hazardous objects weighing up to 20kg from 2.5 meters and 9kg from 4 metres away. Daksh demonstrates the ability to climb stairs and maneuver steep slopes, with durable rubber wheels capable of withstanding blast impacts. It can tow suspicious platforms and operate continuously for three hours once fully charged. It is equipped with multiple cameras, IED handling tools, nuclear biological chemical (NBC) reconnaissance systems, a master control station (MCS), and a shotgun. The ROV Daksh, along with the MCS, is transported using a specially designed carrier vehicle for deployment and mobility. Other organisations working at the tunnel site The trapped workers have been receiving essentials through a 4-inch compressor pipeline. They have been getting supplies like chickpeas, puffed rice, dry fruits and medications. The National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) is currently installing a new 6-inch pipeline for food supply. They have completed drilling 39 metres out of 60, with plans to continue from the Silkyara end once safety measures are ensured. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is working on a separate vertical pipeline for essential supplies. To support this initiative, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has finished constructing an access road for RVNL's convenience. Meanwhile, the Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation (THDC) is set to commence micro tunneling from the Barkot end, having mobilised heavy machinery. Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) will undertake vertical drilling to aid in the rescue of the trapped laborers. To support these operations, equipment has been brought in from Gujarat and Odisha. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has initiated preliminary work for vertical drilling from the Barkot end, with BRO already underway in constructing an access road to mobilise machines for ONGC and SJVNL. (With inputs from agencies) New Delhi: The world is headed for 2.5 to 2.9 degree C warming over the pre-industrial period. At a time when several months have made temperature records, a new United Nations report released on Monday painted a bleak picture of climate action globally. This year, until the beginning of October, 86 days recorded average temperatures over 1.5 degree C above pre-industrial levels. (AFP) This year, until the beginning of October, 86 days recorded average temperatures over 1.5 degree C above pre-industrial levels. September was the hottest recorded month, with global average temperatures 1.8 degree C above pre-industrial levels and yet global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased by 1.2% from 2021 to 2022 to reach a new record of 57.4 Gigatonnes of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (GtCO2e), United Nations Environment Programmes Emissions Gap Report 2023 titled Broken Record said. GHG emissions across the G20 also increased by 1.2% in 2022 when emissions should in fact fall rapidly if Paris Agreement goals were to be met. Predicted 2030 emissions must be cut by at least 28-42% compared to current policy scenarios to get on track for the 2 degree C and 1.5 degree C goals of the Paris Agreement respectively. Fully implementing and continuing efforts implied by unconditional Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would put the world on track for limiting temperature rise to 2.9C, the report said. Maintaining the possibility of achieving the Paris Agreement goals hinges on strengthening mitigation this decade to narrow the emissions gap, the report underlined while highlighting that the world is witnessing a disturbing acceleration in the number, speed and scale of broken climate records. Due to the failure to stringently reduce emissions in high-income and high-emitting countries (which bear the greatest responsibility for past emissions) and to limit emissions growth in low- and middle-income countries (which account for the majority of current emissions), unprecedented action is now needed by all countries, the report said. For high-income countries this would mean further accelerating domestic emissions reductions, committing to reaching net zero as soon as possible and providing financial and technical support to low and middle-income countries. For low- and middle-income countries it means developing while also moving away from fossil fuels. Two kinds of NDCs are submitted by the country which lay down their plans to mitigate emissions. Conditional NDCs are those that countries will implement depending on the finance and technology provided or shared by developed nations and unconditional NDCs are those that countries will implement irrespective of support. Current unconditional NDCs imply a 14 GtCO2e emissions gap for a 2 degree C goal and a 22 GtCO2e gap for the 1.5 degree C goal. The additional implementation of the conditional NDCs reduces these estimates by 3 GtCO2e. Also Read: World failing to get a grip on the climate crisis, says UN chief on new report The emissions gap is defined as the difference between the estimated global GHG emissions resulting from full implementation of the latest NDCs and those aligned with the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. The UN is clear that action in this decade will determine the ambition required in these NDCs, and the feasibility of achieving the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. Further delay of stringent global GHG emissions reductions will increase future reliance on carbon dioxide removal technologies, the report warned. The delay in stringent mitigation action will likely increase future dependence on carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere, but availability of large-scale CDR options in the future cannot be taken for granted, it said. Todays Emissions Gap report shows that if nothing changes, in 2030, emissions will be 22 Gigatonnes higher than the 1.5 degree-limit will allow. Thats roughly the total present annual emissions of the USA, China, and the EU combined. It shows greenhouse emissions reaching all-time highs a 1.2% increase on last year when those levels should be shooting down, said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in a statement. And those emissions are shattering temperature records. June, July, August, September and October were all the hottest on record. Present trends are racing our planet down a dead-end three-degree temperature rise. In short, the report shows that the emissions gap is more like an emissions canyon. A canyon littered with broken promises, broken lives, and broken records, he added. Guterres said this is a failure of leadership, a betrayal of the vulnerable, and a massive missed opportunity. MIT researchers have developed a patch-like wearable ultrasound monitor that can inspect organs within the body without the necessity of an ultrasound operator or the application of the gel. Ultrasound patch to measure how full bladder is: Research(Shutterstock photo) In a new study, the researchers revealed that their patch can precisely scan the bladder and determine how full it is. According to the researchers, this could make it easier for those suffering from bladder or kidney disorders to evaluate whether their organs are working properly. This method might also be used to monitor different organs within the body by relocating the ultrasonic array and adjusting the frequency of the signal. Such gadgets may be able to detect tumours that originate deep within the body, such as ovarian cancer, early. ALSO READ: Ultrasound effective of locating particular breast abnormalities: Study We're now on WhatsApp. Click to join "This technology is versatile and can be used not only on the bladder but any deep tissue of the body. It's a novel platform that can do identification and characterization of many of the diseases that we carry in our body," says Canan Dagdeviren, an associate professor in MIT's Media Lab and the senior author of the study. Lin Zhang, an MIT research scientist; Colin Marcus, an MIT graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science; and Dabin Lin, a professor at Xi'an Technological University, are the lead authors of a paper describing the work, which appears today in Nature Electronics. Dagdeviren's lab, which specializes in designing flexible, wearable electronic devices, recently developed an ultrasound monitor that can be incorporated into a bra and used to screen for breast cancer. In the new study, the team used a similar approach to develop a wearable patch that can adhere to the skin and take ultrasound images of organs located within the body. For their first demonstration, the researchers decided to focus on the bladder, partly inspired by Dagdeviren's younger brother, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer a few years ago. After having one of his kidneys surgically removed, he had difficulty fully emptying his bladder. Dagdeviren wondered if an ultrasound monitor that reveals how full the bladder is might help patients similar to her brother, or people with other types of bladder or kidney problems. "Millions of people are suffering from bladder dysfunction and related diseases, and not surprisingly, bladder volume monitoring is an effective way to assess your kidney health and wellness," she said. Currently, the only way to measure bladder volume is using a traditional, bulky ultrasound probe, which requires going to a medical facility. Dagdeviren and her colleagues wanted to develop a wearable alternative that patients could use at home. To achieve that, they created a flexible patch made of silicone rubber, embedded with five ultrasound arrays made from a new piezoelectric material that the researchers developed for this device. The arrays are positioned in the shape of a cross, which allows the patch to image the entire bladder, which is about 12 by 8 centimetres when full. The polymer that makes up the patch is naturally sticky and adheres gently to the skin, making it easy to attach and detach. Once placed on the skin, underwear or leggings can help hold it in place. In a study performed with collaborators at the Center for Ultrasound Research and Translation and Department of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, the researchers showed that the new patch could capture images comparable to those taken with a traditional ultrasound probe, and these images could be used to track changes in bladder volume. For the study, the researchers recruited 20 patients with a range of body mass indexes. Subjects were first imaged with a full bladder, then with a partially empty bladder, and then with a completely empty bladder. The images obtained from the new patch were similar in quality to those taken with traditional ultrasound, and the ultrasound arrays worked on all subjects regardless of their body mass index. Using this patch, no ultrasound gel is needed, and no pressure needs to be applied, as with a regular ultrasound probe, because the field of view is large enough to encompass the entire bladder. To see the images, the researchers connected their ultrasound arrays to the same kind of ultrasound machine used in medical imaging centers. However, the MIT team is now working on a portable device, about the size of a smartphone, that could be used to view the images. "In this work, we have further developed a path toward clinical translation of conformable ultrasonic biosensors that yield valuable information about vital physiologic parameters. Our group hopes to build on this and develop a suite of devices that will ultimately bridge the information gap between clinicians and patients," said Anthony E. Samir, director of the MGH Center for Ultrasound Research and Translation and Associate Chair of Imaging Sciences at MGH Radiology, who is also an author of the study. The MIT team also hopes to develop ultrasound devices that could be used to image other organs within the body, such as the pancreas, liver, or ovaries. Based on the location and depth of each organ, the researchers need to alter the frequency of the ultrasound signal, which requires designing new piezoelectric materials. For some of these organs, located deep within the body, the device may work better as an implant rather than a wearable patch. "For whatever organ that we need to visualize, we go back to the first step, select the right materials, come up with the right device design and then fabricate everything accordingly," before testing the device and performing clinical trials, Dagdeviren said. "This work could develop into a central area of focus in ultrasound research, motivate a new approach to future medical device designs, and lay the groundwork for many more fruitful collaborations between materials scientists, electrical engineers, and biomedical researchers," said Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of MIT's School of Engineering, the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and an author of the paper. Over 500 employees of OpenAI on Monday threatened to leave the company unless all current board members resigned, Reuters reported citing a letter by the employees. They also said they would join former boss Sam Altman at Microsoft's new division. OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken on February 3.(Reuters) The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board has jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company the letter reads. Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI. Among those threatening included the company's Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, Chief Data Scientist Ilya Sutskever and Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap, a person familiar with the matter told the news agency. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The development comes a day after the company sacked Altman. Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear was appointed as the company's interim CEO. Earlier today, Microsoft's Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella announced that Altman and is joining the US software firm. Nadella said that Altman, along with along with his ex-colleague, Greg Brockman, will be leading a new advanced AI research team at Microsoft. Also Read | Sam Altman, sacked OpenAI CEO, to join Satya Nadella's Microsoft: What happened in 3 days? ChatGPT-maker row explained Nadella also appeared to confirm Emmett Shear's reported appointment as the new OpenAI CEO, saying they are "looking forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI's new leadership team and working with them." We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI's new leadership team and working with them. And were extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success, Nadella wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. The developments come less than a year after OpenAI launched the generative AI frenzy with the launch of viral chatbot ChatGPT and bagged Microsoft as an investor, among other big names. Who is Sam Altman, ex-CEO of OpenAI? Sam Altman is an entrepreneur who is known for his disruptive and advanced views on artificial intelligence. Altman served as the Chief Executive Officer of OpenAI from 2019 to 2023. Interested in the tech world at a young age, Altman learnt how to code and take apart a Macintosh computer just at the age of eight. After getting into the premium Stanford University, he decided to drop out to develop his own mobile app Loopt, eventually rising to the top and making his way to OpenAI. Before Microsoft-owned OpenAI, Sam Altman also headed firms like WorldCoin and Y Combinator. Altman also served as the CEO of Reddit for just eight days after Yishan Wong's resignation. Sam Altman on Monday joined Microsoft, days after he was ousted as the chief executive officer. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman waits for a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law hearing on artificial intelligence to begin, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)(AP) Announcing Altman's appointment, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella posted on X,We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners". "We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI's new leadership team and working with them And were extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success", the Microsoft CEO posted. ALSO READ: Who is OpenAI ex-CEO Sam Altman? Here's why he joined Microsoft Remember, Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and woven the company's tech into its offerings including Bing. Earlier in the day, OpenAI hired former Twitch chief Emmett Shear as the next CEO, defying calls from the investors to reinstate Altman. On Saturday, OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, had sacked Altman, saying it no longer had confidence in his ability to lead the Microsoft-backed AI firm. The company's board in a statement had said it was grateful for Sam's many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward. After Friday's shocking decision by OpenAI to remove Sam Altman, it was Satya Nadella, whose Microsoft Corp. is the ChatGPT-maker's biggest backer, who has been working with investors, including Thrive Capital and Tiger Global Management, to bring back the ousted CEO. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (right) greets then OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during the OpenAI DevDay event on November 06, 2023. (AFP) Reports claimed that Nadella has been in touch with Altman and pledged to support him in whatever steps he takes next. Nadella was blindsided by the boards decision, according to people familiar with the situation. On Monday, Nadella announced that Microsoft will hire Altman and other members, including former OpenAI president Greg Brockman, days after the co-founder was fired. "Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team," Nadella said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Altman, a 38-year-old American entrepreneur, co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and took the reins as chief executive officer in 2019. In fact, since OpenAI fired Altman, a host of players across the tech industry have come onto the scene. From co-founders to chief executives, here are their roles and how they play into the escalating series of events happening at the artificial intelligence company. Greg Brockman Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI eight years ago in his apartment, resigned as president on Friday hours after the board pushed out Altman. Brockman wrote in a post on the social media site X: Based on todays news, I quit. Brockman had been due to step down from his role as board chairman but stay on at the company, reporting to the new CEO. Mira Murati OpenAI appointed Murati as interim CEO after the company ousted Altman. She wrote that she was honored and humbled to take up the position, saying it was important for OpenAI to remain focused, driven, and true to our core values, according to a memo seen by news agency Bloomberg. Satya Nadella The Microsoft CEO reached out to Altman following the firing to offer him support in his next steps, people with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg. Microsoft is OpenAIs largest investor with a stake worth more than $10 billion. Nadella succeeded Steve Ballmer as Microsoft CEO in 2014. Earlier this month, Nadella made a surprise visit to OpenAIs developer conference. Our job No. 1 is to build the best system, so that you can build the best models and then make that all available to developers, Nadella told Altman, on stage at DevDay in San Francisco. Ilya Sutskever Sutskever, OpenAIs chief scientist and co-founder, was one of the board members whom Altman reportedly clashed with over some aspects including the pace of developing generative AI. Sutskever asked Altman for a call on Friday and told him that he was fired on a Google Meet, Brockman said in a post on X. Bill Gates, former CEO of Microsoft was seen going into a sewer. But why? Well, to explore the history of Brussels underground water waste system on the occasion of World Toilet Day. He took to Instagram to share the video and also informed the people about the rich history of Brussels. Bill Gates visits Brussels Sewer Museum. (Instagram/@Bill Gates) "I explored the hidden history of Brussels sewage systemand the role of wastewater in global healthfor this years #WorldToiletDay," wrote Bill Gates on Instagram. (Also Read: Bill Gates predicts every netizen will have AI-powered advanced personal assistant) A text inlay on the video reads, "I experienced it all at the Brussels underground museum. Documenting the history of the city's wastewater system. In the 1800's the sewage got dumped into the city's Senne River. That led to horrible cholera epidemics. Today, a 200-mile network of sewers and treatment plants process the city's waste." The video shows how Bill Gates explored the underground system and met scientists to learn more about it. Watch the video shared by Bill Gates here: More about World Toilet Day: Every year, World Toilet Day is celebrated on November 19. This day was designated as World Toilet Day in 2001 by the Singaporean philanthropist Jack Sim's non-profit organisation calledWorld Toilet Organisation. The word toilet was purposefully chosen over sanitation in order to improve public outreach, relevancy, and ease of communication. People gather to raise awareness of the value of cleanliness on World Toilet Day. Inadequate sanitation and hygiene can lead to the spread of several serious diseases. People draw attention to the same issue. They also look into ways to improve access to sanitary facilities for all. The holiday season is approaching, and along with the festive cheer, Mariah Carey's timeless tunes, and cosy Yule logs, there's a sprinkle of royal drama to keep us entertained. Surprisingly, the royal theatrics have started earlier than expected this year. Britain's Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, left, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, participate in The Archewell Foundation Parents' Summit "Mental Wellness in the Digital Age" as part of Project Healthy Minds' World Mental Health Day Festival on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, in New York.(Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Recent reports from the Sunday Times suggest that despite the ongoing tension between the Sussexes and the royal family, "friends of the Sussexes" are eager to embrace the holiday spirit and "readily accept an invitation to Christmas at Sandringham." A close friend, speaking on behalf of the Sussexes, shared, "I cant imagine the Sussexes would decline an invitation to spend time with His Majesty. As of yet, there have not been any invitations for the holidays." Buckingham Palace, however, has chosen to remain tight-lipped on the matter. The potential snag in the festive plans? Trust issues loom large on both sidesPrince Harry accusing his family of leaking stories, while the royals are still adjusting to the concept of a "spare" in Prince William. Enter the Daily Mail, which uncovered insights from an anonymous "insider" hinting at a strategic move by King Charles. Speculation suggests that the King might extend an invitation to the Sussexes for a New Year visit in Scotland, cleverly sidestepping the potential awkwardness of a family reunion with Prince William and Kate Middleton. According to the source, this move "would certainly have the advantage of killing two birds with one stone; extending an olive branch to one son without causing difficulty to the other." As anticipation builds, another insider adds, "It would be surprising for the Sussexes not to have received an invitation by now if there was going to be one. New Year in Scotland would be more likely. But as with anything to do with Harry and Meghan, let's face it, anything can happen." A LARGE SCREEN dominates a tent at the edge of a military base in the Negev Desert. Dozens of blue squares represent Israeli troops on the ground, 20km away, north-east of Gaza city. Inside the headquarters of one of the infantry brigades of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), operations officers co-ordinate search-and-destroy missions of Hamas tunnels from afar. Two weeks after the launch of its ground offensive inside the Gaza Strip, Israel has around four divisions (somewhere around 10,000 troops) in the territory. Some of the columns are making their way into the centre of Gaza city. Others are operating in the outlying towns, which are now mostly empty, going from house to house, searching for more tunnel openings. This will be our only opportunity to finish off as much of Hamass underground network as we can, says one of the officers, referring to the groups 500km-long tunnel system. We dont know how long we have to operate and we need to make the most of it while we can. Read all our coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas Western support for Israels campaign is wavering. On November 10th Frances president, Emmanuel Macron, called for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that, although he supported Israels right to respond to Hamass terror attack on October 7th, de facto, theres babies, theres ladies, theres old people bombed and killed. There is no reason for that and no legitimacy. But Israels closest ally, America, has not yet demanded a ceasefire, so the IDF is wasting no time. Israels army has, however, reached a point in its campaign where the Israeli governments stated objectivesto destroy Hamass military infrastructure and to rescue the 239 hostages still held in Gazaare in increasing tension. In recent days much attention has been focused on the hospitals in central Gaza, especially al-Shifa, the biggest. These have become concentrations, not just of the wounded, but also of thousands of civilians who remain in the city, sheltering around them. A doctor at the al-Ahli hospital said that the facilitys blood supply had run out on November 12th, preventing patients from being transfused. Israeli intelligence believes that the hospitals are also where Hamass main underground headquarters are situated. Staff at al-Shifa have accused Israel of firing on them and causing the deaths of patients by cutting off the hospitals electricity. On November 12th the IDF announced that it was opening up an escape-route for civilians out of al-Shifa and two other hospitals, which would get them them to the road leading south of the Israeli perimeter. Israeli officials say that the order to launch a final assault on the hospitals that it says are Hamass headquarters has not yet come from the war cabinet led by Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister. But on the same day, Jake Sullivan, Americas national security adviser, while acknowledging open source information that pointed to Hamass use of hospitals as arms caches and command posts, told CBS News that his country does not want to see firefights in hospitals, where innocent people, patients receiving medical care, are caught in the crossfire. The main reason for the cabinets reluctance is the hope of reaching an agreement with Hamas on the release of a large number of hostages; Israel is holding out for at least a hundred. In return Israel would free some Palestinian prisonersit holds 4,450 of them in its jailsand allow more supplies, including fuel, into Gaza. Indirect talks on any kind of deal are ongoing in Qatar and Egypt, but the final word will be that of the head of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who is Israels prime target. It is unclear whether any deal would postpone the IDFs attempt to destroy any Hamass facilities near or below the hospital; it seems unlikely to abandon it. As the tense negotiations continue, Israel is trying to urge as many as possible of the remaining civilians inside Gaza city, who are thought to number around 100,000, to leave for the south as well. But the Israeli governments refusal to commit to any form of Palestinian control of Gaza after the war is also undermining international support for its campaign. Members of the far-right coalition have been calling for Israel to re-occupy Gaza and rebuild the settlements that Israel dismantled there in 2005. Mr Netanyahu has denied that there are any plans to do so but has also insisted that Israel should retain, post-war, the overall security control, including the capacity to go in whenever we want to eliminate terrorists who may pop up again. He has also ruled out a return of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which was ousted by Hamas in a coup in 2007, saying it educates its children to hate Israel, to kill Israelis, to eliminate the State of Israel and that its president, Mahmoud Abbas, still has not condemned the terrible massacre 30 days later. The Biden administration has already made it clear that it wants the PA to control Gaza once the fighting is overand is working towards such a future. Mr Netanyahu, whose public support has been plummeting, seems more worried about clinging to his shrinking nationalist base than preparing for the enclaves fate if Hamas is removed from power. Yet in a sign that he may not be in office forever, Israeli officials are already quietly working on plans for Gaza under PA control. 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com Indian officials held consular camps across six locations in Canada over the weekend amid significant police presence due to threats of disruption by pro-Khalistani elements. Volunteers at the Brampton Triveni Mandir with Indian officials and pensioners at the consular camp there on Sunday. (Brampton Triveni Mandir) While protestors holding Khalistani groups did appear in at least one location on Saturday, increased law enforcement presence may have deterred any disruption. The consular camps were held in the Greater Toronto Area or GTA towns of Brampton and Mississauga, as well as in Vancouver and Prince George in British Columbia and Saskatoon in the province of Saskatchewan. The secessionist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ had called for the consular camps to be shut down in posters that were released on social media. A senior Indian official said that over 1200 services were rendered at the camps over Saturday and Sunday. The camps, which are routine and annual affairs, are aimed at provided life certificates to Indian Government pensioners who are currently residing in Canada. Among the temples where the camp was held was the Brampton Triveni Mandir. The temples spiritual leader Yudhishthir Dhanrajh said that everything went smoothly at the venue. He said that Peel Regional Police had informed the temple they were on high alert and conducted rolling patrols to avert any untoward incident. No protestors showed up that we are aware of. Seems that the heavy police presence was a successful deterrent, he said. Dhanrajh said the temple will not be intimidated into not providing its premises to be used for similar community activity in the future. After seeing the response and the warm reception, we will try to give the facility again if the community asks for it. We have to do our duty. Such camps are organised in areas with large Indo-Canadian populations so that the elderly do not have make the journey to Indias missions in Ottawa, Toronto or Vancouver for the purpose. Dhanrajh said the community availed of the camp which was open to all and nearly 75% of the pensioners who received the service at the temple were Sikh. Alluding to protests by pro-Khalistan elements at another such camp, at the Khalsa Diwan Societys gurdwara in Abbotsford in British Columbia last Monday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in New Delhi last week, We reiterate the need for nations to respect the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations so that our diplomats can discharge their diplomatic obligations. SFJ had targeted these camps as its general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun said on Wednesday, Pro-Khalistan Sikhs are going to challenge Indian diplomats since they are setting up spy network under the cover of community programs. He linked it to the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar, SFJs principal in British Columbia, on June 18 in Surrey, asking pro-Khalistan elements to peacefully confront and question Indian officials who, he alleged, were responsible for Nijjars murder. SFJs activities in Canada have increased since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus statement in the House of Commons on September 18 that there were credible allegations of a potential link between Indian agents and Nijjars murder. Italy has erupted in outrage over the death of a young woman, allegedly at the hands of her possessive ex-boyfriend, with the Italian premier vowing to crack down further on domestic violence that has claimed the lives of more than 50 women so far this year. Police in Germany over the weekend arrested Filippo Turetta, who had been on the run since November 11.(Representational) Police in Germany over the weekend arrested Filippo Turetta, who had been on the run since November 11, when he was last seen fighting with 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin, hitting her in a physical attack that was captured by roadside video cameras. Cecchettin's body, reportedly with multiple stab wounds, was found wrapped in plastic on Saturday in a ditch near Lake Barcis, in the province of Pordenone north of Venice. Italian newspapers had been consumed with the search for them both, given multiple reports from friends and family that Turetta had refused to accept Cecchettin's decision to end the relationship. Cecchettin's sister, Elena, had said she had been concerned about Turetta's possessiveness of her sister, but never imagined he could hurt her. Police in the eastern German city of Halle said Sunday that they had detained a 21-year-old Italian man who was wanted by police in Italy after his car broke down on the A9 highway in the south of the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. Italian news reports said police road cameras had traced Turetta's black Fiat Punto as he drove on mountain roads through northern Italy, into Austria and then Germany. State-run RAI radio said Turetta had agreed to be extradited, and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he was expected back in Italy within days. The fate of Cecchettin, who was about to graduate with a degree in engineering, had dominated news reports for a week and led to an outpouring of anger when her body was finally found. Even Turetta's parents attended a candlelit vigil for her, and RAI led its main evening news program Sunday with a backdrop made up of portraits of all the women killed this year. Premier Giorgia Meloni expressed outrage at Italy's long history of violence against women by their partners or ex-partners, saying it has appeared to be getting worse recently. She cited data from the Interior Ministry saying of the 102 women killed in Italy this year up to November 12, 53 died at the hands of their partners or former partners. Every single woman killed because she is guilty' of being free is an aberration that cannot be tolerated and that drives me to continue on the path taken to stop this barbarity, she said in a statement on social media. A government-backed bill that has already passed the lower Chamber of Deputies and is coming to the Senate later this month would boost preventative measures to protect victims of domestic violence. In addition, the Interior Ministry urged all schools to hold a minute of silence on Tuesday in honor of Cecchettin and all abused women and victims of violence. Israel-Hamas war Updates: The war between Israel and Hamas has entered its seventh week following Hamas' unprecedented attack on October 7 in southern Israel that killed over 1,200 people. According to the health ministry in Gaza, over 12,300 - including children, have been killed. Meanwhile, Gaza's main hospital - Al-Shifa - is reeling under a grave situation as Israel ordered its immediate evacuation on Saturday. Israel-Hamas War: Israeli soldiers walk at the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid their ground operation against Hamas.(Reuters) Here are the latest updates: A World Health Organisation (WHO) team that visited Shifa hospital for an hour on Saturday said that it has become a death zone. According to the team, the hospital corridors were filled with medical and solid waste, increasing the risk of infection for patients who were terrified for their safety and health, and pleaded for evacuation. The Israeli army claimed that it had found strong evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintains a sprawling command post inside and under the Shifa hospital. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed that it found a 55-meter (60-yard) tunnel about 10 meters under the hospitals 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages, and a plaza. It said the tunnel included a staircase, blast-proof door, and a firing hole that could be used by snipers. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that there is no deal yet with Hamas to free the hostages. Israeli ships are a "legitimate target", Yemen's Huthi rebels warned on Monday, after their seizure of an Israel-linked cargo vessel opened a new dimension in the Gaza war. The Galaxy Leader was hijacked by Houthis, and has been taken to a port in Yemen.(AP) Sunday's capture of the Galaxy Leader and its 25 international crew came days after the Iran-backed Huthis threatened to target Israeli shipping over the Israel-Hamas war. The Huthis, declaring themselves part of the "axis of resistance" of Iran's allies and proxies, have also launched a series of drones and missiles towards Israel. "Israeli ships are legitimate targets for us anywhere... and we will not hesitate to take action," Major General Ali Al-Moshki, a Huthi military official, told the group's Al-Massirah TV station. Analysts said Huthi threats to shipping around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a choke-point at the foot of the commercially vital Red Sea, were likely to rise. The Bahamas-flagged, British-owned Galaxy Leader is operated by a Japanese firm but has links to Israeli businessman Abraham "Rami" Ungar. The Huthis said the capture was in retaliation for Israel's war against Hamas, sparked by the October 7 attack by the Palestinian militants who killed 1,200 people and took around 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials. More than 13,000 people have since been killed in Israel's aerial bombardment and ground operations in the Gaza Strip, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says. Sunday's ship seizure "is only the beginning," Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said Sunday in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, pledging further maritime attacks until Israel halts its Gaza campaign. Iran-style boarding On Monday the rebels released a video purporting to show Sunday's seizure. The footage showed masked armed men jumping onto the ship from a helicopter while the vessel was still moving, and holding crew members at gunpoint. Palestinian and Yemeni flags were raised on board. AFP could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage. The vessel headed from Turkey to India was re-routed to the Yemeni port of Salif port in Hodeida province, according to maritime security company Ambrey. Ambrey said the owner of the Galaxy Leader, which transports cars and other vehicles, is listed as Britain's Ray Car Carriers whose parent company belongs to Israeli businessman Ungar. Israel's military said the seizure was a "very grave incident of global consequence", while a US military official called it "a flagrant violation of international law". The crew were reportedly "under investigation" by the Huthis, Ambrey said. They include Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos, Mexicans and a Romanian, according to Israeli and Romananian officials. Nippon Yusen, also known as NYK Line of Japan, said it had set up a task team to gather information and ensure the crew's safety. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Tokyo was "directly approaching the Huthis" as well as communicating with Israel. "We are also urging Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran and other countries concerned to strongly urge the Huthis for the early release of the vessel and crew members," she said. 'Threat likely to rise' The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterised the capture as an "Iranian attack against an international vessel", an accusation dismissed by Iran. "We have repeatedly announced that the resistance groups in the region represent their countries and make decisions and act based on the interests of their countries," said Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani. Yemen's coastline overlooks the Bab al-Mandab Strait -- a narrow pass between Yemen and Djibouti at the foot of the Red Sea -- which is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and carries about a fifth of global oil consumption. "The threat of disruption to shipping in the wider region is likely to rise," Torbjorn Soltvedt of the risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft told AFP. "If security concerns compel shipping companies to avoid the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the result will be significantly higher costs due to the lack of alternative routes." Mohammed al-Basha, senior Middle East analyst for the US-based Navanti Group said the failure of Huthi missile and drone launches to hit targets inside Israel "might have influenced the decision to refocus on the Red Sea arena". A volcano in Papua New Guinea erupted, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said as per news agency Associated Press. The agency was assessing a possible risk of a tsunami for the Japanese coasts, it informed. Mount Ulawun on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea erupted at around 3:30 p.m. It spewed volcanic smoke as high as 15,000 meters (50,000 feet), the agency said. Japan Tsunami: Plume billows from the water off the Ioto island, following an eruption in Ogasawara, southern Tokyo, Japan.(AP) What Japan's weather agency said? The weather agency urged coastal residents to stay cautious in case of a delayed tsunami. Assessing a possible impact on Japan included the risk of a tsunami approaching the country later Monday, it informed. First tsunami waves could reach Izu and Ogasawara islands, about three hours after the shaking caused by the eruption, JMA said. However, the agency said it could not immediately predict a possible size of a tsunami without issuing any advisory or warning as no notable change to sea levels has been detected at observation sites in and outside Japan. What Papua New Guinea said on the volcano? Papua New Guineas government agency that monitors earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions did not immediately respond. But Geoscience Australia, a government agency, said that there was no tsunami warning for Australian waters. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue any warning as well. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday he believes a deal is near to secure the release of some of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, telling reporters "I believe so" when asked at the White House about a possible agreement. US President Joe Biden speaks.(AFP) Reuters reported last week that Qatari mediators had been seeking a deal between Israel and Hamas to exchange 50 hostages in return for a three-day ceasefire that would help boost emergency aid shipments to Gaza civilians, citing an official briefed on the talks. About 240 hostages were taken during Hamas's deadly cross-border rampage into Israel on Oct. 7, which prompted Israel to invade the tiny Palestinian territory to wipe out the Islamist militant group. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Hamas assault, according to Israeli tallies, the deadliest day in Israel's 75-year-old history. Since then, Gaza's Hamas-run government said at least 13,000 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 5,500 children, by unrelenting Israeli bombardment. Despite ongoing fighting, Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, told ABC News on Sunday that Israel was hopeful a significant number of hostages could be released by Hamas "in coming days." US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed last week to meet again but did not specify a date, the White House said on Monday. US President Joe Biden with Chinese President Xi Jinping.(The White House/X) The two leaders met on the outskirts of San Francisco and agreed to re-establish military-to-military communications. White House spokesperson John Kirby said they agreed to another meeting but did not settle on a date. The Kremlin, facing the prospect of a European Union ban on imports of Russian diamonds, said on Monday that EU sanctions tended to have a "boomerang effect" on those who applied them. Russian president Vladimir Putin.(AP) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was commenting on a proposed EU ban on diamond imports from Russia as part of a new sanctions package against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine. Russia is the world's biggest producer of rough diamonds by volume. Peskov told reporters such a move had been anticipated for a long time, but was likely to backfire. "As a rule, it turns out that a boomerang effect is partially triggered: the interests of the Europeans themselves suffer. So far, we have been able to find ways to minimise the negative consequences of sanctions," he said. EU diplomatic sources said last week the proposal under discussion was to ban direct diamond imports from Russia from Jan. 1, and from March to implement a traceability mechanism that would prevent imports of Russian gems processed in third countries. More than 400,000 Afghans returned to their home country following the ongoing crackdown on illegal foreigners in the country, Pakistani authorities said Monday. Afghan refugees queue outside a police station for their data verification by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in Karachi.(AFP) Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, confirmed the number and told The Associated Press that the majority have been using the border crossings of Torkham and Spin Boldak to return home. An estimated 1.7 million Afghans had been living in Pakistan when authorities announced its nationwide crackdown, saying that anyone without proper documents had to leave the country by October 31 or else get arrested. However, Pakistani officials said the other 1.4 million Afghans registered as refugees need not worry as only people without proper documentation were sought after. In the 1980s, millions of Afghans fled to neighboring Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. The numbers witnessed a spike after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistan also introduced plans under which hundreds of thousands of residents in the southwestern border town of Chaman would need visas to cross between the two countries. They previously had special permits. On Monday, hundreds briefly blocked a key road leading to the Chaman border, disrupting traffic and the repatriation of some of the Afghans. Residents in Chaman have been protesting repeatedly, asking Pakistan to allow them to continue using the special permits for business purposes and to meet with relatives who live in the Afghan border city of Spin Boldak. Since November 1, police in Pakistan have been going door-to-door to check migrants documentation. Pakistani officials had said before that the crackdown involves all foreigners in the country, but most of those affected are Afghan nationals. The latest development comes days after the World Health Organization warned that about 1.3 million Afghans were expected to return to their country of origin from Pakistan despite the onset of cold weather. Such expulsions have drawn widespread criticism from international and domestic human rights groups. The Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan said it was providing shelter and food to returnees. On October 27, an ethnic armed organisation (EAO) based in Myanmars north began fierce coordinated operations against military regime targets with two other groups. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), also known as the Kokang army, led the blitzkrieg from the front alongside the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA). The junta, which snatched power from a civilian government in a coup in February 2021, was left stunned as the alliance made rapid territorial gains across northern Shan State, including in areas along the Sino-Myanmar border. Ironically, the MNDAA was the first ethnic army to have signed a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the Myanmar military in 1989 when the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) collapsed and splintered into several smaller ethnic groups. Who would have thought it would go on to stage the most formidable assault against the same military more than three decades later? But those watching the absurd twists and turns of modern Burmese history closely wont find this surprising. The MNDAAs ceasefire unravelled exactly 20 years after it was signed when the then-junta chased it out of its home city of Laukkaing in a ferocious offensive in 2009. The man leading that military campaign against the Kokang army was Min Aung Hlaing the current junta chief. Hlaing made his mark in that campaign as a regional commander, standing out as a man fit for promotion to the highest ranks. Today, even as the MNDAA and its compatriots rapidly advance towards Laukkaing, Hlaing stares at a dramatic turn of fate. The joint ethnic offensive against the junta, christened Operation 1027, is unprecedented. Yet, this is not the first time the three northern groups have attacked the military together. They did so even before the 2021 coup once in 2016 and then again in 2019. However, Operation 1027 has proven to be different in scope and outcome. For one, this time, the Three Brotherhood Alliance (3BA) has captured large swathes of territory, including urban centres and border towns, and dozens of regime bases. Hundreds of soldiers, including one full battalion, have surrendered without a fight. Further, the whole operation is unfolding in tandem with the Spring Revolution, a larger countrywide movement against the junta that began right after the 2021 putsch. The 3BA has harmonised its messaging with the vision and objectives of the national revolution. They have also been silently training and arming some of the smaller, newer anti-junta groups, known as Peoples Defence Forces (PDF), and exchanging notes with other well-established ethnic armies in western and eastern Myanmar. It is, therefore, no surprise that other EAOs and multi-ethnic PDFs are now staging synchronised offensives against junta targets in eastern, western and southwestern Myanmar. This marks a historic coming together of majority Bamar and minority non-Bamar blocs to fight a common national enemy. Bamars, also known as Burmans, are a Sino-Tibetan, mostly Buddhist ethnic group which constitutes the majority among the 135 recognised ethnic groups in Myanmar. Historically, they have commanded strong political and cultural influence in Burma as monarchical rulers and political elites. While this difficult quest for unity has coloured most of Myanmars postcolonial ethno-politics, history reveals that the desire to create a unified front against the Generals has always run deep in the countrys political veins. In the late summer of 1988, massive protests erupted across Myanmar against General Ne Wins junta. The regime wasted no time in brutally crushing the demonstrations, slaughtering thousands. Yet, the movement, now known as the 8888 Uprising, revealed the first signs of inter-ethnic unity. As veteran Myanmar watcher, Bertil Lintner, writes in Burma in Revolt, communal friction and old grudges were forgotten and, maybe for the first time ever, all national and political groups across the country joined together for a common cause. While the unity did not translate into military cooperation, the memory of 8888 has endured in Burmese revolutionary politics. Operation 1027 lends a new meaning to Linters words, reminding us that despite all its fractures, Myanmars desire for democracy and federalism cuts across ethnic lines. The lack of majority-minority unity across Myanmars history, however, should not be equated with a total lack of any kind of cooperation. Ethnic armed groups have routinely joined forces to mount a common fight against successive central regimes. The 3BA, in that sense, is premised on a rich legacy of inter-ethnic collaboration. A short history lesson In the decades following independence from British colonial rule, most of the ethnic armies fought Rangoon in their own silos. Even after the bloody 1962 coup (led by General Ne Win, against the government of Prime Minister U Nu), they continued to operate autonomously. At times, they even sparred with each other over territory and resources. For example, when a large and well-armed contingent of the CPB swept across the Sino-Myanmar border in January 1968, it faced the KIAs wrath in some areas. But, signs of inter-ethnic unity began to surface soon after. By 1975, seven ethnic rebel coalitions had emerged, although none of them was potent. It was then that 13 EAOs came together under the leadership of the Karen National Union (KNU) to form the National Democratic Front (NDF) in Manerplaw, Karen State. In 1992, the NDF floated its own charter for a federal Burma again, not without historical precedent. On the cusp of Burmas independence from British colonial rule, the Shans, Kachins, and Chins three large minority ethnic groups signed the Panglong Agreement with the Bamar nationalist leadership led by General Aung San, the father of Aung San Suu Kyi whose hybrid civil-military government was overthrown in 2021. It promised autonomy and dignity to the ethnic minorities, creating the first-ever framework for a federal democratic union. But, the Panglong spirit died even before it could be born, as the Bamar leadership failed to stick to its promises. The 1992 Manerplaw charter was an attempt to revive the Panglong dream. However, it failed to foster long-lasting inter-ethnic unity as the junta used brute force against the armed groups while simultaneously engineering lucrative ceasefire deals with them. This does not, however, mean that the era of ethnic coalitions was over. In fact, the most formidable ones were yet to come. Such has been the temperamental nature of modern Burmese history. A sort of democracy in more recent times Beginning in 2010, the military allowed a quasi-civilian government to partially take over affairs of the state and floated the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). It was an open offer to the EAOs to start talking to the Aung San Suu Kyi-led union government and the military. But, the northern groups saw it as the militarys ploy to permanently disarm them. So, they refused to sign it, even as eight others from around the country did, including the powerful Chin National Front (CNF) and the KNU. Instead, they banded together to create three EAO collectives the four-member Northern Alliance, the seven-member Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), and finally, the 3BA behind the ongoing Operation 1027. In 2017, reviving the long-lost Manerplaw dream, the FPNCC published its own charter for a federal democratic union. This offered an alternative vision for a new Myanmar that challenged the Bamar-centric politics of the military and Suu Kyi government. Cut to the present. Not only is the FPNCC going strong, emerging as a standalone power centre in the north, but its federal vision has now entered the national mainstream. In late 2021, elected civilian lawmakers released the Federal Democracy Charter (FDC) a detailed vision for the majority and minority to share power on equal terms. What was once the manifesto of a select group of ethnic armed organisations has today become a national revolutionary goal. Moreover, while the 3BA now seems to be the most effective anti-junta military alliance in all of Myanmar, it isnt the only one. Even the CNF and KNU have been coordinating combat strategies as part of a tripartite tactical alliance with the influential Kachin Independence Army (KIA), known as the K3C. Add to this the emerging coordination between various EAOs and the National Unity Government (NUG). While some ethnic blocs see the NUG (formed after the 2021 coup) as a Bamar-dominated formation, that might be changing as a united front emerges. In the statements published after Op 1027 began, the 3BA has stated its intent to overthrow junta rule. If the alliance is to succeed, we would most likely see a rainbow coalition come to power that is nationally led by the NUG, but also gives strong political autonomy to local parties/groups, including the EAOs. Whats more, there are unarmed strike committees, CSOs and civil disobedience groups, but all of them overwhelmingly support the armed struggle. This proves that we are witnessing a uniquely comprehensive revolution in Myanmar today. This rich tapestry of inter-group cooperation is anchored in history, and yet, portends a new future for Myanmar. It is this profound continuity from the past to the present that will shape Burmese nation-building in the years to come. The what ifs of history could soon become the reality of the future. Angshuman Choudhury is an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal Over 200 gang members of 'Ndrangheta' have been sentenced to a total of more than 2,200 years in prison in one of the biggest mafia trials in Italy's history. More than 300 defendants were on trial since January 2021 as they were accused of being members of the powerful crime group. Ndrangheta was founded in the 18th century in Calabria, southern Italy after which it grew to become one of the world's most powerful and richest criminal organisations. Ndrangheta Trial: Special forces hit Ndrangheta in December 2019 with around 3,000 officers raiding 12 Italian regions. The mafia group is active in every continent and controls 80% of Europe's cocaine trade. It has an estimated annual turnover of 52 billion. The trial involved entrepreneurs and politicians and included charges of murder, corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering as well as extortion. The three judges overseeing the case had to live in a safe house under police protection as some 67 defendants were found guilty. How Ndrangheta was countered? Special forces hit Ndrangheta in December 2019 with around 3,000 officers raiding 12 Italian regions and making arrests in Germany, Switzerland and Bulgaria. Millions of euros worth of properties and cash were seized. Over 300 suspects were held in the operation which was named Rinascita-Scott, referring to the rebirth of the region - 'rinascita' in Italian. US special agent Scott W Sieben also helped Italian police discover links between Colombia's cartels and the Ndrangheta. The chief prosecutor who led the huge investigation into Ndrangheta was Nicola Gratteri, Italy's most famous anti-mafia prosecutor, who has been living under police protection for 34 years. He told Sky News that he would not be intimidated by the many death threats and assassination plots against him when the trial began. If I were to die tomorrow, it wouldn't be a problem for me, he said, adding, "To live a hundred years as a coward is meaningless. Instead, I have lived as a man." Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni said that Italy now has the most effective tactics in fighting organised crime. "We have an extremely changeable enemy and the fight against the mafia is a cornerstone of this government," she said. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, in a bid to stem Ukrainian concerns that support from its biggest ally could waver. Russia-Ukraine War: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is welcomed as he arrives in Kyiv, Ukraine.(Reuters) The United States has provided over $40 billion of security aid to Ukraine since Russia's invasion and pledged to back Kyiv for "as long as it takes," but opposition from hardline Republicans has raised doubts about the future of American assistance. Austin "travelled to Ukraine today to meet with Ukrainian leaders and reinforce the staunch support of the United States for Ukraine's fight for freedom," the Pentagon said in a statement on the trip, which was not previously announced for security reasons. "He will also underscore the continued US commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression," it said. The trip to Kyiv is the Pentagon chief's second since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Washington is by far the biggest donor of military assistance to Kyiv, and a cut to American aid would be a major blow to Ukraine as it readies for the second winter of the war. Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged lawmakers during a hearing in October to sustain support for Ukraine, with the US defence chief saying that "without our support, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will be successful." 'Smaller' aid packages But some Republican lawmakers oppose continued aid, and new support for Ukraine was left out of a temporary deal passed by Congress last week to avert a US government shutdown. Despite this, a senior US defence official told journalists that "we continue to believe that Congress will provide that support, and we are planning based on that conviction." US assistance has not been halted and there is still previously authorised aid to draw on. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said earlier this month that assistance packages "have been getting smaller because we have had to meter out our support for Ukraine." In addition to domestic US political opposition to continued aid, the devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas -- and an accompanying spike in attacks on American forces in the Middle East -- has drawn international attention away from Ukraine. The United States insists that it can provide assistance to both countries. "On the issue of whether there is a competition or trade-off between US support for Ukraine's defence of its country and Israel's defence of its people, there is not," the senior US defence official said. "There is some overlap but where there is overlap in certain kinds of ammunition ... there is no reduction in the provision of capabilities to Ukraine," the official added. The United States has spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging a coalition to back Kyiv after Russia invaded and coordinating aid from dozens of countries. Ukraine's supporters have also provided training to Kyiv's troops, while the United States and other countries imposed tough sanctions on Russia, with targets including financial institutions, technology imports and energy exports. In a huge twist in the tale, Sam Altman will not return as CEO of OpenAI despite efforts from the company's executives to bring him back, according to The Information. OpenAI Co-founder Sam Altman posing with a guest card at the OpenAI offices with a caption, 'first and last time I hold this'. Emmett Shear new OpenAI CEO It further suggests, Emmett Shear, co-founder of video streaming site Twitch, will take over as interim CEO, the report said, citing co-founder and board director Ilya Sutskever. Altman's dramatic ouster In a dramatic turn of events Altman, who has been the face of generative AI and spearheaded efforts to transform OpenAI from a nonprofit into a commercially viable business was ousted by the company for not being candid in his conversations. He reportedly clashed with board members who were concerned he was moving too quickly, without sufficient concern to the safety implications of a technology that, left unchecked, could create content capable of harming the public. In a statement over the weekend, OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap said that safety was not the primary reason the board fired Altman, and credited a breakdown in communications. This was followed by reports that OpenAIs interim Chief Executive Officer Mira Murati is bringing back ousted predecessor Sam Altman and former President Greg Brockman in a capacity that has yet to be finalized. The news report comes hours after Altman posed with a picture of guest card at the OpenAI offices, claiming first and last time i ever wear one of these Reports of Sam Altman not returning as CEO comes amid speculations that Microsoft Corp., with more than $10 billion stake in the company, is working with investors including Thrive Capital and Tiger Global Management to bring back Altman. As part of the effort to reinstate the CEO, investors are also pressing for the replacement of the current board, the people said. The directors have considered stepping down, though theyre currently balking at such a move, the people said. The situation is fluid and final plans have not been set. If the board steps down, investors are reviewing a list of possible new directors. One contender is Bret Taylor, the former co-CEO of Salesforce Inc. Turkey will not allow the issue of Israel's nuclear weapons to be dropped from the global agenda, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, while attributing European support for Israel to what he called "the shame of the Holocaust". Israel-Hamas War: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference.(Reuters) Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said the West was trying to "vindicate" what he said were Israel's war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, adding Western countries had a "fraternity of lies" with Israel which he called "shameful". "The shame of the Holocaust has literally taken European leaders hostage," he said. "We, as Turkey, will not allow the issue of Israel's nuclear to be forgotten," Erdogan added. Ukraine sacked two senior cyber defence officials on Monday, a government official said, as prosecutors announced a probe into alleged embezzlement in the government's cyber security agency. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks.(AP) Yurii Shchyhol, head of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP), and his deputy, Viktor Zhora, were dismissed by the government, senior cabinet official Taras Melnychuk wrote on Telegram. Melnychuk, the cabinet's representative to parliament, did mention the reasons for the dismissals. Neither man nor their lawyers could be reached for comment. The SSSCIP is responsible for securing government communications and defending the state from cyber attacks. News of the firings came less than an hour before anti-corruption prosecutors said they were investigating the head and deputy head of the SSSCIP over their alleged roles in a six-person plot to embezzle 62 million UAH ($1.72 million) between 2020 and 2022. Prosecutors did not name either official. The SSSCIP did not immediately respond to a written request for comment on the investigation. Authorities suspect the officials of buying software at an inflated price from two companies allegedly under their control in a sale that had been closed to other bidders, Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau said. Ukraine has stepped up efforts to curtail corruption as it pursues membership in the European Union, which has made the fight against graft a key prerequisite for negotiations to begin. Recent targets for investigation have included a billionaire former patron of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the ex-head of Ukraine's Supreme Court. Both have denied wrongdoing. In September, Shchyhol told Reuters that Russian spies are using hackers to target computer systems at law enforcement agencies to identify and obtain evidence related to alleged Russian war crimes. Former US President, Bill Clinton, had bit of a faux pas while paying tribute to former first lady Rosalynn Carter. 77-year-old Clinton accidently released a tribute to Dianne Feinstein instead of Mrs Carter, who died yesterday at the age of 96. Former President Bill Clinton listens as his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, attends her portrait unveiling ceremony, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)(AP) Even though the caption was correct. "Rosalynn Carter was the embodiment of a life lived with purpose. My and Hillary's full statement." Attached was a photo of the Clintons' statement on the passing of Senator Feinstein. "Hillary and I are deeply saddened by the passing of our friend Senator Dianne Feinstein, a pioneering public servant who worked tirelessly on behalf of California and all of America throughout her long career." The wrong post didn't go unnoticed on social media where the former President was trolled for the blunder. They probably planed to just change the name but forgot to, tagging it as an operational error in tributes that go on in such episodes. It was a Copy and paste in haste, called out another X user. When you could literally care less, this is what happens!, claimed another user. Dismayed by the error Clinton's social media team immediately deleted the post and replaced it with a correct with. The caption remained the same and this time with the correct statement which had the similar template to the older one apart from the change of message. "Throughout her long, remarkable life, she was an unwavering voice for the overlooked and underrepresented. Thanks to her mental health advocacy, more people live with better care and less stigma. "Because of her early leadership on childhood immunization, millions of Americans have grown up healthier. And throughout her decades of work at the Carter Center and with Habitat for Humanity, she spread hope, health, and democracy across the globe. The Carter Center announced the death of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who was the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians. She died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The statement said she died peacefully, with family by her side" at 2:10 p.m. at her rural Georgia home of Plains. Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished, the former president said in the statement. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me. Elon Musk took to social media to criticise media reports that called him anti-Semitic for endorsing a controversial comment on X. Musk previously agreedwith a comment that spoke about Jewish communities hatred against whites. Elon Musk attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, France, June 16, 2023 (REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo)(REUTERS) This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic, Musk has now written on X. Nothing could be further from the truth. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all. What was the post Elon Musk agreed with? The post, shared by a user named Charles Weber, is a video where a father is seen calling out his son for the online hatred his son has spewed, and blasting him for his rhetoric. To the cowards hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and posting "Hitler was right":, the video is captioned. You got something you want to say? Why dont you say it to our faces An X user was quick to criticise the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism campaign video in the comment section, saying, Okay.Jewish communties have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. The user added, I'm deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest sh** now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don't exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is. Elon Musks response In the same thread, Musk wrote, You have said the actual truth. The ADL unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel, the billionaire later added. This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat. It is not right and needs to stop. In a video posted to X by Vivek Ramaswamy, his wife Apoorva Ramaswamy is seen telling a small crowd in Osceola how the two of them met. Vivek, standing beside her, also participated in the conversation. Vivek Ramaswamy and his wife Apoorva walks on stage after a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News, Nov. 8, 2023, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)(AP) Voters in Iowa want to know the story how Apoorva and I met. Heres how, Vivel captioned the video. It was a party, and Vivek was a law student, I was in my first week of med school it was probably about the last party I went to, Apoorva said, as the crowd laughed. She said that she saw Vivek there, who seemed like the most interesting person in the room. I went up, and I introduced myself to him, Apporva said, humorously adding that when Vivek introduced himself, she unfortunately told him she met another Vivek in med school. He was not that interested, he actually walked away, Apoorva said, laughing. Later that night, we ran into each other again. We realised how much we have in common, how much we shared, and the fact that we were neighbours, adding, Here we are, weve been together ever since. Vivek went on to say that his parents always told him who you marry matters, adding that they would teach the same to their children. Neither of us grew up in economic privilege, Vivek said, clarifying that they did not grow up in poverty either. But we had the ultimate privilege of having two parents in the house, instilling in us a focus on education, the belief in God and we are trying to give our two sons that same upbringing now in Ohio. But I see no reason why every kid in this country shouldnt at least have a chance to enjoy that privilege too, and I think thats part of the example we want to set as a family in the White House. Apoorva is alaryngologist. According to The Ohio State University, she specializes in treating swallowing and voice disorders that can occur in patients who have undergone treatment for cancer. Patients who come to see me had other health conditions, and after recovering from those, they have persistent issues with things like eating and communicating, her profile says. Former President Donald Trump recently visited Texas, where he joined Republican Governor Greg Abbott in a Thanksgiving luncheon to express gratitude to law enforcement and Border Patrol officers stationed at the Southern Border during the holiday. Trump shared his experience on his social media platform Truth Social, stating, "It was my Great Honor to serve Thanksgiving meals to law enforcement and troops." Trump Joins Governor Abbott in Thanksgiving luncheon at Southern border.(AP) In a clip posted on Truth Social, Trump can be seen serving meals to Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers. He expressed appreciation, saying, "On behalf of all Americans, THANK YOU for your service and dedication." Trump later shared his enjoyment of the luncheon, noting that he appreciates Border Patrol officers "even more." However, in a lighthearted moment, a video captured Trump jokingly complaining that there was no food left for him after serving the officers. "The food looked very good. I wanted to have some, but they didn't have any for me. That's not good. That's my kind of food too," he quipped. Following the luncheon, Governor Abbott officially endorsed Trump's run for president in 2024, emphasizing the need for a leader who will secure the border and restore law and order. Abbott praised Trump's efforts at the U.S.-Mexico border, including the construction of a wall and the implementation of Title 42. "We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States of America," Abbott declared in his endorsement speech, highlighting Trump's commitment to border security and his unparalleled impact in addressing the challenges at the border. As of November 19, Trump holds a significant lead in the GOP race, with 59.2 percent of the Republican primary vote according to FiveThirtyEight. The endorsement from Governor Abbott further solidifies Trump's position as the front-runner as the Republican primaries approach. In the middle of the war against terror group Hamas, Israel has alleged that Yemen's militant group Houthi is behind hijacking a cargo ship headed to India via the southern Red Sea, terming the incident an Iranian act of terrorism. The Galaxy Leader was hijacked by Houthis, and has been taken to a port in Yemen.(AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released a statement regarding the same, saying, "This is another Iranian act of terrorism that represents an escalation in Iran's belligerence against the citizens of the free world, with concomitant international ramifications vis-a-vis the security of global shipping routes." The Houthis released a statement, saying that they have hijacked the ship and are treating the occupants "in accordance with Islamic principles and values". While the ships is owned by a British company, the rebel group described it as Israeli. Who are Yemen's Houthi militants? The Houthis, an ally of Tehran, have been launching long-range missile and drone salvoes at Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian Hamas terrorists fighting in the Gaza Strip. Most of their missile attacks have failed, with the hijack of the ship being the first major escalation in their involvement. The Houthi movement commenced in the late 1990s, when the rebel family rose up in support of the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam which had once ruled Yemen, but over time lost their wealth and became impoverished and marginalised. The Houthis clashed with the Yemen government multiple times, leading to a long series of wars and a brief clash on the border with Saudi Arabia. Since Israel launched their attack against Hamas, the rebel group has been showing solidarity with Palestine, launching multiple strikes against Israel. Why did Houthis hijack India-bound cargo ship? The India-bound cargo ship is owned by a British company and operated by the Japanese, but the Houthis maintain that the ship belongs to Israel, a claim rejected by Tel Aviv after the hijacking. The shop has now been taken to a Yemeni port, the rebel group confirmed. No Israeli was aboard the ship and the 25 crew members belonged to multiple nationalities including Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Filipino and Mexican. Houthis said that hijacked the ship because of its link to Israel. While Netanyahu's office rejected this claim, the ownership details of the ship associate its owners with a company called Ray Car Carriers, which is founded by one of Israel's richest men, Abraham Rami Ungar. (With inputs from agencies) Jagson Resorts Private Limited, a partnership firm based in Punjab, today announced opening of Ramada Encore by Wyndham in Amritsar in partnership with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world's largest hotel franchising company with approximately 9,100 hotels across over 95 countries. Located near the Airport, Ramada Encore by Wyndham Amritsar Airport Road, has 80 rooms, a lobby lounge, an all-day restaurant, bar, fitness center, rooftop swimming pool, meeting room and a banquet facility. The hotel is situated at a proximity of 5 kms from the Amritsar Airport and a 6 kms from the Golden Temple. Ramada Encore by Wyndham Amritsar Airport Road, M/S Jagson Resorts Private Limited has created more than 80 jobs in the city of Amritsar. Hotel website The Newman, the first hotel from new international hospitality management company, Kinsfolk & Co, is delighted to announce Oliver Milne-Watson as General Manager ahead of its opening in Winter 2024. Sitting on its namesake Newman Street in Fitzrovia, The Newman fits effortlessly into London's creative village of Fitzrovia where the culture of Bloomsbury meets the style of Soho. The contemporary hotel with 81 rooms and suites, European brasserie, cocktail bar, and wellness floor, is set to be an instant new destination for the neighbourhood. Hotelier Oliver Milne-Watson has built over 15 years of hospitality experience in luxury London hotels such as The Goring and The Beaumont, and internationally as a consultant with Leading Quality Assurance (LQA). Since 2020, Oliver held a Director of Operations role at Penshee, working with companies across multiple industries, from London estates to law firms and hospitality groups. Oliver supported these businesses in understanding the emotional intelligence behind world-class service. Prior to this, Oliver spent five years at The Goring in Belgravia, before opening The Beaumont in Mayfair where he worked his way up to Hotel Manager through various senior commercial and operational roles. During his tenure at The Beaumont, this independent hotel quickly established itself as an international favourite, receiving multiple industry awards and guest recognition. Taj Hotel and Convention Centre Agra has appointed Mr. Rajesh Chakraborty as its new General Manager, an accomplished leader in the hospitality industry with over 26 years of experience within the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL). Mr. Chakraborty has held pivotal positions in various hotels in India and internationally, showcasing his ability to excel in competitive markets. Before joining Taj Hotel and Convention Centre Agra, he served as the General Manager of Vivanta By Taj Aurangabad Maharashtra, where his strategic vision and leadership contributed significantly to the property's success. His prior role as General Manager at The Gateway Hotel Pasumalai in Madurai further demonstrated his adeptness in diverse management environments. Mr. Chakraborty holds a Diploma in Hotel Management from Kolkata Catering College (1997), a Bachelor of Hotel Management from Annamalai University, Chennai (2008), and a Masters in Personal Management from Dr. Babasaheb Marathwada University Aurangabad, Maharashtra (2020). His journey in the hospitality industry began with The Oberoi Group, where he started in the F&B team and progressed through various roles. His extensive experience covers Operations Management, Project Management, Strategic Planning, Resource Planning, Financial Budgeting and Control, Sales and Marketing, Team Building, Human Resource Management, Training and Development, Public Relations, Relationship Management, Vendor Appointment, and Management. Turano is a seasoned hospitality veteran with over 25 years of management experience. In his role as Chief Operating Officer, Turano will oversee all operations, including hotel and club management, food and beverage, marketing, and revenue management. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Freehand Generator Hotels, where he oversaw all U.S. assets and developed their first third-party management agreement for the Paramount Hotel. Turano has also held several senior leadership roles at major hotel brands, including Hilton Worldwide, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, and YOTEL. Club Quarters Stamford, Connecticut United States Website The Travolution Awards are the biggest annual celebration of the talents and achievements of brands and individuals in the online travel sector in the UK and beyond. Each year our handpicked judging panels of industry experts pour through hundreds of entries from travel brands, technology developers and digital services suppliers. We look for evidence of success but, crucially, of the innovative thinking and creativity required to drive the travel industry forward into the modern digital era. As the travel industry continues on the path to recovery, there is an even greater need for best-in-class technology solutions to help businesses operate efficiently and deliver the best experience for their customers. We look forward to receiving your entries again this year and to honouring the most inspirational and impressive examples of the very best our sector has to offer. This event is organized by Travolution PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain Iberostar Group is proud to announce that Gloria Fluxa Thienemann, Vice-Chairman and Chief Sustainability Officer, has been recognized as one of the distinguished individuals on the 2023 TIME100 Climate list. This newly inaugurated annual list by TIME magazine celebrates the contributions of 100 exceptional individuals who are leading climate action within the business community. To assemble the list, TIME's editors and reporters fielded nominations and recommendations from industry leaders and partner organizations like Global Optimism and The B Team, as well as TIMECO2's Advisory Council, then worked to assess the candidates on a variety of factors, including recency of action, measurable results, and influence. This nomination demonstrates Gloria's dedication to embed the concept of responsible tourism throughout the organization, driving positive impact in the destinations in which it serves, and stimulating momentum for transformative change across the sector. Her impactful message of change not only resonates with the company's 35,000 employees, but has also earned widespread global recognition, having been named a "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum, and involved with important organizations including World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (SHA). In response to this recognition, Gloria explained: "I feel extremely humbled to sit alongside such inspiring individuals striving to make a difference. It is with great pride that our work towards sustainability has been recognized. We must urgently create a responsible tourism model that integrates a prosperous economy, fostering biodiversity and thriving communities. By creating this balance, we will establish a framework for the long-term viability of the tourism industry, ensuring that success is measured, not just in financial terms but in enduring positive impacts." She continued: "In addition to this evolution, we recognize our responsibility to educate and inform travelers, equipping them with the knowledge and awareness to make conscious and sustainable choices. By developing a deeper understanding of the impact of travel, we can collectively play an active role in the systemic change of the travel and tourism sector." The full list is now live on Time.com and will appear in the December 5, 2023 issue, available on newsstands on Friday, Nov. 24th, and now at time.com/time100-climate . About Iberostar Group Iberostar Group is a 100% family-owned Spanish multinational company that boasts over 65 years' experience in the tourism industry and business origins dating back to 1877. Its main line of business is Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, whose portfolio includes over 100 four and five-star hotels in 16 countries, including the hotels under the Iberostar Beachfront Resorts brand*. The Group has become an international benchmark by promoting a responsible tourism business model focused on caring for people and the environment. The Wave of Change movement, a pioneering and innovative initiative from Iberostar, reflects the company's specific commitment to the environment and oceans, and its efforts to promote these concerns to society as a whole. With sustainability as the driving force and lever behind the business, the company places the circular economy at the center of its strategy and is working on its own 2030 Agenda to be waste-free by 2025, carbon-neutral by 2030, 100% responsible in its seafood supply chain by 2025, and to improve the health of the ecosystems that surround its hotels, among other goals. Iberostar Group has a global team with more than 30,000 people of 95 nationalities. Thanks to this pool of talent, the company is a leader in quality and boosts differentiation in the customer experience through constant product innovation and digital commitment. *The portfolio of Iberostar Beachfront Resorts excludes Iberostar's interests in Cuba. Find out more about us at iberostar.com CONTACT: [email protected] Teo family, Dymon Asia consortium offer to take Amara private at 60 cents a share Amara Holdings, a Singapore-based hotel group, has received a voluntary cash offer to go private from a consortium at SGD 0.60 per share, representing a 53.8% premium over its share price on June 15. The consortium is led by the group's CEO, Mr. Albert Teo, his family members, and Dymon Asia Private Equity. The special purpose vehicle Amethyst Assets, partially owned by First Security and Concordia United, seeks to privatize Amara due to challenging growth prospects and low trading liquidity of its shares. The offer aims to provide shareholders with a premium to realize their investments amid market conditions that affect the liquidity and profitability of the hotel, which started operations in 1986. The buyout, presenting a clean cash exit opportunity, will be financed through interest-free loans and a bank loan. Thailand's 'most romantic' railway through Chiang Rai to open in 2028 After a 60 year wait the 323-kilometre-long railway is set to run through four northern Thai provinces with 26 stations, linking to Chiang Rai. Constructed at a cost of 85.35-billion-baht, construction schedules are 2.7% faster than anticipated. With 80% of the land acquired, several tunnels along the route are currently being dug. Crucially, the rail link to Chiang Rai rail route will not just promote tourism but will also serve as a new goods transport route linking the North of Thailand with Laos and southern China. The new railway will drastically cut travel time by an hour across the rolling hills of northern Thailand. And as declared by the State of Railway Thailand Governor, this will probably be the most romantic route in Thailand. Singapore is set to revolutionise its border control with the development of a barrier-free gantry allowing travellers to clear immigration in under ten seconds by simply walking through. This Next-Generation Clearance Concept, devised by the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) and showcased at Milipol Paris 2023, will enable swift biometric verification through facial and iris recognition. HTX, in collaboration with Idemia, is also developing a self-enrolment kiosk for autonomous biometric registration, harnessing artificial intelligence to ensure the accuracy and quality of the data captured. This innovation, part of Singapores commitment to leading in technological advancements for security, promises to enhance the travel experience through efficiency and convenience. Hobart ferry master plan for new 6 new proposed terminals With the release of a new master plan, six new proposed terminals can be added to the River Derwent's ferry system in a bid to solve Hobart's traffic problems. The masterplan lays out direct and stitched routes, where ferry routes would stop along multiple wharves to the main destination. Due to traffic congestion in Hobart, there are few alternatives to the main Tasman Bridge which is the shortest link to Hobart International Airport and the city centre. Hence, a master plan of ferry routes across the river Derwent are planned to relieve traffic pressures between the western City Centre and the eastern shore. The new master plan follows a successful trial 15-minute service between Bellerive and Hobart's Brooke Street Pier, attracting 250,000 people over a 12-month trial. Further expansion of the ferry infrastructure along the river Derwent would go towards supporting existing tourist ferries to Moorilla Estates winery or to Iron Pots Lighthouse. Overall, the management of the traffic is part of a wider plan to get more people to Hobarts, with other infrastructural plans such as a proposed 23,000-seater stadium in Macquarie Point. Social Media Giants Face Privacy Challenges and Rise of Decentralized Apps The landscape of social media is undergoing a transformation as Big Tech faces challenges from privacy regulations and heightened user concerns. The industrys future rests on navigating evolving user preferences and regulatory pressures, striking a delicate balance between personalized advertising, user data privacy, and innovation, says GlobalData. GlobalDatas latest report, Social Media (2023), reveals that giants like Meta, Alphabet, and X (formerly Twitter) dominate this space, but smaller platforms and decentralized apps (dApps) are gaining traction, largely due to a focus on protecting data privacy. Beyond socializing, users increasingly use social media for diverse purposes, such as ecommerce, challenging the conventional definition of social media. Some major social media companies, such as X, are expanding on this to explore super-apps to offer a plethora of services. However, this approach faces technical and regulatory hurdles in the West. The desire to build super apps is indicative of the attempts to diversify revenue streams. Traditionally, the core revenue stream of large social media companies has been online advertising. However, privacy concerns and regulatory antitrust and data privacy interventions represent substantial challenges to this model. Large social media platforms have dominated due to network effects, where a platforms value grows with user numbers. Disruptive players like Snapchat and TikTok have differentiated themselves with unique features rather than directly competing with big companies. Amelia Connor-Afflick, Senior Thematic Intelligence Analyst at GlobalData, comments: Smaller and new apps, such as decentralized apps, are somewhat challenging the network effects model. They often sell themselves by offering a smaller, more intimate online experience with enhanced data control and privacy. A range of social issues have also emerged alongside the growth of these platforms. Regulators and civil society have increased pressures to address online hate, harmful content, and disinformation with legislation such as the EUs Digital Services Act and the UKs Online Safety Act. Large social media companies are also increasingly using AI tools to moderate their platforms. Connor-Afflick concludes: The use and presence of social media platforms worldwide also reflects a free open internet, underpinned by democratic principles. Social media platforms have been embroiled in geopolitical tension in an increasingly unstable world. China and Russia have banned Meta platforms, India banned TikTok, and the EU, the US, and the UK have prohibited the use of TikTok on governmental personal devices. The future of social media hinges on adapting to evolving user preferences and growing regulatory pressures. Striking a balance between personalized advertising, user data privacy, and innovation will be pivotal in shaping the industrys trajectory. Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into an agreement with Hoteles Color Especial S.L. for Thompson Seville. This new hotel will mark the first Hyatt hotel in the fourth-largest city in Spain, and one of the most attractive locations in Spain, which is the second-largest tourist destination in the world. Anticipated to open in 2026, the 101-room luxury lifestyle property will be the fourth Thompson Hotels property in Europe, joining Thompson Madrid, which opened in 2022, and the previously announced Thompson Rome, expected to open mid-2024, and Thompson Vienna, which is slated to join the Hyatt portfolio in 2025. With 18 Thompson Hotels currently open across 16 cities globally, plans for Thompson Seville are pivotal to the brands growth plans and continues Hyatts growth momentum across the most sought-after destinations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The Thompson Hotels brand is renowned for channelling a destinations local creative energy, combining distinctive design and culinary sophistication. With the cultural areas of music, art, fashion, design and cuisine at the heart of the Thompson Hotels brand experience, the properties serve as a dynamic home-base for tastemakers, emerging creatives and culturally astute travelers to connect with one another on what inspires them. Home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites and bursting with flamenco music, Andalusian gastronomy and antique charm, Seville is a perfect base for a hotel that aims to curate the best of each destinations culture as part of the guest experience. The hotel will provide the perfect setting for guests to immerse themselves in local culture both in the hotel and out, in a privileged location within walking distance to Sevilles vibrant city centre. We have ambitious plans for our brand expansion in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and todays announcement is a true testament to our continued success in strengthening our position and ever-growing brand footprint in the region, said Javier Aguila, group president, EAME, Hyatt. We are honored to work with Hoteles Color Especial S.L. as we start our journey in a new city for Hyatt the vibrant Seville, in which we aim to create yet another unique and luxurious experience for leisure travelers. The Thompson Hotels brand has a vast potential in our region, and particularly in cities that combine a strong leisure and lifestyle offering. The hotels guestrooms and suites will be carefully designed and styled to make guests discover a new sense of modern luxury in a city that combines an extraordinary artistic and architectural legacy with an unrivalled cultural scene. Thompson Seville will also boast a restaurant, a stunning rooftop bar with a pool, dedicated meeting rooms, coworking space, and a gym, among other amenities. The expansion of the Thompson Hotels brand is reflective of Hyatts accelerated brand growth in Spain. Hyatts Spanish portfolio spans 11 different brands. With the combination of iconic properties in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona with its portfolio of resorts in the Canary and Balearic archipelagos, Hyatt offers the fourth-largest hospitality portfolio in the country by room count. 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. Hudson, NY (12534) Today A mix of clouds and sun this morning then becoming cloudy with periods of light rain this afternoon. High 49F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low 37F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. About This Property Prepare to fall in love with this charming 1 level home in a tranquil setting on over 1 acre of land in the heart of The Berkshire's. With beautiful hardwood floors throughout & tons of natural sunlight this home is not to be missed! There is a heated 850+ sq ft building directly adjacent to the home that is perfect for a hobbyist, workshop, etc! Enter to find cathedral ceilings in the living room plus a walk up loft. The dining room leads to a bedroom with built-ins and a 3 season porch. The kitchen has plenty of cabinet and counter space. The primary bedroom is private and adjacent to a full bath with a tub. Egremont offers an escape and peaceful lifestyle, while still being in proximity to Boston and NYC. Minutes from Great Barrington & all that The Berkshire's has to offer! Land Details Community Details Search More Properties With these Features Fenced Yard Outbuilding Cathedral Ceilings Skylight(s) On Tuesday, Nov. 14, Morris Elementary joined schools and students across the country to participate in Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. Morris Elementary School Holds Multiple Celebratory Event Veterans from across Berkshire County drove past while Morris students waved American flags and cheered them on from the sidelines. LENOX, Mass. Principal Brenda Kelley recently led Morris Elementary students, staff, and families in multiple celebratory events, including the second annual Veterans' Day Wave parade, World Kindness Day, and a Ruby Bridges Walk to School. On Thursday, Nov. 3, Morris Elementary students, staff, and community members gathered on West St. for a parade in recognition of Veterans' Day. Veterans from across Berkshire County drove past while Morris students waved American flags and cheered them on from the sidelines. The school also celebrated World Kindness Day on Monday, Nov. 13. The day was created in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement to create a kinder world by inspiring individuals and nations toward greater kindness. Morris Elementary students Grades Pre-K through 5 celebrated the day by writing and sending cards with encouraging words to the seniors at the Lenox Community Center. On Tuesday, Nov. 14, Morris Elementary joined schools and students across the country to participate in Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. About 60 students, parents, staff, as well as dogs, met at Lilac Park at 8 a.m. to walk to school together. Students carried a banner, and because it was also the 50th day of school, many kids wore poodle skirts and tights as worn in the 1950s. Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day was established by the Ruby Bridges Foundation to recognize and honor Bridges' legacy, continue the conversation she started, and take part in activism to eradicate racism and all forms of bullying. "We've had some wonderful things to celebrate here at Morris Elementary as of late, and we are all very happy at the turnout of each of these events," said Principal Kelley. "It was amazing to see our students light up while honoring our veterans, learning about the importance of kindness, and coming together to recognize the legacy of Ruby Bridges. Thank you to everyone who helped organize these three events!" BRPC Talks Rural Issues With Healey's WMass Director Western Massachusetts Director of the Office of Governor Healey Kristen Elechko met with BRPC. PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission on Thursday spoke with a representative from the Healey Driscoll administration about advocacy in the upcoming term. "We've been really committed to affordability, equity, competitiveness, and the climate," Western Massachusetts Director of the Office of Governor Healey Kristen Elechko said. She pointed out that the administration chose to create a director of rural affairs and hired Anne Gobi, who spoke at the Berkshire County Selectman's Association last month, and keeping her office open to support and serve Western Mass. "I can certainly say that because one of my primary roles is to support the governor, lieutenant governor, and secretaries when they're in the four counties. They're keeping me very busy by their visits," she said. "They certainly have been here, I would say incredibly frequently." Last year, Healey visited the Colonial Theatre to detail how she will advocate for the region on Beacon Hill, and this year, she visited North Adams to survey the millions in damages that were caused by flooding and Pittsfield to tout the $4 billion Affordable Homes Act at the Morningstar Apartments. In August, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll announced $31.5 million in grants for climate resilience implementation and planning throughout the state in Stockbridge and took a tour of Berkshire Community College's campus upgrades in Pittsfield. Also over the summer, Representatives from the state Department of Agricultural Resources stopped at the Pittsfield Farmers Market as part of Massachusetts Farmers Market Week. "There have certainly been conversations about having more events in Berkshire County related to the Affordable Homes Act," Elechko reported. "We had economic development listening sessions within Berkshire County, which I feel like I've been at the (Berkshire Innovation Center) a lot lately for all of the ways in which we've been coming to all of you, which I think has been really wonderful." She added that there is also a new Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office launched in October to connect with municipalities so that they can access federal grants, possibly with matching state funds, that can support work needed in communities. Commission members largely had comments and questions about Chapter 90 funding, which is for improvements to and investments in local transportation networks. "Basically the message we wanted the prior administration to get and I would like you to relay to the current administration is no matter what you do with the formula, if you don't fund Chapter 90 adequately, the formula doesn't make much difference," Windsor Delegate Douglas McNally said. "It's been level-funded pretty much for a long time. A culvert that cost us to replace a decade ago would cost $200,000. It's now 600,000. A bridge that was $250,000 is now a million and there's been no increase and our roads and bridges are falling apart and small towns don't have the wherewithal to repair them and neither do the large communities." Elechko reported that there is a new $25 million bucket of money for Chapter 90 and a grant program for small bridges. McNally also pointed to the issue of writing grants for state programs when a small community such as Windsor does not have a grant writer. At a Highway Superintendents Association meeting, he heard advocacy for Chapter 90 funding that is not through grants so that towns can plan long-term. Mount Washing Delegate Keith Torrico seconded this as a resident of a town with less than 200 residents. "I worked with Senator Markey prior to coming to the administration and have been working in the four counties, again, for a good amount of time and am acutely aware of the personnel challenges that present themselves in many of the towns," Elechko replied. "It's not even just the small towns. South Hadley has literally one (grant writer) who is on staff, and certainly, they have college within the town and things like that." She believes this struggle is heard based on efforts within the administration. BRPC's Executive Director Thomas Matuszko pointed to municipalities' struggles with staffing. According to a survey the planning commission conducted earlier this year, 16 of the 21 responding communities had vacancies on volunteer bodies and 25 percent reported difficulty filling seats on their select board. "I think being able to work in a community similar to this one that's gathered here today is a really good potential for us to be learning from each other," Elechko said. "And for me to be hearing from each of you about similar challenges that you're experiencing or similar opportunities that you've been able to take advantage of." BCC to Participate in Space Flight Experiment PITTSFIELD, Mass Berkshire Community College (BCC) has been selected by the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP)'s Mission 18 to participate in a microgravity research experiment headed to the International Space Station (ISS). The BCC experiment, which is currently under development, will be announced closer to launch date. The target date for the selection of the Mission 18 flight experiments is Dec. 15, 2023, while the launch is planned for spring or summer 2024. The SSEP Mission 18 program is supported through a grant from the Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium (MASGC) and the BCC Foundation, a non-profit corporation established to encourage and receive gifts in support of the mission of the College. The Foundation has pledged $19,000 to help fund the project. "BCC heartily supports STEM programs like this one, which puts the College at the forefront of scientific experimentation and innovation," said BCC President Ellen Kennedy. "We are so excited to see what the final project is, and to witness it launch into space. We are grateful to the Commonwealth and to the BCC Foundation for their support of this exciting program." Experiments will be sent to the ISS via private launch company SpaceX's Dragon 2 spacecraft, which will be launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket during a cargo supply mission. When the automated rocket reaches the ISS, astronauts will unload a payload box containing student microgravity experiments. The astronauts will follow instructions on how to operate each of these experiments and then send the experiments back down to Earth, where students will compare the results to the control version operated in full gravity. Each school selected for the project is known as an "SSEP community." One student-designed experiment in each SSEP community is selected to fly to the ISS. The essential question for the design of an experiment is, "What physical, chemical or biological system would I like gravity to be seemingly turned off for a period of time, as a means of assessing the role of gravity in that system?" BCC students involved in the project are currently submitting final proposals to a BCC review board, which will review them and choose up to three experiments. The top selections will be sent to SSEP, which will conduct the SSEP National Step 2 Review Board. This board will select the flight experiment from each participating community. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SSEP students and their families, teachers and community stakeholders will be given the opportunity to attend the launch in person. About the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program SSEP immerses students across a community in every facet of authentic scientific research of their own design, using a captivating spaceflight opportunity on the International Space Station. Through scientific inquiry and within real-world constraints, SSEP empowers students as scientists. SSEP allows students to: Design an experiment with real constraints imposed by the experimental apparatus, current knowledge and the environment in which the experiment will be conducted Write a formal research proposal requiring critical written communication skills Experience a real two-step science proposal review process Have their own science conference, a venue where they are immersed in their community of researchers and in which they can communicate their thoughts, ideas and experimental results to their peers The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S. and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with Nanoracks LLC, which is working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a national laboratory. Page Content Montreal, 20 November 2023 Well over a hundred countries and one thousand delegates are convening in Dubai this week to firm up their collective commitments to boost global aviations transition towards Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), Lower Carbon Aviation Fuels (LCAF), and other cleaner energy sources. CAAF/3 convenes just over a year after States landmark decision on the long-term global aspirational goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, emphasized ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano in his opening remarks to the event. This agreement through ICAO is a testament to our ever progressive efforts to bring about coordinated action on cleaner aviation fuels and energy sources, which presently hold the greatest potential for us to take urgent action on aviation decarbonization. During 2023, ICAO conducted outreach activities and consultations to collect views among States and stakeholders on their expectations on a global framework that would facilitate the scale up in the development, production and deployment of aviation cleaner energies. Financial institutions and fuel producers were also consulted on the required actions to boost investments in aviation cleaner energy. The third ICAO Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3) will present a unique opportunity to consider a clear and robust global framework to respond to those expectations and build market confidence. Key elements of this framework include a collective Vision for the clean energy ambition, harmonized regulatory foundation, supporting implementation initiatives, and concrete means to facilitate financing so that No Country is left behind While cleaner energy in aviation is advancing at an unprecedented pace, and ICAO is closely monitoring progress through its Tracker Tools and the LTAG Stocktaking process, substantial investments and financing in this field is still required. Countries have been clear that they expect ICAO to take the leadership role in bringing them together to agree on key priorities needed for the transition to cleaner energy to take place, and to provide a platform where they can develop the effective partnerships needed with the air transport, energy, and finance sectors to make sustainable aviation a global reality, commented ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar. The five day Conference will be continuing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates until 24 November, and its results will send a strong message to the international community regarding the determination of ICAO and its Member States in addressing the impact of aviation on the global climate. About ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a United Nations agency which helps 193 countries to cooperate together and share their skies to their mutual benefit. Since it was established in 1944, ICAO's support and coordination has helped countries to diplomatically and technically realize a uniquely rapid and dependable network of global air mobility, connecting families, cultures, and businesses all over the world, and promoting sustainable growth and socio-economic prosperity wherever aircraft fly. As it enters a new era of digitization, and of incredible new flight and propulsion innovations, air transport is relying more than ever on ICAO's expert support and technical and diplomatic guidance to help chart a new and exciting future for international flight. ICAO is innovating itself to answer this call, and expanding its partnerships among UN and technical stakeholders to deliver a strategic global vision and effective, sustainable solutions. General Contact communications@icao.int Twitter: @ICAO Media Contact William Raillant-Clark Communications Officer wraillantclark@icao.int +1 514-954-6705 +1 514-409-0705 (mobile) Twitter: @wraillantclark LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/raillantclark/ iciHaiti - Humanitarian : The ICRC will create a new delegation in Haiti The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) informs that from January 1st, 2024, a delegation of the organization will operate in Haiti, as part of a reorganization of its presence in Panama, where the regional headquarters is located of the ICRC, now a humanitarian entity. The current mission in Haiti, until now dependent on the ICRC regional delegation for Panama and the Caribbean, "will be transformed into a new delegation for this country" indicated the ICRC in a press release. The ICRC, which returned to Haiti in August 2021, announced in October 2023 the strengthening of its humanitarian activities in Haiti in 2024 given the crisis of armed violence that this country is experiencing. The Committee will "prioritize facilitating access to humanitarian assistance for those most affected by armed violence," the organization said in its statement. "In 2024, the new ICRC mission in Panama will maintain its operations in the country and continue to work to meet the protection needs of missing and/or deceased migrants and their families", as well as "its activities to promote peace international". humanitarian law and other relevant international standards." This reorganization of the ICRC's presence in Panama is necessary given "the financial environment and in the context of complex economic trends affecting the humanitarian sector worldwide", explained the humanitarian entity. IH/ iciHaiti Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} For those who celebrate it, Thanksgiving is a busy affair between catching up with relatives, making sure the stuffing isnt burning and attempting to purchase a last-minute pie, the day often goes by in a flash and yet, theres always time to fill. Perhaps youre done watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Maybe the Westminster Dog Show a Thanksgiving Day staple hasnt started yet. Or perhaps dinner is over and everyone wants to congregate in front of the TV and digest peacefully. With that in mind, weve rounded up the 10 best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones before, during or after the celebrations. Some contain famous Thanksgiving scenes or references, while others are just heartwarming, family-friendly flicks. Click through the gallery below to browse our 10 top picks: Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones Show all 10 1 / 10 Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones 1. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) Youll have to head out to see this one, since it was just released in cinemas and isnt yet available to stream. If you can find a screening in your area, this just might prove the ultimate Thanksgiving watch. It doesnt get much more family-friendly than Tom Hanks starring as the universally loved Fred Rogers, host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. The Independents review noted that its hard not to be moved by the films warmth and kind heart just whats needed on the third Thursday of November. YouTube / Sony Pictures Entertainment Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones 2. Addams Family Values (1993) Americas favourite Goth family does Thanksgiving right. Cast as a Native American in a problematic play, Wednesday delivers an iconic monologue challenging the whitewashed version of the holiday as told by American folklore. YouTube / Paramount Pictures Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones 3. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) This Emmy-winning short first aired in 1973 and has become a Thanksgiving staple. If youve experienced a kitchen disaster at any point during the day, you might relate to Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy and Woodstocks efforts to put together a feast despite their total lack of cooking skills. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is airing on Wednesday 27 November on ABC, and the programme is also available to stream on Vudu and Amazon Prime. YouTube / United Feature Syndicate Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones 4. Youve Got Mail (1998) Lets set the record straight on Youve Got Mails infamous Thanksgiving-related scene. Tom Hankss character, who rescues Meg Ryan once she realises shes stuck cashless at a cash-only register, is supposed to come off as charming but rewatch the scene in 2019, with the benefit of hindsight, and youll realise hes actually just a condescending jerk. However, the films overall holiday feel (plus the fact that the scene in question is filmed at the iconic Upper West Side grocer Zabars), make it a top choice for Thanksgiving. YouTube / Warner Bros Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones 5. Rocky (1976) Yes, Rocky. While the films Thanksgiving scene is utterly depressing (Paulie has a fit and throws Adrienes turkey through the window as Rocky watches on), its always fun to re-watch the 1976 classic that spawned the enduring Rocky/Creed film series. YouTube / United Artists Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones 6. Sweet November (2001) We could tell you that this 2001 film stars Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron and leave it at that. However, we will add that the entire film is set in November and that part of its plot revolves around Thanksgiving, making it a top pic for the holiday. It is a sad flick, exploring the themes of love and terminal illness, so be prepared for an emotional viewing experience. YouTube / Warner Bros Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones 7. Funny People (2009) Adam Sandler gives a touching Thanksgiving toast as George Simmons, a stand-up comedian who has been diagnosed with a likely fatal disease. It kind of sucks being old, so just enjoy this. Enjoy time. Time slips away, I promise you, he tells a crowd of younger people, among other bits of wisdom. YouTube / Universal Pictures Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones 8. Free Birds (2013) Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler voice this animated film about turkeys traveling back in time to the first Thanksgiving to get themselves off the traditional menu. You read that right. One caveat: if you watch it with children, maybe take a few minutes to explain to them that they shouldnt consider this goofy flick an accurate portrayal of the Thanksgiving story. YouTube / Relativity Media Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones 9. Groundhog Day (1993) On a completely different note, this Bill Murray/Andie MacDowell classic makes for a great family watch. Granted, its set in February, meaning it doesnt involve Thanksgiving or the holiday season per se, but its an ode to values such as kindness, self-improvement, love and empathy all characteristics that lend themselves well to that time of the year. YouTube / Columbia Pictures Best Thanksgiving films to watch with your loved ones 10. Toy Story (1995) The 1995 Pixar classic was released the day before Thanksgiving so its only right to re-watch it on that day, 24 years later. Its available to stream on Disney+, Amazon Prime, and Vudu. YouTube / Buena Vista Pictures Distribution You can read our explainer to understand the cultural and historical meaning behind the holiday, which falls this Thursday. Weather predictions are also available ahead of the holiday weekend, which is typically a busy travel period. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A$AP Rocky will stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Monday (20 November). The 35-year-old rapper and Grammy nominee (real name Rakim Mayers) pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault with a firearm in August 2022. The charges stem from a 2021 incident where Rocky allegedly pointed a handgun at plaintiff A$AP Relli (real name Terell Ephron) and fired multiple times after a heated discussion outside a Hollywood hotel. Superior Court Judge ML Villar made the new ruling at a preliminary hearing, after hearing roughly a day and a half of testimony. Rocky is in a relationship with Rihanna, with whom he has two young sons. Villar said the totality of the video and testimony shows there is sufficient evidence for the defendant to go to trial. She emphasized that preliminary hearings have a much lower evidence standard than a trial. Rocky, sitting in the courtroom, showed no visible reaction. Were not disappointed, not surprised, we expected to go to trial, weve been planning for trial all along, Rocky's attorney, Joe Tacopina, said outside court. Rocky is going to be vindicated when all this is said and done, without question. A$AP Rocky with partner Rihanna (Getty Images for Karl Lagerfeld) At the first day of the hearing, which resumed Monday after a long delay, Ephron testified that he and Rocky, a friend since childhood, had belonged to the same collective of musicians and artists at their New York high school. He said their relationship had started to go sour and resulted in the standoff in Hollywood on 6 November 2021, when he said Rocky first pulled a gun on him, and in a later confrontation fired shots that grazed Ephrons knuckles. Tacopina established while questioning a police detective that seven officers who searched a sidewalk and street about 20 minutes after the shots were allegedly fired found no evidence of the shooting, and that a pair of 9 mm shell casings in police possession were recovered by Ephron, who returned to the scene about an hour after the standoff. Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Tacopina played body camera video of the officers, who searched the ground for about 10 minutes. Ephron, who first went to police to report the incident two days later, turned over the shell casings, which the detective said had no recoverable fingerprints on them. Prosecutors showed a separate video from near the scene where no people are initially visible, but what sounds like two gunshots can be heard. Then a man comes running around a corner, then slows to a walk. The mans identity is not clear in the video, but LAPD Detective Frank Flores testified they have established it is Rocky. Flores testified under Tacopinas questioning that no 9mm pistol was recovered when a search warrant was served on Rocky. Prosecutors showed a still from surveillance video showing a man in a hooded sweatshirt whose face is not visible holding what appears to be a gun, along with another image from the same video showing the face of the man in the sweatshirt, with no gun visible. Flores testified that the combined images led them to establish it was Rocky. Tacopina, who is also representing Donald Trump in his New York criminal case and others, pressed the detective on the weapon, suggesting police had no way of knowing whether it was a loaded or even real gun. That gun or whatever it was was not tested, right? Tacopina asked. No, it was never recovered, Flores said. Tacopina asked, Youre not sure if its an operable gun or a non-operable gun or whatever? Without having it, I cant tell you whether its operable, the detective replied. Tacopina also tried to cast doubt on the minor injury to Ephrons hand, questioning why he waited until he returned to New York to seek medical treatment. He showed the detective a photo of the scraped fingers and said, sarcastically, Its a miracle he survived that shooting. The judge admonished him, one of several times she told Tacopina to change his tone. Rocky was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in the case in April, and charged in August. He arrived in the courtroom Monday morning wearing a dark suit, sunglasses and a face mask, after spending the weekend at the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix auto race, where he had a prominent role as Pumas creative director in the clothing brands partnership with F1. He has released little music in recent years, and has become better known as the romantic partner, fellow fashion influencer and co-parent of Rihanna, with whom he had a second son in May. His first two studio albums in 2013 and 2015 both went to No 1 on the Billboard 200. Rocky also became an unlikely cause for then-President Donald Trump, who said he was trying to get the rapper freed and returned to the U.S. when he was jailed after a brawl in Sweden in 2019. He was found guilty of assault at trial but was given a conditional sentence that meant no additional jail time. In California courts, preliminary hearings like these are a sort of miniature version of a trial, with only a judge deciding whether sufficient evidence exists to move forward. The standard of proof for doing so is far lower than whats required for criminal guilt. Additional reporting from The Associated Press 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 }} Antidepressants and other essentials were being supplied to the 41 workers trapped inside a collapsed tunnel in India on Monday as their families patience wore thin over the nine-day rescue operation. Some of the 41 men who have been trapped inside the tunnel in Indias northern Uttarakhand state since 12 November have begun suffering health issues ranging from dysentery to headaches and increasing anxiety over their safe rescue. At the weekend efforts to drill through the fallen rocks and debris blocking the mouth of the tunnel were halted after the auger machine being used broke down, and it was decided the risk of new landslides was too great. The authorities are now planning to drill a new hole downwards vertically to rescue the workers. While Indian prime minister Narendra Modi attempted to reassure the families of the workers that federal and state rescuers are working seamlessly, they have voiced more anger the longer the rescue operation has been prolonged. The new vertical hole could take days more to drill, officials say. On Saturday, an angry confrontation was seen between the families of the workers and those supervising the rescue. The families had also protested last week to expedite drilling at the site. I am losing my patience, Maharaj Singh Negi, whose brother Gabbar Singh is among the trapped workers, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. The officials have not even briefed us about the future plans. Authorities have tried multiple different approaches to evacuate the trapped workers since 12 November. Indias road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said a breakthrough in rescue operations is likely in two-and-a-half days. Saving the trapped workers and evacuating them at the earliest is the biggest priority. Preparations are underway to restart the auger machine and resume drilling and pipe-laying at the tunnel, he said. Though I am no technical expert, in the given circumstances, horizontal digging seems the best option. If the auger machine does not encounter any obstacles it might reach the trapped workers in two and a half days. A narrow pipe that was originally part of the construction work has been used to send essential supplies like food to the workers, while another pipe is supplying oxygen. Officials said they were being sent multivitamins and antidepressants to try and help with the mental and physical strain of their ordeal. The state health department has set up a camp for health checkups near the site and has 10 ambulances on standby. We are sending multivitamins, antidepressants and dry fruits to workers who have been trapped inside the under-construction tunnel at Silkyara in Uttarkashi [area in Uttarakhand], Anurag Jain, a top government official at the road transport and highways ministry, told news channel NDTV. Fortunately, there is light inside the area because the electricity is on. There is a pipeline and thus water is available. There was a four-inch pipe which was used for compression. Through that we are sending food from day one, he said. The cause of the accident has not yet been determined by Indian authorities. The hillside state of Uttarakhand is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods. The under-construction tunnel is part of the Modi administrations multi-million dollar Char Dham project that aims to link four Hindu holy sites in the state. 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 Japanese government has condemned the hijacking of a cargo ship in the Red Sea by Yemeni Houthi rebels and said it is working towards the release of the ship and its captive crew. At least 25 crew members who were on board the Galaxy Leader vessel have been taken hostage by the Iran-backed rebel group after it seized what it believed to be an Israeli ship. The Japanese government confirmed the ship was leased and operated by Japanese company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) and was transporting cars. It was intercepted as it travelled past the Arabian peninsula on its way to India after leaving Turkey. The Houthis said they have sailed the ship into Yemen. We strongly condemn such acts, said Japanese chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno in a press conference on Monday. He said the crew comprises people of various nationalities but there were no Japanese nationals on board. Currently, ministries and agencies including the transport ministry and the foreign ministry are gathering information and working with the relevant countries for the early release of the vessel and its crew, the official said. The crew members come from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico and Romania. The confusion over the vessel may have come from the fact that it is registered in the name of a British company and part-owned by an Israeli businessman, according to reports. Ownership details in public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, founded by Abraham Rami Ungar, one of the richest men in Israel, reported the Associated Press. Blaming Iran for the ships capture, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was an Iranian attack on an international ship. He said neither the vessel nor the crew aboard it were Israeli. It is not an Israeli ship, the countrys military said on X, calling the capture of the ship a very grave incident of a global consequence. This is another Iranian act of terrorism that represents an escalation in Irans belligerence against the citizens of the free world, with concomitant international ramifications vis-a-vis the security of global shipping routes, he said. The Houthis militant groups spokesperson confirmed the capture of the ship on Sunday night, saying that all ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets. Yahya Saree wrote on X that the Houthiss will continue to carry out military operations against the Israeli enemy until the aggression against Gaza stops and the ugly crimes against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and the West Bank stop. If the international community is concerned about regional security and stability, rather than expanding the conflict, it should put an end to Israels aggression against Gaza, he said. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A stylish grandmother has fiercely defended her fashion choice after online critics said her outfit was inappropriate. On 18 October, Candice Cima, the 76-year-old New York state woman behind the Life in my 70s blog, shared a clip from her Amazon try-on haul, highlighting one maxi dress. The exercise enthusiast and former model, known for proudly showing off her trendy looks, danced around in a brown knit dress which came down to her mid-calves. Its very comfortable. Its nice-fitting. Now, it is body-hugging, so if youre not interested in a body-hugging dress, this wouldnt be the one for you, Cima told her followers. So although it is body hugging it has the weight to hang nicely. The video, posted to Cimas other social media platforms as well, was met with a myriad of commentary, with an overwhelming majority hating on her choice of clothing. Not suitable for the arms after a certain age, a harsh reviewer wrote, while another said: Great color and style; however, you must wear the sweater over it. The dress is not attractive on you without the sweater over it. No, its too young for you. No disrespect, a blunt viewer proclaimed. Meanwhile, an even more direct follower said: No, older women should not wear form-fitting dresses like that. It shows off a sagging butt. Looser fitting would be much better. Youre very attractive but that dress is not for a sagging body or skin. Others told Cima she was better off covering up with the matching, baggy long-sleeve knit she had in her hand. Amid the overwhelming amount of hate pouring into her comments section, supporters came to her defence. All the jealous women on this thread are makin me laugh! You have got this girl! without the top. Looks lovely, a woman said. Speaking with Today, Cima explained how this particular flood of judgements were unlike anything shes gotten before. The confident woman with 11 grandchildren said she thought there would be internet sleuths with outlandish perspectives but didnt think so many would flock to this specific post. Its not the first time this has happened, but this one surprised me, she told the outlet. People have such outdated notions about age-appropriate fashion, and that needs to change. I was not aware that many women believe that an older woman should not show her arms as she ages, she told The Independent. I actually had never heard that and since I have always worn sleeveless styles I thought nothing about posting these fashions on my sites. It was a shock to me when I learned that it was a thing with some women and started to get criticism for it. The criticism does not bother me at all as every woman should be proud of who she is and be comfortable with her style. With over 168,000 followers on Instagram, Cima has been working to grow her lifestyle and fashion blog since 2019. Her initial motivation was to promote older peoples fashion on social media after realising the lack of influencers advocating for women her age. I created my brand Life in My 70s, on IG, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Pinterest to try in some small way to change the dialogue related to aging, Cima remarked. I truly believe that aging is changing and it is nothing like it was for our Mothers and our Grandmothers. But some women still hold onto outdated ideas and beliefs about aging. If we can get a dialogue going about how aging has changed then we can give women a whole new way to look at themselves in their later years. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} On Saturday 11 November, the US will honour military veterans of the United States Armed Forces for Veterans Day. Every year, Americans celebrate soldiers on what used to be called Armistice Day and which was first enacted by President Woodrow Wilson after the end of World War I. In 1954, President Dwight D Eisenhower signed off on the name change, officially making the day Veterans Day. However, this year, the holiday falls over the weekend, meaning businesses will observe it on Friday 10 November and state and federal buildings will be closed. First introduced by Congress in 1885 when it was decided that federal employees should have certain days off from work, the list of US federal holidays is made up of 11 days of significance that Americans recognise - and celebrate. To ensure that these holidays are observed, certain guidelines have been put in place, with federal holidays that fall on a Saturday observed by federal employees on the previous Friday, while holidays that fall on Sunday are observed the following Monday. On these 11 days, all non-essential federal offices are closed, while banks, post offices and schools may also be closed. However, that doesnt mean that all Americans will receive a day off from work, as employees in the private sector may or may not get the day off, depending on their employer. From Memorial Day to Thanksgiving, these are the dates of the 2023 federal holidays. 2023 federal holidays: New Years Day: Sunday, January 1 (Observed Monday, January 2) Martin Luther King Jr Day: Monday, January 16 Presidents Day: Monday, February 20 Memorial Day: Monday, May 29 Juneteenth: Friday, June 16 Independence Day: Tuesday, July 4 Labor Day: Monday, September 4 Indigenous Peoples Day (also observed as Columbus Day): Monday, October 9 Veterans Day: Saturday, November 11 (Observed Friday, November 10) Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 23 Christmas: Monday, December 25 Other important days to note: Valentines Day: Tuesday, February 14 St Patricks Day: Friday, March 17 Passover: Thursday, April 6 Good Friday: Friday, April 7 Easter: Sunday, April 9 Mothers Day: Sunday, May 14 Fathers Day: Sunday, June 18 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 }} Paris Hilton made a grand entrance into a Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix party, but no one was around to see it. The 42-year-old hotel heiress made an appearance at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas for a DJ set on 17 November. But according to video footage, she was welcomed with a half-empty dance floor upon her arrival. The video - which was posted to the popular Instagram account Real Vegas Locals - shows Hilton decked out in a glittering racecar driver jumpsuit. When she entered the room, she could be seen lifting her matching sunglasses and scanning the lackluster crowd. The priceless moment when Paris Hilton realises theres no one there at the F1 after party, they captioned the amusing clip. In the comments section, viewers speculated why the crowd was so empty and wondered what Hilton was thinking the moment she saw the dancefloor. My agent is so fired, joked one Instagram user about Hiltons thoughts, while another speculated: The panic set in the moment she lifted those sunglasses. She pulled up to bingo night, one person added, as someone else wrote: She came in late and was still early. Meanwhile, another person commented: She looks so gorgeous sadly no one is there. The Instagram account clarified that it wasnt Hiltons fault the dancefloor was empty. Instead, they pointed fingers at F1. People outside of Vegas keep thinking this is a diss at Paris. It is not. Shes a very frequent visitor to Las Vegas and we absolutely LOVE her, wrote Real Vegas Locals in the comments. This was a diss at F1, they continued. Vegas locals had to deal with F1 construction and drama for a year and were so over it. So it was funny that there was no one there at F1 after party, not Paris Hiltons DJ moment. Hilton posted an Instagram carousel with photos of the event, showing her playing to what appeared to be a packed house. According to the photos, many fans could be seen dancing and filming the former reality TV stars DJ set. She captioned the Instagram post: Had a blast DJing for the @Hilton X @McLaren Stay on the Grid Experience at the @F1 #LVGP! One fan wrote that the set was a superstar moment, while another added that it looked like such a sick set. This isnt the first time Hilton has faced bad luck at a Formula One party. Back in 2021, the hotel heiress was spinning tunes for the event in Miami when she reportedly encountered technical difficulties. Halfway through her set, the music suddenly cut out. Thankfully, her husband Carter Reum took it upon himself to hype up the crowd while the issue was solved so his wife could take a much-needed break. Paris kept her cool and stepped away from the booth, and Carter took the mic to fill the silence, a source told Page Six at the time. Paris had amazing energy and handled the situation like a champ. The couple were married in November 2021 and share a son named Phoenix, who they welcomed via surrogate in January of this year. The Independent has contacted representatives for Paris Hilton 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 }} South Korea said Monday it plans to launch its first domestically built spy satellite at the end of this month to better monitor rival North Korea, as the North pushes to expand its arsenal of nuclear weapons targeting its adversaries. The plan was unveiled days after North Korea failed to follow through on its vow to make a third attempt to launch its own reconnaissance satellite in October, likely because of technical issues. Jeon Ha Gyu, a spokesperson for the South Korean Defense Ministry, told reporters Monday that the countrys first military spy satellite will be launched from Californias Vandenberg Air Force Base on Nov. 30. The satellite will be carried by SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket. Under a contract with SpaceX, South Korea plans to launch four more spy satellites by 2025, according to South Koreas Defense Acquisition Program Administration. South Korea currently has no military reconnaissance satellites of its own and relies on U.S. spy satellites to monitor moves by North Korea. The possession of its own spy satellites would give South Korea an independent space-based surveillance system to monitor North Korea in almost near-time. When operated together with South Koreas so-called three-axis system preemptive strike, missile defense and retaliatory assets the countrys overall defense against North Korea would be sharply strengthened, according to Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Koreas Science and Technology Policy Institute. Lee said that U.S. spy satellites produce much higher-resolution imagery but they are operated under U.S. strategic objectives, not South Koreas. He said the U.S also sometimes doesnt share satellite photos with highly sensitive information with South Korea. Last year, South Korea used a homegrown rocket to place what it called a performance observation satellite in orbit, becoming the worlds 10th nation to successfully launch a satellite with its own technology. But Lee said its much more economical to use a SpaceX rocket to fire a spy satellite from the Vandenberg base. Other observers say a SpaceX rocket would be more reliable to carry the South Korean spy satellite, which is heavier than the satellite launched in 2022. North Korea is also eager to acquire its own spy satellite. But its two launch attempts earlier this year ended in failure for technical reasons. The country said it would make a third attempt sometime in October, but it did not do so and its state media has not provided a reason. South Koreas spy agency told lawmakers last week that North Korea is likely receiving Russian technological assistance on a spy satellite launch program. The National Intelligence Service said North Korea was in the final phase of preparations for its third launch, which the NIS said would likely be successful. South Korea, the U.S. and other foreign governments believe North Korea is seeking sophisticated weapons technologies from Russia to modernize its nucler and other weapons programs in return for supplying ammunition, rockets and other military equipment to support Russias war in Ukraine. The possession of spy satellites is part of ambitious arms build-up plans announced by leader Kim Jong Un in 2021. Kim said North Korea also needs more mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submarines, hypersonic weapons and multi-warhead missiles to cope with intensifying U.S. military threats. After the North's first, failed launch in May, South Korea retrieved debris from the North's satellite and concluded it was too crude to perform military reconnaissance. Lee said the North Korean satellite would still be capable of identifying big targets like warships so it could be militarily useful for North Korea. 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 }} Parents looking to get a bargain ahead of Christmas on Black Friday are being urged to be on their guard against fake deals - as the amount lost to purchase scams rose to 41m in the first half of this year. More than 27 per cent of parents have been caught out by scams where goods or services paid for dont arrive, according to research from UK finance. Criminals can advertise high value tech such as phones at low prices to attract buyers, persuading them to make bank transfers, but then disappearing once the payment is made. Fraudsters often use fake websites or advertisements on social media, or even auction websites. Only a quarter of parents surveyed as part of the Take Five To Stop Fraud campaign said they always researched sellers before they buy. UK Finances recent fraud report found that purchase scams are the most common kind of fraud, accounting for two-thirds of cases. Fraudsters often use fake websites or advertisements on social media, or even auction websites. The volume of purchase scam cases has grown by 43 per cent, from 53,907 in the first half of 2022, to 76,946 in the first half of 2023 - amounting to 40.9 million. Earlier this week, Martin Lewis issued a warning to Christmas shoppers this Black Friday who risk spending hundreds of pounds unnecessarily. The Money Saving Expert said shoppers could be buying a dud because they have been on sale for cheaper at various points this year. Ben Donaldson, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, said: More and more criminals are using fake ads and websites to target their victims. And particularly at this time of year, too many parents who are trying to bring joy to their children are falling victim to these ruthless crimes. The consequences go beyond financial, because the deception involved can cause real emotional and psychological damage. So, this Black Friday, when youre searching for gifts for your children and loved ones, take extra care online. Check sellers thoroughly before buying and make sure you follow the Take Five to Stop Fraud advice stop, challenge, protect. 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 inmates trapped in prison under indefinite jail terms have taken their own lives since the government refused to resentence them, The Independent can reveal. The prisons watchdog has launched investigations into a string of self-inflicted deaths amid a worrying rise in incidents among imprisonment for public protection (IPP) prisoners with campaigners warning the hopelessness associated with the controversial sentences is having tragic consequences. It comes after former justice secretary Dominic Raab refused cross-party recommendations to resentence IPP prisoners, despite the prison term a form of indeterminate sentence in which offenders are given a minimum jail term but no maximum being described as the single greatest stain on our justice system. The sentences were scrapped in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving almost 3,000 trapped in prison with no clear hope of release nearly 700 of whom have served more than 10 years longer than the minimum term they were given. New Labour introduced the sentences in 2005 as part of new legislation to prove they were tough on crime. Anyone convicted with an IPP would have initially committed an offence that was deemed a danger to the public and subsequently committed another of 153 listed crimes, including violent and non-violent offences. After completing their minimum term tariff, inmates must then apply for release to the Parole Board and meet stringent criteria including not suffering from mental health problems to prove that they are no longer a risk to the public. David Blunkett, who has admitted he regrets introducing the measures as home secretary, told The Independent there needs to be a change in the system that gives hope to inmates. The longer they are in, the longer they are institutionalised, the more their mental health deteriorates. Its a no-brainer that we need to provide people with that hope. Shocking examples of those languishing in prison under the unjust sentence include: Wayne Bell, who was jailed for a minimum of two years for taking a bike in 2007. He is still incarcerated after more than 16 years and his family fears he will never be freed Thomas White was jailed for a minimum of two years for stealing a mobile phone in 2012, but after more than 11 years in prison, he has never been released Aaron Graham, who punched a man in a fight, was given an IPP sentence with a minimum term of two years and 124 days in 2005 but has served almost 20 years, including time spent on remand Sir Bob Neill, chair of the justice committee which urged the government to resentence all IPP prisoners, described the latest deaths as tragic and disturbing, adding it was possible some of those lives could have been saved if the government had accepted his recommendation. Donna Mooney, whose brother died by suicide in 2015 while serving an IPP sentence for stealing a car, said that without a doubt the governments rejection cost lives as prisoners gave up completely, leaving grieving families to pick up the pieces. Former justice secretary Dominic Raab rejected recommendations to resentence IPP prisoners (PA Wire) Ms Mooney, a campaigner with the United Group for Reform of IPP (Ungripp), which is supporting two of the seven recently bereaved families, told The Independent: We are victims of this sentence, having never committed a crime. Next month, it will be 11 years since IPP sentences were abolished in Britain after they were found to be fundamentally unjust by the European Court of Human Rights. Originally designed to protect the public from serious offenders whose crimes did not warrant a life sentence, they were widely overused and often imposed for low-level crimes before they were axed in 2012. The latest figures show that 2,921 IPP prisoners were still incarcerated at the end of September. Of these, 1,269 have never been released, while 1,652 have been recalled to prison after being caught out by strict 10-year licence conditions. In a justice select committee report last year, MPs said IPP sentences were irredeemably flawed and led to high levels of self-harm. Although the government accepted or partially accepted eight of the committees recommendations, it rejected three, including the key recommendation for inmates trapped under the now-defunct sentence to undergo a resentencing exercise. Donna Mooney, of Ungripp, says resentencing IPP inmates will save lives. Her brother Tommy Nicol died by suicide while serving an IPP sentence in 2015 (Donna Mooney/Ungripp) In his rejection on 9 February, Mr Raab insisted resentencing would create an unacceptable risk if prisoners were released. Sir Bob branded the decision a missed opportunity to right a wrong. An inmate died at HMP Swaleside just over two weeks later, The Independent has learned, with two further deaths the following month in Coldingley and Bristol. A prisoner died at HMP Stocken in May, while another inmate died at Bristol in July. The PPO is investigating a further two self-inflicted deaths at HMPs Dovegate and Humber last month. One family member described the situation as the biggest injustice that the country has seen since Hillsborough. Clara White, whose brother Thomas has served more than 11 years for stealing a phone, revealed he has developed schizophrenia while in jail. A psychiatric assessment found his deteriorating mental health was caused by the hopelessness of his IPP sentence. Wayne Bells mental health has also crumbled after he was jailed in 2007, aged 17, for stealing a bike. He spent several years in a secure hospital after he was found catatonic like skin and bones in his cell, before being returned to prison. We are just waiting for that call to say Wayne is gone now, his sister Alana said. Its destroyed him. Cherrie Nichols brother Aaron Graham has been in jail for almost two decades, including time on remand, after he was put under an IPP for grievous bodily harm for leaving a man with a fractured cheekbone in a fight. Cherrie told The Independent: It has robbed him of his life the chance to have a family and a career. Its robbed him of everything hes got. Bob Neill: The only solution is for the government to accept our main recommendation to resentence all such prisoners to determinate sentences and get those who can be safely released out of an already overcrowded prison system (AFP/Getty) Ms Mooney, whose brother had served six years in jail when he died despite a minimum four-year tariff, called for justice secretary Alex Chalk to intervene. She said: There is not a doubt in my mind that [resentencing] would have saved lives. Until something significant changes, I think this will keep happening. And thats horrendous because the government are just leaving people to die. She claimed that sorting the IPP issue could empty three prisons amid a prison capacity crisis. This is an extreme situation and its only going to continue like this until something is changed. These people need to be given some hope. Resentencing is the safest and fairest route. It is not opening the gates and letting everybody out. The prisons and probation ombudsman Adrian Usher warned of a worrying rise in self-inflicted IPP deaths in September. In 2022, nine people serving IPP sentences took their own lives the highest annual figure on record. With seven deaths recorded this year in the eight-month period since February, campaigners fear this year the total could be even higher. David Blunkett admits he regrets introducing IPP sentences when he was home secretary in 2005 (PA) Mr Usher said the sentences should be considered a risk factor for prisoners, noting that of 19 self-inflicted IPP deaths since 2019, only five inmates were being monitored by specialist teams for those at risk of suicide and self-harm. Responding to the latest deaths, Mr Usher told The Independent: We have continued to see self-inflicted deaths of IPP prisoners this year, and I believe more needs to be done to ensure these high levels of self-inflicted deaths do not continue. Lord Blunkett implored Mr Chalk at a recent Lords select committee to put right something I got wrong. During the meeting, Mr Chalk said he was considering curtailing the 10-year licence period to five years, but spoke of his reluctance to release inmates who might go on to commit appalling crimes. Lord Blunkett told The Independent he had been helping families whose loved ones have been on suicide watch under this sentence but admitted he is pessimistic over whether the government will give so much as a nod to Sir Bobs amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill. Justice secretary Alex Chalk has indicated he may reduce the license period for IPP inmates, but he is also being urged to carry out a resentencing exercise (PA Wire) Mark Day, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the hopelessness and despair associated with the IPP sentence can have tragic consequences. He added: Ministers have a responsibility to address the continued injustice faced by people on IPPs and their loved ones. Alex Chalk needs to come forward with workable proposals to help bring the sentence to a definitive end. Andrea Coomber, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, added: Each self-inflicted death of a person serving an IPP sentence is a shameful indictment of our justice system, and these figures underline the need for ministers to act decisively to end the suffering of those in prison and their families. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the department is carefully considering what can be done to address the plight of IPP inmates. They added: We abolished IPP sentences in 2012 and have already reduced the number of unreleased IPP prisoners by three-quarters. We are also helping those still in custody to progress towards release, including improving access to rehabilitation programmes and mental health support. While public protection will always be our priority, we are carefully considering what additional measures might be put in place. If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Morrisons worker is fighting for life after being stabbed repeatedly at a store in Jersey as stunned shoppers watched on in horror. Police were called to the supermarket at around 1.30pm on Saturday to reports of an incident in Castle Quay, St Helier on Saturday. They found a woman, 34, who had suffered stab wounds. She was treated by paramedics at the scene and taken to hospital for further medical assistance. Her condition is described as critical but stable. It was not clear whether the assailant also worked at Morrisons or whether he entered the store as a customer. Have you been affected by this incident? Email matt.mathers@independent.co.uk A police cordon was erected as officers combed the scene for evidence ( ) A 55 year-old man has been charged with attempted murder and is due to appear in magistrates court on Monday morning. Jersey Police said there was no wider risk to the public. A police cordon was erected where the stabbing took place as forensic officers combed the crime scene for evidence. Morrisons was closed after the stabbing and stayed shut on Sunday. Officers were called to reports of a stabbing at 1.30pm this afternoon at Morrisons, Castle Quay, in St Helier. A 34-year-old female had been stabbed multiple times by a man who left the scene. She was taken to the Emergency Department by ambulance and remains there in a serious condition. A 55-year-old man who is known to the female has since been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and he remains in police custody at this time. Police would like to speak to anyone who may have seen this or who has any information. They can call police on 612612 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their anonymous online form at Crimestoppers-uk.org. SandpiperCI, which franchises Morrisons supermarkets in Jersey, said: "Sandpiper management and staff are shocked and saddened following a devastating incident that caused serious injury to a member of staff on Saturday. "Our priorities are to ensure everything possible is being done to care for our much-loved colleague and their family who are foremost in our thoughts. We are offering full support to the police and other authorities and also supporting fellow members of staff affected by the incident. "As this is now an active police investigation, we will not be commenting further." 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 brother of a Briton who has been detained in an Indian jail for more than six years has said he is hopeful the new Foreign Secretary can secure the bloggers release. Gurpreet Singh Johal said he hopes that Lord David Cameron, who made a dramatic return to frontline politics in a reshuffle last week, can use his expertise and his leverage to bring his brother Jagtar Singh Johal home. Mr Johal, from Dumbarton, Scotland, was in Punjab in northern India for his wedding in 2017 when his family said he was arrested and bundled into an unmarked car. He said he has been tortured, including through electric shocks, and faces the death penalty over his activism and campaigning for Sikh human rights. The bottom line is my brothers life depends on what David Cameron decides to do and whether he decides to call for Jagtars release to bring him back home Gurpreet Singh Johal His brother Gurpreet Singh Johal said the family feel they have been failed by the UK Government but hope that former prime minister Lord Cameron can make a difference. He told BBC Radio Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme: Were hopeful that this Foreign Secretary, well first of all he has to meet us to confirm exactly what he is going to be doing to bring Jagtar back home, but really enough is enough because this Government has really let down Jagtar and his family over the last six years. Rishi Sunak has said that he is using the experience of David Cameron, thats why hes brought him in, so were hopeful that the contacts David Cameron has made over the years when he was the prime minister will be able to allow him to use that leverage and to do what all other foreign secretaries have failed to do and basically call for Jagtars release because the UK Government have a policy and the policy is if you are arbitrarily detained, which the UN working group on detention have found, that you should be calling for release. Were hopeful that the sixth foreign secretary after six years might do something that the other foreign secretaries have failed to do. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention last year said that the continued pre-trial detention of Mr Johal lacks legal basis and is arbitrary. Mr Johal has written to Lord Cameron urging him to work to secure his brothers release. Mr Johal said that robust action is needed to bring home his brother, who has been detained for 2,208 days, and that it is not just about soft diplomacy. He added: The bottom line is my brothers life depends on what David Cameron decides to do and whether he decides to call for Jagtars release to bring him back home. In his letter to Lord Cameron, Mr Johal wrote: Jagtar is a British citizen, born and raised in Scotland, arbitrarily detained abroad on politically motivated charges and facing a possible death sentence. It must be a priority for the UK Government to resolve his case and bring him home. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak raised the case of Mr Johal when he met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the fringes of the G20 summit in New Delhi in September. At the time he said that the Government is committed to seeing Mr Johals case resolved as soon as possible. Mr Johal said he last spoke to Jagtar on his brothers wedding anniversary on October 18 and that his sibling is trying to stay positive and hopes he may be released on bail within months. He said: He is hopeful in the next six months or so that he could at least be out on bail but thats as much as I know because I dont know what situation he is in. He is trying to put light at the end of the tunnel by thinking that he will be out in the next six months at least on bail. A UK Government spokesperson said: The UK Government is committed to seeing Jagtar Singh Johals case resolved as soon as possible. We continue to provide consular assistance to Mr Johal and his family and have consistently raised his case directly with the government of India. 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 }} Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy is making Labours first visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories since Hamass atrocity sparked a full-scale war. In Israel, he will meet with politicians including president Isaac Herzog after calling for a longer pause to the conflict to alleviate the shocking humanitarian emergency in Gaza. Mr Lammy will also meet with the Palestinian Authoritys deputy foreign minister Amal Jadu in the West Bank. Sir Keir Starmer has been battling a rift in his party, with eight frontbenchers having resigned to defy his position and vote in the Commons to support a ceasefire. From Israel, Mr Lammy criticised the international allies for failing to realise the threat posed by Hamas ahead of the October 7 bloodshed. The shadow foreign secretary urged them to learn the lessons of decades of failure to resolve this conflict. He said political leaders have been complacently content with the delusions of wishful thinking while failing to work for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Mr Lammy also stressed that diplomacy is how we can secure the release of hostages while protecting Palestinians, as Israel carries out a ground assault. Hard diplomacy is required with all governments in the region to deliver a longer pause immediately to respond to the shocking humanitarian emergency in Gaza, secure the release of hostages so cruelly taken by Hamas and as a necessary step to an enduring cessation of violence, he said. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A schoolboy at a private school in Scotland sent out to dig potatoes as punishment ended up unearthing a mysterious treasure from ancient Egypt. The first of a sesries of remarkable discoveries at Melville House in Fife between 1952 and 1984 are being told in full for the first time by experts at National Museums Scotland. The finds began when the boy from the house, then the private Dalhousie Castle School, dug down and hit a mid-12th Dynasty red sandstone statue head, which he initially mistook for a potato. Fourteen years later, more treasure was discovered by a boy during a PE class, before, in 1984, a group found another item with a metal detector. In all, 18 objects have been discovered, with most now in National Museums Scotlands collection. Dr Elizabeth Goring, who has since investigated the site, said: Excavating and researching these finds at Melville House has been the most unusual project in my archaeological career, and Im delighted to now be telling the story in full. Head of a statue of a man in sandstone, mid-12th Dynasty (about 1922-1874 BC) (National Museums Scotland ) Uncovering ancient Egyptian objects in Fife is clearly unexpected, and the subsequent research to establish the origins of the collection has provided a fascinating tale, albeit one with further mysteries which may never be solved. After the first discovery, in 1966 an Egyptian bronze votive statuette of an Apis bull was found in the grounds when a boy taking part in a vaulting exercise during a PE class landed on the statuette, which was protruding from the earth. The supervising teacher, who happened to be the very boy who had found the sandstone head in 1952, brought the object into the Museum for identification. Upper half of a faience shabti inscribed for a man named Hor-sa-Iset, Late Period (about 664-332 BC) (National Museums Scotland ) In 1984, schoolboys found another ancient treasure - an Egyptian bronze figurine of a man - using a metal detector, and brought it into the museum. It then became clear to experts at the museum that the three objects were connected, and that there had once been a collection associated with Melville House. Leaded bronze figurine of a priest, Third Intermediate Period (about 1069-656 BC) (National Museums Scotland ) Dr Goring, a new curator at the musuem at the time, investigated the site and discovered a number of other objects. These included a faience figurine of the goddess Isis suckling her son Horus to part of a faience plaque bearing the Eye of Horus. Almost 40 years later, experts now have a possible explanation of how these objects ended up buried at Melville House. Volunteers from NMS and Balfarg working in the grounds of Melville House, 1984 (National Museums Scotland) They suggest the objects were acquired by Alexander, Lord Balgonie (1831-1857) the heir to the property who visited Egypt in 1856 with his two sisters to try to improve his poor health, after falling ill during service in the Crimean War. During this period in Egypt, consuls and dealers would visit hotels or passing boats to sell antiquities, so it is possible the objects were brought to a bedridden Balgonie or that his sisters assembled the collection. Upon return to the UK, they may have been kept for a time at Melville House before being placed in an outbuilding. Its possible that they were either forgotten in the immediate grief of the young Balgonies death or abandoned as too painful a memory of the trip. Eventually, the outbuilding in which they had been deposited was demolished and those long-forgotten objects went unnoticed in the building debris. Fragment of a faience plaque depicting the Eye of Horus, Late or Ptolemaic Period (about 664-30 BC) (National Museums Scotland) Dr Margaret Maitland, principal curator of the Ancient Mediterranean at National Museums Scotland said: This is a fascinating collection, made all the more so by the mystery surrounding its origins in this country. The discovery of Egyptian artefacts that had been buried in Scotland for over a hundred years is evidence of the scale of 19th century antiquities collecting and its complex history. It was an exciting challenge to research and identify such a diverse range of artefacts, including some remarkable objects - the bronze priest statuette is a relatively rare form, while the sandstone statue head is a masterpiece of Egyptian sculpture. 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 }} Nigel Farage has faced his first challenge in since entering Im a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, after being confronted with several snakes to win tokens for his new campmates. After being dropped in the Australian Outback, he was joined by YouTuber Nella Rose and presenter Josie Gibson, with the former Ukip leader encountering the aptly named hell-hole. The task involved the GB news presenter sticking his head into a box with snakes alongside Rose, while Ms Gibson opted to stick her head in a barrel of mud to find tokens. Im A Celebritys Josie Gibson takes Brexit swipe at Nigel Farage as pair meet for first time. (Im A Celebrity/ITV) After inserting his head into the cubicle, he could be heard remarking Oh theyre horrible, arent they?, before using his tongue to move all three stars towards the end point. It comes after the former politician said he is hoping to emulate Matt Hancocks reputation rehabilitation by appearing on the new series. I understood why Matt Hancock did it. He went in there with his reputation on the floor, he said. I am hoping those who hate me might hate me a little bit less afterwards. After first meeting Ms Gibson, the first mention of Brexit was made, the successful campaign which made Farage a household name. I thought this was a good idea until they dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. Ive never been so petrified, Ms Gibson said while standing in the desert. In response, Farage quipped: Its something different in life, its an adventure! Its a challenge, its not going to be easy, but why not? Farage hopes to repeat Matt Hancocks success last year (PA) Laughing, she remarked: It cant be worse than Brexit! Chuckling, Farage said: Oh didnt take long did it? Didnt take long. I had a feeling wed get a bit of that!. Introducing Farage, presenters Ant McPartin and Declan Donnelly said: Theres the man whos got everyone talking. Nigel Farage. Nigel now, not just known for his controversial political career, hes also got his own show on GB News. Now of course, he wont be presenting that show over the next three weeks. So wed like to take this opportunity to apologise to all of GB News viewers, Dec admitted. Ant quipped: Sorry Keith, sorry Linda. The reality series has returned to screens with the first episode of the 2023 season airing at 9pm on ITV. Viewers will get their first look at the new crop of celebrities decamping to the Australian outback in the hopes of being crowned this years King or Queen of the Jungle. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Royal Navy nuclear submarine was saved from disaster after it sank towards dangerous depths due to a malfunction, according to reports. There were 140 crew on the Vanguard class vessel carrying Trident 2 nuclear missiles when a depth gauge is said to have failed while operating in the Atlantic. Such a fault would mean the subs commanders would not know exactly how deep the vessel was. If a sub reaches its crush depth it can implode due to water pressure. Fortunately, engineers noticed the error and sounded the alarm when they spotted a second gauge and narrowly missed diving deeper and imploding, The Sun reports. The submarine could have shared the same horrific fate as the Titan Sub earlier this year, when five passengers attempting to travel to the wreckage of the Titanic shipwreck died as their vessel imploded. Vanguard-class submarines, such HMS Vigilant, are due to be replaced in the 2030s (PA Archive) Its not the engineers job to control the subs depth but they saw how deep they were and realised something was wrong, a source told the newspaper. "Technically the sub was still at a depth where we know it can operate, but if it ever has to go that deep the whole crew is piped to action-stations. That hadnt happened. The sub wasnt supposed to be there, and it was still diving. And if it had carried on going, it doesnt really bear thinking about. The Vanguard is a class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine introduced in 1994 as part of the Trident nuclear programme. Each sub costs around 3.75 billion, measuring nearly 500ft long and weighing around 16,000 tons. The Royal Navy has four, each armed with 48 Trident 2 D5 nuclear warheads. The specific submarine involved in the reported incident has not been named. Vanguards are due to be replaced in the next decade by Dreadnought-class submarines. The Navy has been contacted 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 }} Watch as South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol arrives in Britain on Monday, 20 November, for a state visit. It is the first state visit hosted by Britain since the coronation of King Charles III and comes as North Korea appears to be making preparations for another attempt at the launch of its first spy satellite. Mr Yoons four-day trip is hoped to boost economic ties and security partnerships as his country faces what it sees as increasing danger from its nuclear-armed neighbour. He will receive a guard of honour and ride in a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace, hold talks with Rishi Sunak on Wednesday, and adopt an accord on expanding a bilateral partnership. The state visit comes after Mr Yoon attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, which he used to call for a coordinated response to growing military ties between North Korea and Russia. North Korea has tested multiple missiles over the last year and has vowed to launch a satellite, a move which promoted condemnation from the US, South Korea, and Japan as a provocation and violation of UN Security Council resolutions banning its ballistic missile technology. 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 }} Tesco has issued a warning to customers to spend their Clubcard vouchers before they expire at the end of the month. More than 20 million people in the UK hold a Tesco Clubcard, which allows shoppers to receive discounts on selected items as well as rack up points they can redeem later as vouchers for use in-store. But while they are racking up points, many are forgetting to use them before they expire. Tesco customers have now been reminded to spend more than 16m worth of Clubcard vouchers before they expire at the end of November. The vouchers, which were first issued in November 2021, will expire on 30 November 2023 and could instead be used to help out at a tough time of year for family budgets. Emma Botton, Tesco Group Customer Director, said: We want to help customers household budgets stretch further right now and Clubcard is the best way to get great value with Tesco. With more than 16m worth of Clubcard vouchers due to expire at the end of November, were reminding customers to spend them now or even use them to get ahead with some early Christmas shopping. Last December, Tesco announced that it was revising its Clubcard scheme to give out coupons to loyal shoppers more often. Tesco Clubcard vouchers are issued every three months in February, May, August and November. The shop said that more than 100 million worth of new ones are set to be issued from October 30 - the highest amount issued at one time since 2015. Customers can use their Clubcard vouchers on their weekly shop or fuel, treat themselves or use them towards 100 reward partners, including Pizza Express and Spa Seekers. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Scottish First Minister Humza Yousafs mother-in-law has said she left her heart in Gaza having been stuck there amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, the parents of Mr Yousafs wife Nadia, were visiting relatives last month when the conflict broke out, leaving them trapped in the Palestinian territory for weeks. Ms El-Nakla, from Dundee, said she and her husband experienced a living nightmare when bombings began in the region. The couple were able to return to Scotland earlier this month after being permitted to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. Ms El-Nakla told Sky News: It still feels very surreal, waking up in the middle of the night and I hear silence and in the dark. And then I remember Im at home and that Im safe. I feel very grateful for that. I walk down to my sister-in-law, who lives five minutes away, in the rain, in the dark, but feeling safe. I think no-one can understand how that makes you feel when youve been in a situation where you think that you may die. Unfortunately, until our family and the people that we know and love and everyone in Gaza are safe, I dont think we will get it. And I think my life has changed forever. Speaking of the conflict, Ms El-Nakla said: I wouldnt wish that situation on my worst enemy. The couple managed the leave the region on November 3 after two failed attempts. Ms El-Nakla spoke of losing hope so many times, also telling of fears about never getting home. She added: I hadnt slept for 48 hours. I hadnt slept for nearly three weeks. And youre just so relieved. But you still dont believe it and youre so exhausted. Then you get on the bus and you see all these happy children. We were given a bottle of water and a pack of biscuits. And it is such a relief. You cant imagine. But, again, your heart is torn. I left my heart in Gaza and I didnt bring it home with me. 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 was overheard saying the Government should focus on handling its scientific advisers rather than the spread of Covid-19, the inquiry into the UKs pandemic response has been told. A series of diary entries from former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance was shown to the probe on Monday. Mr Sunaks comment was allegedly made in July 2020 as plans were being made to reopen the country after the first national lockdown. A note by Sir Patrick on July 2 read: In the economics meeting earlier today they didnt realise CMO (chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty) was there and CX (then-chancellor Rishi Sunak) said, It is all about handling the scientists, not handling the virus. They then got flustered when the CMO chipped in later and they realised he had been there all along. PM (then-prime minister Boris Johnson) blustered and waffled for five mins to cover his embarrassment. Mr Sunak was behind the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, an initiative launched in August 2020 to kickstart restaurants and eateries post-lockdown. Sir Patrick told the inquiry that scientists were unaware of the policy until it was announced. But part of Mr Sunaks witness statement was shown to the probe, with the now-Prime Minister saying he did not recall any concerns about the scheme being expressed during ministerial discussions, including those attended by Sir Patrick and Sir Chris. Sir Patrick said: We didnt see it before it was announced and I think others in the Cabinet Office also said they didnt see it before it was formulated as policy. So we werent involved in the run up to it. He added: I think it would have been very obvious to anyone that this inevitably would cause an increase in transmission risk, and I think that would have been known by ministers. Asked about Mr Sunaks understanding of the risks, Sir Patrick said: If he was in the meetings, I cant recall which meetings he was in. But Id be very surprised if any minister didnt understand that these openings carried risk. No 10 would not be drawn on whether the Prime Minister had consulted scientists on the transmission risk of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme before announcing it. The Downing Street official said a number of people will be setting out their views of the period, but rather than respond to each one in piecemeal, its right that it is looked at alongside other evidence. In his witness statement, Sir Patrick said that the scheme was not consistent with supressing the number of Covid-19 infections to prevent a large wave. From the perspective of science advice, it was clear that this scheme would increase viral transmission at a time when a number of other (non-pharmaceutical interventions) had also been lifted. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Police are seeking the publics help to identify 15 people who took part in a pro-Palestinian convoy of as many as 80 cars. Officers became aware of a convoy of vehicles displaying Palestinian flags driving into central London at around 10.15pm on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said. It is believed the cars had set off from a car park in Hancock Road, Tower Hamlets, east London. Road policing units, public order teams and a helicopter were deployed to intercept the convoy and the cars were held in Exhibition Road, South Kensington, the force said. A dispersal order was put in place and one vehicle was seized, with fixed penalty notices for various road traffic offences issued to 18 drivers. A further nine vehicles were served with prohibition notices after defects were found making them unfit for use. The Met said officers have since discovered the convoy stopped twice on major roads the A13 and the Limehouse Link Tunnel on its way into London, causing danger to other road users. Temporary Commander Karen Findlay, who led the weekends policing operation, said: On some previous occasions, convoys of cars have passed through Jewish communities with occupants waving flags and shouting antisemitic abuse. They understandably caused significant concern, fear and upset. As soon as the convoy was spotted, a plan was put in place quickly to ensure the convoy would not reach areas where its presence would inevitably cause alarm and intimidation. Our inquiries have not only revealed the extent of their dangerous antics on major roads, theyve also established the group had plans to move on from Exhibition Road to the Israeli Embassy off Kensington High Street. Our intervention on Saturday night was effective in stopping this convoy in its tracks, but now we need to identify those we suspect of being involved in offences earlier on their route. The public have been a great help in recent weeks when similar appeals have been made and I have no doubt theyll continue to do the same. Police have shared images of the people they want to identify, and have asked anyone who can help to call 101 and reference 4237915/23 and the number in the bottom corner of the images. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} European Union negotiators did not believe Boris Johnsons bluff that he was prepared to pull the UK out of the bloc with a no-deal Brexit, Michel Barnier has revealed. The EUs former Brexit negotiator has said he knew the former PM was not serious about his madman claim to be ready to exit without a trade agreement with Brussels. In scathing comments, Mr Barnier also said Mr Johnsons ministers did not know or understand the consequences of Brexit. The French politician also backed Sir Keir Starmers plan for a veterinary deal to help ease trade barriers but dismissed Labours plan to go through Mr Johnsons Brexit deal page by page. From the very first day, the UK ministers not only underestimated the consequences of Brexit they did not know the consequences of Brexit, Mr Barnier told the Financial Times. The ex-negotiator criticised then PM Theresa May for ruling out any membership to the single market or customs union from the outset, and said Mr Johnson made a huge mistake by imposing deadlines on Brexit. He had no time. Mr Barnier revealed that he believed Ms May when she warned of a potential no-deal Brexit, but did not believe her successor as he tried to up the ante with threats to crash the country out of the EU without any deal. Johnson said once, I want a deal because I need a deal. This sentence was key for me, he said on the former Tory leaders bluff known as the madman theory, when a negotiator attempts to suggest he is capable of anything. Mr Barnier added: I wasnt surprised by the madman strategy. I was told that this strategy was taught in university in the UK. Boris Johnson was bluffing with no-deal threat, says ex-EU negotiator Michel Barnier (PA) The former negotiator also ridiculed the UK governments attempts to divide EU countries in a bid to weaken the European Commissions hand during talks. The British did not understand. They tried every week to divide us. I visited one capital every week: the day before I came, there was a British minister, and the day after. Which is incredible. The former French cabinet minister who failed in his bid to become the French Republicans presidential candidate in 2022 was enthusiastic about the possibility of a Labour government. He said Sir Keirs plan for a new UK-EU veterinary standards agreement to ease some of the costly trade checks on food and agricultural products seems to be pragmatic and possible. But he played down the idea of rewriting the Brexit deal at the 2025 review of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Referring to shadow foreign secretary David Lammys pledge to go through it page by page, Mr Barnier said: Good luck. He told the FT that there is no room for reopening the deal, although its always possible to improve the functioning of this agreement, on some technical points. Mr Barnier also made clear he was against the idea of reopening the Brexit deal to delay tariffs to be imposed on the UK and EU automobile industry from January 2024. Manufacturers across the continent have warned of a devastating price war when the new rules of origin come into effect, threatening the emerging electric vehicle market because of Chinas domination of electric battery production. Rishi Sunaks government is pushing the European Commission to agree to delay the costly new rules set to come in at the start of next year. But Brussels has shown no sign it is willing to budge. Mr Barnier said he was not in favour of any type of flexibility, concerned that it could set a precedent to reopen more of the trade agreement. [Britain] lost the financial passport: there will be no flexibility. Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Health Check email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The governments former deputy chief medical adviser has revealed he thought about quitting after his family was threatened with having their throats cut during the pandemic. Testifying at the Covid inquiry on Wednesday, Sir Jonathan Van-Tam said his family had been asked to temporarily move home for their safety while police dealt with the extremely hateful messages but they remained in place because we didnt want to leave the cat. Sir Jonathan said that while he might have expected the very, very intense workload at the pandemics outset which was horrendous for all of us, with officials working 16-hour days, seven days a week he did not expect my family to be threatened with having their throats cut. Jonathan Van-Tam was a frequent addition to Downing Streets daily Covid briefings at the height of the pandemic (PA) The former government official, who left the post in March last year, added: I did not expect the police to have to say, Will you move out in the middle of the night, or in the middle of the evening? Will you move out for a few days while we look at this and potentially make some arrests? He continued: It was a very stressful time indeed. My family didnt sign up for that, and I only make this point because Im so worried that if theres a future crisis, people will not want to sign up for these roles and these jobs, because of the implications that come with them. His testimony echoes that of Sir Patrick Vallance, who told the inquiry on Monday that he considered quitting as chief scientific adviser as a result of concerns for the wellbeing and safety of my family after receiving threats and abuse. Former chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty has also expressed alarm to the inquiry about threats to health officials, and a man was last year jailed for eight weeks after admitting to intending to cause Sir Chris distress when approaching him in public last June. Sir Jonathan became the latest of those three top scientists frequently seen flanking Boris Johnson and other cabinet ministers at the Downing Street podium in the height of the pandemic to take the stand this week, and face questioning about decisions taken during the crisis. The former deputy chief medical officer was absolutely not consulted about the Eat Out to Help Out scheme (EPA) In a blow to the prime minister, Sir Jonathan joined his colleagues in saying contrary to Mr Johnsons assertions to the inquiry that he was absolutely not consulted on then-chancellor Rishi Sunaks Eat Out to Help Out scheme, adding: The first I heard about was, I think, on the TV. Had I been consulted I wouldnt have made any distinction between Eat Out to Help Out and any other epidemiological event that brought different households into close contact with each other for the purposes of socialising, eating and consuming alcohol, he said. The net epidemiological effect is agnostic to whats on the menu. I would have said this is exactly encouraging what weve been trying to suppress and get on top of in the last few months. So it didnt feel sensible to me. While the first lockdown in March 2020 could have been earlier, Sir Jonathan said it was clear that we were losing control of the virus bit-by-bit through the autumn prior to the second lockdown. Warning that there were just too many delays for the tiered restrictions system to work efficiently, he added: Youre already dealing with yesterdays data trying to make decisions. And the tier system just seemed interminably slow between a decision and the negotiation on the economic packages to enable it to happen. Concluding his testimony earlier on Wednesday, Sir Chris appeared to agree, saying that while the second national lockdown was inevitable, it wasnt necessarily inevitable had different decisions been taken. And Sir Chris suggested that on the weekend before the first national lockdown, there was a stark realisation that the UK was a lot further along the path than we thought we were. The ex-CMO said he did not believe that all parts of the Downing Street machinery equally were seized of the urgency of the situation in mid-March 2020, adding: This was a lot of people really not getting what exponential growth was actually going to mean. Sir Chris also lamented the confusion around the concept of herd immunity, describing public remarks on the concept by some government officials as being a long way from helpful for the public. The top medic said his sole contribution on the issue before the first lockdown was to say to people this is very complicated, please dont talk about it, adding: Not because I wanted to hide it, but because I thought a very uninformed discussion was forming that was not helping policy-making. He added: It was clearly a ridiculous goal of policy and a very dangerous one, and a lot of what was being said could have led to considerable confusion and indeed did. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Watch as David Cameron is introduced to the House of Lords on Monday 20 November, following his appointment as foreign secretary. He will be known as Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, as the territorial designation for his peerage was confirmed last week. The former prime minister was elevated to the House of Lords after being appointed to cabinet by Rishi Sunak, marking a remarkable return to frontline politics seven years after he resigned in the wake of the Brexit referendum. It was confirmed on Friday that his full title will be The Rt Hon. the Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton. The title confirms Lord Camerons long-held ties to the Cotswold town of Chipping Norton, which lies within his former Witney constituency. During his time in office the former prime minister was known as a member of the so-called Chipping Norton set, an elite group who lived in the area and had included News UK chief executive Rebekah Brooks. 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 }} Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has told Labours Gaza rebels that hard diplomacy is required for the conflict to end, as he visits Israel and the West Bank to meet regional leaders. It marks the first visit by a member of Sir Keir Starmers team to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories since Hamass 7 October atrocity sparked a full-scale war. Mr Lammy will meet with politicians including Israeli president Isaac Herzog after calling for a longer pause to the conflict to alleviate the shocking humanitarian emergency in Gaza. Mr Lammy will also meet with the Palestinian Authoritys deputy foreign minister Amal Jadou in the West Bank. Sir Keir has been battling a major rift in his party, with eight frontbenchers having resigned while 56 Labour MPs defied his position in order to vote to support a ceasefire. Rejecting calls for a ceasefire, Mr Lammy said peace wont happen simply by affirming that we want it to happen. He added: Hard diplomacy is required with all governments in the region to deliver a longer pause immediately, to respond to the shocking humanitarian emergency in Gaza, secure the release of hostages so cruelly taken by Hamas, and as a necessary step to an enduring cessation of violence. The shadow foreign secretary also criticised successive Tory governments and the UKs international allies for failing to realise the threat posed by Hamas ahead of the 7 October bloodshed. He said political leaders had been complacent in their failure to work for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Labour leader Keir Starmer has come under huge pressure to back a ceasefire (PA) The international community, including successive Conservative governments, must learn the lessons of decades of failure to resolve this conflict. For too long our leaders have been content with the delusions of wishful thinking when it comes to peace in the Middle East, said Mr Lammy. He added: There has been a failure to deliver the two-state solution that is necessary to deliver long-term peace, security and independence to both Israel and Palestine. Meanwhile, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said some demonstrations aimed at Labour MPs over their stance on the war in Gaza had crossed the line from protest to intimidation. The senior Labour figure condemned protests outside MPs homes as totally unacceptable and urged those calling for a ceasefire to do so in a responsible way. She told Sky News: In a democracy, we elect our MPs and they make decisions. They represent their constituents but they also listen to all of the evidence. Anything that would attempt to intimidate an MP to vote in a certain way, or to put pressure on them it is anti-democratic, in my view. Hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the Labour leaders office in north London on Saturday demanding that he back a ceasefire and chanting: Keir Starmers a wasteman. Sir Keir revealed that he fears for his familys safety. Ive got two children ... and my biggest concern about the only concern I have, going forward is asking myself over and over again, particularly at the moment, how do I protect them as we go into this? Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper is understood to have held discussions with police to ensure Labour MPs safety after several incidents. MPs on both sides of the ceasefire debate have faced abuse since Wednesdays Commons vote. The constituency office of shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens was vandalised after she abstained on the Gaza vote. Her Cardiff office was covered in red paint and posters that accused the shadow cabinet minister of having blood on her hands. Naz Shah, who quit the Labour front bench to support a ceasefire, said she had received Islamophobic hatred, which she has reported to the police. 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 left-wing Labour MP has slammed Sir Keir Starmers attack ads against Rishi Sunak for playing on racist tropes of Asian men. Zarah Sultana said Labour officials knew exactly what they were doing when they published a picture of the PMs face alongside the claim he did not think child sex abusers should go to prison. The adverts, published on the partys X account in April, highlighted the number of adults convicted of sexually assaulting children under 16 who did not go to prison. Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesnt, the poster said. In a wide-ranging interview with Novara Media, during which Ms Sultana called Labour institutionally Islamophobic, she said people knew exactly what kind of racist tropes they are playing on. She added: I looked at them and thought, are you talking about my family members? Do you realise how this would be seen within South Asian communities as a whole? Do you care? Ms Sultana said she was personally quite offended by the poster, and said she has come back to the question do you care recently quite a bit. The 30-year-old Corbynite MP claimed Labour whips had told MPs that it did not matter if they lost 7,000 Muslim voters, because they would still win their seats. And she lashed out at anonymous briefings by party officials in recent months. They included an unnamed strategist who said the party was haemorrhaging Muslim voters because of Sir Keirs work tackling anti-Semitism and another who said the partys stance on gay rights and Palestine was costing it the conservative Muslim vote, but winning back Tory 2019 supporters. Ms Sultana said: I would go as far as calling [Labour] institutionally Islamophobic because these arent just my individual experiences and this isnt just individual experiences of Labour Party members. It crosses through with the briefings that come out, the kind of language that is used, the policies that we are willing to say are fine and normal and acceptable. And its much wider than individual experiences. And I think thats why we have to look at how we can address this if we are really serious about being a party of equality, about looking at how we treat all people fairly I think we are seriously lacking in that area. The controversial attack adverts sparked an uproar in the Labour Party at the time, with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper distancing herself from the campaign and senior MPs urging the leadership to withdraw the ads. Ms Sultanas interview comes after British Muslims and a coalition of mosques condemned Labour MPs who failed to vote for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Eight shadow ministers quit over the ceasefire vote on Wednesday and two parliamentary secretaries. In a blow to Keir Starmer, 56 MPs defied the whip to vote in favour of the SNP amendment in support of a ceasefire. But more than 50 Labour councillors have resigned over the partys refusal to call for a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict. 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 opens the Global Food Security Summit in London on Monday 20 November. During a speech at the conference, the Prime Minister will announce a new virtual hub to link UK scientists with global research initiatives aiming to develop climate and disease-resistant crops. The UK is hosting the summit in London alongside Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, the Childrens Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Mr Sunak will also use a separate speech in London to update the public on the economic situation ahead of Wednesdays autumn statement. A White Paper setting out the governments proposed approach to international development more broadly up to 2030 is also expected to be published on Monday. We must take action to address the underlying, and often unseen, causes of global food insecurity, the prime minister will say. From the impact of Russias war in Ukraine, to the effect of major natural disasters on food production, I am proud that alongside our partners, the UK is playing a leading role in finding solutions to some of the greatest global challenges of our 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 }} Thirty-seven minibuses and electric vehicles have been provided to Albania by the Government at a cost of 1.5 million, as part of a recent deal to return Albanian prisoners. The arrangement, announced in May, will see 200 Albanian nationals jailed in England and Wales sent home for the rest of their sentence. In return, the Government said it would help modernise the Albanian prison system. The deal had been expected to cost the Ministry of Justice around 8 million over two years, with other funding coming from the Home Office. Officials insisted that represents a cost saving, pointing to the fact it costs 40,000 a year to house each prisoner here. New details from Government contracts, published this month, show that part of the multi-million pound deal is going towards kitting out the Albanian prison service with a new fleet of vehicles. Around 500,000 will be spent on 15 electric vehicles, while 22 new minibuses will be provided to Albanias prison service at a cost of more than 1 million. The Government described the provision of electric vehicles as part of the drive towards net zero and is part of a wider greening initiative. Announcing the arrangement in May, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said the public expects that foreign criminals should serve their sentences overseas not in our prisons at the expense of the taxpayer. He promised that the deal will speed up the removal of these offenders and give victims confidence that serious criminals will continue to face justice and spend the remainder of their sentence behind bars. The Ministry of Justice would not say when the vehicles will be delivered or whether more vehicles could be sent in the future. 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 said no parent should ever have to watch their child starve as he opened the Global Food Security Summit in London on Monday. The Prime Minister also launched a White Paper setting out the Governments long-term approach to international development more broadly up to 2030. Speaking at the gathering at Lancaster House, Mr Sunak announced a new virtual hub to link UK scientists with global research initiatives aiming to develop climate and disease resistant crops. In a world of abundance, no one should die from lack of food, and no parent should ever have to watch their child starve Rishi Sunak He said: It cant be right that today in 2023, almost one billion people across the world regularly do not have enough to eat, that millions face hunger and starvation, and over 45 million children under five are suffering acute malnutrition. In a world of abundance, no one should die from lack of food, and no parent should ever have to watch their child starve. On the Israel-Hamas conflict, Mr Sunak reiterated his stance that Israel has the right to defend itself, but added: It must also act within international humanitarian law. The situation on the ground is truly tragic and getting worse. He said the UK is pushing for substantive humanitarian pauses, because the suffering of innocent civilians must end. Outside the central London venue, a small group of protesters demanded the Government call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Mr Sunak also used separate speech at a north London college to promise tax cuts ahead of Wednesdays autumn statement. The UK is hosting the food summit in London alongside Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, the Childrens Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The White Paper fails to restore the target to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid, after the budget was slashed to 0.5% by Mr Sunak when he was chancellor amid economic pressures in 2021. It reiterates that the Governments commitment to return to the higher target once the fiscal situation allows. The paper also states that the UK stopped providing direct bilateral aid to the Chinese government in 2011, after a watchdog expressed concern in the summer over a lack of transparency in how 50 million in UK aid was spent in the Asian power last year. The Prime Minister said the paper demonstrates the UKs new approach to development, going further to help the poorest and support those suffering in humanitarian crises, leading not merely with strength, but with compassion, and harnessing Britains expertise in development and science. We live in a dangerous world, at a time of growing threats, strategic competition and conflict. Now, many of these challenges like the war in Ukraine have a direct impact on the poorest in the world. The UK is changing its approach to deliver in a changing world, Mr Sunak said. Mr Sunak said the new science centre will drive cutting-edge research on flood-tolerant rice, disease-resistant wheat and much more, with the innovations reaching millions across the poorest countries as well as improving UK crop yields and driving down food prices. The Prime Minister also announced 16 million in additional support for the international child nutrition fund. UK support for child malnutrition will match pound for pound the amount the worst-affected countries including Uganda, Ethiopia and Senegal invest of their own resources in tackling the issue, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said. Up to 100 million in humanitarian funding is being released to countries worst hit by food insecurity including Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Afghanistan, and to countries impacted by climate-related weather events such as Malawi, the FCDO said. Rishi Sunak is the chancellor who abolished DFID and slashed aid spending, costing lives and trashing Britains reputation as the gold standard in international development Shadow international development minister Lisa Nandy The White Papers priorities include mobilising international finance, reforming the international system, tackling climate change, harnessing innovation, and putting women and girls centre stage. International development minister Andrew Mitchell said in a written statement: Developing countries want and need a different development offer, based on mutual respect, powered by development finance at scale, and backed by a more responsive multilateral and international system. This White Paper is our pledge to take a patient, partnership-based approach to development. An approach that looks ahead to the longer-term challenges we face and can readily adapt, to the ongoing global changes confronting us. Bond, the UK network for international development organisations, welcomed the refocus of UK aid on the lowest income countries, scaled up efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and prioritisation of the needs of women and girls. But, Bonds director of policy and advocacy Gideon Rabinowitz said: The notable ambitions of the White Paper require adequate resourcing and will not be realised without rapidly returning the UK aid budget to the legally mandated level of 0.7% of national income and providing additional finance to tackle climate change. Lisa Nandy, Labours shadow cabinet minister for international development, said: Rishi Sunak is the chancellor who abolished DFID (Department for International Development) and slashed aid spending, costing lives and trashing Britains reputation as the gold standard in international development. Asking him to repair the damage is like calling on the arsonist to put out the fire. On nutrition alone, his decisions contributed to food rations for 440,000 Kenyan refugees being reduced to 52% of the basic food need. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The UK and South Korea are set to sign a new long-term agreement covering defence and technology co-operation as President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for a three-day state visit. The Downing Street Accord follows similar agreements with Singapore and Japan, coming as the UK seeks to consolidate influence in the Indo-Pacific. Mr Yoon begins his state visit on Tuesday, which will include a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the formal signing of the agreement in Downing Street on Wednesday. Ahead of the visit, Mr Sunak pointed to the 21 billion which South Korean businesses commit in investment to the UK. Trade and investment are expected to be the focus of the trip, with Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch set to launch new negotiations on an upgraded free trade agreement. I know a free trade agreement fit for the future will only drive further investment, delivering on my promise to grow the economy and support highly-skilled jobs Prime Minister Rishi Sunak The UK secured a free trade deal with South Korea in 2019, with the agreement largely aimed at keeping trade flowing post-Brexit and removing uncertainty. Mr Sunak said: Long term, global partnerships are vital to our prosperity and security, both today and in the future. As two nations focused on innovation, harnessing new technologies and defending the international rules-based order, the UK and Republic of Korea are natural partners. Through our new Downing Street Accord, we will drive investment, boost trade and build a friendship that not only supports global stability, but protects our interests and lasts the test of time. These close ties have already propelled 21 billion of investment between our countries. I know a free trade agreement fit for the future will only drive further investment, delivering on my promise to grow the economy and support highly-skilled jobs. The Downing Street Accord will see British and Korean militaries agree to step up joint training and operations, with the Asian state expected to agree to join with British ships on sanctions patrols. It will, Downing Street said, also see the two countries work closer together on technology such as artificial intelligence, semi-conductors and quantum. Science ministers will also sign a memorandum of understanding to boost space co-operation. South Korea will host next years AI summit after the first UK-backed gathering in Bletchley Park earlier this month. The trip to the UK coincides with the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the UK and Korea, as well as the 70th anniversary of the armistice of the Korean 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 }} Having lived in a tent in the Mugunga camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since February, Sifa* constantly worries about how to feed her children. With fighting between government forces and M23 rebels, Sifa made the difficult decision to leave home with her nine-year-old daughter and her husband with another three children now in the care of their grandmother to search for safety and a future for her family. Since fleeing, Sifas family has experienced significant weight loss and have been pushed into a state of malnutrition. She gave birth to another child, a son, within the camp. Since giving birth three months ago, I have been struggling to feed my infant, the 33-year-old mother told The Independent. Despite my efforts to feed him, my breast milk is insufficient and lacks the necessary nutrients to satisfy him. She is aware that her breast milk supply would increase if she had more food herself, but her priority isnt to feed herself with their limited rations but to feed her daughter. She already has to beg for food every day and goes to sleep hungry, Sifa said. I make sure to give her whatever little we have. As Sifa and her family continue to desperately look for food to keep them alive, governments, international organisations, scientists, and private companies gathered in London on Monday for a reset moment on the global food security crisis. On the agenda: to figure out new approaches to tackle preventable deaths of children from food insecurity. Save the Children says that one child is born into hunger every two seconds in 2023. Thats more than 17.6 million children, one-fifth more than a decade ago. The analysis shows that children in every corner of the world, particularly places like East Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Afghanistan, are facing one of the worst hunger crises on record. Climate-induced drought, ongoing economic turmoil, and conflicts forcing people from their homes have decimated peoples ability to cope and made nutritious food unattainable for millions, said Callum Northcote, head of hunger and nutrition at Save the Children UK. The worst thing is that, in many cases, countries are dealing with all of these factors at the same time. Northcote said the conflict in Ukraine has also contributed to the hunger crisis. Its had a devastating impact on food prices globally, he said. For many, the basics became unaffordable. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the number of children born into hunger is the highest since records began. Zolaikha, 23, with Marium, aged 10 months (Save The Children) Although Sifa and her husband feel uncomfortable sending their daughter to beg, a dangerous task for a young girl, the couple have no other option. I try to keep an eye on her to make sure no one hurt her, she said. Sifas husband has been looking for a job to enable the family to buy more food but is constantly rejected. Once while asking around, he was attacked and beaten up so badly he had to be hospitalised, she said. We depend on humanitarian assistance or else we wouldnt have survived as long as we have. Having already lost two children one to malaria and cholera, the other to one of the armed groups that invaded her village Sifa is constantly afraid she will lose another. There is always something taking my children away from me, she said. If its not war, it is lack of food. If it isnt that, then its disease. Im scared for my childrens health. Im scared of waking up to find my baby gone. Sifas fears are not unfounded. Approximately one-fifth more newborns will face hunger this year compared to 2013, when 14.4 million children were born into the grips of hunger, according to Save the Children. Hunger will destroy their dreams, silence their play, disrupt their education, and threaten their lives, said Northcote. The future of these children is already compromised before they even take their first breath. We must protect their childhoods and futures before its too late. Ten months ago, Marium* was born to 23-year-old Zolaikha* in Afghanistan, and among roughly 440,000 children estimated to be born into hunger in Afghanistan this year. Most days, Zolaikhas family of four only eat bread and rice. They rarely eat fruit or vegetables, and the last time they ate meat was four months ago. When she was only six months old, Marium started getting persistent diarrhoea and was later diagnosed with pneumonia due to a weakened immune system. She became severely weak two months ago, Zolaikha told The Independent. She was extremely weak. She was crying all the time and was always in pain or discomfort and had a high fever. I used to cry with her. It was difficult to see my daughter in pain. Her other child was also severely malnourished, with frequent bouts of diarrhoea turning into pneumonia. It is all because of drinking unsafe water and not having enough nutritious food, Zolaikha said. As leaders meet in London, Northcote hopes for the sort of progress seen in the past. While some progress on child hunger has been made in the past two decades, it started to significantly decline in 2019, largely due to economic instability, conflicts and the worsening climate crisis. Were urging the UK government to step up and increase funding as well as work with the international community to find collective solutions that ensure children and their families access good, nutritious foods in order to prevent hunger and malnutrition, said Northcote. Hunger is not a lost cause, he added. We have the power to significantly reduce the number of malnourished children right now, like we have in the past. But if we do not tackle the root causes of hunger and malnutrition, we will continue to see the reversal of progress made for children. This is a global hunger crisis, and it requires a global solution. [This] summit is a good step, but this must be matched with increases in funding. *Names have been changed Close Trump zips his lips to camera after leaving New York court during civil fraud trial 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 state appeals court in New York has reinstated a gag order in Donald Trumps fraud trial after a wave of death threats and abuse targeting members of the court staff. Justice Arthur Engoron put the gag order in place to protect his chief clerk and others from the former presidents posts and subsequent menacing messages that have flooded his office. Mr Trump has now posted about the judges wife. Meanwhile, Mr Trump has lashed out at globalist foes in the traditional conservative establishment for their support of his Republican primary rival, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. In the firing line were Americans for Prosperity Action, a Charles Koch-controlled donor network; the Wall Street Journal, and proprietor Rupert Murdoch; and JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who implored even liberal Democrats to help Ms Haleys campaign to give the GOP a choice other than Mr Trump. Meanwhile, Newsweek published an op-ed by the former president in which he appeals for the votes of young people by playing on their financial concerns saying many have had to put their lives on hold. A Gen Z voter group has vigorously pushed back on the former presidents assertions. 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 }} Elon Musk has insisted he is not antisemitic after coming under fire for calling an antisemitic conspiracy theory the actual truth and as a slew of major corporations pulled advertising funding from X over the proliferation of pro-Nazi content. Mr Musk sparked outrage on social media last week, with many accusing the tech mogul of antisemitism. In a post on X on Sunday, Mr Musk responded to the accusations, claiming that nothing could be further from the truth. This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic. Nothing could be further from the truth, he wrote. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all. The saga began when a social media user appeared to push the great replacement conspiracy theory on X, claiming that Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. Im deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest s*** now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country dont exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is, the post added. Mr Musk replied to the post, writing on his X platform: You have said the actual truth. The initial post came in response to a campaign video posted on X by the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism. In the video, a father is seen calling his son out over the hateful rhetoric the son has spewed online. Mr Musks response received praise from white nationalist Nick Fuentes while prompting widespread backlash from dozens more online. CNNs Jake Tapper was among the first to condemn the tech mogul, accusing him of pushing unvarnished antisemitism at a time of rising antisemitism and violence against Jews. The White House then also weighed in, accusing Musk of enabling the abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate. The antisemitism row continued when, later in the week, a series of major companies including Disney, Apple and IBM said they would pull advertising from X after adverts for the companies appeared alongside pro-Nazi posts. On Thursday, Media Matters, a left-leaning non-profit group, published a report that said it had found adverts from big brands including IBM, Apple, Oracle and Bravo running next to pro-Hitler and antisemitic content. It is unclear how this happened but it came after Mr Musk relaxed moderation policies on X and cut many staff involved with safety on the platform when his $44bn acquisition closed last year. Elon Musk has insisted he is not antisemitic after coming under fire for calling an antisemitic conspiracy theory the actual truth (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) An X spokesperson told The Independent the company did not intentionally place the adverts next to the posts from the antisemitic accounts, which have now been demonetised, meaning advertising can no longer run on their profiles. In response to the advertising boycott, Mr Musk threatened to file a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and all those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company. The scandal comes as X CEO Linda Yaccarino and other staff have reportedly been scrambling to put out the fires being lit by Mr Musk following a growing number of accusations that the billionaire has promoted antisemitism, according to The New York Times. The outlet reported that it has seen messages from X sales employees asking what they should say to their clients, who have been raising concerns about both Mr Musks recent remarks and advertising showing up next to antisemitic posts. This is not the first time the business magnate has been accused of being linked to content that promotes antisemitism. In the days after the 7 October Hamas terror attack on Israel, Mr Musk was forced to delete a post where he amplified an account widely accused of antisemitism and of promoting debunked videos as reliable sources of information about the attack. Meanwhile, last year, advocacy organisation the American Jewish Committee called on Mr Musk to apologise over a controversial post that made a satirical comparison between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Adolf Hitler. Mr Musk has previously insisted that he is pro free speech but against antisemitism of any kind. In September, he threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League a century-old NGO that describes itself as the leading anti-hate organisation in the world after the organisation accused him of antisemitism. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An adviser to former president Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey have called for journalists at Media Matters to be jailed over a report which sparked an antisemitism row on X. The row began after Media Matters reported that adverts from big brands including IBM, Apple, Oracle and Bravo were running next to pro-Hitler and antisemitic content on Mr Musks social media platform. The revelation prompted a series of major companies including Disney, Apple and IBM to pull advertising from X, while Mr Musk responded by threatening to file a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and all those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company. X executive Joe Benarroch also pushed back, saying that the research strategy used by Media Matters to uncover the content placed next to company adverts was not representative of how regular people use its platform. The organisation had followed accounts that posted the content, then refreshed the X timeline until adverts appeared, Mr Benarroch claimed. 50 impressions served against the content in the article, out of 5.5 billion served the whole day, points to the fact of how efficiently our model avoids content for advertiser, he said in a statement posted to X. Data wins over allegations. Mr Trumps adviser Stephen Miller, whose politics have been described as far-right, has now also waded into the drama on X, claiming the report was fraudulent and suggesting journalists at the left-leaning non-profit group had committed crimes. Fraud is both a civil and criminal violation, he said. Mr Musk responded to Mr Millers post, chiming in: Interesting. Both civil and criminal. Elon Musk is facing accusations of antisemitism (AP) AG Bailey also joined in, saying: My team is looking into this matter. The Independent has reached out to Media Matters for comment. The organisation previously called Mr Musks lawsuit meritless and an attempt to silence reporting that he even confirmed is accurate. Musk admitted the ads at issue ran alongside the pro-Nazi content we identified. If he does sue us, we will win, the non-profit said. Since Mr Musks $44bn acquisition of X closed last year, he has relaxed moderation policies on X and cut many staff involved with safety on the platform. An X spokesperson told The Independent the company did not intentionally place the adverts next to the posts from the antisemitic accounts, which have now been demonetised, meaning advertising can no longer run on their profiles. Since taking over the company, Mr Musk has come under fire on multiple occasions over content that promotes antisemitism. Former Trump White House aide Stephen Miller (Getty Images) On Wednesday, Mr Musk, the self-described free-speech absolutist, sparked outrage when he said a post which promoted an antisemitic theory was the actual truth. A social media user had appeared to push the great replacement conspiracy theory on X, claiming that Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. Im deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest s*** now about Western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realisation that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country dont exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is, the post added. Mr Musks responded by writing: You have said the actual truth. His response received praise from white nationalist Nick Fuentes while prompting widespread backlash from dozens more online, with many accusing him of antisemtism. He later responded to the accusations of antisemitism, insisting nothing could be further from the truth. This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic. Nothing could be further from the truth, he wrote. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all. This came after an earlier scandal in the days after the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, where Mr Musk was forced to delete a post in which he amplified an account widely accused of antisemitism and promoted debunked videos as reliable sources of information about the attack. Last year, advocacy organisation the American Jewish Committee called on Mr Musk to apologise over a controversial post that made a satirical comparison between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Adolf Hitler. Mr Musk has previously insisted that he is pro free speech but against antisemitism of any kind. In September, he threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League a century-old NGO that describes itself as the leading anti-hate organisation in the world after the organisation accused him of antisemitism. Close Santos wont seek re-election after critical ethics report 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 top aide to George Santos has quit after the House Ethics Committee issued a damning report about the actions of the freshman Republican congressman. Gabrielle Lipsky resigned as communications director on Friday, the day after the report found that the 35-year-old had violated ethics guidelines, the rules of the House and criminal laws, and that he had been aware that he was crossing the line. House Ethics panel chairman GOP Rep Michael Guest of Mississippi filed a motion for Santos expulson on Friday. The chamber can take up the motion on 28 November upon lawmakers return from Thanksgiving recess. Santos claimed that hes the victim of dirty politics after announcing that he wont seek re-election in 2024. Mr Santos wrote on X that he wouldnt be seeking a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time. He later complained that he has suffered a year from hell and claimed that hes a victim of the poison from the ethics committee. Lamenting that he was just trying to serve my country by running for Congress, he claimed that his rights had been taken from him. Cordobas Plaza Espana was a chaotic symphony of car horns and confetti cannons firing out thousands of pieces of face of the incoming president, Javier Milei. By 9pm, thousands had gathered near Plaza Dr Dalmacio Velez Sarsfield armed with flags and air horns, chanting songs about liberty and the convicted vice-president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner facing jail. The far-right libertarian candidate Milei, a 53-year-old chainsaw-wielding economist from the La Libertad Avanza party, had pulled ahead in the third and final round of polling. His legions of fans call him El Loco (The Madman) and The Wig due to his ferocity and unruly mop of (real) hair, while he refers to himself as The Lion. He thinks sex education is a Marxist plot to destroy the family, views his cloned mastiffs as his children with four paws and has raised the suggestion that people should be allowed to sell their own vital organs. As the polls closed on Sunday, Milei had secured 55.69 per cent of the vote; his rival Sergio Massa, the centre-left finance minister, was left with 44.3 per cent. A final count and official announcement is expected to take place by Tuesday. The win was cheered by far-right party leaders in Europe. Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spains Vox party said: Today a path of future and hope opens for Argentines and all of Latin America, which we celebrate in Spain with special joy. Andre Ventura, the founder of Portugals far-right Chega party said: The fight to defend society is taking place in several territories and in Argentina the first battle has been won! Matteo Salvini, Italys deputy prime minister and leader of the hard-right League, also sent his congratulations. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Watch as Joe Biden pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey at the White House on Monday, 20 November. The US president spent his 81st birthday pardoning Liberty and Bell as part of a tradition that dates back to 1947 when the National Turkey Federation, which represents turkey farmers and producers, first presented a National Thanksgiving Turkey to Harry Truman. The male turkeys were hatched in July in Willmar, Minnesota, and have been listening to music and other sounds to prepare them for Mondays event according to Steve Lykken, chairman of the National Turkey Federation and president of the Jennie-O Turkey Store. They listened to all kinds of music to get ready for the crowds and people along the way. I can confirm they are, in fact, Swifties, and they do enjoy some Prince, Lykken told the Associated Press. In the afternoon, first lady Jill Biden will accept the delivery of an 18.5-ft (5.6-metre) Fraser fir from Fleetwood, North Carolina, as the official White House Christmas tree. 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 }} Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who fatally shot two Black Lives Matter protesters in Wisconsin in 2020, is releasing a book. Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, died after Mr Rittenhouse, then 17 years old, fired a semi-automatic AR-15-style assault rifle at them during a protest in Kenosha in 2020. Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, was also injured. After the shootings, Mr Rittenhouse was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and two charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. Mr Rittenhouse, now 20, has argued he fired in self-defence after each of the men attacked him, and in 2021, a jury acquitted him of multiple charges, including homicide. The shooting occurred during a tumultuous night of protests over the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white Kenosha police officer. His trial and acquittal were divisive, with prosecutors portraying him as a wannabe soldier who had gone looking for trouble, while his supporters regarded him as a patriot who took a stand against lawlessness. Now, the 20-year-old is set to publish a book, titled Acquitted, which he has described as a story of survival, resilience, and justice. Kyle Rittenhouse (AP) Pre order my new book today! he posted to his 260,000 Instagram followers on 20 November. Two years ago today, accused of unjust charges, I heard NOT GUILTY five times over from a jury of my peers who heard the facts, he added on X. My case split the nation into opposing sides fueled by emotions, politics, and misconceptions driven by media and political figures. Today, I want you to learn the truth, and know the real and honest version of my story - without filters or an agenda, he said. His spokesperson previously told Newsweek the book aims to convey positive messages about being thrust into the national spotlight following the shooting and the subsequent court case. The spokesperson added that the book is about a young mans very unorthodox journey into adulthood, what it took to make it, and the lessons he learned along the way. Since his acquittal, Mr Rittenhouse has appeared for interviews on Fox News where he slammed the media and politicians including President Joe Biden. He has also received a heros welcome at conservative conferences such as Turning Point USA. Earlier this year, he joined gun rights activists in opposing a Texas state house bill that sought to raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21, in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting a year earlier. Meanwhile, John Huber, whose son Anthony was shot dead by Mr Rittenhouse, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the 20-year-old, Kenosha city officials and its police force accusing them of violating his sons constitutional rights. Mr Rittenhouse has raised $250,000 in donations for a legal defence fund to fight the lawsuit. The estate of Joseph Rosenbaum also filed a wrongful death case against Mr Rittenhouse in August of this year for compensatory and punitive damages. There is currently no release date for Mr Rittenhouses book, but it is available to pre-order on his website. Close Biden pays tribute to former first lady Rosalynn Carter: She brought so much grace to office 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 }} Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former president Jimmy Carter, died at the age of 96 on Sunday. The Carter Center announced the former first ladys death just two days after she entered hospice care at the couples home in Plains, Georgia. Rosalynn is survived by her husband, four children, 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and a legacy of mental health advocacy. Jimmy Carter, 99, who is also in hospice care, paid tribute to his wife in a statement saying: Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me. The Carter Center said there was no update on Mr Carters health. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation ordering flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and all federal government buildings from 25 November until sunset on the day of interment. A formal funeral will take place on Wednesday 29 November in Plains. Members of the public are invited to pay respects as Carter lies in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. 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 }} Ahead of Thanksgiving, President Joe Biden will take a moment to participate in one of the countrys more bizarre presidential traditions: the turkey pardon. Each November, the sitting president bestows a pardon on a turkey or turkeys to a crowd at the White House, sparing it from the dinner table and the fate that befalls millions of turkeys during Thanksgiving celebrations. This year, Mr Biden will pardon two turkeys, Liberty and Bell. Per PBS, the birds weigh in at about 42 pounds each and were raised in Willmar, Minnesota . The turkeys arrived in Washington, DC, over the weekend and were put up at the Willard Hotel, where they were able to roam free around their plastic-sheet covered hotel room. How did the tradition begin? Turkeys have been sent as gifts to American Presidents from as early as the 1870s as part of annual thanksgiving traditions and the official turkey presentation to the president began in 1947. The sparing of the turkey began during Ronald Reagans administration, with the president deciding to send the presentation bird to a petting zoo or farm rather than off for the chop. However, the ceremony formally cemented itself under George H W Bush, as he officially pardoned the bird in response to animal rights activists picketing nearby. Since then, it has become a time-honoured White House tradition for the president to offer clemency to a turkey, or two. The path to pardoning The lucky turkeys take convoluted and extravagant route to freedom, as explained by the White House in 2018. The presidential flock of contenders is prepared for potential stardom at the White House from an early age and the birds are acclimated to crowds, lights and standing comfortably on a table. The two prize poultry are now bestowed names and battle for the title of the official turkey title via an online poll before the winner is granted the coveted pardon. Ahead of the ceremony the birds rest in the luxurious Willard Hotel. Last year's birds, Corn and Cob, were pictured reclining in their fancy hotel room ahead of the final competition for freedom. This years birds also got to enjoy their hotel room, after being transported from Minnesota to the Willard via a black Cadillac Escalade, according to CBS News. According to Steve Lykken, chairman of the National Turkey Federation and president of the Jennie-O Turkey Store, who spoke to the Associated Press, the turkeys were also prepared for the spotlight to be on them on Monday. They listened to all kinds of music to get ready for the crowds and people along the way. I can confirm they are, in fact, Swifties, and they do enjoy some Prince, Lykken joked. I think theyre absolutely ready for prime time. Corn and Cob, a pair of turkeys that will be pardoned by US President Donald Trump, walk inside their hotel room at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington (AFP via Getty Images) What happens to the turkeys after they are pardoned? After a heated vote, Corn was declared last years winner, but fortunately the second bird is also always spared from the chop as runner-up and first alternate, which is why both Liberty and Bell will be spared. The White House says that, following the ceremony, the birds are retired for some much-deserved rest and relaxation and neither bird makes an appearance on the White House thanksgiving dining table. Both birds from this years pardoning ceremony will retire to their home state, where they will spend the rest of their days at the University of Minnesotas College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences. Birds in previous years have been sent to a variety of locations including Virginia Techs Gobblers Rest exhibit in Blacksburg to a farm named Frying Pan Farm Park in Virginia. Some birds during the Barack Obama and George W Bush administrations were even sent to Disneyland to greet crowds in the theme park and be paraded down Main Street. Sadly, the spared turkeys do not tend to live very long after their pardoning. As the animals are farm-raised and bred to be eaten, they grow larger and faster than they would in the wild and do not have a long lifespan. 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 }} Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has accused Chinas navy of operating in a "dangerous" and "unprofessional" manner after an apparent sonar attack that left at least one Australian military diver injured. Australia said a Chinese Navy destroyer ignored requests to keep clear of the divers when the HMAS Toowoomba a long-range frigate was conducting a diving operation in Japan's exclusive economic zone on 14 November to clear fishing nets from its propellers. Despite the Australian Navy frigate reportedly communicating its intentions, a Chinese ship approached the frigate and emitted dangerous sonar pulses, defence minister Richard Marles said on Saturday. Medical assessments found minor injuries to divers likely caused by the destroyer's sonar, according to Australian authorities. The Australian prime minister has been facing mounting domestic pressure to raise the issue directly with Chinese president Xi Jinping as the two briefly met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco last week following his landmark visit to China earlier this month. "This was dangerous, it was unsafe and unprofessional from the Chinese warship," Mr Albanese told Sky News Australia, publically addressing the incident for the first time. He said the incident caused injury to one person and showed the need for "communication guardrails" between militaries. "We need to avoid reckless events like this. This is why weve made our strong objections to China. This is one of those times we disagree with China ... this sort of event should not occur," the prime minister said. Mr Albanese said the incident was raised through "all of the normal channels", but didn't disclose if it was discussed in his private meeting with Mr Xi at APEC. "The consequences of these events are that they do damage to the relationship. And this certainly is an event that does do damage. And we've made that very clear to China," he added. Opposition in Australia said the prime minister should have raised the issued directly with the Chinese president. Mr Albanese would have known this happened and he has boasted about the time that he spent with Xi Jinping and Chinas foreign minister, Wang Yi, while he was there, said shadow home affairs minister James Paterson. "But did he raise this question?" he asked. He hasnt said so and if hes not saying so it would appear the answer is he didnt. The US, Canada and Australian militaries have previously complained about "dangerous actions" by the Chinese navy and air force, which have often led to fears of collision. Washington last month released footage of more than 180 Chinese intercepts of US fighter jets in the western Pacific over the past two years. Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said there has been a sharp increase in coercive and risky operational behaviour in the East and South China seas. The bottom line is that in many cases, this type of operational behaviour can cause active and dangerous accidents and can lead inadvertently to conflict, Mr Ratner 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 }} Residents from a small Icelandic town under threat from a volcanic eruption have described their apocalyptic existence as they fear for their future. Last Friday, thousands of Grindavik residents were ordered to leave as the town was rocked by hundreds of earthquakes. The small fishing town is 34 miles from Reykjavik and is home to the famous tourist attraction the Blue Lagoon. Many have been unable to return to the danger zone to collect their belongings, as earthquakes continue to strike the town. Andrea varsdottirs whole life is in Grindavik and she has no idea if or when she will be able to return (Provided) Grindavik resident Andrea varsdottir, 46, told The Independent: Everything just seems so unreal, I feel like Im in a dystopian movie. Im just waiting to wake up from this nightmare. The mother was getting ready to go into Reykjavik to celebrate her son Bjorgvin Hrafnars 16th birthday when their house started to shake on Friday. Some of them [the earthquakes] were like a big truck had driven past your house, the bigger ones were like the same truck had hit your house, she said. Everything was shaking so bad, the floors were going up and down. The family planned on staying overnight at her mothers home, but they were alerted en route that they were going to be evacuated so only had their overnight bags and had left their cats behind. Ms varsdottir made the difficult call to return home to get her cats and medication but was stopped at a checkpoint on the main road Grindavikurvegur. Fortunately, the mother was granted special permission to return to collect her tablets and three pets before heading back. Ms varsdottir is living with her two sons Bjorgvin Hrafnar and orgeir Ulfar in her mothers two bedroom apartment (Provided) Like other Grindavik residents, Ms varsdottir was allowed to return home on Monday to collect her belongings but had to obey a 10-minute time limit. She is now living with her 16 and 14-year-old sons in her mothers cramped one-bedroom apartment. Describing the surreality and sadness of leaving her home, she said: I was crying non-stop when we got to Grindavik, we were allowed to drive into town. We had ten minutes, you dont have the mental capacity to think, I was in panic mode, I just grabbed what I could see. I grabbed all of the clothes I could think of but I left one of the packed suitcases behind. A police officer pulls a barrier to block the road leading to the fishing town of Grindavik, (REUTERS) The children do not yet have to return to school as they recover from the shock, but it remains unclear where they will go, explained the mother. The distraught mother works as the director of a local and public school library and explained the families entire existence is in Grindavik. Her home of eight and a half years is still standing but some have fallen to the ground due to the strong quakes. It was really hard to see the state of some of the houses and streets. My house seemed fine but this area is really unstable. The familys three storey home (Provided) Now the mother has to decide whether she wants to eventually move back to the town, if it isnt destroyed by the volcanic eruption. She says residents have accustomed to living with earthquakes, but living on an active volcano fissure is a different story. I love living in Grindavik, its a really nice close-knit town but now comes the fear if we get to move back, do we want to move back? she said. This area is really unstable. Do we want to experience evacuation again? Siggeir varsson, 38, is another Grindavik resident who does not know if he will be able to return to his family home. Siggeir varsson had just forked out thousands to renovate his kitchen (Provided) The teacher had planned to meet his brother and sister-in-law but after the earthquakes stuck on Friday his brother-in-law urged them to come sooner. Ive seen a lot Earthquakes but this is something Ive never felt before. The sources were 2km away from our house. Things were falling down from shelves, I was standing in the kitchen I thought, can I even put pans on the stove. Alongside his wife and youngest daughter, orgunnur Julia,10, they grabbed their two cats and left. Siggeir varsson and his wife Soffia Sveinsdottir are trying to remain positive despite not knowing if they will be able to return home (Provided) The 38-year-old says he and his wife, Soffia Sveinsdottir, 39, have been fortunate as his sister-in-law has a spacious house with spare rooms. Mr varsson was allowed to return on Sunday and was able to fill two cars with their items. It was like going into an apocalyptic movie. The town was empty and lifeless. There were cracks everywhere. It was very weird to walk into the house, it looked exactly the same the lights were still on. Other houses are cracking in two, my house was fine, but a few metres up the road they are ruined. Siggeier and Soffia with their children Emilia Snros, 16 and orgunnur Julia, 10 (Provided) As a born-and-bred Grindavikian, the fatherof-two is trying to remain positive and not think about lava flowing through his home. Im trying to think of this as extension of a holiday, Im watching movies, drinking beer and trying to stay positive and keep my mind from things I have no control over. 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 volcano close to erupting in Iceland could explode like a can of fizzy drink, an expert has said. Icelands Met Office has said magmatic gas has been detected at a borehole in Svartsengi, signalling an imminent eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano over the coming days, with the town of Grindavik most at risk. The small fishing town has already been evacuated following thousands of mini earthquakes across the Reykjanes peninsula, southwest Iceland, over the past week. Magma has been building underneath Iceland and Margaret Hartley, a senior lecturer in Earth sciences at the University of Manchester, said an eruption was a case of when,not if. View more "I do think an eruption will take place, but the big question is when that might happen," she told Live Science. An eruption would take place when an open fracture connecting the magma dike to the Earths surface opens up. The most likely way to create this fracture is that a pressure build-up of gas bubbles in the dike will force magma towards the surface, breaking the crust apart," she said. "The process is a bit like shaking up a can of fizzy drink as soon as a crack opens in the top of the can, the drink escapes with lots of frothing." Last Friday, thousands of Grindavik residents were ordered to leave as the town was rocked by a series earthquakes. The town, about 34 miles from Reykjavik, is home to the famous tourist attraction the Blue Lagoon. A police officer stands by the crack in a road in the fishing town of Grindavik (REUTERS) A member of search and rescue team jumps over the crack in a road in the fishing town of Grindavik (REUTERS) Many have been unable to return to th e danger zone to collect their belongings, as earthquakes continue to strike the town. Grindavik resident Andrea varsdottir, 46, told The Independent: Everything just seems so unreal, I feel like Im in a dystopian movie. Im just waiting to wake up from this nightmare. The mother was getting ready to go into Reykjavik to celebrate her son Bjorgvin Hrafnars 16th birthday when their house started to shake on Friday. Some of them [the earthquakes] were like a big truck had driven past your house, the bigger ones were like the same truck had hit your house, she said. Everything was shaking so bad, the floors were going up and down. Iceland is highly susceptible to earthquakes and volcanoes because it lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge a divergent plate boundary where the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate are moving away from each other. Three eruptions have taken place on the peninsula of Reykjanes near the Fagradalsfjall volcano in the last three years: in March 2021, August 2022 and July 2023 . However, previous eruptions did not cause damage, having occurred in remote valleys. 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 an imminent eruption looms thousands of Iceland residents await their fate as their town could be wiped out within days. Thousands of earthquakes rocked the southwestern peninsula of Reykjanes on Saturday 11 November leading semi-molten rock to ravage below the surface as the tremors caused a 15km long dyke to form, cracking the community in two as the ground was pushed upwards. Some 3,400 residents from the town of Grindavik which lies on the path of the expected fissure vent eruption were forced to evacuate, they described the apocalyptic scenes of their much-loved home town as they briefly returned to collect their belongings. The whole population waits in limbo as they fear the fate of their close-knit community, many have already lost their homes whilst others do not know if their residencies still stand as earthquakes have continued to strike. Iceland Volcano (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) The displaced population have moved across the country as fellow Icelanders have offered their spare rooms and summer homes. Since, volcanologists have noted a change in the stage of the eruption, making it more likely to come over the next few days. Tamsin Mather, a professor of Earth Sciences from the University of Oxford told The Independent the most troubling challenge to overcome is the uncertainty of when the eruption will come. She said: Its being very well managed in my opinion but it could accelerate very quickly as the heightened state of activity continues. When is it expected to erupt? The Iceland Civil Defence noted very clear signs of magma along the dyke less than 1km below the surface, report RUV. Viir Reynisson, director of Civil Defence told the state broadcaster: The likely time of something happening along the dyke, especially in the centre, if it happens, is within days not weeks. If this continues without an eruption the chance of one decreases with time pretty rapidly. But then we see the changes at Svartsengi which introduce possibly the next stage of this. The area near the Svartsengi power plant, about four km north of Grindavik, has entered a new eruption phase, an Icelandic volcanologist has suggested. Race against time to protect Svartsengi power plant from lava (Screengrab/ RUV) The land near the power plant is swelling as a chamber some 4.5 kilometres below the surface fills with magma at a rate of around 50 cubic metres per second, according to Professor Thorvaldur Thordarson. The land is rising much faster now. This happens simultaneously because the magma is creating space and thus raising the surface of the earth, Professor Thordarson told Iceland Monitor. It is still unclear when the eruption will take place as Grindavik evacuees remain on tenterhooks. Professor Mather added the eruption could happen suddenly but the Icelandic Met Office are knowledegable, well-resourced and working through the night to alleviate any danger. How dangerous would an eruption be? In the worst-case scenario, an eruption could obliterate the entire town, wiping out schools, workplaces and cherished family homes. However, two walls are being built around the Svartsengi geothermal plant to divert the potential lava flow away from the plant which provides hot water used for heating for 30,000 people, says RUV. Professor Mathers said: The lava could have an impact on the power station, the town and infrastructure. I really hope there are no fatalities or injuries as they have done everything to avoid that. Problems could arise if the lava flows towards the power station and the towns infrastructure, she added. The civil defence said in a conference earlier today that the risk of an eruption remains high but they cannot quantify the exact risks, say RUV. Iceland is highly susceptible to natural disasters because it lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge a divergent plate boundary where the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate are moving away from each other. Aerial view taken on February 28, 2021 shows the "Bridge between Continents", a footbridge linking the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, near the town of Grindavik on the Reykjanes peninsula (AFP via Getty Images) The country has an eruption every four to five years. The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and grounded flights across Europe for days because of fears ash could damage aeroplane engines. Professor Mathers, an expert in Iceland volcanology explained there are multiple factors that could affect the impact of an eruption. She said: Speculation isnt terribly helpful but once the eruption starts, they will be able to think about the contours and the direction of the lava flow. It is hard to predict the flow path until the eruption starts, she added. The best case scenario would be for the eruption to take place in the base of a valley, so the lava flows and does not travel far, said Professor Mather. The worst case would be for the eruption to occur on high ground so the lava can flow down over a vast area. Multiple factors could impact how destructive the explosion is, including the wind direction which influences where pyroclastic material and ash will blow. Sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide will also come up in an eruption which can affect air quality across a widespread area, added Professor Mather. Scientists say an eruption would likely produce lava but not an ash cloud. What would happen to residents? Civil protection authorities told Associated Press that even if there is not an eruption soon, its likely to be months before it is safe for residents evacuated from the danger zone to go home. In a worst-case scenario, if the eruption does happen close to the town of Grindavik it could devastate the entire town, as earthquakes have already destroyed homes. This image taken with a drone shows cracks at an intersection in the town of Grindavik, Iceland (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) The Icelandic Civil Defence told their state broadcaster the possibility of residents returning home to clear their homes, many have already been able to collect necessities and pets. Johanna Lilja Birgisdottir, a senior psychologist at Grindaviks social services department revealed the towns plan for displaced schoolchildren to RUV. She said in a conference this morning there are two possible solutions: for the children to attend school where their family is staying or for school children to group together and attend schools in different parts of Reykjavik from next Wednesday. Currently, Grindavik residents can apply for short-term accommodation through a government portal, where they can stay until mid-January. What would an emergency response be? An emergency response is already underway as magma intrusion measurements predict an eruption could arrive in days. Once an episode starts, the area will be monitored for decades to come and emergency teams and experts will respond to risks as and when they come as once an eruption begins, they are better placed to track the likely disruption, explained Professor Mathers. As it stands, Grindavik residents will not be able to return home as the magma intrusion is carefully monitored along the 15km dyke For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An Italian tribunal has convicted 207 people and sentenced them to a combined 2,100 years in prison on charges related to their membership in Italy's 'ndrangheta organised crime syndicate, one of the world's most powerful, extensive and wealthy drug-trafficking groups. It took over an hour and 40 minutes to read aloud the court's lengthy verdict, including the acquittal of 131 other defendants. The drama unfolded in a bunker-stye courtroom in the southern Calabria region, where the mob organisation was originally based. The 'ndrangheta has quietly amassed power in Italy and abroad as the Sicilian Mafia lost influence and now holds almost a monopoly on cocaine importation in Europe, according to anti-mafia prosecutors who led the investigation in southern Italy. The organization also has bases in North and South America and is active in Africa, Italian prosecutors maintain, and 'ndrangheta figures have been arrested in recent years around Europe and in Brazil and Lebanon. The defendants had been charged with crimes that include drug and arms trafficking, extortion and mafia association, a term in Italy's penal code for members of organized crime groups. Others were charged with acting in complicity with the 'ndrangheta without actually being a member. The charges grew out of an investigation of 12 clans linked to a convicted 'ndrangheta boss. The central figure, Luigi Mancuso, served 19 years in an Italian prison for his role in leading what investigators allege is one of the 'ndrangheta's most powerful crime families, based in the town of Vibo Valentia. Vincenzo Capomolla, deputy chief prosecutor of Catanzaro, said prosecutors' overall case held up with the convictions and confirmed the stranglehold the 'ndrangheta held on Vibo Valentia. Officials listen as judges read the verdicts (AP) "The infiltration of the criminal organization in the province of Vibo Valentia was so deep-rooted and so widespread, so alarming, so disturbing that I think it can be noted that there was no aspect of the life of the social economic fabric of the province that was not conditioned by the capacity of the force of intimidation of this so dangerous criminal organisation," he said. Giuseppe Di Renzo, defense attorney for several of the defendants, however noted that more than a third of the original defendants were fully acquitted, while others were found not guilty of some charges. He criticised the disparate and large number of defendants, saying they showed there was no cohesive thread to the prosecutors' case. But Catanzaro's former chief prosecutor who launched the investigation, Nicola Gratteri, said mafia trials often have to cast wide nets because of the very nature of how the criminal syndicates operate, infiltrating across wide swaths of society. The trial took place in a specially constructed high-security bunker. Part of an industrial park in Lamezia Terme, the bunker is so vast that video screens were anchored to the ceiling so participants could view the proceedings. The verdicts were read out in a bunker-stye courtroom in the southern Calabria region (AP) Based almost entirely on blood ties, the 'ndrangheta was substantially immune to turncoats for decades, but the ranks of those turning state's evidence are becoming more substantial. In the current trial, they included a relative of Mancuso's. Several dozen informants in the case came from the 'ndrangheta, while others formerly belonged to Sicily's Cosa Nostra. Despite the large number of defendants, the trial wasn't Italy's biggest one involving alleged mobsters. In 1986, 475 alleged members of the Sicilian Mafia went on trial in a similarly constructed bunker in Palermo. The proceedings resulted in more than 300 convictions and 19 life sentences. That trial helped reveal many of the brutal methods and murderous strategies of the island's top mob bosses, including sensational killings that bloodied the Palermo area during years of power struggles. In contrast, the trial involving the 'ndrangheta was aimed at securing convictions and sentences based on alleged acts of collusion among mobsters and local politicians, public officials, businessmen and members of secret lodges to show how deeply rooted the syndicate is in Calabria. The 'ndrangheta has gobbled up hotels, restaurants, pharmacies, car dealerships and other businesses throughout Italy, especially in Rome and the country's affluent north, criminal investigations have revealed. The buying spree spread across Europe as the syndicate sought to launder illicit revenues but also to make "clean" money by running legitimate businesses, including in the tourism and hospitality sectors, investigators alleged. Associated Press Close Kyiv suffers largest ever drone attack by Russia leaving five wounded 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 }} Ukrainian president Volodmyr Zelensky has vowed that his countrys forces will not back down despite a difficult counteroffensive and a recent spate of Russian attacks. Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu claimed this morning that Russia was advancing in all directions on the frontline. While the claim cannot be verified and is likely to be exaggerated, it speaks to a fear among western military experts that Russia could begin to make gains in 2024 owing to a deeper arsenal of weapons and personnel compared with Ukraine. Over the past month, Russia has launched a large mechanised assault on Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine in the first signs of their renewed assault, though they have made negligible territorial gains. In an interview on Thursday, Mr Zelensky admitted that he was not satisfied with Western support and that Ukraine didnt get all the weapons we wanted. He said: We are losing people, I'm not satisfied. We didn't get all the weapons we wanted, I can't be satisfied, but I also can't complain too much. Look, we are not backing down, I am satisfied. We are fighting with the second (best) army in the world, I am satisfied. 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 and Ukraine sent drones targeting each others capital cities over the weekend in signs of renewed intensity for their aerial warfare. Drones were shot down on both Saturday and Sunday in areas around Kyiv and Moscow. Air defence systems for both sides intercepted attacks and no casualties were reported. Multiple drones that were heading for Moscow and Russias border areas on Sunday were downed by Russian air defence systems over the weekend, officials said. Kyiv has promised to wage a major drone campaign against Russia this winter, as bad weather conditions make it difficult to conduct operations on the ground. Russian air defence units in Moscow intercepted a drone targeting the Russian capital, mayor Sergei Sobhyanin said on Telegram. He said defence units in the Elektrostal district in the capitals east intercepted the drone. Falling debris resulting from the operation had caused no damage or casualties, the mayor said, citing preliminary information. Russias defence ministry confirmed the drone strike on Sunday night, as is typical describing the Ukrainian military operation as a terrorist attack. On 19 November at 23.20 Moscow time, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using an aircraft-type UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] on targets in Moscow and the Moscow region was stopped, it said on its official Telegram channel. Duty air defence systems intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Moscow region. A second drone targeting Moscow was also intercepted by Russias air defence systems at around 1am. The UAV was destroyed over the territory of the Bogorodsky district in Moscow, it said. This comes after Russian authorities on Saturday said they shot down a Ukrainian drone heading for the border region of Bryansk. The defence ministry said on-duty air defence systems destroyed the drone over Bryansk. It did not mention any casualties or damage from the attack. Russia has also begun targeting Kyiv again after a 52-day break in air raid sirens for the Ukrainian capital. On Saturday, Ukrainian officials said all drones heading towards Kyiv were destroyed but some hit infrastructure facilities elsewhere in Ukraine. A day later, a wave of Iranian-made Shahed drones from Russia targeted Kyiv overnight. The drones targeted the Ukrainian capital and the Cherkasy and Poltava regions, according to a military statement. Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems shot down 15 of 20 drones targeting the areas. Serhii Popko, the citys military administration spokesperson, said the drones attacked Kyiv from different directions in waves that were constantly changing vectors. Ukrainian officials had warned Russia would step up aerial assaults during the winter months. Meanwhile, the British defence ministry said there were few immediate prospects for major change along the Ukrainian frontline as the war enters its second winter. In a statement, it said intense fighting was concentrated near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, Avdiivka in Dontesk and on the left bank of the Dnipro river, where Ukrainian forces have established a bridgehead. 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 }} Negotiators are edging closer to a deal that could see Hamas release as many as 75 hostages from Gaza, including dozens of children, multiple sources have told The Independent. A diplomatic source said there was no firm agreement yet but talks were moving forward, amid feverish speculation that a deal, helped by Qatar and the US, could see people freed by early next week. President Joe Biden has boosted hopes of a release, saying on Monday that he believed a deal to free the hostages was close. I believe so, Mr Biden said when asked whether a hostage deal was near, and crossed his fingers. The Independent understands these talks are the most substantial yet after multiple attempts to reach a comprehensive deal in the past which have been scuppered in the final stages. There is no agreement over the deal yet, one source told The Independent, urging caution. But there is an understanding that women and children will come out of Gaza between 50 and 75, the sources said, adding that an estimated 40 children will be included. This will involve a ceasefire or pause. A different diplomatic source with knowledge of the talks said that the news of a firm deal being agreed was premature and there would be a three-day pause in hostilities as a logical step to be able to move the hostages. Some of the details have been misreported. Talks are ongoing and a concrete agreement has not yet been reached. Everyone involved is being cautious because the same stage was reached previously, only for the deal to collapse, the second source said. All sides are discussing the release of between 50 to 70 women and children who were taken hostage. An agreement has not yet been reached on the release of the Palestinian prisoners [in exchange]. There have been no talks about the exchange of military personnel. It is a logical step to agree to a pause before moving the hostages, for their own safety. It is believed that any deal will have to be approved by the Israeli cabinet and could be subject to an appeal by the Israeli Supreme Court, if there are objections. It is believed that any deal will have to be approved by the Israeli cabinet and could be subject to an appeal by the Israeli Supreme Court, if there are objections. It is also understood that there have been discussions about a possible exchange of some Palestinian women and children prisoners in Israel. On 7 October Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking at least 240 people including babies, foreign citizens and soldiers captive. Only four female captives have so far been released with the help of Egypt, Qatar and the US. Israel, meanwhile, has imposed a crippling total siege on Hamas-run Gaza coupled with a ferocious bombing campaign that the health ministry inside the strip says has killed at least 13,000 Palestinians including 5,500 children. Israeli ground troops and artillery have penetrated deep inside the strip, including encircling and entering hospitals they accuse militants of using as bases. Multiple Israeli officials have told The Independent the country was only focused on the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages and that the ceasefire would not be on the table. US President Joe Biden at the White House (Reuters) But pressure has mounted particularly from families of those held captive, who have been increasingly alarmed amid recent reports the military had discovered the bodies of two female hostages - Corporal Noa Marciano, 19, and Yehudit Weiss, 65 in an area nearby Gazas largest hospital complex, al-Shifa. On Sunday, Israels ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, told ABC that Israel was hopeful a significant number of hostages could be released by Hamas "in coming days." The same day Qatari prime minister sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told a press conference in Doha that the main obstacles to a deal were now very minor, with mainly practical and logistical issues to surmount. A White House official also said the very complicated, very sensitive negotiations were making progress. I believe we are closer than we have been in quite some time, maybe closer than we have been since the beginning of this process, to getting this deal done, White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told NBCs Meet the Press. The fraught hostage talks are underway as Israel is poised to expand its ferocious offensive against Hamas into south Gaza, a part of the 42km-long enclave where Palestinian civilians have been ordered by the military to evacuate to. The United States, Israel mans ally, has cautioned it not to embark on combat operations in the south until military planners have taken into account the safety of fleeing Palestinian civilians. Swathes of Gazas traumatised 2.3 million strong population have been on the move since the start of the war, sheltering in hospitals or trudging from the north to the south and, in some cases, back again, in desperate efforts to stay out of the line of fire. The UN has repeatedly appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, with its secretary general Antonio Guterres saying on Monday that the civilian death toll in Gaza is unlike any conflict since he took office. We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unparalleled and unprecedented in any conflict since I am secretary general, he said. Palestinian medics prepare premature babies to move from Rafah, in southern Gaza, to Egypt (AFP/Getty) Alarm has also been raised about attacks on hospitals, as well as UN schools hosting displaced people. The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, saying on Monday that he was appalled by an attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza which reportedly resulted in 12 dead. Gazas health ministry blamed Israel, which denied firing a shell at the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who had fired on them from inside the 3.5-acre compound. It comes as a group of 28 prematurely born babies evacuated from al-Shifa were taken into Egypt for urgent treatment on Monday. Several others died after their incubators were turned off amid a shortage of fuel to power them during Israels military assault on Gaza City. All of the evacuated babies were fighting serious infections, a WHO spokesperson said. Lobna al-Saik, the mother of one of the babies, was one of a few parents accompanying some of the infants as they were taken in a convoy of ambulances from a hospital in southern Gaza, through the Rafah border crossing, into Egypt. They are innocent children, premature babies, an exhausted al-Saik said in a video interview provided by the Egyptian government. My message to the world is enough. The Israeli military which has moved on several of Gazas hospitals said it had uncovered fresh evidence that al-Shifa hospital, Gazas largest hospital had been used as a major base for militants. On Sunday the army released CCTV footage from the hospital showing what it said was Hamas militants forcibly transporting two hostages a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian into and around the hospital complex. They also shared video footage they said showed a 55-metre-long tunnel 10 metres underneath al-Shifa. Hamas has repeatedly denied using the hospital as a command centre. Over the weekend witnesses reported heavy fighting overnight on Sunday between Hamas gunmen and Israeli forces trying to advance into Jabalia, the largest of Gazas camps with nearly 100,000 people. Jabalia, a poor and crowded district that grew out of a camp for Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Israeli-Arab war, has come under repeated Israeli bombardment that has killed scores of civilians, Palestinian medics say. Israel says the strikes have killed many militants dug into the area. 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 }} Watch a view over the Israel-Gaza border on Monday 20 November. Israels ambassador to the US has expressed hope that Hamas could release a significant number of hostages held in Gaza in the coming days, amid reports of talks that are also aimed at securing a days-long humanitarian pause in the conflict. Declining to go into details of the very sensitive negotiations to free some of the estimated 240 captives seized in a brutal cross-border incursion on 7 October, Michael Herzog told ABCs This Week: They are very serious efforts, and Im hopeful we can have a deal in the coming days. White House deputy national security adviser, Jon Finer, also said on Sunday that he believed a deal to free a considerable number of hostages could be closer than ever. What I can say at this point is that some of the outstanding areas of disagreement, in a very complicated, very sensitive negotiation, have been narrowed, he told NBCs Meet the Press programme. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The father of a nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl who was kidnapped during Hamas bloody attack has told of his scepticism over a deal to release the hostages. Thomas Hand initially thought his daughter Emily, who had been attending a sleepover at a friends house, had been killed in the militants 7 October massacre but was later told she had been kidnapped from Kibbutz Beeri and taken to Gaza. He celebrated Emilys ninth birthday without her on Friday, dashing hopes that the bubbly little innocent child whose passion is music would have been safely returned to her family by then. Emily Hand, 9, kidnapped from Kibbutz Beeri and taken to Gaza by Hamas (Israeli embassy) Asked at a press conference at the Israeli embassy in London on Monday about reports that officials suggest a deal to release hostages is edging closer, Mr Hand expressed his doubts as he replied: Ill believe it when I see it. Israels ambassador to the US has told ABCs This Week of his hope that a significant number of captives could be freed in the coming days, while White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer echoed these positive sentiments when speaking to NBCs Meet the Press programme on Sunday. The Israeli embassy said it believed 240 hostages are being held in Gaza, including at least 30 children, among whom is young Emily. Mr Hand, originally from Dun Laoghaire in Dublin, told reporters of his horror at the thought of the sheer terror and panic of a nine-year-old girl down in those dark tunnels never seeing the light of day, referring to the extensive underground network that Hamas has built under Gaza to use for its operations. He imagined her daily desperate pleas of Wheres my daddy, why didnt he come to save me? Almog Meir Jan, 21, was kidnapped by Hamas at the Nova music festival on 7 October (Israeli embassy) He even said his belief that Emily was dead was more bearable in that it allowed him to begin grieving, and that when he found out she was in fact being held hostage he was thrown back into a nightmare, picturing her suffering. Speaking through tears, Mr Hand, who was wearing a T-shirt with a Bring them home now message on it, said that getting his missing daughter back was his reason for living and getting up in the morning every day. He said: I pray I get Emily back. I dont know what condition shes going to be in, but shes going to be very broken mentally and physically and well have to fix that. Its going to take a long time to fix that. Thats what weve got to do and we will do it no matter how long it takes. Yotam Haim (right) was kidnapped from Kfar Aza on 7 October as he prepared to play at a festival in Tel Aviv (Israeli embassy) Mr Hand, who himself was trapped in a safe room in the kibbutz for almost 20 hours on the day of Hamas attack, described the taking of hostages as pure terrorism, pure evil and called Hamas bloody monsters. He said: Help us to get her back. Bring them back home. Its all we want. Forget all the politics - this is totally a humanitarian issue, its nothing to with politics. Theyre children, theyre civilians. Orit Meir, another speaker at the press conference, broke down in tears as she told of her sons last words to her before he was kidnapped by Hamas at the Nova music festival on 7 October. Almog Meir Jan, 21, phoned his mother and told her, Mum, I love you. Since then, Ms Meir said her life has been a nightmare. She is unable to even sleep or eat, with all her energy channeled into working to bring my boy back home, she said. She pleaded through tears: Help us to bring them back home now. I want my son with me now. Iris Haim told reporters her son, Yotam, had been kidnapped from Kfar Aza on 7 October as he prepared to play at a festival in Tel Aviv. Ms Haim, originally from Haifa, said her 28-year-old son found himself in a hell of guns, shooting and firing during the Hamas attack on Israel. She added that she was really worried about Yotam, a drummer for heavy metal band Persephore, as he has a medical condition that requires monthly medication. We are really worried and as a mother I cannot explain what I feel my son is not with me. He didnt go on a trip to London hes captured somewhere. Ms Haim said she thought hostages would be freed by steps and understood her son was unlikely to be one of the first to be released, but added: I have a strong belief that he will come back anyway. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyTech email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} SpaceX has launched its Starship aircraft, the worlds most powerful rocket, with partial success. The two-stage rocketship blasted off from the Elon Musk-owned companys Starbase launch site near Boca Chica in Texas on Saturday, helping boost the spacecraft as high as 148km (90 miles) above ground on a planned 90-minute test mission to space and back. But the rockets Super Heavy first stage booster, though it achieved a crucial manoeuvre to separate with its core Starship stage, exploded over the Gulf of Mexico shortly after detaching. Meanwhile, the core Starship stage boosted further toward space, but a few minutes later mission control lost contact with the vehicle. It marked SpaceXs second attempt to launch Starship, after a previous test in April saw the rocket explode soon after launch. The company said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter: With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and todays test will help us improve Starships reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary. SpaceXs Starship rocket launches from Starbase during its second test flight in Boca Chica, Texas (AFP) Eventually, SpaceX hopes that Starship will fly to the Moon and help with missions to Mars. But first it must undergo a series of uncrewed tests to ensure it is safe. Musk SpaceXs founder, chief executive and chief engineer also sees Starship as eventually replacing the companys workhorse Falcon 9 rocket as the centerpiece of its launch business that already lofts most of the worlds satellites and other commercial payloads into space. Nasa, SpaceXs primary customer, has a considerable stake in the success of Starship, which the US space agency is counting on to play a central role in its human spaceflight program, Artemis, the successor to the Apollo missions of more than a half century ago that put astronauts on the moon for the first time. The American space agency congratulated the team on its launch. Nasa chief Bill Nelson wrote on X: Spaceflight is a bold adventure demanding a can-do spirit and daring innovation. Todays test is an opportunity to learn then fly again. Starships towering first-stage booster, propelled by 33 Raptor engines, puts the rocket systems full height at some 122m (400ft) and produces thrust twice as powerful as the Saturn V rocket that sent the Apollo astronauts to the moon. The launch of the SpaceX Starship (AFP) SpaceX had been aiming to at least exceed Starship Super Heavys performance during its 20 April test flight, when the two-stage spacecraft blew itself to bits less than four minutes into a planned 90-minute flight. That flight went awry from the start. SpaceX has acknowledged that some of the Super Heavys 33 Raptor engines malfunctioned on ascent, and that the lower-stage booster rocket failed to separate as designed from the upper-stage Starship before the flight was terminated. The companys engineering culture, considered more risk-tolerant than many of the aerospace industrys more established players, is built on a flight-testing strategy that pushes spacecraft to the point of failure, then fine-tunes improvements through frequent repetition. A failure at any point in the test flight would be a major concern for Nasa, which is counting on SpaceXs rapid rocket development ethos to swiftly get humans to the moon in the US competition with Chinas lunar ambitions. SpaceX Starship is the most powerful rocket ever built (AFP) Nasas Mr Nelson, who has made the China rivalry a key need for speed, compared Starships test campaign with the success of SpaceXs past rocket development efforts. How did they develop the Falcon 9? They went through many tests, sometimes it blew up, Mr Nelson told Reuters on Tuesday. Theyd find out what went wrong, theyd correct it then go back. The spacecraft in April reached a peak altitude of roughly 40km (25 miles), only about halfway to space at its target altitude of 150km (90 miles), before bursting into flames. A plume forms as SpaceXs Starship separates from its booster during the test flight (AP) Musk has said that an internal fire during Starships ascent damaged its engines and computers, causing it to stray off course, and that an automatic-destruct command was activated some 40 seconds later than it should have to blow up the rocket. The launch pad itself was shattered by the force of the blastoff, which also sparked a 3.5-acre (1.4-hectare) brush fire. No one was injured. SpaceX has since reinforced the launch pad with a massive water-cooled steel plate, one of dozens of corrective actions that the US Federal Aviation Administration required before granting a launch licence on Wednesday for the second test flight. Additional reporting by agencies Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyTech email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Googles decision to delete millions of inactive Gmail accounts could erase millions of photos and other irretrievable memories, users have warned. The purge, which comes into effect next month and will hit any account that has not been used for more than two years, could impact parents who have set up email addresses for young children in order to share and mark milestones with them. It could also inadvertently affect people who continue to manage the online accounts of deceased relatives. Googleannounced the policy in a blog post earlier this year, claiming that the move aims to protect active users from security threats like phishing scams and account hijacking. The mass closure will also free up significant amounts of server space, which will also save the US tech giant money and resources. Google warned that the new policy applied to personal Google accounts, which includes content within Google Photos and Google Workspace tools like Docs, Drive, Gmail, Meet and Calendar. Recommended Google is about to ditch passwords forever Nicholas Worley, founder and chief executive of digital archiving platform Inalife, urged people to take action immediately in order to risk losing access to the accounts. If you have a Google account set up for your kids and have been emailing them, or if you manage the account of a deceased loved one... Login, save or backup any important memories and stories, he wrote on LinkedIn. Mr Worley told The Independent that he began recording memories when he learnt he was having his first child in 2019. I have friends and now Inalife users who had set up emails for their kids and hadnt known about the deletion issue before being told, he said. The Independent has reached out to Google for further information about whether any impacted accounts will be retrievable once the purge has taken place, and the exact number of accounts potentially impacted. In its May blog post, Googles vice president of product management Ruth Kricheli said that users would be able to keep their account active by reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video while logged in, downloading an app on the Google Play Store, or using Google Search. [The] update helps us continue our advancements in account security, and helps reinforce our commitment to keep your private information private, she wrote. This update aligns our policy with industry standards around retention and account deletion and also limits the amount of time Google retains your unused personal information. Google has already begun sending notifications to both the main email addresses and recovery emails of any accounts at risk of deletion. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyTech email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Microsoft has hired OpenAI co-founder and former chief executive Sam Altman just days after he was ousted from his company. Mr Altman was fired on Friday, less than a year after launching the hugely successful AI chatbot ChatGPT, with OpenAIs board saying it no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was reportedly furious about being blindsided by Mr Altmans firing, despite the tech giant being a key investor of the artificial intelligence firm. On Monday, Mr Nadella announced that both Mr Altman and fellow OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman would be joining his company. Were extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team, Mr Nadella wrote on X, formerly Twitter. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success. Mr Altman replied to the post: The mission continues. Mr Altman had previously posted a picture of himself wearing an OpenAI guest pass over the weekend, together with the caption: First and last time I ever wear one of these. Mr Nadella followed up his original post on X with further details about what Mr Altmans new role might be within the company. Im super excited to have you join as CEO of this new group, Sam, setting a new pace for innovation, he wrote. Weve learned a lot over the years about how to give founders and innovators space to build independent identities and cultures within Microsoft, including GitHub, Mojang Studios, and LinkedIn, and Im looking forward to having you do the same. Following Mr Altmans dismissal, OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati was named interim CEO. OpenAI has now reportedly hired former Twitch chief executive Emmett Shear to lead the company. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel 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 Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} After more than 60 flights at London Heathrow were cancelled on Sunday, some of the 10,000 passengers whose plans were wrecked face more problems. A strike by French air-traffic control staff has caused dozens of cancellations to and from the UK, including overflights to destinations such as Spain and Switzerland. On Sunday a combination of staff absence at Heathrows air-traffic control tower and high winds triggered mass cancellations, long delays and the diversion of two inbound transatlantic flights. The Heathrow disruption continued into the early hours, with flights departing and arriving after midnight; normally operations end at 11.30pm. One British Airways flight from Heathrow to Lisbon was further delayed after a catering truck struck the aircraft. Engineering staff and firefighters attended the aircraft, which eventually took off almost three hours late. It landed safely in the Portuguese capital shortly before 1am. One passenger told The Independent: Just a total joke: high winds, then finally confirming that they have shortage of staff and lastly, the catering lorry hit the plane. A BA spokesperson said: Weve apologised to customers for the disruption to their journey. Cancellations due to the latest French air-traffic control (ATC) strike began with the first wave of outbound departures on Monday morning. British Airways has grounded more than 20 flights from Heathrow to France, Switzerland and Spain; Iberia has also cancelled a Madrid-London round trip. Britains biggest budget airline, easyJet, has grounded at least 10 flights between UK airports and Paris, including links from Luton, Bristol and Manchester. From online data for Charles de Gaulle airport, it appears that easyJet has been harder hit than Air France whose hub is at the French capital. The French national airline appears to have cancelled only four domestic round trips and no international flights. Ryanair passengers are also hard hit. At London Stansted, the giant low-cost carrier has grounded at least 10 flights to and from France, with additional cancellations at Manchester and Belfast International. A Ryanair spokesperson said: It is completely unacceptable that there have been 65 days of ATC strikes this year 13 times more than in all of 2022 which have caused the cancellation of thousands of flights at short notice, unfairly disrupting EU passengers travel plans. Despite repeated calls on [European Commission president] Ursula von der Leyen to protect passengers and overflights during these ATC strikes, she has failed to take any action to do so. We have no problem with French ATC unions exercising their right to strike, but the EU Commission should insist that cancellations due to French ATC strikes are allocated to French flights, not those overflying France en route to another unrelated EU destination. Delays are expected to build rapidly during the day as pilots wait for clearance to fly to or over France. Some Wizz Air, Vueling, British Airways and easyJet first wave flights from London Gatwick to Spain departed over an hour late. Airlines that cancel flights must provide seats on alternative flights as soon as possible, including on rival carriers if necessary. European air passengers rights rules require the airline to provide hotel rooms and meals, but cash compensation is not payable as the strike is beyond the carriers control. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel 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 Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Texas woman has decried Carnival Cruises for allegedly giving her a life ban after she tried to bring CBD gummies with her on a ship. Melinda Erin Van Veldhuizen, 42, was all set to go aboard a Carnival cruise with her family from Port Miami in Florida in August when their holiday came to a very abrupt end. The family was about to embark on a trip to Aruba, Curacao and the Dominican Republic to celebrate her and her husbands 21st wedding anniversary and her sons senior year of high school, reports WPLG. Yet just as they were about to start their vacation, the mother-of-two pulled to one side by a terminal worker who questioned the CBD gummies in her bag. She was allegedly interrogated by Carnival security and police for two and a half hours, according to the outlet, over what they believed was an illegal controlled substance. Ms Van Veldhuizen tried to explain that the gummies contained next to zero THC, the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana that produces a high. CBD is the other main compound in marijuana that does not cause a high, according to the Centres for Dease Control and Prevention. In the majority of states across the US, CBD is legal as long as there is no greater than 0.3 per cent of THC in the substance; Ms Van Veldhuizens gummies contained less than 0.01 per cent, she said. The gummies she had travelled with numerous times were used to help her sleep, she said. The captain asked me several times if I had a marijuana card or if I had a diagnosis if I needed it, Ms Van Veldhuizen said. I said, Its CBD; that doesnt exist. Its just not a thing. Ms Van Veldhuizen said she feld she was treated like a criminal (WPLG/Local 10) In some states, the CBD has to be used for medicinal reasons, and the laws may change once cruises reach ports in other countries. However, Carnival Cruise Line states on their website that CBD is not prohibited on their ships. While certain CBD products used for medicinal purposes may be legal in the US, they are not legal in all the ports we visit and therefore are also considered prohibited items, their website says. While Ms Van Veldhuizen missed this rule, she thought it would not stop her from enjoying the rest of her vacation; instead, she was escorted off the cruise. I thought it was one of those situations where youre like, Oh shoot, I left a bottle of water in my backpack; you gotta throw it away, kind of thing like that happens at TSA, Ms Van Veldhuizen told WPLG. The family had spent roughly $5,586 on their holiday, but if that was not a hard enough blow, the Texas mother later received a letter in the post explaining she had been banned from all Carnival Cruise ships for life, reports the Washington Post. This decision was based on your actions on the current cruise, which were a violation of the ship rules, interfered with the safety and/or enjoyment of other guests on the ship or caused harm to Carnival, the letter read according to WLPG. The cruise line states they were just complying with federal law (WPLG/Local 10) Ms Van Veldhuizen hired Daren Stabinski, an attorney, to help her take legal action for the financial losses she acquired due to the incident. The attorney told the outlet that the woman was held under false imprisonment while she was being interrogated over her sleep gummies. Ms Stabinski also criticised the cruise companys decision to ban the mother, who has been on many cruises for a lifetime. "To me, it seems like an extreme measure," the attorney told Fox35. "The conditions of carriage specifically say that marijuana, marijuana derivatives, or controlled substances are illegal and are not allowed on the ship. What she had was none of those things." Yet, in a statement to WPLG, a spokesperson from Carnival Cruises said that they were following federal law under which CBD is defined as a controlled substance. We are not here to ascertain where our guests purchase CBD or what they intend to use it for once on board. Our responsibility is to follow federal guidelines and stop prohibited items from being brought on board our ships, they added. The Independent has contacted Carnival Cruise Line for further comment. Close Related video: LAX Thanksgiving travel rush begins Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A storm will move over the central and eastern US just in time to disrupt Americans Thanksgiving travel plans. Wednesday is expected to be the busiest road travel day for US holiday travelers, with more than 49 million Americans expected to drive to their destinations during the Thanksgiving stretch. Severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and snow are expected to move from the central US across the Midwest and ultimately into the northeast just in time for the holiday. The storm system will hit the Midwest and Ohio and Tennessee Valleys on Tuesday before turning northeast for the mid and latter portion of the week. Governor Kathy Hochul of New York warned travelers in the state to be cautious as there was a risk of extreme winter weather during peak travel days. Tuesday will bring severe thunderstorms, rain, snow and wind to much of the eastern half of the US. Those storms are expected to wane on Wednesday, making way for an undisturbed Thanksgiving Day in most parts of the US. Fred Sirieix confronted Nigel Farage over what he described as a "shameful" Brexit poster on Monday's (20 November) episode of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. The First Dates maitre d' clashed with the former Ukip leader, who campaigned to leave the EU, on what the benefits of Brexit were for the average person in Britain. Sirieix criticised Farage for a poster he launched in 2016 depicting a line of desperate refugees trying to reach Europe under the headline "Breaking Point". "It was about demonising migrants," Sirieix told Farage. Supporters of Javier Milei celebrated in the streets of Buenos Aires on Sunday 19 November after he won Argentinas presidential election runoff. Outside his partys headquarters, a hotel in the capitals downtown area, a full-on party kicked off with supporters singing and waving flags. With 99.4 per cent of votes tallied in the presidential runoff, Milei had 55.7 per cent and economy minister Sergio Massa 44.3 per cent, according to Argentinas electoral authority. It is the widest victory margin in a presidential race since the South American countrys return to democracy in 1983. Joe Biden has paid tribute to Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former president Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday (19 November) aged 96. The former US first lady was diagnosed with dementia in May and died peacefully with her family by her side after she had entered a hospice care home on Friday. She leaves behind her husband, four children, 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and a legacy of mental health advocacy. They really are an incredible family, because they brought so much grace to the office, Mr Biden said of the Carters, following Rosalynns death. The president added that the late first lady had great integrity. Joe Biden pardoned turkeys at the White House on Monday, 20 November, ahead of this years Thanksgiving celebrations. The US president spent his 81st birthday pardoning Liberty and Bell as part of a tradition that dates back to 1947 when the National Turkey Federation, which represents turkey farmers and producers, first presented a National Thanksgiving Turkey to Harry Truman. I hereby pardon Liberty and Bell. Congratulations birds, Mr Biden said to cheers on the South Lawn as the animals were given a second chance at life, being spared from ending up on a familys Thanksgiving table. Donald Trump has vowed to take over Washington DC if re-elected, describing the US capital city as a nightmare of murder and crime. The former president made a campaign speech in Iowa over the weekend, branding DC the crime centre of our country. We will take our horribly run Washington DC capital... and cleanup, renovate and rebuild our capital city so it is no longer a nightmare of murder and crime, he said. It will become the most beautiful capital anywhere in the world. Were going to take over the capital and were going to make it beautiful, we are going to make it safe, were going to make it great. Donald Trump bragged that a Taliban leader called him your excellency whilst speaking at an Iowa rally on Saturday, 18 November. The former President addressed supporters in Fort Dodge on a number of topics, taking time to consistently mock current President Joe Biden throughout the speech. Trump seemed proud that a Taliban leader was nice to him, questioning if they would have had acted the same towards Biden. Trump also praised Chinese president Xi Jingping, calling him fierce and smart, whilst labelling Biden as weak and a very stupid person. 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 }} Jeff Merkley has become the second US senator to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Mr Merkley, a Democrat representing Oregon, said in a statement released on Monday that he came to his decision after many Americans, including thousands of Oregonians, have raised their voices to say more must be done to stop the carnage. I am calling for a ceasefirea cessation of hostilities by both sides. To endure, the ceasefire and the following negotiations must accomplish other essential objectives, including the release of all hostages and a massive influx of humanitarian aid, he said. Senator Merkley joins Dick Durbin, a Democrat representing Illinois, to become only the second lawmaker in the US Senate to call for a ceasefire, joining some 40 members of the House of Representatives. Mr Merkley wrote that the ceasefire requires an immediate cessation of military hostilities by both sides. But the ceasefire and the negotiations that follow must accomplish a number of objectives or it will not endure. Hamas must release all the hostages without conditions and lay down their arms. And Hamas, which continues to defend the savage slaughter of Israeli citizens on October 7th and advocate for the obliteration of Israel, has to go. It can no longer have operational control of Gaza, he added. Israels war in Gaza has killed more than 12,700 Palestinians, including more than 5,000 children and 3,250 women, according to the Palestinian health ministry. In one month, Israeli forces have imposed a total siege of the densely packed territory, carried out relentless airstrikes and artillery, captured large parts of the northern half and cut off electricity and water to the 2.3 million people who live there. Israel says the goal of the operation, which was launched in response to the massacre of 1,200 people by Hamas just over a month ago, is to destroy the group entirely. A man carries a child injured in an Israeli strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2023 (AFP via Getty Images) As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened, calls for a ceasefire have grown. The United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has warned that Gaza was becoming a graveyard for children, and that the unfolding catastrophe makes the need for a humanitarian ceasefire more urgent with every passing hour. But despite the high civilian death toll, only one US Senator had called for a ceasefire until Mr Merkleys announcement. Senate Majority Whip and Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, a Democrat representing Illinois, said he supported a ceasefire at least in the context of both sides agreeing. For example, the release of those who have been kidnapped should be part of this immediate release. That should be the beginning of it, he told CNN. Speaker Johnson says calls for Gaza ceasefire 'outrageous' Mr Durbin has not pushed other Democrats to join him, however. Theyre taking their own approach to it, I respect it, he told The Independent. Its a complicated issue, tough call. I made my decision. The Independent emailed every US senator to ask their position on a ceasefire in Gaza; only 20 responded, and no one besides Mr Durbin supported a ceasefire. Where possible, The Independents reporters asked senators in person for their comments. Of the remaining senators, 19 have called for a humanitarian pause a position the Biden administration also supports. At least 11 senators have come out in opposition to a ceasefire, and the remainder did not respond to The Independents request for comment. The Biden administration, meanwhile, has continued to offer its unqualified support for Israels war, both practically and morally. President Joe Biden has asked Congress to approve $14.3bn in aid for Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack, much of which would be spent on air and missile defence. President Joe Biden has also faced calls for a ceasefire from his own staffers. Hundreds of government workers and members of Mr Bidens own campaign team have pressed the administration to support a ceasefire. One letter from more than 400 administration employees, including political appointees and White House staff, spans several cabinet-level agencies and the presidents office. The letter, according to NBC News, calls on the president to urgently demand a ceasefire and call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians as well as the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other basic services and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip. The fund lends to projects which are focused on supporting the transition to a low carbon economy, with AIB on track to allocate its existing 10bn fund by the end of this year. The Climate Action Fund was first launched in 2019 and had a target of lending 1bn per annum for green and transition projects over five years. A further 5bn was then allocated to the fund two years ago. The bank has also set a target that 70pc of its new lending will be green or transition by 2030 as it introduces more products and services which assist customers to reduce carbon emissions. It has also raised a total of 4bn from the issuance of green bonds over the past three years. The floods and fires we have seen around the world this year have reminded us yet again of the importance of protecting our people, our planet and our prosperity from the devastating impacts of climate change, chief executive Colin Hunt said. "At AIB we recognise that now is the time to take further action to support our customers by increasing our Climate Action Fund to 30bn to help build the green infrastructure of the future. He added that AIB is also creating plans to align activity across the bank to focus on climate capital. The bank will also host its annual sustainability conference today, an event it first launched in 2017. Speakers include former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and author and comedian Trevor Noah. Chain had sales of 109m in 2022 financial year DID Electrical Managing Director Ken Fox as the group received its 'Guaranteed Irish' approval The DID Electrical chain is being sold by founder Gerry Houlihan and his family, ending more than half a century of ownership. Its being bought by Select Technology Group, an Apple premium reseller than operates the Compu-b chain in Ireland. Theres also a Compu-b store in London. Select Technology Group also operates the Stormfront chain in the UK, which is also an Apple reseller. DID Electrical the name originally stood for Deliver, Install and Demonstrate has 23 outlets across the country. The acquisition is subject to competition clearance. Today's News in 90 seconds - November 21st The DID Electrical brand will be retained and the purchase will boost Selects portfolio to 29 stores in Ireland and 51 in total. Mr Houlihan and his family own a swathe of assets and businesses, including the upmarket Clontarf Castle in Dublin. Hes also involved in supermarket retailing. DID Electrical posted sales of 109.3m in 2021 and an operating profit of 5.3m. That brought its accumulated profits to 15.5m. The company made a 1.1m loss in the year to the end of March 2019, on turnover of 77m. The group noted in its 2022 accounts that following the lifting of pandemic restrictions, consumer demand was strong across key categories. It said it had continued to invest in its online business and introduced more than 1,000 new products to its customers. A business transformation project was ongoing, which the directors said would enhance the long-term viability of the company. Ciaran McCormack, the managing director of Select, said the deal would immediately accelerate the groups potential growth and expansion across Ireland. It also sees us diversify our product portfolio and through our planned investment, we can bring our premium technology experience to a whole new and wider customer base, he said. The Irish arm of Select Retail Technology posted turnover of 58m in the year to the end of September 2022, and a pre-tax profit of 839,000. Its UK division generated revenue of 114m (130m) in the same period, and a pre-tax profit of 436,000. Mr McCormack described the planned acquisition of DID as being transformative for Select. Select will integrate the DID Electrical teams, growing the business to more than 650 people across the group. Mr Houlihan and business partner Aidan Crowe established the 600m Tifco hotel business that they became minority shareholders in following a restructuring deal involving Goldman Sachs. Tifco was sold in 2018 to Apollo Global Management. The Russian-owned Aughinish Alumina plant in Co Limerick employs close to 500 people Aughinish Alumina, the Russia-owned company that operates a major metal smelting firm in Limerick made a $167m (153m) loss last year, newly filed accounts for the business show. That compared to a $378m loss in 2021. The company is owned by Russian aluminium group Rusal one of the worlds biggest producers of the metal. Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who is linked to Vladimir Putin, has a stake in the business. But the Irish operation on the Shannon Estuary has lost key customers across Europe and warned that while it has a financial letter of support from its Russian parent, the Moscow-based group has warned that there remains a material uncertainty that it will be able to continue in business as it has been significantly impacted by the war in Ukraine. The Irish firm, which employs about 500 people, is also vulnerable to any potential new sanctions, it cautioned, and from October this year has been dependent on just one gas supplier. The accounts for Limerick Alumina Refining show that it posted the huge loss last year despite revenue rising to $853.5m from $784.5m. However, output at the plant fell 13pc. The filing notes that Rusals business has been adversely impacted by sanctions imposed by the EU and the United States following Russias invasion of Ukraine. The companys parent is also negatively impacted through significantly higher production costs, mainly in the price of natural gas, volatility in gas prices and the market price of alumina, the directors note in the accounts. The output of the refinery reduced by 13pc in 2022 due to the loss of key customers in the European market and disruption to bauxite supply. The bauxite supply was hit because of sanctions on critical suppliers, note the accounts, which impacted the transport of Aughinish Aluminas Dian-Dian bauxite to the refinery. That resulted in production rates and higher production costs for the Irish firms parent. The Dian-Dian bauxite reserve in Guinea is the largest bauxite reserve in the world and is owned by Rusal. In a letter to the European Commission earlier this year, Aughinish Alumina stated that the European aluminium industry is in crisis. It said that greater efforts need to be made to retain and expand aluminium production within Europe. Revenue Commissioners yet to decide on warehoused debt interest tax relief Close to 2bn of pandemic debt is still owed to taxman by businesses and is due to be repaid by next year under scheme Finance Minister Michael McGrath. Photo: Getty Images John Mulligan Mon 20 Nov 2023 at 03:30 The Revenue Commissioners has yet to decide if businesses with close to 2bn in warehoused debt will be able to claim tax relief on the interest thats racking up. Fintech The fact that there have been four separate Irish Government visits to Asia in the past fortnight is rather telling. Asia undoubtedly offers huge opportunities for Irish businesses, and Ireland is forging growing ties there with a view to building trade links and helping Irish companies to scale in this vast market. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited South Korea at the start of the month, accompanied by three government ministers, while Tanaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin visited Shanghai and Beijing between November 6 and 9. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visits the Korean Demilitarised Zone in South Korea early this month In addition, Minister for Research and Development Martin Heydon travelled to both Malaysia and the Philippines on a separate agritech and agrifood trade mission between November 6 and 10. Last weeks joint Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland trade mission to Singapore was a key part of the Action Plan from the Ireland for Finance Strategy. During it, Minister of State for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance Dr Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, along with Enterprise Ireland Chair, Michael Carey, visited and attended multiple client-focused events at the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) the worlds largest fintech event. These included a valuable meeting with Tan Kiat How, Singapores senior minister of state for national development and senior minister of state for communications and information. With more than 60,000 attendees, SFF was a valuable showcase for the Irish companies that travelled to take part, raising the profile of Irish innovation across biometrics, cybersecurity, payments security, regulatory compliance and more in the fintech and regtech sectors. The Singapore Fintech Festival brings together the largest banks, insurers, payment and fintech leaders from around the world Eight companies exhibited at the Ireland pavilion, with companies including Daon, Fexco, Intuition Publishing, MyComplianceOffice, Transfermate and Know Your Customer all endorsing the value of being at the festival to support their business development agendas in the region. Continuum, CubeMatch and Defactor Labs are visiting for the first time with similar ambitions. Global Irish-founded fintech giant, Stripe, was a festival sponsor The SFF brings together the largest banks, insurers, payment and fintech leaders from around the world. Exports to Southeast Asia rose by 9pc in 2022, while those to Asia as a whole were up 11pc. Singapore remains Enterprise Irelands largest export market for Southeast Asia, with exports there by our client companies comprising 30pc of total client exports for the region. These were valued at 126.6m overall in 2022. Irish-founded fintech giant Stripe was a festival sponsor. Above, the payments firm's San Francisco HQ For Irish companies interested in breaking into Asia, Singapore is an ideal first market. Not only is it, like Ireland, a gateway to a much larger trading bloc, it is also English-speaking. Furthermore, and reassuringly to fintech businesses, it is a heavily regulated, secure market, with a similar profile of multinational banks, insurance companies and other financial services businesses operating there as Ireland. There is a heavy focus on intellectual property rights and the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement was implemented in 2019. Enterprise Ireland is proud to support our innovative fintech and regtech sector to continue to expand in the region. Kevin Ryan is director ASEAN at Enterprise Ireland Q I recently popped into a newsagent to buy a chocolate bar, and was told there was an extra charge for using my debit card as it costs the shop money if a customer buys something for less than 5 using a card. Are shops allowed to do this? Agata, Co Kildare A The short answer is no. EU-based traders arent allowed to charge you a surcharge if your bank or card issuer and the merchants payment provider are both located in the European Economic Area and if youre making a payment using a debit or credit card, a direct debit, or a credit transfer. The only exceptions to this rule are American Express and Diners Club cards, and business/corporate credit cards, where your employer is billed instead of you. Contact the retailer for clarity around the extra charge and confirm that it is in fact a surcharge. Next, lodge a complaint with them, and mention the Payment Services Directive 2, a regulation that abolished surcharges on Visa and Mastercard payments, and tell the retailer you wish to be refunded the surcharge based on this regulation. In most cases, retailers will acknowledge wrongdoing at this point and refund the consumer. If they dont, your only other option is going to the Small Claims Court. Unfortunately, this wouldnt be it worth financially as it there is a non-refundable 25 fee, but you may want to proceed on principle. You could also report this issue to the CCPC. A car hire comparison site charged me extra for using a debit card instead of a credit card. Q I hired a car at Palermo airport, having booked and paid for it in advance through a price comparison website. I specified in the booking that I only had a debit card and was charged 50 extra for this. When I went to pick up the car, the agent said I had to pay an additional 360 for insurance as I didnt have a credit card. When I pointed out that the company had indicated that debit cards were accepted and that I also had my own insurance, he said they were an agency and this was their policy. I had to pay up. Do I have any right to redress? Oliver, Dublin A When you hire a vehicle, youre bound by the companys terms and conditions (T&Cs), which are set at the companys discretion. This is why its so important to read the T&Cs before you enter into any kind of contract. Because your contract was with a company outside of Ireland, Irish consumer law doesnt apply here but luckily, basic EU consumer rights do apply, including the right to clear information before hiring a car. Go back to the documentation you were given when you booked the car and check what it says about insurance and company policy. If you feel theres nothing in the T&Cs regarding the insurance or policy mentioned to you, or that you were misled prior to booking the car rental, contact the European Consumer Centre Ireland (ECCI), which deals with complaints from Ireland-based consumers against registered businesses based in the EU, EEA or UK. The ECCI can help you to resolve your dispute -- but only after you exhaust the traders complaints process first. We paid an airline 130 for two window seats and were given other seats. Q We bought two window seats from an Irish airline on an outbound transatlantic flight at an extra cost of 130. When checking in online, we were allocated different seats. We applied for a refund but were told that we got equivalent seats instead and that we were sent a message at the booking stage indicating we werent guaranteed the seats we paid for. What can we do? Paul, Limerick A If its an Irish airline, any service supplied must conform with the service contract, under the Consumer Rights Act 2022. Check the airlines T&Cs: if their policy is to provide you with an equivalent seat when booked seats are unavailable and you feel the seats you were provided with were not equivalent, you might have a case for non-conformity. When booking a flight and paying for add-ons such as selected seats, its important to read the T&Cs and make sure youre happy with them before purchasing. T&Cs are set at the airlines discretion and may include conditions about seat availability. Once you make a purchase, youre bound by the T&Cs but so too is the airline. As youve already been refused a refund, you could submit a formal written complaint to the airline, outlining the above information and how youd like the matter resolved. If you arent satisfied with the outcome, go to the Small Claims Court, which handles consumer claims up to the value of 2,000 without involv ing a solicitor. Theres a 25 non-refundable fee for taking a claim. Send your questions to gmonaghan@independent.ie Italy banned the production and sale of cultivated meat, a move that signals the determination of Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government in defending the nation's culinary tradition. The law passed by parliament on Thursday also prohibits the use of terms describing plant-based products as meat. Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida earlier in the week backed the decision, adding that he hopes the European Union would follow with similar rules, Ansa news agency reported. Cultivated, or cell-based, meat is created by harvesting cells from live animals and providing them with nutrients so they'll grow in bioreactors before eventually becoming a consumer-ready meat product. The EU so far hasn't approved the sale of lab-grown meat, with only Singapore and the US giving the green light. The biggest challenges for the nascent industry is getting regulatory approval and scaling up. The Good Food Institute Europe, which represents the alternative protein industry, criticized Italy's ban. "This bill not only deprives consumers of choice, but also isolates Italy from the investment and job creation offered by this burgeoning industry," Francesca Gallelli, public affairs consultant at GFI Europe, said in a statement. Bloomberg. Two Co Leitrim turf cutters will argue in the Supreme Court that they should not be prosecuted under habitats protection legislation for allegedly refusing to allow wildlife officers to access their bogland. The appeal should be resolved as soon as possible, a panel of three Supreme Court judges said, as Ireland is the subject of European infringement proceedings for allegedly failing to take action to halt peat cutting within certain areas of conservation. Gerry Gearty and Sean Beirne, both with addresses in Eddercloone, Carrick-on-Shannon, are challenging the legislation under which officers sought to access their lands at Cloneen bog in Longford. They allege section 3(3) of the European Communities Act 1972, which gave effect to the EU Habitats Directive, is unconstitutional. They argue that the creation of indictable offences by way of statutory instrument is impermissible. The men are facing charges in Longford District Court for allegedly obstructing National Parks and Wildlife Service officers and gardai who sought access to their bog in June 2012. Their prosecutions have been paused while the men pursue their civil challenges. The High Courts Mr Justice Garrett Simons rejected their claim last July, finding that the provisions of the 1972 Act are capable of being applied in a way that is consistent with article 15.2.1 of the Constitution, which provides that the Oireachtas has the sole and exclusive power of making laws for the State. The State, as a European Union member, must put in place effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties for an infringement of European law, he held. In some instances, a Member States level of discretion will be narrowed so as to require it to create a criminal offence with significant sanctions, the judge ruled. The Supreme Court judges found there were exceptional circumstances to warrant an appeal straight to the top court, skipping the Court of Appeal. It is of general public importance, the judges said, that the court determines the constitutionality of whether a minister of the government can create indictable offences by regulations made under section 3 of the 1972 Act. Noting Ireland is currently the subject of infringement proceedings, the judge said it is in the public interest that the appeal is resolved as soon as possible. The respondents the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Minister for Heritage , the Attorney General and Ireland opposed a grant of leave to appeal, contending that section 3 of the 1972 Act enjoys a presumption of constitutionality and has been upheld in a judgment delivered in 1994. They highlighted the requirements of EU Member States to avoid the deterioration of natural habitats and pointed to the European Commissions proceedings against Ireland over wrongful peat cutting. A date for the appeal has not yet been set. The survey found that 64pc feel that people should be free to gamble responsibly. Stock photo/Getty Images Nearly three-quarters of the public are against an outright ban on betting in Ireland, a survey into the Governments proposed gambling bill has revealed. In October, a study into problem gambling found that one in 30 adults in Ireland suffered from negative experiences associated with betting. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) paper found that problem gamblers were each spending an average of more than 1,000 a month on gambling. A new survey by Ireland Thinks on behalf of lotto betting operator Lottoland, found that 74pc of those surveyed are in support of the Governments plans to introduce greater regulation of the gambling sector. It also highlighted that 64pc believe people should be free to gamble responsibly. It comes as the Governments Gambling Regulation Bill 2022, which proposes a radical overhaul of the law on gambling in Ireland, enters the final stage of the legislative process. The legislation paves the way for the establishment of a gambling regulator focused on public safety and well-being covering gambling online and in person. The regulator will also have the power to regulate advertising, gambling websites and apps. Lottoland said it is urging Minister James Browne and the Regulator designate to re-engage with industry experts and listen to their concerns. It says that the new laws suffer from an absence of clear and robust definitions and if passed, would have unintended consequences stemming from a range of legal issues. Vice President of Lottoland UK and Ireland, Mike Kirwan said that the organisation recognises the overarching objectives of the Bill to regulate the gambling sector for the first time. He also said it recognises its intention to establish robust regulatory oversight and accountability in the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI). Lottoland remain firmly committed to the development and adoption of a comprehensive, evidence-based legislative framework for the gambling, betting, and lotteries sector in Ireland. But we also believe that what is set in legislation now will be vital to ensuring an effective, agile, and sustainable framework in the longer term - whilst still providing for an enjoyable yet safer gambling experience for all customers, he said. The Ireland thinks survey also found that of those that currently bet in Ireland, almost one-fifth (19pc) would seek alternative methods of gambling in the event that gambling is restricted in Ireland. A previous PWC analysis found that the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have all seen growth in the black market, with growth of between 20pc to 66pc of all bets staked with black market providers. Mr Kirwan stressed that the results of the poll demonstrate that the Irish public are in favour of a sensible approach to the regulation of the betting sector, which he said sees increased regulation and harm reduction, without coming at the cost of individuals ability to bet responsibly. We therefore urge Minister Browne to re-engage with our sector, to listen to our concerns and to ensure that this piece of legislation contains clear and robust definitions, which works to effectively protect consumers, he added. Killarney became the first town in Ireland to ban single-use coffee cups heres how its going Fifty businesses have embraced the initiative, with rubbish bags down by 30pc in some cases Alice Thompson, Brehon Hotel, Killarney and Alan Oliver, Lir Cafe, handing in their disposable coffee cups in Killarney town centre, Co Kerry. Photo: Valerie O'Sullivan Sylvia Omorodion Mon 20 Nov 2023 at 03:30 The rest of Ireland has looked on with curiosity in recent months as Killarney, Co Kerry became the first town to ban the use of single-use coffee cups. A chef who accused Dublin restaurateur John Farrell of discriminating against him because he is Mauritian has lost his equality claim at the Workplace Relations Commission. Kingsley Auguste, the former head chef at Dillingers in Ranelagh, Dublin 6, said members of the restaurants management team: treat their own people in a better way than us foreigners and would not greet non-Irish kitchen staff claims denied by Mr Farrell. Dublin restaurant owner claims he is losing customers to competitor with almost identical name Little Pig owner Michael Martin could identify 35 incidences of confusion by customers attending Little Pyg who should have been in Little Pig, the court heard Little Pyg in the Powerscourt Centre, Dublin Ray Managh Mon 20 Nov 2023 at 17:26 The disgruntled owner of Dublins Little Pig restaurant brand is to ask a court to block a competitor using the similar brand, Little Pyg, which he claimed is confusing members of the public and causing his business to lose a significant amount of customers and money. Latest | Deal to free Gaza hostages near, Joe Biden believes as Irish man Thomas Hand living absolute nightmare awaiting news on daughter Premature Gaza babies evacuated to Egypt, all are fighting serious infections, World Health Organisation saysUN chief Guterres says civilian death toll is 'staggering and unacceptable', again urging a humanitarian ceasefireUS officials say talks continue on plan for hostage release, report progress Father calls for proof of life of Irish-Israeli 9-year-old daughter taken by Hamas Sam Hall, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams Mon 20 Nov 2023 at 15:56 US President Joe Biden said on Monday he believes a deal is near to secure the release of some of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, telling reporters "I believe so" when asked at the White House about a possible agreement. An extra European Parliament seat has been recommended ahead of next years European elections. The electoral commission has recommended the Oireachtas to allocate an additional 14th MEP to the Midlands-North West constituency. It also advised that the counties of Laois and Offaly transfer from the South constituency into the Midlands constituency. The electoral commission has made its independent recommendations in a report given to the Oireachtas today. It follow a month-long public consultation with submissions received from political parties and elected representatives. Chair of the Electoral Commission and Supreme Court Judge Ms. Justice Marie Baker said: In late September a long-awaited EU decision allocated an additional 14th MEP seat to Ireland, stemming from our growing population and EU rules on the European Parliaments composition. Our recommendation is to allocate this additional seat to the Midlands-North West constituency, making it a five-seater and bringing in the counties of Offaly and Laois into that constituency from the South. The Dublin constituency remains unchanged, she added. Former president Mary McAleese has criticised the report published after the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican, saying many Catholic faithful are disappointed and wounded. The retired professor of law is one of a number of academics and campaigners who have written to the Vatican criticising Catholic bishops for not listening, accusing them of a failure to let go of their privileges and urging them to bring laity into the decision-making process. Prof McAleese and the letters co-signatories say the synod synthesis which was published at the end of last month after discussions between Pope Francis, cardinals, bishops, priests and some representatives of the laity shows that no significant concessions were won by prophetic voices in the church from the powerful and wealthy forces of conservatism. The former head of state, who specialised in canon law, says the Synthesis Report of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops provides a lucid insight into the thinking of our current bishops. The letter warns that claiming that this flawed process validates the bishops conservative conclusions is unhelpful. This was the first synod in the churchs history involving women, with 54 taking part as voting members. The move is part of Pope Franciss effort to renew global Catholicism. The 42-page synthesis published on October 29 covers 20 topics and contains 80 proposals approved by the synod participants. It calls for synodality, or collaboration, throughout the churchs governance, theology and mission. But it made no definitive recommendations on issues such as womens ordination or same-sex blessings and this has disappointed liberal Catholics. In their letter, the critics say the synthesis of the deliberations is not the first document of a new synodal age. They say that instead it will disappoint and wound the many faithful, from all quarters of the Catholic world, who had called in their submissions for progress on issues such as womens ordination, teaching on LGBTQ+ issues, celibate priesthood, reproductive rights or measures to end the many forms of clerical abuse. The letter says it is clear the bishops are not yet ready to let go either of clericalism or of control and notes that during the assembly, Pope Francis denounced the scourge and the scandal of clericalism in the church, which, he said inflicts scorn, mistreatment and marginalisation on the laity. Prof McAleese, who is chancellor of Trinity College Dublin, and those who signed the letter, say the Synthesis Report shows that progress in the church does not lie with these men. Rather it lies with the faithful people of God and the priests ready to join in faithful partnership with the laity on a common path to renewal. While the synthesis claims that all Christians should be listened to carefully, the experience of many millions of faithful parishioners throughout the world has been that, in the months leading up to this assembly, their bishops did not listen to them carefully. Indeed, many did not listen to them at all, the letter says. Translink said it has launched an investigation after reports that a Metro bus driver shouted bomb Palestinians while driving in Belfast city centre this afternoon. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, local documentary-maker Sean Murray alleged that at 1.53pm, a driver shouted out of the bus to bomb Palestinians as he drove past Belfast City Hall. All this while driving with one hand and brandishing an Israeli badge. In response, the public transport provider stated: We are taking these allegations seriously and we have launched an investigation. The safety of our customers, staff and the wider public is our top priority at all times and we expect all our staff to deal with the public, passengers and colleagues in a friendly, helpful and professional manner at all times. Our investigation will include a review of CCTV footage. The claims come following a rally in Belfast on Saturday which heard calls for consumers to boycott companies with investments or links to Israel over the war in Gaza. More than 3,000 people gathered at Writers Square in the shadow of St Annes Cathedral on Saturday before marching to the headquarters of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO). As protesters gathered for speeches prior to the march, leaflets were handed out among the crowd with the logos of companies which organisers were encouraging those present to boycott. Some of the crowd at Writer's Square in Belfast They included multi-national firms like McDonalds, Puma, Hewlett Packard, Axa and Dominos. More than 11,400 Palestinians have been killed in the war, two-thirds of them women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities, as Israel bombards the small strip of land which is home to more than 2.2 million people. The war, now in its seventh week, was triggered by Hamas October 7 attack in southern Israel, in which gunmen killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted some 240 men, women and children. A man has been arrested and charged following a serious assault in Dublin city on Saturday night. Gardai from Bridewell garda station are investigating the incident which occurred on Aughrim street, Dublin 7. The man, aged in his 30s, was detained at a Garda station in Dublin, under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. He has since been charged, and is due to appear the Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ) on Monday morning. Man jailed for 10 years over cowardly and unprovoked chemical attack on partners ex that cost victim an eye A FATHER-of-two was jailed for 10 years for "a cowardly and unprovoked" chemical attack on a man who was previously in a long-term relationship with his partner and who subsequently lost an eye because of the severe caustic soda burn injuries suffered to his face. Cork Circuit Criminal Court was told that Francis Costello (40) prayed he would die such was the horrific pain he suffered as a consequence of the unprovoked attack by John Paul Carey (36) last year. Carey, who has 99 previous convictions including convictions for armed robbery, drug possession and assault, was questioned by Gardai immediately after the attack in a bid to determine precisely what substance he had thrown at Mr Costello and his two brothers. Francis Costello lost an eye after the caustic soda attack. Photo: Provision Photography. Judge James McCourt was told that Carey offered no assistance to officers desperately trying to determine the substance but then asked them: "If he (Mr Costello) was still a handsome man?" Judge McCourt imposed a ten year prison sentence but agreed to suspend the final six months in light of Carey's plea and other mitigating factors. He also backdated the sentence to April 18 2022 when Carey was taken into custody. Carey pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Francis Costello at Connolly Road in Ballyphehane, Cork on March 4 2022 contrary to Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. He also admitted assault causing harm to Mr Costello's two brothers, John and Roy, at the same location and date contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. All three men were struck by a corrosive liquid thrown at them by Carey who has addresses at Dunmanus Crescent in Knocknaheeny, Allihies in west Cork and Glanmire, where he was originally from. Such were the horrific injuries to Francis Costello's face that his left eye had to be surgically removed in October 2022 after desperate attempts by Cork surgeons to save it failed. Mr Costello's brother, John, now has only 90pc vision in his right eye and 80pc vision in his left eye. Roy Costello was left with serious scars on his arms and hands from the caustic solution tossed at him. Gardai and Cork Fire Brigade were called to the scene on March 4 - and fire brigade officers were so concerned about the nature of the liquid that had even burned into the front door of the property that they sealed off the entire area and had to alert a special cleaning crew. Francis Costello, a father-of-three, was rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital (CUH) where he underwent emergency medical treatment for several weeks. Gardai later found a bottle nearby and Detective Inspector Jason Lynch said it was found to have contained a powerful caustic soda solution used for unblocking clogged drains. In an emotional victim impact statement, Francis Costello said the pain was so great that evening he wanted to die. "The night of March 4 2022 will remain with me for the rest of my life," he sobbed as he insisted on delivering his victim impact statement in person. Judge McCourt noted the courage displayed by Mr Costello and he outlined the impact of the attack on his life. "The physical pain I went through...I just wanted to die to stop the burning in my eyes, my face and my head as I lay on the ground crying and screaming in pain while I was being kicked and punched." "I was praying the next blow would be fatal just to stop the suffering." "Little did I know that night that, for the next year, I would be battling with my mental and emotional health, attending multiple procedures, surgeries and my eye being removed last October." "I lost the will to live - and I had planned to end it all so many times. Thankfully, I did not go through with it. I believe today there is a way through anything life might throw at me." Mr Costello said he had only emerged from the nightmare thanks to the incredible support of family, friends, neighbours and officials with victim support groups. Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Mr Costello said: "What he did to me, you wouldn't do it to an animal." Mr Costello also said that Carey's letter of apology was far too late to have any meaning for him. He said he hoped the sentencing would give him some closure and that he could continue to rebuild his life after the horrific attack. The court heard that Mr Costello, who had previously worked in retail, lost his job and is now fearful every day of losing his sight. Judge McCourt was told that John Paul Carey had been working that day but, after going for a few drinks, had become agitated over a dispute between Mr Costello, Mr Costello's former partner who was now in a relationship with him, and himself. He called to the Costello family home and, after Francis Costello answered the door, threw the caustic liquid into his face. The liquid was also thrown on his two brothers who rushed to help their sibling when they heard him screaming in agony and writhing on the ground by the front door. Judge McCourt was told that the incident occurred while Carey was under the provisions of a suspended portion of a four year and six month sentence imposed for the armed robbery of Little Island Post Office on February 5 2020. Carey had also received a ten year prison sentence, with the final five years suspended, for drug offences. Elizabeth O'Connell SC, for Carey, pointed out to the court that he came from an unfortunate and extremely sad background, having lost his mother in tragic circumstances. She said her client had submitted a letter of apology to the Costello family on the day he was first arraigned over the incident. Ms O'Connell also noted that her client's "reckless and irrational actions" had damaged the stability he had finally managed to achieve in his personal life. She pointed out that Carey was still involved in a relationship with Mr Costello's ex-partner and had a child with her last year. Donal O'Sullivan BL, for the State, said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), indicated the sentence in the matter should be at the higher end of the scale given the severity of the injury involved. Judge McCourt warned that: "The loss of an eye is an enormous injury. I was convinced of that before the DPP ever opened his mouth." He noted that Carey's plea had saved the State a lengthy trial and had avoided the Costello family having to give evidence. "Not only were these attacks cowardly but they were unprovoked," the judge said. He noted that the attacks occurred at a family home and clearly hinted at planning and premeditation. "The level of harm visited on Francis Costello is appalling. This (offence) clearly falls at the upper end of the scale." Judge McCourt agreed to suspend the final six months of the 10 year prison sentence on the basis of Carey entering into a bond to keep the peace for one year on his release from prison. Study calls for more child support workers Meath Womens Refuge and Support Services is one of the only networks of shelters in the country understood to have dedicated childrens support workers. Stock image As the researcher read out statements, the 12-year-old put the marbles in front of them into a pot if they agreed with and understood the sentiment. I understand why I had to come here with my mam, the researcher said, referring to the domestic abuse refuge in Meath where they were sitting. The child poured all of the marbles into the pot. Yeah, I very much did, the child said. Can you tell me why did you have to come here with your mam? the researcher asked. Because of my abusive father, the child said. To be safe. The testimony is from one of 13 children who took part in a new study run by Trinity College Dublin, examining the experiences of children at refuge centres in Meath who got specialist, dedicated support to help them feel safe and secure after they fled their abusive homes with their mothers. Meath Womens Refuge and Support Services (MWRSS) is one of the only networks of shelters in the country understood to have dedicated childrens support workers, under a scheme it runs to offer holistic support to children entering domestic abuse refuges. The Where Im At programme funded by RTEs Toy Show Appeal helped 80 children in 2022. Like almost all refuges in Ireland, services in Meath have experienced a dramatic increase in demand. The report said that in 2022, MWRSS helped 57 women and 74 children, a total of 131 individuals an 11pc increase from the previous year. But because of limits to its capacity, the refuge service was unable to accommodate 300 women and 184 children in 2022, an 11pc increase in unmet requests compared to 2021. Now, a study on the performance of Where Im At has recommended that every domestic abuse refuge in Ireland should have a full-time childrens support worker. The report has been launched to mark World Childrens Day today. Researchers at the School of Nursing and Midwifery found that a childrens support worker was valuable, could not be underestimated and helped children who had suffered domestic abuse to feel safe and welcome in refuges. A childrens support worker is not a role that is currently common in refuges in Ireland. We came here with just the clothes on our backs, one mother said. We had no clothes, the kids just had the clothes on their backs, we had no iPads, literally nothing. I came with like my purse, and I came in here and they sorted food out, they sorted clothes out, PJs for the kids, underwear, everything. Stuff that I would worry about, and I also worried a lot about their toys and that [my older child] she loves Barbies, and they got her Barbies, she was so happy with that... baby dolls, they had two baby dolls that they let [the younger child] keep. It was just magical, stuff that I worried about, and they took that off of me. One six-year-old put all of their marbles into a pot when asked if they felt safe at the refuge. Yeah, I feel safe, the child said, citing Emma the childrens support worker who had helped them. A 10-year-old said that staff at the refuge were so kind and welcoming to you as you entered, and youre feeling a bit shy, theyre like so nice. Domestic abuse survivors said that the childrens support work at their refuge had arranged for them to take their children to adventure play centres. It was very nice because you know I try my best to make them happy it was very nice that she organised it for us, one mother said. Another woman who came to a refuge with her toddler said staff had arranged for them to go to free library story time events, and had sourced an iPad so that the toddler could watch Coco Melon and Paddington Bear while also giving her access to a play area. I mean they cant do enough, the mother said. Another mother said the childrens support worker had taken her daughter for one-on-one sessions, and now I can see her thriving. So, like thats the support and like we didnt have that at home. The report said support workers for children can help to improve the trust and relationship between mothers and children who have suffered domestic abuse. International research has indicated that surviving abuse together can put a strain on relationships. One mother said the childrens support worker had spent a lot of one-on-one time with her son, because he needs that. He is kinda angry at times because he missed his dad and hes blaming me. Based on the success of the childrens support worker role, researchers recommend that this role continues to be available to children in refuge and its availability extended for longer hours and at weekends to support family-based activity work. "We also recommend that this role be available to children in all refuges in Ireland and the significance of the role reflected in relevant government policy. Eoin O Broin asked if Sinn Fein should apologise to Ben Dunne's family for kidnapping by the IRA in 1981 A Sinn Fein TD has said he has never supported the taking of hostages in any conflict. Eoin O Broin was responding following criticism on social media of party leader Mary Lou McDonald paying tribute following the death of businessman Ben Dunne. Mr Dunne, the former director of family business Dunnes Stores and the owner of a chain of gyms, died aged 74 after suffering a heart attack in Dubai. In 1981, Ben Dunne was kidnapped by the IRA and was released after seven days after a ransom was reportedly paid. Ms McDonald was criticised on social media at the weekend after she said she was saddened to hear about the sudden death. During a media appearance in Dublin, Mr O Broin was asked if he would condemn the IRA taking Mr Dunne hostage. Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin speaking outside Leinster House in Dublin, following the death of businessman Ben Dunne (David Young/PA) Mr Dunne attended at least one Sinn Fein outreach to the business community in Dublin but the party is maintaining silence on whether there were any further links. His presence may partly explain why Mary Lou McDonald was quick to lavish praise on controversial businessman who has died in Dubai, but whose funeral is expected to be held in Ireland. Mr Dunnes presence at a Sinn Fein event raised eyebrows among fellow business leaders he having been kidnapped by the IRA in 1981 and held for seven days until a ransom was paid. In a 2014 radio interview with Miriam OCallaghan, Ben Dunne said: I was sitting at the top table with Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams and they didnt look comfortable at all. I wasnt too comfortable myself. So I turned around and said, Listen fellas, if this is a fundraising lunch, it's a refund Ill be looking for. They broke their hearts laughing and we had a fantastic lunch. The businessman lived with his family in Carpenterstown, near Castleknock, close to where Mary Lou McDonald once attended Fianna Fail cumann meetings before she left that party. The Sinn Fein President did not reply to a request for comment on Monday as to whether she and Mr Dunne were known to each other, and neither did a party press officer respond. Ms McDonalds online expression of sympathy at Ben Dunnes death drew sharp responses from some users of X at the weekend. But his son Rob responded to her: Thanks Mary Lou for your condolences. My Dad would always say its crucial to keep looking forward and never dwell on the past. And Im sure I dont need to tell you to simply ignore the trolls and their commentary. Mary Lou replied: Love and solidarity to your family at this time, Rob. Your Dad was a really good man. Separately, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin said at Leinster House yesterday that he never supported the taking of hostages in any conflict. He said he has never met Ben Dunne but had no doubt he was a good man. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said she was saddened following the death of Ben Dunne (Brian Lawless/PA) When asked if Sinn Fein owe an apology to Mr Dunnes family, he said said the IRA has previously apologised for those matters. Mr O Broin said: Republicans have apologised for a very large number of things that happened during the conflict, including spokespeople acting on behalf of the IRA, when the armed conflict was brought to an end and the IRA disbanded, apologising. And I think we all need to do whatever is required to ensure that people who lost loved ones or experienced conflict have their needs and concerns dealt with. Thats a big part of work, thats a piece of work we are constantly engaged with others, and particularly in the North where these issues are most acute. But all I will say is is very senior republicans, including people speaking on behalf the IRA previously have apologised for those matters and I think that was the appropriate thing to do. He said there is obviously an issue around Sinn Fein commemorating people who died during the Troubles, including Republican combatants. And Ive always said, when weve asked been asked these questions, we need to find ways of doing that that is appropriate and sensitive. We have a right to do that. But for me, what the party has been doing in recent years is ensuring theres never a return to conflict in this country and I think weve played a very important role in that. And i think its entirely appropriate that we bring the same experience to bear in our commentary in relation to the middle east I cant re-live 30 years of armed conflict in this country, a large part of which I was a child during, but what I can ensure is that what I do as a Sinn Fein politician, like my colleagues, is ensure we never return to violence of any kind. Children will be the priority in the release of any hostages taken by Hamas, the Qatari Prime Minister has told Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. The Gulf State of Qatar was responsible for seeing four hostages released by Hamas and has significant influence in the talks around releasing hostages. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said yesterday that only "very minor obstacles" remain in the way to conclude the deal. The Sheikh told Mr Varadkar in a phone call this afternoon that children will be a priority and said they are aware of Emily Hand, a nine-year-old Irish girl, as being among the hostages. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke today with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, regarding the case of Emily Hand, said a spokesperson for the Taoiseach. Mr Al Thani said they are aware of the case and said that children will be a priority in any negotiated release. Emily Hand Around 240 hostages were taken by Hamas terrorists during a massacre in southern Israel on 7 October. Four hostages were released several weeks ago. Mr Varadkar met Emily Hands family and the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland, Dana Erlich, last week. The spokesperson said the Taoiseach pledged that he would use all channels of communication to pursue Emilys release. Last week he spoke to the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, having previously raised her case with the Palestinian Prime Minister, the Egyptian Foreign Minister and Prince Rashid of Jordan. Diplomatic efforts to get Irish citizens out of Gaza would have been a lot harder if Sinn Fein had been in government and had expelled the Israeli ambassador, Paschal Donohoe has said. The public expenditure minister suggested the outcome would have been different if Ireland's main opposition party had been in charge of the Department of Foreign Affairs. In response, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin accused the minister of playing politics with a very serious issue. Mr Donohoe made the claim when asked to comment on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's weekend remarks that he would find a Sinn Fein minister of justice, foreign affairs or defence "repugnant". About 50 Irish passport holders have so far made it through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. There were emotional scenes at Dublin Airport over the weekend as some of them were reunited with loved ones after they arrived in Ireland on flights from Cairo. Sinn Fein has called on the Government to expel the Israeli ambassador in Dublin, Dana Erlich, in protest at her country's ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Mr Donohoe questioned his rival party's stance as he fielded questions from reporters in Dublin today: "I would ask the Irish people to consider really seriously what impact Sinn Fein might be having, for example, on our role with regards to Middle East if there had been a Sinn Fein minister for foreign affairs over the last number of weeks," he said. "They've been calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador exactly at the time in which the Government has been engaging with the Israeli government to further the interests of Irish citizens and to advocate for a peaceful solution. That's just the latest example of what I would be making the case for people to consider. "And, likewise, with regard to law and order, I would be asking people to consider what could be the consequences of a Sinn Fein minister, given all of the sensitive issues that the minister for justice has to consider on a regular basis." When pressed for his comments on the Middle East, he added: "I make two predictions based on what has happened recently. So, I do believe if Sinn Fein had been in government and if they had gone ahead and expelled the Israeli ambassador, I believe the Irish ambassador would have been expelled shortly afterwards, and I believe that's a reasonable expectation to have, regarding how these things tend to happen diplomatically. "Which leads on to the second point that I've made - that if we didn't have an Irish ambassador in Israel, I believe it would be a lot harder to do two things. Number one, to deal with the kinds of issues that we have developed in Gaza at the moment and to help get our citizens home. And, secondly, how could you advocate a peaceful solution, how could you advocate a two-state solution, if you're saying you're not going to speak to one of the governments that's central to it?" Mr O Broin said his party would be making "no apologies" for calling for the expulsion of the ambassador, saying every form of diplomatic pressure should be exerted on Israel to call a ceasefire. "The situation in Gaza is very serious," he told reporters outside Leinster House. "I don't think any political party in Ireland should be playing electoral politics with that issue. I think we all need to try and have the maximum degree of consensus." Modern Morals: My best friend says she cant afford to go to my foreign wedding next year. Is it insensitive to ask her to get a loan? Girls in countries suffering climate fallout are hit by weather emergencies COP28 delegate Jessica Gill said she has witnessed how gender dynamics influence all global challenges. A woman walks through a damaged zone in the aftermath of Hurricane Otis in Acapulco, Mexico, last month. Photo: Felix Marquez/AP Young Irish delegates will highlight the plight of the climate crisis impacting girls access to education at COP28 next month as a new study has revealed how critical the situation is. The study was released today ahead of a Plan International Ireland delegation attending COP28 next month in Dubai. Schoolgirls access to education is being hampered by extreme weather, damaged school buildings and impassable routes to class in countries suffering climate fallout, according to a new report. Plan International has signposted dire effects on the future of womens success in the world due to severe weather events blocking educational access in West Africa, South and Central America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. That Irish group attending the climate conference will include two young female members from Plan International Irelands Youth Advisory Panel (YAP). YAP member and COP28 delegate Jessica Gill said: Through my involvement in Plan International Irelands Youth Advisory Panel since 2020, I have witnessed how gender dynamics influence all global challenges. This is exemplified by Plan Internationals research which highlights how the climate crisis disproportionately impacts girls education due to gender dynamics. At COP28, I hope to gain insight into the diverse lived experiences of climate activists from around the world and learn how youth in Ireland can amplify these voices through advocacy for climate justice and girls education. Keya Khandaker, research engagement officer for Real Choices, Real Lives at Plan International, said: Girls voices on their experiences of climate change are vital to understand both how their education is threatened by climate change and in turn how their education has developed their climate adaptation skills so far. This report puts forward the case for ensuring girls voices and realities are meaningfully included in any climate change action. By bearing the brunt of much climate change loss and damage, girls are uniquely placed to have a key role in a climate-resilient and gender-just world. The report, Climate Change and Girls Education: Barriers, Gender Norms and Pathways to Resilience underscored direct consequences of the climate crisis on girls education, examining the experiences of 78 girls from eight countries, who are facing increased climate-induced shocks. Plan International said the disruptions not only jeopardises girls immediate access to schooling but also have far-reaching, long-term consequences, including increasing the risk of harmful practices like child marriage, gender-based violence and early pregnancies. Girls in the developing world often found themselves shouldering additional household responsibilities or seeking employment outside their homes due to prevailing gender norms and poverty, resulting in disruptions to their education, the report found. However, in regions vulnerable to the climate crisis, girls face even more formidable challenges, it noted. Climate-related disruptions intensify gender norms, leading to increased domestic responsibilities, reduced study time and heightened financial burdens, making it difficult for both girls and their parents to afford education, the report said. Ahead of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) scheduled to take place from November 30 to December 12, Plan International is calling on governments, donors and civil society to support girls education in response to the climate crisis. This is an urgent call to action, the report said, and is underscored by the sobering estimate from the Malala Fund, which warns that climate change will trigger the abrupt end to schooling for at least 12.5 million girls in 30 climate-vulnerable countries every year. Despite the chaos that has engulfed US politics, Democrats can claim to have protected the entire legislative output of President Joe Bidens first two years. Photo: Reuters Many adjectives have been deployed to describe House Republicans. Hapless. Thuggish. Clownish. But the most politically descriptive? Minority. After all, a minority party cannot pass major legislation that its leadership deems necessary. That has happened now three times: once on the debt ceiling and twice to keep the government open. Democrats, with fewer seats, are effectively delivering what meagre results the House has accomplished under Republican speakers. At various times in the House leadership struggle, pundits pleaded with Democrats to help Republicans out of their leaderless mess. Without getting anything in return, they were expected to contribute votes to a speaker who would then be deemed illegitimate by the MAGA extremists because of the Democrats support. Fortunately, minority leader Hakeem Jeffries resisted the foolish pleas. And now, Jeffries has the best of both worlds. Hes not responsible for electing a speaker whose Christian fundamentalist views and financial questions make him a weight around the necks of Republicans in swing districts. He can castigate Speaker Mike Johnson for his noxious views and effectively produce legislation that does not compromise Democrats minimum standards. At a Wednesday news conference, Jeffries said: House Republicans are unable to govern on their own. Period, full stop, no further observation necessary. You dont have to take Jeffries word for it. Texas Republican Chip Roy bellowed from the floor that his Republican colleagues couldnt explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done. Republicans just do not have a majority that can govern. So who is governing? Democrats. That is essentially what happened with the funding bill. Aside from the split timelines (an obvious gimmick), Democrats got everything they wanted in the spending bill. Jeffries said: Democrats came into this week with three principal objectives with respect to the continuing resolution. First, no spending cuts. Mission accomplished. Second, no extreme right-wing policy changes. Mission accomplished. Third, no government shutdown. Mission accomplished. Democrats exposed that Republicans, or at least Johnson and his allies, do not have the stomach for a shutdown. Therefore, with all the cards, Democrats deftly played the hand they were dealt. So what comes next? At the bare minimum, the House will repeat the spending exercise twice more, once for each half of the spending arrangement. There is zero reason to think Republicans can actually pass full-blown appropriations bills for military construction, veterans affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department before January 19, and the rest before February 2. So, Democrats again will vote to prevent a shutdown and extend the governments operations by weeks or months. However, Democrats might well be able to do more than that, even without the mathematical majority. The governing majority they put together for the spending bills (virtually all Democrats plus 127 Republicans) can be deployed for other purposes. Next month, for example, the Senate could send over a bill reflecting some or all of President Joe Bidens supplemental spending priorities, including more spending for immigration control and aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. Johnson and his MAGA caucus are likely to resist that, given that many have decided to run interference for Russian president Vladimir Putin and that others prefer to exploit the border situation without offering any of their own solutions. However, it only takes 218 members to execute a motion to discharge. Thats far fewer than the 336 combined Republican and Democratic votes that passed the spending bill. Surely some of the endangered Republicans from districts Biden won dont want to be stuck voting against these items. Beyond keeping the government lights on and supporting our allies when the world is ablaze, there might be little else the House could manage. Democrats, nevertheless, can claim to have protected the entire legislative output of Bidens first two years and, one hopes, to have upheld our international responsibilities against the MAGA isolationists. Now, imagine what Democrats could do if they had the mathematical majority. You can bet that will be part of their pitch next year. ( Washington Post) Cork individuals and groups have been shortlisted for the 2023 Clean Coasts Ocean Hero Award Proinsias O Tuama of Clean Coasts Ballynamona is shortlisted for the 'Individual of the Year' category of the 2023 Ocean Hero Award. Siuloid@CCRC are a Clonakilty-based walking group nominated for the 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' category of the Ocean Hero Award. Mark McCarthy from Schull is nominated in the 'Campaigner of the Year' of the 2023 Ocean Hero Award. Cobh Tidy Towns are one of the Clean Coasts groups in Cobh to be nominated for the 2023 Ocean Hero Award. Ballynamona Clean Coasts with students of St Colman's College, both nominees for the 2023 Clean Coasts Ocean Hero Award, at a beach clean-up event this year. Individuals and groups from County Cork have been shortlisted for the Clean Coasts Ocean Hero Award in recognition of the contributions they have made to safeguarding their local coastline and marine life. Cobh Tidy Towns are one of the Clean Coasts groups in Cobh to be nominated for the 2023 Ocean Hero Award. Proinsias O Tuama, from Clean Coasts Ballynamona, and Mark MacCarthy, a Clean Coasts volunteer based in Schull, have been nominated for the 2023 Hero Award Cork nominees for different categories of the Hero Awards group honours are Clean Coasts Ballynamona, St. Colmans Community College, Cobh Island Clean Coasts groups and Siuloid@CCRC of Clonakilty. Mark McCarthy from Schull is nominated in the 'Campaigner of the Year' of the 2023 Ocean Hero Award. Proinsias O Tuama, from Clean Coasts Ballynamona, was shortlisted in the 'Individual of the year' category. Proinsias started Clean Coasts Ballynamona by simply pickingup litter on his local beach, and the group has now grown to include East Cork Biodiversity and Planet Ireland under the umbrella of Sea Land and Trust. The volunteer, who has a passion for the ocean, works tirelessly with school groups, university groups and corporates Mark McCarthy, a Clean Coasts volunteer based in Schull, was shortlisted in the 'Campaigner of the year' category for his dedication to keeping the coast clean and encouraging others to do the same. With no task too much, Mark regularly goes out to the islands off Schull to retrieve sea pollution. Siuloid@CCRC are a Clonakilty-based walking group nominated for the 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' category of the Ocean Hero Award. Clean Coast Ballynamona have been nominated for the Event of the Year category for its running of a school beach cleans at beaches in East and West Cork in May and June, which saw hundreds of students partake. At the events, which were tied in with Cork County Council for their Blue Flag environmental education activities, students could also partake in marine-themed workshops. In conjunction with Ballynamona Clean Coasts, St Colmans College were nominated for the Youth of the Year category of the Ocean Hero Award. The school was integral in the Big Little Beach Clean events and its environmental society is engaged in several projects around litter prevention in Midleton town. The group has adopted parts of the coast and has conducted regular beach cleans on Pilmore, Redbarn, ClayCastle, Front Strand, Ardnahinch, Ballynamona, Ballinwilling and Ballycrennane. Proinsias O Tuama of Clean Coasts Ballynamona is shortlisted for the 'Individual of the Year' category of the 2023 Ocean Hero Award. Cobh Island Clean Coasts groups were also nominated in the 'Event of the Year' category for their Big Beach Clean 2023 event. This nomination is not for one group but for three groups who joined forces to see over 40 volunteers clean up the great island of Cobh: Ballymore Community Association, Clean Coasts Cobh and Cobh Tidy Towns. This is Cork Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Cork newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details Siuloid@CCRC, a walking group at Clonakilty community Resource Centre, were nominated in the 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' category. The group, which has participants from local groups and all walks of life made a pact on World Water Day this year to do a monthly beach clean at Inchydoney in west Cork and collect several bags of rubbish on each visit. Clean Coasts celebrates its 20th anniversary as an organisation this year and the winners of its Ocean Hero Award will be announced at an in-person ceremony on December 7. Donegals Jessica McKean has travelled to Nice to represent Ireland in the final of the Junior Eurovision. Talented Jessica, who is 10 years old and from Lifford in County Donegal, is the youngest Irish representative to date. Over the weekend, Jessica was very excited as she left Dublin Airport bound for Nice to begin a week of rehearsals and international press interviews ahead of her performance at Junior Eurovision on Sunday. The Opening Ceremony is being held on Monday which will reveal parts of the running order of the Grand Final. Jessica will be singing a song called Aisling written by Niall Mooney and his team. Jessica is no stranger to winning competitions as she won her first Feis competition at only three years of age and is really excited to make her country proud in Nice. Jessica McKean in Dublin Airport. Photo: Bryan Brophy 1Image The Junior Eurovision Song Contest will broadcast live on TG4 on November 26 at 3pm. This year marks a special year of Junior Eurovision, it is the 21st anniversary of the first show and sees 16 countries compete. With over 33 million viewers across Europe, the show is something spectacular to be a part of. Last year, Sophie Lennon came 4th at the contest in Yerevan, with her song Solas. This was the best result for Ireland in the junior or senior competition in 25 years. A Dublin-Palestinian business owner has said the stress and fear for their loved ones still in Palestine is very tough on his family here. Anas Almahroum, owner of Kanafeh Kingz in Tallaght, is anxiously checking the online status of family members in Palestine to make sure that they are still alive. Every phone call could be the last phone call, thats the reality of it. Every chat or conversation, were constantly waiting to see them active online. When its online, the conversion is very minimal, youre just making sure theyre still alive, he said. Emotional scenes at Dublin Airport as Irish-Palestinians arrive from Gaza reunite with family Its very daunting and tough. My wife is from Gaza; her family is based there. Her uncles, aunts and cousins were moved out of their homes as a safety measure. Theyve moved into the schools and taken refuge there. Ireland is a country full of fighters. Me being Irish and Palestinian, its about freedom and fighting for justice. Its rooted deep within me from both angles. Ive lived in Tallaght my whole life, I went to primary and secondary school here, and university here in Dublin. Im through and through Tallaght. Ive never been to Palestine in my life, it never really worked out, he added. Mr Almahroum, who recently donated a whole days worth of earnings to those in Palestine, said his company was created in memory of his great grandfather, who lost his restaurant after he was kicked out of the country in 1948. Our sole existence as a business is a representation of Palestine. It shows our culture, and we represent our Palestinian identity in the midst of what has been going on for the past 75 years. Its a strong case of how we can protect our culture and our identity as Palestinians, he said. My great grandfather was a dessert chef; he had his own shop in Palestine. In 1948, when they were kicked out and became refugees in Jordan, he lost all of that. The family business was gone, it was wiped out. All these years later, I was able to reignite that family business here in Dublin. Thats very valuable to our family and the Palestinian community. Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip queue for water at a UN displacement camp. Pic: AP Photo/Fatima Shbair Before this current war, it was a constant symbol of resistance and survival. We want to bring a taste of Palestine to Ireland. We did a charity day a couple of weeks ago, we fundraised to help those in Gaza. All the income that day went to Palestine. Its nice to see people here reach out and support. It was a very successful day; we were proud of our community here. Meanwhile, Shaku Maku restaurant owner Adnan Shabab said that its really hard being Palestinian at the moment. He still has family in Palestine, and he is hoping for a ceasefire. Were trying to stay positive, being Palestinian is hard at the moment. Its a nightmare watching the news. My extended family is in Palestine, my cousins. All their houses have been flattened; theyve had to move, he told the Irish Independent. Shaku Maku came from my mother and grandmothers recipes from Palestine, the family recipes go back years and years. I got inspiration from them, theyre very simple but very tasty. In Palestine, weve a very strong culture when it comes to food and to music. Ireland has a very deep culture too; we have a lot of similarities in that sense. People are crying for a ceasefire. Its whats needed, he added. Robbie Capaldi, Leah Williamson and Gary Mountaine from Sleeping Beauty, taking place from December 7 to January 7 at the dlr Mill Theatre. Pic: Marc O'Sullivan Its the most wonderful time of the year once again and the scramble for tickets to your favourite panto has already begun, with some shows starting as early as this week. A visit to one of the many productions happening across the city is as much a part of Christmas as the little ones writing their letters to Santa and counting down the hours until the Late Late Toy Show. So treat them to that extra bit of Christmas cheer and bring them to some of the pantomimes in the capital. Heres whats on offer this year. Treasure Island, The Helix Treasure Island promises to be fun, fresh and magical. The new script has plenty of twists, turns and adventure for all the family to enjoy. Theatreworx has promised to take a fresh and exciting approach to ensure that the young and the not so young will be captivated by a tale less told and will certainly laugh their troubles away at the Helix. Tickets are from 27.50, and shows will run from November 24 until January 14. Cinderella, The Gaiety The Gaiety Theatre has hosted the annual Christmas Panto each year since Turko the Terrible in 1873. Today, families come from far and wide to experience the Gaiety Christmas Panto and, for many, it has become as much a family Christmas tradition as Santa himself. Starring legendary Gaiety Panto Dame Joe Conlan as Nanny Scrumptious, Nicholas Grennell as the Evil Stepmother, Ciara Lyons as Cinderella, David Crowley as Prince Charming, and Emma Wigglesworth as the Fairy Godmother. This updated rags to riches tale will show families what dreams are really made of. Those involved said: As always, true love finds a way and good conquers evil in this enchanting story, because theres no room for bullies at the ball. Opening next Sunday, November 26 and running until January 21 next year, with extra performances added due to demand. Tickets are priced from 21.50. Sleeping Beauty, dlr Mill Theatre Actor Robbie Capaldi rehearsing a scene from Sleeping Beauty. Pic: Marc O'Sullivan Its advised for Dubliners to set their alarms, and not hit the snooze button for some extra beauty sleep as dlr Mill Theatres one hour panto is packed with colourful costumes, sparkling songs, dazzling dance routines and enough laughs to keep the whole family buzzing. Princess Aurora pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and is doomed to sleep for 100 years by the wicked Maleficent. Join Nanny Nellie and the gang from December 7 until January 7. Tickets are from 20. Cinderella, The Civic, Tallaght This two-hour show shall Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo the way around the Civic Theatre as we follow Cinderella and her friends on this spectacular adventure. Cinderella lives a life of drudgery, bullied by her horrible ugly sisters, Dottie and Lottie and her only comfort is her pal Tickles! Prince Charming is holding a ball to meet his bride-to-be. Could this be the chance Cinders has been waiting for? This classic tale of rags to riches will run from December 6 until January 7, with tickets from 21. Sammy, Buffy and the Beanstalk, The National Stadium Sammy, Buffy and the Beanstalk, starring Una Healy, at the National Stadium Alan Hughes and Karl Broderick are taking to the stage for their 25th pantomime. After a quarter of a decade of Sammy Sausages and Buffy, therell definitely be a lot of surprises for the boys and girls especially if theyre fans of Una Healy from the Saturdays. The show is running from December 12 until January 7, with tickets priced from 25. Rapunzel, Liberty Hall Eurovision Winner Linda Martin will be taking to the stage as Mother Gothel in this action packed panto bonanza, alongside Ciaran Kavanagh as Dame Nellie and Anna Kearney as Rapunzel. Anita OBrien will be Fairy Fu Fu and Pascal is Eoin Mullins. Eric Lalor will also be joining as King Bouffant. Starting from December 18 and running all the way through to December 31. Tickets are from 15 for school shows. Olly, Polly, and the Magic Lamp, 3Olympia Theatre Olly, Polly, and the Magic Lamp will be on at the 3Olympia Theatre Written by Al Porter and Ryan Andrews, Olly, Polly, and the Magic Lamp invites you to step onto the magic carpet and join the fun with the dynamic duo, Olly (Ryan Andrews), and Polly (Maclean Burke), along with James Patrice as The Genie and Rob Vickers as Abanazar. Theres also claims that Erin McGregor and Michaela ONeill will take to the stage as the hilarious banter duo. Taking place at the Dame Street venue from Wednesday, December 20, to Sunday, January 7. Tickets are priced from 22.50. Freezin The Panto, Draiocht, Blanchardstown The Dublin version of this Disney story sees Princess Ella and Princess Hannah go on an adventure. Ella has magical powers to freeze objects and people, which she doesnt know how to control. When faced with danger, the two discover their hidden potential and the powerful bond of sisterhood. Characters include Frosty the Snowman and Sfine the Reindeer The guys in Blanch also have a sensory friendly panto on January 11 with lowered volume, lights on a low level, smaller audience size and the ability to make noise and move around freely during the show. Tickets are from 21, and the show will run from January 4 until 21. The vaccine will be available for free to eligible people until the end of the year The HPV Vaccine is available at Mallow Primary Healthcare Centre on certain dates before the end of the year. Young people in Cork and Kerry have been invited to get a free HPV vaccine before the end of the year. Cork Kerry Community Healthcare has issued a final call for the Laura Brennan Catch-up HPV Vaccination programme, which comes to an end in December. Those eligible for the vaccine is available to second-level students, males aged 21 or younger and females aged 24 or younger. International students who meet the eligibility criteria can also avail of the vaccine. The vaccine is also available to refugees in Ireland, and females aged 14 to 24 and males aged 14 to 21 are eligible for it. Appointments can be booked online at hpv.ie while walk-ins at clinics offering the vaccine are also welcome. This is Cork Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Cork newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details Dr Lucy Jessop, Consultant in Public Health Medicine National Immunisations Lead at the HSE National Immunisation Office, shas emphasised that HPV can cause cancers that affect both women and men. Community Registered General Nurse for School Vaccinations with the HSE South Lee team, Dallas Brennan, has urged those that missed out on the vaccine at school to make an appointment. Its a single dose and a very safe vaccine. We are more than happy to answer any questions you might have on the day." Mrs Brennan said. Clinics in Cork and Kerry offering the vaccine on certain dates are as follows: Clinic A, St Finbarr's Hospital Campus, Douglas Road T12 XH60 Tuesday, 28th November: 9am-4pm Wednesday, 6th December: 9am-4pm Wednesday, 20th December: 9am-4pm Mayfield Day Centre, Teach Mhuire, Old Youghal Road, Mayfield, T23 Y820 Tuesday, 21st November: 9am-4pm Kampus Kitchen, University College Cork, College Road, Cork Wednesday, 29th November: 9am-4pm St Mary's Primary Care Centre, St Mary's Health Campus, Baker's Rd, Gurranabraher, Cork, T23 V09X Wednesday, 13th December: 9am-4pm Tuesday, 19th December: 9am-4pm Mallow Primary Healthcare Centre, Gouldshill, Mallow P51 Y8EC Monday 20th November: 1pm-4pm Monday 11th December: 1pm-4pm Thursday 28th December: 1:30pm-3:30pm Kerry Vaccination Centre, Borg Warner, Monavalley, Tralee, Co. Kerry, V92 HT21 Monday, 11th December: 9:30am-1:30pm Dingle based stroke survivor Meaghan O'Brien (left) says no patient should be told they cant do something, as mindset is so important to recovery. She has graduated from an Irish Heart Foundation Patient Champions programme to advocate for other stroke and heart patients and is pictured after receiving her certificate with Tralee native Pauline O'Shea, the charitys Advocacy Campaign Manager. Photo from the Irish Heart Foundation. Kerry based stroke survivor Meaghan O'Brien says no patient should be told they cant do something, as mindset is so important to recovery. She has graduated from an Irish Heart Foundation Patient Champions programme to advocate for other stroke and heart patients and ensure their voice is included in policy decisions on how to care for them. A Kerry based bride-to-be who suffered a devastating stroke back in January of 2013 while living in the US is now on a mission to have invisible patients heard within the health system. Meaghan OBrien, a Boston native, but who is now based in Dingle having in lived in Kerry since 2020, was just 22 years old when she collapsed after starting a gym session but she recognised the F.A.S.T. signs such as facial drooping and left arm weakness. Dingle based stroke survivor Meaghan O'Brien (left) says no patient should be told they cant do something, as mindset is so important to recovery. She has graduated from an Irish Heart Foundation Patient Champions programme to advocate for other stroke and heart patients and is pictured after receiving her certificate with Tralee native Pauline O'Shea, the charitys Advocacy Campaign Manager. Photo from the Irish Heart Foundation. Meaghans mom, who was waiting to start a class in the same gym, witnessed her daughter being wheeled past her by the paramedics as Meghan was rushed to a Boston hospital by medical helicopter where she was given thrombolysis, a clot-busting drug. Now aged 32 and due to marry her fiance Gearoid next year and coming up on 11 years on from the incident, Meaghan is recently graduated Irish Heart Foundation Patient Champion and has made it her mission to amplify what she described as the often unheard views of heart and stroke patients with in the health system. Speaking about her memories of the stroke, Meaghan recalls feeling like she was dying and was grateful to be given the clot busting drug on admittance to hospital I was in ICU and surrounded by doctors and machines it was so scary. I couldnt do anything I couldnt sit up, go to the toilet or move my head, she said. This is Kerry Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Kerry newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details A week later, Meaghans family was given the devastating news by Meaghans medical team that at following the stroke, Meaghan would never walk again. One thing the medical professionals did not count on though was Meaghans sheer determination to beat the odds. When practising walking up and down the corridors, I was surrounded by people in their 70s and 80s. I asked myself, why am I here?. It was such a shock to me. I felt that I was wasting precious recovery time doing something that wasnt benefitting me. Now 32, she has defied doctors, regaining the ability to walk again and returning to her IT job. The stroke survivor and 11 other patients have now graduated from the Patient Champions programme, part of the charitys investment in heart and stroke patients. They will now advocate for fellow patients and lobby TDs and Senators to ensure their needs are taken into account when policy decisions are being made about their care. She says no patient should be told they cant do something, as mindset is so important to recovery. I would have benefitted so much from the programme if it was developed when I had my stroke, said Meaghan, adding that shes now here to support those stroke patients now. Its so beneficial to me to get official training on how to use my experience to make a difference. I was often wheeled out to tell my story, but now I feel I have the training to give impact. The Irish Heart Foundations Advocacy Campaign Manager, Pauline OShea, a Tralee native who was diagnosed with heart failure in 2012, said many patients feel unheard, invisible and disempowered. This programme and our organisations commitment to ongoing peer and professional advocacy support for patients, provides a natural hub for heart and stroke patients from all over Ireland to come together and work for changes needed in cardiac and stroke care, of which there are many, she said. Patients challenges often extend beyond medical issues and can lead to financial stress, mental health difficulties and relationship breakdown. We often have people making decisions about patients lives without any patient input, Pauline continued. If you are interested in signing up for or joining the Irish Heart Foundations Patient Champions Programme, visit: https://irishheart.ie/patient-champions/ Deputy Frank Feighan has welcomed the allocation of 24,000 for eight Sligo Mens Sheds. Tubbercurry, CLASP, Enniscrone, Dromore West, Ballisodare, Sligo, Cliffoney and Abbeyquarter will all benefit from a new 1 million Fund announced by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys. The funding is designed to assist Mens Sheds with their running costs such as their heating, electricity utility and insurance bills. Deputy Feighan said: I am delighted to see continues funding at a national level for the Mens Sheds projects, the work that is done here is so important in terms of wellbeing and mental health. This is Sligo Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Sligo newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details This funding builds on last years fund of 800,000 to support Mens Sheds, and just shows the long term commitment to Mens Sheds from this government which I warmly welcome for the many men across Sligo who participate in the mens shed project. Minister Humphreys said: The emergence of our Mens Sheds has been a hugely positive development for communities right across Ireland. They help tackle isolation and provide a safe, comfortable and welcoming environment where men of all ages can come together to socialise, share skills and work on meaningful projects. As we enter the winter months, the supports that our Mens Sheds provide are more important than ever. Im therefore delighted to announce this new 1 million initiative, which will see 435 Mens Sheds supported with grants of up to 3,000. Travel bloggers also praised for efforts to get people to clean up our beaches Streedagh Clean Coasts in Sligo have been nominated in the Tourism Special Recognition Award (supported by Failte Ireland) category for Clean Coasts Ocean Hero Awards for their work to restore damage caused by increased visitor footfall over the years. Valters and Aiva Vocisa, aka Our Crossings were shortlisted in the Ocean Hero 2023 Campaigner of the year Category for their efforts promoting the #2MinuteBeachClean campaign A group from North Sligo who regularly tend to Streedagh beach have been nominated for an award. Clean Coasts has announced the shortlist for its annual Ocean Hero Awards. The Clean Coasts Ocean Hero Awards pay tribute to the exceptional contributions made by Clean Coasts volunteers, groups, and communities in safeguarding our coast and marine life. In County Sligo, Streedagh Clean Coasts were nominated in the Tourism Special Recognition Award, supported by Failte Ireland. This group demonstrated exceptional commitment to preserving Streedagh beach. Collaborating with The Spanish Armada Society, Grange Tidy Towns, and Island View Riding Stables, theyve engaged the community in initiatives like World Ocean Day and World Sand Dune Day. Streedagh Clean Coasts in Sligo have been nominated in the Tourism Special Recognition Award (supported by Failte Ireland) category for Clean Coasts Ocean Hero Awards for their work to restore damage caused by increased visitor footfall over the years. Their ongoing efforts include beach restoration, awareness events, marram grass planting, and collaboration with environmental organizations. Their dedication to sustainable tourism and habitat protection deserves special recognition. Also, Aiva and Valters, aka Our Crossings, two travel bloggers based in county Sligo, were shortlisted in the Campaigner of the Year category, for their efforts promoting the #2MinuteBeachClean campaign. In 2023, they have shared on their social media weekly stories about their litter picks, showcasing not only how easy and quick it can be to make a difference for our marine environment, but also what are the main litter items affecting our coast. The highlights of 2023 for us were people who came up to us while we were doing beach cleanups and offered to join in. It was also those individuals who reached out on social media eager to start beach cleanups themselves, asking for tips and hints on how to begin. Established in 2006 as the Clean Coasts Merit Awards, the accolades initially featured a single category, The Clean Coasts Group of the Year. Over the years, the programme has evolved, engaging over 2,000 Clean Coasts groups and 40,000 volunteers, becoming an integral part of coastal communities nationwide. This is Sligo Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Sligo newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details This year, the Ocean Hero Awards take on special significance as Clean Coasts marks its 20th Anniversary. For the past 20 years, Clean Coasts has grown from strength to strength expanding and creating campaigns and initiatives aimed at enjoying, protecting and celebrating the beauty of our coast. Thomas Byrne, Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (far right) and Clare McGrath, Chair, Water Safety Ireland presenting the Seiko Just In Time Awards of Michael Kavanagh and Rescue Appreciation Award of Antonio Deramo, Sligo at the Water Safety Ireland National Awards Ceremony in Dublin Castle. The rescue of three girls from the sea at Strandhill was recalled at an awards ceremony in Dublin last week. Last June, at Strandhill beach slipway, Eamon Eamon OGrady, a non-swimmer, noticed three girls in difficulty in the water. Luckily, Michael Kavanagh and David Mulcahy (off duty surf instructors) were close by when Eamon raised the alarm. They both responded by retrieving rescue boards and entered the water. Antonio Deramo, who was surfing in the area, also noticed the girls in difficulty. This is Sligo Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Sligo newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details Each of the men managed to take one of the girls onto their boards and made their way back to shore. All three girls were successfully rescued and made a full recovery. Michael, David and Eamon were awarded Just In Time Awards and Antonio a Rescue Appreciation award at the Water Safety Irelands National Annual Awards Ceremony at the Printworks Event and Exhibition Centre, Dublin Castle. Minister Byrne acknowledged a total of fifty-five recipients of the Seiko Just in Time Award and rescue appreciation awards for saving twenty-nine lives at risk of drowning. It is an honour to pay tribute to the courageous and deserving award recipients being recognised at Water Safety Irelands National Awards Ceremony. I want to commend the valiant efforts of these individuals who save others from drowning and to also pay tribute to the ongoing work of Water Safety Ireland volunteers who teach swimming and water rescue skills, said the Minister. Water Safety Ireland CEO Joanne Walsh stated: Drownings can happen quickly and silently but with the right knowledge, skills and attitudes everyone can avoid the hazards and take responsibility for their own safety. Start a water safety conversation with your family, friends and colleagues and encourage them to read Water Safety Irelands guidelines at www.watersafety.ie so they can enjoy Irelands waterways safely. The crew of the Cahore Inshore Rescue Service made their TV debut in episode six of the Tarrthalaithe na hEireann series on TG4. The series which aired on Thursday, November 9, is in Irish and although only three of the Cahore Rescue Service crew members speak Irish, a teacher from a local Gaelscoil whos mother volunteered with the service for years was also able to assist them. Behind the scenes of the show, the Cahore Inshore Rescue Service spent two full days filming with the TG4 team and they also captured a lot of footage themselves throughout the year which the production team were able to edit. We gave them hours and hours of footage and they cut it right down to very little, said Noel Ward of the Cahore Inshore Rescue Service. Noel has been volunteering with the service for the last nine and a half years and some of the other volunteers at the service have been their for more than 20 years. "Our episode was very enjoyable and Ive been enjoying the whole series on TG4 about all the other rescue boats as well. It was good to see other services in the same situation as ourselves and learn more information about what theyre doing, said Noel. The service is currently seeking new volunteers and theres a lot more involved than making rescues. Their team has around 25 members overall between crew members, shore crew, fundraising volunteers and committee members. If youre interested in volunteering with the Cahore Inshore Rescue Service, contact 0857023841 or check out their Facebook page. You can also click here if youd like to watch episode six of the Tarrthalaithe na hEireann series. EU didnt believe Boris Johnsons madman no-deal Brexit bluff Former EU Brexit chief said UK ministers did not understand consequences of leaving Boris Johnson Johnson made a huge mistake by imposing deadlines on Brexit, says Michel Barnier. Photo: Dan Kitwood Adam Forrest UK Independent Mon 20 Nov 2023 at 14:43 European Union negotiators did not believe Boris Johnsons bluff that he was prepared to pull the UK out of the bloc with a no deal Brexit, Michel Barnier has revealed. President Joe Biden presented his vision of a two-state solution at the conclusion of the Israel-Hamas war as he crystallised his position that a ceasefire is not peace. As long as Hamas clings to its ideology of destruction, a ceasefire is not peace, the president wrote in a Saturday op-ed for the Washington Post. An outcome that leaves Hamas in control of Gaza would once more perpetuate its hate and deny Palestinian civilians the chance to build something better for themselves. Meet the firm behind our content. Visit their website to see how their services can help your business succeed. Photo Courtesy: Sam Altman X page Former Open AI CEO Sam Altman recently posted a photo of himself at the headquarters of the firm amid reports that he is returning to the AI company, days after he was sacked. In his X post, Sam Altman shared an image of himself wearing the guest ID pass of the leading AI company. He wrote: "First and last time i ever wear one of these." first and last time i ever wear one of these pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a Sam Altman (@sama) November 19, 2023 Sam Altman helped launch the firm which created ChatGPT bot. Open AI on Friday (November 17, 2023) sacked CEO Sam Altman, prompting the co-founder Greg Brockman to quit soon after. The company said OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati will serve as the interim CEO. "The board of directors of OpenAI, Inc., the 501(c)(3) that acts as the overall governing body for all OpenAI activities, today announced that Sam Altman will depart as CEO and leave the board of directors. Mira Murati, the companys chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately," the tech firm said in a statement. Speaking further on the decision to remove Sam, the firm said: "Altmans departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI." Meanwhile, some media reports claimed over the weekend that investors and employees are pushing for Altman to be reinstated to the company. According to tech news site The Information, Mr Altman and Greg Brockman - another co-founder who quit on Friday as the company's president - were invited to the firm's San Francisco headquarters for talks on Sunday, reported BBC. Open AI names former Twitch chief Emmett Shear as interim CEO. Photo Courtesy: Emmett Shear Linkedln page Open AI has named former Twitch CEO and co-founder Emmett Shear as the company's interim CEO, media reports said. If media reports are to be believed then former CEO Sam Altman will not return to the company which created ChatGPT bot. Emmett Shear, the co-founder of Twitch, a popular video game streaming platform Amazon acquired in 2014, will be named the companys interim CEO, replacing Mira Murati, who was named interim CEO in a management reshuffle Friday, a person familiar with the development told The Washington Post. Shears surprise appointment comes after OpenAIs four-person board refused to step down and let Altman return, sources told The Verge. Open AI on Friday (November 17, 2023) sacked CEO Sam Altman, prompting the co-founder Greg Brockman to quit soon after. The company said in a statement: "Altmans departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI." We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023 Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will join his company to lead a new advanced AI research team. Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reacted to the development and posted on X: "We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI's new leadership team and working with them. And were extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success." Who is Emmett Shear? Shear is an American internet entrepreneur, and investor. He served as a part-time partner at venture capital firm Y Combinator. He became the CEO of Twitch in 2011. E-commerce major Amazon acquired it for nearly $1 billion in 2014. Shear quit Twitch in March 2023. Before his professional career started, Shear received a Bachelor of Science with a major in computer science from Yale University in 2005. Photo courtesy: UNI Bhubaneswar/UNI: President Droupadi Murmu arrived here at Baripada on Monday by special Air Force Aircraft from Kalaikunda Airbase on a three-day visit to Odisha. Odisha Governor Raghubar Das and Union Minister Biseswar Tudu received the President at Baripada Police Padia after she landed. An elaborate security arrangement has been made for the smooth visit of the President. Sources said 32 platoons of police were deployed for the security of the President. As per the schedule, the President will grace the inaugural session of the 36th Annual Conference and Literary Festival of All India Santali Writers Association at Baripada and inaugurate an Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) at Kuliana in Mayurbhanj district on Monday. The EMRS has been developed on 12 acres of land at a cost of Rs 38 crore sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs. She will inaugurate a Skill Training Centre at Paharpur village on November 21. Subsequently, she will visit Badampahar Railway Station, from where she will flag off three new trains -Badampahar Tatanagar MEMU; Badampahar-Rourkela Weekly Express; and Badampahar - Shalimar Weekly Express. The President will also inaugurate the new Rairangpur Postal Division; release a commemorative cover of the Rairangpur Postal Division, and lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Badampahar Railway Station. She will travel from Badampahar to Rairangpur on the Badampahar-Shalimar Express. On the same evening, the President will grace the 15th annual convocation of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla. On November 22, the President will launch the National Education Campaign New Education for New India, organised by Brahma Kumaris at Sambalpur. Later, the President will visit Puttaparthi, where she will grace the 42nd convocation of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. Photo Courtesy: Arinam Bagchi X page India has sent the second tranche of humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. "2nd tranche of India's humanitarian assistance for the people of Palestine arrives in Egypt," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi posted on X. He further said: "Relief material handed over to Egyptian Red Crescent for further transmission to Palestine." External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also confirmed the development and said the country continues to deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine. "Second @IAF_MCC C17 aircraft carrying 32 tonnes of aid departs for the El-Arish Airport in Egypt," the Indian Minister said. The UN chief said on Monday that in the current conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Gaza, the world is witnessing an "unparalleled and unprecendented" level of civilian death, compared to any other conflict since he became Secretary-General in 2017. In reply to a question at a press conference dealing with the latest emissions report, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that in all the reports issued during his tenure, on children in conflict, it was clear that the current war in Gaza has seen thousands of child deaths - compared with hundreds, in conflicts in Yemen and Syria. Without entering into discussing the accuracy of the figures released by the health ministry in Gaza, which are regarded by UN agencies as reliable, he said that what is clear is that we have had in a few weeks thousands of children killed. Latest reports from health authorities indicate that more than 13,000 civilians in total have died in the enclave since the 7 October terror attacks by Hamas, and subsequent Israeli offensive. This is what matters. We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unparalleled and unprecedented in any conflict since I have been Secretary-General. Photo Courtesy: UNI Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate virtually in the BRICS summit on Tuesday, which will focus on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the Kremlin said on Monday. "On November 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in an extraordinary BRICS summit (online) to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," the Kremlin said in a statement. Earlier in the day, the South African government said that President Cyril Ramaphosa, the bloc's 2023 chair, would convene a BRICS Extraordinary Joint Meeting on the Middle East Situation in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The leaders of the bloc's countries, new member countries, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will participate in the meeting, the government said, adding that participants were expected to adopt a joint statement on the situation in the Gaza Strip at the end of the meeting. On October 7, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and abducting people in neighbouring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel. On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion inside the Gaza Strip with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. BRICS, established in 2009, is a group uniting the world's largest developing economies, which currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In August, the 15th top-level BRICS summit in Johannesburg extended invitations to Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia to join the bloc. Their full membership is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2024. (With UNI/Sputnik inputs) Photo Courtesy: Wallpaper Cave Two armed attacks in Chagai and Pishin districts of Balochistan region of Pakistan on Saturday left at least five people, including three Levies personnel, hurt, media reports said. Three Levies personnel sustained injuries in an attack by unidentified gunmen at a check post on the Quetta-Taftan highway in Chagai, reported Dawn News. Officials told the newspaper a group of armed men raided a pickup in the Gazan area near Dalbandin and indiscriminately fired at the Levies personnel on duty at the post. The personnel returned and an exchange of heavy gunfire ensued which left three Levies men injured. According to reports, the attackers escaped from the area. The injured personnel were shifted to the hospital for treatment. In another incident, at least two employees of Pishin Cadet College were injured after unidentified armed men on motorcycles opened fire on them. Next week, if all goes as planned, the specially condivd Gastrade tanker, which will be Greeces first Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU), begins its long journey from the Keppel shipyard in Singapore. The final destination of Orfeas is the port of Alexandroupolis, after crossing the Indian Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea Information from the OT, they want the former LNG transport tanker, now built with FSRU technical specifications, to arrive in the Thracian Sea around mid-December. The approximately 300-meter-long floating unit will moor 17.6 km southwest off the port of Alexandroupolis. The the only work left is to connect it to the 24 km long subsea and 4 km long land pipeline. FSRU Alexandroupolis, according to the same information, will be able to receive quantities of LNG cargoes by mid-January 2024 and then gasify them by channeling the natural gas to the Independent Natural Gas System (IGS) and then through the IGB pipeline (interconnecting pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria) to supply the Balkan markets. It will be permanently moored, and its LNG storage capacity is 135,000 cubic meters, while its technical gasification capacity is estimated at 5.5 billion cubic meters per year. The floating unit is 288.6 meters long, 44 meters wide and 26.2 meters high. The FSRU which cost 450 to 470 million having received Community funding of around 270 million. Gas gateway to SE Europe FSRU Alexandroupolis comes to strengthen the role of Greece as a hub for the transfer of energy resources to Europe. Its operation, although the project was planned several years back, comes two years after the geopolitical turmoil triggered by Russias invasion of Ukraine and the need for the E.U. to become independent of Gazproms natural gas. The quantities that will be trafficked will reach Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia and even Moldova. The information says that already 50% of the quantities that can be gasified (5.5 billion cubic meters per year) are already licensed. The Alexandroupolis FSRU has been characterized by Europe as a project of strategic importance as it diversifies the energy input sources of the Old Continent as well as the mix used by industry and consumers. Youths from Benin trooped out in large numbers on Sunday to express their disapproval of the presence of popular crossdresser Bobriskys in their community following his alleged insults to the Oba of Benin. The socialite had caused a lot of controversy and outrage last year when he jokingly in a video asked the Oba of Benin to marry him. Many of the youths of Benin have considered this as an insult to the Benin culture and they have considered him a persona non-grata. READ MORE: Ive Visited Only 27 Countries My Whole Life Temi Otedola Reveals Word on the street is that the crossdresser is coming to the state again for an event and many youths flocked the street to protest and express their unacceptance of this. They were seen holding placards which conveyed their displeasure in such words as He is a bad influence; We dont want him in our state. Reactions has therefore trailed Benin Youths protest against Bobrisky Evablaze41 stated: See them jobless youths country nor hard reach where Una Dey Abi? adorable_joan penned: Make Una protest for your bad roads to be fixed. King_weba wrote: You see poverty and illiteracy is a problem in Nigeria, thats why the govt can call us jobless Nigeria youth all this isnt necessary Abeg klassy_peace remarked: I dont understandwith everything going on now How is this important rubbish The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the March 18 election of Hyacinth Alia as Governor of Benue State. Alia was declared winner of the governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Recall that the All Progressives Congress Governor polled 473,933 votes to defeat Titus Uba, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Uba however filed a petition challenging the Catholic Priests victory. In September, the governorship tribunal affirmed Alias election. READ ALSO: State Governors Sacked By Court Since May 29 And Why At the time, chairman of the three-member tribunal panel, Ibrahim Karaye, said they lacked jurisdiction to hear the petition because it is a pre-election matter. Uba and the PDP then appealed the ruling of the tribunal. Ruling on the appeal on Monday, the courts three-member panel led by Onyekachi Aja Otisi, dismissed the allegations of non-qualification made by Uba against the States Deputy Governor, Samuel Ode. Otisi held that Uba failed to prove allegations of forgery of INEC form EC9 by Ode beyond reasonable doubt. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, says Emirates Airline will soon announce the exact date for resumption of flight operations to Nigeria. According to him, he spoke with representatives of Emirates Airline regarding their Dubai to Nigeria flights on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow in Dubai last week. Disclosing this on Sunday on his X account, Keyamo said the Federal Government is working on some details concerning the resumption. On the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow in Dubai last week, I met with the top echelon of Emirates Airlines and we continued very warm and fruitful discussions towards the resumption of flights from Dubai to Nigeria, an effort which was championed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. READ ALSO: Ill Rather Sack You Than Lose My Job Keyamo Warns Aviation Agencies CEOs We are presently working on the small details and the airline will soon announce the exact date of their resumption of the flights, he said. At the biennial airshow event, Keyamo said he also visited pavilions of leading aviation and aerospace industries around the world. Keyamo furthered that he took a valuable cue from the event towards ongoing efforts at organising Nigerias own version of the Airshow in 2024 in Lagos, Nigeria in collaboration with the private sector. Recall that in October 2022, Emirates Airline suspended flight operations to Nigeria over its inability to repatriate funds trapped in the country. The airline suspended operations twice last year, with the first in August 2022. Emirates Airline said the suspension in October was due to its $85 million revenue trapped in Nigeria. As part of efforts to enhance working economy and to reduce the rate of unemployment in the society, the Federal Government of Nigeria has engaged Elon Musks internet company, Starlink, to explore the possibility of establishing programs to create jobs in the country. The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Sunday through his verified X handle. Bosun revealed that the discussions happened on the sideline of the ongoing International Telecommunication Union-World Radio Communication (ITU-WRC) Conference in Dubai. The minister explained that he met with Ryan Goodnight, the Senior Director of Global Licensing and Activation at SpaceX. He mentioned that the discussion focused on how Starlink could establish a program to certify local installers and maintenance personnel in Nigeria and explore contracts for hardware startups to produce Starlinks repeater boxes locally. This revelation coincided with the acknowledgement from a Starlink official who declared Nigeria the companys largest market, as stated by the Minister. READ MORE: Social Media Platform X To Introduce Video, Audio Calls Elon Musk Bosun said: Excellent conversation with Ryan Goodnight, Snr. Director, Global Licensing & Activation of @SpaceX on the sidelines of ITU-WRC 23, who shared that Nigeria is their biggest market in Africa. As demand for @Starlink continues to grow in Nigeria, we spoke about the issue of connecting unserved and underserved Nigerians. I also mentioned the possibility of creating thousands of new jobs in Nigeria through initiatives like a certified installer/maintenance programme for Starlink and working with hardware startups to produce repeater boxes locally. Our intention is to encourage every tech company to invest and deepen our tech ecosystem. Residents of Jos, the Plateau State capital, have rejected the Appellate Court verdict that sacked the State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang at the weekend. They however called for the review of all the verdicts delivered by the Court of Appeal on the Plateau elections during a peaceful protest on Sunday. Recall that upon Mutfwangs sack, the court declared Nentawe Yilwatda of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the governorship election and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a fresh certificate of return to him. Reacting, the residents described the judgement on the governorship polls as clear injustice. Philemon Jangkam, the youth leader of Angwan Rukuba Junction, called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to review all the judgements. READ ALSO: Appeal Court Sacks Plateau Governor, Declares APC Candidate Winner We started noticing the injustice from the Court of Appeal judgements that sacked Representative Isaac Kwallu, Senator Simon Mwadkon, Representative Dachung Bagos, and other lawmakers. We, the youth of this community, are not happy, and we will not accept these judgements. We will continue to protest until this judgement and the ones that sacked our national assembly members are reviewed, he said. Samson Iliya, another resident, described the judgement as a deliberate subversion of the peoples will, adding that the peaceful protest was to express their displeasure with the judiciary. We massively voted for the governor and the sacked lawmakers; they are the choices of the majority of Plateau people and we will not allow the judiciary to decide who should lead us, he said. Pankyes Yanksat, another youth from Gyero Junction, advised Mutfwang to immediately challenge the judgement at the Supreme Court. Yanksat, who expressed optimism that Mutfwangs mandate would be restored, called on the judges of the apex court to keep emotions aside and go by the merits of the matter. Operatives of the Kwara State Police Command have arrested one suspect in connection with the gruesome killing of a Higher National Diploma (HND) female student of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Toyin Bamidele. Recall that INFORMATION NIGERIA had earlier reported that the deceased, who is an HND 1 student of Food and Technology, was allegedly hacked to death by suspected cultists at her rented apartment around Dapson Extension Area, Offa. It was gathered that Toyin was found in a pool of blood when police got to the scene. The incident was confirmed to journalists on Friday night by a spokesman for the institution, Folake Oyinloye, who said that the development was strange in the history of the institution. The Commissioner of Police, Victor Olaiya, on Sunday, confirmed the arrest of a suspect in relation to the attack. READ MORE: Female Offa Poly Student Hacked To Death In Kwara He said: The Command, through the Divisional Police Headquarters, Offa received information on November 16, 2023, at about 1720Hrs to the effect that an HND 1 student of Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara State, named Toyin Bamidele, F a student of Federal Polytechnic Offa resident at Dapson Extension Area, Offa, aged 23 years, studying Food Technology, was found lying in a pool of blood at the premises of her rented apartment. On receipt of the information, a team of investigators led by the Divisional Police Officer, Offa Division was dispatched to the scene of the incident. Preliminary investigation at the scene revealed some marks of violence on the face and neck regions of the body. The body was removed to Wale Clinic and Hospital, where the deceased was certified dead by a medical practitioner. The body of the deceased has been deposited in the mortuary for autopsy. One suspect has been apprehended in connection with the case. He is presently helping the Police in investigation. The military airstrikes from Operation Whirl Punch troops have killed dozens of terrorists hibernating at Tsauni Doka at Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Information Nigeria reports that the troops, drawn from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) laid ambush on the terrorists after surveillance revealed that there was a presence of their kingpin known as Boderi and his foot soldiers at Tsauni Doka. Edward Gabkwet, NAFs spokesman, who disclosed this on Sunday, explained that different strikes were also rained on terrorists gallivanting around a location about 500 metres east of Boderis hideout, believed to be the hiding place of Boderis brother, Nasiru. READ ALSO: I Dont Miss My Time As President Buhari The Air Commodore said, The strikes became necessary following credible intelligence revealed the presence of terrorist kingpin known as Boderi and his foot soldiers at Tsauni Doka. Subsequently, air strikes were carried out on the location in the early hours of 16 November 2023, with devastating consequences on the terrorists. Similar strikes with positive outcomes were also carried out at a location about 500 metres east of Boderis hideout, believed to be the hiding place of Boderis brother, Nasiru. Both strikes were termed very successful as several terrorists were neutralized and their motorcycles destroyed. Boderi and his brother Nasiru, alongside their cohorts, have been blamed for several attacks and abductions along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road as well as in several communities in Niger and Kaduna States. A seer who correctly predicted Queen Elizabeth IIs death has issued a new forecast regarding what will transpire before the year ends. Mirror claims that Athos Salome, a fortune teller, foresaw a number of disastrous occurrences that he asserted would happen before New Years Day. With a track record of accurate predictions, including the demise of Queen Elizabeth II and Elon Musks social media switch, Salome has become known as the Living Nostradamus. Salomes emphasised the likelihood of devastating floods and earthquakes in various regions. He warned that while his predictions are not set in stone, they serve as a call to action to prevent or mitigate the potential damage. READ MORE: FG In Talks With Elon Musks Starlink To Create Jobs In Nigeria Presidency The Pacific Ring of Fire, known for its heightened volcanic and seismic activity, is expected to experience increased disturbances. Salome also referred to the Indonesian island of Java and the coastal stretch from northern California to southern British Columbia as areas where natures unyielding force will be felt. In addition to floods and earthquakes, Salomes visions also included an escalation in the intensity of hurricanes and cyclones. However the seer assured that his goal is not to make anyone afraid of what is purported to happen next. In his words; I dont intend to instil fear in society. I hope that the negative events predicted will not come true. My warnings are to actually serve as motivation for us to come together and prioritise our well-being. I also need to emphasise the importance of implementing policies, building infrastructure and importantly increasing awareness, on a global level and believe that with governance and citizen cooperation, we can avoid these challenges altogether. Shehu Sani, former Senator representing Kaduna Central, has posited that the judiciary will soon be the death of democracy in Nigeria. The socio-political commentator was reacting to the Appeal Court judgement that sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State. Recall that the Appeal Court had set aside the judgement of the governorship election tribunal that upheld the election of Mutfwang as Governor of the state. READ ALSO: Appeal Court Sacks Plateau Governor, Declares APC Candidate Winner The court declared Nentawe Yilwatda of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the governorship election while ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a fresh certificate of return to him. Reacting, Sani said the verdict of the appellate court was unfortunate and unacceptable. He said, The Court of Appeal judgement against the electoral victory of the Plateau State Governor is unfortunate, unacceptable, and condemnable. A broad daylight heist of the will of the people. The bench is becoming the coffin of democracy, he wrote via X. The newly deployed Commissioner of Police in Rivers State Olatunji Disu says preliminary investigation did not reveal an assassination attempt on a factional speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly Edison Ehie. Recall that the lawmaker, in an interview on Channels Television on Monday morning, disclosed that armed thugs and rogue Police officers attempted to assassinate him. He said: Yes, indeed, it was crazy but my house has been taken over by heavy security and they are doing a security sweep of the whole compound. However, the state Commissioner of Police, Tunji Disu, while reacting to questions from newsmen in Port Harcourt today, described what happened at Ehies residence as a routine police patrol. READ MORE: Armed Thugs Led By Police Attempted to Kill Me At My Residence Factional Rivers Assembly Speaker Cries Out Disu said preliminary investigations did not reveal any attempt to assassinate the lawmaker, adding the command had reached out to him to assist the police with any other information about the incident. He said: The preliminary investigation we have done so far this morning has not revealed any assassination attempt. All I knew was that police officers were on convoy patrol. It is a routine thing, and we have made frantic efforts to get across to the leader to give us any information he has so that we can include it to what we already have. So far so good; nothing to worry about. My plea to him and every other person is if there is any complaint, my number is going to be made public. They should call me and I will quickly look into it. For now, I have not received any information like that. The Court of Appeal, led by Justice Elphreda Williams-Dawodu, in a judgment on Sunday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw the Certificate of Return given to Plateau State governor, Caleb Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party. The court therefore declared Nentawe Goshwe of the All Progressives Congress the rightful winner of the March 18 governorship election, ordering INEC to issue him a new Certificate of Return. Courts have sacked at least three governors whose elections were contested by opposing parties and deemed one election inconclusive, barely nine months after the elections. The following is a list of sacked state governors and the grounds given by the court: Abba Kabir Yusuf (NNPP) The NNPP received 1,019,602 votes to defeat the APC, whose candidate, Nasir Gawuna, received 890,705 votes, according to INEC. As a result, the NNPP candidate won by a margin of 128,897 votes. The Election Petitions Tribunal, under the leadership of Justice Oluyemi Osadebay, invalidated the election of Governor Yusuf. The tribunal made this decision by declaring 165,663 votes, garnered by Yusuf invalid. The ballot papers for the 165,663 votes were not signed or stamped, according to the judge, and thus were invalid. The court ordered that Yusufs certificate of return be revoked and that a fresh one be issued to Gawuna. The Court of Appeal in Abuja also upheld the tribunals decision. The three-member panel, led by Justice M.A Adumeh, determined that Yusuf was not on his political partys membership list. He stated that a party must hold the names of its registered members in both hard and soft copies, citing a clause of the Electoral Act. The judge stated that the tribunal erred in failing to disqualify Yusuf in its ruling. The tribunal was wrong not to have disqualified him. The failure to comply with Section 177(c) is fatal to their election. . Where a party carelessly nominates a candidate such is a nullity irrespective of whether he performs well. Sponsorship without membership is like putting nothing on something, it cannot stand. This is a clear example of acting with brazen impunity as if the Constitution is not binding, he held. Yusuf has, however, vowed to reclaim his mandate at the Supreme Court. READ MORE: Falana Seeks Review Of Appeal Court Judgments Sacking Three Govs Abdullahi Sule (APC) The Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sacked the state governor, Abdullahi Sule, in October and ordered INEC to revoke his Certificate of Return and give it to David Ombugadu of the PDP. Ombugadu had taken Sule to court to contest INECs announcement of Sule as the winner of the election. He told the tribunal that his actual votes were unfairly lowered while Sule of the APCs votes were boosted to help him win, notably in the EC8Bs of Gayam and Chiroma Wards of Lafia Local Government Area. The tribunal, led by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, in its decision deducted the incorrect votes added to Sule and added back the votes which were reduced from the overall votes of David Ombugadu. This decision was based on the certified copies of the polling units results (forms EC8A) that were presented by the petitioners. The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Wednesday, November 15, reserved judgment on the appeal. Dauda Lawal (PDP) INEC had declared Dauda Lawal of the PDP as the winner of the Zamfara State governorship election, defeating the incumbent governor, Bello Matawalle of the APC. Matawalle had filed a case with the tribunal contesting the results of the governorship election on March 18, but it was dismissed due to lack of merit. The Court of Appeal issued its decision on Thursday, November 16, declaring the election inconclusive and ordering INEC to hold new elections in two local governments. According to the appellate court, Matawalle, who is currently the Minister of State for Defence, was able to establish Lawals invalid election. The governor, in a statement by his spokesperson, Sulaiman Idris, said his legal team was reviewing the judgment before taking the next necessary action. Caleb Mutfwang (PDP) Nentawe Goshwe of the APC challenged the victory of Caleb Mutfwang at the tribunal, claiming that the governor was not validly nominated and sponsored by his party. A three-member panel of the tribunal headed by Justice R. Irele-Ifijeh, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the petition of Goshwe for lacking merit. The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu ruled on Sunday, November 19, that the governor was not legitimately sponsored by the PDP for the election, citing Section 177 of the Constitution. The judge pointed out that the PDP failed to adhere to a standing High Court order, which mandated the party to organise a legitimate party congress before endorsing candidates for the governorship and other positions. PUNCH The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) arm of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), have threatened to pull out of the Union. The drivers declared that they would breakaway if NUPENGs National President, Williams Akporeha, and its General Secretary, Olawale Afolabi, failed to resign from their positions. The tanker drivers disclosed this in a Sunday statement issued in Abuja and jointly signed by Gbenga Olawale and Adekunle Rufai of PTD, Ibadan Depot. The statement said the drivers staged the protest across the country, by placing plant leaves in front of their trucks. They however warned NUPENG and the Police against interference and incessant harassment of their leaders. According to them, Akporeha lacked the required competence to lead the union because he was not a member of the oil union. Akporeha, they said, was a cook in an oil company from the formal sector and was sacked from the company while holding the office of the national treasurer of NUPENG. READ ALSO: You Unleashed Violence And Barbarism NUPENG Knocks Imo Govt Over Attack On NLC President They further alleged that he was later drafted into the Petrol Station Workers Union of NUPENG to enable him to contest the election as NUPENG President. This, according to them, was a total departure from the constitution of NUPENG, because Williams is not a worker or a pump attendant on record as at the time he was verifying for the president position. Meanwhile, NUPENGs secretary has disclosed that the claims were false, as the faction that issued the statement were not PTD members. Afolabi said the leaders of the faction that issued the statement had been arrested and detained at Kuje prison in Abuja. They are not PTD members, their leaders attacked us recently in Abuja and were arrested and jailed in Kuje prison, Abuja, on the orders of the court, the NUPENG secretary stated. Socio-political commentator, Shehu Sani, in reaction to the development via X said: NUPENG and Petroleum Tanker Drivers should amicably resolve their differences. The people should not be subjected to another session of untold and avoidable hardships through a needless strike. A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and lawmaker, Dan Amos, representing Jemaa/Sanga Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, has expressed optimism about President Bola Ahmed Tinubus administration. The lawmaker said that some of the steps already taken by the current government indicate that Tinubu will make Nigeria great. He said: Theres hope for our dear nation under President Tinubu, the president has settled down well. Nigeria will be great again, the federal lawmaker said on the sidelines of a meeting with PDP stakeholders from his constituency in Kafanchan. The Chief of Defence Staff is one of us, and it shows that Mr. President means well for Southern Kaduna people. The average southern Kaduna man must be grateful to the president because he has given us the number one military officer. Already, we have moved motions and passed bills that will help stabilise the country and put food on the tables of ordinary Nigerians. Its a special project with a special funding, so its not waiting for any budget. Each of the colleges will have a kick off grant of N1billion. The college in my constituency will be called Federal Technical College, Kogom Dutse. There will be classrooms, workshops and laboratories and work on the project will likely begin next January. Nigerias first lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has assured that the policies and programmes put in place by the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are filled with prospects of a great future. The Presidents wife gave the assurance at a dinner held in her honour by the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO) in Freetown, Sierra Leone. She assured that the focus of her husbands administration is only the best interest of Nigerians. She said, I can assure you. You can trust my husband. Nigeria is like a fresh baby that we have to nurture. We hope to lay a good foundation that generations will be able to build upon. READ ALSO: My Husband Is Not A Magician Oluremi Tinubu Tells Nigerians We are in it to make sure we can turn our nation around, she added. She hailed Nigerians living in Sierra Leone for their unity despite coming from different tribes and religious backgrounds, while charging Nigerians back home to emulate same. The NIDO President in Sierra Leone, Engr. A. Abiodun, on behalf of members, expressed confidence in President Tinubus administration, as he promised Mrs Tinubu their continued support of her husbands government. Mrs Tinubu was in Sierra Leone over the weekend on the invitation of the countrys First Lady, Fatima Maada Bio to commemorate the United Nations Day on the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has slammed Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, over his claim that Anambra state belongs to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). It was gathered that the PDP Publicity Secretary in the state, Uloka Chibuike, in a press release issued on Sunday, disclosed that APGAs popularity has been reduced by poor governance. Chibuike described Soludos statement that Anambra belongs to APGA as a sad tale of people ignoring reality and low performance in the state. Chibuike also challenged the governor to evaluate himself based on his campaign promises and not the achievements of previous APGA governors. He said: Soludo needs to confront the harsh reality that his leadership has diminished APGAs popularity, becoming a burden on ndi Anambra, who eagerly awaits 2025 to usher the party out of Agu-Awka. The governor and APGAs assertion that Anambra exclusively belongs to APGA reflects a sad tale of people ignoring reality, relying on sycophantic feedback rather than the majoritys sentiments. READ MORE: Your Party Doesnt Exist In Anambra, You All Are Noise Makers Soludo Knocks APC The last general election highlighted APGAs decline in Anambra State. Unfortunately, they ignore this truth, which has only made them the subject of ridicule and hallucinations. It is widely acknowledged that Soludo would be the last governor from APGA, as the majority of Anambra people and electorates resonate with this truth and are awaiting 2025 when the next gubernatorial elections would take place. Soludos lackluster performance continued disparaging of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, whose name has sustained the party, misappropriation of funds, undemocratic tendencies, and failure to deliver on promises have destroyed the support and emotional attachment that ndi Anambra had for APGA. It is unfortunate that the former Central Bank governor has become so unpopular and lacks confidence in seeking a second term solely based on his own name and accomplishments. The truth is that Soludo will be the last governor from APGA, and this is not up for negotiation. The people of Anambra State want to feel the positive impact of effective governance. They desire improved infrastructure, job opportunities, the possibilities of local government and council elections, security, and other benefits that come with democracy. Soludo and APGA have not only failed to deliver these, but they are also leading the state toward destruction. Despite having a massive budget of over N400 billion with little to no funding deficits, Soludo and APGA cannot point to a single completed infrastructure project in the state in the past 20 months. As Deloitte has put it, data is the new gold. Innovative IoT (internet of things) devices seem to arrive on the market daily, and the amount of data generated by these devices is exploding. Data holds massive power, and when utilized correctly, it can be extremely valuable for enterprisesboth for improving business operations, and for improving IT operations. However, getting to that place where data is useful is a journey. We see AI all around us and interact with it daily. As more and more enterprises figure out how to harness the data in their systems, the process is becoming increasingly easier and simpler. Data collection is the first part of the journey and is reasonably straightforward. But once we have collected all of the data, what do we do with it? How do we make sense of it all? How do you locate the specific information you are looking for in a data pile that rises as high as the sky? Generative AI promises to make life dramatically easier on all of these fronts, across the enterprise. Ill focus here on what genAI can do for observability, devops, and IT teams. Overwhelming amounts of cryptic data Deloitte predicts that by 2025 our global data volume will reach 175 zettabytes, an increase of 55 zettabytes from where we currently stand. These overwhelming numbers can cause significant headaches for IT leaders as machine data can be cryptic and challenging to sift through. Unfortunately, parsing this data is not as easy as reading a textbook, a magazine, or an article written by a human being. Often, when attempting to analyze machine-generated operations data, IT teams are faced with many unknownskeywords, acronyms, numbers, codesand need help knowing where to begin. I call these situations knowledge gaps. Like most people looking for answers, developers will turn to Google or other search engines to fill these knowledge gaps, which is time-consuming and unreliable. Imagine how much better it would be if these knowledge gaps were quickly filled using generative AI. Generative AI has the potential to reduce toil for IT professionals by simplifying data and making it easily consumable. How generative AI fills knowledge gaps Another word for generative AI should be simplification because that is what its all about. However, for generative AI to work its magic, it must be set up for success. Enterprises must strategically utilize generative AI within their systems; it cannot be overbearing or scary. I believe the best way to use generative AI is by keeping it as simple as possible and invisible to the end user. When implemented correctly, genAI should seamlessly blend into the workflow. The goal is for generative AI to reduce toil, not add additional stress, so making it easy to navigate is imperative. When working with generative AI, context must be provided. Without context, AI is uselesssimilar to receiving ChatGPT information that only dates back to 2021. Its great to have access to mountains of data, but if AI does not have the proper context to sift through the data and find what you need, then the data will be useless and the AI will be irrelevant. With the relevant context, generative AI can fill knowledge gaps in minutes, sift through hundreds of zettabytes in seconds, and provide fundamental information for IT and operations teams. Generative AI in the real world We see generative AI used in the observability space throughout many industries, especially regarding compliance. Lets look at healthcare, an industry where you must comply with HIPAA. You are dealing with sensitive information, generating tons of data from multiple servers, and you must annotate the data with compliance tags. An IT team might see a tag that says, X is impacting 10.5.34 from GDPR The IT team may not even know what 10.5.34 means. This is a knowledge gapsomething that can very quickly be fulfilled by having generative AI right there to quickly tell you, X event happened, and the GDPR compliance that youre trying to meet by detecting this event is Y Now, the previously unknown data has turned into something that is human readable. Another use case is transportation. Imagine youre running an application thats gathering information about flights coming into an airport. A machine-generated view of that will include flight codes and airport codes. Now lets say you want to understand what a flight code means or what an airport code means. Traditionally, you would use a search engine to inquire about specific flight or airport codes. Which city is the flight coming from? Where is the flight going next? These machine attributes are hard to read for a developer wanting to build a system that gathers all of this machine data using these machine tags. It is challenging to understand acronyms and numbers. Generative AI converts these acronyms and numbers into human-readable information that anybody can understand, making these systems more valuable for the average user. These examples show the kinds of toil traditionally solved using search engines, knowledge boards, or repositories, taking hours to sort through large amounts of information. They are now solved with generative AI in a fraction of the time. This is a huge win for most enterprises, enabling self-service access to complex systems within the organization. This is empowering for organizations and their IT teams. A more intelligent approach to data Generative AI is still evolving at a rapid pace, and enterprises are still learning how to implement it into their data management systems. At Apica, we recently rolled out a generative AI assistant because, like most enterprises, our customers were looking to reduce the time and energy spent managing the massive amounts of incoming data. While I currently believe that a generative AI assistant is the best way to use AI within data management, Im not going to make any bets that this is the only way to do it. One thing I know for sure is that generative AI will not replace humans, but it will most definitely replace human toil. Ranjan Parthasarathy is chief strategy officer for Apica, where he explores how generative AI can enhance observability, specifically using contextualized data to transform how devops and IT ops teams interact with their data. He was the founder of Logiq.ai, recently acquired by Apica. Generative AI Insights provides a venue for technology leadersincluding vendors and other outside contributorsto explore and discuss the challenges and opportunities of generative artificial intelligence. The selection is wide-ranging, from technology deep dives to case studies to expert opinion, but also subjective, based on our judgment of which topics and treatments will best serve InfoWorlds technically sophisticated audience. InfoWorld does not accept marketing collateral for publication and reserves the right to edit all contributed content. Contact doug_dineley@foundryco.com. Snipes is a local sneaker and clothing store that sells apparel and shoes for kids, women and men. The company is offering discounted clothes and shoes during a Black Friday warehouse sale. Read more Strap up your Black Friday boots. Snipes is kicking off the Christmas shopping season with their first ever North Philadelphia warehouse sale. The sneaker and apparel company, which houses brands like Nike, Jordan, adidas, New Balance, and others, will be selling everything from shoes to streetwear and accessories, according to a spokesperson. The first Snipes Blowout Warehouse Sale will be a two-day event that takes place at 327 E Chew Ave. The sale will take place from 8 a.m. to 9.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. Discounted outwear and shoes start at $39, and t-shirts, tops, sandals, and jeans will be marked down to as low as $6 and $19, according to a Snipes spokesperson. Other items like shorts, socks, hats, and bags are also available for as low as $5 and $6. Along with deals, shoppers will get to experience a fusion of fashion, flavor, and music, according to a press release. Phillys DJ Deshawn will curate the music for the event, and there will be food trucks on sit . For more information, go to snipesusa.com. The "Finksgiving" at Fink's Hoagies in the Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia. Read more Two of my favorite things happen on the day after Thanksgiving I give myself permission to start watching terrible Hallmark holiday movies and I begin eating Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches. I said begin and I meant it. I never eat just one. Until last week, Id only had homemade Thanksgiving sandwiches and Wawas version, the Gobbler, which premiered in 2008. After I wrote about the Gobbler in a recent column, reader Vince Hughes, a Mayfair native now living in Middletown, Del., emailed to tell me about Capriottis, a Wilmington-based sandwich chain thats been perfecting its Thanksgiving hoagie, the Bobbie, since 1989. Its very good and puts Wawa to shame you have to try it, he said. Advertisement Hughes made a good point, I should expand my sandwich worldview, but why stop at Capriottis? Why not stretch my stomach in preparation for the upcoming holiday by trying several area Thanksgiving hoagies and sandwiches? (There are many reasons not to. I ignored all of them.) Whether your family leaves you without leftovers or you find yourself craving a taste of Thanksgiving in July, here are seven Philly-area Thanksgiving-style hoagies and sandwiches ranked, named, and explained. 7. The quick hit: The Original Turkeys Stuffin Cranberry In the center court of Reading Terminal Market, the Original Turkey sells its Stuffin Cranberry sandwich with hand-carved turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing on white, wheat, or rye bread year-round for $12.25. It took less than a minute for my sandwich to be made. Overall, it was pretty basic, particularly the bread, but I liked the hand-carved turkey and that it came with a tiny bag of chips. 6. The dine-in: 1518 Bar & Grills TED (Thanksgiving Every Day) The first thing that struck me about 1518 Bar & Grill was the decor, which is warm and inviting, with dozens of beautiful paintings and photographs of Philly inside. It made me wish I was eating in, instead of taking out. I got the TED, the $13 year-round turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce sandwich that comes on ciabatta bread, and I asked for the jus on the side. It was fine, but forgettable, though the jus brought it up a notch and I appreciated that it came with fries. I wouldnt return to this spot at 1518 Sansom St. in Center City just for the TED, but I would go back for the vibe. 5. The Californian: Middle Childs Shopsin Club Though its not billed as a Thanksgiving sandwich, Middle Childs Shopsin Club lists the words turkey and cranberry among its many ingredients, so Im counting it. At the shop at 248 S. 11th St. in Center City, the person in front of me and the person behind me both ordered the Shopsin, which is available all year for $13.43, so I figured that was a good sign. I really liked the sandwich, which came with turkey carved like thick deli meat, cranberry miso mayo, bacon, avocado, and bibb lettuce. I didnt even mind the sweet pickles, and I typically detest pickles. The biggest issue was that it didnt remind me of Thanksgiving. It reminded of me of California because it uses avocado and thinks its elevating something thats already great. Update: On Sunday, Middle Child released an official Thanksgiving sandwich, which has sweet potato stuffing green [bean] casserole gravy mayo and MORE WOW WOW WOW, according to a post on Instagram, which said only 40 of the sandwiches would be available that day. 4. The flavor deep dive: Porcos Porchetterias Turketta Sammie Porcos blue-and-white striped exterior and walk-up-window-only service is delightfully Wes Anderson-esque adorable, quirky, and kind of unexpected at 2204 Washington Ave. in South Philly. The Turketta, which is available year-round for $16, is the Mariana Trench of Thanksgiving sandwiches when it comes to depth of flavor. It features pork-larded turkey breast (!), cranberry mostarda, savory bread pudding (!!), romaine, and heirloom tomato. I found the height of the sandwich intimidating the turkey was cut so thick my husband was sure it was pork at one point but the taste was a fascinating deep dive of textures and spices. 3. The comforter: McNallys Taverns The Dickens Like McNallys itself, the Chestnut Hill bar and restaurants year-round Thanksgiving sandwich, The Dickens, is a comfortable classic. When I unwrapped the sandwich, which costs $14.40, I was greeted by a large, fluffy kaiser roll filled with fresh slices of turkey breast, stuffing, and cranberry jelly. I usually prefer cranberry sauce, but I was surprised at how well the thick slices of jelly worked. While the Dickens was simple, it was also the closest to my homemade version. Given the fluffiness of the roll, I both wanted to cuddle up inside of this sandwich and curl up after eating it. 2. The suburban superstar: Capriottis The Bobbie Vince Hughes (Remember him? Hes the reader who started me on this gastronomical journey) told no lies when he extolled the virtues of this Wilmington-based chains amazing year-round Thanksgiving hoagie. The Bobbie features shredded turkey (which makes for easier eating), cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mayo on an Italian hoagie roll. I got the eight-inch heated version (the Hot Bobbie) for $10.19 and was not only floored by the taste and quality, but by the sandwichs ability to keep it all together during the consumption process. While there arent any Capriottis in Philly, there are several across Delaware, Chester, and Montgomery Counties, and in Delaware. If you live in the suburbs, this is no-brainer for Thanksgiving hoagies, and if you live in the city, its worth the drive. 1. The real deal: Finks Hoagies Finksgiving Every time you drive by Wawa after you eat this, youll roll down your window and boo at them, owner Dennis Fink told me, when I went to pick up my Finksgiving hoagie. Fink, 76, who works seven days a week at his shop at 4633 Princeton Ave. in the Tacony section of Northeast Philly, lives up to his reputation as a classic Philadelphian cantankerous yet kind, with a biting sense of humor. He started making his Finksgiving hoagie, which is available from late October until the beginning of December, about seven years ago. We cook the turkey here ourselves; were the real deal, he said. I was wowed by the size and beauty of my half hoagie, which cost only $8. It came on a Liscios seeded roll with turkey, stuffing, house-made cranberry mayo, and gravy, which I requested on the side. I even got a complimentary peppermint candy (score!). While the stuffing and turkey were more intertwined than Id like, overall it was a fantastic Thanksgiving hoagie. Not only was it a great meal, it was by far the cheapest and the only one served to me by the owner, which is why, as Fink said, its the real deal. Bob Dylan onstage in Los Angles in 2012. He performed with his band at the Fillmore in Fishtown on Sunday night. No photographers or phones were permitted at the venue. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images for VH1/TNS) Read more Bob Dylan took a seat at the piano at the Fillmore Philadelphia and claimed to be at a loss for words. Whats the matter with me? he asked. I dont have much to say. Those are the opening lines of Watching the River Flow, the 1971 song about finding peace with writers block that kicked off Sunday nights sold-out show on the Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour, which arrived back in Philadelphia almost two years to the day after playing the Met Philly in November 2021. Of course, Dylan was being ironic. At 82, at the tail end of a monumental career, he still has plenty to say as well as a justified belief that his new material stands tall alongside the pillars of his celebrated catalog. That meant Dylans 17-song set at the Fishtown venue a standing-room-only show, except for seats along the balcony rail was weighted slightly to new songs over classics. Advertisement The entirety of the 2021 Rough and Rowdy Ways album was performed, save for the 17-minute JFK assassination saga, Murder Most Foul, which Dylan declined to do even as the 60th anniversary of the tragedy that inspired it arrives this week. Dylan and his superb quintet of musicians anchored by bassist and bandleader Tony Garnier and fab new drummer Jerry Pentecost did nine Rough and Rowdy cuts, one cover (of Johnny Mercers That Old Black Magic), and seven vintage songs. The oldest was Most Likely You Go Your Way (And Ill Go Mine) from 1966s Blonde on Blonde. If youre a Philly Dylan fan keeping score at home, that means no Philly-centric song was performed. Dylan has dotted several shows this fall with covers with connections to the city hes in, with a truncated version of Billy Joels New York State of Mind in Manhattan last week as the latest example. READ MORE: Here are 10 Philly songs we think Bob Dylan should sing at the Fillmore this weekend He left that feature out at the Fillmore, however, sticking to his standard set list. (Dont feel too bad about that, Philadelphia; Boston didnt get any localized songs either.) Stage patter was at a minimum, which might have been for the best since Dylan reportedly seemed to come to the defense of justifiably disgraced Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner at a show in New York last week. Some in attendance seemed to think he was joking. Still, best to keep it to yourself, Bob. In Fishtown, he limited his remarks to introducing the band, praising the group, which included guitarists Doug Lancio and Bob Britt and multi-instrumentalist Donnie Herron. These songs arent easy songs to play, and this band can really play them well, dont you think? he asked. Let me hear you say yeah! (One entertaining aspect of a Bob Dylan show: Things that would seem normal coming from any other performer Dylan makes seem deeply strange.) The person most deserving of praise on stage, though, was Dylan himself. Many of his longtime fans have fallen away, tired of corrosive vocals, endless rearranging of beloved songs, and trying to understand a snippet of garbled lyrics. But a funny thing has happened over the past decade. Dylan has found a new way to sing. Starting with Shadows in the Night in 2015, Dylan released three consecutive albums of pop standards, many associated with Frank Sinatra. And what seemed like a typically perverse Dylan career move has paid musical dividends, which rewarded the crowd at the Fillmore, which included plenty of people in their 20s and 30s, along with those closer to Dylans age. Tender songs like Ill Be Your Baby Tonight from 1967s John Wesley Harding and To Be Alone With You from 1969s Nashville Skyline, as well as Rough and Rowdy cuts like the mysterious Key West (Philosopher Pirate) and swaggering Crossing the Rubicon, banged on with ramshackle aplomb on instrumental passages, then eased up on the verses. That allowed Dylan to sing quietly, with his sandpapered voice sometimes even reaching for moments of sweetness. And since it was a no-phones show audience members kept devices with them, locked inYondr pouches the crowd was forced to be as present as Dylan was. So whether he was enunciating his need to connect with his people in Ive Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You or rhyming like William Blake with I have no apologies to make in I Contain Multitudes, the crowd was right there with him. Dylan is not the smoothest pianist, but he took many solos himself and ably eased his way into several songs before the band came rumbling in, most righteously on Gotta Serve Somebody and with welcome high-stepping verve on the penultimate Goodbye Jimmy Reed. The closer was Every Grain of Sand, a still underappreciated spiritually-seeking masterpiece from 1981s Shot of Love that gleams with at-one-with-the-universe grace. Until that point, Dylan had only played piano. But for the songs coda, he pulled out a harmonica, bringing the song to a conclusion that circled back to his folk troubadour beginnings. It felt like one final crowd-pleasing magic trick. Bob Dylan Set List, Fillmore Philadelphia, Nov. 19, 2023 Watching the River Flow Most Likely You Go Your Way (And Ill Go Mine) I Contain Multitudes False Prophet When I Paint My Masterpiece Black Rider My Own Version of You Ill Be Your Baby Tonight Crossing The Rubicon To Be Alone With You Key West (Philosophers Pirate) Gotta Serve Somebody Ive Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You That Old Black Magic Mother of Muses Goodbye Jimmy Reed Every Grain of Sand Paisley Carswell (right) as Ida B. Wells from Roger Ross Williams' new Netflix documentary, "Stamped from the Beginning." Read more Easton, Pa.-born filmmaker Roger Ross Williams latest documentary, Stamped from the Beginning, is a fresh addition to the canon of historical documentaries. I wanted to do something that was completely original, the Oscar winner explained. In his adaptation of Ibram X. Kendis eponymous National Book Award-winning survey on race, Williams imbues a Black feminist lens. Kendi, a Temple alum, is director of Boston Universitys Center for Antiracist Research. As Williams braids Americas racist past with its present, he uses all the tools of my toolbox which includes interviews with the likes of Angela Davis and Imani Perry, animations of Ida B. Wells and Phillis Wheatley, along with archival footage and news clips. The aim was to avoid the feeling of a history lesson but still remind people of Americas insidious blueprint. Stamped comes at a moment when school boards and politicians are attacking critical race theory and secreting the countrys true genesis. Way before Pennsylvania representatives tried to restrict teachings on race in schools, Philadelphia was the first major city in the U.S. to mandate Black history in K-12 schools. Temple University was the first to offer a doctorate in the field. Stamped from the Beginning is now playing on Netflix. Ahead of the films streaming release, The Inquirer spoke with Williams and Kendi. Advertisement The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. In 2021, Pa. Reps. Barb Gleim and Russ Diamond attempted to restrict the teachings of race and sex with the TRUE ACT. How were you taught about race in your respective Pennsylvania schools? RRW: I learned nothing about race in high school in Easton, Pa. I didnt learn about Black history. Mostly, we had race riots, a lot of discrimination, and pain. IXK: I was fortunate because I went to Temple where I studied African American Studies. That was a focal point of my academic studies at Temple. What formulated your outlook on race, outside of educational institutions? IXK: There was one pivotal moment my freshman year in college in Tallahassee, Fla. That was the [2000 U.S. presidential] election when tens of thousands of, if not hundreds of thousands of, Black votes were either spoiled or thrown out. I heard first and secondhand stories of voter suppression, which caused me to come face to face with racism and want to begin to understand it more. RRW: Someone gave me a James Baldwin book. Then I read more James Baldwin, and I was transformed. I sat alone in my bedroom growing up as a gay kid in a pretty homophobic environment in my familys church. Books were my escape. I also had a mother who worked as a maid in Lafayette College in Easton. She cleaned the toilets in a frat house and gave me Black history flashcards. She would go over them with me and thats how I learned a lot of the stuff. Kendis book mentions significant history of race in Philadelphia, like Mennonites calling for an antislavery petition in 1688, and Philadelphia delegates concealing racist legislation in 1787, which are not in the movie. How do you determine which parts of the book to include? RRW: It was about how to take these racist ideas against Black people in the book and how to emotionally tell the story. I came up with this device of nine lies. Those nine lies, being the chapter headings in the documentary, gave me a structure. Within that structure, it shows throughout time how those lies become policies, are resisted against, morph into something else, and how they connect to us in the present day. IXK: I want to add one thing about Harriet Jacobs. One thing we do not share in the film is that a group of Philadelphia abolitionists aided her in her efforts to find freedom. Ultimately, she escaped and arrived by boat in Philadelphia, where she became freed and moved on to New York. Those Philadelphia abolitionists were critical in allowing one of the main characters in Stamped from the Beginning, Harriet Jacobs, to find her freedom. Pennsylvania has been integral to both of your formative years. What does it mean to collaborate as two people with Pennsylvania roots? IXK: I think its fascinating that Roger and I both had our formative years in Pennsylvania. At the same time, were hoping that this film reaches people throughout the United States and the world. RRW: I didnt have an easy childhood. Because of growing up in Pennsylvania, I wanted to excel, succeed, and prove everyone wrong. Pennsylvania made me a fighter and a warrior against racist ideas. Its probably why I do a lot of the work I do. Whether its Cassandro, my scripted film about gay hero Saul Cassandro Armendariz, or my work around racism and slavery through The 1619 Project, Stamped, and High on the Hog. I think its a good thing, and its not all negative. I had a great foundation in the Black church, even though I didnt feel accepted. It gave me a sense of community and connected me to the Black community. Stamped from the Beginning is streaming on Netflix. Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, shown from the outside on April 15, 2020, faces ongoing safety concerns. Read more Biohazard waste bags piled on the loading dock, urgent medications delayed for hours and a nurse who was allowed to work without a Pennsylvania license these are among the safety violations flagged so far this year at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. State inspectors made at least a dozen visits to the Delaware County hospital to investigate potential safety problems between January and the beginning of October, more than any other hospital in Philadelphia and the surrounding four Pennsylvania counties, according to The Inquirers analysis of publicly available reports. Hospital inspection reports detail ongoing concerns at Crozer-Chester, despite assurances by its leaders that a recent national report pointing out issues at the hospital was out-of-date. READ MORE: How safe is your hospital? See the letter grade for each Philly-area facility in a new national report. Advertisement Earlier this month, Crozer-Chester was among two Philadelphia-area hospitals to receive a D rating from the hospital safety ranking organization Leapfrog. The other, Taylor Hospital, is also part of Crozer Health, a for-profit health system owned by Prospect Medical Holdings. In response, Crozer Health CEO Anthony Esposito said he had prioritized safety improvements since his arrival in July 2022. Leapfrogs assessment, which used data from 2021 and 2022, did not reflect current safety protocol, he said in an emailed statement. But state inspection reports show continued safety violations at the 300-bed hospital, which is located in Upland and serves a high proportion of low-income patients from Chester and the surrounding area. Crozer declined to comment on the inspection findings. On Oct. 5, inspectors cited the hospital for failing to give two patients medications labeled with a NOW order which indicates extreme urgency, commanding a no-delay response, according to hospital protocol, and must be given within 30 minutes. In one case, emergency department staff ordered a high dose of acetaminophen that the patient did not receive until an hour and a half later. In the patients file, a nurse attributed the delay to nursing judgment. Another patient prescribed an IV medication for infection control did not receive it for almost five and a half hours, which nurses noted in the patient file was due to other priority of care. In response, the hospital agreed to retrain emergency nurses on medication protocol and to audit medication records. Heres what else the reports showed: Sept. 8: Inspectors cited the hospital for employing a nurse who was not licensed in Pennsylvania. A nurse trainee licensed in Delaware had been allowed to enroll in a training program before completing the process to become licensed in Pennsylvania. In response, Crozer agreed to audit all new nurse human resource onboarding files to confirm license information. Aug. 3-29: Inspectors monitored the hospital following reports of a cyber attack. They found the attack was real and that Crozers IT systems were not functioning as a result. The hospital took action to address the problem before the states investigation. Jul. 28: Inspectors cited the hospital for failing to record vital signs for an emergency department patient every two hours as required. In response, the hospital agreed to retrain staff on protocol and audit patient records. Jun. 21: Inspectors found a complaint about improper hazardous waste handling was valid, but that the hospital had resolved the issue before they arrived, properly labeling medical waste and storing it in a secure location. May 19: Inspectors cited the hospital for failing to develop and document individualized treatment plans for two behavioral health patients. In both cases, a nurse had initiated a treatment plan, but no records showed that the plan had been reviewed or approved by a doctor. In response, the hospital retrained the head of its geropsychiatry department on treatment plan protocol and agreed to audit patient cases. April 5: Inspectors cited Crozer-Chester for failing to properly dispose of biohazard waste. During repeat visits in March, they found piles of trash bags and biohazard bags on the loading dock. Hospital staff confirmed that the waste hadnt been picked up between March 10 and March 27. In response, the hospital agreed to retrain staff on biohazard waste disposal and audit disposal practices five times a week. Jan. 5: Inspectors cited Crozer-Chester for closing its kidney transplant program without providing the required 60 days notice. On Dec. 29, 2022, the hospital notified the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that it planned to close the transplant center 18 days later, on Jan. 16. On five other occasions (Feb. 21, April 10, May 9. July 6 and Sept. 8), inspectors investigated a complaint at the hospital and found it was in compliance with all safety requirements. The Pennsylvania Department of Health routinely inspects hospitals to ensure they are safe for patients and that staff are following all safety protocols. Inspectors may also visit when a someone files a complaint. Not all safety violations trigger an on-site investigation from inspectors. Hospitals are required to self-report the most serious safety violations and often work directly with the state to address them. Complaint details are not made public when inspectors determine it was unfounded. READ MORE: A Hospital Mistake Almost Killed Him The Inquirer tracks publicly available hospital reports related to complaints, special monitoring, and general safety inspections. The Inquirer does not track inspections for new equipment or occupancy surveys, unless problems are identified. Inspection reports are publicly available online and are released 40 days after the report is completed. When applying to colleges out of state, students consider abortion rights. Read more Increasing numbers of young women applying to colleges are avoiding schools in states that ban or severely restrict abortion, according to polls, scholarly research, and interviews with Philadelphia-area students, their families, and college consultants. This is one of the big issues for us, said Rosanna Kahn, 48, an MBA student at Drexel University, and the mother of a 20-year-old daughter whos a sophomore studying public health at Gwynedd Mercy University in Montgomery County. My daughter was very concerned about abortion access when she applied to schools. If, heaven forbid, she were to get pregnant, she and I know we need to be around here, where she can quickly get it taken care of and move on with her life, rather than be living in some place that puts stringent restrictions on women. That sentiment was echoed by a 17-year-old Montgomery County high school senior who asked that her name not be used to protect her privacy. Like many students, shes currently in the midst of the application season, which concludes in early winter. Advertisement When I was cultivating my list of possible schools, she said, I thought about attending Rice University [in Houston], but I crossed it off. I didnt want to sacrifice my rights to an abortion by living in Texas. After that, I barely looked into schools in states where I thought my rights werent protected. I eliminated Florida, then Alabama, and Louisiana. Sensitive to policies Research published earlier this month in Economics Letters, a scholarly journal, shows that in 2021, there was a one percentage point decrease in the share of female undergraduates applying to colleges in states where abortion is banned or heavily restricted, compared with states in which abortion remained more accessible. This suggests that undergraduate applicants are sensitive to state reproductive health policies, the article read. The decline preceded the U.S. Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, ruling that the Constitution doesnt confer a right to abortion. Students were anticipating the Dobbs [v. Jackson] decision that ended Roe before it even happened, article coauthor Rajiv Sharma, an economist at Portland State University, said in an interview. The writing was on the wall. In a July poll by Intelligent.com, a college-search website, 26% of prospective college students said theyd consider attending a school only in a state where abortion is legal. Other polls showed similar leanings. College counselors in the Philadelphia area say theyre seeing the effect of Dobbs. State abortion rights are something my [high school] juniors and seniors are talking to me about a lot, said Stacey Cunitz, owner of Blue Moon Educational Consulting in Mount Airy. The mothers especially are speaking with me. After Ohio voted for abortion protections earlier this month, I had one mother say to me, O.K., Oberlin [College] is back on the list! Cunitz added that she also works with several LGBTQ students who are worried about moving to states with anti-transgender laws. These are often the same as the antiabortion states, she said. Jennifer Schlegel, co-owner of My Admissions Sherpa, a college counseling business in Malvern, has been dealing with similar concerns. Typically I get requests from the mothers: Avoid red states with ultraconservative culture, she said. Schlegel intervened when a young woman wrote her college essay about how shed led a pro-choice walkout at her school. She was applying to a Southern school, Schlegel said. I said, No, you cant write that. Avoiding Florida colleges Quite often, students from the area are saying they wont go to any school in Florida, said Joan Koven, an educational consultant with Academic Access in Havertown. The states supreme court is considering a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. But its not only abortion down there, she said. Its banned books, problems with DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion], how they teach history, and the legislature. Rebecca Davis, a historian of sexuality at the University of Delaware, said that friends with transgender children are so concerned about Florida, they wont even let their kids have connecting flights through there. Along with young women, some men applying to colleges also carefully consider Florida or any other Southern state because of the current political climate in general, said Linda Hollenback, owner of Hollenback Consulting, a college advising firm in Willow Grove. Theyre concerned more broadly about the ability to have dialogue with others on any hot topic, she said. However, counselors said, they havent encountered men whove expressed concern over a states stance on abortion. That has never come up at all, Korden said. Cunitz concurred: It should be an issue for everyone, but the burden falls on the women. Men especially dont think of it as their issue. Conservative families with kids applying to college also express apprehension about the roiling social environment. Rather than worry about the states laws, however, said Cunitz of Blue Moon, these parents usually the dads dont want their children to go to individual schools considered hotbeds of liberalism. According to counselors, young people whove grown up in this region are accustomed to what they described as progressive attitudes toward abortion. But that could be different if I went to school in another state with restrictions, said a 17-year-old junior whos being advised by Cunitz. Its hard to be thinking about living in a state where your rights arent valued and people arent listening to womens voices. That would feel a lot less safe. Thats a really scary thought. The Starbucks at 39th and Walnut Streets was temporarily closed Thursday after baristas walked out of work and picketed outside the store. That location was not unionized as of last week but has now filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to join Workers United. Read more Another Philadelphia Starbucks location is seeking to unionize. Baristas at the 39th and Walnut Street location filed a petition to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board. Their proposed bargaining unit would be 22 people and would be one of more than a half-dozen unionized Starbucks locations in the city. Workers at that location on Thursday participated in a coordinated one-day strike, picketing outside their store. The strike, which included employees at more than 200 Starbucks locations across the United States, was held to coincide with Starbucks Red Cup Day promotion. Workers referred to it as the Red Cup Rebellion. Starbucks Workers United includes more than 360 Starbucks stores and 9,000 workers. The union has accused Starbucks of refusing to bargain a contract in good faith and has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board. A spokesperson for Starbucks, Andrew Trull, said last week that Workers United hasnt agreed to meet to progress contract bargaining in more than four months. Advertisement The Starbucks Workers United X account shared last week that several nonunion stores in different states had similarly joined the walkout and filed petitions to unionize. Starbucks is among many coffee shops in Philadelphia where workers are organizing around labor issues. Locally owned stores such as Reanimator, Elixr Coffee, and Ultimo Coffee have also unionized with Workers United in recent years and have faced some challenges in their efforts to reach a first contract. Earlier this month, workers at Vibrant Coffee Roasters held an election, and a majority voted to unionize at the shops Rittenhouse and 30th Street locations. Two turkeys, named Liberty and Bell, who will receive a Presidential Pardon at the White House ahead of Thanksgiving, attend their news conference, Sunday Nov. 19, 2023, at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Read more This years annual White House turkey pardoning ceremony had a touch of Philly flair. As part of a decades-long tradition, President Joe Biden greeted a pair of 4-month-old turkeys Monday and granted them their freedom from becoming someones dinner. This year, Liberty and Bell were both pardoned. The pair were named after the state of Pennsylvania, where President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden each lived during their childhood years. The swing state also played a large role in Bidens campaign history, and his 2020 campaign headquarters were in Philadelphia. Advertisement Here are the details. Who names the pardoned turkeys? Its unclear who named this years duo. Biden pardoned Peanut Butter and Jelly in 2021 and Chocolate and Chip in 2022. What do we know about Liberty and Bell? Liberty is 42.5 pounds while Bell is 42.1 pounds. They were born in July and raised in a farm thats part of the Jennie-O Turkey Store in west-central Minnesota as part of this years Presidential Flock. So far, theyve taken a 20-hour trip to DC in a stretch black Cadillac Escalade and have stayed at the luxe Willard InterContinental Hotel before walking the red carpet for a news conference Sunday. On Monday, one of them (we think it was Liberty, but whos to say?) stood perched on a podium as Biden granted the pair their freedom. Thats a big bird, Biden said before officially pardoning them. A spokesperson said the turkeys were selected from the flock because of their extroverted nature, priming them for their five minutes of fame. To prepare for the ceremony which includes a band, cameras, and lots of cheering the birds have been exposed to music and clapping at different volumes. They checked in, they went up to their rooms, they saw the map with what to do in the city, they had a bubble bath, and I heard that they also had something out of the minibar, the Willard InterContinental Hotels general manager told CNN. Where do the turkeys go after the pardoning ceremony? After being pardoned, the turkeys will be housed at the University of Minnesota, a Jennie-O spokesperson said. In captivity, turkeys can live to be about 10 years old. Typically, turkeys used for their meat are killed when theyre about 5 months old, according to PETA. Liberty and Bell will live out their lives at the universitys College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, where theyll be looked after by veterinary students and professionals. Which president started the turkey pardoning tradition? The history is a bit muddled. The White House says turkeys began being presented to presidents in 1947 under President Harry S. Truman. But he had no intention of pardoning them, making a quip the following year about how theyd come in handy for dinner. Some say President Abraham Lincoln was the first president to pardon a turkey in 1863, though the White House says the story is unverified. By 1963, President John F. Kennedy appeared to be the first president on record to grant a turkey clemency, telling attendees at the presentation, Lets keep him going. The Nixons and Carters also sent turkeys presented to them to farms. The practice became the norm by 1981 under President Ronald Reagan and was later formalized in 1989 by President George H.W. Bush, according to the White House. It morphed into the light-hearted satirical practice we know today. Yes we cran, then-President Barack Obama joked during one of his pardoning ceremonies. I want to take a moment to recognize the great turkeys who werent so lucky, who didnt get to ride the gravy train to freedom. Who met their fate with courage and sacrifice and proved that they werent chicken. When was Mondays pardoning ceremony? This years Turkey Pardon took place on the South Lawn of the White House at 11:15 a.m. It was broadcast live by C-SPAN, CNBC, and others and can be replayed below. Former labor leader John Dougherty leaves court for the day after the second week of his embezzlement trial at the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse in Center City Philadelphia. Read more Welcome back, court watchers, to another edition of the Inside Johnny Docs Trial newsletter. Last time you heard from us, prosecutors were focused on receipts, receipts, receipts the records of thousands of dollars of personal purchases they said ex-labor leader John Dougherty rang up on his union-issued credit cards. Now, theyve shifted their attention to bills, bills, bills specifically those sent to Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers by a contractor whose testimony is a central plank in the governments case against Dougherty and his codefendant, former union president Brian Burrows. Anthony Massa, a key witness in the governments case, is the only person charged alongside Dougherty, Burrows and four other union officials and allies in 2019 who pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the others. Advertisement And over three days on the witness stand last week, boy, did he. He told jurors that Burrows had repeatedly instructed him to pad the bills he sent to the union for work hed done on Local 98-owned buildings with the cost of side jobs he was simultaneously overseeing at the homes of Burrows, Dougherty and several of Doughertys relatives. Massa said he charged Local 98 hundreds of thousands for the jobs at their personal residences between 2010 and 2016. But the defense pushed back hard, painting the contractor as a liar and a fraudster whod say anything to escape a lengthy prison term. Lets get to it. Jeremy Roebuck and Oona Goodin-Smith (@jeremyrroebuck, @oonagoodinsmith, insidejohnnydoc@inquirer.com) If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here. Do you have a question about the trial? Email us back and we might answer it in our newsletter. The briefing Who paid Massa for the work he did on a $30,000 remodel to the bathroom in Burrows South Jersey home or the thousands in repairs and renovations he oversaw at a Pennsport bar in which Burrows and Dougherty had a financial interest? Again and again, Massa had one answer: Local 98. Massa said he also charged the union for repairs he carried out at Doughertys home and those of several of his family members including the ex-union chiefs brother, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty. A lawyer for the justice insists thats not true. Prosecutors, meanwhile, sought to prove that financial safeguards at Local 98 that might have caught that overbilling in fact offered minimal scrutiny. But Dougherty maintains he had no idea where Massa was sending his bills, and says he thought the contractor was performing the renovations at his home for free as a token of gratitude for the $1.8 million in work Local 98 steered his way. Where things stand now Massas credibility as a witness is crucial to the governments case. The home repairs prosecutors say he provided on Local 98s dime make up at least 20% of the $600,000 they say Dougherty and Burrows embezzled from Local 98. So how did he do on the stand? Lawyers for Dougherty and Burrows did everything they could to tarnish his credibility, pointing out instances where hed overbilled the union a couple of hundred dollars on certain jobs, and suggesting he hid personal purchases of his own in what he was charging Dougherty, Burrows and others for the work he did on their homes. They challenged Massa on what he told the FBI when agents first confronted him in 2016, noting hed at first said he did that work for free and was later charged for lying to the government. But, by and large, Massa a mild-mannered, 69-year-old who was escorted into court each day in a wheelchair pushed by an FBI agent remained consistent in his story. He backed up his account with copious records hed kept of each job both for the union and at the homes of the union leaders and those close to them accounting for the labor and materials required. And again and again, when asked who told him to charge Local 98 for those home renovation projects, Massas answer was the same: Brian Burrows. The contractor testified that while Dougherty and his family benefited from those home repairs, it was always Burrows who instructed him on where to send the bills. Never once, Massa said, did he discuss payment for the renovations with Dougherty. Well be watching to see what exactly jurors make of that distinction when it comes time for them to weigh the ex-union chiefs culpability. What we heard in court You are still a liar, are you not? Thomas A. Bergstrom, lawyer for Burrows, during a heated moment in his cross-examination of Massa. Breaking it down: The cooperator As we mentioned earlier, Massa is the only member of Doughertys inner circle to agree to testify against him but thats not due to lack of trying on the part of the FBI. For the better part of two decades, agents have investigated the former labor leader in a number of probes each time looking for people on the inside whom they might flip. Until Massa, theyd repeatedly failed. None of the four other union officials and allies charged in the current case who pleaded guilty last year including Local 98s former political director Marita Crawford and Michael Neill, head of its apprentice training program agreed to cooperate. In 2007, when a federal grand jury indicted Donald Gus Dougherty a close personal friend of the ex-union chief and owner of one of the largest union electrical contracting firms in the city in a tax and benefits fraud case, authorities quickly found out there was no separating them, either. Prosecutors accused Gus Dougherty, who is not related to John Dougherty, of giving him more than $115,000 in free home renovations which they described as a gift meant to illegally influence his decisions as the head of his union. Investigators had hoped to persuade Gus Dougherty to testify against his friend. But he refused and, ultimately, John Dougherty never faced charges. (The ex-Local 98 business manager has consistently said he did not know Gus Dougherty intended to do the work on his home for free.) Meanwhile, former Philadelphia Traffic Court Judge Robert Mulgrew who was a Local 98 electrician before winning his seat on the bench has said he, too, resisted pressure from prosecutors to give incriminating testimony against John Dougherty before he was convicted on charges of conspiracy, perjury and fraud, and was sentenced to 2 years in prison in 2014. Two other allies chiropractor James Moylan and electrical contractor George Peltz also refused to testify against the union chief after pleading guilty in 2019 to charges of giving improper gifts to a union official and fraud, respectively. So how exactly has John Dougherty maintained such loyalty among his friends over the years? Federal authorities credit a carrot-and-stick technique. After Gus Dougherty was released from his two-year prison sentence, prosecutors alleged John Dougherty rewarded him for keeping his mouth shut by steering hundreds of thousands of dollars his way from funds meant to help union contractors offset the higher cost of employing union labor. The union chief had a different approach, they said, for those who might consider breaking his trust. After his 2019 indictment, an informant within the union recorded John Dougherty giving a warning to Local 98 members who might consider a flip. You going to f around with that mouth, he threatened on the tapes, since quoted in court filings, Im coming after everything you have and everything you f own. But despite Massas status as only man to flip on Dougherty, the contractor didnt have a bad word to say about the guy last week as he sat across from him in court. In fact, in a recording of Massas first interview with FBI agents played for jurors, the contractor insisted: He does more for people that anybody even knows. I just admire the man his foresight. Hes just a tremendous person. The legal lens Next on the docket Were back in court this morning with a Local 98 business agent and executive board member on the witness stand. This week will be a short one in court due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Jurors are only sitting Monday and Tuesday, then picking back up next week. In the meantime, were thankful for you, our readers. Well see you here next Monday. Until then, you can follow along with our live updates and daily coverage. By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirers Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10. In this August 2020 picture, a pedestrian walks past a sign by an entrance to the University of Miami stating that masks, used to prevent the spread of COVID-19, are required to be worn on campus. Read more Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter Happy Monday. It should be pretty chilly today with a high of 47. Earlier this month, we saw how the issue of abortion rights impacts elections. The issue is now also impacting college campuses. On top of typical concerns regarding college like cost, distance from home, and program offerings, many prospective students are also now considering their access to abortion. Our lead story focuses on the Philly-area high school students who are avoiding colleges in states that ban or severely restrict abortion. Advertisement Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com) If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here. More young women in the Philly area and around the country are avoiding colleges in states that either ban or restrict abortion. In her own words: When I was cultivating my list of possible schools, said a Montgomery County high school senior who asked that her name not to be used to protect her privacy. I thought about attending Rice University [in Houston], but I crossed it off. I didnt want to sacrifice my rights to an abortion by living in Texas. After that, I barely looked into schools in states where I thought my rights werent protected. I eliminated Florida, then Alabama, and Louisiana. Research published earlier this month in the scholarly journal Economics Letters shows that in 2021, there was a one percentage point decrease in the share of female undergraduates applying to colleges in states where abortion is banned or heavily restricted, compared with states in which abortion remained more accessible. According to a July poll from Intelligent.com, a college-search website, 26% of prospective college students said theyd consider attending a school only in a state where abortion is legal. Other polls show similar trends. Read more for extensive interviews with Philly-area students, their families, and college consultants. Phillip Fisher Jr. is a local pastor and a Republican ward leader who coordinates faith-based outreach for Phillys Moms for Liberty chapter. Hes also a registered sex offender. He has a 2012 felony conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy when he was 25. Fisher insists he did nothing wrong, despite pleading guilty to one of 12 counts filed against him. He said the conviction is the result of a railroad job concocted by the political action committee for Lyndon LaRouche, a fringe conspiracy theorist who ran repeatedly for president. Fisher, who worked for LaRouches organization, called it a cult and said he was set up while trying to break free. Vince Fenerty, the chair of Philadelphia Republican City Committee, said he was unaware of Fishers conviction until The Inquirer asked about it last week. On Friday, he demanded and received Fishers resignation as leader of the 42nd Ward. Continue reading for an overview of Fishers involvement in local and national Republican politics. What you should know today Trivia time For this years Eagles Christmas album, A Philly Special Christmas Special, Jason and Travis Kelce sang a duet together. What is the name of the song? A) Fairytale of Philadelphia B) This Christmas C) All I Want for Christmas is You D) None of the above Think you know? Check your answer. What were... Wondering: Whats the future of the vacant 107-year-old Center City apartment tower across from Monks? Congratulating: Scientists Michael Mann of University of Pennsylvania and Robert Socolow of Princeton University have been named winners of the 2023 John Scott Awards for their climate change work. Listening to: Our pop music critic Dan DeLucas latest Music Monday playlist. Get ready before Lil Uzi Vert brings The Pink Tape to the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday. Unscramble the anagram Hint: This Christmas with the Birds LATTE PLIABLE Email us if you know the answer. Well select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Kelly Armstrong, who correctly guessed Sundays answer: Quinta Brunson. Photo of the day Thanks for starting your week with The Inquirer. Lets do this again tomorrow . Philadelphia City Council continues to claim gun buybacks should be part of a broad array of violence reduction strategies. Supporters including some Philadelphia police officers contend that surrendered weapons could otherwise become guns used in future crimes, or could fall into the hands of children, potentially leading to self-inflicted harm or harm to others. But heres the problem: Research shows that gun buybacks during which people can turn in their weapons in exchange for money dont reduce crime. Recently, we published an evaluation of Philadelphias gun buyback program in the journal Injury Prevention. Even though the data havent shown that gun buyback programs improve public safety, we hoped we might at least find a localized effect meaning, that buybacks might reduce crime in certain neighborhoods. Alas, our study didnt show any neighborhood impact. Over 34 buyback events from 2019-2021, Philadelphia recovered just over 1,000 firearms for a little less than $100,000. This doesnt include costs for administration, police staff, and gun disposal, but the program is at least not a drain on city resources. It still is, however, a distraction from other potentially effective approaches to reducing the number of shootings. Advertisement Part of the problem is that we do not recover the right guns. There are nearly 400 million guns in America more guns than people. Most of these will not become guns used in a crime. Crime guns are usually identified by ballistics evidence from the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network. This network contains nearly 6 million records that generate leads connecting bullets fired, crime guns, and the people who fire them. Tellingly, Philadelphias Office of Forensic Science has never found a National Integrated Ballistic Information Network link to a crime with any gun surrendered in the citys gun buyback program. Clearly, buyback firearms are not the ones causing such misery in the city. We do not recover the right guns. How could we be more effective? In the 1990s, St. Louis experimented with an innovative consent-to-search program. Police officers went door-to-door in high gun-crime areas, and asked parents of young people who were at risk of involvement in gun violence for their permission to search the house for guns. If the officers found illegal weapons, they confiscated them, but neither the occupants nor the children were prosecuted. In this low-key approach, officers conducted between five and 30 searches per night and found guns half of the time. They recovered an average of three guns per household, bringing in more than 500 guns over 18 months. Impressively, parents gave consent 98% of the time. Because the program was focused on juvenile gun-carrying, and recovered weapons in half the searches conducted, evaluators argued it was a successful way to keep guns out of the hands of young people. Another option is to increase rewards for crime tips, but only for information leading to specific types of higher-risk weapons. For instance, in collaboration with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, police in Washington now offer up to $5,000 for tips leading to an arrest and the recovery of specific weapons. They target firearms modified to fire as fully automatic and ghost guns, weapons that are constructed from parts that do not have a serial number and are untraceable. (In contrast, Philadelphia offers only $500 to anyone who has tips about someone who has or carries an illegal firearm.) Washingtons effort is too recent to evaluate, but it is an innovative attempt to recover guns that carry greater risk to public safety. READ MORE: Should Philadelphia continue gun buybacks? | Pro/Con People in Philadelphia willing to show an ID have always been able to surrender unwanted guns at police stations or to call 911 to surrender them. But our study adds to the decades of evidence that gun buybacks as we currently operate them do not make a meaningful contribution to reducing gun crime. This does not mean we cannot test other ways to get some of the most harmful guns out of public hands and reduce the scourge of gun crime that continues to plague Philadelphia. By electing Cherelle Parker a candidate who promised a more robust approach to crime as the citys next mayor, Philadelphians have signaled gun crime is a priority. If done right, innovative approaches to reduce gun violence such as St. Louis consent-to-search program, or increasing rewards for crime tips also might rebuild some trust between the police department and the community. Jerry H. Ratcliffe is a professor in Temple Universitys Department of Criminal Justice. Marc Huffer is a graduate student in Temples Department of Criminal Justice. Kat Copeland, a Republican and former Delco district attorney, announces her run for attorney general outside the Delaware County Courthouse on Monday in Media. Read more Republican Katayoun Kat Copeland announced her candidacy for Pennsylvania attorney general Monday on the steps of the Delaware County Courthouse. Copeland, 56, of Radnor, began her three-decade-long prosecutorial career in the same courthouse. Its what Ive been doing every day for 30 years, she said in an interview. Its meeting with incredible people whether they are victims of crime, victims of rape, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers of homicide victims, law enforcement officers who have dedicated lives to keeping our community safe. They are what propel me forward and motivate me to want to do this. Copeland is the second Republican to jump into the 2024 race for attorney general, a prominent position that is seen as a springboard to the governors office. She will face York County District Attorney Dave Sunday in the Republican primary, and State Rep. Craig Williams also plans to run. Four Democrats State Rep. Jared Solomon of Philadelphia, former Bucks County Solicitor Joe Khan, former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, and former Philadelphia top public defender Keir Bradford-Grey have also entered the race. Democrat Jack Stollsteimer, the current district attorney in Delaware County who defeated Copeland in 2019, is also expected to run. Advertisement The race is crowded, in part, because no incumbent is running. Attorney General Michelle Henry, a Democrat who was appointed by Gov. Josh Shapiro when he became governor and stepped down from the post, is not seeking a full term. Copeland began as an assistant district attorney in the Delaware County District Attorneys Office in 1992 and held a variety of roles leading different units. She prides herself on establishing the countys first drug-treatment court and veterans-treatment court for nonviolent offenders as a tool for reducing recidivism. In 2011, Copeland began working as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where she prosecuted high-profile drug cases. She became chief of the criminal division in 2020 and most recently served in the national security and cyber crimes unit. She also had a stint as Delaware County district attorney in 2018, when she was appointed to replace former District Attorney John J. Whelan when he became a judge. She lost a 2019 bid to remain in the position to Stollsteimer as a blue wave gave Democrats control of the countys government. Stollsteimer won a second term as district attorney this month and is expected to run for attorney general, setting the stage for a potential rematch. Copeland was born in Upper Darby and attended the prestigious Baldwin School, Bryn Mawr College, and Temple Universitys Beasley School of Law. Copeland, whose mother is from Iran, lived there for several years as a child. Copeland said she saw firsthand what it was like to be free and then overnight for all of those freedoms to be taken away during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Her late father, an employee of Westinghouse Corp., was the first American put on trial in Irans Revolutionary Court on espionage charges. That period in my life shaped my appreciation for the rights and the freedoms that we hold dear in our country, she said. Copeland plans to use her lengthy experience as a prosecutor to appeal to voters, and she seemed unfazed by the Republican Attorneys General Associations decision to endorse Sunday in the race. Im not concerned about that, she said. I have shown time and again that I have the ability to raise money. I have by far the most experience. I have the temperament. I have prosecuted significant state crimes and federal crimes, and I have shown that I can gain and garner the support of local businesses, leaders, and community members who will support my candidacy. Phillip Fisher Jr., a Republican ward leader and pastor who coordinates faith-based outreach for Philadelphia's Moms For Liberty chapter, helps to run a mayoral townhall meeting in August. Read more Phillip Fisher Jr. is a pastor and Republican ward leader who coordinates faith-based outreach for Philadelphias Moms for Liberty chapter. Hes also a registered sex offender, due to a 2012 felony conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy when Fisher was 25. Fisher insists that he did nothing wrong, despite pleading guilty to one of 12 counts filed against him after an investigation by the Chicago Police Department, according to court records obtained by The Inquirer. Fisher was living in Chicago at the time. But hes from Philadelphia and has since returned and become active in local politics. Advertisement He is the pastor at the Center of Universal Divinity in Olney and works with Moms for Liberty, a national conservative organization that bills itself as a defender of parental rights, by connecting the Philadelphia chapter with other local faith leaders in an effort to grow the group. He said his conviction is the result of a railroad job concocted by the political action committee for Lyndon LaRouche, a fringe conspiracy theorist who ran repeatedly for president. Fisher, who worked for LaRouches organization, called it a cult and said he was set up while trying to break free. His criminal history came as a shock to Vince Fenerty, chair of Philadelphias Republican City Committee. READ MORE: Moms for Liberty: What it is and whos behind the group Fenerty said he was unaware of Fishers conviction until asked about it by The Inquirer last week. On Friday, he demanded and received Fishers resignation as leader of the 42nd Ward, which includes the neighborhoods of Olney, Feltonville, and Juniata Park. A national spokesperson for Moms for Liberty did not respond to a request for comment about Fishers criminal history. Sheila Armstrong, another Republican ward leader who chairs the local Moms for Liberty chapter, said she was also surprised. She said Fisher has been active in community outreach events with local and federal law enforcement, and she expressed concern that children were sometimes part of that. Armstrong was astounded to hear about Fishers criminal past because she had just received from the state Department of Human Services on Thursday a child abuse history certification in Fishers name so that he could volunteer for an upcoming Christmas Party for an autism nonprofit that she operates. That certificate said no records exist in the states database listing Fisher as a perpetrator of an indicated or founded report of child abuse. A DHS spokesperson, asked about the certificate, said not all criminal convictions involving minors are considered child abuse, under the states Child Protective Services Law. Fisher is listed on Pennsylvanias Megans Law website for registered sex offenders, maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police, in a file last updated in July. That includes some details about his conviction, annual photos he is required to submit, and his home address in Philadelphia. READ MORE: Why Moms for Liberty was designated an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center Involvement in local and national Republican politics Fisher has been an active participant in local and national politics in recent years. For Moms for Liberty in Philadelphia, he said he helped connect the group with other pastors, a rabbi, and an imam. Given that I am a known and respected pastor throughout the city, I have ties with different religious organizations from Philadelphia to Lancaster, Fisher told The Inquirer. The national Moms for Liberty organization held a summit in Philadelphia this past summer, where denying transgender identity for children and removing books from school libraries were major themes. The summit featured speeches from former President Donald Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Armstrong, who was part of the planning committee, said Fisher was a volunteer at the summit. Fisher has supported Trumps campaigns; a 2020 report by WHYY included a mural in support of Trump that Fisher said was painted on an exterior wall of his church by children he worked with in his congregation. He was a guest on 1210 WPHT last fall after campaigning with Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz. And he helped organize and run a town hall meeting in August for David Ohs Republican campaign for mayor in Philadelphia. A criminal case in Chicago Fisher, in two interviews with The Inquirer, confirmed the details of his criminal conviction. He repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and called his conviction one blip in his background. He blamed it all on a dispute about his trying to break away from the LaRouche organization, and said the 14-year-old boy and his parents were part of that group. It was a political situation that happened between me and Lyndon LaRouche, Fisher said. It was a member of his camp, his party, that made the accusation. They pushed it through. It was really a railroad job. Documents from the Cook County Clerk of Circuit Court show that a grand jury there indicted Fisher in January 2011 on 12 felony counts of sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Fisher waived his right to a jury trial 15 months later and was adjudicated guilty on one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor between the ages of 13 and 17. The charging documents allege that Fisher had oral and anal sex with the 14-year-old boy in January 2011. Those documents dont say how Fisher met the 14-year-old, how the case came to the attention of law enforcement, or any defense Fisher offered in the case before pleading guilty. He was sentenced to three years in prison and given credit for nearly 20 months he spent in jail waiting for his case to come to court, followed by two years of supervised release. Fisher said he took the plea bargain to get out of the county jail, where he said he experienced violence from other prisoners. I actually broke down, he said. I said Ill do whatever I have to do to get out of there. Fisher said he went to Illinois through the LaRouche organization, in a case of what he called human trafficking. At the time, I was the victim, Fisher said. What they did was basically trumped up charges to drown out the complaints that I was making on the issues of human rights. Two photos published on the website of the visual media company Getty Images corroborate that he worked with the LaRouche campaign, as they show Fisher protesting outside of a town hall meeting about health care at a Chicago church in August 2009 on behalf of LaRouches political action committee. In the photos, Fisher held a large poster with a picture of then-President Barack Obama defaced to add a mustache like the one made infamous by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. Fisher confirmed for The Inquirer that he is the person in those photos. Fisher is registered on a sex offender list kept on a website maintained by the Illinois State Police, which includes his photograph and information that the victim in the case was 14 years old. That information is also listed on the National Sex Offender Website maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice. While Fishers background came as a shock to people who work with him, he noted that the information was always publicly available. I never went out of my way to hide anything, he said. Im in the database. Its an easy search. Linda Turk of Mullica Hill wearing a turkey headband before the 6ABC Dunkin' Thanksgiving Day Parade last year. Read more Adding some dramatic flair to early holiday travel is a storm that will make its way through the Philadelphia region Tuesday afternoon, yielding one to two inches of rain and gusts ranging from 25 to 35 mph. Still, Matt Brudy, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, said the rain will be long gone by Thanksgiving Day, and it shouldnt ruin holiday travel plans, either. Its really not going to be very impactful as far as I know, he said. Its just going to be some much-needed rain. Brudy said Tuesdays high is expected to be 49 degrees with a low only a degree below that. Advertisement The days gusts might be slightly stronger along the New Jersey coast, reaching up to 40 mph, but there arent too many concerns for potential flooding in the region. Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, Brudy said, some warm air is slated to push through the region giving Wednesday a high of 57 degrees. Brudy said the rain should be mostly gone by Wednesday afternoon, and the low is projected to be 35 degrees. Thanksgiving itself will have temps in the low 50s, so plan accordingly for Turkey Trots or for attending the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. READ MORE: Hoagie stuffing, anyone? We made the most Philly Thanksgiving meal possible. Despite the storms limited regional impact, it is worth remembering holiday travel for Thanksgivinghas already begun, and experts say it never hurts to be ready for anything. Weather here or elsewhere across the country could impact travel, said Heather Redfern, a spokesperson for Philadelphia International Airport. We advise anyone traveling [Tuesday] and Wednesday to check with their airlines for the most up-to-date flight information. And while those traveling Wednesday might be missing the rain, they wont be missing traffic. According to AAA, Wednesday is the busiest road day during the holiday week with congestion at its worst between 2 and 6 p.m. in some metro areas. AAA said some 55.4 million people are expected to travel more than 50 miles for the holiday, a 2.3% increase from last year and the third busiest since 2000, the year the organization started tracking holiday travel. The weather on Thursday is slated to be average compared to past Thanksgiving days in the region, said Brudy. That forecast certainly beats the 3.2 inches of snow recorded in 1898 or the frigid 20 degrees recorded in 2018. I would put it down to my communication. My retention with my clients is really, really high. The only time I ever lose a client is if they've sold the business or they're retired. Communication with the client is paramount, and if you continue to keep them updated so they know where they're at, they'll be with you for life. For the first time, the customer was able to look at the stakeholder and say that they dont have enough money to do what the stakeholder was asking them to do and that based on what they are doing, they are at considerable risk, he said. This new phase of the PSF means that claims professionals now have a standardised benchmark and assessment practice, which, coupled with more professional growth opportunities, will encourage claim management as a profession of choice. We're setting a new benchmark for the industry and a milestone for icare in delivering improvements to the people of NSW, Wessling said. Our commitment to delivering better outcomes for all those we serve across the New South Wales workers compensation is unwavering. As Australia's largest public insurer, we believe that this next phase of the Professional Standards Framework (PSF) marks a significant milestone in this journey, and one that will continue with ongoing collaboration and support from our industry partners. Ninety-five percent of our people said they are proud to work at C&F, which is fantastic, said Marc Adee, CEO of Crum & Forster. They also said they feel respected and are made to feel very welcome when joining the company. We encourage our people to take the positive energy created from working in a great environment and direct it externally to build even stronger relationships with partners and customers ensuring they rate us as a great company to do business with. The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance (DCI) has announced Cameron Mutual Insurance Co. has been placed into court-supervised liquidation effective Dec 1. Director Chlora Lindley-Myers has been named liquidator. Cameron National is not included in the liquidation order and will remain in rehabilitation, the DCI said. Insurance premiums in Florida have tripled over the past five years, according to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I). Floridians now face an average yearly payment exceeding $4,200, which is a significant jump from the national average of $1,700. Having lost two bids to recover $15 million from its insurer to cover costs related to its failed defense of its admissions policy, Harvard University is now looking to hold its insurance broker, Marsh, responsible. Harvards excess insurer Zurich American denied coverage for the high-profile litigation because it had not been timely notified of the case. When the university went to court to force Zurich to pay up, Harvard lost in federal district court in November 2022 and then again on appeal this past August. The courts found Zurich rightfully denied coverage because it did not receive timely notice of the litigation. In a lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, the university now claims that the failure to file a timely notice of its claim with Zurich was malpractice on the part of Marsh. Harvard in 2014 had purchased a one-year, $25 million educational errors and omissions (E&O) policy from AIG that covered litigation costs for claims brought against the university. The school also obtained a $15 million excess E&O policy from Zurich American to cover legal costs after the AIG policy was exhausted. Both policies required Harvard to report legal claims no later than 90 days after the end of the policy period. The policies covered Nov. 1, 2014, to Nov. 1, 2015. The original lawsuit by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) culminated with a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022 that found Harvards affirmative action admissions policy was unconstitutional. The SFFA lawsuit was filed Nov. 17, 2014. Harvards primary carrier AIGs National Union Fire Insurance was immediately notified of the claim event but Zurich was not notified until May 2017, well after the 90-day notification window. AIG paid what it owed as primary insurer but Zurich denied the excess coverage. Harvard sued Zurich over the denial but lost. According to the state court complaint, Marsh was the broker responsible for the placement of the policies purchased from AIG and Zurich and, as its broker, Marsh undertook the contractual obligation to prepare loss notices to insurers and notify insurers of claims. Further, Marsh, as a licensed insurance brokerage, owed a duty to perform its duties in a professional manner that accorded with the applicable standard of care, according to the complaint. Harvard is seeking damages from Marsh for alleged breach of contract and for tortious violation of the professional standard of care that it claims resulted in Harvards loss of access to its excess insurance coverage for the defense costs and other SFFA action-related expenses incurred in excess of the $27.5 million attachment point of Zurichs excess policy. According to the timeline provided by Harvard, on Nov. 18, 2014, Harvard sent an email to Marsh regarding the SFFA action requesting that Marsh report the matter to AIG and for Marsh to provide an analysis as to coverage for the claim. Harvard says it did not discover Marshs failure to place Zurich on notice of the SFFA claim until May 2017. Marsh then formally reported it to Zurich and Harvards other excess E&O insurers. Zurich acknowledged receipt on May 25, 2017. Harvard argues that the receipt of Harvards instruction to provide notice to even a single insurer triggered Marshs contractual and professional duties, both as set forth in the broker contract and as inherent in a brokers standard of care generally to determine which insurers should receive notice of the claim and to then proceed with providing timely and adequate notice to all such insurers. Harvard maintains that the inaction of Marsh was in contrast to that of another of its brokers, Risk Strategies Co., which the complaint says placed the entire tower of primary and excess general liability carriers for its policies with Harvard on notice of the SFFA action, despite the absence of an initial explicit request from Harvard that it do so. According to the universitys complaint, Marsh has taken the position it was instructed by Harvard not to notify excess insurers. Harvard denies that it ever instructed Marsh not to notify excess insurers. Furthermore, Harvard argues, if it is true that Marsh had been told not to report the claim to Zurich, that should have trigged other actions by Harvard to confirm that in writing and to advise Harvard of the risks of not notifying the excess insurers. Marsh had no comment. Harvard asserts it has incurred and continues to incur SFFA action-related defense costs, fees and expenses in amounts that have already or will soon exceed the Zurich policys attachment point. As a result of Zurichs denial, Harvard has lost the ability to access the Zurich policys $15 million policy limit. Harvard says Zurichs denial of coverage also caused it to incur legal expenses to assess options and ultimately to pursue Zurich for coverage. In late May 2020, Harvard retained the legal services of Anderson Kill P.C. to evaluate the consequences of Marshs conduct and Zurichs resulting denial of coverage. The lawsuit was received by the Suffolk Superior Court on October 25. Harvard maintains the lawsuit is timely under a tolling agreement with Marsh that extended the period for filing claims. Topics Profit Loss Claims The U.S. cannabis production industrys first reported occupational asthma death took the life of a worker in Massachusetts, federal health and safety officials said. The woman, 27, was working in a cannabis cultivation and processing facility when she experienced worsening work-related respiratory symptoms that ended in a fatal asthma attack in January 2022, officials said in a federal report published Thursday. The report states that allergic diseases such as asthma are a growing concern in the U.S. cannabis industry, which has grown rapidly in recent years thanks to a wave of state-level legalizations. The report said the worker`s death illustrates missed opportunities for prevention, including workplace exposures, medical surveillance, and treatment according to the current asthma guidelines. The report also states that evaluation of workers with new-onset or worsening asthma is essential in cannabis facilities. That approach could help prevent workplace deaths when paired with prompt diagnosis and medical management, the report states. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the report, which it said represented findings of a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection that included a worksite exposure assessment, coworker and next-of-kin interviews, medical record reviews, and collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The report does not name the worker or the Massachusetts facility. However, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported in filings last year that an employee at the Holyoke location of cannabis company Trulieve who was packaging ground cannabis into pre-rolls suffered an asthma attack and later died in the hospital. Trulieve identified the worker as Lorna McMurrey, 27, last year. Representatives for Trulieve did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. The report cites studies that identify respiratory hazards in the cannabis cultivation and production industry, such as microbial and plant allergens. The report also states that chemicals such as pesticides and allergens specific to the cannabis plant itself can be a hazard. The finding comes as legalization of recreational marijuana, and the resultant growth of the cannabis industry, is spreading. Almost half the states allow adult recreational use of marijuana. Legalizations began in 2012 with Washington and Colorado and have only accelerated. Advocates for safety in the marijuana industry have called for more safeguards to make sure the cannabis business doesnt put workers or the public at risk. The death of the Massachusetts worker should be a big red flag to lawmakers that we need to put way more guardrails around that industry, said Scott Gagnon, a cannabis industry watchdog who advocates for the prevention of substance abuse in Maine, where marijuana has been legal for several years. The industry wants to be as safe as possible, said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, the marijuana law reform group, adding that likelihood of such incidences is greatly reduced in environments where cannabis businesses are licensed, regulated, and required to adhere to the same sort of workplace safety regulations and standards as others. Furthermore, when such incidences do occur, the regulated marketplace ensures that they are properly investigated and that corrective actions are taken to prevent future incidents, Armentano said. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Massachusetts Cannabis A doctor who ran a cancer center at NYU Langone Health filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired for social media posts relating to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. Dr. Benjamin Neel, the director of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, claimed he was fired Nov. 10 for reposting social media content that criticized people who supported the violence toward and death of Israelis, according to the complaint filed Thursday in New York State Supreme Court. The lawsuit comes amid intense social media conflict about the war in the Middle East, triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead and another 240 taken hostage. In response, Israel attacked the Gaza Strip, killing more than 11,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. On Oct. 31, Neel was suspended and told he would be fired as director of the cancer center in response to social media reactions and some patient complaints about the reposts, according to the lawsuit, which also names New York University as a defendant. A resident at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island, Zaki Masoud, was suspended on the same day as Neel after social media posts criticizing Israel. Neel became a casualty of NYULHs ill-considered plan to feign the appearance of even-handedness as though calling for revolution and the murder of innocents is the same as criticizing those who celebrate terrorism, according to the complaint. In truth, Dr. Neels re-posts were far more temperate than much of the social media content and little different than the official views espoused by NYULH. NYU Langone stands by our decision and looks forward to defending it in court, spokesman Steve Ritea said in a statement. The institution is committed to a safe and inclusive environment free of discrimination, and has reminded employees of its code of conduct and social media policy several times in the past month, he said. Nonetheless, Dr. Ben Neel, as a leader at our institution, disregarded these standards in a series of public social media posts and later locked his Twitter/X account, Ritea said. A current contact number for Masoud couldnt be immediately located. Neel, 67, said hes a researcher who hasnt treated patients in 35 years. By announcing his suspension, NYULH left his reputation in tatters, causing him to lose one consulting arrangement and leaving several others in imminent peril, according to the complaint. Copyright 2023 Bloomberg. Topics Lawsuits Caring for Employees and Clients Alike The National Church Group Insurance Agencys mission is to protect its clients missions. For nearly four decades, the Leesburg, Virginia-based organization has secured commercial property and casualty insurance for churches, nonprofits, camps and schools. Greg Wigfield, the agencys president and founder, told Insurance Journal that loving clients is in his agencys DNA. NCG won the 2023 Gold award for the East region in Insurance Journals Best Agencies to Work For competition based on employee responses to IJs annual Best Agency survey. It is like a family here, wrote one survey respondent. Everyone cares about everyone, and the owners are generous and thoughtful. It is (a) blessing to work for and with such wonderful, kindhearted and intelligent people. Wigfield founded the retail agency during a hard market in 1984 with no company contracts and no clients. His father a pastor became his sons first policyholder, and NCG has since expanded its commercial property insurance footprint to more than 4,000 churches and nonprofit organizations across all 50 states. The grind was long and slow. Insurance Journals 2023 Best Independent Insurance Agencies to Work For The votes are in! Employees in 2023 highlighted the importance of competitive salaries, employee benefits, training and education, resources, and other employee perks as drivers of satisfaction in the workplace. But its not all about compensation and benefits. The votes are in! Employees in 2023 highlighted the importance of competitive salaries, employee benefits, training and education, resources, and other employee perks as drivers of satisfaction in the workplace. But its not all about compensation and benefits. We started just selling insurance to churches one-by-one, Wigfield said. I say we, it was me by myself. I eventually had enough money to hire somebody to answer the phone, and that became we. And it grew from there. NCG subsequently expanded its business into church schools and camps, as well as social service nonprofits. Today, the agency has 29 employees and offices in Virginia, West Virginia, New York City, and Tampa, Florida. In addition, NCG has a national presence online and many employees work remotely. Hearing that they nominated his agency for this award made Wigfield feel proud and humble. Its a reflection on our people, really, he said. A big shift in NCGs evolution was set into motion in 2017, when Wigfield reviewed Insurance Journals annual agency salary survey. We were behind in a big way, he shared. And he decided it was time for a change. A consulting group conducted a structural analysis of NCG to advise leadership on where they were and what needed to change. That process involved uncovering employees strengths and motivations and better aligning them with agency roles. Money that was saved through the process was set aside for NCG employees. The agency placed each employee into a situation where they could see how they could move up in terms of their job description (and) how they could move up in income, Wigfield explained. We gave great value to everyone no matter what job that they did. In their survey responses, employees praised the agencys management for effectively communicating performance expectations and observations. Many respondents pointed to how NCGs leadership prioritizes and encourages growth. One employee wrote that they are the envy of my friends and family because they see how great it is to work for NCG. We have nice clients and good employees and that doesnt just happen, another survey respondent wrote. Our owners are quality folks and always put the best interests of the employees at heart. NCG has a young executive team; its members are in their late 20s through early 40s. Wigfield wants to give them everything he can to ensure the agency remains successful for the next generation and possibly more generations after that. His advice to agency owners? The advice that I would have at this point in my life is, care, he said. Just care as much as you can about your employees. Care about them as much as you do your clients. Because when you do that, they become part of your family. See All Winners: Best Insurance Agencies to Work For Topics Virginia Church The head of Australias second-largest telco Optus resigned on Monday, cutting short a more than three-year tenure marred by a massive network-wide outage and one of Australias largest data breaches. Parent Singapore Telecommunications announced the resignation of Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin days after a network-wide outage left nearly half of Australias 26 million people without phone or internet for 12 hours. Chief Financial Officer Michael Venter will take over as interim CEO, Singtel said in a statement. Rosmarin said she decided to resign after time for personal reflection following a parliamentary hearing on Friday where Optus executives said the company had no contingency plan in place for an outage of that scale. Having now had time for some personal reflection, I have come to the decision that my resignation is in the best interest of Optus moving forward, she said in the statement. Appointed in April 2020, Rosmarin headed Optus through two national scandals that have tarnished the reputation of the telco giant. A massive data hack last year exposed the personal data of 10 million Australians and triggered a class action lawsuit and multiple investigations from regulators. The company was dealt a fresh blow earlier this month when a 12-hour network blackout hit more than 10 million Australians, triggering fury and frustration among customers and raising wider concerns about the telecommunications infrastructure. Optus executives told the parliamentary hearing on Friday the telco provider had not foreseen a network-wide outage and so had no backup plan in place. Rosmarin told the hearing hundreds of calls to Australian emergency hotline Triple-0 failed because of the outage although the telco had followed up all incidents and thankfully everybody is OK. Singtel said last week a fault in Optus security systems caused the failure, not a routine software upgrade as previously suspected. Rosmarin increased Optus market share and improved financial performance during her tenure, Single said in a statement. We recognize the need for Optus to regain customer trust and confidence as the team works through the impact and consequences of the recent outage and continues to improve, SingTel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon said in a statement. Peter Kaliaropoulos was also appointed to a newly created position of chief operating officer. (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru, and Lewis Jackson and Byron Kaye in Sydney; editing by Lisa Shumaker and Stephen Coates) Topics Cyber Australia The Bulow Group has the winning formula for happy employees. In recent years, the agency won bronze, silver and gold awards as the Best Agency to Work For from Insurance Journal, and in 2023, they add another gold award to their accolades as a top agency in the Midwest. The awards are based on employee responses to IJs annual Best Agency survey, as well as certain other criteria such as working conditions and benefits. I wanted to work somewhere where the owners were highly ethical, had fun in a workday with the employees, where my work was appreciated and meant something to someone, wrote one nominating employee. I wanted to work somewhere that I could be proud to represent. In this day of social divisiveness, it is a pleasure to work with staff carefully chosen to elevate comradery, efficiency, helping each other to learn and grow together in all aspects of daily work. Creating a foundation of happy employees was in the agencys DNA from day one, said founder and CEO Mike Bulow. He and his brother, Tom Bulow, started The Bulow Group 10 years ago. The companys Tinley Park office, just 35 minutes south of Chicago, Illinois, employs 31 people. We made a vow to each other that were going to be the best place to work in insurance, said Mike Bulow. And so basically every day, our number one goal when we walk through the doors is to fight for our people and make sure that theyre happy, they do a good job, and we provide them a great life for themselves and their family. And honestly, thats why thats our mission, is to work for our people to give them a great life. The agency has a range of ages, but overall, the employee age skews younger, which means a lot of love for technology and a lot of families with young kids who can make life unpredictable. Fortunately, that easy adaptation to technology can make life easier in and out of the office. Over the last year, the firm has invested in resources and technology that automates many tasks and lightens the workload. People are not running at 110%, theyre running maybe at 80 or 90 (%) and enjoying it, he said. The company is also flexible when it comes to work schedules, he added. Maybe theres a life event that had happened, a sickness or somebody has to take care, he said. Were very, very lenient on people and their time and how we can do that, how we can make things work. The company also taps into tech to create informational and training videos. Company leaders often ask employees to share their expertise with the rest of the agency through video. We basically have a digital roadmap with videos, examples, handouts, of how to succeed here at the Bulow Group and in the industry, he said. Were constantly training, and that goes for every different job and role here at The Bulow Group. Its all done digitally, and we have a library that is all online. Its so robust now and so intuitive and spot on. Anyone could sit down, and as long as they have the thirst to learn and work hard, they will succeed here. Employees are incentivized to complete training sessions through the system. One nominating employee emphasized the value of ongoing enrichment: Not only are they willing to talk the talk but walk the walk. They will get in the trenches with us and provide help immediately on things we need help with. There are numerous resources they have built to educate us and keep educating us to encourage learning every day. Its all part of the big picture that creates a successful, award-winning workplace. We believe in paying our people and paying them well, but all of the other things that come along with that are just as much if not more important: work-life balance, education, helping them better themselves in their career, advancing themselves, Bulow said. And thats just always been our model. And we try to prepare every team member to be the best version of themselves that they can be. Roshan Navagamuwa joins American International Group, Inc. (AIG) in December as executive vice president and chief information officer, effective January 1, 2024. AIG is headquartered in New York, N.Y. Navagamuwa joins AIG from CVS Health, where he was executive vice president and chief information officer. Previously at CVS Health, he was senior vice president, client services, pharmacy benefits management. Earlier in his career, he held successive leadership roles in Aons global IT division. Hagerty Promoted to Head Everest Insurance U.S. Retail Property Everest Insurance appointed Patrick Hagerty senior vice president and head of U.S. retail property. He is based in New York and reports to Mike Mulray, president, Everest Insurance North America. Hagerty will be responsible for all aspects of Everests retail, middle market and builders risk businesses. He joined the companys corporate underwriting team in 2021 and was most recently Everest Insurances chief underwriting officer for U.S. property. Prior to that, Hagerty spent nearly two decades with AIG. Topics USA Property AIG LockBit, the prolific ransomware gang that has launched attacks recently on Boeing Co. and Industrial Commercial Bank of China Ltd., among others, has revised the way it tries to blackmail victims because its disappointed with lower-than-expected ransom payments, according to a report published Thursday by Analyst1. The Russian-linked group has claimed some of this years biggest hacks. Its victims have included the UKs Royal Mail and Japans biggest maritime port. But the syndicates financial haul has paled in comparison to some rival gangs, said Anastasia Sentsova, a ransomware cybercrime researcher who authored the report for cyber threat-intelligence firm Analyst1. LockBits leadership is unhappy with the revenue they see from ransom payouts, she said. The problem is that rapid growth of the group, which now has more than 100 affiliates, many of whom are young and inexperienced in negotiations, has led to inconsistent and often low ransom amounts that decreased overall revenue and set an unfavorable tone for future negotiations. LockBit, a criminal gang with ties to Russia, specializes in using malicious software known as ransomware to encrypt files on its victims computers, then demanding payment to unlock the files. The operation recruits hackers to conduct the ransomware attacks using LockBits tools and infrastructure. LockBit gets a cut of any ransom extorted in the attacks. A meeting between the gangs main leaders culminated in new rules that went into effect Oct. 1, laying out new tactics for hackers to follow when negotiating with the victims of their ransomware attacks. The guidance details exactly how much to ask for in payouts, even as the final decision on a ransom payment amount is still at the affiliates discretion, depending on their assessment of the damage inflicted on the victim, Sentsova wrote in the report. But attackers were encouraged to stick to recommendations that companies with revenue of as much as $100 million pay 3% to 10% of their total sales, those with up to $1 billion in revenue pay 0.5% to 5%, and those with more than $1 billion in sales pay 0.1% to 3%, the report noted. When setting an initial ransom amount, it is suggested to perform an assessment of the probability of payout to determine the amount the victim might be willing to pay, the group said. LockBit first appeared on the hacker scene in September 2019. A year later it introduced a data leak site where actors would publish data stolen from their victims, Analyst1 noted in its report. By 2022 it had rebranded itself to LockBit 3.0, establishing an interactive presence on dark web forums and interacting with threat actors and members of the cybersecurity community. The criminals that use its tools have always taken the lead in choosing their targets and their ransoms, splitting the share of the spoils 80/20 with LockBit. But inconsistencies within those negotiations have frustrated operators, Sentsova noted, which prompted the demand for substantial changes. Photo: Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg Copyright 2023 Bloomberg. Topics Cyber U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officials have told lobbyists and corporate executives in recent days that the agencys long-anticipated climate rules may scale back some of the most demanding greenhouse gas emissions disclosure requirements that it had proposed. At issue are so-called Scope 3 emissions that account for greenhouse gases released in the atmosphere from a companys supply chain and the consumption of its products by customers, according to people familiar with the conversations. In March 2022, the SEC proposed requiring publicly listed companies to disclose climate risks, including their Scope 3 emissions when they are material and when companies have set reduction targets for them. The agency said such information is important for investors due diligence. Companies pushed back, arguing the data would be hard to produce and legally contentious. Walking back the Scope 3 requirement would represent a win for those in the corporate world that lobbied against the changes and would deviate from European Union rules which would make Scope 3 disclosures mandatory for large companies starting in 2024. In private meetings with representatives of companies and other stakeholders, some SEC officials have said that mandating Scope 3 disclosures could make the rule more vulnerable to legal challenges which, if successful, could tie the agencys hands when writing other rules, according to the sources. Those concerns were fueled by last years Supreme Court decision curbing the Environmental Protection Agencys power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This raised doubts over whether SEC rules would survive a court challenge. Some corporate groups and Republican lawmakers have argued that tackling climate change-related issues exceeds the SECs authority, and that the rules would be unduly burdensome for companies and cloud truly material information for investors. The sources, who requested anonymity to talk about private conversations, said SEC officials did not indicate that a final decision has been made regarding the emission disclosure rules. Nevertheless, the deliberations indicate that the agencys top brass, led by Chair Gary Gensler, are inclined to back off from the proposal to make Scope 3 emission disclosures mandatory, the sources added. The agency could still pursue a compromise, including requiring only companies that already report Scope 3 emissions for other legal jurisdictions to make disclosures, or letting companies provide the information separate from regulatory filings which would reduce legal liability, according to other industry participants tracking the rule. An SEC spokesperson declined to comment on Scope 3 emissions and when the climate disclosure rules will be finalized. Based on the public feedback, the staff and the Commission consider possible adjustments to the proposals and whether its appropriate to move forward to a final adoption. The Commission moves to adopt rules only when the staff and the Commission think they are ready to be considered, the spokesperson said. CALIFORNIA RULES Softening emission disclosures would be a blow for President Joe Bidens agenda to tackle climate change through federal agencies. Biden, a Democrat, has been under pressure from many lawmakers in his party to do more and at a faster pace. Even some advocates of climate action have expressed concerns about the logistical challenges of accurately calculating Scope 3 emissions. Even if the SEC stripped Scope 3 emissions from the rules, companies would be required to disclose emissions they are more directly responsible for, dubbed Scope 1 and Scope 2. For many businesses, however, Scope 3 emissions represent more than 70% of their carbon footprint, according to consulting firm Deloitte. Gensler, a Democrat, must win the backing of the agencys two other Democratic commissioners to pass the rule with a 3-2 majority. Both Republican SEC commissioners are expected to vote against it. One has vocally opposed the proposal. Gensler has raised doubts over whether Scope 3 disclosures are sufficiently well-developed. This year, California adopted a law that will require companies active in the state to disclose Scope 3 emissions come 2027. Gensler told lawmakers in September this could make the SECs rule less costly, since many companies would already be producing the information. Corporate lobbyists said companies would still be reluctant to include Scope 3 emissions in SEC filings, because of the risk of shareholder lawsuits. Some voluntary initiatives such as the International Sustainability Standards Board already specify that it is best practice to disclose Scope 3 emissions. Gensler told an event held by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last month that he hoped the emissions disclosure rules, which received some 16,000 public comments, will survive any legal challenges once they are finalized and adopted. Mackoul Risk Associates with offices in both Morristown, New Jersey, and Long Beach, New York, lives and breathes the motto, work hard and play hard. As one employee wrote when nominating the agency for this years annual Best Agencies to Work For award: The term work hard, play hard really applies to our company. The agencys incentives motivate employees to set goals, work hard to achieve those goals, and play hard year-round. Monthly team building events, strong leadership, a family-like culture, and annual agency revenue goals that every employee in this 50-person independent agency aims to achieve led Mackoul to this years Overall Best Agency to Work For award from Insurance Journal. Mackoul scored highest out of thousands of nominations from agencies nationwide. The award is based on employee responses to an online survey each year. Insurance Journals 2023 Best Independent Insurance Agencies to Work For The votes are in! Employees in 2023 highlighted the importance of competitive salaries, employee benefits, training and education, resources, and other employee perks as drivers of satisfaction in the workplace. But its not all about compensation and benefits. The votes are in! Employees in 2023 highlighted the importance of competitive salaries, employee benefits, training and education, resources, and other employee perks as drivers of satisfaction in the workplace. But its not all about compensation and benefits. No agency I have ever worked for has had the leadership Mackoul does, another employee wrote. I am not a number here; I am a valued asset, and I am reminded of that daily. Edward Mackoul, CEO, works hard to keep the agency a great place to work. So, too, did his father, Robert Mackoul, who founded the independent agency in 1987. Edward says that creating a great place to work means recognizing the value employees bring to the organizations success. Employees seem to notice. One employee wrote: I truly have never felt so appreciated at a job before. Your work is recognized, you feel empowered to do your best and people are always willing to jump in to help. The culture of this agency is truly one of a family. As an agency owner and leader, Mackoul says this type of recognition from employees is simply the best. I am proud of all the awards we received but my favorite awards are the ones where employees nominate us, he said. This really shows what kind of culture we have. Edward Mackoul joined his fathers agency in 1995. We were a small agency, he said. My father was a life insurance agent and sold life insurance and disability to doctors. Those clients began to ask for more. They said, why cant you insure our real estate or our cars, too? And so we did. See All Winners: Best Insurance Agencies to Work For Today, the agency specializes in two primary niche markets: real estate and habitational, including co-ops and condos. While those two sectors represent about half of the agencys revenue, the agency continues to diversify into other areas, including high-net worth personal lines and benefits. The insurance market for habitational and condo risks is difficult today and Mackoul knows those conditions have put added pressure on agency staff. The hard market has been difficult, so we try to do as much as we can to help them, he said. Sometimes that help comes in the form of added bonuses or competitive compensation, and even trips, he said. We set goals for growth, new business, retention, etc., and if were doing well, then employees do well, too. Aside from monthly team building events, all staff participate and contribute to meeting yearly revenue goals, Mackoul says. If the agency meets that annual goal, the prize for all is big, he said. This past year, Mackoul staff met their annual goal and celebrated with an all-expense paid trip for every employee to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It was about 60 of us three nights, four days, Mackoul said. Those experiences over the years have built the agencys strong family culture, he says. We have fun. The old work hard play hard certainly applies. According to Mackoul, the agency has met its annual goal about 20 times in the past 28 years. Weve been to Jamaica several times, weve done cruises, weve done the Bahamas, and Aruba. Another important factor in making a great place to work be flexible and listen to employees, Mackoul says. Prior to the pandemic, some employees at Mackoul began to work from home. Thats something that worked, he said. Today, the agency is 100% work from home but keeps a small office space equipped with workstations for those in need of meeting space. Our agency allows us to work remote full time, but sets up a fun team building event each month to get us all together, another employee said. Most important, Mackoul says, is to treat employees well. Make sure you pay them well, treat them well and give them the tools they need to be successful. At G&G Independent Insurance, the mission of delivering exceptional experiences extends to both clients and employees. A culture of collaboration, respect and support makes the Fayetteville, Arkansas-based agency a place where employees feel comfortable sharing their ideas, concerns and feedback, knowing that their voices will be heard. G&G has earned Insurance Journals 2023 Best Insurance Agency to Work For Gold award for the South Central region, an honor that co-founder and CEO Jordan Greer calls truly humbling. The award is based on employee responses to IJs annual Best Agency survey, as well as certain other criteria. This nomination reaffirms our commitment to creating a great workplace environment at G&G, said Greer. Founded in 2014, G&G offers auto, home, commercial, life, flood and motorcycle insurance. As an entrepreneur and leader, you often start with a vision of what you want to achieve, a dream of the impact you want to make, Greer said. Its a journey filled with challenges and uncertainties, but its also one brimming with excitement and the promise of what could be. G&Gs 43 employees have bought into the promise, motivated by a positive culture that recognizes workers achievements on a daily and weekly basis. G&G has weekly company and department meetings, as well as weekly one-on-one meetings, which employees say fosters a strong level of communication. Management is always asking for input on how we can improve individually and as a company, an employee said. One way G&G makes its team feel recognized is through its Exceptional Experience Program, which rewards employees for providing exemplary customer service. Employees go above and beyond by mailing handwritten cards to customers, sending gifts and trinkets to surprise and delight clients, and working outside business hours to accommodate customers. With every experience submitted, employees are eligible for quarterly prizes such as winning a night out on the town. One employee wrote that they like how the agency benchmarks salaries annually and makes sure that the company is in the 50th percentile or better for all positions. G&G regularly gives salary and performance reviews, which one employee finds valuable because they offer a transparent way to understand how my contributions align with the companys goals and how Im rewarded for my efforts. G&Gs training program is one more area in which the agency excels, employees said. G&G nurtures a learning-oriented atmosphere by investing in training, workshops and mentorship to enhance skill sets and career trajectories. Its about more than just providing training or mentoring; its about nurturing potential, fostering confidence, and empowering individuals to reach their full capabilities, said Greer. Its immensely rewarding to see team members flourish, take on new responsibilities, and achieve their career aspirations. G&G offers the option to work remotely, which one employee said means the world by allowing her to be at home with her small children. The agency holds a quarterly company meeting at its Fayetteville office, giving employees the opportunity to bond with one another in and outside of work. Past team building activities include bowling, attending a haunted house, and even learning how to curl. Its just a great time to get everyone together outside of work and foster that kind of community and culture, said Maggie Hill, marketing/ technology manager at G&G. We firmly believe that fostering positive experiences within our team ripples out to benefit our clients and partners, Greer said, resulting in their own enhanced experiences. VENICE, La. (AP) Federal authorities said Saturday that they`re investigating a leak from an underwater oil pipeline off the coast of Louisiana. The National Transportation Safety Board said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it had sent a four-person team to do a safety investigation and determine the cause of the leak about 19 miles (31 kilometers) offshore from Venice, Louisiana. The agency said the pipeline is operated by Third Coast Infrastructure LLC. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, said oil sheen was seen on water at around 9 a.m. Thursday and Third Coast Midstream Pipeline reported the leak 10 minutes later. A flight over the area at around 2 p.m. that day reported a slick that was 3 to 4 miles wide (roughly 5.5 kilometers) with dark oil scattered throughout, the agency said on its website. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Louisiana Energy Oil Gas Skanska USA, part of one of the worlds largest construction firms, was ordered to pay almost $1.7 million to a Florida oyster farmer, three years after the firms barges broke loose in Hurricane Sally. The state-court jury verdict last week could be a preview of the outcome of a class-action lawsuit from some 900 homeowners and businesses in the Pensacola Bay area, along with suits from property insurers seeking subrogation, after Skanska was accused of failing to secure two dozen barges before the storm hit in September 2020. Travis Gill, owner of DeLuna Oyster Co., argued in his lawsuit that two of the barges destroyed hundreds of thousands of his oysters growing in the bay. The largely self-insured Skanska, which was building a multi-lane bridge across Pensacola Bay, could have moved its barges to a designated safe harbor before the hurricane made landfall, under a plan the company submitted to the Floria Department of Transportation, according court documents and local news reports. One of the loose barges knocked out part of the Three Mile Bridge that Skanska was building, closing the bridge and diverting traffic for months, causing multiple businesses in the area to lose customers. Skanska contended in trial that wind and waves had damaged Gills oyster beds and equipment. But plaintiffs experts testified that they had never seen storms cause the type of damage seen at Gills operation, the Pensacola News Journal reported. The jury in the Escambia County Circuit Court trial awarded Gill $445,000 for property damage and $1.2 million in lost profits. Travis is very grateful that today, for the first time, Skanska is held accountable for the destruction it caused thanks to a jury of Escambia County Citizens, Jeff Gill, Travis father, one of the attorneys who represented him in the case, said in a statement released by the Levin Papantonio law firm. Skanska, a Swedish company known for building roads, bridges and other major projects around the world, now faces the federal class action and other suits. A federal appeals court ruled in August that the construction firms liability was not limited by an 1851 maritime law, as Skanska attorneys had argued. Skanska officials have declined to comment, the local newspaper reported. Photo: The Pensacola Bay bridge after it was hit by a barge in 2020. (Tony Giberson/Pensacola News Journal via AP) Topics Florida Windstorm Agribusiness Alex Murdaugh pleaded guilty Friday to stealing millions of dollars from vulnerable legal clients in schemes lasting over a decade under an agreement that all but ensures more prison time for the longtime lawyer who was convicted of killing his wife and younger son. Murdaugh agreed to plead guilty to 22 total counts, including money laundering, breach of trust and financial fraud, in exchange for a 27-year sentence. Judge Clifton Newman said he intends to officially accept the plea deal during a sentencing hearing set for Nov. 28 so that victims or their families may attend. I agree that I wrongly took all of that money, your honor, and did all of those crimes, Murdaugh told Newman. I am guilty, he added. The deal resolves 101 total state charges related to the financial wrongdoing, including allegations that Murdaugh stole millions in legal settlements from clients who were badly injured or from the families of those killed on the job. He also allegedly stole millions from his law firm and ducked hundreds of thousands in state income taxes. Creighton Waters, the lead prosecutor, said lawyers chose 22 counts that they felt represented each victim or act of lawlessness. Victims included a family housekeeper who died after a fall at the Murdaugh estate in South Carolina, and a deaf man who became quadriplegic after a 2009 car crash. A pretrial hearing in the housekeeper`s case was temporarily postponed Friday as lawyers on both sides shuffled in and out of the courtroom, reviewing hotly printed papers outlining the agreement. Waters returned for good after a three- hour delay with a smile, and took a selfie at one point. This former lawyer, Alex Murdaugh, used his power and his influence and his law license in these courtrooms to steal, Waters told Newman as he announced an agreement that he said ensures Murdaugh will remain in state prison for a very long time. Murdaugh sat largely straight-faced in an orange jumpsuit as Waters ticked off each ruse to divert settlements or double count checks so he could pay off mounting debts. He also agreed that he owed restitution totaling amounts that will be decided at his sentencing hearing. Eric Bland, a lawyer who represented the family of the late housekeeper, said the guilty plea will allow victims 18 total, according to Waters to begin the process of healing. Bland added that the hearing later this month will allow victims to look Alex Murdaugh in the eye and say how they feel about him, how he manipulated them, and the damage that they have done to them in their lives. Murdaugh is already serving life in prison without parole after a sensational March trial resulted in guilty verdicts on two counts of murder. His lawyers are seeking a new trial in that case, citing allegations that the court clerk tampered with the jury. The clerk has denied the accusations that she improperly swayed jurors. Murdaugh recently admitted his guilt to 22 federal counts of financial fraud and money laundering. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Fraud Dolly Parton`s Dollywood temporarily suspended entry Thursday into the Tennessee amusement park as wildfire crews on Thursday battled nearby flames. Park officials say they paused entry to allow fire crews enough room to assess the growing blaze in Sevier County east of Knoxville. Guests were again allowed to enter within 30 minutes. According to the Tennessee Division of Forestry, the blaze was roughly two miles (3.2 km) away from Dollywood. Tim Phelps, the forestry divisions spokesperson, last Thursday said the 5-acre fire was 100% contained. The division deployed eight personnel, three bulldozers and five trucks to fight the fire, he added. Phelps said that humidity coupled with low winds have helped keep the majority of fires fought recently from spreading past low acreage. However, he said a major wind event is forecast for Monday. Officials are hopeful that rain expected this weekend will douse the area ahead of a potentially blustery Monday. Across the South, the risk of wildfires has remained high due to prolonged dry and warm conditions, prompting multiple burn bans and warnings for residents and visitors to take extreme caution while outdoors. This includes the National Park Service, which issued a campfire ban throughout the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Currently, the U.S. Forest Service says some of the largest wildfires are active along the Georgia and South Carolina border, as well as in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. In southern West Virginia, a 2,200-acre (890- hectare) wildfire continued to burn in a remote area of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The was fire 78% contained as of Wednesday, the latest available, according to the National Park Service. The fire burning near Dollywood comes after a deadly wildfire in the area in 2016. The flames tore through the nearby tourist town of Gatlinburg, killing 14 people, and caused an estimated $2 billion in losses, including about 2,500 buildings that were damaged or destroyed. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Tennessee Education Is Key to Success Florida insurance agents have been through the wringer in the last five years, with repeated rate increases for properties across the board, carriers pulling out of the market, and continual complaints from insureds about premiums. But that hasnt stopped Wiglesworth-Rindom Insurance Agency, based in Stuart, Florida, from staying laser-focused on its 28 employees and executives. If anything, the challenges of the turbulent market have reinforced leaderships commitment to the team. Education, not sales, is the watchword at the 19-year-old agency, which was named the 2023 Gold award winner for the Southeast region in Insurance Journals Best Agencies to Work For survey. The company received multiple, favorable comments from staff members and scored highly in the categories of working conditions and benefits. Your team is everything, agency President Lee Wiglesworth said when asked what advice he might give to other agencies. Our customers will not receive the education and assistance theyve come to expect from us without our team. We take care of our team first. A little history of the company is in order: Lee Wiglesworth is from Kansas City. His father-in-law, Mike Rindom, was a Farmers Insurance Agent there for 25 years. When Wiglesworth was 23 years old, Rindom asked if he would move to south Florida and start an independent agency. I knew nothing about insurance, Wiglesworth said. I never saw myself as someone who would excel in sales I wanted to be a teacher. Instead of my father-in-law trying to make me a salesperson, he trained me to approach insurance as an educator and that has always worked for our agency. Insurance Journals 2023 Best Independent Insurance Agencies to Work For The votes are in! Employees in 2023 highlighted the importance of competitive salaries, employee benefits, training and education, resources, and other employee perks as drivers of satisfaction in the workplace. But its not all about compensation and benefits. The votes are in! Employees in 2023 highlighted the importance of competitive salaries, employee benefits, training and education, resources, and other employee perks as drivers of satisfaction in the workplace. But its not all about compensation and benefits. Besides educating home-owners on how to protect their assets, Wiglesworth said building a good atmosphere with agency employees has been key to the firms success. We believe that mistakes are learning opportunities and the only mistake that someone should be nervous to make is a repeated one. Sometimes I hear other agencies talk about how important their staff is, and then later in the conversation they start complaining about them, or the generation coming into the work force. I believe it takes consistency from leadership and time to build trust. Actions over time that reinforce your message will gain trust. The firms success is well known in South Florida. It has been voted Best Agency for Floridas Treasure Coast twice in the last few years and was named one of the best agencies in the state this year by Florida Trend magazine. Employees had plenty to say about it in comments sent to Insurance Journal. Although one worker argued that starting pay seems low, another pointed out that team building at the agency includes strong financial incentives. Agents are provided an opportunity to earn large six-figure salaries while working from home and are provided base salaries to build a career from the start, without the month-to-month worry about commissions, the staffer said. Said another: What I like about our agency is that theyre always looking to improve or better themselves in whatever way is needed; no ones perfect and seeing the agency always strive to be better makes me proud. I have never left a review scared that my job is on the line or that I cannot improve, one worker said. Its always the opposite. The reviews done are always truly to help stay on track and to look for ways to keep moving up. See All Winners: Best Insurance Agencies to Work For Topics Florida AM Best has placed under review with negative implications the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of bbb+ (Good) of Florida Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co. and its fully reinsured subsidiary, Florida Farm Bureau General Insurance Co. These companies are collectively referred to as Florida Farm Bureau Group and are domiciled in Gainesville. The rating firm said the insurers credit ratings are under review with negative implications following a considerable decline in the groups key balance sheet strength metrics through Sept. 30, 2023. In particular, AM Best cited erosion in policyholders surplus driven primarily by loss activity from Hurricane Idalia, which exceeded Florida Farm Bureau Groups occurrence catastrophe retention level. Surplus volatility concurrent with ongoing increases in net premiums written due to rate activity has resulted in elevated underwriting leverage measures, as well as a notable drop in the groups overall level of risk-adjusted capitalization, the announcement stated. The announcement noted that Farm Bureau management plans on implementing various capital management strategies to address elevated underwriting leverage as the group rebuilds surplus through operating results. AM Best said it expects that these strategies, alongside sizable rate increases, a refined book of business and recently enacted legislative changes in the Florida property insurance market, will help improve the insurers key balance sheet strength metrics. However, AM Best cautioned that the ratings will remain under review with negative implications until it can fully analyze the impact of managements plans and if the strategies do not come to fruition as anticipated or fail to substantially alleviate pressure on key balance sheet strength metrics, further rating action is likely. In October 2021, AM Best downgraded its outlook for Florida Farm Bureau Casualty Co., from stable to negative, due to the companys declining surplus in a disaster-prone state. AM Best noted that in the last five years, Florida Farm Bureaus surplus had declined 13% or about $38 million, through the second quarter of 2021. Florida Farm Bureau Action Plan Says it Will Stop Writing New HO Policies In February 2022, Florida Farm Bureau announced a five-point action plan that included a halt to writing new homeowners and dwelling-fire policies. The company also said it would consider non-renewing about 7,500 homes with older shingle or tile roofs. S&P Report Sheds Light on Florida Farm Bureaus Losses When Florida Farm Bureau Insurance companies filed for a sizable 41% rate increase for homeowners coverages in December 2021, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation asked company actuaries to try again. The insurer rethink its filing and came back with an even larger average rate request of 48.7% in May 2022. Some industry analysts consider Florida Farm Bureau something of a bellwether for the distressed Florida property insurance market. According to an S&P Global Market Intelligence report published in February 2022, the insurer recorded net losses for seven straight quarters from 2019 through most of 2021. Thats a total of almost $50 million in losses, despite an increase in direct premium written in recent years. Hurricane Idalia struck the less-populated Big Bend area of Florida in late August of this year. While overall losses from Idalia have been lower than feared, they will affect underwriting results for a number of carriers, AM Best predicted in a report released in September. Florida Farm Bureau is part of Mississippi-based Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co. Topics Florida Profit Loss Agribusiness AM Best State investigators repeatedly identified fire and safety hazards at a leased storage space under an elevated Los Angeles freeway before it burned in an arson fire, documents show. The Nov. 11 blaze, fed by flammable materials stored under the roadway in violation of the company`s lease, closed a stretch of Interstate 10 near downtown for days, snarling traffic as repair crews work around the clock to fix it. Officials say all lanes are expected to reopen by Tuesday. The California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, released the documents on Friday, a day before investigators said they identified a person of interest and released two photos in a crime alert notification posted to social media. Authorities said Saturday they are seeking the publics help to identify the person. While investigators have not said how the fire was set, the blaze was fed by pallets, cars, construction materials, hand sanitizer and other items being stored under the freeway under a little-known program that now is under scrutiny. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will reassess the practice of leasing land under roads to bring in money for mass transportation projects. Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to join Newsom, Mayor Karen Bass and other officials on Sunday morning in Los Angeles to publicly address the fire response and repair work. Apex Development Inc. has leased the land under I-10 since 2008. Although one condition of the contract stipulated it not allow flammable or hazardous materials to be stored there, state inspectors have visited the site six times since early 2020 and flagged problematic conditions for years. This is a filthy unmaintained lease, inspector Daryl Myatt wrote in a 2022 report following a surprise inspection that discovered solvents, oils, fuels and other items prohibited by the agreement. This area has been utilized since the mid-1970s and looks like it. Owners of two of the companies that subleased the property said they also had warned of fire danger and other hazards related to homeless people living under the freeway. Newsom previously said that while subleasing can be legal if the company received permission from state and federal regulators, Apex did not. In September, state officials filed a lawsuit against Apex saying it owes $78, 000 in unpaid rent. A hearing is scheduled for next year. The state`s most recent spot inspection, which occurred a little more than a month before the Nov. 11 fire, found numerous lease violations, but the documents released Friday did not list additional details. Caltrans had informed Apex Development of the need to address violations, especially those creating safety hazards, the agency said in a statement. Mainak DAttaray, an attorney for Apex Development, said Wednesday that the company is not to blame for the fire and had made improvements to the property. He said the company has not been able to access the premises since October. Apex rented and improved the rundown yard and made substantial capital investments during the period that it had possession of the yard, DAttaray said in a statement. Caltrans inspected the premises periodically, at least once a year, and CalTrans was fully aware of the sublessees and their operations. Even the State of Californias Fire Marshall inspected the premises. DAttaray did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. Izzy Gordon, a spokesperson for the governor, earlier this week disagreed with DAttarays statement that Apex is not to blame, saying the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, believes it was caused by arson in a fenced-off area that Apex was responsible for maintaining while they continued to assert rights under the lease. Brandon Richards, another Newsom spokesperson, reiterated the governor`s directive for Caltrans to launch a comprehensive review of all leased sites under freeways across California when asked Saturday for the state`s response to the inspection documents and the next steps in the process. Richards did not address whether anyone at Caltrans is facing discipline. Regarding the person of interest in the arson case, the governor`s office urged anyone with information about the incident or suspect to contact a tip hotline. The individual was described as a man 30 to 35 years old, about 6 feet (1.83 meters) tall and weighing between 170 pounds (77 kilograms) and 190 pounds (86 kilograms). Details about how he was identified were not immediately released. The photographs show him wearing blue shorts, a black hooded sweatshirt, a green scarf and a brace on his right knee. The individual carried a backpack and appears to have visible burn injuries on the left leg, the bulletin states. The photographs were released by Cal Fire and the State Fire Marshal, whose office is investigating the blaze. The mayor`s office also did not respond to a request for comment Saturday. No injuries were reported in the fire, but at least 16 homeless people living in an encampment there were taken to shelters. An estimated 300,000 vehicles use the stretch of freeway daily, which runs east- west across the heart of the metropolis and connects with other major highways. The city has urged people to avoid the area, take buses and trains or work from home. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics California When youre in your 20s, retirement seems so far off that it hardly feels real at all. In fact, its one of the most common excuses people make to justify not saving for retirement. If that describes you, think of these savings, instead, as wealth accumulation, suggests Marguerita Cheng, CFP, CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Anyone nearing retirement age will tell you the years slip by, and building a sizable nest egg becomes more difficult if you dont start early. You'll also probably acquire other expenses you may not have yet, such as a mortgage and a family. You may not earn a lot of money as you begin your career, but theres one thing you have more of than richer, older folks: time. With time on your side, saving for retirement becomes a much more pleasantand excitingprospect. Youre probably still paying off your student loans, but even a small amount saved for retirement can make a huge difference in your future. Key Takeaways It's easier to save for retirement when you're young and may have fewer responsibilities. You can map out your retirement plan, but if you don't have the know-how, an investment advisor can help prioritize your goals. Compound interest, which is the interest earned on your initial savings and the reinvested earnings, is a great reason to start saving early. You can invest post-tax dollars in a Roth IRA, while pretax dollars can build a traditional IRA. Know Your Goals The sooner you start saving for retirement, the better it will be down the road. But you may not be able to do it yourself. It may be necessary to hire a financial advisor to help you outespecially if you don't have the know-how to navigate the process of retirement planning. Make sure you set realistic expectations and goals, and make sure to have all the necessary information when you meet with an advisor or start mapping out a plan on your own. A few things you may need to consider during your analysis: Your current age The age when you plan to retire All income sources including your current and projected income Your current and projected expenses How much you can afford to set aside for your retirement How and where you plan to live after you retire Any savings accounts you have or plan to have Your health history and that of your family to determine health coverage later in life While you may not be able to predict certain life events like divorce, death, or children, it's important to keep these in mind when you plan for retirement. Compound Interest Is Your Friend Compound interest is the best reason it pays to start early with retirement planning. If youre unfamiliar with the term, compound interest is the process by which a sum of money grows exponentially due to interest more or less building upon itself over time. Lets start with a simple example to get down the basics: Say you invest $1,000 in a safe long-term bond that earns 3% interest per year. At the end of the first year, your investment will grow by $303% of $1,000. You now have $1,030; however, the next year youll gain 3% of $1,030, which means your investment will grow by $30.90a little more, but not much. Fast forward to the 39th year. Using this handy calculator from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions website, you can see that your money has grown to around $3,167. Go ahead to the 40th year, and your investment becomes $3,262.04. Thats a one-year difference of $95. Notice that your money is now growing more than three times as quickly as it did in year one. This is how the miracle of compounding earnings on earnings works from the first dollar saved to grow future dollars, says Charlotte A. Dougherty, CFP, founder of Dougherty & Associates in Cincinnati, Ohio. The savings will be even more dramatic if you invest the money in a stock market mutual fund or other growth-oriented investments. Saving a Little Early vs. Saving a Lot Later You may think you have plenty of time to start saving for retirement. After all, you are in your 20s and have your whole life ahead of you, right? That may be true, but why put off saving for tomorrow when you can start today? If you have access to an employer-based retirement plan, take advantage of it. Most employers will match some of your contributions, so you'll benefit from having an extra boost to your savings. And with pretax deductions, you won't even notice your money is being put away. You can also put money aside outside of your employer. Let's consider another scenario to drive this idea home. Lets say you start investing in the market at $100 a month, and you average a positive return of 1% a month or 12% a year, compounded monthly over 40 years. Your friend, who is the same age, doesnt begin investing until 30 years later, and invests $1,000 a month for 10 years, also averaging 1% a month or 12% a year, compounded monthly. Who Will Have More Money Saved Up in the End? Your friend will have saved up around $230,000. Your retirement account will be a little over $1.17 million. Even though your friend was investing over 10 times as much as you toward the end, the power of compound interest makes your portfolio significantly bigger. Remember, the longer you wait to plan and save for retirement, the more you'll need to invest each month. While it may be easier to enjoy your 20s with your full income at your disposal, it will be harder to put money away each month as you get older. And if you wait too long, you may even need to postpone your retirement. What to Consider When Investing The types of assets in which your savings are invested will significantly impact your return and, consequently, the amount available to finance your retirement. As a result, a primary object of investment portfolio managers is to create a portfolio that is designed to provide an opportunity to experience the highest return possible. Amounts that you have saved for short-term goals are usually kept in cash or cash equivalents because the primary objective is usually to preserve principal and maintain a high level of liquidity. Amounts that you are saving to meet long-term goals, including retirement, are usually invested in assets that provide an opportunity for growth. If you manage your investments instead of using the services of a robo-advisor or professional, it is important to understand that there are other factors to consider. The following are just a few. Market Risk The investments that provide the opportunity for the highest rate of return are usually the ones with the highest level of risk, such as stocks. The ones that provide the lowest rate of return are usually the ones with the least amount of market risk. Risk Tolerance Your ability to handle market losses should be factored in when designing your investment portfolio. If the amount of market risk associated with your portfolio causes you undue stress, it may be practical to redesign your portfolio to one with less risk, even if it is determined that the amount of risk is suitable for your investment profile. In some cases, it may be practical to ignore a low level of risk tolerance if it is determined that it negatively impacts the ability to provide your investments with sufficient growth. Generally, the level of discomfort one experiences with risk is determined by one's level of experience and knowledge about investments. As such, it is in your best interest to, at a minimum, learn about the different investment options, their market risks, and historical performance. Having a reasonable understanding of how investments work will allow you to set reasonable expectations for your return on investments, and help to reduce the stress that can be caused if expected returns on investments are not achieved. Retirement Horizon Your targeted retirement age is usually taken into consideration. This is usually used to determine how much time you have to regain any market losses. Because you are in your twenties, it is presumed that investing a large percentage of your savings in stocks and similar assets is suitable, as your investments will likely have sufficient time to recover from any market losses. Individual Retirement Account (IRA) How you invest in your retirement will determine how much income you'll have in retirement but also how you are taxed. If you invest in a traditional individual retirement account (IRA), you can contribute or deposit up to $6,500 in 2023 ($7,000 in 2024). If you are 50 or older, you can contribute an additional $1,000. As a benefit, you also get a tax deduction, meaning you can subtract your annual IRA contribution from your taxable income when you file your taxes. As a result, you pay less in taxes. Also, the money within an IRA grows tax-free until you withdraw the funds in retirement. Whenever you withdraw this money, youll have to pay applicable federal and state taxes on it. It's supposed to be used as an annual retirement income supplement. If you withdrew the whole lot at once, you'd owe a bundle in taxes. One other disadvantage of a traditional IRA is something called the required minimum distribution (RMD). If this still exists when youre 72, you will be required to withdraw a specified sum every year and pay income taxes on it. Previously, the RMD age was 70, but following the December 2019 passage of the Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, the RMD age is now 72. Roth IRA Alternatively, you could invest in a Roth IRA. You open a Roth with post-tax income, so you dont get the tax deduction on your contributions; however, when youre a retiree and withdraw the money, you owe no taxes on itand that includes all the money your contributions earned over all those years. Also, you can borrow the contributionsnot the earningsif you need to before you retire. However, there are income limits on who can have a Roth, and those limits also depend on your tax-filing status (married or single). If you file taxes as a single individual, you can't make contributions to a Roth if your income exceeds $153,000 in 2023 and $161,000 in 2024. If your income is below those levels, your contribution might get phased out or get reduced. For the 2023 tax year, the income phase-out range for singles is $138,000 to $153,000. For 2024, the income phase-out range is $146,000 to $161,000. For married couples who file a joint tax return, the Roth income phase-out range for 2023 is $218,000 to $228,000, and for 2024, it's $230,000 to $240,000. This means that you can't contribute to a Roth if your income as a couple exceeds $228,000 in 2023 and $240,000 in 2024. If you're in your 20s, you're probably safely below the income limits. 401(k) Retirement Plan If your employer offers a 401(k) or a Roth 401(k), be sure to take advantage of it before you open an IRA, especially if the company matches your contributions. Companies often match a certain percentage of your salary, such as 3%, as long as you contribute to the plan as well. A 401(k) deducts money from your paycheck on a pre-tax basis and deposits those funds into a retirement account, which is then invested in a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds. You can contribute to both an IRA and a 401(k) in the same year; however, there are contribution limits for 401(k)s. For 2023, you can contribute up to $22,500 per year into a 401(k) or a Roth 401(k). That number rises to $23,000 for 2024. And put your savings on auto-pilot, says financial planner Carlos Dias Jr., founder and managing partner of Dias Wealth LLC in Lake Mary, Florida. Money deposited straight into your retirement account cant be spent elsewhere and wont be missed. It also helps you maintain discipline with your savings. Invest in a Savings Account A savings account from your local bank may not get you a great rate, but you can deposit and withdraw as much as you wantwhen you want. Every bank has its own rules, though, which means some may require a minimum balance or restrict the number of withdrawals before they charge. But unlike registered retirement accounts, there are no tax deduction benefits with a savings account. In other words, any interest earned on the savings is taxed in the tax year that it was earned. The other benefit of having a savings account is convenience. You can use a savings account for whatever you need, whether for short-term expenses or longer-term needs. You may be saving to purchase appliances for your home, a trip, or a down payment on a car or homewhich is when a savings account will come in handy. Should I Start Saving for My Retirement in My 20s? Yes, you should start saving for your retirement in your 20s. Though retirement may seem far off, saving for it as early as possible will ensure you have enough money to get you through your retirement years. In addition, investing benefits from compounding returns, which will increase your money more over a longer period of time. How Much Should I Save for My Retirement in My 20s? Knowing how much to save for retirement in your 20s is a very personal question for every individual and will depend on their job, their expenses, and any other obligations they may have. In general, it is a good idea to save 10% to 15% of your income, but even saving less is better than not saving at all. In your 20s, you're starting out in your career and might be paying off student loans or learning how to manage your finances. Creating a budget is a good way to start saving. It provides a plan you can stick to and ensures you're putting money aside. If your company has a 401(k) plan, you can start saving there, or, you can also start putting money away in an IRA. What Are the Saving Limits for Retirement Plans? For a 401(k) retirement plan, the annual contribution limit is $22,500 in 2023 and $23,000 in 2024. If you are 50 or older, you can save an additional $7,500 and $8,000, respectively. For an IRA, the contribution limit is $6,500 in 2023 and $7,000 in 2024. If you are 50 or older, you can save an additional $1,000 in both years. The Bottom Line The sooner you begin saving for retirement, the better. When you start early, you can afford to put away less money per month since compound interest is on your side. For people in their twenties, the most important aspect of saving is to just get started. Source: Stephane Foucaud November 20, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) GeoPark Ltd. (GPRK:NYSE) Stephane Foucaud at Auctus Advisors sees over 90% upside for Panoro Energy based on increased reserves, new exploration potential, and improving fundamentals. Norway-based Panoro Energy ASA (PEN:OSE; 1PZ:FRA) provided an operational update highlighting increased reserves and new exploration upside across its African oil assets, noted Auctus Advisors in a November 17 research report. Analyst Stephane Foucaud reiterated a Buy rating and NOK$50 price target on Panoro Energy. Expanded Resource Estimates in Gabon According to Foucaud, the operator of Panoro's Dussafu permit offshore Gabon now estimates 10 million barrels of oil in place above initial expectations, adding 4-5 million barrels of recoverable resources. This is in addition to the recent 6-7 million barrel discovery at Hibiscus South, both driving increased reserve potential. New Exploration Prospects Identified Panoro also plans to drill the 29 million barrel Bourdon exploration prospect on the Dussafu permit. The company sees further upside at its Ceiba field in Equatorial Guinea and added the Akeng Deep prospect. The analyst believes these opportunities, along with expanded reserves, support his unchanged valuation. Production Impacted by Temporary Issues While Panoro produced 10,000 barrels per day in Q3, exceeding estimates, short-term electrical submersible pump (ESP) problems temporarily impacted the Dussafu wells. This will defer some production to late 2023 and early 2024 before new wells boost output. Significant Upside Based on Improving Fundamentals Auctus' NOK$50 price target implies over 90% upside potential for Panoro Energy. The firm's valuation is based on increasing reserves, new exploration prospects, and attractive EV/DACF multiples. In summary, the analyst sees the company's expanded resources and lower leverage supporting significant share price appreciation. 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 November 20, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Despite stockpiles of copper growing quickly, analysts polled at London Metal Exchange Week believe the red metal will bring good returns in the long run. Stockpiles of copper registered with the London Metal Exchange (LME) more than doubled this summer and were at their highest level since May 2022 in September. Despite that, just one month later, an informal poll of 800 people attending LME Week in London found that 53% believed the red metal needed for the green energy revolution would be the metal with the most upside price potential next year, according to Reuters. Copper will be "THE bullish energy transition trade within commodities," said Max Layton of Citi during an analysts' debate, the report said. Tin came in a distant second in the survey with 23%. Analysts said several companies - including World Copper Ltd., Granite Creek Copper Ltd., and Fabled Copper Corp. - could be there to reap the benefits of that upside. The International Copper Study Group met in Lisbon, Portugal, last month, and found that stockpiles are expected to grow, and 2024 could see a surplus of about 467,000 pounds of copper on the market as a consequence of higher supply from new or expanded mines. "Although the global economic outlook is challenging, an expected improvement in manufacturing activity, the ongoing energy transition and the development of new semis production capacity in various countries should support higher growth in world refined usage in 2024," the group wrote in a release. The Catalyst: Deficits Will Grow Copper (Cu) prices haven't moved much since spiking earlier this year, but BMI analysts believe deficits could still grow at an extreme pace over the coming decade as the clean energy revolution takes hold, predicting prices of US$11,500 per ton by 2032. Copper's price was US$8,030 per ton " Friday morning. "In the longer term, we expect the copper market to remain in deficit as the green transition accelerates along with the demand for 'green' metals, including copper," BMI's analysts said, according to Stockhead. EVs use more than three times as much copper as gas-burning cars. New copper production - and investment in exploration - will be needed to fuel the supply of those vehicles long-term, analysts have said. "Based on industry-wide capital intensity data, we calculate that some US$196 billion of investment will be required," a market analysis issued by RFC Ambrian said. "Of this, US$80 billion is for greenfield projects, and US$116 billion is for brownfield projects, of which US$71 billion is simply for replacement capacity. A further US$35 billion of investment will be required to close the supply gap." An S&P report called copper "one of the most underappreciated critical minerals." "Deeper electrification requires wires, and wires are primarily made from copper," the report said. Billionaire Robert Friedland, founder and executive co-chairman of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., recently told Bloomberg that he fears copper prices could jump tenfold eventually. "We're heading for a train wreck here," he said. World Copper Ltd. One company that could benefit from a future spike in copper prices is Vancouver-based World Copper Ltd. (WCU:TSX.V;WCUFF:OTCQX; 7LY0:FRA), which is focused on the exploration and development of its copper porphyry projects: Escalones and Cristal in Chile, and Zonia in Arizona. Taylor Combaluzier of Red Cloud Securities has rated the stock a Buy with a target of CA$2.15. He said World Copper has "transformed from an explorer into a developer with a portfolio of high-quality copper projects in premiere copper mining jurisdictions. "We believe Escalones shows compelling economics when compared to other copper development projects and that it offers lots of potential for resource expansion," he wrote. "Additionally, we believe Zonia has lots of untapped potential, as it could either be rapidly developed for nearer-term production or potentially be expanded through exploration to increase the scale of the project." Zacks Small-Cap Research analyst Steven Ralston has a CA$0.59 per share target price on the junior mining company. Its share price on Friday, in comparison, was CA$0.065 per share, implying a potential return for investors of more than 800%. Earlier this year, World Copper filed an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) for Zonia. It increased total resources by about 90% to about 198 million tonnes from a 2017 estimate, with contained copper increasing by 55% to about 1.03 billion pounds. Escalones is about 100 kilometers from Santiago. Its PEA (preliminary economic assessment) estimates an inferred resource of 426 million tonnes of 0.367% copper, containing 3,447 pounds of copper. Coming catalysts include permitting for Escalones and a preliminary feasibility study (PFS) of Zonia's main deposit. Wealth Minerals Ltd. (WML:TSX.V; WMLLF:OTCQB) owns about 15.8% of World Copper or about 19.2 million shares. About 27% is owned by management and insiders, including Director Robert Kopple with 11.84% or 14.8 million shares and Board Chairman Hendrik van Alphen with 2.67% or 3.25 million shares. CEO Peterson said he holds about 700,000 shares. The rest is retail. Its market cap is CA$8.13 million. It has 125 million shares outstanding, including 87.2 million of them free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.26 and CA$0.07. Granite Creek Copper Ltd. Another play for copper is Granite Creek Copper Ltd. (GCX:TSX.V; GCXXF:OTCQB), "a Canadian exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of highly prospective brownfields assets in top districts of favorable North American mining jurisdictions," according to its website. It is a member of the Metallic Group of Companies, along with Metallic Minerals and Stillwater Critical Minerals. Per a 2023 PEA, its Carmacks Project has the potential for significant additional cash flow from the processing of oxide tailings to increase total copper recovery. The company has also identified additional near-mine exploration targets that have the potential to increase the resource from the current 36 million tonnes grading around 1.07% copper equivalent. The project currently has a mine life of nine years, at 7,000 tonnes per day (TPD), and any further expansion into the surrounding area could significantly extend that operational lifespan. Recently, the company announced the preliminary results of a metallurgical study designed to increase the recovery of copper from oxide material at Carmacks, with up to 81% of the copper present in the test samples going into solution. A Couloir Capital research report referred to Granite Creek Copper as a "promising base metals explorer with a near-term target of reaching a billion pounds of copper at its Carmacks Copper Project." Bob Moriarty of 321gold.com said Granite Greek was "a really easy call." "Green energy requires enormous quantities of copper, lithium, and graphite, far more than today," Moriarty wrote. "Prices will have to go up. Granite Creek Copper is in the catbird's seat, ready to move to production." Moriarty wrote that he's "not a big expert on copper, but Granite has to be one of the lowest market cap copper stories with a real asset." Management and insiders own 5.71% of the company. Timothy Johnson owns 2.54% of the company with 4.08 million shares, Robert Sennott owns 1.84% with 2.96 million shares, Michael Victor Rowley owns 1.07% with 1.71 million shares, and John Charles Richard Cumming owns 0.26% with 0.42 million shares. There are 160.77 million shares outstanding, with 151.59 million free-float traded shares. The company has a market cap of CA$5.63 million. It trades in the 52-week period between CA$0.03 and CA$0.105. Fabled Copper Corp. Fabled Copper Corp. (FABL:CSE) has continually seen high grades of copper in fieldwork results from its Muskwa Project in British Columbia. One float sample taken at about 1,600 meters elevation contained massive sulfides and quartz veining with 60% chalcopyrite, 3% bornite, and 23.4% copper (Cu). Another sample at the western side of the occurrence found "a staggering" 29.3% Cu. "We're finding all this high-grade mineralization," President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Hawley said. "So that's a pretty good hint that, you know, we're, we're very close to the source . . . It's not very often you see high-grade numbers like this." Muskwa is in northwestern British Columbia near the Yukon border. It consists of the Toro, Bronson, and Neil claim blocks. All three were explored in the early 1970s before rockslides and snowfields arrested further development. One vein was developed and partly mined - 498,000 tons were milled with a head grade of about 3% Cu. On the same day as the 29.3% Cu sample, 11 other samples were collected over an altitude of 158 meters. Of the 12 collected, 11 assayed greater than 0.5% Cu, seven greater than 10% Cu, and four greater than 20% Cu. Fabled has applied for 15 drill sites at the project, including four in the Eagle Vein area. Negotiations with First Nations continue. According to Yahoo Finance, about 3% of the company is held by insiders. They include Director Luc Pelchat with 1.19% or 210,000 shares, David Smalley with 0.86% or 150,000 shares, and President and CEO Hawley with 0.65% or 110,000 shares, Reuters said. The rest, 97%, is retail. Fabled Copper's market cap is CA$870,000, with 21.75 million shares outstanding, 21.28 million of them floating. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.105 and CA$0.03. 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. 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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 This week is Black Friday when retailers try to whip us all up into a spending fury. Before you get sucked in, take a breath. The seasonal spending spree arrives in the middle of a cost-of-living, energy and housing crisis. Take it handy, and try not to let yourself in for a horrible, post-spending-spree hangover. While Black Friday/ Cyber Monday is a massive sales event, its no different in nature from all the other sales throughout the year, except perhaps in terms of volume. If you want something specific, its worth taking the time to make sure youre getting the product you want, at the right price. The good news is that recent changes in consumer law have made it more difficult for unscrupulous traders to hoodwink you into thinking youre getting a great bargain. A few years back, UK consumer magazine Which? carried out an investigation into Black Friday deals. It found that 98% of the discounts advertised (including promotions on popular tech, home and personal care products) were available for the same price or cheaper in the six months after the sales. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) drew attention to the pitfalls of navigating sales and discounts. Kevin OBrien, a member of the CCPC, urged consumers to be cautious and to know their rights. A discount must be a real discount. The CCPC will not allow businesses to mislead consumers into thinking that they are getting a better deal than they actually are, he said. The commission told businesses planning their winter sales that they will be watching to ensure sales discounts are genuine and consumers are not misled. The price indication regulations set out clear-cut requirements for the use of discounts. Most announcements such as sales prices, special offers or Black Friday offers that create the impression of a price reduction fall within the scope of the rules. By law, when a business makes price reduction announcements, it must display the lowest price a product was on sale for in the previous 30 days, and base the discount on this price alone. As the enforcement body for these and other consumer protection laws, the CCPC keeps a close eye on the market. Late last year and early this year, it undertook an analysis of pricing data from a number of retailing websites. Kevin OBrien: Our analysis has shown a number of concerning pricing practices and demonstrated that a number of traders had not yet changed their practices around price reduction announcements following the introduction of the new rules last year. Kevin O'Brien, member of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC): 'A discount must be a real discount.' For example, when making an announcement that a product has been reduced in price, traders must show the prior price of the product. This is the lowest selling price applied to the product in at least the last 30 days before the price reduction has been applied. Marketing at this time of year is all about creating a sense of need and urgency. ECC Ireland advises: Lets keep some perspective on what we really need and what we simply want because someone told us we need it. When consumption becomes compulsion, its time to step back and reconsider your choices. When it comes to tech and gadgets, the sales are a way for shops to shift old stock quickly before the technology becomes obsolete. While you might get a great price, you may also be buying old tech, which comes with limited features and compatibility issues that are outside warranty and/ or are no longer supported by the manufacturer. We are now in an age when many products come with a services package attached. Increasingly, instead of buying a digital product, youre asked to sign up to a digital subscription for a recurrent fee. This is called product as a service and is entirely legal. It can be used deceptively however, by locking consumers into long-term subscriptions with penal cancellation terms. Watch out for deals on subscriptions and packages, particularly those advertised through free trials and low-cost introductory offers. You will see these kinds of things online, usually on social media, in ads for wellness programmes, cosmetics and healthcare and dating services. You sign up for something that appears either free or cheap, but the small print conceals that youre really signing up for a hefty, recurring charge. The other complication is that you cant get onto your card issuer and instruct them to cancel the deal. You have to contact the company and get them to cancel it, and often, thats not easily done. Gaming is another sector that heavily promotes deals often on platforms and apps also accessed by children. ECC Ireland suggests you think twice before signing up for new product deals, discounted packages and subscriptions offered on sale, particularly for free-to-play games that can only be enhanced by subsequent purchases. Parents should be particularly careful when monitoring their childrens in-app purchases and access to loot boxes. One other new term worth learning is live shopping. This is where you buy stuff during a live stream on one of the social media channels: Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and so on. Its become increasingly popular among young people, and is particularly conducive to impulse purchasing. And then there are the scammers. Make sure you shop on secure websites with verified payment processors, and use a credit card or third-party payment app. This will help eliminate the risk of falling victim to online fraud and will allow you to avail of chargeback, which can be invoked if a transaction is bogus. Consumers should check that ratings and reviews for promoted products are genuine and stay away from superlative, unsupported claims such as best in, number one for, the premier destination, the leading manufacturer. If youre buying from a site you havent visited before, look for reviews of that site before you commit. These days, it can sometimes be hard to know exactly where the site you wish to buy from is based. Remember, not all .ie websites belong to companies based in Ireland. Legitimate international businesses based in the UK or outside the EU can trade with Ireland using a.ie domain. To avoid misunderstandings, just check exactly where the business is based in the about us or contact us tab. Conversely, if shopping from Ireland on a .com site, be sure to make a purchase on the .ie version as terms and conditions will be different for each market. Businesses based here and in the EU/EEA must comply with all EU consumer protections which are pretty great in comparison with the rest of the world. Also, EU websites are required to tell customers about any extra costs before a purchase is made. If at all possible, stick with sites based in the EU. OpenAI named ex-Twitch boss Emmett Shear as interim CEO, while outgoing chief Sam Altman is set to join backer Microsoft in a surprise turn of events for the startup at the heart of an artificial intelligence boom. The appointments, settled late at night on Sunday, followed Altman's abrupt departure just days earlier as CEO of the ChatGPT maker, and ended speculation that he could return. In a statement on the social media platform X, Shear dismissed speculation that OpenAI's board ousted Altman because of a spat over the safety of powerful AI models. He vowed to open an investigation into the firing, consider new governance for OpenAI, and continue its path of making available technology like its viral chatbot. "I'm not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercialising our awesome models," Shear said, adding: "OpenAIs stability and success are too important to allow turmoil to disrupt them like this." Shear co-founded Twitch and had stepped down from the Amazon.com-owned live video streaming platform earlier this year. OpenAI dismissed Altman on Friday following a "breakdown of communications," according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Altman was a founding co-chair of the startup that kicked off the generative AI craze a year ago by releasing ChatGPT, a chatbot that became one of the world's fastest-growing software applications. Microsoft move Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said in posts on X that Altman would become CEO of a new research group inside the software maker, along with other departing OpenAI colleagues such as outgoing President Greg Brockman who quit following Altman's ouster. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and staked its future on the startup, releasing what it called AI copilots to business customers based on OpenAI's technology. On Monday morning, shares in Microsoft traded up nearly 2% as it appeared to walk off with OpenAI's crown jewels while aiming to stabilize OpenAI, keeping key talent out of the hands of rivals including Alphabet's Google GOOGL.O and Amazon.com AMZN.O. "AI is a big opportunity for, and potential threat to, incumbent technology leaders so Microsoft will be delighted to be able to benefit from Altmans knowledge and vision and prepare itself for a new major era of technological change," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. Microsoft had supported a return by Altman to the startup, according to sources, a move that seemed likely only hours prior to Monday's announcements. Teasing his expected reconciliation with OpenAI's board, Altman had posted an image of himself on X on Sunday wearing an OpenAI guest badge with the caption: "first and last time I ever wear one of these." OpenAI researchers have viewed Microsoft's vast reserves of computing power as essential to the development of superintelligent machines. Nadella and Shear both said their companies remained committed to their partnership, while resources would go to Altman's new group at Microsoft as well. "We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success," Nadella said. In a separate post on X, Altman shared Nadella's message with the words, "the mission continues". The decision not to reinstate Altman as OpenAI's chief confounded efforts by investors and employees to steady the startup's path. They feared a mass exodus of talent and its impact on an upcoming $86 billion share sale. Shortly after the internal announcement of Shear's appointment, distraught employees "streamed out" of OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco, The Information reported. Dozens of staffers internally announced they were quitting the company on Sunday night, according to the report, citing a person with knowledge of the situation. Several leaders of the startup posted on X on Monday: "OpenAI is nothing without its people." Some of the recently departed researchers, such as Szymon Sidor, are joining the new effort at Microsoft, OpenAI's now-former President Brockman said in a post on X. Long in conflict has been OpenAI's mission to build technology to benefit humanity, and that of its investors who have bankrolled the effort expecting a financial return, said analyst Richard Windsor of Radio Free Mobile. "This weekend was simply the detonation of a bomb that has been waiting to go off," he said. Governing OpenAI is a non-profit. Its four-person board as of Friday consists of three independent directors holding no equity in OpenAI and its Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever. "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company," Sutskever said in a post on X. Reuters Millions of euros are being spent every year on importing apples and strawberries that could be grown in Ireland. The issue was raised in the Senate when members welcomed a 10m budget to help develop the countrys commercial horticultural industry. Minister of State Pippa Hackett announced the 2024 scheme of investment aid the previous day at a meeting of the Horticulture Industry Forum. The scheme, which will close for applications on December 15, is intended to grant aid capital investments in specialised plant and equipment including renewable energy. Minister Hackett said this year had been particularly challenging for growers with incomes hit by high input costs and difficult weather conditions. This made it hard for them to re-invest and grow their enterprise in line with the vision set out in the National Strategy for Horticulture. While there are challenges currently facing industry, the Minister said the focus must be on embracing opportunities. Senator Eugene Murphy, welcoming the funding, said the sector has been falling behind colossally in some situations. Energy costs are a huge issue in the production of commercial horticultural products and therefore this 10m scheme is very important. We have the best climate in the world for growing apples, but we are importing 80m worth of apples, he said. Senator Eugene Murphy: 'It would make perfect sense to pay people increased subsidies to produce those crops here at home.' Senator Murphy said it is nearly impossible to get an Irish tomato, which he believed are the nicest in the world. North County Dublin was famous for them. However, the cost of running glasshouses is now extremely difficult for people who used to grow them. For years Bord na Mona ran trials on growing blueberries, which grow perfectly in Irish bogs. Yet, we spent more than 30m to import them last year. If you look at the labels in the supermarket this afternoon, you will see that they are from Peru, Brazil and all parts of South America. We are importing them here, but we can grow them perfectly, he said, adding that it would make perfect sense to pay people increased subsidies to produce those crops here at home. Senator Victor Boyhan also welcomed the fund and the heavy emphasis placed on organics, but he said there are two anomalies. What are commonly called white mushrooms, which people usually buy, are excluded from the scheme. People are asking why the Government is singling out mushrooms and excluding them from the horticultural crisis fund. I will tell the House why. It is because they are linked to peat, which is the subject of controversy, he said, stressing that mushrooms should not be penalised. Read More 6m support for Irish mushroom sector Irish mushrooms are a fantastic crop. Indeed, three or four aeroplanes leave Dublin Airport every week to fly mushrooms into London and Paris. Those mushrooms are also on our shelves. Is that not a great thing to be able to say about horticulture, including Irish mushrooms? Let us support them. Strawberries are also excluded. Growing them in season is easy, but if you want early or late strawberries, you will use cloches, polytunnels or glasshouses. You need to heat them and, more importantly, you also need to ventilate them, both of which require energy, he said, adding that it is wrong to exclude strawberries and white mushrooms from the scheme. Senator Regina Doherty, Deputy Leader of the House, also welcomed the funding of 10m for the horticultural industry. But she said the conditions being applied to it are outrageous, with respect to Senator Hackett as a Green Party Minister of State, who wants to encourage and incentivise people towards organics. While that is a good thing, it should not exclude the few remaining growers we have. She had raised this matter with her party leader weeks ago. We used to have 400 growers in this country. Today, we have 60. I am not just referring to strawberry, mushroom, or cucumber growers what we call horticultural growers but to the entirety of our growing community. If this decrease does not show the serious crisis, and the disregard of people we have taken for granted for so long, I do not know what does, she said. Senator Doherty recalled that she had tabled an amendment to the Finance Bill 2022 to give extra money and tax rebates to growers who used glasshouses and sequestered carbon. I was genuinely surprised when the then Minister for Finance very kindly accepted my amendment. It was included in the Act. But we are still waiting on the Revenue Commissioners 12 months later to come up with a way for growers to apply for a tax rebate. That is 12 months during a crisis when our number of growers has decreased from 400 to 60. The State can act, yet we are not doing so, she said, adding that she will seek a debate in the Senate. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is seeking tenders for a 1m depopulation services contract for bird flocks on poultry premises in the event there are outbreaks of avian influenza (bird flu). The National Disease Control Centre (NDCC) is a division of the DAFM responsible for "maintaining contingency preparedness for, and control of exotic transboundary animal diseases". According to the tender request description by the department, under this remit, the NDCC may require the depopulation of poultry premises in the event of an outbreak of diseases such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (bird flu) and Newcastle disease because of the "potential impact an outbreak of either disease is likely to have on animal health, public health or trade". "Avian influenza remains a constant threat to the Irish poultry industry because of the risk from migratory wild birds," the department said. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza of the H5N1 subtype has been very prevalent across the EU in 2021/2022 and the most recent outbreak of avian influenza in poultry in Ireland occurred in November 2022. "Cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have also been detected in wild birds in Ireland in recent years. "Newcastle disease is also a threat to Irish poultry due to potential circulation in wild birds and pigeons and sporadic outbreaks occurring in other EU member states." Stringent measures In accordance with EU legislation governing both of these diseases, it is required that stringent measures are put in place in the event of a confirmed outbreak, including humane culling of all poultry on the affected premises in order to prevent the onward spread of the disease. The department said it requires "an end-to-end service for poultry depopulation using whole house gassing method using carbon dioxide, or other inert gas". The department said it is "extremely important to authorities in Ireland to deal with outbreaks of high impact poultry diseases" such as bird flu "in a timely manner in order to mitigate against the spread of the disease". Over 31m birds There is an estimated total poultry population of approximately 31.5m birds in the Republic of Ireland, according to the department's register. Based on the 2019 poultry survey, there are over 7,000 active poultry holdings registered with the department. Of these, over 1,300 keep greater than 1,000 birds, approximately 700 report capacity for over 10,000 birds, and over 250 holdings have capacity for greater than 40,000 birds. Bird cullings While Ireland emerged largely unscathed from the bird flu emergency last year, in November 2022, outbreaks of the disease were confirmed in two poultry flocks in Co Monaghan, which led to around 8,000 birds being culled. Strict measures were put in place to protect other flocks a year ago; farmers were ordered to house all poultry. This rule was then lifted in the following April. The UK and France suffered significantly with bird flu with huge culls taking place, and it had been feared this time last year that Ireland would experience the same fate. France in recent months has begun mass vaccination of its ducks against bird flu. Lower risk Along with there being no outbreaks of bird flu in poultry in Ireland this year, there are fewer wild birds showing up positive for it, Department of Agriculture senior superintending veterinary inspector Paul Corkery has said. The overall situation currently "looks good" and it is hoped an outbreak in poultry can be avoided but Mr Corkery warns that "we can never be sure". "Were looking at the risk, and the risk at this stage appears to be lower than it was last year that we would have an outbreak in poultry," he said. Mr Corkery added that in some wild bird populations there seems to be more immunity. Brian Dowling, 45, grew up in Rathangan, Co Kildare. In 2001, he won the second edition of Big Brother on Channel 4, and in 2010 he won the Ultimate Big Brother series. He has presented shows on Irish and British television. In 2015, he married Arthur Gourounlian, the Dancing With The Stars judge, and last year they welcomed their daughter, Blake Maria Rose, born through surrogacy. Brian presents The Salvage Squad on Virgin Media One, 8pm, Sunday. Soap operas My mom was always obsessed with soap operas, drama-filled American soaps like Dynasty, The Colbys, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing. As a little gay boy in Rathangan, I was obsessed with the scenes they threw up: You bitch! Slap! People having affairs, and then people realising their sister is actually their mother. I lived for all of that drama I was from a working-class family, my mum had seven kids, my dad worked all the time; it was great escapism. Dynasty The greatest soap opera of them all was Dynasty. It was so dramatic, so good, so opulent. They were so rich. It was also very sexy with the gay character, Steven Carrington, at a time when I was coming to terms with my sexuality. Our daughter is called Blake and you have Blake Carrington from Dynasty. The character of Crystal was so lovely and nice. Joan Collinss character was a bitch, but she was also likeable. It was the fantasy and its storylines, and it was quite racy. Charlie Hunnan, Aidan Gillen and Craig Kelly in Queer as Folk. Queer as Folk Growing up, I got into Queer as Folk. It was ground-breaking at the time. I was in secondary school when it came out. It was about gay guys living in Manchester, coming to terms with their sexuality, being out and proud, not having hang-ups about being gay, sleeping around and drinking. You saw their relationships with their family, and their friends. I thought, wow, is this what its like? It was also quite graphic. Id never seen anything like that on television before. The Morning Show I'm really into The Morning Show. It stars Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston. It's about a morning television show where there are undertones of sexual abuse, and people being inappropriate. Its fascinating as I work in television how they have got aspects of the show bang on; the way people act; contract negotiations; and egos. Kylie Minogue Anything by Kylie Minogue I love. I'm loving the new album, Tension. When I was young Santa gave me a Kylie cassette: 'I Should Be So Lucky', 'The Loco-Motion', 'Got to Be Certain'. Seeing her in Neighbours playing Charlene. Basically, through all of my life, her music has meant something. When I won Ultimate Big Brother, the song they played for this is your best bits was Kylies 'Get Outta My Way'. Outrageous Fortune A film I keep harping back to is Outrageous Fortune, starring Bette Midler, an icon, and Shelley Long. Its so good. I watched it back in the late 90s and re-watched it recently. They're both in a relationship with the same man and they don't know it. It's so stupid how they find out that each other exists. Then they go on this journey together, to follow him to find out who he loves. It leads to tomfoolery and cat fighting. It's camp comedy. Its very funny. Jurassic Park Im obsessed with the Jurassic Park movies. When the first Jurassic Park movie came out we were all in awe of it all the CGI and special effects, to see those dinosaurs recreated. I love anything prehistoric, and it's probably the campiness, the drama, the jeopardy and suspense that is appealing. Those films you can go to the cinema, get your treats, watch them and be entertained. When you leave, you're not heavy after it. Rebecca de Mornay in The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle A film that stays with me is The Hand That Rocks the Cradle with Rebecca De Mornay. I watched that film when I was young. Being in the hospital a year ago with a new baby, I was, OK, I'm keeping my hands on my daughter's cradle just in case. Its about an American woman who goes for a check-up with her obstetrician, and he is inappropriate. She files a complaint. Lots of other women come forward. He ends up committing suicide and his wife is pregnant. She loses the baby. She blames this woman; this woman does not know who she is and she hires her as her nanny. Like all the shows I watch, this bitch wants revenge. Ive six sisters so Ive witnessed these kinds of scenes all my life. Graham Norton Graham Norton, I have been watching on television for years. I got to go on his show. Hes phenomenal as a presenter. What he does, the level he does it at, he does it with such ease, with such comfort and confidence. He sits down beside these incredibly accomplished, successful, famous people, and its as if he's talking to his friends. He's so charismatic. He can also be quite bitchy and shady, but he does it in such a funny way, and no one ever takes offence. Lily Savage Paul OGrady as Lily Savage was boundary-pushing the fact he was a drag queen on primetime television in the 1990. To see Lily presenting Blankety Blank, a man as a woman, was ground-breaking, but it seemed like it was accepted. Nobody batted an eyelid. Now there's just so much nonsense about drag. What are you on about? Paul OGrady was doing this years ago. Maybe it was because people werent threatened by Paul. He was inclusive and so funny, so quick-witted. Six musical I went to see the musical Six about the six wives of Henry VIII on Broadway in New York. It was very funny. All six wives get together. Its a send-up. Each of the wives interpret their relationship with him, and then with each other. Its very interesting it's kind of a history lesson as well, and the music is very camp, very pop, very girl-power. It was really good. Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed The documentary on the actor Rock Hudson is fascinating. He was a Hollywood pin-up back, a sex symbol, in the era of Marilyn Monroe. He was gay, but he was not out. He married his agents assistant, who was female. He guest-starred on Dynasty. He had AIDS at the time. He kissed Linda Evans who played Crystal. When it came out he had AIDS there was complete panic. People were thinking would Linda Evans whose character kissed him get AIDS? He was a pioneer, but he also had to pretend, to play a role, for his survival and safety. He had to live a double life. The rude health of the Irish film industry was underlined on Sunday night at Cork International Film Festival (CIFF) with the announcement of the events inaugural Best New Irish Feature award. An eclectic mix of five films had been nominated for the first year of an award that is supported by the Irish Examiner, with the cash prize of 3,000 going to Paul Merciers 'Prospect House'. The relatively low-budget satire was chosen as winner by a judging panel led by West Cork-based producer David Puttnam. A full house at the Everyman Theatre for the screening of 'All of Us Strangers' at the 68th Cork International Film Festival, which continues until Sunday November 26. Prior to the screening. 'Prospect House' was named the Best New Irish Feature. Picture: Larry Cummins It emerged from a strong list of other nominees comprising of One Night in Millstreet, Andrew Gallimores documentary on the 1995 fight between Steve Collins and Chris Eubank; Paul Duanes folk horror, All You Need is Death; Alan Gilsenans documentary, The Days of Trees, a tale of dealing with childhood sexual abuse; and Ken Wardrops documentary, So This is Christmas, about the run-up to the festive season in an Irish town. Dublin-born Mercier has a long association with the Cork festival, with one of his early short films being shown at the event back in the 1990s. The soundtrack to Prospect House was created by his brother, Mel Mercier, the composer and musician who formerly headed the music departments at University College Cork and the University of Limerick. Some of the film fans arriving at the Everyman Theatre in Cork for the packed screening of 'All of Us Strangers' at the 68th Cork International Fim Festival on Sunday night. Picture: Larry Cummins David Puttnam, festival patron and chair of the jury, said of Prospect House: As a jury, we all felt it came across as a beautifully written, well-constructed and highly idiosyncratic parable. We felt it was a timely tale, a film which from start to finish kept its promise to its audience. "While always being very clearly Pauls voice, it succeeded in achieving a seamless transition from its internal theatricality to a genuine cinematic experience in a way that spoke to all of us. Among those congratulating the filmmakers at the Everyman was Irish Examiner Editor Tom Fitzpatrick. He said: I am proud to have the 'Irish Examiner' partner with CIFF on this inaugural award which has caught the attention of so many talented Irish filmmakers at such an exciting time in this industry. Though there could only be one winner, each shortlisted entrant has now had their work adjudicated by CIFF patron and Academy Award-winner Lord David Puttnam, a real testament to the quality of this Cork festival which is getting stronger every year and deserves all of our thanks and support. Cleo Morrisson, Midleton, and Rebecca Leahy, Glanmire, were at the screening of 'All of Us Strangers', whose cast includes Irish stars, Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, at the 68th Cork International Fim Festival on Sunday night. Picture: Larry Cummins The announcement at the Everyman was made in advance of the Irish premiere of All Of Us Strangers, a British-American production featuring two Irish stars, Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. That warmly-received love story may be in the Academy Awards conversation when nominations are announced in January, as could Irish production Poor Things, the film that opened the Cork festival. 'Irish Examiner' Editor Tom Fitzpatrick and festival director Fiona Clark on stage at the Everyman during Sunday's award announcement. The 68th Cork International Film Festival continues until Sunday, November 26. Picture: Larry Cummins Whether Ireland can repeat last years incredible feat of 14 Oscar nominations remains to be seen, but Leeside actor Cillian Murphy is also widely tipped for selection for his role in Oppenheimer. Meanwhile, this years extended Cork International Film Festival continues until Sunday, November 26. There are Christmas plays, and there are pantos, and never the twain meet. Except perhaps this year at the Gate Theatre, where Peter Pans best moments are when Roddy Doyles new version is most like a pantomime, usually courtesy of the brilliant Clare Dunne as Captain Hook. Perhaps they should have called this revamp after the villain. Oh wait, Spielberg got there first. Nevertheless, its Dunnes show, as she struts her stuff as an irresistibly sardonic, vainglorious, self-pitying Hook, by turns exasperated by her hapless henchmen, and terrified by the crocodile for whom shes fated to end up as lunch. In Doyles retelling, we get to Neverland via northside Dublin, with the Darlings living not in Kensington, but in a Georgian townhouse on, perhaps, Eccles Street. As Doyle imagines in his programme note, this is the story of Peader O Phain, who, after leaving his hidey hole in the Phoenix Park got caught in a crosswind half a mile over Arnotts and wound up in London telling JM Barrie his story. Darren Darling and Emma Rose Creaner in Peter Pan, at the Gate. Photo: Ros Kavanagh This, unfortunately, is as impish and spirited as Doyles writing here gets. His relocation to Dublin remains superficial: an ah, here or two, plenty of inexplicably dropped Ts from the Darlings, who have working-class accents, and, somehow, servants, and a few local gags are about the height of it. Doyles doubling of Mrs Darling with Captain Hook, a part usually taken by Mr Darling, and Wendy Darlings emergence as a surrogate mother to the Lost Boys add interesting, if ultimately unexplored, textures, while Wendys bond with Peter feels lopsided. Katie Davenport's costumes and Niall McKeevers set chime nicely in their evocation of Neverlands childish anarchy, coloured as if by an explosion of powder paints, and evoking the garishness of 1980s kids TV, crossed with certain pop music videos of the same decade. Liam Bixby makes for a cocky, strutting Peter Pan. His boy who refuses to grow up is suitably untouched by self doubt. Orla Scally, Emma-Rose Creaner, Caitriona Williams, Darren Dixon, Aaron Katambay and Callum Maxwell in Peter Pan. Photo: Ros Kavanagh This first night was delayed for almost a week due to what the theatre said were the plays ambition and intricate and technical nature. The plethora of sound, stage and lighting technicians credited attest to that, and their work adds much delight throughout. But the most effective moments under Ned Bennetts direction have a more knockabout flavour, with low-tech puppetry, Lost Boy rough and tumble, and witty shadow play standing out. Theres plenty of energy in Bennetts staging, compensating somewhat for the nagging lack of momentum in Doyles retelling. But happily, the occasional longueurs are always alleviated as soon as the wonderful Dunne appears. Lets play hate bingo. Here are some random statements see if you can get a full house. People protesting against the Israeli army bombing civilians are on 'hate marches' People coming from Calais in dinghies, risking their lives on open water, are an 'invasion' Sending asylum seekers to be detained in Rwanda is a 'dream' UK child grooming gangs are 'almost all British-Pakistani men' Being street homeless is a 'lifestyle choice' Using tents as shelter if you are street homeless should be 'restricted' Asylum seekers pretend to be gay to get 'special treatment' The police are 'too lenient' on people participating in 'hate marches' Anyone who disagrees with any of these is part of the 'tofu-eating wokerati' To incorrectly paraphrase a well-known non-British groomer Rolf Harris can you tell who it is yet? A fascist chatbot experiment? The minutes of a National Front meeting in a room above a Nazi pub? A mad old racist on a park bench who shouts at pigeons? You dont have to be Wagatha Christie to figure it out. Its. the British Home Secretary. Actually since five minutes ago the former British Home Secretary, finally sacked when she attacked the wrong people: not societys most desperate and vulnerable, but the police. Suella Braverman finally picked on the wrong group. Or is it all some dastardly Machiavellian plot, as she angles for the job of PM? She sent the current PM a lengthy letter telling him how rubbish he is uncertain, weak, lacking in qualities of leadership although to be fair, being rubbish seems to be part of the job spec for leading our closest neighbour these days. After all, if Boris de Pfeffel Johnson can do it, why not a fascist lunatic residing in the body of a brown woman who claims to be Buddhist? Observing Braverman cosplaying Home Secretary has been like watching that demon inhabiting the child in The Exorcist. Shed have been comical if she werent so dangerous. You might moan about Irish politicians being incompetent, out of touch etc, in that way everyone everywhere moans about politicians being incompetent, out of touch etc, but at least Ireland isnt locked in the cognitive dissonance of a Black Mirror sub plot, where a Home Secretary badgers senior police to ban a legal march of buggy-pushing mums and their families peacefully protesting the slaughter of other buggy-pushing mums and their families. In a statement which tipped into Monty-Python-sketch-edited-by-George-Orwell, she even compared pro-Palestinian marches to the marches in Northern Ireland of dissident republicans. Should we send her a copy of Northern Ireland For Dummies? Anyway. Shes gone for now as the man who got the original hate ball rolling with his unforgivable Brexit referendum returns to the sinking ship of Tory Britain. So moan yourself hoarse about Irish politicians, but spare a thought for the Irish in Britain living under this lot. And dont say well, leave then thanks to their catastrophic economic vandalism, we cant just sell up and run away. Its like being trapped in a cheese dream where you never wake up. Sharon Tate wore hers five inches above the knee in 1968; Queen Victoria began the trend for white wedding dresses; and in the 1940s women wore a practical tailored suit on their big day. Just some of the fascinating details that will emerge at an event set to take place in Dunmanway in early December telling the story of the wedding dress from 1840 right into the 21st century. The Dress Three Centuries of Weddings is the result of a collaboration between two West Cork-based women one passionate about history, the other about fashion. History consultant Michelle OMahony and couturier/film costumier Gwen Mc Guirk have organised the event as a fundraiser for Dunmanway Historical Association (DHA). Showcasing dresses from bygone eras, along with more contemporary styles, the three-day event will feature talks on the history of the wedding dress and on trends over three centuries. It was inspired by the DHAs pre-Covid publication of two wedding photo pictorials with images donated by people in the Dunmanway hinterland. The pictorials are like a census in pictures of families from Dunmanway, says OMahony, adding that the December event will answer many wedding-themed history enquiries received by the DHA. The wedding dress is a great communicator of societys norms and its various class structures through the generations and thats true whether women were baring their bosom or covering their arms, says OMahony, citing the example of what happened to wedding dresses when women became emancipated. Out went restrictive bustles and to some extent corsets. And in came the more fluid styles of the late Edwardian era and the flapper style of the roaring 20s, when it became socially acceptable to have shorter hemlines and dance more. Handling the 1860s wedding dress with care and gloves are Gwen Mc Guirk and Michelle O'Mahony. Picture: Victoria Mannix Photography Mc Guirk passionate about couture and costume in film, TV and theatre has won awards for her work on films such as Otto Neururer Hope Through Darkness (2019) and Shattered Night (2015). She was an assistant milliner in the hats and headdress department for Jack the Giant Slayer. Among the antique wedding dresses from her own personal collection that shell exhibit next month is an 1860s dress sourced in the South of England, which Mc Guirk initially found difficult to date: Its made from very fine cotton, like voile or muslin, so delicate its like a cobweb, which made me think the fabric was older than the dress. I thought it might be from the Jane Austen era but its style is a bit later. The dress shows the work of two seamstresses theres really find handwork that I dont think any human could do today and it would originally have been in two pieces. In that time the bodice and skirt were made separately. Thered be a bodice with long sleeves made for the church and a second bodice in the same fabric with short sleeves, more low-cut or off-the-shoulder for the evening. You can see that somebody later joined the bodice and skirt together with rougher stitching. Quite flat in the front, all gathered in the back and pooling on the floor, Mc Guirk says the style was popular around 1860 when more emphasis was put on the back of the dress. Michelle O'Mahony and Gwen Mc Guirk with the Tudor-style dress modelled on the wedding dress of Catherine Parr, wife of Henry VIII. Picture: Victoria Mannix Photography A second dress shell exhibit is from around 1934, when people flocked to the cinema and Hollywood led the way in glamour. The fabric of the dress very hugging to the figure, very long, with long sleeves and all these tiny buttons down the front holds the story of how less well-off women could hope to emulate a Hollywood diva on their big day. The fabric isnt silk satin but a very beautiful synthetic, one of the early synthetics, rayon satin. It was quite popular with brides it meant working girls could buy a satin-look fabric or an off-the-peg dress in a department store at a fraction of the cost. In Ireland too, people went to the cinema and were influenced by the fashion of the stars, says Mc Guirk, wholl also show one of her own creations a Tudor-style dress and headdress. In contrast to the many elaborate styles of earlier eras, the 1940s brought rationing and textile scarcity. In Ireland during World War 2 and up to the 1950s, women didnt wear a dress they wore a suit. The bride-to-be went to a local dressmaker and had a wool or tweed suit made. My grandmother was a dressmaker and she called it a costume it was very practical and used afterwards for Sunday best. OMahony, who loves all history but particularly that of the 19th and early 20th centuries, has her own fund of fascinating wedding stories. Author of Famine in Cork City first published in 2005, she hopes to relaunch it shortly she says marriages took place within Cork Union Workhouse during the Famine, even though men and women were segregated. Some marriages were out of love the woman was already in love with the man before entering the workhouse and some were out of necessity. People entered the workhouse because they were destitute and if they wanted to leave, the bureaucracy looked more kindly on a couple who wanted to make their way in the world. It was easier for them to seek their fortune elsewhere whereas a single person leaving could fall into vagrancy. Michelle O'Mahony and Gwen Mc Guirk with a 1950s wedding dress. Picture: Victoria Mannix Photography OMahony explains that despite segregation, opportunities arose for men and women to meet, at church and particularly during overcrowded Famine conditions in the dining room. And the wedding dress? It was the workhouse uniform, basically a prison uniform, unique to each workhouse a tunic top and bottom worn by men and women. Some of the dresses that will be on display in Dunmanways Atkins Hall a former Methodist church featured in the DHA pictorials. Theyre from the 1960s, says OMahony, whos getting calls every week: people asking if weve enough dresses and seeing as Mums dress featured in the pictorial, would you like to display it?'. OMahony says its hard to quantify the appeal of the wedding dress: The wedding is a big event and the bride needs to stand out. Every woman is looking for a unique dress, that stand-out dress. For Mc Guirk, a wedding dress is more than a ball gown: Its that special dress that a woman can wear once in her life. And yet, no matter how unique, the wedding dress also reflects the trends of an era, whether thats the 'meringue' dress made popular by Queen Victorias daughter-in-law in 1863, or a fashion for hip bustles and large crinoline skirts that demanded more elbow room at the table. From the straight, dropped-waist dresses of the 1920s to Grace Kellys iconic 1956 wedding dress; from the puffy sleeves, lace flounces and 25-feet long train of Princess Dianas 1981 dress to Cindy Crawfords simple short slip dress in the Bahamas in 1998, the wedding dress has always been a talking point. The Dress Three Centuries of Weddings, Atkins Hall, Dunmanway; Friday, December 1 (5-9pm) and December 2 and 3 (noon-5pm); admission 5 Showcasing antique and more contemporary styles, it will include talks on wedding dress history, make-up since Victorian times and dining and etiquette since the Victorian era; also a mini wedding fair with wedding-themed stalls from local exhibitors. Contact: info@omhistoryconsultant.ie Visit: Past visitors to the picturesque Portuguese capital will recall colourful trams juddering up cobbled laneways, queues for the funicular to see the citys spectacular harbour, and the draw of seafood and pasteis de nata (the citys famous custard tarts). But a new offering from Portugals Martinhal hospitality group, in the citys trendy Park of Nations neighbourhood, shows an entirely different side of the city. A family hotel with a chic twist, Martinhal Residences is a blend of smart business hotel and luxury family destination. The Park of Nations area was built in 1998 for the World Exhibition, and is a world apart from the city centre. Running along the river Tagus for 5km, it features safe cycle lanes, child-friendly public art installations like a drumlin-strewn play park resembling the Teletubbies field, stepping stone ponds, water jets built into paving and plenty of other diversions. With a collection of waterside restaurants, the area is a destination entirely apart from old Lisbon, but just a 20-minute bus trip from the city centre. A hassle-free experience in Dublin Airport saw us land in Lisbon about 4pm on a Friday. Martinhal Residences is just a few minutes by taxi from the airport, so by 6pm the kids were in the pool while I got the full tour. A well-equipped kids club complete with baby room, and a leisure area including two pools combine with top-of-the-range technology (including Japanese-style electronic toilets more on these later) and access to a well-kitted-out business centre catering to families where one parent may be working remotely. The top floor is residential, and has attracted a lot of US workers doing just this. All Martinhal hotels are set apart by their focus on Portuguese artists and this one is no different. The hotel is full of engaging art pieces by Portuguese artists including sea creatures made from neon lighting and recycled piping. With an indoor pool and an outdoor heated one both accompanied by kids pools and an outdoor trampoline, its ideal for a couple of hours downtime in the course of a busy city break. The Terrace Restaurant in Lisbon At Terrace restaurant, menus across the day all include a nod to the East; owner Chitra Stern is originally Tamil and carefully oversees every detail from her home at the top of the building. The resulting fusion features the best of Portuguese fish and snacks in the bar menu with dishes from the Middle East and much further. They include a halloumi snacking plate, bejewelled vegan sushi, and delicious Indian breakfast dishes like a very upscale gobi aloo and a lightly spiced rice dish, as well as superb versions of hipster favourites like Bircher muesli. A hugely creative chef is clearly at work here: Its a rarity, a hotel you could eat in every night for a week, but for picky eaters, we were assured pasta and pizza could be made available if necessary. Breakfast and brunch options at Terrace Our two-bedroom apartment came with a fully equipped kitchen including Neff appliances. A washer/dryer, concealed in a cabinet, is always a plus with small boys and meant the only luggage we needed for our three-day trip was a carry-on backpack each. Separate bedrooms allowed for privacy, something that is usually an issue for families sharing hotel rooms. Seven-inch (we checked) mattress toppers on all the beds made this by a long way the most comfortable hotel room weve ever slept in. Its impossible to mention our accommodation without reference to the Japanese-style electronic toilet. A remote control beside the hand basin was the subject of much examination when we arrived, but mercifully it wasnt until day three the kids figured out how to use it. Just as well, because with two inquisitive small boys particularly interested in the wash and dry mechanism of the toilet, we probably wouldnt have seen Lisbon at all, had it worked on our first try. The cable car at Lisbon's Park of Nations Luckily, though, the delights of the city were on our doorstep, and the availability of rental electric scooters on every corner using the Lime app meant we zipped around the Park of Nations. Theres also a cable car stretching the length of it you can hop on one end (near the hotel) and hop off at the other, where the bars and restaurants are concentrated. Picture yourself on Corks big wheel, but on a rope instead of a wheel and there you go. Terrifying. But were glad we did it. Lisbon Oceanarium A stones throw from the hotel lies the Lisbon Oceanarium, one of the largest in Europe, with excellent displays of tropical and Atlantic fish as well as sea otters. While the air-conditioned penguins looked rather sad compared to our pals in Fota, the facility is first-rate. Not just that, but the restaurant is a cut above the usual sad beige fare, with delicious salads and fish options, if you can bear to eat them after admiring their friends. Also nearby, the Pavilion of Knowledge and Science is without a doubt the best attraction we have ever visited as a family. It is a wonderland of science-based play, experiments and activity. A massive circus-themed play space with at least 20 separate activities had us all busy keeping balls in the air using air jets, running on human-sized hamster wheels, trying out climbing walls and learning how pulleys work in a mini building site. There is an area with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs and the full palaeontologist dig experience, with sandpits and all sorts of ways for kids to get their hands dirty. A light-based room, again with at least 30 different stations is where you can run experiments. Spray painting using light boxes, halls of mirrors, experiments using magnets, weights we could have spent the entire day there, but hunger drove us out after about four hours. If youre hankering after the traditional Lisbon experience, the nearby bus will take you right into the beautiful Praca do Comercio, from which you can easily reach the old cobbled streets that define the city. Pick up a custard tart from a specialised bakery or sit with a vinho verde and watch the world go by. After a quick tram ride, we wandered downhill from Chiado to the Time Out market near the waterfront, which some might find familiar as the inspiration for Corks marina market. A pizza, a plate of mystery croquettes containing everything from sardines to beef stew and we were replenished. With more relaxed company wed have stayed for hours, but small boys dont enjoy sitting around, so back to the hotel we went for more pool time. We packed an awful lot into a short three-day visit to the Portuguese capital, and being based in the Park of Nations gave us a new aspect of the city to explore. Two things were notable about our visit to Lisbon. One, its no longer a cheap city to visit. While food and drink are a little cheaper than Irish prices, the difference isnt as pronounced as it used to be. The other was the overwhelming politeness on every transport option we took. People immediately gave up their seats for our kids on every bus, tram, and plane not something you would expect, or ask for. Obrigado, Lisboa! Escape Notes Ryanair and TAP fly direct from Dublin to Lisbon daily. Deirdre OShaughnessy was a guest of Martinhal Lisbon Oriente. Studio apartment rates from 115 per night or 127 per night B&B. martinhal.com Families affected by devastating genetic condition Huntingtons disease are fearful the HSE recruitment ban will delay the hiring of Irelands first specialist nurses. Two nursing positions were announced last year among a group of almost 30 specialists but now families are very concerned the plans could be put on pause. Huntingtons Disease Ireland (HDI) spokeswoman Patricia Towey said when the announcement was made by Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte, families had welcomed this. The minister saw the nurses could help overcome the misunderstanding and stigma associated with the disease over generations, Ms Towey said. However HDI and an advocate whose family is affected are unclear what happens now. Derek and many other families impacted by Huntingtons disease are very concerned that two specialist nursing posts announced in October 2022 and not yet recruited will fall under the recently extended HSE staff embargo, she said. Most European countries have dedicated clinics. Derek, an advocate who asked that his surname not be used, said: There is no joined-up service anywhere in this country. "Instead families patch supports together. One of my relatives fights and gets a service, but it doesnt apply to the next person because they are in a different health service. So they have to fight for the same thing for themselves all over again. "In our family it is a late-onset condition. "So you think of the young people knowing this, they are going to need mental health supports. But they dont exist. Derek became aware of the condition last year. One of my siblings had just spent 10 years having issues and has been sent to one specialist after the other specialist. "[They] were diagnosed with every neurological disease you can think of except Huntingtons, he said. Eventually a neurologist did decide to do a Huntingtons test. His sibling actually broke down in tears with relief when genetic testing identified the condition. This is typical with Huntingtons, he said. You get so depressed over the fact there are things wrong with you and you dont know what they are. Fear of stigma around this disease featured yesterday in RTE drama The Gone for character Theo Richter. Mary Mulcahy, Ballincollig, Cork, with Minister Anne Rabbitte at a meeting of the Huntington's Disease Association of Ireland. The production team contacted HDI for information and used the group's website in the show. It is an exceptionally cruel disease, Derek explained. You start losing all your physical abilities, you cant walk and your hands are moving around all the time. You are fully aware of it, and eventually you do start losing your compos mentis but you still know what you are doing. This has all made Derek re-assess his fathers life; a man who spent decades in a nursing home with symptoms he now realises were probably caused by Huntingtons. His own test was negative but he advocates for his relatives. It affects families, he said. Obviously when the Huntingtons diagnosis came, it changed everything instantly. He urged people newly diagnosed to contact HDI. We rang Patricia and she said its OK, Ill explain everything and thats what she did, he said. That was an absolute godsend, because without Patricia we wouldnt have a clue. The HSE has previously said its clinical care programme is working on a pathway of care for Huntingtons disease. The HSE spent 382m in procurement without a formal competition in just three years, including 24.2m in phone company bills in 2022 alone. The executive, which is currently experiencing a crippling funding crisis causing an indefinite recruitment freeze, spent 111.6m in 2020, 143.9m in 2021, and 128.5m on such expenditure. The HSE has been bedevilled by non-compliant procurement for many years, with the body struggling to maintain oversight of what health funding is actually spent on given the disparate nature and sheer number of organisations and institutions it funds. Under public procurement rules, all contracts incurred by State bodies valued at greater than 25,000 must be secured via competitive tender. New breakdowns of non-compliant procurement, released to the Irish Examiner under freedom of information, show that in 2022 the HSE paid 11.7m to Eir, 10.8m to Vodafone, and 1.7m to Three for the provision of communications services, from mobile phone bills to land lines to internet data packages. Eir received for nearly 5,800 of the 9,600 total payments made in 2022. A further 17m was paid to PFH Technology Group, a Cork-based ICT contractor, in 2022 for the provision of external ICT support and other related contracts, grouped under the banner ehealth and disruptive technology. By contrast, PFH was paid just 92,000 by the HSE in 2021, a year in which the health service was laid low by a massive cyber attack, when the HSE was harshly criticised for the paucity and outdated nature of its IT defences. The released data shows that the HSE spent some 26.7m on non-contract agency staff typically used in situations where no in-house staff are available and paid at higher rates across 2022, with the vast majority of those payments allocated to nursing staff and care assistants. Of that figure, 10.6m was paid to CPL Healthcare, a division of the CPL recruitment agency, for contract tracing for covid-19. Cork/Kerry healthcare contributed just 2.8m to the total expenditure, the vast majority of it to Eircom, with 51,000 spent on postage from CHO4 the other standout description from the region. A further 1.8m was spent on drugs from pharmacies, the majority of that expenditure incurred by two hospitals Cavan Monaghan General and Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown in west Dublin. The HSE in Carlow/Tipperary/Kilkenny spent 283,000 on interpreter services marked as being for social inclusion, while University Hospital Limerick paid 52,400 to Mayo-based company Beaumont Private Ambulance for services across the 12-month period. Some 722,000 was spent on document archival and storage with two separate companies, with a further 199,000 spent on furniture supplies in Laois/Offaly, Westmeath, and Galway. The sheer granularity of the information released is exemplified by two returns from Wexford General Hospital, which spent some 40,000 on milk, fruit, and vegetables in 2022. Meanwhile, at least 628,000 was spent on the purchase of vehicles worth in excess of 7,000, all without a formal tender. The HSE had not responded to a request for comment regarding the nature and extent of its non-compliant expenditure at the time of publication. Last month the Irish Examiner revealed that the HSEs planned new catch-all financial reporting system will be delayed by at least a further three years into 2028. The integrated financial management system will not be delivered in full until the end of July 2028, with the initial budget of 82m also likely to be exceeded, the HSE said at the time. Two young children who lost their mother in an Israeli air strike were hugged by their emotional father as they reunited in Dublin airport last night. Khalid el-Astal went down on his knees and sobbed as he embraced his young children as soon as the doors of the arrivals opened. There were extraordinary scenes in Terminal 1 when more Irish citizens were reunited with their loved ones after being evacuated from Gaza by the Irish Government last week. They are the second group of passengers who flew into Dublin airport from Cairo more families arrived on Saturday afternoon. Last week, Mr el-Astals wife Ashwak Jendia, died from severe injuries she sustained during an Israeli airstrike while he was working in Dubai. Their children, Ali, four, and Sara, one, were cared for by their uncle who crossed the border into Egypt with them, while their father flew to Dublin to await their arrival. They landed in the airport just before 7pm after a lengthy flight delay from Cairo which was due to arrive at 12.30pm on Sunday afternoon. Mr el-Astal buried his head into his childrens arms and sat for a moment on the ground with them as he became overcome with emotion. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, he said he wasnt even sure his little girl knew who he was as he held her tight. Their mother is dead, he said, She is gone, but we will be ok, Ill take care of them. I love you all, I am happy to be in this country, there is a lot of love, all of them looked after me from day one. "I have my kids now. They are good. I dont know, I cant describe it (when they arrived) I dont think my daughter knows me. It was a long wait. My wife is dead. My brother, I have him it is ok. We will be ok, we will do everything. Thank you for everyone, even for the press, for everyone who helped. These people here are my family now. They will stay forever. Thank you, everyone. He described how he has no home to go to yet and that he will stay with a friend for the moment. I have no place yet, he said. I dont know, I dont know where to go now. Its ok I have my children now. We want a place now, we want a place, it is with the government now. When asked how he felt about hopes of a ceasefire between Israeli and Palestine he said: I cant trust a ceasefire, I cant believe that anything like this will happen. I hope for peace. I am so worried about my extended family left behind. We live moment to moment waiting for the news. Another 19-year-old Irish citizen explained how he has absolutely nowhere to go with his young siblings and their mother after he flew into Ireland. Fighting back tears, Mazen Haia, 19, said he will sleep on the streets if he has to. It is very difficult, now I dont know how my life will continue. We left our father to die and my cousin, I dont know how our lives will continue after that. They bombed our university, they bombed schools, they bombed our houses; we were all praying to get out. We were told to get out of our houses. There were dead bodies when we were walking, animals, donkeys. We left everything. "I only have some clothes, only this, we dont have any money now, I dont know how our life will continue. I cant imagine. Now I am responsible for all these kids, how can this happen? I dont know. This is my cousin, my mum, these are my brothers. "I am 19. I am in second year in college studying computer engineering at the University of Gaza and they bombed it (and) all our schools. We dont have no education, phones, money, literally we dont have anything. We dont have our own father. Our father lost his job and communications is hard now anytime we can receive a message, that it could be your father is dead. Its a disaster, we dont know what to do. Mr Haia said the last time he was in Ireland with his family was in 2011. We rented then; we were very young he continued. Right now, we dont have anywhere to go, we will talk to the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs). I dont know what will happen. As he held his siblings close, he said: I am the oldest. I came here just to be safe, if I sleep on the street now it doesnt matter. "Thank God we are safe. But our father and her (cousin) husband, we left them at Gaza. They did not get out, I dont know what will happen now. The Israeli authorities didnt let their names on the Rafah crossing and now it is two women and me, I am the son and the father now. Stricter policing of illegal sulky races has been called for by an animal rights activist who has warned that someone will die unless urgent action is taken. Videos on social media in recent weeks have shown sulkies horse-drawn carts racing down motorways and major national roads, causing busy traffic to pull over to avoid head-on collisions. John OCallaghan of Dog Advocacy Ireland said that the races pose a risk to both human and animal welfare. Three or four of these are happening every weekend on major public roads. Its a miracle no one has been killed yet. The risk to road users is enormous," Mr O'Callaghan said. These races are advertised on Facebook beforehand, so there is no reason why they cannot be policed properly, it is not rocket science." 'Frightening' Videos have shown three and four vehicles abreast coming down major roadways with the races causing traffic chaos, he said. "Its frightening for other road users and they force other road users to pull into the hard shoulder and off the road to avoid crashing into them. Sulky supporters are hanging out of windows of moving vehicles shouting." The races on tarmac roads are damaging to horses, especially to younger horses that are often used for these races, he said. Chaotic scenes were filmed at sulky races on the M3 in Meath on Sunday morning. Gardai attended the scene of incidents of sulky racing on the M3 near Dunboyne, Co Meath at approximately 8am on Sunday. Those involved dispersed on the arrival of gardai. Inquiries are ongoing and gardai are currently investigating these incidents, a statement said. Croom race On the previous Sunday, another illegal sulky race was filmed on the N20 Limerick to Cork dual carriageway near Croom, when racers and supporters took over the major road. A garda statement said that gardai in Croom were alerted to alleged incidents of sulky racing on the N20 in Croom, Limerick on Sunday, November 12. "Gardai are appealing for any witnesses or those with camera footage to come forward. "People who observed any unusual activity on the N20 in Croom are also asked to come forward. "Anyone with any information is asked to contact Newcastle West Garda station on 069 20650, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station." One video from a sulky race on social media appears to show two sulkies refusing to stop for a garda car, driving along beside it despite oncoming traffic. Martina Kenny from My Lovely Horse animal rescue said that her team has rescued injured horses abandoned at the side of the road after they were used as sulkies. Horses and ponies are started in sulky racing very young, she said. But because a horse is still growing until they are five, racing them on very hard ground when they are young causes long term damage to their growing limbs. "Usually they're [age] two or three out pounding really fast on hard ground," Ms Kenny said. "We have a few ex-sulkies, one was only six months old when she came to us, and she was used as a sulky and her legs are destroyed forever. She goes lame really easy because her legs were never allowed to develop and grow. "We've had many horses that have been on traps or sulkies that have had broken legs. We've had some that have died." "It's sad. This is going on constantly." Residents in Rosslare are calling for an emergency meeting of Wexford County Council over plans to convert a former hotel into accommodation for international protection applicants. Over the weekend, protests were held in the town and Rosslare Europort was blockaded over the proposal to accommodate 400 more asylum seekers in the former Great Southern Hotel. At a meeting yesterday evening, residents called for an emergency meeting of the council, and called on it to outline whether the site is an exempted development and, if not, for the council to begin an injunction to halt development. Independent Wexford TD Verona Murphy said the concerns raised are solely a planning issue and there is no racist element here. She said she has contacted Wexford County Council and sought clarification on a planning matter for the site. She said the council needs to clarify if the premises is an exempted development as it was given planning for a nursing home. Ms Murphy said those protesting are focused on the need to use the premises as a nursing home. She said there is an aging population, 60 jobs are expected to be created, and a nursing home is what the people want. Concerns were also raised over the fact that up to 400 international protection applicants are to be accommodated, when permission was granted for a 90-single bed occupancy nursing home. In a statement, the Department of Integration acknowledged that there are outstanding planning concerns surrounding the hotel, and a spokesperson said the International Protection Procurement Service (IPPS) is still examining the property. A full assessment of the offer made was undertaken by IPPS, and, as discussed at the meeting, there are planning matters referred to An Bord Pleanala by Wexford County Council, requiring resolution, the spokesperson said. Minister [Roderic] OGorman confirmed that until these matters have been concluded, the Department will not enter into a contract for this property. A man whose car was hit from behind by a truck while he was stopped at a junction has been awarded more than 96,758 by the High Court. Derek Coughlan (60), Meadowmount, Churchtown, Dublin, was rear-ended by a truck on August 13, 2020, when he was stopped at a main traffic junction heading in the direction of the M50 on a journey to his home from Howth. He sued CGR Construction and Niall OSullivan, Priesttown, Kilbride, Co. Meath. He said he suffered significant injuries when his car was written off as a result of the impact from the large truck which had bull bars fitted to the front. Liability was admitted and the case was before the court for assessment of damages only. Mr Coughlan, who had a stent fitted following a heart attack in 2016, said his head and shoulder were sore and he felt sick and dizzy immediately after the accident. He was concerned that the stent may have been affected by the impact although it was later established that it had not been affected. He said he suffered and continues to suffer pain in his upper body and shoulder and it made doing basic things like washing and dressing particularly difficult. He also suffered and continues to suffer from severe and persistent headaches which he never had before the accident. Ms Justice Carmel Stewart heard arguments from both sides on what level of damages should be awarded on the basis of the seriousness of the injuries in accordance with the Personal Injuries Guidelines which were adopted by the Judicial Council in March 2021. The judge said Mr Coughlan, a floor installer, has not worked since the accident. He was also no longer able to participate in his lifelong hobby of fly-fishing. She was satisfied that without the surgical intervention in the future, he will continue to suffer from the ongoing shoulder pain caused by the accident. She awarded 75,000 in general damages for the shoulder injury with an "uplift/increase" of 15,000 for the additional injuries. Added to agreed special damages of 6,758 for the purposes of him obtaining the requisite orthopaedic surgery to repair his shoulder injury, the total award came to 96,758. A 36-year-old Cork man got a nine-and-a-half-year sentence for causing the loss of a mans eye by throwing corrosive liquid in his face in a case where he enquired of investigating gardai about the victim, Is he still a handsome man? Judge James McCourt imposed a sentence of 10 years on John Paul Carey at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Monday afternoon and suspended the last six months. Francis Costello, the injured party who hoped he would be killed during the attack because of the extremity of the agony he was feeling, said he later contemplated suicide but thanked family and friends who kept him going. Mr Costello, 40, said afterwards that he did not accept the recent apology from the accused which he said came too late to have any meaning. He said he still had nightmares about the accused. What he did to me you wouldnt do to an animal, he said after the sentencing. He pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm as well as assault causing harm to two of his brothers. John Paul Carey got involved in a dispute between Francis Costello and his ex-partner, who started a new relationship with Mr Carey four months before this attack. Victim impact statement Victim, Francis Costello, said as he struggled to stay composed in the witness box: I would consider myself an outgoing, confident and sociable person. I have had a lot of hobbies and interests I have not had an easy life as I have struggled with addiction in my past. I am proud to say that I am in recovery today, rebuilding my life, a day at a time. The night of March 4, 2022, will remain with me for the rest of my life, the physical pain I went through, I just wanted to die, to stop the burning in my eyes, my face and my head as I lay on the ground, crying and screaming in pain while I was being punched and kicked. "I was praying the next blow would be fatal, just to stop the suffering. Little did I know that night that for the next year I would be battling with my mental and emotional health, attending multiple procedures surgeries and my eye being removed last October. I have lost my job which brought huge financial stress and left me in a lot of arrears in my life. I lost the will to live and I had planned to end it all so many times. Thankfully I did not go through with it. I believe today there is a way through anything life might throw at me. I am grateful to the support network of friends, family and neighbours for helping save me when I just did not want to save myself. I would also like to thank Support After Crime Services and for the Mental Health Service for their support and assistance when I needed it. I will be forever grateful. John Paul Carey was previously living in Glanmire, County Cork, and Dunmanus Crescent in Knocknaheeny, Cork. Detective Inspector Jason Lynch said there was a knock on the front door of the Costello home at Connolly Road, Ballyphehane, Cork, at 8.20pm on March 4, 2022. Francis Costello answered the door where he was met by John Paul Carey. Both were known to each other. Mr Carey is now residing with Francis Costellos former partner. There was a brief discussion about a phone call the night before. Before he got a chance to answer Mr Carey, a liquid was thrown in his face. He fell to the floor with severe pain and was screaming. Mr Carey commenced an assault on him. On hearing the screams, Roy and John came to their brothers assistance. Both instantly recognised John Paul Carey. They too were doused with a liquid. It caused severe burning and agony. John suffered chemical burns to his face. Roys hands and arms were burned. Mr Carey fled the scene. Roy contacted the emergency services. Francis suffered severe burns to his face and scalp He suffered a severe injury to his left eye. For these chemical injuries he was hospitalised for a number of weeks. He lost his left eye. John had chemical burns to both eyes and was left with 90% sight in his right eye and 80% in his left eye. The substance was submitted to Forensic Science Ireland which found it was Sodium Hydroxide, commonly known as caustic soda. John Paul Carey is 36 years old and from Glanmire, now resident in the Knocknaheeny area. He has 99 previous convictions, Det. Insp. Lynch said. Those convictions include counts for dealing 50,000 worth of heroin and an armed robbery of Little Island post office. John Costello said in his victim impact statement: It was the most horrific thingmy face burning, my eyesight was gone. I was lucky enough to get my eyesight back to an extent I am left with a fear of answering the door each time the doorbell rings. Roy Costello made no victim impact statement. Sentencing Defence senior counsel, Elizabeth OConnell, said the accused had pleaded guilty to the three assaults, obviating the necessity of a trial, and had written a letter of apology to the accused. Judge McCourt said: Loss of an eye is an enormous injury But sentencing is not an exercise in vengeance and is not revenge by the victim. The judge said that aggravating factors included previous convictions for some serious offences including armed robbery and drug-dealing, and the nature of injuries suffered in this case. A further aggravating factor was that the crime was carried out in the sanctity of the injured parties own home. This was not alone cowardly but unprovoked and the actions were planned and premeditated, Judge McCourt said. He added that at a time when gardai were looking for the defendants assistance in identifying the liquid used, their enquiries were met with the unhelpful commentIs Francis still a handsome man? An autopsy has been completed on the victim of the first gangland killing this year, the results of which will not be released for operational reasons, gardai have said. Investigations are continuing into the shooting of 23-year-old Brandon Ledwidge, from Finglas, West Dublin who died on Saturday. He was shot in the head and body by a gunman in the front garden of his home in Barry Drive, while his mother was inside. Gardai are investigating if he was shot as a result of a personal feud with a local drug dealer in the area. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, local councillor Keith Connolly, who is Joint Chairperson for Joint Policing Committee in Dublin northwest, said: Its a sad loss of a life of a very young man. The community is in shock, there are big feelings right now, he said. My condolences to his family and friends. Finglas has been targeted by gardai in recent months, with many houses raided, and unfortunately this happened. Gardai said State Pathologist Dr Sally Ann Collis carried out an autopsy on Mr Ledwidges remains on Sunday. The results of which are not being released for operational reasons, the statement said. Meanwhile, a technical examination of the scene has been completed by the Garda Technical Bureau. The investigation is being led by a Senior Investigation Office and a Garda Family Liaison Office has been appointed to liaise with the family, the gardai said. Gardai are carrying out door-to-door enquiries and reviewing CCTV. Anyone with any information in relation to the shooting is asked to contact Finglas Garda Station on 01 666 7500, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station. The Dingle Literature Festival went off smoothly this weekend, with entertaining interviews, innovative venues, and informative readings. Plenty to entertain booklovers, both local and residential. Why then was your correspondent staking out a small cheese shop on Greys Lane in the town last Saturday afternoon? Blame the surprise news that broke late on Friday evening. Stanley Tucci was in town and attending festival events. Stanley Tucci was one of the visitors enjoying Dingle Literary Festival which ran from Friday to Sunday. File picture: Andres Poveda Tucci is one of the great multi-hyphenates of our time. Actor-writer, gourmet-presenter, fashion plate-cocktail mixer: The mans talents are annoyingly diverse, and the combination of all those attributes in one dapper package makes him a kind of platonic idea of a male companion, even if he bumped off Saoirse Ronan in a film that one time. The low hum heard throughout Ireland when this news emerged last Friday was the sigh emanating from women all over the country as they glanced up from the notification, saw their husbands and partners sprinkle Tayto crumbs all over a misshapen GAP hoodie, and considered they were sharing an island with Il Tucci. A personal highlight of this year's festival for Irish Examiner Books Editor Michael Moynihan was the event with Max Porter. File picture The man has an Olympic medal for competitive scarf-wearing, and a Nobel prize for truffle appreciation. Hence the interest in The Little Cheese Shop of Dingle last Saturday morning as a likely port of call for the great man. No sign of him, though I did learn a little more about the difference between Smoked Gubbeen and Smoked Durrus. Its one of the advantages of the Dingle Literature Festival that a trip to the cheese shop can be combined so successfully with the events themselves. Dingle is the perfect size for a festival of this type, with a couple of large-scale venues such as An Diseart Institute of Irish Spirituality and Culture at the top of the town near the church, and more intimate spaces like Dick Macs pub across the road from the church. (The church is so central because for a while on Saturday, it looked like the best-dressed festival crowd of all time was ascending on An Diseart until it became clear that those people were heading to a wedding.) Thomas Ashmore arriving with books for the 2023 Dingle Literary Festival. Picture: Domnick Walsh Highlight? Kevin Barry, once of this parish, was his usual inimitable self on the Saturday afternoon, while Noel ORegan impressed many while reading from his own debut novel. Given the proximity of the Gaeltacht, it was no surprise either to hear Daithi de Mordha and Dara O Cinneide give an eloquent hour in the first official language of the State. For a personal highlight, Max Porters reading was a terrific early treat on Saturday. Reading from Shy, his new book, Porter had sensitive musical backing from Aoife Granville and Deirdre Granville and enthralled the packed audience with his delivery before settling down for an insightful interview with Blaithin Mac Donnell all under the watchful eye of those famous Harry Clarke windows in the chapel of An Diseart. Your correspondent got his man, too. In the very back row at the Porter event, dark coat collar folded up just so plain wool hat resting on the lap, attentive, appreciative, bald: Stanley Tucci, close enough to touch, respected enough to be left alone. Press Release November 19, 2023 Advocating for the welfare of the elderly, Bong Go brings up pension concerns of senior citizens during DSWD 2024 budget hearing During the Senate plenary session on the Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) 2024 budget on Thursday, November 16, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go raised critical questions and issues regarding the implementation of increased pensions for indigent senior citizens. Go is one of the co-authors of Republic Act 11916, which effectively doubled the monthly pension allowance for qualified indigent senior citizens from P500 to P1,000. He expressed his concern about the implementation of these benefits. "Sa kasalukuyan ilan ang nabibigyan ng social pension ng DSWD? Since nadoble na po ang pension at nadoble na rin ang inyong budget para dito, sapat na ba ang pondo ng DSWD para ma-cater sa ating mga indigent senior citizen sa susunod na taon?," asked Go, vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, to Senator Imee Marcos who sponsored the budget of the DSWD in the Senate Plenary. In response, Marcos acknowledged the budget increase to nearly P50 billion for 2024 but also highlighted the existing backlog in pension payments and the increase in the number of seniors waiting for their pensions. Go then raised a crucial issue regarding the increasing number of senior citizens waiting for their social pension. He inquired, "Hindi ba nadagdagan ang bilang nila? Ilan sa kanila ang nasa waiting list?" Marcos acknowledged the growing backlog, confirming that the waiting list for social pensions has expanded significantly. She responded to Go's query, revealing the staggering numbers, "Yes, maraming wait list diyan sigurado. Kaya aabot ng P5 billion ang backlog." Marcos added, "yung wait listed... dating 228,000 ang wait listed, ngayon 466,000 na ang wait listed. Lumulubo nga eh, dumarami as time passes by." Go, concerned about DSWD's financial capacity to handle this escalating number of waitlisted senior citizens who may qualify for social pension for indigents, asked, "Kaya pa po ng pondo sa ngayon?" Marcos admitted, "Hindi. Hindi kaya, may utang talaga tayo." In an attempt to address the funding shortfall, Marcos discussed a temporary measure by allocating P3 billion to unprogrammed funds. However, she noted the inherent uncertainty and potential delays in accessing these unprogrammed funds which are dependent on availability of funds and government collections or revenues. In his remarks, Go emphasized his support for DSWD. He stated, "Again, full support naman po tayo sa ating DSWD. Noon pa man po isa po ito sa aking talagang mahal na departamento." He also reminded the DSWD of their crucial role, saying, "I remind the DSWD that they stand as a beacon of hope for countless Filipinos, providing a lifeline for those facing adversity, poverty, and various life challenges." Go also reiterated his call for non-selective assistance: "Sana po huwag natin silang talikuran at huwag po natin silang pabayaan, 'yung mga kababayan nating mahihirap. 'Yung mga hopeless, helpless nating kababayan na umaasa po sa ating gobyerno." "Huwag po natin dapat piliin ang pagtulong, huwag sana po kayong maging selective sa pagtulong. Pera po ng taumbayan 'yan, huwag po nating ipagkait sa kanila, ibalik po natin sa kanila sa pamamagitan po ng maayos na serbisyo," concluded Go. Go has also co-authored Senate Bill No. 2028, aiming to provide additional support to seniors aged 80 and 90, amending the Centenarian Act of 2016. This bill reflects Go's belief in the cultural significance of caring for the elderly, as he remarked, "Nasa kultura na nating mga Pilipino na alagaan ang ating mga nakakatanda." Gardai are appealing for information following an incident that happened on board an Irish Rail service between Limerick and Tipperary on Thursday afternoon. The incident happened on the train that left Colbert Station at 4.50pm and arrived at Limerick Junction at about 5.20pm. Indian-born Limerick resident Vinod Bajaj has walked the distance of the circumference of the earth for the second time without leaving the Treaty city. The 73-year-old retired business consultant started walking in August 2016 initially to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle but after a couple of months of walking he was deep in a lifestyle change. Mr Bajaj explained that when he hit the 8,000km mark, he realised his efforts equated to the distance between Ireland and India, which motivated him to keep going. He said he lost 20kg in the first nine months of the challenge and maintained his calorie intake after that. On September 26, 2020, he completed his first earth walk, which equated to 40,107km over 1,496 days. I did not have to make any adjustments to eating habits as I was shedding 1,600 calories per day. Fast forward to October 10 this year, Mr Bajaj completed his second earth walk in 1,114 days, over a year faster than his first attempt. Over the seven-year spell, the Castletroy resident burnt about 3.2 million calories in 21 different pairs of runners. He applied to the Guinness World Records for recognition of his tremendous achievement in 2020, which was unsuccessful as his evidence and journey did not meet the criteria to qualify for an assessment. Vinod Bajaj: The Castletroy resident burnt about 3.2 million calories in 21 different pairs of runners. However, he reapplied for recognition last week and he expects a response from Guinness World Records early next year. This time I put an application called Greatest Cumulative Distance Walked Solo on Foot'. "The walked part is important because it implies I did not use a bicycle or I did not use any rowing or any equipment like a treadmill, he added. The husband and father-of-one admitted that although he has walked nearly 82,000km to date, he is not strolling away from walking for leisure. I will continue to walk but reduce the distance and duration. Walk[ing] has become my daily routine. He has set his sights on 100,000km walked. Mr Bajaj starts his daily stroll in the early hours of the morning each day and finishes up in the early afternoon. I walked all year-round in all kinds of weather, predominantly outside, he added. However, he did not follow a specific route but walked within five to ten kilometres range from my house in Castletroy. Mr Bajaj dubbed himself "Limericks answer to Forrest Gump". Forrest Gump walked/ran a total of 24,539km in 1,140 days, which is 21km per day, he joked. When asked to provide helpful tips and tricks for those interested in walking for leisure, he said: "Make sure you walk for at least 30 minutes at a time to be effective." He also advises people to wear suitable clothing and footwear and set realistic daily goals to gradually improve on as time progresses. People are trapped in Gaza unable to leave with no passports and are unable to apply for travel documents because the office that issues them has shut, a Palestinian living in Cork has said. Habib Al Ostaz, 27, last spoke to his family three days ago. They are all subsisting in a UN school in the south after fleeing their home in the north. Im trying to call them every day but theres no connection. The situation is really bad. Theres no food, no clean water. Theyre drinking really bad water and collecting what they can from the rain. They hear bombing every three minutes. And they dont have passports so they cant get out. The office in Gaza that issues papers to allow Gazans to apply for passports is closed, Mr Al Ostaz said. But he is liaising with lawyers to try to find a way to help his family get out of Gaza. Some 50% to 70% of Gazans do not have passports, he estimated. His uncle, who does have a passport, managed to flee into Egypt through the Rafah crossing, but his hand was badly injured in a bomb attack while he was waiting to cross the border. Mr Al Ostaz said that he has had to pause his university studies while he tries to process the trauma of the carnage in his homeland. I had to stop university for now. Its so hard to run after your future when so many people no longer have a present. And theyve lost their past. All the places I had memories of are destroyed now. We smell the death everywhere. We hear about death every day. Our home is destroyed, gone. But thank God my family is ok. The house, we can build again." Minster for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science, Simon Harris said that children were disproportionately suffering in the war and the violence had to stop. Whether you're an Israeli child, whether you're a Palestinian child, whether you're an Irish child who's been taken hostage, a child is a child. Children are unfortunately suffering in this scenario and it has to stop. You're not going to get to a point of peace or security on the basis of what's going on at the moment." Meanwhile, tomorrow Palestinian activists the Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign (CPSC) and TDs will address a press conference in Cork to announce major protest demonstrations in Cork City and County. The conference will be addressed by Palestinians living in Cork including Rola Hamed-O Neill who teaches in UCC and Izzadeen Alkarajeh of Palestinian restaurant Izz Cafe; Kathy Glavanis of CPSC; and TDs Donnchadh O'Laoghaire (Sinn Fein) and Mick Barry (Socialist Party). Izzadeen Alkarajeh said that he will speak at the meeting to give a brief of the situation in Gaza and of the urgent need for help. "Things are very bad. The stock of food is finishing. There is no clean water, there are no medicines. Hospitals are out of service. There is nowhere safe in Gaza. Most people have members of their family lost to the bombardment. "On the political level, we must put pressure on the Israeli Government to stop the genocide, to stop the random killing of people." The daughter of a man who died without finding out what happened to his birth mother plans to continue his lifelong search for answers. For most of his childhood, John OGrady was told by the nuns that his mother Bridget left him on a doorstep of St Patricks mother and baby home in Dublin in 1945 because she was unable to care for him. He spent the rest of his childhood in industrial schools, where he was beaten and sexually abused. Mr OGrady went on to become a father and reared his daughter alone in London. A private man who served as a soldier in the British army, he barely spoke about his upbringing. His daughter Helen never knew while he was alive that he had been trying to trace his mother. He died in May 2023 from cancer. John OGrady pictured with his daughter Helen, who is continuing the search for his birth mother since John died in May. Helen OGrady is now trying to find her grandmothers grave, so that she can scatter some of Johns ashes there and help him to rest in peace. After her fathers death, Helen found letters a UK probation officer had written on his behalf to Tusla. I had no idea he had been trying to find his mother. He had told me bits and pieces growing up, but I didnt know everything and neither did he. It was only after his death we saw that correspondence to Ireland, and I realised he was looking for her. Ms OGrady has no clear timeline for her fathers childhood life in care due to a lack of transparency in his records. I understand thousands of adoptees and children in care, who are now adults are going through the same thing she said. It is a minefield trying to put the jigsaw together. Everywhere you go it is red tape. My father was never adopted, but he went through several residential homes and those records are hard to get hold of. We are trying to get everything from Tusla (the Child and Family Agency), but it is a battle, as people in our position know. I cant be certain of a lot of dates, but I feel my father came to the UK when he was very young, maybe right after he was able to leave care. Family tree The family learned that Bridget OGradys parents were from Tipperary and moved to Kilkenny, where she was born. Bridget was one of five children born in 1921 in Pennyfeather Lane, Co Kilkenny. Her mother was Annie OLeary, and her father was a British army soldier, called John Grady, both from Co Tipperary. Bridgets mother died in Kilkenny in 1928, and she and her sister lived for a time with their maternal aunts Bridget Stokes and Mary Molly OLeary in a pub and shop in Henry Street (now OBrien Street), Tipperary. The children were found by gardai playing alone on the streets with no shoes on and were charged in court with wandering alone. They were placed at St Bernards Industrial Home in Dundrum, Co Tipperary. Bridget was in a relationship with a man called John Erskine from Dublin when their baby John was born at Holles Street Hospital in Dublin on November 15, 1945. In one record from the Childrens Section of the Dublin health board dated January 2, 1970, sent to the Probation Services in the UK and seen by the Irish Examiner, it said Bridget OGrady placed him (John) in the care of a Mrs Ellen OBrien, 12 North Summer Street. It continues: John was taken into care of this Authority in July 1947. His mother had gone to England and her address there was unknown. He was placed in St. Patricks Home in October 1947 having spent three months in hospital. The letter stated that social workers went back to Mrs OBrien some years later, but she was no longer living there. Parents' relationship Bridget OGrady described herself as being married on her sons birth cert, which records Mr Erskine as his father. John Erskine worked in Burtons clothes store in Dublin. However, Helen has learned that Bridget and John Erskine were not married, as he was already married with children. Maybe that is why she gave my father up, but there is no way she was married to him, it was just something she might have said to hide the fact she was a single mother which was not acceptable then. Records also show baby John was baptised. However, that is where the story of his mother ends abruptly. My father never saw his mother again, said Ms OGrady. There are no records for Bridget anywhere. We believe she went to the UK, as that is what the records say, but we dont know. We traced family through DNA tests online and some say they remember her visiting London with her sister Mary Maureen and that she had blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her sister Maureen was a beautician. She could sing and play the piano. But we dont know where she ended up, and most of all, where she was buried. We have no photo either. My father would have liked to have visited her grave. John's childhood Why John was eventually taken from Ellen OBrien in Summer Street in Dublin is unknown. He was a little over two and a half years old and was treated in a hospital for three months. She must have neglected him, otherwise why was he in hospital for so long? said Ms OGrady. We have no information for why he was in hospital, what treatment he received, who cared for him, visited him, or bought him anything. We dont even know what hospital he was in as a child. After leaving hospital the records show dad was transferred to four different State and religious homes, that we know of. John OGrady was placed in St Patricks home on the Navan Road in Dublin, St Philomenas Home in Stillorgan, Carriglea Park School in Dun Laoghaire, and St Josephs Industrial school in Tralee Co Kerry. My father suffered immensely in the hands of the nuns and the priests who ran those places, said Ms OGrady. He recalled being beaten, mostly every day, he was beaten if he couldnt speak, read, or write, and if he was scared or showed any emotion to being scared, he would get beaten for that too. He was sexually assaulted, and treated with no respect or empathy, was made to work hard, and never had a childhood, he was made to do anything he was told, and to attend church and be a Christian. He was passed from place to place, childrens home to children home, whenever he would get sick, he would be sent to a hospital where they would leave kids alone for weeks on end and not even get a visit from anyone. She remembers her father describing to her that one brother who worked in the homes, took him under his wing and looked after him. My father knew no different, said Ms OGrady. What the brother actually did, was made my father believe, what the brother was doing to him was a kind act, and not demoralising him and degrading him in every way possible. John never spoke about what happened to him for over 70 years. He said he was allowed leave the home at 16, he was sent to live with a family on a farm where he was treated like an animal and was made to sleep in the farm shed with the pigs. He was never shown any dignity, they made him work hard day and night, they would make him look after four young toddlers when he barely knew how to look after himself. John left Ireland some time in the 1960s and went to London, where he joined the British army, and spent time in Cyprus before moving back to London. He never returned to Ireland. Helen said her father kept a lot to himself and she was saddened to discover he was trying to find his mother. He died before we ever found out what happened to his mother, said Helen. We would have loved to have traced her. But the trail just runs cold. We hope that someone might remember her, or know something about her, it was my fathers wish obviously to try and find her. Maybe she went on to have another family and more children, Id love to know if I have any aunts or uncles on my dads side that I have yet to meet. I am trying to finish that final but most important piece for my dad, and for him because I received his ashes, and I would like him to finally have some peace. Research by an Irish historian trawling US records shows that 250,000 Irish-born or first generation fought with the Union side in the American Civil War, with more than 35,000 killed. Many died in a notorious Confederate prisoner of war camp. Damian Shiels, an archaeologist, historian, and curator, recently attended the unveiling of a monument to hundreds of Irishmen who died in Andersonville camp in Georgia. Mr Shiels is head of a volunteer research group, the Andersonville Irish Project, (which led to the commemoration) and has also carried out wider research on the Irish involved in the 1861-1865 civil war. Its not well studied or remembered in Ireland today. But in modern Irish history, only World War One compares to it in terms of the number of Irishmen who marched off to the front. HISTORY HUB If you are interested in this article then no doubt you will enjoy exploring the various history collections and content in our history hub. Check it out HERE and happy reading For those Irish counties which suffered the worst emigration, it undoubtedly stands alone, he said. The four-year war saw 180,000 Irish-born men don the Union uniform. Another 70,000 children of Irish emigrants also wore Union blue. Through the multitude who perished at Andersonville, we can examine and highlight Irish service, and explore the wider emigrant experience, he said. The Irish in numbers The Andersonville Irish Project was established in 2020 on the Irish in the American Civil War website. Supported by the Consulate General of Ireland in Atlanta and Andersonville National Historic Site, it identifies Irish Americans who perished at the prison, to record and tell their and their familys stories. To date, through this research, over 900 Irish people who died at Andersonville have been identified. Almost 400 have been located to their county, town, or sometimes even townland of origin. Irish dead have been traced to every one of Irelands 32 counties. The youngest were barely 16 years old. The oldest, Edmund Wool from Ballyphehane in Cork, a remarkable 64. Cork also records the highest number of dead with 13% of those identified, with Munster the province worst impacted, accounting for 36% so far, Mr Shiels said. Letters have allowed the researchers to get the full picture of Irish emigrant life in the US at the time. 'Let me know whether my husband is dead or alive' In late 1864, Ann Hand had a letter composed in New York City. The Irish emigrant could neither read nor write; instead she relied on others to communicate for her. Ann was addressing the US military (Union) for what was the second time that year. The previous 12 months had brought her little but worry and hardship. Please excuse a poor soldiers wife for troubling you, she began. Im in great distress myself and my family and weve had sickness and distress, and I am very uneasy for to know whether my husband Lawrence Hand is dead or alive. Hand was one of the tens of thousands of Irish serving in the Union side. Captured by the Confederates just after the Battle of Gettysburg, hed been a prisoner of war (POW) since July 1863. I have not heard from him but once since. For the love of God, let me know whether my husband is dead or alive for I have a family to support and the paving streets of New York will not support us, Ann wrote. In fact, by the time Ann was composing her letter, Lawrence had already been dead for many months. He had fallen victim to the most notorious POW camp of the American Civil War: Andersonville. Located in rural south-west Georgia and established in early 1864, Andersonville operated for a little more than a year. A birds-eye view of Andersonville Prison in August 1864. Operating for little over a year, Andersonville became the deadliest single place of the entire conflict of the American Civil War. In that time, it became the deadliest single place of the entire conflict. Exposure, poor rations and disease ran rampant among the 45,000 Union troops who had the misfortune to pass through its gates. Some 13,000 of them shared the deadly fate of Hand. The 26.5 acres of Andersonville Prison extinguished more Irish emigrant hopes and dreams than any other location between 1861 and 1865 and its there where the most Irish dead from the American Civil War still rest. Now, almost 160 years after the guns fell silent, the rows of dead in Andersonville National Cemetery are revealing the story and facilitating remembrance of the Civil Wars impact on Irish people, Mr Shiels said. A new memorial plaque at Andersonville has been funded by both the Irish and Northern Irish governments. With words in English, Irish, and Ulster-Scots, it recalls that men and boys from all the islands communities suffered together inside Andersonvilles stockade. The Andersonville dedication represents the first government funded memorial to the Union Irish of the American Civil War. In formally dedicating the memorial, Minister Darragh OBrien correctly remarked that it now allows us to honour the memory of these men, to restore to them the dignity of remembrance, to name them and to root them in their home country, Mr Shiels said. Visceral information He said the tales told by the Andersonville graves are often visceral and deeply moving. For example, in Grave 3284 is Owen Malone, who came from Tromra, Co Clare. As a 14-year-old during Black 47, he was forced to take his dead fathers place on Famine Relief Works, part of a desperate effort to keep his family from the workhouse. Not far away in Grave 2399 is Hugh Coyle, from Fanad, Co Donegal. His military pay supported his ageing parents back in Ireland. Following his death, they were evicted by their landlord, the notorious Third Earl of Leitrim, who wanted to replace them with grazing cattle. In Grave 8463 is George Bell, from Co Dublin. He and his wife Lucy had left Ireland in 1863. In his last letter home, George predicted his fate. I always thought the Lord would give [me] the pleasure to see you again but now I begin to think it is too late God of heaven spare and bless you and be my sons guide and keep him from a soldiers fate. When he died at Andersonville, the last words from his lips were his baby sons name. The memorial at Andersonville. Picture: Jason Thrasher The memorial stands as a welcome remembrance of all Irish who suffered due to Andersonville and the American Civil War, Mr Shiels said. Further information on the Andersonville Irish Project is available at [url= http://irishamericancivilwar.com/andersonville-irish/] irishamericancivilwar.com/andersonville-irish[/url] Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as US president, has died aged 96. The Carter Centre said she died on Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a full partnership. Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to Mr Carter sometimes referred to her privately as co-president. Rosalynn is my best friend the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life, Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981. Former US president Jimmy Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn, celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary (John Bazemore, Pool/AP) Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Mrs Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-the-scenes influence. When her role in a highly publicised Cabinet shake-up became known, she was forced to declare publicly: I am not running the government. Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husbands they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanour and a soft southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her the Steel Magnolia. Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carters landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington. Mr Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights. "Rosalynn is my best friend... the perfect extension of me," Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years. Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit US wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics. Throughout her husbands political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media did not cover those efforts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticised reporters for writing only about sexy subjects. As honorary chairwoman of the Presidents Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate sub-committee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying: Weve been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach. She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husbands campaigns for Georgia governor. I used to come home and say to Jimmy, Why are people telling me their problems? And he said, Because you may be the only person theyll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them, she explained. After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Mrs Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, Georgia, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives. I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles, she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, First Lady From Plains. But we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before, she said. Five former first ladies gathered for a group photo at a gala 20th-anniversary fundraising event saluting Betty Ford and the Betty Ford Center in 2003. From left are Rosalynn Carter, Barbara Bush, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Picture: AP Photo/Reed Saxon After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Centre in Atlanta to continue their work. Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. I get tired, she said of her travels. But something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and theres no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing its so wonderful. In 2015, Mr Carters doctors discovered four small tumours on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she did not know what she was going to do. I depend on him when I have questions, when Im writing speeches, anything, I consult with him, she said. She helped Carter recover several years later when he had hip replacement surgery aged 94 and had to learn to walk again. And she was with him earlier this year when he decided after a series of hospital stays that he would forgo further medical interventions and begin end-of-life care. Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived US president. Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived of the nations first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died aged 97. Argentinas economy minister Sergio Massa has conceded defeat to populist Javier Milei in a fiercely polarised presidential runoff, even before the countrys electoral authority released official results. Mr Massa congratulated his opponent, a right-wing economist who has promised a dramatic shake-up for many of the nations institutions and welcomed frequent comparisons to former US president Donald Trump. Immediately after Mr Massas concession speech, the electoral authority released partial results. With 86.6% of votes tallied, Mr Milei had 55.95% and Mr Massa 44.04%. With a Milei victory, the country will swing to the right amid discontent over soaring inflation and rising poverty, and empower a rookie legislator who describes himself as an anarcho-capitalist and got his start as a television talking head criticising what he called the political caste. Javier Milei (Natacha Pisarenko/AP) Inflation has soared above 140% and poverty has worsened while Mr Massa has held his post. Mr Milei has proposed to slash the size of the state and rein in inflation, while the government minister he was running against warned people about the negative impacts of such policies. Mr Mileis policies resonated widely with Argentines angered by their struggle to make ends meet, particularly young men. Mr Massa, as one of the most prominent figures in a deeply unpopular administration, was once seen to have little chance of victory, but he managed to mobilise the networks of his Peronist party and clinched a decisive first-place finish in the first round of voting. His campaign cautioned Argentines that his libertarian opponents plan to eliminate key ministries and sharply curtail the state would threaten public services, including health and education, and welfare programmes many rely on. He also drew attention to his opponents often aggressive rhetoric and openly questioned his mental acuity. Before the first round, Mr Milei sometimes carried a revving chainsaw at rallies. Mr Milei accused Mr Massa and his allies of running a campaign of fear and he walked back some of his most controversial proposals, such as loosening gun control. In his final campaign ad, he looked at the camera and assured voters he had no plans to privatise education or health care. We did a great job despite the fear campaign and all the dirty tactics they used against us, he told journalists after he voted amid a large security operation as dozens of supporters and journalists gathered at his polling place. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has made an unannounced visit to Kyiv in a bid to keep money and weapons flowing to Ukraine even as US and international resources are stretched by the Israel-Hamas conflict. Mr Austin, who travelled to Kyiv by train from Poland, is scheduled to meet senior Ukrainian officials and publicly press Ukraines urgent military needs as it enters another tough winter of fighting. This is Mr Austins second trip to Kyiv, but this visit takes place under far different circumstances. His first visit occurred in April 2022, just two months after Russias large-scale invasion began. At the time, Ukraine was riding a wave of global rage at Moscows invasion, and Mr Austin launched an international effort that now sees 50 countries meeting monthly to coordinate on what weapons, training and other support could be pushed to Kyiv. But the conflict in Gaza could pull attention and resources from the Ukraine fight. The US has worked since the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the devastating bombardment on Gaza by Israel that has followed, killing more than 10,000 civilians, to prevent a wider regional war. The US has already committed two carrier strike groups, scores of fighter jets and thousands of American personnel to the Middle East, and has had to shift its force posture and conduct air strikes against Iranian-backed militant groups who are now hitting US bases in Iraq and Syria on a regular basis. To date, Ukraine has received more $44 billion (40 billion) from the US and more than $35 billion (32 billion) from other allies in weapons, ranging from millions of bullets to air defence systems, advanced European and US battle tanks and pledges for F-16 fighter jets. Finlands prime minister says the country may need to take further actions on its border with Russia after closing four border crossings in an attempt to stem a recent increase in asylum seekers. Finland, which joined Nato this year in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, has accused Moscow of letting migrants from the Middle East and Africa without valid travel documents through to the Finnish border. Extinction Rebellions co-founder plotted with others to fly drones near Heathrow in order to paralyse the airport and embarrass the UK government into abandoning plans for a third runway there, a court has been told. Roger Hallam and other eco-activists wanted backing for the protest, launched under the name Heathrow Pause, to go viral and shut down the airport while also triggering arrests and lots of publicity, Londons Isleworth Crown Court was told. Hallam told detectives in his police interview that the aim of the September 2019 protest was to close Heathrow for the foreseeable future, the jury heard. Hallam, 57, of Wandsworth, south London, Larch Maxey, 51, of no fixed abode, and Valerie Milner-Brown, 71, of Islington, north London, have pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Another man, Michael Lynch-White, who is not appearing at this trial, has pleaded guilty to the same charge, jurors were told. It was to put the operators on alert of the risk of potential catastrophe. As operators concerned primarily with safety, they would have to scramble their ultimate safety measure Hallam, Maxey and Milner-Brown are accused of conspiring with Lynch-White and others on or before September 14 2019 to close the transport hub to air traffic by the unauthorised and unlawful flying of drones within Heathrows 5km flight restriction zone. A media campaign was launched and random people who believed in the cause were invited to pop up and make sure the threat was multi-headed and compelling, prosecutor James Curtis KC said. He said: It was to put the operators on alert of the risk of potential catastrophe. As operators concerned primarily with safety, they would have to scramble their ultimate safety measure. Mr Curtis added: This case is not about the merits of the various measures which are desired to save the planet nor is it about the beliefs of the people who want to achieve those ends. This case is about the closure of Heathrow airport in the short term or, as they contemplated, in the long term, closing it down to world traffic. Mr Curtis said the defendants stated aim, made in note after note, public pronouncement after public pronouncement, was to paralyse the major transport hub of Great Britain which is also the busiest in Europe and to do it not just for an hour or so but a week, two weeks or an indistinct period. There is terrible danger for aircraft being struck or nearly struck by flying objects The court was told the protesters agreed plan came from the most laudable aims to save the planet from imminent destruction and the deaths they predict could come from carbon emissions. Mr Curtis said the protest was aimed at forcing the government and Parliament to reverse the go-ahead for Heathrows third runway project and they sought to do this by paralysing a major organ of the country and forcing Heathrow to shut down. It is not suggested the activists plotted to kill anybody or cause an aircraft to crash. Mr Curtis said their aim was to force operators to face a potential catastrophe so they would ground flights. He said: There is terrible danger for aircraft being struck or nearly struck by flying objects. It would be a risk that the operators would not be able to afford to take with human beings or vital cargo on board and with homes nearby on the ground beneath. People joining the protest would also have posed a risk because most of them were new to drone flying, with little or no experience of flying machines, the court heard. Holidaymakers could have been caught up in the chaos, the court was told (PA) Claims by the protest group that they hoped passengers could have made alternative arrangements and that stringent safety measures were taken by the activists were described by the prosecution as pie in the sky. The court was also told the environmental activists met police before the protest to discuss their plans to fly toy drones in the Heathrow exclusion zone. Mr Curtis said they ignored the misery and inconvenience to passengers, which could have included holidaymakers, people visiting dying relatives or the vital transport of medical cargo. He said they ignored the vast economic damage that could have been caused worldwide because what mattered was in their hearts they were on a mission of ideals. The hearing was adjourned to Tuesday at 10am. Oscar Pistorius will have a second chance at parole at a hearing on Friday after he was wrongly ruled ineligible for early release from prison in March. South Africas department of corrections said in a statement that a parole board will consider the former Paralympian runners case again this week and decide whether the inmate is suitable or not for social integration. Pistorius, a world-famous double-amputee athlete who broke barriers by competing on carbon-fibre running blades at the 2012 London Olympics, has been in prison since late 2014 for the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Oscar Pistorius was ultimately sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File) He was initially convicted of culpable homicide, an offence comparable to manslaughter, for shooting Steenkamp multiple times through a closed toilet cubicle door in his home in the South African capital, Pretoria, in the predawn hours of Valentines Day 2013. His conviction was upgraded to murder and he was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison after a series of appeals by prosecutors. Serious offenders in South Africa must serve at least half their sentence before they are eligible for parole. Pistorius case and his parole eligibility have been complicated by those appeals by prosecutors, who first challenged his culpable homicide conviction and then a sentence of six years for murder, which they called shockingly lenient. The Supreme Court of Appeal eventually ruled in 2017 that Pistorius should serve South Africas minimum sentence of 15 years for murder, but took into account the year and seven months he had already served for culpable homicide when it delivered the 13 years and five months sentence. However, the court made an error by not counting another period Pistorius had served while his murder sentence was being appealed, meaning he was in fact eligible for parole in March when he was told at his first hearing that he would only be eligible in August 2024. Pistorius lawyers took his case to the countrys apex Constitutional Court and the decision to give Pistorius another parole hearing on Friday is seen as effectively an admission of the appeal courts error. Pistorius is not guaranteed to be granted early release. The parole board takes a number of factors into account, including his conduct and disciplinary record in prison, his mental health and the likelihood of him committing another crime. He could be released on full parole or placed on day parole, where he would be allowed to live and work in the community but have to return to prison at night. Pistorius was once one of the worlds most admired athletes and one of sports most heart-warming stories. He was born with a congenital condition that led to his legs being amputated below the knee when he was a baby, but he took up track and won multiple Paralympic titles on his running blades. He is the only double amputee to run at the Olympics. Known as the Blade Runner, he was at the height of his fame when he killed Steenkamp months after the London Olympics. At his murder trial, he claimed he shot Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, by mistake with his licensed 9mm pistol because he believed she was a dangerous intruder hiding in his bathroom in the middle of the night. Pistorius will turn 37 on Wednesday and has not been seen for nearly a decade, although there have been occasional glimpses of his time in prison. He sustained an injury in an altercation with another inmate over a prison telephone in 2017. A year earlier, he received treatment for injuries to his wrists, which his family denied were a result of him harming himself and said were caused by him falling in his cell. BANGKOKMore than 250 Thais trapped in northern Myanmar by an upsurge in fighting between the junta and an alliance of ethnic minority groups are to be repatriated through China, Thailands Foreign Ministry said Sunday. Fighting has surged across a swathe of Myanmar since late October, when the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Arakan Army (AA) launched attacks on the military. The rugged, jungle clad hills of northern Shan State, on the border with China, have been the focus of the alliance attacks, with fighting approaching the town of Laukkaia notorious hub of gambling, prostitution and online scamsin recent days. Thailands Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday that Myanmar authorities had helped 266 Thais to travel from Laukkai to the Chinese border, about 10 km away. The statement said Philippine and Singaporean nationals were also assisted, but gave no details about them. The ministry has arranged two charter flights from Kunming [in China] to Bangkok for the group who upon arrival will undergo screening for human trafficking and any criminal records, the statement said. Non-Thai nationals will be assisted by their respective embassies once arrived in Bangkok to travel on to their home countries. On Saturday, a group of 41 Thais who had been trapped by the Myanmar fighting were repatriated across the land border between the two Southeast Asian countries. Two novice monks were killed when junta artillery shelled a monastery in the state capital of Loikaw on Sunday as resistance forces continued their offensive in Kayah State, according to locals. The shelling destroyed Ottayar Yone monastery, killing two novices aged around 18 years old. More than 40 monks fled the monastery on Saturday but the two novices had remained with the abbot, a resident said. The two novices were the most intelligent. Thats why they stayed with their abbot. We are heartbroken because the two would have become full monks next year, a local resident told The Irrawaddy. Regime shelling of the area on Friday and Saturday also killed seven civilians, including two children, according to the Karenni Human Rights Group. Houses in the town have been destroyed by regime artillery and airstrikes over the past few days, a Loikaw resident said. Almost all civilians have abandoned Loikaw. We are fleeing to southern Shan State because there is fighting in the town every day, a resident told The Irrawaddy. Allied resistance forces comprising the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), Karenni National Peoples Liberation Front (KNPLF, Karenni Army (KA) and PDF groups launched the Operation 1111 offensive in Kayah on November 11, in parallel with Operation 1027 in northern Shan State. The 1111 offensive has so far seized over 20 junta positions in Kayahs Loikaw and Demoso townships and neighboring Pekon Township in southern Shan State, the groups said. The junta has retaliated with air and artillery bombardments in Kayah and southern Shan State. Junta forces have carried out at least 178 airstrikes in Loikaw alone over the past week, according to the Karenni Humanitarian Aid Initiative. The group said 50 civilians, including six children, have been killed in Kayah State since November 11. Most were killed by regime artillery and air strikes, while seven were shot dead by troops. An estimated 40,000 Loikaw residents have fled the town. A resistance representative warned the remaining residents to leave the town as soon as possible amid fear for their safety. There is fighting right now. The clashes are going to get more intense, he told The Irrawaddy on Monday. Residents of Mandalay Regions Madaya Township are being urged to flee the area as fierce fighting continues to rage in the east of the township in a joint attack on regime forces that echoes Operation 1027 in northern Shan State. The regime has responded to the joint attacks by bombing and killing civilians. We advise civilians to flee the conflict zone and avoid junta convoys, said Ko Daung Lan, a member of Madaya Myo Hman resistance group. The fighting is fierce. If local residents are short of food and they dont feel safe, they can seek our help. We will help them as much as we can, he added. Another resistance force, the Madaya Peoples Defense Team, last week urged residents of the township to evacuate battle areas and avoid junta convoys as well as road travel between 4 am and 6 pm. It also urged civilians not to touch any unfamiliar objects to avoid unexploded ordnance. Residents who could not flee were urged to dig bomb shelters to protect themselves from junta air raids and shelling, reports said. On October 27, the three ethnic armies that comprise the Brotherhood Alliance launched Operation 1027, a joint attack on junta troops and bases in northern Shan State. They called for other resistance forces to follow their lead. Resistance forces in eastern Madaya Township did so on November 13 when they launched Operation Taungthaman. Troops from the Taang Naational Liberation Army, a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, have joined the operation, including the attack on a junta checkpoint on the border of Madaya and Singu townships on November 16. During their attempt to rescue soldiers from the checkpoint, junta reinforcements from an air defense unit killed 11 civilians at a tea shop, including its owner and his family. The teashop in Aung Kanthar Village was near Mandalay-Mogoke Road. The victims, aged 18 to 50, were from Aung Kanthar, Pat-lel-inn and other villages nearby. That evening, junta troops checked vehicles on the Mandalay-Mogoke Road and examined the mobile phones of drivers and passengers. They also raided Pat-lel-inn Village and torched homes, residents said. On November 13, a clash broke out near Kinn Village in eastern Madaya. A 78-year-old woman was injured as the regime carried out air and artillery strikes. She died two days later. Kinn had more than 1,000 homes, but 200 of them were incinerated in an attack by junta forces in April. Regime troops torched the village again on November 1 6 and 17, incinerating another 700 homes. During three days of fighting in eastern Madaya (from November 13-15), the regime conducted at least seven air raids, the Mandalay Peoples Defense Force Command said, adding that civilians were hit. More than 8,000 people in eastern Madaya have been forced to flee their homes. They need food, tarpaulins and medicine, residents say. Thousands of civilians who fled Rakhines Pauktaw town last week are facing food shortages and must be allowed to return, the Arakan National Party (ANP) and Rakhine civil society organizations (CSOs) told junta officials on Monday. They also demanded the release of civilians being held captive by junta troops in the town, which lies on the west coast close to the state capital of Sittwe. Pauktaw was seized by the Arakan Army (AA) for a few hours on Nov. 16. The junta deployed helicopters, naval vessels, and over 100 troops to retake the town that afternoon. Around 19,000 of Pauktaws 20,000 residents fled to surrounding villages on Nov. 16, but most were unable to take any belongings or food with them, said ANP spokesperson U Khaing Pyi Soe. Thousands of people are stranded in the rural areas, where both they and local villagers are now running short of food, Khaing Pyi Soe told The Irrawaddy. He said the ANP met with junta military officials in Rakhine State on Monday and asked them to allow Pauktaw residents to return home while also setting free civilians being held captive in the town. Rakhine ethnic CSOs reportedly made the same demands, citing the absence of fighting in the area. We are losing contact with the towns remaining residents, so we dont know what condition they are in. And, on the other hand, thousands of residents who abandoned the town are now facing hunger, said the founder of a Rakhine-based CSO. The military regime has offered no information on the situation in Pauktaw since it retook the town on Thursday. Thousands of residents still dont dare to return in the absence of a guarantee they will not be killed by junta troops. The junta has also blockaded all roads and waterways in Rakhine State since the AA launched its offensive, stranding Pauktaw residents in villages. If they allow us to reach out to [Pauktaw residents] who are taking refuge in villages, we could provide food and other necessities with donations from the people. But as the roads and waterways are also being blockaded, we cant help them, said the ANPs Khaing Pyi Soe. Junta troops in Pauktaw have detained over 100 residents including women to carry their equipment, cook their food and wash their clothes, according to political and civil sources in Rakhine. The troops have shot at least 20 people in Pauktaw, killing around 10 on November 16, said local sources including rescue volunteers. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. About 1,000 mainly vulnerable, elderly or sick Pauktaw residents remain trapped in their houses. The junta has cut off electricity in the town. Official junta figures show around 20,000 people live in Pauktaw. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated on Friday that 19,000 people had been displaced from the town. The Myanmar junta lost over 50 troops and more bases over the last four days as Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) continued to attack regime targets across the country. In one case, the junta has been accused of using globally banned chemical bombs to retake a base from an ethnic rebel group in northern Shan. Incidents were reported in Shan and Rakhine states and Sagaing, Bago and Tanintharyi regions. The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and EAOs. Some military casualties could not be independently verified. Junta accused of using prohibited chemical weapons in northern Shan The Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) accused the Myanmar junta of using chemical weapons on Saturday during its successful operation to retake the strategic base of Sakhan Thit Kone, which had been seized by TNLA troops the previous day in Namkham Township, northern Shan State. After being bombed with the chemical weapons, the TNLA troops suffered from dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, extreme agitation, fatigue, and low blood oxygen despite suffering no external wounds. The junta also used such chemical weapons in an attack on TNLA troops in Lashio Township, northern Shan State on Nov. 4. The TNLA said the junta is committing war crimes by using the chemical weapons, which are banned globally. Clashes continue to be reported in northern Shan Several clashes were reported in Namkham Township, northern Shan State on Sunday as the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) continued to attack regime bases, said the ethnic rebel group. The TNLA attacked and seized the Pan Say junta base, where regime forces and a pro-junta militia group are stationed, in Namkham on Sunday morning. It also attacked the Sakhan Thit Kone junta base, which the junta recaptured from the TNLA by using chemical bombs on Saturday. TNLA troops also attacked the base of military Light Infantry Battalion 144 in Namkham Township. Junta base, border gate seized in northern Shan As part of Operation 1027, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) said it seized the Pen Saing border gate with China after dropping drone bombs on regime forces in Mongko Township, northern Shan State on Sunday morning. It also occupied another junta outpost in the Tar Shwe Htan area in northern Shan on Sunday. The MNDAA said that so far, 154 junta bases have been seized in Operation 1027. Junta border guard outpost seized in Rakhine Ethnic Rakhine armed group the Arakan Army (AA) claimed to have seized the junta Border Guard outpost of Done Nyo on the border with Bangladesh in Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State last Thursday. After junta troops refused to surrender to the resistance, the AA attacked and seized the stronghold within 27 hours, amid junta air strikes. The AA said it seized 18 soldiers along with 40 weapons. Many other regime forces were also killed, and resistance casualties were also reported. Regime forces killed in resistance raids in Tanintharyi At least 10 regime forces were killed in Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region on Sunday when Dawei Guerrilla Revolutionary Force (DGRF) conducted a surprise attack on a group of regime forces having drinks at a pagoda in Maung Mae Shaung Village, the resistance group said. On the previous night, the resistance groups ambushed 40 junta troops from the Phayar Mae junta outpost in the same village while they were traveling to a pagoda. After being ambushed, the junta unit retreated to the Phayar Mae outpost. Dozens of junta troops killed in intense clash in Bago The Defense Ministry of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) claimed that over 40 junta soldiers as well as three resistance fighters were killed in Yedashe Township, Bago Region last Friday when several resistance groups jointly clashed with 150 junta soldiers of Light Infantry battalions 84 and 19 who had taken up positions in the monastery and school of Padauk Kone Village. Eight other resistance fighters were injured. After the clash, the remaining regime forces used a cargo tricycle and boats to retrieve the dead bodies of soldiers. Police station pounded in Sagaing Joint resistance groups conduct drone strikes and bombardments of the Kyauk Yit Police Station in Myaung Township last Friday. / MSPDF Myaung Special People Defense Force (MSPDF) said it and other resistance groups used improvised remote-controlled airplanes and makeshift rocket bombs to attack a police station serving as the stronghold of regime soldiers and policemen in Kyauk Yit Village in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region last Friday. A junta soldier was killed and many others injured, the group said. It took two years to plan but just days to shatter the Tatmadaws all-powerful image. Still, Operation 1027 is far from finished with the regime that seized power from a civilian government in 2021. It comprises about 20,000 resistance troops, with the three ethnic armies that form the Brotherhood Alliance at its core. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) sent in four brigades, the Arakan Army (AA) 10 and the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) seven. The Bamar Peoples Liberation Army 203, which is affiliated with MNDAA Brigade 611, sent troops, the Peoples Liberation Army sent two brigades, and two Peoples Defense Force (PDF) battalions from central Myanmar joined the offensive. One battalion from the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, seven Mandalay-based PDF battalions and two Mogoke PDF battalions affiliated with TNLA are also participating. Artillery and drone units have also joined the initial phase of the operation. Severing transport routes The ethnic alliance launched coordinated attacks on Chin Shwe Haw, Namkham, Lashio, Hseni, and Nawnghkio towns, making it difficult for the regime to gauge the objective of the operation. Transport routes in northern Shan State were severed. The route between Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin and Lashio was cut off, as was the route between Lashio and Tangyang, Mongyai. This made the route between Eastern Central Command and Lashio inaccessible. The Brotherhood Alliance then seized junta outposts between Lashio and Namtu, severing the route between the two towns. It then seized Hseni Town, making the Lashio-Hseni-Kunlong Road and Hseni-Kutkai-Muse roads inaccessible to regime troops. The alliance then cut off the route between Kunlong and Laukkai by occupying Chin Shwe Haw Town. It then seized a bridge across the Salween River, separating Kokangs Konkyan to the east of the Salween River from Tar Moe Nye and Monesi on the rivers western side. The alliance then attacked Phaungsai Town, separating it from Maw Htike Town to the east of the Salween River. The alliance also severed routes between Namkham and Nanphatka towns as well as between Muse and Namkham. It also cut off the route between Kyuaukme and Hsipaw, making it impossible for the regime to send reinforcements and weapons from southern Shan State. This has forced the regime to airlift reinforcements and weapons to towns and its bases in northern Shan State. The blockade of northern Shan State, considered vital for the success of the offensive, is still effective 20 days after the operation was launched. Threatening Lashio Lashio is the administrative capital of northern Shan State and is also the base of the Northeastern Command. In the early days of the offensive, the ethnic alliance seized junta positions east of Lashio town. Facing a direct threat to Lashio and the Northeastern Command, the regime was forced to airlift reinforcements to the town. It was already short of personnel and had to weaken its positions at other front lines to shore up its forces in northern Shan State. Seizing Kokang The ethnic alliance attacked Phaungsai, Monesi, Nanzhuan to the west of the Salween River, and Chin Shwe Haw to the south of Kokang, before attacking Kunlong. It seized Pansai, Monekoe, Phaungsai, Nanzhuan and Kunlong towns in 12 days. The alliance also took control of Hseni and Namkham towns and seized strategic junta hill-top outposts in Muse. It also besieged Laukkai Town, the capital of Kokang Self-Administered Zone, from numerous directions. The Fall of Kunlong The battle for Kunlong showed that the alliance was more ambitious than thought. It seized junta positions to the east of the Salween River and Kunlong Town between November 1 and 6. From November 7 to 12, the alliance launched fierce assaults west of the river, seizing junta positions. The regime had one light infantry battalion, one infantry battalion, and one artillery battalion as well as a tactical command base in Kunlong. It had, however, fewer than 100 personnel in each battalion and was forced to airlift reinforcements in. The regime also carried out about 200 airstrikes while defending Kunlong. The alliance seized Kunlong after 12 days, taking large caches of weapons, including tanks, armored vehicles, howitzers and multiple rocket-launch systems. The fall of Kunlong left Hopang and Pan Lon towns in Hopang District helpless. All of Kokang, which was defended by the Laukkai-based regional operations command, came under siege. The fall of Kunlong also represents a serious military threat to Lashio, where the Northeastern Command is based, and all northern Shan State. The regime will need thousands of troops to take back Kunlong. If it sends a few hundred, they will easily be outgunned. However, it lacks the resources to airlift thousands of troops. It can only transport them by road. It faces two problems. First, it will find it very difficult to gather thousands of troops. Second, it may take months to overcome the blockade between Nawnghkio and Kunlong towns. The regime would have to risk heavy casualties to regain Kunlong and other towns seized by the alliance. This makes it very unlikely that it can regain control of the towns it lost in the early days of Operation 1027. The ethnic alliance seized around 150 junta positions in the 18 days to November 13. If there were around 10 personnel in each outpost, the regime might have suffered 1,500 casualties. The alliance has taken full control of Chin Shwe Haw, Pansai, Monekoe, Phaungsai, and Kunlong and partial control of Namkham and Hseni towns. The offensive has eliminated the juntas administrative ability in most towns in northern Shan State. The victory in Kunlong was both a political and military turning point. Kunlong: The Turning Point The day after the alliance seized Kunlong, the AA launched an offensive in Rakhine State with 25,000 to 30,000 of its troops joining the fighting. This must have been part of the plans of the Brotherhood Alliance. The fighting in western Myanmar will not only affect Rakhine, but also Ayeyarwady Region to the east of Rakhines Yoma mountains as well as the frontlines in Bago and Magwe regions. Since the alliance launched the operation, fighting has intensified in Kachin, Karen, Karenni and Chin states as well as in Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay, Bago, Yangon and Tanintharyi regions. The seizures of towns and junta casualties have boosted the morale of resistance forces. The fall of Kunlong showed that the regimes feared military can be defeated. Increased attacks have further depleted the regimes rank and file, which was already at a critically low level of soldiers is of Myanmars military. It lacks the personnel to retake the positions it has lost. It cannot immediately send in reinforcements when a position comes under attack. The more clashes there are, the less effective air support will become. Kunlongs fall shocked Naypyitaw. In the early days of Operation 1027, it was assumed that the offensive was merely intended for the MNDAA to regain control of Kokang. But as the offensive expanded beyond Shan State, that assumption proved wrong. The fall of Kunlong showed that Myanmars military is vulnerable. It also showed that the military-centered approach in Myanmarthe belief that the Tatmadaw is the key to solving domestic political problemsis a notion fa removed from reality, even though this notion was for decades endorsed by some peace experts at home and abroad. The victory in Kunlong was not only a military turning point, it points the way to a new political template in Myanmar. (Moe Sett Nyein Chan is a military analyst.) Myanmar regime-backed nationalists staged their first protest against the Chinese government outside Yangon City Hall and the Chinese Embassy in Yangon on Sunday accusing China of backing an ethnic alliance that has been delivering heavy defeats against regime troops in northern Shan State. Members of the Patriotic Monks Union (Yangon) and Myanmar Nationalist Organization took part in the protest outside Yangon City Hall, accusing Beijing of destroying Myanmar by selling weapons to ethnic armed organizations based near the border in northern Myanmar, and to Peoples Defense Force groups (PDFs). The regime has lost several towns and over 150 positions in northern Shan State to the Brotherhood Alliance consisting of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Taang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army over the past three weeks since the ethnic alliance launched Operation 1027 on Oct. 27. Pro-junta media agencies have pointed a finger at China for the juntas defeats, claiming Beijing is backing the Brotherhood Alliance. Sundays protest was very unusual, as it was the first time China has been named openly in a public, junta-approved protest targeting Beijing, the Myanmar regimes ally. The fact that the rallies were approved by the regime reveals the juntas displeasure with China, probably for its failure to intervene in the alliance, with whom it has influence. During the rally outside City Hall, Pyinya Wuntha from the Patriotic Monks Union (Yangon) told the audience that Myanmar people knew China was arming the alliance and PDFs. China, you have destroyed Myanmar by encouraging them. Dont destroy our country. We will all hit you back, he said. From Yangon City Hall, protesters marched to the Chinese Embassy shouting anti-China slogans including, China, you have been meddling in the internal affairs of Myanmar. Dont try to exploit us. We monks and people are gonna beat you up. They also accused China of buying rare earth elements from one of the ethnic armed groups in northern Myanmar, the Kachin Independence Army, at prices considered a steal. The nationalists are widely viewed as stooges of the Myanmar military. The same nationalists organized pro-military rallies before and after the 2021 coup. In the past, the regime has not allowed any protests in the vicinity of the Chinese Embassy in Yangon, not wanting to annoy its ally. The last time the embassy saw rallies was right after the coup in February 2021 when anti-regime protesters staged demonstrations against China for its failure to denounce the takeover. Unable to halt the alliances offensive launched in late October, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing claimed at an emergency meeting of the National Defense and Security Council on Nov. 8 that the ethnic alliance was using China-made drones that can be easily bought in Myanmar to drop bombs on junta positions. In a Nov. 15 statement the Chinese Embassy demanded that the Myanmar regime work out a practical and effective plan to ensure border stability. Myanmars border trade with China has been halted since the offensive, which is also believed to have impacted Beijings Belt and Road Initiative projects located in conflict zones in Shan and Rakhine states. For all its ties with the junta, Beijing is not happy with the regime at all. The junta has annoyed it by failing to take effective action against online scam centers mushrooming along the Myanmar-China border despite Chinas requests. Only after repeated pressure from China did the regime issue arrest warrants for and hand over suspects running online scam syndicates in the Kokang and Wa self-administered zones on the Chinese border. Monday, Nov 20th, 2023 (12:01 am) - Score 1,040 Deploying a gigabit-capable full fibre broadband ISP network across a remote and sparse rural area in the UK is no cheap or easy task, but alternative network operator Alncom are now celebrating after they largely completed one of their most challenging builds to date in Northumerlands (England) Breamish valley area. Just to recap. The Alnwick-based provider is currently aiming to extend their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to cover 50,000 premises in the North East of England mostly across rural parts of Northumberland, County Durham and the Scottish Borders. Despite being a smaller player, the operator recently passed the 25,000 premises mark (thats more than double last years figure). NOTE: Alncom using kit from ADTRANs TA5000 fibre access platform is supported by investment from Alncom using kit from ADTRANs TA5000 fibre access platform is supported by investment from Railsite Telecom here ) and the governments gigabit voucher scheme. The operator has already deployed across big parts of many locations, such as Alnwick, Amble, Rothbury and Wooler. But one of the biggest challenges theyve faced has come from their efforts to extend that network out across the remote rural Breamish Valley and surrounding areas, which until recently were largely hobbled by slower broadband speeds via Openreachs older copper-line based network. Work on the project, which is funded by a mix of investment sources (e.g. the governments gigabit broadband vouchers with Borderlands top-ups, plus some commercial investment), started in 2020 with a plan to cover the Upper Breamish Valley and Beanley (previously the area had been covered by their wireless network). The build would not have been economically viable without some public investment. Stephen Pinchen, Alncoms MD, told ISPreview: We started building fibre from Powburn with the first fibre connections going live in early 2022 & we were able to convert some wireless customers to fibre. Total build time was around 12 months, but we keep going back & extending it! We were very fortunate to get a lot of help from local landowners, so the bulk of the build is ploughed into private land, with about 25% built using PIA. As it stands, the provider has so far deployed over 200km of new fibre and the network has grown to cover 3 valleys (Breamish Valley, Aln Valley & Upper Coquetdale) over a geographic area of 139km square! A free full fibre broadband service has also been provided to 7 community hubs, while their wider gigabit broadband packages are now available to 1,563 properties, with more to follow. Map of Alncoms Breamish Valley Fibre Network Alncom declined to tell us how much the build so far has cost, but they claim to be seeing strong take-up from their efforts. The most remote areas, such as Great Ryle to Biddlestone, currently have the highest take-up theyve seen as their original broadband was virtually non-existent. As Alncom have moved into areas with existing FTTC, theyre similarly seeing take-up exceed what wed expect in urban areas with FTTC. The work hasnt gone unnoticed, with Alncom recently winning the Best Hybrid fibre/wireless network in this years UKWISPA awards. The UK Governments Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT / BDUK) also commissioned a case study showing the success of the network & featuring one of their customers Ingram Valley Safaris. Prices for their standard residential packages start at 25 per month for speeds of up to 85Mbps (theres also a 35Mbps social package for 15) and that rises to the expensive heights of 90 for their top 925Mbps plan. New customers who order before December 2023 will benefit from a free installation, free WiFi 6 router and a 24-month contract with no mid-contract price changes. You can also add a static IP for 5 extra. Monday, Nov 20th, 2023 (11:45 am) - Score 10,720 Internet, phone and TV provider Virgin Media UK (VMO2) has today announced that theyve begun to trial a new Smart Security internet protection feature, which is initially being rolled out to thousands of [eligible] customers with their latest Hub 5 broadband router at no extra cost. The new Smart Security system will allow users to monitor and manage their internet security in real-time, while also alerting customers to any unusual cyber behaviour. According to the media release: Smart Security protects connected devices from mobile phones to video doorbells by actively fending off cyber-attacks such as ransomware or data stealing. The trial will enable thousands of customers to monitor the security across their network and see whats been blocked on their browser. The new security capability will be automatically downloaded to the Hub 5 router, with eligible customers simply needing to activate the trial via the Virgin Media Connect App, where they can manage and protect their devices on the newly added Smart Security dashboard. Customers can also cancel the trial at any point, by simply clicking into the settings icon in the top left corner of the home tab on the Connect App. So far as we can tell, the goal appears to be to deploy this as a free complement, rather than replacement, to their existing anti-virus/malware focused and F-Secure powered Internet Security product (i.e. you dont need to be taking that in order to benefit from this) this can work on an unlimited number of devices but costs 30 a year to add, with the first 3 months free. With malicious online activity becoming increasingly sophisticated, its easy to fall victim to cyber-security threats. Simple attacks can happen to anyone and may not even appear to be a risk, such as unknowingly opening an email attachment which contains malware, said the operator. To help consumers keep their devices safe and secure, Director of Connectivity at VMO2, Gareth Lister, has provided some tips: Leading IoT company provides insight to attendees at Fort Lauderdale, Florida Event Shelton, CT November 20, 2023 TMC and Crossfire Media today announced Radix IoT has signed on as a Gold sponsor for the IoT Evolution Conference and Expo part of the #TECHSUPERSHOW, which is held February 13-15, 2024 at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward Country Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. IoT Evolution is the leading event for education on the technologies, solutions, and impact that the IoT will have on the enterprise, smart cities, healthcare and manufacturing. The Future of IoT is in intelligence. IoT Evolution Expo will show you how to implement the Thinking IoT to move your business and your customers into the new Connected World. Radix IoT will continue to be an active supporter and participant of the IoT Evolution Conference and Expo, as we have for the last few years. We commend the organizers for their commitment to providing an educational and informative venue for top industry professionals to gather, hold discourse, and share industry knowledge. We look forward to our continued involvement both in supporting and offering our expertise in the conference venues, said Michael Skurla, Radix IoT Chief Product Officer. Radix IoT empowers diverse facilities and infrastructure with a cloud-native platform that organizes and unlocks critical data, providing actionable insights to enhance operational efficiency and cost reduction. From one location to multiple, the Radix IoT portfolio of products solves the inherent complexity of managing geographically distributed facilities across various markets, including edge data centers, utilities, carrier edge/telecom infrastructure, industrial, and property management. Radix IoT is a wholly?owned subsidiary of Compass Datacenters. It is headquartered in Dallas, TX, with offices in Mountain View (CA), Nashville (TN),?and Chicago (IL). Visit?www.radixiot.com or Radix IoT on LinkedIn to learn more about the companys offerings. View keynotes, speakers, special events, exhibitors and the entire IoT Evolution Expo conference program here. Sign up for IoT Evolutions newsletter to receive updates on the event and industry news. Registration for IoT Evolution Expo is now open. For more information, contact Scott Kargman. For media registration, contact Michelle Connolly. Companies interested in exhibiting, sponsorship or advertising packages should contact Dave Rodriguez at 203.852.6800 ext. 146 or Maureen Gambino 203-852-6800 x 109. For the latest IoT Evolution Expo news, updates and information, follow the event on Twitter at @IoTEvolution. About TMC Through our news and solutions-focused editorial platforms, live events, webinars, and online advertising, TMC provides global buyers with valuable insights for making informed technology purchase decisions and successfully navigating markets. In turn, leading technology vendors rely on TMC, TMCnet and our family of sites and events for exceptional branding, thought leadership, and lead generation opportunities. Our live events, including the ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW, offer unparalleled visibility and sales prospects for all participants. With our customized lead generation programs, including a turnkey webinar program, we consistently deliver a steady stream of leads that translate into sales opportunities and database growth. In addition, display advertising on respected news sites and newsletters generates millions of impressions, bolstering brand reputations. TMC offers a comprehensive 360-degree marketing solution, with services such as event and road show management, as well as expertly crafted content creation including blogs, press releases, articles, and marketing collateral. These efforts contribute to SEO, branding, and overall marketing success. To discover more about how TMC can assist you in achieving your marketing goals through our events and online advertising, please visit www.tmcnet.com. Stay connected with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and X by following @tmcnet. About Crossfire Media Crossfire Media is an integrated marketing company with a core focus on future trends in technology. We service communities of interest with conferences, tradeshows, webinars and newsletters. Crossfire Media has a partnership with Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) to produce events and websites related to disruptive technologies. Crossfire Media is a division of Crossfire Consulting, a full service Information Technology company based in New York. Media and Analyst Contact: Michelle Connolly Senior Marketing Manager 203.852.6800 ext.262 [email protected] Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [ Free eNews Subscription Share this Page Tweet Share Edited by Alex Passett 1371138342::cfb49c8e-2422-11e5-99a3-d7f5c6e8b241 A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. 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. Reddit Email 22 Shares Global opinion appears to be shifting against Israel but will that be enough to force an end to the bloodshed? By Paul Rogers | ( OpenDemocracy.net ) As we near the seventh week of the war in Gaza, the extent of the devastation and loss of life is such that many Western governments are coming under pressure to back ceasefires with France and Ireland having already done so. In the UK, MPs voted against supporting a ceasefire on Wednesday evening. Fifty-six Labour MPs voted for the measure, rebelling against Keir Starmers order to abstain, including eight frontbenchers who have left their posts over their defiance. Starmer, like Rishi Sunak and many other Western leaders, is instead urging restraint with humanitarian pauses. Without their backing, is there any possibility of a ceasefire and an eventual return to negotiations? In Gaza, sustained air strikes and artillery fire have killed some 11,000 Palestinians, including 4,500 children, and wounded 20,000 more. The whole of the Gaza Strip has been besieged, with food, water, fuel and electricity withheld. Some hospitals have closed and others will follow shortly. Around 1.1 million Palestinians have been ordered to move to southern Gaza and while most have, as many as 200,000 have not. This devastation also has the function of deterring Palestinians in the West Bank where violence has increased significantly from responding to the hugely heavy-handed treatment being meted out by Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Since 7 October, 185 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and 2,500 wounded, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The level of shock still being felt in Israel from the 7 October attacks by Hamas should not be underestimated and extends right across society. The loss of civilian lives was the worst in the states 75-year history, with 1,200 people killed and up to 240 taken hostage, as well as some reports that dozens more IDF soldiers were spirited away by Hamas. That few Israelis acknowledge that this number is far less than the tens of thousands of Palestinian civilian lives lost in the same 75 years is allowing Binyamin Netanyahus far-right government considerable freedom in its determination to destroy Hamas and, as it sees it, make Israel safe again. The Israeli government views Gaza as the main problem. It has attempted to build support for moving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across the border into Egypt. Joe Bidens administration in the US has come out against that, as well as against Israel permanently controlling Gaza, which would imply the long-term garrisoning of the territory and its people. As US policy slowly shifts, senior figures in the US military are now talking of the need for a limited war the implication being that this must not go on for months because of the rapid loss of support for Israel in the wider world beyond Europe. Israel is not remotely up for that, with the Financial Times reporting that Israeli officials have suggested that Gaza will be sealed off from Israel and potentially squeezed ever tighter by new buffer zones and security barriers inside the strip. Many analysts will argue that Gaza has been akin to an open prison for over two million Palestinians for the past 15 years, but this latest suggestion sounds more like a vast closed prison, with all exits sealed off. Netanyahu governments stance presumes that the IDF can actually destroy Hamas but, despite many decades of effort to cultivate support across the Global South, the global mood is turning against Israel as it reduces streets to rubble and destroys neighbourhoods. That is reflected in increasingly trenchant statements from UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres about Gaza becoming a graveyard for children. A grim consequence is that we are already seeing a dangerous worldwide rise in antisemitism with talk of a slaughter of the innocents, with all its biblical meanings and Israel becoming a pariah state. Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash How far this war goes on may now depend on the Biden administration as only the US has the clout to demand a ceasefire, not least with over $13bn of military support for Israel just agreed by Congress. It is highly unlikely Netanyahu will be persuaded by anyone else, not even the full weight of the EU states even if they gather together sufficient unity. While there are deep divisions among the seven million Jews in the United States, there is also a further element to factor in: the USs tens of millions of evangelical Christian Zionists and their propensity for voting Republican. Biden is looking at an Israel lobby rather than a Jewish lobby, which he will no doubt view as a substantial concern in an election year. For now, the US president remains committed to avoiding a ceasefire, and the prospect of a negotiated long-term peace agreement is therefore remote. Without an abrupt and unlikely collapse of Hamas as a paramilitary force, the war will continue into the New Year and beyond, with no end in sight. Israeli military operations will likely continue along the current pattern of air and artillery attacks, coupled with the use of special forces and other elite troops in individual assaults. What happens further down the line will depend on whether Netanyahu remains in power the war is proving to be a protracted affair and his far-right government could come apart sooner than most analysts think. If the government does manage to hold on to power, and the IDF carries on as now, global leaders will likely eventually back a ceasefire with calls that become too strong to resist, but that could take many months. If Netanyahus government falls, though, a ceasefire becomes more likely and could eventually lead to an uneasy stability, with peace being too strong a word to use. With preliminary negotiations then possible, the conventional view is that there are two broad options for the future: two states comprising separate Israeli and Palestinian territories or a single state with human rights for all. If the second option is considered, it is hugely complicated by the fact that Israel and the occupied territories already function as a single state. The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, is the law-making body for the State of Israel but also exercises final control over the rest of the territory. Its rule covers 14.1 million people: 7 million Jews and 7.1 million non-Jews. The two million Israeli Arabs within the 1949 boundaries have voting rights but the 5.1 million in Gaza and the West Bank do not, so Israel can hardly be described as a parliamentary democracy. Indeed, the ruling party in the current coalition, Likud, has in its original 1977 policy platform a clear statement of where it stands: The right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is eternal and indisputable and is linked with the right to security and peace; therefore, Judea and Samaria will not be handed to any foreign administration; between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty. It is true that most students of the conflict assume that even the beginnings of a negotiated settlement, should one come about, will be based on the two-state solution but that is far from the view of many Palestinians. Even so, working towards transforming that single state into a full democracy with uniform rights might be better for all, but it would be a task stretching over at least a generation. Either way, the current conflict has already meant that Hamas is achieving its aim of a long war that will see many tens of thousands of young Palestinians further radicalised by Israels brutality. In the coming years, the Netanyahu government may end up having been the recruiting sergeant of choice for Hamas or whatever movements succeed it. Via OpenDemocracy.net Reddit Email 216 Shares Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) The Gaza Ministry of Health announced Sunday that on the previous day at least 80 people were killed by the Israeli bombardment of the Palestinians, with 32 of them being from one extended family, according to Al-Arabiya. The deaths occurred because of two distinct Israeli airstrikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp targeting schools. One strike hit the Al-Fakhura school. which is run by the United Nations. Al-Jazeera reports, Dead bodies [are] scattered pieces of flesh, an unnamed witness told Al Jazeera. No one can recognise their sons. Our life is hell. Thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) had taken refuge in the Fakhoura school. The Times and Sunday Times: Hundreds of Gazans flee al-Shifa hospital: Dozens killed in Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza Another Israeli bombing raid targeted a private home, killing 32 persons, including 19 children. Marwan Bishara, a senior analyst at Al-Jazeera, said, There is nothing discriminate about the fact that a school that shelters thousands of people has been bombed from the air; that is meant to create damage, human loss, suffering and death. On Monday morning it was reported that al-Shifa hospital was evacuated during the humanitarian pause implemented by the Israeli armed forces. It had housed some 7,000 internally displaced people. Israel attacked the hospital repeatedly, claiming that it was serving as a headquarters for Hamas, but no evidence was ever presented for the truth of these allegations. More than 12,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israelis since the horrific Hamas attacks af October 7, in a revenge genocide. Some 5,000 of them were minors and children. TORONTO, Nov. 20, 2023 /CNW/ - Power Nickel Inc. (TSXV: PNPN) (OTCQB: PNPNF) (Frankfurt: IVV) ("Power Nickel" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the continuation of its agreement with CVMR Corporation ("CVMR"), one of the world's leaders in Nickel Powder, Wire, and Anode production, and a key supplier to the Battery, Defence, and Aerospace industry. CVMR is coordinating the production of advanced bench scale, piloting, and engineering studies on the Nisk Nickel Sulfide Project near Nemaska, Quebec to determine project feasibility. The agreement is staged, allowing for Power Nickel and CVMR to work together on various stages of engineering studies. CVMR is a privately held metal refining technology provider that is also engaged in mining and refining of its own mineral resources in 18 different countries. The company was established in 1986, with its head office and R & D Centre in Toronto, Canada. To ensure this process was done in the least dilutive way possible, Power Nickel has arranged to have WCPD Group organize a consortium of Quebec-based investors who will make an initial investment of $2.75 million representing 3,055,556 Flow-Through ("FT") shares at $0.90 per share. Wealth (WCPD Inc.) is one of the leading exempt market dealers offering efficient financing for Canadian resource and mineral exploration. As part of the process, CVMR will acquire these shares from the front-end purchasers for $0.45 per share. Each FT share will be composed of one common share of the Company that qualifies as a "flow-through share" (each, an "FT share") for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "ITA"). All securities issued under the Private Placement will be subject to a four-month and one-day statutory hold period. The Company intends to use the gross proceeds from the sale of the FT shares for exploration activities on the Company's NISK property located in Quebec and to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses, within the meaning of the ITA, that will qualify for the federal 30% Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit. The Company expects to close the deal by the end of November. The Private Placement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") approval. "CVMR has enjoyed technical success in its benchmark studies to date, and after reviewing the preliminary reports, we are very encouraged with how well the mineralization is being processed. We look forward to reviewing the final benchmarking report soon and to our ongoing collaboration with CVMR," commented Power Nickel CEO Terry Lynch. "We are very encouraged with the ongoing drilling and exploration success at Nisk. We believe the upcoming NI 43-101 report will likely suggest a commercial tonnage of Nickel can be obtained, along with Copper, Cobalt, Palladium, and Platinum. Our benchmarking tests have gone very well, and we believe the mineralization can be processed in the CVMR system in a manner that will provide very favorable yields. We are excited to deliver the final benchmarking studies shortly and look forward to conducting the prototype trial runs which will provide us further insight and confidence in the commercial viability of Nisk," commented CVMR CEO Kamran M. Khozan. Further to the Company's announcement made on August 15th, Power Nickel will make the next payment of $2,250,000 to CVMR to complete the next stage of the feasibility study. "At this time, the economics of using the CVMR process look even more compelling. Typically, a Nickel miner will make a concentrate to sell to the refiners and leave at least 25% of their Nickel unrecovered, with much of the metal byproducts unrecovered or minimally recovered. Through the CVMR process to date, we have seen excellent recoveries in the Nickel and in the metal byproducts. While the benchmarking studies will provide the first formal science on the recoveries, both CVMR and our team are excited enough to greenlight this next stage. Not only will we recover a lot more metals from the mineralization we process via the CVMR system, by delivering finished products like powders, nano powders, wire, anodes and EV precursors, we believe we will be able to earn two to three times the revenue with minimal incremental cost," commented Power Nickel CEO Terry Lynch. Qualified Person Kenneth Williamson, Geo, M.Sc., VP Exploration at Power Nickel, is the qualified person who has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release. About Power Nickel Inc. Power Nickel is a Canadian junior exploration company focusing on developing the High-Grade Nisk project into Canada's first Carbon Neutral Nickel mine. On February 1, 2021, Power Nickel (then called Chilean Metals) completed the acquisition of its option to acquire up to 80% of the Nisk project from Critical Elements Lithium Corp. (CRE: TSXV). Subsequently, Power Nickel has exercised its option to acquire 50% of the Nisk Project and delivered notice to Critical Elements that it intends to exercise its second option to bring its ownership to 80%. The last remaining commitment to activate this exercise of the option is the delivery of a NI-43-101 Technical report which is anticipated to occur at the latest in Q4 2023. The NISK property comprises a significant land position (20 kilometers of strike length) with numerous high-grade intercepts. Power Nickel is focused on expanding the historical high-grade nickel-copper PGE mineralization with a series of drill programs designed to test the initial Nisk discovery zone and to explore the land package for adjacent potential Nickel deposits. In addition to the Nisk project, Power Nickel owns significant land packages in British Colombia and Chile. Power Nickel is expected to reorganize these assets in a related public vehicle through a plan of arrangement. Power Nickel announced on June 8, 2021, that an agreement had been made to complete the 100% acquisition of its Golden Ivan project in the heart of the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle has reported mineral resources (past production and current resources) in 130 million ounces of gold, 800 million ounces of silver, and 40 billion pounds of copper (Resource World). This property hosts two known mineral showings (gold mineralization and Magee) and a portion of the past-producing Silverado mine, reportedly exploited between 1921 and 1939. These mineral showings are Polymetallic veins containing quantities of silver, lead, zinc, plus/minus gold, and plus/minus copper. Power Nickel is also 100 percent owner of five properties comprising over 50,000 acres strategically located in the prolific iron-oxide-copper-gold belt of northern Chile. It also owns a 3-per-cent NSR royalty interest on any future production from the Copaquire copper-molybdenum deposit sold to a subsidiary of Teck Resources Inc. Under the terms of the sale agreement, Teck has the right to acquire one-third of the 3-per-cent NSR for $3 million at any time. The Copaquire property borders Teck's producing Quebrada Blanca copper mine in Chile's first region. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it's Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This message contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" concerning the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "indicates," "opportunity," "possible" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, among others, the timing for the Company to close the private placement or the second Nisk option or risk that such transactions do not close at all; raise sufficient capital to fund its obligations under its property agreements going forward; to maintain its mineral tenures and concessions in good standing; to explore and develop its projects; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; the inherent hazards associates with mineral exploration and mining operations; future prices of nickel and other metals; changes in general economic conditions; accuracy of mineral resource and reserve estimates; the potential for new discoveries; the ability of the Company to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore, drill and develop the projects and if accepted, to obtain such licenses and approvals in a timely fashion relative to the Company's plans and business objectives for the applicable project; the general ability of the Company to monetize its mineral resources; and changes in environmental and other laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, dependence on key management personnel and general competition in the mining industry. Following up on gold discoveries during the Summer 2023 stripping program and silver discoveries during the previous drill program Coquitlam, BC TheNewswire - November 20, 2023 - Canada Silver Cobalt Works Inc. (TSXV:CCW) (OTC:CCWOF) (Frankfurt:4T9B) (the Company or Canada Silver Cobalt) is pleased to announce the commencement of a new 1,500-meter drill program at its Castle Property this week focusing on both gold and silver targets following the recent success of gold stripping activities in the Miller Lake area. The Summer 2023 stripping program to the south and west of previous drilling identified a significant opportunity to evaluate gold prospects with the discovery from channel sampling of multiple samples above 1 gram per tonne (g/t) gold and ranging up to 3.2 g/t gold at the surface (see news releases July 5 and July 20, 2023). The targets of the drill program include the new gold areas that have been identified, the potential to identify silver below the gold prospects, and new silver targets identified south of Castle East. The first hole will be located 100 meters west of previous drilling at Castle East and is expected to extend 500 meters downhole targeting both gold near surface and silver at depth. "The Castle Project has demonstrated its potential for both gold and silver, and we are eager to capitalize on these opportunities," said Matthew Halliday P.Geo, President of Canada Silver Cobalt Works. "The success of our recent gold stripping activities has opened up new possibilities for gold mineralization in the shallow Archean cover and the potential for silver mineralization in the diabase below it. The drilling program marks a strategic step forward in our commitment to unlocking the full value of the Castle Project." The drilling program will employ oriented core and methodologies to extract valuable geological data and assess the economic viability of the identified targets. The company remains dedicated to employing sustainable and responsible mining practices throughout the exploration process. Canada Silver Cobalt Works is a leading exploration company focused on unlocking the full potential of its flagship Castle Project. With a commitment to environmental sustainability and community engagement, the company aims to contribute positively to the regions in which it operates. Canada Silver Cobalt Works remains committed to responsible resource development and continues to engage with local communities, Indigenous groups, and stakeholders to ensure transparent and collaborative communication throughout our exploration activities. Investors, media, and stakeholders are invited to stay updated on the latest developments by visiting the Company's website at www.canadasilvercobaltworks.com. Qualified person The technical information in this news release was approved by and prepared under the supervision of Mr. Matthew Halliday, P.Geo., (PGO), President and COO of Canada Silver Cobalt Works Inc., a qualified person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. About Canada Silver Cobalt Works Inc. Canada Silver Cobalt Works Inc. recently discovered a major high-grade silver vein system at Castle East located 1.5 km from its 100%-owned, past-producing Castle Mine near Gowganda in the prolific and world-class silver-cobalt mining district of Northern Ontario. The Company has completed a 60,000m drill program aimed at expanding the size of the deposit with an update to the resource estimate underway. In May 2020, based on a small initial drill program, the Company published the regions first 43-101 resource estimate that contained a total of 7.56 million ounces of silver in Inferred resources, comprising very high-grade silver (8,582 grams per tonne un-cut or 250.2 oz/ton) in 27,400 tonnes of material from two sections (1A and 1B) of the Castle East Robinson Zone, beginning at a vertical depth of approximately 400 meters. Note that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Please refer to Canada Silver Cobalt Works Press Release May 28, 2020, for the resource estimate. Report reference: Rachidi, M. 2020, NI 43-101 Technical Report Mineral Resource Estimate for Castle East, Robinson Zone, Ontario, Canada, with an effective date of May 28, 2020, and a signature date of July 13, 2020. The Company also has: (1) 14 battery metals properties in Northern Quebec where it has recently completed a nearly 16,000-metre drill program on the Graal property; and (2) the prospective 1,000-hectare Eby-Otto gold property close to Agnico Eagles high-grade Macassa Mine near Kirkland Lake, Ontario where it is exploring. (3) St. Denis-Sangster lithium project 260 square kilometers of greenfield exploration ground with numerous pegmatites focussed along a significant volcanic sedimentary rock Archean granite contact near Cochrane, Ontario contiguous to Power Metals Case Lake Lithium properties. Canada Silver Cobalts flagship silver-cobalt Castle mine and 78 sq. km Castle Property feature strong exploration upside for silver, cobalt, nickel, gold, and copper. With underground access at the fully owned Castle Mine, an exceptional high-grade silver discovery at Castle East, a pilot plant to produce cobalt-rich gravity concentrates, a processing facility (TTL Laboratories) in the town of Cobalt, and a proprietary hydrometallurgical process known as Re-2Ox (for the creation of technical-grade cobalt sulphate as well as nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) formulations), Canada Silver Cobalt is strategically positioned to become a Canadian leader in the silver-cobalt space. More information at www.canadasilvercobaltworks.com. Frank J. Basa Frank J. Basa, P. Eng. Chief Executive Officer For further information, contact: Frank J. Basa, P.Eng. Chief Executive Officer 416-625-2342 Or: Wayne Cheveldayoff, Corporate Communications P: 416-710-2410 E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, comments that involve future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Except for statements of historical facts, comments that address resource potential, upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt and security of mineral property titles, availability of funds, and others are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements. A detailed discussion of the risk factors encountered by Canada Silver Cobalt is available in the Companys Annual Information Form dated July 19, 2021 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 available under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. TORONTO, Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Troilus Gold Corp. (TSX:TLG; OTCQX:CHXMF; FSE: CM5R) (Troilus or the Company) announces that it has closed today its previously announced bought deal financing (the Offering). Pursuant to the Offering, Troilus issued (i) 28,580,000 units (the Units) of Troilus at a price of $0.35 per Unit, for gross proceeds of C$10,003,000, (ii) 7,150,000 common shares in the capital of the Company issued as flow-through shares (the Traditional FT Shares) within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the Tax Act) at a price of $0.42 per Traditional FT Share for gross proceeds of C$3,003,000, and (iii) 4,550,000 common shares in the capital of the Company issued as flow-through shares (the Quebec FT Shares) within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Tax Act and section 359.1 of the Taxation Act (Quebec) (the Quebec Tax Act) at a price of $0.44 per Quebec FT Share for gross proceeds of C$2,002,000, for aggregate combined gross proceeds of C$15,008,000. Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (a Unit Share) and one-half of one common share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole common share purchase warrant, a Warrant). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire, subject to adjustment in certain circumstances, one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a Warrant Share) at an exercise price of $0.50 per Warrant Share for a period of 24 months following the closing of the Offering. The Units, Traditional Flow-Through Shares, and Quebec Flow-Through Shares are collectively referred to herein as the Offered Securities. The Offering was completed through a syndicate of underwriters, led by Haywood Securities Inc. and Cormark Securities Inc. as co-lead underwriters, and Laurentian Bank Securities Inc., Red Cloud Securities Inc., SCP Resource Finance LP, BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., and Velocity Trade Capital Ltd. The Company intends to use the majority of the net proceeds of the Offering towards completing work in 2023 and 2024 on its ongoing feasibility study, planned exploration program at the Troilus Project, environmental related work and for general and administrative costs, as more fully described in the short form prospectus of the Company dated November 13, 2023. The Offered Securities have been offered by way of short form prospectus in each of the provinces of Canada, pursuant to National Instrument 44-101 Short Form Prospectus Distributions. The Units were also be offered for sale into the United States pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) and in such other jurisdictions outside of Canada and the United States as agreed, in each case in accordance with all applicable laws and provided that no prospectus, registration statement or similar document is required to be filed in such jurisdiction. The Offered Securities have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. About Troilus Troilus 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 is located in the top-rated mining jurisdiction of Quebec, Canada, where is holds a strategic land position of 435 km in 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 Further Information, Please Contact: Caroline Arsenault VP Corporate Communications +1 (647) 276-0050 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Offering and future results of operations, performance and achievements of the Company. Although the Company believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are 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 statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and risks, including, uncertainties of the global economy, market fluctuations, the discretion of the Company in respect to the use of proceeds discussed above, any exercise of termination by counterparties under applicable agreements, the Companys inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies and other risks identified in its disclosure documents filed at www.sedarplus.ca. This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer or recommendation to buy or sell securities in Canada or in the United States. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual events, results and/or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with and as required by applicable securities laws. JT Deposit Infill Drilling Returns 33.6 Meters at 7.9 g/t Au, 0.91% Cu, 4.81% Zn, 0.51% Pb, 7 g/t Ag (12.1 g/t AuEq) Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 20, 2023) - HighGold Mining Inc. (TSXV: HIGH) (OTCQX: HGMIF) ("HighGold" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on its 2023 exploration and development program (the "Program") including final drill results at the Johnson Tract polymetallic Gold Project ("Johnson Tract", "JT" or the "Project") in Southcentral Alaska, USA. The Project hosts the high-grade JT Deposit with an Indicated Resource of 1.05 Moz at 9.39 g/t gold equivalent ("AuEq") with average true thickness of 40m. Following completion of the spin-out of Onyx Gold Corp. this summer (see HighGold news release dated June 6, 2023), HighGold squarely focused on unlocking value at the high-grade JT Deposit. In parallel with exploration drilling to expand existing deposits and target new prospects, the Company launched on a major program of advanced exploration and de-risking activities to support the evaluation of a potential high-grade, low-impact, underground mine. Highlights of the 2023 Program Initiation of preliminary scoping work to evaluate conceptual direct-shipping-ore (" DSO ") scenarios that offer the potential for a nearer term, lower capital cost and enhanced environmental benefit production scenario ") scenarios that offer the potential for a nearer term, lower capital cost and enhanced environmental benefit production scenario Completion of a comprehensive work program to support the permitting of an underground exploration ramp, including six (6) hydrogeology-geotechnical drill holes, related hydrogeology test work, engineering, and multiple environmental and cultural studies Infill drilling yields thick, high-grade mineralization typical of the JT Deposit in hole GT23-004 56.6 meters at 7.8 g/t AuEq , including 33.6 m at 12.1 g/t AuEq, and including 4.9 m at 34.9 g/t AuEq Narrow high-grade and broad low-grade mineralization intersected in 2023 step-outs at Ellis Zone 2.2 m at 57.0 g/t AuEq previously reported in hole DC23-070 1.4 m at 11.6 g/t AuEq in hole DC23-071 47.1 m at 0.7 g/t AuEq in hole DC23-087 64.1 m at 0.7 g/t AuEq in hole DC23-088 Encouraging new zones of veining and JT-style alteration intersected in first pass drilling of new prospect areas, warranting additional follow-up in 2024 "We had a busy and productive field season this year," said Darwin Green, President & CEO. "We completed a significant drill program aimed at expanding existing zones and targeting new discoveries. Results from the drill program are encouraging and will serve to inform ongoing drill planning and targeting as we continue to evaluate the multi-deposit potential of the Project. Infill hole GT23-004 is a reminder of the exceptional width and grade that characterizes the JT Deposit." "Thick, high-grade deposits in desirable jurisdictions with a path to relatively rapid and cost-efficient development are a rare prize in the mining sector. In conjunction with our drilling efforts, HighGold has also turned to assessing the development potential for the JT Deposit and demonstrating the intrinsic value of the Project. One such opportunity being evaluated is the potential development of a DSO mining operation, whereby mineralized material would be mined and transported via marine vessel to an existing mill off site. Another major step to advancing the Project is advancing the permitting and development of an underground exploration ramp. The Company is well capitalized to continue advancing these important value-added activities through 2024 and beyond." Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) Mining Studies HighGold has begun preliminary scoping work to evaluate conceptual direct-shipping-ore ("DSO") scenarios. This includes studies and investigations into potential mining methods, mine designs, and the logistics and infrastructure required for shipping mineralized material to an existing, off-site milling facility. The Project's location near tidewater offers the potential for DSO via bulk marine transport (the lowest cost form of bulk shipping) either direct to Asia or to existing coastal mills at mines in Alaska and British Columbia. Advantages of a DSO mine over a conventional mine include project simplicity, lower CAPEX and execution risk, and potential for an expedited timeline to production. A DSO mine at Johnson Tract would also have the attractive environmental benefits of a small surface footprint and minimal long-term management and closure concerns. Under such a scenario, development rock (waste-rock) would likely be integrated into the mining plan as backfill for permanent underground storage within the mine, and tailings would be stored at a pre-existing off-site facility, resulting in no on-site tailings. DSO mining, although not common in North America, is used throughout the world as the margins and IRRs of a DSO Mine can be more attractive than in a conventional scenario. In Alaska, a DSO mining joint venture agreement is in place between Kinross Gold and Contango Ore, in which ore from the Mahn Choh deposit (proven and probable reserves of 998koz at 7.88 g/t gold) will be trucked 240 miles (380 km) for off-site processing at Kinross Gold's Fort Knox mine. 2023 Advanced Exploration Activities A key component of de-risking the Project is the development of an underground exploration ramp to the JT Deposit. The exploration ramp will provide a platform to conduct cost-effective tightly spaced definition drilling in the highest-grade portions of the known deposit to support future engineering and economic studies. The 1,800m long ramp, which is parallel to and slightly outboard of the trend of mineralization, will also provide access to efficiently test multiple deep exploration targets (Figure 1). In support of this, the Company successfully completed a comprehensive field program from July to October 2023 consisting of hydrogeological test work, engineering, and numerous environmental and cultural studies. Over the coming months, the data from these studies will be incorporated into the project design and form the basis of the exploration ramp permitting that is planned to commence in early 2024. In connection with the exploration ramp plan, a Section 404 permit application was submitted earlier this year to the US Army Corps of Engineers for a 2.6-mile (4 km) portal access road and expanded airstrip. This process is tracking well, with no significant deficiencies identified to date. Figure 1. Proposed JT Underground Exploration Ramp 2023 Drilling Results The final drill results from the 2023 drill program are reported herein. A total of 33 drill holes for 7,648 meters were completed, including 27 exploration holes (6,254m) and 6 geotechnical holes (1,394m). The exploration drilling targeted the main JT Deposit (2 holes) and the Ellis Zone (12 holes), as well as several new, previously undrilled prospects and targets at East DC Prospect (8 holes), Double Glacier (3 holes), and South Valley (2 holes). Locations of the new drillholes are presented in Figures 1 to 4, with key assay intersections displayed in Table 1 and described below. JT Deposit (Geotechnical and Step-out Drilling) The Company completed six (6) drill holes to carry out hydrogeological and geotechnical studies along the alignment of the proposed 1800m long underground exploration ramp, which is designed to be developed within unmineralized rock units in the hanging wall to the JT Deposit. One of the drill holes (GT23-004) was extended through the JT Deposit as an infill hole and to characterize ground and water conditions for future mine modeling. GT23-004 intersected typical JT-style Au-Cu-Zn mineralization and returned: 56.6 meters at 7.8 g/t AuEq (4.87 g/t Au, 0.61% Cu, 3.5% Zn ), including 33.60 m at 12.1 g/t AuEq, (7.93 g/t Au, 0.9% Cu, 4.8% Zn), and including 4.90 m at 34.9 g/t AuEq (33.03 g/t Au, 1.2% Cu, 0.6% Zn). ), including Separate from the geotechnical drilling, two (2) exploration holes stepped out 100 to 200 meters south of the JT Deposit for potential extensions along strike. These holes intersected broad zones of strong alteration with local silver-lead-zinc mineralization, including: 6.0 meters at 76 g/t Ag, 0.4% Pb, 1.2% Zn in drill hole JT23-153 Ellis Zone and DC Prospect Targets The DC Prospect, located four kilometers northeast of the +1Moz AuEq JT Deposit, includes the high-grade Ellis Zone discovery and numerous other mineralized showings within a series of large gossan alteration zones extending over a 1.5 km x 3.0 km area. Drilling in 2023 included 50 to 100m step-outs on the Ellis Zone to sketch-in resource potential and first-time tests of new targets between the Ellis Zone and East DC Prospect areas. Drilling in 2023 has now defined two distinct and overlapping styles of mineralization at the Ellis Zone; a steep-dipping, structurally-controlled high-grade quartz vein and sulphide breccia zone and a zone of shallow-dipping, broad, lower-grade potentially stratigraphically-controlled mineralization with VMS-style characteristics. The current interpretation is of a broad zone of stringer-style mineralization with local structurally controlled high-grade shoots. Mineralization has now been intersected over a length of 200 m and to a depth of 225 m. Narrow high to bonanza-grade and broad low-grade mineralization have been intersected in 2023 step-out drilling at Ellis Zone, including: 2.2 m at 57.0 g/t AuEq ( 49.9 g/t Au, 25 g/t Ag, 1.5% Cu, 8.4% Zn) previously reported in hole DC23-070 , including 1.1 m at 80.5 g/t AuEq, ( 71.4 g/t Au, 29.7 g/t Ag, 1.5% Cu, 11.7% Zn) ( 25 g/t Ag, 1.5% Cu, 8.4% Zn) previously reported in hole DC23-070 including 1.4 m at 11.6 g/t AuEq ( 4.51 g/t Au, 16 g/t Ag, 1.9% Cu, 1.1% Pb, 7.0% Zn) in hole DC23-071 ( 16 g/t Ag, 1.9% Cu, 1.1% Pb, 7.0% Zn) in hole DC23-071 47.1 m at 0.7 g/t AuEq (0.29 g/t Au, 0.5% Zn) in hole DC23-087 (0.29 g/t Au, 0.5% Zn) in hole DC23-087 1.5 m at 163 g/t Ag and 4% Zn in hole DC23-088 and 4% Zn in hole DC23-088 64.1 m at 0.7 g/t AuEq (0.31 g/t Au, 0.7% Zn) in hole DC23-088, including 32.4 m at 1.0 g/t AuEq (0.53 g/t Au, 0.8% Zn) (0.31 g/t Au, 0.7% Zn) in hole DC23-088, including Eight (8) reconnaissance drill holes were completed across a 1km east-west trend between the Ellis Zone and the East DC prospect area. The holes targeted mapped structures, alteration and mineralization as well as blind geophysical and geological targets that project beneath an area of landslide cover. Significant new zones of quartz-sulphide stockwork veining were intersected in five (5) holes at East DC with anomalous silver-copper geochemistry that warrant additional follow-up. Significant results include: 3.9 m at 97 g/t Ag in hole DC23-075 in hole DC23-075 1.3 m at 2.7% Cu and 23 g/t Ag in hole DC23-076 in hole DC23-076 1.2 m at 1.6% Cu in hole DC23-080 Other Regional Prospects - Double Glacier and South Valley The Company also completed five (5) drillholes for initial testing of the South Valley and Double Glacier prospects 1.5 km and 3 km south of the JT Deposit, respectively. Though no major mineralized intervals were returned in the South Valley and Double Glacier drillholes, the Company did intersect the JT Deposit host dacite volcanic stratigraphy with weakly anomalous values of Au, Ag and Zn, and the same unique nodular anhydrite alteration assemblage which surrounds the JT Deposit. Of additional significance, drill hole DG23-003 retuned a 1.3 m at 2.3% Zn within a mudstone unit at the Double Glacier prospect, highlighting potential for VMS-style mineralization. Further work is planned to follow-up on these drillholes during the 2024 field season. Figure 2. Plan map with 2023 Drill Collar Locations Figure 3. Ellis Zone Schematic Cross-Section Figure 4. Ellis Zone Plan Map Table 1. Significant Assay Intersections from 2023 Drill Program at the Johnson Tract Project Drill Hole Prospect From To Length Au Ag Cu Pb Zn AuEq (meters) (meters) (meters) (g/t) (g/t) % % % (g/t) DC23-069** Ellis Zone 52.2 53.6 1.4 2.05 0.9 0.01 0.08 0.60 2.5 and 185.3 187.6 2.3 0.20 63.2 3.66 0.03 1.18 6.2 Including 185.3 186.8 1.5 0.23 82.6 4.72 0.04 1.77 8.1 DC23-070** Ellis Zone 59.2 61.4 2.2 49.85 24.6 1.50 0.01 8.40 57.0 Including 59.2 60.3 1.1 71.40 29.7 1.51 0.02 11.65 80.5 And 71.4 72.9 1.5 0.34 2.3 0.07 1.17 2.92 2.5 DC23-071 Ellis Zone 67.3 68.7 1.4 4.51 15.9 1.89 1.14 7.02 11.6 And 85.2 86.7 1.5 0.20 2.5 0.26 0.00 3.57 2.7 And 107.7 109.2 1.5 0.40 16.3 1.21 0.01 0.05 2.1 And 170 212 42.0 0.02 0.8 0.12 0.00 1.35 1.0 DC23-072 N Ellis Zone 166.5 168 1.5 0.01 0.9 0.03 0.01 2.62 1.6 And 231.2 234.2 3.0 0.06 1.0 0.11 0.00 1.70 1.2 And 256.7 262.7 6.0 0.02 0.4 0.04 0.02 1.28 0.8 DC23-073 N Ellis Zone 196.6 220.2 23.6 0.03 0.7 0.07 0.13 1.28 0.9 Including 215.8 220.2 4.4 0.02 1.2 0.12 0.01 1.99 1.4 Including 231.7 235.4 3.7 0.02 2.5 0.41 0.36 4.36 3.3 DC23-074 N Ellis Zone No Significant Intersections DC23-075 East DC 230 233.9 3.9 0.11 97.3 0.01 0.01 0.01 1.1 DC23-076 East DC 60.6 61.9 1.3 0.07 22.5 2.68 0.01 0.06 3.7 DC23-077 East DC No Significant Intersections DC23-078 East DC 54.2 58.7 4.5 0.42 10.3 0.70 0.00 0.09 1.5 And 85.4 86.9 1.5 0.09 10.8 0.93 0.00 0.02 1.4 DC23-079 East DC 17.8 18.9 1.1 0.04 8.3 0.78 0.03 1.12 1.8 DC23-080 East DC 51.3 52.5 1.2 0.03 8.1 1.62 0.00 0.01 2.2 DC23-081 East DC 48.1 61.0 12.9 0.03 2.1 0.28 0.00 0.09 0.5 DC23-082 Ellis Zone 17.5 21.4 3.9 0.60 2.1 0.01 0.09 0.21 0.8 Including 17.5 18.5 1.0 1.00 3.0 0.01 0.12 0.28 1.2 And 43.5 47.4 3.9 0.18 2.9 0.04 0.48 0.78 0.9 Including 45.0 46.0 1.0 0.25 3.1 0.06 0.85 1.06 1.2 DC22-083 Ellis Zone 30.1 35.8 5.7 0.26 2.0 0.03 0.11 0.29 0.5 DC22-084 Ellis Zone 38.2 41.0 2.8 0.20 3.2 0.08 0.15 1.50 1.3 DC22-085 East DC 89.0 93.5 4.5 0.05 1.6 0.06 0.03 0.89 0.7 DC22-086 Ellis Zone 63.0 70.5 7.5 0.30 1.7 0.01 0.27 0.95 1.0 Including 63.0 64.5 1.5 0.26 2.2 0.03 0.46 2.64 2.0 DC22-087 Ellis Zone 50.2 97.3 47.1 0.29 1.4 0.03 0.09 0.50 0.7 Including 66.0 97.3 31.3 0.37 1.3 0.02 0.11 0.47 0.7 Including 66.0 67.4 1.4 1.16 1.4 0.03 0.80 2.73 3.1 Including 95.8 97.3 1.5 2.38 2.4 0.01 0.14 0.34 2.7 DC22-088 Ellis Zone 67.9 69.4 1.5 0.00 163.0 0.01 0.18 0.40 1.9 And 81.2 145.3 64.1 0.31 0.0 0.03 0.03 0.67 0.7 Including 97.7 130.1 32.4 0.53 0.0 0.03 0.01 0.76 1.0 Including 103.7 109.2 5.5 1.12 0.4 0.09 0.01 2.04 2.4 Including 108.2 109.2 1.0 1.41 2.1 0.34 0.02 8.68 7.0 GT23-004 JT Geotech 235.4 292.0 56.6 4.87 4.6 0.61 0.32 3.46 7.8 Including 235.4 269.0 33.6 7.93 6.6 0.91 0.51 4.81 12.1 Including 243.0 247.9 4.9 33.03 7.1 1.21 0.02 0.55 35.0 JT23-153 JT SW Ext 144.6 161.1 16.5 0.01 40.7 0.01 0.22 0.66 0.9 Including 144.6 150.6 6.0 <0.01 75.8 0.02 0.38 1.16 1.6 JT23-154 JT SW Ext 209.2 214.0 4.8 0.03 2.4 0.01 0.02 1.47 0.9 And 412.3 413.5 1.2 0.01 1.0 0.24 <0.01 1.49 1.2 JT23-155 South Valley No Significant Intersections JT23-156 South Valley No Significant Intersections DG23-001 Double Glacier No Significant Intersections DG23-002 Double Glacier No Significant Intersections DG23-003 Double Glacier 136.2 137.5 1.3 0.03 3.5 0.04 0.31 2.27 1.6 *True thickness for the reported intersections in holes, where known, ranges from 65% to 95% of the reported width. Gold Equivalent ("AuEq") based on assumed metal prices of US$1650/oz for Au, US$20/oz for Ag, US$3.50/lb for Cu, US$1.00/lb for Pb and US$1.50/lb for Zn and payable metal recoveries of 97% for Au, 85% for Ag, 85% Cu, 72% Pb and 92% Zn. Grade-thickness is the product of multiplying the drilled intercept length by the grade of the intercept. Airborne Geophysical Survey Results A property-wide, 666 line-km airborne Magnetic and EM geophysical survey (MobileMT) was completed by Expert Geophysics in August 2023 to aid in discerning prospective mineralizing systems beneath covered areas. The final results show resistivity data to a depth of 2 km and highlight all the known prospect areas. HighGold is currently awaiting 3D inversions of MobileMT and magnetic data; however, early observations indicate the ability to fingerprint known mineralization, identify new shallow targets, and identify deeper anomalies related to possible porphyry-style systems. HighGold is excited to use these results, combined with previously acquired magnetic and ground IP data, geochemical vectoring work and detailed geology in concert with the results of first pass drilling at new prospect areas to help guide 2024 drill program planning. About the Johnson Tract Gold Project Johnson Tract is a polymetallic (gold, copper, zinc, silver, lead) project located near tidewater, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, USA. The 21,000-acre property includes the high-grade JT Deposit and at least nine (9) other mineral prospects over a 12-kilometer strike length. HighGold acquired the Project through a lease agreement with Cook Inlet Region, Inc. ("CIRI"), one of 12 land-based Alaska Native regional corporations created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. CIRI is owned by more than 9,100 shareholders who are primarily of Alaska Native descent. Mineralization at Johnson Tract occurs in Jurassic intermediate volcaniclastic rocks and is characterized as epithermal-type with submarine volcanogenic attributes. The JT Deposit is a thick, steeply dipping silicified body averaging 40m true thickness that contains a stockwork of quartz-sulphide veinlets and brecciation, cutting through and surrounded by a widespread zone of anhydrite alteration. The Footwall Copper Zone is located structurally and stratigraphically below JT Deposit and is characterized by copper-silver rich mineralization. The JT Deposit hosts an Indicated Resource of 3.489 Mt grading 9.39 g/t gold equivalent ("AuEq") comprised of 5.33 g/t Au, 6.0 g/t Ag, 0.56% Cu, 0.67% Pb and 5.21% Zn. The Inferred Resource of 0.706 Mt grading 4.76 g/t AuEq is comprised of 1.36 g/t Au, 9.1 g/t Ag, 0.59% Cu, 0.30% Pb, and 4.18% Zn. For additional details see NI 43-101 Technical Report titled "Updated Mineral Resource Estimate and NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Johnson Tract Project, Alaska," dated August 25, 2022 (effective date of July 12, 2022) authored by Ray C. Brown, James N. Gray, P.Geo. and Lyn Jones, P.Eng. Gold Equivalent ("AuEq") is based on assumed metal prices and payable metal recoveries of 97% for Au, 85% for Ag, 85% Cu, 72% Pb and 92% Zn from metallurgical testwork completed in 2022. Assumed metal prices for the Resource are US$1650/oz for gold (Au), US$20/oz for silver (Ag), US$3.50/lb for copper (Cu), US$1.00/lb for lead (Pb), and US$1.50/lb for zinc (Zn). About HighGold HighGold is a mineral exploration company focused on advancing the high-grade Johnson Tract Gold-Zinc-Copper Project located in accessible Southcentral Alaska, USA. HighGold's experienced Board and senior management team, are committed to creating shareholder value through the discovery process, careful allocation of capital, and environmentally/socially responsible mineral exploration. Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng., Senior VP Exploration for HighGold Mining Inc. and a qualified person ("QP") as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release. On Behalf of HighGold Mining Inc. "Darwin Green" President & CEO For further information, please visit the HighGold Mining Inc. website at www.highgoldmining.com, or contact: Darwin Green, President & CEO or Nicole Hoeller, VP Corporate Communications Phone: 1-604-629-1165 or North American toll-free 1-855-629-1165 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Website: www.highgoldmining.com Twitter : @HighgoldMining Additional Notes Starting azimuth, dip and final length (Azimuth/-Dip/Length) for the drillholes reported today are noted as follows: DC23-069 (180/60/323m), DC23-070 (180/80/155m), DC23-071 (180/90/236m), DC23-072 (180/55/338m, DC23-073 (180/50/310m), DC23-074 (180/75/176m), DC23-075 (120/45/275m), DC23-076 (340/45/74.6m), DC23-077 (180/50/218m), DC23-078 (340/45/202m), DC23-079 (340/65/203m), DC23-080 (20/45/257.5m), DC23-081 (20/60/166m), DC23-082 (180/90/110m), DC23-083 (180/70/146m), DC23-084 (180/90/110m), DC23-085 (180/45/308m), DC23-086 (170/45/221m), DC23-087 (180/70/221m), DC23-088 (170/50/150m), GT23-004 (292/75/349m), JT23-153 (290/60/346m), JT23-154 (255/60/439m), JT23-155 (290/60/346m), JT23-156 (255/60/439m), DG23-001 (290/45/319m), DG23-002 (280/45/230m), and DG23-003 (320/45/242m) Samples of drill core were cut by a diamond blade rock saw, with half of the cut core placed in individual sealed polyurethane bags and the remaining half of the cut core placed back in the original core box for permanent on-site storage. Sample lengths range from a minimum of 0.5-meter to a maximum of 2.0-meter intervals, with an average sample length of 1.0 to 1.5 meters. The half-cut core samples are then dried for 1-2 days at 50-60 degrees Celsius, crushed to 2mm (>70%) and pulverized to 75 microns (>85%) at the Company's onsite sample preparation facility. The preparation facility was designed under the guidance of expert third-party consultant, Dr. Barry Smee, P.Geo. Sample pulps are individually packaged in paper envelopes and weigh approximately 250 grams each, the sample pulps are then placed inside security-strapped plastic totes in batches of 80-100 samples per tote with each tote weighing about 22-23 kilograms. The samples are then shipped by DHL air freight directly to ALS Geochemistry Analytical Lab facility in North Vancouver, BC for analysis. Gold is determined by fire-assay fusion of a 50-gram sub-sample with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Samples that return values >10 ppm gold from fire assay and AAS are determined by using fire assay and a gravimetric finish. Various metals including silver, gold, copper, lead and zinc are analyzed by inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission spectroscopy, following multi-acid digestion. The elements copper, lead and zinc are determined by ore grade assay for samples that return values >10,000 ppm by ICP analysis. Silver is determined by ore-grade assay for samples that return >100 ppm. ALS Geochemistry meets all requirements of International Standards ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015. ALS Global operates according to the guidelines set out in ISO/IEC Guide 25. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively "forward looking statements"). Forward-Looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's planned drill program and advanced exploration plans are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. 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 are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Company's expectations include actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statement. DALLAS, Nov. 20, 2023 /CNW/ - enCore Energy Corp. (NYSE American: EU) (TSXV: EU) (the "Company" or "enCore") today provides an update from the South Texas Alta Mesa In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Uranium Central Processing Plant (CPP) and Wellfield. Upgrades and refurbishments continue to advance on schedule for the planned 2024 resumption of uranium production1. The Company also announces continuing positive results from the wellfield delineation drill program. Further, planned production for the Rosita CPP continues to advance as projected. At the Alta Mesa CPP, enCore continues work on the refurbishment of the processing circuits. The elution circuit, used to strip uranium from the ion exchange beads, has been completed, and represents a significant milestone in the pathway for production restart. All of the process pumps for the startup IX circuit have been rebuilt and replaced, including the main injection pumps. We anticipate completing the refurbishment of the startup portion of the IX circuit before the end of 2023. The yellowcake processing circuit refurbishment has started with the rebuilding of key components of the yellowcake storage systems and ordering of long lead time items such as the filter press and yellowcake transfer pumps. Refurbishment work commenced on the yellowcake drying system, and that work is expected to be completed just prior to the anticipated production restart date. Within Production Authorization Area 7 (PAA-7), enCore is installing injection and production wells in the wellfield and has received and staged the equipment to install the pipelines to connect the wellfield to the Alta Mesa CPP. All of the necessary equipment for the start-up of production in the PAA-7 wellfield has been received or has been ordered with a confirmed delivery schedule. Paul Goranson, enCore's Chief Executive Officer stated "The uranium spot market is presenting prices that have not been seen since prior to 2011. The driving force for the market is increased demand as supply continues to be constrained, principally due to uranium supply chain challenges created by geopolitical conditions and the projected rapid increase in demand for uranium and nuclear power. At enCore, we are leveraging our experience and resources toward the restart of the Alta Mesa CPP to become a domestic solution to the global uranium demand needs. I am pleased with the progress at Alta Mesa, we are continuing to build a competent team to get the Project to production and look forward to expansion." There are currently six (6) drill rigs in full operation at the Alta Mesa CPP and Wellfield, with contracts pending for three (3) additional rigs. The wellfield drilling operations, delineating the roll front mineralization within PAA-7, which commenced in March 2023, are advancing rapidly with 92 holes drilled since the previous update (September 5, 2023). In total, 367 drill holes have been completed through November 17, 2023. Further refined delineation drilling within the PAA-7 continues to establish the exact pattern of injection and recovery wells from which to maximize production efficiency. To date, eighty-six (86) holes have been cased with seventeen (17) holes completed. Two (2) drill rigs are currently casing with one (1) drill rig focused on completion activities. An additional drill rig will be moving to completion activities in the coming weeks. To view the Alta Mesa CPP and Wellfield maps and the South Texas projects please visit: bit.ly/3fV9fTg. Significant Alta Mesa Wellfield drilling program highlights reported herein include: Drill Hole Goliad Sandstone Horizon Depth (ft) Grade % U 3 O 8 Thickness (feet) Grade Thickness (GT) Total Hole GT 170-92 MCM-1 431.0 0.105 3.5 0.366 LCL-1 526.0 0.110 1.5 0.164 LCL-2 530.5 0.094 3.0 0.282 0.812 171-99 LCU-1 489.5 0.123 2.0 0.247 LCL-1 510.5 0.116 5.0 0.582 0.829 170-110 LCL-1 511.0 0.133 4.0 0.531 0.531 166-114 LCU-1 490.5 0.072 1.5 .108 LCU-2 501.5 0.080 2.5 0.201 LCL-1 505.5 0.160 10.0 1.600 1.909 181-92 LCU-1 496.0 0.244 6.0 1.465 1.465 166-113 LCL-1 499.5 0.186 5.5 1.026 1.026 169-104 MCU-1 419.5 0.138 2.0 0.276 LCU-1 492.5 0.121 2.5 0.303 0.579 168-110 LCU-1 494.0 0.079 3.0 0.237 LCU-2 498.0 0.079 3.5 0.278 0.515 156-115 LCL-1 511.0 0.080 2.5 0.200 LCL-2 516.5 0.452 6.0 2.709 2.909 166-110 LCL-1 511.5 0.169 5.0 0.847 0.847 169-105 LCU-1 493.5 0.084 2.0 0.169 LCU-2 503.0 0.181 6.0 1.088 1.257 176-89 LCU-1 492.0 0.117 6.5 0.759 0.759 175-94 LCU-2 511.5 0.095 5.5 0.520 0.520 162-115 LCL-1 497.5 0.280 3.0 0.840 0.840 172-95 LCU-1 496.5 0.197 2.0 0.394 LCL-1 521.5 0.075 1.5 0.112 0.506 180-92 LCU-1 496.0 0.103 4.5 0.464 0.464 -All intercepts are located in the PAA-7 which hosts mineralization within the Goliad Formation. The Company has identified five saturated (required for ISR), mineralized sandstone horizons within the Goliad Formation lying approximately 400 to 520 feet below the surface. The water level is located approximately 120 feet below the surface. Grade Thickness is Grade % U 3 O 8 multiplied by the thickness of the mineralization. Alta Mesa In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Uranium Central Processing Plant ("Alta Mesa CPP") & Wellfield The Alta Mesa CPP and Wellfield hosts a fully licensed and constructed ISR uranium plant, located on 200,000+ acres of private land in the state of Texas. Alta Mesa will be enCore's second producing location following planned resumption of uranium production at the South Texas Rosita Uranium Processing Plant ("Rosita") scheduled for 2023. Total operating capacity at the Alta Mesa CPP is 1.5 million lbs. U 3 O 8 (uranium) per year. The Alta Mesa CPP historically produced nearly 5 million lbs. U 3 O 8 between 2005 and 2013, when full production was curtailed as a result of low uranium prices. Alta Mesa CPP and Wellfield highlights: The Alta Mesa CPP is enCore's third fully licensed production facility, along with the Rosita CPP and Kingsville Dome CPP, all located in the business-friendly state of Texas . There are only eleven (11) licensed and constructed uranium production facilities in all of the United States (US); . There are only eleven (11) licensed and constructed uranium production facilities in all of (US); Advancing the Alta Mesa CPP, in conjunction with planned production in 2023 at the Rosita CPP, will cement enCore Energy's position as the early leader in In-Situ Recovery (ISR) uranium production in the United States ; ; Alta Mesa CPP's operations are located on private land, with 100% of minerals privately owned, and in a supportive jurisdiction with primary regulatory authority residing with the State of Texas ; ; The Alta Mesa CPP utilizes well-known ISR technology to extract uranium in a non-invasive process using natural groundwater and oxygen, coupled with a proven ion exchange process, to recover the uranium. Alta Mesa & Mestena Grande Mineral Resource Summary (0.30 GT cut-off)1,2 Tons Avg. Grade (% U 3 O 8 ) Pounds Total Measured Mineral Resource1 54,000 0.152 164,000 Alta Mesa Indicated Mineral Resource 1,397,000 0.106 2,959,000 Mestena Grande Indicated Mineral Resource 119,000 0.120 287,000 Total Measured & Indicated Resources 1,570,000 0.109 3,410,000 Alta Mesa Inferred Mineral Resource 1,263,000 0.126 3,192,000 Mestena Grande Inferred Mineral Resource 5,733,000 0.119 13,601,000 Total Inferred Resources 6,996,000 0.120 16,793,000 1,2 Represents that portion of the in-place mineral resource that are estimated to be recoverable within existing wellfields. Wellfield recovery factors have not been applied to indicated and inferred mineral resources. As reported in the NI-43-101 Technical Report Summary for the Alta Mesa Uranium Project, Brooks and Jim Hogg Counties, Texas, USA completed by Doug Beahm, PE, PG, of BRS Engineering. (Effective January 19, 2023). The Company advises that it is not basing its production decisions at Alta Mesa CPP or Rosita CPP on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. The production decision is based on known past In-Situ Recovery (ISR) and processing operations at these two production facilities and surrounding lands. However, the Company understands that there is increased uncertainty, and consequently a higher risk of failure, when production is undertaken in advance of a feasibility study. The Company has determined to proceed with a production decision based on past operations at the Alta Mesa CPP and Rosita CPP, including past ISR operations in the known mineral resource areas. John M. Seeley, Ph.D., P.G., C.P.G., enCore's Manager of Geology and Exploration, and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure in this news release on behalf of the Company. The Company also advises that Mr. Gregory Zerzan has resigned his position with the Company. The Company thanks Mr. Zerzan for his service and wishes him well in his future endeavors. About enCore Energy Corp. enCore Energy Corp., America's Clean Energy Company, is committed to providing clean, reliable, and affordable domestic nuclear energy by becoming the next United States uranium producer in 2023. enCore solely utilizes In-Situ Recovery (ISR) for uranium extraction, a well-known and proven technology co-developed by the leaders at enCore Energy. In-Situ Recovery extracts uranium in a non-invasive process using natural groundwater and oxygen, coupled with a proven ion exchange process, to recover the uranium. Uranium production is planned at enCore's licensed and past-producing South Texas Rosita Central Processing Plant (CPP) in 2023, and at its licensed and past-producing South Texas Alta Mesa CPP in 2024. Future projects in enCore's production pipeline include the Dewey-Burdock project in South Dakota and the Gas Hills project in Wyoming, along with significant uranium resource endowments in New Mexico providing long term opportunities. The enCore team is led by industry experts with extensive knowledge and experience in all aspects of ISR uranium operations and the nuclear fuel cycle. enCore diligently works to realize value from other owned assets, including our proprietary uranium database that includes technical information from many past producing companies, from our various non-core assets, and by leveraging our ISR expertise in researching opportunities that support the use of this technology as applied to other metals. enCore is also committed to working with local communities and indigenous governments to create positive impact from corporate developments. 1 EU News Release - May 18, 2023 www.encoreuranium.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements Certain information contained in this news release, including: any information relating to the Company being a leading uranium company, statements regarding future or potential production, and any other statements regarding future expectations, beliefs, goals or prospects; may constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws and regulations (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements in this news release that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "expects", "is expected", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken) should be considered forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are subject to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; future legislative and regulatory developments; the ability of enCore to implement its business strategies; including commencement of production at Rosita and Alta Mesa in the planned time frames or at all; and other risks. A number of important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated or implied by such forward-looking statements, including without limitation exploration and development risks, changes in commodity prices, access to skilled mining personnel, the results of exploration and development activities; production risks; uninsured risks; regulatory risks; defects in title; the availability of materials and equipment, timeliness of government approvals and unanticipated environmental impacts on operations; litigation risks; risks posed by the economic and political environments in which the Company operates and intends to operate; increased competition; assumptions regarding market trends and the expected demand and desires for the Company's products and proposed products; reliance on industry equipment manufacturers, suppliers and others; the failure to adequately protect intellectual property; the failure to adequately manage future growth; adverse market conditions, the failure to satisfy ongoing regulatory requirements and factors relating to forward looking statements listed above which include risks as disclosed in the Company's annual information form filings. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this communication, except as required by law. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings by the Company with the various securities commissions which are available online at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations, beliefs and plans of management. Such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes and readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, that speak only as of the date hereof, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pan American Energy Corp. (CSE:PNRG) (OTC PINK: PAANF) (FRA: SS60) ("Pan American" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its inaugural mineral resource estimate ("MRE") on its Horizon Lithium Project (the "Project") in Big Smoky Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada. The MRE was completed pursuant to the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101). The Horizon Lithium Project is one of the largest land packages in the Tonopah Lithium Belt, encompassing 839 unpatented lode claims covering approximately 17,334 acres. Pan American holds its interest in the Project pursuant to a property option agreement (the Property Option Agreement) entered into with the owner of the Project, Horizon Lithium LLC, which allows Pan American to explore the Project and to earn a 100% interest in the Project by making certain cash payments and share issuances to Horizon Lithium LLC. The MRE was completed by RESPEC, LLC (RESPEC), a leader in lithium claystone resource estimations and engineering design work, utilizing the results of the Companys 20-hole exploratory drill program, which had totalled approximately 4,371.6 metres. RESPEC has also been engaged to prepare a technical report on the Project containing the full results of the Companys drill program and the MRE (the Technical Report). Pursuant to NI 43-101, the Company will file the Technical Report within 45 days of the date hereof on the Companys SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Highlights One of the largest identified lithium deposits in the U.S. with an estimated Indicated Mineral Resource of 1,325 Lithium Carbonate Equivalent ( LCE ) Kilo tonnes ( KTonnes ) and Inferred Mineral Resource of 8,879 LCE KTonnes, with an average grade of 678 ppm lithium ( Li ) (see table below for additional details regarding the calculation of the MRE and the average Li grades for the Inferred Mineral Resources and Indicated Mineral Resources). with an estimated Indicated Mineral Resource of 1,325 Lithium Carbonate Equivalent ( ) Kilo tonnes ( ) and Inferred Mineral Resource of 8,879 LCE KTonnes, with an average grade of 678 ppm lithium ( ) (see table below for additional details regarding the calculation of the MRE and the average Li grades for the Inferred Mineral Resources and Indicated Mineral Resources). High-Grade Mineral Resources. Estimates were calculated based on a conservative 300 ppm Li cut-off within an optimized pit. Estimates were calculated based on a conservative 300 ppm Li cut-off within an optimized pit. Rapid advancement in a short timeframe. The MRE is based on 20 diamond drill holes completed in 2023, within a year of the Company acquiring rights to the Project pursuant to the Property Option Agreement. One hole was abandoned due to hole conditions and was not used in the MRE. The MRE is based on 20 diamond drill holes completed in 2023, within a year of the Company acquiring rights to the Project pursuant to the Property Option Agreement. One hole was abandoned due to hole conditions and was not used in the MRE. Significant expansion potential through step-out drilling to extend the deposit to the North West, South, East and West and at greater depths. The Company is actively evaluating geophysical exploration techniques and Phase 3 drill planning. through step-out drilling to extend the deposit to the North West, South, East and West and at greater depths. The Company is actively evaluating geophysical exploration techniques and Phase 3 drill planning. Accelerated project engineering. The work necessary to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment ( PEA ) for the Project, including metallurgical assessment, is underway and expected to be completed in Q4-2024. The work necessary to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment ( ) for the Project, including metallurgical assessment, is underway and expected to be completed in Q4-2024. Access and infrastructure. The Project benefits from an ideal location near essential infrastructure and the town of Tonopah with limited impediments (i.e. no highway intersects impacting pit design). The Project sits immediately adjacent to American Battery Technologys (ABTC) Tonopah Flats project, with a mineral resource estimate of 15.8 million tonnes of Inferred LCE mineral resources[1]. The mineral resource estimate completed by ABTC for its Tonopah Flats project was also prepared by RESPEC and was completed in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation S-K 1300. The Projects resource block model and tabulation was completed based on the data collected from 20 drill holes which were completed during 2023. Mineral domains were interpreted on 450-meter cross sections, solidified into 3D solids, and coded into the model as lithium domain percentages. The lithium grades were interpolated by inverse-distance at a power of 2 by using the lithium domain percentages to assist in constraining the grade estimation. The resource estimate has also been constrained by pit optimization to determine a shape and cut-off grade in order to meet the requirement of reasonable prospects for economic extraction. The MRE is summarized below: Table 1. Mineral Resource Estimate for the Horizon Lithium Project Classification Cut-off (ppm Li) Total KTonnes Average Grade (ppm Li) Li KTonnes LCE KTonnes Indicated 300 372,845 669 249 1,325 Inferred 300 2,453,963 680 1,668 8,879 Notes: The MRE was done by RESPEC in metric tonnes. Mineral Resources comprised all model blocks at a 300 ppm Li cut-off within an optimized pit. Mineral Resources within the optimized pit are block-diluted tabulations. In order to describe the resource in terms of industry standard lithium carbonate equivalent, a conversion factor of 5.323 was used to convert elemental lithium to LCE. 20 drillholes were drilled, however only 20 holes were used in the MRE as one hole was abandoned due to loss circulation issues. An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to Measured and Indicated Resources and must not be converted to Mineral Reserves. It is reasonably expected that most of the Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration. Mineral Resources potentially amenable to open pit mining methods are reported using a lithium carbonate price of US$20,000/tonne, a throughput rate of 10,800 Ktonnes/day, assumed metallurgical recoveries of 66%, mining costs of US$2.20/tonne mined, processing costs of US$14.12/tonne processed and general and administrative costs of $0.42/tonne processed. The results from the pit optimization are used solely for the purpose of testing the "reasonable prospects for economic extraction" by an open pit and do not represent an attempt to estimate mineral reserves. There are no mineral reserves on the Project. The results are used as a guide to assist in the preparation of the MRE and to select an appropriate resource reporting cut-off grade. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issues. The effective date of the MRE is November 15, 2023. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate and numbers may not add due to rounding. Jason Latkowcer, Chief Executive Officer of Pan American, commented, "This initial mineral resource estimate marks the most important milestone to date for our Company, highlighting the identification of a large scale and high-grade lithium deposit with significant future potential right here in North America. The past year has been an impressive demonstration of how quickly our team has been able to meet operational objectives. Within less than a year, our drilling efforts led to a tremendous discovery of a cluster of lithium mineralization and the inaugural mineral resource estimate on the Project one of the largest in the United States. I commend our team and contractors. Our execution strategy is to advance the Project through engineering as quickly as possible, while concurrently working to expand and upgrade the mineral resources at the Project. We will also consider prospective acquisition targets in the area in order to enhance our land package. We look forward continuing to deliver results. Tabetha Stirrett, P.Geo., consulting geologist of RESPEC, independent consultant of the Company, commented, "This maiden NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate is a major achievement for Pan American and I am very proud of what our exploration team has done to support this accomplishment in such a short period of time. Pan American have established a strong foundation to build upon, and we are focused on continuing to help them grow their lithium resources significantly over the next 6 to 12 months. The team is currently planning geophysical exploration work and additional infill holes that have the potential to expand the mineralization. Figure 1 The Project boundary, 20 exploratory drillholes used in the MRE, and the Mineral Resource body showing unexplored areas to the west, northwest, east and south. Details related to the calculation of the MRE The MRE was prepared by Tabetha Stirrett, P. Geo. (the "Author" or "QP") with an effective date of November 15, 2023. This estimate is the inaugural Mineral Resource Estimate produced by Pan American since the Company acquired rights to the Project pursuant to the Property Option Agreement. The MRE was estimated using the following geological and resource block modeling parameters which are based on geological interpretations, geostatistical studies, and best practices in mineral estimation. The QP is not aware of any factors or issues that materially affect the MRE other than normal risks faced by mining projects in the area of the Project in terms of environmental, permitting, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, and political factors, and the additional risk factors normally associated with the estimation of inferred mineral resources. The Project geology is comprised of sedimentary rocks of the Siebert Formation deposited by lacustrine, fluvial, and volcanic processes during the middle Miocene epoch. The Siebert Formation is overlain in varying amounts by sedimentary and volcaniclastic sands and gravels sourced from the surrounding terrain. Drilling conducted by Pan American included diamond core drilling of HQ size ( 63.5 mm diameter). mm diameter). Diamond core has been sampled in intervals of 1.52 m where possible. 2,311 core samples have been collected and submitted for analysis. Duplicate samples, pulp and coarse blank samples, and certified reference material used as standard samples were submitted for QA/QC analysis. m where possible. core samples have been collected and submitted for analysis. Duplicate samples, pulp and coarse blank samples, and certified reference material used as standard samples were submitted for QA/QC analysis. Geochemical analysis of drill core samples was conducted by ALS Global in Reno, Nevada where they were analyzed for a 48-element suite via ICP-MS following four acid digestion. ALS is independent of the Company. The MRE was estimated from the diamond drill holes completed by Pan American since February 2023 . A total of 20 drill holes comprising 2,311 assays were used for the mineral resources model. . A total of 20 drill holes comprising assays were used for the mineral resources model. The 3D modelling of the Mineral Resources was conducted using a minimum grade of 60 ppm Li within a preliminary lithological model. The Li-grade distribution was analyzed on a population distribution graph and three grade populations were identified for modeling purposes. These populations were used in conjunction with geologic characteristics to generate 2D mineral domain interpretations on 450-m cross sections. The 2D mineral domains were used to generate 3D mineralized solids. Volume percentages of these solids were coded into the block model and applied to the interpolation of Li grades to constrain the estimation. The interpolation was conducted using Inverse Distance Squared (ID2) methodology with two interpolation passes for each mineral domain. The block model was defined by a block size of 30 m long by 30 m wide by 10 m thick and covers a strike length of approximately 10,800 m to a maximal vertical depth of 870 m below surface. m to a maximal vertical depth of 870 m below surface. The MRE was classified as Indicated or Inferred Mineral Resources based on data quality, sample spacing, and mineral domain continuity. Mineral Resources were defined using a search ellipsoid 1,000 m by 1,000 m by 250 m. m by m by m. Classification focused on spatial relation using a minimum of 1 composite within a maximum isotropic distance of 200 m to a block for the Indicated Mineral Resources. Validation has proven that the block model fairly reflects the underlying data inputs. Variability over distance is relatively moderate to low for this deposit type, therefore the maximum classification level is Indicated Mineral Resources. Mineralization at the deposit extends to surface and is expected to be suitable for open cut mining. No minimum mining width was applied. Internal mining dilution is limited to internal barren host rock intervals within the mineralized claystone intervals. Based on these assumptions, it is considered that there are no mining factors which are likely to affect the assumption that the deposit has reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. It is the QP's opinion that the current classification used is adequate and reliable for this type of mineralization and mineral resource estimate. Mineral Resources were constrained within the boundaries of an optimized pit shell using the following constraints: Concentrate price: USD$20,000/t; mining costs: USD$2.20/t ROM; Processing costs: USD14.12/t ROM, General/Admin: USD$0.42/t ROM, Lithium Recovery: 66%. The MRE reported is a pit-constrained estimate with reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction. About Pan American. Pan American Energy Corp. (CSE: PNRG) (OTC PINK: PAANF) (FSE: SS60) is an exploration stage company engaged principally in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties containing battery metals in North America. The Company executed an option agreement in Canada with Magabra Resources, providing for the right to acquire up to a 90% interest in the drill-ready Big Mack Lithium Project 80 km north of Kenora, Ontario. The Company has also entered into a Property Option Agreement with Horizon Lithium LLC, providing for the right to acquire a 100% interest in the Horizon Lithium Project, located within Esmeralda County Tonopah Lithium Belt, Nevada, USA. Qualified Persons The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Tabetha Stirrett, P.Geo, who is a consulting geologist of RESPEC, an independent consultant of the Company, and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by NI 43-101. In accordance with the guidelines outlined in NI 43-101, Section 3.2, the geological information presented herein is based on extensive fieldwork, drilling campaigns, and laboratory analyses conducted by qualified persons in compliance with the CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. Data Verification: The data presented in this press release have undergone a comprehensive verification process to ensure accuracy and reliability. The verification procedures were conducted by qualified professionals with relevant expertise in geological and mining disciplines, and were overseen by the Qualified Person. Data Collection and Compilation All raw data, including geological, drilling, and analytical data, were collected and compiled from various sources, including fieldwork, drilling campaigns, and laboratory analyses. Data compilation involved a meticulous review to identify and rectify any inconsistencies or errors in the dataset. QA/QC Procedures: Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures were implemented throughout the data collection process. Standard QA/QC measures, including the insertion of certified reference materials, duplicate samples, and blanks, were employed during drilling and sampling campaigns. Regular checks and audits were conducted to monitor and address any deviations from established QA/QC protocols. MRE Verification The project's mineral resource estimation heavily depended on explicitly modeling lithium mineralization domains in cross-sections. This practical approach ensured a thorough verification of the data, meticulously assessing the continuity and significance of geological variables and assays within that context. Limitations on the Verification Process Despite rigorous verification efforts, it is essential to acknowledge certain limitations associated with the data verification process: Sampling Variability While QA/QC measures were implemented to address sampling variability, inherent variability in geological and mineralization characteristics may introduce uncertainties in the dataset. Geological Complexity The property's geological setting may pose challenges in terms of interpretation and verification. Unknown geological structures and mineralization patterns could introduce uncertainties despite verification efforts. It is crucial to note that, despite these limitations, every effort has been made to minimize potential biases and inaccuracies in the data. Qualified Persons have exercised their professional judgment to mitigate these limitations and ensure the reliability of the information presented in this report. Contact: Phone : (587) 885-5970 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-statements." Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or developments to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to: the prospectivity of the Project; the expectation that Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources; the ability of the Company to continue to deliver similar results in the future; the ability of the Company to produce a PEA; the economic viability of the Project; the mineralization and development of the Project; the Company's exploration program and other mining projects and prospects thereof; the Company's future plans; the completion and filing of the Technical Report; and the impacts of environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing and other factors relevant to the Project and the Companys activities. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Information and links in this press release relating to other mineral resource companies are from their sources believed to be reliable, but that have not been independently verified by the Company. The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein. [1] Information regarding the mineral resource estimate for ABTCs Tonopah Flats project was taken from the Technical Report Summary for the Tonopah Flats Lithium Project, Esmeralda and NYE Counties, Nevada, USA prepared for ABTC by RESPEC with an effective date of November 8, 2022, which report is publicly available. Readers are cautioned that this report was prepared in accordance with the disclosure requirements of the US Securities and Exchange Commission under subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K, which differ significantly from the requirements of NI 43-101 applicable to the Company and Horizon. Readers are further cautioned that the information included in this press release regarding ABTCs Tonopah Flats project, and specifically the mineral resource estimate prepared for this project, is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization of Horizon. A Ukrainian orphan taken from Mariupol after Russian forces captured the Ukrainian city in the first weeks of its invasion has returned home, Kyiv said Sunday. The case of Bogdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, made international headlines after Russia issued him a draft summons to report for mandatory military conscription ahead of his 18th birthday. Kyiv said he had made it back to Ukraine after a series of negotiations involving officials in Moscow, Kyiv and Belarus. "Our team managed to bring home Bogdan Yermokhin, a Ukrainian boy who was taken by Russia from occupied Mariupol to the Moscow region," said Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, on Sunday. The Kremlin has been accused of illegally transferring thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin over the alleged deportations. Yermokhin's return was brokered by Qatar and the UN children's agency UNICEF, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said in a social media post. He also published a photo of Yermokhin holding a Ukrainian flag at the border. "It was a thorny path. Bogdan went through a lot while in Russia, but despite everything he wanted to be home! Today his wish has come true," Lubinets said. Yermokhin -- who was previously caught by Russia trying to escape back to Ukraine via Belarus -- had appealed to Zelensky for help. Russia's children's commissioner, Maria Lvova Belova -- also wanted by the ICC -- had said several times this year that Yermokhin wanted to stay in Russia, but was being pressured by Ukraine to return home. She later said he had "changed his mind". On Sunday she also confirmed that Yermokhin had been transferred to Ukraine via Belarus. Kyiv says it has identified 20,000 Ukrainian children who were forcibly taken to Russia after its forces invaded last February. Around 400 have since been returned. Qatar is hoping to play a key role in facilitating more children being returned. Last month it brokered the return of four Ukrainian children, including a two-year-old boy. "Our team is continuing to work," Ukraine's Lubinets said Sunday. "The task is to bring all Ukrainians home." The level of violence ravaging Gaza in recent days is unfathomable, the UN rights chief said Sunday, with attacks on schools harbouring displaced people and a hospital turned into a "death zone". "The horrendous events of the past 48 hours in Gaza beggar belief," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement. He spoke as the World Health Organization scrambled to evacuate the last remaining patients and staff from the Al-Shifa hospital, with UN officials describing the Palestinian territory's largest health facility, raided last week by Israeli troops, as a "death zone". Elsewhere in northern Gaza, a Hamas health official said more than 80 people were killed on Saturday in twin strikes on Jabalia refugee camp, including on a UN school sheltering displaced people. "The killing of so many people at schools turned shelters, hundreds fleeing for their lives from Al-Shifa Hospital, amid continuing displacement of hundreds of thousands in southern Gaza, are actions which fly in the face of the basic protections civilians must be afforded under international law," Turk said. He described the images purportedly taken in the aftermath of the reported Israeli strike on the UN-run Al-Fakhura school as "horrifying", and "clearly showing large numbers of women, children and men severely wounded or killed". - 'May constitute war crimes' - The UN rights chief pointed out that in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the Israeli military "are dropping leaflets demanding residents go to unspecified "recognised shelters", even as strikes take place across Gaza". "Irrespective of warnings, Israel is obliged to protect civilians wherever they are", he said, pointing to the principles under international law of distinction, proportionality and precautions when carrying out attacks. "Failure to adhere to these rules may constitute war crimes," Turk said. Gaza official Turk said at least three other schools hosting displaced people had also been attacked in the past 48 hours. "The pain, dread, and fear etched on the faces of children, women and men is too much to bear," he said. "How much more violence, bloodshed and misery will it take before people come to their senses? How many more civilians will be killed? "Humanity must come first," he said, stressing the desperate need for a ceasefire "now". Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after its militants carried out unprecedented attacks inside Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking some 240 people hostage, according to Israeli officials. The army's relentless air and ground campaign has since killed 12,300 people, most of them civilians, including more than 5,000 children, according to the Hamas government which has ruled Gaza since 2007. The Ukrainian army said Sunday it has pushed Russian forces back "three to eight kilometres" from the banks of Dnipro river, which if confirmed would be the first meaningful advance by Kyiv's forces months into a disappointing counteroffensive. Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the vast waterway in the southern Kherson region for more than a year, after Russia withdrew its troops from the western bank last November. Ukraine has staged multiple attempts to cross and hold positions on the Russian-controlled side -- with officials in Kyiv finally reporting a "successful" breakthrough last week. "Preliminary figures vary from three to eight kilometres, depending on the specifics, geography and landscape of the left bank," army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk told Ukrainian television Sunday when asked how much progress Kyiv had made. She did not specify how many troops or what equipment Ukraine had on the eastern side of the Dnipro. "We have a lot of work to do," Gumenyuk said. "The enemy still continues artillery fire," she added, estimating that "several tens of thousands" of Russian troops were in the area. The battle comes after Kyiv's much-awaited summer counteroffensive had largely fizzled, with just a handful of tiny villages retaken. A bridgehead on the east bank of the Dnipro could allow a deeper offensive in the south, though it would require deploying more men and armour into the challenging marshy conditions. Pushing Russia back from the river's shores would also offer protection to Ukrainian towns and villages facing relentless Russian shelling. - Drone attacks - A Russian artillery attack on the city of Kherson injured five people on Sunday, including a three-year-old child, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said. Shelling on the northeastern Sumy region on Sunday evening killed one civilian, Ukraine's Prosecutor General said. Russia has issued a number of contradictory statements regarding its own operations around the Dnipro. The defence ministry has appeared to reject the claims that Ukraine has gained a foothold, but a Russian-installed official in the occupied Kherson region conceded that Ukraine was holding positions in at least one village on the river's eastern shores. Moscow did not comment on the situation on the eastern bank in a daily military briefing on Sunday. AFP was not able to independently verify the claims made by officials. Meanwhile, drone attacks, a defining characteristic of the war, have intensified this week. Both of the capitals, Kyiv and Moscow, were targeted Saturday night, though both sides claimed to have intercepted most of the drones and no victims were reported. After a spate of attacks earlier this year, Ukrainian drones have rarely targeted the Russian capital in recent months. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said a drone was shot down outside the city in the early hours of Sunday morning. Russia's defence ministry said its own drones hit a fuel depot in Ukraine's central Kirovograd region and an ammunition warehouse near the capital. Kyiv said it shot down 15 of 20 Russian drones, while Moscow claimed to have destroyed 31 Ukrainian drones. - Ukrainian orphan returns home - Oleksiy Kuleba, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office said Sunday Kyiv was boosting the number of "mobile groups" that could "combat" the wave of Russian drone attacks. A day earlier, the Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 38 Iranian-made Shahed drones at its territory -- the most in a single night since late September. Zelensky said Saturday night he expected Russia to increase attacks on Ukraine's energy system in a bid to paralyse the heat and power supply. "The closer we get to winter, the more Russian attempts will be made to make the strikes more powerful," Zelensky said in his daily address. He called on his army to be "100 percent effective, despite all the difficulties, despite all the fatigue". On the diplomatic front, Russia's Vesti TV announced that President Vladimir Putin will take part in a virtual G20 leaders' summit on Wednesday, after skipping the main in-person meeting in New Delhi in September. Kyiv also said Sunday that a teenage Ukrainian orphan taken from Mariupol by Russian forces in the first weeks of the invasion had returned home. The case of Bogdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, made headlines after Russia issued him a draft summons to report for mandatory military conscription ahead of his 18th birthday. Ukraine says it has identified 20,000 children taken by Russia at the start of the invasion -- only around 400 have since returned. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Russia's children's commissioner in March over the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children. Together with many other countries across the world, [we have] referred this whole Israeli government action to the International Criminal Court, said South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, on a visit to Qatar last week. The following Friday a press release from ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced that he had received a referral of the situation in Palestine from five member states of the Court: South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros, and Djibouti. This was the latest indication of a number of states beginning to flex their diplomatic muscles over the way that Israel has conducted its war in the Gaza Strip. With more than 10,000 Palestinians reported dead, apocalyptic scenes of destruction around Gaza City and a population suffering in the south with very limited humanitarian aid, some world leaders have become increasingly critical of Israels right to pursue the infrastructure and fighters behind the surprise Hamas attack on October 7 that left 1200 Israelis dead and more than 200 taken hostage. The ICC prosecutors response so far has been to make his position known through limited media statements outlining his offices jurisdiction and warning all parties of potential prosecution. Shane Darcy, deputy director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights in the School of Law at the University of Galway, notes Khan deploys very, very flowery language in these pieces and while he puts the parties on notice that there are legal obligations, it's very, very heavy on the rhetoric. Theres no sense of increased activity in the investigation. Since that officially opened in 2021 after five years of preliminary examination the ICC has been regularly cajoled and criticised by human rights activists for its very slow approach. The state of Palestine has both referred the full situation to the court in 2015 and continued to lobby the prosecutor, delivering reams of analysis of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes. Palestinian NGOs have provided countless reports and documented human rights violations. Butthe court has been something of a cold house for Palestine, says Darcy. In its latest report on outreach in Palestine the courts registry describes the frustration of victims expressed to their legal representatives : Clients have been profoundly disappointed, even before the current crisis, at the complete absence of the Court. Yet, against the pressure, the prosecutor is still calling on the parties to comply with international humanitarian law, rather than declaring his readiness to proceed. You're the person that is the gatekeeper to the ICC in this context, because you already have an active investigation, says Darcy, the ball is literally in your court now. There's no reason not to proceed in a legal sense, he continues, I think it could, in fact, be the death knell for the court if we don't see action in this particular context. Why South Africa is leading the charge Belgium has declared its intention to provide more funding to the ICC, and Ireland has shown support. But outside of that small group of Global North states, most diplomatic unease has come from Global South countries. The comparison is striking with the reaction to Russian aggression against Ukraine, says Alonso Gurmendi Dunkelberg, lecturer in international relations at Londons Kings College, where 43 states referred the matter to the ICC. He believes that this may be an opportunity for Global South states to use their increased political power to become international law enforcers. This is now a moment of crux, like a crossroads for the Global South. Every single member of these emerging powers, he says, has a history of colonialism and dealing with imperialism and they have seen how more powerful states have argued the rules only apply to me and not to you. Brazil is an example, he says, of principled reaction opposing disproportionate harm against civilians by Israel which has seen them actively promoting resolutions at the U.N. Security Council on Israels actions. This is part of the transition from quote unquote, small country to emerging power, Gurmendi says. Gerhard Kemp, professor of criminal law at UWE Bristol law School, agrees that Ramaphosas ruling party in South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC), has certainly regarded international law as a tool that they can use to restructure the power structures of the world. One common theme has always been the matter of consistency and Western hypocrisy. South Africas position has drawn from its traditional support for liberation movements. The ANC has a very long history of supporting the Palestinian cause, so it has to be seen through that prism, says Kemp. Kemp anticipated South Africas latest move to build up a group of like-minded states, as we've seen last year with [those] taking the matter of Ukraine in support of the ICC jurisdiction. But such a movement would not have access to the resources that the United Kingdom and European states have been able to offer the Prosecutor in his efforts to investigate Ukraine. Double standards The key assessment of the ICCs seriousness of approach will be to see concrete action, says Kemp. The prosecutors recent op-ed suggested that his standard for issuing indictments would be if the evidence reaches the threshold of realistic prospect of conviction. That is the promise he had campaigned on to be elected by ICC member states as prosecutor. But that's not the standard that he is required to apply by the Rome Statute, Darcy points out, and I haven't seen evidence that's the standard that was applied in applying for arrest warrants in Georgia or in his statement on welcoming the arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Belova. Inevitably that makes observers concerned: I'm curious as to whether he is setting himself up not to be able to issue an arrest warrant in some ways, says Darcy. In addition, Khans decision to deprioritise his offices investigations of alleged US crimes in Afghanistan and his predecessors decision on alleged UK crimes in Iraq reinforces fears that he may not be prepared to stand up to those powers, says Darcy. I think it'll be highly problematic for the future of the court if it does not proceed in this context, given the longstanding nature of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the longstanding occupation. We see the language of apartheid being used in recent years; we now see ethnic cleansing, we see talk of risks of genocide taking place as well. Palestine really is the final test for a country like South Africa, agrees Kemp. If this time around, there's going to be no action, then I think it's difficult to see if even South Africa would stay on in the ICC. Palestine is a make or break case study. In recent days there has been an additional flurry of public announcements of communications from NGOs, both Palestine-based and from Europe and the United States, aimed at pressurising the court. In fact Khan has noted that his office now has a significant volume of information and evidence, including material submitted via the recently established secure platform called OTP Link. "Strong Girl Namsoon" episode 14 made an unexpected full turn as Byeon Woo Seok unleashed his anger towards Lee Yoo Mi. As the story hit the climactic plot, the JTBC series rose with a significant increase in rating. 'Strong Girl Namsoon' Episode 14 Fails to Beat the Show's Personal Best In a report, Neilsen Korea recorded an average nationwide rating of 9 percent for "Strong Girl Namsoon" episode 14. The November 19 broadcast took first place in its time slot across all cable channels. Although it did not surpass the show's personal best of 9.76, it is still a huge increase from its previous rating of 7.4 percent. 'Strong Girl Namsoon' Episode 14 Recap The 14th episode continues with Ryu Shi Oh finding out about Kang Nam Soon's secret. He was devastated and, at the same time, furious, knowing that Tsetseg is Kang Nam Soon, the daughter of his mortal enemy, Hwang Geum Joo. READ MORE: 'Strong Girl Namsoon' Sequel Soon? JTBC Hints at Another Spin-Off After Lee Yoo Mi's Drama Realizing that he was fooled by Kang Nam Soon and her mother, he plans to hurt the people related to their family as well as the investigation. Speaking of the probe, the authorities are looking into Doogo and Ryu Shi Oh's connection with the drug case after Secretary Jung Na Young exposed the secrets of the CEO, including how Doogo and Madam Kim control 100 percent of the antidote. With this, authorities, together with the team of Kang Hee Shik, launched an investigation against Ryu Shi Oh. On the other hand, Ryu Shi Oh's allies, including the commissioner, are trying to find dirt on Hweang Geum Joo, but they failed. Knowing that Hwnag Geum Joo was getting the upper hand, Ryu Shi Oh went on a rampage, killing the commisioner and Hwa Ja or Lee Myung Hee. Ryu Shi Oh gets back at her after she failed to tell him the truth about Tsetseg and Kang Nam Soon. To send Nam Soon a signal that he already knew about her secret, Ryu Shi Oh sent her a message using Hwa Ja's phone, telling her about her death. "You are next," Ryu Shi Oh told Nam Soon. At this point, he still couldn't believe that the only person he trusted had betrayed him and made a fool of him. As for Kang Nam Soon, she is ready for vengeance and will make sure that Ryu Shi Oh will pay back what he has done. Meanwhile, the whole family of Nam Soon and Hwa Geum Joo left Seoul as they planned their next move against Ryu Shi Oh. Will they be able to win against the viscous Doogo CEO? IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Lee Yoo Mi Reacts to Comments on Why Her Character in 'Strong Girl Namsoon' Speaks Informally For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article Written by Geca Wills Press Release November 20, 2023 Villar calls on the public to patronize our products Sen. Cynthia Villar has cited the importance of buying our own local products to help build a strong economy. Speaking during the Association of Laguna Food Processors (ALAFOP) Calabarzon Food Solutions Hub (CFoSH) in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, and Villar encouraged everyone to patronize the one-stop shop for Laguna local products. She also asked them to support small businesses and the Association of Laguna Food Processors (ALAFOP). She acknowledged ALAFOP for creating a group of processed food manufacturers in order to strengthen their forces. They now have 79 members since it was created in 2009 with only 12 members. "They intend to give jobs and additional income to our people in Laguna," said Villar. They have coconut virgin oil, coconut sugar, mulberry wine, mulberry jam, mulberry juice, coconut skim milk, lemongrass hydrosol, lemongrass oil, Filipino snacks at deserts, and turmeric beverages at turmeric powder. "The products of members of Market MSMEs should be accessible to more and bigger markets," further said the senator. Villar calls on the public to patronize our products. Sen. Cynthia Villar has cited the importance of buying our own local products to help build a strong economy. Speaking during the Association of Laguna Food Processors (ALAFOP) Calabarzon Food Solutions Hub (CFoSH) in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, and Villar encouraged everyone to patronize the one-stop shop for Laguna local products. She also asked them to support small businesses and the Association of Laguna Food Processors (ALAFOP). She acknowledged ALAFOP for creating a group of processed food manufacturers in order to strengthen their forces. They now have 79 members since it was created in 2009 with only 12 members. "They intend to give jobs and additional income to our people in Laguna," said Villar. They have coconut virgin oil, coconut sugar, mulberry wine, mulberry jam, mulberry juice, coconut skim milk, lemongrass hydrosol, lemongrass oil, Filipino snacks at deserts, and turmeric beverages at turmeric powder. "The products of members of Market MSMEs should be accessible to more and bigger markets," further said the Senator Villar, who led the opening of a trade fair in Vista Mall Santa Rosa, which showcases the processed foods of ALAFOP. Villar . nanawagan sa publiko na suportahan ang ating produkto Tinukoy ni Sen. Cynthia Villar ang halaga ng pagbili ng ating sariling produkto para makatulong na magkaroon ng isang malakas na ekonomiya . Sa pahayag sa Association of Laguna Food Processors (ALAFOP) Calabarzon Food Solutions Hub (CFoSH) sa Sta. Rosa, Laguna, hinimok ni Villar ang lahat na tangkilikin ang one-stop shop ng Laguna local products. Sinabihan din niya ang mga ito na suportahan ang maliliit na negosyo at ang Association of Laguna Food Processors (ALAFOP). Pinuri niya ang ALAFOP sa pagbuo ng grupo ng processed food manufacturers upang palakasin ang kanilang puwersa. Sa ngayon, meron na silang 79 kasapi simula nang binuo iti noong 2009 na may 12 miyembro. "They intend to give jobs and additional income to our people in Laguna," sabi ni Villar. Meron silang Coconut Virgin Oil, Coconut Sugar, Mulberry Wine, Mulberry Jam, Mulberry Juice, Coconut Skim Milk, Lemongrass Hydrosol, Lemongrass Oil, Filipino snacks at deserts, turmeric beverage at turmeric powder "The products of menbers of Market MSMEs should be accessible to more and bigger market," further said the senator," ani Villar na nanguna sa pagbubukas ng trade fair sa Vista Mall Santa Rosa, na nagpapakita which showcases sa processed foods ng ALAFOP. The High Court in Kampala has set December 18th and 19th as the hearing dates for the aggravated robbery case against music promoter and socialite Charles Olimu, commonly known as Sipapa. Sipapa, along with his wife Shamirah Nakiyemba, has been on remand since September 2022 facing six counts of aggravated robbery. Police arrested the couple at their home in Kira Municipality after they allegedly used a harmful substance to render their victims, South Sudan nationals, unconscious before robbing them of their belongings, including money, laptops, phones, TV screens, and a golden belt. Prosecution led by Edward Muhumuza told court that they have gathered sufficient evidence to link Sipapa and his wife to the alleged robbery of USD429,000 (about Shs1.6 billion) from Jacob Arok Nul Mayendit, a South Sudanese businessman. Muhumuza also stated that they have evidence proving that Sipapa, a businessman dealing in gold, cars, and music promotion, along with Nakiyemb, a designer, and others still at large, engaged in money laundering on the night of August 29, 2022, in Bunga Kawuku, Makindye Division. The duo is also accused of robbing Mul and Mary Ateng of USD429,000 (about Shs1.6 billion), two mobile phones, a TV, a laptop, and other items, immediately before or after using a substance to render them unconscious. By Tausi Nakato President Museveni has directed Parliament to allocate Shs60m per month to each of all recognised cultural institutions to enable them function better. This was disclosed by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa, during the royal wedding reception of Kyabazinga William Gabula Nadiope IV and Inhebantu Jovia Mutesi at Igenge Palace, Northern Division in Jinja City on Saturday. The President made a directive thatthe kingdom must be well facilitated. Lets go and implement the Presi- dents directive of giving each kingdom Shs60m.I promise on behalf of all Members of Parliament that the directive will be implemented because after here we are going to work it out. The aim of this money is to help the cultural leaders run these institutions without financial difficulties,Mr Tayebwa said. Currently, cultural leaders get Shs5m to run the various activities of their institutions. Some of the kingdoms include Buganda, Busoga, Tooro, Rwezururu, and Bunyoro. The chiefdoms are; Bamasaba, Acholi, Lango, and Alur among others. Mr Tayebwa urged the newly-wedded royal couple to build on the momentum Busoga has contributed to Uganda. If many people, including the President, have overwhelmingly contributed to this royal wedding, why dont we do more in terms of support and change. Mr Tayebwa urged the newly-wedded royal couple to build on the momentum Busoga has contributed to Uganda. By Peter Sserugo The leaders and supporters of the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party have reiterated their demand for justice for the 2020 riot victims. The group that gathered at the NUP party headquarters in Makerere Kavule in Kampala yesterday held special prayers. More than 50 Ugandans died during the November 18 and 19,2020 riots. NUP members led by their party president Robert Kyagulanyi tasked the government to give a detailed report surrounding the death of Ugandans. Mr Kyagulanyi said the government should produce a list of perpetrators and hold them accountable for the killings. We all know that the court awarded Amos Ssegawas mother Shs50m after convicting the government for killing her son during the riots, but that is not enough, Ssegawa was killed by someone, we would like to see the culprit arraigned in court, Mr Kyagulanyi said. We have also not given up,we shall continue to use all the avenues [available],including social media, to advocate for justice, he added. The NUP president also urged all Ugandans to use various social media platforms to expose the crimes allegedly committed by the regime. NUP party secretary Lewis Rubongoya commended the families of the victims for pursuing justice amid threats and intimidations. He urged party leaders not to deviate from fighting for freedom. It is now three years since the death of our comrades,but no justice nor accountability [has been made] for their death. We, therefore, insist that, as leaders [its our mandate to persue justice]. Let us think about our people who perished, he said. The fresh quest for justice comes nearly three days after a German envoy to Uganda, HE Matthias Schauer, added his voice in demanding accountability and justice for the victims. Pastor Fredrick Isabirye from Mukono District, who led the prayers, asked NUP leaders to put God first. By AFP Bangladesh has convicted 139 senior opposition party officials and activists in the past two days, prosecutors and lawyers said Monday, as a crackdown on anti-government protesters intensifies ahead of elections. Those convicted included 70 activists from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who were found guilty of arson and obstructing police duty, prosecutor Shahid Uddin said. These cases are from 2013-2018, when opposition enforced strikes and blockades. They got jail terms ranging from six months to two years, Uddin told AFP. Other lawyers confirmed convictions in similar cases. More details to follow Students from secondary schools all across Kilkenny will be participating in Student Enterprise Programme Christmas Markets at MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre over the coming weeks. Organised by Kilkennys Local Enterprise Office (LEO), the student markets will run from noon on Thursday, November 30, Thursday, December 7 and 14, and on Thursday, January 18. Enterprising students, together with their teachers, are currently busy in schools around the County preparing to attend this years student markets with over 50 stands already booked across four event dates. The Student Enterprise Programme Christmas Markets are a fantastic opportunity for students to gain valuable real-world experience and learn about the benefits and challenges of running a small business. On hearing of the initiative, Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council Michael Doyle encouraged families, friends and the wider community to drop into MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre to support the young aspiring entrepreneurs. This initiative not only gives students the chance to showcase their skills and creativity, but also provides members of the public with an opportunity to source creative and unique Christmas gifts, including handmade crafts, tasty treats and much more, he said. Speaking about the initiative, John Mulcahy, Business Advisor at Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny said LEO was delighted to see so many students participating this year and showcasing their entrepreneurial skills and would like to extend our sincere thanks to the team at MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre for their continued support of the talented and ambitious Student Enterprise Programme participants. For more information about the Student Enterprise Programme, visit at localenterprise.ie/kilkenny. Sean Fleming TD, Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, has launched the prestigious 2024 Our World Irish Aid Awards. This will see primary students across the county mark 50 years of Irelands aid programme and efforts to tackle hunger and climate change. This years Our World Irish Aid Awards will focus on the theme of Food For Life, reflecting the work Ireland does to help end world hunger and poverty, tackle climate change and make sure everyone in the world has equal access to education, clean water and healthcare. By taking part in this years Awards, primary school students will learn about Agroecology. Agroecology is a farming practice that helps to reduce the impacts of climate change, protect nature and wildlife while also helping local communities to work in a way that suits their area and environment, taking into account their social and cultural values. Everyone in the world needs healthy and nutritious food. Climate change is one of the factors that means too many people in the world do not have access to the food they need, said Minister Fleming Agriculture is part of Irelands DNA. Students taking part in the Our World Irish Aid Awards will learn how Irish Aid is working with villages in Uganda to promote sustainable agriculture. This helps people to grow enough food while also protect the environment for future generations. It is so important for young people to learn about the world they are growing up in and what they can do to make it a better place. I encourage schools across Ireland to enter into this years Our World Irish Aid Awards. Specially created curriculum-linked teaching and learning materials have been delivered to all primary schools in Ireland, helping teachers and students learn more about this years theme Food for Life, the Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs), and Irish Aids focus countries. The materials include a colourful student magazine packed with information, quizzes and questions; lesson plans, activity sheets and online games. All materials are available in English and as Gaeilge in print and digital format. The Our World Irish Aid Awards are a wonderful cross-curricular learning opportunity for our primary school students. The Awards help young people to discover more about the lives of people in other countries and how Ireland is supporting them, said Minister for Education, Norma Foley. The Awards include a range of specially-created lesson plans, interactive games and an informative pupil magazine. This is a really important and inspiring learning opportunity that has the potential to change peoples lives for the better. I encourage our primary school teachers to include the Awards as part of their teaching plans. Schools are invited to express their ideas and understanding of the issues in writing, song, film, artwork or in another way. This years Our World Irish Aid Awards will include a series of Global Goal Getters online multi-media magazines featuring projects submitted by students around Ireland as a way of showcasing learning, creativity and actions nationwide. Submissions are now being accepted. The closing date for early submissions, which are in with a chance to win a box of sustainable art materials, is Friday, January 19, 2024. The final closing date for entries is Friday, March 8, 2024. 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. Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD has announced a new 1 million fund to support Mens Sheds across the country. There are nine Mens Sheds in the county of Kilkenny. Under the initiative, grants of up to 3,000 will be provided to 435 Mens Sheds across the country. The funding is designed to assist Mens Sheds with their running costs such as their heating, electricity utility and insurance bills. The Minister made the announcement at the National Conference of the Irish Mens Sheds Association (IMSA). The emergence of our Mens Sheds has been a hugely positive development for communities right across Ireland, said Minister Humphreys. They help tackle isolation and provide a safe, comfortable and welcoming environment where men of all ages can come together to socialise, share skills and work on meaningful projects. As we enter the winter months, the supports that our Mens Sheds provide are more important than ever. Im therefore delighted to announce this new 1 million initiative, which will see 435 Mens Sheds supported with grants of up to 3,000. The Irish Mens Sheds Association was formed in 2011. However, the Mens Shed movement originally started in Australia which inspired their Irish counterparts to begin their own movement. The Minister added that she was delighted to meet with so many members of the Mens Sheds at their first ever national conference, Shedfest in Virginia, County Cavan. I recognise and acknowledge the positive role of Mens Sheds in the context of social inclusion all over the country and welcome this funding to assist them as they continue that work, said Minister of State, Joe O Brien. I want to thank all of the 435 Mens Sheds for their work and voluntarism and I have no doubt this funding will be a big help. We are delighted with todays announcement and were grateful to Minister Humphreys for her ongoing support for the sheds, said Enda Egan, CEO of the Irish Mens Sheds Association. There is no doubt Shed members up and down the country, and their communities will benefit greatly from this funding and I know that the support from Minister Humphreys is much appreciated by all shed members. Shoppers have been warned to be wary as fraudsters step up their activity around upcoming Black Friday online sales, a major Irish bank has warned. Bank of Ireland is warning consumers to be especially vigilant for fraud as Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are key online shopping dates for many consumers, which also means fraudsters will be stepping up their activity. Bank of Ireland customers spent 54% more online during Black Friday last year compared to a standard Friday, with clothing (+104%) and electrical goods (+100%) seeing the largest increase. For those shopping online this Black Friday or Cyber Monday, Bank of Ireland is providing tips to stay safe. Black Friday / Cyber Monday tips: Think before you click make sure you double check website addresses for anything unusual. Be careful with links in emails and texts remember that fake links or ads could lead you to a fraudulent website or contain malicious software. Use trusted websites check that the https and the lock symbol is displayed, this needs to be in your browser address window when entering your card details or any personal information. On a mobile device use trusted apps it can be difficult to see the full web address on mobile if you are using a web browser so instead stick with trusted apps. Use up to date anti-virus software on your computer this will help protect it against malware. Nicola Sadlier, Head of Fraud, Bank of Ireland said: We are already starting to hear about Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, but shoppers need to be extra vigilant for fraud. Fraudsters like to inject an element of urgency into their offers or fake adverts, but dont rush a transaction without checking things properly first. Verify if websites and apps are legitimate and be extremely careful with online adverts, texts or e-mails. Remember, if something sounds too good to be true, its probably fraud. To coincide with the busy pre-Christmas shopping period, Bank of Ireland has launched a new national fraud advertising campaign, reminding customers to Stop, Think and Check. The Bank is publishing a series of True Crime videos with renowned cyberpsychologist Professor Mary Aiken providing insights and tips to help people protect themselves. Visit Security Zone Bank of Ireland Group Website to learn more. There were tears at Dublin Airport as an Irish-Palestinian widower was reunited with his two young children. A group of Irish citizens arrived at Dublin Airport from Cairo on Sunday evening after efforts to ensure Irish citizens were allowed to exit the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing. As father Khalid El Estal dropped to his knees to embrace his son Ali as he walked through arrivals, a crowd of supporters waved Palestinian flags and chanted free, free Palestine. Mr El Estals one-year-old daughter Sara, wearing a pink fluffy onesie, was held by her uncle who accompanied the children to Ireland. The father is grieving the loss of his wife Ashwak, who died after shelling of Gaza last month. Finally, we did it, he said as he held his children. We lost a lot, I lost my wife, their mum, and my mum, my brother. But its OK, well be strong, Ill take care of them and will do everything. Thank you to everyone. Palestinian ambassador Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid thanked Ireland for its efforts to get its citizens out of Gaza. First of all I would like to thank Ireland very much for putting the effort to bring the Palestinians, Irish citizens, to Ireland, she said. I know the Tanaiste (Micheal Martin) and the Irish people, they put huge effort to bring the Palestinians (here) safe. It breaks my heart to see them here. I want to see all the Palestinian people safe in Gaza. This genocidal war against the Palestinians should stop and I want to raise my voice from here in Ireland to the whole world: I think its enough, enough the killing of the Palestinians, enough killing of innocent people. She said she knew some of the Irish-Palestinians arriving at Dublin Airport on Sunday. Whatever we can do, definitely we will not save any effort to help our Palestinians here. I know that they are Irish but they are Palestinians originally. So we will not spare any effort to help. Strengths Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Celetstia, rising 158%. The decentralized exchange PancakeSwap has launched a gaming marketplace. The new platform lets developers build, launch, and update games with Web3 elements such as cryptocurrency and NFTs, writes Bloomberg. Bitcoin was in sight of $38,000 this week, a level last seen in May 2022, amid an ongoing rally spurred by expectations of fresh demand for the token from ETFs, according to Bloomberg. Weaknesses Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performer for the week was Gas, down 59%. Coinbase Global is one of the most important investors in the world of cryptocurrency. Its the all-time biggest backer of industry startups in terms of number of deals, according to PitchBook data. However, in recent months, its investing activity has fallen off, writes Bloomberg. The head of Dubais crypto regulator is poised to depart after less than a year on the job, just as authorities prepare to impose sweeping fines on non-complaint digital-asset firms operating in the Emirate, writes Bloomberg. Opportunities A 30-day correlation coefficient for Bitcoin and MSCI Incs gauge of world stocks now sits at -23, the most negative since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. A reading of 1 indicates assets are moving in lockstep, while -1 would show theyre moving in opposite directions, writes Bloomberg. CoinShares, one of Europes largest cryptocurrency asset managers, has secured the option to acquire exchange-traded funds from competitor Valkyrie, which is preparing a spot Bitcoin fund thats awaiting regulatory approval, writes Bloomberg. Tether Holdings is taking steps to become one of the worlds top Bitcoin miners as the $87 billion stablecoin operator makes a hefty investment in the already highly competitive sector. The company plans to spend about half a billion dollars over the next six months, writes Bloomberg. Threats Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon was sentenced to four months in prison by a Montenegrin court for attempting to travel with a forged passport. The police said he was in possession of multiple passports including a forged Belgium and Costa Rican one, writes Bloomberg. Jump Trading Group has parted ways with Wormhole, the crypto project it injected about $320 million in almost two years ago following a massive hack, as the market maker retrenches in the digital-assets space, writes Bloomberg. Ethereum layer-2 solution Polygon recently witnessed an extraordinary surge in gas fees. It topped the charts with an increase of over 1,000%. This spike, peaking at $.10, was primarily driven by POLS minting activity, 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. (Kitco News) - Colin Smith, CEO of Gold Basin Resources (TSXV:GXX), said the company is looking to advance its Gold Basin project in Arizona to a maiden resource estimate and put it into development shortly thereafter. In early November Smith was interviewed by Kitco Mining at the New Orleans Investment Conference (NOIC). "Everybody thinks about Nevada as being the place for major oxide gold deposits, but certainly that's the case in Arizona as well, as we're seeing at Gold Basin," he said. In explaining the project's background, Smith said it was historically drilled and permitted in the mid-1990s to go into production as an open-pit heap leach mine. However, low gold prices stalled its progress, and two decades passed before Gold Basin got involved. Gold Basin is located within a major geological trend in northwestern Arizona, the transition zone between the highly prospective geology of Walker Lane, in neighboring Nevada, and the southern copper belt. The 42-square-kilometre property is largely under-explored and contains multiple near-surface oxide gold deposits. The two most significant historical deposits are Cyclopic and Stealth. A third is called Red Cloud, and Smith said Gold Basin is looking to expand the resource potential at all three zones. Gold mineralization at Cyclopic is open in all directions, particularly at depth, with most drilling to date reaching only 90m. The Stealth deposit is ~900m west of Cyclopic, with historical drilling showing significant gold mineralization that remains open in all directions. Gold Basin completed a property-wide LiDAR and aerial photography survey and, to date, has identified over 230 sites of historical, small-scale mining sites, including shafts, adits and pits. Most of these sites have no records of drilling or modern-day exploration. Gold Basin has also done two rounds of metallurgical testing at a facility in Reno, with the results showing favorable for a heap-leach environment. The Discovery Group company has about 126 million shares outstanding, fully diluted, with no warrants. Two financings have been completed this year, both at $0.15 per share. An upsized private placement that closed in September raised $963,350. By Nick Carey LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - UK startup Advanced Electric Machines (AEM) has raised 23 million pounds ($29 million) to scale up production of its electric vehicle motors that contain no rare earths or copper so are entirely recyclable. The Series A funding round was led by Legal & General unit Legal & General Capital and Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital initiative that invests in climate startups, AEM said on Monday Based in Washington in England's industrial northeast, AEM already has a commercial rare earth free motor in use in electric buses and other vehicles in Europe, North America and Asia, CEO James Widmer said. The investment round will enable the company to start producing an EV motor that is also free of copper for both passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Those motors can boost an EV's range by at least 10%, Widmer said. AEM is working with Volkswagen's luxury brand Bentley on developing an EV motor, but Widmer said he could not name other potential customers. "We are in active conversations with (automaker) customers in Europe and beyond," Widmer said. European, U.S. and Japanese automakers have been pushing to make EV motors with little to no rare earth content, racing for alternatives as China dominates the mining and processing of the group of 17 metals. Widmer said EV motors made with rare earth permanent magnets contain around 10 kilograms (22 lb) of copper and rare earth free alternatives on the market can contain double that. As copper has a similar melting point to steel, it is difficult to recycle motors containing copper, but AEM's aluminium and steel motors can be easily recycled after being melted in a furnace, Widmer said. ($1 = 0.8071 pounds) (Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Citigroup (C.N) CEO Jane Fraser announced the company was carrying out its next layer of management changes in a sweeping reorganization, according to a memo to staff on Monday. "The actions we're taking to reorganize the firm involve some difficult, consequential decisions, but we believe they are the right steps to align our structure with our strategy," Fraser said in a separate statement. Specific leadership changes across businesses and functions will be communicated by executives on Monday first to their teams and later posted on an internal site, the memo to employees said. As part of the reshuffle, the U.S. bank will name one of its most senior bankers in Europe, Nacho Gutierrez-Orrantia, new head of banking in the region, according to people familiar with the situation. The logo for Citibank is seen on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., August 3, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly Acquire Licensing Rights In his new role of head of the Europe cluster, the Spanish banker will look after Citis businesses in Europe. The reorganization could involve thousands of layoffs, according to a source familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly. In the memo, Fraser said the final announcements related to the overhaul will happen at the beginning of 2024. Preparations for Monday's announcements were communicated verbally in meetings last week, according to another source familiar with the situation. Some staff may be able to apply for other roles at the bank, the source said. Citi announced plans to cut management layers from 13 to eight as part of its biggest overhaul in decades. In the two top layers of leadership, Citi reduced 15% of functional roles and eliminated 60 committees, it said in its third-quarter earnings presentation. Support staff in compliance and risk management, and technology staff working on overlapping functions are at risk of being laid off, Reuters reported in September. 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) - Silver and gold miner Coeur Mining (NYSE: CDE) today announced an agreement to acquire concessions near the company's Palmarejo gold-silver mine in Mexico from leading silver producer Fresnillo. "This transaction rationalizes land package to the East of existing operations and unlocks significant near-term and longer-term resource potential," the company said in a news release. The company added that total consideration includes a cash payment of approximately $25 million ($10 million due at closing, which is expected to occur sometime in 2024) and a future royalty on certain ounces discovered on the purchased concessions. According to Coeur, the first set of concessions cover the southeast extensions of the Independencia and Nacion deposits where mining currently takes place, while the second set of concessions, located to the northeast, surrounds multiple targets containing mineralization and historic resources that were added through the 2015 acquisition of Paramount Gold and Silver. In the near-term, the company said it intends to pursue the southeast extensions of existing deposits that trend onto the claims, "which provides opportunities to add to Palmarejo's mine life and leverage existing infrastructure." Coeur also noted that another near-term post-closing priority will be "to integrate, update and potentially add to historic resources" in the northeast area of the previously fragmented land package, "which represents an opportunity to further boost Palmarejo's overall mineral resources to the East." Coeur Mining is a U.S.-based precious metals producer with four wholly-owned operations: the Palmarejo gold-silver complex in Mexico, the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska and the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota. In addition, the company wholly-owns the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead exploration project in British Columbia. 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) - Pan American Energy (CSE: PNRG) (OTC PINK: PAANF) today announced its inaugural mineral resource estimate (MRE) on its Horizon lithium project in Big Smoky Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada. In a statement, the company said the projects maiden MRE, which was completed by RESPEC, totals over 1.3 million tonnes of indicated and 8.8 million tonnes of inferred lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) resources at an average grade of 678 ppm lithium, adding that the deposit is one of the largest in the United States. According to the company, the Horizon lithium claystone project is one of the largest land packages in the Tonopah Lithium Belt, encompassing 839 unpatented lode claims covering approximately 17,334 acres. The company pointed out that the project sits "immediately adjacent" to American Battery Technologys Tonopah Flats project, with a mineral resource estimate of 15.8 million tonnes of inferred LCE mineral resources. Pan American said it holds its interest in the project pursuant to a property option agreement entered into with the owner of the project, Horizon Lithium, which allows Pan American to explore the project and to earn a 100% interest in the project by making certain cash payments and share issuances to Horizon Lithium. The company also noted significant expansion potential through step-out drilling to extend the deposit to the North West, South, East and West and at greater depths. CEO Jason Latkowcer commented, This initial mineral resource estimate marks the most important milestone to date for our company, highlighting the identification of a large scale and high-grade lithium deposit with significant future potential right here in North America. Within less than a year, our drilling efforts led to a tremendous discovery of a cluster of lithium mineralization and the inaugural mineral resource estimate on the project one of the largest in the United States. Our execution strategy is to advance the project through engineering as quickly as possible, while concurrently working to expand and upgrade the mineral resources at the project. Pan American Energy is an exploration stage company engaged principally in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties containing battery metals in North America. (Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are moderately lower in early U.S. trading Monday. The precious metals bulls have lost momentum and need a fresh, positive fundamental development to revive their spirits. On this day, rising U.S. Treasury yields are trumping a lower U.S. dollar index and higher crude oil prices to keep the gold and silver buyers skittish. December gold was last down $10.00 at $1,974.70. December silver was last down $0.362 at $23.495. Asian and European markets were mixed in overnight trading. U.S. stock indexes are pointed to slightly higher openings when the New York day session begins. It will likely be a quieter trading week as the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday is on Thursday and Friday is typically one of the quietest U.S. trading days of the year. The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index lower and hitting an 11-week low overnight. Nymex crude oil prices are higher and trading around $77.00 a barrel. Reports said OPEC is considering more oil-production cuts. The cartel will meet this coming weekend in Vienna. The yield on the benchmark U.S. Treasury 10-year note is presently fetching 4.472%. U.S. economic data due for release Monday is light and includes leading economic indicators. Technically, the gold futures bulls have the slight overall near-term technical advantage. Bulls' next upside price objective is to produce a close in December futures above solid resistance at $2,000.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,900.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $1,987.80 and then at last week's high of $1,996.40. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,972.50 and then at $1,959.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5 The silver bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing December futures prices above solid technical resistance at $25.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the November low of $21.925. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $23.87 and then at $24.00. Next support is seen at $23.25 and then at $23.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0. Nov 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is seeking more than $4 billion from Binance Holdings as part of a proposed resolution of a years-long investigation, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the discussions. Negotiations between the Justice Department and Binance include the possibility that the cryptocurrency exchange's founder, Changpeng Zhao, would face criminal charges in the United States, the report said. An agreement could resolve the probe into the company for alleged money laundering, bank fraud and sanctions violations, the report said. A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Luke Malpass writes: Regardless of where the negotiations land, however, it looks very likely that there may well be a close look at the power of the bench its composition, the sentences it hands down, the precedents and case law it creates. This is perhaps best seen as a periodic struggle for power that occurs between different branches of the government. And there is definitely a feeling among those who will soon be taking Parliament's treasury benches that judges have encroached too far into the realm of inventing law, rather than dispensing justice. At its heart it is a question of power and democracy. In particular a view among the right (and parts of the political left) that Parliament makes laws, but that over the years judges have begun to insert far too many of their personal preferences into the interpretation of said laws. The three-strikes law, introduced under the Key government, is often cited as an example (even by some parliamentarians who fundamentally disagreed with that law). That will almost certainly be reintroduced by the incoming government. The new three strikes law needs to do the following: Reinstate previous strikes from the former law Remove indecent assault from the regime as there is too much variation between offences at the bottom and top of the range Remove the manifestly unjust exemption for third strikes as judges have abused this provision by finding around 90% of third strikes would be manifestly unjust. Explicity state that the law must be implemented by Judges regardless of their views, and over-ride the supreme court decision that effectively told Judges they can ignore it The Attorney-general or Minister of Justice at the third reading should state that any Judge who feels sentencing someone under this law would be against their conscience is expected to resign as a Judge, rather than refuse to implement the law, and that a failure to do so would be considered judicial misconduct But there is suspicion among many soon to come into government. Too many left-wing judges. Too many invested in fashionable causes. Too many hired to make the court look modern and diverse. And it is why Winston Peters in addition to seeking to be foreign minister is understood to want to be Attorney-General. In New Zealand, appointments to the courts have always been political but not particularly politicised. April will mark 20 years since the Supreme Court heard its first case, and it has evolved in its own way. While many applaud the court, there is definitely an undercurrent of unhappiness within the legal fraternity about the quality and direction of the bench. The problem is that basically all incentives for lawyers and judges be it status, career prospects, respectability or worrying about their clients' best interests mean keeping quiet about these matters, even if they are unhappy. In any case, both ACT and NZ First are keen to be much more active on appointing rigorous and black-letter law judges as and when able. National also campaigned on wanting to lessen judge discretion over sentencing. This is arguably one of the most vital things the new Government must and should do. No Judge should be appointed above district court level who isn't committed to the rule of law as widely accepted, rather than judges who see the law as play dough for them to model into a more pleasing shape. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:ILCB Get Free Report) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 44,189 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 197% from the previous sessions volume of 14,900 shares.The stock last traded at $62.64 and had previously closed at $62.15. iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF Trading Up 0.9 % The stock has a market capitalization of $805.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25 and a beta of 1.01. The stocks 50 day moving average is $59.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.00. Get iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF alerts: Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 200,810 shares of the companys stock worth $11,827,000 after purchasing an additional 4,667 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 152,195 shares of the companys stock worth $8,964,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. CI Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 98,925 shares of the companys stock worth $5,826,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 78,349 shares of the companys stock worth $4,614,000 after buying an additional 27,303 shares during the last quarter. About iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF The iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF (ILCB) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Morningstar US Large-Mid Cap index. The fund tracks a market cap-weighted index consists of both growth and value stocks, selected from the top 90% of the US market-cap spectrum. ILCB was launched on Jun 28, 2004 and is managed by BlackRock. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Morningstar U.S. Equity ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Korea and Mongolia launched a joint committee Monday for cooperation in the supply of rare metals and other critical minerals, Seoul officials said. The two sides also began a project to establish a joint center for partnerships on rare metals as part of Korea's official development assistance to Mongolia. "We hope that this project will serve as an opportunity for Mongolia to pursue turning its rare metals into high value-added products, and for Korea to solidify its domestic supply chain base," Lee Ho-hyeon, deputy industry minister for energy policy, said in a ceremony in Ulaanbaatar that drew government officials of the two countries. The move is a follow-up measure to the agreement reached in February when Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene visited Seoul. Mongolia has various rare metal reserves, including rare earth elements. It is the world's eighth largest producer of molybdenum, a key metal used to make steel alloys. In Monday's talks, the two countries agreed to work together to ensure a stable supply of rare metals and secure a sustainable industrial competitiveness in the critical minerals area. They also exchanged information and updates on rare metals and discussed the trends in rare metal cooperation at bilateral and multilateral stages, as well as in the research and development. (Yonhap) By Elliot Kukla Nearly 82 years ago, my father was born in Nazi-occupied Belgium. When he was only 3 weeks old, his own father, Max, was captured and murdered by Nazis; my dad survived because he was hidden by a series of Christian foster homes. I was born in a peaceful time and place Victoria, Canada, in 1974 but my own life was shaped by those events that happened decades before my birth. As I write this, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including 4,000 children. According to Save the Children, more children have been killed in Gaza over the last few weeks than were killed in global conflicts in the last three years combined. I know firsthand that atrocities like this tear a hole through history that will take more than one generation to heal. My father still ran our family as if we were fleeing from the Gestapo. We lived in tents without running water, and moved every six months. As an adult, I was diagnosed with a neurological form of lupus, a disabling autoimmune disease connected to early trauma. Women with PTSD have been found to be nearly three times as likely to develop this disease than those without significant trauma. I was susceptible, in part, because of my chaotic childhood. There is also epigenetic evidence that mass traumas like the Holocaust affect the genes of the children and grandchildren of survivors on a cellular level, leaving us predisposed to chronic disease. Political violence is a disability justice issue because it leads to physical and psychological disabilities immediately, and will continue to seed them for generations to come. In Gaza, sick and disabled people, including children, are at the front lines of attacks. Hussam Abu Safyiaa, a pediatrician in Gaza, writes: Without an urgent resupply of fuel, the lights will go out permanently, and our hospital could turn into a morgue. My father was also deprived of medical care as a child, and that legacy scarred him for life physically and psychologically. While he was in hiding, he got sick with whooping cough; the sound of his coughing threatened his own life and the life of the family who sheltered him from Nazis. To spare everyone, he was taken to a Catholic orphanage in the countryside of Belgium. There, nuns cared for him without medicine. When he recovered, a young nun returned him in the dead of night to the doorstep of his foster family. By then, he was permanently left with respiratory issues and chronic bronchitis. His other wounds were harder to measure, but just as real. As a parent, my dad was hilarious, brilliant and emotionally distant; he had terrifying rages, and little notion of what it meant to shelter children from danger. My dad was one of the lucky ones. He survived, and at 9 years old he was reunited with his mother and new stepfather in Los Angeles. He went on to Fairfax High, a historically majority-Jewish school. His classmates included the children of Hollywood writers and actors who had been blacklisted by McCarthyism. In 1967, the Summer of Love, he met my mother at a party in the Hollywood Hills. They became ardent anti-Vietnam war protesters, along with a number of other Jewish radicals. Growing up, this was what Judaism meant to me: intellectual dissent and peace activism. In rabbinical school, I learned that according to ancient Jewish holy texts, saving a single life is the same as saving a whole world, because each of us contains distinctive cities of relationships, irreplaceable geographies of passions, and deep oceans of memories. That is one reason more than 140 of my colleagues and I are calling for peace as a part of Rabbis for Ceasefire, along with a swelling Jewish peace movement. However, most major American Jewish organizations support this invasion. It is a profound moral injury for me that the community that taught me to value resistance, peace and the sanctity of each human life is supporting violence and silencing dissent. Many rabbis and other Jewish professionals I know are afraid to speak out for peace and risk being ostracized from family or synagogues or lose funding for their nonprofit organizations. Now as Gaza is being bombed into a place of dust and ashes, my father is entering the last phase of his life in a hospital room in Toronto. My dads life once again has tapered to living only within a narrow room, while atrocities swirl outside. However, this time, unlike those who are gravely ill in Gaza, my dad is well cared for. He is warm and dry, held and loved. When the time comes, there is enough fuel and food to ensure that he dies with dignity and ease. My dad didnt enter the world being treated like a person, but he is leaving it being cared for with humanity. Everyone deserves this. Elliot Kukla is a rabbi, writer and activist based in Oakland. He is the author of the forthcoming childrens book The Lazy Day. This was published in the Los Angeles Times and distributed by Tribune Content Agency. Kendallville, IN (46755) Today A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. Morning high of 52F with temps falling to near 40. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch.. Tonight Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 37F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. If you're from Manila, Jakarta, or Kuala Lumpur, get a chance to see and meet EXO Lay FOR FREE by signing up for his upcoming fan meeting & music listening party! Lay Zhang to Hold Fan Meeting & Music Listening Party FOR FREE Here's How to Get a Chance for a Slot On November 17, Lay Zhang, a member of EXO, gave his generous gift to Eris and XBack/Xingmis ahead of Christmas! In collaboration with Warner Music Asia, EXO Lay announced that he will be having its fan meeting and music listening party in selected cities: Manila, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur in December. And the GOOD NEWS is... it will be for FREE! Meaning, there will be NO admission fees! ALSO READ: Lay Zhang Net Worth: How Wealthy is the EXO Member? Unfortunately, since the event can't accommodate everyone, Lay will be giving fans the chance to see him on FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE basis and it will be LIMITED to 160 fans per city only. But HOW do you get the OPPORTUNITY to get a free slot? Firstly, Lay Zhang invited fans to join his Instagram broadcast channel to get more details. Tap HERE to join. Miracle in December = Yixing is coming to Manila for a free fan meeting in December. Sign up before Nov 27 to score an invite. See yah besties! https://t.co/e2UHDYtwhW#LayZhangManilaFanMeet https://t.co/kEABioaPxs Warner Music Philippines (@WarnerMusicPH) November 18, 2023 Secondly, don't forget to SIGN UP before November 27 to score an invite! Once you click the link, you have to fill in personal information such as your name, email, phone number, gender and age. Be sure to send REAL info and WORKING email as invitation letters will be directly sent through email within 48 hours to confirm participation. Any changes since your entry will not be considered and a new winner will be selected. LAY ZHANG Fan Meeting & Music Listening Party in Manila, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur this December 2023. The event is free and by invite. Fans may get an invite to the event by filling out the sign up form. Winners will be announced on November 27. pic.twitter.com/lYVyuvHBhC Philippine Concerts (@philconcerts) November 17, 2023 In the form, impress Lay and prove your fiery heart as an XBack/Eris by answering questions such as: How long have you been an Xback? What kind of Lay's music do you like? Choose your favorite song from Lay's previous release in the following options. which city would you like to attend the fan meeting? Residents only On which channels do you usually find out about new music? When is Lay's birthday? Once done, tick the boxes below and make sure to read the terms of use and terms and conditions before clicking ENTER and there you go, you just got a chance to be selected for Lay's fan meeting! Criteria for Selecting Winners for Lay Zhang Fan Meeting & Music Listening Party To clarify the first come, first serve basis, there will still be criteria to screen the winner. Your answers will be judged based on their ORIGINALITY (50%), EMOTIVENESS (25%) and ACCURACY (25%). 231117 @layzhang [@layzhang INSTAGRAM LAYs CHANNEL UPDATE] Yixing posted a link inviting fans to his fa n meeting and music listening party in Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta for FREE. The winners will be selected based on first come first serve (the first 160 winners) and will pic.twitter.com/Vmx50Rl53f Yu YU (@Yuexo11) November 17, 2023 If you're a minor and were one of the selected winners, the fan must have your parents or legal guardian affirm in writing that the winner agreed and acknowledge the initial agreement. In the meantime, no additional information regarding the venue and exact date will be announced until the invitation letters are already sent to the confirmed winners. READ MORE: 7 K-pop Idols Who Left Their Companies But Not Their Groups: EXO Lay, More [Updated 2023] For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Eunice Dawson. In online communities, fans have divided opinions after K-pop idols - NCT Taeyong, SEVENTEEN Woozi, and TXT Soobin - were accused of "recommending" controversial anime about pedophilia and sexualization. What happened? Taeyong, Woozi, Soobin Embroiled in Issue Over Pedophilia, Sexualization for 'Promoting' Controversial 'Made in Abyss' On November 20, a huge commotion sparked in the K-pop community on various SNS and online platforms after some idols were accused of "recommending" a controversial anime adaptation of the manga, "Made in Abyss." ALSO READ: TXT Soobin's Faces Backlash After Live Stream Fallout 'How did he even debut? Hes gotta be fated...' As a short background about the Japanese work, it is rated as "SEVERE" on IMDb for its highly disturbing theme, which involved children being abused and tortured. It also featured a stint of pedophilia and sexualization. In an online forum then, the OP sparked a discussion after naming male idols who allegedly "recommended" the anime by watching and talking about it to fans. Il a poste en story une photo ou on voit le tome 11 de Made in Abyss (un manga p*dophile dans sa version non censuree papier, celle qu'a lu Taeyong) le resume des deux saisons est affreux... pic.twitter.com/j9zH6TLBze BONVOYAGE (@Jenobunnynana) November 19, 2023 Starting with NCT Taeyong, the idol is speculated to be reading the manga of "Made in Abyss" (MIA) after it is said Volume 11 was seen inside his house after sharing an Insta story. TXT Soobin also revealed that he's watching MIA and was recently on its season 2, which is said to be even more violent and worse. Although the male idol emphasized that he's not recommending it due to its provocative theme, netizens pointed out that watching it despite its plot is problematic enough. Soobin talking about Made In Abyss It's not an anime that I want to recommend to you because it's kind of provocative.#SOOBIN # #TOMORROW_X_TOGETHER pic.twitter.com/mP5WXe6cKU kpop moments (@kpopinmind) November 19, 2023 Lastly, Woozi briefly mentioned it as one of the animes that he just started watching. As soon as this information circulated in the K-pop circle, even non-fans immediately showed "disgust" at these idols for having such reading material and watching a disturbing anime. 220827 woozi weverse live (made in abyss mention cut) woozi is asked to recommend an anime hes watched recently so he lists what he thought was fun/seen recently. made in abyss is among those and the one he recs from them is komi. pic.twitter.com/CWMWmlmNGz s. (@jieunkai) November 20, 2023 People stated that although they didn't directly promote it, just mentioning or just even implying that they are watching or reading it, could make a huge impact since K-pop fans usually follow what their idols do. Since the aforementioned idols have a large percentage of teenagers and young fans, netizens showed concerns and worries about the negative influence they will bring. Twitter Error its really insane bc the argument seems to be "oh no he didnt recommend it, he just said he enjoyed it " enjoyed content fetishizing the sexual abuse of children????? fuck taeyong. fuck woozi. fuck mingi. fuck soobin. and fuck anyone else who enjoys that shit. antifascist wonho (@jungleosbian) November 20, 2023 honeslty guys be so serious if taeyong soobin woozi and mingi werent kpop idols. and they were just normal guys who recommended made in abyss. i assure u, u all would be weirded the fuck out. so please do not give them different treatment just because theyre idols mille (@yujngyu) November 20, 2023 the biggest weirdo is probably taeyong cause you have to tolerate that shit to push through and read the manga up to volume 11 like that (@sunwoojungah) November 20, 2023 NCTzens, CARATs, MOAs Defend Taeyeong, Woozi and Soobin Amid criticism that the male idols are getting, their fandoms NCTzens (NCT), CARATs (SEVENTEEN), and MoAs (TXT) jumped to Taeyong, Woozi and Soobin's defense. Soobin's fans immediately clarified the accusations that he recommended it as per the Korean post and implied that rather than the pedophilic content, the male idol found it enjoyable due to its "grand world-building, fantasy elements and dark theme." This is getting blown out of proportion so I hope to provide more context for you to form an informed view. While everyone is free to form their own judgements, please bear in mind that some accusations are very serious and should not be used lightly unless fully justified. 1 pic.twitter.com/LsXwl2o2Db | president of bunny soobin club (@S00BIEB00BIE) November 20, 2023 Some of Taeyong, Soobin and Woozi's fans also hoped that people would refrain from making far-fetched claims without knowing their full context. the genre for made in abyss is dark dystopian fantasy, finding out that the anime was heavily censored in korea and broadcasted on national tv and a lot of koreans are unaware of its paedophilic innuendoes, not defending soobin and mingi and woozi but please read. pic.twitter.com/YL11M20axk yeosangs sugar momma (@babygirlyeosang) November 20, 2023 | We need to clarify the article posted by Pannchoa about Woozi involving an anime called Made in the Abyss. https://t.co/GYtejFXMjT rei juridico otaku (@vobowooo) November 20, 2023 im not going to defend taeyong, but he did not mention the manga or anime at all. not that it makes a difference, but lies are lies. https://t.co/lKrcWTqZGR jei is good&great (@silver_latte) November 20, 2023 As of the writing, neither of the three artists nor their agencies stepped out to make an official statement regarding this controversy. READ MORE: NCT Taeyong, EVNNE Criticized for Using LE SSERAFIM Chaewon's Meme Was It Such A Big Deal? For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Eunice Dawson. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. The Winners Of 6th Edition Of India Design Awards 2023 SRV Media New Delhi [India], November 20: Blindwink India Design Awards 2023, honoured the creative brilliance of Architects & Interior Designers with Ar. Krishna Rao Jaisim & celebrity Amrita Rao as Chief Guest. Also Read | International Space Station: 25 Years of a Safe Space. Listing The Winners : 1. Best Upcoming Innovative Home Interior Designers 2023 - Gurvinderjit Singh Ghumman Also Read | Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah Included in ICC CWC 2023 Team of the Tournament. 2. 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Most Innovative Modern & Stylish Interior Designers In Jharkhand - Deepak Kumar 48. Best Architect and Interior Designer in Bangalore - Cutting Edge Architects 49. Most Stylish Modern Contemporary Home Designers In Vadodara - RC Interior Studio - Samir Patel 50. Most Innovative & Individualistic Commercial Furniture & Interior Designing In Pune - Modular Mech Furniture 51. Most Reliable Interior Furnishing Company In Chennai -- DYNARCH STUDIO 52. Top 10 Contemporary Luxury Residential Interior Designers In Chennai -- Sharath Kumar and Swathi from Reflection Matters 53. Best Office Interior Designers In Gujarat -- Blackpearl Design Studio Blindwink is Best Market Research & Brand Management Company In India. Media Contact Details: Please contact Amit on 8317348635 / hello@blindwink.in (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by SRV Media. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 16188933847989033864400555607146914692 PRNewswire Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 20: FIRE SAFE BUILD INDIA, a pioneering exhibition focused on passive fire protection solutions, will be held from 1st-3rd February, 2024 at Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai. Organised by NuernbergMesse India, the second edition of the event will bring together industry leaders, professionals, and innovators from the field of fire safety to present latest developments and products designed to protect lives, assets and property. Also Read | ATP Finals 2023: Novak Djokovic Secures Record Breaking Seventh Crown With Win Over Jannik Sinner. According to latest reports, the fire protection system market is expected to reach $103.88 billion by 2027, with an 8.23% CAGR, Asia-Pacific leads the fire protection system market share. India is poised to emerge as the world's third largest economy by 2030. The country is experiencing a period of rapid growth and urbanization, with an expanding infrastructure, a surge in high-rise buildings, and a flourishing industrial landscape. With these developments, the importance of passive fire protection (PFP) in the Indian context remains critical and crucial. Also Read | Sam Atlman To Return as CEO? OpenAI Leaders and Investors Seek To Reinstate Sam Altman as CEO of the Company After Being Sacked: Report. FSBI 2024: A MELTING POT OF INNOVATION AND EXPERTISE: The upcoming edition of FSBI will present a comprehensive range of passive fire protection solutions tailored to address the specific needs and challenges of various industry verticals, including construction, energy, aviation, shipping, manufacturing, and more. These sectors form the backbone of India's infrastructural integrity and are integral to the proactive adoption of innovative fire safety solutions. Leading brands such as Shakti Hormann Pvt Ltd, OBO Bettermann India Pvt Ltd, Hilti India, Murugappa Morgan Thermal Ceramics, Modern Door Devices Pvt Ltd, Window Techs India Pvt Ltd, CS Components Pvt Ltd, Fire Protection Laboratory - Russia, Bhawani Fire Protection Pvt Ltd, FG Glass Industries Pvt Ltd, Fireview Glass Solutions Pvt Ltd, Efectis Era Avrasya Test ve Belgelendirme A.S. - Turkey, Afiti Global Fire Testing Private Limited, Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants - UAE, Pronil Building Products etc. will be showcasing their latest products, technology and solutions at the upcoming edition. Furthermore, the event is supported by Centre for Safety Engineering IIT, Gandhinagar, whose mandate is to promote safe built environment in both the public and private sphere; as also international associations such as National Fireproofing Contractors Association and Firestop Contractors International Association. The associations lend domestic and international expertise to the show, enhancing awareness and involvement of stakeholders. The attendee profile at the event includes Architectural and Design firms such as Access Architects, Space Planners, KB Associates, Metro Designs, Think Space Architects, Warp Architects, Fourth Dimension Architects, MS Associates and YSD Designs LLP, who emphasize the need for integrating passive fire protection from the blueprint stage. The government's stance on stringent safety norms ensuring our national assets remain safeguarded against fire hazards, is represented by bodies such as National Infrastructure and Development Authorities: MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation), CPWD, Mumbai Port, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation, Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD), Airport Authority of India (Bhuvaneshwar Airport), Bihar State Educational Infrastructure Development Corporation etc. who are important visitors to the event. Marine and Heavy Machinery Leaders Van Oord India Private Limited and TATA HITACHI HEAVY MACHINARY EQUIPMENT PVT LTD, are also key attendees underlining the importance of fire safety in the most challenging environments. Electrical and Safety Specialists such as Pravin Electricals Pvt Ltd, Siemens Ltd, MJK Engineers, Shilpa Transcare, Hilite MEP, ETA Engineering, Enviguard, Pratiba Electricals, Antelec also attend the event to discover solutions for effective integration of fire safety systems with electrical design. Apart from the products and solutions on display, a series of educational seminars, workshops, and presentations conducted by leading experts will provide insights into best practices, relevant regulations, and the latest trends in fire safety, enabling attendees to remain compliant and well-prepared for evolving regulatory landscapes. Speaking on the occasion, Sonia Prashar, Managing Director, NuernbergMesse India said, "The Indian construction market size was $701.7 billion in 2022. The market is projected to achieve an AAGR of more than 5% during 2024-2027. The growth of the market will be supported by a strong pipeline of infrastructure and energy projects. These factors underline the critical importance of fire safety. FIRE SAFE BUILD INDIA, is a pivotal platform for industry professionals to unite, share knowledge, and explore the latest passive fire protection solutions". For detailed information including registration, participation opportunities, and exhibitor details, please visit the event website: www.fsbi.in Contact for Exhibition:Kalyan VedanthPortfolio DirectorM: +91 76191 63082E: kalyan.vedanth@nm-india.com Contact for Press & Media:Navneet PillaiSenior Manager - Marketing & CommunicationM: +91 99468 26248E: navneet.pillai@nm-india.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2280339/FSBI_NM.jpgVideo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCRRIcVAg8Y (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Prayagraj, Nov 21: The Allahabad High Court on Monday gave the green light to the Uttar Pradesh government's plan to build a corridor for the famed Banke Bihari Temple in Mathura for the convenience of devotees. A bench comprising Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava passed the order while hearing a PIL filed by Anand Sharma and another person from Mathura. Earlier, the state government placed before the court the scheme regarding the corridor development that will involve the purchase of about five acres of land around the temple for facilitating darshan and puja by devotees. According to the scheme, there would be no interference of any kind in the 'puja, archana or shringar' carried out by the Goswamis and whatever right they have shall be continued to be enjoyed by them. Banke Bihari Temple Corridor: Hearing to Continue in Allahabad HC on Wednesday. The government will also create facilities such as parking area and the cost would be borne by it. After hearing the parties concerned, the high court said, "The state government to proceed with the implementation of plans and scheme submitted to this court, which the court finds appropriate and necessary in the interest of justice. We leave it open for the state government to take whatever steps it deems appropriate after consultation with the technical experts in the field for implementing the scheme." On the issue of encroachment around the temple premises, the court observed, "The state government is also free to take appropriate steps for removing the encroachment over the approach roads (galis) to the temple." The state government, after implementation of the scheme, "is expected to ensure that no further obstructions/encroachment be allowed to come up on the approach roads to the temple," the court stated. On the issue of devotees facing problems during the period of development of the corridor, the bench observed, "We make it clear that darshan of the devotees shall not be hampered in any manner, except for the implementation of the scheme, during which appropriate alternative arrangements shall be made. The present management along with all the stakeholders are directed to ensure that darshan of the devotees are not restricted in any manner and by anyone." "The district authorities are also directed to ensure strict compliance of the above directions and any act of violation shall be reported to this court," it stated. In the PIL, it was said that on account of huge gathering of devotees there are law and order problems and numerous FIRs have been registered for theft, loot and loss of property. Construction of Banke Bihari Temple Corridor Opposed in High Court. Instances of deaths of devotees on account of huge gathering was also highlighted in the petition. According to the petitioner, the local administration which is duty bound to manage the gathering and ensure proper walking corridors to the temple has utterly failed in its obligation. In spite of numerous mishappenings, no steps were taken by the district administration or by the state government, the PIL stated. The high court fixed January 31, 2024 as the next date of hearing on the PIL. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Patna (Bihar), November 20: As Chhath Puja celebrations are in full swing in different parts of the country, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took part in the celebrations and offered 'Araghya' to the rising sun in Patna. CM was seen offering 'Araghya' at a poolside where women devotees were performing rituals; later, he also received Prashad. Meanwhile, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was also spotted taking part in Chhath Pooja and offering prayers following rituals in Odisha's Sambalpur district. Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai also reached Ganga ghat in Varanasi to offer 'Araghya' along with his family and prayed for the well-being of the entire country, especially for the safe return of 41 labourers trapped in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi. Apart from that, visuals showed people from West Bengal's Kolkata, Durgapur, Asansol, Kulti, Bihar's Patna, Muzaffarpur, Buxar, Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Maharashtra's Mumbai, Pune, and Jharkhand's Dhanbad, Ranchi, among other places, celebrating Chhath Puja with much reverence. Chhath Puja 2023: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Offers 'Araghya' to Rising Sun in Patna To Celebrate Chhath Festival (Watch Video) Similarly, in Kerala's Ernakulam, people were seen offering 'Arghya' on the occasion of Chhath Pooja. "This festival started in Bihar, Jharkhand and the North East first, now it's celebrated everywhere in India with vim and vigour...It's also called the worship of nature...The importance of Chhath Puja is increasing day by day," said one devotee, speaking to ANI. Meanwhile, drone visuals from Delhi's Kalindi Kunj showed a sea of people participating in the festival dedicated to Lord Surya. The four-day festival of Chhath kicked off on Friday and is regarded as the festival of purity, goodwill, and faith. The Chhath Pooja is a festival in which devotees worship and make offerings to the setting and rising sun. On Monday morning, the fasting devotees would make offerings to the rising sun and break the fast. Chhath Puja is celebrated every year with much exuberance in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bengal. Chhath Puja 2023 in Nepal: Devotees Give 'Araghya' to Rising Sun at Ghat in Kathmandu as Part of Chhath Puja Celebration (Watch Video) Nitish Kumar Celebrates Chhath Pooja Festival #WATCH | Bihar CM Nitish Kumar offers 'Araghya' to the rising Sun in Patna, on the occasion of #ChhathPooja pic.twitter.com/MLi9GNmZR5 ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 However, celebrations are also witnessed in the national capital, where a large section of people from the aforementioned states live. Devotees especially take the fast and worship the sun for the long lives and well-being of their family members, also praying for their expectations and attempts to come true. The trend of celebrating the festival of Chhath is believed to have started in the Hilly regions of Nepal after the political change of 1990 when democracy was restored in the Himalayan Nation. It is believed that a person's desires and prayers from the heart's core will bring blessings. During the time of fasting, only those foods that are considered to be pure are consumed and cleanliness is one thing that is cared for the most during the period. This festival witnessed a high participation rate of women, is marked with fanfare and is also regarded as an occasion to take a break from household chores and be refreshed. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Lakhisarai, November 20: Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai district, Bihar, on Monday morning. The incident happened when the victims were on their way home after offering prayers at Chhath Ghat. According to the police, the violence took place over matter related to love affair. Three injured were first rushed to Begusarai Sadar Hospital but later referred to Patna for further treatment. Bihar Shocker: Two Family Members Shot Dead, Four Injured in Lakhisarai After Chhath Puja Celebrations, Probe Launched (Watch Video) The deceased have been identified as Chandan Kumar and Rajnandan Kumar, while the injured include Lovely Kumari, Preeti Kumari, Durga Kumari and Shashi Bhushan Kumar. All are said to be family members. "Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai. The incident took place when they were returning from Chhath Ghat after performing Pooja," said SP Lakhisarai, Pankaj Kumar. Bihar Shocker: Two Armed Assailants Lynched by Mob While Trying To Flee After Killing Former Army Man in Rohtas Bihar Firing #WATCH | Bihar: Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai. The incident took place when they were returning from Chhath Ghat after performing pooja. Three injured have been referred from pic.twitter.com/BF0i8mAAQz ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 #WATCH | Bihar: Lakhisarai SP Pankaj Kumar says "The incident took place in Punjabi Mohalla. 6-7 members of a family were returning from Chhath Ghat when a man, Ashish Chaudhary who used to stay in front of the victim's house opened fire on them. Six people were shot, out of pic.twitter.com/CcBy18hTco ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 "Three injured have been referred from Begusarai Sadar Hospital to Patna. The matter is related to a love affair. Police have reached the spot and an investigation is underway." Upon receiving the information, police reached the spot and recovered a pistol used in the crime. However, no FIR has been lodged by the victim's family for now, said police officials. Notably, the incident has left localities in a state of shock and grief, as the incident happened when Bihar was busy with its most auspicious Chhath Puja celebrations. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], November 20 (ANI): BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of exacerbating the drug menace in Punjab, alleging the growing influence of the drug mafia in Punjab and their collusion with the state government, Chugh called on Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to address the serious allegations surrounding his party leader's purported connection to drug smuggling. Also Read | Bihar: Suspected Hooch Tragedy Claims Five Lives in Past 48 Hours in Gopalganj. In a statement, Chugh said the arrest of a close relative of AAP's Khemkaran legislator Sarwan Singh Dhun's nephew with one kg of heroin and a drone from Pakistan is an alarming incident that demonstrates how the AAP leaders have been misusing the law and order machinery. Chugh expressed deep concern over the incident, portraying it as evidence of how AAP leaders have allegedly exploited the law and order machinery. Also Read | Manipur: IRB Jawan Among Two Tribal Men Shot Dead By Terror Groups; Tribal Body Calls For 48-Hour Shutdown in Kangpokpi District. Chugh further said "Since the AAP government assumed power in the state, the law and order situation has deteriorated significantly. AAP leaders are colluding with criminals and smugglers, leading to a breakdown in the state's law enforcement." He emphasized that Punjab has never witnessed such a collapse in law and order and the situation is particularly alarming given the state's proximity to the border. He called for a thorough investigation into the matter, asserting that the promises made by the AAP government to combat the drug menace in Punjab have proven to be nothing more than a facade. BJP leader alleged that drug gangs continue to operate with impunity, showcasing the ineffectiveness of the current law and order machinery under the AAP administration. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 921964611334895947212352610630612485960 Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 20 (ANI): Former Karnataka minister B Sriramulu met with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday triggering speculations of him joining the Congress party, which is in power in the state. The meeting came in the backdrop of the BJP appointing Vijayendra as Chief of its Karnataka unit earlier this month, a move that reportedly "miffed" Sriramulu who had wanted the position. Also Read | Bengaluru Shocker: Elderly Occultists Throat Slit, Gold Chain Robbed in Anekal, Probe Launched. Vijayendra is the son of former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa. Today's meeting between Sriramulu and Shivakumar was held at the latter's Bengaluru residence. Also Read | Drunk Man Detained for Misbehaving With Indigo Crew on Jaipur-Bengaluru Flight. According to sources Sriramulu had visited Shivakumar's residence to invite him to his daughter's marriage. Sriramulu had served as Minister of the Transport Department and Tribal Welfare of Karnataka from August 4, 2021, till May 13, 2023, in the previous Bommai-led BJP government in Karnataka. He also served as the minister of the Social Welfare Department of Karnataka from October 12, 2020 to July 26, 2021. He was a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Bellary Rural Molakalmuru Constituency in Chitradurga district. Prior to the Karnataka Assembly elections, Sriramulu had said at an event that he wanted to see Congress leader Siddaramaiah become the state's Chief Minister again. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 20 (ANI): With ten days left for Telangana Assembly polls, the political campaigning in the state has intensified as Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday attacked Congress BRS and AIMIM for encouraging the dynasty politics. Amit Shah in an election rally in Telangana's Jagital said that four per cent reservation to the Muslims will be done away with. Also Read | Dog Attack in Chhattisgarh: Stray Dogs Pounce on Toddler While She Plays Outside Her Home in Raipur. "We will do away with the four per cent reservation for Muslims and we will give those to SCs. OBCs, and STs," Amit Shah said while campaigning at Telangana's Jagtial on Monday. Shah also announced reservations for the Madiga community in Telangana under the SC category."We have decided that the Madiga community will get vertical quota in reservation under the SC category," he said. Also Read | 'Khichdi in Bottles': First Hot Meal in Nine Days for 41 Trapped Labourers in Uttarkashi Tunnel (Watch Video). Shah charged that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, popularly known as KCR, does not celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day fearing All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi. Speaking about the newly constituted Turmeric Board, the Union Minister said, "The Prime Minister has announced the Turmeric Board from here. Now turmeric farmers will get the right price for their produce but we will also form the Rs 200 crore centre for research on its medical value. Amit Shah also held a roadshow in Rangareddy district. "KCR did not form the Turmeric Board despite staying in power for years. The state could have formed this as well," he added. Shah also announced the revival of three sugar factories, process maize and form ethanol blending factories in the state, a 500-bed hospital for beedi workers in Nizamabad and an NRI Ministry for NRIs in Telangana. Amit Shah further slammed the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the AIMIM and the Congress over 'dynastic politics' and called them 2G, 3G and 4G parties respectively. "BRS, Majlis and Congress are 2G, 3G and 4G parties. 2G means KCR and KTR. 3G means Owaisi' grandfather, his father and Owaisi. 4G means Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul. Where is your place in it?" Amit Shah said. Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's achievement in the central government, Shah said, "PM Modi has taken India's tiranga aboard the Chandrayaan and taken it to the moon. Modi has built the new Parliament. Modi has organised the G20 summit and raised India's stature throughout the world. Modi has taken India's economic size from 11th rank to fifth." Amit Shah also promised free trips to Ayodhya once the BJP comes to power in the state."You are all invited to have a darshan on Ram Lalla at Ayodhya. We will pay for your trip in turns if you vote the BJP to power," he said adding that both the Congress and the BRS have opposed the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Shah in another rally further explained the nomenclature and said 2G means two-generation, which is KCR and his son KT Rama Rao. "While 3G means three generation, which is the party of Asaduddin Owaisi and 4G is the Congress party with four generations which is Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi."KCR, Owaisi's party (AIMIM) and Congress are dynastic parties. These three parties are 2G, 3G and 4G," Shah said. "2G means two-generation KCR and KTR. 3G means three-generation, which is the party of Owaisi and 4G is the Congress party, that is Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi," Shah said."KCR has promised a polytechnic college in Jangaon which is not been fulfilled and his MLAs are busy with land grabbing," Shah added. Shah further said, "Countries first Home Minister made Telangana free from Razakars and Nizam's but KCR refused to celebrate ''Telangana Vimochana Dinam' (Telangana Liberation Day) fearing Owaisi." Meanwhile, BSP candidate Pushpithalaya, who belongs to the transgender community and is contesting from Warangal East constituency in Telangana, campaigned on Monday and sought support from people for the November 30 assembly polls. Pushpithalaya also thanked party supremo Mayawati for fielding her in the polls."The BSP gave me the MLA ticket. Our community is happy, and I'm very happy. The transgender community is also working with BSP," she said. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi participated in door-to-door election campaigning in the Nampally Assembly constituency in Hyderabad days ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections. Asaduddin Owaisi met the locals in the Nampally Assembly constituency and appealed to the people to vote for the party. Launching a no-hold-bar attack on the Congress and the BJP, Owaisi said that both parties are built on the politics of hate. The AIMIM Supremo also claimed that the Congress MP in Telangana work on the orders of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and alleged it to be the ideological parent organisation of the BJP. Speaking to the media, Owaisi said, "Congress MPs in Telangana are of the RSS, whose remote control is with Mohan Bhagwat. The BJP has been in power for the last nine and a half years. They have weakened the economy, destroyed small businesses, and failed to provide jobs". Owaisi further said that it won't let the RSS come into the state of Telangana." It is our hard work of 65 years that is reflected here. Neither the Congress nor the BJP will benefit here. Both the Congress and BJP's politics are built upon hate", he added. Further speaking on the uniform civil code promised by the BJP in its election manifesto for Telangana, Owaisi said, "UCC is not required in this country; what is much needed is freedom of speech and expression, wherein people will not be targeted for wearing the clothes they wear because of the religion they belong to," AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi said. Meanwhile, Congress chief Revanth Reddy said that Owaisi is just cutting out the votes of the Congress to make the contest easy for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)."Asaduddin Owaisi is known for cutting votes. The entire country knows this. He takes bribes from the BJP. Earlier, Asaduddin Owaisi took a dig at Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy and called him a "puppet of the RSS". Telangana will go for Assembly elections on November 30 and counting of votes, along with those of four other poll-bound states, has been scheduled for December 3. In the previous Assembly election in 2018, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), previously known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), won 88 of the 119 seats, grabbing 47.4 per cent of the total vote share. The Congress came a distant second with just 19 seats. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Pudukkottai (TN), Nov 20 (PTI) The Tamil Nadu Governor has accorded sanction to prosecute former AIADMK Ministers: Dr C Vijayabaskar and B V Ramana in the gutka scam being investigated by the CBI, state Law Minister S Regupathy said here on Monday. With the sanction from Governor R N Ravi, the CBI would chargesheet Vijayabaskar (then Health Minister) and Ramana (then Commercial Taxes Minister), Regupathy told reporters. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh: Two-Year-Old Boy Dies, Two Others Hospitalised After Consuming 'Packet' Containing Rat Poison Thrown by Monkey in Budaun. The gutka scam had rocked the state and the DMK, then as the opposition party, assured to ensure a fair investigation in the case after it came to power. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chandigarh, November 20: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday announced the construction of three ghats dedicated to Chhath Puja in Panipat district, with an estimated expenditure of Rs 5 crore. He also extended heartfelt greetings to all the people on the auspicious occasion of Chhath Puja. Addressing a gathering during the Chhath Puja Mahotsav in Panipat, CM Khattar announced the construction of a 700-foot ghat at Avlana distributor costing Rs 2 crore, a 300-foot ghat near the thermal channel on Assandh Road with an allocation of Rs 1 crore, and another 300-foot ghat near Babarpur bridge on drain number 2 with a budget of Rs 2 crore. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also announced the construction of Suryamandir between two canals on Mahrana village land. The Chief Minister also announced a discretionary grant of Rs 21 lakh for the upcoming Suryamandir following the successful transfer of land for this purpose. The Chief Minister acknowledged the many women participating in the puja and commended their faith, patience, and courage. Recognising the formidable capabilities of this force of women, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured a reservation of 33 per cent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Assembly, he added. Chhath Puja 2023: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Offers 'Araghya' to Rising Sun in Patna To Celebrate Chhath Festival (Watch Video) CM Khattar said that Chhath Puja is being celebrated in approximately 300 locations across the state, with about 5 lakh people participating in the holy festivities. He further conveyed appreciation to all the brothers and sisters from Purvanchal in attendance at this event for their unwavering contributions to the development of Haryana. He said that PM Modi had launched the "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" campaign from Panipat on January 22, 2015. "Following this noble initiative, Haryana, once considered a bad name as a state with a high prevalence of female feticide, has now emerged as a leader in promoting the welfare of daughters. Our sex ratio, which stood at 871 at that time, has now risen to above 931," he added. The Chief Minister highlighted that the present state government has successfully regularised approximately 1000 colonies in the last year alone. An investment of Rs 2,000 crore is earmarked for the infrastructure development in these colonies. Chhath Puja 2023 in US: Hundreds of Indian Origin From New Jersey and New York Flock to Waterfronts To Celebrate Chhath Festival (Watch Video) CM Khattar Announces Construction of 3 Chhath Puja Ghats #WATCH | Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar attends #ChhathPuja Mahotsav programme, in Panipat BJP MP Manoj Tiwari is also present. pic.twitter.com/sDl2Tt3Xpp ANI (@ANI) November 19, 2023 Earlier, the Chief Minister participated in the Chhath Puja, where he received felicitations from 30 Purvanchal Associations on this auspicious occasion. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], November 20 (ANI): Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday instructed officials to settle the pending revenue cases of mutation, partition and demarcation of land by January 20, 2024. The High Power Committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister reviewed the pending revenue cases in the state and asked all the Deputy Commissioners to dispose of the pending cases on mission mode. The Chief Minister said that the government was committed towards the service of the common man and that solving their problems was our first priority. He said that a large number of revenue cases were pending in the state, which need to be resolved immediately and all the officers should take immediate steps to resolve them. Also Read | Madhya Pradesh: Team of 15 Doctors Surgically Remove Poisonous Arrows Stuck Deep Inside Elderly Man's Body in Indore. "Every revenue officer, right from Naib Tehsildar to Divisional Commissioner should hear and resolve the pending revenue cases on a daily basis and ensure their timely disposal and this will also be reflected in the ACR of all the concerned officers and officials," said Sukhu. He said that the state government held 'Intekaal Adalats' on October 30, and 31, throughout the state and out of 41,907 pending cases, 31,105 were disposed off on priority. He said that similar Adalats (courts) would be organised on December 1 and 2 in the State, which has been now named as 'Revenue Lok Adalats', in which all the pending mutation and partition cases would be settled on priority. Also Read | India Mushroom Summit 2023: Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh Inaugurates Three-Day Event. Directions were issued to all the deputy commissioners to send the complete report of the cases disposed off on a monthly basis to the state government, containing the name, address and phone number of the person and other details in tabulated form. He said that the Deputy Commissioners should also hold meetings with the revenue officers in their respective districts and prepare a strategy for speedy disposal of the pending revenue cases. He also directed to rationalize the staff as per the requirement and said that all the appointments or dates, for hearing of revenue-related matters, should not exceed more than three days. To overcome the shortage of staff in the districts, the state government will also allow Deputy Commissioners to hire retired Kanungos, he added adding that the services of summons can also be done through electronic means. He directed the Chief Secretary to continuously review the revenue cases pending at the level of Divisional Commissioners. The Revenue Minister will also hold a meeting on the progress of this matter in the entire state before January 20, 2024. However, till October 31, 2023, there were 1407, pending cases in Bilaspur, 680 in Chamba, 2413 in Hamirpur, 12,014, in Kangra, 156 in Kinnaur, 1057 in Kullu, 48 in Lahaul-Spiti, 3208 in Mandi, 1288 in Shimla, 1072 in Sirmaur, 1156 in Solan and 3973 in Una. Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh, Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Bharat Khera, Principal Secretary, Revenue R.D. Nazim were present in the meeting in Shimla, while all the Deputy Commissioners and Divisional Commissioners were connected virtually. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], November 20 (ANI): On Monday, a 35-member delegation from Japan's Fukuoka Prefectural Government arrived at the Delhi Secretariat to meet Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Led by Vice Governor Akie Omagari, the delegation included members like Makoto Sasaki, the Vice Chairperson of the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly. Also Read | 'Khichdi in Bottles': First Hot Meal in Nine Days for 41 Trapped Labourers in Uttarkashi Tunnel (Watch Video). The delegation visited Delhi to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the twinning agreement between the Delhi government and the Fukuoka Prefectural Government (FPG). This agreement, first signed on March 5, 2007, and still ongoing, was extended until March 31, 2026. During this 15th-anniversary ceremony, Arvind Kejriwal and Fukuoka's Vice Governor Akie Omagari signed the twinning agreement. During this meeting, the Delhi Government's Cabinet Ministers were also present. Also Read | Telangana Assembly Election 2023: Poll-Bound State Requires 59,779 EVMs, Say Officials. The collaboration between the Fukuoka Prefectural Government and the Delhi Government has focused on various areas of mutual cooperation, primarily encompassing the environment, culture, tourism, heritage, education, and youth exchange. Over the past 15 years, both cities have engaged in various activities in art and cultural exchanges, environmental technology, and student/youth exchange programs. The agreement also aims to explore possibilities in the areas of environment-related major issues today. Consequently, there's a possibility of involvement not only with school students but also with cultural groups as a result of this agreement. Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal greeted the delegation from the Fukuoka Prefectural Government. "Greetings to all from the bottom of my heart, as I stand before you representing the extraordinary bond between Delhi and Fukuoka as sister cities, a connection deeply woven with the threads of developed and shared cooperation since 2007. Delhi and Fukuoka have had a Friendship Agreement since March 5, 2007, and I am extremely delighted that the same is now being extended for a further period of 03 years till 31 March 2026," the Chief Minister said. "Our friendship isn't a mere agreement between two cities; it's a profound connection rooted in spiritual affinity and cultural ties that have weathered the sands of time. The influence of Indian Culture, particularly through Buddhism, has left an indelible mark on Japanese society, fostering a genuine sense of closeness among the Japanese people toward India in general and the people of Delhi in particular. Our friendship agreement of the last 15 years, in particular, has brought both cities closer by way of mutual cooperation and exchanges and benefits, especially in the fields of Environment, Art and Culture, Archaeology and recently in the field of Education," Kejriwal added. "Delhi government believes that increased cooperation activities will further harness the potential in the spheres of environment, which has been a major concern for us and also in health, education and other areas by way of more mutual exchanges," the Chief Minister said. "Japanese language is now taught in many Delhi Government Schools in which hundreds of students are enrolled, apart from online exchange and interactions undergoing between students of two schools in each city. The FPG delegation, during their visit in 2022, appreciated the technical expertise of the Archives of Archaeology, GNCTD in the field of paper conservations, digitization and microfilming and conservation of monumental heritage which is indeed a matter of great pride for us," he said. "Delhi and Fukuoka have had a Friendship Agreement since March 5th, 2007. Now, this agreement has been strengthened for a further period of three years, that is from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2026. Our friendship agreement of the last 15 years has brought us together, benefitted especially in the fields of Environment, Art and Culture, and recently expanded in the field of education. Many interactions and visits between the two cities have taken place, and experts from Archeology, Art and Culture, Environment and recently education benefitted. The Japanese language is now taught in some Delhi Government Schools. Today, on behalf of the Government of NCT Delhi, I would like to further our friendship for both sides and to ensure all the decided plans between us are acted upon. So friends once again thank you and wish you very best on the commemoration of 15 years of friendship between Delhi and Fukuoka," Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj mentioned. "Today, Our delegates have been warmly welcomed by you, and my heartfelt thanks for the warm welcome that you have extended. And I'm delighted to meet CM Arvind Kejriwal Ji and also the Delhi Government for arranging such a warm gathering today," Vice Governor Fukuoka Prefectural Government Ms. Akie Omagari stated. "My Sincere thanks for the initiative that has happened after the friendship agreement that's been extended between the Fukuoka Prefectural Government and the Government of Delhi, since March 2007. And since then cooperation between both the cities has been happening in the fields of Environment, Art and Culture and recently in the field of education. And I'm also very thankful that it's been further expanded for another three years," she added. "In 2018, in the MoU, culture, tourism, and cultural heritage prevention have also been added. Therefore there have been expert visits from both sides and we have been sharing knowledge. In this year's December, I'm delighted that there is a visit of Delhi Government Art and Culture delegates and we're looking forward to it. Also in the field of Environment, so far 24 experts have visited from Fukuoka and they have also gone through a training program International Environment Expert Training Program. For decarbonisation and the improvement of the environment. If we can do something together that'll be very much delightful for us," the Vice Governor stated. Vice Chairperson Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly Makoto Sasaki stated that In March 2007 our Friendship Agreement happened in various fields. Arvind Kejriwal has heavily focused on the environment. In Fukuoka, and South East Asia we have environmentally friendly technologies. Environment and education-related cooperation have been extended with the Delhi Government more than what's been done so far. We would like to increase our cooperation in these fields. We stand by the cooperation between the Delhi Government and the Fukuoka Prefectural Government and we will do all possible cooperation from the assembly's side. Arvind Kejriwal shared a few excerpts from this meeting stating, "Privileged to host Vice Governor H.E. Ms. Akie Omagari and the esteemed delegation from Fukuoka Prefectural Government on the momentous occasion of the 15th Anniversary reception. Strengthening our bond beyond art, culture, environment, and education marks a prominent step forward in our collaboration." (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kochi, Nov 20 (PTI) The Kerala police on Monday filed a chargesheet in a POCSO court here against the man accused of abducting and sexually assaulting the eight-year-old daughter of migrant labourers near Aluva here two months ago. Police filed the 1,262 page long chargesheet in the Ernakulam Additional District and Sessions (POCSO) court here, it said in a release. Also Read | Haryana Government Ties Up With Finland Embassy To Purify Pond Water in Sukhrali Village. It has charged the accused, Krystal Raj (27), with the offences of abduction, assault, rape and robbery under the IPC and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. According to the release, on the chargesheet, 115 witnesses have been enumerated in addition to including 30 documents and 18 material objects as evidence. Also Read | Andhra Pradesh: Techie Dies of Heart Attack in Tirupati as India Loses to Australia in ICC World Cup Finals, Was Allegedly Upset With Indian Teams Batting Order. Police, in its release, said the chargesheet was submitted in a time-bound manner, by closing all loopholes to ensure that the accused gets the maximum possible punishment. On September 7, the accused had allegedly abducted, raped and abandoned the minor girl in a paddy field near Aluva who suffered injuries to her private parts in the sexual assault and had to undergo surgery. The accused had also stolen three mobile phones, including from the victim's home, on that day, police said in the chargesheet according to the release. The accused was caught several hours after the incident from under the Marthanda Verma bridge near Aluva in Ernakulam district where he was hiding and drinking alcohol. The accused had allegedly abducted the girl from outside her home while she was sleeping and then sexually assaulted her. When police found him hiding under the Marthanda Verma bridge, he attempted to flee by jumping into the nearby river and swimming away, but was caught with the help of local residents and pulled out of the water. Raj, who hails from Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram district, is a suspect in several criminal cases, police said in the chargesheet. The incident occurred a month after a five-year-old girl, whose parents were also migrant workers from Bihar, was abducted, brutally raped, killed and her body abandoned amid garbage in a marshy area behind the Aluva fish market, near the Periyar River on July 28. In that case, the accused -- Asafak Alam -- was on November 14 sentenced by a court here to be hanged till death. Following the second incident of rape of a minor girl in the space of little over a month, the state government and the police had come under intense criticism from the opposition Congress and the BJP. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 1691550026880053453314771113724321150679 Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 406358354252915100710834668171794887092 Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 20 (ANI): Mumbai Police on Monday arrested an alleged quack doctor and conducted raids at the clinic he operated without any formal degree or licence in Govandi in Shivaji Nagar area of Mumbai. The accused has been identified as Altaf Hussain Khan, a 50-year-old man. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Man Held for Exhuming Five-Year-Old Girl's Body, Sleeping Next to It. Sharing details about the matter, police said, "We received information that a clinic in the Shivaji Nagar area of the Govandi locality was being run by a quack without a degree or licence. A police constable posing as a patient was sent to the clinic to verify the information." Shortly after the information about the case was verified, raids were conducted at the clinic, and he was arrested. Also Read | Telangana Assembly Elections 2023: No Anti-Incumbency, BRS Seeking Third Term Due to People's Expectations, Says State Minister Harish Rao. Subsequently, a case has also been registered under Sections 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and under the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act, 1961, informed the police. A 'quack doctor' is a fraudulent practitioner or ignorant pretender of medical skills. It is a person who pretends to be able to diagnose or heal people but is unqualified and incompetent. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 1362341321910918325015379125113627377925 Amritsar/Ludhiana/Hoshiarpur (Punjab), Nov 20 (PTI) Several farmer bodies in Punjab on Monday held protests at the offices of deputy commissioners and sub-divisional magistrates at many places, seeking withdrawal of cases registered against farmers for burning stubble. The protesting farmers, who also demanded a long-lasting solution for paddy straw, brought stubble-laden trolleys to several offices of DCs and SDMs. Also Read | Online Fraud: Man Loses Rs 5 Lakhs After Seeking Help From Fake Uber Customer Care Number on Google in Gurgaon. The call for the four-hour protest was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and 18 other farmer bodies. The agitating farmers demanded withdrawal of legal actions, including registration of FIRs and rollback of the fine imposed on farmers for burning crop residue. Also Read | Odisha: Man Uses Toy Gun to Rob Car in Bhubaneswar, Arrested. They also demanded an increase in sugarcane rates and a fair compensation for land acquisition under the Bharatmala projects. In Moga, a group of farmers, who were bringing stubble in tractor-trolleys, said they were stopped from entering the DC office complex for staging a 'dharna'. One of the farmers even lied in front of a police vehicle, demanding they be allowed to go to the DC complex. Where should we take this stubble? one of the protesters asked. The protesters, while condemning the legal action against farmers for burning straw, said 75-80 per cent pollution was caused by industry and vehicles. But the action was being taken against farmers, they said. In Sangrur, the protesting farmers brought stubble in their tractor-trolleys and parked their vehicles near the DC office. Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said demonstrations were held at 34 places in the state. He demanded that penalties imposed on farmers be withdrawn and sought a long-lasting solution for managing stubble. In Ludhiana, protesting farmers were not allowed to enter the city. Two groups of farmers were stopped at Verka Milk Plant Chowk and near the Sangowal village, respectively. Later, a delegation of farmers reached the mini secretariat and presented a memorandum to the additional deputy commissioner. In Hoshiarpur, farmers under the banner of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba staged a 'dharna' against punitive actions towards farmers involved in burning stubble. Led by Harpal Singh Sangha, the president of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba, the farmers gathered in front of the district administrative complex. They submitted a memorandum to the Hoshiarpur DC outlining their concerns and demands. Paddy-straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is considered one of the reasons behind the spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November. Police on Sunday had said that over 930 FIRs had been registered against farmers for burning stubble since November 8, besides, a fine of Rs 1.67 crore had been imposed in 7,405 cases and red entries were made in the revenue records of 340 farmers. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 150994303016327653469912730812262817501 New Delhi [India], November 20 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Tamil Nadu Governor over the delay in disposing of various pending bills. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud asked the reason for delay while hearing the Tamil Nadu Government plea. Also Read | Telangana Assembly Election 2023: Poll-Bound State Requires 59,779 EVMs, Say Officials. The court noted that various bills were disposed of by the governor on November 13. The top court expressed its concern observing that bills were pending since January 2020 and were cleared after the apex court passed the order on November 10. Also Read | Lok Sabha Election 2024: CEO Holds Meeting With Officials in Himachal Pradesh to Make Voter List Error-Free for LS Polls. "It means that the Governor took the decision after the Court issued notice. What was the Governor doing for three years?" the court said. "Why should the Governor wait for the parties to approach the Supreme Court," the court asked. Attorney General R Venkataramani clarified that the present Governor has assumed office in November 2021. But the top court was not convinced by his submission. The court adjourned the matter till December 1 when it was informed the Assembly had passed again the ten bills in a special session on November 18. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi and Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the State of Tamil Nadu, informed the bench about such facts. All the 12 Bills mentioned in the writ petition have been disposed of on November 13. (Out of these 12 bills, assent has been withheld in 10 bills and 2 bills have been reserved for consideration of the President.) On November 18, 2023, a special session of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly was held and all the 10 Bills for which assent was withheld by the Governor, were reconsidered and passed in the Assembly. All 10 Bills have been sent by the State Government to the Governor's Secretariat on November 18. On the proposals related to the appointment of Members of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, the Governor said that he has observed that there is no transparency in the entire selection process and further, he found that the person sought to be appointed as Chairman will have less than a year in office if appointed. However, it may be noted that the Governor has approved all the other proposals for appointment received from the Government, the note said. The Supreme Court also called that the issues raised in the petition are of great concern. The Tamil Nadu Government has moved the Supreme Court to issue directions to the Governor to clear the bills and various files forwarded by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and Government which are pending with his office within a specified timeframe. In the petition, the TN Government has sought to direct the Governor to dispose of all the Bills, files, and Government orders forwarded by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and Government which are pending with his office within a specified timeframe. The petition has been filed through an advocate Sabarish Subramanian. The petition sought to declare that the inaction, omission, delay and failure to comply with the constitutional mandate by the Governor of Tamil Nadu/ first Respondent qua the consideration and assent of the Bills passed and forwarded by the Tamil Nadu State Legislature to him and the non-consideration of files, Government orders and policies forwarded by the State Government for his signature is unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, unreasonable besides malafide exercise of power. "The Governor by not "signing remission orders, day-to-day files, appointment orders, approving recruitment orders, granting approval to prosecute Ministers, MLAs involved in corruption including transfer of investigation to CBI by Supreme Court, Bills passed by Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly" is bringing the entire administration to a grinding halt and creating adversarial attitude by not cooperating with the State administration," Tamil Nadu govt said. Thereby the state government sought to issue directions to stipulate the outer time limit for the 1st Respondent governor to consider Bills passed by the Legislature and sent for assent qua Article-200 of the Constitution in light of the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission. "The refusal to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers or deliberate inaction in acting on the Bills or on the files on the part of the Governor including any delay, will defeat the parliamentary democracy and the will of the people and consequently violates the basic structure of the Constitution," the petition said. The state government said that the current Writ Petition addresses the specific issue that the Government and Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu are facing amendments or changes as he thinks appropriate. "If, on such reconsideration, the Bill is passed again, with or without amendments, and is presented to the Governor for assent, he has to accord his assent. The second proviso says that if in the opinion of the Governor, any Bill presented to him derogates the powers of the High Court so as to endanger the position that the High Court is designed to fill by the Constitution, he is bound to reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President," the petition added. TN Govt said that by denying sanction when the investigative authorities have found prima facie evidence of corruption and have asked for permission to prosecute, the first respondent governor is engaging in politically motivated conduct. This includes the CBI inquiry that this Court has approved and that the Madras High Court ordered. "The Governor's inactions have caused a constitutional deadlock between the Constitutional Head of the State and the Elected Government of the State and by not acting upon their Constitutional functions, the Governor is toying away with the citizen's mandate," the state government said. Hence, the state government has sought to issue appropriate directions laying down guidelines stipulating the outer time limit for the 1st Respondent to consider Bills passed by the Legislature and sent for assent qua Article-200 of the Constitution in light of the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission. It also sought to issue directions laying down guidelines stipulating the outer time limit for the 1st Respondent to consider files, policies, and Government orders sent for signature in the discharge of his constitutional functions. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 150418392087093786015077574593321579806 New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) Domestic commercial vehicle industry is expected to touch the peak sales volume of 2018-19 this fiscal and grow briskly over the next few years coinciding with the growth of the overall economy, VE Commerical Vehicles MD and CEO Vinod Aggarwal said on Monday. He noted in the first seven months (April-October), the heavy duty truck segment has grown by 15 per cent. Also Read | Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse: PM Narendra Modi Speaks to Pushkar Singh Dhami on Rescue Operations, Says Must Keep Trapped Workers' Morale Up; Foreign Expert Visits Disaster Site. "We are expecting that this year the industry should either be very near to the peak or it may even cross earlier peak of 2018-19," Aggarwal told PTI here in an interaction. The industry is expected to grow over the next few years with the economy slated to cross the USD 5 trillion mark, he noted. Also Read | OSSC Recruitment 2023: Vacancies Notified for 234 Vital Statistics Assistant Posts, Apply Online at ossc.gov.in From November 24. "There are fundamental reasons for this growth in the next few years. If we look at the economy, we are now at around USD 4 trillion mark and this economy is going to reach the USD 5-7 trillion mark the way it is growing," Aggarwal said. And if the economy grows, the commercial vehicle industry also grows because when more goods are produced more commercial vehicles are required to move them from one place to another, he noted. Secondly, the new age customers like e-commerce companies seek better turnaround time and therefore old trucks are expected to be replaced by new ones leading to enhanced sales for the industry, he said. "When new trucks are offering a better cost of ownership then it means the old trucks cannot do the job...the e-commerce customers, they define very clearly that my goods need to be delivered in so many hours. They do not tolerate if a truck delivers late...So therefore all the older trucks will come back for replacement," Aggarwal said. Besides, there is huge investment lined up for infrastructure development in the country and that augers well for the growth of the commercial vehicle industry, he noted. "When you have more capital investments, more infrastructure projects it means you need more construction trucks because cement and steel can only be moved by trucks or by railways," Aggarwal said. Elaborating on how VECV, a joint venture between the Volvo group and Eicher Motors, is gearing up to meet the enhanced demand, he noted that the company is ready to offer technologically superior products in the market. "We are absolutely well placed to shape up the future of the commercial vehicle industry," Aggarwal said citing long association with the Volvo group. He also noted that the company is working on host or alternative powertrains to prepare for the future. On Friday, the company introduced four heavy-duty trucks under the Eicher Non-Stop Series for the fast-evolving long-haul transportation requirements in the country. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) Railway PSU Container Corporation of India Ltd has signed an agreement with Indraprastha Gas Ltd to explore the possibility of setting up LNG or LCNG infrastructure at its terminals in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. This strategic partnership aims to revolutionise the logistics sector replacing diesel with natural gas, the Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) said in a statement. Also Read | 'Zombie Deer Disease' in US: Yellowstone National Park Registers First Known Case of Disease That Leaves Animals Confused and Drooling, Know Everything About It. "CONCOR and IGL have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the possibility of setting up LNG/LCNG infrastructure within the premise of CONCOR terminals. Initially, both LNG and LCNG facilities shall be installed at Dadri (Gautam Budh Nagar) terminal of CONCOR," the statement said. CONCOR and IGL also agree to explore the possibility of transportation of LNG in future through railway rakes from LNG terminals near sea ports like Dahej in Gujarat to the desired locations within India. Also Read | Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse: PM Narendra Modi Speaks to Pushkar Singh Dhami on Rescue Operations, Says Must Keep Trapped Workers' Morale Up; Foreign Expert Visits Disaster Site. The MoU signifies the commitment of both CONCOR and IGL to reduce carbon emissions and promote a cleaner, greener future for the transportation industry. LNG trucks emit significantly lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional diesel trucks, contributing to a cleaner environment and aligning with global sustainability goals. As part of the MoU, both entities shall jointly examine the possibility of using LNG-fired engines in place of existing diesel-fired engines, in various terminals of CONCOR. Sanjay Swarup, Chairman & Managing Director CONCOR said, "CONCOR is dedicated to embracing innovative solutions that not only enhance operational efficiency but also align with our responsibility towards the environment. The partnership with IGL for LNG truck refuelling is a testament to our commitment to a greener future. K K Chatiwal, Managing Director, IGL, stated, This collaboration marks a significant step forward in our commitment to environmental sustainability. By creating the required LNG infrastructure, we aim to set new benchmarks for eco-friendly transportation in the industry." (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 1552106443178656569116453992355760917513 New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) Indian jewellers having a valid license to import a specified quantity of gold at concessional customs duty from the UAE, under the free trade agreement, can import it through bullion exchange IIBX, according to a government notification. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification also said that those companies can obtain the physical delivery of the consignment through IFSCA (International Financial Services Centres Authority) registered vaults located in special economic zones, as per the authority's guidelines. Also Read | Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse: PM Narendra Modi Speaks to Pushkar Singh Dhami on Rescue Operations, Says Must Keep Trapped Workers' Morale Up; Foreign Expert Visits Disaster Site. The India-UAE free trade agreement, which came into force in May 2022, provides one per cent duty concessions to domestic importers on a specified quantity of gold under TRQ (tariff rate quota) provisions of the pact. The DGFT provides TRQ certificate to companies for imports and they are also notified by IFSCA. Also Read | OSSC Recruitment 2023: Vacancies Notified for 234 Vital Statistics Assistant Posts, Apply Online at ossc.gov.in From November 24. "Valid India UAE TRQ holders as notified by IFSCA can import gold through IIBX against the TRQ and can obtain physical delivery of the same through IFSCA registered vaults located in SEZs as per the guidelines prescribed by the IFSCA," the DGFT said on Monday. India International Bullion Exchange IFSC Ltd (IIBX) was launched in July 2022. IIBX is promoted by India's leading market infrastructure institutions like NSE, INDIA INX (a subsidiary of BSE), NSDL, CDSL and MCX. IIBX is established at GIFT IFSC, Gandhinagar and regulated by the International Financial Services Centres Authority. The exchange has been conceptualised to provide a gateway to import bullion into India and provide a world-class bullion exchange ecosystem to promote bullion trading, investment in bullion financial products and vaulting facilities in IFSCs. Bullion is kept in the vaults authorised by IFSCA and empanelled by India International Depository IFSC Ltd. Bullion on IIBX is traded in the form of Bullion Depository Receipts. The IFSCA was set up in April 2020 under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. It is headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar. The IFSCA is a unified authority for the development and regulation of financial products, financial services and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India. At present, the GIFT IFSC is the maiden international financial services centre in India. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Press Release November 20, 2023 Senator Mark Villar Commends President BBM For Essential AI Partnerships, Urges Development of AI Framework Senator Mark Villar commends President Bongbong Marcos for leading the Philippine government's efforts in securing partnerships on artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity from Silicon Valley companies. He notes, however, that the Philippines has a lot of work to do for the adoption of AI as no other measure or action has been made for its regulation or development except for the 2019 Philippine AI Roadmap. "Marami na pong developments with AI in the past four years since the 2019 Roadmap. It has since boomed into heightened use across different sectors. Panahon na po na magkaroon na tayo ng framework regulating the use and development of AI para sa kapakanan ng mga empleyado ng mga industriya na gumagamit ng AI," Senator Mark said. In line with this, Senator Mark filed Senate Resolution No. 588, directing the proper Senate committee to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the emerging use of artificial intelligence in different sectors and/or industries, and for the establishment of a framework related to the adoption, promotion, development, and fair use of AI in the Philippines. "As the Philippines embraces the use of AI in various day-to-day activities, a substantial part of this technology still remains unchartered. Wala pa po tayong idea how to properly approach AI in terms of the regulation of its use. With this resolution, we are hoping that the Senate inquiry will bring light to information about AI that we can use to build a legal framework," Senator Mark added. As Senator Mark looks forward to the success of the partnership, he also hopes to look into the impact of AI on the daily lives of Filipinos as he recognizes both the risks and opportunities brought by AI technology. He emphasized that while AI has the potential to augment human capabilities, increase efficiency and accuracy, and eliminate manual labor, the technology also possesses the possibility of job displacement, widening of income inequalities, as well as the exacerbation of biases. "Hindi lamang po ang pagkakaroon ng legal framework ang ating titingnan. We will also look into how it affects the daily lives of Filipinos. Does AI widen the unemployment of our countrymen? Paano ba ito makakatulong sa mga tao? Where do we draw the line between the helpful use of AI and its compromission?," Senator Mark highlighted. "With the booming use of AI in different sectors, kailangan natin ng increased partnerships with experienced professionals so we'll know how to properly deal with AI, especially now na wala pa po tayong legal framework for this novel technology all the while its use has spread throughout," Senator Mark added. Senator Mark has, nonetheless, applauded President Marcos for leading the partnerships with Silicon Valley companies. However, he emphasized that an up-to-date framework for AI is of significance to level the playing field for Filipinos especially now that the country's digital infrastructure remains underdeveloped and unsupervised. Kabul [Afghanistan], November 20 (ANI): A group of women in Afghanistan's Takhar province have demanded the release of women's rights activists currently detained by the Taliban-led administration, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported. These activists have been champions of gender equality and women's empowerment in Afghanistan, calling for women's fundamental rights and opportunities. However, their recent arrest has sparked concerns regarding their safety and the future of women's rights in Afghanistan. Also Read | Same Sex Couple Give Birth to Baby They Both Carried in Spain. Women in Takhar have called for the immediate release of women activists and stressed the importance of preserving the progress made in women's rights. On Sunday, women, under the banner of the "Independent Coalition of the Protest Movement," gathered at an undisclosed location and called on the Taliban to release the detained women. Also Read | Microsoft Hires OpenAI Founders to Lead AI Research Team After ChatGPT Makers Shakeup. The video that surfaced on social media showed women from the "Independent Coalition of the Protest Movement" saying, "The current regime cannot silence the voice of justice by detaining and suppressing protesting women." Meanwhile, the Political Participation of Women Network in Kabul has condemned the recent detention of women's rights activists. It urged human rights organisations to make efforts for their release. Notably, four women's rights activists, including Neda Parwani, Julia Parsi, Manizha Sadiqi, and Parisa Azadi, have been kept in custody and there is no information shared regarding their detention or whereabouts, according to Khaama Press report. Amnesty International raised concerns about the detention of these women, highlighting the gravity of the situation. Nasir Ahmad Faiq, Afghanistan's representative at the United Nations, stressed that these continued detentions are a violation of both Islamic and international laws. The detention of women's rights activists underscores rising international and domestic concerns regarding the treatment of women's rights activists and the broader human rights situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban's rule. Amnesty International has strongly condemned the continued detention of women's rights activists in Afghanistan, emphasizing that restrictions against girls and women can escalate into "sexual harassment and crimes against humanity", Khaama Press reported. Several women's rights advocates also expressed deep concern over the efforts by the Taliban administration to marginalise women in the country. Earlier on Friday, Amnesty International expressed deep concern in response to the detention of Parisa Azadeh, a women's rights activist. They stated that they are "extremely" worried about the detained women, highlighting the urgency of the situation. Parisa Azadeh is the fourth woman whom the Taliban regime has recently detained. Sources report that she was arrested on Tuesday while printing protest banners in western Kabul, Khaama Press reported. The human rights organisation further added that the continued severe restrictions by the Taliban and the unlawful suppression of Afghan girls and women could lead to "crimes against humanity and sexual harassment". (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Islamabad, Nov 20 (PTI) Pakistan's former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday moved the Supreme Court to seek post-arrest bail in the cipher case. Qureshi, also the Vice Chairman of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has approached the apex court, requesting it to annul the Islamabad High Court's decision of November 8 as the court did not properly consider the facts in the case. Also Read | 'Zombie Deer Disease' in US: Yellowstone National Park Registers First Known Case of Disease That Leaves Animals Confused and Drooling, Know Everything About It. Qureshi, 67, was indicted along with Khan, 71 for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act by disclosing a secret diplomatic cable (cipher) sent by the country's embassy in Washington in March last year. They were arrested in August. Also Read | Yemens Houthi Rebels Hijack Israeli-Linked India-Bound Ship in Red Sea and Take 25 Crew Members Hostage. On Monday, the petition, filed on behalf of the senior politician, stated that the Islamabad High Court did not properly assess the facts in the matter, News International reported. "A baseless and political case has been made against the petitioner," the plea read. Moreover, the petition said that FIR does not comply with the law. Qureshi added that the FIR filed in the case has no direct connection with him. The petition further stated that Qureshi enjoys immunity under Article 248 of the Constitution on the basis of being the foreign minister, the Express Tribune newspaper reported. Earlier, Qureshi's bail application was rejected by the high court in a hearing conducted by Justice Aamer Farooq. The petition also mentioned that the courts did not give due consideration to the core principles of bail as held by the superior courts. It also mentioned that the court's order failed to give due consideration to the fact that the petitioner's role is distinguishable from that of the principal accused and that the only allegations against the petitioner as mentioned in the challan dated March 3 is that of a speech given in a political rally. PTI Chairman Khan has also filed a plea in the Supreme Court, on November 3, seeking post-arrest bail in the cipher case. Both the leaders are imprisoned in the Adiala jail. Khan and Qureshi have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The caretaker government in Pakistan has approved the jail trial of Khan and Qureshi in the case based on an alleged violation of the Official Secrets Act while dealing with a secret diplomatic cable by the Pakistan embassy in Washington in March 2022. The duo were booked by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the case in August. The purported cipher (secret diplomatic cable) contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South & Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan last year. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 700814806772310998216652431219787156920 Lahore, Nov 20 (PTI) At least 15 minor male students at a seminary were allegedly raped by two teachers in Pakistan's Punjab province, police said on Monday, days after the suspects were arrested. The incident took place in Chakwal district, some 275 km from Lahore, Punjab Inspector General Police (IGP) Usman Anwar told reporters here. Also Read | Yemens Houthi Rebels Hijack Israeli-Linked India-Bound Ship in Red Sea and Take 25 Crew Members Hostage. Both the teachers, identified as Zeeshan and Anis, have been arrested and are being interrogated, he said. "The two teachers of a seminary in Chakwal district sexually assaulted at least 15 male students, aged between 10 and 12. The number may increase during the course of the investigation," the IGP said. Also Read | UK General Elections 2023: Indore-Born London Deputy Mayor Rajesh Agrawal Eyes Parliament Seat From Leicester. The statements of all the 15 victims and their parents have been recorded. The children have also undergone medical examination and rape has been confirmed, he said. Knife and bite marks have also been found on the victims' bodies, police said. Police have also taken an administrator of the seminary into custody. The scandal came to the fore when the father of one of the victims approached the Punjab police last Friday seeking help. The father said he visited his son at the boarding seminary on Friday. "Seeing me my son broke into tears and narrated the story of rape and torture inflicted on him by his two teachers. He also said that he was not a lone victim as his other classmates were also subjected to sexual assault at the hands of Zeeshan and Anis," police officer Wahid Mahmood quoted the victim's father as saying to police. Based on the man's statement, a police team raided the seminary and arrested both the teachers and recorded the statements of the victims who said that the two paedophiles would torture them for refusing to submit to them. District Police Officer Captain (Retd) Wahid Mehmood told the Dawn newspaper that a team of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency visited the crime scene and collected DNA samples. We have also recovered a knife that suspects used to inflict cut marks on the bodies of students. According to the FIR, the suspects wrote Z' on the victims' bodies. Mehmood said that the management of the seminary was informed a month ago about the abuse. Punjab caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi has assured the victim families that "instant justice" will be provided to them. He said the suspects would face the maximum punishment for the heinous crime. "A task has been given to the IGP and the prosecution secretary to ensure that perpetrators of the horrific crime are punished as soon as possible," he said. There have been constant incidents of rape of seminary students by their teachers in Pakistan. Rights and civil society activists have been demanding that the government introduce a strong monitoring mechanism at seminaries to control rape incidents. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Patna, November 20: A jilted lover shot dead two members of the same family and injured four others in Bihars Lakhisarai district on Monday while the victims were returning home from the Chhath Puja ghat, police said. According to the police, three of the critically injured have been referred to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). Bihar Shocker: Two Killed, Four Injured as Man Opens Fire After Getting Rejected by Girls Family in Lakhisarai (Watch Videos). Confirming the incident, Lakhisarai SP Pankaj Kumar said a manhunt is currently underway to nab the accused, identified as Aashish Choudhary. Aashish Choudhary had been eyeing a girl from the victims' family. He was applying pressure on them for marriage but the family members were not ready. Some 10 days ago, Aashish had an argument with the girl's family. He was asking them to get ready for the marriage. This was the reason why he attacked them on Monday morning, Kumar said. Bihar Firing: Two Undertrial Inmates Shot at After Gunfire Erupts Inside Samastipur Court (Watch Video). The victims, Chandan Jha and Rajnandan Jha, both 31 years old, died on the spot, while Durga Jha, Preeti Devi and Shashi Bhushan Jha are battling for their lives in PMCH Patna. Lovely Devi was also injured in the firing and admitted to Sadar hospital in Lakhisarai. We have constituted a dedicated team to nab Aashish Choudhary. Raids are currently underway. He has been booked under relevant sections of murder in Kavaiya police station in the district, Kumar said. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 20, 2023 01:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 1522261651424248337312940947890673315320 Imphal, November 20: A security force personnel and his driver were shot dead by suspected members of the Imphal Valley-based terror groups in Kangpokpi district of Manipur on Monday, officials said here. The duo were travelling in a vehicle when suspected terror group members belonging to the state's majority community carried out an ambush between Haraothel and Kobsha villages, the officials said. One of the deceased was working with the India Reserve Battalion (IRB), the officials said. The incident took place in an area adjacent to the Singda dam, which has become a hotspot for insurgent groups to target tribal community members during the ongoing ethnic violence in the northeastern state. A tribal organisation claimed that the Kuki-Zo community people were attacked without provocation and declared a "shutdown" in Kangpokpi district. UFO Spotted in Manipur? Unknown Flying Object Affects Flight Services in Manipur's Imphal International Airport. The area witnessed several incidents of gunfight between armed villagers since the ethnic strife between Meitei and Kuki communities began in the northeastern state in early May. Additional forces have been deployed in the area and a search is underway to arrest those involved in the incident, a police official said. Condemning the "unprovoked attack" on the Kuki-Zo community people, the Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) declared an "emergency shutdown" in Kangpokpi district. The COTU, at a meeting, also demanded that the government make arrangements for a separate administration for tribals. Manipur: Mobile Internet Ban Again Extended Till November 23 To Curb Spread of Harmful Messages, Photos and Videos. More than 180 people have been killed since the violence erupted on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts. Sitapur, November 20: Months after an inmate died in the district jail here, the prison's deputy jailor and three others have been booked for murder, police said on Monday. The inmate, Bablu Singh of Sitapur's Misrikh, died in April. He was lodged in the district jail in cases of molestation and those under the POCSO Act and the Gangster Act, they said. Uttar Pradesh: School Teacher, Three Others Booked for Sexually Exploiting Minor Boy, Forcing Conversion in Kanpur. Deputy Jailor Vijayalakshmi Gupta used to demand money from Singh and he was harassed if he did not pay. On April 14, Singh was beaten badly and he died as he was not given proper treatment, police said. Singh's mother Seema lodged a police complaint in the matter and though post-mortem examination was conducted, no action was taken. Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Man Held for Exhuming Five-Year-Old Girls Body, Sleeping Next to It. Seema moved court, which immediately ordered the Kotwali police to register a case in the matter. Following the court order, police have booked Gupta, jail pharmacist Shailendra Verma, jail staff Sudhanshu Srivastava and another person under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). An investigation is underway and a report will be filed soon, Investigating Officer Alok Mani Tripathi said. Kanpur, November 20: On the orders of the court, the police in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur have booked four people, including a woman teacher, for sexually exploiting a minor boy and forcing him to undergo religious conversion. The victim is a Class 10 student. His parents, from Unnao, have alleged that the schoolteacher forced the boy to have sexual relations and later pressured him to convert to her religion. When parents informed the school headmistress, she allegedly told them to keep the matter under wraps. Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Four Minor Siblings Electrocuted While Playing Near Fan in Unnao District The parents then approached the local police, but no action was taken. So, they moved the court which ordered the FIR against the accused. Three others booked are the woman teachers husband, her brother and the headmistress. Police have booked them under the POCSO Act and the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. On November 7, the court issued orders directing the police to register an FIR against not only the accused teacher, but also her husband, brother and the school manager. Uttar Pradesh Shocker: PAC Constable Held for Raping 23-Year-Old Woman in Agra In compliance with the courts directives, an FIR has been registered against the accused. Meanwhile, additional commissioner of police (Cantt) Vrij Narayan Singh said on Monday that a case has been registered in the Cantt police station on the orders of the court. The complainant had alleged that his son was subjected to sexual harassment by the schoolteacher, who also forced him to convert to her religion. Police will investigate all the allegations and further action will be taken on the basis of evidence, said the ACP. Kanpur, November 20: A constable from the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), posted in Kanpur, has been arrested for allegedly raping a woman in his hometown in Agra, the police said. The 23-year-old woman, who got engaged on November 5, was on her way to settle pending dues at a nearby marriage home when the constable, Yogesh Kumar, convinced her to accompany him on his motorcycle. The survivor said Kumar forcibly took her to a room, where she was physically assaulted and sexually abused on Thursday. Pushpendra, the caretaker of the marriage home, stood guard outside the room. Acting on the woman's complaint, the police registered an FIR against the constable and the caretaker, citing charges under sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The survivor added that the constable filmed an obscene video of her and threatened to share it on social media. Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Husband Finds Wife in 'Bed' With Lover, Burns Her Alive in Bareilly; Arrested She said, "He also threatened to harm my family if I reported the incident. Eventually, he dropped me near my house after I pleaded with him to let me go." Deputy Commissioner of Police Sonam Kumar said, "The woman underwent a medical examination and recorded her statement before the magistrate under CrPC Section 164. The accused constable has been arrested as per court orders." Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Man Arrested for Allegedly Sodomizing Five-Year-Old in Ballia After Luring Him With Biscuits Locals said the woman hails from a financially struggling family, and is the youngest of three siblings. Her father, a labourer, passed away during the Covid-19 pandemic. She now lives with her mother and her siblings and works at a mobile phone shop. Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 58665962203644129291664862177584098604 Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 19004366257753206538625636447400965874 Validating your browser . . . Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Please enable cookies and reload the page. This may take up to 5 seconds Event ID: 92743413120683767812246903019208331100 New Delhi, November 20: After shifting the date of the full and final settlement of laid-off employees from September to November, edtech major Byju's has once again delayed the payment. Moneycontrol connected to about 60 workers who were sacked by the company in the first nine months of 2023. Forty former employees claim that the corporation has yet to pay out their full and final compensation, which was supposed to arrive by November 17. Eight former employees said they received the money, but about two-three didn't receive their variable pay or incentives. Nearly 10 employees who were laid off by the firm between June and July are still waiting for a final settlement, said the report. However, the report mentioned, citing sources, Byju's is making the payments in stages on a weekly basis, and has already fulfilled the instalments due in October. Microsoft Hires OpenAI Founders to Lead AI Research Team After ChatGPT Maker's Shakeup. This comes at a time when many of these employees have been unable to find another employment following their termination due to tough macroeconomic conditions. In June, Byju's laid off about 1,000 staff members across various departments, including mentoring, logistics, training, sales, post-sales, and finance. Online Fraud: Man Loses Rs 5 Lakhs After Seeking Help From Fake 'Uber Customer Care Number' on Google in Gurgaon. Later in August, another 400 employees were let go, citing a performance evaluation in the mentorship and product expert division. In September, the edtech major announced to lay off 4,000-5,000 employees in a "business restructuring exercise". In the same month, Byju's said it would clear the full and final settlement dues of laid-off employees soon amid "difficult business restructuring". In a statement, the company said it "regrets and acknowledges the delays in settling dues of former employees". (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 20, 2023 07:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). On 17 November Perus interior minister,resigned after losing a vote of censure in congress. End of preview - This article contains approximately 399 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options In the wake of major advertisers, including Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Lionsgate, Paramount Global, and IBM, announcing a halt to their ad spending on the social media platform X, owner Elon Musk has responded with plans for a "thermonuclear lawsuit" against Media Matters, according to Variety. The Elon Musk thermonuclear lawsuit comes after the research group claimed to find ads on X/Twitter running alongside pro-Nazi and X White Supremacy ads posts. The decision by several prominent advertisers to pause their ads on X was triggered by Musk's recent endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory suggesting that Jewish people "promote hatred against whites." Apple has also joined the ranks of companies suspending advertising spending on X in response to these developments, according to an Axios report. Musk, in his late-night legal threat on X, took specific aim at Media Matters, accusing the watchdog group of manipulating research about advertising on the platform. Elon Musk declared his intention to file a "thermonuclear lawsuit" against Media Matters and all those he perceived as involved in a "fraudulent attack on our company," which includes their board, donors, and network of dark money. READ NEXT: X in More Chaos Since Elon Musk Takeover Media Matters Responds to Elon Musk Thermonuclear Lawsuit Media Matters responded to Musk's legal threat, characterizing him as a "bully" and dismissing the prospect of the Elon Musk lawsuit as "meritless," Reuters reports. Media Matters President Angelo Carusone highlighted Elon Musk's admission that the ads ran alongside pro-Nazi content identified by the group. Carusone expressed confidence in their legal standing if Musk decided to pursue a lawsuit. This isn't the first instance of Musk making legal threats, as he had previously targeted the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a nonprofit combating antisemitism, regarding X's loss of ad revenue. However, he has yet to follow through with a lawsuit against the ADL. Civil rights groups have criticized Musk's ownership of X, noting a surge in hate speech on the platform since he acquired it in October 2022 and reduced content moderation. The White House also condemned Musk's endorsement of a "hideous" antisemitic conspiracy theory, labeling it as an "abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate" inconsistent with American values. Elon Musk Declares New Policy for X X CEO, Elon Musk, declared a new policy on Friday, stating that expressions such as "decolonization," "from the river to the sea," and similar euphemisms that imply genocide would not be tolerated, per CNBC. Clear calls for extreme violence, according to Musk, go against X's terms of service and will result in account suspension. Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), praised Musk's commitment to suspending accounts engaged in what he perceives as genocidal speech. Despite Musk's persistent criticism of the ADL, a Jewish-led organization combating hate speech and discrimination, and his previous threats to sue, no legal action against the ADL has been initiated. Meanwhile, the Elon Musk thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters remains uncertain, and the timing and jurisdiction, if any, are unclear. X is headquartered in San Francisco, while Media Matters, the media watchdog group, is based in Washington, D.C. READ MORE: California College Professor Charged for Jewish Man's Death This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Media Matters president responds to Elon Musk lawsuit threat - From MSNBC The most prestigious beauty pageant in the world, Miss Universe, finally concluded in El Salvador, and Miss Nicaragua, Sheynnis Palacios, was crowned Miss Universe 2023, becoming the first Nicaraguan to win the title. She surprised many with the win, beating first runner-up winner Miss Thailand, Anntonia Porsild, and second runner-up winner Miss Australia, Moraya Wilson. She was chosen out of 84 candidates from all over the world. According to the Associated Press, before entering the pageant, Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios was a communicologist. She stated that she "wants to work to promote mental health" as her platform and this is all because she previously suffered from debilitating bouts of anxiety herself. Many felt that the Nicaraguan secured the win when she was asked which woman's shoes would she like to spend a year in. She answered she wanted to be the 18th-century English writer and philosopher, Mary Wollstonecraft, one of the earliest advocates of women's rights and is considered one of the forerunners of feminism. Palacios also stated that she wants to work on the salary gap between men and women, vowing that she wants to close it "so that women can work in any area." New Miss Universe Sheynnis Palacios Shined With a Sparkling Gown During the Top 3 As the Top 3 candidates were revealed, Palacios, Porsild, and Wilson all wore custom gowns with embellishments, which included rhinestones and pearls. WWD reported that Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios wore a "crystal and pearl-embellished gown with cutout shoulder details and nude crystal-embellished gloves" during the Final 3. The dress itself was a tribute to the Nicaraguan flag. READ MORE: Miss Universe 2023: Miss Bolivia Sued for 'Racist and Discriminatory' Remarks 2023 marked some massive changes for the Miss Universe pageant as for the first time, two transgender women and a plus-size model and mothers were finally able to join. Several guests include John Legend, who performed during the night, as well as Maria Menounos, Olivia Culpo, and Jeannie Mai Jenkins who served as the US show's hosts. The dresses worn by the delegates were provided by Clarisse Designs. These were worn during the opening numbers. Meanwhile, the candidates' footwear was provided by Jojo Bragais. Several Miss Universe 2023 Facts Miss Universe 2023 was a truly historic pageant as not only did it crown Miss Nicaragua as the winner for the first time in history, but it also added its first body-inclusive contestant with Miss Nepal Jane Dipika Garrett. "I am a determined, resilient, and genuine woman who embraces her true essence and nature without fear," she said in her Miss Universe bio. "My life experiences have molded me into the strong, bold, and courageous woman I am today." Meanwhile, Miss Colombia Camila Avella was the first mother to ever join the competition, according to Business Insider. The pageant announced that mothers and married women could compete in August 2022. Meanwhile, Noelia Voigt was the first Miss United States to have Venezuelan roots, and several candidates, including the winner herself, have been very candid about their struggles with mental health. This was also the first Miss Universe pageant to be held in El Salvador since 1975, with President Nayib Bukele touting the changes he made under his administration. "Miss Universe has given us the opportunity to show the world what we are capable of. Thank you for choosing to be part of El Salvador's rebirth," Bukele said. READ MORE: El Salvador: Military and Police Surround Town to Root Out MS-13 Gang Members This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Miss Universe 2023 Crowning Moment - Miss Universe Predictions Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, wife of former President Jimmy Carter and was once his closest adviser, has died, as confirmed by the Carter Center. She was 96 years old. She died last Sunday after facing declining health amid a battle with dementia. However, The Carter Center announced that the former FLOTUS "died peacefully, with family by her side" at 2:10 PM inside her rural home in White Plains, Georgia. Former president Jimmy Carter soon released a statement regarding his wife's passing, stating, "Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me." Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter was one of the biggest advocates for mental health in the US, and she is even the honorary chairwoman of the President's Commission on Mental Health. She is also a well-known humanitarian, building houses with her husband for Habitat For Humanity. She helped push Congress for improved mental health coverage and had chosen mental health and problems of the elderly as her trademark policies. When asked about her mental health advocacy, she explained, "I used to come home and say to Jimmy, 'Why are people telling me their problems?' And he said, 'Because you may be the only person they'll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them." Support and Tributes Flow in for Former FLOTUS Rosalynn Carter Shortly after her death, the White House paid tribute to the late former FLOTUS, with President Joe Biden and current First Lady Dr. Jill Biden sharing their condolences, with the president stating, "Throughout her incredible life as First Lady of Georgia and the First Lady of the United States, Rosalynn did so much to address many of society's greatest needs." He added, "She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities." "She was well known for her efforts on mental health and caregiving and women's rights, so I hope that during the holidays, you'll include the Carter family in your prayers," Dr. Jill Biden added. READ MORE: Donald Trump Attacks Kim Kardashian After Daughter Ivanka Trump Attended Reality Star's Party Meanwhile, former FLOTUS Michelle Obama said Carter reminded her to "make the role of First Lady my own, just like she did." She added, "She advocated for better care for the elderly. She advanced women's rights. And she remained a champion for those causes - and many others like building affordable housing for those in need and caring for our nation's caregivers - in the more than four decades that followed." Former President George W. Bush also added in the tributes, writing, "There was no greater advocate of President Carter, and their partnership set a wonderful example of loyalty and fidelity. She leaves behind an important legacy in her work to destigmatize mental health. We join our fellow citizens in sending our condolences to President Carter and their family," he said in a statement joined by former First Lady Laura Bush." Meanwhile, Bill Clinton stated, "Throughout her long, remarkable life, she was an unwavering voice for the overlooked and underrepresented." Donald Trump Made Fun of Jimmy Carter After Rosalynn Carter Went Into Hospice Care Donald Trump also released a tribute for the former First Lady, stating, "From her days as a US Navy spouse to the Georgia Governor's Mansion to her tenure as First Lady of the United States, and her later work at the Carter Center and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, she leaves behind a legacy of extraordinary accomplishment and national service." However, just the day before, when Rosalynn Carter entered hospice care, Donald Trump made fun of her husband, Jimmy Carter, as a dig at current President Biden. During a rally in Iowa, Trump told his supporters that "the happiest person anywhere in this country right now is Jimmy Carter because his administration looked brilliant compared to these clowns." READ MORE: Donald Trump Co-Defendant Jenna Ellis Turns On Ex-POTUS, Calls Him a 'Malignant Narcissist' This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Former first lady Rosalynn Carter dies at 96 - ABC News In a chilling turn of events, New York authorities are investigating the discovery of a human torso on a Queens beach, suspecting it might be the remains of acclaimed Irish filmmaker and photographer Ross McDonnell, who mysteriously disappeared over a week ago, sources told The NY Post. The grim discovery unfolded when a 911 call alerted police to a human torso, still connected to its legs, lying on the sand at a popular NYC beach in southern Queens around noon on Friday. As of now, authorities are unable to determine the cause of death, or the age, or gender of the deceased individual. DNA test results are pending, and law enforcement sources suggest that McDonnell may have drowned in turbulent waters, with his body possibly altered by natural forces before washing ashore at Breezy Point Beach on Friday. READ NEXT: Missing Actor Julian Sands Found Dead in Mount Baldy Emmy Award-Winning Filmmaker Ross McDonnell Reported Missing Ross McDonnell, an Emmy award-winning filmmaker, has been missing in New York, according to The Irish Times. The last reported sighting was on November 4 when his bicycle was found at Fort Tilden Beach in Queens on November 7th, a popular swimming location. Originally from Howth, north Dublin, the 44-year-old McDonnell lived in Brooklyn and frequently traveled abroad for his work. Gene Gallerano, a close friend, revealed that McDonnell was last seen on Saturday night, and alarm bells rang on Sunday when he had not been heard from since. The case was reported to local police, who initiated searches in the area where McDonnell was last seen. Efforts to locate him are now focused on finding a black backpack he had with him at the time, with the hope that it may provide clues to his disappearance. Ross McDonnell Ross McDonnell's creative journey is outlined on his website, where it is noted that his passion for image-making and storytelling stemmed from early travel experiences per the Hindustan Times. His work reflects a deep interest in the open-ended nature of non-fiction and the inherent tensions in the photographic process between transience and permanence. McDonnell's debut feature film, "Colony," premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, earning him the IDFA First Feature Award and an Irish Film and Television Award Nomination. His versatile career includes roles as a Director, Cinematographer, and Producer. In 2021, he secured an Emmy Award for Cinematography on the Showtime series "The Trade." His accolades further include being shortlisted for the Prix Pictet, a prestigious photography award, and an Emmy Nomination for directing the documentary "Elian" in 2018. Additionally, his first monograph, "Joyrider," was published in October 2021. The situation surrounding Ross McDonnell's disappearance and the distressing discovery on the NYC beach has cast a shadow over the artistic community, prompting an emotional response from friends and colleagues. As authorities await the results of DNA tests, the mystery surrounding McDonnell's fate deepens, leaving those who admire his work hoping for answers in the days to come. READ MORE: Colorado Hiker Missing for Months Found Dead This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Irish filmmaker Ross McDonnell missing in NYC - From CBS New York Nicaragua has now officially left the Organization of American States. Shortly after, the US State Department blasted the conjugal dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo, accusing them of avoiding accountability by leaving the organization. "Today, Nicaragua's withdrawal from the Organization of American States (OAS) Charter took effect. Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo's decision to further isolate Nicaragua from the international community demonstrates their desperation to avoid any effort by the OAS or like-minded partners to hold them accountable for egregious human rights abuses," wrote the US State Department on its official website. The State Department also listed several human rights abuses being done under the Daniel Ortega regime, including "unjustly detaining, convicting, and mistreating political prisoners - including Bishop Rolando Alvarez; attacking independent journalists; and forcing hundreds of civil society organizations and educational institutions to close or hand over operations to the state." This is a clear reference to Ortega's history of repressing his own people, jailing those running against him during the previous presidential election, kicking out various media outlets and religious institutions, as well as feuding with the Roman Catholic Church. The US government continued blasting Ortega and his regime, adding, "Nicaragua's actions are an affront to the Western Hemisphere's commitment to democracy. Despite Ortega and Murillo's denunciation of the OAS Charter, Nicaragua remains bound by its human rights and governance obligations under remaining treaties and instruments, including the American Convention on Human Rights." The State Department then vowed that the US government will continue "working with our partners in the OAS, continues to review all available and appropriate tools to hold Ortega, Murillo, and their surrogates accountable for their actions." READ NEXT: Miss Universe 2023: Sheyniss Palacios Makes History for Winning First Ms. Universe Crown for Nicaragua OAS Will Continue Monitoring Nicaragua's Human Rights Abuses Despite Leaving Organization Days before Nicaragua officially left the OAS, the organization adopted a resolution to keep monitoring what was happening under Daniel Ortega's authoritarian rule despite the country already leaving. The OAS vowed that they " will continue paying special attention to the situation in Nicaragua" and, according to the Associated Press, will try to promote the "respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms" in the Central American country. Nicaragua had slowly been trying to leave the OAS, a group to which the country had belonged since 1950, and has not left it even after the Sandinista Revolution that first placed Ortega in power. Nicaragua's Feud With the Roman Catholic Church One of the groups that the government of Nicaragua has been feuding with from within is the Roman Catholic Church, with the country expelling missionaries and foreign clergymen while also jailing local priests critical of the government. This was further escalated when Daniel Ortega's top critic, Matagpala Bishop Rolando Alvarez, was arrested. This prompted Pope Francis to call for an "open and sincere" dialogue between the Vatican and Nicaragua, which eventually resulted in Bishop Alvarez's release. For now, many Nicaraguan priests are serving in exile in Rome or the United States. READ MORE: Nicaragua Helping Fuel Migrant Crisis by 'Weaponizing' Haitian Migrants as Leverage Against US This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Nicaragua: FM Denis Moncada announces withdrawal from the OAS - TeleSur English Pennsylvania lawmakers sent Gov. Josh Shapiro legislation banning pelvic, prostate and similar exams on unconscious patients who havent given permission. The state House on Wednesday and Senate on Thursday unanimously approved the measure, according to a news release from state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Philadelphia, the author of House Bill 507. Shapiro says he plans to sign the bill into law. Once its official, Pennsylvania will join about 20 other states that outlaw such exams. Such exams are typically done by medical students as part of their education. They have long been controversial, with some students over the years saying they were troubled by having to do the exams. Its unclear how often they happened in Pennsylvania and at what medical schools and hospitals. Fieldler said she became outraged after hearing from a constituent who had undergone such an exam while under anesthesia and was traumatized by the experience. In the news release, Republican state Sen. Michele Brooks said she was stunned to learn that medical students and institutions were able to perform these pelvic, rectal or prostate exams on patients without their knowledge while under anesthesia for unrelated procedures. An official of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network said, Unauthorized pelvic exams are a gross violation of the privacy and autonomy of patients The solution is as simple as requiring a patients informed consent prior to the examination, which will prioritize the patients comfort, safety and autonomy. Some medical schools consider the exams an essential teaching tool, according to an article by PennLive in April focusing on the issue. Students first practice on mannequins and non-patient volunteers. In their final year of medical school, during hospital rotations, they practice on patients, according to the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics. The association said the pelvic exam is a critical tool for the diagnosis of womens health conditions and remains an important skill necessary for students to master before becoming physicians. But the association stressed the need to obtain clear consent from patients, saying exams done on unconscious patients without their permission can be traumatic for both patients and students. The exams came under scrutiny in 2012, after a medical student wrote an article expressing guilt over performing pelvic exams on anesthetized women who hadnt been asked for consent, calling it the first act of medical training that left me ashamed. He said he performed such exams 4-5 times per day for three weeks. He said he was required to introduce himself to patients and explain his presence beforehand, but there was no mention he would do a pelvic exam. He said he spoke to fellow students and found them similarly troubled, and friends outside medicine were shocked and horrified such a practice existed and considered it an egregious violation of doctor-patient trust. READ MORE: Mandate for insurers to cover life-saving biomarker testing gets bipartisan push in Pa. Central Pa. doctors sound warning about RSV threat to babies, young children A Bethlehem man is facing felony charges following an alleged sexual assault of a child he knew, police said. Gerber R. Vasquez-Barrios, 37, of the 400 block of Cherokee Street is charged with one felony count of aggravated indecent assault of a child; one count felony corruption of minors; and one count misdemeanor assault of a person less than 13 years old. Vasquez-Barrios on Friday was arraigned before District Judge Sandra L. McClure, who set bail at $150,000. In lieu of bail, Vasquez-Barrios was sent to Northampton County Prison. Court records did not indicate any attorney information for Vasquez-Barrios. Bethlehem Township police on Oct. 20 were called to St. Lukes Hospital Anderson campus for a reported sex assault of a girl under the age of 13. The girls mother reported the alleged sex assault to investigators. The act allegedly happened during the night at a township home. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. A 50-year-old Allentown man was jailed after allegedly stabbing another man during a dispute at Wind Creek Bethlehems parking garage. Diosadado Melendez, 50, is facing two counts of felony aggravated assault, misdemeanor simple assault, misdemeanor possessing an instrument of crime and misdemeanor reckless endangerment. Melendez was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Sandra L. McClure, who set bail at $150,000. In lieu of bail, he was taken to Northampton County Prison. There was no attorney information listed in court records for Melendez. City police said the incident began around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday when officers were called to the seventh floor of the parking garage at 77 Wind Creek Blvd. for a report of a man suffering from multiple stab wounds. Officers applied a tourniquet and the victim was taken to St. Lukes University Hospital in Fountain Hill for further treatment, according to court records. An officer spotted a silver Chrysler van leaving the scene and the same vehicle was stopped a short while later, city police said. The officer who stopped the van found blood in the rear passenger seat, police said. The victim allegedly told investigators he was stabbed by Melendez with a knife. A witness reported Melendez and the victim got into an altercation after Melendez ordered the victim out of the van, city police said. Casino surveillance footage allegedly showed Melendez, another man and the victim all arriving at Wind Creek Bethlehem in the van. When the trio returned later that afternoon, footage showed the victim getting into the rear passenger seat while Melendez entered the drivers seat, according to court records. The video showed Melendez leaving the drivers seat, proceeding to the passenger seat and then after a short amount of time, re-entering the drivers seat before pulling away from the garage, according to court records. The same footage shows the victim staggering around the top level of the parking garage, city police said. Investigators matched trails of blood from the victim to the paths shown in the footage, police said. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Limerick hurling star Kyle Hayes and the HSE CEO have given an amazing gift to the son of a senior nurse at Portlaoise hospital. During his recent visit to Laois, HSE boss Bernard Gloster presented with Rita Flaherty Dennedy, Assistant Director of Nursing for Patient Flow, with a jersey that has a special message from the multiple All-Ireland winner. Rita is the mother of 14-year-old Michael Dennedy from Kinnitty who lost a leg in a tractor accident. Michael and Rita met Mr Gloster previously in the Ronald McDonald House in Crumlin Hospital where Mr Gloster heard of Michael's passion for sport particularly hurling. The HSE say Mr Gloster took the opportunity to meet with Rita again in Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise where he shared a personal gift of a training jersey for Michael signed by Kyle Hayes. The HSE said Mr Gloster said how impressed he was with Michael and Rita and their resilience in the face of a difficult recovery journey. He said he was in no doubt that his family and his mum Rita and dad Ray are the champions of hope and encouragement around him. He wished him the very best in his recovery. Michael thanked Mr Gloster in a video message. Thank you for the amazing gift. Kyle Hayes is an amazing player. Thank you so much for keeping your promise, I didnt think you would do it but you are a man of your word, Limerick for the 5 in a row, he said. Watch the message HERE. A County Dublin man with 46 previous burglary convictions was jailed over a trespassing offence he committed at Maynooth University. Judge Desmond Zaidan convicted the 34-year-old at Naas District Court on Wednesday, November 16 last. Gardai told the judge that on November 12, 2019, Jason Whelan, with an address listed as 17 Woodhazel Terrace, Ballymun, Dublin 9 in County Dublin, was caught by gardai trespassing into a room located inside the Eolas building of Maynooth University. When he realised that he was spotted, he ran but was later caught. No items were stolen during the incident, according to gardai. He pleaded guilty to the offence. Gardai told the judge that Mr Whelan has a total of 99 previous convictions, 46 of which are for burglary offences. He also has ten previous convictions for theft offences, and three convictions for trespassing offences. Defending solicitor David Powderly told the judge that his client had spent the last two months in custody, as he had not made any application for bail. He added that Mr Whelan is currently serving a custodial sentence for a separate offence. Mr Powderly also said that while his client previously struggled with an addiction to illicit drugs, he no longer takes any drugs. In addition, he pointed out that no items were stolen from the Eolas building. Judge Zaidan replied that he felt like the offence meritted a custodial sentence, citing Mr Whelan's 'not-very-pleasant previous past.' However, the judge said that while he initially considered imposing an 11-month custodial sentence on Mr Whelan, he would ultimately impose a two-month sentence on him. Judge Zaidan also fixed recognisances for Mr Whelan at 250. There was heartfelt sadness in the south Kildare heritage community with the passing of Margaret Walsh, curator of the Athy Heritage Museum and administrator of the Shackleton Autumn School. Margaret had worked at the Heritage Centre for two decades curating and promoting its unique collections. Such was her dedication that the Athy venue was awarded a hard-earned museum-standards accreditation by the Heritage Council. Margaret's quiet competence and daily resilience ensured the presence of the museum at the heart of Athy's heritage resource. Working closely with partners in the Athy community, she ensured that the museum went from strength to strength to the point where it is on the threshold of a major development highlighting the achievement of Ernest Shackleton, a native of south Kildare and a globally celebrated polar explorer. The Athy Museum is regarded as one of the leading centres of Antarctic exploration heritage in Europe and each year she was the first point of contact for polar experts from all over the world who came to Athy for the Shackleton Autumn School which has hosted distinguished guests including President Michael D. Higgins. Her premature passing after an illness privately borne saddened many in her native Monasterevin where she resided and where she had been a youth leader in earlier years. Her loss is keenly felt too among friends of the Athy Museum throughout Ireland and beyond. Their representation at her requiem Mass celebrated in St Peter & Pauls Church, Monasterevin, by Fr Liam Merrigan, PP, included Jonathan Shackleton, a relative of the famous explorer, who travelled from Cavan and Dr Jim McAdam, from Belfast and Editor of the Falklands Islands Journal. Local historians paying their respects were her Athy Shackleton colleagues - Frank Taaffe and Seamus Taaffe, Clem Roche, Kevin Kenny Joe O'Farrell and Dr Mark McClean. Predeceased by her parents Bobby and Martha, Margaret will be greatly missed by her loving sisters Liz and Lisa, brother John, brothers-in-law Jim and Michael, sister-in-law Sinead, her nieces and nephews Debbie, Vanessa, Jamie, Jeanann, Daryl, Lucas and soon to be grandniece, colleagues, extended family, neighbours in Cowpasture and friends including in her native Monasterevin and Athy where her quiet efficiency endeared her to many. A man was sent for trial to Naas Circuit Court in connection with the accidental death of a young teacher. Thomas Murray, 68, whose address was given as 24 Edenmore Avenue, Coolock, Dublin 5, was initially prosecuted at Naas district Court for allegedly failing to stop at the scene of an accident at Lewistown, between Newbridge and Naas, on September 24, 2022. The accident claimed the life of 24 year old Brendan Fitzpatrick. A previous court hearing was told that the deceased was walking on the motorway and was struck by one vehicle ,which remained at the scene. She said it will be alleged that the deceased was struck by another car which left. Read more Kildare news A third car stayed at the scene. The court also heard that Mr Fitzpatrick was pronounced dead at around 5am. A family liaison officer had been appointed by the gardai to keep the family of the deceased informed of any case developments. Replying to a question from Judge Desmond Zaidan, Sgt Dave Hanrahan said family members were not in attendance for the hearing. The case was sent to the circuit court by Judge Zaidan. The judge said that if there is any CCTV evidence, it should be forwarded to the defence. More than 130,000 small and medium sized Irish businesses will receive a once-off grant under a new Increased Cost of Business scheme being rolled out by the government at a cost of 250 million as part of Budget 2024. Under the terms of the new scheme, any Irish business that has paid less than 20,000 in commercial rates will receive a once-off grant with a value of up to 50 per cent of the amount paid in rates. The maximum amount a business can receive will be a grant of 10,000. This move was welcomed by Cllr Enda McGloin at the annual budget meeting that took place in Carrick-on-Shannon recently. "I think that's very welcome, particularly for smaller businesses and one with rate bills of less than 20,000," said Cllr McGloin. He was speaking after the application of a 75% Commercial Rates Vacancy Refund for 2024 in respect of vacant rateable properties in Leitrim was approved. Cllr Des Guckian however said that this means that "25% of rates are still being charged to a business that has failed and I think that's kicking a man when he's down and I don't think it's right." Pamela Brown, a Donegal-born prison educator and lecturer, has won silver at the Pearson National Teaching Awards in the UK and had her portrait, titled "Transforming Futures through Education," featured in a London art gallery to celebrate her nomination. Yvonne Brown, a former local election independent candidate in Leitrim, stepped into the frame to represent her sister at London's 'All is Joy Gallery event.' "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I felt it important to support the inclusion of Pamela's portrait," Yvonne said. "I will be returning to London for the final. I wouldn't miss it," she added. A North West Regional College lecturer, Pamela Brown, is also a writer-in-residence at HMP Magilligan. She edits the prison magazine Time-In. Discussing her work, she said, "Being a prison educator is challenging, and also gives opportunities to highlight the positive work that educators do in prison, which is vital. "I'm so thankful to my sister, who attended the exhibition on my behalf," she said. Pamela's portrait has an exhibition note describing the achievements leading to the award because of "her further education lecturer, North West Regional College, Derry. "Shortlisted for FE Lecturer of the Year. Educator at HMP Magilligan since 2011, excels in delivering Open College Network (OCN) accreditation. "Remarkably, her prison students have achieved a 100% completion rate, a testament to her dedication. Pamela recognises the power of creative writing within prison walls, helping inmates re-evaluate themselves, maintain family connections, and navigate challenging relationships during their confinement." The launch on November 13 foregrounds the 16 Gold Winners Awards to be announced (November 25) at the annual Pearson National Teaching Awards Ceremony in London. It will be featured on BBC's The One Show. All Silver Award winners have been shortlisted for a Gold Award. The Pearson representatives explained that "the ceremony is held to highlight the impact of education and to honour inspirational teachers and support staff selected from thousands of nominations." Donna Bridgewater, photographer, teacher, and educator from Coventry, photographed the educators in their working environment. "I hope my work gives visitors a rare insight into the daily routines of the education profession whilst conveying the enthusiasm, expertise, and nurturing environment educators create every day," Donna said. The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) has released Christmas cards featuring animals rescued by the organisation. There are six different card designs in each pack with two of each variety, and each card includes a message wishing a 'Merry Christmas & Happy New Year' as well as a small note at the bottom of the inside cover which reads: "This card helps to raise funds for the ISPCA. Best wishes for you and for an animal in our care." Purchasing the cards this Christmas supports the work of the ISPCA, which works to prevent cruelty to animals, promote animal welfare, and relieve animal suffering. Following the release of the cards, the ISPCA stated, "With each card you write, not only are you sending your best wishes to friends and relations, you're sending your love to the animals in our care. "Thats because when you buy and send these gorgeous cards, you are helping to raise vital funds for the ISPCA." You can purchase the cards here. GCEX Receives Operational VASP Licence from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority GC Exchange FZE (GCEX), part of the GCEX Group, has been granted an Operational VASP Licence for VA Broker Dealer services from Dubai's Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). GCEX, which opened its Dubai office in July 2022 and received its MVP (Minimal Viable Product) Preparatory Licence from VARA in February 2023, can now start market operations as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in the Emirate of Dubai, enabling brokers, hedge funds, family offices and professional traders to access its deep liquidity in digital assets and range of technology solutions. GCEX facilitates institutional access to digital assets through its proprietary XplorDigital trading solutions, which comprises of a technology-agnostic platform covering regulation, regulated custody, the safety of funds, tier 1 liquidity and technology (both back-end and front-end). GCEX only partners with regulated institutional digital custody and staking providers and always segregates client funds. Mehtap Onder, Managing Director, GCEX in Dubai, commented, "VARA is leading the way in the global digital asset industry, and we are extremely proud to be one of the first firms to receive a VASP Operating Licence to provide Virtual Asset Broker-Dealer services and the first firm to gain approval to operate with a client money account, highlighting our focus on client protection. "Being a regulated entity in the region is important to us ? it's the ideal way to demonstrate our commitment to adhering to international standards and implementing robust processes, with transparency and investor protection at the core of our offering. This is a major milestone for our business and is critical to GCEX's growth strategy, enabling us to have a stronger presence in the region." GCEX Group enables institutional clients to access deep liquidity in FX and CFDs on digital assets, as well as digital assets spot trading and conversion and a broad range of trading solutions. Headquartered in London, with multiple offices across the globe, GCEX is regulated by the UK's FCA and registered with the Danish FSA. True Global Ventures are investors in GCEX. For further information, please visit gcexmena.com or LinkedIn. About GCEX Founded in 2018, GCEX is a pioneering regulated digital prime brokerage with a best-of-breed digital asset and FX platform for institutional and professional clients. GCEX has partnerships with Tier 1 trusted Liquidity Providers, leading counterparties and regulated digital custody asset institutions. GCEX offers a wide range of products and technology solutions including White Labels. GCEX is a trading name of GC Exchange Limited, GC Exchange Fondsmglerselskab A/S, GC Exchange A/S and GC Exchange FZE.GC Exchange Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales (No11382809) with registered address at 75 King William Street, London, EC4N 7BE provides FX and CFDs products. GC Exchange Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 828730). Digital asset services are provided by GC Exchange A/S, a company incorporated in Denmark (CVR 43088777) with address at Amager Strandvej 390, 2770, Kastrup. GC Exchange A/S is authorised by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority as a Currency Exchange (FTID 45020) and registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (FTID 17524) under the AML regulation. GC Exchange Fondsmglerselskab A/S, a company incorporated in Denmark (CVR 43345052) with address at Amager Strandvej 390,2770, Kastrup. GC Exchange Fondsmglerselskab A/S is authorised and regulated by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority as an Investment Firm to offer FX and CFD products. GC Exchange FZE is incorporated as a Limited Liability Free Zone Establishment under the Dubai World Trade Center Authority with registration number 1896. GC Exchange FZE has been granted a Virtual Asset Service Provider Licence by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. For more information, visit: www.vara.ae. About VARA: Established in March 2022, following the effect of Law No.4 of 2022, VARA is the competent entity in charge of regulating, supervising, and overseeing VAs and VA Activities in all zones across the Emirate of Dubai, including Special Development Zones and Free Zones but excluding the Dubai International Financial Centre. VARA plays a central role in creating Dubai's advanced legal framework to protect investors and establish international standards for Virtual Asset industry governance, while supporting the vision for a borderless economy. 20 november 2023 at 03:10 News published onand distributed by: CryptoBlox Signs Definitive Agreement to License Modular Renewable Energy Powered Mining Infrastructure Patent Rights for Four Years Vancouver, B.C., Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CryptoBlox Technologies Inc. (the "Company" or "CryptoBlox") (CSE: BLOX) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a patent license agreement (the "Agreement") with Crypto Green Tech Inc. ("Crypto Green"), an Ontario corporation, whereby CryptoBlox has acquired a four-year royalty-free, assignable, worldwide license (the "License") to develop and distribute products based on Crypto Green's crypto-mining hybrid solar and wind tree with water reservoir system (the "Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology" or the "Technology"). Crypto Green holds the rights to a patent application submitted with the International Bureau of WIPO (the "Patent Rights") respecting the Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology. The License is a significant step towards further expanding CryptoBlox's off-grid, alternative energy powered digital asset mining infrastructure. Terms of the License In consideration for the License, CryptoBlox has agreed to issue an aggregate of 40,000,000 common shares in the capital of the Company (the "Common Shares") at a deemed price of $0.05 per Common Share to the shareholders of Crypto Green, for a deemed transaction value of $2,000,000. The License was negotiated at arm's length and is not expected to result in a change of control of CryptoBlox. A finder's fee of 2,800,000 Common Shares, representing 7% of the number of Common Shares issuable pursuant to the License, will be payable to the party that introduced Crypto Green to the Company. All Common Shares issued pursuant to the License and the finder's fee will be subject to a hold period of four (4) months and one (1) day under applicable securities laws. The closing of the License with Crypto Green is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions for a transaction of this nature, the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange, and the approval of the boards of directors of both CryptoBlox and Crypto Green. About Crypto Green Crypto Green is a technology company focused on merging state-of-the-art technology with eco-friendly practices. By embedding renewable energy at the core of their innovations, Crypto Green is part of a global transition towards environmentally conscious digital solutions. Their patent pending Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology uses a modular renewable energy-powered device that allows users to mine digital assets by generating electricity through a series of solar panels and wind turbines, all built in a way that maximizes efficiency in a fusion of sustainable green energy and decentralized finance. In addition to digital asset mining, the Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology can extend out to additional utilities such as charging electric cars and back-up power for residential housing. However, the Company believes that mining efficient crypto-mining algorithms will likely be the most profitable use of energy generated via the Technology's innovative combination of wind turbines and solar panels. Subject to applicable regulatory regimes, as the Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology generates energy via renewables, users may also be able to accrue carbon credits, which when monetized, could another revenue stream, thus further increasing bottom-line profitability. Strategy Overview CryptoBlox's recent acquisition of Redwater Acquisition Corp., a modular air-cooled data center facility, powered by flared gas in Sturgeon County, Alberta, kick-started the Company's alternate energy powered off-grid digital asset mining strategy. Flaring is the process of taking gas that is either unsuitable for commercial grade operations and/or gas used in oil and gas operations and using it to generate electricity. This process reduces methane leakage into the atmosphere, which is a significant concern for sites that have trapped untapped natural gas, given methane is over 80 times more harmful to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide [https://www.edf.org/climate/methane-crucial-opportunity-climate-fight]. By tapping into these otherwise wasted resources, a significant amount of power can be generated inexpensively (compared to on-grid power). Such power, when used in digital asset mining, can enhance profitability. Using power from flared gas also ensures that digital asset mining can occur on site, which can further save on infrastructure costs (as compared to on-grid power). Cryptoblox's acquisition of the License represents an effort to further diversify and scale its off-grid energy asset infrastructure, potentially enter the retail market and further develop hyper-modular digital asset mining farms where the Company could self-mine various digital assets using the Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology. In addition, the Company intends to further optimize the Technology to make it more efficient and profitable through the implementation of alternative crypto mining algorithms. "Taking this next step with Crypto Green comes at a pivotal moment for us as we look to revamp our off-grid mining capabilities to go beyond flared gas sites. We hope the License will mark the beginning of an incredible journey, one where we bring Crypto Green's technology to as many people as possible in our journey towards a greener future" says Akshay Sood, Chief Executive Officer of CryptoBlox. CryptoBlox's investment into alternate energy powered off-grid mining infrastructure underlines its commitment to acquiring cheap energy for digital asset mining operations. Given the global energy crises and recent US emergency grid mandates [https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/ERCOT%20202(c)%20Order.pdf], the Company also plans to scale through other acquisitions of stranded energy assets that provide cheap energy, reduce methane emissions and provide an alternative to on-grid energy and the associated intermediary risks. "We at Crypto Green are extremely thrilled to announce this strategic partnership with CryptoBlox as we take our eco-conscious technology to market. We look forward to CryptoBlox providing fuel for the fire in our overarching commercialization strategy and subsequent rollout", states Mike Chow, Chief Executive Officer of Crypto Green. "Expanding our alternate energy infrastructure is one of our main focuses as we head into the next phase of digital asset adoption, with the speculated launch of Bitcoin Spot ETFs being a frontrunning catalyst along with the anticipated Bitcoin Halving Event (the "Halving") that is coming up in April 2024. "We are betting on being in control of inexpensive power such that our digital asset mining operations remain profitable irrespective of market conditions and the reduced rewards that we expect to follow the Halving", says Mr. Sood. On behalf of the Company, Akshay Sood Chief Executive Officer About CryptoBlox Technologies Inc. CryptoBlox Technologies Inc. is a blockchain technology company focusing on building out alternate energy powered digital asset mining infrastructure enhanced with artificial intelligence, along with a diversified portfolio of fintech blockchain products and services. The company will be focused on powering digital asset mining operations through flare gas operations throughout North America - with the first acquisition being in Redwater, Alberta. By using alternative energy sources and state-of-the-art operations techniques powered by AI, the Company will be positioned to achieve a high degree of financial optionality and long-term operational certainty, which can result in some of the cleanest and lowest-cost digital asset mining operations in the world. For further information about the Company, please visit https://www.cryptoblox.ca or call 236-259-0279. Forward-Looking Statements The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans, and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward- looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements respecting: the terms of the License, the closing of the License; the Company's development and distribution of Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology; the expected benefits to the Company resulting from the Patent Rights; the eventual granting of the patent to the Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology; the ability of the Company to bring the Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology to market; the Company's plans to expand its alternate energy powered off-grid digital asset mining operations; the uses and benefits of Crypto Green's technology; the Company's entry into the retail market; the further optimization of the Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology using alternative algorithms; future digital asset adoption; the speculated launch of the Bitcoin Spot ETFs; and energy efficiencies associated with the Renewable Energy Powered Crypto Mining Technology and flared gas power. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statement will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking 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. 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. 20 november 2023 at 05:00 News published onand distributed by: Half of Consumers Plan to Order From or Dine at Restaurants for Thanksgiving This Year Consumers can expect more tech-enabled experiences from restaurants Experts offer advice to make Thanksgiving deliciously easy...before it's too late ATLANTA, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspired by convenience and cost savings, one-third of consumers (32%) plan to order takeout/delivery for Thanksgiving dinner this year while 17% plan to dine in person at a restaurant. Consumers under the age of 35 are the most likely to lean on restaurants with 42% planning to order takeout/delivery for Turkey Day and 20% planning to dine on-premise. This is according to a November 2023 survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers by Popmenu, a leader in restaurant technology. Why Consumers Are Dining Out Consumers are relying on restaurants to supply their entire meal or certain dishes as they celebrate Thanksgiving. When asked why: 64% said it's just easier 35% don't feel like cooking 35% prefer professionally cooked food 24% estimate that it's cheaper to order from restaurants than to buy all the ingredients needed to cook Thanksgiving dinner What They're Serving While turkey is, of course, the star of the show, many consumers are featuring other main courses in their Thanksgiving spread. When asked what they plan to serve, consumers reported: 77% - turkey 42% - ham 27% - steak 27% - fish 20% - vegetarian options What They Can Expect Consumers will encounter more digitally-enabled experiences as they interact with restaurants this year. Restaurants partnering with Popmenu are running special online ordering events with limited-time menus featuring all the Thanksgiving fixings for pickup/delivery?multiple restaurants have already booked $10,000 or more in online orders. With phones ringing off the hook, restaurants are also using AI phone answering technology to field calls, promote specials, and send links to place orders or make reservations. Popmenu experts offer the following tips to ensure Thanksgiving runs smoothly: 1) Do your homework. A quick Google search, phone call, or visit to a preferred restaurant's website can guide you on menu options (with photos), portion sizes, allergens, and required budget for your party size. 2) Order NOW and directly. Higher demand means restaurants will meet their order limits sooner and preferred pickup times will fill up faster. Order directly from the restaurant's website to ensure your order gets in and to avoid third-party fees. 3) Reserve a table yesterday. Popular eateries will book up early. Third-party reservation sites like OpenTable can keep you posted on what's available in your area. 4) Be prepared for delays. Even with specific pickup/ delivery windows and reservations, factor in a longer wait for your food (i.e., don't skip the appetizer). "More consumers are trading in their aprons for the convenience, taste, and potential cost-savings of having restaurants cook Thanksgiving dinner for them," said Brendan Sweeney, CEO and Co-founder of Popmenu. "Ideally, you want to place online orders and book reservations a few weeks in advance, but you can still find special menus and deals this week. Check out restaurants' websites and act quickly." In addition to Thanksgiving, restaurants will play an important part in other popular holidays. One in four consumers (26%) plan to dine at or order takeout/delivery from restaurants for Christmas this year while 36% plan to do so on New Year's Eve. Survey Methodology Popmenu conducted an anonymous, nationwide study of 1,000 U.S. consumers from November 6 to November 7, 2023. About Popmenu As a leader in restaurant technology, Popmenu is on a mission to make profitable growth easy for all restaurants. Digital marketing, online ordering, and on-premise technologies headline a powerful product suite infused with artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and deep data on guest preferences. The company consolidates tools needed to engage guests, serving as a digital control center for more than 10,000 independent restaurants and hospitality groups in the US, UK, and Canada. For more information, visit popmenu.com. Media Contact: Jennifer Grasz Head of Communications, Popmenu [email protected] SOURCE Popmenu Inc. 20 november 2023 at 05:00 News published onand distributed by: Centrus Energy Announces CEO Transition Amir Vexler to Succeed Daniel Poneman as CEO in 2024 BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Centrus Energy Corp (NYSE American: LEU) announced today that Amir Vexler will succeed Daniel B. Poneman as Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2024. Mr. Poneman joined Centrus on March 5, 2015, and over the past eight years has overseen the rebuilding of the Company's order book, strengthening the balance sheet, and returning the Company to profitability in 2021. In October, Centrus inaugurated the first new U.S.-owned uranium enrichment plant to begin production in nearly 70 years and made its first delivery to the U.S. Department of Energy earlier this month. These achievements are reflected in the growth of the company's total market capitalization 20-fold since 2015 to more than $800 million today and returns to shareholders almost five times higher than the S&P 500. Mikel Williams, Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated, "This transition comes at a time of strength for Centrus. On behalf of the board and our shareholders, I want to thank Dan for his outstanding leadership over the past eight years. The selection of Amir Vexler to succeed Dan next year reflects the culmination of our thorough succession planning process. Amir has a demonstrated track record of success as a CEO and a leader of nuclear fuel operations and is well-qualified to lead our continued growth and development in the years ahead." "From the moment I arrived in Washington as a summer intern in 1975, I became deeply interested in the promise of nuclear energy and the importance of America's global nuclear leadership ? a cause that has been the focus of my professional life ever since," Poneman said. "These past eight years have represented the culmination of that effort to restore America's domestic uranium enrichment capability and leadership on the world stage. I am proud of the extraordinary work our dedicated team has done to strengthen our national security and build a domestic supply chain to fuel a new generation of advanced reactors around the world. I look forward to continuing to support the Company and its success going forward." "I am thrilled to be joining Centrus at a pivotal time for the company and the industry," said Vexler. "With production of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium beginning at the company's plant in Ohio, Centrus is in prime position to help fuel the future of nuclear energy. Centrus has tremendous growth potential and a critical role to play in meeting America's energy security and national security needs. I can't wait to get started and look forward to what we will achieve together." Amir Vexler brings extensive experience in the nuclear industry to Centrus, with a strong background in manufacturing, engineering services, commercial operations, and business development. He has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Orano USA since 2021, overseeing Orano's U.S. sales of nuclear fuel, decommissioning services, used nuclear fuel management, and medical isotopes as well as engineering and technology services for the federal government. Previously, he spent 20 years at General Electric Company, where he served in a number of leadership positions, including Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Operating Officer of Global Nuclear Fuels, a joint venture of GE and Hitachi in Wilmington, North Carolina. About Centrus Energy Centrus Energy is a trusted supplier of nuclear fuel and services for the nuclear power industry. Centrus provides value to its utility customers through the reliability and diversity of its supply sources ? helping them meet the growing need for clean, affordable, carbon-free electricity. Since 1998, the Company has provided its utility customers with more than 1,750 reactor years of fuel, which is equivalent to 7 billion tons of coal. With world-class technical and engineering capabilities, Centrus is also advancing the next generation of centrifuge technologies so that America can restore its domestic uranium enrichment capability in the future. Find out more at www.centrusenergy.com. Forward Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "will", "should", "could", "would" or "may" and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management's current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For Centrus Energy Corp., particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following which are, and will be, and any worsening of the global business and economic environment as a result; risks related to component failure which prevent plant operations or HALEU production; risks related to the government's inability to satisfy its obligations under the HALEU Operation Contract including supplying government furnished equipment under the HALEU Operation Contract and processing security clearances due to a government shutdown or other reasons; risks related to whether or when government funding or demand for high-assay low-enriched uranium ("HALEU") for government or commercial uses will materialize; risks related to (i) our ability to perform and absorb costs under our agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") to deploy and operate a cascade of centrifuges to demonstrate production of HALEU for advanced reactors (the "HALEU Operations Contract"), (ii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations and (iii) our ability to obtain and/or perform under other agreements; risks that (i) we may not obtain the full benefit of the HALEU Operation Contract and may not be able or allowed to operate the HALEU enrichment facility to produce HALEU after the completion of the HALEU Operation Contract or (ii) the HALEU enrichment facility may not be available to us as a future source of supply; risks related to actions, including reviews, that may be taken by the U.S. government, the Russian government, or other governments that could affect our ability to perform under our contractual obligations or the ability of our sources of supply to perform under their contractual obligations to us; risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to commercially deploy a competitive enrichment technology; risks related to the fact that we face significant competition from major producers who may be less cost sensitive or are wholly or partially government owned; risks related to the impact of government regulation and policies including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in this and our other filings with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made in this news release and in our other filings with the SEC, including our Annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and our other filings with the SEC that attempt to advise interested parties of the risks and factors that may affect our business. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law. Contacts: Investors: Dan Leistikow at [email protected] Media: Lindsey Geisler at [email protected] SOURCE Centrus Energy Corp. 20 november 2023 at 06:40 News published onand distributed by: GenCell Announces Achievement of Significant Progress in the Development of an Innovative Process for the Synthesis of Green Ammonia GenCell achieved lab results indicating Faradaic efficiency of 50% in its green ammonia synthesis process compared to 25% efficiency achieved by traditional green ammonia synthesis methods; the overall ammonia market is estimated at some $100 billion; out of this the green ammonia market, valued in 2022 at $0.3b, is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 72.6%, reaching ~$70b by 2032 Rami Reshef, CEO and co-founder of GenCell: "After investing significant effort, we are deeply excited to share that we have achieved significant and serious progress in the project we are executing to produce the world's fuel of the future ? green ammonia. This news is welcomed by an enormous market eager for solutions to reduce pollutant emissions. Moreover, this breakthrough technology will increase the availability of green ammonia for the traditional ammonia consumption market sectors with which we are familiar, namely energy, agriculture, maritime, aviation and semiconductors. We see great business potential associated with this scientific breakthrough and are acting to complete the development of this valuable technology together with our partner TDK Corporation." PETAH TIKVA, Israel, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GenCell Ltd., (TASE: GNCL), the leading provider of hydrogen and ammonia to power solutions, in continuation from the Company's Immediate Releases dated February 23, 2021 and February 28, 2022 regarding its achievement of a significant scientific breakthrough in its innovative green ammonia synthesis development project and the announcement by TDK Corporation of its intention to exercise its right to continue to invest in the project, the Company today announces that the Company has made additional significant progress in the development process which has exceeded the initial expectations of the Company. GenCell's novel process synthesizes green ammonia directly from water at very low temperature and pressure in comparison to the traditional green ammonia production processes commonly carried out today around the world. The Company is proud to announce that the Company in its laboratory has achieved experimental results demonstrating faradaic efficiency of 50% in its green ammonia production process. These results can be compared with faradaic efficiency of some 25% achieved when using the traditional method of green ammonia production. These results can be attributed to the development of new methods and techniques which overcome the most challenging steps in the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) process. GenCell's novel methods may eventually enable production of green ammonia at a cost lower than that of the alternative method currently in widespread use. As part of the Company's long-term strategic plan to attain a significant competitive advantage in its field of activity in general and vis-a-vis the green ammonia production project in particular, and especially to protect its intellectual property, the Company plans to submit a patent application for this invention. Accordingly, the Company is currently evaluating the significance of the scientific and commercial implications derived from this key development. In the framework of this project, the Company is devising a clean, energy-efficient method for producing green ammonia which could ostensibly offer an emission-free alternative to some 235 million tons of ammonia being produced each year by means of traditional processes involving pollutant carbon emissions, the value of which is estimated at some $100 billion. Green ammonia may serve as a central hydrogen carrier for the energy industry, as well as be a key component of fertilizers for agriculture and a key resource for maritime, aviation, semiconductors, and many other applications. The successful completion of this project may not only contribute to the Company's efforts to deliver revolutionary technology to the green ammonia market and to the attainment of ambitious zero carbon emission targets as defined by the U.N., but also increase the availability of green ammonia for a diverse range of applications. As of 2022, some 85% of the clean hydrogen projects announced worldwide involve shipping in the form of ammonia. According to IRENA, the projected demand for ammonia in 2050, diversifying from primarily maritime fuel to the growing market for hydrogen transport, is estimated to reach 688Mt. Concludes Reshef, "We understand this scientific breakthrough to signify strong business potential and to reinforce our strong interest in advancing this project and moving forward with our technology development towards the next milestone. We are confident that the combination of this new technology together with our existing products will enable GenCell to offer the world a unique approach to the delivery of self-contained, green, grid-independent and resilient DER power solutions combining energy storage with on-site power generation to substantially change the face of our energy future - accelerating the transition to renewables while entirely eliminating the need for and expense of fuel transport." About GenCell Energy GenCell Energy (TASE: GNCL) develops total green power solutions based on reliable, zero-emission alkaline fuel cells, hydrogen, ammonia and water-to-power technologies that deliver uninterrupted power to help the world #SayNoToDiesel and transition to clean energy. The ability to produce not only clean power from GenCell's fuel cells, but also the green fuel on which the fuel cells run, sets GenCell in a far superior position as a well-to-wheel total green energy solution provider. GenCell delivers resilient, robust and weather-resistant backup power for utilities, telecom, EV charging and other mission-critical applications which have been deployed in 22 countries. Our ammonia-based hydrogen-on-demand solution provides primary power for off-grid and poor-grid sites, as well as for rural electrification. GenCell Energy numbers some 150 employees, including veterans of space and submarine projects. The Company is headquartered in Israel with a worldwide distribution and support network and retains unique intellectual property that includes patents, trade secrets and know-how. Contacts: Shelli Zargary GenCell Energy Tel: +972 54 5617161 [email protected] www.gencellenergy.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1500178/GenCell_logo_Logo.jpg SOURCE GenCell Energy 20 november 2023 at 07:00 News published onand distributed by: Medical Facilities Corporation Appoints Jason Redman as its Permanent CEO TORONTO, Nov. 20, 2023 /CNW/ - Medical Facilities Corporation ("Medical Facilities," "MFC," or the "Corporation") (TSX: DR), today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Jason Redman to the permanent positions of President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Redman had served as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer since October 2022. Mr. Redman will continue to serve on the Corporation's Board. "We are pleased to name Jason Redman as the permanent CEO of Medical Facilities Corporation," said Michael V. Gisser, Chair of the Board of Directors. "Since he was appointed interim CEO in October 2022, Jason led the execution of MFC's updated corporate strategy, including the successful divestiture of non-core assets, realization of overhead cost reductions, and a significant return of capital to our shareholders. He has proven to be the right person to steer MFC and drive financial performance while ensuring our best-in-class surgical facilities and industry-leading patient satisfaction ratings remain a competitive advantage." "I am honored to lead Medical Facilities Corporation as its CEO," said Jason Redman, President and CEO of Medical Facilities. "I look forward to working with the dedicated team at MFC to build upon the company's strong foundation and contribute to its ongoing success. Together, we will continue to prioritize the delivery of exceptional healthcare services to our patients and create sustainable value for our shareholders." Mr. Redman's recent executive leadership experience includes roles as Chief Financial Officer at Newstrike Brands Ltd. (TSX-V:HIP), Chief Financial Officer at SiriusXM Canada (TSE:XSR), and President at Armtec Infrastructure Inc. (TSE:ARF). About Medical Facilities Medical Facilities, in partnership with physicians, owns a diverse portfolio of highly rated, high-quality surgical facilities in the United States. MFC's ownership includes controlling interest in four specialty surgical hospitals located in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, and an ambulatory surgery center ("ASC") located in California. The specialty surgical hospitals perform scheduled surgical, imaging, diagnostic and other procedures, including primary and urgent care, and derive their revenue from the fees charged for the use of their facilities. The ASC specializes in outpatient surgical procedures, with patient stays of less than 24 hours. For more information, please visit www.medicalfacilitiescorp.ca. Caution concerning forward-looking statements Statements made in this news release, other than those concerning historical financial information, may be forward-looking and therefore subject to various risks and uncertainties. Some forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "may", "will", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "intend", or "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Factors that could cause results to vary include those identified in Medical Facilities' filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities such as legislative or regulatory developments, intensifying competition, technological change and general economic conditions. All forward-looking statements presented herein should be considered in conjunction with such filings. Medical Facilities does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements; such statements speak only as of the date made. SOURCE Medical Facilities Corporation 20 november 2023 at 07:01 News published onand distributed by: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Sponsoring Free Admission Day at Minnesota History Center, December 9 Artifacts from Blue Cross time capsules dating back more than 50 years will be on display EAGAN, Minn., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) is concluding its 90th anniversary year by sponsoring free admission to the Minnesota History Center (History Center) in Saint Paul on Saturday, December 9. The event is open to the public and provides access to all History Center exhibits, including a dedicated temporary display of contents from two Blue Cross time capsules that had been concealed behind cornerstones at the company's Eagan headquarters for more than 50 years. "For generations of Minnesotans, Blue Cross has been synonymous with dependable health coverage," said Dana Erickson, president and CEO at Blue Cross. "Through the Minnesota Historical Society's thoughtful approach to storytelling and preservation, Blue Cross is very excited for this special opportunity to show our appreciation to the community and share our story at the Minnesota History Center." The original 1960s-era architectural drawings of Blue Cross' Main building in Eagan included two small spaces that were thought to house company time capsules, although no official documentation could be found. In the spring of 2023, two metal containers ? each about the size of a shoe box ? were excavated from behind the building's cornerstones. Inside the containers were numerous photographs, brochures and company documents. Blue Cross then contacted the Minnesota Historical Society, which aims to serve the people of Minnesota by creating a powerful engagement with history, to donate the materials. "We are fortunate that Blue Cross employees had the forethought to save these documents decades ago," said Jennifer Pogatchnik, chief development officer at Minnesota Historical Society. "The Minnesota Historical Society is pleased to invite the public to learn about Blue Cross history ? and all Minnesota History ? through a free admission day December 9." The Blue Cross Free Admission Day on Saturday, December 9 includes parking and access to all exhibits between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The History Center's featured exhibit is the Life & Art of Charles M. Schulz, notable Minnesotan and creator of the Peanuts comic strip. To learn more about the Minnesota History Center, visit https://www.mnhs.org/historycenter. To learn more about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, visit https://www.bluecrossmn.com. About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota For 90 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (bluecrossmn.com) has supported the health, wellbeing and peace of mind of our members by striving to ensure equitable access to high quality care at an affordable price. Our 2.5 million members can be found in every Minnesota county, all 50 states and on four continents. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. About the Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849. MNHS collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota's past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs, and book publishing. Using the power of history to transform lives, MNHS preserves our past, shares our state's stories, and connects people with history. SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota 20 november 2023 at 11:39 News published onand distributed by: Trinamix Wins 2023 Oracle Worldwide Partner Award and 2023 North America Applications Partner Award for Business Impact Awarded in the Business Impact Category for the FabConnect Trinamix Semiconductor Industry Solution SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Trinamix, a leading global solution provider specializing in Oracle Applications and member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), won the 2023 Oracle Worldwide Partner Award and North America Applications Partner Award for Business Impact for its FabConnect solution. The annual Oracle Partner Awards celebrate partners that have shown exceptional innovation, entrepreneurial success and dedication to customers. This accolade recognizes Trinamix's commitment to empowering semiconductor companies with tangible business outcomes through its differentiated solutions like FabConnect. FabConnect plays a pivotal role in connecting internal MES, external partner systems, and Oracle Fusion Cloud Manufacturing, part of the Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM). It caters to advanced transactions for all Fabless OEMs, enabling the streamlining of entire business operations via preconfigured integrations between OEM, Fab, and Assembly Partners. This award reflects the successful results achieved by Trinamix and Oracle through their innovative collaboration. "Trinamix aims at enabling streamlined supply chain management for some of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturing companies through FabConnect," said Amit Sharma, Co-founder & CEO, Trinamix. He also thanked Hari Krishnan, the visionary and pioneer of FabConnect, for his dedication in developing the solution. "Trinamix is a valued Oracle partner, delivering Oracle Cloud solutions and dedication to support its customer's cloud transformation journeys," said Dan Haller, group vice president, North America Applications Alliance & Channels, Oracle. "We congratulate Trinamix on its recent award wins." Being elated with this award, Prantik Chakraborty, Vice President, Sales and Strategy, Trinamix said, "We take immense pride in this award that recognizes our commitment to shaping the future of advanced manufacturing and driving innovation in the technological landscape of the industry." About Trinamix Trinamix is a global solution provider specializing in Oracle Applications, with a focus on Oracle SCM, ERP, EPM, CX & IOT/Blockchain-based applications. We are headquartered in the US with local offices in Canada, Australia, Japan, the UK, and India. About Oracle PartnerNetwork Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) is Oracle's partner program designed to enable partners to accelerate the transition to cloud and drive superior customer business outcomes. The OPN program allows partners to engage with Oracle through track(s) aligned to how they go to market: Cloud Build for partners that provide products or services built on or integrated with Oracle Cloud; Cloud Sell for partners that resell Oracle Cloud technology; Cloud Service for partners that implement, deploy and manage Oracle Cloud Services; and License & Hardware for partners that build, service or sell Oracle software licenses or hardware products. Customers can expedite their business objectives with OPN partners who have achieved expertise in a product family or cloud service. To learn more visit: http://www.oracle.com/partnernetwork Trademark? Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. NetSuite was the first cloud company ? ushering in the new era of cloud computing. Contact Information Manish Kanani Senior Marketing Manager [email protected] +919860622665 Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2281387/Trinamix_2023_Awards.jpg SOURCE Trinamix Inc. 20 november 2023 at 12:30 News published onand distributed by: Ford Government Expanded For-Profit Hospital in Violation of the Law and While Lying to the Public: Health Coalition and Democracy Watch Call for Concrete Measures to Protect the Public Interest in Wake of Revelations about Former Health Minister Lobbying for For-Profit Hospital TORONTO, Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The revelation that former Health Minister Christine Elliott has registered as a lobbyist for a for-profit hospital known as Don Mills Surgical Unit, now owned by Clearpoint Health Network, has raised serious questions about ethics and conflict of interest. The Ontario Health Coalition has looked into the funding increases given to that for-profit hospital during Christine Elliott's tenure as Minister, and the restrictions on expanding for-profit hospitals. The Coalition is raising questions about why Don Mills Surgical was singled out for special treatment, receiving huge funding increases and an increase in its size, despite legislation forbidding expansion of private for-profit hospitals. CBC also revealed last week that the private hospital is being paid more than double per surgery than public hospitals. The facts: The Coalition found that private for-profit hospital Don Mills Surgical Unit, now owned by Clearpoint, was expanded from three operating rooms in 2019 and mainly outpatient surgery unit, into a 20-bed inpatient unit hospital with 6 operating rooms and 7 recovery bays currently. This, despite the fact that the Private Hospitals Act in Ontario forbids expanding for-profit hospitals under Subsection 22 (1) and (6). The Act, amended in 1971, imposed a ban on any new private hospitals and forbids the expansion of the existing for-profit hospitals, grandfathered in under the legislation. While such expansion of a private hospital is clearly unlawful, any renovations or alterations to a private hospital also requires the express written approval of the Minister under the Act. in Ontario forbids expanding for-profit hospitals under Subsection 22 (1) and (6). The Act, amended in 1971, imposed a ban on any new private hospitals and forbids the expansion of the existing for-profit hospitals, grandfathered in under the legislation. While such expansion of a private hospital is clearly unlawful, any renovations or alterations to a private hospital also requires the express written approval of the Minister under the Act. A recent report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found, through Freedom of Information requests, that the Don Mills Surgical Unit received a 278% funding increase between 2017-18 ? the year the Ford government was elected ? and 2021-22. Christine Elliott was Health Minister from 2018 ? 2022 (page 20). found, through Freedom of Information requests, that the Don Mills Surgical Unit received a 278% funding increase between 2017-18 ? the year the Ford government was elected ? and 2021-22. Christine Elliott was Health Minister from 2018 ? 2022 (page 20). An investigative report by CBC found that Don Mills Surgical (aka Clearpoint) is being paid more than double what public hospitals are funded for the same surgeries . For example, Don Mills Surgical is being paid $1,264 for cataract surgery while public hospitals are getting $508, and Don Mills Surgical is being paid $4,037 for knee arthroscopies while public hospitals are getting $1,692. . For example, Don Mills Surgical is being paid $1,264 for cataract surgery while public hospitals are getting $508, and Don Mills Surgical is being paid $4,037 for knee arthroscopies while public hospitals are getting $1,692. In the lead in to the last election, the government lied to the public stating categorically that they were not expanding private hospitals and clinics . In one example, a Ministry spokesperson told the media: "These claims are categorically false...To be clear, the government is committed to supporting the province's public health care system. The use or function of private hospitals and independent health facilities in Ontario is not being expanded or changed." https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2022/03/17/privatization-of-health-care-claims-are-categorically-false-ministers-spokesperson-says.html . In one example, a Ministry spokesperson told the media: "These claims are categorically false...To be clear, the government is committed to supporting the province's public health care system. The use or function of private hospitals and independent health facilities in Ontario is not being expanded or changed." Subsection 18(4) of Ontario's Members' Integrity Act prohibits former Cabinet ministers from ever making representations to the provincial government in relation to a transaction or negotiation that the minister was substantially involved in as a member of the Cabinet, if the representation could result in a specific benefit for a person or entity. Subsection 18(5) states that it is an offence to violate subsection 18(4) that is punishable by a fine of up to $50,000. The Coalition held a press conference along with legal expert on conflict of interest and integrity legislation, Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch, to release their findings and lay out what the government and Ontario's Integrity Commissioner must do in response. "The expansion of the remaining two private for-profit hospitals is expressly forbidden under the Private Hospitals Act, which banned any new private hospitals in 1971 and barred the expansion of the existing few that were grandfathered in," said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. "For-profit hospitals were banned for good reason and it is unlawful to expand them. In fact, the Ford government expressly denied such expansion leading into the last election, even while they were doing it. The fact that the former Health Minister expanded a for-profit hospital, gave them an extraordinary funding increase of 278%, and the government is paying them more than double the rate of our public hospitals for the same procedures is terrible public policy. Add to that, the former Minister has now registered to be a lobbyist for Clearpoint, the parent company of the private hospital, and it rises to the level of very serious questions that must be answered by the Ford government about integrity and ethics." "Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake has refused for the past seven years to enforce the clear rule in Ontario's lobbying law that prohibits lobbyists from placing politicians and public officials in a real or potential conflict of interest, and has let dozens of lobbyists, including Christine Elliott, violate this rule and corrupt provincial government policy and spending decision-making processes," said Duff Conacher. "Democracy Watch has filed several lawsuits challenging Commissioner Wake's negligently bad rulings, but he should not wait for the courts to strike down his rulings and should instead do the right thing by making it clear that anyone who has been a Cabinet minister or worked for the Premier or a minister cannot lobby the government for several years afterwards, and anyone who has assisted, fundraised, campaigned or worked for any political party, politician or their riding association cannot lobby them for several years afterwards." Former Health Minister Christine Elliott has claimed that she did not participate in decisions concerning funding for specific institutions. It is difficult to believe that she would not be involved as Health Minister in such decisions and, given Ms. Elliott has become a lobbyist for Clearpoint , owner of Don Mills Surgical Unit Ltd. whose funding the Ford government increased by at least 278% while she was Health Minister, a full investigation is warranted. For more information: Natalie Mehra, executive director, Ontario Health Coalition (cell) 416-230-6402; Duff Conacher, PhD (law) co-founder Democracy Watch (cell) 416-546-3443. 20 november 2023 at 14:40 News published onand distributed by: Nicklaus Children's Hospital to Study the Use of Low-Frequency Focused Ultrasound Therapy to Treat Children with Aggressive Brain Tumors MIAMI, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nicklaus Children's Hospital is to become only the third site in North America involved in a Phase I clinical trial studying the role of a new technology called low-frequency focused ultrasound (LoFU) in the care of children with a lethal type of brain tumor that forms within the brainstem. Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) also now known as diffuse midline glioma (DMG), is an aggressive tumor that occurs within the brainstem and affects approximately 300 children annually, most of them between the ages of 5 and 9. Despite advances in treating other forms of brain tumors in children, DIPGs remain the most lethal brain tumor with a median survival of less than one year. DIPG tumors infiltrate the brainstem and are in a surgically inaccessible location. In the hands of an experienced team, they can be biopsied safely, with no harm to the patient. Adding to the clinical challenges presented by DIPG tumors, they are difficult to treat with chemotherapy, due to the protective brain-blood barrier that shields the brain from many pathogens. "We are constantly seeking new treatment options to advance the care of children with this devastating diagnosis," said Dr. Toba Niazi, Co-Medical Director of the Nicklaus Children's Hospital Brain Institute and Director of the hospital's Division of Neurosurgery. "It is our hope that through this clinical trial, the low-frequency focused ultrasound will temporarily open the blood-brain barrier around the affected area of the brain and allow chemotherapy to gain direct access to the tumor and provide children with a chance for a cure." Other participating hospitals include SickKids Hospital in Toronto and Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC. The trial is open to children ages 5 to 21 years old who have been diagnosed with this type of tumor. Patients receive treatment within the MRI suite, while the child is wearing a frame device on their head that resembles a helmet. This device helps deliver ultrasound waves through the brain. Chemotherapy is then concurrently administered via intravenous injection. Researchers are hopeful that the addition of low-frequency focused ultrasound will help the chemotherapy agents to better reach the tumor by disrupting the blood-brain barrier that typically protects the brain from some agents within the blood stream. This study is performed in three cycles spaced out every four to six weeks. Nicklaus Children's Hospital, through its Brain Institute and Cancer and Blood Disorders Institute is one of only a few centers in the nation with extensive experience in caring for children with complex brain tumors. The hospital's Neuro Oncology Program offers the latest innovative therapies, including immunotherapies, individualized treatment plans, combined with compassionate and comprehensive care in a multidisciplinary care setting. The Brain Institute and other programs of Nicklaus Children's Hospital are dedicated to ensuring that no child should have to leave Florida to receive advanced medical care. Patients and families interested in learning more about this clinical trial for DIPG should contact [email protected] For media information: Rachel Bixby ? 305-663-8476 About Nicklaus Children's Hospital Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with approximately 800 attending physicians, including more than 500 pediatric subspecialists. The 309-bed hospital, known as Miami Children's Hospital from 1983 through 2014, is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with many specialty programs routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. The hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern United States and since 2003 has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession's most prestigious institutional honor. For more information, please visit www.nicklauschildrens.org SOURCE Nicklaus Children's Health System 20 november 2023 at 14:40 News published onand distributed by: For the past year, Exarcheia square in Athens has been the scene of regular clashes between local residents and the police. BYRON SMITH FOR LE MONDE Mata Kastrisiou woke up in a panic at dawn on November 6. The 30-something had received a warning that workers and trucks were coming to cut down the 70 or so trees in Exarcheia Square, in the center of the Athens district known for its history of protest. She alerted her friends and rushed to the scene of the "environmental crime," as the activists called it. "We shouted at the workers, asking them to show us the permits to cut down the trees. They didn't have any!" the artist said. Kastrisiou protested along with a thousand other residents that afternoon, facing a barrage of tear gas fired by police officers. "But we didn't let ourselves be intimidated. We filed a complaint and Athens' public prosecutor asked the company to stop work until the permits were presented. Despite that, the workers are still working!" she exclaimed. For over a year, Kastrisiou has been one of the leading figures of the movement against the construction of a new subway station in Exarcheia Square. The Line 4 will serve 35 stations in the Attica region around the Greek capital. The Conservative government and Athens' mayor are defending the project, which they claim will reduce traffic congestion in the city center. In Exarcheia, however, residents regret that other proposals to build the station somewhere other than in this square shaded by tall trees were not selected. The cradle of Greece's anarchist movement Since August 2022, work at the construction site has been suspended. The area is surrounded by sheet metal and protected by around 50 police officers. Residents managed to successfully stall the project thanks to multiple demonstrations, a petition and an appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that they had not been consulted and informed by local authorities. For Alexis Likoudis, who came to demonstrate on November 11, "the Conservative government is politically committed to silencing this protest neighborhood, which has always been at the forefront of student revolts and solidarity movements." The battle to save the trees was mocked by Labour Minister Adonis Georgiadis, who described it as "revolutionary gymnastics." Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes In Exarcheia, Athens' historic neighborhood, a metro sparks protest Exarcheia is not just any neighborhood. Historically left-wing, it was the birthplace of the student uprising against the military junta who ruled from 1967 to 1974. On November 17, 1973, the colonels sent the army into the Polytechnic School, just a few meters from the main square. The assault left at least 24 people dead and dozens wounded, and was a founding moment for the Greek left. There are no banks or big-name stores in this area, the cradle of Greece's anarchist movement. You have 50% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. Ireland's largest poetry publisher is close to achieving its fundraising goal to purchase a new property for their bookshop and literary centre. Salmon Poetry established The Salmon Bookshop and Literary Centre in 2012 in Ennistymon Co Clare, however despite an intention to buy the building, the publisher was forced to vacate the property and seek another address. Due to high property prices, finding a suitable property was challenging, but the Salmon Poetry team eventually found a spot which will allow for the expansion of their writing activities. Although Salmon Poetry receives funding from the Irish Arts Council, An Chomhairle Ealaion, this is for the publication of books only and cannot be used for any other purpose. However, through a fundraising campaign, the team has managed to secure just under 55,000 for the new venture. The Managing Director/Editor of Salmon Poetry Ltd, Jessie Lendennie, explained: "Its extremely difficult to find a property in Ennistymon. Property prices are high, and there are few suitable places on the market. With luck and wonderful serendipity we found an excellent building on Main Street which will allow us to expand our writing activities. "We have an agreement with the owner, but we are short of funds for the final purchase. Our bank, Bank of Ireland (for over 25 years) are, so far, not forthcoming. Alas, the situation is urgent. "We have considerable inventory (30,000 books, three floors of furniture, office equipment, etc.) and we will be given a bit more time to move everything to the new building, but we have to secure the new building! So, we're compelled to take a step to secure our new home as soon as possible and put Salmon's situation out in public through gofundme. "There was an overwhelming reaction of shock from friends, supporters, and writers locally, nationally and abroad, when they heard that we have to leave our lovely space and, unless we can secure a new premises, leave Ennistymon. We know from this reaction that people want to help us gain a secure home for Salmon Poetry, and we are very, very grateful for such care and appreciation for what we do. "This is our 42nd year. We have published over 700 books; mainly poetry collections, but also memoir, fiction and literary non-fiction. The Salmon Bookshop and Literary Centre has been instrumental in the growth of the arts in North Clare. It will be a major loss to the community if we have to let our bookshop and literary centre die. "Salmon has contributed to the vibrancy of literature in Ireland for decades and we now need help to carry on our part in Ireland's cultural life. We will be honoured and extremely grateful for any donation you can give toward our cause." Six hundred and sixty donations have been made to the fundraising campaign so far, with 54,560 raised at time of writing. In an update posted over the weekend (November 18), Jessie confirmed the company will close on the purchase of the new building on November 24. She said, "It's wonderful that we have had so much kind support!" Although the initial fundraising goal was 55,000, this has now been increased to 60,000 due to Stamp Duty costs. According to Jessie, the commercial rate for their new property is 17,000. She said, "It has to be paid when we sign the contracts next week. That will leave nothing for the things that have to be done before we move in. So, yet again, after discussing the situation thoroughly, we're asking for donations to help with the costs. I'm putting the gofundme amount to 60,000 and hope that you will help if you can." Routine things which need to be done before moving in include painting, shelving and "some long overdue maintenance". Anyone wishing to contribute to the fundraiser can do so here. AN POST unveiled two new electric vehicles (EV) to join Limericks delivery fleet, marking another milestone in the companys sustainable journey. An Post has just added 45 Volkswagen ID Buzz vans to its EV fleet, nationwide, two of which are joining Limerick DSU marking another milestone in its sustainability journey. In its efforts to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030, with a 50% reduction by 2025, the new, larger buzz fleet will significantly reduce An Posts contribution to carbon emissions in Irish cities and towns, making a positive impact on the environment. With the festive season just around the corner, An Post is estimated to deliver over 10 million packages nationwide over the coming weeks. As 30% of delivery routes are covered by EVs, soon to be increased to 32% by Q1 2024, over 100,000 parcels will be delivered daily, with that figure multiplying closer to Christmas, without contributing to carbon emission levels. Of the 3,600 of An Posts vehicles currently available, 1,000 of them are electric, making An Post the largest EV fleet operator in Ireland. With the introduction of the new fleet, this number will increase to 1,250 by Q1 2024. Commenting on the new fleet, David McRedmond, CEO of An Post says, The rollout of this new buzz fleet shows our ongoing commitment to a sustainable future for all. Were excited about the positive impact it will have on our environment and the communities and customers we serve as we continue to reduce our carbon footprint and improve the quality of life in Ireland, now and for generations to come. An Post postal driver Ellen Langan said: I love driving an EV and my customers love to see their parcels arriving in them. Therell be literally millions of parcels to deliver all over Ireland in the run-up to Christmas, its getting busier by the day. These Buzz vans couldnt arrive at a better time and weve designed a great way of loading them up to make use of every bit of space. Having almost 3,900 delivery routes nationwide, 1,250 will be assigned an EV by Q1 2024, representing 32% of delivery routes. LOWER energy bills could soon be on the cards for Limerick schools due to the introduction of the solar roofs scheme. The new scheme which will see all school roofs in Ireland covered in solar panels is about to be launched in the coming weeks. Green Party TD for Limerick City Brian Leddin asked the Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD, when she expects to open the application process for the schools. In their response, the Department of Education, which is the leading department for this scheme, announced that following the preparatory phases the scheme is ready to launch in the next few weeks. The plans to provide free solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for every school in the country were announced last year and I have heard from many principals in Limerick asking me how to apply. This will assist with their energy costs along with supporting the decarbonisation of the school buildings. When a school powers its lights and whiteboards for free using the power of the sun, it means lower bills and more money for schools, Mr Leddin said. The scheme will fund six kilowatts of roof-mounted solar PV, which equates to approximately 16 solar panels. This will be funded from the climate action fund, which is under the remit of the minister for the environment, climate and communications. Connection to the grid will be included, to allow unused solar energy to feed to the grid when schools are closed. This will also enable schools to be compensated for renewable exports to the grid and further help them with their energy bills. Monitoring software will also be provided to each school, to allow review and discussion of the energy generated each day for staff and students. In advance of the roll-out of the programme, a capacity survey was carried out nationally to ascertain the level of existing solar PV panels installed in schools. It was found that approximately 10% of post-primary schools and 5% of primary schools have solar PV panels installed. The scheme will be implemented using the Department of Educations geographic information system (GIS) and will be rolled out through an online mechanism for schools. As the solar PV programme will be rolled out in phases I have been working closely with the ministers to make sure Limerick is included in the first phase of the roll out, which is expected to start before the end of this year, Mr Leddin added. A MAN had no chance of defending himself against a knife-wielding drug dealer, Limerick Circuit Court has heard. The victim still has scarring from significant and multiple facial wounds including the lobe of one of his ears being taken off. Stephen Curtin, aged 33, of Rosbrien Terrace, Punches Cross, Limerick pleaded guilty, at Limerick Circuit Court, to assault causing harm, sale or supply of heroin and possession of cocaine. Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley, instructed by State solicitor Padraig Mawe, outlined the evidence with the assistance of Detective Garda Dean Landers. Ms Buckley said the injured party and the accused knew each other, regularly Facebook messaged each other, including in the early hours of the attack on September 21, 2018. Mr Curtin would supply the victim with drugs. The injured party went to Mr Curtins house in Rosbrien Terrace with the intention of getting drugs from the accused. He arrived at 4.30am and messaged Mr Curtin on Facebook. The accused came out and the victim followed him to the side of the house. The accused grabbed the victim and started cutting and stabbing him in an unprovoked attack in his face, chest, legs and neck. It went on for 20 minutes. The victim felt the accused was trying to murder him, said Mr Buckley. The court heard the injured party, aged in his mid-twenties at the time, was slashed from his left cheek to his right ear, and suffered multiple significant facial wounds including a substantial ear injury. Ms Buckley said he broke free, ran away and collapsed in the doorway of another house in the vicinity - at which point an ambulance was called. There were blood stains in peoples premises. There was blood spatter in the alleyway. The knife was recovered, said Ms Buckley. When gardai went to arrest Mr Curtin in the following days they found 2,114 worth of heroin at the Rosbrien Terrace address and 46.13 worth of cocaine on his person. The court heard Mr Curtin has 103 previous convictions - 91 of which are for road traffic offences. Judge Dermot Sheehan asked Detective Garda Landers about the victims injuries and had he met him recently. He still has scarring but it is healing well, said the detective. Brian McInerney SC, who represented Mr Curtin, put it to the detective that it was a commercial disagreement between his client and the victim. Yes, said Detective Garda Landers. Mr McInerney asked if Mr Curtin has been off the garda radar in recent times and the detective agreed he has been off the radar. In mitigation, Mr McInerney said the offence is of some vintage and relates to a time when his client was a heavy enough drug user. He added: There were no trappings of wealth. He is at a point now that is radically different to the person he was five years ago. Mr McInerney, said there is work available to Mr Curtin in his fathers sand and gravel business. Judge Sheehan said the victim had no chance of defending himself from a knife-wielding Mr Curtin. The photos in the book of evidence indicate significant wounds to the face. The lobe of one of his ears appears to have been taken off, he noted. The judge said Mr Curtin was, at the time, dealing in drugs to feed his habit but it appears he has changed his ways and is off drugs for some time. He has clearly made an effort to turn things around, said Judge Sheehan, who imposed a three year prison sentence, with the last 18 months suspended. The judge handed down a 12 month suspended sentence for the sale or supply of heroin. He took the possession of cocaine charge into consideration. MORE than six in every 10 people would not live in the city centre given the choice, a new survey from Limerick Chamber has revealed. The business group presented the data as part of a major new report focused on how to improve Limericks urban area. Put together by Chamber chief economist Sean Golden, over 500 people were surveyed across Limerick city and county, responding to an open invitation to take part from the group. And the survey revealed that while 39% would live in the city centre, the remaining 61% of those asked would not. The biggest reason for this was safety concerns, with 39% of people asked saying this would deter them from living in the centre. Some 55% of people who took part in the survey have a negative attitude towards the city centre. Meanwhile, more than one-third of those who took part in the survey said they prefer to do their shopping at the Crescent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle, as opposed to the city centre. Almost half of these people, 47%, cite a lack of variety of shops in the urban area, with concerns also around a perceived lack of parking, anti-social behaviour and traffic congestion. The stark figures have led to the Chamber issuing 63 recommendations to the government and other agencies focused on how to improve life in the city centre. Its president Miriam OConnor said: Limerick Chamber unequivocally supports the development of the city centre as not only a place to do business, but also as a place to live, work and be educated. A place where people can live their whole lives if they do desire. However, she acknowledged, the Chambers ambition for a vibrant, thriving city centre boasting medieval and Georgian architecture is detached from the reality of our current city centre. Among the recommendations coming from the report is that gardai be redeployed from the courthouse in Mulgrave Street to OConnell Street. A call was made on Government to extend the tax incentive scheme put in place to make it more rewarding to redevelop former Georgian buildings in the city centre. And the Chamber is also recommending that a planning policy be put in place where all new city centre developments, whatever they may be, must have some element of housing within them. The report calls for financial support to be given to the Market Trustees to potentially cover the Milk Market. Currently, the Milk Market is one of the largest venues for concerts and other events in the city centre. However, if the Milk Market was fully covered, it would have the capacity to host conferences and indoor events, adding to the regional venue offering, the report states. On Cruises Street, one of the shopping areas of the city that has seen the most decline over the years, the Chamber wants to see lessons learnt from how Kildare Village has maintained its popularity. It believes despite its decline, the street has a bright future - but there needs to be drastic action quickly, or problems will become more embedded and harder to tackle. The report referred to data collected from last years census, which suggested the proportion of people speaking Irish in the city centre is low. Worryingly low, said the Chamber. However, it provides Limerick with the potential to put a strategy together to boost Irish speaking and put Limerick on a path to become Irelands first Urban Gaeltacht. The Chamber wants the local authority to look again at the demand for general office space and demand for commercial space. It comes amid the rise of working-from-home during the Covid-19 pandemic. We must learn from Dublin's mistakes where they may have overdeveloped office space at the expense of residential space and now, with the market in Dublin cooling, there is the potential for a cliff edge, the report warns. FRESH from the auction of 49 acres at Killonan, Monaleen for 1,410,000 GVMs Tom Crosse was back with the gavel in his hand for a very similar parcel of land in Limerick. He presided over the auction of 39 acres at Willowbank, Lisnagry, which again attracted huge interest. This holding consists of 39 acres together with a dormer bungalow located on the periphery of the holding. The land quality is excellent with two access points together with an independent entrance to the residence. The location is excellent, close to the Mick Mackey Roundabout and just 7kms from the city centre. The University of Limerick is close by as is Plassey Technological Park. This holding must have long-term potential bearing in mind the imminent arrival of the Northern Ring Road which should open up this entire locality and enhance and accelerate its development potential. It is a tremendous opportunity ideal for those in search of a family home with land, a hobby farmer or an opportunistic investor, said Mr Crosse. The blended auction attracted attendees to GVMs Glentworth Street auction rooms on Thursday, November 9 with bidders also on the LSL online platform. Bidding opened at 1,000,000 and went up in 12 increments of 50,000 to 1,600,000. The parties retired for negotiations and a deal was completed just 15 minutes later. Mr Crosse would not reveal the final price, however, local sources suggest a figure in the region of 1,750,000 was achieved. When you take into account the estimated 500,000 value of the house, the land price for Willowbank, Lisnagry reflects a figure of 32,000 per acre. THE LEGENDARY Johnny Marr will be performing an intimate gig in Limerick - and tickets will be available later this week. The Smiths co-founder and co-songwriter will perform at The Big Top in the Milk Market, on June 24, 2024. Johnny Marr (Maher) was born in Manchester of Irish parents who hailed originally from Athy, County Kildare. Playing music since the age of 13, Marr was co-founder and co-songwriter in The Smiths. Marr created the distinctive Smiths jangly guitar sound, a sound which has gone on to influence countless bands such as The Cranberries, The Sundays, The Decemberists and The National. It is Johnny Marr that we have to thank for such classics as This Charming Man, There Is A Light, That Never Goes Out and Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want. Since leaving The Smiths, Johnny Marr has carved out an award-winning career as a collaborator and solo-artist. Marr has played with The Pretenders, Modest Mouse and The Cribs. He formed Electronic with Bernard Sumner of New Order and has also collaborated with Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry and Hans Zimmer. One of his most notable projects in recent years was the creation of a soundtrack for the 25th James Bond Movie No Time To Die. Marrs solo output has gone from strength to strength and his recent performance at the 2023 Electric Picnic can only be described as sublime. Johnny Marr has just released a Spirit Power, a compilation of his best songs from his solo recordings. He has also just published a new book called Marrs Guitars. It contains photographs of each of Marrs guitars and a short essay on each by the man himself. In 2010, Marr was voted the fourth-best guitarist of the last 30 years in a BBC Poll. Mojo have described him as arguably Britains last great guitar stylist and the NME gave him their Godlike Genius award in 2013. Announcing the news, Mick Dolan said: We are delighted to welcome the legendary Johnny Marr back to Limerick. Johnny last played in Limerick with The Smiths in November 1984 at the old Savoy. As the man responsible for the unique and highly influential sound of The Smiths and a hugely successful artist in his own right, Johnny Marr is up there with the worlds guitar greats such as Rory Gallagher and Jimmy Hendrix. The gig promises to be a major highlight marking our 30 years in the music business. Neil Dolan added: Dolans are beyond excited to announce this gig with Johnny Marr. Our venue has, for many years, celebrated the sounds emanating from Manchester. To have a founding member of The Smiths and one of the worlds greatest guitarists play at Limericks Milk Market is a major milestone for us. This gig is a must for all Indie music fans. Tickets will be on sale this Friday, November 24 at 10am via Dolans.ie A truer set of figures should be kept to monitor homelessness in Ireland, a Sinn Fein TD has said. Monthly updates on figures of those in emergency accommodation are published by the Department of Housing. The most recent figures indicated there were 12,827 people in emergency accommodation in September, representing a 1.1% increase on the previous month. Sinn Fein TD Eoin OBroin has estimated there are more than 20,000 people who are homeless when people in accommodation not funded by the state and rough sleepers are taken into account. He has urged the Government to produce an independent report that includes those housed by other organisations and rough sleepers. He told reporters in Dublin: Since 2018, most years Ive published a report asking what is the true level of homelessness in the state, and the reason I do that is because every month, the department of housing publishes their homeless figures thats the number of adults and children in emergency accommodation funded by the Department of Housing. However, we know that there are other people who are in emergency accommodation funded by other government departments or some that dont receive any state funding and therefore, the purpose of this kind of report is to track that. As well as the numbers in emergency accommodation increasing, he said other types of homelessness are also on the rise. He said there are at least 599 women and children in domestic violence refuges funded by Tusla and the Department of Children, about 105 men and women in emergency accommodation run by religious institutions not funded by the state. He said there is not a full count of rough sleepers across the country, but there are estimated to be more than 80 rough sleepers in Dublin. The number of people living in emergency accommodation or sleeping rough has reached almost 20,000. Govt has committed to ending long-term homelessness by 2030. To do this they must have accurate information on the total number of people who are homeless. @EOBroin #Housing pic.twitter.com/0roHC5XTN3 Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) November 20, 2023 Mr OBroin said there are about 5,500 people who were in the international protection system, having been given leave to remain but who cannot get out of direct provision. So when you count all of those individuals up, there are almost 20,000 people who should be officially categorised as homeless, he said. And of course, thats before we even start talking about sofa surfers, and people who arent counted in the system. Ive been calling since 2018 for the Government to produce an independent report that categorises all of this properly, and the way to do that is to reconvene the homeless consultative committees data subgroup, agree a methodology and then allow an independent body such as the CSO, or housing agency to then publish the reports regularly. He added: It shouldnt be left to a TD to put in parliamentary questions and and compile this report on a regular basis, preferably monthly, an independent body should publish accurate numbers. He said the Irish Government has signed up to a commitment to end long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough by 2030 in the Lisbon Declaration, but questioned how the objective can be met with the current system. We need an accurate report, we need to know the total numbers of people experiencing homelessness at any point in time and then we also need to see a plan from government to show year on year from now to 2030 how theyre going to reduce that number and achieve the objective of ending long term homelessness and the need to sleep rough, he said. Xiaomi Corp. posted its first revenue gain in almost two years, a welcome boost for a smartphone maker thats begun aggressively attacking its Chinese rivals with higher-end models at home and abroad. It posted sales of 70.9 billion yuan ($9.9 billion) for the September quarter, versus average projections for 70.5 billion. Net income was 4.9 billion yuan, compared with the average estimate of 4.3 billion yuan. Also read: Xiaomi reveals its first electric car SU7 Xiaomi is emerging from a years-long funk, when global demand for smartphone and other electronics cratered and rivals from Huawei Technologies Co. to Apple Inc. and Oppo encroached on its once-dominant position. But the recent launch of a well-received line of flagship Xiaomi 14 phones could rejuvenate growth during the holidays in China, despite an uncertain consumer economy. Also Read: Xiaomi enters the electric vehicle market with SU7: Here's everything you need to know Therere growing signs the global smartphone market may finally be climbing out of a trough. Xiaomi and Huawei led an 11% jump in October smartphone sales in China, though thats coming off a severe Covid-era comparison. Huawei, which in August made waves with the Mate 60 Pro nationwide, accounted for the bulk of that rebound. Also Read: Xiaomi to bring down India headcount to below 1,000: Report Investors are betting that Xiaomi will be among the biggest beneficiaries of any rebound. Its gained about $19 billion of market value since a June low on excitement over its latest handset as well as mounting anticipation over a foray into electric vehicles. Also Read: Xiaomi reports better-than-expected profit in smartphone market Xiaomi sold more than one million of its latest 14 series devices in their first week in October, Chairman Lei Jun wrote in a Weibo post. And last week, the public got a first glimpse of its envisioned five-seater sedan after Beijing approved the vehicle roadworthiness. While its unclear if Xiaomi still needs additional licenses for that EV project to proceed, the car will be manufactured by state-owned Beijing Automotive Group Co. Xiaomis latest HyperOS system connects its products from smartphones to TVs. The heavily tailored Android-based platform could also link EVs, the much-watched new product line that co-founder Lei has touted as his last startup endeavor. The company, best known for razor-thin profit margins on high-spec smartphones and household electronics, is looking to make a move into the crowded space, but that entails significant amounts of time and money. To offset the heavy investments required, Xiaomi has tried to keep a lid on costs such as marketing. 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. New Delhi: South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor India is betting on localization of battery packs to be key in driving down prices of its electric vehicles in the country, top company officials said in response to global scepticism around EVs and lack of affordability being a key hindrance in their adoption. Right now, EV penetration in the Indian market is less than 2% but there will be a trigger and adoption will accelerate. The biggest trigger for EV adoption has to be the costEV costs should come down and localization is the biggest way for it to happen. The localization of battery packs would be a very big trigger for Hyundai India. So we feel we can drive 20-22% penetration by 2030. The governments view is 30% EV penetration by 2030 and some independent analysts feel the number is closer to 15%, but our view is 20-22%," Tarun Garg, chief operating officer, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, told Mint. We are investing 700 crore on our battery assembly plant in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, which will have a capacity of 75,000 battery packs annually in the first phase by 2025," Gopala Krishnan, chief manufacturing officer, HMIL, added. Unsoo Kim, the carmakers chief executive in India told Mint that while the world is currently depriortizing an EV transition, it is a temporary phenomenon. Currently the EV market is down. The Ukraine-Russia war is a big factor because European countries want to reduce carbon dioxide emission but they cant do so right now due to conflict. They cannot focus and put resources while conflicts go on. I think this is a temporary situation for EV," he said. In India, triggers for EV adoption will be led both by government initiatives and by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The first PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme for automobiles, the 18,000 crore advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery PLI scheme and growth in charging infrastructure are expected to scale up EV adoption as companies such as Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra look to charge up their EV offerings in 2024-25. Hyundai is aiming for a made-in-India EV for the mass-premium market in 2025. TATA MOTORS More Information Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Sam Altman 's latest post on X (formerly Twitter) hints at a strict deadline for his return to OpenAI and the removal of the company's board of directors. Altman was unceremoniously ousted as the company's CEO in a Google Meet on Thursday night, while Greg Brockman was also removed from his position as chairman of the board. Also Read| Sam Altmans ousting and possible return to OpenAI: What we know Altman and Brockman arrived at OpenAI's San Francisco headquarters to negotiate a possible return to the company. Interim CEO Mira Murati told OpenAI employees that she had invited the two former executives, Reuters reported, citing The Information. Wearing a guest badge in what appears to be the OpenAI building, Altman wrote: First and last time i ever wear one of these" According to a report by The Verge, Altman has set a strict deadline of 5pm Pacific Time for his return to the company, and one of his conditions for returning to the company is the removal of the existing board members who fired him as CEO. In such a situation, the board may have to decide who will replace them. According to a Reuters report, Microsoft, which owns a 49% stake in OpenAI, is likely to take a role on the board if Altman returns to the company. The company, led by Satya Nadella, could either take a seat on the board or as a non-voting observer. Meanwhile, several media reports suggest that Microsoft and Satya Nadella were blindsided by OpenAI's decision to oust Sam Altman as CEO. Satya Nadella is said to have offered Altman his full support in his bid to return to the company and in any of his future endeavours. Microsoft and OpenAI have had a mutually beneficial partnership, with the Satya Nadella-led company using many of the features OpenAI has developed to improve its products, such as Bing Chat or Windows Copilot. In a blogpost about the partnership with OpenAI, Nadella had written, We have a long-term agreement with OpenAI with full access to everything we need to deliver on our innovation agenda and an exciting product roadmap; and remain committed to our partnership," Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. NEW DELHI : Purple Style Labs, the parent of luxury fashion omni-channel platform Pernias Pop-Up Shop, has secured an $8-million (about 66.6 crore) Series-D round led by Sanket Parekh of the Pidilite family office, with participation from Signet, the family office of Harish Shah, Hira Groups family office and other investors. Existing investors also participated, including Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund I, Neelesh Bhatnagar of NB Ventures, fashion designer Masaba Gupta, and the former partners of Premji Invest, Rahul Garg and Atul Gupta. The company was valued at $352 million for the fundraising. Purple Style Labs sells products of renowned labels like Tarun Tahiliani, Amit Aggarwal, Falguni Shane Peacock, Gaurav Gupta, Seema Gujral, Abhinav Mishra, and Shyamal and Bhumika. It acquired Pernias Pop-Up Shop in 2018. Its founder Abhishek (Monty) Agarwal said the company has grown over 100% annually for the past two years, with gross sales of $60 million on a consolidated basis in FY23. Its current gross sales run rate is around $100 million, he added. The firm is looking to double it within 2-3 years and will subsequently opt for public listing in FY26. It is focusing on expanding its omnichannel presence. At present it runs 15 Pernias Studio experience centres around the world catering to women as well as men. Its present in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Surat and Mayfair, London. It is looking to expand to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dubai and Singapore as part of its global expansion plan, besides Chennai, Chandigarh, Indore, Lucknow and Jaipur. We hope to expand to key domestic and global locations, to take Indian fashion and design to the next level," Agarwal said. Sanket Parekh added, Pernias Pop-Up Shop has bridged a significant industry gap, offering an organized retail space for designer wear, allowing designers to focus on their creative talents. It could scale Pernias Pop-Up Shop to become the foremost destination for discovering new design talent." In mid 2022, it had raised $10 million (about 80 crore) from a clutch of investors and later another 10 crore from Indian investment company Klub. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has moved the Supreme Court (SC) challenging an appeals court verdict in British alcoholic beverage maker Diageo Plcs 2012 acquisition of United Spirits Ltd (USL), a case that may determine the stock market regulators power to intervene in a takeover after the open offer has concluded. The apex court website showed that Sebi filed the petition in October, and a bench will be allotted soon. A verdict will decide whether shareholders who exited USL through an open offer in late 2012 and early 2013, when Diageo took over the company, deserved a better price. Sebi had approved the transaction in 2013; however, they went on to initiate proceedings against the company nearly three years later, in 2016," said a lawyer privy to the development. In a way, the intervention was retrospective in nature. If the Sebi order is upheld by the apex court, it would have an impact on the whole takeover code." An email sent to Sebi remained unanswered at the time of going to press. At the crux of the matter is a special provision of the takeover code that says if an acquirer buys additional shares of the target company within 26 weeks from the conclusion of an open offer at a higher price, then the acquirer needs to pay the higher price even to the open offer investors. This July, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) quashed a Sebi order asking Diageo to pay more to shareholders, saying in the current scenario, the special provision of the takeover code doesnt apply. The scenario is slightly complicated, and this is how the sequence of events unfolded. In 2007, much before Diageo made its move on USL, the beleaguered promoter of USL, Vijay Mallya, had availed a $135 million loan from ICICI Bank, UK. In 2012, Diageo made its first move to take over USL after it acquired 25% of the shares of the company from its promoter entities, triggering an open offer. The offer opened in November 2012 and closed in May 2013. During the takeover, ICICI Bank asked Diageo to pay up the $140 million loan of 2007. After negotiations, it was decided in August 2013 that Standard Chartered Bank would refinance the loan. In return, Diageo would provide a backstop guarantee of $140 million. Additionally, Standard Chartered also secured the loan through a pledge of 7.9% stake of Mallya-related entities in United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd (UBHL), an associate company of USL. In May 2015, Mallya defaulted on repayment of the loan, which led to a debt recovery case in the UK. In 2016, a commercial division of the UK High Court asked Mallya to pay up the loan, which he did in 2016 itself. Once the loan was repaid, the $140 million backstop guarantee given by Diageo was released. Sebi has taken a view that the additional $140 million ought to have been factored into the open offer price," said another lawyer privy to the development. However, the whole transaction did not involve any shares of USL; only UBL shares changed hands. However, since UBHL back then was an associate company, action could be initiated by Sebi even in such cases." The board of OpenAI has hired former Twitch CEO and co-founder Emmet Shear as the AI startup's new interim CEO. The move comes amid calls from the company's investors, including Microsoft , Thrive Capital and Global Management, to reinstate Sam Altman as the company's CEO. Altman himself had indicated that today was the last time he would be negotiating with OpenAI's board. Also Read| Sam Altman not returning as CEO of OpenAI: Report A memo from the OpenAI board sent to employees and seen by the New York Times said, The board firmly stands by its decision as the only path to advance and defend the mission of OpenAI," Put simply, Sams behavior and lack of transparency in his interactions with the board undermined the boards ability to effectively supervise the company in the manner it was mandated to do," the memo added. Who is Emmett Shear? Shear was the CEO of Twitch (a company he co-founded, but which was later acquired by Amazon in 2014) until March this year, where he spent around a decade turning the company from Justin.tv into the most successful video game streaming service in the world. He was later appointed as a part-time advisor to companies at Y Combinator, a startup run by Sam Altman, from 2014 to 2019. According to a Bloomberg report, Shear has links to the effective altruism movement, which is sceptical about the risks posed by artificial intelligence. Effective altruists have imagined various scenarios in which powerful AI systems could be used to cause serious and widespread harm. Speaking about the possibility of a hyper-intelligent AI getting out of human control, Shear said (as quoted by the Wall Street Journal): (as quoted by Wall Street Journal), Its like a universe destroying bombIts bad in a way that makes global warming not a problem." Microsoft committed to partnership with OpenAI: Microsoft's Satya Nadella said he "looks forward to getting to know" Emmett Shear, shortly after he was appointed as the new interim CEO of OpenAI. Nadella wrote on X (formerly Twitter), We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI's new leadership team and working with them. And were extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success." Microsoft is said to have thrown its full support behind sacked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in his bid to return to the company's top job. The tech giant has invested around $13 million in OpenAI and holds a 49% stake in the company, but was given almost no notice before the high-profile AI startup's CEO was ousted. Why is Satya Nadella supporting Sam Altman? Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly pledged his support for Altman immediately after he was fired by the board. Nadella is also said to be leading negotiations between two factions in the company to bring Altman back as CEO. One of the reasons for Microsoft's persistence behind OpenAI could be the huge investment the Windows maker has made in the startup. Another could be the impactful role of OpenAI technology in significantly improving the company's products. For example, in the last year alone, Microsoft has used OpenAI technology to make significant improvements to its products, including its Bing search engine, which now runs on OpenAI's GPT-4 and Windows 11 co-pilot. According to a Reuters report citing The Information, Microsoft is also likely to take a role on the board if Altman returns to the company. The company, led by Satya Nadella, could take either a seat on the board or as a non-voting observer. Board looking to find different CEO: Mira Murati, co-founder of OpenAI and interim CEO of the ChatGPT maker, is working to bring Sam Altman and Greg Brockman back to the company. Altman is said to be negotiating his return to the company, with one of the conditions being the removal of the board that unceremoniously fired him as CEO just 2 days ago. In addition to Murati, OpenAI investors including Microsoft, Thrive Capital and Global Management are said to be backing Altman's push to be reinstated as CEO of OpenAI and pushing for the board to resign. Meanwhile, board members are working to find another CEO to lead the company and have already contacted two prominent technology executives, Bloomberg reported. Why was Sam Altman removed as OpenAI CEO? According to a Bloomberg report, Altman and other board members were at odds over how to make OpenAI a successful business. Board members were concerned about the speed at which Altman wanted OpenAI to roll out new products while neglecting AI safety concerns. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Billionaire Elon Musk denounced what he calls "bogus" media reports accusing him of anti-semitism. This response follows his recent endorsement of content on X that sparked outrage and led major advertisers like Apple Inc. to distance themselves from the platform. "This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic. Nothing could be further from the truth. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, a social media platform he owns. What was the controversy? The controversy erupted after Musk agreed with a post asserting that Jewish people harbour a "dialectical hatred" of white individuals. The content of the tweet is believed to be widely used by white supremacist conspiracy theorists. Musk's positive engagement with the anti-semitic post thus drew widespread criticism, including remarks from the White House and discontent from several Tesla investors. Corporate giants such as the Walt Disney Company also distanced themselves from X by pulling off all advertisements from the platform. Musk's controversial statements came at a time when Islamaphobia and antisemitism are on the rise in the US amid the Israel-Gaza war. Also Read | Israel-Hamas War Day 46 Top Updates: 35 Gaza tunnel shafts discovered, UN Chief reiterates call for ceasefire Notably, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman joined others in defending Musk's stance, writing on X: Elon Musk is not an antisemite. I agree with Ben Shapiros assessment of the situation. It is remarkable how quickly the world stands ready to attack Musk for his shoot-from-the-hip commentary. Musk is not perfect, but the world is a vastly better place because of him." Ackman's post came after Musk posted a video by US politician Ben Shapiro who also supported Musk. Official Statements Both Musk and the company have issued statements after the fallout. While Yaccarino reaffirmed the platform's efforts against antisemitism and discrimination; Musk stated a strict policy against advocating genocide on the platform. Also Read | Israel-Hamas War: Netanyahu warns Palestinian Authority, no support will be allowed... Yaccarino wrote: X has been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. Theres absolutely no place for it anywhere in the world." At the risk of stating the obvious, anyone advocating the genocide of *any* group will be suspended from this platform," Musk wrote on X on November 17 evening. Long List of Controversies This isn't the first instance of Musk promoting a controversial speech. The world's wealthiest person, Musk had earlier accused the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the non-profit that works to fight antisemitism of primarily causing a 60 percent decrease in US ad revenue at X, without providing evidence. Earlier in September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also urged Musk to "strike a balance" between protecting free expression and fighting hate speech after weeks of controversy over antisemitic content on Musk's social media platform X. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. SAN FRANCISCOThe abrupt shakeup at OpenAI turns on one of the oldest tales in Silicon Valley: a breakup between a founder and his board. But in this case it was a very particular kind of founderthe face of Silicon Valleys artificial-intelligence revolutionand a very particular kind of board, which was tasked with making social good a priority over profit. The rupture threatens the future of the company and the billions of dollars investors had put into it. The leadership of the company that created the hit AI chatbot ChatGPT remained unclear Sunday, as investors and employees pushed over the weekend to restore Sam Altman, fired as chief executive officer on Friday. Altman was engineering a countercoup whose speed and likelihood of success has been virtually unheard of in the history of Silicon Valley. Altman was also considering starting his own venture, potentially with talent from OpenAI. But his bid to return had traction among employees: On Sunday morning, Chief Technology Officer and interim CEO Mira Murati sent a note to staff telling them that Altman would be returning to the San Francisco office later that day as negotiations continued. The former CEO entered with a guest badge hours later and tweeted: first and last time i ever wear one of these." Over the weekend, Altman made clear to his allies that if he does return, he wants a new board and governance structure, people familiar with the matter said. Two days after the board fired Altman, different explanations persisted for the initial firing. The board said Friday it pushed out the CEO after it concluded he hadnt been candid with the companys directors. It didnt elaborate. Over the weekend, people close to Altman said it had more to do with disputes around the safety of the companys artificial-intelligence efforts and a power struggle with one co-founder and board member in particular, Ilya Sutskever. On Sunday, a person familiar with the board stood by the boards statement citing Altmans lack of candor. This person said there was no single precipitating incident but rather a mounting loss of trust over communications with Altman that led it to remove him as CEO. The person declined to offer examples. The ouster from OpenAI wasnt the first time Altman was asked to leave a company. Several years ago, senior leaders at the venture firm Y Combinator asked Altman to step down as president after mounting concerns about the time he was spending on his other business endeavors, including at OpenAI, according to investors briefed by the venture firms executivesinformation not previously reported. In addition to OpenAI, Altman recently hatched plans for two new business endeavors. He enlisted Apples former chief design officer, Jony Ive, to create a new consumer hardware device. And he recently spent weeks in the Middle East gauging investor interest for a new startup aiming to create low-cost chips needed to train OpenAIs artificial-intelligence models, people familiar with the matter said. It is unclear whether those efforts, or the communication around it, played into Altmans dismissal. Bloomberg earlier reported on the new chips venture. The Information and the Financial Times earlier reported the new Ive venture. With his firing from OpenAI, Altman quickly got the upper hand in terms of public messaging. The board didnt use a communications or law firm in its dealings, people familiar with the board said, expecting that the OpenAI team would help them. But Altman had loyalty from investors and employees. The board ended up isolated as social media exploded with shock and support for Altman. His largest backers, including Microsoft and Thrive Capital, immediately on Friday began pressing for Altmans position to be restored. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella began working with Altman that evening on his next steps, people familiar with Altman said. Despite his business success, Altman had been losing the support of a board whose constituents changed as the companys commercial efforts powered ahead. It was a board structure that he had ironically helped create and publicly promoted as he encountered questions about AI safety. Before Fridays dustup, the board consisted of six people, including Altman. Then, it abruptly removed Greg Brockman, OpenAIs president and a close friend of Altmans, and voted to oust Altman. None of the four board members remaining were affiliated with the companys big investors. It isnt clear whether the vote was unanimous. The board that took the action was down from the nine seats it had earlier in the year and lacked at least one key prior Altman backer. Earlier this year, Reid Hoffman, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist with a long history of supporting Altman, stepped down after starting a rival company to OpenAI. Separately, Shivon Zilis, a tech executive at Elon Musks brain implant startup Neuralink, and Will Hurd, who started a presidential campaign, also left this year. The board had been working to fill those empty seats for months, though the process stalled, according to a person familiar with the matter. The other four directors are: Adam DAngelo, a former Facebook executive and the founder of question-and-answer site, Quora; Tasha McCauley, an adjunct senior management scientist at Rand Corp.; Helen Toner, a director at a Washington nonprofit; and OpenAIs chief scientist, Sutskever. Altman this weekend was furious with himself for not having ensured the board stayed loyal to him and regretted not spending more time managing its various factions, people familiar with his thinking said. Meghan Bobrowsky contributed to this article. Write to Berber Jin at berber.jin@wsj.com, Deepa Seetharaman at deepa.seetharaman@wsj.com, Tom Dotan at tom.dotan@wsj.com and Keach Hagey at Keach.Hagey@wsj.com Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, has stepped down from her position less than a fortnight after the Australian telecommunications giant grappled with a severe nationwide disruption, Bloomberg reported. The 12-hour-long telecom disruption on November 8 resulted in widespread disconnection for millions of Optus mobile and internet users across Australia. Also Read: Instagram Reels dominates beauty purchases in India Moreover, critical sections of the countrys public transport system were rendered inoperable. The outage also led to the failure of hundreds of emergency calls intended for police, ambulances, and firefighters. Mounting Pressure Following her appearance last week in a parliamentary inquiry investigating the outage, Bayer Rosmarin faced escalating pressure to quit her position. Also Read: Shell Mobility will focus on both legacy auto fuels, EVs The inquiry highlighted that Optus, a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications, lacked a specific contingency plan to address a comprehensive network breakdown. Additionally, Bayer Rosmarin evaded queries about her future during the probe. Her departure marks a significant development in the aftermath of the recent network failure, underscoring the mounting challenges faced by the telecommunications giant in managing and preparing for such crises. Also Read: Govt explores steps to boost affordable NBFC loans Cyberattack Risk Notably, this time's outage isn't the first blunder under Bayer Rosmarin's leadership. Earlier in September, Optus suffered a cyberattack that potentially exposed customers personal, identifiable information, as per a Wall Street Journal report. The company had then said it had shut down the attack and was working with authorities to investigate the matter. While not everyone may be affected and our investigation is not yet complete, we want all of our customers to be aware of what has happened as soon as possible so that they can increase their vigilance. We are very sorry and understand customers will be concerned," Bayer Rosmarin said in a statement. Also Read: Stakeboat's second fund eyes control-oriented deals, scaled up firms Optus said that information including customers names, dates of birth, phone numbers, and email addresses may have been exposed, but that payment details and account passwords havent been compromised. A subset of customers addresses and ID document numbers may also have been exposed, it said in a release. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The central government on Monday appointed Vinay M Tonse as the Managing Director of the State Bank of India till November 30, 2025, reported CNBC-TV18. Before the appointment, Tonse was serving as the Deputy Managing Director at the PSU bank. The Deputy Manager of the state-owned bank was recommended by the Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) for the senior post at SBI in September. Also Read: RBI mulls new penalty framework for banks: Report FSIB is responsible for recommending directors of state-owned banks and financial institutions. The post fell vacant after Swaminathan Janakiraman was appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. The State Bank of India is operated by four managing directors and one chairman. Also Read: State Bank of India (SBI) announces new marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR). Check latest rates here About Vinay Tonse He joined the State Bank of India as a Probationary Officer in 1988. Throughout his tenure, Tonse has worked at different locations in India, as well as abroad. In his career spanning more than 30 years, Tonse has led major assignments and projects of the State Bank of India. His career involves experience in different facets of commercial banking like corporate credit, treasury, retail, and international banking. Also Read: SBI Q2 Results Highlights: Net profit up 8% at 14,330 crore; NII grows 12.3% YoY; beats estimates Prior to his appointment, FSIB had interviewed 13 candidates in August for SBI's top post. Keeping in view their performance in the interface, their overall experience, and the extant parameters, the Bureau recommends Vinay M Tonse for the position of MD in SBI," said FSIB. The appointment was confirmed after receiving approval from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. FSIB is headed by Bhanu Pratap Sharma, former secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). Other members of the headhunter are Animesh Chauhan, former chairman and MD of erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce, RBI's ex-executive director Deepak Singhal, and Shailendra Bhandari, former MD of erstwhile ING Vysya Bank. BANK OF INDIA More Information Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The U.S. was in a fit of Covid panic during Thanksgiving week two years ago. The Omicron variant had emerged like a creature from the Black Lagoon. Public-health officials indicated wed need another updated booster. Share prices in Pfizer and Moderna surged. By months end, Pfizers stock-market value had surpassed $300 billion, up 50% from the start of the pandemic. Modernas shares had soared by more than 1,000% over the same period. In 2022 Pfizer became the first pharmaceutical company to book more than $100 billion in annual sales owing to government purchases of its vaccines and antiviral pill. Fast-forward to today. The pandemic is over. Demand for Covid vaccines and treatments has plunged. Pfizers total revenue has fallen more than 40% since last year. Earlier this month the company took a $5.5 billion write-off on its Covid products owing to lower-than-expected demand." Only 14% of American adults have received the latest updated booster shots. Pfizer is laying off hundreds of employees as its stock is trading below where it was at the start of the pandemic. Moderna has lost more than $100 billion in market value over the past two years, and falling revenue is similarly pressuring the companys bottom line. In September it scrapped combination vaccines for Covid and the flu and another for pediatric human metapneumovirus and parainfluenzaall respiratory viruses that generally cause cold- or flulike symptoms. But declining demand for Covid products is neither surprising nor bad news. If anything, its a salutary development as it will drive pharmaceutical investment and research to better uses. Recall that the purpose of the Trump administrations Operation Warp Speed was to reduce the risk and opportunity costs for developing vaccines to end a once-in-a-century pandemic. The vaccines flattened the curve for a time, to borrow the metaphor Anthony Fauci popularized. But two-thirds of Covid deaths have occurred since the vaccines rolled out in January 2021. The jabs greatest benefit was in providing political leaders with the courage to lift destructive lockdowns and mask mandates. The vaccines were supposed to be a two-shot-and-done regimen, not blockbuster medicines that rung up tens of billions of dollars in sales every year with government support. But Washington rewrote the memo. From vaccine mandates to annual booster recommendations and misleading marketing campaigns, its salesmanship is matched only by its efforts to dump electric vehicles on an unwilling public. Statins and diabetes medicines prevent heart attacks, but the government doesnt run ads urging Americans to use Lipitor or Ozempic. One enormous negative side effect of the governments vaccine boosterism is that it has increased public cynicism toward pharmaceutical companies at a time when innovation is advancing at warp speed. Take gene therapies, which have the potential to cure lifelong inherited diseases. Unlike the Covid vaccines, these are one-time treatments. The Food and Drug Administration is poised next month to approve two therapies to reverse sickle-cell disease, which afflicts more than 100,000 Americans. Researchers on Nov. 12 reported that the gene-editing technology Crispr could reduce cholesterol in patients born with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Pfizer is seeking FDA approval for a gene therapy that enables hemophiliacs to produce a coagulant so they dont have to get regular blood transfusions. Covid vaccines were the first approved mRNA products, but the technology holds far greater promise in treating cancer and debilitating conditions for which the risk-benefit calculation from adverse side effects is much clearer. Moderna is developing a personalized melanoma vaccine with Merck that trains the immune system to track down and kill cancer cells. A trial last year found the vaccine reduced the risk of death or cancer recurrence by 44% when combined with immunotherapy Keytruda. Last month BioNTech and Genentech launched a large trial for a custom-made vaccine to treat pancreatic cancer after an early-stage trial found it might have prevented or delayed relapses in about 50% of patients. Then there is the new line of obesity medications by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, which are locked in an arms race as Pfizer and AstraZeneca rush to catch up with their own drugs. Eli Lillys and Novo Nordisks drugs have been found to help overweight and obese patientsmore than 70% of Americansshed 15% to 20% of their body weight. The benefits arent merely cosmetic. A study this month showed that Novo Nordisks Wegovy reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths by 20% over three to four years among overweight patients with cardiovascular disease. The drug mitigated the absolute risk of death by about 1%, saving one life for every 100 patients. The potential market for these medications is huge, as are the public-health benefits, which is why Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are now valued at more than $900 billion combined. But dont expect investor euphoria to last. Competition will invariably reduce their profits. Drug makers can dine out on any given medicine only for so long before needing to cook up another pharmaceutical bonanza. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Most of the tax cuts passed in 2017 are set to expire in 2025. Altogether, these cuts cost the federal government about $350 billion a year, or 1% of gross domestic product. Their expiration marks a milestone in American tax policy. The tax system of the 1990s could have financed the government we have today. But two decades of successive unpaid-for tax cuts eroded our nations revenue base. Without those tax cuts, federal debt as a share of the economy wouldnt be projected to rise significantly over the coming decade. Americans cant afford for politicians to keep having the same stale debates about tax policy. Unpaid-for tax cuts make it harder for the federal government to finance its obligations. Its time for a new approach to taxes. First, dont extend tax cuts for the best-off Americans. The last generation of tax policy disproportionately benefits the highest-income Americans. As a result of the 2017 tax cuts, the top 5% of taxpayers received a tax cut roughly three times as large as the bottom 60% of taxpayers got, measured as a share of income. Second, any extension of tax cuts should be fully paid for by other reforms to the tax system. While this idea sounds simple, it would be a stark departure from the habits of both parties. Republicans made enactment of large, regressive and temporary tax cuts the centerpiece of their domestic agenda during the last two GOP presidencies. Democrats mostly opposed these tax cuts. But when it came to those from the 2000s, they agreed to a bipartisan deal that made over 80% permanentand without offsetting costs. The good news is that there are tax reforms that would raise significant revenue, strengthen the tax base and promote economic growth. For starters, corporate tax reform can raise hundreds of billions over the coming decade while encouraging investment and innovation. The 2017 corporate rate cut was particularly ineffective at sparking investment. It handed out windfalls to old investment instead of targeting new investment, and the law allowed too much unproductive offshore profit-shifting to continue. Americans can do better by focusing on incentives for new investment and by raising the tax rate on foreign profits in line with the global minimum tax agreement. In addition, the U.S. can address how those at the very top entirely escape income taxes by holding on to appreciated property and passing it down to their heirs. The wealthiest Americans should be required to pay a minimum share of their income in taxes. The current cap on deductibility of state and local taxes is controversial, but its continuation would raise revenueprincipally from high-income taxpayers. Continuing to invest in the Internal Revenue Services capacity to collect taxes already owed would also strengthen the system. Many policy makers will object to these proposals. But the pay as you go" principle for tax reform is about trade-offs. If you dont like raising corporate rates, instituting a minimum tax for billionaires or capping state and local deductions, you should identify what other taxes you would raiseor which tax cuts you would let expire. Any tax plan that cant answer this basic test should be considered reckless. Third, any new tax benefits should go to lower-income families and workers. Many lower-income Americans got nothing from the 2017 reform and could face tax increases over time. To address this, Congress should make the child tax credit fully refundable so that all eligible low-income families receive this tax cut. Doing so would lift more than 1.5 million children out of poverty, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Congress should also expand the earned-income tax credit for childless workers, as was done in 2021, which would keep more than five million low-income workers from being taxed into povertyor deeper into it. Together, these tax credits cost around $30 billion annuallya small price tag relative to the tax bill as a whole and the great help it provides to our most vulnerable. Further expansion of the child tax credit is also a good idea. All new tax benefits should be focused on the bottom half of tax filers and fully paid for. Given the magnitude of our fiscal challenges, we ultimately will need to raise revenue beyond paying for tax-cut extensions in 2025 and address other salient fiscal challenges, such as continuing to slow the growth rate of healthcare costs. But the greatest near-term fiscal risk the country faces is the possibility that policy makers wont only extend the 2017 reform, but double down on these unpaid-for, regressive tax cuts. Doing so would deal a huge blow to market confidence and the economy. Tax cuts now would likely come at the expense of long-term growth and American pocketbooks. Showing a commitment to pay for any tax-cut extension in 2025 is smart policy. It would also be a significant step toward instilling confidence in Americas commitment to meeting its long-term fiscal challenges. Mr. Deese served as director of the National Economic Council, 2021-23. Mr. Kamin was the councils deputy director, 2021-22. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Indias public capital expenditure (capex) blitz will continue at full throttle even as some departments look poised to exhaust their budgets, two persons aware of the plan said. The government intends to achieve this by reducing unproductive expenditure and rerouting money lying unspent in some departments. The government also believes it will be able to meet its record capex targets as well as the fiscal deficit target in an election year, encouraged by record tax collections for the year so far. The finance ministry has asked all government departments and ministries to submit budget and expenditure trends before December end so that it can reassess their fund requirements and divert expenditure if required to flagship schemes such as the rural job guarantee scheme and schemes for small and medium enterprises, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. The government has raised its capex budget in recent years to refresh infrastructure, create jobs and quicken growth. It budgeted 10 trillion for capex in FY24, a 37% rise from last fiscal. In FY23 and FY22, capex budgets were increased by 24% and 40%, respectively. However, infrastructure ministries including roads and railways have already used up more than 60% of their allocated capital, and are on course to finish the rest by January. The central government hopes that savings in schemes run by other ministries can be diverted to capex so that overall expenditure remains within budgeted levels, the officials cited above added. The Union government has proposed to spend over 45 trillion in FY24, including more than 35 trillion in revenue expenditure and about 10 trillion in capital expenditure. Revenue expenditure does not result in the creation of assets and includes expenses for various services, interest payments, salaries and pensions. Greater capex is seen to have a multiplier effect, as it creates new jobs and assets. The government believes it can trim some of the revenue expenditure if required and make room for more capex, the people cited above said. The government will stick to the fiscal deficit target of 5.9% of gross domestic product set for the fiscal, the first person mentioned above said. It is likely that the disinvestment target will not be met this fiscal. However, the government expects higher non-tax revenues, including dividends from the Reserve Bank of India and state-run banks, and buoyant tax proceeds to offset any revenue shortfall from disinvestment to maintain the fiscal deficit target," the person added. A finance ministry spokesperson didnt respond to emailed queries. During the first half of fiscal year 2024 (FY24), central government expenditure stood at 21.19 trillion, or 47.1% of budget estimates, which is marginally higher than the 46.2% in the same period in FY23. Meanwhile, buoyant tax collections this year have created more fiscal space for spending. Tax collections are stronger than expected, with total government revenues expected to substantially exceed budgeted estimates amid increased economic activity. In October, gross goods and services tax (GST) revenues rose 13.4% year-on-year, the fastest in 10 months, to hit the second-highest monthly tally of 1.72 trillion. The average gross monthly GST collection for FY24 so far has been 1.66 trillion, 11% higher than last year. Also, the central government has collected 10.60 trillion in net direct tax revenues as of 9 November, up 21.82% from the previous year. Experts said the central government may step up spending during the ongoing election year to boost demand, especially since domestic demand has remained weak amid a global economic slowdown. Upcoming spending will be done based on the supplementary demand for grants submitted around September-October by different ministries and governmental departments. The actual spending will be higher in the coming quarter," said Biswajit Dhar, a professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at Jawaharlal Nehru University. The upcoming budget documents will not reflect expenditure for the Q4 (January-March 2024) period, but at best will reflect the expenditure for the Q3 (October-December 2023) period. So, I dont expect much of Q4 expenditure to be reflected in the budget documents," Dhar said. The government will also table the supplementary demand of grants in the upcoming winter session of the parliament. Ukraines troops are using both old-fashioned heavy artillery and commercial products such as drones with grenades attached to them, directed via Starlinks satellite internet service. Hamas terrorists used motorcycles and paragliders. Israeli soldiers use sophisticated Iron Dome antimissile systems and, to close off tunnels, sponge bombs" that work like spray foam sealant from Home Depot. Is the U.S. ready for that kind of war? To find out, I met with Arkansas Sen. Tom Cottona former platoon leader with the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq who now sits on the Armed Services Committee. I still dont think the Defense Department is doing enough to adapt quickly," he said. Current wars have exposed the Pentagons brittleness and lack of resiliency, and thats in part going back to the drawdown during the Clinton era." Different wars require different kinds of weapons," he said. You just look at three conflicts or potential conflicts. In Ukraine, you have heavy mechanized land warfare, and Hamas, you have intense urban combat. And in Taiwan, if it came to that, you would have a largely maritime conflict. Hamas doesnt have tanks. So Israel doesnt need Javelins." Necessity is the mother of invention. And Ukrainians are very resourceful," he continued. The problem with the Soviet Union was not only that it was communist, but also that it was Russian. Ukraine exposes the fanciful thinking of many political leaders here and in Europe who believed that threats from Russia ended with the Cold War." But are we buying the right stuff? F-35 Lightning II fighter jets do amazing things, but dont we need more adaptable weapons? Machine guns can do a pretty effective job against paragliders," Mr. Cotton says. In Congress, when people think about technology as it applies to security, they think too much about whiz-bang keystroke warriors, that somehow youre going to win wars just with cyber attacks or with hashtags." He shakes his head. It always gets down to men under arms in the mud on the ground killing their enemies until their enemies submit to their will." The department needs to do a better job of that kind of thing. Theres still going to be a significant need for traditional battlefield technology for tanks and armored personnel carriers and munitions, for fighter squadrons, for new stealth bombers. The technology that matters most is technology that enables the soldiers who are out in front of the spear and makes it safer for them." Mr. Cotton reminded me of the military adage invoking D-Day: When the ramp drops, the bulls stops." Then I sensed frustration. Its like pulling teeth to get the DOD to focus on whats needed to fight and win the wars. Ukraine is a reminder that that kind of warfare has not vanished from the earth. Theres still going to be battlefields. Theres still going to be the infantry in the army that have to close with and destroy the enemy, to fire and maneuver as opposed to big brains sitting back in Washington, D.C., clacking away on keyboards and all of a sudden, you compel a nation to submit to your will." I nodded and said I agreed. Mr. Cotton quickly jumped in: There was a lot of people who dont agree with you and me, just to be clear, like mostly Democrats." But what about using commercial technology for warfare? In 30 years of consolidation of the defense industry, there have only been three companies that have broken through at the department with a big splash. Elon Musk with SpaceX, and by extension Starlink. Palantir with Peter Thiel. And Anduril with Palmer Luckey. It should not take an iconoclastic billionaire willing to break China at the Pentagon. The department should be a lot more open to commercial off-the-shelf solutions." I reminded him that many engineers threatened to quit Google if they worked on artificial intelligence to help drones identify targets. Unfortunately, the rot you see that has infested campuses over the last month with pro-Hamas rallies also extends in some cases to their engineering and their computer science departments. Theres no question about that." Has the U.S. lost its will? We can have the weaponry and ships and aircraft, but if our adversaries dont think were willing to use them, to defend ourselves and stop them, they dont do much good." In the Middle East, if Joe Biden is not going to respond, and if hes going to be shooting empty warehouses in eastern Syria, as opposed to blowing up IRGC barracks outside of Tehranif Im Xi Jinping sitting in Beijing, and I see that, it makes me think." Will we be ready for a China-Taiwan conflict? You dont have to be read into classified programs or have all that much imagination to realize that those drones you see swarming around Super Bowls or opening ceremonies might be pretty effective against Chinese ships or Chinese landing craft, if you could rapidly convert them into military usage." Write to kessler@wsj.com. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Workers at two Wells Fargo bank branches are planning to launch unionization efforts Monday, shifting the attention of the resurgent labor movement to an industry that has historically been cool to it. Employees in Albuquerque, N.M., and Bethel, Alaska, said they would notify the National Labor Relations Board that they plan to hold elections to decide whether to unionize. If they get enough votes, they could start the first union at a major bank in decades. Labor organizers and unions have scored big victories lately. Amazon warehouse workers voted to unionize in New York last year, and hundreds of Starbucks shops have done the same. The United Auto Workers recently negotiated generous new contracts for employees at the large American carmakers. We would be foolish to not strike while the iron is hot," said Jessie McCool, a Wells Fargo compliance officer in St. Louis who has been a leader in the organizing effort. Saul Van Beurden, CEO of Wells Fargos consumer banking division, said the company has a deep commitment to invest in and support everyone who works at Wells Fargo." He said the bank has significantly improved compensation and benefits for lower paid employees in recent years, with some changes made because of workers feedback. The organizing employees and the union they are working with, the Communications Workers of America, face an uphill battle. Just 1.3% of finance-sector employees were part of a union last year, versus 6% of private-sector workers and 10% of the entire U.S. workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And unionizing is only the first step in getting management to agree to workplace changes. Employees at some companies where workers recently voted to unionize, including Starbucks, have since struggled to reach collective bargaining agreements with management. Still, unionizing even a tiny slice of a megabank would be a major milestone. The largest bank to do so in recent memory was Beneficial State Bank in Oakland, Calif., in 2020. It is the 530th largest U.S. bank by assets. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo is the fourth largest, with almost $2 trillion in assets and over 200,000 employees. The Albuquerque branch has eight nonmanagement workers, the union said. One of them, Sabrina Perez, said that she and her colleagues started talking seriously about unionization because they were being spread too thin. Wells Fargo didnt replace employees who departed the branch since the beginning of the pandemic, said Perez, who is a banker for affluent customers and has been at the company for about a decade. Bankers have had to put in double duty as tellers, and customers complained of long wait times, she said. When workers passed their concerns to management, they were told nothing would be done about it, she said. The executives dont have to deal with the consequences of their decisions in a direct sense, but we do," Perez said. Van Beurden said that in the last few years the bank has reduced the required workdays for those in many of our branches, and increased staffing levels in branches where needed to help support our employees and ultimately our customers." Major banks have long caught the eye of labor organizers, and the CWA has been trying to organize Wells Fargo workers for a few years. Many of the CWAs members work in the media, and the unions involvement with bank employees might not seem like a natural pairing. The CWA said that the financial industry doesnt fit neatly into any existing unions, and that it takes an interest in how the financialization of the economy has affected industries it represents. (The union that represents some Wall Street Journal employees is affiliated with the CWA.) A 2016 sales scandal boosted Wells Fargo workers interest in a union, organizers said. Bank leaders had set lofty sales goals that branch workers couldnt meet, and many resorted to creating fake accounts as a result. That led to widespread firings, and things are still tense. Nick Weiner, who works for the CWA, said roughly 150 people joined an organizing call last week and interest has grown over the past month. Recently, employees have been distributing fliers to workers in branches and call centers. He hopes that if the first two branches unionize, other locations will follow. A missing element of getting Wells Fargo to repair its tattered reputation is to give workers a voice," Weiner said. Wells Fargo has been preparing for the unionization effort as well. It recently hired a head of labor relations and trained managers on how to respond to union demands. Some workers told the NLRB this year that the company tried to interfere with their efforts, sometimes by removing fliers or preventing workers from putting them up. The branch in Bethel, Alaska, has five nonmanagement workers. Walker Sexton, who is one of them, said compensation was a big issue. He said that the bank increased hourly pay for some workers, but left his pay intact. His pay went from being above the middle of the pack to below, he said. It felt like a slap in the face," he said. He started at the bank four years ago making about $22 an hour in Anchorage, he said. His comparable pay is now about $25 an hour, though he now gets a cost-of-living adjustment for living in Bethel that bumps the hourly total up to about $38, he said. Bethel is a remote city that is accessible to the rest of the state largely by plane. Sexton said a bag of grapes can cost $46 at the supermarket and that he pays about $2,000 a month for rent. He took a second job as a customer-service agent at the airport to make ends meet. Van Beurden said that over the last four years, the company has increased median base salaries by 26% for those making less than $50,000. The company has also made healthcare more affordable for lower paid employees by decreasing the portion they pay of total costs, he said. We strongly believe everyones individual voice should be heard and that direct connection is the best way to continue to make progress in ensuring that our workplace helps our employees thrive," he said. In addition to filing to hold elections, employees will give the bank a chance to voluntarily recognize the union. If the bank declines, they will proceed with the election. A majority of branch workers need to vote in favor for the union to be recognized. Lauren Weber contributed to this article. Write to Ben Eisen at ben.eisen@wsj.com Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) imposed a penalty of 25,000 on Pudukkottai Co-operative Town Bank Ltd for non-compliance of the directions issued on Board of Directors - UCBs. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated October 12, 2023, imposed a monetary penalty of 25,000 on The Pudukkottai Co-operative Town Bank Ltd., Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu (the bank). This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A (1) (c) read with Sections 46 (4) (i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (AACS)," said RBI in its notice released on Monday. Also Read: RBI imposes monetary penalty on State Bank of India, Indian Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank The Co-operative bank has been fined for extending loans to its directors. On the bank's failure to comply with RBI guidelines, the central bank has issued a notice to Pudukkottai Co-operative Town Bank to show cause as to why a penalty should not be imposed on it. Also read: RBI imposes hefty fine on RBL Bank, Union Bank of India, Bajaj Finance for non-compliance of guidelines After hearing the bank's reply to the notice and its oral submissions, the RBI concluded that the cooperative bank was guilty of violating rules and the mentioned directions issued by RBI were substantiated and warranted the imposition of monetary penalty on the bank. Later in the day, two more financial institutions were fined for non-compliance with regulations, according to RBI notices released on Monday. Also Read: RBI imposes monetary penalty on four co-operative banks. Details here Kolkata-based Sappers Finance and Consultancy Pvt Ltd. was fined 1.50 lakh by the RBI for violating rules related to the acquisition/transfer of control of NBFC. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated November 02, 2023, imposed a monetary penalty of 1.50 lakh (Rupees One lakh fifty thousand only) o Sappers Finance and Consultancy Pvt Ltd., Kolkata (the company) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on (i) Requirement for obtaining prior approval of RBI in cases of acquisition/transfer of control of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs); and (ii) Non-Banking Financial Company Returns (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016," read an RBI notice. Also Read: RBI slaps 5.4 crore fine on Paytm Payments Bank over non-compliance of guidelines related to KYC, cybersecurity In another notice, the RBI announced a penalty of 2 lakh to Sangli Sahakari Bank Limited, Mumbai for violating rules laid out by the central bank related to the Board of Directors-UCBs. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), by an order dated September 15, 2023, has imposed a monetary penalty of 2.00 lakh (Rupees Two lakh only) on Sangli Sahakari Bank Limited, Mumbai (the bank) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on Board of Directors-UCBs," stated RBI in its notice issued on Monday. BANK OF INDIA More Information Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Delhi has become the jewel in the crown of Groupe ADPs portfolio after it recorded the highest passenger numbers among all the airports it controls. Delhi handled more passengers than Paris CDG, the flagship of the group, in the first nine months of 2023. The growth has come even when IndiGo, the largest carrier at Delhi (and in India), faces groundings due to issues with Pratt & Whitney engines, and the collapse of GoFirst in May. Groupe ADP closed an investment deal with GMR, the operator of Delhi and Hyderabad airports via Special Purpose Vehicles DIAL and GHIAL, respectively, just before the pandemic. As the world went into a lockdown, airports shut down impacting traffic and thus revenue. The group surely would have wondered if the investments were worth it but on the other side of pandemic, Delhi Airports growth is more than compensating for any questions that Groupe ADP may have thought of during the pandemic. Also read: For India to become an aviation hub, first fix airport terminal connectivity Groupe ADP operates the two airports in Paris and has stakes in TAV Airports - the Turkish company, which owns or operates airports across multiple countries from Kazakhstan to Chile. The investments were linked to GMR infrastructure, the listed company, reorganising itself into GMR Airports and the non-airport assets being separated. Numbers tell the story For the nine months ended September, total traffic at the two airports in Paris stood at 75,563,078. The traffic at airports operated by GMR stood at 79,521,105 while the 11 operators under TAV saw 74,624,104 passengers. With 53,431,298 passengers from January to September, Delhi airport was the jewel in the crown for Groupe ADP as Paris CDG saw 50,841,244 passengers in the same period. Delhi has been amongst the airports which have grown its traffic since 2019 (pre-COVID). The growth was 4.4% for Delhi. Hyderabad grew 10% as well. Other airports in the Groupe ADP portfolio which recorded more traffic than 2019 were Almaty, Medina, Amman and Zagreb. Interestingly, at the group level the traffic was down by 2.1% for the first nine months of 2023 when compared against the same period of 2019. Paris CDG, the flagship of the group Both the ADP airports at Paris and all airports of TAV have shrunk. The TAV airports portfolio handled 87,637,592 passengers for the first nine months of 2019, while the number stood at 74,624,104 in 2023 for the first nine months. The GMR airports roughly handled 74,000,000 in 2019 which has grown to 79,521,105 in 2023, without the count of passengers at Mopa, Goa to have a like for like comparison. GMR is changing Since the investments came in for GMR, the group has made some changes to the portfolio - which has seen the group acquire a stake in Medan airport in Indonesia and divest its investments at Cebu in Philippines. Beyond Delhi and Hyderabad, the group now has a third operational airport in India at Mopa, Goa and construction of the airport at Bhogapuram near Vizag will start soon. The GMR group is also developing an airport at Crete in Greece, expanding its global portfolio. Why does the traffic matter? India is one of the fastest growing markets in the world and the two large airlines in India have over 1000 planes on order. With both being well capitalised or backed by strong groups, the chances of survival remain at the highest, unlike multiple airlines which went down in the past. Apart from the increase in revenue from passengers, the real chunk of money comes from non-aero revenue and Delhi has been performing exceptionally on that front. The last quarter saw Delhi airport clock a revenue of 14.1 bn INR from non-aero activities. 27% of this revenue came from Duty Free where the GMR group now has a presence, 20% came from space rentals. On the non-aero revenue side, Retail, Cargo, Food & Beverages and Advertisement was up significantly at Delhi. With expansion in the last phase, the airport will see its capacity go up 100 million passengers from its current capacity of 66 million. This will happen simultaneously with all four runways being utilised. The combined effect would mean more flight movements, more passengers and more revenues. With European traffic stagnating and in some cases de-growing, the large hubs like Paris are also under constant pressure from neighbouring hubs like Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich amongst others. India on the other side is yet to reach that stage and for Groupe ADP to grow, the investment in GMR is turning out to be one set to give high returns in a few years. The author, Ameya Joshi is an aviation analyst. GMR INFRASTRUCTURE More Information Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Six out of the nine stocks (excluding SMEs) that debuted in November 2022 are currently flourishing with gains between 50% and 321%. Kaynes Technology India stood at the top of the list. The stock, which went public on November 22, 2022, enjoyed a great debut, opening at an almost 32% premium at 778 compared to the issue price of 587 apiece. Later, it finished the first day with a 17.5% gain at 690. The stock has experienced a one-way spike since its listing, and it is now up by 321% at 2,474 apiece as against its issue price. The IPO received a strong response from investors, as it was subscribed to 34 times. Since its listing, the stock closed all the following 12 months in the green, with May 2023 standing as the best performer with a gain of 45%. Kaynes Technology is a leading end-to-end and IoT solutions-enabled integrated electronics manufacturing player, having capabilities across the entire spectrum of Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) services. Also Read: Six stocks listed in October are already multibaggers with gains of up to 340% from their issue prices; check full list Global Health shares were next on the list, which rewarded their shareholders handsomely. The company, which operates and manages hospitals under the Medanta brand, was listed on the exchanges on November 16, 2022, at a premium of 19% and closed 24% higher than its IPO price on the first day. Since its market debut, the stock has consistently displayed an upward trajectory, spiking to the current levels of 900 apiece, marking an extraordinary 169% increase over its IPO price of 336. Also Read: Tata Technologies IPO: GMP remains steady. Price, lot size, other details Similarly, Bikaji Foods also delivered stellar returns to the shareholders. The shares were listed on the stock exchanges on November 16, 2022, after raising 881 crore through its initial public offering. Since its listing, the stock has maintained a steady upward movement, and it is currently trading at 553 apiece, an 84% premium to its IPO price of 300. Bikaji Foods International is currently the third-largest ethnic snacks company in India and is among the fastest-growing companies in its segment. Apart from snacks, Bikaji is also the third-largest player in sweets and the second largest papad maker in India. Also Read: Flood of tech IPOs to hit Street after elections Likewise, Five Star Business Finance stock is trading 68.5% higher than its IPO price of 474 apiece. The stock made a muted debut on the exchanges on November 21, 2022, as it listed at a 3.4% premium at 490. However, the stock picked up steam in the following months, and on August 11, it touched a record high of 875.35 apiece. Five Star Business provides secured business loans to micro-entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals in urban, semi-urban, and rural markets, operating in eight states and one union territory with 311 branches as of June 2022. Also Read: Retail investors prefer options trading over multibagger stocks in last 13 years: Here's what trends indicate Other stocks, such as Fusion Micro Finance and DCX Systems, which hit the secondary market in November last year, are also trading over 50% higher than their issue prices. Disclaimer: We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Indian railway stocks have witnessed an unprecedented surge in their stock prices over the past two years, with some stocks skyrocketing from less than 20 to as high as 100 during the bull market. This remarkable growth can be attributed to the industry's vast scale, extensive network connections, and the anticipated surge in demand for its services. India's rapid economic growth is fueling an increase in demand for both freight and passenger rail services. The government has played a significant role in fostering this growth by committing to substantial investments in the railway sector in the upcoming years. The focus is on upgrading the country's railway infrastructure to achieve higher efficiency and reliability. These factors have collectively contributed to the lofty valuations of Indian railway stocks. IRFC, the financing arm of Indian Railways, is trading at a P/BV of 2.5x, while IRCON International, a leading public sector construction company in transportation infrastructure, is trading at a P/BV of 3.5x. Texmaco Rail, the largest supplier of wagons to Indian Railways, is also trading at a premium valuation. With strong balance sheets, high growth prospects, and renewed government focus, one might wonder what could possibly go wrong for these top railway stocks? However, investors might be overlooking a significant risk highlighted by one of Porter's five forces competition from substitutes. In this case, the substitute is the Indian aviation sector services. Investors may be conveniently disregarding the potential threat posed by Indian airline services, which could impact the sustainability of the elevated valuations of these railway stocks. This risk is elevated considering that no nation in the world is buying as many airplanes as India. India's Aviation Industry - Soaring to Unprecedented Heights With the largest airlines placing orders for nearly 1,000 new jets this year alone, the Indian airline sector is all set to see some re-rating. This spending spree, amounting to tens of billions of dollars, is propelling India's aviation sector to new frontiers. The Indira Gandhi International Airport is expanding to handle 109 million (m) passengers by next year. It is poised to become the world's second busiest airport after Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the United States. This surge in aviation activities underscores India's status as the world's third-largest domestic aviation market, trailing only behind the United States and China. The country's aviation sector is well-poised to fire on all fours, fully transforming in the coming years. A large part of this is driven by robust economic growth, favourable demographics and substantial infrastructure investments. Boeing, a global leader in aviation, has expressed confidence in the Indian sector's growth prospects. The airplane manufacturing is citing strong fundamentals, a skilled workforce, rationalised fuel taxes and continued infrastructure investments as key drivers of expansion. It is committing US$ 100 m to train pilots in India and establishing maintenance training partnerships to ensure an adequate supply of skilled mechanics. The company has committed US$ 100 m to train pilots in India and has established maintenance training partnerships to ensure an adequate supply of skilled mechanics. The government is also actively promoting aviation growth through its UDAN scheme, aiming to develop 100 new airports by 2024 and operationalize 1,000 regional routes. To meet the anticipated surge in demand, India's aviation industry is projected to require a fleet of 4,000 aircraft within the next two decades, compared to its current operational fleet of around 600 aircraft as of the end of financial year 2023. Domestic airlines have already placed orders for approximately 1,800 aircraft, laying the groundwork for this anticipated growth. With the exponential growth planned in the aviation sector and the possible pricing pressure on air tickets when all capacity comes on stream, the impact on railway travel cannot be ignored. As air travel becomes more affordable, some passengers currently travelling by train may switch to flying instead. This switch could hurt railway travel demand, particularly for long-distance routes. However, railways do offer several advantages over air travel. These include lower carbon emissions, greater comfort and the ability to travel directly to city centres. Additionally, railways are continuing to invest in improving their services. They are introducing high-speed trains and upgrading existing infrastructure. Conclusion Overall, the impact of aviation growth on railway travel is likely to be complex and depends on several factors. However, investors must have their antenna up for the potential challenges posed by aviation growth and take steps to adapt their strategies accordingly. Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such. This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com The ongoing surge in mid and small-cap stocks appears to be retaining investor's attention, even as these stocks reach record levels. This year, the mid and small-cap stocks have outperformed the large-cap counters by a wide margin. The Indian domestic benchmark indices Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex have gained 9% and 8%, respectively, this year so far, while the BSE MidCap index and BSE SmallCap index have surged by 32.27% and 37.70%, respectively, during the same period. In today's trading session, the BSE MidCap and BSE SmallCap indices have registered new record highs of 33,526 points and 39,855 points, respectively, and this month so far, they both have surged by nearly 8% each. Mid and small-cap stocks are seen benefiting more from the ongoing recovery in Indias capital expenditure. Defence stocks in particular have witnessed a remarkable surge in their stock prices, propelled by robust order wins, increased budget allocations, and the government's focus on curbing defence imports and encouraging domestic procurement. Railway-related stocks have also been on an upward trajectory, primarily fueled by strong order wins, driven by the ongoing modernisation of the railway sector. In addition, renewable energy stocks have also experienced a substantial surge, fueled by India's ambitious energy transition goals, aiming for 500 GW of non-fossil-based electricity capacity by 2030. Skyrocketing returns Among individual stocks in the BSE MidCap index, REC, Power Finance Corporation, IRFC, and UCO Bank shares have delivered returns between 150% and 250% over the last one-year period. Notably, IRFC achieved a market capitalisation of over 1 lakh crore on September 11 as its stock price reached an all-time high of 92.35 per share. Shares of PB Fintech, the parent company of PolicyBazaar and PaisaBazaar, bounced back strongly this year after a poor show in 2022, when the stock lost 52.83%. In the current year so far, the stock spiked from 451 apiece to 825 apiece, translating into a gain of 83%. Other notable performers include Aurobindo Pharma, SJVN, Polycab India, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Indian Overseas Bank, Linde India, Solar Industries India, General Insurance Corporation, Trent, Supreme Industries, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Vodafone Idea, L&T Finance Holdings, Macrotech Developers, Persistent Systems, Torrent Power, Lupin, Godrej Industries, The New India Assurance Company, and Nippon Life India Asset Management, which have all yielded returns between 60% and 115% over the last one-year period. Impressively, 175 BSE small-cap stocks have delivered returns of over 100% in the last one-year period, with Jai Balaji Industries standing at the top of this line-up, delivering a return of 1350%. Jai Balaji Industries primarily operates in the steel sector. The company is engaged in the production of a wide range of steel products, including pig iron, sponge iron, ferro alloys, steel billets, and TMT bars (Thermo Mechanically Treated bars). Over the last four months, starting from July to October, the stock finished each month delivering fabulous returns of 106.51%, 72.25%, 61.38%, and 25%, respectively. Meanwhile, some analysts are suggesting that the small-cap space is at risk of a correction after the steep rise over the last few months. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. How many of us have heard of Yngve Slyngstad, a name synonymous with finance? Being the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) from 2008 to 2020, he successfully expanded the Government Pension Fund Global in Norway, transforming it into the largest sovereign wealth fund globally, with assets under management surpassing $1 trillion. Additionally, he is recognised for spearheading responsible investment initiatives, including the strategic divestment from companies with subpar environmental and social performance. Slyngstad is regarded as one of the most influential investors globally within financial circles. His advocacy for a socially responsible approach to asset management has led numerous investment professionals to increasingly view Norway as a benchmark for financial asset management. While the principles articulated by this accomplished investor may not be universally applicable, they remain noteworthy. Some of these include Have a long-term orientation Investors are encouraged to adopt a prolonged perspective and concentrate on the intrinsic value of assets, prioritising it over transient market fluctuations. Embracing this enduring outlook is crucial for attaining sustained success in investments. When investors concentrate on the near future, they are prone to making impulsive decisions influenced by market noise and emotions. This tendency can result in suboptimal investment decisions, such as hasty selling during market downturns or acquiring overvalued assets amidst market upswings. Crucially, investors adopting a long-term perspective are better equipped to withstand market fluctuations and emphasise the sustained growth potential of their investments. This strategy is more inclined to yield positive returns over an extended period. Diversify slowly Diversification stands as a crucial tenet in investment strategy. By distributing investments across diverse asset classes, geographical regions, and sectors, you can mitigate overall risk and enhance the likelihood of attaining long-term financial objectives. Initial efforts are best directed toward constructing a diversified portfolio. Additionally, if substantial portfolio adjustments are on the horizon, its advisable to implement them gradually over time or in a counter-cyclical manner. Volatility gauges the extent of price fluctuations in an asset or market segment. Incorporating diversification into your portfolio can effectively lessen volatility, contributing to a more comfortable investment experience. Seek transparency in investing decisions Highlighting transparency is praiseworthy, as it corresponds with the principles of good governance and investor protection. Fund managers bear the responsibility of providing clear and succinct explanations of their funds investment strategy and risk management practices, ultimately promoting trust and accountability among stakeholders. Investors can base informed decisions on whether to invest or not only when there is ample transparency, effectively reducing information asymmetry and guarding against uninformed choices. Consider ESG factors when investing The influence of ESG factors on investment portfolios remains a topic of discussion, with evidence supporting both positive and negative impacts. Although the integration of ESG considerations may contribute to enhanced financial performance, there are perspectives suggesting that these factors might exert minimal or no influence on returns. Effective ESG practices can contribute to improved risk management, potentially leading to lower volatility and more stable returns. Moreover, the inclusion of ESG considerations in investment decisions can align them with broader societal goals, potentially creating opportunities for more sustainable long-term growth. Slyngstads leadership of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), the largest sovereign wealth fund globally, has been truly commendable. His steadfast dedication to long-term investing, diversification, active ownership, and transparency has turned the GPFG into an exemplar of responsible investing practices, establishing a noteworthy benchmark for institutional investors across the globe. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. DSP Mutual Fund announced the launch of the DSP Banking & Financial Services Fund. The scheme opened for public subscription on November 20, 2023, and will close on December 04, 2023. The scheme re-opens for continuous sale and repurchase within five days from the date of allotment. What kind of mutual fund scheme is this? This is anopen-ended equity scheme investing in the banking and financial services sector. This scheme is suitable for investors seeking Long-term capital growth Investment in equity and equity-related securities of banking and financial services companies What is the main objective of investing in this fund? The main goal of the fund is to generate returns by investing in both domestic and international equity, as well as equity-related securities of companies operating in the banking and financial services sector. Companies in the BFSI sector have large profits compared to other sectors. The profit pool is also growing due to the addition of diverse businesses across insurance companies, mutual funds, wealth management firms, tech platforms supporting the industry, payments and fintech. We prefer to raise money in such sectors with long-lasting growth when their prices are falling or consolidating. Lenders also have leverage as raw material and hence go through cycles of volatility. In recent years, stocks in the BFSI space have corrected, thus increasing the margin of safety for an investor. We are happy to launch the NFO when valuations are reasonable," says Kalpen Parekh, MD & CEO, DSP Mutual Fund. How may one invest in this scheme? Investors can invest under the scheme with a minimum investment of 100 per plan/option and in multiples of Re 1. There is no upper limit for investment. Under normal circumstances, the asset allocation of the scheme will be as follows: Instruments Indicative allocations (% of total assets) Risk Profile Minimum Maximum Equity and equity-related securities of companies engaged in the banking and financial services sector 80 100 Very High Risk Equity and equity-related securities of other companies 0 20 Very High Risk Debt and Money Market Instruments 0 20 Low Risk to Moderate Risk Units issued by REITs & InvITs 0 10 Very High Risk Are there similar mutual funds in the market? To date, many asset management companies (AMCs) have launched such banking and financial services funds, thus, allowing inclined investors to avail of returns corresponding to the total returns of the securities in this particular index. These include: Name of the fund Ten-year returns (in %) ICICI Prudential Banking and Financial Services Fund 18.22 Nippon India Banking & Financial Services Fund 17.65 Taurus Banking and Financial Services Fund 15.38 UTI Banking and Financial Services Fund 14.50 Baroda BNP Paribas Banking and Financial Services Fund 14.36 Quant BFSI Fund - Tata Banking And Financial Services Fund - ITI Banking and Financial Services Fund - Kotak Banking & Financial Services Fund - Mirae Asset Banking and Financial Services Fund - Aditya Birla Sun Life Banking and Financial Services Fund - LIC MF Banking & Financial Services Fund - SBI Banking & Financial Services Fund - HDFC Banking and Financial Services Fund - Source: AMFI (Data as of November 20, 2023) How will the scheme benchmark its performance? The performance of the scheme will be benchmarked against Nifty Financial Services TRI. The trustee may change the benchmark for any of the schemes in the future, if a benchmark better suited to the investment objective of that scheme is available at such time and as per the guidelines and directives issued by SEBI from time to time. The Nifty Financial Services TRI has also delivered over 12 per cent returns in 90 per cent of time over a 7+ year timeframe compared to 52 per cent for Nifty 50 TRI. Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) forms 38 per cent of the profit pool of the top 500 companies in India, but is just 26 per cent of the market cap. The last 10-year profit growth for BFSI was 17 per cent compared to 10 per cent among the top 500 companies excluding BFSI. Bank balance sheets have also grown stronger with lower NPAs. This could aid a sustained pick up in credit growth. Are there any entry or exit loads to this scheme? This scheme involves no Entry Load", which means that investors do not have to pay anything to park their earnings in this scheme. The Exit Load" would also be Nil". Who will manage this scheme? Dhaval Gada and Jay Kothari will be looking into the equity aspects of the scheme. Does the fund contain any inherent risk? The scheme involves Very High Risk" as per the details mentioned in the Scheme Information Document and is best suited to investors willing to understand that their principal will be subject to very high risk only. However, investors should consult their financial advisors if they doubt whether the product is suitable for them. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. After being convicted in a rape case and murder case , Dera Sacha Sauda chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh will be out from jail again, this time for 21 days. The convicted godman was granted another parole on Monday. The Dera chief is serving a sentence for raping two women and in a murder case will be out of jail once again on parole. Earlier, the self-proclaimed godman was granted 40 days of parole in January. Moreover, he was granted a parole of 40 days in October last year. Also Read: Haryana CM Khattar's political secretary sends event invite to Gurmeet Ram Rahim The parole is the release of a prisoner either temporarily or for a special purpose till the time of the expiry of a sentence. A prisoner is granted parole on the promise of good behaviour. If a prisoner is out of jail on furlough, then he/she is given a temporary release of convicts from jail. Also Read: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim gets Z-plus security upon release on furlough According to reports, the controversial leader will stay at an ashram in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. Notably, his 40-day parole sparked a huge controversy and raised questions against the Manohar Lal Khattar government. Reacting to the controversy in January, the Haryana CM had said that getting parole after completing all the procedures was the Dera Sacha Sauda chief's right. In contrast to the condition of showing good behaviour during the parole, Ram Rahim was seen celebrating" his parole by cutting a cake with a sword. Whenever he managed to come out of jail on parole or furlough, he was often seen conducting online satsang" sessions. Prior to his October parole in 2022, Ram Rahim was out on a month-long parole in June last year for the second time. In addition to being out on bail in October and June, the rape convict was out for three weeks furlough in February last year. The Dera Sacha Sauda chief, along with four others, was convicted for hatching a conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh, a Dera manager. Ram Rahim and three moree were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalis more than 16 years ago. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. New Delhi: Brick and mortar retailers, who run multi-brand, multi-category consumer electronics stores across the country, are set to outperform online sellers this yeareven as overall consumer demand remains low. For smartphones, industry estimates peg sales from physical retailers to grow in low- to mid-single digit year-on-year (y-o-y), while online sales are seen either flat or showing a single-digit fall for 2023. Shipment estimates shared with Mint by market researcher International Data Corp. (IDC) India projects 35 million-37 million units to be shipped in the December quarter, which could be a 17% y-o-y growth. The latter is expected to be the result of better-than-expected festival season smartphone sales, which has helped brands clear inventories better than last year. This, however, would not be enough to compensate for the overall drop in organic demand for smartphonesfull-year shipment projections by IDC peg 2023s smartphone sales to be around 143 million units, marking a 1% y-o-y decline. Physical retailers, however, are seeing a stronger overall yearIDCs H1CY23 smartphone report from 3 August said while smartphone shipments to online retailers declined 15% y-o-y, those to physical retailers grew 11% y-o-y in the first half. A similar trend is expected to play out in the second half as well. Nilesh Gupta, managing director of multi-brand electronics retail chain Vijay Sales, said smartphones were the strongest driving factor behind a y-o-y growth in festival season sales for the company. Festive season sales driven by smartphones, saw a growth of over 40% y-o-y. This grew even as a few other categories remained flat, and were driven by easy affordability options of smartphones in the premium segment that are now available in offline retail, too," he said. Industry stakeholders further said the growth in physical retail is more of a revenue growth, and not volume-driven. Kailash Lakhyani, founder and president of industry body, All India Mobile Retailers Association (Aimra), said, This year, festive season sales for physical retailers were very strong, as brands brought better parity between offers, financing and deals between them and online sellers. This has helped businesses with physical electronics outlets compete on an even footingmany even came up with bundled product offerings, such as complimentary earphones, to give buyers a better deal." Analysts believe that a change in dynamics in the overall market is a key reason behind this. Upasana Joshi, research manager at IDC India, said an overall shipment decline for online-first brands such as Xiaomi and Realme, two of Indias top five smartphone brands, is a major contributing factor. Consumers are not organically buying new phones, driven by better longevity of devices, and a lack of compelling features in devices for most buyers. Plus, many product portfolios for online-first brands were cluttered, leading to confusion among buyers for which device they should opt for. As shipments for Xiaomi and Realme dropped, online sellers may see a second consecutive year of fall in sales, while sales for physical retailers could grow y-o-y," she said. This dynamic is playing out in Indias smartwatch industry as well, which saw shipments grow 32% y-o-y to 16.9 million units in the September quarter. Amid this growth, smartwatch sales to physical retailers rose by 58% y-o-y in this quarter, as homegrown brands chase better margins and new customers. Next year, smartwatch sales are seen further penetrating physical retailersparticularly in tier-III cities and beyond. By the end of 2024, industry stakeholders expect nearly 40% of all smartwatch sales in the country to come from physical retailers, before plateauing. Smartphone market stakeholders, too, are projecting caution despite a decent year for physical sellers. Manish Khatri, partner at Mumbai-based retailer Mahesh Telecom, said that while hype-driven customer footfall did see an increase during the festive season, the remaining months of the ongoing quarter are continuing on a very muted note. Theres no reason for consumers to buy new devicesthe only demand is in premium phones, for which the market is still small, and in refurbished (or second-hand) phones, for which there isnt enough supply in the market," Khatri said. Uttarkashi tunnel collapse news: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday to discuss the Uttarkashi tunnel collapse and assured that all necessary rescue equipment and resources will be arranged by the Central government. At least 41 labourers have been trapped in the Silkyara tunnel since November 12 after part of the tunnel collapsed. Uttarakhand CMO stated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami. PM took information about the ongoing relief and rescue operations of the workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi. PM Modi said that necessary rescue equipment and resources are being provided by the Central government." PM Modi further emphasised that the workers will be evacuated safely with mutual coordination between central and state agencies. PM Modi said, "There is a need to maintain the morale of the stranded workers." Prime Minister spoke to Dhami for the third time about the rescue operations being carried out at the Silkyara tunnel. The chief minister provided details about the condition of workers trapped in the tunnel who are being provided with regular supplies of oxygen, nutritious food and water. Dhami also briefed him about the rescue operations and said that all agencies are working in full coordination with each other in consultation with experts to carry out the rescue operations. Dhami futher mentioned that he is constantly monitoring the rescue operations and has conducted an inspection the site. He stressed that all efforts are underway to evacuate the workers as fast as possible. He informed PM Modi that medical teams are stationed at the site and a team from the Prime Minister's Office is also overseeing rescue operations. Heavy machines to facilitate rescue operation arrived at Silkyara tunnel through the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway today morning. Nodal Secretary, Neeraj Khanna, said that instructions have been given to the rescue team to complete the rescue operation as early as possible. Meanwhile, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that rescuing the 41 stranded workers is the biggest priority for the government. He said, Saving the trapped workers and evacuating them at the earliest is the biggest priority." Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. For decades, the U.S. hasnt had to worry much about Chinas submarines. They were noisy and easy to track. The Chinese military, meanwhile, struggled to detect Americas ultraquiet submarines. Now, China is narrowing one of the biggest gaps separating the U.S. and Chinese militaries as it makes advances in its submarine technology and undersea detection capabilities, with major implications for American military planning for a potential conflict over Taiwan. Early this year, China put to sea a nuclear-powered attack submarine with a pump-jet propulsion system instead of a propeller, satellite imagery showed. It was the first time noise-reducing technology used on the latest American submarines had been seen on a Chinese submarine. A few months earlier, satellite images of Chinas manufacturing base for nuclear-powered submarines in the northeastern city of Huludao showed hull sections laid out in the complex that were larger than the hull of any existing Chinese submarine. A second modern construction hall at the plant was finished in 2021, indicating plans to boost output. At the same time, the western Pacific is becoming more treacherous for U.S. submarines. Beijing has built or nearly finished several underwater sensor networks, known as the Underwater Great Wall," in the South China Sea and other regions around the Chinese coast. The networks give it a much better ability to detect enemy submarines, according to Chinese military and academic texts. The Peoples Liberation Army, as Chinas military is known, is getting better at finding enemy submarines by adding patrol aircraft and helicopters that pick up sonar information from buoys in the sea. Most of Chinas navy now has the ability to deploy underwater listening devices called hydrophones on cables trailing ships or submarines. In August, China conducted a submarine-hunting exercise lasting more than 40 hours in the South China Sea, involving dozens of Y-8 anti-submarine patrol aircraft. A few weeks earlier, the Chinese and Russian navies conducted a joint anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska. The developments mean the era of unchallenged dominance of the U.S. under the seas around China is ending. In recent years, China has also rapidly expanded its surface fleet. It now exceeds the U.S. fleet by number of ships, although Chinas ships are generally smaller and less sophisticated. In response, a larger percentage of the U.S. Navy has been deployed to the Pacific, including some of Americas most advanced ships and aircraft. The U.S. has also increased the tempo of naval operations in the region and deepened coordination and training with allied fleets, such as Japan. The U.S. also needs new strategies below the waves to face a more potent adversary, said Christopher Carlson, a former U.S. Navy officer. The U.S. needs far more resources, such as patrol aircraft and attack submarines, to locate, track and potentially target a new generation of quieter Chinese submarines, he said. The implications for the U.S. and our Pacific allies will be profound," he said. Simulations of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan conducted by American military analysts often assume U.S. submarines would try to sink ships in the attacking Chinese fleet. The destruction of Chinese ships could help blunt the invasion and enable Taiwan to better defend itself, some of the simulations show, but a greater threat to U.S. submarines would complicate that task. Even getting close to the Taiwan Strait might become more precarious. Chinas nuclear-powered attack submarines could be assigned to a hunter-killer role seeking U.S. and allied submarines to the east of Taiwan, said Brent Sadler, a former U.S. submarine officer who is now senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. Hard to hunt An indication of the rising stakes in countering Chinas submarine fleet came in March, when Gen. Anthony Cotton, head of U.S. Strategic Command, said during a congressional hearing that China had deployed new missiles on its ballistic-missile submarines that could hit targets deep inside the U.S. while remaining close to China. Keeping track of these Chinese submarines is one of the primary roles of the U.S. Navy and its attack submarines in the Asia-Pacific region. One book published by a former PLA officer in 2020 suggests new Chinese attack submarines will have their engines mounted on shock-absorbing rafts to better damp vibrations. China is working on other quieting technology for submarines, such as new hull materials and more-efficient nuclear reactors for propulsion, academic research papers show. Based on the available information, Carlson, the former U.S. Navy officer, anticipates the new Chinese submarines will be as quiet as Russian Akula I-class attack submarines commissioned from the 1990sa series still in service today that marked a leap forward in stealth and speed from previous Russian submarines. Finding a boat this quiet is going to be really hard," he said. Much of Chinas current submarine technology comes from reverse-engineering diesel-electric submarines bought from Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Closer military ties between Moscow and Beijing in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine have spurred concerns that Russia may be willing to share some of its advanced submarine technology with China, but there have been no clear indications of such transfers. To be sure, a new generation of Chinese nuclear-powered submarines is years away from active duty, and significant progress in the program isnt guaranteed. Submarines often go through several prototype stages over a period of years before final designs are reached. The new attack submarine launched by China this year could be a test model that isnt intended for deployment. Entire projects can be scrapped for technical, economic or political reasons. The U.S. Seawolf-class submarine program was dropped in 1995 because of high costs. There is also little chance that China will catch up with the U.S. in submarine technology soon. The latest U.S. Virginia-class attack submarines and the planned Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarines are a generation ahead of Chinas capabilities in terms of noise-reduction technology, propulsion, weapons systems and other areas, military analysts say. But China doesnt necessarily need to match U.S. capabilities. By making submarines that are much harder to detect and producing them at scale, it can stretch the resources used by the U.S. military to keep track of them. And any war would likely be fought in Chinas backyard, the area it knows best. To patrol the region, the U.S. rotates squadrons of P-8 aircraft through a base in Okinawa, Japan. One recently retired U.S. anti-submarine warfare officer said that a lack of American anti-submarine patrol aircraft based permanently in the Asia-Pacific region would be a handicap. We know where their subs are now," he said. But continuing to do so depends on having the assets to keep track of them." Chinas Underwater Great Wall In 2017, the Chinese government approved plans to build sensor networks over five years in the South China Sea and East China Sea, where Taiwan is located, to monitor the regions in real time. Chinas underwater sensor networks echo the Sound Surveillance System, or Sosus, developed by the U.S. during the Cold War to detect Soviet nuclear submarines through a network of hydrophones fixed to the sea floor. A few years ago, China also placed listening devices on the seabed near the island of Guam, home to a major American submarine base. The growth of Chinese underwater sensor networks means U.S. submarines can no longer rely solely on their stealth capabilities to avoid detection in the South China Sea and other areas close to the Chinese mainland, said Bryan Clark, a former naval officer who is now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. Clark said the U.S. needs a new strategy to confuse or suppress Chinas undersea sensors, by deploying unmanned submersible craft that can jam the surveillance systems, act as decoys or destroy sensors. China is under pressure to improve its sub-hunting capabilities as the U.S. works with allies to boost its undersea advantage. In 2021, the U.S. and U.K. said they would help Australia build its first nuclear-powered submarines. The new Australian submarines arent expected to be deployed until the 2040s, so as a stopgap measure, the U.S. agreed this year to sell as many as five U.S. Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia in the 2030s. The U.S. also pledged to rotate attack submarines through a base in western Australia by 2027 to help its military gain proficiency in maintaining nuclear submarines. A Chinese government spokesman said in March the plans to boost Australias capabilities would lead down the path of error and danger." U.S. behind schedule Chinas recent advances have also highlighted a shortfall the U.S. is facing in its own submarine fleet. The Navy has started moving more submarines to the Asia-Pacific region and says it needs 66 nuclear-powered attack submarines to meet global missions. The U.S. has 67 nuclear-powered submarines, but only 49 of those are attack submarines, a result of a decline in construction after the end of the Cold War. Its fleet of attack submarines is forecast to decline to 46 boats by 2030 as older submarines are retired, before recovering to 50 in 2036 if an annual construction rate of two submarines can be reached, up from the current rate of 1.2. In the Navys most optimistic scenario, it would have 66 attack submarines in 2049. China currently has six nuclear-powered attack submarines. Carlson, the former U.S. Navy officer, predicts that once China has settled on new designs it could triple the current U.S. annual production rate. In its annual assessment of the Chinese military published this month, the Pentagon forecast China would have a total fleet of 80 attack and ballistic-missile submarines by 2035, up from 60 at the end of last year. Chinas main base for nuclear-powered submarines is on the southern island of Hainan. To accommodate more submarines, China added two new piers at the base this year, on top of four existing piers. Two submarines can dock at each pier. Hainan is at the northern edge of the South China Sea, a maritime region where China has built military bases on artificial islands and has some of its most extensive surveillance systems, both above and below the sea surface. Sadler, the former U.S. submarine officer, said Chinas development of more advanced submarines added to the likelihood of a military showdown with the U.S. this decade. Regardless, the U.S. submarine force will certainly be in greater demand than ever before across the wider Pacific," he said, and with narrowing margins of advantage over its chief adversary." Write to Alastair Gale at alastair.gale@wsj.com The four-day long festival of Chhath Puja is celebrated with huge fervour and joy not only in Bihar and western UP, but also in other parts of the country. The festival is also being celebrated by the large Indian diaspora living abroad. Hundreds of Indian-Americans gathered at river banks, lakes and makeshift water bodies across the United States to celebrate the festival on Sunday. Also Read: Chhath Puja 2023: Delhi Traffic Police urges commuters to steer clear of roads near major ponds. Check details here From singing folk songs to observing fasts, the Indian American community celebrated the festival in several states across the US including Bentonville, California, New Jersey, Texas, and Washington DC. In California, USA, several Indians of the Bihari community came together to perform Chhath Puja rituals. News agency PTI, shared the visuals of devotees standing in water bodies and worshipping the Sun and offering fruits. Also Read: Chhath Puja 2023: AAP leader Atishi assures Yamuna river's toxic foam to vanish in 'next two days' The four-day festival is celebrated in the honour of the Sun. During this festival, people observe strict fast without water, and also make offerings to the light of the rising and the setting sun. During the celebrations, ladies stand in a water body throughout the day," wrote Bihar Foundation on its social media account on X, formerly Twitter. Also Read: Chhath Puja 2023: November 19 to be dry day in Delhi; Delhiites won't feel high on World Cup Final Day Bihar Foundation, is a diaspora cell managed by the Bihar government to connect the global communities of the natives of the state at a larger scale. In Bentonville, US, the Bihari community organised a programme to collectively perform Chhath rituals and celebrate the festival. The Bihar Foundation shared the visuals of the celebration held on the second day of Chhath Puja festival. Israel-Gaza war: A man, a chief of an organization deemed terrorist in several countries, a chief of an organisation that began as resistance, has now emerged as the top of assassination list. Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar had five years ago written take a calculated risk in Hebrew on a document that he was well aware would eventually be passed on to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the Egyptian intermediaries. According to National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Sinwar's effort was as calculated as the little Hebrew note he scribbled. This incident was five years old. Notably, then Sinwar had also told an Italian journalist, I dont want war anymore. I want a ceasefire." His ambition for the impoverished Palestinian coastal strip? We can be like Singapore, like Dubai.", as per Bloomberg report. In the wake of Hamass long-planned and brutal October 7 assault on Israel, the Israeli security establishment is looking back on his words in a new light: as part of an effort to create the illusion that Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the US and European Union, was limiting its embrace of violence to focus on governance. Israeli officials now acknowledge that a sense of complacency had set in around Hamas. In recent years, the military had greatly reduced its surveillance of the Gaza border fence, relying on electronic sensors and transferring troops out of the area to guard settlements in the West Bank. Analysts believed that Israel had started focusing on Iran and Syria because working on Palestinian issues was not considered of existential importance. The overarching sentiment was that Hamas had been deterred, and that the real challenges lay further afield. Sinwar read the Israeli consciousness very well," said Michael Milshtein, former head of Palestinian research for the militarys intelligence department. He wanted Israel to believe that Hamas was concentrating on stability in Gaza, promoting civil affairs. He planted this wrong idea in the minds of Israelis." Today, as the Israeli military reduces much of Gaza to rubble in its mission to destroy Hamas, killing more than 11,000 people in the process, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, Sinwar is emerging as the assaults mastermind. Hes the top target for assassination, assumed to be hiding deep in a Gaza tunnel, like a little Hitler in a bunker," as Netanyahu put it recently. Who is Yahya Sinwar? Born in a poor neighborhood of the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, Yahya Sinwar, 61, helped found Hamass military wing in the late 1980s as the first Palestinian uprising was underway. Behind bars, Yahya Sinwar achieved deep fluency in Hebrew and Israeli society, regularly reading newspapers along with the biographies of key Israeli figures. He also became the uncontested leader of Hamas prisoners. According to Israeli officials and a former Hamas activist, while in prison he continued to have collaborators killed including one he personally beheaded. According to Bloomberg, officials describe him as a cold-blooded, magnetic leader; a compact, sinewy man whose close-cropped hair and beard have by now mostly turned white. In the early 2000s, while in prison, Yahya Sinwar began experiencing headaches and blurred vision. He was taken to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba where a surgeon removed a brain tumor, saving his life, reports Bloomberg. He rejoined Hamas at a senior level and by 2017 had been elected the groups leader for all of Gaza, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, who was sent to Qatar. Since the attacks, Yahya Sinwar has not issued any statements or spoken to the press. Meanwhile, a poster hangs on the wall of the defense ministry in Tel Aviv. It features dozens of Hamas commanders with lines drawn across the faces of those whove been killed. The plan is to fill the poster with marks. Yahya Sinwar is at the top. (With inputs from Bloomberg) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. In a recent video posted on X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stern warning to the Palestinian Authority regarding their denial of Hamas' involvement in the October 7 assault on Israel. Netanyahu criticised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for refusing to condemn the attack and accused him of denying Hamas' responsibility. He highlighted a statement from the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, which denied Hamas' involvement in the massacre and blamed it on Israel. Also Read | Israel-Hamas War Day 46: 35 Gaza tunnel shafts discovered, UN Chief reiterates call for ceasefire | Top 10 updates "The Palestinian Foreign Ministry published a shocking announcement today - it denied that Hamas was the one who carried out the terrible massacre at the party in Ra'im, and blamed it on Israel. It is not enough that for 44 days Abu Mazen refuses to condemn the terrible massacre, now his people deny this massacre and turn the blame on Israel. Holocaust denier Abu Mazen now also denies the Hamas-ISIS massacre," Netanyahu wrote in the post. He also warned of any future support to terrorism, adding: I want to be clear - the day after we eliminate Hamas, we will not allow whoever runs the civil administration in Gaza to deny terrorism, support terrorism, pay for terrorism, and educate their children for terrorism and the destruction of the State of Israel. We will not allow that." Netanyahu's warning came after the Palestinian Authority claimed Israel fabricated media content to justify the war on Gaza. It used a preliminary inquiry report by the Israeli Police, quoted in The Times of Israel, to accuse Israel of bombing its own people during the Supernova music festival on October 7. Hostage Situation Addressing reports about negotiations to release 240 hostages held by Hamas, Netanyahu denied that a deal had been made with Hamas yet. He called the media reports "incorrect" and said that the public would be informed if an agreement is reached. Also Read: US will continue to work hard, White House dismisses reports of Israel-Hamas deal to free hostages in Gaza During a press conference, Netanyahu also addressed the hostages and their families, stating: "We are marching with you; I am marching with you; all of the people of Israel are marching with you." Families of the hostages marched from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for five days till November 18. Conflict Update The war which was triggered by Hamas after the October 7 attack in southern Israel has now reached its 46th day. Israel has now vowed to destroy Hamas after the militant group's October 7 rampage killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted some 240 men, women and children. Fifty-two Israeli soldiers have been killed. From the Palestinian side, the health ministry reports at least 13,000 killed, including over 5,500 children. Another 6,000+ people are reported missing or trapped under rubble and injuries exceed 30,000, Bloomberg reported United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. He said that the war, which has currently taken the Middle East by storm, had an unacceptable number of civilian casualties. As many as 31 premature babies in extremely critical condition" were transferred safely on November 19 from Gaza's main hospital and will go to Egypt, while over 250 patients with severely infected wounds remained stranded days after Israeli forces entered the compound to look for Hamas operations there, AP reported. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. US President Joe Biden turned 81 on Monday the oldest person to hold the top post amid growing disquiet about his health and acuity. Much has been said about his verbal gaffes and stumbling gait as a likely rematch with Donald Trump looms increasingly closer. The White House however continues to insist that Biden remains healthy enough to serve as commander in chief. A lot of people seem focused on my age. I get it, believe me, I know it more than anyone. I'm running because democracy is at stake. Because in 2024 democracy is on the ballot once again. And let there be no question: Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy," he asserted in September this year. Opinion polls have repeatedly flagged America's growing concern with the POTUS' age. Indeed a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult survey this month found voters in seven swing states more likely to associate old age with Biden than any other topic. Only a handful of respondents however associated age-related concerns with 77-year-old Donald Trump. The numbers have been rising sharply against the POTUS as the Presidential elections draw nearer. Ahead of Biden's 80th birthday, a Reuters/Ipsos poll suggested that 71% of Democrats thought Biden is mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges". Meanwhile, 46% believed that he might not be up to the challenge of running in 2024. Other presidential hopefuls meanwhile insist that both Biden and Trump are far too old for the 2024 polls. So, I've said publicly, the presidency is not a job for an 80-year-old, that Donald Trump would actually be older on January 20, 2025, than Biden was on January 20, 2021," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told CNN on Sunday. The perceptions against Biden have also been fueled by several high-profile gaffes from his fall at Air Force Academy graduation to staircase stumbles boarding Air Force One. People were also less than thrilled to learn that the octogenarian used a medical device to aid his breathing during sleep. Many also took to social media gleefully highlighting his verbal gaffes. Last week, for example, Biden had referred to his deputy as President Kamala Harris for the sixth time. Taken together, the seemingly innocuous instances have fanned uneasiness among Democrats that the man who has cast himself as the bulwark against Trumps return is just one illness or injury from plunging his campaign and the nation into calamity. (With inputs from agencies) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may get the war he wants to eliminate Hamas fighters from Palestine's Gaza, killing thousands in the process, however, once the animosity of the Israel-Hamas war dies down, Netanyahu's future as the premiere of Israel seems bleak. A popularity vote taken on 14 November in Israel showed that Netanyahu's popularity had dropped to a mere 4% amid the war with Hamas fighters. Both of Netanyahu's opponents and traditional allies are calling for him to resign once the current war ends. Failure to bring back hostages from Hamas Even as US and Qatar work to broker a ceasefire, or a hostage deal, PM Netanyahu has only refused to attest to any such claims and has said he would not stop unless Hamas is eliminated. This of course has only earned him the ire of Israeli Jews back home. Further, in Israel, 94 percent of the population believes Netanyahus government is at least partially to blame for the events of October 7, when Hamas fighters broke through border fences and attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, reports Al Jazeera On Friday, Israel found the bodies of at least two of the captives. Four captives have been released through mediation efforts led by Qatar and other nations. Netanyahu's own base is fraying The frustration at Netanyahu is boiling over to the point some are even quitting the Likud party altogether. Tamir Idan, the head of the Sdot Negev Regional Council, tore up his Likud membership card on live television. He said he was frustrated at the lack of support from Netanyahus government. In the media, Israel Hayom, a right-wing newspaper that often backs Netanyahu, called for him to, Take responsibility and accept that the buck stops with you." The only thread holding Netanyahus government together seems to be coming from the far right, which, until now, has continued to back Netanyahu, while taking advantage of the focus on Gaza to continue its aggressions in the West Bank. Israel's opponents ready to take opportunity Netanyahu has also accrued plenty of enemies over the years. These figures are lining up to take shots at Netanyahu, but few have volunteered to take over for him in the interim. As Netanyahus popularity has fallen, one rival, the former Defence Minister Benny Gantz, has seen his rise. Gantz is also a member of Netanyahus war cabinet and criticised the prime minister after October 7, when he blamed Israels intelligence services and military for the Hamas attack. The war effort is costing the Israeli economy about $260m daily, according to Bloomberg, and 300 prominent Israeli and foreign economists urged Netanyahus government to immediately come to your senses". Public support is mounting against him and the international support he carried early after October 7 continues to erode as the death toll in Gaza mounts. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Former US First Lady Rosalynn Carter, whom President Jimmy Carter called "an extension of myself" primarily due to her leading role in his tenure even as she actively promoted the cause of mental health, died on Sunday at age 96, the Carter Center said, as per Reuters. Her willpower and outwardly shy demeanor, and a soft Southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her the Steel Magnolia." According to a statement from the Carter Center, a nonprofit organization founded by the Carters, Rosalynn Carter, who recently entered hospice care at home in Plains, Georgia, died with her family by her side. Democrat Jimmy Carter was president from 1977 to 1981. He and his wife were the longest-married U.S. presidential couple, having married in 1946 when he was 21 and she was 18. While he served one term as president, he also had more post-White House years than any president before, during which she played an integral role, including as part of the Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity. In May, her family disclosed that she had dementia but continued to live at home. As of February, Jimmy Carter, 99, has opted for hospice care after declining additional medical treatment. "Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished," the former president said in the statement. "She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me." In 1977, she came to Washington and was seen as unassuming and quiet before becoming an eloquent speaker, activist, and campaigner. The mentally ill were her abiding passion, which continued long after her tenure in the White House, not out of any personal connection but because she strongly believed that advocacy was needed. "The best thing I ever did was marry Rosalynn," Carter told the C-SPAN cable TV channel in 2015. "That's the pinnacle of my life." Before her husband was elected president in 1976, Rosalynn was largely unknown outside of Georgia, where he had been a peanut farmer-turned-governor. He lost his 1980 re-election bid to Ronald Reagan, a Republican former California governor and Hollywood actor. In Washington, the Carters were a team, with the president calling her "an extension of myself" and "my closest adviser." She was often invited to sit in as an observer at cabinet meetings and political strategy discussions. In a 1978 interview with magazine editors, Carter said he shared almost everything with his wife except top-secret material. "I think she understands the consciousness of the American people and their attitudes perhaps better than do I," he said. Additionally, she participated in the unsuccessful campaign to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ensure equal treatment of women under the law. Also Read | Joe Biden's birthday in focus ahead of 2024 US Presidential Polls. Here's why In the aftermath of the Islamic revolution, American diplomats were held hostage in Tehran when Carter was seeking re-election. Because he refrained from campaigning while trying to resolve the standoff, the crisis contributed to his downfall. Also Read | US Presidential Elections: Nikki Haley leads Joe Biden with 55%, new poll shows Rosalynn Carter spoke in 112 cities in 34 states during a 44-day tour to support her husband. Her speeches and forays into crowds were credited with helping Carter defeat Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy in the 1980 primaries, although he went on to lose overwhelmingly to Reagan. Joe Biden, who was a senator during Carter's presidency, and Biden's wife, Jill, spoke of Rosalynn Carter as someone who "walked her own path, inspiring a nation along the way." "She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities," the Bidens said. Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump also lauded her. (With Input from Reuters) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. A Ukrainian sniper established a new world record after killing a Russian soldier at a distance of nearly 3.8 kilometers, local media reported on Sunday. "The SBU (Ukraines security service) sniper set a world record for effective shots. He hit a Russian soldier from an incredible distance of 3,800 meters," read a rough translation of the report shared on Telegram on Sunday, November 19. "The previous record was 3,540 meters," the report added. The outlet also shared footage purportedly showing the record-breaking" strike. Live Mint could not independently verify the information or the video. Meanwhile, the Newsweek cited SBU press office as confirming the news to several Ukrainian media outlets, including the Gordonua.com and Ukrinform, The office reportedly told Ukrainian media, "The SBU sniper set a world record for a successful shot...He hit a Russian soldier from an incredible distance." According to the report, the SBU special agent had taken the shot "with a homegrown Ukrainian rifle known as Volodar Obriyu, or Lord of the Horizon"". "SBU snipers are changing the rules of world sniping, demonstrating the ability to work effectively at fantastic distances," the SBU was quoted as saying. As the Russia-Ukraine war rages on, the Ukrainian Defence Force has claimed to have killed a total of 319210 Russian soldiers as of November 20, 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine, Reuters reported. According to reports, the fighting is continuing around the Donetsk town of Avdiivka. Russia's defense ministry said on Sunday that its southern grouping of forces had stopped six Ukrainian attacks around Marinka and the villages of Klishchiivka and Shumy, Newsweek reported. The West sent in military equipment and Ukraine mounted a counteroffensive push this year to retake occupied land, but it has not made a big breakthrough. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in wartime Kyiv on Monday in a gesture of "unwavering" support as questions swirled over the sustainability of vital Western assistance as the war with Russia drags on. "I'm here today to deliver an important message the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russias aggression, both now and into the future," Austin wrote on social media platform X. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. In a bid to boost the tourism sector further, Vietnam is now considering visa-free entry for Indians and Chinese. At a conference chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday, he also suggested waivers for visitors from wealthy countries such as Australia, Canada, the U.S., and the remaining 20 members of the 27-member E.U, VnExpress reported last week. Three things to know about new visa rules: As of now, nationals from Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and Finland can travel to Vietnam without a visa. And to other countries, it is offering e-visas with a 90-day validity and multiple entry allowances for individuals from all countries. If this visa-free entry policy is implemented, Vietnam will join Sri Lanka and Thailand as one of the few countries offering such convenience to Indian travelers Sri Lanka Sri Lanka's Cabinet has approved the issuance of free visas to individuals from India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand as a pilot project until March 31, 2024. Cabinet approves issuing of free visas to India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand with immediate effect as a pilot project till 31 March," posted Sabry on X earlier. Thailand Meanwhile, last month, Thailand also announced that the government will allow visa-free entry for tourists from India and Taiwan for a period of six months from November 10 this year to May 10, 2024. "We will provide visa-free entry to India and Taiwan because a lot of their people like to travel to Thailand," Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavision was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. These countries are India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan and Indonesia. The move is aimed at attracting more tourists to the island nation. "We are expecting to increase tourist arrivals to five million over the coming years," the Sri Lankan tourist ministry was quoted as saying by local media outlets. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Rehabilitation used to be the mainstay of criminal justice in the U.S. In a famous 1959 essay, law professor Francis A. Allen wrote that in some quarters it is almost assumed that matters of treatment and reform of the offender are the only questions worthy of serious attention in the whole field of criminal justice and corrections." Two decades later, that liberal ideal had collapsed thanks to the largest violent crime wave in the 20th century and the discovery that few rehabilitation programs worked. Nothing works" became the new mantra and incapacitation the new rallying cry of penology. Though crime has declined dramatically since the early 1990s, most analysts think that our get-tough policies, such as harsher sentencing schemes, are mainly responsible. Few believe rehabilitation deserves the credit. There is good reason for this. More than 80% of inmates released from state prisons recidivate. The most recent available data are from 2021, when nearly 236,000 probationers and parolees failed to comply with the requirements of their release and were incarcerated. Violations of probation or parole are responsible for 27% of prison admissions in the U.S. Despite what weve learned about rehabilitation over the past five decades, we still dont know how to reform prisoners. Perhaps nobody does. Even some of the most progressive prison systems in the world generate sizable numbers of repeat offenders. The percentage of released prisoners who are reconvicted within two years in Denmark and Sweden is 63% and 61%, respectively. It is possible that for most inmates imprisonment isnt compatible with rehabilitation. Reform requires a self-generated transformation that leads to law-abiding behavior, but the inherent absence of freedom in jails and prisons stifles ones ability to choose a path to reintegration. Young adults in the free world have this choice, from marriage and family to schooling and a variety of work experiences. Prisons cant provide these options. Once released, former inmates find that going straight" isnt straightforward. Its easy to slide back into old ways, with the same bad friends engaging in the same bad behavior. In this post-release phase, where interventions can be especially effective, ex-offenders need help. Young men released from jail or prison face powerful incentives to commit more crimes that must be offset by counter-inducements to conform to the law. Electronic monitoring can create these positive incentives. What ex-prisoners need most at this stage is a constant reminder to choose the right path. Parole and probation officers arent in the constant-reminder business given their large caseloads. Technology doesnt face that limitation. Electronic monitoring, unlike even well-intentioned humans, can provide constant audible reminders: Meet with your parole officer"; attend your drug-rehab meeting"; dont go near your victims apartment" and so on. Because the offender knows he is being monitored, he will be more reluctant to reoffend. Yet unlike prison, electronic monitoring allows him to choose his path to integration without the constraints of metal bars or lockdowns. Tech is becoming ubiquitous in our lives and can be a potent force for good for the deinstitutionalized. Already its being used to that end. A Florida study, supported by the U.S. Justice Department and involving more than 5,000 medium- and high-risk offenders placed on electronic monitoring over a six-year period, found that the method reduced their risk of failure by 31%. Electronic monitoring is intrusive and limiting, but that is unavoidable. Any intervention that monitors someone, requiring him to wear and charge a device and to report his location to government authorities, necessarily inhibits his freedom. The proper criterion isnt whether the monitored subject is less free than the unmonitored; its whether hes freer than the imprisoned. Doubtless he is. As technology advances we will develop less stigmatizing and more effective ways to monitor former prisoners electronically. Experiments are under way to use smartwatches instead of ankle bracelets. If we can ensure the right person is wearing the device around the clock, this could be a significant breakthrough. Despite electronic monitorings great promise for offenders, leftist advocacy groups and even some judges have trained their ire on the technology. This is puzzling. Liberals still support rehabilitation and urge government to adopt more addiction-treatment and mental-health serviceseven though these services alone dont sharply reduce recidivism. These advocates also favor vocational training as a means of reintegration, which hasnt been effective. Why then would those who purport to care about the incarcerated reject a useful tool to help ex-offenders turn their lives around and avoid wasting years behind bars? Some on the left will say that we shouldnt be incarcerating so many people in the first place, especially if prisons dont succeed at rehabilitation. This misunderstands why we incarcerate people, which is for our sake, not theirs. We must do what we can to protect the public, deter others and punish the deserving. Given that more than 62% of state prisoners are behind bars for serious violent crime, and most of the rest were convicted of such offenses as burglary, car theft, drug trafficking and weapons violations, decarceration isnt an option. Once offenders are released, electronic monitoring offers the best opportunity to achieve reintegration into law-abiding society while ensuring public safety. After half a century we can finally say that something works, even if todays reformers" dont want it. Mr. Latzer is an emeritus professor of criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and author of The Myth of Overpunishment: A Defense of the American Justice System and a Proposal to Reduce Incarceration While Protecting the Public." Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Baghdad-With the Gaza war threatening to spiral into a wider Middle East conflict, Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month paid an unannounced visit to Baghdad, where he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani. Mr. Sudani faces the delicate task of balancing his countrys ties between America and Iran and stopping Iran-aligned militias from attacking U.S. military and diplomatic personnel in Iraq. The war in Gaza has inflamed Iraq, but sentiments are more nuanced than the countrys sectarian divisions might suggest. Shiite militias have grown in power and strength since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the later fight against Islamic State. Though most receive financial and military backing from Iran, they are an integral part of Mr. Sudanis government. But Iraqs Shiite militias are privately resentful of Hamas for risking a regional conflict that could threaten their grip on power. Iraqs militias are also weary of Irans tendency to encourage them to strike at the U.S., for which they will be the targets of retaliation. Alongside this, Iraqs elected leaders struggle to satisfy an electorate genuinely outraged by Palestinian casualties while maintaining diplomatic relations with the U.S. in the Iraqi national interest. Iraqs security and economic survival depend on its U.S. ties. Some of Iraqs Shiite militias have intensified their attacks on Americas presence in Iraq. They have claimed responsibility for a series of rocket and drone strikes on U.S. military facilities since the Gaza war began. - Not all these militias, however, are eager for a full-scale confrontation with Washington, and even less so on behalf of Hamas, a Sunni Islamist group. Officials and militias more in line with Mr. Sudanis position would rather tap into Iraqs $153 billion annual budget, expand their networks of cronies and supporters, and entrench their power. In reality, they have little sympathy for the Palestinian cause, which they associate with Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, who persecuted Shiite dissent at home while supporting the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. Since the 2003 invasion, the number of Palestinian refugees in Iraq has dropped from about 34,000 to fewer than 10,000 because of attacks and persecution by militias. Mr. Sudani, who has the backing of most of the militias, wants to avoid having his country used as a geopolitical chessboardor as an expendable pawn on someone elses. The Iraqi prime minister has warned Shiite militants not to attack U.S. personnel or interests, saying that such actions harm Iraqs national interests and sovereignty. After meeting with Mr. Blinken, Mr. Sudani flew to Tehran for talks with Iranian officials. It isnt clear whether Mr. Sudani can maintain this balancing act and prevent the militias from escalating the situation. The few militias that are not part of the Iraqi government have launched more than 40 attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq since Oct. 17, but none of them have resulted in American casualties. Baghdad has said that it has acted on intelligence to thwart even more strikes. The U.S. has refrained from retaliating on Iraqi soil but has warned that it reserves the right to retaliate. The U.S. on Oct. 22 reduced the staff at its embassy and consulate in Iraq and beefed up its air defenses. Iraqs nightmare is a full-scale war between the U.S. and Iran on its territory in which Baghdad is a powerless observer. This isnt merely hypothetical. As recently as 2019, when a militia rocket killed an American contractor in Iraq, the U.S. and Iran began a cycle of retaliatory strikes that culminated in the assassination of Irans top general, Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad and a barrage of Iranian missiles on U.S. bases in Iraq. The U.S.-Iraq relationship was pushed to the brink of rupture, which was averted only by exceptional diplomacy. Public opinion also adds an unpredictable element to Iraqi calculations. Many in Iraq privately say they felt repugnance for Hamass brutal Oct. 7 assault on Israel, the tactics of which reminded people of the Islamic State. But this sympathy is now increasingly overwhelmed by anger about Palestinian civilian casualties, which are omnipresent on TV screens and social-media feeds. Americas backing of Israel in turn affords irresistible opportunities for populist figures like Muqtada al-Sadr to rail against the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq. Despite this, Iraqi leaders know that Americas military footprint in Iraq safeguards rather than undermines Baghdads fragile sovereignty. Continued militia attacks could easily tip this delicate balance, however. For Washington, the question is how to bolster Iraqs emerging pragmatism while preventing the militias from becoming more entangled in the Iraqi government. The militias have avoided direct clashes with American forces, but they remain a threat to U.S. interests in Iraq. To deter Iran and Iraqi militias, the U.S. needs to broaden its outreach to include the Iraqi Parliament, the Kurdistan Regional Government and other key players. It also needs to resist the temptation to try to wield Iraq as a cudgel against Iran. Americas long game should be to empower the Iraqi state and its institutions and avoid turning Iraq into a battlefield in a broader regional war. Mr. Wahab is a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. TEL AVIVIsrael is shifting the focus of its military campaign to southern Gaza, where it will likely face the hardest stage of the six-week-old war as it seeks to crush Hamas and recover hostages amid a deepening humanitarian crisis. Israeli forces have largely succeeded in taking control of northern Gaza. But they have only partially destroyed Hamass military capabilities and havent captured or killed many of its top leaders, senior Israeli officers and analysts say. Israeli commanders have signaled the shift to the south in recent days, suggesting that many Hamas fighters have escaped there as Israeli troops moved in and that some leaders are ensconced in densely populated towns, or in underground tunnels, that have seen fewer airstrikes and less fighting than Gaza City in the north. Hamas will almost certainly prove to be a more determined adversary in the south, where the militants will have few remaining options other than to fight. The hostages are the best leverage Hamas leaders have for surviving the Israeli shift to the south, as the militants seek a halt to the fighting, at least temporarily, former Israeli officers say. Israels plan for attacking Hamas in the south is likely to resemble its advance in the north, but it will be complicated by the large number of civilians now packed into the area, Israeli officials and commanders say. We are determined to keep moving forward," Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli militarys chief spokesman, said Friday. This will happen wherever Hamas is, and it is also in the southern Gaza Strip." U.S. officials say they are urging Israel to delay its stepped-up operations in the south until it has thought through plans for protecting civilians who have fled there in large numbers to escape the fighting in the north. We think that their operations should not go forward until those peoplethose additional civilianshave been accounted for in their military planning," Jonathan Finer, the U.S. deputy national security adviser, said Sunday on CBSs Face the Nation. We will be conveying that directly to them and have been conveying that directly to them." Israel should narrow the area of active combat, clarifying where civilians can seek refuge from the fighting" in the south, he added. Israeli officials say they have no choice but to also invade the southern and central Gaza Strip to achieve the Israeli governments aim of removing Hamas from power in response to the Oct. 7 cross-border attack that Israel says killed more than 1,200 people, including many civilians, and resulted in the kidnapping of some 240 others. Nearly all of the roughly two million people who live in Gaza are now crowded into schools, refugee camps and homes in the south. Since Israel imposed a total siege on the territory in October, Palestinian civilians are increasingly desperate, with dwindling supplies of food, a lack of clean water, no electricity, and sewage overflowing in the streets. Rising Palestinian casualties, with more than 12,000 dead according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, will only increase international pressure for a halt in the fighting. One of Israels objectives in the south will be to block the border with Egypt, including tunnels underneath it, to prevent Hamas from bringing in more weapons to prolong the fight and to stop its leaders from escaping Gaza if the groups fight continues to go poorly, analysts and Israeli security officials said. The main Hamas leaders have never been sitting in the north," said Miri Eisin, a former deputy head of the Israeli militarys combat intelligence corps. Theyre going to stay close to home and the bulk of them live in central and the south of Gaza." Israels top targets are Yahya Sinwar, the most senior Hamas leader in Gaza, and Mohammed Deif, Hamass military commander whom Israel has accused of coordinating the Oct. 7 attacks. Israeli warplanes are likely to intensify bombing of Khan Younis and Rafah, the souths densely packed urban areas believed to be honeycombed with Hamas tunnels, like Gaza City in the north. That will likely be followed with ground troops advancing from multiple directions, isolating Hamas strongholds and slowly clearing them of fighters above ground. They will move slowly, slowly. First bombing from the air from the sea and from the land and then the infantry and the tanks," said Eyal Pinko, a retired Israeli military officer and former intelligence official. In a sign of the intensifying focus on the south, an Israeli airstrike Saturday hit a housing development on the outskirts of Khan Younis, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled Gaza. The attack killed 26 people and wounded another 20, the spokesman said. An Israeli military spokesman said he couldnt comment on the target of the attack. The IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm," the spokesman said. Israeli troops have stayed out of the tunnels in the north, commanders say, opting to blow up the entrances in many cases when they find them to prevent Hamas from using them to mount ambushes. But as the search for hostages continues in the south, determining which tunnels can be destroyed without endangering hostages could prove increasingly difficult. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a spokesman for the Israeli military, underscored the difficult tactical issues facing its commanders as they weigh the next steps in the south: I cant tell you what our operational plan is. We still havent decided it yet," he said Friday. Palestinians who are now crammed into a smaller section of the enclave have no viable way of leaving. To the south, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt remains closed for all except those with special permits, usually people with foreign citizenship. To the north, Gaza City is now largely uninhabitable after more than a month of war and isolated from the rest of the strip by the Israeli army. Some of the challenges are going to remain the same in the south," said John Spencer, a retired U.S. Army officer and chair of urban warfare studies at the U.S. Military Academy. But one of the differences is they have sent everybody down there, so they face an even more difficult situation separating civilians from Hamas." Israels military estimated Friday it had killed around 1,000 Hamas fighters, a small portion of the force of more than 30,000 that it said were in the groups ranks before the war. Take that with the hostage situation and mix that together. Thats a huge strategic operational tactical spaghetti," Spencer said. Israeli warplanes in recent days have dropped leaflets in southern Gaza encouraging residents to flee to an even smaller area called al-Mawasi, a ribbon of farmland about half a mile wide and 9 miles long along the Mediterranean coastline. Israel says it wants to set up a safe humanitarian zone" in the area, while U.N. officials have said the idea is unworkable. Some Israeli military officials acknowledge that it would be impossible to corral two million Gaza residents into al-Mawasi, which is about the size of Los Angeles LAX airport. Still, the operation in the south will require displacing Palestinian civilians from individual towns and neighborhoods, Israeli officials say. What were going to do is a local evacuation for a short period of time," said reserve Maj. Gen. Tamir Hayman, the managing director of Israels Institute for National Security Studies. Later on when we withdraw, we will bring them back. Its very complicated. I know how it sounds and I know how it will look, but we have no alternative." The current phase of Israels military operation, in northern Gaza, is expected to continue for weeks before the Israeli military turns to the south, according to a U.S. intelligence assessment described to The Wall Street Journal by a U.S. official. Israel hasnt put a timeline on how the offensive will unfold. Israels anticipated assault on southern Gaza will likely raise the pressure on Egypt to allow more Palestinian refugees to enter the country. Egypt has so far rejected the idea of accepting a large number of Palestinians on principle, calling it an attack on Palestinian territorial integrity. Egyptian officials also have security concerns about the potential for militants to enter the country. Nasser Qassem, a 37-year-old father of three, fled his home in Gaza City and moved to the southern city of Khan Younis in search of safety. He said he feared the next phase of the Israeli operation would push Palestinians toward Egypts neighboring Sinai peninsula. I think this might be the first step of pushing us to Sinai, but I myself prefer to be killed here, I wont end up in a tent in Sinai. I evacuated three times, but Im not gonna leave the Gaza Strip no matter what," he said. The leaders of U.N. humanitarian agencies and other major relief groups have rejected calls for the creation of a humanitarian zone" or a safe zone" in part of the southern Gaza Strip, arguing that civilians should be protected from attacks wherever they are. The U.N. also urged Israel to rescind its initial demand for Palestinians to leave northern Gaza, calling it an act of forced displacement. In our view its just a distraction from the obligations of the parties to the conflict to take care for civilians wherever they are and provide humanitarian access," said Sam Rose, director of planning at the U.N. Relief and Works Agency that serves Palestinian refugees. In southern Gaza, where humanitarian agencies have had more access compared with the north, basic services such as running water, sewage and communications are breaking down. A population that was already starved of basic needs is now completely on its knees. Were seeing the breakdown of basic needs even in the south," said Rose. We were stretched beyond breaking point anyway. Things were already grinding to a halt. Things are going to get worse." Abeer Ayyoub in Istanbul contributed to this article. Write to David S. Cloud at david.cloud@wsj.com and Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.com WASHINGTONPresident Biden is struggling to persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take steps U.S. officials believe could help prevent the conflict in Gaza from further escalating, straining the relationship between the two longtime allies, according to U.S. and European officials. Over the past two weeks, Biden has pushed Netanyahu on issues ranging from limiting civilian casualties to agreeing to a pause in fighting to free hostages. While there has been agreement in some areas, such as when Israeli commanders accepted American advice not to rush into Gaza immediately, U.S. officials are still concerned about Israels ultimate plans for Gaza, including any sort of extended occupation, and are alarmed by the number of Palestinian casualties. More than 12,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed since the current conflict started, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. The figures dont distinguish between civilians and fighters. Although the U.S. has positioned itself publicly as providing no-strings-attached support for Israels right to self-defense, the scope and scale of the violence inside Gaza has given it pause. The administration has been frustrated by Israeli settler violence targeting Palestinians in the West Bank, for example, and on Saturday, Biden sent a clear signal to the Netanyahu government that he expected it to crack down. I have been emphatic with Israels leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those committing the violence must be held accountable," he wrote in an opinion column published Saturday in the Washington Post. He also warned that the U.S. would consider its own measures, such as banning visas for those responsible for the attacks, the first public, tangible sign that Washingtons patience with Israel was beginning to run out. The effort to rein in Netanyahu and his hard-line government remains a continuing challenge for the Biden administration. U.S. officials have continued to shuttle between regional capitals, pressing Netanyahu and other members of his government. Those efforts have only shown mixed results thus far, and as Iranian-backed militia attacks against U.S. personnel escalate amid the hostilities, the Biden administration worries it will be drawn into a widening regional conflict. Administration officials at the highest levels are wary of the potential domestic fallout of full-throated support to Israel and have urged Netanyahus government to consider that the incessant images of dead women and children may overshadow the effort to root out Hamas. It is unclear, however, whether Democratic voters would be swayed by Gaza given that the alternative might be a second Trump presidency; Republican voters remain supportive of Israel. U.S. officials had, for weeks, pressed Israel to avoid targets that would endanger large numbers of civilians or that might raise objections for violating international law, as with recent strikes on refugee camps and hospitals. Those conversations have yielded only mixed success, and Washington has communicated its frustration with the civilian death toll to the Israeli government. U.S. and Israeli officials say the Israelis have in recent days demonstrated the ability to conduct more precise targeting, reflecting some success in the U.S. influence campaign with Israel. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in an interview last week with PBS, commended Israels efforts to limit civilian casualties but said they can, they must, do even more." The Israeli ground operation at Gazas Al-Shifa hospital, which both the U.S. and Israel say Hamas used as a command-and-control facility, reflected this moderated approach. Israel limited its operation to the ground, rather than conducting an airstrike, and brought in Arab-speaking support personnel into the hospital to help as they secured each floor. While that approach might have reduced casualties, the United Nations says the siege of the hospital has turned the facility into a death zone" as those inside have limited access to fuel, water and other essentials. Israel has released video footage that it says demonstrates that Hamas was using the hospital, but it hasnt yet shown any evidence of a suspected underground facility used by Hamass military wing. I expect youll see more information in the coming days," Jonathan Finer, the U.S. deputy national security adviser, said in an interview Sunday on CBSs Meet the Press" when asked about the suspected Hamas facility at the hospital. I think we feel confident in the information that weve put out." Finer also said the U.S. wants to make sure that Israel accounts for the large number of civilians who have fled to the south of Gaza, for when Israel conducts an expected next phase of ground operations. We think that their operations should not go forward until those peoplethose additional civilianshave been accounted for in their military planning," he said. U.S. officials, including Brett McGurk, the White Houses top Middle East envoy, have also cautioned Israel against opening up a second front in the north with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has conducted cross-border attacks. So far, those warnings appear to have been heeded. But the Biden administration thus far has failed to persuade Netanyahu to agree to a humanitarian pause that could lead to the release of more hostages. U.S. officials said recent conversations between the two leaders have grown more strained as Netanyahu continues to resist a longer pause. Another contentious issue has been increasing Israeli settler violence targeting Palestinians in the West Bank. Settler attacks against Palestinians in the West bank have escalated Since Hamass Oct. 7 assault, including one in the village of Qusra near Nablus, where three Palestinian men were killed, according to Palestinian authorities. The following day, settlers attacked the funeral, killing another two men. U.S. and Israeli officials also could be on a collision course over what a post-Hamas Gaza looks like. While both sides agree that Israel shouldnt occupy Gaza after the war, the Biden administration has said it wants to ensure that the enclave ultimately has a Palestinian government running it and that the territory remains intact. Though Israel doesnt want to administer the area, the government after the war does want to create a buffer zone inside Gaza along the border with Israel, according to several U.S. and Israeli officials. One of those officials described the buffer area as a kill zone," or a no-mans-land, that would remain part of Gaza, but Palestinians wouldnt be allowed to live there. It remains unclear how the Biden administration would regard such a proposal, since it wouldnt technically reduce Gazas territorysomething Blinken has specifically said the U.S. is opposed tobut it would nonetheless limit Palestinians access to the area. Nancy A. Youssef and Dion Nissenbaum contributed to this article. Write to Gordon Lubold at gordon.lubold@wsj.com and Vivian Salama at vivian.salama@wsj.com India's foreign minister S. Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh are set to meet with their Australian counterparts, foreign minister Penny Wong and defence minister Richard Marles, in the 2+2 ministerial dialogue today. Mint takes a look at whats on the agenda. What are these meetings about? The 2 + 2 is a unique ministerial dialogue that brings senior ministers together in a bilateral setting. India maintains this format only with a few key partners like Australia, the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. This will be only the second 2+2 round with India's Quad partner Australia after the first round was held in 2021. What was the focus of the last talks? Collaboration on combating the pandemic was a major focus of talks in 2021. Australia also announced that it would post a liaison officer at the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region, which helps improve maritime domain awareness for both countries. Australia had invited India to participate in the Talisman Sabre defence exercises. They also discussed the unfolding crises in Afghanistan and Myanmar, What is the focus of current talks likely to be? The growth in bilateral ties in recent years has been driven by a shared interest in ensuring stability in the Indo-Pacific region. To that end, defence exercises and talks between the two countries have increased. Defence and increased collaboration on defence technologies is expected to be a focus of talks this time around. The two countries are also working through the Quad and a new trilateral partnership with France to address regional needs like climate change, development and telecommunications technology. Besides this, both sides are negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement, which will likely feature in the talks. Ministers will advance cooperation on our shared regional interests, including in defence, security, renewable energy and technology. They will also discuss deepening trade and investment ties," according to a press statement from the Australian Defence Force. Are there likely to be any sensitive discussions during these talks? The foreign minister level talks may see some discussion of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations that India had a role in the killing of pro-Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Theres no doubt any allegation of any country being accused of carrying out an execution of a citizen in that country, its a serious allegation, and something that we dont do and something that nations should not do," said Mike Burgess, Australias domestic spy chief, in a recent interview. Penny Wong, the countrys foreign minister, had said that these allegations concerning". The row over the Maratha reservation in Maharashtra escalated as top political leaders belonging to the Other Backward Class (OBC) community opposed reservations to the Kunbi-Marathas from the share of the OBCs. The demand came as the Maratha community, led by activist Manoj Jarange, sought quota in government jobs and education under the OBC category. Now, in a move to oppose any move to induct Kunbi-Marathas into the OBC fold, an 'OBC Bhatke Vimukt Jaat Aarakshan Bachao Yalgaar Sabha' (rally for saving the reservation of OBCs and Nomadic Tribes) was held at Ambad in the Jalna district of Maharashtra on Friday, November 17. Top leaders from different political parties had joined the rally in a rare viewof solidarity. Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal and several other prominent OBC leaders including Congress leaders Vijay Wadettiwar, Rajesh Rathod, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLC Gopichand Padalkar, Prakash Shendge and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) leader Mahadev Jankar had participated in the protest, news agency PTI reported. In view of the protest by the OBC communities, the Maharashtra government is unlikely to opt for Maratha reservation within the OBC category based on Kunbi certificates across the state, the Indian Express reported on Monday. Now, as the demonstration over the Maratha reservation gained momentum in Maharashtra, here's a recap of all that happened in the state in connection with the row recently: OBC leaders protest and their demand Speaking at the rally, Bhujbal reiterated that the existing reservation for the OBCs should not be curtailed while giving reservation to the Marathas. "We do not oppose Maratha reservation, but there should be no encroachment on the OBC quota," he said. ALSO READ: Maratha reservation: Protests over quota intensify; CM calls all-party meet; internet suspended and more. 10 Points Bhujbal also questioned how suddenly records showing Maratha families as belonging to the Kunbi caste, an OBC community, were being discovered. "Initially 5,000 records were found in Marathwada which was part of the Nizam's Hyderabad state (before 1948). Later the number went up to 13,500....Even when there were elections in Telangana, the number went up," he added. Bhujbal further demanded an "immediate" caste census. Bhujbal's statement creating a rift? Although several OBC leaders from different political parties joined the protest rally, a statement by Chhagan Bhujbal's didn't go down well with some of them. According to an Indian Express report, Chhagan Bhujbal challenged the Marathas and asked those belonging to the OBC category to "reply to them in the same coin". He was quoted as saying, "I have been getting messages that our banners are being torn. Are your hands tied? We will have to reply with the same coin." He was quoted as saying that granting reservations to the Marathas in the state would lead to a face-off between the Marathas on one side and OBCs, SCs, STs and Muslims on the other side. Bhujbal also criticised Maratha activist Manoj Jarange's appeal to people not to allow political leaders to enter their villages till the Marathas got reservation. "There is democracy in the state. Do these people own the state? I appeal to the chief minister and deputy chief minister (Devendra Fadnavis who holds the home portfolio) that the boards saying no entry for leaders should be removed. Is there law and order or not?" he was quoted by PTI as saying. Bhujbal, who was lauded by many for leading the protest rally, was also criticised by many for "fuelling tensions between the Marathas and OBCs". Vijay Wadettiwar, a Congress leader and Maharashtra Leader of the Opposition (LoP), said on Sunday there should not be any fight or rift between the OBC and the Maratha communities. Wadettiwar was among other OBC leaders shared the stage with Bhujbal during the rally. ALSO READ: Protests over Maratha reservation shut down 46 Maharashtra bus depots, causing loss of over 13 cr Wadettiwar reportedly said he does not support extremism. "No community should take an extremist side..." he was quoted as saying. Distancing himself from Bhujbal's statement, he was quoted by the Hindu as saying, "We are of the opinion that OBCs should get right and that rights ought to be safeguarded." "At the same time, we do not any schims between the two communities. He (Jarange) has the right to express demands for the Maratha community," Wadettiwar said. Sambhaji Chhatrapati, a member of the erstwhile royal family of Kolhapur, also reacted sharply to Bhujbal's statements. Chhatrapati accused Bhujbal of trying to fuel tensions between the Marathas and OBCs. "Bhujbal should be sacked as a minister as he was taking a different stand from the state government," the former Rajya Sabha member said. "The OBCs are not antagonistic towards the Maratha community and Bhujbal was trying to incite the two sides for his political interests," he alleged. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, who also belongs to the OBC category, said the central and state governments are not willing to address these issues related to reservations in government jobs and education. Maharashtra govt's stance on Maratha row Maratha activist Jarange had launched a hunger strike last month to press the demand of reservation for the community. He demanded issuing Kunbi certificates to the entire Maratha community for reservations under the OBC category. he had earlier said the Maratha community would support the quota-related demands of Banjara and Dhangar communities. Banjaras want to be in the Scheduled Tribes category. The Dhangar community too is demanding reservation (in ST category). Following this, the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government decided to give Kunbi caste certificates to those Marathas who could produce records of the erstwhile Hyderabad state where their ancestors were described as belonging to Kunbi community so that they can avail of OBC quota. Bhujbal's jibe at own govt Blaming the top leadership of his own government for taking the anti-OBC decision", Bhujbal had said earlier that "backdoor" attempts to grant the reservation to the Maratha community under the OBC category will be opposed. He had sarcastically asked how so many ancestral records had become available all of a sudden (showing Maratha families as belonging to the Kunbi cast). They are giving Marathas a backdoor entry to the OBC quota," he was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying on November 6. He had said when Maratha leaders realised that they wouldn't get the reservation directly (outside the OBC quota), they attempted to obtain it through the back door (within the OBC category). He alleged that documents are being forged to show Kunbi origin". This should stop. You say the OBC quota wont be touched. How? Once he gets a Kunbi certificate, he becomes an OBC," he was quoted by the Print as saying. OBCs' opposition a worry for BJP? Bhujbal reportedly warned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of the wrath of the OBC community. The BJP has enjoyed the support of OBCs in various parts of the state. "It is said that 60 per cent of OBCs vote for the BJP, but if tomorrow, the voters see that their reservation is going to be impacted then what will they do?" the NCP leader was quoted by the Times of India as saying. Notably, the coalition of the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and and Ajit Pawar-led NCP are in currently in power in Maharashtra. Bhujbal is the leader from Ajit Pawar's faction of the NCP. 'OBC people are with us': Maratha activist Activist Manoj Jarange said earlier this month, "The common OBC people are also with us, no matter what their (OBC) leaders say." He said the state government has not yet given a written time-bound programme to Jarange over resolution of the quota issue. "If they don't give it, we also don't need it. If they befool the Maratha community, we have the weapon of peace. Don't let us take that out," he added. Earlier in November, Jarange had expressed satisfaction with the state government's work of issuing certificates of the Kunbi caste to Marathas, according to a PTI report. "Kunbi certificates are being distributed. But the government should pace up the process of giving the certificates. As the deadline of December 24 draws near, Marathas should remain united and alert," the activist was quoted as saying. Jarange had also alleged that OBC leaders were targeting Marathas by getting false offences registered against them and said Maratha leaders should stand with the youth of the community. Chhagan Bhujbal floating his own party? The rally led by OBC leader on November 17 reignited the buzz that Bhujbal could launch a political party of is own, the Times of India reported. According to the India Express, former minister and Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP) leader Mahadev Jankar called for all OBCs to come together and float a party of their own, instead of depending on leaders of other parties. In 2021, the Supreme Court had struck down reservation granted to Marathas by the earlier BJP-Shiv Sena government. The court had deemed it unconstitutional as it breached the 50 per cent ceiling for reservations. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The Election Commission of India has ordered re-polling on November 21 at Ater booth for an assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district, according to an official release. A district official says a repoll was ordered due to a violation of secrecy in Kishupura on November 17, when some people filmed the voting process. According to district collector and returning officer Sanjeev Shrivastava, four members of the polling team have been suspended for breaching secrecy. Kishupura polling center number 71 will hold voting between 7 am and 6 pm on Tuesday, according to a release, adding that middle finger indelible ink will be applied. Also Read | Assembly Election 2023: No exit polls for MP, Rajasthan, Telangana and other states till Nov 30 | Here's why District returning officers have been instructed to re-contest the election, the statement said. The model code of conduct will be followed during repolling, Shrivastava said, including prohibiting voters from entering booths with mobile phones. Also Read | MP Election 2023: Over 71% voter turnout recorded as voting ends, violence hits Dimani | All that happened today There will be a video recording of the repolling process, he said. Hemant Katare, an ex-legislator from the Congress party, is challenging BJP MLA Arvind Singh Bhadauria. Also Read | Assembly elections 2023 voting HIGHLIGHTS: MP sees over 71% voter turnout, 68% turnout in Chhattisgarh According to the Election Commission, all 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh were contested in a single phase on November 17. The votes will be counted on December 3. (With Inputs from PTI) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. THE SMILES were forced, the bonhomie fake. In recent years the Manama Dialogue, an annual security pow-wow in Bahrain, has been focused on the threat from Iran and its regional proxies. Arab and Western officials found much to agree on. It was just necessary to blame Iran to [be] applauded," said Josep Borrell, the European Unions foreign-policy chief, on a panel at the start of this years dialogue. Today it is going to be a little bit more difficult." Indeed it was. The room listened politely while Brett McGurk, President Joe Bidens Middle East adviser, offered his countrys view of Israels war in Gaza, now in its seventh week. But the coffee-break chatter that followed was scathing. More than once Mr McGurk said that Gaza would receive a massive surge of humanitarian relief" only once Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, released the roughly 240 Israeli and foreign hostages it abducted on October 7th. The humanitarian crisis afflicting Gazas 2.2m people is stark. Food, clean water and medicine are scarce and patients are dying in hospitals that have run out of fuel. The southern half of the enclave is bursting at the seams, swollen to twice its pre-war population after an influx of displaced Palestinians, while the north is probably uninhabitable for years. But Americas envoy to the region seemed unmoved. The onus here is on Hamas. This is the path," he said. The idea that help for Gazan civilians was contingent on a hostage deal did not go over well with a heavily Arab audience. Theyve taken the whole population hostage," said one attendee (the White House later said Mr McGurks remarks were grossly misinterpreted"). That was not the only point of contention. After two days of talking to officials about the plan for post-war Gaza, the inescapable conclusion is that there is no plan. The shattered enclave will need external help to provide security, reconstruction and basic services. But no onenot Israel, not America, not Arab states or Palestinian leaderswants to take responsibility for it. America hopes that Arab states will contribute troops to a post-war peacekeeping force, a proposal that is also backed by some Israeli officials. But the idea has not found much support among Arabs themselves. Ayman Safadi, Jordans foreign minister, seemed to rule it out altogether at the conference. Let me be very clear," he said. There will be no Arab troops going to Gaza. None. Were not going to be seen as the enemy." The reluctance is understandable. Arab officials do not want to clean up Israels mess and help it police their fellow Arabs. But they also do not wish to see Israel reoccupy the enclave, and they admit, at least in private conversations, that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is too weak at present to resume full control of Gaza. If none of those options is realistic or desirable, it is not clear what is. In the longer term, Mr McGurk said that a revitalised Palestinian Authority" should resume control (it governed Gaza until Hamas seized power in 2007). For that to happen, though, would require two unlikely developments. First would be a serious Israeli effort to reach a two-state solution: Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, says he will not return to Gaza without one. But Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has spent his career trying to sabotage that two-state solution (and he is not keen on the PA coming back to Gaza either). Second is a serious effort to achieve the revitalised" PA Mr McGurk spoke of. Mr Abbas, who is 88 years old, was elected in 2005 to a four-year term. Still in power, he has held office for longer than most Gazans have been alive. He is a sclerotic and uninterested leader; both he and his aides, some of whom are also his possible successors, are widely seen as corrupt. Nobody can explain how his government might be rejuvenated. Even before the war, wealthy Gulf states were growing tired of chequebook diplomacy. They will probably be reluctant to fund reconstruction in Gaza, which will cost billions of dollars. Theyve already rebuilt Gaza several times before," says one Western diplomat in the region. Unless its part of a serious peace process, they wont pay." Then there is Hamas itself. Its leaders, and many of its fighters, seem to have fled to southern Gaza, a region where Israel has yet to send ground troops. For now, they appear to have enough food and fuel to remain in the web of tunnels beneath Gaza. Civilians are suffering under the Israeli siege. Their rulers are not. Theyre not under any pressure at all," says an adviser to Israels national-security council. On the contrary, it helps Hamas, because they use it to build international pressure for a ceasefire." Moussa Abu Marzouk, a Hamas official, said in a television interview last month that Hamas was not responsible for protecting civilians in Gaza. The tunnels under the strip, he said, exist only to protect Hamas; the UN and Israel should protect civilians. Other Hamas leaders have berated the UN for failing to send enough food and medicine. They brought misery upon Gaza by carrying out their massacre in Israel last month but want someone else to deal with the fallout. For nearly two decades, Gaza has been a problem without a solution. Israel and Egypt were content to leave it under a blockade after the Hamas takeover. Despite his occasional paeans to Palestinian unity, Mr Abbas had no desire to go back to Gaza, and Hamas was happy to keep its grip over an immiserated enclave. Everyone sought to preserve the status quo. That status quo was shattered on the morning of October 7th. The problem has become much bigger, and the solutions are far-fetched. Optimists hope the Gaza war will offer the chance to finally settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. More likely, though, it will end with Gaza as yet another of the Middle Easts failed states, broken but never rebuilt. 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com It was a sunny day in September 2007 when Garrett Pohlman, then seven years old, came home from school. Crying, he warned his mother that radiation was coming out of the houses electrical sockets. If they went outside, he said, birds would peck them to death. These pronouncements were accompanied by odd facial movements. The boy would stick his tongue out and jerk his arms and legs. The day before, Garrett had been a normal boy. Both the paranoia and the tics had come out of the blue, but they proved to be the start of a horrifying mental decline. In the end, Garrett was lucky. A hospital scan three months later revealed a bacterial sinus infection. A course of antibiotics cured the infection and brought about a striking improvement in his psychiatric symptoms. Garrett had been suffering from PANDAS, which stands for Paediatric Autoimmune-Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcus. Many other children are not so fortunate; some have suffered long-term damage. In plain English, Garretts unsettling behaviour was the result of an immune system gone haywire following an infection with group A Streptococcus, a common bacterium. (A similar illness, triggered by other infections, goes by the acronym PANS, for Paediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome.) Yet many doctors have heard of neither PANDAS nor PANS. Some have dismissed them as fictitious diseases. Very few countries issue guidance on their diagnosis or treatment. Diana Pohlman, Garretts mother, says she is exhausted" by years spent campaigning to get doctors to take the illnesses seriously. That is starting to change. Scientists are beginning to characterise the conditions in detail and determine exactly what is going wrong with the immune systems of sufferers. On September 12th Maria Caulfield, a British health minister, weighed in, telling legislators that PANDAS and PANS exist and are triggered by infections. Such efforts are starting from a low base. In a 2020 survey for PANS PANDAS UK, a charity, 95% of parents whose children have PANDAS said their family doctors had not offered the diagnosis, suggesting awareness is low. Things were only a little better among specialists. Around half of paediatricians said they had never heard of the disease. Nearly one in five of the parents surveyed said their paediatrician felt that the diagnosis was controversial. That ignorance carries costs. In many countries children with PANDAS are presented with an alphabet soup of psychiatric misdiagnoses. These can include attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism and sensory-processing disorders. Children can be given inappropriate drugs like antipsychotics, many of which have unpleasant side-effects and which do nothing to treat the cause of their disease. In some cases parents have been accused of inventing or inducing their childrens illness. The Economist has spoken to parents who say their children have been committed to mental-health services against their will, or removed from their care altogether. According to testimony provided in Parliament, one doctor told a child that he would not treat an American illness". In 2019 several dozen children with PANDAS and PANS were discharged from a British hospital. Their parents were told they had a functional neurological disorder"a diagnosis that has evolved from the old (and discredited) idea of hysteria, and which some doctors joke grimly means finding no diagnosis". Exactly why the diagnosis is controversial remains unclear. After all, the idea that the aftermath of an infection can cause psychiatric symptoms is not new. Sydenhams chorea, in which patients suffer from jerky movements of the face and body, is likewise the result of a streptococcal infection. The Economist contacted a number of psychiatrists and professional bodies for comment. Some did not reply. Others said they were unable to offer any comment. The Royal College of Psychiatrists said it was struggling to find an available spokesperson. The body and the mind But as evidence accumulates that PANS and PANDAS are real, attitudes are beginning to shift. Scientists who study the disorder now believe it is caused by an auto-immune reaction, in which the bodys immune system mistakenly attacks brain tissue. After infection with Streptococcus, the theory goes, children begin producing antibodies that cause inflammation in their own brains, which in turn causes the psychiatric symptoms. In 2018 Christopher Pittenger, a psychiatrist at Yale University, and his colleagues extracted antibodies from the blood of children with PANDAS and introduced them into laboratory mice. They found that the antibodies attacked cholinergic interneurons in particular, a group of cells in parts of the brain associated with tic disorders, which are one of the features of PANDAS. Chandra Menendez, a researcher at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Centre, says she has found a correlation between antibodies that target dopamine receptors D1 and D2 and the PANDAS phenotype". This sort of work could help develop diagnostic tests. A paper by Dritan Agalliu, a neurologist at Columbia University, currently under review by a scientific journal, suggests that blocking a particular part of the immune systema type of lymphocyte called T helper 17 cellswith immune-suppressing drugs reduces damage to the brain, at least in mice. Other work suggests that damage to the blood-brain barrier, a filter designed to protect the brain from potentially harmful substances in the blood, could also be part of the story. Such findings may have significance beyond a single obscure, debilitating illness. For they fit an intriguing, and growing, body of evidence that other kinds of psychiatric conditions might also result from infections. Dr Pittenger says it is now clear that covid-19 infections can trigger psychosis, fatigue and other neuro-psychiatric symptoms. A misbehaving immune system is thought to be the culprit. The idea that schizophrenia may, at least sometimes, likewise be an auto-immune disorder is also under investigation. (Intriguingly, people with any kind of auto-immune disorder appear to be about 40% more likely to develop psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia.) How long it takes doctors to pick up on this change of thinking is another matter. Some of the prodding now comes not from patients, but from governments. Robin Millar, a British MP who chairs a parliamentary group on PANDAS and PANS, says Britains government is committed to working out how to diagnose and assess the illnesses. It has begun discussions with doctors, and is pondering a research project to work out how prevalent the diseases are. A pan-European patient group called EXPAND, founded in 2018, is also pushing to improve understanding. Such efforts are sorely needed. As Garrett Pohlmans case shows, if infections are caught early, treatment can be very effective, avoiding long-term damage. Now 23, Mr Pohlman graduated in 2022 with high honours from the University of California, Berkeley, in chemical engineering, and these days runs his own company. Not every patient has been so lucky. Correction (September 22nd 2023): An earlier version of this article described the use of anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce damage to the brain. In fact, immune-suppressing drugs were used. Apologies for the error. Curious about the world? To enjoy our mind-expanding science coverage, sign up to Simply Science, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter. 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com The American space agency, NASA, recently shared an image of Earth's airglow outlining the planet's horizon with the Moon above. In the image shared on Instagram, the Earth appeared to be radiating the airglow with the Moon laid nearly at the center above the surface. The image was taken on November 14, from the International Space Station as it orbited 260 miles (418 km) above the mid-western United States. A view of Earth from the space station during orbital night. The Moon is above earth nearly centered above the surface. An airglow outlines the atmosphere above Earths surface in a yellow shade," wrote NASA while describing the image on Instagram. Apart from the radiating Earth's horizon, the citylights of Denver and Chicago lit up a beautiful pattern of lights at the Earth's surface. Lights from cities dot Earths surface among them, a concentration of lights near the horizon identify the city of Chicago, while the concentration of lights closer to the bottom left identify Denve," it added. What is airglow? NASA describes airglow as a phenomenon that occurs when atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere emit light to shed their excess energy. It can happen when atoms and molecules that have been ionized by sunlight collide with and capture a free electron. Due to constant collision, these atoms eject a particle of light, called a photon, making the phenomenon look similar to that of auroras. However, auroras are the result of high-energy particles originating from the solar wind, airglow is energized by ordinary, day-to-day solar radiation. Similar to auroras, except auroras are driven by high-energy particles originating from the solar wind airglow is sparked by day-to-day solar radiation," said NASA in its Instagram post. Study of the Earth's airglow provides details of the upper atmospheres temperature, density, and composition. It also helps in building an understanding of the movement of particles in the region. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Samsung is reportedly anticipated to unveil its latest devices during the Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event, rumored to occur in January. In addition to introducing the Galaxy S24 series, Samsung could potentially reveal the new Galaxy Ring and several other significant AI initiatives, reported HT Tech. Here is what is expected from the Korean giant to be showcased at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024. Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024 In the previous year, Samsung hosted two unpacked events where it introduced its flagship smartphones: the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, along with the Galaxy S23 series. As the new year approaches, speculations about the upcoming Galaxy S24 are gaining momentum. According to Tom's Guide, there are reports suggesting that the announcement might take place in mid-January 2024. With the Apple iPhone 15 series and Google Pixel 8 series already available in the market, enthusiasts are eager to see what unique offerings Samsung has in store. Samsung Galaxy S24 series According to reports, there are speculations that the company is planning to release three devices within this series: Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus, and Galaxy S24 Ultra. This year, the smartphone is anticipated to feature several upgrades and adjustments in terms of processor, camera capabilities, additional features, and more. Therefore, it could be advisable to await the official launch for more details. Samsung Galaxy AI The Galaxy S24 Ultra is rumored to incorporate Artificial Intelligence capabilities, similar to the Google Pixel 8 lineup. The Galaxy AI is anticipated to include both on-device and cloud-based AI functionalities. Additionally, reports suggest that the smartphone might include a generative AI, allowing users to create and edit photos. However, it is mentioned that the AI feature could be offered through a subscription model, indicating that users may need to pay for this service. Samsung Galaxy Ring Reportedly, Samsung is likely to unveil a new wearable technology, possibly in the form of a smart ring, designed to enable users to monitor their fitness. The Galaxy Ring is anticipated to track and monitor various health metrics, including exercise, heart rate, blood pressure, and aFib detection. It is important to note that the provided details about these Samsung products are based on speculations and rumors. Official information will only be disclosed during the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event. Until then, the specifics of what is to come next year from the House of Samsung remain unknown, and we await the official unveiling. The details provided above regarding these Samsung products are grounded in speculations and rumors. Official information will be disclosed exclusively during the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event. Until then, these anticipations should be considered with a pinch of salt. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. A company run by former New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley said on Monday that it has acquired crypto-focused media company CoinDesk. Bullish, the crypto exchange run by Farley, bought 100% of CoinDesk in an all-cash deal. Financial terms of the deal werent disclosed. Digital Currency Group, the parent company of CoinDesk, acquired the media company in 2016 for $500,000. The deal comes a year after CoinDesk broke news about Sam Bankman-Frieds crypto empire that would ripple through the market and compound the financial troubles of its parent company. Bullish said that CoinDesks current management team, led by chief executive Kevin Worth, will stay in place and that the publication will operate as an independent subsidiary within Bullish. CoinDesk will launch an editorial committee to ensure journalistic independence, CoinDesk said. Matt Murray, the former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, will serve as chair of its editorial committee, the media company said. Launched in November 2021, Bullish is backed by prominent investors including Peter Thiels Founders Fund and hedge-fund manager Louis Bacon. Farley, its CEO, was president of the NYSE from 2014 to 2018. Last year, Bullish called off a $9 billion deal to go public via a merger with a blank-check company. Bullish is also one of the three suitors vying to buy the remnants of FTX, as the auction for the collapsed crypto exchange reaches its final stages. The winner could restart the exchange after its planned exit from bankruptcy next year. CoinDesk has three lines of business, including media, events and indexes. The company generated $50 million in revenue last year. We believe that there is a rebound of the digital assets industry that has already begun," Farley said in an interview. Some of CoinDesks products and services are just darn good businesses that we want to own in a crypto bull run." Bullish is willing to invest a lot of money" in the growth of CoinDesk, Farley said. For example, the exchange can help CoinDesk bring its conference business to Asia where Bullish has deep roots in Hong Kong and Singapore, he said. An earlier deal to purchase CoinDesk fell through. A syndicate of investors was in the final stages of sealing an approximate $125 million deal for CoinDesk, the Journal reported in July. The investor group was led by Matthew Roszak of Tally Capital, a private investment firm focused on crypto and blockchain-based technologies, and Peter Vessenes of Capital6, a venture-capital firm and family office. In November 2022, CoinDesk published an article with leaked financials from FTX founder Bankman-Frieds hedge fund Alameda Research. The report sparked concerns about the close financial ties between Alameda and FTX, eventually prompting a rush of customer withdrawals that plunged the crypto exchange into bankruptcy. As part of the broader fallout in the crypto industry after FTXs collapse, CoinDesks parent company DCG became ensnared by its own financial troubles. DCGs lending subsidiary Genesis Global Capital filed for bankruptcy after rounds of layoffs. Its institutional-trading platform TradeBlock and wealth-management unit HQ closed shop. In January, CoinDesk tapped investment bankers at Lazard to help it explore options including a partial or full sale. In August, the company laid off 16% of its internal staff. Write to Vicky Ge Huang at vicky.huang@wsj.com Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The OnePlus 12 5G is set to make its debut in China in December, with a potential launch in India expected to follow in February. The teaser poster prominently features the CEO of the company positioned on a clock, drawing attention to the '12' mark, subtly hinting at the much anticipated launch of the flagship smartphone. As per a report by India Today, the official launch date for the OnePlus 12 has been unveiled by the brand, and it is scheduled for December 4. Concurrently, OnePlus will mark its 10th anniversary with a celebratory event on the same day. The debut of the OnePlus 12 is confirmed for the Chinese market, as confirmed by the company's head, Li Jie Louis, on Weibo. According to several media reports, the Chinese company has officially disclosed several specifications of the smartphone. It is believed that the upcoming OnePlus phone will be equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a powerhouse anticipated to drive numerous flagship phones in 2024. The device will feature BOE's cutting-edge LTPO OLED display, known as the X1 Oriental Screen. Sporting a 2K display, the OnePlus 12 will boast a peak brightness level of 2,600 nits, coupled with support for a DisplayMate A+ rating. On Weibo, Li Jie, the President of OnePlus China, disclosed that the OnePlus 12 will feature a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto lens. While other specifics remain undisclosed, leaks from previous sources hint at the possibility of the periscope zoom camera utilizing an OmniVision OV64B sensor, offering potential 3x optical zoom. Moreover, it is reportedly believed that leaked camera samples showcases the capabilities of this periscope zoom camera, highlighting its advancements in capturing images in low-light conditions According to leaks, the OnePlus 12 is rumored to sport a triple rear camera setup. The configuration is expected to include a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-808 sensor with OIS support, a 50-megapixel ultrawide Sony IMX581 sensor, and a 64-megapixel 3x telephoto zoom lens with OIS. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. During his visit to the Republic of Armenia, Georgian Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. According to the information from the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, the parties discussed the security environment and challenges in the region and the world.The conversation also touched upon Georgia's readiness to contribute efforts for the peaceful development of the region within the framework of the Peaceful Neighborhood initiative.Additionally, during the meeting, special attention was given to the significance of the European Commission's recommendation regarding the granting of candidate status to Georgia. The Minister of Defense emphasized that Georgia remains actively committed to fulfilling the necessary obligations and procedures in the future.The discussion also addressed the collaboration between the European Union and Georgia in the realm of security and defense policy across various formats.According to the agency, the focus was on the dynamics and perspectives of defense cooperation between the two countries. As part of the visit, Juansher Burchuladze met with his Armenian counterpart, Suren Papikyan, and signed a bilateral cooperation plan.According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the 11 people who were arrested at the rally near the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture were released from the court today. The proceedings have been postponed until next week, with the hearing for 8 citizens scheduled for November 29, and the hearing for the remaining three citizens set for November 30.The activists were detained for actions categorized under Articles 166 and 173 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia."Despite repeated appeals from law enforcement officers to rally organizers and participants, urging compliance with the lawful requests of the Ministry of Internal Affairs representatives and adherence to the legal limits of freedom of assembly and expression, the participants ignored these directives. As a result, public order was violated."The protest was sparked by the demand of Racha residents and the "For Saving the Rioni Valley" movement for the full cancellation of the 49-year license granted to Davit Khidasheli for 97,000 hectares of forest in the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region. Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday mocked Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's message reaffirming the company's partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Nadella had announced that Microsoft was "committed" to its partnership with OpenAI, while sharing the news that former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman would be joining Microsoft to lead a new AI research team. While making the big announcements in a post on X(formerly Twitter), Nadella wrote, We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI's new leadership team and working with them. And were extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success." Replying to Nadella's post, Musk wrote, Now they will have to use Teams!" The 'they' in Musk's tweet presumably refers to the OpenAI personnel who famously fired Sam Altman at a Google Meet rather than Microsoft's Teams, despite having secured funding from the tech giant. Notably, Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI and owns around 49% of the AI startup. Former OpenAI president Greg Brockman had revealed in a post on X that the OpenAI board members, led by co-founder Ilya Sutskever, broke the news to Sam Altman that he had been fired in a Google Meet. Brockman in a post on November 18 wrote, Last night, Sam got a text from Ilya asking to talk at noon Friday. Sam joined a Google Meet and the whole board, except Greg, was there. Ilya told Sam he was being fired and that the news was going out very soon." Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Alibabas Stride into AI Dominance with PAI-Lingjun Intelligent Computing Service: A Knightsbridge Perspective In the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), Alibaba has emerged as a global powerhouse, strategically positioning itself to harness the potential of AI with its PAI-Lingjun Intelligent Computing Service. This groundbreaking venture signifies Alibabas commitment to innovation, efficiency, and spearheading the AI revolution. As we delve into the intricacies of Alibabas foray into AI, we seek the expertise of Knightsbridge, providing valuable insights into the implications of this strategic move. Alibabas AI Endeavors: Alibabas journey into AI began with a vision to not only stay abreast of technological advancements but to lead the charge. The companys commitment to AI research and development has manifested in various initiatives, with PAI-Lingjun standing out as a testament to its ambitions. Knightsbridge emphasizes that Alibabas robust infrastructure and financial prowess position it uniquely in the AI race, allowing the company to make significant strides. PAI-Lingjun Intelligent Computing Service Unveiled: PAI-Lingjun Intelligent Computing Service represents Alibabas dedication to providing cutting-edge AI solutions. Knightsbridge acknowledges that this service is poised to redefine computing capabilities, offering an array of AI-powered services for diverse applications. From machine learning to natural language processing, Alibabas holistic approach through PAI-Lingjun addresses the multifaceted needs of industries. Knightsbridges Perspective on Alibabas Technological Edge: As an expert in the field, Knightsbridge sheds light on Alibabas technological edge in AI. The companys expertise in cloud computing, data analytics, and machine learning forms a potent combination. Knightsbridge notes that Alibabas ability to leverage vast datasets and advanced algorithms positions it as a frontrunner in providing comprehensive AI solutions. PAI-Lingjuns Impact on Industries: Knightsbridge offers insights into the potential impact of PAI-Lingjun on various industries. From enhancing data analysis capabilities to powering intelligent automation, Alibabas AI service is poised to revolutionize sectors such as finance, healthcare, and e-commerce. Knightsbridge underlines that the scalability and adaptability of PAI-Lingjun make it a versatile solution for businesses of all sizes. Global Implications of Alibabas AI Dominance: In discussing Alibabas AI dominance, Knightsbridge emphasizes the global implications. Alibabas expansive reach and influence extend beyond Chinas borders, making its AI advancements a global phenomenon. Knightsbridge notes that Alibabas prowess in AI has the potential to reshape global AI standards and practices, creating a ripple effect across industries worldwide. Challenges and Opportunities: Knightsbridge provides a balanced perspective on the challenges and opportunities Alibaba may face in its quest for AI dominance. While acknowledging the competitive landscape and regulatory considerations, Knightsbridge highlights the vast opportunities for Alibaba to collaborate with global partners and set new benchmarks in AI innovation. Conclusion: Alibabas strategic move into AI through PAI-Lingjun Intelligent Computing Service marks a defining moment in the companys trajectory. Knightsbridges expert analysis underscores the significance of Alibabas technological prowess, the potential impact on industries, and the global implications of its AI dominance. As Alibaba continues to shape the AI landscape, Knightsbridge remains a valuable source of insights into the evolving dynamics of AI technology and its far-reaching implications. Shayne Heffernan Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co., Ltd., commonly known as JAC Motors, stands as a prominent player in the dynamic landscape of the Chinese automotive industry. With a rich history and a commitment to innovation, JAC Motors has earned its stripes as a key contributor to the nations automobile sector. Stochastic Oscillator One method of interpreting the Stochastic Oscillator is looking for overbought areas (above 80) and oversold areas (below 20). The Stochastic Oscillator is 25.7336. This is not an overbought or oversold reading. The last signal was a buy 0 period(s) ago. Relative Strength Index (RSI) The RSI shows overbought (above 70) and oversold (below 30) areas. The current value of the RSI is 56.95. This is not a topping or bottoming area. A buy or sell signal is generated when the RSI moves out of an overbought/oversold area. The last signal was a sell 7 period(s) ago. Commodity Channel Index (CCI) The CCI shows overbought (above 100) and oversold (below -100) areas. The current value of the CCI is -20. This is not a topping or bottoming area. The last signal was a sell 13 period(s) ago. MACD The Moving Average Convergence/Divergence indicator (MACD) gives signals when it crosses its 9 period signal line. The last signal was a sell 5 period(s) ago. Technical Outlook Short Term: Neutral Intermediate Term: Bullish Long Term: Bullish Short-term traders should pay closer attention to buy/sell arrows while intermediate/long-term traders should place greater emphasis on the Bullish or Bearish trend reflected in the lower ribbon. Summary JIANGHUAI AUTO(Trade Price) is currently 30.9% above its 200-period moving average and is in an upward trend. Volatility is high as compared to the average volatility over the last 10 periods. Our volume indicators reflect volume flowing into and out of 600418.SS at a relatively equal pace (neutral). Our trend forecasting oscillators are currently bullish on 600418.SS and have had this outlook for the last 39 periods. Founded in 1964, JAC Motors has evolved into one of Chinas leading automobile manufacturers. The companys headquarters is situated in Hefei, Anhui Province, reflecting its strong regional roots. Over the years, JAC Motors has diversified its product portfolio to include a wide range of vehicles, from compact cars to commercial trucks. Innovation and Technological Prowess: JAC Motors places a significant emphasis on technological innovation. The company has invested heavily in research and development, aiming to stay at the forefront of advancements in the automotive industry. This commitment is evident in their lineup of vehicles, which often incorporate cutting-edge technologies for enhanced safety, efficiency, and sustainability. Green Initiatives and Electric Vehicles: In response to the global shift towards sustainable transportation, JAC Motors has been actively involved in the development and production of electric vehicles (EVs). The companys electric vehicle lineup aligns with Chinas broader push for green initiatives and a low-carbon future. This strategic focus positions JAC Motors as a key player in the evolving landscape of eco-friendly mobility solutions. International Presence: While deeply rooted in the Chinese market, JAC Motors has also expanded its footprint internationally. The company has entered partnerships and collaborations with global automotive players, contributing to the exchange of technologies and expertise on a global scale. Challenges and Opportunities: Like any major player in the automotive industry, JAC Motors faces challenges such as market competition, regulatory changes, and global economic shifts. However, these challenges also present opportunities for innovation and adaptation, areas where JAC Motors has shown resilience in the past. Looking Ahead: As the automotive industry undergoes rapid transformations, JAC Motors is poised to play a crucial role in shaping the future of mobility. The companys commitment to sustainability, technological excellence, and global partnerships positions it as a key influencer in the continued evolution of the automotive landscape, both in China and beyond. In conclusion, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group, with its flagship brand JAC Motors, represents a fascinating blend of tradition, innovation, and global vision within the realm of Chinese automotive manufacturing. Shayne Heffernan A court has heard how a section of a street in Longford town had to be sealed off after a man armed himself with a knife during a stand off with gardai. Walid Bouskia (33), of no fixed abode, was in court last Tuesday charged with the possession of a knife on September 18 this year at Richmond Court, Richmond Street, Longford. Sgt Mark Mahon, in opening the case for the State, said the incident arose when Mr Bouskia allegedly obtained a kitchen knife inside the premises of the asylum seeker hostel, prompting gardai to be called. When officers arrived at the scene, Sgt Mahon said Mr Bouskia was in a highly agitated and aggressive state when gardai arrived on the scene. He said Mr Bouskia pointed the knife at gardai before appearing to indicate he was going to use the knife to self harm. Following that, Sgt Mahon said the accused moved across to a courtyard area and up a flight of stairs, forcing gardai to cordon off the area. He (Mr Bouskia) refused instructions to drop the knife, a stand off ensued for 25 minutes and the area had to be sealed off, he said. Judge Owens was also told gardai had to deploy negotiators to the scene in a bid to resolve the situation. Defence solicitor Michelle Reynolds revealed Mr Bouskia's behaviour on the day in question was linked to his reluctance to be relocated to another address in Dublin. She added Mr Bouskia was willing to go to a Donegal Direct Provision Centre if the court sanctioned his release. Judge Owens, however, said she needed to know what Mr Bouskia's future plans were and where he intended on residing before making a full determination on the case. Mr Bouskia was remanded in custody. Clondra is set to benefit from a significant tourism infrastructure project members of Longford County Council heard at the November meeting of the local authority. A presentation from Waterways Ireland revealed a number of tourism projects being developed in County Longford. The meeting with the local representatives discussed Waterways Ireland's approach to proposed bylaws changes. The State body that oversees the management, maintenance, development, and restoration of inland navigable waterways have concluded a public consultation phase on the proposed bylaws changes, with a second phase of public consultation to facilitate further engagement with the public and stakeholders currently underway. The proposed bylaws suggest the reduction of mooring times, removal of winter mooring and a controversial levy on water users. Patrick Harkin, WI's Inspector of Navigation, and Brian Treacy, the North Shannon Senior Engineer for WI made the presentation to the local authority. The representatives told the councillors that the body oversaw The Shannon Tourism master plan, a strategic development plan for the country's most significant waterway. The plan is developed in collaboration with Failte Ireland and the 10 local authorities across the Shannon catchment area. The main thrust of the plant is to develop the Shannon Erne Waterway as a destination of international scale. Mr Harkin said: There are two assets that are located in Longford; The Royal Canal and the Shannon. Among the projects highlighted by Mr Harkin was the development at The Red Bridge on the Inny River, near Ballymahon. The Shannon navigation extends to the Red Bridge on the eastern shore of Lough Ree, however no waterway or waterside facilities were developed at that location. The Waterways Ireland development at the Red Bridge consists of eight berths, a canoe launch area, car parking and land-based facilities. There are two hubs in Longford on the Royal Canal Greenway: Clondra and Longford. The WI representative said the estimated visitor spend arising from those hubs is in the region of 17.2m per annum. It's a huge asset to Longford, Mr Harkin said, The Shannon and Erne Discovery Points are an interpretative network of trails. There have been over 70 sites evaluated across the Shannon and Erne. We have identified 33 locations that will have iconic interpretive pieces to create a network of art similar to the Wild Atlantic Way. Three of those sites are in Longford: Lanesboro, Clondra and The Red Bridge: We are currently developing designs for each location, Mr Harkin told the meeting. Other plans for developments at Richmond Harbour in Clondra and Tarmonbarry are being worked on in conjunction with two local authorities. The plan is at implementation stage and a steering group is in place: This plan has amazing potential, particularly around the old dock at Clondra. We really see the potential for overhauling that area, and provide an outdoor recreation centre. Just Transition Funding will be available for this project, the Inspector of Navigation said. Longford Municipal District, as part of Longford County Council is delighted to confirm that yet again this year, Santa and Mrs Claus have agreed to turn on the Christmas lights in Longford Town. The event will take place on Black Friday, 24 November, to kick off the Christmas shopping season in style. It coincides with the beginning of free off-street parking around Longford Town, which will continue each weekend in the run up to Christmas and throughout the two weeks of the festive season. Coming all the way from the North Pole on his sleigh, Santa will arrive to Main Street in Longford at around 6pm on Black Friday, before officially switching on the Christmas lights there at 6.30pm. Santa will be joined by Mrs Claus on stage as well as Longford County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Colm Murray, Longford Municipal District Cathaoirleach Cllr Martin Monaghan and the elected members of Longford Municipal District. Speaking in advance of the event, Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council Cllr Colm Murray paid tribute to Santa. We know this is a very important and busy time of year for Santa and his elves, so we are really lucky that he is joining us in Longford for this special occasion. Its also a wonderful opportunity for families to come out, see Longfords beautiful Christmas lights display and experience some of the lovely shopping, dining, and hospitality options available in Longford Town again this Christmas. Longford County Council Chief Executive Paddy Mahon added, Hopefully the weather will be kind on the evening, making it easy for Santa to fly in. We encourage everyone to come into Longford Town and show support to the many local businesses who are also busy preparing for the upcoming Christmas season. The event will also feature a number of different festive performing acts, with a DJ set also included. After turning on the lights, children can then visit Santa in his Grotto, which will also be located on Main Street. Longford Municipal District as part of Longford County Council will be supported on the night for the event by volunteers, security, dedicated members of Longford Civil Defence and An Garda Siochana. For further information on the Black Friday Christmas Lights Turning On event, or on the free off-street parking locations around Longford Town, check out Longfordcoco.ie or follow Longford County Council on social media. A judge accused a Longford man before the court on a string of trespass, theft and public order charges of running rings around everybody after missing three appointments with probation service officials. Judge Bernadette Owens hit out at Justin McCleary (21) Lacken, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford after he appeared in court to answer six charges dating between August and October last year. The first of those took place on August 31 last year when Mr McCleary was alleged to have been found intoxicated in public and of using threatening behaviour at Main Street, Ballymahon. Just over three weeks later, the young Longford man was charged with allegedly trespassing at Edgeworthstowns Maria Edgeworth Centre, Old School, The Green, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford during which 200 of kerosene was allegedly stolen. Three days following that alleged incident, the father of two and recovering cocaine addict was charged with trespassing at the Mostrim Arms, Main Street, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford. The last alleged offence, which State prosecutors claim was committed while Mr McCleary was on bail took place at The Green, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford which resulted in the unlawful taking of a vehicle. Mr McCleary, who came to court supported by his mother, quickly found himself under stern questioning from Judge Owens as to his lax approach in adhering to his probation service conditions. The Probation Services wrote to me today in another report to say resources are very stretched and Mr McCleary has simply run rings around everybody, she said. In response, defence solicitor Brid Mimnagh insisted Mr McCleary would have only missed one appointment had he not been at job interviews at the times of his other engagements. He has a number of matters before the court and I dont know if they will be finalised today, but hopefully is they are adjourned it might give him time to prove himself, said Ms Mimnagh. The local solicitor added how her client had previously been residing in Mullingar but was now back living under the watchful eye of his mother. Ms Mimnagh said there was added pressure on Mr McCleary at the present juncture with his partners mother having only recently been diagnosed with cancer. She added her client acknowledged his own addiction problems and was willing to engage with the relevant services if given time. That drew a terse response from Judge Owens, who asked what the accused had done up until now to tackle those issues. What will happen is if you go into custody, you will get the help then, she said, adding: Mr McCleary and his mother think they can come up with any sort of excuse. Ms Mimnagh, not for the first time, interjected to implore the court to take account of her clients tender years and determination to turn his life around for the better. He (Mr McCleary) has the support of his mother who is trying to keep an eye on him. He had a very bad addiction to cocaine, she added. He is trying to stick to his bail conditions and has tried to get employment around Edgeworthstown, but unfortunately has been unsuccessful. Ms Mimnagh was also keen to stress Mr McCleary, despite his own difficulties, was someone who hailed from an otherwise respectable background. He comes from a family where his mother is not involved in criminality and he realises he is at the end of the road now and is anxious to get help for his addictions, she said. In delivering her ruling, Judge Owens said she was cognisant of Mr McClearys age, but also had to bear in mind some of the alleged offences Mr McCleary stood accused of, took place while he was on bail. As such, Judge Owens said she was of a mind to impose a suspended prison term, saying it would effectively be putting a line in the sand for the accused to prove himself. Seven men's sheds in Longford are set to benefit from a share of 1 million in newly announced government funding. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, today (Monday November 20) announced news of the funding at the very first 'Shedfest' in Virginia, Co Cavan, with grants of up to 3,000 available for 435 sheds around the country. Inspired by the Australian movement of the same name, the Irish Mens Sheds Association was formed in 2011 to offer men an opportunity to meet in a supportive, collaborative space, improve their health and wellbeing, and contribute to their communities. Sheds in Longford include groups in Drumlish Ballinamuck, Dromard, Longford Town, Granard, Killoe, Rath Mhuire and North Longford. Speaking at Shedfest, Minister Humphreys said, "The emergence of our Mens Sheds has been a hugely positive development for communities right across Ireland. "They help tackle isolation and provide a safe, comfortable and welcoming environment where men of all ages can come together to socialise, share skills and work on meaningful projects. "As we enter the winter months, the supports that our Mens Sheds provide are more important than ever. "Im therefore delighted to announce this new 1 million initiative, which will see 435 Mens Sheds supported with grants of up to 3,000. "This funding builds on last years fund of 800,000 to support Mens Sheds, and just shows the long term commitment to Mens Sheds from this government." The CEO of the Irish Mens Sheds Association, Enda Egan, thanked the minister for "her ongoing support for the sheds". He said, "The Mens Shed movement was hit very hard by the Covid pandemic with weekly attendance numbers falling from 10,000 pre-covid to approximately 6,000 currently. This announcement is a major a boost for us in the Irish Mens Sheds Association to know that this funding can be utilised by sheds to pay for their utility bills throughout this winter and mitigate against the increased cost of running a Mens shed. "This funding will help greatly towards the sustainability of Irelands 435 Mens Sheds as many continue to struggle to re-open and remain operational post-covid. There is no doubt Shed members up and down the country, and their communities will benefit greatly from this funding and I know that the support from Minister Humphreys is much appreciated by all shed members." Funding will reportedly be allocated to sheds nationwide by the Irish Men's Sheds Association. Photo: Irish Men's Sheds Association/ YouTube Queens Man Sentenced to 6 to 12 Years in Prison for DWI Crash that Seriously Injured Four Crime By Chris Boyle Published: November 20 2023 Jesus Lugo Santana pleaded guilty in April 2023; was more than three times the legal limit for alcohol. Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Queens man was sentenced yesterday to six to 12 years in prison for a March 2020 head-on drunk driving crash that caused serious physical injuries to four victims. Jesus Lugo Santana, 51, of Bayside, Queens, pleaded guilty on April 18, 2023, before Judge Caryn Fink to two counts of Aggravated Vehicular Assault (a C felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony); and Driving While Intoxicated (an E felony). The defendant was sentenced on November 15, 2023, to six to 12 years in prison. This defendant was speeding and highly intoxicated when he slammed head-on into oncoming traffic, seriously injuring four victims, said DA Donnelly. The victims injuries were so severe that they required extensive physical therapy, surgeries, and one victim remains in a wheelchair to this day. They are lucky to be alive. Santana disregarded the lives of motorists sharing the road with him that night and that decision has cost him his freedom. DA Donnelly said that, on March 20, 2020, at approximately 8:24 p.m., the defendant was driving while intoxicated westbound on Northern Boulevard in Manhasset in a black Nissan Murano, near the intersection of Schenk Avenue. At that same time, the victims vehicle, a white Hyundai Sonata carrying a driver and three passengers, was driving eastbound. The defendant was travelling at approximately 71 miles per hour when he lost control of his car, crossed over the double yellow line, and hit the victims head-on. The speed limit on Northern Boulevard is 40 mph. Santana was trapped inside of his vehicle after the crash. A nearly empty bottle of rum was recovered from inside the Murano. The four victims were taken to Northwell Health, Long Island Jewish Medical Center with extensive physical injuries, including broken bones, shoulder and leg injuries requiring surgery, as well as spinal and neck injuries. Three of the victims underwent physical therapy, one for more than a year and a half, and another victim is still wheelchair bound because of ongoing complications from her injuries. Santana was taken to NYU Langone Hospital Long Island. The defendant had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .27% approximately an hour and a half after the crash. Santana was arrested at the scene on Northern Boulevard at 8:55 p.m. by Nassau County Police on March 20, 2020. Governor Hochul Announces Over $40 Million Awarded to Organizations Across the State Through "New York Food For New York Families" Program Local News By Chris Boyle Published: November 20 2023 Funding Provides Boost to New York Farmers and Increases Communities Access to Local Foods. Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that over $40 million has been awarded to 102 food service organizations across the state through the New York Food for New York Families program. The program, which is funded through a United States Department of Agriculture grant, aims to provide a boost to New York farmers, increase communities access to local foods, and further strengthen New Yorks food system. This initiative continues Governor Hochuls commitment to supporting New Yorks agricultural industry and increasing the resiliency of the states food supply chain. Every New Yorker deserves access to fresh, healthy, and delicious local food that helps them feel their best, which is why were taking solid steps to strengthen our states food supply system, Governor Hochul said. The New York Food for New York Families program is part of that commitment, helping to get more New York products onto tables in communities that need them most. The funds awarded today will help local food organizations across the state expand their reach, feeding more families and offering greater support to our farmers a win-win for our state. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets was awarded two rounds of funding through the USDAs Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA) Program to implement the New York Food for New York Families Program. The program was designed to create a more resilient statewide food system that supports local farms and provides high quality, nutritious food to communities facing food insecurity. Grant funds were awarded to a diverse group of 102 organizations across the state, including food banks and pantries, schools and universities, farm collectives, medical centers, and a variety of non-profit organizations, to implement projects that purchase New York-grown food products and distribute them to underserved communities. It also provides technical assistance to help growers sell into the New York Food for New York Families program. Food purchases will support local farmers, including traditionally disadvantaged farmers, help producers access new markets, fill gaps in the supply and distribution chain, and increase access of underserved communities to local food. Twenty-six projects were awarded between $200,000 and $2,000,000 for a total of $37.3 million. The awards are: Buffalo City School District (Western New York), $2,000,000 The Campaign Against Hunger, Inc. (New York City), $2,000,000 Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Putnam County (New York City), $2,000,000 Council on the Environment Inc. (New York City), $2,000,000 FeedMore Western New York, Inc. (Western New York), $2,000,000 Food Bank of Central New York (Central New York), $2,000,000 Food Bank For New York City (New York City), $2,000,000 Island Harvest LTD (Long Island), $2,000,000 Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York Inc. (Capital Region/Mid-Hudson), $2,000,000 Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty (New York City), $2,000,000 RiseBoro Community Partnership Inc. (New York City), $2,000,000 Skyline Charitable Foundation (New York City), $2,000,000 New York Common Pantry, Inc. (New York City), $1,991,244 Food Bank Association Of New York State (Capital Region/Statewide), $1,985,703 Institute for Community Equity & Sharing, Inc. (New York City), $1,877,586 Cornell University (Southern Tier), $1,647,262 United Way of New York City (New York City), $822,395 Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County (Western New York), $800,000 Infinity Educational Special Programs Corp (New York City/ Long Island/ Statewide), $750,000 Saranac Lake Rotary Foundation Inc. (North Country), $731,085 Foodlink Inc. (Finger Lakes), $703,934 Feeding Westchester, Inc. (Mid-Hudson), $609,057 Capital Roots Inc. (Capital Region), $500,000 BronxWorks Inc. (New York City), $450,000 AdkAction (North Country), $238,761 Comfort Food of Washington County, Inc. (Capital Region), $217,500 In addition, 76 organizations were awarded between $10,000 and $50,000 for a total of $3.6 million. The complete list of awardees is available here. A second application for funding will be announced in the coming months. New York State Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball said, One of our priorities at the Department is increasing food security in our communities and developing a strong, local food supply chain right here at home. The funding from the New York Food for New York Families program will help local food organizations expand their impact on the farmers they support and the families they help feed. Im grateful to Governor Hochul and our partners at USDA for helping us to continue our work putting more New York products onto tables in communities that need them most. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said, From Buffalo to the Bronx, food banks and community organizations are working overtime this Thanksgiving week to help feed our kids and families, and I am proud to help deliver this $40 million federal investment to help them boost services with food produced right here in New York. This investment made possible by the USDA is a win-win strengthening the resiliency of our local food supply and supporting New Yorks farmers. Every family deserves access to fresh, healthy, and locally sourced food, and I am thankful for the amazing work every one of these awardees do and will always fight to deliver the support they need to keep our kids and families fed. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said, The New York Food for New York Families program helps ensure that New Yorkers have access to healthy, nutritious food, This funding will further strengthen New York States food supply system, ensuring local food is available to communities that need it most, all while supporting local farmers. I am thankful for USDAs commitment to increasing food security in New York and I will continue to fight to ensure that all New York families have healthy food on their tables. USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt said, USDA is excited to continue our partnership with New York, through New York Food for New York Families. Funded through USDAs Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, which allows state, tribal and territorial governments to purchase and distribute locally grown, healthy and nutritious food, New York Food for New York Families will work to strengthen markets for local producers while helping local communities facing food insecurity. The State has launched several groundbreaking programs in recent years to improve access to healthy, locally grown foods and to bring New York-grown foods and beverages to underserved communities and into New York State schools. The Nourish NY initiative has purchased, through the state's network of food banks and emergency food providers, more than $153 million worth of food from local farmers and delivered it to families in need. Additionally, the States Council on Hunger and Food Policy convenes to provide state policymakers with expertise on how to address hunger and improve access to healthy, local food for New York State residents. The work of the Council was critical during the establishment of the Nourish New York program, thanks to its focus on strengthening ties and cooperation between programs addressing hunger and those who produce and supply food. The 30% NYS School Initiative, the State's Farm-to School program , and child nutrition programs administered by the State Education Department are focused on buying more local products from New York farmers and increasing healthy and nutritious local foods for New York school lunches. Governor Hochul's 2023 State of the State Address and New York States Fiscal Year 2024 Budget included strong support and investments aimed at boosting demand for New York agricultural products, bolstering New York's food supply chain, and ensuring all New Yorkers can produce and access fresh, local foods. This includes the Governors Executive Order directing State agencies to increase the percentage of food sourced from New York farmers and producers to 30 percent of their total purchases within five years and raising the discretionary threshold for schools to purchase local food and food products from $20,000 to $150,000, a significant increase from that prior threshold. Additionally, the Budget included $50 million over five years to support regional cooking facilities that will facilitate the use of fresh New York State farm products in meal preparation for K-12 school children. To further improve food access opportunities in traditionally underserved communities, the budget included a $10 million grant program to support the establishment of farm markets, supermarkets, food cooperatives, and other similar retail food stores, along with supporting infrastructure in underserved communities and regions of the State. Community, Charity & Cause By Chris Boyle Published: November 20 2023 Over 400 Thanksgiving meals, including turkeys and trimmings, to be distributed to families in need. Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon, Jr., will distribute holiday meals for those in need at the 6th Annual Suffolk Sheriffs Office Thanksgiving Food Distribution on November 21 beginning at 10am. Over 400 turkeys, along with trimmings (gravy, stuffing, sides), will be given out at the Suffolk County Sheriffs Office START Center to pre-selected residents at a drive-thru event. 100 of these turkey dinners will also be available to local families in need on a first come, first serve basis. With the cost of groceries and household expenses rising the past two years, more and more Long Island families are turning to food banks. To combat the demand, families in need of holiday meal help were identified by the START Center and their partner non-profit service agencies to guarantee that they can receive a free Thanksgiving meal without worry of a shortage. The items were collected via Amazon Wishlist, donation bins throughout the Sheriffs Offices facilities, and through donations from partners including: In a new statement released online, Al-Qaedas general command, or its central leadership, which is often erroneously called core al-Qaeda, renewed its longstanding calls for attacks against Americans, Israelis, and institutions and interests related to both countries around the world. The threats were made in the context of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDFs) battle on Gazas Al-Shifa Hospital. May God bless all the mujahideen and marabout who refused to flee from the land of faith and its sacred soil, al-Qaedas statement begins. Peace be upon all those who are steadfast, patient, and perseveringmay God reward you for your affliction for the thousands of believing souls among our brothers and sisters who have been martyred in the American-Zionist bombing campaigns on hospitals, schools, and mosques in Gaza. Al-Qaeda continues by saying that Our dear Ummah [worldwide Islamic community], the repeated American-Zionist bombings on hospitals, schools, and mosques in Gaza can only come from souls filled with evil and absolute hatred. The statement goes on to read that such things do not come from souls that have been touched by even modicum of humanity. And that what the Zionists and Crusaders are chanting these days, we challenge the entire world to publish honest pictures [about the fighting] as children were killed in this barbaric and hideous manner. According to al-Qaeda who is notorious for killing men, women, and children alike this is not a characteristic of the people of Islam and their actionsthere is no room for anyone in the world to lecture our Ummah about civilization and humanity. In regards to the fighting at Gazas Al-Shifa Hospital, the site of massive media scrutiny in the last week over the IDFs claims that Hamas uses it for its operations, al-Qaeda states that they [Israelis] and the Americans complained that this hospital was the center of jihadi leadership in Gaza. However, it became clear after all this blatant dishonesty that there was no trace of a single gunman in it. According to al-Qaeda, the real purpose of targeting the Al-Shifa Hospital was to destroy the medical devices within and prolong the suffering of its patients. In addition to calling for general boycotts of American and Zionist [read: Jewish] commercial products, al-Qaeda calls on its men and supporters around the world to also target American and European military bases around the world. The missiles that our burning our proud brothers in Gaza come from American and European military bases that are sitting on our chestsit does no good for the people of Islam if we do not invade [them] and expel the killers of our people in Gaza. Al-Qaeda goes one step further and also calls for attacks on American, European, and Israeli embassies around the world. They [the embassies] are legitimate targets for our people and for the Islamic Ummah. We call on the youth of Ummah to storm them and burn them and follow in the path of the youth in Benghazi on the day they slaughtered and dragged the American ambassador through the streets a few years ago. Ending the statement, al-Qaeda also calls on supporters in the West to mobilize in saying that O sons of the Ummmah from the Muslim communities amongst the arrogant West: your opportunity today to support your brothers in great. So you must kill and abuse the Zionists, but do not consult anyone in killing them or destroying their property. Al-Qaeda and its various branches have long attempted to mobilize attacks around the world including in the West on the basis of the Israel-Palestine conflict. While it does not have any meaningful role in the conflict itself, it has proven capable of mobilizing fighters and supporters elsewhere to commit acts of terror in the name of the conflict. Caleb Weiss is an editor of FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Photo: A mixed-gender unit from the Shachar Battalion in the Search and Rescue Brigade in the IDF Home Front Command joined IDF units in Gaza for the first time. (IDF) A significant winter storm descended on Israel on Sunday, Nov. 19. The storm brought the first snow to the Hermon mountain, which overlooks the Golan Heights. The mountain has troops from Israels 810th territorial Hermon brigade, and the IDF distributed photos of them in the snow standing next to a Merkava tank, which has been accessorized with a metal cage to protect it from drones. The images seem to symbolize several aspects of the war. Weather will still play a role in operations this week. The IDF, which has called up 300,000 reservists since the Oct. 7 attack, also needs to provide winter gear for the soldiers. In addition, simple fixes to modern technological problems, such as drone threats, may be easier than hi-tech fixes, which take time. The IDF faced challenges on multiple borders over November 17-19. In Gaza, the main front against Hamas stabilized around Gaza City. The IDFs main divisions, with infantry and armored units, are pushing slowly into the last big suburban areas before entering the densely backed areas of Gaza City itself. This means the IDF is now moving forces into neighborhoods south and east of the city. The IDFs 36th Division, which is the one that had marched across the center of the Gaza Strip when the ground offensive began in late October, is now in the Zaytun area south of Gaza City. The 162nd Division, which moved toward Gaza City from the north, is in Jabalya. This is important because the IDF already cut off Gaza from the sea to the West by taking the harbor of Gaza on Nov. 16. The city is fully enveloped now. For the first time, an IDF mixed-gender unit called the Shachar Battalion in the Search and Rescue Brigade in the IDF Home Front Command has been operating with the 162nd Division in combat, the IDF said. Generally, women do not serve in combat roles in the IDF, although many carry rifles and are exposed to possible combat situations. The Shachar unit is conducting searches for terrorist weapons in Gaza. The move into new neighborhoods enables the dismantling of more terrorist infrastructure. One hundred Hamas terrorists were apprehended, the IDF said over the weekend. In addition, IDF troops took control of a stronghold of the commander of the Islamic Jihads northern command area. The stronghold contains offices of senior terrorists of the organization and a strategic manufacturing site for weapons. During the raid, the troops located heavy-weight rockets, UAVs, and additional weapons, the IDF said on Nov. 17. Among the weapons found were large Badr-3 rocket parts. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which was a focus of smaller previous IDF aerial campaigns, such as Operation Black Belt in 2019, has not been central to the battle of Gaza this time. However, its infrastructure and operatives continue to be eliminated. PIJ has also put down roots in the West Bank and acts as one of many Iranian-backed proxies in the region. IDF Chief of Staff, Herzi HaLevi, said on Nov. 17 that we are close to dismantling the military system that was present in the northern Gaza Strip. While work remains to be completed, we are approaching it successfully. The dismantling comes at a cost. Thirteen more IDF soldiers were killed in Gaza in three days of fighting from November 17-19. In addition, the body of IDF soldier Corporal Noa Marciano was recovered from Gaza. She was one of the IDF soldiers in an observation unit near Nahal Oz on Oct. 7 when Hamas overran her unit, and several of the observers were killed and captured. Her body was found near Shifa hospital, where IDF forces have operated since around Nov. 12. The IDF said on the night of Nov. 19 that new details led them to believe she was killed at Shifa hospital and her body taken on a stretcher to a house nearby. Shifa Hospital has become the center of IDF assertions that Hamas used the hospital and tunnels underneath it for terrorist purposes. At the same time, the UN and medics evacuated 31 babies from the hospital on Sunday, Nov. 19. Israel also revealed in the evening of the 19th new documentation showing security footage taken in the hospital on Oct. 7 in which Hamas terrorists can be seen on Saturday, Oct. 7, forcibly transporting hostages, a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian, who were kidnapped from Israeli territory. IDF vehicles stolen during the murderous massacre can also be seen inside the Shifa Hospital area, the IDF said in a statement. This indicates Hamas transported wounded hostages to the hospital directly after taking them from Israel in the early hours of Oct. 7 during the attack. Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7. There were more than one dozen clashes and incidents between Israel and Hezbollah over the weekend as well. These included several anti-tank missiles fired on Sunday toward Israel. In the West Bank, the IDF operated in Balata near Nablus on Saturday and used a drone to carry out a strike on terrorists involved in planning imminent terror attacks against Israeli civilians and military targets, the IDF said. Israel has faced increasing threats from the northern West Bank areas near Nablus and Jenin over the last year. The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen threatened to attack Israeli ships on Sunday morning, claiming they would target commercial ships linked to Israel as well. Several hours later, a cargo ship en route from Turkey to India via the Red Sea was hijacked by the Houthis. This is a new escalation by the Houthis, who have backed Hamas and the war against Israel since Oct. 7. The Houthis have launched rockets, cruise missiles, and drones at Israel over the past month. The cold front that arrived in Israel on Nov. 19 is expected to remain all week, ushering in the first winter-like conditions. At the same time, negotiations for the release of hostages continued to take place, which could set the stage for a pause in fighting in Gaza. The escalation by the Houthis and Hezbollah attacks illustrated that a ceasefire in Gaza wouldnt likely affect other fronts. Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDDs Long War Journal. He is the acting news editor and senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post. 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. The U.S. government added Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, an Iranian proxy militia, its secretary general, five members of terrorist organization Hezbollah Brigades, and an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps operative to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Both militias are responsible for attacking U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, and both are part of Iraqs Popular Mobilization Forces, an official, independent military arm of the Iraqi government. Designation of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada The U.S. Department of State added Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) and its Secretary General, Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on Nov. 17. Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada is an Iranian proxy that was formed in 2013 supposedly to protect Shia shrines in Iraq when the Islamic State was rampaging throughout the country. KSS terrorist activity has threatened the lives of both U.S. and Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS personnel in Iraq and Syria, State noted in its press release. KSS, working at times with other U.S.-designated organizations, including KH [Kataib Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades] and Harakat al-Nujaba, has planned and supported attacks against U.S. personnel. Two key leaders of KSS are Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani and Abu Ala al-Walai, both who are closely allied with Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Badr Corps, another Iranian proxy. Al-Sheibani, a dangerous and influential commander amongst the Shia militias, is one of the key IRGC agents who was responsible for the creation of the Iraqi militias. Al-Sheibani was listed by the US government as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in January 2008 for attacking U.S. and British forces as well as Iraqi political and military leaders. Designation of five Hezbollah Brigades leaders and an IRGC agent In its designation of Hezbollah Brigades commanders, Treasury noted that the group is Trained, funded, and supported by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and is behind a spate of recent attacks against the United States and partners in Iraq and Syria following the horrific attacks by Hamas against Israel. Hezbollah Brigades is a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and is led by Ahmad al-Hamidawi. Hezbollah Brigades was founded Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, who was listed by the US government as a specially designated global terrorist in July 2009 and was described as an advisor to former Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani. Muhandis, along with Qaiz Khazali, played a key role in the Shia militias formation and subsequent attacks on U.S., Coalition, and Iraqi forces. The U.S. killed Muhandis and Soleimani in an airstrike in Baghdad in 2020. Hezbollah Brigades received training, funds, weapons, intelligence and other key aid from the Qods Force. The terror group is responsible for killing hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq. The five Hezbollah Brigades commanders who were listd as Specially Designated Global Terrorists are Imad Naji al-Bahadli, Habib Hasan Mughamis Darraji, Jaafar al-Husayni, Khalid Kadhim Jasim al-Skeni, and Basim Mohammad Hasab al-Majidi. The IRGC operative was identified as Mojtaba Jahandust. Al-Bahadli is a member of KHs governing Shura Council who previously was responsible for KHs operational elements involved in conducting attacks and kidnappings. Additionally, at the direction of Irans IRGC and Hezbollah Brigades Secretary General Ahmad al-Hamidawi, al-Bahadli made plans to intimidate Iraqi politicians who did not support the removal of U.S. forces from Iraq and other KH political priorities. Al-Bahadli also sought to identify U.S. military installations and U.S. companies that could serve as targets for future KH attacks, which would be launched on the orders of the IRGC-QF. In preparation for these attacks on U.S. interests, al-Bahadli sent KH militants to train in Lebanon with U.S.-designated terrorist organization Lebanese Hizballah, where he himself had been trained. Darraji serves as KHs foreign affairs chief who has coordinated the training of KH fighters in Iran with the IRGC and facilitated the smuggling of goods from Iran to KH members in Iraq. Al-Husayni is a spokesman for Hezbollah Brigades and has coordinated with KH fighters planning attacks against U.S. military personnel in Iraq. Al-Skeni is a senior KH military commander who has worked with the IRGC to train KH fighters. Al-Majidi is the commercial development chief for Hezbollah Brigades who also served as a propaganda chief for the group. Jahandust is an IRGC-QF official who facilitates the travel and training of KH fighters in Iran. Hezbollah Brigades and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada are two of the Iranian-backed militias that have launched scores of attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17. The attacks are claimed under the guise of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The U.S. military has launched three airstrikes against the militias and IRGC infrastructure in response to the militia attacks. Iran and the militias seek to drive the U.S. from its bases in Iraq and Syria, as well as demonstrate that it is supporting Hamas and its allies as they battle Israel. For more information on the militias in Iraq, Syria, and beyond, see LWJ report: Profiles of 15 Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East. Joe Truzman is a research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal focused primarily on Palestinian militant groups and Hezbollah. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. (Alliance News) - Fifty-five projects across the UK have been awarded a share of nearly GBP1 billion from the government's levelling up fund. The money will help spread opportunity, create jobs and revitalise local communities, with GBP825 million going towards regenerating high streets and GBP150 million towards improving transport links, the Department for Levelling Up said on Monday. The department stressed that the third round of funding is spread across all parts of Great Britain, after criticism that the last tranche was disproportionately handed to the relatively affluent South East. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was at the time forced to deny that the allocations were motivated by an attempt to shore up support in southern Tory seats. The latest projects earmarked for funding were chosen from a pool of bids that were unsuccessful in the second round, avoiding the competitive bidding process seen previously. The North West receives GBP128 million, the North East GBP59 million, Yorkshire and the Humber GBP169 million and the Midlands GBP171 million in total, according to the levelling up department. Allocations include GBP20 million to grow fishing and high-skilled sustainable jobs in Torbay, GBP18 million to regenerate three former mining communities in Doncaster and GBP15 million to upgrade Blackpool's transport network. The highest award in the funding round GBP48 million goes towards upgrading the Penistone railway line in Yorkshire. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: "Levelling up means delivering local people's priorities and bringing transformational change in communities that have, for too long, been overlooked and undervalued. "Today we are backing 55 projects across the UK with GBP1 billion to create new jobs and opportunities, power economic growth and revitalise local areas. "This funding sits alongside our wider initiatives to spread growth, through devolving more money and power out of Westminster to towns and cities, putting in place bespoke interventions to places that need it most, and our Long-Term Plan for Towns." The Democratic Unionist Party complained that no cash was allocated to Northern Ireland despite "hundreds of suitable applications". The party's Treasury spokesman Sammy Wilson said: "This is an outrageous act by the government. Under the cloak of economic blackmail, the government has syphoned money away from Northern Ireland to shore up Conservative seats in England. "The government's rationale for this decision is as spurious as it is outrageous. An absence of an executive has no material effect on the allocations indeed, the principal objection in Scotland and Wales to the Levelling Up Fund is that it is driven by Westminster rather than the devolved regions. "The government should be honest. The real reason for this allocation is to direct more money into the marginal seats in Great Britain where the Conservative Party is struggling." Wilson later expressed his anger in the Commons, with communities minister Jacob Young replying: "We have set aside what Northern Ireland's allocation would have been in this round and I commit to working with him and his colleagues to ensure that Northern Ireland does receive the full benefits of levelling up." For Labour, shadow business minister Justin Madders accused the government of "giving up" as he questioned what the future holds for unsuccessful bids. He told the Commons: "What is the plan to address those communities that are crumbling, those high streets that are emptying, is this the end of any hope of levelling up for them?" He said the government's statement "offers no path ahead to deal with those issues, it just rearranges the deckchairs with what has gone before", adding: "They are not levelling up, they're giving up." SNP former Westminster leader Ian Blackford said several projects in his Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency benefited from EU funding, adding: "Money that would have come if we stayed in the EU as Scotland had voted to." He added: "Once again we're getting nothing, zip all from this Tory government." Young said Blackford was "wrong" and said he would provide written details on money the SNP MP's area has received from the UK Share Prosperity Fund. Labour MP Michael Shanks (Rutherglen & Hamilton West) asked whether local authorities would be reimbursed for the costs of the bids, saying they had spent "huge amounts of time, expertise, and money" putting together. Shanks asked: "Will he think about the total costs involved in that and reimburse those local authorities for those costs?" Young said: "I can't give refunds unfortunately but, as I say, the purpose of our funding simplification programme is all about ensuring that we step forward to a simpler version of funding that meets councils' needs, rather than asking councils to meet the needs of various funding streams." By Sophie Wingate, Rhiannon James and Richard Wheeler Press Association: News source: PA Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Some child migrants who arrive in Luxembourg without an adult can wait up to three years before their fate is determined Charel Schmit, Luxembourg's ombudsman for children and youth (second from the right) says unaccompanied minors need better support when they arrive in the country, regardless of their status Charel Schmit, Luxembourg's ombudsman for children and youth (second from the right) says unaccompanied minors need better support when they arrive in the country, regardless of their status Photo credit: Tracy Heindrichs Charel Schmit, Luxembourg's ombudsman for children and youth (second from the right) says unaccompanied minors need better support when they arrive in the country, regardless of their status Photo credit: Tracy Heindrichs The number of unaccompanied minors coming to Luxembourg is on the rise, and the trend is unlikely to slow, Charel Schmit, ombudsman for children and youth, said during a press conference on Monday, calling for better protections. By 1 October, 156 unaccompanied minors had arrived in the Grand Duchy's shelters since the start of the year. Last year, 164 children and teenagers arrived in Luxembourg on their own, twice as many as in previous years. "Unaccompanied children are too often still considered migrants before they are seen as children," said Alexandra Gardeur from Unicef Luxembourg during a press conference hosted to mark World Children's Day on 20 November. Unaccompanied minors are doubly vulnerable as they are children and migrants at the same time, she said as Unicef, the ombudsman for children and youth (Okaju) and refugee organisation Passerell presented recommendations to improve the situation of non-accompanied minors in the country. Luxembourg should put children's rights above the procedures for migrants in the case of children arriving on the territory, Gardeur said. Prioritising children's rights "Many of the promises found in the [International Convention on the Rights of the Child] have not yet been fulfilled," said Schmit, even though Luxembourg ratified the convention in 1993. Minors - whether they arrive with an adult or not - often face many judicial procedures in order to stay in the country, Schmit said. Children arriving in Luxembourg receive the status of unaccompanied minor if they arrive in the country without an adult and once their age has been determined. They then need to apply for international protection to benefit from asylum seeker support. The National Office for Children (ONE) should take responsibility for welcoming unaccompanied minors and be a first contact point, Gardeur said. It should also be in charge of determining the birthday of children who don't know their age. The protection procedure includes nominating an ad-hoc administrator - often a lawyer - and a public administrator - a public structure like a home - which leads to delays in receiving international protection status and access to education. Some children wait months before meeting their administrators; in some cases it has taken a year, Schmit told the Luxembourg Times. It can take 500 days for authorities to take a first decision on a child migrant's right to stay in the country and another 500 days for the administrative court to reach a verdict, the ombudsman said. The wait for a decision can be agonising, the NGOs said, and detrimental to the youngsters' mental health. Some children and teenagers give up on the procedure, which can leave them vulnerable to traffickers as undocumented migrants in the EU, they warned. Unaccompanied minors not in coalition plan Unlike the previous government's five-year plan, the CSV-DP coalition agreement leaked on Friday doesn't mention unaccompanied minors and their situation in the Grand Duchy, Gardeur said. "We regret to see that in this coalition agreement there is no specific mention of these children anymore. I do hope that the same level of attention will be given their situation by authorities and the relevant ministry. It's important to not stop efforts and to continue improving the [existing] procedures," she told the Luxembourg Times. "There is a political will to rethink all procedures around the economy and business, and to make it easier for economic players to build housing and develop their economic activities," Schmit added. "So [the government] should also question, improve and simplify administrative procedures for children and youths." However, as the ombudsman recognised, the new coalition agreement presents "enough wriggle room" to do this. Number of new cases recorded in country have doubled since 2020, health ministry says New cases of HIV infections exploded last year in Luxembourg, the health ministry said, as a European-wide testing scheme for the virus gets underway on Monday. A specialist unit at the CHL hospital in Luxembourg City recorded 67 new infections in the Grand Duchy last year, up from 50 the year before and 33 in 2020, the health ministry said in a press release on Monday. Women accounted for 39% of all new infections. Authorities registered 164 people who are carrying the virus and were seen for the first time by a doctor in the country - a 69% rise compared to 2021 when 97 HIV-positive patients had their first consultation in Luxembourg. Of the 167 people, 97 had already been infected prior to 2022 and had been seen by a doctor abroad, the health ministry said. "The sudden increase in the number of HIV infections diagnosed can also be explained by the increase in screening and the resumption of people's mobility following the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the reopening of meeting places," the ministry said. The new figures were released on the day that a European-wide testing week got underway. In Luxembourg, people can get free and anonymous blood tests without a prescription at the CHL hospital in Luxembourg City, the National Health Laboratory in Dudelange and the Centre Hospitalier Emile Mayrisch in Esch-sur-Alzette, as well as at the privately-owned laboratories Ketterthill, Bionext, and Laboratoires Reunis. Other testing methods, like rapid tests and rapid self-tests, also exist, the ministry said. "The earlier people become aware of their infection, the sooner they can receive appropriate treatment, prevent transmission and improve their health. Today, advances in HIV treatment mean that people living with HIV can live long and healthy lives if they are diagnosed early enough and take their treatment properly," the ministry said. Last year, there were more than 39 million people worldwide living with the virus, which is mainly transmitted through sexual activity, with an estimated 630,000 deaths as a result of HIV-related illnesses, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Between 1 and 1.7 million new infections were registered globally in 2022, a drop compared to the previous year when the WHO estimated between 1.1 and 2 million people contracted the virus. Krisjanis Karins enters race to succeed Jens Stoltenberg, who will step down next year Krisjanis Karins has indicated his interest in the top job Krisjanis Karins has indicated his interest in the top job Photo credit: AFP Krisjanis Karins has indicated his interest in the top job Photo credit: AFP Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins is looking to join the list of contenders to succeed NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, a second top politician from the Baltics to express interest. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas previously threw her hat in the ring for the post, which opens up in 2024. Provided Latvia would decide to stand for the candidacy of the Secretary General, Dr. Krisjanis Karins is ready to join the competition, according to a statement shared by Karins spokesman on Sunday. The 58-year-old resigned as prime minister in August as his party sought to form a new government. According to the statement, he would offer to contribute to the alliance with his leadership experience as prime minister, clear understanding of Russias threat, strong stance on Ukraine, and proven track record as an international consensus builder. Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Kallas have each expressed interest for the top NATO job. After a fourth extension Stoltenbergs tenure ends in October and hes made clear he will step down then. NATO allies have wanted to consider candidates from different regions and with different profiles than the recent secretary generals, who were Nordic or Dutch men. The decision needs to be unanimous among the 31 allies but the view from the US, which leads the military contributions at NATO, always holds the most weight. Karins, who was born and raised in the US and holds a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, may face a similar hurdle as Kallas as a vocal critic of Russia. Baltic nations have been seen as too hawkish toward Moscow to lead the alliance. Allies are hoping to hand the post to another former leader, so while Karins currently serves as his nations top envoy, his stint as prime minister may keep him in the running. Karins was PM from 2019 until his recent resignation, and was Latvias longest-serving head of government since it regained independence in 1991. Another important factor is whether the candidates country has reached or is nearing the goal of spending at least 2% of GDP on defence. The geopolitical situation and the nature of challenges surrounding the North Atlantic Alliance require dynamic, determined, and consensus-based leadership, Karins statement said, adding that under his leadership, Latvia has consistently met and exceeded the 2% target in defence spending. 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Manchester, VT (05254) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to cloudy skies and rain during the afternoon. High 48F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 36F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%. Taylor Swift has been criticized by fans for postponing her show in Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, after a fan collapsed and died on Friday, November 17. Her "Eras Tour" took place in temperatures that reached as high as 100 Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius) and despite her raising to attention the fans' needs for water, one audience member unfortunately died. Taylor Swift hands out water to fans due to intense heat during her concert in Brazil The event organizers identified the fan as Ana Clara Benevides Machado, who received medical attention but later died in hospital following an hour of emergency care. In the wake of the death, Swift posted a message on Instagram announcing she would be postponing her show do to grief but some respondents appear to lack empathy towards the situation and instead display anger. The mother of a Taylor Swift fan appeared on X.com, formerly Twitter to slam the artist for her action in a rage filled rant to the press. "Taylor was disappointing," the woman said to media. "If she wanted to cancel the show she had to do it in the morning, not now. "A lack of respect. I want to see her do that to Americans." Swift's mourning Following the news of the death, the cause of which is not yet known, the Grammy-winning artist took to social media to announce her decision to cancel in a heart-felt Instagram post. "The safety and well-being of my fans, fellow performers, and crew has to and always will come first," Swift wrote on Instagram. "I can't believe I'm writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show. "There's very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young. I'm not going to be able to speak about this from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. "I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends." If you have a Flexible Spending Account and you havent used any or all of the money saved in it yet, youre about to leave money on the table. An FSA is a tax-free account people put money into throughout the year from their paycheck to cover certain out-of-pocket healthcare costs, according to Healthcare.gov. The money is not taxed so youll save an amount equal to the taxes you would have paid on the money set aside. Read more: Wellesley College under federal investigation after antisemitism claims At the end of the year, any unused FSA money goes back to the employer, according to the FSA Store. So before that happens, theres a laundry list of health-related items that can be purchased using FSA money, including some you might not realize. Exact spending deadlines depend on the provider but typically, you have until the end of December to spend the money or lose it, although some plans allow through March 15 with a grace period, Forbes reported. Typically, FSA funds pay for deductibles and copayments (but not for insurance premiums), as well as prescription and over-the-counter medications, the latter with a doctors prescription, Healthcare.gov states. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management website urges people to keep their receipts and other supporting documentation, such as an explanation of benefits from the insurance company. Read more: Westfield council splits on vote to shift tax burden 1 tick toward residential Some qualifying health care items are fairly obvious, but others may not be. The OPM site lists all the healthcare items eligible to be paid with an FSA card. Amazon also offers a full list of items eligible to be purchased with an FSA card. Here are some that may surprise you: The Celtics will be at full strength for their matchup against Marcus Smart and the Grizzlies on Sunday night after Jaylen Brown was upgraded by the team moments before tip. Brown was listed as questionable for Boston in the matchup with a right adductor strain on Saturday after slipping on the court in Toronto on Friday night during a tournament game. After Bostons win over Toronto, Brown railed against the floor conditions that led to him and several other players slipping on the special tournament court Friday night at Scotiabank Arena. I slipped. Thats it. I slipped, Brown told reporters in Toronto. I think I might have strained my groin a little bit. Well see how it feels, but the court was just slippery all game. I think as players were all here for the In-season tournament because its going to generate revenue, excitement, competition but weve got to make sure the floor is safe to play on. We cant put our player out here and risk their health. Tonight I thought the floor was unacceptable. I think guys were slipping all over the place, not just me. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. The Celtics are playing a back-to-back on Monday night against the Hornets in Charlotte so it is possible Brown could rest the injury there if any pain lingers. The team will also likely sit out Al Horford for that matchup in the second half of a back-to-back. Tony Stark and Peter Parker, two ducks living in a Massachusetts, are still searching for homes nearly a year after they came to the animal shelter. The ducks are 1 year and 11 months old, according to Animal Rescue League of Boston. They came to live at the shelter on Dec. 21, 2022. Both of the ducks are Rouen ducks, which were brought to the United States in 1850 by D. W. Lincoln of Worcester, England. The breed soon became popular as a colorful, general-purpose farm duck, the Livestock Conservancy wrote. They are also docile and easy to handle as pets, the conservancy said. Two ducks need homes after living in an animal shelter in Massachusetts.Animal Rescue League of Boston Ducks are social birds, the rescue warned. That means they either need to be adopted together or have other ducks already at the home. Adopters can live in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut or New York. For more information on this or any other animal currently residing at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, call at 617-426-9170. For more, click here. A 2-year-old was taken from Sudbury by Life Flight to Boston Sunday after officials said the child fell from a shopping cart. The 2-year-old fell off the shopping cart in Sudbury, officials said. But the Wayland Fire Department responded. The Wayland ambulance was able to take the child to Wayland Town Hall, located at 41 Cochituate Road, as a landing zone for the Life Flight. The helicopter then took the child to Boston. The fire department released a video of the Life Flight taking off Sunday. Officials have not released any further information as of Monday morning. An 81-year-old woman was brought to the hospital after she was hit by a car while crossing an Arlington street Sunday, according to Arlington Police Chief Julie Flaherty. The crash involving the woman happened in the area of Park and Wollaston avenues around 1:45 p.m. on Nov. 19, Flaherty said in a statement. Police said the 81-year-old woman, from Arlington, was crossing Park Avenue on the crosswalk when she was hit. The woman was treated at the scene before she was brought to the hospital for further treatment. Police did not specify the extent of her injuries. Read More: Police investigating swatting incident at place of worship in Needham Sunday The driver, a 79-year-old Arlington woman, stayed at the scene and is cooperating with an ongoing investigation, Flaherty said. She was not injured. Park Avenue was closed during the investigation but reopened at 4:25 p.m., the police chief added. The crash remains under investigation by the Arlington Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section. A bomb threat that was emailed to a synagogue on the South Shore prompted several evacuations and a search of the Jewish temple on Sunday, according to the Hingham Police Department. An employee at Congregation Shaaray Shalom, located at at 1112 Main St. (Route 228) in Hingham, got an email that warned bombs were in the synagogue around 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 19, police said. Read More: Police investigating swatting incident at place of worship in Needham Sunday The employee then left the synagogue and called 911. Several nearby homes were evacuated as a response and Route 228 was closed to traffic in both directions, police said. The Hingham Fire Department helped search the building along with explosive dogs from Quincy Police and Massachusetts State Police. No explosive devices were found, according to Hingham police. Route 228 reopened at 3:15 p.m., police added. The incident is under investigation. A family from southern Massachusetts is looking to alleviate their financial burdens as they mourn the loss of a 77-year-old woman who died in an apparent murder-suicide in Rehoboth Saturday. Our beautiful, dedicated, and kind mother was tragically taken from us through an act of senseless violence, Brenda Baker wrote in a GoFundMe campaign organized in the name of Barbara Cruz. Our mother is a dedicated grandmother, nurse, and most importantly a friend and confidant to all her children, Baker continued. This profound loss has been devastating to us all. A relative of Cruz requested a wellbeing check at her home at 162 Summer St. in Tiverton, Rhode Island just before 11 a.m. on Nov. 18, according to the Bristol District Attorneys Office. The relative said she was on the phone with the 77-year-old when she heard shouting and the phone disconnected, the district attorneys office said. When she called back, no one answered, the office said in a statement. When police went to the home, they found two individuals killed by gunshots, and an uninjured 84-year-old woman, according to the statement. An initial investigation revealed Omar Bradley, 72, who had been living at the home with the uninjured woman, shot and killed the womans sister, who has since been identified as Cruz, before fatally shooting himself, prosecutors said. According to the GoFundMe, Bradley was Cruzs sisters boyfriend. Our mother was helping to care for her older sister when her sisters boyfriend became enraged and shot and killed our mother, Brenda Baker continued on the campaign page. She has four surviving children, and eight grandchildren. The funds will be used for travel expenses, funeral costs, and helping to alleviated the families financial burdens as we take the time to grieve and process this horrendous tragedy. Donna Cruz, Barbara Cruzs daughter-in-law, shared the campaign on her Facebook, and encouraged people to donate. It is with great sadness that I share that we very unexpectedly and tragically lost my mother-in-law to a senseless act of violence this weekend, Donna Cruz wrote. My sister-in-law has created a GoFundMe to assist with expenses during this unimaginable time. Anything is appreciated. The campaign is looking to raise $10,000 ahead of Barbara Cruzs memorial services on Saturday, Nov. 25. People can donate by clicking here. The apparent murder-suicide is being investigated by Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the Bristol District Attorneys Office, the Rehoboth Police Department, and homicide unit prosecutors. Several Massachusetts communities, including three places of worship, received bomb threats within 24 hours last weekend, according to Massachusetts State Police. The Massachusetts State Police Fusion Center has documented the threats and is assisting local police in their investigations into the hoax calls, Massachusetts State Police Spokesperson Dave Procopio told MassLive Monday. The following locations received bomb threats on Sunday, Nov. 19: Needham police said they got a call reporting a threat at Temple Beth Shalom, located at 670 Highland Ave. The Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad were called to search the temple, but no items of concern were found, according to state police. The building was cleared and police later said the call was believed to be a hoax. Needham police said they will have an increased police presence at all of places of worship for the foreseeable future. Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity in Northampton An unattended package found at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity in Northampton prompted an evacuation of the building and immediate area Sunday, according to state police. WWLP-TV reported that Florence Congregational Church, which is home to a Jewish synagogue, got an email just before noon saying there was a bomb in the building. No explosive items were found. An employee at Congregation Shaaray Shalom, located at at 1112 Main St. (Route 228) in Hingham, got an email around 1:30 p.m. warning that bombs were in the synagogue, Hingham police said. Several nearby homes were evacuated in response, and Route 228 was closed to traffic in both directions, police said. The Hingham Fire Department helped search the building along with explosive dogs from Quincy Police and Massachusetts State Police. Security camera footage was also reviewed, according to state police. No explosive devices were found. Route 228 reopened at 3:15 p.m., police added. Plymouth Airport A bomb threat was made against Plymouth Airport on Sunday. Teams from MSP, Quincy Police, Fall River Police, Rehoboth Police, and the Bristol Sheriffs Department searched several areas of the airport. These included the main terminal, outbuildings, Massachusetts State Police Air Wing base, MedFlight hangar, fuel farm, aircraft refueling vehicles, and runways. Authorities also examined physical security gates and security camera footage. Nothing hazardous found, state police said. Since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel from Hamas, the Anti-Defamation League said there has been a shocking increase in antisemitism in the U.S. and around the world. More information about these incidents can be found online. UPDATE: Woman said man tried breaking into N.H. apartment before police shot him dead A man was shot and killed by police in New Hampshire during a confrontation early Monday morning, according to Attorney General John M. Formella. Authorities including the New Hampshire State Police SWAT team were called to a home in Franklin for a report of a barricaded suspect following an armed disturbance in the early morning hours of Nov. 20. Residents in area of Central and West Bow Streets were forced to shelter in place as a result, Formella said. That order has since been lifted, according to the attorney general. The man died after he was shot during the confrontation. His name has yet to be released. An autopsy will be scheduled by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Formella said. No law enforcement officers have been physically injured and there is no threat to the public. The names of the officers involved in the shooting have yet to be released. The exact circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation, Formella concluded. Families in need of emergency shelter will be housed overnight in the states transportation building at 10 Park Plaza in Boston until a more permanent solution can be found. The states overburdened emergency shelter system for homeless families and new arrivals in Massachusets reached a state-imposed capacity two weeks ago and families are being placed on waitlists. In an attempt to keep families out of the cold, the Massachusetts National Guard is converting conference rooms used by transportation officials into temporary, congregate-style shelter sites. In a Monday morning email sent to staff by MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng and obtained by MassLive, Eng wrote that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and the MBTA, in coordination with other state agencies, have stepped up to aid arriving families. Starting on Monday, Nov. 20, the states transportation building at 10 Park Plaza will be used as a short-term shelter for up to 25 families to stay overnight until a more permanent location can be found, according to Engs email. He said officials anticipate the shelter to stay open for up to two weeks. The email notes that Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency back in August in anticipation that the states emergency shelter system would not be able to accommodate more than 7,500 families at a time. That threshold was crossed two weeks ago, and as of Friday the most recent number available there were 92 families placed on a waitlist. Families on a waitlist are being forced to seek alternatives and sometimes must sleep at airports or train stations for overnight shelter if other community shelters are not available. Lawmakers failed to reach a deal on a $250 million appropriation to bolster the shelter system last week at the close of the formal session. The lack of legislative action for the shelter system has cast doubts about when funds will arrive to keep the shelters running. We certainly need funding, Healey said in an interview with NBC 10. We need funding for emergency shelter. We need funding to pay state employes. So we need to get that done. In Massachusetts, the unique right-to-shelter law provides temporary housing, food and basic services to families in desperate need. In order to ensure that families eligible for Emergency Assistance shelter have a safe and warm place to sleep at night when there is not a shelter unit immediately available, the administration is utilizing space at 10 Park Plaza as a temporary, overnight facility, said Emergency Assistance Director General Scott Rice, who Healey appointed to head the shelter crisis. Cots and limited amenities will be available for the 25 families sheltered at the transportation building, according to Kevin Connor, a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. The site will only be used in the evening and overnight hours. Only families whove already been assessed at a state intake site and determined to be eligible for Emergency Assistance, as the shelter system is formally known, will be sheltered there. The shelter in the transportation building is intended as a temporary option until another shelter is operational, according to the office of housing and livable communities. In Engs email to staff, he said officials are considering launching a clothing drive for the families sheltered in the office. I appreciate everyones support as we enter Thanksgiving week, Eng wrote. While we celebrate with our families and friends, know that we are helping others during their time of need. With the holiday season upon us, health officials warn cases of COVID-19 will increase and say medical professionals must do more to guard public health. Between Oct. 15 and Nov. 11, there were 243 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Springfield higher than the number of cases in any other city or town in Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties and the second highest in the state after Boston, according to Massachusetts COVID dashboard. There were 6,943 confirmed cases in the state during that period. Doctors and other health advocates are expecting these numbers to spike over the next few weeks. They say there are ways to combat the spread. Wastewater data shows COVID cases are increasing, Lara Jirmanus, a primary care physician and instructor at Harvard Medical School, said at a Massachusetts Coalition for Health Equity briefing Monday. In May 2021, former Gov. Charlie Baker lifted the mask mandate for vaccinated people in Massachusetts, in line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. Since then, the state has ended universal admission screening and free community testing for the virus. And it has reduced the frequency of mandates about if and when to get the booster vaccines. Seasonal masking makes care safer during higher virus transmission periods, Jirmanus said. Dr. David Alpern, a Northampton physician, said testing remains a way to avoid transmission. Discontinuing universal admission testing for COVID-19 has been shown to result in a significant rise in hospital-acquired COVID-19, which carries a significant mortality rate, Alpern said. Others Monday pointed to health consequences of not requiring masks. Due to the lack of a mask mandate in the state, hospital-acquired COVID-19 is under-reported and under-appreciated, said Dr. Ted Pak, an infectious diseases fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital. While some major hospitals in the state have reinstated mask mandates, like Baystate Health, others like Mass General Brigham dont require screening or masking of patients for the virus. With COVID-19 on the rise in hospitals, Pak said four in 10 patients with undetected COVID-19 may transmit it to their hospital roommate. Testing and masking is needed because its our ethical responsibility to protect our patients, Pak said. The state Department of Public Health did not respond Monday to a request for comment about whether universal testing or a mask mandate will be reinstated. But the departments website provides an updated resource list for how residents can stay safe. Also discussed at the press conference was long COVID, its effects, and the demographic it impacts. Long COVID has become more of a concern, especially for those whove had [the virus] more than once and those among the 18-64 year-old age group, Jirmanus said. Since 2021, nearly 1 million people in Massachusetts, or 16% of the population, have reported experiencing long COVID, Jirmanus said. Long COVID poses a particular threat to the disabled community and those who are immunocompromised. Disabled people dont have a choice as to the number of times they have to go to the hospital, so lives are at stake when hospitals dont have a mask mandate, said Colin Kilick, executive director at the Disability Policy Consortium. This is a civil rights and equity issue, he said. Disabled people are being discouraged from asking questions and there is an increase in medical distrust, said Jayda Jones, a disability advocate. The end of the public health emergency does not mean an end to affordable and safe healthcare. The coalition wants the state to provide safe and accessible healthcare, free public access to testing, better communication about the risks of long COVID and a stronger defense of disability rights. This story has been corrected to reflect Dr. Theodore Paks title is infectious diseases fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital. Editors note: This article contains a description of an alleged sexual assault. A pediatrician who has worked since 1983 pleaded not guilty in court today to charges in connection with patients who said he sexually assaulted them during annual well-being checkups, Plymouth District Attorney Tim Cruzs office said Monday. Richard Kauff, 68, of Norwell, was charged with four counts of rape of a child with force and 12 counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, Cruzs office said in a statement. Kauff was associated with the South Shore Medical Center in Norwell until he retired in 2022, Cruzs office said. On Oct. 4, 2023, an anonymous person wrote in a Facebook post that they were sexually assaulted at an annual checkup, followed by comments by others who urged that person to report to Norwell police. A day later, another person came forward and reported to Norwell police. Early findings in the investigation found that Kauff sexually assaulted patients during their annual well-being checkups over a number of years, Cruzs office said. Along with the two former patients, 22 more former patients came forward with complaints, prosecutors said according to NBC 10 Boston. With this, prosecutors anticipate more charges on behalf of these former patients and combining them into one larger case. Read more: Police report gives details on Milan Lucic arrest The Commonwealth requested that Kauf be held on $100,000 cash bail on the conditions that he wear a GPS-monitoring bracelet, keep away from and have no contact with former patients or anyone at the South Shore Medical Center in Norwell or Kingston, relinquish his medical license, surrender his passport, have no unsupervised contact with children under 16 and remain within Massachusetts borders. Judge Heather Bradley ordered each of these except the condition of the GPS bracelet and ordered he be held on $50,000 cash bail, Cruzs office said. Kauff is due to return to court on Jan. 11. HOLYOKE The Office of the Mayor issued a warning recently to residents about a scam involving someone impersonating a utility worker. The alert was prompted by a recent report from a local resident who encountered a person posing as a Holyoke Water Works employee attempting to gain access to their home. We have been made aware of individuals going to peoples homes/residences and claiming they are doing work for the Water Department, noted a statement from the Holyoke Water Works. From the images we have received, we can confirm that those individuals were not HWW employees. Mayor Joshua A. Garcia emphasized the importance of vigilance and verification when dealing with people claiming to be city employees. The department advised homeowners to deny access if they felt uncomfortable. Call our main office to schedule an appointment and receive some clarification of which HWW employee will be attending the appointment, the statement read. Residents are advised to ask for identification from anyone purporting to be a representative of the citys utilities, including Holyoke Gas and Electric, Water Works, the Department of Public Works and Veolia Water officials. The mayor stressed that legitimate city employees always will be able to produce proper identification and will be wearing department-specific logo clothing. Additionally, they will typically arrive in a marked departmental or municipal vehicle. Residents and businesses are urged to report any suspicious activity or encounters with potential imposters to local authorities immediately. What to do The American Association of Retired Persons offers the following recommendations to safeguard against utility scams: Verify directly with utility company: If contacted by someone claiming to be a utility worker, confirm with the utility using the customer service number on your bill, not a number provided by the caller. Understand utility company procedures: Utilities will not ask for personal information over the phone, and service disconnection comes only after considerable advance warning. Request identification and information: When dealing with someone on supposed utility business, ask for their employee ID and details about your account, like the date and amount of your last payment. Report impostors: Immediately inform the utility company and your neighbors if you encounter or suspect a scam. Do not share personal or financial information: Avoid giving out personal or financial details to unknown individuals, whether over the phone or in person. Ignore scare tactics: Scammers might try to create urgency by claiming immediate service disconnection. Remember, utilities provide multiple delinquent notices and a prospective shut-off date. Control access to your home: Only allow utility employees inside if you have an appointment or have reported a problem, and always verify their identity. Exercise caution with online communications: Avoid clicking on links in emails or text messages that appear to be from your utility company unless you are certain of their authenticity. In recognition of Native American Heritage Month in November, MassLive asked readers to identify people who are leaders from the Indigenous community throughout the state, working to make a difference in their own area of interest, be it politics, education, business or the arts. MassLive will publish profiles of these leaders through November. These are people our readers have identified as inspirational, who may be doing good acts for their communities. They are being recognized for their accomplishments, leadership and commitment to inspire change. Rhonda Anderson (Submitted photo)Rhonda Anderson Rhonda Anderson Age: 53 Community: Works for the Indigenous Community of Massachusetts and resides in Franklin County. Her story: Rhonda Anderson is Inupiaq - Athabascan from Fairbanks, Alaska, with her Native enrollment village being Kaktovik. She has lived most of her life in Western Massachusetts and spent the summers in Alaska with her family. Her life has been involved in advocacy and activism work for over 30 years, ranging from the removal of mascots to protecting her traditional homelands in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from the extractive industry, among others. As a Western Massachusetts Commissioner, Anderson works to bridge conversations with federal, state and local governments with her regions sovereign Tribal Nations as needed, she told MassLive. She is actively pursuing the possibility of a Truth and Healing Commission in Massachusetts to explore the contemporary inequities and historical injustices against Native communities in the Commonwealth. She is the Western Massachusetts Commissioner on Indian Affairs, co-founder and co-director of the Ohketeau Cultural Center and the Native Youth Empowerment Foundation and a member of the advisory councils for the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. As co-founder and co-director of the Ohketeau Cultural Center, the only Native founded and run cultural center in Central and Western Massachusetts, her and the organizations work has focused on uplifting the voices of Native peoples and dismantling unjust frameworks, replacing them with accessibility, equity, dignity and wellness for Native communities, she added. There, members share their stories and cultures so that their communities remain strong and others may know our authentic experiences and current issues. Ohketeau is a place for Indigenous scholars and educators to undermine harmful narratives, stereotypes and biases about Indigenous cultures. We actively acknowledge and take steps to remove invisibility within mainstream settler society. We strive to illuminate the work of Indigenous artists, ancestors, culture-bearers, and activists, thereby expanding the non-Native audiences worldviews, she said. Anderson tributes her most important life work as being a mother as well as a classically trained herbalist, silversmith and activist. Throughout her time, she has sat on several Indigenous panels and roundtables to discuss how to better educate Native students in Massachusetts, issues regarding Native teen drug and alcohol use, land acknowledgments, land back movement, murdered and missing Indigenous women and reproductive rights. In 2021, Anderson was recognized for her activism work by the Massachusetts state Senate and The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women as a Commonwealth Heroine. She also received the 2022 Berkshire County NAACP Freedom Fund award. In her words: My advice is to sit with your elders, listen deeply and ask questions. Begin with volunteering and civil service work and using your voice for the voiceless to create a better world. Doing this work with multigenerational community members will teach you a lot about our Indigenous cultures, how to lift and raise much-needed Native voices and begin to disrupt colonization and racist structures on a reflexive level. Were always open to hear about more inspiring people. If youd like to suggest someone else who should be recognized, please fill out this form. GRANBY Two young entrepreneurs are trying to accomplish what very few before them have achieved. Nicolas Parro, 19, and Quinn Shields, 21, are going out on a limb, opening a Christmas tree business and hoping their investment will pay off. Its a little nerve-wracking because Ive never done anything remotely like this. But Im excited. I think itll do great, Shields said. This entrepreneurial ensemble has no high-level business training. Parro graduated from Pathfinder Regional Technical Vocational High School in 2022 and worked as a machinist in South Hadley. Shields was homeschooled and was a machinist alongside Parro. Theyve both left the machine shop and are working full-time at Chateau Harmony, a small shopping center anchored by a historic red barn at 185 West State St. in Granby. Shields is a handyman and landscaper; Parro manages the property. His parents own the business. Big, red and busy Chateau Harmony, known locally as the big red barn, is busy with holiday shoppers. The 50-car parking lot is packed all day during the holidays. Seizing on the traffic and opportunity, Parro and Shields are launching their first business Chateau Harmony Christmas Trees. Theyre attempting to sell 800 fresh-cut balsam fir trees in the coming weeks. We love Christmas and spreading joy. Our families have always had a great time going out and picking Christmas trees, bringing them back and decorating them. We really want to give that experience to other families, said Parro. While the partners have not gone to business school, they have had homespun training. My dad started multiple businesses, Parro said, and that has given me confidence. He didnt come from a wealthy family. Hes a self-made man. Growing up watching my dad sell things and support our family was beyond inspirational. Shields has worked on the family farm since he was a child. Hes learned and been inspired by his parents strong work ethic. Since I was a kid, Ive always wanted to have my own business. Ive been interested in selling things with my name on it, Shields said. Parro and Shields are hoping to get their cut of a massive industry. Up to 30 million real Christmas trees are sold each year in the U.S., according to the National Christmas Tree Association. The association also reports nearly 16% of all trees sold were purchased at retail lots, like the one the young entrepreneurs are running. While many of their peers have gone off to college or entered the workforce, very few start their own businesses. According to the United States Census Bureau, 94% of business owners are over the age of 34. A fraction of the remaining 6% is under the age of 21. Nicholas Parro (right), and his partner Quinn Shields are opening a Christmas Tree stand at Chateau Harmony in Granby. (Don Treeger / The Republican) 11/13/2023The Republican Path less taken Even though owning a business is an unlikely career path for the young men, they are pouring everything into their enterprise: purchasing equipment to display and wrap the trees, building a shed to store everything, producing and handing out flyers, advertising on Facebook and creating videos to market the business. There will also be Christmas music, hot cocoa, a candy cane tree for children and Christmas lights for everyone. Were shooting for the Hallmark Christmas look very festive and Christmassy. I think thatll draw a lot of attention, said Parro. The Christmas tree team also has an abundance of grit and determination. They dont have formal hours of operation. Theyll just be selling Christmas trees all the time, beginning the day after Thanksgiving. Quinn and I are ambitious people. Well be here seven days a week from 6 a.m. to probably eight oclock at night. Its pretty open-ended, said Parro. Very often business owners have to project how much they expect to sell. Parro and Shields couldnt do that because they had to purchase their product by the truckload, so they ordered one rig, fully packed with fresh-cut trees from New Hampshire. Their goal is not to sell out, but to wind up with a few extra firs. My dad tells me he never likes to sell out because if you sold out, you probably could have sold more. If we end the year and have ten trees left over, I feel thats a successful year, said Parro. Chateau Harmonys Christmas trees will range in size from 28 inches to nine feet tall. Depending on the size and quality of the offerings, each will sell for between $40 and $130. Money trees The budding entrepreneurs dont know how much profit theyll have, but they do want to donate much of it to the Granby police and fire departments, local emergency medical technicians along with a school and several churches in their community. One of our main goals is to help people live prosperous lives, and thats why were making these donations, because we love helping people. Ive been raised to give as much as I get, said Parro. The partners, pals since they were children, said selling trees is just the beginning. Theyre unwrapping what they hope to be a lifetime of doing business together. A woman told police that a man, who was later shot and killed by police during a standoff early Monday morning, tried breaking into her apartment before a fire broke out at the building early Monday morning, Attorney General John M. Formella, New Hampshire State Fire Marshal Sean P. Toomey, and Franklin Police Chief David B. Goldstein said in a joint statement. A woman living at an apartment at 32 West Bow St. in Franklin called police saying that her male neighbor from across the hall tried to break through her front door just before 10 p.m. on Nov. 20. The woman said she was unharmed. When they arrived, officers saw that the door had been shot at with a gun, officials said. Officers also heard gunshots coming from inside the mans apartment. An armed standoff occurred and the New Hampshire State Police SWAT Unit were called to the scene, officials said. Residents in area of Central and West Bow Streets were forced to shelter in place at around 2:45 a.m. as a result. That order has since been lifted. Smoke was also seen coming from the apartment building around 2:35 a.m. Then, just after 3 a.m., police saw fire from inside the building where the man exchanged multiple gunshots with state troopers. Read More: Here are all the places that received bomb threats in Massachusetts Sunday The man was found with gunshot wounds behind the building near a first-floor window, officials said. Two SWAT members were said to have fired their weapons during the incident. Their names have yet to be released. First responders tried to perform CPR on the man, but the fire was too strong for them to get close enough to him. The man was pronounced dead onsite, officials said. His name has yet to be released. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy on Tuesday, officials said. No one in law enforcement was physically harmed during the standoff, and officials said there is not threat to the public. The building was severely damaged from the fire, which is under investigation by the New Hampshire State Fire Marshals Office. Officials do not believe the fire was caused by law enforcement action. The exact circumstances surrounding this incident remain under active investigation. More information will be released as it becomes available, officials concluded. A newly created unit of the Massachusetts State Police will work with local law enforcement and community leaders to better the commonwealths response to the growing number of hate crimes, officials announced on Monday. One hate crime is too many and were seeing more than one a day, Gov. Maura Healey said during a Monday news conference at the State House. So its necessary that we say firmly and forcefully whatever the bias, whoever the target, hate has no place in Massachusetts. The announcement comes amid a worldwide rise in antisemitism spurred by the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, and confrontations on college and university campuses across the nation, including here in Massachusetts. The new Hate Crimes Awareness and Response Team, or HART, announced Monday will enhance statewide data to identify patterns and trends, develop advanced training with the Municipal Police Training Committee to help police respond to hate crimes and streamline coordination with local, state and federal law enforcement, officials said. HART will consist of four to five state police officers who will serve as the primary point of contact for local law enforcement, communities and religious groups in a given region, they added. Last year marked the record for the highest number of reported hate crimes in over two decades, according to a September report by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety & Security. In 2022, there were 440 hate crime incidents in the state, up from 406 in 2021, data showed. Similar to past years, prejudice against race and ethnicity or national origin was the most widely reported bias incident, representing almost half of cases in 2022, down from nearly 60% in 2021, the report found. But in the same time span, bias incidents against religious groups ticked up from nearly 18% to 21.1%, the report showed. Read More: Bomb threat made against Hingham synagogue prompts evacuations, police say Healeys office also has awarded $462,000 in Hate Crime Prevention grants to 10 school districts across the state. The funds will support educator professional development, community engagement and other costs associated with combating hate crimes in the commonwealth. The grants will also help promote school partnerships with local police and community organizations, including human rights groups, that have experience in combating hate crimes and promoting equity and inclusion. These Hate Crime Prevention grants will allow our schools to tackle the difficult concepts of bias and hate crimes to create safe and nurturing school environments that allow every student to feel supported, state Education Secretary Dr. Patrick Tutwiler said. WESTFIELD Last weeks City Council meeting started with Ward 4 Councilor Mike Burns recognition of Westfield High School junior Jillian Battles, who just completed her goal of filling 800 support bags for veterans. In the bags, which took Battles a good portion of the year to gather, were puzzles, games, snacks, tea, personal care items and lap blankets. She also included a personal thank you message in each bag. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are crucial to closing the financing gap for infrastructure development in Africa, and governments and the private sector should work together to create effective PPPs, said Dr Robert Lisinge, Acting Director of the Private Sector Development and Finance Division at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). He was speaking on Thursday at a plenary session of the African Economic Conference 2023 on Public-Private Partnerships to catalyse infrastructure development and innovative financing for industrialization in Africa. Financing Africas infrastructure is still a big challenge faced by many countries on the continent. To bridge the infrastructure gap, public-private partnerships are essential for infrastructure development in Africa, said Dr Lisinge. He noted that the African Development Bank estimates that between $130 and $170 billion is needed for infrastructure development every year, leaving a substantial financing gap of $68 to $108 billion. Traditionally, African governments and international partners like China have been primary investors in infrastructure. However, due to financial constraints, there is a growing need to explore public-private partnerships. These can harness private investment, technology and expertise, improving service delivery efficiency and cost-effectiveness. According to Dr Lisinge, the PPP experience varies across countries due to GDP differences, capital market size and depth. The ECA has been working with African countries to enhance their PPPs for infrastructure development, undertaking capacity building and helping them mobilize resources for infrastructure development. Ms Eniye Ogbebor, a Legal Expert at the World Association of PPP Units & Professionals (WAPPP-Africa) said infrastructure development is critical for sustainable development in various sectors, including green energy, clean water and sanitation, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The infrastructure financing gap in Africa is around $100 billion. To bridge the infrastructure gap there is a need to bring in the private sector, said Ms Ogbebor, noting that PPPs provide options to financing, and leverage risk-sharing, including financial and technical risks. Dr Arsene Honore Gideon Nkama, a PPP Expert at the Faculty of Economics, University of Yaounde II, and Consultant on the UNECA project Yaounde, Cameroon, said Cameroon, despite its many problems, has an economy that is still resilient enough to promote PPPs. However, the current business environment should be improved to promote more PPPs, while capacity building is also necessary to help mobilize funds. Mr Getahun Moges, an Energy Sector Expert and retired Power Sector Regulator in Ethiopia, said there is an urgent need to address the infrastructure financing gap in Africa. In Ethiopias case, the pace of development and engaging the private sector has been slow and sometimes results in unnecessary delays. Also, there is a big challenge of understanding the regulatory frameworks for PPPs, feasibility, and procurement regimes in the country, he said. Mr Moges noted that development partners support aspects of PPP development in Ethiopia through finance mobilization, technology transfer and capacity building. The plenary session was held at the three-day African Economic Conference taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Experts discussed how to attract private-sector investment to PPPs, promote collaboration among stakeholders, identify necessary legal reforms, build PPP competencies, and establish knowledge platforms for sustained support. AN interesting dynamic is unfolding in Westport Fianna Fail circles where sitting county councillor Brendan Mulroy will be challenged at the upcoming selection convention after the party decided to run just one candidate in next June's local elections. That strategy means that Mulroy will be challenged by party activist and chairman of the Westport Area Comhairle Ceantair, Tom Duggan, when party members gather to select their preferred candidate in The Clew Bay Hotel on Thursday, November 30. Mr Duggan is based in Fahy outside Westport and has a lifetime of service to the party. He also contested the local selection convention before the 2019 election where he was defeated by the then sitting councillor, Mulroy. Duggan was said to be disappointed subsequently when he was overlooked as the party added Louisburgh-based Chris Maxwell to the ticket at a later date. Mulroy was duly re-elected to the county council where he has served as Cathaoirleach and established himself as one of the most prominent local politicians, being involved in high-profile campaigns such as the Newport sewage project and the Justice For Joe campaign. Mulroy is currently the only Fianna Fail politician in the Clew Bay area. He was elected to Westport Town Council in 1999 where he served three terms before winning a seat on the county council in 2014. He has served as cathaoirleach of the West Mayo Municipal District on three occasions and a defeat at the upcoming convention would send shock waves through Mayo political life. Whether Mulroy would run as an independent if defeated on November 30 remains to be seen and he would not be drawn on the subject, telling The Mayo News he wanted to be judged on his record at convention and that's his only focus at the moment. The Global Gene Therapy Market value was US$ 3.44 billion by 2022 and is forecast to reach a valuation of US$ 19.2 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~24% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2030. The field of gene therapy is a dynamic and ever-evolving landscape. With its potential for disease modification, it offers a glimmer of hope for patients who would have otherwise faced dire outcomes. As the field of gene therapy progresses, it faces both triumphs and hurdles. The Request of this Sample Report Here- https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/gene-therapy-market Among the illnesses that plague humanity, neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) and neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) stand out as particularly challenging. These progressive ailments not only deteriorate the body but also shorten lifespan. Sadly, the lack of effective disease-modifying therapies has left countless individuals with little hope for a better future. However, in the realm of gene therapy, NMDs and NDDs of genetic origin have emerged as prime candidates for groundbreaking treatment. This approach aims to directly target the root cause of the disease the defective gene itself. By rectifying the genetic anomaly, gene therapy holds the potential to bring about life-altering benefits for patients afflicted by these debilitating conditions. Exploring the Potential of Gene Therapy in Tackling the Rising Cancer Cases: A Gateway to Revenue Generation The rising prevalence of cancer has become a pressing concern worldwide, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies alike. However, amidst this challenging landscape, gene therapy has emerged as a beacon of hope in the realm of cancer treatment. By harnessing the power of genetic manipulation, this innovative approach aims to combat cancer by introducing new genes into cancerous cells or their surrounding tissue. Cancer continues to be a leading cause of mortality, with a staggering 10 million deaths recorded in 2020 alone, accounting for nearly one in six deaths worldwide. The year 2023 witnessed a significant surge in new cancer cases, reaching an estimated 20 million globally, further emphasizing the urgent need for innovative treatment approaches. In light of these alarming statistics, the exploration of gene therapy has gained substantial momentum within the medical community. Gene therapy holds immense promise in combating the insidious nature of cancer. By introducing carefully selected genes into cancer cells or their surrounding environment, this groundbreaking technique aims to trigger cell death or impede the growth of malignant cells. The potential benefits of gene therapy extend beyond conventional treatment methods, as it offers a targeted and personalized approach to combating cancer. This precision allows for enhanced efficacy while minimizing adverse effects on healthy tissues. The advent of CRISPR technology has revolutionized the landscape of cancer research. CRISPRs ability to manipulate and evaluate hundreds or even thousands of genes simultaneously has accelerated the identification of potential drug targets. This powerful tool enables researchers to delve deeper into the genetic intricacies of cancer, unraveling its underlying mechanisms and paving the way for innovative therapies. With the aid of CRISPR, scientists are poised to make groundbreaking discoveries that could transform the future of cancer treatment. Current Trends in the Gene Therapy Market Gene therapy is a rapidly evolving field that holds promise for treating a wide range of diseases by introducing genetic material into a patients cells. Here are some current trends in the gene therapy market: Increasing Funding and Investments: The gene therapy market has seen a significant increase in funding and investments in recent years. In Europe, for example, there has been a consistent growth in funding for cell and gene therapy, with around USD 2.6 billion financings reported in 2020, representing a 103% increase compared to previous years. The gene therapy market has seen a significant increase in funding and investments in recent years. In Europe, for example, there has been a consistent growth in funding for cell and gene therapy, with around USD 2.6 billion financings reported in 2020, representing a 103% increase compared to previous years. Advancements in Viral-Vector Therapies: Viral-vector gene therapies, which use modified viruses to deliver therapeutic genes into cells, are a significant area of focus in the gene therapy field. Keeping pace with the increasing demand for viral-vector therapies requires addressing challenges, exploring standardization opportunities, and strategizing to accelerate patient access. Viral-vector gene therapies, which use modified viruses to deliver therapeutic genes into cells, are a significant area of focus in the gene therapy field. Keeping pace with the increasing demand for viral-vector therapies requires addressing challenges, exploring standardization opportunities, and strategizing to accelerate patient access. Growing Approvals of Gene Therapy Products: The gene therapy market has seen a rise in the number of approved gene therapy products. Regulatory authorities have been granting approvals for gene therapies targeting various indications, including cancer, neurological disorders, and muscular dystrophy. These approvals contribute to the markets growth. The gene therapy market has seen a rise in the number of approved gene therapy products. Regulatory authorities have been granting approvals for gene therapies targeting various indications, including cancer, neurological disorders, and muscular dystrophy. These approvals contribute to the markets growth. Next-Generation Delivery Technologies: Advancements in delivery technologies are playing a crucial role in advancing gene therapy. For example, lipid nanoparticles are enabling a new generation of engineered cell therapies, allowing for more complex cell engineering and gene delivery. Its important to note that the gene therapy market is dynamic and constantly evolving. These trends reflect the current landscape, but new developments and breakthroughs are expected to shape the future of gene therapy. Key Takeaways from the Global Gene Therapy Market In terms of Indication Segment: The cancer segment dominated the global gene therapy industry due to the increasing use of gene therapies for therapy and the increased incidence of cancer. The cancer segment dominated the global gene therapy industry due to the increasing use of gene therapies for therapy and the increased incidence of cancer. By Vector Segment: The non-viral vectors segment held a leading share in the gene therapy industry. This dominance may be brought on by the quick market entry of non-viral vectors based on oligonucleotides. The non-viral vectors segment held a leading share in the gene therapy industry. This dominance may be brought on by the quick market entry of non-viral vectors based on oligonucleotides. On the basis of Gene Type Segment: The antigen segment led the global gene therapy industry. The market is likely to expand in the coming years due to a number of important factors, including an increase in the prevalence of autoimmune diseases, cancer, and R&D in antigen-based gene therapies. For The Full Report, Please Follow This Link- https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/gene-therapy-market North America Emerges as a Significant Revenue Contributor for the Gene Therapy Market North America has emerged as a significant player in the global gene therapy market, capturing a substantial share. This dominance can be attributed to a multitude of factors that contribute to the regions growth. High and escalating healthcare spending, a surge in the prevalence of chronic diseases, the availability of reimbursements, state-of-the-art healthcare infrastructure, and the presence of key market participants all contribute to North Americas stronghold in the gene therapy market. As a result, the region is poised for further expansion throughout the forecast period. The growth of the gene therapy market in North America is further propelled by the governments increasing investment levels and the rising incidence of specific diseases. Notably, the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation has estimated that between 10,000 and 25,000 children and adults in the United States will be affected by spinal muscular atrophy in 2020, making it one of the more prevalent rare diseases. Such statistics highlight the urgent need for innovative therapies and create a demand for gene therapy solutions. North America is witnessing the launch of several initiatives aimed at advancing gene therapy. An exemplary initiative is a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ten pharmaceutical companies, and five non-profit organizations. Their joint efforts are focused on expediting the development of gene therapies for the 30 million Americans suffering from rare diseases. These proactive measures are expected to stimulate the demand for gene therapy, thereby fostering market growth. List of Prominent Players Profiled in the Global Gene Therapy Market Novartis AG Biogen Gilead Sciences, Inc. Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. Amgen Inc. Neurophth Therapeutics, Inc. Others Segmentation Overview By Indication Cancer Cardiovascular Diseases Hepatological Diseases Infectious Disease Neurological Disorders Oncological Disorders Rare Diseases Other diseases and Disorders By Vector Type Viral Adenovirus Adeno-associated Virus Herpes Simplex Virus Lentivirus Poxvirus Retrovirus Vaccinia Virus Others Non-viral Electroporation Gene Gun Naked Plasmid Vector Lipofection Others By Gene Type Antigen Cytokine Deficiency Growth Factors Receptors Suicide Gene Tumour Suppressor Others By Method of Delivery Ex-vivo In-vivo Get a Free Sample Report Here- https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/gene-therapy-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 The Virtual Oncology Market is estimated to be valued at US$ 3.4 Bn in 2023 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 17.9% over the forecast period 2023-2030, as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights. Virtual oncology refers to the integration of digital technologies and virtual platforms into the field of oncology, which focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. This emerging approach leverages various technologies such as telemedicine, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and remote monitoring to provide cancer patients with access to medical consultations, treatment planning, and supportive care from the comfort of their homes. Virtual oncology aims to enhance the efficiency of cancer care delivery, increase patient convenience, and overcome geographical barriers, thereby improving the overall quality of cancer management. The Virtual Oncology Market refers to the integration of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies in the field of oncology. These technologies have revolutionized cancer treatment by providing enhanced visualization and simulation tools for surgeons and oncologists. Virtual reality and augmented reality allow medical professionals to immerse themselves in a virtual environment and interact with 3D models of tumors, assisting in surgical planning, radiation therapy, and treatment decision-making. The market also includes virtual reality therapy for cancer patients, which helps in reducing pain, anxiety, and stress during treatment. Sample Pages of This Report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/6446 TOP Players in Market Report are: Flatiron Health, McKesson Corporation, Cerner Corporation, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Siemens Healthcare Private Limited, Crisp, Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Elekta AB, Accuray Incorporated, C-TAC Health, Oscar Health, NXGN Management, LLC, Epic Systems Corporation, Optum, Inc, Orchestrate.AI, CureMatch, Inc., Oncora Medical, Massive Bio, Inc., Dell Technologies Market Dynamics: The virtual oncology market is driven by technological advancements in virtual reality and augmented reality, which have significantly improved the accuracy and efficiency of cancer treatment. The integration of these technologies in surgical planning and simulation has led to improved surgical outcomes and reduced complications. Moreover, the increasing prevalence of cancer globally is a major factor contributing to the growth of the virtual oncology market. According to the World Health Organization, cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with approximately 17 million new cases and 9.6 million cancer-related deaths in 2018. The rising burden of cancer and the need for effective and personalized treatment options are driving the demand for virtual oncology solutions. Virtual Oncology Market Segmentation: Virtual Oncology Market, By Component Software Service Hardware Virtual Oncology Market, By Cancer Type Lung Cancer Breast Cancer Colorectal Cancer Prostate Cancer Liver Cancer Bladder Cancer Others (Pancreatic, Ovarian etc.) Virtual Oncology Market, By Application Precision Medicine Patient Care Management Research & Development Clinical Trials Diagnosis & Treatment Decision Making Data Management Others (Billing Management, Regulatory Compliance etc.) Virtual Oncology Market, By End User Hospitals & Diagnostic Imaging Centers Academic Institutions & Research Centers Pharma & Biotech Companies Contract Research Organizations (CROs) Others (Reference Laboratories, Pharmacies etc.) Buy Now and Get a Discount on this Report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/6446 Virtual Oncology Market: Drivers and Restraints The virtual oncology market has witnessed significant growth in recent years, driven by various factors. Virtual oncology refers to the use of telehealth and digital technologies to provide cancer care and support to patients remotely. This approach has gained momentum due to its ability to overcome barriers like geographical distances and lack of access to healthcare facilities. However, like any other market, the virtual oncology market also faces certain challenges. In this article, we will explore two drivers and two restraints impacting the virtual oncology market. Market Drivers: Technological Advancements: With the rapid advancements in telehealth and digital technologies, virtual oncology has become more feasible and effective. This includes the development of advanced video conferencing platforms, remote monitoring devices, and telemedicine apps. These technologies enable healthcare providers to communicate with patients in real-time, monitor their progress, and provide personalized care. Additionally, the emergence of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms has further enhanced the accuracy of remote diagnosis and treatment recommendations for oncology patients. Technological advancements have thus been a major driver of the virtual oncology market. Increasing Cancer Incidence: The global burden of cancer has been on the rise, with millions of new cases being diagnosed each year. This increasing cancer incidence has created a growing demand for oncology services and treatments. However, there is a shortage of oncology specialists and healthcare facilities in many regions, especially in rural areas. Virtual oncology can help bridge this gap by enabling patients to access cancer care remotely. By leveraging digital technologies, virtual oncology provides patients with timely consultations, expert opinions, and ongoing monitoring, regardless of their location. The rising need for cancer care, coupled with the shortage of oncology resources, has thus fueled the growth of the virtual oncology market. Market Restraints: Limited Infrastructural Support: While virtual oncology holds great potential, its widespread adoption is hindered by limited infrastructural support in certain regions. Reliable internet connectivity, high-speed networks, and access to necessary hardware devices are essential for the smooth functioning of virtual oncology services. However, many remote and underserved areas lack the necessary infrastructure, making it challenging for patients to access virtual oncology care. Additionally, the availability of trained healthcare professionals who can effectively utilize virtual oncology technologies is also a limiting factor. To overcome these restraints, governments and healthcare organizations need to invest in improving infrastructure and providing adequate training to healthcare professionals. Data Privacy and Security Concerns: The virtual oncology market heavily relies on the exchange of sensitive patient information over digital platforms. This poses significant data privacy and security concerns. The risk of data breaches, unauthorized access, and tampering of patient records can discourage patients and healthcare providers from fully embracing virtual oncology services. Additionally, complying with data protection regulations, such as HIPAA in the United States, can be challenging for virtual oncology providers. Efforts must be made to address these concerns by implementing robust cybersecurity measures, ensuring data encryption, and establishing strict privacy policies. Building trust among patients and maintaining the confidentiality of their health information is crucial for the sustainable growth of the virtual oncology market. Key Developments: On October 2, 2023, European Commission-initiated European Cancer Imaging Initiative, (EUCAIM) and the European Commission announced the first public release of its platform, Cancer Image Europe, in the projects development. The first platform release brings benefits to researchers, clinicians, and AI innovators across Europe and paves the way for the future of cancer diagnosis and treatment. On September 21, 2023, Belong.Life, a global healthtech provider of high-engagement patient communities and care platforms, announced the launch of Tara, software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based conversational artificial intelligence (AI) cancer clinical trial matching platform. In November 2022, Roche Products (India) Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, announced the launch of a mobile patient app for those taking part in its cancer support program. A new companion mobile app called Blue Tree 2.0 is improving access to the services of this program. Roche India developed the app together with smart technology company MOURI Tech. Buy Now @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/6446 Why Choose Coherent Market Insights? Our BI-enabled solution for narrative storytelling in this market. Coherent Market Insights provides in-depth anticipated trends and reliable Insights on over 20,000+ growing and specialty sectors, assisting you in making important revenue-impacting decisions for a bright future. CMI gives a comprehensive overview and worldwide competitive landscape for your markets Region, Country, Segment, and Key Players. Present your Market Report and conclusions using the built-in presentation tool, which saves you up to 70% of your time and resources for Investor, Sales & Marketing, R&D, and Product Development proposals. With more than 15+ Key Market Indicators available for your market, CMI provides data distribution in Excel and Interactive PDF formats. Check Out More Report: Big Data Healthcare Market Global Oncology Information Systems Market Healthcare Information Technology Services Market Hadoop and Big Data Analytics Market Pressure Bandages Market Compression Stockings Market Vein Finder Market Blood Clotting Accelerant Market Tumor Treating Fields Market Meniscus Repair Systems Market Intragastric Balloon Market by Fern Siegel , November 20, 2023 Dashiell Hammett's 1930s detective Nick Charles insisted: A dry martini you always shake to waltz time. Now it is heiress-influencer Paris Hiltons turn. The French vodka brand Grey Goose has appointed her creative director of martinis. The catch is that Hilton has a ready-to-drink cocktail at her fingertips.So, its literally already bottled, she says in the new spot. Thats hot. The new 60-second spot promotes Grey Gooses Classic Martini Cocktail. Forget about finding the right amount of vermouth. Or, if the drink is best shaken or stirred. All martini lovers need is a chilled martini glass to complete the experience. advertisement advertisement There are also 15- and 30-second spots. All are rolling out across Grey Goose and Hiltons social media channels, as well as YouTube. The national campaign was produced by global agency RadicalMedia and directed by Nina Meredith, who has done ads for Under Armour, Sephora and Ford Bronco. We've seen that consumers are seeking out ready-to-serve options as they are looking for ways to enjoy their favorite specialty cocktails at home without the guesswork that craft cocktails often entail, Grey Goose vice president, marketing, Aleco Azqueta told Agency Daily. Our new campaign with Paris Hilton is a fun wink at the recent trend of brands appointing celebrities as their creative directors, despite having no real experience related to the product, Azqueta said. Appointing Paris made perfect sense for a product that delivers a perfect martini every time. RadicalMedia counts Pepsi, Rolex and Geico among its client list. Bacardi, which owns Grey Goose, also owns Bacardi rum, Patron Tequila, Dewar's Blended Scotch whisky and Bombay Sapphire gin. Grey Goose recorded volume sales of approximately 4.2 million 9- liter cases worldwide in 2022, according to Statista. by Teresa Buyikian , November 19, 2023 Outback Steakhouse says its customers may not care that it won the top spot in the 2023 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)-- but its going to provide a little incentive for them to promote the win anyway. Through Nov. 22, Outback wants customers to share their enthusiasm (or at least fake it) by posting on social media with the hash tag #SoProudOfOutback.By showing the proof of the post on their phones to their server, customers will receive a free Bloomin Onion with the purchase of one full-price adult entree. The chain said in a release that the content of the post, or platform, is of little concern. "We don't care that you don't care that we won an award for caring about youwe still care anyway," said Brett Patterson, president of Outback Steakhouse. "But, just so you understand, the ACSI Survey is a huge recognition in our industry and demonstrates our dedication to customer satisfaction, hospitality and menu innovation. It's a big deal for us. And an even better deal for you, if you pretend to care." advertisement advertisement The Aussie steakhouse moved into the top spot this year, jumping up 8% to achieve an ACSI score of 83. According to Outback, the addition of handheld ordering tablets and new ovens and grills were key in improving order accuracy, food quality and food menu variety. The ACSI is a national indicator of the quality of economic output for goods and services as experienced by consumers, according to the organizations website. The Index currently tracks the customer satisfaction with over 400 of the largest corporations in the U.S. If you are someone who believes in saving to ensure that you have enough capital for present and future expenses, investing in the stock market can prove to be fruitful. The stock market contains numerous investment instruments that have the ability to provide good returns by increasing the invested capital in its value. Among numerous investment instruments, one of the most invested for the highest returns is equities. Equities are shares of companies that are listed on the stock exchanges, where investors can buy and sell them to make profits. For example, you can buy shares of a company currently trading at Rs 100 and sell them when the share prices increase to make a profit. However, all the companies trading on the stock exchanges were once private companies or subsidiaries and offered their shares for the first time to the general public for listing on the stock exchanges on a particular day. Imagine if you could have bought the shares of Dmart before it got listed on the stock exchanges at Rs 299, which are now trading at Rs 3,800. Well, one of the best ways to make good and quick profits is to invest in a companys shares during the time it offers its shares for the first time. Currently, Tata Technologies and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency have floated their IPO, which will go live in a few days. This blog will help you understand the technicalities of both the IPOs to help you make an informed decision. Tata Technologies VS IREDA Freepik About The Companies Tata Technologies Limited is a subsidiary of Tata Group and was incorporated in the year 1994. It is a leading global engineering services company offering digital and product development solutions. The company uses its deep manufacturing knowledge and expertise in turnkey product development to help its customers develop safe, sustainable products and deliver great customer experience. IREDA is a public limited company considered a Mini Ratna (Category - I) government enterprise, incorporated in 1987. It is a leading financial institution that promotes, develops, and extends assistance for new and renewable energy projects. For the last 36 years, IREDA has been providing comprehensive financial products and related services for renewable energy projects to various green energy companies. IPO Details Tata Technologies IPO will open from 22 November to 24 November, and share allotment will be finalised on Thursday, 30 November 2023. Refunds will be initiated on 1 December 2023, and the shares will be credited to the demat account on 4 December 2023. The shares will be listed on NSE and BSE on 5 December 2023. Tata Technologies Limited has set the price band for the IPO between Rs 475-500 per share. The face value for each share is Rs 2, and the lot size is 30 shares. The book-built issue is of Rs 3,042.51 crores. The issue is entirely an offer for sale of 6.09 crore shares. IREDA IPO will open from 21 November to 23 November, and share allotment will be finalised on 29 November 2023. Refunds will be initiated on 30 November 2023, and the shares will be credited to the demat account on 1 December 2023. The shares will be listed on NSE and BSE on 4 December 2023. IREDA has set the price band for the IPO between Rs 30-32 per share. The face value for each share is Rs 10, and the lot size is 460 shares. The book-built issue is of Rs 2,150.21 crores. The issue is an offer for sale of 26.88 crore shares and a fresh issue of 40.32 crore shares. Financials Tata Technologies posted a revenue of Rs 2,587.42 and Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs 351.90 crores for the period ending 30 September 2023. At the same period, the company had a net worth of Rs 2,853.13 crores, making it a financially stable and profitable company. The current P/E ratio of the company is 32.53, and EPS in Rs is 15.37. IREDA IREDA posted a revenue of Rs 2,320.46 and Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs 579.32 crores for the period ending 30 September 2023. In the same period, the company had a net worth of Rs 6,580.61 crores, which reflects that the companys financial performance has been ideal. The current P/E ratio of the company is 8.47, and EPS in Rs is 3.78. Objectives Of The Issue Tata Technologies is a subsidiary of the Tata Group and is launching an IPO with the sole purpose of providing an exit to some current shareholders. As the book-built issue is entirely an offer for sale, Tata Technologies will not receive any proceeds from the IPO, and all the proceeds will go to the selling shareholders, especially Tata Motors. IREDA is a mini ratna company administratively controlled by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The company will not receive any proceeds from the offer for sale as they will be received by the selling shareholders. The company will receive the proceeds from the fresh issue and intends to use them to meet future capital requirements and onward lending. It will also use the proceeds to create a brand image among existing and potential customers. IPO Amount The minimum amount of investment required by retail investors in the Tata Technologies IPO is Rs 14,250 for one lot of 30 shares, and the maximum amount is Rs 1,99,500. The minimum lot size investment for sNII is 14 lots (420 shares), amounting to 210,000; for bNII, it is 67 lots (2,010 shares), amounting to 1,005,000. The minimum amount of investment required by retail investors in IREDA IPO is Rs 14,720 for one lot of 460 shares, and the maximum amount is Rs 1,91,360. The minimum lot size investment for sNII is 14 lots (6,440 shares), amounting to Rs 2,06,080; for bNII, it is 68 lots (31,280 shares), amounting to Rs 10,00,960. Freepik Conclusion Investing in IPOs is one of the best ways to buy the shares of a company at the lowest possible price. As the IPO price is the lowest price offered by the company, it can substantially increase your profit margin in comparison to buying the shares after a specific time of listing. Tata is a household name in India and comes with the highest possible goodwill for a brand. Tata Group is coming out with an IPO after 19 years for a company that is profitable and has immense growth potential. On the other hand, IREDA is a company that is administratively managed by the MNRE, making it a safe bet for IPO investing. Now that you know everything about Tata Technologies VS IREDA IPO, you are better equipped to choose between the two based on your investment goals, risk appetite, and financial situation. You can even invest in both IPOs with multiple bids to increase your chances of allotment. Good Luck! Disclaimer: The above investment is meant to promote financial literacy and should not be taken as investment advice. HONOLULU (AP) Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is meeting with senior U.S. military leaders and members of Hawaiis large Filipino community this weekend in a visit steeped in geopolitical and personal significance for the leader, but also drawing small protests from a younger generation of Filipinos who point to the actions of his dictator father who died in exile in Hawaii. Marcos, who stopped in Hawaii on his way home from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, connected Saturday evening with members of Hawaii's large Filipino-American community before a planned Sunday meeting with Adm. John Aquilino, the top U.S. military commander in the Indo-Pacific region. Marcos is then due to deliver a talk about his nation's security challenges and the role of the Philippines-U.S. alliance. A small number of protesters gathered outside the community meeting and at the airport where he landed. Marcos trip comes at a time when the U.S. and the Philippines have been deepening their long-standing alliance in a shift after Marcos' predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, nurtured cozy ties with China and Russia. The Philippines this year agreed to give the U.S. access to four more bases as America looks to deter Chinas increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. In April, the two countries held their largest military exercises in decades. But the trip also likely has personal resonance for the leader of the Philippines. His father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, died in exile in Honolulu after he was ousted in a 1986 army-backed people power uprising. Many Filipino immigrants in Hawaii also hail from same part of the Philippines as Marcos and revere him and his family. Filipinos are the largest single ethnic group in Hawaii, accounting for 26% of the states population as of the 2020 census. Winfred Damo, who immigrated to Honolulu from Marcos province of Ilocos Norte in 1999, said being Ilocano means we always support the Marcoses. The 58-year-old helped campaign for Marcos Jr. in Hawaii and said the president is a different person than his father and from a different era. Philippine nationals living abroad can vote in elections back home. We have a better government now in the Philippines, he said. Marcoses are good people. They did a lot in our country and they are the best. Not all are Marcos fans. Arcy Imasa organized a protest outside the convention center where Marcos met with community members on Saturday. Her aim was to help younger Filipinos learn his family's history. Marcos' father placed the Philippines under martial rule in 1972, a year before his term was to expire. He also padlocked Congress, ordered the arrest of political rivals and left-wing activists and ruled by decree. A Hawaii court found the senior Marcos liable for human rights violations and awarded $2 billion from his estate to compensate more than 9,000 Filipinos who filed a lawsuit against him for torture, incarceration, extrajudicial killings and disappearances. Imasa, 40, who is part of Hawaii Filipinos for Truth, Justice and Democracy and grew up in the Ilocos province of Pangasinan, said the mindset of many Filipinos in Hawaii is fixed, especially those of older generations. Theyre not on the right side of history. Theyre not fully aware of the crimes that transpired, she said. Satu Limaye, the vice president of the East-West Center, noted the U.S. and the Philippines have a long, complicated relationship. He pointed to years when the U.S. ruled the archipelago as a colony, when the two nations signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951 and when the U.S. military withdrew from major bases in the country in the 1990s. Duterte was often critical of the U.S., at times questioning the value of the alliance and demanding more military aid to preserve the pact. Under Marcos there has been a 180-degree turn and a massive change in cooperation and coordination with the U.S., Limaye said. China has laid sweeping territorial claims over virtually the entire South China Sea, areas also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China has clashed with its smaller neighbors and subsequently drawn in the U.S., which is Manilas treaty ally and Chinas main rival in the Asia-Pacific region. Washington and its allies have deployed navy ships and fighter aircraft to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, build up deterrence and reassure allies. Earlier this month, dozens of Chinese coast guard and accompanying ships chased and encircled Philippine vessels during a four-hour faceoff. Marcos in September said his country does not want a confrontation but will defend its waters after its coast guard dismantled a floating barrier placed by China at a disputed shoal. Limaye said it's important to watch how the U.S. and the Philippines manage their nations' long and complex relationship while facing their common concern, China. CHARLOTTE, N.C. Former Marine Lee Stutts lives at the tip of a peaceful Lake Norman peninsula, but on Jan. 6, 2021, he readied for battle, prosecutors say. The 46-year-old Terrell man wore a black helmet with a Marine Corps logo sticker on the back as he assaulted at least seven officers during the Capitol riots, according to an FBI affidavit released by federal prosecutors after his arrest in North Carolina Thursday. In a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia, Stutts was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, both felonies. He becomes at least the 31st North Carolinian to be charged in the Jan. 6 attack. He also was charged with the misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds. Stutts is accused of pushing and shoving officers with his hands, a barricade, a battering ram and a bike rack as he helped lead the Capitol breach, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. The riots disrupted the joint session of Congress where electoral votes were counted in the 2020 presidential election. The count certified Joe Biden as the winner over Donald Trump. Waving Other Rioters On Stutts lives in a split-level home built in 1975 on Clement Circle, Catawba County property tax records show. The home and its half-acre lot, about 33 miles northwest of Charlotte, are valued at $866,600, the public records show. Thats modest on a lake where mansions worth millions of dollars line the shore. Stutts didnt return a phone message from The Charlotte Observer on Friday. On Jan. 6, 2021, Stutts sported a 2020 Trump Keep America Great shirt over a long-sleeved black and gray camouflage print hoodie, according to the affidavit filed by an unnamed FBI special agent. He also wore an American flag and eagle print neck gaiter and had a backpack on. After joining a Stop the Steal rally on the Ellipse in Washington, Stutts darted through broken fencing and over a wall to join fellow rioters on the west plaza of the Capitol, according to the affidavit. He can be seen waiving (sic) other rioters on as he made a beeline for the line of U.S. Capitol Police officers blocking the way to the southwest steps of the Capitol, the agent says in the affidavit. Stutts wrapped his arms around an officer from behind and shoved an officer from behind with his hands, according to the indictment. Body-cam and closed-circuit police video also show Stutts assaulting four other officers after more police arrived to try to hold their line with metal bike racks, the FBI agent said. Pumping His Fists Stutts and other rioters later moved a large sign on wheels with a metal frame toward the police line and barricade. The rioters used the sign as a battering ram against officers attempting to hold the line, the agent said. Stutts then grabbed the bike rack barricade beneath the sign and pushed it toward the officers, according to the affidavit. After police took the sign from the rioters, video shows Stutts throwing a water bottle at the police line, the FBI agent said. Later that afternoon, Stutts was one of the rioters leading the way in a final breaking of the police line, the agent said. After the Plaza was overrun, Stutts could be observed raising his arms and pumping his fists in a celebratory manner as police officers retreated from the oncoming swarm of rioters. Stutts was scheduled to make his initial appearance in a U.S. courtroom Friday in the Charlotte-based Western District of North Carolina. The outcome of the hearing wasnt immediately available. Stutts joins at least 1,200 others from all 50 states whove been charged in connection with the Capitol breach, which caused $2.7 million in damage. His case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorneys office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Divisions Counterterrorism Section. U.S. Attorney Dena Kings Charlotte-based office is providing assistance. 2023 The Charlotte Observer. Visit at charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The Pentagon has finally published its long-awaited policy allowing cadets and Midshipmen to continue their education at the nation's service academies if they have children while enrolled, instead of having to leave school. Under the prior policy, cadets who admitted to either procreating or giving birth to children were in violation of their service academy's rules, could have been kicked out, and might have been on the hook to pay back the cost of their education. Reforms to that policy were mandated in the National Defense Authorization Act passed in December 2021. The Pentagon was given a year to implement the policy, but the formal guidance process dragged on nearly a year past the due date. Changes to the Department of Defense instruction were finally updated Nov. 1, according to the document. Read Next: VA Pauses Foreclosures on Veterans Facing Difficulties Making Mortgage Payments The policy now officially recognizes temporary guardianship plans created by cadets and Midshipmen that direct who will care for their child while they finish their education -- a practice already put in place by the academies in lieu of Pentagon guidance. The child can't live at the service academy. Those who give birth will be granted anywhere from one year to two years of leave and will be temporarily waived from physical fitness requirements through pregnancy. "A cadet or Midshipman who becomes pregnant may be granted a leave of absence for good cause by the [military service academy] superintendent," the updated Pentagon instruction reads. "In most cases, a one-year leave of absence will be sufficient. In unique circumstances, the MSA superintendent can grant a leave of absence not to exceed two years." The child will be able to take advantage of Tricare health coverage as well as other benefits like exchange and commissary privileges, but cadets and Midshipmen will not "receive additional benefits, pay, or allowances as a result of their gaining a dependent until commissioned into active-duty service," according to the instruction. As the Pentagon lagged on creating and implementing its guidance, Military.com reported last month that service academies were honoring the spirit of the law in the meantime. The Air Force Academy was the first to adopt its own internal rules to honor the spirit of the CADET Act -- the original legislation that called for an updated policy -- and immediately assisted four of its cadets who had submitted family care plans to leadership. The plans detailed who would care for the child financially and physically while the cadets remained enrolled at the academy, the school told Military.com in March. Neither the Coast Guard Academy nor the Merchant Marine Academy are controlled by the Department of Defense instruction. The law passed as part of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, pertains to the Air Force, Army and Navy academies. The Coast Guard Academy public affairs office told Military.com in an email last month that it is also "following the spirit of the CADET Act while awaiting promulgation of a formal policy." The original CADET Act legislation was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Bethany Stevens, a spokesman for Cruz's office, told Military.com on Monday that the guidance was "long-overdue" and gives cadets and Midshipmen the opportunity to continue their service. "Students at our military academies should never have had to choose between keeping their children and serving our country, and our country should never have been losing them as service members," Stevens said. "It's deeply heartening that Congress, the Defense Department, and the academies were able to get this done." -- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly. Related: Service Academies Honor Law Allowing Cadets to Have Kids Even as Pentagon Policy Lags KYIV, Ukraine (AP) U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday in a high-profile push to keep money and weapons flowing to Ukraine even as U.S. and international resources are stretched by the new global risks raised by the Israel-Hamas conflict. Austin, who traveled to Kyiv by train from Poland, met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and was scheduled to meet with Chief of Staff Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi. In Kyiv, Austin said Ukraine's effort to defeat Russia's invasion matters to the rest of the world" and that U.S. support would continue for the long haul." Zelenskyy said Austin's visit was a very important signal for Ukraine. We count on your support, Zelenskyy said, thanking Congress as well as the American people for their backing. This is Austins second trip to Kyiv, but hes making it under far different circumstances, as the worlds attention is drawn to the Middle East and signs of fatigue set in with the almost 21-month Russia-Ukraine war. Austin's first visit occurred in April 2022, just two months after the start of the war. At the time, Ukraine was riding a wave of global rage at Moscows invasion, and Austin launched an international effort that now sees 50 countries meet monthly to coordinate on what weapons, training and other support could be pushed to Kyiv. But the conflict in Gaza could pull attention and resources from the Ukraine fight. The U.S. has worked feverishly since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the weeks of devastating bombardment on Gaza by Israel that has followed, killing more than 10,000 civilians, to keep those attacks from turning into a regional war. The U.S. has already committed two carrier strike groups, scores of fighter jets and thousands of U.S. personnel to the Middle East, and has had to shift its force posture and conduct airstrikes against Iranian-backed militant groups that are now hitting U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria on a regular basis. To date, Ukraine has received more than $44 billion from the U.S. and more than $35 billion from other allies in weapons, ranging from millions of bullets to air defense systems, advanced European and U.S. battle tanks and, finally, pledges for F-16 fighter jets. But Ukraine still needs more, and after almost 20 months of shipping arms to Ukraine, cracks are beginning to show. Some European countries such as Poland have scaled back support, noting their need to maintain adequate fighting ability to defend themselves. Ukrainian officials have strongly pushed back on suggestions they are in a stalemate with Russia after a long-awaited counteroffensive over the summer did not radically change the battle lines on the ground. In a visit to Washington last week, Andriy Yermak, head of the presidents office, provided no details but confirmed that Ukrainian forces had finally pushed through to the east bank of the Dnieper River, which has essentially served as the immovable front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces for months. However, as winter sets in it will become more difficult for either side to make large gains due to ground conditions. That could further work against Ukraine if U.S. lawmakers perceive theres time to wait before more funds are needed. Ukraine and the U.S. expect that this winter Russia will go after Ukraine's infrastructure again, like the power grid, making air defenses critical. Fred Kagan, a senior resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said it would be a mistake to think there is time to wait. If we stop providing aid to Ukraine, its not that the stalemate continues. The aid is actually essential to preventing the Russians from beginning to maneuver again in ways that can allow them to defeat Ukraine, Kagan said. So the cost of cutting off aid is that Russia wins and Ukraine loses and NATO loses. Further complicating the support is that the Pentagon has only a dwindling amount of money left in this years budget to keep sending weapons to Ukraine, and Congress is months late on getting a new budget passed and has not taken up a supplemental spending package that would include Ukraine aid. Since the war began in February 2022, the U.S. has provided more than $44.2 billion in weapons to Ukraine, but the funding is nearly gone. The Pentagon can send about $5 billion more in weapons and equipment from its own stocks. But it only has about $1 billion in funding to replace those stocks. As a result, recent announcements of weapons support have been of much smaller dollar amounts than in months past. You have seen smaller packages, because we need to parse these out, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday. Because we dont know when Congress is going to pass our supplemental package. Officials have been urging Congress to provide additional money, but a growing number of Senate Republicans have opposed additional Ukraine aid without securing support for other unrelated provisions, such as stricter immigration laws and additional funding for border control. A stopgap spending bill passed last week to avoid a government shutdown during the holidays did not include any money for Ukraine. Copp reported from Washington. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Postal Code The Dodgers and White Sox have discussed the possibility of Dylan Cease heading to Los Angeles, according to USA Todays Bob Nightengale. There isnt any indication that a trade is particularly close, or whether or not this was a due diligence inquiry from the Dodgers given the clubs obvious need for pitching. While the White Sox arent exactly rebuilding, new GM Chris Getz has directly said that he is open to trade offers as the Sox look for ways to address their many needs. Thursdays trade of Aaron Bummer to the Braves saw Chicago pick up at least starting middle infielder (Nicky Lopez) and perhaps two (Michael Soroka, Jared Shuster) new arms for the starting rotation, bringing some depth onto a depleted roster. Apart from trading Luis Robert Jr., dealing Cease would be the biggest move the White Sox could make to quickly add a lot more talent to the organization. MLBTRs Nick Deeds recently explored Ceases trade market, citing 14 teams that make sense as trade suitors given Ceases past quality and his relatively inexpensive price tag over two remaining arbitration-eligible seasons. Cease is projected for an $8.8MM salary in 2024, so even if a big performance next year raises his 2025 salary significantly, that still adds up to two seasons of front-of-the-rotation pitching for around $22MM. Over three full seasons as a starter, Cease was solid in 2021, outstanding in 2022, and then fairly ordinary last year, struggling to a 4.58 ERA over 177 innings. A 4.10 SIERA is a little more flattering, as Ceases .330 BABIP and 69.4% strand rate certainly contributed to his issues, plus it is fair to wonder if he was affected by the overall malaise of the Southsiders disastrous 101-loss season. Ceases subpar walk rates and his tendency (apart from in 2022) to surrender hard contact are red flags, but theres still a lot to like about the right-hander as he enters his age-28 season. From the Dodgers perspective, Cease represents a much surer thing than most every other pitcher in their projected 2024 rotation. Walker Buehler returns from a 2023 season entirely lost to Tommy John surgery, Dustin May will miss at least the first half of 2024 due to flexor tendon surgery, and swingman Ryan Yarbrough is the only other experienced arm within a pitching mix that includes a lot of rookies and second-year pitchers. Bobby Miller has claim on one rotation spot behind Buehler, but Ryan Pepiot, Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove and Gavin Stone are all varying degrees of question marks. Trading from this pitching depth might be a risk for Los Angeles, given all the uncertainty about their rotation. However, on paper, this is still a good crop of young arms that would be attractive to other teams, particularly a club like the White Sox in need of controllable pitching. Speculatively, one would imagine Miller is off-limits for the Dodgers in trade talks, but moving one or even two of the other pitchers might be feasible for a Los Angeles club that clearly wants to win now. Or, L.A. might try to tempt the Sox with some of its many quality position players in the minors top prospects Dalton Rushing and Diego Cartaya might have particular appeal to Chicago since the Sox are very thin in the catching ranks. FALMOUTH, MI A Northern Michigan man is convicted of multiple sex crimes against children, including sexual abuse and child pornography has been sentenced to years in prison, police said. Leonard Wayne Robertson, of Falmouth, was sentenced today in Wexford 28th Circuit Court to 7-15 years in prison, Michigan State Police said in a news release. He was investigated for child pornography by the Michigan State Police. The case began in March when MSP was contacted by Michigan Childrens Protective Services. During the investigation, troopers obtained multiple search warrants for the suspects online accounts, including Google, Snapchat and Facebook. A search warrant was executed at his residence and six cellular devices were seized and turned over to the MSP Computer Crimes Unit for analysis. The victims were interviewed at the Traverse Bay Childrens Advocacy Center. A report was turned over to the Wexford County Prosecutors Office, which issued charges. Robertson was arrested during October 2022 and lodged in Wexford County Jail. RELATED: Northern Michigan man accused of multiple sex crimes against children Robertson was arraigned later that month in Wexford Countys 84th District Court on two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of child sexually abusive activity, one count of possession of child sexually abusive material, two counts of accosting children for immoral purposes, two counts of furnishing obscenity to children, one count of capturing image of unclothed person and three counts of using a computer to commit a crime. FLINT, MI -- Accomplished Flint boxer Anthony Dirrell passed out 200 turkeys at his seventh annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drop this week. The turkey giveaway took place on Monday, Nov. 20 on West Dayton Street near Bassett Park in Flint. Cars that got in line early also took home two boxes of Jiffy Cornbread Mix. Dirrells goal for the event is to ensure underprivileged families can share a meal on Thanksgiving. People just really need it. If I can do it, then I will do it. Im happy with the turnout, Dirrell said. If I dont have enough turkeys, Im sorry. Next year we will likely have more, but Im happy. Dirrell wants to show his son Nash, 8, that community service is important, he told MLive-The Flint Journal. Dirrell said his late grandfather, Leon Lawson Sr., taught him to give back to his community. I know hes looking down on me and watching me saying, Good job, Dirrell said. Cars were lined up for blocks waiting for a turkey. One resident lined up as early as 10:30 a.m. Vehicles were wrapped all the way around Civic Park School. Several other turkey giveaways have already taken place in the Flint area. Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter. Pastor Greg Locke Exposes the Flat Earth Hoax December 2nd Public Debate with Flat Earth Proponents Will Settle the Matter "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." -- Jesus NEWS PROVIDED BY Locke Media Nov. 20, 2023 MOUNT JULIET, Tenn., Nov. 20, 2023 /Standard Newswire/ -- In 2016, an old but dangerous hoax began sweeping through evangelical Christian churches on the back of QAnon conspiracy theories, and the damage it is causing has reached a tipping point. Having inadvertently given credence to the QAnon movement leading up to the 2020 election, Pastor Greg Locke is now making every effort to expose subterfuge and get the Church refocused on the truth. After distancing himself from several political circles that align with the movement, he is now taking on the now-viral "flat earth" hoax head-on through a live debate across multiple social platforms with an aggregate reach of 4 million. Locke is deeply alarmed to report that the theory is being propagated by credible church leaders who are using gross misinterpretations of the Bible to convince their followers and have already misled hundreds of thousands in the US alone. The hoax is now dividing families and full churches to devastating degrees and has recently taken its toll at his own Global Vision Bible Church, so he hopes to destroy the centuries-old hoax in a single night. After Locke used his livestream platform to challenge flat earth proponents to the open debate, Pastor Dean Odle, author of "Like Clay Under the Seal" (Amazon), which is one of many books proliferating the flat earth theory, was the first to accept. Several other flat-earth thought leaders also plan to attend. Ironically, Odle and his colleagues believe the spherical earth concept is the actual hoax being spread to lead people away from the Bible. To that, Locke says, "Even if we totally ignore the generally accepted laws of physics and the historical record as many in that camp would have us do, simple observation and eyewitness testimonies easily disprove the flat earth hoax. But for the upcoming debate, I plan to let the Word of God speak for itself on this matter. The earth is without question a spherical world, and I can prove that the Bible is clear on that matter." When: December 2 at 6PM Where: Global Vision Bible Church 2060 Old Lebanon Dirt Rd., Mount Juliet, TN 37122 10 miles from the Nashville airport SOURCE Locke Media CONTACT: Communications Director, 843-324-4240 OSCEOLA COUNTY, MI An investigation is underway after a head-on collision left seven people hospitalized with various injuries, Osceola County sheriffs deputies said. Two of the seven people injured in the crash over the weekend were listed in critical condition, police said. Sheriffs deputies responded to a 10:23 a.m. report of a crash Saturday, Nov. 18, on U.S. 10, near Lakola Road, in Richmond Township. Police said a 17-year-old Evart boy was driving a Ford Fusion along U.S. 10 when he crossed the center line and collided head-on with a GMC pickup truck, driven by a 51-year-old Baldwin man. The Evart teen and a front seat passenger riding in his vehicle were freed by Reed City firefighters who utilized the Jaws of Life. The two were then flown by an Aero Med medical helicopter to an area hospital for treatment. Police said they were listed in critical condition. The Baldwin man, along with his 12-year-old daughter and four-year-old son, as well as two other passengers riding in the Evart boys vehicle were transported to another hospital by ambulance. Police did not release the extent of injuries those five people suffered. The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation, but police believe speed is a factor. A portion of U.S. 10 was closed for roughly five hours while emergency crews responded to the scene. 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. GRAND RAPIDS, MI A new cocktail bar has opened on Grand Rapids southeast side. Mammoth Distilling, which launched in the Northern Michigan community of Central Lake in 2016 and now has five locations in the state, has opened a cocktail lounge at 710 Wealthy St. SE. Inside the space, customers will find a rustic interior, historic flourishes, and an intimate setting. Customers can choose from an array of cocktails, spirits and liqueurs. Business has been so good since the Nov. 8 soft opening that owner Chad Munger jokingly called his mood sheer panic. Were just seeing so many people, he said, noting Grand Rapids is now the largest city in which Mammoth has a location. Well be fully staffed in 10 days ... its just going so much better than we ever imagined it might. Everybodys thrilled, but its a lot of work. The tasting room has space for 164 people when counting the backyard patio, Munger said. The new location, inside a renovated old building that formerly housed an auto parts store, features hardwood floors, brick walls, dim lighting and a bar that is built atop piles of firewood. Its got a real historic feel to it, Munger said. Weve got benches with faux fur-padded seats and an old firehouse pole as rails on the back. Related: Northern Michigan distiller planning Grand Rapids tasting room Mammoths menu features a host of signature and craft cocktails. One, The Wealthy Avenue, is made with gin, cherry citrate, bitters and Northwoods soda water. The Whiskey Tango Foxtrot features rye whiskey, house-made pineapple jalapeno mixer and Northwoods Wild ginger beer. Elsewhere on the menu, there are Mammoths own collection of spirits, including barrel-finished gin, woolly bourbon and a collection of vodkas infused with lavender, cherry or strawberry-rhubarb. Mammoth is open Tuesday (3-10 p.m.), Wednesday (3-11 p.m.), Thursday (3-11 p.m.), Friday (3 p.m. to midnight), Saturday (3 p.m. to midnight), and Sunday (3-10 p.m.) Looking forward, Munger said he wants to transform a small building behind the cocktail lounge into a setting where groups can book the space to learn how to blend their own whiskey. Youll be able to leave with your own custom blended bottle of whiskey thats all yours, he said. Its super fun. You can do it with friends. You can do it as a team building experience with colleagues. You leave with something tangible and you can sign the label yourself. In addition to Grand Rapids, Mammoth has locations in Bellaire, Central Lake (about eight miles north of Bellaire), Traverse City, Adrian and Bay Harbor in Petoskey. 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: Meijer announces Black Friday deals West Michigan manufacturer plans 30 new jobs, $6M investment Historic Grand Rapids building transformed into veteran owned coffee shop Whats being built off U.S. 131? A chain restaurant is in the works SAGINAW, MI Every year on Thanksgiving Day, Saginaws East Side Soup Kitchen serves a free, hot turkey dinner to hundreds of people. All are welcome to come and enjoy the food and fellowship. This holiday feast for the community is made possible by the support and generosity of countless volunteers and donors, people like Ed Coates, 72, whose Facebook post imploring friends to donate to the soup kitchen several years ago has turned into an annual tradition. Five years ago, Coates saw an East Side Soup Kitchen Facebook post asking people to bring frozen turkeys to the site, 940 E. Genesee Ave. He knew the soup kitchen would be out of the way for some would-be donors, so he began collecting donations from friends and family members with a plan to take them there himself all in one load. People started donating to me through mail, a check, or just a promise theyd reimburse me, Coates recalled. That year, we bought, I think, probably 20 turkeys. Every year since then, Coates has put the call out for Thanksgiving meal contributions, collected and shopped for donations, and delivered them to the soup kitchen with help from his wife, Cyndi Coates, and other family and friends even when his own health problems have prevented him from being there in person. Two years ago, he was at U of M hospital, and he still did this for us, said East Side Soup Kitchen Executive Director Diane Keenan. Nothing stops him. Keenan said the food Ed Coates and fellow donors collect makes a huge impact each year. He comes up with hundreds of pounds of turkey, she said. It makes a big difference because that would take a lot of money out of our budget to purchase all those items. Food and fellowship on Thanksgiving Day When Keenan became the soup kitchens executive director a few years ago, one of her priorities was to make sure the location was open on Thanksgiving Day. This year, the holiday falls on Thursday, Nov. 23. Between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. that day, the soup kitchens staff of seven and more than 20 volunteers will serve a free hot meal to about 400 people. On an average day, the soup kitchen serves about 700 people, but the crowd is smaller on Thanksgiving when the buses dont run. Keenan said the people who rely on the soup kitchen for daily meals and holiday celebrations come from so many different circumstances. Many are employed but still struggling to afford necessities. Its not just the food they come for; its the fellowship. Folks are coming in for a homemade family feast because were all family, Keenan said. They have somewhere to go. Cooks and volunteers begin preparing food for the holiday a couple of weeks in advance. It takes about 50 turkeys, 300 pounds of potatoes and 150 pies to feed the crowd. The congregation of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church donates the pies. After lunch service on a Thursday afternoon in early November, Ed and Cyndi Coates, Ed Coatess cousin Janet Passariello and her husband, David Passariello, delivered four frozen turkeys, 260 pounds of potatoes, and dozens of large cans of green beans, corn, gravy and boxes of stuffing to the soup kitchen. The couples visited with Keenan and other soup kitchen staff members and made plans to return soon with more turkeys. Were so grateful, Keenan said as the group talked near where the donations were piled up on tables in the dining room. What a happy day. Keenan said Ed Coates and his fellow donors about 25 people in total have continued this effort even when Ed Coates faced health problems and couldnt be there in person. Ed Coates said he has leukemia but is in remission. Two years ago, when he collected donations for the soup kitchen from his hospital bed at the University of Michigan, he was recovering from a life-saving bone marrow transplant. He said many people are happy to donate to the soup kitchen because they feel good about where their dollars are going. And organizing this annual donation drive brings him joy. Its been kind of a fun thing to do, Ed Coates said. It becomes an event, and it encourages some people to donate who maybe hadnt in the past or wouldnt have donated to the soup kitchen. Want more Bay City- and Saginaw-area news? Bookmark the local Bay City and Saginaw news page or sign up for the free 3@3 daily newsletter for Bay City and Saginaw. When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was running for reelection in July 2022, her campaign organized a public safety roundtable in Kalamazoo. There, Martha and Rick Omilian spoke with the governor. In 1999 their daughter Maggie, then a sophomore at Kalamazoo College, had been shot and killed by a jealous ex-boyfriend. They told Whitmer they wanted to see a law that would keep guns out of the hands of those who commit domestic violence. They were on hand to see their request fulfilled Monday, as Whitmer gathered with advocates and lawmakers to sign a new law that temporarily bans those convicted of domestic violence-related crimes from having or using guns. This law now passed and signed into law today will save someones life and give them the chance to live, Rick Omilian said. A full meaningful life, a chance Maggie did not get. People with felony convictions are already prohibited from owning firearms under Michigan law for three or five years, depending on the crime. The new law extends a temporary ban to those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence charges. After being sentenced for misdemeanors involving domestic violence, individuals will receive an eight-year ban on having, using, transporting or selling a gun as well as ammunition. This has been, a long, hard journey and you have to bear your soul over and over again to get the change that you want. But it was worth it, Whitmer said. We do not have to live like this. Were making a choice and were choosing today to keep people safe. The legislation was the culmination of a five-year process, said Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, who helped craft the new law. She said the office of Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy had first approached her about the legislation. It is our responsibility to ensure that (survivors) have the peace of mind knowing that they will be protected from gun violence at the hands of their abusers, Chang said. Today is a shining example of what it means to turn tragedy into real policy change and what it means to hear the voices of Michiganders and move towards action to save lives. Nearly half of all women murdered in the U.S. are killed by a current or former intimate partner, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. And more than half of these homicides are by firearm. In Michigan alone 101 people were killed in domestic violence incidents in 2022, according to the Michigan State Police. When a gun is present in the household, multiple advocates and policymakers noted, the risk of a woman being killed by an abuser increases five-fold. Whitmer cast this law as just the most recent part of a series of policies state government, currently controlled by Democrats, has crafted to reduce gun violence. Throughout 2023, in part as a response to the mass shooting at Michigan State University, Democrats have passed legislation requiring safe storage of firearms, universal background checks on gun purchases and implementing red flag laws. Weve taken great strides in Michigan to make this a safer place with common-sense gun safety legislation, informed by responsible gun owners, law enforcement and Moms Demand Action, among just a few, Whitmer said. Though firearms ban for domestic abusers received some bipartisan support, it was not enough to bring the law into immediate effect, which requires a two-thirds vote, and will formally fall into place next February. Some Republicans and Second Amendment advocates had criticized the law as applying too broadly to nonviolent crimes. A misdemeanor involving domestic violence includes a host of charges, including assault and battery, vulnerable adult abuse, stalking, fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and intentional destruction of another persons personal property. The survivor would have to fit a certain profile, including one of the following: They are the convicted persons spouse or former spouse They have or had a dating relationship with the convicted person They have or had a child in common with the convicted person They are a resident or former resident of the convicted persons household They are the victims parent or guardian The bills Whitmer signed were Senate Bills 471 and 528 along with House Bill 4945. MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa 18.11.2023 LISTEN Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has taken a jab at a parliamentary candidate aspirant of the governing New Patriotic Party in the constituency, Dr. John Saviour Elebu for focusing on winning political power at a time the constituents are grieving over the Akosombo Dam spillage flooding. Over 12,000 residents have been displaced from their damaged homes by the floods, with thousands of children and elders now sheltering in temporary classrooms and tents. Dr. Elebu in an interview with the media vowed to unseat the NDC MP in the coming 2024 general elections. Reacting to this, Mr Ablakwa who stood beside his constituents since the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams noted that the timing of the campaign in the constituency is wrong considering the condition of the citizens in the area. "Honestly, I don't think we should be campaigning in North Tongu at this time when we are faced with the worst catastrophe in a lifetime," Ablakwa stated. Ablakwa notes that "this is the time to put partisanship aside and come together as community leaders to find solutions and relief." He insists he will not engage in partisan politics at such a crucial time, indicating that "It is insensitive, callous, offensive and an unforgivable betrayal. Instead, the MP is calling on all political leaders in the area to "campaign to save our dear constituents" by focusing on relief efforts for the thousands who remain in desperate need of survival. A committee set up by Parliament met the Births and Deaths Registry to discuss solutions to challenges that the institution faces. The most significant by far has been its financial woes which have stagnated the institution in a diverse way. In an interview with the media, on Friday 14th November, Hon. Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi MP for Odotobri who doubles as the Chairman for the Local Government Committee in Parliament explained the importance of the meeting. He stated the committee has observed that the management of the organization is poised to work hard for more growth but is unable to generate revenue as it receives minimal work as an institution. For this reason, the organization is constantly challenged financially even as it presence in over 261 Metropolitan Municipal Assemblies nationwide. The Registry also work at the Zonal and Electoral Areas in all 16 Regions of Ghana. He also emphasized that according to the policy of the organization, when a child is born up to five years, parents do not have to pay any amount of money during the birth registration and certification until the child is above 5 years. Hon Akwasi Agyamfi also brought to light that only 33% of revenue generated by the organization remains in their coffers. This means 67% of the revenue accrued goes to the Ministry of Finance. Therefore, the committee will recommend to the Ministry of Finance to reconsider this arrangement. "As an important public institution, they lack facilities and most of their offices are spaces belonging to the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG). There is a dire need for them to own office complexes nationwide," he stated. The chairman added, "we all have the responsibility as Ghanaians to ensure that when a child is born here, the name is registered and the same should be done when a person dies, although some people think birth certificate is only needed when they want to travel, which is incorrect." He encouraged Ghanaians to take more interest in this as it is relevant for national growth. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region expresses skepticism regarding the Finance Minister's recent promise to allocate some GHC220million in the 2024 budget for the first phase of the government's relief package for victims of the recent flood disaster triggered by the spillage of excess water from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams. While the Volta NDC acknowledges the urgency and necessity of aiding those affected by the human-induced calamity, it remain highly apprehensive and uncertain about the government's ability to fulfil yet another promise. Hon. Ken Ofori Attah, the Finance Minister's track record in meeting financial commitments has always raised questions among the discerning public, and this new pledge only adds to the growing list of such unfulfilled assurances. The failed promise, captured in the 2022 Budget, to make available some GHC 10 million to ameliorate the plight of residents of Anlo, Keta and Ketu South Municipalities which have and are still reeling under the havoc of the perennial tidal waves, is still fresh on the minds of the people. To the tidal wave victims of the three southern municipalities as well as the other seven that have recently been hit by the disaster caused by planned spillages from our main hydroelectricity installations, the 2024 annual budget has woefully failed to inspire confidence since no clear commitments have been made towards their welfare while they wait for the actual release of the funds pledged in the next year's financial statement. The recent flood disaster has left many communities along the Lower Volta in distress, requiring swift and effective action. The Volta NDC therefore urges the Government to go beyond mere promises and empty rhetorics, and ensure that deliberate immediate disbursements of relief funds are made to drastically alleviate the hardships and sufferings of these unfortunate citizens. We believe that the affected people deserve a concrete and immediate response. We will closely monitor the Government's actions to ensure accountability and fulfillment of promises made in the 2024 budget. We do commend the Government for the submission of a document to the International Development Association (IDA) to enable it access some funds from the Crisis Response Window from the World Bank. We however condemn the Finance Minister's failure to inform Ghanaians about the actual amount Government intends to access and the timeline to expect such funding. We are equally worried about the Government's inability to spell out the additional resource allocation by the Ministry of Agriculture for the restoration of livelihood to the victims of the VRA induced flooding so we can properly hold them accountable. We will accept nothing short of full restoration of livelihood and properties of the affected victims of the flood disaster. We also want to inform the Government that it will be very heartless for the victims of the disaster to wait till next year for their resettlement to commence, especially when it is not clear when Government will access funds from the Crisis Response Window from the World Bank. We firmly entreat Government to use money from the Contingency Fund to commence the relief process of resettlement and restoration of livelihood to these victims. To reiterate, the Volta NDC remains committed to advocating for the welfare of Ghanaians in general and Voltarians in particular, and will as such continue to hold the Government accountable for its promises and actions. Signed: Sorkpa Kafui Agbleze (NDC Volta Regional Communications Officer) The Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire, is a huge and varied country with a turbulent political history, which is currently ravaged by conflict in its east. Here are five things to know about this central African nation: Continent-sized The DRC spans over 2.34 million square kilometres (904,000 square miles) -- roughly the size of continental western Europe. The second-largest African country in terms of surface area, it is also the fourth most populous state on the continent, with an estimated 100 million inhabitants. Some 250 different ethnic groups live in the DRC, speaking hundreds of different languages. French is the country's official language, and local tongues Kikongo, Lingala, Tshiluba and Swahili are also officially recognised. Despite its size and diversity -- the former province of Katanga tried to secede in the 1960s -- there is a fierce sense of national unity. Mineral wealth, dire poverty The DRC is awash with minerals and precious stones, from gold, diamonds and coltan to tin, copper and cobalt. Harbouring the Congo River -- the second-largest in Africa after the Nile -- the DRC also has huge hydroelectric potential, as well as 80 million hectares (197 million acres) of arable land. But decades of war, corruption and chronic mismanagement means that little of the country's enormous wealth trickles down to the population. About two-thirds of the Congolese population survive on under $2.15 a day, according to the World Bank. Turbulent politics The DRC has a history of turbulent politics. Two of its governments have been overthrown violently: in 1965 and then in 1997. Two of the country's leaders have also been assassinated: Patrice Lumumba in 1961 and Laurent-Desire Kabila in 2001. Elections are often marked by violence. The vote that brought incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi to power in 2018 marked the first peaceful changeover in Congolese history -- although the results were fiercely disputed. According to the interior ministry, there are 910 registered political parties in the country. Conflict Two major wars devastated the DRC in its recent history. The First Congo War, which lasted between 1996-1997, culminated in the overthrow of former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. The Second Congo War, from 1998 to 2003, drew in nine African states and saw the proliferation of dozens of militia groups. Most of the DRC has returned to relative stability. But its mineral-rich east -- bordering Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi -- remains plagued by armed groups and brutal violence, a legacy of the recent regional wars. Rumba, survival Congolese people are renowned for their sense of humour and resourcefulness in the face of trying conditions. Many jokingly refer to "Article 15" of the constitution, which purports to instruct citizens to sort things out themselves. Music also plays an outsize role in the country's culture. UNESCO listed Congolese rumba as intangible cultural heritage of humanity in December 2021. Congo is also famed for its so-called sapeurs -- dandies known for their ultra-elegant clothing and sense of style. 20.11.2023 LISTEN The Advocate for Fair Legal Access Ghana, AFLAG, a human rights organisation that specializes in the provision of economic, Social and Legal support on Thursday, 16th November, 2023 successfully held its 2023 maiden FemmeImpact Conference in Accra at the GIMPA Law Faculty Moot Court. The event organized was on the theme, "Uplifting Women, Breaking Barriers and Building Connections." The conference attracted top women personalities and gender advocates across the country. With focus on promoting and advocating the well-being of women, the event saw an in-depth panel discussions on three major issues. These include the health rights of women in Ghana; challenges and opportunities, The Rule of Law and Access to Justice for women in Ghana and Advancing the Socio-economic Rights of Women; The role of formal and informal education. Oheneyere Gifty Anti, an advocate for women and decorated feminist in her address encouraged women to stand up for their right. She stated that women play vital and critical roles in the development of a society, hence, the importance to provide the needed platforms. She, however, commended AFLAG for the measures put in place to promote, educate and acknowledge roles played by women in the various societies across the country. "This initiative by AFLAG led by Ama Nupe Demuyakor is a great one and needs all the maximum support and push. I want to appreciate what you are doing to make women more attractive across the country. I will continue to support your objectives and missions." Ama Nupe Demuyakor, founder of AFLAG in a statement mentioned that, "It is essential to recognize that the barriers faced by women are not uniform; they are shaped by the intersections of their identities. Which is why I believe that an intersectional feminist approach is fundamental to unraveling the intricate challenges faced by women and children in education, legal representation, and health." She added, "As we gather here today, we acknowledge that women from different backgrounds experience distinct forms of oppression and privilege. Intersectional feminism reminds us that our efforts for justice and equality must consider and address the intersecting factors that shape individuals experiences." According to her, the annual event would serve as a platform for inclusiveness and collaborations. "As we embark on this journey together, let us remember that our conference is not just an event but a call to action. It is a commitment to fostering collaborations, creating platforms for networking and knowledge sharing, and, most importantly, inspiring transformative change through a concerted effort of all key stakeholders." She reiterated the need for effective engagement with women industry players to ensure positive impact. "As we engage in discussions, and collaborative endeavors, let us not lose sight of the profound impact that our combined efforts can have on the world around us. The call to action resonates not only within the confines of this event but reverberates far beyond, influencing the communities we serve, the industries we represent, and the global landscape we collectively shape," Ama Nupe Demuyakor, the founder of AFLAG added. The event witnessed the attendance of high profiled women lawyers, phycologists, medical practitioners, philanthropists, students among others. The Keynote Speaker of the conference was Dr. Mrs. Victoria Kunbour, the first female Registrar of GIMPA. Her role as the keynote speaker was significant to the theme of the conference as she broke the barrier and became the first female Registrar of the noble academic institution. The conference is not just an event but a movement by AFLAG which is here to stay. 19.11.2023 LISTEN Deputy Minister of Education John Ntim Fordjour has said former President John Dramani Mahama is the most significant threat to Ghana's forward march. Following the National Democratic Congress flagbearer's recent reiteration to scrap the teacher licensure exam should he win the 2024 presidential election, Rev Ntim Fordjour, who is the MP for Assin South, tweeted: "There are leaders who establish policies and introduce new systems for the good of our people and for the development of our nation". "This one", in reference to Mr Mahama, "lacks vision". "He only cancels and threatens to cancel good policies at every opportunity", the clergyman-turned-politican observed. "Mahama is, by far, the biggest threat to Ghanas progress", the lawmaker said, adding: "The alternative is empty! No vision, just desperate for power which was once incompetently handled". -Classfmonline The CPP National Youth League as part of its mandate to organize the youth for the party has introduce an agressive reorganization strategy of members in the tertiary institutions. Kick starting the event through it's Greater Accra Youth League led by Comrade Jerry Aidoo, the CPP Greater Accra Youth League visited campuses such as the University of Ghana Legon, the University of Professional Studies among others. The Deputy National Youth Organizer in charge of Operations Comrade Ebenezer Tetteh popular known as Comrade TT who represented the National Youth Organizer and supervised the entire program expressed Satisfaction with the program. The Greater Accra Youth league under the leadership of Comrade Jerry has vowed to organize more events in the coming weeks to elect interim executives of the party and political lectures to educate the youth about the ideology of the CPP. Comrade Sarfo Hammond the Greater Accra Tertiary Education Branches Coordinator for the CPP told reporters that over 300 students were recruited at the University of Ghana alone. Alot of constituency Youth Organizers from the Greater Accra region also joined this historic reorganization of the tertiary branches. The National Youth Organizer for the CPP Comrade Osei Kofi Acquah has express satisfaction with the program and has congratulate the CPP Greater Accra Youth league for setting the pace for a successful program. He has hinted that other Regional CPP Youth leagues will replicate the Greater Accra Youth league agenda. Supporters of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and followers of Alan Kyerematen squared off during former First Lady Theresa Kufuors final funeral rites. While the event was taking place at the Heroes Park in Kumasi, the two sides hooted at each other when Mr Kyerematen, leader of the Movement for Change arrived at the funeral grounds. According to eyewitnesses, the supporters of Mr Kyerematen started to hoot at some ministers of state while the former Trade and Industry Minister exchanged pleasantries. -Classfmonline Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU-Ghana) has welcomed the governments decision to recapitalise the National Investment Bank (NIB). To the Union, this action by the government is a demonstration of saving an institution whose role in the financial industry over the years cannot be taken for granted. Mr. Morgan Ayawine, the General Secretary of ICU-Ghana, made the commendation as part of its response to the 2024 Budget, presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance on Wednesday, November 15, 2023. The government has made a provision of GH4 billion to address the liquidity issues of NIB, and other distressed Special Deposit taking Institutions (SDIs) in the country. The amount, which was announced in the 2024 budget, is also expected to take care of some outstanding legacy challenges in the financial sector. This forms a critical component of the three-year International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme. Under the IMF programme, the Bank of Ghana has committed to completing the remaining tasks from the financial sector cleanup, and these tasks include addressing the insolvency of NIB as well as the long-standing under-capitalisation of several SDIs. He urged the government to give serious attention to helping other distressed State-Owned Enterprises like Neoplan, Produce Buying Company Limited and Aluworks to improve their operations and contribute to the economy. He said the Union presented a petition to the government in 2018 and repeated it in September 2023, resulting in a meeting with the Minister of Finance just before the 2024 budget. He expressed the belief that the recapitalisation would give the NIB a new lease of life to continue its mandate of financing industries in the country for economic development and progress. He said NIB and other distressed SOEs had contributed immensely to the development of the country and the government should not take their contribution for granted, hence the need to support them to recapitalise. If these Enterprises are supported, they will continue to help the government implement its policies on the unemployment situation of the country, he added. The General-Secretary said the unemployment situation in the country had become dire, indicating that the 2024 budget should not only serve a few people but rather it should benefit all. Other Executives with the General-Secretary are Mr. Emmanuel Benimah, Deputy General Secretary in charge of Operations and Mr Samuel Ananga, Deputy General Secretary in Charge of Administration and Finance. GNA Former President John Dramani Mahama has linked the increase in irregular migration to the disappointment felt by the youth in the current leadership of the country. He emphasised that the lack of employment opportunities and economic challenges are driving young people to take perilous journeys to Europe in search of better prospects. Despite the country's abundance of resources, Mahama noted that development has been stifled over the years. Speaking at the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Sunyani Diocese of the Catholic Church during his two-day tour to the Bono Region, Mahama called for urgent measures to restore the youth's confidence in the country's development. We can reverse this by growing our economy and creating more jobs for our young people. I dare say this is an urgent call. I am heartened that my recent suggestion of operating a twenty-four economy in Ghana has been heard by the Finance Minister as he mentioned in his recent budget statement in the form he called the night economy, he remarked. Earlier, the Most Reverend Matthew Gyamfi bemoaned the economic challenges bedevilling the country despite the abundance of resources. In a response to issues of corruption, Mr Mahama said it is about time a concerted effort was adopted to halt the trend. His distressing remarks about the suffocating grip of uncontrolled corruption across our nations landscape demands urgent reflection and action by all our citizens especially the political leadership, he said. -Classfmonline One of Chad's main opposition leaders, recently returned from exile, on Sunday called for "reconciliation" with the military regime, a month before a constitutional referendum. Succes Masra, president of The Transformers party, had fled the country along with other opposition leaders several days after the bloody repression of demonstrations held on October 20 last year to protest military rule. About 50 people, according to the government, or at least 300 according to the opposition and independent observers, were killed by police and military fire in the capital N'Djamena. At least another 600 were rounded up and sent to an infamous remote desert jail where most were convicted and sentenced to prison in a mass trial, before being pardoned. Masra returned to Chad on November 3 after he reached an agreement with the military, led by transitional president Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno. The agreement included a "general amnesty" for those responsible for the killing of demonstrators on October 20, 2022. Masra on Sunday called for calm amongst hundreds of his supporters gathered in N'Djamena, telling them not to "seek revenge", an AFP journalist reported. He repeatedly emphasised a conciliatory message, saying he "prayed to God to soothe the hearts" of the victims and their families and "guide them towards collective responsibility". "Reconciliation is not surrender," he said. The rest of Chad's opposition, many of whose leaders remain in exile, have denounced the agreement reached between the government and Masra, calling it the latter's cozying up to power in the run-up to elections promised for 2024. They are calling for a boycott of a referendum on a new constitution, which is scheduled for December 17 and due to set the stage for "free" elections and a return to civilian rule. Max Kemkoye, president of the Union of Democrats for Development and Progress (UDP) party, said the rest of the opposition views the amnesty as a way of "shielding criminals from prosecution... who killed en masse, tortured, abducted and made young people disappear on October 20, 2022". 'We're on our feet' Masra received multiple rounds of applause throughout his lengthy speech from supporters dressed in the national colours. The opposition leader finished with a nod to future cooperation with the military leaders. By Denis Sassou Gueipeur (AFP) "His speech reassured the people, we're on our feet," said Etienne Josue, 25, an enthusiastic member of the crowd. "After October 20, there was no hope," added 32-year-old Salim Abdoulaye, another attendee. The opposition leader finished with a nod to future cooperation with the military leaders, calling President Deby "our brother". "Deby can count on us as an ally of the people. We are ready to continue working with the authorities to find a comprehensive solution," he said. Deby, a general, was proclaimed transitional president by the army on April 20, 2021 following the death of his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who had run Chad as a dictator for 30 years and was killed by rebels while visiting frontline troops. Mahamat Deby had promised elections within 18 months, but after that date passed he put off a vote for another two years. A groundbreaking initiative aimed at promoting racial equity within mental health services in Leeds has clinched the coveted title of "Mental Health Innovation of the Year" at the Health Service Journal (HSJ) awards. Synergi-Leeds, a collaborative partnership between the NHS, Public Health, and local community and voluntary sectors (VCS), was also named a finalist in the NHS Race Equality Award category. The HSJ Awards, which celebrate outstanding contributions to healthcare nationwide, saw a record-breaking 1,456 entries this year, with Synergi-Leeds among the 223 projects and individuals making it to the final shortlist. A Citywide Approach to Tackling Ethnic Inequalities in Mental Health The Synergi-Leeds Partnership was established in 2017 as a joint effort between Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Leeds City Council's Public Health team, and various VCS services. Over time, it has evolved into a thriving network of statutory and voluntary sector organizations dedicated to addressing ethnic disparities in mental health. The partnership's approach includes co-produced 'Creative Spaces Events' that amplify the voices of individuals with lived experience, challenging stereotypes and mobilizing action. Additionally, they offer an all-age grants program that provides financial support to grassroots projects. A significant focus of their work has been to combat the disproportionate representation of individuals from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities in crisis mental health services and under the Mental Health Act. Disturbing statistics reveal that Black individuals are over four times more likely than their white counterparts to be detained under the Mental Health Act. Moreover, people from Black and Minority Ethnic groups are overrepresented in inpatient and crisis services, less likely to receive support from a GP before admission, and less likely to be referred for psychological therapies. Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council executive member for adult social care, public health, and active lifestyles, commended Synergi-Leeds's efforts, emphasizing the importance of providing equitable mental health support regardless of culture, background, or race. A Dedication to Racial Equity in Mental Health Sharon Prince, consultant psychologist at the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, hailed the recognition of the Synergi partnership as a prestigious accomplishment. She dedicated the award to Heather Nelson, chief executive of the Leeds Black Health Initiative, who passed away in July 2023 and played a crucial role in championing Synergi-Leeds from its inception. The judges of the HSJ Awards praised the Synergi-Leeds Partnership for its innovative and ambitious approach to addressing ethnic inequalities in mental health. The partnership's comprehensive strategy, spanning the entire life course, engages individuals through creative means, challenging stereotypes, and driving collective action. Their all-age grants program has demonstrated success in supporting grassroots initiatives. Impact and Commitment to Change The Synergi Leeds team played a pivotal role in encouraging key organizations across the health and care sector to commit to the National Synergi Pledge, which focuses on reducing ethnic inequalities in mental health. Their efforts have sparked crucial conversations about racial equity in mental health in Leeds. Jim Barwick, Chief executive of Leeds GP Confederation, praised Synergi for its powerful influence on senior leadership in Leeds. Sinead Cregan, Director of Development and Innovation at Inspire North, underscored the commitment to becoming more anti-racist and highlighted specific training for employees and trustees. The National Synergi Collaborative's co-founding agency, Words of Colour, produced a 60-minute documentary on the work in Leeds, providing a deeper insight into the program's impact and initiatives. In the first year of the grants' program, approximately 800 individuals directly benefited, with over 5,000 people engaging with projects in various ways, including 3,600 from minority ethnic backgrounds. About the HSJ Awards The HSJ Awards, the most prestigious accolade in UK healthcare, serve as the largest annual benchmarking and recognition program for the health sector. For over 40 years, these awards have celebrated healthcare excellence despite the sector's political, technological, and financial challenges. Through a rigorous, transparent judging process, the HSJ Awards honor the best organizations, teams, and individuals in the NHS and the wider health sector. Winners were unveiled during the awards ceremony at Evolution London on November 16, 2023. To learn more about the HSJ Awards, please visit their website. London, UK - Sir Graham Brady, the Chairman of the 1922 Committee and a prominent member of the Conservative Party, has been honored with the Freedom of the City of London in recognition of his extensive public service. Sir Graham Brady has represented Altrincham and Sale West as a Member of Parliament since 1997. Throughout his political career, he has held various significant positions, including Shadow Minister for Schools, Shadow Europe Minister, and roles as a whip within the Conservative Party. His most notable role is that of Chairman of the 1922 Committee, a position he has held since 2010. In this capacity, Sir Graham acts as the voice for backbench Conservative MPs and oversees leadership elections within the Conservative Party. Beyond his political commitments, Sir Graham Brady has actively participated in several civic and charitable endeavors. He served as a Governor of Manchester Metropolitan University, contributed to the Hamblin Education Trust, acted as a patron of the Counselling and Family Centre in Altrincham, and supported Stockdales, a charity dedicated to aiding children and adults with learning disabilities in Manchester. City Corporation Policy Chairman, Chris Hayward, expressed the significance of bestowing the Freedom of the City of London upon Sir Graham, acknowledging his longstanding contributions to public life and Parliament. Hayward stated, "Today we show our gratitude for all that he has done for Parliament and his involvement in many worthy causes across the country." Bob Wigley, Chair of UK Finance and a Past Master of the Guild of International Bankers, commended Sir Graham Brady as a deserving recipient of the Freedom. Wigley highlighted Sir Graham's unwavering support for the City of London and the financial services sector, recognizing their pivotal role in bolstering the UK economy. Responding to the honor, Rt Hon Sir Graham Brady expressed his appreciation for being awarded the Freedom of the City of London, an ancient tradition dating back to 1237. He acknowledged the City of London's vibrant and prosperous role in the British economy. The Freedom of the City of London is a distinguished recognition granted to individuals in tribute to their exceptional contributions to London, public life, or significant achievements. Recent notable recipients include theatrical legend Sir Cameron Mackintosh, LGBTQ+ activist and London Night Czar Amy Lame, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, and Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, the driving force behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. 20.11.2023 LISTEN London, UK - Sir Trevor Phillips, the founding chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has been bestowed with the Freedom of the City of London in honor of his exceptional services to the Barbican Centre and his unwavering commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. Sir Trevor Phillips is a prolific writer and television producer with a diverse portfolio of contributions. He previously served as a member of the Barbican Arts Centre Board and acted as an advisor to the City of London Corporation's Members Diversity Working Group. His notable roles include hosting Sky News's flagship Sunday morning politics show, 'Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips,' and contributing as a Times columnist, earning recognition as a Comment Writer of the Year finalist in 2020. In addition to his media presence, Sir Trevor co-founded the data analytics consultancy Webber Phillips, chairs Green Park Interim and Executive Search, and serves as a non-executive director for the AIM-listed behavioral science consultancy Mind Gym. He is also at the helm of the global freedom of expression campaign charity, Index on Censorship. Sir Trevor's nomination for the Freedom award came from Chair of the City of London Corporation's Barbican Centre Board, Tom Sleigh, and former Alderman and 684th Lord Mayor, Sir David Wootton. The ceremony took place at Guildhall and was attended by invited guests. The Barbican Centre, owned, founded, and primarily funded by the City Corporation, stands as a world-class art and learning institution showcasing diverse art forms, including dance, film, music, theatre, and visual arts. Recognized as Europe's largest multi-arts center, it holds a place of prominence among the UK's post-war architectural achievements, drawing nearly two million visitors annually. The Barbican Centre significantly contributes to the economic, social, and cultural fabric of the City, London, and the UK, making an annual contribution of 40 million to the capital's economy and supporting over 800 jobs. This cultural cornerstone is an integral part of the City Corporation's flagship Destination City program, which envisions the Square Mile as a premier leisure destination for both UK and international visitors, workers, and residents. Sir Trevor Phillips expressed his gratitude after receiving the Freedom of the City of London, acknowledging the deep-rooted tradition and exceptional qualities that make London a unique and welcoming place. He also thanked the Barbican board for providing him the opportunity to contribute to the city's cultural life. City Corporation Policy Chairman, Chris Hayward, hailed Sir Trevor as a trailblazer for inclusivity in the UK, recognizing his outstanding contributions and dedication to fostering a more inclusive society. Chair of the City Corporation's Barbican Centre Board, Tom Sleigh, emphasized Sir Trevor's dedication to promoting equality and diversity, noting that his influence has left an enduring mark on the Barbican Centre community and across UK society. The Freedom of the City of London, an age-old tradition dating back to 1237, grants recipients the privilege to carry out their trade. It is conferred upon individuals as a tribute to their exceptional contributions to London or public life or to commemorate significant achievements. Recent notable recipients include theatrical legend Sir Cameron Mackintosh, LGBTQ+ activist and London Night Czar Amy Lame, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, and Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, who led the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The Democratic Republic of Congo launched a month-long election campaign Sunday with 25 candidates running for president amid a tense political climate and relentless fighting in the east of the country. Around 44 million registered voters, out of a population of almost 100 million, are set to elect a president on December 20. They will also choose between tens of thousands of candidates for legislative and local bodies in a country with vast natural resources but endemic conflict and corruption. A "pre-campaign" has been underway for a while, with President Felix Tshisekedi, who is seeking a second term, attending several public events while his allies vaunt his record. With the start of the official campaign, big rallies, media interviews, giant posters and handing out flyers will be allowed. On opening day, Tshisekedi held a rally at the Martyrs stadium in Kinshasa, which was filled to its capacity of 80,000 people despite steady rain. "He tells the truth, and he's the only one who is starting to do things," said Papa Kalombo, a Kinshasa official for the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), which backs the incumbent. One of Tshisekedi's main challengers, Martin Fayulu, who claims he was robbed of victory in 2018, addressed a rally in a nearby province. "The time has come to transform Congo," Fayulu told the crowd. In total there were a record 25,832 candidates for the legislative elections, 44,110 for provincial bodies and 31,234 for municipal councils, according to the Electoral Commission (CENI). Violence in the east The CENI faces the struggle of organising voting across a country of 2.3 million square kilometres (890,000 square miles) and limited infrastructure. "There is a political will to stick to the electoral calendar, but there are doubts about the technical feasibility," said Tresor Kibangula, a political analyst at the Ebuteli research institute. President Felix Tshisekedi is seeking a second term in the December 20 vote. By Zinyange Auntony (AFP) But for Sylvain Lesoye, a priest in a Kinshasa suburb, "the CENI is not inspiring confidence", citing the poor quality of many voter registration cards, some with illegible photos or signatures. "The CENI knows the challenge it faces, and that its credibility is at stake," said political analyst Jean-Luc Kong. "But what really scares people is the crisis in the east." The east of the country has been racked by fighting for three decades, and violence is surging again after the M23 group, allegedly supported by Rwanda, recently occupied much of North Kivu province. Several Western countries, including the United States and France, have concluded that Rwanda backs the M23, though Kigali denies the claim. The fighting is likely to impede normal voting in two territories in the province, but the whole process would be threatened if rebels take the provincial capital Goma. "M23 will not take Goma," Tshisekedi has insisted, saying a return to calm is his priority along with improving services and the economy, building roads and respecting freedom of speech and of the press. His record is mixed, according to analysts, and disastrous according to the opposition, which is already warning of widespread voting fraud. 'Wasting my time' In addition to Fayulu, the main opposition candidates are Moise Katumbi, former governor of the Katanga mining region; Doctor Denis Mukwege, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his work with victims of sexual violence; and a former prime minister. The incumbent president is favoured to win, particularly since there is only one round of voting, but representatives of five leading opposition groups met this week in South Africa to study the possibility of proposing a single candidate. A coalition has been formed and a common platform adopted, but Fayulu has yet to adhere. In the wake of those talks, former premier Augustin Matata Ponyo dropped his presidential bid on Sunday in favour of Katumbi. "Urgency dictates a single opposition candidate," Matata said in a Facebook message, accusing the government of preparing "massive electoral fraud". Voters are mixed about the value of voting. Eunice, a 20-year-old geography student, said she was "happy" to be voting for the first time. But Ezechiel, a 24-year-old studying management IT, is discouraged. "There will be fraud, like in 2018," he said. "I am not going to waste my time." More than seven months into Sudan's devastating war that has killed thousands and displaced millions, experts warn that the scarred and impoverished country faces the threat of breaking apart. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is waging war against the armed forces and there have been reports of new massacres in Sudan's western Darfur region. Experts now warn the country could face a "Libya scenario", in reference to the north African country long divided between two rival administrations in its east and west. "Continued fighting could lead to a few terrifying scenarios, including division," said Khaled Omar Youssef, spokesman for the Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc ousted from power in a 2021 joint coup by Sudan's warring generals. "The rising tide of militarisation along ethnic and regional lines deepens social fissures in Sudan," Youssef told AFP. As it stands, the RSF is currently in control of much of the capital Khartoum and the Darfur region, while the army controls the country's north and east. Meanwhile, the army-aligned government has been all but exiled to the eastern city of Port Sudan. With the two sides failing to make any headway at US- and Saudi-brokered negotiations this month, some fear a new, fragmented status quo. Darfur offensive Since April 15, the war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has forced about six million people to flee both within Sudan and across borders. Smoke billows on May 3, 2023 during fighting in Sudan's capital Khartoum, much of which is controlled by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. By - (AFP/File) By the end of last month, it had killed over 10,000 people, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. But in November, new reports of massacres began to emerge amid a major offensive by the RSF in the vast Darfur region, where they quickly claimed control of army bases in all but one major city. In Ardamata alone, in West Darfur, the United Nations reported that nearly 100 shelters housing displaced people were razed to the ground, with fighters going house to house killing civilians and more than 8,000 people fleeing to neighbouring Chad in one week. Preliminary reports indicate hundreds have been killed, but with Darfur under an ongoing communications blackout, civilians have struggled to document the full scale of the violence. The European Union said on November 12 it was "appalled" by reports of more than 1,000 people killed in "just over two days". Organisations and civilians have both blamed the RSF and allied Arab militia, which have carried out a targeted campaign against the region's Massalit tribes, including the assassination of tribal leaders. Across Darfur, home to about a quarter of Sudan's 48 million people, over 1.5 million have been internally displaced since the war began. Home turf With Burhan and the government having retreated to Port Sudan, fears of division have spiralled. According to political analyst and journalist Fayez al-Salik, failure to reach a political solution could lead to a situation similar to Libya, with "more than one government, with no real effectiveness or international recognition". People on a road from Khartoum to Wad Madani -- the United Nations says more than six million people have been uprooted by Sudan's war. By - (AFP/File) Though Daglo has friends in high places -- including the United Arab Emirates, experts say -- Burhan has maintained his role as de facto head of state on the global stage, recently attending both UN and Arab League summits. But on the ground, the RSF's unbridled spread through Darfur "gives it home advantage and allows it to move within its own social base", Salik said, referring to the region's Arab tribes. The RSF's predecessor, the Janjaweed, stemmed from Arab tribal militias armed by former dictator Omar al-Bashir to quash dissent amongst non-Arab minorities. That war, which began in 2003, killed hundreds of thousands, displaced over two million and saw Bashir indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the International Criminal Court. The UN has warned history is repeating itself, and the ICC has launched a fresh investigation. No winner According to one military expert, even with the RSF offensive, the chances of either side claiming a decisive victory remain slim. "The RSF's expansion does give it an open line between the capital and Darfur, but that's a very long line," he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety. Sudanese army soldiers rest at a checkpoint in Khartoum on April 30, 2023 -- a military expert said the chances of either side claiming a decisive victory are slim. By - (AFP/File) The vast western region is nearly the size of France, "and a lot of it is open areas the army can attack by air", he explained. But with the RSF now controlling most of Darfur, key oil infrastructure, parts of central Sudan and much of the capital itself, he said an army victory is also unlikely. "Even if they succeed in taking control of Khartoum, which is very difficult, sending forces to regain areas of Darfur from RSF control would be a massive logistical challenge." To get from Khartoum to El Geneina, on Sudan's western border, the army would have to fight across over 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) -- about the distance between Berlin and Kyiv. Former President John Dramani Mahama is urging voters to handle political promises with skepticism as the 2024 general elections draw near. Speaking at the Apostolic Continuation Church in Techiman during his "Building Ghana Tour" campaign, Sunday, 19 November 2023, Mr Mahama cautioned against lofty promises. We all remember that some time back, some people came to us with lofty promises. Mostly, all these promises are for the votes of electorates. Not all that glitters is gold, Mr Mahama noted. The Apostolic Continuation Church marked the beginning of the "Building Ghana Tour" campaign, where Mahama and his team worshipped. The former President then proceeded to the Assemblies of God Church, acknowledging the economic challenges facing the country. During his visit to the Assemblies of God Church, Mr Mahama addressed the economic challenges in the country, calling on the Christian community to pray for a leader who can guide the nation through the current crises. He said, "God will choose for us a leader who will deliver the country and set us on a path of prosperity." As the "Building Ghana Tour" continued, Mahama visited the Builders Christian Church International, emphasizing the importance of faith. He advised the Christian community to hold on to their faith and find solace in the Bible's message of hope. The message from the leader of the NDC resonated well with the Christian community in Techiman, as the Building Ghana Tour made its way through various churches. classfmonline The Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee in Parliament, John Jinapor, says Electrochems multi-million dollar project will impact positively the economic fortunes and activities of the people of Ada and surrounding communities. Electrochem Ghana has so far invested $88 million into the ultra-modern salt mining project at Ada. The project covers the provision of a salt washing plant and its ancillary infrastructure and facilities. This came to light when the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy visited the project site last Friday following recent disturbances. The engagement formed part of a monitoring exercise being undertaken on the orders of We are here on a monitoring visit, on a fact-finding mission. It is obvious that this is a very very huge project and has the potential of impacting positively on the economic fortunes and activities of the people of Ada and the community. So right from here when we go back to parliament, I'm sure that we will report back to the Speaker and the House in general, Mr Jinapor added. "We interacted with the staff, we interacted with the management of Electrochem Ghana Limited and its group Chairman McDan. They told us some of their challenges and what they expect the state to do to help them." He indicated that what Parliament does is to ensure that business thrives so it is necessary to engage all the stakeholders to ensure a more peaceful business environment." Parliament It would be recalled that the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, directed the Committee on Lands and Forestry and Mines and Energy to conduct a probe into the leasehold agreement that authorized ElectrochemGhana to embark on salt mining in Ada. Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy, Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, assured the management of Electrochem Ghana Limited of the government's fullsupport and warned alleged saboteurs to desist from attacking the project. "I'm using this opportunity to sign a note of caution to those who believe that the economic conditions of the people of Ada should not improve when you have a committed investor seeking to improve the livelihoods of the people. "When they have created a space for the community people to mine Salt and further provide a buy-back ready market and somebody sitting somewhere thinks he can undermine this undertaking that is lawlessness and I assure them that the law will take its due process and deal with such characters," Hon. Atta Akyea warned. Hon. Atta Akyea added, "We have engaged all the stakeholders especially with the company undertaking the Salt Mining Project, Electrochem Ghana Limited and we have learned about all the challenges they are facing. "...For the moment I'm very amazed that here is another undertaking that if given our full support would even rival what we are getting from Gold and Cocoa. We might not even have to go to the IMF seeking a bailout if we pay attention to the natural resource Salt. What amazes me is that so far they haven't even done 40% of the capacity of this setup...They've sunk about $88 Million into the undertaking. They also intend to do some massive export drive that will also rake in some foreign exchange for Ghana," Mr Atta Akyea said. He went on to state "My pain is that there are some people who believe that if they don't undermine this project in their personal interest they won't be happy. It also means that to those people, if we put a very vast conspiracy with good intentions and even to the extent of killing somebody it is their pleasure." We cannot have that kind of lawlessness that undermines an undertaking that can bless the entire country. This project is meant to benefit the entire nation and the Ada people," Hon. Atta Akyea lamented. The Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy held a closed-door meeting with the management of salt mining firm, Electrochem Ghana. The committee also used the opportunity to embark on a tour of the facilities at the Electrochem Salt Mining Factory, where they were shown around the Salt Refinery and other areas of the mining site. Meanwhile, Electrochem Ghana Limited has denied any involvement in the shooting incident that occurred at Toflokpoin the Ada West District of the Greater Accra Region, which resulted in the death of one person and the injury of several others. The company added that it is awaiting the police to conduct an investigation into the shooting and report its findings accordingly. Electrochem is a subsidiary of the McDan Group of Companies. It is the largest salt and chlorine-alkali manufacturing firm in West Africa with a concession spanning 41,000 acres at Ada Songor. The company which was granted a fifteen-year mining lease to explore the salt resource in the Ada Sangor launched its operations in November 2020 with a target to produce one million (1,000,000) metric tons of salt per annum to supply to both the local and export markets. 20.11.2023 LISTEN I surfed the media this morning to keep myself abreast with current happenings in the country. Then I came across the headline above on ghanaweb.com, which was published on Wednesday, 15 November 2023. After poring through the news article which discusses the impending the parliamentary primaries of the New Patriotic Party, a contest between Hon. Solomon Boar, who is staging a comeback after he lost the 2020 general elections, and Lawyer Sulley Sambian, the acting CEO of the Northern Development Authority. I found some misleading information and misrepresentation of facts on the electoral antecedents of the Bunkpurugu constituency. As a son of the constituency and someone interested its politics, I seek to correct such inaccurate information. First of all, they claim in the publication that the Bunkpurugu seat was snatched from the NPP by the NDC in the 2016 parliamentary elections. This is clearly a falsehood which if the authors of the news article had been a little thorough, would have avoided such misleading information. It is imperative to know that the former member of parliament, Hon. Solomon Namliit Boar, who is returning to contest in the NPP parliamentary primaries, was the MP for the Bunkpurugu constituency in 2012 to 2016 and 2016. His tenure as a member of parliament ended in January 7 2021 when he lost heavily to the seating MP, Hon. Abed Bandim. The former minister for the North East Region was able to retain the seat in the 2016 general elections after he snatched the seat from the National Democratic Congress. It is therefore not correct that the NDC snatched the seat from the NPP as we have been told in the Ghanaweb publication. They also went on to state in paragraph three that in 2016, NPPs Solomon Boar, who is the former North East Regional Minister polled 14,590 votes representing 49.1% to defeat Bandim Abed-Nego Azumah who secured 14,306 votes representing 48.1 percent. In 2020, however, the NDCs Bandim Abed-Nego Azumah obtained 18,023 votes (51.4) beating NPPs Solomon Boar who got 16, 689 votes (47.6). Again, this is very untrue. The Hon. Bandim Abed-Nego did not contest as a member of parliament in the 2016 general elections and could not have been in there to be defeated. It is false and the records thus reflects that the contest in the 2016 parliamentary elections was a contest where Hon. Solomon Boar who was the incumbent, went against Anthony B. Gingong who stood on the ticket of the NDC, Hon. Namburr Berrick, one time MP (then on the ticket of the NDC), who went as an Independent Candidate and Nawang David Monipaak of the Convention Peoples Party. At the end of polls, Hon. Solomon Boar garnered 14, 306 of the votes representing 49,07 percent thereby beating his the NDCs Anthony B. Gingong who obtained 48,306 of the votes representing 48.12 percent. Namburr Berrick and Nanang David Monipaak also obtained a paltry 656 and 180 of the votes respectively. From the above, it therefore inaccurate to state that Abed Bandim was beaten by Solomon Boar because he was not part of the 2016 contest. Indeed, it was in 2012 when Abed Bandim contested the first time in the parliamentary primaries of the NDC in the then Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo constituency and lost. His second attempt was in 2019 when he contested in the parliamentary primary of the party, and beat his close contenders and went further to win convincingly in the 2020 general elections where he floored the then incumbent MP, Hon. Solomon Boar, with a whooping vote margin of 1,334 votes. I cannot tell if these false and misleading information was done for mischievous reasons or due to the incompetence of the writer. Whatever be the case, the publishers of this misleading information could have avoided it if they had done a little research on their on their site. Some New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporters in the Ashanti region said the current EPA boss Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu is the best to pair Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to run for the 2024 general elections. They believed that since the party has settled on choosing the running mate from the Ashanti region, Dr Kwabena Kokofu stands tall among the favourites. In an interview, some said the former Bantama MP's appeals to the larger populace will help in amassing more votes in the Ashanti region, and beyond. The report sampled the views among the elderly, females and youth in some selected constituencies in the Ashanti region. Elderly view 53-year-old Daniel Ampah, a resident at Atwima Boko said "the matter has been settled that the running mate should come from the Ashanti Region, it would be ideal to choose someone who appeals to the larger populace". He noted that of all the names he had heard, Dr Kokofu has no controversy and would be very acceptable to Ghanaians. "I have known Dr Kokofu since the year 2000 and have followed his activities including the meticulous manner he does his things and I am sure he would bring his varied experiences from Forestry, governance, politics and work at EPA to bear on the office and assist Dr Bawumia to do well," he stated. Female comment Linda Amankwah, NPP member at Duase in the Manhyia North Constituency said she started observing the former MP for Bantama from 2016. She noted that she could say the vast experience Dr Kokofu has in politics, his courteous mannerisms and deep knowledge of various fields of governance and leadership makes him an ideal person to be considered as running mate to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia. Youth Kwabena Amankwah, a 27-year-old resident of Asokwa said the current issue of unemployment has affected the future of Ghanaian youth. He noted that having followed Dr Kokofu's exploits at the EPA he was sure more of the youth could get employment due to his thinking capacity. He stated he was aware Dr Kokofu has doubled the staff size at EPA and decentralized operations of the outfit across the country. "For the youth we want someone who can best fix us with job opportunities and from my knowledge about Dr Kokofu we will be happy if he is considered as a running mate since he has proven himself worthy," he added. 20.11.2023 LISTEN When I was growing up as child, and until today, I hear people mention in their conversations, aba gyimii bre. They do this to compare what was happening in time past in the life and development of Ghana and what is happening today. Therefore, when was that period classed as aba gyimii bre in the history of Ghana and why was it so? The aba gyimii bre, to wit, the era of lack of civilization in the life, or history, of Ghana, is referred to the period of our forebears. The modern-day Ghanaian thinks our ancestors were not civilized enough, did things in a manner that was despicable and unworthy of human being. I beg to differ. Our ancestors had the best means of explaining things and or, deter their wards or members of their household or community from committing crimes or misbehaving themselves. Our ancestors in those days said things like these, if you are in the bathroom having a bath and singing at the same time, your mother will die and if you sweep your room or house by night, you are sweeping away your fortune, etc. The fact that they could not scientifically explain or did not want to expound why they were saying those things in the ways they did, they meant good for their children, grandchildren, their hearers, and the generations yet unborn. If you are bathing and singing simultaneously, you can choke on the lather or water streaming down your face from your head. That could be deadly sometimes. They wanted to stop such mishap by telling you about such attitude in the bathroom could lead to your mums demise. As you wouldnt want to have your mum dead, you will not be singing while having a bath. Again, when sweeping during the night, you could inadvertently lose your precious little things by sweeping them away. There was no electricity in our villages in those days but lanterns that could not emit sufficient light to see everywhere. They had measures and traditional policies in place, explained in their own wisdom and ways that put fear in people to stay away from committing unnecessary crimes, unlike in todays modern-day Ghana. Our forefathers were farsighted enough to see the value of forests, rivers and lands as means of the survivability and sustainability of human life hence asking the members of their community not to visit certain forests that they had been demarcated for this or that god. Forests aid rainfall and we know the importance of rainwater not only in farming but resourcing our rivers. In their days, nobody dared remove a game from a neighbours trap to proceed to enjoy it as though, the trap was set by themselves. Anyone finding an animal ensnared in a trap laid by a neighbour, would remove the animal, put it aside, place leaves on it and go and inform the owner of the trap about his find. In that era, all of them were honest and rendered service to one another, dedicated themselves to serving their community and the people therein. Nevertheless, the modern-day Ghanaians refer to them and their era as aba gyimii bre, Our forefathers thought about the future generations by preserving lands, forests, and water bodies for their use. However, the present day Ghanaian traditional leaders are selling all the lands and pocketing the money as though, tomorrow never come. They are destroying our water bodies, arable/fertile lands, and forests through the sale of the lands for illegal small scale and alluvial mining (galamsey). I can go on and on and on, to prove that our forefathers that we mock for being uncivilized were a million times over wiser than the present day corrupt and myopic Ghanaians. Our current traditional chiefs and politicians are the epitome of how uncivilized, insatiably greedy, corrupt, and myopic the present-day Ghanaians are. They have almost sold off all the lands, pocketed the proceeds for their personal use and are lording themselves over their subjects as though, they are the creators of the subjects. Let me not talk about the politicians who are as bad as, if not worse than, the traditional chiefs. To finalise, once my deceased cousin, Kwaku Ankrah, to be precise my fathers nephew who was a year or two my senior, told me the following. I was returning from farm and when I reached Abotanso, I decided to take some rest as usual. We struck a conversation, the origin of which I cannot remember, since it happened over fifty years ago. During the conversation, he said when he goes to bath, he starts from his foot and works it up towards his head. I told him no, that is not good because you will be taking the dirt from your feet to the upper part of your body. I told him I start from the head downwards. I wash the dirt downwards. He explained that the elders say, if you wash from the head downwards, you are washing away your worthiness and glory. The elders by their reason to wash from the feet upwards were right. It was to prevent us from suffering from stroke which can easily occur if you wash from the head downwards due to differences in body temperature as opposed to that of the surrounding area or environment. The way they explained it would let one be mindful of not losing their respect by washing them away, although it really had to do with the avoidance of contracting a stroke. Let me quote the following to support my point about how our ancestors were wiser. Researchers now know that the physics behind this environmental phenomenon apply also to brain activity. In a paper published in the Journal of Neural Engineering, researchers found that small increases in temperature while stimulating the brain can profoundly alter brain activity, sometimes with negative consequences. From the above, how dare us treat our forefathers as people without civilization and their era aba gyimii bre? They knew how best to cool down the body temperature gradually from the feet upwards before it gets to the head to not quickly alter the brain temperature to cause any negative consequences. The modern-day Ghanaians with all their deplorable negativities drawing them back when compared to our white contemporaries are the real aba gyimiifo. 20.11.2023 LISTEN The Ghana HIV Aids Network (GHANET) has announced it will embark on a health walk on Saturday, November 25, to create awareness about HIV self-testing in the country. This will be one of a number of activities to be undertaken by GHANET to mark 2023 World AIDS Day. In a press release, it said the walk is very important as about 100,000 people living with HIV are not aware and may spread the virus to other people. Currently, only about 72% of the estimated 354,000 persons living with HIV in Ghana know their status. This means that about 100,000 PLHIV are not aware of their status and may be inadvertently spreading the virus. Consequently, on Saturday, November 25, 2023, as mentioned earlier, a health walk will be organized by GHANET and partners to create more awareness about HIVST, particularly the blood-based method, parts of a release from the group said. Saturdays walk will start from Ayi Mensa at 0600 hours and end at Peduase where there will be solidary statements from government officials, development partners, and civil society organization leaders, as well as persons living with HIV (PLHIV). Some of the side attractions include onsite colour splashing; onsite face painting; live brass band music; live gyama music; live instructor-led aerobics; free condom distribution; free HIV self-testing kits; social networking; photo opportunities; and a kenkey party. Across the country, similar walks will be held in some regional capitals. Below is a copy of the release from GHANET: World AIDS Day 2023 Health Walk to Create Awareness about HIV Self-Testing PRESS RELEASE In 1988 the UNAIDS designated the 1st of December as World AIDS Day (WAD) in remembrance of persons who had lost their lives to the then ravaging HIV and AIDS menace. The day was also to be used to create awareness about the pandemic and encourage people to protect and prevent themselves from getting infected. The initiative was embraced by countries around the world and, since then, it has always been celebrated with both global and locally adapted themes. This year, the theme for the WAD celebration is Let Communities Lead and it is intended to ginger up persons who are infected and most affected by HIV and AIDS to take up roles and initiatives that can help end the disease as a public health concern by 2030. It is in this vein that Ghana HIV and AIDS Network (GHANET), in collaboration with the Network of Persons living with HIV (NAP+), and other stakeholders, are organizing a health walk to among others, create more awareness HIV Self-Testing (HIVST). Earlier, in July this year, the Minister for Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, officially launched HIVST in Ghana at a ceremony that was hosted by the Mayor of Accra, Hon. Elizabeth Sackey, and chaired by Nii Ahele Nunoo III (Abolo Mantse, Ga State Atofotse) at the Omanye Aba Hall of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA). At the time of the launch, the only approved form of self-testing, as per the countrys guidelines, was the oral method. Thus, with the support of Global Fund, the Ministry of Health (MoH), through the Ghana Health Service (GHS), successfully piloted the use of Oraquick HIVST in about 50 districts. Whilst the pilot was ongoing , other HIVST methods were evaluated by the National AIDS/STI Control Programme (NACP) to expand HIVST options in Ghana. Owing to the success of the evaluations, the country has now revised its guidelines to include blood-based methods of HIVST. This revision has now opened a window of opportunity for companies such as Abbott to introduce their CheckNOW HIVST in the country, giving Ghanaians a variety of choices. CheckNOW is a blood-based method of HIVST which gives test results in just 15 minutes. It is based on a 3rd generation HIVST technology which detects HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies in a fingerstick blood sample. The NACP has expressed confidence that the multiplication of HIVST testing options will help the country to achieve the first 95 of the 95-95-95 UNAIDS targets. Currently, only about 72% of the estimated 354,000 persons living with HIV in Ghana know their status. This means that about 100,000 PLHIV are not aware of their status and may be inadvertently spreading the virus. Consequently, on Saturday, November 25, 2023, as mentioned earlier, a health walk will be organized by GHANET and partners to create more awareness about HIVST, particularly the blood-based method. The walk will start from Ayi Mensa at 0600 hours and end at Peduase where there will be solidary statements from government officials, development partners and civil society organization leaders, as well as persons living with HIV (PLHIV). Special dignitaries who have been invited to participate in the walk include: Hon. Dr. Kwaku Afriyie (Representative of H.E. Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo on the GAC Governing Board); Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu (Minister for Health), Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene (Director-General, GAC); Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye (Director General, GHS); Dr. Leticia Adelaide Appiah (Executive Director, National Population Council); Mr. Hector Sucilla Perez (Country Director UNAIDS); Prof. Francis Kasolo (Country Representative, WHO), Mr. Daniel Craun-Selka (PEP and Hon. Jennifer Dede Afagbedzi (Municipal Chief Executive, La-Nkwantanang-Madina) who will be hosting the event. Some of the side attractions include: onsite colour splashing; onsite face painting; live brass band music; live gyama music; live instructor-led aerobics; free condom distribution; free HIV self-testing kits; social networking; photo opportunities; and kenkey party!!! Across the country, similar walks will be held in some regional capitals. The general public is invited. Issued in Accra, November 20, 2023 SIGNED: ERNEST AMOABENG ORTSIN (PRESIDENT) The New Patriotic Party (NPP) branch in Germany has hit out at former Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu for engaging in what it terms propaganda on road politics. This follows an interview by the Member of Parliament for Tamale South where he questioned the governments year of roads while insisting that roads in the country are deplorable. "What happened to the Year of Roads? All the roads are deplorable. I'm even doubting whether Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia would have motorable roads to campaign in Ghana," Haruna Iddrisu is reported to have said. In a release from NPP Germany, it has accused the NDC of engaging in propaganda of road politics. It noted that it is sad to see Haruna Iddrisu, an honourable figure go on such a tangent of reckless lies and deceit. The NPP Germany insists that the NPP government will not be distracted by such comments from members of the NDC but will continue to work to deliver for Ghanaians. Below is a copy of the NPP Germany press release: NPP GERMANY PRESS RELEASE 18---11---2023 DEAR HARUNA IDDRISU So NDC Fixed All Roads In Deplorable Conditions And Still Lost The Elections In 2016?---NPP Germany Quizzes Here we go again!! The propaganda on road politics has been activated in full force once again by the main opposition NDC. This time around, it is being perpetuated by one of its chief propagandists in the person of a former Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, who doubles as the MP for Tamale South. In a recent publication on Ghanaweb with the caption "2024 Elections: I doubt Bawumia would have motorable roads to campaign on - Haruna Iddrisu" Haruna Iddrisu claimed there are no motorable roads that the NPP Flagbearer Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia can use to smoothly facilitate his 2024 campaign since the NPP has no records to show that they have constructed roads. "What happened to the Year of Roads? All the roads are deplorable. I'm even doubting whether Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia would have motorable roads to campaign in Ghana," he is reported to have said. It is sad to see such Honourable figure go on such tangent of reckless lies and deceit. So, in 2016 which motorable roads did Mahama use to campaign on, and still went ahead to lose miserably in the national elections as a sitting president? We also want to remind Haruna Iddrisu that John Mahama avoided these bad and deteriorated roads he labelled as constructed, in the infamous propaganda scroll NDC Green Book, to fly in Helicopters and airplanes to campaign. Haruna Iddrisu should be told and reminded that the NPP recognises the social contract it has with Ghanaians since 2017 when the party took over power. It is against this background that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government declared the last few years (from 2020) as Year of Roads, with the aim of the government to embark on aggressive road development across the country. Every successive government from 1992 has built roads and the NPP will continue to do more so long as it remains in power. It is for this reason that we are persevering in order to BreakThe8 and do more for Ghanaians. The NPP Government is committed to building good road infrastructures. As a party, we recognise further that good roads are essential for economic growth to boost the transportation of goods and services, connecting communities, and attracting investments. Let's refocus and move the discussions towards funding, and a more improved government initiatives to support transportation and road networks. NPP sees the critical importance for governments and authorities to invest in road infrastructure maintenance and improvement to mitigate negative impacts. Maintaining and repairing roads in their early stages of deterioration is more cost-effective than waiting for them to become completely damaged. By fixing deplorable roads promptly, the government can save money and make lives better in the long run. The NPP and the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government will not be distracted by NDC in any way because we remain committed to delivering for the people. We will continue to urge the good people of Ghana to vote for Dr. Bawumia and NPP to break the 8 in order to retain the NPP so that the next NPP administration in the helm of governance will continue to give off its best. We Say KUDOS to Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government!!! Let The Truth Confound The Wise Long Live Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo!! God Bless Our Homeland Ghana!!! Long Live the Elephant Party!!!! Kukruduuuu Eeeessshiii!!!! Signed: Nana Osei Boateng NPP Germany Branch Communications Director President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced the governments plan to expand the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to strategically position it to deal with the growing threats of terrorism and violent extremism in the Sahel regions. Addressing the Ghana Military Academy 2023 graduation parade for regular career course 62 and short service commission /special duties course 60 at the forecourt of the Academy, President Akufo-Addo said his administration has approved various proposals and measures aimed at expanding the Ghana Armed Forces to be positioned strategically to deal with the unavoidable challenge posed by the terrorism phenomenon. In supporting this mandate, I have in recent times approved some measures for the expansion of our nation's Armed Forces. The newly promulgated establishments and units include the National College of Defence Studies. Others include 12 Mechanised Battalion Units and Sergeant Majors Academy. Similarly, the directorates of military records and public relations have been upgraded to departments. The Air Force Support Services Brigade Group in Burma Camp and the Armed Forces Medical Corps have also been expanded. Additionally, I have approved the promulgation of Ghana Armed Forces Central Band, Armed Forces Musical School, Armed Forces Fire Service, the School of Ordinance and the Artillery Training School after they were reviewed, the President said. The latter, President Akufo-Addo indicated, was expected to enhance the Armed Force's capabilities to deal decisively with contemporary threats within and outside the country. The eminent threats in the Northern part of Ghana have necessitated the establishment of forward operating and logistics bases along our entire Northern border. So far, the government has awarded contracts for the construction of 12 forward operating bases and three logistics bases to help contain the threats emanating from across our northern frontiers. These operating bases, which are at various stages of completion, will be resourced with adequate personnel and logistics to deal with such threats that have the potential to disrupt the peace and stability of our country Akufo-Addo added. President Akufo-Addo described the parade as special as the number of officers commissioned into service is the highest in the history of the Ghana Armed Forces. On parade were 292 cadets, including two allied cadets from the Republic of Guinea, who were also commissioned into their respective Armed Forces. The Ghana Military Academy (GMA) has held its 2023 graduation parade for Cadets of Regular Career Course 62 and Short Service Commission/ Special Duties Course 60 at its Academy Square on Friday at Teshie. This years parade constitutes 168 Army Cardets, 57 Navy Cardets and 67 Flight Cardets making a total of 292 comprising 217 males and 75 females. Speaking at the parade President Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo said this years parade was the highest in the history of the Ghana Military Academy. He added that 19% of females deployed by the GAF exceeded the UN target. On parade were 292 cadets, including two allied cadets from the Republic of Guinea, who were also commissioned into their respective Armed Forces. President Akufo-Addo commended the GAF for its dedication and commitment to the rule of law, democratic governance and constitutional governance in the country despite multiple coup detats recorded in West Africa and other parts of the continent. In helping to maintain peace and security, our men and women in uniform are exposed to the negative effects of wars and undemocratic changes of government. It is therefore praiseworthy that the Armed Forces continue to pledge their support to our democratic system of governance in the face of coup detats across the region President Akufo-Addo remarked. During the parade, various categories of awards and prizes were presented to the officers for their distinguished performance during the period of training. Among them were Best Allied Cadet S/CDT Camara Alpha Yaya, Academic Cane JUO Kpodo George Delali, Military Cane JUO Frimpong Esther, Sword of Honour SUO Awotwi Jacob Vanderpuye. The dignitaries present were Ghanas Ministers for Defence, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, Chief of the Defence Staff of GAF, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, Chief of the Army Staff, Major General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, Chief of the Naval Staff, Real Admiral Issah Adam Yakubu, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Frederick Asare Bekoe, Chief of Staff, General Headquarters, Major General Peter Nicholas Andoh, National Security, amongst others. 20.11.2023 LISTEN The real estate sector has become one of the main investment destinations for private capital in Ghana. It offers good and steady income in an increasingly urbanized country where demand for high-end and middle-level accommodation in the capital city, Accra, remains high. The Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) projects up to a 25 percent per annum rental yield on general real estate investment. Investing in The Prestige project, to be sited within the Kotoka International Airport City 1, offers one of the best Returns on Investment (ROI). With a steady Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow, the demand for world-class residential accommodation closer to amenities such as the Kotoka International Airport, hospitals, top-of-the-range restaurants, shopping centers, and recreational areas for expatriates and business leaders remains high. The Ghana Investment Promotions Center (GIPC) data shows that in 2022 the Country recorded foreign direct investment (FDI) totaling US$1.35 billion. The main beneficiary sectors were services, manufacturing, general trading, export trading, oil and gas, agriculture, and building & construction. The stability of the country's political environment and its relatively high returns on investment make it an attractive destination for real estate investors. According to i2 Developments Founder and Chairman, Nabil Al-Ahmad, in a highly sought-after neighbourhood such as Airport City I, an investment in The Prestige projects studios and 1-bedroom apartments, starting from 28 sqm to 77 sqm, can fetch owners between $150 and $200 per day. During peak seasons such as summer and December, the price per day can range from $200 - $300 per night. At an estimated minimum occupancy rate of 65 percent per year, that will generate about US$50,000 to 65,000 in rental income. With the level of interior sophistication expected when The Prestige is completed, The Prestiges studio and 1-bedroom apartments offer the best entry into investing in real estate for young business executives with a penchant for sophistication in a truly up-market location. In this new development, everything is a minute within reach in a traffic-prone city like Accra. For frequent business travelers to Ghana who regularly require a home-style hotel apartment for short stays, The Prestiges one-bedroom, two bedrooms, and penthouses present the best option for luxurious living and meeting up with like-minded business executives. The rental yield for these tailored bedrooms is much higher. The digitization of real estate processes is gaining momentum in Ghana. Online property listing platforms, mobile applications, and digital property management systems are improving transparency, efficiency, and access to real estate information. This trend fosters growth and facilitates transactions within the sector. All Within reach The Prestige projects location, adjacent to the Airport Shell Fuel Station and directly opposite the Marina Mall within the Airport City enclave, means all the best Accra has to offer leisure and business travelers are all a minute away. From famed shopping Malls, restaurants, nightclubs, offices of major international companies operating in Ghana, and of course, the Kotoka International Airport are all within reachin 60 seconds. The project is expected to cater to the ultimate luxury living whether one opts for a studio, one or two-bedroom, or a penthouse. The lush green spaces on the ground, on each of the levels, and the incorporation of sustainable open spaces as part of the Prestige, will create a luxury sanctuary within the city for residents and pleasure the eyes of beholders. With the strong choice of renowned Michelleti and Co. as the general contractors, the quality of the project is never in doubt. Casa Trasacco is a preferred partner for the project and will add a touch of elegance, as they have come to be known for, for each apartment curated within the Prestige. Ghana needs to raise $550 billion over the next 40 years, an equivalent of 10 per cent of its annual GDP, to achieve zero energy-related carbon emissions by 2060. In fulfilling this commitment, the government on 21st September 2023, unveiled a Ghana Energy transition and investment plan during the Global Africa Business Initiative event in New York, USA. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo disclosed this at the Ghana Energy Awards 2023, organised by Media Energy last Friday at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra. This may appear huge yet it is less than what we will spend if we carry on unconcerned. This national framework is ambitious but it is attainable, the President stated. Ghana is a signatory to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, whose ultimate goal is to keep rising global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels. That means Ghana will have to commit itself to lowering its greenhouse emissions concerning the effects of climate change while ensuring the countrys development and the well-being of the people are not jeopardised. The Ghana energy transition and investment plan, according to the President, spells out reasonable path for the country to attain net zero energy-related carbon emissions by 2060. The framework, President Akufo-Addo indicated, was due to comprehensive research and engagement with several stakeholders in the energy sector, including sector institutions, civil societies, corporate sector, international partners and academia. The plan, he emphasised, also aligns with the countrys development agenda and the 2030 United Nations SDGs. The framework outlines how we will implement low carbon solutions in major sectors of our economy such as oil and gas, transport.and power. The plan, President Akufo-Addo explained, also highlights the essential investments, regulatory initiatives, institutional arrangements and capacity buildings needed to facilitate this shift. It is a living document that will be reviewed regularly and evaluated to ensure that it remains relevant and responsive to our changing circumstances and goals, he noted. The plan, which is expected to impact positively on Ghanas economy, protect the environment, increase energy security, diversify the energy mix and safeguard the resources, according to the President, will also position Ghana as a world leader in energy transition. We will be among the first countries in Africa and beyond to attain universal access to clean and modern energy by 2030, he added. Even though the framework would need collaboration between Ghana and its foreign partners, the President stressed that it would largely require the dedication of all Ghanaian citizens in this shift. We need Ghanaians to accept this vision of Ghanas energy future, he emphasised. President Akufo-Addo commended Energy Media as its accomplishments in the sector is crucial to the growth and development of the country. He said the contribution of individuals, institutions and organisations to achieve the governments goals of a robust and fit-for-purpose energy sector cannot be underestimated, therefore, recognising their contributions would further propel them to do even more. President Akufo-Addo commended the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, whose exemplary leadership the President noted, had led to sustain growth in the sector and its value chain through sound policy direction. The Ghana Energy Awards aims to recognise the efforts, innovation and achievements of individuals, companies and institutions in Ghanas energy sector. It is also to celebrate the tremendous work of competing players under various award categories. The 2023 Ghana Energy Awards features 23 competitive categories and four non-competitive categories. The competitive categories include the Energy Personality of the Year (Male and Female), Chief Executive of the Year (Power and Petroleum), Rising Star (Individual and Company), the Energy Signature Award, Visionary Leadership Award, Green Chief Trailblazer Award, Energy Reporter of the Year, among others. The non-competitive categories are the Lifetime Achievement Award, Women in Energy Excellence Award, Osagyefo Young Leadership Award and the Exemplary Leadership Award. The Chief Executive Officer of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation, Edwin Alfred Provencal and the Chief Executive Officer of Pecan Energies Ghana Limited, Ms Kadijah Amoah won the Male and 'Female Energy Personality of the Year Award at the 2023 Ghana Energy Awards. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says pursuant to section 29 (1) of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), the processes leading to the grant of a Presidential Charter for the establishment of the National Defence University, is at an advanced stage and scheduled to begin early 2024. This, the President said, is in furtherance of continued efforts towards enhancing the country's military resource capabilities and preparedness and comes after the recent establishment of a National College of Defence Studies and War College to prepare selected senior military officers and civilians, working with defence and national security establishments in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Ghana and allied African countries, for strategic-level command and staff appointments. President Akufo-Addo made this known at the Graduation Parade for Regular Career Course Intake 62 and Short Service Commission/Special Duty Intake 60 on Friday, 17th November, 2023, at the Ghana Military Academy, Teshie, Accra. The National Defense University, he noted, has become increasingly necessary, because hitherto, training for strategic-level appointments and staff responsibilities, was provided by partner countries abroad. This limited the number of senior officers, who receive strategic training in the Armed Forces, due to the high cost of undertaking such training abroad. He disclosed that the programme at the National College of Defence Studies aims to produce graduates imbued with leadership, critical thinking and problem-solving skills required to address Ghana and Africa's complex security challenges as well as also build the capacity of selected senior officers' ability to conduct scientific research in Military Science, Defence Studies, Strategic Studies, International Relations, and other related subjects. The College will offer Masters and Doctoral programmes to officers and civilians working with the national security, defence establishments, Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Ghana and allied African countries. He added that the University, in this regard, will be the overarching institution for all other existing institutions of higher education within the Armed Forces, and will establish campuses at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Center (KAIPTC), National College of Defence Studies, Ghana Military Academy ( GMA ) and Ghana Armed Forces Training and Doctrine Command. Speaking on his government's commitment to elevate the Military Academy to world class standards, a three-storey 246-room Officer Cadets' Hostel, a 16 two-bedroom apartment Officer accommodation for Platoon Commanders and four two-bedroom apartments half compound accommodation for Senior Non-Commissioned Instructors, have been fully completed. He continued that, with the completion of the Hostel easing significantly cadet accommodation challenges, and paving the way for increased enrolment, the additional construction of a 720-seating capacity Academy Auditorium on the western end of Academy Square has been completed. Notwithstanding these completed projects Government is not oblivious to other infrastructural needs of the Academy. Highlighting Ghana's enviable legacy in International Peacekeeping, he pointed out that, Ghana's commitment to global peace and security dates back to 1960, when Ghana, for the first time, participated in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force deployed in the then Republic of Congo, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, Ghana has remained committed and dedicated to the cause of peace, either under the banners of the United Nations, the African Union (AU) or the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Today, he continued, Ghana is ranked the ninth largest troop contributing country by the United Nations in Peace Support Operations. Globally, Ghana is involved in fifteen peacekeeping missions, with a deployed strength of over 2,500 military personnel, with presence in Lebanon, South Sudan , Abyei in the Sudan, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Cyprus, and the Central African Republic. Others are Libya , Western Sahara/Morocco, Yemen, Somalia, and, until recently, Mali, where our Engineer Company recently started withdrawing following the enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2690 -3news.com 20.11.2023 LISTEN Builsa North Member of Parliament Dr Clement Apaak has said the proposal by the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Dramani Mahama to cancel the Teacher Licensure Examination makes sense. Dr Apaak said Mr Mahama is not opposed to examining teachers as a basis for certifying them as professionals. However, he said, like teacher trainees and stakeholders in teacher training, Mr Mahama is opposed to the current arrangement towards certification. The former President insists that the teacher license examination does not make sense, therefore he will remove it if he becomes president again. He wondered why students of the colleges of education write examinations throughout their stay in school, but when they are done and ready to teach, they are asked to write a license examination. The National Teaching Council (NTC), an agency under the Ministry of Education in 2018 introduced the Teacher Licensure Examination aimed at licensing teachers who teach or want to teach in public pre-tertiary schools in the country. This, according to the Ministry of Education, is in fulfilment of Section 12(4) of the Education Act, 2008 (Act 778) which states that The programme of study for pre-tertiary teachers that lead to a license to teach shall be developed in consultation with the Council. I spoke about the licensure exam in 2020. We will remove the licensure exam. The students write exam throughout the period they are in school and when they leave to work, you ask them to write another examination, it doesn't make sense, he said at a town hall meeting at Wenchi in the Bono Region on Friday, November 17. Commenting on this, Dr Apaak said in a statement that In JM's variant, when a teacher trainee passes all final year courses, including the course tailored to certify a trainee as a professional teacher, the trainee is given a licence. If the trainee passes all courses but fails the certification course, he/she doesn't get a licence and would have to re-register the course and write it in his/her college as is the case with final year compulsory courses. Below is his full statement: JM's Promises To Review fSHS and To Cancel Teacher Lincensure Examination Make Sense Every stakeholder in education in Ghana is in favour of reviewing the fSHS programme and the cancellation of the Teacher Lincensure examination, but NADAA, DMB, Hon. Fordjour and the NPP gov't. The promises made by JM are commonsensical, justified and will be implemented when he takesover as President. Hon. Fordjour and the NPP gov't are either out of touch with reality or haven't followed public sentiments. If JM has plans to cancel fSHS he wouldn't be planning to invite stakeholders to a national forum to discuss fSHS. JM has on several occasions said that fSHS has come to stay. Like most Ghanaians however, he is concerned about the well documented implementation challenges and how to address them to make the fSHS better for national good. Ghanaians of all walks of life are calling for a review of the fSHS policy, which has been implemented for over six years, and JM will honour this call because the fSHS programme is challenged by: erratic academic calendar; inadequate and unwholesome food; inadequate academic and residential space; overworked teaching and non-teaching staff amongst others. Equally, JM's proposed forum on fSHS will also consider the role of PTA's and private secondary schools in the delivery of the policy. JM is not opposed to examining teachers as a basis of certifying them as professionals. However, like teacher trainees and stakeholders in teacher training, JM is opposed to the current arrangement towards certification. His reasonable alternative is to make the examination towards professional certification a final year compulsory course to be written alongside other final year courses. In JM's variant, when a teacher trainee passes all final year courses, including the course tailored to certify a trainee as a professional teacher, the trainee is given a licence. If the trainee passes all courses but fails the certification course, he/she doesn't get a licence and would have to re-register the course and write it in his/her college as is the case with final year compulsory courses. This mode of teacher certification in addition to JM's promise to cancel the one year compulsory national service, which is currently an additional requirement for appointment as a teacher by the Ghana Education Service, has additional advantages. Under JM's proposal, teacher trainees who pass all courses, including the certification course, are immediately posted to the classroom; no wasting a year doing national service and no need to pay, after national service, to write a licensure examination. We can certify our teacher trainees as professional teachers and deploy them in the classrooms sooner, where they are most needed, through a cheaper, simplified yet rigorous process. Dr. Clement Abas Apaak MP, Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member On the Education Committee of Parliament -3news.com Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the 24-hour economy idea that he proposed to implement if he is elected as president again, will not be imposed on businesses. He said the policy would rather be voluntary. He stated that businesses will be encouraged to sign onto the policy. I envision a 24-hour economy where hospital facilities, filling stations, manufacturers, construction companies, garbage collection companies, mining and extractive industries, agro-processing, harbors and ports, financial services, digital start-ups will operate a three-shift system 24/7 in an atmosphere of safety and security . This 24 hour economy I propose will be voluntary, it will not be imposed. Businesses will be encouraged to sign up with tax incentives provided for them and enhanced security and lower electricity tariffs after peak hours. Special meters will be deployed to provide what is known as time-of-use tariffs to deliver cheaper power to such businesses during the hours of especially 10 AM and 6AM, he said while speaking to Catholic Bishops in Sunyani on Saturday, November 18, He further said that the 24-hour economy is meant to create jobs for all Ghanaians. The 24-hour economy I proposed is for jobs and more jobs, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) stressed. Mr Mahama proposed the '24hr Economy ' project when he met with officials of the country's mother workers union on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at the start of his engagement with key stakeholders in a quest to return to power. Dubbed 'Building Ghana Tour', the interactions with the stakeholders is to apprise them of the policies the next NDC administration will implement to transform the economy. He said NDC was left alone as the solitary voice seeking to hold the government accountable and speaking up for the voiceless Ghanaian and we were often cast out as spoilt brats who were ranting just because we have lost power. Today, the chickens have come home to roost and we are all affected. Earlier, he promised to build a cashew processing factory in Wenchi. Addressing a gathering in Wenchi on Friday, he noted, Currently, cashews are harvested and exported to India for processing before distribution to other countries. The Indians profit more from cashews that we have struggled to plant and harvest. My leadership aims to introduce machinery in the Bono Region dedicated to cashew processing, designed for the efficient processing and packaging of cashews for export. This initiative is to retain any profits from cashews in the country, he added. -3news.com Former President John Mahama[left] and Deputy Education Minister John Ntim Fordjour 20.11.2023 LISTEN Former President John Dramani Mahama's pledge to scrap teacher licensure exams if elected president again has drawn criticism from Deputy Education Minister Rev. John Ntim Fordjour. In a post on X, Ntim Fordjour describes the former President's promise as lacking vision and seeking only to cancel "good policies" introduced by the current government. He accused the 2024 NDC flagbearer of being "the biggest threat to Ghana's progress", saying his alternative offers "no vision, just desperate for power which was once incompetently handled." Mahama announced the promise to cancel teacher licensure exams during his ongoing 'Building Ghana' tour last week. He maintains that the exams is "unnecessary" as teachers already undergo testing throughout their training. "This is unnecessary. In our next administration, we will cancel the licensure exams," Mahama said in Wenchi, Bono Region. The former leader had also pledged to abolish the exams in the NDC's 2020 manifesto, arguing they deny qualified teachers employment opportunities. "We will abolish the obnoxious licensure exams for teacher trainees and restore the automatic employment of teacher trainee graduates," his manifesto stated. 20.11.2023 LISTEN The luxury real estate market in Ghana is a gold mine ready to be tapped by savvy investors. With increasing prosperity, a growing middle class, and heightened interest from the African diaspora, Ghanas luxury real estate market is poised for massive growth. As an investor, its the perfect time to stake your claim in this burgeoning market. Several factors are fueling the demand for high-end properties in Ghana: Economic Growth and Expanding Middle Class: Ghanas economy has grown at an average of 7% annually since 2017. This rapid economic growth is producing a bigger middle class with higher disposable incomes. By 2024, Ghanas middle class is projected to double to about 15 million people, or 30% of the population. This will drive demand for luxury real estate market developments. Favourable Demographics: Nearly 60% of Ghanas population is under 25 years old. This youthful population is ambitious, career-focused, and keen to enjoy the finer things in life. Luxury real estate developers are capitalising on this demographic trend by building homes and amenities suited to the lifestyles of young high-earning professionals. Growing Diaspora Interest: Ghanaians living abroad, especially in North America and Europe, are showing increasing interest in owning luxury real estate market second homes in their homeland. Motivations include having a vacation home, securing a retirement property, and connecting with their roots. Their remittances are funding luxury real estate market purchases. Government Support: The Ghanaian government has prioritised the real estate sector through initiatives like the national housing policy.This is boosting activity in the high-end segment. Planned infrastructure upgrades like new airports, roads, and hospitals are also making certain locations more attractive for luxury real estate developers. For luxury real estate market developers and investors, two major hotspots stand out: Accra and East Legon. With its bustling urban energy and modern amenities, Accra is attracting luxury real estate development. The Airport Residential Area, Cantonments, and East Legon are some of the neighborhoods that are seeing a wave of upscale apartment towers, townhouses, single-family homes, duplexes, and condominiums. The writer , Joycelyn Kyei-Baffuor is a Real Estate Content Writer and Copy Editor 20.11.2023 LISTEN Following the successful coup in Niger a few moons ago, some members of Zu-za continue to sit on radio and television and gleefully proclaim that they wish same could happen in Kwame Okros homeland. Same narrative is being projected by media houses that are hell-bent on seeing the back of the Elephant in 2024. But the question to ask the Zu-za coup-mongers is simple: should the current Nana Dee government be overthrown by an overzealous soldier, would he make President Ogwanfunu, Zu-zas flagbearer, the Head of State? If no, then what would they and their party gain in the unlikely event that their coup wish came true? And to coup-mongering journalists, do you think a military dictator would allow you to sit in your radio and television studios and run his military government down? Should there be a coup, those likely to suffer the most are journalists. So what deludes them into believing that coup-mongering is in their interest? There is this story I read about a rich merchant, narrated by Charles Yeboah, Sir Charles, on GhanaWeb a couple of years ago, and I would love to share an abridged version with you today. I hope the moral of the story would better drive home my point. One day, a rich merchant went to the city of Goka, where he saw a beautiful damsel and instantly fell in love with her. He approached and expressed his love and admiration for her. The damsel contemptuously rejected his advances, despite the show of opulence to entice her. Listen to her, You are not bold enough to win my heart, for you even shiver and cant even look me in the eyes as you woo me for my love. I look for a brave and intelligent man who will harness me for our collective growth, not a rich stranger whose history and source of wealth I cannot tell. Angered and shamed by the rejection, he secretly followed the maiden to her abode. In the silence of night, he hurled a big pebble into the compound that housed the damsel, with the hope of injuring and making her unattractive to any other man. The pebble hit a female who gave a shrill cry, prompting him to take to his heels. Morning came and it so happened that the injured female was a patient of the maidens father, who was a physician. The injury was so severe that the physician had to call a relative to come and transfer the injured patient to a bigger facility for surgery. You can imagine the merchants pain and shock when he realised that his sick mother for whom he had entered Goka the previous day happened to be the victim of his evil machinations. The moral of the story is that, he who throws a pebble to the crowd does not know whose head it will hit. So my word of admonishment to the coup-mongers is to be careful what they wish for. They may be going through distressing economic times under the reign of President Nana Dee, but will a successful coup detat by an adventurous soldier improve the so-called economic difficulties? Certainly not! This country has witnessed numerous coups, successful or otherwise, and none has improved the lot of the downtrodden they claimed to be fighting for. The pitiable situation of the downtrodden is rather worsened by the dictatorial tendencies of the coup-makers. I cannot claim to be that old, but I have lived long enough on this earth to tell my readers that a coup detat only brings a momentary joy. The downtrodden will shout oseyyy yeyyyyy and rejoice at the overthrow of the government. But ultimately, only the coup-makers and their so-called cadres end up enjoying the sweet fruits of a coup. So I dare say only a fool or an ignoramus would wish for a coup, which would neither improve his lot nor give him peace of mind. I have done my part by spreading words of wisdom, let those who have ears hear me loud and clear! See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente! INTRODUCTION The Israeli-Palestinian crisis stands as one of the most pivotal and volatile conflicts in contemporary history. This conflict has not only shattered the social fabric of both sides involved, but has also transcended the boundaries of the Palestinian entity, West Bank, Gaza, and the State of Israel, leading to its characterization as the 'Arab-Israeli Conflict' by international media. It is imperative to address misconceptions, such as this, throughout this assignment. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is undeniably an inflammatory issue, deeply intertwined with socio-political and religious upheavals in the Middle East, and has fueled the rise of radical Islamic governments and movements, along with pockets of terrorism globally. The core of this strife lies in the appropriation of Palestine, an inherently Arab land for two millennia, by Jewish settlers who arrived against the will of its original inhabitants. They proclaimed a racially exclusive Jewish state, dispossessed the majority of the indigenous population, and subjugated the remaining in stark violation of international humanitarian law, United Nations Resolutions, and fundamental principles of civilization. It is essential to recognize that, unlike other conflicts in contemporary history, there have been conscious efforts to displace the indigenous population in this particular case. As Sir John Glubb astutely observed, the Palestine struggle is a unique and desperate conflict, without parallel in modern history. It is a result of a series of injustices, with the foremost being the violation of the social status and sovereignty of the Palestinian people in their homeland. This discussion will primarily focus on human rights and emphasize the significance of Palestinian freedom and liberty. PALESTINE AND PALESTINIAN ARABS: HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS AND SOCIO-POLITICAL EVIDENCES Historically, the land known as Palestine has been inhabited by a diverse mix of Semitic people, the Canaanites, since around 538 B.C. While the Bible does not offer a clear picture of the ethnic or tribal composition, it does reference the ancient inhabitants as Philistines. The region has a long history of conflict and has seen various populations, including Christian Arabs, who held significant influence in ancient Jerusalem. Pagan Arabs also maintained close commercial ties with Palestine and Syria. The arrival of Jewish settlers marked a significant shift in the region. The earliest settlers, the Jebusite Arabs, found a serene and peaceful land and named it "Uru Salema," which later became Jerusalem, signifying the "city of peace". The Jebusites were eventually followed by the Philistines, after which the region was named Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital. King David briefly established Hebrew hegemony over Jerusalem, leaving notable landmarks, but the struggle for control over the territory continued. The Babylonians took control of Jerusalem, leading to the destruction of the temple and the capture of some Jews. Subsequently, the Romans further altered the landscape, destroying parts of the city and renaming it Jolia Capitolona. However, the connection between Jerusalem and Islam has deep historical roots. The Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem holds a central place in the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Islam's connection to Jerusalem is profoundly rooted in the Quran, as it is the third holiest city in Islam after Makkah and Madinah. The Quran describes the Prophet Muhammad's nocturnal journey from the Holy Mosque in Makkah to the Distant Mosque in Jerusalem, a journey of immense significance. THE JEWS AND THE STATE OF ISRAEL: TRACING THE LINK FROM ANCIENT TO MODERN TIMES The term "Israel" has diverse uses within the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, as well as in Catholic writings. It primarily signifies the people of God in the context of salvation history and does not refer to a separate political entity or state. The concept of Israel was initiated in God's promise to Abraham in the Book of Genesis and the divine Covenant. The Covenant has both national and universal significance. The promise of a specific land was conditional upon the fulfillment of the Covenant, emphasizing Israel's special relationship with God. However, the Bible does not clearly define terms like 'nation' or 'land' within the context of the Covenant. Over time, various events shaped the destiny of the Israelites. The story of their enslavement and deliverance from Egypt, led by Moses, holds particular significance. Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites to the Sinai in 1447 B.C., reinforcing their special relationship with God. However, the Israelites strayed from their covenant with God, and both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms faced destruction. A few remnants from the tribe of Benjamin were the only survivors. The historical narrative also varies among different religious perspectives. Christians, Jews, and Muslims have different interpretations of this history, each shaped by their respective beliefs and theological standpoints. Christians see Israel as having failed to fulfill its divine mission, while Jews eagerly anticipate the restoration of their past glories. Muslims, meanwhile, view the emergence of Islam as a response to the shortcomings of the Jews and Christians. In conclusion, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is deeply rooted in history, with a complex tapestry of religious, social, and political factors. Recognizing these intricate historical antecedents is essential for a comprehensive understanding of the present-day conflict and for seeking a peaceful resolution that respects the rights and aspirations of both parties involved. How then have the West contributed to the inflammation of the conflict or peace process? ZIONISM AND SOME MATTERS ARISING FROM THE HISTORICAL QUESTIONS Zionism is a nationalistic movement that seeks to establish an independent Jewish state in Palestine. It has two main sources: the ancient dream of restoring Israel, and the need for a refuge for persecuted Jews everywhere. Many Jews in exile harbored national feelings and hoped to return to their promised land. Influenced by new prophets, scribes, and teachers, they sought to settle again in what they believed to be their ancestral homeland. In the mid-nineteenth century, some Jewish thinkers were concerned about the deterioration of Jewish life. One of them was Moses Hess (1812-1875). He argued that Jewish nationalism was the only way to preserve Judaism. Hess wrote in his book Rome and Jerusalem, published in 1862, that it is only with a national rebirth that the religious genius of the Jews, like the giant of the legend touching mother earth, will be endowed with new strength and again be inspired with prophetic spirit. No aspirant for Enlightenment, not even a Mendelssohn, has so far succeeded in crushing the hard shell within which Rubbinism has entrusted Judaism, without at the same time destroying the national ideal in its innermost essence What we have to do at present for the regeneration of the Jewish nation is first to keep alive the hope of the political rebirth of our people and next to re-awaken the hope where it slumbers. This idea was further developed to suggest that A good, patriotic, national Jew could participate in the culture and political life of the country of residence and have two fatherlands Dr. Mezvinsky criticizes Moses Hess for not proposing an exclusive state or a state where non-Jews had equal secular rights and privileges. In my opinion, this was the origin of Zionism, which is nothing but an extreme Jewish racial and nationalistic ideology. There is hardly a major cause of the Palestine-Israel conflict than the nationalist sentiment that eventually got the name ZIONISM. Interestingly, around the same time that Moses Hess was propagating his ideas, Jews in Poland, Russia, and elsewhere in Europe were advocating a similar concept of reclaiming Palestine and Jerusalem. By 1883, for example, Baron Edmund de Rothschild of Paris financed a few pioneers to return first to Palestine and establish a struggling settlement as a precursor for the smooth return of others. A modern adaptation and transformation of a major theme within the Jewish faith had begun. Theodore Herzl (1860-1904) was the main promoter of Zionism as an organized global movement with secular and nationalist political goals. He was convinced that rampant anti-Semitism, which manifested itself in the Dreyfus Affair in France, could be avoided wherever Jews were in the minority by creating a Jewish state. Herzl elaborated on this and other ideas in his book Ju den Staat (The Jewish State), published in 1895. The book became the classic of the movement he initiated, which adopted the name ZIONISM, a term coined, in 1892, by Nathan Birnbaum (1864-1937). Mezvinsky provides further background to Herzls personality saying that in his early life, he neither associated with Jews nor with Judaism. His Zionism was unquestionably secular-based; he only paid lip service at certain times to his notion of the Messianic tradition for Jews. Herzl did argue that the Jewish state he envisioned would serve as a blessing not only for the Jews but for all nations worldwide. In 1897, the first Zionist congress took place and the program of political Zionism was formulated in these words: Zionism aims to establish a publicly and legally assured home for the Jewish people in Palestine Rome and Jerusalem: The Last National Question by Moses Hess: The Origins of Zionism by David Vital: The Origin of Israel: A Documentary History by Norman A. Stillman The Jewish State by Theodor Herzl. From there, we witness a gradual but noticeable demonstration of the secular orientation and strong advocacy of Jewish radical nationalism. As we may know, Herzl faced strong opposition to his ideas and for using cultural or spiritual Zionism to make Palestine a necessary home for the Jews. Indeed, earlier, some members of the British Parliament had made positive moves to get an uninhabited part of Africa under British mandate to avoid possible conflicts with the peaceful Arabs of Palestine. Prominent Jewish scholars like Asher Ginsburg (1886-1927), commonly known by his pseudonym Ahad Haam, Martin Buber (1878-1969), and others stood against Herzls political Zionism. For generations, the Jews have suffered in the hands of several nations. In 1290, they were expelled from Portugal and Spain, England. The Jews were twice banished from France, once in 1306 and again in 1394. They were exiled from Belgium in 1370 and from Czechoslovakia in 1380. Holland drove them out in 1444. In Italy, the Jews were evicted in 1540. Germany first exiled them in 1551 and Russia in 1510. Not much of the above history of Jewish exile has received adequate publicity. It was the infamous extermination of six million Jews (one-third of the entire Jewish population of the world), in the European Holocaust by Hitler and the Nazis that unintentionally gave the powerful impetus for Jewish unity and support for Zionism and which eventually led to the establishment in 1948 of the Zionist state of Israel in historic Palestine. One may wonder why the Jews have indeed experienced so many hardships in their history. The book, Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zionism (Al-Protocolaat Ulamaa-us-Suhyooniyyah), reveals that the Jews believe they have been created for domination and this would be realized in the return of the leader who was to eliminate corruption on the surface of the earth and to establish Gods kingdom. Interestingly, Muslims and Christians agree about this person. He is Jesus Christ or Prophet Issah (A.S.). For the Jews however, they misinterpret Thessalonians 4:16-17 and Daniel 11:36 to mean the coming Messiah was to descend solely for their benefit and shall reside in Palestine. Therefore, all Jews must return to the Promised Land before the time. This is not only biblically erroneous; it is historically a fraudulent and biased interpretation of the biblical narratives. Some theologians believe the description the Jews give to the coming leader fits the Dajjal, the one-eyed anti-Christ. The fallacy is first established in the fact that Zionism contradicts the Old Testament and commands within Judaism to love ones fellow human beings. This command is all-inclusive, extending to all people, of whatever creed or race. Unmistakable in this connection is the biblical injunction to love the stranger as yourself (Lev.19:24). Deuteronomy 1:16 also advises Jews to judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Numbers 15:16 states One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourns with you. Why then have the Jews ignored these injunctions and carried on with their occupation and aggression to the extent of passing the Law of Return which grants automatic citizenship to any member of the Jewish communities throughout the world on entry to the country? Why have they imposed their system of education on the Arabs and altered the curriculum by teaching the salvation of the land theme as a core subject which defines a good land or a saved piece of land as one that has been transformed to Jewish ownership. Moreover, the Law of Return was based on the classical Zionist land of Israel theme which advocates one objective: Among ourselves, it must be clear that there is no place in the country for both peoples together with the Arabs, we shall not achieve our aim of being an independent people in this country. The only solution and there is no way but to transfer the Arabs from here to the neighboring countries. Transfer all of them, not one village or tribe should remain To the religious consciousness of the Jews, their living in exile means God living in exile, and their return to the land means Gods return. As the Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel succinctly wrote intimate attachment to the land, waiting for the renewal of Jewish life in the land of Israel is part of our integrity, an existential fact, unique, sui generis, it lives in our hopes, and it abides in our hearts. It is a commitment we must not betray to abandon the land would make a mockery of all our longings, prayers, and commitments. To abandon the land would be to repudiate the Bible Modern Jewish-occupied Palestine owes its modicum of success to the British in its Balfour Declaration. On November 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued the following statement on behalf of the British government: His Majestys government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which will prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. Thus, a mandate for Palestine was assigned to Britain after World War I, and in 1923, effect was given to the Balfour Declaration. The Declaration was aptly described as a document in which one nation solemnly promised to a second the country of a third. The Declaration, according to Dr. Henry Cattan, did not receive the approval of the international community at the time nor did it receive the approval of the British House of Commons and House of Lords. The House of Lords declaring the Palestinian mandate to be unacceptable (because of the Balfour Declaration), was carried on June 21, 1922, by 60 to 29. This meant, in effect, the abrogation of the Declaration. However, with legislative concurrence and approval, the British government went ahead to accept the mandate. After World War I ended, the Allied Powers laid the framework for peace. They adopted an Article of the Covenant of the League of Nations (which was incorporated in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919). These principles were to govern the future of the people detached from Turkey as a result of the war. The Palestinians were among the people concerned. Article 22 provided that the well-being and development of such people form a sacred trust of civilization and that their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory provision. However, article 22 of the Covenant for instance violated the tenets of the Balfour Declaration. Some analysts argue that from the beginning, the Declaration was Zionistically designed to dispossess the Arabs. A relevant example to be cited here is that in the following year after the Declaration, precisely March 1918, Weizman arrived in Jerusalem as the head of a Zionist Commission. At first, he was deeply disappointed by his discovery. On April 18, he wrote to his wife, it was sad, very sad. We have so little here, hardly a single Jewish institution to delight the eye or the heart. But instead, how much alien power, threatening and austere minarets, and bells, cupolas reaching up to the skies: a constant reminder that Jerusalem is not a Jewish town. His heart cried out, he told his wife when he saw the Jewish quarter, filth and infection, indescribable poverty, century-old ignorance, and fanaticism. To organize Jerusalem, to bring some order into this hell, will take a long time and need much strength, courage, and patience. The war had taken a terrible toll on all the population of Palestine. The number of Jews had fallen from about 80,000 to 55,000. Accordingly, Weizman wrote to Lord Balfour on 30 May 1918 that it does not take into account the superiority of the Jew to the Arab, the fundamental difference between Arab and Jew. Lord Balfour in turn wrote to the Prime Minister at the time in a sympathetic move saying The point of our position of course is that in the case of Palestine, we deliberately and rightly decline to accept the principle of self-determination. However, this was not to favor the Palestinians. The idea that Palestine is geographically practically in the center of the British Empire was already popular in the minds of the public. Since this fraudulent declaration, Zionists have systematically wiped out their Palestinian landlords, decimated countless villages and their inhabitants, and also caused more than two million Palestinians to be displaced and live in refugee camps in adjacent Arab countries. Israel and the West accuse the Arabs of aggression and terrorist activities. Earlier, the United Nations plan was to divide Palestine into an Arab and Jewish state. Meanwhile, Israel was militarily assured security by the United States (Uncle Sam) and the United Kingdom (United Killers). For that matter, the Israeli army attacked the Arabs and conquered fifty percent (50 %) more territory than allotted to them. An armistice ensued, but the Arabs refused to make a peace treaty. Despite their stance which has been carried on till the formation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yasir Arafat, Israel has expanded its occupation and usurpation of the Golan Heights, the entire West Bank, Gaza, Sinai Peninsula, and primarily the city of Jerusalem. Much bloodshed, bombings, suicides, and just any evil that could befall man have been experimented on in Pon Palestine. Islamist freedom fighters have consolidated themselves into vibrant organizations like Hamas, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Al Qasim Brigade, and Al Fattah have reconstructed the way forward in their understanding of the conflict issues. Their plight is widely known to Arabs, Muslims, Jews, and non-Jews and everybody seems to have a fair knowledge of their situation. On the Muslim front, rhetoric seems to be fruitless. That is why they compose radical poems to keep the passion for resistance high. For example, an Arabic lecturer of philology is translated this way: Right restored in the Security Council, rather in the (military) recruitment office; a two-thousand-paged speech is no match for an iron-made missile. It is clear, then, that no other conflict in history resembles the Palestine-Israel conflict. All militant Islamic organizations, so-called terrorists, attribute their major grievance to the umbilical cord in Jerusalem and the sovereignty of Palestinians. The solution to the crises is still elusive when the livelihood of one party is being eroded at the expense of another. When killings of prominent Muslim clerics like Sheikh Yasin and his immediate successors, and the deliberate blocking of medical and food aid were perpetuated, when Yasir Arafat died as a result of the effects of house arrest and the refusal of Israel to allow him access to medical support remains fresh in the minds of the Arabs, when the road map is already in place and not until water, light, shelter, and the fundamental human rights of the Palestinians are recognized and the rule of law is truly restored for all, not when after a genuinely held democratic election is won infavourr of Muslims and the West refuses to recognize the elected government, then violence may forever be the fate of the region. How then have the West contributed to the escalation of the conflict or peace process? INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTIONS AND THE IMPACT OF THE WEST ON THE ISSUES In an article entitled The Arab-Zionist Conflict and the Invariables of American Policy, Mohammad Kamal states that Zionism and American Foreign Policy are intertwined programs. He mentions politics, economics, and the military as the triangular domains of Western impact on the Palestine-Israel conflict. The history of the political sovereignty of the Jews is largely the history of the Wests machinations. It was the Wests instrumentality that on the 11th of September 1922, Britain's Mandate on Palestine was declared. On March 4, 1949, a year after the Sovereign state of Israel was declared; the United States was quick in granting Israel membership of the United Nations General Assembly. As a result, Palestine is socio-politically and militarily under siege. In 1950, the UU.S. guaranteed the safety of Israel in the Tripartite Declaration issued by the U.S.A, Britain, and France. Interestingly, some scholars think that the U.S. and the Wests relentless aid to Israel is sometimes perceived by them to be more of a religious obligation than political, or simply mundane. For example, America gave a political sport to Israel to freely navigate in the Tiran strait as a reward for its participation in the Tripartite Aggression against Egypt in 1956. And in 1967; the same U.S. backed the Zionist Israeli state to occupy the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan. On September 4, 1975, the United States signed a memorandum of Strategic Understanding with Israel in which the former agreed to immediate consultation in case of international pressure requesting its withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories in the implementation of the UN resolutions. The Memorandum also determined the nature of diplomatic and non-diplomatic support it could offer to Israel. Indeed, the same Memorandum was reactivated on March 26, 1979. At the peak of the US staunch support for Israel is their misuse of the veto to approve of the perpetual extermination of the Paine. By 1990, America had vetoed six times against the nation of Israel in the Security Council for the invasion of Lebanon on 5th June 1982, and the consequent human rights abuses and war crimes of Israel. As we have seen, the State of Israel is fully blessed and backed by the United States. In the realm of economics, it was the United States that played a pivotal role in offering technical and financial support from 1953 to 1964 through the Johanson Project, aimed at facilitating the division of water resources between Israel and the Arab states. This endeavor involved the redirection of the Jordan River toward the Negev region. Additionally, the United States maintains its unwavering financial backing of Israel, coupled with the provision of cutting-edge technology. It is worth noting that between 1970 and 1980, U.S. aid to Israel surged from $500 million to $4 billion. In the military sphere, the United States and Israel have established a mutually beneficial relationship, marked by the exchange of intelligence information regarding Arab states since January 22, 1970. This collaboration extends to military aid, which has seen a fourfold increase. This has even resulted in the establishment of an air bridge connecting the United States and Tel Aviv, as well as the creation of two air bases within the Negev region. As outlined by Mohammad Kamal in his work, "Invariables of American Policy," a significant agreement reached in May 1986 incorporated the Zionist entity into the American Strategic Defense Agreement, often referred to as "Star Wars." Consequently, Israel assumed the role of a prominent ally in this initiative. Furthermore, this agreement mandated close cooperation between Zionist companies and their American counterparts in the development and production of counter-missile technology, ensuring Israel's decisive superiority over all Arab states in the realm of military technology. In light of these circumstances, one may ponder the role and stance of the American public in influencing their government's policies and mitigating potential biases. I leave it to you to draw your conclusions on this matter. It is worth noting that the United States is a nation characterized by unique ideological and political intricacies and contradictions. In any case, I trust that the objective of this section has been effectively met, demonstrating the closely intertwined relationship between the United States and Israel. These two nations share a profound connection, with their destinies intricately linked. For the Palestinian people, the path to liberation from the occupation of their homeland does not lie in mere rhetoric but, rather, in a resolute approach known as the Intifada. This strategy can be understood through the scientific principle that states, "Every object remains at rest until a force is applied to it." Furthermore, it is vital to acknowledge the reciprocal nature of actions and reactions. History has consistently shown that the suppression of a population invariably leads to resistance and uprising. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION The classification of Palestinian groups like the PLO, Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Hamas, and Al-Qasim Brigades as terrorist organizations is a deeply divisive and complex issue, with multiple perspectives and interpretations. Perspective 1: Defenders of Freedom and Rights From the perspective of some Palestinians, these groups are seen as freedom fighters, patriots, and nationalists. They argue that these organizations have emerged in response to what they perceive as an unjust occupation and oppression of their land. To them, these groups represent a form of resistance, and they believe that their actions are aimed at achieving self-determination and securing their rights. Perspective 2: International Designations On the other hand, international bodies such as the United Nations and several countries classify these groups as terrorist organizations. This designation is based on their use of violence, including attacks against civilians. Many countries maintain that these groups' actions have had a detrimental impact on the peace process and civilian populations. Perspective 3: A Spectrum of Beliefs Within this conflict, there is a spectrum of beliefs and opinions. While some individuals within the Palestinian territories may support these groups, others may not. Similarly, in Israel and the international community, there are varying opinions regarding these designations. Perspective 4: Impact on the Peace Process The categorization of these groups as terrorists or freedom fighters has a significant impact on the peace process. Supporters of these organizations argue that they serve as legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people and should be part of negotiations. Critics argue that their use of violence undermines diplomatic efforts. Perspective 5: Human Rights Concerns Human rights organizations have also expressed concerns about the actions of these groups, particularly regarding civilian casualties and human rights violations. They emphasize the need for all parties to respect international humanitarian law. In essence, the labeling of Palestinian groups as terrorists or freedom fighters is a matter of contentious debate, reflecting the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is essential to consider and respect various perspectives while seeking a path toward a peaceful resolution. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bibliography Afaad, A. M. (1982). Khatar Al Yahud (Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zionism). Dar Al Kitab Al Arabiyy. Banire, B. A. (1996). Top Secret (25th ed.). Lagos: Al Bayan Islamic Publication Limited. Carson, M. J. (2021, July). The Emotional Heschel. Dissertations - ALL. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2423&context=etd Chomsky, N. (1983). The Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians. New York: South End Press. Dickson, K. A. (1969). The History and Religion of Israel (from Hezekiah to the Return from Exile). London: Longman & Todd Ltd. Hallami, B. B. (1993). Original Sins, Reflections on the History of Zionism and Israel. Haifa: Olive Branch Press. Quigley, J. (1990). Palestine and Israel: A Challenge to Justice. Ohio: Duke University Press. Wells, H. G. (1920). An Outline of History. London: Aztec Publications. Abdul Manaf Yunus PhD Student, Counter-Terrorism and Deradicalization, Euclid University | Pole Universitaire Euclid / Interfaith Coordinator for Muslim Life, San Diego State University, San Diego, California. +233262522811 (WhatsApp Only) Email: [email protected] The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has disclosed that his official residence in Cantonment, Accra was sold without his knowledge. MP for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, reported on social media that the Speaker revealed the Cantonments residence was secretly sold to a private developer while he was still living there. The Lands Commission only discovered it when the developer went to register the property, according to the lawmakers social media post. This was disclosed at the 2023 Speaker's Breakfast Forum which aims to consolidate ties between Parliament and civil society groups. The forum held on Monday, November 20, with the theme 'Thirty Years of Parliamentary Democracy: Reflections on Citizen Engagement', brought together top officials to discuss strengthening partnerships for accountable governance. "At todays Speakers Breakfast Forum, Speaker Bagbin revealed that the Speakers Residence at Cantonments in Accra, was sold to a private Developer whilst he was in that residence. The Lands Commission discovered this only when the Developer went to register it. Unbelievable!!" Dafeamekpor posted on X. Speaking at the Speaker's Breakfast Forum in Accra, Mr. Bagbin stated Many of you dont know that even the residence of the Speaker was almost sold to the private sector. Actually, it was given out. It was when they went to register that the Lands Commission identified that that was the residence of the Speaker. Luckily, I was inside, so it was saved. 20.11.2023 LISTEN When good governance is sacrificed on the altar of corruption, service delivery falters. Where corruption thrives, as we have seen in many of our municipalities, an increase in poverty becomes inevitable. This is according to Prof Kedibone Phago, Director of the North-West University (NWU) School for Government Studies, who explains that corruption is killing the countrys future. Recent figures suggest that more than 18,2 million South Africans live in extreme poverty in 2023, an increase from the previous year. Projections show that this number will only increase, and corruption is at the heart of this dilemma. The essence of corruption is that it diverts resources from their intended use and instead resources are used to serve nefarious agendas. Resources are deliberately exploited to benefit certain individuals or groups rather than the intended beneficiaries. Often, the powerful are involved because it is easier to sweep such corrupt actions under the carpet. We have seen from many reports of the Auditor General and even during the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, also known as the Zondo Commission, that many of the people who enable corruption are in powerful positions, highly educated and sophisticated. This makes it even more difficult from a law enforcement perspective to prosecute. This is especially the case where our law enforcement agencies are deliberately weakened to ensure that their investigative capacity is crippled, explains Prof Phago. He goes on to say that: The effects of corruption are usually devastating, especially to the integrity of governance processes and to the citizens who need public services to lead their lives with dignity. The examples are all around us where there is an annual budget allocation and the government makes a commitment to parliament about spending plans and priorities, without any meaningful implementation of those plans. Even in cases where the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statements are made, they remain a talk show and have no material benefit for citizens. The reality is that citizens in developing countries such as ours need quality services such as education, health, water and sanitation, an effective police force, roads and infrastructure and mobile connectivity, among others. When these basic services are not provided, the dignity of the people is directly affected, which can lead to populist politics. The NWU is committed to helping achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which entail the eradication of poverty, the promotion of well-being, access to clean water and sanitation, economic growth and the reduction of inequalities. Therefore, it is imperative to focus on the impact of corruption on communities and to identify ways to curb corruption. The establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council (NACAC) is a positive development for the country, which needs to be supported. This body was established on the recommendation of the Zondo Commission. Citizens have several options if they want to play a role in stopping corruption. For me, there are two main considerations. The first is the role of parliament in holding the executive authority to account, which remains an important avenue. Citizens need to use their relationship with public representatives in parliament to get involved in such matters. Second, citizens need to be organised, particularly through civil society and non-governmental organisations. When citizens are divided along ethnic, racial, class, language and other lines, they often become susceptible to populist politics. In fact, it is usually populist politicians who exploit these elements to maintain their relevance instead of genuinely exposing corruption and advocating for investment-friendly policies that could help develop the country, says Prof Phago. Corruption must be put to the sword if the country is to realise its potential, and it is through engaged, active citizenship that it can be dealt a fatal blow. Energy experts from ECOWAS Member States strengthen their capacity in Energy Information System (EIS) during a workshop held in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, from 14 to 17 November 2023. It should be recalled that the ECOWAS Energy Information System which was officially launched in March 2023 in Bissau, Guinea Bissau during the 14th meeting of ECOWAS Ministers in charge of Energy, is one of the major achievements of the Programme entitled "Improving governance of the energy sector in West Africa (AGoSE-AO, acronym in French)". This programme, is implemented by the ECOWAS Commission, with the financial support of the European Union within the framework of the 11th European Development Fund. Its overall objective is to "contribute to poverty reduction through increased regional integration in the energy sector in West Africa". During his statement at the opening of the workshop, Mr Bayaornibe Dabire, ECOWAS Director of Energy and Mines highlighted the importance of the EIS system to provides ECOWAS and Member States with credible, consistent, reliable and regularly updated data and information on the energy situation of the region and the states. These data are essential for better planning, design and monitoring of energy sector strategies and policies. He urged participants to actively participate during the sessions, to provide the ECOWAS Commission with the most recent national data, and to formulate appropriate proposals to consolidate this tool and ensure its sustainability. Mr Dosso Moussa, Director of Renewable Energy and Bioenergy, during his opening statement on behalf of the Minister in charge of Mines, Petroleum and Energy, indicated that the ECOWAS-EIS is not only a tool for collecting, analyzing and disseminating reliable data and information on the region's energy situation, but it is also important system for promoting a just energy transition in West Africa. He expressed the hope that all countries would soon have computerized energy information systems, enabling them to dematerialize data collection, improve data quality, harmonize methodologies for compiling energy indicators, and store and disseminate information more rapidly. The first annual workshop on the ECOWAS EIS, held in Accra in March 2022, provided an opportunity to take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the system. It had also trained national experts on the data collection tool and in the use of the online platform. This second workshop has been an opportunity to continue the discussions and to build on the achievements of the first workshop. The workshop made it possible to firsly review the current results of the ECOWAS-EIS and validate the data and to secondly train national experts in energy planning and on the various tools developed by the ECOWAS EIS for improving data collection and dissemination at national level. At the end of the workshop, participants recommended to ECOWAS to (i) Take appropriate actions to ensure the sustainability of the ECOWAS EIS and its internalization into a Commission program, (ii) Pursue synergy between the ECOWAS EIS and other ECOWAS energy agency systems, (iii) Support member states in organizing energy consumption surveys (biomass, clean cooking, non-formal imports of petroleum products, etc.), (iv) Strengthen member states' capacity to use a) the computerized data collection tool, b) the Geographic Information System, c) energy statistics quality control tools. Member states were particularly tasked to (i) take the necessary steps to submit data for year n by August of year n+1 at the latest and (ii) Institutionalize the national EIS and strengthen national teams. The Ghana Union Movement (GUM) in the Northern region says the selection of two Northerners as flagbearers for NDC and NPP would not appreciate their votes in the 2024 general elections. Addressing Journalists after swearing in newly elected regional executives of the party, the Communications Director of the party, Mr. Tahidu Dandawa hinted that the leadership of GUM are well prepared to take over the mantle of power from the two "corrupt" political parties. We don't care about their candidature, our focus is to make our flagbearer become the next president of the republic," he stated. He said Ghana is not a two-party State where only the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) should continue to alternate power. We have skewed strategies to make GUM more popular and attractive here in the North, he added. Mr. Tahidu stated that the two candidates have failed the people of the North since they have nothing different to offer when given the mandate again. He further accused former President John Mahama of plagiarizing a portion of their party's manifesto recently, revealing that the '24-hour economy' policy was captured in their party's 2020 manifesto. The Regional chairman of the party, Alhaji Alhassan Iddrisu Fuseini said the Ghana Union Movement (GUM) is the only party that can tackle the plight of Ghanaians. He mentioned that the founder and flagbearer of the Ghana Union Movement is the saviour who is ready to fight corruption, unemployment, destruction of water bodies, excessive borrowing and looting of state properties. A National Executive member of the party who spoke on behalf of the Founder and Flagbearer of the party, Mr. Antwi Bosiako expressed hope that the newly elected executives would improve the fortunes of the party in the 2024 elections. In an address to congregants at the Apostolic Continuation Church in Techiman, Bono East Region, on Sunday, former President John Dramani Mahama called on Ghanaians to remain hopeful despite the current hardship faced under the leadership of the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government. Mahama, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), highlighted the severe hardships experienced by many Ghanaians and urged them to make a change in the upcoming 2024 general elections. During his visit to the church as part of his "Building Ghana Tour," Mahama expressed concern over the loss of hope among the youth he had encountered throughout the country. The tour, initiated by the NDC leadership, aims to engage Ghanaians, revitalize the party, and prepare for the 2024 presidential campaign. The "Building Ghana Tour" serves as a platform for Mahama to connect with Ghanaians from various backgrounds, including supporters and sympathizers of the NDC. In his address to the congregation, Mahama cautions against falling for empty promises made by deceitful politicians and urged voters to learn from past mistakes. "Let us learn from our mistakes and vote wisely," Mahama stated. He added, "I'm aware of what every Ghanaian is going through. The hardship is unbearable." Hopeson Adorye has reacted to his dismissal from the ruling New Patriotic Party, saying it will rather spur him to campaign for his preferred candidate Alan Kyerematen in 2024. In an interview on Accra-based Asaase Radio, Mr. Adorye referred to the expulsion letter as "a waste of time" adding that "everybody is aware that once you support a different candidate apart from the partys candidate, you forfeit your membership." He was reacting to news of his expulsion alongside three others for openly declaring support for Mr. Kyerematen's independent bid. "I know where this orchestration is coming from. I am their headache. This will encourage me more. I am going to work hard to make sure Alan Kyerematen becomes the next president of Ghana," Mr. Adorye vowed. The General Secretary had revoked the membership of the four citing articles in the NPP constitution barring support for candidates other than those selected by the party. Others include Yaw Buaben Asamoa, a former Communications Director of the NPP and Member of Parliament for Adentan; Nana Ohene Ntow, a former NPP General Secretary and Boniface Abubakar Saddique. The statement noted that "in spite of their flagrant breach of the Party's Constitution particularly Articles 3(5) (A)(4) and 3(9)(1), the afore-named men still hold themselves out as members of the NPP." It quoted Article 3(5) (A) (4) which requires members to "abide by and publicly uphold the decisions of the Party" and also cited Article 3(9) (1) which automatically strips membership from anyone who "stands as an independent candidate against the officially elected member of the Party, or who joins or declares his or her support for another Political Party, or for an independent candidate." Acumen West Africa, through its flagship leadership program - Acumen West Africa Fellowship, celebrated the induction of its 2023 Fellows from Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, The Gambia and Sierra Leone into the Foundry Community - Acumen Academys alumni network. This ceremony which was held in Lagos, Nigeria on Saturday, November 4, 2023 marked a pivotal moment in the development of moral and socially conscious leaders working towards building a more just and equitable society. The new cohort was carefully selected for their outstanding commitment to fostering social change and driving transformative impact within their communities. In tandem with the induction, Moyin Okubor, the Manager for Acumen Academy in West Africa, emphasized the significance of the program in the region, stating "Acumen is dedicated to nurturing and equipping leaders with the tools, knowledge and mindset needed, as they tackle some of the most pressing socio-economic challenges within their respective communities. Through weaving Acumens core values - humility, empathy and moral imagination - into the fabric of the fellowship, we inspire a deeply personal transformative journey whilst catalyzing a movement towards a more just, equitable and prosperous West Africa. The induction of the 2023 fellows marks our 5th year of running the fellowship in West Africa, and we are deeply inspired by the number of lives touched in our fellows communities, the innovative solutions implemented and the enduring commitment to create positive social change. The 2023 Fellows also shared their thoughts on the significance of the program and its impact on West Africa. Amy Gaman from Nigeria expressed, "Acumen has equipped me with the necessary tools and networks to create sustainable solutions to our country's challenges. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the development of my community and beyond." Josephine Saidu from Sierra Leone emphasized, "This program has shown me the importance of leveraging local resources to address local problems. I am excited to apply the knowledge gained to make a real impact in my country. Dieudonne K. Perry from Liberia stated, "Acumen has provided me with a platform to amplify the voices of the marginalized in our society. This program is crucial in cultivating a new generation of leaders who are passionate about creating a more inclusive and equitable West Africa." Acumen West Africa also announced the opening of applications for the 2024 Acumen West Africa Fellowship, encouraging organisational builders and social entrepreneurs working to solve problems of poverty and injustice in West Africa to apply. The application period will run from October 30th to December 10th, 2023. In a staunch defense of former President John Dramani Mahamas pledge to scrap the Teacher Licensure Exams (TLEs) if elected President in 2024, Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Sammy Gyamfi has asserted that the exams are merely a ploy by the current administration to suppress teacher recruitment. During his Building Ghana Tour in the Bono Region, Mahama vowed to abolish the Teacher Licensure Exams, arguing that subjecting teacher trainees to an additional assessment for qualification is unnecessary. This stance has drawn criticism from the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG), who maintains the importance of the exams. Addressing these concerns, Gyamfi highlighted that teacher trainees already undergo rigorous four-year Bachelor of Education programs, encompassing at least fifty courses and eight semesters of intensive study. He questioned the need for an additional exam after such comprehensive training. Gyamfi decried the Teacher Licensure Exams as a dubious ploy by the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government to cut down on teacher recruitment due to financial constraints. He revealed that many qualified teacher trainees fail the exams, leaving them jobless and forcing some to resort to bribery to secure licenses. Gyamfi emphasized the lack of transparency in the Teacher Licensure Exams marking scheme, noting that pass marks are arbitrarily adjusted to suit the governments hiring needs. He further pointed out that even those who eventually pass the exams often face delays in employment. Reinforcing Mahamas commitment to education, Gyamfi reaffirmed the NDCs plan to focus on strengthening pre-certification education standards and examinations in Colleges of Education. He underscored that this approach would better ensure the quality of future teachers without creating unnecessary barriers to employment. Below is the full statement by the Sammy Gyamfi MAHAMA'S PROMISE TO ABOLISH OBNOXIOUS TEACHERS' LICENSURE EXAMINATION IS SOUND AND SENSIBLE H.E John Mahama and the NDC fully supports the Licensing and Registration of Teachers as required by sections 12 & 13 of the Education Act (ACT 778), 2008. What we are vehemently opposed to, is the use of a needless Licensure Exam as the basis or precondition for licensing teachers. It's as simple as that. Below are the reasons why the Teachers' Licensure Exam is obnoxious, hence must be abolished: 1. Currently, Teacher Trainees undertake 4-year (Bachelors of Education) degree programs in various Colleges of Education. During the 4-year academic period, Teacher Trainees are taught and examined in not less than fifty (50) courses over eight (8) semesters, that is, two semesters per year. 2. It is worthy of note, that the curriculum for each semester includes a mandatory field practical course called Supported Teaching in Schools (STS). This practical academic activity is climaxed with a rigorous full semester mandatory internship course during the first semester of level 400. During this period, Teacher Trainees are assigned to the field to understudy mentors in classrooms and practically guided to teach. Trainees are required to prepare lesson notes, reflective journals among others, for assessment. After successfully passing eight (8) semester examinations involving not less than 30 courses, including the mandatory full-semester internship course, Teacher Trainees graduate from school and are issued with Bachelors of Education Degree certificates. 3. One would have thought, that the right thing for government to do after this, would have been to simply license and employ these teachers and pay them the appropriate salary as the practice had always been, before the current NPP government took office. Sadly, this is not the case now. 4. In a dubious ploy by the failed Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government to suppress teacher recruitment, they now require Teacher Trainee graduates who have successfully passed all their course exams in school including the mandatory field internship program, to undertake another examination called Licensure Examination before they are licensed to teach- an examination that has no active guide whatsoever. 5. To add insult to injury, Teacher Trainees are also forced to undertake a one-year compulsory National Service. This is despite the fact that their 4-year academic curriculum already involves intense teaching support services to the state. 6. Many Teacher Trainee graduates end up being failed after taking the obnoxious licensure exam without even knowing why they were failed. These qualified teachers are made to stay home without any job. Out of desperation, some are compelled to pay bribes to officials of the National Teaching Council in order to get a license. The marking scheme for the obnoxious licensure examination remains a mystery. The pass mark is whimsically and capriciously adjusted depending on the number of qualified teachers government intends to deny employment every year. Even worse is the fact that, some teachers who failed the obnoxious licensure exam on their first attempt but have eventually managed to pass the the exam have been denied posting and are siting home idle. 7. The reason for this injustice is simple; the failed Akufo-Addo government/Bawumia government simply does not have the financial capacity to employ all Teacher Trainee graduates, hence has devised a plan to use the obnoxious licensure exam to suppress the number of teachers they have to employ every year under the guise of licensing teachers. This elimination by rough tactic is simply unfair. This is why, the visionary Nation Builder, H.E John Dramani Mahama has promised to abolish it when elected in 2024. 8. For those who are concerned about quality assurance, it is worthy of note, that section 13 of the Education Act requires professional certification as the basis for licensing and registering Teachers. Thus, any policy or proposal intended to improve quality assurance must focus on improving pre-certification education standards and examination in Colleges of Education. This is precisely what John Mahama is talking about. 9. If government thinks that all the academic examinations and field works Teacher Trainees are taken through during their 4-year programs in school are not enough for quality assurance, then what government ought to do is to improve pre-certification teaching and examination standards in line with best practices. Once that is done, there will be no need for another exam to license teachers after they have successfully graduated. 10. Using myself as an example, the pre-certification course and exam in the law school where I attended is very rigorous and competitive. Once you pass it and successfully undertake the mandatory internship course, you are licensed and called to the Bar. You are not required to write another licensure exams before you are licensed as a lawyer. Neither are you required to undertake compulsory national service before you are licensed. You are only required to do pupillage after you are licensed as a lawyer. This practice is the same for doctors and other professional bodies. 11. For the avoidance of doubt, licensing is not the same as Licensure Examination. I am a licensed lawyer but I was not required to write any licensure exam before I was licensed as a lawyer. The NDC started piloting the licensing of teachers in the year 2016 without examination. We were ready to fully rollout the policy for the 2016/2017 academic year before we lost power. See https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/new-teacher-licensing-starts-from-2016-17-academic-year.html 12. The visionary Nation Builder has spoken in very clear terms on this matter. No attempt to spin to this well-thought-out policy will wash. The obnoxious Teachers' Licensure Exams and superfluous National Service will be canceled after John Mahama is sworn in as President on 7th January, 2025. Insha Allah! Teacher trainees deserve to be automatically licensed and employed after successfully completing their 4-year programs. SAMMY GYAMFI ESQ. National Communications Officer, NDC -citinewsroom 20.11.2023 LISTEN Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has opened up on the kind of people he will be working with when he is elected President again in the 2024 general elections. Speaking during his Building Ghana Tour in the Bono Region, the former President said he would only give truthful people the chance to serve the people. He warned that people who are arrogant should not dream of working with him in the next NDC government. Anybody who came to serve in our government must not be arrogant, because you must be accountable to the people who elected you. We dont want to see arrogance in our next NDC Government, the people are suffering so you must be modest. You must be truthful, and so when you are appointed as a minister, youve been given a public trust and so the people can ask you to account for what youve done, and if you havent held that public trust well, you can be sanctioned, John Dramani Mahama said. According to the former President, his government will restore the hope of Ghanaians and ensure everyone believes in the country and its democracy. unfortunately, many young people look at their lives today and say I dont believe in this democracy, I have no opportunities to improve myself and so I dont even see the reason why, many young people dont see the need in voting, but I beg you, Ghana has a bright future, dont lose your hope in your country, we can turn things around, we will put Ghana on his fit and the only way we can do that is your vote, John Dramani Mahama said as he appealed to Ghanaians to vote for him and the NDC next year. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has issued a statement to prove that John Dramani Mahama was being truthful when he said Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) made profits during his time as President. The statement by the flagbearer of the NDC was described as false in a JoyNews report. In a statement signed by NDC National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi, he said JoyNews Fact-Check on John Mahamas statement on BOST profits is wrong. He stressed that the former President was right when he confidently stated that BOST generated profits during his tenure as President. To make his case, Sammy Gyamfi has provided a screenshot of page 45 from the 2017 State Ownership Report, which was published by the Ministry of Finance in 2018 under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/ NPP government. The official document shows that BOST achieved net profits of GHS 88.09 million in 2016 and GHS109.36 million in 2015. Sammy Gyamfi in his statement stressed that the subsequent manipulation of the books and financial records of BOST through dubious audit practices is disgraceful and should be rejected by any discerning mind. Following Senegal's Supreme Court ruling on opposition leader Ousmane Sonko's ineligibility last Friday, his Pastef party announced another candidate to defy President Macky Sall in the upcoming presidential election. The opposition Pastef party on Sunday designated Bassirou Diomaye Faye, secretary-general of the party and right-hand man of Ousmane Sonko, as its candidate for the February poll. On Friday, Sonko, was told by both the Supreme Court in Senegal, and the ECOWAS court in Nigeria, that he could not be registered again on the electoral lists. Sonko, who has been caught up in a series of legal cases, was convicted in absentia on 1 June of morally corrupting a young person and sentenced to two years in prison. He denounced the trial as a plot to exclude him from the election. In late July, he was arrested on other charges including fomenting insurrection, criminally associating with a terrorist body and endangering state security. Similar profile "To sponsor Diomaye Faye is to sponsor Sonko," Pastef's spokespeople told supporters, just three weeks ahead of the sposorship deadline. Like Sonko, Bassirou Diomaye Faye is a tax inspector, he is in his forties, and he is also behind bars. Diomaye Faye has been in detention since April, after he was arrested for publishing a post criticising the behavior of magistrates in the defamation case between Sonko and the Minister of Tourism, Mame Mbaye Niang. Prosecuted for contempt of court, defamation and acts likely to compromise public peace, his trial has not started. As long as he has not been convicted, he is presumed innocent and can perfectly well be a presidential candidate, researcher in political science at Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis Maurice Soudieck Dione told RFI's correspondent in Dakar. The party called its supporters to remain mobilised for the 111 coming days before the polls, scheduled on 25 February 2024. Pastef currently has more than 20 seats in Senegal's National Assembly, while 13 are necessary to validate a candidacy for the presidential election. Unfinished legal battle Although Pastef insists that not all legal options have been attempted to clear Sonko's name, they are encouraging the opposition to work with Diomaye Faye in the meantime. In mid-October a judge from Sonko's stronghold of Ziguinchor, the city in the region of Casamance where he has been mayor since January 2022, ordered that he be reinstated on electoral lists for the February vote. But the government refused to reinstate him, following the the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, which came just hours after a West African regional court rejected his claim that the state had treated him unfairly. Three weeks to campaign Three weeks before the end of the sponsorship campaign, other candidates are also entering the race. One of them is activist Fadel Barro, who officially launched his campaign this weekend. A former coordinator of the citizen movement Y'en a marre ("We're fed up"), Barro is now at the head of a civil society coalition "Jammi Gox Yi" ("peace of the territories" in Wolof). In January 2022, he ran for mayor of Kaolack before an unsuccessful attempt in the legislative elections in July 2022. The Ghana Institute of Planning (GIP) has elected new national executives to stir its affairs for the next two years. The election was conducted during the just-ended 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Institute held at the Koforidua Technical University (KTU) on Thursday, November 16, 2023. Pln. Percy Anaab Bukari (FGIP) was elected as President. The first and second vice Presidents were Pln. Dr. Stephen Appiah Takyi, a Senior Lecturer at the Planning Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology KNUST and Pln. Kekeli Kofi Amedzro respectively. The other elected executives were Pln. Kenneth Yaoh Ketor as Honorary Secretary, Pln. Wilfred Ebo Sam-Awortwe (Assistant Secretary), Pln Anthony Kanyi Foli-Adade (Treasure) and Pln. Jalil Mahama as the association's Public Relations Officer Pln. Dr. Dennis Puorideme was co-opted to serve as the Editor of the journal of the Institute. President's acceptance speech In his acceptance speech the newly elected President, Pln. Percy Anaab Bukari pledged to continue to hard work of his predecessors to raise the profile of the Institute. He called on members of the Institute to support his administration for the betterment of professional planning practice in Ghana. He thanked members of the Institute for giving him the opportunity to serve and assured them of his unwavering loyalty to the course of the Institute. Outgoing president's speech The immediate past president, Pln. Mohammed A. Damba encouraged the new executives to continue strengthening the foundation his administration built for the Institute to contribute to national development. Pln Damba served as the President of the Institute for the past four years. During his tenure, the Institute has introduced a number of reforms such as a continuing professional development programme, the creation of a Planning Technician class and a structured membership admission system. He urges his successor to prioritize the creation of a journal for the Institute to help disseminate professional planning research and practice to relevant stakeholders. President Nana Akufo-Addo has commended the Ghana Armed Forces for their dedication to upholding and defending the countrys constitution in the face of military takeovers in West Africa. He expressed gratitude for the role played by the men and women in uniform in strengthening Ghanas democracy. Speaking at the graduation ceremony for senior officers of the Ghana Armed Forces in Accra, President Akufo-Addo appealed to the military to consistently uphold the countrys constitution. Helping to maintain peace and security, our men and women in uniform are exposed to the negative effects of wars and undemocratic changes of government. It is, therefore, praiseworthy that the Armed Forces continue to pledge their support to our democratic system of governance in the face of coup detats across the region. I commend the continuing dedication of our Armed Forces to upholding the constitutional rule of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo stated. -Citi Newsroom The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has hosted the 2023 edition of International Conference on Infrastructure Development in Africa with a call on African leaders to involve the academia in their manifesto formulation. A senior lecturer at the Department of Construction Technology and Management at KNUST Professor Emmanuel Adingrah who made the call said situations where politicians formulate policies without the input of academia are hampering the smooth development of the African continent. He noted that Africa will get the desired development if those with political power were to formulate and implement the policies based on evidence-based research from the academia. Speaking to this reporter at the sidelines of the event, Professor Emmanuel Adingrah said one of the ways to develop sustainable infrastructure in Africa was to bridge the gap between academia and political leaders. About the conference Dozens of Planners, Engineers, Researchers, Students, and other academia from other fields thronged the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Monday, November 20, 2023, for the 8th edition of the International Conference on Infrastructure Development in Africa. The three-day meeting which commenced on November 19, 2023 was on the theme "Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Development in Africas Changing Climate." The participants came from across the world to share ideas on how Africa as an emerging economy can develop sustainable and resilient infrastructure without causing problems to climate change. The conference was organized with support from the University of Manchester, UK and the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. 20.11.2023 LISTEN This years Mobile Service Week of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has been officially launched in Sunyani with a call on traders, artisans and all workers in the informal sector to sign up for SSNIT for a better life during pension. The Director-General of SSNIT, Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, who made the call, was worried that less than one percent of self-employed individuals aged between 15 and 45 are on SSNIT. There are 6.7 million people who are self-employed in Ghana. Out of this figure, 3.1 million are aged between 15 and 45. However, only 57,000 out of the 3.1 million are on SSNIT, representing less than one per cent of the number, he said. According to him, SSNIT has traditionally focused its message and services on people in the formal sector but now because of technology, digitalization, and the Ghana Card, every worker in Ghana is SSNIT-ready so now were able to extend our services to cover the previously uncovered and make it easy for them to join us to secure their future. SSNIT Mobile Service Week The SSNIT Mobile Service Week is a period set aside where staff of the Trust spread themselves outside the confines of their offices to reach out to people in their various workplaces. The idea is to create awareness on the need for all workers, especially those in the informal sector, to join SSNIT in their own interest. This years edition, which is on the theme Choose your tomorrow: Sign up for SEED from SSNIT today, will see SSNIT pitching 75 out-of-office camps or tents at vantage points across the country to further reach out to as many workers as possible. The Director-General of SSNIT, Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, encouraged workers to feel free to walk into any SSNIT office to seek clarification about all pension-related matters and assured the public of swift responses from the staff. He mentioned monthly pension payments, life insurance, invalidity pension and health insurance as some of the key benefits one stands to gain upon retirement as SSNIT contributor. The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, asked people to take issues relating to their pensions very seriously before they retire from active service. Pensions management There is no one single business entity in Ghana that is bigger than the pensions scheme. The assets under management of pensions today stands close to 50 billion Ghana cedis. Theres no bank in Ghana that has that so when we talk about pension, its a very big industry, he added. The Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, commended SSNIT for being innovative by making conscious efforts to reach out to market women, artisans and a host of other informal sector players in a bid to hook them onto the Trust. The Regional Minister called on SSNIT to engage the media and make them ambassadors of the SSNIT to step up advocacy on the importance of pension and its related matters. She encouraged the staff to use the local dialect during the mobile service week to make a meaningful impact on most of the populace. 20.11.2023 LISTEN West Blue Ghana Limiteds payment under Ghanas National Single Window and Integrated Risk Management System contract executed in August 2015 with the government of Ghana was a fixed percentage of the final invoice CIF of all imports, a letter signed by Madam Mangowa Ghanney, a former Director of Legal at the Ministry of Finance, and seen by AviationGhana, has confirmed. In 2015, she drafted and oversaw the execution of the Governments single window contract with West Blue and provided a legal opinion to the Ministry of Finance over the payment matters and contract renegotiations in 2018, among others. In one of the letters signed on behalf of the Finance Minister, Madam Mangowa confirmed that West Blues contract payment was a fixed percentage of the final invoice CIF of all imports when the issue of nonpayment of arrears arose. West Blue Ghana, last week, sued the Attorney-General (AG) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for non-payment of over GHC289 million in arrears for work done under the National Single Window and Integrated Risk Management System contract executed in August 2015. The outstanding fees were a result of the governments (Finance Ministry and GRA) failure to pay West Blue the full Contract price (from 2015 to 2020) fee which is a fixed percentage of the final invoice CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) value of import consignments entering Ghana through the seaports, airports, and land borders. Before the suit, West Blue through its then-lawyers Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa and Ankomah (BELA) had written to the Ministry of Finance in a letter dated June 3, 2020, demanding payment of the outstanding fees and collection of assets. In response, Madam Mangowa in a letter dated June 11, 2020, signed on behalf of the Minister, requested West Blue to provide the Ministry with the CIF values used to compute the amounts claimed. Regarding your demand for payment of outstanding fees due your client, West Blue Ghana Limited, to enable the government to make a determination of any monies that may be due to your client, please request your client to provide this Ministry with the CIF values used to compute the amounts claimed to be owed, Madam Mangowa stated in the letter to West Blue. West Blue, through its lawyers, in a letter dated June 19 and July 8, 2020, provided the Ministry with the CIF values (0.35% and 0.28% respectively) as stated in its contract which was drafted by Mangowa, former Director, Legal at the Ministry of Finance. In another response letter dated July 17, 2020, signed on behalf of the Minister, Mangowa requested that West Blue provide evidence of what was to be paid by the government and how much was actually paid among other information. This, according to her, was to enable the Ministry to appreciate and validate the claims of the shortfalls. West Blue through its lawyers wrote to the Ministry of Finance providing the CIF value for each month of the period; the percentage of CIF used by West Blue to compute their entitlement for each month, and the basis for the use of that percentage; what West Blue claimed ought to have been paid for each of the months of the period; and the amount West Blue was actually paid each of the months; and the difference, with evidence between what government actually paid, and the outstanding difference(s) being claimed by west blue. After West Blue, through its lawyers had provided all the pieces of evidence and information requested by the Ministry in various correspondence, the government failed to pay the outstanding fees owed to West Blue resulting in the latter seeking redress at the court. 20.11.2023 LISTEN The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has fined Zeepay Ghana Limited and suspended its forex licence for 11 days for breaching foreign exchange regulations. In a notice issued on November 20, BoG secretary Sandra Thompson announced Zeepay had been sanctioned for violating clause 7.3(a) of the Inward Remittance guidelines and sections 3(1) and 15(3) of the Foreign Exchange Act. Clause 7.3(a) requires settlement banks like Zeepay to "use the average interbank exchange rate published by the Ghana Association of Banks on the day the transfer is received or as prescribed by Bank of Ghana for the conversion of settlement funds into local currency". The notice signed by Ms Thompson states: "The Bank has suspended the Forex Licence of Zeepay Ghana Limited from 27th November 2023 to 8th December 2023, for violation of sections 3(1) and 15 (3) of the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723)." By this action, the central bank is cautioning all forex market players including banks, forex bureaus and money transfer operators to "adhere strictly to the applicable forex market regulations and guidelines." Alan Kyerematen is a "bold" and "viable" candidate who meets the needs of the times, Mr Yaw Buaben Asamoa, of the 'Gang of Four' expelled from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for endorsing the independent candidature of the former Minister of Trade, has said. In response to their expulsion, Mr Buaben Asamoa wrote: "I and my friends Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene-Ntow and Saddique Abu-Bakar Boniface, in our support for Alan Kyerematen, a man of vision, competence, integrity and action, represent millions of Ghanaians who want to serve the country with a clear conscience". "We are upholding the preamble to the Constitution, articles 1, 3(2), 17(1)(2)(3), 21(1)(3), 35(1)(4)(5)(9), 37(2)(a) and above all, article 41", he said. READ THE FULL STATEMENT FROM BUABEN ASAMOA BELOW Hon Yaw Buaben Asamoa writes Re: FORFEITURE OF MEMBERSHIP PURSUANT TO THE PROVISION OF ARTICLE 3(9)(1) OF THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY CONSTITUTION My attention and that of my esteemed and patriotically principled colleagues, Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene-Ntow and Saddique Abu-Bakar Boniface, has been drawn by numerous media outlets to a statement purportedly issued and signed by the General Secretary of the NPP, captioned as above. Though none of the persons mentioned has received a personal copy, we accept our resignation from the NPP and pledge our commitment to Ghanas success through our support for Alan Kyerematen. We also take this opportunity to respond and set the minds of concerned well-meaning patriots at ease. First, our public conduct in unconditionally and with great conviction supporting the highflying independent candidature of Alan Kyerematen for president, is against the NPP constitution, which provides for automatic forfeiture of membership under article 3(9)(1). That is incontestable and, therefore, needs no formal written notice. Unfortunately for the Party Leadership, the wholesale application of the poorly written article 3(9)(1), may not be serving the interests of the general membership of the Party well. By not differentiating between support for presidential and parliamentary candidates, conduct against a presidential candidate, results in forfeiture of the parliamentary vote as well. This is clearly out of step with the fast-developing political culture of skirt & blouse, where voters increasingly mix their choice of presidential and parliamentary candidates based on factors other than what the party Leadership says. H.E. the President benefitted from skirt and blouse when he won ten constituencies in the Central Region where NDC won the parliamentary seats. Are those who accepted the President but voted otherwise at parliamentary level to be sacked? Hundreds of thousands of NPP members and millions of sympathisers are deeply unhappy at the so-called mafia tactics of intimidation and inducement used to skew delegate elections in favour of choices that may not necessarily be popular with the general electorate. Indeed, the mafia approach is against article 55(5) of the 1992 Constitution, which demands democratic principles in internal party processes. Whilst there is value to being part of an organisation like a party, continuing exclusionary practices, quietly erodes loyalty and conviction, over time. Secondly, the same article 55(2) which gives a right to join political parties also gives a right to support political activity as an independent under 55(10) and (16). Considering that the right of a political party to sponsor candidates, does not exclude the right of independent candidates nor their supporters to participate in general elections, it may not be prudent to continue to reduce ones membership with archaic rules. Thirdly, in the profound wisdom of the 1992 Constitution, qualification to the presidency of Ghana does not require political party affiliation. Articles 57(1), 58, 62 and 63(1)(2)(3) and 94, dealing with the nature, qualification and powers of the office, have nothing to do with parties. Furthermore, exercising the powers of the presidency do not require party authority. In office, a president appoints and runs a government under articles 70, 76, 77, 78(1)(2) and 79, without a stated party presence. A voter does not have to be a member of a party to benefit from the presidency. Fourthly, the public is keenly aware that the selection of H.E the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as Presidential Candidate of the NPP, was the confirmation of a process carefully designed to have only one outcome. Because it was choreographed, there is nothing new or surprising to offer the voter public. Arguably, the patient Ghanaian voter, has been short-changed by the presidential candidate selection processes of both the NPP and NDC. The lack of genuine choice of candidates at party level, translates into a loss of trust in duopoly politics and increasing apathy, hence the loud chorus for a credible third force leadership if democratic practice is to be sustained for the benefit of youthful voters. That is why a bold and viable candidate like Alan Kyerematen, meets the need of the times. I and my friends Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene-Ntow and Saddique Abu-Bakar Boniface, in our support for Alan Kyerematen, a man of vision, competence, integrity and action, represent millions of Ghanaians who want to serve the country with a clear conscience. We are upholding the preamble to the Constitution, articles 1, 3(2), 17(1)(2)(3), 21(1)(3), 35(1)(4)(5)(9), 37(2)(a) and above all, article 41. Finally, the 1992 Constitution recognises coalition governments. A coalition is defined by the oxford dictionary as a temporary alliance for combined action, especially of political parties forming a government. Alan Kyerematen wants to bring Ghanaians together in the next election, in a Government of National Unity, to think Ghana, and redirect Ghana onto a positive trajectory. Nowhere in our constitution is it specified that Parliament is bi-cameral or that only a majority and minority can operate in Parliament. It is a fiction sold by the Standing Orders. Article 97(2) states unequivocally that a member need not lose their seat under 97(1)(g) and (h), if their party is a member of a coalition government. Article 103(5) admonishes that committees of Parliament ought to reflect the different shades of opinion in Parliament. Article 104 talks about a majority of members present and voting. It does not refer to a majority party. Ghana is ready for a political third force capable of breaking unproductive duopoly politics. We do not need a change of constitution to effect the change of leadership that the parties are incapable of offering. We have Alan Kyerematen. Together, our support for his independent presidency will unleash the development energy being suppressed by tit for tat duopoly politics. -classfmonline Two teachers, who forged Judicial Service official receipts, have been sentenced to six years imprisonment each by an Accra Circuit Court. Lordfred Heward Mills, the main architect of the crime was jailed in absentia while Lawrence Ansu Asante, the second accused person, was escorted by the Police to jail. This was after the court presided over by Mrs Afia Owusua Appiah found them guilty on the charges of conspiracy to wit uttering of forged documents and uttering forged documents at the end of the trial. The prosecution, led by Inspector Wisdom Alorwu, told the court that the complainant Eric Ansah Agyei, was a Pastor and a resident of Aburi. It said Mills resided at Bubuashie and Asante, a resident of James Town, and that they were sureties in the case of Republic verses Jeffery Wilson Ofori, which was pending before Circuit Court four, then presided over by Mr Emmanuel Essandoh, now deceased. The court heard that in June 2021, the complainant gave GHC3,500 to the accused persons, now convicts, to be paid on behalf of Jeffery Wilson Ofori, who was an accused person in a case. The prosecution said the accused persons (convicts) then hatched a plan to forge an official Judicial Service receipt and failed to pay the money to the court. It said the convicts then contacted one Boakye Boateng, who got them forged Judicial Service official receipts. It said the convicts later submitted a Judicial Service official receipt with the number 19/0263336 dated June 11, 2021, with a face value of GHC3,500. The prosecution said they then handed over the receipt to the prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rita Asaah. On November 23, 2021, the prosecutor presented the said receipt to the court, but it was rejected, with the judge ordering for the arrest of the convicts. They were consequently escorted to the community 18 Police Station where they were detained for further investigations. The prosecution said Mills mentioned one Boakye Boateng now at large as the one who issued them with the receipts at a fee of GHC500. It said the remaining GHC3,000 was shared between the convicts. In their caution statements, the convicts admitted the offences before an independent witness. GNA Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin on Monday reiterated that the House will not pass the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill under a certificate of urgency. He noted that the Affirmative Action Bill was a critical one, which required input from all stakeholders to enable the House to come out with a good law for the country. Speaker Bagbin made the remarks in his address at the Speakers Breakfast Forum in Accra, on the theme Thirty Years of Parliamentary Democracy under the Fourth Republic: Reflections on Citizens Engagement and the Way Forward. The Forum, which was organised by Parliament and the Office of the Speaker in collaboration with STAR Ghana, seeks to consolidate the relationship between Parliament and civil society organisations (CSOs) and to explore new ways of working together for accountable governance. It was also to mark the fifth Anniversary of STAR Ghana. The Speaker indicated that in the 2024 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government, which was presented to the House on November 15, one could see the arms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a lot of decisions in the budget. And a critical Bill like the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill has come to Parliament under the certificate of urgency, please it wont happen. We wont pass it under a certificate of urgency, he stated. There are critical stakeholders we must consult and make sure we go together, we will not be dictated to, by the IMF. That one, you can be sure, not this Bill. He said the Bill was a critical Bill, which the IMF itself should know that Parliament needed the inputs of stakeholders to be able to implement it. The IMF should know that the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has fixed 2040 for all Parliaments in the world to reach gender parity. The IPU calls for embedding gender parity in constitutions and legal frameworks and setting out in the legal framework a 50 per cent women's representation in parliament and government as an objective to be attained by member States. He said the 50 per cent women representation was not only for Parliament but outside Parliament as well; adding that and we need to deliberately focus on this, and this must be legitimised in our laws. We cannot under a certificate of urgency go through this one and get it properly positioned. He noted that the resolution they passed at the IPU was that any Parliament that fails to get gender parity by 2040, would not be a member of the IPU but be an observer. The Speaker reiterated that Ghana could not afford be left behind. He said Ghanas Parliament had a long way to go; stating that from 14.5 per cent (women Members of Parliament) to get to 50 and we will be passing laws under certificate of urgency and be getting the blame, not IMF. Speaker Bagbin said sometimes when a Bill was done in a hurried manner, when it gets to the Supreme Court, the Court strikes out the law and the House would then be blamed for not having done a decent job. . Please not under my watch. If only members decide that I leave my seat, I will thank you and go home to rest. I believe enough is enough. I know it is difficult to swallow but please the Speaker will not give in to pressure, Speaker Bagbin said. But I am saying all this because this gives you the opportunity as Members of Parliament to show how relevant you are to your constituents for them to be able to value you, when you reach out to them, listen to them, get their concerns and factor it into laws and programmes of government. Adding that when Members of the House consult their constituents in law making and policy formulation, their constituents would see their importance. Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, Chair, Governing Council of STAR-Ghana Foundation, said Ghana had a robust Constitution, which gives Ghanaians confidence on the way forward. Parliament of Ghana has played a critical role in the evolution of STAR-Ghana Foundation and we value the relationship, she said. We look forward to working with Parliament more vigorously, beyond the engagement with civil society to promote an active relationship with the citizenry. Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan, First Deputy Majority Whip and New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon, hailed the role of CSOs in the consolidation of Ghanas democracy; stating that citizens engagement was the cornerstone of the countrys democracy. Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Deputy Minority Leader and National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembele, said Ghanas Parliament had evolved over the years and that they had moved from the period where MPs were operating from the boots of their cars and that now they were operating from their offices. Mr Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, the Clerk to Parliament, said the Parliamentary Service Board had restructured the Public Affairs Division of Parliament into three new Departments Media Relations, Public Engagement and Broadcasting; with the goal of greater citizens engagement in the decision-making process of the nations Legislature. GNA Former South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, convicted of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp 10 years ago, will be set a possible parole date Friday after his application is reviewed. The parole board said in a statement Monday it "will be considering the profile of Oscar Pistorius on Friday, 24 November 2023". It will "decide whether the inmate is suitable or not for social reintegration", and set a date for release in the event parole is granted, the board added. In March, Pistorius's first parole request was rejected after the Department of Correctional Services said he had not completed the minimum detention period required to be let out. Prisoners in South Africa are automatically eligible for parole consideration after serving half of their sentence. Pistorius had been thought to have served more than half, having started his term in 2014. But after having pursued several appeals of his initial conviction, authorities determined their count from his last conviction, which fell short of half. The Constitutional Court contradicted this process last month ruling that the count must start from the date of the first instance an inmate was put behind bars. Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp, a model, in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013, firing four times through the bathroom door of his ultra-secure Pretoria house, in a killing that shocked the world. Known worldwide as the "Blade Runner" for his carbon-fibre prosthetics, Pistorius became the first double amputee to race in the Olympics, competing at the 2012 London Games. Arrested in the early hours back in February 2013, he had pleaded not guilty and denied killing Steenkamp in a rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar. He was first found guilty of manslaughter in 2014 and handed a five-years' sentence in a televised trial. Public prosecutors appealed the decision calling for a reclassification of murder and more hefty sentencing that saw him convicted in 2016 and sentenced to 13 years in jail in 2017. The Mepe Development Association (MDA) has disclosed that majority of the businesses and homes that were affected by the spillage from the Akosombo Dan were not insured. The MDA bemoans the low level of Ghana's insurance penetration rate of about 1.16 per cent with over 24 million Ghanaians not covered by any form of insurance. A Public Relations Officer of the MDA, Romeo Adzah, made the disclosure when he received relief items from Ghanas insurance stakeholders at a short ceremony in Accra on behalf of Mepe and other affected communities of the Akosombo Dam spillage disaster. Insurance companies would have been paying claims to the affected persons if they had insured their businesses and homes. This would have gone a long way to alleviating their plight even as the government and the VRA also take responsibility in addressing their concerns, he said. Mr. Adzah called on the National Insurance Commission (NIC), the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) and other stakeholders in the insurance industry to ramp up efforts in creating awareness about insurance and its benefits to the citizenry and the country. He thanked the insurance stakeholders for their kind gesture and assured them the relief items would be fairly distributed to the affected communities. The MDA has formed a Central Committee in the wake of the disaster, drawing representation from the youth, the disabled, pensioners, women, churches and other stakeholders to ensure the even distribution of all relief items to the displaced persons. Have our assurance that the items received will be fairly distributed to the affected communities, he said. The donated items, worth over GHC 200,000, include 250 mattresses, 1,000 bags of sachet water, 50 cartons of sanitary pads, 300 3kg Burner cylinders, 200 mosquito nets and some used clothing from staff of member companies. The contributions came from the NIC, GIA, Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG), Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana (CIIG) and the Ecowas Brown Card Insurance Scheme. This gesture was part of the industrys contribution to ameliorating the plight of persons affected by the unfortunate incident in Mepe and its environs in the Volta Region. The donation took place at the National Insurance Commission premises in Accra on 6th November 2023. It was a response to a request from the Mepe Development Association for contributions to alleviate the suffering of flood victims in the area. Presenting the items on behalf of the acting Insurance Commissioner, Michael Kofi Andoh, the Head of Reinsurance at the NIC, Mrs. Esther Armah said the donation by the insurance industry stakeholders forms part of its corporate social responsibility in supporting the displaced persons. We are deeply saddened by the plight of our fellow Ghanaians who have been affected by this unfortunate incident. As a responsible corporate entity, we felt obliged to support them in this difficult times. We hope that our donation will help alleviate some of their suffering and bring comfort and relief to the affected families, assisting them in rebuilding their lives, she said. Present at the ceremony were Mr. Seth Aklatsi, President of the GIA; Mr. Shaibu Ali, President-IBAG; Solomon Lartey, President-CIIG, Mr. Mawuli Zogbenu, PRO-NIC; Tawiah Ben Amed, CEO-Salam Life; Vincent Sali- Dorkpor, Founder-Visal Insurance Brokers; Stephen Kwarteng-Yeboah, Managing Director-Olea M&G Insurance Brokers Limited; Lawrence Daniel, PRO-CIIG and other members of staff of NIC. ? Celebramos hoy el #DiaMundialDelNino ratificando el compromiso de seguir trabajando por la educacion, el desarrollo integral, la seguridad alimentaria y la proteccion de todas las ninas y ninos. ???????? pic.twitter.com/InuhsFaYRV Trade is an important pathway to Africa's export led industrialisation. The World Bank predicts that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will boost Africas income by US$450 billion by 2035 and increase intra-Africa exports by over 81 percent. However, current estimates of African trade flows tend to miss the contribution of informal traders in border regions and small enterprises run primarily by women and youth. We also know that between 50 and 60 percent of total intra-African trade is carried out by unregistered traders or firms. As women constitute up to 70 percent of informal cross-border traders, their contribution to trade and industrialisation is grossly undervalued. They are also locked out of emerging opportunities. According to a report titled Engine of Trade in Africa: Amplifying the voices of women across Africa on how to make the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade work for development, pre-existing gender imbalances at the macro, meso and micro levels could hinder women from taking advantage of, and fully benefiting from AfCFTA. If this gender gap is bridged, a McKinsey study projects that Africa could gain $316 billion in GDP by 2025. If women in trade are to benefit fully and enhance their contribution to Africas industrialisation, we must go beyond generalisation. It is important to acknowledge the varied landscape of women engaged in cross-border trade. For instance, women entrepreneurs are often engaged in services, agriculture and natural resource-based sectors. They are often food processors, but also play an increasing role in the pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and textile industry using natural products. The scale varies from women carrying their goods across borders to international exporters to other African countries and beyond. There are common and also distinct challenges faced by different categories of female traders. Across the board, limited access to information and knowledge on trade-related issues including knowledge on the benefits and impact of AfCFTA is a significant barrier. In addition, limited access to productive and financial resources hinders business expansion. Medium scale exporters have significant challenges with logistics and certification processes including limited information of property rights. For larger scale exporters, a key constraint is the lack of enabling environment for trade activities including harmonisation of regulations and processes at borders. As the guided trade initiative opens doors for faster integration, now is the time to unlock the full potential of women in cross border trade. Building on the recommendations from the AU and UNDP Futures Report, 2020 on increasing productivity through skills, investment and innovation, we propose a differentiated approach to unlock the full potential of women in cross-border trade. To harness the opportunities presented by the AfCFTA, African countries should focus on the specific needs of small agro and food processors, medium innovators and large-scale traders. Boost small agro and food processors by cultivating quality and aggregation Small agro and food processors who form a substantial portion of women in cross-border trade process local agricultural products and contribute significantly to the agricultural value chain. However, they face challenges from inadequate infrastructure and limited access to technology that hampers the quality and quantity produced. They also have difficulties in meeting market demand. Initiatives that promote mechanisation, energy efficiency, quality standards and aggregation will help to improve their productivity and trade competitiveness while enhancing economies of scale. Scaling up targeted assistance and better coordination across existing programs for capacity development, quality assurance, access to technology and financial support can help to transform the landscape for small processors. UNDP is supporting efforts by the Ghana Enterprise Agency and the AfCFTA National Coordination Office to create a digital gateway that empowers MSMEs through access to market information, knowledge about AfCFTA and connection to existing support programs and financial assistance targeting MSMEs by various actors. Encourage medium innovators by harmonizing standards and connecting to supply chains Innovative women in fields like textiles, herbal medicine, and cosmetics are the engines of creativity and entrepreneurship in cross-border trade. However, they face barriers such as non-harmonised standards across borders and difficulty connecting to African supply chains. Streamlining processes for these women to access regional markets, harmonization of standards across borders, creating a unified regulatory framework and easing the process of connecting to African supply chains will simplify the regulatory landscape, making it easier for them to comply with consistent standards and expand their market reach. Developing mentorship programs to guide medium scale entrepreneurs in navigating the complexities of cross-border trade and connecting them through collaborative platforms will help foster innovation. Similarly, encouraging technologies such as Paystack, an online payment platform, and online trading platforms such as Jumia and Kikuu will continue to broaden the scope and security of online transactions for medium entrepreneurs transacting across national borders, ultimately driving economic growth. Grow large-scale exporters by simplifying customs, taxation and logistics For women involved in large-scale export businesses within and outside Africa, the challenges escalate. They have to navigate complex customs processes, taxation hurdles, and inefficient logistics systems all of which contribute to prolonged trade times and related expenses, limiting the full potential of their businesses. For instance, participants in Ghanas national consultations on AfCFTA indicated that It takes roughly 18 days to ship something from Ghana to Europe but twice as long to ship something from Ghana to Kenya. Similarly, a package that would cost $350 to ship to Europe would cost $12,000 to ship to Kenya. Simplifying customs processes, ensuring transparent and fair taxation policies, and developing efficient logistical infrastructure can reduce trade times and related expenses, unlocking the full potential of the women enterprises. Conclusion As we commemorate this Africa Industrialisation Day, it is crucial to recognise the significant role that women play in cross-border trade. By dismantling homogenous perceptions and acknowledging the unique challenges faced by different categories of female traders, we pave the way for tailored solutions. A differentiated approach that tailors support to their specific needs ensures a more inclusive and robust industrial landscape where all women can thrive, fully leverage the opportunities presented by AfCFTA and contribute to the continents economic growth. By Dr Angela Lusigi, UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana on Africa Industrialisation Day The former Member of Parliament for the Adentan constituency Buaben Asamoa has described the statement of forfeiture of NPP membership released by the partys General Secretary as unstrategic and needless. The legal practitioner has taken his time to school NPP leadership on political and constitutional matters in respect of elections 2024. Lawyer Buaben Asamoa speaking for his colleagues reaffirms their conviction that their candidate for the 2024 election, Alan Kyerematen will be a better President than both John Mahama and Dr. Alhaji Bawumia. This comes after the four were dismissed by the NPP for supporting Independent Presidential Candidate Alan Kyerematen. Read the full statement released by Hon Yaw Buaben Asamoa on the 20th of November 2023 below: Re: FORFEITURE OF MEMBERSHIP PURSUANT TO THE PROVISION OF ARTICLE 3(9)(1) OF THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY CONSTITUTION My attention and that of my esteemed and patriotically principled colleagues, Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene-Ntow and Saddique Abu-Bakar Boniface, has been drawn by numerous media outlets to a statement purportedly issued and signed by the General Secretary of the NPP, captioned as above. Though none of the persons mentioned has received a personal copy, we accept our resignation from the NPP and pledge our commitment to Ghanas success through our support for Alan Kyerematen. We also take this opportunity to respond and set the minds of concerned well-meaning patriots at ease. First, our public conduct in unconditionally and with great conviction supporting the highflying independent candidature of Alan Kyerematen for president, is against the NPP constitution, which provides for automatic forfeiture of membership under article 3(9)(1). That is incontestable and therefore needs no formal written notice. Unfortunately for the Party Leadership', the wholesale application of the poorly written article 3(9)(1), may not be serving the interests of the general membership of the Party well. By not differentiating between support for presidential and parliamentary candidates, conduct against a presidential candidate, results in forfeiture of the parliamentary vote as well. This is clearly out of step with the fast developing political culture of skirt & blouse, where voters increasingly mix their choice of presidential and parliamentary candidates based on factors other than what the party Leadership says. H.E. the President benefitted from skirt and blouse when he won ten constituencies in the Central Region where NDC won the parliamentary seats. Are those who accepted the President but voted otherwise at parliamentary level to be sacked? Hundreds of thousands of NPP members and millions of sympathisers are deeply unhappy at the so called mafia tactics of intimidation and inducement used to skew delegate elections in favour of choices that may not necessarily be popular with the general electorate. Indeed, the mafia approach is against article 55(5) of the 1992 Constitution, which demands democratic principles in internal party processes. Whilst there is value to being part of an organisation like a party, continuing exclusionary practices, quietly erodes loyalty and conviction, over time. Secondly, the same article 55(2) which gives a right to join political parties also gives a right to support political activity as an independent under 55(10) and (16). Considering that the right of a political party to sponsor candidates, does not exclude the right of independent candidates nor their supporters to participate in general elections, it may not be prudent to continue to reduce ones membership with archaic rules. Thirdly, in the profound wisdom of the 1992 Constitution, qualification to the presidency of Ghana does not require political party affiliation. Articles 57(1), 58, 62 and 63(1)(2)(3) and 94, dealing with the nature, qualification and powers of the office, have nothing to do with parties. Furthermore, exercising the powers of the presidency do not require party authority. In office, a president appoints and runs a government under articles 70, 76, 77, 78(1)(2) and 79, without a stated party presence. A voter does not have to be a member of a party to benefit from the presidency. Fourthly, the public is keenly aware that the selection of H.E the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as Presidential Candidate of the NPP, was the confirmation of a process carefully designed to have only one outcome. Because it was choreographed, there is nothing new or surprising to offer the voter public. Arguably, the patient Ghanaian voter, has been short-changed by the presidential candidate selection processes of both the NPP and NDC. The lack of genuine choice of candidates at party level, translates into a loss of trust in duopoly politics and increasing apathy, hence the loud chorus for a credible third force leadership if democratic practice is to be sustained for the benefit of youthful voters. That is why a bold and viable candidate like Alan Kyerematen, meets the need of the times. I and my friends Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene-Ntow and Saddique Abu-Bakar Boniface, in our support for Alan Kyerematen, a man of vision, competence, integrity and action, represent millions of Ghanaians who want to serve the country with a clear conscience. We are upholding the preamble to the Constitution, articles 1, 3(2), 17(1)(2)(3), 21(1)(3), 35(1)(4)(5)(9), 37(2)(a) and above all, article 41. Finally, the 1992 Constitution recognises coalition governments. A coalition is defined by the oxford dictionary as a temporary alliance for combined action, especially of political parties forming a government. Alan Kyerematen wants to bring Ghanaians together in the next election, in a Government of National Unity, to think Ghana, and redirect Ghana onto a positive trajectory. Nowhere in our constitution is it specified that Parliament is bi-cameral or that only a majority and minority can operate in Parliament. It is a fiction sold by the Standing Orders. Article 97(2) states unequivocally that a member need not lose their seat under 97(1)(g) and (h), if their party is a member of a coalition government. Article 103(5) admonishes that committees of Parliament ought to reflect the different shades of opinion in Parliament. Article 104 talks about a majority of members present and voting. It does not refer to a majority party. Ghana is ready for a political third force capable of breaking unproductive duopoly politics. We do not need a change of constitution to effect the change of leadership that the parties are incapable of offering. We have Alan Kyerematen. Together, our support for his independent presidency will unleash the development energy being suppressed by tit for tat duopoly politics. US Student Housing REIT (ASX:USQ Get Free Report) declared a interim dividend on Friday, November 17th, MarketIndexAU reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 29th will be given a dividend of 0.005 per share on Wednesday, November 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 21st. US Student Housing REIT Price Performance About US Student Housing REIT (Get Free Report) US Student Housing REIT operates as a multi-family residential REIT company. It provides renting and operating own or leased real estate properties. The company is based in Melbourne, Australia. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for US Student Housing REIT Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for US Student Housing REIT and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday proposed to host the UN climate conference in 2028 or COP33 in India and launched the Green Credit Initiative focused on creating carbon sinks through peoples participation. Addressing the high-level segment for heads of states and governments during the UN climate conference in Dubai, he said India has presented a great example to the world of striking balance between development and environment conservation. India is one among only few countries in the world on track to achieve its Nationally Determined Contributions or national plans to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the guardrail to avoid worsening of climate change impacts. Modi was the only leader to join the opening plenary along with COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber and UN Climate Change President Simon Steill. The prime minister called for maintaining a balance between mitigation and adaptation and said that energy transition across the world must be "just and inclusive". He called for rich countries to transfer technology to help developing nations combat climate change. The prime minister has been championing the Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE movement), urging countries to adopt planet-friendly living practices and move away from deeply consumerist behaviours. He cited a study by the International Energy Agency, saying this approach can reduce carbon emissions by 2 billion tonnes. Modi said everyones interest must be protected and everyones participation is necessary in the fight against climate change. USER CONSENT We at Moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist with navigation and your ability to provide feedback, analyse your use of our products and services, assist with our promotional and marketing efforts, and provide content from third parties. Your use of Moneycontrol is subject to your agreement with the following conditions: *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies and cookies from third parties which may be used for personalisation and determining your location. By clicking on Continue, you accept the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our Cookie Policy *I agree to the updated privacy terms and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age. *I agree to the processing of my personal information for personalized recommendations, personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites. I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS. (Optional). Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept " " The Archaeopteryx was a birdlike dinosaur that likely had to get a running start to take flight. It lived during the Jurassic Period. Stocktrek Images/Getty Images/Stocktrek Images It all began with a single feather. On Sept. 30, 1861, the German paleontologist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer published his description of a jaw-dropping new find. Fossil feathers were unheard of at the time, yet somebody had pulled one out of a limestone quarry near Solnhofen, Bavaria. Von Meyer named the animal it belonged to Archaeopteryx lithographica. His choice was apt; the first part of that name (i.e., Archaeopteryx) means "ancient wing." Advertisement By sheer coincidence, von Meyer's description came out less than two years after Charles Darwin published his landmark book, "On the Origin of Species." Archaeopteryx immediately entered the discourse about evolution and natural selection. More material was on the way. By late 1861, the fossilized skeleton of a birdlike creature with a long, bony tail something modern birds lack had emerged from the Bavarian countryside. Parts of the body were surrounded by feather impressions. USER CONSENT We at Moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist with navigation and your ability to provide feedback, analyse your use of our products and services, assist with our promotional and marketing efforts, and provide content from third parties. Your use of Moneycontrol is subject to your agreement with the following conditions: *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies and cookies from third parties which may be used for personalisation and determining your location. By clicking on Continue, you accept the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our Cookie Policy *I agree to the updated privacy terms and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age. *I agree to the processing of my personal information for personalized recommendations, personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites. I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS. (Optional). Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. UK Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty, is commencing a South Caucasus tour on November 20. The minister is expected in Armenia on Monday, the British embassy said in a statement. The UK is stepping up its cooperation and support for peace and stability in the South Caucasus as UK Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty, will underline on his tour of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan which commences today (Monday 20 November). The region, located on Russias southern border, remains vulnerable to external interference as it recovers from the impacts of conflict and attempts to press ahead with reform agendas in support of democratic choice for freedom and independence. Building on the formal Strategic Dialogues with all three countries earlier this year, Minister Docherty will extend the UKs offer of increased trade and security cooperation to help the countries to diversify their and reduce European reliance on Russia. Ahead of arriving in Yerevan, Minister for Europe Leo Docherty said: The South Caucasus faces significant security challenges, both internally and from its neighbours which threaten to destabilise the region. In a volatile region, the UK is a reliable partner for reform, peace and stability. The Minister for Europe arrives in Yerevan ready to build on the momentum of last weeks UK-Armenia Strategic Dialogue in London, during which both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in trade, security and on the rule of law. In Tbilisi, he will reaffirm the UKs unequivocal support for Georgias sovereignty and territorial integrity and back its Euro-Atlantic aspirations, in line with the will of the Georgian government and people. The UK is working with the Georgian government to build its resilience against Russian aggression, including through the Tailored Support Package agreed at the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid. Following recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh, Minister Docherty will urge the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to engage meaningfully in internationally-mediated negotiations to reach an historic agreement and secure lasting peace for the region. In September, the UK contributed 1million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to support the humanitarian response to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the wider region. The UK became one of the first countries to provide demining support to Azerbaijan, providing world-leading equipment and delivering mine clearance training to local authorities. Minister Docherty visits Baku just as the UK is building on that partnership - extending its offer for specialised courses in explosive ordnance disposal which will provide the skills needed to operate in a high threat environment, the embassy said. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is acquiring the India-made MArG 155mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers, IDRW (Indian Defence Research Wing) reported. The howitzers made by Bharat Forge represent a cutting-edge artillery system, embodying power, precision and mobility, according to IDRW. The MArG 155mm/39 cal offers exceptional all-terrain manoeuvrability. Its ability to negotiate gradients up to 30 and its shoot and scoot capability make it a versatile and formidable weapon in modern combat scenarios. Bharat Forge has confirmed that the howitzers it recently showcased are destined for Armenia, according to IDRW. According to IDRW, the acquisition of the howitzers by Armenia is a significant development for Indias defence industry. The deal with Armenia builds upon a growing strategic partnership between the two nations, with India emerging as a key supplier of defence equipment to Armenia. In 2020, Armenia acquired four Swathi mobile radar units from India, and in September 2022, a $245 million contract was signed for the purchase of Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers, anti-tank rockets and various types of ammunition, IDRW said. According to an earlier report by IDRW, Armenian officials had travelled to India to test the artillery system and sign the deal. Is There Anything Good Left in This World? NEWS PROVIDED BY Carmel Communications Nov. 20, 2023 SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20, 2023 /Standard Newswire/ -- Three threads run through all of human history, all of humanity and all of Christendom, and Joseph Pearce has weaved these into his new book about the history of the Catholic Church, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BEAUTIFUL: HISTORY IN THREE DIMENSIONS (Ignatius Press). Pearce is the author of numerous literary studies, including Literary Converts, The Quest for Shakespeare, and Shakespeare on Love, as well as biographies on Oscar Wilde, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. He is the general editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions series. Christ is "the way, and the truth, and the life," but fallen mankind, although made in Christ's image, is not so pure. In THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BEAUTIFUL, Pearce invites readers to look for the good and beautiful -- and be encouraged by innumerable saints, stunning creations and incredible art -- in the midst of human viciousness. Pope Benedict XVI saw this three-dimensional form more clearly than anyone, and, for him, the goodness of the saints and the beauty of art were the only antidote to the dark thread of evil that runs through history. Pearce keyed off this insight to write THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BEAUTIFUL and present the past twenty centuries to show how goodness and beauty -- stemming from God himself -- work to conquer the bad. "We look, we look, but with such difficulty do we see the meaning of our lives, because we are lost in the complexity of immediate experience," said Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop emeritus of Toronto, Canada. "In order to see and to understand, we need context and perspective, and this is what Joseph Pearce provides, as he traces the hand of divine providence in history and offers us the interpretive key of the good, the bad and the beautiful." For more information, to request a review copy, or to schedule an interview with Joseph Pearce, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com) of Carmel Communications. SOURCE Carmel Communications CONTACT: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276, kwandra@carmelcommunications.com YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a parliamentary delegation from Canada led by Senator Leo Housakos. Prime Minister Pashinyan attached importance to the development of cooperation between Armenia and Canada in various directions and added that bilateral relations have been of dynamic nature in the recent period, the Prime Minister's Office said in a readout. The Armenian Prime Minister highlighted Canadian support to the Armenian government in implementing democratic reforms. At the same time, PM Pashinyan stressed the importance of Canadas decision to join the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA). The members of the Canadian parliamentary delegation expressed concern on the situation resulting from the policy of ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh. In this context, the humanitarian issues of over 100,000 forcibly displaced persons and the Armenian governments measures to overcome these issues were discussed. Views were exchanged around the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Ashneer Grover and his spouse were halted at the airport departure gate when they were set to fly out of the country recently. Both had a lookout notice (LoC) on them in a case being investigated by the economic offences wing (EoW) regarding the alleged Rs81 crore fraud that took place in BharatPe, which they co-founded. Pawan Munjal, the chairman of Hero MotoCorp Ltd, is charged by the enforcement directorate (ED) for the alleged use of foreign currency issued in the name of others for his personal expenditure abroad to 'override' Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules. His assets worth Rs24.95 crore have been attached as part of a money laundering investigation and are under challenge before the court. Pawan Munjal, the chairman of Hero MotoCorp Ltd, is charged by the enforcement directorate (ED) for the alleged use of foreign currency issued in the name of others for his personal expenditure abroad to 'override' Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules. His assets worth Rs24.95 crore have been attached as part of a money laundering investigation and are under challenge before the court. Besides the above, he and the company, Hero MotoCorp, are also facing a probe by the income-tax (I-T) department and the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) for the alleged diversion of the companys funds through related parties for personal benefit. Mohit Burman, the chairman of Dabur, along with many others, has been named in a first information report (FIR) registered in Mumbai for alleged involvement in a betting app scandal. Rashmi Saluja, the chairperson of Religare Enterprises Ltd, the holding company of the Religare financial services group, has been accused by a proxy advisory firm of violating the norms on the issue of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) in an insurance subsidiary and of non-disclosure. She has also been accused by the Dabur group, which has made an open offer for the acquisition of Religares shares, of an undisclosed sale of the Religare shares, amounting to insider trading. These are not culled out reading the newspaper of the past few years but just the week gone by or, at best, the recent fortnight! Even if one chooses to rummage the newspapers of the past few months or a couple of years, the list would expand ominously though it can never be exhaustive. While Ashneer Grover has been exited from BharatPe after the allegations surfaced, the other head honchos under question are firmly in the saddle and the allegations have not resulted in any change in their role in the respective companies. Contrast this to an ordinary clerk in any company being accused of some felony, like overstating the conveyance expenditure on official work. Hell would break loose and managers and the human resources (HR) department would get into multiple huddles and a few employee manuals would be scrutinised many times over and the person concerned would be placed under suspension. Constitution of an enquiry committee would follow, furious consultations with a legal expert would ensue and, after following due process, the employee would be dismissed! The accountant who identified the excess claim would get due appreciation for the watchfulness on the job and new procedures would be introduced for the reimbursement of conveyance expenditure thenceforth. The internal auditor would be hinted to widen their audit scope to cover all claims of reimbursements and particularly cautioned on how medical bills can be easily manipulated! While resolute in their intolerance to wrongdoing at the lower levels of the organisation, boards seem to feel little shame in letting the leaders, under the cloud of investigation or accused of wrongdoing, to chair the board and lead the company! This can be equally said of not-for-profit and like organisations. It would be needless vocabulary to speak about the bureaucracy, the political establishment and even the judiciary! The hypocrisy in the corporate world of shielding the high and mighty while pouncing on the lower-level acolytes is universal and not specific to India. Persons in high office often remain nonchalant whether it is a financial impropriety or issues involving sexual harassment and the like about which greater awareness has emerged in recent years. Two classic cases from the highly regulated financial sector, which have not yet seen the finality, are ICICI Bank and National Stock Exchange (NSE). The ICICI Bank board, then helmed by MK Sharma, hastily exonerated Chanda Kochar when a whistle-blower brought out the nexus between the Videocon group, which had borrowed money from ICICI Bank, and a company owned by the husband of Ms Kochar. It was the persistence of the whistle-blower that nailed the matter finally and resulted in a jail visit for her and her husband. Similarly, the board of NSE failed to do its duty when the misdemeanours of Chitra Ramakrishna first surfaced. It happily glossed over the tell-tale signs and, in fact, let her resign with due honours! Among all the recent episodes, the case of Pawan Munjal deserves particular attention though the others are no less venal. The income-tax authorities had brought out an allegation that Mr Munjal had used the vehicle of certain entities as service providers to Hero MotoCorp to siphon out money for his personal use. While the issue is pending investigation and the company claims to be cooperating in the proceedings, the audit committee of the company appears to have made no effort to independently investigate if there is truth in the allegations. This appears to be a case of non-disclosure of related parties resulting in the due process not being followed in carrying out the transactions. This issue falls squarely in the domain of the audit committee, the board and the statutory auditors to independently commission an agency to find out the truth, notwithstanding the one done by the I-T wing. Even if the allegation did not emanate from the income tax department but from a stray whistle-blower, there would exist an obligation on the board to get the same independently verified. In June 2023, the MCA also initiated some investigation which the company initially denied but later confirmed. Both, the statutory auditors and the board, seem to be appeasing their respective consciences by an innocuous note of an ongoing enquiry by the government agencies for which the company was extending cooperation! The recently reported case, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), seems to be an independent one slapped on the chairman. Importantly, in this matter, the company has made no official disclosure to the stock exchanges, though the news is widely reported in the media. Even if it has been made, it is not traceable in the exchange filings. No one is to be held guilty unless proven so, is valid from a punishment standpoint. But to uphold some semblance of moral values, persons in high positions should demonstrate better behaviour when accused of some wrongdoing and, if they fail to, systems should be put in place to hold them to such standards. In a situation of this type, there is a clear untenability of the person remaining in a critical role as chairman. A former chief justice of India (CJI) exonerated himself as he sat as a judge in his own case of an alleged sexual harassment charge levelled against him by an employee of the court. A worthy and binding precedent that the corporate world conveniently follows! These are the situations where an independent board should rise above the limitations of familiarity or friendship with the chairman or the chief executive officer (CEO) and make itself count. In all the cases mentioned above, and many that dot the corporate annals of the country and elsewhere, they failed to act. Dabur India has also made no disclosure to the exchanges about the FIR against its chairman. If it has been filed, it is not locatable in the relevant portal. Recently, the Economic Times reported that the remuneration paid to independent directors had doubled in the past five years and the median remuneration is over Rs70 lakh. Even if a person holds the position of an ID in, say, two companies, at this level of remuneration, the income arising just from this occupation, which at best is a few hours of work every three months, is equal to what a C-suite executive in a mid-sized company may earn while the level of effort and accountability is immensely different. So, an important question arises: if the silence, if not the acquiescence, of the independent directors is being purchased with gold. Though the question may have been asked many times, it is seldom answered explicitly. Maybe it is too rhetorical to need an answer! As artificial intelligence (AI) systems are getting more integrated into our daily life, there is a growing tendency among users to get hold of free AI tools. Cybercriminals have rightly spotted this weakness as an opportunity to spread malware capable of stealing users' login credentials. Earlier this week, Google filed a lawsuit in the northern district of California, US, against three people for using false advertisements for Bard, Google's generative AI chatbot. They were allegedly tricking users into downloading malware that gave the fraudsters access to login credentials. Halimah DeLaine Prado, general counsel of Google, says in a blog post , "The fraudsters created social media pages and ran ads that encouraged people to 'download' Bard, our freely available generative AI tool that does not need to be downloaded. The ads, instead led people to download malware that compromised their social media accounts. Since April, we have filed roughly 300 takedowns related to this group of bad actors." According to the lawsuit, the scam has been showing up in ads, pages and posts on Facebook- including 'Google AI', 'AIGoogle' and 'AIGoogleBard' - that use Google logos and a photo of Sundar Pichai, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Google. "The malware-linked ads seek to confuse Facebook users because Google itself has advertised its Bard product on Facebook," the lawsuit says. The lawsuit by Google is the first action by a major technology company on the growing number of AI-related online scams. However, the only issue, in this case, is the scammers are based in Vietnam, which is out of the jurisdiction of the US district court, and the US does not have any extradition treaty with that country. So, it would be interesting to see how the case progresses. Ms Prado from Google says, "Just as AI fraudsters hope to fly under the radar we believe that appropriate legal action and working with government officials puts scammers squarely in the crosshairs of justice, promoting a safer internet for everyone." While the rules, regulations, and legal action are all the way to go, safeguarding common users remains an arduous task for everyone. Before we learn about protecting ourselves from increasing cyber fraud, let us first understand malware. Malware is a term used to describe malicious software that is designed to harm or exploit computer systems, personal devices and networks. Malicious code or techniques exploit security vulnerabilities in software or operating systems of computers or personal devices. Malware encompasses a wide range of harmful software types, each with its own specific purpose and method of operation. Here are some common types of malware: Viruses: These are programs that can replicate themselves by attaching to other legitimate programs of software. Viruses can spread through infected files and cause damage to the host system or corrupt files and data. Worms: They are similar to viruses, but worms can self-replicate to spread across networks or devices without needing a host file. Worms often exploit vulnerabilities in network protocols to propagate. Trojans: Unlike viruses and worms, trojans do not replicate themselves. Instead, they disguise themselves as legitimate software or files to trick users into downloading and executing them. Once activated, Trojans can perform various malicious actions, such as stealing data or providing access to the system to fraudsters. Ransomware: This is malware that encrypts a user's files or locks them out of their system, demanding a ransom payment in exchange for restoring access. Ransomware attacks have become a significant threat, targeting individuals and organisations. Spyware: These are programs designed to secretly gather information about a user's activities, such as keystrokes, browsing habits and personal information. This information is often sent to a remote server without the user's knowledge or consent. Adware: These programs display unwanted advertisements on a user's computer or device. While not always malicious in intent, adware can be disruptive and may compromise user privacy by collecting and transmitting data about browsing habits. Rootkits: These are malicious software that enables unauthorised access to a computer or network. Rootkits often hide their presence from detection by modifying or replacing core system files. Botnets: These are networks of compromised computers (bots) that are controlled by a single entity, usually for malicious purposes. Botnets can be used for activities such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, spam distribution, and other forms of cybercrime. Keyloggers: This includes software or hardware that records the keystrokes of a user, capturing sensitive information such as login credentials, card numbers, banking and personal details. Protecting against malware involves a combination of security measures, such as using antivirus software, keeping software up-to-date, practising safe browsing habits, and being cautious about email attachments and downloads. Regular system scans and backups are also essential to a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. Here are some general tips to help protect yourself from malware 1. Use good quality antivirus or anti-malware software and update it regularly. 2. Ensure that your operating system, browsers and all software are up-to-date with the latest security patches. Use automatic updates whenever possible. 3. Download software, files and applications only from reputable sources. Avoid downloading cracked (pirated) software or installation files (for example, Android package kit or apk files) from unofficial websites, as they may contain malware. 4. Use strong, unique passwords for all your accounts. Avoid using the same password across multiple platforms. Also, use multi-factor authentication, if possible. 5. Regularly review your bank and credit card statements for any unauthorised transactions. 6. Be cautious of social engineering tactics, such as phishing scams, where attackers try to manipulate you into divulging sensitive information. By adopting these practices, you can significantly reduce the risk of malware infections and enhance the overall security of data on your computer and personal devices. Stay Alert, Stay Safe! YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Anna Vardapetyan, Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia on Monday held a meeting with the delegation led by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Fabian Salvioli, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia said in a statement. ''Anna Vardapetyan highly appreciated the importance of the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate and emphasizes her agreement with his statement made during the 4th Global Forum against the Crime of Genocide. According to which, the glorification of war criminals cannot be combined with democratic values. In this context, Anna Vardapetyan underscores the necessity to address war crimes properly, provide an adequate assessment, and implement effective measures aimed at their prevention,'' reads the statement. According to the source, the Prosecutor General presented to the EU's special rapporteur the evolution of the powers of the Armenian Prosecutor's Office, along with the toolkit aimed at combating corruption, protecting state (community) interests, confiscating property of illegal origins, preventing torture, and the criminal struggle against them. Conceptual changes in the criminal and criminal procedure codes were also discussed during the meeting. Indias construction and engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been slapped with two penalties of Rs 111.31 crore and Rs 127.64 crore by Qatar's income tax authorities for alleged variation in the income declared by the company compared with the assessment of the authority, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Friday. The penalties, which add up to Rs 238.9 crore, have been imposed for the tax assessment period between April 2016 to March 2017 and April 2017 to March 2018. "An appeal has been filed against the levy of this penalty as the company believes it is arbitrary and unjustified," L&T said. The company said that it is "reasonably confident of a favourable outcome at the appellate level", adding that no material adverse impact is envisaged on the financial, operations or other activities of the company. The Gulf region is a major market for L&T, accounting for as much as 41 per cent of its order inflow in the April-September half of the current financial year. The orders worked out to 32 per cent of its Rs 4,50,700 crore order book as of September-end. Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article. I have the pride and honour of serving, for 28 years, the State Bank of India (SBI), till February 1994 and as a pensioner for the past 29 years. But the SBI I served is certainly different from the SBI now as it is now SBI plus seven associates assimilating diverse cultures of the loyalty-held state-centric banks. I see a vast difference in the way the Bank deals with its customers from then to nowboth internal and external. For those who visit the personal banking branch, one stares at long queues. Technology, of which we are all proud, looks like a harrowing experience for the staff. The staff, despite all good intentions, feels helpless many a time because the system just does not respond. The SBI I worked at was the largest bank for the smallest man. There were concept branches dedicated to agricultural and small-scale industries (SSI) sectors. I am grateful to my Bank that made me what I am today. Its primacy in the two areas of agriculture and small industries and its domain expertise whittled away with many field-level managers and staff having no time to visit the villages and enterprises. They do not have much time to engage with the customers. Most problems are left for the system to resolve. The SBI today is SBI plus seven associate banks merged with it, assimilating seven work cultures. Both are, thus, entirely different. I am reminded of a chairman who said, a few years ago, We are a technology company. We also do banking. Very true. There are more retail loans, personal loans, vehicle loans, more housing and real estate, and corporate loans. Property and collateral verifications take more time than client interactions. There is little time for the small segment which most needs the banking services. Its old slogan: The biggest bank for the smallest man is consigned to history. Anything small, except where it is a regulatory responsibility, is not to their taste. Now SBI does a little of banking as all the staff and managers look to the machines for instructions. If the machine fails to respond, the employee or manager has no answer for the banking problem that the customer faces. If one wants to post a grievance on the system, there is a drop-down menu. If you cant click one of them, you have to post in others in just 100 letters. The CACHE appears and you copy it. It disappears directing you to re-input. There is also a cultural transformation. Earlier, there used to be customer committees meeting on the 15th of every month. They have become things of the past for the last few years. Even though the Bank obtains form 15A for not deducting tax on the interest on the term deposits held with it, still deductions are made. After 80 years, taxpayers are exempt from submitting the tax return if their only income is pension and within Rs5 lakh plus the other exemptions. But, because the Bank deducts tax on my interest income, to get my refund, I have to submit the tax return. What the government gives with the left hand, SBI takes it away with the right hand. SBI Pensioners Monthly Bulletin, Hyderabad has a banner line calling the pensioners to secure their ID cards both for the family and themselves, if alone, through the MYHRM portal. The portal is the least responsive. It rarely works for loading all the inputs needed. When the forgotten password is clicked, either on the mobile application or on the desktop, it does not respond. After repeated attempts, I got the password: Madam/Dear Sir, your HRMS portal password has been reset. Your new password is WW22pt Please do not share your password.-SBI HRMS. I searched for the symbol both in the virtual keyboard of the SBI website that I operate for my bank transactions and elsewhere. I could not see the symbol. I wrote a mail to the address they flashed as the third step in resolving the password issue. The response is to lodge the complaint on the website of MYHRM which is very difficult to open! In fact, all the data that is required is in the form of KYC with the pension-paying branch. The pensioners details should be available with the HR department. Further, even the spouses data likewise is available with the KYC where the pensioner and spouse have joint account and nominee details of the spouse, where the latter is the nominee, on the other deposit accounts held with the Bank. With so much advanced technology and the Bank mentioning that they have artificial intelligence (AI) applications also for a decade, where is the need in the first place for this harassment of the pensioner on the MYHRM portal? Cant the Bank pull the data from the branch account of the pensioner? Photo, Aadhaar, PAN, and residential proof are all available with the Bank branch. During the first year of YONO, it was you for the bank and no for the customer. It took two years to make it work efficiently and, by this time, the unified payments interface (UPI) system overtook its strides. I am reasonably tech-savvy but fail to catch up with the SBI HRM portal and YONO. All the claims of SBI on the technology front do not resemble reality. After a long-drawn struggle, the finance ministry and the public sector banks (PSBs), including SBI, agreed to 100% neutralisation of the dearness allowance (DA). They have a formula for different grades of services in the SBI. I am surprised to know that we should sign an indemnity letter asking the pensioner to indemnify the Bank for an mistake in calculations of such arrears as they remit into our pension account and a right for the Bank to debit from our pension account any irregular credit they make due to such miscalculation. Of what use is technology if they cannot arrive at a formula for calculating the arrears of new DA? How can SBI boast of state-of-the-art technology? Incidentally, it is appropriate to mention that all the other PSBs paid the latest DA in October itself, without any such indemnity. They ask the pensioners to sign and give a letter of indemnity to the pension-paying branch. This is a vindication of the fact that the Bank is not confident of its calculations. Another glaring instance that has not been remedied yet by the Bank: Going by the call for a joint pensioner ID card with my spouse, I loaded all the details. The outcome is a disaster. My date of pension is wrong: Instead of 28 February 1994, it mentions 31 August 1997. Where the data is produced from, no one knows. Regarding my spouses data that has been faithfully loaded to MYHRM after great difficulty nearly six months back, her details are left blank, when the card was issued. The unusable card issued is reproduced below: The staff, who should have closed their systems at the end of the day at maximum 5pm, sit till even 7pm entering KYC of new accounts or responding to printed requests of service! They curse the system they work with day in and day out, but in silence. I am writing this article with the hope that the Bank would make better use of technology and help many of my ilk not face such risk. Instead of being complacent, the Bank should introspect and it is not correction that is required but a total replacement of its technology to stand in competition with its peers HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. The Pensioners Association left a helpful note that those who have difficulty accessing the MYHRM portal can seek its help in the Association office. But they also were clueless when it came to opening it and deciphering the password I got. There are many unsung heroes. Its time to have pity on them and find systemic remedies. I wish the Bank would regain its pride of place in the industry. (The author is a retired senior banker, economist and risk management specialist) The Supreme Court on Monday raised questions over the delay by Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi in giving assent to the Bills passed by the state legislature. A bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the Governor returned 10 out of 12 Bills pending with him for his assent after a notice was issued by the top court on Tamil Nadu government's plea. These Bills have been pending since January 2020. It means that the Governor took the decision after the Court issued notice. What was he doing for three years? Why should the Governor wait for the parties to approach the Supreme Court? the bench asked. During the hearing, Attorney General R. Venkataramani, the top-most law officer of the Centre, said the incumbent Governor, R.N. Ravi assumed charge with effect from November 2021. At this, CJI Chandrachud said: The issue is not whether any particular Governor caused delay but whether in general there has been a delay by Governor in exercising Constitutional functions entrusted under Article 200 of the Constitution." In a written note submitted before the apex court, AG Venkataramani apprised that the Governor assented to 152 Bills out of 181 presented between 2020 and 2023, adding that five were withdrawn by the state government, nine were reserved for Presidents consideration and in relation to 10 Bills, assent was withheld. It was further told that five Bills, which were sent to the Governor in October 2023, are stated to be in process. The apex court adjourned the hearing till December 1 after it was told that the Tamil Nadu Assembly in a special session on Saturday has re-adopted 10 Bills, which were sent back by the Governor for reconsideration. "The Assembly has passed the Bills again and sent it to the Governor. Let us see what the Governor does, it said. According to Article 200 of the Constitution, if a Bill is passed again, with or without amendments, and is presented to the Governor for assent, he has to accord his approval. On November 10, while issuing notice to the Union government, the apex court had said that the petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government raises a matter of serious concern. In its writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the Tamil Nadu government has claimed that the Governor has positioned himself as a political rival to the legitimately elected state government. It said that Bills passed 2-3 years ago were still pending with the Governor, who is not granting sanction for prosecution of ministers or MLAs involved in corruption cases, nor clearing files relating to remission of prisoners. Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article. Despite there being many Hollywood stars on the list, it was the billionaire founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, who had the most people searching for topless and naked photos of him (52,800 yearly). His total score of 7.12 placed him fifth, behind Samuel L. Jacksons 7.31 score. EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Toivo Klaar, has expressed support to the Armenian governments Crossroads of Peace project. November 20, 2023, 11:12 EU shares Armenian Prime Ministers vision of open South Caucasus STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 20 , ARTSAKHPRESS: In an interview with Armenpress Brussels correspondent, Klaar said that there ought to be no issue of extraterritoriality concerning the connections. He said that it is quite logical that any road, any railway that goes through Armenian territory is controlled by Armenia. Special Representative Klaar also spoke about the possible peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the guaranteed right to return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians. Unlike Azerbaijan, which regularly talks about the so-called Zangezur Corridor in the context of unblocking regional communications, obviously implying the idea of having an extra-territorial corridor through the sovereign territory of Armenia, the Armenian government proposes the Crossroads of Peace project, which implies the unblocking of regional communications based on the jurisdiction and sovereignty of countries and as a result of its implementation the region can become an important international logistics and trade intersection and also a kind of guarantee for peace. How would you interpret this initiative of the Armenian government and what opportunities do you see here? Do you consider the implementation of this project possible, taking into account the destructive position of Azerbaijan in the matter of unblocking communications? First of all, I think that, a few months ago [in May 2023], in Moscow, President Aliyev very clearly said publicly on television, in a meeting that they had with Prime Minister Pashinyan in the presence of President Putin, that naming it a corridor doesn't imply extra-territoriality. President Aliyev has said also on other occasions in smaller settings that this does not imply extra-territoriality. Yes, calling it a corridor, as you know, we say transport corridors in reference to different corridors that we have in Europe and we never imply extra-territoriality. So, obviously, from our perspective, it is quite logical that any road, any railway that goes through Armenian territory is controlled by Armenia, or any road or railway that goes through Azerbaijani territory or goes through, I don't know, German territory, is controlled by the country in question. So, that is absolutely the one and only logical arrangement. And what is also very legitimate is, for instance, in this case Azerbaijan, to want to have an assurance that Azerbaijani citizens and cargo crossing Armenian territory will be safe and secure. That is perfectly logical and normal. But how that is being done in terms of how it is ensured is the responsibility of the Armenian authorities. I think the vision of Prime Minister Pashinyan of road and railway connections uniting countries is something we absolutely share. We absolutely share that vision of an open South Caucasus where railway and road connections are open, and countries are reconnected in a way that they were at the end of the Soviet period and even more so, because also the road and railway connections across to Turkiye, and naturally Iran, which is already the case, but also to Turkiye, should also be open. That is how we see the future, absolutely, our vision of a South Caucasus at peace is one where these transport connections are all open again and there is trade, there is people travelling across the various frontiers. Since you have mentioned the Azerbaijani Presidents request that the Azerbaijani citizens should cross this corridor in a very safe way, here I want to ask a question, which concerns the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian residents who were forcibly displaced. What is your take concerning the right of these people to go back and also to make sure that we will not forget that and just jump to other issues in a few months time? But the Lachin corridor was blocked and Armenians did not have the chance to cross safely, many of them are arrested and charged. And Azerbaijani forces didnt guarantee any kind of safety for these Armenians. So, Azerbaijan is asking for things that it didn't do as well. So what is your take on this, mainly on the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians right to be back? I think you are bringing in many different issues, but I would focus on the core question of the former residents of Nagorno-Karabakh being able to return. We absolutely believe that this is a very important thing, that first of all, they are guaranteed the right to return. And secondly, that the kind of conditions are created, that will provide them with sufficient security, and a sense of safety that they will wish to do so. And we have said that very clearly from the EU point of view, that all persons who have been displaced should be able to return to their former places of residence if they wish to do so, in safety and security. And, in that sense, this is something that we have been pushing for, in all kinds of different fora. We believe that that is a very important issue that does need to be addressed. But of course, nobody can be forced to return if they don't wish to. But if they are, the maximum effort should be made to provide them with the kind of conditions that would allow at least a fair number of them to be able to decide to return. Since you talked about peace in the region Azerbaijan continues its expansionist rhetoric and wants to reach a peace agreement only within the framework that suits itself. How do you imagine the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan? What points should be included in it so that it can be called fair and balanced and be sustainable? From my perspective, I think it is important that, on the one hand, you have a treaty, you have a text, which may or may not be very exhaustive in its wording. It all depends on how Armenia and Azerbaijan in the end decide how to frame, how to phrase things in that treaty text. At least as important as the eventual peace treaty, is what you refer to as the implementation, the conditions that come afterwards. And there of course, we talked about the opening of communications, we talked about the delimitation of the border, to me also what is very important is to ensure the kind of conditions along the border, which means that there is a distancing of forces, a genuine sense of security that arises, and that is provided to residents along the border, but also more broadly. And then, of course, you have all these issues like, you know, opening of embassies, ensuring opening of direct air links, people being able to travel back and forth. Rhetoric, naturally also, will be an important thing for all concerned. After more than 30 years of conflict, it is not only about rhetoric being used by Azerbaijan, there is also in Armenia. There have been statements by different actors and in different contexts. The whole context has to change in terms of really providing a sense for the populations in Armenia and Azerbaijan, that, really, we are in a different world now, in a situation where the South Caucasus can really fulfil its role as crossroads, crossroads of peace in the north-south and east-west directions. And so, this is to me at least as important as the signing of a peace treaty text, which, as I say is important, but what follows that is at least as important, so that there's this real sense of a change in the circumstances. The EU wants to be the broker who will mediate this Peace Treaty. However, the Azerbaijani side first refused the meeting in Granada at the last moment, then the meeting scheduled for the end of October in Brussels. How do you interpret these rejections by Aliyev? To what extent does the EU consider Azerbaijan's steps as constructive? First of all, the EU doesn't have to be anywhere in this context. We have offered, and President Michel in particular has offered, his good offices. For us, the primary interest is to actually have an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And where that is ultimately signed is to us much less important than the fact that there is genuine normalisation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. So that's one thing. As far as President Aliyev deciding not to come to Grenada is concerned, well, we were disappointed, we thought that it was an important possibility and quite important forum to send strong messages. We are still, President Michel is still, ready and willing to organise a meeting of the leaders in Brussels at the earliest possible opportunity. Well, dates certainly are important. But the most important thing is to actually move forward and that is what we are focused on, to try to encourage forward movement in a genuine normalisation of relations. Many political experts think that Azerbaijan is not really interested in the European platform and the 3+3 format is more beneficial to Aliyev. What is your assessment of this approach? I have no particular opinion, from our perspective, we look at the 3+3 meeting, the recent one as well as the previous ones, as something where countries of the region certainly have issues that, as neighbours, they want to discuss and they should be able to discuss in a sort of regional setting. At the same time, I understand also that the understanding has been, at least initially, that particularly the conflict, the peace agreement, the settlement, should not really be a subject of discussion in that particular format. So, again, for us, the most important thing is progress, where that progress happens is much less important. But we do believe that, actually, in our view, there is no real reason why we cannot have serious progress in the settlement process, because, for us, the issues on the table are very few and we believe these have been discussed many times over, so we don't really see a reason why we could not move and why Azerbaijan and Armenia could not move very quickly towards normalisation of relations. Azerbaijan criticizes the arming of Armenia, while it has three times higher military budget, and weapons shipments do not stop landing at the Baku airport. How do you interpret this rhetoric of Azerbaijan? Well, I think that every country has the right to defend itself and to purchase the necessary weapons that it deems necessary for the defense of its territory. Thats my simple answer. Most countries in the world are purchasing weapons from abroad for the purpose of defending their territory. So, in that sense, there is nothing spectacular or wrong about this. The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan criticized Mr. Borrell's statement during the press conference and said that "The EU's attempts to supply Armenia with weaponry and thereby support its insidious militarization policy that undermines peace and stability in our region, encourages a policy leading to new confrontations in the region, that lays a responsibility on the EU. Plans to employ the European Peace Facility, which, among other areas, implies the buildup of military capabilities, serve to exacerbate tensions in the region". In fact, Azerbaijan threatens not only Armenia but also the EU. What is your take on this? Well, I think we very much welcome the interest of the Armenian government to expand its relationship with the European Union. As for Armenias interest in the European Peace Facility, from our perspective, this is about potentially supporting Armenia in certain areas where it sees itself to be vulnerable cyber security has been mentioned as one and there again, if it does go forward (this is still in the planning phase), we don't see this as being aimed against anybody but rather, for the purpose of strengthening Armenias sovereignty, which, I think, is in the interest of everyone, not only of Armenia, but also of Armenias neighbours and of the wider international community. We want to have a strong, self-confident Armenia that is a good partner to the European Union and is equally a good partner to its neighbours, including to Azerbaijan. Reporter Andrew Roberto was raised his whole life on Saipan. He graduated from Saipan Southern High School, holds a degree from Northern Marianas College, and a BA in English from the University of Guam. He once worked for KUAM, UNO Magazine, and the Guam Daily Post. This years conference of the Pacific Islands Association of Libraries, Archives, and Museums was held in Koror, Palau from Nov. 13 to 17, 2023. In this file photo, people are seen gathered in front of the Governor's Complex at Adelup, as they demonstrate in support of Palestine and the end of violence in that region. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a parliamentary delegation from Canada led by Senator Leo Housakos. November 20, 2023, 15:57 Armenian Prime Minister meets with Canadian parliamentary delegation STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 20 , ARTSAKHPRESS: Prime Minister Pashinyan attached importance to the development of cooperation between Armenia and Canada in various directions and added that bilateral relations have been of dynamic nature in the recent period, the Prime Minister's Office said in a readout. The Armenian Prime Minister highlighted Canadian support to the Armenian government in implementing democratic reforms. At the same time, PM Pashinyan stressed the importance of Canadas decision to join the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA). A panoramic image showing the view from Ypao Point, one of the proposed sites for a new Guam Memorial Hospital. More than 200 convicted in Italys maxi-trial involving the ndrangheta crime syndicate View Photo LAMEZIA TERME, Italy (AP) An Italian tribunal on Monday convicted 207 people and sentenced them to a combined 2,100 years in prison on charges related to their membership in Italys ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, one of the worlds most powerful, extensive and wealthy drug-trafficking groups. It took over an hour and 40 minutes to read aloud the courts lengthy verdict, including the acquittal of 131 other defendants. The drama unfolded in a bunker-stye courtroom in the southern Calabria region, where the mob organization was originally based. The ndrangheta has quietly amassed power in Italy and abroad as the Sicilian Mafia lost influence and now holds almost a monopoly on cocaine importation in Europe, according to anti-mafia prosecutors who led the investigation in southern Italy. The organization also has bases in North and South America and is active in Africa, Italian prosecutors maintain, and ndrangheta figures have been arrested in recent years around Europe and in Brazil and Lebanon. The defendants had been charged with crimes that include drug and arms trafficking, extortion and mafia association, a term in Italys penal code for members of organized crime groups. Others were charged with acting in complicity with the ndrangheta without actually being a member. The charges grew out of an investigation of 12 clans linked to a convicted ndrangheta boss. The central figure, Luigi Mancuso, served 19 years in an Italian prison for his role in leading what investigators allege is one of the ndranghetas most powerful crime families, based in the town of Vibo Valentia. Vincenzo Capomolla, deputy chief prosecutor of Catanzaro, said prosecutors overall case held up with the convictions and confirmed the stranglehold the ndrangheta held on Vibo Valentia. The infiltration of the criminal organization in the province of Vibo Valentia was so deep-rooted and so widespread, so alarming, so disturbing that I think it can be noted that there was no aspect of the life of the social economic fabric of the province that was not conditioned by the capacity of the force of intimidation of this so dangerous criminal organization, he said. Giuseppe Di Renzo, defense attorney for several of the defendants, however noted that more than a third of the original defendants were fully acquitted, while others were found not guilty of some charges. He criticized the disparate and large number of defendants, saying they showed there was no cohesive thread to the prosecutors case. But Catanzaros former chief prosecutor who launched the investigation, Nicola Gratteri, said mafia trials often have to cast wide nets because of the very nature of how the criminal syndicates operate, infiltrating across wide swaths of society. The trial took place in a specially constructed high-security bunker. Part of an industrial park in Lamezia Terme, the bunker is so vast that video screens were anchored to the ceiling so participants could view the proceedings. Based almost entirely on blood ties, the ndrangheta was substantially immune to turncoats for decades, but the ranks of those turning states evidence are becoming more substantial. In the current trial, they included a relative of Mancusos. Several dozen informants in the case came from the ndrangheta, while others formerly belonged to Sicilys Cosa Nostra. Despite the large number of defendants, the trial wasnt Italys biggest one involving alleged mobsters. In 1986, 475 alleged members of the Sicilian Mafia went on trial in a similarly constructed bunker in Palermo. The proceedings resulted in more than 300 convictions and 19 life sentences. That trial helped reveal many of the brutal methods and murderous strategies of the islands top mob bosses, including sensational killings that bloodied the Palermo area during years of power struggles. In contrast, the trial involving the ndrangheta was aimed at securing convictions and sentences based on alleged acts of collusion among mobsters and local politicians, public officials, businessmen and members of secret lodges to show how deeply rooted the syndicate is in Calabria. Awash in cocaine trafficking revenues, the ndrangheta has gobbled up hotels, restaurants, pharmacies, car dealerships and other businesses throughout Italy, especially in Rome and the countrys affluent north, criminal investigations have revealed. The buying spree spread across Europe as the syndicate sought to launder illicit revenues but also to make clean money by running legitimate businesses, including in the tourism and hospitality sectors, investigators alleged. ___ Zampano reported from Rome. By GIADA ZAMPANO and PAOLO SANTALUCIA Associated Press Climate Trees Dying View Photo SHERWOOD, Ore. (AP) Deep inside a forest in Oregons Willamette Valley stands a dead Tree of Life. Its foliage, normally soft and green, is tough and brown or missing altogether. Nonetheless, the trees reddish bark, swooping branches and thick, conical base identify it as the Pacific Northwests iconic western red cedar. Christine Buhl, a forest health specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry, plunges a tool called an increment borer into the dead trees trunk. Twisting the handle of the corkscrew-like borer, Buhl extracts a long, thin sample of the trees inner growth rings. The rings become thinner over time, indicating the trees growth slowed before the tree finally died, a sign that this red cedar, like thousands of others in Oregon and Washington, died from drought. Thats why its the canary, says Buhl. Any tree thats less drought tolerant is going to be the canary in the coal mine. Theyre going to start bailing (out). For thousands of years, people have used red cedar to make everything from canoes to clothing. Red cedars many uses have earned the species endearing names, including the Tree of Life. More recently, scientists have started calling this water-loving relative of redwoods by a less flattering name: the climate canary. Last year, Buhl and colleagues reported that red cedars were dying throughout the trees growing range not because of a fungus or insect attack, but due to the regions climate change-induced drought. Red cedars arent alone. In recent years, at least 15 native Pacific Northwest tree species have experienced growth declines and die-offs, 10 of which have been linked to drought and warming temperatures, according to recent studies and reports. Many researchers, Buhl included, are now arguing that these drought-driven die-offs are the beginning of a much larger and long-predicted shift in tree growing ranges due to climate change. ___ EDITORS NOTE: This story is part of a collaboration between The Associated Press and Columbia Insight, exploring the impact of climate on trees in the Pacific Northwest. ___ Trees, and plants generally, have growing ranges that are largely determined by climate factors, namely moisture and temperature. For decades, scientists have argued that as atmospheric warming continues, growing ranges in the Northern Hemisphere will shift upslope in elevation and farther north, leaving many trees stranded in a warmer, drier world. As climate mismatch sets in, trees are expected to die-off and not grow back, according to predictions. Daniel DePinte, Forest Service aerial survey program manager, suspects range changes are driving Firmageddon. A term coined by researchers, including DePinte, Firmageddon refers to the more than 1,875 square-mile (4,856-square-kilometer) die-off of five fir species in Oregon, Washington and northern California. The forests are moving uphill, said DePinte. DePinte and colleagues first identified and named the massive, drought-driven fir mortality event last year while surveying area forests via airplane. According to tree-range predictions, climate-induced die-offs are expected to start at the edges of growing ranges, including at lower-elevation locations that are predicted to become too warm and dry for many species. DePintes survey revealed that the largest die-offs associated with Firmageddon are occurring at lower-elevation sites. Buhl and colleagues found a similar pattern with western red cedar. Mortality was greatest at sites less than about 650 feet (200 meters) in elevation west of the Cascade Range, according to their analysis. Scientists have also observed a similar pattern for Douglas fir, the regions leading commercial timber species. Douglas fir is currently experiencing a 720-square-mile (1,865-square-kilometer) die-off, the majority in the Klamath Mountains near the southern Oregon cities of Ashland and Medford. The die-off is limited to the lower elevations but is likely to move uphill as temperatures warm in the coming decades, according to a study in the Journal of Forestry. Our analysis concluded that if climate change continues as predicted, we could see increased Douglas fir mortality at higher elevations, said study coauthor, David Shaw, a professor and forest health specialist at Oregon State University. Shaw called the die-off consistent with predictions for climate change. But whereas red cedar is believed to be dying from drought alone, the Firmageddon and Douglas fir die-offs have been linked to a combination of drought weakening trees and insect pests moving in for the kill. These insects are not normally tree killers, said DePinte. This is evidence that the forests are reacting to climate change and droughts. Douglas fir is not considered a true fir and is not officially part of Firmageddon, according to DePinte. The combination of drought-induced stress and pests, said Patrick Tobin, associate professor of disturbance ecology at the University of Washington, is analogous to a person with a weakened immune system dying from the flu. Drought-stress opens a window for biotic agents that might otherwise not be able to overcome a healthy, well-defended tree, said Tobin. Tobin is a coauthor of a 2021 study in the journal Forest Ecology and Management on the widespread decline of big leaf maples in western Washington. Tobins study was unable to determine whether drought alone or drought in combination with disease-causing fungi was killing the native maples. As for the climate canary, Buhl believes red cedar is unlikely to disappear from the landscape entirely but probably wont grow back in areas where its dying off. Unless we turn back climate change, there is no reason to hope western red cedar is going to make a comeback, said Buhl. ___ Columbia Insight is an Oregon-based nonprofit news website covering environmental issues affecting the Pacific Northwest. Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. By NATHAN GILLES, Columbia Insight California Scientists Strike View Photo SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) More than 1,000 state scientists in California took to the picket line Thursday on day two of a three-day strike, calling for higher wages for work they say often goes unrecognized in a state that sets environmental policy trends on the national and global stage. The California Association of Professional Scientists, a union representing about 5,200 scientists across more than 50 state departments, decided to strike after three years of stalled contract negotiations, said President Jacqueline Tkac. The push for a better contract began when state scientists were furloughed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Were not here to settle for anything less than the fair pay and respect that we deserve, Tkac said. We hope that the state can recognize the opportunity that we have in front of us. The strike comes during a big year for labor, one in which health care professionals, Hollywood actors and writers, and auto workers picketed for better pay and working conditions. It also comes amid new California laws granting workers more paid sick leave and increased wages for health care and fast food workers. The scientists whose work includes creating earthquake warning systems, protecting wildlife and reducing air pollution picketed outside of the California Environmental Protection Agency building in downtown Sacramento. Most wore green shirts representing their union, and many held signs that read, Scientists Strike Back and Defiance for Science. Drivers, including firefighters, honked in support as they drove by. Tkac accused Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration of boasting about the states leadership on climate policy without recognizing those who do the work. Nobody wants to be here, but we have to, Tkac said. The union says state scientists are paid 40% to 60% less than professionals in comparable positions doing similar work. The state says it has been working to reach a fair deal with the scientists. The California Department of Human Resources recently filed a complaint of unfair labor practices against the union in an attempt to prevent the strike. The department said Wednesday it was disappointed by the walkout and that the state continues to bargain in good faith. Camille Travis, a department spokesperson, said the union sought mediation then called for the strike before that process concluded. The state will continue working toward a fair agreement with the union, as it has with other bargaining units, Travis wrote in an email. She said the state has taken steps to ensure that service to the public continues with as little disruption as possible. Kelsey Navarre, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said it is important for people to recognize the wide-ranging work of state scientists that includes conserving natural resources, monitoring food safety and protecting public health. Its really hard to be able to make a living especially in some of these larger cities like Sacramento and L.A. and in the Bay Area on the salary that we get working for the state, Navarre said. Jan Perez, an environmental scientist with the California Natural Resources Agency who has worked for the state for 25 years, said she chose her job in part because she believes the state has the greatest impact on preserving and protecting our environment. Perez said shes lucky to have worked for the state long enough to afford living in Sacramento. When I look back at what an entry-level scientist makes and what the rents are and mortgage is in Sacramento, I honestly dont know how theyre doing it, Perez said. ___ 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 By SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America Rosalynn Carter, outspoken former first lady, dies at 96 View Photo ATLANTA (AP) Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The statement said she died peacefully, with family by her side at 2:10 p.m. at her rural Georgia home of Plains. Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished, the former president said in the statement. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me. President Joe Biden called the Carters an incredible family because they brought so much grace to the office. He had this great integrity, still does. And she did too, Biden told reporters as he was boarding Air Force One on Sunday night after an event in Norfolk, Virginia. God bless them. Biden said he spoke to the family and was told that Jimmy Carter was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. Later, the White House released a joint statement from the president and first lady Jill Biden saying that Carter inspired the nation. She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities, the statement added. Reaction from world leaders poured in throughout the day. The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a full partnership. Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to President Carter sometimes referred to her privately as co-president. Rosalynn is my best friend the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life, Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981. The former president, now 99, remains at the couples home in Plains after entering hospice care himself in February. Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Rosalynn Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-the-scenes influence. When her role in a highly publicized Cabinet shakeup became known, she was forced to declare publicly, I am not running the government. Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husbands they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanor and a soft Southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her the Steel Magnolia. Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carters landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington. Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights. She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit U.S. wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics. Throughout her husbands political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media didnt cover those efforts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticized reporters for writing only about sexy subjects. As honorary chairwoman of the Presidents Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying, Weve been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach. She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husbands campaigns for Georgia governor. I used to come home and say to Jimmy, Why are people telling me their problems? And he said, Because you may be the only person theyll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them, she explained. After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Rosalynn Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives. I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles, she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, First Lady from Plains. But we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before. After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work. She chaired the centers annual symposium on mental health issues and raised funds for efforts to aid the mentally ill and homeless. She also wrote Helping Yourself Help Others, about the challenges of caring for elderly or ailing relatives, and a sequel, Helping Someone With Mental Illness. Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. I get tired, she said of her travels. But something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and theres no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing its so wonderful. In 2015, Jimmy Carters doctors discovered four small tumors on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she didnt know what she was going to do. I depend on him when I have questions, when Im writing speeches, anything, I consult with him, she said. She helped Carter recover several years later when he had hip replacement surgery at age 94 and had to learn to walk again. And she was with him earlier this year when he decided after a series of hospital stays that he would forgo further medical interventions and begin end-of-life care. Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived U.S. president. Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived of the nations first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at age 97. Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927, the eldest of four children. Her father died when she was young, so she took on much of the responsibility of caring for her siblings when her mother went to work part time. She also contributed to the family income by working after school in a beauty parlor. We were very poor and worked hard, she once said, but she kept up her studies, graduating from high school as class valedictorian. She soon fell in love with the brother of one of her best friends. Jimmy and Rosalynn had known each other all their lives it was Jimmys mother, nurse Lillian Carter, who delivered baby Rosalynn but he left for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, when she was still in high school. After a blind date, Jimmy told his mother: Thats the girl I want to marry. They wed in 1946, shortly after his graduation from Annapolis and Rosalynns graduation from Georgia Southwestern College. Their sons were born where Jimmy Carter was stationed: John William (Jack) in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1947; James Earl III (Chip) in Honolulu in 1950; and Donnel Jeffery (Jeff) in New London, Connecticut, in 1952. Amy was born in Plains in 1967. By then, Carter was a state senator. Navy life had provided Rosalynn her first chance to see the world. When Carters father, James Earl Sr., died in 1953, Jimmy Carter decided, without consulting his wife, to move the family back to Plains, where he took over the family farm. She joined him there in the day-to-day operations, keeping the books and weighing fertilizer trucks. We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, Rosalynn Carter recalled with pride in a 2021 interview with The Associated Press. I knew more on paper about the business than he did. He would take my advice about things. At the height of the Carters political power, Lillian Carter said of her daughter-in-law: She can do anything in the world with Jimmy, and shes the only one. He listens to her. Ceremonies celebrating the life of Rosalynn Carter will take place after the Thanksgiving holiday in Atlanta and Sumter County, Georgia, the Carter Center announced Sunday evening. The repose on Nov. 27, at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, is open to the public. A private funeral and interment will take place Nov. 29 but the services will be broadcast on TV and streamed online, the center said. By BILL BARROW and MICHAEL WARREN Associated Press Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with UK Minister for Europe Leo Docherty. November 20, 2023, 17:22 Armenian PM meets with UK Minister for Europe Leo Docherty STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 20 , ARTSAKHPRESS: In a readout, the Prime Ministers Office said that PM Pashinyan mentioned the active nature of the relations between Armenia and the UK. He attached importance to the recently held first session of the Armenia-UK Strategic Dialogue. Prime Minister Pashinyan expressed certainty that the Armenia-UK cooperation has great potential and that mutual high-level visits will contribute to the full utilization of it. UK Minister for Europe Leo Docherty highlighted the Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyans recent official visit to the UK, which has intensified the expansion and deepening of bilateral ties. Docherty stressed the UKs interest to deepen partnership with Armenia. Issues pertaining to the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization of relations were also discussed. The importance of continuing the peace process based on the principles that were agreed upon during the trilateral meetings held in Brussels on May 14 and July 15 of 2023 was emphasized. The humanitarian issues of over 100,000 forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from Azerbaijans policy of ethnic cleansing, and the Armenian governments measures to overcome these issues were discussed. In this context, humanitarian support by the international community to the NK population was highlighted. Man linked to Arizona teen Alicia Navarro pleads not guilty to possessing child sexual abuse images View Photo A Montana man who had been living with a teenager who disappeared from her home in Arizona four years ago pleaded not guilty Monday to child sexual abuse charges lodged against him based on images that authorities said they found on his cellphone. Since his Oct. 23 arrest, Edmund Davis, 36, has been held on $1 million bail on two felony counts of the sexual abuse of children. His public defender, Casey Moore, said he would file a motion for a bail reduction hearing after speaking with Davis father and the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Dan Guzynski. No further hearings were immediately scheduled. Authorities have not said whether Davis is considered a suspect in the disappearance of Alicia Navarro in September 2019. Navarro left a note behind when she vanished from her home days before her 15th birthday, sparking a massive search that included the FBI. She was almost 19 when she walked into the Havre, Montana, police station in July and said she wanted to be removed from the missing persons list. In investigating the circumstances that led Navarro to be in Havre nearly 1,400 miles (2,253 kilometers) from her childhood home in Glendale, Arizona law enforcement officers in Arizona obtained warrants that they said led to the discovery of the images of child sexual abuse on Davis cellphone, court records said. Some of the images involved infants and toddlers and some were computer generated, according to court records. Davis is charged with possessing images of a child or children under the age of 12 engaged in actual or simulated sexual conduct, which carries a mandatory sentence of 25 to 100 years in prison. He is also charged with possessing images of the sexual abuse of children under the age of 16, which carries a sentence of four to 100 years in prison. Over the years, Navarros mother, Jessica Nunez, said that her daughter, who was diagnosed with autism, may have been lured away by someone she met online. When she disappeared in 2019, Navarro took only her laptop and cellphone. Neighbors said Davis had been living with Navarro for at least a year. In July, after her reappearance had been made public, an Associated Press reporter spoke with a young woman at the Havre apartment who looked and sounded like Navarro, but she didnt give her name and said she wanted to be left alone. The couple moved out of the apartment days after the news media reported their location, neighbors told the AP. Trent Steele, a private investigator who assisted Nunez in the search for Navarro through the Miami-based nonprofit Anti-Predator Project, said last month that Navarro was in a safe place, without disclosing the particulars. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report. By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press Israel battles Hamas near another Gaza hospital sheltering thousands View Photo DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) Israeli forces pressed their offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza on Monday, battling militants around a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, and where despite the fighting health officials managed to evacuate some of the wounded. A medical worker inside the facility and the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing 12 people. Both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who targeted them from inside the 3.5-acre (1.4 hectare) compound. The Israeli offensive came as 28 premature babies evacuated from Gaza Citys Shifa Hospital by the World Health Organization were transported to Egypt on Monday. Three others were transferred to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Red Crescent said. More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the Shifa compound, which Israeli forces stormed days ago. Gazas hospitals play a prominent role in the battle of narratives over the wars brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the conflict was sparked by Hamas Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. In the wake of the assault, Israeli leaders vowed to eradicate Hamas, destroy its ability to rule Gaza and uproot its militant infrastructure. Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields and that the militants operated a major command hub inside and under Shifa, a claim hospital officials and Hamas deny. Critics say Israels siege and relentless bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territorys 2.3 million Palestinians. Israeli troops were battling Hamas fighters in the Jabaliya refugee camp, a densely built-up district on Gaza Citys northeastern side that has been heavily hit by bombardment for weeks. The military said that after moving through the center of the city to Shifa, its forces were now working to uproot Hamas fighters from eastern areas. Dozens of dead and wounded in airstrikes and shelling overnight flowed into Indonesian Hospital, near Jabaliya, said Marwan Abdallah, the medical worker there. He said Israeli tanks were operating less than 200 meters (yards) away and Israeli snipers could be seen on the roofs of nearby buildings. As he spoke on the phone, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. Hamas Health Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, said roughly 200 wounded patients and their companions were evacuated from the hospital to southern Gaza in a rescue effort coordinated by the U.N. and the International Committee for the Red Cross. Many of the evacuees were being treated at al-Nasser hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis, he said. Between 400 and 500 wounded remain at Indonesia Hospital, Ashraf told Al-Jazeera. Some 2,000 displaced Palestinians also are sheltering there. In a separate development that could relieve some of the pressure on Gazas collapsing health system, dozens of trucks entered from Egypt on Monday with equipment from Jordan to set up a field hospital. Jordans state-run media said the hospital in Khan Younis would be up and running within 48 hours. CLAIMS ABOUT SHIFA More than 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remain in Shifa. The complex can no longer provide most of the wounded there treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators. Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside its gates for days before entering the facility on Wednesday. Israels army said it has evidence that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospitals 20-acre (8-hectare) complex, which includes several buildings. On Sunday, the military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 55 meters (60 yards) long and about 10 meters (33 feet) below ground. It said the tunnel ended at a blast-proof door with a hole in it for gunmen to fire out of. Troops have not opened the door yet, it said. Israeli forces also released security camera video showing what they said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, who were captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack and taken to the hospital. Hamas said its fighters brought them in for medical care. The army also said an investigation had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, another captive whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been wounded in an Israeli strike on Nov. 9 that killed her captor, but was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa. The military has previously released images of several guns it said were found inside an MRI lab and said that the bodies of two hostages were found near the complex. The Associated Press was not able to independently confirm the militarys findings. THREE IN FOUR PEOPLE DISPLACED Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gazas population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded U.N.-run shelters, according to the U.N. Strikes in the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps Monday killed at least 40 people, according to hospital officials, and residents said dozens more were buried in the rubble. Bundled against a chilly wind from Gazas approaching winter, a line of men prayed over more than a dozen bodies on the grounds of the nearby morgue in Deir al-Balah before loading them onto a truck. More than 12,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, which coordinates with officials in the Health Ministry of Hamas-run Gaza. Officials there say another 4,000 are missing. Their counts do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. Violence also has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where attacks by Jewish settlers are on the rise and where more than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, mostly in gunbattles triggered by Israeli military raids. About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 66 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. Israels three-member war Cabinet met with representatives of the hostages families Monday evening, and a relative of a hostage said the officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told families the government will not prioritize the hostages release to defeating Hamas. What weve heard is that taking down Hamas and bringing the hostages are equally important, said Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Chaimi is in captivity in Gaza. This is incredibly disappointing because we know that taking down Hamas, we keep hearing from them (it) is going to take months or years and its going to take a long time. Goren said the war cabinet did not share details about any possible deal to release the hostages. ___ Magdy and Jeffery reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Najib Jobain in Khan Younis, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel and Melanie Lidman and Nebi Qena in Jerusalem contributed. ___ Full AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war. By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and JACK JEFFERY Associated Press NATO chief commits to Bosnias territorial integrity and condemns malign Russian influence View Photo SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) NATO supports Bosnias territorial integrity and is concerned by malign foreign interference, including by Russia, in the volatile Balkans region that went through a devastating war in the 1990s, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. Sarajevo was the first stop on Stoltenbergs tour of Western Balkan countries that also included Kosovo on Monday. He visits Serbia and North Macedonia later this week. The Allies strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Stoltenberg told reporters. We are concerned by the secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as malign foreign interference, including Russia. There are widespread fears that Russia is trying to destabilize Bosnia and the rest of the region and shift at least some world attention from its invasion of Ukraine. Moscow is openly supporting the secessionist, pro-Russian Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik, who has repeatedly called for the breakup of the country and joining the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia with neighboring Serbia. This threatens to undermine stability and hampers reform, Stoltenberg said. All political leaders must work to preserve unity, build national institutions and achieve reconciliation. This is crucial for the stability and the security of the country. NATO played a major role in ending the 1992-95 Bosnian war and implementing a U.S.-sponsored peace plan that divided the country roughly into two highly autonomous regions, one controlled by the Bosnian Serbs and the other by Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslims, and Bosnian Croats. NATO has been committed to Bosnia-Herzegovina for years, Stoltenberg said. Your security matters for the Western Balkans region and it matters for Europe. The Bosnian Serb leadership has for years been blocking Sarajevos application for NATO membership, which Russia also opposes. Stoltenberg said that should end. Every country has the right to choose its own security arrangements without foreign interference, he said. Later Monday, Stoltenberg visited Kosovo, the former Serbian province that has been recognized as an independent state by the U.S. and most of the West, but not by Serbia and its allies Russia and China. Stoltenberg said NATO will consider deploying additional peacekeeping troops in Kosovo to ensure that the simmering tensions between the Kosovo Serb minority and ethnic Albanian majority does not spiral out of control and create some violent conflict in Kosovo or in the wider region. The NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, in operation since the 1999 war between Serbian government troops and Kosovo Albanian separatists, currently has over 4,500 troops from 27 countries. Live updates | WHO official says Gaza hospital situation catastrophic View Photo A top World Health Organization official described the hospital situation in Gaza as catastrophic on Monday, saying most are no longer functioning and what remains will likely be overwhelmed by thousands of births expected in the next month. The United Nations briefing came hours after a shell struck the second floor of a hospital in northern Gaza, killing 12 people, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry and a medical worker. The ministry and the worker both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital. Heavy fighting broke out around the Indonesian Hospital, which has housed thousands of patients and displaced people for weeks. The fighting came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territorys largest, where they were among more than 250 critically ill or wounded patients stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound. Israel says Hamas uses civilians and hospitals as shields, while critics say Israels siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territorys 2.3 million Palestinians after Hamas Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. More than 12,700 Palestinians two-thirds of them women and minors have been killed since the war began, according to Palestinian health authorities, who do not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 4,000 people are reported missing. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the Oct. 7 attack, and around 240 were taken captive by militants. Currently: Israel reveals some signs of Hamas activity at Gazas largest hospital 31 premature babies are evacuated from Shifa Hospital Yemens Houthi rebels hijack an Israeli-linked ship in the Red Sea China welcomes Arab and Islamic foreign ministers for talks on ending the war in Gaza Attacks are on the rise in the West Bank, which faces its own war French performers lead a silent Paris march for peace between Israelis and Palestinians Tens of thousands rally in Pakistan against Israels bombing in Gaza Dissent over US policy in the Israel-Hamas war stirs unusual public protests from federal employees French Holocaust survivors are recoiling at new antisemitism, and activists are pleading for peace Find more of APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war Heres whats happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war: HOSTAGES RELATIVE: ISRAEL WONT PRIORITIZE RELEASE OVER DEFEATING HAMAS TEL AVIV, Israel A relative of a hostage captured by Hamas said late Monday that Israels top officials told him and other families of the captives they wont prioritize their release over defeating Hamas. Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Chaimi is in captivity in Gaza, was one of several family members of hostages who met with the war cabinet, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What weve heard is that taking down Hamas and bringing the hostages (home) are equally important, Goren told reporters after coming out of the meeting in Tel Aviv. This is incredibly disappointing because we know that taking down Hamas, we keep hearing from them (it) is going to take months or years and its going to take a long time, Goren said. Goren also said the war cabinet a body set up immediately after the Hamas attack and made up of Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defense and former military chief turned politician, Benny Gantz did not share any details about any possible deal to release the hostages. 200 EVACUATED FROM GAZA HOSPITAL GAZA CITY About 200 people have been evacuated from a northern Gaza hospital that was caught up in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants on Monday. Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesperson for Hamas Health Ministry, said the evacuees from Indonesian Hospital were taken to southern Gaza in a rescue effort coordinated by the United Nations and the International Committee for the Red Cross. Many of the injured evacuees are being treated at al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, he said. Between 400 and 500 more wounded people remain at Indonesian Hospital, al-Qudra said in an interview with Al-Jazeera. The evacuations came after 12 people were killed when a shell struck the second floor of the hospital, according to the Health Ministry and a medical worker at the hospital. Both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who targeted them from inside the 3.5-acre compound. RED CROSS HEAD MEETS WITH HAMAS LEADER The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which helped arrange the release of four Israeli hostages held by Hamas, has met with the militant groups supreme leader Ismail Haniyeh. Mirjana Spoljaric traveled Monday to Qatar and met with the Hamas leader as part of the ICRCs efforts to ensure respect for international humanitarian law. ICRC has repeatedly called for the release of hostages and has been seeking access for its teams to visit hostages and deliver medication, as well as to help hostages to communicate with their families. Spoljaric has met with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and relatives of some hostages in recent weeks at ICRCs Geneva headquarters. OFFICIAL: U.S. INTEL BACKS ISRAELI CLAIM ON HAMAS OPERATING AT SHIFA HOSPITAL WASHINGTON White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday the United States has its own intelligence assessment that corroborated Israeli claims that Hamas was using the Shifa Hospital in Gaza as a command and control node. Hamas has denied claims that its operating from inside the hospital or from tunnels beneath it. Kirby said the U.S. government doesnt have any intelligence as to whether Hamas is also using the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks. On Monday, 12 people were killed when a shell struck the second floor of the hospital as Israeli forces battled militants around it. Israel denied shelling the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who targeted them from inside the compound. Kirby said he did not have an update on negotiations to release hostages. But Kirby said that pauses in fighting would be needed for the release of hostages. WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SAYS MOST GAZA HOSPITALS NO LONGER FUNCTIONING GENEVA The World Health Organization warned Monday that health services in Gaza had suffered catastrophic damage, with most hospitals no longer functioning. We now have 1.7 million people displaced so we have twice or three times the population (in the south of Gaza), using one third of the hospital beds in less than a third of the hospitals available, Michael Ryan, executive director of WHOs Health Emergencies Programme, told a United Nations briefing, speaking from Geneva. Even if tomorrow morning, this were to end in terms of a ceasefire, we still have a huge problem on our hands. Ryan said the services in the territory were already unable to provide care for more complex medical cases including care for most cancer and kidney dialysis patients and would likely be overwhelmed by some 5,500 births expected in the next month. Plans by the Israeli military to push further south, he said, would worsen health conditions even further. The hospital situation the primary health care system situation in Gaza is catastrophic and it is the worst you can imagine (in the) north, Ryan said. ISRAELI MILITARY SAYS MORE THAN 300 HAMAS ARRESTEES INTERROGATED JERUSALEM The Israeli military said Monday it has interrogated over 300 members of Hamas and other militant groups arrested in Gaza during its ground invasion, revealing the locations of underground tunnels, warehouses, weapons, and Hamas use of civilian infrastructure. Each and every interrogation leads to the release of new locations and the human intelligence that emerges from the Gaza Strip, said a senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity under army guidelines. Israel has said Hamas has built a vast underground command complex center below Shifa Hospital, Gazas largest and best-equipped hospital. Gaza health officials and Hamas deny it. SPAIN, BELGIUM LEADERS TO VISIT REGION MADRID Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Belgium Prime Minister Alexander de Croo will visit Israel and Palestinian territories on Thursday, the Spanish government said. Spain holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council and Belgium will take over in January. They will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The government said the talks will focus on protection for civilians, the release of hostages, humanitarian access to Gaza and respect for international humanitarian law. It added they would also discuss the need for a lasting political solution for the region, based on the two-states solution. ISRAELI SHELLING HITS HOME OF LEBANESE LEGISLATOR FROM HEZBOLLAH-ALLIED PARTY BEIRUT Israeli shelling hit the home of a Lebanese legislator from a political party allied with Hezbollah on Monday. No one was hurt. Kabalan Kabalan, a senior official of the Shiite Muslim Amal group of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, told The Associated Press he was not at home when the shelling hit in the border village of Mais al-Jabal. Tension has been rising along the Lebanon-Israel border since the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 people. More than 12,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the ensuing Israeli bombardment, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, which coordinates with officials in the Health Ministry of Hamas-run Gaza. Lebanons militant Hezbollah group has been attacking Israeli posts along the border since last month, and attacks have intensified in recent days. The shelling of Mais al-Jabal came hours after Hezbollah fighters fired two heavy Burkan rockets at an Israeli post along the border, causing heavy damage. Israeli airstrikes and shelling struck several areas along the Lebanese side of the border. SURVIVORS MOURN FOR DOZENS KILLED IN REFUGEE CAMPS DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip In central Gaza, mourners recited funeral prayers as they stood over dozens of bodies recovered after a barrage of Israeli airstrikes that hit two refugee camps Monday. The bodies, wrapped in white sheets and makeshift plastic body bags, were laid on the ground in the city of Deir Al Balah. Medics said dozens more remain unaccounted for and are believed to be trapped or buried under the rubble of multiple collapsed buildings. At the scene of the bombing, residents sat in small groups in the rubble next to mangled steel reinforcement bars. The recovered bodies were placed in a truck to be buried nearby. KIBBUTZ HELPS FAMILIES RECOVER FROM MUSIC FESTIVAL ATTACK SDOT YAM, Israel In the seaside kibbutz of Sdot Yam, the display tells the story of the terror: shoes, car keys, glasses, clothes. All left behind in the scramble to escape Hamas militants who came to kill people attending an outdoor music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7. The items have now been bundled together in Sdot Yam, a kibbutz by the Mediterranean about 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Reim where the shooting occurred, and family members have been called to collect them. Activities being held at the kibbutz include yoga, ceramics and craft classes that bring the survivors and their families together. Police said at least 360 people were killed by Hamas militants at the outdoor music festival out of a total of 1,200 people killed during Hamas bloody assault on Israel. PAKISTANS LEADER SAYS ISRAEL IS MASSACRING CHILDREN IN GAZA ISLAMABAD Pakistan caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar on Monday described the killing of children in Israeli strikes in Gaza as a massacre. Kakar made the comment in a televised speech on World Childrens Day, which he said made him think of children in Gaza. They are being brutalized, mutilated and massacred by the Israeli forces, Kakar said. Kakar asked the United Nations and the international community to help stop Israeli strikes on children and women in Gaza. BABIES EVACUATED FROM GAZAS LARGEST HOSPITAL ARRIVE IN EGYPT Egypts state-run media say babies evacuated from Gazas embattled Shifa hospital have arrived in Egypt. The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said it was transporting 28 premature babies from a hospital in southern Gaza to another across the border in Egypt on Monday. Egypts Al-Qahera satellite channel broadcast images of the babies inside Egyptian ambulances, without specifying how many had arrived. On Sunday, the World Health Organization said 31 premature babies in extremely critical condition had been evacuated from Gazas largest hospital and would be transferred to Egypt for specialized care. There was no immediate explanation of the differing numbers. Four other babies died in the two days before the evacuation on Sunday, according to Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals. JAPAN CONDEMNS HIJACKING OF CARGO SHIP IN RED SEA TOKYO Japan on Monday condemned the hijacking of a Japanese-operated cargo ship in the southern Red Sea and said it is doing its utmost to achieve the release of the vessel and its 25 crew members. Yemens Houthi rebels seized the Israeli-linked cargo ship and took its crew hostage Sunday, raising fears that regional tensions heightened by the Israel-Hamas war were spilling into the seas. The Iran-backed rebel group said it would continue to target ships connected to Israel. No Israelis were aboard the Bahamas-flagged ship Galaxy Leader, which was operated by Japans NYK Line with crew members from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Mexico and possibly Romania. Public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, a company founded by Abraham Ungar, who is known as one of the richest people in Israel. NYK Line said the Galaxy Leader was seized off the Yemeni coast while heading to India. NYK chartered the ship from its British owner, Galaxy Maritime Ltd. NYK said the ship had no cargo. FAMILIES OF HOSTAGES OPPOSE BILL THAT WOULD ALLOW DEATH PENALTY JERUSALEM The families of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza have tearfully pleaded with Israeli lawmakers not to advance legislation that would permit the death penalty for convicted Palestinian militants, including those involved in Hamas Oct. 7 assault on Israel. The families, who represent some of the 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants that day, told far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir that the legislation risked angering Hamas and putting the lives of their relatives at risk. Not now, when the lives of our loved ones are on the line, when the sword is on their necks, Gil Dikman, whose cousin is believed to be held hostage in Gaza, said Monday during an emotional hearing at the Knesset, Israels parliament. The National Security Committee hearing devolved into a screaming match between nationalist lawmakers and hostage families. After the hearing, Ben-Gvir wrote on X, formerly called Twitter, that the legislation is an important tool for increasing pressure on Hamas. In the Middle East, you dont blink, you hit your enemy with every tool and bring them to their knees, he said. Ophir Katz, the head of the government coalition and a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus Likud party, told reporters that the amendment to the penal code would not come up for a vote until it was vetted by senior Cabinet members and Netanyahu. NETANYAHU EXTENDS CENTRAL BANK GOVERNORS TERM TEL AVIV, Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has decided to grant the countrys central bank chief a second term. The move to keep on central bank Gov. Amir Yaron was an attempt by Israel to signal stability at a turbulent time for the countrys economy, which has been rocked by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the war it set off. Yarons term was set to wrap up in December. His ties with Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had been icy before the war because of his criticism of a planned government overhaul to the countrys judiciary. MATERIALS FOR JORDANIAN FIELD HOSPITAL ARRIVE IN GAZA KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip Materials to build a Jordanian field hospital have arrived in Gaza through the Rafah border crossing. Jordan will build the hospital in southern Gaza to help with the territorys health crisis. Jordans palace said in a statement that the equipment was carried by 40 trucks and that the hospital, to be constructed in Khan Younis, would have 145 staff and 41 beds. ISRAELI CABINET MINISTER SAYS GAZA RESIDENTS SHOULD BE RESETTLED OVERSEAS TEL AVIV, Israel An Israeli Cabinet minister is promoting the idea of resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in foreign countries as a way to ensure Israels security along the border once the war with Hamas is over. Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel said in an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post newspaper on Sunday that voluntary resettlement was the best way to provide Palestinians from Gaza with a better life. It could be a win-win solution, she wrote. Gamliel did not say what her plan would mean for those who chose to remain in Gaza, nor what countries would be open to take them. She did not specify what Israels role would be in a future Gaza. Gamliels proposal stands in sharp contrast to the postwar vision for Gaza set forth by Israels top ally, the United States, which opposes the idea of displacement. The U.S. calls for a united and Palestinian-led government for Gaza and the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority after the war ends, while Gamliel, echoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, cannot have a foothold in Gaza. By The Associated Press NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg started his four-day visit to the Western Balkans this week (19 - 22 November 2023) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, stating that NATO has been committed to Bosnia-Herzegovina for many years. Your security matters for the Western Balkans region and it matters for Europe. In his remarks with the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Borjana Kristo, the Secretary General said that Allies strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He expressed concerns about secessionist and divisive rhetoric, and malign foreign interference including from Russia, that threatens to undermine stability and hamper reforms. He called on all political leaders to preserve unity, build national institutions, and achieve reconciliation. The Secretary General underlined NATOs deepening political and practical cooperation with Boznia-Herzegovina, including through NATO Headquarters Sarajevo that supports the EU-led Operation Althea, and a new defence capacity building package that will help strengthen Bosnia-Herzegovinas capabilities in crisis management, cyber defence, and countering terrorism. Mr Stoltenberg visited NATO Headquarters Sarajevo where he thanked Brigadier General Pamela McGaha and NATO staff for supporting peace and stability in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mr Stoltenberg also met the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, where he praised the excellent cooperation with his office. We want to see a peaceful country at the heart of a stable region, and your efforts as High Representative are vital to the unity and to the reconciliation of this country, he said. The Secretary General will continue his visit to the region, travelling to Kosovo today for meetings with Ms Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu and Mr Albin Kurti. On Tuesday, Mr Stoltenberg will meet President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic in Serbia. Later that day, he will travel to the Republic of North Macedonia to meet President Stevo Pendarovski and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski. On Wednesday, the Secretary General will participate in a meeting with Allied leaders from Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Slovenia. (As delivered) Dr. Osmani, dear Vjosa, Thank you so much for your warm welcome. Its always great to be back in Pristina and a pleasure to meet with you again, just short after we met in Brussels not so many weeks ago. We just had an important discussion on the the security situation in Kosovo and in the region. In September, we saw a serious outbreak of violence in northern Kosovo. Raising concerns that widespread conflict could return to the Western Balkans. And in May, our KFOR troops - as you alluded to already - were attacked, leaving 93 NATO soldiers injured, some seriously. Some are wounded for life. Such violent attacks are unacceptable. Those responsible must be held to account. NATO responded swiftly. We have deployed 1,000 additional troops to Kosovo. We sent heavier armour. And we have stepped up patrols in the north. These are prudent steps, ensuring that KFOR continues to fulfil its UN mandate at all times. We will do what is necessary to maintain a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all people in Kosovo. Stability in the region depends on all sides choosing diplomacy over violence. And on honouring existing commitments. Any deployment of the Kosovo Security Force to the North of Kosovo requires the concurrence of KFOR. And we expect timely consultations on any action of the Kosovo Security Force or Kosovo Police that could impact regional security. Decades of hard-won peace must not be jeopardised. NATO strongly supports the EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. And both sides must engage in good faith. I welcome the latest proposals for the establishment of the association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo. This would be a key step toward normalisation of the relationship. And toward lasting peace and prosperity in the region. So once again, thank you so much for your welcome and for our very constructive and good meeting. Thank you. Question: Mr. Secretary, my first question is the act of aggression that we had almost two months ago, in Banjska, is NATO conducting an investigation on this case? And are you concerned that something like that can could be happening again, and what are you doing along with Kosovo Police and other forces maybe to prevent this kind of act of terror to happen again, in Kosovos soil? And the second question is, what is the perspective of this country to become one day a NATO member? Is it bleak, really, or is it more hopeful and at least can we expect that by next year, Kosovo can become a PFP member for example? Thank you. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: A membership in the Partnership for Peace requires unanimous decision by all NATO Allies. This is an issue that has been discussed. I know the aspiration of Kosovo, but as I said, this requires a decision by all NATO Allies and I wont speculate about when a decision can be taken. On the violence, this is absolutely unacceptable. Both the violence we saw in May, but also of course in September in Banjska, and that's reason why we have significantly increased our presence with 1000 more troops, which is the largest enforcement of KFOR in Kosovo for at least a decade. And that reflects how seriously we take both incidents, the violence in May and in September. Then of course, NATO is not the law enforcing institution; that's for the Kosovo Police, it's for EULEX, and of course, I will raise these issues in my meetings in Serbia tomorrow. So we just expect that those who are responsible for this absolutely unacceptable violence are held to account and that has been NATO's message, my message since May and then reiterated, of course of the violence in September. And it is important that it has consequences because we need to do whatever we can to ensure that these kinds of violence doesn't happen again. Question: [inaudible] from Reuters. Questions for both, do you see any Russian influence in the past weeks regarding the incidence, what's happened in the north? And is NATO prepared? And are you worried that similar incidents like the one we saw in September could go into a much broader conflict in the whole region? NATO Secretary General: So NATO has a history. We have a history in this part of Europe since the 1990s. And therefore, we have invested a lot in stability and peace in this region in Kosovo but also in Bosnia and Herzegovnia, in the Western Balkans in general. I also go later on in my trip in the Western Balkans to North Macedonia, where we also helped to prevent violence roughly 20 years ago. So we helped end two brutal ethnic wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. And we also prevented it from happening in North Macedonia. And we are really investing in security in this region, because safety for the people in the region, stability in this region, matters for our security. And therefore of course, we will do what is necessary to ensure that we implement our UN mandate for our presence in Kosovo and that we also support the EUFOR Althea force in Bosnia. I'm just arriving straight from Sarajevo, where I had an important meetings yesterday and today. And we are now actually conducting a review by our military authorities about our military presence in the Western Balkan region that includes Bosnia and Herzegovina but also Kosovo. We have used our reserve force to immediately increase our presence after violence in September. We are now reviewing whether we should have more permanent increase to ensure that this doesn't spiral out of control and creates a new violent conflict in Kosovo or in the wider region. So yes, we will do what is necessary. We are currently reviewing adjustments to our presence and we have already implemented immediate increases of NATO presence in the region. (As delivered) Madam Chairwoman Kristo, dear Borjana, Thank you so much for your warm welcome. Its great to see you again and to be here in Sarajevo. Today, we discussed the security situation in your country, and the wider region. Allies strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina. So we are concerned by secessionist and divisive rhetoric, as well as malign foreign interference including from Russia. This threatens to undermine stability, and hampers reforms. All political leaders must work to preserve unity. Build national institutions. And achieve reconciliation. This is crucial for the stability and the security of the country. NATO has been committed to Bosnia-Herzegovina for many years. Your security matters for the Western Balkans region. And it matters for Europe. So therefore we are deepening our cooperation and our political dialogue, as well as our practical cooperation. NATOs Headquarters here in Sarajevo helps to coordinate our support to the European Union-led Operation Althea. NATO Allies and NATO remain fully committed to the success of the mission, and I welcome the unanimous extension to its mandate at the UN Security Council earlier this month. We are supporting your reform efforts, including through the new Defence Capacity Building package. This will strengthen your capabilities in areas like crisis management, cyber defence, and countering terrorism. NATO also remains committed to supporting Bosnia-Herzegovinas Euro-Atlantic path. Every country has the right to choose its own security arrangements. With no foreign interference. And I commend Bosnia-Herzegovina for its achievements on your path to membership in the European Union. Once again, thank you so much for hosting me and my delegation here today. China has taken aim at Australia, accusing Canberra of lying about a confrontation with a Chinese warship that injured Australian navy divers. China refutes the account provided by Australian authorities of the encounter, where they claimed military personnel from the HMAS Toowoomba were injured off the coast of Japan last Tuesday with sonar pulses. The claim prompted China's defence ministry to lash such claims, saying the account is "completely inconsistent with the facts" and China's navy kept a safe distance. "We urge the Australian side to respect the facts and stop making reckless and irresponsible accusations against China," it said. The incident highlights the challenges Australia faces with its improving relationship with China. Source: Getty It comes just a week after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held constructive talks with China's President Xi Jinping, and while the meet in Beijing was widely hailed, the latest incident is a grounding reminder of the complexities and difficulties that remain in the relationship. China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning urged Australia to "stop making trouble in front of China's doorsteps". On Monday Albanese reiterated his government's stance on the situation, telling Sky News China's actions were "dangerous, unsafe and unprofessional". Chinese experts speaking to the Global Times said it was telling that Australia never released an exact location of the encounter. "Did the incident take place near China's Diaoyu Islands or the island of Taiwan? Or was it close to a PLA training exercise? If that is the case, it was obvious that the Australian warship provoked China in the first place," one anonymous expert said. Albanese has recognised the Sino-Australian relationship will continue to have its challenges, which Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has since echoed. Story continues "This is one of the largest countries in the world, we are going to have to find a way to coexist in our region over the coming decades," she said. Chinese experts have cast doubt on the location of the incident involving HMAS Toowoomba. Failing to raise incident with China's president would be 'outrageous' There are claims Albanese knew about the incident before his meeting with Xi, with the opposition and crossbenchers calling for the prime minister to explicitly say whether he raised the incident with the Chinese president. "You can't sit there and pretend you're going to be nice on trade while this is going on with your own navy people that could have brought more harm to them," Independent senator Jacqui Lambie told Sky News on Monday. "This is just ridiculous. What happened to the friendship and the trust that we're building and all the rest?" Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said if the prime minister knew about the incident and deliberately withheld the information, it was "outrageous and unacceptable". Mr Albanese said he would not reveal whether he did raise with Xi or not, but stressed the matter was raised "in the appropriate way and very clearly". Australia and China are working to stabilise their diplomatic relationship following years of tension that developed under Scott Morrison's leadership. - With AAP and Reuters Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. 145 Nations support UN General Assembly resolution condemning Israeli settlement activities in Occupied Palestinian Territory A total of 145 nations have voted in support of a United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution that condemns Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) The UN resolution denouncing settlement operations in the OPT, including East Jerusalem and in the occupied Syrian Golan, was approved on Nov. 16 by the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) with a recorded vote of 145 in favor, seven against and 18 abstentions. According to a UN report, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have more than doubled since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. These attacks have led hundreds of Palestinians to leave their homes, resulting in over 9,500 deaths. Additionally, the UN has documented 222 settler attacks against Palestinians in October alone, resulting in eight deaths and 64 injuries, nearly half of which were caused by live ammunition. The UN strongly condemns settlement activities like confiscation of land; disruption of the livelihood of protected persons; forced transfer of civilians; and annexation of land, whether de facto or through national legislation. The resolution stated that these settlements are illegal and a hindrance to peace and economic and social development. Moreover, it reiterates the demand for the immediate and complete cessation of settlements in the mentioned territories. (Related: Turkish president calls for Muslim world to UNITE against Israel.) Palestinians fear a repeat of the 1948 "Nakba" The increase in frequent and intense violence has brought back memories of the "Nakba," or catastrophe, from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from their homes and many could not return. Back then, their villages were either destroyed or renamed to wipe out their histories. To date, Palestinian villages have experienced the same or even worse. Based on the testimonies of the Umm al-Kheir villagers, masked men in army uniforms were overrunning communities, beating and intimidating them. The men also smashed their cell phones prior to the attack to prevent documentation. Meanwhile in Susiya, settlers and reservists confront and threaten residents even in daylight as they drive through the village. At night, no one sleeps much as villagers relocate their bedding outside, hoping to better hear if raiding parties approach. In the Bedouin Palestinian communities, farmers are already scared to plant their crops or let their herds roam freely. Some residents have stopped going outside altogether, surviving on whatever food was in their cupboards since Oct. 7. Adults prioritize feeding the children first, while children wonder why adults do not eat. Villagers in the South Hebron Hills, once home to 4,000 Palestinians, now face the threat of abandonment as settler leaders openly claim it as part of Israel. Jewish communities are growing in the area, with some being well-lit places that cultivate fruit and produce wine. Others are more isolated outposts, indicating potential future population shifts. Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group keeping a close eye on the West Bank, documents troubling incidents related to the Israel-Hamas war. The group stated that attacks were increasing and changing day by day. For instance, Palestinian farmers in Qusra discovered that 500 olive trees passed down through generations were destroyed, and their farmland was covered with cement. In Qaryut, local harvesters were attacked and blocked from returning to their village. Head over to WWIII.news for more stories about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. Watch this footage of an Oct. 28 pro-Palestine rally in the Turkish city of Istanbul, attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: The gods are going against the chosen people Mammon against Israel, Mars against the Pentagon. Starvation as a weapon: Zionist Israel wages Holodomor against Gaza. Turkeys Erdogan threatens WAR against Israel for their relentless BOMBING of Gaza Strip. Turkey files lawsuit against Netanyahu, accusing him and Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Lebanons Hezbollah says it is prepared and ready to join the war against Israel. Sources include: GreatGameIndia.com AlJazeera.com MSN.com 1 MSN.com 2 BMJ publishes shocking editorial citing doctors who place climate change above patients interests Did you know that the(BMJ) published an editorial calling on doctors everywhere to redirect their focus away from patient care and onto climate change? Just ahead of the COP26 gathering in Glasgow back in 2021, the BMJ op-ed was released to seed the medical profession with the myth that caring for patients contributes significantly to "greenhouse gas emissions," the suggestion being that patients should simply be allowed to die in order to save the planet. Only if "health professionals" can learn how to reduce "overdiagnosis" and "overtreatment" can the medical profession at large adapt to a changing climate, the editorial claims, suggesting that letting more patients die will help to "cool" the planet and prevent it from "warming." "Let's get this straight: The medical establishment wants to cut back on diagnosing cancer early in order to save Big Ben from disappearing under 100-foot waves a week on Wednesday," writes Vernon Coleman about the ridiculousness of the editorial's position. "This is terrifyingly wicked." (Related: The war on carbon is a major tenet of the climate cultists' psychotic mass suicide cult.) Climate change "is the true health crisis of our time," medical establishment claims Increasing rates of chronic illness due to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), vaccines, 5G and other societal poisons are to take a back seat to the mythical concept of climate change, the medical establishment now claims, arguing that "the climate emergency is the true health crisis of our time." Amazingly, the same BMA that published the above-linked editorial also claims that Great Britain needs 60,000 more doctors for what, we would ask, if climate change is the true priority? Perhaps the goal of bringing in more doctors to the National Health Service (NHS), the United Kingdom's government-controlled health care system, is to use them as Dr. Kevorkian types to get rid of patients in order to "save the planet?" Coleman would seem to agree, having written in a recent piece that the medical profession of today at large "is complicit in the government's attack on the people it is paid to serve" especially since the government has made it abundantly clear that it "does not want older, experienced, independent-minded doctors working in Britain," he says. No, what the government of the UK wants is a new army of fake medical professionals who will obey every anti-human order passed down to them by their overlords, all in the name of protecting the planet against greenhouse gas destruction. In fact, the General Medical Council (GMC) has made it a point to drive out the older, more experienced doctors so they can be replaced with a new breed of medical lackeys, "thereby making it easier to destroy the NHS, to kill vast numbers of elderly and sick patients and to push through the rebranded flu hoax and the associated fraud involving an experimental injection." "Maybe the Government realised that older, more experienced doctors, not bound by an NHS contract, without mortgages to pay and without future careers to worry about, might be more likely to question the whole rebranded flu hoax," Coleman further writes in his newest book, "Truth Teller: The Price." "It is noteworthy that most of the few doctors objecting to the fraud have been older and more experienced physicians." The very idea of "net zero," which is being heavily pushed right now throughout the West, implies the near-total eradication of human beings from the planet. This aligns with the Agenda 2030 plan to massively depopulate the world, leaving behind a much-smaller slave class to serve the globalists' every whim. More of the latest news about the global warming psy-op can be found at Climate.news. Sources for this article include: BMJ.com Expose-News.com NaturalNews.com Merritt Medical Hour: Brad Miller says peoples patriotism has been WEAPONIZED against them Brighteon.TV Former Army officer Brad Miller has lamented the fact that people's patriotism has been weaponized against them . He expressed this sentiment during a recent episode of the "Merritt Medical Hour" on Brighteon.TV "What has happened is [that] we've had people in the medical community [whose] desire to help people has been weaponized against them," Miller told the Medical Rebel Dr. Lee Merritt. "In the military, people's patriotism has been weaponized against them. When you want to talk about people's patriotism being weaponized against them, it's not just [in] the military. There were plenty of people in a regular, general community who also told you, not just 'you're a threat to grandma,' but 'if you love your country, you've got to to do this, you got to stop the spread, you got to go take the shots, wear a mask or whatever.'" Merritt, meanwhile, discussed the works of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines. Gates was a friend of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and had bankrolled many things that people are worried about today. Miller responded that it is unfortunate that the narrative about philanthropy espoused by Gates and his fellow billionaires has worked with a lot of people. "It's all philanthropic. It's all 'We're doing this for the greater good, and then we'll get people to do things for the good of your fellow man,'" the Medical Rebel remarked. "That's exactly what they've been saying forever." Miller then recounted reading about the Chinese book "Unrestricted Warfare" and analyzing it in terms of a person's thinking. Actions perpetrated by America's enemies against it can also be done by the ones in power against the people. People need to be aware of such actions, he added, as war is not just physically kinetic. According to Miller, war is a phenomenon as there is something metaphysical about it. He explained: "It's not a metaphor; it's very literal. Now, it may not be kinetic in the sense that we think of tanks and bombs, but that doesn't make it any less literal." Merritt: Americans living in a FALSE REALITY "I think we live in a world that's far stranger than most people want to acknowledge," Miller remarked. The "Merritt Medical Hour" host agreed with this sentiment, adding that Americans are living in "The Truman Show" a blueprint for a false reality. The 1998 movie starred comedian Jim Carrey and was directed by Peter Weir. According to Merritt, part of this false reality is the idea that the U.S., the U.K. and Canada are good. In contrast Russia, China and North Korea are portrayed as evil. Aside from these, some other things have been put in place to make the world a false reality. She noted that even inside the scientific world, there is a whole reality of science that is not right. Medical and scientific publishing had been controlled and owned by the intelligence services before World War II. Aside from this, Merritt also said there are other things the cabal owns that people don't realize are playing that make the narrative possible even in warfare. Miller agreed and he believes that a lot of people don't realize the extent of this false reality that has been constructed. The former Army officer added that for the past couple of years, people have been operating completely in a false reality that has impacted their daily lives. He said: "So we live in a world now where the lines are truly blurred between what is real and what is fake." (Related: Deep state using alliances with big tech companies to push more people to believe in false narratives.) Follow Deception.news for more stories like this. Watch the Nov. 1 episode of the "Merritt Medical Hour" below. The "Merritt Medical Hour" airs every Wednesday at 7-8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. on Brighteon.TV. More related stories: Dr. Lee Merritt and Kate Dalley discuss the FAKERIES happening in America Brighteon.TV. Ann Vandersteel and Christie Hutcherson urge Americans to PUSH BACK against false narratives Brighteon.TV. Jeff Dornik says U.S. intel agencies have tested brainwashing, manipulation techniques over the last 50 years Brighteon.TV. False narratives are designed to make people feel POWERLESS, says Western Journals Floyd Brown Brighteon.TV. Sources include: Brighteon.com IMDB.com Canada euthanizes 36 citizens every single day, data show One of the euthanasia capitals of the world, Canada, is back in the news for the high number of citizens that die throughout the country via assisted suicide every single day. According to the latest figures, 36 Canadians die every single day with the help of a government-approved doctor. In fact, euthanasia is now so popular in Canada that it makes up 4.1 percent of deaths nationwide. This is a significant increase since 2021 when just 3.3 percent of Canadian deaths every year were the result of euthanasia. The fourth annual report on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) for 2022, which was just released last month, states that since 2016, euthanasia has claimed the lives of almost 45,000 Canadians. MAiD was legalized in 2016, by the way. That year, 1,018 Canadians chose to die under the program. Just six years later in 2022, that annual figure of Canadian euthanasia deaths skyrocketed to 13,241 people, which works out to about 36 euthanasia deaths daily throughout Canada. "This works out to an average yearly growth rate of 31.1% since 2019," a report about the matter explains. "Data shows that 81% of written requests for MAID were granted." "However, of the remaining 19%, only 3.5% of applicants were deemed ineligible for MAID, a number which has been declining since 2019." (Related: Did you know that Canada just expanded its assisted suicide laws to now include the euthanasia of infants?) If more beds were available, even more Canadians would be approved for euthanasia One important thing to note in all this is that most patients in Canada who are denied MAiD are only refused because there simply is not enough capacity at approved facilities to handle their assisted deaths. "This means that individuals within this category were solely refused because of the lack of beds available, and they would have been euthanized if space permitted," reports explain. The Canadian provinces seeing the most assisted suicide are Quebec and British Columbia. Out of all deaths in these two provinces, 6.6 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, are caused by assisted suicide. Conversely, the two Canadian provinces with the lowest levels of euthanasia are Newfoundland & Labrador and Manitoba, accounting for 1.5 percent and 2.1 percent of all deaths, respectively. According to Health Canada, an individual must experience "intolerable physical or psychological suffering that is caused by their medical condition or their state of decline and that cannot be relieved under conditions that the individual finds acceptable" in order to qualify for MAiD. A survey of MAiD recipients found that the primary source of one's "intolerable suffering" is the "loss of ability to engage in meaningful life activity," with a full 86 percent of respondents saying they experience this. Eighty-two percent indicated that they opted for assisted suicide because they lost the ability to perform ADL, which stands for activities of daily living. "This confirms that euthanasia is mainly [an] existential issue, not a pain management or medical one," contends life advocate Amanda Achtman, who opposes assisted suicide. "The Government of Canada continues to use creepy euphemisms, including: MAID 'provisions' MAID 'recipients' steady 'year-over-year growth' [in #s of deaths] 'performed the procedure' 'eased safeguards' 'MAID care coordination systems,'" Achtman tweeted in a series of posts about how not everything is as it seems in Canada concerning its euthanasia program. "As in previous years, the top cited kind of suffering that leads a person to ask for euthanasia is 'the loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities.'" Starting on March 17, 2024, people with mental problems as their sole underlying medical condition will no longer qualify for MAiD. The latest news about the growing push for more euthanasia can be found at Depopulation.news. Sources for this article include: NewsAddicts.com Canada.ca NaturalNews.com Remember the Chinese biolab in California found to be experimenting with deadly pathogens? FBI, CDC ignored obvious concerns The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party says that both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) failed to properly investigate a California biolaboratory operated by Chinese nationals that was handling deadly transmissible pathogens. The biolab in question is located in Reedley, Calif., and is run by a Chinese man connected to Beijing's communist government. And while the FBI and CDC would normally investigate such matters once they come to light, the two federal agencies did no such thing concerning this particular biolab. "This report outlines troublesome gaps that exist in federal law that allow bad actors to take advantage of the system," said Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), whose district includes Reedley, in a statement. "It is my hope no other town in any congressional district will endure what my constituents have through this experience." (Related: Did you know that Gov. Gavin Newsom used taxpayer money to fund Chinese-backed biolabs in California?) Reedley Biolab found to have "thousands of vials of unlabeled fluids and suspected biological material" The scandal began last December when Jesalyn Harper, a local code enforcement officer in Reedley, noticed a building code violation on the outside of the facility. After gaining access to the facility, Harper discovered that the warehouse was actually a biolab being run by Chinese nationals. Inside the lab, Harper found vials containing various biological substances, one of which was HIV, labeled in both English and Mandarin, as well as an undeciphered code. There were also 1,000 genetically modified (GMO) lab mice inside the facility that were "bred to simulate the human immune system for the purpose of laboratory experimentation." Following her discovery and walkthrough, Harper referred the matter to both Fresno County and the FBI for further investigation. Just two months later, Harper received a notice from the FBI that it had closed the inquiry "because the Bureau believed that there were no weapons of mass destruction on the property" case closed. While the FBI did say that it would continue to "engage with local officials" about the matter, Harper and other local officials were unsatisfied with this response, and proceeded to continue their own investigation. A warrant was obtained and the lab, known officially as the Reedley Biolab, was searched on March 16 of this year. Searchers "observed blood, tissue, and other bodily fluid samples and serums; and thousands of vials of unlabeled fluids and suspected biological material." Also discovered inside the Reedley Biolab were "infectious agents" that were "labeled with biohazard signs," as well as medicine cabinets full of "what authorities later identified as highly flammable, explosive, and corrosive chemicals." Subsequent inspections of the facility took place on April 21 and May 1-2, respectively. Universal Meditech Inc. (UMI), a company controlled by "Jesse" Zhu, a Chinese national," was later discovered to be the owner of Reedley Biolab. "Jesse" is said to be directly associated with other People's Republic of China-linked companies, and is currently wanted in Canada for "contempt of court, where he is the subject of a CAD$330 million judgment for stealing American intellectual property." Fresno County officials spent "months," they say, trying to contact the CDC about all this, only to have the federal agency refuse to speak with them, "and, on a number of occasions ... hung up on them mid-conversation." "The CDCs refusal to test any potential pathogens with the understanding that local officials would otherwise have to destroy the samples through an abatement process makes it impossible for the Select Committee to fully assess the potential risks that this specific facility posed to the community," the concluding report states. The latest news about Chinese biolabs operating on U.S. soil can be found at CommunistChina.news. Sources for this article include: TheFederalist.com NaturalNews.com IDF raid of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza produces nearly ZERO real evidence of claimed Hamas headquarters Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have completed their raid on al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, but there was very little evidence procured to show that Hamas has been using the facility as a "command center." Over the past several weeks, Israel has been pushing the narrative that a hidden "Hamas Command Center" exists inside al-Shifa, this being the excuse Israel used to bomb and raid the facility, killing patients and other civilians along the way. In the end, the raid turned up next to nothing to support Israel's claims. The image below, which shows masked IDF soldiers showing off what they uncovered, reveals little more than a handful of radios, some booklets, some CDs, and a pair of handcuffs hardly enough of anything, in other words, to back the claim that Hamas was using al-Shifa as a command center. This is worse than the goofy gun bust images sheriffs put out sometimes and we all laugh at. https://t.co/aqu6aXa5Ed Cassandra MacDonald (@CassandraRules) November 16, 2023 (Related: Check out our earlier report about how Israel built the hidden tunnels underneath al-Shifa Hospital where Western powers claim Hamas is now hiding.) IDF raid on al-Shifa clearly a "made for TV" dramatization As noted by independent reports, there were a couple rifles found in the hospital as well, but those could have easily been planted by IDF soldiers before they took the above photo, apparently boasting about what was uncovered. Despite all this, Israel has decided to go ahead and declare that the MRI center of al-Shifa still was, somehow, a Hamas "operational command center." ??????? BREAKING: IDF finds grab bag with weapons behind an MRI machine! Problems: 1) The MRI is a strong magnet 2) The grab bag is very easy to carry, by Hamas out or by IDF in pic.twitter.com/rrFWyvnCi7 Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) November 15, 2023 Information Liberation's Chris Menahan commented that the whole operation was clearly "made for TV" because of how ridiculous the whole thing appears. The world was expecting massive evidence of a Hamas presence inside the hospital, based on Israel's previous claims, only to discover that there was almost no evidence in the end to back them. The following clip also shows anomalies with Israel's claims of what its military forces did find, suggesting that Israel planted fake evidence but messed up the script a few times along the way: In Fox News' inspection of the MRI room at Al-Shifa hospital there are clearly two visible AK47's behind the machine. Yet when the IDF Spokesman inspected the room earlier there was only one. Clear tampering with the "evidence" by the IDF, What could be the excuse for this? pic.twitter.com/PwXbCQyKCx Rami Jarrah (@RamiJarrah) November 16, 2023 Keep in mind that on October 27, the IDF Twitter account released a CGI depiction of an elaborate tunnel network supposedly filled with Hamas militants and their command center. In the end, none of this appears to have been true as the tunnels were apparently empty, and the hospital only contained scant evidence of a possible Hamas presence at some point in time. The Shifa Hospital is not only the largest hospital in Gaza but it also acts as the main headquarters for Hamas terrorist activity. Terrorism does not belong in a hospital and the IDF will operate to uncover any terrorist infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/Ybpln5xQb2 Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 27, 2023 It has also come to our attention that senior Israeli officials were well aware that there were no actual hostages inside al-Shift prior to the raid, but it was conducted anyway as a "symbol that there is no place we will not reach," to quote one of them. In other words, Israeli arrogance and pride is what drove the raid, not evidence. It was more of a "look what we can do!" bragging rite than an effort to supposedly save innocent lives. The latest news about the Israel-Gaza war can be found at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: InformationLiberation.com NaturalNews.com Palestinian laborers in Israel say IDF humiliated, TORTURED them without mercy To feed their families and survive in the open-air concentration camp prison known as the Gaza Strip, many Palestinians hold permits to work in Israel, crossing the border daily to do their jobs. Ever since October 7, though, the situation has changed dramatically as thousands of Gazans who happened to be in Israel at the time of the Hamas attack have ever since been held as hostages by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers who are abusing and torturing them for fun. One such Palestinian man who lives in Gaza, works in Israel, and got stuck in Israel on October 7 says he and around 4,000 other Palestinian workers in the same situation were only just released and allowed to return home. What this man, named Khaled Ahmed, told the media about his experience at the hands of IDF soldiers is shocking. During the detention period, which lasted nearly a month, Ahmed and the other prisoners were subject to constant abuse and torture as IDF soldiers were "taking revenge on Gaza" by hurting them. "I have been working in Israel for years," Ahmed, 63, told the media. "I had a valid work permit when all of this happened." (Related: For the third time since October 7, Israel has shut down all telecommunications in Gaza, this most recent time as its armies surround Gaza City with plans to divide the coastal city in two.) Israel is a genocidal terror regime When the Hamas attack first happened, many Palestinian workers fled Israel immediately, usually heading to the West Bank. Ahmed is one of a smaller few who decided there was no need to leave and paid a price for it. The reason for this is that Israeli aggression against Gaza is an everyday occurrence, and usually does not end up like this. In previous attacks, Ahmed was just fine, so he assumed there was no need to worry this time, either. "In the period between 7-10 October, workers were still able to move between Israel and the West Bank," Ahmed says. "On the 10th, we were trapped, unable to return to Gaza or go to the West Bank." Israel's work-permitting system for Palestinians is so advanced that it even includes a smartphone app called al-Monasseq (Arabic for "the coordinator") that pretty much automates anything. If ever there is an issue, the system typically warns workers to head on home for their own protection but not this time. Instead of giving Palestinian workers a proper heads up, Israel instead revoked all work permits immediately without informing any of the workers, and proceeded to detain them like in Nazi concentration camps for weeks on end. "They broke into our dorms, handcuffed and blindfolded us, then detained us without allowing any of us to take anything," Ahmed explains. "It was around 12pm when we arrived in the place where we were interrogated. I was left alone in a cell for eight hours before I was taken to a room where an Israeli officer interrogated me for hours." That Israeli officer asked Ahmed where he lived in Gaza, to which he responded, only to have the officer then proceed to show Ahmed a picture of his house on a big screen as intimidation." "He then asked me about Hamas and other Palestinian factions. I told him I did not know anything. He tried to pressure me but I honestly have nothing to do with them so I could not answer." During what would become a two-hour interrogation session, Ahmed and many other fellow workers were beaten, tortured, and humiliated. IDF soldiers pretended to ask them if they wanted some coffee or tea to drink, only to return and pour the scalding beverages all over their faces, leaving behind burns. "The Israelis know very well that we have nothing to do with what is going on. We are workers who were repeatedly interrogated and we underwent several security checks before we were given the work permit." Be sure to read the full story at MiddleEastEye.net. The latest news about Israel and its plans for Gaza and the rest of the world can be found at WWIII.news. Sources for this article include: MiddleEastEye.net NaturalNews.com In 2002, the Pentagon conducted $250 million Millennium Challenge war game to demonstrate ease of defeating Iran and LOST The largest and most expensive war game in the Pentagon's history occurred in 2002 . Known as the Millennium Challenge, the operation aimed to demonstrate the ease with which the United States can allegedly destroy Iran on behalf of Israel. Boasting more than 13,500 participants, the U.S. government spent a whopping $250 million to conduct the war game, which pitted Iran against the U.S. military. Paul Van Riper, a three-star general and 41-year veteran of the Marine Corps led Iranian forces in the war game, his job being to take on the full force of the U.S. military. Van Riper was led by an aircraft battle group and a "large amphibious landing force, as one media outlet put it, in the Persian Gulf. What ended up happening up shocking the Pentagon and everyone else involved because it turns out that a win against Iran is not as easy as they originally thought. Much like how the creators of the Titanic boasted pridefully that even God could not sink that ship, the Pentagon assumed that Iran was no match for the U.S. military. The Pentagon ended up being dead wrong." (Related: One of the reasons why Israel wants to "wipe Gaza off the map" is because of the rich maritime natural gas reserves located off its coastline.) Pride comes before a fall According to accounts of what happened during Millennium Challenge 2002, Van Riper waited for the U.S. Navy to pass through the very shallow and very narrow Strait of Hormuz where they ended up becoming sitting ducks for Iran's unconventional and asymmetric warfare techniques. Such techniques included swarming the U.S. Navy with explosive-laden suicide speedboats, low-flying airplanes carrying anti-ship missiles, naval mines and land-based anti-ship ballistic missiles, all of which are low-cost but highly effective measures. Within mere minutes, Van Riper, the fictitious head of Iran's military, emerged victorious over the U.S. military. Even though his opponent was assumed to be "superior," the Iranian war methods depicted sunk all 19 ships. Had this occurred in real life, 20,000 U.S. sailors and marines would have died. Millennium Challenge 2002 ended up being a complete disaster and embarrassment for the Pentagon, which effectively wasted one-quarter of a billion U.S. tax dollars on a simulated melee in which Iran ended up winning and the U.S. ended up losing. Instead of accepting the loss and humbling itself, the Pentagon instead doubled down. The war machine quickly hit the reset button by rigging and scripting a new war game in which America was guaranteed to win even though in real life the U.S. would still likely lose against Iran. "Nothing was learned from this," commented a disgusted Van Riper, who was appalled at the Pentagon's response to the outcome of Millennium Challenge 2002. "And a culture not willing to think hard and test itself does not auger well for the future." In a nutshell, what Millennium Challenge 2002 proved is that even with the most advanced, seemingly, weaponry on the planet, the U.S. could easily lose in a war on Iran because the Iranian military knows how to sink even the largest, Titanic-sized military ships with ease. "The main lesson of Millennium Challenge 2002 is that aircraft carriers the biggest and most expensive ships ever built wouldn't last a single day in combat against even a regional power like Iran," explains International Man. "Russia and China would have an even easier time dispatching them. They are overpriced toys." "That means the U.S. has wasted untold trillions on military hardware that could prove to be worthless in a serious conflict ... Nonetheless, the U.S. government still parades aircraft carriers around the world from time to time to try to intimidate its enemies." The latest news about active U.S. involvement in Middle East affairs can be found at Chaos.news. Sources for this article include: InternationalMan.com NaturalNews.com Russia condemns Israels genocide in Gaza: Innocent people are being killed indiscriminately For the first time since the October 7 incident, Russia is making its position known without any doubt, siding with Gaza and the Palestinians rather than Israel, their aggressor. During an October 30 meeting with his country's security council, President Vladimir Putting addressed the matter before top government officials and heads of security agencies. His audience also included: Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin Speaker of the Duma Vyacheslav Volodin Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov Director of SVR (foreign intel) Sergei Narishkin "There is no justification for the terrible events taking place in Gaza now, where hundreds of thousands of innocent people are being killed indiscriminately without having anywhere to flee or hide from the bombing," Putin said, addressing not just his immediate audience but the entire world, including the political leadership of the Western Hegemon. "When you see blood-stained children, dead children, the suffering of women and old people, when you see medics killed, of course it makes you clench your fists as tears well in your eyes." (Related: Ever since the October 7 Hamas incident, thousands of Palestinian laborers with Israeli-issued work permits have gone missing in Israel.) "Current ruling elites" in U.S. and their "satellites" (Israel) responsible for bloody war and global insecurity, Putin says As he usually does, Putin did not beat around the bush in telling it like it is concerning who is responsible for the unfolding genocide: and no, it is not Gaza or the Palestinian people. "We must clearly understand who in reality is behind the tragedy of peoples in the Middle East and in other regions around the world, who has been organizing this lethal chaos and who benefits from it," Putin said. "The current ruling elites in the United States and its satellites (are) the main beneficiaries of the global instability that they use to extract their bloody rent. Their strategy is also clear. The United States as a global superpower is becoming weaker and is losing its position, and everyone sees and understands this, even judging by the trends in the world economy." America's number-one concern in all this has nothing to do with the American people or really any people besides the ruling elite, including its satellites in Israel, the United Kingdom, and other Western power centers, Putin would go on to basically state about the "global dictatorship" that the U.S. is trying to maintain. "This chaos will help it contain and destabilize its rivals or, as they put it, their geopolitical opponents, among which they also rank our country, which in reality are new global growth centres and sovereign independent countries who are unwilling to kowtow and play the role of servants," Putin explained. "The ruling elites of the United States and its satellites are behind the tragedy of the Palestinians, the massacre in the Middle East in general, the conflict in Ukraine, and many other conflicts in the world in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and so on." It is important to note that Putin specifically included Israel, which technically exists in the East, in with his statement about "the United States and its satellites," highlighting the mystery Babylonian nature of these wicked global powers that dominate the West, and effectively the world but not for much longer. "Essentially, what this tells us is that the Russian Federation unequivocally aligns itself with the overwhelming majority of Global South / Global Majority public opinion from the Arab world to all the lands of Islam and beyond, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America," reports The Cradle. Want to keep up with the latest news about the Israeli genocide of Gaza? Visit WWIII.news. Sources for this article include: TheCradle.c NaturalNews.com The recent report warned of increasing dust and sand storms in Central Asia. It can threaten human's health, air quality and cities. The worsening effects of dust storms can become dangerous. Climate change can affect extreme weather events. Wildfires, hurricanes, heatwaves and drought can intensify. Frequent shifts in weather patterns will be challenging for cities and communities to prepare and adapt. In addition, the deadly sand and dust storms are another threat and problem. When a sandstorm emerges, it can affect the air quality and road conditions. Increasing Dust And Sand Storms in Central Asia In Central Asia and North Africa, the recent report explained the increasing sand and dust storms in the regions. The United Nations (UN) warned of dangerous impacts. The World Meteorological Association explained that sand and dust storms can unfold from dry vegetation or atmosphere, which can happen in arid areas. When strong winds unleash, it can help bring sand to nearby communities. In addition, the report warned of potential effects on human health. The airborne dust or particles can enter into human's body while breathing, causing eye irritations, external organ damage, and respiratory disorders. In the 2014 assessment, the dust exposure led to 400,000 premature deaths. Poorer communities are at risk of the dust particles. The increasing dust particles are also concerning because they can stay in the weather for days. Furthermore, the recent report warned of potential impacts on the environment. The dust can affect the water quality and crop yield. Meanwhile, the UN raised concerns about the effects of dust and sand storms. Mitigation efforts and monitoring efforts are crucial for communities to become more prepared. UN's Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw explained that dust and sand are intimidating spectacles and costly phenomena. About two billion tons of sand and dust are estimated to affect and enter the atmosphere yearly. Agencies and governments are advised to develop plans to anticipate the effects of said storms. Also Read: Climate Change-Induced Drought Impacts Global Water Security, New Report Shows Sand and Dust Storms: How Can People Stay Safe? Sand and dust storms are life-threatening events. In the US, the National Weather Service (NWS) explained that it could appear in any part. The main concern will be reduced road visibility and strong thunderstorms. People should keep away from areas with reported sand storms. Keeping updated with the weather will help people to stay safe. It is also best to stop until the dust storm stops and look for safer areas. Also Read: Global Impact of Extreme Weather Events: Climate Change Can Intensify Frequent Hurricanes, Drought, Wildfires Related Article: Climate Hazard Flip: Changes in Frequent Floods, Drought Bring Devastating Impacts on Communities For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News. Curious beachgoers have flocked around the bodies of two elusive sunfish mysteriously found dead within days of each other on a 70km stretch of Australias coastline. NSW woman Judith Merchant told Yahoo News she rushed to a beach south of Wollongong after hearing about the giant disc-shaped creatures, and seeing them up close left her in awe but also sad. It seems a macabre thing to photograph, but I was really blown away. I thought Ill never see another one, so I took advantage of the situation to have a look at something phenomenal up close, she said. Dozens of onlookers took photos of a sunfish at Warilla Beach. Source: Darren Steain/Judith Merchant Have you seen a sunfish wash up? Send your pictures to michael.dahlstrom@yahooinc.com In a video supplied to Yahoo, Judith puts her white thong next to the fish to illustrate it's size. "It's ginormous," she says of the fish she later estimated to be more than 2 metres long. You can watch the video below. The two isolated strandings were linked together by local man Darren Malone who runs a community social media page. Locals reported the first sunfish at Sussex Inlet on November 12, then three days later others sent him photos of another one which was seen at Warilla Beach. In all the years Ive lived here Ive never seen one, he said. People have been here for 35 years have never seen anything like it. Hunt for sunfish expert to explain double stranding While the sunfish have got locals excited, we wanted to understand just how rare the sunfish really are. While there are five seperate species, finding people with expertise in sunfish is rare, as there are few funds available to study them. A contact in the United States was able to connect Yahoo to a Danish marine biologist Dr Marianne Nyegaard who was travelling on a ship to Antarctica. Despite the patchy internet service onboard, we were able to communicate via text message and she helped analyse the images. Nyegaard, who has expertise in Southern Hemisphere sunfish, described the double stranding as "rare" but not "very rare". Put simply, she couldnt recall another in Australia, but they have occurred in New Zealand three once washed up there. Story continues What killed the sunfish? While several photos were taken of NSW sunfish, Nyegaard said it is almost impossible to determine what killed them. Stranded sunfish typically appear to have been healthy with no obvious cause of death, or impairment to explain why they ended up on the beach, she said. When looking at strandings in general, she believes it's possible they sometimes "fall onto land" in the same way humans "fall into the ocean". However the science on this is not settled. Judith poses next to the Warilla Beach sunfish (left) which was found days after one was photographed dead at Sussex Inlet. Source: Judith Merchant Are sunfish rare to see in Australian oceans? While sunfish are seldom seen in the wild in eastern Australia, the stretch of NSW coastline where they were found is known sunfish habitat. Reports of sunfish elsewhere are more common, with Nyegaard explaining sightings frequently occurring from tourists and fishermen visiting the south coast of Western Australia, Bali, Galapagos Islands, New Zealand and California. It is very much a matter of going to the places where sunfish live this is not something the average person has an opportunity to do very often, she said. One of the biggest threats sunfish face globally is being caught as bycatch by commercial fishermen angling for other species. Another potential threat is climate change, as rising temperatures, decreased oxygen levels and changing ocean currents are all likely to impact them. The NSW Department of Primary Industries directed Yahoo's questions about the sightings to the Australian Museum. It has been contacted for comment. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new weekly newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories. Heavy rain and flooding wreaked havoc across the Dominican Republic over the weekend, killing multiple people and displacing thousands of others. The catastrophic weather event was reportedly caused by a tropical depression lurking in the Caribbean region and has a chance to persist this week starting Monday, November 20. The weather disturbance also has a chance to intensify into a storm or hurricane in the coming hours and days. The Dominican Republic storm developed almost a week after the United States' National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported the development of a Caribbean weather disturbance in the Caribbean Sea, namely Potential Tropical Cyclone Twenty-Two. It also comes after some US meteorologists earlier this month declared the end of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, which starts June 1 and ends on November 30 each year. Dominican Republic Storm At least 21 people have been reported dead and more than 13,000 others were displaced across the Dominican Republic following heavy rain and flooding as of Sunday, November 19, according to local authorities. Among the casualties include the deaths of nine people in the capital city of Santo Domingo, where torrential rain caused the collapse of a highway tunnel wall. Furthermore, three children were also among those killed in the Dominican Republic storm event. The unprecedented extreme weather event, involving continuous heavy rain for two days, not only flooded homes but also led to power outages and damaged infrastructures, including bridges and roads, according to the country's Emergency Operations Center (COE). Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader also described the natural disaster as the "largest rainfall event ever" in the nation's history. Also Read: Hurricane Fiona Slams Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic Causing Catastrophic Flooding Dominican Republic Weather Alert Prior to the disaster, Dominican weather authorities issued a weather alert for the country, as cited by the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo. On Saturday, November 18, the COE issued a red alert for eight provinces nationwide and a yellow alert for 17 provinces in relation to heavy rain caused by the tropical depression. The alert at that time also mentioned risks of weather hazards such as life-threatening flash and urban flooding. In an updated weather alert on Sunday, the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo stated that the COE issued a red alert for 14 provinces and a yellow alert for 11 provinces this time. The U.S. embassy also warned American citizens in the Dominican Republic to avoid walking, swimming, or driving through floodwaters and other safety precautions. Caribbean Tropical Depression The NHC office in Miami, Florida stated that the Caribbean tropical depression has a 10% chance of tropical cyclone or hurricane formation in 48 hours, according to its weather forecast as of 7:00 a.m. EST (local time) on Monday. Named "Disturbance 1", this Caribbean storm system is moving in a westward direction over the South Caribbean Sea. As the week progresses, it can also impact the coastal areas of Central America and South America. The NHC says that the system became associated with a low-pressure area in the central Caribbean, resulting in increased shower and thunderstorm activity. Related Article: Tropical Storm Franklin Updates: Mudslides, Dangerous Flooding Likely in parts of Hispaniola Midweek Schoolies week is well underway and teens from across the country have converged in Queensland to celebrate the end of school. But, with stories of spiking, non-consensual sex, and other unsafe situations spanning decades today's "safer" schoolies might look a little different to the parties of years past. One Aussie reveller arriving for week one of the festivities, known as the peak period, was "confused" with a tube-like object she was given after picking up her wristband and pack from Safer Schoolies a Queensland government initiative. The small pink item was given to her along with a clear lanyard pouch to keep her phone in and "flyers about drugs and spiking". "Schoolies tell me what this is for?" Ange Loeber asked on TikTok, trying to find answers as to what the tiny tube could be not realising it is actually one of the many government safety initiatives in place. The anti-drink spiking stopper can only be used once and with drink bottles. Source: TikTok What exactly is the tube? It is an anti-drink spiking stopper and goes into the top of the drink bottle, preventing anything but one straw from being able to go into its opening. Once inserted, the stopper cannot be removed. "[They are] for one use only and help prevent drinks from being spiked," a 2023 Safer Schoolies spokesperson told Yahoo. "They come with a guide that clearly outlines their use [and] safety messages to help prevent drink spiking". Schoolies attendee Ange pointed out that these stoppers can only help in places where a person is drinking from a bottle and not a glass or cup. "It's honestly pointless as we drink out of glasses in the club," she said. Do you have a schoolies story? Contact reporter Laura Koefoed at laura.koefoed@yahooinc.com Schoolies in Queensland known for safety concerns In 2002, in response to public safety concerns, the Queensland premier announced a review of the arrangements regarding Gold Coast Schoolies and in 2003, Safer Schoolies kicked off to make it a safer experience for all. Story continues This year, the Gold Coast alone expects 20,000 school leavers to visit in one week, though more are expected to head to the Sunshine Coast, Bali, Fiji and other schoolies hotspots between now and December. Just days ago, the Sunshine Coast Police issued a "timely reminder" that with schoolies here, there may be "opportunists targeting school leavers drinks" while they are out. "I encourage all school leavers to make responsible choices, watch your mates and stick together when youre out and about," Sunshine Coast District Officer Superintendent Craig Hawkins recently urged. This warning came after Sunshine Coast police already recorded an alleged schoolies-related drink-spiking incident involving a 16-year-old student at a party in Coolum last week. Schoolies tips to prevent being a victim of drink spiking Drink spiking is the act of putting alcohol or drugs in someones drink without their knowledge or permission and is illegal even if done to a friend as a joke. According to the Queensland Police Drugs and Alcohol Unit, the most common drug used in drink spiking is alcohol. Safer Schoolies' tips to protect yourself from drink spiking: dont accept drinks from others, particularly strangers dont take your eyes off your drinks or leave them unattended do not share or swap drinks with others be wary if someone serves you a drink that is different from what you requested try to stick to drinks in bottles with screw top lids if you feel sick or dizzy, ask someone you trust to take you to a safe place if you suspect drink spiking, dont risk it always call Triple-0. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. By Online Desk At least 14 Palestinians were killed in two Israeli air strikes on houses in the town of Rafah, near the border with Egypt, reports quoting health officials said on Monday. According to Reuters, the Israeli military issued a statement with video of air strikes and troops going house-to-house, saying it killed three Hamas company commanders and a squad of Palestinian fighters, without giving specific locations. On Monday, a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing at least 12 people, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza and a medical worker inside the facility. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The Israeli military on Sunday said that it had uncovered a tunnel under Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital that stretched 55-metres beneath the war-torn complex where troops have been conducting a major operation. "IDF troops exposed a 55-meter-long terror tunnel 10 metres deep underneath the Shifa hospital complex," which ran under the hospital and ended at a blast door, an army statement said. However, Mounir El Barsh, the Gaza health ministry director, told Al Jazeera television that the Israeli statement was a "pure lie". "They have been at the hospital for eight days ... and yet they haven't found anything," he said. Israel also stepped up its accusations against Hamas and claimed that one of its soldiers was killed by Hamas inside Al-Shifa and that it had taken two foreign hostages, a Nepalese and a Thai, from its October 7 incursion, to the hospital, Reuters reported. On Sunday, Palestinian medics evacuated 31 premature babies from the Al-Shifa hospital Sunday in a high-risk operation, the UN said, pledging to also move patients and staff who remain there. According to WHO officials, 12 babies have already been flown to Cairo. On Saturday, a health ministry official in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said more than 80 people were killed on Saturday in twin Israeli strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp. UN officials said thousands of displaced Palestinians had been sheltering at the school and Martin Griffiths denounced the "tragic news of the children, women and men killed". Israel has pounded Gaza relentlessly from the air, land and sea since October 7 when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping some 240 others, according to Israeli authorities. Since then, health officials in Hamas-run Gaza say Israel's relentless campaign has killed at least 13,000 people, also mostly civilians. The Hamas government said more than 5,600 children were among the dead, alongside 3,550 women, with another 31,000 people wounded. UPDATES FROM DAY 45 OF THE WAR Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp At least 14 Palestinians were killed in two Israeli air strikes on houses in the town of Rafah, near the border with Egypt, reports quoting health officials said on Monday. According to Reuters, the Israeli military issued a statement with video of air strikes and troops going house-to-house, saying it killed three Hamas company commanders and a squad of Palestinian fighters, without giving specific locations. On Monday, a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing at least 12 people, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza and a medical worker inside the facility. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Israeli military on Sunday said that it had uncovered a tunnel under Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital that stretched 55-metres beneath the war-torn complex where troops have been conducting a major operation. "IDF troops exposed a 55-meter-long terror tunnel 10 metres deep underneath the Shifa hospital complex," which ran under the hospital and ended at a blast door, an army statement said. However, Mounir El Barsh, the Gaza health ministry director, told Al Jazeera television that the Israeli statement was a "pure lie". "They have been at the hospital for eight days ... and yet they haven't found anything," he said. Israel also stepped up its accusations against Hamas and claimed that one of its soldiers was killed by Hamas inside Al-Shifa and that it had taken two foreign hostages, a Nepalese and a Thai, from its October 7 incursion, to the hospital, Reuters reported. On Sunday, Palestinian medics evacuated 31 premature babies from the Al-Shifa hospital Sunday in a high-risk operation, the UN said, pledging to also move patients and staff who remain there. According to WHO officials, 12 babies have already been flown to Cairo. On Saturday, a health ministry official in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said more than 80 people were killed on Saturday in twin Israeli strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp. UN officials said thousands of displaced Palestinians had been sheltering at the school and Martin Griffiths denounced the "tragic news of the children, women and men killed". Israel has pounded Gaza relentlessly from the air, land and sea since October 7 when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping some 240 others, according to Israeli authorities. Since then, health officials in Hamas-run Gaza say Israel's relentless campaign has killed at least 13,000 people, also mostly civilians. The Hamas government said more than 5,600 children were among the dead, alongside 3,550 women, with another 31,000 people wounded. UPDATES FROM DAY 45 OF THE WAR Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By AFP CAIRO: Twenty-nine premature babies arrived in Egypt on Monday, Egyptian media said, after they were evacuated from Gaza's largest hospital which has become a focal point of Israel's war with Hamas. The infants were evacuated Sunday from the Al-Shifa hospital, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has described as a "death zone" as Israel seeks to uncover what it says are Hamas bases in tunnels underneath the facility. The state-affiliated Al-Qahera News reported that the babies arrived in Egypt via the Rafah crossing, the only entry and exit point to the Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel. An initial 31 babies were reported evacuated from Al-Shifa to another Gaza clinic and it was not immediately clear why only 29 arrived in Egypt. Al-Qahera News said that the babies transferred on Monday were placed in incubators. A medical source told AFP not all the infants would be able to be treated at El-Arish hospital 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of the Gaza Strip. "There are not enough incubators at El-Arish hospital, and some babies will have to be transferred to Ismailia or Cairo," the source said. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that 31 "very sick" babies were moved in a joint operation with the UN and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Doctors found that "all the babies are fighting serious infections due to lack of medical supplies and impossibility to continue infection control measures in Al-Shifa Hospital", the Red Crescent said. None of the babies had been accompanied by family members during the initial evacuation, the WHO said, as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza was unable to locate them. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp CAIRO: Twenty-nine premature babies arrived in Egypt on Monday, Egyptian media said, after they were evacuated from Gaza's largest hospital which has become a focal point of Israel's war with Hamas. The infants were evacuated Sunday from the Al-Shifa hospital, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has described as a "death zone" as Israel seeks to uncover what it says are Hamas bases in tunnels underneath the facility. The state-affiliated Al-Qahera News reported that the babies arrived in Egypt via the Rafah crossing, the only entry and exit point to the Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); An initial 31 babies were reported evacuated from Al-Shifa to another Gaza clinic and it was not immediately clear why only 29 arrived in Egypt. Al-Qahera News said that the babies transferred on Monday were placed in incubators. A medical source told AFP not all the infants would be able to be treated at El-Arish hospital 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of the Gaza Strip. "There are not enough incubators at El-Arish hospital, and some babies will have to be transferred to Ismailia or Cairo," the source said. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that 31 "very sick" babies were moved in a joint operation with the UN and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Doctors found that "all the babies are fighting serious infections due to lack of medical supplies and impossibility to continue infection control measures in Al-Shifa Hospital", the Red Crescent said. None of the babies had been accompanied by family members during the initial evacuation, the WHO said, as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza was unable to locate them. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Rajesh Asnani By Express News Service JAIPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sharp attack against the Gehlot government, claiming that corruption was its top and only agenda. At his election rallies in Rajasthan on Monday, Modi highlighted the Red Diary issue, a recurring theme in his election campaign. With corruption being the central issue in the BJP's defeat in Karnataka, it appears that the PM is determined to make corruption the focal point of his attacks to bring down the Congress government in Rajasthan. At an election rally in Rajasthan's Pali district, Modi asserted that Rajasthan needs a government that gives top priority to development, while for the Congress there is nothing more important than corruption and minting money through dubious deals. Taking a jibe at CM Ashok Gehlot, he stated, "This time his magic cannot suppress your black money. Congress has pushed Rajasthan back. For Congress in Rajasthan, there is nothing bigger than corruption." In a startling charge, Modi also accused the Gehlot government of putting pressure on the media as well not to reveal their dirty scams. He claimed that the CM, who calls himself a magician, was distraught by the impending defeat and had started threatening the media and is forcing them not to give out details of corrupt deals. Modi said, "People say that there has been an unannounced ban on the news of Lal Diary and lockers of Ganpati Plaza. A game is being played to suppress the media and publish false news. They are creating a false wave by giving money. Magician sir, this time magic cannot suppress your black money." Modi also fiercely criticised the Gehlot government over the high prices of petrol and diesel in Rajasthan. He asserted, "Petrol prices are an example of Congress's loot. There are BJP governments in the neighbouring states of Rajasthan, where petrol is available at Rs 97 per litre. Rajasthan government sells expensive petrol. I guarantee that the prices of petrol and diesel will be reviewed as soon as the BJP government is formed after December 3." Modi did not stop here only, and said, "In Rajasthan, the Congress government runs a cut company by selling expensive petrol. I guarantee that if a BJP government is formed after December 3, the rates of petrol and diesel will be reviewed. Decisions will be taken in the interest of poor and middle-class people. BJP governments in neighbouring states are selling petrol at cheaper rates. In Rajasthan, 12 to 13 rupees more per litre are being charged. For whom are the magicians stealing these goods? Whenever you fill petrol, remember that Congress's loot also has its share in it." Modi also accused the Congress government of Rajasthan of promoting drug smuggling. He stated, "Now Congress is promoting drug smugglers. Drones are intoxicating, and the Rajasthan government is sleeping. The police also have all five fingers in the mix. Addiction will destroy not only our children but also our future. It will ruin every family. I assure you that as soon as the BJP government is formed here, such action will be taken against drug smugglers that even other people will tremble after hearing and seeing it." Modi cited the decline in mobile bills during his tenure, asserting that the BJP government at the Center has reduced mobile bills. He said, "If data had been priced before 2014, you would have had to spend at least Rs 5,000 more on a mobile than the amount you are spending today. With at least 4 mobile phones in a family, Modi has saved this expense." Experts suggest that PM Modi made this statement in response to the smartphone scheme of the Gehlot government. Modi also promised the PM Modi guarantee, ensuring that all those involved in shady and dubious deals or corruption will not be spared once the BJP comes to power in Rajasthan. In the evening, Modi held a massive Road Show in Bikaner district which saw people standing on roof-tops to greet the by showering flower petals in an area covering about 4 kilometres of the city. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp JAIPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sharp attack against the Gehlot government, claiming that corruption was its top and only agenda. At his election rallies in Rajasthan on Monday, Modi highlighted the Red Diary issue, a recurring theme in his election campaign. With corruption being the central issue in the BJP's defeat in Karnataka, it appears that the PM is determined to make corruption the focal point of his attacks to bring down the Congress government in Rajasthan. At an election rally in Rajasthan's Pali district, Modi asserted that Rajasthan needs a government that gives top priority to development, while for the Congress there is nothing more important than corruption and minting money through dubious deals. Taking a jibe at CM Ashok Gehlot, he stated, "This time his magic cannot suppress your black money. Congress has pushed Rajasthan back. For Congress in Rajasthan, there is nothing bigger than corruption." In a startling charge, Modi also accused the Gehlot government of putting pressure on the media as well not to reveal their dirty scams. He claimed that the CM, who calls himself a magician, was distraught by the impending defeat and had started threatening the media and is forcing them not to give out details of corrupt deals. Modi said, "People say that there has been an unannounced ban on the news of Lal Diary and lockers of Ganpati Plaza. A game is being played to suppress the media and publish false news. They are creating a false wave by giving money. Magician sir, this time magic cannot suppress your black money."googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Modi also fiercely criticised the Gehlot government over the high prices of petrol and diesel in Rajasthan. He asserted, "Petrol prices are an example of Congress's loot. There are BJP governments in the neighbouring states of Rajasthan, where petrol is available at Rs 97 per litre. Rajasthan government sells expensive petrol. I guarantee that the prices of petrol and diesel will be reviewed as soon as the BJP government is formed after December 3." Modi did not stop here only, and said, "In Rajasthan, the Congress government runs a cut company by selling expensive petrol. I guarantee that if a BJP government is formed after December 3, the rates of petrol and diesel will be reviewed. Decisions will be taken in the interest of poor and middle-class people. BJP governments in neighbouring states are selling petrol at cheaper rates. In Rajasthan, 12 to 13 rupees more per litre are being charged. For whom are the magicians stealing these goods? Whenever you fill petrol, remember that Congress's loot also has its share in it." Modi also accused the Congress government of Rajasthan of promoting drug smuggling. He stated, "Now Congress is promoting drug smugglers. Drones are intoxicating, and the Rajasthan government is sleeping. The police also have all five fingers in the mix. Addiction will destroy not only our children but also our future. It will ruin every family. I assure you that as soon as the BJP government is formed here, such action will be taken against drug smugglers that even other people will tremble after hearing and seeing it." Modi cited the decline in mobile bills during his tenure, asserting that the BJP government at the Center has reduced mobile bills. He said, "If data had been priced before 2014, you would have had to spend at least Rs 5,000 more on a mobile than the amount you are spending today. With at least 4 mobile phones in a family, Modi has saved this expense." Experts suggest that PM Modi made this statement in response to the smartphone scheme of the Gehlot government. Modi also promised the PM Modi guarantee, ensuring that all those involved in shady and dubious deals or corruption will not be spared once the BJP comes to power in Rajasthan. In the evening, Modi held a massive Road Show in Bikaner district which saw people standing on roof-tops to greet the by showering flower petals in an area covering about 4 kilometres of the city. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI BENGALURU: The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company has suspended five of its officials for "dereliction of duties" and issued show cause notice to two senior officers after a woman and her daughter died due to electrocution here, officials said on Monday. Taking serious note of Sunday's incident at Kadugodi sub-division, the state-owned BESCOM said it took action against them based on a prima-facie enquiry. According to police, 23-year-old Soundraya, who was walking home after arriving from Tamil Nadu, along with her nine-month-old baby girl Leela died of burn injuries after she accidentally stepped on a live electric wire lying unattended on the pavement. Her husband, Santosh Kumar, tried to save them but was helpless. Their luggage-trolley bag and other belongings were seen lying scattered at the scene. Five BESCOM officials, who have now been suspended were arrested in connection with the incident, police said. "In a non-department fatal electrical accident, Soundraya (23) and her daughter Leela came in contact with a live 11KV wire fallen on the footpath of Hope Farm Signal and got electrocuted on Sunday morning around 5.30 AM," a BESCOM statement said. Energy Minister K J George took serious note of the accident and ordered the suspension of officials, it said. A detailed investigation will be conducted in the matter, the BESCOM said. A case of death due to negligence under Section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code was registered and the five employees of BESCOM named in the FIR were arrested in connection with the incident. However, they were released on bail later, police said. READ MORE | Bengaluru's Whitefield citizens fume over electrocution Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp BENGALURU: The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company has suspended five of its officials for "dereliction of duties" and issued show cause notice to two senior officers after a woman and her daughter died due to electrocution here, officials said on Monday. Taking serious note of Sunday's incident at Kadugodi sub-division, the state-owned BESCOM said it took action against them based on a prima-facie enquiry. According to police, 23-year-old Soundraya, who was walking home after arriving from Tamil Nadu, along with her nine-month-old baby girl Leela died of burn injuries after she accidentally stepped on a live electric wire lying unattended on the pavement. Her husband, Santosh Kumar, tried to save them but was helpless. Their luggage-trolley bag and other belongings were seen lying scattered at the scene.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Five BESCOM officials, who have now been suspended were arrested in connection with the incident, police said. "In a non-department fatal electrical accident, Soundraya (23) and her daughter Leela came in contact with a live 11KV wire fallen on the footpath of Hope Farm Signal and got electrocuted on Sunday morning around 5.30 AM," a BESCOM statement said. Energy Minister K J George took serious note of the accident and ordered the suspension of officials, it said. A detailed investigation will be conducted in the matter, the BESCOM said. A case of death due to negligence under Section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code was registered and the five employees of BESCOM named in the FIR were arrested in connection with the incident. However, they were released on bail later, police said. READ MORE | Bengaluru's Whitefield citizens fume over electrocution Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp A young mother of five battling a heartbreaking disease that's left her barely able to leave bed and "in chronic pain day and night" has shared how her young children have stepped up to support the family as she searches for treatment. Corrina Farrell, 27, who has five children under the age of 10 with her husband Beau was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) just over a year ago. The illness has left her bedridden, impacted her vision and speech, and has seen her hospitalised a total of seven times in the last year "for up to six days at a time". Farrell, from Muswellbrook in the NSW Hunter Valley, describes her constant pain as "feeling like being submerged into an ice bath" with "electric shocks". She said her eldest children, Alora, 10, and Nixon, 8, have been forced to grow up and support their mother and younger siblings while their dad works in the mines. Corrina Farrell, 27, has been left bedridden and with limited bodily function following her MS diagnosis last year. Source: GoFundMe. Young mum struck down in her prime Currently, there is no cure for Farrell's type of MS, which has also impacted her cognitive function, though some treatments can help control the condition and reduce the severity of some of her symptoms. "My eldest daughter is so great, she just gets the kids up, gets them ready, does their hair and gets their lunchboxes ready," Farrell, who was diagnosed shortly after the birth of her youngest daughter, told The Project. "My son, he gets breakfast organised it's team work. It's crazy, they're loud, but their beautiful kids, I feel like I've hit the jackpot." Mum finds it difficult to leave bed most days Describing her symptoms, Farrell said she finds it difficult to leave bed most days. "It's like a baby giraffe trying to walk," she said. "I'm telling myself to walk but my legs just don't move." Story continues Alora, who has picked up much of the housework, recalled her mum's "many falls", while Nixon said his mum "was sometimes very tired and feels sick" and "just wants to lay in bed all day". "Sometimes when they're are in a cranky mood, they don't listen and can be a bit cheeky," Nixon said of his younger siblings. Corrina Farrell's young family have rallied around her while she battles MS. Source: GoFundMe. Primary school-aged kids 'basically parent themselves' Farrell spoke of her gratitude that her kids "basically parent themselves" while she's struck down. "All I want back is to just be a parent," she said through tears. "I want to get them ready for school, I want to do their hair, I want to get them breakfast, I want to do all of that". Despite treatment attempts through various forms of therapy, Farrell said she's still constantly in and out of hospital. A trial of stem-cell transplants to slow the MS is now underway in Australia, but Farrell explained that tragically, she didn't qualify. "It killed me, it absolutely killed me," she said. Now, the young mum is prepared to travel to one of four countries trialing the new treatment: England, Switzerland, Russia and Panama. "There's a chance that it does slow it down and I want that chance because I want to be there for my kids," Farrell said. "I just want to be a mum". Alora, 10 and Nixon, 8, have been helping their mum around the house while she's too sick to leave bed. Source: The Project. Reading a letter written to her mum, Alora described her unconditional love for her. "Dear mum, thank you for everything you do for me. You are the best mum in the world, I love every single thing about you. I know some days you can't get out of bed and that's ok because I still love you," she said. It's not immediately apparent which form of MS Farrell is suffering from. A fundraiser to support Farrell through her journey can be found here. Multiple sclerosis quick facts There are three main types of MS: relapsing remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS). The classification of disease depends on its activity and progression. Identifying the type of MS is important in order to assign the most appropriate disease modifying therapy (drug treatment) for each person and to assist in clinical decisions. A person is usually diagnosed in their 20s and 30s. There is no accurate way to predict an individuals course of multiple sclerosis (MS), as the condition varies greatly between cases. Some MS patients feel and seem healthy for years after a diagnosis, while others progress more quickly. The latest data has shown roughly 33,335 Australians were living with MS in 2021. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. By Online Desk A 19-year-old college girl was abducted by two masked men in a motorbike on Monday in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior. The incident happened in broad daylight. The incident happened when the victim, a resident of Bhind, accompanied by her family, got down from a bus at Jhansi Road Bus Stand, near Gwalior. As the girl was walking, two masked men arrived on a bike and one of them forcibly lifted her onto the bike and sped away. The incident which happened around 8:50 am was captured by CCTV cameras there. 19 years old girl abducted by 2 masked abductors on motorbike near a petrol pump close to Jhansi Road police station in MP's Gwalior district in broad daylight. CCTV footage of the alleged abduction retrieved. @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard @santwana99 @Shahid_Faridi_ pic.twitter.com/RbMLzuKBnf Anuraag Singh (@anuraag_niebpl) November 20, 2023 The victim's family immediately reported the abduction to the police, who registered a case and launched a search operation. WATCH VIDEO: Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp A 19-year-old college girl was abducted by two masked men in a motorbike on Monday in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior. The incident happened in broad daylight. The incident happened when the victim, a resident of Bhind, accompanied by her family, got down from a bus at Jhansi Road Bus Stand, near Gwalior. As the girl was walking, two masked men arrived on a bike and one of them forcibly lifted her onto the bike and sped away. The incident which happened around 8:50 am was captured by CCTV cameras there. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); 19 years old girl abducted by 2 masked abductors on motorbike near a petrol pump close to Jhansi Road police station in MP's Gwalior district in broad daylight. CCTV footage of the alleged abduction retrieved. @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard @santwana99 @Shahid_Faridi_ pic.twitter.com/RbMLzuKBnf Anuraag Singh (@anuraag_niebpl) November 20, 2023 The victim's family immediately reported the abduction to the police, who registered a case and launched a search operation. WATCH VIDEO: Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service JAIPUR: Rahul Gandhi yet again raised the pitch for a caste census in the country in his election rallies in east Rajasthan on Sunday. This is the region where the Congress did well in the last elections. It was in this region where PM Narendra Modi alleged on Saturday that the Congress was an anti-Dalit party. Rahul on Sunday responded by saying that it was not enough for Dalits to occupy some decorative high positions. What was required, he said, was a greater participation of them in the power structures and institutions of the country. Addressing an election rally in Bundi district, Rahul linked caste census to the influence of bureaucracy in the Modi government. Everyone has a misconception that the country is being run by Parliament and the MLAs. It is not so; the country is being run by 90 officers. Of them, the number of tribals, backward classes and Dalits is only 7. Highlighting the urgency of a caste census, Rahul said it was clear that benefits could be provided to Dalits and backward classes only on the basis of a caste census. Indian children want to become IAS and not MPs, MLAs because the country is run by government officials, Rahul said. He said that the lifelong term of officers, as opposed to the fixed five-year tenure of elected representatives, curtails the participation of Dalits and tribals in decision-making processes. Narendra Modi cannot do caste censushe can do it for Adani. Caste census can be done only by Rahul Gandhi and Congress, said Rahul. He painted a transformative picture for the country once the caste census is actualized. Accusing the Modi government of dispensing one-sided benefits to industrialists, Rahul also underscored the need for a caste census as a critical tool to rectify economic disparities in the country. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi is asked about caste census and to get full participation of OBCs, he says that there is no caste in the country, there is only one caste, that is poverty. Despite Modis rhetoric, Rahul said the government had failed to accord full rights to the marginalized communities. He also alleged that PM Modi waived a staggering Rs 14 lakh crore in loans for billionaires like Adani, benefiting a select few, none of whom belonged to the Dalit, tribal, or backward classes. This, he claimed, was money extracted from common people in the form of GST. Expanding on his perspective on India, he said in his view, the poor, the elderly, the backward, the Dalits, and the tribals are Mother India. Benefits to biz men Rahul forcefully responded to the charge that his party is an anti-Dalit party. He alleged the Modi govt was being run by a group of officers who are non-Dalits. He also accused the government of facilitating benefits to a section of industrialists. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp JAIPUR: Rahul Gandhi yet again raised the pitch for a caste census in the country in his election rallies in east Rajasthan on Sunday. This is the region where the Congress did well in the last elections. It was in this region where PM Narendra Modi alleged on Saturday that the Congress was an anti-Dalit party. Rahul on Sunday responded by saying that it was not enough for Dalits to occupy some decorative high positions. What was required, he said, was a greater participation of them in the power structures and institutions of the country. Addressing an election rally in Bundi district, Rahul linked caste census to the influence of bureaucracy in the Modi government. Everyone has a misconception that the country is being run by Parliament and the MLAs. It is not so; the country is being run by 90 officers. Of them, the number of tribals, backward classes and Dalits is only 7.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Highlighting the urgency of a caste census, Rahul said it was clear that benefits could be provided to Dalits and backward classes only on the basis of a caste census. Indian children want to become IAS and not MPs, MLAs because the country is run by government officials, Rahul said. He said that the lifelong term of officers, as opposed to the fixed five-year tenure of elected representatives, curtails the participation of Dalits and tribals in decision-making processes. Narendra Modi cannot do caste censushe can do it for Adani. Caste census can be done only by Rahul Gandhi and Congress, said Rahul. He painted a transformative picture for the country once the caste census is actualized. Accusing the Modi government of dispensing one-sided benefits to industrialists, Rahul also underscored the need for a caste census as a critical tool to rectify economic disparities in the country. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi is asked about caste census and to get full participation of OBCs, he says that there is no caste in the country, there is only one caste, that is poverty. Despite Modis rhetoric, Rahul said the government had failed to accord full rights to the marginalized communities. He also alleged that PM Modi waived a staggering Rs 14 lakh crore in loans for billionaires like Adani, benefiting a select few, none of whom belonged to the Dalit, tribal, or backward classes. This, he claimed, was money extracted from common people in the form of GST. Expanding on his perspective on India, he said in his view, the poor, the elderly, the backward, the Dalits, and the tribals are Mother India. Benefits to biz men Rahul forcefully responded to the charge that his party is an anti-Dalit party. He alleged the Modi govt was being run by a group of officers who are non-Dalits. He also accused the government of facilitating benefits to a section of industrialists. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Jitendra Choubey By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Delay in the sowing of wheat in the ongoing rabi season is becoming a cause of concern as it will expose the crop to more heatwave-like conditions impacting the productivity and quality of wheat grains. The staple food grain production has been severely impacted in the last two years due to the extreme heat. The spillover of the monsoon till the third week of October had delayed the paddy harvest and the sowing of wheat. In eastern India, harvesting of paddy is yet to start. According to the latest data, the wheat acreage is five per cent down compared to the previous year with 86.02 lakh hectares (LHa) compared to 91.02 LHa of the previous year. Till last week, the deficit was 11 per cent. The government is planning to bring in 100 LHa under the wheat acreage by months end. The winter crop is more susceptible to heat. The moderate temperature of February-March helps the wheat flower to take shape into a robust grain. Wheat gets ready to harvest in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh by late March and in Punjab and Haryana by mid-April. This year, the concern of scientists and government officials is not unwarranted. The El Nino weather phenomenon is stronger the last year and will lead to a relatively warmer winter which is adverse to the wheat crops. However, some scientists dismiss the warning. The two heat tolerant wheat seeds varieties DBW 187 and DBW 303 will neutralise impact, Gyanendra P Singh, Director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research told this newspaper. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: Delay in the sowing of wheat in the ongoing rabi season is becoming a cause of concern as it will expose the crop to more heatwave-like conditions impacting the productivity and quality of wheat grains. The staple food grain production has been severely impacted in the last two years due to the extreme heat. The spillover of the monsoon till the third week of October had delayed the paddy harvest and the sowing of wheat. In eastern India, harvesting of paddy is yet to start. According to the latest data, the wheat acreage is five per cent down compared to the previous year with 86.02 lakh hectares (LHa) compared to 91.02 LHa of the previous year. Till last week, the deficit was 11 per cent. The government is planning to bring in 100 LHa under the wheat acreage by months end.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The winter crop is more susceptible to heat. The moderate temperature of February-March helps the wheat flower to take shape into a robust grain. Wheat gets ready to harvest in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh by late March and in Punjab and Haryana by mid-April. This year, the concern of scientists and government officials is not unwarranted. The El Nino weather phenomenon is stronger the last year and will lead to a relatively warmer winter which is adverse to the wheat crops. However, some scientists dismiss the warning. The two heat tolerant wheat seeds varieties DBW 187 and DBW 303 will neutralise impact, Gyanendra P Singh, Director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research told this newspaper. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Parvez Sultan By Express News Service GOA: A docu-montage section featuring a mosaic of compelling documentaries from across the world is among the new features added to the glamour of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) this year. The addition marks Indias Oscar entry in the field and highlighted the growing importance of documentaries in film making at present. The award for best web series on OTT has also been introduced this year. The nine-day festival will kick start with the international premiere of Catching Dust, the mind catching drama thriller by award-winning British filmmaker Stuart Gatt in Goa on Monday. Hollywood actor-producer Michael Douglas will receive the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award. Union minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Sunday said that in an age where technology continues to reshape the way we consume content, film festivals remain a testament to the enduring appeal of cinematic experience. IFFI has become a perfect platform for establishing collaborations, joint productions and cutting edge technology and IFFI has been growing every year due to the passion of our film makers and collaborations with directors and film makers, he said. The other highlights of the 54th edition of IFFI is world premiere of recently restored seven Indian classics including Dev Anands Guide released in 1965 and a biopic in Bengali Vidyapati (1937) directed by Debaki Bose. Recently preserved films, which will screened during the festival, are Shyamchi Aai (Marathi/1953), Patala Bhairavi (Telugu/ 1951), Haqeeqat (Hindi/1964), Chorus (Bengali/1974), and Bees Saal Baad (Hindi/1962). Also, three internationally restored films will also be showcased including The Exorcist Extended Directors cut (1973) and 1965s melodrama Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. This year more than 270 films will be showcased at the festival. IFFI has received an overwhelming response this year with 2,926 entries from 105 countries, three times more international submissions than last year, said the officials. The festival will have 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres, 62 Asia and 89 India Premieres. There are 32 entries in 10 languages from 15 OTT platforms for Best Web Series (OTT) Award. According to the officials, 15 feature films (12 International films and 3 Indian films) will compete for the coveted Golden Peacock award. Director of the festival, Prithul Kumar said the best web series award is aimed at acknowledging, encouraging and honouring, the flourishing content and its creators of OTT platforms. An exhibition with immersive visual content has also been set up by the Central Bureau of Communication, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which will allow cine enthusiasts to learn about films through interactive displays. Entry is free for all. Open Air Screenings will also be held for the public at three locations. More than 270 films to be showcased Three internationally restored films will also be showcased including The Exorcist Extended Directors cut (1973) and 1965s melodrama Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. This year more than 270 films will be showcased at the festival. International Film Festival of India has received an overwhelming response this year with 2,926 entries from 105 countries, three times more international submissions than last year, said the officials. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp GOA: A docu-montage section featuring a mosaic of compelling documentaries from across the world is among the new features added to the glamour of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) this year. The addition marks Indias Oscar entry in the field and highlighted the growing importance of documentaries in film making at present. The award for best web series on OTT has also been introduced this year. The nine-day festival will kick start with the international premiere of Catching Dust, the mind catching drama thriller by award-winning British filmmaker Stuart Gatt in Goa on Monday. Hollywood actor-producer Michael Douglas will receive the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award. Union minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Sunday said that in an age where technology continues to reshape the way we consume content, film festivals remain a testament to the enduring appeal of cinematic experience.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); IFFI has become a perfect platform for establishing collaborations, joint productions and cutting edge technology and IFFI has been growing every year due to the passion of our film makers and collaborations with directors and film makers, he said. The other highlights of the 54th edition of IFFI is world premiere of recently restored seven Indian classics including Dev Anands Guide released in 1965 and a biopic in Bengali Vidyapati (1937) directed by Debaki Bose. Recently preserved films, which will screened during the festival, are Shyamchi Aai (Marathi/1953), Patala Bhairavi (Telugu/ 1951), Haqeeqat (Hindi/1964), Chorus (Bengali/1974), and Bees Saal Baad (Hindi/1962). Also, three internationally restored films will also be showcased including The Exorcist Extended Directors cut (1973) and 1965s melodrama Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. This year more than 270 films will be showcased at the festival. IFFI has received an overwhelming response this year with 2,926 entries from 105 countries, three times more international submissions than last year, said the officials. The festival will have 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres, 62 Asia and 89 India Premieres. There are 32 entries in 10 languages from 15 OTT platforms for Best Web Series (OTT) Award. According to the officials, 15 feature films (12 International films and 3 Indian films) will compete for the coveted Golden Peacock award. Director of the festival, Prithul Kumar said the best web series award is aimed at acknowledging, encouraging and honouring, the flourishing content and its creators of OTT platforms. An exhibition with immersive visual content has also been set up by the Central Bureau of Communication, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which will allow cine enthusiasts to learn about films through interactive displays. Entry is free for all. Open Air Screenings will also be held for the public at three locations. More than 270 films to be showcased Three internationally restored films will also be showcased including The Exorcist Extended Directors cut (1973) and 1965s melodrama Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. This year more than 270 films will be showcased at the festival. International Film Festival of India has received an overwhelming response this year with 2,926 entries from 105 countries, three times more international submissions than last year, said the officials. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By ANI LAKSHISARAI: Three members of a family were shot dead and three others were injured when a jilted lover opened fire at them in Bihar's Lakhisarai district on Monday. The injured have been rushed to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). The incident took place in Punjabi locality of Lakhisarai town when the victims were returning home after offering morning 'arghya' to the Sun at a local pond. While two persons died on the spot, the third one succumbed to injuries on way to the PMCH. The girl whom the assailant Ashish Choudhary wanted to marry also died in the firing. The news about the firing spread like wild fire in the area and a big crowd assembled at the victims' house. The assailant, a neighbour of the deceased, is absconding after the incident. Lakhisarai superintendent of police Pankaj Kumar said that a police team has been deployed in the area as a precautionary measure. Police have detained three suspects for interrogation in connection with the incident. Prima facie love affairs is stated to be the reason behind the incident, he told the media. #WATCH | Bihar: Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai. The incident took place when they were returning from Chhath Ghat after performing pooja. Three injured have been referred from pic.twitter.com/BF0i8mAAQz ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 The assailant Ashish Chaudhary had an altercation with the girl's family about 10 days ago. However, the matter was settled after intervention of some local residents. On Monday, he attacked the girl and her family members when they were returning home from 'Chhath ghat'. The youth was insisting on marrying the girl against wishes of her family, the SP added. The three deceased have been identified as Durga Kumari (beloved), Rajnandan Jha and Chandan Jha, both brothers. Shahshibhushan Jha, his wife Priti Devi and another relative Lovely Jha are undergoing treatment at PMCH. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp LAKSHISARAI: Three members of a family were shot dead and three others were injured when a jilted lover opened fire at them in Bihar's Lakhisarai district on Monday. The injured have been rushed to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). The incident took place in Punjabi locality of Lakhisarai town when the victims were returning home after offering morning 'arghya' to the Sun at a local pond. While two persons died on the spot, the third one succumbed to injuries on way to the PMCH.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The girl whom the assailant Ashish Choudhary wanted to marry also died in the firing. The news about the firing spread like wild fire in the area and a big crowd assembled at the victims' house. The assailant, a neighbour of the deceased, is absconding after the incident. Lakhisarai superintendent of police Pankaj Kumar said that a police team has been deployed in the area as a precautionary measure. Police have detained three suspects for interrogation in connection with the incident. Prima facie love affairs is stated to be the reason behind the incident, he told the media. #WATCH | Bihar: Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai. The incident took place when they were returning from Chhath Ghat after performing pooja. Three injured have been referred from pic.twitter.com/BF0i8mAAQz ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 The assailant Ashish Chaudhary had an altercation with the girl's family about 10 days ago. However, the matter was settled after intervention of some local residents. On Monday, he attacked the girl and her family members when they were returning home from 'Chhath ghat'. The youth was insisting on marrying the girl against wishes of her family, the SP added. The three deceased have been identified as Durga Kumari (beloved), Rajnandan Jha and Chandan Jha, both brothers. Shahshibhushan Jha, his wife Priti Devi and another relative Lovely Jha are undergoing treatment at PMCH. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Mayank Singh By Express News Service NEW DELHI: In a fillip to their existing defence relationship, the Defence Ministers of India and Australia on Monday discussed cooperation for air-to-air refueling of their aircraft. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, "Both ministers underscored the importance to further enhance cooperation in information exchange and maritime domain awareness between the two countries. The two sides are also in an advanced stage of discussion to conclude implementing arrangements on hydrography cooperation and cooperation for air-to-air refueling." Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles in New Delhi on Monday. "Both the ministers reaffirmed their commitment towards further strengthening the bilateral defence relations. They expressed satisfaction at the increasing military-to-military cooperation between the two countries, including joint exercises, exchanges and institutional dialogue," said the MoD. Rajnath emphasised that the forces of the two countries should also look at cooperating in niche training areas like Artificial Intelligence, anti-submarine and anti-drone warfare and cyber domain. The two ministers agreed that deepening cooperation in defence industry and research would give a fillip to the already strong relationship. The Defence Minister suggested that shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance and aircraft Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) could be the potential areas of collaboration. The two ministers also discussed cooperation for joint research in underwater technologies. Collaboration between the defence start-ups of both the countries, including that for solving challenges jointly, was discussed by the ministers. They concurred that a strong India-Australia defence partnership will augur well not just for the mutual benefit of the two countries but also for the overall security of the Indo-Pacific. The Defence Minister congratulated Minister Marles on the maiden and successful conduct of multilateral exercise 'Malabar' by Australia in August this year. It was the 27th edition of Exercise Malabar, which concluded in August on the East Coast of Australia off Sydney. The exercise saw participation of ships, submarines and aircraft from the Indian Navy (IN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and the US Navy (USN). The Malabar series of exercises, organized by Australia this year, began as an annual bilateral naval exercise between India and the US in 1992. Japan joined the naval exercises in 2015. Malabar 2020 saw the participation of the Australian Navy also. India and Australia are pursuing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the visit of Marles is expected to give further impetus to the collaboration as well as bilateral defence cooperation. The two countries are expected to discuss wide-ranging issues of mutual interest during the 2+2 dialogue and the bilateral Defence Ministers' meeting. Bilateral relations between Australia and India were upgraded from a Strategic Partnership in 2009 to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2020. Over the years, in addition to the 2+2 Defence and Foreign Ministers' Dialogue, an array of institutional mechanisms has been put in place to promote bilateral co-operation. Bilateral mechanisms include high-level visits, annual meetings of Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue, Joint Trade & Commerce Ministerial Commission, Defence Policy Talks, Australia-India Education Council, Defence Services Staff Talks, Energy Dialogue and Joint Working Groups (JWGs) on different issues. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: In a fillip to their existing defence relationship, the Defence Ministers of India and Australia on Monday discussed cooperation for air-to-air refueling of their aircraft. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, "Both ministers underscored the importance to further enhance cooperation in information exchange and maritime domain awareness between the two countries. The two sides are also in an advanced stage of discussion to conclude implementing arrangements on hydrography cooperation and cooperation for air-to-air refueling." Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles in New Delhi on Monday. "Both the ministers reaffirmed their commitment towards further strengthening the bilateral defence relations. They expressed satisfaction at the increasing military-to-military cooperation between the two countries, including joint exercises, exchanges and institutional dialogue," said the MoD.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Rajnath emphasised that the forces of the two countries should also look at cooperating in niche training areas like Artificial Intelligence, anti-submarine and anti-drone warfare and cyber domain. The two ministers agreed that deepening cooperation in defence industry and research would give a fillip to the already strong relationship. The Defence Minister suggested that shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance and aircraft Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) could be the potential areas of collaboration. The two ministers also discussed cooperation for joint research in underwater technologies. Collaboration between the defence start-ups of both the countries, including that for solving challenges jointly, was discussed by the ministers. They concurred that a strong India-Australia defence partnership will augur well not just for the mutual benefit of the two countries but also for the overall security of the Indo-Pacific. The Defence Minister congratulated Minister Marles on the maiden and successful conduct of multilateral exercise 'Malabar' by Australia in August this year. It was the 27th edition of Exercise Malabar, which concluded in August on the East Coast of Australia off Sydney. The exercise saw participation of ships, submarines and aircraft from the Indian Navy (IN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and the US Navy (USN). The Malabar series of exercises, organized by Australia this year, began as an annual bilateral naval exercise between India and the US in 1992. Japan joined the naval exercises in 2015. Malabar 2020 saw the participation of the Australian Navy also. India and Australia are pursuing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the visit of Marles is expected to give further impetus to the collaboration as well as bilateral defence cooperation. The two countries are expected to discuss wide-ranging issues of mutual interest during the 2+2 dialogue and the bilateral Defence Ministers' meeting. Bilateral relations between Australia and India were upgraded from a Strategic Partnership in 2009 to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2020. Over the years, in addition to the 2+2 Defence and Foreign Ministers' Dialogue, an array of institutional mechanisms has been put in place to promote bilateral co-operation. Bilateral mechanisms include high-level visits, annual meetings of Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue, Joint Trade & Commerce Ministerial Commission, Defence Policy Talks, Australia-India Education Council, Defence Services Staff Talks, Energy Dialogue and Joint Working Groups (JWGs) on different issues. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Yeshi Seli By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Indian and Australian Prime Ministers have met five times this year, which speaks volumes about their relationship, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during the 2+2 ministerial dialogue between the two countries in New Delhi on Monday. "We have had our first ever annual Summit in March. The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) entered into force in December 2022 as we are seeing its economic implications are noticed now in case of trade increase. Migration and mobility partnership have fortified the relationship. There are over one million from the community and 100000 students in Australia. In 2+2 our bilateral relations has grown rapidly," said Jaishankar. "We face challenges regional and global where rule of law is challenged. Important to plan for those exceptions including in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). Quad partnership has been benefitial for Indo Pacific and our own bilateral relationship. We also have trilaterals with Indonesia and France," Jaishankar added. The meeting was attended by Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from the Indian side and Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Deputy PM and Defence Minister Richard Marles from Australia. "I had a very good meeting with Richard Marles. We spoke about the recent developments that influence the Indo-Pacific strategic scenario and also exchanged views on West Asia. And yes we also discussed yesterday's match Congratulations Australia," said Jaishankar after meeting Richard Marles earlier on Monday. Penny Wong, Australian Foreign Minister, said that the Australia-India relationship has never been more consequential. Wong also had a separate meeting with policy leaders and discussed gender equality in foreign trade and development policy. "The aspirations we champion in our region peace, stability, prosperity can only be achieved if we continue to see progress in gender equality," said Wong. ALSO READ | India-Australia cooperation for air-to-air refueling in advanced stage of discussion Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The Indian and Australian Prime Ministers have met five times this year, which speaks volumes about their relationship, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during the 2+2 ministerial dialogue between the two countries in New Delhi on Monday. "We have had our first ever annual Summit in March. The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) entered into force in December 2022 as we are seeing its economic implications are noticed now in case of trade increase. Migration and mobility partnership have fortified the relationship. There are over one million from the community and 100000 students in Australia. In 2+2 our bilateral relations has grown rapidly," said Jaishankar. "We face challenges regional and global where rule of law is challenged. Important to plan for those exceptions including in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). Quad partnership has been benefitial for Indo Pacific and our own bilateral relationship. We also have trilaterals with Indonesia and France," Jaishankar added.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The meeting was attended by Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from the Indian side and Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Deputy PM and Defence Minister Richard Marles from Australia. "I had a very good meeting with Richard Marles. We spoke about the recent developments that influence the Indo-Pacific strategic scenario and also exchanged views on West Asia. And yes we also discussed yesterday's match Congratulations Australia," said Jaishankar after meeting Richard Marles earlier on Monday. Penny Wong, Australian Foreign Minister, said that the Australia-India relationship has never been more consequential. Wong also had a separate meeting with policy leaders and discussed gender equality in foreign trade and development policy. "The aspirations we champion in our region peace, stability, prosperity can only be achieved if we continue to see progress in gender equality," said Wong. ALSO READ | India-Australia cooperation for air-to-air refueling in advanced stage of discussion Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI IMPHAL: A security force personnel and his driver were shot dead by suspected members of the Imphal Valley-based terror groups in Kangpokpi district of Manipur on Monday, officials said here. The duo were travelling in a vehicle when suspected terror group members belonging to the state's majority community carried out an ambush between Haraothel and Kobsha villages, the officials said. One of the deceased was working with the India Reserve Battalion (IRB), the officials said. The incident took place in an area adjacent to the Singda dam, which has become a hotspot for insurgent groups to target tribal community members during the ongoing ethnic violence in the northeastern state. A tribal organisation claimed that the Kuki-Zo community people were attacked without provocation and declared a "shutdown" in Kangpokpi district. The area witnessed several incidents of gunfight between armed villagers since the ethnic strife between Meitei and Kuki communities began in the northeastern state in early May. Additional forces have been deployed in the area and a search is underway to arrest those involved in the incident, a police official said. Condemning the "unprovoked attack" on the Kuki-Zo community people, the Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) declared an "emergency shutdown" in the Kangpokpi district. The COTU, at a meeting, also demanded that the government make arrangements for a separate administration for tribals. More than 180 people have been killed since the violence erupted on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts. READ MORE | End Manipur violence or forget Acting East Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp IMPHAL: A security force personnel and his driver were shot dead by suspected members of the Imphal Valley-based terror groups in Kangpokpi district of Manipur on Monday, officials said here. The duo were travelling in a vehicle when suspected terror group members belonging to the state's majority community carried out an ambush between Haraothel and Kobsha villages, the officials said. One of the deceased was working with the India Reserve Battalion (IRB), the officials said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The incident took place in an area adjacent to the Singda dam, which has become a hotspot for insurgent groups to target tribal community members during the ongoing ethnic violence in the northeastern state. A tribal organisation claimed that the Kuki-Zo community people were attacked without provocation and declared a "shutdown" in Kangpokpi district. The area witnessed several incidents of gunfight between armed villagers since the ethnic strife between Meitei and Kuki communities began in the northeastern state in early May. Additional forces have been deployed in the area and a search is underway to arrest those involved in the incident, a police official said. Condemning the "unprovoked attack" on the Kuki-Zo community people, the Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) declared an "emergency shutdown" in the Kangpokpi district. The COTU, at a meeting, also demanded that the government make arrangements for a separate administration for tribals. More than 180 people have been killed since the violence erupted on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts. READ MORE | End Manipur violence or forget Acting East Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Yeshi Seli By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Ahead of Kenyan President William Rutos official visit to Delhi on December 5, V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs of India will pay official visits to the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Kenya. The visit begins on November 20 for three days and a 30 member business delegation from India will be accompanying him. He will first visit Tanzania and later Kenya, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. Muraleedharan will first land in Zanzibar where he is expected to call on President Hussein Ali Mwinyi and hold discussions with other ministers. He will also visit the Campus of IIT Madras in Zanzibar. He will also travel to Dar-es-Salaam for bilateral discussions with the leadership of Tanzania and chair a business meeting along with his Tanzanian counterpart that will bring together the Indian business delegation with their Tanzanian counterparts with the objective of increasing bilateral trade and investment flows between the two countries, said MEA. Muraleedharan will arrive in Kenya on November 22 The MoS will call on the top leadership of the country and co-chair an India-Kenya Business Meet being organised in association with the Government of Kenya, says MEA. The visit is expected to strengthen Indias strong bilateral relations with these countries. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: Ahead of Kenyan President William Rutos official visit to Delhi on December 5, V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs of India will pay official visits to the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Kenya. The visit begins on November 20 for three days and a 30 member business delegation from India will be accompanying him. He will first visit Tanzania and later Kenya, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. Muraleedharan will first land in Zanzibar where he is expected to call on President Hussein Ali Mwinyi and hold discussions with other ministers. He will also visit the Campus of IIT Madras in Zanzibar. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He will also travel to Dar-es-Salaam for bilateral discussions with the leadership of Tanzania and chair a business meeting along with his Tanzanian counterpart that will bring together the Indian business delegation with their Tanzanian counterparts with the objective of increasing bilateral trade and investment flows between the two countries, said MEA. Muraleedharan will arrive in Kenya on November 22 The MoS will call on the top leadership of the country and co-chair an India-Kenya Business Meet being organised in association with the Government of Kenya, says MEA. The visit is expected to strengthen Indias strong bilateral relations with these countries. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service BHOPAL: Killing of sitting MLA and Congress candidates close aide allegedly by the BJP candidate in Rajnagar assembly constituency of Chhatarpur district - just a few hours before the November 17 assembly polls is turning out to be a major flashpoint between the ruling and main opposition parties. Former CM and Congress MP Digvijaya Singh protested with party workers outside the Khajuraho police station in Chhatarpur overnight, demanding arrest of the BJP candidate Arvind Pateria in the November 17 murder case. On the other hand, a BJP delegation led by state party chief VD Sharma, submitted a memorandum at the chief electoral officer (CEO-MP) office on Sunday, accusing the Rajnagar police station in-charge and SP of booking the BJP candidate (who is said to be close to the state BJP chief) falsely in the murder case. They claimed that the MLAs aide was actually killed in road accident. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp BHOPAL: Killing of sitting MLA and Congress candidates close aide allegedly by the BJP candidate in Rajnagar assembly constituency of Chhatarpur district - just a few hours before the November 17 assembly polls is turning out to be a major flashpoint between the ruling and main opposition parties. Former CM and Congress MP Digvijaya Singh protested with party workers outside the Khajuraho police station in Chhatarpur overnight, demanding arrest of the BJP candidate Arvind Pateria in the November 17 murder case. On the other hand, a BJP delegation led by state party chief VD Sharma, submitted a memorandum at the chief electoral officer (CEO-MP) office on Sunday, accusing the Rajnagar police station in-charge and SP of booking the BJP candidate (who is said to be close to the state BJP chief) falsely in the murder case. They claimed that the MLAs aide was actually killed in road accident.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Public affairs programming from Cayuga Community College's telecom/media department has been rescheduled for this week due to a fire alarm that went off at the Auburn campus Nov. 21. Auburn City Manager Jeff Dygert will give an update on the city's ambulance service and funding for the Cayuga Economic Development Agency on "Inside Government with Guy Cosentino" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, on Spectrum 12. The program will replay at 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 2 and 3, on Spectrum 12 and 98, and Verizon Fios Channel 31 from Auburn Regional Media Access. "Beyond the Front Page with Guy Cosentino" will then feature a discussion on the newly proposed emergency homeless shelter on Grant Avenue with Cayuga County Legislator Elane Daly, chair of its Health and Human Services Committee; the city of Auburn planning department's Renee Jensen, who sits on the homeless task force and oversees the Community Development Block Grant program; and Christopher Trevisani, vice president of development for Housing Visions. The guests will also discuss public meeting on the project taking place Thursday, Nov. 30, at the college. The program will air at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, on Spectrum 12 and at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 2 and 3, on Spectrum 12 and 98 and Verizon Fios Channel 31 from Auburn Regional Media Access. The college's public affairs programming will return in early February. All programs are recorded at the college by students in the college's telecom/media department, under the supervision of new director Erin McCormack. They are streamed live and archived on the departments YouTube channel, which is accessible by searching for "Media@Cayuga" on the site. The shows are rebroadcast starting at 10 a.m. Saturdays on the colleges station, WDWN 89.1 FM. Ramashankar By Express News Service PATNA: Medical services in all government hospitals in Bihar will remain paralysed on Tuesday after a call by Indian Medical Association (IMA) to protest against a murderous attack on a doctor in a government hospital in Purnea district. As per the decision, doctors serving in government hospitals across the state will abstain from their duty, adversely affecting the medical services. The strike call follows an attack on Dr. Rajesh Paswan, posted in a government hospital in Purnea, by the relatives of a patient after the latter's death. Angered over the incident, the relatives ransacked the hospital and thrashed the doctor on duty. Dr. Paswan was also threatened with dire consequences. Dr. Ajay Kumar, former president of IMA's Bihar chapter, said that the next course of action would be decided at an emergency meeting of the association members on November 22. Attacks on doctors have become a common feature in Bihar these days. Such incidents have created a fear psychosis in medical frternity, he added. The government should ensure proper safety and security to the doctors. "Even the law that provides safety to serving doctors is not being implemented by the enforcing agencies. As a result frequent incidents of attack on doctors are reported," he said. The Bihar government had framed Epidemic Disease Amendment Act 2020 after 2019 Coronavirus pandemic promising strict action against offenders. But the provisions are never applied in the cases registered against those involved in attacks on doctors, he lamented. The state has 792 government hospitals to cater to about 13 crore people. In addition, there are 12 government medical colleges in the state. Emergency services have been exempted from the preview of one-day agitation, Dr. Kumar said. The injured doctor is undergoing treatment at a hospital in the state capital. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp PATNA: Medical services in all government hospitals in Bihar will remain paralysed on Tuesday after a call by Indian Medical Association (IMA) to protest against a murderous attack on a doctor in a government hospital in Purnea district. As per the decision, doctors serving in government hospitals across the state will abstain from their duty, adversely affecting the medical services. The strike call follows an attack on Dr. Rajesh Paswan, posted in a government hospital in Purnea, by the relatives of a patient after the latter's death. Angered over the incident, the relatives ransacked the hospital and thrashed the doctor on duty. Dr. Paswan was also threatened with dire consequences.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Dr. Ajay Kumar, former president of IMA's Bihar chapter, said that the next course of action would be decided at an emergency meeting of the association members on November 22. Attacks on doctors have become a common feature in Bihar these days. Such incidents have created a fear psychosis in medical frternity, he added. The government should ensure proper safety and security to the doctors. "Even the law that provides safety to serving doctors is not being implemented by the enforcing agencies. As a result frequent incidents of attack on doctors are reported," he said. The Bihar government had framed Epidemic Disease Amendment Act 2020 after 2019 Coronavirus pandemic promising strict action against offenders. But the provisions are never applied in the cases registered against those involved in attacks on doctors, he lamented. The state has 792 government hospitals to cater to about 13 crore people. In addition, there are 12 government medical colleges in the state. Emergency services have been exempted from the preview of one-day agitation, Dr. Kumar said. The injured doctor is undergoing treatment at a hospital in the state capital. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By AFP RAFAH: Palestinian officials said a field hospital sent by Jordan entered the Gaza Strip Monday, the first since the war between Israel and the territory's rulers Hamas erupted on October 7. "The hospital will be established in Khan Yunis, to receive the wounded and the sick, under catastrophic conditions which southern hospitals are experiencing, with the influx of hundreds of wounded each day and continued aggressive aerial and artillery strikes," said Mohammed Zaqout, director-general of Gaza hospitals. There are around 30,000 wounded people across Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The death toll in Gaza has hit 13,000, mostly civilians, the ministry said Sunday. The war broke out when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, also mostly civilians, while around 240 were taken hostage, according to Israeli officials. Weeks of intense bombardment and severe shortages of fuel and medical supplies have meant most Gaza hospitals have stopped functioning. Aed Yaghi, head of medical aid in Gaza, said the field hospital will help ease the pressure on existing health services. "The number of medical personnel is limited and there aren't (enough) ambulances," Yaghi told AFP. The Jordanian field hospital reached Gaza accompanied by 17 personnel and 40 trucks of medical aid. All goods and individuals entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt are subject to Israeli approval. The head of Gaza's crossings authority, Hisham Adwan, said six ambulances from Kuwait also entered the territory on Monday. READ MORE | Israel-Hamas war LIVE: Gaza denies 'Hamas tunnel' in Al-Shifa; Israel says two hostages taken into hospital Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp RAFAH: Palestinian officials said a field hospital sent by Jordan entered the Gaza Strip Monday, the first since the war between Israel and the territory's rulers Hamas erupted on October 7. "The hospital will be established in Khan Yunis, to receive the wounded and the sick, under catastrophic conditions which southern hospitals are experiencing, with the influx of hundreds of wounded each day and continued aggressive aerial and artillery strikes," said Mohammed Zaqout, director-general of Gaza hospitals. There are around 30,000 wounded people across Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The death toll in Gaza has hit 13,000, mostly civilians, the ministry said Sunday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The war broke out when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, also mostly civilians, while around 240 were taken hostage, according to Israeli officials. Weeks of intense bombardment and severe shortages of fuel and medical supplies have meant most Gaza hospitals have stopped functioning. Aed Yaghi, head of medical aid in Gaza, said the field hospital will help ease the pressure on existing health services. "The number of medical personnel is limited and there aren't (enough) ambulances," Yaghi told AFP. The Jordanian field hospital reached Gaza accompanied by 17 personnel and 40 trucks of medical aid. All goods and individuals entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt are subject to Israeli approval. The head of Gaza's crossings authority, Hisham Adwan, said six ambulances from Kuwait also entered the territory on Monday. READ MORE | Israel-Hamas war LIVE: Gaza denies 'Hamas tunnel' in Al-Shifa; Israel says two hostages taken into hospital Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Yeshi Seli By Express News Service NEW DELHI: With Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday, it's not clear whether US President Joe Biden will be able to attend the G20 leaders summit (which will be held virtually on November 22), said US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti. "President Biden came down to attend the G20 Summit in September and India-US ties are stronger than before. With Thanksgiving around the corner, we are not sure whether he would be able to take part in the virtual summit on November 22," said Ambassador Garcetti in response to a query by The New Indian Express. The summit is expected to be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, due to different time zones, there could be some leaders who end up skipping it, according to a source. Meanwhile, Ambassador Garcetti said that India-US ties are stronger than before across the spectrum which includes the defence partnership. "Our defence relations have become fortified at three levels. The first is in the development of technology, the second is in the sales of weapons and the third is operational strategies. We are co-developing GE engines. We are friendly, trusted and committed," said Ambassador Garcetti. On the recently concluded India-US 2+2 ministerial meeting, Garcetti said there were two wars globally, and there were diplomatic and economic challenges. "The United States continues to prioritize India and that India continues to prioritize the United States speaks volumes, first and foremost, of the friendship that underpins our relationship, and the importance that we place upon this relationship. And I think increasingly, the good work that we do, and we get it right and we work together on some of the most challenging issues for our countries, and for the world," said Ambassador Garcetti. "Secretary Austin has been to India for a third time, second this year, and Secretary Blinkens third time this year alone. There are all sorts of metrics I can point out to, like for instance, our Secretary of Treasury, Jan Yellen. This was the number one country she went to in the world, outside of the United States, four times. And this is unprecedented, to see the level of engagement of higher-level officials from both sides in each others countries," he added. Meanwhile, Ambassador Garcetti spoke about the need for the US and India to deepen their AI conversation. He said that the US was looking at enhancing its strength in the consulate in Hyderabad to improve visa processing. He also said that they are expanding their facilities in Ahmedabad and Bangalore. Regarding Bangladesh, which will go to the polls on January 7, the Ambassador said they were optimistic that the elections would be free and fair and there would be no instances of violence. ALSO READ | Biden-Xi talk the talk and hum 'Bad Blood' Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: With Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday, it's not clear whether US President Joe Biden will be able to attend the G20 leaders summit (which will be held virtually on November 22), said US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti. "President Biden came down to attend the G20 Summit in September and India-US ties are stronger than before. With Thanksgiving around the corner, we are not sure whether he would be able to take part in the virtual summit on November 22," said Ambassador Garcetti in response to a query by The New Indian Express. The summit is expected to be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, due to different time zones, there could be some leaders who end up skipping it, according to a source.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Meanwhile, Ambassador Garcetti said that India-US ties are stronger than before across the spectrum which includes the defence partnership. "Our defence relations have become fortified at three levels. The first is in the development of technology, the second is in the sales of weapons and the third is operational strategies. We are co-developing GE engines. We are friendly, trusted and committed," said Ambassador Garcetti. On the recently concluded India-US 2+2 ministerial meeting, Garcetti said there were two wars globally, and there were diplomatic and economic challenges. "The United States continues to prioritize India and that India continues to prioritize the United States speaks volumes, first and foremost, of the friendship that underpins our relationship, and the importance that we place upon this relationship. And I think increasingly, the good work that we do, and we get it right and we work together on some of the most challenging issues for our countries, and for the world," said Ambassador Garcetti. "Secretary Austin has been to India for a third time, second this year, and Secretary Blinkens third time this year alone. There are all sorts of metrics I can point out to, like for instance, our Secretary of Treasury, Jan Yellen. This was the number one country she went to in the world, outside of the United States, four times. And this is unprecedented, to see the level of engagement of higher-level officials from both sides in each others countries," he added. Meanwhile, Ambassador Garcetti spoke about the need for the US and India to deepen their AI conversation. He said that the US was looking at enhancing its strength in the consulate in Hyderabad to improve visa processing. He also said that they are expanding their facilities in Ahmedabad and Bangalore. Regarding Bangladesh, which will go to the polls on January 7, the Ambassador said they were optimistic that the elections would be free and fair and there would be no instances of violence. ALSO READ | Biden-Xi talk the talk and hum 'Bad Blood' Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI AMRITSAR/LUDHIANA/HOSHIARPUR: Several farmer bodies in Punjab on Monday held protests at the offices of deputy commissioners and sub-divisional magistrates at many places, seeking withdrawal of cases registered against farmers for burning stubble. The call for the four-hour protest was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and 18 other farmer bodies. The agitating farmers demanded the withdrawal of legal actions, including registration of FIRs and rollback of the fine imposed on farmers for burning crop residue. They also demanded an increase in sugarcane rates and fair compensation for land acquisition under the Bharatmala projects. In Moga, a group of farmers, who were bringing stubble in tractor-trolleys, said they were stopped from entering the DC office complex for staging a 'dharna'. One of the farmers even lied in front of a police vehicle, demanding they be allowed to go to the DC complex. "Where should we take this stubble?" one of the protesters asked. The protesters, while condemning the legal action against farmers for burning straw, said 75-80 percent of pollution was caused by industry and vehicles. But the action was being taken against farmers, they said. In Sangrur, the protesting farmers brought stubble in their tractor-trolleys and parked their vehicles near the DC office. Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said demonstrations were held at 34 places in the state. He demanded that penalties imposed on farmers be withdrawn and sought a long-lasting solution for managing stubble. In Ludhiana, protesting farmers were not allowed to enter the city. Two groups of farmers were stopped at Verka Milk Plant Chowk and near the Sangowal village, respectively. Later, a delegation of farmers reached the mini secretariat and presented a memorandum to the additional deputy commissioner. In Hoshiarpur, farmers under the banner of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba staged a 'dharna' against punitive actions towards farmers involved in burning stubble. Led by Harpal Singh Sangha, the president of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba, the farmers gathered in front of the district administrative complex. They submitted a memorandum to the Hoshiarpur DC outlining their concerns and demands. Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is considered one of the reasons behind the spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November. Police on Sunday had said that over 930 FIRs had been registered against farmers for burning stubble since November 8, besides, a fine of Rs 1.67 crore had been imposed in 7,405 cases and red entries were made in the revenue records of 340 farmers. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp AMRITSAR/LUDHIANA/HOSHIARPUR: Several farmer bodies in Punjab on Monday held protests at the offices of deputy commissioners and sub-divisional magistrates at many places, seeking withdrawal of cases registered against farmers for burning stubble. The call for the four-hour protest was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and 18 other farmer bodies. The agitating farmers demanded the withdrawal of legal actions, including registration of FIRs and rollback of the fine imposed on farmers for burning crop residue.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); They also demanded an increase in sugarcane rates and fair compensation for land acquisition under the Bharatmala projects. In Moga, a group of farmers, who were bringing stubble in tractor-trolleys, said they were stopped from entering the DC office complex for staging a 'dharna'. One of the farmers even lied in front of a police vehicle, demanding they be allowed to go to the DC complex. "Where should we take this stubble?" one of the protesters asked. The protesters, while condemning the legal action against farmers for burning straw, said 75-80 percent of pollution was caused by industry and vehicles. But the action was being taken against farmers, they said. In Sangrur, the protesting farmers brought stubble in their tractor-trolleys and parked their vehicles near the DC office. Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said demonstrations were held at 34 places in the state. He demanded that penalties imposed on farmers be withdrawn and sought a long-lasting solution for managing stubble. In Ludhiana, protesting farmers were not allowed to enter the city. Two groups of farmers were stopped at Verka Milk Plant Chowk and near the Sangowal village, respectively. Later, a delegation of farmers reached the mini secretariat and presented a memorandum to the additional deputy commissioner. In Hoshiarpur, farmers under the banner of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba staged a 'dharna' against punitive actions towards farmers involved in burning stubble. Led by Harpal Singh Sangha, the president of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba, the farmers gathered in front of the district administrative complex. They submitted a memorandum to the Hoshiarpur DC outlining their concerns and demands. Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is considered one of the reasons behind the spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November. Police on Sunday had said that over 930 FIRs had been registered against farmers for burning stubble since November 8, besides, a fine of Rs 1.67 crore had been imposed in 7,405 cases and red entries were made in the revenue records of 340 farmers. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Narendra Sethi By Express News Service DEHRADUN: After a week of failed rescue efforts in Uttarkashi, the government is back to the drawing board on how to bring out the trapped 41 labourers. The government is now looking at five options for rescue of the labourers. Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari visited the accident site on Sunday. Two foreign experts in engineering and microtunneling have also reached the venue to help in with the rescue work. Five PSUs have been roped in for assistance with specific responsibilities. The workers are trapped in an area of 8.5 metres in height and spread over two kilometers, Gadkari said. This section of the tunnel has been reinforced with concrete to ensure safety of the labourers and it is equipped with electricity and water, he added. The government is looking to send in robots to see if another pipe for life support could be pushed through it, Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha told reporters in Silkyara. A road to the top of the hill has been laid for digging a vertical shaft down into the tunnel. Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation is set to begin micro tunneling from the Barkot end of the under-construction tunnel. RVNL will work on the vertical pipeline for supplying essential items from the top of the hill. Preparations are underway to restart the auger machine and resume drilling and pipe-laying at the tunnel, Gadkari said. The minister said the auger machine had worked well through the soft soil but there were vibrations in the tunnel when it encountered a hard object. This posed a danger to the safety of the rescue workers, he added. Though I am no technical expert, in the given circumstances, horizontal digging seems the best option. If the auger machine does not encounter any obstacles it might reach the trapped workers in two-and-a-half days. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp DEHRADUN: After a week of failed rescue efforts in Uttarkashi, the government is back to the drawing board on how to bring out the trapped 41 labourers. The government is now looking at five options for rescue of the labourers. Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari visited the accident site on Sunday. Two foreign experts in engineering and microtunneling have also reached the venue to help in with the rescue work. Five PSUs have been roped in for assistance with specific responsibilities. The workers are trapped in an area of 8.5 metres in height and spread over two kilometers, Gadkari said. This section of the tunnel has been reinforced with concrete to ensure safety of the labourers and it is equipped with electricity and water, he added. The government is looking to send in robots to see if another pipe for life support could be pushed through it, Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha told reporters in Silkyara. A road to the top of the hill has been laid for digging a vertical shaft down into the tunnel. Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation is set to begin micro tunneling from the Barkot end of the under-construction tunnel. RVNL will work on the vertical pipeline for supplying essential items from the top of the hill. Preparations are underway to restart the auger machine and resume drilling and pipe-laying at the tunnel, Gadkari said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The minister said the auger machine had worked well through the soft soil but there were vibrations in the tunnel when it encountered a hard object. This posed a danger to the safety of the rescue workers, he added. Though I am no technical expert, in the given circumstances, horizontal digging seems the best option. If the auger machine does not encounter any obstacles it might reach the trapped workers in two-and-a-half days. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By ANI JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday attacked the BJP-led Central Government over its excise duty policy, accusing it of being unfair to the states and the people of the country and saying, "They are cheating the people of the country." Gehlot said that the basic excise duty, which is distributed to the states, has almost been eliminated. In its place, the Central Government has introduced new excise duties, including additional excise duties 1, 2, and Cess, which are not being distributed to the states. He accused the Central Government of diverting all the money into the Centre's account, thereby depriving the states of their rightful share, he alleged. "The government of India is playing a game. The basic excise duty that is distributed to the states has almost been finished, and the new excise duty, including the additional excise duties 1, 2, and Cess, is not being distributed to the states. They are taking all the money into the centre's account. They are cheating the people of the country," said the Rajasthan CM while speaking to the media. Comparing BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh with Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot said that the excise duty in Madhya Pradesh is higher than in Rajasthan. "The excise duty in Madhya Pradesh is higher than in Rajasthan. The prices of petrol and diesel are higher in MP, but they will not compare this. They need to bring down the excise duty," Gehlot asserted. Further, the Congress leader alleged that "all the BJP leaders, PM Modi, and Union Ministers keep saying almost the same thing all through the day. They will not talk about what we did for the public and what we could not do in the last 5 years." Rajasthan will go to the polls on November 25, and the counting of votes will be held on December 3, 2023, along with the other four states: Mizoram, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. In the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress won 99 seats, while the BJP finished at 73 seats in the 200-member House. Gehlot took the oath as CM with the support of BSP MLAs and independent legislators. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday attacked the BJP-led Central Government over its excise duty policy, accusing it of being unfair to the states and the people of the country and saying, "They are cheating the people of the country." Gehlot said that the basic excise duty, which is distributed to the states, has almost been eliminated. In its place, the Central Government has introduced new excise duties, including additional excise duties 1, 2, and Cess, which are not being distributed to the states. He accused the Central Government of diverting all the money into the Centre's account, thereby depriving the states of their rightful share, he alleged. "The government of India is playing a game. The basic excise duty that is distributed to the states has almost been finished, and the new excise duty, including the additional excise duties 1, 2, and Cess, is not being distributed to the states. They are taking all the money into the centre's account. They are cheating the people of the country," said the Rajasthan CM while speaking to the media.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Comparing BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh with Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot said that the excise duty in Madhya Pradesh is higher than in Rajasthan. "The excise duty in Madhya Pradesh is higher than in Rajasthan. The prices of petrol and diesel are higher in MP, but they will not compare this. They need to bring down the excise duty," Gehlot asserted. Further, the Congress leader alleged that "all the BJP leaders, PM Modi, and Union Ministers keep saying almost the same thing all through the day. They will not talk about what we did for the public and what we could not do in the last 5 years." Rajasthan will go to the polls on November 25, and the counting of votes will be held on December 3, 2023, along with the other four states: Mizoram, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. In the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress won 99 seats, while the BJP finished at 73 seats in the 200-member House. Gehlot took the oath as CM with the support of BSP MLAs and independent legislators. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By ANI UTTARKASHI: As part of the efforts to rescue the 41 workers trapped at the Silkyara tunnel collapse site, International Tunnelling Expert Arnold Dix conducted an inspection at the tunnel site on Monday. The International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association president, Arnold Dix, arrived at the location site in Silkyara, Uttarkashi, to aid in the rescue efforts and expressed optimism on the prospects of rescue and relief operations that are underway. After inspecting the tunnel as well as the area above it from where the vertical drilling operation will commence, Professor Dix seemed optimistic about the rescue operation. "It is looking good, but we have to decide whether it's good or a trap, because it's looking very positive. I have got the best experts for this Himalayan geology here; I'm just one," Professor Dix said. "We are going back to the office to talk about what we've seen, and we need to compare what we have seen here above the tunnel with what we know about what is happening in the tunnel. This actually helps us make the proper decision because we are rescuing those 41 men, and we are not letting anyone get hurt while we're doing that, but for that, we need to be very careful," he added. VIDEO | Uttarkashi tunnel rescue: International tunneling expert Arnold Dix conducts a survey at Silkyara tunnel where 41 workers have been stuck since November 12.#UttarakhandTunnelCollapse pic.twitter.com/5xGAwgoTBg Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 Arnold Dix is working alongside multiple agencies that have mounted a four-pronged approach to the rescue operation. One of the options that is being worked on is drilling vertically from above the tunnel face. "I need to see what's going on underneath; I need to go look down at the bottom. It's like any complex job; you need to check all around it and discuss it, but at the moment it's looking very positive," Professor Dix said. "What I know is that something is going to happen. Things are happening; the team here is so focused on the rescue and so focused that no one is hurt that we are taking our time to make the very best decisions we can with the information we got, knowing that time is peaking," he added. ALSO READ | PM Modi tells CM Dhami to maintain workers' morale amid rescue efforts Dix specialises in underground and transportation infrastructure, from construction risk to more technical issues associated with actual safety performance from an operational safety perspective. He also provides advice on the risks associated with underground construction and is widely recognised as the world's leading expert on underground tunnelling. Meanwhile, efforts to rescue the 41 trapped workers at the Silkyara tunnel collapse site continue for the ninth day. The Uttrakhand government and the centre are maintaining constant communication and making all efforts to keep up the morale of the labourers trapped in the 2 km-long tunnel portion. Electricity and water are available in this portion of the tunnel, and labourers are provided food items such as channa, murmure, dry fruits, medicines, etc. through a 4-inch compressor pipeline. National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) is creating another 6-inch pipeline for food. For this pipe, drilling of 39 metres out of 60 metres is complete. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is working on another vertical pipeline to supply essential items. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has completed an approach road for facilitating RVNL. NHIDCL will also continue to drill from the Silkyara end after working on safety arrangements. The Army has prepared the box culvert to facilitate this. Further, Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation (THDC) will start work on micro-tunnelling from the Barkot end, for which heavy machinery has been mobilised. Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) will do the vertical drilling to rescue the trapped labourers. Accordingly, equipment has been mobilised from Gujarat and Odisha. ONGC has also started the initial work for vertical drilling from the Barkot end. BRO has already started the approach road for mobilisation machines for ONGC and SJVNL. Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and discussed the ongoing operations to rescue the 41 workers who have been trapped since last week in the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi. On November 12, it was reported that a collapse occurred in an under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot due to muck falling in a 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel, trapping 41 workers. It was decided to lay a 900-mm pipe through the muck as it was the fastest possible solution. However, on November 17, because of ground movement, it became unsafe to continue with this option. It was then decided to move on multiple fronts together. Five options were decided, and five different agencies were detailed to carry out these options. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp UTTARKASHI: As part of the efforts to rescue the 41 workers trapped at the Silkyara tunnel collapse site, International Tunnelling Expert Arnold Dix conducted an inspection at the tunnel site on Monday. The International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association president, Arnold Dix, arrived at the location site in Silkyara, Uttarkashi, to aid in the rescue efforts and expressed optimism on the prospects of rescue and relief operations that are underway. After inspecting the tunnel as well as the area above it from where the vertical drilling operation will commence, Professor Dix seemed optimistic about the rescue operation.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "It is looking good, but we have to decide whether it's good or a trap, because it's looking very positive. I have got the best experts for this Himalayan geology here; I'm just one," Professor Dix said. "We are going back to the office to talk about what we've seen, and we need to compare what we have seen here above the tunnel with what we know about what is happening in the tunnel. This actually helps us make the proper decision because we are rescuing those 41 men, and we are not letting anyone get hurt while we're doing that, but for that, we need to be very careful," he added. VIDEO | Uttarkashi tunnel rescue: International tunneling expert Arnold Dix conducts a survey at Silkyara tunnel where 41 workers have been stuck since November 12.#UttarakhandTunnelCollapse pic.twitter.com/5xGAwgoTBg Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 Arnold Dix is working alongside multiple agencies that have mounted a four-pronged approach to the rescue operation. One of the options that is being worked on is drilling vertically from above the tunnel face. "I need to see what's going on underneath; I need to go look down at the bottom. It's like any complex job; you need to check all around it and discuss it, but at the moment it's looking very positive," Professor Dix said. "What I know is that something is going to happen. Things are happening; the team here is so focused on the rescue and so focused that no one is hurt that we are taking our time to make the very best decisions we can with the information we got, knowing that time is peaking," he added. ALSO READ | PM Modi tells CM Dhami to maintain workers' morale amid rescue efforts Dix specialises in underground and transportation infrastructure, from construction risk to more technical issues associated with actual safety performance from an operational safety perspective. He also provides advice on the risks associated with underground construction and is widely recognised as the world's leading expert on underground tunnelling. Meanwhile, efforts to rescue the 41 trapped workers at the Silkyara tunnel collapse site continue for the ninth day. The Uttrakhand government and the centre are maintaining constant communication and making all efforts to keep up the morale of the labourers trapped in the 2 km-long tunnel portion. Electricity and water are available in this portion of the tunnel, and labourers are provided food items such as channa, murmure, dry fruits, medicines, etc. through a 4-inch compressor pipeline. National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) is creating another 6-inch pipeline for food. For this pipe, drilling of 39 metres out of 60 metres is complete. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is working on another vertical pipeline to supply essential items. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has completed an approach road for facilitating RVNL. NHIDCL will also continue to drill from the Silkyara end after working on safety arrangements. The Army has prepared the box culvert to facilitate this. Further, Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation (THDC) will start work on micro-tunnelling from the Barkot end, for which heavy machinery has been mobilised. Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) will do the vertical drilling to rescue the trapped labourers. Accordingly, equipment has been mobilised from Gujarat and Odisha. ONGC has also started the initial work for vertical drilling from the Barkot end. BRO has already started the approach road for mobilisation machines for ONGC and SJVNL. Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and discussed the ongoing operations to rescue the 41 workers who have been trapped since last week in the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi. On November 12, it was reported that a collapse occurred in an under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot due to muck falling in a 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel, trapping 41 workers. It was decided to lay a 900-mm pipe through the muck as it was the fastest possible solution. However, on November 17, because of ground movement, it became unsafe to continue with this option. It was then decided to move on multiple fronts together. Five options were decided, and five different agencies were detailed to carry out these options. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI DEHRADUN: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami over phone to take stock of the rescue operations being carried out at the Silkyara tunnel to evacuate 41 workers trapped for over a week. Necessary rescue equipment and resources, he said, are being provided by the Centre and through mutual coordination between central and state agencies and expressed hope that the trapped workers will be safely evacuated. The prime minister said it is necessary to maintain the morale of the trapped workers, according to a statement issued by the Uttarakhand Chief Minister's Office. This is the third time that the prime minister has spoken to Dhami about the rescue operations being carried out at the tunnel. The chief minister briefed the prime minister about the rescue operations in detail and said all the trapped workers are safe with oxygen, nutritious food and water being constantly supplied to them. VIDEO | Uttarkashi tunnel rescue: International tunneling expert Arnold Dix conducts a survey at Silkyara tunnel where 41 workers have been stuck since November 12.#UttarakhandTunnelCollapse pic.twitter.com/5xGAwgoTBg Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 All agencies are working in full coordination with each other in consultation with experts to carry out the rescue operations. Dhami said he has inspected the site and is constantly monitoring the rescue operations. All efforts are underway to evacuate the workers expeditiously, the chief minister told Modi. Medical teams are also stationed at the site and a team from the Prime Minister's Office is also keeping an eye on the operations after visiting the tunnel for an on-the-spot review. Rescue operations are being carried out on a war footing since portions of the tunnel collapsed following a landslide early on November 12, leaving 41 workers trapped behind a huge mound of debris. The Silkyara tunnel, about 30 km from the district headquarters of Uttarkashi and a seven-hour drive from the Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, is part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project of the central government. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp DEHRADUN: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami over phone to take stock of the rescue operations being carried out at the Silkyara tunnel to evacuate 41 workers trapped for over a week. Necessary rescue equipment and resources, he said, are being provided by the Centre and through mutual coordination between central and state agencies and expressed hope that the trapped workers will be safely evacuated. The prime minister said it is necessary to maintain the morale of the trapped workers, according to a statement issued by the Uttarakhand Chief Minister's Office.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); This is the third time that the prime minister has spoken to Dhami about the rescue operations being carried out at the tunnel. The chief minister briefed the prime minister about the rescue operations in detail and said all the trapped workers are safe with oxygen, nutritious food and water being constantly supplied to them. VIDEO | Uttarkashi tunnel rescue: International tunneling expert Arnold Dix conducts a survey at Silkyara tunnel where 41 workers have been stuck since November 12.#UttarakhandTunnelCollapse pic.twitter.com/5xGAwgoTBg Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 All agencies are working in full coordination with each other in consultation with experts to carry out the rescue operations. Dhami said he has inspected the site and is constantly monitoring the rescue operations. All efforts are underway to evacuate the workers expeditiously, the chief minister told Modi. Medical teams are also stationed at the site and a team from the Prime Minister's Office is also keeping an eye on the operations after visiting the tunnel for an on-the-spot review. Rescue operations are being carried out on a war footing since portions of the tunnel collapsed following a landslide early on November 12, leaving 41 workers trapped behind a huge mound of debris. The Silkyara tunnel, about 30 km from the district headquarters of Uttarkashi and a seven-hour drive from the Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, is part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project of the central government. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Narendra Sethi By Express News Service DEHRADUN: The 41 labourers who have been trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district for nine days got some relief on Monday as engineers succeeded in installing a second six-inch lifeline pipe. Now, through this pipe, more food items can be sent to the labourers. "All workers inside the tunnel are safe, only roasted chana, salt, medicines, toffee, chocolate, etc. were being sent through the old pipe, but more food items including fruits, eggs etc will be sent to the labourers through the new pipe," National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) Director Anshu Manish Khalkho told reporters. "You can see the relief on my face as a reflection of the success I have had today," Khalkho said. The NHIDCL team paused drilling with the Auger machine on Monday morning to insert a six-inch lifeline pipe for the trapped labourers. The drilling was briefly halted around 1 pm when a rock obstructed the process, but by 4 pm, the team successfully advanced the 57-metre pipe. This additional lifeline pipe will now facilitate the delivery of essential supplies to the labourers awaiting rescue. According to a spokesman for the camp office in Silkyara, "A place has been chosen for drilling above the tunnel. It will have a drill of 1.2 metres diameter. The setup is likely to happen in the next 24 hours. Now the drill will be completed in two to three days." Col Deepak Patil, who is in charge of the rescue and relief operation, told The New Indian Express, "After being suspended for three days, the drilling work resumed on Sunday night. At the same time, the pipes of food and oxygen supply to the labourers trapped inside have been covered with concrete hume pipes. Even if there is a landslide due to some reason, it will not disrupt the supply of food items and oxygen." Five agencies namely Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVNL), Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited (THDCL) have been assigned different responsibilities for evacuation of the stranded labourers. Furthermore, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced that the state government will cover the entire cost of transporting the families of the trapped laborers from the Silkyara tunnel. He also mentioned arrangements for mobile recharge, food, and accommodation for the families. Sharing information received from experts, Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi told TNIE, "The drilling work has resumed with the Auger machine in the tunnel, sprayed with shotcrete to reduce the risk of landslides. Also, the work of constructing a temporary road for drilling over the tunnel under the backup plan is in the final stages." PIL in Uttarakhand High Court A division bench of acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit, upon hearing a PIL filed by an NGO named 'Samadhan' seeking a solution for early evacuation of labourers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel, took serious note of the matter and directed the state government to file its reply within 48 hours. The next hearing of the case will be on November 22. ALSO READ | Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: International tunnelling expert inspects rescue ops, expresses optimism Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp DEHRADUN: The 41 labourers who have been trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district for nine days got some relief on Monday as engineers succeeded in installing a second six-inch lifeline pipe. Now, through this pipe, more food items can be sent to the labourers. "All workers inside the tunnel are safe, only roasted chana, salt, medicines, toffee, chocolate, etc. were being sent through the old pipe, but more food items including fruits, eggs etc will be sent to the labourers through the new pipe," National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) Director Anshu Manish Khalkho told reporters. "You can see the relief on my face as a reflection of the success I have had today," Khalkho said. The NHIDCL team paused drilling with the Auger machine on Monday morning to insert a six-inch lifeline pipe for the trapped labourers. The drilling was briefly halted around 1 pm when a rock obstructed the process, but by 4 pm, the team successfully advanced the 57-metre pipe. This additional lifeline pipe will now facilitate the delivery of essential supplies to the labourers awaiting rescue.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to a spokesman for the camp office in Silkyara, "A place has been chosen for drilling above the tunnel. It will have a drill of 1.2 metres diameter. The setup is likely to happen in the next 24 hours. Now the drill will be completed in two to three days." Col Deepak Patil, who is in charge of the rescue and relief operation, told The New Indian Express, "After being suspended for three days, the drilling work resumed on Sunday night. At the same time, the pipes of food and oxygen supply to the labourers trapped inside have been covered with concrete hume pipes. Even if there is a landslide due to some reason, it will not disrupt the supply of food items and oxygen." Five agencies namely Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVNL), Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited (THDCL) have been assigned different responsibilities for evacuation of the stranded labourers. Furthermore, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced that the state government will cover the entire cost of transporting the families of the trapped laborers from the Silkyara tunnel. He also mentioned arrangements for mobile recharge, food, and accommodation for the families. Sharing information received from experts, Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi told TNIE, "The drilling work has resumed with the Auger machine in the tunnel, sprayed with shotcrete to reduce the risk of landslides. Also, the work of constructing a temporary road for drilling over the tunnel under the backup plan is in the final stages." PIL in Uttarakhand High Court A division bench of acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit, upon hearing a PIL filed by an NGO named 'Samadhan' seeking a solution for early evacuation of labourers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel, took serious note of the matter and directed the state government to file its reply within 48 hours. The next hearing of the case will be on November 22. ALSO READ | Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: International tunnelling expert inspects rescue ops, expresses optimism Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Ejaz Kaiser By Express News Service RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh, besides known to have an impressive sex ratio compared to the national average, has also more women electorates than men. In the two-phase assembly polls, interestingly, the state witnessed participation of more women than men in exercising their right to franchise. In as many as 50 assembly segments out of the ninety constituencies, more women than men turned out to cast votes. They outnumbered men by over 60 thousand in voting. It is speculated that the women-centric proposed schemes by the political parties may have made a difference that led to a rise in women showing up at polling booths The encouraging participation by women who decided to vote also led to higher turnout in 74 assembly seats compared to the 2018 assembly elections. As per the final count released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Chhattisgarh recorded an overall 76.31 percent turnout. Out of the 10,256,865 women there were 7,812,631 who voted, giving an impression of awareness of their rights. And 7,748,612 men out of the 10,135,543 male electorates had participated in voting. Chhattisgarh, since its creation as a separate state, has witnessed bipolar politics being a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress. This time the Congress has given tickets to 18 women while the BJP has fielded 15 in the fray in the midst of the aggressive campaigns when the womens reservation bill also emerged as a poll plank for the parties during the campaign. Recognising the womens strength and their role as influential voters in Chhattisgarh polls, the BJP and the Congress gave various assurances. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh, besides known to have an impressive sex ratio compared to the national average, has also more women electorates than men. In the two-phase assembly polls, interestingly, the state witnessed participation of more women than men in exercising their right to franchise. In as many as 50 assembly segments out of the ninety constituencies, more women than men turned out to cast votes. They outnumbered men by over 60 thousand in voting. It is speculated that the women-centric proposed schemes by the political parties may have made a difference that led to a rise in women showing up at polling boothsgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The encouraging participation by women who decided to vote also led to higher turnout in 74 assembly seats compared to the 2018 assembly elections. As per the final count released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Chhattisgarh recorded an overall 76.31 percent turnout. Out of the 10,256,865 women there were 7,812,631 who voted, giving an impression of awareness of their rights. And 7,748,612 men out of the 10,135,543 male electorates had participated in voting. Chhattisgarh, since its creation as a separate state, has witnessed bipolar politics being a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress. This time the Congress has given tickets to 18 women while the BJP has fielded 15 in the fray in the midst of the aggressive campaigns when the womens reservation bill also emerged as a poll plank for the parties during the campaign. Recognising the womens strength and their role as influential voters in Chhattisgarh polls, the BJP and the Congress gave various assurances. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov during the Turkmen-Iranian business forum held in Ashgabat stated that Turkmenistan is ready to significantly increase the volume of swap gas supplies through Iran, Azernews reports. "At present, joint work in the gas sector is carried out under a swap scheme that allows supplying Turkmen natural gas to third countries. We are ready for a significant expansion of such partnership," he said. According to him, the oil and gas sector is one of the main sectors of Turkmenistan's economy, its material and technical base is consistently modernised, modern equipment is introduced. "We propose to develop co-operation with the Iranian side in this sphere, especially with structures possessing high technologies and large industrial companies," the minister said. Swap deliveries were 7-7.5 mln m3 of gas per day. In November 2023, a delegation from Iraq led by Electricity Minister Ziyad Ali Fadhel signed a protocol on the terms of gas supplies in Ashgabat with the leadership of Turkmengaz state concern. According to it, 9 billion cubic metres of Turkmen natural gas will be transported annually through Iran to Iraq under the swap scheme for five years. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says there won't be a "dairy cliff" after the federal farm bill was extended for one year. The extension was included in a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. Congress approved the legislation and it was signed by President Joe Biden. The 2018 farm bill, which was scheduled to expire this year, included the Dairy Margin Coverage program. The voluntary program offers monthly payments to dairy farmers "when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer," according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The safety net replaced the Margin Protection Program that was available for dairy producers. Schumer, D-N.Y., traveled across New York this year to raise awareness about the possible expiration of the program. He visited Cayuga Milk Ingredients in May to warn of a potential "dairy cliff" if the program was not renewed. Without the Dairy Margin Coverage program, Schumer said there could be supply chain disruptions that increase milk prices. It could also lead to wasted spending because the federal government would be forced to buy milk at higher prices. New York is one of the top five dairy-producing states and upstate counties, including Cayuga, are among the top dairy-producing counties in the U.S. "Our dairy farmers are the beating heart of upstate, and when they came to me worried that this year we could be doing over the 'dairy cliff,' I immediately started ringing the cowbell and promised I would churn up support to ensure these payments wouldn't lapse," Schumer said. Congress is continuing to work on a long-term farm bill. The legislation is usually renewed every five years, but the divided Congress Republicans control the House, while Schumer and Democrats hold the Senate has yet to reach an agreement on a final bill. The leaders of the House and Senate agriculture committees released a joint statement about the one-year extension, calling it "in no way a substitute for passing a five-year farm bill." The committee chairs and ranking members said they are "committed to working together to get it done next year." Bosky Khanna By Express News Service BENGALURU: India should exercise global leadership to stave off the third wave war situation. The nation should act as a mediator, negotiator and facilitator to resolve conflicts, said Rohan Gunaratna, Professor of Security Studies, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore. He said after the 9/11 Al-Qaida attack on the US, the world saw a range of attacks in places like Bali, Madrid, London, among others. Similarly, after terror attacks in 2014, we saw terrorists entering other countries, leading to a second wave of attacks. Now, India needs to intervene to ensure there is no third wave of attacks after the Israel-Hamas situation. Speaking to TNIE on the sidelines of the three-day ninth Synergia Conclave, he said External Affairs Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval must work to resolve conflicts with China and Qatar at the earliest, to strengthen its ties with other countries. They must build a common database, exchange personnel between governments, enforce law, military and intelligence, build joint trading operations, share intelligence resources and technology as well as experience and expertise. World leaders like India, Russia, US and China should work together to resolve global problems. Almaimouni Ahmed Ali, director of Research and Studies Centre, at the Rasanah Institute in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said the whole world is looking at what Israel is doing. The death of civilians is now raising questions not just on the acts of Hamas, but even of Israel. The biggest fear is that the war may not stop, which calls for other countries to engage in this situation. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp BENGALURU: India should exercise global leadership to stave off the third wave war situation. The nation should act as a mediator, negotiator and facilitator to resolve conflicts, said Rohan Gunaratna, Professor of Security Studies, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore. He said after the 9/11 Al-Qaida attack on the US, the world saw a range of attacks in places like Bali, Madrid, London, among others. Similarly, after terror attacks in 2014, we saw terrorists entering other countries, leading to a second wave of attacks. Now, India needs to intervene to ensure there is no third wave of attacks after the Israel-Hamas situation. Speaking to TNIE on the sidelines of the three-day ninth Synergia Conclave, he said External Affairs Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval must work to resolve conflicts with China and Qatar at the earliest, to strengthen its ties with other countries. They must build a common database, exchange personnel between governments, enforce law, military and intelligence, build joint trading operations, share intelligence resources and technology as well as experience and expertise. World leaders like India, Russia, US and China should work together to resolve global problems.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Almaimouni Ahmed Ali, director of Research and Studies Centre, at the Rasanah Institute in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said the whole world is looking at what Israel is doing. The death of civilians is now raising questions not just on the acts of Hamas, but even of Israel. The biggest fear is that the war may not stop, which calls for other countries to engage in this situation. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service COIMBATORE: A crop raider makhna elephant aged 35 years that was captured thrice within six months this year was found dead in the Pollachi forest range on Sunday evening. A field-level forest department patrol team found the carcass at 3 pm in Nagamalai forest. The animals radio collar was intact, sources said. S Ramasubramanian conservator of forests and field director of Anamalai tiger reserve (ATR) said the animal might have died after slipping down from a rocky cliff. The forest department first captured and relocated the animal to Varagaliyar from Dharmapuri in February. It came out of the forest and reached Perur near Coimbatore city after walking close to 90 km. It was captured and released in Manombolly forest for the second time. But the animal managed to come out of the forest and reached Saralapathy from where it was captured for the third time and released at Chinnakallar on July 31. K Bhargava Teja, deputy director of ATR, ruled out foul play in the elephants death and said it had been healthy and adapted to its mew surroundings since it was released in July. He told TNIE that they had sent our a team to trace the animal as there was no signal from the radio collar in the last two days. Post mortem examination will be done on Monday. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp COIMBATORE: A crop raider makhna elephant aged 35 years that was captured thrice within six months this year was found dead in the Pollachi forest range on Sunday evening. A field-level forest department patrol team found the carcass at 3 pm in Nagamalai forest. The animals radio collar was intact, sources said. S Ramasubramanian conservator of forests and field director of Anamalai tiger reserve (ATR) said the animal might have died after slipping down from a rocky cliff. The forest department first captured and relocated the animal to Varagaliyar from Dharmapuri in February. It came out of the forest and reached Perur near Coimbatore city after walking close to 90 km. It was captured and released in Manombolly forest for the second time. But the animal managed to come out of the forest and reached Saralapathy from where it was captured for the third time and released at Chinnakallar on July 31.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); K Bhargava Teja, deputy director of ATR, ruled out foul play in the elephants death and said it had been healthy and adapted to its mew surroundings since it was released in July. He told TNIE that they had sent our a team to trace the animal as there was no signal from the radio collar in the last two days. Post mortem examination will be done on Monday. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service RAMANATHAPURAM: Just a day after their arrest, as many as 22 Rameswaram fishermen were released by the Sri Lankan government on Sunday following the intervention of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. According to sources, the fishers, hailing from Pamban area, were arrested and two of their boats seized by Sri Lankan Navy for alleged violation of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on Saturday. A delegation of fishermen met Nirmala Sitharaman, who was on a visit to Rameswaram to attend the PM SVANidhi credit outreach programme. They requested her to initiate steps for the release of the arrested fishermen, who had to stay put in international waters due to the adverse climatic conditions. Later, the minister spoke to the Ministry of External Affairs and High Commission of India in Sri Lanka for their release. The fishermen returned to India on Sunday, following which the delegation of fishermen met Sitharaman and expressed their gratitude to her. SP Rayappan, president of country boat fishermen association in Pamban, said the the order of the release by the Sri Lankan government came within hours of their request to the minister. We got to know about her visit to Rameswaram on Saturday. The fishermen delegation got an appointment and met her around 9 pm. Initially, we were apprehensive about the authenticity of the release order as such an instance within such a short time was unheard of. Around 12.30 am, we got a call from one of the 22 fishermen stating that all of them are heading towards India. I thank the union government and minister Nirmala Sitharaman for their swift action, he said, adding that the fishermen reached home around 12:30 pm on Sunday. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp RAMANATHAPURAM: Just a day after their arrest, as many as 22 Rameswaram fishermen were released by the Sri Lankan government on Sunday following the intervention of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. According to sources, the fishers, hailing from Pamban area, were arrested and two of their boats seized by Sri Lankan Navy for alleged violation of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on Saturday. A delegation of fishermen met Nirmala Sitharaman, who was on a visit to Rameswaram to attend the PM SVANidhi credit outreach programme.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); They requested her to initiate steps for the release of the arrested fishermen, who had to stay put in international waters due to the adverse climatic conditions. Later, the minister spoke to the Ministry of External Affairs and High Commission of India in Sri Lanka for their release. The fishermen returned to India on Sunday, following which the delegation of fishermen met Sitharaman and expressed their gratitude to her. SP Rayappan, president of country boat fishermen association in Pamban, said the the order of the release by the Sri Lankan government came within hours of their request to the minister. We got to know about her visit to Rameswaram on Saturday. The fishermen delegation got an appointment and met her around 9 pm. Initially, we were apprehensive about the authenticity of the release order as such an instance within such a short time was unheard of. Around 12.30 am, we got a call from one of the 22 fishermen stating that all of them are heading towards India. I thank the union government and minister Nirmala Sitharaman for their swift action, he said, adding that the fishermen reached home around 12:30 pm on Sunday. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press KHAN YOUNIS: Heavy fighting erupted Monday around a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, as Israeli forces focus on clearing medical facilities that they say Hamas militants use for cover. A shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing at least 12 people, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza and a medical worker inside the facility. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The advance on the Indonesian Hospital came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territory's largest, where they were among more than 250 critically ill or wounded patients stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound. The plight of Gaza's hospitals is at the focus of a battle of narratives over the war's brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the six-week-old war was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. FOLLOW OUR LIVE COVERAGE OF THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR HERE Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields, while critics say Israel's siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians. Marwan Abdallah, the medical worker at the Indonesian Hospital, said Israeli tanks were operating less than 200 meters (yards) from the hospital, and that Israeli snipers could be seen on the roofs of nearby buildings. As he spoke over the phone, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. Abdallah said the hospital had received dozens of dead and wounded in airstrikes and shelling overnight. He said medical staff and displaced people fear Israel will besiege the hospital and force its evacuation. Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra, who is now based in southern Gaza, said some 600 patients, 200 healthcare workers and 2,000 displaced people were sheltering there. Babies evacuated U.N. bodies were able to safely evacuate the babies, who were in critical condition, from Shifa to a hospital in southern Gaza, and plan to transport them to a hospital in neighboring Egypt. Four other babies died in the two days before the evacuation, according to Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals. Over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remain in Shifa, which could no longer provide most treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide blackout. Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside its gates for days before entering the facility last Wednesday. Israels army said it had strong evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospitals 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. The military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 55-meter (60-yard) long and about 10 meters (33 feet) below ground. It said the tunnel included a staircase and a firing hole that could be used by gunmen, and ended at a blast-proof door that troops have not yet opened. The Associated Press couldnt independently verify Israels findings, which included security camera video showing what the military said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, who were captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack and taken to the hospital. The army also said an investigation had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, another captive whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been injured in an Israeli strike on Nov. 9 that killed her captor, but was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa. Hamas and hospital staff have denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the latest announcement, saying the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel." Three in four people displaced Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment since the start of the war. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gazas population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded U.N.-run shelters, according to the U.N. Doctors Without Borders, an international aid group, said 70 people were killed and at least 52 wounded, including children, in strikes in the southern town of Khan Younis on Saturday. It said it was performing 10 burn surgeries a day at the towns overwhelmed Nasser Hospital, where hundreds of people who need such surgeries must wait for care. More than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried in rubble. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, and Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 65 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a much larger hostage release for weeks. Israel's three-member war cabinet is to meet with representatives of the hostages families on Monday evening. Yemen rebels seize ship Yemen's Houthi rebels seized a Israeli-linked cargo ship in the southern Red Sea and took its 25 crew members hostage Sunday, raising fears that regional tensions heightened by the war were spilling into the seas. The Iran-backed rebel group said it would continue to target ships connected to Israel. No Israelis were aboard the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, which was operated by a Japanese company with crewmembers from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico. Public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, a company founded by Abraham Ungar, who is known as one of the richest people in Israel. Ungar told The Associated Press he was aware of the incident but couldnt comment as he awaited details. A ship linked to him experienced an explosion in 2021 in the Gulf of Oman. Israeli media blamed it on Iran at the time. The Galaxy Leader was taken to Yemen's port city of Hodeida, according to the British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. Japanese officials were negotiating with the rebels for the release of the ship and its crew, said Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp KHAN YOUNIS: Heavy fighting erupted Monday around a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, as Israeli forces focus on clearing medical facilities that they say Hamas militants use for cover. A shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing at least 12 people, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza and a medical worker inside the facility. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The advance on the Indonesian Hospital came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territory's largest, where they were among more than 250 critically ill or wounded patients stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The plight of Gaza's hospitals is at the focus of a battle of narratives over the war's brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the six-week-old war was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. FOLLOW OUR LIVE COVERAGE OF THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR HERE Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields, while critics say Israel's siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians. Marwan Abdallah, the medical worker at the Indonesian Hospital, said Israeli tanks were operating less than 200 meters (yards) from the hospital, and that Israeli snipers could be seen on the roofs of nearby buildings. As he spoke over the phone, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. Abdallah said the hospital had received dozens of dead and wounded in airstrikes and shelling overnight. He said medical staff and displaced people fear Israel will besiege the hospital and force its evacuation. Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra, who is now based in southern Gaza, said some 600 patients, 200 healthcare workers and 2,000 displaced people were sheltering there. Babies evacuated U.N. bodies were able to safely evacuate the babies, who were in critical condition, from Shifa to a hospital in southern Gaza, and plan to transport them to a hospital in neighboring Egypt. Four other babies died in the two days before the evacuation, according to Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals. Over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remain in Shifa, which could no longer provide most treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide blackout. Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside its gates for days before entering the facility last Wednesday. Israels army said it had strong evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospitals 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. The military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 55-meter (60-yard) long and about 10 meters (33 feet) below ground. It said the tunnel included a staircase and a firing hole that could be used by gunmen, and ended at a blast-proof door that troops have not yet opened. The Associated Press couldnt independently verify Israels findings, which included security camera video showing what the military said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, who were captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack and taken to the hospital. The army also said an investigation had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, another captive whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been injured in an Israeli strike on Nov. 9 that killed her captor, but was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa. Hamas and hospital staff have denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the latest announcement, saying the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel." Three in four people displaced Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment since the start of the war. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gazas population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded U.N.-run shelters, according to the U.N. Doctors Without Borders, an international aid group, said 70 people were killed and at least 52 wounded, including children, in strikes in the southern town of Khan Younis on Saturday. It said it was performing 10 burn surgeries a day at the towns overwhelmed Nasser Hospital, where hundreds of people who need such surgeries must wait for care. More than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried in rubble. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, and Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 65 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a much larger hostage release for weeks. Israel's three-member war cabinet is to meet with representatives of the hostages families on Monday evening. Yemen rebels seize ship Yemen's Houthi rebels seized a Israeli-linked cargo ship in the southern Red Sea and took its 25 crew members hostage Sunday, raising fears that regional tensions heightened by the war were spilling into the seas. The Iran-backed rebel group said it would continue to target ships connected to Israel. No Israelis were aboard the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, which was operated by a Japanese company with crewmembers from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico. Public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, a company founded by Abraham Ungar, who is known as one of the richest people in Israel. Ungar told The Associated Press he was aware of the incident but couldnt comment as he awaited details. A ship linked to him experienced an explosion in 2021 in the Gulf of Oman. Israeli media blamed it on Iran at the time. The Galaxy Leader was taken to Yemen's port city of Hodeida, according to the British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. Japanese officials were negotiating with the rebels for the release of the ship and its crew, said Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press ISLAMABAD: More than 400,000 Afghans returned to their home country following the ongoing crackdown on illegal foreigners in the country, Pakistani authorities said Monday. Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, confirmed the number and told The Associated Press that the majority have been using the border crossings of Torkham and Spin Boldak to return home. An estimated 1.7 million Afghans had been living in Pakistan when authorities announced its nationwide crackdown, saying that anyone without proper documents had to leave the country by October 31 or else get arrested. However, Pakistani officials said the other 1.4 million Afghans registered as refugees need not worry as only people without proper documentation were sought after. In the 1980s, millions of Afghans fled to neighboring Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. The numbers witnessed a spike after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. FROM OUR ARCHIVES | Pakistan anti-migrant crackdown: Fleeing Afghans lack water, food and shelter once they cross the border, aid groups say Pakistan also introduced plans under which hundreds of thousands of residents in the southwestern border town of Chaman would need visas to cross between the two countries. They previously had special permits. On Monday, hundreds briefly blocked a key road leading to the Chaman border, disrupting traffic and the repatriation of some of the Afghans. Residents in Chaman have been protesting repeatedly, asking Pakistan to allow them to continue using the special permits for business purposes and to meet with relatives who live in the Afghan border city of Spin Boldak. Since November 1, police in Pakistan have been going door-to-door to check migrants' documentation. Pakistani officials had said before that the crackdown involves all foreigners in the country, but most of those affected are Afghan nationals. The latest development comes days after the World Health Organization warned that about 1.3 million Afghans were expected to return to their country of origin from Pakistan despite the onset of cold weather. Such expulsions have drawn widespread criticism from international and domestic human rights groups. The Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan said it was providing shelter and food to returnees. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp ISLAMABAD: More than 400,000 Afghans returned to their home country following the ongoing crackdown on illegal foreigners in the country, Pakistani authorities said Monday. Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, confirmed the number and told The Associated Press that the majority have been using the border crossings of Torkham and Spin Boldak to return home. An estimated 1.7 million Afghans had been living in Pakistan when authorities announced its nationwide crackdown, saying that anyone without proper documents had to leave the country by October 31 or else get arrested.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); However, Pakistani officials said the other 1.4 million Afghans registered as refugees need not worry as only people without proper documentation were sought after. In the 1980s, millions of Afghans fled to neighboring Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. The numbers witnessed a spike after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. FROM OUR ARCHIVES | Pakistan anti-migrant crackdown: Fleeing Afghans lack water, food and shelter once they cross the border, aid groups say Pakistan also introduced plans under which hundreds of thousands of residents in the southwestern border town of Chaman would need visas to cross between the two countries. They previously had special permits. On Monday, hundreds briefly blocked a key road leading to the Chaman border, disrupting traffic and the repatriation of some of the Afghans. Residents in Chaman have been protesting repeatedly, asking Pakistan to allow them to continue using the special permits for business purposes and to meet with relatives who live in the Afghan border city of Spin Boldak. Since November 1, police in Pakistan have been going door-to-door to check migrants' documentation. Pakistani officials had said before that the crackdown involves all foreigners in the country, but most of those affected are Afghan nationals. The latest development comes days after the World Health Organization warned that about 1.3 million Afghans were expected to return to their country of origin from Pakistan despite the onset of cold weather. Such expulsions have drawn widespread criticism from international and domestic human rights groups. The Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan said it was providing shelter and food to returnees. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press JERUSALEM: Yemen's Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route Sunday and took its 25 crew members hostage, officials said, raising fears that regional tensions heightened over the Israel-Hamas war were playing out on a new maritime front. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they hijacked the ship over its connection to Israel and would continue to target ships in international waters that were linked to or owned by Israelis until the end of Israel's campaign against Gaza's Hamas rulers. All ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets, the Houthis said. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis chief negotiator and spokesman, later added in an online statement that the Israelis only understand the language of force. HIJACKING FOOTAGE: #Yemeni Houthi rebels hijacked an Israeli ship in the Red Sea in response to #Gaza_Genocide. Its owned by Israeli billionaire Abraham Rami Ungar. All ships belonging to , & those who deal with it, will become a legitimate target for the armed forces. pic.twitter.com/Im8BUwwxS9 Majid Freeman (@Majstar7) November 20, 2023 The detention of the Israeli ship is a practical step that proves the seriousness of the Yemeni armed forces in waging the sea battle, regardless of its costs and costs, he added. This is the beginning. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office had blamed the Houthis for the attack on the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said no Israelis were on board. The Houthis said they were treating the crew members in accordance with their Islamic values, but did not elaborate on what that meant. Netanyahu's office condemned the seizure as an Iranian act of terror." The Israeli military called the hijacking a very grave incident of global consequence." Two U.S. defense officials confirmed that Houthi rebels seized the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea on Sunday afternoon local time. The rebels descended on the cargo ship by rappelling from a helicopter, the officials said, confirming details first reported by NBC News. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. The ship's seizure resembles others previously conducted by Iran, which has long armed the Houthis. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp JERUSALEM: Yemen's Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route Sunday and took its 25 crew members hostage, officials said, raising fears that regional tensions heightened over the Israel-Hamas war were playing out on a new maritime front. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they hijacked the ship over its connection to Israel and would continue to target ships in international waters that were linked to or owned by Israelis until the end of Israel's campaign against Gaza's Hamas rulers. All ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets, the Houthis said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis chief negotiator and spokesman, later added in an online statement that the Israelis only understand the language of force. HIJACKING FOOTAGE: #Yemeni Houthi rebels hijacked an Israeli ship in the Red Sea in response to #Gaza_Genocide. Its owned by Israeli billionaire Abraham Rami Ungar. All ships belonging to , & those who deal with it, will become a legitimate target for the armed forces. pic.twitter.com/Im8BUwwxS9 Majid Freeman (@Majstar7) November 20, 2023 The detention of the Israeli ship is a practical step that proves the seriousness of the Yemeni armed forces in waging the sea battle, regardless of its costs and costs, he added. This is the beginning. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office had blamed the Houthis for the attack on the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said no Israelis were on board. The Houthis said they were treating the crew members in accordance with their Islamic values, but did not elaborate on what that meant. Netanyahu's office condemned the seizure as an Iranian act of terror." The Israeli military called the hijacking a very grave incident of global consequence." Two U.S. defense officials confirmed that Houthi rebels seized the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea on Sunday afternoon local time. The rebels descended on the cargo ship by rappelling from a helicopter, the officials said, confirming details first reported by NBC News. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. The ship's seizure resembles others previously conducted by Iran, which has long armed the Houthis. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp As Cayuga County legislators work toward finalizing the 2024 budget, there are a few notable issues that will be discussed in the weeks ahead. CEDA For years, the county budget has included funding for the Cayuga Economic Development Agency. The 2023 budget provided $375,000 to support CEDA's operations. But there are questions about CEDA's direction after the firing of its executive director in August. It was the second time in 14 months that the agency fired its executive director. A task force formed to assess CEDA and the agency's board of directors had a leadership shakeup. However, Legislator Robert Shea offered a different idea in September. He proposed redirecting the funding for CEDA to the Cayuga County Industrial Development Agency. Cayuga County Legislature David Gould announced at a recent budget workshop that he will be calling a special meeting "within the next week or two." CEDA and CCIDA will be invited to deliver presentations at the meeting. The proposed county budget includes $375,000 for economic development, but legislators must decide whether CEDA or the IDA will get that money. Boat One of the most debated topics during the budget workshops was funding for the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office to buy a new boat. Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck would like to buy a new boat to replace one of his agency's four vessels. The boat will cost about $200,000, but matching funds are available through the state. The actual cost to the county will be roughly $100,000. The debate among legislators is how to pay for the purchase of a new boat. Some supported taking money from the county's fund balance. But there is also unused American Rescue Plan funding. One question, though, is whether the county could use that federal funding to buy the boat and still receive matching funds from the state. There hasn't been a final decision on whether to buy the boat, but it's clear several legislators support the purchase. The hard part is figuring out how to pay for it. CCPUSA Shea surprised his colleagues with a new proposal at a budget workshop. He requested $500,000 for the Cayuga County Public Utility Service Agency, or CCPUSA. The agency's mission, according to its website, is to "create opportunities for residents and business of Cayuga County to access clean, affordable, renewable power." Shea's argument for the funding is that residents aren't seeing benefits from solar and wind projects, so he wants "seed money" for CCPUSA to support energy projects within the county. But some legislators questioned how the request would be funded Shea said he didn't care about the source of the money and CCPUSA's apparent lack of transparency. Legislator Christina Calarco asked about the agency's meetings minutes. On its website, the most recent minutes are from 2019. Shea withdrew his motion, but Gould asked him to bring materials to an upcoming meeting that would outline how CCPUSA would use the funding. 'This must stop', says Guterres over spiralling deaths in Gaza United Nations, Nov 20 I n response to the spiraling deaths in Gaza amid the raging Israel-Hamas war, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reiterated his call for a humanitarian ceasefire in the besieged enclave. "This war is having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, every day," Xinhua news agency quoted the UN chief as saying in a statement on Sunday. "This must stop. I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire," he added. Since Oct. 7, over 11,000 individuals have lost their lives in the beleaguered region of Gaza. Spikes in casualties, attacks on schools and shelters, including the death of a UN worker, and crippling fuel shortages blocking aid deliveries rippled across Gaza over the weekend, as the World Health Organization helped to evacuate 31 babies in critical condition at the besieged Al-Shifa Hospital. "I am deeply shocked that two UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) schools were struck in less than 24 hours in Gaza. "Dozens of people -- many women and children -- were killed and injured as they were seeking safety in United Nations premises," the Secretary-General said. He added that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are seeking shelter at UN facilities throughout Gaza due to the intensified fighting. "I reaffirm that our premises are inviolable," the UN chief asserted. As of Monday, the death toll in Gaza stood at 11,078, of which 4,506 were said to be children and 3,027 women. About 2,700 others, including some 1,500 children, have been reported missing and may be trapped or dead under the rubble, awaiting rescue or recovery. Another 27,490 Palestinians have reportedly been injured. Since the war erupted on October 7, more than 1.7 million people in Gaza are estimated to be internally displaced, including almost 900,000 who are staying in at least 154 UNRWA shelters. In Israel, authorities said that more than 1,200 people have died, which include Israeli and foreign nationals. Till date, the names of 1,162 fatalities in Israel have been released, including 859 civilians and police officers. Of those whose ages have been provided, 33 are children. Meanwhile, 237 people are held captive in Gaza, including Israelis and foreign nationals. So far, four civilian hostages have been released by Hamas, one Israeli soldier was rescued by Israeli forces, and three bodies of hostages have reportedly been retrieved by Israeli forces. In the West Bank, the death toll has reached 212. 'This must stop', says Guterres over spiralling deaths in Gaza Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Mumbai, Nov 20 A nine-film retrospective of Indian cinema acting legend Amitabh Bachchan is set for the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, France. The retrospective, titled Amitabh Bachchan, Big B Forever, will showcase different aspects of the actors oeuvre including his persona as the angry young man, created by writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, action, drama, romance and comedy in some of the greatest films of Hindi-language cinema including Sholay, Deewar, Don, Kabhie Kabhie and Amar Akbar Anthony, reports Variety. The directors are also legends of Indian cinema including Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy, Manmohan Desai and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The showcase is co-presented by Film Heritage Foundation, the not-for-profit organisation founded by filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, which over the past year has hosted a series of hugely successful retrospectives in cinemas across India, including Bachchan Back To The Beginning, Dilip Kumar Hero of Heroes and Dev Anand @ 100 Forever Young. Amitabh Bachchan said, as quoted by Variety: Film Heritage Foundations initiative to bring classic Indian films back to the big screen in India has been truly remarkable. I am so pleased to hear that they are co-presenting a selection of nine of my early films at one of the oldest and most reputed film festivals the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, especially as it focuses on the cinema of Africa, Latin America and Asia. He added: Many of these films gave me an opportunity to play a diverse range of characters and work with some of the most significant filmmakers of the time including Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Manmohan Desai, Yash Chopra and Ramesh Sippy. I hope that the festival audience will enjoy the selection of films that continue to give so much joy to viewers half a century since they were made. Even though I will not be there in person, I am delighted that my daughter Shweta will be in Nantes to represent me at the festival. Amitabh Bachchan retrospective set at France's 3 Continents festival Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Mumbai, Nov 20 D irector Meghna Gulzar is leaving no stone unturned to ensure maximum historical authenticity for her upcoming biopic Sam Bahadur. Recreating an iconic picture of him standing with Gorkha soldiers, she went to great lengths just to create that specific shot and got teary-eyed when it happened successfully. The photo is an iconic one and it is from the third India-Pakistan war (Bangladesh Liberation War,1971) which saw the Indian Armed Forces emerging fully victorious against their war with Pakistan. This led to the separation of the erstwhile East Pakistan and resulted in the creation of what is now called Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. Belonging to Gorkha regiment, Sam Manekshaw was very well acquainted with them and the iconic photo was taken during the war. It is believed that he was instructing the troops to prevent harassment of any Bangladeshi refugee as an order, request, and motivation. Talking about recreating the photo, Meghna Gulzar, going behind-the-scenes, said: This is one of the most iconic photos of Sam Manekshaw, where he could be seen meeting a Gorkha soldier standing amidst tall grass. I have had this picture as my wallpaper on my laptop for over 4-5 years, so suddenly when I had to recreate this exact scene it was something very personal for me. She added: On the second last day, I had picked the location to shoot and it was very overwhelming to recreate that very image which youve had in front of you for so many years. We found the location, we found the grass, but there was always this doubt that how will it go, will it go well, will we be able to do it all, or whether it could be done, maybe bit by bit? Then to suddenly see that shot on the monitor in front of me was very emotional for me. I think we came pretty close, she said. The film is a biopic on the legendary Field Marshal who led the Indian Army to victory during the '71 war. It covers his life, upbringing, and his military career from his days in the Indian Military Academy during the British Raj and his fighting in World War-II to the 1948 India-Pak war, 1962 India-China war, 1965 India-Pakistan war, 1967 India-China skirmish, and the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation. Starring Vicky Kaushal, Sanya Malhotra, Fatima Sana Sheikh, among others, Sam Bahadur will hit theatres on December 1, 2023. Meghna Gulzar explains how iconic photo with was recreated for 'Sam Bahadur' Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! New Delhi, Nov 29 D efence Minister Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles in New Delhi on Monday. An official said that both the nations are cooperating in areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI), anti-submarine, anti-drone warfare and cyber domain. The two sides are also in an advanced stage of discussion to conclude implementing arrangements on Hydrography Cooperation and cooperation for air-to-air refueling, the official said. He said that both the sides expressed satisfaction at the increasing military-to-military cooperation between the two countries, including joint exercises, exchanges and institutional dialogue. The Defence Minister has also congratulated Minister Marles on the maiden and successful conduct of multilateral exercise Malabar by Australia in August this year. The two ministers agreed that deepening cooperation in defence industry and research would give a fillip to the already strong relationship. The official said that the Defence Minister has suggested that shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance and aircraft Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) could be the potential areas of collaboration. The two ministers also discussed cooperation for joint research in underwater technologies, the official said. Rajnath meets Aus ministers; holds talks on AI, defence cooperation Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! SAVANNAH A man on a hunting trip was shot and killed in New York on Saturday, the first day of the state's regular deer and bear hunting seasons, authorities said. The Wayne County Sheriff's Office said it responded at about 7 a.m. to a report that a hunter had been shot in Savannah, just west of Cayuga County. When deputies arrived, they found the man was fatally wounded during a hunting excursion, police said. The sheriff's office did not say how the man was shot and had not released his name as of late Saturday afternoon. The shooting was reported near Route 89, a rural area that includes a firearms training center, an Audubon center and a hiking area. No other details were released. The sheriff's office and state Department of Environmental Conservation police were investigating. The fatal shooting came three days after state officials, ahead of the first day of big game season, urged hunters to be safety-conscious and wear orange or pink so they are more visible. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Periods of rain. High 47F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.. Tonight Cloudy with occasional light rain...mainly this evening. Low 39F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Ghent University and the booming Ghent biotech landscape welcome a brand new spin-off: Amalus Therapeutics is developing a new class of drugs that selectively target corrupt fibroblast cells. This innovative approach offers the potential to greatly improve the prospects of patients with cancer or fibrotic diseases. The Belgian-Danish company is supported financially through BioInnovation Institute's Venture Lab acceleration program, for which it was selected from many candidates. The BioInnovation Institute Foundation is an initiative supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and also provides early-stage startups with access to labs and offices at the foundation's facility in Copenhagen, as well as knowledge and a large network of investors. The start-up will build on the work of Christian Stevens and Bart Roman, two researchers from Ghent University & Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG). Christian Stevens is Professor of Bio-Organic Chemistry and CEO of the company: "Fibroblast cells play a central, negative role in difficult-to-treat cancers and fibrosis. In cancer, for example, they build a shield around the tumor and turn it into a fortress that is difficult to conquer. As a result, the immune system and current therapies cannot fight the tumor properly. Fibroblasts also support the tumor in other ways: they stimulate growth and metastasis, and reprogram the immune system so that it tolerates the tumor." Bart Roman (CSO) adds: "Everyone regards the elimination of these 'corrupt' fibroblasts as promising, but 'normal' fibroblasts are also present in our body. They perform vital functions and are difficult to distinguish from their malicious counterparts. We are the only ones who can selectively 'deradicalize' the 'corrupt' fibroblasts. All other fibroblast inhibitors also disrupt normal fibroblasts. They are not useful because they cause serious side effects and do not work sufficiently at lower doses. In animal models we see that our products are well tolerated, normalize the environment around the tumor, strongly inhibit metastases and activate the immune system." Amalus Therapeutics is thus tapping into an interesting and current clinical avenue for difficult-to-treat tumors and fibrotic disorders. Our products are effective in themselves, but can also boost the effect of standard therapies in oncology. Such products are in high demand because they provide a better outcome for the patient, while doctors can build on a trusted treatment strategy." Dominic De Groote (CBO) The young biotech company is already in the international spotlight: Amalus Therapeutics was recently nominated for the 'One-to-Watch Award', a label awarded by the Oxford Business Network from the United Kingdom to promising, innovative startups in the life sciences. Taking a common antibiotic could more than half the risk of children becoming sick with multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), according to findings presented this week at a conference on lung health. It is one of a number of emerging breakthroughs in the prevention of TB, which kills around 240,000 children each year the majority of them aged under five. A single, daily dose of levofloxacin reduced the risk of MDR-TB disease in children by 56 per cent, researchers from the Desmond Tutu TB Centre at South Africas Stellenbosch University announced at the Union Conference on Lung Health in Paris on Thursday (16 November). Children are particularly vulnerable to MDR-TB, a form of the disease that has developed resistance to two or more of the first-line drugs used against it. Because of this resistance, treatment of the disease can be a long and difficult process, which many patients dont complete. In contrast, this preventative drug comes in the form of a child-friendly, fruit-flavoured tablet, according to the research funder Unitaid. An estimated two million children a year become newly infected with MDR-TB, which, if left untreated, can develop into what is known as active TB, a serious and highly contagious illness that commonly affects the lungs. Once it progresses to active disease, multidrug-resistant TB treatment is long and harrowing for children and their families to endure. Anneke Hesseling, director of the Desmond Tutu TB Centre and principal investigator of the TB-CHAMP trial, at South Africas Stellenbosch University This research provides high-quality evidence to cut that risk in half. By avoiding lengthy treatments, the intervention could also bring cost savings for national health systems, she added. The late-stage trial involved 1,000 healthy children who had been exposed to MDR-TB in communities with high burdens of TB and MDR-TB across South Africa. The conference also heard how a separate human trial had found three new, all-oral, shortened regimens for MDR-TB were safe and effective across all populations, including children, pregnant women and people with other illnesses such as HIV. The endTB clinical trial, also funded by Unitaid and led by Partners in Health, Medecins Sans Frontieres and Interactive Research and Development, found the regimens could reduce treatment time by up to two-thirds compared with conventional treatments, which can last up to two years. Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, said only about two in five people with drug resistant TB accessed appropriate treatment in 2022, so its great to see these advances in the treatment and prevention of multi-drug resistant TB. Finger-prick test Late last month researchers announced what they said could be a game changer in detecting TB in children, in the form of a simple, rapid analytical tool. A major reason for the high death toll from TB is the difficulty and delays in diagnosing the disease in children. Most TB tests for adults and children rely on using sputum or phlegm. But small children cannot produce sputum on request. Also, childhood TB has a low bacterial load and non-specific symptoms, often contributing to misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose at an early stage. The new diagnostic tool requires only a finger prick of blood. The study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, was led by the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany, in collaboration with partners from South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi and India. Laura Olbrich, a medical researcher from LMU and one of the studys authors, said once diagnosed, 95 per cent of TB cases can be cured. So, a test that works on fingerstick blood and can be used without much lab infrastructure, could change the problem substantially, Olbrich said. The tool, developed in partnership with US diagnostics company Cepheid and currently at prototype stage, identified almost 60 per cent of children with tuberculosis, with 90-per cent specificity, or accuracy. This makes the test comparable with or better than all other tests that work with biomarkers [a biological measure used to detect features of disease], Olbrich added. According to paediatric specialist Norbert Heinrich, a co-author of the study, the test has the advantage that the blood sample can be conveniently taken from the fingertip and the results are rapid. We have the results in just over an hour, he told SciDev.Net. For most other tests, the samples must be sent to outside laboratories for analysis. This study is an important step forward toward easier methods to detect TB in children, said Jacqueline Achkar, a professor of medicine, microbiology, and immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and an infectious disease physician at Motefiore Medical Center, New York. Sputum can be hard to obtain from childrentherefore, other tests with body fluids that are easy to obtain are urgently needed, she told SciDev.Net. WHO roadmap On Tuesday (14 November), the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the third edition of its Roadmap towards ending TB in children and adolescents, which sets out a five-year plan to improve prevention, treatment and care of childhood TB. By 2027, 90 per cent of the estimated number of people with TB should be reached with diagnosis and treatment services, while 90 per cent of people at high-risk of developing TB should be able to access preventive treatment, under the plan. According to the WHO, TB is the worlds second deadliest disease next to COVID-19, killing 1.3 million in 2022. It is the leading killer among people with HIV. An estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with TB in 2022, up from 10.3 million in 2021. Most of these were from Asia Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa. The WHO says that progress has been insufficient to meet global TB targets set in 2018, stymied by the pandemic and ongoing conflicts. In a recent study published in eClinicalMedicine, researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess the efficacy of the Pre-Texts arts-literacy intervention in decreasing anxiety and depression among high school pupils. Study: An arts-literacy intervention for adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms: outcomes of a randomised controlled trial of Pre-Texts with Kenyan adolescents. Image Credit: Nataliia Kulykovska/Shutterstock.com Background Adolescent mood and anxiety disorders, which account for 45% of the worldwide disease burden in 15-19-year-olds, are a global public health problem, especially in low-resource settings such as Sub-Saharan Africa. The expense of evidence-based therapies, professional delivery, government underspending, and societal stigma are all barriers to access. Visual arts, music, drama, and dance-based therapies have improved young self-esteem, resilience, and self-confidence and reduced externalizing behaviors. About the study In the present RCT, researchers adapted Pre-Texts, an art instruction methodology, to address anxiety and depression symptoms in Kenyan teenagers. In Kenya, the intervention program blends academic difficulties with artmaking to encourage young autonomy and communication. It inspires artmaking and collaborative thinking using text extracts from books, physics classes, or technical instructions. The project attempts to broaden Kenyan youths' access to mental health services. Between August 11, 2021, and December 18, 2021, 235 students from Kenyan high schools (N=235, aged 13 to 19 years, 53% female) were randomly assigned to either the intervention or control intervention. For a week, participants met in groups of six to twelve youngsters for one-hour sessions supervised by high school graduates trained as lay providers. The intervention was modified for use in school settings and included group sessions for adolescents led by 18-to-22-year-old lay providers trained to become intervention facilitators. The World Health Organization (WHO) advised task-shifting to lay clinicians to boost mental health access. An active control condition, "study skills," was adopted with a similar dose and length of activities for all participants to offer a rigorous comparison standard. Participants were recruited from two community-run schools that cater to pupils from Kibera and nearby regions and are sponsored by the local community and well-wishers rather than the government. The intervention was carried out after school hours, with children meeting in groups for one hour each day for one week, for five meetings and five hours. Individuals completed outcome assessments at study initiation, seven days, and a month of follow-up. In addition, participants filled out feedback forms to provide comments on the acceptance and feasibility of the interventional program. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener 7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8) were used to assess anxiety and depression symptoms, respectively. The study attempted to explore the influence of the Pre-Texts intervention on individuals meeting clinical cut-offs for symptoms of sadness and anxiety as a secondary result. The effect sizes (ESs) were calculated using mixed-effects modeling. Results In total, 235 teenagers aged 16 and up participated in the trial, of which 106 were assigned to the intervention group and 129 to the control group. Positive correlations were observed between anxiety and depression symptoms. At a one-month follow-up, the model estimating depression symptoms revealed significant Time-Condition interactions, indicating that the intervention recipients experienced higher reductions in depressive symptoms from study initiation to a month of follow-up in comparison to those in the control group. At baseline, 83 of the 235 teenagers in the sample fulfilled the threshold of high depressive symptoms (PHQ-8 10), whereas 72 met the criterion of elevated anxiety (GAD-7 10). The intervention recipients did not meet the criteria for clinically significant changes in symptoms of anxiety and depression from study initiation to a month of follow-up in the entire sample. Nevertheless, in the subgroup analyses, including individuals with heightened symptoms at study initiation, the intervention recipients showed clinically reliable changes in symptoms of depression and anxiety in the same period. The intervention and control groups received comparable high ratings and were seen as similarly valuable and understandable, exhibiting comparable recommendability to their peers. The findings indicated that the apparent difference in efficacy between the programs may be linked to Pre-Texts' ability to treat mental health concerns instead of its appeal or acceptability. Conclusion Overall, the study findings showed that the arts-based Pre-Texts intervention in a Kenyan afterschool program could significantly relieve anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents living in low-income urban regions. The study emphasizes the possibility of community-based, low-stigma treatments to address the mental health needs of disadvantaged kids in resource-limited situations. However, more replication studies with higher sample numbers and longer follow-up periods are required to assess the intervention's efficacy and scalability. Beijing (Gasgoo)- On November 17, WeRide was granted the permission to conduct trial commercialized unmanned Robotaxi service with only remote monitoring within the Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area (BJHAD). Photo credit: WeRide Upon public availability, citizens can summon WeRide's unmanned Robotaxis within designated areas using the WeRide Go App. Users can check estimated fares in real-time. Once the vehicle arrives at the specified pick-up point, passengers need only scan a QR code to validate their identity and enjoy the ease and convenience of autonomous travel. WeRide's unmanned autonomous driving service covers 242 pick-up and drop-off points, including core subway stations, residential communities, key business districts, major office parks, and advanced manufacturing enterprises within the Beijing Yizhuang Area. The service accommodates 1-3 passengers per car and operates from 9 AM to 5 PM. WeRide's extensive operational experience in autonomous mobility services domestically has found application overseas. Collaborating with UAE partner Bayanat in November 2021, WeRide launched Robotaxi services on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island and Saadiyat Island, garnering nearly 20,000 customer orders and earning unanimous acclaim from local users. Leveraging WeRide's robust autonomous driving technology and acclaimed service standards, on July 3 this year, WeRide was awarded the UAE's first autonomous driving test license, marking the region's and the world's inaugural national-level autonomous driving road test license. The UK will launch a new science centre where experts will develop climate resilient crops and identify risks to global food systems, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce today (Monday 20th November). The new venture will be unveiled at the Global Food Security Summit in London, which the UK is hosting alongside Somalia, UAE, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In his opening speech the Prime Minister will urge the international community to address the underlying causes of food insecurity, build more resilient food systems and to act now to prevent food crises and malnutrition. The new virtual science hub, will be led CGIAR, a global research partnership which unites international organisations working on food security will make global food systems more resilient to future shocks in a changing climate. It will link UK scientists with research initiatives that will develop crops that can withstand the impacts of climate change and are more disease resistant. The UK's new International Development White Paper on food insecurity is also expected to be announced on Monday at the summit. The White Paper is set to address food insecurity as one of the pressing global challenges, setting out how the UK will go beyond giving aid money and instead work in partnerships with countries to tackle extreme poverty and climate change. Climate change, conflict, the long-term impacts of Covid-19 and the effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on global food supply are the main drivers of current food insecurity. The UK has played a leading role in ensuring Ukraine can continue to export its agricultural produce, despite Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) and disregard for the impact it had on the world's most vulnerable. Ukrainian grain exports are crucial to ensuring global food security. Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak said: We must take action to address the underlying, and often unseen, causes of global food insecurity. From the impact of Russia's war in Ukraine, to the effect of major natural disasters on food production, I am proud that alongside our partners, the UK is playing a leading role in finding solutions to some of the greatest global challenges of our time." The White Paper priorities include mobilising international finance, reforming the international system, harnessing innovation, and putting women and girls centre stage, ensuring opportunities for all. International Development Minister Andrew Mitchell said: Many children go to bed hungry and malnourished. At this summit, the UK and its partners will be united in our determination to change that. Cutting edge science and innovative partnerships will help Britain create a healthier, more secure and prosperous world for us all. Today we will launch the UK International Development White Paper, setting out our long-term vision for addressing critical global challenges, including preventing and treating child wasting, through new partnerships and sources of finance. The Global Food Summit is a practical example of how we are already working to make that vision happen." Flood-tolerant rice, disease-resistant wheat, biofortified and vitamin-rich sweet potatoes are just some of the improved crops the UK has so far helped to develop through CGIAR's advanced crop breeding. Together with partners, the UK is addressing the deteriorating food security and malnutrition situation across the world, including across Africa. Up to 100 million humanitarian funding is being released to countries worst hit by food insecurity including Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Afghanistan, and to countries reeling from climate-related cyclones and droughts, like Malawi. The UK is also helping to avert future food and nutrition crises in Somalia by building resilience to climate shocks and strengthening health services. Malnutrition is the underlying cause of 45% of child deaths around the world. At the summit the Prime Minister will announce the UK is providing more support to the Child Nutrition Fund. The funding will mean it can scale up its support for breastfeeding, infant feeding and health care and improve monitoring of what best manages and prevents the worst forms of child malnutrition. UK support will also match pound for pound the amount the worst affected countries including Uganda, Ethiopia and Senegal invest of their own resources in tackling the issue. This will help secure a more reliable supply of critical food for young children suffering from the worst form of malnutrition. In a recent study published in JAMA Network Open, a group of researchers determined a distribution-based minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the Diabetes Distress Scale17 (DDS-17) and its four subscales. Study: Ascertainment of Minimal Clinically Important Differences in the Diabetes Distress Scale17. Image Credit: goffkein.pro/Shutterstock.com Background Clinical trials indicate that lowering hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels reduces morbidity and mortality in type 2 diabetes patients. Managing this chronic condition demands patient involvement and treatment adherence, often leading to diabetes distress emotional strain due to ongoing diabetes management challenges. Higher diabetes distress is linked to elevated HbA1c levels and poor glucose control. The DDS-17 evaluates this distress, with higher scores indicating worse outcomes. Further research is needed to deepen the understanding and utility of the DDS-17 by identifying more detailed and clinically relevant change thresholds beyond standard cutpoints. About the study Conducted between July 2015 and June 2017, the present study adhered to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines. The trial included 280 participants with uncontrolled diabetes, diagnosed by a mean HbA1c level greater than 8.0%. This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial (RCT), approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) central institutional review board, investigated the Empowering Patients in Chronic Care (EPICC) intervention's impact on patients with uncontrolled diabetes. These participants were randomly assigned to either the EPICC or the enhanced usual care (EUC) group across VA primary care clinics in Illinois, Indiana, and Texas. The EPICC group attended six bi-monthly sessions, supplemented by individual sessions focused on collaborative goal-setting and motivational interviewing. The trial primarily evaluated the clinical effectiveness of EPICC compared to EUC, where the EUC group received standard diabetes care, including educational materials and counseling. Diabetes distress was assessed using the DDS-17, a measure with 17 items spread across four domains: regimen, interpersonal, physician, and emotional distress. A higher DDS-17 score indicates greater pain. The analysis included calculating minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) for the DDS-17 using a standard error of measurement method. Changes in DDS-17 scores were categorized as improvement, no change, or worsening. The study also assessed the association between the treatment groups and changes in DDS-17 scores and between DDS-17 changes and HbA1c levels. Multilevel regression models were used, considering the variations across participants, cohorts, and sites. The study concluded in June 2023 after comprehensive data collection and analysis. Study results The study involved 248 participants who completed the DDS-17, with an average age of 67.4 years and a predominance of men (94.76%). The participants were nearly evenly split between the EPICC and EUC groups, and the sample was diverse, including 11.30% Hispanic, 37.90% non-Hispanic Black, and 48.79% non-Hispanic White individuals. Most participants reported an annual income below $40,000 and had a college education. The 32 participants who did not complete post-intervention DDS-17 assessments were not significantly different in demographics or baseline characteristics from those who did. The MCID for DDS-17 was calculated as 0.25, with subscale MCID values of 0.38 for emotional and interpersonal distress and 0.39 for physician and regimen distress. These MCID values captured a different degree of change than the traditional DDS-17 cutoff level 2.0. Post-intervention, 41.53% of participants showed improvement, 23.79% worsened, and 34.68% showed no significant change in their DDS-17 scores. In contrast, when using the cutoff level of 2.0, fewer participants showed a meaningful change in their distress levels. Regarding the treatment groups, participants in the EPICC cohort were more likely to show an MCID improvement in DDS-17 overall, specifically in the emotional distress and regimen distress subscales, compared to those in the EUC group. Similarly, EPICC participants were less likely to experience worsening in overall DDS-17, regimen distress, and interpersonal distress scores. However, there was no significant relation between the treatment group and MCID improvement or worsening in the physician distress and interpersonal distress subscales. When examining changes in HbA1c levels by DDS-17 MCID categories, it was found that the mean reduction in HbA1c was higher in the total DDS-17 MCID improvement category compared to the no-change and worsening categories. However, there was no significant association between DDS-17 MCID improvement or worsening and changes in HbA1c scores. This result indicates that while the DDS-17 MCID values provide a better understanding of diabetes-related distress changes, they do not directly correlate with significant changes in HbA1c levels among the overall sample. Conclusions This study established MCID for the DDS-17 and its subscales, setting an MCID at 0.25 for DDS-17, 0.38 for emotional and interpersonal distress, and 0.39 for physician and regimen distress. The research showed that participants in the EPICC intervention were more likely to improve and less likely to worsen in diabetes distress. However, no significant link was found between HbA1c levels and MCID changes in DDS-17 scores. This first-of-its-kind calculation of MCID for DDS-17 offers a better approach to assessing diabetes distress changes, though significant HbA1c changes may require more than MCID-level improvements. Are you confused about what an assisted living facility is, and how it differs from a nursing home? And what you can expect to pay? Here's a guide to this type of housing for older people. What is assisted living? Assisted living facilities occupy the middle ground of housing for people who can no longer live independently but don't need the full-time medical supervision provided at a nursing home. They might be right for those who have trouble moving about, bathing, eating, or dressing, or who have Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. Assisted living facilities can look like luxury apartments or modest group homes, but they are staffed with aides who can help residents take a shower, get out of bed, get to the dining room, take medications, or help with other daily tasks and needs. Meals, activities, and housekeeping are usually provided. Some facilities have trained nurses on-site, but in many states the facilities are not required to have them at the ready, or at all. Popular buildings or specialized units within them, such as ones for dementia have waiting lists. "The key is to start early," said Eilon Caspi, an assistant research professor at the University of Connecticut. "You don't want to wait for the crisis and then have 24 hours to make a decision." How can I know how much assisted living will cost me? The monthly costs to live in a facility generally range from $3,000 to $12,000 or more. Charges are frequently broken into two components: rent and a care plan. Rents are set similarly to the way landlords establish them for apartments, with larger units in more expensive regions having higher rents and rent concessions being more likely when many units are unoccupied. The costs of care plans are based on how much assistance the facility thinks residents will need, at least when they first move in. Most of them assign residents a "level" or "tier" based on the extent of their needs, but some will itemize charges for specific services. It's like the difference between a prix fixe and an a la carte menu (except you don't get to choose which approach you prefer within each facility). Assisted living units or facilities devoted to dementia residents are more likely to set one comprehensive price, though many have tiers. Make sure the facility's assessment reflects what the resident will need, or it might increase the price if it is providing more assistance than expected. Check if meals are priced separately. What charges might catch me by surprise? Facilities often have nonrecurring initial charges, like move-in fees or "community fees." You should ask whether there are extra charges for things residents might need or use, like nurse visits, cable television, or other kinds of assistance; such charges can pile up quickly if they're not detailed as included in the care plan. Some places even charge more if you get medications from a pharmacy other than the one they have a business relationship with. It's worth checking a few months after moving in to see if the care plan is more than the resident needs. If so, ask for the price to be lowered to remove services that aren't being used. Is it better to go with a facility that charges a set monthly amount or one that bills for each service? If you want predictability in your monthly bill, you're safer with a facility that is all-inclusive or that charges by tiers or bundled services. That's also true if you need assistance with many things. If you don't need a lot of help, a la carte may be better. Some facilities have an independent-living wing or a program with a la carte pricing, which may be best for those who need only sporadic assistance. If you need more help as time goes on, you can transition to the assisted living section or program and get a care bundle. What happens when a resident ages and becomes frailer? Care plans for those needing the most assistance can be double or triple the cost of those for the most independent residents. Ask the facility to explain what causes price increases. Be honest with yourself, and the facility, about what you can afford when the bill rises, because it's going to. "You've got to understand your future is coming," said Karen Van Dyke, a certified senior adviser in San Diego who helps families find the right facility for them. Also make sure you understand the maximum level of care the place can provide. If you require more, the home may make you move out. For instance, some places will care for people who have occasional lapses of memory or disorientation but not those whose dementia causes delusions, agitation, or aggression. There are fewer legal protections against evictions in assisted living facilities than in nursing homes. Be realistic about what you need: No one wants to move into a nursing home, but it's dangerous for residents to stay in an assisted living facility that can't take care of them. What happens if I run out of money? You may have to leave. Most assisted living facilities are for-profit, and they have no legal obligation to keep the indigent. About 1 in 5 facilities accept Medicaid to help pay for the cost of providing care, but Medicaid doesn't cover rent at assisted living facilities, so even then you may be forced out. Some states or counties will help cover the cost of housing if you have no savings and little retirement income, so it's worth finding out if that's available. (Call your local Area Agency on Aging for assistance.) Some facility owners will accept lower fees for longtime residents, but they are the exception. How can I find out how good a facility is? While it's easy to get wowed by fancy dining options, sparkly chandeliers, and other building amenities, none of those are markers of quality care. If you're considering multiple facilities, ask about the ratio of residents to aides on nights and weekends as well as weekdays and whether there are licensed nurses in the building, and when they are there. The person running the facility is often known as the administrator or director. Ask about how often this position has turned over. If a facility has churned through several administrators in a few years, that's a troubling sign about the quality of its management and owners. Which are better nonprofit or for-profit assisted living facilities? Researchers have found that for-profit facilities in Minnesota and Florida are more likely to be cited for violating state health regulations, but there's not solid evidence nationwide. There are good and bad facilities of both ownership types: A small for-profit residence with an engaged owner on-site may provide better care than a mediocre nonprofit. Be aware that nonprofits generally aren't less expensive than for-profits; while they don't have to provide returns to investors, they do run like a business and need to earn more than they spend each month for capital improvements and to avoid cash flow problems. Nonprofits often use the same pricing methods as for-profits, and many charge more. What should I look for during a tour? Kristine Sundberg, executive director of Elder Voice Advocates in Minnesota, a coalition of family members, tells people to watch how residents engage with a facility's workers. "Are they active and busy with things, or are they slouched over in a chair, being ignored?" she said. You might aim to visit on weekends, when staffing is often lightest. Ask the facility if it will let families put cameras in residents' rooms so you can keep tabs on them remotely. Who can help me? Along with consumer groups like Sundberg's, some of the most knowledgeable independent experts are long-term care ombudsmen, who are federally funded advocates for residents of nursing homes and other facilities for older people. Every state has such a program with advocates assigned to particular regions. An Area Agency on Aging is another source. These agencies are local government or nonprofit organizations that each state designates to help older people. They can help you understand your financial options and find facilities. You can locate your agency via https://eldercare.acl.gov/Public/Index.aspx. If you want to check out a facility's history of infractions, find the state agency that licenses assisted living facilities. In some states, it's part of the health department, while others assign this job to their human service or social service agency. A report is written up after a facility is inspected. Licensing agencies may publish inspection reports on their websites, although they aren't always easy to find. It's a red flag if a facility is repeatedly cited for the same problem. Stocks To Watch On November 20: GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded 12 points, or 0.06 per cent, lower at 19,807.5, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for muted start on Monday. Heres a slew of stocks that will be in focus today for various reasons. Bharti Airtel: The Department of Telecommunications, Hyderabad has imposed a penalty of Rs 107,000 for alleged violation of subscriber verification norms. Dixon Technologies: The company has committed a cumulative production value of Rs 48,000 crore in six years and has been declared eligible under the reworked PLI scheme for IT products. SBI Card: The company said that its capital adequacy ratio is expected to decline by 4 per cent due to the Reserve Bank of Indias latest move on tightening consumer loan norms. Larsen & Toubro: Qatars General Tax Authority has fined the company Rs 111.3 crore for 2016-2017 and Rs 127.6 crore for 2017-2018. The company has filed an appeal, calling the fines arbitrary and unjustified. Bajaj Finance: The NBFC said it has temporarily stopped issuing member identification cards (EMI Cards) to new customers following RBIs ban on two of its digital lending products. Cipla: The company has received a warning letter from the US FDA for the Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) inspection held between Feb 6-17, 2023 at the Pithampur (Indore) facility. The letter summarizes contraventions regarding methods, which do not conform to the prescribed cGMP regulations and contains directional guidance for necessary corrections. Dabur: Dabur is planning to set up a new factory in South India in less than a years time, as its business scales in the region, according to the companys CEO Mohit Malhotra. Exide Industries: Exide Industries has settled its trademark dispute with the UKs Vertiv Company Group and Indias Vertiv Energy. The two have agreed that the trademark Chloride and its variants in India are registered by Exide. Aurobindo Pharma: The US FDA has concluded a pre-approval inspection of Unit-I & III of Aurobindo Pharma subsidiary APL Healthcares formulation facility in Telangana with zero observations. The inspection was closed with no action indicated. Kalyan Jewellers: Its arm Kalyan Jewellers FZE acquired the remaining 30 per cent stake in Kalyan Jewellers LLC Oman on Thursday. Kalyan Jewellers LLC Oman is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Kalyan Jewellers FZE. IndusInd Bank: The RBI has approved the appointment of Arun Khurana as the whole-time executive director of IndusInd Bank for a three-year term, effective from Nov 16, 2023. Ashok Leyland: The company has received bookings of 10,000 battery-driven light trucks and has unveiled the two new e-LCVs in Chennai. Dalmia Bharat Sugar: The company said Farmers Sangathan Agitation has led to operational disruptions at its Kolhapur and Ninaidevi units in Maharashtra. Zen Technologies: The company has received an export order valued at nearly Rs 42 crore. For the last two years, the world has been restricted to homes. Daily activities that couldnt be managed without stepping out, came indoors all at once from office to grocery shopping and schools. As the world accepts the new normal, News18 launches weekly classes for school children, explaining key chapters with examples from happenings around the world. While we try to simplify your subjects, a request to break down a topic can be tweeted @news18dotcom Partnerships have long been a cornerstone of business structures, providing entrepreneurs with flexibility, shared responsibility, and diverse skill sets. With a comprehensive grasp of the legal and operational elements, forming a partnership becomes a strategic step toward accomplishing common corporate objectives. Partnerships in business, which are governed by the Indian Partnership Act of 1932, provide a variety of options for people wishing to combine forces together and establish entrepreneurial ventures. A formal agreement defining the rules and circumstances controlling the relationship between the partners, the division of profits and losses, and the mode of conducting business is what establishes a partnership. This weeks Class with News18 will focus on partnerships in businesses, including their features and limitations as well as the process of establishing a partnership. The Indian Partnership Act, 1932 The Indian Partnership Act of 1932 is the fundamental legal framework that governs partnerships in India. Regulations pertaining to the establishment, management, and dissolution of partnerships are established under this act. In accordance with this statute, a partnership is any relationship between individuals who have decided to split the profits of a commercial venture in which all or any of them acts as a representative for all. For a business partnership to run smoothly and lawfully, it is imperative that firms comprehend and abide by the conditions set forth in this act. Types of Partnerships Partnerships come in various forms, each catering to different business needs and preferences. The key types of partnerships include: General Partnership: The most common form, a general partnership involves all partners sharing equal rights and responsibilities in managing the business. Such partnerships are not required to be registered, and their existence as a whole is impacted by the partners retirement, lunacy, or death. Limited Partnership: In a limited partnership, capital is invested by limited partners with little to no managerial engagement, while the firm is actively managed by general partners. Limited partners are shielded from liability to the extent of their capital. Joint Hindu Family Business: This type of partnership in business is unique to the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) structure, in which family members join hands to become partners and establish a firm, putting the eldest member, known as the Karta, in charge of operations. Types of Partners Different roles may be assigned to members of a partnership according to their contributions and level of commitment. An active partner shares management responsibilities and participates in the companys day-to-day operations, whereas a sleeping or dormant partner makes financial investments but does not engage in the companys day-to-day activities. Conversely, a nominal partner lends the firm respectability and their name but does not provide capital or take an active part in its operations. Another kind of partner is via estoppel, when a partner is represented as a formal member of the partnership even if they are not, sometimes due to past affiliations or activities. Setting Up a Partnerships A partnership must be established by taking many crucial steps, the first of which is deciding what kind of partnership best serves the objectives of the business plan. Following that, a partnership agreement containing all of the partnerships terms and conditions shall be drawn up and signed by all partners to avoid future misunderstandings among them. Such an agreement can be either oral or written. Even though a formal written agreement is not required, it can be beneficial since it serves as evidence of the terms agreed upon. The partnership deed is the formal document that outlines the rules and regulations governing the partnership. It is advised that the partnership be officially recorded by registering with the Registrar of Firms, even if it is not required. Based on the type of business, partners may need to get the relevant licences and permits as well as execute any other necessary legal matters as required to establish their business partnership. The partnerships effectiveness is dependent on developing clear communication channels and understanding each members obligations and responsibilities. Merits and Limitations in Partnerships Partnerships are a viable choice for some business settings given that they provide a number of benefits. One major advantage is the simplicity of the formation of a company/ partnership and minimum regulatory procedures, which allows for a speedy setup of the business. Furthermore, joint decision-makingwhich employs the varied knowledge and experience of several partnersbenefits partnerships. Partnerships do, however, have certain drawbacks, such as unlimited liability. In the event that the company has financial difficulties, partners may be held entirely liable for the debts and liabilities of the company, putting their personal assets at risk. Furthermore, because partners must agree on a course of action, decision-making may take longer. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday pressed for the need to impart education to children till class 5th in their respective local dialects. While speaking at a programme held on the premises of the Eastern Regional Languages Centre in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, Pradhan said it has been suggested in the National Education Policy that primary education to the children during the initial period should be imparted in their local dialects till class 8th, at least till class 5th. If the children learn and write in the same language that it hears and speaks in its early days, then the childs ability to use logic, express thought and do analysis will develop significantly, said Pradhan. The minister said that Odia children can become great men like Madhusudan Das, Sarala Das and Pathani Samanta if they receive education in their own native dialect. He urged the state government to implement the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme in Odisha. Pradhan informed that he has also proposed the Central Institute of Indian Languages to organise special programmes like, debate and essay competitions at school and college level in December to make Odia language popular and acceptable among the new generation. He said the country has been celebrating Bharatiya Bhasha Diwas on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Tamil poet and freedom fighter, Subramania Bharati. The celebration started from September 28 and will continue till December 11. Pradhan said that the dialect spoken in different areas such as Ganjam, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur and Dhenkanal are very sweet. Pradhan inaugurated the administrative and educational building, hostel and a guest house at the Eastern Regional Languages Centre. A memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore and NCERT, New Delhi in the presence of the union minister to undertake research on languages. Pradhan also launched the PM-SHRI scheme in 63 Kendriya Vidyalaya and Navodaya Vidyalayas of the state in another programme held at the railway auditorium here Sunday. Alleging that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar is number one in corruption in the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the BJP would conduct a probe into the BRS governments corrupt deals if it comes to power in the state and put those who indulged in corruption behind bars. Addressing a poll rally at Jangaon, he also referred to alleged scams during the BRS regime, including the Kaleshwaram project, liquor scam and land deals at Miyapur in Hyderabad. KCR is number one in corruption in the country. inquiry into all their corrupt deals, the BJP will put those who indulged in corruption behind bars, he said. The BJPs manifesto released two days ago said the party, on assuming power, would appoint a commission of enquiry to probe into various projects commissioned in the name of development, including Kaleshwaram and Dharani, that have seen huge cost escalations and corruption. Shah reiterated the BJPs promise to make a backward caste leader the chief minister of the state if the party is voted to power in the November 30 elections and also arrange darshan free of cost at the Lord Ram temple at Ayodhya. Alleging that the Congress and BRS had opposed the Ram temple at Ayodhya for years, Shah said PM Modi would perform pran pratishta at the temple on January 22, 2024 and told the gathering to visit Ayodhya for darshan of Ram Lalla. The BRS, AIMIM and Congress are parivaarvadi parties, Shah said, describing them as 2G,3G and 4G parties respectively. He said 2G means two generations of KCR and his son K T Rama Rao, 3G means three generations of Asaduddin Owaisi, his father and grandfather and 4G means four generations of Congress, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. BJP is neither a 2G nor 3G or 4G party but it is the party of Telangana people, he said, adding that under the leadership of PM Modi, who is not a dynast unlike the others, respect for India reached great heights in the world. Modi built the new Parliament and also Kartavya Path to erase the symbols of slavery, said Shah. Speaking about the BJPs aims if brought to power, he said the government would abolish the four per cent reservation given to Muslims in Telangana and increase the quota for BC, SC and STs. The BJP would provide vertical quota to Madiga community of SCs in the state, he added. He highlighted the BJPs election promises, saying four free LPG cylinders will be provided to each family if the party is voted to power, and that paddy will be procured from farmers by the government at Rs 3,100 per quintal. Recalling the history of the accession of the princely state of Hyderabad to India after the country gained Independence, he said a grand memorial would be built at Bairanpally village near Jangaon for those who sacrificed their life during the fight against Razakars (armed supporters of Nizam rule). Alleging that CM KCR refused to celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day (September, 17, 1948 when Hyderabad under Nizam rule merged with the Indian Union) due to fear of Owaisi, Shah said BJP, if elected to power, would celebrate the day officially. Shah also said that the BJP would revive three sugar factories fulfilling the request of Nizamabad MP Arvind Dharmapuri. For the benefit of beedi workers, a 500-bed hospital would be established in Nizamabad, he added. Later in the evening, Shah participated in a roadshow in Hyderabad in support of the BJP candidate from Uppal constituency, NVSS Prabhakar. Speaking at the roadshow at Uppal here, Shah alleged that KCR government indulged in scams and asked the gathering whether the BRS should be punished or not. He said the BJP has decided to appoint an enquiry commission, if it comes to power and incarcerate those who indulged in corruption. Asking the crowd whether KCR and Congress can stop the high-handedness of Owaisi, he said only the BJP could do that. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday promised that the BRS government would set up food processing units in the state if the party is voted to power following the upcoming assembly elections. Noting that the state was producing huge quantities of paddy, he said food processing industries would be established wherever required with the potential to create jobs for local youth. Addressing a poll rally, Rao also announced that the fitness certificate system required for autorickshaw drivers would be abolished. The BRS chief accused the Congress party of merging Telangana with Andhra Pradesh (in the 1950s) against the peoples will. Decrying the Congress promise of bringing back Indira Gandhis reign in Telangana, he reiterated that the former PMs tenure was fraught with starvation deaths, naxal movements and encounters. Had Indiramma Rajyam (former Prime Minister Indira Gandhis rule) been so good, why would NTR (Telugu Desam Party founder and former Chief Minister NT Rama Rao) float a party? he asked. Rao recalled that until former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao (undivided Andhra Pradesh) came to power and offered rice at Rs 2 per kg to people, it was a life of hardship. Rao, also known as KCR, targeted the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly not sanctioning even one medical college and Navodaya School to Telangana. Since we have been producing tonnes of paddy, we will be setting up food processing units wherever they are required so that local people will get employment. We will be constructing double-bedroom houses on a war footing, in the next five years we will construct houses, he said. Pointing to the pro-farmer welfare schemes introduced by his government, Rao said the state now tops in the country with production of three crore tonnes of paddy annually. As many as 7,500 procurement centres were set up across the state to purchase paddy from farmers, though the government incurred loss to some extent. Today, we are producing three crore tonnes of paddy, he said, listing out the measures taken to boost the agriculture sector. Attacking the Congress for calling the Rythu Bandhu support scheme for farmers a wasteful expenditure, Rao asked the crowd, Is the scheme a wasteful expenditure? The people replied No. He also promised to hike the amount given under the Rythu Bandhu scheme to Rs 16,000 gradually from the existing Rs 10,000, if the BRS formed the government. He cautioned people that if the grand old party comes to power in the state, it will abolish the Dharani integrated land administration portal, saying it will lead to a regime of corrupt officials and middlemen. Alleging that the Centre had asked the state government to install meters to agriculture pump sets, Rao said he refused to adhere to it and as a result, the state lost Rs 25,000 crore central funds during the last five years. Why should we vote for the BJP which has not given even a single medical college and Navodaya school? Voting for the BJP amounts to dumping your vote in the drain, he said. Exuding confidence that the BRS will return to power for the third consecutive time, KCR said he got some survey results indicating the partys victory in the November 30 Assembly polls. Chandrasekhar Rao further alleged that it was the Congress party which lodged a complaint with the Election Commission requesting it to stop the last tranche of farm loan waiver. He promised that as soon as BRS forms the government, it will release funds for the farm loan waiver. The Congress will resolve the issues related to reservations in government jobs and education if voted to power, senior party leader Nana Patole said here on Monday. He alleged that the Central and Maharashtra governments are not willing to address these issues. If Congress is voted to power in the Centre and Maharashtra, we will definitely solve these pending issues. Our leader Rahul Gandhis demand for a caste census is in line with our resolve to get to the root of these issues and come up with a solution, Patole told reporters. Maharashtra is witnessing protests by the Maratha community led by activist Manoj Jarange seeking reservation in government jobs and education under the OBC category. The Other Backward Classes (OBC) groups, however, are opposing any move to induct Kunbi-Marathas into their fold. Patole also accused the Eknath Shinde-led government of being indifferent to farmers who lost their crops to erratic rains. Industrial investment in the state is on the decline. Every time Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Maharashtra, he takes away some investment opportunity to Gujarat which has affected the state government revenue, the Congress leader said. He claimed at least 16 ministers didnt attend the last Cabinet meeting held in Mumbai which indicates the state of affairs in the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) government. Already, 17 posts of ministries are vacant. On top of it, 16 ministers did not even attend the last meeting of the Cabinet. This shows the kind of situation the state is going through, Patole said. As Telangana became successful in producing huge quantities of paddy, BRS, if voted to power, will be setting up food processing industries everywhere which will become employment resources for local youth, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Monday. Addressing a poll rally, Rao, also known as KCR also promised to abolish the fitness certificate system which is required to be taken by autorickshaw drivers every year. Hitting out at the Congress, he said it was that party which merged Telangana with Andhra Pradesh (in the 1950s) against the peoples will. The BRS chief reiterated that the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhis tenure was plagued by starvation deaths, naxal movements and encounters. He recalled that until former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao (undivided Andhra Pradesh) came to power and offered rice at Rs 2 per kg to people, it was only a life of starvation. He also slammed the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly not sanctioning even one medical college and Navodaya School to Telangana. Since we have been producing crores of tonnes of paddy, we will be setting up food processing units wherever they are required so that local people will get employment. We will be constructing double-bedroom houses on a war footing, in the next five years we will construct houses, he said. Rao said due to the measures and pro-farmer welfare schemes by his government, the state now tops with three crore tonnes of paddy production annually in the country annually. As many as 7,500 procurement centres were set up across the state to purchase paddy from farmers, though the government incurred loss to some extent. Today, we are producing three crore tonnes of paddy, he said, listing out the measures taken for the growth of the agriculture sector. Attacking the Congress, he said leaders of that party say that KCR is wasting taxpayers money and giving Rythu Bandhu (a support scheme for ryots) to farmers. Is Rythu Bandhu a wasteful expenditure, he asked people, who enthusiastically shouted no. If the BRS is voted to power again, not only will it continue the Rythu Bandhu scheme, but the amount will also be increased to Rs 16,000 gradually from the existing Rs 10,000, he promised. He charged that the Congress leaders were making irresponsible statements that 24-hour free power to farmers is not required and just three hours is sufficient. He said the grand old party says if voted to power, it will abolish Dharani, an integrated land administration portal which will lead to the regime of corrupt officials and middlemen. Alleging that the NDA Government had asked the state government to fix meters to agriculture pump sets, Rao said he refused to implement it and as a result, the state lost Rs 25,000 crore fund from the Centre during the last five years. Why should we vote for the BJP which has not given even a single medical college and Navodaya school?voting for the BJP is dropping your vote down the drain, he said. Exuding confidence that the BRS will be coming back to power for a third time, KCR said he got some survey results indicating the partys victory in the November 30 Assembly polls. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On November 17, 2023, GAC Energy Technology Co., Ltd. ("GAC Energy") and Alipay (Hangzhou) Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("Alipay") formalized their strategic cooperation with a signing ceremony. The two entities are set to embark on innovative collaborations spanning multiple fields, including new energy vehicle (NEV) charging, battery swapping, vehicle-network interaction, energy operation, and brand marketing, as they jointly explore a groundbreaking business model integrating "energy services and the Internet". Photo credit: GAC Energy This strategic alliance aligns with China's National Energy Administration's March 2023 release of the Opinions on Accelerating the Digitization and Intelligent Development of the Energy Sector. The document underscores the crucial role of integrating the energy industry with digital technology as a key driver for advancing China's energy industry to a higher level and modernizing the industry chaina move with significant implications for enhancing the core competitiveness of the energy sector and promoting high-quality energy development. Presently, GAC Energy is concentrating its efforts in the field of photovoltaic, energy storage and NEV charging, and battery swapping. Its number of public supercharging stations continues to rise, exceeding a thousand stations so far and spanning over 150 cities nationwide. The user base for home charging stations is also poised to surpass four hundred thousand. To amplify this rapid expansion, digital capabilities are paramount, and Alipay, as a leading domestic digital life open platform, introduces Zhima Credit, Ant Forest, AI data models, and dual-end interconnectivity into the NEV charging service scene, robustly ensuring the convenience of user charging. This collaboration not only signifies a deepened digital partnership between GAC Energy and Alipay, but also represents a cross-industry collaboration between the internet and the NEV sector. According to the cooperation agreement, Alipay will provide a one-stop interface and service support for the platform through its international settlement business, ensuring a secure and convenient platform environment and functional safeguards for overseas users in comprehensive payment, receipt, disbursement, and risk management. In the realm of user operations, the partnership will activate Alipay's online user operation system, enhancing charging user engagement and loyalty through the establishment of "joint membership," "intelligent AI services," and the "Ant Forest green energy scene." Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah will launch an election campaign blitz in Rajasthan from Monday with nearly a dozen rallies and six roadshows of the two leaders planned in various state regions. This comes in the campaigns final leg, which ends on November 23. The Prime Minister will hold rallies in Pali and Hanumangarh on Monday, followed by a mega roadshow in Bikaner, a major urban centre of the state. This is after he held two rallies in Rajasthan on Sunday, including one in Churu for the Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan, Rajendra Rathore. The PM will be in Rajasthan again on Tuesday, for three rallies in Bara, Kota and Karauli. Modi will end the day with a roadshow in the state capital, Jaipur, which is expected to be a grand affair like his roadshow in Indore last week. More rallies and a roadshow of the PM in Jodhpur, CM Ashok Gehlots constituency, are also being planned before the campaign ends. Home Minister Amit Shah will, meanwhile, extensively campaign for three days in Rajasthan starting Monday. He will hold six rallies in three days in Alwar, Jhunjunu, Sikar, Pali and Jalore. The Home Minister will also do roadshows in Sawai Madhopur, Sirohi and Jaipur. The Home Ministers roadshow in Jaipur is planned for November 23, two days after the PMs roadshow in the state capital. The BJPs top leadership has decided to put all its effort in the campaign in the last leg, sensing an edge over the ruling Congress government. The Election Commission of India has ordered re-polling on November 21 at a booth in Ater assembly constituency in Madhya Pradeshs Bhind district, according to an official release. Repolling has been ordered because of breach of secrecy as some people shot videos of voting on November 17 at the booth concerned in Kishupura, a district official said. Four members of the polling team have been suspended for the breach of secrecy, district collector and returning officer Sanjeev Shrivastava said. Voting will be held on Tuesday at booth number 3 under polling centre number 71 at Kishupura between 7 am and 6 pm, the release said, adding that indelible ink will be applied on the middle finger of voters. The order of repolling has been issued to the district returning officer, it said. Shrivastava said voters will not be allowed to enter the booth with mobile phones during repolling and all other rules regarding the model code of conduct will be followed. The repolling process will be videographed, he said. BJPs sitting MLA from Ater, Arvind Singh Bhadauria, is facing ex-legislator Hemant Katare of the Congress. All 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh went to polls in a single phase on November 17 with a voter turnout of 77.15 per cent, as per the Election Commission. Votes will be counted on December 3. Shabnam Mausi, who was the first transgender person in India to win an Assembly election, was on Monday booked in Anuppur in Madhya Pradesh for violation of the model of conduct for allegedly failing to deposit a pistol with the police, an official said. Mausi was issued a notice to deposit the pistol but did not do so after which she was booked under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code for disobeying an order promulgated by a public servant, Kotwali police station in-charge Amar Verma said. Mausi deposited a 12-bore gun but failed to hand over the pistol. The pistol licence has been cancelled by the administration following this lapse, he said. Depositing firearms on the orders of the police as part of enforcement of the model code of conduct, which has been in place in MP since October 9 for the November 17 Assembly polls, is mandatory. Poll results will be declared on December 3. Mausi had made electoral history in February 2000 by becoming the first transgender person to be elected as MLA. She had won a bypoll from Sohagpur seat in Shahdol rpt Shahdol district which was necessitated by the death of sitting Congress legislator Krishnapal Singh. She had defeated the BJPs Lallu Singh by a margin of more than 17,800 votes. However, in the 2003 Assembly polls, she managed to get just 1,400 votes and lost. Sohagpur seat was merged with other Assembly constituencies in the delimitation exercise of 2008. Despite Chinas attempts to derail the project, India and Taiwan are all set to sign a jobs agreement as early as December to ink $790 billion economy of the island nation. Ever since the announcement of the pact, there has been a huge backlash online from dubious handles spewing anti-India comments. But, according to experts, who spoke to News18, despite Chinas attempts, India and Taiwan are raising the stakes against Beijing with increased economic cooperation. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi confirmed earlier this month that the pact with Taiwan was in the final stages of negotiation. Chinas Machinations Stand Exposed A Bloomberg report had earlier claimed that Taiwan may hire up to 100,000 Indians under the labour pact. This had triggered the online backlash in Taiwan, initially, sponsored by a so-called survey on China Times, which is owned by pro-China Taiwanese tycoon Tsai Eng-Meng. Chinese accounts have deeply penetrated Taiwanese social media landscape. Taiwanese Labour Minister Hsu Ming-Chun had to clarify that talks were still on and the number cited by the Bloomberg report was inaccurate. Hsu Ming-Chun had to assure that the inflow would be regulated gradually and systematically. Despite the downplay, Taiwan has taken pains to highlight that the inclusion of migrant workers from India is aimed at addressing a serious worker shortage that Taiwan is facing. It has urged its citizens to not discriminate on the basis of race. Confirmations from the Taiwanese and Indian governments indicate that while the people-to-people link between the two countries needs work, the governments are in sync when it comes to reaching a pact to accommodate more Indians in Taiwans workforce. Why Taiwan Needs Workers Taiwan is facing a demographic crisis owing to a declining population. By 2025, Taiwan is anticipated to transition into a super-aged society, signifying that over 20% of its population will be of elderly individuals. Taiwan is a largely homogenous society with 3.4% foreigners, most of whom are from Southeast Asia. With a population of 23.6 million, over 822,319 are foreigners mainly migrant workers from Southeast Asia. According to Taiwanese media, 745,000 of these foreign workers are employed in manufacturing and caregiving. Around 35% are Vietnamese, a similar number from Indonesia, 9.2% or the workers are from Thailand and 20.4% from the Philippines. Taipei is looking beyond Southeast Asia and towards India as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy to strengthen ties in the region. Taiwan needs stronger and deeper informal relations with a range of countries in order to increase deterrence against China, said Sreeram Chaulia, Dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs at O.P. Jindal Global University, in conversation with News18. India: The Answer to Taiwans Problem About 5,000 Indians reside in Taiwan, but they mostly hold white collar jobs in the countrys formidable tech industry. Having had a positive experience with Indian professionals, Taipei is looking to cast its net far and wide beyond the tech sector and welcome Indian blue collar workers to work in manufacturing, agriculture, construction projects, hospitality sector and more. Taiwans reputed semiconductor industry is facing a critical shortage of talent and skilled professionals a gap that India can fill. As India seeks to build its indigenous semiconductor manufacturing industry, Taiwan has emerged as a promising investor with Foxconn and TSMC exploring a joint venture in the country. India has over 120,000 semiconductor engineers working in areas of chip design and development. However, India lags behind in the space of chip manufacturing and even as it produces 150,000 semiconductor engineers every year, they are forced to switch to IT, according to former IIT Delhi director V Ramgopal Rao. While India is keen on attaining well-paying jobs for its youth, TSMC, Foxconn, MediaTek and others are keen to tap into this pool of talent and fill the shortage of professionals faced in Taiwan. News18 has reached out to Foxconn and TSMC on their plans to rope in Indian professionals, and we are still awaiting their comments. Similarly, Taiwan is also facing a declining workforce in various blue collar sectors. It has in the past struggled with racism towards migrant workers from Southeast Asia. However, the country has worked towards improving conditions for migrants in the past few years. It now provides equality of pay and other facilities to migrant workers and wages are high promising a monthly income of $820. It also has a Gold Card programme for attracting and retaining skilled and trained professionals, wherein a 4-in-1 visa with work permit, resident visa and certificate and re-entry permit, is extended to the migrant worker. India, with its 1.4 billion people, has the capability to power the worlds economy with its professionals. It is the perfect candidate to cater to global demands for workers across sectors. India is preparing skilled professionals for the world, not just for itself, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a speech in October. The governments Skill India initiative dedicates several schemes towards enhancing the skillsets of the Indian youth. India-Taiwan Relations Have Never Been Better In the case of Taiwan, the impact of the purported jobs pact will be far reaching. Of late, engagement between these two neighbours of China has intensified. New Delhi and Taipei are seeking to raise the stakes in their relationship amid heightened aggression from China. While India is locked in a border stand-off with China since 2020, Taiwan has been battling an elevated threat of invasion from the Chinese mainland. If more foreign nationals from India and other friendly nations go in large numbers to work in Taiwan, the jobs pact will serve as a demographic deterrent to China. Invading the island when so many foreigners are at risk is not an easy decision for China to make, as it could increase the stakes for many countries to defend Taiwan at all costs, Professor Chaulia told News18. On Chinas possible reaction to the labour pact, Sana Hashmi, a Taiwan-based researcher at the Taiwan India Exchange Foundation, told News18, India has already signed an investment treaty with Taiwan and a number of other agreements. So this is within the agreed upon mandate of the relationship and it should not pay heed to Chinas protests. This is more about the timing and about how India is perceiving Taiwan. This is the start of India strategising its position in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Recent events show that India is talking to like-minded countries and thinking about its own role, she added. Last week in London, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar even commented openly on relations with Taiwan pointing towards an upswing in the levels of cooperation. We have substantial technology and economic relations with Taiwan. Taiwan has a reputation when it comes to electronics and more recently with semiconductors. So, there has been an upswing in the levels of cooperation, Jaishankar had said. Sana Hashmi analysed Jaishankars remarks as a categorical acknowledgement of Taiwans rising importance in Indias geopolitical calculations. I have not seen another foreign minister speak so openly about ties with Taiwan, Hashmi told News18. In August this year, MM Naravane, RKS Bhadauria and Karambir Singh, former chiefs of the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy held closed-door meetings with the leadership in Taiwan. Raising Chinese objection, this was an unprecedented event as far as optics are concerned, signifying how ties have graduated from mere economic engagement to deeper strategic deliberations between New Delhi and Taipei. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be reintegrated, even if by force. It leverages its diplomatic and economic heft to keep Taiwan isolated on the world stage. Taiwan remains excluded from the United Nations and is recognised as a nation by only 14 countries, a number that fell from 18 in recent years amid an aggressive push by Beijing to poach Taipeis last remaining official relationships. Most countries adhere to the One China principle, dealing officially with Beijing as the sole and legitimate government of China including Taiwan as an inalienable part of the country. Although India is one of these nations, it has not reiterated its commitment to Chinas directive for more than a decade and has progressively stepped up engagement with Taiwan. Amid the Indian standoff with China, PM Modis government has strategically and symbolically steered closer to Taipei, which is led by President Tsai Ing-wen whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has boldly resisted Chinese threats. Beijing is visibly perturbed by the gradual shift in Indias Taiwan policy. However, with increasing economic cooperation and investments, India-Taiwan relations are at a pivotal juncture and it is unlikely that Chinas mischievous tactics to draw a wedge between the two will succeed. The Israel military is expanding its operation in the Gaza neighbourhoods after it took control over the Al Shifa hospital last week. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to the October 7 attacks and the resultant violence has killed over 13,000 Palestinians so far, including 5,000 children. Last week, Gazas Al-Shifa hospital had been the focus of an Israeli special forces operation for days, where the military searched for Hamas command centre which it insists is concealed within the facility. Why Israel Attacked Al-Shifa Hospital? Israeli troops raided Al-Shifa Hospital last Wednesday on suspicion that it was being used as a Hamas base. The Israeli military on Sunday claimed to have discovered a tunnel under Gazas Al-Shifa hospital that stretched 55-metres beneath the war-torn complex. IDF troops exposed a 55-meter-long terror tunnel 10 metres deep underneath the Shifa hospital complex, which ran under the hospital and ended at a blast door, an army statement said. Military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters the entrance was uncovered when a military bulldozer knocked down the outside wall of the hospital complex and found a fortified shaft with a spiral staircase descending 10 metres (yards). The Israel military also released CCTV footage, which appears to be time-stamped October 7, that it said showed two male hostages from Nepal and Thailand being brought into Al-Shifa. Israel has been under pressure to prove its claims that a Hamas command centre is concealed beneath the hospital, a charge the militants and medical staff have denied. When the army first entered Al-Shifa on Wednesday, there were around 2,000 people inside, Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said. The military operation in the Gazas largest hospital left people including injured and premature babies being evacuating to save their lives, while many others remained trapped. Palestinian medics evacuated 31 premature babies from the hospital in a high-risk operation, the UN said. The World Health Organization has described the hospital as a death zone after sending in a team to visit the facility on Saturday. Why is Israel Attacking Hospitals? After launching attack on Al-Shifa, the Israeli forces also surrounded Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital under siege on Thursday. The Palestine Red Crescent Society earlier last week said a violent attack was underway at the facility though it was the only hospital with in-patient capacity in north Gaza remaining operational and admitting patients, the health ministry said. More than half of Gazas 36 hospitals are non-functioning by shortages, combat or damage, according to the UN. Here are some of the reasons why the hospital have been a centre of attacks by the Israeli forces: Yemens Houthi rebels on Sunday seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship enroute to India in the crucial Red Sea shipping route and took 25 crew members hostage. The ships Japanese operator, NYK Line, said the vessel had no cargo at the time of the hijacking, while the crew members are said to be from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico. The ship was bound to Pipavav in India. The seizing of the ship has heightened fears that it could escalate tensions over the Israel-Hamas war and spread it out of the subcontinent. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Tokyo was communicating with Israel and directly approaching the Houthis and also urged Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran and other countries to urge the militant group to release of the vessel and crew members. Who are the Houthis? The Houthi group is an armed militia of the Zaydi Shia sect in Yemen and is backed by Iran. Though the group traces its origin from a religious revival movement for the Zaydi sect of Shiite Islam in late 1990s, it came to prominence fighting against Yemens Sunni-majority government since 2014. They ousted Yemens transitional government led by Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in a 2014 coup and have since been engaged in a bloody civil war with the ousted administration, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. A truce has stemmed fighting in the country, with the Houthis currently in control of most of northern Yemen. Yemen has enjoyed more than a year of relative calm amid a UN-led peace push. Saudi Arabia, which supports the internationally recognised government based in Aden, has been holding talks with the Houthis in a bid to exit the war. The Yemeni group is designated a terrorist group by the UN Security Council. The US also classified the group as a terrorist group until 2021, but the Biden Administration removed it from the list of officially designated terrorists. Houthis Anti-Israel Stance The Houthi movement espouses a hard-line Islamist ideology. Over time, it has hardened its anti-American, anti-Saudi and anti-Israeli rhetoric. Their official slogan reads God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel. Curse the Jews, victory to Islam. Following the October violence between the Israeli forces and Hamas, the Yemeni group on October 31 said they have joined the Israel-Hamas war and claimed to have fired drones and missiles at Israel. They join their allies in the Axis of Resistance, a collection of Iran-backed groups and governments in the region. Other key members, Hamas and Hezbollah, have kept up a steady fire on Israel since the war began. They also threatened to target Israeli ships in the waters off Yemen. As per reports, Houthis threat to Israel and its anti-Israeli stance helps in gaining domestic support and helps its Iranian benefactors. Earlier this month, the Houthis downed a US drone flying above Yemeni territorial waters and allegedly spying on its forces. The Houthi leader has warned of strikes on American interests in the region if Washington becomes directly involved in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Why Did the Houthis Seized the Ship? The Houthi rebels said they hijacked the ship over its connection to Israel and would continue to target ships in international waters that were linked to or owned by Israelis until the end of Israels campaign against Gazas Hamas rulers. The militant group have said that all ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets. They said they were treating the crew members in accordance with their Islamic values. Houthis chief negotiator and spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said in an online statement that the Israelis only understand the language of force. The detention of the Israeli ship is a practical step that proves the seriousness of the Yemeni armed forces in waging the sea battle, regardless of its costs and costs, he added. They view the war between Israel and Hamas as an opportunity to mute some of this domestic criticism. Houthis Threaten Key Route The Red Sea, stretching from Egypts Suez Canal to the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait separating the Arabian Peninsula from Africa, remains a key trade route for global shipping and energy supplies. Thats why the US Navy has stationed multiple ships in the sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7. Since 2019, a series of ships have come under attack at sea as Iran began breaking all the limits of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. As Israel expands its devastating campaign against Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip following the militant groups unprecedented attack on southern Israel, fears have grown that the military operations could escalate into a wider regional conflict. (With inputs from agencies) Two Kyrgyzstan nationals carrying anti-epileptic capsules worth about Rs 25 lakh were apprehended by CISF personnel at the Delhi airport on Monday, officials said. The duo were intercepted by the security personnel around noon at terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport after their movement was found to be suspicious, a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer said. Five large trolley bags stuffed with a huge quantity of Regapen 300 mg capsules were recovered from the two passengers, who are Kyrgyzstan nationals, he said. They were bound for Almaty onboard an Air Astana plane scheduled to depart from the IGI airport at 3 pm. Regapen is an anti-epileptic drug and anti-narcotics officials say it is also abused as a psychotropic substance. As the passengers could not produce a valid authorisation for carrying such a huge quantity of medicines, they were offloaded from the plane and handed over to customs officials, the officer said. The CISF provides a counter-terrorist and counter-sabotage cover to the Delhi airport. A massive fire broke out a fishing harbour in Andhra Pradeshs Visakhapatnam where nearly 40 boats were gutted and two fishermen injured. Multiple fire tenders reached the spot and have now been contained the fire, officials said. And as per preliminary information, a gas leakage triggered might have triggered the blaze. The fire first started with one boat and eventually spread to the rest of the boats at the harbour. Suspecting foul play, local fishermen reportedly alleged that some unknown individuals might have set the boats on fire intentionally. The fire broke out on a boat at the Visakhapatnam fishing harbour and then spread to nearly 35 fibre-mechanised boats at midnight, Anand Reddy, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Visakhapatnam), was quoted as saying by ANI. Reddy said that a case has been filed and further investigation is underway. Ravi Shankar, ADGP Law and Order said that when one of the ships caught fire late at night, some boys were there, probably partying but luckily other boatsmen reached the spot and deanchored the ship and let it off into the sea. The ship had full tanker diesel and gas cylinders so the fire had a multiplier effect and it drifted on to the other ships which were parked at the jetty Shankar added. The ADGP told ANI that Navy ship Sahara also came and helped them because of which the fire could be brought under control. Five days ago, a total of 16 vehicles, including three cars were gutted after a fire broke out in a parking area of a residential complex in the early hours of Wednesday in Maharashtras Thane. Officials said that the incident took place at the housing society in the citys Panchpakhadi shortly after midnight. However, no one was injured, said Yasin Tadvi, chief of Thane civic bodys Disaster Management Cell. Tadvi said that the fire damaged 13 two-wheelers, charring 11 of them and three four-wheelers, adding that the Naupada police are probing the matter. A week ago, on November 13, four shops were gutted after a broke out at a shopping complex in Thanes Bhiwandi town, a civic official said. No person was injured in the incident which took place at around midnight on Monday, Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporations Commissioner Ajay Vaidya told PTI. The fire which broke out at one of the shops located in a complex at the Teen Batti area, spread to the other shops nearby. Officials said that four shops, including one selling school bags and another of clothes, were completely destroyed. (With Inputs from Swastika Das) A woman and her nine-month-old daughter Suviksha were charred to death in Bengalurus Whitefield on Sunday. This terrifying accident took place around 6 am near the Hope Farm Junction in the Kadugodi area. The 23-year-old woman identified as Soundarya by mistake stepped on a live wire belonging to the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM). According to The News Minute, sources at BESCOM have said that the live wire connected with the F9 feeder had suffered a jump cut, which is an abrupt interference in the power supply. The source said that usually, a jump cut should trigger an automatic tripping mechanism which is designed to ensure safety by disconnecting power at the time of any faults or anomalies in the system. Mechanisms like jump cuts, automatic tripping systems are critical features which assure safety. These are typically triggered by protective devices/systems such as circuit breakers or relays leading to quick isolation of the faulty sections. This in turn prevents any extensive damage from taking place and also balancing the dependability of the power distribution network. Reportedly, it was said that the although the automated tripping mechanism did take place, a wire had loosened and fallen on the footpath, of which the BESCOM was unaware of. And despite the potential threat, power supply was restored without checking for any faulty wires or other issues because consumers in the area did not raise any complaints. A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against five BESCOM officials at the Kadugodi police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 304A (causing death by negligence). These five persons are, executive engineer Sriram, assistant engineer Subramanya, Assistant engineer Chetan, joint engineer Rajanna, and station operator Manjunath. Karnatakas Energy minister KJ George has said that an inquiry has been launched into the incident and its report is now awaited. The line man, AE and AEE have been suspended for dereliction of duty, George said in a X post. He added that stringent actions will be taken against any of the other persons responsible for the incident. However, the five BESCOM officials were released on station bail later. The Energy minister also declared an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the family members who have lost their kins in this incident. Meanwhile, the states BJP unit took a dig at the ruling-Congress government and said that it is directly responsible for this death. The BJP unit, in an X post said, Even in populated areas like Bengaluru, a power line has fallen, but as a result of BESCOMs insistence on not clearing it, a mother and child, who were supposed to survive, died after stepping on the power line in Bengaluru. They further added, Hey DCM @DKShivakumar, this is your real brand Bangalore!! The irresponsible and corrupt Congress government is directly responsible for this death. In a similar incident, four siblings of a family were electrocuted after they came in a contact with a high-speed pedestal fan in their house in Lalman Kheda village under the Barasagwar police station in Uttar Pradeshs Unnao district. The incident took place when all of the elders of the house had gone to work. The four children, aged nine, eight, six, and four respectively were alont at home. One of the four kids touched the pedestal fan and on hearing the childs scream, the other three ran to save her but sadly, they too were electrocuted. All the four kids died on the spot. (With inputs from IANS) At least two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in firing in Bihars Lakhisarai district on Monday. The incident took place in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai, when they were returning from Chhath Ghat after morning prayers. According to Pankaj Kumar, Superintendent of Police (SP), Lakhisara, three of the four injured people have been referred from Begusarai Sadar Hospital to Patna. VIDEO | Several members of a family were shot in firing at Bihars Lakhisarai. More details are awaited. pic.twitter.com/4LWy53Wk9J Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 According to police, the matter is related to a love affair. Six to seven members of a family were returning from Chhath Ghat when a man, Ashish Chaudhary who used to stay in front of the victims house opened fire on them. Six people were shot, out of which two are dead and three are seriously injured, Kumar said. Ashish Chaudhary wanted to marry a girl belonging to the victims family but they were not ready for this. We are conducting an investigation, the accused will be arrested soon, he added. Police have reached the spot and an investigation is underway. The deceased were brothers, Chandan Jha and Rajnandan Jha, while the injured included their sister Durga Jha and father Shashi Bhushan Jha. Besides, Lovely Devi, married to one of the deceased, and another close relative Preeti Devi, have also sustained injuries. Efforts were on to track down the culprit, the SP said. Further details are awaited. Meanwhile, in another incident, three people were shot at over a dispute on bursting of firecrackers in Bihar Vaishali. The incident took place at 9 pm on November 19 at Belka village in Vaishali district following a dispute between two groups. Three people were shot at. They have been referred to Patna for treatment. Investigation is underway, police official said. (With ANI Inputs) Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturer Li Auto announced on Monday via its Weibo account that it had already delivered over 300,000 vehicles so far this year, the first Chinese premium auto brand to make the achievement in 2023. Photo credit: Li Auto As of today, the cumulative deliveries of Li Auto's L series had surpassed 350,000 units, with respective deliveries of the Li L7, the Li L8, and the Li L9 all topping 100,000 units. At the Auto Guangzhou 2023 that raised its curtain on November 17, Li Autos first all-electric model, the Li MEGA MPV, made its debut with its blind pre-orders kicking off at the same time. Anticipated to be priced between 500,000 yuan and 600,000 yuan, the model will be officially put onto the market in December this year. Besides, showroom displays and test drive models are scheduled to reach Li Auto retail centers across various cities in January 2024, followed by deliveries starting late February. Li MEGA; photo credit: Li Auto Positioned as a "high-tech flagship family MPV" by the company, the Li MEGA breaks away from the conventional appearance of traditional MPVs, but adopts an aerodynamically inspired design, establishing itself as the global leader with the lowest drag coefficient among MPVs at a remarkable 0.215Cd. Notably, Li Auto announced last Friday it received over 10,000 orders in only one hour and 42 minutes after the Li MEGAs blind pre-orders started. Earlier this month, Li Auto reported total revenues of 34.68 billion yuan for the third quarter of 2023, representing a 271.2% spike compared to the same quarter last year and a 21% growth from the second quarter of 2023. The company said the revenue hit its highest-ever level on a quarterly basis. The company's gross margin remained healthy at 22.0% for the third quarter, compared with 12.7% in the same span of last year and 21.8% in the second quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, its free cash flow reached 13.22 billion yuan, while cash position stood at 88.52 billion yuan as of September 30, 2023. In October, Li Auto saw its monthly deliveries exceed 40,000 units for the first time at 40,422 units, representing an impressive year-on-year surge of 302.1%. The automaker expects its total vehicle deliveries to be between 125,000 and 128,000 vehicles, indicating a spike of 169.9% to 176.3% from the year-ago period. A speeding BMW car rammed into a parked vehicle from behind, which in turn hit four pedestrians, critically injuring them, in South Delhis Greater Kailash Enclave-II area on Sunday night, police said. Those injured in the accident have been admitted to the AIIMS trauma centre, they said. Those injured were identified as Yashwant Nalwade (58), Devraj Madhukar (50), Manohar (62) and Nitin. They were taking a walk after having dinner. They were rushed to the AIIMS trauma centre for treatment, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Chandan Chowdhary said. She said the speeding BMW car, which was being driven by a woman, hit a parked Maruti Ciaz from behind. The impact was so intense that Maruti Ciaz hit the four, injuring them seriously, Chowdhary said. The DCP said the process of registering an FIR is underway. There was nobody inside the Ciaz, she said. Police teams were rushed to the site of the accident as soon as a call about it was received at the control room, the official said. The Dhangar community of Maharashtra will on Tuesday hold silent protests at the collectors offices in all districts of Maharashtra as a reminder" to CM Eknath Shinde-led state government about their reservation. The state had sought 50 days to resolve this issue, which got over last week. Member of Legislative Council (MLC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from the community Gopichand Padalkar has warned the state of intense protests, as the government doesnt seem serious about Dhangar reservation. ALSO READ | Resolve Dhangar Issue Immediately Or Else: Community Leader Writes to Maha CM As 50-Day Period Ends On the one hand, the state is facing the heat over Maratha reservation, while on the other, the Other Backward Class (OBC) community is unhappy about the governments plan to include Maratha community leaders, instead of only those from Marathwada, in the Kunbi category. Meanwhile, Dhangars are seeking reservation, with a BJP leader protesting against his own government in the state. In a video message to the Dhangar community, Padalkar has requested community members from all districts to hold peaceful protests at their collectors or tehsil office and submit a memorandum for reservation. We will submit our demand of immediate implementation of reservation for the Dhangar community. We will protest in a democratic way," said Padalkar, asking the community to gather in large numbers. Padalkar feels the government has not taken any concrete steps to ensure reservation for the Dhangar community. The protests are to highlight the gravity of the issue and remind the state of its assurance, he says. Padalkar will participate in the silent protest in Mumbai and will also hand over the letter of memorandum to Mumbai collector in the presence of Dhangar community members. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed its Rafale fighter aircrafts in search of unidentified flying objects sighted near the Imphal airport. A UFO was seen The sighting of the UFO over the Imphal airport around 2:30 pm on Sunday after which a few commercial flights were affected. Soon after information about the UFO near the Imphal airport was received, a Rafale fighter aircraft from a nearby airbase was scrambled to go and search for it, defence sources told news agency ANI. The aircraft equipped with advanced sensors carried out low-level flying over the suspected area to look for the UFO but it did not find anything there, they said, adding that after the first aircraft returned, one more Rafale fighter was sent for the search but the UFO was not seen around the area. The agencies concerned are trying to find out the details of the UFO as there are videos of the UFO over the Imphal airport, they said. The UFO was seen from the terrace of air traffic control by Air Traffic Service (ATS) personnel, staffers of airlines, the public, police, and CISF personnel and was unidentified to all the viewers. They said that the object was white colour that could be seen with the naked eyes and became invisible with the onset of the dusk, according to an AAI official. Soon after the Imphal airport was cleared for flying, the Shillong-headquartered Eastern Command of the Indian Air Force stated that it had activated its Air Defence response mechanism without giving any specific details of the steps taken by it. Eastern Command, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), said, IAF activated its Air Defence response mechanism based on visual inputs from Imphal airport. The small object was not seen thereafter. The Rafale fighters of the Indian Air Force are deployed at the Hashimara air base in West Bengal and keep flying from different air bases in the eastern sector along the China border. The Rafale fighters recently also took part in the mega Air Force exercise Poorvi Akash along the China border where all major assets of the force participated along with the troops of the Army. (With Inputs from ANI) An inebriated passenger misbehaved with a crew despite multiple warnings on a Jaipur to Bengaluru IndiGo flight. A press statement from the airlines said that the passenger was handed over to the local law enforcement authorities on arrival for further action. We regret the inconvenience caused to the other passengers, the statement read. The accused, a 33-year-old Randheer Singh, was detained after he repeatedly held an air hostess hand even after being warned not to. According to a Times Now report, Singh belonging to Rajasthans Sikar seated on 27(D) of the IndiGo flight 6E556, appeared to be intoxicated. Singhs fellow passengers noticed his inappropriate behaviour and quickly alerted the flight crew. Taking cognizance of the situations seriousness, the captain of the flight termed Singh to be an indisciplined passenger. Reportedly, cabin crew filed a complaint against the accused right after landing at the Bengaluru airport. Airlines official Varun Kumar reported the incident to the airport police, leading to the 33-year-olds arrest on Sunday. Singh has been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 354A and further investigation is underway. Earlier this month, a 52-year-old man was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a 36-year-old female passenger aboard a Frankfurt-Bengaluru Lufthansa flight, police said on Wednesday. The incident allegedly took place on November 6 when the woman was inappropriately touched by the elderly man when she was asleep. The man seated next to her allegedly touched her private parts and misbehaved with her while she was asleep. When he continued harassing her, the woman requested the flight attendant and got her seat changed. After landing in Bengaluru, the woman filed a complaint against the man at Kempegowda International Airport Police Station. The man was arrested and produced before the court. He was, however, later released on bail. In a similar incident in September, a man onboard a Mumbai-Guwahati IndiGo flight was handed over to the Guwahati police on arrival after a complaint was received against him from another passenger for alleged sexual harassment. A woman had accused that the man lifted the armrest and groped her while the cabin lights were dimmed on the late-night flight. Following the incident, the airline said that a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the man and he was handed over to the police in Guwahati. (With PTI inputs) A dance party was organised by the gurdwara administration at Kartarpur Sahib complex in Shakargarh, Narowal District of Punjab province in Pakistan, claimed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Manjinder Singh Sirsa. The BJP leader said alcohol and meat were also consumed during the party at the gurdwara complex and urged the Pakistan government to take strict action against the accused. The PMU Kartarpur Corridor committee in Narowal including the local Deputy Commissioner and DSP of Kartarpur Gurdwara administration organised a dance party, consumed alcohol and meatStrict action should be taken against them. I condemn this act strongly and appeal to the Pakistan Govt to register a case against them and put them behind bars, Sirsa told news agency ANI. Sirsa also posted the purported video of the said incident on X (formally Twitter), and said that Sikh community worldwide feels betrayed by the disrespect to the sacred site where Guru Nanak Dev ji took his last breath. Profound dismay as Sayed Abu Bakar Qureshi, CEO PMU Kartarpur Corridor, organizes a non-vegetarian party in Gurdwara Shri Darbar Sahib complex which was attended by 80 people including Mohammad Sharukh, Deputy Commissioner Narowal, District Police Officer Narowal also.Sikh pic.twitter.com/7Scmhj86Tk Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) November 19, 2023 Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) spokesperson Gurcharan Singh Grewal also echoed Sirsas demand and said, the entire Sikh community condemns this shameful incident. Pakistan government should take action in this matter. I request the Jathedar of Akal Takht Kartarpur Sahib to clear their stand on this. Reacting to news, Jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib Giani, Harpreet Singh called the incident unfortunate. Pakistan government should know that Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara is a place of worship for us. They should take action against those responsible, he said. In a significant verdict, the Madras High Court has ruled that merely threatening someone by claiming association with an ISIS terrorist does not automatically establish ones membership in the organisation amounting to an offence under Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967. The prosecution has to establish the support to the terrorist organisation by independent evidence, said the division bench of Justices SS Sundar and Sunder Mohan to one Mohamed Irfan, a meat dealer accused of conspiring to establish Islamic rule in India. The order was passed in Irfans appeal against rejection of his bail plea by a Special NIA court in a case, where he was accused of offences under Section 18 of the UAPA for conspiring to commit a terrorist act and Section 39 relating to support given to a terrorist organisation. According to the prosecution, Sathick Batcha, the primary accused in a case at the Mayiladuthurai police station, was intercepted with arms in a Mahindra Scorpio on February 21, 2022. Allegedly, Irfan and the other accused were in the car, leading to their arrest on charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act. The case took a turn when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over, re-registering it under relevant IPC sections and UAPA provisions. The NIA alleged that Irfan, associated with Batcha, aimed to establish Islamic rule in India akin to the ISIS ideology. The NIA cited conspiracy meetings at specific locations and referred to witness statements and WhatsApp group messages as evidence. The court, however, emphasised that a mere threat, even if associating with ISIS, does not automatically constitute support to a terrorist organisation under Section 39 of the UAPA. The bench, after perusal of the evidence, including the statement of a protected witness allegedly threatened by Irfan, concluded that while the threat might be an offence, it doesnt necessarily qualify as support to a terrorist organisation. The court highlighted the need for independent evidence to establish such support. Additionally, the court noted that the allegation against Irfan that he handled funds for Batcha did not infer support for a terrorist organisation, distinguishing between support to an individual and support to a terrorist organisation. Support to an individual is different from support to a terrorist organisation, the bench said. Accordingly, while also highlighting that Irfan had been in custody since February 2022, the bench exercised its powers to grant bail to him. A violent clash between two families left three persons including a woman and her nephew dead and several others injured in Madhya Pradesh on Friday night. Members of a family were travelling in a jeep when it was stopped and set on fire in Shivpuri district on Friday. One person was burnt alive inside the jeep while two others who tried to escape were shot dead. According to a TOI report, the clash reportedly stemmed from a long-standing feud between the Bhadauria and Kushwaha families in the Chakrampur village over DJ music during Ganesh Visarjan more than two months ago. Members of Munna Bhadaurias family were travelling in a jeep from Gwalior when they were ambushed by individuals from the Kushwaha group as they were passing near the latters residence at around 9:00 pm in the Shivpuri district. The assailants, a group of 20-25 people from the Kushwaha side, reportedly hurled stones at the Bhadauria familys jeep forcing it to stop, surrounded it and set it on fire. Those trapped inside the vehicle when tried to escape, were shot dead by the attackers. The assailants also wielded sticks, axes, and rods during the attack. Asha Devi, 52, her nephew, 20-year-old Himanshu, who had arrived at his aunts residence for Bhai Dooj and her brother-in-law Laxman were killed in the attack. While Himanshu was burnt alive inside the vehicle, Ashas husband, 50-year-old Munna along with their sons Rajendra, 28, Yogendra Singh, 27, and nephew Saurabh Sengar, 25 sustained injuries. Dinesh, 26, from Chakrampur village also sustained gunshot wounds from the Kushwaha side. Following the incident, relatives of the Bhadauria family staged a protest blocking the Narwar police station for three hours on Saturday. The blockade was called off local authorities assured them of action against the accused. At least 10 people have been arrested in the case and the houses of five of the accused were identified and razed by the administration. Cases have been filed against both groups. Heavy police force has been deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incidents further. A womans body was found in a suitcase near a metro railway construction site in Central Mumbais Kurla, police said. The body was discovered around 12:30 pm after the Mumbai police were informed of an abandoned suitcase lying on the CST Road in Shanti Nagar. The discovery was made after the police around 1 pm were informed about a suitcase lying abandoned on the CST Road at Shanti Nagar, where work for a metro project is underway, an official said. Police reached the spot only to discover the womans body inside the suitcase. Thereafter, the body was sent to Ghatkopars Rajawadi Hospital for an autopsy. However, the woman is yet to be identified, they said. The woman has not been identified yet, but looking at the body, it is being estimated that her age could be between 25-30 years, the woman was wearing a T-shirt and track pants, they noted. In their probe, police are also examining the CCTV footage of the cameras installed in the area. Officials said that a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 302 (murder) has been registered, adding that the search to find the killer is on. Mumbai Police along with the Crime Branch is further investigating the case. In October, the body of a 19-year-old student was stuffed in suitcase with a tape over his mouth on Friday in Kolkata, police said. The body was found under a cot in the rented accommodation at Mahishabathan in the citys New Town area. The deceased Sajid Hossain had been missing since October 4 and his mobile number was found to be unreachable. However, after he went missing, Hossains parents got a phone call demanding a ransom of Rs 30 lakh, after which his father filed a complaint and police began its investigation. Hossains body was found by officials based on a tip-off. Four persons were detained in connection to the teens death. Then in September this year, a married man killed his 28-year-old live-in partner in Maharashtras Vasai and dumped her body in Gujarats Valsad. The body of the victim was found packed in a suitcase in a creek at Valsad. Earlier the victims sister had filed a missing complaint at Naigaon police station, alleging that the accused Manohar Shukla and his wife killed her sister, packed her body in a suitcase and disposed of it in Vapi to erase any traces of murder. Shukla, already married, was also in a relationship with the victim. An FIR under IPC Section 302 (murder) was registered at the Naigaon police station. Shukla was arrested by the police, while his wife was detained. (With Inputs from Preeti S) In a global first, the British medical regulator has given the green light to a gene therapy aiming to cure two untreatable blood disorders sickle cell disease (SCD) and beta-thalassemia. The treatment for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia is the first to be licensed using the gene-editing tool Crispr, which earned its discoverers the Nobel Prize in 2020. This marks ground-breaking progress in managing two hereditary blood conditions, both stemming from gene errors related to haemoglobin. It could be a game-changing technology for India which is known to have the highest prevalence of the disease for both, thalassemia and SCD patients. However, typically it takes three to four years to bring the technology to India along with another challenge of high and unaffordable cost. According to media reports, the technology is expected to cost between $1.2 million (Rs 10 crore) and $1.7 million (Rs 15 crore). Why does India need Crispr? Data suggests that India has over two crore or 20 million patients with SCD and the largest number of children with Thalassemia major in the world about 1.5 lakh with more than four crore or 40 million carriers of beta thalassemia trait. Government estimates show that about 10,000-15,000 babies with thalassemia major are born every year and struggle to reach adulthood due to frequent blood transfusions, putting them at risk of iron overload, organ damage and critical blood-related infections such as HIV and Hepatitis C. Patients with sickle cell disease experience the deformation of red blood cells into a sickle shape, leading to pain, anaemia, and organ damage. Thalassemia patients face anaemia and fatigue due to the insufficient production of haemoglobin, impacting oxygen transport. Such patients need frequent blood transfusions, in some cases weekly or fortnightly, to survive. According to doctors in India treating these blood disorders, the country should immediately start trials to make the technology available. Approval of gene therapy in thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia is a great boon for these patients especially those who dont have HLA-matched donors available, JS Arora, general secretary at National Thalassemia Welfare Society & Federation, told News18. While the cost will remain the biggest hurdle for Indian patients, he said the government should take effective measures to initiate clinical trials on this urgently. Dr Chandrakanth MV, academic head and senior consultant, medical oncology and hemato oncology at Narayana Hospital in Howrah, said given the current regulatory scenario in India pertaining to new drugs and therapies (their efficacy, trials, and patient safety), it will take more than three years for their availability and introduction in India. Why did the UK approve the technology? The approval from UKs regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), comes after positive outcomes from clinical trials evaluating a single-dose intravenous infusion treatment. This innovative therapy was created through collaboration between Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston, Massachusetts, and CRISPR Therapeutics, a biotechnology company based in Zug, Switzerland. The treatment, named Casgevy, uses a gene-editing tool. In a trial for sickle-cell disease on 45 participants, Casgevy totally relieved 28 participants of agonising pain for at least one year post-treatment. The researchers also assessed the therapys efficacy for a severe form of beta thalassaemia, typically managed with monthly blood transfusions. In this trial, 54 individuals received Casgevy, with 42 participating sufficiently to yield interim results. Among these 42 participants, 39 were free from blood transfusions for a minimum of one year, while the remaining three experienced a reduction of more than 70 per cent in their need for blood transfusions. How does the tech work? DNA is like the blueprint of our bodies and genes provide instructions for how our cells function. Gene-editing allows scientists to precisely manipulate this DNA. Errors in the genes responsible for encoding haemoglobin a crucial molecule facilitating the transport of oxygen by red blood cells lead to the development of sickle-cell disease and beta thalassaemia. Doctors use Casgevy by taking blood-producing stem cells from the bone marrow of patients. Then, they use CRISPR-Cas9, a kind of molecular scissors, to edit the genes that carry instructions for making haemoglobin in those cells. This editing tool uses an RNA molecule to guide it to the right spot in the DNA, where it makes precise cuts. In simple words, when Cas9 gets to the gene called BCL11A, which is the target of Casgevy, it cuts both sides of the DNA. Normally, BCL11A stops the creation of a type of haemoglobin that is usually only made in babies before they are born. By changing this gene, Casgevy allows the body to make foetal haemoglobin, which is different from adult haemoglobin and doesnt have the same defects in people with sickle-cell disease or beta thalassaemia. Experts push for faster adoption of Crispr in India Traditionally, the only permanent treatment option has been a bone marrow transplant, a procedure with rejection risks and dependency on a closely matched donor. However, this gene-editing treatment has demonstrated its first-of-its-kind status by successfully restoring healthy haemoglobin production in the majority of participants. By using cas technique which doesnt use a viral vector traditionally used for gene therapy genetic code is modified and leads to cure of the two blood disorders, Satya Prakash Yadav, director, pediatric haematology, oncology and bone marrow transplant at Medanta Hospital, said. He said that usually, it takes three to five years before new therapies reach India. In this case, cost is also going to be a barrier apart from availability. While gene editing is known to cause side effects in the later stages of life, including the risk of cancer, Yadav said none reported in this trial so far which is good. However, side effects have to be looked at for the next ten years, he added. India has been actively integrating gene therapy and related protocols. With 2019 guidelines from the Indian Council of Medical Research emphasising ethical considerations already, the Gene Therapy and Advisory and Evaluation Committee was also being set to oversee the proposed therapies. We need to recognise the potential of gene therapy amid a significant burden of genetic disorders, addressing technical risks and ethical challenges with a robust regulatory framework, Dr Chandrakanth MV from Narayana Hospital said, adding that as healthcare professionals, we strongly recommend expediting the introduction of new therapies. A 35-year-old woman from Bareilys Gotiya village was allegedly burnt to death by her husband after he found her in a compromising state with another man. Following the incident, a charred body of the woman, identified as Anjali was found in a field near the village late on Saturday night. The area where the deceased was found comes under the Shahi Police Station. The womans husband Nepal Singh, was arrested by the police on murder charges after her family accused him of burning her alive. During police interrogation, Nepal Singh confessed to killing his wife as she was in an extramarital affair with another man. As per police, on Saturday night, Singh saw his wife lying on a stack of straw with a man, following which he set the stack on fire and left. Police said that Anjalis body was sent for post mortem, however no information has been received about the man with whom she was found in an intimate state. Earlier this year, a woman was allegedly killed by her husband on suspicion of having an extramarital affair. The incident occured in Chhattisgarhs Bilaspur and her body was found from inside a water tank in their house, chopped into several pieces. The victim, Sati Sahu, was killed by her husband, Pavan Thakur, some 1-2 months before her body parts were dumped in a water tank in his house in Uslapur, Bilaspur, police were quoted as saying by ANI. After noticing a foul odour coming from a room close to the bathroom, police recovered the body parts, wrapped in tape and polythene, from an empty water tank. (with PTI inputs) Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On November 18, Huaihai Holding Group ("Huaihai Holding") inked a deal with FinDreams Battery, a battery-dediacted subsidiary of BYD, for a groundbreaking sodium-ion battery project, according to a post on Huaihai Holding's WeChat account. Photo credit: Huaihai Holding Group This initiative, with a planned total investment of 100 billion yuan and an annual production capacity of 30 GWh, aims to be built into the world's largest sodium-ion system supplier for micro-electric vehicles. This signing marks the second collaboration between BYD and local businesses in Xuzhou city, Jiangsu province. In November 2022, FinDreams Battery and Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co., Ltd. (XCMG) jointly invested 10 billion yuan in constructing a power battery production base. The newly formed partnership signifies the integration of superior resources along the sodium-ion battery industry chain in Xuzhou city, leveraging strengths in technology, funds, talent, market access, channels, and the industrial chain to advance the maturity and application of the local sodium-ion battery industry. FinDreams Battery's CEO, He Long emphasized that sodium-ion battery technology is maturing rapidly with broad market prospects. The collaboration aims to consolidate high-quality resources, accelerating the implementation of the sodium-ion battery project in Xuzhou. The strategic advantages of Xuzhou city, including diverse application scenarios and a vast market hinterland, are poised to provide robust support for the development of the sodium-ion battery project. Looking ahead, BYD and the city are expected to explore deeper cooperation in areas such as electromechanical control for construction machinery and energy storage batteries, capitalizing on their collective strengths. In parallel, information from "Xuzhou Release", a WeChat account of Xuzhou's government, indicates that the aforesaid power battery production base project has achieved significant milestones. With the entire 310,000 square meters of factory buildings and dormitories now capped, electromechanical installation and construction have commenced in full swing. It is anticipated that production equipment will be installed and commissioned in mid-to-late December, with trial production scheduled for early March next year. Employing a C-17 and two C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft, the IAF airlifted 36 tonne of critical equipment on Monday, continuing to lend assistance to efforts being made to rescue workers trapped in a partially collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhands Uttarkashi district, officials said. Rescuers on Monday pushed through a six-inch-wide pipeline through the rubble of the collapsed tunnel, a breakthrough that will help them supply larger quantities of food and possibly allow live visuals of the 41 workers trapped inside for eight days. (with PTI inputs) In a shocking incident, a 19-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped by two masked men from a petrol pump in broad daylight in poll-bound Madhya Pradeshs Gwalior on Monday. The CCTV footage of the incident went viral on social media. The clip shows two unidentified masked men, forcibly lifting the woman and taking her on a two-wheeler as onlookers watch in silence. In an update on Tuesday, Gwalior SP Rajesh Singh Chandel said the girl has been found at a lodge in Guna, adding that one of the two men who abducted her has been nabbed from Lahar. As per the video, one of the accused was wearing a helmet and the other one had covered his face with a cloth. One of the men then gets off the bike and forcibly takes the woman on the bike. VIDEO | A woman was allegedly kidnapped by unidentified bike-borne assailants from a petrol pump in MP's Gwalior earlier today. The incident was caught on a CCTV camera. pic.twitter.com/sklX36H4Jg Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 20, 2023 The camera installed at the petrol pump caught the incident and a police investigation has begun in the matter. The 19-year-old girl who was abducted near Naka Chandravadni petrol station in Gwalior yesterday has been found at a lodge in Guna. She was abducted by two motorbike-borne men. One of the men has been nabbed from Lahar, SP Gwalior Rajesh Singh Chandel said on Tuesday. The victim is a 19-year-old BA student. She is a resident of Madhya Pradeshs Bhind district and was kidnapped minutes after she stepped down from a bus around 8:50 am on Monday, NDTV reported. The victim went to Bhind to celebrate Diwali with her family members and was waiting for her brother at the petrol pump, the publication reported. Mrinalini Kumari, is a renowned fashion designer based in New York, overseeing a trans-continental design enterprise. Her illustrious career includes crafting designs for icons like Beyonce and global figures such as Michelle Obama. At the forefront of international haute couture, shes sparking crucial dialogues on the global exploitation faced by Indian designers and artisans. Stemming from her personal challenges with Valentino, she poses a fundamental question: Does India, a flourishing hub for luxury design, receive its due recognition? Lets delve with her into the narrative of Indian designers versus their global counterparts. How Made in India can be a coveted global label on strength of our superior craftsmanship and designs if we shake off the shackles of global exploitation and nor settle for being in the shadows? Make in India for me is more than just a title and a business focussed approach it is a sort of a reckoning of Indias globally prowess. From a fashion industry perspective, it is a symbol of our superior craftsmanship and designs and it is time that we break free and shine on our own terms. We bring in a wealth of cultural heritage, traditional textiles, and our diversity that are critical especially when it comes to fashion designing. Indian designers, are bringing in usage of sustainable materials and ethical practices in their production process. They are also raising awareness about the environmental and social impact of the fashion industry. I think the time is ripe for us to own our place in the world we possess a rich heritage of arts, crafts and techniques that no one can compare. We will however, need to work harder and bring Government and private sector together to play a pivotal role achieving superiority over other nations over fashion and designing. Here are a few things that would help: Embracing technology and investing in research and development across various industries to be making Indian products globally competitive. Prioritizing strict quality control and certification standards, to be able to stand with global quality. This will need us putting in place a robust infrastructure, marketing, and financial assistance so as to encourage exports by reducing trade barriers and providing incentives to exporting companies. Cooperation and networking: Integrate global design trends with regional handicrafts through networking and knowledge exchange. I believe educated consumers also play an important role in awareness and the value of Made in India goods we must leverage communication methods to create a demand for our products. What are the contributions of Indian fashion designers and artisans in shaping the global fashion industry? Indian fashion designers and artisans have made profound contributions to the global fashion industry. Theyve showcased the rich tapestry of traditional Indian textiles, modernizing age-old weaving and dyeing techniques, bringing them international recognition. Ethnic designs, including hand-painted motifs, block printing, intricate needlework, and mirror work, have influenced global fashion trends. Indian designers have introduced cutting-edge styles in clothing, jewellery, accessories, and footwear, setting new standards for innovation and craftsmanship. Many have embraced eco-friendly and sustainable practices, aligning with international efforts to promote responsible fashion. Indian couture and bridal wear, epitomized by designers like Manish Malhotra and Sabyasachi Mukherjee, have garnered global attention. Our fashion events are great platforms for international recognition celebrity endorsements from Bollywood and beyond have amplified its reach. The empowerment of local artisans and collaborations with global fashion companies have preserved traditional craftsmanship and fostered cultural exchange. Moreover, Indian fashion has championed diversity, both in body form and gender identity, aligning with a global trend towards inclusivity. Finally, Indian jewellery and accessory designers have made a lasting mark on the global fashion scene with their intricate, handcrafted creations. In essence, Indian fashion designers and artisans have woven a tapestry of cultural richness, sustainability, and inclusivity into the global fashion industry, enhancing its diversity and creativity. The growing importance of sustainability in the fashion industry In an era where we have collectively gone through worst of pandemics, the value of purpose and begin good to the earth has increase many fold. Sustainability is a paramount need and challenge for the fashion industry due to a confluence of social, economic, and environmental factors. Environmental issues, including textile waste, resource overconsumption, and water pollution, highlight the significant ecological footprint of fashion, from raw material production to garment disposal. Sustainability initiatives aim to mitigate these environmental impacts. What is fascinating to note is that Indian designers are possibly the foremost in coming with sustainable fashion our history, heritage and natural resources have taught us the importance of sustainable materials khadi, jute, cotton, usage of natural dyes, are some very basic examples. Need for waste reduction, the importance of energy and water conservation, ethical labour practices, have all gained prominence today and governments and international organizations are working towards compelling businesses to adopt sustainable practices. I think its simple to note that sustainability means long-term cost savings and community benefits. In essence, the fashion sector is driven by environmental responsibility and long-term business viability in a rapidly evolving market. What are the challenges that fashion designers, especially smaller or independent designers, face when it comes to protecting their designs and intellectual property in a highly competitive and often unregulated industry? This is an interesting question and I am personally going through my own challenges to protect my craft to be honest, it is not easy especially while dealing with big, establishments. Smaller or independent entities like me are confronted with a multitude of challenges in safeguarding designs and intellectual property within the competitive and often loosely regulated fashion industry. Key hurdles include insufficient intellectual property (IP) protection, as fashion creations are frequently not covered by copyright, leaving designs vulnerable to copying, particularly by fast fashion retailers known for their rapid imitation and mass production. Legal actions to protect IP can be financially burdensome, particularly when facing larger companies, and proving deliberate infringement can be intricate, requiring professional investigation. Global supply chains add complexity, as coordinating IP protection across international borders is costly and challenging. The absence of standardized design protection mechanisms in the fashion industry, along with limited durations of protection and difficulties in protecting design elements through trade dress or trademarks, further compound the problem. Moreover, the ever-evolving nature of fashion design poses a continuous challenge. Smaller designers may lack the legal expertise needed to navigate these complexities, relying on brand-building, marketing, and strategic alliances to mitigate these challenges. Collaboration with industry associations and legal professionals can provide essential guidance on design protection strategies. Having said this, I think, an Indian origin designer and someone who is creating designs inspired by India, I am proud of what I bring to the industry and for that I am going to fight for what is right and for what is my rightful place. 5. What are the challenges you (Mrinalini Kumari) faced as an Indian fashion designer making a mark in a highly competitive American fashion market? While, I must say that I did manage to create a niche for myself, the journey was difficult. There are certain obvious hurdles for Indians or anyone else coming from beyond the boundaries of usual European or American origins. At the same time, I also strongly believe that the fashion industry appreciates crafts and innovation that are authentic and contextual- anyone who brings in these has a place. One must remember to be true to their sensibilities and continue their journey. Discuss the fine line between inspiration and infringement in the fashion world. The fine line between inspiration and infringement in the fashion industry is a multifaceted challenge with both legal and moral dimensions. Fashion thrives on creativity and innovation, drawing inspiration from diverse sources such as art, culture, history, and nature. However, the critical distinction is highlighted when inspiration crosses the boundary into infringement. Copyright laws provide limited protection for fashion designs, making legal enforcement complex. Trademark and trade dress laws can safeguard certain elements of fashion, like logos and distinctive designs. Public perception and market impact are pivotal in determining whether a design is perceived as inspired or infringing. The cyclical nature of fashion trends adds to the complexity, as designers frequently reinterpret past styles. Ethical considerations are also significant, with designers aiming to maintain their creative integrity. Industry guidelines and best practices help designers strike a balance, ensuring a dynamic and ethically sound fashion landscape. In this nuanced landscape, the fashion industry must navigate the fine line between inspiration and infringement to preserve both creativity and intellectual property rights while adhering to ethical and legal norms. In conclusion, there is a blurry and arbitrary boundary in the realm of fashion between inspiration and infringement. Despite the existence of legal concepts and considerations, interpretation, context, and individual decisions are frequently crucial. To keep the fashion business vibrant and cutting-edge, designers and brands must strike a balance between their creative freedom and the need to uphold intellectual property rights and ethical norms. Mohulo, by SMOKE LAB, is a unique addition to Indias thriving gin scene. This innovative spirit aims to redefine your gin experience by featuring the exquisite Mahua flower as a central element, a botanical with deep cultural roots in the tribal communities of Indias heartland. Sourced from the lush regions of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the Mahua plant provides a glimpse into our rich heritage. Mohulo, the artisanal gin, is meticulously crafted from a blend of 12 botanicals, including Juniper, Coriander, Angelica plant, Green Cardamom, Liquorice, Pink Peppercorn, Bay Leaf, Orange blossom, Orange peel, Mahua, Honey, and Basmati Rice. This carefully curated combination creates a flavorful symphony that takes your taste buds on a captivating journey through Indias cultural tapestry. Noteworthy is the brands decision to use Basmati Rice as the base, deviating from the commonly preferred wheat or barley grains. This deliberate choice, spearheaded by Varun Jain, Founder, SMOKE LAB, and executed in collaboration with Master Distiller Jamie Baxter, a renowned figure in the world of distillation, aims to capture the authenticity of Indias diverse landscapes. The result is Mohulo, an innovative spirit that seamlessly bridges Indias past with the present, offering a remarkable and authentic drinking experience with every sip. In a conversation with Jamie Baxter, we understand more about this innovative gin: Question 1: Gin has seen huge popularity in recent years. What do you think is driving this trend, and where does Mohulo feature in this evolution? Answer 1: Gins recent surge in popularity can be attributed to various factors. Firstly, consumers are increasingly seeking unique and high-quality options, and gin, with its diverse botanical ingredients and distillation methods, offers a platform for creative experimentation. The revival of the cocktail culture has been instrumental as well. Mixologists, bartenders are pushing the boundaries, infusing unique flavours and experimenting with distinct blends. This shift from the classic gin and tonic to a wide range of gin-based cocktails has made gin a crowd-pleaser, particularly with the treasure trove of local herbs and spices in India adding a delightful twist to the liquids popularity. In this evolving landscape, Mohulo stands out by putting the spotlight on its ingredients. The liquid has been in the making for three years and its deep connection to the native Mahua plant thats exclusively sourced from tribes and forests of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is really its USP. Its a perfect example of how local, meaningful ingredients have been translated into a high-quality concoction using modern-day distillation. Question 2: Could you tell us about your background in distillation and the diverse range of spirits youve worked? How is the process different when it comes to gin? Answer 2: As a distillery consultant for over a decade, Ive had the honour of building over 100+ distilleries globally and representing over 5% of all UK distilleries. It was truly an unexpected detour where I was to initially set up a muesli factory but ended up co-founding Chase Distillery in 2006, one of the pioneers of craft distilleries, alongside Sipsmith and Sacred. The industry was unknown territory back then, with sceptics doubting the viability of smaller-scale distilling. However, our ground-breaking endeavor with Chase Vodka received an overwhelming response, and we rapidly gained recognition. By the end of 2011, I recognized the need for distillery expertise and got into consultancy, assisting folks with shared passion who didnt have the technical knowhow. For gin, the preparation of a high-purity neutral spirit is a vital foundation. The distillation process starts with the still being filled with the neutral spirit thats diluted with water alongside all botanicals, herbs and spices which contain natural oils. Since alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, the former rises as vapour, carrying with it the botanicals that add the desired flavour profile to the liquid. The stills are usually made of copper which has good heat transfer properties, so the alcohol vapour is condensed back into liquid form where it gets re-boiled and becomes vapour once again. This back and forth with increasing copper content is what really makes the gin smooth. Copper also helps remove impurities like sulphides that may be in the water, so it is a crucial element of the process. The reflux condensation is also what ensures a high ABV alongside the smoothness. The final condenser has cold water running through it which condenses the hot alcohol vapour into liquid. But not all alcohol is good, so the skill of the distillery is to remove all the Butanol, Methanol from the desired Ethanol. This isnt a timebound process but through years of experience, distillers know when to make the cut and when the liquid is ready for bottling. Question 3: Gin is known for its diverse botanicals. What sets Mohulo gin apart from other gins in terms of flavour profile and botanicals used? Answer 3: When we embarked on the journey of creating Mohulo, it was a truly collaborative effort with Varun Jain (Founder). They sent special Indian ingredients all the way to the UK for me to work with. These were ingredients I had never used before, so I spent a significant amount of time in the lab experimenting with these botanicals in different ratios. Some combinations were successful, while others didnt quite meet the mark. After some rigorous work, I finally arrived at a product that I was satisfied with, and I sent 2-3 variations back to the team in India. Initially, the gin was made using water from the UK, but Varun insisted on maintaining the Indian touch, so we later replicated the process with Indian water. The goal was to craft a gin that pays homage to the cultural fabric of India. A standout botanical in Mohulo is Mahua which was entirely new ingredient to me. Varun sent Mahua seeds, fruits and flowers for experimentation. I meticulously tested each element individually and in various combinations, ultimately selecting Mahua seeds as the IT ingredient. Notably, Mohulos use of basmati rice as a base is also what sets it apart from other gins, which typically use barley, wheat or rye. Mohulo is a concoction of 12 botanicals including Juniper Berries, Coriander Seed, Cardamom, Wild Honey, Orange Blossom, Angelica Plant, Green Cardamom, Liquorice, Pink Peppercorn, Bay Leaf and Orange Peel so its a harmonious and unique blend to begin with. Another USP is that before bottling the gin sits through a short saturation period of 3 weeks which is what melts all the flavours together. The result is Mohulo, a gin that Im proud to have been a part of a unique flavor profile and botanical selection that authentically captures the essence of India. Question 4: How does the Mohulo Gin reflect the cultural and regional influences of India in its flavour and character? Answer 4: Mohulo Gin is a heartfelt tribute to the deep cultural and regional influences of India, which shine through in its ingredients, production methods and even the bottle design and logo. The hero ingredient- Mahua holds deep-rooted cultural significance as the Baiga tribe, a local group relies on gathering and trading mahua for their livelihood. Hence, the tree of life as they lovingly call the plant plays an intrinsic role in the lives of tribal communities residing in the region. The bottle design incorporates grains of rice and bees to represent essential elements of the gin while the logo is a tribute to the tribal art, featuring an amalgamation of distinctive tattoos spotted on various body parts of the indigenous community. The gins character is shaped by a blend of ingredients that are kitchen staples in India alongside other unique addons which is what gives the liquid a distinctive nutty flavour and a unique floral aroma. Question 5: How has your experience in the UKs distillation industry influenced your approach to gin production in India? How distinct is the Indian distillation process? Answer 5: England represents the heartland of gin production, so the experience has provided me valuable insights that I carry along with me across the world. In the UK, gin production traditionally utilizes grains like barley, rye and wheat as the base for neutral spirit emphasizing the importance of selecting high- quality ingredients right from the start. The UKs distillation history also underlines the significance of seasonal botanicals, typically distilled in April and May. Traditionally, dried botanicals were used to ensure consistent quality throughout the year. However, with the rise of craft distilling, there has been a shift towards using fresh, locally sourced herbs and spices. This approach allows for the creation of unique, limited-edition batches, popularly known as summer gin and winter gin, which encapsulate the essence of a particular season. This is something were trying to do with Mohulo as well with only 2000 cases of the liquid produced worldwide. The real challenge which by the way was absolutely thrilling for me was the introduction to unusual, local botanicals that I wasnt familiar with. So, while the distilling process remains the same everywhere, its about finding the right ingredients and regional influences. This blend of international distillation expertise fused with Indias rich heritage has really created a distinctive approach to artisanal gin production, resulting in products like Mohulo Gin that embody the best of both worlds. Question 6: What inspired the creation of Indias first sipping gin, and how does it differ from other gins in its sipping experience? Answer 6: Mohulo is rooted in a desire to offer something truly distinctive to gin enthusiasts in India and around the world. While gin is often celebrated for its versatility in cocktails, we wanted to craft a gin that could be enjoyed on its own, savoured in a manner similar to single malts, fine whiskies or other premium spirits. This idea is what really led to creating Indias first sipping gin! The meticulously selected botanicals like Mahua and unique flavor profile and smoothness brought alive with Honey or Basmati Rice that adds a distinctive nutty flavour and aroma is what creates a harmonious and complex taste that evolves beautifully when sipped neat. Of course, needless to add that the craft liquid pairs beautifully with cocktails as well infusing a burst of rare flavours to the mixers of your choice. Question 7: Sipping gin is a relatively new concept in India. Can you explain the idea behind it and how do you think the concept will resonate with the Indian consumers? Answer 7: Sipping gin represents an exciting new concept in India and its born from a desire to offer enthusiasts a fresh and intriguing way to enjoy their beloved spirit in its purest form. India has a rich culinary and beverage heritage with a diverse range of flavours and taste profiles, and we believe that sipping gin aligns perfectly with the evolving palate of Indian consumers. The concept offers a novel and enjoyable way to experience gins multifaceted taste without diluting its true essence. At Mohulo, we believe that discerning consumers who appreciate distinct flavours and exceptional culinary experiences blended with innovation, will embrace sipping gin as an exciting choice. Question 8: With respect to the global gin market, what does the future hold for its growth journey? Any notable trends within the Indian gin segment that we can look forward to? Answer 8: In recent years, gin has experienced a resurgence in popularity, driven by its versatility and the creativity of mixologists and consumers alike. This trend is expected to continue as more people explore the world of gin, both as a cocktail base and as a sipping spirit. Beyond the cocktail culture thats thriving with gin being a staple in it flavor innovation will be another key driver in the gin space. The rise of indigenous craft distilleries is a testament to the growing fascination with artisanal gin production. These distilleries often draw inspiration from regional influences and integrate native ingredients to create distinct flavor profiles. Indian consumers are displaying an increasing preference for premium, handcrafted offerings, which is expected to propel the growth of high-quality Indian gins. Furthermore, the use of homegrown botanicals and the infusion of regional cultural elements, as exemplified by products like Mohulo Gin, reflect a trend towards gins that evoke a strong sense of place and a profound connection to the diverse tapestry of Indian traditions. This trend is anticipated to persist as more distillers find inspiration in Indias rich culinary and cultural heritage. Last but most importantly, there is a much-needed focus on sustainability and ethical sourcing and were proud that Mohulo is produced at zero carbon footprint distilleries! For centuries, the prevailing notion of the ideal woman centered around tall and slender figures devoid of any perceived imperfections. This standard permeated through media, appearance-centric professions, and everyday life. Thankfully, in 2023, a shift is underway, exemplified by the Miss Universe 2023 pageant. This years competition embraced inclusivity as its core principle, featuring delegates from diverse corners of the globe, representing a spectrum of gender identities, social statuses, and body sizes. Standing out among them all was Miss Nepal 2023, Jane Dipika Garrett, who boldly paved the way for a new definition of beauty. The remarkable beauty queen made history as the first-ever plus-size participant in the contest. Jane captured global attention during the swimsuit round, showcasing her confidence and grace. She confidently walked the international stage donning a stunning metallic green swimsuit featuring a plunging neckline, ruched waist, and halter straps. Completing her look were stylish strap heels and oversized hoop earrings, complemented by coral-toned makeup and voluminous wavy hair. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jane Garrett (@jadedipika_) As per Janes Instagram bio, Miss Nepal 2023 is not only a pageant queen but also a nurse and entrepreneur, championing body positivity and advocating for mental health. Upon securing her spot in the top 20 of the Miss Universe pageant, Jane took to social media to express her joy, proclaiming, Top 20 baby! Grateful to all my fans and supporters. I gave my best, and thats what matters! Proud to represent real size beauty globally and shatter beauty pageant stereotypes. Immensely proud of the new Miss Universe and will forever treasure this transformative season of my life! This groundbreaking move marks a significant stride for diversity, embracing beauty in all its shapes and sizes at the Miss Universe 2023 pageant. View this post on Instagram A post shared by International Poll (@international_poll) Jane has single-handedly transformed the landscape of inclusivity within pageants, revolutionizing one round at a time. World Television Day is celebrated every year on November 21 to recognize the increasing impact of television on decision-making and its potential role in shaping global conversations. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996 through resolution 51/205. World Television Day: History The invention of television revolutionized the way we communicate and consume information. From its humble beginnings in the early 20th century, television has evolved into a ubiquitous presence in homes worldwide. In 1996, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the growing influence of television on decision-making and its potential to inform and educate the public. It declared November 21st as World Television Day to commemorate the anniversary of the first World Television Forum, held in 1996. 10 Interesting Facts About Television That You May Not Know The first mechanical television was invented by German engineer Paul Nipkow in 1884. The first electronic television was invented by Vladimir Zworykin in 1929. The first commercial color television broadcast was aired in the United States in 1951. The first remote control was invented in 1950 by Eugene Polley. The first television show to be broadcast in color was the Our Miss Brooks sitcom in 1952. The first television news program was Camel News Caravan, which aired in 1948. The first television soap opera was Today is Ours, which aired in 1946. The first television miniseries was Little Women, which aired in 1970. The first television reality show was Candid Camera, which aired in 1948. The first television music video was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles, which aired on MTV in 1981. World Television Day: Significance World Television Day serves as a reminder of the importance of television in our daily lives. It highlights the power of television to connect people across borders, cultures, and languages, fostering understanding and promoting global dialogue. Television remains a powerful tool for informing the public about critical issues, raising awareness about social challenges, and promoting positive change. Celebrating World Television Day World Television Day is an opportunity to celebrate the many contributions of television to society. It is also a time to reflect on the evolving nature of television and its role in the digital age. Organizations and individuals around the world mark this day by organizing events, screenings, and discussions to promote the responsible and effective use of television. World Television Day Themes Over the years, World Television Day has focused on various themes that reflect the changing landscape of television and its impact on society. Recent themes have included: 2023: The theme for the 2023 edition is Accessibility. 2022: Promoting Inclusive Societies for Peace and Sustainable Development 2021: Informing, Empowering, and Connecting the World through Television 2020: Celebrating International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development World Television Day remains a vital platform for recognizing the enduring power of television and its potential to inform, educate, and connect people across the globe. Author and Screenwriter Anu Singh Choudhary will script history for herself second time in a row as she will be part of the jury at the prestigious Sir Peter Ustinov Scriptwriting Award at the 51st International Emmy Awards. Set to take place in New York City on November 20, the International Emmy Awards features three Indian actors nominated, including Shefali Shah (for Delhi Crime season 2), Jim Sarbh (for Rocket Boys) and Vir Das (for his comedy special Vir Das: Landing). At the International Emmy Awards, Anu Singh Choudhary, known for her screenwriting work in Emmys-nominated Sushmita Sen-led Aarya franchise, Hansal Mehtas netflix drama Scoop and the acclaimed Disney Plus Hotstar series Grahan, is a part of the jury set up to confer the Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award, instituted by The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation. It is designed to motivate non-American novice writers under the age of 30 and, unlike other awards at the Emmys, it is to identify, encourage and recognise a new writing talent in TV writing. Anu Singh Choudhary said it is an honour to be a part of the jury that consists of writers and creators from across the globe. There is no bigger joy for a writer than to get to read and engage with the scripts of some very talented young writers from across the world. I have learnt so much about the craft just by reading some of these scripts as part of my jury duty. More power to these writers, I would say. I hope they are further recognised and appreciated for the hard work and passion that they put on paper, which eventually becomes the magic that we see on screen. To be on a jury for a screenwriting award at the International Emmys is the best compliment and recognition that I have received as a screenwriter, the screenwriter said in an email statement from New York. The 51st International Emmy Awards will also be honouring producer Ekta Kapoor with the prestigious International Emmy Directorate Award, the first Indian filmmaker to receive this recognition. Anu said it is a proud moment for the country, which can become an even special day for other Indian artistes nominated at the awards win big. Ektaa Kapoor will be receiving the Directorate Award this year at the International Emmys, an award reserved exclusively for the trailblazers in the world of TV. That itself speaks of the power that Indian TV holds. And then there are other nominations too (Shefali Shah, Jim Sarbh, Vir Das). These nominations feature 56 candidates from 20 countries across 14 categories. Imagine the competition! So I will be screaming my lungs out for all of them, cheering for them. They are indeed paving the path for more and more Indian stories to be recognised at the global stage, she added. Amid much fanfare, the 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will start on Monday, November 20. The annual international event will be organised at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Goa. As per the reports, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur will inaugurate the festival. The annual film fest will begin with the screening of the British film Catching Dust. At this years film fest, as many as 19 award-winning films from various international film festivals have been selected in the IFFI Kaleidoscope. The international section will have 198 films and the festival will have 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres, 62 Asia premieres, and 89 India Premieres, Hindustan Times report suggests. Indian Film Section: The Indian Panorama segment will showcase around 25 feature films and 20 non-feature films from Indiawith the opening films in the feature selection and the non-feature selection to be the Malayalam film Aattam and the Manipuri language film Andro Dreams, respectively. Jury Head/Panel Members at 54th IFFI: Renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur will be the jury head for the 54th IFFI. The five-member jury panel is also appointed. It consists of Spanish cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine and producers Jerome Paillard, Catherine Dussart, and Helen Leake. Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani will serve as the head of the five-member jury for the best web series (OTT), a new category in the awards ceremony at IFFI. Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award: At 54th IFFI, Hollywood Actor and Producer, Michael Douglas will be conferred with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award. He has won 2 Oscars, 5 Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and other honors. 54th IFFI Opening Ceremony: A star-studded opening ceremony will witness high-octane performances by Bollywood stars. Shahid Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Nushratt Bharucha, and many other celebrities will perform during the opening ceremony. Hollywood actor Catherine Zeta Jones, along with AR Rahman, Vidya Balan, Karan Johar, and Sara Ali Khan will also be present in the nine-day cinematic event. 54th IFFI Closing Event: The closing ceremony will feature performances by Ayushmann Khurrana and music composer Amit Trivedi. The event will conclude on November 28. Sandeep Reddy Vangas highly anticipated film Animal is all set to release on December 1. The Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna film has been the talk of the town ever since the teaser, first looks of them have been out. To add to the hype, makers have unveiled four out of seven songs from the album. Now ahead of the films release, two prominent leads of the film Ranbir Kapoor and Bobby Deol has gone candid about the entire music album of Animal. The two actors were in Dubai recently to unveil the 60-seconds special cut of their upcoming film at Burj Khalifa. Several clips and pictures from their press interaction have poured onto social media. One particular video of Ahmad Al Marzooqi has gone viral where Ranbir Kapoor and Bobby Deol spoke about the music album of their film. While Ranbir Kapoor called it, versatile, because it has got music of every genre, Bobby Deol added, Every song is giving the story, moving the script forward. So, its actually an emotion thats being spoken. Ranbir Kapoor further stated, Having said that, this is not only a love story. Giving music for a love story is easy. This being a family crime drama, its quite a big deal. Two of the best songs havent even released yet. The makers of the film have revealed on Monday that they are all set to release the films trailer on November 23. The teaser of Ranbir Kapoor starrer Animal was released last month and has already generated a generous buzz about the film. Ranbirs rugged and bloody look, his palpable chemistry with Rashmika Mandanna, and the camaraderie between the onscreen father-son duo of Anil Kapoor and Ranbir and Bobby Deols never-seen-before avatar have piqued the curiosity of fans. Earlier last month, News18 Showsha had also confirmed that Animal trailer will release on November 23, a week before Animals big screen release. The source had shared, The trailer of Animal will be unveiled on November 23, about a week before the film hits the big screen. The makers want to make use of the next few weeks to build some intrigue and excitement surrounding the Ranbir Kapoor starrer. The trailer promises to be a hard-hitting and intense one which will definitely leave fans surprised. Theyre in for a treat. The source further added that the makers are quite confident about the film and tease the audience with a few more assets before they finally launch the trailer. As per reports, Animal is a gory gangster drama with a troubled father-son relationship at its core. The film also stars Triptii Dimri. It is produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumars T-Series, Murad Khetanis Cine1 Studios, and Pranay Reddy Vangas Bhadrakali Pictures. Animal is directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and is set to release in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam languages. Brexit India, an Indo-US production has been officially selected to be showcased at the prestigious International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2023 in Goa. The documentary, anchored and narrated by the versatile Boman Irani himself, presents a compelling exploration of the events surrounding Britains abrupt exit from India in 1947. 1947: Brexit India delves into the historical complexities that led to one of the most significant geopolitical shifts in the 20th century. The documentary unravels the mystery from an economic point of view as to how in an unexpected turn of events, Britain hastily and abruptly withdrew, accelerating Indias independence by nearly a year. This sudden departure triggered one of the most catastrophic man-made disasters in the world, and the film aims to bring to light the intricacies surrounding this pivotal historical moment, shedding light on the profound consequences that followed. It has been extensively shot in London, Wales, Hull, Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Murshidabad, Plassey, Buxar and Mumbai. Boman Irani shared, As the narrator, I embraced the challenge of presenting a historical narrative to engage todays audience. Its not just a recounting of events; its an exploration of a human tragedy, a pivotal moment in our history. This project became a personal mission, unravelling the layers of a story many are unfamiliar with. Through dedication and commitment, the entire team has crafted a film that not only educates but resonates, offering a timeless perspective on Indias journey to independence. Director Sanjivan Lal shared, When Dr Swarnjit Singh, the producer, offered me the film, I saw the challenge of making history appeal to a younger, fiction-inclined audience. Steering away from typical genres, I aimed for a visually engaging, fast-paced narrative. Embracing the projects depth, relevance, and the opportunity to tell a unique story, I took ownership. Over five years, amidst pandemic challenges, my dedication stems from a commitment to provide future generations an unbiased glimpse into the authentic story of Indias independence. 1947- Brexit India is touted to carry a significant archival value for future generations. While acknowledging the enduring contributions of nationalist leaders and freedom fighters who steadfastly challenged the British throughout the struggle years, it is essential to underscore that the British originally arrived in India for business. When their commercial endeavours faced a downturn, the decision for an abrupt departure was made. The film boasts an ensemble of distinguished personalities, including Dr Shashi Tharoor, William Dalrymple, Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed, Commodore Uday Bhaskar, Professor M. Rajivlochan, Dr Allister Hinds, Professor Tom Tomlinson, Dr David Omissi and Dr Gurharpal Singh. The film is written by Shama Zaidi, produced by Dr Swarnjit Singh and directed and co-produced by Sanjivan Lal. 1947- Brexit India promises to be an enlightening and visually moving journey through a crucial chapter in Indias history, shedding light on the intricacies of the events that shaped the nations destiny. Read the full article on Motorious Its a tragedy every motorsports fan should remember. There are too few good animated movies about cars. Sure, we have Pixars Cars movies and there used to be Transformers and Speed Racer, but these days there arent many around. If you havent seen the short film below by Q. Baillieux about the deadly accident at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, its a rare gem. Not only is it a good animated movie involving car culture, it treats a tragedy with artful dignity. Read more from Motorious here. As they say, those who dont remember history are doomed to live the same mistakes. While the deadly crash in France might be painful to remember, its better that we do and learn from what happened as well as why. Certainly, nobody wants another 80-plus people dying because a race car lands in the spectator stands at a track. Wrapped into the story of tragedy is also one of dedication and pain. After all, endurance racingisnt for the weak-willed, but at the same time when a team member is killed you cant look the other way, and that duality really comes through in this film. Even with a horrific crash and so many lives lost the race continued when they easily could have called it off, although Mercedes-Benz pulled out. Today the decision to not cancel the competition right then would likely get savaged on Twitter or other social media sites by the armchair admirals who seem to take up residence on such platforms. Yes, there was criticism of that decision back then, but no considerable efforts were made to all-out cancel the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a result. You can argue about the best ways to memorialize Mercedes-Benz driver Pierre Levegh, but continuing to race could and was viewed as one option. After all, the man was a race car driver and knew going into the competition what kind of risks he was assuming, yet he still strapped on his helmet and pushed that car to its limits. With 22 hours of the race left, the decision was made by some to carry on. Story continues Incidentally, the tragedy did cause some people to not continue. Mercedes-Benz ended its motorsports programs at the end of the 1955 season, not returning until 1988. Switzerland banned circuit racing until 2007. Meanwhile, officials in France decided to increase the distance between spectators and the track to help prevent another tragedy. Sign up for the Motorious Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Tamil actor Mansoor Ali Khan found himself in hot waters for his unsavoury comments on Trisha. The two were a part of Lokesh Kanagarajs recent release, Leo. Headlined by Thalapathy Vijay, Trisha was seen delivering a powerful performance but did not share the screen with Mansoor. In a recent interview, Mansoor remarked about missing the opportunity to share a bedroom screen with her, adding that he has done his share of rape scenes. The comment drew flak from several celebrities. Now in a fresh update, the National Commission For Women(NCW) has requested the DGP Chennai Police to invoke IPC Section 509 B against Mansoor Ali Khan. NCW Urges DGP Chennai To Take Action Against Mansoor Ali Khan for his derogatory remarks The official X(formerly Twitter) handle of NCW shared their request on the timeline by tagging Rekha Sharma NCW chairperson, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Electronics & IT and Chennai Police. The statement read, The National Commission for Women is deeply concerned about the derogatory remarks made by actor Mansoor Ali Khan towards actress Trisha Krishna. Were taking suo motu in this matter directing the DGP to invoke IPC Section 509 B and other relevant laws.Such remarks normalize violence against women and must be condemned. The National Commission for Women is deeply concerned about the derogatory remarks made by actor Mansoor Ali Khan towards actress Trisha Krishna. We're taking suo motu in this matter directing the DGP to invoke IPC Section 509 B and other relevant laws.Such remarks normalize NCW (@NCWIndia) November 20, 2023 NCW Member Khushbu Sundars Reaction This response comes a day after the BJP leader and member of the National Commission for Women (NCW) came forward to show her solidarity with Trisha. She made a post on X(formerly Twitter) that read, As a member of NCW, I have already taken up the issue of Mansoor Ali Khan with my senior and will be taking an action on it. Nobody can get away with such a filthy mind. I stand with @trishtrashers and my other colleagues where this man speaks in such a sexist disgusting mindset about them, including me. When we are fighting tooth and nail to protect women and bring dignity to them, such men are like a bot in our society. Trigger Warning: Rape Trisha was referring to the press conference that Mansoor held in which he spoke about Leo and not getting a chance to share the screen with her. On Saturday, a video went viral in which Mansoor said in Tamil, When I heard that I was acting with Trisha, I thought there would be a bedroom scene in the film. I thought I would carry her to the bedroom just like I did with other actresses in my earlier movies. I have done so many rape scenes and its not new to me. But these guys didnt even show Trisha to me on the sets during the shoot in Kashmir. The Allahabad High Court on Monday rejected the bail plea of Uttar Pradesh MLA Abbas Ansari, the son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, in an arms licence case. In its order, the Lucknow bench of the high court stated that a large number of metal cartridges were recovered from Abbas Ansari despite it being banned in shooting. Justice Subhash Vidyarthi stated that it was a serious matter as the accused, despite being a public representative, committed this act. It was submitted on behalf of Abbas Ansari, an MLA of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), that he was a shooter and had a valid arms licence and hence he was entitled to keep three arms and there was no illegality in it. It was also submitted that the Delhi authorities had made correspondence with the Uttar Pradesh Police regarding the transfer of his arms licence, so it cannot be said that he concealed information about it. Opposing the plea, the states counsel said that eight arms and more than 4,000 metal cartridges were recovered from Abbas Ansari. An FIR was lodged against him on October 12, 2019. It was alleged in the FIR that Abbas Ansari obtained a gun licence from Lucknow and later he got it transferred to Delhi where he purchased arms based on the changed address. The charge sheet in the case was filed against him on December 24, 2020. Abbas Ansari won the 2022 assembly polls on a ticket of the SBSP, which was then in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Monday criticised the granting of bail to an Army captain convicted by a general court-martial for his role in the 2020 Amshipora fake encounter case. I want to appeal to the Centre not to play with the people here. Do not make the people here think that our blood is so cheap that a person found guilty of murder is enlarged on bail so easily, Abdullah told reporters in reply to a query on the issue. The armed forces tribunal in Delhi has suspended the life sentence of Captain Bhoopendra Singh who was found guilty of killing three men in a staged encounter in south Kashmirs Amshipora village in July 2020. The tribunal also granted conditional bail to him and directed him to appear before its principal registrar on the first Monday of every month starting from January next year Those arrested on minor charges do not get bail for years. On the other hand, an army officer who was, not by a civilian court but by army court-martial, convicted on murder charges, in a fake encounter.. got bail, the former chief minister told reporters at Kulgam. On the delay in holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said he was hopeful that the Supreme Court will decide on the polls as well when the apex court gives the verdict on the Article 370 petitions. We are hopeful that the Supreme Court judgement on Article 370 petitions would also make a mention of the elections in Jammu and Kashmir. When Panthers Party moved an application in the Supreme Court for holding elections, the Chief Justice at that time had said that this issue is connected with Article 370 and would be decided at that time, he added. Abdullah expressed concern over the electricity supply situation in Kashmir, claiming the power cuts being faced by the people were unprecedented. We are getting cheated in the name of elections, in the name of ending unemployment, in the name of development and in the name of electricity. What is the reason that the electricity system cannot be set right? The situation was not this bad during our tenure. Today, they say they have ample funds. Why dont they make arrangements for electricity then? Why are people facing up to 12 hours of power cuts? he asked. Aaditya Thackeray, who was at the centre of a row recently for forcefully opening the under-construction Delisle road bridge for the public, is now under fire from the Eknath Shinde camp for delaying the Mumbai Metro project. Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) leader and member of Maharashtra legislative council Dr Manisha Kayande, while speaking to the media, said: Aaditya Thackeray is lying about how much he cares about the people. When he was the environment minister, he stopped the work of the metro car-shed. This cost common people in Mumbai Rs 10,000 crore. She further alleged: When he was the guardian minister of Mumbai suburban, dangerous bridges like Karnak bridge at Masjid Bandar, Hancock Bridge at Sandhurst Road, Delisle Road Bridge at Lower Parel, Farere Bridge at Charni Road, Gokhale Bridge Andheri, Bridge connecting Juhu-Versova Road to CD Barfiwala Road at JVPD Junction, Mithi Chowki Junction at Malad Link Road, were demolished by BMC which was directly under his control. It has taken more than five years and the bridges are still not ready, causing inconvenience to people. Kayande also said Aaditya Thackeray talks about development but, in reality, he has no vision to take the state ahead. The work on the third flyover connecting Fishermens Colony to Western Express Highway along the route, as well as several bridges like Ray Road Bridge, Ghatkopar Bridge, Matunga Bridge, Chinchpokli Bridge and Mahalakshmi Bridge are still pending. Aaditya Thackerays politics lacks a development core. Though his party was in power in the municipal corporation, he did very little for the development of Mumbai, she alleged. Kayande is also of the opinion that the interference of Aaditya Thackeray in BMC blocked the development of the financial capital and gave blacklisted contractors a free hand for wrecking Mumbai. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, a member of parliament from Keralas Wayanad, refused to accept the re-allotment of the 12, Tuglaq Lane bungalow in New Delhi after he was reinstated as Lok Sabha MP following the Supreme Courts stay on his conviction in the Modi surname case, government sources said. As per the sources, Gandhi wanted the bungalow at 7 Safdarjung Road as his official residence, however, the government is not keen on allotting the particular accommodation. The sources also told CNN-News18 that the Congress MP will have 8 days to decide whether he wants to accept the allotment and if not he will have to put his rejection in writing. After this, the 12 Tughlaq Lane bungalow will be open and can be allotted to another MP if the request comes in. #BreakingNews | Rahul Gandhi refuses to take the Tughlaq Lane bungalow as his official residence and now wants the Safdarjung road house @_pallavighosh shares more details @GrihaAtul | #RahulGandhi #Congress #IndianPolitics pic.twitter.com/uu2UtK0Bdi News18 (@CNNnews18) November 20, 2023 Rahul Gandhi lived in the bungalow at 12 Tughlaq Lane for almost 19 years but had to vacate in April this year after his conviction in a defamation case following which his Lok Sabha membership was suspended. The Congress leader was allotted 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow in 2004 when he became a Member of Parliament (MP) for the first time from Uttar Pradeshs Amethi. Over the years, 12, Tughlaq Lane emerged as the second power centre to 10, Janpath, the residence of his mother Sonia Gandhi. On April 22 this year, the former Congress chief vacated his official residence and moved to 10 Janpath with his mother. He has been operating from there ever since. Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail by the Surat metropolitan court after finding him guilty in the defamation case filed by BJP MLA from Surat Purnesh Modi. A day later, he was disqualified as a Member of Parliament. However, on August 4, the Supreme Court upheld Rahul Gandhis conviction in the Modi surname case paving the way for him to return to the Parliament. Apple surprised everyone recently by confirming its decision to bring RCS messages to iPhone users. Many people were definitely excited to hear the development, but more than anyone else it has to be Google which would have been pleased to hear the news. RCS or Rich Communication Services has been around for years but Google has decided to own the platform in the past few years, asking more tech brands to join the green side. Many people have been wondering how does the support for RCS on iPhones from 2024 make a difference to Android users and could it be the iMessage rival that many of us have been waiting for Apple to bring? Heres what the RCS messages does, how it works and is it any different from iMessage. RCS was supposed to be the new avatar of SMS messages and this was further pushed by the GSM Association (GSMA) to all the telecom operators and even the phone brands. However, the platform never got the right attention before Google decided to take matters into its hands and seek more attention. RCS Messages vs iMessage Are They Different? RCS messaging is the Android version of iMessage and its features are similar to those you have on apps like WhatsApp. It supports multimedia messages, rich text content, lets you share files, videos and even images. If you go by these features, you could say RCS messages are a strong link between iPhone and Android users, allowing them to share multimedia, and files that is not possible between RCS and iMessage. RCS messages are claimed to be secure, with the help of client protocol encryption standards. In fact, RCS messages are said to be spam-free as well. Now, you must be wondering why Apple is bringing RCS to iPhones if the features are the same on the iMessage? The first reason has to be Apples ongoing tussle with the European Union (EU) which has made its impact by forcing the company to adopt USB C charging for iPhones, which would have been unthinkable a few years back. The regulator is also pushing the company to open iPhones to other app stores in the form of sideloading, as well as make iPhones interoperable with other platforms like Android which becomes possible if the company adopts RCS Messages. This way, Apple doesnt have to open iMessage to other platforms and still manage to comply with the rules. Were eager to see how Apple plans to support RCS messages for iPhones but heres the thing, the whole saga of RCS vs iMessage is only relevant in the US where iPhones are the market leader. So, for other countries, WhatsApp will continue to be the most important platform which billions of users rely on in the non-US markets. Pakistans former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday moved the Supreme Court to seek post-arrest bail in the cipher case. Qureshi, also the Vice Chairman of jailed former prime minister Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf: party, has approached the apex court, requesting it to annul the Islamabad High Courts decision of November 8 as the court did not properly consider the facts in the case. Qureshi, 67, was indicted along with Khan, 71 for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act by disclosing a secret diplomatic cable (cipher) sent by the countrys embassy in Washington in March last year. They were arrested in August. On Monday, the petition, filed on behalf of the senior politician, stated that the Islamabad High Court did not properly assess the facts in the matter, News International reported. A baseless and political case has been made against the petitioner, the plea read. Moreover, the petition said that FIR does not comply with the law. Qureshi added that the FIR filed in the case has no direct connection with him. The petition further stated that Qureshi enjoys immunity under Article 248 of the Constitution on the basis of being the foreign minister, the Express Tribune newspaper reported. Earlier, Qureshis bail application was rejected by the high court in a hearing conducted by Justice Aamer Farooq. The petition also mentioned that the courts did not give due consideration to the core principles of bail as held by the superior courts. It also mentioned that the courts order failed to give due consideration to the fact that the petitioners role is distinguishable from that of the principal accused and that the only allegations against the petitioner as mentioned in the challan dated March 3 is that of a speech given in a political rally. Lebanons Hezbollah movement said it targeted troops in northern Israel with drones, artillery and missiles on Monday, claiming a string of new attacks. The Israel-Lebanon border has seen daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7. Hezbollah fighters targeted soldiers west of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel with three attack drones, the Iran-backed group said in a statement, adding shortly after that it had also targeted troops in the area with artillery fire. Both statements claimed the attacks were direct hits. Earlier Monday, Hezbollah said it had fired Burkan missiles at an Israeli barracks, and also claimed a number of other attacks on Israeli positions. Israels army said three UAVs (drones) were identified striking adjacent to an army post, without specifying where. It added that no injuries were reported. In a statement, it said 25 launches were identified from Lebanon toward several locations adjacent to the border, and added that aerial defences intercepted a number of the launches and the rest fell in open areas. Tanks, a fighter jet, and a helicopter struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanon in response to launches toward Israeli territory, it said, while the army struck fighters attempting to fire anti-tank missiles in south Lebanon. Deadly skirmishes on Israels northern border began on October 7 when Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage, according to Israeli officials. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, and its subsequent military campaign on Gaza has killed more than 13,000 people, according to authorities in the Hamas-run territory. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said this month that his group, a Hamas ally, was using new weapons against Israel, including Burkan missiles, adding that they could carry a payload of 300-500 kilogrammes (660-1,100 pounds). The group has also been using attack drones for the first time and has flown reconnaissance drones deep into Israel, Nasrallah said. At least 90 people have been killed on the Lebanese side in cross-border skirmishes since last month, according to an AFP tally, most of them Hezbollah combatants but including at least 10 civilians. Six soldiers and three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, according to authorities there. Israel on Sunday said that Yemens Houthis had seized a British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo ship in the southern Red Sea, describing the incident as an Iranian act of terrorism with consequences for global maritime security. The Houthis said they had seized a ship in that area, but described it as Israeli. We are treating the ships crew in accordance with Islamic principles and values, a spokesperson for the group said, making no reference to the Israeli account. The Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader is a vehicle carrier affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said the 25 crew members had a range of nationalities, including Bulgarian, Filipino, Mexican and Ukrainian, but that no Israelis had been on board. The Houthi rebels reportedly seized the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea on Sunday afternoon local time. The rebels descended on the cargo ship by rappelling from a helicopter, according to NBC News. Ship on its way to India Israels military denied the ship was Israeli. A statement by the army on X said: The hijacking of a cargo ship by the Huthis near Yemen in the southern Red Sea is a very grave incident of global consequence. The ship departed Turkey on its way to India, staffed by civilians of various nationalities, not including Israelis. It is not an Israeli ship, the Israeli army said in the statement. The hijacking of a cargo ship by the Houthis near Yemen in the southern Red Sea is a very grave incident of global consequence.The ship departed Turkey on its way to India, staffed by civilians of various nationalities, not including Israelis. It is not an Israeli ship. Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 19, 2023 No Israelis on the ship The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also denied the ship was Israeli but denounced, in a statement, the Iranian attack against an international vessel. The ship, which is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked with Iran guidance by the Yemenite Huthi militia, it said. Onboard the vessel are 25 crew members of various nationalities including Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Filipino and Mexican, it added. Earlier on Sunday the Houthis said all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies, or carrying the Israeli flag could be targeted. Huthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on X, that their military forces will continue to carry out military operations against the Israeli enemy until the aggression against Gaza stops and the ugly crimes against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and the West Bank stop. Who are Houthis? The Houthis, an ally of Tehran, have been launching long-range missile and drone salvoes at Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian Hamas militants fighting in the Gaza Strip. Last week, the Houthi leader said his forces would make further attacks on Israel and they could target Israeli ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. A U.S. Defense official said were aware of the situation and are closely monitoring it. Bab al-Mandab Strait The Bab al-Mandab Strait is the narrow pass between Yemen and Djibouti at the foot of the Red Sea, one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes, which carries about a fifth of global oil consumption. The Huthis, declaring themselves part of the axis of resistance of Iran-affiliated groups, have launched a series of drone and missile strikes targeting Israel since October, following an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants on Israel. Analysts have said the goal of the rebels, who control Yemens capital Sanaa and much of the country, is strategic rather than military as they seek regional and domestic legitimacy. (With agency inputs) Global Muslim leaders met the top Chinese leadership on Monday morning, seeking Beijings help in de-escalating the war between Israel and Palestine. Delegates from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, and OIC reached Beijing in the morning and met Chinese leader Wang Yi, asking China to ensure civilian protection during the war that has been raging since October 7. Top Intelligence sources said the Arab world wants China to become a party to the peace process and put more pressure on Israel. They find China a better alternative for that than the US and have already been working with China against US interests in the region. The countries want China to talk to the world, including United Nations. China is unlikely to succeed but it will cause a lot of damage by inciting anti-Semitism and promoting anti-Israel pressure around the world. What pulls the delegates towards China, as per the Intel sources, are corruption, money, no lectures on democracy like from US, and the attraction between authoritarian regimes. In 2014, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and then Middle East envoy Wu Sike met former Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in Doha, Qatar, South China Morning Post reported. In October this year, Chinas Middle East envoy Zhai Jun was in Qatar, embarking on a Middle East visit that Beijing said was part of a bid to cool down the Israel-Hamas war. Doha is host to a Hamas office, and the Gulf state has been engaged in intense diplomacy behind the scenes and has been linked to negotiations for a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas because of its open channels with the militant group. Qatar has an important influence on the Palestinian issue, Zhai said, adding that China is willing to maintain communication and coordination with Qatar and play a constructive role in easing the current tensions. (With AFP inputs) LOS ANGELESFormer porn star and accused rapist Ron Jeremy will be released by the state of California to a private residence after a judge on Friday approved a request for such, the Los Angeles Times reports. In emails between case stakeholders seen by the Times, Jeremy was granted medical release on the grounds of deteriorating health. This comes after a court declared him mentally incompetent to stand trial for more than 30 counts of felony sexual assault. Suffering from severe dementia, Jeremy was ordered under the supervision of a conservator. He's remained incarcerated at a men's jail in Los Angeles County awaiting admittance into a state mental hospital for treatment. Jeremy, 70, has seen a dramatic decline in his health for much of the case against him. The email seen by the Times states that Jeremy will require round the clock medical care after it was determined that no medical facility will take him. Jeremy was indicted on 34 charges of sexual assault in 2021 for crimes committed over a 23 year span. There were 77 Indian military personnel in the Maldives and the new government here was reviewing more than 100 agreements signed with New Delhi, a senior Maldivian official said on Sunday, a day after President Mohamed Muizzu formally requested India to withdraw its troops from the island nation. Addressing a press conference here, the Undersecretary for Public Policy of the Presidential Office, Mohamed Firuzul Abdul Khaleel said the new administration has established that there are 77 Indian military personnel in the Maldives. There were 24 Indian military personnel to manage the first helicopter, 25 Indians to manage the Dornier aircraft, 26 personnel to manage the second helicopter, and two more for maintenance and engineering, Firuzul was quoted as saying by the Maldivian media. He said that President Muizzu, who won the presidential election in September, has initiated efforts to expel all 77 from the Maldives. The Maldives is one of Indias key maritime neighbours in the strategic Indian Ocean Region and the overall bilateral ties including in areas of defence and security have been on an upward trajectory under the government of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The Maldives is also one of the biggest beneficiaries of Indias Neighbourhood First policy. During a meeting with Union Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju here on Saturday, Muizzu officially requested the Indian government to have their military personnel removed from the Maldives. Rijiju called on Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, at his office, a day after attending the Maldivian leaders inauguration ceremony. Muizzu had built his presidential campaign against Solih on the promise of expelling Indian military personnel from the Maldives. He also said he would review the agreements between Maldives and India, and disclose its contents where possible. Firuzul said the former administration of ex-President Solih signed over 100 agreements with India, and that the new administration is reviewing them, Sun.mv.com reported. The agreements in question include the Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) agreement and other defence agreements, the report said. The previous administration had refused to disclose the exact number of Indian military personnel stationed in Maldives, citing that it posed a threat to national security, it said. Soon after the oath-taking on Friday, President Muizzu asserted that he was firmly committed to ensuring that his country remains free of any foreign military presence to preserve its independence and sovereignty. During his meeting with Rijiju on Saturday, President Muizzu formally requested the Government of India to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives. The President noted that at the Presidential Election held in September, the Maldivian people had given him a strong mandate to make the request to India and expressed the hope that India will honour the democratic will of the people of the Maldives, the statement from the Presidents Office said. While discussing the matter with Rijiju, Muizzu also acknowledged the significant role of the two helicopters in providing numerous emergency medical evacuations in the Maldives. In May, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the Maldives during which he handed over a fast patrol vessel and a landing craft to the island nation. Maldives is Indias key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and occupies a special place in the Prime Ministers vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood First Policy. Nearly a dozen US lawmakers have urged the federal government to withhold future assistance to Pakistan until the Islamic country restores its constitutional order and holds free and fair elections. The lawmakers requested the State Department to assess if US-origin security assistance had facilitated human rights violations in Pakistan. We further request that future security assistance be withheld until Pakistan has moved decisively toward the restoration of Constitutional order, including by holding free and fair elections in which all parties are able to participate freely, they wrote in a letter to State Secretary Anthony Blinken. On the issue of blasphemy, the lawmakers warned Secretary Blinken that the proposed changes to laws would be used to further tighten the noose around smaller religious groups and minorities, the Dawn newspaper reported, based on a copy of a letter that was making rounds on the internet. The Congress members who sought restoration of constitutional order and rollback of blasphemy law changes in Pakistan, also said We are extremely concerned about the passing of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2023 which will strengthen the existing blasphemy law, which has historically been used to persecute religious minorities. In the letter, the US lawmakers pointed out that the bill, which is yet to be signed by President Joe Biden, was passed in haste despite repeated calls from many lawmakers for a thorough parliamentary procedure. Issue of Blasphemy Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can incite violence by mobs. According to the Centre for Social Justice an independent group advocating for the rights of minorities more than 2,000 people in Pakistan have been accused of committing blasphemy since 1987 till May this year, and at least 88 people killed by lynch mobs for similar allegations. The letter pointed out that on August 16, eight days after the bill was passed in Pakistans Parliament, a mob desecrated churches and set fire to homes of Christians in Jaranwala. It also referred to reported protests against the bill, including by the Shia community in Gilgit-Baltistan. Religious persecution remains rampant in Pakistan, and we are concerned about future restrictions on freedom of religion and belief should this Bill become law, the lawmakers warned. Besides Congressman Ilhan Omar, the signatories of the letter include Frank Pallone Jr, Joaquin Castro, Summer Lee, Ted W Lieu, Dina Titus, Lloyd Doggett and Cori Bush. In its latest report on Pakistan, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom noted that religious minorities were especially vulnerable to prosecution or violence based on blasphemy allegations and blasphemy cases remained a substantial threat to religious freedom. Additionally, the letter stressed the need to address issues like restrictions on freedom of expression, speech, and religion, enforced disappearances, military courts and the harassment and arrest of political opponents and human rights defenders. Addressing ongoing harassment and arrests, the lawmakers mentioned the cases against jailed prime minister Imran Khan as well, noting that he could potentially face the death penalty for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act. The letter also mentioned prominent Pakistani human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari who was taken from her home at 3 am in August without an arrest warrant after she spoke at a rally against enforced disappearances. The lawmakers urged the US Embassy in Islamabad to send observers to hearings and other legal proceedings of human rights defenders and political dissidents, including for emblematic cases such as Khan and Mazari. They also offered to work with Blinken to promote human rights, democracy, and stability in Pakistan. (With agency inputs) A British Royal Navy submarine, armed with Trident nuclear missiles, faced a severe malfunction, forcing the vessel to approach its crush depth, according to UK media reports. The Vanguard-class submarine, carrying 140 crew members, experienced a sudden failure in its depth gauge during a mission in the Atlantic Ocean. Engineers intervened urgently, preventing the submarine and its nuclear reactor from descending further just moments before a potential disaster, the UK-based Sun reported. Submarine was near crush depth While on patrol, the depth indicators ceased functioning, leading the crew to mistakenly believe the submarine was level when, in reality, it was diving deeper. Another gauge at the rear of the submarine revealed they were heading into the danger zone, prompting engineers to raise the alarm. The mistake reportedly led the submarine to approach its crush depth, also referred to as collapse depth in the US. Its not the engineers job to control the subs depth but they saw how deep they were and realised something was wrong. Technically the sub was still at a depth where we know it can operate, but if it ever has to go that deep the whole crew is piped to action-stations. That hadnt happened. The sub wasnt supposed to be there, and it was still diving. And if it had carried on going, it doesnt really bear thinking about, an unnamed source told the UK newspaper. Although the specific depth the submarine reached remains unknown, the maximum operational depth for this type of vessel is approximately 500 meters, according to multiple reports. British media reports said the incident triggered an immediate probe, assuring insiders that it did not impact the UKs nuclear deterrent. Vanguard-class nuclear-powered submarine The involved Vanguard-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine remains unidentified among the four vessels: HMS Vanguard, Vengeance, Victorious, and Vigilant. While each displaces 15,900 tonnes submerged and exceeds 149 meters in length, only two are presently operational, with one undergoing refitting and another undergoing sea trials. Since 1969, at least one Royal Navy submarine with nuclear missiles has been on patrol to counter sudden attacks. Vanguard submarines possess the capability to house 192 nuclear warheads but are currently limited to a maximum of 48. In the wake of the incident, a Royal Navy spokesperson told Sun, We do not comment on operations. Our submarines continue to be deployed globally, protecting national interests. Israels military has released security camera footage it said showed hostages being brought into Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on October 7 after being kidnapped during Hamass attacks on southern Israel. The video, which appears to be time-stamped at 10:53 am on October 7, shows a man in shorts and a pale blue shirt being dragged through what looks like an entrance hall by five armed men. In another clip, seemingly time-stamped 10:55 am, an injured man in underwear is wheeled in on a gurney by seven men, at least four of them armed, as several men in blue hospital scrubs look on. EXPOSED: This is documentation from Shifa Hospital from the day of the massacre, October 7, 2023, between the hours of 10:42 a.m and 11:01 a.m. in which hostages, a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian, were abducted from Israeli territory are seen surrounded by armed Hamas pic.twitter.com/a5udjBw4wF Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 19, 2023 Here you can see Hamas taking a hostage inside theyre taking him inside the hospital, military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said, describing the two men as hostages from Nepal and Thailand. We have not yet located both of these hostages, he added. We do not know where they are. Soldier murdered by Hamas Al-Shifa Hospital has become a focal point for Israels subsequent military operations in the Gaza Strip, with the army repeatedly saying Hamas uses it as a base, a claim the military has been under pressure to back up. The CCTV footage appears to have been shot on the morning that Hamas gunmen began storming southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, and kidnapping some 240 others. These findings prove that the Hamas terrorist organisation used the Shifa hospital complex on the day of the massacre as terrorist infrastructure, the military and intelligence services said in a statement. Hamas dismissed the footage. It had repeatedly said it had taken several captives to hospital for treatment. We have released images of all that and the army spokesman is acting as if he has discovered something incredible, senior political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement. 55-meter-long terror tunnel Earlier Sunday the Israeli army said troops exposed a 55-meter-long terror tunnel 10 metres deep underneath the Shifa hospital complex, which ran under the hospital and ended at a blast door. Hagari also gave more details about the death of 19-year-old soldier Noa Marciano, who was taken hostage. The army announced on Friday that troops had recovered her remains in the area of Al-Shifa. The IDF has been telling the world the truth about the Shifa Hospital.The operation is ongoing and is being conducted carefully, all in order to locate and dismantle Hamas infrastructure in the hospital. Still dont believe us? See for yourselves the evidence shown by IDF pic.twitter.com/4H9hWJpnID Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 19, 2023 Hamas said an Israeli air strike killed Marciano, a claim denied by Israel which said the militants murdered her. Hagari said Marciano was being held by the militants very close to Al-Shifa hospital. During ongoing combat in the vicinity of where she was held captive, Noas Hamas captor was killed and Noa was injured, he said, stressing that her injuries were not life-threatening. Citing concrete intelligence, he said Hamas terrorists took Noa into Shifa hospital where she was murdered, he said, with her body later dumped outside the hospital on an orange stretcher where troops found it. (With agency inputs) The Philippines has approached neighbours such as Malaysia and Vietnam to discuss a separate code of conduct regarding the South China Sea, its president said on Monday, citing limited progress towards striking a broader regional pact with China. Relations between the two have grown more tense under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has increasingly complained about Chinas aggressive behaviour while rekindling strong ties with the Philippines sole treaty ally, the United States. Speaking in Hawaii at a livestreamed event, Marcos said escalating tension in the South China Sea required the Philippines to partner with allies and neighbours to maintain peace in the busy waterway, with the situation now more dire. We are still waiting for the code of conduct between China and ASEAN and the progress has been rather slow unfortunately, Marcos said, referring to efforts by the grouping of Southeast Asian nations. We have taken the initiative to approach those other countries around ASEAN with whom we have existing territorial conflicts, Vietnam being one of them, Malaysia being another and to make our own code of conduct. Hopefully this will grow further and extend to other ASEAN countries. The embassies of China, Malaysia and Vietnam in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a possible code. China said formulating a code of conduct in the South China Sea was an important task for it and ASEAN countries. But a spokesperson of its foreign ministry warned at a regular press briefing, Any move that deviates from the framework and runs counter to the spirit of the declaration on the conduct of parties (DOC) in the South China Sea is null and void. The remarks by Marcos followed his meeting on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco. The leaders discussed ways to reduce tension in the disputed strategic waters after a series of confrontations this year. In the past few years, ASEAN and China have worked towards creating a framework to negotiate a code of conduct, a plan dating as far back as 2002. But progress has been slow despite commitments by all parties to advance and speed the process. ON-OFF CONFRONTATIONS Talks on components of the code have yet to start, with concerns about how far China, which claims ownership of most of the South China Sea, is committed to a binding set of rules that ASEAN nations want to align with existing international law. China stakes its claim on its maps with the use of a nine-dash line that loops as far as 1,500 km (900 miles) south of its mainland, cutting into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Manila and Beijing have engaged in on-off confrontations for years as China has become more assertive in pressing its maritime claims, alarming neighbours and other nations operating in the key trade route, such as the United States. China has turned submerged reefs into military installations equipped with radar, runways and missile systems, some inside the Philippines EEZ. The nearest reefs that the PLA has started to show interest in for building bases have come closer and closer to the Philippine coastline, said Marcos, referring to the Peoples Liberation Army Navy of China. The situation has become more dire than it was before. In response, Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson said, Chinas construction activities on its own territory fall entirely within Chinas sovereignty, and other countries have no right to make irresponsible remarks. Marcos added that the United States has always been behind us not only in terms of rhetoric, but also in terms of concrete support. The following are reactions from global leaders, including current and former heads of state, to the election of libertarian economist and former TV pundit Javier Milei in Argentinas presidential runoff on Sunday. ARGENTINE PRESIDENT ALBERTO FERNANDEZ I am a man of democracy, and I value nothing more than the popular verdict. I trust that tomorrow we can start working with Javier Milei to guarantee an orderly transition. FORMER ARGENTINA PRESIDENT MAURICIO MACRI I congratulate Javier Milei for bravely representing the will to advance and prosper that lives in the hearts of Argentines. He knew how to listen to the voice of young people and the fatigue of millions of neglected and impoverished people. WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JAKE SULLIVAN I congratulate Javier Milei on his election as president of Argentina and to the people of Argentina for holding free and fair elections. We look forward to building on our strong bilateral relationship based on our shared commitment to human rights, democratic values, and transparency. FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP Congratulations to Javier Milei on a great race for president of Argentina. The whole world was watching! I am very proud of you. You will turn your country around and truly Make Argentina Great Again! INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK PRESIDENT ILAN GOLDFAJN Congratulations Javier Milei, president-elect of Argentina. At the IDB, we are ready to continue our collaboration with the country and promote sustainable and inclusive economic development for the benefit of its citizens. BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA Democracy is the voice of the people, and it must always be respected. My congratulations to Argentine institutions for conducting the electoral process and to the Argentine people who participated on election day in an orderly and peaceful manner. I wish the new government good luck and success. PARAGUAYAN PRESIDENT SANTIAGO PENA I congratulate Javier Milei for his victory and I offer Paraguays cordial and brotherly hand to strengthen relations between our countries. COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT GUSTAVO PETRO The extreme right has won in Argentina. It is the decision of its society. Sad for Latin America and well see The relationships between Colombia and Argentina, the bonds between their communities are maintained in mutual respect. I congratulate Milei. CHILEAN PRESIDENT GABRIEL BORIC I salute Javier Milei for his victory and Sergio Massa for his worthy recognition of defeat. I wish the Argentine people the best and know that they will always have our respect and support. As president of Chile, I will work tirelessly to keep our sister nations united and collaborating for the well-being of all. URUGUAYAN PRESIDENT LUIS LACALLE POU I salute President-elect Javier Milei. We have much to work on together and improve our bilateral relations. PERUS PRESIDENT DINA BOLUARTES OFFICE Peru expresses its warm congratulations to Javier Milei for his election as president of the Argentine Republic. Wishing him the greatest success in his administration, Peru renews its commitment to continue strengthening the historic ties of friendship and cooperation that unite our countries. FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO Congratulations to the Argentine people for Javier Mileis victory. Hope will shine again in South America. May these good winds reach the United States and Brazil so that honesty, progress and freedom come back to all of us. RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARGENTINA DMITRY FEOKTISTOV We hope that the course towards commitment to multipolarity, independent foreign policy and a firm defense of national interests will be further developed. We are confident that this will be facilitated by Argentinas accession to BRICS, which will open up new horizons and opportunities for it. HILLSBOROUGH, N.C.Adam & Eve and adameve.com surveyed over 1,000 people asking if same-sex marriage should be recognized by the church and state. Almost 56 percent of the respondents agreed that same-sex marriage should be recognized both religiously and legally, and an additional 10 percent agreed but with certain restrictions imposed. Just over 26 percent of those polled said same-sex marriage should not be recognized by church and state, and 10 percent were not sure. While the right to same-sex marriage is currently protected nationwide, more than 30 states still have same-sex marriage bans in their constitutions and/or legislation. Dr. Jenni Skyler, PhD, LMFT, CST, and resident sexologist at Adam & Eve said, "At the end of the day, adults should be able to choose who they want to love and spend their lives with. No matter your sexual orientation, I dont believe marriage should be regulated by the government. While advancements have been made in the LGBTQ+ community and with same-sex marriage, there is still much work to be done." Adam & Eve director of marketing Chad Davis said, "Adam & Eve encourages adults to explore their sexuality within their own comfort levels and boundaries. We are happy to provide options and accessories for every stage and type of relationship." The web-based survey, conducted by an independent third-party survey company, of over 1,000 American adults age 18 and up, was sponsored by Adam & Eve to study sexual preferences and practices. For more information about Adam & Eve, visit adameve.com. For additional information on Adam & Eve, contact Adam & Eve's director of public relations Katy Zvolerin at (919) 644-8100 ext. 3121 or [email protected]. Babies are known for having skin that fills estheticians with envythere's a reason for the phrase "as smooth as a baby's bottom"but one luxury brand thinks the youngest set needs a bit more help when it comes to their dermatologic needs. People reports on Baby Dior , a new "complete skin-care line for little ones," per a release. The Dior site describes the line as a "tender, poetic collection, an ode to the first steps and emotions" of infants that's reminiscent of the Baby Dior clothing line. People notes that the four-item collection is a "reimagining" of Dior's baby perfume line of the '70s. "Christian Dior evoked his childhood many times as a very happy and joyful period of his life," Francis Kurkdjian, the perfume creation director who joined the company in October 2022, tells Women's Wear Daily. "The scent and the baby care line were discontinued, and I was eager to bring it back to life as a tribute." The new products include a pear-scented face and body moisturizer, which sells for $115; a $95 face, hair, and body foam; a $95 cleansing water; and Bonne Etoile, a scented water with "hints of pear, wild rose, and white musk" that retails for $230. Reaction to Dior's new offerings quickly emerged online, per the Independent. "Good luck finding a baby that has $250 to spare," one commenter joked. Another wrote: "Water for 230 dollars?? It better have diamonds in it." Yet another observed, "Rich people be so bored." Not everyone was snarking on the Dior line, however, with one cheerfully posting, "That will be super great and cute." Those interested in scooping up one or all of the items from the Baby Dior line can do so online, or at select Baby Dior and Parfums Christian Dior boutiques. (Read more strange stuff stories.) British Airways crew members allegedly indulged in a raucous night of drinking and drugs in Rio de Janeiro, then covered it up by pretending they'd been the victims of various crimes, Brazilian authorities allege. The three airline employees are accused of inventing an armed robbery that supposedly took place on September 5, leaving them "too traumatized to work," the Independent reports. A scheduled flight to London the next day was delayed, stranding passengers in Rio for 24 hours, according to Insider. Confusingly, however, the Independent reports that, according to the airline, the crew members were not scheduled to work the day after the faked armed robbery, and it's not clear why the flight to London was delayed. Kyle Vogt has resigned as CEO of Cruise, General Motors' autonomous vehicle unit, as questions build about the safety of self-driving cars, the AP reports. Vogt's decision to step down, announced late Sunday, follows a recent recall of all 950 Cruise vehicles to update software after one of them dragged a pedestrian to the side of a San Francisco street in early October. The California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the license for Cruise . The company earlier announced it had paused operations for a review by independent experts. "The results of our ongoing reviews will inform additional next steps as we work to build a better Cruise centered around safety, transparency and trust," the company said in a statement. "We will continue to advance AV technology in service of our mission to make transportation safer, cleaner and more accessible." Cruise won approval to transport fare-paying passengers last year. Since then, the autonomous vehicles have drawn complaints for making unexpected, traffic-clogging stops that critics say threaten to inconvenience other travelers and imperil public safety. Late last year, US safety regulators said they were investigating reports that autonomous robotaxis run by Cruise can stop too quickly or unexpectedly quit moving, potentially stranding passengers. Cruise had been testing 300 robotaxis during the day when it could only give rides for free, and 100 robotaxis at night when it was allowed to charge for rides in less congested parts of San Francisco. Vogt earlier said most collisions were caused by inattentive or impaired human drivers, not the AVs. (Read more self-driving car stories.) Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijani duet Ell & Nikki have captivated the audience at Het Grote Songfestivalfeest (The Big Eurovision Party) in Amsterdam. Het Grote Songfestivalfeest is a Dutch television concert programme starring artists of the Eurovision Song Contest, produced by PilotStudio in collaboration with the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS and held at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam.Three editions of the show have been in 2019, 2022 and 2023, Azernews reports. The duet performed a hit song Running Scared, which brought a victory to Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2011. Note that Ell and Nikki were the first mixed-gender duo to win the contest since 1963 and the first winners from Azerbaijan. The authors of the song are Stefan Orn, Sandra Bjurman from Sweden together with Iain Farquharson from the UK. Orn and Bjurman are also authors of the song "Drip Drop", which represented Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.. Azerbaijan's entry for Eurovision 2023 rocked the stage with the song "Tell Me More". The duo from Zaqatala is heavily influenced by music from the '60s and '70s, which is clearly reflected in the duo's signature sound and style. It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan reached the Top 5 in five consecutive contests - 3rd in 2009, 5th in 2010, 1st in 2011, 4th in 2012, and 2nd in 2013. In mid-July, Azerbaijan Public Television and Radio Broadcasting Agency (ITV) launched the selection process for Eurovision 2024, to be held in Sweden. The Canadian Rockies clinch the Alberta-British Columbia border in a vast sea of white and grey peaks. From the air, it is an impressive sight. From the gournd, the beauty of this mountain range is simply overwhelming, with glacier-clad peaks rising high into the sky, rugged mountains intermixed with turquoise lakes, and ice-cold rivers carving their way through lush, flower-filled valleys. While they are not the highest peaks in the world, these spectacular mountains possess an incomparable allure and grandeur that sets them apart on the global stage . It is little wonder that people have long been attracted to this unique corner of Canada, whether for exploration, a brief vist or to set down their roots. Depending on how you look at it, the history of of this extradinary region varies from a relatively recent series of huamn explorations to a saga that dates back millions of years. On a geological scale, the Canadian Rockies began to form about 140 millions years ago, and more recent periods of glaciation carved the U-shaped valleys that define the landscape today. Though many remaining ice is disappearing rapidly it is still possible to see the relics of ice ages in the form of icefields and glaciers that flow towards the valleys like frozen rivers. While the modern era of exploration , surveying and human development in the Canadian rockies has mostly occured in the past two centuries, archaeological digs in the region have uncovered stone spear points, tools and human history that dates back as far as 11,ooo years ago. Over the centuries, various First Nations people have called the land home; the Stoney Nakoda called that home the Shining Mountains, likely after the glimmering snow on the peaks. The "gliter" of the Canadian Rockies is both literal and metaphorical, as the first European explorers and modern mountain dwellers alike found themselves unable to escape the powerful draw of the peaks-- one that calls poeple to a life of adventure, a connection with the wild and a desire to see what lies beyond the next range. Central to the recent history of the region are the railway and a burgeoning tourism industry. As the Canadian Pacific Railway pushed its way West in the 1880s, a timely discovey of hot spring at what is now the Cave and Basin National Historic site spurred the beginnings of Canada's nation parks system, which provided a lucrative way of funding the completion of the railroad. " If we can't export the scenery," CPR president William Cornelius Van Horne so famously said, "we'll import the tourists." Since then, tourism has largely defined the region. And while millions of visitors come from aound the world each year, the region also possesses a vast wilderness that lies largely untouched, and otherwise requires a multi-day backpacking trip or ski tour to access. In 1984, UNESCO included the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks-- Banff, Jasper, Kootnay and Yoho--and a number of provincial parks in its list of the World Heritage Sites. It is a tribute worthy of a region with such astounding natural features and bilogical diversity. Whether you are exploring the reaches of the backcounty or viewing the scenery from the the roadside, it's no strech to say that the awsome beauty of the Canadaian Rockies will stay with you long after you've left. >>> After a trial that was huge in length and significance as well as sheer size, more than 200 people connected to Italy's 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate were found guilty on Monday and sentenced to a total of more than 2,200 years in prison. Some 207 people were found guilty and another 131 defendants were acquitted in the tribunal's verdict, which took one hour and 40 minutes to read aloud, the AP reports. The country's biggest organized crime trial since the 1980s began nearly three years ago in a heavily fortified courtroom in the 'Ndrangheta's heartland of Calabria, southern Italy. It focused on the Mancuso clan, one of the group's key families, and their associates, Sky News reports. The heaviest sentences were the 30-year terms received by crime bosses Saverio Razionale and Domenico Bonavota, reports Reuters. Giancarlo Pittelli, a former lawmaker and regional coordinator for Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, was sentenced to 11 years. The defendants were found guilty Monday of crimes including drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, usury, and membership of a criminal organization. Another 67 were found guilty earlier after choosing fast-track trials. Prosecutors said the crime syndicate grew in power as the influence of the Sicilian Mafia declined. They said it is now active in dozens of countries and has almost complete control over cocaine imports to Europe, the AP reports. Deputy chief prosecutor Vincenzo Capomolla said the 'Ndrangheta had such deep roots in the region that "there was no aspect of the life of the social economic fabric of the province that was not conditioned by the capacity of the force of intimidation of this so dangerous criminal organization." Antonio Nicaso, an organized crime professor at Queen's University in Canada, tells the New York Times that some younger member of crime families broke the code of silence and cooperated with prosecutors after the first wave of arrests in the case. "Some young men put the community ahead of their blood," Nicaso says. "That is the strongest message of this trial." (Read more 'ndrangheta stories.) New York police say they may have located the remains of Ross McDonnell, 44, an Irish filmmaker who was last seen on Nov. 4. A 911 call on Friday reported a partially dismembered body washed up on Breezy Point Beach in Queens, NBC News reports. The remains have not yet been identified, and the New York City medical examiner's office has not yet ruled on the cause of death. DNA tests are in progress. There's been no suggestion of foul play or suicide. The Emmy Award winner's bicycle was found locked at an adjacent beach. Friends suggested McDonnell, who lived in Brooklyn and was seen at the beach, went into the water that night, per the Irish Independent. He won the Emmy for cinematography on the Showtime series The Trade in 2021 and was nominated in other categories twice, including direction for the documentary Elian. Friends appealed for help on social media after McDonnell's disappearance. Nicola Tallant, a journalist, described him in a tweet as "compassionate, humble," with "so many plans." (Read more missing person stories.) The leader of a far-right Dutch populist party was hit on the head with a beer bottle Monday in an attack that took place two days before the Netherlands holds a general election. Thierry Baudet, leader of Forum for Democracy, was taken to a hospital in the northern city of Groningen after the assault at a local event, the party said in a message on X. "It looks like everything will all be alright," the party said. It later said Baudet, 40, was treated by a trauma surgeon after being hit on the back of the head and next to his eye with a beer bottle, the AP reports. It said a security guard also was injured. Video on social media showed Baudet in a bar when his attacker lunged at him. Baudet was quickly taken away and the attacker overpowered. Police spokesman Thijs de Jong said a person was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack. He said the motive was under investigation. "What we can say at the moment is that Mr. Baudet was hit on the head, possibly with an object," De Jong said. He said he could not give further details or comment on Baudet's condition. Last month, Baudet was hit on the head with an umbrella at an event in Belgium. Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a message on X that it was "totally unacceptable that Thierry Baudet has been attacked again. I said it before and I repeat it now firmly: Don't touch politicians." Baudet is running to keep his seat in parliament. A poll published Monday night predicted Forum for Democracy would win between three and five seats in the election. Another populist right-wing party, the Party for Freedom led by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, ranked second in the poll and was forecast to win 22 to 28 seats. In 2020, Baudet resigned as the party's leader amid criticism of his handling of accusations of extreme-right views held by some members of the party's youth wing. He was overwhelmingly returned as leader in a vote among party members. In 2022, another populist Dutch politician, Pim Fortuyn, was fatally shot by an animal rights activist days before a national election. (Read more Netherlands stories.) The stay We stayed at the island's Club Med Resort (named Turkoise), which is one of Club Med's three adults-only resorts (thankfully it wasn't a 'swingers' resort as my friends tried to tell me before leaving the US). The experience exceeded most of my expectations: I was not after a holiday involving too many activities, but one where you lie in the sun recharging and using as little brainpower as possible. One of the biggest misconceptions I had before this holiday was about 'all-inclusive' resorts, where everything (food, alcohol, and some activities) is paid for in the initial costs. I was sceptical about this to say the least and thought that there would be hidden costs around every corner. Admittedly, I was wrong. Firstly, the food was outstanding. What I thought would be a basic breakfast turned out to have everything from cereals, fruits, and bacon and eggs to delicious omelettes and tropical smoothies. Dinner ranged from steaks and lamb chops to pastas, pizzas and delicious desserts. In between breakfast, lunch and dinner, the resort has a smaller restaurant and bar on the property nearby offering endless burgers, fries and other classic Americana fare. I think it's fair to say one of the biggest draw cards for a resort like this is the all-inclusive alcohol package. While some 'premium' liquors came at an added cost, all traditional cocktails were included, and I dined out on Mojitos and the occasional Miami Vice (strawberries, lime juice and rum). While I was using a small Yeti drink bottle, some of the thirster guests (mostly from the US) seemed to have no shame taking up bottles that resembled 'small buckets' to refill their drinks. I soon realised my hidden cost assumptions were wrong after watching guests such as these, who were ensuring they made the most of every single dollar they had spent. The resort went to great lengths each day with activities like aqua jogging and pool games, as well as 'stage shows' every night featuring everything from acrobatics to singing performances. On the Friday night, they transformed the pool area into an incredible outdoor restaurant where all guests wore the colour white to dinner. The bar area later became a 'nightclub' (mostly for boomers) to rock the night away. While we opted not to stick around for too long, many of the other guests would choose to stay dancing until the early hours. While I had minimal plans to do anything adventurous, I did want to experience something that the island offered I wouldn't be able to do back home in New York. Club Med offered free snorkelling excursions and a few other water-based activities as part of its all-inclusive cost, which seemed like an opportunity to make the most of. However, each day these activities were cancelled due to poor weather out at sea. At the same time though, it offered similar activities (with a few more frills) for a few hundred US dollars and those weren't cancelled, which seemed strange. Unfortunately, the staff at the front desk couldn't provide much of an explanation for us, so it was disappointing we didn't get to make the most of those opportunities. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa commended the speech delivered by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain, at the opening of the 19th edition of the Manama Dialogue, in which HRH emphasised that lasting peace will only be secured through a two-state solution that enshrines the rights of the Palestinian people. The speech also asserted that the hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people must be at the centre of post-crisis governance in Gaza. HM the King was speaking as he received HRH Prince Salman. His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Personal Representative of HM the King, HE Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Minister of the Royal Court, HE Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and National Economy, and HE Dr. Mohammed bin Mubarak Bin Daina, Minister of Oil and Environment and Special Envoy for Climate Affairs, were present at the meeting. The meeting reviewed topics related to strengthening Bahrains development process and the major projects and plans it includes in various sectors. HM King Hamad praised the efforts of HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister in driving Bahrains development process; consolidating the kingdoms progress, competitiveness, and advanced rankings in development indicators; and leading the governments action towards more achievements, initiatives and programmes to develop services offered to citizens and residents. His Majesty praised the role and ongoing efforts of the Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF) in providing urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. He thanked all those involved in this noble effort, which embodies Bahrains firm stance on providing support during various circumstances. Regional security and stability HM the King reiterated the importance of ensuring security and stability in the region, affirming that the international community must work towards securing just and comprehensive peace, as a strategic option and the only path to security and stability for the people of the region and the world. His Majesty emphasised the firm position of the Kingdom on resolving disputes peacefully. HM King Gamad also praised the Kingdoms successful efforts in organising and hosting specialised international exhibitions, conferences and sporting events. This includes the 19th edition of the Manama Dialogue, and a number of international trade exhibitions, as well as the fifth edition of the Bahrain International Trophy. Last month, Montana Free Press, in collaboration with the Glendive Ranger-Review, told the story of the eastern Montana city of Glendives roughly 18-month struggle with civic dysfunction and mistrust. A new mayor came, found herself in immediate conflict with the City Council, and went; a new police chief was hired, fired and provisionally rehired; members of the community accused members of the City Council of violating the law; and the citys very legal standing came into question. Mayor Teresea Olson eventually quit, citing sabotage by the council. The council appointed an interim mayor, but the debacle highlighted a deep divide in the community about the citys direction and the transparency of its government. There were, loosely, two camps: those aligned with Olson, and those who backed the City Council, whose members included several long-serving incumbents who generally viewed Olson as a political novice trying to rock the boat without justification. On Election Day in many Montana cities, the former camp dealt a non-fatal blow to the latter. Kevin Thompson, a former member of the local school board and a self-described friend of Olsons, defeated decades-long council incumbent Leon Baker, the bodys president, 158 votes to 79. Baker, a staunch critic of Olson and an ally of her predecessor, was a key figure in the city government saga. In a locally notorious incident, Olson once accused Baker, after a particularly intense dispute, of showing symptoms of dementia. Two other allies of the former mayor, Vaughn Jenkins and Carrie Skartved, lost their races to join the council. I threw a monkey wrench into the good ol boys club, Thompson said, using the term Olsons supporters adopted to describe the citys entrenched political establishment. He added that there was a lot of mistrust built up over the whole Teresea deal, and I think people know Im not scared to voice my opinion. Baker could not be reached for comment last week. The reason why I keep running, you know, is Im not a quitter, he told MTFP last month. I dont like to see people quit things. Im from the old school. Until I get unelected, Im going to keep doing what I can. Thompson expressed a vision for economic development in Glendive, which hasnt experienced the growth seen by many other Montana cities. Glendive, were 200 miles from Bismarck, 200 from Billings, 200 from Rapid City, 200 from Regina, he said. We have a major interstate, the [Yellowstone] river, the largest state park in Montana, theres no reason we shouldnt be a thriving community. Part of the friction between Olson and the Glendive City Council stemmed from confusion about the citys proper form of government. Early in Olsons term, she learned during training at the Montana State University Local Government Center that, for reasons lost to time, Glendive had for years been operating under a governmental configuration other than the one voters approved in 1976, and the citys code book was out of compliance. As MTFP wrote last month: Glendive, as far as anyone could remember, had never held partisan elections, despite that being a component of the citys ratified form of government. As of last week, the city should be able to put at least one part of that dispute to bed. As reported by the Ranger-Review, the director of the Local Government Center, Dan Clark, discovered a record of a resolution the city passed in the 1980s providing that it would hold nonpartisan elections in the future, even though the form of government the city ratified a decade earlier had provided for partisan elections. Clark made the discovery following a request from Dawson County resident Gary Francis, one of a handful of figures who began publicly agitating against the council during its conflict with Olson, for more information on the citys form of government. I live in Glendive and have started a grassroots campaign to push for Glendive to start operating under its adopted charter, which from what I understand includes holding partisan elections. Ive been repeatedly told Glendive does not have to have partisan elections because we havent done it that way in over 30-plus years or something to that effect, Francis wrote to Clark, per Ranger-Review reporter Hunter Herbaugh. Clark responded that under a state law passed in 1987, municipalities that historically held nonpartisan elections prior to the adoption of MCA 7-3-113 in 1977 the law that governs municipalities form of government could change their government from partisan to nonpartisan via resolution if done within a certain window of time, Herbaugh wrote. Glendive, indeed, took that step. The City of Glendive has been operating legally and appropriately with nonpartisan elections since the late 1980s, Clark wrote. There is no need for the city council or voters to take action on the question of nonpartisan elections. Deb Dion, the citys interim mayor, told the Ranger-Review she hopes this helps put the matter to rest. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com US Ambassador to Bahrain, His Excellency Steven C. Bondy, has lauded the major role played by the Kingdom of Bahrain in supporting efforts to achieve regional security and stability. Speaking on the sidelines of his participation in the 19th Manama Dialogue, the premier regional security summit, Ambassador Bondy highlighted the role of the forum in covering a wide range of topics and issues, adding that he is looking forward to the 20th edition. On the importance of the Manama Dialogue, he said: If you look around the region and see all of the challenges that are going on, you can definitely see that this dialogue is needed now more than ever. Its incredible to me that Bahrain has established itself as a principal stop over the course of the year for serious policy individuals to come from around the world to discuss the most cutting-edge issues. The conflict that we are seeing now in Gaza reinforces the ultimate importance of the Manama Dialogue, he said. Talking He noted that it was much better to be talking about the issues than for people to be engaging in an armed conflict. We have a certain number of priorities that we are working through, first and foremost is the release of the hostages, and secondly, the swift delivery of humanitarian assistance, he said. He added: Of course, we do not want the conflict to spread in any way. But also what we are looking to do is to set the conditions so that, in the future, the Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace and security for the benefit of both their nations. Boosting relationship On the Bahrain-US relations, Ambassador Bondy said that the two countries had recently signed the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement (C-SIPA), which provides a platform for the two nations to enhance their already strong relations, noting that agreement adds a new momentum to boost bilateral relationship. He indicated that the Bahraini and American sides are currently organising themselves in order to identify priority projects on which they will focus for implementation. He said that there are three basic elements of the agreement, which are defence and security, trade, investment and commercial relations. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Social Development Minister, His Excellency Osama bin Ahmed Khalaf Al Asfoor, affirmed Bahrains keenness on supporting children rights, through applying advanced laws and legislation. Those include the law on restorative justice for children and their protection from mistreatment, concerned with protecting children under the age of 18. Al Asfoor was speaking as the Kingdom joined the international community in marking the World Childrens Day yesterday. He shed light on the progress made by Bahrain in protecting children rights which are guaranteed by the constitution. The Minister noted the role of official, private and civil society entities to ensure the highest levels of protection for children, to safeguard their rights to education, health, and care in a safe environment, and ensure a bright future for them. Al Asfoor said that the law on restorative justice for children and their protection from mistreatment strengthened the role of the Child Protection Centre, which is under the Ministry of Social Development. The centre is the main entity responsible for protecting children and the assessment and follow-up on the cases of children who have been subjected to abuse. It also follows up on cases of juvenile delinquents facing potential risk; through policies, legislation, programmes and services that ensure the protection of children, in addition to raising the families and societys awareness on childrens issues. AFP | | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com A wave of ribbon-cutting ceremonies is sweeping the Saudi capital as multinationals face a January deadline to open regional headquarters in the Gulf kingdom or lose out on government contracts. In what has become a common scene, executives in suits and Saudi officials in white robes gather to inaugurate the new offices, sipping Arabic coffee in a haze of incense smoke. Announced in February 2021, Saudi Arabias regional headquarters (RHQ) programme is widely seen as a bid to compete with Dubai in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, a favourite base for global firms with business in the Middle East. Multinational companies that are part of the RHQ Program will be well positioned to bid for projects funded by the Saudi Government, the Saudi investment ministry told AFP in a written response to questions. So far, 162 regional headquarters licenses have been granted in sectors including pharmaceuticals, IT and construction, with many others being processed, the ministry said. The big question, analysts say, is whether participating firms are merely ticking a box to retain access to Saudi funds or genuinely embracing the governments vision of Saudi Arabia as the centre of the region. Jumping through hurdles Riyadh defines a regional headquarters as an office that provides strategic direction, management, and support services for company subsidiaries, branches, and affiliates in the (Middle East and North Africa) region, the investment ministry said. One firm, IHG Hotels & Resorts, placed its new office on the 12th floor of a skyscraper in the capitals financial district, staffing it with 25 employees from departments including revenue management, sales, marketing, design and engineering. IHG has been present in Saudi Arabia for nearly 50 years, actively bids for government projects including developments along the Red Sea Coast and plans to open 20 hotels across the kingdom in 2024 and 2025, Haitham Mattar, managing director for the Middle East and Southwest Asia, said during the offices ribbon-cutting ceremony in October. But the company also has offices in Dubai and elsewhere in the region, and we will continue with those offices, Mattar told AFP. As for the process of establishing a Saudi regional headquarters, he acknowledged there were some kinks to work out. It took us a bit of time and jumping through hurdles to achieve our licence for this office. However we are there now which is great and thats what were happy and positive about, he said. This is all new to Saudi Arabia, right? So we have to really be conscious of that. Theres a lot of trial-and-error, theres a lot of perfecting some of the processes, and sometimes some of the processes have maybe one too many steps. Ambitious targets Laurent Germain, CEO of French construction engineering firm Egis Group, nevertheless told AFP he had no regrets about establishing a regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia last year, and that he advised other French firms to do the same. Weve come into a situation where now it is in Saudi Arabia that we have the most activities in the Middle East, and probably so for the next 10 years. It was a natural step, he said. Germain added that he did not necessarily see the regional headquarters programme in the context of a budding Riyadh-Dubai rivalry, but rather as a broader bid to hit very ambitious foreign investment objectives. They are taking all the measures they can to increase the attractiveness of the kingdom, he said. Brings focus to the 1 in 12 Canadians who will be affected by rare disease i TORONTO, Nov. 20, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, 13 Canadian rare disease organizations, in partnership with Takeda Canada Inc. ("Takeda",) unite to launch I Am Number 12, to raise awareness of the 1 in 12 Canadians who will be affected by a rare disease in their lifetime. The campaign highlights the challenges and needs of people living with rare diseases, and how collectively, rare diseases aren't really that rare. (CNW Group/Takeda Canada Inc.) At the forefront, are a group of Changemakers who represent the diverse make-up of the rare diseases' community. They are patients, caregivers, clinicians, and advocates, who stand together to ensure that all Canadians living with rare diseases have equitable access to diagnosis, care, and the resources they require no matter where they live. The campaign includes stories from Kelly Newell, a resilient Alpha-1 warrior raising three boys who bear the burden of this disease; Dr. Aneal Khan's relentless pursuit of understanding rare metabolic conditions; and Elisabeth Linton who tirelessly fought to support the first gene therapy clinical trial in memory of her late daughter with Sanfilippo Syndrome, also known as Mucopolysaccharidosis type III (MPS III). Their unique and personal stories have been captured through the lens of photographers from across the country. Their portraits will be unveiled today at a celebratory event and will be available to view online through the @IAmNumber12CA Instagram social page later this month. Meet our Changemakers Canadians are encouraged to visit @IAmNumber12CA on Instagram to read our stories, amplify our voices and even share their own rare story with #Iamnumber12. Starting Tuesday, November 28 as part of a 12 Days of Giving initiative, we will spotlight a new Changemaker each day, providing educational information on the rare disease and patient organization they represent and encouraging charitable giving and donations to help our organizations continue to support the communities we serve. Quotes from our Community "Living with a rare disease can be challenging but there is hope. Greater awareness and education about rare diseases can make all the difference in supporting the rare disease community, including myself. I am proud to lend my voice as a Changemaker to inspire change and understanding." Kerstyn Lane , Changemaker living with Hereditary Angioedema Type 1 and Vice President & Regional Director (Pacific), HAE Canada "This campaign is an important reminder that rare disease does exist. It is all around us - and we will all likely know and care for someone who is impacted. We are proud to stand in solidarity with our community. Together, we can raise awareness about the challenges of living with rare diseases and advocate for equal access to healthcare through the National Strategy for Drugs for Rare Diseases." Christine White , President, The National Gaucher Foundation of Canada "At its heart, I Am Number 12 is a community-driven, collaboration between Takeda and a vast network of patient organizations, to recognize the everyday heroes of rare diseases who are our Changemakers. Our joint goal is to increase understanding of what it's like to live with a rare disease, bring better health and a brighter future to all patients by addressing areas of high unmet need, and to show Canadians that rare diseases aren't always that rare." Rute Fernandes , President & General Manager, Takeda in Canada About Rare Disease in Canada An estimated 7,000 rare disorders exist worldwide.ii People living with rare diseases often face numerous challenges from delayed diagnosis and treatment, to facing stigma, isolation and even discrimination.iii On average, it takes 6-8 years before a patient receives a correct diagnosis; in this time, a patient will see an average of eight physicians and receive two to three misdiagnosesiv. In Canada, most treatments for rare disorders get approved up to six years later than in the USA and Europe.v The burden of rare disorders is significant, not only for those living with an illness, but on families, healthcare and social systems, workplaces, the economy, and our collective social welfare.vi About I Am Number 12 I Am Number 12 is an awareness campaign launched with 13 Canadian rare disease patient organizations and Takeda. These are: HAE Canada, Immunity Canada, Alpha-1 Canada, Canadian Fabry Association, National Gaucher Foundation of Canada, Canadian MPS Society, GBS/CIDP Foundation of Canada, Answering TTP, Regroupement quebecois des maladies orphelines (RQMO), Association des Patients Immunodeficients du Quebec (APIQ), Angio-oedeme hereditaire du Quebec (AOHQ), Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada, Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders. The campaign was initiated and funded by Takeda. About Takeda Canada Inc. Takeda Canada Inc. is the Canadian organization of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502/NYSE: TAK), a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to discovering and delivering life-transforming treatments, guided by our commitment to patients, our people and the planet. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Genetics and Hematology, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in people's lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in health care in approximately 80 countries and regions. For more information, visit: takeda.com/en-ca ______________________________ i Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders. Canada's Rare Disease Strategy. Available from: https://www.raredisorders.ca/canadas-rare-disease-strategy/ ii Health Canada. Building a National Strategy for High-Cost Drugs for Rare Diseases: A Discussion Paper for Engaging Canadians. January 2023. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/programs/consultation-national-strategy-high-cost-drugs-rare-diseases-online-engagement/discussion-paper.html iii European Organisation for Rare Diseases. Rare Diseases: understanding this Public Health Priority. November 2005. Available from: https://www.eurordis.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/princeps_document-EN.pdf iv Shire. Rare Disease Impact Report: Insights from patients and the medical community. April 2013. [Cited Apr 6]. Available from: https://globalgenes.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ShireReport-1.pdf v Innovative Medicines Canada. A National Rare Disease Strategy Could Change Patient's Lives. February 2023. Available from: https://innovativemedicines.ca/newsroom/all-news/a-national-rare-disease-strategy-could-change-patients-lives/ vi Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders. Now is the Time: A Strategy for Rare Diseases is a Strategy for all Canadians. May 2015. Available from: http://www.raredisorders.ca//content/uploads/CORD_Canada_RD_Strategy_22May15.pdf SOURCE Takeda Canada Inc. For further information: Media Contacts: Emilita Dela Cruz, Argyle, [email protected], 416-557-4259 The previous Microsoft deal would have ended when OpenAI reaches AGI. Microsoft paid $10 billion for 49% of only one part of the complex OpenAI structure would have ended when OpenAI reached AGI. Other AI teams like Google and Grok will be able to catch up with the disarray and raiding of 20-40% of the OpenAI team. Thinking out loud 1. Sam/Greg form new AI Research group in Microsoft. The group has the option to spin off as new company whenever they want. Agreement is that if company is spun off, Microsoft gets 40% of the new company, 60% goes to Sam/Greg and whoever they choose. https://t.co/eOwHkWkcQp Dave Lee (@heydave7) November 20, 2023 Ukraine War Continues Ukraine update for the past 10 days: For the first time, has successfully gained control of territory located behind the 2014 frontline. This notable advance occurred west of Horlivka, where the line has remained unchanged since before the start of the 2022 invasion. pic.twitter.com/XaQVZeniDZ War Mapper (@War_Mapper) November 19, 2023 Gaza War Continues : The IDF Southern Command has expanded its offensive to neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip. They have raided the areas of Zeytun and Jabaliya to take out Hamas terrorist and their infrastructure. The 36th Division, also known as the Gaash pic.twitter.com/8v96fnIPsU RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) November 18, 2023 #BREAKING Reuters: Biden says he believes a deal to release the hostages is close War Monitor (@WarMonitors) November 20, 2023 #BREAKING The Houthi group publishes a video of its seizure of the Israeli ship in the south of the Red Sea. pic.twitter.com/DYZIq2IPKh War Monitor (@WarMonitors) November 20, 2023 The Houthis Terrorist Group in Yemen has released Footage of their Hijacking yesterday of the Bahamas-Flagged Cargo Ship, Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea and its 25 Crewmembers which are now being held as Hostages due to the Houthis claiming the Ship was Linked to Israeli pic.twitter.com/CFtOVvn20j OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) November 20, 2023 According to Israeli Media, Hezbollah has launched upwards of 40 Rockets and 3 Attack Drones against IDF Positions in Northern Israel this morning causing Significant Damage to at least 1 Military Outpost along the Border, with this being seen as a Serious Escalation. OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) November 20, 2023 State leaders from across Montanas K-12 and higher education systems convened on the University of Montana campus this week for a discussion on an array of new laws, regulations and initiatives approved throughout 2023. As Dylan Klapmeier, education policy advisory to Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, noted, the past 12 months have seen the realization of numerous goals set by Montanas Board of Education last December. Those advancements include a host of measures passed by the Montana Legislature to improve early childhood literacy, increase state funding for trade-based education and promote a more individualized approach to student learning. Other members of the board comprised of the Board of Regents, Board of Public Education, Gianforte, Commissioner of Higher Education Clay Christian and state Superintendent Elsie Arntzen took turns spotlighting their own individual accomplishments, from the adoption of new school quality standards at the K-12 level to the dramatic rise in students taking dual-credit courses for college credit. Speaking to the latter, Deputy Commissioner for Academic Affairs Joe Thiel said that during the 2022 school year, one-third of Montanas 9,310 high school graduates participated in dual enrollment. Of those, he added, 37% took college-level courses in career and technical education. As for how many of those students go on to enroll on Montana campuses after graduation, Thiel put the rate at between 40% and 60%. Not only are you more likely to come to college, but for some of these students, they have a year or two years of college under their belt, so they can finish [and] enter the workforce that much more quickly, Thiel said. Participation has also increased in the Montana Digital Academy, a state program housed at UMs College of Education that offers online courses to students across Montanas public school system. Assistant Director Mike Agostinelli told board members that the academy saw a 42% increase in the number of students participating in advanced placement courses during the past year, along with a 97% increase among those participating in dual-credit courses. With the Legislatures passage last spring of House Bill 749, Agostinelli added, the academy intends to develop a suite of new offerings, including shorter courses, industry certifications and curriculum that school teachers can use in their own classrooms. The remarks Friday served as the finale to a three-day flurry of meetings and joint sessions of Montanas highest echelon of state education officials. The Board of Public Education, Board of Regents and lawmakers from the Legislatures two interim education committees criss-crossed one another in Missoula throughout the week, approving various measures impacting Montana educators and students and fielding updates on recent legislative and regulatory changes to the states K-12 and university systems. Heres a glimpse at some of the high points from those discussions: Board of Public Education member Jane Lee Hamman reported Wednesday that one of the 26 applications for new public charter schools under House Bill 549 had been rejected. Hamman explained that applicants seeking to establish the Yellowstone Experiential School in Livingston failed to submit their proposal to the Livingston Public School Board prior to requesting state approval a foundational requirement outlined in the new law. The board will review the remaining 25 applications, all of which were submitted by public school districts, during an all-day meeting on Nov. 30. At a joint meeting with the Legislatures Education Interim Committee Thursday, Sen. Dan Salomon, R-Ronan, said he was pleasantly surprised by the volume of applications. However, board chair Tim Tharp acknowledged there has been a little bit of consternation over the fact that some of the charter proposals are built around pre-existing programs within certain school districts. Salomon said the intent of HB 549 was to offer new programs, offer new concepts, not to provide additional state funding for educational programs that districts have already implemented. New legislation often has unintended consequences, Salomon added, and this may be one of those situations. Board members also voted unanimously Wednesday to sign onto a letter to the National Education Association the nations largest labor union expressing concern that it shared inaccurate and unauthentic information about Indigenous people in trainings attended by Montana educators. The letter was drafted by the Montana Advisory Council on Indian Education and signed by the Office of Public Instruction and the Montana Federation of Public Employees, which represents the bulk of public school teachers and staff in the state. Council Chair Jordann Lankford-Forster mentioned several examples of information she and other educators found troubling, among them a race literacy quiz that included an inaccurate portrayal of Pocahontas. On Friday, the NEA informed Montana Free Press in an email that it had immediately acknowledged the problem and have taken steps to ensure that this information is excluded from future printed and electronic materials. The organization also extended its sincere apologies to anyone who may have been offended. On the higher education front, University of Montana President Seth Bodnar touted his campus latest enrollment trends before the Board of Regents Thursday, noting that the fall retention rate among last years freshmen 76% was the highest in UMs history. The focus on campus populations continued as Scott Lemmon, director of admissions and enrollment strategy for the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, gave the regents an update on statewide figures mined from the university systems fall 2023 headcount. Lemmon described enrollment in recent years as relatively flat, with overall declines in Montanas four-year campus population offset by increases at the two-year level. Lemmon stressed that Montana is laser-focused on in-state student recruitment and its ongoing efforts to increase the current 31% ratio of Montana high school graduates enrolling at Montana colleges. Those efforts include an online portal allowing Montana students to apply for admission to all in-state campuses, and Lemmon said his office is examining the possibility of a single all-campus form that can be pre-populated with an individual students information, including information pertinent to financial aid opportunities. Regent Loren Bough raised a series of questions about an apparent phenomenon in out-of-state student enrollment, noting that state data showed a dramatic uptick starting in the fall of 2021. Was this increase, Bough asked, a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, or perhaps the surging popularity of Kevin Costners Montana-centric television series Yellowstone? Funny as that is, Lemmon replied of the latter suggestion, that does motivate people. Nationwide, enrollment in college-based educator preparation programs has dropped by nearly a third in recent years. That was the message Dan Lee, dean of UMs College of Education, led with Thursday afternoon in addressing the Education Interim Committee about teacher recruitment and retention in Montana. Lee and his counterparts from MSU and MSU-Billings Tricia Seifert and Ann Beste-Guldborg, respectively stressed to lawmakers that low pay and high living costs continue to drive some new teachers from their programs to other states. Best-Guldborg spoke of burnout among those in the profession resulting from behavioral issues among students and increased criticism from parents. Seifert confronted lawmakers with statistics illustrating that the cost of a new house in Bozeman is simply beyond the reach of starting teachers. The interest [in teaching] isnt there like it used to be, Lee said. Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, attempted to address what he called the elephant in the room, or the serpent under the table, arguing that parents have become concerned with a focus on classroom management skills over subject matter mastery. The statement received soft pushback from Beste-Guldborg, who cited her experience as a school principal in explaining that its easier to improve a teachers understanding of content than it is to teach a content specialist how to manage a room full of children. Her point was echoed by a panel of five current teaching candidates from the Missoula area. Asked by Fuller about their biggest personal weaknesses, all five spoke of challenges maintaining discipline in their classrooms. One of them, Nathan Stone, specifically mentioned the presence of cell phones as a particular classroom management issue. It was a battle I wasnt necessarily anticipating fighting, Stone told lawmakers, adding that the present undercurrent of anti-intellectualism in some communities has only served to further undermine the authority of teachers and school administrators. The issue of teacher recruitment and retention resurfaced Friday morning during a tense discussion among the Board of Public Education and lawmakers about increases to teacher licensing fees. The fee Montana charges educators applying for a new license or renewing an existing one has remained fixed at $6 for decades. But a recent change to state law redirecting revenue from those fees to the Office of Public Instruction triggered a broader debate this year over raising fee amounts in order to pay for ongoing maintenance of OPIs new licensing software. Arntzen remains firmly opposed to any fee increase, while Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, has continued to insist that an increase is necessary to bring teaching more in line with other licensed professions in the state. The stalemate, as Bedey referred to it Friday, came to a head as the Board of Public Education considered a proposal for a series of staggered increases based on the type of license an educator applies for a proposal the board voted to approve. Under the new structure, the fee for a five-year standard teaching license would increase to $70, plus an additional $25 technology fee. While addressing the board, Bedey said the increases should be enough to meet the increased costs associated with OPIs new software, though he cast the situation as a challenge to Arntzen, stressing that the way to keep fees low is to reduce the cost of administering them. The proposal adopted Friday came not from OPI but from the board itself. Prior to its vote, chair Tim Tharp asked for Bedeys input on whether the board should delay action until it could revisit the matter with Arntzen. Bedey left that decision up to the board but noted that Arntzens recommendation would not have fully funded the system and that the board was well within its authority to adopt a fee structure that will. It is an uncomfortable position, Bedey said I am flabbergasted that we find ourselves in the place that we are. But the point of the law was not to defund school licensure systems. It was to set fees commensurate with costs. In an interview with MTFP, Arntzen expressed disappointment in the boards decision and reiterated her stance that its the wrong time right now to increase any kind of licensing fee for a teacher. The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday dismissed an appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Titus Uba against the election of Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State. The appellate court in a unanimous judgment resolved all the three issues formulated for determination against Uba and PDP. Justice Onyekachi Aja Otisi, who delivered the lead judgment, dismissed the allegation of non-qualification levelled by Uba against the Deputy Governor, Samuel Ode. Justice Otisi held that the PDP gubernatorial candidate failed to establish forgery of INEC Form EC9 by Ode beyond reasonable doubt as required by law. Among others, the Court of Appeal said that the issues of non-qualification is a pre-election matter which can only be challenged at a Federal High Court and not at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal as done by Uba. Also, Justice Otisi said that a suit to challenge non-qualification can only be instituted within 14 days of occurrence of the subject matter. The court also dealt with the allegation by Uba that the name of the governor, Hyacinth Alia, was not not submitted by the APC to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, within 180 days before the election of March 18. The court held that the allegation cant survive because the primary election that produced Alia was ordered by a high Court and was done within the period ordered by the court. In the final analysis, Justice Otisi held that Ubas appeal against the judgment of Benue State Election Petition Tribunal delivered on September 23 lacked merit. The court subsequently upheld the judgment of the tribunal, affirming Alias election as Benue State governor. Falz, the rapper, has narrated how he and his managers survived a near-death experience in 2013. In a chat with Gbemi O, the rapper and his managers Femisoro Ajayi and Sidney Sule recounted how they were attacked by armed men. The trio said they took a trip to Abuja after Falz was invited to perform at a wedding ceremony. Falz said that, during their trip back, they were shot at by turban-tying, AK47-wielding, dangerous-looking men on the expressway. He said their driver was killed and the vehicle headed towards the forest. He said they all passed out. The rapper said the armed robbers eventually retreated into the forest after hearing the police sirens. It was after NYSC and this was me working in my dads firm as a lawyer in 2013, he said. Then we got a call to come to Abuja for a show. The payment was N1 million and logistics will be taken care of. It was a wedding, so we took the trip. There was no flight from Abuja to Lagos. So we hired a car from Abuja to Benin. I led a solid prayer and it was probably what ended up saving us. It was broad daylight and we started the trip around 2 pm. We fell asleep during the trip. Then we just heard a loud bang. We woke up to see these turban-tying, AK47-wielding, dangerous-looking men in the middle of the expressway. The bang we heard was a gunshot they had shot at the car. They shot at our car again and the bullet came flying in between everyone. Everything happened so fast. They shot at us again and the bullet hit the driver in the eye. The driver died instantly. The car started moving. It was wild. I remember seeing the car heading for a ditch and just thinking this is it. Then we passed out. I was the first to come around. I got out of the car and saw one of the men asking Where is the money? I told him there was no money. He goes to the car looking for cash. We had left Abuja but we hadnt gotten to Lokoja. It was all forest. It was the peak of Boko Haram and we were somewhere in the north. We started to hear sirens from far away. The police did not come near. At this point, they increased fire and started shooting. They later moved away from us and retreated. We tried to stop cars on the expressway, but not a single soul stopped. A police guy eventually came and another guy said he was a doctor. Big Horn County Sheriff Darrell King was killed in a car wreck early Sunday evening on Highway 212, southeast of Crow Agency. The accident happened just east of the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument, shortly after 5 p.m., according to the Montana Highway Patrol. MHP reported that a commercial motor vehicle collided head-on with a passenger vehicle driven by King; it was not a Big Horn County vehicle and King was not in uniform. He was pronounced deceased at the scene, MHP reported. Speed and impairment do not appear to be factors in the crash, which remains under investigation, according to MHP. "It looks like he (King) was partially into the other lane, maybe trying to pass another vehicle," said MHP Sgt. Jay Nelsen. MHP Colonel Steve Lavin said in statement: I was saddened to hear of this recent tragedy and loss amongst the law enforcement community. Our deepest condolences go out to the family of Sheriff King and the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office. Alvin Yarlot, King's stepfather, struggled to put to words his shock and heartbreak at the news. "I can't find my voice," he said. King, a Marine veteran, was elected sheriff last year. U.S. Attorney for Montana, Jesse Laslovich, released a statement remembering King late Monday morning. I was saddened to learn of the tragic passing of Big Horn County Sheriff Darrell King, who was a key partner to our office and all of our federal law enforcement agencies," Laslovich said. "On behalf of all of them, I offer our sincerest condolences to his family. His family should know that federal law enforcement held Sheriff King in the highest regard, and we will honor his legacy of kindness and diplomacy by working collaboratively with all of our partners to keep the people of Big Horn County, the Crow Tribe and Northern Cheyenne Tribe safe. The two vehicles struck each other head on and the wreck shutdown Highway 212, detouring traffic as far south as Sheridan, Wyoming. A procession of law enforcement vehicles accompanied the coroner as King's body was transported to the state crime lab in Billings. Along with statements from local law enforcement agencies, family and friends across the region posted remembrances across social media Monday morning. "My office sends it's condolences to the friends, family, and colleagues of Big Horn County Sheriff Darrell King. I had the pleasure of meeting him and he was a very kind man who wanted to make a difference in his community. Rest easy Sheriff, we have it from here," the Daniels County Sheriff's office posted on Facebook. Friends set up a tribute page on Facebook for those who knew King to share memories. "Darrell was an incredible person who touched so many different people's lives. This page has been created so all the different people that knew Darrell can share stories, photos and videos. Everyday it seems that I remember another story that I would love to share; this page gives you the opportunity to share those stories with people that knew and loved him." Big Horn County commissioners appointed Undersheriff Jeramie Middlestead to act as sheriff until they appoint King's replacement. That person will serve as sheriff until county residents elect a new sheriff in the November 2024 elections. "Our most heartfelt condolences go out to the King family," the commissioners wrote. The Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the Labour Party, on Sunday charged its presidential candidate, Peter Obi and his counterpart from the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Atiku Abubakar to emulate the President of Liberia, George Weah and congratulate President Bola Tinubu. The Liberian President, Weah lost his re-election bid to opposition leader, Joseph Boakai. Following his defeat, the former Ballon dOr winner conceded defeat to Boakai. However, the LPs factional spokesman, Abayomi Arabambi, urged Obi and Atiku to team up with Tinubu in delivering the Renewed Hope Agenda. A statement by Arabambi reads partly: The Liberian Presidential Election, though still on as the electoral umpire is yet to declare the winner of the election, the results so far have compelled the incumbent President George Weah to congratulate the opposition candidate, Boakai, who is obviously the winner. The Labour Party believed that its instructive that elections like any competition would produce the winner and loser. This is why the behaviour and reaction of President George Weah even before the official announcement of the results of the presidential election in Liberia to his loss should be commended and African leaders should emulate. Nigerian leaders should emulate this spirit of sportsmanship. President George Weah of Liberia again has shown like Former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari that incumbency is not a tool to be used to rig election and opposition should not be intimidated by incumbency. The time is ripe for former Vice-president and PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and former Governor of Anambra State and presidential candidate of LP, Mr Peter Obi to congratulate the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after the former had explored all the opportunities availed by the Constitution and the Electoral Law. As a responsible leader, former President Goodluck Jonathan also did the same as George Weah, and today he is being reckoned with as a great pillar of democracy. The Labour Party therefore appealed to Obi and Atiku to support the administration and have faith in ongoing reforms. We had expected the duo to have buried the hatchet and join hands with the president in delivering the Renewed Hope Agenda. Peter Obi and Atiku should exhibit the spirit of sportsmanship and congratulate the president and join hands with him to revamp the economy and deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians.You A Nigerian man has narrated his traumatising story of how he found himself under the Oshodi Bridge, in Lagos and slept there for two years, after living 21 years in the United States. According to the man who was tearful as he shared his story, he studied Banking and Finance in London, but his downfall began after he had a dream where he was flying like an eagle in the skies. The man shared the pathetic story during a recent programme with a popular Ibadan-based journalist, Oriyomi Hamzat. In the dream that preceded his strange trip to Nigeria, he said as he flew in the skies like a bird, he saw that he was welcome to Africa and eventually Nigeria. I just strangely found myself in Nigeria. I spent nine years in London. I studied Banking and Finance in London. I had struggled a lot. I had a dream like I was flying in the skies, he said. In the dream, I was welcome to the Bahamas. I had been there for a vacation in real life. Then, I saw Welcome to London. Later, I saw another signpost that said, Welcome to Africa. After that another one said, Welcome to Nigeria. It now became clearer when I started seeing cattle, and molue buses, and I woke up, he cried. He said, It was after one month, my wife said that I woke up and shouted Nigeria, Nigeria! I didnt plan that I was going to Nigeria. That was how I became sick and my family rushed me to a Teaching Hospital, in California. The man said his breakthrough came and he came to his senses after some policemen who were on patrol came to him under the bridge at Oshodi, Lagos. He said, From there, I found myself under the bridge in Oshodi, Lagos. I slept for two years under the bridge. It was some policemen who woke me up around 1:00 am on a particular midnight. They touched me with the gun. Their leader, during an operation in the middle of the night, asked me where I was from. He said, Get up! and questioned, Where are you from? I answered, Im from America. I regained my senses a bit. So he now collected the nylon bag I was holding to check me. My elder brothers who used voodoo to call me back to Nigeria were also the ones who came to meet me at the airport and collected all my luggage. They dumped me at the psychiatric hospital at Sabo-Yaba, Lagos. When the workers did not see my people, they sent me out and that was how I became a vagabond in Lagos. Later, they dumped me at another praying mountain at Pakoto Ifo, located in Ogun State, where I spent six years. The pastor of the church took care of me. Later when the owner of the church died, the people working with the prophet stylishly sent me packing and I became stranded and a wanderer. The Defence Headquarters has launched a manhunt for the terrorists who attacked the convoy of the Yobe state governor, Mai Mala Buni. The convoy was heading to Damaturu from Maiduguri when the terrorist ambushed the vehicles in the convoy. Although, the governor was not in the convoy, top government officials like the Secretary to Yobe State Government, Baba Wali, and Special Adviser on Religious Affairs among others traveled with the convoy. In a statement on Sunday night, the Director, Defence Media Operation, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba explained that it took the intervention of troops from the 29 Task Force Brigade who were on patrol duty to rescue the victims and recover the two vehicles affected in the incident. According to him, the security personnel in the convoy who were injured during the incident include one military truck driver, four police escorts, and one DSS operative. The statement read, On November 18, 2023, at about 18:30hrs, the convoy and escorts of the executive governor of Yobe state that were returning to Damaturu from Maiduguri encountered terrorists ambush attack at a location about six kilometers from Benesheikh town which is along road Maiduguri to Damaturu road. The governor was not in the convoy. However, government officials in the convoy at the time of the incident include the following: the Secretary to the Yobe State Government, Baba Wali; the Special Adviser on Religious Affairs, the military escorts with two Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles and three Toyota gun trucks, Police Escorts; Department of State Services Operatives and Members of Yobe state hunters group Troops of 29 Task Force Brigade on patrol duty and route piquetting along road Maiduguri to Damaturu promptly moved to the scene and assisted in the extrication of the victims and recovery of the victims and recovery of the two vehicles affected in the incident. The security personnel in the convoy who were affected during the incident included one military truck driver, four police escorts, and one DSS operative who all sustained gunshot wounds but were in stable condition. Buba noted that one of the injured police officers died after getting to the hospital in Damaturu. He said the troops from 29 Task Force led by their Commander are conducting fighting patrols in the area where the incident occurred to locate the terrorists. Buba vowed that the terrorists would be located and destroyed. Unfortunately, one of the injured police escorts died shortly on arrival at the Specialist hospital in Damaturu. Reinforcement of troops from 29 Task Force Brigade led by the Brigade Commander are conducting a fighting patrol in the area to locate the terrorists who carried out the dastardly act. The two vehicles affected in the incident include one MRAP and one civilian escort vehicle whose tyres were shot at during the incident but both vehicles have been safely recovered to the military camp at Benisheikh. The injured victims have also been successfully evacuated to the specialists hospital Damaturu where they are currently receiving treatment while the corpse of the deceased police personnel has also been deposited in the mortuary of the same hospital. Operations are ongoing to hunt and destroy the terrorist that perpetrated the attack, the statement added. The government of United Arab Emirates has granted Air Peace the approval to operate direct flight to Dubai. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo, SAN, who disclosed this weekend, said Emirates Airlines, which has stopped operations to the country due to its inability to repatriate dollars earned in the country home, also announed its readiness to commence direct flights to Nigeria. He said the Emirates Airlines management disclosed news of its readiness to resume flight to Nigeria at the just-concluded Dubai Airshow. The Head, Press, in the Minstry of Aviation and Aerospace, Odutayo Oluseyi, said in a statement that the minister also met with the management of Airline Executive, led by its CEO, Dana Hatcic, a company that indicated interest in establishing an MRO facility in Nigeria. He said the minister expressed the possibility of a maiden edition of the Nigeria Air Show sometime in November 2024. According to him, Nigeria will be the first African country to organize such an event. Keyamo also visited the pavilions of leading aviation and aerospace industries in the world to inspect modern technologies that could be of use in driving his 5- Point Agenda for the aviation industry in Nigeria, particularly the improvement of infrastructure and promotion of innovation and creativity in cutting-edge technologies relating to civil aviation. The Dubai Airshow, which commenced on November 13 and concluded on November 17, 2023, attracted a considerable number of participants from around the world, including leading aviation and aerospace industry specialists. Reno Omokri, a socio-political activist, has backed the decision of the Kogi State Governor-elect, Usman Ododo to kneel before his predecessor, Yahaya Bello, following his victory at the just-concluded governorship election in the state. Omokri pointed out that the late former President Musa YarAdua, his wife, and mother knelt before ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo following his victory at the presidential election. To this end, Omokri said there was no big deal in Ododos decision to kneel before Bello. Bello had insisted on Ododo as the All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate, prior to the off-cycle election in Kogi State, despite agitations from party members. With Bellos backing, Ododo had won the governorship election, defeating Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Ododo got tongues wagging after receiving the certificate of returns from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, where he knelt down to present the certificate to Bello. Reacting, Omokri said Ododos action showed he was well brought up. Posting on X, Omokri wrote: After Obasanjo almost single-handedly delivered Yaradua as President, Yaradua felt he was even too small to kneel to Obasanjo. He brought his own mother and his wife, and they knelt to Obasanjo publicly. No big deal in Ododo kneeling to Bello. It is a trait of a well-brought-up person. You give honour to whom it is due. If it is in Yoruba land, he will even prostrate flat. If you are walking by and a benevolent person breaks a palm kernel that you could not break by yourself, should you not be grateful? A man from North Carolina has been sentenced to life in prison in the fatal shooting of his former New Jersey housemate. James Height, 54, was found guilty by a jury in August on charges of aggravated manslaughter and weapons offenses related to the gun used in the shooting. He was later convicted of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon in a separate court proceeding, the Essex County Prosecutors Office said. Height was accused of shooting 55-year-old Renown Wilson with a .32-caliber revolver at his house in Orange on the night of June 24, 2021. He had previously lived with Wilson in the home before moving to Burlington, North Carolina, officials said. A home security camera captured Height walking onto the property around 10:50 p.m. and waiting on the porch for Wilson to return home. The two then spoke on the porch before Height held the gun to Wilsons head, authorities said. Height threatened the man with the weapon, preventing him from entering the home, and they soon became involved in a struggle on the front lawn. Height shot him once in the stomach and then chased him onto the street and grazed his neck, prosecutors said. This senseless crime brought unnecessary suffering to Wilsons family and friends, who can now rest easier knowing that Height will never hurt them again, Assistant Prosecutor F. Garnes said. Wilson died in the hospital eight days after the incident and Height was later arrested by North Carolina authorities, officials said. Height was sentenced to another 10 years for possessing a weapon as a convicted felon and the two terms will run concurrently. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com. LANDOVER, Md. Coming out of last weeks absolute disaster in Dallas the Giants second straight blowout loss it sure looked like Brian Dabolls team and Wink Martindales defense were unraveling. Pretty much everything that happened the past two weeks in Dallas and in Las Vegas was disgraceful and inexcusable. The New Jersey Supreme Court Monday ruled Monday that a womans off-handed hospital-bed admission to a detective that she only had two shots prior to a high-speed Jersey City crash that left three police officers injured is admissible at trial, reversing earlier court decisions. Amandeep Tiwana, 30, has been charged with second-degree assault by auto, third-degree assault by auto, fourth-degree assault by auto and DWI in the April 28, 2020 early morning crash on Route 139. The crash injured Jersey City and Port Authority officers who were at the scene because of an earlier crash. A 35-year-old man has been arrested nearly five months after authorities said he made multiple bomb threats that led to the evacuation of a business in Hunterdon County for hours. Hector Bastos made the threats against XP Power on Route 513 in High Bridge on July 28, borough police said Monday. Police closed a section of the road that day, evacuated the electronics manufacturing business and searched the building with a K9 unit. Officials opened a cooling center for employees on a day when temperatures climbed into the 90s. Bastos, of Washington in Warren County, was charged with third-degree terroristic threats and released ahead of a court date. Attorney information wasnt immediately available. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. A driver told police his brakes failed before he crashed outside a liquor store in Belmar Sunday night, authorities said. The 43-year-old Old Bridge man was turning into a driveway when he struck a staircase and a gas meter outside Discount Liquors on 18th Avenue at about 8:20 p.m., Belmar police said Monday. No one was injured and no summonses have been issued as of Monday morning, police said. The liquor store and apartments above had to be evacuated because of a gas leak caused by the crash, according to police. New Jersey Natural Gas and the Belmar Fire Department responded to address the gas leak. The building did not sustain serious damage aside from the staircase, police said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. COLUMBUS, Ohio The statewide battles over abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion have exposed another fault line: the commitment to democracy. As voters in state after state affirm their support for abortion rights, opponents are acting with escalating defiance toward the democratic processes and institutions they perceive as aligned against their cause. We.Are.Not.Done., Ohio state Rep. Jennifer Gross declared on the social media platform X two days after voters enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution earlier this month. She and 25 other Republican lawmakers vowed to block the amendment from reversing Ohio's existing abortion restrictions. A strong majority of Ohio voters passed the amendment, by roughly 57% to 43%. In response, the group of lawmakers said in a joint statement: "We will do everything in our power to prevent our laws from being removed based upon perception of intent. Gross joined three fellow Republicans to go even further, proposing legislation to prevent Ohio courts from interpreting any cases related to the abortion-rights amendment, known as Issue 1. Similar efforts have emerged in six other states since state courts became the new abortion battleground after the Dobbs decision on June 24, 2022, that overturned Roe v. Wade. Douglas Keith, senior counsel to the Brennan Center for Justices Judiciary Program, said abortion politics prompted successful efforts to limit the power of state courts in Montana and Utah and unsuccessful legislation in Alaska and Kansas. Such bills are attempts to dismantle the government's system of checks and balances, he said. An attempt to strip the courts ability to interpret Issue 1 seems to me to be picking a fight with not just the courts, but with voters themselves, Keith said in reference to the Ohio amendment. That conflict was on display during a town hall hosted by Gross after her efforts to thwart the abortion-rights amendment were announced. A constituent who said she supported Issue 1, Emily Jackson, was incredulous. Youre ignoring the voice. The voice is there," Jackson said. "We spoke. Gross told Jackson she wasn't ignoring voters but rather was reflecting opponents' concerns that Ohio voters were led astray. The campaign drew big money from outside the state for both sides. Gross did not return call and emails seeking additional comment. Advocates contend that strict abortion laws also are undemocratic in the most basic sense because a majority of Americans oppose them. According to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 94,000 voters, 63% of those who voted in the 2022 midterm elections said abortion should be legal in most or all cases. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll taken a year after the Supreme Court's decision found that about two-thirds of Americans overall said abortion should generally be legal. In all seven states where abortion has been on the ballot since Roe v. Wade fell, voters have either supported protecting abortion rights or rejected an attempt to erode them. That has led some Republicans who support abortion restrictions to target the ballot initiative process, a form of direct democracy that is available to voters in only about half the states. Thank goodness that most of the states in this country dont allow you to put everything on the ballot because pure democracies are not the way to run a country, said Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and one-time presidential candidate. He spoke about Ohio's election results during an appearance on the conservative site NewsMax. Another elected Republican, North Dakota state Rep. Brandon Prichard, of Bismarck, weighed in on X, formerly Twitter, to encourage Republicans to defy the outcome of Ohio's election. "It would be an act of courage to ignore the results of the election and not allow for the murder of Ohio babies, he wrote. Some political observers see a larger danger in such sentiments. Sophia Jordan Wallace, a political science professor at the University of Washington, said the frequency and the explicitness of these undemocratic attempts are increasing and that they threaten to do long-term damage to American institutions and the publics faith in them. And that damage is incredibly difficult to undo," she said. For many abortion opponents, the issue is a sacred cause, the thing that cannot be argued with, one that may outweigh the importance of maintaining democratic practices, said Myrna Perez, associate professor of Gender and American Religion at Ohio University. Things arent static, so youre trying to figure out a way to get the system to give you the results that you want, she said. Andrew Whitehead, associate professor of sociology at Indiana UniversityPurdue University Indianapolis, said Christian nationalists, who have deep ties to the anti-abortion movement, have a history of viewing access to fundamental democratic processes such as voting not as a right but a privilege that should be afforded only to those who align with their beliefs. When it comes to enforcing their vision for America they think is ordained by God, they will set aside democracy, Whitehead said. Anti-abortion lawmakers and advocates already have pushed back in a handful of states where voters sided generally with abortion rights. In Montana, voters last fall rejected a legislative referendum that would have criminalized a doctor's or nurse's failure to provide lifesaving care to a baby born alive after an attempted abortion; such cases typically involve severe medical problems. Republicans countered by passing a version of the rejected measure into law. Kentucky Republicans chose to leave intact a state ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, even though voters there defeated a measure that would have denied constitutional protections for the procedure. In Ohio, some notable top Republicans are rejecting anti-democratic suggestions and standing up for voters. In this country, we accept the results of elections, said GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, a leading opponent of Issue 1. Republican Attorney General Dave Yost tweeted that he scoured the Ohio Constitution, but found no exception for matters in which the outcome of an election is contrary to the preferences of those in power. All political power is inherent in the people, he quoted the document as saying. Republican state legislative leaders initially pledged that the fight to restrict abortion rights wasn't over after voters had spoken. But as their party grapples with the anti-abortion movement's deep divisions, House Speaker Jason Stephens and Senate President Matt Huffman have appeared to soften their tone. Stephens signaled he won't advance Grosss court-limiting bill. Huffman, a devout Catholic, walked back suggestions that he could pursue an immediate repeal of Issue 1. They were among Ohio Republicans who defied their own law and called a special election in August aimed at raising the threshold for passing future constitutional amendments from a simple majority to 60%. The measure was widely seen as an attempt to undermine the fall abortion amendment and was soundly rejected. The tensions already are evident for abortion initiatives planned for state ballots in 2024. In Missouri, disputes over ballot language are complicating efforts by abortion-rights supporters to advance a statewide ballot measure. A panel of judges last month ruled that summaries written by Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, an abortion opponent who is running for governor next year, were politically partisan and misleading. In Michigan, three Republican lawmakers joined an anti-abortion group in suing to overturn a state constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights that voters passed with wide support last year. Floridas Republican attorney general is attempting to keep a proposed abortion rights amendment off the 2024 ballot. We saw voters make that connection in Ohio between abortion and democracy in that first special election, said Kara Gross, legislative director at the ACLU of Florida. And we have faith voters will be able to make that same connection elsewhere in 2024. The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about APs democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Divers will inspect the 77-foot fishing boat that sank early Sunday while being towed during a salvage attempt two days after it became beached on the Jersey Shore, officials said. The Susan Rose is fully submerged in 49 feet of water a half-mile off Point Pleasant Beach, approximately a half-mile south of the Manasquan Inlet, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Matthew West said. The company in charge of removing the vessel Northstar Marine Services is working with the boats owners on a new plan to salvage it. We will be going out to dive on it to do a dive inspections, take a look at the current state of it, Northstar Marine Services President Phillip Risko told NJ Advance Media on Monday. So were planning on that in the coming days, but nothing else particular at this point. Im not sure what day thats going to be. The Susan Rose took on water unexpectedly while being towed around 2 a.m. Sunday. A tug boat was pulling the fishing boat to a shipyard in Staten Island, New York when it sank, Risko said. All the oil and gas had been removed from the Susan Rose during the day on Saturday as crews worked to get the ship upright. Video recorded by Shore Boats shows the vessel getting pounded by large waves and surf through the day on Saturday. Crews uprighted the ship following the days second high tide at 11:30 p.m. The Coast Guard has issued a warning to mariners about the underwater hazard and set up a buoy near the sunken wreckage, West said. The fishing boat beached around 5 a.m. Friday with four aboard. One crew member got of the ship on his own with Point Pleasant Beach firefighters and emergency workers helping to rescue the other three. None were badly injured. Risko said the Susan Roses owners are undecided about what they want to do next. Were talking to the owners and underwriters about next steps, Risko said. Theres a chance theyll want it to be removed from where it is and probably re-floated, but thats not been decided yet. Itll be sometime before that would happen. A lot of things have to be put in place. The equipment is pretty unique and specialized and it has to be available. Its a bit of a process. Nothing at the moment has been planned. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. I totally agree with Brenda Mirandas recent letter stating that Hamas is not only a terrorist organization; it is an ideology which is much, much harder to destroy. I think this is what President Joe Biden was referring to when he said he understood that Israel had to respond to Hamas Oct. 7 attack, but warned Israel not to make the same mistakes we did after 9/11. We could, and did, kill Osama bin Laden, but we couldnt destroy the ideology that motivated him. The mother of a 14-year-old boy with a severe form of cerebral palsy known as quadriplegia on Friday filed a notice she intends to sue the state, alleging an in-home health aide abused her son last month in their Passaic County home. The 47-year-old woman claims in court filings her child, who is non-verbal, was thrown by the aide at least twice and struck so hard that they were left a bruise in the shape of a hand. The aide is identified in court records as Justin C. Chipkin, 37, of Kinnelon. Chipkin was a state-sanctioned aide who worked for Prasada In Home, a private company with offices in Morris County. Chipkin was arrested on Oct. 26 and charged with second-degree endangering, fourth-degree endangering and one count of simple assault as a disorderly persons offense, according to court records. The alleged abuse was captured on two security cameras in the womans West Milford home, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Kathy Sheldon, chief executive officer for Prasada In Home, told NJ Advance Media on Monday Chipkin has already been terminated from his job. She declined to comment further. Reached on his cellphone, Chipkin said he had no comment. State officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday. The case is being investigated by the Passaic County Prosecutors Office, which received a call about the alleged crimes on Oct. 20 from the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency, according to the affidavit. The affidavit states the teenager was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegia when he was about a year old and that he needs help with basic tasks, such as eating and bathing. Quadriplegia is the most severe form of cerebral palsy, rendering children unable to walk, with difficulties in speech, vision and intellect, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mother receives assistance through the state to pay for 60 hours of in-home health care every 90 days, according to court filings. Chipkin was hired through Prasada In Home to care for the teen beginning in June, according to court records. On Oct. 17, Chipkin was allegedly alone with the child while the mother went to visit her father in a nursing home and then went to work. While at her job, the woman received motion alerts on her phone that there was activity on her security cameras, which she installed in her sons bedroom and playroom, according to the affidavit. Upon opening the camera view, she observed the defendant throw (the victim) onto a couch, and she observed the defendant hit (the victim) while he was changing his diaper, the affidavit states. A video clip given to the prosecutors office allegedly shows Chipkin picking the teen up from the floor and throwing him onto a bed. When Chipkin left the room, the child squirmed off the bed and onto the floor. Chipkin returned, picked up the disabled teen from the floor and threw him back onto the bed, the affidavit alleges. Video clips from Oct. 17 allegedly show Chipkin striking the child three times in the stomach with an open hand while changing his diaper, according to the affidavit. The woman told investigators that she had noticed what appeared to be scratches on her sons stomach in the past, but she did not think anything of it. The womans attorney, Patrick Toscano of Caldwell, on Friday filed a notice of tort claim against Prasada In Home and the state, sending letters to the business and to the New Jersey Department of Treasurys risk management bureau. The state of New Jersey or any one of its sub-divisions was complicit in providing funding for and/or choosing (Prasada In Home), Toscano states in the claim. In a Nov. 2 letter to Prasada In Home, Toscano called the alleged abuse despicable and disgusting. Moreover, Prasada never reported this assault to the family or any law enforcement agency pursuant (to state law), the attorney alleged in his letter. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Since the release of Home Alone in 1990, both the franchise and its star Macaulay Culkin have become household names. The first film, directed by Chris Columbus, was a massive hit. Because of this, it spawned 5 sequels, each of which varied in terms of their critical and financial successes. So, with Christmas around the corner, if youre looking for something to watch, the Home Alone franchise is a great place to start. Heres everything you need to know about where to find each of the the movies this year. How to watch Home Alone (1990) The original 1990 film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Catherine OHara, and follows the story of Kevin McCallister as he defends his home from burglars after being accidentally left behind when his family travels to Paris for Christmas. The film is available to watch on Disney Plus. How to watch Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) The second film sees Kevin once again left behind on Christmas, this time in New York, as his family travels to Paris. The Wet Bandits he fought off in the first film have escaped during a prison riot, and Kevin will have to defend himself from them once again. The film is available to watch on Disney Plus. How to watch Home Alone 3 (1997) The third film is the first without Macaulay Culkin, starring Alex D. Linz and Haviland Morris instead. In this film, eight-year-old Alex Pruitt defends his home from a group of dangerous criminals affiliated with a terrorist organization. The film is available to watch on Disney Plus. How to watch Home Alone 4 (2002) The fourth installment in the franchise features an extremely convoluted plot revolving around the character of Kevin McCallister once again, although this time he is played by Mike Weinberg. The film is available to watch on Disney Plus. How to watch Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012) For the fifth movie, Christian Martyn plays Finn Baxter in a cast which also features Jodelle Ferland, Malcolm McDowell, Debi Mazar, and Eddie Steeples. The film is available to watch on Disney Plus. How to watch Home Sweet Home Alone (2021) The sixth, and most recent installment in the franchise, features a surprisingly star-studded cast, including Ellie Kemper, Rob Delaney, Archie Yates, Aisling Bea, Kenan Thompson, Pete Holmes, Ally Maki, Chris Parnell, and Devin Ratray. The plot of this film revolves around a young boy defending an unusual (and secretly valuable) doll his family owns from a pair of bumbling burglars. The film is available to watch on Disney Plus. Related stories about streaming TV services Where to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas Where to watch Elf without cable What is Sling TV and how does it work? Price, channels, live streaming info The best streaming services for live TV in 2023: Prices, features, free trials The best VPNs of 2023, according to reviews How to watch Yellowstone, the hottest show on TV right now Forget Netflix. Apple TV+ is the streaming service you need right now. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Joseph Rejent covers TV, writing about live television, streaming services and cord-cutting. He can be reached at jrejent@njadvancemedia.com. Philo offers something incredibly rare in the world of streaming live TV - an actual good deal. The service features more than 70 channels for an unmatched low price, three simultaneous streams, thousands of titles on-demand, and a cloud DVR with unlimited storage. Philo normally costs $25 per month, making it it the least expensive way to watch upcoming shows like Season 5 Part 2 of Yellowstone, the biggest show on TV, or Tyler Perrys Sistas, a current gargantuan hit for BET. However, with the services current Black Friday promotion, subscribers can save 50% on their first month, making it even cheaper. If youre interested in saving big while watching the most popular shows on TV, here is everything to know about Philos Black Friday deal. How much does Philo cost? Normally, Philo costs $25 per month, with a subscription that can be canceled at any time. However, the current Black Friday promotion means that new subscribers will only have to pay 50% of the usual subscription price when they use the link philo.tv/bfcm23. The promo code will be applied at checkout. The promo will be available at any time until Nov. 28. While Philos range of channels doesnt quite match Fubo or DirecTV Stream, it is far cheaper than almost any other live TV streaming service. The streaming services closer to Philos price range, like Sling TV, offer fewer channels. Its also the cheapest streaming service to offer Paramount Network, the official home of Yellowstone. Does Philo offer a free trial? Philo offers a seven-day free trial that doesnt require much effort. All you need to do is enter a phone number and your credit card. What channels are on Philo? Philo features a wide range of live channels, including AMC, BBC America, Discovery, Lifetime, MTV, VH1 and, of course, Paramount Network. There are also some obscure channels that you cant find on other streaming platforms, such as Magnolia Network, BET Her, Story Television, the Cooking Channel, and Revolt. The list of all 70+ channels can be found here. How to subscribe to Philo Sign up for a subscription with a free trial by going to Philos website. RELATED STORIES ABOUT TV STREAMING PLATFORMS Heres how to get a Fubo free trial, plus $20 off your first two months Peacock Black Friday deal: What discounts to expect for 2023 Walmart Black Friday TV deals: This 75 TV is under $400 and will sell out in minutes Walmart TVs on sale: 5 discounted TVs for Black Friday, starting at $148 Paramount Plus: How to get a 30-day free trial Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Joseph Rejent covers TV, writing about live television, streaming services and cord-cutting. He can be reached at jrejent@njadvancemedia.com. State prosecutors on Monday excoriated Clark Township officials for their cover-up of a racism scandal, as they announced criminal charges against longtime Mayor Sal Bonaccorso, accusing him separately of using his public office to benefit his private landscaping business. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin held a news conference in Newark on the long-stalled investigation into Clark, where Bonaccorso and police brass were captured on secret recordings by a whistleblower using racial slurs and denigrating Black people and women on the police force. The recordings were first published as part of an NJ Advance Media investigation in 2022, which revealed the township had quietly paid $400,000 in a hush-money settlement that kept the public in the dark. After a years-long probe, investigators with the state Office of Public Integrity and Accountability said they found no evidence of criminal misconduct but recommended the firing of the towns police chief and an internal affairs sergeant, who were both recorded on the tapes using slurs. Prosecutors sharply criticized Clark officials, saying they expended tremendous public resources to cover up the misconduct of individuals, including the mayor and chief. The allegations giving rise to these investigations rocked the publics trust in government, read a 43-page report detailing the states findings. The criminal charges against Bonaccorso a Republican and the Union County towns longest-serving mayor stem from separate allegations uncovered during the attorney generals inquiry. The mayor is charged with official misconduct, records tampering, witness tampering, forgery and falsifying records. Authorities say the mayor submitted false and fraudulent paperwork to nearly two dozen municipalities, in order to facilitate his landscaping companys improper removal of hundreds of underground storage tanks dating back to 2017. The mayors company, Bonaccorso & Son LLC, held contracts with other town governments for landscaping and underground tank removal. The jobs associated with the fraudulent permitting amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars, prosecutors alleged. Bonaccorso is also accused of storing and maintaining the records for the business at his mayoral office and using town resources, including computers, fax machines and even township employees solely for the purpose of running his private business. If convicted, Bonaccorso faces five to 10 years in prison. Through his attorney, Robert G. Stahl, Bonaccorso denied the allegations in a statement Monday night. The Attorney Generals Office has been investigating Clark Township and its various officials for years, the statement said. What they now bring are criminal charges that the evidence will demonstrate are faulty and incorrect, and a report that did not lead to any criminal charges but rather only besmirches Mayor Bonaccorso, the town, and the police force. Clark Township Mayor Sal Bonaccorso speaks during a council meeting in the Clark Township municipal building on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023.Julian Leshay | For NJ Advance Media In their report, prosecutors said they seriously considered bringing charges in the cover-up of the recordings and investigated whether those involved could face allegations of official misconduct or insurance fraud. The officer who made the recordings former Lt. Antonio Manata has sued the township and prosecutors, claiming retaliation that prevented him from receiving his pension. He welcomed Mondays announcement. The mayor got charged, and (Platkin) called for the discharge of the chief and the IA guy, Manata said. Everything that I said came true, was the truth. Manatas attorney, Valerie Palma DeLuisi, said that with the investigations resolution, she hopes her client can begin collecting the pension he has so far been denied. I think my client has been vindicated because he has been screaming from the rooftops that these illegalities were going on for years, DeLuisi said. Clark has been under a microscope since last year, when NJ Advance Media published some of the racist recordings and detailed Manatas January 2020 settlement, which allowed him to remain on the township payroll for more than two years without working at an additional cost of nearly $290,000 in salary alone. In exchange, Manata turned over the recordings and agreed not to file a lawsuit that would have brought them into the public eye. The revelations prompted widespread calls for the resignation of Bonaccorso, who publicly apologized for the racist language but has remained in office. The inquiry involving Clark was launched in July 2020, when Union County prosecutors seized control of the townships police department. In so doing, county and state prosecutors cited credible allegations of misconduct but offered no details of the accusations. Last year, the Attorney Generals Office wrested the probe from the county following NJ Advance Medias reporting and public criticism of how the investigation was handled. To many in the community, the release of this report has been long overdue, the report released Monday said. But for those who take the time to read this report in its entirety, it is anticipated that they will find that the investigators and prosecutors in both agencies took painstaking care to thoroughly investigate all aspects of this case. While the report did not result in criminal referrals, township officials could face additional civil probes. Platkin said the state Division on Civil Rights, which he also oversees, would review preliminary data showing racial disparities in traffic stops in Clark. The suburb has a reputation among some Black New Jerseyans as a sundown town where minorities arent welcome after dark, and the AGs probe found 44% of people arrested in Clark were Black, even though the township is 93% white. The attorney general said shoddy record-keeping by the department prevented his office from making definitive findings regarding any pattern of racially motivated arrests or traffic stops. Authorities also sent a referral to the state Office of Attorney Ethics to review the behavior of the townships former attorney, who according to state prosecutors, drafted and negotiated a hush-money settlement that used public funds to conceal individual wrongdoing. A message left for that former attorney, Joseph Triarsi, was not returned on Monday. The townships current attorney, Mark Dugan, who is in the same law firm, also did not respond to a request for comment. Prosecutors said they also referred the townships handling of the settlement to the state Comptrollers Office and the Division of Pension and Benefits because the settlement allowed Manata to remain on the payroll for years so he could fully vest in the pension system and collect lifetime retirement benefits even though he was forbidden from returning to work. Is the above chart not displaying? Click here. The investigation has proven expensive to local taxpayers. Two of the police officials caught on Manatas tapes using racial slurs Chief Pedro Matos and internal affairs Sgt. Joseph Teston have been on paid suspension since authorities launched the investigation, as has a police captain, Vincent Concina, who Manata accused of retaliation. Teston did not respond to a request for comment. The other two officers could not be reached. Authorities now say Matos repeatedly failed to report internal affairs matters to county prosecutors and lied during his own IA investigation, and they recommended that he be fired. The report also recommended that Teston be fired, saying that while on paid leave, he was arrested for an assault outside of a professional sporting event in New York, where he was accused of striking an unarmed stranger in the head with a glass bottle. Though those charges were dropped, they demonstrate a troubling level of poor judgment and, frankly, a lack of respect for human life, the report said. Our findings render them unfit to serve as law enforcement, and Im calling for their immediate resignation, Platkin, the attorney general, said at the news conference. However, Platkin said his office lacks the authority to formally fire the officers, a decision that rests in the hands of the townships appointing authority. Normally, that would be the mayor, Bonaccorso who was implicated in the probe and now faces criminal charges. Platkin on Monday called on township officials to appoint an independent third party to review his findings. All three of the suspended cops earn well into the six figures, and in the time it took to complete the inquiry, the township has paid them a combined $1.57 million in salary, payroll records obtained by NJ Advance Media on Monday show. The costs to the township may only grow with Mondays decision. On Nov. 6, the Clark Township Council voted unanimously to hire an outside law firm, OToole Scrivo of Cedar Grove, in connection with the attorney generals investigation. Lawyer Melvin Wright Jr., who specializes in white-collar defense work, will be paid $325 an hour, according to the contract. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X. Riley Yates may be reached at ryates@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. Allegiant has announced a new nonstop flight in the spring from Bismarck to the Tampa Bay area in Florida. The flights to St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport are scheduled to begin May 15, 2024, according to the airline. They're among numerous new flights around the country planned by Allegiant. The Las Vegasbased airline said in a statement that the routes are designed to transport vacationers to some of its most in-demand destinations. Flights can be booked immediately, and Allegiant is offering limited introductory fares. "The announcement of new service is a celebration of the success we've had in these markets," said Drew Wells, Allegiant's senior vice president of revenue and planning and chief revenue officer. "We are committed to opening the door to accessible travel in as many markets as possible." The airport on the west shore of Tampa Bay is 6 miles from St. Petersburg, 7 miles from Clearwater and 17 miles from the city of Tampa. Most airline traffic into Tampa uses Tampa International Airport, but St. PeteClearwater is a destination for low-cost carriers such as Allegiant. Bismarck will be a great addition to St. Pete-Clearwaters nonstop destinations," Airport Director Tom Jewsbury said. "We welcome visitors to our sunshine, world class beaches and museums. Bismarck, in turn, offers Tampa Bay travelers an opportunity to explore history, nature, and culture in vast open lands on the Missouri River." For more information on the flights go to www.allegiant.com. Allegiant is one of four major airlines that serves Bismarck. The others are American, Delta and United. Destinations include Minneapolis, Denver, Dallas and Phoenix. Logan Hill, 26, was a passenger in a car that was traveling at a high speed on a city street shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, according to the Highway Patrol. The vehicle went off the road and struck a tree. Emergency Responders from left to right: Pat Beard, Shell Norco HSSE Innovator, member of Shell Emergency Response Team and Luling Volunteer Fire Department; Kenny Wenning Jr., Former Norco Area Volunteer Fire Department Chief; Jason Anderson, Shell Norco Fire Chief and member of St. James Parish Volunteer Fire Department; Michael Heath, Shell Norco Emergency Response Team Lead and Norco Area Volunteer Fire Department Chief North Dakota is releasing fewer prisoners on parole than it did before the coronavirus pandemic, but leaders are saying they believe they could get back to pre-COVID-19 numbers. The North Dakota Parole Board granted 822 paroles in 2022, according to data obtained through an open records request made by the Prison Policy Initiative. With 1,059 hearings, the boards parole grant rate was at 78%, meaning North Dakota tied Wyoming for having the highest parole rate in the U.S. that year. The number of North Dakota prisoners released dropped 23% from 2019, which had 1,100 parolees, according to data published last month. The approval rate also dropped 3% -- 1,368 prisoners requested early release in 2019. North Dakota isnt alone in releasing fewer prisoners after the pandemic. All states that had data available granted fewer paroles last year than they did in 2019, according to Prison Policys data. Alabamas parole approval rate dropped 67%, the most significant drop in the country. Alaska released 79% fewer people in 2022 than in 2019, the greatest decrease in the nation, and also had the largest drop in parole hearings with 75% fewer in 2022 than in 2019. Only South Dakota released more people last year than in 2019, increasing its total releases by 8%, Prison Policy data showed. Releasing a low number of inmates on parole defeats the purpose of discretionary parole, Prison Policy spokeswoman Wanda Bertram recently told The Forum. In some states, early release is something that is offered in name but isnt reality, she said. When a state policy doesnt match the reality, and an opportunity appears to be afforded to people thats actually a closed door, that takes away peoples entire source of hope, she said. In my opinion, thats an injustice. Minnesota was not included on the list since it doesnt have a parole board and offers no early release for good behavior. A person must serve two-thirds of their sentence before being granted supervised release. A number of factors have played a role in fewer releases, said Dave Krabbenhoft, director of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The agency has had a hard time finding people to work, meaning fewer staff are available to offer educational programming, treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, and mental health services, he said. Those programs can help parolees successfully complete probation once released from prison, which would reduce the possibility of recidivism. With limited access to those programs, inmates may not be ready for release, said Steven Hall, director for the Corrections Department's transitional planning services. Treatment facilities outside of prisons are full, as well, Hall noted. That pushes back parole approvals, he said. North Dakota has more prisoners in its facilities than ever before. Corrections data showed the state recorded 1,855 inmates as of Nov. 1. Thats up from 1,775 at that time in 2019 and 1,256 at the end of 2003. Prison Policy, a criminal justice think tank in Massachusetts that frequently publishes data on incarceration, started looking at parole releases during the pandemic because political leaders were putting out the message that they were granting more paroles, Bertram said. In the midst of that, something that we noticed was that paroles were actually going down in most places, she said. On average, U.S. prisons reduced their populations by 5% from the end of 2019 to late April or early May 2020, according to data collected by Prison Policy. When North Dakota reduced its inmate numbers by 19% during the same time period, Prison Policy praised the state for doing more than any other to reduce prison populations during the pandemic. Inmate numbers dropped to near 20-year lows in mid-2020 after the Corrections Department announced it would issue early paroles because of the coronavirus pandemic, hitting 1,284 inmates in September 2020. Crime increased about 3% from 2019 to 2022 in North Dakota. That has been combined with longer sentences, meaning more people are spending more time in prisons, Krabbenhoft said. Its not one cause. Its a combination of things, he said of fewer parole approvals. Parole boards also may not want to appear soft on crime, Bertram said. The job of the Corrections Department is public safety, Krabbenhoft said. It has a responsibility to make sure inmates are ready for release, he said, adding that the department is working to be more efficient with residents. He said he believes prisons are on a path to return to pre-pandemic staffing and parole levels. The North Dakota Legislature gave the Corrections Department more funding for services, and his agency is seeing more applications for open jobs, Krabbenhoft said. I think we are on the rebound now, he said. There is also an effort to reduce recidivism, offer more pretrial services and implement programs that prevent crime and, therefore, incarceration, Krabbenhoft said. The department has not only partnered with law enforcement and judicial officials, but state human services and the F5 Project, a Fargo-based group that connects those who have been convicted of crimes with resources for housing, employment and addiction services. We just need to keep building that momentum, Krabbenhoft said. States should follow through on policies that tell people who are sent to prison that they can be released early if they work toward rehabilitation, Bertram said. To have parole grant rates drop to the point where they are so low, that's a betrayal of that policy promise, she said. State officials were informed of the spill at a pipeline operated by Granite Creek Energy LLC around 6 miles northwest of Medora. The leak caused the spill of 300 barrels or 12,600 gallons of produced water, which is saltwater that can contain oil and drilling chemicals. The spill impacted pastureland, DEQ said. The pipeline has since been isolated, according to the spill report on file with the state. Officials are inspecting the site, and will continue to monitor an investigation and cleanup, Environmental Quality said. Last year, Dolly Parton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame against her wishes. Now, almost exactly a year later, she's releasing her first rock n roll album, appropriately titled Rockstar," on Friday. In 2022, Parton shared a statement announcing that she didn't feel she had earned the right to be nominated, but the Hall inducted her anyway. I just didnt think that I had done enough in the rock world to be considered, to be put in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when there were so many great rock artists that are not even in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Parton told The Associated Press in a phone interview. They were going to put me in anyway, so I just accepted it gracefully. But I thought, Well, Im going to have to earn my keep, she says. Parton once thought she'd record a Linda Ronstadt-type rock album, but had felt she was getting too old. This presented a fresh opportunity. I jumped on that like a duck on a Junebug, she laughs. She started covering some of her favorite rock n roll classics. Some tracks feature the original artists: Every Breath You Take with Sting, Baby, I Love Your Way with Peter Frampton, Heart of Glass with Debbie Harry, Heartbreaker with Pat Benatar. Some are creative collaborations: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" with Pink and Brandi Carlile, Night Moves with Chris Stapleton, "Stairway to Heaven" with Lizzo on flute. She wanted Mick Jagger and Lionel Richie, but the timing didn't work. She did, however, manage to reunite the Beatles. Sort of. Long before the release of Now and Then," Parton asked Paul McCartney if he would sing on a cover of Let It Be. He said, Yeah, Id be happy to play on it, too, if you want me to, and I thought, Oh my god, Ive died and gone to heaven,'" she says. Then Ringo Starr replaced the drums they'd recorded on the track. Earlier this year, Starr told the AP he's working on a country music EP to which Parton reacts, I'll join them if they want me to! I'd definitely do some country singing for some of the rockers going country, she says. Rockstar also features nine original songs. Some have been unearthed the lovelorn My Blue Tears, for example, was written when Parton was with The Porter Wagoner Show" in the late 1960s and early '70s, and the cheeky I Dreamed About Elvis" was written over two decades ago. It features the '50s vocal quartet Jordanaires, recorded right before they broke up in 2013, and Ronnie McDowell, who plays the Elvis character in the song. "I had him come in and do the Elvis voice on it, just to kind of sum up that whole story about Elvis," she says. She's referring to the now-infamous event in which Elvis Presley said he wanted to record her hit, I Will Always Love You. She turned him down because Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, wanted half of the songs publishing rights. Those sweet songs contrast with the album's lead single. World on Fire" is theatrical arena rock to the highest degree big drums and bigger power chords sonically ascendent and thematically frustrated. Im very sensitive, she says. I care about people, human suffering and all of that. World On Fire, she says, was written after she thought the album was completed. But after watching so many natural disasters last year, she says, I thought, 'Well, Ive got to write this song and Ive got to call another session, because I think the song needs to be heard. I need to say this. People need to hear it, people that are feeling that way but dont know how to express it. And I just feel like sometimes it is my place to do that." With lyrics like "Greedy politicians, present and past / They wouldnt know the truth if it bit em in the ass," many assumed Parton was getting political having spent the entirety of her career impartial. I'm not political. I hate politics, she says. This is not about politics. This is about saving the world as opposed to destroying it." For now, Parton says Rockstar is her first and last rock album. She's currently adapting her life story into a Broadway musical and wants to explore other genres. I'd like to do an R&B album, she says. And blues. I'd love to do a blues album. So, who knows? There's all kinds of things out there to do. After one of the longest and most contentious strikes in recent history, United Auto Workers union members voted to approve new contracts at Ford, GM and Stellantis. An estimated 64% of union members who cast votes supported the agreements that raised pay by 33%, including compounded wage increases and cost-of-living adjustments over the four-year deal. Some of the lowest-paid recent hires will see pay increases of more than 160% over the life of the contract. Some workers will get pay jumps of 40% upon ratification. The members have spoken. After years of cutbacks, months of our 'Stand Up' campaign, and weeks on the picket line, we have turned the tide for the American autoworker, said UAW President Shawn Fain. Workers at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant voted 57% to 43% to approve the four-year contract. Production workers voted 55% to 45% in favor, while the skilled trades voted 73% to 27% in favor. The deal eliminates wage tiers, provides annual bonuses for retirees and claws back provisions the union conceded during the Great Recession to help the auto industry survive, but that weren't restored even as automakers soared to record profits. The union said 150,000 UAW-represented workers will benefit from wage increases that will be life-changing for many members. Automakers pledged tens of billions of dollars of investments in their plants as they look to transition to electric vehicles, including Ford's agreement to invest $400 million in the Chicago Assembly Plant and $30 million in the Chicago Stamping Plant. Stellantis agreed to reopen an assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, committing to employ more than a thousand union workers and build a $3.2 battery plant. It had been planning to cut 5,000 U.S. jobs and now will add 5,000 jobs. The automakers pledged thousands of electric vehicle and battery jobs under the union agreement, a major sticking point because of union anxiety over job security at a time when the auto industry is shifting from the internal combustion engine to electric vehicles. Automakers agreed to restore a three-year wage progression to the top rate instead of the eight-year path that was agreed to in 2011. Retirees will get a $1.25 billion boost in benefits, getting annual bonuses for the first time in 15 years. Workers hired before 2007 will get an increased pension multiplier for the first time in 15 years. Automakers' contributions to 401(k)s will be boosted to 10%, more than doubling 401(k) contributions over the life of the contract. Auto workers, both hourly and salaried at the Big Three Detroit automakers, approved all six contracts the recently elected, more hardline UAW leadership negotiated. Workers at Ford went on strike for 41 days, including for weeks at the Chicago Assembly Plant on the far South Side. Union leaders have said they would next work to unionize other automakers. Honda, Toyota and Subaru all have raised pay for U.S. workers since the end of the strike. EAST CHICAGO Two recently suspended East Chicago police officers are asking a judge to overturn their penalties. Randy T. Morris, a 33-year veteran of the police force, and Saraj Qureshi filed suit Monday in Lake Superior Court alleging city officials didnt follow proper procedures in disciplining them over allegations of violating police regulations. Brandon Holzhauer, president of the East Chicago chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Monday the suit is meant to hold city officials accountable. They claim these officers didnt follow the rules, but the police chief and the East Chicago Merit Commission didnt follow them either, Holzhauer said. Holzhauer said Police Chief Jose Rivera accused both Morris and Qureshi of violating department regulations and suspended both officers Morris for five days and Qureshi for one day. Holzhauer said he won't comment on the charges against the officers until they can get a fair hearing on the matter from the police chief and the Merit Commission. "In a time where police are ridiculed in the pubic eye, we have the Chief of Police and Police Merit Board violating their own policies." Holzhauer said not only did the police chief fail to follow all the steps required to protect the two officers' civil rights, but the Merit Commission denied the two officers' request to review the suspensions. The suit also alleges that some of the Merit Commission members shouldnt be on the board because they dont live within city limits and arent properly affiliated with a major political party, as required by city ordinance. The Merit Commission is a five-member board to hire, promote and discipline police officers working for the city. Holzhauer said the Merit Commission is supposed to be bipartisan, with some members belonging to the Democratic Party and some to the Republican Party. Holzhauer said at least one of the board members claimed to be a Republican but hasnt voted as a Republican in recent elections. Shana D. Levinson, an attorney for the Merit Commission declined comment on the litigation. Merit Commission members couldnt be reached on Monday for comment. Holzhauer said this is the second suit the Fraternal Order of Police has filed this year against Chief Rivera. The FOP accused the chief last spring of stopping FOP members from meeting to endorse Adrian Santos as a candidate for mayor in the spring Democratic primary against incumbent Mayor Anthony Copelands. The FOP claimed the police chief personally barred the door of the Indiana Harbor Yacht Club in East Chicago April 5 to cancel an FOP meeting set to endorse Santos. Darnail Lyles, an attorney for Rivera in the federal suit, claims in federal court documents that Rivera was justified in doing what he did because he was acting in the best interests of the East Chicago Police Department and the FOP claims of a civil rights violation are too vague to be addressed by the court. A top Hoosier Democrat is pledging to bring ethical administration back to the Indiana attorney general's office after two consecutive Republican officeholders were sanctioned by the Supreme Court for professional misconduct. Destiny Wells announced Monday she's running for the 2024 Democratic nomination for attorney general to give Hoosiers an honest advocate for their needs instead of an attorney general's office focused on furthering the political ambitions of the incumbent. "Hoosiers deserve an attorney general who will put them first," Wells said. "I am very passionate about serving Indiana." To that end, Wells said her top priorities as attorney general would include protecting the right of all Hoosiers to make their own health care decisions, ensuring workers are not taken advantage of by employers through wage theft or misclassification as private contractors, and no longer inserting the office in every hot-button political dispute. Wells observed that Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita seems happy to involve Indiana in conservative legal causes all over the country. But she said the administration of his office back home in Indiana is "extremely lacking," particularly in light of the public reprimand issued to Rokita Nov. 2 for multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Hoosier attorneys. Rokita's predecessor as attorney general, Curtis Hill, a Republican candidate for Indiana governor, also had his law license suspended for 30 days after the Supreme Court unanimously determined Hill committed misdemeanor battery by groping the backs or buttocks of four women in a "rude" or "insolent" manner during a March 15, 2018, party at an Indianapolis bar, records show. "Change is needed," Wells said. "As attorney general, I will protect medical privacy, support workers' rights and focus on the needs and safety of our communities." The Indianapolis resident is a graduate of Indiana University and earned her law degree at the University of Texas. She is a lieutenant colonel with 20 years experience in the U.S. Army Reserve, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan. So far, Wells is the only announced candidate for the Democratic attorney general nomination. Delegates to the Democratic State Convention in July will decide who runs for the office under the party's banner at next year's general election. Wells previously was the Democratic nominee for Indiana secretary of state, losing to Republican Diego Morales in 2022. She said Monday she's better prepared for another statewide run since she has an experienced campaign team already in place, a deeper understanding of what it takes to win, and a feeling of urgency to make the attorney general's office work again for Hoosiers. "We've seen that partisan lens really distract from the office for the last three years," Wells said. Rokita, a former secretary of state and congressman originally from Munster, previously declared he's seeking the Republican nomination next year for a shot at a second term as attorney general. He also announced Monday his endorsement of Donald Trump for president notwithstanding the 91 pending felony charges against Trump that Rokita, an officer of the court, described as harassment "by a weaponized justice system." Gallery: Get to know these new Indiana laws that took effect July 1 AirTags Alcohol permits Animal facilities Army veteran in Aberdeen repeatedly victimized by teens, calling him a 'terrorist' Book bans Bullying Charter schools Child molesting Childrens hospitals Domestic violence Drinking water Electric/hybrid vehicles Encroachment FAFSA Financial literacy Firefighting equipment Food and beverage tax Gender-affirming care Gary schools Gasoline tax Human trafficking Illiana Expressway Inmate gender Insurance fund Juror pay Juveniles Lake County convention center Lake County recorder Landlords Little Calumet River Lost farmland Machine guns Mail-in ballots Mental health Military bases Military pay Pension investments Public health School board elections Service animals Sex education SNAP assistance Speed cameras State comptroller Storage units Tax sales Taxpayer receipt Teachers unions Throwing stars Transit Development District 21st Century Scholars Valparaiso lawsuit Xylazine Attorney General Todd Rokita has selected an attorney with a decade of legal experience to serve as the primary representative for the state of Indiana in major cases heard by top courts at the federal and state level. James Barta was named Indiana's solicitor general Monday after spending the past year working under former Solicitor General Thomas Fisher, Indiana's only solicitor general before Barta and a Jasper County native, who left the attorney general's office in August after 18 years to work on legal matters for an Indianapolis school choice organization. Rokita, a Republican, described Barta as a "constitutional stalwart" and "dedicated defender of liberty," who he selected from "a national pool of top-notch attorneys" to represent the state's interests in high-profile criminal and civil litigation. "I know James Barta is the right choice for Indiana," Rokita said. "James is not only brilliant, he is tenacious and excited to represent Hoosiers in this new role before the highest courts of the land." Barta is a graduate of Patrick Henry College, a tiny Christian conservative school in Virginia, and earned his law degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. His career highlights prior to coming to Indiana include clerking for a federal judge in Michigan and a Michigan-based federal appellate judge, followed by work in intellectual property and energy law as an associate, and briefly as a partner, at MoloLamken LLP, a boutique law firm based in Washington, D.C. The new solicitor general said following his appointment that he is "incredibly grateful and humbled by this opportunity to serve my state and my fellow Hoosiers." "Ever since first studying our nations history and ideals, I have desired to advance the rule of law, preserve our system of government and defend Americans' liberties. It is a privilege to serve those causes in this new role," Barta said. Gallery: Get to know these new Indiana laws that took effect July 1 AirTags Alcohol permits Animal facilities Army veteran in Aberdeen repeatedly victimized by teens, calling him a 'terrorist' Book bans Bullying Charter schools Child molesting Childrens hospitals Domestic violence Drinking water Electric/hybrid vehicles Encroachment FAFSA Financial literacy Firefighting equipment Food and beverage tax Gender-affirming care Gary schools Gasoline tax Human trafficking Illiana Expressway Inmate gender Insurance fund Juror pay Juveniles Lake County convention center Lake County recorder Landlords Little Calumet River Lost farmland Machine guns Mail-in ballots Mental health Military bases Military pay Pension investments Public health School board elections Service animals Sex education SNAP assistance Speed cameras State comptroller Storage units Tax sales Taxpayer receipt Teachers unions Throwing stars Transit Development District 21st Century Scholars Valparaiso lawsuit Xylazine Best gift ever On his departure from the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, staff members, friends and board members presented him with a textile sculpture by the French artist Simone Pheulpin, who was the subject of an exhibition there in late 2021. This sculpture is, for me, a talisman, Mr. Gabet wrote, both a remembrance of nine years of my professional and personal life, a wonderful and powerful art work, but also the objet dart which will accompany me for the forthcoming years of my life. Image The textile sculpture by the French artist Simone Pheulpin that was given to Olivier Gabet. On his wishlist Any book at Hatchards London or Galignani Paris, or even better, a yearly almost unlimited budget to indulge my omnivorous love of books. The gift he plans to give The new Louvre opus, Les Diamants de la Couronne, by Anne Dion-Tenenbaum. Tatiana Kombo Ms. Kombo is a consultant in Paris specializing in public relations, artists and repertoire, and talent development. Best gift ever When I was in elementary school, after moving to Paris from Niger, I was gifted with Amadou Hampate Bas memoir, Amkoullel, LEnfant Peul, by my father. Like the author, I have Peul (or Fulani) heritage and roots in the Sahel region of West Africa. I felt a deep pull while reading, like a multitude of secrets I had yet to unfold. Young John Adams (George Grizzard) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6etetXtcyc&t=0s The Adams Chronicles is a thirteen-episode miniseries by PBS that aired in 1976 to commemorate the American Bicentennial.[3] Synopsis [ edit ] The series chronicles the story of the Adams political family over a 150-year span, including John Adams (drafter and signer of the Declaration, accomplished diplomat, and the 2nd President of the U.S.), his wife Abigail Adams, his son John Quincy Adams (acclaimed Secretary of State, the 6th President, and prominent abolitionist Congressman), grandson Charles Francis Adams, Congressman and Ambassador to Great Britain during the Civil War, and much-heralded members of the fourth generation Henry Brooks Adams, the historian and author of the novel Democracy, and Charles Francis Adams II, the industrialist. The most prominent role in the series is John Adams, played by George Grizzard.[4] His views dominate the series even after his death on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the passage of the United States Declaration of Independence. As a result of his achievements during the Revolution and afterwards as vice president and president of the U.S., subsequent Adams generations have a hard time dealing with this legacy of public service and accomplishment and frequently wonder if they are measuring up to their distinguished ancestry. In the end, the members of the fourth generation come to believe that the time during which the Adams family could play a prominent role in the affairs of the nation has passed. Episode list [ edit ] Chapter I: John Adams, Lawyer John Adams, as a young man, makes the decision to become a lawyer, which gets off to a rocky start, and he retreats back to the small town farm left him by his father, contrary to the advice of his cousin Samuel Adams. He meets Abigail Smith, a parson's daughter, who he courts and marries. Despite the death of one daughter, his family grows and he moves to Boston becoming a respected attorney, while also becoming more involved in politics as British policy becomes increasingly repressive. After the Boston Massacre he is engaged to represent the British soldiers who fired into a protesting mob. Chapter II: John Adams, Revolutionary Having gotten most of the soldiers acquitted, with only two suffering minor charges for manslaughter, John Adams finds himself the subject of insults by many in Boston, so he moves Abigail and the children back to the farm and commutes for business. He regains his reputation among those advocating against the crown's further actions by a newspaper article asserting the colonists rights. After the Boston Tea Party, the British blockade the harbor until the destroyed tea is paid for, and the colonies set up the Continental Congress to provide relief to Boston and negotiate with England. Adams is sent to Philadelphia as one of the representatives of Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Abigail has to confront an outbreak of dystentry that sweeps through their home. When colonial troops fire on the British at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, heralding the beginning of the American Revolution, Adams wants to join and fight, but is persuaded that he is needed in Congress. He disappoints friend John Hancock by passing over him to appoint George Washington as commander of the army. One of his letters to Abigail complaining about other congressmen is intercepted by the British and published. Deprivations of imported goods become worse. John Adams asks Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence. Chapter III: John Adams, Diplomat John Adams and Benjamin Franklin refuse British terms offered by Lord Howe, as the United States want independence and will not return to being colonies in exchange for pardons. After Silas Deane, the American commissioner in Europe, is charged with embezzlement, Adams is asked by Congress to replace him. Initially he refuses, but Abigail persuades him to accept and take their son John Quincy Adams with him. Adams finds that his provincial manners, lack of languages, and temperament bring him little diplomatic success in France, where Franklin has become a celebrity. France, despite being America's ally, wants peace negotiations with Britain to conform to France's interests. However, Adams is able to negotiate a large loan in the Netherlands from the Dutch government to the nascent United States. John Quincy Adams is dispatched to Russia as a diplomat's secretary due to his great facility for languages. Adams concludes the Treaty of Paris. Chapter IV: John Adams, Minister to Great Britain Chapter V: John Adams, Vice President With Gen. Washington as President, Adams becomes Vice-President and head of the Senate. When Jefferson's Republicans and Hamilton's Federalists have strongly conflicting views over the French Revolutionary war, Adams finds himself in the middle. Adams is elected second President of the United States. Chapter VI: John Adams, President Increasingly exasperating relations with France lead to the XYZ Affair, then the Quasi-War. Chapter VII: John Quincy Adams, Diplomat In Ghent, Adams and his delegation struggle to negotiate an end to the War of 1812. Chapter VIII: John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State During the Seminole War, the executions of Arbuthnot and Ambrister in Spanish Florida create a diplomatic incident. The United States and Britain consider whether to make a joint statement on the wars in South America, but this evolves into the Monroe Doctrine. In the presidential election, Henry Clay is the kingmaker. Adams becomes sixth President. Chapter IX: John Quincy Adams, President Chapter X: John Quincy Adams, Congressman Chapter XI: Charles Francis Adams, Minister to Great Britain Chapter XII: Henry Adams, Historian Chapter XIII: Charles Francis Adams II, Industrialist Cast [ edit ] Adams family U.S. politicians British dignitaries, politicians, others Foreign dignitaries, politicians, others Other Americans Soundtrack [ edit ] Awards received [ edit ] The Adams Chronicles won a number of Emmy Awards for television excellence. These included: Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for a Drama or Comedy Series 1977 The Adams Chronicles PBS Alvin Colt, Costume Designer Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction 1977 The Adams Chronicles PBS William C. Knight, Lighting Director; George Riesenberger, Lighting Director Outstanding Achievement in Tape Sound Mixing 1977 The Adams Chronicles PBS Emil Neroda, Sound Mixer Outstanding Art Direction or Scenic Design for a Drama Series 1977 The Adams Chronicles PBS Ed Wittstein, Production Designer Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series 1977 The Adams Chronicles PBS Fred Coe, Director Outstanding Limited Series 1977 The Adams Chronicles PBS James Cellan-Jones, Producer; Fred Coe, Producer; Robert Costello, Coordinating Producer; Virginia Kassel, Series Producer; Jac Venza, Executive Producer Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series 1977 The Adams Chronicles PBS Tad Mosel, Writer The Adams Chronicles PBS Roger O. Hirson, Writer Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction or Scenic Design 1976 The Adams Chronicles PBS Ed Wittstein, Art Director Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for a Drama Series 1976 The Adams Chronicles PBS Alvin Colt, Costume Designer Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Title 1976 The Adams Chronicles PBS Girish Bhargava, Graphic Design; Bill Mandel, Graphic Design Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction 1976 The Adams Chronicles PBS Billy Knight, Lighting Director; Dick Weiss, Lighting Director Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction 1976 The Adams Chronicles PBS Leonard Chumbley, Technical Director; Walter Edel, Cameraman; John Feher, Cameraman; Steve Zink, Cameraman Outstanding Achievement in Video Tape Editing for a Series 1976 The Adams Chronicles PBS Girish Bhargava, Editor; Manford Schorn, Editor Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series 1976 The Adams Chronicles PBS George Grizzard Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Performance 1976 The Adams Chronicles PBS Kathryn Walker The Adams Chronicles PBS Pamela Payton-Wright Outstanding Limited Series 1976 The Adams Chronicles PBS Paul Bogart, Producer; Fred Coe, Producer; Robert Costello, Producer; James Cellan Jones, Producer; Virginia Kassel, Series Producer; Jac Venza, Executive Producer Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series 1976 The Adams Chronicles PBS Sherman Yellen, Writer Pronunciation note [ edit ] The series uses the historically correct pronunciation /?kw?nzi/ for Quincy, rather than the more common /?kw?nsi/. (See relevant discussion here.) DVD release [ edit ] The Adams Chronicles series was released on DVD by Acorn Media on May 13, 2008.[3] Perhaps the most famous are the bold gold zodiac medallions the house introduced in the 1950s and again in the 1970s. Those vintage pieces are in high demand again, along with its latest series of statement-making hard stone and gold pendants carved with the signs of the zodiac. Its a sign of the times: Designers and retailers say zodiac symbols are now among the most popular modern jewelry talismans. And many of them, including Eriness, Verdura, David Webb and Foundrae, have unveiled new zodiac collections forged in precious metals, diamonds, gemstones and enamel, in every imaginable iteration and at every price range. Why all the interest now? During these tumultuous times, more people are turning to jewelry with meaning and pieces that are personal and lasting, said Briony Raymond, a fine jewelry designer in New York who offers both vintage astrological pieces and her own designs. These talismanic jewels can be comforting and put things in the context of the bigger universe, she said. Imbued With Meaning Astrological jewelry is high on gift lists this year because it is personal, it connects people and it delivers good karma, said Laura Freedman, owner of Broken English, a fine jewelry store with locations in downtown New York and Santa Monica, Calif. Pull up the bottom corner of the furoshiki and cover the bottles. Roll the bottles away from yourself until you have used the whole piece. Pick up the corner of the fabric at bottom and tuck it in between the bottles. This will be the cushion between them. Then you raise the bottles and stand them up. And we make ma-musubi, the classic knot, on top. How can you reuse a furoshiki? KAWAMURA My wife and I use them for gifts, and we always wrap cushions with furoshiki. We can change it very easily along with the season. We never buy pillowcases. HASUI After you unwrap the wine, you can use it as a bag. And apart from that, there are some ways of using it as an organizer for your travels. And it can be framed you can use it as wall decor. The trait of furoshiki is versatility. Under a set of railway arches in the Haggerston neighborhood of East London, a pack of clay dogs was ready to be brought to life. A Boston terrier and a cockapoo were among the pack, the work of the ceramist Alice Johnson, who makes bespoke sculptures of peoples beloved animals through her business, Pottery Pets. I feel sort of very lucky that thats my job, said Ms. Johnson, 29, who had the small dachshund she was dog-sitting curled up on her lap. I hope that its something that they will treasure forever thats sort of the whole point. Ms. Johnson was studying illustration at the University of Brighton when she began experimenting with air-drying clay, which doesnt need to be fired in a kiln, and, during a summer holiday, completed a three-day pottery course that included making clay versions of her two pet spaniels. When she returned to school, she said that her friends asked if she could make replicas of their pets. It just sort of happened quite organically really, she said. The Bergdorf blonde is now taking meetings at the Regency Hotel. Parvin Klein, the veteran colorist who perfected an iconic shade of blonde, has painted her last highlight at the Bergdorf Goodman department store salon. Though the salon space changed hands at least four times during Ms. Kleins 36 years of employment Sergio Valente, Frederic Fekkai and John Barrett all launched eponymous salons there the closing this summer marked the first time the space has remained vacant. Owned by Neiman Marcus, the store has not yet announced a fate for the sprawling ninth floor. But the future of Ms. Klein has a happy ending, moving operations to Julien Farels salon at the Regency, a few blocks away from Bergdorf. Ms. Klein, who moved to New York at age 34 in the wake of the Iranian Revolution, had no experience when she enrolled in cosmetology school. She finished a two-year program in less than eight months and landed a job at the salon located in Bergdorf Goodman, then operated by Mr. Valente. She worked her way up, starting as an assistant to become the salons director of color. Though the name of the salon changed over the years, Ms. Klein, and her eye for color, remained a constant. Color is like an art, Ms. Klein said. Its not just something you just paint. You have to have love and passion, and your brush, how youre moving your brush, and how youre moving your comb, how you look at the hair. Even in the Golden Age of musical theater, shows so commonly died after intermission that critics came up with a name for the disease. Second act trouble presented in many ways: unmoored songs, desperate cutting, illogical crises, hasty workarounds. Yet all those second act symptoms arose from the same underlying condition: first act ambitions. So its not really surprising that an enormously ambitious new musical like Hells Kitchen, the semi-autobiographical jukebox built on the life and catalog of Alicia Keys, disappoints after the mid-show break, tumbling directly into the potholes it spent its first half so smartly avoiding. Whats surprising in this promising show, which opened at the Public Theater on Sunday with the obvious intention of moving to Broadway, is how thrilling it is until then. Surprising to me, anyway. I find that jukeboxes especially biographical ones, like Motown and MJ almost inevitably add to the ordinary difficulties of musical construction with difficulties unique to their provenance. The involvement of the original artists (or their estates) leads to historical sugarcoating. A rush to hit all the high points results in a cherry-picked resume. The catalog retreads, written for a different reason, fail to move the action forward. And since those songs are the shows selling point, they wind up wagging the story. But Keys, working with the playwright Kristoffer Diaz and the director Michael Greif, steps around most of those pitfalls in the shows first hour, setting up the story with notable verve and efficiency. In neat succession it introduces the main characters (17-year-old Ali and her single mother, Jersey), the primary setting (the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of Hells Kitchen in the late 1990s), the parameters of the plot (Alis thirst for love and art) and an imminent source of conflict (Mom). Four days after it was seized by Israeli troops, the Gaza Strips largest hospital has become a death zone, the World Health Organization said, as 31 premature babies in extremely precarious health there were evacuated on Sunday. Emergency medical workers from the Palestine Red Crescent Society and the W.H.O., a United Nations agency, transported the babies by ambulance from the hospital, Al-Shifa in Gaza City, to the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in the city of Rafah, about 25 miles away in southern Gaza. Officials in Gaza and Egypt have said the babies will then be brought to Egypt for treatment, though the timing was unclear. The infants have captured global attention, coming to symbolize what Israels critics call the recklessness of its assault, and the heavy toll that has fallen on the most vulnerable since the military began pounding Gaza. The military campaign began after the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 that, the Israelis say, killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel. The assailants also seized more than 200 others as hostages, the Israelis say, and took them back to Gaza. Negotiations aimed at releasing at least some of the hostages and observing a cease-fire were still underway Sunday night. Since war began, more than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including more than 4,000 children, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory. The storming of Al-Shifa last week was a critical moment for Israel as it sought to expose what it called a Hamas military hub there amid searing international criticism over the Israeli decision to raid a medical center. On Sunday, the Israeli military released new videos that it said supported its contention that Hamas had been using the hospital to shelter fighters and store weapons, and to plan attacks. Both the Palestinian armed group and Al-Shifa officials have denied that Hamas had an underground command center there. As cultural institutions all over the country struggle to make a case for themselves in a digital world, and job descriptions for arts leaders have grown increasingly complex, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation on Monday announced that it had named Mariet Westermann director and chief executive of its museum group. Westermann, the vice chancellor of N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, will be the first woman to direct the entire museum group, overseeing the Foundation and its flagship institution in New York, as well as its global outposts in Venice, Bilbao, Spain, and the future Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. She has run a major operation in a foreign country, said the museums chairman, J. Tomilson Hill. Shes got great credibility in the art world, and she will be able to attract and retain extraordinary curators and other talented professionals. The choice of Westermann, 61, to replace Richard Armstrong, who retired as director last summer, is something of a surprise, given that she is not a professional museum director and her name doesnt typically appear on the list of candidates. But she is familiar to many in the art world, having previously served as executive vice president at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which supports cultural institutions; as former director of N.Y.U.s Institute of Fine Arts, which has trained art historians, curators and future museum directors; and as associate director of research at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass. In 2019, she became vice chancellor at N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi, where she is also the chief executive and a professor of arts and humanities. The New York Philharmonics program this week contains familiar names, Gustav Holst and Gyorgy Ligeti. But in between is a first for the orchestra: Stabat Mater, a 1951 work for contralto and strings by Julia Perry. This will not be the first time that Perry has shared the stage with more well-known composers. In February 1954, the Columbia University Composers Forum presented the Stabat Mater alongside George Antheils Ballet Mecanique. In a post-concert discussion, Perry charmed the audience, seated between Antheil and Aaron Copland, the events host. The critic Ross Parmenter wrote in The New York Times that the Stabat Mater lingered poignantly in the memory. For Perry, a Black composer who died in 1979 at age 55, the 1950s and 60s were replete with success, the summit of a career that fell into obscurity despite musicians admiration of her work. The mezzo-soprano JNai Bridges, who will make her Philharmonic debut on Wednesday performing in the Stabat Mater solo part, said of the piece: I love the vocal writing. Its intense, its very introspective, its very intimate and also very extreme. Dima Slobodeniouk, who will conduct the program, described it as logically and beautifully written. The series incorporates interviews with friends, employees and acquaintances of the Murdaughs as well as with police, and incorporates a lot of home video footage of the family. Prepare to be stunned by how brazenly they move through their community, and the shamelessness with which they wield their power. There are other deaths, surrounding the family that are hard to shake: that of Mallory Beach, who perished in a boating accident in 2019, while a drunken Paul was behind the wheel; Stephen Smith, a teenager who was found dead in 2015 along a road about 10 miles from the Murdaugh home; and Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaughs longtime housekeeper who fell at their home in 2018 and died shortly after from her injuries. But perhaps it is technologys undeniable influence on the outcome of Alex Murdaughs trial that is the most jaw-dropping for now. Podcast What American Scandal, from Wondery, does best is to give every story it tackles the time it needs for a full telling with the required context. Until I listened to this season, every revelation Id learned over the years about what happened to Patty Hearst an heiress to the William Randolph Hearst media empire, who, in 1974, at age 19, was kidnapped from her home by a radical group called the Symbionese Liberation Army left me more bewildered than Id been before. Its an involved, twisty American story that spiraled into a national spectacle. And members of the tremendously influential Hearst family are found everywhere, starting with their influence on Patty, who moved to strike out on her own after growing disillusioned with their wealth and lifestyle, to the familys public negotiations with her captors. Microsoft, the technology giant that ranks as one of the worlds most valuable companies, was shaken by the upheaval at OpenAI, the small but influential artificial intelligence start-up that developed the ChatGPT chatbot, before it found a way out of the turmoil that propelled its shares to a new high. The unexpected ouster on Friday of Sam Altman, OpenAIs co-founder and chief executive, set off a chain of events that erased tens of billions from Microsofts market value, a sign of how important OpenAI is to the tech behemoth. Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI, and Apple, Google and Meta have rushed to catch up with their own A.I. offerings. Microsofts stock has been on a roller coaster since Mr. Altmans departure from OpenAI, dropping on Friday and continuing to slide in after-hours trading. Over the weekend, the company led an effort to try to convince OpenAIs board to reinstate Mr. Altman, a charismatic, well-connected founder in Silicon Valley. In the end, Microsoft said late on Sunday that it would hire Mr. Altman and Greg Brockman, OpenAIs president and a company co-founder who quit in solidarity with Mr. Altman. The two men will lead an advanced research lab at Microsoft, setting a new pace for innovation, said Satya Nadella, Microsofts chief executive. The Maldives has a new president, Mohamed Muizzu, who has requested India withdraw its military from the country. Muizzu won the presidential election in September, ousting incumbent Ibrahim Solih in a runoff. He had campaigned on altering the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago's "India first" policy, and promised to remove the small Indian military presence of some 75 personnel, Azernews reports. Muizzu's victory was seen as a setback for India, which has had a long-standing influence in the Maldives. His opposition alliance portrayed the relationship strengthened by Solih's India-first policy as a threat to the Maldives' sovereignty and security. Muizzu has spoken highly of Chinese infrastructure projects in the Maldives, and his alliance favors closer ties with China, which has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Maldives in the form of loans and grants for infrastructure and development projects. Muizzu was sworn in as president on November 19th, and said he will ensure there is no foreign military presence in the archipelago. He said the right of the Maldives to lay down such limits should be respected. Critics say secrecy in the agreement between India and Solih's government regarding the role and number of Indian military personnel has led to suspicion and rumors. The Indian military is known to operate two Indian-donated helicopters and to assist in the rescue of people who are stranded or facing calamities at sea. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a congratulatory message to Muizzu following the announcement of his victory. India remains committed to strengthening the time-tested India-Maldives bilateral relationship and enhancing our overall cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region, Modi said. Muizzu has asked the current administration to move Yameen from a high-security prison to house arrest in the capital Male. But given Yameen's uneasy and tense relationship with Delhi, it could well be a struggle for Muizzu's new alliance to balance ties with India. Muizzu sounds determined to take the Maldives out of India's orbit but convincing Delhi to withdraw its troops may be his first big challenge. What sort of libertarian is Javier Milei? A "sex and drugs" libertarian? Alas, no. He's a "sell organs and children" libertarian. And he and his 1970s anime hair shall govern Argentina after winning, handily, its presidential election. His rival Sergio Massa conceded the run-off vote on Sunday evening in a brief speech even before official results were announced. "Milei is the president elected for the next 4 years," said Massa, adding that he had already called Milei to congratulate him. Provisional results so far show Milei with over 55% of votes (13,781,154) with more than 94% of votes counted, according to data from the country's National Electoral Chamber, which has not yet declared an official winner. Many will be headed to Wikipedia. Here's the best bit: Milei is the owner of five English Mastiffs, with the progenitor being Conan, who died in 2017 after suffering from spinal cancer. He considers Conan his son and has named four of Conan's six clones, including one named after the original and another named Angelito, Milton (in honor of Milton Friedman), Murray (in honor of Murray Rothbard), Robert, and Lucas (both named after Robert Lucas). Milei stated that he communicates with the dogs through a mystic. For example, he commented that the new Conan provides ideas on general strategy, Robert is the one who makes him "see the future and learn from mistakes", Milton is in charge of political analysis, and Murray of the economy. When asked about this by El Pais journalist Martin Sivak and Nicolas Lucca of Radio Rivadavia, Milei did not deny it, and said: "What I do with my spiritual life and in my house is my business. If Conan advises me on politics, it means that he is the best consultant of humanity." Milei said he had dialogues with the likes of Rothbard and Ayn Rand. In 2015, he cited Conan as a source of inspiration for his writing. About Conan's death in 2017, Milei said that Conan had not really died (he described it as "his physical disappearance" and continued to refer to Conan in the present tense) but had gone to sit next to God to protect him, and that it was thanks to this that he had begun to have talks with God himself. According to Gonzalez, Milei wrote to a friend in a chat: "I saw the resurrection of Christ three times, but I can't talk about it. They would say I'm crazy." According to various sources consulted by La Nacion, Milei maintains that he and Conan have a mission that was assigned to them by God and has a mystical story with Conan. He said that he met Conan, who was a lion, as a gladiator in the Roman Colosseum about 2,000 years earlier. Mr. Sutskever did not respond to a request for comment. In addition to Mr. Altman, several key OpenAI employees have already joined Microsofts new A.I. subsidiary. This includes Greg Brockman, the OpenAI president who quit the start-up in solidarity after Mr. Altman was ousted. Early Monday morning in a post to X, Mr. Brockman said that he and Mr. Altman would also be joined at Microsoft by three OpenAI researchers: Jakub Pachocki, Szymon Sidor and Aleksander Madry. Mr. Pachocki led the development of GPT-4, the technology that underpins OpenAIs popular chatbot, ChatGPT. He has long worked closely with Mr. Brockman, an engineer who helped found OpenAI in 2015 alongside Mr. Altman and has been deeply involved in almost all aspects of the companys operations from its earliest days. OpenAI staff was in upheaval in the hours after the board announced Mr. Altmans ouster, two OpenAI employees told The New York Times. Employees were privately sharing morbid jokes and memes about the power struggles from the HBO show Succession, the two said. Many used private group messaging chats and video calls to plan their next steps and to commiserate with one another. And Mr. Shears challenge in winning their loyalty as chief executive quickly became evident. Most OpenAI employees skipped an all-hands video call Sunday night meant to introduce them to Mr. Shear, and some reacted to a message announcing the meeting with vulgar emojis, according to a person familiar with the matter. OpenAI still retains a partnership with Microsoft. Mr. Nadella, Microsofts chief executive, said in an early Monday post to X that Microsoft would continue to work with the start-up to sell a wide range of products and services based on GPT-4 and other OpenAI technologies. In the same recipe collection, Priya Krishnas tomato rice with crispy Cheddar, which she describes as pizza in rice form, is a hybrid of classic South Indian tomato rice and a Spanish rice recipe that Priya and her mom, Ritu Krishna (a co-author of the recipe), copied out of Priyas seventh-grade Spanish textbook. Its a 20-minute marvel. Eric Kim brings another excellent rice vibe with his sheet-pan bibimbap. To make it, he roasts a colorful array of vegetables on one pan while crisping rice and cooking eggs on another pan at the same time. Then the contents of the two pans meet to become a kaleidoscope of flavors and textures, rounded out with a drizzle of sesame oil, a dollop of gochujang and some kimchi. Either of these dishes makes a meal on its own, or you could serve Genevieve Kos sweet and savory maple-baked salmon alongside. Save any leftover salmon for lunchtime salads or sandwiches. But wait, I have two more cooking inspirations for you for this week! Yotam Ottolenghis latest column features spicy roasted mushrooms with polenta, and its a beauty. A mix of roasted mushrooms and charred tomatoes is spooned over a soft mound of polenta, and then the whole thing is bathed in a ruddy, fiery oil seasoned with cinnamon, fresh ginger, Aleppo pepper and Sichuan peppercorns. Gorgeous, and vegan, too. And then theres Colu Henrys cozy pasta e ceci, a tomatoey stew of chickpeas and escarole dotted with pasta and showered with Parmesan. The Core of an Onion, Mark Kurlanskys latest single-subject food book, made me think of Thanksgiving. He devotes an entire chapter to creamed onions, essential at Thanksgiving dinner when I was growing up. His book has recipes for them dated to 1665 and a reference to the 1941 film They Died With Their Boots On, in which the onions play a role alongside Errol Flynn. Other discussions of onion cookery as in soup, stuffed, fried, breads, pickled, with eggs, in sandwiches (famously by James Beard) and more, with recipe histories follow an unraveling of the onion botanically, historically, medicinally, literally, economically and gastronomically around the world. Despite relevant but overlong digressions on the origins of the Gibson and of the bagel, its a lively read. On the culinary side he might have touched on the Spanish tortilla when discussing eggs and onions; he makes an interesting point about swapping cream for milk when using older recipes. The Core of an Onion: Peeling the Rarest Common Food Featuring More Than 100 Historical Recipes (Bloomsbury, $28). Tracing the path of a diamond from the mine where it originated through the global supply chain is not as straightforward as it might seem especially for consumers who make an effort to know the source of their purchases, from coffee beans to clothing. The reasons include a longstanding industry practice of aggregating rough diamonds from different mines, the number of intermediaries involved in transforming a raw stone into a cut and polished gem, and the fragmented and global nature of the trade itself. An equally powerful reason may be that neither the jewelry industry nor consumers prioritized it. Everything was sold based on size and quality; it was never sold based on origin, said Susan Jacques, the president and chief executive of the Gemological Institute of America (G.I.A.), headquartered in Carlsbad, Calif. In early 2020, the world scrubbed down surfaces, washed hands and sneezed into elbows, desperate to avoid infection with a new coronavirus. But the threat was not really lying on countertops and doorknobs. The virus was wafting through the air, set adrift in coughs and conversation, even in song. The pandemic raged for six months before global health authorities acknowledged that it was driven by an airborne pathogen. With that revelation came another: Had indoor air quality ever been a priority, the pandemic would have exacted a far lighter toll in the United States. More than three years later, little has changed. Most Americans are still squeezing into offices, classrooms, restaurants and shops with inadequate, often decrepit ventilation systems, often in buildings with windows sealed shut. The 57-year-old man looked up the long staircase that led to his rooms in the rectory, the residence he shared with three other priests. He gripped the handrail on either side of the stairs and forced his foot onto the first step. Slowly he pulled himself up the two flights of stairs to his rooms. His trip home to Boston from a conference in Asuncion, Paraguay, had been rough. It was an overnight trip, but he hadnt been able to sleep at all. Now all he wanted to do was take off his Roman collar and lie down. When he finally made it to his rooms, he looked into his bathroom mirror. His face was bright red and shiny with sweat. The red continued down his chest and onto his belly. His whole body ached. He crawled gratefully beneath his covers. What he really needed was a good nights sleep, he told himself. But as sleep continued to elude him, he suddenly felt cold. He shivered uncontrollably. The shaking chills confirmed what he already suspected: He was sick. And that worried him. Six years earlier he felt this bad after a flight. He went to the hospital and was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Treatment had been brutal. The seven months of chemotherapy killed the cancer but also destroyed his bodys ability to make any blood for himself. He was rescued with stem cells the cells that create the blood he needed harvested from his own body before he started the treatment. He had been disease-free since then but knew that recurrence was possible. It was a low-level anxiety he faced with every subsequent symptom. Before the cancer, he might have just toughed it out. Not now. Mandating a financial penalty if a contract is broken, as in Vidals case, has a long history in contract law, but it is relatively new in employment contracts. In the early 1970s, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit noted that companies providing specialized training to their employees could require reimbursement if the employee should quit before the employer achieves any benefit. But the court emphasized that the penalty should be closely tied to the cost of the training. The employer may not require its ex-employee to make payments to it unrelated to the employers damage, the judges wrote, simply as a penalty to discourage or punish a job change. Seligman told me that when he saw his firms first case of stay-or-pay in about 2016, it was the concept of worker as debtor that he found remarkably concerning. Vidals case was unusual because it was an unspecified fee for quitting rather than a fixed amount tied to training costs. A typical stay-or-pay clause is called a training-repayment-agreement provision (TRAP), which stipulates that the cost of on-the-job training will be borne by the employee. If a company pays for a transferable credential, like an M.B.A. or a masters degree in computer programming, it might make sense to require the employee to stay for a set amount of time. But too often the training is little more than orientation and provides no transferable credentials, according to many workers I talked to in the course of reporting this article. Though its hard to trace the spread of TRAPs, a 2022 letter from the National Employment Law Project points the finger at private-equity firms. Private-equity firms not only tend to replicate contract terms across their suite of businesses, but they have increasingly purchased companies that provide employee training, giving them an added incentive to use TRAPs. Not a month goes by that I dont hear about a new industry that is using TRAPs, says Jonathan Harris, a law professor at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, who studies these agreements. Nevertheless, Harris says, its hard to know how many workers are subject to these contracts, because employment contracts are often private. Based on his research, Harris believes it is safe to assume that in every industry in which there has been litigation involving one worker, stay-or-pay clauses are present in the contracts of thousands of others, because of the way businesses tend to copy one another. Hospitals with no relationship to one another have used nearly verbatim language in their contracts, according to Harris, and its easy enough to find, say, a blog for owners of roofing companies with advice on how to implement TRAPs. Because stay-or-pay clauses are so common in industries that employ about a third of the entire American work force health care, transportation and technology Harris estimates that millions of people might be subject to them. Kate Fredericks, a 38-year-old pilot from Massachusetts, knows the issues with TRAPs well. After years working as a teacher, she decided to switch careers and follow her father into the airline business. In early 2020, she secured an offer to be a passenger pilot, but the pandemic grounded air travel and her offer evaporated. She had to wait tables for a while but eventually got an offer with Ameriflight, a Texas-based cargo carrier. Ameriflight is a cargo feeder airline; while U.P.S. and FedEx have routes around the country, they still rely on smaller carriers to fly the connecting routes from, say, Lansing to Detroit. The pilots for the feeder airlines are the unseen backbone of the package-delivery supply chain, often flying decommissioned passenger planes on contract. Fredericks moved to Puerto Rico and took a job with Ameriflight. She signed a contract that required her to pay back $20,000 in training if she left within 18 months, training that Ameriflight is required by law to provide in order to stay in operation. Many carriers do not charge pilots for this training. Fredericks thought the pandemic would last at least three years, so it probably wouldnt matter. She signed. It might have been an existential question for the creators of the beloved stop-motion animation characters Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep: What would happen if they ran out of clay? Fans spent the weekend worrying about the fate of Aardman Animations when the British newspaper The Telegraph reported that the studio, based in Bristol, England, would be facing its hour of knead after the only manufacturer of the special clay used in its creations had closed its doors earlier this year. Having bought what it could, The Telegraph reported, the studio had enough clay left to make only one more film, a new Wallace and Gromit feature coming next year. But no, the studios foundations are not crumbling. Aardman Animations said on Monday it had plenty of clay to keep molding. Fans had absolutely no need to worry, the studio said in a statement. The studio has high levels of existing stocks of modeling clay to service current and future productions, it said. Jamar Newtons breakdown happened after New York City failed to place him in a mental health homeless shelter. The Bronx Luz Sanchezs breakdown occurred after a city hospital discharged her while she was still unstable. Donald J. Trumps defense lawyers this week will offer a look into his business operations and continue the parade of expert witnesses testifying on his behalf in a Manhattan courtroom. The trial stems from a lawsuit brought by New Yorks attorney general, Letitia James. Ms. James has accused Mr. Trump and other defendants, including his companies and his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, of inflating the value of assets to obtain favorable loans and insurance deals. Monday will be the 32nd day of the civil fraud trial against the former president and begin the second week of the defense. The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, ruled even before the trial that Mr. Trump and the other defendants were liable for fraud, and he will decide the punishment. Ms. James has asked that Mr. Trump pay $250 million and that he and his sons be permanently barred from running a business in New York. Mr. Trump has denied wrongdoing. His lawyers have argued that the assets had no objective value and that differing valuations are common in real estate. He is expected to return to testify in his own defense in the coming weeks. An 8-year-old Wyandotte Nation boy was ordered to cut his hair short by R.V. Haderlein Elementary school in Kansas's Girard School District. His mother did so after being told by Joni Benso, assistant principal at the school, that no exemptions to male dress codes would be made for religious or tribal reasons and that "she needed to cut his hair over the weekend or he would be sent home." The ACLU now demands that the schools rescind this policy. His mother went to the school in September and explained that he grew out his hair for cultural reasons and offered to show documentation of his tribal affiliation. The ACLU said she was told there were no exemptions.The assistant principal then emailed the mother on a Friday, telling her she had until the following Monday to get her son's hair cut or he would be sent home.The ACLU's letter said the nation's history of "multifaceted efforts to separate Native American children from their families and tribes and to deny them their rights of cultural and religious expression" makes this particularly problematic.It noted that Native American children often had their hair cut when they were placed in boarding schools, which systematically abused students to assimilate them into white society.The letter said there is no legitimate reason for imposing the requirement, noting that girls are allowed to have long hair. The policy also promotes "rigid views of gender norms and roles," the letter said. Interesting that ABC News didn't name the people who ordered the child to have their hair cut or even the school itself. The ACLU (here's its letter) and local media were more specific. A corporate accountability narrative may suit all of us, but we should generally identify public officials who are problems for some of us. In January of 2016, Aja Newman went to the emergency room at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City for discomfort in her right shoulder. What shouldve been a routine visit instead unfolded as a harrowing, grotesque distortion of the doctor-patient interaction. The E.R. doctor, David Newman (who was not a relative of Ms. Newman), drugged her with intravenous morphine, a strong narcotic, and propofol, a powerful sedative both of which would have been unlikely to be used for her symptoms. He then groped her breasts and masturbated over her face, prosecutors said. I remember how the horror of this news, which came out a week later, disoriented the E.R. community. What sort of moral decay leads a doctor toward such a profound betrayal of a patients trust? I had never met Dr. Newman, but I had heard of him because he was a fellow E.R. doctor and a prolific researcher on clinical decision-making. He also had written several essays for The Times, as well as a popular book that promised to strengthen the doctor-patient relationship. A Wired profile described his steady blue eyes and lauded his use of science to protect patients and his potential to transform American medicine. One prominent E.R. doctor in California expressed his shock publicly: Everyone is saying: David? This doesnt make any sense. Though the #MeToo movement rapidly made its way through many industries starting in 2017 the year that Dr. Newman was sentenced to two years in prison it seemed to inch sluggishly and unevenly through the medical field, particularly regarding doctors sexual misconduct toward patients. Dr. Newmans acts clearly demonstrated that doctors, no matter how eminent and well respected, could be just as culpable of using their power to commit sexual misdeeds as famous Hollywood producers. Yet there was no seismic reckoning like those that had rocked other industries. Aside from the widely known case of Larry Nassar, many doctors who had preyed on their patients for years behind closed doors remained obscured, some of them very likely shielded by their own institutions. Businesses have come up with workarounds that protect individuals liberty while giving investors the assurance they need to commit lots of money to companies. One of these is the noncompete agreement. An employee who signs one of these is free to leave but cant go to work for a competitor in the same field doing the same thing in a certain region for a certain period. Sam Altman was not bound by a noncompete agreement because, for one thing, such agreements are banned in California, with only a few exceptions, including agreements in connection with the sale of a business. Such partial bans could soon become the national standard. In January the Federal Trade Commission announced that it would consider a rule to curtail the unfair use of noncompete clauses and other clauses or agreements that may unfairly limit worker mobility. It said such a rule could increase wages by nearly $300 billion per year and expand career opportunities for about 30 million Americans. I understand what California and the F.T.C. are trying to do. Two years ago, I wrote about how noncompete agreements have been abused to trap workers and suppress wages of mid- and low-level workers, such as employees of fast-food restaurants. For high-level executives such as Altman and Brockman, there is a stronger argument for noncompete agreements. If executives can walk out (or be pushed out) the door at any moment, its hard to understand why investors would want to stake their money to the company. Bloomberg reported in October that OpenAI was in talks to sell existing employees shares at a price that would value the overall company at $86 billion. That assuredly will not happen now. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in objecting to the F.T.C.s proposed rule about noncompete agreements, cited its economist John McAdams, who wrote in 2019 in a research paper for the F.T.C. that noncompete agreements can solve a holdup problem for certain types of investment (e.g., training, information sharing) into employees. When the holdup occurs, employers forgo making certain investments in their work force knowing that employees would be able to subsequently quit and appropriate the value of the investment. Inside the app, click on the Me tab, tap the settings icon and select Privacy. Under default privacy settings, select Private, he explained. Then, under the More section in Privacy, click Past Transactions and make sure to set that to Change All to Private. Got all that? I did, and changed my settings, too, as I had also been in the dark. The bigger problem is not the sometimes ridiculous difficulty of opting out, its that consumers often arent even aware of what their settings allow, or what it all means. If they were truly informed and actively choosing among the available options, the default setting would matter little, and be of little to no value. But companies expect users to accept what theyre given, not know their options or not have the constant vigilance required to keep track of the available options, however limited they may be. Since the power in the industry is concentrated among few gatekeepers, and the technology is opaque and its consequences hard to foresee, default settings are some of the most important ways for companies to keep collecting and using data as they want. So, how much are default settings worth? In April 2021, Apple changed the default settings on iPhones and other devices so that users could not be tracked automatically via a unique identifier assigned to their Apple device. For many companies, and even for entire industries whose business models are based on tracking people online, it was a cataclysmic event. No longer would people have to opt out of such tracking by going into their settings and changing the permissions. Now the apps had to ask for and receive explicit permission before they could have access to that identifier. In 2021, Snap, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were estimated to have lost about $10 billion in total because of the change. In early 2022, Meta, Facebooks parent company, said it alone stood to lose $10 billion. Industries like mobile gaming, in which revenue largely depends on tracking users, also suffered. To the Editor: Re A Trump-Biden Rematch Is the Election We Need, by Carlos Lozada (column, Nov. 12): When I first saw the headline on Mr. Lozadas column, I thought, No way! After reading the piece and thinking about it, I have decided that this is the one election we truly need to have. There is no greater comparison than Biden vs. Trump. It is the classic confrontation of good versus evil, and the American people need to decide whether we choose to maintain a constitutional republic, or support an authoritarian, belligerent, vindictive form of government. The twice impeached, quadruple indicted former president is a clear and present danger, while Joe Biden is a staunch defender of democracy, fairness and decency. We need this election to once and for all defeat MAGA and Trumpism, and send Donald Trump packing, if he is not in prison. There is no greater threat to the American way of life than Donald Trump, and even if Joe Biden is simply a place holder for the president who is elected in 2028, that would be far more palatable than a Trump presidency. Henry A. Lowenstein New York To the Editor: Carlos Lozada argues that we have no choice but to choose between Donald Trump and President Biden and their dueling visions for America at the ballot box in 2024. This is, for now, a false choice. In light of the alarming polling trend regarding Mr. Bidens re-electability, the wisest course of action for the Democrats is to urgently organize, with Mr. Bidens blessing (he would have to be persuaded), a robust Democratic presidential primary in order to discover whom Democratic voters would turn out for in the largest numbers on Election Day. But the longer that Democratic elites delay, the Trump-Biden choice will, in short order, become one that we indeed cannot escape. If this occurs, as seems likely, it will be a choice that Mr. Biden and the Democratic establishment impose on the electorate. And if Mr. Biden comes up short at the ballot box in 2024, as the recent New York Times/Siena poll suggests he will, he and the Democratic Partys other so-called leaders will have nobody but themselves to blame. Nicholas Buxton New York To the Editor: Carlos Lozada writes: Joe Biden versus Donald Trump is not the choice America wants. But it is the choice we need to face. Yes, it is the choice we need to face, but what a risk! With Mr. Trumps high polling numbers, it certainly seems that a significant number of people support his candidacy unequivocally. What he says and does illegal or not makes no difference. He evokes deep emotions and the feeling that he will settle their scores and protect them from the woke mob. They like Mr. Trumps moxie and flouting of authority, but dont listen to his actual plan of governance. He plainly wants to create an authoritarian government put his cronies in the Justice Department and jail his political enemies, pack the courts and rule as his whims dictate. Yes, the best way to end Mr. Trumps reign of influence would be to decisively defeat him in this election. But we are taking the huge risk that he could win and end our democracy as we know it. I would rather risk losing to a Nikki Haley than take the chance on beating Mr. Trump. Unfortunately, we may not have a choice. It is the job of the Democratic candidates and the media to clearly present the facts about the likely choices in this election. And keep our fingers crossed! Carol Kraines Deerfield, Ill. To the Editor: Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, the 54-year-old Democrat running a long-shot presidential campaign, took direct aim at President Biden and his message in a recent CNN interview. Mr. Phillips said: I think in 2020, he was probably the only Democrat who could have beaten Donald Trump. I think in 2024, he may be among the only ones that will lose to him. Lets think about that, because if you do, his argument is very persuasive. Mr. Phillips is a relatively young, moderate Democrat. Millions of people are yearning for an alternative to an octogenarian Joe Biden and to an existentially dangerous to our democracy Donald Trump. In a recent poll, a generic Democrat matched against Mr. Trump outperformed Joe Biden by more than 10 points. We Democrats want an alternative. Just maybe weve found one, and his name is Dean Phillips. Ken Derow Swarthmore, Pa. Rosalynn Carters Incredible Life In the early 1980s our village, along with a group of others in an area called Masafer Yatta, was designated by the military as Firing Zone 918, land that Israel decided it wanted for training its forces (A government document indicates that there was an intention to displace residents living in the area.) We have been fighting for the right to remain on our land ever since. We live in Area C of the West Bank, which means the Israeli military has complete civil and security control over our lives. Israel has tried various tactics to get us to leave, including enacting policies that prevent us from building homes in our own village and not allowing us to be connected to the main electrical grid or water infrastructure. Sometimes its been much less subtle: In November 1999, when I was a year old, the Israeli military loaded all of Tubas residents and livestock onto trucks and dumped us on the side of the road several miles away. We spent the following months crowded in makeshift tents, fighting to shelter ourselves and our livestock from the cold winter rain. We were eventually allowed to return to our village temporarily, pending a final court decision. Settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Maon built near Tuba and partly on private Palestinian land not long after we returned have done their share as well. In 2002 they cut off the main road that connected Tuba to the surrounding villages, including the childrens closest school and the city of Yatta, where we buy all of our food and medical supplies. Settlers have also resorted to violence, some of it directed at my family. We believe it was nearby settlers who stabbed my uncle, attacked my cousins with stones and, as Ive written before, set fire to a years worth of food for our flocks of sheep. Throughout it all, we had been awaiting the final ruling from the Israeli high court about whether the Israeli military could force us to evacuate. Then, last year, the court ruled in favor of the state, allowing Israel to evict about 1,200 Palestinians, including those in my village. We have remained steadfast in the face of this pressure and refuse to abandon our land and our traditional way of life. But in recent weeks, attacks by settlers have rattled our resolve. We have always felt that the work of the military, which demolishes our houses and prevents our ability to move freely, was intimately intertwined with and reinforced by harassment from settlers. However, since the war started more than a month ago, the settlers and soldiers in the region seemed to have fused into one entity, ending whatever semblance of distance existed between these two violent systems. Settlers whom we recognize from years of harassment in our villages have suddenly become soldiers, as reservists or as part of Itamar Ben-Gvirs civilian security teams. Army reservists who are new to the area are apparently now taking their orders from local settler-soldiers or security teams. Together they patrol our communities with their M16s and threaten anyone who tries to bring his flock to graze or leave the village for work or errands. In Tuba, as in nearby villages, settlers have also targeted the water systems and solar panels we have built and are entirely dependent on, as if to remind us of our vulnerability. They are clearly taking advantage of this moment to make our lives unlivable, and we have no reason to believe that, especially during a state of war, any of the violence we are experiencing in our communities will slow or stop soon. Local Israeli authorities say they are investigating some of the more violent attacks, including the killings, but they are showing no signs of being able to control them, and in fact, government ministers are fanning the flames. In the last five weeks alone, residents from five other villages in the South Hebron Hills have been forced to pack up and flee from their homes. If the situation doesnt change, I worry that Tuba will be next. As a letter signed by 30 nongovernmental Israeli human rights organizations recently stated, The only way to stop this forcible transfer in the West Bank is a clear, strong and direct intervention by the international community. Since I can remember, life in Tuba has been difficult, but it has also always been full of beauty and calm. It is the life my family has known for generations, and the traditional lifestyle we live is deeply connected to the land around us and the animals we care for. The hillsides are stamped with our footsteps and those of our flocks, the rocks on the top of the hill neatly arranged so we can watch the sunset over the desert. But the fear we feel, in Tuba and across Area C, now hangs heavy over this landscape. I dont know if we will be able to stand it. We are just overwhelmingly Republican in South Carolina, almost a supermajority. We do have a supermajority in the House, very close to a supermajority in the Senate. And because they did not have a supermajority, especially when the five of us joined the Dems and a couple of other Republican men who helped us, at least initially, thats the only thing that stopped the total ban. Their goal is going to be: Get rid of the three Republican women. Coaston: You said that you support a limit at the first trimester, with exceptions. Do you think thats the right approach generally on policy, or is that more what you think would work in South Carolina? Senn: No, no. What I support really is to put it to the voters. I want to make sure you understand that. That needs to be very clear. If somebody just goes to for what I say, first trimester, well, then were going to have an argument there. Thats when then even the women are going to disagree. We all believe that this is something that youre never going to get total agreement on. Its best to put it to the voters. But because our state is so old, one of the original 13, our Constitution does not even have voter-driven initiatives. So it would still take a supermajority of both parties to put the abortion issue on a referendum, and that will never happen. What we did, and what I think is just common sense, is, we sat down, and were like, Lets throw out the extremes. And we felt like a total ban on abortion was extreme, and then to have an abortion after viability was certainly extreme, and we all agreed there. Then we, all the women, just said, We believe were in the reasonable middle. So somewhere from zero to 22 weeks although I stood at 12 weeks. We were not going to let that get in the way of our agreement though, because we again are in search of a solution and not just for this to be a never-ending battle. Coaston: You mentioned Senator Scott; theres also the former governor Nikki Haley, both of South Carolina. How do you think they have talked about abortion in the presidential primary? If my regiment could see five minutes of what I saw today, there would be a revolution. VIKTOR BELENKO, a Soviet pilot who defected to Japan with his jet fighter in 1976, on the good living conditions in the American military and the technical inadequacies of his aircraft, which had been widely feared in the West. He recently died at age 76. A few years ago, Nicolas Fasel, a biologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, and his colleagues developed a fascination with the penises of serotine bats, a species found in woodlands and the attics of old buildings across Europe and Asia. Serotine bats sport abnormally long penises with wide, heart-shaped heads. When erect, the members are around seven times longer than the females vagina, and their bulbous heads are seven times wider than the females vaginal opening. We wondered: How does that work? How can they use that for copulation? Dr. Fasel recalled. What they discovered has overturned an assumption about mammalian reproduction, namely that procreation must always involve penetration. In a study, published Monday in the journal Current Biology, Dr. Fassel and his colleagues presented evidence that serotine bats mate without penetration, making them the first mammals known to do so. Instead of using their penises to penetrate their partners, the scientists found, the male bats use them to push their partners tail membrane out of the way so they can align their openings and engage in contact mating, a behavior similar to one found in birds and known as cloacal kissing. Come winter, my extremities are always cold. This isnt really a problem, except for my head. At home, I wear a hoodie or sometimes a wool babushka. But what to do at work or other indoor public places? What is the etiquette of hats indoors? Patricia, Manchester Township, N.J. To wear or not to wear a hat indoors was once a very simple question. For men, a fedora or trilby was an outdoor accessory for commuting between home and office. Once inside, they removed it immediately. For women, a hat worn as part of an outfit was allowed to stay on the head pretty much always, in part out of sensitivity to the hat-head hairdo problem; in part out of recognition that a hat is part of a look, like a necklace or shoes; and in part because, well, you try putting on a fascinator and taking it off at will. However, as the rules about when to wear a hat became fuzzier like pretty much every dress code rule the generally accepted default became no hats at the dinner table, but maybe hats everywhere else (except during the national anthem). Indeed, these days the question is less about whether you ought to wear a hat indoors, and more about what hat, exactly, can you wear? I think the answer largely comes down to the usual issue of personal freedom vs. the social contract. You are always balancing your own needs (head warmth!) and desires (I like the look!) with those of others. To wit: a wide-brimmed hat, or even a homburg, could pretty easily get in someones way at a dinner party if, say, the seats were close and you turned your head too fast. Any headgear that shades or otherwise hides the eyes is not great in a social situation. And if you are around those from an earlier generation who might take offense at an inside hat, perhaps suffering the inside chill is, on balance, worth it so as not to suffer the emotional chill that could result. Still, while a study published in The British Medical Journal disproved the myth that we lose 40 percent of our body heat through our heads (the study said its more like 10 percent, which corresponds to the head-to-body surface ratio), it is also true that an exposed head can feel uncomfortably cold. So, all the above etiquette accepted, what to do? Around 2 a.m. on March 19, Adam Wood, a San Francisco firefighter on duty, received a 911 call and raced to the citys Mission neighborhood to help a male who was having a medical emergency. After loading the patient into an ambulance, a black-and-white car pulled up and blocked the path. It was a driverless vehicle operated by Waymo, an autonomous car company that Googles parent, Alphabet, owned. With no human driver to instruct to move out of the way, Mr. Wood spoke through a device in the car to a remote operator, who said someone would come take the vehicle away. Instead, another autonomous Waymo car arrived and blocked the other side of the street, Mr. Wood said. The ambulance was finally able to leave after being forced to back up, and the patient, who was not in critical condition, made it to the hospital. But the self-driving cars added seven minutes to the emergency response, he said. When they aren't quoting Adolf Hitler or associating with the Proud Boys, the faith-based Moms For Liberty organization spreads homophobic hate messages and espouses concern for children's safety. But consistent with the maxim, "every conservative accusation is a confession," they have a registered felony sex offender leading faith-based outreach for their Philadelphia chapter. Phillip Fisher Jr., a pastor and Republican ward leader, pled guilty to 12 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy in 2012 when he was 25, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. The paper asked Moms For Liberty to comment on the revelation, but so far, the organization has remained silent. In an interview with The Inquirer, Fisher said the conviction was "one blip" on his record, blaming it on "a political situation that happened between me and [conspiracy theorist and convicted fraudster] Lyndon LaRouche." The board of directors of OpenAI, the high-flying artificial intelligence start-up, said in a note to employees on Sunday night that its former chief, Sam Altman, would not be returning to his job, while naming his second interim replacement in two days. Hours later, in another head-spinning move, Microsoft said it was hiring Mr. Altman and Greg Brockman, OpenAIs president and a company co-founder who quit in solidarity with Mr. Altman. The two men will lead an advanced research lab at Microsoft. At OpenAI, Emmett Shear, the former chief executive of Twitch, will replace Mira Murati as interim chief, the board said. Ms. Murati, a longtime OpenAI executive, had been appointed to that role after Mr. Altmans ouster on Friday. The board said Mr. Shear has a unique mix of skills, expertise and relationships that will drive OpenAI forward, according to the memo viewed by The New York Times. At Microsoft, Satya Nadella, the tech giants chief executive, said that Mr. Altman would be chief executive of the new research lab, setting a new pace for innovation, in an apparent contrast at the OpenAI boards desire for caution in developing A.I. technology. Mr. Nadella noted in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, that Mr. Altmans new group will operate as an independent entity within Microsoft. A key member of OpenAIs board believed Mr. Altman was moving too fast to expand his company while not paying enough attention to the safety of A.I., from concerns it will eliminate jobs to a belief it could be a threat to humanity. Though Mr. Nadella and his company unsuccessfully tried to help resolve OpenAIs management breakdown over the weekend, he had more leverage over the San Francisco start-up than many people realized. OpenAI has most likely seen only a part of the $13 billion that Microsoft has committed because it was supposed to be paid out over time though the exact terms of the deal were unclear. In addition, Microsoft signed a deal that gave it copies of OpenAIs most cutting-edge technology and has been working with it for more than a year. Microsoft has been providing OpenAI with the enormous computer power it needs to build its A.I. With all that, Mr. Nadella could rebuild OpenAI inside Microsoft and not lose much time or money. It is also not out of the question that OpenAIs board could give in to employee pressure to bring Mr. Altman and his allies back, with significant changes to the board. Mr. Nadella could live with that, too. Its like you forget the nonsense that happened for four days Sam is still Sam, and he is running the show, said S. Somasegar, a former Microsoft executive now at Madrona Venture Group who has been in touch with Mr. Nadella. Microsoft will end up the winner no matter what happens here. OpenAIs board may be satisfied with this outcome after all, the board chose it, even after being given a chance to backtrack. But it looks silly for not explaining why it fired Mr. Altman, and until it shares more information, its hard to imagine the rank-and-file falling in line. Winner: Microsoft No ones weekend had a bigger turnaround than Mr. Nadella. On Friday, when Mr. Altman was fired, it looked as if Mr. Nadella might lose one of his most powerful allies. Microsoft invested $13 billion in OpenAI, and under Mr. Altmans leadership, the company had become a key partner of Microsofts. Its technology is the backbone of many of the A.I. services, such as the companys suite of Copilot A.I. products, that Microsoft is betting the future of its business on. Mr. Nadella would have clearly preferred to see Mr. Altman reinstated. But when it was clear that wasnt happening, he did the next best thing: swooping in to offer jobs to Mr. Altman, Mr. Brockman and their loyalists. Strategically, it was a masterstroke. Now, Microsoft will be able to continue using OpenAIs models to power its products in the short term, while also giving a new, Altman-led team the money and computing power it needs to build new Microsoft-owned models over the long term. Hell get a bunch of talented A.I. researchers from OpenAI, and Microsoft now effectively owns 100 percent of a new A.I. lab that any Silicon Valley venture capitalist would have lined up to fund. Winners: A.I. Doomers and Effective Altruists For years, a community of A.I. researchers and activists many affiliated with the effective altruism movement, whose adherents think that reason and data can be used to determine how to do the most good have warned that A.I. systems were becoming too powerful, and that out-of-control A.I. could pose an existential threat to humanity. A few weeks ago, Nathan Thrall, a Jewish American writer whose work strongly supports Palestinian rights, was invited to speak to students at the University of Arkansas about a new book. But there was one catch: To be paid for his visit, Mr. Thrall was told that he had to pledge, according to a 2017 state law, that he would not boycott Israel. He declined. When news broke that Mr. Thrall would not sign the pledge, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders applauded the university. On campuses across America, pro-Hamas protesters are harassing Jews, praising terrorism, and calling for the destruction of Israel, Ms. Sanders, a Republican, wrote on social media. That is unacceptable and wont happen in Arkansas. At college campuses around the country, students and faculty have been engulfed in vitriolic debates over students pro-Palestinian speech. There have been loud dueling protests and angry donors registering their displeasure on social media. Brandeis, Columbia and George Washington University have banned or suspended pro-Palestinian student protest groups. At a large public university in a more conservative state like Arkansas, the debate is playing out in a somewhat different way. Well before the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, state lawmakers had tried to control the debate on the Middle East, for instance demanding in the 2017 law that anyone contracting with the state sign a pledge against boycotting Israel. An agreement between the Army and one of the nations largest ammunition manufacturers is receiving new scrutiny because of a little-known provision allowing a government facility to produce hundreds of millions of rounds for the retail market. Over more than a decade, contracts between the Pentagon and a series of private companies have permitted an Army site, the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, to become one of the worlds largest commercial suppliers of cartridges for AR-15-style guns. Built during World War II near Kansas City, Mo., to supply the U.S. military, the plant has in recent years directed a majority of its production toward the commercial market, including sales to retailers, law enforcement agencies and foreign governments. A New York Times investigation published this month traced rounds from Lake City to a dozen mass shootings and many other crimes across the country since 2012. Odds are that this winters going to be a wet one. The intermittent climate phenomenon known as El Nino, which typically means more rain and snow for California, developed over the summer and is expected to intensify in the next few months. And this years El Nino is predicted to be an exceptionally strong one maybe even ranking in the top five on record, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at U.C.L.A. This is likely to become an event that is historically significant, Swain told reporters earlier this month. All of California has elevated odds of a wetter-than-average winter. Of course, there are no guarantees. Experts emphasize that not every El Nino period is extra wet in the Golden State, and that the effects of the weather pattern often vary across the state (typically, El Ninos effects are greater in dry Southern California than in the north). Weve had wet years in California that are not El Nino, like last year, Alex Hall, the director of the Center for Climate Science at U.C.L.A, told me. And weve had dry years when El Ninos are occurring. An 8-year-old Native American boy who had grown out his hair to honor his ancestry was made to get a haircut after being threatened with suspension from school, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas said. In a letter sent on Friday, the A.C.L.U called on the Girard Unified School District in southeastern Kansas to rescind the policy that requires boys to wear their hair short and to allow the student to wear his hair long, based on his cultural beliefs. Refusing to accommodate the students religious and cultural beliefs violates state and federal law, the A.C.L.U said. The policy will be reviewed in December, the school districts superintendent said on Monday. The student is just the latest to have faced punishment at school over clothing or a hairstyle that reflected their cultural heritage. Earlier this year, a Black high school student in Texas with locs, which are long ropelike strands of hair, was suspended over the length of his hair. In Colorado, a high school student was barred from wearing a sash at her graduation that honored her Mexican American heritage. Tina Daniel, principal of R.V. Haderlein Elementary, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For the 76th year in a row on Monday, an American president was presented with a turkey or in this case, two turkeys in a pre-Thanksgiving ritual. And President Biden, who turned 81 on the same day he spared the pair of birds, wanted to get one thing straight. I want you to know I wasnt there for the first one, Mr. Biden quipped on the South Lawn of the White House, making light of an issue (his age) that polls show troubles most Americans. I was too young to make it, Mr. Biden said as he saved the lives of Liberty and Bell, each weighing in at 42 pounds and change. As Liberty or maybe it was Bell bobbed his head and flapped on a table, the president proclaimed: I hereby pardon Liberty and Bell. Congratulations, birds. Congratulations. A new political group with ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida began reserving airtime in Iowa on Monday, a surprising new player in the 2024 Republican primary that has emerged with less than two months until the Iowa caucuses. The reservations more than $700,000 as of early Monday afternoon were being made by an entity called Fight Right, according to AdImpact, a media-tracking company. A nonprofit by that name, Fight Right Inc., was registered in Florida last week and a super PAC with the same name was also registered with the Federal Election Commission by a Tallahassee-based treasurer, state and federal records show. The ads, which will begin on Thanksgiving, are expected to oppose Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, according to AdImpact. Ms. Haley has steadily risen in the polls, though both she and Mr. DeSantis still trail far behind the front-runner, Donald J. Trump. The emergence of a new pro-DeSantis group at this stage of the race is unusual, in part because Mr. DeSantis has worked so closely with Never Back Down, his primary super PAC, after transferring $82.5 million to the group this year. There's a lot to love in the 15-or-so years that Chris Claremont spent as the primary writer of the X-Men franchise (with the Dark Phoenix Saga being perhaps the most obvious choice). There are also a lot of outstanding questions from that time period. Some of them are continuity deep-cuts that have since been retconned or ignored. Others are deeper, more primal questions that have haunted fans of the franchise for decades. For instance: why the fuck did Cyclops send Professor X a post-coital photograph from his honeymoon to Madelyn Pryor in Uncanny X-Men #178, and who the fuck took the picture in the first place?! Let's zoom in closer, in case you missed it: This is weird, right? Claremont's run on X-Men certainly never shied away from queer or BDSM undertones but this is Scott Summers, former leader of the X-Men, sending photographic evidence to the only father figure he's ever really known to prove that he did indeed have sex on his honeymoon. That's weird! Over at AIPT News, comics journalist Chris Hassan recently had the opportunity to interview Claremont about his upcoming Wolverine miniseries, Wolverine: Madripoor Knights, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the hirsute Canadian by re-exploring an iconic early collaboration between Claremont and Jim Lee. But Hassan also took the opportunity to address the elephant, err, sexy photograph in the room: AIPT: Alright, well finally, a fun question (I hope) and something I've seen X-Fans talk and wonder about for a long time. In Uncanny X-Men #178, Professor X opens a letter from Scott Summers that includes a picture of Scott and Madelyne Pryor in bed on their honeymoon. The question I'm hoping you can finally answer is who took that picture? Claremont equivocates for a moment, reminiscing how he did, indeed, intend for Cyclops to find a happy ending with Madelyn Pryor before editorial demands led to the revelation that she was in fact a clone of Jean Grey created by Mr. Sinister specifically to breed with Cyclops' DNA. In other words, he dodges the answer. But Hassan, like any good journalist, persists: AIPT: But Chris, who took the picture? But still, Claremont only sort of complies with this push: Have you never seen the first iteration of Star Trek, where you have little communicators where the top flips up and you can call anywhere? I mean, Scott could have had his super secret X-phone plugged into the wall. It could have been the White Queen. They might have had a slight relationship. Maybe it was Mister Sinister just hanging around. He then goes on about why Professor X's telepathy failed to detect the fact that Maddy was a clone, and returns to his passionate desire to give poor Cyclops a happy ending. And thus, the greatest mystery in X-Men history remains obscured once again. Alas! X-Men Monday #228 Chris Claremont Talks 'Wolverine: Madripoor Knights' [Chris Hassan / AIPT Comics] Some two decades after leaving the White House, Rosalynn Carter reflected on the criticism she generated for expanding the role of a first lady. You cant let it stop you, she told an interviewer. I didnt let it stop me. She had greater ambitions than simply throwing state dinners, she explained, and she paved the way for a new, more enduring view of how a presidential spouse could make a difference. The first lady role has changed, she observed. I dont think there will ever be another first lady who will be just a hostess and pour tea. If that is true, Mrs. Carter will have been one of the primary reasons. While she spent only four years in the White House, she transformed the unelected, unpaid and sometimes unappreciated position of first lady in ways that reverberate to this day. By the time she died at age 96 on Sunday at her home in Plains, Ga., she had long since dropped out of public view, but every one of her successors knew how important she was in shaping the role they inherited. We have Rosalynn Carter to thank for helping to expand and formalize the modern first ladys office, a structure that is largely still in place to this day, said Anita B. McBride, who served as chief of staff to Laura Bush when she was first lady a staff job that itself has its origins in Mrs. Carters era. It was a time in the country of profound change for women, and she wanted to seize the opportunities before her. When the Supreme Court heard arguments this month on whether the Second Amendment allows the government to disarm domestic abusers, Justice Amy Coney Barrett made a cryptic reference that puzzled many in the courtroom. She asked, according to the courts official transcript, about the range issue. Sentencing range? Firing range? She was, it turned out, referring to a person, Bryan Range, who has challenged a federal law prohibiting people who have been convicted of felonies from owning guns. Mr. Range is a far more sympathetic figure than the defendant in the domestic violence case, Zackey Rahimi. According to court records, Mr. Rahimi threatened women with firearms and was involved in five shootings in a two-month stretch. Justice Barrett and several of her colleagues seemed to think that Mr. Rahimi was a menace, and they appeared inclined to reject his Second Amendment challenge to a federal law that prohibits people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from having guns. Mr. Trump swiftly appealed, with his lawyers arguing that the order was the essence of censorship and infringed on his First Amendment rights in the midst of a campaign one in which he has repeatedly complained that the cases against him are political persecution. The appeals court has suspended the gag order while it weighs the challenge. At the hearing, the three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit pushed hard at the argument that Mr. Trumps social media posts should enjoy absolute protection under the First Amendment as examples of core political speech. They questioned whether the posts could in fact be something very different: examples of political speech aimed at derailing or corrupting the criminal justice process. The judges also suggested that a gag order could be imposed on Mr. Trump as a prophylactic measure of protecting people involved in the case from threats or acts of harassment that had not yet occurred. The panel cited a longstanding dynamic, reaching back to the 2020 election, in which Mr. Trump has mentioned certain people in his posts who later suffered intimidation from others. As this trial approaches, the atmosphere is going to be increasingly tense, said Judge Brad Garcia. Why does the district court have to wait and see, and wait for the threats to come, rather than taking a reasonable action in advance? Each of the three members of the appellate panel assigned to the case was nominated by a Democratic president: Judges Patricia Millett and Cornelia Pillard were both Obama appointees, as was Judge Chutkan to the district court. Judge Garcia was appointed by President Biden. The threat from outside forces, Mr. Trump said, is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within. This turn inward has sounded new alarms among experts on autocracy who have long worried about Mr. Trumps praise for foreign dictators and disdain for democratic ideals. They said the former presidents increasingly intensive focus on perceived internal enemies was a hallmark of dangerous totalitarian leaders. Scholars, Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans are asking anew how much Mr. Trump resembles current strongmen abroad and how he compares to authoritarian leaders of the past. Perhaps most urgently, they are wondering whether his rhetorical turn into more fascist-sounding territory is just his latest public provocation of the left, an evolution in his beliefs or the dropping of a veil. There are echoes of fascist rhetoric, and theyre very precise, said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor at New York University who studies fascism. The overall strategy is an obvious one of dehumanizing people so that the public will not have as much of an outcry at the things that you want to do. Mr. Trumps shift comes as he and his allies devise plans for a second term that would upend some of the long-held norms of American democracy and the rule of law. A federal appeals court moved on Monday to drastically weaken the Voting Rights Act, issuing a ruling that would effectively bar private citizens and civil rights groups from filing lawsuits under a central provision of the landmark civil rights law. The ruling, made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, found that only the federal government could bring a legal challenge under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a crucial part of the law that prohibits election or voting practices that discriminate against Americans based on race. The opinion is almost certain to be appealed to the Supreme Court. The courts current conservative majority has issued several key decisions in recent years that have weakened the Voting Rights Act. But the justices have upheld the law in other instances, including in a June ruling that found Alabama had drawn a racially discriminatory congressional map. Passed in 1965, the Voting Rights Act was one of the most significant achievements of the civil rights movement, undoing decades of discriminatory Jim Crow laws and protecting against egregious racial gerrymanders. But the law has been under legal assault almost since its inception, and court decisions through the years have hollowed out key provisions, including a requirement that states with a history of discrimination in voting obtain approval from the federal government before changing their voting laws. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III visited the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Monday, vowing support for its government at a time when progress in the war against Russia as well as U.S. military aid have both stalled. Mr. Austin, who traveled overnight by train, met President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and other senior officials. Im here today to deliver an important message the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russias aggression, both now and into the future, Mr. Austin said. We, along with our allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraines urgent battlefield needs and long-term defense requirements, he added. Mr. Zelensky said he had discussed the battlefield situation with Mr. Austin. The meeting was particularly important ahead of a videoconference of defense ministers to coordinate military aid to Ukraine that Mr. Austin will host later this week, Mr. Zelensky said in a post on Telegram. The one that sold on Sunday had been part of a collection of Napoleon items belonging to a French businessman, Jean Louis Noisiez, who died last year. In 2018, a faded and torn black hat attributed to Napoleon and said to have been dropped on the battlefield at Waterloo sold for more than $400,000. In 2014, one of Napoleons hats sold for more than $2 million, the previous record, to Kim Hong-Kuk, the South Korean founder and chairman of the Harim food conglomerate; it went for about five times the asking price. That hat came from a collection belonging to Monacos royal family. Other auctions of Napoleon memorabilia in recent years have included portraits, letters, his cologne bottles, a knife used in a foiled assassination attempt, a gilded crib, a bejeweled hunting rifle and even his stockings. An engagement ring belonging to Napoleons wife, Josephine, went for $1.2 million in 2013. Napoleon, an outsider from Corsica who rose to rule France in 1799, has long fascinated collectors around the world. The first auction of his belongings happened in the years after his death in 1821 on the island of Saint Helena, where he was living in exile, and the value of Napoleon relics has since risen, Mr. Pitchal said. Most of the 130 items belonging to him at the auction on Sunday sold, but a few unsold items, including a sword belonging to Josephine and a pistol, will be auctioned off again, he said. The international pop star Shakira reached a deal with Spanish prosecutors to settle a multimillion-euro tax evasion case on Monday, just before the trial was set to begin in Barcelona. Prosecutors had accused Shakira of six counts of tax fraud, charging that she had failed to pay 14.5 million euros, about $15.8 million, in income taxes. The Associated Press reported on Monday that, in court, she told the presiding magistrate that she had accepted an agreement with prosecutors. The A.P. reported that, under the deal, she would receive a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of 7 million. Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, was accused of failing to pay income taxes to the Spanish government from 2012 to 2014. Shakira had repeatedly denied the accusations and said that she was not living in Spain during those years. In a July indictment, prosecutors said that Shakira had spent more than half of each year in Spain from 2012-14 and had used a previously established corporate framework to hide income and assets during those years. The agony came in waves as the wounded Ukrainian soldier in the back of the ambulance slipped in and out of consciousness. The driver, hurtling past cratered fields on roads thick with mud, was racing to escape Russian artillery fire north of the city of Avdiivka, while hoping he was not spotted by drones. They are just razing everything to the ground, said the driver, Seagull, using only his call-sign in accordance with military protocol. I have never seen anything like this. Russian forces have been staging fierce assaults around Avdiivka for more than a month and have recently launched simultaneous offensives across eastern Ukraine in what military analysts say is a bid to regain the initiative as winter approaches. Ukrainian forces are resisting furiously, while probing for openings in a southern counteroffensive and conducting river crossings near the southern port city of Kherson. When Ukraines top military commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, said recently that the war had reached a stalemate with intense and exhausting battles yielding little territorial gains it created an impression in some quarters that the fighting may have stalled. But in general the decades since the collapse of the Oslo Accord of 1993 have accentuated the psychological gulf. Day-to-day interaction between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza has been drastically reduced by walls and fences in a push for physical separation. Almost forgotten are the Palestine Liberation Organizations recognition in 1993 of Israels right to exist in peace, and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabins determination to pursue that peace, a decision that cost him his life in 1995 at the hands of an extreme right-wing Israeli assassin who said he acted on the orders of God. These were the ephemeral glimmerings of shared humanity, soon quashed. In the intervening decades, Hamas and the ultranationalist religious Israeli right have each extended their influence. The conflict now involves fundamentalist religious ideologies, distinct in critical regards but equally convinced that all the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River has been deeded to them by God. A political and military struggle between two national movements for the same land can be resolved by compromise, at least in theory. France and Germany settled their differences in Alsace-Lorraine. Peace came to Ireland. But absolutist claims of divine right to territory appear impossible to reconcile. The humanity of the other is less acknowledged for the simple reason that human contact has become rare, said Yuval Shany, a professor of international law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Where there is contact, as between Israels Jewish and Palestinian populations, some measure of empathy stirs. In 2014, during an earlier round of Israel-Hamas fighting, I stood in eastern Gaza City, gazing at tangles of iron rods, jagged outcrops of masonry and air thick with dust. At the time, a 9-year-old child in Gaza had memories of three wars in six years and needed no indoctrination in hatred. Mahmoud al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas, whose charter calls for Israels destruction, told me in an interview that year: Israel will be eliminated because it is a foreign body. Referring to Israeli Jews, he said, Why should they come from Ethiopia, or Poland or America? There are six million in Palestine. OK, take them. America is very wide. You can make a new district for Jews. The delusional fantasy that the enemy can be made to vanish has since grown. On the Palestinian side, the ideal solution has become that Israel disappear, Professor Shany said. On the Israeli side, there is a desire for Gaza to go away, even if that means bombing it away. Of course, that is not a solution. "Donald Trump's cult members love it when he talks dirty to them. At his rally in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Ol' Pussy-Grabber told his gape-jawed devotees that he was concerned about what his wife would think when a report came out that he'd hired Russian sex workers to urinate on him. "'He was with four hookers,'" Trump said. "You think that was good that night they go up and tell my wife, 'It's not true, darling. I love you very much. It's not true.' "Actually, that one she didn't believe because she said, 'He's a germaphobe, he's not into that,'" Trump continued. "'He's not into golden showers,' as they say they called it. I don't like that idea. No, I didn't. I thought that would be a big problem, I was going to have a rough night, but that one she was very good on." So, which "ones" wasn't Melania "very good on"? Paying hush money to the porn star she had sex with? The Access Hollywood tape? Ivana Trump's claim (which she later recanted) that he'd raped her? The 25+ other women who have accused him of raping, sexually assaulting, and sexually harassing them since the 1970s? Meanwhile, Trump apologist Mike Johnson is shocked, shocked I tell you, that George Santos paid for OnlyFans." Another hospital in the Gaza Strip came under fire on Monday, as the World Health Organization warned that the enclaves devastated health system had largely collapsed, with none of its functioning hospitals capable of handling complicated medical cases. At least 12 people were killed and dozens of others were wounded in the latest attack, on the Indonesian Hospital in the far northern city of Beit Lahia, according to two hospital staff members and the Gazan health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. It came less than a week after Israeli forces raided Gazas largest hospital, Al-Shifa in Gaza City, about five miles to the west, in an effort to capture and expose what it says were extensive Hamas operations within and beneath the hospital, including underground bunkers, a command center and a network of tunnels. Hamas and hospital administrators deny that the militant group used the grounds of Al-Shifa or other hospitals for military operations. The source of the strike on the Indonesian Hospital could not be independently verified, as heavy fighting raged around it. The Gazan health ministry blamed Israeli forces for the attack. The Israeli military said in a statement that its troops had come under fire overnight from within the hospital. It said it had directly targeted the specific source of enemy fire, but that no shells were fired toward the hospital. The statement did not elaborate on the seeming contradiction. After weeks of negotiations, officials from Israel and Hamas said early Wednesday that they had reached an agreement for a brief cease-fire in Gaza and the release of 50 of the about 240 hostages taken by the armed group on Oct. 7. The Israeli decision, announced by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that his government had approved the framework for a hostage release over four days, during which there would be a pause in the fighting. Less than an hour later, Hamas said in a statement that it had agreed to a cease-fire and to free hostages in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Qatar, the lead mediator of the talks, said on Thursday the cease-fire in Gaza would begin at 7 a.m. local time Friday. Heres what we know about the agreement: A four-day cease-fire would be the longest halt in fighting since Oct. 7. During the pause, women and children will be released over four days. Israel said that it would extend the cease-fire by a day for every 10 additional hostages released by Hamas. A pause would bring some measure of relief to Gazas 2.2 million civilians, more than two-thirds of whom have been displaced and pushed to the limits of survival with diminishing supplies of food and water. Israel said 50 women and children would be freed in the first stage of the hostage release. The Israeli government had publicly taken a hard line on hostages, saying repeatedly that there would be no cease-fire until captives are released. One Israeli official said that some in the government had wanted all the hostages to be released at once. In closed-door talks, though, there appears to have been wiggle room in Israels stance. Israel said that the agreement announced early Wednesday was the first stage toward its goal of bringing all the hostages home. Hamas said 150 Palestinian prisoners would be released and that more aid would be allowed into Gaza. Hamas had previously said it was seeking a full cease-fire and the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, and added as a new condition the delivery of fuel to Gazas collapsing hospitals. On Wednesday, the group said in its statement that a humanitarian truce had been reached, pursuant to which hundreds of trucks with aid and fuel for humanitarian needs would be let into the territory during the cease-fire. It added that despite the truce, Our hands will remain on the trigger. Hostages are expected to be released later Friday. Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatars foreign ministry, told reporters that some hostages would be released starting at 4 p.m. on Friday. Victoria Kim contributed reporting. My experience during childbirth was a nightmare in every sense of the word, or something like a horror film, said 29-year-old Wajiha al-Abyad. Her contractions started at around 9 p.m. on Oct. 29. We called for an ambulance, but they told us they couldnt come. The streets were empty and pitch-black, and there was no sound to be heard except for the noise of planes and shelling. After about 40 minutes, an ambulance did turn up. It transported her at high speed through Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. Most of the streets were badly damaged. I was stuck inside contending with contractions and jolts as the ambulance raced through ruined roads. Women, children and newborns in Gaza are disproportionately bearing the burden of the war, both as casualties and in reduced access to health care services. The U.N. estimates there are around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, and that more than 160 babies are delivered every day. In the space of a few weeks, Ms. al-Abyads life had been turned upside down. She fled her home in Gaza City with many of her relatives on Oct. 14, after the Israeli military ordered over a million people to leave northern Gaza. She dreaded the idea of giving birth in these circumstances. The tension and anxiety I felt were more painful than the contractions, she said. Since the outbreak of the war, crossings into Gaza had been closed, making it impossible for her husband in the United Arab Emirates to be by her side. Instead, her mother joined her in the ambulance. Together, they made it to Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, around a 20-minute drive from their home. They found the hospitals maternity ward was no longer functioning: It had been repurposed to treat the large numbers of war casualties. There was a lot of tension and screaming, and the doctors were under extreme pressure, Ms. al-Abyad said. Patients there were bleeding, and they didnt know what to do for them. Less than an hour later, Ms. al-Abyad gave birth to a baby boy named Ahmed. Every five minutes, there was shelling right outside the hospital, so close that mothers would hide their newborn babies under their clothes, afraid that the windows might shatter and the glass would fall onto them, she said. All I could think about was how will I leave? How will I go back home? Yemens Houthi militia released a video on Monday showing its forces hijacking the ship Galaxy Leader, a day after announcing it had seized the vessel in the Red Sea as a demonstration of support for the oppressed Palestinian people. The video, whose authenticity was verified by The New York Times, shows at least 10 armed men on the deck of the roughly 600-foot-long vessel after jumping out of a military helicopter hovering just above it. Most of the video appears to come from cameras attached to mens heads, and follows them as they seize control of the bridge from crew members. A later section of the video, taken from a distance, shows a handful of small boats of a type known to be used by Houthi rebels moving around and alongside the ship. One flies a Yemeni flag used by the Houthis as well as a Palestinian flag; the same flags are by this point flying on the Galaxy Leader. There are two main sites for the event: the Blue Zone and the Green Zone. The Blue Zone is where the official negotiations take place, and where world leaders will speak. The Green Zone is more widely accessible and is a venue for exhibits and side events organized by youth and civil society organizations, academics, business groups and others. What is the goal of COP28? Look for three significant results from this summit. The first is whats called the global stocktake. This is the first formal assessment of whether nations are on track to meet a goal they set in Paris in 2015 to limit the rise in average global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. Thats the threshold beyond which scientists say it will be increasingly hard for humans to cope with the severe storms, drought, heat and sea level rise that will intensify as the planet continues to heat up. Spoiler alert: The planet has already warmed by 1.2 degrees Celsius and emissions that are driving the change are going up, not down. The review will lay the groundwork for ambitious actions countries must take going forward, activists hope. Second, there is an expectation that nations will finalize the so-called loss and damage fund they agreed to create last year. The major questions to be resolved include who will pay into the fund and who will have access to the money. Finally, there is the political agreement that could emerge from the summit. It is likely that nations could agree on a deal to replace polluting fossil fuels with clean energy such as wind and solar power. The question is whether nations agree to phase out fossil fuels and, if so, what caveats are attached. Hurricanes have always struck the shores of the United States. But in recent decades, the combination of climate change and a growing coastal population has made them far more damaging particularly in one corner of the Atlantic coast. At the crossroads of these hurricanes lie the metro areas of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Wilmington, N.C. Between 2016 and 2022, the Carolinas were hit by five hurricanes: Matthew, Florence, Dorian, Isaias and Ian. But some of the most hurricane-prone parts of the country lie further northeast, on the Carolina coast. Gulf Coast regions like coastal Louisiana and Florida frequently encounter powerful hurricanes, of course. Roughly 150 Atlantic hurricanes have approached or directly hit the United States in the last seven decades. These two metros, known for their striking coastlines, have been regularly battered by hurricanes this century. They also have something else in common: Both are among the fastest-growing coastal metros in the United States since 2000. Why do so many people decide to move here despite the risks? And what does that mean for everyone else? A Beautiful Place That Has a Dragon: Where Hurricane Risk Meets Booming Growth The hurricanes keep coming, and the people, too: The fastest-growing places along the Atlantic coast this century are also among the most hurricane-prone. Between 2016 and 2022, the five hurricanes that hit the Carolinas cost the two states over $33 billion in damages in current dollars, displaced hundreds of thousands of people and led to the deaths of more than 90, government data shows. Theres every reason to expect more damage in coming years: A warming climate adds moisture to the air, unlocking the potential for wetter and more powerful storms. And rising sea levels make storm surges more damaging and coastal flooding more frequent. And the newcomers will keep coming: One 2022 study projected that by 2050, population growth will increase the number of Americans exposed to flooding nearly four times as much as climate change will alone. Simply put, there are many more people living along the paths of hurricanes than ever before. And this booming coastal population is, by many accounts, a larger contributor to rising hurricane risks than climate change. Its always climate change plus something, and were moving more people into harms way than out, said Kathie Dello, North Carolinas state climatologist. Kure Beach, N.C., at low tide. Local officials say they are struggling to keep up with the growth. They can try to manage the floodplain, communicate the risks, regulate construction and prepare for disasters. But the one thing they cant seem to do is stop people from moving here. Many retirees are drawn to the Carolinas beaches and waterways, moderate temperatures and low taxes. Between 1990 and 2020, the number of people 65 and older grew by nearly 450 percent combined in Horry County, S.C., and adjoining Brunswick County, N.C. When Gail Hart moved from Arizona to retire in Wilmington, N.C., in 2017, she hadnt considered the hurricane risk. I wanted to be near a beach, she said. I wanted a community. Gail Hart with her dog Tula in the Del Webb retirement community in Wilmington, N.C. The next year, Hurricane Florence made landfall in the Wilmington metro area. Many neighborhoods flooded. In some places, three feet of water entered homes. Emergency officials rescued over a thousand residents. Ms. Hart evacuated. She was fortunate: Her home suffered only minor wind damage. But the experience changed her view of living there. She installed storm shutters and a generator, and bought flood insurance. And yet, like so many others, she has stayed despite the storm risks. I dont let it affect my life unless theres a hurricane coming, she said. Ms. Hart is far from alone. When she arrived, there were about a dozen homes in her retirement community. Today there are over 500. In a retirement community being built across the road, acres of pine forests have been cleared to develop homes along the Cape Fear River. New homes on the banks of the Cape Fear River in Wilmington, N.C. Nearby, marshland with ghost forests of dead trees was up for sale as riverfront condo land. Ghost forests are what remains of woodlands when saltwater poisons the roots of trees. Wilmington is part of New Hanover County, the most densely populated of the states coastal counties. Nearly 40 percent of its homes risk being severely affected by flooding in the next 30 years, according to the First Street Foundation. Theres just not a lot of area left, said Steven Still, director of emergency services for the county. So youre developing in the fringe areas. The escalating costs of storms raise a difficult question for these growing coastal communities: How do you balance growth with safety? The combination of climate change and development in risky areas is making it a huge challenge to keep residents safe, said Amanda Martin, North Carolinas chief resilience officer. Hurricanes near U.S. counties, 1950-2022 Coastal Carolina counties have some of the highest hurricane frequencies in the country. Source: Upshot analysis of the National Hurricane Center's Atlantic hurricane database The map shows the number of Atlantic hurricanes whose paths came within 60 nautical miles (69 miles) of each county. Its not just that people are moving to hurricane-prone areas. The growth itself can make flooding worse. Cutting down trees and paving over wetlands takes away open land that would otherwise absorb rainfall. We just seem to be going through this vicious cycle that is becoming more vicious with the amount of people and infrastructure we put in these areas, Mr. Still said. Federal law permits people to build in flood zones, so long as they meet certain minimum standards. In return, the government offers them flood insurance through a federal program that is over $20 billion in debt largely due to escalating hurricane damages. While the National Flood Insurance Program was originally intended to discourage floodplain development, in practice it has done the opposite by removing a lot of the financial risk involved, said Jenny Brennan, a climate analyst at the Southern Environmental Law Center. States have a few options to discourage people from building in flood zones. They can create more stringent building requirements, or they can buy up and preserve undeveloped land. But these measures are expensive, and rely on political will or the willingness of landowners to sell. One way that states can move residents out of harms way is by offering to buy out their homes and permanently converting that land to open space. But a study this year found that for every home bought out in North Carolina between 1996 and 2017, more than 10 new ones were built in the states floodplains. The growth also makes it more difficult to evacuate when storms strike. In these booming coastal counties, residents and local officials say that roads and bridges are not keeping pace with the growth. Our biggest problem is our infrastructures not being able to keep up, said David McIntire, the deputy director of emergency management for Brunswick County, the fastest-growing coastal county in North Carolina this century and part of the Wilmington metro. The state has undertaken a multiyear project to add two lanes to Highway 211, the main evacuation route for the region. Mr. McIntire said the state and local departments were having to play catch-up after years of failing to plan ahead. In neighboring New Hanover County, his counterpart Mr. Still is grappling with a shortage of affordable housing, which he said was making it exponentially difficult to shelter people displaced by disasters. After a disaster, the surge in demand for short-term housing drives up already high rents. Poorer residents often rely on the state and local governments for assistance with evacuation and housing. The problem lies in where to house them. If there is zero housing availability in the community right now, Mr. Still said, where do you put 100,000 people? The housing crunch is one of many tensions playing out between wealthy coastal communities and those who live nearby. April OLeary lives in Conway, S.C., an inland city in Horry County, a half-hour drive from Myrtle Beach. The county makes up the Myrtle Beach metro area, which was the fastest-growing coastal metro nationally between 2000 and 2020 and is one of the fastest-growing places in the country annually. And the growth is projected to continue. Horry County is large and flat: Nearly a quarter of its land lies within a floodplain. In inland towns like Conway, S.C., floodwaters can stay long after a hurricane is gone. After Hurricane Florence made landfall, it took about a week for the rainwater to flow down to Conway. But the water stayed for over a week. It sits for a while and it just destroys everything, Ms. OLeary said. Water entered her home, flooding the first floor and a bedroom. Her husband and son evacuated to Myrtle Beach, while she stayed for a few days to document the floods. Afterward, there were large piles of debris lining street after street in her neighborhood, filled with ruined flooring, kitchen cabinets and bathroom fixtures. When her sons elementary school reopened and he saw the devastation in the neighborhood, she said he stopped smiling and became quieter for months. Down the street from April OLearys home, in Conway, S.C., the flood water line from Hurricane Florence was still visible. After the flooding, Ms. OLeary founded Horry County Rising, a political organization that campaigned for the county to adopt stricter regulations for floodplain construction. Much of the flooding in the Carolinas during Hurricane Florence occurred outside of federal flood zones, where few people have flood insurance or homes that are protected from flooding. In 2021, the county expanded its flood zone boundaries to include places that flooded during Hurricane Florence. And it required new homes built there to have their lowest floor three feet above the high water mark. The changes applied to all unincorporated parts of the county. But they faced pushback from local developers because of raised building costs. The county recently voted to lower the height requirements to two feet, after legal pressure from a developer. The flooding and growth also affect rural communities that have been rooted in the Carolinas for generations. In Bucksport, S.C., a small inland town in Horry County, Kevin Mishoe is a third-generation farmer and former chair of the Association for the Betterment of Bucksport. He said the newer building codes would pay dividends in future floods, but they would also make home ownership far more expensive for people in lower-income communities like Bucksport. Bucksport sits between two major rivers, nestled against wetlands and tidal forests. Mr. Mishoe lives with his wife in a mobile home that flooded during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018. Gina and Kevin Mishoe outside their home in Bucksport, S.C. Mr. Mishoe says he believes banks are denying loans to residents because of their location in a floodplain, a phenomenon he called bluelining. Meanwhile, he said, locals are being bombarded with offers from developers and private equity companies to buy their land. All of a sudden land that youre telling us is almost worthless because youre in a flood zone, everybodys trying to buy, he said. The area is considered prime real estate because of its access to water. This year, the county expressed support for a highway that would connect Myrtle Beach to inland parts of the county. The highway is expected to cut through Bucksport and its adjoining wetlands, and bring added development to the region. The towns residents emphatically do not want to sell their land, Mr. Mishoe said. Their ancestors have held on to this land for generations, and they intend to stay. Bucksports flooding problem began in 2015. But there are coastal Carolina communities that have endured regular hurricanes for over a century. Karen Willis Amspacher lives on Harkers Island in Carteret County, N.C. one of the most hurricane-prone counties in the country. The island is part of a string of low-lying rural communities near the Outer Banks that locals call Down East. The communities are connected by Highway 70, a dredged road that floods several times a year. Highway 70 outside Stacy, N.C., in Carteret County. Ms. Amspacher is a fifth-generation resident of the island and the director of the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum. There are a lot of newer residents, she said, moving into large houses on stilts, with generators and flood insurance. Some houses are second homes or vacation properties. The construction boom has driven up costs for locals. The fear and threat of sea level rise or storms doesn't hinder any of it, she said. A raised home under construction on Harkers Island, N.C. A new bridge under construction earlier this year will connect Harkers Island to the mainland, to improve evacuations during hurricanes. While the new homes may be safer, Ms. Amspacher said, many of the newcomers are isolated from the emotional trauma that her community experiences during a hurricane. This is a piece of property to them, she said. Its not their family inheritance. Its not their home. Its not where they hope their children will stay and grow up. Ms. Amspacher has had to evacuate her home in three past hurricanes. But shes not planning to leave for the next one. She said staying during storms was a way to protect property from damage, and was part of her communitys cultural identity. These hurricanes make these communities what we are, she said. Back in Wilmington, Sharon Valentine is also no stranger to hurricanes. She owned a large animal farm near Fayetteville, N.C., which was devastated by Hurricane Fran in 1996. So when she and her partner decided to retire in Wilmingtons Del Webb community in 2017, they knew the risks. Many others have followed since. Theres a mass migration down here, she said. Ms. Valentine organizes annual hurricane training for these newer arrivals. The community members have evacuation plans and look out for one another. Sharon Valentine and Leonard Bull keep an emergency go bag, which they call a calamity box, at their home in Wilmington. She, too, said the local infrastructure hadnt kept up with growth. There are two small bridges on either end of River Road that serve as the main evacuation routes for her community. She is concerned that they may flood in a major storm. If we really ever have a bad one, were going to have to get out of here, Ms. Valentine said. Still, when she thinks about all the newcomers, she sympathizes with their reasons for moving here. It is a beautiful place that has a dragon emerge periodically, she said. And so you weigh your risks. Fossil Clean Fossil Clean World electricity generation How Electricity Is Changing, Country by Country Carbon-free electricity has never been more plentiful. Wind and solar power have taken off over the past two decades, faster than experts ever expected. But it hasnt yet been enough to halt the rise of coal- and gas-burning generation. Thats because global demand for electricity has grown even faster than clean energy, leaving fossil fuels to fill the gap. The dynamic has pushed up carbon emissions from the power sector at a time when scientists say they need to be falling and fast to avoid dangerous levels of global warming. Where Fossil-Fueled Power Is Still Growing Today trend Over Last Decade Declining fossil power Mostly clean already Plateau or other trend Rising fossil power Circles are sized by the amount of total power generated by each country in 2021-22. trend Over Last Decade Mostly clean already Declining fossil power Plateau or other trend Rising fossil power Circles are sized by the amount of total power generated by each country in 2021-22. Note: Total generation data is shown through 2022 for the countries that have power generation data available through that year. For others, data is shown through 2021. More information on how the categories were determined can be found at the bottom of this page. Much of the rising power demand has come from rapidly-developing countries like China and India, where new coal plants are still coming online alongside wind and solar farms to power meteoric economic growth. But many industrialized nations are also not moving away from fossil fuels fast enough to meet their stated climate change goals. Even on todays trajectory, many experts expect that fossil-fueled power will peak globally in the next few years. Its already falling in major economies like the United States and Europe, and analysts expect China, by far the worlds largest power producer, to begin reducing coal-fired generation soon. The worlds climate future will depend, in large part, on what happens next. Experts broadly agree that keeping global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, the worlds self-imposed climate goal and ideally as low as 1.5 degrees will require peaking and then rapidly reducing fossil-fueled power, in favor of carbon-free sources, like wind and solar. (The world has already warmed about 1.2 degrees since preindustrial times.) The big question, said Dave Jones, an electricity analyst at Ember, a London-based think tank, is whether countries can increase the pace of renewable energy deployment so that theyre not just bringing down power sector emissions slowly, but actually enabling deep and rapid carbon dioxide emissions cuts. That question will take center stage at a global climate summit later this month. The stakes are enormous. The power sector is already the worlds single biggest source of planet-warming emissions. And plans to decarbonize many other parts of the global economy like transportation, buildings and industry also rely on plugging in to cleaner power. How electricity generation has changed in recent decades for the worlds major power producers, both rich countries and rapidly-developing ones, helps explain todays global picture and underscores the climate challenges ahead. Falling Fossil Fuels Fossil Clean Power Nuclear Hydro Wind & solar Oil Gas Coal United States European Union United Kingdom Australia See trends Compare totals In the United States and much of Europe, fossil-fueled power generation has been declining for years, especially coal. It has even started to fall in coal-reliant Australia. The rapid growth of renewable energy has played a major role. Wind turbines and solar panels generated 22 percent of the European Unions electricity last year, up from less than 1 percent two decades ago. The United States made 15 percent of its electricity from wind and solar energy last year, which is slightly more than the global average. The boom of cheap renewable power helped replace coal-fired generation in Europe. In the United States, natural gas which pollutes less than coal when burned, but still warms the climate played a key role in coals decline, alongside quickly-growing wind and solar. Lower overall electricity demand also contributed to the decline of fossil-fueled power. Electricity use grew rapidly in rich countries like the United States and many European nations during the previous century, but started to plateau or even decline in the 2000s largely thanks to improved energy efficiency, as well as the outsourcing of heavy industries. Yet neither the United States nor the European Unions trajectories are currently on track to meet the worlds ambitious 1.5 degree Celsius climate goal. Both major power producers recently passed legislation aimed at ramping up renewable energy, but growing economic headwinds and other challenges threaten to slow down their transitions, even as energy experts say they need to accelerate. Growth Through Coal Fossil Clean Power Nuclear Hydro Wind & solar Oil Gas Coal China India Indonesia Malaysia See trends Compare totals The trend so far looks very different in countries with rapidly growing economies nowhere more so than in China. China overtook the United States as the worlds single largest power producer in 2010, and now makes nearly a third of the worlds electricity. (The countrys per person electricity generation is still much lower than Americas.) For decades, the countrys soaring power demand was fulfilled largely by coal, the most polluting fossil fuel. Coal-fired generation continued to grow, though at a slower pace, even as China significantly expanded carbon-free power in recent years, especially wind and solar. Now, Chinas power sector is getting close to a turning point. Energy analysts expect carbon-free power to grow enough in the next few years to start pushing out coal-fired electricity here, too. And because of the countrys outsize share of the global total, peak coal power in China will likely be a global one. How quickly coal power and related emissions will decline after that peak is less clear. In a recent agreement with the United States, China said it would speed up renewable energy deployment to accelerate the substitution for coal, oil and gas generation and agreed to pursue meaningful power-sector emissions cuts over the next decade. But whether it will stop approving new coal plants remains to be seen. Coal continues to dominate electricity generation in other rapidly-developing countries, many of them in Asia, as well. India, the worlds most populous nation, has set strong renewable energy targets, but officials say the country still needs coal to develop its economy and provide reliable, affordable power to millions of people. Indonesia, meanwhile, said it could phase out coal power by 2040 if it gets enough financial help from rich countries to build out cleaner energy. Financing wind and solar projects remains a challenge for developing countries, said Faran Rana, an associate program officer at the International Renewable Energy Agency. When you look at lifecycle costs, renewables are by far more cost-competitive than any fossil-fueled generation, he said. But the upfront cost is a barrier. Millions of people around the world also continue to go without access to any form of electricity. While major global challenges remain, said Nancy Haegel, a researcher at the United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the rapid growth of solar and wind generation so far shows that this transition is doable and its well under way. Every Country Tells a Story Explore trends among the worlds top power-producing countries, in alphabetical order, below. Note: These charts show countries on their own scale, making it easier to see individual trends and power mixes. You can swap the view to compare totals to see which countries play an outsized role. The top 60 power-producing countries with data available through 2022 are shown. See trends Compare totals Fossil Clean Power Nuclear Hydro Wind & solar Oil Gas Coal Argentina Australia Austria Bangladesh Belgium Brazil Bulgaria Canada Chile Chile is among a small number of countries where rising power demand has been met largely by renewable energy. China Colombia Czechia Denmark Ecuador Egypt Finland France Germany Greece Hungary India Indonesia Iran Ireland Italy Japan shut down its nuclear reactors in the years following the 2011 Fukushima disaster but recently started to reverse course. Japan Kazakhstan Kuwait Malaysia Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Serbia Saudi Arabia Rising power demand in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East has been met almost entirely by oil and gas. Singapore Slovakia South Africa has struggled to deliver consistent power to its residents, which complicates the decline in coal power shown here. South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Turkey Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Vietnam Richard Edelman kicked off PRSA-NYs Nov. 15 Big Apple PR Awards (scroll down for pics posted Nov. 24 & full list of winners) in New York City by presenting the Daniel J. Edelman award to Bret Stephens, opinion columnist for the New York Times and Editor-in-Chief of Sapir. This is the second year for the award, given to someone whom Edelman described as displaying courage and a commitment to excellence and truth. Stephens has previously worked as foreign-affairs columnist for The Wall Street Journal and as editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post. Bret Stephens at PRSA-NY's Big Apple Awards Nov. 15 in New York. photos: Puma Venu Edelman, CEO of the largest independent PR firm, noted how its only fitting that his father, a true New York kid, has the award in his name. A career in PR began after being drafted in 1941 and spending nights listening to Nazi broadcasts in Europe. The founder of Edelman in 1952 longed for a day job and his first employers take on him was, hmm, psychological warfare, you look like you could do PR, joked Edelman. In everything Ive seen Richard do in his personal and professional life, its always straight, good and true, Stephens began after Edelmans introduction. The Edelman name is associated with the word trust, thanks to Edelmans invaluable Trust Barometer, Stephens noted. Trust is important to our lives and its important to the lives of nations, Stephens said. He continued that high-trust societies like Denmark or Israel flourish while low-trust societies like Lebanon or Brazil, sadly flounder. Public trust in the news media is at an all-time low, Stephens lamented. But he pointed out that news media self-regard remains at a consistent high. Exogenous reasons for the lowly reputation of media include the advent of cable news, spread of social media and the proliferation of disinformation as well as the general broader loss of trust in nearly every institution in American life, Stephens explained. Stephens called on those who care about the health of the news media to heed the adage, Physician heal thyself. For Stephens, members of the news media need to remember that theyre in the humble but essential business of supplying reliable information and independent analysis to people who need it. Lofty goals such as saving democracy or championing social justice are just grandiose causes that simply flatter vanity and obscure judgment and purpose. Snarky posts on social media and slanted stories just undermine our own authority, Stephens said. He called for an end to the cult of celebrity in the news business. For Stephens, theres a warm bath of intellectual conformity in too much of todays mainstream mediathat includes Fox News as much as MSNBC and all places in between. That is not to say Stephens doesnt have plenty of biases of his own, but he couches this with the defense that he lays his cards on the table. I dont offer objectivity, but I try to offer independence, honesty and hopefully, sometimes, good judgment, Stephens said. Dovetailing back to his admiration of Edelman and the agencys focus on trust he encouraged those at the awards not to be overwhelmed by the cliche that trust gained over many years can be lost in an instant. For Stephens, redeeming trust isnt a hopeless pursuit, just arduous and all the more essential. More so than ever, a flourishing and free society needs a news media that understands its proper role and wins over and over, day after day, hour after hour, the public trust, Stephens concluded. INDIVIDUAL CHAPTER AWARDS Carole Cone, Carole Cone on Purpose, accepts the The Barbara Way Hunter Trailblazer Award - Sponsored by Hunter Barbara Hunter video message to Big Apple crowd. Bret Stephens, Opinion Columnist at The New York Times, accepts Daniel J. Edelman New Yorker of the Year award from Richard Edelman. John Iwata, Yale School of Management, with Patrice Tanaka after accepting the The Harold Burson Award Sponsored by BCW. Emily K. Graham, Chief Equity & Impact Officer, Omnicom, accepts PRSA-NY Presidents Award. Patrice Tanaka, Founder & Chief Joy Officer, Joyful Planet, accepts PRSA-NY Excellence in Mentoring Award. Tom Coyne, Founder & CEO, Coyne PR, with wife and children after accepting John W. Hill award for lifetime achievement in PR sponsored by Hill and Knowlton. Tom Coyne and the gang tear it up at the after-party at Tao Downtown. Art Stevens, managing partner of The Stevens Group, with this years Art Stevens/CCNY/PRSA-NY annual scholarship recipient Francina Saint-Hilaire. The annual award is given to an undergraduate student at The College of the City of New York who majors in public relations. This years scholarship is the sixteenth such honor. Stevens is an alumnus of CCNY. CAMPAIGN & AGENCY AWARDS Reputation & Brand Management Group Reputation/Brand Management & Brand Engagement > A. Business A Fair Shot with NIL Deals for NCAA Women - WINNER Carmichael Lynch Relate | H&R Block Integrated Communications > A. Consumer Products Grape-Nuts Fueling Female Explorers to Reach New Heights - WINNER HUNTER | Grape-Nuts Alka-Seltzer and T-Pain Help Hangover Symptoms Fizzle - HONORABLE MENTION Coyne Public Relations | Bayer Consumer Health Alka-Seltzer Integrated Communications > B. Consumer Services A Fair Shot with NIL Deals for NCAA Women - WINNER Carmichael Lynch Relate | H&R Block SPOTLIGHT: Brand Engagement The Boundless Bucket List Contest, Empowered by the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card from Chase - WINNER Fleishman Hillard | Chase & Marriot Bonvoy Thailand Becomes Filming Location for White Lotus Season 3 - HONORABLE MENTION RHC | Tourism Authority of Thailand EVENTS & OBSERVANCES GROUP Events & Observances (1-7 Days) > A. Business Roll Home in Style - WINNER HUNTER | Kings Hawaiian Events & Observances (1-7 Days) > C. Campaigns with Budgets of $200,000 or Less Campaign Smashing Records with iovera at the National Senior Games - WINNER Coyne Public Relations | Iovera Events & Observances (More Than 7 Days) > A. Business Ollies Celebrates its 40th Anniversary in a BIG Way - WINNER Coyne Public Relations | Ollies PUBLIC SERVICE / PUBLIC AFFAIRS GROUP Public Service > A. Business Cause For Alarm - WINNER Citizen Relations | Kidde Anti Texas Two-Step Asbestos Litigation - HONORABLE MENTION The TASC Group | Asbestos Litigation Subcommittee Public Affairs > B. Campaigns with Budgets of $200,000 or Less Desegregating the Salon - WINNER RED PR | Aveda Arts & Sciences Institutes CONSUMER MARKETING GROUP Marketing Consumer Products > A. Healthcare Freezing Out the Competition with iovera - WINNER Coyne Public Relations | Iovera Honoring Senior Athletes at the 2022 National Senior Games: The Humana Game Changers - HONORABLE MENTION Coyne Public Relations | Humana Marketing Consumer Products > C. Beauty CeraVe Enlists Dermfluencers and TikTok Titans to Show Consumers How to #CleanseLikeaDerm - WINNER Coyne Public Relations | CeraVe Marketing Consumer Products > F. Packaged Goods Roll Home in Style - WINNER HUNTER | Kings Hawaiian Marketing Consumer Products > H. Other The One Above All Else: Launching the Highest Residence in the World - WINNER AGEAN | SERHANT. Marketing Consumer Products > I. Campaigns with Budgets of $200,000 or Less The One Above All Else: Launching the Highest Residence in the World - WINNER AGEAN | SERHANT. Marketing Consumer Services > A. Healthcare Providing Health for Healthcare Workers - APN x Diffusion - WINNER Diffusion PR | APN Marketing Consumer Services > C. Finance A Fair Shot with NIL deals for NCAA Women - WINNER Carmichael Lynch Relate | H&R Block Best Use of Spokesperson/Influencer > A. Healthcare Neuriva Food for Thought - WINNER HUNTER | Neuriva Best Use of Spokesperson/Influencer > C. Finance Batter Up For The Boys & Girls Clubs of LA Harbor - WINNER 360PR+ | loamDepot Best Use of Spokesperson/Influencer > I. Other CeraVe Enlists Dermfluencers and TikTok Titans to Show Consumers How to #CleanseLikeaDerm - WINNER Coyne Public Relations | CeraVe Onesies 40th Anniversary - HONORABLE MENTION 360PR+ | Gerber Childswear Best Use of Owned Social Media > C. Finance A Fair Shot with NIL deals for NCAA Women - WINNER Carmichael Lynch Relate | H&R Block Best Use of Owned Social Media > I. Other Doja introduces Jibble - WINNER Harman International Industries | JBL BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS GROUP Marketing Business-to-Business > D. Other Breaking down Mental Health Barriers - Diffusion x Wysa - WINNER Diffusion PR | Wysa TARGETED MARKETING GROUP Multicultural Public Relations > A. Targeted Marketing: Black Audiences Cause For Alarm - WINNER Citizen Relations | Kidde CIROC Vodka Celebrates Black Excellence in Sports Media with #CIROCStands Platform During Super Bowl LVII - HONORABLE MENTION HUNTER | CIROC Multicultural Public Relations > A. Targeted Marketing: Black Audiences Good Green Grant Program Multicultural Outreach Campaign - WINNER Thought Bubble Communications | Good Green DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION & BELONGING GROUP Mental Health & Wellness in the Workplace > C. Campaigns with Budgets of $200,000 or Less The Truth Is Influencer Campaign - WINNER 360PR+ | Tommee Tippee The Ally Award Desegregating the Salon - WINNER RED PR | Aveda Arts & Sciences Institutes MEDIA RELATIONS & CONTENT MARKETING GROUP SPOTLIGHT: Video > A. 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In her evidence to the morning sitting of last Wednesday's Tullamore district court, Sgt Joanne Martin said that on December 9, 2021 it had been brought to the attention of the gardai that three anonymous letters had been sent to a national school in Offaly. She said the letters were of a sexual and graphic nature and an investigation got underway. On January 1 this year gardai were able to match DNA under a stamp on one of the letters with that of the defendant Philip McGachey (49), Clunbroch, Athlone. There were 7 letters in total, she said. She said the injured party was present and would like to address the court. Sgt Brendan Kearns said the DPP directed summary disposal on a plea only. Judge Andrew Cody said if Mr McGachey was sending vile and filthy letters it was well above the jurisdiction of the district court. Solicitor for Mr McGachey said his client was facing a single charge which was harrassment. Judge Cody said he had only read one letter and it was the most ''vile filth'' he had ever seen. Solicitor for Mr McGachey said his client had gathered up 1,000 in compensation. Judge Cody said he needed to reconsider that amount adding that it was a ''million miles'' away from what would be required. He said with permission from the injured party he would read some of the letters in court, adding the public should be made aware. Judge Cody said he would consider the case over lunch and adjourned the matter to the afternoon sitting. In the afternoon, Judge Cody said he would read some of the contents of the letters. Before that he issued a warning to anyone of a weak or nervous disposition to leave the courtroom. He said he was struggling to keep jurisdiction of the case. The solicitor for Mr McGachey intervened to say if the court was in any doubt then maybe it should refuse jurisdiction. He said the compensation available would be limited and would not reflect the gravity of the case. He said it was a token gesture of remorse. He said his client was never going to be able to pay much more, even over time. Judge Cody once again said the letters were the most vile, disgusting and inhumane letters that anyone could mete out to another person. Refusing jurisdiction he remanded the accused on bail to appear on December 20 for DPP directions. As the floats pass by and the turkey is in the oven, the clock is already counting down on the fleeting holiday season. So you may as well let the wave of holiday nostalgia overtake you and participate in an annual holiday tradition or two before the presents are unwrapped and the lights come down. Below are some holiday traditions you should see at least once. But beware of the slippery slope of seeing them once a year for the foreseeable future. Turkey Trot (mostly for the costumes)The YMCA Turkey Trot is a lot of things: a race, a fundraiser and, for many, an annual family gathering. Its also an incredibly silly and entertaining holiday tradition. People have been running the Thanksgiving Day race for the last 128 years. They often dress up in costume turkeys and Santa Claus are popular characters and run/walk nearly 5 miles down Delaware Avenue from Tacoma Avenue to the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center on Franklin Street, where many of the participants gather to drink beer and debrief. Join the cheerleaders on the sidelines at any point in the race (parking on side streets will be easier to find away from the ends of the course) to join in the fun and see all the costumes. You can even turn it into a drinking game: Take a sip of coffee for every turkey hat. Then youll have enough energy to help cook Thanksgiving dinner. Lighting of the Star atop Hamburg water towerThe days may get shorter, but at least there are a lot of holiday lights to illuminate the evenings. The star atop the Village of Hamburg water tower is lit each year in a ceremony during Christmas in the Village, a festival put on by volunteer group Hamburgh Holidays. The evening starts at 5:30 Dec. 1 and is full of festive and family-friendly activities, such as Victorian carolers, trolley rides, letter-writing to Santa Claus and warming up by fire pits. At 7 p.m., the Lighting of the Star near Main Street Ice Creams patio is a must-see event for fans of quaint holiday traditions. Holiday Pops with the Buffalo Philharmonic OrchestraThe Holiday Pops concert by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is a popular annual tradition for a reason. Its a chance to immerse yourself in familiar merry tunes in a beautiful setting at Kleinhans Music Hall. Conductor John Morris Russell leads the orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and featured vocalists, in performing holiday musical classics, such as Mary, Did You Know? and Grown Up Christmas Wish. After the performance, swing by The Place (229 Lexington Ave.) for a Tom & Jerry, the cherry on top of a festive day. The Holiday Pops concert is at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 14 and 15, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 17. Tickets are $44 to $108. Visit bpo.org. Festival of Lights at Erie County FairgroundsTake your tradition of driving around the neighborhood admiring light displays hung by spirited locals up a notch by attending the Festival of Lights. The Erie County Fairgrounds lights up with elaborate and bright holiday displays that appeal to children and adults. It becomes a sort of North Pole this time of year, with a European-style market, kettle corn and farm animals. Children will enjoy the opportunity to make crafts, write a letter to Santa and hop on kiddie rides. The full festival experience (includes everything but the rides and food, which cost extra) is $30 per vehicle plus fees and is from 5 to 10 p.m. Nov. 24-26, Dec. 1-3, 8-10 and 15-23. The drive-thru only festival, which excludes the extra North Pole-like festival activities, is $20 per vehicle and is from 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 30, Dec. 7, 14 and 26-30. Horse-drawn carriages and ice skating during the Downtown Buffalo Christmas Tree Lighting CelebrationIts not quite the Rockefeller Center tree lighting, but the similarities are there: big tree, ice skating and an anticipatory countdown just before the tree lights up for the holiday season. Buffalos annual Christmas tree lighting will also feature free ice skating at the Fountain Plaza outdoor rink, horse-drawn carriage rides around the plaza, a visit from Santa Claus and art making with the Buffalo AKG mobile art truck. The event is Dec. 9, with free ice skating beginning at 5 p.m. and the tree lighting at 6 p.m. Skate rentals will be available. The government has confirmed funding worth 1 million for men's sheds across Ireland. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, today (Monday November 20) announced news of the new fund at the very first 'Shedfest' in Virginia, Co Cavan. Grants of up to 3,000 will be provided to eligible men's sheds to support the running costs of 435 sheds around the country. Inspired by the Australian movement of the same name, the Irish Mens Sheds Association was formed in 2011 to offer men an opportunity to meet in a supportive, collaborative space, improve their health and wellbeing, and contribute to their communities. Speaking at Shedfest, Minister Humphreys said, "The emergence of our Mens Sheds has been a hugely positive development for communities right across Ireland. "They help tackle isolation and provide a safe, comfortable and welcoming environment where men of all ages can come together to socialise, share skills and work on meaningful projects. "As we enter the winter months, the supports that our Mens Sheds provide are more important than ever. "Im therefore delighted to announce this new 1 million initiative, which will see 435 Mens Sheds supported with grants of up to 3,000. "This funding builds on last years fund of 800,000 to support Mens Sheds, and just shows the long term commitment to Mens Sheds from this government." She continued: "I was delighted to meet with so many of the members of Mens Sheds at their first ever national conference in Virginia, County Cavan, which is called Shedfest. "As Minister for Rural and Community Development, I regularly meet Mens Sheds and I am very proud of the work they do and the contribution they make to their communities. "I have no doubt that this funding that I am announcing today will give a help hand to Mens Sheds in terms of paying a bill or perhaps carrying out small improvements to the facilities." CEO of the Irish Mens Sheds Association, Enda Egan, thanked the minister for "her ongoing support for the sheds". He said, "The Mens Shed movement was hit very hard by the Covid pandemic with weekly attendance numbers falling from 10,000 pre-covid to approximately 6,000 currently. This announcement is a major a boost for us in the Irish Mens Sheds Association to know that this funding can be utilised by sheds to pay for their utility bills throughout this winter and mitigate against the increased cost of running a Mens shed. "This funding will help greatly towards the sustainability of Irelands 435 Mens Sheds as many continue to struggle to re-open and remain operational post-covid. There is no doubt Shed members up and down the country, and their communities will benefit greatly from this funding and I know that the support from Minister Humphreys is much appreciated by all shed members." Money from the funding will reportedly be allocated to sheds nationwide by the Irish Men's Sheds Association. Sheds across Ireland include 5 in Carlow, 75 in Dublin, 9 in Laois, 16 in Meath, 12 in Westmeath, 16 in Kildare, 10 in Offaly, 9 in Kilkenny, 7 in Longford, 25 each in Donegal and Limerick, 16 in Tipperary, 21 in Mayo and 10 in Waterford, among many others. The Irish government is willing to help in any way economically to aid the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland, a senior minister has said. The Stormont institutions have been effectively collapsed for more than a year and a half amid protest action by the DUP over post-Brexit trading arrangements. This has left senior civil servants with limited powers leading government departments in Northern Ireland in the absence of locally elected ministers. Talks remain ongoing between the DUP and the UK government to address unionist concerns. At the weekend, Irish premier Leo Varadkar said the Irish Government would be happy to contribute to any financial package that would support the return of Northern Irelands powersharing institutions. Mr Varadkar also told his Fine Gael partys special conference that there is a real possibility the Stormont Assembly and Executive could return by Christmas or in the New Year. Last week, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson indicated they were in the process of refining legislation that protects Northern Irelands ability to trade within the UK, while previously Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said that he believed the talks were in the final phase. On Monday, Irelands Minister for Public Expenditure, Paschal Donohoe, emphasised that functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland will benefit the entire island. In terms of money from the Republic he said there is money in the Shared Island Fund over a number of years that has not been allocated. The Shared Island Fund was announced in 2021 with a plan for 500 million euro (437m) in capital funding available to 2025 for investment in collaborative north/south projects. In June, the Irish government announced 44.5 million euro (38.97) for major investment at the Ulster Universitys campus in Derry from the Shared Island Fund. Asked where the money would come from to support the restoration of Stormont, Mr Donohoe said: It would be money that well be making available that we havent committed before, but these funds and that money would come out of the Shared Island Fund in the first instance. Id have to say the benefits of getting the institutions in Northern Ireland up and running again would be of such benefit to the entire island of Ireland and obviously the communities of Northern Ireland, that the government would really lean in to try to help in any way that we can with this economically. But at the moment, we have a large amount of funding within the Shared Island Fund that has yet to be allocated and that is the first place that offers the ability to support any initiative that may help. Offaly boasts four finalists in this years FBD Better Farming Awards awarding the highest levels of achievement made in the industrys move towards a more sustainable sector. The awards reward initiatives, research and practices that are helping Irish agriculture meet its economic, social and environmental challenges. They go beyond the headlines to recognise the real difference achieved by those who have excelled in various areas of agriculture. The Offaly finalists are - AgTech Ireland Best Agritech Hardware Product * Agri Data Analytics Small Sustainable Food Producer of the year (under 20 employees) * Fox Covert Partnership Small Sustainable Food Producer of the year (under 20 employees) * Feigherys Farm Herdwatch Biodiversity Farmer of the year * Adrian Egan FRS Network Diversification Farmer of the year * Anne Marie Feighery The Bovine Breathalyser from Agri Data Analytics is a non-invasive machine that measures enteric methane emissions from ruminants. Using a small amount of feed, ruminants are enticed into a feeding area where testing takes place. While eating, multiple breath samples are collected and passed through specialised gas sensors that accurately measure the amount of methane produced. Fox Covert Farm Hemp Seed Products, based in the heart of Ireland in Offaly, is reducing their carbon footprint and building sustainability within their farm while being mindful of nutrition and healthy eating led them to discovering hemp seeds and to process hemp hearts and milled hemp as part of their products. Feigherys Farm first launched Irish Beetroot Juice in March 2019 and the only option for the Irish consumer was to drink imported versions from the UK and Germany predominantly. It is a family orientated business as the beetroot for the juice is all grown pesticide-free on the family farm in the heart of Ireland in Co. Offaly. Adrian Egan farms is a 38-hectare, organic weanling to beef enterprise at Tumbeagh, Offaly comprising pasture, forestry and tillage, which joined the Farm Carbon EIP in 2021. About 20% of the farm is now managed for biodiversity and habitat conditions have improved across the farm through simple measures. The inaugural Better Farming Awards gala evening presentations will take place in the Heritage Hotel, Killenard, Laois on Thursday, November 30, 2023. To mark College Awareness Week, National Learning Network (NLN), the education and training division of the Rehab Group, is hosting a National Open Day across many of its centres from 11am on Thursday, November 23. This eagerly anticipated event will unfold across many NLN centres nationwide, serving as a cornerstone celebration for National College Awareness Week. In Tullamore, the Open Day will be held at the NLN college on Tanyard Lane. Please email tullamore@nln.ie for more information. College Awareness Week aims to promote the benefits of a post-secondary education plan for everyone. It is supported by the National Association of Principals, Deputy Principals, and other organisations such as the Union of Students in Ireland and the Irish Union of Second-Level Students. NLN, with a presence in over 50 locations across Ireland, is a progressive leader in delivering personalised education, training, and development opportunities throughout Irish communities for people with disabilities or people requiring additional support. NLNs certified training courses have significantly impacted the progression of people with disabilities and health conditions into further education and employment. More than 1,653 NLN students have gone on to further education since 2020, and an additional 950 have been supported to find jobs. Some participants, who were previously locked out of the jobs market, have landed jobs in a range of companies such as Meta, Cook Medical, and Mr. Price and across the hospitality and tourism industry. People attending National Learning Network include those claiming any form of disability benefit, autistic people, those recovering from an accident or injury, or those living with mental health challenges, or learning disabilities. NLN each year also supports hundreds of people with complex and enduring mental health issues through a programme called Individual Placement and Support (IPS). IPS helps people who would have otherwise met with barriers to the employment market to find work in mainstream competitive jobs. The service is currently supporting 329 participants, 89 of whom are working and being supported to maintain their jobs. NLN is particularly attuned to the needs of those who find traditional post-school study routes challenging, including individuals with autism or those who may struggle in larger class settings. Who Can Attend? The NLN Open Day will welcome individuals who may benefit from a supported training course, from school-leavers aged 16 up to adults of all ages. Our dedicated staff collaborates with employers to match students with the right roles, fostering a supportive personal and professional growth environment. Seventeen-year-old Katie Nolan from Tralee found mainstream secondary school challenging, but her life changed when she discovered NLN. Before I found NLN, I was in a mainstream secondary school with an SNA. When I was in Transition Year, I had to start looking at my future. I found mainstream secondary school difficult and knew I wouldn't have been able for the standard leaving certificate. I decided to explore further, and I attended pathway fairs where I discovered NLN. The very helpful staff told me and my parents all about the supports NLN offers, small class sizes, rehabilitation officers, psychologists, learning support teachers, and sensory room, to name a few." "I attended an introduction week in NLN Tralee, and I loved it. I felt that I was included and listened to as the college is very inclusive and I knew this would be the perfect fit for me. I realised that I could get the education I wanted to progress further and do it at my own pace with the support that I needed. And this is exactly what I've done. Im now studying QQI level 3 Introductory Skills Training. Since I started in the NLN I've changed so much. If you told me 12 months ago that I would have had the confidence to travel up to Dublin and Cork to do private courses to become a qualified dog trainer working with search and rescue dogs and assistance dogs and have my own business, I would not have believed it was possible. I'm also progressing my education privately and begin my Emergency Medical Technician course in September. Once I've this done, I will then move further into paramedics. All this has been made possible by coming to NLN," said Katie. Director of Learning at National Learning Network, Lucianne Bird, said: "We are delighted to be part of a nationwide campaign to promote the importance of post-secondary education, particularly for people with disabilities or those who need a little support to achieve their goals. People with disabilities experience multiple barriers to accessing and sustaining employment, including access and infrastructural barriers, poverty traps, negative stereotypical perceptions, and limited progressive education opportunities. NLN advocates for students to have the choice to pursue the course best suited to their interests, abilities, and dreams. We feel passionately about how NLN works for people for whom traditional post school routes simply do not work. We are a pathway for people to access further and third level education, apprenticeships, and employment. At NLN, we believe no one should be left behind, and this is what our inclusive, equitable education and training model is all about." "We work with people of all ages, from early school leavers to adults of all ages. Our staff are skilled in working with employers to help match students with the right employer and the right role. We would advise anyone who needs extra support to get into employment or further education to drop into a participating centre during our National Open Day event on November 23rd," she said. Members of the public interested in attending an NLN Open Day can log onto www.nln.ie to find the location of their nearest participating centre. ADVICE for first-time house buyers will be given at an information meeting in Edenderry on Thursday, November 30 next. The meeting is being hosted by local Fianna Fail representative, Cllr Robert McDermott, and will take place in ODonoghues Bar & Lounge, Fr Kearns Street, Edenderry. Cllr McDermott said the main theme of the evening will be How to buy your first home. The councillor (pictured below) said that because his office receives a large volume of queries regarding the supports available to people either building homes or seeking to purchase vacant properties, he felt it would be a good idea to hold a public meeting to address the various issues raised. There will be presentations on: First Home Scheme, Help to buy scheme, How to save costs on planning applications, Derelict Home Grant, Vacant Home Grant and SEAI (Sustainable Energy Association Ireland) grants and schemes. The keynote speaker on the night will be Senator Mary Fitzpatrick who works closely with the Minister for Housing, Darragh OBrien and is a member of the housing committee in the Oireachtas. Other contributors on the night will include Shane Murphy, managing director of Ashgrove Renewables who will give a detailed presentation on the various SEAI schemes and grants that people can avail of to make their homes more energy efficient. Offaly Fianna Fail TD, Barry Cowen, and Cllr Eddie Fitzpatrick, Fianna Fail, will also be attending the public meeting. Just six months ago, economic development officials were gushing about plans by Plug Power to expand the green hydrogen facility it is building in Genesee County, calling it one of the biggest investments ever in the region. Now, questions surround the future of the project and the company. Plug Power, the Albany-based company behind the $678 million project, issued a dire warning to investors earlier this month, saying that it was running dangerously short on funds, raising concerns that it would be able to stay in business. Plug Powers already-battered share price fell 40% on Nov. 10 after the company released disappointing quarterly results containing the warning. In light of our projected capital expenditure and operating requirements under our current business plan, we have determined that there is a substantial doubt that we will have sufficient capital to fund our operations through the next 12 months, the company said in the filing. These conditions and events raise substantial doubt about the companys ability to continue as a going concern. Plug Powers warning triggered negative headlines for the company in the financial media. But in an interview, CEO Andy Marsh disputed the notion that the company is facing long-term financial trouble. Its really more a technicality than anything else, Marsh said of the going concern warning. It hasnt changed any of our outlooks for how were going to be running our business the next year or so. And Genesee County economic development officials say they remain confident about the companys Town of Alabama project, which is an anchor of the Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park, or STAMP. But the going concern warning that Plug Power issued is viewed as an alarming warning sign by investors. A going concern notice shows up in financial reports when firms have some uncertainty whether theyre going to be able to sustain operations, if they have enough cash to keep going over the next 12 months, said Michael Dambra, associate professor of accounting law at the University at Buffalos School of Management. When a firm discloses that, its more likely than not that something has to change fundamentally for the firm to sustain operations, Dambra said. In a conference call with analysts last week, Plug Powers CFO, Paul Middleton, sought to tamp down the significance of the going concern warning. The language that weve included is oftentimes driven by accounting standards and how you have to evaluate it and manage it, he said. And its a lot more conservative, obviously, than what we feel like. But the concerns about Plug Power involve more than just the warning issued by the company. Plug Power reported a $284 million loss during the third quarter, far steeper than analysts who track the company were expecting. The loss was bigger than Plug Powers $199 million in sales during the quarter. The company blamed the loss on unprecedented supply challenges that constrained volume and delayed deployments. Plug Powers stock price was clobbered the day after the company released its third quarter earnings after the end of trading day on Nov. 9. Its shares fell to as low as $3.22 per share; on Friday, they were trading for about $4, down about 75% over the past year as investors have soured on green energy stocks. Marsh this week expressed confidence about Plug Powers outlook and insisted the company was well-positioned to obtain more capital. He noted that the company has no debt. Weve been really clear that we were going to raise between $500 (million) and $750 million for months now, he said. We do have a clear path how we can bring more capital into the company, a lot it right off our $5 billion unleveraged balance sheet. Plug Powers future is especially important in Genesee County, where the company first announced plans in February 2021 to build a green hydrogen plant now under construction at STAMP. From STAMPs perspective, we see construction work continuing at the site and there is no indication that this work is being impacted, said Jim Krencik, a spokesman for the GCEDC. So from that standpoint, we remain very confident in Plug Power and its commitment at STAMP. Marsh said the project remains on track and the cost will likely exceed $678 million, due to higher construction expenses. Plans call for the local operation to have 78 employees. The company will produce liquid hydrogen for freight transportation and materials handling equipment. Plug Powers project ignited development of a site that was designed to attract large-scale employers but for years had struggled to secure a tenant. Edwards Vacuum, which supports the semiconductor industry, has also committed to the STAMP site, with plans for a $319 million plant. STAMP is roughly halfway between the Buffalo and Rochester regions, north of the Thruways Pembroke exit. In Plug Powers latest quarterly shareholder letter, the company said it plans to commission the STAMP plant next year and targets reaching full production in 2025. The company said it continues to work with National Grid and the New York Power Authority to complete and energize a new substation at the site. Construction of the substation continues, the GCEDC said. Marsh said a key factor is a $1.5 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. Plug Power expects the agency will approve the loan in the second or third quarter of 2024. I think thats where all the big work really starts happening, to get that plant online, he said. Plug Power in its quarterly report said it faced obstacles from a hydrogen shortage in North America, but Marsh said that picture has since improved. He said Plug Power has a solid customer base that includes Amazon, Walmart and Home Depot, and the company expects to generate more revenue this [current] quarter than weve ever generated in any quarter. Analysts had mixed reactions to Plug Powers earnings report and the going concern warning. Some of them downgraded the stock and lowered their price targets. Management expressed confidence in executing a liquidity transaction near-term and continues to see a path for margin improvement through next year, said RBC Capital analyst Chris Dendrinos, in a note to clients. However, at this time we think it prudent to move to the sidelines and await execution of these events and until we see more material progress on initiatives to reduce the cash burn and improve margins. Citigroup analyst Vikram Bagri downgraded Plug Powers stock in a report Wednesday. Although there is a narrow way out of the near-term issues, margin of error is small, he wrote in the report. Marsh, however, had a more upbeat view. If you read all the analysts reports, theyre actually all pretty bullish when you get into the details, Marsh said. Most of them, its not, The worlds collapsing. Karnataka Seer Shivamurthy Sharana Arrested In POCSO Case After Court Issues NBW Bengaluru pti-PTI The pontiff of the Chitradurga Murugharajendra Bruhan Math was arrested on Monday, hours after a Court issued a non-bailable warrant in the second Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case pending against him. The Second Additional Sessions Judge B K Komala in Chitradurga issued the non-bailable warrant and ordered the police to produce Shivamurthy Sharana before her by Tuesday. He was in custody since September 1, 2022 and was granted bail by the High Court on November 8 in the first of the two POCSO cases against him, following which he was released from jail here on November 16. After he was set free, the seer was staying at the Virakta Math in Davangere, from where he was arrested by the Chitradurga police on today. The High Court had imposed several conditions for the bail in one of the two POCSO cases against the pontiff, including that he will not be allowed to enter Chitradurga district till the completion of the investigation in the cases. Age Of Consent: Law Panel Recommends Amendment To POCSO Act He was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs two lakh and two sureties for similar amounts, and warned not to tamper with evidence or influence the witnesses. The first complaint against the pontiff and four others was filed by the 'Odanadi Seva Samsthe', an NGO, in Mysuru alleging sexual harassment of minor students studying in the mutts school and staying in its hostel in Chitradurga. The Nazarabad police in Mysuru had registered a case under POCSO and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The case was transferred to the Chitradurga Rural police station subsequently. The second case under POCSO was registered after the mother of two minor girls filed a complaint alleging that her two daughters and two other minor girls were sexually assaulted by the seer while they were residing in the hostel 2019 and 2022. The complaint had also alleged that the junior seer Basavaditya and others including Paramashivaiah, Gangadhar, Mahalinga and Karibasappa were involved. Paramashivaiah's name was dropped from the charge sheet in the second case subsequently. Stalin In Your Constituency, A Blockbuster Campaign Chennai oi-Oneindia English Desk CM Stalin, when he was the opposition leader, started the 'Ungal Thoguthiyil Stalin' (Stalin in your constituency) campaign and went on to collect petitions from people regarding their grievances. This initiative was mocked and criticised by the ruling party saying that Stalin is giving false hope to the public because he has no time to read the petitions and resolve the grievances. Not bothering about the criticisms, he sincerely collected petitions and through them he is changing the lives of the public. Resolution of grievances of public: A youngster from Pudukkottai district gave a petition to CM Stalin seeking a government job. After DMK formed the government, the petition was sent to the relevant authorities who explained the process of getting government employment via the exams conducted by TNPSC (Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission). Additionally, the authorities explained the ways in which they can offer help with which the youngster turned an ordinary shop into a magnificent Android smart phone shop. The youngster Prasath from Alangudi taluk in Pudukkottai district said, "I have owned a shop near Vamban four-way junction for the last 12 years. Being a ME Electronics and Communications graduate, I started a small mobile service shop and sold small mobile parts also. When Stalin came to our town for the 'Stalin in your constituency' campaign, I gave the petition seeking government employment. After assuming power, DMK government acted upon the petitions by assigning an IAS officer with the sole responsibility of redressing the grievances. Regarding my petition, I was educated about the procedure for the appointment of government posts via TNPSC exams. Coming to know about my background and occupation, the authorities informed me about the provision of loan with subsidy for the expansion of business. Since I do not have anyone to offer big financial help, I took advantage of the opportunity. A month later, Pudukkottai District Industries Centre contacted me and guided me to get a loan of 5 lakhs with subsidy upto 1.25 lakh. With the loan amount, I purchased a colour printer, lamination machine, and Xerox machine. Initially I sold small phones but later upgraded to android mobiles sales. From xeroxing alone, I am earning approximately 2000 rupees per day out of which 500 rupees is profit. Other than this, income comes from lamination, mobile service and selling mobiles etc. Never in my dreams had I imagined such importance would be given to my petition. I am eternally grateful to CM Stalin." Kameshwaran, another youngster from Pudukkottai district doing coconut coir business said, "I started a new business in Veppangudi village after completing B.Tech Engineering. Before starting the business, I approached many companies to gain experience. When the need for funds to start the company was raised, I sought the help of banks for the provision of loans. The District Industries Centre after going through the blueprint of the business helped to get the loan from the bank within 6 months of time." The one thing evident from both the instances is that getting a loan for business is not as difficult as before, eligible people can easily get loans anytime via the Industries Centre which is the norm of the new government. Palanisamy, another beneficiary said, "I established a plant for the production of groundnut oil by getting a loan from Alavayal Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Society (PACCS) situated in Ponnamaravathi taluk and has been functioning since 3.7.2003. In Pudukkottai district farmers largely grow manila crops (other name of groundnut crop), which will be collected by our plant and processed into unadulterated oil and sold at low prices to people. My plant is not a profit based unit but concentrates mainly on the welfare of people. For such a welfare based unit, a total amount of 8.85 lakh has been given as loan by the banks for the purchase of machinery. Out of the total amount, 1.09 lakh is given by PACCS and 35% is provided as subsidy i.e. 3.44 lakhs. Pudukkottai District Collector said, "The aim of the current government is to turn educated youths into entrepreneurs. Already 40 individuals benefited from the scheme this year alone and 18 more were selected for the process, out of which 6 were undergoing training." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, November 20, 2023, 15:29 [IST] Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Accuses Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel of Looting Money in the Name of Lord Mahadev Just Looking Like A Wow: Himanta Joins Internet Trend In Describing Photos Of Assam Bridge Assam Minister Ranoj Pegu Distributes Funds to 84 Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Clusters Assam Minister Ranoj Pegu distributed funds amounting to Rs 1.81 crore to 84 Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Clusters under the Prime Minister Janjati Vikas Mission PMJVM. The money will be used for procurement of raw materials and other operational expenses for producing quality products which can be marketed across the country. India -Krishna Kripa Guwahati, Nov 20: Assam Minister Ranoj Pegu on Monday distributed funds amounting to Rs 1.81 crore to 84 Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Clusters under the Prime Minister Janjati Vikas Mission (PMJVM) here. Funds Distributed The education and welfare of plain tribes and backward classes non-BTC minister said that the PMJVMis a scheme for forest dwellers to collect and process naturally available forest produce for earning their livelihood. Of the money distributed at the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, there was a revolving fund of Rs 1.63 crore and a supporting fund of Rs 18 lakh. Beneficiaries to Utilize Funds "The beneficiaries of Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Clusters can now utilise the revolving and supporting funds received for procurement of raw materials and other operational expenses for producing quality products which can be marketed across the country, Pegu said. Main Objective of the Scheme The main objective of the scheme is to provide better livelihood and socio-economic upliftment of tribal people, through value addition of Minor Forest Produces (MFPs), he added. Memorandum of Understanding Signed Besides the distribution of the funds, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed on the occasion between Tezpur University and IIE for transfer of technology knowhow for production of a new product Pomelo Marmalade - to be prepared by the Van Dhan Kendras. New Range of Millets Products and Rejuvenated Website Launched The minister also launched new range of Millets products and a rejuvenated website of trissam.com with an e-commerce platform. Chhath Puja: Toxic Foam On Yamuna Will Be Cleared In One Or Two Days Says Delhi Minister Atishi Delhi LG Rejects Atishis Report On Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has refused to consider a report of Vigilance Minister Atishi alleging prima facie complicity of Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar in the Bamnoli land acquisition matter. India -Krishna Kripa New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has refused to consider a report of Vigilance Minister Atishi alleging prima facie complicity of Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar in the Bamnoli land acquisition matter, saying it seems to be completely based on the ministers preconceived assumptions and presumptions, sources in the Raj Niwas said on Sunday. LG's Refusal On its end, the Delhi government said the LG should allow an impartial enquiry by CBI into the matter and not prejudge the matter and protect certain individuals because of his fondness for them. In a file noting the governments submission of the report to him, Saxena has said the report could very well go on to hamper the ongoing investigation, instead of facilitating it. BharatPe Co-Founder Ashneer Grover Stopped At Delhi Airport From Leaving For US Selective Leaks Noting that selective text from the report has been purportedly leaked to the media, the LG has said it appears prima facie that the whole motive of this supposed inquiry was not to unearth the truth, but to start a media trial and politicise this whole issue, even as it is before the Supreme Court. Ongoing CBI Investigation Saxena has also pointed out that the matter is already being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI. Since the matter is already under investigation by the CBI as approved by me based on recommendations of the Chief Secretary and the Divisional Commissioner, it is my considered view that the recommendation ... before me for consideration is prejudiced and devoid of merit and therefore, cannot be agreed to, he has said. AAP's Reaction Reacting to the development, the AAP dispensation said it is a brazen attempt on the part of the LG to protect his favourite officers, namely the chief secretary and divisional commissioner. If they have done nothing wrong, why is LG obstructing an enquiry against them? The Vigilance Ministers report was prompted because of a whistleblower complaint and media reports highlighting CSs role in the scam, yet the LG has chosen to launch a political attack on the government itself. In all fairness, all available evidence should be forwarded to CBI to enable them to conduct an impartial enquiry, they charged. CBI Referral Regarding LGs objection that only he has the power to refer any matter to CBI, the government said that matter is already registered with CBI and now, any citizen, who has any evidence in that case, can send the same to CBI. We request the Honble LG to allow an impartial enquiry by CBI into the matter and not prejudge the matter and protect certain individuals because of his fondness for them. Conflict of Interest The enquiry itself was compromised because the CS, being the Chief Vigilance Officer, presided over the Vigilance investigation while himself having close connections with the beneficiaries of this scam, they said. This is a clear case of conflict of interest and a violation of Para c of Section 11.7 of the Vigilance Manual. Further, the enquiry sought to hide the true scale of the scam by valuing it at Rs 312 Crore instead of Rs 850 Crore as was brought out in the Ministers report. All these important facts have been conveniently ignored by the LG. Why is the LG so eager and impatient to give a clean chit to his favourite officers without an enquiry? they asked. Chhath Puja: Toxic Foam On Yamuna Will Be Cleared In One Or Two Days Says Delhi Minister Atishi LG Secretariat's Response Reacting to the Delhi government charges, LG Secretariat officials said, The note being attributed to the LG Secretariat appears prima facie to be a reasoned speaking order. It is despicable and unfortunate that the government and AAP are resorting to politically targeting the LG by indulging in abusive mud-slinging. As far as sending the report to CBI/ED is concerned, they could very well have sent it as individuals as they claim they could have, officials said. However, they sent it in their capacity as CM and minister, which is grossly illegal and unconstitutional. Their reaction is nothing but an exercise in frustration driven cover up, they charged. The 19-acre land in question was acquired by the National Highways Authority of India in 2018 for the construction of the Dwarka Expressway. The matter has taken a political turn with the AAP government and the LG at loggerheads over the issue. Manoj Jarange Announces Chain Hunger Strike in Maharashtra Villages for Maratha Reservation Activist Manoj Jarange has announced a chain hunger strike in all villages of Maharashtra from December 1 in support of reservation for Maratha community members. He alleged that political parties are conspiring to deprive Marathas of reservation benefits. India -Krishna Kripa Thane: Activist Manoj Jarange announced on Monday night that a chain hunger strike will be launched in all villages of Maharashtra from December 1 in support of reservation for Maratha community members. Jarange, spearheading the latest agitation seeking reservation for the Marathas in government jobs and education under the OBC category, said the pro-quota stir has reached a decisive stage and community members will fight for their right by remaining within four walls of law and through non-violent means. Jarange Accuses Political Parties of Conspiracy Addressing a well-attended rally in Navi Mumbai, the activist asserted any amount of misleading tactics by his distractors would not work as he was in the blood of Marathas and would continue to fight for reservation. Had the Marathas been given reservation 75 years ago, by now they would have flourished and earned name and fame, and occupied important positions in all-India services like IAS and the IPS, he maintained. A well-planned conspiracy has been hatched by all the political parties to keep us deprived of reservation, alleged Jarange, who has given the Maharashtra government time till December 24 to resolve the quota issue. Government Records Show Kunbis Were Treated as Sub-Caste Within Maratha Community He said government records are now coming out to show that Kunbis, already classified as a social group under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and enjoying quota benefits, were once treated as a sub-caste within the Maratha community. Jarange has been demanding Kunbi tag for Maratha community members so that they, too, can enjoy reservation benefits. Now after we have given them a hard push they have started getting records of Kunbis as a sub-caste within the Maratha community after claiming such documents do not exist at all, he said. Jarange Vows to Continue Fighting Till Marathas Get Reservation Benefits Jarange vowed to continue fighting till Marathas get reservation benefits. If records show reservations existed for the Marathas in the past, then we demand to know the person who did not allow the extension of this benefit to community members. What sin we have committed to not get reservations? he questioned. He declared that from December 1, a chain hunger fast will be undertaken in each and every village of the state in support of the quota demand. Do not resort to severe agitations or arson. Maratha youths should not commit suicide. If they commit suicide who will take the benefits of reservation? Jarange asked. Maratha Women to Undertake Door-to-Door Campaign He asked women of the community to undertake a door-to-door campaign to spread awareness about the need for Maratha reservation. The next fight is going to be a mega fight. A mass awakening is absolutely necessary for the same. All should be alert, he exhorted the crowd and added the victory for the Marathas was not far away. Jarange advised his supporters to remain united. We will take reservation by remaining within four walls of law. Till you get reservation keep patience, he asked the gathering. Manoj Jarange's announcement of a chain hunger strike in support of reservation for Maratha community members has added a new dimension to the ongoing quota stir in Maharashtra. The activist has accused political parties of conspiring to deprive Marathas of reservation benefits and has vowed to continue fighting till the community gets its due. The coming days will be crucial for the Maratha agitation as the state government has been given time till December 24 to resolve the issue. Who Will Be The New Rajasthan CM? Find Out The Contenders As Exit Polls Favor BJP In 'Land Of Kings' Opposition to Raise Tribal Land Transfer Issue in Odisha Assembly Winter Session The opposition BJP and Congress will make the tribal land transfer to non-ST people a major issue in the winter session of the Odisha Assembly which commences on Tuesday. India -Krishna Kripa The winter session of the Odisha Assembly commences on Tuesday, and the opposition BJP and Congress are set to make the tribal land transfer to non-ST people a major issue. On November 14, the state Cabinet decided to amend a law, allowing the Scheduled Tribe (ST) people to transfer their land to non-tribals with permission from the state government. However, the government withheld the decision two days later. BJP to Raise Issue in Assembly BJP chief whip in Assembly Mohan Majhi told reporters on Monday that the party will raise the issue in the House and demand the withdrawal of the proposed legislation. He termed the move as "anti-tribal and alleged that the government has hatched a conspiracy to transfer tribal lands to mafias, businessmen, and contractors to make the ST people landless. "If the government does not withdraw the proposed legislation, we will hold demonstrations across the state, Majhi said. Congress to Raise Tribal Land Issue The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Narasingh Mishra said his party would raise the issue of tribal land besides unemployment, corruption, price hikes, and "deteriorating law and order in the Assembly. Government to Prepare Strategy Government Chief Whip Prasant Mudlui said the BJD Legislature Party meeting will be held on Tuesday morning where the strategy for the winter session will be prepared. The tribal land transfer issue is likely to be a major flashpoint in the winter session of the Odisha Assembly. The opposition BJP and Congress are likely to corner the government on the issue and demand the withdrawal of the proposed legislation. It remains to be seen how the government will respond to the oppositions demands. Instead Of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', PM Modi Should Say 'Adani Ji Ki Jai': Rahul In Rajasthan BJP Approaches EC To Take Action Against Rahul, Kharge For 'Panauti' Remark On PM Modi AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi Slams Rahul Gandhi, Says Italy And Modi Are Congress Leader's Two Friends Not Cong, KCR Should Say What He Has Done For Telangana: Rahul Gandhi 'Rahul Gandhi Died For Country': BJP Takes A Jab At Kharge's Tongue Slip India oi-Prakash KL The BJP on Monday mocked Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge for an inadvertent slip in which he mistakenly mentioned Rahul Gandhi instead of his father Rajiv Gandhi. Speaking at a rally in Anupgarh in Rajasthan, Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Leaders like Rahul Gandhi gave their lives for this nation's unity." However, he corrected it after someone reminded him of his tongue slip. "I apologise. I mistakenly said Rahul Gandhi...Rajiv Gandhi gave his life for the nation's unity. Congress has leaders who gave their life for the nation while the BJP has leaders who take lives," Mallikarjun Kharge said. Mocking Kharge over his tongue slip, the BJP posted the clip on their X' and wrote, "Yeh kab hua? (When did this happen?)" Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed two rallies in the state, canvassing for BJP candidates. Modi, along with Union minister and Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal, travelled in an open-vehicle as people assembled on either side of the road to greet the prime minister. The roadshow started from Junagadh. Throughout the route, the prime minister waved at the crowd and shook hands with some of them. Assembly elections in Rajasthan will be held on November 25 and votes will be counted on December 3. Believe In Your Abilities, Chase Your Dreams: Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi Urges Girls, Young Women Array India -Krishna Kripa Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi on Monday, November 20, 2023, encouraged girls and women to have faith in their abilities and pursue their dreams, regardless of whether a field is male-dominated. Lekhi was addressing a gathering of young innovators at an event hosted by UNICEF on World Children's Day in New Delhi. She urged them to go after their dreams, emphasizing that India has a history of recognizing brilliant minds, irrespective of age, and honoring them. Young Innovators Showcase Their Work Fourteen young innovators from across India showcased their ingenious work at the event, organized by UNICEF in partnership with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA). The exhibition, themed "Innovate for Equality," featured prototypes of innovative solutions developed by the young minds. These included a robotic sanitizing machine, a smart helmet, a mechanism to convert sign language into verbal text in English on a screen, smart gloves for communication, a 3D-printed artificial hand for para-athletes, and shoes for the visually impaired. Lekhi Interacts with Young Innovators Before delivering her keynote address, Lekhi interacted with the young innovators and saw the prototypes they had developed. She appreciated their creativity and encouraged them to use their full potential. Lekhi cited examples of women leading in certain academic fields and emphasized that girls should not feel limited by gender stereotypes. "Let girls not get this idea that it's a man's place or a guy's place. It's all equal for both genders," she said. UNICEF Representative Stresses Importance of Innovation Cynthia McCaffrey, UNICEF India Representative, opened the panel discussion by highlighting the significance of World Children's Day and emphasizing the importance of instilling innovative thinking by giving girls and boys equal opportunities. "Girls and boys, when given an equal opportunity to think, learn, experiment, innovate, tend to develop gender-sensitive solutions to problems that affect them the most. Innovative thinking encourages children's awareness of both the challenges and opportunities around them," McCaffrey said, as quoted in a UNICEF statement. India's Rising Rank in Global Innovation Index McCaffrey also acknowledged India's rise in the Global Innovation Index, from 81st to 40th, as an indicator of the country's innovation potential and the talent of its youth. "Several of whom we met today," she added. UNICEF believes in working for and with children to harness their creativity and ideas to help address inequalities and to raise young voices to support equal and empowering access to opportunities for all children and youth everywhere," McCaffrey said.The event showcased the innovative ideas and talents of young minds from across India. Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi's encouragement of girls and women to pursue their dreams, irrespective of gender stereotypes, resonated with the theme of World Children's Day. The participation of UNICEF and IGNCA in organizing the event highlighted the importance of fostering innovation and providing equal opportunities for all children and youth. By nurturing the creativity and potential of young innovators, India can continue to climb the ranks in the Global Innovation Index and make significant strides towards achieving gender equality and empowering future generations. Uttarakhand Govt To Bear Travel Expenses Of Relatives Of Trapped Workers India oi-PTI The Uttarakhand government will bear the travel, food and lodging expenses of relatives of the 41 workers trapped at the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district for over a week. Assuring the families of the trapped workers that they will be rescued soon, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday said officials have been asked to stay in touch with the relatives of the trapped workers so that they do not face any inconvenience. The state government will bear the expenses of people who want to visit Silkyara to enquire about their well being, he said. Psychiatrists have also been roped in to maintain the morale of the trapped workers, the chief minister said. Rescue operations are being carried out on a war footing since portions of the tunnel collapsed following a landslide early on November 12, leaving 41 workers trapped behind a huge mound of debris. Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse: Rescue Efforts Intensify As Teams Carve Access Road The Silkyara tunnel, about 30 km from the district headquarters of Uttarkashi and a seven-hour drive from the Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, is part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project of the central government. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, November 20, 2023, 14:18 [IST] What to know about the week ahead The Buffalo Planning Board on Monday will take up developer Douglas Jemals proposed redevelopment of the Simon West properties at the southwest corner of East Huron and Ellicott streets, including the existing 36,356-square-foot Burns Building. Thats the first half of his plan for the former Simon Electric properties and the adjacent Mohawk Ramp, which could ultimately include up to 600 apartments, plus mixed-use space and two more floors of parking. Plans for the first phase call for renovation of the historic six-story brick Burns Building at 23 E. Huron and a three-story brick-and-stucco building at 348 Ellicott, and construction of a four-story building on the corner parking lot at 31 E. Huron. The three buildings will be connected as one complex, with 62 apartments and 5,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Upon completion, the 69,825-square-foot complex will feature 21 studios, 32 one-bedroom apartments and nine two-bedroom units with 30 of the apartments in the Burns Building. The first floor will have three retail spaces, a fitness center, bicycle storage, a leasing office and seven apartments. The second and third floors will have 15 units each, with 13 on the fourth floor and six more on each of the top two floors. Parking will be available in the Mohawk Ramp. Jemal plans to seek historic tax credits to fund the project. Also up for review, the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority is seeking a modification of its site plan for the Commodore Perry Homes at 339 Perry St. and 448 South Park Ave., which was approved in July. Plans call for redeveloping the 35 buildings with 284 units into a mixed-use and mixed-income development with 27 townhouse, low-rise and mid-rise buildings totaling 566,162 square feet, featuring 405 affordable housing units and 8,000 square feet of commercial space. It will include 108 one-bedroom, 110 two-bedroom, 136 three-bedroom, 37 four-bedroom and 14 five-bedroom units. The changes include altering the facade from fiber-cement panels with a mix of colors on floors two through four and a band of white fiber cement paneling on the fifth floor, to a formed metal panel in red and orange with black-framed inserts for the lower three floors and light-gray fiber cement panels on the fifth. The ground floors remain brick and glass storefront. For a third building, the northwest corner will now have an extended ground-floor neighborhood center. And a new solar array will be located on the mid-rise building roofs while a ground-mounted system will be placed on the north side of Perry to serve the residential buildings. The number of parking spaces will also drop by eight, to 267. Finally, the board will consider special-use permits for: Maen L. Saeed, to continue operating his Smoke Kingz tobacco and vape retail store at 2076 South Park. Christopher and Gizelle Hinson to open a cannabis store called Green Tongue at 494 Franklin and 69 Allen streets. Steven Rivera and Franklin Crocker, to open their CannaVanna Buffalo cannabis store in The Monocle, a retail mall that was created in a former synagogue at 1235 Hertel Ave. CannaVanna will include a 2,000-square-foot store as well as a 3,100-square-foot consumption lounge, with 20 tables of four and additional lounge seating for 30. It will be located alongside a barbershop and restaurant. Rivera also plans to purchase The Monacle building from Michael Poczkalski and David Brugh for $1.75 million. THE LATEST Douglas Jemal found a tenant to replace Bitwise. The state is offering small business grants in Niagara Falls. What's the latest on the Buffalo Bills stadium construction project? A Clarence company is acquiring a Medina adult care facility. Renovations at a closed Buffalo school provide housing for veterans. Where will the local auto plants fit in an electric vehicle world? Gov. Hochul formed a new health commission. What will it do? The Buffalo Bisons are looking for state money for stadium improvements. Windsong Radiology was hit by a big data breach. A Wheatfield electronics firm wants tax breaks to expand. Evans Bank selling its insurance business New commercial space is planned near Larkinville. GM's engine plant in the Town of Tonawanda is getting a big investment, with big implications for the future. JC Penney is still fighting an eminent domain proceeding in Amherst. ICYMI Five reads from Buffalo Next: 1.The Buffalo Niagara job market is stuck. But that doesn't mean it's sick. Here's why. 2. Delaware North's new chief operations officer comes with a reputation as a game changer. 3. Flexlume is aglow over its new Lackawanna home. 4. A high-priced sale has property owners around the new Buffalo Bills stadium hoping that they, too, can sell for big bucks. 5. Hideaway Bay Resort brings luxury 'eco-resort' to Lake Erie beach. 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. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to get the latest in your inbox five days a week. Discussions on the India-Middle Europe Corridor (IMEC) are expected to figure in the upcoming 2+2 dialogue between India and the US.. Eurasia Review 12 Nov 2023 In the latest Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, Germany must navigate its self-described special bond with Israel and the diplomacy required to resolve a desperate humanitarian situation. Eurasia Review 16 Nov 2023 The 15-member Security Council, described as the most powerful body in the United Nations, has remained paralyzed because of a new.. Israel says it has evidence that Hamas militants took hostages to Gaza's al-Shifa hospital - and killed one there. Israel has said it found weapons and munitions in a tunnel under al-Shifa hospital. Meanwhile, Japan has condemned the hijacking of a ship by Houthi rebels. Follow DW for more. The father of a nine-year-old girl kidnapped by Hamas has said Israel should "give them what they want" to secure the release of his daughter. An Egyptian aid worker freed from prison by the Trump administration took to social media recently to defend Hamas and condemn anyone who criticizes them. House GOP lawmakers are demanding more information about the scope of China's influence on TikTok and the platform's data gathering practices amid a rise in antisemitic content. 2008-2023 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Eurasia Review 19 Nov 2023 By Can Kasapoglu The Houthis launched missiles from Yemen from an operational range of almost 1,000 miles and downed.. Six people in Buffalo have died of suspected overdoses in the last six days, police said Monday, and four of those deaths happened within a 24-hour period over the weekend. Buffalo police issued a warning to the public about the sudden rash of deaths, which happened in different parts of the city. At five of the six scenes, police found suspected powder and crack cocaine. They did not see any evidence of heroin use, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said. Police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests on all six deaths. They believe they may have consumed fentanyl or possibly xylazine. Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that has fueled the rise in overdose deaths in the United States. Xylazine, also known as tranq, is a non-opioid tranquilizer sometimes mixed with fentanyl and is being blamed for a rising number of fatal overdoses. Unlike with fentanyl, naloxone nasal spray, sold as Narcan, doesnt work on xylazine, making it especially deadly. The deaths were reported just as Thanksgiving week is beginning when many people will be out celebrating. 'Meeting people where they are': Volunteers hit the streets to prevent opioid overdoses Volunteers with Creative Restorations, Inc. spend several evenings each week doing direct outreach to those using opioids. They offer boxes of Narcan, testing strips, containers to safely store used needles, and clean "works" syringes and caps. There's also a pamphlet with the services the group offers and a phone number to call. Police want to spread the word about illegal party drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine possibly being tainted with lethal doses of other substances. You dont know whats in there, Gramaglia said. This is not the cocaine of 20 years ago. Its well known that fentanyl is often mixed into heroin thats sold on the street, but some people may not realize that its increasingly being found in other kinds of drugs. You should assume every illicit drug has some form of fentanyl or xylazine, or both, said Chris Harzynski, one of the founders of Creative Restorations Inc., a peer-led nonprofit that links people to recovery services. The organization is made up of volunteers who are all in recovery. If youre buying on the street, and regardless if its a friend or confidant or a relative, you dont know where they got it from, Harzynski said, so if youre gonna use, test your stuff. He encouraged people to use testing strips available to detect the presence of both fentanyl and xylazine. And dont use alone, he said. At the end of the day, you dont want to lose your life for making a poor choice. Among the most vulnerable to overdose are people recently incarcerated who may not have much of a tolerance for certain drugs and also dont know that its being added to substances like cocaine and other party drugs, Harzynski said. Fatal overdoses often happen in multiples, both police and outreach workers say. On Oct. 2, Chautauqua County authorities sounded the alarm about tainted drugs after four people were found dead of suspected overdoses in the Jamestown area over the previous weekend. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new law Sunday that expands the availability of testing strips by allowing local pharmacies and health care providers to provide them to the public. The state will provide delivered Narcan and test strips for those who fill out a form online at oasas.ny.gov/harm-reduction-delivered. The link also provides information about community overdose prevention education, Narcan rescue training and support for families. The Erie County Health Department provides free Narcan, fentanyl test trips and xylazine test strips as well as training on how to use them. For harm reduction tools, send a text to 716-225-5473 or call 716-858-7695. In Chautauqua County, local sources of Narcan can be found at CombatAddictionCHQ.com. Under the New York State 911 Good Samaritan Law, people can call 911 without fear of arrest if they are having a drug or alcohol overdose that requires emergency medical care or if they witness someone overdosing. Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash (Image by Element5 Digital) Details DMCA For the last several months, potential candidates have had the opportunity to register with the Los Angeles Ethics Commission so that they could begin fundraising. Then, as long as they had established residency within the boundaries of the office they wanted to run for by October 7, 2023, they were able to start filing a "Declaration of Intention to Become a Candidate" form with the City Clerk on November 6, 2023. This filing period closed today with 26 people indicating that they would attempt to collect enough signatures to appear on the ballot for the four odd-numbered Board seats: Sherlett Hendy Newbill DeWayne Davis (PROP-39, SpEd) Gloria Zuurveen Daniel Lee (SpEd) Didi Watts John Aaron Brasfield David Mills Kahllid Al-Alim (PROP-39) Danielle Lafayette Christian Flagg Nekishia Lester Qyintus Jett Board District 3: Incumbent Scott Schmerelson has attracted a large number of competitors, considering that he is running for his last term before term limits kick in. All eight candidates who filed with the Ethics Commission followed through with declarations: Elizabeth Badger Dan Chang Janie Dam (PROP-39) Andreas Farmakalidis (PROP-39, SpEd) Byron Gutierrez Richard Ramos (PROP-39, SpEd) Scott Schmerelson (PROP-39) Raquel Villalta (PROP-39) Board District 5: Three people had been fundraising for campaigns to replace the retiring Jackie Goldberg. One additional candidate joined them in filing declarations: Fidencio Joel Gallardo (SpEd) Karla Griego (PROP-39) Graciela Ortiz Victorio R. Gutierrez Board District 7: Supporters of Public Education can buy themselves some breathing room by taking this seat from incumbent Tanya Franklin. Otherwise, they will have to win all three of the other seats. While two challengers had filed with Ethics, only Lydia Gutierrez actually declared: City Council Race Notes: Kevin De Leon was caught on tape participating in a conversation that was not only astonishing because of the bigotry it included, but because its purpose was to diminish the ability of communities to have representation in City government. That has not stopped him from attempting to seek re-election in CD 14. One of his 13 opponents, Wendy Carrillo, has filed her declaration despite the fact that she was arrested on suspicion of DUI. In the Valley, John S. Lee is also running for re-election despite being under investigation for ethics violations. While his designation will be "City Councilmember/Father," "City Staffer B" would have been more appropriate. He has drawn four competitors. Next Steps Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. Yes, on a radio show, Israeli Minister of Heritage Amihai Eliyahu insisted that there were "no non-combatants in Gaza" (assumedly including the thousands of young people slaughtered in recent weeks in that "children's graveyard"). He then added that "one option" for Israel was to consider using a nuclear weapon and so wiping out more or less everyone left in that strip of land hardly bigger than two Washington, D.C.s. (Forget the radioactive fallout that would hit Israel as well.) And yes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly "suspended" him from regular cabinet meetings (even if that, as it turns out, wasn't the most meaningful of actions). It's also true that Israel, one of the planet's nine nuclear powers, has only and given the nightmarish impact of such weaponry that has to be italicized an estimated 90 such weapons, while the United States and Russia each have more than 5,000. Still, consider Eliyahu's comment a rare admission by an Israeli official that his country is even nuclear armed. As Netanyahu himself typically said years ago, "We have a longstanding policy that we won't be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East." "Introduce" assumedly meaning to create a Middle Eastern version of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Consider it, in fact, little short of a miracle that, in the 78 years since August 9, 1945, when that second American atomic bomb devastated the Japanese city of Nagasaki, not another one has ever been used, even as such weaponry spread and arsenals grew. And let's hope that, despite the carnage still underway in Gaza (and Hamas's threats to launch more October 7ths until Israel is "annihilated"), this remains the case. Sadly enough, though, as TomDispatch regular Joshua Frank, author of Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America, makes all too clear today, nuclear weapons aren't the only way humanity has to create a hell on Earth. Tom The Dangers Only Multiply Could Israel's War on Gaza Go Nuclear? By Joshua Frank Israel's robust military, the fourth-strongest in the world, is ravaging Gaza and, along with armed settlers, terrorizing Palestinians in the West Bank following the brutal Hamas massacres of October 7th. Like so many other colonial projects, Israel was born of terror and has necessitated the use of violence to occupy Arab territory and segregate Palestinians ever since. The realization that its existence was dependent on a superior military in an unfriendly region also encouraged Israel to pursue a nuclear weapons program shortly after the state's founding in 1948. Even though Israel was a young nation, by the mid-1950s, with the aid of France, it had secretly begun the construction of a large nuclear reactor. That two allies had teamed up to launch a nuclear weapons program without the knowledge of the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower turned out to be a colossal (and embarrassing) American intelligence failure. Not until June 1960, the final year of Eisenhower's presidency, did U.S. officials catch wind of what was already known as the Dimona project. Daniel Kimhi, an Israeli oil magnate, having undoubtedly had one too many cocktails at a late-night party at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, confessed to American diplomats that Israel was indeed constructing a large "power reactor" in the Negev desert a startling revelation. "This project has been described to [Kimhi] as a gas-cooled power reactor capable of producing approximately 60 megawatts of electric power," read an embassy dispatch addressed to the State Department in August 1960. "[Kimhi] said he thought work had been underway for about two years and that a completion date was still about two years off." The Dimona reactor wasn't, however, being built to deal with the country's growing energy needs. As the U.S. would later discover, it was designed (with input from the French) to produce plutonium for a budding Israeli nuclear weapons program. In December 1960, as American officials grew more worried about the very idea of Israel's nuclear aspirations, French Foreign Minister Maurice Couve de Murville admitted to U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter that France had, in fact, helped Israel get the project off the ground and would also provide the raw materials like uranium the reactor needed. As a result, it would get a share of any plutonium Dimona produced. Israeli and French officials assured Eisenhower that Dimona was being built solely for peaceful purposes. Trying to further deflect attention, Israeli officials put forward several cover stories to back up that claim, asserting Dimona would become anything from a textile plant to a meteorological installation anything but a nuclear reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium. Atomic Denials In December 1960, after being tipped off by a British nuclear scientist concerned that Israel was constructing a dirty (that is, extremely radioactive) nuke, reporter Chapman Pincher wrote in London's Daily Express: "British and American intelligence authorities believe that the Israelis are well on the way to building their first experimental nuclear bomb." Israeli officials issued a terse dispatch from their London embassy: "Israel is not building an atom bomb and has no intention of doing so." 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). EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) will be holding its 50th anniversary event in October 2022. The event celebrates the long collaboration between 37 European geological surveys with an overall workforce of several thousand experts, which make up the membership of EGS. During this time, the Geological Surveys of Europe have been working together to deliver geoscientific knowledge and data to the EU institutions to support policy making for the benefit of society. The collaboration Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced $40 million has been pumped into the new New York Food for New York Families program to strengthen bonds between local farmers and food service entities that work with underserved populations. Buffalo Public Schools and FeedMore WNY each got $2 million grants the largest amount allotted while Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County received $800,000. Six more organizations in Western New York will take in between $39,000 and $50,000. The funds awarded today will help local food organizations across the state expand their reach, feeding more families and offering greater support to our farmers a win-win for our state, Hochul said in a news release. Buffalo Schools spokesperson Jeffrey Hammond said the biggest impact of the grant will be $1.7 million dedicated through March 2025 to establish farmers markets at the districts Community Schools, which host Saturday Academies weekly throughout the school year. Using a rotating schedule, the districts Food Service and Community Schools Departments, community partners and volunteers will disseminate food via established farmers markets at each of our 22 community schools, touching all four zones of the city, Hammond said in a statement. Families are the new face of homelessness: Erie County housing hundreds in hotels after spike in evictions It is not a homeless crisis, but a housing crisis, according to the Erie County. An increase in the number of people without housing, particularly families, has led Erie County to use more hotels for them. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer held a news conference Monday afternoon about how the food will be distributed from related federal funding, which will flow through the state. Ruth Conner, child nutrition services director for Buffalo Schools, and Alyssa Monfuletho, assistant superintendent of community schools, elaborated during the event on how the food would be distributed. Monfuletho said bags of local, seasonal produce will be packed for families who attend Saturday Academies beginning in January. The aim is to get healthy local food to district families in need. We want to engage as many people as possible, she said. Community Schools is among the districts primary efforts toward parent and community engagement. The schools do so through after-school academic instruction and Saturday Academies, which aim to support healthy families, promote interest in the arts and address community needs. Grant applicants had to show their relationships with local farmers and their efforts to supply food for economically disadvantaged populations. According to recent state education data, about 78% of students in Buffalo Schools are considered economically disadvantaged. The districts farm-to-school program, which has grown during the last few years, ensures that a fruit or vegetable sourced from New York including hyperlocal farms such as the Providence Farm Collective is available in school meals at least once each week. FeedMore WNY the fruit of the 2020 merger of the Food Bank of WNY and Meals on Wheels connects farmers with underserved populations through healthy food and nutritional skills. The nonprofit accepts the grant after its annual turkey drive, which took in more than 3,100 donated turkeys over two hours, and as it moves forward with plans to open a new headquarters in the Town of Hamburg. The $2 million FeedMore received represents between 15 and 20% of our annual food-purchasing budget, and is an incredible help to the organization, said Collin Bishop, the organizations chief communications officer. He said the grant money would be spent on local goods split evenly between food pantry distribution and meal deliveries to homebound residents two pillars of the nonprofit. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County, Journeys End Refugee Services and the Salvation Army were awarded $50,000, while FeedMore WNY tacked on an additional $50,000 grant. Providence Farm Collective and the Salamanca City Central School District each received $49,957, while St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Jamestown received $39,201. FeedMore WNY launches campaign to build new hub in Hamburg FeedMore is asking the public to help raise the remaining $33.7 million needed to break ground on the project next spring. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided the funding, which the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets divvied up through a grant application process. Its not just the recipients who are pleased. The grant thrilled local growers, including those in Eden Valley Growers, a cooperative that markets and distributes for 10 family farms in and near Eden. The variety from these local farms has led to a bountiful relationship between Buffalo Schools and related growers over the last five years, and the cooperative intends to bid on the New York Food to New York Families endeavor. Theres tons of excitement around it, said Andrew Stobnicki, procurement coordinator for Eden Valley Growers. To determine which growers will be selected for New York Food to New York Families funds for Buffalo Schools and FeedMore, a request for proposals will run through Bonfire, a procurement software program that aids in evaluating bids. Stobnicki said hes eager for this opportunity for other local growers, too, in addition to the Eden Valley network. Thats part of an ongoing challenge to attract more nearby buyers. Were underutilized in our own state, he said. New York, US (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has commended the Government and people of Liberia for the "calm and peaceful" 2023 presidential and legislative elections that ended last week with the presidential runoff Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Several smugglers and 120 illegal migrants of African nationalities, lost in the middle of the Libyan desert, have been arrested by a detachment of the 444th Fighting Brigade of the Libyan Army of the Government of National Unity Photo: (Photo : Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash) In response to an escalation of online attacks on K-12 public schools in the United States, significant efforts are underway to bolster cybersecurity measures. Despite these initiatives, thousands of schools continue to be vulnerable to ransomware gangs capable of encrypting computer systems and potentially releasing sensitive information if ransoms are not paid. Following a crucial White House conference in August on ransomware threats, the Biden administration, through Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger, has been actively encouraging school districts to participate in programs designed to strengthen cyber defenses. This push has led to numerous districts signing up for free cybersecurity services, with federal agencies conducting training exercises to enhance network security in educational environments. Prevalence of Cybersecurity Challenges Many schools, particularly in smaller districts, face challenges due to limited budgets and a lack of expertise in cybersecurity. The vulnerability of these institutions has been brought to light by recent ransomware attacks, such as the one on the Clark County School District in Nevada, where sensitive information about students, teachers, and families was compromised and made public. Over 9,000 small public school districts, representing approximately 70 percent of public districts in the country, are now eligible for free cybersecurity services from Cloudflare through Project Cybersafe Schools. Since its launch in August, the program has seen substantial participation, providing crucial email security and online threat protection services to schools. James Hatz from Rush City Public Schools in Minnesota shared how the program has been beneficial for his district, significantly reducing the number of suspicious emails reaching staff. These initiatives are seen as vital steps in enhancing cyber defenses in the education sector. In addition to existing programs, Amazon Web Services has launched a $20 million grant program aimed at helping schools improve their cybersecurity infrastructure. This program has already attracted about 130 applications. Furthermore, the Federal Communications Commission is proposing a pilot program that would allocate up to $200 million over three years to strengthen cyber defense in schools and libraries. Read Also: Majority of 8-12-Year-old Will Not Tell Their Parents They Are Victims of Cyberbullying Expert Views on Federal Involvement Doug Levin, Director of the K12 Security Information Exchange, emphasized the need for more comprehensive federal support. He pointed out that many schools underfund their IT functions and lack cybersecurity expertise, making them soft targets for cybercriminals. Levin advocates for increased federal support and the establishment of baseline cybersecurity controls in educational institutions. As the threat landscape continues to evolve, with cyber attacks growing both in frequency and severity, the federal government's role in supporting and mandating cybersecurity measures in schools becomes even more crucial. These current initiatives represent important steps in safeguarding the nation's educational institutions against the growing threat of ransomware attacks. The hope is that these efforts will evolve into more robust and comprehensive solutions to ensure the security and safety of students and educators alike in the digital age. The federal government's proactive measures, coupled with the participation of local school districts, mark a positive trend in enhancing cybersecurity in schools. As cyber threats continue to pose a serious challenge, it's vital for all stakeholders, including school administrators, teachers, students, and parents, to remain vigilant and informed about the best practices in cybersecurity. The collective effort to safeguard educational institutions from digital threats is an ongoing and crucial endeavor in our increasingly connected world. Related Article: Cyberbullying: How to Protect Your Child in the Age of Social Media Photo: (Photo : CDC on Unsplash) The controversy over the differences between the private and public education systems has gained widespread attention as a result of Zane Marshall's popular TikTok post, which claimed that graduates of private schools have a significant advantage in obtaining top CEO positions in Australia. This discussion has grown beyond Marshall's original points, becoming a more general one about educational equality, the part that socioeconomic status plays, and the systemic problems that exist in the school system. Marshall's claim that 70% of Australian CEOs hail from private schools has brought to the forefront the stark differences in opportunities afforded to students based on their educational background. Critics of this disparity point out that the benefits of private schooling often stem from the higher economic status of families able to afford such an education rather than the inherent quality of the schools themselves. The Success of Public School Graduates Counterarguments in the debate highlight the achievements of public school graduates, who have excelled without the advantages of elite networks or high-end educational resources. These success stories challenge the perception that private schooling is a necessary path to high achievement, emphasizing the potential of public schools to foster talent and ambition. Proponents of private education often cite the elevated standards and behavioral expectations set in these institutions. They argue that such environments not only focus on academic excellence but also instill values and disciplines that contribute significantly to personal and professional success later in life. The discussion also highlights the critical role of parents and family backgrounds in shaping educational outcomes. Families opting for private education usually possess the financial means and connections to support and advance their children's careers, providing a significant advantage over those from less affluent backgrounds. Marshall's observations have opened up a crucial dialogue on addressing educational inequality. Questions are being raised about how public education systems can be bolstered to offer opportunities and support comparable to those found in private schools, thereby ensuring a level playing field for all students. Read Also: Education Technology [LATEST NEWS UPDATES]: How EdTech Becomes A Vital Tool For Modern-Day Education Broader Socio-Economic Implications The private versus public school debate transcends individual narratives, touching upon systemic issues within the educational sector. It invites scrutiny of how education systems either perpetuate socioeconomic divides or work towards bridging them. The ongoing dialogue signals a growing recognition of the need for systemic reforms and increased investment in public education to ensure equitable access to opportunities. As the debate continues to evolve, it becomes evident that the discussion around education and success is multifaceted, involving not just individual stories but also broader societal and policy implications. Addressing these complex issues requires concerted efforts from various stakeholders, including educators, policymakers, and communities, to ensure that all students, irrespective of their background, have access to quality education and equal opportunities. Zane Marshall's TikTok post has done more than spark a debate; it has opened up a critical examination of the educational system and its role in shaping future leaders. While private education may offer certain advantages, the conversation underscores the importance of ensuring that these benefits do not remain exclusive. As society grapples with these challenges, the goal remains clear: to create an educational system that is inclusive, equitable, and capable of nurturing talent across all socioeconomic spectrums. Related Article: Matt Damon Takes on US Public School System in New Documentary Film; What Is 'Backpack Full Of Cash' About? You might justly view yesterdays blog entry here as a full-length installment from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial How Religion Poisons Everything File. In a very real sense, that is exactly what it was, and I hope that youll take the opportunity not only to buy something yourself but to call the opportunity to the attention of others. I already called attention a few days back to a brief excerpt from an Interpreter Foundation interview with Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Ruth L. Renlund. But now that selection from the interview is up on the blog of the Interpreter Foundation, embedded in an entry written by Dr. Jeffrey M. Bradshaw. And, anyway, some of you may have missed it, and you really shouldnt: Not by Bread Alone: We Absolutely Fell in Love with the People: A New Short Film About Africa with Elder and Sister Renlund: Blog Post #3 For more information on the Not by Bread Alone: Stories of the Saints in Africa series, go to https://notbybreadalonefilm.com/en/ For more information in French, go to https://notbybreadalonefilm.com/fr/ To see all of our posts about the Church in Africa, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/africa/ Today is the anniversary of Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address, which was given on 19 November 1864. It is one of the most powerful pieces of prose not only in the American political tradition but, in my view, in the English language as a whole and youll incur no injury by at least skimming through it. For your convenience, I include the full text here: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us,that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Im in a very Lincolnian mood right now although Virginia wasnt exactly the Land of Lincoln in his day, reminders of the Civil War and of the Revolution and the American Founders and their ideas and ideals are all around me and, accordingly, Im going to share with you another brief prose masterpiece that evidently flowed from Mr. Lincolns pen. In the autumn of 1864, Governor John A. Andrew of Massachusetts wrote to President Lincoln asking him to express condolences to Mrs. Lydia Bixby, a widow whom he believed (incorrectly, as it turned out) to have lost five sons during the Civil War. Here is the text of the letter that was sent from the White House: Executive Mansion, Washington, Nov. 21, 1864. Dear Madam, I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours, very sincerely and respectfully, A. Lincoln And then there is President Lincolns remarkable Second Inaugural Address, which he delivered on 4 March 1865 during the ceremonies accompanying his second inauguration as President of the United States of America. The Civil War was very nearly at an end. Robert E. Lee would surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on 9 April, and the last military department of the Confederacy effectively surrendered on 26 May. (Unfortunately, in the meantime on 14 April 1863, only five days after General Lees surrender, just a month and ten days after his second inauguration President Lincoln was martyred at the hand of John Wilkes Booth.) Strikingly, Lincolns Second Inaugural Address isnt triumphant. It isnt giddy at the clearly imminent Union victory. Instead, its rather noticeably reflective and even sad. It acknowledges the vast and horrible evil of slavery but calls for mercy and charity. (How different might Reconstruction, and subsequent American history altogether, have been, had he lived to serve out his second term and beyond!) The speech is, to state the obvious once more, truly stunning. Fellow-Countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of this great conflict which is of primary concern to the nation as a whole, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without warseeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came. One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just Gods assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other mens faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsmans two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. Im deeply impressed with Lincolns moral seriousness in these passages. Im deeply impressed by their profoundly spiritual character. I cant help comparing them to todays public political discourse and, well, almost wanting to cry. Posted from Richmond, Virginia Chapter 7 (pp. 59-61) of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries (December 2002; revised second edition: 17 August 2013; slightly revised again in November 2023 for the purpose of the free online version). Anyone who reads this book should first read the following three introductory articles, in order to fully understand the definitions and sociological categories I am employing: Introduction (on the book page) Definitions: Radical Catholic Reactionaries, Mainstream Traditionalists, and Supposed Neo-Catholics [revised 8-6-13] Radical Catholic Reactionaries: What They Are Not [9-28-21] If youre still confused and unclear as to my meanings and intent after that, read one or more of these articles: Rationales for My Self-Coined Term, Radical Catholic Reactionaries [8-6-13] My Coined Term, Radical Catholic Reactionary: Clarifications [10-5-17] Clarifying My Coined Term, Radical Catholic Reactionary [4-3-20] This book is modeled after the method and structure of the French mathematician and Catholic apologist Blaise Pascals classic, Pensees (thoughts). Catholic apologist and philosopher Peter Kreeft described this masterpiece as raw pearls and more like sayings than a book . . . Sayings reflect and approximate the higher, the mode of Christ and Socrates and Buddha. Thats why Socrates is the greatest philosopher, according to St. Thomas (S.T. III, 42, 4). I am not intending to compare myself or my own thoughts or their cogency or import in any way, shape, or form, to those of Pascal, let alone to Socrates or our Lord Jesus! I am merely utilizing the unconventional structure of the Pensees, which harmonizes well, I believe, with the approach that I have taken with regard to the present subject. I have sought to analyze (minus proper names, a la Trent) the premises, presuppositions, logical and ecclesiological bottom lines and (in a word), the spirit of a false and divisive radical Catholic reactionary strain of thought held by a distinctive sociological sub-group of Catholics. ***** There is a certain sort of Catholic convert from Protestantism who has been insufficiently converted from the outset. The fundamentalist mindset was received and nurtured from his Protestant days, and indicates a deep epistemological and theological / spiritual problem. Such a person has never really converted to a full-fledged Catholicism, with all that that entails in obedience and how one decides issues Catholicly. They havent accepted the Catholic faith in its entirety, in faith and submission, yielding up their private judgment: that is, a system of authority whereby the individual ultimately is the arbiter of truth over against a Christian institution or God-ordained Christian leaders. They have great difficulty believing that God uniquely guides the Catholic Church and protects Her from error by the Holy Spirit. I hasten to add that I am not claiming that such persons are not technically Catholics at all. I am saying, rather, that they havent properly learned how to think and believe like a Catholic (or have learned that but refuse to consistently abide by the Catholic understanding and outlook). They didnt fully enter into the Catholic mind. Fundamentalism in these half-converts is cultivated from within what they falsely think is the orthodox Catholic paradigmatic framework (and in Protestantism prior to that). The radical Catholic reactionary who is also a convert generally wasnt brought to fundamentalism as a Catholic; he already was a fundamentalist because that is a mental outlook and way of interpreting information and knowledge and factual data. This fundamentalist mentality or mindset occupies some common mental ground between Catholics and Protestants because it is prior to theological reflection. Its a shortcoming in ones philosophical outlook and how those who disagree are regarded. Yet it is much more psychological than theological at bottom. Hence the ubiquitous paranoia, conspiratorialism, consignment of everyone to the left of them to liberalism or Neo-Catholicism, etc., etc. These types of individuals are sort of the modern-day Pharisees. The particular brand gets added to the pre-existing psychological mixture. These half-converts bring their mix to Catholicism. Protestantism and fundamentalism are two different things, but with much overlap in practice (sociologically). Protestant ideas flow from the inherent principles of Protestantism (sola Scriptura, private judgment, sola fide, et al). The fundamentalist psychological mindset, on the other hand, is not inherent to Protestantism, but brought to it, and is logically or mentally prior to it (even though in practice it is characteristic of and largely confined to a large sub-group of the conservative Protestants). It is (ultimately or immediately) anti-intellectual and psychologically paranoid, with a huge fortress mentality (similar to right-wing wacko stuff or quack science or secular versions of conspiratorialism). The fundamentalist mindset in either Protestantism or Catholicism (but especially in the latter) is an aberration and a foreign element. It doesnt logically or conceptually flow from the intrinsic principles of either system. Fundamentalism (often leading to a wrongheaded reactionaryism) is much more typically characteristic (that is, it coincides or co-exists with), a certain sort of Protestant: derived historically from the fundamentalist-modernist controversies of the late 1800s up through the Scopes Trial in 1925 and beyond. Half-converts usually learn this type of outlook in a Protestant environment, as far as its precepts go. I think fundamentalism is at bottom a psychological malady and a failure of the intellectual imagination; a difficulty in understanding the criteria of plausibility, credibility, and in building or espousing intellectual systems; theological or otherwise. The hyper-dogmatism often observed in the insufficiently converted Catholic fundamentalist / reactionary is a combination of both the private judgment principle and (seemingly) some sort of radical, profound psychological insecurity (characteristic of many anti-Catholics as well). To truly understand and convert to magisterial, orthodox Catholicism would be the end of such nonsense and over-reliance on and extreme overconfidence in ones own opinions. One is reminded of Communism and Nazism, in certain sociological respects. If you go too far left or right on the political spectrum, you come around full circle: it is a matter of extremes vs. the center (orthodoxy). The further right one goes ecclesiologically or in their formal principles of authority, the further left they also go. Liberals question the popes judgment and authority; so do Catholic Fundamentalist / reactionaries. The liberals / modernists / so-called progressives want to de-sacralize the Mass by trivializing it, messing with the language and promoting mediocrity in liturgy, music, and architecture; the fundamentalist / reactionaries want to butcher it by denying that the Novus Ordo Mass is valid or claiming that it is vastly inferior to the Tridentine Mass. One camp is nominalistic and spiritually bankrupt; the other is prideful, legalistic, and has lost faith in the guidance of Holy Mother Church by the Holy Spirit. The liberals are against sound reason and rationality (cf. Francis Schaeffer: Escape From Reason); so are the fundamentalist / reactionaries. Both factions lack faith and spiritual vision. It all comes out basically the same in the wash. One is either orthodox or extreme, and the extremes tend to meet and have common ground, as a result of their fringe nature. Orthodoxy is like the center of the earth (or perhaps the equator). Liberalism and reactionaryism are akin to the north and south poles; they are a world apart geographically but there isnt a whole lot of difference between them in terms of climate and landscape. * ***** * Photo credit: orionpozo (4-15-12) [Flickr / CC by 2.0 generic license] Summary: Ch. 7 of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries (December 2002; slightly revised in November 2023 for the purpose of the free online version). The State Committee for Work with Diaspora reports that the II Forum of Azerbaijani Doctors in Germany, held at the Azerbaijan Cultural Centre in Berlin within the framework of the "Year of Heydar Aliyev", continued its work with a panel session, Azernews reports. The panel session moderated by Nuran Abdullayev started with a report by Bahadur Rzayev, head of the Rehabilitation, Quality Control and Service Organization Department of the State Medical and Social Expertise and Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population. The presentation was entitled "Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities in the Republic of Azerbaijan: Achievements and Goals". Then doctors-specialists working in Germany - Elvin Huseynov, leading specialist on internal diseases of "Helios Siegburg" clinic, "The Last of Us", ambassador of European School of Oncology (ESO), Narmin Talibova, oncologist of Ulm. University Hospital, "Career woman? A happy woman", Director of the GFO Kliniken Troisdorf Dr. Nuran Abdullaev, "A Star is Born", leading specialist in neurosurgery at the University Hospital Essen. Dr Ramazan Jabbarli "Innovations in spine surgery: navigation and robotics", leading specialist at the AEGI Clinic for Plastic Surgery in Hannover, Dr. Gulshan Ahmadli "Hand surgery on the example of Germany. Potential of development in Azerbaijan", Doctor of Medical Sciences, leading specialist in the field of radiology in Wiesbaden. Orhan Safarov "Breast cancer and screening in Germany", cardiac surgeon of Giesen University Hospital, MD. Zulfugar Taghiyev "MBA - Cardiac Surgery and Research in Germany: challenges and opportunities?", Dr Nijat Nasirov, radiologist at the Westphalian Clinic, "Red or Blue Pill", cardiac surgeon at the Helios Krefeld Clinic, Dr. Javid Fatullaev, "Generating electricity from the human body. A new opportunity?", Javid Huseynzadeh, leading specialist for ear, throat and nose diseases at Bad Salzungen Clinic, "Plastic surgery of skin derivatives on the face. Principles and perspectives", Nariman Jabbarli, dentist at the Denterra Clinic Mannheim, said: "Opening a private clinic in Germany. All subtleties and tips", Agil Huseynzadeh, leading specialist in ophthalmology of "Nordstadt" clinic in Hannover, "Practice system: introduction of outpatient medical care system in Azerbaijan. What can change?" they made presentations on their topics. A representative of the Scientific Surgical Centre of Prof. Topchibashov in Baku took part in the series of reports at the panel session. Gurbanhan Muslimov completed his speech on "Development of visceral surgery in Azerbaijan". During the discussions Azerbaijani doctors, who revealed their scientific approaches to various topics and provided information about their inventions and discoveries, put forward their proposals. Attention was drawn to the positions of our compatriot doctors in the German and world health care system, and success stories were presented. It should be noted that the First Forum of Azerbaijani doctors in Germany was organised in Cologne on 5 May 2022 with the support of the State Committee for Work with Diaspora. Imam Ismail Ayyash, leader of the Masjid al-Eiman mosque on Buffalos West Side, has struggled to deal with the subtle aggressions and naked hate speech he has heard about since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. I am receiving calls from community members that somebody has said theyre terrorists or theyre with Hamas, just because they are explaining whats happening in Palestine, he said. Some receive messages through where somebody is threatening them. Why? Because they put a photo of the Palestinian flag on Facebook. Just as members of the Western New York Jewish community have reported an uptick in antisemitic hate speech since the war began six weeks ago, Ayyash is among those concerned about Islamophobic actions directed toward those of the Muslim faith. The New York chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, CAIR-NY, reported receiving more requests for help in the first four weeks after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 than in the previous four months. As of Nov. 4, the national organization received 1,283 complaints nationwide since the war began, claiming an unprecedented rise in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias-related incidents. Violence, too, has been on the rise, and mirrors the months after 9/11, when anyone perceived to be Arab or Muslim faced a higher risk of confrontation, said Palestinian American Jeannine Keen, a Western New York resident who is Christian. Many people are unaware that there are lots of Palestinian Christians, Keen said. The fact that people can automatically try to profile or judge somebody, just by seeing them, is crazy to me, she said. A 6-year-old boy was fatally stabbed Oct. 15 in Chicago in what police concluded was an anti-Muslim hate crime. Incidents also have been reported elsewhere, including in Maryland, where a woman wearing a hijab was verbally assaulted, and New York City, where a teenager had her hijab pulled on and was called a terrorist by a man on the subway. We dont want incidents like Chicago here in Buffalo, or anywhere, Ayyash said. The imam already felt a sense of unease before Oct. 24, when he approached a car parked in the lot of the Connecticut Street mosque, tapped on the window and asked the man inside, who was smoking marijuana, to leave the lot. Suddenly, the man opened the car door and attacked me, Ayyash said. He said the man tackled him before leaving. He called police and filed a report. I cannot say whether that is a hate crime or not, he said, but he wondered, because of the timing of the incident. Ayyash, who is Palestinian American, said he has taken a Palestinian flag sticker off his car mirror, fearing an altercation or damage to the vehicle. A Palestinian American business owner, who asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals, said he took down the flag from his establishment after the stabbing death in Chicago. It hurt me to do that, but I did it for the safety of my family, said the man, who recalled verbal assaults and gestures toward him as an 8-year-old after 9/11. Whats happening now is terrifying, he said, expressing concern that some believe all of those with an Arab heritage are pro-Hamas or pro-terrorism. It really breaks my heart to go through this, he said, because we are not bad people. '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. Faizan Haq is founder of WNY Muslims, a nonprofit that aims to serve the region by creating awareness, encouraging diversity and providing service. He agreed there has been an increase in harassment and bias-related incidents, including being told to go back to their country and being viewed as a terrorist. One thing that is disappointing and discouraging is that we thought in a post-9/11 world, we have moved (away from biases toward each other). This is showing us that we have moved but not as much as we should have, and that we have to make more efforts to reach out to people and educate each other, Haq said. Most of the Muslims here are scared, Ayyash said. They are afraid of raising their voice or being labeled as terrorists just because they are on a different side. Jewish Western New Yorkers have harbored greater fears, more suspicions and insults since the war began, too, as the Israeli Army continues its efforts to eradicate Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip. A small number of Jewish families with students in the Sweet Home school district have harbored greater concerns after some students including those without ancestral ties to the Middle East taunted students with antisemitic images and aspersions, according to a parent. Sweet Home High School Principal Derek Baker sent an email message Oct. 29 to the high school community that addressed the complexity of the wars impact on a diverse school district, where 42 languages are spoken, while urging civility and understanding. We do not tolerate hateful speech or any form of discrimination, be it related to the Israel-Palestine issue or any other topic, he wrote. If you or your child witness or experience any behavior that goes against our values of respect and inclusivity, please do not hesitate to inform our administration or teachers. The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism said reports of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault in the United States increased by nearly 400% since Oct. 7 over the same period last year. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced late last month that the state will deploy more resources to support New Yorkers at risk amid rising hate on college campuses and elsewhere as the Israel-Hamas war continues. The new resources, designed to allow law enforcement officials to identify and stop violent behavior and hate crimes, include $3 million to help agencies expand the state Red Flag law for hate crimes and bias-motivated threats. Hochul met with Haq, Ayyash and other community leaders Oct. 15, along with law enforcement officials, to discuss safety measures at mosques and other places of prayer. Police patrols have since increased, especially on Fridays, as requested, Ayyash said. We appreciate anything that the law enforcement does to protect us, he said, adding that it makes the community feel safer. Ayyash has encouraged those in his community to educate themselves about the history of the conflict and stay alert, especially while engaging in a discussion about it. He wants people to stay away from conversations that might lead to violence, and de-escalate the situation by taking their leave if the other party gets too charged or passionate. He has encouraged people to call police if they feel unsafe or targeted. The mosque will hold a gathering on Friday, when law enforcement officials will present a training on how to act in emergency situations both inside and outside the house of worship. For Ayyash, the tension is palpable, not only in Buffalo, but also the Mideast. He has family members in a town in the West Bank, just 60 miles from Gaza. He hopes the U.S. government can help broker a ceasefire and a more balanced approach to a resolution of the war. We are not standing with terrorists, the imam said. Terrorism has no religion. We want to see peace everywhere. One who embarks on the path of awakening aspiring to master Wisdom is a Bodhisattva motivated by Great Compassion, taking the Great Vows to save all beings with the cultivation of Samadhi, and not seeking Liberation for ones own sake alone. Zhanglu Zongze There are three critical meditation manuals within the Zen tradition. The first was composed sometime at the beginning of the twelfth century. The other two were composed in the first half of the thirteenth. We know almost nothing about the Chinese master Zhanglu Zongze, the author of the first of these manuals. But this text is considered foundational within the Japanese Rinzai school. The second is from the Japanese Soto Zen master Eihei Dogen and was published either in 1227 or 1233. Interestingly both closely patterned on the earlier document. This included Dogen including verbatim passages in his version. The third is from another Soto master, Keizan Jokin, a fourth-generation successor to Dogen often considered the second founder of Japanese Soto Zen. I cant find a first publication date, but Keizan died in 1325. Each is worth a deep dive. But what follows here is one, the first, Master Zhanglu Zongzes Guidelines. It isnt the first Chinese meditation manual, but it is the first unambiguously presenting what we understand as seated Zen meditation. It is so important that the Rinzai school counts it as one of their four essential texts, included with the Shin Shin Ming, Faith in Mind, the Cheng-dao ke, the Song of Awakening, and the Shiniu, the Ten Oxherding Pictures. I was surprised to discover that as important as it is, its really hard to find a translation of it into English. I wrote to several of my friends who are both Zen people and of a scholarly turn. One of them, Ruben Habito, one of the senior representatives of the Sanbo Zen school here in North America and Professor of World Religions and Spirituality as well as Director of Spiritual Formation at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, Texas. Roshi Habito not only gave me details situating the text, he provided his own translation of the text, and then graciously allowed me to provide its first publication here at Monkey Mind, in 2018. Ive added in those comments above and am offering Professor Habitos translation, introduction, and commentary once more, as a help to anyone walking the Zen way. Guidelines for Seated Meditation Translation, Introduction, and Commentary by Ruben Habito Maria Kannon Zen Center Dallas, Texas Introduction Guidelines for Seated Meditation (Zazengi ) is one of the Four Scriptural Texts of the Zen School (Zenshu Shibu Roku) used for study by novice monks in the Rinzai Zen School in Japan, the three others being Faith in Mind, the Ten Oxherding Pictures, and the Song of Enlightenment. It is attributed to Master Zhanglu Zongze of the Northern Song era (early twelfth century), about whom little is known except for his having edited a compilation of rules of monastic life. Chan/Zen scholar Carl Bielefeldt introduces this text and provides historical and contextual background in an article included in the volume entitled Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism edited by Peter Gregory (Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism 4, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press 1986, pp. 129-161), comparing it with manuals of meditation written before and after it, tracing possible influences, and mapping further developments among the different schools of meditation. The Text One who embarks on the path of awakening aspiring to master Wisdom is a Bodhisattva motivated by Great Compassion, taking the Great Vows to save all beings with the cultivation of Samadhi, and not seeking Liberation for ones own sake alone. In taking this path you must abandon entanglement in the multitude of external events, putting everything to rest, and allowing the mind and body to be as one and come to a point of stillness. Regulate your intake of food and drink neither too little nor too much. Find a balance in your sleep, neither being sleep-deprived nor oversleeping. To practice seated meditation, find a quiet place and prepare to sit on a thick mat, wearing loose and comfortable clothing. Sit with a proper posture in a formal and dignified manner. One may sit in the full cross-legged (lotus) position, first placing the right foot upon the upper left thigh area, and then placing the left foot upon the upper right thigh area, with soles of both feet upward. Or one may sit in the half cross-legged (lotus) position, whereby the left leg is laid across the right thigh with the left foot resting upon the right upper thigh area. Then on the left foot, place the right hand (palm upwards). Rest the left hand (palm upwards) on the palm of the right hand and allow the thumbs to touch. Slowly raise the upper torso by straightening the lower back, and sway the body gently to the left and right, then front and back, allowing it to settle so that an upright sitting posture is achieved. Sit without leaning to the left nor to the right, neither bend over forward nor lean backward. With your back straightened, align the neck and head with one another, and take the form of a seated Buddha, steady and unmoved. Arrange your posture in a way that enables the breath to come in and out freely and unhindered. The ears should be aligned with the shoulders; the nose with the navel. The tongue should touch the palate, the teeth together, and the lips closed. The eyes should remain slightly open so as to prevent sleepiness. Attaining samadhi in this way will be a powerful experience. Monks in ancient times sat in meditation in this way with the eyes slightly open. Chan master Fayan Yuantong would loudly scold those who sat in meditation with their eyes closed telling them that they were abiding in the Black Mountain Cave of Mara, that is, falling into the trap of nihilism. This is very important for those of you who are earnest practitioners: do not fall into this trap. The body should be settled and stable, so you can breathe with awareness, and tension should be released from the entire mid-section of your body. Think no thoughts of good or evil. When a thought arises be aware of it awareness dissolves the thought. As you keep on practicing in this way over time, thoughts are set aside and oneness is attained. This is the heart of seated meditation. It is my humble view that the practice of seated meditation is the Dharma Gate of true ease and joy. Some of those who try this practice may become ill this is because they do not pay careful attention to how this should be practiced correctly. If one truly practices with a correct understanding and pay careful attention to the instructions, the natural outcome is for one to become lighthearted and joyful, with a clear mind, and one will be able to engage in ones day to day activities with a sense of genuine inner freedom and contentment. One who attains this state of enlightened mind is like a dragon that has touched the water and freely roams the sky, or a tiger whose roar echoes through the deep mountains. Even for those practitioners who have not gone that far, this practice will propel them with an inherent power like the wind blowing through flames and making them even stronger. If you apply yourself wholeheartedly to this practice of seated meditation, you will be carried on by a gentle wind blowing and guiding you on in the right direction, without exerting too much effort, and enlightenment will be on your horizon. Therefor you must unflaggingly engage in this practice in an earnest way and not give up when adversities arise. As one goes further to higher levels of awareness, Mara the tempter may lurk along the way, placing obstacles before you. However, if you keep your eyes straight on the path and not be deflected, and without giving in to doubt, you will prevail. Texts such as the Surangama Sutra, Tiantais Great Calm Insight, and Guifengs Principles of Practice and Enlightenment, explain in detail about these tempters and their wiles, and how one might be able to overcome them. Read these works, so one need not be overly concerned about these matters. In coming out of the state of Samadhi, move your body slowly, remaining calm, without hurrying maintain a state of serenity through the transition from one state to another. After formal meditation practice is over, it is important to maintain that momentum of Samadhi at all times, taking appropriate measures to be able to do so. Holding on to this power of Samadhi is a serious undertaking like that of holding a precious baby in your arms. Holding it in this way, the power of Samadhi will gradually increase in ones day to day life. Cultivating Samadhi is of utmost importance. If ones Samadhi is not ripe, one will have no sense of direction and will be confused even in attaining an experience of realization. To find a pearl that lies deep underneath the waters, one must first calm the waves of the ocean. If the water continues to be perturbed, there is no way of finding that pearl. Only as the water becomes still, and the view becomes clear, will the pearl appear in its natural brilliance, and will thus be discovered. The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment says; The unhindered and pure Wisdom arises from Samadhi. The Lotus Sutra says; In a quiet place let one practice stillness, regulating the mind. Sit in this way, and be like the unmovable Mount Sumeru. To arrive at that state that is beyond the ordinary and the holy, Samadhi is vital and necessary. Monks in ancient times were able to freely determine their time of death, seated or standing up, through the power of their Samadhi. There are those who do not fully understand that seated meditation is geared toward the realization of ones true self, and are thus not able to overcome the pull of evil karma. People of ancient times said, Those without Samadhi become confounded and dont know what to do when they approach the time of their death. For those of you who earnestly aspire to practice seated meditation, I encourage you to read the above over and over. In doing so, and in engaging yourself wholeheartedly in the practice, you will bring benefit both to self and other, and with no doubt at all come to a full realization of your true self. Translators Commentary Guidelines for Seated Meditation appears to be a rather simple and straightforward text and is readily understood by one seeking directions for undertaking a spiritual search. It provides detailed instructions on very practical matters that need to be put in place, including finding balance in ones lifestyle (neither too much nor too little food, neither lacking sleep or too much of it, etc.), taking an appropriate posture that will be conducive to stillness, being aware of ones breathing, not pursuing thoughts and judgments and cultivating a calm state of mind (Samadhi). I would like to highlight one feature among others that is central to the message of this text, a crucial theme that all of us earnest in our spiritual practice are called to heed, and place in the forefront of our horizon and vision for our day to day lives. This is the opening paragraphs emphatic note that this practice of seated meditation is undertaken not for ones own self alone, but is motivated by Great Compassion, by a heart that seeks the liberation of all beings from suffering and delusion. In other words, one is drawn into this practice of seated meditation not because one seeks a haven of peace and contentment for oneself, in retiring to a quiet corner to shield oneself from the troubles and pains of this world, but rather precisely because one is in search of a way to address these pains and sufferings and shed light on where their causes lie, that is, deep in the human heart of each one of us, beginning with oneself. The recitation of the Four Great Vows of the Bodhisattva, usually conducted at the end of periods of meditation or of ritual services in centers of Mahayana practice, is a constant reminder of this horizon of Great Compassion as the background and motivating power of seated meditation practice: Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to liberate them. Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them. Dharma Gates are countless, I vow to master them. The Awakened Way is unsurpassable, I vow to embody it. The frequent recitation of these Great Vows can on the one hand serve as a constant reminder that my spiritual practice, and for that matter my life in its entirety, is bound together with that of all beings in an intimate web of interconnectedness, and that my destiny and my individual fulfillment and happiness cannot be separated from that of each and every sentient being in this universe. This very breath which sustains me and keeps me alive is the same power that keeps every sentient being alive each in our own respective ways. The very awareness of this breath we take, inhaling, exhaling, again inhaling and exhaling, a central component in seated meditation practice, can as such open us to a direct experience of this vast horizon of intimate interconnectedness with all, and can bring forth a heart and mind replete and overflowing with gratitude. On the other hand though, the recitation can turn into a matter of habit, and though we say the words, the repetition can make us oblivious of and benumbed to the dynamic reality that it signifies. To forestall this relegation of what is meant to be a deeply significant and transformative act of committing my entire being to the liberation of all beings and of fully embodying the Awakened Way into a mere repetitive event, I recommend the cultivation of a habit of mind that keeps attuned to the actual events happening in the world around us, keeping an attentive eye and ear. We can call this the cultivation of the eyes and ears of Kannon (Avalokitesvara), the One who beholds and hears the cries of the world, the Bodhisattva of Compassion that stands as a symbolic figure of all that we seek and aspire to be in embarking on our spiritual practice. The media barrage us with the many sad and painful, tragic events happening in our contemporary world, with tens of millions of our fellow human beings forced to flee their homes due to threats on their lives by military violence or by other factors such as discrimination, economic deprivation, and so on, and our hearts cry out in pain and sorrow and anguish, in solidarity with those in such circumstances. As we learn of the ecological devastation being wreaked on our natural habitat on a global scale due to human thoughtlessness and greed, causing the extinction of more and more species of living beings on this planet, the cry of our mother Earth becomes our own cry. As we learn of the way many of our fellow human beings are deprived of basic needs of food, shelter and clothing, or denied a place in human society due to discriminatory attitudes or due to unjust political, economic, social and other institutional structures, our hearts cry out in anguish and in solidarity with those in pain. It is in the midst of this cry of pain and anguish and sorrow that the Great Vow resonates deeply and inspires us with a new resolve: Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to liberate them. The very recitation of the vow emboldens us to do everything within our own capacity to live for and work for the alleviation of the suffering of our fellow beings. It empowers me to make decisions whereby I may align my life in the direction of bringing about a transformation of social, economic, cultural, religious and other institutions in the direction of justice, equality, and the well-being of all. My practice of seated meditation then becomes the powerhouse for me to be able to engage wholeheartedly in this task of world transformation, beginning with my own self. There are other features related to spiritual practice worth highlighting that emerge from this text, which I intend to unpack at some future occasion. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared loneliness to be a pressing global health threat, with the US surgeon general saying that its mortality effects are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. WHO has launched an international commission on the problem led by the US surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, and the African Union youth envoy, Chido Mpemba of 11 advocates and government ministers, including Ralph Regenvanu, the minister of climate change adaptation in Vanuatu, and Ayuko Kato, the minister in charge of measures for loneliness and isolation in Japan. It comes after the Covid-19 pandemic halted economic and social activity, increasing levels of loneliness, but also amid a new awareness of the importance of the issue. The WHO Commission on Social Connection will run for three years. [Loneliness] transcends borders and is becoming a global public health concern affecting every facet of health, well-being and development, said Mpemba. Social isolation knows no age or boundaries. The health risks are as bad as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than those associated with obesity and physical inactivity, according to Murthy. While loneliness is often seen as a problem for developed countries, Murthy said the rates of one in four older people experiencing social isolation are similar in all regions of the world. In older adults, loneliness is associated with a 50% increased risk of developing dementia and a 30% increased risk of incident coronary artery disease or stroke. But it also blights the lives of young people. Between 5% and 15% of adolescents are lonely, according to figures that are likely to be underestimates. In Africa, 12.7% adolescents experience loneliness compared to 5.3% in Europe. Young people experiencing loneliness at school are more likely to drop out of university. It can also lead to poorer economic outcomes; feeling disconnected and unsupported in a job can lead to poorer job satisfaction and performance. Mpemba said that across Africa, where most of the population is made up of young people, challenges around peace, security and the climate crisis, as well as high levels of unemployment, are contributing to social isolation. We believe its important to redefine the narrative surrounding loneliness particularly for vulnerable populations excluded by the digital divide, she said. Murthy added: These issues dont affect one country [Loneliness] is an underappreciated public health threat. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Nigerian government has announced that more than 4,000 prisoners have been released to ease overcrowding in jails. Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said those freed were inmates who had been in custody for not paying fines. He said it was part of an initiative by President Bola Tinubu which included introducing more non-custodial sentences. The United Nations has said that Nigeria's prisons are currently operating at more than twice their total capacity. Suspects often have to wait years in detention before being tried. 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 One policeman feared killed and three others injured as Boko Haram terrorists ambushed the convoy of Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, on a major highway in neighbouring Borno State, survivors said. The convoy, comprising aides to the governor, protocol men, press crew and security details were returning from Maiduguri, when they ran into an ambush of terrorists around Mainok Saturday evening. The incident happened at about 6:30pm as Boko Haram opened fire on the police escorts, survivors disclosed. Earlier, Gov Buni had attended the 24th Convocation ceremony of the University of Maiduguri and conferment of honorary doctorate degree on Vice President Kashim Shettima. He departed Maiduguri Airport with the VP and other signatories at about 5:30pm while his convoy proceed to Damaturu, some 120 kilometres away, before the ambush. The Maiduguri-Damaturu highway is believed to be volatile at dusk as terrorists could take the advantage of darkness to attack. In recent times, it usually gets dark in northeast by 6pm. Source: sunnewsonline.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 leading members of the NPP government have made huge cash donations to support the final funeral rites of the late former First Lady, Theresa Aba Kufuor. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and wife Rebecca Akufo-Addo as well as Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and second lady Samira Bawumia together donated a cash sum GH100,000 towards the final funeral rites. Both the President and Vice President along with their spouses were present at a ceremony held in Ashanti region on Saturday November 18, 2023. In addition, the National Executives of the governing NPP also made a cash donation of GH20,000 while the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong made a cash donation of GH5,000. These figures were announced during the final funeral rites of the late former First Lady, Theresa Kufuor who passed away on Sunday October 1 2023, 24 days before her 89th birthday. Others bigwigs within the NPP made donations to support the families of the deceased First Lady as part of Ghanaian tradition and norms. The final journey of former First Lady Theresa Aba Kufuor begun on Thursday, November 16, 2023, in Accra when a Requiem Mass was held in her honour at the Christ the King Catholic Church. A state funeral was subsequently held at the Forecourt of the State House in Accra on Friday before her body was conveyed to Kumasi for a final traditional funeral and burial on Saturday, November 18, 2023. The traditional funeral took place at the Heroes Park in Kumasi after which a private burial will be held for the wife of former President John Agyekum Kufuor at a private residence of the former first family in the Ashanti Regional capital. 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 In a historic moment for Ghana's maritime landscape, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has officially inaugurated the second phase of the Tema Port Expansion Project. The initiative, a crucial component of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority's (GPHA) master plan, introduces a fleet of 15 cutting-edge gantry cranes and significant civil works development, reinforcing the port's stature as a paramount hub for West Africa. The 2nd Phase of Tema Port Expansion Project encompasses the paving of an expansive 270,000-square-meter area, expanding the terminal's footprint from 100 hectares to an impressive 127 hectares. The phased delivery of the first section, comprising 50,000 square-meter area, is slated for July 2024, with the entire project anticipated to reach completion by September 2025. Addressing distinguished guests, Mr. Samara expressed the transformative impact of this investment, stating, "Today's gathering marks the initiation of the 2nd Phase of our investment, one that promises to usher in a new era of enhanced capacity at Tema Port. We are setting in motion a transformation that will fundamentally alter Ghana's standing in the maritime industry of West Africa." The CEO of MPS further particularised that when this colossal undertaking is complete, Tema Port will stand shoulder to shoulder with the world's most renowned ports and compete favourably with the largest ports on the African continent. Mr. Igor Van den Essen, Regional Managing Director Africa and Europe at APM Terminals, underscored the commitment to holistic human resource development. He emphasized a decade-long focus on Lean Management principles, resulting in the creation of numerous job opportunities, with approximately 5000 workers employed in Phase 1 alone. The acquisition of 15 state-of-the-art gantry cranes signifies a substantial boost to Tema Port's cargo-handling capacity, aligning it with global trade demands. With a total of 12 Quay Cranes and 41 Yard Cranes, Tema Port stands as one of Sub-Saharan Africa's most efficient ports, garnering international acclaim from leading global shipping lines. The expanded port boasts a 1.4 km quay with four deep berths, equipped with sophisticated container handling gantry cranes and Terminal Operating Systems. It can accommodate some of the world's largest cargo ships, carrying up to 18,000 containers. Commending all stakeholders, Mr. Michael Luguje, Director General of Ghana Ports & Harbours Authority, stated, "Tema Port and especially MPS Terminal 3 still remains the best in West and Central Africa. We are grateful for all the partnerships that have contributed to elevating the status of the Tema Port." Highlighting Ghana's attractiveness to investors, Mr. Philippe Labonne, President of Africa Global Logistics, articulated AGL's strategic vision for Africa, emphasizing their commitment to creating job opportunities for the youth of Ghana. Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, Minister of Transport, confirmed plans for a crucial road link from the Motorway to the Tema Port, with construction set to commence in the first quarter of next year. President Akufo-Addo reiterated the government's commitment to self-reliance through an export-driven economy, urging ambassadors and business leaders to champion investment in Ghana's stable political and social climate. MPS Terminal 3 is recognized as a vital transport infrastructure for the AfCFTA's vision. The Tema Port Expansion Project's Phase 2 is poised to generate substantial employment opportunities for the Ghanaian construction workforce, aligning with the nation's goal of becoming a key economic hub in the sub-region. About Meridian Port Services Ltd (MPS): MPS, a leading port operator in Ghana, specializes in port and container terminal handling services. Established as a joint venture between Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Africa Global Logistics (AGL), and APM Terminals, MPS remains firm in its mission to stimulate growth, innovation, and efficiency within Ghana's vibrant maritime sector. The Tema Port Expansion Project stands as a testament to MPS' commitment to driving value creation across key sectors of the economy. This project's utilization of cutting-edge technology and equipment will result in reduced freight costs, paving the way for a prosperous and streamlined maritime industry. 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 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has taken a swipe at former President John Dramani Mahama, and the members of the Opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC over their recent tribal and religious comments against Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, now the flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party. According to President Akufo-Addo, his predecessor John Mahama, much-touted transformation is deceptive, adding that the NDC had nothing good to offer the nation, especially in the bid to strengthen multiparty democracy, diversity, peace, and unity of purpose, therefore urged Ghanaians to be wary of them over their tribal and religious sentiments. President Akufo-Addo said this when addressing the chiefs and people of Bantama, in Kumasi, at the inauguration of an e-library project last week. He noted that Ghanaians should be circumspect about their choice of leaders for the nation, adding My advice to the electorate is that they reject such people as we get close to the 2024 general election. He said What matters most is that we give the nod to leaders whose competency, track record and integrity cannot be doubted. We cannot entrust the destiny of the nation into the hands of incompetent leaders to the detriment of our sustainable growth. President Akufo-Addo also questioned the authenticity of former President John Dramani Mahamas claimed transformation. According to him, the claimed transformation could not be true because Mahama failed during his previous presidency. You [Mahama] failed when you were offered the opportunity and now you are claiming to be a changed person. What shows you are indeed a changed person? It is pure deception and we wont agree, he teased. President Akufo-Addo also described next years presidential and parliamentary elections as critical as they would determine the direction of the nation in her development agenda. He said the presidential candidate of the NPP, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia is a man of substance and also honest a man who could be trusted to successfully spearhead the affairs of the nation when voted for in the next years election. He noted that the NPP had demonstrated commitment to Ghanas development and growth over the years, therefore, the electorate should retain the Party in next years polls to ensure progress. 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 Four prominent members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) accused of openly canvassing support for defeated flagbearer aspirant, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen have had their membership revoked for breaching the partys constitution. The four; Hopeson Adorye, a defeated parliamentary candidate, Nana Ohene Ntow, a former General Secretary, Boniface Abubakar Saddique, a former Zongo Minister and Yaw Buaben Asamoah, former Adentan MP, are reported to have declared their support for Mr Kyerematen, a former NPP Presidential Aspirant who cut ties with the ruling party to form the "Butterfly Movement, following his dismal performance at the NPP Super Delegates Conference to elect its flag bearer for the 2024 General Elections. Seen as political turncoats, they have incurred the wrath of the NPP's constitution which says they cannot be a member and declared their support to a different Presidential candidate. A statement issued and signed by the General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, explained that Despite their flagrant breach of the Partys Constitution particularly Articles 3(5)(A)(4) and 3(9)(1), the afore-named men still hold themselves out as members of the NPP. For the avoidance of doubt, Article 3(5)(A)(4) of the NPP Constitution enjoins all members of the Party to abide by and publicly uphold the decisions of the Party. The statement further indicated that Article 3(9)(1) of the Constitution provides as follows: A Member of the Party, who stands as an independent candidate against the officially elected member of the Party, or who joins or declares his or her support for another Political Party, or for an independent candidate, when the Party has sponsored a candidate in a general or by-election, automatically forfeits his or her membership of the Party. Thus, according to the statement, In line with these constitutional provisions, it is the view of the NPP that Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene Ntow, Boniface Abubakar Saddique and Yaw Buaben Asamoa have AUTOMATICALLY FORFEITED their membership of the Party. They are, therefore, no longer members of the Party. The NPP further entreats its members to remain true to their duties as per Article 3(5) of the party Constitution. We further call upon our members to bear in mind that the Partys focus is to unite its ranks and rally the support of Ghanaians to make history by winning the 2024 general elections, the statement underscored. Source: Peacefmonline/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 The Nasara Wing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and indeed, the entire Party, has noted with disbelief and shock comments by Hon Sam George, NDC MP for Ningo Prampram on Tuesday, 7th November, 2023, on Metro TV, scolding H.E Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President of the Republic and flag bearer of the NPP, for visiting churches, and described him as a RELIGIOUS PROSTITUTE. Sam George also attacked the religious beliefs and practices of Alhaji Bawumia. We do not only find the comments by Hon Sam George very terrible but also incendiary and reckless particularly coming from an MP. Such religious bigotry is one that portends a great danger to the peace and stability of this great nation. Sam George needs to be reminded that we have come a long way as a country in fostering religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence particularly among Muslims and Christians. Indeed, Ghana, has, for centuries served and continues to serve as a bastion of religious tolerance in Africa and beyond. This is in line with the teachings of the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran, both of which admonish us to live in peace and harmony without regard to any perceived religious differences. We are a one Ghana, a one people, and a one nation united by common destiny. It is this age long practice of ours that has allowed Muslims including Muslim politicians to accept invitations to worship in churches. It is this practice that has allowed Christians including Christian politicians to accept invitations to worship in mosques. Since when does this act of religious coexistence become abominable for Sam George to come calling Dr. Bawumia a Muslim by day and Christian by night? Is Sam George suggesting that the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osumanu Shaributu, who on several occasions, visits churches to worship with Christians in the spirit of religious harmony, is also a Muslim by day and Christian by night? Is Sam George suggesting that Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, Hon Muntaka Mubarak and the many Muslim politicians who visit churches from time to time are not proper Muslims? Are they all religious prostitutes? In any case, who is Sam George to tell Muslims how to practice their faith? How much does he know about Islam? Sam George can, as he is widely known, be reckless in many respects and still be forgiven, but he cannot be forgiven if he extends his recklessness to matters of religion and faith. We cannot allow Sam George to destroy this country for his selfish political gains. We equally cannot allow his likes in the NDC, notably Fiifi Kwertey, HE John Daramani Mahama among others, to stoke needless political tension in the country for political expediency. The NPP therefore calls on all right-thinking members of society especially CSOs, the Parliament of Ghana, religious bodies and traditional leaders to join us to wholeheartedly condemn Sam Georges utter recklessness and demand of him, at least for the sake of the office he occupies, to retract his inflammatory and dangerous comments, and apologize unconditionally for this disservice to our motherland. 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 Director of the Center for Ageing Studies at the University of Ghana, Prof. Joseph Osafo has criticized the New Patriotic Party's move to sack some prominent members of the party. Four bigwigs of the party in the persons of Hopeson Adorye, a defeated parliamentary candidate, Nana Ohene Ntow, a former General Secretary, Boniface Abubakar Saddique, a former Zongo Minister and Yaw Buaben Asamoah, former Adentan MP, have been axed from the party for publicly declaring their support for Alan Kyerematen who resigned from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) following his inability to become its flagbearer. Alan Kyerematen withdrew from the party's elections to contest as independent candidate and in view of this, any member who chooses to follow him automatically forfeits his or her membership, according to a statement by the party. NPP Justifies Decision The statement signed by the General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, explained that despite their flagrant breach of the Partys Constitution particularly Articles 3(5)(A)(4) and 3(9)(1), the afore-named men still hold themselves out as members of the NPP. For the avoidance of doubt, Article 3(5)(A)(4) of the NPP Constitution enjoins all members of the Party to abide by and publicly uphold the decisions of the Party. The statement further indicated that Article 3(9)(1) of the Constitution provides that a Member of the Party, who stands as an independent candidate against the officially elected member of the Party, or who joins or declares his or her support for another Political Party, or for an independent candidate, when the Party has sponsored a candidate in a general or by-election, automatically forfeits his or her membership of the Party. In line with these constitutional provisions, it is the view of the NPP that Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene Ntow, Boniface Abubakar Saddique and Yaw Buaben Asamoa have AUTOMATICALLY FORFEITED their membership of the Party. They are, therefore, no longer members of the Party, the statement concluded. Diplomacy But the dismissal of these persons, to Prof. Joseph Osafo, is an impetuous decision. The Senior Psychologist explained on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show Monday morning that he wished the party had reconsidered its decision and opted to use diplomatic ways to address their issues with the affected persons. He argued that the influence of the four individuals in the party cannot be underrated, hence, sacking them at a critical time as when the NPP is preparing to contest the largest opposition National Democratic Congress is a dicey call. "Did the party engage them?", he questioned as, to him, the NPP should have first called for a meeting with the dismissed members stressing "every law has a human face". He advised the party to "do everything possible for unity to prevail" and concluded that their decision is "coming too early for my liking". 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 MIAMI Hazardous, forced work conditions sometimes akin to slavery have been detected on nearly 500 industrial fishing vessels around the world, but identifying those responsible for abuses at sea is hampered by a lack of transparency and regulatory oversight, a new report concluded. The research by the Financial Transparency Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that tracks illicit money flows, is the most comprehensive attempt to date to identify the companies operating vessels where tens of thousands of workers every year are estimated to be trapped in unsafe conditions. The report, published Wednesday, found that a quarter of vessels suspected of abusing workers are flagged to China, whose distant water fleet dominates fishing on the high seas, traditionally lawless areas beyond the jurisdiction of any single country. Vessels from Russia, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea were also accused of mistreatment of fishers. Forced labor in the seafood industry is a rarely seen but common phenomenon, one increasingly recognized as a widespread human rights crisis, according to the report's authors. The Associated Press in 2015 uncovered the plight of thousands of migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos who were abused while employed on Thai vessels whose catch often ended up in the United States. Globally, as many as 128,000 fishers face threats of violence, debt bondage, excessive overtime and other conditions indicative of forced labor, according to the U.N.'s International Labor Organization. U.S. and European companies are under increasing pressure to clean up supply chains in labor-intensive industries where worker abuse is widespread. The Financial Action Task Force set up by the Group of Seven wealthiest democracies has identified illegal logging and mining as a key driver of money laundering and encouraged its members to set up publicly available databases to raise awareness about the financial flows that fuel environmental crimes. However, the seafood industry has so far escaped the same scrutiny, in part because governments often lack the tools to regulate what takes place hundreds of miles from land. This week, President Joe Biden's administration decided to abandon a planned expansion of the flagship Seafood Import Monitoring Program used to prevent illegal fishing and forced labor on foreign vessels, which supply about 80% of the seafood Americans eat. We are once again seeing the heartbreaking reality of what is happening on some commercial fishing vessels out at sea and its completely unacceptable," Beth Lowell, vice president in the U.S. for the conservation group Oceana, said about the report, which she had no role in. Forced labor and other human rights abuses should not be the cost for a seafood dinner. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday that it decided to shelve the planned expansion after receiving public feedback on the proposed rule changes and would instead focus its attention on improving the impact of the current import monitoring program, which covers around 1,100 species. Another obstacle to transparency: offenders are frequently licensed by governments like Panama and Belize with reputations for financial secrecy and minimal oversight of their fleets. Of the vessels suspected of abuse and whose ownership could be identified by the Financial Transparency Coalition, 18% flew so-called flags of convenience companies use to avoid careful examination and hide their shareholder structure. The report identified two Chinese companies ZheJiang Hairong Ocean Fisheries Co. and Pingtan Marine Enterprises as the worst offenders, with 10 and seven vessels, respectively, accused of human rights violations. A third company, state-owned China National Fisheries Corp., had five. None of the companies responded to AP's request for comment. But ZheJiang Hairong in a statement last year to the state-owned Fujian Daily claimed ownership of only five of the 10 vessels that would later appear on the Financial Transparency Coalition's list. Pingtan last year was sanctioned by the Biden administration over allegations of illegal fishing and labor abuse. and later saw its shares delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The Financial Transparency Coalition scoured government reports, media accounts and complaints by advocacy groups to come up with a list of 475 individual vessels suspected of forced labor since 2010. Of that amount, flag information was available for only about half of the total another indication of the need for greater ownership transparency, the group says. What's behind the 62% jump in human trafficking offenses? What's behind the 62% jump in human trafficking offenses? Referrals, prosecutions, and convictions Prior conviction status of offenders State prison admissions As the election of 2024 inches closer, the two main political parties in Ghana; the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), have been canvassing for potential persons to partner with their respective flagbearers. The search for a running mate has become of utmost importance in the politics of Ghanas fourth republic as a good choice can play a significant role in securing an election victory for a candidate. It has been evident from the 2016 and 2020 general elections that running mates can bring additional support, expertise, and credibility to the campaign of a Presidential candidate. It has been argued that having a strong and capable running mate can help attract more voters and enhance the overall appeal of the ticket. In the NPP, notable names have come up, lobbying and some being recommended to be selected to partner with Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the elected flagbearer of the party. A prominent name that has gained widespread support and overwhelming endorsement from the rank and file of the NPP and the larger electorates is the name of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chief Executive Officer, Hon. Henry Kwabena Kokofu as he has been described as the person likely to help break the 8 for the NPP with ease. We take a look at who Henry Kwabena Kokofu is: Henry Kwabena Kokofu Esq, has been the face behind the innovative and evolving EPA. He is the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the lead body that oversees and governs Ghanas environment. He was the former Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC). Henry was a Member of the Parliament of Ghana and served on the Parliamentary SelectCommittee of Lands and Forestry from 2013 to 2017. He is currently serving on several Boards including the Petroleum Commission, Lands Commission, Ghana Maritime Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Public-Private Partnership, and Public Investment Program Working Committee, and is the Special Envoy for the Ghana Presidency of Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF). Educational Exploits: Kokofu holds a PhD (Environmental Science), LLD (Honoris causa), and Master class Certificate in Leadership and Management. He also holds an LLM (Oil and gas Law), BL (Barrister at Law), MSc (Agroforestry), MSc (Defense and International Politics), BSc (Natural Resources), and LLB (Bachelor of Laws). Henry has a successful professional career as a legal practitioner, natural resource scientist, environmental scientist, defense and security, International Politics, and Public Administration He has received several awards and recognition for himself and the Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana Political Life: Hon Henry Kwabena Kokofu in his early life in politics started as a polling station executive at the Bantama constituency of the New Patriotic Party. Having distinguished himself, he rose through the ranks to become polling station chairman and later by dint of profuse commitment was rewarded to become Chairman of the entire Bantama constituency. In a matter of time, the delegates of the NPP elected him as parliamentary candidate for the party. In the 2012 elections, Henry Kwabena Kokofu won to become the Member of Parliament for the famous Bantama constituency where he served with diligence and commitment to the people. Work Ethic And Employment Avenues: To scale up the work, the EPA Executive Director has also created employment opportunities and has ensured the employment of 360 staff who are mostly youth. This is in addition to the 360 staff that existed before his appointment. Hon Kokofu since his appointment has caused for the purchase of 45 brand new vehicles for operations at the EPA. Creation of New Offices: Since taking over, Hon Kokofu has embarked on the creation of new district Offices across the country. Currently, 40 new offices are being constructed and will soon be commissioned for the commencement of work. One major thing Hon. Kokofu has introduced is digitalization in the operations at the state outfit. Perhaps what makes the Executive Director excel at the offices he occupies is his good human relations and at EPA he has a good working relationship with both the members of the Board and Management. With his overwhelming acumen and abilities, Hon. Kwabena Kokofu is believed to be the preferred choice of the electorates and the New Patriotic Party, bringing competence and administrative balance to the NPPs chances. Source: Purefmonline.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 serene North Eastern Regional towns of Walewale and Nalerigu in the North East Region were set agog on Monday when Vice President Dr. Mahamudu visited for the first time as flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Dr. Bawumia, who was historically elected flagbearer of the NPP earlier this month, is in the North for what can be described as a special homecoming visit to express gratitude to the people including traditional rulers and ask for their support and prayers. In line with tradition, Dr. Bawumia started his visits by going to his home region, the North Region, where he called on the Nayiri (Overlord of Mamprugu) Naa Abdulai Mahami Sheriga Before he arrived at the Palace of the Nayiri in Nalerigu where a mammoth crowd welcomed him, the new NPP flagbearer and his entourage drove through Walewale, his hometown, where scores of people started coming out from all corners to catch a glimpse of their son. Dr. Bawumia, who was seated in a bus alongside a number of MPs and party executives had to leave the bus to be in an open-top vehicle to be able to respond to the cheers from the enthusiastic crowd. The cheering crowd, made up of the young and old, lined up on the main Walewale-Bolga highway to give the Vice President a befitting reception as he passed through to Nalerigu. The reception was even more tumultuous when the entourage arrived in Nalerigu. From Langbinsi through Gambaga to Nalerigu itself, crowds lined up the streets to cheer the Vice President. In Nalerigu, Dr. Bawumia held discussions with the Nayiri and his elders before addressing the charged crowd waiting for him outside. Dr. Bawumia said the 2024 election will be about the track record of himself as Vice President and John Mahama as a former President. While listing a tall list of policies he recommended as Vice President, which he said are having positive impacts on the nation, he challenged the crowd to remind him of any policy former President Mahama introduced under his regime and the silence was deafening. 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 Immediate past member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa has accepted in good faith his throw out from the ruling party. He expressed concern about how his dismissal was communicated to him and said, he has not received copy from the party. Yaw Buaben Asamoa, Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene Ntow and Boniface Abubakar Saddique memebership in the NPP is no longer valid a statement from the NPP said. According to a statement by the party, dated November 20, 2023, and signed by its General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, it said the above individuals have publicly endorsed the candidature of a person other than the party's duly elected presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. Responding to the party, Yaw Buaben Asamoa said in a statement Though none of the persons mentioned has received a personal copy, we accept our resignation from the NPP and pledge our commitment to Ghanas success through our support for Alan Kyerematen. We also take this opportunity to respond and set the minds of concerned well-meaning patriots at ease. Read his full statement below Re: FORFEITURE OF MEMBERSHIP PURSUANT TO THE PROVISION OF ARTICLE 3(9)(1) OF THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY CONSTITUTION My attention and that of my esteemed and patriotically principled colleagues, Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene-Ntow and Saddique Abu-Bakar Boniface, has been drawn by numerous media outlets to a statement purportedly issued and signed by the General Secretary of the NPP, captioned as above. Though none of the persons mentioned has received a personal copy, we accept our resignation from the NPP and pledge our commitment to Ghanas success through our support for Alan Kyerematen. We also take this opportunity to respond and set the minds of concerned well-meaning patriots at ease. First, our public conduct in unconditionally and with great conviction supporting the highflying independent candidature of Alan Kyerematen for president, is against the NPP constitution, which provides for automatic forfeiture of membership under article 3(9)(1). That is incontestable and therefore needs no formal written notice. Unfortunately for the Party Leadership', the wholesale application of the poorly written article 3(9)(1), may not be serving the interests of the general membership of the Party well. By not differentiating between support for presidential and parliamentary candidates, conduct against a presidential candidate, results in forfeiture of the parliamentary vote as well. This is clearly out of step with the fast developing political culture of skirt & blouse, where voters increasingly mix their choice of presidential and parliamentary candidates based on factors other than what the party Leadership says. H.E. the President benefitted from skirt and blouse when he won ten constituencies in the Central Region where NDC won the parliamentary seats. Are those who accepted the President but voted otherwise at parliamentary level to be sacked? Hundreds of thousands of NPP members and millions of sympathisers are deeply unhappy at the so called mafia tactics of intimidation and inducement used to skew delegate elections in favour of choices that may not necessarily be popular with the general electorate. Indeed, the mafia approach is against article 55(5) of the 1992 Constitution, which demands democratic principles in internal party processes. Whilst there is value to being part of an organisation like a party, continuing exclusionary practices, quietly erodes loyalty and conviction, over time. Secondly, the same article 55(2) which gives a right to join political parties also gives a right to support political activity as an independent under 55(10) and (16). Considering that the right of a political party to sponsor candidates, does not exclude the right of independent candidates nor their supporters to participate in general elections, it may not be prudent to continue to reduce ones membership with archaic rules. Thirdly, in the profound wisdom of the 1992 Constitution, qualification to the presidency of Ghana does not require political party affiliation. Articles 57(1), 58, 62 and 63(1)(2)(3) and 94, dealing with the nature, qualification and powers of the office, have nothing to do with parties. Furthermore, exercising the powers of the presidency do not require party authority. In office, a president appoints and runs a government under articles 70, 76, 77, 78(1)(2) and 79, without a stated party presence. A voter does not have to be a member of a party to benefit from the presidency. Fourthly, the public is keenly aware that the selection of H.E the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as Presidential Candidate of the NPP, was the confirmation of a process carefully designed to have only one outcome. Because it was choreographed, there is nothing new or surprising to offer the voter public. Arguably, the patient Ghanaian voter, has been short-changed by the presidential candidate selection processes of both the NPP and NDC. The lack of genuine choice of candidates at party level, translates into a loss of trust in duopoly politics and increasing apathy, hence the loud chorus for a credible third force leadership if democratic practice is to be sustained for the benefit of youthful voters. That is why a bold and viable candidate like Alan Kyerematen, meets the need of the times. I and my friends Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene-Ntow and Saddique Abu-Bakar Boniface, in our support for Alan Kyerematen, a man of vision, competence, integrity and action, represent millions of Ghanaians who want to serve the country with a clear conscience. We are upholding the preamble to the Constitution, articles 1, 3(2), 17(1)(2)(3), 21(1)(3), 35(1)(4)(5)(9), 37(2)(a) and above all, article 41. Finally, the 1992 Constitution recognises coalition governments. A coalition is defined by the oxford dictionary as a temporary alliance for combined action, especially of political parties forming a government. Alan Kyerematen wants to bring Ghanaians together in the next election, in a Government of National Unity, to think Ghana, and redirect Ghana onto a positive trajectory. Nowhere in our constitution is it specified that Parliament is bi-cameral or that only a majority and minority can operate in Parliament. It is a fiction sold by the Standing Orders. Article 97(2) states unequivocally that a member need not lose their seat under 97(1)(g) and (h), if their party is a member of a coalition government. Article 103(5) admonishes that committees of Parliament ought to reflect the different shades of opinion in Parliament. Article 104 talks about a majority of members present and voting. It does not refer to a majority party. Ghana is ready for a political third force capable of breaking unproductive duopoly politics. We do not need a change of constitution to effect the change of leadership that the parties are incapable of offering. We have Alan Kyerematen. Together, our support for his independent presidency will unleash the development energy being suppressed by tit for tat duopoly politics. 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 Former Member of Parliament for the Adenta constituency, Yaw Buaben Asamoa has accepted the decision of the NPP to sack him and three others from the party following their continuous support of Alan Kyerematen, an independent presidential candidate. The quartet: Yaw Buaben Asamoa, Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene-Ntow and Saddique Abu-Bakar Boniface, were dismissed from the party for violating Article 3(9)(1) of the NPPs constitution. In a statement, Buaben Asamoa who seemed to be speaking on behalf of his colleagues said they don't have a problem with the party's decision and that "That is incontestable and therefore needs no formal written notice," According to him, "Though none of the persons mentioned has received a personal copy, we accept our resignation from the NPP and pledge our commitment to Ghanas success through our support for Alan Kyerematen. We also take this opportunity to respond and set the minds of concerned well-meaning patriots at ease. First, our public conduct in unconditionally and with great conviction supporting the highflying independent candidature of Alan Kyerematen for president, is against the NPP constitution, which provides for automatic forfeiture of membership under article 3(9)(1). That is incontestable and therefore needs no formal written notice". Read his full statement below; Re: FORFEITURE OF MEMBERSHIP PURSUANT TO THE PROVISION OF ARTICLE 3(9)(1) OF THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY CONSTITUTION My attention and that of my esteemed and patriotically principled colleagues, Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene-Ntow and Saddique Abu-Bakar Boniface, has been drawn by numerous media outlets to a statement purportedly issued and signed by the General Secretary of the NPP, captioned as above. Though none of the persons mentioned has received a personal copy, we accept our resignation from the NPP and pledge our commitment to Ghanas success through our support for Alan Kyerematen. We also take this opportunity to respond and set the minds of concerned well-meaning patriots at ease. First, our public conduct in unconditionally and with great conviction supporting the highflying independent candidature of Alan Kyerematen for president, is against the NPP constitution, which provides for automatic forfeiture of membership under article 3(9)(1). That is incontestable and therefore needs no formal written notice. Unfortunately for the Party Leadership', the wholesale application of the poorly written article 3(9)(1), may not be serving the interests of the general membership of the Party well. By not differentiating between support for presidential and parliamentary candidates, conduct against a presidential candidate, results in forfeiture of the parliamentary vote as well. This is clearly out of step with the fast developing political culture of skirt & blouse, where voters increasingly mix their choice of presidential and parliamentary candidates based on factors other than what the party Leadership says. H.E. the President benefitted from skirt and blouse when he won ten constituencies in the Central Region where NDC won the parliamentary seats. Are those who accepted the President but voted otherwise at parliamentary level to be sacked? Hundreds of thousands of NPP members and millions of sympathisers are deeply unhappy at the so called mafia tactics of intimidation and inducement used to skew delegate elections in favour of choices that may not necessarily be popular with the general electorate. Indeed, the mafia approach is against article 55(5) of the 1992 Constitution, which demands democratic principles in internal party processes. Whilst there is value to being part of an organisation like a party, continuing exclusionary practices, quietly erodes loyalty and conviction, over time. Secondly, the same article 55(2) which gives a right to join political parties also gives a right to support political activity as an independent under 55(10) and (16). Considering that the right of a political party to sponsor candidates, does not exclude the right of independent candidates nor their supporters to participate in general elections, it may not be prudent to continue to reduce ones membership with archaic rules. Thirdly, in the profound wisdom of the 1992 Constitution, qualification to the presidency of Ghana does not require political party affiliation. Articles 57(1), 58, 62 and 63(1)(2)(3) and 94, dealing with the nature, qualification and powers of the office, have nothing to do with parties. Furthermore, exercising the powers of the presidency do not require party authority. In office, a president appoints and runs a government under articles 70, 76, 77, 78(1)(2) and 79, without a stated party presence. A voter does not have to be a member of a party to benefit from the presidency. Fourthly, the public is keenly aware that the selection of H.E the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as Presidential Candidate of the NPP, was the confirmation of a process carefully designed to have only one outcome. Because it was choreographed, there is nothing new or surprising to offer the voter public. Arguably, the patient Ghanaian voter, has been short-changed by the presidential candidate selection processes of both the NPP and NDC. The lack of genuine choice of candidates at party level, translates into a loss of trust in duopoly politics and increasing apathy, hence the loud chorus for a credible third force leadership if democratic practice is to be sustained for the benefit of youthful voters. That is why a bold and viable candidate like Alan Kyerematen, meets the need of the times. I and my friends Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene-Ntow and Saddique Abu-Bakar Boniface, in our support for Alan Kyerematen, a man of vision, competence, integrity and action, represent millions of Ghanaians who want to serve the country with a clear conscience. We are upholding the preamble to the Constitution, articles 1, 3(2), 17(1)(2)(3), 21(1)(3), 35(1)(4)(5)(9), 37(2)(a) and above all, article 41. Finally, the 1992 Constitution recognises coalition governments. A coalition is defined by the oxford dictionary as a temporary alliance for combined action, especially of political parties forming a government. Alan Kyerematen wants to bring Ghanaians together in the next election, in a Government of National Unity, to think Ghana, and redirect Ghana onto a positive trajectory. Nowhere in our constitution is it specified that Parliament is bi-cameral or that only a majority and minority can operate in Parliament. It is a fiction sold by the Standing Orders. Article 97(2) states unequivocally that a member need not lose their seat under 97(1)(g) and (h), if their party is a member of a coalition government. Article 103(5) admonishes that committees of Parliament ought to reflect the different shades of opinion in Parliament. Article 104 talks about a majority of members present and voting. It does not refer to a majority party. Ghana is ready for a political third force capable of breaking unproductive duopoly politics. We do not need a change of constitution to effect the change of leadership that the parties are incapable of offering. We have Alan Kyerematen. Together, our support for his independent presidency will unleash the development energy being suppressed by tit-for-tat duopoly politics. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Vice President and Flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has taken a jab at former President John Mahama over his series of criticisms at him and the incumbent government. The Vice President, addressing thousands of people in the North East Regional Capital Nelerigu, on Monday after he called on the Overlord of Mamprugu following his election, said Mr. Mahama has been speaking like he has never been President of Ghana before whereas his administration brought nothing but sorrow to Ghanaians. "Between the two of us, only one of us has been President before. That is John Mahama. He was President before. I have only been Vice President. I have not been President before but by the grace of God you'll make me President in 2025, in shaa Allah. "Today, John Mahama is going around the country and he is speaking to people as if he has never been President before. When we were suffering under his Presidency, he told us he was a dead goat. A dead goat who had no feelings. Today he wants to resurrect and become a live goat", Dr. Bawumia said. Dr. Bawumia added that after Mahama failed to provide solutions to many societal problems while as President, he has resurfaced pretending to have a magic wand. "Suddenly he has all the solutions to our problems. But when he was President, what solutions did he bring to Ghana? Did he solve the unemployment programme? Did he create jobs? Did he tackle corruption? Did he issue Ghana cards? Did he build astro turfs? Did he abolish the three months pay policy for teachers? Did he establish Free SHS? He had no solutions to our problems." Dr. Bawumia noted he has proposed and spearheaded programmes which have positively impacted the country stressing "I have not yet become President but I as a Vice President, I have brought solutions to many of our problems". "We did not have a unique identity so I championed the government's policy for the Ghanacard. Today we have 17 million people issued with tje Ghanacard. Today, because of my proposal, we have no guarantor for student loan if you have a Ghanacard. Today Ghana has a digital property address system because we had a problem of no functional address", he further stated. He continued; "Before you could not transfer money between one teleco to another. But today, because of mobile money interoperability, you can transfer money Vodafone to mtn, to airtle tigo. Before, you could not transfer money between a bank account and a mobile account. Today you can do that. Today, you can renew the National Health Insurance on your mobile phone." "Today, you can sit at home and buy electricity credit on your mobile phone. Today we have brought zipline drones and they are delivering medicines to 2700 hospitals and clinics across the country." "Today, we have one constituency, one ambulance. And another idea I brought is Agenda 111. We are building hospitals in districts without hospitals. Other ideas I brought are Zongo Development Fund and Gold for Oil policy. Today you can aquire drivers license and passport online. Today you can file your taxes online." Dr. Bawumia challenged Mr. Mahama to compare track records for a determination on who has the best ideas to transform the country. "What ideas did John Mahama bring? Can you remember one idea John Mahama brought? Just one! Can you remember?", he questioned. "We have brought ideas to the table. Ideas is what transform a nation and you can see as Vice President, what ideas I have brought to the table", the Veep emphasized. 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 With the influx of packages that comes with the holidays, many people across the United States may find themselves worried about porch pirates. A recent report has shed further light on porch piracy during the holiday season, including which states are purported hot spots for such theft. Lombardo Homes a construction company that [works] closely with homebuyers to understand their needs and [to] design a home that compliments their lifestyle was behind this report, which was published under the title Porch Pirates 2023: Over a Third of Americans Report Having a Package Stolen. The reports findings were based off of a survey of 1,000 people across the country, as well as search data related to package theft and porch piracy. The results were then divided by region. A total of 39 percent of respondents confirmed theyve had two packages stolen, with 54 percent stating theyve previously been the victim of porch pirates during the holiday season. As for the upcoming season, 94 percent of those who took the survey plan on having packages delivered to their homes, with 78 percent of them expecting porch pirates to up their game after Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. The worry of Americans [about porch pirates] can be exemplified through their Google searches, the report reads. Between August t2022 and December 2022, nationwide Google searches for porch pirates increased by 236%, while searchers for stolen package police report also increased by 70%. On a kind of bright side, when breaking down the states that were hot spots for porch pirates, Pennsylvania ranked on the not a hot spot end of things. When It comes to punishment for package theft, each state has its laws and penalties, the report concludes. In some states, depending on the package and its value, it may be considered a felony which would result in potential jail time, while in others it might just be a fine. If you have a package stolen, be sure to file a police report and consider installing a doorbell camera or security system. By NAJIB JOBAIN and SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) Israeli forces pressed their offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza on Monday, battling militants around a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, raising Palestinian fears of another painful standoff and evacuation of a medical facility. A shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing at least 12 people, according to a medical worker inside the facility and the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Both blamed Israeli forces. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The advance came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Shifa Hospital. At least 28 were transported to Egypt on Monday. More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the compound that Israeli forces stormed days ago. The plight of Gazas hospitals is the focus of a battle of narratives over the wars brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the conflict was sparked by Hamas Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. In the wake of the assault, Israeli leaders vowed to eradicate Hamas, destroy its ability to rule Gaza and uproot its militant infrastructure. Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields and operated a major command hub inside and beneath Shifa. Critics say Israels siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territorys 2.3 million Palestinians. Marwan Abdallah, the medical worker at the Indonesian Hospital, said Israeli tanks were operating less than 200 meters (yards) from the hospital, and that Israeli snipers could be seen on the roofs of nearby buildings. As he spoke over the phone, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. Abdallah said the hospital had received dozens of dead and wounded in airstrikes and shelling overnight. Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra, who is now based in southern Gaza, said some 600 patients, 200 health care workers and 2,000 displaced people are sheltering there. The occupation aims to evacuate the hospital, as it did in Shifa, he said. In a separate development that could relieve some of the pressure on Gazas collapsing health system, dozens of trucks entered the territory from Egypt on Monday with equipment from Jordan to set up a field hospital. Jordans state-run media said the hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis would be up and running within 48 hours. Medical staff care for prematurely born Palestinian babies that were brought from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to the hospital in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)AP CLAIMS ABOUT SHIFA Babies evacuated from Gazas embattled Shifa hospital arrived in Egypt, according to the countrys state-run media, after the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said it was transporting 28 premature babies across the border. It was not immediately clear where the other three babies who were evacuated from Shifa were. Following that evacuation, over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remain in Shifa, which can no longer provide most treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators. Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside its gates for days before entering the facility on Wednesday. Four babies died in the two days before the evacuation, according to Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals. Israels army said it has evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospitals 20-acre (8-hectare) complex, which includes several buildings. On Sunday, the military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 55 meters (60 yards) long and about 10 meters (33 feet) below ground. It said the tunnel included a hole for gunmen to fire out of, and ended at a blast-proof door that troops have not yet opened. Israeli forces also released security camera video showing what they said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, who were captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack and taken to the hospital. Hamas said its fighters brought them in for medical care. The army also said an investigation had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, another captive whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been wounded in an Israeli strike on Nov. 9 that killed her captor, but was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa. The military has previously released images of several guns it said were found inside an MRI lab and said that the bodies of two hostages were found near the complex. The Associated Press was not able to independently confirm the militarys findings. Hamas and hospital staff have denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the latest announcement, saying the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel. Destroyed buildings stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)AP THREE IN FOUR PEOPLE DISPLACED Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment since the start of the war. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gazas population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded U.N.-run shelters, according to the U.N. International aid group Doctors Without Borders said 70 people were killed and at least 52 wounded, including children, in strikes in the southern town of Khan Younis on Saturday. It said it was performing 10 burn surgeries a day at the towns overwhelmed Nasser Hospital, where hundreds of people need such operations. More than 12,700 Palestinians, including more than 5,000 minors, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, which coordinates with officials in the Health Ministry of Hamas-run Gaza. Officials there say another 4,000 are missing and believed buried in rubble. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. Violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where attacks by Jewish settlers are on the rise and where more than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, mostly in gunbattles triggered by Israeli military raids. About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 66 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. Israels three-member war Cabinet is to meet with representatives of the hostages families on Monday evening. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed. Authorities charged a New Jersey State Police trooper with aggravate assault after he punched a handcuffed woman in the face, the state Attorney Generals Office announced. Nicolas J. Hogan, 28, of Gibbstown, allegedly punched the woman while he was holding a flashlight in his hand after she spat in his direction as she sat in the back of a police vehicle in Cumberland County, according to details disclosed Friday. Hogans attorney, Anthony Pope, said the trooper intends to enter a not guilty plea at his arraignment. The incident began around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2022, when troopers responded to a report of a trespasser at an Upper Deerfield residence. As troopers drove to the scene, they encountered a woman walking in the road who appeared intoxicated and matched the description of the trespasser, officials said. Troopers said the woman needed medical attention and called for support as other troopers, including Hogan, arrived. The woman became increasing distraught that she was being detained and began crying, investigators said. The victim repeatedly protested her detainment and attempted to walk away, resulting in troopers handcuffing and placing her in one of the troop cars, where she asked multiple times for a tissue but was never given one, according to the Attorney Generals release, which noted that she was not under arrest. Before she was placed in the vehicle, the woman was spitting on the ground, apparently because she was upset and crying, officials said. The troopers body camera footage shows fluid and mucus on her face and falling from her mouth, officials said. While in the back of the vehicle, the woman spat in the direction of a trooper standing near the open rear door, police said. Hogan was standing on the other side of the car, opened that door and allegedly said, If you f------ spit on a trooper At that moment, the woman turned toward him and spat again, this time in his direction, investigators said. Then, Hogan allegedly punched her in the face. This alleged use of force appears to have been completely avoidable, and the degree of force used was unreasonable, said Thomas Eicher, executive director of the Attorney Generals Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. We cannot have police officers assaulting people in distress while they are restrained and posing no threat. It is uncalled for, unhelpful, improper and unlawful. Hogan was charged on a summons with a third-degree count of aggravated assault causing significant bodily injury. The charge carries a potential prison sentence of 3 to 5 years and a fine of up to $15,000. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Two people were killed on Saturday in a Luzerne County house fire, according to media reports. Fire crews arrived at the corner of 17th and Arthur Street in Hazle Township at 11:40 p.m. to find a home enveloped in flames, Fox 56 said. While attempting to contain the fire, officials found two people who had died inside the house. Their identities have not been released. Autopsies of the victims will be held today. I was the babysitter for them. Even if they were gone for an hour, they never wanted to leave their dog alone, Guy Hudock, said to Fox 56. A Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshall said that the fire was not suspicious, WBRE/WYOU said, but an official cause has not yet been determined. By Jack Panyard, LNP (TNS) Inna Kozyar doesnt have a firm grasp on English. After immigrating to the United States from Ukraine with her two daughters in February 2022 to escape the countrys war with Russia, Kozyar started working at Boscovs to try to make ends meet. This spring, she needed to make a stop at the Lancaster County Assistance Office on the 800 block of Manor Street in Lancaster city to figure out how she could afford a surgery she needed that her insurance would not cover. She saw the parking lot behind Manor Automotive, an auto repair shop next to the office. Mistaking it for assistance office parking, she left her car in the lot and went inside for three minutes. She did not see the sign that said NO WELFARE PARKING. When she exited, she saw her car being hooked to a tow truck. The driver of the truck told her to give him $200 to get her car back. In 15 minutes, he said, the price would go up to $400. If she did not deliver after that, he said, he would take her car to another lot and she would have to pay him $800 to get it back. Panicked, Kozyar called her daughter to quickly get the money. Her daughter and her daughters boyfriend rushed over to the shop. The driver checked his watch: 17 minutes. The price was now $400, no exceptions. It was, like, very heavy energy, Kozyar said. His sounds, his voice, how he was looking, how he was acting, it was such bad energy. It was horrible. Infuriated, Kozyars daughters boyfriend found an ATM and got the extra $200 to get the car back, a significant amount for the struggling family. Kozyars experience with the automotive shop is not unique. The business treatment of non-customers who park on its property is the subject of frustrated posts on social media and online review sites. The shop switched hands in January 2023, but complaints and arguments persist. Manor Street The Lancaster County Assistance Office serves eligible county residents with benefits like SNAP food stamps, cash assistance, health care coverage, home heating assistance and more. The building at 832 Manor St. that is currently home to the assistance office was built in 1942 as a supermarket and converted into the office in 1975. It predates Manor Auto, at 850 Manor St., which was established in 1988 by Chris Woelfle. The office has a parking lot behind the building that accommodates dozens of cars along with a nearby employee lot. Residents approaching the office from the south or west likely will not see the designated parking, seeing instead the spaces belonging to Manor Automotive. Woelfle, who sold the auto repair business in January, said the parking problem didnt become an issue until the late 2000s, when the office moved its entrance from the north-facing parking lot to the southern section next to the auto shop. There are no entrances for the public at the rear or side of the building where the offices lot is. Since the renovation, visitors need to walk the length of the building to get to the door, and twice that far if parked in the back. Manor Automotive has seven parking spaces for customers. Woelfle said while he owned the shop, it serviced 30 to 35 cars a week. When assistance office visitors began parking in his lot, the shop had to find a way to get people cleared. Woelfle said he and his wife took a red-eye flight to North Carolina to buy a tow truck and drove it back the same day. The towing started immediately, and he said they pulled about a half dozen vehicles off the shops property on the first day. Woelfle said in the beginning they would tow five or six cars a day. By the time he sold the shop in January, he was towing six to eight a week. Over the years, Woelfle said he and his wife felt their hearts hardening toward the people who parked illegally in their spaces, and it was a relief to sell the business. Currently, there are 15 signs at the business warning noncustomers not to park there and warning violators will be towed. Jeremy, who mans the desk at Manor Auto, said the companys official towing price is $400, but will charge $200 if the towed person pays before the car is moved, commonly known as a drop fee. If the car is towed to a separate lot owned by Manor Automotive, owners are charged $25 a day after three days. He did not share the location, citing security concerns. Jeremy declined to share his last name. Woelfle had a very active Manor Auto Facebook page, advertising the business and warning residents to not park near the business. One video clip on the page showed the company towing a vehicle parked illegally on their lot in less than two minutes. Online reviews were ugly during Woelfles ownership, and he sparred online with customers who criticized the business. The fights would sometimes get personal. Residents either loved Manor Auto for their service and technicians or hated them for its quick towing enforcement. After Woelfle left the business, he took down the Facebook page associated with the shop. Towing laws Kozyar was unsure who she dealt with when she had to pay $400 to get her car back. She said the man who confronted them said he was the owner. She acknowledged she was in the wrong for parking in the lot, but said it seems like the business is targeting people who are already living on tight budgets.. The people who came here, they need help, Kozyar said. But (Manor Auto) made this terrible situation. Towing laws in Pennsylvania are a mix of state and county-level regulations that govern signage visibility, towing operation hours and fees. State laws do not set financial limits on towing fees but defer them to municipal-level legislation. Woelfle said the city does not require everyone who operates a tow truck to have a license, as long as they are operating on their own private property and are not affiliated with the city. But city police Lieutenant Mark Radmore said thats not the case. According to city laws, anyone who tows on public and private property, whether for the city or not, is required to have a towing license. Radmore said he sees how the law could be interpreted in multiple ways, but a basic reading of the regulations says tow truck operators must be licensed. Lancaster city requires anyone with a towing license to report how much they charge for their services and to post their prices publicly. Radmore said there are exceptions that allow towing companies to charge more, but those are generally in extreme circumstances, such as when multiple trucks are needed. Manor Auto, which according to Woelfle and Radmore does not have a towing license, posts its $400 towing rate on a sign on the building. People who have been towed say they have been charged more and faced threats from company employees. Last August, city resident Crystal Tillman said she was inside the assistance office for no more than 30 seconds, parking directly outside the building on Manor Street. Her passenger was seated in her vehicle while Manor Auto hooked it to the tow truck. The tow truck operator did not speak to the passenger. Tillman said she came outside and tried to start her car before realizing it was already hooked to a tow truck. The driver told her she could pay $200 immediately, or $400 in 15 minutes. Tillman was not sure how she was going to get the money, and was especially panicked, as she was borrowing the car. She tried to bargain with the driver. We eventually got up to the point where it was $750 because they were going to take it to a lot, Tillman said. And then the police came. Tillman said she told the police she was wrong to park in one of the shops spaces, but said she would not pay the company $750 for the tow. And the police I guess must have agreed because we ended up paying $400, Tillman said. So it started at $200, made its way all the way to $750, and got resolved at $400. The tow truck driver still took the car, as she did not have the cash on her at the time. When she was able to get the money together, the tow operator drove the car back to her. Radmore said that even if Manor Auto was not licensed to tow, it would be nearly impossible to retroactively impose penalties on the company at this point. He said the company has already applied for a license but it has taken longer than usual because the city officer in charge of processing that paperwork has been on leave for an injury and likely will be out through the end of the year. Jay Singh, the current owner of Manor Auto, owns three other auto shops in the county and acquired the property within the year. He said he has been fairly hands-off with the towing situation, saying there is someone on site who has been handling it for years who he only identified as Jeff. Jeff at Manor Auto declined to comment. Woelfle said Manor Auto has never needed a towing license before, as they were towing cars only from the business property, but said he did not know about any of the drivers raising prices above $400. Singh said the tows are necessary because there is such limited space around the two properties, and if the company was not proactive, they could lose business. He said the team has checked security footage of when people would leave their cars, and they seem to be willfully ignorant of the signs warning them not to park there. Its almost common sense, Singh said. Like, hey, buddy. This is a repair shop, right? Its got to be pretty easy to decipher the difference between our building and their building. Jeremy, who works the desk at Manor Auto, said the company does not relish towing cars, but he sees the necessity. We wish they would stop parking there. We want this issue to go away. Lancaster city police spokesperson Stacia Korman said the Community and Police Working Group, a coalition dedicated to improving the publics relationship with officers, paid to post signs on the property in Spanish and Swahili to warn drivers about towing after visitors shared complaints about the parking situation. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, which runs the county assistance office, said it is aware of issues at Manor Auto and the companys concerns about parking, and said the company has worked with city police to post signs to mitigate illegal parking, to verbally warn people as they enter the office and direct them to park in the lot around back. This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle. HV.1, a new COVID-19 subvariant, is gaining traction across Canada. (Photo via Getty Images) (SimpleImages via Getty Images) A new COVID-19 subvariant called HV.1 is spreading across Canada and might be the new dominant strain this winter, and while it's still early to tell, health experts suggest it won't be a major cause of concern. HV.1 is a subvariant of Omicron, and it's rapidly becoming the most prevalent variant in the country, according to data from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) that was updated on Nov. 14. At the start of September, HV. 1 made up 4.4 per cent of reported cases, until it ballooned to 34.2 per cent in early November. "It's the newest Omicron on the block, it's the one that seems to be winning the race right now, but it's one of a handful of other respiratory viruses that are circulating," University of Saskatchewan virologist Angela Rasmussen tells Yahoo Canada. "This is kind of what we should maybe expect to be our new normal for cold and flu season going forward." Ahead of this year's respiratory virus season, should people be worrying about this new COVID-19 subvariant? Read on to learn more about HV.1 and what Canadian experts say about the virus. "We're not going to get rid of COVID. No matter what, as much as I hate to say it, I don't see COVID going away any time soon, potentially in our lifetimes."Angela Rasmussen What is COVID-19 subvariant HV.1? Descending from EG. 5, or Eris, HV.1 is a derivative of the XBB lineage, according to Rasmussen. "It's still Omicron, it's still an XBB family member. It's not actually that different from a lot of the other variants that have circulated this year." Earl Brown, emeritus professor of microbiology at the University of Ottawa, explains these viruses have a lot of mutations in their spike proteins, which they use to attach to our cells. Story continues "Some of these variants have mutations that make them infect better, so they get into cells better, they can start an infection better and they compete better than other viruses," he tells Yahoo Canada. "It looks like HV. 1 is 'flavour of the month' sort of thing. ... It's got about 40 new mutations on top of this 40 or 50 which are already in the Omicron group." There's still a lot unknown about HV.1, as it hasn't been studied in comparison to other variants. But both Brown and Rasmussen say even if it might have a higher transmission advantage compared to other subvariants, there's no indication it may cause more severe disease. HV.1 is a derivative of the Omicron XBB lineage, making up more than a third of reported COVID-19 cases in Canada. (Photo via Getty Images) (Uma Shankar sharma via Getty Images) Should people be concerned about COVID-19 subvariant HV.1? While both experts agree HV.1 shouldn't create concerns about causing more severe disease, they also say it's important to avoid COVID-19 entirely. "People should try to avoid infection if they can," Brown says. "Isolate themselves and do the masking when they go out, that sort of thing. "You really don't want to be reinfected if you can avoid it." People who are at risk of bad COVID-19 outcomes should be the most vigilant about staying healthy. That includes people who are older, pregnant people, anyone living with a chronic medical condition or those who are immunocompromised. On top of wearing masks, ideally an N95 or KN95 respirator, people should limit the time they spend in closed or crowded spaces. They should also always maximize their physical distance from people outside of their household. Canadians should keep their guard up about COVID as well as about flu.Angela Rasmussen Will the updated vaccine work against COVID-19 subvariant HV.1? At the bare minimum, according to Rasmussen, people should be staying up to date on their vaccines if they want to stay protected this respiratory virus season. "If you haven't done it yet, go get your vaccines updated. You want to have an updated flu shot as well as an updated COVID booster," she says, adding that an RSV shot is good if applicable. Since HV.1 is a derivative of XBB, Rasmussen says there should be some "fairly robust cross-protection" with the currently-available booster shots. "The vaccines really do work," she adds. "They can be the difference between a miserable couple of days to a trip to the hospital." While the current monovalent vaccines should work against HV.1, Rasmussen says it doesn't mean we're entirely safe from COVID-19 in the future. "What's difficult to predict about this, though, is we don't know if another variant that's not XBB from Omicron is going to emerge," she says. "If so, how would we need to update vaccines to address that?" What should people know about upcoming respiratory virus seasons? If an entirely new variant of COVID-19 beyond Omicron emerged, Rasmussen says that would be a "big set back" to where we've gotten. On the other hand, she explains there might be no more mutational combinations that would make the virus better at spreading than Omicron. Either way, she says it wouldn't be like going back to square one. "It's not like going back to the beginning of 2020 where it's a whole new virus that we've never seen before" she says. "There probably will still be some protections that prior infections and/or vaccinations offer." Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Hitting deer might be relatively common for Pennsylvania drivers but that does not make it any less dangerous, officials stressed on Monday. Between 2018 and 2022, there were nearly 3,900 deer-related collisions resulting in over 770 injuries and three deaths, one each in Dauphin, Perry and Adams counties, said Fritzi Schreffler, a safety press officer with PennDOT. Those numbers are whats reported, she said, explaining that the actual number of deer-related accidents was likely higher because many drivers do not report them. A study released in September by State Farm concluded that Pennsylvania has the third-highest odds for drivers hitting deer at 1 in 59, trailing only West Virginia (1 in 38) and Montana (1 in 53). Pennsylvania, though, had the highest number of deer-related accident claims between July 2022 and June 2023 with 153,397, according to State Farm. Schreffler and Dr. Michael Reihart, the director of emergency services at Lancaster Medical Center, held a media briefing Monday at the hospital along with police to stress the importance of remaining vigilant about deer while driving. York County had the highest number of deer-related accidents (996) and injuries (162) in south-central Pennsylvania followed by Lancaster County with 624 accidents and 139 injuries, Schreffler said. Results over the same five-year period for other counties were: Dauphin County 568 accidents and 108 injuries Cumberland County 469 accidents and 104 injuries Adams County 436 accidents and 88 injuries Lebanon County 331 accidents and 63 injuries Franklin County 238 accidents and 51 injuries Perry County 231 accidents and 58 injuries Reihart said his hospitals staff has seen a huge spike in injuries from deer-related crashes since daylight saving time occurred. In one incident, he said a deer flew through a windshield but was blocked by the airbags from hurdling into the people inside. Ive seen a multitude of injuries, said Reihart, whos been an emergency room physician in Lancaster County for over 25 years. Both Schreffler and Reihart noted that the change in time comes as mating season, or the rut, is in full swing for deer. Add in several other factors farmers are clearing their fields, hunting season is starting in addition to building construction and deer are being pushed from areas that they would normally consider their habitat, Schreffler said. Reihart urged drivers and passengers to wear their seatbelts, make sure childrens car seats are in good shape and avoid distracted driving, which he called a clear and present danger. Parents, both Reihart and Schreffler said, should teach teens about how to handle confrontations with deer, such as not swerving which could lead to a vehicle hitting a tree or pole and slowing down without slamming the brakes, if possible, because that dips a cars front end and could send a deer over the hood into the windshield. Reihart also said that motorcyclists are more exposed and susceptible to injuries if they strike a deer. Drivers can report a deer in the road or on the shoulder to PennDOT by calling 800-FIX-ROAD and workers will typically try to remove it within 24 to 48 hours, Schreffler said. She said reports should include an address or specific information, such as a crossroad, exit number or mile marker. Also, Schreffler said anyone who wants to haul away a dead deer for themselves should remember that chronic wasting disease is prevalent in deer populations in Lancaster County and in counties west of the Susquehanna River. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, studies are underway to try and determine if there are any effects on humans from eating meat from deer infected with the disease. The trade group that represents U.S. fur farms is offering an increased cash reward for tips on the apparently yet-unsolved sabotage of a mink farm in Northumberland County in September. Fur Commission USA, a national association for fur farmers, said Friday it was increasing its reward from $5,000 to $16,000 for information that leads to an arrest, citing its commitment to protecting these family farms against unlawful and harmful actions. Richard H. Stahl Sons, the farm where the act was committed, previously promised a $5,000 reward, with the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania offering an additional $1,000. On Sept. 17, holes were cut into fencing at the Stahl fur farm, a suspected act of criminal mischief, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The incident bears all the hallmarks of sabotage by animal rights activists, one activist told PennLive in September, and the fur commission also attributed the incident to radical animal activists. Although authorities initially reported that thousands of mink may have escaped, the Pennsylvania Game Commission later said that the number of farm mink on the loose was in the hundreds. Many of these were reported to have been killed by vehicles; others were collected and later turned back over to the Stahl farm. While some animal rights groups believe that physical sabotage is an effective way to completely end fur farming, others say that the tactic is questionable at best, given that farm-bred mink are less likely to survive in the wild. The practice of breeding and slaughtering mink for their fur has declined in recent years, largely out of ethical concerns for the cramped conditions the animals are subjected to on many fur farms, according to the ASPCA. The fur commission states that all of our farmers adhere to strict guidelines for animal welfare. The rise of high-quality faux furs has also contributed to the decline of the industry in the United States, which produced 1.33 million mink pelts in 2022, according to federal data. Five decades ago, that number was five to six times higher, according to the ASPCA. Pennsylvanias share of the mink industry is small; the commonwealth produced only 10,250 mink pelts in 2021, according to federal data, with Wisconsin producing nearly half of the nations mink pelts. The Court of Judicial Discipline has suspended a Dauphin County Magisterial District Judge without pay until it reaches a decision concerning ethical violations charged in September against her. District Judge Sonya McKnight, 56, after being acquitted in 2021 of criminal charges and withstanding prior inquiries by the Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania, has been suspended more than two months after the board levied seven new allegations of misconduct in September. Those allegations include failing to recuse herself in a matter where her partiality could be questioned, providing contradictory testimony to the judicial conduct board, and instructing her staff to bury a civil complaint against her. The wide array of misconduct reveals Judge McKnights lack of understanding or concern for her responsibilities as a Magisterial District Judge, the conduct board argued in a Nov. 8 filing. Judge McKnights behavior reflects someone who believes she is not bound by the law nor the Rules Governing the Standard Conduct of Magisterial District Judges. PennLive could not reach McKnight for comment. The suspension, which took effect Nov. 14, is the latest installment in a years-long battle between McKnight and the Judicial Conduct Board that began after she appeared at a traffic stop involving her son, Kevin Baltimore, on Feb. 22, 2020. Authorities said she interfered with the stop and used her position to enter her sons car and remove a pill bottle, but a Berks County judge brought in to hear her case in July 2021 acquitted her on all charges. However, she was sanctioned by the Court of Judicial Discipline with a year of probation starting Jan. 31, 2023. The allegations in the most recent complaint, filed in September, accuse McKnight of a new set of ethical violations based on testimonials from numerous witnesses as well as statements by McKnight at a hearing in June. In March 2022, Kimberly Ross-Seals mailed a civil complaint accompanied by its filing fee saying McKnight owed Ross-Seals $2,073.49 for an unpaid loan, according to the boards complaint. McKnight told her office manager, Georgette Potts, to act as if the complaint was never received, according to the board complaint. In July 2021, while McKnight was fighting criminal charges of official oppression related to her sons traffic stop, she called an acquaintance Karen Johnson and told her to ask the Harrisburg Bureau of Police Records Department for a copy of the police report on the incident. Police reports are not usually public records. Only criminal complaints from the court are made available to defendants in criminal cases. Another incident cited by the board involved involved Brian Perry, a private defense attorney, who represented McKnight from 2019 to 2020. To avoid conflicts of interest, Dauphin County President Judge John Cherry and then-Court Administrator Deborah Freeman told McKnight she could not preside over any case in which Perry was involved. However, in July 2022, Perry represented William Ingram III, who appeared before McKnight on July 18, 2022, on a charge of driving under a DUI-related suspension. McKnight admitted to presiding over this matter during her deposition over the summer. Perry said on Saturday, I had not represented MDJ McKnight for over two years when I appeared before her in a summary traffic case. I did not represent MDJ McKnight in her most recent criminal case or disciplinary action. In July 2021, McKnight also filed a citizens complaint against the three Harrisburg police officers at her sons traffic stop, including officer Anthony Cummings, who was involved in her criminal court case, accusing them of conspiring to destroy her reputation and credibility. But she went on to hear two criminal cases in 2022 filed by Cummings in her court without informing either side that she had a pending citizens complaint against Cummings. Another allegation levied by the Judicial Conduct Board is that McKnight advertised a product called X-it Red on a personal Facebook page that identified her as a judge and showed pictures of her in a judicial robe. McKnight admitted to selling this product on behalf of her boyfriend in her deposition. Jamillah London, left, and Addie Palache show support for Judge Sonya McKnight. Dauphin County Magisterial District Judge Sonya McKnight appears in court at the Dauphin County courthouse in Harrisburg, February 19, 2021. McKnight has been suspended without pay while she faces criminal charges related to the arrest of her son. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com Magisterial district judges take turns covering the overnight shift in Dauphin County, where they are responsible for approving warrants and conducting preliminary arraignments after hours. The complaint said McKnight failed to appear for night court on Jan. 14, 2023, and because the court administrator could not contact her, other district judges had to step in to cover her shift from Jan. 14 to Jan. 16. Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline ordered McKnight to complete 10 days of unpaid suspension for ethics violations related to the incident. While McKnight was not held criminally responsible for the conduct, she acknowledged her improper misconduct and voiced contrition over her misconduct, the court said in its Jan. 31, 2023 opinion. McKnight later filed a civil lawsuit accusing Cummings, and police officers Farida Kingsboro, Chad Showers and Dominic Cristillo, of writing false reports about her sons traffic stop. The lawsuit says the officers actions were part of a vast conspiracy to frame her because of her race and gender. Supporters have insisted McKnight be issued backpay from her first suspension. Police have charged a West Virginia man with abandoning his dog at a Pennsylvania airport last week before catching a flight to California. David Mittelberger Sr., 68, of Windsor Heights, W.Va., has been charged with abandonment of animals, neglect of animals and cruelty to animals, according to a Monday Facebook post by the Allegheny County Police Department. The charges are summary offenses that would be mailed to Mittelberger, police said. Allegheny County police said David Mittelberger Sr. left his dog tied to a light pole in the Pittsburgh International Airport short-term parking lot. Allegheny County police Tips led investigators to identify Mittelberger as the man seen in surveillance video leading the small dog, named Mikey, on a leash and pushing him on a cart at Pittsburgh International Airport on Nov. 16. Mikey was found tied to a light pole outside in the airports short-term parking lot. Police said they believe that Mittelberger was traveling to California, but they have not been able to contact him. Mittelberger was seen wearing a blue jacket with Orcutt on the back. Orcutt is a town in Santa Barbara County, Calif. Mikey is being cared for at an Allegheny County animal shelter and needs to be treated for an active mouth infection requiring significant dental care, police said. Allegheny County police took a photo of the dog found tied to a light pole in Pittsburgh International Airport's short-term parking lot on Nov. 16. On Monday, police said the owner has been identified and charged, and that the dog, named Mikey, is suffering from "significant" dental problems. Allegheny County police Police said they are working with the shelter and state dog warden to obtain a court order allowing Mikey to receive treatment. Mittleberger is the second person since August to be charged after abandoning their dog at Pittsburgh International to catch a flight. Armstrong County resident Allison Lyn Gaiser faces five charges after Allegheny police said she left her French bulldog in a stroller at the airport on Aug. 4 to get on her flight to Mexico. Carlisle police are looking for information on a vehicle that hit a pedestrian Saturday evening and then left the scene. According to the Carlisle Police Department, the incident occurred at 7:42 p.m. on Nov. 18 when the victim was crossing at the intersection of Pitt and West High streets, just outside the Hamilton Restaurant. The vehicle, a maroon minivan, hit the pedestrian while turning left from West High Street onto North Pitt Street, according to police. The minivan pulled over but then drove away without providing any information, according to Carlisle police, who captured images of the vehicle on street security camera footage. The minivan appears to be a Nissan Quest, according to police, and was driven by a bald white man with a beard. Anyone with further information is asked to contact the Carlisle Police Department. By Eric Hausler On behalf of our 2,400 employes at Parx Shippensburg and Parx Bensalem, I would like to commend Pennlive.com for your recent in-depth report regarding the critical role that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) testing lab plays in monitoring our industry. As your report noted, the professionals at the lab have many responsibilities, from testing every game and piece of equipment to ensure fair play, to making sure that every casino game is connected to the states central computer system. This central computer tracks the revenue from the 27,000 games across every casino in the state. By any standard, Pennsylvania has one of the most successful casino industries in the nation. The legislative and regulatory framework are thorough and rigorous. The industry has emerged as an economic powerhouse for Pennsylvania that few states can match. The industry employs 15,000 people directly and supports 33,000 total jobs. The states casinos contribute more than $110 million in Local Share revenues and invest $500 million with PA businesses annually. Last year, Pennsylvanias casinos generated $2.3 billion in gaming tax revenues, more than any other state. New Jersey generated $526 million in tax revenues in 2022. Our casino in Shippensburg has created 150 jobs and will provide $100,000 annually to Shippensburg for the next ten years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional property tax revenue to the township, county and school district. We paid $8 million for the license and invested another $70 million to remake an empty store front into a brand new casino. We hired local businesses for the renovations and continue to work with local suppliers and other vendors. The casino will have an estimated economic impact of $43 million a year. This impact is not a fluke it is by design. For 20 years, Pennsylvania lawmakers and successive gubernatorial administrations have insisted that gaming generate meaningful tax revenues, create good-paying direct and indirect jobs in host communities, and make lasting investments in the state. But these jobs, tax dollars and investments are at risk because of the explosion of untaxed, unregulated and uncontrolled skill games across the commonwealth. Despite the fact that the Pennsylvania State Police, the Office of Attorney General and the PGCB all maintain that these machines are illegal, they are ubiquitous in gas stations, pizza parlors, corner stores, laundromats, and countless other locations. There are at least three times as many illegal skill game machines in operation right now than there are slot machines in legal casinos. Our Shippensburg casino is competing with a skill game parlor in Hampden Township 30 miles from our property - and a second skill game parlor in Harrisburg. In the last 10 days or so, another skill game parlor has opened up in Waynesboro, which is advertised as a slots parlor. To be clear: These skill games are not licensed, regulated, or supervised by any agency. They are not connected to a central computer. They are not tested. There are no background checks, which every employee in a casino must undergo. There are no measures in place to prevent children from gambling or to help curb compulsive or problem gaming. Skill games can be a magnet for crime, according to Attorney General Michelle A. Henry, among other officials. These machines are having a direct impact on the revenues generated by legal slot machines and that, in turn, is a direct hit on the state, which collects 54 % percent on the gross revenues collected from slot machines. The Commonwealth is our majority partner in our slot machine business. We invest, build, and hire thousands of people. Skill game operators plug a machine into the wall. It is time for lawmakers to put an end to the continued proliferation of these machines by tightening up state law. Absent meaningful action in Harrisburg, jobs, tax revenues, and significant, continued investments in this state will be at risk. I would urge Pennlive.com to continue its reporting on the gaming industry and to pay special attention to the impact these machines are having in Pennsylvania. Eric Hausler is the is Chief Executive Officer at Greenwood Racing Inc., which owns and operates Parx Casino Bucks County and Parx Casino Shippensburg. A recent article in PennLive reported the deaths of dozens of deer on state lands in Crawford County, Pa. Pennsylvania Game Commission has determined the deaths were caused by hemorrhagic disease, a virus spread by biting midges. I question the validity of this conclusion. Deer in the wild have been co-existing with biting insectsincluding mites, midges, gnats, mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, spiders, ants, bees, wasps, hornets, and many othersfor centuries if not longer. They have developed a natural immunity to the effects of insect bites and stings, making it highly unlikely that biting midges could transmit a deadly virus capable of felling entire herds of deer. According to the medical literature, hemorrhagic disease cannot be transmitted from deer to deer. Therefore, a large number of deaths occurring in a small area suggests there is something other than a contagious virus responsible for these deaths. These animals could just as likely have been poisoned, either intentionally or by accident, by something that was sprayed over the area or dumped or leaked into their food or water supply. Almost a year ago to the day, PennLive reported a similar incident that occurred at the Middle Creek Wildlife Refuge on Sept. 8, 2022. Is this just a coincidence? Rather than simply parroting the most convenient explanation, those responsible for investigating such incidents should examine the evidence more carefully to determine what really happened to these animals and prevent it from happening in the future. Juliet Perrin, Albrightsville, Pa. As an advocate for public education funding I have been watching the recent meetings of the Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) and wanted to share some observations. We are all familiar by now of the historic ruling that came down from the Commonwealth Court on Feb. 7, 2023. The decision is that Pennsylvanias school funding system is unconstitutional and must be reformed. The court did not establish or specify the how to this unconstitutionality for the BEFC, just the why this needs done. Directly and indirectly, that the court did not lay out a point by point plan for reform has been mentioned in the commissions meetings. However, we can learn from the past to know what steps need taken. We cannot just arbitrarily put funding in the budget as has been previously done. We need to establish adequacy targets for each district in the commonwealth to help hold lawmakers accountable for filling the adequacy gaps. Only then will we reach the goal of fair and equitable funding. I am hopeful the BEFC and the legislature will work together to accomplish what is now a required goal by the Commonwealth Court. Beth Sviben Central Dauphin School Board Director Assistant Board Secretary, Public Education Fellow Education Voters Pa. Workforce Readiness Education at Work Granted $500,000 from Salesforce to Help Students Earn While They Learn The nonprofit organization Education at Work (EAW) has received a $500,000 grant from customer relationship management company Salesforce's charitable Salesforce Foundation to develop a hybrid "learn and earn" program to help students across the U.S. work part-time for Fortune 500 companies, learn new skills, and pay for college. EAW will also build a new facility at Salesforce Tower in Indianapolis to provide opportunities for 200 area students by 2025 to learn and earn with major companies. The work-based learning nonprofit allows students to earn up to $5,250 in tuition assistance while gaining valuable on-the-job skills. Recruitment and hiring of local students is currently in process during the last months of 2023, the organization said. EAW will also design and build a technology platform for companies to hire and manage students remotely, it said. This will give students with tech skills opportunities to work part time on a flexible schedule. "The traditional way that students earn money to pay for college is broken," said Jane Swift, Education at Work president and former Massachusetts governor. "We've found a way to flip the script by bringing employers to the table, helping to dramatically boost student earnings and significantly reduce financial barriers to college completion. This generous grant will accelerate our impact and help more students access flexible work experiences and earn money to offset the total cost of college attendance all while developing transferable skill sets that will help them succeed in the workplace long after graduation." In its decade of existence, EAW said it has funded over $100 million in combined wages and tuition assistance for almost 8,000 students, saving them nearly $15,000 in debt by the end of their college careers. Its campus-based partnerships include Arizona State University, Northern Kentucky University, and the University of Utah. "Eighty-six percent of graduates are employed full time within 90 days post-graduation in comparison to a national sample of college graduates (69%)," the organization said. "Empowering our students to become the workforce of tomorrow isn't just about imparting knowledge it's also about increasing financial access to education and fostering opportunities for professional growth and connection," said Becky Ferguson, Salesforce Foundation CEO. "The Salesforce Foundation is proud to support Education at Work as they work to expand these pathways for student success." Wesam Cooley, who also goes by Wesam Khaled, who was recently arrested and charged by the Calgary police, addresses a pro-Palestinian rally in Calgary, Alta., Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. His charges were stayed Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarinos son Matt Madrazo is in charge of monetizing Twitters hard-right turn with a hoped for $100 million in political ads to influence U.S. elections in one direction, even as Elon Musk takes billions from U.S. taxpayers. As Elon Musks embattled takeover of Twitter continues to make negative headlines due to its amplification of bigotry, racism and antisemitism, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has been warned to resign. It might not be so simple for her, though. Semafors Max Tani pointed out that her son Matt Madrazo is running Xs efforts to monetize its hard-right turn by making it they hope a $100 million destination for political ads. As Elon was showing the world who he is by agreeing outright with dangerous antisemitic tropes, Media Matters reported that ads from IBM and others were appearing on content promoting Nazis and other hate. The combined hits made it impossible for big companies to ignore the danger to the brands, so they paused or pulled their ad spends on the platform formerly known as Twitter. The situation escalated to the point of Kelsey D. Atherton, the Chief Editor at the Center for International Policy, writing an opinion piece declaring Musks antisemitism a threat to U.S. national security. It is a piece that is hard to argue against if one is even remotely familiar with history. In cases it wasnt clear where Musk stands on freedom and basic principles of democracy, Musk, who sells himself as a free speech absolutist, threatened a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters, alleging their data was fraudulent although anyone who spends ten minutes on X can corroborate that hate is being monetized and shown next to corporate ads. He followed that up over the weekend by agreeing with former Trump adviser Stephen Millers suggestion that fraud was both a criminal and civil violation and that conservative Attorney Generals should be prosecuting researchers and journalists. Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey appeared to agree to assist Musk in his efforts to silence Media Matters. The White House condemned Musks behavior, but hasnt gone so far as to publicly task agencies with whom he has large taxpayer funded contracts to reassess those contracts. NASA just re-upped Space Xs contract for $1.23 billion dollars for ten rocket launches. Over the weekend, SpaceXs Starship second launch failed shortly after reaching space, in what was seen as a potentially major setback for NASA. If Musks plan to turn X into a right-wing political machine really does include the notion that it will make up for big ad companies by getting $100 million in political ads from right wing money, it might not be a bad gamble. The Republican side of the aisle is overflowing with endless cash from billionaires, oligarchs, foreign hostile powers, and other distasteful anti-democracy forces with money to burn. But Republican Governor Ron DeSantis whopping $211 million for his state political committee and set an all-time record for gubernatorial fundraising in 2022, a large amount of which Mother Jones says has gone into boosting his presidential bidperhaps illegally, hasnt been enough to rescue him on the national stage, but it does prove that agenda-laden SuperPACs can buy propaganda and raise the platform of their chosen puppet a feat with which the other side of the aisle is frankly not capable of competing. Dark money from nefarious sources trying to influence our elections seems to be the economic plan for Elon Musks X, which is on brand for him even as he collects billions from U.S. taxpayers in cushy government contracts, subsidies and more. It begs the question: Why are U.S. taxpayers funding a deliberate effort to influence elections in one direction, a direction which not only is one-sided but is anti-democratic to the point of being blatantly autocratic. While Twitter/X is a private company under Elon and can push whatever political agenda it wishes, the fact that it cannot pay its own bills right now with its own revenue and is therefore being propped up with money from its owner and allies highlights the fact that its owner is enriched to the point of being the worlds richest man with a great amount of what the Right calls handouts from U.S. taxpayers. Some of what Elon Musk is being paid for by the U.S. taxpayer includes spy satellites and other powers that require a steady, trustworthy hand. We are left to wonder why the government, including NASA and the Department of Defense, continue their subservience to him. Is winning the space race worth losing the trust of citizens and endangering our elections even more than they are already endangered? If thats not enough reason to question the status quo, Musk admits he is microdosing the dissociative drug ketamine (in what does not appear to be clinically directed and if it is, whoever is in charge of that treatment plan should explain themselves to their governing body), he is reported to have trouble dealing with the criticism and vocal disapproval hes received to the point that Twitter employees considered calling in a wellness check on him after he locked himself in an office. And he is now threatening to prosecute journalists for doing their job. Yes, others have tried to sue journalists and publications, but Musk is now proclaiming hed like to make it criminal to report on his platform in a manner that he doesnt find appropriate. In this instance, Musk is attacking a fundamental tenet of freedom that is protected in our constitution. He is getting help from Republican elected officials in this effort. In no way should he be supported by taxpayer funds at this point. Elon Musk has been signaling his efforts to attack U.S. democracy for over a year now, and he has interfered in U.S. foreign policy with moves that helped Putin in his war on Ukraine. The situation is quickly becoming untenable, with a crisis looming and seemingly no one willing to stop it. Mrs. Carter said all the Carter family is involved in campaigning and that everywhere they go, people talk of mistrust in government. "The country needs a leader," Mrs. Carter said. "And Jimmy is a leader. He's strong and he's never had to do what special interest groups wanted him to do." Mrs. Carter says her husband knows the issues. He has studied the problems of the world, not just the country, she said. "Jimmy will level with the people," she said "And they're looking for that." Asked about Carter's stand on abortion, Mrs. Carter said he thinks we need to provide funds for family planning and sex education. "He would stress these needs," she said. Mrs. Carter said she had no apprehensions about her husband becoming president. "Jimmy feels this is something he has to do," she said. "If I had not had the experience of campaigning for and being the wife of the governor, I think I'd probably be frightened." Mrs. Carter said she could not see her husband as the vice-president if he doesn't become president. "Jimmys a leader, not a follower," she said. "We can always go home (Plains, Ga')." Mrs. Carter said, however, she was not saying her husband would not accept the vice-presidential nomination "That would be up to him," she said. She said at first they felt that being from the south might be a hindrance "But it has not been," she said. "When things happen in other areas of the country, they now look at the south and see that we have done something about issues." As to the governor being soft on issues, Mrs. Carter said he will soon be more familiar with things and will speak out more. "He is not soft on the issues." she said "He will be specific soon, he has to study issues, there is no way he can say what he will do until he really studies them." Mrs. Carter said she would be an outspoken first lady, that wives should speak out on things that are important to them. A member of Aiken County's state legislative delegation is looking to ban gender transition surgeries for minors. S.C. Rep. Melissa Oremus, R-Graniteville, pre-filed the South Carolina Children Deserve Help Not Harm Act on Nov. 16, the first day of pre-filing for the second session of the 125 South Carolina General Assembly. Oremus said she was inspired to introduce the bill after meeting Chloe Cole. Cole, 19, was born female but transitioned to become male between the ages of 13-17. She has said she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria when she was 9 and began to take puberty blockers at 13 before having her breasts removed when she was 15. After turning 17, Cole decided she may want to breastfeed someday so she detransitioned. "There are thousands like her," Oremus said. "We have heard testimony after testimony of young people who said they made a mistake." The New York Times reports the experiences of detransitioners like Cole are disproportionately amplified by Republicans seeking to ban gender transitions for minors against the advice of the trans-community and medical experts. If passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Henry McMaster, the bill would ban doctors from performing gender transition surgeries on people under 18. It would also establish recommending gender transition surgery to a minor as unprofessional conduct and subject to discipline by the relevant state licensing authorities. Not everyone in the medical field has good intentions, Oremus said. Doctors are bound by the Hippocratic oath not to harm their patients. The American Medical Association strongly opposes bans or criminal penalties for what it calls gender-affirming care. A popular Washington, D.C., restaurant serving Malaysian cuisine has signed a lease to take over the 2,350-square-foot downtown Charleston space previously occupied by Goulette Rotisserie and Grill. South Carolina native James Wozniuk will open Makan at 210 Rutledge Ave., across from Fuel Charleston. A timetable for the modern Malaysian restaurant's debut has not been set. "We're really excited to be in Charleston," Makan general manager Kate Jacob told The Post and Courier. "It's such a great community and restaurant scene." Located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of the nation's capital, Makan serves noodle and rice dishes packed with flavor and spice. Wozniuk, who grew up in Greenville and has family in Charleston, was first drawn to Malaysian food during a layover in Kuala Lumpur. The stopover inspired three more trips and the chef's first solo venture. Wozniuk is also chef and partner at a D.C. restaurant named Thirsty Crow, and earlier this year, he debuted a virtual kitchen called Spicebird, which operates out of Makan's 3400 11th St. NW address. Though Makan opened just one week before the pandemic shut down D.C. restaurants in March 2020, it has gained a dedicated following since. Here is part of what Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema had to say about Makan, one of his eight favorite places to eat in February 2021: People often discuss what they are thankful for on Thanksgiving, but being grateful might be a better focus. Gratitude is more than a feeling and can actually affect the brain and body in ways that decrease stress and improve mood. Read more'Thanks enough': Gratitude can affect the body and brain in good ways, doctors say Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Cloudy this morning. A few showers developing during the afternoon. High 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low 58F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. MYRTLE BEACH Myrtle Beach is the most LGBTQ-friendly city in South Carolina, according to a report released this week. The Human Rights Campaign, a national advocacy organization, reviewed 506 cities in its annual Municipal Equality Index and scored them based on their respective LGBTQ-related laws, policies and inclusiveness. Of the eight Palmetto State cities reviewed this year, Myrtle Beach ranked the highest with a score of 99 out of 100. This marked a 40-point jump from last year's score of 59. "It's something that the whole commission has been working towards for years," said Adam Hayes, chairman of the city's Human Rights Commission, the city board focused on addressing discrimination. "To see it finally reap the benefits of all the work that you put into it, it's exciting, and it's great for the city." Columbia and Charleston ranked second- and third-highest, scoring 82 and 71, respectively. The other ranked S.C. cities include Greenville (64 points), North Charleston (50), Mount Pleasant (46), Clemson (45) and Rock Hill (17). While Myrtle Beach outranked other Palmetto State communities, nationally it fell below large cities such as San Francisco, Atlanta, Miami and Boston, all of which received scores of 100. Terry Livingston, co-founder of Grand Strand PRIDE, said the higher score is "a big win" for Myrtle Beach, since the city is the state's top tourist destination and some people consider the score when choosing where to visit and move. "Younger people pay attention to things like this," Livingston said. "They want to live in a diverse community. I'm proud of the city, and I'm proud of the fact that this is where I choose to live." Charleston voters will head to the polls one more time on Nov. 21 to decide their next mayor. The runoff election is between two-term incumbent Mayor John Tecklenburg and his challenger William Cogswell, a real estate developer and former state lawmaker. Neither candidate hit above the 50 percent mark in the Nov. 7 general election to claim outright victory. Cogswell finished first with 36 percent of vote, surpassing Tecklenburg by about 1,100 votes. The incumbent drew 32 percent of the vote. The race for Charleston's District 9 City Council member also went to a runoff. Voters in the West Ashley area must decide between newcomers William Tinkler and Mike Gastin. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. To find your local polling locations, election headquarters and sample ballots, and to check your registration status, visit the S.C. Election Commission online at www.scvotes.gov. Here's a look at The Post and Courier's coverage of the race, from election analysis and deep dives on key issues to endorsement announcements: How did we get here? Voters on Nov. 7 were asked to choose between six candidates running for mayor. Most observers pegged Cogswell and Tecklenburg the two best-funded campaigns to make it to the runoff. But Cogswells first-place showing indicated a significant number of city voters were looking for a candidate other than Tecklenburg, who as first elected in 2015. We are not so much concerned about what the proposal says, although theres room to tighten the language to make sure it doesnt prohibit, say, Shakespeare, or the Bible, and to make sure the reporting requirements dont create an undue burden for the schools. We are more concerned about whos saying it: the education superintendent instead of the Legislature. Ms. Weaver seems to be trying to do by regulation at least part of what her allies in the Legislature have been unable to do by legislation. That might seem like an empty concern since regulations are subject to legislative approval, but theres a crucial difference: The Legislature has to pass bills, but regulations take effect unless the Legislature passes a resolution rejecting them. And passing anything including a rejection takes a lot more work than preventing it from passing. Think of it as reversing the burden of proof. It makes some sense to have the same library standards statewide although thats far from the most important area where we need the state to play a more active role. Intervening when local school boards cant or wont provide a decent education to their students that is, ensuring that kids can read those books is exponentially more important than guaranteeing that students cant sneak off to the library to read a book that other students parents dont consider appropriate. We'd prefer that our elected leaders spend more time on that and less on ... well, on just about everything else. But if they're going to make those library decisions at the state level, their focus needs to be on increasing the odds that neither extremists on the left nor extremists on the right are able to control the decisions. What we dont need is to reject all the books that acknowledge that slavery hurt black people or allow any books that teach children how to arouse their partners or offer them tips on sex apps and random sex in public places. FLORENCE Kimberly Lewis was having a good morning right up until she noticed the color of the water. She welcomed her son home from his night shift. She sent her other son to work. She made muffins with her grandchild. When the house finally quieted, she filled up the water jug and stored it in the refrigerator. As she closed the door, a rust-red glint caught her eye. Here we go again, she thought. Its been three months since Florence formed a task force to combat issues with discolored water. Officials have apologized for the inconvenience and say theyre doing what they can to stop it, attributing the spike in problems to a combination of construction and temporary maintenance that have stirred up iron deposits. They say the water is still safe to drink and use largely as usual, despite the disagreeable color. But the citys assurances have done little to appease frustrated residents. They have flooded social media with pictures of bathtubs and sinks filled with murky water and raised questions about whether the supply is truly safe. If I wanted muddy water, I could go out to the creek and scoop it up, Lewis said. I would expect to have muddy water from a creek, not when it comes through a pipe and through a filter system that taxpayers pay for. 'No one wants to drink dirty water' At least three times a week, Lewis water turns red. It leaves a rusty ring around the toilet. It turns the laundry brown. Sometimes, Lewis starts a bath for her 5-year old grandson, only to have him come out minutes later to tell her the water is already dirty. It really looks like somebody's probably put a cup of red dirt in there, Lewis said. Instead of using the discolored water, she buys water from the grocery store, spending almost a $100 each month. Not even the family dog drinks the water from the faucet these days. Hagood Avenue is notorious for flooding. The road, which runs from Spring Street to The Citadel on the peninsula's west side, is vulnerable to tidal floods on sunny days and stormwater floods on rainy days. Inundation regularly closes the road to traffic. Now Charleston is looking at overhauling the corridor to address those issues. The project will kick off with a planning process, which should take six to nine months, said Charleston Chief Resilience Officer Dale Morris. The city will then apply for federal grant money to implement the results of that planning process. "This street is really in sort of a back-alley condition," Morris said at a Nov. 9 Resiliency and Sustainability Advisory Committee meeting. "But it connects to key institutions: The Citadel as well as (the Medical University of South Carolina)." A June 2023 report on Hagood Avenue by the city's Design Division floats the idea of potentially elevating the road, restricting it to one lane in each direction, expanding sidewalks and adding bike lanes, additional stormwater storage and tree canopy cover. "Hagood Avenue, from the Crosstown to The Citadel, could be one of the most beautiful boulevards in the city of Charleston," Mayor John Tecklenburg said. "We've got public space, mostly, on either side of the road. ... It's four lanes, and it's horrible now." Tecklenburg added that the project already has buy-in from the South Carolina Department of Transportation, which controls the road. While she was in town for the Ashley River pedestrian bridge groundbreaking in October, South Carolina Transportation Secretary Christy Hall was taken by Tecklenburg on a drive down the street during a king tide. "We got over there, and from Fishburne all the way down almost to the McDonald's, it was covered with water," he recalled. "And I was like, 'Madam Secretary, this is your street. And there's marsh grass growing up everywhere.' " ANDREWS A $6.4 million public-private partnership will preserve more than 1,800 acres in the Andrews area, growing a network of public lands and potentially providing a tourism boost to a town that has struggled to recover from the decline of the state's textile industry. The Black River Initiative is part of a community-driven effort to establish a new recreational water trail that connects public land along 70 miles of river through Williamsburg and Georgetown counties while providing flood mitigation and boosting local tourism. Spearheading the effort is national conservation group Open Space Institute, which recently purchased the 1,806-acre tract located near downtown Andrews from the American timberland company Weyerhaeuser for just over $6.4 million. Conservation works best when it contributes to the local economy, community, and culture of a place. The Weyerhaeuser tract checks all of the boxes, said Maria Whitehead, OSIs vice president of land, in a release. OSI is incredibly grateful for the funding partners that came together to make this project happen, and for the engagement and commitment of our state and industry partners. Funding for the property came from the South Carolina Conservation Bank, the South Carolina Office of Resilience, the Boeing Co., the Knobloch Family Foundation and additional private sources. OSI officials said the newly secured land complements Andrews recently unveiled master plan, which was put together with community input and land-planning consultants Earth Design and Arnett Muldrow. The 17-page document outlines a vision of vibrant, flood-resilient park spaces, accessibility to a future state park and welcoming streetscapes for the town of more than 2,500. The 1,806 acres will offer both residents and visitors opportunities for biking, paddling, hiking and fishing in the future. In Andrews, we have a new plan and new hope, Mayor Frank McClary said. We plan to harness and showcase the world-class Black River experience to help create sustainable new jobs and opportunities for local residents. Michael Oren is the prominent historian and Israeli ambassador to the United States. His 2015 memoir Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide remains timely and illuminating. He writes in his Free column A war against the Jews (November 20): This war is not simply between Hamas terrorists and Israelis. It is a war against the Jews. The insight began with the international medias coverage of the conflict. Again, it wasnt the presss insistence on calling mass murderers militants or citing Hamas and its Health Ministry as a reliable source. For close to fifty yearsas a student activist, a diplomat, a soldier, a government and military spokesman, and, above all, as a historianIve grappled with the medias bias against Israel. Ive long known that the terrorists are militants solely because their victims are Jews, and only in a conflict with Israel are terrorists considered credible. Instead, it was the medias predictable switch from an Israel-empathetic to an Israel-demonizing narrative as the image of Palestinian suffering supplanted that of Israelis beheaded, dismembered, and burnt. It was the gnawing awareness that dead Jews buy us only so much sympathy. In fact, there is probably a formula. Six million dead in the Holocaust procured us roughly 25 years of grace before the Europeans refused to refuel the U.S. planes bringing lifesaving munitions to Israel during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Fourteen hundred butchered Jews bought us a little less than two weeks worth of positive coverage. Europeans, its long been said, never forgave the Jews for the Holocaust. Their guilt was collective and their antisemitism no longer socially acceptable. What a relief many of them felt when it became de rigueur to call Israels treatment of the Palestinians Nazi-like. Similarly, haters of Israelis cant forgive them for being massacred by Hamas terrorists on October 7, and were relieved when, on October 19, they could go back to vilifying the colonial apartheid state. October 19that was the date of the al-Ahli Arab Hospital incident. Hamas claimed that an Israeli bomb hit the hospital and killed 500 civilians. Again, there was nothing new about Hamas blaming Israel for atrocities that never happened and counting as dead the many who didnt die. What was unprecedented was the speed at which the world accepted this triple lienot a hospital but its parking lot was struck by a Palestinian rocket, not an Israeli bomb, killing far fewer than 500. Nevertheless, reflexively, the world imputed evil to Israel. Within hours of the al-Ahli bombing, both Israel and the United States revealed the truth behind it. Still, almost no one in the media apologized. A full week after the explosion, The New York Times was still bringing in experts to intimate Israels guilt. After all, the paper was subtly telling us, Israel is perfectly capable of bombing hospitals and, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, possibly bombed this one as well. What was previously an inkling became, October 19, an epiphany. It marked the moment when I finally peered behind the headlines and recognized their ancient, vicious, core. Oren continues further down in the column: [T]he humanitarian crisis in Gaza is purely Hamass fault. As a deputy minister in the prime ministers office, in 201718, I was tasked with improving living conditions in Gaza. I learned how Hamas used Gazas water pipes to make rockets and dug tunnels under the aquifer and drained it. I learned how Hamas diverted electricity to illuminate its underground bunkers and drastically limited the supply of basic commodities to the population, keeping it dependent on the terrorists. I learned that, when it came to Hamas, everything I knew about human decency was irrelevant. These are my responses to the journalists. They listen but are seldom, if ever, convinced. Much of the press, Ive learned, has internalized the ultimate antisemitic myth: that Jews just have it coming. Accordingly, Noam and Yishai Slotki who, waking up to the news of the attack on October 7, instinctively put on their reserve uniforms and left their families to fight only to die and be buried side by side in Jerusalemaccording to much of the medias interpretation of this war, both Noam and Yishai deserved it. By the same token, Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov, a community activist, who, together with her husband and three beautiful children, was gunned down by Hamas, got her comeuppance. The media is both a mirror and a disseminator of ideas, its two-way function incalculably amplified by the internet. So, the assumption of Jewish guilt and Palestinian innocence permeates the petitions signed by Hollywood stars and Starbucks workers that scarcely mention Hamass unimaginable crimes while emphasizing Israels imagined ones. So, the image of Jews as both child-killers and God-like in their powers translates into accusations that Israelis actually enjoy murdering women and children, deliberately targeting journalists, and crucifying the pure and powerless Palestinians. The notion that we Jews have it coming to us informed the letter, signed by more than 30 Harvard student organizations, claiming that Hamass barbarism did not occur in a vacuum, and that the apartheid regime is the only one to blame. Not coincidentally did UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres open his October 23 speech to the Security Council by asserting, the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. Read the whole thing here. See also Orens November 14 Free Press column The Iran delusion. PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 09:05:20 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 599 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / BioNxt Solutions Inc. ("BioNxt" or the "Company") (CSE:BNXT)(OTCQB:BNXTF)(FSE:BXT) is pleased to provide further details on its clinical and commercialization strategy for its recently announced 100% Cladribine IP acquisition and related clinical programs. BioNxt has accelerated development of a proprietary oral dissolvable film ("ODF") based Cladribine product for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis ("MS").Preclinical work is underway with comparative pharmacokinetic and local toxicity studies in animal models having already commenced in Europe with results expected in Q1 2024. GMP product development and batch production is planned for Q1 and Q2 2024 with the European Investigational Medicinal Product Dossier (IMPD) preparation and submission planned for Q2 2024. An agreement has been signed with a European contract research organization for a human comparative bioequivalence pilot study which is currently scheduled for Q3 2024."Accelerated development of a proprietary Cladribine ODF formulation for the treatment of MS has become a top priority for BioNxt," said Hugh Rogers, CEO & Director of BioNxt. "In just a few years the Cladribine tablet market has reached greater than $1 billion dollars in annual sales and we see several potential advantages for an ODF product versus tablets. These include improved dosing efficiency and precision due to immediate absorption in the oral cavity, as well as greater convenience and access for MS patients that are unable to swallow tablets." The Company has filed Cladribine ODF-related preliminary patent applications with three to four patent applications expected to be on file in major international jurisdictions by late 2024 to early 2025 with potential patent protection extending to 2044.MS represents the largest market segment for the sale of Cladribine with approximately 2.3 million people living with MS worldwide, with the highest prevalence in North America and Europe. The global MS drug market is expected to top US$ 41 Billion by 2033 according to Market.us About BioNxt Solutions Inc.BioNxt Solutions Inc. is a bioscience accelerator focused on next-generation drug formulations and delivery systems, diagnostic screening tests, and new active pharmaceutical production and evaluation, including: precision transdermal and oral dissolvable drug formulations; rapid, low-cost infectious disease and oral health screening tests; and standardization and clinical evaluation of emerging active pharmaceutical ingredients for neurological applications. The Company has research and development operations in North America and Europe, with an operational focus in Germany, and is currently focused on regulatory approval and commercialization of medical products for European markets.BioNxt Solutions Inc.Hugh Rogers, CEO and DirectorEmail: info@ bionxt.comPhone: +1 780-818-6422Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" InformationSome of the statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "expects", "intends", "is expected", "potential", "suggests" or variations of such words or phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information are not historical facts and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control. Actual results and developments are likely to differ, and may differ materially, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.SOURCE: BioNxt Solutions Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 14:00:50 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1006 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FORT MILL, SC / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Catheter Precision, Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE American:VTAK), a pioneering medical technology firm headquartered in the United States, specializing in electrophysiology devices, has proudly disclosed the successful conclusion of the inaugural VIVO cases in the region of South-Eastern Europe. VIVO, the Company's innovative 3D non-invasive imaging system, is used pre-procedurally to identify areas of interest for ventricular ablation and aid in pre-procedure planning to reduce procedure time and aid in procedural accuracy.VIVO was assessed during four ventricular ablation procedures at Dubrava University Hospital in Zagreb, Croatia. Dr. Ivan Zeljkovic, Head of Electrophysiology Lab at Dubrava University Hospital stated, "The VIVO workflow is simple and flexible, and I was impressed with the accuracy of the VIVO maps which certainly exceeded my expectations! Having the VIVO maps pre-procedurally, allowed us to accurately target the anatomic location of the ventricular arrhythmia and has the potential to increase procedural efficacy." "This is the first step to expanding VIVO's presence in South-Eastern Europe" stated Patricia Kennedy, Chief Commercialization Officer. "The evaluation yielded positive results, and we anticipate a purchase order soon. Dr. Zeljkovic reiterated what we have always known to be true about VIVO: it is accurate, easy to use, and non-invasive localization provided to the physician pre-procedurally has the potential to improve procedural outcomes." About VIVOCatheter Precision's VIVO (View Into Ventricular Onset), is a non-invasive 3D imaging system that enables physicians to identify the origin of ventricular arrhythmias pre-procedure, thereby streamlining workflow and reducing procedure time. VIVO has received marketing clearance from the U.S. FDA and is commercially available in the EU.About Catheter PrecisionCatheter Precision is an innovative U.S.-based medical device company bringing new solutions to market to improve the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. It is focused on developing groundbreaking technology for electrophysiology procedures by collaborating with physicians and continuously advancing its products. Reincorporated as Ra Medical Systems, Inc. in Delaware in 2018, the Company changed its name to Catheter Precision, Inc. on August 17, 2023.Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis communication contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "anticipate," "may," "might," "can," "could," "continue," "depends," "expect," "expand," "forecast," "intend," "predict," "plan," "rely," "should," "will," "may," "seek," or the negative of these terms and other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our anticipated revenues during the second half of 2023, and the anticipated accounting for the merger with Catheter Precision. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company's expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements as a result of uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties included under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov . These risks and uncertainties include, but aren't limited to, that we will not be able to reach profitability unless we are able to achieve our product expansion and growth goals, our research and development and commercialization efforts may depend on entering into agreements with corporate collaborators, we have entered into joint marketing agreements with respect to our products, and may enter into additional joint marketing agreements, that will reduce our revenues from product sales, royalty agreements with respect to our LockeT device will reduce any future profits from this product, if we experience significant disruptions in our information technology systems, our business may be adversely affected, litigation and other legal proceedings may adversely affect our business, if we make acquisitions or divestitures, we could encounter difficulties that harm our business, failure to attract and retain sufficient qualified personnel could also impede our growth, failure to maintain effective internal controls could cause our investors to lose confidence in us and adversely affect the market price of our common stock, if our internal controls are not effective, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud, our revenues may depend on our customers' receipt of adequate reimbursement from private insurers and government sponsored healthcare programs, we may be unable to compete successfully with companies in our highly competitive industry, many of whom have substantially greater resources than we do, our future operating results depend upon our ability to obtain components in sufficient quantities on commercially reasonable terms or according to schedules, prices, quality and volumes that are acceptable to us, and suppliers may fail to deliver components, or we may be unable to manage these components effectively or obtain these components on such terms, if hospitals, physicians and patients do not accept our current and future products or if the market for indications for which any product candidate is approved is smaller than expected, we may be unable to generate significant revenue, if any, our medical device operations are subject to pervasive and continuing FDA regulatory requirements, our products may be subject to additional recalls, revocations or suspensions after receiving FDA or foreign approval or clearance, which could divert managerial and financial resources, harm our reputation, and adversely affect our business, changes in trade policies among the U.S. and other countries, in particular the imposition of new or higher tariffs, could place pressure on our average selling prices as our customers seek to offset the impact of increased tariffs on their own products, increased tariffs or the imposition of other barriers to international trade could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and operating results. In addition, our auditor's finalization of the accounting for the merger requires complex calculations and the input of outside advisors, and as a result, th PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 15:46:11 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 715 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / HARMANOriginally published on HARMAN NewsroomAs a global company committed to developing solutions that improve people's daily experiences, HARMAN has always believed in pursuing ideas, technologies and partnerships that have a profound impact on people, communities and the broader society. Through our global cause initiative, HARMAN Inspired, we invest in empowering the next generation and help them realize their potential through music, education, and community service. This National Philanthropy Day, we're celebrating the importance of coming together to make a difference, and giving back to the communities where we work and live. Take a look at how our employees do just that, by participating in various activities year-round in collaboration with our HARMAN Inspired partners1,000 Dreams Fund: Supporting Women in STEAM Our longtime partners at 1,000 Dreams Fund have a mission to empowering the next generation of female leaders who are chasing their dreams of a career in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math (STEAM). For more than five years, HARMAN and 1,000 Dreams Fund have helped shine a spotlight and financially support young women pursuing their dream careers through the New Face of Tech challenge. Since its inception, HARMAN has helped provide more than $180,000 USD in scholarship funding - and submissions for this year's challenge are still open! Learn how to apply here.In 2021, 1,000 Dreams Fund and HARMAN also launched the first JBL Quantum Changemakers Challenge to help amplify the voices and further the careers of women in eSports. Winners received a $1,500 grant and the opportunity to be connected with JBL Ambassadors and content creators from JBL partner 100 Thieves for virtual mentorship sessions and additional pop-up opportunities. Three lucky recipients also had the opportunity to visit our HARMAN EXPLORE 2023 showcase and test out our latest additions to the JBL Quantum series.Music Will: Spreading the Positive Power of MusicWith our long history in the music and audio industry, all of us at HARMAN have experienced first-hand the power music has on our lives. Together with Music Will, we're bringing the benefits of music education to students across the United States in a variety of ways, including instrument and equipment donations to support in-school music programs. This month, we also supported a recent teacher training workshop in Dallas, Texas to showcase the benefits of fostering an appreciation for music.To further support the music education curriculum, HARMAN and Music Will offer many opportunities for students to gain experience in performing and get recognition for their music through video essay contests, songwriting exhibitions, virtual modern band summits, and more. In fact, during the annual Music Will benefit in New York City, students take to the stage to share what they've learned during the school year and realize their passion for performing live music. The live performances offer Music Will students, teachers, and volunteers with a unique stage experience on opportunities for additional recognition.Community Outreach: Helping Everyone Feel Welcomed and Valued Throughout the year, our global teams volunteer with nonprofit organizations in their area that focus on giving back to their communities. For example, in Stamford, Connecticut, HARMAN volunteers cooked and served meals to mothers and families currently experience homelessness with Inspirica, in Budapest, Hungary, our teams led a local mentoring event where they prepared and delivered meals to a women's shelter in partnership with Foodora, and in Germany, our teams donated headphones to Klasse-Im-Plus, a nonprofit that supports school-age kids with an interest in music. Our employees also volunteer their time surrounding holidays and days of recognition, like our teams in India who hosted a diya painting event with our non-profit partners Sandesh India and AMC in support of adults with special needs, and our teams in Detroit, Michigan, who helped spread positive messages and support during Pride Month.At HARMAN, we are proud of the ongoing work of our teams to contribute to our broader corporate purpose. As we head into the holiday season, our teams will continue to give back in meaningful ways through the rest of the year and beyond. For a full list of our non-profit partners and more details about HARMAN Inspired, visit: https://www.harman.com/inspired View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from HARMAN on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: HARMANWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/harmanEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: HARMAN PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 16:00:39 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 624 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 The company awarded MCFB a $65,000 grant to help support six mobile market food distributionsSPLENDORA, TX / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / No one should have to question where their next meal will come from, but unfortunately, that's the reality for many families in Texas. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Texas has the second-highest rate of food insecurity in the nation, an issue that's certainly felt within the Entergy Texas service area.To help combat food insecurity, Entergy Texas contributed $65,000 to the Montgomery County Food Bank (MCFB) to support six mobile market distributions in November. The mobile markets are drive-thru food distributions that allow MCFB to bring food assistance directly to areas of high need, serving up to 150-200 families at each distribution."Montgomery County Food Bank is blessed by Entergy Texas' generous donation that will bring joy and sustenance to our community this holiday season," said Kristine Marlow, president and CEO of Montgomery County Food Bank. "Entergy Texas' commitment to making a difference in the lives of our neighbors in need is truly appreciated. Together, we are stronger in the fight against hunger." Montgomery County has one of the fastest growing populations in Texas, yet thousands of families still need help putting food on the table. In October, MCFB's network supported more than 95,000 requests for food assistance, which is the second highest total in the history of the organization. With Entergy Texas' recent contribution, approximately 1,120 families will have access to nutritious meals."We're proud to give to an organization that shares our mission of building healthy communities," said Corrin Barrow, public affairs representative for Entergy Texas. "Entergy Texas has been a longstanding community partner of MCFB, and we look forward to supporting even more programs in the future that help provide nutritious food to those in need." The Montgomery County Food Bank administers several programs in the region, including nutritional education, senior distributions, and green initiatives like their Produce Rescue Center. To learn more about the programs offered, visit mcfoodbank.org About Entergy Texas Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to approximately 499,000 customers in 27 counties. Entergy Texas is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in New Orleans. Entergy powers life for 3 million customers through its operating companies across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy is creating a cleaner, more resilient energy future for everyone with our diverse power generation portfolio, including increasingly carbon-free energy sources. With roots in the Gulf South region for more than a century, Entergy is a recognized leader in corporate citizenship, delivering more than $100 million in economic benefits to local communities through philanthropy and advocacy efforts annually over the last several years. Our approximately 12,000 employees are dedicated to powering life today and for future generations. For the latest news from Entergy, visit the Newsroom.About Montgomery County Food Bank Established in 1985, Montgomery County Food Bank (MCFB) is a nonprofit, hunger relief organization dedicated to uniting the community to fight hunger, providing nutritious food to hungry children, seniors, and families through a network of 80+ partner agencies. MCFB receives, processes, packages, and purposefully distributes donated and surplus food throughout the county. Food is donated by grocery store retailers, local neighbors hosting food drives, and wholesalers. Government commodities are received and distributed through a partnership with Houston Food Bank. MCFB is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, partner of Houston Food Bank, member of Feeding Texas and distribution partner of Feeding America.CONTACTEntergy Texas Media|281-297-2353|entergytexasmedia@ entergy.comTyler Schievelbein, Marketing & Communications Manager, Montgomery County Food Bank|936-271-8812|tschievelbein@ mcfoodbank.org View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Entergy Corporation on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Entergy CorporationWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/entergy-corporationEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Entergy Corporation Stephen Kennedys maps are not just designed to get you from here to there. Theyre maps that raise an eyebrow, furrow a brow or spark an idea. Fantastical Rail Connections, for example, is Kennedys map showing train routes designed to zip Madison passengers east to Milwaukee or northwest to the Twin Cities (dream on). His map Sounds of State Street pinpoints real local landmarks for live music, from The Orpheum theater to the bygone Factory, where Otis Redding was booked to play in 1967 before his plane went down in Lake Monona. Its what Kennedy dubs creative cartography. A frequent exhibitor at the 2023 Dane County Farmers Market, Kennedy runs latlong.shop, an online and in-person business selling original maps that are both thought-provoking and whimsical. And all through November, he is designing more artistic maps a new one every day as part of a daily social mapping project called the 30 Day Map Challenge. It was that same daily challenge in November 2022 (find it on Instagram at #30DayMapChallenge) that led to Kennedys map series on Madison. This year he plans to broaden his subject matter to more of the Midwest. So far, his imaginative takes range from a map of Wisconsins density of cows vs. humans to a birds eye view map of the Relative Abundance of Sandhill Cranes. Kennedy mines data from sources like the U.S. Geological Survey and the Wisconsin Elections Commission to make his data- and fact-oriented maps. For a recent map of UW-Madison fraternity and sorority houses, he used OpenStreetMap, a free wiki world map. For Mass Rabid Transit, Kennedy zeroed in on the sewer network that raccoons might use to travel the city underground with commuter lines he calls Muck Loop and Shredbag Speeder. (A primary source for that project: the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District.) A native of Atlanta, Kennedy and his husband, Vijay Limaye, a Madison native and climate scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, lived in San Francisco and Brooklyn, New York, before buying a house in Madisons Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood three years ago. Kennedy whose mother grew up and went to nursing school in the Philippines before she immigrated to the U.S. has some Wisconsin heritage, too: His paternal grandfather grew up in Madison and met his future wife, Kennedys grandmother, at UW-Madison. Now Kennedy lives just a 15-minute walk from his grandfathers childhood home. Doing the maps has been a great way to learn about Madison, from many different angles, he said. Examples: Kennedys map of the spots for buildings that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for Madison but that were never built; and an upcoming density analysis map showing just how many backyard chickens local regulations allow. Roots in urban planning By day Kennedy works in mapping technology software; his current company works on projects such as the interactive maps on the New York Times website. He earned his undergraduate degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, where he studied product design. It was really how I honed my chops for doing visual design as a craft, he said. After my undergrad, I got a masters in urban planning (at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), which is really how I got exposed to spatial data and the role that maps and visualizations play in the planning process. A lot of the work I have done professionally is tools for urban planners that allow them to look at development, the existing conditions of the city theyre working in, how the changes theyre proposing will impact a city, he said. So map-making has been kind of a core through-line through all that. In graduate school, Kennedy worked on his thesis in Dhaka, Bangladesh, collecting data for that citys first bus map. That experience gave rise to his first side business in 2014, a fair trade clothing line called New Market Goods. Being on the ground in doing that project, I met a lot of folks in different parts of the creative community in Bangladesh, he said. I met a couple of artists who had started their own clothing brands but only sold locally, he said. The designs were all featuring traditional, hand-woven textiles found throughout the country, and they were trying to find new ways to revive that industry, as a counterpoint to the fast-fashion, mass-production that had been steamrolling the country for decades at that point. So Kennedy launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to found a company that would sell goods from those artists, and also designed clothing himself. He was looking for another creative challenge when he took on the 30 Day Map Challenge in 2022. When some of his unique maps of Madison went up on Twitter, they drew positive feedback. I sort of connected with this niche on Twitter thats interested in progressive development and progressive urbanism, he said. There were common reactions here and there, such as, This is beautiful. If it were printed, I would totally buy this. An accidental business Kennedy started to print and frame his maps, and applied to be a vendor at the 2023 Dane County Farmers Market on Capitol Square. He initially intended to sell his clothing line produced in Bangladesh, but when he brought along some of his Madison maps that hed printed and framed, he found that they sold even better. New Market Goods and latlong.shop the latlong stands for latitude and longitude has provided a counter-balance to Kennedys digitally focused career, he said. Most of the work I do is on the computer, and both of these are about creating tactile things and interacting with people at the markets. His customers include a mix of longtime Madisonians, tourists and UW-Madison students who want a souvenir of their college town before moving elsewhere. On Dec. 2, Kennedy will be a vendor at the Fair Trade Holiday Festival at Monona Terrace; two weeks later hell be at the Dec. 16 Garver Holiday Market at Garver Feed Mill. And next spring, hell return to the Square along with the Dane County Farmers Market. He also sells online. Meanwhile Kennedy is seeking out partners to collaborate with on more maps in whatever field theyre interested in. An avid bike commuter, he recently hosted a workshop with Madison Bikes to add more local bike infrastructure data to OpenStreetMap, making that information more broadly available to the public. Id like to work with people who have a particular idea but arent really able to execute the map for it, said Kennedy, who noted that each map he makes teaches him something new about Madison. That is something Im looking forward to doing more and more of in this process, to meet experts in the community to collaborate with. Photos: Shifting Gears Bike Path Dance Festival PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 19:02:49 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 430 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC a nationally recognized law firm, notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against FMC Corp. ("FMC" or "the Company") (NYSE:FMC) 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 FMC securities between November 2, 2022 and October 20, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: bgandg.com/fmc Case Details:The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, it is alleged that Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) the diminishment of patent protection for FMC's flagship products following legal defeats in key markets including India, China, and Brazil had opened the door to increased competition from generics; (2) the Company repeatedly mislead investors about the status of such proceedings and falsely claimed that it did not and would not face generic competition in key markets until 2026 at the earliest; and (3) because of these issues Defendant's positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.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: bgandg.com/fmc 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 FMC you have until January 8, 2024, 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.There is No Cost to YouWe represent investors in class actions on a contingency fee basis. That means we will ask the court to reimburse us for out-of-pocket expenses and attorneys' fees, usually a percentage of the total recovery, only if we are successful.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: 2023-11-20 15:16:18 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 315 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Franklin TempletonThis year, 40 Franklin Templeton employees across seven offices read to over 1,200 students as part of Jumpstart's 17th anniversary of Read for the Record. The annual campaign celebrates the power of reading and supports early literacy by attempting to have most people read the same book on the same day.On October 26, Franklin Templeton volunteers read With Lots of Love, by Jenny Torres Sanchez and illustrated by Andre Ceolin, to children across the United States and Canada. The story is about a girl who has moved to the United States from her home in Central America, away from everything she leaves behind and longs for-especially her grandmother As a sponsor of Jumpstart, Franklin Templeton donated over 2,000 copies of the book to students and classrooms. Jumpstart hosted a session with employee volunteers in advance to train them in best practices for reading to kids, inform them about the impact of the day and highlight the firm's support and distribution of books.About Franklin TempletonFranklin 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 over $1.3 trillion in assets under management as of October 31, 2023. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.San Mateo volunteers View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Franklin Templeton on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Franklin TempletonWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/franklin-templetonEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Franklin Templeton PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 14:17:14 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 562 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 ZURICH, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / In the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency, IXFI is a pioneer, reshaping the landscape with its user-centric innovations. As a Generation 3.0 ecosystem, IXFI leads the shift towards a more inclusive and user-focused crypto world and contributes to the global adoption of crypto, balancing crypto and NFTs with the security and compliance of a centralized exchange.IXFI's NFT Hub, which recently wrote history by gathering the most MultiversX communities under the same roof, is not just another giveaway or a feature. It represents a significant move towards a more collaborative and unified crypto community. This campaign is just the beginning, a stepping stone for developing a full-grown NFT Hub where users can also obtain extra value from their NFT holdings on other chains. The NFT Hub, with its upcoming unique functionalities and opportunities, is set to transform how NFT holders and projects interact and develop.The NFT Campaign accentuates IXFI's commitment to innovation, providing extra utility to NFT projects and promoting collaboration across ecosystems. It's a product built for and with the crypto community, addressing needs other platforms or products must look into. This initiative is proof of IXFI's essence of being user first, designed with a gamified approach to engaging users. IXFI Points, similar to loyalty points, reward users for their platform interactions, offering various benefits and rewards.IXFI's choice of MultiversX for this campaign's infrastructure, alongside collaborations with partners like XOXNO and Pulsar Chain, reflects the company's strategic and thoughtful approach. This campaign is just a glimpse of IXFI's broader vision, which focuses on Social-Fi, Game-Fi, and Trade-Fi, demonstrating their commitment to empowering users in a Web 3.0 future.The NFT campaign has successfully united 30+ distinguished partners and accumulated the participation of over 20,000+ users who have connected their MultiversX wallets to IXFI's NFT Hub. This initiative has mobilized a substantial user base that competes for the impressive rewards pool worth $50,000+. All the while, it maintains high compliance and security standards. This balance of feedback and trustworthiness from the community is rare in the crypto world but is a cornerstone of what IXFI offers.In conclusion, IXFI's NFT Hub is more than just a temporary product that rewards the NFT holders; it's an evergreen initiative that will continue to be relevant and impactful. With its focus on user empowerment and innovative solutions, IXFI is not only participating in the crypto revolution but is actively leading it.About IXFIWith its vision of creating a world where crypto is as accessible and straightforward as fiat, IXFI is committed to pushing the boundaries of a crypto platform. To further enhance the adoption and usability of cryptocurrencies, IXFI will launch a crypto card in the first quarter of next year, in partnership with VISA. The IXFI Card, in collaboration with Solaris (formerly Contis), will offer users the convenience of spending their cryptocurrencies at over +80 million merchants while maintaining IXFI's high-security standards.By ensuring light speed and liquidity accessibility through the biggest on-ramp platform in the world, by focusing on usability and building clean interfaces, and by growing adoption through a user-first approach, IXFI positions itself as a regulated and audited Gen 3.0 Exchange that aims to onboard the next 10,000,000 million users into crypto.For more information on IXFI's innovative solutions and to join the IXFI community, visit https://www.IXFI.com or contact marketing@ ixfi.com Media ContactZEX PR WIREinfo@ zexprwire.com SOURCE: ixfi PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 22:15:31 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 539 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Yum! BrandsFC Thailand announces its pledge to join forces with the EEF (Equal Education Fund) in its mission to spotlight the learning and earning potential of out-of-school Thai Youth.Since inception, KFC's founder Colonel Sanders believed that each person possesses limitless potential. It was his lifelong ambition to invest in the potential of others, especially the youth. Colonel knew that with access to mentorship and development, everyone is destined for greatness. Today, at KFC, the brand's modus operandi remains the same.KFC Thailand recognizes the pivotal role education plays in our lives, and KFC firmly believes that education for young people is of paramount importance. Together with the EEF, KFC launches its 'Bucket Search' initiative, supporting disadvantaged youth with fundamental skills that transcend the textbook. The initiative aims to reach those who are overlooked by society; to encourage their talents and their confidence in building a future they deserve.This initiative comes in the wake of nationwide statistics, revealing that Thai youth aged 15-23 leaving the formal education system has increased by almost 100,000 a year. Currently, over one million young individuals find themselves outside the educational system in Thailand."These statistics push us to embark on a journey to help youth explore their potential and support their aspirations. We aim to not only facilitate their return to education, but also foster a comeback aligned with their passions and dreams," says Mr. Sakechai Choomuenwai, General Manager of Yum Restaurants International (Thailand) Ltd. and Chairman of KFC Foundation.The KFC Bucket Search is born from a deep-seated desire to deliver opportunities for children impacted by disparities and social marginalization. The KFC family aims to reintegrate these youngsters into society, enabling self-reliance. The Bucket Search journey will provide support across many faculties that include knowledge, life skills, and funding, empowering them to unlock their fullest potential.In addition to the learning and development, KFC Bucket Search will support vocational careers and offer a Work & Study program, helping to balance time and income. Whether a student aspires to be a hairdresser, a tattoo artist, or a small business owner, Bucket Search gives them a career launchpad, without disrupting their daily lives."Our hope is that the KFC Bucket Search will foster creativity and excitement in young people, as we are committed to propelling young individuals toward a future in which they become an integral part of our nation's success," says Prof. Dr. Sompong Jitradab, Expert Director of The Equitable Education Fund (EEF)The KFC Bucket Search commences this October and will assist the first group of 130 out-of-school children, from more than 10 provinces, before eventually expanding nationwide."KFC envisions this project as a starting point for everyone to recognize the myriad of hidden potential that lay within our youth, as it would indeed be a sad day in our Thai heritage to know that we could have grown the greatest Thai potential, and we chose not to. We believe that together as a resilient nation, we can transform lives," -Mr. Sakechai ChoomuenwaiView additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Yum! Brands on 3 blmedia.com.Contact Info:Spokesperson: Yum! BrandsWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/yum-brands Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Yum! Brands PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 18:00:57 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 558 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 The Center by Lendistry to Administer Program Focusing on Small, Mom-and-Pop LandlordsLOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / The Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) is pleased to announce the new LA County Rent Relief Program. Put forward by the LA County Board of Supervisors, over $46 million in direct financial assistance will be provided to qualified landlords, helping to mitigate the detrimental economic impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that have resulted in tenants falling behind on rent.The LA County Rent Relief Program, administered by The Center by Lendistry, is set to provide grants up to $30,000 per unit to eligible landlords for expenses dating from April 1, 2022, to the present. With a focus on aiding small, mom-and-pop landlords who own up to four rental units, the Program aims to reduce tenant evictions due to rent arrears, maintain the viability of small-scale rental businesses, and ensure continuity of housing in the community.Starting mid-December, landlords can apply for the LA County Rent Relief Program by visiting the portal at www.lacountyrentrelief.com . Applicants will receive free multilingual technical support from community partners to guide them through the application process and assist with gathering necessary documentation. Landlords are invited to visit the portal now and register to receive updates and a link to apply when the online application is opened. The website also provides links to additional resources designed to support both landlords and tenants."The LA County Rent Relief Program will provide small rental property owners with much-needed direct financial assistance to alleviate the financial burdens they have experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic," said DCBA Director Rafael Carbajal. "By helping mom-and-pop landlords in LA County, we simultaneously address the dual impact of maintaining the availability of affordable housing in Los Angeles County and reducing the number of tenant evictions due to past due rent." "We are proud to partner with the County in delivering crucial financial assistance. Mom-and-pop landlords, who are often from underserved communities, are the backbone of our local housing market. By helping them, we are ensuring that our most vulnerable community members continue to have a roof over their heads," said Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, President & CEO of The Center by Lendistry.Funds will be allocated to qualified applicants across diverse cities and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, excluding the City of Los Angeles. Priority will be given to those showing the greatest need, guided by criteria including properties located in high-need areas as identified by the LA County Equity Explorer Tool, and income levels at or below 80% of the LA County Area Median Income (AMI). Direct payments will be made to landlords.About County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA)Since 1975, the County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) has been the local consumer protection agency serving County consumers, tenants, homeowners, immigrants, and workers. DCBA provides a wide range of services that aim to foster a fair and dynamic marketplace and enhance the economic wellbeing of our communities. This includes investigating consumer fraud complaints, enforcing the County's minimum wage, tenant and worker protections, and providing access to justice programs. More information can be found at dcba.lacounty.gov or by calling (800) 593-8222.Contact InformationDCBA Communications DCBA Communications communications@ dcba.lacounty.gov (213) 332-6497SOURCE: The Center by Lendistry PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 17:46:08 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1145 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / T-MobileSee how the team at T-Mobile's newest Customer Experience Center in Rochester, N.Y. were ready to give back from the get-go, using some of the many benefits the company offers to employees wanting to support their communities. And check out how T-Mobile is empowering its customers to also take part in charitable efforts on a national scale through its T-Mobile Tuesdays App on Giving Tuesday, November 28.When the first employees of T-Mobile's soon to open Customer Experience Center in Rochester, N.Y. arrived in early 2023, there was much excitement among them about what kind of an impact they could make in their community. Within the company, it's known that the CEC's aim to deliver a best-in-class customer experience to connect people to the Un-carrier's products and services. But the team's goal of making a meaningful mark here extended far beyond the walls of the new 83,250 square foot space they were moving into."There were just eleven of us at first, and we said, What do we want to do to make a big impact on this community?" says Shellie Long, an administrative assistant who transferred from a T-Mobile call center in Meridien, Idaho to the new facility.In those early days, these "day ones," as they warmly refer to themselves, had some downtime while plans for the center's official opening in 2024 were being ironed out and saw it as an opportunity. They say they wanted to expand on their mission to create exceptional experiences for their customers to also impact future employees and the community positively through service and investment.HOW YOU TOO CAN GIVE BACK THIS GIVING TUESDAYT-Mobile is empowering its customers to take part in charitable efforts on a national scale through its T-Mobile Tuesdays App on Giving Tuesday, November 28. The company will be matching and donating up to 2 million meals to Feeding America. 44 million people face hunger in the U.S - including more than 13 million children.Want to know more about Feeding America? Check out this video from Food Lifeline in Seattle to find out how you can help support your local Feeding America food bank before the new year with just the click of a button.Click here to give back now."Coming here to Rochester, we knew we were bringing up to 1,000 jobs to the area, and we knew that's really going to be great for community, but what's also important to the community is how we give back," says Carrie Martin, a team manager who came from a T-Mobile call center in Tennessee. "Being able to immediately start that give-back process and lay the foundation of T-Mobile's culture of giving and show the people of Rochester what they can expect from us, was important to me." Funded by the T-Mobile Foundation, which aims to make a difference by mobilizing the company's brand, technology and people for social good, the company encourages all employees to give back throughout the year in big and small ways, volunteering time or donating to charities they are passionate about. T-Mobile then matches employee donations dollar for dollar and matches volunteer time at $10 per hour, up to $2,000 per employee, per year, to an eligible cause of their choice. There is also the "Volun-T Grants" that allow employees to apply for funding from the T-Mobile Foundation quarterly to support local volunteer projects. Plus, during Giving Season (near the end of each calendar year around Giving Tuesday, which falls on Nov. 28 this year), every employee is given a donation credit to put toward an organization of their choice via an internal employee giving portal called Benevity.Using these very resources, the team quickly identified a number of local organizations and got to work. Since they started early 2023, the Rochester CEC has supported 20 events with 560 hours of volunteering in the community. They also had some helpful local intel from their new leader.Larry Petrone was born and raised in Rochester, but says he left with his wife to New York City long ago to pursue their careers. What he's experiencing now is the definition of a full-circle moment. He moved his family of five from the big city where he found success with T-Mobile managing retail stores for fifteen years for the opportunity to become the first director at the new Customer Experience Center back upstate."It's been very personal," says Larry. "This project would be incredible to be part of anywhere, but doing it in my hometown with the impact that it's going to make in Rochester has felt special. We have people who have relocated from 18 states here already and I heard early on they wanted to get integrated into the community not just personally, but also to help bring the brand to life throughout Rochester." Larry Petrone joined about twenty others from his CEC Rochester team to help set up six hundred seats for The Center for Youth's largest fundraising event.Since 2020, T-Mobile has given $27 million and volunteered more than 68,000 hours to support over 14,000 nonprofits across the U.S. during Giving Season!The time spent with organizations like House of Mercy, Foodlink and Center for Youth, have already left a lasting impression on both the employees and the community. Shellie, who has a teenage son, says her time volunteering at The Center of Youth, which provides emergency shelter for kids ages 12-18, was particularly meaningful."We helped clean up the backyard at one of their safe houses and the kids were just so grateful," she says. "Someone overheard one of the kids saying, Well, I guess someone does care about us.' It just fired me up." "We asked and they said yes," says Dr. Elaine Spaull, Executive Director for The Center for Youth. "We scheduled and they showed up. What we experienced when our T-Mobile colleagues joined us to make the community a better place was an authentic and open heartedness that reminded us that we are certainly not alone." Carrie says she was personally moved by her time spent at House of Mercy, an emergency homeless shelter that also provides a soup kitchen, food pantry, clothing room, social services and more."Early on we were there twice a week, four hours each day," she says. "We did everything from cleaning cots and floors of the living spaces, to folding donated clothes, cooking and serving hot meals and cleaning up outside." Carrie also says T-Mobile donated 440 pounds of food to Foodlink, which is affiliated with Feeding America, at a critical time after their warehouse was broken into and much of their food donations had been stolen and were in need of being replenished. (T-Mobile customers can also give back to Feeding America food banks on November 28th via the T- PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 16:16:52 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 740 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Yum! BrandsAt Pizza Hut, we believe that everyone deserves equal opportunity. That's why we created the Equal Slice program, which provides education, mentorship, and $20,000 grants to business owners in underrepresented communities to help them succeed.WHAT'S THE PROGRAM?We've partnered with Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) who have over 15 years of experience in supporting business owners from underrepresented communities by giving them a chance to make their dreams a reality. Together , we are giving these business owners the opportunity to get education, mentorship, and grants they might not get otherwise.HOW CAN I CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROGRAM AS A PIZZA HUT CUSTOMER?Pizza Hut accepts contributions both in store and online. In store, let a team member know that you'd like to round up your order total to contribute to Equal Slice. If ordering online, you can easily add $1 to your order at checkout to contribute to Equal Slice! All contributions are greatly appreciated and will help this program thrive and grow."I'm a team of one, so it was really helpful to access the education component of the Equal Slice Program. I learned so much." Danielle, founder of Zuri & Dre, is an Equal Slice Program participant and $20,000 grant recipient. She received valuable support and insight, and also the resources to expand her vision of plush dolls celebrating uniqueness in all forms. VISIT HER SITE"Equal Slice was a huge boost for my business. It helped turn my side hustle into something I could get behind full-time." Nicole, founder of SowSweet Greetings, is an Equal Slice Program participant and $20,000 grant recipient. It gave her valuable insight into how she operates her fully sustainable greeting card company and the money to expand its scale. VISIT HER SITE"Equal Slice helped me slow down and look at the big picture, and it introduced me to some really, really impressive speakers." Tique, owner of Chandler Honey, is an Equal Slice Program participant and $20,000 grant recipient. The education she received helped her see her honey business in whole new ways and gave her the tools to improve her sales and growth. VISIT HER SITEWATCH VIDEO Click to watch "A Slice and Query" to learn more about our participants and how they benefitted from the education, mentorship and grants provided by the Pizza Hut Equal Slice Program.FAQWhat is the Equal Slice Program?Pizza Hut Canada and Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) work together to help small business owners in underrepresented communities by building capacity and resiliency for sustainable growth. Every year, the Equal Slice program provides education, mentorship, and five $20,000 CAD grants to business owners to help them succeed.How will my contribution be used?Collected contributions may be used for a variety of purposes to support the program, some of which may include marketing costs, grants and operating costs.How much of my contribution goes toward the Equal Slice Program vs. administrative costs?The majority of contributions received will be put towards the Equal Slice Program. Some of the contributions may be used to support various administrative costs.What is the nature of the relationship between Pizza Hut Canada and ICIC?Pizza Hut Canada and ICIC are entering their third year of partnership to put on the Equal Slice Program. ICIC leads recruitment and applicant communications, organizes mentor connections, and runs the education program and overall grant process. Pizza Hut Canada oversees the program, offers guidance and mentorship, engages with grant applicants and selects grant recipients.Will I receive a donation receipt for my contribution?No. Since PH Canada Company is not a Canadian Registered Charity, it is not able to receive donations and provide charitable receipts to donors.What impact will my contribution make?Your contribution will allow the Equal Slice Program to continue to grow each year.ICIC drives inclusive economic prosperity in underrepresented communities through innovative research and programs to create jobs, income, and wealth for local residents.Founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City is a national nonprofit research and advisory organization and the leading authority on U.S. inner city economies and the businesses that thrive there.FIND OUT MOREView additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Yum! Brands on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Yum! BrandsWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/yum-brandsEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Yum! Brands PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 16:01:15 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 995 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Delivery Expected in April 2024SHAFTER, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Walls have been erected and other major construction milestones have been reached at Wonderful Industrial Park's (WIP) latest 1-million-square-foot speculative development. The project broke ground in May 2023 and panels began tilting in October 2023. In addition, most of the site underground utilities are in place, all of the building-walls are up, structural steel columns and beams have been erected, and roof joists and decking installation is well underway."Our quick pace has us on track to complete the build in early April of 2024. I'd like to thank our dedicated and hardworking Capital Projects construction management team, the excellent trade contractors we have on the project along with our professional design consultants, third-party inspection teams and local AHJ for coordinating and collaborating to make this build a great success." says Tracy Burns-Lusich, Director of Capital Projects at The Wonderful Company (TWC).Ms. Burns-Lusich and the TWC Capital Projects' team are the lead supervisor and manager overseeing the construction of the building. Along with providing oversight on WIP's previous four speculative developments completed within the last five years, TWC's Capital Projects team has vast experience supervising the management and construction and ongoing capital improvements of all the company's brand facilities including its Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds processing facility in Lost Hills, CA, Pom Wonderful beverage processing facility in Del Rey, CA, Wonderful Citrus food manufacturing facility in Delano CA, JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery in Paso Robles, CA, and the Fiji Water production facility in Viti Levu, Fiji.Figure 1: Construction Progress at 5104 Express Avenue5104 Express Avenue will encompass nearly 1.09 million square feet on a 74-acre lot that will allow for ample parking with 455 auto spaces and 939 trailer stalls. The concrete tilt-up building will have a 40' clear-height and 216-dock high doors and 2 grade-level doors. The building will be ideal for distribution and manufacturing operations. More information on the project and additional footage of the construction progress can be found at www.5104express.com . The development is represented by Phil Lombardo, Andrew Starnes, and Cruise Adams of Cushman & Wakefield.Pre-leasing activity is well underway and interest in the property is high, particularly since other industrial developers (public companies and especially private builders) have slowed or halted new development projects, due to capital constraints and market caution."The dearth of new projects being readied as we approach 2024 is causing many professionals in the industrial and logistics real estate sector to forecast that there will be scarcity of newly-built industrial inventory available to lease by the second half of 2024, which could lead to rental rate growth in the big box market." states Phil Lombardo, EVP of the Inland Empire Branch of Cushman & WakefieldDemonstrating continued success with attracting tenants to its speculative developments, in 2022 WIP developed and leased over 1.3 million square feet, including a 1-million-square-foot speculative project that was leased by a Fortune 500 food manufacturer and operated by 3PL CJ Logistics, and a 309,000 square foot building leased by existing tenant GAF, the nation's largest manufacturer of roofing and waterproofing products.The park's currently occupied footprint is over 10 million square feet with occupants including Amazon, Ross, Walmart, Target, American Tire Distributors, FedEx, Hillman, and DMSI. The park's current acreage allows for over 26 million square feet at full build out. At build out, it will be one of the largest industrial parks in the United States.Located in Shafter, California, WIP is the geographical nexus for distribution to 11 Western states. The park is thoughtfully designed to create an extensive buffer between industrial and residential areas, directing traffic away from neighborhoods and schools, as well as offering amenities to benefit its local communities."In addition to our current spec development, we have a number of projects on the horizon that will improve transportation and access to and from the park as well as generate thousands of jobs in energy, logistics, transportation, and more," says Jason Gremillion, SVP of Development at Wonderful Real Estate. "The park is master-planned with a community-first approach to position our tenants and residents for long-term success." In 2022, WIP opened its Wonderful Career Center (WCC), a 40,000-square-foot-center featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, offices, and lab facilities for use by WIP tenants, local schools, and Wonderful Company employees, providing valuable training and skills needed for upward economic mobility. Since opening, WCC has launched three training programs to promote careers in industrial automation, including the Maintenance Technician Apprenticeship (MTA) Program, Technical Operator Program (TOP), and Powered Industrial Truck (PIT) Program. All three programs are offered at no cost to the participants and participants are paired with employers at WIP and the broader community for on-the-job training and employment after completing the programs."We are committed to empowering the Central Valley community through training and skilled job placement opportunities. Our shared goal is to cultivate career growth and uplift individuals, enabling them to create a lasting impact within our esteemed Wonderful Career Center and the broader community," said Kenny Spratt, Director of Talent Partnerships for Corporate Social Responsibility at The Wonderful Company. More information on the programs offered at WCC can be found at www.wonderfulcareercenter.com About Wonderful Industrial ParkWIP is a fully entitled 1,625-acre, world-class distribution center located approximately 100 miles north of Los Angeles. The park is a rail-served industrial development, entitled for 26 million square feet, more than 10 million square feet has been completed and is operational to date. WIP provides tenants with access to a workforce population of over 700,000 residents within a 30-minute drive from the park.WIP's central location in California gives companies access to a robust transportation infrastructure. The property is minutes from Hwy-99, I-5 and Hwy-58 and offers convenient port access to the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Oakland. The industrial park's location allows access to 14 percent of the U.S. population within 300 miles and same-day delivery to 30 million Californians. It has a FedEx Ground hub onsite and is near a UPS ground hub in Bakers PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 20:03:24 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 595 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / PPX Mining Corp. (the "Company" or "PPX", including its Peruvian subsidiaries) further to our press release dated September 14, 2023, the Company on October 25, 2023 received from the regional authority of the Energy and Mines Ministry of Peru or Gerencia Regional de Energia, Minas e Hidrocarburos de La Libertad (GREMH - LL) the notification 002403-2023-GRLL-GGR-GREMH with its technical and legal findings to the Company's initial filing related to the environmental portion of the permitting application to amend its existing construction permit to build its new beneficiation plant at the Igor Project. The regional authority allowed the Company a 45-day remedy period to address its findings.On November 17, 2023, PPX filed its response to the regional authority addressing the totality of its findings, expecting the approval before the end of the calendar year to the modification of its EIA. Immediately after receiving such approval the Company will file the last portion of the permitting process (F2) that contains the detail engineering for the new beneficiation plant.John Thomas, CEO commented "we are pleased to be on track on our permitting activities and expect to receive our final construction permit within the timing we initially expected".About PPX Mining Corp:PPX Mining Corp. ( TSX.V:PPX.V)(BVL:PPX) is a Canadian-based mining company with assets in northern Peru. Igor, the Company's 100%-owned flagship gold and silver project, is located in the prolific Northern Peru gold belt in eastern La Libertad Department.On behalf of the Board of DirectorsJohn ThomasChief Executive Officer82 Richmond Street EastToronto, Ontario M5C 1P1Canada416-361-0737Neither 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 Statement:This press release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") as such terms are defined by applicable securities laws, including, but not limited to statements regarding test results, future plans or management estimates. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business plans and financial performance and often contain words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," and "intend,", statements that an action or event "may,""might," "could," "should," or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond the Company's control, and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to many various factors. Such uncertainties and risks include, among others, delays in obtaining or inability to obtain any required regulatory approvals, if applicable. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, the Company cannot guarantee that the events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. The timing of events and circumstances and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, one should not place undue reliance on forward- looking statements. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of today's date, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or publicly revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law.SOURCE: PPX Mining Corp PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 18:00:24 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 667 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Qrons Inc. (OTCQB:QRON) announced that Professor Shiri Navon-Venezia has agreed to join Qrons Scientific Advisory Board. Professor Venezia is Professor of Microbiology, Head of Bacterial Pathogens & Antibiotic Resistance Lab in Ariel University. Her areas of expertise are Pathogenesis of multidrug resistant bacteria, molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, genetic elements and their role in bacterial resistance and pathogenesis, and novel antibacterial drug development. Professor Venezia is a board member of the Israel Society of Microbiology (ISM) and a member of the American Society of Microbiology (ASM). The Professor, has had a distinguished career with numerous awards and citations and is the author of over 100 articles."We welcome Professor Venezia - to the Scientific Advisory Board of Qrons. Given her background in antibiotic research she has been and will continue to be incredibly helpful in shaping our research program to experiment and commercialize the therapeutic effect of certain Tellurium based compounds on antibiotic resistance bacterial infections including Sepsis," said Jonah Meer, CEO of Qrons.Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent global public health threat, killing at least 1.27 million people worldwide and associated with nearly 5 million deaths in 2019, according to a report released in The Lancet. In the U.S., more than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur each year.Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency associated with a high rate of patient deaths in intensive care units. The CDC reports that each year in the U.S. more than 1.7 million people develop sepsis, and at least 350,000 adults who develop sepsis die during their hospitalization or are discharged to hospice. 1 in 3 people who die in a hospital had sepsis during that hospitalization.About Qrons Inc.Headquartered in New York City, with research centered in Israel, Qrons is an innovative biotechnology company dedicated to developing products, treatments and technologies to combat neuronal and infectious diseases with a focus on antibiotic resistant bacteria, which is becoming the most prominent and rapidly growing worldwide cause of illness and death. Qrons' approach is to seek to engage in strategic arrangements with companies' universities and, scientists that are developing unique know how and intellectual properties in the fields of, stem cells, antibiotic resistant drug development and tissue engineering, for deployment in the fight against neuronal and infectious diseases.Forward Looking StatementThis press release includes "forward-looking statements." Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intends," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. These forward-looking statements and factors that may cause such differences include, without limitation, future capital requirements, regulatory actions or delays and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described or anticipated by these forward-looking statements. The foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. For a more detailed discussion of these factors and risks, investors should review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.Contact:Qrons Inc.Jonah MeerChief Executive Officer212-945-2080SOURCE: Qrons Inc. Major Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum Now Available for Swiss Santander Accounts Disclosure: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. By using this website, you agree to our terms and conditions. We may utilise affiliate links within our content, and receive commission. Santander Private Banking International is now allowing its high-net-worth clients with bank accounts in Switzerland to trade and hold Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). A part of the Spanish banking giant Banco Santander, Santander Private Banking International plans to expand its crypto offerings in the coming months by introducing additional digital assets that align with its screening criteria, a CoinDesk report from Monday said, citing an internal announcement. The report noted that the service is available to all private banking clients with accounts in Switzerland, regardless of whether the client resides in Switzerland or not. Santander reportedly emphasized in the internal note that the crypto trading service is exclusively provided upon client request through their relationship managers. The note also said that digital assets bought by clients will be held by a regulated custodian that stores the private keys to the assets. The wording indicates that self-custody of crypto will not be supported by Santander for the time being. Still, the move sets Santander apart from many other major banks, as it offers access to digital assets on open and permissionless blockchains, as opposed to closed and permissioned blockchains that are being developed by banks like JPMorgan. Clients expected to embrace custodial model In a comment to CoinDesk, John Whelan, Santanders head of crypto and digital assets, praised the regulatory framework for crypto in Switzerland, and said he expects clients to embrace the custodial model for their crypto holdings. As holding of crypto as an alternative asset class continues to expand, we expect that our clients prefer to rely on their existing financial institutions to be responsible for their assets, Whelan said. Santander Private Banking International serves around 210,000 wealthy clients, managing assets and deposits totaling approximately $315 billion. The bank has not yet commented publicly on its move to offer crypto to private banking clients. PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 16:31:37 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 602 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC a nationally recognized law firm, notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against SC Health Corporation ("SC Health" or "the Company") (NYSE: SCPE; NYSE: SCPE.WS; NYSE: SCPE.U) and Rockley Photonics Holdings Limited ("Rockley" or "the company") (NYSE: RKLY; NYSE: RKLY.WS) 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 SC Health and Rockley securities: (1) directly in the March 2021 private investment in public equity of Rockley shares (the "PIPE Offering") conducted in connection with the merger of SC Health and Rockley (the "Merger"); or (ii) between March 19, 2021 and January 23, 2023, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: bgandg.com/scpe Case Details:The complaint alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Rockley's joint venture agreement ("JV Agreement") with Hengtong Rockley Technology Co., Ltd. was in jeopardy because Jiangsu Hengtong Optic-Electric Co., Ltd. ("Hengtong"), Rockley's joint venture partner, had acquired a majority interest in a company, Huawei Marine Networks Co., Ltd. ("Huawei Marine") (later renamed HMN Tech), on the banned entities list maintained by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce since 2019; (ii) the JV Agreement was in further jeopardy because in February 2021 the World Bank had invalidated a bid by Huawei Marine to build an undersea optical cable based on security concerns raised by the United States and other countries that China could use the infrastructure to spy on communications; (iii) the materially undisclosed risk that the JV Agreement could fail as a result of Hengtong's acquisition of a majority interest in HMN Tech jeopardized Rockley's joint venture revenues, launch schedule, business prospects, and ultimately Rockley's solvency; (iv) Rockley did not have the customer base or customer commitments that defendants had represented to investors; and (v) Rockley did not have sufficient customer orders to allow it to develop and commercialize products, maintain and expand client relationships, reach cash flow break-even, or stave off bankruptcy following the Merger.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: bgandg.com/scpe 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 SC Health you have until January 8, 2024, 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.There is No Cost to YouWe represent investors in class actions on a contingency fee basis. That means we will ask the court to reimburse us for out-of-pocket expenses and attorneys' fees, usually a percentage of the total recovery, only if we are successful.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: 2023-11-20 15:46:27 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 486 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 ROCK HILL, SC / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / TruckLogics, a specialized fleet management software in the trucking space, has announced the rollout of its new AI-based fleet intelligence and reporting functionality. This feature is designed to deliver a detailed report containing a business overview, along with any new developments for the day, directly to fleet personnel inboxes every morning.The automated report will consist of summaries of each main aspect of the client's business as recorded by TruckLogics; projected and past income and expenses, upcoming dispatches, vehicle status, pending settlements, and more. Clients will be able to view the report, share it, and log in to their TruckLogics account for a more in-depth look at their business operations, all from the daily email.TruckLogics serves a wide market that includes trucking companies, fleet managers, and independent drivers.The feature will be included in all TruckLogics account subscriptions at no additional cost, and will provide the following benefits:Timely and accurate information regarding the client's businessImproved efficiency, with all essential information consolidated into one emailMore informed decision-making; spot trends and patterns in business operationsIn an increasingly competitive transportation industry where "90% of new small trucking companies are unable to succeed due to common mistakes made by inexperienced business owners," it is more important than ever for fleet managers and Owner Operators to have a clear understanding of their business and to constantly be optimizing their operations.TruckLogics' new AI fleet intelligence tool will shine a light on shortcomings, allowing business owners to see exactly where they are losing money, but also highlighting opportunities to increase profit. This significantly streamlines the processes of choosing loads, planning routes, predicting maintenance, and much more.When asked for comment regarding this exciting new feature, Agie Sundaram, the CEO and Co-founder of SPAN Enterprises (parent company of TruckLogics), responded "TruckLogics strives to provide innovative solutions that do the hard work for you, so we're proud to offer this new feature that helps you prioritize, make decisions, and optimize your business operations. Sign up for TruckLogics now to give it a try, and if any concerns arise, our locally-based support team is available to answer any questions you may have about the software." Learn more about TruckLogics and what the software has to offer here.About TruckLogicsTruckLogics is a comprehensive Truck Management Software customized to serve the transportation industry. Imagine the ease of managing dispatches, accounting, maintenance, IFTA reporting, and much more directly from a master dashboard. TruckLogics helps hundreds of fleets and trucking companies streamline their business operations from a secure, cloud-based platform.About SPAN EnterprisesBased in Rock Hill, South Carolina, SPAN Enterprises has been developing industry-leading software solutions for IRS e-filing and business management tools for over a decade.The SPAN Enterprises portfolio of products includes TaxBandits, Tax990, ACAwise, ExpressExtension, 123PayStubs, and TruckLogics.Please direct all media inquiries to Lucas Roberto, Content Writer, at lucas@ spanenterprises.com SOURCE: TruckLogics PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 12:00:36 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1038 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Tryp Therapeutics Inc. ("Tryp" or the "Company") (CSE:TRYP), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing intravenous-infused psilocin (the active metabolite of psilocybin) for diseases with high unmet medical needs,is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced private placement (the "PrivatePlacement") of unsecured convertible notes (the "Notes") for aggregate gross proceeds of AUD$3,215,000 which represents an oversubscription of AUD$215,000 above its previously announced minimum placement of AUD$3,000,000. Recently appointed, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jason Carroll, participated in the Private Placement with an investment of AUD$325,000.The proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to advance Tryp's research and development programs and for general working capital purposes. Commenting on the Private Placement, Mr. Carroll said, "The Tryp Therapeutics team are delighted to announce this successful funding round, a testament to the confidence our investors have in Tryp's vision and capability. This investment is a vital step that will enable our team to accelerate the progress of our clinical programs for the ultimate benefit of patients." ACNS Capital Markets Pty Ltd trading as Alto Capital ("Alto Capital") acted as lead manager for the Private Placement in accordance with the terms of an engagement letter between Alto Capital and the Company (the "Engagement Agreement") pursuant to which Alto Capital is entitled to a cash fee of 6% of proceeds raised under the Private Placement and will be issued such number of warrants as equals to 4.0% of the Common Shares issuable on conversion of the Notes.Closing of the Private Placement is subject to final approval by the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE"). The securities issued in the Private Placement, including the common shares issuable on conversion of the Notes, will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the closing date of the Private Placement in accordance with applicable securities laws.The Private Placement constitutes a "related party transaction" as such term is defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") as an Officer of the Company has participated in the Private Placement, acquiring aggregate principal amount of AUD$325,000 of Notes on the same basis as other subscribers. In addition, a director is entitled to receive certain fees from Alto Capital in connection with the Private Placement and the transactions contemplated in the Engagement Agreement. The Company has relied on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 in respect of related party participation in the Private Placement as neither the fair market value (as determined under MI 61-101) of the subject matter of, nor the fair market value of the consideration for, the transaction, insofar as it involved the related party, exceeded 25% of the Company's market capitalization (as determined under MI 61-101). Further details will be included in a material change report to be filed by the Company. The Private Placement was approved by the board of directors of the Company.This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in the United States or in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to qualification or registration under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements and applicable U.S. state securities laws.About Tryp Therapeutics:Tryp Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing proprietary, novel formulations for the administration of psilocin in combination with psychotherapy to treat diseases with unmet medical needs. Tryp's lead program, TRP-8803, is a proprietary formulation of IV-infused psilocin (the active metabolite of psilocybin) that alleviates numerous shortcomings of oral psilocybin including: significantly reducing the time to onset of the psychedelic state, controlling the depth and duration of the psychedelic experience, and reducing the overall duration of the intervention to a commercially feasible timeframe. The Company has completed a Phase 2a clinical trial for the treatment of Binge Eating Disorder at the University of Florida, which demonstrated an average reduction in binge eating episodes of greater than 80%. The Company has also started a Phase 2a clinical trial with the University of Michigan for the treatment of fibromyalgia and is preparing to initiate a Phase 2a clinical trial (IND has been cleared to proceed) with Massachusetts General Hospital for the treatment of abdominal pain and visceral tenderness in patients suffering from IBS. Each of the studies are utilizing TRP-8802 (synthetic, oral psilocybin) to demonstrate clinical benefit in these indications. Where a positive clinical response has been demonstrated, subsequent studies are expected to utilize TRP-8803 (IV-infused psilocin), which has the potential to further improve efficacy, safety and patient experience. For more information, please visit www.tryptherapeutics.com Investor & Media ContactPeter MolloyChief Business OfficerTryp Therapeuticspmolloy@ tryptherapeutics.com Forward-Looking InformationCertain information in this news release, including statements relating to the anticipated closing date of the Private Placement, constitutes forward-looking information. In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking informatio PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-20 18:01:09 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 505 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Zing Drone Solutions, Skyway Technologies Corp. and TEAL Communications to provide LTE cloud service for FAA Remote ID regulation.SAN RAFAEL, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Skyway, Zing, and TEAL Communications, leading innovators in the unmanned aircraft industry, have announced their strategic collaboration in UAS connectivity and drone delivery operations. Together these collaborators will provide turnkey solutions for safe and eco-friendly drone operations.Zing Remote ID Zing, a leader in drone innovation since 2018, proudly presents the Z-RID Broadcast Module. This USA-made FAA-approved module streamlines drone-to-drone deconfliction and ensures regulatory compliance. With a user-friendly Plug and Play design and an impressive 14-hour battery life, it's universally compatible with all drone models, from the Mavic Mini to the Matrice series. Zing's dedication to accessible drone technology and safety shines through this revolutionary product."This marks the culmination of six months of collaborative effort between our MIT engineering team and our dedicated Florida-based business development team. We are thrilled to introduce the Z-RID Broadcast Module to the market, offering a robust, American-made solution that ensures FAA compliance for public safety and commercial operators. The integration with TEAL and Skyway enables key features such as drone-to-drone deconfliction in real-time and a complete picture of low altitude airspace." - Ian Annase, Zing Drone SolutionsIn this partnership with Teal, Skyway introduces its innovative cloud-based radio service, enhancing the capabilities of eVTOL and unmanned aircraft. "This product collaboration launches a new era for aircraft communication utilizing traditional enterprise cloud systems," says Clifford Cruz, CEO of Skyway. Robert Hamblet, CEO of Teal, adds, "The drone industry is experiencing a significant transformation, and eSIM technology is at the forefront of this change. We are thrilled to be partnering with Zing and Skyway to open up new possibilities for UAS, allowing drones to extend their reach globally." Specializing in mission planning services for airspace management and vertiports, Skyway ensures the seamless integration of unmanned aircraft into urban airspace. By optimizing safety and efficiency, Skyway's solutions not only elevate the standards of drone delivery operations but also pave the way for the industry's robust growth. Through this collaboration, Skyway, in tandem with Teal, redefines the landscape of UTM, setting new benchmarks in innovation and reliability.As this collaboration continues to challenge industry norms, businesses are now invited to be a part of the journey. Zing's pioneering UAS connectivity solutions are currently available for businesses seeking streamlined drone delivery operations in the United States. Zing is gearing up for an international release in the near future, promising businesses worldwide the same level of efficiency, reliability, and cutting-edge technology that the collaboration with Teal and Skyway exemplifies.Explore groundbreaking solutions for your business at zingdrones.com . Stay updated on Skyway's latest innovations at goskyway.com ---About SkywaySkyway, an Urban Air Traffic Management (UATM) operation center and air traffic navigation Provider of Services for UAM (PSU), provides eVTOL and unmanned aircraft airspace mission planning services as well as vertiport airspace management.Contact InformationWhitney Harris Marketing Manager media@ goskyway.com SOURCE: Skyway Renowned Nigerian pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, Founder and Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre, who recently had a week-long crusade in Ikorudo, Lagos, Nigeria, has called on the government to revisit its policies, emphasising the level of poverty in the country. The 71-year-old televangelist recently held a first-of-its-kind crusade in the Igbogbo area of Ikorodu, Lagos State, where he distributed relief materials to the locals at the crusade tagged Christ Compassion for Rural World (CCRW) and shared his thoughts on the state of the nation during an interview with PREMIUM TIMES. The cleric in this interview spoke about the turn-out during the crusade and how the government could alleviate Nigerians poverty. Excerpts: PT: You recently held a week-long crusade in Ikorodu, similar to the late Reinhard Bonnke crusade in the early 2000s; how would you describe the outcome? Matthew Ashimolowo: Exhilarating. It was both expected and unexpected; when we were coming, we knew we would be overwhelmed by the size of the response, but it was beyond our imagination. My friends in Ghana, Steve Mensa and his twin brother, whose own I observed before for almost a decade, whenever I told them that whatever we do in Nigeria will be ten times what they do in Ghana, they did not believe. When they came, they professed that this was not ten times; they said it was 20 times what they did in Ghana. PT: How did the people of Ikorudo respond to your crusade? Matthew Ashimolowo: Its been beyond imagination; the opening night was something else; the heavens opened, the rain fell, and on that night, we didnt have many people. We had about 12,000. They refused to go; they stayed in that rain. On Tuesday, we commenced distribution; about 65,000 clothes were all gone; we also distributed 110,000 cartons of noodles; then, on Wednesday, we gave rice, oil, buckets, and soaps; that day was overwhelming because people filled this stadium about three times. We thought we were done with the largest attendance and that Thursday would not be as much, but to our surprise, it was overwhelming again; that day, we had beans, garri, more soaps, oil, noodles, and more buckets. What we had was just multiplying. Friday, we thought to give them the leftovers of everything we had distributed and the 15,000 Ankara. The place got packed, but this time, even those who used to be chaotic and rowdy began to be more organised, mainly while we talked to them, and the word about it spread into the town. PT: Speaking about rowdy, how did you manage the crowds? Matthew Ashimolowo: We had to spend money to buy barriers outside to avoid stampede, any disasters, and broken bones or casualty problems. God helped us; that is all I can say by 5 a.m. the queue is three kilometres. We want to thank Mr Governor, the governor of Lagos State, who handed over the Lagos State security apparatus to work with us. We had 80 police officers, 100 Neighbourhood Watch, and 40 Secret Service Officers; you might just see a woman dressed like an older woman; she may be Secret Service. PT: How much would you say hosting this crusade had cost you? Matthew Ashimolowo: I am trying very much not to sound critical because at a stage in life, a person like me, my words are quotable, and because my words are quotable, I need to choose what I say, but all I can say is that it has cost me and some of the gifts of some of my friends the left-side of N1 billion, and honest, without sounding critical, I know a few governors which that is the cost of two and half of their cars. So, two state cars could do this. PT: Why spend so much money on a crusade? Matthew Ashimolowo: There is poverty in the land, and sometimes we underestimate it. I mean, some people came from other states came here, and some of them had to sleep in the stadium for one week so that every time we gave out our relief materials, they were collecting and gathering for each day so they would have something to carry home, they came from other states. Some of the people who came for the medicals came from other states. One of the days, I left the stadium by 11 p.m. a woman with her son saw me at the gate; she came from Abeokuta. They didnt even have money for transportation, and I had to empty my pocket; we are moved with compassion when we see the need. We had the pastors conference, where I gave away 2,000 of my Bibles 2,000 books. We expected 2,000 pastors, but we had a severe overflow; there is poverty in the land. PT: You mentioned poverty in the land, but the government has initiated a palliative sharing policy. Is that a sustainable initiative? Matthew Ashimolowo: Honestly, palliative is not the answer. I think palliative is short-term; we dont call ours palliative because the dictionary definition of palliative is something you give a man who is sick as temporary relief; ours is not palliative; ours is to bless. We are not the government but here to touch peoples lives and show Christs compassion. PT: What should the government do? Matthew Ashimolowo: Create short-term, mid-term and long-term goals. Using Kingsian economics, Menian King argued that the government should encourage industries to overproduce. The government should buy excess; that way, there would be production, causing employment, and the price will decrease when the government believes the surplus. So, for instance, if sugar is supposed to be N50, the government says to overproduce, sell it at N30, we will buy the balance, and we can give it to people experiencing poverty who cant buy it. In the UK and Europe, they have a food mountain, so the government buys the excess and gives some poor people a lot, which is short term. Mid-term, forgive my French, take away the power in Nigeria from over-empowering four to five men who you splash in our newspapers every time as multibillionaires who can only hire a maximum of a hundred thousand people. Empower Small and Medium Enterprises. That is the power of Nigeria. If you go to any street in Nigeria, you will only see a house with a shop. The government call that place a setback, but it is not a setback; Nigerians are entrepreneurs. Empower those small places and create a system whereby you can give them a loan. PT: Perhaps the government is afraid they might not recover the loans, dont you think so? Matthew Ashimolowo: Nigeria knows how to trace you with your National Identification Number, NIN; they now know how to trace you with your Bank Verification Number, BVN, which creates something that will make you trace all these small and medium enterprises. Give them a loan to do business. If you empower 10 million SMEs and the N10m SMEs, hire five people each; how many people are employed? Thats a lot of people. PT: How about the long-term solution? Matthew Ashimolowo: For the long term, industries must be encouraged. They would say come to Nigeria, where it is easy to do business, but it is a lie. I am 71, and by March next year, by Gods grace, I will be 72; I can say what I like. I have businesses in Nigeria, and doing business in Nigeria, you are harassed, FIRS will harass you, then Lagos Inland revenue will also harass you, so every week you are getting letters from both federal and local, in the United Kingdom where I live, revenue only visits when necessary, once in five years or ten, but here in Nigeria they visit you every week. The moment I have said this now, they will revisit us. They should come we are waiting. PT: What advice would you then give to the government, especially this administration. Matthew Ashimolowo: It is an Oxymoron that at a time when everything has lost price, it is the same time that the National Assembly is spending over N170m each for their excesses and excuses. The leadership of Nigeria should learn to cut costs. The challenge this administration has inherited is that the system needs to be fixed. They are still debating minimum, yet we see the examples of cutting costs they are showing. The challenge of this administration is like a man who received a DHL parcel and the item was already damaged; DHL would write in the article, Damaged on Arrival; this administration should have announced to us the cost of fixing Nigeria. PT: What advice would you give to other pastors who want to take up a similar feat as you did? Matthew Ashimolowo: It will go a long way with one or two people doing this in the Nigerian church. We have an avalanche of churches in Nigeria, but the only thing is a project like this is not easy to come up with; if you dont know how to manage this crowd, it would be a tricky thing, even with the resources. Forgive my French, the poor person, even if he sees loads of what you want to give him, he thinks it will not reach him, so he pushes and rushes, even if you provide him with the assurance that you have more than you would need, he would still become violent, but you wont blame them, thats poverty at work. So a stamp can be caused if you do not know this; I had to study it for 9 to 10 years. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print In response to the resurgence of coups since 2019, the African Union (AU) and regional economic blocs have issued sanctions against errant states, predominantly by suspending their membership. But despite an impressive record of taking action, the persistence of coups and other unconstitutional changes of government raises doubts about their effectiveness. Between June 2019 and August 2023, the AU suspended the memberships of Sudan, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger and most recently Gabon. The regional blocs for West and Central Africa took similar steps against Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Gabon. In 67 per cent of recent coups, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also imposed economic sanctions against transgressing states. To determine whether sanctions work, the motivations for using them are worth considering. AU and regional bloc sanctions aim to change the behaviours of defaulting states and promote democratic norms. The AU, for instance, targets governments that transgress the bodys financial and governance rules or fail to comply with its decisions and policies. Since 2003, the AU has suspended all coup countries except Chad. ECOWAS sanctions have similar aims, along with creating conditions to restore normal constitutional processes after a breakdown in democracy. The bloc suspended three of the four current coup countries, excluding Niger, and imposed economic and administrative sanctions on all of them. Gabons suspension by the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) sought to restore constitutional order swiftly. Between 1960 and 2019, the AU consistently implemented sanctions against unconstitutional changes of government especially coups, with evident success. Two waves of decline were observed owing to a zero tolerance of coups policy. From an average of 2.2 coups a year between 1960 and 1989, the number dropped to 1.6 in the 1990s and 0.8 between 2000 and 2019. However, since 2019, the continent has experienced a resurgence of overthrows. From a low of 0.8, the average number of coups a year in Africa reached 1.8 in 2023. This is likely to increase, given that several African countries are vulnerable to takeovers. A trend in the current third wave of coups is that sanctions did not prevent repeated overthrows in Sudan, Mali and Burkina Faso. Nor have they deterred the unlawful assumption of power by soldiers in Guinea, Niger, Chad and Gabon. Several of these countries have yet to restore constitutional order or revert to the status quo, meaning coup-makers are driving the transition agendas. The latest example is Mali, where presidential elections planned for February 2024 have been postponed. Its clear that sanctions have failed to change behaviour or instil respect for democratic norms. Several factors could explain this. Inconsistency In previous waves of coups, the AU consistently suspended defaulting states, whereas recently, inconsistencies have crept in. While it promptly suspended Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Gabon, the continental body hesitated to act against Niger even though its Constitutive Act calls for immediate suspension. In Chad, the AUs response was perplexing as it failed to treat the situation as an unconstitutional change of government, hiding behind security risks. The AU also kept silent while constitutional manipulations for presidential term extensions occurred in Cote dIvoire (2016), Guinea (2020), Gabon (2023), Rwanda (2023) and the Central African Republic (2023). The bodys 2009 Ezulwini Framework on unconstitutional changes of government calls on the AU to deploy preventive missions based on early warning indicators when such events occur. By not treating the events equally, the AU reinforced a sense of double standards among coup-makers and citizens of countries where constitutional manipulations occurred. This undermined its legitimacy, diluted the deterrent effect of sanctions and fostered defiance among coup plotters in Mali, Guinea and Niger. ECOWAS, the regional bloc most affected by military overthrows, has issued economic and administrative sanctions against all coup countries in its region. But their effectiveness has been diluted by neighbouring countries actions. In Malis case, some states expressed reservations about the sanctions and enhanced cooperation with the countrys de facto authorities. The damaging effects of comprehensive economic sanctions on local livelihoods also limited their chances of succeeding. This fostered widespread aversion to ECOWAS, creating fertile ground for citizens to support the coup plotters in the name of nationalism. Popular rejection of ECOWAS measures in Mali (2020 and 2021), Guinea (2021) and Niger (2023) are examples. The AUs Peace and Security Council (PSC) needs to respond robustly to coups. That means addressing all forms of unconstitutional changes of government with equal seriousness and intensity. The Ezulwini Framework must be thoroughly implemented, and the PSC sub-committee on sanctions activated so that measures against defaulting states can be monitored. The PSC could help ensure consistency and equal treatment in regional bodies responses to coups. It should work with the blocs to ensure sanctions are targeted and do not harm the citizens of affected countries. The PSC also needs to secure the support of coup states neighbours, to ensure that collective principles and norms are applied rather than individual strategic interests. Moussa Soumahoro, Researcher, Africa Peace and Security Governance, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Addis Ababa (This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish). Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Former Vice President of Liberia and candidate of the Unity Party, Joseph Boakai, has been officially declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election. This declaration was made by Davidetta Lansannah, chairperson of the National Election Commission (NEC) Liberia on Monday evening. With 100 per cent of votes from the countrys 5,890 polling places counted, Mr Boakai garnered 814,481 votes of the available 1,625,684 votes, compared to the 793,914 scored by incumbent president George Weah of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change. Mr Boakais votes constituted 50.64 per cent of the total votes cast while Mr Weahs votes were 49.36 per cent of the votes cast. The first round of voting on 10 October did not yield a clear winner among the 20 presidential candidates participating, leading to the runoff between Messrs Weah and Boakai, the top two contenders. Unlike the first round, where a winner must score over 50 per cent of the votes, a victor only needs a simple majority to be declared the winner of the second round. George Weah concedes defeat PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Weah has accepted defeat and congratulated president-elect Boakai. I urge you (his supporters) to follow my example and accept the results of the elections, Mr Weah said at a time when about 99 per cent of the votes had been counted. Tonight, the CDC has lost the election, but Liberia has won. This is a time for graciousness in defeat, a time to place our country above party, and patriotism above personal interest . . . Let us heal the divisions caused by the campaign and come together as one nation and one united people. READ ALSO: Many foreign leaders have congratulated Mr Boakai on his victory. PREMIUM TIMES reported that Nigerias President Bola Tinubu congratulated Mr Boakai and also commended Mr Weah. The United States Government also commended Mr Weah for accepting the outcome of the tightly contested election. We congratulate President-elect Boakai on his victory and President Weah for his peaceful acceptance of the results, the State Department said in a statement. The United States congratulates the people of Liberia on holding a peaceful presidential runoff election. We note the broad participation of Liberians across the country and applaud the commitment and dedication of Liberian citizens in exercising their right to vote and in engaging in the electoral process peacefully. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print In a move to enhance the national cybersecurity programme in Nigeria, the Senate Joint Committees on ICT & Cybersecurity and National Security & Intelligence have issued a Public Hearing notice inviting stakeholders and the general public to contribute to the amendment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015. The notice, signed by Senator, Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybercrime, working in close collaboration with Senator, Shehu Buba Umar, Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, was published on Friday, 17 November. The Joint Committees are soliciting memoranda to be considered in the Upper Chambers efforts to improve the protection of Nigerias cyberspace and critical national economy infrastructure in line with extant national security and digital economy strategic policy directives. The Senate called for memoranda that will be considered in the Upper Chambers efforts to improve the governance of the cyberspace in Nigeria. The Cybercrime Act 2015 was enacted to ensure the protection of critical national information infrastructure, to promote cyber security, protect computer systems and networks, electronic communications, data and computer programmes, intellectual property and privacy rights. The Act also establishes the procedural powers for cybercrime investigation and the collection of evidence in electronic format when probing criminal offences. In the public notice, the Senate Committee said the hearing would hold in Conference Room 301 of the Senate Building on Wednesday, 22 November. The Senate committee called on all stakeholders, among them government institutions, ICT and cybersecurity concerns, national and other security concerns to submit their memoranda to the Committee. ALSO READ: Senate holds public hearing on cybercrime amendment bill Wednesday The statement said, Memoranda, which should be submitted within one week in five (5) soft copies and forty-five (45) hard copies, and should be addressed to the Clerk Senate Committee on ICT & Cyber Security, Room 3.8 White House Building, National Assembly Complex Abuja. The amendment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention, Etc) Act 2015 has become imperative in order to review its application over the last eight years since its implementation, to tackle computer-mediated crimes in the country. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Ebonyi State Government will return all mission schools to their original owners by December, Governor Francis Nwifuru promised in Abakaliki on Sunday. Mr Nwifuru made the promise during a pastoral visit to him by the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki, Peter Nworie, a most reverend. The governor acknowledged that the Catholic Church and others were tactical in improving the quality of education in the state. He directed the Commissioner for Primary and Secondary Education, and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to begin the process of returning the schools to the missions. We are badly challenged in the area of education. We have agreed at a cabinet meeting to send 100 First Class and 2nd Class Upper Division graduates to countries of their choice to further their education. We will also sponsor 300 persons to study their Masters degrees in Nigerias institutions of higher learning of their choice. We wont hesitate if the Catholic Church or other missions are ready to take back their schools that were taken over by the government, the governor said. He earlier commended the bishop for the visit and for blessing the congregation of the Government House Chapel. Mr Nwifuru assured of his readiness to carry churches along in his administration. Earlier, Mr Nworie said the church was ready to work with the government to enhance teaching and learning in Ebonyi State. Those schools were forcefully taken away from us after the Civil War. The governor knows our feelings about this, he said. ALSO READ: Delta Govt to give grants to 40 mission schools The cleric also expressed the readiness of the Church under his leadership to support the governor to achieve his goals for the state. He appreciated Mr Nwifuru for the positive steps taken so far by his administration. He also called on cabinet members of the government to give their full support to the governor. If there is a failure in your area there is a failure in the whole government because the success of any member of the cabinet is the success of the governor and that of the whole government. Todays reading is an invitation for all members of the current government to assist the governor to achieve his goals for the state, Mr Nworie noted. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Movie Title: Magenta Coal Release Date: 27 October, 2023 Episodes: Six Cast: Richard Mofe-Damijo, Ntando Duma, Senzo Radebe, Busi Lurayi, Vusi Kunene, Khanya Mkangisa, Connie Chiume, Desmond Dube, Cedric Fourie, Hamilton Dhlamini, Nambitha Mpumlwana and Jack Devnarain. Crew: Elvis Chucks (Producer) There was a time when the business world was seen as dull and dour. As a result, only a few Nigerian or African productions explored themes around business. However, the liberalisation of information brought about new ways of doing business. With that came a wave of revelations about the kind of dealings in business offices. From blackmail, a la sex tapes, massive coverups, and strong-arming to outright murder, businesses in Africa and all over the world have stories to tell. Magenta Coal follows the story of the second wife of a powerful mining magnate with ties to a South African royal family. She has to fight tooth and nail to protect her children and domain when the truth about her childrens paternity threatens to destroy her ambitions of succession. Plot The series opens with a hostile takeover of a magnesium smelting mine by Zeb (Desmond Dube), the patriarch of the Nkosi clan and CEO of Magenta Coal, together with his right-hand man, Muzi (Richard Mofe-Damijo). Zebs son and perceived heir, Mangaliso (Senzo Radebe), is outsmarted by his second wife Mathilda (Nambitha Mpumlwana) and her son Sandile (Cedric Fourie) when they steal his business plan for the next phase of business for Magenta Coal. Angered by the move, Mangaliso blacklists Zeb, walks out of the family and relapses into a life of drugs and booze. On the one hand, Mkhabela, the previous owner of the magnesium smelting mine, has an axe to grind with Zeb. On the other hand, Zebs brother, Hamilton Dhlamini, believes he should be the rightful leader of the family business. With this growing list of enemies, it came as no surprise that the patriarch was cut down in a hail of bullets, but where or who does suspicion point to? Following his death and the need to solve the murder mystery, Magenta Coal falls into the leadership of Aluta Nkosi (Ntando Duma), a fresh-out-of-school lady unearthing a trail of underhand dealings, paternity fraud, seduction, betrayal and more. Review Not many African productions capture and do justice to the activities in the business world, like Magenta Coal. Magenta Coal boasts an ensemble cast, at least by South African standards. However, the presence of RMD in the series dwarfs the performance of the other actors, making the Nigerian legend appear out of place almost throughout the series. In the quest to present an unravelable mystery, the plot twists into a knot so tight it is hard to follow. For instance, a paternity fraud spanning decades is not out of place, but all the children? Even the child from the now-deceased first wife? And that is not the only farfetched element in the plot. Kidnapping your daughter and forcing her to sign over an entire company over to you is the height of farfetched. Again, it is believed that the choice of a Nigerian lead and a Nigerian producer was to attract the Nigerian audience. However, despite the subtitles, the heavy use of the Xhosa language is a big turn-off for the non-speaking audience. Inconclusive Magenta Coal makes for an exciting and relaxing watch. Still, the series crashlands at the end of the sixth episode because the elements that make for a conclusive ending, like a cliffhanger or promises of more episodes, are absent. Putting that aside, the series tells a compelling story. As a result, we would grade it 5/10. Magenta Coal is showing on Netflix Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Worldcoins WLD Gains 6% as Sam Altman Joins Microsoft to Lead its New AI Research Team Disclosure: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. By using this website, you agree to our terms and conditions. We may utilise affiliate links within our content, and receive commission. Worldcoins WLD has gained around 7% amid the news that Microsoft has hired Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, co-founders of OpenAI, to spearhead a new advanced AI research team. At the time of writing, WLD is trading at $2.41, up by more than 6.5% over the past day, according to data from CoinGecko. The rally comes after the announcement of Sam Altmans departure from OpenAI triggered a sharp decline in the value of WLD last week. At the time, WLD dropped to as low as $1.86, marking a 42% decrease from its all-time high of $3.30. Altman, who co-founded Worldcoin along with Max Novendstern and Alex Blania in 2019, was removed from his position as CEO of OpenAI due to his alleged lack of candid communication that affected the responsibilities of the board. Microsoft Hires Altman and Other Former OpenAI Executives Altmans unexpected dismissal from OpenAIs board led to several other members, including Brockman, leaving the firm in protest. Exploiting this oppurtunity, Microsoft has hired both Altman and Brockman to head up its new advanced AI research team. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed the appointments on Monday, according to a report by TechCrunch. Nadella also hinted that additional hires from OpenAI might be joining Altman and Brockman, signaling Microsofts commitment to assembling a talented team. The decision to bring Altman and Brockman on board comes as Microsoft is alreadt a major investor in OpenAI with a substantial investment of over $10 billion in the AI company. Nadella emphasized that Microsoft is fully supportive of OpenAIs product roadmap and expressed eagerness to collaborate with the new leadership team at OpenAI, led by Emmett Shear. We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners, Nadella said. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAIs new leadership team and working with them. Worldcoin Faces Privacy Concerns Worldcoin has faced criticism and controversy since its inception. Last year, MIT Technology Review published an article claiming that the project acquired its first 500,000 users through deception, exploited workers, and cash handouts. Additionally, governments, including the U.K., Germany, France, and notably Kenya, have raised concerns about privacy, security, and financial implications, with Kenya even suspending Worldcoins enrollment. Back in August, reports surfaced in Nigeria that Nairobi police, in collaboration with officials from various agencies, had conducted a raid on a Worldcoin warehouse in the capital city of Kenya. Similarly, the Argentine Agency for Access to Public Information (AAIP) has launched a probe into Worldcoin to determine the legality of its data collection practices within the South American nation. The Police Command in Kano State on Monday alerted the public of plans by those they claim are supporters of unnamed political parties to cause violence in the state. According to the commands spokesperson, Abdullahi Kiyawa, the groups plan to take to the streets to protest the Appeal Courts verdict on the governorship election in the state. He, however, said that the command had taken appropriate security measures to prevent an escalation of tensions that may lead to a breakdown of law and order. It is on this note that the police command issues this warning to residents of the state to be extra careful as whoever intends to conduct any protest or procession should do so in accordance with the provisions of the law, Mr Kiyawa said. He said that the Commissioner of Police, Usaini Gumel, has urged residents to be calm and avoid any form of unlawful gathering, protest or procession that may trigger violence. The spokesperson said joint security teams have been deployed to strategic locations to safeguard peace and order throughout the state. Whoever attempts to disrupt the peace in the state will be arrested and made to face the wrath of the law, he added and urged residents to report any suspicious movement, persons or items to security agents for prompt response. After the Appeal Court judgement that sacked the incumbent governor of the state, Abba Yusuf, of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and ordered that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Nasiru Gawuna be declared the winner of the 18 March election. Mr Yusuf, however, said he was going to appeal the judgement of the Appeal Court at the Supreme Court. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print An All Progressives Congress (APC) member of the House of Representatives, Yusuf Gagdi, said on Monday that the decision of the Court of Appeal sacking Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State on Sunday is a confirmation of his long-held stance. Mr Gadgi, who represents Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency (APC-Plateau), appeared on Arise Televisions Good Morning Show on Monday. He said the sacking of Mr Mutfwang, who is of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was based on the correct application of the law. The Court of Appeal has affirmed my position that I advocated during my campaign to be a member of the House of Representatives that PDP cannot present candidates for elections. I am not surprised because the judgement is based on the law. So the Court of Appeal didnt only say that our case is a pre-election. It said that the matter APC approached the tribunal with is both pre-election and post-election and if its a post-election matter, the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the matter, he said. Mr Mutfwang had polled 525,299 votes to defeat the candidate of the APC Nentawe Goshwe, who polled 481,370 votes in the March 18 governorship election. But Mr Goshwe contested the victory of Mr Mutfwang at the election petition tribunal, claiming that the governor was not validly nominated and sponsored by his party. He also said there was non-compliance with the Electoral Act in the election. READ ALSO: The tribunal had dismissed Mr Goshwes petition, prompting him to proceed to the Court of Appeal to challenge the decision. Delivering judgement on the appeal on Sunday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld Mr Goshwes case. The court ruled that Mr Muftwang was not validly sponsored by his party, the PDP. The court held that the appeal brought by Mr Goshwe was meritorious as the issue of qualification was both a pre-and post-election matter under Section 177(c) of the Nigerian Constitution and Sections 80 and 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022. The court ruled that the failure of the PDP to comply with the order of the Plateau State High Court in Jos directing it to conduct valid ward, local governments and state congresses before nominating its candidates for the various elective posts was a breach of the law. Speaking on the outcome of the appeal on the election on Monday, Mr Gadgi said he had forewarned the PDP never to participate in the election on the basis that it did not comply with the subsisting High Court order. He noted that the PDP snubbed the court order directing it to conduct a valid congress in the 17 local government areas of the state. He said the issue of sponsorship of the PDP candidate was rightly adjudged by the Court of Appeal as both a pre-election and post-election matter. He noted that the tribunal had the jurisdiction to entertain it because Mr Mutfwang lacked the locus to contest. On the issue of interference of the judiciary in election issues, which he termed judocracy, the lawmaker said whenever a party fails to do the right thing, it is the responsibility of the judiciary to step in. The case is very clear. Whenever a political party that serves as a pillar to producing a democratic leader didnt do the right thing, judocracy will come into play, if I may quote you, he said. Mr Gagdi said that the judiciary is the arm of government vested with the powers of interpreting the laws of political parties, the laws of the country and other enactments like the Electoral Act. Many PDP lawmakers in Plateau have been sacked by the courts in recent times on the grounds of invalid nominations for the elections. While the Court of Appeals decisions on the elections of the lawmakers are final, Governor Mutfwang has the right to proceed to the Supreme Court for final adjudication on the disputes over his election. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Charles Airhiavbere, a retired major-general, has joined the Edo 2024 governorship race on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He said this at a meeting of some APC leaders in Benin on Monday. Mr Airhiavbere, a former executive director of Finance and Administration at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said it was time for the APC to reclaim the state from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). So, I have contested an election in Edo State to lead Edo people to a land of prosperity, a land of safety and a land of infrastructural development and that is why, five days after I retired in 2011, I joined the party at the federal level at that time. I could not have just been leaving the army and I come to Edo and face the opposition. I contested the party primaries seven months after I retired and won the PDP ticket because my programmes were laudable; they were clinically explained that these were the programmes I have for the Edo people. The retired major-general said he left the PDP for the APC in 2016 because the APC was in control of the federal government, adding that I have always insisted that Edo remains under the federal government because this is the heartbeat of the nation. He said getting the APC to win the Edo governorship election is a task that must be done. That is why I decided to throw in my cap into the ring. We must be prepared. For a political party in opposition, I have experienced it. I have been on both sides; being in opposition, being in government and I know what it is. This is an opportunity for me to give you my scorecard of what we have done in NDDC. When I got there, we didnt have approved budgets from 2021, 2022 and 2023 and these are things we put in place in less than five months of my stay in NDDC, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Taoreed Lagbaja, a lieutenant general, has expressed heartfelt condolences on behalf of the Nigerian Army, on the passing of one of his predecessor, Chris Alli. The condolence message is contained in a statement by the Director of Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Sunday in Abuja. Mr Nwachukwu, a brigadier-general, said the former Army Chief succumbed to a brief illness in the early hours of Sunday at the Military Hospital, Lagos. He said that the late former COAS served the army, the Armed Forces of Nigeria and the nation with honour and dedication in various capacities, leaving enduring prints on the sands of time. Allis commitment and zeal to duty manifested evidently as he rose through the ranks to become the Director, Military Intelligence (DMI), amongst several other key appointments in the Nigerian army. He said that Mr Alli, a retired major-general, rose to the pinnacle of his military career as the 9th COAS in November 1993 during the regime of Sani Abacha and was there until his retirement from service in August, 1994. Born on 25 December 1944, in Koton Karfe, Kogi State, Mr Allis sojourn in the army began on 27 October, 1967, as a member of the Emergency Short Service Combatant Course. He served in various capacities, cutting across staff, instructional and command, and was, at a time, the military governor of Plateau State and later the interim administrator of the state in 2004. The COAS, Lt.-Gen. Lagbaja, on receiving the disheartening news of his demise, profoundly expressed his condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the late COAS. He prayed for the repose of his soul and the strength and solace for the family in this difficult time, the statement said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Sun Africa LLC, an international organisation, has pledged to support the President Bola Tinubus administration with $2.2 billion to provide vital power infrastructure for Nigeria. Bolaji Tunji, the Special Adviser, Strategic Communication and Public Relations to the Minister of Power, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Sunday. Mr Tunji said that the commitment, which was formalised during the week, was disclosed by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, after a meeting with representatives of Sun Africa led by its chairperson, Goran Rajsic. The minister said that the initial phase of the project would focus on delivering 961 Megawatts peak (MWp) of solar Photovoltaics (PV) infrastructure and 455MWh of battery energy storage, valued at approximately $2.2 billion. Sun Africa, with its partners, is set to implement this transformative project in the coming months, he said. According to Mr Adelabu, as Africas largest economy, Nigeria faces significant demands for new power infrastructure to support economic needs and transition to a sustainable power mix. The commitment from all parties involved, ensures a close collaboration to execute this vital renewable power infrastructure, addressing the nations requirements, he said. On his part, Mr Rajsic thanked the partners for their support in designing the cutting edge project, featuring leading solar PV and battery storage technologies, financed with affordable, long-term debt under OECD guidelines. The OECD guidelines are for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct; the guidelines are recommendations jointly addressed by governments of multinational enterprises to enhance the business contribution to sustainable development and address adverse impacts associated with business activities on people. He said that Sun Africas financing partners, ING Bank and Citi, had also emphasised their commitment up to US$10 billion in financing projects in the coming years. This support extends to both the initial phase and future developments. Additionally, Sun Africa is collaborating with Sterling & Wilson Renewable Energy Limited, its Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) partner, by playing a pivotal role in providing services for the initial project phase. The joint efforts signify a remarkable milestone in advancing sustainable and reliable energy solutions for Nigerians, aligning with the commitment to driving positive change through innovative renewable energy solutions, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Defence Headquarters said troops of 29 Task Force Brigade foiled the attack by terrorists on the convoy of Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, along the Maiduguri-Damaturu road on Saturday. A statement by the Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, a major-general, said, on Monday in Abuja, that the troops also recovered the two vehicles affected in the incident. He said one military truck driver, four police escorts and one State Security Service (SSS) operative who were wounded in the attack are in stable condition. According to him, one of the injured police escorts died shortly upon arrival at the Specialists Hospital Damaturu. Reinforcement of troops from 29 Task Force Brigade led by the Brigade Commander are conducting fighting patrol in the area to locate the terrorists who carried out the dastardly act. The two vehicles affected in the incident include one military MRAP and one civilian escort vehicle whose tyres were shot at during the incident, have been safely recovered to the military camp at Benisheikh. Operations are ongoing to hunt and destroy the terrorists that perpetrated the attack, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the governors convoy was ambushed by terrorists while returning to Damaturu from Maiduguri, about 6 kilometres from Benesheikh town on Saturday. The governor was not in the convoy when it was ambushed. The Secretary to the State Government and some other top government officials who were in the convoy were unhurt. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The trial of a former speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, on money laundering charges was on Monday, stalled at the Federal High Court in Lagos. The trial judge, Mohammed Liman, did not sit on Monday, following a letter by a defence counsel seeking an adjournment of the case to a more convenient date. Monday was the second time the trial could not proceed as scheduled this month. The previous sitting failed to hold as scheduled, and the case was subsequently adjourned till 20 November (Monday). As the proceedings also failed to hold on Monday, parties were told that a new date would be communicated to them. The trial judge, Mr Liman, had been transferred out of the Lagos division but still comes to preside over the case based on a fiat issued by the Chief Judge. Mr Ikuforiji is charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside his former Personal Assistant, Oyebode Atoyebi. They are being tried before on 54 counts of money laundering involving N338.8 million. They had each pleaded not guilty and were allowed to continue on an earlier bail granted to them in 2012 when they were first arraigned. On 17 March 2021, the EFCC closed its case after calling the second witness for the prosecution. Meanwhile, Mr Liman was later transferred out of the Lagos division and the case suffered several setbacks. On 4 May 2023, defence counsel Dele Adesina, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), opened the case. The defence called three witnesses, including the first defendant (Mr Ikuforiji), before closing its case earlier in the year. Mr Ikuforiji had testified, among other issues, how he was being prosecuted based on a faceless petition. He had told the court that the case arose from a petition written by an unknown person, alleging that he had stolen about N7 billion from the Lagos State House of Assembly. The matter was subsequently fixed for the adoption of written addresses. The defendants were first arraigned on 1 March 2012 before Okechukwu Okeke (now retired) on 20 counts charge on 20 counts of money laundering. They had each pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail. Following the retirement of Mr Okeke, the defendants were subsequently re-arraigned before Ibrahim Buba. Mr Buba had granted them bail in the sum of N500 million each with sureties in like sun On 26 September 2014, Mr Buba discharged Mr Ikuforiji and his aide, after upholding a no-case submission of the defendants. Mr Buba had held that the EFCC failed to establish a prima-facie case against them. Dissatisfied with the ruling, the EFCC through its counsel, Godwin Obla (SAN), filed a notice of appeal dated 30 September 2014 challenging the decision of the trial court. Mr Obla had argued that the trial court erred in law when it held that the counts were incompetent because they were filed under Section 1(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004 which was repealed by an Act of 2011. EFCC further argued that the lower court erred in law when it held that the provisions of Section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004 and 2011 only applied to natural persons and corporate bodies other than the government. The commission had also submitted that the trial judge erred in law when he held and concluded that the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses supported the innocence of the respondents. In its judgement, the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, in November 2016, agreed with the prosecution and ordered a fresh trial of the defendants before another judge. But the defendants challenged the Court of Appeals decision at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, however, upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal and ordered that the case be sent back to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge. According to the charge, EFCC alleged that the defendants accepted cash payments above the threshold set by the Money Laundering Act without going through a financial institution. The commission accused the defendants of conspiring to commit an illegal act of accepting cash payments in the aggregate sum of N338.8 million from the House of Assembly without going through a financial institution. Mr Ikuforiji was also accused of using his position to misappropriate funds belonging to the Assembly. The EFCC said that the defendants committed the offences between April 2010 and July 2011. The offences, according to the EFCC, contravene the provisions of Sections 15 (1d), 16(1d) and 18 of the Money Laundering Act, 2004 and 2011. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Reactions have continued to trail PREMIUM TIMES publication on how Sani Tambuwal, the clerk of Nigerias parliament misinformed President Bola Tinubu over the false Real Estate Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act 2023. Mr Tambuwal sent the bill to the president on 9 June saying it was a true copy of the bill passed by both Houses of the National Assembly in compliance with Section 2(1) of the Acts Authentication Act, Cap A2, Laws of The Federation of Nigeria. PREMIUM TIMES investigation shows that the Clerk of the National Assembly transmitted the version passed by the Senate to the president for assent on 9th June and falsely claimed that it had been passed by both chambers of the National Assembly. The Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), a civil society organisation, has called for an investigation of the Clerk of the National Assembly over the matter. In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Festus Adebayo, the group said, It cannot understand why there was so much desperation on the part of some stakeholders to get the bill signed into law by Mr President even when it has not passed through necessary legislative processes at both the House of Reps and the Senate. Mr Adebayo commended PREMIUM TIMES for the investigative report which has not been denied by the clerk of the National Assembly. For us at HDAN, we have been monitoring the movement of the bill before it suddenly disappeared which prevented us from knowing how far the bill has gone. The last information we heard concerning such a related bill was the passage of a real estate regulation bill for FCT. We wondered how many interest groups are pushing for different bills that will serve their selfish interest rather than the overall interest of the sector under the real estate regulation bill, the statement read. Among other things, the purported bill sent to Mr Tinubu will empower an association of real estate companies REDAN to control a proposed regulatory agency. The bill generated a lot of controversy with a lawmaker describing it as the most selfish bill at the time. HDAN said at various times it has called for the regulation of the real estate sector to protect the integrity of the sector, promote professionalism, and protect both the buyers of real estate products investors, and developers. From all indications, this bill they are trying to manipulate Mr President to sign will not achieve the desired objectives we have just stated for the overall interest of the sector, the group said. HDAN is therefore calling for criminal investigation of those behind the bill that was wrongly pushed for Mr Presidents assent. We are also calling the Hon Minister of Housing and Urban Development to intervene by setting up a committee that will have representatives of all professional bodies and civil society to review the available bills for all-inclusive bills that achieve the goal of professionals using the real estate business with clear rules of operations. West Idahosa, a senior lawyer, has also sent a petition to the Attorney General of the Federation, saying the Clerk, Mr Tambuwal, wilfully misrepresented the facts of the matter to the president. He called for an official investigation of the matter and a possible prosecution of Mr Tambuwal. Mr Idahosa said what the clerk did was in clear breach of the Nigerian constitution and the rules of the two Houses. This investigation will be in the interest of entrenching the rule of law and legislative sanctity of Bills duly passed by the two houses of the National Assembly, Mr Idahosa noted. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigeria on Monday called on the Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) to develop an institutional framework for the enforcement of financial crimes regulations in the sub-region. The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, made the appeal at the inauguration of the 27th Meeting of the Ministerial Committee of GIABA, in Abuja. Mr Fagbemi, who is also the Chairperson of the GIABA Ministerial Committee, said member countries should prioritise their national systems on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism. According to him, doing so would enable the countries to push their national institutions to perform to the highest of their capabilities and achieve progress in financial crime control. Mr Fagbemi said, Our collective commitment to put in place legislative policy and institutional frameworks is necessary to protect the integrity of our financial systems from threats of money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing. As we come to the close of the second round of mutual evaluations, I believe we need to take some time for introspection and an assessment of where we have fallen short. In particular, looking at the effectiveness of our AML/CFT/CPF frameworks, it is clear that across the region there is significant room for improvement. As we begin preparations for the next round of mutual evaluations, our goal must be to greatly strengthen results and outcomes being achieved by our regulatory, supervisory, law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities. We must ensure we go beyond just focusing on technical compliance, to a results-based approach; this will require more efforts and resources than we have deployed so far. The attorney-general said the integral nature of the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing to the safety and security of our nations cannot be over-overemphasised. He said the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards are not punitive measures, but tools to ensure safety, security and prosperity in countries, regions, continents and the global community. Also speaking, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, described the meeting as apt, saying it would boost fights against money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation financing. He said that it would enable you to align your thoughts with the position of Nigeria. For us, we understand the importance of tackling money laundering, and terrorism financing, especially what we have gone through since the past 15 years. The only way to remove the monster within our internal security architecture is by getting to the root of tackling the financing of these organised crimes, Mr Ojo said. Also speaking, the President of ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, represented by Mr Mambury Njie, promised to support GIABA towards taking steps to consolidate existing gains. He urged member states to continue to take practical steps to effectively address the strategic deficiencies identified in their AML/CFT systems, especially to strengthen key AML/CFT/P institutions. The judiciary should be more responsive in the adjudication of cases of money laundering, terrorism and terrorist financing to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crime, recover stolen assets, and dismantle criminal enterprises. In addition, Member States should deepen their risk understanding, strengthen domestic coordination and international cooperation and promote public-private partnerships, Touray said. On his part, the Director-General of GIABA, Edwin Harris, said the new website designed to provide detailed information about the organisation will become officially operational on Dec. 4, 2023, to promote growth. Mr Harris said, We look forward to your support and guidance, so we do not go back into an effectiveness programme due to poor quality of our work, let us sustain the gains and allow others to emulate us. Meanwhile, the FATF Vice-President, Jeremy Weil, commended Nigerias progress to date, saying he recognised the high degree of political commitment to sustaining the reforms. According to him, the challenges posed by money laundering and terrorism financing in West Africa are no secret. GIABAs evaluations and research showed West Africa is exposed to a combination of risks, such as drug and human trafficking, fraud, and corruption that are closely associated with money laundering and terrorism financing. It is therefore critical for member countries to address their deficiencies through the effective implementation of the FATF standards, Mr Weil said. Plenary meetings are GIABAs statutory meetings meant to ensure member states compliance with AML/CFT standards and that they foster regional peace, security, prosperity and integration in the ECOWAS region. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Ogege Kemelayefa, the candidate of the Action Peoples Party (APP) in the 11 November governorship election in Bayelsa State, said she is proud of the 14 votes she scored in the election. The total number of votes cast in the election was 300,072. Ms Kemelayefa, a 35-year-old entrepreneur, was among the 16 candidates in the election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the incumbent Governor Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 175,196 votes, as the winner of the election. Mr Diris closest challenger, Timipre Sylva, of the All Progressives Congress, came second with 110,108 votes while the Labour Party candidate, Eradiri Udengmobofa scored 905 votes to secure a third position. The APP candidate, Ms Kemelayefa, who sits second at the bottom of the INEC table, spoke with PREMIUM TIMES last week about how she felt about the just concluded election. Im not satisfied with the results. There were high rates of vote buying, rigging, and results manipulation. There were so many things wrong with the process but for my 14 votes, I am very proud of them. You know why? I never paid a dime for those votes, I didnt give anybody a dime to vote for me. These 14 people trust my vision for Bayelsa State. And talking about disappointment, yes I am very disappointed at the ruling party for impoverishing the people to the extent that all the people have to do is survive. So they took that monies at the polling units because they have to survive. Im disappointed at the ruling party that they dont have the best interest of the people at heart and that for four years there was no development, power supply, industries, good road network given to the people, she told PREMIUM TIMES. Ms Kemelayefa, two days after the election, made a Facebook video where she claimed she saw voters selling their votes for N70,000. I weep for Bayelsa State, she said in the post. The PDP spokesperson in the state, Ebiye Ogoli, declined to respond to a request for comment on the allegations of vote-buying against his party when contacted. Ms Kemelayefa said she did her best during the election to enlighten the voters that they are the kingmakers, and as such we do not need the king to come and give us money to install them. Two industries per area Despite its huge oil and gas revenue, Bayelsa State remains one of the most underdeveloped states in Nigeria, something Ms Kemelayefa said she aimed to change. Speaking to this newspaper on her manifesto, the APP candidate said her social contract with the people of the state was encapsulated in an eight-point agenda including decentralisation of development, infrastructure renaissance and building of at least two industries in each of the eight local government areas of the state. She said she had many offers and temptations to step down for the ruling party but rejected them. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print There is opportunity to sign peace agreement between Yerevan and Baku 19 November 2023 [16:40] - "The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) supports Baku and Yerevan in continuing negotiations on normalisation of relations and believes that there is an opportunity to sign a peace agreement." According to the OSCE PA Chairperson Pia Kauma, Azernews reports. "We as an organisation call on the sides to continue negotiations and look for new opportunities to reach an agreement. As this region is very important from an economic point of view, there are many opportunities here, but peace and security are necessary," Head said. Views: 440 Carlisle Police are looking for a man they say exited his vehicle, entered the back seat of another vehicle and choked a driver Saturday morning. Police were called to the intersection of West North Street and North Hanover Street at 9:42 a.m. Saturday for the reported assault. Police said a man was driving a maroon Jeep Compass with a sunroof, light tan interior seats and chrome trim on the wheels, grille and roof rails, when he exited his vehicle, approached another vehicle from behind, sat in the backseat and "applied pressure to [the driver's] throat" from behind. The victim suffered injuries, and the man left the scene, according to police. The man is described as white, in his 50s, about 5-foot-11, and heavier set with a beard. He was wearing a flannel shirt, jeans, work boots and a white shirt underneath, according to police. Police ask anyone with information to contact them at 717-243-5252. The former Chief Executive and Co-founder of OpenAI, Sam Altman, will join Microsoft to lead a new advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) research team. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation, Satya Nadella, disclosed this in a post on his verified X handle on Monday. The new development comes days after Mr Altman departed OpenAI, the company he co-founded. In a statement last Friday, OpenAI said that its board of directors decided on the leadership transition after losing confidence in Mr Altmans ability to lead the company. Mr Altmans departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI, it said. As a part of this transition, according to the OpenAI, Greg Brockman will be stepping down as chairman of the board and will remain in his role at the company, reporting to the CEO. READ ALSO: On Monday, Mr Nadella said both Mr Altman and Mr Brockman, will be joining to lead Microsofts new advanced AI research team. We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAIs new leadership team and working with them. And were extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success, Mr Nadella said. Reposting Mr Nadellas message, Mr Altman said: The mission continues. Microsofts share price was up 1.7 per cent in pre-market trading on Monday, bouncing back from a similar fall on Friday after the announcement of Mr Altmans firing. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, in Berlin, Germany, told international investors that beyond Nigerias natural resources, its citizens, who are highly educated, highly skilled, and naturally industrious are the primary asset and advantage it wields over other nations in the global race for new investments. The president spoke at a panel discussion titled, Fostering local value chains and investments in Africa The role of the German private sector, at the G20 Compact with Africa Economic Conference, hosted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The president noted that while promoting the rule of law is crucial for attracting foreign investments, Nigerias energetic youth population and well-educated populace represent the greatest incentive provided to investors toward the mutually beneficial replication of Chinas economic resurgence. We are dogged in our pursuit of natural gas development today, in tandem with hydrogen production for tomorrow. The world knows Nigeria as a leader in the energy sector. Our vast gas deposits and business-friendly environment make us an attractive investment destination. But we are going a step further now. We are creating fiscal responsibility and tax reforms as we reform our financial institutions to expeditiously accommodate foreign investments. We are eager and ready to partner with you. We have the youngest, largest, and most vibrant youth population in Africa. Equally, we have every ingredient required in the making of a modern economy: a well-educated population, a massive market, and the political will to bring it all together under my leadership. Africa has moved beyond the false past notions of business disincentivization and poor adherence to the rule of law. We now fully recognize the nexus between the inflow of investor money and the sanctity of contracts. We want to partner on the basis of who we are and what we do, rather than on the basis of long-held misconception, the President stated. President Tinubu apprised the summit of the countrys intentional move toward developing labour-intensive sectors of the Nigerian economy for massive job creation as well as a new emphasis on technological progress and new opportunities in Nigerias rapidly expanding information and communications technology space. He assured potential investors that Nigeria has moved beyond restrictive policies, and today, capital can be moved in and out of the country freely, providing flexibility for investors. Nigeria has consolidated its democracy with several consecutive handovers of power. There is stability and predictability in the socio-political development of our country, which provides a conducive atmosphere for business operations and investment. Your money is safe. Since I assumed office in May 2023, we have embarked on transformative changes, removing all obstacles hindering businesses. We are reforming the economy based on the principle and philosophy of good governance, he said. READ ALSO: While persuading German automobile firms to establish manufacturing plants in Nigeria, he invited that countrys businesses to take advantage of investment opportunities in multiple sectors following the successful visit of the Chancellor to Nigeria in October. Speaking earlier, Chancellor Scholz noted the dynamic and evolving nature of economic relations between the developed and developing nations of the world as he positions Germany to enhance its partnership with Nigeria and Africa on a mutually beneficial basis. To be clear, this is not about traditional development aid with donor-recipient schemes. Instead, we now focus on investments that yield benefits for both parties. In Germany, as we strive for climate neutrality by 2045, we anticipate a substantial demand for green hydrogen, a considerable portion of which we plan to import, including from Africa. Many African countries possess larger potentials for renewable energy and competitive hydrogen production than we do. I am convinced that there are fantastic opportunities for expanding cooperation between German and African companies in this context. I highlighted this during my visit to Nigeria, where we already operate a hydrogen office and aspire to be a partner in the ambitious expansion of renewable energies, the chancellor stated. Others on the panel were President Alassane Ouattara of Cote dIvoire; Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch of Morocco; President Macky Sall of Senegal; Sabine DallOmo, Chairperson of Afrika-Verein (German-African Business Association); and CEO of Sub-Saharan Africa, Siemens AG. President Bola Tinubu will host notable German Business Chief Executives at a Nigeria-Germany Business Roundtable in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday. Ajuri Ngelale Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Luckily, hallucinating generative AI is fixable by human editors. What is not likely to be fixable is when these new models, without any limitations or biases in the data on which they are trained or kinks in the algorithm that is to be trained, knowingly produce untruths. That, incidentally, is mankinds special gift. And only then, not before the technology singularity or after, will technology begin to threaten mankinds dominance of this big blue marble. Notwithstanding the ballyhoo that surrounded its introduction, I still have not gotten round to using ChatGPT for anything. A big reason for this is that I believe that I write reasonably well. Nor is my readership that critical. I am also convinced that the effort to improve ones writing is a critical component of the processes associated with improving ones thought. If the latter conviction has any meaning, therefore, the use of generative AI to improve ones writing ought to feel at some point like cheating. The intellectual, if not necessarily moral, equivalent of using performance-enhancing drugs at the Olympics. Even when I agree with most commentators that this new technology will have unpredictable, and to the extent that some of these are malign, unintended outcomes, my worries about this technology have never been dystopian. All through recorded history, new technologies from writing through the printing press, to the personal computer, have displaced far fewer jobs than they have created employment opportunities. Beyond the material implications of it all, I do not, for example, think that technology, in its many iterations, will be mans undoing. As a species, we are pre-eminently qualified to hurt ourselves in ways that no third party sentient or otherwise could possibly conceive of. Nonetheless, I am sympathetic to the fears around technological singularity. The possibility, in other words, that at some point in the future, an intelligent agent, able to update both its hardware and especially software, attains superintelligence is not scary by itself. The peril to be anticipated and then guarded against is that following this tech equivalent of Pauls damascene moment, the new superintelligence is then both willing and able to threaten mankind. This potential danger is unfortunately no less bothersome, today, than is the danger to a free-thinking human in and from any of the increasingly dictatorial regimes that our world is blessed with. by far the biggest challenge to the existence of our species from this new superman would be a moral one. Cognition at levels unreached before by any human or collective thereof, including the prospect of a hive consciousness, would be far more deleterious to mankinds continued existence were it malign in its intent, than anything the Chinese government is currently doing with facial recognition technology today. Far more troubling, therefore, is whether and how generative AI could collaborate in the emergence, tomorrow, of an ubermensch. An AI-powered exoskeleton with self-repairing, reactive armour, was always likely to show up in some battle theatre in the not-too-distant future. But by far the biggest challenge to the existence of our species from this new superman would be a moral one. Cognition at levels unreached before by any human or collective thereof, including the prospect of a hive consciousness, would be far more deleterious to mankinds continued existence were it malign in its intent, than anything the Chinese government is currently doing with facial recognition technology today. Then, a few weeks back, just as I was about to post on my social media timelines, I experienced my AI epiphany. Upon highlighting the text that I had composed, Co-pilot (Microsoft 365s generative AI) offered to re-write it. It was as audacious a proposition as it was presumptive. Still, I was intrigued enough to take up the offer. And I was sufficiently intrigued by the result to read Co-pilots suggested replacement several times over. I am still constrained by Xs (ne Twitters) 280-character limit I find it hard to pay for the use of a service that gratuitously harvests my data, and which some day may use the same data to train its own version of a generative pre-trained transformer. In rewriting my post, however, Co-pilot stayed comfortably within the 280-character upper bound. It was a thorough rewrite. Not just did it replace words and switch the ones that it left untouched. Sentences were restructured root-and-branch. Paragraphs were re-arranged. In addition, the suggested new post was easier on both the eye and the head. When, after several re-reads, I decided on the suggestion, I could see how that one-time use of performance-enhancing substances in a bid for a podium place at the Olympics could become a long-term addiction. I have heard that in this new function, owing to shortcomings or biases in the data with which they have been trained or the algorithm that is to be trained, large language models sometimes produce incorrect information. Luckily, hallucinating generative AI is fixable by human editors. What is not likely to be fixable is when these new models, without any limitations or biases in the data on which they are trained or kinks in the algorithm that is to be trained, knowingly produce untruths. That, incidentally, is mankinds special gift. And only then, not before the technology singularity or after, will technology begin to threaten mankinds dominance of this big blue marble. Uddin Ifeanyi, journalist manque and retired civil servant, can be reached @IfeanyiUddin. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Lagos Free Zone, a subsidiary of Tolaram and the first privately-owned and port-based free zone in Nigeria is set to attract investors from the Nordic countries to boost investment and foreign direct investment into the country. They were encouraged to set up businesses within the zone, capitalising on its exceptional infrastructure, incentives and ease of doing business. Speaking during the Breakfast Session of the Nordic Nigeria Connect 2023 conference held in Lagos on Tuesday with the theme Innovation for a Greener Future, the Managing Director/CEO, Lagos Free Zone, Mr Dinesh Rathi, revealed that the zone remains the most preferred and viable investment destination in Nigeria with its unparalleled ease of doing business and the unique incentives available for investors. Mr Dinesh noted that Nigeria has all the ingredients needed to catapult itself to a regional hub, considering the quantum of world-class facilities and infrastructure available at the zone. He explained that the Lagos Free Zone remains the ideal destination for investment in Nigeria with huge investment in infrastructure, including gas, ready-to-lease warehouses, and factories. He said it is also the only free zone in Nigeria integrated with a deep-sea port, which makes it easy to bring in raw materials, and export finished goods. Nigeria is one of the strongest economies in Africa with potential for further economic and industrial activities owing to the presence of natural resources and favorable demographics, with a population of 219 million representing 20 percent of Africa and a GDP of $509 billion (17% of Africa), he said. The Managing Director stated that the establishment of a free trade zone like LFZ was necessary for the Nigerian economy due to its significance to manufacturing and logistics. He stressed that the imminent implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement presents a significant opportunity to use the zone to promote trade between Nigeria and other African countries. He explained further that the Lagos Free Zone is conceptualised to be a work-live ecosystem, outlining the advantages such as the ongoing construction of the first commercial tower in the zone, Irele Tower, which will provide world-class office spaces for organisations operating in the zone as well as businesses looking for an office location with proximity to the Lekki Deep Sea Port. One of our unique selling propositions is that we are the only free zone integrated with a port. Our seamless integration with the Lekki Deep Sea Port guarantees the companies operating within the zone the rapid delivery of cargo and raw materials within 48-72 hours of berthing at the port, thereby creating a business-friendly environment, enhancing efficiency, and connecting Nigeria to the global markets, Mr Dinesh added. While making a presentation about the zone to participants at the conference, the General Manager Power & Gas, Lagos Free Zone, Prem Krishna, remarked that the zone is ready to welcome investors from the Nordic countries. He said that critical infrastructure for businesses to thrive, such as ready-to-lease factories and warehouses, compressed natural gas, power plant, a truck park, medical facility, broadband networks, fire station, central processing centre, helipad, residential units and security command centre is already in place. Krishna revealed that the company recently completed and commissioned a state-of-the-art Industrial Training Centre that will serve as a place to train and create a pool of talent for organisations within the zone. He added that another innovative feature is the zones single-window digital platform that enables companies to engage with key regulators such as the Nigeria Customs Service and NAFDAC more efficiently,leading to enhanced business efficiency. In his remarks, the Managing Director, Arla Foods, Peder Pedersen, shared a compelling testimony about Lagos Free Zones business-friendly ecosystem, having operated in the zone for many years. He emphasised that the achievements recorded in the zone over the last ten years are perfect examples of possibilities in Nigeria. He said that the success could not have come through without strong partnerships and good management. Mr Pedersen noted that Nigeria remains a good destination for businesses and urged investors to be resilient, prepared, and ready to take on some fundamental challenges associated with business operations in Nigeria. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print For Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries, 2024 promises to be a year of big bang and boost, not only for its wide-ranging production lines but also for the investment climate of Nigeria. By the first quarter of the imminent year, an estimated 500 new jobs and more robust manufacturing mileage are expected to come for reviving and refloating the local economy. All these are coming through the local production of active pharmaceutical ingredients( APIs) being birthed newly by Emzor. As at now, the Sagamu, Ogun State production plant of Emzor is a beehive of activities. Construction engineers on site are busy putting finishing touches to the production plants which, upon completion, would be churning out 400 metric tonnes of APIs yearly. As at present, 90% of APIs needed in local industries are imported. This puts the industey in dire straits owing to difficulties in sourcing adequate forex to secure the ingredients. However, this narrative is changing by the first half of 2024 with the two- phased plants for the production of APIs by Emzor coming on steam. Reports showed that Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries secured a 13.85million loan from the European Investment Bank, EIB to develop a $23million production plant which will start functioning in the first quarter of 2024. Emeka Okoli, Chairman, Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries says that, with the loan, four anti- malaria APIs: artemether, lumefantrine, sulfadoxine and pyrimethamine would now be locally produced Available statistics shows that Nigerian importation of finished drugs stood at N1.3billion as at 2021. With more than 150 pharmaceutical industries in Nigeria depending on only 25% of drugs locally available and 90% of imported APIs, Emzors forays into APIs point at new hopes for enhanced local production of drugs and widened raw material markets for players in the industry. Many drug manufacturers in Nigeria are import- dependent. APIs are largely imported from China and India. With the production of these ingredients locally by Emzor, smaller manufacturers that could not order large consignment of drugs from China can now have their needs met locally .Besides, foreign competitors operating in the Nigerian drug markets will lose sizeable portion of their clouts, as local APIs by Emzor will throw open the market for new local investors. Another benefit of local production of APIs by Emzor is greater prospects of drug security and sufficiency for Nigeria. Local drug manufacturers, over the years, have been calling on successive government to pay more attention to health care by investing in local drug production. The Emzors intervention is a new window of opportunity for drug security in the country. Additionally, the devaluation of the Naira offers drug manufacturers better chances of local sourcing of APIs with attendant benefits of reduction of prices of drugs across the country. Arthur Delor, Investment officer, Corporate Finance and Global Activities Department of EIB, says that his bank offered Emzor the facility to frontally attack malaria prevalence in Nigeria and bring up employment prospects for Nigerians. We are very excited about this operation and are confident that the development of this facility will bring many benefits to Nigerians and the broader African pharmaceutical sector, as it will contribute to reducing import dependency and ensuring a local and more resilient supply of high- quality competitively priced anti- malaria API, he said. Industry operators across the country are excited about the new investment drive. The y consider the initiative as a bold effort capable of deepening and strengthening the local pharmaceutical industry. Emzors investments in APIs at this stage of our economic challenge is a bold move. It is more than a business initiative. It is a patriotic effort that should be widely commended, they said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Monday, upheld the election of the Benue State governor, Hyacinth Alia. Mr Alia, a Roman Catholic priest, won the election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), defeating his closest challenger, Titus Uba, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr Uba is the immediate past Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly. A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal headed by Onyekachi Otisi dismissed Mr Ubas appeal against the judgement of the Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. In September, the tribunal held that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain pre-election issues raised by Mr Uba. Dissatisfied with the decision, the PDP candidate appealed, seeking to overturn Mr Alias victory. However, in a unanimous decision on Monday, the Court of Appeal resolved all the issues in favour of the governor, including the alleged non-qualification of Mr Alia and his deputy, Sam Ode, to vie for the 18 March election. Ms Otisi said the PDP governorship candidate failed to prove the allegation of forgery of INECs documents levelled against Mr Ode. READ ALSO: The Court of Appeal also held that the issues of non-qualifications were pre-election matters which can only be challenged at the Federal High Court instead of the election petition tribunal. Unlike in the past, the Electoral Act 2022 confers exclusive jurisdiction of hearing pre-election suits on the Federal High Court. The court further noted that a pre-election case challenging the authenticity of a candidate for election can only be instituted within 14 days. She added that Mr Uba as a member of the PDP lacked the right to challenge the emergence of Mr Alia who was the flagbearer of the APC. Ruling on the issue of APCs failure to submit Mr Alias name to INEC within the statutory 180 days before 18 March, the appellate court said the primary election that produced the APC governorship candidate was sanctioned by the Federal High Court in Makurdi, the state capital. Dismissing the appeal, Ms Otisi said Mr Ubas case lacked merit. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print On a freezing Monday morning, students of the Government Girls Science Comprehensive Secondary School, Argungu, Kebbi State, could be seen trooping into their various classes immediately after the assembly. This time, the SS2 students were all set and seated, paying attention to Aliyu Abubakar, 50, a Chemistry teacher teaching Volume Analysis. But most of the students were confused as the teacher taught abstract terms. Mr Abubakar was uncomfortable with the situation. One would wonder why they chose the classroom instead of the laboratory for the lesson. The only equipment the teacher had were a chemistry textbook, board and chalk. Since there is no functioning equipment in the dilapidated laboratory in the school, we have deserted the laboratory for years, and what were just teaching is just abstract. We are supposed to be in the laboratory for practical purposes and clear understanding but could not, Mr Abubakar explained. According to the Journal of Education and Practice, utilising laboratories instils scientific attitudes among students, fosters practical learning, and helps to hone their problem-solving skills. It also recommended that science subjects, including chemistry, be imparted in well-equipped laboratories. The journal emphasises the need for government support in constructing and outfitting science labs and recruiting more qualified teachers to ensure the effective operation of the secondary education system in Nigeria. Nuhu Lawal from the Department of Science Education, Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara State, explained how most of the secondary schools in the state lack well-equipped laboratories while those in rural areas have none, resulting in poor learning and performance. Unequipped secondary schools, particularly in rural areas, hamper practical learning, impeding students acquisition of vital laboratory skills and hindering the understanding of scientific concepts. This deficiency fosters examination malpractice, negatively impacting science students performance in higher education. Mr Lawal, while emphasising the importance of laboratories to science schools, further said that state and federal governments should construct well-equipped laboratories in schools, upgrade existing facilities, and increase funds for perishable laboratory items. Laboratories A visit by the reporter to the school in July, September, and October revealed a disheartening truth the lab project had not been executed by the Universal Basic Education Commision, (UBEC) the agency in charge, even after three years of nomination. This reporter gathered that all the laboratories nominated for rehabilitation and equipping, which include chemistry, physics, biology, and computer laboratories, are in bad shape. The consequences are dire: some of the classrooms remain dilapidated, and teachers and students lack essential laboratory equipment for practical learning. Fatima Ibrahim Asmau, 16, an SS3A student and assistant senior prefect girl, expressed her dissatisfaction towards the abandoned laboratories, stating how the labs had become home to termites and other insects. Our laboratories are not conducive to learning; the termites have destroyed most of these laboratories, and there is not enough equipment in the school to use for our practicals and assignments. She urged the government to build new laboratories with equipment for the school or at least renew the existing ones. Musa Abdulkarim, the vice principal, said that the laboratories, which had existed since the schools inception of 2005, 18 years ago, have been crying for equipment for a long time with no attention. Walking to the path that led to the laboratories, the principal pointed to them, lamenting the fate that bedevilled them. This is the physics, chemistry, computer and biology laboratories. It is of no use to our students again. It has been constructed since 2005; up till now, we are still in the process of seeing the places renovated, said the vice principal. Eyesore Government Girls Science Comprehensive Secondary School, situated in Argungu along Birnin Kebbi road, Kebbi North Senatorial District, established in 2005 and commissioned by former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006, was one of the schools in Argungu that Global Academic said were experiencing setback in the recent years due to lack of facilities and underfunding as seen in their 2022 research titled: The Role of School Facilities and Staff in Enhancing Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Birnin-Kebbi and Argungu Zonal Education Areas of Kebbi State, Nigeria. To bring an end to some of educational challenges in the school, the lawmaker representing the constituency, Yahaya Abubakar, in 2020 nominated a consolidated project for the Rehabilitation, Furnishing and Supply of Biology, Physics and Chemistry laboratories with the hope that it will aid the school and give access to good education. Three years down the line, the project appears abandoned. The projects According to the 2020 Kebbi State Zonal Intervention Project, the federal government budgeted N80 million for a project titled Rehabilitation, Furnishing and Supply of Biology, Physics and Chemistry laboratories at Government Girls Science Comprehensive Secondary School Argungu LGA, Kebbi North Senatorial District. It was assigned to the Ministry of Education and placed under the supervision of UBEC. The project was sponsored by Yahaya Abubakar, the constituency lawmaker. UDEME, a platform monitoring government projects under the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, gathered that the 2020 project had yet to be executed by the Agency. It is not clear if the approved funds were fully released by the authorities. Speaking with UDEME, the Vice Principal, Mr Musa, said he was not happy with the state of the laboratories and is awaiting government intervention. In fact, not until now, I was not aware that N80 million was budgeted for our laboratories, he added. The dire need for suitable facilities in the school mirrored the comment of Habiba Yusuf, 18. The Senior Prefect said students dont even know how to use the lab. Our laboratories are not conducive for learning because we dont have good seats and enough equipment to use, she said. We will be happy if we get somebody to do it for us. The situation of the laboratories is affecting us; even if we are given assignments, we dont know how to go about it. Efforts A Freedom of Information (FOI) request was sent to UBEC in Abuja, on the 18th of October seeking comments. The Agency has yet to respond to the information requested. This violates the provision of section 4 (a) and (b) of the Act which provides that the information requested should be responded to within seven days and if the institution should deny the request, a written notice shall be addressed to the applicant. Also, after trying several means to reach out to the lawmaker representing the constituency, the reporter sent an email to him. However, as of the time of filing this report, the lawmaker has yet to react to the email sent as regards the situation. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, has denied that his office received more than N2 billion for the provision of supply items (rechargeable fans, rechargeable lights and fridge). PREMIUM TIMES had on Sunday reported that the 2023 governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in Lagos, Funsho Doherty, in a post via X on Saturday wrote to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, querying some contract awards as reported by the states procurement agency. The Lagos State official documents referenced by Mr Doherty covered projects awarded for the second and third quarters of 2023. According to the documents shared by Mr Doherty, the office of the deputy governor also got N30 million for monthly outreach of indigent citizens by the wife of the deputy governor, and Another N30,000,000 was awarded for monthly empowerment programmes of the wife of the deputy governor. Deputy governors office denies allocation In response to the publication, which has continued to generate debates among Nigerians especially on social media, the deputy governors office wrote the procurement agency, seeking clarification on information it described as untrue, mischievous, fake and unfounded. This newspaper exclusively obtained a copy of a letter, dated 20 November, and addressed to the office of the Director General of the procurement agency, with reference: ODG/154/T/212 and titled: Re: Open Letter on Selected Public Procurement by LASG in the Period April to September 2023. The letter, which was signed on behalf of the permanent secretary in the deputy governors office by the Director of Finance and Accounts in the office, Tola Ekemode, urged the procurement agencys DG to take immediate action to clarify the matter. The letter reads in part: The Office of the Deputy Governor wishes to state in unequivocal terms, for your immediate action and the attention of millions of readers, that the report is untrue, mischievous, fake and unfounded. Clarifications The office said it was compelled to respond to the matter due to the inaccuracies it conveyed; as the story was completely different and not a true reflection of what we have in our records. The letter reads in part: It is important to state that, the office did get approval and awarded the provision of supply items (rechargeable fans, rechargeable lights and fridges) for the sum of =N=2,017,840 (Two Million, Seventeen Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty Naira) and not the =N=2,017,840,000 (Two Billion, Seventeen Million, Eight Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira as reported on the website of your agency, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Lagos MEPB Q3 Budget Performance Review referenced by the X (formerly Twitter) account. In addition, the report that the office through the Wife of the Deputy Governor spent =N=30,000,000 monthly for outreach to indigents is inaccurate as the amount stated covered the whole year. It is =N=2,500,000 per month. Same for the Empowerment programme by the Wife of the Deputy Governor which is also =N=2,500,000 per month and not =N=30,000,000 monthly reported. READ ALSO: He said the explanation given is what the deputy governors office has in its records, adding that the approvals and the letters of award of the contracts were attached as evidence. Truth must be said, this is very sad and Mr. Deputy Governor has expressed his displeasure to this happening and will want your office to kindly address this by giving the public the true picture of events. These errors or inaccuracies exhibited by your data are capable of putting credibility at stake. One then wonders about the accuracies of the content on the site if the items concerning the Deputy Governors Office can be this inaccurate. It is therefore important that you look through the data and confirm the correctness or otherwise of all the details of the report as displayed on the website, the letter added. Govt keeps mum Meanwhile, more than 48 hours after Mr Doherty posted his open letter to the governor on X, the government has yet to react officially to the developments. When contacted, an official in the office of the deputy governor said though most of the contents in the official document quoted by Mr Doherty are inaccurate, Mr Hamzat cannot react as an individual but the leader of the team, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu will address the matter adequately soon. The source, who asked not to be named as he has no authorisation to speak to journalists, also denied knowledge of the memo addressed to the procurement agency, saying they were not in a position to react on such a matter. We know most of these things are not correct but we cannot speak. The government will react appropriately when it is ready, the source said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print ( Read 461 Times) In Udaipur, Dr. Sweety Chhabra, former president of Rotary Club Meenara, has been appointed as the Chairperson of the District Beauty and Aromatherapy Committee by Rakhi Gupta, the Governor of Rotary District 3056 for the year 2024-25. The announcement was made by Club President Sangeeta Mundara. Source : Water pressure has returned for Greene County residents, but a boil water advisory remains in effect as the risk of E. coli has not gone away. Residents who get their drinking water from the Mountain Lakes Water Company were informed a little more than a week ago that there had been a service disruption on or about Nov. 12 and customers would be without water pressure for some time. The service disruption was the result of whats been described as significant water leaks. The loss of water pressure, which wasnt reported to the Virginia Department of Health until the next day, meant E. coli may have been able to infiltrate the water supply through the distribution system. The service disruption specifically affected the Twin Lakes and Greene Mountain Lake corners of the county. Residents there have reported water pressure has returned. Nevertheless, the county and Mountain Lakes Water Company have encouraged those same residents to continue to boil their water before consumption. The initial set of samples needed to detect certain bacteria after an event like this week has been collected under the supervision of the VDH Office of Drinking Water. Those samples were sent to a local lab, Greene County said in a statement. Due to various factors we do not have a definitive timeline on the results of those samples. The county said that some residents may spot sediment in their water, but it is not harmful. This is due to increased flushing through the water system and is not harmful, although water still needs to be boiled before being used, the county said. Running an outside faucet until the water is clear should clean up any sediment. In the meantime, the county has provided safety tips for those who still cannot drink their tap water: Do not use water from any appliance connected to a water line, such as ice makers and water from the refrigerator. Do not swallow any water when bathing or showering. Use caution when bathing babies and young children. Consider a sponge bath. Brush teeth only with boiled or bottled water. The Greene County Office of Emergency Services has been reaching out to customers of Mountain Lakes Water Company, offering showers at the field house behind William Monroe High School. JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Great Place to Work (GPTW) have listed Al-Dabbagh Group (ADG) as one of the World's Best Workplaces in 2023. The list ranks 25 globally leading organizations, selected from organizations that participated in Great Place To Work's employee survey process, representing the voices of 14.8 million employees worldwide. The 25 World's Best Workplaces stood out for creating globally exceptional workplace experiences, high-trust relationships, and workplaces that are fair and equal for all. Commenting on the ranking, Hayfa Abuzabibah, Group Chief Omnipreneurship Officer, People and Culture said: "We are so proud and honoured to be featured on this list. It is a testament to our colleagues, all of whom are the reason we received this outstanding achievement: a first for a Saudi company. Our homegrown ecosystem, Omnipreneurship, and our people who live by its values every day are the reason we made it on this list." The list is highly competitive: Great Place To Work, the global authority on workplace culture, selected the list using rigorous analytics and confidential employee feedback. Companies were only considered if they were already a Great Place To Work Certified organization. Great Place To Work is the only company culture award in the world that selects winners based on how fairly employees are treated. Companies are assessed on their ability to create a great employee experience that cuts across race, gender, age, disability status, or any aspect of employee identity or job role. "Being a global employer comes with immense responsibility to people and to the planet," says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. "These extraordinary companies are having an incredible impact, supporting their people, and fighting for a fairer, safer, and healthier communities around the globe. When you empower people to work with purpose, they reward you with innovation and performance and help create a better world for all of us." Earlier this year, ADG ranked first place on GPTW's large company list in Saudi Arabia, and 3rd place on the UAE's and Bahrain's GPTW large company list. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2278126/Al_Dabbagh_logo.jpg SOURCE Al-Dabbagh Group eCampus.com was selected to serve as the Albright College official online bookstore partnering with University Gear Shop (UGS) offering an on-campus store. LEXINGTON, Ky., Nov. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- eCampus.com has announced an official partnership with Albright College to serve as the institution's official online bookstore. Located in Reading, Pennsylvania, Albright is the oldest institution of higher learning in Berks County. As the official online bookstore partner, eCampus.com was selected due to the edtech's years of dedication to providing students with an online shopping experience that suits its unique educational needs. Through this partnership, eCampus.com will provide Albright College students with a customized online storefront that will act as a one stop shop for their required course materials. Through a Single Sign-On process, students will log into their online storefront and have immediate access to professor-selected materials available to them at various price points and purchase options. eCampus.com offers students the opportunity to purchase course materials as new, used, digital, or rental formats all at different price points. Students will also have exclusive access to the Marketplace, where some course materials will be available for purchase from third party sellers often at steeply discounted prices. Students will also have a range of flexible shipping options to choose from when purchasing course materials through eCampus.com, with options such as shipping directly to the on campus Gear Shop. This flexibility and the wide variety of purchasing options gives students the ability to make informed purchasing decisions that best suit their educational needs. Professors will also receive benefits from this partnership with eCampus.com. With access to eCampus.com's advanced course material research tools, professors are able to research various course material options. These tools allow them to examine course material options based on real-time pricing, availability, and student purchasing habits. This allows professors to make informed decisions when it comes to assigning materials to their courses that they believe will best benefit their students. The partnership between Albright College and eCampus.com will additionally include access to the UGS managed campus store where students can purchase school apparel and accessories. These unique offerings are also available to students through their online storefront. The on-campus access to this store is an added benefit to students who decide to have their online bookstore orders delivered to campus, and will act as a centralized location for students to ship items to save on shipping costs, as well as the ability to save time by being able to access and pick up their orders on campus between classes. "eCampus.com is excited to begin working in partnership with Albright College and provide the institution's student body with a shopping experience that best suits each student's unique needs and budget," said Matt Montgomery, President and CEO of eCampus.com. "We are dedicated to bringing accessible and affordable materials to students and believe that this is the best way to set students up for success." About Albright College Named a top national college by U.S. News & World Report, Albright College , Reading, Pa., (founded 1856) is home to engaging faculty who believe that the best academic moments are when students feel inspired and ready to take action. The college's distinctive co-major program enables students to cross or combine different areas of study, without taking longer to graduate. Study alongside undergraduate students, adult learners and graduate students, and ignite your SPARK at Albright College. About eCampus.com eCampus.com is a premier online retailer of textbooks and digital course materials. Consistently exceeding industry standards, eCampus.com's mission is to provide the easiest, fastest, and most affordable way for K-12 and higher education students to buy, rent, or sell textbooks and digital content. Founded on July 2, 1999, eCampus.com reshaped the textbook industry by taking the traditional college bookstore online. Remaining an edtech leader in future-proof course material solutions, eCampus.com serves over 300 schools, colleges, and universities. Their comprehensive course material solutions suite includes full-service online bookstores, inclusive access and equitable access programs, and expert campus store operations and management. Through products that simplify the adoption, management, and procurement of course materials, eCampus.com propels student success by delivering the right course materials, at the right time, and the right price. Learn more at www.ecampus.com and www.ecampushighered.com . Press Contact: Tiffaney Lavoie 859-514-6885 https://www.ecampus.com SOURCE eCampus.com Practice becomes third Avance Care location in Durham and 33rd in North Carolina Durham Family Medicine, serving the community since 2008, to change name to Avance Care Broad Street Practice founder Dr. Mohan Chilukuri and other staff continuing with Avance Care, as patient services expand DURHAM, N.C., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Alo, the North Carolina-based healthcare company founded to support independent providers and help them maintain their independence, is continuing its growth by adding Durham Family Medicine to its lineup of primary care practices operating under the Avance Care banner. The addition marks the third Avance Care location in Durham and 33rd in North Carolina. The integration of Durham Family Medicine into the Avance Care network is a strategic step forward in Avance Care's mission to expand access to patient-centered care and comprehensive healthcare services for more North Carolinians. As part of the arrangement, Durham Family Medicine, founded by Mohan Chilukuri, MD, is changing its name to Avance Care Broad Street . This collaboration will allow Avance Care Broad Street to leverage Avance Care's resources and expertise while upholding the compassionate care that Dr. Chilukuri and Durham Family Medicine have provided to the community for almost two decades. "We are enthusiastic about the opportunities this partnership brings to our patients and the broader Durham community," said Dr. Chilukuri, a board-certified family physician with 30 years of experience in family medicine. "By joining Avance Care, we will be able to enhance our patient experience and provide even more comprehensive, patient-centered care." "We are thrilled to welcome Durham Family Medicine into the Alo and Avance Care family," said Matt Eirich, CEO of Alo and Avance Care. "This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to enhance healthcare delivery to patients in Durham and aligns with our goal of fostering healthier communities through accessible, personalized care across the state." With the addition of Avance Care Broad Street, patients will see an expanded range of services, including integrated behavioral health and nutrition services, chronic disease management, and access to a comprehensive network of experienced healthcare professionals. Avance Care Broad Street will continue to operate at its current location at 2400 Broad St. with current providers and staff, helping ensure seamless continuity of care for existing patients. The practice will host its grand opening celebration on Dec. 6 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Dr. Chilukuri will be joined by Alo and Avance Care leaders as well as elected officials and community and business leaders. About Alo Alo, the parent company of Avance Care, is a physician enablement platform that provides solutions designed to support long-term practice sustainability. Founded by a team of industry veterans that understand how to change the playing field for independent practices, Alo helps physicians optimize their practices so that they and their patients can thrive. The company is headquartered in Durham, NC and currently supports more than 30 independent practice and provider groups delivering high-quality care to over 100,000 covered lives. alosolutions.com . About Avance Care Avance Care operates a network of primary care practices in the NC Triangle and Charlotte metropolitan areas. As an innovative primary care provider, Avance Care strives to reduce healthcare costs for patients, health plans and employer groups by leveraging a comprehensive primary care model. This model, which is patient-centered and focused on access, prevention and disease management, provides an exceptional experience and improved outcomes. With a dedication to providing unprecedented accessibility and convenience, Avance Care locations have on-site lab and x-ray services and are open weekends, with same-day and next-day appointments available. For more information, please visit AvanceCare.com . SOURCE Alo New ESource, Work & Learn and EConnect Tools Transform Hiring, Training, and Retaining Practices for Culinary Employers and Staff SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Auguste Escoffier Global Solutions , (Escoffier Global) a Triumph Higher Education Group LLC company, announces the expansion of its workforce development solutions to address culinary and hospitality industry gaps with innovative, customizable tools and strategies for hiring, training and retaining professional staff. Auguste Escoffier Global Solutions Logo Recognizing challenges faced by businesses in talent retention, turnover costs, and skill shortages, Escoffier Global created a comprehensive suite of customizable solutions on its new platform. Escoffier Global pools resources and expertise from sister organization, Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, the largest culinary school brand in the U.S. (based on comparable student population data currently reported in IPEDS). "The hiring struggle is real for the hard-hit culinary and hospitality industries looking to connect skilled talent with unfilled positions," said Denise Sullivan, vice president of Enterprise Solutions for Auguste Escoffier Global Solutions. According to the National Restaurant Association, 500,000 new foodservice jobs are being added in 2023, and 87 percent of operators say they are likely to hire staff if there are qualified applicants available and more than 79 percent of operators say it's difficult to fill open positions. Candidates say on-the-job training is appealing; according to a recent Gallup study , 65% of workers believe employer-provided upskilling (or training) is important and 75% think it helps to advance their careers. "The Escoffier Global platform is a centralized hub for recruiting, hiring, and training, streamlining the entire process for employers and candidates," said Sullivan. "ESource's tailored training options meet the unique needs of fast-paced kitchen settings. Staff can access hundreds of on-demand technique videos for immediate skill application, self-directed micro-courses, and comprehensive courses with badges to validate progress," said Sullivan. Escoffier Global's suite of customizable services ranges from in-person onsite training and train-the-trainer programs to consultation services. Escoffier's chef-led teams collaborate with employers to understand their specific needs and challenges and create a customized plan designed to enhance operations. Companies including Landry's, Palisades Tahoe, Angry Cactus, Sodexo, and Aramark are already working with Escoffier Global to help address workforce challenges, with tools like their National Work & Learn Employer Partner Program providing access to scholarships. EConnect, Escoffier Global's complimentary job board, enables employers to access a pool of skilled candidates where candidates can showcase their talents. Escoffier Global requires candidates to answer a carefully curated questionnaire with industry-specific questions prior to applying. "We're in a unique position because of our culinary and hospitality expertise to provide custom content, training tools, and retention strategies employers are seeking," said Jack Larson, Triumph Higher Education Group's executive chairman, CEO and president. For more information, please visit EscoffierGlobal.com. Auguste Escoffier Global Solutions ( Escoffier Global) is an Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts sister company and part of the Triumph Higher Education Group LLC. Escoffier Global is a leading provider of hiring and training solutions for the culinary and hospitality industry. With a focus on building high-performing teams, Escoffier Global offers innovative, customizable tools, expertise, and support with its ESource on-demand training courses, EConnect complimentary job board, National Work & Learn programs, and consultation services to address the unique challenges businesses face in talent acquisition, retention, and skill development. MEDIA CONTACT: Patti Thomas, [email protected], (312) 919-0898. SOURCE Auguste Escoffier Global Solutions CAIRO, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix Contact is proud to present EduNet, the international higher education network which encourages collaboration between higher education institutions and industry in automation. Through EduNet, application and manufacturer knowledge of automation technology are seamlessly integrated into the academic curriculum, ensuring students are well-prepared for their future in the industry. British University in Egypt becomes the first Phoenix Contacts EduNet Member in the Middle East On Sunday, the 5th of November, Professor Omar Karam, Dean of Informatics and Computer Science at the British University in Egypt (BUE), signed the EduNet agreement with Phoenix Contact. This makes the BUE the first EduNet member in the Middle East and marks the beginning of a new phase of expansion for EduNet across universities in the region. The British University in Egypt is a not-for-profit, private university established in 2004. It was strongly supported by the British Embassy and the British Council, with the aim of setting up a university in Egypt that adheres to the standards of British Higher Education and provides UK-validated degrees. Ahmed Elshibini, Country Manager for Phoenix Contact in Egypt, commented: "It is an exciting moment for Phoenix Contact to welcome such a reputable university to our international education network. With our strong approach to education technology, we are eager to start working with the university's professors and senior students on various projects that enhance the technical learning experience in various areas." Phoenix Contact is the global market leader and innovator for electrification, networking, and automation on the path to a smart world. Phoenix Contact has been committed to education in technology as a part of corporate responsibility for 25 years. Today, the company collaborates with more than 150 universities around the world that are members of its EduNet. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2280984/Phoenix_Contact_1.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2280983/Phoenix_Contact_Logo.jpg SOURCE Phoenix Contact Clinical trial of KH631 evaluates single administration gene-therapy treatment for wet AMD CHENGDU, China and ROCKAWAY, N.J., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chengdu Origen Biotechnology Co., Ltd. ("Chengdu Origen") and Vanotech Ltd. ("Vanotech") announced today the first patient dosed in the VAN-2201 multi-center Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating treatment with KH631 for patients with wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (wet AMD). This multi-center, open-label, dose-escalation clinical trial in the U.S. will assess the safety, tolerability and efficacy of KH631 as a single administration gene therapy for patients with previously treated wet AMD. KH631 is a recombinant adeno-associated virus vector that encodes a human VEGF receptor fusion protein. In preclinical studies of wet AMD disease models, administration of KH631 resulted in retention of the transgene product in the retina for prolonged periods and prevented the disease progression. These findings may indicate the potential of KH631 to offer a single administration treatment for wet AMD patients. "Dosing our first patient in the VAN-2201 Phase 1 trial is an important milestone in the advancement of KH631 by exploring the potential of single administration gene therapy as treatment for wet AMD. KH631 is designed to deliver anti-VEGF continuously to the retina, with the potential to provide sustained levels that can control the disease," said Avner Ingerman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Vanotech. "I am excited to participate as a principal investigator in this important study. Dosing the first patient is an important milestone in the development of the single-administration gene therapy approach, which may hold promise to our patients in need of frequent treatment for their retinal diseases," said Jeffrey S. Heier, M.D., a principal investigator in the VAN-2201 Phase 1 trial, director of the Vitreoretinal Service and Director of Retina Research at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston About the VAN-2201 Phase 1 Clinical Trial VAN-2201 is a Phase 1, multi-center, open-label, doseescalation study in subjects with wet AMD to evaluate safety, tolerability and efficacy of a single administration of KH631. The study is expected to include approximately twenty-five previously treated wet AMD subjects that are responsive to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy. For more information, please visit https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05657301. About Wet AMD Wet AMD is the rarer form of AMD, characterized by loss of vision due to abnormal blood vessel formation in and under the retina. These blood vessels tend to leak, and the fluid interferes with the normal retinal structure and function, leading to vision loss. Wet AMD is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss or blindness in the United States and Europe, especially if left untreated. It is estimated that ~1.5 million people living with wet AMD in the United States. Anti-VEGF therapies have become the standard of care for wet AMD. Anti-VEGF treatments reduce leakage and fluid accumulation, thereby restoring normal retinal architecture and function, in many patients. Anti-VEGF agents require frequent, repeat injections to maintain efficacy and control the disease. About Chengdu Origen and Vanotech Chengdu Origen is a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing gene therapy for unmet medical needs and providing meaningful clinical benefits for patients suffering from genetic and chronic diseases and has comprehensive viral vector manufacturing capabilities and infrastructure. Vanotech is operating as the sponsor-representative, and is responsible for the clinical development program of KH631 in the united States. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements," within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding, among other things, Chengdu Origen's and Vanotech's research and development plans in connection with its clinical development program and the gene therapy treatments. Such forward-looking statements include inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected by such forward-looking statements. All of Chengdu Origen/Vanotech development timelines could be subject to adjustment depending on recruitment rate, regulatory agency review and other factors that could delay the initiation and completion of clinical trials. Each forward-looking statement is subject to important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statement, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties related to: our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for, and commercialize our product candidates, which may take longer or cost more than planned; our ability to raise additional funding, which may not be available; our ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for our product candidates; the potential impact of pandemics and other health emergencies, including their impact on the global supply chain; the uncertainty that our product candidates will receive regulatory approval necessary to initiate human clinical studies; that preclinical testing of our product candidates and preliminary or interim data from preclinical studies and clinical trials may not be predictive of the results or success of ongoing or later clinical trials; that initiation and enrollment of, and anticipated timing to advance, our clinical trials may take longer than expected; that our product candidates may experience manufacturing or supply interruptions or failures; risks related to competitive products. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by the cautionary statements contained or referred to herein. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Chengdu Origen and Vanotech undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. SOURCE Vanotech Ltd. "BloodSweaT Inc. is raising awareness for the significant crisis growing in the heart of our Amazon River Rainforest. We are coordinating with Senator Rick Scott's Office and the USDA to call for an immediate halt to the cruel use of the experimental sterility drug, GonaCon, and to stop the killing of any of the 200+ hippo herd in Colombia." MIAMI, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Humanitarian organization, BloodSweaT officially announced its launch to address the ongoing Colombian hippo crisis and imminent herd culling*, tackling the eco-challenge with relocation efforts while exploring the unique properties of naturally made hippo "blood sweat" in innovative new products. Hugo the Great in Puerto Berrio, Antioquia, Colombia. 10/23/23 Founded by a Disabled USAF Veteran and 25-year Cardiothoracic Surgical APP, Stephen P. Dziadik MHS, PA-C, BloodSweaT formed from a passion for life, humanity, and to provide potential solutions to various eco events. Inspired to start the company after studying firsthand the plight of the famous "Cocaine Hippos" left behind in Colombia by Pablo Escobar, Dziadik's team investigated the affected areas during a recent expedition. What he discovered after interviewing the locals was informative and shocking. "I toured the most diverse ecosystem on our planet and we talked to the folks who live around the waterways and towns where the hippos roam," explained Dziadik. "I entered the Magdalena River and encountered a large wild male hippo I named him Hugo. This whole hippo problem has many variables. For instance: The hippopotami or Hippopotamus amphibious, spend 16 hours a day in the water. They are considered semi aquatic, at times, napping upside down, instinctively resurfacing for air as required. But when this happens in a river, they occasionally float off while they sleep, widening their range to unknown locations downstream." The rapidly breeding populations of hippos in the area have risen to unknown numbers and locations. They are freely roaming across the land. Many solutions have been tried over the years to slow their growth, including the experimental sterilization medication GonaCon which is currently purchased by the USDA from China and sold to Colombia for use on the hippos. "But it is unsuccessful," Dziadik explained. "The drug has a mere 46% efficacy in tested, caged animals. And it was never meant to be used on hippos. After harpooning their thick skin with these GonaCon needles, the hippos then float away. At times getting massive skin infections from the murky waters. Those infections, along with the hippo's own waste products, ultimately pollute the water people drink from." Hippos are generally just territorial, not aggressive mainly in the river and especially with their newborns and there have been no human casualties reported. The hippos can cause other problems though, including human-hippo interactions, pollution of the local and public waterways, and the displacement of people, fish, birds, turtles, otters, manatees, caiman, capybaras, and other native species. Especially when one of the creatures is the avant-garde Inia geoffrensis, the boto, bufeo, or the pink Amazon river dolphin. "That's when I said we have to be involved now. It's time to make a difference. That's why BloodSweaT was created. Call it CPR for the CAP." "I've already discovered that a second hippo has been confirmed dead, near Puerto Berrio," said Dziadik. "The shooting of Pepe the Hippo in 2009 sparked media outrage, which outlawed culling as an option in 2012. But that's all about to change again." Culling was recently put back on the table this month when Colombian Environment Minister, Susana Muhamad, reintroduced it as a solution for the crisis. It is now legal to kill hippos in Colombia. "And with countless reports of human-hippo interactions occurring daily, Its common knowledge that baby hippos are taken from their parents and sold regularly and illegally. The babies are stolen from their mothers and carted out in small cars to unknown locations, often completely outside of the region. They are sold for $1800 each. Their true range is unknown. "We've started our efforts to help by distributing BloodSweaT collection bins to participating medical organizations with C.A.R.P., which stands for Collection and Repurposing Program. We pick up clean, unused medical items which would otherwise be thrown away, and we'll organize and ship these repurposed supplies to Colombia to support the veterinary teams in a program we call Hippo Hop. We are also committing proceeds of all our apparel and product line to help fund this project throughout completion." BloodSweaT Making a Difference, One Product at a Time First studied in Africa during the 1980s, "blood sweat" is a multifunctional compound that serves as a B ug repellent, A ntibiotic, A ntiseptic, L otion, and S unscreen (B.A.A.L.S.). Comprised of two unique substances, hipposudoric (pink) and norhipposudoric (orange) acids, it turns crimson upon exposure to the air. This distinctive alchemy inspires BloodSweaT's avant-garde product and apparel line, blending functional utility and high-end fashion with a cosmic philosophy in the healthy spirit of mutualism and philanthropy. "We've started by launching a few introductory products, while others are still in production. But they all provide a way to give back to the animal that makes it possible. And rapper Kiddo K is helping promote our efforts as well, with his songs ' G.O.A.T. ' and ' Pablo Escobar ,'" said Dziadik. View and order products, learn about and watch the "Hippo Hop" efforts, and stay informed on the latest updates and news by following BloodSweaT on social media: Facebook , Instagram , TikTok . #BloodSweaT #BloodSweaTDriP #BloodSweaTDroP #HipposInTraining #HIT #HippoHop * https://www.bbc.com/news/67306304 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03516-2 About BloodSweaT BloodSweaT is a pioneering humanitarian organization dedicated to highlighting the wonders of hippopotamus sweat to support environmental conservation and humanitarian missions. The company's flagship products begin by assisting with the humane relocation efforts of the invasive hippos in Colombia. Considered CPR for your CAP, BloodSweaT will be linking with other organizations working to preserve and encourage mutualism with our host, planet Earth. Learn more at: www.Bloodsweat.info "Our organization was formed initially with C hildren, A nimals, and our P lanet in mind. We often say, 'No Cap' because we are determined to spread our humanitarianism where it is needed. BloodSweaT inc. is new, but we feel our expansion potential is limitless." Media Contact: Stephen P. Dziadik, MHS, PA-C CEO BloodSweaT, Inc. 1-305-900-7209 [email protected] SOURCE BloodSweaT Inc. -Won the CES Innovation Award for pioneering a new milestone in Korean cancer diagnosis A.I. solutions. SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DeepBio announced today that it has been awarded the CES Innovation Award as the first Korean cancer diagnosis A.I. company in CES 2024, the world's largest electronics exhibition, to be held in Las Vegas, USA, in the upcoming January. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) today announced the products and technologies that won CES Innovation Awards. DeepBio won the Innovation Award in the Digital Healthcare category, the first time the A.I. diagnostic-aid software company helped detect meaningful findings among cancer patients. DeepBio recognizes this award as an achievement that demonstrates its world-class technology in cancer diagnosis and prognosis and raises the profile of Korean cancer diagnosis A.I. companies. DeepBio leverages its expertise in deep learning and cancer pathology to provide state-of-the-art in vitro diagnostic software (IVDs, SaMDs) that analyzes various cancers' cancerous areas and severity to help medical professionals make more informed decisions. As such, DeepBio's DeepDx-Prostate has a high precision of 99% sensitivity and 97% specificity. "DeepBio has proven its technical excellence both internally and externally, winning the silver medal at the Edison Awards in the United States, which is called the 'Oscar of Innovation' in 2021 and was won by Tesla's Elon Musk and Apple's Steve Jobs, as well as the first place in 2019 at the Chameleon Challenge, which evaluates image recognition technology," said Kim Sun-woo, CEO of DeepBio. "We will strive to improve the cancer diagnosis environment and provide cutting-edge cancer diagnosis A.I. solutions to medical professionals through generous investment in technology to overcome the biggest challenge of humanity, cancer." Meanwhile, CES 2024 will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in the United States from January 9th to 12th, and DeepBio's award can be searched on the CES Innovation Awards website. About DeepBio DeepBio is an AI healthcare company focusing on deep learning to advance the field of cancer pathology. By developing cutting-edge in vitro diagnostic software (IVD SaMD), DeepBio strives to provide pathologists and medical professionals with state-of-the-art diagnostic aids for more accurate cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Its main products include DeepDx Prostate, an AI software for prostate cancer analysis, which was the first in vitro diagnostic product to be approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea. In 2019, the product won the Silver Award at the U.S. Medicine Awards, the Oscars of Innovation, which was won by Apple (2012) and Tesla (2014), and also won first place at the Chameleon Challenger, a global AI digital pathology image analysis competition. In 2021, DeepBio was recognized as one of the top 100 AI startups in Korea for the third year in a row, and has been recognized as a company that will lead the innovation of digital healthcare in the future. For more information, please visit DeepBio's website at https://www.deepbio.co.kr/. Media Contact Daeyeon Kim Manager (Diane Kim) [email protected] 010-2938-6161 SOURCE Deep Bio The University of Virginia Nursing School has won a top honor from a leading industry group of male nurses. The American Association for Men in Nursing has named UVa one of the Best School for Men in Nursing this year. The 16-year-old award was awarded to 13 nursing programs across the country. According to the association, it recognizes significant efforts in recruiting and retaining men in nursing, providing men a supportive educational environment, and in educating faculty, students, and the community about the contributions men have made and do make to the nursing profession. A little under a quarter of UVas Nursing School faculty is men, according to the school. Although historically dominated by women, the career path is growing in popularity with men. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2023, men represent nearly 12% of all licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and nurse practitioners. That percentage has grown by 59% over the past 10 years. Im really glad the number of males in nursing is increasing, Francis Atangan, a UVa Nursing School student, said in a statement released by the school. There is a big need. Atangan, already a registered nurse, is part of the schools Northern Virginia program and is working to attain his Bachelor of Science in Nursing. UVa said that what motivates men to become nurses is often the same as what has historically motivated women. I had a male relative who was a registered nurse, said Andrew Nguyen, a fourth-year student working to get his bachelors in nursing. Seeing him work made me aware that I could do it, too. Close patient contact and the chance to build relationships were what fellow fourth-year Jared Hart said motivated him. Nguyen and Hart are also the president and vice president, respectively, of Men Advancing Nursing, or MAN, Club, a student group formed more than 10 years ago at UVa to support, affirm and build community among male nurses and nursing students. UVa said that diversity in a nursing workforce has many benefits, but at least one is that patients often feel more comfortable discussing their health with someone of the same gender. Many patients in the hospital expect to have a female nurse, even as many male patients appreciate having a same-gender nurse, said Hart. Ive had a male patient tell me how much better he felt since I was a male, Hart said. UVa said the recognition from the American Association for Men in Nursing is proof that the school is doing something right. This award positions us as a model for gender diversity in nursing, said Melissa Gomes, associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion and an associate professor, and is a recognition that will allow us to inspire a future generation of male nurses and solidify our presence as a destination for their education. -International transaction volume increased 99.1% year-over-year, contributing 18.3% of total revenue- -International revenue reached RMB584.8 million, a year-over-year increase of 67.3%- SHANGHAI, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FinVolution Group ("FinVolution" or the "Company") (NYSE: FINV), a leading fintech platform, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023. For the Three Months Ended / As of YoY Change September 30, 2022 September 30, 2023 Total Transaction Volume (RMB in billions)[1] 45.5 51.3 12.7 % Transaction Volume (China's Mainland)[2] 44.4 49.1 10.6 % Transaction Volume (International)[3] 1.11 2.21 99.1 % Total Outstanding Loan Balance (RMB in billions) 60.3 65.9 9.3 % Outstanding Loan Balance (China's Mainland)[4] 59.6 64.6 8.4 % Outstanding Loan Balance (International)[5] 0.64 1.29 101.6 % Third Quarter 2023 China Market Operational Highlights Cumulative registered users [6] reached 152.6 million as of September 30, 2023 , an increase of 8.3% compared with September 30, 2022 . reached 152.6 million as of , an increase of 8.3% compared with . Cumulative borrowers [7] for the China market reached 24.8 million as of September 30, 2023 , an increase of 6.9% compared with September 30, 2022 . for the market reached 24.8 million as of , an increase of 6.9% compared with . Number of unique borrowers [8] for the third quarter of 2023 was 2.3 million, a decrease of 8.0% compared with the same period of 2022. for the third quarter of 2023 was 2.3 million, a decrease of 8.0% compared with the same period of 2022. Transaction volume [2] reached RMB49.1 billion for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 10.6% compared with the same period of 2022. reached for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 10.6% compared with the same period of 2022. Transaction volume facilitated for repeat individual borrowers [9] for the third quarter of 2023 was RMB42.4 billion , an increase of 9.0% compared with the same period of 2022. for the third quarter of 2023 was , an increase of 9.0% compared with the same period of 2022. Outstanding loan balance [4] reached RMB64.6 billion as of September 30, 2023 , an increase of 8.4% compared with September 30, 2022 . reached as of , an increase of 8.4% compared with . Average loan size [10] was RMB8,505 for the third quarter of 2023, compared with RMB7,202 for the same period of 2022. was for the third quarter of 2023, compared with for the same period of 2022. Average loan tenure [11] was 8.2 months for the third quarter of 2023, compared with 8.6 months for the same period of 2022. was 8.2 months for the third quarter of 2023, compared with 8.6 months for the same period of 2022. 90 day+ delinquency ratio[12] was 1.67% as of September 30, 2023 , compared with 1.44% as of September 30, 2022 . Third Quarter 2023 International Market Operational Highlights Cumulative registered users [13] reached 22.5 million as of September 30, 2023 , an increase of 69.2% compared with September 30, 2022 . reached 22.5 million as of , an increase of 69.2% compared with . Cumulative borrowers [14] for the international market reached 4.4 million as of September 30, 2023 , an increase of 41.9% compared with September 30, 2022 . for the international market reached 4.4 million as of , an increase of 41.9% compared with . Number of unique borrowers [15] for the third quarter of 2023 was 0.93 million, an increase of 27.4% compared with the same period of 2022. for the third quarter of 2023 was 0.93 million, an increase of 27.4% compared with the same period of 2022. Number of new borrowers [16] for the third quarter of 2023 was 0.42 million, an increase of 27.3% compared with the same period of 2022. for the third quarter of 2023 was 0.42 million, an increase of 27.3% compared with the same period of 2022. Transaction volume [3] reached RMB2.21 billion for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 99.1% compared with the same period of 2022. reached for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 99.1% compared with the same period of 2022. Proportion of transaction volume in the Indonesia market funded by the local financial institutions increased to 74.0% for the third quarter of 2023 from 54.9% for the same period of 2022. market funded by the local financial institutions increased to 74.0% for the third quarter of 2023 from 54.9% for the same period of 2022. Outstanding loan balance [5] reached RMB1.29 billion as of September 30, 2023 , an increase of 101.6% compared with September 30, 2022 . reached as of , an increase of 101.6% compared with . International business revenue was RMB584.8 million ( US$80.2 million ) for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 67.3% compared with the same period of 2022, representing 18.3% of total revenue for the third quarter of 2023. Third Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights Net revenue was RMB3,197.5 million ( US$438.3 million ) for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 7.6% from RMB2,971.4 million for the same period of 2022. ( ) for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 7.6% from for the same period of 2022. Net profit was RMB574.7 million ( US$78.8 million ) for the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of 5.1% from RMB605.5 million for the same period of 2022. ( ) for the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of 5.1% from for the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP adjusted operating income [17] , which excludes share-based compensation expenses before tax, was RMB583.8 million ( US$80.0 million ) for the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of 14.5% from RMB683.0 million for the same period of 2022. , which excludes share-based compensation expenses before tax, was ( ) for the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of 14.5% from for the same period of 2022. Diluted net profit per American depositary share ("ADS") was RMB2.05 (US$0.28) and diluted net profit per share was RMB0.41 (US$0.06) for the third quarter of 2023, which remained unchanged compared with the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP diluted net profit per ADS was RMB2.16 (US$0.30) and non-GAAP diluted net profit per share was RMB0.43 (US$0.06) for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 1.4% compared with the same period of 2022. Each ADS of the Company represents five Class A ordinary shares of the Company. [1] Represents the total transaction volume facilitated in China's Mainland and the international markets on the Company's platforms during the period presented. [2] Represents our transaction volume facilitated in China's Mainland during the period presented. [3] Represents our transaction volume facilitated in international markets outside China's Mainland during the period presented. [4] Outstanding loan balance (China's Mainland) as of any date refers to the balance of outstanding loans in China's Mainland market delinquent within 180 days from the given date. [5] Outstanding loan balance (international) as of any date refers to the balance of outstanding loans in the international markets' delinquent within 30 days from the given date. [6] On a cumulative basis, the total number of users in China's Mainland market registered on the Company's platforms as of September 30, 2023. [7] On a cumulative basis, the total number of borrowers in China's Mainland market on the Company's platform as of September 30, 2023. [8] Represents the total number of borrowers in China's Mainland who have successfully borrowed on the Company platform during the period presented. [9] Represents the transaction volume facilitated for the repeat borrowers in China's Mainland who successfully completed their transaction on the Company's platform during the period presented. [10] Represents the average loan size on the Company's platform in China's Mainland during the period presented. [11] Represents the average loan tenor on the Company's platform in China's Mainland during the period presented. [12] "90 day+ delinquency ratio" refers to the outstanding principal balance of on- and-off balance sheet loans that were 90 to 179 calendar days past due as a percentage of the total outstanding principal balance of on-and-off balance sheet loans on the Company's platform as of a specific date. Loans that originated outside China's Mainland are not included in the calculation. [13] On a cumulative basis, the total number of users registered on the Company's platforms outside China's Mainland market as of September 30, 2023. [14] On a cumulative basis, the total number of borrowers outside China's Mainland market, on the Company's platforms during the period presented. [15] Represents the total number of borrowers outside China's Mainland who have successfully borrowed on the Company platform during the period presented. [16] Represents the total number of new borrowers outside China's Mainland whose transactions were facilitated on the Company's platforms during the period presented. [17] Please refer to "UNAUDITED Reconciliation of GAAP And Non-GAAP Results" for reconciliation between GAAP and Non-GAAP adjusted operating income. Mr. Tiezheng Li, Chief Executive Officer of FinVolution, commented, "During the third quarter of 2023, total transaction volume reached RMB51.3 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 12.7%, while our total outstanding loan balance reached RMB65.9 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 9.3%. "Our tactical approach of maintaining progressive growth in the China market while pursuing faster growth in the international markets has proven very effective under the uneven macro conditions in the markets where we operate. During the third quarter, international transaction volume reached RMB2.21 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 99.1%, while outstanding loan balance reached RMB1.29 billion, rising 101.6% year-over-year. The increased international transaction volume and outstanding loan balance contributed the growth of our international revenue to RMB584.8 million, up 67.3% year-over-year and contribute 18.3% of total revenue in the quarter," concluded Mr. Li. Mr. Jiayuan Xu, FinVolution's Chief Financial Officer, continued, "We are encouraged by the financial results we achieved in the third quarter. Net revenue for the third quarter reached RMB3,197.5 million (US$438.3 million), representing a year-over-year increase of 7.6%. Our total liquidity position as of the end of September 2023 reached RMB8,525.2 million (US$1,168.5 million), representing a year-over-year increase of 58.2% and a sequential increase of 4.0%." "Moreover, through our annual dividend policy and share repurchase policy, we have consistently optimized the returns for our shareholders. During the first nine months of 2023, we deployed approximately US$65.9 million to repurchase our stock, reflecting our strong commitment to enhancing shareholders value," concluded Mr. Xu. Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results Net revenue for the third quarter of 2023 increased by 7.6% to RMB3,197.5 million (US$438.3 million) from RMB2,971.4 million for the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in guarantee income and post-loan facilitation service fees. Loan facilitation service fees decreased by 3.3% to RMB1,129.8 million (US$154.8 million) for the third quarter of 2023 from RMB1,168.7 million for the same period of 2022. This decrease was primarily due to the decrease in service fee rates, partially offset by the increase in transaction volume. Post-facilitation service fees increased by 1.3% to RMB498.9 million (US$68.4 million) for the third quarter of 2023 from RMB492.3 million for the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in outstanding loans served by the Company and the rolling impact of deferred transaction fees. Guarantee income increased by 40.1% to RMB1,152.0 million (US$157.9 million) for the third quarter of 2023 from RMB822.2 million for the same period of 2022. This increase was primarily due to the increased outstanding loan balance of off-balance sheet loans and the rolling impact of deferred guarantee income. The fair value of quality assurance commitment upon loan origination is released as guarantee income systematically over the term of the loans subject to quality assurance commitment. Net interest income decreased by 17.1% to RMB273.3 million (US$37.5 million) for the third quarter of 2023, from RMB329.6 million for the same period of 2022, primarily due to the decrease in transaction volume of consolidated trust accounts. Other revenue decreased by 9.6% to RMB143.5 million (US$19.7 million) for the third quarter of 2023 from RMB158.7 million for the same period of 2022, primarily due to the disposal of a pilot-run business. Origination, servicing expenses and other costs of revenue increased by 5.1% to RMB520.0 million (US$71.3 million) for the third quarter of 2023 from RMB495.0 million for the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in facilitation costs and loan collection expenses as a result of higher transaction volume. Sales and marketing expenses remained relatively stable at RMB530.1 million (US$72.7 million) for the third quarter of 2023, compared with RMB535.2 million for the same period of 2022, as a result of our proactive efforts for acquiring more new borrowers in both China and the international markets. Research and development expenses increased by 5.6% to RMB132.6 million (US$18.2 million) for the third quarter of 2023 from RMB125.6 million for the same period of 2022, due to the increase in investments for technology development. General and administrative expenses decreased by 1.8% to RMB98.6 million (US$13.5 million) for the third quarter of 2023 from RMB100.4 million for the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in operating efficiency. Provision for accounts receivable and contract assets decreased by 21.6% to RMB86.9 million (US$11.9 million) for the third quarter of 2023 from RMB110.9 million for the same period of 2022, primarily due to the decrease in provision from other third-party platform. Provision for loans receivable increased by 34.7% to RMB176.8 million (US$24.2 million) for the third quarter of 2023, from RMB131.3 million for the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in loan volume and outstanding loan balances in the international markets. Credit losses for quality assurance commitment increased by 35.2% to RMB1099.2 million (US$150.7 million) for the third quarter of 2023 compared with RMB813.2 million for the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily due to the increases in loan volume and outstanding loan balances in both China and the international markets. Operating profit decreased by 16.1% to RMB553.4 million (US$75.8 million) for the third quarter of 2023 from RMB659.8 million for the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP adjusted operating income, which excludes share-based compensation expenses before tax, was RMB583.8 million (US$80.0 million) for the third quarter of 2023, representing a decrease of 14.5% from RMB683.0 million for the same period of 2022. Other income increased by 113.0% to RMB124.4 million (US$17.0 million) for the third quarter of 2023 from RMB58.4 million for the same period of 2022, mainly due to the additional gains from increased investment in investment products as well as government subsidies. Income tax expense was RMB103.1 million (US$14.1 million) for the third quarter of 2023, compared with RMB112.7 million for the same period of 2022. This decrease was mainly due to the decrease in pre-tax profit for the third quarter. Net profit was RMB574.7 million (US$78.8 million) for the third quarter of 2023, compared with RMB605.5 million for the same period of 2022. Net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of the Company was RMB566.0 million (US$77.6 million) for the third quarter of 2023, compared with RMB599.0 million for the same period of 2022. Diluted net profit per ADS was RMB2.05 (US$0.28) and diluted net profit per share was RMB0.41 (US$0.06) for the third quarter of 2023, which remained unchanged compared with the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP diluted net profit per ADS was RMB2.16 (US$0.30) and non-GAAP diluted net profit per share was RMB0.43 (US$0.06) for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 1.4% compared with the same period of 2022. Each ADS represents five Class A ordinary shares of the Company. As of September 30, 2023, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of RMB5,700.7 million (US$781.3 million) and short-term investments, mainly in wealth management products and term deposit, of RMB2,824.5 million (US$387.1 million). The following chart and table display the historical cumulative 30-day plus past due delinquency rates by loan origination vintage in China's Mainland for all loan products facilitated through the Company's online platform as of September 30, 2023: Click here to view the chart. Shares Repurchase Update On August 28, 2023, the board of directors of the Company approved the Company's third repurchase program, which allows the Company to repurchase its own Class A ordinary shares in the form of ADSs with an aggregate value of up to US$150 million, effective from August 29, 2023 until August 29, 2025. During the first nine months of 2023, the Company deployed a total of US$65.9 million to repurchase its own Class A ordinary shares in the form of ADSs in the market. As of September 30, 2023, in combination with the Company's historical and existing share repurchase programs, the Company had cumulatively repurchased its own Class A ordinary shares in the form of ADSs with a total aggregate value of approximately US$248.2 million. Conference Call The Company's management will host an earnings conference call at 7:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on November 20, 2023 (8:30 a.m. Beijing/Hong Kong Time on November 21, 2023). Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows: United States (toll free): +1-888-346-8982 Canada (toll free): +1-855-669-9657 International: +1-412-902-4272 Hong Kong, China (toll free): 800-905-945 Hong Kong, China: 852-3018-4992 Mainland, China: 400-120-1203 Participants should dial in at least five minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the call for "FinVolution Group." Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at https://ir.finvgroup.com. A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately one hour after the conclusion of the live call until November 27, 2023, by dialing the following telephone numbers: United States (toll free): +1-877-344-7529 Canada (toll free): +1-855-669-9658 International: +1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 2339865 About FinVolution Group FinVolution Group is a leading fintech platform with strong brand recognition in China and the international markets connecting borrowers of the young generation with financial institutions. Established in 2007, the Company is a pioneer in China's online consumer finance industry and has developed innovative technologies and has accumulated in-depth experience in the core areas of credit risk assessment, fraud detection, big data and artificial intelligence. The Company's platform, empowered by proprietary cutting-edge technologies, features a highly automated loan transaction process, which enables a superior user experience. As of September 30, 2023, the Company had over 175.0 million cumulative registered users across China, Indonesia and the Philippines. For more information, please visit https://ir.finvgroup.com Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures We use non-GAAP adjusted operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net profit, non-GAAP net profit attributable to FinVolution Group, and non-GAAP basic and diluted net profit per share and per ADS which are non-GAAP financial measures, in evaluating our operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures help identify underlying trends in our business by excluding the impact of share-based compensation expenses and expected discretionary measures. We believe that non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information about our operating results, enhance the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by our management in its financial and operational decision-making. Non-GAAP adjusted operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net profit, non-GAAP net profit attributable to FinVolution Group, and non-GAAP basic and diluted net profit per share and per ADS are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tool, and when assessing our operating performance, cash flows or our liquidity, investors should not consider it in isolation, or as a substitute for net income, cash flows provided by operating activities or other consolidated statements of operation and cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The Company encourages investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. For more information on this non-GAAP financial measure, please see the table captioned "Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP results" set forth at the end of this press release. Exchange Rate Information This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at a rate of RMB7.2960 to US$1.00, the rate in effect as of September 29, 2023 as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "target," "confident" and similar statements. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties as to the Company's ability to attract and retain borrowers and investors on its marketplace, its ability to increase volume of loans facilitated through the Company's marketplace, its ability to introduce new loan products and platform enhancements, its ability to compete effectively, laws, regulations and governmental policies relating to the online consumer finance industry in China, general economic conditions in China, and the Company's ability to meet the standards necessary to maintain listing of its ADSs on the NYSE, including its ability to cure any non-compliance with the NYSE's continued listing criteria. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and FinVolution does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: In China: FinVolution Group Head of Investor Relations Jimmy Tan, IRC Tel: +86 (21) 8030-3200 Ext. 8601 E-mail: [email protected] Piacente Financial Communications Jenny Cai Tel: +86 (10) 6508-0677 E-mail: [email protected] In the United States: Piacente Financial Communications Brandi Piacente Tel: +1-212-481-2050 E-mail: [email protected] FinVolution Group UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (All amounts in thousands, except share data, or otherwise noted) As of December 31, As of September 30, 2022 2023 RMB RMB USD Assets Cash and cash equivalents 3,636,380 5,700,722 781,349 Restricted cash 2,842,707 2,163,022 296,467 Short-term investments 3,427,020 2,824,471 387,126 Investments 1,084,084 1,126,652 154,421 Quality assurance receivable, net of credit loss allowance for quality assurance receivable of RMB374,304 and RMB465,872 as of December 31, 2022 and September 30, 2023, respectively 1,669,855 1,716,680 235,291 Intangible assets 98,692 98,692 13,527 Property, equipment and software, net 141,345 149,459 20,485 Loans receivable, net of credit loss allowance for loans receivable of RMB294,355 and RMB277,619 as of December 31, 2022 and September 30, 2023, respectively 2,136,432 1,556,097 213,281 Accounts receivable and contract assets, net of credit loss allowance for accounts receivable and contract assets of RMB496,918 and RMB412,194 as of December 31, 2022 and September 30, 2023, respectively 2,217,445 2,246,671 307,932 Deferred tax assets 919,361 1,455,433 199,484 Right of use assets 192,428 168,910 23,151 Prepaid expenses and other assets 2,966,751 2,974,613 407,705 Goodwill 50,411 50,411 6,909 Total assets 21,382,911 22,231,833 3,047,128 Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity Deferred guarantee income 1,805,164 1,869,869 256,287 Liability from quality assurance commitment 3,555,618 3,703,989 507,674 Payroll and welfare payable 274,408 222,626 30,513 Taxes payable 134,027 172,623 23,660 Funds payable to investors of consolidated trusts 1,845,210 1,225,856 168,018 Contract liability 5,109 5,109 700 Deferred tax liabilities 232,188 336,835 46,167 Accrued expenses and other liabilities 909,708 979,336 134,229 Leasing liabilities 176,990 159,575 21,872 Total liabilities 8,938,422 8,675,818 1,189,120 Commitments and contingencies FinVolution Group Shareholders' equity Ordinary shares 103 103 14 Additional paid-in capital 5,692,703 5,738,613 786,542 Treasury stock (568,595) (998,356) (136,836) Statutory reserves 698,401 698,401 95,724 Accumulated other comprehensive income 52,237 88,861 12,181 Retained Earnings 6,496,852 7,896,663 1,082,328 Total FinVolution Group shareholders' equity 12,371,701 13,424,285 1,839,953 Non-controlling interest 72,788 131,730 18,055 Total shareholders' equity 12,444,489 13,556,015 1,858,008 Total liabilities and shareholders' equity 21,382,911 22,231,833 3,047,128 FinVolution Group UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (All amounts in thousands, except share data, or otherwise noted) For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2022 2023 2022 2023 RMB RMB USD RMB RMB USD Operating revenue: Loan facilitation service fees 1,168,650 1,129,776 154,849 3,222,142 3,413,070 467,800 Post-facilitation service fees 492,253 498,916 68,382 1,433,479 1,474,274 202,066 Guarantee income 822,242 1,152,047 157,901 2,143,870 3,211,480 440,170 Net interest income 329,636 273,274 37,455 881,692 821,953 112,658 Other Revenue 158,664 143,514 19,670 403,044 403,071 55,245 Net revenue 2,971,445 3,197,527 438,257 8,084,227 9,323,848 1,277,939 Operating expenses: Origination, servicing expenses and other cost of revenue (495,022) (519,985) (71,270) (1,522,401) (1,548,373) (212,222) Sales and marketing expenses (535,158) (530,110) (72,658) (1,194,287) (1,396,061) (191,346) Research and development expenses (125,595) (132,588) (18,173) (353,965) (383,381) (52,547) General and administrative expenses (100,426) (98,641) (13,520) (287,373) (274,813) (37,666) Provision for accounts receivable and contract assets (110,899) (86,884) (11,908) (278,387) (217,535) (29,816) Provision for loans receivable (131,336) (176,776) (24,229) (289,933) (479,281) (65,691) Credit losses for quality assurance commitment (813,172) (1,099,154) (150,652) (2,259,317) (3,153,288) (432,194) Total operating expenses (2,311,608) (2,644,138) (362,410) (6,185,663) (7,452,732) (1,021,482) Operating profit 659,837 553,389 75,847 1,898,564 1,871,116 256,457 Other income, net 58,403 124,387 17,049 156,169 327,065 44,828 Profit before income tax expense 718,240 677,776 92,896 2,054,733 2,198,181 301,285 Income tax expenses (112,741) (103,061) (14,126) (329,788) (343,528) (47,084) Net profit 605,499 574,715 78,770 1,724,945 1,854,653 254,201 Net profit attributable to non-controlling interest shareholders 6,465 8,757 1,200 10,038 38,377 5,260 Net profit attributable to FinVolution Group 599,034 565,958 77,570 1,714,907 1,816,276 248,941 Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of nil tax 40,350 (88,159) (12,083) 88,650 (36,624) (5,020) Total comprehensive income attributable to FinVolution Group 639,384 477,799 65,487 1,803,557 1,779,652 243,921 Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in computing net income per share Basic 1,412,291,188 1,356,802,618 1,356,802,618 1,421,982,509 1,385,417,916 1,385,417,916 Diluted 1,463,337,838 1,382,049,817 1,382,049,817 1,468,882,368 1,414,900,795 1,414,900,795 Net profit per share attributable to FinVolution Group's ordinary shareholders Basic 0.42 0.42 0.06 1.21 1.31 0.18 Diluted 0.41 0.41 0.06 1.17 1.28 0.18 Net profit per ADS attributable to FinVolution Group's ordinary shareholders (one ADS equal five ordinary shares) Basic 2.12 2.09 0.29 6.03 6.55 0.90 Diluted 2.05 2.05 0.28 5.84 6.42 0.88 FinVolution Group UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (All amounts in thousands, except share data, or otherwise noted) Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30, 2022 2023 2022 2023 RMB RMB USD RMB RMB USD Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities 325,837 178,370 24,448 (32,574) 1,357,273 186,030 Net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities (1,280,514) 591,067 81,012 (1,081,347) 1,516,238 207,818 Net cash provided by/ (used in) financing activities (56,246) (110,924) (15,203) (350,048) (1,516,270) (207,822) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 18,225 (11,383) (1,560) 48,668 27,416 3,757 Net increase in cash, cash equivalent and restricted cash (992,698) 647,130 88,697 (1,415,301) 1,384,657 189,783 Cash, cash equivalent and restricted cash at beginning of period 8,068,938 7,216,614 989,119 8,491,541 6,479,087 888,033 Cash, cash equivalent and restricted cash at end of period 7,076,240 7,863,744 1,077,816 7,076,240 7,863,744 1,077,816 FinVolution Group UNAUDITED Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results (All amounts in thousands, except share data, or otherwise noted) For the Three Months Ended September 30, For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2022 2023 2022 2023 RMB RMB USD RMB RMB USD Net Revenues 2,971,445 3,197,527 438,257 8,084,227 9,323,848 1,277,939 Less: total operating expenses (2,311,608) (2,644,138) (362,410) (6,185,663) (7,452,732) (1,021,482) Operating Income 659,837 553,389 75,847 1,898,564 1,871,116 256,457 Add: share-based compensation expenses 23,142 30,376 4,163 68,032 82,192 11,265 Non-GAAP adjusted operating income 682,979 583,765 80,010 1,966,596 1,953,308 267,722 Operating Margin 22.2 % 17.3 % 17.3 % 23.5 % 20.1 % 20.1 % Non-GAAP operating margin 23.0 % 18.3 % 18.3 % 24.3 % 20.9 % 20.9 % Non-GAAP adjusted operating income 682,979 583,765 80,010 1,966,596 1,953,308 267,722 Add: other income, net 58,403 124,387 17,049 156,169 327,065 44,828 Less: income tax expenses (112,741) (103,061) (14,126) (329,788) (343,528) (47,084) Non-GAAP net profit 628,641 605,091 82,933 1,792,977 1,936,845 265,466 Net profit attributable to non-controlling interest Shareholders 6,465 8,757 1,200 10,038 38,377 5,260 Non-GAAP net profit attributable to FinVolution Group 622,176 596,334 81,733 1,782,939 1,898,468 260,206 Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in computing net income per share Basic 1,412,291,188 1,356,802,618 1,356,802,618 1,421,982,509 1,385,417,916 1,385,417,916 Diluted 1,463,337,838 1,382,049,817 1,382,049,817 1,468,882,368 1,414,900,795 1,414,900,795 Non-GAAP net profit per share attributable to FinVolution Group's ordinary shareholders Basic 0.44 0.44 0.06 1.25 1.37 0.19 Diluted 0.43 0.43 0.06 1.21 1.34 0.18 Non-GAAP net profit per ADS attributable to FinVolution Group's ordinary shareholders (one ADS equal five ordinary shares) Basic 2.20 2.20 0.30 6.27 6.85 0.94 Diluted 2.13 2.16 0.30 6.07 6.71 0.92 SOURCE FinVolution Group DALLAS, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Commercial real estate developer Tanya Ragan, president of Wildcat Management, is featured as a distinguished alumna by her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wis., in their recent annual publication; The Outlook. Tanya Ragan, Wildcat Management Tanya Ragan, whose roots run deep in the Midwest was born and raised in Rochester Minnesota, has built a legacy in Texas. Having previously graduated with a fashion merchandising degree and minor in business administration from UW-S, Dallas, Texas has never been the same since her arrival nearly two decades ago. As the only female-owned developer in downtown Dallas, Tanya builds community and creates authentic neighborhood experiences with a real-world impact on residents and economic growth. "The most important thing you can do is show up. As a woman working in a highly male-dominated industry representation matters. Less than 1.5% of women in commercial real estate investment are self-made. The expectation for me is higher than my male peers, and I recognize the responsibility that comes with that role," she said. Ragan maintains relationships with local business organizations, state officials, City of Dallas leadership, the Dallas police department, and various city departments. She organized and led efforts to revitalize and revive the Dallas Farmers Market neighborhood now the largest residential district in downtown Dallas; and led teams to relocate and redevelop downtown's oldest commercial building the Liberty State Bank and the historic Purse building. She also redeveloped the highly anticipated historic Purse building. Her latest project in Mansfield, TX, a mixed-use development called Castle Ranch, is fueled by her well-established signature bold energy and vision but on a much larger scale. A hearty midwestern work ethic amplified by Texas-sized ambition underscores Tanya's impact on communities and rising female entrepreneurs across the country. (News Link) About Wildcat Management Wildcat Management is a woman-owned real estate investment, development, and management company. Wildcat takes on mission-driven projects and strategic public-private sector partnerships in the hopes of sparking economic turnaround and community growth. Wildcat Management continues to drive positive transformation for local communities across the country. For questions or comments regarding Wildcat Management, please contact Monica Moreno, Executive Manager at [email protected] or office at 214-758-0348. Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Website Media Contact Monica Moreno Email: [email protected] Cell: 469-882-8716 SOURCE Wildcat Management In addition Giant Food Launches Annual "Lend a Hand for Hunger Campaign" LANDOVER, Md., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Giant Food, the leading greater Washington, D.C. regional grocery chain, today announces its annual holiday turkey donations. In partnership with Shady Brook Farms, Giant Food will be donating 11,000 turkeys to its local Feeding America food banks partners as well as local organizations including Martha's Table, Men Aiming Higher, THEARC: Building Bridges Across The River, Greater Washington Urban League and Greater Baltimore Urban League. Since 2011, Giant has donated 62,000 turkeys during Thanksgiving and this year, Shady Brook Farms is generously providing additional turkeys to make an even larger impact. Giant Food Representatives Donate Holiday Turkeys to Capital Area Food Bank "At Giant, fighting food insecurity in the communities we serve is one of our top priorities," said Dyani Hanrahan, Vice President of Marketing and Community Relations, Giant Food, and Maryland Food Bank Board Member. "We are proud to support over 20 community organizations this Thanksgiving in partnership with Shady Brook Farms to make sure our neighbors in need enjoy their holiday celebrations with family and loved ones." "At Shady Brook Farms, we take great responsibility in not only giving back during the critical holiday season, but also throughout the year to ensure families and local communities have access to delicious and nutritious meals," said Hannah Kern, Shady Brook Farms Marketing Manager. "Partnering with a like-minded organization such as Giant Food to provide turkeys to those in need is incredibly meaningful and we're beyond appreciative of their collaboration on impactful initiatives such as this." Additionally, Giant launched the annual "Lend a Hand for Hunger" campaign to benefit five area Feeding America food banks Capital Area Food Bank, Maryland Food Bank, Food Bank of Delaware, Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank and Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and other area nonprofits. The campaign, running from October 27 to December 31 in all 164 Giant stores, offers customers an opportunity to support their neighbors by rounding up their change to the nearest dollar amount during checkout in-store or selecting a donation of $1, $3 or $5 during checkout in-store or online. Last year, through the generous support of associates and customers, over $1 million was raised to fight food insecurity. About Giant Food Since opening its first location 87 years ago in Washington, D.C. in 1936, Giant has been an integral part of the communities and customers it serves. Giant is committed to being a Better Neighbor and has designated four main giving pillars that address local Food Insecurity, Military Support, Pediatric Cancer Research and Social Equality. Giant is headquartered in Landover, Md. and operates 165 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia with approximately 20,000 associates. Included within the 165 stores are 153 full-service pharmacies and 27 Starbucks locations. Giant fits all the ways today's busy customers want to shop - whether in store or online. With 162 Giant Pickup locations and delivery options available in all of its markets, customers have even more convenient options right at their fingertips to get the best products and prices, whenever and however they choose. For more information on Giant Food, visit giantfood.com. About Shady Brook Farms Whether on the Thanksgiving table or the backyard grill, Shady Brook Farms is a brand filled with good bounty. It's great-tasting turkey with a purpose to promote well-being, bring people together and benefit communities. Shady Brook Farms offers a variety of farm-raised turkey products including ground turkey, seasoned patties, whole turkeys, and turkey breasts. Shady Brook Farms turkeys are raised without growth-promoting antibiotics and no added hormones or steroids, exclusively on independent family farms. We are committed to raising our turkeys to the highest standards and providing transparency about food production practices to ensure consumers know more about the food they eat and where it comes from. When you enjoy Shady Brook Farms turkey, you're a part of how good feeds good. For more information, visit ShadyBrookFarms.com. - Antibiotics responsibly used only when needed for treatment or prevention of illness. Turkeys raised with no added hormones or steroids. Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones and steroids in poultry. SOURCE Giant Food DUBLIN, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Market for Medical Devices, 13th Edition" has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The medical device industry, commonly referred to as the medtech industry, plays a pivotal role within the broader healthcare sector. This industry undergoes continuous evolution due to ongoing advancements in technology, equipment, diagnostic tools, and medical devices. These innovations have the profound impact of extending and enhancing the lives of patients, promoting longevity and well-being. However, the medical device industry faces distinctive challenges, primarily characterized by stringent regulations across the globe, as discussed in the regulatory section of this report. Devices must undergo approval for reimbursement, and pricing negotiations often involve group purchasing organizations and governments. Companies operating in this sector must consistently invest in research and development to drive market success through innovation. Despite these challenges, medical devices stand to benefit from serving an aging global population. Emerging market nations also prioritize medical devices as they expand their economies and healthcare expenditures. This has attracted numerous competitors, investors, and venture capitalists to the field. The report offers insights into the latest market trends and forecasts. The competitive landscape has shifted for some companies due to the pandemic and mergers, while restructuring and divestitures of medical device units have also influenced results. This report includes: An overview of medical devices and relevant regulations in 50 world markets. Market size estimates and forecasts up to 2028 for the global market, the United States market, and various country markets, including Brazil , Canada , China , Germany , India , Japan , and more. market, and various country markets, including , , , , , , and more. An index of leading device companies. Market analysis for specific categories of medical devices. Examination of market drivers and limiters. Company profiles of major device manufacturers. This report focuses on medical devices used for treatment, diagnosis, or monitoring of medical conditions. It excludes medical IT and services associated with many devices, such as laboratory service fees and patient monitoring services. The market is highly fragmented, with hundreds of companies participating worldwide, although the bulk of revenues are generated in specific categories: cardiovascular, dialysis, respiratory, in vitro diagnostics (IVD), patient monitoring, wound care, imaging dental minimally invasive surgical instruments and orthopedics being top areas. Top companies in the industry vary in terms of their specialization, and consolidation trends are increasingly apparent. The top 15 companies continue to capture a growing share of the market each year, and rankings may shift due to significant acquisitions. While most companies operate in specific markets, major players like Medtronic, J&J, Siemens Healthineers, Danaher, and Philips are multi-billion-dollar entities active in several categories. In the United States alone, there are thousands of companies manufacturing medical devices, with many being private and having fewer than 50 employees. Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1: Executive Summary Chapter 2: Introduction Chapter 3: Mergers and Acquisitions Cordis Acquires MedAlliance Abbott Completes Acquisition of Bigfoot Biomedical Boston Scientific Agrees to Acquire Relievant MedSystems Inogen Completes Acquisition of Physio-Assist Laborie Medical Technologies Agrees to Acquire Urotronic Restor3d Completes Acquisition of Conformis Amber Therapeutics Acquires Bioinduction Limited STERIS Completes Acquisition of Assets from Beckton Dickinson Globus Medical Completes Acquisition of NuVasive Enovis Completes Acquisition of Novastep Zavation Acquires CoreLink Stryker Acquires Cerus Endovascular Merit Medical Acquires Dialysis Portfolio from AngioDynamics Abbott Signed Agreement to Acquire Cardiovascular Systems Shockwave Acquires Neovasc Bausch + Lomb Acquires AcuFocus Laborie Acquires Novonate Silony Medical Agrees to Acquire Centinel Spine's Business Caldera Medical Acquires Atlantic Therapeutics Siemens Healthineers' Varian Acquires Aspekt Solutions Envoy Medical Merges with Anzu Special Acquisition Corp Ra Medical Systems Acquires Catheter Precision Selected Large Historic Medical Device Acquisitions Medtronic Acquires Covidien and Other Companies Dentsply-Sirona Merger Stryker Corporation Active in M&A - Integrating Wright Medical Wright Medical Stryker Corp. and Wright Medical: $4.7 Billion Opportunity Opportunity AbbVie and Allergan - A $63 Billion Deal Chapter 4: Selected Specific Device Markets Chapter 5: Market Analysis Market Drivers Aging Population Increase in Chronic Disease Market Constraints Pressure on Prices Group Purchasing Organization Value Analysis Committees Medical Device Size and Growth Market by Region Market by Country: Top 20 Chapter 6: Company Profiles: Bellwether Medtronic Johnson & Johnson Abbott Laboratories Becton Dickinson Siemens Healthineers Cardinal Health Royal Philips Roche Stryker GE Healthcare Boston Scientific Danaher Baxter International Zimmer Biomet Holdings Alcon Chapter 7: Other Market Participants 3M Health Care Health Care Asahi Kasei Braun Melsungen Canon Medical Systems Coloplast ConvaTec Dentsply-Sirona Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA ICU Medical Masimo Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Molnlycke Health Care Nova Biomedical Olympus ResMed Smith & Nephew Steris Teleflex Terumo Vyaire Medical ZimVie For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2c0vky 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 ATLANTA, Nov. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Habitat for Humanity is deeply saddened by the passing of former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter, who was a champion and strong voice for affordable, decent housing for all. For more than three decades, she and President Jimmy Carter donated their time and leadership to Habitat each year to build and improve homes around the world. She died peacefully on Sunday at her home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 96, with family by her side. "We grieve the loss of Mrs. Carter and our prayers are with President Carter and their family. Mrs. Carter has helped change the lives of thousands of homeowners, empowered countless women and inspired millions of people. Over the years, she has blessed us with her compassion for serving others and commitment to improving housing conditions," said Jonathan Reckford, CEO, Habitat for Humanity International. "The Carters lent a hand to Habitat for Humanity as a young, fledging organization and created global awareness of our work and of our mission. We are grateful for the incredible impact she and President Carter have had on Habitat and on the families who have benefited from their shining example." After leaving the White House, the Carters planned for meaningful ways to continue their commitment to social justice and basic human rights. Their first volunteer experience with Habitat for Humanity was in March 1984 near their home in Americus, Georgia, where Habitat for Humanity was founded. Later that same year, the Carters joined Habitat volunteers in New York City's Lower East Side to renovate an abandoned building in partnership with families in need of affordable housing. That marked Habitat for Humanity's first Jimmy Carter Work Project, which was later renamed to the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project. Since then, President and Mrs. Carter have worked with more than 104,000 volunteers across the U.S. and in 14 countries to build, renovate and repair 4,390 Habitat homes. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has served more than 46 million people around the world. In 2016, Habitat named President and Mrs. Carter as the inaugural Habitat Humanitarians for their extraordinary dedication to service in alignment with Habitat's vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Habitat for Humanity will be celebrating Mrs. Carter's life of service with local observances. To learn more or to share a tribute, visit habitat.org . For photos and videos of President and Mrs. Carter volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, visit habitat.ngo/CarterPhotoVideo . About Habitat for Humanity Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity found its earliest inspirations as a grassroots movement on an interracial community farm in south Georgia. Since its founding in 1976, the Christian housing organization has since grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in local communities across all 50 states in the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit habitat.org . SOURCE Habitat for Humanity International WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) has announced that it is rescinding its invitation to TikTok to participate in the IACC 2024 Annual Conference focused on intellectual property protection. This decision comes in light of TikTok's ineffective content moderation policies. Recently, videos on TikTok emerged sharing a letter from Osama bin Laden, attempting to justify the 9/11 attacks. This content has drawn widespread criticism, including remarks from the White House. While TikTok states it is actively removing such posts, the IACC remains concerned about the platform's effectiveness in managing harmful content. Bob Barchiesi, IACC President and a former law enforcement executive, expressed his strong stance: "The glorification of figures like Osama bin Laden on platforms like TikTok is not only deeply disturbing but also a direct insult to the memories of the brave heroes we lost on 9/11. Such narratives, under the guise of free expression, can perpetuate harm and disrespect the legacy of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Our decision reflects our unwavering commitment to honor their memory and uphold the highest standards of respect and integrity. I have no doubt that this view would be shared by many current and former law enforcement and government officials who attend our conference each year." Given the IACC's commitment to upholding these values, TikTok's participation in the conference is viewed as misaligned with these principles. The IACC holds a strong stance against any form of support for terrorism or the dissemination of extremist views. The Coalition continues to dedicate its efforts to fostering environments that promote respect, innovation, and the protection of intellectual property rights. About the IACC The IACC (www.iacc.org) is a not-for-profit organization representing the interests of companies concerned with intellectual property theft. The IACC membership includes many of the world's best-known brands across all sectors. The IACC is a leader in cross-industry voluntary agreements that address the online trafficking of counterfeit and pirated goods, including its IACC MarketSafe and RogueBlock initiatives. SOURCE International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The interventional spine devices market is expected to grow by USD 3.07 billion from 2023 to 2028. In addition, the momentum of the market will progress at a CAGR of 9.58% during the forecast period, according to Technavio Research. The market is segmented by method (vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, radiofrequency ablation, and others), end-user (hospital and ambulatory surgery centers), and geography (North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World (ROW)). North America is estimated to contribute 47% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The increasing prevalence of spinal disorders, which include osteoporosis, spinal surgery, spondylolisthesis, and scoliosis has been a major factor that is driving the market growth in North America. Moreover, minimally invasive spinal surgery is gaining popularity because of its minimized surgical tissue trauma compared with an open surgical procedure. Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Interventional Spine Devices Market 2024-2028 This report offers an up-to-date analysis of the current market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Read a Free PDF Sample Report Company Profile: Abbott Laboratories, B.Braun SE, ChoiceSpine LLC, Globus Medical Inc., Integra Lifesciences Corp., Johnson and Johnson, Medtronic Plc, Merit Medical Systems Inc., Orthofix Medical Inc., Spinal Elements Inc., Stryker Corp., and Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. Abbott Laboratories - The company offers interventional spine devices such as Proclaim SCS Family and Eterna SCS System designed for the treatment of chronic pain, pain caused by Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy, and Non-surgical Back Pain. To gain access to more company profiles available with Technavio, buy the report! Interventional Spine Devices Market: Segmentation Analysis The vertebroplasty segment is estimated to witness significant growth during the forecast period. It can be employed to treat VCF patients who have severe pain and cannot manage daily routine activities. Learn about the contribution of each segment summarized in concise infographics and thorough descriptions. View a Free PDF Sample Report Interventional Spine Devices Market: Market Dynamics Key Driver Growing demand for minimally invasive (MI) and non-invasive procedures Increasing incidence of spine and bone disorders Favorable reimbursement scenario The growing demand for minimally invasive (MI) and non-invasive procedures is a key factor driving market growth. There are many clinical trials and new product launches on the market. In addition, there has been a reduction in hospital stays and improved patient outcomes as a result of the demand for rapid recovery, which has led to several medical facilities performing spinal fusion operations to repair the spine. Major Trend The emergence of radiofrequency-targeted vertebral augmentation is a primary trend in the market. Identify key trends, drivers, and challenges in the market. Download a free sample to gain access to this information. Related Reports: The Phacoemulsification Devices Market size is estimated to grow by USD 622.54 million at a CAGR of 5.36% between 2023 and 2028. The Otoscopes Market size is estimated to grow by USD 72.05 million at a CAGR of 5.03% between 2023 and 2028. What are the key data covered in this interventional spine devices market report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the interventional spine devices market between 2023 and 2028. Precise estimation of the interventional spine devices market size and its contribution to the market in focus on the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the interventional spine devices market across North America, Europe, Asia, and ROW A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about companies Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of interventional spine device market companies. ToC: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market Sizing Historic Market Sizes Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation by Method Market Segmentation by End-user Market Segmentation by Geography Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Drivers, Challenges, & Trends Company Landscape Company Analysis Appendix About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com SOURCE Technavio WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- News Advisory: Event: News Briefing with Advocates for Alsu Kurmasheva, journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who is currently being held in detention by Russia. Who: Pavel Butorin, Alsu's husband and Director of Current Time, RFE/RL's digital platform (Russian); Jeffrey Gedmin, acting president, RFE/RL and Paul Beckett of the Wall Street Journal, the point person in the Evan Gershkovich case. Press Club President Eileen O'Reilly will moderate. When: 4 p.m. Eastern, Monday, Nov. 27 Where: National Press Club, 13th Floor, National Press Building, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20045 Details: In May 2023, Alsu, who is a citizen of the United States and Russia, traveled to Kazan, Russia to assist her ailing mother. This was not a work trip but a health emergency. Upon attempting to depart Russia in June she was denied exit and ordered to remain in Kazan. She was detained on Oct. 18 for failing to self-register as a "foreign agent". She is the 2nd U.S. journalist to be detained by Russia since the end of the Cold War. The first was Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal who was taken at the end of March. The US government has not yet been officially notified by Russia of Alsu's detention and has not yet declared this case a wrongful detention. Alsu has not been able to receive consular visits from the U.S. Embassy. Any notes she sends to her family or receives from them are screened and censored. She very much misses her two children who are with her husband in Prague. In 2017, Russia designated eight RFE/RL services as "foreign agents" and has since labeled dozens of RFE/RL journalists as individual foreign agents. Alsu is not among them, and, was not working during her trip, but Russia insists she should have declared herself a "foreign agent." This is the first known instance of an individual facing charges for failing to self-identify as a "foreign agent" in Russia. The family and RFE/RL are asking the U.S. to declare Alsu wrongfully detained and mobilize resources for her release. The family and RFE also call on Russia to release Alsu immediately and without conditions, as she has done nothing wrong. Contact: Bill McCarren, 202-662-7534 for the National Press Club SOURCE National Press Club ABU DHABI, UAE, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PureHealth Holding PJSC (Public Joint Stock Company under incorporation), the largest healthcare platform in the Middle East, has announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) and subsequently list its shares on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). Subject to obtaining regulatory approvals and other relevant considerations it is expected that trading on ADX will commence in December 2023. PureHealth Logo (PRNewsfoto/Pure Health Holding PJSC) Shareholders in PureHealth are currently Alpha Dhabi Holding (ADX:ALPHADHABI) and International Holding Company (IHC) Healthcare Holding LLC, subsidiaries of the Abu Dhabi based conglomerate IHC; and ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company, by way of a wholly owned subsidiary. PureHealth has been on a journey of consolidation and growth over the past years. With a diverse UAE portfolio encompassing over 25 hospitals, 100 clinics, multiple diagnostic centers, health insurance solutions, pharmacies, health tech, and procurement, PureHealth is also actively expanding its presence globally including the recent acquisition of 100 percent stake in Circle Health Group, the UK's largest independent operator of hospitals, marking an important milestone in the company's journey towards creating a global healthcare network which revolutionizes patient care. In May 2023, PureHealth completed its acquisition of Ardent Health Services, which is USA's fourth largest private healthcare group, becoming the only Middle East based healthcare provider to directly acquire assets in US hospitals and clinics. PureHealth is committed to raising standards in healthcare excellence, facilitating the development of cutting-edge healthcare solutions, and advancing the science of longevity. PureHealth works towards its stated purpose of remaining at the forefront of advancing health systems and envisioning the healthcare of the future. Hamad Al Hammadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PureHealth, said: "Healthcare is a fundamental pillar of any thriving society. We are confident that the power of innovation and progress, which has brought PureHealth to the cusp of this major milestone, will continue to drive the company forward and effect positive change within the sector. Testament to the continued dynamism and vibrancy of Abu Dhabi's capital markets, the planned listing would allow PureHealth to claim a position among the world's leading healthcare groups, benefitting people in an increasing number of countries while reliably leading the way in executing development objectives of our nation." Farhan Malik, Managing Director of PureHealth, said: "We are very pleased to announce our intention to float PureHealth on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. This IPO will enable PureHealth to continue to solidify its position as national champion, expand the depth and geographic reach of groundbreaking innovation for patients, healthcare technology, expansion globally through acquisitions and positioning Abu Dhabi at the forefront of healthcare globally. Aligned with the UAE leadership's vision for a progressive and sustainable society, this IPO will position Abu Dhabi as a frontrunner in the global healthcare landscape. This is a critical milestone for the UAE as PureHealth continues to revolutionize healthcare by deploying health tech platforms and expanding globally, ensuring efforts to deliver the best in healthcare from Abu Dhabi to the world." In line with its mission to advance the science of longevity, PureHealth recently launched Pura, an AI-powered super-app that seamlessly integrates healthcare information obtained from multiple sources, including real-time monitoring through wearable devices. With a clear understanding that traditional brick and mortar healthcare will be disrupted in the future, PureHealth is proactively working towards taking Healthcare to the cloud and as such, has created PureNet, its Digital Health as a Service platform, a solution for all healthcare providers through their digitization journey and to expand their digital health services. PureHealth is focusing on building a global platform which will serve not only the current patient needs, rather looking at population health management and evolving the business of healthcare to cater for the next generations to come. About PureHealth By advancing the science of longevity, PureHealth is introducing the healthcare of the future from the UAE to the rest of the world. PureHealth is the largest integrated healthcare platform in the Middle East, with an ecosystem that challenges lifespans and reimagines health spans. With 25+ hospitals, 100+ clinics, multiple diagnostic centers, health insurance solutions, pharmacies, health tech, procurement, investments and more, its groundbreaking innovations are at the forefront of healthcare, as the company is on a mission to unlock time for humankind. PureHealth's network of healthcare facilities across Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates comprises: SEHA Abu Dhabi Health Services Company One of the largest healthcare networks of hospitals and clinics in the UAE One of the largest healthcare networks of hospitals and clinics in the UAE Daman The National Health Insurance Company, the UAE's leading health insurer The National Health Insurance Company, the UAE's leading health insurer The Medical Office Overseeing Sheikh Khalifa Hospitals and healthcare facilities established under the initiatives of H.H. the President of the UAE Overseeing Sheikh and healthcare facilities established under the initiatives of H.H. the President of the UAE Rafed The UAE's largest healthcare Group Purchasing Organization The UAE's largest healthcare Group Purchasing Organization PureLab Managing and operating the largest network of laboratories in the region Managing and operating the largest network of laboratories in the region Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center Specialist healthcare center focused on cell therapy and regenerative medicine Specialist healthcare center focused on cell therapy and regenerative medicine One Health Sales, service support, and engineering network that provides end-to-end medical solutions provides end-to-end medical solutions The Life Corner Abu Dhabi's first holistic pharmacy, serving the health and wellness establishment first holistic pharmacy, serving the health and wellness establishment Ardent - The fourth largest privately held acute care hospital operator in the USA To learn more, please visit www.purehealth.ae For media inquiries, please contact: Edelman Smithfield Simon Hailes, Managing Director and Head of Middle East [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2282046/PureHealth.jpg SOURCE Pure Health Holding PJSC It looks like the Lebanon Community School District won't be needing a mediator after all. The district and its teacher union reached a tentative agreement last week on a long-sought contract, which was announced in a news release Friday, Nov. 17. The tentative deal, reached after 10 months of talks, comes more than a month after the district said they were seeking help from the state to resolve outstanding issues between the parties. But apparently a state mediator wasn't available until December, so they proceeded with a bargaining session last Wednesday, Nov. 15, according to the release. "We put a lot of effort into crafting a new proposal that honors our staff, and both sides really listened to each other throughout the evening," superintendent Jennifer Meckley said in a statement. That new proposal includes a retroactive 7% cost of living adjustment for licensed staff this school year and a 4% adjustment for the 2024-25 school year. The tentative deal also includes longevity stipends, increased insurance contributions and an updated salary schedule. That's in addition to revised language on teacher prep time, class sizes and managing student behavior, according to the district news release. Bonita Randklev, a Lebanon High School social studies teacher and the leader of the Lebanon Education Association, said the breakthrough at the negotiating table happened after around six hours of talks. She said her group was satisfied with the agreement and needed to finalize details before presenting it to all of her members for a vote. That will likely take place the week after Thanksgiving, she added. "We're hopeful that it will pass," Randklev said. Back in October, the last proposal from Lebanon teachers asked for a 13.5% cost of living adjustment over two years 8.5% the first year, and 5% the second. The district had proposed a 9.25% adjustment. There was also strong disagreement over a Lebanon Education Association proposal to update the salary schedule for teachers. Improving the district's response to student behavioral incidents in the classroom was also a central issue, which came up during an Oct. 12 school board meeting. Teachers, parents and counselors had crowded the meeting at the Lebanon Santiam Travel Station, urging quick action on a contract. Addressing increased behavioral issues has been a key sticking point for contract negotiations at other school districts like at neighboring Greater Albany Public Schools, which is still at the bargaining table with its teaching and non-teaching staff. Behavioral issues were also central during Corvallis School District contract negotiations. The district reached a deal with their teachers before the start of the school year. Lebanon school board chair Tom Oliver said the state's current funding model was inadequate for supporting the level of services teachers and staff currently provide, adding he hoped to see that change. "Meanwhile, we needed to offer employees a better arrangement. We want educators to make a long-term commitment to this district and its students," Oliver said in the news release. Meckley said she was proud of the work people put toward an agreement. "I think all of us are pleased to wrap up this process on a positive note," she said in a news release. DUBLIN , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Soil Organic Carbon Monitoring Market - 2023 Report" has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Explore the rapidly evolving world of soil organic carbon monitoring with this comprehensive report, offering an overview of key players across 12 countries. Gain valuable insights into the competitive landscape, market dynamics, and growth potential, enabling businesses to strategize effectively and capitalize on emerging opportunities. Key Highlights: Comparison of Soil Monitoring Solutions: Delve into the competitive landscape of soil monitoring solutions, analyzing providers based on monitoring methods, platform availability, key financial data, end users, and clients. Benchmark your business against industry leaders, identify areas for differentiation, and gain a competitive advantage. Recent Developments from Top Competitors: Stay abreast of the latest developments from top competitors in primary regions. This knowledge allows you to track market trends, adapt your offerings, and proactively respond to industry changes. Overview of Top Carbon Management Software Companies: Explore the top 5 carbon management software companies in the world, understanding their market dominance, product/service offerings, and growth strategies. This insight empowers you to make informed decisions and align your products/services strategically. Example of Project Costs for Soil Carbon Projects: Gain an understanding of project costs for soil carbon initiatives, aiding in budget planning and resource allocation. Insights into Soil Organic Carbon Monitoring Companies: A total of 51 companies providing soil monitoring solutions were identified during the research. Discover the full list of companies, complete with all characteristics, in the accompanying Excel file. Methods of Measuring Carbon in Soil: Most companies (52%) utilize satellite imagery as their primary method of monitoring carbon in soil, capitalizing on advanced technology for accurate data collection. Soil sampling on-site is a prevalent approach for 37% of companies, emphasizing direct assessment for reliable results. Approximately 8% of companies combine different approaches, offering both satellite imagery and on-site soil sampling for comprehensive monitoring. A smaller percentage (~2%) incorporates aerial imagery into carbon monitoring, utilizing diverse methods for data collection. Platform Availability for Soil Monitoring Solutions: Based on the research, 67% of analyzed companies offer their own client platform, providing users with seamless access and data management capabilities. Stay ahead of the competition and capitalize on the immense opportunities within the dynamic soil organic carbon monitoring market. With valuable insights and competitive analysis, this report empowers businesses to make informed decisions, drive growth, and establish themselves as industry leaders. The report covers the following segments: Global Market Overview: Provides a brief introduction to the segmentations covered in the market, estimates of the global market size, and insights into the origins of the carbon market. Key Market Players: Describes the top 5 companies in the market, along with recent developments in their business. Also, includes information about the top 3 market players in key regions such as the USA, UK, Australia, and Germany, and provides a brief description of their activities. Carbon Markets and Carbon Management Systems: Explores the concept of a carbon market as an economic framework that supports the buying and selling of environmental commodities signifying GHG emission reductions or sequestration. Additionally, highlights the top 5 carbon management software companies in the world and presents recent developments in the field. UK Market Overview: Provides a detailed analysis of 11 soil organic carbon monitoring companies in the UK, including their known total funding, preferred monitoring method, platform availability, top 5 companies by traffic share, and Twitter followers. Also, covers recent developments of the top 11 UK companies. Australian Market Overview: Offers insights into 11 soil organic carbon monitoring companies in Australia, their known total funding, preferred monitoring method, platform availability, and recent developments. Additionally, covers current demand for carbon monitoring in the soil, project costs for soil carbon projects, the impact of COVID-19, M&A trends, and regulation in Australia. Includes an analysis of ACCU quarterly supply and demand balance. Companies Mentioned Agricarbon Agrology AgroScout Carbon Asset Solutions Carbon Sync CarbonSpace Tech CarbonStack Chloris Geospatial ChrysaLabs Cloud Agronomics constellr Dagan (Other Agriculture) Deep Planet. Deveron Downforce Technologies FarmLab FLINTpro Genesis (Paris) HabiTerre Hone Hummingbird Technologies Klim MyEasyFarm OCELL Open Forest Protocol Perennial Quanterra Systems Reforestum S4 Mobile Laboratories Seqana Stenon Sylvera Treeconomy Varaha Viridios Capital For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/918hda 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 Company Has Grown Exponentially under 25 Years of Stacy's Leadership VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Trader Interactive , the parent company of leading online marketplaces in the lifestyle vehicle and commercial equipment industries, has announced the retirement of its CEO, Lori Stacy, after an illustrious 25-year career. She will be succeeded by David McMinn, who currently serves as the company's Chief Operating Officer. Trader Interactive CEO Lori Stacy Retires, Succeeded by David McMinn Stacy began as a sales manager at Auto Trader in 1997 and steadily ascended through the ranks as she increased focus on non-automotive brands, ultimately moving into the CEO position in 2017. She leaves a lasting legacy that includes overseeing the transformation of Trader's business from newsprint magazines to the digital marketplace business it is today. The leadership team identified the opportunity to go digital early on in 1996, and the company launched digital marketplaces to better serve growing consumer demand for online classifieds. These marketplaces and associated web services continued to grow and prosper under Stacy's leadership and the ownership of Norfolk, VA-based Dominion Enterprises. That growth attracted the attention of private equity companies Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Eurazeo, who in 2017 bought what would become Trader Interactive making it a standalone company. carsales.com LTD became Trader Interactive's third investment partner in 2022 and purchased the remaining shares earlier this year, becoming Trader's sole owner. Stacy's retirement is effective on December 14. She will remain closely involved in the business as the Chair of the Trader Interactive Board. McMinn transitions to the CEO role after successful stints as the company's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Trader Interactive, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Trader Corporation, playing a pivotal role in transitioning that company's Autotrader business from a print business to become the #1 digital automotive platform in Canada. His background also includes senior leadership roles in sales and operations with the Trader Media Group in the UK, whose Autotrader.co.uk is the largest digital automotive marketplace in Europe. He also served as the CFO of Sensis Classifieds in Australia. McMinn's core objectives as CEO will encompass setting and executing the organization's strategy, resource allocation, and overseeing the executive team. This change in leadership marks a pivotal moment for Trader Interactive, as it looks toward a future of sustained growth and innovation. "Now is the right time for me to step back and embark on a new chapter in my life so I can focus on my passions and spend more time with my family," Stacy said. "I have never been more confident in the team and the work we are doing than right now. Our leadership team is the strongest it has ever been, we have an amazing partnership with our owners and I see nothing but positive momentum ahead. TI is a part of me, and I am dedicated to seeing it thrive in the years to come." "Lori is a strong, capable leader who built a world-class business attracting happy customers, loyal and passionate employees and satisfied buyers and sellers. She crafted an impressive and enviable culture during her tenure here," said Cameron McIntyre, CEO of CAR Group (formerly known as carsales.com LTD.) "We are extremely appreciative to Lori for her years of dedication and we thank her for setting us up so successfully for the next phase of growth. "We are indeed excited about the future under David's leadership," McIntyre continued. "David will continue Trader's legacy of focusing on the customer, working as one team, driving innovation, acting with integrity and building value." McMinn added "Trader Interactive is unique with a thriving culture and so many opportunities to continue to build value for our customers. Lori and the team have built a great business and I am honored to lead the world class team here at TI. We have an exciting future ahead of us." About Trader Interactive Trader Interactive connects buyers, sellers, and renters in the powersports, recreational vehicle, aircraft, marine, commercial vehicle, and heavy equipment industries through a broad portfolio of marketplaces that reach nine million unique monthly visitors. Linked by a widely recognized family of "Trader" trademarks dating back several decades, the company's brands include lifestyle vehicle marketplaces Cycle Trader, RV Trader, ATV Trader, PWC Trader, Snowmobile Trader, Boatline, Aero Trader, and Trade-A-Plane, as well as commercial vehicle and equipment marketplaces Commercial Truck Trader, Equipment Trader, NextTruck, Rock & Dirt, and Tradequip. For more information, visit TraderInteractive.com . About CAR Group CAR Group, a driving force in innovation since the 1990s, operates world-leading digital marketplaces across Oceania, Asia, and The Americas. With a vision to create #1 digital marketplaces for vehicles globally, they deliver cutting-edge technology and advertising solutions through wholly owned businesses in Australia, South Korea, the United States, and Chile, employing over 1,800 people worldwide and making significant strides in transforming the buying and selling experience for customers worldwide. SOURCE Trader Interactive Awarded in the Business Impact Category for the FabConnect Trinamix Semiconductor Industry Solution SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Trinamix, a leading global solution provider specializing in Oracle Applications and member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), won the 2023 Oracle Worldwide Partner Award and North America Applications Partner Award for Business Impact for its FabConnect solution. The annual Oracle Partner Awards celebrate partners that have shown exceptional innovation, entrepreneurial success and dedication to customers. This accolade recognizes Trinamix's commitment to empowering semiconductor companies with tangible business outcomes through its differentiated solutions like FabConnect. Trinamix Wins 2023 Oracle Worldwide Partner Award and 2023 North America Applications Partner Award for Business Impact FabConnect plays a pivotal role in connecting internal MES, external partner systems, and Oracle Fusion Cloud Manufacturing, part of the Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM). It caters to advanced transactions for all Fabless OEMs, enabling the streamlining of entire business operations via preconfigured integrations between OEM, Fab, and Assembly Partners. This award reflects the successful results achieved by Trinamix and Oracle through their innovative collaboration. "Trinamix aims at enabling streamlined supply chain management for some of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturing companies through FabConnect," said Amit Sharma, Co-founder & CEO, Trinamix. He also thanked Hari Krishnan, the visionary and pioneer of FabConnect, for his dedication in developing the solution. "Trinamix is a valued Oracle partner, delivering Oracle Cloud solutions and dedication to support its customer's cloud transformation journeys," said Dan Haller, group vice president, North America Applications Alliance & Channels, Oracle. "We congratulate Trinamix on its recent award wins." Being elated with this award, Prantik Chakraborty, Vice President, Sales and Strategy, Trinamix said, "We take immense pride in this award that recognizes our commitment to shaping the future of advanced manufacturing and driving innovation in the technological landscape of the industry." About Trinamix Trinamix is a global solution provider specializing in Oracle Applications, with a focus on Oracle SCM, ERP, EPM, CX & IOT/Blockchain-based applications. We are headquartered in the US with local offices in Canada, Australia, Japan, the UK, and India. About Oracle PartnerNetwork Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) is Oracle's partner program designed to enable partners to accelerate the transition to cloud and drive superior customer business outcomes. The OPN program allows partners to engage with Oracle through track(s) aligned to how they go to market: Cloud Build for partners that provide products or services built on or integrated with Oracle Cloud; Cloud Sell for partners that resell Oracle Cloud technology; Cloud Service for partners that implement, deploy and manage Oracle Cloud Services; and License & Hardware for partners that build, service or sell Oracle software licenses or hardware products. Customers can expedite their business objectives with OPN partners who have achieved expertise in a product family or cloud service. To learn more visit: http://www.oracle.com/partnernetwork Trademark Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. NetSuite was the first cloud company ushering in the new era of cloud computing. Contact Information Manish Kanani Senior Marketing Manager [email protected] +919860622665 Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2281387/Trinamix_2023_Awards.jpg SOURCE Trinamix Inc. DUBLIN, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Vancomycin Drug Insight and Market Forecast - 2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report provides comprehensive insights about vancomycin for clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in the seven major markets. A detailed picture of the vancomycin for clostridium difficile infection in the 7MM, i.e., the United States, EU4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) and the United Kingdom, and Japan for the study period 2019 -2032 is provided in this report along with a detailed description of the vancomycin for clostridium difficile infection. The report provides insights about mechanism of action, dosage and administration, as well as research and development including regulatory milestones, along with other developmental activities. Further, it also consists of future market assessments inclusive of the vancomycin market forecast analysis for clostridium difficile infection in the 7MM, SWOT, analysts' views, comprehensive overview of market competitors, and brief about other emerging therapies in clostridium difficile infection. Drug Summary Vancomycin is a glycopeptide antimicrobial with minimal systemic absorption when taken orally. This medication stays within the lumen of the bowel and has high concentrations in the colon. Intravenous vancomycin is excreted renally and so plays no role in the treatment of CDI as this formulation never accesses the colon. V ancomycin inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis and, at therapeutic concentrations, this is believed to be bacteriostatic. It is this bacteriostatic effect that some believe results in the recurrences seen with this antimicrobial. The major advantage of orally administered vancomycin is its more favorable pharmacokinetics. Side effects of vancomycin include abdominal pain, flatulence, nausea, headache, and peripheral edema. It is also important to remember that patients receiving vancomycin can, rarely, develop red-man syndrome from this therapy. Report Highlights In the coming years, the market scenario for clostridium difficile infection is set to change due to the extensive research and incremental healthcare spending across the world; which would expand the size of the market to enable the drug manufacturers to penetrate more into the market. The companies are developing therapies that focus on novel approaches to treat/improve the disease condition, assess challenges, and seek opportunities that could influence vancomycin dominance. Other emerging products for clostridium difficile infection are expected to give tough market competition to vancomycin and launch of late-stage emerging therapies in the near future will significantly impact the market. A detailed description of regulatory milestones, and developmental activities, provide the current development scenario of vancomycin in clostridium difficile infection. This in-depth analysis of the forecasted sales data of vancomycin from 2023 to 2032 will support the clients in the decision-making process regarding their therapeutic portfolio by identifying the overall scenario of the vancomycin in clostridium difficile infection. Scope of the Report A comprehensive product overview including the vancomycin description, mechanism of action, dosage and administration, research and development activities in clostridium difficile infection. Elaborated details on vancomycin regulatory milestones and other development activities have been provided in this report. The report also highlights the vancomycin research and development activities in clostridium difficile infection across the United States , Europe and Japan . , and . The report also covers the patents information with expiry timeline around vancomycin. The report contains forecasted sales of vancomycin for clostridium difficile infection till 2032. Comprehensive coverage of the late-stage emerging therapies for clostridium difficile infection. The report also features the SWOT analysis with analyst views for vancomycin in clostridium difficile infection. Key Topics Covered: 1. Report Introduction 2. Vancomycin Overview in Clostridium difficile infection 2.1. Product Detail 2.2. Clinical Development 2.2.1. Clinical studies 2.2.2. Clinical trials information 2.2.3. Safety and efficacy 2.3. Regulatory Milestone 2.4. Other Developmental Activities 2.5. Product Profile 3. Competitive Landscape (Marketed Therapies) 4. Competitive Landscape (Late-stage Emerging Therapies) 5. Vancomycin Market Assessment 5.1. Market Outlook of Vancomycin in Clostridium difficile infection 5.2. 7MM Analysis 5.2.1. Market Size of Vancomycin in the 7MM for Clostridium difficile infection 5.3. Country-wise Market Analysis 5.3.1. Market Size of Vancomycin in the United States for Clostridium difficile infection 5.3.2. Market Size of Vancomycin in Germany for Clostridium difficile infection 5.3.3. Market Size of Vancomycin in France for Clostridium difficile infection 5.3.4. Market Size of Vancomycin in Italy for Clostridium difficile infection 5.3.5. Market Size of Vancomycin in Spain for Clostridium difficile infection 5.3.6. Market Size of Vancomycin in the United Kingdom for Clostridium difficile infection 5.3.7. Market Size of Vancomycin in Japan for Clostridium difficile infection 6. SWOT Analysis 7. Analysts' Views 8. Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ngiue9 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 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 Sanaa, Nov 20 : Yemen's Houthi rebels have confirmed that they have hijacked an "Israeli cargo ship" in the Red Sea. "The Houthis announce the implementation of a military operation in the Red Sea, the results of which included the seizure of an Israeli ship," Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea said on Sunday in a statement aired by the group's al-Masirah TV. Renewing the rebel group's threat to target all ships belonging to or dealing with Israel, Sarea called on "all countries whose citizens work in the Red Sea to stop any activity with Israeli ships or ships rented by Israelis". The spokesman reiterated that the group would continue to carry out military operations against Israel until "its aggression against the Gaza Strip" stops, Xinhua news agency reported. Hours earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday in a statement that the Houthis took control of the cargo ship near Yemen in the southern Red Sea, adding that the vessel was heading from Turkey to India. IDF warned that the hijacking was "a very grave incident of global consequence". The ship was identified as the Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship that transports cars, according to a report by the Saudi-based Al Arabiya TV news. Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported that the ship was operated by a Japanese company, which leased it from a British company co-owned by Rami Ungar, an Israeli shipping mogul and importer of vehicles. Marine Traffic, an online vessel tracking platform, published its last update about the hijacked Galaxy Leader at 13:04 local time on Saturday. The Houthi militia controls much of Yemen's north, including the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah since the Yemeni civil war erupted in late 2014. Doha, Nov 20 : The Qatari Foreign Minister has said that mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas are underway, with "good progress" being made in the past few days. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, also the Prime Minister of Qatar, made the remarks during a joint press conference in Qatar's capital Doha with Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, according to statements published by the Qatari Foreign Ministry on social media platform X. The statements said in their meeting on Sunday, the Qatari Minister and the EU official discussed ways of cooperation between Qatar and the EU to reach a lasting and peaceful solution to the Gaza crisis in political and humanitarian dimensions, Xinhua news agency reported. During the meeting, Al Thani affirmed that "our top priority is to achieve an immediate cease-fire and end all reprisal operations and indiscriminate attacks on the Gaza Strip," the statements added. The Minister also stressed that "(what is) most important is to see humanitarian aid and assistance flowing into Gaza," expressing hope that a deal would be reached in this regard as soon as possible to facilitate it. Since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7, Qatar has been making efforts to mediate between the warring parties, secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, and de-escalate the situation in Gaza. Miami, Nov 20 : Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, said that incumbent US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were too old to run for the White House for another term. When Biden, who is now 81 years old, entered the White House in January 2021, he became the country's oldest President at the age of 78. Meanwhile Trump, who became the first President in American history without prior public office or military background, took office in 2017 when he was 71 years old. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, the 45-year-old DeSantis said the presidency is "not a job for somebody that is pushing 80". "I just think that that's something that has been shown with Joe Biden. Father Time is undefeated. Donald Trump is not exempt from any of that," the Republican said. The Governor even asserted that he is in the "prime of my life" while noting that Trump would be older than Biden was at the start of his term if he were to take office in 2025. In the 2024 presidential election, age has become a topic of main focus, with Trump mocking Biden and questioning his mental fitness for office. But the former President has also had a fair share of gaffes and verbal slips on the trail. Meanwhile, DeSantis's campaign launching an "accident tracker" for Trump gaffes last month that highlights apparent verbal slip-ups, such as when the former President appeared to confuse his predecessor Barack Obama with Biden. DeSantis said these "accidents" point to Trump not being "the same guy" he was when he first ran for president in 2016. When asked about Trump's mental acuity and his ability to beat Biden in a general election, DeSantis told CNN: "I wouldn't be running unless I thought that the Democrats would beat Trump if he were the nominee. "You're gonna see scorched earth. You're gonna see all this stuff brought out from from the past...The whole election will end up being a referendum on Donald Trump, and Biden will be able to hang out in the basement, and I think he'll be able to get away with it again." The Governor further asserted that "I will serve two terms, deliver big results, and get the country moving again". "That's what Republican voters want to see." he told CNN. Despite waning poll numbers, DeSantis has kept a vigorous pace on the campaign trail. Over the past two days, he has appeared at eight public events and continued his swing through Iowa on Sunday. In contrast with Biden and Trump, DeSantis often hits campaign events with his wife, Casey, and three children. San Francisco, Nov 20 : Kyle Vogt, co-founder and CEO of GM's self-driving car subsidiary Cruise, has resigned, in less than a month after the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) suspended Cruise's deployment and driverless testing permits. GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra announced that Mo Elshenawy, executive vice president of engineering at Cruise, will serve as president and CTO for Cruise, reports TechCrunch. However, the new Cruise CEO was yet to be announced. "Cruise is still just getting started, and I believe it has a great future ahead. You all are brilliant, driven and resilient. I'm deeply saddened I won't be working next to you anymore," Vogt told employees in an email. "However, I know you're executing against a very strong, multi-year technology roadmap and exciting product vision, and I'm thrilled to see what Cruise has in store in its next chapter," he added. He also posted on X: "As for what's next for me, I plan to spend time with my family and explore some new ideas. Thanks for the great ride!" Barra said that the Cruise Board understands and respects his decision to resign as CEO. "We wish him well in his next chapter. We continue to believe strongly in Cruise's mission and the potential of its transformative technology as we look to make transportation safer, cleaner and more accessible," Barra added. On October 2, a pedestrian, initially hit by a human-driven car and landed in the path of a Cruise robotaxi, ran over and dragged 20 feet by the autonomous vehicle. A video showed the robotaxi braking aggressively and coming to a stop over the woman. The DMV order stopped Cruise's robotaxi operations in San Francisco just months after receiving the last necessary permit to commercialise its operations. The order of suspension said that Cruise allegedly withheld video footage from an ongoing investigation. New Delhi, Nov 20 : With less than a week left for polling for Rajasthan Assembly, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be addressing two public meetings each in the desert state. Kharge, who is leading the party's campaign in the five state Assembly elections, is all set to hold public meetings in Rajasthan. He will be addressing two public meetings -- first at 12 noon in Anupgarh Assembly constituency and second at 2 p.m. in Hanumangarh Assembly seat. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi will also be addressing two public meetings in the desert state. She will be addressing a public meeting at 12 noon in the Kekri area and another one at 1.30 p.m. in Jahajpur area. Polling for the 200-member Assembly is scheduled on November 25 and campaigning will come to a halt on November 23 evening. Congress is seeking a second consecutive term in the state and defy the three-decade old tradition of incumbent government being voted out. The Congress has announced seven guarantees for the state and is hoping to retain power riding high on its "pro-people schemes". Houston, Nov 20 : Texas Governor Greg Abbott has endorsed Donald Trump for President in 2024 during the latter's visit to a border town on the US-Mexico border where he slammed US President Joe Biden over his handling of immigration. "We need Donald J. Trump back as our President of the United States of America," CNN quoted the Republican Governor as saying at an event with the former president in Edinburg, Texas on Sunday. Addressing the crowd, Trump bashed Biden over his handling of the border, arguing the US now has the "most unsecure border in the history, I believe, really, of the world". Trump, front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has been ramping up his rhetoric on the campaign trail, promising to conduct the "largest domestic deportation operation in American history" if wins the election next year. The former President has publicly said he wants to revive many of his first-term immigration policies to restrict both legal and illegal immigration including reinstating and expanding a travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries and bringing back a Covid-era policy known as Title 42 to further restrict immigration into the country. Meanwhile, the state of Texas remain locked in a hard-fought legal battle with President Joe Biden's administration over its efforts to curtain illegal immigration, CNN reported. In the latest development, Abbott is expected sign a bill that would make it a new state crime to enter Texas illegally and give local law enforcement the power to arrest and order migrants to leave the US. "Stopping the invasion at our southern border is an urgent national security necessity and one of President Trump's top priorities. For that reason, he has laid out in his own speeches and Agenda 47 platform by far the most detailed program for securing the border, stopping illegal immigration, and removing those who should never have been allowed into our country in the first place," a spokesperson for the Trump campaign said in a statement to CNN. New Delhi, Nov 20 : The air quality at several monitoring stations again plunged to the 'severe' category on Monday morning. The Anand Vihar station was in the 'severe' category with PM 10 at 401 and PM 2.5 at 392, in a very 'poor' category, as per CPCB at 10 a.m. At the Bawana station, PM 2.5 reached 434 and PM 10 at 411, both in 'severe' category, while the CO reached 85, in 'satisfactory' levels and NO2 at 27 in the 'good' category. In Dwarka sector-8 station, the PM 2.5 reached 463 and PM 10 was at 478, both in the 'severe' category while NO2 reached 117 and CO was at 111 in 'moderate' levels. The air quality at the Indira Gandhi International Airport T3 area was 'severe' with PM 2.5 recorded at 436 and PM 10 at 366, in 'very poor' category, while the CO reached 122 under 'moderate' category and NO2 was at 49 in 'good' levels. At ITO station, the PM 2.5 plunged to 399 and PM 2.5 was at 371, both under 'very poor' category while the NO2 spiked to 244 in the 'poor' category and CO was at 101 in 'moderate' levels. The PM 2.5 at Jahangirpuri was recorded at 468 and Particulate Matter (PM) 10 reached 471 placing both under the 'severe' category. Here, the Carbon Monoxide (CO) was 100 in 'satisfactory' levels and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at 24, in the 'good' category The AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good'; 51 and 100 'satisfactory'; 101 and 200 'moderate'; 201 and 300 'poor'; 301 and 400 'very poor'; and 401 and 500 'severe'. Bengaluru, Nov 20 : Five officers of the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), who were arrested after a woman and her infant died when they stepped on a livewire here, were released on station bail, according to sources on Monday. Soundarya, 23, and her nine month old baby, Suvikasha, were burnt alive after stepping on a snapped electric wire while walking on the footpath on Sunday near Hope Farm Junction on Whitefield Main Road, located 100 meters from the Bescom office. The public expressed outrage over the incident and demanded stringent action against the negligent Bescom officers. Authorities had initially taken the officers into custody and claimed that they were arrested. Bescom executive engineer Sriram, assistant executive engineer Subramanya, assistant engineer Chetan, joint engineer Rajanna, and station operator Manjunath were arrested by the Kadugodi police over negligence resulting in the death of the mother and baby. It was alleged that even an hour after the tragedy, the authorities had not arrived at the scene. It is also alleged that the wire had snapped on the pavement on Saturday night. Soundarya was returning home in Bengaluru with her 9-month-old daughter and husband Santhosh Kumar after celebrating Diwali in Tamil Nadu She stepped on the snapped 11 kV electric wire on the pavement, causing both her and her baby to burn alive. Even as Santhosh tried to save them, he also received an electric shock and fell unconscious. Later, he said that instead of helping, the public was busy recording the tragedy on their mobile phones. The Kadugodi police have registered a case under IPC Section 304A and are investigating the matter. The Bescom has suspended three officials and the government has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the family. New Delhi, Nov 20 : After October 7 following Hamas's unprecedented surprise attack on Israel, much of the international community rushed to voice its concern about the escalation in tensions, but few took a moment to condemn Israel's aggression against the Palestinians. However, as Israel continues to bomb Gaza and attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, several governments have started to turn critical of Israel's actions - some more directly than others. Surprisingly, even the number of nations, condemning Israel's brutal military oppression in Gaza, doesn't exceed a two-digit list. In contrast there are some nations like South Africa, which have vociferously condemned the Israeli brutalities in Gaza on unarmed Palestinian children, youth and aged. On November 17, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said he had received a joint request from five countries to investigate the situation in the Palestinian territories. Prosecutor Karim Kahn said the referral had come from South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti. South Africa said the request was made to ensure that the ICC pays urgent attention to the grave situation in Palestine. Though, Israel is not a member of the court and does not recognise its jurisdiction, the ICC can investigate nationals of non-member states in certain circumstances, including when crimes are alleged to have been committed in the territories of member states. The Palestinian territories have been listed among the ICC's members since 2015. Perhaps the emotional connect between S Africa and Palestine exists because of the two prominent leaders of the non-aligned movement i.e. Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat, from these two countries respectively, and recalling the experience of apartheid themselves, the South African leaders could better understand the plight of the Palestinians and raise their voice in their support. The South African government has made its position clear expressing support for the Palestinians amid the on going attacks by Israel in the Gaza Strip, though also condemning resistance group Hamas for attacking and kidnapping Israeli civilians. "We, who enjoy the freedom from Apartheid, can never, ever be the ones who agree to an apartheid form of oppression. This cannot be tolerated. This brutality should not be accepted." Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in parliament on November 14 while delivering a ministerial statement on the raging conflict. "These actions remind us of our experiences as Black South Africans living under Apartheid. This is one of the key reasons South Africans, like people in cities all overthe world, have taken to the streets to express their anger and concern at what is taking place in Gaza and the West Bank." she said. Taking a proactive action last week, South Africa withdrew all its diplomats from Tel Aviv for consultation over Israel's assault in Gaza. The South African government also instructed the Foreign Ministry to take the necessary diplomatic measures to deal with the conduct of the Israel ambassador to South Africa, Eliav Belotserkovsky, whose conduct, they said is becoming very untenable. Belotserkovsky is accused of disparaging comments against people raising their voices against attacks on Palestinians. South Africa is among a handful of African countries maintaining diplomatic ties with both Israel and Palestine. Yet, it has strongly advocated for Palestinian freedom and has called for a two-state solution. Lesiba Teffo, a political scientist at the University of South Africa, commenting on the South African government's response told Anadolu news agency that South Africa and Palestine have had historic relations for decades and that it is important for them to support the Palestinian cause for freedom. "Palestine was with South Africa during the struggle against apartheid, while Britain and America never supported us but they were ever supporting Israel. This context is important," he told Anadolu. Teffo also said South Africa has been consistent in supporting Palestine over the years. Dirk Kotze, another professor of politics at the same university, told Anadolu that South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has had historical links with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) since the time of late anti- apartheid hero and first Black South African President Nelson Mandela. Siyabulela Mandela, the great-grandson of Nelson Mandela in an interview said that despite South Africa being liberated from the senseless violence and oppression, he (Nelson Mandela) was able to recognise the fact that our freedom is not complete until the people of Palestine are free. Siyabulela, an independent consultant on human rights, peace and conflict resolution, spoke with Global National's Farah Nasser while in Toronto where he was interviewed on stage at the Journalists for Human Rights annual gala. He said that his great-grandfather, the first Black president of South Africa, was considered idealistic for thinking that there was a solution to apartheid in his country and people would consider it a miracle if it happened - and then it did. Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa joined a growing chorus of international voices against what many has termed "the genocidal operation" of the IDF in Gaza. The South African Parliament also last week debated whether to cut diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. Leading parties in parliament, notably the ruling ANC and the third largest party, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), favour cutting diplomatic ties with Israel. In recent years, human rights organisations and legal experts have increasingly described Israel's policies toward Palestinians as apartheid, adding to a longstanding debate about whether this is an accurate way to categorise the country's practices. Human rights groups have argued that the Israeli government's policies on land access, restrictions on movement, and limitations on the right to vote meet the ICC's standard and that it has institutionalised racism against Palestinians in order to ensure Israeli Jews remain the dominant group across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT), which includes the West Bank and Gaza. Israel and its allies, including the U.S. and the European Commission, have rejected this assessment. Overall, it makes one wonder what is holding back the so-called Islamic states from taking any firm step against the Israeli aggression, like South Africa? Their own selfish interests and their lust for power, as most of them are monarchies and in no way are obligated to uphold the wish of their people, which recent demonstrations in some Arab states have shown. It would not be wrong to surmise that the current conflict has shown the leopard's true spots. (Asad Mirza is a Delhi-based senior political and international affairs commentator) New Delhi, November 20 : The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on a plea filed by the state of Kerala against "inaction" on the part of the Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in giving assent to the bills passed by the state legislature. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra sought response of the Union government and Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor by Friday. "Issue notice to the second and third respondents, returnable on Friday. We request the Attorney General of India or the Solicitor General to assist this court in the matter," the bench ordered. During the hearing, senior advocate K. K. Venugopal, representing the Kerala government, said that Governors should realise that they are a part of the state legislature under Article 168 of the Constitution. Venugopal said that as many as 8 bills are pending for assent with the Governor Khan for a period ranging between 7-23 months. He said that the Governor also continues to sit on three bills which were earlier promulgated as ordinances under his signature. According to the plea, as many as eight bills were presented to the Governor for his assent and of these, "three have been pending with the Governor for more than two years, and three more in excess of a full year". The plea filed by the Kerala government said that by keeping bills presented to him pending for such long periods, the Governor is directly violating the provision of the Constitution, namely, that the bill should be dealt with "as soon as possible". The writ petition said that the words "as soon as possible" occurring in Article 200 of the Constitution necessarily mean that not only should pending bills be disposed of within a reasonable time, but that these Bills have to be dealt with urgently and expeditiously without any avoidable delay. It added that the Governor's alleged inaction defeats the rights of the people of the state to the welfare measures sought to be implemented through the bills. "The conduct of the Governor, as would presently be demonstrated, threatens to defeat and subvert the very fundamentals and basic foundations of our Constitution, including the rule of law and democratic good governance," the plea said. New Delhi, Nov 20 : Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Monday said it has signed an agreement with Australia's primary securities exchange, ASX, to provide clearing and settlement platform to service the Australian market. ASX will implement TCS' flagship product 'TCS BaNCS for Market Infrastructure' to enable the transformation. The TCS product will be used to replace ASX's existing platform for cash equities clearing and settlement, the company said in a statement. "TCS BaNCS for Market Infrastructure continues to gain traction in the global market with its rich functionality and unique multi-asset class capability across the post-trade value chain," said Vivekanand Ramgopal, President, BFSI Products & Platforms, TCS. The new platform will be on a state-of-the-art technology stack with TCS BaNCS for Market Infrastructure and is proposed to be implemented in two releases. While the clearing service is expected to be delivered in the first phase, the settlement depository and subregister services will follow in the second phase, said the company. This staged approach is expected to reduce overall delivery risk and help manage the impact on industry stakeholders. ASX Managing Director and CEO Helen Lofthouse said the TCS product is expected to meet the needs of today's market and provide important industry and customer benefits, like improved scalability, maintaining high operational and resilience standards, while providing improved scalability and the ability to support future market growth as required. With an ability to support multiple markets, currencies, and asset classes, TCS BaNCS for Market Infrastructure has been adopted by market infrastructure institutions in more than 20 countries. Mumbai, Nov 20 : A nine-film retrospective of Indian cinema acting legend Amitabh Bachchan is set for the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, France. The retrospective, titled 'Amitabh Bachchan, Big B Forever', will showcase different aspects of the actor's oeuvre including his persona as the 'angry young man,' created by writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, action, drama, romance and comedy in some of the greatest films of Hindi-language cinema including 'Sholay', 'Deewar', 'Don', 'Kabhie Kabhie' and 'Amar Akbar Anthony', reports Variety. The directors are also legends of Indian cinema including Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy, Manmohan Desai and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The showcase is co-presented by Film Heritage Foundation, the not-for-profit organisation founded by filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, which over the past year has hosted a series of hugely successful retrospectives in cinemas across India, including 'Bachchan Back To The Beginning', 'Dilip Kumar Hero of Heroes' and 'Dev Anand @ 100 Forever Young'. Amitabh Bachchan said, as quoted by Variety: "Film Heritage Foundation's initiative to bring classic Indian films back to the big screen in India has been truly remarkable. I am so pleased to hear that they are co-presenting a selection of nine of my early films at one of the oldest and most reputed film festivals the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, especially as it focuses on the cinema of Africa, Latin America and Asia." He added: "Many of these films gave me an opportunity to play a diverse range of characters and work with some of the most significant filmmakers of the time including Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Manmohan Desai, Yash Chopra and Ramesh Sippy. I hope that the festival audience will enjoy the selection of films that continue to give so much joy to viewers half a century since they were made. Even though I will not be there in person, I am delighted that my daughter Shweta will be in Nantes to represent me at the festival." Hyderabad, Nov 20 : Telangana BJP president G. Kishan Reddy has reiterated that if his party is voted to power in the state, it will order a judicial probe into all corruption scandals by the BRS government. He said a commission will be constituted headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court to probe all the corruption allegations against the KCR-led government. "We will ensure that the guilty are punished, whether they are KCR's family members, BRS ministers or BRS MLAs. No one will be spared. This is the demand of Telangana people," he said. He alleged that the BRS damaged the state's economy during the last 10 years through scams. He claimed that there is strong anti-incumbency against the KCR government. Reddy said people in villages were voluntarily stopping campaign vehicles of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The union minister said a double-engine government alone can ensure comprehensive development of Telangana. He also claimed that BJP is receiving support from backward classes and the scheduled castes. The party has promised that if it came to power it will make a BC as the state chief minister. Reddy said people were welcoming the election manifesto of the BJP and it was receiving support from all sections of the people. The BJP leader said people were not ready to believe the fake guarantees given by the Congress party. He alleged that the Congress failed to implement its poll promises in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. He blamed the Congress for the loss of lives during 1969 Telangana agitation and the second phase of the movement after 2009. Mirzapur : , Nov 20 (IANS) A notorious cattle smuggler, Ajit Paswan, was arrested after he suffered bullet injuries during an exchange of fire with police personnel in Mirzapur district. According to police, the smuggler was carrying a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on his head. Sharing details, ASP Mirzapur OP Singh said on Monday that on getting information regarding movement of criminals, a joint team of Rajgarh police and special operation group (SOG) cordoned the Rajgarh road. During the checking drive, a person riding a motorcycle tried to dodge the cops when they signalled him to stop. When the cops chased him, he opened fire at the police team. When the cops retaliated, the miscreant suffered bullet injuries in his leg and fell on ground, the ASP said. Later, police rushed the injured to the district hospital after recovering a country-made revolver, live cartridges, the motorcycle, a mobile phone and Rs 3,160 cash from his possession. Singh further said that two cases of cattle smuggling were lodged against Paswan at Rajgarh police station while details of other cases pending against him were being collected from other districts. New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Delhi High Court has said that private schools must adhere to the recommendations of the sixth and seventh Central Pay Commissions (CPC) and ensure the payment of mandated salaries and benefits to their teaching and non-teaching employees. Justice Chandra Dhari Singh was hearing a series of petitions filed by school staff seeking the benefits of the sixth and seventh pay commissions, including arrears and other entitlements with interest, said that employees have a vested right to receive salaries and emoluments in accordance with the pay commissions, and schools cannot use lack of funds as a reason to deny these entitlements. The court explicitly stated that no school can seek a waiver from implementing the pay commission recommendations, as doing so would jeopardise the standardised compensation for school employees, allowing schools to arbitrarily set salaries. The judgement stressed on the equality stipulated by Section 10 of the Delhi School Education (DSE) Act, 1973, which mandates that the salaries and allowances of recognised school employees should not be less than those of corresponding status in schools run by the appropriate authority. Justice Singh extended this obligation to unaided minority schools, saying that they too must comply with Section 10 of the DSE Act. The court directed the Delhi government to establish high-powered committees at the state and central levels to supervise the implementation of pay commission recommendations. These committees will ensure the expeditious resolution of issues related to fee hikes, salaries, and other benefits. The central committee, headed by Delhi's Education Secretary, will receive recommendations from zonal committees, headed by Zonal Education Officers. The court mandated that the central committee decide on these recommendations within six weeks, stressing on the urgency of addressing the concerns raised by teaching and non-teaching staff in various private schools. Despite schools arguing financial constraints, the court held that non-compliance with Department of Education notifications for pay commission recommendations violated the petitioners' constitutional rights. What was Guv doing for 3 years: SC questions TN Governor over delay in clearing Bills (Ld). Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Supreme Court on Monday raised questions over the delay by Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi in giving assent to the Bills passed by the state legislature. A bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the Governor returned 10 out of 12 Bills pending with him for his assent after a notice was issued by the top court on Tamil Nadu government's plea. "These Bills have been pending since January 2020. It means that the Governor took the decision after the Court issued notice. What was he doing for three years? Why should the Governor wait for the parties to approach the Supreme Court?" the bench asked. During the hearing, Attorney General R. Venkataramani, the top-most law officer of the Centre, said the incumbent Governor, R.N. Ravi assumed charge with effect from November 2021. At this, CJI Chandrachud said: "The issue is not whether any particular Governor caused delay but whether in general there has been a delay by Governor in exercising Constitutional functions entrusted under Article 200 of the Constitution." In a written note submitted before the apex court, AG Venkataramani apprised that the Governor assented to 152 Bills out of 181 presented between 2020 and 2023, adding that five were withdrawn by the state government, nine were reserved for President's consideration and in relation to 10 Bills, assent was withheld. It was further told that five Bills, which were sent to the Governor in October 2023, are stated to be "in process". The apex court adjourned the hearing till December 1 after it was told that the Tamil Nadu Assembly in a special session on Saturday has re-adopted 10 Bills, which were sent back by the Governor for reconsideration. "The Assembly has passed the Bills again and sent it to the Governor. Let us see what the Governor does," it said. According to Article 200 of the Constitution, if a Bill is passed again, with or without amendments, and is presented to the Governor for assent, he has to accord his approval. On November 10, while issuing notice to the Union government, the apex court had said that the petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government raises a "matter of serious concern". In its writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the Tamil Nadu government has claimed that the Governor has positioned himself as a "political rival" to the legitimately elected state government. It said that Bills passed 2-3 years ago were still pending with the Governor, who is not granting sanction for prosecution of ministers or MLAs involved in corruption cases, nor clearing files relating to remission of prisoners. San Francisco/London, Nov 20 : Hundreds of families are suing social media giants like TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Meta (parent company of Instagram and Facebook) in the US and they feel the tech companies as "big, bad monsters". According to the BBC, the plaintiffs include ordinary families and school districts from across the US. "I literally was trapped by addiction at age 12. And I did not get my life back for all of my teenage years," Taylor Little, now 21, was quoted as saying in the report that came out on Monday. Taylor's social media addiction led to suicide attempts and years of depression. "If I had my phone taken away, it felt like having withdrawals. It was unbearable. Literally, when I say it was addictive, I don't mean it was habit-forming. I mean, my body and mind craved that," she was quoted as saying. Taylor also struggled with content around body image and eating disorders. Taylor and hundreds of other American families are suing four of the biggest tech companies -- Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, Google and Snap Inc (parent of Snapchat). "Lawyers for the families believe the case of 14-year-old British schoolgirl Molly Russell is an important example of the potential harms faced by teenagers," the BBC report noted. Russell, a seemingly happy teenager from northwest London, was found dead in her bedroom in November 2017. It later emerged she had viewed masses of content related to suicide, depression and anxiety online. Russell's name is mentioned a dozen times in the master complaint submitted to the court in California. In a breather for these families, a federal court in the US last week rejected social media giants' motion to dismiss dozens of lawsuits, accusing them of running platforms "addictive" to kids and allegedly spreading child sex abuse materials. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected their motion, saying that Meta, ByteDance, Alphabet (Google's parent company), and Snap (Snapchat's parent company) must proceed with a lawsuit alleging their social platforms have adverse mental health effects on children. "Because children still developing impulse control are uniquely susceptible to harms arising out of compulsive use of social media platforms, defendants have 'created a youth mental health crisis' through the defective design of their platforms," according to the ruling. "Further, these platforms facilitate and contribute to the sexual exploitation and sextortion of children, as well as the ongoing production and spread of child sex abuse materials (CSAM) online. To that end, defendants know that children use their products, both from public and internal data," the ruling read. Lawyers for the families called it a "significant victory". In a statement, Meta said that their thoughts are with the families represented in these complaints. "We want to reassure every parent that we have their interests at heart in the work we are doing to provide teens with safe, supportive experiences online," the social media giant said. Google said that the allegations in these complaints are "simply not true". "Protecting kids across our platforms has always been core to our work," the company said. Snapchat said its platform "was designed to remove the pressure to be perfect. We vet all content before it can reach a large audience to prevent the spread of anything that could be harmful." New Delhi, Nov 20 : Quick-grocery delivery provider Dunzo has shifted all employee accounts from Google Workspace to Zoho in order to bring down costs, media report said on Monday. According to Moneycontrol, citing sources, the company's Google Workspace access, which encompasses Gmail, Meet, Sites, Calendar, AppSheet and many more applications, was suspended overnight due to nonpayment to the cloud consultant. This move is expected to lower costs by at least a third for the cash-strapped company. The report also mentioned that the sudden suspension of Google Workspace resulted in the loss of people's email history, including external emails, ongoing conversations with vendors, planning documents (which contained quarterly plans), sprint plans and others. The company also confirmed the development. "This migration is just a regular business decision. There were some initial teething issues for the first couple of days, but all of these have been ironed out now," the company spokesperson was quoted as saying. According to the company website, Google, one of the biggest investors in Dunzo, charges a minimum of Rs 1,600 per user every month for its enterprise plan offerings. However, Zoho offers the same arrangement for only Rs 489 per user per month. The move to Zoho also comes at a time when Dunzo has been reducing its workforce as it prepares to be much smaller in scale. Earlier this month, Dunzo posted a loss of Rs 1,800 crore in FY23, a 288 per cent increase from the previous year. The company has also been hit by the departure of several top-level executives, including co-founders and its finance head, as well as delays in salaries of several employees. Bengaluru, Nov 20 : An elderly female occultist's throat was slit and her gold chain robbed in Anekal on the outskirts of the city on Monday. Akkayyamma, who resides on Laxmi Theatre Road in Anekal, has been shifted to a private hospital, where her condition is stated to be critical. The woman and her husband Narayanachari are local tantriks who provide solutions through the recital of mantras for leg and hand fractures, muscle pulls. This morning, the accused entered her house under the pretext of seeking a solution and attacked her before escaping, the police explained. According to the police, the robber had visited her on Saturday, seeking a solution for a muscle pull in his leg. He returned on Monday claiming that after the consultation, a child in his family had died. He then demanded that the victim give him the gold jewellery kept at home and locked the door. When the victim refused to hand over the valuables, the accused slit her throat with a knife and escaped with the gold chain she was wearing. The robber also assaulted the victim's husband, who tried to save her. On hearing the screams the neighbours rushed to the spot but the accused managed to escape. The victim, who was found lying in a pool of blood, has been shifted to a hospital where she is said to be critical. Anekal police arrived at the scene and initiated the investigation. The incident has instilled fear among the people in the region. Prayagraj, Nov 20 : Mafia don and former MLC in Uttar Pradesh, Brijesh Singh, has been acquitted by the Allahabad High Court in a murder case in which seven people in a family were brutally killed in Chandauli district 37 years ago. A division bench of Chief Justice Pritinkar Diwakar and Justice Ajay Bhanot gave the decision. The High Court upheld the order of the lower court which acquitted him from the charges in 2018. The court had reserved its verdict earlier this month after hearing all sides, on a petition filed by a woman named Hiravati against the decision of the sessions court. However, the High Court sentenced four other accused to life imprisonment in the same case, which includes Devendra Singh, Vakil Singh, Rakesh Singh and Pancham Singh. A report was filed against these four accused in the mass murder of seven people of the same family. Hiravati's husband, two brothers-in-law and four innocent children were brutally murdered. Mafia Brijesh Singh and his associates were accused of this murder in 1987. The victim had challenged the decision of the District Court Varanasi in her appeal. The District Court, in its decision given in 2018, had acquitted all the 13 accused. The court acquitted him on the basis of differences in the statements of witnesses. A case was registered against Brijesh Singh in the Balua Police Station of Varanasi district, in which an FIR was registered under sections 148, 149, 302, 307, 120B of IPC and section 25 of Arms Act. The mass massacre took place in Chandauli district in 1987. Brijesh Singh was made an accused in the case of murder of seven people. The trial court and sessions court had acquitted Brijesh in 2018. New Delhi, Nov 20 : The US sees India not only as a strategic partner but also as a key player in the "global conversation" to help resolve urgent issues to usher in durable peace, American Ambassador Eric Garcetti said here on Monday. Speaking on the India-US 2+2 Ministerial dialogue and the road ahead, Garcetti said that apart from the weapons that are to be sold and co-developed by the two countries, closer operational level co-operation between their militaries was a major step forward in the growing defence ties. This will involve intelligence sharing and joint military exercises on a much larger scale in the days ahead, he added. Garcetti said that the recently concluded 2+2 dialogue reflected a much more deepening of the US-India relationship. He pointed out that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had made three trips to India this year and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had comes twice, which represents the unprecedented level of relations between the two countries. Garcetti said the joint statement after the 2+2 dialogue reflects the commitment of India and US to safeguard a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific through the QUAD and other metrics. This assumes importance in the backdrop of the aggressive geopolitical posturing in the region. The US will stand together with its strategic partner India, Garcetti said, when asked about the recent talks between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. aThe operational level cooperation of our militaries, which I think is as critical as any equipment, and our countries discuss ways to deepen our science and our technology partnerships to harness technology with the global good instead of technology that harms us than divides us, we need technology that can connect us and protect us," he added. The envoy also said the US-India 2+2 dialogue discussed the atragic humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, reiterating their stand with Israel against terrorism, but also seeking to alleviate civilian suffering and adherence to international humanitarian law." Talking about the US investments in India, Garcetti said that they were looking forward to welcoming more visitors in December, and around January for major investments in Indian technology by US private sector companies. Investments in semiconductors and other such industrial ventures have to be taken up directly with the investing companies. The government is there only to facilitate such investments. "Government to government conversations are expanding round space, defence, production well," he added. Noida, Nov 20 : The Dr Pritam Singh Transformational Leader Award 2023, which is awarded to serving Vice Chancellor/Director for leadership excellence contributing to the Indian Higher Education, has been bestowed on Prof. (Dr.) C Raj Kumar, the Founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University. The prestigious Award was presented to the Vice Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar for his remarkable leadership and distinguished contribution to higher education. He was cited as a 'Game Changer Vice Chancellor' and an 'Exemplary Higher Education Leader'. Kumar is dedicated to institution building as exemplified by his extraordinary leadership of the O.P. Jindal Global University. It is an exceptional contribution to the nation by placing India on the global academic map in the field of law, social sciences and humanities. "Education is going to be instrumental in redefining the leadership of the future. There must be a new imagination for Indian Education - one which draws inspiration from the past, but will also have to look to the future. Transformational change needs to take place at every level of policy making, regulation and governance in higher education if Indian universities are serious about seeking global excellence and achieving higher rankings," said Kumar upon receiving the distinguished award. He thanked the eminent jury for bestowing him with the distinction of the award and said: "India, a country renowned for its varied population and rich cultural legacy, has advanced significantly over the years in a number of fields. It is important to imagine a future wherein India leads the world in education, especially in the area of business schools and colleges in law, humanities and social sciences, as the centennial of India's independence draws near. Pertinently, the Indian higher education system commanded awe and respect in the ancient world long before the emergence of the first university in Europe and attracted the best students and academicians from around the world. Therefore, we must learn from our past work on the present to reflect positively on our future." Dr Pritam Singh Leadership Award & PRISM 2023 Valedictory Function was held at the campus of Birla institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH). The Vice Chancellor also delivered the Keynote address on 'India at 2047: Building World-Class Business Schools & Universities Perspective from a game changer Vice Chancellor'. The Dr. Pritam Singh Foundation (PSF) has taken a new initiative of conferring Leadership Awards this year to cherish and celebrate the legacy of the late Dr. Pritam Singh in leadership education, training, and research. Under the Dr. Pritam Singh Leadership Awards, two awards have been instituted separately for industry and Academia leaders. Two juries have been constituted to consider the nominations received by the Dr. Pritam Singh Foundation. The Jury for Academic Leadership Awards has been presided over by Dr D P Singh, former Chairman, UGC with Dr Bhimaraya Metri, Director, IIM, Nagpur, and Dr H Chaturvedi, Director, BIMTECH as members. The meeting of the jury was recently held last week under the Chairmanship of Dr D P Singh. Prof. Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar, O. P. Jindal Global University lauded the achievement and said, "Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar's principal contribution has been to show how deeply globalisation has influenced higher education in India. His dedication and commitment led JGU towards achieving academic excellence which brings its students a truly global and diverse experience, while increasing the global footprint of Indian higher education. Kumar continues with his outstanding academic work to contribute towards building an enhanced and comprehensive understanding of the role of higher education in India and beyond as means of building a society that is ethical and based on rule of law." Dr. Pritam Singh worked tirelessly to transform institutions, inspire thousands of people in academia and corporate sector, contributed in higher education practices and policies, and mentored management schools to become high purpose at national and global level. He contributed to raise the benchmark of management education by bringing international accreditations to lndia. He was a world class academician with an Indian soul and a bridge between industry and academia. The Dr. Pritam Singh foundation is established to take forward his philosophy, school of thought and life lessons to the larger community of academia and industry. Telekom Malaysia and Chinese telecoms vendor FiberHome have launched an innovation lab to build up TM's digital talent ecosystem under their ongoing joint strategic partnership programme. Facilitated by the TM Digital Academy platform, the TMDA-FiberHome Innovation Lab will serve as a hub for research opportunities, product showcases and technology demonstrations, with a focus on research and innovation, co-creation and commercialisation, and human capital development. TM and FiberHomes strategic partnership programme was created under an MoU signed in 2015 and renewed in 2021. One fruit of that programme was the iCadet Industry Talents Development Programme called iCadet, established with Multimedia University, to provide scholarships under Yayasan Universiti Multimedia (YUM) and local development via transfer of technology with Bumiputera vendors. The TMDA-FiberHome Innovation Lab aims to build on that initiative to further enhance TM's digital talent ecosystem, said TM chair Dato Zainal Abidin Putih. In enhancing the effectiveness of our digitalisation efforts, this partnership will include cross-border knowledge exchange encompassing talent best practices, competency frameworks, as well as technical training and certifications for our workforce and the local industry, he said. Patna, Nov 20 : A dispute between two groups over bursting of crackers turned ugly in Bihar's Vaishali district on Sunday evening as one group opened fire on the other injuring three persons. The injured persons were identified as Pradeep Rai and his two nephews Pramod Rai and Mukesh Rai. They were admitted to the PMCH where one of them is said to be in a critical condition. The incident occurred at Belka village under Vaishali police station. According to a spokesperson of the Vaishali police, the incident was triggered as Pradeep Rai's children were bursting crackers near the house of Mahesh Rai around 8.30 p.m. The latter got angry and asked the children to go to some other place. As they refused to do so, Mahesh, his son Keshav Rai and other persons of the family pelted stones at the house of Pradeep first and then fired indiscriminately. Pradeep Rai, Pramod and Mukesh sustained gunshot injuries. The family members admitted them to Sadar hospital in Hajipur where doctors referred to the PMCH Patna for better treatment. Jaipur, Nov 20 : Three Hindu seers have been fielded by the BJP in Rajasthan against the Congress' Muslim candidates in Tijara, Pokhran and Hawa Mahal. Out of the total 5.25 crore voters in the state, more than 62 lakh voters are Muslims. But this time, after a long time, the BJP did not give a ticket to a Muslim leader on a single seat out of the total 200. Rather, seers have been fielded on three Muslim-dominated seats. This is being seen as an attempt to polarise, which is expected to benefit the BJP in the long run, said saffron party leaders. In Pokhran, during the last Assembly polls, just 872 votes separated the winner from the defeated candidate hence a Hindu seer is now pitted against the son of a Muslim religious leader. The Congress' sitting MLA Saleh Mohammad believes people will vote for his development work and not along religious lines. He is hoping to buck the trend of anti-incumbency in the seat. Pokhran is estimated to have about 2.22 lakh voters - most of them Muslims or Rajputs. There are about 60,000 Muslim, 40,000 Rajput, 35,000 SC/ST, 10,000 Jat, 6,000 Bishnoi, 5,000 Mali and 3,000 Brahmin voters. While both leaders will count on their religious vote banks, support from other communities will decide the fate of the race. Local issues and the leaders' personal connection with the people in the last five years could also play a crucial role. Both Puri and Mohammad have a firm hold over their communities, as the former is a Rajput community leader and the religious head of the Taratara Math in Barmer district, while the latter has a large number of supporters in India, as well as, across the border in Pakistan. Following the death of his father Gazi Fakeer, Saleh Mohammad is now the representative of Peer Pagaro, a religious head of Sindhi Muslims in Pakistan. Saleh Mohammad has won two elections out of the last three times. However, he won by just 339 votes in 2008 and 580 votes in 2018 and lost in 2013 by 34,000 votes. Both the candidates from the last election are face to face again and the competition will again be tough. The BJP hopes to benefit from polarisation, said political experts. Similarly, Hawa Mahal in Jaipur is a Muslim dominated seat. For the last three elections the Congress never fielded a Muslim face here. This time both the parties have changed candidates. The BJP has fielded Balmukund Acharya and the Congress has fielded RR Tiwari. The AAP fielded Pappu Qureshi, but the party leadership convinced him and he has announced that he will extend support to the Congress candidate. In Tijara, MP Balaknath of the BJP has been fielded against Imran Khan of the Congress. Here there is a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress. The Congress fielded Imran Khan, who was earlier given the ticket by the BSP. He changed his party overnight and became a Congress candidate. Among Muslim faces, the Congress has nominated Rafiq Khan from the Adarsh Nagar seat of Jaipur, Amin Kagzi from Kishanpol, Zakir Hussain from Makrana, Hakam Ali from Fatehpur, Wajib Ali from Nagar, Saleh Mohammad from Pokhran, Zahida Khan from Kaman, Imran Khan from Tijara, Zuber Khan has been fielded from Ramgarh, Shahzad Khan from Sursagar, Amin Khan from Shiv, Naseem Akhtar from Pushkar, Danish Abrar from Sawai Madhopur, Rafiq Mandelia from Churu and Naeemuddin Guddu from Ladpura. However, the BJP, playing on Hindutva card, has refrained from fielding Muslim candidates. In fact, Yunus Khan, a former minister in the Vasundhara Raje Government, angry over being denied a ticket has broken his ties with the party and is contesting as an independent candidate from Didwana. Amin Pathan, who held the status of Minister of State in the BJP Government, also joined the Congress. In the last election, eight Muslim faces had won on the Congress ticket. This time 15 Muslim faces have been fielded. A senior BJP worker told IANS, "Hindutva is the main plank of the BJP this time and hence it has restricted itself from fielding any Muslim candidates. We are confident that we shall be winning all three seats here." Party panelist Nimisha Gaur said, "We have fielded three seers who are working for all communities; so there is no caste-kind situation on which they have been fielded. In fact, they have been fielded looking at their work as they are working for everyone's development. They are following the 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' concept and hence they have been fielded." Congress leader Dr Varun Purohit said, "Societies are being split. BJP, the party in power at the Centre is doing this. How can it neglect 20 per cent of the population? The consequences of this can be dangerous. What if they start thinking that they are being sidelined by this country and will be inclined towards the Islamic world, which is dangerous for a secular country like India. For the social fabric like India which has been secular for thousands of years this doesn't augur well and can result in a Gaza kind of situation." Hyderabad, Nov 20 : Actors Tej Bommadevara, and Rishika Lokre's film 'Madhave Madhusudana' has dropped its first trailer. A dark-rom-com, the movie appears as your atypical mainstream rom-com film at first before quickly revealing itself to be something darker, as two young lovers from different families find themselves soon living a life of misery as they tie the knot. Somewhat vague on the details, initially the trailer has a gloomy take before turning bright and joyful. It finds itself staring at two lovers played by the debutant actors who find themselves in a small town, and while initially the whole thing carries itself like an average rom-com, it takes a different turn quickly. There are a lot of heartfelt and comical moments in the film, as Tej has a lot of comical moments with his two friends who help him out with getting the girl, and later in escaping after wrath descends upon them. Enjoying love in the flowers of youth, things take a bitter turn as all the childish dreams of love and happiness get washed away very soon. Escaping from their lives, they marry each other and move to a shanty and it doesnat go well for them at all. Rishika constantly worries about Tej as he moves forward to ensure that nothing bad happens to the two of them. The tone of the movie is interesting as it moves from present to the past, instead of the normal opposite and even gives glimpses of the future. Directed, written, and produced by veteran Telugu film producer Bommadevara Ramachandra Rao in his directorial debut, aMadhave Madhusudanaa will release in theatres on November 24. New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday refused to close contempt proceedings initiated against Tamil Nadu government in Madras High Court for not following judicial orders passed in relation to conduct of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) route marches in the state. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta said that a proposal will be submitted by the state government before the High Court detailing the regulation of future marches by the right-wing organization. The bench said that to avoid any further round of litigation, the contempt court will pass appropriate orders taking the objections given by RSS into consideration. "We have no reason to doubt that the High Court shall take into consideration all the subsequent events, most importantly, the proposal to be submitted on behalf of the state government for future course of action," noted the apex court in its order. The Tamil Nadu government rushed to the Supreme Court after Madras High Court slammed the state government for not following its orders which had allowed the RSS to conduct route marches in the state. In an earlier hearing, the top court had asked the police authorities to give permission to RSS to carry out route marches on either November 19 or 26. It had said that to limit the number of route marches by RSS in each district would be 'too much indulgence'. With four new heavy duty trucks VE Commercial Vehicles to grow market share and turnover. Image Source: IANS News Chennai, Nov 20 : Growing the market share steadily, filling up the gaps in its product portfolio with the launch of four heavy duty trucks, commercial vehicle maker VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd will be closing this fiscal with a handsome topline growth, said a top company official. The company is a joint venture between Sweden's Volvo group and India's Eicher Motors. This year marks a significant milestone - 15 years of operations in the country. "Last year our turnover was about Rs.19,000 crore. During the first half of the current year the turnover was Rs.10,000 crore," Vinod Aggarwal, Managing Director and CEO told IANS. He said the company logged 24 per cent growth in the first half as compared to the previous year's corresponding period. Generally business performance in the second half will be better than the first half. Overall the commercial vehicle industry is growing well, he added. The heavy duty commercial vehicles segment is growing at a good pace and the expectation is that it would reach about 2.90 lakh units this year. Aggrawal said VE Commercial's market share in the heavy duty vehicle segment has increased to nine per cent this year from the previous year's figure of 8.3 per cent. In the light and medium duty trucks, the company's market share this year is about 34 per cent up from earlier year's 30-31 per cent. VE Commercial, which has been gradually increasing its market share, on Monday launched four new heavy duty trucks under the Eicher brand. "We take great pride in introducing the Non-Stop range of HD Trucks that will set new industry standards, representing our dedication not only to our customers' success but also towards improving efficiency and cost of logistics in our country. Backed by our industry-leading Uptime Center and MyEicher App, this new range will deliver more productivity and profitability for Eicher customers," Aggrawal said. Queried about the company's delayed entry into the heavy duty segment in a major way Aggrawal said, two major players were ruling the market and it was difficult for a new player to break into the market when the technology was low. He said the two players were having over 90 per cent market share and now it has come down. "We have to convert more and more of those customers to our brand. This has been happening as we are increasing our market share by about one per cent," Aggrawal said. He said now the trucks are connected and monitored to see their uptime is higher. "We have strong analytics software to see the condition of the truck. We can advise the truck driver about the problem and do preventive maintenance," Aggrawal remarked. Apart from about 450 dealers, the company also offers 'Eicher Site Support', a service designed to provide support at remotely located sites. The company has established over 240 sites, serving over 150 customers and supporting over 12,000 vehicles directly at the customers sites. While the domestic market for the trucks is growing, Aggrawal said the export market has been affected and as a result the overall volume for the industry will not scale top height. On the other hand, he doesn't see an impact on the company's export of components as the vehicle markers overseas are rolling out their models. VE Commercial ships out about Rs.450 crore worth of automobile components. (Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in) Kolkata, Nov 20 : The CPI(M) on Monday moved the Calcutta High Court accusing West Bengal police of being hyper-active in resisting party leaders from proceeding to Jaynagar where houses of 16 party activists were set afire on November 13 as a counter-action to the murder of local Trinamool Congress leader Saifuddin Lashkar the same morning. In his plea, CPI(M) leader and Calcutta High Court counsel Sayan Bandopadhyay also pointed out that besides the party leaders, members of the independent human rights activists groups have also been stopped by the police from approaching the Doluya Khaki village in Jaynagar where the arson of 16 houses took place. Even groups or individuals trying to reach Doluya Khaki with relief items for the residents of the charred houses were also not allowed. The petition has been admitted by Calcutta High Court's bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha. The matter will come up for hearing either in the later part of the second half of the court session on Monday or in the first half on Tuesday. However, the police claimed that since tension is still prevailing in the area they are not allowing outsiders for the time being in apprehension of the aggravation of fresh tension there. Meanwhile, the CPI(M) leadership has alleged that the same logic of police is not applicable for the Trinamool Congress leadership as leaders from outside had been regularly visiting the place. New Delhi, Nov 20 : Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar has moved the Delhi High Court, seeking directions for online news portal 'The Wire' to remove a report claiming that Kumar's son had links with a family that benefited from increased compensation during land acquisition by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the Dwarka Expressway project. In addition to seeking directions for the removal of the article, Kumar has also sought to restrain the news portal and reporter Meetu Jain from publishing further "defamatory" content. Senior Counsel Maninder Singh argued on behalf of Kumar, and the court, presided over by Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri, has listed the matter for further hearing on November 21. The report by 'The Wire' titled 'Links of son of Delhi Chief Secretary to Beneficiary's Family in Land Over-Valuation Case Raise Questions,' alleged connections between Kumar's son and a family that allegedly gained from the increased compensation for land acquired by the NHAI. Having sent a legal notice to 'The Wire' and Meetu Jain through Advocate Bani Dikshit on November 13, Kumar claimed that the report was defamatory, false, baseless, and misleading. He asserted that he took cognisance of the issue independently and recommended the case to be referred to the CBI to prevent wrongful loss to the public exchequer. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had sent a complaint to the Vigilance Minister for investigation into the alleged benefits of Rs 315 crore provided by Kumar to his son in land acquisition for the Dwarka Expressway project, said an official. "A complaint was made to Chief Minister Kejriwal regarding the alleged corruption involving Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar on October 24. It was alleged that the Chief Secretary benefited his son's company by Rs 315 crore," a source had said. "There are allegations of irregularities in land acquisition on the Dwarka Expressway. The Chief Minister has sent the complaint to the Minister of Vigilance for a detailed inquiry in the matter," said the official. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had nullified an award of over Rs 300 crore issued by District Magistrate (DM) Hemant Kumar, who was suspended from his position, in a matter of compensation for land acquisition in Bamnoli Village, southwest Delhi on the Dwarka Expressway. Kumar, a 2013-batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, had increased the compensation amount for 19-acres of land acquired by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) from Rs 41.5 crore to Rs 353.8 crore during his tenure as the DM of southwest Delhi. The High Court's decision was based on the observation that the DM had made this award without giving the NHAI an opportunity to refute the additional documents submitted by the awardee, Subhash Chand Kathuria, a fact admitted by Kathuria's counsel in court. The court held that the award was issued in blatant violation of the principles of natural justice and contained patent illegalities. The implementation of this award would have imposed an additional financial burden of Rs. 312.3 crore on the government. Notably, the DM had passed the award in May and sought endorsement from the Divisional Commissioner (DC). However, Ashwani Kumar, the DC, promptly highlighted the misconduct, describing the enhancement of compensation as a "gross blunder" that could have adverse consequences on planned urbanisation and development. Following this, the Chief Secretary, Naresh Kumar, endorsed the DC's views and directed an inquiry into the matter within a week by the Directorate of Vigilance. With the approval of Delhi's Lieutenant Governor, VK Saxena, a CBI inquiry was recommended to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on September 20 along with departmental action against Kumar. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs referred the case to the CBI for investigation on October 20 and concurrently, Kumar was transferred to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on October 19. He was subsequently placed under suspension with immediate effect on October 20. Hyderabad, Nov 20 : Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said that India's first Home Minister Sardar Patel liberated Telangana from Razakars and Nizams. Addressing BJP's election rallies at Jangaon and Korutla, he slammed KCR government for not celebrating Hyderabad Liberation Day due to pressure from MIM. "We have decided that once BJP government is formed in Telangana, every year September 17 will be officially celebrated as Hyderabad Liberation Day," he said Amit Shah paid tributes to those who laid down their lives while fighting Razakars at Bairanpally village. He said if BJP is voted to power, it will commemorate the Bairanpally massacre on August 27 as 'Razakar Horrors' Remembrance Day. The BJP leader said a memorial will be constructed at Bairanpally to pay homage to the martyrs. He dubbed the KCR government as number one in corruption in the country. "Once BJP comes to power, we will conduct an inquiry into all the scams and the corrupt will be thrown behind bars," he said while alleging that many scams took place in the state during BRS rule. Alleging that KCR government is indulging in minority appeasement, Amit Shah said that after BJP comes to power in the state, it will scrap four per cent reservation for Muslims and increase the reservation of BCs, SCs and STs. Stating that the coming election will decide the future of Telangana and the country for next five years, he alleged that KCR failed in fulfilling his promises. He said the BJP has promised that after BJP comes to power, the chief minister will be from backward classes. He promised that justice will also be done to Madigas by providing them with a vertical quota. Targeting BRS, MIM and Congress over family rule, he dubbed them as 2G, 3G and 4G parties. "BRS is a two generations party. Owaisis are controlling the party for three generations while Congress is being run by fourth generation," he said while claiming that BJP is the party of people of Telangana. Amit Shah claimed that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has earned respect and glory across the globe. He said by hosting the G20 conference, the government has further added to the country's pride. He also stated that construction of the new Parliament wiped off symbols of slavery while tricolor was sent to the moon through the Chandrayan mission. Gandhinagar, Nov 20 : Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will lead a high-level delegation to Japan and Singapore as part of a broader initiative to promote the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024, scheduled from January 10-12, next year. Following detailed deliberations, the Gujarat government has cleared the delegation's visit from November 27 to December 2, 2023. The Chief Minister's itinerary includes Japan from November 27-30, followed by Singapore from December 1-2. Accompanying Patel will be a team of seven key officials. This includes Raj Kumar, the Chief Secretary; Pankaj Joshi, Additional Chief Secretary to the CM; SJ Haider, Additional Chief Secretary of the Industries & Mines Department; a senior representative from GIFT city; Arti Kanwar, Resident Commissioner to the Gujarat government; Gaurang Makwana, MD of iNDEXTb; and Neel Patel, the personal assistant to the CM. Spanning seven working days, excluding travel time, the visit will be a concerted effort to showcase Gujarat as a prime destination for global investment. According to the state government the expenses of the visit will be covered by the allocated budget of the industries and mines department, underscoring the state's commitment to fostering economic growth and international partnerships. New Delhi, Nov 20 : After shifting the date of the full and final settlement of laid-off employees from September to November, edtech major Byju's has once again delayed the payment. Moneycontrol connected to about 60 workers who were sacked by the company in the first nine months of 2023. Forty former employees claim that the corporation has yet to pay out their full and final compensation, which was supposed to arrive by November 17. Eight former employees said they received the money, but about two-three didn't receive their variable pay or incentives. Nearly 10 employees who were laid off by the firm between June and July are still waiting for a final settlement, said the report. However, the report mentioned, citing sources, Byju's is making the payments in stages on a weekly basis, and has already fulfilled the instalments due in October. This comes at a time when many of these employees have been unable to find another employment following their termination due to tough macroeconomic conditions. In June, Byju's laid off about 1,000 staff members across various departments, including mentoring, logistics, training, sales, post-sales, and finance. Later in August, another 400 employees were let go, citing a performance evaluation in the mentorship and product expert division. In September, the edtech major announced to lay off 4,000-5,000 employees in a "business restructuring exercise". In the same month, Byju's said it would clear the full and final settlement dues of laid-off employees soon amid "difficult business restructuring". In a statement, the company said it "regrets and acknowledges the delays in settling dues of former employees". --IANS shs/pgh The Ethiopian government reportedly confirmed it cancelled the process of issuing a third telecoms licence pointing to a lack of interest, as reports surfaced last week highlighting interested parties were put off by political instability in Ethiopia. "The licence process has been terminated. We had not launched a request for bids yet, because we wanted to assess market potential and readiness," said Hinjat Shamil told Reuters, the senior adviser at the ministry overseeing the bidding process. She added: "The market interest didn't match ours for now to launch the RFP (Request for Proposals)." Bloomberg reported last week, that interest in the third licence has been low due to concerns about political unrest in Ethiopia. The government had launched a request for qualification for the third telecoms licence earlier this year with a deadline for interested parties set for September 15, as part of the government's plan to fully liberalise the telecoms market. Ethiopia was seen as one of the last untapped markets for international companies due to its massive 120 million population. The Ethiopian government opened its doors to overseas investment in 2018 due to a new administration which opened the doors for Safaricom Ethiopia to come into play, and challenge incumbent state-owned operator Ethio Telecom. The government is currently looking to sell up to a 45% stake in Ethio Telecom to fund upgrades and expansion to keep it competitive against its new rival. Ktaka senior Cong leader says it is not possible for single man to commit rape, stirs controversy. Image Source: IANS News Koppal, : Nov 20 (IANS) The audio of senior Congress leader and former MLA Amaregouda Patil Bayyapur stating that it is not possible for a single person to commit rape has stirred controversy in Karnataka on Monday. The audio of the leader's conversation has gone viral, embarrassing the ruling party. Sources explained that Amaregouda's associate, Sanganagouda, was charged with rape, and a complaint registered in this regard with Koppal Women's Police station on October 10. Even after the complaint was registered, no action was initiated against the accused. In this backdrop, the father-in-law of the victim had met the former MLA and pleaded for justice. At this juncture, as per the audio, Amaregouda had allegedly questioned why he (father-in-law) had gone to the SP and ruined his reputation. "How is it possible for a single person to commit rape? It is only possible when two persons are involved. You send a man. I will ask a woman to go with him. Let's see whether he will be able to commit rape on her. This is a sensitive matter and a question of reputation. Think twice," Amaregouda is allegedly heard saying in the audio. "Can a single person rape a woman? No one can clap with a single hand. There must be three to four persons to commit rape. It is impossible for a single person to rape a woman. What can happen in this case is he (the rape accused) might be sent to prison, what you will achieve out of it?" he had allegedly stated. Amaregouda has not reacted yet to the controversy as yet. Amaregouda had lost to the BJP candidate Doddanagouda Patil in the Assembly elections by 9,646 votes from Kushtagi constituency. Ciaran Hinds joins Jacob Elordi in The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Image Source: IANS News Los Angeles, Nov 20 : Veteran Irish actor Ciaran Hinds and Odessa Young have joined 'Euphoria' star Jacob Elordi in the cast of premium Australian miniseries 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North'. Production is now under way. An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is a love story set against the backdrop of World War II, reports Variety. Production is by Curio Pictures with Prime Video releasing the title in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In other territories, it is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. Flanaghanas novel, published in 2013, chronicles a century dominated by war, with the forced labour on the Thai-Burma Railway as its dramatic heart. As per Variety, the story is told by an Australian doctor who was taken prisoner during World War II and became an unlikely and uncomfortable hero after the waras end. The series has been in development for several years and was previously announced on the slate of Fremantle. The adaptation, which uses multiple time frames, boasts a powerful creative team of screenwriter Shaun Grant and director Justin Kurzel. The pair previously worked together on the Cannes competition film aNitrama. Grant and Kurzel both serve as executive producers, with Alexandra Taussig producing. Kurzel also previously directed the Cannes competition film aMacbetha, and aAssassinas Creeda and parts of the Apple TV+ series aShantarama. Grant has writing credits that include aBerlin Syndromea and aJasper Jonesa, David Fincheras acclaimed Netflix series aMindhuntera, and feature film aPenguin Blooma, starring Naomi Watts. Mumbai, Nov 20 : Yet another unsavoury social media war erupted in Maharashtra after Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday posted a photo of state Bharatiya Janata Party president Chandrashekhar Bawankule allegedly gambling away in a casino in Macau. Posting the photo showing Bawankule sitting at a gambling table in a casino, Raut said: "Maharashtra is on firea And this gent is gambling in a Casino in Macau. Zoom the photo and see, isn't he the same person? The rest of the film is still pending." Hitting out strongly at Raut's tweet, the state BJP said on its official X handle that Bawankule has never gambled in his life, and posted a photo of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray along with film-maker Farhan Akhtar meeting David Beckham recently in Mumbai. "This area is where the (Bawankule) family is staying in the hotel. However, those whose lives have been gambled away cannot see beyond a certain level. Just tell us Sanjay Raut, what brand of whisky is in the glass of Aditya Thackeray," said the BJP. Countering Raut hit back saying that Aditya Thackeray "enjoys the same brand" as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and even invited them to savour it. To BJP's tweet, Raut alleged that on Sunday, Bawankule blew up Rs 3.50 crore in just three hours at the casino, according to eyewitnesses. "I have another 27 photos and several videosa if I release them now, BJP will have to shut its shop," Raut warned. In a tweet from Macau, Bawankule tried to clear the air: "This is the area of the hotel I stayed at with my family in Macau. The hotel has a restaurant and casino on the ground floor. This is a photo someone took while I was sitting in a restaurant with my family after dinner." Maharashtra unit Congress President Nana Patole said that Raut's statements were serious and the state government should order a CID inquiry into the whole affair. "Is the photo of Bawankule gambling in the casino genuine? From where did he get crores of rupees to blow away in the gamble. All these aspects must be investigated," demanded Patole. Reacting to the developments, BJP's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Raut has lost his mental balance by posting such fake and morphed photos of its leaders. Raut also took a swipe at the BJP's photos by asking whether his family shown in the pictures is 'Chinese'. "They claim he has never gambled in his life, then please clarify what exactly was he doing on the gambling table? Is that a Maruti photo on his table? The more they talk, they will get exposed. Wasn't the 'tamasha' that happened not enough," demanded Raut. Jaipur, Nov 20 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, continuing his election tour in Rajasthan, addressed two gatherings in Jadan and Pilibanga towns in Pali district on Monday and guaranteed that those who looted the poor would not be spared and would have to spend life in jail. The Prime Minister also lambasted Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for claiming that complaints filed by women in matters related to atrocities against them were fake. In fact, Modi said, "I give a guarantee that the one who has robbed the poor will not be spared. Even in Rajasthan, people who rob the poor will spend their days in jail. In 2014, the money of honest tax payers was looted in scams. The entire story of what happened in Rajasthan in the last five years is written in the Lal Diary. The diary is red, the exploits are black. These days, when the lockers are being opened, piles of currency notes are coming out. This is exposing the sins of the Congress." The Congress has been speaking of its seven-guarantee programme in all its rallies and this statement of Modi is being looked upon as a reply to the Congress' '7-guarantee plan'. Further, speaking on the CM's statements that complaints filed by women on atrocities against them were fake, the PM said, "This is an insult to women. The Congress has made Rajasthan number one in crimes against women. Here, the CM says that the sisters and daughters of Rajasthan have lodged fake complaints in the police station. No mother or sister can do this in our country. She never thinks of lying, there must be some truth in it." "Ever since the Women's Reservation Bill was passed, the arrogant alliance has started a campaign against women. The Chief Minister of Bihar used derogatory words in the Assembly and the anti-women Congress can never do welfare for women," he said. "The Chief Minister gives a certificate that women file false complaints. The Congress gave tickets to the minister who insulted women," he added. He further accused the Congress of promoting drug smuggling. "We will take such action against smugglers that people will be shocked to see them," he added. Modi said that the BJP government at the Centre has also reduced the mobile bills of the people. "If data had been priced at the same rate as that before 2014, you would have had to spend at least Rs 5,000 more on a mobile than the amount you are spending today. There are at least four mobile phones in each family, Modi has saved this expense," he said. He added that he did not sleep during the Corona period. "Everyone saw what happened during the Corona period. Death was looming, but I did not sleep. I had decided that I would not let poor sleep hungry. I will not let tears come to my mother's eyes. We did not keep the tax paid by the countrymen but instead gave it to the poor," he said. Modi said, "There is nothing bigger than corruption for Congress in Rajasthan. In Rajasthan, the Congress Government runs a cut company by selling expensive petrol. I guarantee that if the BJP government is formed after December 3, the rates of petrol and diesel will be reviewed. Decisions will be taken in the interest of poor and middle class people." "The Congress also looted during the work of providing tap water to every house in Rajasthan. Water did not reach half the population," he added. New Delhi, Nov 29 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles in New Delhi on Monday. An official said that both the nations are cooperating in areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI), anti-submarine, anti-drone warfare and cyber domain. "The two sides are also in an advanced stage of discussion to conclude implementing arrangements on Hydrography Cooperation and cooperation for air-to-air refueling," the official said. He said that both the sides expressed satisfaction at the increasing military-to-military cooperation between the two countries, including joint exercises, exchanges and institutional dialogue. The Defence Minister has also congratulated Minister Marles on the maiden and successful conduct of multilateral exercise 'Malabar' by Australia in August this year. The two ministers agreed that deepening cooperation in defence industry and research would give a fillip to the already strong relationship. The official said that the Defence Minister has suggested that shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance and aircraft Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) could be the potential areas of collaboration. "The two ministers also discussed cooperation for joint research in underwater technologies," the official said. Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 20 : Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Monday said that the party will not leave the Congress-led UDF in Kerala. "We will not move an inch from our stand and for a change in our political thoughts. We do not want to take a 'bank' route. And if anyone is harboring hope that we will change our political thoughts, it can well be put to rest for good," said IUML supremo Panakkad Hyderali Shihab Thangal. The IUML veteran legislator P.K Kunhalikutty, who was also present with Thangal, said they will stand behind the Congress-led UDF like a rock. "We will never ever do political treachery," he said. The speculations about IUML leaving the UDF coalition were ripe and strengthened after an IUML legislator was nominated to the director board of the Kerala Bank, presently in total control of the CPI-M led Left Front and also when the news spread that an IUML party office bearer was present yatra led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, an event which was boycotted by the Congress-led UDF. The IUML has also remained silent after the Vijayan attacked the Congress during his yatra. New Delhi, Nov 20 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday met a 35-member delegation from Japan's Fukuoka Prefectural Government (FPG) at the Secretariat. Led by Vice Governor Akie Omagari, the delegation visited Delhi to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the twinning agreement between the Delhi government and the Fukuoka Prefectural Government (FPG). This agreement, first signed on March 5, 2007, and still ongoing, was extended until March 31, 2026. The collaboration between the FPG and the Delhi government has focused on various areas of mutual cooperation, primarily encompassing the environment, culture, tourism, heritage, education, and youth exchange. Over the past 15 years, both cities have engaged in various activities in art and cultural exchanges, environmental technology, and student/youth exchange programs. The agreement also aims to explore possibilities in the areas of environment-related major issues today. Consequently, there's a possibility of involvement not only with school students but also with cultural groups as a result of this agreement. "Our friendship isn't a mere agreement between two cities; it's a profound connection rooted in spiritual affinity and cultural ties that have weathered the sands of time. "The influence of Indian Culture, particularly through Buddhism, has left an indelible mark on Japanese society, fostering a genuine sense of closeness among the Japanese people toward India in general and the people of Delhi in particular," said Kejriwal. "Our friendship agreement of the last 15 years, in particular, has brought both cities closer by way of mutual cooperation and exchanges and benefits, especially in the fields of environment, art and culture, archaeology and recently in the field of education," he said. Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj mentioned: "Delhi and FPG have had a Friendship Agreement since March 5, 2007. Now, this agreement has been strengthened for a further period of three years." "Many interactions and visits between the two cities have taken place, and experts from archeology, art and culture, environment and recently education benefitted. The Japanese language is now taught in some Delhi government schools," he said. Aizawl, Nov 20 : The NGO Coordination Committee (NGOCC) of Mizoram, an umbrella organisation of major civil societies and students' bodies, has decided to send a delegation to Delhi to once again urge the Election Commission to reschedule the Assembly elections' vote counting date in the state. Election to the 40-member Mizoram assembly was held on November 7 and the counting of votes would be done on December 3 (Sunday) along with four other states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. The NGOCC has decided to send a delegation to Delhi to meet the Election Commission (EC) once again to request the poll panel to change the date for counting of votes as Sundays are sacred for Christians and a large percentage of the people in the state attend Church services on the day. The Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), a conglomerate of leaders of major church denominations, Chairman Rev Dr Chawnghmingthanga on Monday said that they are now trying to get the appointment of the ECI and after getting the date of meeting, the delegation would go to Delhi. The MKHC is one of the leading bodies of the NGOCC. "The proposed delegation would comprise leaders of the Young Mizo Association (YMA), NGOs, student bodies, non-political organisations, representatives of all political parties, civil society organisations," Chawnghmingthanga told IANS. If the EC continues to remain adamant after the proposed meeting in Delhi, a 'protest day' would be organised across Mizoram, the NGOCC said in a statement. The NGOCC's decision to send the delegation to Delhi came after state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Madhup Vyas's meeting with the EC on the issue last week. The EC reportedly told the CEO that it would not reschedule the counting date. Since the announcement of the election schedule, all political parties, church bodies, NGOs, CSOs and many individuals jointly and separately requested the poll panel multiple times to reschedule the counting date. Media reports quoting officials said that the EC deferred the date of counting in 2013 from December 8 to December 9 following appeals by political parties, civil societies and churches of the state. EC officials have argued that counting, unlike polling, does not involve common people and they are free to do what they like on December 3 as only the EC appointed officials, counting personnel and security forces would be involved in the counting of votes. 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, the poll panel earlier changed the date of rescheduled the state elections to November 25 from November 23. A leader of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) said that the EC has rescheduled the polling date in Rajasthan but is unwilling to change the counting date in Mizoram. According to the 2011 Census, around 87 per cent of Mizoram populations are Christian. New Delhi, Nov 20 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday said that it has registered a fresh case against "listed individual terrorist" Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of the banned terror organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) over his latest viral video threatening the passengers flying on Air India with a global blockade and closure of the operations of the airline from November 19. An NIA spokesperson here said that the agency has booked Pannun under several Sections of the IPC and of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The official said that Pannun, the self-proclaimed General Counsel' of the outlawed SFJ, had issued a threatening video message on various social media platforms urging Sikhs not to fly on Air India planes on and after November 19 claiming threat to their lives if they flew on Air India. Pannun also threatened that Air India would not be allowed to operate in the world. Pannun's assertions and threats have triggered a high alert as well as investigations by security forces in Canada, India and certain other countries where Air India flies. In his video messages, released on November 4, Pannun had urged Sikhs to stop flying on Air India planes on and after November 19, citing potential threat to their lives. Pannun also issued a warning to the Indian Government that, "The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) would remain closed on November 19". The IGIA, located in New Delhi, is one of the world's busiest airports. The official said that as part of his concerted plan to promote terror acts in India and revive terrorism here, Pannun has been creating a false narrative around the issues prevailing in Punjab, especially with regard to Sikh religion, by promoting enmity between the Sikhs in the country and other communities. "The latest threat is in line with the same narrative, which Pannun has actively promoted in the past by threatening & attempting to disrupt essential transportation network systems, including the Railways, as well as Thermal Power Plants in India," the official stated. The Ministry of Home Affairs, on July 10 2019, banned SFJ as an 'unlawful association' under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for its activities. On July 1, 2020, Pannun was listed as an 'individual terrorist' by the Indian Government. Pannun has been under the NIA's lens since 2019, when the anti-terror agency registered its first case against him. In September 2023, the NIA had confiscated his share of the house and land of the listed terrorist in Amritsar (Punjab) and Chandigarh UT. Non-Bailable Warrants of arrest were issued against Pannun by the NIA Special Court on February 3, 2021 and he was declared a 'Proclaimed Offender (PO)' on November 29, 2022. London, Nov 20 : The brother of British Sikh Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been detained in an Indian jail since 2017 over terror charges, has said he is "hopeful" that the UK's new foreign secretary will be able to secure his release. Gurpreet Singh Johal said while the family feels let-down by the UK government, they hope that former PM David Cameron, who returned to politics after a reshuffle last week, can make a difference, The Standard newspaper reported. "We're hopeful that this Foreign Secretary... well first of all he has to meet us to confirm exactly what he is going to be doing to bring Jagtar back home, but really enough is enough because this government has really let down Jagtar and his family over the last six years," Gurpreet, who is a lawyer and Labour councillor in Dumbarton, said. "We're hopeful that the sixth foreign secretary after six years might do something that the other foreign secretaries have failed to do," Gurpreet said speaking to BBC Radio Scotland's 'Good Morning Scotland' programme. Dumbarton-based Johal was in Punjab for his wedding when he was arrested in Jalandhar on November 4, 2017, over his alleged role in killings by the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), a banned terrorist organisation. According to his family, the 36-year-old has been tortured, including through electric shocks, before being made to sign a blank confession document -- allegations that have been denied by the Indian authorities. He is currently being held at the Tihar Jail in Delhi and faces a possible death penalty over 10 accusations of murder and conspiracy to murder. "We're hopeful that the contacts David Cameron has made over the years when he was the prime minister will be able to allow him to use that leverage and to do what all other foreign secretaries have failed to do and basically call for Jagtaras release," Gurpreet said, referring to UK government's arbitrary detention policy. Last year, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said that the "continued pre-trial detention of Johal lacks legal basis and is arbitrary". A group of more than 70 MPs had called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to seek "immediate release" of Johal, as he travelled to New Delhi in September to attend the G20 leaders' summit. Sunak confirmed that he raised Johal's case during his talks with counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit, but didn't provide details. Gurpreet said he last spoke to Jagtar on October 18. "He is hopeful in the next six months or so that he could at least be out on bail but that's as much as I know because I don't know what situation he is in. "He is trying to put light at the end of the tunnel by thinking that he will be out in the next six months at least on bail," Gurpreet told BBC Radio. --IANS mi/pgh According to a press release Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli Today plans to evacuate another hundred people from the Gaza Strip to Turkiye, Azernews reports. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "Depending on the situation, if conditions do not change, another hundred people, including Turkish citizens and their family members, are planned to be evacuated." The 44 people evacuated from the Gaza Strip on 18 November will be taken to Turkiye today. In addition to Turks, they include citizens of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and their family members. Canadian RAN provider NuRAN Wireless says that it has filed an application for a network infrastructure licence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to add more services to its portfolio. NuRANs wholly owned subsidiary, NuRAN Wireless DRC SARLU, currently offers Network as a Service (NaaS) under which mobile network operators lease individual sites. The new infrastructure licence would allows NuRAN to expand its business model in DRC to include VSAT services. The company said it decided to file its application with DRC telecoms regulator Agence de Regulation des Postes et Telecommunications Congolaise (ARPTC) in the wake of a Ministerial Decree published last month which simplifies the obligations of licence holders, specifically related to ownership requirements. The new DRC licence would also satisfy the expectations of European Investment Bank (EIB), one of NuRANs creditors, even if the service isnt considered essential to run its business. NuRAN has grand plans to build and operate 10,000 telecom sites across Africa. According to Ecofin Agency, it is almost halfway there, with over 4,600 contracted telecom sites across seven countries in Africa, including the DRC, Madagascar, Cote dIvoire, Sudan, South Sudan, Namibia and Cameroon. In the DRC specifically, NuRAN agreed to build and operate 2,000 telecom towers for Orange in February 2021. It also struck a deal with Trans Africa Towers in December last year to build 500 telecom towers over three years in the DRC. NuRAN said it is still waiting for the confirmation letter from ARPTC on its current licences. Meanwhile, NuRAN also revealed it has secured term sheets from three different groups for additional financing for its Africa project. These include a CA$40 million share subscription facility in company equity that would provide funds for general corporate and working capital purposes; a US$10 million structured debt instrument to support growth at the NuRAN Wireless (Africa) Holding level in Mauritius that includes funding for countries other than Cameroon and DRC; and a US$800,000 credit facility from a local Cameroon commercial bank to support accelerated rollout in that country. New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday said that it has arrested Ashim Kumar Sen, a Deputy Manager of Verka Dairy Plant in Punjab's Mohali and Yogesh Yadav a Sanitary lnspector at Cantonment Board in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut in a graft case. A CBI spokesperson said that the agency has arrested Sen for demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 30,000 from the complainant. A case was registered on complaint against Sen and it was alleged that the complainant was running a firm at Chandigarh in the name of his wife and the firm was awarded a contract for providing manpower and security to the Verka Plant (Milkfed), Mohali. It was also alleged that Sen had been harassing the complainant and threatening him to cancel the contract. It was also alleged that the complainant met the accused during which the accused allegedly demanded bribe at a rate of Rs 15000 per month for next four to five months and that Sen further told the complainant that if the said bribe was not paid, then the contract will be cancelled. After negotiation, the accused agreed to accept Rs 30,000. The official said that CBI laid a trap and caught the accused while demanding and accepting the bribe of Rs 30,000. Searches were conducted at the premises of Sen in Mohali and Patiala which laid to recovery of incriminating documents. The accused was produced in the Court of Special Judge, CBI Cases, Chandigarh and was remanded to 14 days Judicial Custody. Meanwhile, in another case, the official said that the agency arrested Yogesh Yadav a Sanitary, Inspector at Cantonment Board in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut for demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 15,000 form the Complainant. A case was registered on complaint against two Sanitary lnspectors Cantonment Board, Meerut on the allegations of demanding bribe of Rs 25,000 from the complainant to allow continuation of reconstruction of Complainant's three shops in Cantonment Board, Meerut. It was further alleged that three shops were under construction in Lal Kurti, Meerut Cantonment and the owner of the said three shops had given the responsibility of construction to Complainant. For continuing the construction of the said three shops, both the accused working at the office of CEO, Cantonment Board, Meerut, demanded bribe of Rs 25,000 from the complainant. "CBI laid a trap and caught Yadav red handed while demanding and accepting undue advantage or bribe amount of Rs 15,000 from the complainant. Searches were conducted at the premises of both the accused," the official said. The arrested accused was produced before the Court of Special Judge, CBl Cases at Ghaziabad and was sent to Judicial Custody till November 30. New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Supreme Court on Monday deferred hearing till December 1 on pleas concerning the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi mosque land title dispute. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra could not take up the matter for hearing due to paucity of time. The Bench asked the parties to file a one-page note in the meantime. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, has filed three different pleas in the Supreme Court. In its first petition, an objection has been made against the appointment of a court commissioner to survey the Gyanvapi-Gauri Shringar complex saying that the order by the Varanasi court is ex-facie without jurisdiction. Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the mosque committee, said that the appointment of commissioner is not "correct" in terms of Order XXVI Rule 9 of CPC (Code of Civil Procedure). The second Special Leave Petition challenges the order of the Allahabad High Court allowing the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) to survey the premises of the Gyanvapi mosque, except for 'wuzu khana'. The Supreme Court on August 4 had refused to pass any interim order staying the survey process after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta undertook that no excavation would be made at the site. However, the apex court had earlier stayed another order of the High Court directing the ASI to carry out a "scientific survey" of the "Shivling" purportedly discovered in the Gyanvapi mosque to ascertain its age. In its third petition, the management committee has questioned the decision of the Allahabad High Court upholding maintainability of Hindu worshippers' suit filed before the district court. In its impugned order passed on May 31, the High Court had dismissed the revision application filed against the rejection of application under Order VII, Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) by the District Judge. The district court had held that the suit seeking relief of the 'right to worship' the deities located in the disputed property is maintainable and is not barred under the Places of Worship Act, 1991, Waqf Act, 1995, or the Uttar Pradesh Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act. Recently, the top court had refused to interfere with a decision taken by the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court on the administrative side withdrawing the cases concerning the dispute from the single-judge Bench of Justice Prakash Padia. In 2021, Hindu plaintiffs had instituted a suit in Varanasi court demanding the right of unhindered worship at the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal. The mosque management committee, in its reply, refuted that the mosque was built over a temple, maintaining the structure at the spot was always a mosque. Amaravati, Nov 20 : Ultimately truth has prevailed and the war has begun on untruth, said Telugu Desam Party (TDP) general secretary Nara Lokesh on Monday after party supremo and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was granted regular bail by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Skill Development Corporation scam case. "Our leader has a clean image and his integrity, individuality and ethics have all been upheld," said Lokesh, who is also son of Naidu. Observing that Chandrababu Naidu's statement that he will never commit any mistake nor will allow others to do so has finally come true, Lokesh said that the Crime Investigation Department (CID) which has arrested and sent him to jail in the Skill Development case could not provide even single evidence in the case. Lokesh felt that conspiracies, deceptive politics and machinations all have crashed before the law. It is now clear that there are no shell companies as alleged, Nara Lokesh said and observed that ultimately now it is proved that all this is only a conspiracy to sling mud at the political life of Chandrababu Naidu Meanwhile, TDP MLA Payyavula Kesav observed that in the regular bail order, the High Court has pointed out several lapses. He said that the comments made by the High Court are a slap on the face of the CID and the state government. Kesav told media persons here that the comments made by the High Court while granting the regular bail to Chandrababu are certainly a serious blow to both the CID and the YSRP government who have been making cheap comments and baseless allegations against Chandrababu. Pointing out that the court has completely dismissed whatever the CID and the state government have been claiming since beginning in the Skill Development case, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman said that despite questioning several witnesses and gathering upmteen documents, they could not gather even single evidence that the Skill Development Corporation has suffered even a single rupee loss. The court has come to a conclusion that they could not prove the charges and the comments made by the court prove beyond doubt that the cases have been registered only with political vendetta, Kesav remarked. Even on the forensic audit, the court clearly observed that 'is not agreed upon' and 'cannot be relied upon,' he said. New Delhi, Nov 20 : Congress on Monday donated the desks made by Rahul Gandhi, during his recent visit to a Delhi furniture market, to Premela Bai Chavan School for the Deaf and Dumb. Delhi Congress Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely said that these desks were not normal ones, but crafted with love and care by Rahul Gandhi to spread the message of "Nafrat Ki Bazar Me Mohabbat Ki Dukan". Lovely, along with Congress Delhi incharge Deepak Babaria donated the desks, along with workers of the furniture market at Kirti Nagar, to Premela Bai Chavan School for Deaf and Dump located in Institutional Area, Karkardooma, East Delhi. The Delhi Congress president said that there could not have been better brand ambassadors than the students of this school to spread the message of love. He also said that when he told Rahul Gandhi about donating the desk to a deaf and dumb school, his reply was that there was no better school in the country than this. He said that the school has now developed such a strong bonding with the Congress that the Congress family will extend full help and support to meet whatever requirements the school needed. Lovely said that Rahul Gandhi is very concerned about the welfare of the poor, the financially distressed and helpless people. Meanwhile, Babaria said that there was a time physically challenged were considered as a burden, but not any more as people's attitude to such category of children have changed, as given proper care and education, the physically challenged could also stand up on their own feet to make their marks in every field. He also appreciated the efforts of those who were behind the successful functioning of the school, as the feeling of mental satisfaction in running such an organisation was greater than anything else. Rahul Gandhi on September 28 visited Kirti Nagar Furniture Market in the national capital and during his visit, he interacted with the workers and the carpenters in the furniture market area. He also participated in making the desks, chairs and some tables with the carpenters in the market. New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said that it has filed a chargesheet against health and beauty company Amway India Enterprise Pvt. Ltd (Amway) in connection with its probe into a money laundering probe, alleging the company has generated proceeds of crime totalling to Rs 4,050.21 crore. The ED in a statement said that the agency filed the chargesheet under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 against Amway in a Special Court (PMLA) Hyderabad and the court has taken cognizance of the chargesheet on Monday. The ED case is based on various FIRs registered by Telangana Police under various sections of IPC against Amway and its directors. The Telangana Police FIRs alleged that Amway has been promoting an illegal 'money circulation scheme' under the guise of sale of goods and has been cheating the general public by promising them very high commissions or incentives through simple enrolment of new members and by claiming that these commissions or incentives would continue in perpetuity. The ED said that its probe revealed that Amway has been promoting a "Pyramid scheme" in the guise of direct selling. "Instead of selling goods directly to the end consumer, Amway has floated a multi-level marketing scheme of members and has introduced many intermediaries in the name of distributors. The scheme does not focus on sale of products but survives primarily on enrolling of members. "Once a newcomer is convinced to pay money through someone who has referred him to the company, he or she becomes a representative and to earn commission, he or she has to enrol new members and as the number of persons increases down the line, the ones on top get more commission and more incentives like luxurious tours," the ED stated. "Thus, Amway has been operating a multi-level marketing scheme and money circulation scheme has collected huge amounts from the subscribers. By commission of the scheduled offence of cheating, Amway has generated proceeds of crime totalling to Rs 4,050.21 crore," the ED alleged. It said that its probe found that more than Rs 2,859 crore of money collected from the members has been siphoned off and parked in the bank accounts of overseas investors in the name of dividend, royalty and payments for other expenses. "During investigation, movable and immovable properties to the tune of Rs. 757.77 crore have been attached by ED in this case," the ED said. Meanwhile, an Amway India Spokesperson said: "The chargesheet currently filed by the ED pertains to the investigation dating back to 2011 and since then we have been cooperating with the department and have shared all the information as sought from time-to-time. "Since Amway began its operations in India 25 years ago, it has been committed to legal and regulatory compliance, and has diligently maintained a culture of compliance and integrity to the present day," the spokesperson said. "We want to reiterate our continued confidence in the Indian legal and judicial system following the due process of law as we pursue our legal rights," he said. "Amway is proud of its rich history in India and will vigorously defend itself, as well as the over 2,500 employees and over 5.5 lakh independent distributors who are critical to its mission of helping people live healthier, better lives," the spokesperson added. Jaipur, Nov 20 : Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge addressed public meetings in support of Congress candidates in Anupgarh and Hanumangarh where he targeted the Prime Minister on his old promises. Kharge said that the Prime Minister was currently holding election meetings in Rajasthan, but he had stopped repeating old things. "The Prime Minister had made election promises that he would bring black money deposited abroad and deposit Rs 15 lakh in every person's account. Has Rs 15 lakh been deposited in your account? When people said 'no', they say 'you are lying. How can the Prime Minister lie?' When I tell him something, he says that I call him the leader of liars," Kharge complained. "The PM had said that every year, we will provide employment to 2 crore people and 20 crore jobs should have been provided in 10 years, tell me where is it? Am I lying or the Prime Minister? He had talked about increasing and doubling the farmers' income. Has your income doubled? It was said that farmers would be given free fertilizers. Are you getting it free? DAP is not available, urea is not available, but they said it," he quipped. Kharge added, "The Prime Minister said that when my mothers and sisters sit in front of the stove, I feel sad to see tears in their eyes. I will give them the cylinder for free. Leave aside giving free gas, in our time you have increased the cylinder price from Rs 450 to Rs 1,100. Now as elections are near, it has been reduced by Rs 200 to Rs 900 today. Increase on one side and decrease on the other. Who is taking money out of women's pockets? The government is taking it out. The cylinder which was earlier available for Rs 450 is now available for Rs 900-1100. So who is lying?" "I had given a speech in Hyderabad, in which I had said that Modi Saheb lies and is the leader of liars. Then he objected and said that Kharge ji repeatedly calls me a leader of liars and also said that he took my father's name. I did not take his father's name because there is no use in talking about an elder who is not in politics. But he says that Kharge ji is not even sparing my father. Why would I quote his father? But he turns the matter upside down like this. I had said that Modi Saheb has told so many lies and Telangana CM Chandrashekhar Rao is his father in telling lies," he said. "To get sympathy, he says everywhere that I am poor. I used to sell tea at the railway station. That's right, you used to sell tea. My father was a labourer, I am the son of a labourer. I am not ashamed to say this. I have come into politics to work for the welfare of the people, not to lie, not to alienate people. Not to divide. In the name of religion, in the name of caste, you are dividing," he said. The party chief said that after Independence, the Congress had built big factories, big dams, big canals, medical colleges, engineering colleges, polytechnic colleges, IITs and many more. "Modi ji, you should have set up a big factory in this country. We have built hundreds of factories like HMT, HAL, BEML, BHEL, lakhs of people work in them. But now Modiji is selling them one by one. Even today there are 30 lakh job vacancies in the government. There are vacancies in the Railways, there are vacancies in the paramilitary forces, there are vacancies in the police force, there are vacancies in Central Schools, why are they not recruiting? Because, if recruitment is done, then poor people will take advantage of reservation. How many people will benefit? They know that if these people have to be deprived of jobs then they should keep closing down government jobs one by one," he added. Kharge further said that the BJP has a washing machine that cleans tarnished people. "They repeatedly say that the Congress party has corrupt people, you have put ED, CBI behind all the people, but when these people went to them (BJP), they took them into the party and they got cleaned because Home Minister Amit Shah has a huge washing machine. When these tainted people go into that machine, they come out completely clean," said Kharge. He said the Congress party always took care of the poor and said that it would keep the promises it made. "I would just like to say that we will keep the promises we have made. Earlier, too, whatever laws were brought under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, we provided employment to the poor by implementing them. We gave the NREGA scheme, Food Security Act and many health missions to the poor," he added. "The BJP's promise is always to destroy and divide people and ours is to work towards the poor. BJP always supported the rich, people like Adani-Ambani. The already rich people were made even richer. Those who were poor become poorer," said Kharge. 'Israel govt should for now focus only on getting hostages freed' (IANS FROM ISRAEL). Image Source: IANS News Tel Aviv, Nov 20 : On November 20, which is also the World Children's Day, an Israeli woman remembers her nephew and nieces who are kidnapped and in custody of the Hamas terror group. Limor Sella Broyde, whose eight close family members are in the custody of Hamas, during an interaction with IANS spoke about her family members who are in Hamas' custody. Those who have held hostage by Hamas are Shoshan Haran (68), her Husband Avshalom Haran (67), their daughter Adi (38) who is a psychologist, her husband, Tal and their two children, Yahel Neri (3) and Naveh (8). Avshalom Haran's sister Sharon Avigdori who is a special needs psychologist and her 12 year old daughter Noam are in the custody of Hamas. Here are some excerpts of the interaction. IANS: There are reports of hostages being released soon, Your comments? Limor: There are reports every other day. It feels like psychological warfare. We wont believe it until we see our loved one's back home. IANS: Has the government of Israel taken up the issue of hostages properly? Limor: As long as 240 people are still in Gaza, (I doubt) no they have not. We feel the priorities must change. the only goal has to be bringing them back home. Everything else must come later. IANS: How has the world responded to your trauma? Limor: We have never seen such extremes. We see a lot of fake news about what happened on October 7. Over 1,200 people were massacred, some in their homes, in front of their children... 240 people were taken hostages by a terror organisastion. The world needs to understand. It has nothing to do with the conflict and everything to do with a humanitarian crime. IANS: Is the Jewish community being targeted across the world? Limor: It is. We hear terrible things from our communities world wide. IANS: The National Security Minister of Israel, Ben-Givr has said that fuel should not have been given to Gaza given the issue of hostages custody. Your comment? Limor: It is a complicated issue. The past shows us that Hamas is taking resources from the civilians in Gaza to support their terror activities. IANS: Do you feel that the highlight is only on the IDF invasion and the death of Palestinians? Is there a deliberate attempt to cover the Hamas massacre of October 7? Limor: The highlight should be the war crimes and humanitarian crimes of Hamas. Our children must come back home. The world has to do anything in its power to support this cause. New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday alleged that the BJP attempted to disrupt the organising of Chhath Puja, thus disrespecting the faith of the people of Purvanchal. Addressing a joint press conference, AAP MLAs Sanjeev Jha and Kuldeep Kumar said like every year, this time too, BJP members politicised Chhath Puja. "BJP Senior leader and Delhi's MP Manoj Tiwari went to the ghats and claimed that the Delhi Government does not allow Chhath celebrations on the Yamuna banks. Every child in Delhi knows why Chhath isn't celebrated on the Yamuna River. The NGT and High Court had ordered that Chhath Puja wouldn't be held on the Yamuna banks," said Jha. "Therefore, the Delhi government didn't organise Chhath Puja on the Yamuna banks. There could be two things here: Either Manoj Tiwari doesn't know the ground reality, or if he does, he's deliberately misleading people," said Jha. Kumar said that on Sunday, BJP's councillor Munesh Dedha, representing the Kondli ward, in his intoxication of power, tore posters of Surya Bhagwan, Chhath Maiya, the committee, and the government. "The BJP councillor abused them. I believe that people from Purvanchal, Bihar, and Jharkhand hold great reverence for Chhath Maiya. Their sentiments were insulted. All of this happened because this Chhath Puja is organised at the DDA ground's shelter for humans," said Kumar. "Dedha continuously threatened the committee members for the past week, stating that Chhath Puja wouldn't happen on that ground. When the Chhath Puja pandal was set up there, the BJP councillor couldn't tolerate it and made every effort to stop Chhath Puja. He threatened officials and the committee, but despite that, Chhath Puja happened there. Those who claim to support the people from Purvanchal, if they don't take action against the BJP councillor, it will be clear that the entire BJP is involved in this," he added. New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Delhi High Court on Monday expressed displeasure over the non-utilisation of six newly constructed government school buildings in the national capital. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna questioned the authorities about the delay and directed swift action for the benefit of students. The petitioner, NGO Social Jurist, alleged in its PIL that possession of the six buildings with 358 classrooms had been stalled for two years due to the city government's inaction in approving a payment of Rs 16.67 crore to the Public Works Department (PWD). The petitioner argued that the delay violated the fundamental right to education and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. The court pointed out the government's responsibility to release funds, stating, "You are the government, you have to release the funds." It questioned the logic behind completed buildings remaining unused and stressed the priority of education. The Delhi government counsel explained a possible discrepancy with the contractor, but the court urged the authorities to consider the bigger picture in the interest of students. The court granted time for the government to respond to the petition and issued a notice. Patna, Nov 20 : A 19-year-old youth was shot dead by unidentified persons in Bihar's Begusarai district on Monday morning soon after he returned from Chhath puja. The deceased has been identified as Prince Kumar (19), a native of Bahirwar Village. The sister of the deceased claimed that an unidentified man took him from the house and murdered her brother. After committing the crime, the accused threw the body of Prince Kumar outside his house. "My brother returned from the Chhath Ghat on Monday morning and was eating 'prasad' when someone came to our house and they both left together. "We thought that he had gone out for some work. After some time, when we opened the door of our house, we found his dead body just outside our house. He had sustained gunshot injuries," his sister said. She alleged that a man of her village named Babli Kumar was behind her brother's murder. Following the incident, the victim's family protested against the murder and seeking swift action against the accused they placed the body on NH 31 and blocked it. The local police arrived there and managed to calm them down. The district SP Yogendra Kumar assured the victim's family of quick action against the accused. The ITU Radiocommunication Assembly 2023 (RA-23) wrapped up on Friday with a lot of new resolutions covering 6G standards, sustainable usage of space spectrum and gender equality. RA-23, which was held last week in Dubai, adopted the new Recommendation ITU-R M. 2160 on the IMT-2030 Framework," which sets the basis for development of 6G, a.k.a. IMT-2030. The next phase will be the definition of relevant requirements and evaluation criteria for potential radio interface technologies. The assembly also adopted a a new resolution on space sustainability to facilitate the long-term sustainable use of radio spectrum and associated satellite orbit resources used by space services, in in accordance with Resolution 219 (Bucharest, 2022). The ITU says this resolution will benefit the satellite sector and support further cooperation with other United Nations organizations. RA-23 also finished a new ITU-R Recommendation on the protection of the radio navigation-satellite service and amateur satellite services, and adopted a a new resolution on the use of IMT technologies for fixed wireless broadband. The assembly also agreed to revise ITU-R Resolution 65 to facilitate studies looking at the compatibility of current regulations with potential 6G IMT radio interface technologies for 2030 and beyond. Resolution ITU-R 8-3 was also revised to promote the participation of engineers and scientists from developing countries in radiowave propagation campaigns in tropical and subtropical regions with limited data monitoring. RA-23 also adopted a resolution on gender equality to strengthen, accelerate and widen the active involvement of women in the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R). The resolution is based on the Declaration on Promoting Gender Equality, Equity and Parity in the ITU Radiocommunication Sector" that was called for by the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19). The resolution calls on the ITU-R sector to strengthen and accelerate all efforts to ensure that its policies, work programmes, information dissemination activities, publications, study groups, seminars, courses, assemblies and conferences reflect the commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women. The resolution further calls on ITU Member States to support the inclusion of women in all aspects and levels of ITUR activities and to undertake a variety of specific actions to promote and increase the interest of, and opportunities for, women and girls in STEM fields, particularly in electrical engineering and computer science. RA-23 was the first such assembly to have a woman as chair (Carol Wilson of Australia). The RA-23 resolutions arrive just ahead of WRC-23, which commences today in Dubai and will run until 15 December 2023. Hot items on the agenda include the ongoing battle between the satellite and mobile sectors for 5G spectrum, especially as non-terrestrial networks become part of 3GPPs 5G standards, the development of direct-to-device satellite services, and revisiting rules about satellite power limits for LEO satellites, to name a few. Delhi HC expresses dismay over continued detention despite bail orders New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) The Delhi High Court, on a habeas corpus petition seeking the release of the petitioner from Tihar Jail, expressed dismay over the continuing detention despite claims of being admitted to bail. The court noted the petitioner's contention that he had already been granted bail and observed: "We are constrained to note that due to the disputed status of cases against the petitioner, he has not been released and forced to stay behind bars." The petitioner, in custody since 2014, claimed to have obtained bail in most cases for non-bailable offences. Release warrants were issued in July, but the petitioner remained incarcerated as the jail authorities did not process his release. Disputing the nominal roll, he argued that the reflected cases included those that did not exist, had been dismissed, or where he was not a party. The court took a serious view of the matter and directed the Principal District & Sessions Judge of Patiala House Court and Saket Court to verify the status of the cases against the petitioner. Stressing on the disputed nature of the cases, the court deemed it necessary to examine the exact position and status of the cases. The status report will be prepared and verified by the judges concerned and the petitioner's counsel with their records. The court ordered specific directions for the judges to prepare their own status reports. The court had earlier directed the petitioner's release, subject to verification of the claims made by his counsel. However, it later discovered that production warrants were received from certain courts in eight cases, preventing the petitioner's release. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on November 28. IANS spr/bg Kolkata, Nov 20 : The Union ministry of rural development has sought fresh action taken reports (ATR) on the irregularities in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme in three districts of the state. As per the communication forwarded to the state panchayat and rural development department secretary by the deputy secretary to the Union government Shakti Kant Singh, a copy of which is available with IANS, the three districts for which the fresh ATRs have been sought are Nadia, Kalimpong and South 24 Parganas. In the letter, it has been stated that fresh ATRs have been sought following irregularities detected in the earlier ATRs submitted by the state government in the case of these three districts. In the communiquA, the Union government also raised objections to the name of the Central scheme being changed by the state government in the case of Nadia district. The state government officials have been accused of lackadaisical checking of the exclusion categories under the central scheme before finalizing the beneficiariesa lists. It has been pointed out that in Nadia district even motorcycle or two-wheeler owners have been included in the list of beneficiaries. In the communiquA, the state government has been advised to submit the fresh ATRs for these three districts by November 30. Sources in the state government said that they will reply to this communiquA by Tuesday. Political observers feel that with this communiquA, a fresh tussle between the Union and the state governments on this issue is apprehended that will spice up the political scene in the state in the coming days. London, Nov 20 : A new type of cell therapy helped dramatically reduce serious liver-related complications that could lead to hospitalisation and death in patients with liver scarring, or cirrhosis. The innovative new approach, by researchers at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, uses macrophage immune cells -- the cells associated with tissue repair -- derived from the patient's own cells to treat cirrhosis. It was tested in a clinical study involving 50 patients in Scotland with cirrhosis caused by a variety of different factors, such as alcohol, fatty-liver disease and viral hepatitis. The data, presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) conference (2023) in Boston, shows the treatment helped dramatically reduce serious liver-related complications during this one-year study. These complications can lead to hospitalisation and death. "We are encouraged by the new results. This trial shows the treatment is well tolerated, and is associated with reducing the clinical complications in patients with end-stage liver disease," said Professor Stuart Forbes, a clinical hepatologist, from the varsity who led the trial. In the trial, 26 patients received the macrophage treatment, and 24 patients in the control group received standard medical care only. After one year, there were no liver-related clinical events in any of the 26 patients treated with macrophages. In the control group, four patients out of the 24 developed liver-related severe adverse events, and there were three deaths. Chronic liver diseases and associated cirrhosis is a common and lethal condition that account for approximately one million deaths per year globally. Causes of liver cirrhosis include infections such as hepatitis C, obesity, alcohol excess and some genetic and immune conditions. The results, published in Nature Medicine, indicate the treatment might help delay the need for a liver transplant, which is currently the only treatment option available to patients with advanced liver disease, but is a highly invasive procedure severely limited by organ availability, patient eligibility and complex aftercare. --IANS rvt/pgh Hyderabad, Nov 20 : Telangana required 59,779 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for Assembly elections scheduled on November 30, officials said on Monday. A total of 2,290 candidates are in fray for elections to the 119-member Assembly. There are 35,655 polling stations across the state. Lal Bahadur Nagar constituency in Greater Hyderabad, which has the highest number of candidates (48), requires a maximum number of Balloting Units (BUs) 1,719. The constituency has 573 polling stations. Serilingampally, which has the highest number of polling stations at 638, requires 1,276 BUs. The requirement of BUs at each polling station has been worked out based on the number of candidates plus NOTA (None of The Above). Each BU can accommodate a maximum of 16 candidates. Nine constituencies required three BUs at each of the polling stations. Kamareddy, where Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao and state Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy are among 39 candidates, requires three BUs for each polling station. Two BUs at each polling station will be installed in 55 constituencies. An equal number of constituencies will require single BU in every polling station. Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has also released a list of counting centres for all 119 constituencies. The poll authorities have set up a total of 116 counting centres. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 3. HC asks Delhi govt to file status report on PIL seeking free ration, medical assistance at Yamuna flood relief camps. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the city government's stand on a plea requesting the provision of approximately 360 buses to facilitate students from state-run schools in the Northeast district to attend schools in other districts of the national capital. The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by NGO Social Jurist alleged that certain schools in the district are not providing "full-time" education, operating for only two hours a day or on alternate days. The plea sought interim directions to provide Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses for over 31,000 students from 14 schools in the district, allowing them to attend schools in other districts temporarily. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna issued a notice on the plea and granted time to the Delhi government counsel to gather instructions. The court stressed the importance of children attending school and instructed the government lawyer to take necessary steps. Advocate Ashok Agarwal, representing the petitioner, highlighted the high teacher-student ratio in Northeast district schools, impacting education. The PIL outlines the irregular teaching patterns in certain Delhi government schools, including limited daily education hours or alternate-day teaching in places like Khajuri, Sabhapur, Tukbirpur, Sonia Vihar, and Karawal Nagar. The court has scheduled the next hearing for November 28. Hyderabad, Nov 20 : Under attack from the opposition Congress and BJP over alleged failure to fill vacancies in the government departments and leakage of question papers of recruitment exams, BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao on Monday assured the youth preparing for government jobs that BRS stands by them. Confident of BRS retaining power, KTR promised that he will meet job aspirants on the morning of December 4, a day after counting of votes. He met aspirants largely based in Ashok Nagar and hailing from different districts of Telangana. Minister KTR posted on 'X': "Had an insightful conversation with the Govt job aspirants from Ashok Nagar who came to meet me with a hope to find a way forward. Assured them that the future is bright and will be meeting them at their adda immediately after election." During the course of freewheeling interaction, the aspirants asked several questions related to job calendar, TSPSC Board reconstitution, cancelled and postponed exams among others. KTR assured them that he will have a meeting with the government employees in Ashok Nagar on December 4, after the announcement of the election results to thoroughly discuss all the issues related to the filling of government jobs. He said that there is no possibility of anyone questioning their commitment in creating government jobs, especially the Congress which did not even create 1,000 jobs per year when they were in power from 2004-2014. The Congress government in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh filled merely 1,000 jobs per year, but in 9.5 years, BRS government provided 16,000 jobs per year. He said that the BRS government was continuing the process of filling up 2 lakh 30 thousand government jobs. More than 1,62,000 government jobs have already been filled, he said. Jaipur, Nov 21 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a road show in Bikaner city of poll-bound Rajasthan. Amid tight security arrangements, the road show started from Junagadh and ended in Gokul. At least, 250 officers and 1200 policemen were deployed for security. Union Minister Arjunram Meghwal was also accompanying Modi. Stages for cultural programs were put up at seven places along the road for the Prime Minister where artists performed aKalbeliaa dance. Voting for 200 seats of Rajasthan Assembly will be held in a single phase on November 25 while the results will be declared on December 3. New Delhi, Nov 20 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday met a 35-member delegation from Japan's Fukuoka Prefectural Government (FPG) at the Secretariat. Led by Vice Governor Akie Omagari, the delegation visited Delhi to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the twinning agreement between the Delhi government and the Fukuoka Prefectural Government (FPG). This agreement, first signed on March 5, 2007 was extended until March 31, 2026. The collaboration between the FPG and the Delhi government has focused on various areas of mutual cooperation, primarily encompassing the environment, culture, tourism, heritage, education, and youth exchange. Over the past 15 years, both cities have engaged in various activities in art and cultural exchanges, environmental technology, and student/youth exchange programs. The agreement also aims to explore possibilities in the areas of environment-related major issues today. Consequently, there's a possibility of involvement not only with school students but also with cultural groups as a result of this agreement. The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the influence of Indian Culture, particularly through Buddhism, has left an indelible mark on Japanese society, fostering a genuine sense of closeness among the Japanese people toward India in general and the people of Delhi in particular. Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the Delhi and FPG have had a Friendship Agreement since March 5, 2007 and now this agreement has been strengthened for a further period of three years. Vice Governor Fukuoka Prefectural Government Akie Omagari said that the initiative has happened after the friendship agreement that's been extended between the Fukuoka Prefectural Government and the Government of Delhi, since March 2007. She said that since then the cooperation between both the cities has been happening in the fields of Environment, Art and Culture and recently in the field of education. She said that in 2018, in the MoU, culture, tourism, and cultural heritage prevention have also been added and there have been expert visits from both sides and we have been sharing knowledge She said that in the field of environment, so far 24 experts have visited from Fukuoka and they have also gone through a training program International Environment Expert Training Program. Manipur CM stresses to expedite fencing along Myanmar border to curb influx of migrants, smuggling. Image Source: IANS News Imphal, Nov 20 : Manipur chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Monday held a meeting with a senior Border Roads Organisation (BRO) official and discussed the ongoing fencing work along the India-Myanmar border with the state, officials said. The Chief Minister, while discussing the progress of the fencing along the Myanmar border with BRO's Additional Director General (East) P.K.H. Singh, said that the border areas must be fenced and guarded effectively to protect the state from various forms of external threats. "P.K.H Singh, Additional Director General Border Roads (East) called on me at my residential office today. Had a fruitful discussion on the progress of development and roadways construction in the state for an improved connectivity and overall growth in various sectors. Also, pleased to learn about the progress of the ongoing fencing activity at the border areas to protect the state from various forms of external threats," the Chief Minister wrote on X. The Chief Minister recently also held a high level meeting with senior officials of the BRO and requested them to expedite the work of erection of border fencing along the India-Myanmar border in Manipur. The ethnic strife devastated Manipur and has around 400 km of unfenced international border with Myanmar. In wake of the rise in illegal immigrants and drugs smuggling from the neighbouring country, safeguarding our porous borders has become an urgent necessity, Singh told the media. Currently work is in progress to erect fencing on the 100 km of the 400 km India-Myanmar border in Manipur. Singh had earlier requested the Home ministry to cancel the 16 km free movement regime (FMR) on either side of the India-Myanmar border. FMR allows people residing on both sides of India-Myanmar border to venture 16 km deep into each other's territory without any document. Meanwhile, following the request of the state government, Centre has recently extended the time frame of capturing biographic and biometric details of Myanmar nationals, who illegally entered into Manipur, to March next year. Manipur has been caught in a devastating ethnic strife since May 3 with the BJP government in the state has blamed illegal migrants from Myanmar for creating problems including drugs smuggling in the state. The Manipur government cabinet sub-committee for the identification of illegal immigrants has found as many as 2,187 illegal immigrants had taken shelter in Manipur after the military Junta took power in Myanmar in February 2021. The state government has set up detention centers to accommodate such Myanmar nationals. New Delhi, Nov 20 : Low-cost airline SpiceJet on Monday told the Delhi High Court about potential insolvency risks if compelled to pay an additional Rs 100 crore to former promoter Kalanithi Maran. The airline proposed settling the dues through an equity issuance instead. During the hearing on Monday, the court expressed skepticism over SpiceJet's insolvency claims, highlighting that such pleas are common among debtors. The court also noted that Maran could not be compelled to accept shares as a settlement. Meanwhile, the court also summoned the airline's Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh to be present in the court on the next hearing. This isn't the first summons for Singh in this case, earlier he was asked to appear before the court in August this year. The case, revolving around the enforcement of a 2018 arbitral award directing SpiceJet to pay Rs 578 crore plus interest to Maran and KAL Airways, has been adjourned to January 10. The matter was initially with Justice Yogesh Khanna but has now been transferred to Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri. SpiceJet has contested the arbitral award in the high court's division bench, leading to an ongoing legal dispute. Maran claims Rs 440 crore in interest, while SpiceJet maintains it has paid Rs 100 crore following a court directive in August, owing only Rs 194 crore more. Senior lawyer Amit Sibal, representing SpiceJet, emphasised the airline's financial distress, citing operational losses, a negative net worth, and employee obligations that could lead to insolvency. Sibal urged the court to withhold judgement until the division bench rules on the arbitration dispute. The court raised questions about SpiceJet's contingency plan should the division bench uphold the arbitral award. Sibal attributed the airline's financial challenges to the grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft, pandemic impacts, and fuel cost spikes due to the Ukraine conflict. FIHAV 2023: Cuba Is Alone What the Cuban International Fair has revealed is the meager investments that the country is managing to capture and Castroism's penury. Here is the evidence. La Habana La Habana If economics and politics the latter not in the Aristotelian sense of the governance of that which is common to all, but in the Goebbelian one of maintaining power at all costs were not one and the same in Cuba, we might be able to accept words of the soundest mind in the entire Castroist cadre, Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Ricardo Cabrisas, who stated that the most recent Havana International Fair (FIHAV 2023), demonstrated that "Cuba is not alone." As economics and politics on the island are the same putrid excrescence, as soon as FIHAV 2023 ended the main national "information" media outlets all rushed to paraphrase Cabrisas, transmitting this message "Cuba is not alone." Thus did they summarize a supposedly economic event with a clearly political statement, demonstrating Cuban's thirst, anxiety, and need for international validation, something already evident at the 77+China Summit that Havana recently hosted, now that no one pays much attention to the decrepit fogeys and infamously tedious, pudgy and visibly inept captains at the helm of the "Revolution." The indefatigable Cabrisas supported his assertion about Cuba's solitude (he was actually referring to the regime) alluding to "figures confirming the good results of FIHAV 2023," so it is necessary to take a look at the results of this event to confirm whether the minister was right. The two fundamental indicators at a trade fair of this type are correlated with the turnover achieved: the number of participating companies and the area contracted for exhibitions. In order to consider FIHAV 2023 that success demonstrating that "Cuba is not alone," the level of the fair's best years should have been reached in terms of the aforementioned indicators, those marking its zenith since it was founded in 1983 "on the initiative - as could not be otherwise, literally - of El Comandante." It was not until FIHAV 2009 that the event drew more than 1,000 participating companies, a number that rose until 2019, when 4,000 companies from 60 countries attended, after which there was a two-year impasse due to the health restrictions imposed by Covid-19. The event resumed in 2022, but, for reasons not difficult to imagine, the number of participants was never disclosed. It can be presumed, however, that attendance was scant, as the surface area contracted dropped by 40% compared to before the pandemic. This year the Government has changed its communications strategy and, instead of hiding the data on participants, has publicized it, claiming undeniable success, with figures attesting to the resounding results of FIHAV 2023! Cuba is not alone!... A total of 844 companies participated. Is that success? Castroism is so desperate that it considers an event drawing 25% of the number of companies that participated just four years ago a success. In total, they contracted only 17,000 square meters of exhibition area, a far cry amount from the over 28,000 that were rented when Cuba, or rather Castroism, was less alone. From 4,000 to 844 does not seem a demonstration of much interest in Cuba, especially if we take into account that this total includes many domestic businesses, and that a new development was participation by some SMBs, with an entire pavilion, for the first time, fully occupied by exhibitors from all Cuban provinces. Taking everything into account, what FIHAV 2023 really shows is that international interest in Cuba is not only low, but waning, the clearest reflection of this being the scant investment that the country manages to capture. The Castro regime is a decomposing corpse that only attracts scavengers specialized in preying on countries, like the Russian oligarchs who fly over the island without even daring to stick around because the body is so rotten that, even for them, it is risky to feed there without extra security. A few days ago Cabrisas himself was told, in Moscow that if Havana wanted to see one ruble the most important thing was "the creation of preferential conditions for Russian investors." That is, either Cuba surrenders, grovels and prostitutes itself by giving them advantages over other foreigners, and Cubans themselves, or it will remain alone; that and no other is the humiliating, destitute situation of Castroism, which, incidentally, humiliates us all. New Delhi: Devotees offer prayers while taking a holy dip in the Yamuna river during Chhath Puja festival. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Nov 21 : The Delhi government on Monday accused Lt. Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena of making contemptuous remarks against the Supreme Court after the latter slammed the AAP dispensation for pollution Yamuna river. An AAP government source, referring to a L-G's post on microblogging site X, said that it was shocking that "he is in contempt of the Supreme Court". "It is unfortunate that a representative of the Central government, holding a constitutional position, considers themselves above the law," the source said. The source said that if Saxena disagreed with the Supreme Court 's judgement on July 11 removing the L-G from the high-level committee on Yamuna cleaning, then he should have filed a review. "It is shocking that he (L-G) is insinuating that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal influenced the decision," the source added. On X, Saxena earlier in the day wrote: "Even when some work starts under directions of NGT & things just begin to change in terms of cleaner flood plains, enhanced sewage treatment, land for new STPs & resultant slight improvements in water quality, the Govt covolutedly gets SC to modify NGT's order." The AAP government sources, reacting to Saxena's post, said: "It's sincerely unfortunate that a constitutionally designated officeholder is making such gauche remarks on the Supreme Court's decision. Contempt of court is a punishable offence and we hope that the apex court shall deal with this misplaced accusation sternly, taking suo motto cognizance against the L-G's insinuations." He further said that as a representative of the Central government and Constitution, the L-G must refrain from making such "contemptuous remarks". "The Delhi government has always wholeheartedly respected and abided by the court's orders whether it's in favour or untoward," the source said. Saxena took to X to slam the AAP government over devotees performing Chhath puja amid the toxic foam floating in Yamuna river. In a series of posts on X, Saxena said, "Chhath festival concluded today with Arghya offered to Lord Sun. The Chhathi Maiya departed, but once again Yamuna river was left dirty and polluted. Devotees were once again forced to offer prayers amidst silt, debris and rot. Offering Arghya in the river was prohibited but Yamuna did not become clean." "Year after year. One promise after another. Froth, sewer, effluent remain unchecked. The floodplains get turned into dump yards and open toilets. COD/BOD, Coliform, E Coli... all markers damn the river," the L-G added. He also attached several photographs of the devotees offering prayers in the Yamuna with toxic foam floating alongside them. Meanwhile, hitting back at the Delhi government, L-G Secretariat officials said that what is absolutely shocking is instead of addressing the questions and issues raised by L-G, the "sources" of AAP government are trying to hide behind fig leaf of "contempt" as an alibi to their gross and criminal failure in cleaning the Yamuna, despite dramatic public posturing during the last nine years. The Raj Niwas officials said that this "source based alibi comes from a government that has habitually and shamelessly been not only contemptuous, but downright insubordinate of judicial orders of every court of the land, be it in the matter of parali burning, Yamuna cleaning, garbage burning, air pollution or health services". "Just to set the record straight, so that their despicable twists are trashed in the bud- the L-G has followed every order, including the one in this case, in letter and spirit. Just as a Constitutional Authority should do," they added. California Independent Booksellers Alliance co-executive director Kristin Rasmussen will leave the organization in mid-December to become Scholastic Inc.s district sales manager. She plans to remain involved with the organizations annual Golden Poppy Book Awards programming through January 2024. Scholastic hired Rasmussen to fill the position of district sales manager Roz Hilden, who is retiring after 30 years with the company. Ive always thought Roz had my dream job, and now I get to live that dream, Rasmussen said. Rasmussen was named co-director of CALIBA with Ann Seaton in August 2021 after Calvin Crosby left to become co-owner of The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City. Seaton, who intended to step down from leading the California regional at the end of this year, will continue in an advisory capacity while a new executive director is sought. CALIBA staffer Valentina Moberg has been promoted to operations manager. Melinda Powers, CALIBA board president and head buyer at Bookshop Santa Cruz, said in a press statement that while this is a moment of big change for CALIBA, it is also one of opportunity. The efforts that Ann and Kristin have made to bring together and solidify our statewide bookselling community provide an excellent platform from which to continue to shape and grow the organization. CALIBA has posted a job announcement, and its board will work with a search committee to find a new executive director in the weeks ahead. With oral arguments set for November 29, some 17 organizations and individuals have teamed up to file six separate amicus briefs urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to uphold a lower court decision striking key provisions of HB 900, Texass controversial book rating law. Among the briefs and arguments filed on November 17: The Freedom to Read Foundation and the American Association of School Librarians: "Appellants argue that HB 900 is simply an innocuous mechanism to protect school children from 'sexually explicit materials.' But as the district court recognized, HB 900 goes much further, implicating potentially 'any sexual-related topic.' The statute offers no 'bright line[s]' to guide vendors in labeling booksa judgment call for which they likely have no training," the brief states. "HB 900 will undoubtedly result in denuded school library collections, stripped of materials that bear no resemblance to obscene or even 'sexually explicit' materials. Because HB 900 unconstitutionally burdens the First Amendment rights of both book vendors and school students, the Court should affirm the district courts injunction against the statute." The Association of University Presses; Barnes & Noble; the Educational Book and Media Association; Freedom to Learn Advocates; Half Price Books, Records, Magazines; the Independent Book Publishers Association; Penguin Random House; and Sourcebooks: "First, the mandatory ratings are classic 'compelled speech' in violation of the First Amendment. As the District Court held, [HB 900] impermissibly compels Amici to 'create speech that [we do] not wish to make, and in addition, in which [we do] not agree with,' in violation of the First Amendment. Second, the Acts provisions restricting the Plaintiffs dissemination of 'sexually relevant' and 'sexually explicit' booksmany of which have already been chosen by Texas school librarians as educationally suitable for their schoolsviolates the First Amendment under several established doctrines," the brief states. "Likewise, lacking a single case precedent, Appellants claim that books should be treated as commercial speech, not core protected speech, merely because they are soldin contradiction of centuries of caselaw. In sum, the District Courts sound ruling should be affirmed." In requiring vendors to review every publication offered to public schools and apply censorial and stigmatizing labels based on their understanding of extraordinarily vague and overbroad criteria, HB 900 suppresses writers speech and imposes a pernicious scheme of delegated censorship... The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Cato Institute, and the National Coalition Against Censorship: "[HB 900's] failure to provide booksellers and public employees clear standards and fair notice of its reach suggests a more speech- chilling purpose: censoring content and views that Texas finds unworthy," the brief states. "[HB 900] embodies the arbitrary and standardless exercise of legislative power that the Constitution forbids, especially when it chills protected expression. But even if [HB 900] were capable of any coherent construction, the statute is a content-based prohibition that compels speech and fails strict scrutiny. On all counts, [HB 900] fails the Constitution, and the Court should affirm the preliminary injunction to protect free expression." PEN America: "In requiring vendors to review every publication offered to public schools and apply censorial and stigmatizing labels based on their understanding of extraordinarily vague and overbroad criteria, HB 900 suppresses writers speech and imposes a pernicious scheme of delegated censorship that violates fundamental free speech values. HB 900, if implemented, will impede writers ability to reach their intended audiences and potentially chill their expression in an effort to escape vendors stigmatizing their work with labels such as 'sexually explicit' and 'sexually relevant,'" the brief argues. "The bill evinces a facile understanding of literature and a failure to acknowledge its value as a recognized First Amendment interest. Courts have held time and again that the government has no place restricting and evaluating art. HB 900 does just that." The ACLU of Texas, University of Texas law professor Lawrence Sager, and Southern Methodist University law professor Dale Carpenter: "The district court was right to enjoin the laws operation: it is void for vagueness; it compels unwanted speech; and it serves as an unconstitutional prior restraint," the brief states. "On its face, the law thrusts the Booksellers into an impossible predicament. If they try to comply with the law, they will endure further violations of their fundamental rights while incurring financially ruinous expenses endeavoring to judge thousands of books against vague standards. If they refuse to comply, they will be forbidden from selling books to Texas schools going forward, costing them vital customers and revenues they have enjoyed and relied upon for decades. Either way, the Act inflicts concrete injuries on Booksellers that are ripe for this Courts consideration." The Texas Speech Communication Association: "The Texas Speech Communication Association believes that enjoining enforcement of the READER Act is in the public interest because classroom activities will otherwise be chilled by teachers and administrators uncertainty as to Acts application. This chilling effect has the potential to exacerbate problems with teacher attrition and retention in public schools. The Act also interferes with students ability to learn and receive information. In light of these concerns, together with those expressed in the Appellees brief, the district courts preliminary injunction should be affirmed." The State's Argument The amicus briefs come after Texas state attorneys filed their appeal brief on October 30 seeking to overturn judge Alan D. Albright's August 31 preliminary injunction blocking the law. In its brief, the state relies largely on technical arguments to overturn the injunction, insisting that while the state has broad powers to regulate speech made available to children, the appeals court doesnt need to address the First Amendment questions surrounding the case, arguing that the plaintiffs' "lack of standing" and "unripe" case necessitates the case's dismissal. In their November 13 appeal filing, attorneys for the plaintiffs (two Texas bookstoresAustins BookPeople and Houstons Blue Willow Bookshoptogether with the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund) insist that district court judge Alan D. Albright got it right in his unequivocal 59-page written opinion and order blocking the law, calling it a "a web of unconstitutionally vague requirements." Meanwhile, just a single amicus brief was filed in support of the state, filed by Texas state rep. Jared Patterson, the author of the law. And in a twist, Patterson's brief actually refutes two of the states key legal arguments. "Contrary to the position of the state in this case, Amicus does not dispute the vendors standing to challenge the provisions of [HB 900] that directly regulate them. To the contrary, this Court has been clear that a party who is the object of a regulation has standing to challenge itfull stop," Patterson's brief argues. "Nor does Amicus argue that a challenge to the provisions that directly regulate vendors would not be ripe. This Court has been clear that facial claims are ripe the moment the regulation is passed." Instead, Patterson's amicus brief appears focuses on having the court leave in place the HB 900's broad definitions for sexual content. "The court held that the use of 'patently offensive' was unconstitutionally vague, but did not enjoin the rest of the definition. Excising the vague term 'patently offensive' from the definition, the statute is now limited to 'sexual contact, actual or simulated sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, sexual bestiality, masturbation, sado-masochistic abuse, or lewd exhibition of the genitals, the anus, or any portion of the female breast below the top of the areola.' No one can reasonably dispute the clarity of those term," Patterson argues. "As such, regardless of whether the vendors have standing to challenge the portions of [HB 900] that regulate private vendors, they lack standing to challenge the core provisions of [the law]. There is no stand-alone right to have pornographic materials purchased by public schools." Signed by Texas governor Greg Abbott on June 12, HB 900 requires book vendorsat their own considerable expenseto review and rate books, both new and previously sold, for sexual content under a vaguely articulated standard. Under the law, books rated sexually explicit (if the book includes material that would be deemed patently offensive by unspecified community standards) are banned entirely from Texas public schools. Books rated sexually relevant (books with any representation of sexual conduct) would require written parental permission for students to access them. Furthermore, the law gives the state the ultimate power to change the rating on any book, and to bar vendors that do not accept the state's ratings as their own from selling to Texas schools, essentially imposing a state standard. According to a scheduling order, the state's final reply brief is due on November 20, with oral argument is currently set for November 29. Sourcebooks and Penguin Random House North Asia have launched Callisto China, a new publishing house that will publish Chinese-language translations of Callisto titles in China. Sourcebooksof which Penguin Random House is now a majority owneracquired the assets of Callisto in May. Callisto was founded in 2011, and was at one time one of the fastest growing independent publishing houses in the U.S. It focused on publishing nonfiction titles, using data and analytics to drive its direction and decision making. The company had several bestsellers, the most notable of which was My First Learn-to-Write Workbook, one for the biggest hits of the early pandemic in 2020. That book has sold more than 1.5 million copies, and the company claimed to have reached some 50 million customers overall. But the companys sales fell dramatically in recent years, forcing layoffs and, eventually, the sale to Penguin Random House subsidiary Sourcebooks. This has been a transformative year for Sourcebooks worldwideour international business has grown a remarkable 73% over last year, in large part due to market specific partnerships that allow for our publishing to benefit from best in class localized expertise, said Shawn Abraham, v-p of international sales at Sourcebooks. This collaborative publishing partnership with PRH North Asia for Callisto China is positioned to create a brand-new opportunity for both companies, as well as this amazing publishing program. Sourcebooks has garnered some of that international success through the boom in sales driven by TikTok, CEO Dominique Raccah told PW during the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. Young adult novels, which were popular on TikTok, but not yet translated into foreign languages sold especially well. As we forge our partnership, we tap into the vibrant pulse of Chinas market, where the demand for childrens nonfiction and educational books is expanding rapidly, said Azia Cheng, CEO of PRH North Asia. This collaboration is more than a business interaction; it is a dedication to the growth and enlightenment of young minds. Our entry into this market with a robust catalogue of children's titles is a response to the increasing emphasis on holistic developmentmental, physical, and emotionalin early education. We are eager to contribute significantly to this genre, providing young readers with the tools they need to thrive in an ever-changing world. 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Price: $ 1,500 Seller State of Residence: California Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential State/Province: California Location: 928**, Anaheim, California You will be redirected to eBay Nearby California Property details: FISHING Homesite Clear Lake, Ca LAKE COUNTY NO MINIMUM / NO RESERVE --- HIGH BID OWNS THE LOT Clear Lake is a natural freshwater lake in Lake County, north of Napa County and San Francisco. It is the largest natural freshwater lake wholly within the state, with 68 square miles of surface area. Lakes have existed at the site for at least 2,500,000 years, possibly making it the oldest lake in North America. Known as the "Bass Capital of the West," Clear Lake supports large populations of bass, cra... Price: $ 1,500 Seller State of Residence: California Zoning: Mixed State/Province: California Location: 928**, Anaheim, California You will be redirected to eBay Nearby California Volunteers deliver bags of food and juice to families during a food drive at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Athens, Georgia, on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. The church runs the food drive every Thursday starting at 1 p.m. and goes until roughly 150 bags of food are distributed. (Photo/Nick Ladd, @laddowenphotography_) For Lori Beer, chief information officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co, largest banker in the US, India is a big part of the organisations global technology footprint and is core to its products and services. Photograph: Mike Sagar/Reuters This is evident from the fact that in less than two months since JPMorgan & Chase chief executive officer Jamie Dimon visited India, Beer has come here to see the recently opened centres in Mumbai and Bengaluru. What is different for me this year are our new centres and to be able to come and see the vibrancy, and connectedness is great. "We have a global tech vision that supports our businesses. "And India is a huge part of our global tech footprint, Beer told Business Standard at its newly opened centre in Mumbai. Beer, considered the most powerful woman in the banking world, manages a budget of $15 billion and more than 57,000 technologists across the various businesses of the company. India houses one-third of the firms technology workforce out of its centres in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Beer said technologists in India created cutting-edge solutions -- cloud computing, integrating artificial intelligence, or improving digital banking that were used by the bank. The one thing that is special about India (tech centres) is that 80 per cent of our technology workforce are engineers, which is the highest percentage in all of the tech centres across the globe. "We have started to see our colleagues taking global roles for some of our core products, she said when asked how significant the India teams contribution to its technology was. "One such example is its commercial banking product called Story, which was innovated and created in India. We also have many of the core platforms in the infrastructure space being built from here, she added. When asked if the US recession or the current Israel-Hamas conflict affected the company, Beer said it had a technology centre in Israel. From an employee perspective it impacts us. "But it has not impacted our investment. We always think long-term. "We even invested during the financial crisis, she added. Even in terms of its technology investment, the US recessionary trend has not impacted it, she said. Its tech budgets over the period have only been increasing, she added. The $15 billion number has grown over the years ... The growth has been commensurate with our business as our core business has been growing. "Our tech spending as a percentage of revenue has remained relatively stable at 10 per cent, said Beer. On generative AI, she said while it had some value, there was a lot of hype attached to it and a lot of things needed to be tested. We have been a firm believer in artificial intelligence (AI). "Three years back we started to think about how to accelerate AI use and increase its capability. "So as GenAI came to the fore last year, we have been working on our GenAI model, said Beer. Since we started using AI we have 300 use cases in production, and in value terms they represent $1 billion. "We were hoping to reach this number by the end of this year, but we will probably touch $1.5 billion, she said on how even traditional AI could bring value to business. JPMorgan Chase recently held its first innovation forum for fintechs in India. This year around 30 startups were invited by the bank to be part of the fintech forum. A handful have been selected and proof of concept will be conducted with them. 'Assam Rifles have prevented a large number of genocides and killings.' IMAGE: Personnel of Assam Rifles and the Indian Army patrol an area in Manipur. Photograph: ANI Photo On Thursday, November 16, 2023, PTI reported that militants in Manipur triggered a low-intensity IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blast under an Assam Rifles mine-protected vehicle in the state's Tengnoupal district. Soon after triggering the IED, the gunmen fired indiscriminately at the Assam Rifles vehicle. None of the Assam Rifles soldiers were injured. In the continuing intra-tribal conflict in Manipur, certain Meitei groups accused the Assam Rifles for siding with the Kukis. In an unprecedented move, the Manipur police filed an FIR against the Assam Rifles for obstructing their duties and accused them of allowing Kuki militants to flee. The Assam Rifles, which functions under the Union home ministry, strongly condemned the fabricated allegation to malign its image. "Assam Rifles carries out its duties with courage, impartiality and more importantly as an example to the rest of the country," says Lieutenant General Shokin Chauhan, former director general of the Assam Rifles, the largest paramilitary force in the country. The Assam Rifles is responsible for counter insurgency, border security and maintaining law and order in the North East. "It is disheartening for men who shed their blood serving in North East to have FIRs filed against them by the state police and to be asked for their identity cards by the Meira Paibis in Manipur," says the general. "This is extremely dangerous for the uniformed forces," says the distinguished officer, a third generation military officer who served nearly 15 years in the North East. General Chauhan was chairman of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group to ensure peace in the North East after retirement from the Indian Army in 2018. He has vast experience in conducting counter terrorist operations both in Kashmir and the North East, and served as DG of the Assam Rifles for 16 months. In the concluding part of his interview to Rediff.com's Archana Masih, General Chauhan says the Assam Rifles has the most difficult task amongst all Central Armed Police Forces and has discharged its duties exceptionally well. As a former director general of the Assam Rifles, what are your thoughts about the challenges faced by the force in the last six months? Let me put it on record that the Assam Rifles is probably the best fighting force in the country today. It is a very experienced, capable organisation and equals any Indian army unit in its capability. It has served extensively in Kashmir and also in Sri Lanka. They were very successful in dealing with the LTTE in their areas of operations. The Manipur police filed a First Information Report against the Assam Rifles. Was this move by the Manipur police out of line? In my opinion, the Manipur police was wrong in filing an FIR which was quashed subsequently. But the fact that the Meitei dominated Manipur police felt that they could do so indicates that they had the support of the state government. The Assam Rifles took it up with the chief minister and the Union home minister and there is relative calm now. I am sure the Assam Rifles has spoken to their counterparts so that this does not happen again. But it was disheartening for the men who are facing the brunt to be questioned about their antecedents and asked for their identity cards by the Meira Paibi. The Assam Rifles has never differentiated between tribes in the North East. Any Assam Rifles operation could result in loss of life and sacrifice. Soldiers who shed their blood serving in such areas of conflict should not be asked for such identification. This is extremely dangerous for the uniformed force. The officers of the Assam Rifles are drawn from the Indian Army. They are not permanent cadre of the Assam Rifles. The commanding officers from the army volunteer for the Assam Rifles. An army officer in an Assam Rifles unit is not partial to any community because we don't see ourselves as belonging to a community. We belong to the force. We have spent a lifetime trying to make sure that the force carries its duties with courage, impartiality and more importantly as an example to the rest of the country. IMAGE: A protest in Imphal against the Assam Rifles over alleged atrocities towards Meitei women. Photograph: ANI Photo In your opinion, how has the Assam Rifles discharged its duties and what sets it apart? The army does not carry out counterinsurgency operations in Manipur or anywhere in the North East -- it is the Assam Rifles that is entrusted with that important task. The Assam Rifles also guards the Indo-Myanmar border and carries out operations within the hinterland in Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur. It probably has the most difficult job amongst the Central Armed Police Forces in the country. How can security forces respond to attacks on their camps and establishments? How can such attacks be stopped? The local police stations in the North East are vulnerable to attacks by insurgent groups which have better weapons and many more men. Though the Indo-Myanmar border is a benign border and Myanmar is a friendly country, it is a 'live' border because of the insurgent groups operating in that area. The insurgent groups have 55 to 60 camps in Myanmar. The Assam Rifles has the ability and survivability to operate in that hostile environment. The Manipur police depended on the shoulders of the Assam Rifles for its operations [against insurgents] till now. The Assam Rifles was the big brother. Now that they are left on their own, they find it difficult to withstand such attacks. What would your advice to men in the Assam Rifles be? They should keep doing their duties, stay motivated and keep themselves fully protected. The Assam Rifles has saved thousands and thousands of people. They have prevented a large number of genocides and killings because of their presence. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com 'We are hoping that in three-four days we will surely get a positive result.' IMAGE: Rescue operation underway at the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, part of which collapsed on November 12, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo For more than a week now 41 workers have remained trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand. All efforts to rescue the workers seem to fail and time is running out. At present only dry fruits can be provided to these workers to eat, through the pipes that are reaching the area where the workers are trapped. The construction of this tunnel was expected to reduce the journey from Uttarkashi to Yamunotri Dham by 26 km. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com spoke to Sanjay Dobhal, the MLA from Yamunotri, under which Silkyara falls, to know more about the rescue efforts and why it has failed till now. What is the status of the 41 trapped workers in the Silkyara tunnel? Right now the rescue work is going on at five different locations to bring out the trapped workers at Silkyara tunnel. If one work gets halted after machine collapse then other machine starts working. We are hoping that in three-four days we will surely get a positive result. If not three-four days, it will take two days. Will they be able to survive without food for so long as it is eight days since they were trapped? Supplying food is not happening, but we are able to send dry fruits to them (through pipes). Right now, the rescue work is going on in full swing and even the PMO (the prime minister's office) is supervising the operation. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari too visited the rescue operation site today (Sunday). The Uttarakhand government too is closely monitoring the situation. Are these 41 trapped workers alive? Is there any assurance you have given the families of these workers? Yes, they are very much alive. 100 percent guarantee all workers are alive. What is the last communication that took place with them? I am giving a guarantee because each and every worker's family members have spoken to them. I personally spoke to 7-8 family members of the trapped workers and all of them told me that their family member trapped inside the debris of tunnel is alive. I have to trust their word. What about drinking water? There is already water inside the tunnel that is dripping (through the mountains). Moreover, dry fruits are being passed through pipes and so is water. What about oxygen to breathe? How do they breathe among all that trapped debris? These workers are trapped in a region where there is 2,200 metres free space so there is enough oxygen available for them. Moreover, I am told they are being supplied oxygen too through pipes, but the technicalities and details I don't know as it requires expertise to explain. Why did the earlier rescue efforts fail? I cannot comment on this because only a technical expert can answer this question. The Uttarakhand government is doing whatever the experts on the spot are suggesting. And the central government is providing a green corridor for airlifting any machinery that is required on the site. Are there any foreign experts on site to guide Indian experts in this rescue mission? Yes, there are, but I do not know which countries they have come from. Nitin Gadkariji was stating that they are taking guidance from the best experts across the world to save the lives of trapped workers. It was reported that a safety tunnel for workers was not provided during construction and that resulted in these workers beinf trapped. These things are a matter of inquiry and it will not be possible for me to comment on this issue right now. The entire focus for the moment is to save the lives of trapped workers. The Uttarakhand government has formed a high-power committee which will conduct an inquiry into this accident and the guilty people will be punished. It is said this site was not the right place to build a tunnel. I am not an expert, so I have no idea. Uttarakhand being Devbhoomi, do you think such tunnels are required? Since you are the local MLA, didn't any locals object to the construction of this tunnel? Nobody in my constituency felt that the place was not right for the construction of this tunnel. It was widely believed that the soil in this region was firm and not prone to accidents but this is what many locals believe. And I don't think the construction of this tunnel started just haphazardly. It was a well-thought out and well planned decision by technical experts from different arena and only after that the construction of this tunnel began. What is the reason for the collapse now? No idea now as this will be known only after an inquiry is conducted. If the company responsible for building this tunnel did not do due diligence, then action will surely be taken against the persons concerned. The inquiry has already begun. What about the families of the trapped people? They all have come here after the accident and staying in a nearby hotel. How close are we to rescuing the workers? We have to believe in god and trust him. We all are hoping it will take another three days for them to come out of the tunnel. It is said that the Uttarakhand government did not take the accident seriously when it happened and it delayed in getting the right machinery for rescue efforts. It is not the Uttarakhand government's mistake because they are giving 100 percent in this rescue effort. They are only following the advice of technical experts on the ground. Whatever they are asking, they are being provided by the Uttarakhand government. If they want 'A' machine first they get it and if they want 'B' machine later they get that later. Every decision on the ground is being taken by the technical experts. The Uttarakhand government is just following them and providing them with every relief material they want. A Dothan mother accused of placing her newborn in a dumpster with a trash compactor to die has been denied bond, according to court documents. Following a bond hearing on Friday, Nov. 3, Houston County judge Benjamin Lewis ordered Jakayla Ashanti Williams to stay in the Houston County Jail without bond. Williams, 18, of Dothan, is charged with one count of capital murder-under 14 years. In August of this year, Williams arrived at Southeast Health with a family member and told an employee she was looking to find a child she claimed she left with a nurse at the hospital. Officials determined she gave birth at her home on Aug. 13, but there was no record of her going to the hospital to drop the child off. According to Dothan Police Chief Will Benny, Williams told investigators she wrapped the child in a blanket, drove to an apartment complex on the west side of Dothan, and placed it in a trash compactor at the back of the property. Law enforcement officials believe the baby was alive when placed into the compactor. The body was recovered at the Dothan landfill and sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, where an autopsy confirmed the remains were those of Williams baby. Under this capital murder charge, Williams faces life in prison or the death penalty. Israel on Sunday released a video of what it described as a tunnel dug by Palestinian operatives under Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza. "OPERATIONAL UPDATE: IDF and ISA forces revealed a significant 55-meter-long terrorist tunnel, 10 metres underneath the Shifa Hospital complex, during an intelligence-based operation," the IDF wrote in a post on social media platform X. The defence forces also highlighted that the tunnel entrance contains various defence mechanisms, such as a blast-proof door and a firing hole. "The tunnel entrance contains various defence mechanisms, such as a blast-proof door and a firing hole, in an attempt by Hamas to block Israeli forces from entering," the IDF said. "For weeks, we've been telling the world about Hamas' cynical use of the residents of Gaza and patients of Shifa Hospital as human shields. Here is more proof," it added. The Israel Defence Forces on Saturday denied that they demanded Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City evacuate within an hour, adding that it only accepted the requests of the medical centre's director to make a safe route for those who wished to leave, The Times of Israel reported. "This morning, the IDF acceded to the request of the director of Shifa Hospital to enable additional Gazans who were in the hospital and would like to evacuate to do so via the secure route," the IDF said in a statement. The IDF further stated that they had in fact proposed that any requests for medical evacuation would be provided by the IDF, according to The Times of Israel. "At no point did the IDF order the evacuation of patients or medical teams and in fact, it proposed that any request for medical evacuation would be facilitated by the IDF," the statement added. The Allahabad high court on Monday gave the green light to the Uttar Pradesh government's plan to build a corridor for the famed Banke Bihari Temple in Mathura for the convenience of devotees. IMAGE: Devotees play with colours during the Holi celebrations, at Shri Banke Bihari temple, Vrindavan, in Mathura, March 6, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo A bench comprising Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava passed the order while hearing a PIL filed by Anand Sharma and another person from Mathura. Earlier, the state government placed before the court the scheme regarding the corridor development that will involve the purchase of about five acres of land around the temple for facilitating darshan and puja by devotees. According to the scheme, there would be no interference of any kind in the 'puja, archana or shringar' carried out by the Goswamis and whatever right they have shall be continued to be enjoyed by them. The government will also create facilities such as parking area and the cost would be borne by it. After hearing the parties concerned, the high court said, "The state government to proceed with the implementation of plans and scheme submitted to this court, which the court finds appropriate and necessary in the interest of justice. We leave it open for the state government to take whatever steps it deems appropriate after consultation with the technical experts in the field for implementing the scheme." On the issue of encroachment around the temple premises, the court observed, "The state government is also free to take appropriate steps for removing the encroachment over the approach roads (galis) to the temple." The state government, after implementation of the scheme, "is expected to ensure that no further obstructions/encroachment be allowed to come up on the approach roads to the temple," the court stated. On the issue of devotees facing problems during the period of development of the corridor, the bench observed, "We make it clear that darshan of the devotees shall not be hampered in any manner, except for the implementation of the scheme, during which appropriate alternative arrangements shall be made. The present management along with all the stakeholders are directed to ensure that darshan of the devotees are not restricted in any manner and by anyone." "The district authorities are also directed to ensure strict compliance of the above directions and any act of violation shall be reported to this court," it stated. In the PIL, it was said that on account of huge gathering of devotees there are law and order problems and numerous FIRs have been registered for theft, loot and loss of property. Instances of deaths of devotees on account of huge gathering was also highlighted in the petition. According to the petitioner, the local administration which is duty bound to manage the gathering and ensure proper walking corridors to the temple has utterly failed in its obligation. In spite of numerous mishappenings, no steps were taken by the district administration or by the state government, the PIL stated. The high court fixed January 31, 2024 as the next date of hearing on the PIL. The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the delay on the part of Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi in granting assent to several bills passed by the state assembly, asking as to why should governors wait for parties to move the top court with their grievances. IMAGE: Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi with Chief Minister M K Stalin. Photograph: ANI Photo Posing tough questions, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud asked what was the governor doing for three years, noting that the bills were pending since January 2020. Observing that the issue was whether there was a delay in the discharge of the constitutional functions entrusted to the office of the governors, the court also said it would deal with the question whether a governor can sit over the bills without sending them either back to the assembly or to the President. The top court made the observations as it deferred the hearing on the Tamil Nadu government's plea alleging delay by Governor Ravi to December 1 after Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the office of the governor, sought a postponement. The court, while adjourning the hearing, took note of the fact that the TN assembly has re-adopted 10 Bills returned by the governor. Let us await the decision of the governor (on re-adopted) bills, said the bench, also comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra. The top court, meanwhile, also sought responses from the Centre and the office of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on a separate plea of the Kerala government accusing him of not granting assent to several Bills cleared by the legislative assembly. While hearing the plea of the TN government, the bench took note of the fact that Governor Ravi responded by saying that he was withholding his assent on 10 bills after the top court issued notices on November 10. Mr Attorney (Venkataramani), the governor says he has disposed of these bills on November 13. Our concern is that our order was passed on November 10. These bills have been pending since January 2020. It means that the governor took the decision after the court issued notice." What was the governor doing for three years? Why should the governor wait for the parties to approach the Supreme Court, the bench asked. The top most law officer said there were some intricate and delicate issues with some bills as they seek to take away certain powers of the governor. Venkataramani gave the example of a bill where the power of the governor with regard to appointment of vice chancellors in state government-run universities was proposed to be taken away by the government. Since it is an important issue, some reconsideration is required, he said. The bench in its order noted the details related to 10 bills including the dates of their clearance in the legislative assembly and their pendency with the office of the governor and said the oldest one was sent for gubernatorial assent way back in January 2020. The bench was responding to the submissions of the AG that Ravi had taken charge on November 18, 2021, and all sorts of delays cannot be attributed to the present governor as there were many intricate issues involved with many bills. Observing that the concern was not related to the conduct of any particular governor, the bench said, "The issue is not whether any particular governor delayed but whether in general there has been a delay in exercising constitutional functions. Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared for the TN government, said the governor was acting in breach of the constitutional schemes and this led to a situation, where the assembly has re-passed 10 out of 15 bills. The governor cannot simply withhold assent without providing any reason and that the Constitution required him to give a note for reconsideration, Singhvi said. The bench then referred to Article 200 of the Constitution and the powers of the governors with regard to bills passed by state assemblies and asked whether the governor can sit over them without sending it either back to the assembly or to the President. "The governor under the substantive part of Article 200, has three courses of action -- he can assent, he can withhold assent or he can reserve it for the consideration of the President." "Now when does the proviso come into play? When he withholds assent, does he have to necessarily resend it to the legislature, the bench asked. The counsel for the state government said the governor has to return the bill "as soon as possible", otherwise it will be a mockery of the constitutional provision. "Does your lordship envisage a 'pocket veto' for the governor? Does he have a pocket veto, Singhvi asked. The bench then queried whether the governor can send the bill to the President after it has been re-passed by the legislative assembly. Such a course is not open to the governor after the bill has been passed again, the court was told. The bench recorded that the governor's office received 181 bills, and he assented to 152 bills while five were withdrawn by the government itself. Nine bills have been reserved for the assent of the President and assent has been withheld on 10 bills, the order said. The TN assembly re-adopted 10 bills in a special sitting on Saturday, days after they were returned by Governor Ravi. The bills related to different departments including law, agriculture and higher education were passed in the wake of the governor returning those on November 13. The re-adopted bills were later sent to the governor for his assent. The National Investigation Agency has registered a case against designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and his banned organisation Sikhs For Justice for issuing video messages threatening people flying Air India, a spokesperson of the agency said on Monday. IMAGE: Designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Photograph: ANI Photo The case has been filed under the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the official said. Pannun, the self-proclaimed general counsel of "unlawful association" SFJ, released the video messages on social media platforms on November 4. In these, he asked Sikhs not to fly on Air India planes on and after November 19, claiming that there was a threat to their lives if they flew on the airline's aircraft. The listed terrorist also threatened that Air India would not be allowed to operate globally. Following this, a high alert was issued and investigations started by security forces in Canada, India and certain other countries where Air India flies. In his video messages, Pannun also issued a warning to the Indian government that the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, one of the world's busiest airports, would remain closed on November 19. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) spokesperson said Pannun has been under the NIA's lens since 2019, when the anti-terror agency registered its first case against him. In September, the NIA had confiscated his share of a house and land in Amritsar in Punjab and Chandigarh, the spokesperson said, adding that non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against Pannun by a NIA Special Court on February 3, 2021. He was also declared a 'Proclaimed Offender' on November 29 last year, the official said. As part of his concerted plan to promote terror acts to revive terrorism in India, the official said, Pannun has been creating a false narrative around issues prevailing in Punjab, particularly with regard to Sikhism and by promoting enmity between Sikhs in the country and other communities. "The latest threat is in line with the same narrative, which Pannun has actively promoted in the past by threatening and attempting to disrupt essential transportation network systems, including the railways, as well as thermal power plants in India," the spokesperson said. On July 10, 2019, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had banned the SFJ as an "unlawful association" under UAPA for its activities. On July 1 in the next year, Pannun was listed as an "individual terrorist" by the ministry. A security force personnel and his driver were shot dead by suspected members of the Imphal Valley-based terror groups in Kangpokpi district of Manipur on Monday, officials said in Imphal. IMAGE: Indian Army Red Shield Division distributes food to children and people as part of the Diwali festival celebrations, November 14, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo The duo were travelling in a vehicle when suspected terror group members belonging to the state's majority community carried out an ambush between Haraothel and Kobsha villages, the officials said. One of the deceased was working with the India Reserve Battalion, the officials said. The incident took place in an area adjacent to the Singda dam, which has become a hotspot for insurgent groups to target tribal community members during the ongoing ethnic violence in the northeastern state. A tribal organisation claimed that the Kuki-Zo community people were attacked without provocation and declared a "shutdown" in Kangpokpi district. The area witnessed several incidents of gunfight between armed villagers since the ethnic strife between Meitei and Kuki communities began in the northeastern state in early May. Additional forces have been deployed in the area and a search is underway to arrest those involved in the incident, a police official said. Condemning the "unprovoked attack" on the Kuki-Zo community people, the Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity declared an "emergency shutdown" in Kangpokpi district. The COTU, at a meeting, also demanded that the government make arrangements for a separate administration for tribals. The COTU, at a meeting, also demanded that the government make arrangements for separate administration for tribals. More than 180 people were killed since the violence erupted on May 3 after a Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain this afternoon. High 49F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Showers early with some clearing overnight. Low 34F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Research that emerges from Australian universities is world-class, with 85 percent of it rated at or above the world standard. Our countrys university system is fertile ground for cutting-edge ideas that have the potential to be turned into budding startups. In 2021, Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia found that over 300 startups and spinouts were based on the commercialisation of research that started at Australian universities. However, transforming research into a commercial reality is not always easy. The practice of research is very different to the practice of business, and academics dont always see themselves as entrepreneurs. This said, its imperative to leverage our world-class research to navigate our rapidly evolving world, with the urgent threats of climate change, the potential for future pandemics, supply chain disruptions and cost of living ever-looming. The risks of not properly fostering research commercialisation include limiting benefits to economic growth and unlocking world-changing innovations that create new products, services and jobs. While strong collaboration between universities and industry is critically important, external support in helping academics create robust business models, and commercial structures to wrap around academic IP, is also key. The challenges of commercialising IP Ventures, especially those emerging from academic backgrounds, face three primary challenges: 1. Technical Challenges: While academics usually excel in fundamental research, the technical journey requires intense product development and commercialisation skills. Taking technologies from university to market requires substantial capital investments and involves more risk than the average startup investment. Because of this, some academic operators struggle to navigate this stage and reach commercial readiness. Several universities have established engineering R&D units to drive academic research further along the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) spectrum, thus helping commercialise the fundamental research into a prototype, MVP, or product itself. Despite University-driven commercialisation efforts, challenges still remain. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has observed that oftentimes, universities encourage researchers to focus on academic publications, rather than commercialisation or collaboration with business. Local governments are already making moves to address this gap, with the Victorian governments investment fund, Breakthrough Victoria, backing five Victorian universities to help them bring research to market. 2. Legal Challenges: Intellectual property (IP) rights are also a significant hurdle for startups that emerge from academia. Universities are understandably protective of the IP developed under their purview. Researchers often must negotiate the tricky terrain of licensing or transferring IP rights, allowing them to transform academic research into a business venture. A UK government study into the commercialisation of university IP found that academic institutions, businesses and investors often reported difficulties with negotiation on equity shares, royalties and technology valuations. In Australia, the Higher Education Research Commercialisation (HERC) Intellectual Property (IP) Framework (the Framework) was introduced in 2021 to standardise the process. This framework, and other related government efforts, will be useful in providing academics with clear direction and support when looking to spin-out IP from universities. 3. Commercial Challenges: With a technical product in hand and the resolution around IP rights underway, the third stage is the business model. Deep Tech companies are usually so cutting-edge that they may create new markets, or provide a solution to a problem that is not yet well-defined. This departure point is the opposite to most startups, who typically pick an existent problem and develop a tech product to solve that problem. This technology-first rather than problem-first approach to business building has means many deep tech businesses find themselves classified as Solutions in Search of a Problem (SISP). This means their commercial legwork is particularly important. Specifically, it will involve understanding the market the product will be sold into, identifying key customer groups, establishing the right distribution channels, and thinking through the financials of the business. Bridging the research to realisation gap Having worked closely with deep tech startups emerging from academic backgrounds, something I frequently observe is an unfamiliarity with the commercial aspect. Academics and researchers have built esteemed careers in academic research and may not be expert in navigating business and commercial challenges. These startups need help with developing the right fundamentals and foundations for the business itself, that wrap around the technology. This means establishing problem-solution fit, knowing who your customers and where they are, what your channels to market are, and proving and refining product-market fit over time. One element of the business that deep tech founders should ensure they build internal capability around is the finance function. In challenging capital markets, founders need to understand and present defensible finances to investors. Startups, may need guidance in accessing incentives such as the Research & Development tax incentives or other government grants, that can assist in creating another cashflow stream into the business, and securing other funding to support the equity / debt blend in the business. These challenges can be overcome in a few ways. Founders can onboard a commercial co-founder to help drive commercial needs in the business or participate in an accelerator program to assist in building out the business. Alternatively, engaging external advisers can be a non-dilutive approach to seeking support. Advisers may include virtual CFOs or government incentives advisers who can build robust business models, lay down business foundations, ensure sound financial structure, and provide access to non-dilutive funding. A brilliant example of a thriving deep tech venture is Vexev; developed out of the research driven in the PhDs of Vexev founders John Caroll and Eamonn Colley. Vexev is building a product that leverages computational fluid dynamics to detect vascular disease. It has proved itself not only to be a standout R&D company, but also as a business that understands market dynamics, unit economics and government incentives. Its strength doesnt lie solely in its ground-breaking technology but also in its ability to align with leading venture capital funds and gain access to crucial support. While universities have a key role to play as startup incubators, the path from groundbreaking academia to a commercial product is not always straightforward. Its a journey that needs outside experts to navigate successfully. By having the backing to better understand the legal and financial aspects of commercialisation, academic startups can realise their potential and become drivers of Australias innovation economy. Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. A claim has been repeatedly shared among Chinese-language social media users that the German Embassy in Beijing has insulted Chinese citizens by banning the use of the Buddhist religious symbol, also known as a swastika, on one of its social media posts. However, the claim is false. Germanys foreign ministry told AFCL that its post was to condemn some online users who inappropriately used the symbol to glorify the Nazi regime which used the symbol or combined it with the Israeli flag. The swastika is an ancient symbol that has been used in many different cultures, not just as a symbol for Buddhism. The claim was shared here on Weibo, Chinas popular social media platform, on Oct. 25. Germany insulted Chinese online users with its official Weibo post. It banned the manja [the swastika]. The German Embassy must apologize! reads the claim in part. A number of Chinese internet personalities and legal bloggers later derided the embassys announcement as inappropriate for using foul language and mistaken in its use of the upright version of the swastika, insisting that Buddhist uses of the symbol were always upright, while Nazi was always tilted. German expressions of support for Israel following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war has caused Chinese netizens to leave disparaging comments on the German Embassy official social media accounts, including pictures of an Israeli flag combined with a swastika. In response, the German Embassy in China urged Chinese online users on Oct. 24 to avoid glorifying Nazism, posting an image of the Swastika with a red cross mark on it. The German Embassy in Beijing posted a message on Weibo asking netizens to stop glorifying Nazism or using swastikas in their comments. (Screenshot/German Embassy in Chinas official Weibo) The identical claim was shared in other Chinese social media posts that also claimed that the photo released by the German Embassy shows an upright swastika, which solely symbolizes Buddhism, unlike the tilted swastika used by the Nazis. Several influential users on Weibo claimed that the upright swastika posted by the German Embassy in Beijing was not used by the Nazis and exclusively employed as a Buddhist religious symbol. (Screenshot/Weibo) However, the claim is false. The swastika The swastika is an ancient symbol that has been used in many different cultures going back at least 5,000 years. To this day, it is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Odinism. The symbol took on a variety of meanings throughout history before being chosen by Adolf Hitler as a symbol of National Socialism. While this was the most infamous appropriation of the symbol, the swastika was also used on the flags of many other radical far-right political parties from the early 20th century. It is true that most Nazi flags feature tilted swastikas, but historical photos of others such as the personal standard of Hitler and the flag used by his personal bodyguards clearly show the symbol in an upright position. Hitlers personal standard featured an upright swastika. (Screenshot/CRW Flags) Historical photos also document several Nazi flags featuring upright swastikas. (Screenshot/Alamy) Not a ban for Chinese online users Keyword searches found no official statements or credible reports to show that the German Embassy banned Chinese online users from using the swastika. Use of the swastika in Germany, regardless of its position, is prohibited by law due to its use by the Nazis and its clear anti-Semitic connotations, according to a spokesperson for Germanys Federal Foreign Office. The spokesperson told AFCL that its Weibo post was designed to condemn posts by some users who inappropriately used this symbol to glorify the Nazi regime or combined it with the Israeli flag. Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster. Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) is a branch of RFA established to counter disinformation in todays complex media environment. Our journalists publish both daily and special reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers understanding of public issues. Revelers in China dress as the white-clad COVID-19 enforcers [left] and Winnie-the-Pooh a figure banned by censors due to his reported resemblance to President Xi Jinping. Police in Shanghai have detained a number of young people for walking the streets on Halloween in costumes carrying a political message, as the authorities start warning people not to engage in any form of cosplay, Radio Free Asia has learned. The detentions come after photos of a number of young people appeared on social media at Halloween wearing Winnie the Pooh and COVID-19 enforcer costumes in a satirical swipe at their government, and displaying blank sheets of paper in a reference to the "white paper" movement of November 2022. News footage and social media clips showed spontaneous street gatherings of people in Halloween costumes, including ghosts and Chinese-style corpse brides, along with some more contemporary horrors: the white-clad COVID-19 enforcers of the zero-COVID lockdowns and even Winnie-the-Pooh a figure banned by censors due to his reported resemblance to President Xi Jinping. Dressing up as COVID enforcers, Winnie-the-Pooh or Taiwan's president is a covert way to make a political point in #China pic.twitter.com/bSR4CCji2P Radio Free Asia (@RadioFreeAsia) November 2, 2023 Now, state security police are detaining a number of people identified as having taken part, according to Nanjing-based veteran rights activist Her Peirong, holding them for at least 24 hours. "The ones who live in Shanghai were detained at noon on [Nov. 16]," Her said. "Several people told me that one of the young women was a cosplayer, and she and some of her friends who took the photos are under investigation." "I am fairly familiar with these people, and some of their family members have called me." Cosplay has long been used in China to make a political point, and was regarded as a fairly low-risk form of satire until now. Several people in one social media video clip sported head-to-toe white hazmat suits, wielding coronavirus testing swabs and dispensing hand sanitizer to passers-by, in a jovial nod to the horrors and anguish experienced by many in the city under its 2022 lockdown. Another person came as beauty influencer Austin Li, asking onlookers why everything was so expensive, while another dressed as Taiwan's cat-loving president, Tsai Ing-wen, who has vowed to defend the island's democratic way of life from infiltration or invasion by Beijing. But X account @Rumoreconomy tweeted on Friday: "Shanghai authorities have started arresting young cosplayers, and several celebrities have been invited to drink tea." "Drinking tea" is a euphemism to refer to questioning by China's feared state security police. Shanghai journalist Zhang Chen said he has heard similar reports. "I heard that they have started detaining young people for cosplay and warning them to stop dressing up as characters from games or anime," Zhang said. "Young people love cosplay, and regularly go to these types of parties." "But some of the characters are also linked to reality." He said the police want to ban such dressing up, ostensibly to stop China's young people from being "invaded by Western ideas." Protesters rally in the Manhattan section of New York City to protest Xi Jinping's rule in China, Oct. 31, 2022. Credit: Wang Yun Shanghai-based animation artist Zhang Ting said she has heard similar reports. "I heard that some of those people who dressed up as various characters during Halloween have been interviewed and given warnings by the police, and that the consequences were serious," she said. She said the Shanghai Film Festival has also been told it can't showcase homegrown talent, but must only screen officially approved films praising the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Meanwhile, internet regulators have been contacting major online service providers about censoring cosplay on their platforms. Officials from the the Cyberspace Administration have hauled in executives charged with implementing government censorship from Tencent, Xiaohongshu and Douyin in recent days, to ask them to "rectify" the matter, according to an employee of a Beijing-based online media company, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. "Some people from Tencent and those in charge at Xiaohongshu have been called in for interviews," and told to make sure they don't allow any posts that "violate the core values of socialism" during Halloween, the employee said. "They're now following up by detaining people," she said. The Cyberspace Administration has interviewed those in charge of 5,518 websites, suspended or ordered editing of 188 websites and taken down 120 apps from app stores so far this year, while shutting down 7,704 "illegal websites" and more than 39,000 "illegal accounts" on online platforms, according to official figures. The Shanghai cosplay wasn't the first time critics of the Chinese Communist Party have used Halloween as a way to protest against its leader Xi Jinping. In 2022, around 30 overseas Chinese protesters staged a Halloween parade in New York holding up placards calling for Xi's removal, for a "free China" as well as an amnesty for political prisoners, more personal freedom and respect for human rights. In 2019, Hong Kong police used tear gas and pepper spray to clear revelers from the streets as thousands marched in a Halloween "masquerade" that included Winnie the Pooh masks, full-face masks depicting then Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam as a vampire, chanting "five demands, not one less!" in a demand for fully democratic elections, greater official accountability, and an amnesty for political prisoners. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. After Beijing trip, top diplomats from Indonesia and elsewhere plan to visit other permanent members of U.N. body to coax them into forcing Israels hand. Indonesias Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (center front) arrives with foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim-majority nations for a meeting with Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi (not pictured) at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, Nov. 20, 2023. Top diplomats of Arab and majority-Muslim countries met with their Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Monday to gather support in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said. Retno also condemned what she said was an Israeli attack on an Indonesian-run hospital in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian enclave that, according to reports, killed at least 12 civilians, after which hospital personnel lost contact with three Indonesian volunteers. The meeting in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, requested by Arab and Muslim-majority nations, was to ensure a ceasefire can be called immediately and humanitarian assistance can also be dispatched without obstacle, Retno said in a statement after all the top diplomats met. The delegates from the Muslim and Arab world were in Chinas capital on their first stop in a globe-trotting itinerary during which the ministers planned to visit with officials of all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The United States, Russia, France and Britain are the remaining four nations, which the ministers are looking to persuade to, in turn, coax Israel into ending hostilities in Gaza, the Saudi Arabian foreign ministry said Monday. The U.S., Israels closest ally, has led a bloc of Western countries in resisting international and U.N. calls for a ceasefire, with Washingtons envoy to the world body vetoing or voting against official resolutions on this question. Israels air and ground strikes on densely populated Gaza began in the wake of attacks by Hamas militants in early October that killed 1,400 people. Since then, Israel has been bombarding Gaza almost non-stop Monday was the 45th day and launched a ground strike into the territory. The Israeli operations have crippled hospitals and destroyed civil infrastructure, leaving Gaza in the midst of a dire humanitarian crisis, U.N. officials have warned. In addition to Retno, the visiting delegation included the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, and the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Retno noted that the Peoples Republic of China this month holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council. After some more time in Beijing on Tuesday, the foreign ministers delegation will visit Moscow to raise Russias support for a ceasefire in Gaza, Retno said. Palestinians wounded in Israeli strikes lie on the floor as they are assisted at the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, Nov. 16, 2023. [Anas Al-Shareef/Reuters] The delegation told Chinas Wang that it hoped the international community would address all the ongoing violations by the Israeli occupation forces and their repeated violations of international law and international humanitarian law, said a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency. The ministers said it was important, especially for the Security Councils permanent members to stop these violations. For his part, Wang said that Beijing had always supported the Palestinian cause. China [h]as been working hard to de-escalate the conflict, protect civilians, expand humanitarian aid, and prevent humanitarian disasters, and has been calling for a return to the two-state solution and the early settlement of the Palestinian question, Wang said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. China appreciates Arab and Islamic countries for their active mediation efforts for peace, and stands ready to work with them to make unremitting efforts for an early ceasefire in Gaza, the easing of the humanitarian crisis, the release of the detainees and an early, comprehensive, just and enduring settlement of the Palestinian question. All countries should pressure Israel Meanwhile, Jakarta received news Monday of a deadly strike on a hospital run by an Indonesian charity in the north of the Gaza Strip, even as it was preparing a second batch of humanitarian aid to ship to the war-torn enclave. Indonesia condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza which killed a number of civilians, Retno said in the same statement in which she spoke about the Beijing meeting. The attack was a clear violation of international humanitarian law. All countries, especially those with close ties to Israel should be using all their influence and abilities to pressure Israel to stop its cruelty. The health ministry in Gaza said Israel was responsible for the attack on the Indonesian Hospital that killed at least a dozen people, including wounded patients and family members with them, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported, adding that dozens were also wounded. A medical worker at the hospital told the Associated Press agency that the killings occurred when an Israeli artillery shell struck the second floor of the facilitys building. A Gaza health ministry spokesperson said around 600 patients, 200 health care workers and 2,000 displaced people had been sheltering there. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, condemned the attack. WHO is appalled by an attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, reportedly resulting in 12 deaths, including patients, and tens of injuries, including critical and life-threatening ones, he wrote on social media site X. Health workers and civilians should never have to be exposed to such horror, and especially while inside a hospital. Israel says that Hamas maintains a network of tunnels and command centers in Gaza, including under hospitals, a claim Hamas has denied. Last week, Israeli forces raided al-Shifa hospital, saying it was conducting an operation against Hamas in a specified area there. But its military has yet to show any evidence in public to support its claims. U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo for talks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Nov. 13, 2023. [Leah Millis/Reuters] Also on Monday. Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo reiterated Jakartas staunch support for the Palestinian people. Indonesia, the worlds largest Muslim-majority nation, doesnt recognize Israel and has condemned its strikes on Gaza and the heavy human toll they are taking. I would like to once again affirm that Indonesia will always stand by the side of the nation of Palestine in its struggle, Jokowi said after sending the humanitarian aid for Palestinians from the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta, state news agency Antara reported. Jokowi also said that his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, did not specifically respond to Indonesias call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, when the two met at the White House in Washington last week. Still, Jokowi said he was optimistic that the U.S. would take the recommendations into account. I believe they will note what we have conveyed, he said, according to Antara. Arie Firdaus in Jakarta contributed to this report. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news outlet. Lai Ching-te [left], Taiwan presidential candidate from the Democratic Progressive Party, introduces Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's representative to the United States, as his running mate in the 2024 election, during a news conference at Lai's campaign headquarters, in Taipei on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Taiwanese presidential candidate and incumbent vice president Lai Ching-te has confirmed his running mate will be Hsiao Bi-khim, the democratic island's former envoy in Washington, who has described herself as a "cat warrior" in the face of China's "wolf-warrior" diplomacy. "It is my great honor to announce that Ive chosen @bikhim a warrior for democracy and one of #Taiwans most influential ambassadors as my running mate," Lai said via his X account on Monday. "Fueled by shared commitment, we pledge to build a brighter future for all. Together, well work towards a stronger Taiwan," he said. The choice of Hsiao, 52, suggests the ruling Democratic Progressive Party will still be campaigning on a platform of protecting Taiwan's democratic way of life from China's territorial ambitions and expanding its diplomatic reach, a platform that brought a landslide victory for outgoing president Tsai Ing-wen in 2020. Hsiao, who has served as Taipei's de facto ambassador to the United States and who has been sanctioned as an independence diehard by Beijing, said she has shared values with Lai including defending Taiwan's freedom and democracy. "I believe we have lots of common convictions we are both willing to take on responsibility for Taiwan," she said, according to official footage of the announcement streamed to YouTube. "I've described myself as a cat warrior," she said. "That's because, in diplomacy, you have to step cautiously, lightly, but sure-footedly, like a cat." Hsiao Bi-khim, former Taiwan representative to the United States, attends a news conference where she was introduced as the 2024 election running mate of Lai Ching-te, at his campaign headquarters in Taipei on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Credit: I-Hwa Cheng/AFP She said her decision to run on Lai's ticket came against a background of "one-sided and constant changes in the status quo made by the other side," in a reference to Beijing's escalation of military threats and disinformation campaigns targeting the island as Tsai's administration continued to forge stronger ties with Washington, in part spurred on by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During her tenure in Washington, Hsiao has built a network of strong connections with administration officials despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties with the United States, which switched recognition to Beijing in 1979. Washington is obliged by the Taiwan Relations Act to help the island defend itself, while the 2022 Taiwan Policy Act allows Washington to provide U.S.$4.5 billion in security assistance over four years. Hsiao's tenure has been linked to the development of "the most mutually trusting" relationship with Washington so far, Lai said, adding that Beijing's criticism of their likely pairing last week showed the Chinese Communist Party's attempts to involve itself in the presidential race. The announcement of Lai's running mate comes amid mounting doubts about the success of a planned opposition pact between the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party, whose candidates would otherwise split the opposition vote, according to media reports. With the deadline for candidate registration looming at the end of this week, Taiwan People's Party presidential candidate Ko Wen-je said on Sunday he intends to remain his party's presidential candidate, while Kuomintang chairman Eric Chu said the opposition alliance would likely be finalized by Wednesday, sparking widespread doubts that the two parties can yet reach an agreement on who should run for president, Ko or Kuomintang candidate Hou Yu-ih. Former Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Lin Chuo-shui said if Lai wins the presidency, Washington will feel it has a strong channel of communication open with Taipei, which is a selling point for the Lai-Hsiao campaign. Blue-white challenge But he said if the opposition manages to seal its pact and campaign on a single ticket, it could pose a major threat to the pairing. "It's now mainstream politics to campaign on a Taiwanese identity, on defending ourselves against China, and on broadening international diplomatic support for Taiwan," Lin said. "That favors the DPP, but any cooperation between the blue [Kuomintang] and white [People's Party] camps could still pose a big challenge," he said. Kuomintang lawmaker Chen I-hsin said a replacement for Hsiao needs to be found in Washington "as soon as possible." "A change of general just before the battle is going to have an impact," he said. Former Chinese citizen Zola, who is now a permanent resident of Taiwan, said China can't stand the Lai-Hsiao pairing because both candidates have fairly clean records, and aren't easy to undermine with disinformation. "The Communist Party prefers corrupt people, who are easy to influence and control," he said. "Lai and Hsiao are both democratically elected representatives who can't be controlled." "This is what should happen in a democratic country The Chinese Communist Party may want 'unification' under a Greater China, but Taiwan's 23 million people should decide what they want for themselves," he said. Chen Li-fu, president of the Taiwan Association of Professors, says Chinese President Xi Jinpings comment that he has no intention of invading Taiwan in the next few years is more likely to undermine the Kuomintang. Credit: Zhong Guangzheng Chinese president Xi Jinping told President Biden last week that he has no intention of invading Taiwan in the next few years, which some analysts said could weaken any candidate who relies on boosting the island's defenses as a key plank in their platform. According to Chen Li-fu, chairman of the Taiwan Association of Professors, the Kuomintang is more likely to be undermined by Xi's comments, now that Lai's campaign has chosen to frame national defense as a path to peace and the maintenance of the status quo, while the Kuomintang has tried to appeal to young people who don't want to be conscripted to serve in a cross-strait war. "Xi Jinping's comment to Biden that he has no intention of attacking Taiwan ... is tantamount to telling people not to vote for the Democratic Progressive Party," Chen said. "But if the Chinese Communist Party isn't invading, then these young people will never have to fight, so the strategy collapses," he said, adding that Lai has been careful not to sound too hawkish during his candidacy. Meanwhile, former defense minister Tsai Ming-hsien has said outright that he "doesn't believe" Xi, amid an official silence on the topic from Beijing since the leaders met. Taiwanese military analyst Chieh Chung said it remains to be seen whether the People's Liberation Army will keep up its military incursions and sabre-rattling around Taiwan, as it has in recent months. "Taiwanese people are more acutely aware that the Chinese Communist Party's military aircraft and warships often appear around [the island]," Chieh said. "If this situation doesn't improve significantly, I think there will still be a sense of crisis among the Taiwanese people." "If Beijing keeps going with high-intensity military activity around Taiwan, then people will still feel uneasy that war could break out at any time," he said. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. The European Christian Political Movement (ECPM) continues to follow with great concern what is happening in Spain and we express our support to and alignment with our member party, Valores. In the light of the Spanish prime ministers backroom deal with the Catalan separatists regarding an amnesty law and the social unrest that followed, we join our member party Valores in calling for respect and protection of the Spanish Constitution and the rule of law in Spain. We denounce this undemocratic power grab by prime minister Pedro Sanchez. The prime minister Sanchezs deal with the Catalan separatists to grant them amnesty in return for their votes supporting his investiture as prime minister again (after having lost the elections in July) is shameful and a grave endangering of the separation of powers. The prime minister has called for a commission to be formed to revise the sentences given to the secessionists and possibly overturn them, thus weakening the power of the judiciary. The European Commission Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders sent a letter a few days ago to the Spanish government warning about exactly this aspect and pointing to Spains lack of progress on judiciary reforms. The deal between Sanchez and the separatists calls for the principle of 'lawfare' for all judicial decisions. This means that legal procedures could be used to intimidate an opponent. That is a troubling development. Just like the fact that amnesty is granted to the Catalan separatists. Not least because this could benefit separatists with ties to Russia. The European Parliament must speak out on this as soon as possible in a plenary debate and the European Commission must take action said MEP Anja Haga. This shameful deal caused thousands of people to protest in major cities of Spain against Sanchez and his socialist party (PSOE), sometimes resulting in violence. This chaos created by the socialists led by Pedro Sanchez proves that he would do anything to hold onto power, even violating the Spanish Constitution or destroying the unity of the country, added MEP Cristian Terhes, while MEP Marton Gyongyosi warned that by appeasing separatists, Sanchez is endangering Spains unity and its democratic achievements of the past fifty years. Together with our member party Valores and its President Alfonso Galdon Ruiz we call for the protests to remain calm and peaceful and for people to refrain from derogatory, inflammatory language and from physical violence. Updated at 17:07 ET, Nov. 20, 2023. South Koreas military authorities said on Monday they have detected new activities from North Korea, which appears to be a preliminary sign for its satellite launch. The authorities did not disclose specific details, but asserted that Seoul would respond to any new developments that could pose a threat to regional security. North Koreas launch of a military reconnaissance satellite is a violation of U. N. Security Council resolutions amid concerns that this technology can also be used for ballistic missiles. In August, North Korea failed in its second attempt to launch a satellite, three months after its first attempt to do so. In a stern warning to the North, Kang Ho-pil, the Souths chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff strongly urged the immediate cessation of the military reconnaissance satellite launch that is currently being prepared. In a press briefing on Monday, Kang warned that the North Korean regime must face the reality that the international community is unanimously condemning its illegal actions. If North Korea proceeds with the launch of the military reconnaissance satellite despite our warnings, our military will take necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of our citizens, Kang added. The measures could stem from the strengthened military cooperation with Washington and Tokyo, as indicated during the trilateral foreign ministers meeting in San Francisco last week. They could also include the possibility of suspending the effectiveness of the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, where the two Koreas agreed to halt what each other defined as hostile actions towards one another near the border. South Koreas defense minister Shin Won-sik had told reporters last month that the agreement has limited the Souths surveillance capability against North Korean provocations. North Korea has also conducted a number of provocations near the inter-Korean border, which are violations of the inter-Korean agreement. Critics in South Korea have long argued that the deal has already become ineffective, only to restrict Seouls operational and surveillance capabilities. Last week, the Norths official Korean Central News Agency reported the successful testing of a new solid-fuel engine for an intermediate-range ballistic missile, or IRBM. The tests, conducted at two separate occasions, were to assess the technical specifications of the high-thrust solid-fuel engines developed for Pyongyangs new type of IRBM, KCNA noted. North Koreas IRBM has a range of some 4,000 kilometers, capable of striking U.S. territories in the West Pacific, including Guam. The report came as South Koreas National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in the National Assembly earlier this month that Russia has acquired over 1 million artillery shells from North Korea since August. In exchange, the North is most likely to have received technology transfer for what it claims as satellite launch from Russia, the spy agency said. European trip South Koreas detection of its northern neighbors preparations for a satellite launch coincided with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeols departure to Europe on Monday for his state visit to the United Kingdom, and then travel to France. North Korea has a history of conducting ballistic missile tests when South Korean presidents are abroad, seemingly to challenge Seouls response capabilities and the efficiency of its systems in the presidents absence. In response to Pyongyangs maneuver, as well as to demonstrate South Koreas readiness and systematic operational strength, the presidential National Security Council, led by its chief Cho Tae-yong, was convened on Monday. The NSC discussed North Koreas potential provocations, such as preparations for the launch of their so-called reconnaissance satellite before the President's state visits to the United Kingdom and France, said a statement from the Presidential Office on Monday. The NSC Standing Committee members have checked the readiness of the government's security measures and decided to further strengthen the defense posture of the military to respond effectively and immediately to any provocations from North Korea, the statement said, adding that the measures were to ensure that there are no gaps in national security during the president's overseas trip. The action appears to communicate a dual message: signaling South Koreas preparedness to North Korea; and to South Korean voters that the government is effectively handling North Korean provocations even during the presidents absence. The South Korean presidents presence in the country during North Korean provocations has frequently been a central issue in domestic politics, often serving as a primary target for criticism from opposition parties. South Korea is scheduled to hold its general election in April. Edited by Elaine Chan and Taejun Kang. Updates to recast, add context. The soldiers marched the prisoners from their cells before slitting their throats. In January 2023, eight people, including Ko Aung Aung and Ko Moe Kyaw, were pulled out of their jail cells and delivered to junta-aligned soldiers, who slit their throats. This story includes graphic descriptions of violence. Months after they narrowly escaped being murdered by junta-aligned soldiers, Ko Aung Aung* and Ko Moe Kyaw* still bear gruesome scars across their necks. Yet they are the lucky ones, two among three survivors of extrajudicial killings carried out by the Shanni Nationalities Army that saw five others murdered on a single night in Kachin states Se Zin village. In all, a group of approximately 100 people arrested en masse in Se Zin last year are believed to have been killed by security forces between August 2022 and January 2023 while others died due to horrific prison conditions, according to local rights monitors, a witness, and the accounts of the two survivors who spoke with RFA. The detainees ranged in age from a 14-year-old boy to a 67-year-old man. All were arrested in August 2022, following a raid in Se Zin in which junta soldiers razed hundreds of homes. Ko Aung Aung's and Ko Moe Kyaw's unlikely survival offers a unique window into the lawlessness that has become a norm under the military regime. When we arrived at the scene, we were forced to sit on our haunches. Then I heard sounds of hitting and [people] falling down together with stones. We were being killed. I thought they were beating us, but I did not think they were cutting throats, Ko Aung Aung told RFA months later. The rare accounts also shed light on extrajudicial murders, which campaigners say is a matter of increasing concern with nearly 20,000 people currently in custody in prisons across the country. The Se Zin incident is extremely horrible. It is an international crime, said a Kachin analyst who has researched the incident and corroborated the accounts shared by the two survivors. He asked not to be named for fear of his safety. It is just one example and many similar incidents are happening. It is because the violators of human rights are repeatedly unpunished and they have enjoyed impunity. Ko Aung Aung and Ko Moe Kyaw survived after having their throats slit by SNA soldiers in Se Zin village in January 2023. Four others were reportedly killed. (Rebel Pepper/RFA) They came in and beat us with iron sticks In early 2022, Ko Aung Aung arrived in Kachin states Se Zin village looking for work. The 39-year-old hoped the gold mines of Hpakant township might provide the subsistence wages he had struggled to find in his native Sagaing region. Ko Moe Kyaw, 23, had arrived around the same time and for much the same reason. Like Ko Aung Aung, he found work at a gold mine digging the earth. The two were among the hundreds of thousands who work in the gold, jade and rare earth mines that dot this mineral-rich land. But the jobs come with no small risk. Mine collapses are common, as are landslides, and the environmental and health costs are steep. The dangers lie outside of the mines, too. Kachin state has always been among the most lawless parts of Myanmar, with gangs, militias and the governments military forces vying for the regions wealth. Since the coup, such fighting has only intensified, and post-coup clashes between the military and those against its rule, such as the People's Defense Force, have added a new level of chaos. Starting in July 2022, weeks of fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) against junta forces and their allies in Hpakant township resulted in thousands of displaced civilians. After the KIA and PDF seized both a junta camp and SNA military camp, the junta launched airstrikes on Se Zin village and set fire to more than 400 homes. At least 15 people were killed, and the military detained some 400 people in and around Se Zin rounding them up in a monastery where they were questioned about their ties to the anti-junta forces. Approximately 100 of them were then brought to the local police station. When we arrived at the police station, we were forced to lie face down and beaten. They asked us whether we had connections with the PDF and when we said no, they beat us again. After putting us in the cell, they came in and beat us with iron sticks, Ko Aung Aung recounted. The intervening months brought worsening horrors. Though RFA can not corroborate their accounts, the survivors said they were treated brutally, given scant food and only one liter of water each day to split among 10 prisoners. Ko Moe Kyaw and Ko Aung Aung said they shared a small cell with 13 others, four of whom died of fever in the months after their arrest. Two others were allegedly killed by police in December, including a 14-year-old who was beaten with a stick until his shinbone protruded from his skin. The four who died in custody were taken away by a car and thrown into the Uyu river, according to Ko Moe Kyaw. Other detainees who arrived later were beaten to death because there was no place for them in the police station. All the while, men were taken from their cells each night, never to return. Ko Aung Aung and Ko Moe Kyaw spent nearly six months in custody in the Se Zin police station along with scores of other detainees and described horrific treatment at the hands of prison guards. (Rebel Pepper/RFA) Released into hell Finally, on the night of Jan. 19, it was their turn. Ko Moe Kyaw, Ko Aung Aung and six others were pulled from their cells for interrogation and handed over to Shanni Nationalities Army forces. Unlike many other ethnic armed organizations that have long fought Myanmar's military, the SNA has in recent years aligned itself with the junta, as it is in opposition with the KIA. Once in the SNA soldiers' custody, the men were tied to motorcycles and driven into the jungle. Our mouths were sealed with tape, our eyes were covered with cloth, and our hands were tied behind our backs by three ropes, Ko Aung Aung recounted to RFA. Upon arrival, they were brought to what appeared in the dark to be a ditch of sorts. I was forced to sit on the edge of a knoll and hit twice on the back of my head and when I fell down, my throat was cut. [A guy] sat astride me to cut my throat when I was lying on my back. Nearby lay Ko Moe Kyaw, who said he believed the drunkenness of the soldiers saved him from worse injury. They were heavily drunk, so they could not cut my throat deeply. Others fell down on their backs. I fell down in a prone position, he told RFA. Ko Moe Kyaw said he believed the drunkenness of the soldiers saved his life. (Rebel Pepper/RFA) When the soldiers departed, the three survivors took stock of their surroundings. One man got up first and said if you are not dead, get up. Then, one had to sit and the other stood. One took off the cloth covering his eyes and his mouth. We also cut each others ropes with our mouths to untie them," said Ko Moe Kyaw. "Since we could not go anywhere, we slept beside the dead bodies that night. By the light of day, they discovered their would-be grave was the open pit of a former gold mine. As they sought help, Ko Aung Aung, the most seriously injured of the three, nearly passed out due to the heavy bleeding. They made it to an undisclosed safe location, where a doctor working with the Civil Disobedience Movement, or CDM, treated their injuries. Each had an injury on the back of their heads. There were also cuts on their necks, the doctor told RFA. On his Facebook page, he posted images of the mens wounds as well as the accounts of their near-death experience. Speaking on the condition of anonymity for security reasons, a Se Zin resident said prisoners at the police station were regularly pulled out to be murdered. They were killed by cutting their throats. It was like cutting a chickens head off, he said. Over the course of the months he occasionally saw others who escaped alive. One mans injury was so severe that I did not dare to look at it. It was a deep cut under Adam's apple. The other one was just beaten. SNA spokesperson Col. Sai Aung Mein and military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment while Win Ye Tun, Kachin state's Military Council Minister for Social Affairs and spokesperson, said he had no knowledge of this incident. A witness said prisoners were routinely pulled from the cells and murdered extrajudicially. (Rebel Pepper/RFA) A similar pattern While the accounts shared by the two survivors cannot be fully verified, they share commonalities with war crimes recorded across Myanmar as junta soldiers utilize torture, mutilation and beheadings to terrify the civilian population. Two videos recently obtained by RFA from a civil society group that has been recording human rights violations in Kachin state show similar atrocities being carried out by security forces. The first video was found on the phone of an SNA soldier who was arrested by the KIA. In an interview with the civil society group, the soldier said it had been shared by his trainer. The video shows an SNA soldier and a man in plain clothes, both armed, repeatedly stabbing two unmoving men lying on the ground. In the background, voices can be heard giving orders in Shanni, Kachin and Burmese languages, telling the soldiers to put the knife into the heart. Tony Loughran, a former British Special Forces medic who reviewed the footage, pointed out the fact that neither victim is struggling or shouting. The immobility of the victims, he said, led him to believe the recording showed a training session. They were trying to teach him to cut the jugular and the carotid here, okay. But he had the wrong angle. He was upward of the body. So he was looking to the camera for directions all the time. In the second video obtained by RFA, six men in plain clothes holding guns cut the throat of an unarmed man and kick him into a pit. In the video, they can be heard speaking Burmese. Miemie Winn Byrd, a former U.S. Army officer who reviewed the footage, told RFA there could be no circumstances in which such actions by a soldier would be justified. This was not a military operation, but a murder. This is war crime. Edited by Abby Seiff. One of the people-smuggling boats, with 249 aboard, had been pushed back to sea twice since Nov. 16. A Rohingya refugee rests with other new arrivals at a prayer hall in Kulee, Pidie regency, in Indonesias Aceh province, Nov. 19, 2023. Up to 525 Rohingya were allowed to disembark in western Indonesias Aceh province when their three boats landed there on Sunday after weeks at sea, the latest in a wave of new Rohingya arrivals since Nov. 13, according to officials. Sundays landings in Aceh included about 250 people who were on a boat that had reached the provinces coast last Thursday but was pushed back to sea by villagers at two locations before it was finally allowed to come ashore after an urgent appeal by UNHCR, the U.N.s refugee agency. The three ships that landed this morning were in three different locations, in Bireuen, Pidie and East Aceh, with around 500 people, Mitra Salima Suryono, a spokesperson for UNHCR in Indonesia, told BenarNews, a news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia. The landings brought to 866 the total number of Rohingya who have arrived in Aceh aboard five people-smuggling boats since last Monday. The three boats that landed on Sunday had spent between a month to two months on the open water after setting sail from Coxs Bazar, in southeastern Bangladesh, officials said. The district is home to sprawling camps that house about 1 million stateless Rohingya Muslim refugees from the nearby Rakhine in Myanmar, officials said. Some of the 241 Rohingya who disembarked from the boat in Pidie regency (pictured) looked famished, sick and exhausted, according to a representative of a local fishermens association. Their physical conditions were unstable because they didnt eat enough while at sea, Marfian, the secretary in Pidie for Panglima Laot, the fishermens group, told BenarNews. Newly arrived Rohingya refugees rest at a prayer hall in Kulee, Aceh, Indonesia, Nov. 19, 2023. [Khairu/AFP] A police official in Bireuen confirmed that the boat with 249 people, which was pushed back to sea twice earlier, had landed in that regency along the northern coast near the western tip of Sumatra island. We are looking after them and making sure everything goes well, Second Inspector Marzuki, a spokesperson for the Bireuen police who goes by one name, told BenarNews. Residents of two villages along Acehs coast pushed back the boat on Thursday after two other boatloads of Rohingya had landed in the region on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14. Police at the time said that locals had been complaining about bad behavior shown by some among the 1,000-odd Rohingya who were already sheltering in Aceh. Indonesia and neighboring Malaysia, both majority-Muslim countries, are popular destinations for Rohingya who decide to pay human smugglers money to embark on the often perilous and potentially deadly sea journey from Coxs Bazar. [T]he sailing season has started, and many refugees try to leave the camps in Bangladesh where they face precariousness, overcrowding, insecurity, lawlessness and now also food rations cuts, Chris Lewa, the director of the Arakan Project, a Thailand-based human rights group that advocates for rights for the stateless Rohingya people, told BenarNews in an email early Monday (Bangkok time). We know of one more boat still at sea, maybe more. Surely more will be planning to leave. Miftachuddin Cut Adek, deputy secretary-general of Panglima Laot, the fishermen's association, said that members of his group were always open to allowing in the Rohingya. "We accepted them for humanitarian reasons," he told BenarNews. It's a pity that they were adrift in the sea when they reached the shoreline, but were rejected. Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty Inetrnationals branch in Indonesia called it irresponsible for locals to have forced the Rohingya on that one boat to return to potential perils out on the open sea. This reflects a major decline in Indonesian civility. Even though the locals previously showed generosity and humanity towards Rohingya refugees, Usman Hamid said in a statement issued before the boat with 249 people aboard was allowed to land. Indonesia has an obligation to help them. The policy of returning them to their country of origin clearly violates the non-refoulement principle, a basic pillar of the life of civilized nations," said Usman. This picture taken on Nov. 18, 2023 in the Batee subdistrict of the Pidie region in Indonesia's Aceh province shows playing cards left on the deck of one of the two boats that carried Rohingya refugees to Batee and Laweung on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15, 2023. [Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP] In January 2023, Jakarta called for region-wide cooperation to conduct rescue operations for Rohingya stranded at sea, so that Indonesia wouldnt have to bear the burden of this task disproportionately. Indonesia does not grant asylum or legal status to refugees. Refugees who arrive in Indonesia are usually confined to temporary shelters or detention centers, and face an uncertain future, as they have no access to formal education and jobs. Human rights groups have said that the number of Rohingya leaving for third countries highlights the dire conditions at the refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh and the deteriorating situation in post-coup Myanmar. Many Rohingya have grown desperate because they see no hope of being repatriated to Myanmar, which has been convulsed with violence following the February 2021 coup by the Burmese military, rights advocates and NGOs in the region have said. The year 2022 was the deadliest since 2014 for Rohingya attempting such sea voyages, according to the United Nations. At least 348 individuals died or went missing at sea, UNHCR reported in January. Imran Vittachi contributed to this report from Washington. BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia. Houses in Myo Thit in Namhsan township were destroyed by the junta aerial bombardment on Nov. 20, 2023. Residents in northeastern Myanmar are facing both a humanitarian crisis and intense conflict, people living in the area told Radio Free Asia. On Sunday night, airstrikes by junta forces killed two people, including a child, in Shan state. Locals were caught off guard when a junta plane began an aerial attack on Myo Thit village in Namhsan township around 10 pm. It was unexpected because there had not been any fighting beforehand, said one local, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. There is no fighting in Namhsan, but the aerial bombardment was carried out while people were sleeping, he told RFA, adding that six women and two men were injured in addition to the two killed. People died and houses were also burned. The explosions damaged 23 houses in total. The bomb weighed roughly 500 pounds and killed Tar San Naw, as well as a child, when it landed on a house, according to a statement released by the Taang National Liberation Army on Monday. The junta has not released any information about this attack and calls by RFA to Shan states junta spokesperson Khun Thein Maung went unanswered. Conflict in northeastern Shan state has intensified in the last two months, as an allied group of resistance armies took three major cities in Operation 1027 in late October. Earlier that month, the Taang National Liberation Army attacked several junta convoys, causing their troops to retaliate. Since Oct. 10, nearly 30,000 internally displaced people have been sheltering in makeshift tents near the China-Myanmar border in Laukkaing township. A camp for internally displaced people in Laukkaing township on November 18, 2023. Credit: The Kokang Since Thursday, heavy rain has made life more difficult for those forced from their homes. After several days of rain, resources are becoming harder to find and peoples health is deteriorating, said a Laukkaing resident, who did not want to be named for security reasons. They have been living in tents since before [the rain]. It is raining and they are not comfortable anymore. Most are workers from other areas, not residents, he told RFA. There are many people who came to work in Laukkaing from other areas. Water also became scarce in that camp. Elderly people and children are also more prone to illness in the colder weather without blankets, he added. On Saturday, the camps water and electricity were cut off. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army warned Chinese citizens in Laukkaing to return to China to avoid conflict in the region. They also told civilians to stay away from military camps and not to move around the area. All of Laukkaings roads and gates out of the city are blocked and locals are facing food shortages, residents also reported. Junta troops are not letting food or supplies into the city. After Operation 1027, battles between the military junta and the three northern allies have been continuing in eight townships, including Namhkan, Chinshwehaw, Nawnghkio, Lashio and Manton. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. UPDATED at 4:37 P.M. ET on 11-20-2023 The Philippines is seeking separate agreements with Southeast Asian neighbors to reduce the risk of conflict in the South China Sea, given the slow pace of progress on a long-sought regional code of conduct with China, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday. The situation for the Philippines in the disputed waterway has become more dire amid Chinas increasing encroachment on the nations maritime boundaries, Marcos said, and Manila needed to partner with allies to maintain peace in the region. We are still waiting for the code of conduct between China and ASEAN and the progress has been rather slow unfortunately, Marcos said during a live streamed event in Hawaii. We have taken the initiative to approach those other countries around ASEAN whom we have existing territorial conflicts with, Vietnam being one of them, Malaysia being another and to make our own code of conduct. China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including waters within the exclusive economic zone of Association of Southeast Asian Nations members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Negotiations to establish a code of conduct between ASEAN and China for the region have been going for more than two decades, but progress has been slow amid disputes over the scope and legal status of the document.Though a 2016 international arbitration ruling invalidated Chinas sweeping claims to the South China Sea, Beijing has refused to acknowledge it. Though a 2016 international arbitration ruling invalidated Chinas sweeping claims to the South China Sea, Beijing has refused to acknowledge it. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs later pushed back against Marcos for his remarks about pursuing separate agreements with Vietnam and Malaysia. Formulating a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) is an important task for China and ASEAN countries to implement the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). Any departure from the DOC framework and its spirit will be null and void, Mao Ning, spokesperson for the ministry, told a daily news conference on Monday in response to a reporter's question about Marcos' speech in Hawaii. Two analysts told Radio Free Asia, a news service affiliated with BenarNews, that the Philippine efforts to work with other South China Sea nations could be positive. [I]in terms of actually pressuring China to take some concrete steps, I think this is a good idea if the Philippines and Vietnam could agree, said Bill Hayton, an associate fellow in the Asia-Pacific Program at Chatham House, an independent United Kingdom think tank. He said this could be a step toward a sort of de facto recognition of each others occupations in the South China Sea and then a means to ending the disputes between them. Carl Thayer, a Vietnam analyst and emeritus professor at the Australian Defense Force Academy in Canberra, pointed out that the Philippines is solving disputes with Malaysia and Vietnam bilaterally. And by cutting China out, it is in a sense following through on the arbitral tribunal award of 2016, Thayer said, adding, the Chinese case has no legal standing in international law, so its an end run and a hardening of the Philippine attitude toward protecting its sovereignty. Demonstrators gather outside the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, to protest a visit by Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and recall the actions taken by his late dictator father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Credit: AP Marcos was visiting Honolulu while on his way home from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Week summit in San Francisco. On Friday, he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the event in a bid to ease bilateral tensions after a series of standoffs in the South China Sea. Chinese coast guard and maritime militia ships have in recent months stepped up efforts to block Philippine vessels from delivering supplies to a military outpost in Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal). Marcos said he requested the meeting with Xi to voice to the Chinese leader his concern on some of the incidents that were happening between Chinese and Philippine vessels, culminating in an actual collision, the Philippine Presidential Communications Office said in a statement Saturday. On Monday, Marcos said the most pressing challenge for Philippine security was ensuring peace in the West Philippine Sea, Manilas name for the South China Sea within its jurisdiction. The Indo-Pacific region, particularly the West Philippine Sea, is in the middle of a global geopolitical transformation and has become an arena of normative contestation, he said. Tensions in the West Philippine Sea are growing, with persistent unlawful threats and challenges against Philippine sovereign rights and jurisdiction over our exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf. No Aloha for Marcos' In Hawaii, Marcos also met with the top U.S. military commander in the Indo-Pacific, Adm. John Aquilino, who leads a 380,000-strong force of military and coast guard personnel, and connected with the large Filipino community there. The visit was laden with personal significance for Marcos, whose late father Ferdinand Marcos Sr. fled to Hawaii after his regime was toppled in 1986. Thousands of activists and opposition politicians were jailed or disappeared during his brutal two-decade rule, during which he is accused of plundering state coffers of up to U.S. $10 billion. The older Marcos died while in exile, but his family was allowed to return home where they rebuilt their political base, despite demands for an apology from the victims of his fathers dictatorship. On Saturday, Marcos told a gathering of Filipino-Americans that he felt a deep sense of nostalgia to be back and wanted to thank members of the community who hold a very special place in my heart. My father is no longer with us, but when my mother found out that I was going to Honolulu, she said you make sure that you go back to all of those people who went out of their way to keep us comfortable to keep us alive, he said. Not everyone was happy with his visit, however. A small group of protesters rallied outside the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu carrying a black banner that read, No Aloha for Marcos. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization. RFA Vietnamese service contributed to this report. This report has been updated to include comments from the Chinese government and two analysts. The award honors courageous democracy activists who have been imprisoned or killed due to their work. Former Tibetan political prisoner Golog Jigme receives the 2023 Democracy Award for Individual Courage at the National Endowment for Democracys 40th Anniversary Democracy Awards on Nov. 14, 2023. Former Tibetan political prisoner Golog Jigme was named a recipient of the 2023 Democracy Award for Individual Courage at the National Endowment for Democracys 40th Anniversary Democracy Awards on Nov. 14. According to a Nov. 9 NED press release, the Individual Courage award honors democracy activists for their overwhelming courage in the face of unspeakable consequences, and was awarded to Golog Jigme on behalf of all activists killed or imprisoned in 2023. Golog Jigme is both a human rights activist and filmmaker. In 2008, he co-produced the documentary Leaving Fear Behind, which highlighted the injustices faced by Tibetans under Chinese rule. Golog Jigme and his co-producer Dhondup Wangchen were both imprisoned and tortured by Chinese authorities shortly after the films release. He was arrested three times between 2008 and 2012 before finally escaping Tibet in 2014. Now residing in Switzerland, he continues to work with human rights organizations to hold China accountable for [its] atrocities in Tibet, the NED press release states. I am so happy to receive this award and believe that this honor recognizes the struggle of every Tibetans who has and continues to sacrifice their lives to speak up against the Chinese communist government, the activist told RFA. But at the same time, it is also disheartening that there are still so many imprisoned Tibetans inside Tibet and many who have died inside these prisons. Edited by Malcolm Foster. The human rights group Memorial has recognized Alsu Kurmasheva, a veteran journalist of RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service who has been in Russian custody since October 18, as a political prisoner. Kurmasheva, a Prague, Czech Republic-based journalist with RFE/RL who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenships, traveled to Russia for a family emergency in May. She was temporarily detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2 at the airport in the capital of the Tatarstan region, where both of her passports were confiscated. She was not able to leave Russia as she awaited the return of her travel documents. On October 11, Kurmasheva was fined 10,000 rubles ($103) for failing to register her U.S. passport with the Russian authorities, according to local media reports based on court documents they'd seen. Kurmasheva was detained again on October 18 and this time charged with failing to register as a "foreign agent," a crime that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The Investigative Committee said Kurmasheva was being charged under a section of the Criminal Code that refers to the registration of foreign agents who carry out "purposeful collection of information in the field of military, military-technical activities of Russia," which, if received by foreign sources, "can be used against the security of the country." It gave no further details. The Investigative Committee said its investigation found that while the Russian Justice Ministry did not add her to the list of foreign agents, she failed to provide documents to be included on the registry. Kurmasheva and RFE/RL have both rejected the charge. Russia's detention of Kurmasheva, the second U.S. media member to be detained by Moscow this year, triggered a wave of criticism from rights groups and politicians saying the move signals a new level of wartime censorship. Sergei Davidis, the leader of Memorial's Support of Political Prisoners project, told RFE/RL that Kurmasheva was recognized as a political prisoner because the group considers illegal the Russian Criminal Code's article on foreign agents and its connection with so-called "purposeful collection of information in the field of military, military-technical activities of Russia." Davidis added that Memorial considered the prosecution and possible conviction of people for failing to carry out "a so-called obligation to voluntarily declare themselves as foreign agents...also illegal." "That request is illegal because, de facto, it is not about punishment for failure to declare, but for implementation of legal activities. The information in question is not classified and it is not illegal to collect such information," Davidis said, stressing that the Federal Security Service (FSB) had given a vague explanation about what can be considered information banned for collecting. "Additional to that, we see concrete political goals in [Kurmasheva's] case that were obvious by how the persecution was carried out. First, she was detained and convicted of failure to declare the second citizenship, and after that only, after obvious thinking over and looking for reasons -- they filed the second case," Davidis said. "This is the first criminal case and arrest of that kind. It explicitly indicates the artificial grounds of the whole construction. This illegal charge was thought over for a long time before it was used. They had searched for something to deprive Alsu Kurmasheva of her freedom," he added. Russia has been accused of detaining Americans to use as bargaining chips to exchange for Russians jailed in the United States. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested for alleged spying -- a charge he and the newspaper vehemently deny -- in March. WATCH: The husband of the RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was detained in Russia on October 18, has said she is a "political prisoner." Since 2012, Russia has used its so-called foreign agent laws to label and punish critics of government policies. It has also been increasingly used to shut down civil society and media groups in Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Amnesty International, the UN Human Rights Office, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the chairman of the U.S. House of Representative's Foreign Affairs Committee have called for the immediate release of Kurmasheva. The "foreign agent" law allows authorities to label nonprofit organizations as "foreign agents" if they receive funding from abroad and are engaged in political activities. RFE/RL says the law amounts to political censorship meant to prevent journalists from performing their professional duties and is challenging the authorities' moves in Russian courts and at the European Court of Human Rights. More than 30 RFE/RL employees have been listed as "foreign agents" by the Russian Justice Ministry in their personal capacity. In March, a Moscow court declared the bankruptcy of RFE/RL's operations in Russia following the company's refusal to pay multiple fines totaling more than 1 billion rubles ($14 million) for noncompliance with the law. Memorial, founded in 1987 to remember victims of Soviet repression, was closed down by Russia's Supreme Court in November 2021 -- citing the "foreign agents" law -- although it still functions outside the country and has managed to continue some activities inside Russia. Kurmasheva is one of four RFE/RL journalists -- Andrey Kuznechyk, Ihar Losik, and Vladyslav Yesypenko are the other three -- currently imprisoned on charges related to their work. Rights groups and RFE/RL have called repeatedly for the release of all four, saying they have been wrongly detained. Losik is a blogger and contributor for RFE/RLs Belarus Service who was convicted in December 2021 on several charges including the organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Kuznechyk, a web editor for RFE/RLs Belarus Service, was sentenced in June 2022 to six years in prison following a trial that lasted no more than a few hours. He was convicted of creating or participating in an extremist organization. Yesypenko, a dual Ukrainian-Russian citizen who contributed to Crimea.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, was sentenced in February 2022 to six years in prison by a Russian judge in occupied Crimea after a closed-door trial. He was convicted of possession and transport of explosives, a charge he steadfastly denies. Iran's strategy in the Middle East is essentially a take on an old proverb: Give your proxies and partners weapons and you can sustain their battles for a day. Teach them to make weapons and they can fight your enemies for a lifetime. With Iranian-backed militant groups taking the charge in the Islamic republic's fight against Israel and the United States, Tehran is seeing its effort to help them acquire their own weapons-manufacturing capabilities pay off. "Iran has established a network of allies and partners throughout the Middle East, from the Huthis in Yemen, to pro-Iranian groups in Iraq, to pro-Iranian groups in Syria, to Hizballah in Lebanon, to Hamas in Gaza," said Samuel Bendett of the Virginia-based Center for Naval Analyses. "And [Tehran] basically feeds some of its technology there directly, or provides kits and parts and other assistance to the local developers from those units, from those groups, and either gives them training in Iran or trains them on their location." Increasingly, those Tehran-backed militant groups are turning to weapons they have produced themselves, often based on Iranian blueprints or manufactured or assembled with Iran's assistance. "Those groups now have a lot of know-how which was provided to them by Iran," Bendett said. "And they're now using them against the U.S. and its allies in the region." The Iranian-backed Islamic Resistance Movement -- better known as Hamas and considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union -- utilized a vast array of indigenously produced weapons and employed advanced battlefield tactics during its surprise multipronged attack on Israel on October 7 that left around 1,200 people dead. The Israeli Defense Forces said they recovered Iranian-manufactured mortars and explosives used by the Palestinian extremist group after the assault, and Israeli military officials have reportedly estimated that up to 10 percent of the weapons used in the attack were made in Iran. But most were produced or refined by Hamas indigenously in the Gaza Strip, including assault rifles, missiles, rockets, mortars, shells, and ammunition, according to Israeli defense officials. Some of the at least 19 Iranian proxies and partners in the region that help make up Iran's so-called axis of resistance have also used Iranian-derived or indigenously manufactured weapons built with Tehran's help against Israel as well as U.S. troops based in the region since the Hamas assault. These militant groups boast varying levels of firepower in their respective arsenals made up of Soviet-era, Russian, Iranian, and indigenously manufactured weapons based on Iranian designs. While Iran denies delivering arms to the groups directly, many of the missiles, rockets, and other weapons are similar to those produced by Iran. Lebanese Hizballah boasts the most formidable arsenal of projectiles among Tehran's proxies -- including its own manufactured or refitted missiles and rockets. Since October 7, Hizballah has launched hundreds of rockets and missiles at Israel. The Iranian-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen claim to have launched ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, at Israel. On November 8, the Pentagon announced that a U.S. military surveillance drone was shot down off the coast of Yemen by Huthi forces. In an apparent response to U.S. support for Israel's retaliatory land invasion and aerial bombardment of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria have launched 58 attacks against U.S. forces in the past month, according to the Pentagon. Tehran has denied involvement in the Hamas attack, and in early November Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly pressed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to silence those calling for Iran and Lebanese Hizballah to join the Israel-Hamas war. According to sources cited by Reuters, Khamenei said during the meeting with Haniyeh in Tehran that Iran would continue to offer political and moral support but would not directly enter the conflict. But Iran has publicly boasted about the military aid it has provided to Hamas in recent years. And despite international sanctions and a sea and land blockade on the Gaza Strip that was imposed by Israel and Egypt in 2005, experts say it is clear that Tehran has provided assistance to boost Hamas's fighting capabilities. Middle East political analyst Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib told RFE/RL that Hamas built up its arsenal by looting weapons from former stockpiles of the Palestinian Authority or illegally purchasing them decades ago from Israeli sources through straw-man sales, smuggling arms and materials across the border with Egypt, and domestically producing drones, rockets, and various munitions. But there is little evidence that any seaborne smuggling of arms has taken place since Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, he said. And the smuggling from Egypt that reached its height after the Egyptian revolution in 2011 declined sharply after the Muslim Brotherhood government there was overthrown in 2013 and has since "been reduced to a trickle." Nevertheless, Alkhatib said, "the weaponry and the arsenal that Hamas has right now has been building up for over a decade" and benefited from thousands of tons of smuggled arms and materials that could be used to manufacture its own weapons. "Even if the smuggling stopped, those are still significant and vast enough to offer Hamas and other groups the ability to inflict damage as we saw on October 7 and as we're seeing in their defensive battle with advancing Israeli ground troops," said Alkhatib, a U.S. citizen from Gaza. Whereas Hamas historically focused on building up a stockpile of rifles and machine guns, he says, it turned its attention to developing kinetic capabilities -- including mines, targeted explosive warheads, improvised explosive devices, anti-tank missiles, and rocket propelled grenades. Hamas has also invested heavily in developing longer-range rockets and guidance and targeting capabilities as well as a range of unmanned aerial vehicles, including fixed-wing and weaponized commercial-grade drones. Hamas had a falling out with Tehran, including over the extremist group's support of the Syrian uprising in 2011, Alkhatib says. But Yahya Sinwar, Hamas's leader in Gaza, realigned the organization with Tehran "because they have realized that without Iran, their military capability won't stand a chance in continuing to evolve." The realignment "with Iran, with the Syrian regime, and certainly with [Lebanese] Hizballah," he added, "are directly related to Hamas's needs and reliance on Iran to procure materials and, more importantly in the era of limited to no smuggling, technologies and know-how to domestically produce [weapons] systems." Aided by Iranian weapons blueprints and the use of modern digital platforms for remote training, Hamas has learned how to upgrade old rockets and missiles to expand their range and lethality, he said. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Lebanese Hizballah have also been able to remotely teach Hamas fighting tactics and how to develop its massive tunnel network. "And, more importantly, Iran is also teaching Hamas how to use strategic capabilities," Alkhatib said, such as how to integrate drones on the battlefield. "What was particularly spectacular about the October 7 attack," Alkhatib said, "is that Hamas for the first time demonstrated a combined-arms approach to guerrilla warfare, whereby intelligence was linked with the artillery barrage, was linked with the aerial capabilities of using the paragliders, was linked with the ground troops with the elite forces, with the logistical networks to transport the hostages back to Gaza and to send the attacks in waves with internal operational security. "This was a qualitative leap forward in Hamas's fighting doctrine. And it could have only been learned and developed through assistance from Iran, broadly, and more specifically, its proxies and its arms in the region such as Hizballah and the IRGC," he added. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Iran's support for proxies and its involvement in the Syrian civil war now leaves it with a significant number of experienced fighters at the ready for future conflicts. Alkhatib notes that Iran supported hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite militias and fighters in Iraq and Syria, both to support the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and to combat the Islamic State (IS) extremist group alongside Syrian and Iraqi government forces. "Now that both have been largely defeated, IS and the Syrian rebels, Iran was left with these powerful, battle-hardened, well-trained, well-organized militias that had nothing to do," Alkhatib said. "And so, they have been recycled and repurposed by the IRGC to further bolster the so-called axis of resistance, and to be used in a potential fight with Israel and the United States." Cybersecurity is critical to international development and humanitarian aid, said USAID Administrator Samantha Power. Speaking at the Countering Ransomware Initiative Summit in early November, she underscored that USAID works to advance development across a wide spectrum of sectors, as well as democracy, governance, and human rights. Each of these sectors is increasingly using digital technologies, which in turn need to be protected from cyber threats. As Administrator Power recently said in a tweet, Development is digital, and all technologies are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Ransomware is a form of cyber-attack against a computer system wherein the attacker takes a victims data hostage and then extorts money for its release. These attacks use malware to encrypt a victims files, making them inaccessible, and attackers will sometimes threaten to publish sensitive data if they are not paid. In recent years, ransomware attacks have affected both U.S. partner nations and international development organizations. To reduce cyber vulnerabilities, USAID is strengthening cyber protections for its programs, as well as the cybersecurity of partner governments. Digital technology has an incredible capacity to drive development progress. To enable that capacity, international development organizations must prioritize cybersecurity to prevent potentially catastrophic cyber-attacks. The 2017 NotPetya cyberattack against Ukraine is a particularly vivid example of the impact cyber-attacks can have on a country's development trajectory, said Administrator Power. That attack hit at least four hospitals in the capital alone, six power companies, two airports, more than 22 banks, and almost every federal agency. All were brought to essentially a standstill as the systems that allowed them to perform everyday tasks were taken offline, said Administrator Power. NotPetya had caused an estimated 10 billion dollars in global economic damage in Ukraine. The lesson the world learned from the NotPetya attack is that cybersecurity is crucial to ensure sustainability across every sector of development. Today, USAID works with partners around the world, in governments, nonprofit organizations, universities, and private companies to strengthen their cybersecurity skills and protect their digital systems. These efforts are driving sustainable, locally led digital transformation that is absolutely critical to lifting countries out of poverty, helping them escape death and distress, said Administrator Power. Helping our partners strengthen their own cybersecurity protections not only helps prevent attacks that can halt or reverse development progress, said Administrator Power. It also opens up a whole new world of possibility to use technology to supercharge development progress. We were taken out to walk today in a yard that is roughly 4 meters by 6 meters, RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva wrote recently from the Kazan remand prison where she has been held now for one month. We ran 40 laps, which I figure is about 1,000 meters. Then there was stretching and squats. The guard was quite surprised. Apparently, this rarely happens. Kurmasheva's description of her cramped prison-yard exercise session contrasted sharply with the message that her husband, journalist Pavel Butorin -- who is the head of Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, and who, like Kurmasheva, works at RFE/RLs Prague headquarters -- posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on November 17. Butorin wrote that Kurmasheva traditionally marks the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day holiday in the Czech Republic by joining her family and friends on a traditional freedom walk reenacting the 1989 student march that sparked the Velvet Revolution and helped bring down the repressive communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Kurmasheva, a dual citizen of Russia and the United States who has worked for RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service for some 25 years, left Prague in mid-May to attend to a family emergency in her native Tatarstan. WATCH: The husband of the RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was detained in Russia on October 18, has said she is a "political prisoner." Kurmasheva holds both Russian and U.S. citizenship. Her husband, Pavel Butorin, also works from the RFE/RL offices in Prague, where he is head of Current Time. She was detained on October 18 and charged with failing to register as a "foreign agent," a legal designation Russia has used since 2012 to label and punish critics of government policies. It has also been increasingly used to shut down civil society and media groups in Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A court ordered her held in custody at Kazans SIZO-2 remand prison until at least December 5, although it is customary in Russia for such detention periods to be extended repeatedly. She has been able to correspond with family, friends, and supporters, although all messages are subject to censorship. We get up every morning in SIZO at 6 a.m., she wrote. But the lights are on dimly in the cell all night. Breakfast is porridge and sweet, black tea. After that, we clean the cell -- the floors, the walls. At lunchtime, we are allowed to go outside for one hour. There is a library, but it is closed, Kurmasheva wrote. There were about 10 books in the cell, mostly detective stories and books about Christianity, as well as a few on psychology and self-acceptance. I reread your letters several times a day, she told one of her correspondents. I have already read two books that were in the cell. I requested some more, but dont know how long it will take. Twice a week, detainees are allowed to take a shower. Kurmasheva says she was allowed to use the shower for the first time only 10 days after her detention. Her cell, which holds four prisoners, is cold, she wrote in several of her messages. Kurmasheva added that she is studying Armenian and the North Caucasus language of Dargwa to pass the time. In addition, she said, she is teaching one of her cellmates to speak Tatar. That is how my days are spent, she wrote. Kurmasheva is one of four RFE/RL journalists -- Andrey Kuznechyk, Ihar Losik, and Vladyslav Yesypenko are the other three -- currently imprisoned on charges related to their work. Rights groups and RFE/RL have called repeatedly for the release of all four, saying they have been wrongly detained. Losik is a blogger and contributor for RFE/RLs Belarus Service who was convicted in December 2021 on several charges including the organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Kuznechyk, a web editor for RFE/RLs Belarus Service, was sentenced in June 2022 to six years in prison following a trial that lasted no more than a few hours. He was convicted of creating or participating in an extremist organization. Yesypenko, a dual Ukrainian-Russian citizen who contributed to Crimea.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, was sentenced in February 2022 to six years in prison by a Russian judge in occupied Crimea after a closed-door trial. He was convicted of possession and transport of explosives, a charge he steadfastly denies. Written by RFE/RLs Robert Coalson based on reporting by RFE/RLs Idel.Realities Independent Turkmen journalist Soltan Achilova says she "won't be silenced" by the country's authoritarian government after officials prevented her from flying to Switzerland for a meeting honoring human rights defenders worldwide. "I will continue my work -- I will work even harder. I won't be silenced as long as I'm alive," she told RFE/RL on November 20. Achilova said she was strip-searched and humiliated at Ashgabat International Airport, where officials didn't allow the 74-year-old journalist or her daughter to board a plane on November 17 despite having valid passports, visas, and tickets. The only journalist in Turkmenistan who openly criticizes the authoritarian government, Achilova was scheduled to attend the Martin Ennals Award human rights ceremony in Switzerland on November 21. She was one of three finalists for the group's annual award in 2021 but wasn't able to travel abroad to receive her runner-up award because of the coronavirus pandemic restrictions. Achilova said airport officials demanded that she and her daughter pass through the body scanners twice, thoroughly checked their belongings, and repeatedly put their handbags, umbrellas, and even Achilova's walking stick through the X-ray machines. "Then they strip-searched me, touching me all over my body," Achilova told RFE/RL on November 20. "Then we were held for quite a long time at passport control. The officer returned our passports and said, 'The machine could not read your passports details, because your documents were kept in a moldy place.'" Achilova accused a passport-control officer of deliberately damaging their passport pages with wet paper towels. "It had all been planned in advance by the officials," she said. "I knew they wouldn't allow me to go abroad." Threats, Physical Attacks Government pressure is all-too familiar to Achilova, a former RFE/RL correspondent who is currently a contributor to the Vienna-based opposition news website Khronika Turkmenistana (Chronicles of Turkmenistan). Achilova faced detention, verbal threats, and physical attacks, which the journalist and her supporters describe as government retaliation for her work. Many of her relatives have also been threatened. Ashgabat doesn't tolerate any dissent and the government has stifled independent media, forced opposition activists into self-exile, and blocked access to all major social media and messaging apps to virtually cut its citizens off from the rest of the world. The last instant-messaging app, IMO, became inaccessible in Turkmenistan this summer. Achilova was briefly detained in 2018 by plainclothes officers who deleted photos on her camera. She said she was threatened with detention on drug charges. In another attack shortly thereafter, Achilova was beaten by unknown assailants while getting off an Ashgabat city bus. In 2019, she was prevented from boarding a plane to Tbilisi to attend an international seminar. The latest incident against Achilova at the airport has stoked new condemnation of Turkmen officials. "By barring Soltan Achilova from traveling to Geneva to receive @martinennals award, the Turkmen [government] is doing more to damage to its reputation than anything Achilova could have possibly said while abroad. It's not too late for [Turkmenistan] to right things and let Achilova travel," wrote Rachel Denber, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. Ivar Dale, a senior adviser to the Norwegian Helsinki Committee rights group, called the incident "infuriating" and condemned Turkmenistan for violating its citizens' rights. "Turkmenistan is one of the very few countries that actively stops [its] citizens from travelling abroad. They even asked Turkey to introduce a visa regime for [Turkmen] rather than try and improve the standing of the Turkmen passport. Unbelievable," he said. The Martin Ennals Award told RFE/RL that it was "working on a solution for her travel" and would not comment on the situation. Washington announced a package of weapons and equipment to support Ukraine as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the United States was in "for the long haul" in its support for Ukraine as it continues to battle Russian troops. The package provides up to $100 million of arms and equipment authorized under previously directed drawdowns, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. The package includes High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and additional ammunition. The assistance "will help meet Ukraine's immediate battlefield needs as it fights to retake its sovereign territory," Blinken said, adding that it was critical for Congress to take action by passing President Joe Biden's request for additional funding for Ukraine. Austin arrived earlier in the day in Kyiv on an unannounced visit in a show of support for Ukraine amid concerns of a "war fatigue" among Ukraine's Western allies, especially in the United States -- Ukraine's main provider of military and financial aid. "The message that I bring you today, Mr. President, is that the United States of America is with you, we will remain with you for the long haul," Austin told Zelenskiy after the meeting. 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. "I was honored to meet with President Zelenskiy in Kyiv today to reaffirm the United States' steadfast support for Ukraine. We, along with our allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraine's urgent battlefield needs and long-term defense requirements, Austin said in a separate message on X, formerly known as Twitter. Zelenskiy highlighted the visit as "a very important signal for Ukraine" and said, "we count on your support." Zelenskiy's office said he thanked the U.S. government and pointed out the importance of the visit of the delegation ahead of the November 22 meeting of the Ramstein group, formally known as the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine. The meeting emphasized the urgency of continuing the uninterrupted supply of all the necessary weapons and ammunition by the allies, Zelenskiy's office said. The president also emphasized the need to strengthen Ukraine's capabilities ahead of winter. The visit was Austin's second to Ukraine. He arrived in Kyiv by train from Poland with a delegation that included U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli, supreme commander of allied forces in Europe. The U.S. officials also met with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Chief of Staff General Valeriy Zaluzhniy. Washington has given tens of billions of dollars in military and other aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion in February last year. The U.S. government has reiterated many times that it will stand with Kyiv for as long as it takes. However, there has been growing concern about Washington's continued assistance amid opposition from some hard-line Republicans in Congress. Further financial assistance for Ukraine was left out of a temporary bill approved by Congress last week to avert a U.S. government shutdown. The Pentagon said in a statement that Austin's visit was meant to "reinforce the staunch support of the United States for Ukraine's fight for freedom." "The discussions will focus on further bolstering the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, to include ensuring Ukraine's armed forces have the battlefield capabilities they need for both the winter and to defend their country against future Russian threats, the Pentagon statement said. "He will also underscore the continued U.S. commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression, while also discussing a long-term vision for Ukraine's future force," it said. Austin's visit to Kyiv comes ahead of a meeting later this week of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein format, which consists of some 50 countries that back Kyiv in its war against Russia. In Ukraine, Russian shelling of civilian-populated areas killed at least three people on November 20, regional officials said. Serhiy Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said on Telegram that an 83-year-old woman was killed by Russian artillery strikes in Nikopol and a 53-year-old man was wounded. Two civilians were killed when Russian troops shelled Kherson early on November 20, the head of the southern Ukrainian city's military administration, Roman Mrochko, reported. Regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram that two drivers were killed when Russian troops fired at the parking lot of a private transport company in Kherson. Prokudin earlier on November 20 said that overnight shelling of residential areas of the region wounded six people, including one child. With reporting by AFP Ukraine marks the 10th anniversary of the Euromaidan protest movement that erupted after then-President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an EU Association Agreement. Massive crowds of pro-European demonstrators occupied Kyiv's central square for months to oppose Yanukovych's plan for closer economic ties with Russia. In mid-February 2014, more than 100 people were killed as security forces opened fire on protesters. Ten years later, journalist Andriy Dubchak recalls the intense days and weeks of Euromaidan that led to the ousting of Moscow-friendly Yanukovych and set the country on a new, independent course. KYIV -- Ten years ago today, the Ukrainian activist movement called Automaidan did not exist. Its head, Kateryna Butko, dreams of the day when it once again is no more -- because that would mean its work is done. The primary mission our organization is dedicated to is our eventual disbandment and state bodies being able to function properly without constant public oversight," Butko told RFE/RL in an interview at the anti-corruption NGOs office in Kyiv. The arc of Butkos adult life traces Ukraines trajectory over the turbulent past two decades. As a high school student in 2004, she was one of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who took to the streets for the Orange Revolution, the peaceful protests that led to a court decision overturning an election widely seen as marred by massive fraud. The ruling was followed by a repeat runoff in which pro-Western candidate Viktor Yushchenko defeated rival Viktor Yanukovych, who was favored by Russia. But Yushchenkos term turned into a disappointment for many Ukrainians hoping for change, with corruption persisting as political infighting hobbled reforms and Russian interference increased. Against that backdrop, Yanukovych prevailed in the 2010 presidential election. On November 21, 2013, with the Kremlin applying a powerful mix of pressure and incentives, Yanukovych abruptly dashed hopes for closer ties with the West by scrapping plans to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union and vowing to build stronger trade relations with Russia. The next day, Butko -- who had built a career in public relations and advertising -- was back on the streets. She joined the growing crowd that came out to protest on Kyivs Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, turning what had been relatively small anti-corruption demonstrations into a massive movement known as the Euromaidan or simply the Maidan. The protests, now also known in Ukraine as the Revolution of Dignity, drew in many people who previously had little interest or involvement in politics. People I knew gathered with clear demands -- to stop the alignment with Russia, said Kostyantyn Klyatskin, who is now 32. 'Righteous Indignation' He said he and fellow protesters were aghast at Yanukovychs decision to draw closer to Russia and a Kremlin-dominated Customs Union, a substantial reversal for a country that had joyously shed Moscows yoke in 1991 and where many looked to a future in alignment with Europe and the West. Why Russia? I couldn't understand this, [and it] provoked righteous indignation, Klyatskin said. A seasoned documentary film director with numerous projects related to current events in Ukraine, Klyatskin said that before the Euromaidan movement, he was an unaware citizen who just echoed his parents' views. The notion imposed on us was that we are separate from politics. This perspective led me to believe that there was no way we could influence what politicians do, he told RFE/RL. Yanukovych and his government ignored the protesters' aspirations. On November 30, they went further: Security forces attacked the activists' camp on the Maidan under the pretext of plans to set up a Christmas tree, beating students and other demonstrators who were staying there overnight. The forceful dispersal of the peaceful demonstration was a game-changer, sparking much larger protests -- in Kyiv and across Ukraine -- against the Yanukovych government. Contrary to the government's aim, it drew hundreds of thousands of people to the Maidan. We all realized we don't want to live in a country where beating people is possible or where the countrys trajectory, built over decades, can be canceled by a single decree from the tsar, Klyatskin said. Road Rallies This was also when the Automaidan movement emerged -- the mobile wing of the Euromaidan, with motorists across the country rallying in convoys of cars and trucks. Butko joined it, offering her help as a communications specialist. Some of the most notable Automaidan protests occurred at the end of December 2013 when motorists reached the area near Mezhyhirya, the lavish estate outside Kyiv that served as Yanukovychs residence and is now a museum displaying a gaudy lifestyle that critics say was bankrolled by graft. Butko estimates that up to 4,000 automobiles were involved. The government implemented countermeasures in an unsuccessful bid to quash the burgeoning protests, jailing and fining activists for various alleged violations. As tension between the demonstrators and the state mounted, Klyatskin, a university student studying TV directing at the time, joined Babylon'13, a collective of filmmakers who gathered on the Maidan. They documented the daily life of the protest and uploaded their footage to the Internet. Each person contributed -- some were chopping wood while others, like us, were filming to ensure that this story was heard, Klyatskin said of the powerful atmosphere of community and cohesion on the Maidan -- a precursor to the unity that has enabled Ukraine to defend itself against the full-scale invasion that Russia launched in February 2022. Vitaliy Chernyavskiy, 35, an IT specialist who is now a soldier, also found his role on the Maidan. As the government deployed anti-protest provocateurs on the streets of Kyiv, Chernyavskiy joined a self-defense group in the Kyiv district where he lived, participating in patrols to maintain order. The 'Heavenly Hundred' Along with patrolling the streets, Automaidan activists continued to organize protests near the homes of state officials. "They could have ignored protests at the Maidan, but they could not ignore protests happening in their yards," Butko said. The Maidan functioned as a cohesive entity until a deadly and momentous outbreak of violence on February 18-21, 2014, when government forces attacked the protesters and dozens of people were killed. Along with others killed during the Maidan protests, they totaled over 100 and came to be known as the Heavenly Hundred. Additionally, official figures indicate that 17 police and security officers died while on duty from February 18 to March 2. The states attempt to disperse the Maidan with lethal force failed; protesters fought back and managed to defend the central square. On February 21, Yanukovych agreed to a deal with opponents that included early elections -- but he then fled to Russia. Putin responded to Yanukovychs downfall by ordering the occupation of Crimea and fomenting anti-Kyiv sentiment across eastern and southern Ukraine, and war between government forces and Russia-backed fighters broke out in much of the Donbas in April 2014. With little time to celebrate the end of the Yanukovych era, civil society groups born as a formidable force on the Maidan found themselves fighting a two-front war -- against Russian aggression and against an internal enemy, corruption, that many felt played into Moscows hands. "Unfortunately, corruption had permeated every sector in Ukraine, from the president's office to kindergartens," Butko says. Among the diverse areas requiring change, Automaidan and like-minded organizations concentrated on advocating reforms within law enforcement bodies and the judiciary, seeing them as the key to eliminating corruption in other areas. "At the Maidan, we saw with our own eyes that there was no justice; therefore, courts were what we should focus on first," Butko said. Chernyavskiy soon became disillusioned with post-Maidan Ukraine and what he described as the return of a system in which corruption and oligarchy held sway. About three months after the deadly denouement of February 2014, he enlisted in the Donbas Battalion, a unit composed of civilian volunteers. 'Russia's Hand In Ukraine' Chernyavskiy said he met proactive people during his service, while the government, in his view, remained passive in countering Russias assault on Ukraines sovereignty. After surviving a harrowing battle in August 2014 near Ilovaysk in the Donetsk region, where Russian forces surrounded Ukrainian units and attacked them despite an agreement on a safe corridor, Chernyavskiy eventually returned to civilian life -- sensing, he said, that he could be more useful to the fight against Russian aggression in Kyiv than on the battlefield. He became an assistant to a lawmaker in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraines parliament. We were waging a paper war against corruption, Chernyavskiy said. Corruption and mismanagement were Russia's hand in Ukraine, preventing us from winning at the front line. The anti-corruption reform that unfolded included the introduction of an infrastructure for fighting graft: the National Anti-Corruption Bureau for investigating top-level corruption; the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office for the procedural supervision of cases; and the National Agency for Corruption Prevention, which is meant to implement anti-corruption policy. Later, as the investigation of corruption cases was stymied in slow-moving courts, a separate Anti-Corruption Court was created to handle high-level cases. Civil society organizations like Automaidan became the most prominent advocates of reform. But progress was slow, with judicial reform efforts encountering opposition from old-guard judges and key bodies of judicial governance. Still, life went on despite the war in the east, and the upheaval of 2014 gave way, for some, to a sense of normalcy. There were periods when cinema in Ukraine was flourishing, Klyatskin said, and Chernyavaskiy returned to his IT career after the term of the first post-Maidan parliament. And then came the full-scale invasion. Over the years of war in the Donbas, Kyivs Maidan was transformed into a place where soldiers killed in the fighting were honored before burial. Since the invasion of February 24, 2022, the sprawling square has witnessed even more funerals. In June 2022, Roman Ratushniy, who had been one of the youngest Maidan activists, was given a heros farewell on the same square where he had protested eight years earlier. He had volunteered for the military after the full-scale war began and was killed fighting in the Kharkiv region at the age of 24. Many other Maidan activists -- including Chernyavskiy, some 40 active members of Automaidan, and several members of Babylon13 -- also joined the armed forces following the full-scale invasion. We try to support them as much as we can, said Klyatskin. Drones are crucial. If a drone is destroyed, a person's life is saved. The world is well acquainted with the profound risks of a global pandemic like COVID-19, which took the lives of millions of people and devastated economies. The only way to enhance global health security is together, declared Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Global Health Security and Diplomacy Symposium. Indeed, because we worked together ... we were able to lead a global response that helped the world emerge from the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to be more prepared for the next health threat, the State Department recently launched the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy. The new Bureau has been hard at work bringing the power and purpose of American diplomacy to that urgent mission. Were applying [the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or,] PEPFARs many lessons for instance, on how to effectively track outbreaks and deliver medicines to hard-to-reach populations, said Secretary Blinken. Were also expanding PEPFARs reach to more effectively prevent [HIV/AIDS] and serve those living with it, he added. One of the ways were doing this is by increasing our collaboration with regional bodies, like the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pan American Health Organization, and helping build up regional manufacturing capabilities in countries, including Senegal and South Africa, he said. Were doing this so that countries can more quickly produce and distribute treatments, tests, protective equipment, and become less reliant on and vulnerable to foreign supply. The United States is rallying international support for the World Banks Pandemic Fund, which will help the international response to future health threats, said Secretary Blinken: Already, the Fund is undertaking vital work to build up regional disease surveillance networks, create early warning systems, and expand public health workforces around the world. Since the Funds launch a year ago, the United States has contributed $450 million about a quarter of its total contributions to date and well continue to work with partners to mobilize additional support. The United States is strengthening its global health security infrastructure by helping modernize existing institutions, like the World Health Organization. The United States will continue to seek out is friends and allies for ideas, perspectives, and partnerships, said Secretary Blinken. Because only if we work together, can we build a more healthy, safe, and secure world for all. 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 an upcoming OSCE meeting in Skopje, which is likely to be contentious, and whether the EU will be able to keep warm this winter. Brief #1: With The Ukraine War, The OSCE Is At An Impasse What You Need To Know: Two big questions loom over the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ministerial meeting in Skopje on November 30-December 1, which will bring together the foreign ministers from the 57 members of the Vienna-based organization. Firstly, will one of them -- Russia's Sergei Lavrov -- show up? And secondly, who will take over the one-year OSCE rotating chair for 2024 after North Macedonia? The two questions are somewhat linked. Lavrov was barred from attending the ministerial meeting in the Polish city of Lodz last December, with Poland -- the organization's chair that year -- justifying the ban by saying that he was on the EU sanctions list after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The thinking this time around -- at least among some member states -- is that it could be useful to have Lavrov in the Macedonian capital. The OSCE remains the only larger political organization in Europe in which Russia is still a member, having been expelled from the Council of Europe last year. Apart from potentially confronting Lavrov over Ukraine, OSCE diplomats might desire the Russian foreign minister's presence in Skopje to help solve the problem of who should take over the chair of the organization next year. Estonia is the only candidate -- having applied already back in 2020 -- but Russia has always rejected this and is set to do so again this year. The argument Moscow has put forward is that it doesn't want another NATO country as chair -- following on from North Macedonia and Poland -- and has accused both countries of constantly bringing up "Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine" at the weekly OSCE Permanent Council, where ambassadors to the organization meet. In various OSCE forums, North Macedonia and Poland have rejected the idea that there can be "business as usual" as long as the conflict goes on. Deep Background: Normally, the chair is decided at least a year in advance via unanimity among member states. It would be unprecedented for the OSCE to enter a new year without a country at the helm -- a scenario that could even usher in the demise of the entire organization. It has already been decided that Finland will chair the OSCE in 2025, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) -- the predecessor of the OSCE -- that aimed to improve relations between East and West and which committed the Soviet Union to formally observing human rights and international law. The decision for Finland to chair in 2025 was made well before the country became a NATO member. So, how to solve this impasse? Estonia is so far not withdrawing its candidacy and has received full backing from the other 26 EU member states -- including the bloc's foreign ministers when they met in Brussels on November 13. Speaking to RFE/RL after the meeting in Brussels, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said: "We cannot normalize relations with the aggressor. We must continue the international isolation of Russia and must not submit to its provocations and blackmail. I am glad that the EU unanimously supports Estonia." It will be interesting to see if this position prevails in the run-up to the Skopje meeting. The united EU stance on Estonia has so far prevented the search for alternative chairs, especially among non-NATO EU members. Perhaps the most natural choice would be Austria, as it already hosts the organization in Vienna. But there have also been talks between 2024 chair North Macedonia and Malta about the possibility of Valletta picking up the OSCE baton at the last minute, even though the country's small diplomatic service might struggle. From what I understand from sources familiar with the issue who wish to remain anonymous, it appears that Russia has rejected another possible candidate, Kazakhstan, from chairing, or North Macedonia continuing in the hot seat for another year. If Russia doesn't get its way, then it could walk away from the OSCE, a scenario that many member states are keen to avoid. One concern is that if Russia left, other countries -- particularly from the former Soviet bloc -- could follow, in solidarity with Moscow. At the same time, the organization is also keen to avoid being without a chair, especially as the yearlong role is key for the daily functioning of the organization. Drilling Down Ahead of the Skopje meeting, pressure could increase on Estonia to withdraw its candidacy. A policy note from the United States directed to EU member states, which was seen by RFE/RL, underlines that "the United States appreciates Estonia's willingness to serve as 2024 chair and supports Estonia as a principled and capable candidate for a future chairpersonship." The note adds that "Russia has made clear it will not join consensus on another NATO member as chair" and that the "OSCE urgently needs to identify a country capable of gaining consensus to serve as chair in 2024. A failure to do so is a victory for Russia." It is also worth considering the presence of Lavrov himself at the ministerial meeting in Skopje. Last year, Poland acted on its own and stopped him from entering the country several weeks in advance, saying he was on the EU's sanctions list. The same could apply to North Macedonia, which as an EU candidate country has aligned with the EU's sanctions on Russia. But there's a catch: The EU has only imposed an asset freeze on Lavrov and not a visa ban. And even if there were a visa ban, this can be waived by EU member states and aligned countries in order for the Russian foreign minister to attend international conferences. Lavrov could, in other words, be welcome in North Macedonia without the country violating any legal or political obligations. EU foreign ministers also discussed Lavrov's presence in Brussels last week. Some -- notably from the Baltics states -- expressed shock at his potential invitation, but others -- such as Germany -- said that everyone should be there and everyone should speak to him. Some OSCE members, particularly from Western Europe, are hoping that Lavrov's presence would be an opportunity for dialogue, even if it's just discussions on internal OSCE matters, such as the question of extending the mandate of the secretary-general. Ukraine and others, however, are warning of giving in to Russian pressure. They have noted how Moscow has obstructed several important OSCE initiatives in recent years, such as blocking three field missions to Ukraine and, for the last two years, the entire OSCE budget. Brief #2: Will EU Citizens Stay Warm This Winter? What You Need To Know: It was supposed to be Russia's most powerful weapon against the EU after last February's invasion of Ukraine: the threat that the bloc's citizens would freeze over the winter. While energy prices did soar at the end of summer and early fall in 2022, mostly due to a scorching heat wave and Russia squeezing gas supplies. The media was full of stories of how badly the EU would cope, painting dire scenarios for the winter of 2022-23 and warning about potential blackouts for private households and industries. Fast forward a year and the doom and gloom is nowhere to be seen -- neither in the media nor among political circles in the European Union. The consensus seems to be that EU citizens will be warm in their homes and workplaces this winter, in what could be described as one of the bloc's true success stories in recent years. Deep Background: At the start of Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, imports of Russian gas by pipeline made up 40 percent of all EU gas imports. Today, that figure is down to 13 percent. The EU has blocked 90 percent of Russian oil from entering the bloc and is starting to completely phase out purchases of Russian coal. This created a price shock in the summer of 2022, with gas prices peaking at 294 euros ($320) per megawatt hour (MWh) in August that year and electricity prices reaching 474 euros per MWh around the same time. So far this year, the average price in the EU for gas has been 44 euros per MWh and 107 euros per MWh for electricity -- a considerable drop that has led to the EU fulfilling its target of having its gas storages 90 percent full two months before the November 1 deadline. These storages are now around 99 percent full, making blackouts this winter unlikely, even in the event of a Russian cutoff or a prolonged cold snap. How did the EU achieve this? Well, the bloc reduced gas demand by around 15 percent compared to last year. Partly this was due to households and companies consuming less due to higher prices, plus the winter of 2022-23 and fall of 2023 were fairly mild. Another contributing factor was the installation of over 3 million heat pumps across the EU in 2022 alone, which has helped to slowly lower gas consumption for the generation of power. Drilling Down The main challenge for the EU has been to find alternative energy sources to replace Russian gas. In this regard, Brussels has fared reasonably well. One of the issues that made the energy crisis so alarming over the summer of 2022 was that over half of France's 56 nuclear reactors were shut down due to maintenance work. Now, many of those are back online, alleviating the problem to a certain extent. According to the European Commission, there has also been record use of solar power and offshore wind farms. While these renewable sources are helping, the main lifesaver for the EU has been the purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with imports from the United States increasing sixfold since last year. The EU has driven LNG prices down by having the European Commission organize three rounds of joint purchasing of the gas, instead of having individual member states competing to bid. The EU has also been lucky that LNG demand in China has shrunk due to slowed economic growth there, meaning that tanks carrying LNG could quickly be rerouted from Asia to Europe. This means that the EU now has excess reserves going into the winter, with some LNG tankers functioning as offshore storage facilities. Some gas is also being kept in Ukraine, which has some of the largest gas stores on the continent and are far from the front lines of the war. The problem with the LNG market is that prices are volatile and sensitive to all sorts of external shocks. In recent months, prices have shot up due to strikes at Australian LNG facilities, repair work at a large gas processing plant in Norway, and the war in the Middle East, which has stopped work at a facility off the Israeli coast. There is also increased fear of sabotage, something that both NATO and EU officials are monitoring carefully since it appeared that in October a Chinese-registered vessel damaged an undersea gas pipeline connecting Estonia and Finland. It hasn't been established yet whether this was intentional or not. There is also an elephant in the room. While the EU has cut a lot of Russian pipelined gas, it has in the same period increased its purchase of Russian LNG by 40 percent. About 15 percent of all EU LNG imports now come from Russia, with Portugal and Spain using a considerable amount as the Iberian Peninsula is something of an energy island with very few interconnectors to the rest of the EU. The reality is that the Kremlin will continue to enjoy a share of the EU energy market. Despite repeated calls, Russian LNG will not be sanctioned by Brussels. In a proposal for new EU sanctions on Moscow, seen by RFE/RL last week, there are no proposed measures on Russian gas, whether it's shipped via pipeline or as LNG. Looking Ahead Keep an eye out for the Dutch parliamentary elections on November 22. Dutch politics tends to be notoriously messy, with over a dozen parties making up the chamber and months usually needed -- postelections -- to cobble together a viable coalition. These elections came about after the current coalition fell apart in the summer over how to handle increased migration, which ended with the resignation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Having run the country for 13 years, making him one of the longest-serving leaders in the EU, Rutte said he was leaving politics but didn't rule out the possibility of taking on a position such as NATO secretary-general or president of the European Council. Current NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will tour the Western Balkans this week. He will first go to Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has been aspiring to join the military alliance for well over a decade but has failed to make much progress, largely due to objections from the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska. Stoltenberg will also visit Kosovo, home to the NATO-led international peacekeeping force KFOR, which was recently bolstered due to tensions between Serbia and Kosovo. That's all for now. I'm off this week, so the next briefing will come out on December 4. 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. Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse Latest Updates Desperate Attempts Continue Amidst Worsening Conditions in Collapsed Silkyara Tunnel Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse Latest Updates: The Harrowing plight of workers trapped in the partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand persists, with today marking the ninth day of their ordeal. The rescue operations have faced significant challenges, and the fate of those trapped remains uncertain. At least 40 workers have lost their lives in the tragic incident that unfolded in the 4531-metre Silkyara tunnel, a crucial component of the Chardham project under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The tunnel connects the Gangotri and Yamunotri corridors beneath the Radi Pass area. Advertisement Efforts to rescue the trapped workers have been hampered by the treacherous conditions within the tunnel. A US-made auger machine was deployed to drill and push pipes, but the rescue process had to be halted to prevent further risks. A statement by NHIDCL revealed that during the positioning of the fifth pipe, a loud cracking sound was heard, leading to the suspension of the rescue operation. Despite challenges, rescuers managed to push 39 meters into the wreckage on Sunday through a six-inch-wide tube. The successful placement of the tube is crucial as it would provide an alternative route for delivering essential supplies such as food and water to the stranded workers. Roads, Transport, and Highways Secretary Anurag Jain announced a five-option action plan for the rescue efforts, emphasizing the government's commitment to saving the trapped workers. However, as of Sunday, drilling had not commenced, as rescue teams worked on various plans to safely extract the workers from the unstable tunnel. Advertisement An expert involved in the rescue operation expressed concerns about the possibility of additional collapses near the tunnel, prompting the suspension of pipe pushing activities on Friday. Multiple agencies, including ONGC, RVNL, Sutlej Jal Vikas Nigam Limited, BRO, State PWD, and NHIDCL, are collaborating to expedite the rescue mission. In a bid to sustain the trapped workers, along with provisions of food and water, multivitamins and anti-depressants are being sent. Uttarakhand Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Sinha revealed plans to deploy robots inside the tunnel to assess available space, guiding decisions on potential life support measures. (For More News Apart from Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse Latest Updates, Stay Tuned to Rozana Spokesman) Punjab Weather Update Average Minimum Temperature Records a 1.3C Increase; Gurdaspur Registers Lowest Minimum at 10C Punjab Weather Update: In a noticeable shift from yesterday's weather patterns, Punjab witnesses a rise of 1.3C in the average minimum temperature today. However, the current temperatures are significantly above normal, registering an appreciable deviation of 3.2C in the state, said the Punjab Meteorological Department. The lowest minimum temperature in the region is reported at Gurdaspur, standing at 10C, according to data from the Agricultural Meteorological Field Unit (AMFU). The AMFU recorded temperatures across various districts in Punjab, revealing a varied distribution across the state. Advertisement District-wise Minimum Temperatures: Chandigarh: 13.8C Chandigarh (Airport): 14.9C Amritsar: 12.7C Ludhiana: 13.1C Patiala: 13.5C Pathankot: 12.5C Bathinda: 12.0C Faridkot: 12.2C Gurdaspur: 10.0C Ballowal Saunkhri (SBS Nagar): 12.2C Barnala KVK (AWS) (Barnala): 13.2C Faridkot: 14.1C Fatehgarh Sahib: 13.8C Firozpur KVK: 14.2C Gurdaspur: 12.9C Nurmahal KVK (AWS) (Jalandhar): 13.2C Ludhiana: 13.4C The varying temperatures across districts indicate localized weather patterns, contributing to the overall climate dynamics in Punjab. The appreciable rise in temperatures, particularly in comparison to the previous day, highlights the dynamic nature of the state's weather. Advertisement (For More News Apart from Punjab Weather Update News, Stay Tuned to Rozana Spokesman) Two-Day Mega Dog Show in Chandigarh Two-Day Mega Dog Show in Chandigarh: German Shepherd Hulk Claims Best in Show Title at North India's Largest Canine Extravaganza Two-Day Mega Dog Show in Chandigarh News: The two-day Mega Dog Show, hailed as North India's largest canine spectacle, concluded on a high note at the Sector-3 ground, leaving dog enthusiasts and participants delighted. Hosted by the Royal Kennel Club, Panchkula, in collaboration with the Pet Animal Health Society, Sector-3, and the Department of Animal Husbandry, Government of Haryana, the event witnessed the participation of more than 300 dogs representing over 50 breeds. On the final day of the show, hundreds of attendees from Tricity, Punjab, and Haryana gathered with their furry companions, contributing to the vibrant and lively atmosphere. Notably, the Great Dane and Bacon Fries Dog stole the limelight as the center of attraction, captivating the audience with their unique qualities. Advertisement The distinguished British Deputy High Commissioner, Caroline Rowett, graced the occasion as the special guest during the prize distribution ceremony on the closing day. In a highly competitive showcase, the title of Best Dog Show was clinched by the impressive German Shepherd Hulk. Advertisement Sikandar Singh, the General Secretary of the Royal Kennel Club, expressed confidence that the success of this year's event would pave the way for increased attendance in the next edition. The competition within the Rottweiler and Labrador categories drew participants from various corners of the country, emphasizing the show's growing popularity. Dr. Ranjit Singh, Deputy Director of the Panchkula Animal Husbandry Department, lauded the success of the Mega Dog Show, emphasizing its educational objectives aimed at enlightening people about diverse dog breeds. The event featured an array of breeds, including Pomeranian, Pug, Maltese, Chihuahua, French Bulldog, Lhasa, Toy Poodle, Apso, Pekingese, Mastiff, Rottweiler, Gaddi, St. Bernard, Dogo Argentino, Labrador, German Shepherd, Siberian Husky, Chow, Akita, Shih Tzu, Standard Poodle, and British Bulldog. Advertisement The Prize distribution ceremony on the concluding day was graced by the presence of IAS Ankur Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary of the Government of Haryana, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department, and Dr. Birendra Singh Laura, Director General of Haryana Animal Husbandry. Their participation underscored the significance of the Mega Dog Show in promoting awareness and appreciation for the diverse world of canine breeds. (For More News Apart from Two-Day Mega Dog Show in Chandigarh News, Stay Tuned to Rozana Spokesman) President of the Iraqi Republic Abdullatif Jamal Rashid arrived at the Alley of Honourable Burial, paid tribute to Heydar Aliyev, the national leader of our people, architect and founder of the modern independent state of Azerbaijan, laid a wreath and laid flowers at his grave, November 19, Azernews reports. The Iraqi President honoured the memory of Zarifa Aliyeva, outstanding ophthalmologist, academician, and laid flowers at her tomb. Then, guests coming to Shehid Alley honoured the memory of heroic children of the Motherland who died in the struggle for independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and laid a wreath at the "Eternal Torch" monument. President of the Iraqi Republic Abdullatif Jamal Rashid, who was observing the view of our capital from the highest point of Baku, was informed about the history of Shehid Alley and the improvement and construction works carried out in the city. The(NMC) has stressed the need to implement an(AEBAS) for faculty members in medical colleges. The aim is to tackle the issue of 'ghost faculty,' which refers to fictitious faculty members who do not exist but are listed on the payroll of medical institutions. The Post Graduate Medical Education Board has decided to enforce a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) immediately to assess the examination process. To eliminate such fictitious faculty members, the NMC has consistently emphasized the importance of the Aadhaar-linked biometric attendance system. The NMC has been urging medical colleges to adopt AEBAS and highlighting its importance before inspections.The Commission has recently introduced the Medical Assessment and Rating Board guidelines that aim to standardize establishing new medical colleges or expanding existing ones. These guidelines also aim to address concerns related to ghost faculty and other issues. These rules are scheduled to be enforced in the upcoming academic year, and their objective is to streamline the operations of medical education institutions, as confirmed by the apex medical education regulatory body.The guidelines released by the NMC have specified that daily AEBAS records of essential staff, including faculty, residents, and support personnel, preferably with facial recognition, must be made accessible to the NMC. Furthermore, these records are expected to be displayed on the respective medical college websites as a daily attendance dashboard. In tandem with these directives, a notice accompanied by the guidelines highlighted the implementation of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the Post Graduate Medical Education Board for immediate effect. This SOP aims to evaluate the examination process as part of inspections for the recognition, increased intake, or renewal of recognition for a qualification course. Medical colleges and institutes are now required to conduct examinations in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the current PGMER. In addition, these institutions must keep video records of the examination process, including examiners, exam procedures, case details, and students' theses, among other pertinent information. The announcement stated that inspection methods would be changing and that physical or online inspections of examination processes would no longer be conducted.Universities are advised to stick to their examination schedules as planned. After the exams, physical assessments of medical colleges and institutes will be conducted, focusing on their infrastructure, clinical and investigative materials, and other relevant facilities as described in the guidelines. This change in assessment strategies aims to simplify evaluation processes, improve transparency, and guarantee the credibility of medical education across the country. Malaysia will on Monday release October figures for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In September, imports were down 11.1 percent on year and exports dropped 13.7 percent for a trade surplus of MYR24.50 billion. Taiwan will provide October numbers for export orders and Q# data for current account. In September, export orders slumped 15.6 percent on year, while the current account surplus in Q2 was $22.24 billion. Thailand will see Q3 figures for gross domestic product; in the three months prior, GDP was up 0.2 percent on quarter and 1.8 percent on year. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. East Arlington, Vermont- based Wilcox Ice Cream is recalling multiple brands of ice cream, yogurt, ice cream bars and gelato in a variety of flavors, citing Listeria monocytogenes concerns, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced. The recall involves all flavors of Wilcox brand ice cream, yogurt, and ice cream bars, as well as Leonardo's brand gelato. In addition to Super Premium Mint Chip flavor, the company is calling back all other products manufactured at its facility during the same time period. These include all flavors and all sizes of Wilcox Premium Product Line with Best By/Sell By dates of 9/14/24 to 11/14/24; as well as Wilcox SUPER PREMIUM Product Line with Best By/Sell By dates 9/13/24 to 11/14/24. Further, the recall includes Wilcox's Premium Yogurt Line with Best By/Sell By 10/5/24, 10/6/24, 10/26/24, 10/27/24; Wilcox Ice Cream 802 Ice Cream Bars with Best By/Sell By: 9/15/24 through 11/14/24; and Leonardo's Gelato Pints and 4 oz cups with Best By/Sell By Dates: 8/28/24 to 11/14/24. The impacted products were distributed in retail stores and Co-Ops located in VT, NH, MA, and NY. The recall was initiated after the company was notified by the Vermont Department of Agriculture on November 14 that one lot of the Super Premium Mint Chip manufactured that day may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The Vermont Department of Agriculture was notified by the New Hampshire Department of Health that a routine sample collected by that agency of Super Premium Mint Chocolate Chip manufactured on 9/15/23 tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. As per the investigation, preliminary testing showed that the ice cream mix purchased to make these products may contain Listeria monocytogenes. It is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Meanwhile, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women. However, the company has not received any reports of illnesses related to the recalled product to date. Customers are urged to not consume these products and contact the firm. In similar recalls related to Listeria Monocytogenes, Rosemead, California-based Phu Huong Food Co. in mid-October called back around 602 pounds of ready-to-eat or RTE beef and chicken meatball products. Dallas, Texas-based Don Miguel Foods earlier in October recalled 10,642 pounds of frozen RTE carne asada burrito products for the same concern. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service or FSIS in early October issued warning against Manteca, Califorina-based Sunnyvalley Smoked Meats' ham products under Costco's in-house brand Kirkland Signature for Listeria concern. For More Such Health News, visit rttnews.com For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The Malaysian trade surplus decreased in October as exports fell faster than imports, data from the statistical office showed on Monday. The trade surplus shrank to MYR 12.9 billion in October from MYR 18.5 billion in the same month last year. In September, the trade surplus was MYR 24.37 billion. Exports fell 4.4 percent yearly in October, though slower than the 13.8 percent decline a month ago. The downward trend in shipments was led by the decline in both domestic exports and re-exports. Imports dropped only 0.2 percent annually in August, following a 11.1 percent plunge in the previous month. On a seasonally adjusted basis, both exports and imports grew by 1.5 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively, from a month earlier. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News China's central bank left its benchmark lending rates unchanged on Monday as any additional easing could weaken the currency. As expected, the People's Bank of China kept the one-year loan prime rate, or LPR, unchanged at 3.45 percent. Previously, the bank had lowered the rate by 10 basis points in August. The five-year LPR, the benchmark for mortgage rates, was retained at 4.20 percent for the fifth consecutive time. The Chinese central bank fixes the LPR monthly based on the submission of 18 designated banks. The LPR replaced the traditional benchmark lending rate in August 2019. Markets widely expected the PBoC to leave the rates unchanged today after the rate on medium-term lending facility, which acts as a guide to loan prime rates, was maintained at 2.50 percent last week. Although the recent economic data suggested that the is set to avoid a substantial slowdown, real estate market and unfavorable external conditions pose downside risks to growth. Beijing is widely expected to achieve its growth target of around 5.0 percent this year. The International Monetary Fund forecast China's economy to expand 5.4 percent this year before slowing to 4.6 percent next year. Lowering lending rates would support the beleaguered property sector but such a move will add downward pressure on the yuan. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Germany's producer prices declined for the fourth straight month in October due to the decrease in energy prices, Destatis reported Monday. Producer prices dropped 11.0 percent from a year ago in October, in line with expectations. The annual decline in September was 14.7 percent, which was the biggest fall since records began in 1949. However, Destatis said the decline was largely attributed to the base effect as the war in Ukraine pushed up producer prices in August and September 2022. On a monthly basis, producer prices slid 0.1 percent in October. The monthly fall also matched expectations. Energy prices were down 27.9 percent annually due to sharp decrease in electricity prices. Due to lower prices of metals and basic chemicals, intermediate goods prices fell 4.6 percent. Meanwhile, non-durable consumer goods prices rose 3.9 percent and capital goods prices gained 4.4 percent. Excluding energy prices, producer prices were 0.2 percent higher than in October 2022 but 0.2 percent lower than in September 2023. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Far-right leader Javier Milei has won Argentina's presidential run-off, according to latest results. In what is described as "a political earthquake", Milei reportedly won nearly 56 of votes in the second round of the presidential election, while the left-wing candidate Sergio Massa won 44 percent with most votes counted. The 53 year old economist has proposed drastic changes, including the abolition of the Central Bank of Argentina, and favored a de facto based on US dollar. Before rising to political prominence, Milei initially gained notability as an economist, as the author of multiple books on economics and , and for his distinct political philosophy. The United States congratulated Argentine President-elect Javier Milei on his victory in the election, and applauded "the robust democratic process through which the Argentine public has spoken". The strong turnout and peaceful conduct of the vote are a testament to Argentina's electoral and democratic institutions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. He said Washington looks forward to working with Milei and his government "on shared priorities that benefit the people of both countries, including protecting human rights and democracy, addressing climate change, and investing in the middle class". Former U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Milei's win, saying that he would "Make Argentina Great Again". For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News 2W sales saw a YoY de-growth of 12.60 percent while MoM sales grew by 14.91 percent in October 2023 Two wheeler retail sales, as announced by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), for the month of October 2023, saw sales dip by 12.60 percent. It was however, a MoM growth of 14.91 percent when compared to sales in September 2023. Festivities during the month of October 2023 failed to stir up sales in the two wheeler segment, retail sales of which dipped 12.60 percent YoY in the said month. Sales fell to 15,07,756 units in October 2023, down from 17,25,043 units sold in October 2022. This was a volume de-growth of 2,17,287 units. 2W Retail Sales Oct 2023 Hero, Honda, TVS post YoY degrowth The segment made up on a MoM basis with a 14.91 percent growth from 13,12,101 units sold in September 2023. During the 10 day Navratri period there were 5,40,325 units sold, up 21.75 percent when compared to 4,43,796 units sold during the same 10 day period of 2022. While Hero MotoCorp once again led the segment, the company reported a YoY de-growth in October 2023. Sales dipped to 4,17,750 units, down from 5,67,122 units sold in October 2022. It was a MoM growth of over 3,15,781 units sold in September 2023. At No. 2 was Honda that has also seen sales dip YoY in October 2023 down to 4,02,138 units when compared to 4,46,897 units sold in October 2022. Market share however, increased to 26.67 percent from 25.91 percent YoY. MoM sales improved over 3,48,899 units sold in September 2023. In 3rd spot was TVS Motors also reporting a YoY de-growth in October 2023 down to 2,51,435 units when compared to 2,65,894 units sold in October 2022. Market share improved to 16.68 percent from 15.41 percent YoY. TVS iQube has seen increased demand while the XL100 moped has also been a hot favorite while in the premium space, TVS X and Apache RTR 310 launched recently also gained some traction. Bajaj Auto sales improved YoY to 1,78,717 units in October 2023 up from 1,72,106 units sold in October 2022. YoY sales growth was also reported by Suzuki Motorcycle India, which grew to 79,782 units in the past month, up from 67,555 units sold in October 2022. Market share improved to 5.29 percent from 3.92 percent YoY. Sales de-growth was reported by Royal Enfield, which fell to 68,151 units in October 2023, down from 73,763 units in October 2022. It was also a MoM growth from 63,084 units sold in September 2023. Royal Enfield has recently revealed details of the Himalayan 452 slated to launch soon. Once launched, it will compete against the Triumph Scrambler 400X, KTM 390 Adventure, 390 Enduro and Hero Xpulse 440. It was Yamaha Motors that saw sales increase significantly to 55,289 units in October 2023 from 50,201 units sold in October 2022 taking up market share to 3.67 percent from 2.91 percent YoY. Ola and Ather Energy Post YoY Growth in October 2023 In the electric two wheeler segment, Ola Electric maintained its dominance and also posted a healthy YoY growth in sales. Retail sales stood at 23,783 units in the past month, up from 16,357 units sold in October 2022. This took market share up to 1.58 percent from 0.95 percent YoY. It was also a MoM growth from 18,647 units sold in September 2023. Ather Energy, another leading electric two wheeler major in India, has seen sales grow to 8,346 units in October 2023 up from 7,358 units sold in October 2022. MoM sales growth was also significant from 7,123 units sold in September 2023. Greaves Electric, formerly known as Ampere Electric Vehicles, sales jumped to 4,169 units in October 2023 from just 39 units sold in October 2022 and was a further MoM increase over 3,605 units sold in September 2023. Lower down the sales list, each of the two wheeler makers have reported sales de-growth. Piaggio sales dipped to 3,284 units in October 2023 from 3,881 units sold in October 2022. Classic Legends (Jawa / Yezdi) also saw retail sales fall to 2,689 units from 3,769 units on a YoY basis while Okinawa sales fell significantly down to 1,474 units in the past month from 14,953 units sold in October 2022. There were others in this segment that also included electric two wheeler manufacturers that contributed 10,749 units to total retail sales. This was down from 35,148 units sold in the same month last year. The front fascia of Mahindra XUV700 electric spotted (XUV.e8) has stark semblance with the working prototype Mahindra demonstrated in UK First displayed on 15th August 2022, Mahindras XUV.e and BE range of electric SUVs are set to take EV markets by storm. The company is targeting both Indian market and multiple global markets. First of these SUVs will be XUV.e8, which is an electrified version of Indias favourite mid-size SUV, XUV700. Recent test mules show its front fascia. Mahindra XUV700 Electric Spotted Testing XUV700 is one of the most popular SUVs in India with consistent sales and demand. Waiting period for the same is pretty high as well. Mahindras ambitions to gain prominence in electric SUV realm is on the right track with the new INGLO platform. Name INGLO represents Mahindras export ambitions as it stands for India and Global. For the first time, we can see XUV.e8 test mules in India showing its fascia. At their debut in UK, Mahindra demonstrated a working prototype of XUV.e8. Latest test mule spotted in Chennai has identical design attributes as seen with that prototype, especially with the front fascia. This design seems to be production-spec and finalised. There is a wide LED light bar in the middle, flanked by interesting-looking LED DRLs that take a C-shape and extend downwards vertically. Recently spotted XUV300 facelift has somewhat similar design traits too, being part of the same family and DNA. These LED signature elements engulf XUV.e8s vertically arranged LED headlights. There may be a projector setup too with headlights. Below them, is what looks like a triple ice-cube LED fog lights. These may get cornering function too. Front bumper seems to be new and has a radar module in the middle, flanked by two horizontal air intakes. Rear still has identical tail lights as ICE XUV700. Production-spec XUV.e8 will have different tail lights. Specs and powertrains On the inside, Mahindra is implementing a triple-display setup that will dominate dashboard design. If youre wondering the functionality of three screens, one is for instrument cluster, one for infotainment and one for the front passenger. Because two screens are enough, apparently. Centre console is similar to that of XUV700 and has a conventional gear selector and a circular dial for drive modes. Steering is new too. Mahindra XUV700 electric spotted, measures 4,740 mm in length and has a 2,762 mm long wheelbase. Mahindra has switched Volkswagens MEB cells to BYDs prismatic Blade cells for its INGLO platform. Battery capacity starts from 60 kWh and goes till 80 kWh. Single motor RWD and AWD dual motor layouts are likely. Rear motor is the primary one and will offer a lot more oomph than front motor in AWD setup. With RWD models, there is no front motor. Even without, XUV.e8 is still dynamically better than XUV700 ICE SUV that it is based on, which is primarily FWD with an AWD option. Total power output can go till 350 bhp with AWD models. Mahindra has demonstrated a 200 km/h top speed, which Coupe models like XUV.e9 and BE.09 are likely to achieve. Source TO ACCESS THIS CONTENT YOU MUST OPEN A SESSION OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT MEMBER LOGIN CREATE YOUR USER ACCOUNT The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today (Nov 13) released 2023 Winter Reliability Overview Reports from the state's major natural g. . . TO ACCESS THIS CONTENT YOU MUST OPEN A SESSION OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT MEMBER LOGIN CREATE YOUR USER ACCOUNT Highlights The 30 million venture loan will fund Skydweller SL operations in Spain and Italy. The goal is to further develop and scale up the. . . TO ACCESS THIS CONTENT YOU MUST OPEN A SESSION OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT MEMBER LOGIN CREATE YOUR USER ACCOUNT By SvitlanaPyrkalo First EBRD project with the InvestEU programme signed in in Croatia 10.6 million to developer Encro to construct . . . Paleontologists have uncovered the fossilized remains of a new species of the Pleistocene eagle genus Dynatoaetus in Victoria Fossil Cave at Naracoorte, Australia. The newly-described species lived during the Pleistocene period more than 50,000 years ago. The bird was similar size to the living wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) and the extinct Australian vulture (Cryptogyps lacertosus). Named Dynatoaetus pachyosteus, it had short, stout wing bones and very large and robust leg bones. This new eagle species would have been similar in wingspan to a wedge-tailed eagle, now Australias largest living eagle of prey, but its bones seem much more robust especially its leg bones, suggesting it was even more powerful and heavily built, said Flinders University paleontologist Ellen Mather. The Dynatoaetus genus was endemic to Australia, meaning it was found nowhere else in the world. Now we have found two species and know this genus is not particularly closely related to any eagles outside Australia, we suggest that this group of raptors must have been in Australia for quite some time, rather than being a relatively recent arrival. However, our analyses suggest they may be related to the large crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela) and the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), top predators in the tropical jungles Southeast Asia and New Guinea. Cryptogyps lacertosus was the size of a modern-day wedge-tailed eagle. Its bones including an almost complete pair of wings from a single individual were recovered from an underwater cave, known as the Green Waterhole or Fossil Cave, near Mount Gambier. In the new study, Dr. Mather and colleagues connect these specimens to the bones they studied from a Nullarbor cave in Western Australia suggesting Cryptogyps lacertosus was more a primitive vulture than previously thought. Most vultures in the Aegypiinae subfamily (Old World vultures related to the griffon vulture) have extremely light wing bones filled with air cavities, thought to help with long periods of soaring flight, Dr. Mather said. But Cryptogyps lacertosus seems to have lacked this adaptation. This could indicate that this bird was not as efficient a soarer compared to its living relatives. Both species of Dynatoaetus Dynatoaetus pachyosteus and the recently-described Dynatoaetus gaffae were found in Victoria Fossil Cave deposits and so lived in the area between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago. Eagle fossils are rare, so precisely when these birds went extinct is unknown. However, the researchers were able to place a date on Cryptogyps lacertosus from Green Waterhole Cave. They suggest that this bird was alive around 60,000 years ago. This means it had survived right up to Australias megafaunal mass extinction. It is quite likely that the extinction of the large marsupials played a key role in the demise of Cryptogyps lacertosus, and possibly the giant eagles as well, Dr. Mather said. Whatever caused the extinction of at least the vulture and two other eagles, the result is that Australia has only one largish raptor in its inland fauna today. This is unusual in the world, as most continents have several eagles and vultures. We now know that the extinction not only removed large groups from the mammal fauna but that the absence of vultures is a recent loss and that Australia had two other eagles both able to take rather larger prey than the wedge-tailed eagle. The study was published in the Alcheringa, an Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. _____ Ellen K. Mather et al. 2023. Pleistocene raptors from cave deposits of South Australia, with a description of a new species of Dynatoaetus (Accipitridae: Aves): morphology, systematics and palaeoecological implications. Alcheringa, in press; doi: 10.1080/03115518.2023.2268780 Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen and Secretary of the Shanghai Party Committee Chen Ji Ning at the talk (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn) At the beginning of the talks, Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen conveyed the greetings of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, senior leaders of the Party, State, and people of Vietnam to the Party Committee and Government, people of Shanghai City and the Secretary of the Shanghai Party Committee Chen Ji Ning. Mr. Nguyen Van Nen expressed his pleasure at the positive development of relations between the two Parties and two States since General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's historic visit to China in the fall of 2022. Secretary of the Shanghai City Party Committee Chen Ji Ning warmly welcomed Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen and the HCMC high-ranking delegation to visit and work in Shanghai City in the context of China - Vietnam celebrating 15 years of comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in 2023. Mr. Chen Ji Ning emphasized that in the past 30 years, Shanghai and HCMC have signed cooperation agreements in many fields. Secretary of HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen expressed his impression of Chinas great development achievements in general and Shanghai City in particular. During the process of building and cultivating the Vietnam-China Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Partnership, the Party Committee, government and people of Ho Chi Minh City always attach importance to maintaining and developing relationships with ministries, branches and localities of China, and follow the motto "16 words" and the spirit of "4 good things". The Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee believes that the two cities will continue to improve the substance and deepen the friendly and cooperative relationship between Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai City in particular, and with Chinese localities in general in the coming time. Expressing his impression of the strong and dynamic development of Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai ties, Mr. Chen Ji Ning shared his pleasure with the cooperation results between the two cities and affirmed that the two cities have many similarities and great cooperation potential. At the same time, Mr. Chen Ji Ning discussed and shared about the economic and social development of Shanghai City in recent years. The two cities still have a lot of room to cooperate in many fields, contributing to promoting the implementation of high-level common awareness, helping the relationship between the two countries and the two cities to continuously develop stably, healthily and sustainably in the coming time. After the talks, Mr. Nguyen Van Nen and Mr. Chen Ji Ning witnessed the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding on Friendly Exchanges and Cooperation (MOU) between the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of HCMC and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of Shanghai City; Ho Chi Minh City Police and Shanghai City Police./. A scence in the Vietnamese film Mat biec Heather Dixon, a local watcher, said that through the film, she can feel the beauty of Vietnam, reported VNA. Along with the film, the Vietnamese Embassy also brought to the event many publications on the culture, nation and people of Vietnam as well as some Vietnamese products. Taking place in three days from November 17-19 in Johannesburg, the ASEAN Film Festival, an initiative of the ASEAN Committee in Pretoria, brought famous films from seven countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Addressing the opening ceremony, Myanmars Ambassador Myint Swe said that the event aims to strengthen connections among ASEAN countries in South Africa and, at the same time, to foster the all-round relations between the association and South Africa. It is expected to spread the image of an ASEAN of dynamism, solidarity, and friendship to international friends. Raymond Medhurst, an official from South Africas Foreign Ministry, said that he hopes the films will motivate South African people to visit ASEAN member countries./. JUBA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 32 people were killed Sunday in deadly communal fighting along South Sudan's border with the disputed Abyei Administrative Area, an official said. Arou Manyiel Arou, secretary general in the office of the administrator for the Abyei Administrative Area, said that the violence erupted early morning following a revenge attack on Ngok Dinka in Wuncuei and Nyiel areas of Abyei Administrative Area by armed youth from Twic County of neighboring Warrap state, South Sudan. Arou said the attackers who came from the Ajak-Kuach area were reportedly aided by suspected soldiers of the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF). "Some of the attackers were seen by residents clad in the South Sudan People's Defense Forces uniforms," he told Xinhua over the phone. "Many people including children and women have been killed and 27 are wounded." The latest revenge attack comes after last week's clashes in the Ayuok area between the two sides, which left 34 people killed, including one SSPDF soldier. The two communities have been contesting for years the ownership of a strip of land in the Aneet border area, which separates the two communities. Abyei Administrative Area remains a contested area, between South Sudan and its neighbor Sudan which is currently mired in conflict since April 15. Editor: ZAD Parkmead reported a 22% improvement in revenue in its preliminary results on Friday, to 14.77m. The AIM-traded firm said gross profit saw substantial growth, reaching 12.5m compared to 10.8m in 2022, as it maintained a solid gross margin of 85% due to low operating costs. It said net cash flow from operations surged 44% to 6.5m while operating profit before exploration write-offs and impairments reached 10.6m, up from 6.9m a year earlier, or 9.7p per share. However, tax of 4.7m and Dutch windfall tax of 2.4m impacted its overall financial picture. Parkmeads cash and cash equivalents as of 30 June totalled 11.6m, down from 23.3m at the end of the prior year due to decommissioning spending of 17m. The company recorded non-cash impairment charges of 46m, primarily related to relinquishing the Core Perth and Athena licences on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). Despite the challenges, Parkmead said it maintained a strong balance sheet with total assets of 28.6m. In the Netherlands exploration and production (E&P) business segment, Parkmead achieved drilling success and an excellent operating margin during the year. It said its low-cost onshore gas portfolio in the Netherlands was produced from four separate gas fields, generating strong cash flows with an average netback of $150 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe). The average gross production across the groups Netherlands assets was 17.5 million cubic feet per day (MMscfd) or approximately 3,015 boe daily. It said the LDS drilling campaign concluded safely, under budget and ahead of schedule in early 2023, contributing to higher gas and condensate production than expected. In the UK, the Skerryvore exploration well project remained on track, with Parkmead, the operator, having a significant 50% interest in the project. The planned well would target exploration prospects at Mey and Chalk levels with significant estimated reserves. It said the subsurface team was optimistic about geological success at the Mey site, with the proximity to existing infrastructure allowing for potential accelerated development. Parkmeads UK renewable energy portfolio also performed well, with Kempstone Hill delivering record revenue of 0.7m. Electricity production reached 2,446 MWh, while the company actively explored wind and solar acquisitions to enhance cash flow. We have achieved increased revenues and cash flow, whilst ensuring the company is forging ahead with new growth opportunities, said executive chairman Tom Cross. The Netherlands assets have continued to deliver consistent and efficient gas production, with exciting additional prospectivity identified across our Dutch portfolio. In particular, the maturing exploration targets on the Drenthe VI licence confirm the high quality of these assets. The Papekop development has the potential to add significant revenues to Parkmead from 2027 onwards. Cross said Parkmead had achieved its first full year of revenue from the Kempstone Hill Wind Farm. This asset complements the groups low-cost onshore gas operations in the Netherlands and strengthens our balance sheet position. We will build upon the success of these two business areas, natural gas and renewables, through organic and inorganic growth as the company transitions to being a clean energy producer. In addition, we remain committed to maximising the opportunities within the companys oil and gas portfolio on our pathway towards energy transition. Tom Cross added that Parkmead was excited by the progress made on Skerryvore towards drilling. There is major upside potential, given Parkmeads high equity position in a number of its prospects and the sizable tax losses that could be deployed on the companys projects in due course. Parkmead continues to maintain a strong balance sheet, which aids the pursuit of value-adding acquisitions. Our team is working hard on the near-term opportunities that lie within our existing portfolio, and is focused on the substantial value-creation that could be achieved for shareholders. At 1229 GMT, shares in the Parkmead Group were up 25.47% at 17.88p. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. The report stated the duo held detailed talks about a possible tie-up after Redde Northgate, which owns 130,000 vans and corporate cars in the UK and Spain, made a firm proposal to Halfords. Redde Northgate had proposed a nil-premium merger, but the discussions were abandoned because of disagreements over price, a source told the newspaper. The Halfords board is reportedly thought to have concluded that any such deal on the terms laid out would have undervalued the company. However, it is believed that Redde Northgate could mount a fresh bid if the valuation gap between the two sides closes. It is understood that the Takeover Panel was informed of the discussions, which took place in the last few months. There were discussions about what an integration of the two businesses might look like but there were questions over the valuations of both companies. Both share prices werent doing fantastically well at the time so there is nothing live at the moment. However, it could come back," a source close to the negotiations was cited as saying. Redde Northgate was created during the pandemic when van rental specialist Northgate joined forces with Redde, formerly known as Helphire, which sorts accident claims from businesses and company fleets. It went on to snap up the remnants of vehicle repair provider Nationwide Accident Services. In recent years, growth at Halfords has increasingly been driven by its network of car garages, which are more profitable than selling bikes. Sales now represent 40pc of total group turnover compared with just 14pc five years ago. Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com London Stock Exchange Group announced the appointment of Michel-Alain Proch as its chief financial officer and a board member on Monday. The FTSE 100 company said Proch would report directly to chief executive David Schwimmer and join the firm on 26 February, subject to regulatory approval, before taking the CFO reins on 1 March. LSEG said its 2023 full-year results would be published on 29 February, after which the current CFO, Anna Manz, would step down from the board and depart the group. Im delighted to welcome Michel-Alain to LSEG - his deep experience across global, financial infrastructure and IT data solutions firms will be invaluable as we deliver against the next stage of our strategic growth, said chief executive officer David Schwimmer. I would also like to wish Anna every success for her next chapter and thank her for the outstanding contribution she has made to the transformation of LSEG. The company said Proch would bring a wealth of experience to his new position, as he currently serves as the group chief financial officer for Publicis Groupe. In that role, he is a management board member and oversees the global finance team, spanning operations in 100 countries. Prochs career previously included significant CFO roles at other publicly listed companies, such as Ingenico and Atos, where he held the positions of CEO of North America and group chief digital officer. Additionally, he serves as vice-chairman of the board for Maisons du Monde. Michel-Alain Proch would relocate from Paris to London to take up his new role. It is an exciting time to be joining LSEG as the group continues its transformation as a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider, Michel-Alain Proch said of his appointment. I look forward to working with David and the entire team to deliver against our strategy and achieve further value for stakeholders. At 0821 GMT, London Stock Exchange Group shares were up 0.94% at 8.624p. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Hedge fund Shadowfall has taken a short position in the shares of cybersecurity firm Darktrace, according to reports over the weekend based on fresh data from the Financial Conduct Authority. The FCAs latest short positions data, released on Friday, showed Shadowfall had shorted about 0.52% of Darktraces stock. Based on Darktraces current market capitalisation of 2.47bn, that position had an estimated value of around 12.8m, according to City AM. City AM noted that Shadowfall, led by Matthew Earl, also called the dark destroyer, gained previous notoriety for its actions against fraudulent payment processor Wirecard, which faced a major crisis in 2020. The fund has also made bearish bets against fast-fashion firm Asos and Apple supplier IQE. Since debuting on the London Stock Exchange in 2021, Darktrace has faced a series of challenges, experiencing a sharp decline earlier this year due to criticism related to its sales, marketing, and accounting practices. However, in September, Darktrace reported a significant increase in annual profit, surging from $5.3m to $41m for the 12 months ended 30 June. Short selling involves investors purchasing shares and selling them on the market with the expectation of repurchasing them at a lower price in the future, thus profiting from a decline in the share price. At 0846 GMT, shares in Darktrace were down 0.49% at 348.7p. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. by Burak Akinci ANTAKYA, Turkiye, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Nine months after the twin devastating earthquakes struck southern Turkiye and killed more than 50,000 people, survivors in the quake-affected areas are looking forward to moving into permanent residence as winter arrives. According to official figures, more than 200,000 buildings either collapsed or were heavily damaged across the country during the two powerful tremors that occurred several hours apart. The government has promised to build 850,000 new units for both residences and businesses, but locals worry that construction works could take more time than expected. "Rebuilding will be a long process. Thousands of people who were displaced from their homes have found temporary housing in pre-fabricated containers," Seref Atli, a retired driver from Antakya, a main city in the southern Hatay province, told Xinhua. He is referring to the temporary new settlements built by the government in the months following the disaster. Composed of pre-fabricated housing units resembling shipping containers, those "container towns" housed around 578,000 earthquake survivors, according to data released by Turkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority at the end of August. Atli, who lives in one of those container towns, fears that most of his neighbors will have to spend the winter in these temporary shelters. "We are waiting for a new house. In the meantime, we struggle to survive." He added that as winter sets in, water shortages and heating are the pressing concerns in his neighborhood. Numan Ermis, another survivor living in a container camp in Antakya told Xinhua that they would probably have to warm themselves with gas and electric heaters, which would be particularly difficult for the children. The trader explained that some containers are built to withstand winter conditions but most of them are poorly insulated. "In harsh winter conditions, it will not be easy to heat our shelter," he said. In addition, there are health concerns over the unhygienic living conditions and cancer-causing asbestos still being released from the rubble nine months after the earthquake. Asbestos, once used profusely in construction, is now classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization. "People living in the earthquake zone face diseases such as COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), silicosis, and cancer due to materials such as asbestos, silica, concrete, sand and stone emerging from the demolition," the Turkish Health and Social Services Workers' Trade Union said on Tuesday. "There are still many excavators and trucks roaming the city, and the dust that accompanies the works is surrounding us most of the time," Atli said. Editor: ZAD Unifi Capital Pvt. Ltd, a portfolio management company, has been granted an in-principle approval by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch a mutual fund business in India. The mutual fund license application was submitted by Unifi on December 31, 2020, as per the status of mutual fund applications on SEBI's website. Unifi Capital specializes in event-oriented top-down themes and a bottom-up focus on "growth with value", and is a long-only fund manager focusing on India. 20,400 crore for around 10,000 clients in 22 Indian states through its Portfolio Management Services (PMS) and Alternative Investment Funds (AIF). "We will play to our well-established strengths in deep bottom-up research and deliver a high standard of excellence that puts client experience manifestly front and centre. Within the regulatory framework, we have more than enough space to offer differentiated investment strategies that mutual fund investors are yet to be served," said K Sarath Reddy, Founder of Unifi Capital. Reddy is also the managing director and Chief Investment Officer (CIO). Unifi Capital, based in Chennai and established in 2001, manages assets worth20,400 crore for around 10,000 clients in 22 Indian states through its Portfolio Management Services (PMS) and Alternative Investment Funds (AIF). "We will play to our well-established strengths in deep bottom-up research and deliver a high standard of excellence that puts client experience manifestly front and centre. Within the regulatory framework, we have more than enough space to offer differentiated investment strategies that mutual fund investors are yet to be served," said K Sarath Reddy, Founder of Unifi Capital. Reddy is also the managing director and Chief Investment Officer (CIO). A number of portfolio management service (PMS) companies are seeking to enter the Indian mutual fund industry, which is valued at Rs 48 trillion. In September, Kenneth Andrade's Old Bridge Capital Management, a PMS, received final approval from SEBI to begin its mutual fund operations. Andrade served as the Head of Investments at IDFC Mutual Fund for ten years, from 2005 to 2015. In August, Helios Capital Management, a Portfolio Management Service (PMS), received final approval from the capital markets regulator to launch a mutual fund house. It is worth noting that Samir Arora, the founder of Helios Capital, had previously served as the Chief Investment Officer of Alliance Capital Mutual Fund from 1993 to 1998. Dabur, an FMCG and ayurvedic products maker, plans to open a new factory in South India within a year. The company's business there has doubled in the last 5-6 years, and it now receives 20% of its domestic sales from the region. Dabur is identifying market gaps and launching customized products. It is also adding new manufacturing lines and augmenting its capacity to meet the demand. Dabur India plans to expand manufacturing in international markets, including the Middle East and Europe. The company is consolidating operations by shutting down some units and opening new ones under the GST regime. On Dabur's business in South India, Malhotra said, "We have made substantial progress in South India; it now contributes 19 to 20 percent of Dabur's domestic business. This was not even 10 percent around seven to eight years back, and thus contribution from the Southern region has doubled". When asked about the new plant in South India, Malhotra said, "I do not think it's a few years away. Maybe it is a year away . Within a year, we might plan something for South India as business scales up". Dabur's last investment to open a new unit was at Indore, where it had invested around Rs 350 crore. Several FMCG makers, including Wipro, have jumped into the food segment in the southern market with relevant regional offerings. Dabur is identifying gaps there to launch customized products. "We are creating a framework in the company where we can create products which are exclusively meant for the South of India for which we have got this framework called RISE, which is regional insights, speed, and execution," said Malhotra. He added that some brands, such as Dabur Red, contribute 40 percent of its business in South India, and Dabur Honey and Odonil are very salient there. "So we are looking at a lot of pollination of products in South India to increase our saliency," he said. However, Malhotra added that compared to other FMCG makers having a saliency of 30 percent, Dabur's salience is in the range of 20 percent. "So there is a huge gap of 10 to 15 percent to be covered in the South. That area will be our focus for geographical growth," he added. Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, hosts 1,783 startups led by women, leading the tally, followed by Mumbai and Delhi with 1,480 and 1,195, respectively, as per data from startup data platform Tracxn. Noida, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad secured the eighth, ninth, and tenth positions with 324, 184, and 181 women-led startups respectively. India's startup ecosystem, comprising over 61,400 startups, has significantly strengthened its position, emerging as the third-largest hub worldwide after the United States and China. Bengaluru stands out as a leading startup ecosystem in India, fostering an environment conducive to entrepreneurial risk-taking due to supportive policies. Despite this, there remains a significant gender gap. Various initiatives such as incubation programs, grants, and fellowships specifically aimed at women-founded startups are striving to bridge this divide. Karnataka, for instance, stands as the pioneer state in offering a grant-in-aid of Rs 50 lakh to support early-stage funding for innovators launching startups without demanding equity in return. This program has notably highlighted women entrepreneurs, resulting in 30% of the recipients being women founders. UPDATE: After further investigation, authorities believe the victim was critically injured when he was struck by a street sign that was propelled forward after the Honda struck the construction vehicle, according to the NYPD. The victim is not believed to have been struck by one of the vehicles. This story has been updated to reflect those developments. --- STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A 19-year-old pedestrian was critically injured when he was struck by a street sign that went flying during a crash on Richmond Road in Concord on Monday morning, according to police. A second person suffered minor injuries in the incident, according to a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS. NYPD officers responded at about 9:10 a.m. to what was initially reported as a pedestrian struck at Richmond Road and Baltic Avenue, according to a spokeswoman for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. Officers found the 19-year-old male unconscious and unresponsive with head trauma at the location and EMS took him in critical condition to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, the police spokeswoman said. Authorities initially suspected that the man was struck by a car. Further investigation by the city Department of Transportation and the NYPDs Highway District Collision Investigation Squad revealed that a private construction vehicle was parked, unoccupied and facing southbound on Richmond Road when a blue, 2007 Honda Civic driven by an 18-year-old man was traveling the same direction on Richmond in the right lane, sources told the Advance/SILive.com. The Honda was behind a vehicle that was not involved in the crash. The uninvolved vehicle slowed down and veered to the left to avoid striking the parked truck, prompting the Honda to swerve to the right, sources said. The 18-year-old driver of the Honda lost control of his vehicle, jumped the curb and struck the right-rear side of the construction truck, sources said. The truck then hit a street sign located on the sidewalk. The sign was propelled toward the sidewalk and struck the 19-year-old construction worker, sources said. The 18-year-old driver remained at the scene, a police spokeswoman said. Caution tape was spread along the right lane of Richmond Road in front of a bus stop near Baltic Avenue. A blue sedan appeared to be stuck between a contractors truck and dense brush on a hill at that location. A top portion of the truck appeared to have landed on the front of the sedan. The injured were transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, the spokesman for the FDNY/EMS said. This is a developing story and additional information will be posted as it becomes available. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. If youve ever wanted to tour a Christmas village like the ones in a Disney movie, head to New Jersey this holiday season. Anne Ellen Christmas Tree Farm, located at 114 Daum Road in Manalapan, N.J., has a whole town full of Christmas lights for families to enjoy called The Village. Youll start on a hayride through their fields of Christmas trees, bringing you to the entrance of the village. Anne Ellen Christmas Tree Farm, located at 114 Daum Road in Manalapan, NJ, has a hidden town full of Christmas lights for families to enjoy called The Village. (Staten Island Advance/Shane DiMaio)Shane DiMaio This immersive experience offers dozens of different family-friendly activities once youre inside. The first thing youll notice is the 100,000 lights illuminating the trails, cottages and Christmas decorations. Along the trail, youll come across a giant gingerbread house, a wall of lights, a life-sized igloo and a cherry blossom field. You can stop by the hot chocolate stand for a warm cup and a sweet treat for your stroll. Anne Ellen Christmas Tree Farm, located at 114 Daum Road in Manalapan, NJ, has a hidden town full of Christmas lights for families to enjoy called The Village. (Staten Island Advance/Shane DiMaio)Shane DiMaio And you can even stop by the North Pole Post Office to write your very own personalized letter to Santa. So if youre looking for a Christmas-themed experience for hours of fun with the family, head to the Anne Ellen Christmas Tree Farm and see The Village today. You can get tickets now by clicking our link. More NYC Must See events: STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A gun charge filed last month against a city councilwoman is no longer being pursued by the Brooklyn District Attorneys Office, based on information gleaned from an NYPD inspection of the firearm, according to reports. Social media photos appeared to show Inna Vernikov (R-South Brooklyn) carrying a handgun on her waist at a Oct. 13 counter-protest to a pro-Palestinian rally outside Brooklyn College. NYPD officers monitoring the rally did not arrest her or seize the weapon at the time. She reportedly turned herself in the next morning at which point she handed over the weapon, the Associated Press reported. A few weeks later, according to a law enforcement source who spoke with The City, police inspected the firearm and found it was without the recoil spring assembly, therefore rendering it inoperable. The Brooklyn District Attorneys Office told reporters the charge will be dismissed on or before the Jan. 24 court date. Vernikov, who is Jewish and has spoken out against pro-Palestinian demonstrations, had a license to carry a concealed weapon, however, a state law passed last year bans firearms at certain sensitive locations, including protests and school grounds. An attorney for the councilwoman said in a statement that her client has an outstanding reputation serving her constituency which since her re-election she will continue to do for the next two years. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Residents living in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) apartments in need of rental assistance will soon receive part of $95 million in state money, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday. The Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds are part of the more than $350 million investment in public housing and Section 8 that passed as part of the state budget this year, and Adams said Monday that his administration had already helped 33,000 households submit applications for up to a years worth of relief. I grew up on the verge of homelessness, so I know how important affordable housing is to New Yorkers. When COVID first put our economy in free fall, and businesses were shutting down and laying people off, NYCHA residents were effectively excluded from emergency rental assistance available to other New Yorkers, Adams said. For months, our administration partnered with residents and elected officials to advocate for the support they needed, and Im proud that we are delivering for them today. At the height of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, New York renters in public and private housing were beneficiaries of an eviction moratorium that expired in January 2022, and leaders in the State Legislature and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo set up guidelines for the federally funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Part of those guidelines put people living in public housing and other renters receiving public assistance at the back of the line as state officials focused relief on private renters not already receiving public assistance. The eviction moratorium coupled with the lack of rental assistance led to a total 73,000 NYCHA households that are behind on rent by a total of $533 million, according to Adams office. Rental assistance announced Monday worth $95 million will leave NYCHA residents back-rent at about $438 million, and the housing authority has renewed eviction proceedings against tenants not paying their rent. A NYCHA spokesperson said the authority and the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance are reviewing relief applications, and that funding will be applied directly to rent accounts on a rolling basis based on the date of application. Hochul said the rental assistance will impact 15,000 NYCHA households. Tenants who live in public or subsidized housing deserve safe, livable and affordable homes, Hochul said. This major investment in public housing is helping 15,000 households stay in their homes, and Im committed to working with NYCHA to ensure every eligible tenant gets the support they need. State-owned PrivatBank in the third quarter of 2023 again topped the list of banks with the highest net profit with an indicator of UAH 13.624 billion, followed by two more state-owned banks: Oschadbank UAH 7.338 billion and the nationalized Sense Bank UAH 3.441 billion. According to the data published by the National Bank of Ukraine on its website, the top five banks with the highest net profit in the third quarter also included two banks with foreign capital: Raiffeisen Bank with UAH 3.017 billion and Ukrsibbank with UAH 2.99 billion. The second five included the state-owned private Ukrainian FUIB with UAH 2.004 billion, the foreign subsidiary OTP Bank with UAH 1.893 billion, the state-owned Ukreximbank with UAH 1.619 billion and two more banks with foreign capital: Citibank with UAH 1.47 billion and Credit Agricole Bank with UAH 1.299 billion. Universal Bank (monobank) received almost the same net profit for July-September of this year UAH 1.294 billion, while for Kredobank, which follows, it is already significantly less UAH 594.6 million. Two more banks received profits of over UAH 300 million in the third quarter: A-Bank UAH 355.2 million and Ukrgasbank UAH 325.0 million. Among these 14 banks, only four added reserves: Sense - UAH 548.0 million, while Citibank, Raiffeisen and Credit Agricole from UAH 30 million to UAH 20 million, while FUIB liquidated them for UAH 1.413 billion, monobank UAH 1.137 billion, OTP, A-Bank and Ukrgasbank from UAH 555 million to UAH 510 million. The list of seven unprofitable banks in the third quarter was topped by the First Investment Bank of sanctioned shareholders UAH 33.0 million, the banks Credit Dnipro and Pravex-Bank had similar losses UAH 29.8 million and UAH 27.5 million, respectively. In general, for the third quarter, the net profit of 63 solvent banks reached UAH 42.33 billion, with the dissolution of reserves by UAH 5 billion and an increase in total assets by UAH 87.25 billion. The leaders in asset growth were the same three most profitable state banks: PrivatBank with UAH 36.84 billion, Oschadbank with UAH 18.26 billion and Sense Bank with UAH 11.36 billion. This allowed Sense Bank to return to the top ten largest banks by assets, from which he dropped out in June before nationalization, and immediately to 8th place. In the third quarter, assets decreased most at Ukreximbank by UAH 15.65 billion, Pivdenny by UAH 6.99 billion and Ukrgasbank by UAH 1.54 billion, and a total of 23 banks showed a decrease in assets. During the third quarter, banks increased their government bonds portfolio by UAH 23.56 billion, and the leaders here were Citibank with UAH 4.61 billion and Ukrgasbank with UAH 4.48 billion, followed by TAScombank, FUIB and International Investment Bank from UAH 2.5 billion to UAH 2.1 billion. Investments in government bonds decreased the most in July-September at Ukreximbank UAH 2.45 billion, Sense Bank UAH 1.24 billion, PrivatBank UAH 0.7 billion and First Investment Bank UAH 0.48 million. In general, based on the results of nine months of this year, PrivatBank remains the most profitable bank by a wide margin of UAH 43.37 billion, or 39.5% of the entire net profit of the banking system for this period. Oschadbank received UAH 14.18 billion in net profit in January-September, Raiffeisen Bank UAH 6.14 billion, FUIB UAH 5.68 billion, UkrSibbank UAH 5.66 billion, Sense Bank UAH 5.58 billion, OTP Bank UAH 4.75 billion, Citibank UAH 4.23 billion, Ukreximbank UAH 3.60 billion. Among the 12 banks whose net profit for nine months exceeded UAH 2 billion are also Ukrgasbank with UAH 2.92 billion, Universal (monobank) with UAH 2.86 billion and Credit Agricole with UAH 2.29 billion. The Enhanced Subscription provides digital access to all our award winning content from our inception. This package also includes special access to the pdf replica of the print paper which we call the e-edition. We keep the past 90 issues in addition tot he current issue. In addition, you have the ability to comment on our articles. Finally, you have the good feeling of supporting real, local news in your community. Its been a while since domestic violence prevention charity White Ribbon was known for anything other than public relations disasters. Four years ago White Ribbon was on the brink of financial collapse and tainted by a string of controversies accepting money from Sydney pokies venue the Fairfield Hotel, before being forced to decline it; briefly claiming it was agnostic on abortion access; and the whole business with a few of its ambassadors getting in trouble for violent offences. Loading But a 2019 rebirth, thanks to the backing of WA charity Communicare, hasnt stopped the missteps. Last year a campaign seeking $49 donations to help men understand violence prevention was taken down after critics dubbed it sponsor an abuser. Somebody also thought a flotilla of jet skis revving their engines in Sydney Harbour might be a good strategy to raise awareness about violence against women. No wonder, then, that faced with another public relations issue, White Ribbon has gone silent. Were talking about the abrupt departure of national director Allan Ball, who quit in late October after three years in the job. No reasons were given and no statement has been put up by White Ribbon. Ball declined to discuss it when contacted by CBD, directing us to Communicares chief executive Melissa Perry. She didnt answer her phone and hasnt replied to several earlier emails from this masthead. Communicares comms people didnt respond by deadline, either. Christmas in Australia is hardly the stuff of Hallmark movies the snow, the mistletoe, the sweaters. Its hot, theres often seafood, and white wine in the sun. A Savage Christmas, which opened in cinemas on Thursday, is putting a new twist on the classic Christmas comedy format by tapping into what Australia looks like today. With a story centred on fractured family dynamics coming to a head over the holidays, it joins classics like A Moody Christmas, newer releases including A Sunburnt Christmas, and wildly popular festive episodes of Bluey. Thea Raveneau makes her feature film debut in A Savage Christmas, in cinemas now. Credit: James Brickwood It stars newcomer Thea Raveneau, a 27-year-old Gunggari, Lardil, and Kullilli trans woman, as Davina, who comes home for Christmas for the first time in three years. There she finds that her family are more messed up than she ever knew: her sister is addicted to pills and in the midst of a messy separation; her brother owes a local gangster $20,000; and her parents are hiding messy secrets of their own. Not to mention Davina, who harbours feelings of resentment and superiority towards her family, which come out in ugly ways. Advertisement Eating outBrisbane First look: Gerards Bistro reopens in brilliant style on James Street One of Brisbanes most celebrated restaurants gets a new chef, a new menu and a one-of-a-kind facelift from a Sushi Room, SK Steak & Oyster and Same Same designer. Matt Shea November 20, 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 The pandemic was a time of stark truths. For Johnny Moubarak, one was the importance of family. Not just for him, but for his restaurant. Gerards Bistro is one of Brisbanes most celebrated eateries. It became a James Street favourite after opening in 2012, with Ben Williamson in the kitchen. When Williamson left in late 2018 to eventually open Agnes, star Sydney import Adam Wolfers was given licence to nudge Gerards food in new, boundary-pushing directions. The reimagined Gerards Bistro features a striking design by designer and architect Jared Webb. Morgan Roberts Then came the pandemics national lockdown. Advertisement The restaurant responded by producing one of the best take-out menus in the city. Moubarak responded by going in search of what makes Gerards truly tick. He found it in the years put in by Williamson and then Wolfers, longtime manager Judith Hurley, and countless other chefs and floor staff. But he also found it in his own family and the cooking of his mother, Salwa Moubarak, who migrated from Lebanon to Australia in the early 1970s. Gerards reopened for service earlier this month. Morgan Roberts Ever since, Moubarak has been on a quiet mission to bring his restaurant home. During the pandemic, Gerards released a book, The Art of Hospitality, that placed Salwa at the heart of its narrative, and shortly after she and Wolfers collaborated on a one-off dinner. Now, Gerards Bistro has reopened after an extensive refurbishment, with new executive chef Jimmy Richardson tasked with pursuing more traditional Middle Eastern flavours. It ran its first services at the beginning of the month. Advertisement Brisbanes best restaurant openings of 2023 so far Hundred per cent, its about bringing it back [to Salwa], Moubarak says. Its about bringing it home without dumbing it down. The culture of the food [in Lebanon and the Middle East] is so strong, and you need to give it the respect it deserves. A month into Gerards refurbishment, in early August, a casual passer-by might have noticed a Bobcat and pile of earth out back of the restaurant and wondered, Whats going on in there? The laneway outside Gerards remains much the same. Morgan Roberts The answer was a show-stopping redesign by Jared Webb that uses rammed red earth to reference the temples of Baalbek, in eastern Lebanon. Webb previously worked for Richards & Spence and had a hand in several of the celebrated architecture firms significant projects, including Sushi Room, SK Steak & Oyster and Same Same. Hes applied that same knack for unique detail here. Advertisement The rammed earth has been arranged into a series of freestanding walls that surround the dining room. During the day, natural light strikes between them; at night, theyre illuminated by warm down lights. Their texture varies from top to bottom, like stratified earth. Theres nothing else like it in town. The ceiling has been split into two vaulted sections that reference a temple skylight. The bar has been brought out from the wall to create an imposing, three-sided dining counter. The furniture on the main floor is heavy, custom-made timber tables and chairs, and swish stainless-steel benches. Brisbane Valley quail mombar with baked freekeh harees and a black barley molasses sauce. Morgan Roberts Ive followed this process for the past four months, Moubarak says, and you dont really get to appreciate it. But this week I had an hour of really appreciating it, and feeling really happy and motivated. Working out of a redesigned kitchen, Richardsons first menu is split into breads and dips, raw and fermented dishes, seafood and meat, larger share plates, and sides. It remains relatively straightforward and woodfire-driven, as has long been Gerards approach, but now leans slightly more towards meat proteins. Advertisement You might start with barbari bread with reduced whey and oregano, or Turkish simit bread (sesame bread rings). Black lentil awamat with nectarine safarjaliyeh. Morgan Roberts The raw and fermented section is the lengthiest and includes South Australian calamari with a bazella tartlet and hawaij spice; kibbeh nayyeh arayes with sourdough tuiles and candied Falls Farm beets; wood-smoked mussels with green muhammara; and a blackened eggplant baba ganoush with parsley oil. The seafood and meat plates are larger and feature a Walker Seafoods swordfish mujadara with woodfired lentils and tahini butter, and Margra lamb collar with fassolia (a Levantine soup) and saltbush borani. Larger again are share plates of whole butterflied coral trout, galayet bandoura (tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, olive oil and salt); Westholme Wagyu cube roll with brown butter, baharat and nigella seed; and a Bangalow pork tomahawk with garlic chive dagga (a type of salsa) and green coriander. For drinks, Hurley has expanded the wine list to close to 230 bottles. It bucks the tradition of organising varietals by palate weight, instead prioritising wines that best match Richardsons food. Theres also more of a focus on Mediterranean drops. Advertisement Kibbeh nayyeh arayes with sourdough tuilles and candied Falls Farm beets. Morgan Roberts Everything we do is about being sustainable and moving in a more conscious direction, Hurley says. The worlds changing and the varietals that used to be grown in certain areas are becoming unsustainable. So a lot of producers are moving towards growing varietals that are better suited for that particular region. It all amounts to a significant evolution for Gerards, but then this is a restaurant that has made a habit out of embracing change. The reimagined design features unique rammed earth walls. Morgan Roberts Running a restaurant is so different now to 10 or 11 years ago when we opened, Moubarak says. Food and beverage will always be the same, to some extent. It has that same craft of tradition, hosting people and being warm. Advertisement But the diner is much more adventurous and knowledgeable. People are very progressive now, which is something that were blessed with in this country and this city. We have to continually get better, and the redesign is part of that. But the soul of hospitality will never change. Open Mon-Thu 5.30pm-late; Fri-Sat 12pm-3pm, 5.30pm-late. 14 /15 James Street, Fortitude Valley, (07) 3852 3822. gerards.com.au Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up Advertisement Exclusive Eating outRestaurant news The Prahran Market porchetta sandwich that Jamie Oliver reckons is worth crossing town for Before he landed, Olivers cheffy friends gave him a list of places to hit in Melbourne. Heres where he went, what he ordered and what he thought of each dish. Emma Breheny November 21, 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 Ahead of his appearance as a guest judge on MasterChef next year, Jamie Oliver has been finishing long days of filming by exploring Melbournes food scene, hitting restaurants spanning the high-end Gimlet at Cavendish House to casual neighbourhood restaurant Leonardos Pizza Palace. In his adventures through Carlton, Prahran, Thornbury and the city over the past week, Lagoon Dining in Carlton on Saturday night was a highlight for the British chef and cookbook author. Jamie Oliver will be a guest judge along with new MasterChef Australia judges (L-R) Sofia Levin, Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow and Jean-Christophe Novelli. Network 10 Theyre smashing the brief. Wicked service, the chefs killing it, every dish was delicious, he said in an interview with Good Food on Monday. They absolutely should be busier. Advertisement While he ordered the signature pork and a brand-new rice noodle dish, it was a dish of shredded potato that blew Oliver away. Lagoon Dinings char siu pork, a signature that Oliver ordered. Pete Dillon Ive never had [a dish of raw potatoes] in my life. As far as I was concerned, it cant work ... But [this] was delicious, he said. Lagoon co-owner Chris Lerch says most diners believe the potatoes are raw, but in fact the julienned strands are soaked in water and cooked in a wok for four to five minutes with Chinkiang vinegar, chilli and more until they reach an al dente texture. Ive never had [a dish of raw potatoes] in my life. As far as I was concerned, it cant work ... But [this] was delicious. Jamie Oliver Advertisement It was a stunning meal by good people doing good things, Oliver said. Oliver is in Melbourne filming season 16 of MasterChef, the first since the sudden death of series co-host Jock Zonfrillo in April. A subsequent shake-up of the hosting line-up has seen three new judges join Andy Allen: former contestant Poh Ling-Yeow, food critic and journalist Sofia Levin, and French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli. 1800 Lasagnes signature dish. Justin McManus Olivers first stop after getting off the plane more than a week ago was Thornburys 1800 Lasagne, where he dined with his friend Tobie Puttock and Puttocks family in the courtyard before moving inside to soak up the Sunday jazz band the venue books each week. Jazz was playing, the wine was flowing. Nice energy with the staff, he said of the hatted restaurant. Advertisement The father of five says his fellow judges have armed him with a list of restaurants to check out. Serai, a contemporary Filipino restaurant down a Melbourne laneway, was one of Levins recommendations. Oliver described it as brilliant. His favourite dish was sinuglaw: a piece of marinated kingfish in calamansi juice and coconut sap vinegar served with a thin sliver of smoked pork belly. Ive never had cooked meat with raw fish before, and it was mind-blowing. That was a bad-ass dish. Oliver was very impressed with Serais sinuglaw: kingfish with smoked pork. Chris Hopkins Advertisement He visited the restaurant just off Little Bourke Street for lunch with his god-daughter. As Im here on my own and dont have a family [with me] or anything, Im able to go out and explore. Ive been to some pretty amazing places. I havent had a bad meal yet actually, he said. Like many Melburnians, he spent his most recent Sunday wandering the stalls of Prahran Market, paying a visit to G. McBean Family Butcher and cheese shop Maker & Monger. Sandwiches were the main drawcard at both. The newly renovated G. McBean butcher shop now serves food, including hot porchetta rolls, which was Olivers order. Advertisement That porchetta sandwich is worth going the wrong way round town to get, he said. G. McBean Family Butchers porchetta roll was another top pick for Oliver. Pete Dillon His god-daughter got a toasted cheese sandwich from Maker & Monger but Oliver was lucky enough to get a bite. I nearly stole the whole bloody thing, he said. Aside from food, Oliver has enjoyed buying his first pair of R.M. Williams boots and witnessing the craftsmanship of the leather goods company, including seeing belts being braided in-store. Advertisement Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up Australias Defence Department has offered its sincere condolences to a former Queensland soldier who died while fighting in eastern Ukraine. Matthew Jepson, from Townsville, was killed in recent weeks while fighting in the Avdiivka region. An unconfirmed online post from someone who said they were a friend of Jepson suggested the former soldier had sacrificed his life while guarding a Red Cross station to save someone during a Russian artillery strike. Another unconfirmed post online suggested Jepson had joined the foreign mercenary unit with the highest casualty ratio, The Chosen Company. The Defence Department said it would provide support to Jepsons former unit in Queensland and other members of the Australian Defence Force. Defence offers its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the former soldier at this difficult time, Defence said in a statement. A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said consular assistance was being provided to Jepsons family. We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time, DFAT said.No further information about Jepson was provided given privacy concerns. Former federal multicultural affairs minister Alan Tudge was concerned about the ugly racism the Australian Chinese community faced as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020. So when Di Sanh Duong approached him with an offer to donate more than $37,000 raised by the community, Tudge saw it as an opening to counter the negative sentiment by offering to set up a media opportunity. Duong appeared in a press conference held by federal minister Alan Tudge, and presented a $37,450 cheque to the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Tudge on Monday gave evidence at a County Court trial for Duong who is accused of using a $37,450 donation, fundraised from members of the Chinese community, to gain influence with the former minister. The 68-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the Commonwealth charge of preparing for or planning an act of foreign interference. Group DF, consolidating the assets of Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash, in particular the nitrogen chemicals enterprise of the Ostchem holding, entered into a memorandum with the Korean construction company Hyundai Engineering Co., Ltd. on cooperation in Ukrainian projects in the field of construction and reconstruction of chemical plants for the production of fertilizers. According to the holding's press release, the text of which is available to Interfax-Ukraine, the document provides for the creation of joint investment projects in the fertilizer production industry both in Ukraine and in other jurisdictions. It is about the construction of new and reconstruction of existing Group DF chemical plants. The parties will cooperate in good faith and make all necessary efforts to achieve a common goal Ukraine's recovery. "Group DF is forming the strategy of restoration of chemical industry in post-war Ukraine and plans to provide the pent-up demand from agricultural sector of Ukraine. Supported and in cooperation with Hyundai Engineering Co, we will make our contribution to the revival of Ukrainian economy and strengthening of chemical industry. The Group also considers all possible cooperation with Hyundai Engineering Co in projects to restore and expand logistics infrastructure," CEO of Group DF International GmbH Robert Shetler-Jones said. "The company is ready to consider options for participation in post-war restoration of chemical industry of Ukraine. We sincerely believe in the prospects of restoring infrastructure, restoring and building gas processing plants," Senior Vice President of Hyundai Engineering Co., Ltd. Lim Seung Jae said. The Docklands restaurant of underworld boss Fadi Haddara has been destroyed in a suspected firebombing attack, the second time in three days that suspected arsonists targeted the venue. Dozens of apartment residents were evacuated from above New Quay restaurant, Karizma, in the early hours of Monday after a fire was believed to have been deliberately lit around 2am. The restaurant was destroyed in the suspected firebombing but no one was injured. Company records show the restaurant is owned by Fadi Haddara, one of the bosses of the Haddara crime family, which has been linked to wide-scale drug trafficking, illicit tobacco importations and violence for more than a decade. Police are investigating whether there are any links between the fires and the feud over control of Melbournes illicit tobacco trade, which has been linked to more than two dozen arson attacks across the city. Billionaire Gina Rineharts eldest children have made a shock appearance at the West Australian Supreme Court in a high-stakes civil trial that has pitted them against their mother and two other mining dynasties. Bianca Rinehart and John Hancock arrived at the court shortly before 9.30am on Monday, watching on from the public gallery as their lawyer Christopher Withers, SC, attacked the cases of those fighting for a slice of the sprawling Hope Downs mines their mothers Hancock Prospecting owns with Rio Tinto. Bianca Rinehart and John Hancock arrive at the WA Supreme Court alongside lawyers for the closing arguments. Credit: Australian Financial Review The lawsuit began in 2010 when Rineharts Hancock Prospecting was sued by the billionaire descendants of her father Lang Hancocks business partner, Peter Wright, and the company left behind by Pilbara engineer Don Rhodes. Both parties are claiming an entitlement to royalties for their respective roles in the discovery of the mammoth deposit which is now home to four operational iron ore mines. State premiers are seeking a bigger say on the countrys migration intake out of growing concern at the population pressures in the major cities, as they slam the federal government for cancelling funds for road and rail projects. Angry at the $11 billion cut to future projects, the premiers want to overhaul the visa system to give state authorities the right to name the skilled occupations they need to fill workforce shortages, setting the terms for reforms to be revealed within weeks. Premiers want to overhaul the visa system to give state authorities the right to name the skilled occupations they need to fill their worker shortages, Credit: Scott McNaughton The push comes as the migration intake surges past the federal governments forecast for 400,000 in the past year and appears to be on track to reach almost 500,000 a year, unless the government outlines new measures to contain the growth. NSW Premier Chris Minns on Monday called for more federal help to deal with the states growing population after Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan warned against the federal infrastructure changes and Queensland counterpart Annastacia Palaszczuk attacked the outrageous cuts to future projects. Some of the most violent offenders released from immigration detention after a landmark High Court ruling could be put back behind bars under laws similar to those used to deal with terrorists that are being considered by the Albanese government. The federal government has sought legal advice on the prospect of using preventative detention-style laws to re-detain non-citizens who had served jail time for offences such as rape and murder, according to two sources speaking anonymously to detail confidential information. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday deflected a question about whether the government was considering preventative detention. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen It is one of a range of options Labor is considering to lower the risk posed by the worst offenders among the 93 people released so far. The group, whose numbers are expected to grow in the coming weeks, was held in indefinite immigration detention as they could not be deported but had failed the governments character test. The Minns government has been warned it faces a legal challenge if it pushes ahead with extraordinary new laws to give Racing NSW chair Russell Balding an unprecedented 14 years on the board. Racing Minister David Harris will need to rush through the laws in the final sitting fortnight of parliament to reappoint Balding, a former managing director of the ABC, before his term expires on December 19. NSW Premier Chris Minns and Racing Minister David Harris intend to change laws to give Racing NSW chair Russell Balding an unprecedented 14 years in the role. Credit: AAP Harris insists the government does not need to run a recruitment process if it changes the legislation to extend Baldings term for a further two years. Baldings tenure has already been extended twice under the former Coalition government. A spokesperson for Harris said: The minister intends to reappoint both the chair and deputy chair for a further term, before a vacancy arises. This process is consistent with the current act where a selection panel is not required in the case of a reappointment. Exiled Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming says the world will be horrified to learn what she has been through as she vowed to push ahead with legal action against Opposition Leader John Pesutto after mediation talks broke down on the weekend. The first-term MP said she would lodge defamation proceedings against the states Liberal leader, kicking off an 18-month legal battle that force MPs and opposition staff to testify and expose private emails and text messages relevant to her claims. Moira Deeming is a crossbench MP after being ejected from the parliamentary Liberal Party. Credit: Joe Armao Deeming, who was dumped from the parliamentary Liberal Party in May after a 19-11 vote from her colleagues, released a statement on Monday, saying she was left with no option but to lodge a defamation case against Pesutto. I made an offer on Wednesday and met with Mr Pesutto and Victorian Liberal Party state president, Mr Phil Davies yesterday [Sunday] afternoon. Unfortunately, the mediation failed, Deeming said. I dont recommend getting sick on your next holiday, but one upside of a medical emergency is that it might show you a side of the place youre visiting that you wouldnt see on any scheduled tour. Hospitals and surgeries are not fun places and if your medical incident is serious, it can be terrifying to try to negotiate a system that operates in another language. English speakers are luckier than most because many of the worlds medical professionals have trained in our language, but support staff and nurses often havent had that exposure, and theyre the ones we count on to make our stay comfortable. Approaching Kotor by sea for an unexpected stop when you get lemons, the only thing you can do is make lemonade. Credit: Alamy If you have travel insurance (and please tell me that you do) the insurance company will act as a broker, not just regarding financial matters. When I landed in hospital in Egypt a few years ago, suffering what turned out to be dehydration, my insurance company contacted me directly, negotiated with the hospital about costs, spoke to the doctors and kept in touch with me about the progress, following through with calls about my wellbeing for days afterwards. Mining on the upswing The spark that makes the gold shine is still missing. But that will change. Professional investors are still holding back. Although the gold price is holding up well, just below the USD 2,000 mark, the GDX index, which tracks gold companies, is still in the red. This means that there is a clear difference between the gold price and gold shares. Many gold shares should therefore be able to be bought cheaply at the moment. Looking at the financing sector, it is not easy for smaller and younger gold companies in particular to raise money for their projects. It is easier if a company can score points with outstanding projects and experienced management. Queen\-s Road Capital Investment https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/queens-road-capital-investment-ltd/ comes into play in the area of financing mining companies. The company provides money to mining companies with gold, base metal and uranium projects. The success of Queen\-s Road Capital Investment can be seen in the recently increased dividend payments and the growth of the convertible bond portfolio. The company expects gross income from the existing portfolio alone to increase in 2024. An interesting opportunity for investors to invest in such a financing company. Those who prefer to invest in a traditional gold and silver company can take a look at Sierra Madre Gold and Silver https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/sierra-madre-gold-silver/ . In Mexico, a country famous for its gold and silver deposits, Sierra Madre Gold and Silver owns the properties La Guitarra (silver equivalent resources, proven and indicated at a good 27 million ounces) as well as Tepic and La Tigra. Current company information and press releases from Queen\-s Road Capital Investment (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/companies/queens-road-capital-investment-ltd/ -) and Sierra Madre Gold and Silver (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/companies/sierra-madre-gold-and-silver-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/ Abbas Ganbay The international conference of the Non-Aligned Movement on women's empowerment has started in Baku. Various interactive panel discussions will be organised within the two-day conference, Azernews reports. Azerbaijan's Ombudsman Sabina Aliyeva, Chairperson of the Board of the State Examination Centre Maleyka Abbaszade, Azerbaijan's first Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova, other officials and deputies attended the opening ceremony. Representatives of 9 international organisations, including the UN, ISESCO, and the International Foundation for Turkic Culture and Heritage, are taking part in the conference. Experts from Turkiye, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Sudan, Russia, Indonesia, Egypt, Venezuela, Palestine, India, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries are also among the participants of the event. Polish protesters on the Ukrainian-Polish border have numerous times blocked the movement of fuel tanks and trucks with humanitarian cargo, Ukraine has sent information about such cases to the Polish authorities, Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine Serhiy Derkach said on Sunday, November 19, in the evening. "Obviously, the claims about letting humanitarian aid and hazardous cargo [cross the border] are also not true. We have recorded numerous cases of fuel tanks and trucks with humanitarian aid standing in the queue. We pass information about such cases to our Polish colleagues from the ministry. We are waiting them to reply to us how this correlates with the statements about allowing unimpeded movement across the border for such cargoes," he said on Facebook. Polish protesting carriers have also blocked the checkpoints where the Ukrainian ministry's team had delivered assistance for Ukrainian drivers, Derkach said. "Our team spent the whole day on the border today: Krakovets-Korczowa and Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne. Some 1,200 trucks are blocked at the first checkpoint and 500 in Hrebenne. Within the framework of the operation of the Headquarters for Assistance to Ukrainian Drivers, which was established at the initiative of Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov, we delivered food, water, medicines there. It was the first such cargo organized today, and we are already organizing the next ones for the drivers blocked near Dorohusk. The situation there is not less critical more than 1,200 trucks in the queue," the deputy minister said. Derkach also emphasized that the checkpoints visited by the ministerial team were blocked by small groups of protesters. "There were just not more than 15 protesters at these two checkpoints. In fact, a dozen of people is holding the border hostage," he said. According to the deputy minister, the representatives of the ministry noticed during their visit that "more vehicles were allowed to enter Ukraine than 'usual.' The drivers also noticed that. This means that the arrival of the ministry's team had impact on the number of vehicles passed by relevant services and protesters." "The eCherha is a separate topic drivers have said in public numerous times that the service operates successfully and categorically refused to make any concessions to the protesters [who are demanding] to remove Polish drivers from it," Derkach said. The United States and Britain are working together with Ukraine to strengthen the protection of the Ukrainian energy grid from Russian shelling in the winter, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said on Sunday, November 19. "We are working 24/7 to help keep the lights, heat, and power on in the face of Russia's barbaric attacks. Important and productive meeting with Deputy PM Oleksandr Kubrakov, head of Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytsky, head of the State Restoration Agency Mustafa Nayyem, and representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, together with the UK, to discuss our joint efforts to protect the energy grid this winter," the ambassador wrote on X. While we are disappointed in Londons decision, there are many forward-thinking cities that are eager to bring this technology to their communities. We will concentrate on those Spokesperson for Sphere Entertainment There are plenty of chic options around. Lyst, the fashion search engine, has noted a 50 per cent spike in searches for them since September, with Ganni being a favourite. The Danish brands sweater vest offer is so thorough that it even has its own section on its website. I like the Argyll print, but there are lots of options. I think a block colour is possibly your most helpful bet in terms of longevity. &Daughter, which is marking 10 years of fashioning perfect knit pieces from its network of five Irish and Scottish yarns and makers, has versions in grey, red and navy and camel. While for a Corrin-like pop of bright, I love Lisa Yangs tangy take. The arrests were made under Section Seven of the Public Order Act, which says a protester can be taken in if they "intentionally or recklessly interfere with the use or operation of any key national infrastructure" or "disproportionately interferes with road transport infrastructure". Police have shared images of the people they want to identify, and have asked anyone who can help to call 101 and reference 4237915/23 and the number in the bottom corner of the images. Assefa has since been charged with two counts of assault by penetration and was set to appear at Croydon Magistrates Court on Monday. She added: We are also facing growing cost pressures because too many people are being made homeless and we are having to place them in expensive temporary accommodation so brownfield development needs to be given the green light in the Autumn statement. The conversation will also look at how AI can be used positively and how AI can allow artists to perform in new ways, such as Abba Voyage which brings together avatars and a live band. Mr Sunak said: Long term, global partnerships are vital to our prosperity and security, both today and in the future. As two nations focused on innovation, harnessing new technologies and defending the international rules-based order, the UK and Republic of Korea are natural partners. Congressional leaders hope to agree on a military aid package for Ukraine and Israel, as well as improvements to the U.S. immigration system, by the end of the year, NBCnews reported on Sunday, November 19. Senate leaders, both Republicans and Democrats, believe the best path to writing a bill that can pass both chambers and get President Joe Biden's signature likely comes from the Senate, where there is room for bipartisan negotiations. At the same time, the publication said, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, made it clear that providing additional aid would be his top priority between Thanksgiving and Christmas. "I know both sides genuinely care about approving aid to Israel and Ukraine and helping innocent civilians in Gaza," Schumer said from the Senate floor Wednesday. "So I hope we can come to an agreement even if neither side gets everything they insist on. But it - we will be working on it immediately when we get back after Thanksgiving." Rishi Sunak has said that he is using the experience of David Cameron, thats why hes brought him in, so were hopeful that the contacts David Cameron has made over the years when he was the prime minister will be able to allow him to use that leverage and to do what all other foreign secretaries have failed to do and basically call for Jagtars release because the UK Government have a policy and the policy is if you are arbitrarily detained, which the UN working group on detention have found, that you should be calling for release. Children at Langside Primary School had to be let out class by class at the end of the school day, with police and fire personnel standing by as the pavement outside the school was one of the areas cordoned off. He said: Even my dog misses her. She used to use him as a pillow, stick her head down and fall asleep. Funny, the things that you miss, and now shes kidnapped in Gaza along with many others. The audience laughed as she spoke about how she knew a little of the responsibility of the profession, saying there are journalists in her family and quipping that she has been the subject of one or two stories over the years. Before, individual air traffic controllers did not have to inform their employers when they were planning to take part in walkouts - although unions did have to give notice. Mr Orpo stressed that "if this situation expands to other border crossing points and becomes more difficult ... we'll take the necessary measures". He did not disclose what the next steps could be. Thompson, Harold, Sirieix and Dent arrived by helicopter on the top of a Gold Coast skyscraper and had to climb down the side before inching sideways along the building and sliding down to a horizontal pole in a race against the clock to unclip carabiners to release their star print flag within the time won by the trio in the Outback. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Europe and Commander of US Armed Forces in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, arrived on a visit to Kyiv. "I just arrived in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian leaders. I'm here today to deliver an important message the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russia's aggression, both now and into the future," Austin wrote on X (Twitter) on Monday morning. In turn, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink announced the arrival of Cavoli along with Austin. "Delighted to welcome back to Kyiv Secretary of Defense Austin, together with EUCOM Commander General Cavoli to relay our unwavering support to Ukraine in its fight for freedom," she wrote on X. According to the U.S. Department of Defense website, during his visit Austin will hold high-level negotiations with the leadership of Ukraine. Discussions will focus on further strengthening the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, including ensuring Ukraine's Armed Forces have the combat capabilities they need to both survive the winter and defend their country against future Russian threats. "Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III traveled to Ukraine today to meet with Ukrainian leaders and reinforce the staunch support of the United States for Ukraine's fight for freedom. He will also underscore the continued U.S. commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression, while also discussing a long-term vision for Ukraine's future force," the report notes. Later this week, Austin will also host the 17th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group online from the Pentagon, continuing the vital work of international coordination and support for Ukraine that is expected to involve about 50 countries. 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The AUR MPs want the prime minister to specify the reasoning for the allocation of EUR 1.3 million from the Government's Reserve Fund to the Presidential Administration and how the money will be used, considering "the massive expenses that the president Klaus Iohannis incurs while on his tours abroad." Ciolacu would have to say whether or not the retinue that accompanied Iohannis on his working visits to Africa included specialists or experts from the government. "These visits should not be just presidential Safari trips, but they should also materialise in bilateral economic agreements, and in this sense the executive power has an essential role," AUR said in a press statement released on Monday. AUR also wants to ask Ciolacu if the Romanian government was consulted before Iohannis left for the African tour in order to establish a mandate with objectives clearly embraced by Romania. "We are waiting with great interest for Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to come before Parliament to explain to the Romanians why it was necessary for the budget of President Klaus Iohannis to be increased by a considerable amount at a time when money for teachers' pay is not found, not to mention the situation of pensioners. Throughout his tenures, President Klaus Iohannis and the Presidential Administration have shown a poor management of public money, throwing away significant sums of money on his luxury visits, money that could have been directed towards the investment that Romanians need." The business environment in Romania can no longer bear, at this moment, a new increase in the minimum wage in the economy, the chairman of the National Council of Small and Medium-sized Private Enterprises in Romania (CNIPMMR), Florin Jianu, said on Monday, in Zalau, northwestern County of Salaj. On Tuesday there will be a meeting of the Tripartite National Council, regarding the sectors of activity on which there will be collective negotiations regarding salaries and benefits in the future, and in this meeting, the unions will probably demand an increase in minimum wage from January 1, 2024, Jianu added, Agerpres reports. "I don't think that at this moment anyone in the business environment can bear another increase. Of course we can discuss, maybe in the middle of next year. We will see how the economy and economic activity will develop in the next period. Yet, once again, we have always supported decent wages for people. (...) We should also look at labor taxation, the way this taxation is carried out, because if I do that, a simple calculation, for two RON paid, in fact, one RON reaches the people, one RON goes to the state, automatically, through fees and taxes. Or, having this very, very high taxation on the labor force does not actually help in reality. The costs are high for salaries and little money ends up to people and everyone is dissatisfied. The entrepreneur, too, because he pays those high costs for salaries, and the employee, as well. The one who benefits, always, is the state," Florin Jianu said. He emphasized that a balance must be found, and the business environment should determine the state to become more professional, flexible, efficient and more focused on results.CNIPMMR, nationally represented employers' confederation for SMEs, organized the "Entrepreneurship and Digitalization" event in Zalau on Monday, where the projects and public policies for supporting SMEs in the digital economy were debated, with the participation of representatives of local public authorities in Salaj, of CNIPMMR member employers and decentralized public services from the North-West region. Energy Ministry: Unit 1 of Cernavoda nuclear power plant resynchronided to national grid Unit 1 of the CNE Cernavoda nuclear-power plant was resynchronised to Romania's electricity grid on Sunday and on Monday it is scheduled to operate at nominal power, according to the Energy Ministry, told Agerpres. "We are in permanent contact at the level of the Winter Energy Command with all those involved in solving the challenges that have arisen at the level of the national grid as a result of the extreme meteorological phenomena in the south-eastern parts of Romania. My thanks go to the intervention teams who did their duty in difficult conditions. Enel, Transelectrica and the other operators involved acted with professionalism and promptness. The national grid proved its ability to operate under correct conditions in extreme situations, with wind gusts that exceeded 100 km/h h. The problems that arose were local, not endangering the stability of the national grid. In particular, want to I thank the specialists of Nuclearelectrica for the resynchronisation of Unit 1 in a very short time." Unit 1 of the nuclear-power plant was automatically disconnected from the national electricity grid in the evening of November 18, 2023, as a result of weather conditions that caused disturbances in the national energy grid. Foreign Ministry takes steps in case of Romanian aboard commercial ship captured by Houthi militias The Inter-Institutional Task Force at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) was activated after the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, sailing in the Red Sea, was captured by Houthi militias and taken to the coast of Yemen on Sunday, November 19, and according to initial reports, a Romanian citizen was among the crew members. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Inter-institutional Task Force has been activated and standard procedures have been started for such cases involving Romanian citizens. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Inter-institutional Task Force, in cooperation and coordination with the other Romanian authorities with powers in the matter and in close liaison with other international partners, continues to monitor the situation with the utmost attention and takes steps to solve it," MAE informs. HealthMin Rafila to meet unions representing public healthcare directorate staff Health Minister Alexandru Rafila has announced that on Wednesday he will meet trade unions representing employees of the public healthcare directorates, told Agerpres. The announcement was made amidst nationwide protests of the employees of the public healthcare directorates, who want their pay increased, just like the pay to the employees of the county healthcare insurance houses was. Rafila told B1Tv private broadcaster that he contacted the unions representing the employees of the public healthcare directorates, and a meeting will take place on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health. At the same time, he said that the claims are justified. "An economic crisis that Romania is going through, along with other countries, is perhaps not the best moment when you can resolve a lot of claims. Protests have started at the national house and the county healthcare insurance hones. Their claims have been resolved under a law approved in Parliament. Subsequently, the employees of healthcare directorates and the Ministry of Health requested equal treatment. From that point of view, I cannot but understand that their claims are based on a matter of principle, which we have to understand, namely that the healthcare system, whether we talk about the administration of the healthcare system or healthcare insurance, has to be seen in its entirety and, probably, this is where the dissatisfaction of those from the public healthcare directorates." Rafila went on to say that the proposed solutions should be applicable. At the same time, he said he is convinced that through dialogue, transparency and "good faith in the approach" a solution will be reached. The deputy of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Tudor Polak stated, on Monday, in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, during the debate of the draft pension law, that the Save Romania Union (USR) and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) representatives chose to make "noise" in the context in which the new pension law eliminates inequities and is based on contributivity. He emphasized that, with the adoption of this law, the pension point will increase, starting from January 1, by 13.8%, agerpres reports. "Once this increase is adopted, the National Liberal Party will have succeeded in the four years since it governs to increase the pension point, from 2019 to 2023, by 60%, from 1,275 RON to 2,032 RON. This increase is unprecedented in the last 32 years of government in Romania, and I can assure you that, with certainty, we will find the necessary solutions to increase the income of pensioners and all Romanian citizens again, something that you seem to not be interested in," argued Polak. At the Shehyni-Medyka border crossing point (BCP) on the Ukrainian-Polish border, the passage of vehicles has been temporarily suspended, the State Border Guard Service reported on Facebook. "Vehicle crossing operations at the Shehyni BCP have been temporarily suspended. According to information received from the adjacent party, there is no power supply at the Medyka BCP (Republic of Poland). In this regard, the passage of persons and vehicles to exit from Ukraine by the adjacent party temporarily suspended," the statement said. Citizens are asked to take this information into account when crossing the border. The resumption of work at the checkpoint will be announced later. Earlier, the International Transport Association of Ukraine (ITAU) reported that the number of blocked BCPs for trucks on the Ukrainian-Polish border may increase from three to four from November 21: the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing point will be added to the Yahodyn-Dorohusk, Krakovets-Korczowa and Rava Ruska-Hrebenne BCPs. As reported, due to the protest of Polish carriers at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk, Krakovets-Korczowa and Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne checkpoints that began on November 6, queues for entry in front of blocked checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border on the Polish side reach up to 40 km. According to the information announced by the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, 20,000 vehicles have been blocked on the Ukrainian-Polish border, and the flow of trucks through it fell by 20-25%. Romania cannot grow if all children born here do not have equal opportunities to develop their potential, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu said. The head of the executive attended on Monday at the Victoria Palace of Government the event dedicated to the signing of the first contracts related to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) C13/I1 for investments in the creation of a network of day centres to support children at risk of being separated from their families, Agerpres reports. "I am glad to be the host of this event today, on a truly special day, World Children's Day [that celebrates the Declaration of the Rights of the Child adopted by the UN Assembly on November 20, 1959 , ed.n.], which certainly marks a turning point in the development of the social protection system for children in Romania. I am glad because, on their birthday, we are starting a series of investments financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan which aim to create, in the end, more than 150 centres to prevent the separation of children from their families. (...) The child's place is with the family, and our role, in and from the office we temporarily hold, is to do everything possible so that all children in Romania grow and develop within their families. And this is exactly what we are doing today, together, central and local authorities, by signing the first 22 of the 150 funding contracts for the creation of day care centres for children at risk of being separated from their families, but also for the recovery of children with disabilities or the counselling and support for parents and children," said Marcel Ciolacu. He pointed out that, through the investments occasioned by World Children's Day, the government is ensuring that children from vulnerable families in particular have an extra chance to go to a day centre after school or kindergarten, where they will not only receive a hot meal, but also counselling, school and professional guidance from specialists.In her turn, minister for Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities, Natalia Intotero, highlighted the contribution of the municipalities that set up these centres.She noted that there is still interest from civil society in creating as many day centres as possible to support families in need.According to data provided by the Government, the investment carried out under the PNRR aims to create around 150 social services to prevent the separation of children from their families, with a total budget of 50 million euros.The event was also attended by minister of Education, Ligia Deca, minister of Investment and European Projects, Adrian Caciu, representatives of local authorities, councillors, children with the World Vision Romania Foundation and the executive director of World Vision Romania, Mihaela Nabar. There will be no problems with Romania's natural gas supply this winter (official) Romania will not have problems with the supply of natural gas this winter, regardless of what the weather will be like, given that Romania's storage capacity has increased in 2023 by 100 million cubic metres, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Committee on the Environment and Ecological Balance Virgil Popescu told a specialist conference on Monday. "I think there will be absolutely no problem with natural gas supply. The storage facilities are full, which should be known, and Romania's storage capacity increased last year by 100 million cubic metres. This year, it has increased by another 100 million of cubic metres. The Depogaz plus Depomures storage facilities can hold 3.27 billion cubic metres in all. You saw that we had a little over this capacity, I think it's an absolute record. I don't think they've been 100% filled so far. Of course, I have always said that it is good to have full storage facilities, but a balance must be stricken between the cost of storage, so that at the end of the extraction cycle we do not have a lot of stock or have an optimal stock, so that the gas there will not be more expensive later. But, taking into account the energy crisis, it is very good that we have them full," Popescu, a former energy minister, told the Natural Gas Forum 2023 by Financial Intelligence. At the same time, he mentioned a 1-billion-cubic-metre agreement with Azerbaijan concluded in 2022. "We have that buffer agreement of 1 billion cubic metres with Azerbaijan concluded last year following the visit of the President of Romania to Azerbaijan. So, in short, there will be no problems with Romania's natural gas supply this winter, regardless of how the winter turns out to be, and Depogaz's extraction capacity has increased to somewhere around 33 - 35 million cubic metres per day - we are talking about all the storage facilities." World Children's Day marked at Victoria Governmental Palace with blue light The Government will mark this year's World Children's Day by lighting up the Victoria Governmental Palace in blue, the symbolic colour of this important day. According to a press release issued by the Executive, at the initiative of UNICEF, the World Children's Day is celebrated around the world every year on 20 November, and marks the adoption of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1989, Romania being one of the first signatories. "The Romanian Government is committed to protecting the rights of children, namely the right to a safe life, to education, to health and to offer equal development opportunities to every child. We are doing everything in our power to ensure a better future for our children and for society as a whole. Romania has taken important steps towards respecting children's rights. We have recently adopted the National Strategy for the Protection and Promotion of Children's Rights 2023-2027 and the National Action Plan for the Implementation of the Children's Guarantee, through which we want to ensure that the rights of all children are respected and provide support to those in vulnerable communities. We continue to work in this direction with all partners, civil society and children themselves to ensure a safe environment for all children. Every child is a source of joy, inspiration and hope for our future," Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu is quoted as saying in the press release. The prime minister appreciates the involvement of civil society and the Government's collaboration with UNICEF Romania in promoting children's rights. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu wishes all children health, joy, confidence and much courage in the pursuit and fulfilment of their aspirations and ideals. As I continue my research ahead of next years edition of the STL 100, I am making intensive visits to communities throughout the metro area. This week, the Road to the STL 100 takes me to Valley Park and Fenton for barbecue, bologna po boys, Lao sausage, fried chicken and more. Dalies Smokehouse Sign up for the First Course newsletter Exclusive insight, news, tips and more on St. Louis' thriving dining scene from St. Louis Post-Dispatch restaurant critic Ian Froeb. The youngest sibling of the Pappys Smokehouse family, Dalies Smokehouse is now a institution in its own right, with enough tweaks to the successful Pappys template of smoked meats, sauces and sides to set itself apart. Dalies Ultimate Reuben demands inclusion in any list of St. Louis best barbecue sandwiches, with its towering stack of luscious beef-pork belly pastrami and just-right amounts of the traditional Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing garnishes. Where Dalies Smokehouse, 2951 Dougherty Ferry Road, Valley Park More info 636-529-1898; daliessmokehouse.com Duck In Market Duck In Market transports you from Valley Park to a general store in some alternate universe of yore: pop, bait and tobacco for sale, with a Cajun kitchen in back. Crusty, airy French bread from Leidenheimer Baking Co. in New Orleans sandwiches thin slices of garlic bologna or meaty slabs of pork belly. Po boys are the star of the compact lunch menu, but make space for a side of rich, okra-heavy gumbo or red beans and rice with andouille and a lash of heat. Where Duck In Market, 324 St. Louis Avenue, Valley Park More info 636-529-8388; duckinmarket.com El Jarocho OK, El Jarocho is in Manchester, not Valley Park, but I found it while searching for new spots in the latter area, and the restaurant is close enough on a map if you squint. Also, you really do need to try the breakfast burrito here, one of the best Ive eaten in St. Louis, plump but not overwhelming with rice, beans and (my choice) eggs and chorizo. Both a restaurant and a small grocery store, El Jarocho also offers a fine selection of tacos and tortas. Where El Jarocho, 25 Stonegate Center, Manchester More info 636-226-4448; eljarochotaqueria.com Russells Cafe & Bakery The Southampton location of Russells might be the flagship thanks to its dinner service (and the recent addition of nearby spinoff Lola Jeans Pizzeria), but the Fenton storefront is the original Russells, and it continues to play the role of winning neighborhood cafe and bakery, whether you want breakfast or lunch or you are just stopping by for a cup of coffee and cookies or one of St. Louis best gooey butter cakes. Where Russells Cafe & Bakery, 952 Brookwood Center, Fenton More info 636-343-8900; fenton.russellscafe.com Sweetie Cup Thai Cafe Sweetie Cup Thai Cafe packs a remarkable depth of flavor into its relatively compact menu. This is true for its conventional offerings an ostensibly straightforward green curry displays complex spicing and smartly tempered heat as well as gems you might overlook, such as an appetizer of verdant, meaty Lao-style sausage. Sweetie Cup also features boba tea, though I opted for the no-fooling-around strength of its Thai iced coffee. Where Sweetie Cup Thai Cafe, 2961 Dougherty Ferry Road, Valley Park More info 636-529-8690; sweetiecupthaicafe.com The Tavern Kitchen & Bar Valley Parks fine-dining mainstay continues to balance diners expectations for an upscale menu with its own quirky character, beginning with the pull-apart focaccia-esque bread that accompanies your meal. A highlight of my most recent visit was a tender elk chop not a cut you see often, if at all, elsewhere in the area simply plated with sauteed wild mushrooms and madeira jus perfectly calibrated for the elks mildly gamy flavor. Where The Tavern Kitchen & Bar, 2961 Dougherty Ferry Road, Suite 101, Valley Park More info 636-825-0600; tavernstl.com Tiger Soup Dumplings Xiao long bao, or Shanghai-style soup dumplings, are the specialty of this streamlined shopping-plaza storefront. Tiger Soup Dumplings offers both steamed and pan-fried dumplings, with your choice of filling (chicken, beef, pork or shrimp and cheese) surrounded by a couple careful sips of show-stealing broth. Pair it with a bracing cucumber salad and, if its your style, boba tea while you watch the kitchen team efficiently prepare the next round of dumplings. Where Tiger Soup Dumplings, 98 Gravois Bluffs Circle Drive, Suite D, Fenton More info 636-678-7180; instagram.com/tigersoupdumplings Youngs Restaurant & Catering My memory isnt what it used to be, but Im fairly confident Youngs was the first restaurant to lure me to Valley Park years ago and the family-run restaurant is still a reason by itself to return today. The chicken dinner alone is worth the drive, crisp without being too crunchy, juicy without being greasy. And once youre here, why not treat yourself to a sundae, shake, concrete or just a simple cone of towering soft-serve. Where Youngs Restaurant & Catering, 206 Meramec Station Road, Valley Park More info 636-225-6677; faceook.com/youngs1954 Previously in this series: Sign up for the First Course newsletter Exclusive insight, news, tips and more on St. Louis' thriving dining scene from St. Louis Post-Dispatch restaurant critic Ian Froeb. ST. CLAIR COUNTY A motorist was slain on the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge late Sunday night. The Illinois State Police said Troy A. Edwards died at the scene of the shooting about 10 p.m. Sunday. Edwards, 35, lived in Belleville. He was driving an SUV on the bridge when someone in another car opened fire, police said. Authorities have not said if they have made an arrest or have a suspect. The shooting happened on eastbound Interstate 70 at milepost 2 on the Illinois side of the bridge, according to Trooper Jayme Bufford of the Illinois State Police. A passenger in Edwards' SUV was also injured in the shooting. That person was taken to a hospital with injuries that police said were non-life-threatening. The eastbound lanes of the bridge were closed until about 3:15 a.m. Monday. ST. LOUIS COUNTY A 71-year-old woman was killed and two people were injured Sunday morning in a head-on crash near Black Jack in north St. Louis County, police said. The crash was shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday on Parker Road, near Jerries Lane. A man was driving west on Parker in a Chevrolet Equinox SUV. His vehicle ran off the road and hit a speed limit sign. The vehicle went back onto the road and drove into oncoming traffic. It struck an oncoming vehicle, an Impala. Velma Villafranca was a passenger in the Impala, St. Louis County police said. She died at a hospital. The driver of the Impala was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Police did not release additional information about that person. The driver of the Equinox was critically injured. His name and age were not released. Police said Villafranca lived in the 11400 block of Sheffield Drive in St. Louis County. JEFFERSON CITY A group seeking to add exceptions to Missouris near-total abortion ban says it is sending canvassers into the field to collect signatures in a bid to place a question before voters on the 2024 ballot. The University City-based Missouri Women and Family Research Fund, which is headed by former congressional aide Jamie Corley, said the signature collection process began Friday despite ongoing litigation over the proposed ballot language. Missouri has the most extreme abortion ban in the country. It makes it dangerous to be a mom in Missouri and gives rapists more rights than victims. Voters deserve the opportunity to change it, Corley said. Missouri law requires petitioners to collect more than 170,000 signatures by May 2024 in order to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Constitutional amendments can pass with a simple majority, 50.1% of the vote. The effort is aimed at allowing abortion in cases of rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormalities and the health and safety of the mother. It would legalize abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Following the U.S. Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade last year, Missouri law only allows abortions in medical emergencies. It is one of at least two competing ballot initiatives on abortion underway, with both tied up in court in recent months over Secretary of State Jay Ashcrofts proposed ballot summary language, which has been dumped in Cole County circuit court and the Missouri Court of Appeals at Kansas City. Although the courts have said the Republicans summaries are replete with politically partisan language, Ashcroft appealed those losses to the Missouri Supreme Court. On Monday, the high court denied the bid, keeping the lower court ruling intact, dealing a political blow to Ashcroft, who is running for governor. Ashcroft has been at the forefront of the legal effort to counter the ballot initiative process after he was endorsed by the anti-abortion group, Missouri Right to Life. While signature gathering has begun on the 12-week restriction version, a proposal sought by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom that would restrict abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy had not yet gone out for signatures as of Mondays Supreme Court decision. Corley, in a statement issued Friday, acknowledged that signatures from voters are being sought despite the legal challenges but said it is not uncommon in other states to begin collecting the needed names before ballot summaries are finalized. It is not clear how much money the group has amassed in its campaign account, but millions of dollars are typically needed to run a successful ballot initiative. A political action committee was formed in early November and has not yet filed reports showing fundraising numbers or expenses. As part of their campaign, the organization said Missouri hospitals have seen a decline in applications for OB/GYN residency programs since the abortion ban went into effect last year. The petition calls for women and doctors to be protected from criminal and civil penalty. The measure also enshrines access to contraception. Other proposed ballot initiatives that are in the signature-gathering phase include an effort to raise the minimum wage and ensure workers have paid sick leave. The push to get the questions on the ballot come as Republicans who control state government continue to call for changes to the initiative petition process designed to make it harder to get hot-button issues like restoring abortion rights before voters. During the spring legislative session, the House approved a plan that would raise the threshold to pass ballot measures from a simple majority to 57%. The Senate did not take up the final version before adjourning in May. This story was updated at 7:24 to reflect the Missouri Supreme Courts decision to leave a lower court ruling stand. U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver has joined calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, telling KCUR, I think guns should go silent. We need to cease the fighting. The Kansas City Democrat joined a small but growing group in Congress that backs a temporary cessation of hostilities in the war. Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel during its Oct. 7 attack; more than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in response. Cleaver first signaled support for a cease-fire in a meeting Saturday with activists, KCUR, the public radio station serving Kansas City, reported. It was unclear whether he would co-sponsor the Ceasefire Now Resolution, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis and co-sponsored by about 17 other House Democrats. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, also has voiced support for a cease-fire. Bushs early support for a cease-fire drew sharp criticism from some Jewish organizations, Republicans and moderate Democrats. At least one candidate, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, announced plans to challenge her in the 2024 Democratic primary, citing her stance on Israel as a factor. JEFFERSON CITY Missouris Republican attorney general has waded into an ongoing dispute between billionaire Elon Musk and a liberal advocacy group that erupted amid controversy over Musks endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory last week. Bailey said Sunday his team was looking into this matter the day after Musk promised thermonuclear legal action against Media Matters for America and others, alleging a fraudulent attack on his social media company X, formerly known as Twitter. Musk sparked criticism Wednesday after he told an X user that the user was speaking the truth when the user said Jews hated white people and expressed general indifference toward antisemitism. The next day, Media Matters reported that ads for major brands had been placed alongside pro-Nazi content on X. Major companies such as Apple, IBM, Disney, Comcast and others have since announced they had either pulled advertising or were pulling ads from X, The Washington Post reported. Musk said early Saturday that X will file a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company. Media Matters president Angelo Carusone responded in a statement: Far from the free speech advocate he claims to be, Musk is a bully who threatens meritless lawsuits in an attempt to silence reporting that he even confirmed is accurate. Musk admitted the ads at issue ran alongside the pro-Nazi content we identified. If he does sue us, we will win, Carusone said. Musk denied that he was antisemitic in Sunday post. Nothing could be further from the truth, he said. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all. Also Sunday, X user Jack Posobiec had accused Media Matters of creat(ing) accounts and gam(ing) the X server to create false impressions for their article. In response to Posobiecs post, Stephen Miller, who worked in former President Donald Trumps White House, said fraud was a civil and criminal violation and noted there were 2 dozen+ conservative state Attorneys General in the United States. Interesting, Musk replied. Both civil and criminal ... Said Posobiec, in response to Musk, If only there were AGs in states where there are X users willing to stand up against Media Matters fraud... Bailey later posted: My team is looking into this matter, winning an attaboy from Musk. Great! Musk said. Baileys announcement came as his opponent in the Aug. 6 Republican primary, Will Scharf, was set to be in the spotlight Monday as he argued against a limited gag order imposed against Trump in one of the criminal cases against the former president. Baileys post as of Monday afternoon had been seen more than 1.7 million times. Meanwhile, a Friday post by Scharf on Trumps legal defense had been viewed 47,000 times as of Monday. The Associated Press contributed to this report. ST. LOUIS Hundreds of people gathered in a Tower Grove East gymnasium on Sunday to welcome new refugees and introduce them to an American tradition: Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving potluck, held since the 1980s, is put on by the International Institute of St. Louis and other local organizations. It asks volunteers and guests to bring a dish to share, whether its a traditional Thanksgiving food or a dish from their home countries. Its an opportunity to come together and to have a welcoming atmosphere and to bring everyone together in community whether theyre from the United States, like many of our volunteers are, or whether they are immigrants and to showcase some of the hospitality and welcoming that we have to offer here in St. Louis, said Krissy Durant, the institutes director of communications. The International Institute of St. Louis provides English classes, employment, orientation and citizenship preparation to refugees and also hosts events that promote inclusiveness and respect between immigrants and St. Louisans. A nearly 20-foot glowing globe sat at the front of the institutes gymnasium on Sunday as a five-person string orchestra played on stage and people milled about. It wasnt long before the tables lining the walls began to fill up with American classics: green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, pumpkin pie and, of course, turkey. Volunteer Marianne Baer brought salad, Brussels sprouts and bread. She works in the organizations warehouse, which provides refugee families with basic necessities. She said she hopes the dinner brings a sense of hospitality and belonging to the new St. Louis residents. Daniel Anthony, who moved to St. Louis from India in 2007 for school, brought a green bean casserole to Sundays dinner. He laughed as he recalled his first Thanksgiving in America, just four months after moving to the country, when he was two hours late because he was still figuring out public transportation and culture norms. For the new refugees, I hope they feel welcome and they know that the community cares about them, he said. I hope they experience connection and warmth and an evening full of joy and laughter. Just over 1,000 refugees settled in the St. Louis area in 2022, according to a report published by the institute. The majority of those refugees came from Ukraine and Afghanistan. Riz Khan, an Indian immigrant and president of the meal-providing nonprofit Little Angels Foundation, also recalled his first Thanksgiving after moving to St. Louis he said he hosted his friends in a furniture-less duplex. He refers to his life now, almost 20 years later, as the American dream. They came with just one plastic bag, Khan said of the citys refugees. This is an amazing journey for them, I believe. Its been an amazing journey for me people are wonderful and Im blessed to be here. Photos: First Thanksgiving welcomes new St. Louisans The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is checking information about the presence of Ukrainian citizens on board of a ship seized by the Houthis in the Red Sea, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said on Sunday evening. "We see reports in the media about the seizure of the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea, on board of which there may be citizens of Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has already instructed the involved Ukrainian embassies to check this information, as well as contact the owner company to find out the exact composition of the ship's crew and other details. We are keeping this situation under special control," he wrote on Facebook. As The Times of Israel reported on Sunday, November 19, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed the seizure by Yemen's Houthis of a ship in the Red Sea that did not have Israeli citizens on board. The Galaxy Leader was reportedly traveling from Turkey to India with an international civilian crew. According to Arabic-language media, there are 52 people on board the ship. It is emphasized that the military directly blames the Houthi group for the seizure of the ship. Iran-backed militants have vowed to attack Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea. The board overseeing Missouris state employee pension plan voted down a proposal by state Treasurer Vivek Malek to sell off any investments in Chinese stocks and other securities. On a voice vote last week, the 11-member board of the Missouri State Employees Retirement System rejected Maleks call to punish the Asian economic powerhouse for COVID-19, spy balloons and the fentanyl crisis by pulling its pension investments in the Asian economic powerhouse. China has become a bad investment in recent years as its economy suffers from deflation, low population growth and an overbuilt housing market, Malek said in a Friday interview with The Independent. He also said Chinas threatening posture toward Taiwan, and friendship with Russia, make investments there a bad choice. Given the economic decisions and the economic projections, it is very clear that we should not be investing in China, Malek said. Doing business with China has become a political sore spot in the past few years. It was one of the first issues raised in the 2022 Republican Senate primary in Missouri, and this year, the Missouri House passed a bill to limit the sale of farmland to investors from China and a handful of other countries. The bill died in the state Senate. And the U.S. Senate in July voted to prohibit China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing U.S. farmland. MOSERS provides pensions to most of the state government workforce. It is supported by contributions from the state treasury, employee payroll deductions and investment income. In recent years, returns on the systems portfolio, valued at $8.8 billion in June 2022, have not kept pace with growing liabilities. In 2001, Missouri contributed 12.3% of the states covered payroll to MOSERS. The state contribution rate for fiscal 2022 was 23.51%, and the trustees have asked that it be set at 28.75% for the coming fiscal year. Investments in China represent about $200 million of MOSERSs investment portfolio, Malek said. Many of the issues between the U.S. and China were topics for a meeting this week in San Francisco between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi agreed to help curb fentanyl production, The Associated Press reported, with Biden pressing Xi to refrain from sending military support to Russia and promise not to invade Taiwan. Those are issues of national interest for the United States and we should be looking at national interests in state investments, Malek said. Malek took office as treasurer in January by Gov. Mike Parson and is seeking election to a full term in 2024. Two lawmakers, House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, and state Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, are also campaigning for the GOP nomination. Malek has a seat on the 11-member MOSERS board because of his office, as does Commissioner of Administration Ken Zellers. The others are legislators, members of the pension system elected by other members, and appointees of the governor. Two legislators reached for comment on Thursdays vote were split. Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat, voted against divestment, while Rep. Don Mayhew, a Crocker Republican, voted for it. The MOSERS board should wait for guidance from the General Assembly on investments in China, Rizzo said. It was clearly being done for political purposes, Rizzo said. If this decision is going to be made, it should be done by the Legislature. Mayhew said he supported Maleks proposal and thinks it will be revisited at a future meeting. We were provided data that would tend to indicate that, at best, investing in China is a break even proposition, but recent history kind of indicates its probably a bad choice, Mayhew said. Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, the MOSERS board voted to dump investments tied to Russia and bar investment managers from making future purchases of Russian securities. Chinese investments have similar issues, Malek said. The truth of the matter is that investing in Russia was not safe for us, he said. And so its not for China. Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and X. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Israeli forces pressed their offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza on Monday, battling militants around a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, raising Palestinian fears of another painful standoff and evacuation of a medical facility. A medical worker inside the facility and the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing 12 people. Both blamed Israel, which denied firing a shell at the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who had fired on them from inside the 3.5-acre compound. The advance came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. At least 28 were transported to Egypt on Monday. More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the compound that Israeli forces stormed days ago. Gazas hospitals play a prominent role in the battle of narratives over the wars brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the conflict was sparked by Hamas Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. In the wake of the assault, Israeli leaders vowed to eradicate Hamas, destroy its ability to rule Gaza and uproot its militant infrastructure. Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields and that it operated a major command hub inside and beneath Shifa. Critics say Israels siege and relentless bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territorys 2.3 million Palestinians. Marwan Abdallah, the medical worker at the Indonesian Hospital, said Israeli tanks were operating less than 200 meters (yards) from the hospital, and that Israeli snipers could be seen on the roofs of nearby buildings. As he spoke over the phone, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. Abdallah said the hospital had received dozens of dead and wounded in airstrikes and shelling overnight. Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra, who is based in southern Gaza, said some 600 patients, 200 health care workers and 2,000 displaced people are sheltering there. "The occupation aims to evacuate the hospital, as it did in Shifa, he said. In a separate development that could relieve some of the pressure on Gazas collapsing health system, dozens of trucks entered from Egypt on Monday with equipment from Jordan to set up a field hospital. Jordans state-run media said the hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis would be up and running within 48 hours. Claims about Shifa Babies evacuated from Shifa hospital arrived in Egypt, according to the countrys state-run media, after the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said it was transporting 28 premature babies across the border. It was not immediately clear where the other three babies who were evacuated from Shifa were. Following that evacuation, over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remained in Shifa, which can no longer provide most treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators. Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside its gates for days before entering the facility on Wednesday. Four babies died in the two days before the evacuation, according to Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals. Israels army said it has evidence that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospitals 20-acre (8-hectare) complex, which includes several buildings. On Sunday, the military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 55 meters (60 yards) long and about 10 meters (33 feet) below ground. It said the tunnel ended at a blast-proof door with a hole in it for gunmen to fire out of. Troops have not opened the door yet, it said. Israeli forces also released security camera video showing what they said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, who were captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack and taken to the hospital. Hamas said its fighters brought them in for medical care. The army also said an investigation had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, another captive whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been wounded in an Israeli strike on Nov. 9 that killed her captor, but was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa. The military has previously released images of several guns it said were found inside an MRI lab and said that the bodies of two hostages were found near the complex. The Associated Press was not able to independently confirm the militarys findings. Hamas and hospital staff have denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the latest announcement, saying the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel." Three in four people displaced Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment since the start of the war. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gazas population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded U.N.-run shelters, according to the U.N. Strikes in the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps Monday killed at least 40 people, according to hospital officials, and residents said dozens more were buried in the rubble. Bundled against a chilly wind from Gazas approaching winter, a line of men prayed over more than a dozen bodies on the grounds of the nearby morgue in Deir al-Balah before loading them onto a truck. More than 12,700 Palestinians, including more than 5,000 minors and 3,250 women, have been killed in Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank said Monday an increase of 1,200 deaths from a day earlier. Health officials could not be immediately reached to elaborate on the significant increase. For the past 10 days, officials have released numbers more sporadically saying they are struggling to keep up the count amid communications lapses. The West Bank ministry coordinates with officials in the Health Ministry of Hamas-run Gaza. Officials there say another 4,000 are missing and believed buried in rubble. Their count of the dead and missing does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. Violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where attacks by Jewish settlers are on the rise and where more than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, mostly in gunbattles triggered by Israeli military raids. About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 66 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. Israels three-member war Cabinet is to meet with representatives of the hostages families on Monday evening. Magdy and Jeffery reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Najib Jobain in Khan Younis, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed. Updated at 11:34 a.m. KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip The night a blast struck his family's home in the Gaza Strip, Ahmed al-Naouq was more than 2,000 miles away but he still jolted awake, consumed with inexplicable panic. He reached for his cellphone to find that a friend had written and then deleted a message. Al-Naouq called him from London. The words that spilled from the other end of the line landed like world-shattering blows: Airstrike. Everyone killed. Four nights later, Ammar al-Butta was startled from sleep in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis when the wall of his bedroom collapsed over him. A missile had pierced his top-floor apartment and exploded one floor below. He lurched over the rubble, shining the light of his cellphone into the wreckage, calling out to his 16 relatives. Anyone there? he cried. There was only silence. Entire generations of Palestinian families in the besieged Gaza Strip from great-grandparents to infants only weeks old have been killed in airstrikes in the Israel-Hamas war, in which the Israeli army says it aims to root out the militant group from the densely populated coastal territory. Attacks are occurring at a scale never seen in years of Israel-Hamas conflict, hitting residential areas, schools, hospitals, mosques and churches, even striking areas in southern Gaza where Israeli forces ordered civilians to flee. Israel says the goal of the war is to destroy Hamas following the militant groups deadly Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel that killed at least 1,200 people, and it maintains that the attacks target militant operatives and infrastructure. But the scope of the destruction and loss of life in Gaza, with entire families wiped out in a single strike, has raised troubling questions about Israeli military tactics. It would take many hours of horror and mayhem before the truth would settle like the ash from the Oct. 20 explosion that leveled al-Naouqs family's home: 21 relatives killed. They included his 75-year-old father, two brothers, three sisters and their 13 children. I cant believe this actually happened, al-Naouq, a graduate student in London, said. Because if I calculate what it means, I will be destroyed. His father, Nasri, had recently told him that his sister Ayas home was destroyed in northern Gaza and she was staying with them in Deir al-Balah, south of the area Israel had ordered Palestinians to leave. A home can be rebuilt, al-Naouq recalled replying, all that matters is that she and the children are alive. But just hours later, they were all dead: Wala'a, the most accomplished of the al-Naouq children with a degree in engineering, and her four children; Alaa and her five children; Aya, known for her wry sense of humor, and her three children; older brother Muhammed; and younger brother Mahmoud, who was preparing to travel to Australia for graduate studies when the war broke out. Nine of the 21 are still under the rubble; dire fuel shortages prevented civil defense crews from digging them out. Identifying the dead was another traumatizing endeavor; many bodies were unrecognizable, most were in pieces. There were two survivors: Shimaa, al-Naouqs sister-in-law, and Omar, his 3-year-old nephew. His 11-year old niece, Malaka, was taken to al-Aqsa hospital with severe burns but died after doctors gave her ICU bed to another patient with a better chance of survival, his sister Doaa said. Doctors have to make extraordinarily difficult triage decisions, and severely wounded patients are being left to die because of shortages of beds, medical supplies and fuel, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, in Nasser Hospital, Gazas second-largest. We leave most as we dont have ventilators or beds, he said of patients in need of intensive care with complicated blast wounds. Weve reached full collapse. Israel doesn't say how it chooses targets in densely populated Gaza. But Israeli officials say many strikes on homes are based on intelligence assessments that wanted Hamas operatives are inside. Though it gives few details, Israel says every airstrike is reviewed by legal experts to ensure they comply with international law. Many Gaza families deny any Hamas targets were operating from their homes. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says a majority of Palestinians killed have been minors and women, about 4,500 and 2,200 respectively. At least 304 families have lost at least 10 relatives; about 31 families have lost over 30, according to a Nov. 6 health ministry report. That number is likely higher now as intense Israeli bombardment has continued. Among the families with the highest number of casualties, many have been children. The al-Astal family lost 89 relatives, 18 of them children under the age of 10, including three babies not yet a year old, according to an Oct. 26 ministry report. The Hassouna family had 74 killed, including 22 children ranging in age from 1 to 10 years old, it said. The Najjars lost 65 relatives: More than 20 were under 10 years old, including 13 under 4. Ammar al-Butta says his relatives were all civilians with no links to Hamas. The Saqallah family had taken shelter with al-Buttas family in their four-story house in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, heeding Israeli evacuation orders. Ten days later all 16 Saqallahs, from 69-year old Nadia to baby Asaad, not yet a year old, were killed in the Oct. 24 pre-dawn attack. In the chaos of the war, taking account of the dead is a rushed, heart-rending process. Why would they kill children and an old man? asked al-Naouq. What is the military justification for bombing my house? They were all civilians. I wish, one day, I can meet the one who pulled the trigger. I want to ask him: Why did you do it? Misinformation about Israel-Hamas war floods social media; here are the facts Claim: Black flag calls Muslims to action Claim: Kim Jong Un blames Biden for war Claim: Turkish president threatens to intervene Claim: Israel confirms it bombed hospital Claim: Qatars emir threatens to cut off worlds natural gas supply Claim: BBC reports Ukraine provided weapons to Hamas Claim: Video shows actor in fake blood for propaganda Claim: Hamas fighters storm sports field to attack Israelis Claim: Putin warns US to stay away from war JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. A nurse has admitted that she did not provide health care services to a developmentally disabled Missouri man for months before his body was found encased in concrete in 2017. Melissa Denise DeLap, 49, of Columbia, pleaded guilty Monday to health care fraud. DeLap was contracted to provide health services to four people living at Second Chance Homes in Fulton, including meeting with them in person every month. One of the four residents was Carl DeBrodie, whose body was discovered in April 2017, months after he went missing from the home. DeLap admitted she signed false reports saying she had met with the four men during the months between DeBrodie's death and the discovery of his body. DeLap must pay $106,795 in restitution to Medicaid and surrender her nursing license. Sentencing hasn't been scheduled. First, the Editorial Board states that President Joe Biden is too old and trailing in the polls, and should not run for reelection. (For the sake of the nation, Mr. President, please bow out, Nov. 8.) Then the Post-Dispatch online opinion section posts a guest editorial from the Wall Street Journal saying essentially the same thing. I am shocked and appalled by the Editorial Boards endorsement of the House censure of Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. (Editorial: Censure over anti-Israel rhetoric is a crucial show of bipartisan support, Nov. 10.) To praise that as an encouraging display of bipartisanship is a grotesque distortion. The Editorial Board would do well to read speech by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., himself a Jew, opposing the censure motion. Rep. Raskin points out that he disagrees with Rep. Tlaibs benign interpretation of the offending phrase from the river to the sea. But he also points out that censure has never been exercised by the House against a member for exercise of the right of free speech. The Editorial Board apparently defends the Israeli government, regardless how right-wing, fascist, violative of international law its actions may be. The board rightly condemns the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 as terrorist, though falsely refers to it as unprovoked in spite of acknowledging the Israeli governments historic oppression of the Palestinians. And, while condemning the Hamas attack as terrorist, the board then refers blandly to the Israeli response as simply resulting in civilian deaths including, tragically, children. The Hamas terrorist attack included the slaughter of hundreds of innocent civilians, women and children, elderly and disabled; it included the kidnapping of hundreds of civilians. Yes, it was terrorism. But how does one simply write off the Israeli response as a legitimate act of self-defense when it has included the relentless bombing of civilian neighborhoods, hospitals, churches and refugee camps? How does the annihilation of more than 11,000 people mostly civilians, and including well over 4,000 children constitute merely casualties of war? Yes, Israel is entitled to its own self defense, just as any nation is. However, it is not entitled to grotesque actions of revenge for an attack on its people. Donald L. Foley Florissant The 2023 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards Weve counted all of the votes in the 2023 Streaming Media Readers Choice Awards, anddrumroll, pleasethis article will present the winners and runners-up in each of our 18 categories. The Readers Choice Awards program recognizes our readers selections for the industrys top products from companies based in North America. Check out the 2023 Streaming Media European Innovation Awards to see what readers of Streaming Media Global chose as the top products from European tech companies. This years awards brought in more than 100 nominees, which were then voted on by StreamingMedia.com readers. More than 1,200 readers cast more than 9,000 votes in 18 categories that reflect both the Streaming Media and Streaming Media Producer purviews. After discarding votes from obviously phony email addresses, as well as votes by employees casting ballots for their own companies products, we identified the top three vote getters in each category. Many of the names are familiar, even expected, but youll find more than a few surprises in the list that follows. And if youre surprised that a company isnt represented, well, all we can say is that it either wasnt nominated or didnt get enough votes. Congratulations to all of our winners and runners-up! (Runners-up are listed in alphabetical order in each of the following categories.) ANALYTICS/QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE (QOE) PLATFORM Winner: Interra Systems ORION OTT Runners-Up: Bitmovin Bitmovin Analytics, Triveni Digital ATSC 3.0 StreamScope XM Monitor BEST NEW STREAMING INNOVATION Winner: Harmonic VOS360 Ad SaaS Runners-Up: IMAX Stream Smart, Skreens Ultra Low Latency Live Streaming Platform CLOSED-CAPTIONING SOLUTION Winner: Telestream Stanza Runners-Up: IBM Watson Media Watson Live Captioning, Videolinq AI-Generated Closed Captions CLOUD ENCODING/TRANSCODING SERVICE Winner: Ateme Ateme+ Runners-Up: Bitmovin Next-Generation VOD Encoder, Harmonic VOS360 Media SaaS CLOUD VIDEO PRODUCTION PLATFORM Winner: Vimeo Vimeo Platform Runners-Up: Backlight Wildmoka Digital Media Platform, Sony M2 Live Virtual Cloud Switcher CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORK (INCLUDING EDGE) Winner: Amazon Web Services CloudFront Runners-Up: Akamai Connected Cloud, Google Cloud CDN CORPORATE VIDEO/ENTERPRISE VIDEO CONTENT MANAGEMENT PLATFORM Winner: Muvi Flex Runners-Up: Ateliere FrameDNA, MediaPlatform Broadcaster DRM/CONTENT PROTECTION Winner: EZDRM Universal Complete Runners-Up: BuyDRM KeyOS MultiKey, Intertrust Technologies ExpressPlay Media Security Suite ENCODING HARDWARE FOR LIVE PRODUCTION Winner: AMD Alveo MA35D Runners-Up: Haivision Makito X4 Encoder, NETINT Quadra VPU AV1 + AI Video Encoder & Transcoder LIVE STREAMING SERVICE Winner: Red5 Low Latency WebRTC Live Video Streaming at Scale Runners-Up: Akamai Adaptive Media Delivery, Dolby.io Real-Time Streaming MEETING/COLLABORATION/WEBCASTING SOLUTION Winner: LiveU Air Control Runners-Up: Muvi Live Meetings, Vizrt NewTek CaptureCast ON-PREM ENCODING/TRANSCODING SOLUTION Winner: Haivision Makito X4 Encoder Runners-Up: Harmonic XOS Advanced Media Processor, Telestream Vantage Media Processing Platform OTT VIDEO PLATFORM Winner: Backlight Zype Streaming Platform Runners-Up: Ateliere Discover, MediaKind Engage PER-TITLE ENCODING SOLUTION Winner: Bitmovin Per-Title Encoding Runners-Up: Telestream Encoding.com, Visionular Aurora1 QUALITY CONTROL/MONITORING PLATFORM Winner: Akamai Broadcast Operations Command Center (BOCC) Runners-Up: Interra Systems ORION Suite with OCM and 2110 Probe, Telestream ARGUS SERVER-SIDE AD INSERTION (SSAI) SOLUTION Winner: Amazon AWS Elemental MediaTailor Runners-Up: Harmonic VOS360 Ad SaaS, MediaKind PRISMA SINGLE- OR DUAL-STREAM ENCODING HARDWARE Winner: Haivision Single-Channel Makito X4 Runners-Up: LiveU LU800, Osprey Video Talon 4K-SC VIDEO MIXER Winner: Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio Live Production Switcher Runners-Up: Telestream Wirecast Gear 4K, Vizrt NewTek TriCaster Mini X Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Related Articles Companies and Suppliers Mentioned Vironova BioAnalytics AB Acquired by an investor syndicate, led by Quatre Lab, to expand its TEM services for the pharmaceutical industry; to be rebranded as QuTEM STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2023 / Vironova BioAnalytics, a leading provider of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) services, is pleased to announce its acquisition led by QuatreLab (a quality control company created by Columbus Venture Partners) with the participation of Accord Investment Partners and Venture Targeter AB. This strategic move will enable Vironova BioAnalytics to enhance its capabilities and continue to deliver TEM analyses according to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for the pharmaceutical industry. Following the completion of the acquisition, the company will be renamed and rebranded as QuTEM. Vironova BioAnalytics has established a strong reputation as a trusted partner for pharmaceutical companies globally, known for its commitment to high-quality standards. This acquisition represents an important step in the company's growth journey, fostering opportunities for innovation and expansion. The strategic decision to rebrand the company as QuTEM reflects the commitment to evolving and delivering cutting-edge TEM solutions to meet the evolving quality control needs of the pharmaceutical sector. The partnership with Columbus Venture Partners through Quatre Lab, Accord Investment Partners and Venture Targeter AB brings together valuable experience and new resources. This collaboration will empower QuTEM to expand its services, invest in advanced technologies, and accelerate development efforts. The company will maintain its focus on providing GMP-compliant TEM analyses crucial for pharmaceutical research, development, and quality control. Josefina Nilsson, CEO of QuTEM (formerly Vironova BioAnalytics), expressed enthusiasm for the acquisition, saying, "We are excited to join forces with these new partners to allow us to provide the pharmaceutical industry with top-quality TEM services, and to expand our capabilities, drive innovation and better serve our clients." Javier Garca, co-founder and general partner of Columbus Venture Partners, also expressed his excitement about this acquisition. "Vironova BioAnalytics has a strong track record of delivering precise and reliable TEM analyses. We see potential in this collaboration and are committed to supporting the company's growth and mission in the pharmaceutical sector." This acquisition and rebranding mark an inspiring new chapter for QuTEM. The company's experienced team will continue to provide pharmaceutical clients with valuable insights and data to advance their drug development and quality assurance efforts. The company, alongside its new partners, is poised to drive innovation and make significant contributions to the pharmaceutical industry. Clients can expect a seamless transition, with QuTEM continuing to deliver the same level of excellence and reliability they have come to rely on from Vironova BioAnalytics. For more information about QuTEM (formerly Vironova BioAnalytics) and its TEM services, please visit qutem.com. Contact information: Josefina Nilsson CEO [email protected] +46 76 109 01 91 About QuTEM QuTEM offers market leading and unique analysis to researchers, developers, and manufacturers of advanced therapeutics. QuTEM is starting with an impressive range of clients across academia, SME biopharma companies, big pharma, CDMOs and QA specialists. With a commitment to quality and precision, the company supports pharmaceutical companies in their research, development, and quality control efforts. QuTEM's unique capabilities include: - Highly accurate determination of capsid size distribution, going far beyond full/empty analysis and providing highly accurate measurements of capsid content down to numbers of kilobase pairs. - Offer an extensive service portfolio including a wide range of analyses e.g., AAVs, adenoviral vectors, lentivirus, VLPs, LNPs, liposomes., etc. to support biopharma needs. - GMP compliance; QuTEM's predecessor company was the only globally GMP certified provider of these services and all workflows, software and data handling is performed in with full GMP compliance. For more information, visit qutem.com. About Vironova BioAnalytics: Vironova BioAnalytics is a leading provider of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) services, specializing in delivering GMP-compliant TEM analyses for the pharmaceutical industry. About Quatre Lab: Quatre Lab is a Contract Research Organization (CRO) based in San Sebastian (Spain) engaged, among others, on the practice of quality control tests analysis for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) and related services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and other companies involved in pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medicinal product research, development, manufacturing and/or commercialization. About Columbus Venture Partners: Columbus Venture Partners is a Spanish venture capital management company that brings a unique approach to investing in outstanding opportunities across all stages of (bio) pharmaceutical drug development and advanced biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies. The company manages over $250 million across its three funds and has built an impressive track record of performance with recently successful exits in Viralgen, Askbio, PTS, Sanifit, or Recovid, among others. The Columbus professional team combines solid scientific, medical, and business knowledge with extensive experience in the field of biotechnology entrepreneurship. For more information, please visit www.columbusvp.com. About Accord Investment Partners: Accord Partners is a UK based investment firm, founded in 2020 by Sam Breuning. Accord focuses on backing ambitious management teams, with capital and support to enable them to take their businesses to the next level. Accord's other investment in the pharmaceutical sector is the Contained Air Solutions, which it is growing organically and through acquisitions into a globally focused business across containment, automation, and advanced therapeutics. About Venture Targeter AB: Venture Targeter AB is a Swedish investment company with a strategic focus on special situation investments. It is owned and operated by business angels, entrepreneurs and Katalysen Ventures AB, a notable player in the investment space. 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: Goldcup 34064 AB View source version on accesswire.com: New AWS study finds strong demand for AI talent and the potential for workers with AI skills to earn up to 47% more in salaries AWS releases 8 new, free AI and generative AI courses to support professionals looking to upskill Amazon launches AWS Generative AI Scholarship and collaboration with Code.org to help underrepresented and underserved students gain access to next-generation tech education SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Amazon today launched AI Ready, a new initiative aiming to provide free artificial intelligence (AI) skills training and education to 2 million people globally by 2025. Amazon intends to meet this commitment by launching new courses and learning initiatives in AI and scaling existing programs. As part of this goal, today the company is announcing eight new, free courses to help adults upskill in AI and generative AI; a new Amazon Web Services (AWS) Generative AI Scholarship program with online learning platform Udacity; and a new collaboration with Code.org designed to help students learn about generative AI. Artificial intelligence is the most transformative technology of our generation. If we are going to unlock the full potential of AI to tackle the worlds most challenging problems, we need to make AI education accessible to anyone with a desire to learn, said Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of Data and AI at AWS. The goal of AI Ready is to help level the playing field of AI education, supported by the new initiatives were launching today. We will also scale our existing free AI training programs and courses as we continue to remove cost as a barrier to accessing these critical skills. New study finds AI-skilled talent can earn up to 47% more The need for an AI-savvy workforce has never been greater. In fact, 73% of employers say hiring AI-skilled talent is a prioritybut among these, three out of four say they are unable to meet their AI talent needs. This is according to a new study by AWS and research firm Access Partnership. The study also found that employers expect their workers to earn up to 47% more in salaries if they upskill in AI. Looking ahead, AI will only become more integral to the way business is done, with 93% of businesses expecting they will be using AI solutions across their organization in the next five years. Amazon is launching AI Ready to help anyone with a desire to learn about AI and benefit from the tremendous opportunity ahead. The following initiatives are designed to open opportunities to those in the workforce today as well as the future generation. Free generative AI training for in-demand jobs To support professionals in the workplace today, AWS is announcing eight new, free AI and generative AI courses open to anyone and aligned to in-demand jobs. There is something for everyone with courses ranging from foundational to advanced and for business leaders as well as technologists. These courses augment the 80+ free and low-cost AI and generative AI courses and resources provided through AWS. Courses for business and nontechnical audiences Introduction to Generative Artificial Intelligence provides an introduction to generative AI, its applications, and need-to-know concepts, like foundation models. Find it on AWS Educate. provides an introduction to generative AI, its applications, and need-to-know concepts, like foundation models. Find it on AWS Educate. Generative AI Learning Plan for Decision Makers is a three-course series covering how to plan a generative AI project and build a generative AIready organization. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. is a three-course series covering how to plan a generative AI project and build a generative AIready organization. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. Introduction to Amazon CodeWhisperer teaches participants how to use Amazons AI code generator, which produces whole lines of code. Find it on AWS Educate. Courses for developer and technical audiences Foundations of Prompt Engineering introduces the basics of prompt engineering, the practice of designing inputs for generative AI tools, all the way through to advanced prompt techniques. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. introduces the basics of prompt engineering, the practice of designing inputs for generative AI tools, all the way through to advanced prompt techniques. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. Low-Code Machine Learning on AWS explores how to prepare data, train machine learning models, and deploy machine learning models, with minimal coding and without deep knowledge of machine learning. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. explores how to prepare data, train machine learning models, and deploy machine learning models, with minimal coding and without deep knowledge of machine learning. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. Building Language Models on AWS covers how to use Amazon SageMaker distributed training libraries to build language models and how to fine-tune open source and foundation models. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. covers how to use Amazon SageMaker distributed training libraries to build language models and how to fine-tune open source and foundation models. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. Amazon TranscribeGetting Started explores how to use Amazon Transcribe, a fully managed AI service that converts speech to text using automatic speech recognition technology. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. explores how to use Amazon Transcribe, a fully managed AI service that converts speech to text using automatic speech recognition technology. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. Building Generative AI Applications Using Amazon Bedrock teaches how to use Amazon Bedrock to build generative AI applications. Find it on AWS Skill Builder. $12 million in generative AI scholarships Through the AWS Generative AI Scholarship, AWS will provide Udacity scholarships, valued at more than $12 million, to more than 50,000 high school and university students from underserved and underrepresented communities globally. Eligible students can take Introducing Generative AI with AWS, a new course on Udacity, for free. The course, which was designed by AI experts at AWS, introduces students to foundational generative AI concepts and guides them through a hands-on project. Upon successful course completion, students earn a certificate from Udacity to showcase their knowledge to future employers. Accessible and fun introduction to generative AI with new Hour of Code Dance Party: AI Edition Amazon is kicking off a new collaboration between Amazon Future Engineer and Code.org to launch Hour of Code Dance Party: AI Edition. During this hour-long introduction to coding and AI, students will create their own virtual music video set to hit songs from artists including Miley Cyrus, Harry Styles, and more. Students will code their virtual dancers choreography and use emojis as AI prompts to generate animated backgrounds. The activity will give participants an introduction to generative AI, including learning about large language models and how they are used to power the predictive analytics responsible for creating new images, text, and more. Hour of Code will take place globally during Computer Science Education Week, December 410, engaging students and teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade. Additionally, AWS is providing up to $8 million in AWS Cloud computing credits to Code.org, which runs on AWS, to further support Hour of Code. Cloud skills training investment Amazons new AI Ready commitment is in addition to AWSs commitment to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people by 2025, which has already trained more than 21 million people. To get started, visit: aboutamazon.com/29million. About Amazon Web Services Since 2006, Amazon Web Services has been the worlds most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud. AWS has been continually expanding its services to support virtually any workload, and it now has more than 240 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management from 102 Availability Zones within 32 geographic regions, with announced plans for 15 more Availability Zones and five more AWS Regions in Canada, Germany, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Thailand. Millions of customersincluding the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agenciestrust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com. About Amazon Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earths Most Customer-Centric Company, Earths Best Employer, and Earths Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231119572231/en/ Amazon.com, Inc. Media Hotline [email protected] www.amazon.com/pr Source: Amazon WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- FiscalNote Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NOTE), a leading AI-driven enterprise SaaS technology provider of policy and global intelligence, previously announced that the Board of Directors has established a Special Committee (the "Special Committee") to evaluate any proposal it receives from the Companys CEO and Co-founder, Tim Hwang, regarding a potential go-private transaction, as well as any other transaction proposals submitted to the Company. The Special Committee has now retained Centerview Partners LLC as its independent financial advisor. Additionally, on November 17, 2023, Mr. Hwang filed an amendment to his Schedule 13D in which he confirmed he will condition any proposed go-private transaction on approval of the transaction by the Special Committee and a majority of the unaffiliated stockholders of the Company. There can be no assurance that the foregoing will result in any transaction or any other strategic change or outcome, or as to the timing of any of the foregoing. The Company does not expect to comment further on this unless and until the Special Committee has reviewed and recommended and the Board has approved a specific and viable transaction, or until the Company determines further disclosure is appropriate or required by applicable securities laws. As previously announced, the Special Committee has retained Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as its independent legal advisor. About FiscalNote FiscalNote (NYSE: NOTE) is a leader in policy and global intelligence. By uniquely combining data, technology, and insights, FiscalNote empowers customers to manage political and business risk. Since 2013, FiscalNote has pioneered technology that delivers critical insights and the tools to turn them into action. Home to CQ, FrontierView, Oxford Analytica, VoterVoice, and many other industry-leading brands, FiscalNote serves approximately 5,000 customers worldwide with global offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. To learn more about FiscalNote and its family of brands, visit FiscalNote.com and follow @FiscalNote. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120166411/en/ Media Nicholas Graham FiscalNote [email protected] Investor Relations Sara Buda FiscalNote [email protected] Source: FiscalNote Anti-corruption authorities of Ukraine have notified the head of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, his deputy and other officials of suspicion of misappropriation of more than UAH 62 million of public funds, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) informs. "Under the procedural guidance of the SAPO prosecutor, NABU detectives reported suspicion of embezzlement of state funds in the amount of more than UAH 62 million to the head of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, his deputy and other officials. Members of an organized group of six people are suspected of committing crimes," the SAPO telegram channel reported on Monday. According to the prosecutor's office, the actions of the individuals were classified as a crime under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. "As part of the pretrial investigation, it was established that officials of the State Special Communications Service, abusing their official position and acting as part of an organized group, seized budget funds on an especially large scale, totaling more than UAH 62 million," the report states. SAPO clarifies that in 2021, the purchase of information technology tools intended to create a system of secure data registries took place. The winner of the purchase was a company controlled by the organizer of a criminal organization, which supplied software to the State Enterprise Ukrainian Special Systems, related to the State Special Communications Service, at an inflated cost. "Under the terms of contracts for the supply of relevant software and services, the state-owned enterprise transferred more than UAH 285 million in 2021-2022. However, the real cost of the software that the company purchased from a foreign manufacturer amounted to UAH 223 million," the prosecutor's office reports. According to the report, the difference in these funds amounting to more than UAH 62 million was transferred by participants in the criminal scheme to the accounts of controlled companies abroad for the purpose of legalization and distribution among members of the organized group. Investigative actions are ongoing. Other persons who may be involved in the commission of this crime are being identified. CHEVY CHASE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Forbright Bank, a nationwide full-service bank helping accelerate the transition to a sustainable and low-carbon economy, is proud to be recognized as one of American Bankers Best Banks to Work For 2023. Forbrights workplace culture reflects the Banks approach to sustainability which runs throughout its lending, operations, and community impact. "We are honored to be recognized as a Best Bank to Work For by American Banker, said Don Cole, Chief Executive Officer at Forbright Bank. Todays award reflects the hard work and dedication of our team, who consistently strive to provide exceptional customer service, innovative solutions, and keep sustainability at the core of our business. We recognize that our commitment to sustainability makes Forbright and its workplace culture unique. The annual list examines employee satisfaction, bank policies, and employee benefits across hundreds of institutions in America. American Banker sourced Best Companies Group an independent research firm to manage two different blind employee surveys to measure employee satisfaction across categories such as communication, happiness with role, and work environment. Overall, the average score of positive responses for the banks that made the list was 95%, compared with 89% for the institutions that didn't make the list. Forbright is committed to building a bank for a brighter future through its lending, business practices, and community impact. Lending : Today, nearly a third of the Banks portfolio directly funds clean energy and sustainable oriented projects. Forbright finances millions in residential solar loans, green building upgrades, affordable housing, and accessible healthcare. : Today, nearly a third of the Banks portfolio directly funds clean energy and sustainable oriented projects. Forbright finances millions in residential solar loans, green building upgrades, affordable housing, and accessible healthcare. Business Practices : The Banks approach to sustainability runs throughout its operations and employee benefits. The Bank is carbon neutral in its operational footprint and employees receive bonuses for purchasing solar panels, electric vehicles, and biking to work, in addition to benefiting from sustainable subscriptions like compost programs and Imperfect Foods. : The Banks approach to sustainability runs throughout its operations and employee benefits. The Bank is carbon neutral in its operational footprint and employees receive bonuses for purchasing solar panels, electric vehicles, and biking to work, in addition to benefiting from sustainable subscriptions like compost programs and Imperfect Foods. Community Impact: Last year, the Bank expanded its community partnerships tripling its corporate giving to benefit 60 nonprofit organizations and increasing its supplier spend to diverse and small businesses. About Forbright Bank: Forbright Bank (www.forbrightbank.com), Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender, is a full-service bank taking action to decarbonize the economy. Headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Forbright is committed to accelerating the transition to a sustainable, clean energy economy by financing the companies, investors, and innovators driving that change. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120508707/en/ Ben Wakana [email protected] Source: Forbright Bank Interview to Air on Special Report on Tuesday Night NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- FOX News Channel (FNC) correspondent Benjamin Hall traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine this past weekend for the first time since the attack that left him catastrophically injured in March of 2022. The trip was organized by Fox Corporation Executive Chairman and CEO, Lachlan Murdoch, after he was invited to visit the country by President Zelenskyy. Hall conducted a sit-down interview with Zelenskyy which will air on Special Report with Bret Baier (6-7 PM/ET) on Tuesday, November 21. While there, Hall also met with the servicemen who assisted in his evacuation last year and Zelenskyy awarded Hall with the Order of Merit, III class, for his outstanding personal contribution to strengthening interstate cooperation, support for Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity. On March 14, 2022, the car that Hall and his crew were traveling in was hit by Russian missiles while they were news gathering in a village outside Kyiv. The attack left Hall critically injured and resulted in the deaths of FNC photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova. Halls near-fatal injuries included the loss of one of his legs, his foot and losing the function of his one of his hands and an eye. Amid enduring more than 30 surgeries over the last 20 months, Hall chronicled his journey in Saved: A War Reporters Mission to Make it Home which was published in March 2023 and became a New York Times bestseller. The documentary based on Halls harrowing ordeal aired on FNC right after the release of the book and detailed his extraction from Ukraine and the arduous recovery that ensued. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service and has been the number one network in basic cable for the last six years and the most-watched television news channel for more than 21 consecutive years, currently attracting more than 50% of the cable news viewing audience according to Nielsen Media Research. Notably, Nielsen/MRI Fusion has consistently shown FNC to be the network of choice for more Democrat and Independent viewers, with the most politically diverse audience in cable news. Owned by Fox Corporation, FNC is available in nearly 80 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top 15 programs in the genre. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120759342/en/ FOX News Channel Media Contact: Irena Briganti 212-301-3608 or [email protected] Source: FOX News Channel SURREY, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Gaba Travel, a distinguished leader in the travel industry since 1976, is thrilled to announce the soft opening of its latest branch located at Unit 105 9288 120 Street, Surrey, BC. This expansion not only signifies Gaba Travel's growth but also reestablishes its presence in Surrey, demonstrating a commitment to bringing top-notch travel services closer to the community. "Our new Surrey branch represents our enduring dedication to exceptional travel services," stated Ravinder Gaba, President of Gaba Travel. "This launch marks a significant step in our journey, bringing personalized and unforgettable travel experiences closer to our clients." More Than Just Bookings: Crafting Memorable Journeys At Gaba Travel, the focus goes beyond mere travel bookings. The new Surrey branch is dedicated to creating unforgettable travel experiences, offering a wide range of services from peaceful vacation packages to essential business trips and adventurous global escapades. The expert team in Surrey is equipped to provide personalized travel solutions. Gaba Travel is known for its emphasis on building lasting relationships with clients, ensuring each journey is tailored to individual preferences and needs. Experience Our Personal Touch at Our Surrey Location Gaba Travel warmly invites customers to visit the new Surrey branch, the only Gaba Travel location in the area. The Gaba Travel team of friendly travel consultants is eager to assist clients in exploring a comprehensive range of travel services and planning their next adventure. It's important to note that the new location at 9288 120 Street is the sole Gaba Travel branch in Surrey. Gaba Travel has been connecting clients to the world since 1976 and is excited to continue this journey from its new Surrey location. For more information or to start planning your travel, contact Gaba Travel at 604 954 3336 or visit our Surrey location page. The company looks forward to welcoming clients to its new Surrey home. About Gaba Travel Gaba Travel, a family-owned business, has been a symbol of trust and quality in travel services since 1976. Specializing in personalized travel experiences, the company prides itself on its expert team and commitment to customer satisfaction. With over 45 years of experience, Gaba Travel has become a trusted name in travel, not just for trips to India but for a wide array of destinations and experiences worldwide. From special destination weddings to family vacations on sun-kissed beaches, Gaba Travel offers unique travel experiences. Catering to diverse needs, our services include Alaskan, Bahamas, Mediterranean and global cruises, vibrant bachelor or bachelorette parties, and tranquil honeymoons. We provide a range of options from bustling cities to serene beach retreats. Driven by customer satisfaction, our team helps turn travel dreams into reality, crafting joyous stories and lasting memories. For personalized travel solutions and to learn more, visit our social media page. Contact us to explore the perfect vacation, connecting you to the world in memorable ways. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120304029/en/ Nitin Gaba 604 324 3336 [email protected] www.gabatravel.com Source: Gaba Travel COO Brian Heflin Promoted to President of PlainsCapital Bank, CAO Pete Villarreal Promoted to COO, and Hilltop President and CEO Jeremy B. Ford to Serve as CEO DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTH) (Hilltop) today announced that Jerry Schaffner, President and CEO of Hilltops banking subsidiary, PlainsCapital Bank (the Bank), is retiring on May 1, 2024. At that time, Hilltop President and CEO Jeremy B. Ford will become CEO of PlainsCapital Bank. In anticipation of the transition, PlainsCapital Chief Operating Officer Brian Heflin has been named President of the Bank, and current Chief Administrative Officer Pete Villarreal has been named Chief Operating Officer effective immediately. Schaffner will continue to serve on PlainsCapital Banks board of directors, and Ford will continue to serve as President and CEO of Hilltop and Chairman of PlainsCapital Bank following the transition. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120318810/en/ Jerry Schaffner (Photo: Business Wire) Jerry Schaffner has had an astonishing career spanning 42 years and has been a key leader at PlainsCapital since its very beginning in 1988, Ford said. As we celebrate his well-deserved retirement and implement our succession plan, I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to build on Jerrys legacy. This is an exciting time for our organization, as we remain focused on supporting and growing our markets and enhancing the Banks connectivity and profitability. We are fortunate to have Brian as President and Pete as COO, as both bring proven tenured leadership to their new roles. I look forward to working with them and the rest of the Banks leadership as we continue to serve our customers, employees, communities, and shareholders. Schaffner joined PlainsCapital in 1988 as a vice president in Lubbock, Texas. During his tenure, he has served as Chief Lending Officer and Banking Group President, before being named President and CEO in 2010. PlainsCapital has been an important part of my life for the past 35 years, and I consider our organization to be part of my extended family, Schaffner said. While my decision to retire was a difficult one, I know it is the right time for both me and the Bank. PlainsCapital is in a remarkably strong position, and I have complete confidence in the Banks leadership. My time at the Bank has been incredibly rewarding, and I look forward to this exciting next chapter. Heflin joined PlainsCapital Bank in 1987 and led the Banks entry into the North Texas region in 1999. In addition to his position as Chief Operating Officer, he previously has served as North Texas Region Chairman and President of PlainsCapital Banks Turtle Creek branch in Dallas. I am honored to serve in my new role as President of PlainsCapital Bank and look forward to working closely with Jeremy, Pete, and the rest of the Banks leadership throughout the transition period and beyond, Heflin said. I am happy for Jerry as he enters retirement and want to express my deep gratitude for his 35 years of guidance and leadership. It has truly been an honor working alongside him. Villarreal joined PlainsCapital Bank in 1988 and previously served as Chief of Bank Operations before being named Chief Administrative Officer in 2012. I am excited about the beginning of this new phase for PlainsCapital and consider it a privilege to serve in my new role as Chief Operating Officer, Villarreal said. Jerry has been a friend and mentor for more than three decades and I congratulate him on his pending retirement. Following his example, the Bank will remain focused on providing the highest level of service for our customers and working to enhance our operations throughout the markets we serve. About Hilltop Holdings Inc. Hilltop Holdings is a Dallas-based financial holding company. Its primary line of business is to provide business and consumer banking services from offices located throughout Texas through PlainsCapital Bank. PlainsCapital Banks wholly owned subsidiary, PrimeLending, provides residential mortgage lending throughout the United States. Hilltop Holdings broker-dealer subsidiaries, Hilltop Securities Inc. and Momentum Independent Network Inc., provide a full complement of securities brokerage, institutional and investment banking services in addition to clearing services and retail financial advisory. At September 30, 2023, Hilltop employed approximately 3,900 people and operated 336 locations in 48 states. Hilltop Holdings' common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "HTH." Find more information at Hilltop-Holdings.com, PlainsCapital.com, PrimeLending.com and Hilltopsecurities.com. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS DISCLAIMER This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and, except as required by law, we do not assume any duty to update forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning such things as our plans, objectives, strategies, expectations, intentions and other statements that are not statements of historical fact, and may be identified by words such as believe, expects, focus, may, plan, seeks, strategy, will or would or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases. See the risk factors described in Hilltop Holdings Inc.s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120318810/en/ Investor Relations Contact: Hilltop Holdings Inc. Erik Yohe 214-525-4634 [email protected] Media Relations Contact: Hilltop Holdings Inc. Ben Brooks 214.252.4047 [email protected] Source: Hilltop Holdings Inc. SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, today announced the Company will present at the following upcoming investor event: Sujai Hajela, Executive Vice President, AI-Driven Enterprise at Juniper Networks, will host a Juniper MistTM Customer Tech Talk, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 10:00 11:30 am PT. To attend this event, you must pre-register. Below is a link to the registration site: register.events.juniper.net/JuniperMistCustomerTechTalk This event will be available live via webcast on the Juniper Networks website: http://investor.juniper.net/. About Juniper Networks Juniper Networks is dedicated to dramatically simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Our solutions deliver industry-leading insight, automation, security and AI to drive real business results. We believe that powering connections will bring us closer together while empowering us all to solve the worlds greatest challenges of well-being, sustainability and equality. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Juniper, and Junos, and other trademarks listed here are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120920064/en/ Investor Relations: Jess Lubert Juniper Networks (408) 936-3734 [email protected] Media Relations: Elliott Burr Juniper Networks (408) 936-7823 [email protected] Source: Juniper Networks WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- More than 1,100 experts have joined the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in boycotting the medical journal Nutrients until it stops publishing egregious animal experiments that could have been ethically conducted in humans. The boycott, which also applies to Nutrients publisher, MDPI, comes after repeated requests to the journals editors asking them to institute sound editorial practices. A letter sent to those editors today, Nov. 20, 2023, says As a community of scientists and health care professionals, we have lost confidence in Nutrients and MDPI. We will not publish in Nutrients or other MDPI journals nor serve as reviewers until Nutrients implements a policy of publishing only studies using human participants or human data for nutrition research. Last year, more than 800 medical professionals and scientists contacted Nutrients saying theyd lost confidence in the journal because its animal experiments violate its own ethical guidelines, which require the replacement of animals by alternatives wherever possible. A review by the Physicians Committee showed the rule is routinely ignored. As an example, this recent Nutrients study used 50 preterm piglets to research necrotizing enterocolitis in infants. Pigs were fed different infant formulas and human milk with and without an added probiotic and had their gut microbiota analyzed. All of them were killed at the end of the experiment. Numerous clinical trials in humans have already shown that probiotic supplements can significantly decrease this condition in infants, said Janine McCarthy, MPH, science policy program manager for the Physicians Committee. Therefore, the experiment clearly violated the 3Rs principle of replacement, as well as Nutrients own ethical guidelines. Dr. Elizabeth Dean, a professor emeritus in the department of physical therapy at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and former reviewer for Nutrients, signed the boycott letter. When I became aware of the extensive animal use, especially where the objectives could have been achieved using human-based approaches, I decided to investigate further because I couldnt compromise my own ethics, she said. Ultimately, Dean told Nutrients editors the research they publish is sadistic, cruel, and unnecessary, and that there are superior means to conducting research, not just alternatives to using animals. With this, she resigned. I expressed my regrets to the editor-in-chief, she said. Nutrients charges authors some $3,200 to get published, which means it makes more than $16 million annually in authors fees. In 2018, the journals senior leadership quit, citing a lack of commitment to scientific integrity. Richard Schmidt, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist who specializes in fertility problems in Mountainview, Calif., is among those who are boycotting the journal. When it comes to the system Nutrients uses for increasing the flow of articles without discrimination for the types of studies its publishing, there is a clear lack of adherence to the journals own guidelines. This is morally wrong, Dr. Schmidt said. I absolutely think its setting a scary precedent for a business model that has real potential to corrupt the whole research arena. To speak with Dr. Smith or Ms. McCarthy, please contact Kim Kilbride at 202-717-8665 or [email protected]. Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit organization that promotes preventive medicine, conducts clinical research, and encourages higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in research. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120295983/en/ Kim Kilbride, 202-717-8665, [email protected] Source: Physicians Committee IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- New Home Co. (New Home) is pleased to announce today that it has introduced a new award plan for its employees. New Home Co.s Broad-based Employee Award Plan (BEAP) provides eligible team members with an opportunity to participate in the long-term growth and success of New Home, offering cash rewards to plan participants based on the increase in the equity valuation of the company over time. The strength of our company is built upon hundreds of hardworking, valuable, and dedicated team members who are the foundation of our organization, said Matthew R. Zaist, President & CEO of New Home Co. We are establishing the New Home Broad-based Employee Award Plan to recognize and reward the contributions of the employees in our New Home family. The Plan is provided at no cost and will give all eligible team members the opportunity to benefit from the valuation appreciation of the Company. The Plan is designed to recognize the contributions the New Home team has made to the growth of the company and is another employee benefit that differentiates and makes New Home a top employer of choice. We continue to be excited about the long-term growth opportunities at New Home Co., said Peter Sinensky, Partner at Apollo. The New Home Broad-based Employee Award Plan demonstrates the companys commitment to its employees and continued focus on becoming a best-in-class builder. Homebuilding is a people business at its core and the plan speaks to the value we place on talent and the role they will play in the growth of the business in the years to come. To learn more about New Home and the benefits it offers, visit https://www.newhomeco.com/careers. About New Home Co. New Home Co. is a western regional builder and real estate development company headquartered in Irvine, Calif. It has divisions within select growth markets in California, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. New Home Co. is one of most awarded homebuilders in the United States. It was named 2019 Builder of the Year by Professional Builder and is a multi-year recipient of The Eliant for providing the Best Overall Customer Experience in North America in the Eliant Homebuyers Choice Awards. New Home Co. has won hundreds of awards in the homebuilding industry for its design and planning excellence, dozens of Community of the Year awards, and was recognized five straight years for creating the best community or master plan in all the United States. For more information, visit NewHomeCo.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120856748/en/ Mike Hoye PSM Communication Arts | Public Relations (310) 346-0845 (mobile) or [email protected] Source: New Home Co. TORONTO & SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- POSaBIT Systems Corporation (CSE: PBIT, OTC: POSAF) (the Company or POSaBIT ), a leading provider of payments infrastructure in the cannabis industry, will host a conference call and live webcast on November 30, 2023 at 4:30 PM ET to discuss the results of the third quarter ended September 30, 2023. Conference Call Information Date: November 30, 2023 Time: 4:30 PM Eastern Time Toll Free: 888-506-0062 International: 973-528-0011 Participant Access Code: 438543 Webcast URL: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2708/49500 Conference Call Replay Information: Toll Free: 877-481-4010 International: 919-882-2331 Replay Passcode: 49500 Webcast Replay URL: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2708/49500 Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our business strategy, product development, timing of product development, events and courses of action. Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, outlook, expectations or intentions regarding the future including words or phrases such as anticipate, objective, may, will, might, should, could, can, intend, expect, believe, estimate, predict, potential, plan, is designed to or similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or the negative thereof or similar variations, including the Companys ability to continue to execute on its commercial agreements with MJ Freeway merchants and the synergies related to the Companys acquisition of Hypur. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including business, economic and capital market conditions; the ability to manage our operating expenses, which may adversely affect our financial condition; our ability to remain competitive as other better financed competitors develop and release competitive products; regulatory uncertainties; market conditions and the demand and pricing for our products; and our relationships with our customers, distributors and business partners. Neither we nor any of our representatives make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, sufficiency or completeness of the information in this news release. Neither we nor any of our representatives shall have any liability whatsoever, under contract, tort, trust or otherwise resulting from the use of the information in this news release or for omissions from the information in this news release. About POSaBIT POSaBIT (CSE: PBIT, OTC: POSAF) is a FinTech, working exclusively within the cannabis industry. We provide a best-in-class Point-of-Sale solution and are the leading cashless payment provider for cannabis retailers. We work tirelessly to build better financial services and transaction methods for merchants. We bring cutting-edge software and technology to the cannabis industry so that all merchants can have a safe and compliant set of services to solve the problems of a cash-only industry. For additional information, visit www.posabit.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231121489523/en/ Media Relations: Jesse Swingle 855-767-2248 [email protected] Management: Ryan Hamlin Co-founder and CEO of POSaBIT 855-767-2248 [email protected] Source: POSaBIT Systems Corporation MENLO PARK, Calif. & MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Riverwood Capital, one of the leading investment firms solely dedicated to technology growth and scalability, today announced it closed approximately $1.8 billion in new capital commitments to invest in high-growth technology businesses globally. The close coincides with Riverwoods 15-year anniversary. Riverwood has reached $7.3 billion of value across all investments since inception by executing a consistent investment strategy focused on actively partnering with established technology companies as they seek capital and expertise to scale their customers, products, and global footprints. Riverwood has led investments in over 75 companies, each benefiting from secular technology trends such as digitalization, cloud, SaaS, AI and automation, big data and analytics and selected for their differentiated business, human capital, and platform across several key sub-sectors including cybersecurity, fintech, enterprise IT, sales and marketing tech, HR tech, edtech, among others. The firm's dedicated investment strategy and active partnership model has generated consistent performance throughout economic cycles, with Riverwood portfolio companies having grown revenue around 40% per year on average during the firms hold period. Since 2008, we have been focused on a very attractive and expanding market opportunity for mid-size, high-growth technology companies in which we can invest between $25 and $100 million and provide world-class operational resources and expertise to scale those businesses without the limitations and leverage risks associated with traditional buyout strategies, said Jeff Parks, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Riverwood Capital. Having a concentrated portfolio of proven companies also allows us to take advantage of the upside of a high-growth profile, while aiming to avoid venture risks, such as investing in untested business models and speculative product market fit. We have been exclusively focused on business fundamentals and scalability from day onethrough the recent peak of the market in 2021, or as we look to deploy fresh capital in this next chapter, Riverwood has led with a different approach and value proposition than momentum-driven investors, said Francisco Alvarez-Demalde, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Riverwood Capital. Our overall track record and decades of proprietary knowledge and scalability experience across the technology, financial, and operational needs of growth stage companies have solidified Riverwood as a partner of choice for our investors and portfolio companies. We are grateful for the support we have received from our investors since the beginning as we close out our largest fundraise to-date. Riverwoods fourth generation of funds exceeded their targets with a strong re-up rate, counting investments from leading institutions and prominent new investors including some of the largest and most well-known pension and hospital systems, foundations, university endowments, global fund of funds, insurance companies, family offices, and other world class investors. We would like to express gratitude to our investors who have recognized and continue to see value in Riverwoods disciplined approach, and to the firms entire team and portfolio who have been instrumental in executing our vision to create long lasting category-defining companies, added Parks. The acceleration of tech transformation globally is undeniable, and we see a growing set of opportunities to partner with amazing teams to build fundamentally strong companies as we enter a balanced new era of technology growth, concluded Alvarez-Demalde. ABOUT RIVERWOOD CAPITAL Riverwood Capital invests in high-growth companies in the technology and technology-enabled industries. Riverwood offers a unique combination of operational, strategic, technology, and financial insight to portfolio companies that typically need growth capital and expertise to scale on a global basis. The firm seeks to invest in established businesses with a proven technology and business model, and the proper fit in terms of culture and values. Riverwood was founded in 2008 and has had the opportunity to invest in and support over 75 companies since inception, which have grown revenues at around 40% per year on average during that period. The Firm has offices in Menlo Park, CA; Miami, FL; New York, NY; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. For more information, visit www.riverwoodcapital.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120598375/en/ Caitlin Mitchell, Riverwood Capital [email protected] James Maloney, Tiger Hill Partners [email protected] Source: Riverwood Capital HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- USD Partners LP (OTC: USDP) (the Partnership) announced today that it has entered into a one-year extension agreement with an existing refiner customer at its Hardisty Terminal for a contract that was set to expire in January 2024. The current agreement with the customer contains a commitment for 15% of the Hardisty Terminals capacity. The one-year extension with the customer contracts 7% of the Hardisty Terminals capacity through the end of January 2025, with an option to utilize up to an incremental 4% of the terminals capacity on a monthly basis. The renewal contains take-or-pay terms with minimum monthly payments and a slightly higher average rate than the original terminalling services agreement. We are pleased to announce that we have executed an early extension with our long-term refiner customer at the Hardisty Terminal, said Jim Albertson, USDs Senior Vice President Energy Infrastructure and Chief Commercial Officer - Canada. With inventory levels and pipeline egress apportionment levels in Western Canada trending higher, the demand for crude by rail solutions should potentially continue to increase, which could lead to higher demand for terminalling services at the Partnerships Hardisty Terminal. We look forward to keeping the market updated regarding our commercial discussions and potential new contracts for terminalling services at the Partnerships Hardisty Terminal, added Jim. About USD Partners LP USD Partners LP is a fee-based, growth-oriented master limited partnership formed in 2014 by US Development Group, LLC (USD) to acquire, develop and operate midstream infrastructure and complementary logistics solutions for crude oil, biofuels and other energy-related products. The Partnership generates substantially all of its operating cash flows from multi-year, take-or-pay contracts with primarily investment grade customers, including major integrated oil companies, refiners and marketers. The Partnerships principal assets include a network of crude oil terminals that facilitate the transportation of heavy crude oil from Western Canada to key demand centers across North America. The Partnerships operations include railcar loading and unloading, inbound and outbound pipeline connectivity, truck transloading, as well as other related logistics services. In addition, the Partnership provides customers with leased railcars and fleet services to facilitate the transportation of liquid hydrocarbons and biofuels by rail. USD, which owns the general partner of USD Partners LP, is engaged in designing, developing, owning, and managing large-scale multi-modal logistics centers and energy-related infrastructure across North America. USDs solutions create flexible market access for customers in significant growth areas and key demand centers, including Western Canada, the U.S. Gulf Coast and Mexico. Among other projects, USD is currently pursuing the development of a premier energy logistics terminal on the Houston Ship Channel with capacity for substantial tank storage, multiple docks (including barge and deepwater), inbound and outbound pipeline connectivity, as well as a rail terminal with unit train capabilities. For additional information, please visit texasdeepwater.com. Information on websites referenced in this release is not part of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws, including statements related to inventory levels and pipeline egress apportionment levels, statement related to demand for crude by rail solutions, including demand for terminalling services at the Partnerships Hardisty Terminal, and statements regarding announcements of potential new terminalling services contracts at the Partnerships Hardisty Terminal. Words and phrases such as expect, plan, intent, believes, projects, begin, anticipates, subject to and similar expressions are used to identify such forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements relating to the Partnership are based on managements expectations, estimates and projections about the Partnership, its interests and the energy industry in general on the date this press release was issued. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements include the Partnerships ability to enter into new contracts for uncontracted capacity and to renew expiring contracts and changes in general economic conditions and commodity prices, as well as those factors set forth under the heading Risk Factors and elsewhere in the Partnerships most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the Partnerships subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (many of which may be amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent significant reductions in demand for and prices of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids). The Partnership is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Category: Operations View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120826539/en/ Adam Altsuler Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (281) 291-3995 [email protected] Jennifer Waller Sr. Director, Financial Reporting and Investor Relations (832) 991-8383 [email protected] Source: USD Partners LP President of Ukraine Voloymyr Zelenskyy met with Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch, journalists of Fox News Benjamin Hall and The Sun Jerome Starkey. As the press service of the Presidential Office reported on Monday, Zelenskyy thanked Murdoch for his visit and emphasized that this is a very important signal of support at a time when the world's focus is blurred by other events. Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of maintaining the world's attention to our efforts in the fight for freedom and our state. "For some reason, people treat it like a movie and expect that there will be no long pauses in the events, that the picture before their eyes will always change, that there will be some surprises every day. But for us, for our warriors, this is not a movie. These are our lives. This is daily hard work. And it will not be over as quickly as we would like, but we have no right to give up and we will not," the Head of State emphasized. In the spring of 2022, a group of Fox News journalists came under Russian fire in Kyiv region. Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian fixer Oleksandra Kuvshynova were killed. Benjamin Hall was seriously wounded. The President noted the important role of the world media in consolidating international support for Ukraine and expressed condolences to all those whose relatives and friends were taken by the war. "All this time, journalists, cameramen, editors, photographers, drivers have been on the frontline. As this is a hybrid war, information is also a weapon in Russian hands. My sincere condolences to the families and friends of those very brave men and women who lost their lives trying to show what is happening in Ukraine. In particular, it is thanks to journalists from many countries that we now have such support in the world," Zelenskyy said. The new roles are a result of rising demand for locally sourced mass timber from East Coast Owners and Architects BANGOR, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WholeTrees Structures is expanding its production capacity in Maine and is seeking to fill two key leadership positions for the ramp up of a new facility. WholeTrees is a Wisconsin-based company that prefabricates structural systems made of round and sawn heavy timber and innovates products and technology to open new markets for this naturally strong structural material. In recent years, WholeTrees has received investment in the form of several grants to explore the potential for expanded east coast markets for sustainably managed Maine timber. With the rise of the use and interest of mass timber across the AEC community, demand has increased enough for WholeTrees to begin the hiring process for key members of the Maine expansion team. The result will be investment back into the communities of Maine and the sustainably managed forest products industry. The company currently seeks both a detail-oriented Operations and Project Manager and a Fabrication and Floor lead with broad experience in project management, creative production management, carpentry, and teamwork; and ideally with experience in crew-leadership, timber framing, and communications with clients and markets at large to join the WholeTrees fabrication team in Maine to lead Operations and Project Management at this new facility. The position will work closely with experienced WholeTrees foremen and inventory leadership in Maine and in Wisconsin. Innovative owners and architects are drawn to the carbon sequestration potential, biophilic aesthetic appeal and overall durability of using structural round timber and sawn heavy timber in modern building design. Demand has increased exponentially from landscape architects, innovative educational institutions, and cutting edge architects for the unmilled timber in products such as columns, beams, trusses, and natural playground elements. The ramp up of the new facility is an exciting step in bringing the new green economy to Maine, providing multiple jobs (from Leadership to Fabrication Specialists) at previously shuttered manufacturing spaces and bringing economic prosperity to the community while supporting sustainable forestry practices. The current strategy anticipates fabrication at this facility will begin in early 2024. These leadership positions are key to making this goal a reality. WholeTrees' increased engagement in Maine has been precipitated by partnerships with Seven Islands Land Company, the Town of Ashland, the University of Maine, the Northern Forest Center, the Maine Technology Institute and others. If you or someone you know is interested in either of these positions, please visit our careers page on the website and submit your resume. About WholeTrees Structures: WholeTrees uses the inherent strength of Structural Round Timber (SRT) and millions of years of organic structural engineering to provide beautiful, affordable, sustainable, and durable biophilic structural systems that restore forests. Founded in 2007 on an off-grid forest farm in Southwest Wisconsin, the founding team brought CAD and BIM to the organic shapes of SRT, fabricated ground-breaking, first-of-its-kind structural systems across the country and launched sustainable forestry partnerships to become the National leader and unrivaled expert in engineering unmilled timber for commercial construction. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120890389/en/ [email protected] Source: WholeTrees Structures AstraZeneca today launches Evinova, set to be a leading provider of digital health solutions to better meet the needs of healthcare professionals, regulators and patients. With long-term backing from AstraZeneca and strategic collaborations with Parexel and Fortrea, Evinova offers globally-scaled digital products and services to the life sciences and healthcare sector. Evinova will prioritise bringing to market established and scaled digital technology solutions already being used globally by AstraZeneca to optimise clinical trial design and delivery. This will reduce the time and cost of developing new medicines, bring care closer to home for patients and reduce the burden on health systems. Evinova will also pursue opportunities in digital remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics with a pipeline of digital innovations in these areas. Drawing on AstraZenecas deep experience of developing novel therapeutics and with insights from thousands of patients and clinical researchers, Evinova will provide established technology solutions to pharma, biotech and CROs to support clinical research globally. The technologies have already been used in the successful delivery of multiple AstraZeneca-sponsored clinical trials in over 40 countries. Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, said: The future of medicine development can be accelerated with digital solutions. We believe Evinovas combination of scientific expertise and track record in developing AI-enabled digital technologies at scale, provides a real opportunity to fundamentally improve patient care, drive healthcare transformation and reduce carbon emissions. Cristina Duran, President of Evinova, said: We are excited to bring the portfolio of globally-scaled digital solutions developed to serve AstraZenecas drug development pipeline to the wider life sciences community. We believe this will help propel the sector forward in digital health, as we know healthcare professionals and regulators need digital solutions that work across pharma and support patients broadly. Coming from within the sector and with proven experience, Evinova will be uniquely placed to deliver science-based, evidence-led and human experience-driven solutions with the aim of improving patient experience and outcomes. Globally-leading CROs Parexel and Fortrea have entered into agreements to offer Evinova digital health solutions to their wide customer base. To accelerate industry adoption and sustain and expand the global reach of its digital products, Evinova is collaborating with Accenture and Amazon Web Services. Evinova will combine clinical and regulatory experience gained at AstraZeneca with its deep expertise in digital technology spanning strategy and development, digital product development, data science and AI, user experience design and behavioural science. In addition to digital solutions, Evinova will offer custom scientific solutions, including remote patient monitoring and novel endpoint solutions, as well as trial design and consulting services. Coeur Mining, Inc. (Coeur or the Company) (NYSE: CDE) today announced that its subsidiary, Coeur Mexicana, S.A. de C.V., has signed a purchase agreement with a subsidiary of Fresnillo plc (Fresnillo) to acquire mining concessions adjacent to the Palmarejo gold-silver complex located in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Total consideration includes a cash payment of approximately $25 million ($10 million due at closing, which is expected to occur sometime in 2024) and a future royalty on certain ounces discovered on the purchased concessions. Together, the concessions comprise nearly 7,000 acres and include claims adjacent to two primary zones within Palmarejos existing footprint as shown in yellow on the map below. The first set of concessions cover the southeast extensions of the Independencia and Nacion deposits where mining currently takes place. The second set of concessions, located to the northeast, surrounds multiple targets containing mineralization and historic resources that were added through the 2015 acquisition of Paramount Gold and Silver. Intensive field work including mapping and sampling across the entire Eastern land package, which was ramped up over the past twelve months and has shown very encouraging results, is expected to accelerate further following closing to test the most advanced targets along these two main trends. This transaction fills in two key strategic gaps in the large land package East of the Palmarejo mine which unlocks significant potential in areas unencumbered by the existing Franco-Nevada gold stream. Once complete, our land holdings outside the gold stream-encumbered areas will increase by nearly 20% and the overall Palmarejo complex will consist of a single nearly contiguous district spanning over 70,000 acres of highly prospective and underexplored ground in the heart of the prolific Sierra Madre Occidental, said Mitchell J. Krebs, Coeur President and Chief Executive Officer. In the near-term, we intend to pursue the southeast extensions of existing deposits that trend onto the claims, which provides opportunities to add to Palmarejos mine life and leverage existing infrastructure. Another near-term post-closing priority will be to integrate, update and potentially add to historic resources in the northeast area of the previously fragmented land package, which represents an opportunity to further boost Palmarejos overall mineral resources to the East. The terms of the transaction include an up-front cash payment to Fresnillo of $10 million payable upon closing, an additional $10 million payable 12 months after closing, and an additional $5 million payable 24 months after closing. The concessions will be subject to a royalty payment of $25 per ounce1 for each new gold-equivalent (AuEq) ounce of resource discovered between 450,000 and two million AuEq ounces. Closing is subject to applicable regulatory approvals in Mexico. RE/MAX, the #1 name in real estate*, today announced the Missouri court granted preliminary approval of its settlement in the class action lawsuits known as Burnett, Moehrl and Nosalek, and any similar claims on a nationwide basis. To address the pending litigation and mitigate the uncertainties and costs associated with prolonged legal proceedings, RE/MAX, LLC entered into a settlement agreement with plaintiffs on October 5, 2023 . RE/MAX, LLC agreed to pay $55 million and make changes to business practices as part of the settlement. The proposed settlement would resolve on a nationwide basis all claims asserted against RE/MAX, LLC and includes releases for all U.S. RE/MAX independent regions, franchisees and agents. RE/MAX, LLC continues to deny the allegations made in the complaints and does not acknowledge any wrongdoing. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, RE/MAX, LLC has deposited 25% of the agreed-upon $55 million into a settlement fund; 25% is due within 10 business days after preliminary approval; and the remainder within 10 business days after final court approval. "We are pleased with the court's decision to grant preliminary approval of the settlement," said Nick Bailey , President and CEO of RE/MAX, LLC. "This development signifies progress in our ongoing efforts and commitment to a resolution it's a positive step forward in bringing these cases closer to the finish line." If the settlement is granted final approval by the Missouri court, all U.S. RE/MAX affiliates, including franchisees and agents, will be protected from claims connected to the lawsuits and any similar claims. At this time, final approval is expected sometime next year. The business practice terms of the settlement must be implemented within six months of the final effective date. Apart from the $55 million payment, RE/MAX, LLC does not expect the terms of the settlement agreement to have a material impact on its results of operations and cash flows. EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arctic Wolf, a global leader in security operations, today announced that it was named a 2023 CDW Partner of the Year. CDWs Partner of the Year Awards were presented on November 9 during the 2023 CDW Partner Summit in Las Vegas, honoring CDW partners that represent the power of modern, customer-first partnerships and provided exemplary products, programs, solutions and services to support CDW and its customers throughout the year. With the number of cyber-attacks continuing to rise, global companies are striving to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape in the face of a shortage of qualified cybersecurity talent, ongoing economic uncertainty, and the lack of a unifying security platform that can help their internal teams manage the barrage of alerts produced by their disparate security tools. The global partnership between Arctic Wolf and CDW ensures organizations of virtually any size can get access to the Arctic Wolf Security Operations Cloud, which aims to help organizations tackle digital threats through an operations-first approach. The Arctic Wolf Security Operations Cloud is a market-leading solution that makes it fast and easy to enable 247 security operations at the push of a button. Being named a CDW Partner of the Year winner is an honor and milestone in our relationship with CDW. This strong partnership wasnt built overnight but working alongside each other to provide world-class technological solutions to our customers has produced a winning formula, said Will Briggs, senior vice president, channel sales, Arctic Wolf. We look forward to continuing to forge an unbeatable partnership with CDW by protecting and delighting our customers on their journey to end cyber risk. This recognition from CDW is the latest validation from the channel community that consistently recognizes Arctic Wolf for its 100% go-to-market partner model and disruptive cybersecurity innovations. Recognized for its world-class go-to-market programs, segment leadership, and category-leading solutions, Arctic Wolf has accomplished impressive scale and growth over the past nine years. In the last 12 months, Arctic Wolf has been honored with a 2023 CRN Tech Innovator Award, a five-star rating in the 2023 CRN Partner Program Guide, and was named one of the 20 Coolest Risk, Threat Intelligence And Security Operations Companies Of 2023: The Security 100. CDW Partner of the Year Awards are based on input from CDWs sales team and other departments such as product and partner management, marketing and integrated technology solutions. Additional selection criteria include growth of the partners sales through CDW, overall profitability at CDW and market strategy alignment. Each year during CDWs Partner Summit, we look forward to celebrating the outstanding efforts of our partner community. We are excited to honor our 2023 CDW Partner of the Year award recipients and their efforts to empower our mutual customers with industry leading solutions and services together, said Aletha Noonan, senior vice president of product and partner management. We congratulate Arctic Wolf and thank them for their continued commitment to CDW and representing the winning formula for modern partnerships. CDW also recognized Arctic Wolfs Channel Sales Director Craig Langer with a 2023 Channel Account Manager of the Year award. Since joining Arctic Wolf in 2019, Craig has led a team that has demonstrated an acumen for cultivating business success between shared customers, fostering a dynamic relationship with CDW, and emphasizing Arctic Wolf as a leading customer choice for security operations solutions in the channel. The individual award winners were chosen for their outstanding leadership and for providing excellent service to CDWs coworkers, customers and communities. Additional Resources: About Arctic Wolf: Arctic Wolf is a global leader in security operations, enabling customers to manage their cyber risk in the face of modern cyber-attacks via a premier cloud-native security operations platform. The Arctic Wolf Security Operations Cloud ingests and analyzes more than 4.5 trillion security events a week to help enable cyber defense at an unprecedented capacity and scale, empowering customers of virtually any size across a wide range of industries to feel confident in their security posture, readiness, and long-term resilience. By delivering automated threat protection, response, and remediation capabilities, Arctic Wolf delivers world-class security operations with the push of a button so customers can defend their greatest assets at the speed of data. Press Contact:Bianca Gorospe[email protected]650-392-4457 2023 Arctic Wolf Networks, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Arctic Wolf, Arctic Wolf Platform, Arctic Wolf Security Operations Cloud, Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Arctic Wolf Managed Risk, Arctic Wolf Managed Security Awareness, Arctic Wolf Incident Response, and Arctic Wolf Concierge Security Team are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Arctic Wolf Networks, Inc. or Arctic Wolf Networks Canada, Inc. and any subsidiaries in Canada, the United States, and/or other countries. Source: Arctic Wolf Networks, Inc TORONTO, Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dividend Select 15 Corp. (The "Company") declares its monthly distribution of $0.04733 per Equity share. The distribution is payable December 8, 2023 to shareholders on record as of November 30, 2023. Under the distribution policy announced in September 2014, the monthly dividend payable on the Equity shares is determined by applying a 10.00% annualized rate on the volume weighted average market price (VWAP) of the Equity shares over the last 3 trading days of the preceding month. As a result, Equity shareholders of record on November 30, 2023 will receive a dividend of $0.04733 per share based on the VWAP of $5.68 payable on December 8, 2023. The yield will remain stable at 10.00% (based on the VWAP) under this distribution policy. Since inception, Equity shareholders have received a total of $10.08 per share inclusive of this distribution. The Company invests in a portfolio of 15 Canadian companies selected from the following 20 company universe which are among the highest Canadian dividend yielding stocks. Great West Lifeco Inc. TELUS Corporation Bank of Montreal Loblaw Companies Limited The Bank of Nova Scotia BCE Inc. National Bank of Canada The Toronto-Dominion Bank CIBC Ovintiv Inc. Thomson Reuters Corporation CI Financial Corp. Power Corporation of Canada TMX Group Inc. Cenovus Energy Inc. Royal Bank of Canada TransAlta Corporation Enbridge Inc. Sun Life Financial Inc. TC Energy Corporation Distribution Details Equity Share (DS) $0.04733 Record Date: November 30, 2023 Payable Date: December 8, 2023 Source: Dividend Select 15 Corp. TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE: HCI), a holding company with operations in homeowners insurance, information technology services, real estate, and reinsurance, announced today that its largest subsidiary, Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company, has successfully assumed approximately 53,750 policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Floridas state-backed insurance company. The policies assumed amount to approximately $196 million of in-force premium. The assumption, effective November 21, 2023, is based upon an approval in September 2023 by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. More than 70% of policyholders assumed will see savings over the expected renewal offer from Citizens. Homeowners Choice was approved for 75,000 policies, made 72,958 offers and assumed 53,750 policies a 74% acceptance rate. Homeowners Choice has successfully completed the transition of a significant number of policies that were previously identified by our technology as attractive policies for assumption. The strong acceptance rate was the result of Homeowners Choice offering policyholders a competitively priced renewal policy and expanded coverage compared with their existing Citizens policy, said Paresh Patel, HCIs chairman and chief executive officer. HCI Groups other subsidiary, TypTap Insurance Company, is expected to assume policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation in December 2023 and January 2024. About HCI Group, Inc. HCI Group, Inc. owns subsidiaries engaged in diverse, yet complementary business activities, including homeowners insurance, information technology services, insurance management, real estate, and reinsurance. HCIs leading insurance operation, TypTap Insurance Company, is a technology-driven homeowners insurance company. TypTaps operations are powered in large part by insurance-related information technology developed by HCIs software subsidiary, Exzeo USA, Inc. HCIs largest subsidiary, Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Inc., provides homeowners insurance primarily in Florida. HCIs real estate subsidiary, Greenleaf Capital, LLC, owns and operates multiple properties in Florida, including office buildings, retail centers and marinas. The company's common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "HCI" and are included in the Russell 2000 and S&P SmallCap 600 Index. HCI Group, Inc. regularly publishes financial and other information in the Investor Information section of the companys website. For more information about HCI Group and its subsidiaries, visit www.hcigroup.com. Company Contact: Bill Broomall, CFA Investor Relations HCI Group, Inc. Tel (813) 776-1012 [email protected] Investor Relations Contact: Matt Glover Gateway Group, Inc. Tel 949-574-3860 [email protected] QUEBEC CITY, Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robex Resources Inc. (TSXV: RBX) (Robex or the Company) is pleased to announce the completion of the first phase of Mineral Resource delineation drilling at the Mansounia Central deposit. The Mansounia Central deposit is approximately 3km south of the new Kiniero processing plant at the Kiniero Project in Guinea, West Africa. Highlighted intercepts include: MRC23-038: 16m @ 8.06g/t Au from 27m MRC23-091: 10m @ 4.91g/t Au from 52m MRC23-080: 25m @ 3.61g/t Au from 18m MRC23-113: 12m @ 2.89g/t Au from 10m MRC23-033: 13m @2.21g/t Au from 46m Robex completed an extensive 147 drillhole deposit delineation drilling programme in September 2023 at Mansounia Central following the completion of an extensive bulk leach extractable gold (BLEG) in soil geochemistry campaign across the Mansounia license area. The BLEG geochemical signature confirmed that the Mansounia Central and Mansounia South deposits represent major exploration targets within the much larger shear mineralised Sabali-Mansounia Corridor. This corridor hosts the neighbouring Sabali South deposit (announced 24 May 2022) drilled out by Robex and now forms an integral part of the Kiniero Project restart. Robexs 2023 exploration drilling programme at Mansounia Central was further designed to verify the reliability of the historic drillholes. The Mansounia Central deposit had been historically drilled RAB scout drilling, 2003 to 2005 and RC and DD drilling, 2005 to 2012. Robexs initial reconnaissance drilling in 2022 yielded significant near-surface gold intersects and verified the historic drilling (announced November 28, 2022). The campaign commenced in April 2023 and finished in September 2023 with 147 drillholes totalling 23,310m completed using RC drilling techniques primarily on a 100m x 50m drilling grid, complimented by additional reconnaissance drilling. Results have been highly encouraging, confirming the extensive presence of a well-developed upper supergene low-grade gold deposit, typically within the upper 30m to 50m, as observed from the reconnaissance drilling. Results returned from delineation RC drilling campaign at the Mansounia Central deposit have further confirmed the following: The accuracy and reliability of the historical data; The relationship between the BLEG gold-in-soil and the airborne magnetics, intrusives, the inferred alteration footprint and the underlying confirmed structures; A wide, deep, and continuous low-grade supergene gold mineralisation deposit across the Sabali-Mansounia Corridor; The Mansounia Central deposits represent a strategic near-plant (~3.5km), near-surface oxide and fresh rock target for infill drilling to convert to Mineral Reserves for consideration in the mining schedule of the Kiniero Gold Mine; and Mansounia Central remains open along strike south into Mansounia South and north toward Sabali South, where it is evident that the two deposits could become a single drilled-out domain to form a single larger open pit. Infill drilling is expected to commence at Mansounia Central in early 2024 to update the Mineral Resource estimate. The planned drilling will also include reconnaissance strike extension drilling to the south, into the Mansounia South deposit. With the addition of Mansounia, the total strike extension is approximately 5km from Sabali North to Mansounia Central. This is a significant opportunity to add economic near-surface oxide ounces to the Project. Figure 1: An overview of the Kiniero Mining area, highlighting the proximity of Mansounia Central to the plant, as well as the extensive (~5km) strike length from the southern section of Mansounia Central to the north of Sabali North. Figure 2: Plan map of Mansounia Central indicating completed drilling programs by Burey Gold (historical), Goldfields (historical) and Sycamore Mine Guinee (SMG) (Robex). Larger, black-rimmed RC drill holes show the location of the recently completed 100m x 50m drilling program. Figure 3: Cross sections A-B and C-D indicating downhole significant intercepts (0.2g/t Au and 0.8g/t Au) and the preliminary mineralised envelope. Aurelien Bonneviot, President and CEO: We are pleased to see Mansounia drill delivering positive results. We are refining the interpretation of the DFS done by previous owners in 2004 and with more drilling in Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 we will be able to improve our modelling for which Robex intends to prepare an Updated Mineral Resources Report in Q1 2024. These encouraging results will allow us to increase the oxide ratio into the plant and therefore increase the plant throughput as highlighted in our DFS. Qualified Person The technical disclosures contained in this press release have been reviewed and approved by Dan Tucker, BSc CEng FAusIMM (CP Geo), a Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101. Mr Tucker is the Chief Mining Engineer of Robex and, as such, is not independent within the meaning of NI 43-101. About Robex Resources Inc. Robex is a multi-jurisdictional West African gold production and development company with near-term exploration potential. The Company is dedicated to safe, diverse and responsible operations in the countries in which it operates with a goal to foster sustainable growth. The Company has been operating the Nampala mine in Mali since 2017 and is advancing the Kiniero Gold Project in Guinea. Robex is supported by two strategic shareholders and has the ambition to become a-tier gold producers in West Africa. More Information ROBEX RESOURCES INC. FINANCIAL COMMUNICATIONS RENMARK INC. Aurelien Bonneviot Robert Thaemlitz Chief Executive Officer Account Manager Stanislas Prunier +1 416 644-2020 or +1 212 812-7680 Investor Relations and Corporate Development E-mail: [email protected] +1 581 741-7421 www.renmarkfinancial.com E-mail: [email protected] www.robexgold.com Certain information set forth in this news release contains forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation (referred to herein as forwardlooking statements). Except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained herein constitutes forwardlooking statements which includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to: the potential development and exploitation of the Mansounia Central Deposit or the Kiniero Project and the Companys existing mineral properties and business plan, including the completion of feasibility studies or the making of production decisions in respect thereof; the future financial or operating performance of the Company, the Mansounia Central Deposit and the Kiniero Project; results from work performed to date; the realization of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; the development, operational and economic results of any prefeasibility study that may be undertaken or not for the the Mansounia Central Deposit, including cash flows, revenue potential, potential for staged development, capital expenditures, development costs and timing thereof, extraction rates, life of mine projections and cost estimates; magnitude or quality of mineral deposits; anticipated advancement of the Kiniero Project including mine plan; exploration expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits; exploration potential and opportunities at the Mansounia Central Deposit; costs and timing of future exploration; the completion and timing of future development studies; estimates of metallurgical recovery rates; anticipated advancement of the Mansounia Central Deposit , the Kiniero Project and future exploration prospects; requirements for additional capital; the future price of metals; government regulation of mining operations; environmental risks; the timing and possible outcome of pending regulatory matters; the realization of the expected economics of the Mansounia Central Deposit and the Kiniero Project; and future growth potential of the Mansounia Central Deposit. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of words such as may, will, could, would, anticipate, believe, expect, intend, potential, estimate, budget, scheduled, plans, planned, forecasts, goals and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of factors and assumptions made by management and considered reasonable at the time such information is provided. Assumptions and factors include: the Companys ability to complete its planned exploration programs; the absence of adverse conditions at the Kiniero Project or the Mansounia Central Deposit; no unforeseen operational delays; no material delays in obtaining necessary permits; the price of gold remaining at levels that render the Mansounia Central Deposit and the Kiniero Project economic; the Companys ability to continue raising necessary capital to finance operations and reimburse short-term liabilities; and the ability to realize on the mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates. Forwardlooking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or result expressed or implied by such forwardlooking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: general business, economic and competitive uncertainties; the actual results of current and future exploration activities; geopolitical risk, political risks inherent to mining in developing countries, conclusions of economic evaluations; meeting various expected cost estimates; benefits of certain technology usage; changes in project parameters and/or economic assessments as plans continue to be refined; future prices of metals; possible variations of mineral grade or recovery rates; the risk that actual costs may exceed estimated costs; geological, mining and exploration technical problems; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); title to properties; the impact of COVID-19 on the timing of exploration and development work and managements ability to anticipate and manage the foregoing factors and risks. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers are advised to study and consider risk factors disclosed in the Companys disclosure documents for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects, which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that forwardlooking statements will prove to be accurate, or even benefit Robex, if any, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forwardlooking statements if circumstances or managements estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are presented for the purposes of assisting investors in understanding the Companys plan, objectives and goals and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forwardlooking statements.Please refer to the Risk Factors section of the Companys annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2022, dated April 28, 2023, and to the Risks and Uncertainties section of each of the Companys managements discussion and analysis dated April 28, 2023 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, and the Companys managements discussion and analysis dated August 28, 2023 for the six-month periods ended June 30, 2023 and June 30, 2022, all of which are available electronically on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. 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. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/38dd5e3c-a14b-47b5-b90a-675ce9f9e91e https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/26a55241-74b5-49d8-b444-032ed680ebf8 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/79dc36bb-8fa3-48eb-b0de-6acaaa7e172f Figure 1 An overview of the Kiniero Mining area, highlighting the proximity of Mansounia Central to the plant, as well as the extensive (~5km) strike length from the southern section of Mansounia Central to the north of Sabali North. Figure 2 Plan map of Mansounia Central indicating completed drilling programs by Burey Gold (historical), Goldfields (historical) and Sycamore Mine Guinee (SMG) (Robex). Larger, black-rimmed RC drill holes show the location of the recently completed 100m x 50m drilling program. Figure 3 Cross sections A-B and C-D indicating downhole significant intercepts (0.2g/t Au and 0.8g/t Au) and the preliminary mineralised envelope. Source: Robex Resources Inc. (the) Essence genetics are carefully selected to deliver a spectrum of experiences to cannabis consumers, spanning timeless product formats including flower, pre-rolls, vapes, edibles and extracts (the) Essence portfolio - including the all-new Nectar line of terpene-rich cured resin products - is comprised of both novel and timeless genetics harvested and cured for optimal taste, aroma and experience Redesigned and repositioned brand broadens accessibility through expanded product mix, harnesses timeless product formats embraced by the core cannabis consumer, offers extensive strain variety and promulgates bespoke, strain-inspired graphic illustration in collaboration with various artists The Company is seeking submissions from artists and creators to join the brand community in designing future packaging artwork; submissions can be entered on Verano.com (the) Essence is now available in nine of the Companys core markets, including Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with plans to scale to Florida and Connecticut in the future CHICAGO, Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verano Holdings Corp. (NEO: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF) (Verano or the Company), a leading multi-state cannabis company, today announced the strategic repositioning of (the) Essence cannabis brand, an expansive collection of novel and timeless genetics harvested and cured for optimal taste, aroma and experience. In addition to the brand evolution, the Company has enhanced (the) Essence product portfolio by introducing (the) Essence Nectar line of full-spectrum, terpene-rich resin vapes, and soon will launch single-strain cured resin gummies available in O.G. Strawberry and Bonsai Berry flavors. Formerly part of the Verano namesake brand portfolio, the now standalone (the) Essence branded line of products is available across the Companys national footprint in nine core markets - Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia with plans to scale to Florida and Connecticut in the future. As an imperative to the brands enhanced aesthetic, the Company created (the) Essence Artist Collection featuring custom strain-specific graphic illustrations on packaging designed in collaboration with a community of artists. Embracing a brand identity and creative philosophy centered around bespoke graphic art enables us to build more meaningful connections with our consumers, providing value thats incremental to that of the high-grade cannabis product inside of pack, said David Spreckman, Verano Chief Marketing Officer. (the) Essence redesign also presented an opportunity for innovation through R&D, as weve expanded the product mix to drive further differentiation across our markets with the introduction of the new Nectar product line. With that development, (the) Essence portfolio now captures each of the industrys three leading CPG categories from a volume perspective in flower, vapes and edibles. Genetics in (the) Essence products are carefully selected, bred and pheno-hunted to deliver hand-crafted quality, consistency and variety. (the) Essence product portfolio includes: Flower: An expansive collection of both novel and timeless genetics on regular rotation, harvested and cured for optimal taste, aroma and experience. An expansive collection of both novel and timeless genetics on regular rotation, harvested and cured for optimal taste, aroma and experience. Js Pre-rolls: Experience timeless and classic strains through (the) Essence 1g pre-rolls and 2.5g 5-packs of pre-rolls. All are meticulously packed with ground flower - the perfect companions for lifes on-the-go adventures. Experience timeless and classic strains through (the) Essence 1g pre-rolls and 2.5g 5-packs of pre-rolls. All are meticulously packed with ground flower - the perfect companions for lifes on-the-go adventures. Classic Vape : Distilled cannabis oil with botanically derived terpenes that pack a flavorful punch and consistent experience. Classic vapes are available in .3g disposable pens, .5g carts and 1g carts. : Distilled cannabis oil with botanically derived terpenes that pack a flavorful punch and consistent experience. Classic vapes are available in .3g disposable pens, .5g carts and 1g carts. Nectar Vape : (the) Essence flower is cured and BHO-extracted from single strain runs into full-spectrum, high-terpene and uniquely flavorful resin vapes. Its the Essence of a select strain expressed in the convenience of a .5g or 1g cartridge or .3g disposable pen. : (the) Essence flower is cured and BHO-extracted from single strain runs into full-spectrum, high-terpene and uniquely flavorful resin vapes. Its the Essence of a select strain expressed in the convenience of a .5g or 1g cartridge or .3g disposable pen. Xtract : (the) Essence of flower is extracted using ethanol or butane and curated into time-tested textures such as Shatter, Crumble, Wax and Cured Resin. : (the) Essence of flower is extracted using ethanol or butane and curated into time-tested textures such as Shatter, Crumble, Wax and Cured Resin. Nectar Gummies: (the) Essence flower cured and BHO-extracted from single strain runs into full-spectrum, high-terpene and uniquely flavorful resin gummies. Juicy fruit flavors paired perfectly with rich and abundant cannabis terpenes from the best of (the) Essence genetic library. (the) Essence accompanies the Companys expansive brand portfolio that includes its namesake Verano Reserve flower, Swift Lift mini pre-rolled joints, extracts and vaporizers; MUV flower, pre-rolled joints, vaporizers, concentrates, topicals, oral sprays, EnCaps capsules, tinctures, transdermal patches and gels; Savvy flower and vaporizers, larger-format cannabis products catering to more value-driven patients and consumers; BITS low-dose, high-function edibles; Encore Edibles, hand-crafted cannabis gummies, hard candies, mints, caramels and chocolates; and Avexia topicals, tablets, tinctures and RSO products that are made to effortlessly enhance any self-care routine. For more information about (the) Essence products and Verano, visit (the) Essence webpage (https://verano.com/brand/the-essence/) on www.verano.com. (the) Essence images are available for download here, and more Verano images, video and brand logos are available on the Companys newsroom. About Verano Verano Holdings Corp. (NEO: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF), one of the U.S. cannabis industrys leading companies based on historical revenue, geographic scope and brand performance, is a vertically integrated, multi-state operator embracing a mission of saying Yes to plant progress and the bold exploration of cannabis. Verano offers a superior cannabis shopping experience in medical and adult use markets under the Zen Leaf and MUV dispensary banners and produces a comprehensive suite of high-quality, regulated cannabis products sold under its diverse portfolio of trusted consumer brands including Verano, MUV, Savvy, BITS, Encore, and Avexia. Veranos active operations span 13 U.S. states, comprised of 14 production facilities with over 1,000,000 square feet of cultivation capacity. Learn more at www.verano.com. Contacts: Media Verano Grace Bondy Senior Manager, Communications [email protected] Investors Verano Julianna Paterra, CFA Vice President, Investor Relations [email protected] Forward Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Companys beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Companys control. Generally, such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, future, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, projects intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, will continue, will occur or will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements herein, including, without limitation, the risk factors described in the Companys annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except as may be required in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice regarding forward-looking information and statements. ### Attachments NEW YORK, Nov. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized stockholder rights law firm, is investigating potential claims against Xponential Fitness, Inc. (Xponential or the Company) (NYSE: XPOF) on behalf of Xponential stockholders. Our investigation concerns whether Xponential has violated the federal securities laws and/or engaged in other unlawful business practices. Click here to participate in the action. Xponential purports to be the largest global franchisor of boutique fitness brands and went public on July 21, 2021 at $12.00 per share. On April 6, 2022, an entity affiliated with Xponential's Chairman of the Board sold 5.175M shares at $20.00 per share in a secondary offering. On February 8, 2023, Xponential's founder and CEO, Anthony Geisler, and the Chairman's entity sold 5.75 million shares at $24.50 per share in another secondary equity offering. Before the market opened on June 27, 2023, Fuzzy Panda Research published a report Xponential Fitness (XPOF) - "Abusive Franchisor That Is A House of Cards". The report alleges Geisler, "has a long history of misleading investors and business partners.We discovered XPOF is hiding the fact that many of their brands and franchisees are struggling." On this news, Xponential's stock price has fallen intraday $7.62 per share to $17.51, a drop of 30.3% on very heavy volume. If you purchased or otherwise acquired Xponential shares and suffered a loss, are a long-term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Marion Passmore by email at [email protected], by telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you. About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York and California. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com . Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Contact Information: Austin following meeting with Zelenskyy: USA, along with its allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraines urgent battlefield needs U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, who arrived in Kyiv on Monday on an unannounced visit, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. I was honored to meet with President of Ukraine in Kyiv today to reaffirm the United States steadfast support for Ukraine. We, along with our allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraines urgent battlefield needs and long-term defense requirements, Austin said on X (Twitter) Monday. As reported, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Supreme Commander of NATO Allied Forces Europe and Commander of U.S. Armed Forces in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, arrived on a visit to Kyiv. FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 28, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo By Nell Mackenzie LONDON (Reuters) - Global hedge funds ditched technology stocks by selling long positions and exiting short bets at the fastest weekly pace in seven months, Goldman Sachs said on Friday in a note to clients seen by Reuters. In the period from Friday Nov. 10 to Thursday Nov. 16, traders dropped long and short positions on semi-conductor makers, as well as communications equipment providers, while exiting long positions on software companies, just as S&P 500 stock valuations climbed to a two-month high, well above a long-term average. A short bet is one that counts on a stock price falling. Frothy valuations and waning hedge fund interest might mark the end of the tech "performance concentration" seen over recent years, Florian Ielpo, head of macro at Lombard Odier Investment Managers, said. "Equities valuations are expensive but it's hard to say by how much. To surpass this level, we need earnings growth, and a lot of that is priced in already given analysts' expectations for next year," he said. Hedge funds were generally net sellers of global stocks by the end of Thursday, particularly in North American and emerging Asian markets, the Goldman Sachs note said. They were net buyers of Europe and developed markets in Asia, Goldman said. Hedge funds also sold U.S. consumer staples at the fastest pace since April 2020, and the sector suffered one of the heaviest selling spells of the past five years, it added. Companies toting household goods, alcohol and tobacco in the week ending Nov. 17 made up the second weakest performing group in the S&P 500. These stocks are generally known to deliver consistent and higher returns than U.S. Treasuries, but have been no match for recent soaring government bond yields. Consumer discretionary stocks also saw hedge fund selling, whereas financial, industrial and health care companies saw their stock mostly bought, the note said. (Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 20, 2023) - Bayhorse Silver Inc, (TSXV:BHS)(OTCQB:BHSIF) (FSE: 7KXN) (the "Company" or "Bayhorse") has added additional claims in Idaho to its Bayhorse Silver Mine Property, Oregon, USA. The new claims extend over 1.6 km (1 mile) east from the Bayhorse Mine across the Snake River into Idaho along a south-east trend that historic geological mapping (Figure 1) shows the presence of silver-hosting rhyolite. Historic mine workings and known silver-bearing mineralization are present in the new claims area. Hercules Silver has recently discovered a copper porphyry deposit associated with a red schist conglomerate at one of its properties lying approximately 40 km (26 miles) north-northeast of the Bayhorse Mine (Figure 2 below). Hercules has acquired a second property 24 km (14 miles) NE of Bayhorse. A conglomerate, similar to that on the Hercules ground is present adjacent to the silver-bearing rhyolite on the Bayhorse Property, prompting the extension of the new claims into Idaho. The Bayhorse and Hercules Silver properties have similar geological settings and silver mineralization, including significant copper, antimony, and zinc credits. This has spurred Bayhorse to extend further the known silver bearing zones. An airborne deep penetrating VTEM survey is planned over the entire Bayhorse claims in both Idaho and Oregon to determine whether an anomaly is present that could indicate the presence of both high-grade silver and a porphyry copper deposit. Drs. Ray and Conway are currently assessing the Bayhorse Mine structure and geology to determine how best to test the extensive historic underground workings to depth for any underlying mineralization below the known mineral horizon. Figure 1. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5015/188033_35dbcc3424f43844_001full.jpg Figure 2. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5015/188033_35dbcc3424f43844_002full.jpg This News Release has been prepared on behalf of the Bayhorse Silver Inc. Board of Directors, which accepts full responsibility for its content. Dr. G.E. Ray, P.Geo, a Qualified Person and Consultant to the Company has prepared, supervised the preparation of, and approved the technical content of this press release. On Behalf of the Board. Graeme O'Neill, CEO 866-399-6539 About Bayhorse Silver Inc. Bayhorse Silver Inc. is an exploration and production company with a 100% interest in the historic Bayhorse Silver Mine located in Oregon, USA. With state of the art Steinert Ore-Sorting technology reducing waste rock entering the processing stream by up to 85%, we have created a minimum environmental impact facility capable of mining 200 tons of mineralization per day and the ability to process and supply 3,600 tons per year of silver/copper/antimony concentrate ranging between 7,500 to 15,000 g/t using standard flotation processing at its milling facility in nearby Payette County, Idaho, USA, with an offtake agreement in place with Ocean Partners UK Limited. The Company also has an option to acquire an 80% interest in the Brandywine high grade silver/gold property located in B.C. Canada. The Company has an experienced management and technical team with extensive mining expertise in both exploration and building mines. 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/188033 JT Deposit Infill Drilling Returns 33.6 Meters at 7.9 g/t Au, 0.91% Cu, 4.81% Zn, 0.51% Pb, 7 g/t Ag (12.1 g/t AuEq) Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 20, 2023) - HighGold Mining Inc. (TSXV: HIGH) (OTCQX: HGMIF) ("HighGold" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on its 2023 exploration and development program (the "Program") including final drill results at the Johnson Tract polymetallic Gold Project ("Johnson Tract", "JT" or the "Project") in Southcentral Alaska, USA. The Project hosts the high-grade JT Deposit with an Indicated Resource of 1.05 Moz at 9.39 g/t gold equivalent ("AuEq") with average true thickness of 40m. Following completion of the spin-out of Onyx Gold Corp. this summer (see HighGold news release dated June 6, 2023), HighGold squarely focused on unlocking value at the high-grade JT Deposit. In parallel with exploration drilling to expand existing deposits and target new prospects, the Company launched on a major program of advanced exploration and de-risking activities to support the evaluation of a potential high-grade, low-impact, underground mine. Highlights of the 2023 Program Initiation of preliminary scoping work to evaluate conceptual direct-shipping-ore (" DSO ") scenarios that offer the potential for a nearer term, lower capital cost and enhanced environmental benefit production scenario ") scenarios that offer the potential for a nearer term, lower capital cost and enhanced environmental benefit production scenario Completion of a comprehensive work program to support the permitting of an underground exploration ramp, including six (6) hydrogeology-geotechnical drill holes, related hydrogeology test work, engineering, and multiple environmental and cultural studies Infill drilling yields thick, high-grade mineralization typical of the JT Deposit in hole GT23-004 56.6 meters at 7.8 g/t AuEq , including 33.6 m at 12.1 g/t AuEq, and including 4.9 m at 34.9 g/t AuEq Narrow high-grade and broad low-grade mineralization intersected in 2023 step-outs at Ellis Zone 2.2 m at 57.0 g/t AuEq previously reported in hole DC23-070 1.4 m at 11.6 g/t AuEq in hole DC23-071 47.1 m at 0.7 g/t AuEq in hole DC23-087 64.1 m at 0.7 g/t AuEq in hole DC23-088 Encouraging new zones of veining and JT-style alteration intersected in first pass drilling of new prospect areas, warranting additional follow-up in 2024 "We had a busy and productive field season this year," said Darwin Green, President & CEO. "We completed a significant drill program aimed at expanding existing zones and targeting new discoveries. Results from the drill program are encouraging and will serve to inform ongoing drill planning and targeting as we continue to evaluate the multi-deposit potential of the Project. Infill hole GT23-004 is a reminder of the exceptional width and grade that characterizes the JT Deposit." "Thick, high-grade deposits in desirable jurisdictions with a path to relatively rapid and cost-efficient development are a rare prize in the mining sector. In conjunction with our drilling efforts, HighGold has also turned to assessing the development potential for the JT Deposit and demonstrating the intrinsic value of the Project. One such opportunity being evaluated is the potential development of a DSO mining operation, whereby mineralized material would be mined and transported via marine vessel to an existing mill off site. Another major step to advancing the Project is advancing the permitting and development of an underground exploration ramp. The Company is well capitalized to continue advancing these important value-added activities through 2024 and beyond." Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) Mining Studies HighGold has begun preliminary scoping work to evaluate conceptual direct-shipping-ore ("DSO") scenarios. This includes studies and investigations into potential mining methods, mine designs, and the logistics and infrastructure required for shipping mineralized material to an existing, off-site milling facility. The Project's location near tidewater offers the potential for DSO via bulk marine transport (the lowest cost form of bulk shipping) either direct to Asia or to existing coastal mills at mines in Alaska and British Columbia. Advantages of a DSO mine over a conventional mine include project simplicity, lower CAPEX and execution risk, and potential for an expedited timeline to production. A DSO mine at Johnson Tract would also have the attractive environmental benefits of a small surface footprint and minimal long-term management and closure concerns. Under such a scenario, development rock (waste-rock) would likely be integrated into the mining plan as backfill for permanent underground storage within the mine, and tailings would be stored at a pre-existing off-site facility, resulting in no on-site tailings. DSO mining, although not common in North America, is used throughout the world as the margins and IRRs of a DSO Mine can be more attractive than in a conventional scenario. In Alaska, a DSO mining joint venture agreement is in place between Kinross Gold and Contango Ore, in which ore from the Mahn Choh deposit (proven and probable reserves of 998koz at 7.88 g/t gold) will be trucked 240 miles (380 km) for off-site processing at Kinross Gold's Fort Knox mine. 2023 Advanced Exploration Activities A key component of de-risking the Project is the development of an underground exploration ramp to the JT Deposit. The exploration ramp will provide a platform to conduct cost-effective tightly spaced definition drilling in the highest-grade portions of the known deposit to support future engineering and economic studies. The 1,800m long ramp, which is parallel to and slightly outboard of the trend of mineralization, will also provide access to efficiently test multiple deep exploration targets (Figure 1). In support of this, the Company successfully completed a comprehensive field program from July to October 2023 consisting of hydrogeological test work, engineering, and numerous environmental and cultural studies. Over the coming months, the data from these studies will be incorporated into the project design and form the basis of the exploration ramp permitting that is planned to commence in early 2024. In connection with the exploration ramp plan, a Section 404 permit application was submitted earlier this year to the US Army Corps of Engineers for a 2.6-mile (4 km) portal access road and expanded airstrip. This process is tracking well, with no significant deficiencies identified to date. Figure 1. Proposed JT Underground Exploration Ramp To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6437/188018_418904ba949d4812_003full.jpg 2023 Drilling Results The final drill results from the 2023 drill program are reported herein. A total of 33 drill holes for 7,648 meters were completed, including 27 exploration holes (6,254m) and 6 geotechnical holes (1,394m). The exploration drilling targeted the main JT Deposit (2 holes) and the Ellis Zone (12 holes), as well as several new, previously undrilled prospects and targets at East DC Prospect (8 holes), Double Glacier (3 holes), and South Valley (2 holes). Locations of the new drillholes are presented in Figures 1 to 4, with key assay intersections displayed in Table 1 and described below. JT Deposit (Geotechnical and Step-out Drilling) The Company completed six (6) drill holes to carry out hydrogeological and geotechnical studies along the alignment of the proposed 1800m long underground exploration ramp, which is designed to be developed within unmineralized rock units in the hanging wall to the JT Deposit. One of the drill holes (GT23-004) was extended through the JT Deposit as an infill hole and to characterize ground and water conditions for future mine modeling. GT23-004 intersected typical JT-style Au-Cu-Zn mineralization and returned: 56.6 meters at 7.8 g/t AuEq (4.87 g/t Au, 0.61% Cu, 3.5% Zn ), including 33.60 m at 12.1 g/t AuEq, (7.93 g/t Au, 0.9% Cu, 4.8% Zn), and including 4.90 m at 34.9 g/t AuEq (33.03 g/t Au, 1.2% Cu, 0.6% Zn). ), including Separate from the geotechnical drilling, two (2) exploration holes stepped out 100 to 200 meters south of the JT Deposit for potential extensions along strike. These holes intersected broad zones of strong alteration with local silver-lead-zinc mineralization, including: 6.0 meters at 76 g/t Ag, 0.4% Pb, 1.2% Zn in drill hole JT23-153 Ellis Zone and DC Prospect Targets The DC Prospect, located four kilometers northeast of the +1Moz AuEq JT Deposit, includes the high-grade Ellis Zone discovery and numerous other mineralized showings within a series of large gossan alteration zones extending over a 1.5 km x 3.0 km area. Drilling in 2023 included 50 to 100m step-outs on the Ellis Zone to sketch-in resource potential and first-time tests of new targets between the Ellis Zone and East DC Prospect areas. Drilling in 2023 has now defined two distinct and overlapping styles of mineralization at the Ellis Zone; a steep-dipping, structurally-controlled high-grade quartz vein and sulphide breccia zone and a zone of shallow-dipping, broad, lower-grade potentially stratigraphically-controlled mineralization with VMS-style characteristics. The current interpretation is of a broad zone of stringer-style mineralization with local structurally controlled high-grade shoots. Mineralization has now been intersected over a length of 200 m and to a depth of 225 m. Narrow high to bonanza-grade and broad low-grade mineralization have been intersected in 2023 step-out drilling at Ellis Zone, including: 2.2 m at 57.0 g/t AuEq ( 49.9 g/t Au, 25 g/t Ag, 1.5% Cu, 8.4% Zn) previously reported in hole DC23-070 , including 1.1 m at 80.5 g/t AuEq, ( 71.4 g/t Au, 29.7 g/t Ag, 1.5% Cu, 11.7% Zn) ( 25 g/t Ag, 1.5% Cu, 8.4% Zn) previously reported in hole DC23-070 including 1.4 m at 11.6 g/t AuEq ( 4.51 g/t Au, 16 g/t Ag, 1.9% Cu, 1.1% Pb, 7.0% Zn) in hole DC23-071 ( 16 g/t Ag, 1.9% Cu, 1.1% Pb, 7.0% Zn) in hole DC23-071 47.1 m at 0.7 g/t AuEq (0.29 g/t Au, 0.5% Zn) in hole DC23-087 (0.29 g/t Au, 0.5% Zn) in hole DC23-087 1.5 m at 163 g/t Ag and 4% Zn in hole DC23-088 and 4% Zn in hole DC23-088 64.1 m at 0.7 g/t AuEq (0.31 g/t Au, 0.7% Zn) in hole DC23-088, including 32.4 m at 1.0 g/t AuEq (0.53 g/t Au, 0.8% Zn) (0.31 g/t Au, 0.7% Zn) in hole DC23-088, including Eight (8) reconnaissance drill holes were completed across a 1km east-west trend between the Ellis Zone and the East DC prospect area. The holes targeted mapped structures, alteration and mineralization as well as blind geophysical and geological targets that project beneath an area of landslide cover. Significant new zones of quartz-sulphide stockwork veining were intersected in five (5) holes at East DC with anomalous silver-copper geochemistry that warrant additional follow-up. Significant results include: 3.9 m at 97 g/t Ag in hole DC23-075 in hole DC23-075 1.3 m at 2.7% Cu and 23 g/t Ag in hole DC23-076 in hole DC23-076 1.2 m at 1.6% Cu in hole DC23-080 Other Regional Prospects - Double Glacier and South Valley The Company also completed five (5) drillholes for initial testing of the South Valley and Double Glacier prospects 1.5 km and 3 km south of the JT Deposit, respectively. Though no major mineralized intervals were returned in the South Valley and Double Glacier drillholes, the Company did intersect the JT Deposit host dacite volcanic stratigraphy with weakly anomalous values of Au, Ag and Zn, and the same unique nodular anhydrite alteration assemblage which surrounds the JT Deposit. Of additional significance, drill hole DG23-003 retuned a 1.3 m at 2.3% Zn within a mudstone unit at the Double Glacier prospect, highlighting potential for VMS-style mineralization. Further work is planned to follow-up on these drillholes during the 2024 field season. Figure 2. Plan map with 2023 Drill Collar Locations To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6437/188018_418904ba949d4812_004full.jpg Figure 3. Ellis Zone Schematic Cross-Section To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6437/188018_418904ba949d4812_005full.jpg Figure 4. Ellis Zone Plan Map To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6437/188018_418904ba949d4812_006full.jpg Table 1. Significant Assay Intersections from 2023 Drill Program at the Johnson Tract Project Drill Hole Prospect From To Length Au Ag Cu Pb Zn AuEq (meters) (meters) (meters) (g/t) (g/t) % % % (g/t) DC23-069** Ellis Zone 52.2 53.6 1.4 2.05 0.9 0.01 0.08 0.60 2.5 and 185.3 187.6 2.3 0.20 63.2 3.66 0.03 1.18 6.2 Including 185.3 186.8 1.5 0.23 82.6 4.72 0.04 1.77 8.1 DC23-070** Ellis Zone 59.2 61.4 2.2 49.85 24.6 1.50 0.01 8.40 57.0 Including 59.2 60.3 1.1 71.40 29.7 1.51 0.02 11.65 80.5 And 71.4 72.9 1.5 0.34 2.3 0.07 1.17 2.92 2.5 DC23-071 Ellis Zone 67.3 68.7 1.4 4.51 15.9 1.89 1.14 7.02 11.6 And 85.2 86.7 1.5 0.20 2.5 0.26 0.00 3.57 2.7 And 107.7 109.2 1.5 0.40 16.3 1.21 0.01 0.05 2.1 And 170 212 42.0 0.02 0.8 0.12 0.00 1.35 1.0 DC23-072 N Ellis Zone 166.5 168 1.5 0.01 0.9 0.03 0.01 2.62 1.6 And 231.2 234.2 3.0 0.06 1.0 0.11 0.00 1.70 1.2 And 256.7 262.7 6.0 0.02 0.4 0.04 0.02 1.28 0.8 DC23-073 N Ellis Zone 196.6 220.2 23.6 0.03 0.7 0.07 0.13 1.28 0.9 Including 215.8 220.2 4.4 0.02 1.2 0.12 0.01 1.99 1.4 Including 231.7 235.4 3.7 0.02 2.5 0.41 0.36 4.36 3.3 DC23-074 N Ellis Zone No Significant Intersections DC23-075 East DC 230 233.9 3.9 0.11 97.3 0.01 0.01 0.01 1.1 DC23-076 East DC 60.6 61.9 1.3 0.07 22.5 2.68 0.01 0.06 3.7 DC23-077 East DC No Significant Intersections DC23-078 East DC 54.2 58.7 4.5 0.42 10.3 0.70 0.00 0.09 1.5 And 85.4 86.9 1.5 0.09 10.8 0.93 0.00 0.02 1.4 DC23-079 East DC 17.8 18.9 1.1 0.04 8.3 0.78 0.03 1.12 1.8 DC23-080 East DC 51.3 52.5 1.2 0.03 8.1 1.62 0.00 0.01 2.2 DC23-081 East DC 48.1 61.0 12.9 0.03 2.1 0.28 0.00 0.09 0.5 DC23-082 Ellis Zone 17.5 21.4 3.9 0.60 2.1 0.01 0.09 0.21 0.8 Including 17.5 18.5 1.0 1.00 3.0 0.01 0.12 0.28 1.2 And 43.5 47.4 3.9 0.18 2.9 0.04 0.48 0.78 0.9 Including 45.0 46.0 1.0 0.25 3.1 0.06 0.85 1.06 1.2 DC22-083 Ellis Zone 30.1 35.8 5.7 0.26 2.0 0.03 0.11 0.29 0.5 DC22-084 Ellis Zone 38.2 41.0 2.8 0.20 3.2 0.08 0.15 1.50 1.3 DC22-085 East DC 89.0 93.5 4.5 0.05 1.6 0.06 0.03 0.89 0.7 DC22-086 Ellis Zone 63.0 70.5 7.5 0.30 1.7 0.01 0.27 0.95 1.0 Including 63.0 64.5 1.5 0.26 2.2 0.03 0.46 2.64 2.0 DC22-087 Ellis Zone 50.2 97.3 47.1 0.29 1.4 0.03 0.09 0.50 0.7 Including 66.0 97.3 31.3 0.37 1.3 0.02 0.11 0.47 0.7 Including 66.0 67.4 1.4 1.16 1.4 0.03 0.80 2.73 3.1 Including 95.8 97.3 1.5 2.38 2.4 0.01 0.14 0.34 2.7 DC22-088 Ellis Zone 67.9 69.4 1.5 0.00 163.0 0.01 0.18 0.40 1.9 And 81.2 145.3 64.1 0.31 0.0 0.03 0.03 0.67 0.7 Including 97.7 130.1 32.4 0.53 0.0 0.03 0.01 0.76 1.0 Including 103.7 109.2 5.5 1.12 0.4 0.09 0.01 2.04 2.4 Including 108.2 109.2 1.0 1.41 2.1 0.34 0.02 8.68 7.0 GT23-004 JT Geotech 235.4 292.0 56.6 4.87 4.6 0.61 0.32 3.46 7.8 Including 235.4 269.0 33.6 7.93 6.6 0.91 0.51 4.81 12.1 Including 243.0 247.9 4.9 33.03 7.1 1.21 0.02 0.55 35.0 JT23-153 JT SW Ext 144.6 161.1 16.5 0.01 40.7 0.01 0.22 0.66 0.9 Including 144.6 150.6 6.0 75.8 0.02 0.38 1.16 1.6 JT23-154 JT SW Ext 209.2 214.0 4.8 0.03 2.4 0.01 0.02 1.47 0.9 And 412.3 413.5 1.2 0.01 1.0 0.24 1.49 1.2 JT23-155 South Valley No Significant Intersections JT23-156 South Valley No Significant Intersections DG23-001 Double Glacier No Significant Intersections DG23-002 Double Glacier No Significant Intersections DG23-003 Double Glacier 136.2 137.5 1.3 0.03 3.5 0.04 0.31 2.27 1.6 *True thickness for the reported intersections in holes, where known, ranges from 65% to 95% of the reported width. Gold Equivalent ("AuEq") based on assumed metal prices of US$1650/oz for Au, US$20/oz for Ag, US$3.50/lb for Cu, US$1.00/lb for Pb and US$1.50/lb for Zn and payable metal recoveries of 97% for Au, 85% for Ag, 85% Cu, 72% Pb and 92% Zn. Grade-thickness is the product of multiplying the drilled intercept length by the grade of the intercept. Airborne Geophysical Survey Results A property-wide, 666 line-km airborne Magnetic and EM geophysical survey (MobileMT) was completed by Expert Geophysics in August 2023 to aid in discerning prospective mineralizing systems beneath covered areas. The final results show resistivity data to a depth of 2 km and highlight all the known prospect areas. HighGold is currently awaiting 3D inversions of MobileMT and magnetic data; however, early observations indicate the ability to fingerprint known mineralization, identify new shallow targets, and identify deeper anomalies related to possible porphyry-style systems. HighGold is excited to use these results, combined with previously acquired magnetic and ground IP data, geochemical vectoring work and detailed geology in concert with the results of first pass drilling at new prospect areas to help guide 2024 drill program planning. About the Johnson Tract Gold Project Johnson Tract is a polymetallic (gold, copper, zinc, silver, lead) project located near tidewater, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, USA. The 21,000-acre property includes the high-grade JT Deposit and at least nine (9) other mineral prospects over a 12-kilometer strike length. HighGold acquired the Project through a lease agreement with Cook Inlet Region, Inc. ("CIRI"), one of 12 land-based Alaska Native regional corporations created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. CIRI is owned by more than 9,100 shareholders who are primarily of Alaska Native descent. Mineralization at Johnson Tract occurs in Jurassic intermediate volcaniclastic rocks and is characterized as epithermal-type with submarine volcanogenic attributes. The JT Deposit is a thick, steeply dipping silicified body averaging 40m true thickness that contains a stockwork of quartz-sulphide veinlets and brecciation, cutting through and surrounded by a widespread zone of anhydrite alteration. The Footwall Copper Zone is located structurally and stratigraphically below JT Deposit and is characterized by copper-silver rich mineralization. The JT Deposit hosts an Indicated Resource of 3.489 Mt grading 9.39 g/t gold equivalent ("AuEq") comprised of 5.33 g/t Au, 6.0 g/t Ag, 0.56% Cu, 0.67% Pb and 5.21% Zn. The Inferred Resource of 0.706 Mt grading 4.76 g/t AuEq is comprised of 1.36 g/t Au, 9.1 g/t Ag, 0.59% Cu, 0.30% Pb, and 4.18% Zn. For additional details see NI 43-101 Technical Report titled "Updated Mineral Resource Estimate and NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Johnson Tract Project, Alaska," dated August 25, 2022 (effective date of July 12, 2022) authored by Ray C. Brown, James N. Gray, P.Geo. and Lyn Jones, P.Eng. Gold Equivalent ("AuEq") is based on assumed metal prices and payable metal recoveries of 97% for Au, 85% for Ag, 85% Cu, 72% Pb and 92% Zn from metallurgical testwork completed in 2022. Assumed metal prices for the Resource are US$1650/oz for gold (Au), US$20/oz for silver (Ag), US$3.50/lb for copper (Cu), US$1.00/lb for lead (Pb), and US$1.50/lb for zinc (Zn). About HighGold HighGold is a mineral exploration company focused on advancing the high-grade Johnson Tract Gold-Zinc-Copper Project located in accessible Southcentral Alaska, USA. HighGold's experienced Board and senior management team, are committed to creating shareholder value through the discovery process, careful allocation of capital, and environmentally/socially responsible mineral exploration. Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng., Senior VP Exploration for HighGold Mining Inc. and a qualified person ("QP") as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release. On Behalf of HighGold Mining Inc. "Darwin Green" President & CEO For further information, please visit the HighGold Mining Inc. website at www.highgoldmining.com, or contact: Darwin Green, President & CEO or Nicole Hoeller, VP Corporate Communications Phone: 1-604-629-1165 or North American toll-free 1-855-629-1165 Email: [email protected]. Website: www.highgoldmining.com Twitter : @HighgoldMining Additional Notes: Starting azimuth, dip and final length (Azimuth/-Dip/Length) for the drillholes reported today are noted as follows: DC23-069 (180/60/323m), DC23-070 (180/80/155m), DC23-071 (180/90/236m), DC23-072 (180/55/338m, DC23-073 (180/50/310m), DC23-074 (180/75/176m), DC23-075 (120/45/275m), DC23-076 (340/45/74.6m), DC23-077 (180/50/218m), DC23-078 (340/45/202m), DC23-079 (340/65/203m), DC23-080 (20/45/257.5m), DC23-081 (20/60/166m), DC23-082 (180/90/110m), DC23-083 (180/70/146m), DC23-084 (180/90/110m), DC23-085 (180/45/308m), DC23-086 (170/45/221m), DC23-087 (180/70/221m), DC23-088 (170/50/150m), GT23-004 (292/75/349m), JT23-153 (290/60/346m), JT23-154 (255/60/439m), JT23-155 (290/60/346m), JT23-156 (255/60/439m), DG23-001 (290/45/319m), DG23-002 (280/45/230m), and DG23-003 (320/45/242m) Samples of drill core were cut by a diamond blade rock saw, with half of the cut core placed in individual sealed polyurethane bags and the remaining half of the cut core placed back in the original core box for permanent on-site storage. Sample lengths range from a minimum of 0.5-meter to a maximum of 2.0-meter intervals, with an average sample length of 1.0 to 1.5 meters. The half-cut core samples are then dried for 1-2 days at 50-60 degrees Celsius, crushed to 2mm (>70%) and pulverized to 75 microns (>85%) at the Company's onsite sample preparation facility. The preparation facility was designed under the guidance of expert third-party consultant, Dr. Barry Smee, P.Geo. Sample pulps are individually packaged in paper envelopes and weigh approximately 250 grams each, the sample pulps are then placed inside security-strapped plastic totes in batches of 80-100 samples per tote with each tote weighing about 22-23 kilograms. The samples are then shipped by DHL air freight directly to ALS Geochemistry Analytical Lab facility in North Vancouver, BC for analysis. Gold is determined by fire-assay fusion of a 50-gram sub-sample with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Samples that return values >10 ppm gold from fire assay and AAS are determined by using fire assay and a gravimetric finish. Various metals including silver, gold, copper, lead and zinc are analyzed by inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission spectroscopy, following multi-acid digestion. The elements copper, lead and zinc are determined by ore grade assay for samples that return values >10,000 ppm by ICP analysis. Silver is determined by ore-grade assay for samples that return >100 ppm. ALS Geochemistry meets all requirements of International Standards ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015. ALS Global operates according to the guidelines set out in ISO/IEC Guide 25. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking statements: This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively "forward looking statements"). Forward-Looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's planned drill program and advanced exploration plans are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. 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 are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Company's expectations include actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statement. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188018 Halifax, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 20, 2023) - Torrent Capital Ltd. (TSXV: TORR) ("Torrent") is pleased to provide a corporate update on its 50/50 joint venture company, Argentia Capital Inc. ("ACI") with Port of Argentia Inc. ("POA"), as announced on September 21, 2022, and an update on its Investment Portfolio. Argentia Capital Inc. Through the ACI joint venture, Torrent is investing in developmental projects at the Port of Argentia which will generate opportunities to earn revenue through royalty incomes and equity positions. "Particularly commendable was the June 2023 commercial terms announcement with Pattern Renewable Holdings Canada 2 ULC ("Pattern Energy") for a planned wind to green fuels project at the Port of Argentia in which ACI is a signatory to the agreement," said Carl Sheppard, CEO of ACI. Negotiated commercial terms will see ACI receiving a royalty calculated as a percentage of gross revenue on sales from ammonia production facilities at rates consistent with prevailing renewable industry practices for landowners. In addition, ACI has the right to acquire up to a 12.5% limited partner equity interest in the wind, hydrogen and ammonia project, or any other entities established for operating a renewable energy or green fuels production project at the Port of Argentia. Pattern Energy has commenced feasibility and permitting work for the project. A 400 metric ton per day (MTPD) green ammonia plant, coupled with a hydrogen electrolysis facility and an on-site 300 megawatt wind project is proposed. Depending on viability parameters and market conditions, the project could be scaled up to more than one gigawatt of renewable energy producing approximately 1,400 MTPD of ammonia. Rare Earth Industrial Park Torrent and POA are collaborating to establish a rare earth industrial park at the Port. Torrent has retained specialty engineering firm TrajectorE to prepare a rare earth supply chain study. The study is being undertaken with support and financial contributions from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Innovation, Energy and Technology. Torrent believes the Port of Argentia is strategically situated with potential to become a processing hub in the capital-intensive rare earth supply chain. Work for the study has commenced and is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2024. "I wish to express my confidence in the continued success of Argentia Capital Inc. and its rapidly advancing role in the green economy. The vision and strategic collaborations demonstrated thus far position ACI as a key player in driving economic growth, sustainability, and innovation in the region," commented Wade Dawe, CEO of Torrent Capital Ltd. Investment Portfolio Commentary Canadian small cap equities have been under pressure for some time, weighing on the Investment Portfolio's performance. This trend has continued in 2023, with the Investment Portfolio declining 6.4% in the third quarter. This compares favourably to the S&P/TSX Venture Composite, which fell 9.9% over the same period. Torrent fair values its Investment Portfolio based on the market prices of shares at the end of each quarter. During the past quarter, Torrent had an unrealized loss on investments of $860,582 or $0.03 per share as compared to an unrealized loss on investments of $1,227,990 or $0.05 per share in the comparable quarter. We are beginning to see encouraging signs that the worst for small cap stocks may have passed. Volumes on the S&P/TSX Venture Composite have declined 80% from their long-term average, representing a fraction of the volume typically seen during buoyant market conditions. The valuation ratio of the Russell 2,000 (smaller companies) as compared to the Russell 1,000 (larger companies) is the most depressed it has been in 20 years, representing a historically significant mispricing between those segments of the market. Many growth-related investments, such as those in the SaaS, fintech, cleantech and ecommerce sectors, currently trade at EV/Revenue multiples of 1x to 2x versus historically trading north of 5x. Torrent remains committed to identifying high quality investment candidates that have overcorrected against a weak macro environment. About Torrent Capital Ltd. Torrent is a publicly traded investment issuer that invests in the securities of private and publicly traded companies. The Company invests in companies that are due to experience accelerated growth or are trading at a discount to their intrinsic value. Torrent offers investors the potential to earn above market returns while providing transparency, daily liquidity and a modest fee profile compared to competing investment products. For further information, please contact: Torrent Capital Wade Dawe, President & CEO Bus: 902-536-1976 Fax: 902-491-4281 [email protected] CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This press release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to 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. 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. Torrent 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. The reader is referred to the Company's regular financial reporting for a discussion of risks and uncertainties. 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/188124 CHICAGO , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Acceleration Academies, the nation's leading provider of tech-enabled flexible education, announced today that Kelli Campbell will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer to accelerate growth and broaden impact to school districts and students. Campbell spent 17 years at Discovery Education, the global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12 school districts, and most recently served as President of the company. As a career EdTech executive, she brings a demonstrated history of success leading the sales and marketing, product development and operations functions for pioneering educational technology organizations. "After thorough succession planning and a comprehensive search process, the board is pleased to have found the best individual to take Acceleration Academies into its next stage of growth and expansion," said Steve King , co-founder of Daniels & King Ventures, the main funding source for Acceleration Academies. "Kelli has a track record of strong leadership in the EdTech industry, established relationships with K-12 school districts, and success in private equity value creation. We are confident that Kelli is the right leader to accelerate the company's growth opportunities." The change in leadership comes as Acceleration Academies is rapidly expanding its school district partnerships nationwide to provide a flexible, supportive and personalized program for students who are not experiencing success in a traditional high school. "As our organization has matured and we are serving a record number of students, we are excited to welcome additional leadership expertise to help us reach the next level. We must support our accelerated growth so that we can serve more students and school districts, while maintaining the efficacy and integrity of our model," states current CEO and co-founder Steve Campbell . Co-founders Steve Campbell and Dr. Joseph Wise will remain actively involved in the business. "Acceleration Academies is an extraordinary company that is positively impacting the lives of young adults who struggle in a traditional school setting," said Kelli Campbell , Acceleration Academies' incoming CEO. "Throughout my career I have championed equity in education. Acceleration Academies provides the necessary supports to help remove obstacles so that students can not only graduate from high school but be prepared for post-secondary and job success. I am tremendously excited for the opportunity to support the mission and help expand the number of students that we serve." About Acceleration Academies Founded in 2014, Acceleration Academies is a national leader in re-engaging young adults not experiencing success in a traditional high school setting. We partner with school districts across the U.S. to offer dropout recovery and re-engagement services, credit recovery and a flexible, personalized alternative for students (and former students) to earn a customary district issued high school diploma. Our hybrid learning model and Cognia-accredited web-based curriculum allows students to receive in-person support at academy locations and work online anytime from anywhere. Students receive a dedicated social and emotional support system to remove impediments that have caused them to struggle in a traditional setting. Currently, Acceleration Academies has more than 5,000 students enrolled in 19 academies in seven states. For more information visit: accelerationacademies.org Media Inquiries : Michelle Midkiff Chief Strategy & Accountability Officer Acceleration Academies [email protected] 704.995.6209 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/acceleration-academies-appoints-kelli-campbell-as-new-chief-executive-officer-301992870.html SOURCE Acceleration Academies UTI-Long Beach Named School of Distinction; UTI-Exton, Concorde Career College campuses in San Antonio and Orlando Named Schools of Excellence PHOENIX , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Technical Institute, Inc., a leading workforce solutions provider of transportation, skilled trades and healthcare education programs, today announced that four campuses across its two divisions were recently honored by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) for quality education and student achievement. ACCSC is the accrediting body for career, vocational, trade and technical education schools and programs in the United States . Universal Technical Institute- Long Beach was named a 2022-2023 School of Distinction for its commitment to the expectations and rigors of ACCSC accreditation and delivering quality education programs to students. Universal Technical Institute-Exton and the Concorde Career College campuses in San Antonio and Orlando were recognized as Schools of Excellence for demonstrating a high level of student achievement and commitment to the accreditation process. "These awards are a testament to how our UTI and Concorde teams are training our students for careers across multiple industries in in-demand fields. On behalf of everyone at Universal Technical Institute, Inc., I congratulate these campus presidents, faculty and staff members for their exceptional work and achievement," said Jerome Grant , CEO, Universal Technical Institute Inc. In addition to the ACCSC honors, Concorde Career Colleges was recently named the 2023 School of the Year by the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools. In October, Career Colleges and Schools of Texas named Concorde's Dallas campus its 2023 School of the Year. UTI and Concorde campuses work closely with ACCSC, their program managers, faculty and staff to provide students with valuable classroom and lab experiences to help equip them with the skills necessary to pursue jobs in in-demand professions. Counselors and career services team members also support UTI and Concorde students with resume writing, job interview skills training, and introductions to potential employers through job fairs and events. About UTI and Concorde Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) (the "Company") was founded in 1965 and is a leading workforce solutions provider of transportation, skilled trades, and healthcare education programs whose mission is to serve students, partners, and communities by providing quality education and support services for in-demand careers across a number of highly skilled fields. The Company is comprised of two divisions: Universal Technical Institute ("UTI") and Concorde Career Colleges ("Concorde"). UTI operates 16 campuses located in 9 states and offers a wide range of transportation and skilled trades technical training programs under brands such as UTI, MIAT College of Technology, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute and NASCAR Technical Institute. Concorde operates across 17 campuses in 8 states, offering programs in the Allied Health, Dental, Nursing, Patient Care and Diagnostic fields. For more information, visit www.uti.edu or www.concorde.edu, or visit us on LinkedIn at @UniversalTechnicalInstitute and @Concorde Career Colleges or on X (formerly Twitter) @news_UTI or @ConcordeCareer. Media Contact: [email protected] 480-710-6843 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/accrediting-commission-of-career-schools-and-colleges-recognizes-universal-technical-institute-concorde-career-college-campuses-for-quality-education-and-student-achievement-301993720.html SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc. Komatsu agrees to acquire leading North American battery manufacturer LAKE ORION, Mich. , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American Battery Solutions (ABS), a leader in the design, development and manufacturing of advanced lithium-ion batteries, is excited to announce plans for its acquisition by Komatsu, a leading manufacturer of construction, mining, forestry and industrial heavy equipment. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Komatsu is planning to close the acquisition once all necessary procedures for the closing are completed. Subhash Dhar, Founder and CEO of ABS, said, "We are excited to join the Komatsu family with its global presence. This partnership will position ABS as a leading partner for electrification of industrial equipment and commercial vehicles globally. We are thankful for the support of our initial investors, KCK Group, and are pleased to enable a successful exit after only 4 years. Komatsu's acquisition of ABS is testament to the intellectual and manufacturing assets ABS has developed in the span of four years." This announcement comes on the heels of launching a new transit bus battery pack for New Flyer Industries. ABS has also secured long-term supply agreements with leaders in key market segments, including the largest last mile delivery vehicle fleet and the largest RV manufacturer. The acquisition agreement signifies another major milestone for ABS and demonstrates the progress and strong positioning that ABS has in the advanced battery market. ABS will continue to support its current customer base and expand its activities into off- highway, commercial vehicle and industrial electrification efforts, and to position the company to capitalize on the rapidly expanding battery systems market globally. "After more than a year of evaluating potential battery partners, ABS stood out because of the depth of the team and their strong technical skill base, breadth of business and battery systems know-how, and battery manufacturing expertise for heavy duty markets," said Taisuke Kusaba, CTO and President, Development Division, Komatsu Ltd. The construction, mining, forestry and industrial heavy equipment markets are experiencing rapid and massive growth in electrification driven by CO2 reduction efforts, regulatory demands, ESG and operational improvement needs. Together, ABS and Komatsu are committed to developing advanced energy storage systems that are optimized to power the next generation of Komatsu's electrified equipment. While the acquisition will bring new markets to ABS products, ABS will continue to operate as an independent entity, retaining the company's existing management team; Komatsu is committed to supporting ABS' existing and new customers. ABS will continue to develop both custom and off-the-shelf solutions for on- and off-road mobility applications through the company's Proliance and Alliance brands of products. ABS has a team of nearly 200 employees with headquarters and engineering development in Lake Orion, Michigan , and manufacturing in Springboro, Ohio. About American Battery Solutions Inc. Founded in 2019 by Subhash Dhar, ABS is a U.S. -based leader in advanced battery pack development and manufacturing for heavy duty applications. ABS designs and manufactures heavy-duty battery systems and solutions for transportation, industrial and commercial vehicle markets. ABS operates a 120,000 sq. ft. technical innovation center in Michigan and a dedicated 170,000 sq. ft purpose-built state of the art battery manufacturing facility in Ohio . It employs nearly 200 people in Michigan and Ohio . For more information, please visit americanbatterysolutions.com. About Komatsu Komatsu develops and supplies technologies, equipment and services for the construction, mining, forklift, industrial and forestry markets. For more than a century, the company has been creating value for its customers through manufacturing and technology innovation, partnering with others to empower a sustainable future where people, business and the planet thrive together. Front-line industries worldwide use Komatsu solutions to develop modern infrastructure, extract fundamental minerals, maintain forests, and create consumer products. The company's global service and distributor networks support customer operations to enhance safety and productivity while optimizing performance. For more information, visit komatsu.com. Follow ABS on Facebook, Twitter @ABS_Energy and on LinkedIn. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-battery-solutions-announces-agreement-to-be-acquired-by-komatsu-301993372.html SOURCE American Battery Solutions SEATTLE , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Australian, podiatrist-founded women's footwear brand, FRANKIE4, has just opened its first permanent retail store at the Bellevue Collection , located outside of Seattle, WA. , further amplifying a presence in North America. This will be a permanent location following the success of its Bellevue Square pop-up location last Spring and Summer. Since its inception in 2010 by podiatrist Caroline McCulloch , the award-winning Australian footwear brand has gained a substantial following with its winning combination of customized comfort and beautifully crafted (with LWG-certified Gold and Silver rated leathers) shoes. The brand has amassed 100K 5-star reviews , proving that customers' testimonies are intrinsically linked to a brand's global success. Frankie4 has also recently launched key US wholesale partnerships with Nordstrom and J.Jill and the brand has the support of many celebrities including Kelly Clarkson who recently said the brand's boots were like 'walking on clouds.' Frankie4's Seattle store is designed by JPC Architects and is bright, airy and elevated without feeling pretentious. Australian design nods within the 1,844 sq ft retail space include curated coffee tables books by renowned Australian photographer, Kara Rosenlund . The store's clean, modern interior combined with plenty of live plants and greenery is part of the brand's design concept globally and meant to inspire the idea of wellness and customers' well-being, the integral aspect of the brand's DNA. "We spend a lot of time educating our team on the materials we use, why we use them, what are common foot pathologies that women will come into store with, and how our shoes can really change a woman's life. Most women consider some kind of pain in their feet to be 'normal'. Heel pain (plantar fasciitis) is extremely common in women and can be debilitating. Frankie4 exists because living with painful feet is not 'normal', and making the change to good-for-you, supportive footwear is a simple solution for so many. Our footwear has helped hundreds of thousands of women, and we look forward to helping many more women in our flagship US store," said Frankie4's Group Chief Executive Officer, Hilary McMillan . As with all Frankie4 retail stores globally (there are currently 9 in Australia ), the Bellevue store will offer expert fittings to all customers to provide a truly customized experience. "Our team has the tools to help women find the perfect fit for them. With most of our styles including our Sole Saver Pack , this enables us to adjust the fitting of the shoes then and there to accommodate different foot types. Whether wide, narrow, bunioned or somewhere in between, our Sole Saver Pack is a genius tool included with most of our enclosed styles when purchasing online as well," notes McMillan. The Frankie4 Store is located at The Bellevue Collection, Bellevue Square , Bellevue, WA 98004. Unit Number BSQ2032. Store Hours: M-Sat: 10am-9pm / Sun: 11am-7pm , p.206.708.1174 ABOUT FRANKIE4: Founded in 2010 by Australian podiatrist, Caroline McCulloch , FRANKIE4 has perfected technology and implemented it seamlessly into an expertly made shoe. McCulloch created the Sole Hero Footbeds which lifts, cradles and cushions the heel, while its arch support goal is to help with better lower limb alignment. Cleverly hidden in the design are two-zones of cushioning with the aim to prevent pain points. McCulloch also understood that no two feet are created equally and felt it was essential to develop customization so she designed the brand's proprietary Sole Saver Pack . It's a genius solution to help customers to mix-and-match according to their needs; whether that's for a narrow, regular, or wide fit. FRANKIE4 is also serious about responsible production. The unique forefront foam lining featured in some shoes is a special re-engineered textile made from recycled water bottles and the footbeds in most slides are cleverly crafted with rice husk (which is an agricultural byproduct that can create disposal issues). The brand also uses LWG-certified leathers, recycled cotton in shoe laces and recycled packaging. FRANKIE4 has been worn by Kelly Clarkson , Nina Dobrev , Jennifer Garner , Aubrey Plaza , Emma Roberts , Naomi Watts and others. More store images available HERE: https://vivianhsuphotography.shootproof.com/gallery/frankie4bellevuesquare/home Media Contact: Liz Zelkowitz , [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/australian-footwear-brand-frankie4-opens-first-us-flagship-store-in-seattle-301993625.html SOURCE Frankie4 LOS ANGELES , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R.) has installed its 2024 Leadership Team. Leading the team is C.A.R. President Melanie Barker , a licensed Yosemite REALTOR for two decades. Serving with Barker are President-elect Heather Ozur , Treasurer Mark Peterson and Chief Executive Officer John Sebree . The 2024 officers begin their official term this week at the close of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (NAR) Conference and Expo held in Anaheim, Calif. (Download headshots here): https://on.car.org/carofficers C.A.R. President Melanie Barker Barker, along with her mother, Jan Ramos , is co-owner of Summit Real Estate, a sales and property management company in Oakhurst, Calif. As a U.S. Navy veteran where she served as a quartermaster handling the ship's navigation duties, service is something that comes naturally to Barker. At the state level, Barker has been a C.A.R. Director since 2007, serving on numerous committees in various capacities including Executive, Legislative, Federal, and Strategic Planning & Finance committees. Most recently, she was Liaison, Public Policy. Barker served as president-elect in 2023. At the national level, Barker has been active with the National Association of REALTORS' Board of Directors since 2012. She served as its Federal Finance Housing Policy Chair in 2021. Her service to organized real estate began almost immediately upon becoming a REALTOR when Barker began volunteering as Government Affairs Director of the Yosemite Gateway Association of REALTORS from 2006-2008. She then was 2008 and 2015 president of that local Association, which merged with the Fresno Association of REALTORS in 2016. She served on the Board of Directors of the Fresno Association of REALTORS from 2016-2019 and as its treasurer in 2020. Barker is a member of NAR's Presidents Circle and in 2021, was inducted into NAR's RPAC Hall of Fame. She has served on the Women's Council of REALTORS, California and was twice named REALTOR of the Year in 2006 and 2019. Her volunteer service extends beyond the real estate industry. Involved in her community, she is also passionate about serving the Mountain Area Youth Organization in Oakhurst , where she has been active on its Board of Directors since 2011 and served as its president from 2013-2015. She was 2020 Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year and the Chamber's 2018 president. C.A.R. President-elect Heather Ozur Palm Springs REALTOR Heather Ozur serves as C.A.R. President-elect. Ozur has been a REALTOR with over two decades of experience, specializing in residential property with The RECollective in Palm Springs and San Diego communities. Ozur has been a dedicated and active voice in the REALTOR community. She has served as the 2014 President of the Women's Council of REALTORS California . With the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS, she has served as a Director since 2008, serving on various committees, including Strategic Planning and Finance, Professional Standards, Transaction, and Regulatory, Federal, Legislative, and Business Technology Forum. She previously served as 2022-2023 Treasurer. At the national level, Ozur is a Director with the National Association of REALTORS. She has served as the Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, a member of the Finance Committee, and an RPAC Major Investor representative. She is a graduate of the NAR Leadership Academy and an RPAC Golden R Presidents Circle Hall of Fame. In 2019, Ozur was the National President of the Women's Council of REALTORS. At the local level, Ozur served as the 2010 and 2011 President of the California Desert Association of REALTORS and as Secretary of the Greater Palm Springs Association of REALTORS from 2015-2018. In 2013, she was honored as the CDAR's REALTOR of the Year. C.A.R. Treasurer Mark Peterson Southern California REALTOR Mark Peterson serves as 2024-2025 CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R.) Treasurer. Peterson, also broker & CEO at RE/MAX Masters in La Verne , Calif., has deep passion for his work in providing exceptional service and guidance to his clients for the past 38 years. In addition to serving his clients, Peterson also is active with his local, state, and national associations of REALTORS. At the local level, Peterson was 2004 president of the Citrus Valley Association of REALTORS, where he served on various committees, including Personnel, Budget & Finance, Local Government Affairs, and Board of Directors. At the state level, Peterson has served as a State Director for the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS since 2001. He has served on such C.A.R. committees as Federal, Strategic Planning and Finance, Taxation & Government Finance, MLS Policy, Real Estate Business Services, Public Policy, CREPAC Trustees, and Global Real Estate Forum, as well as the Investment Subcommittee. He also was an Assembly Key Contact and Federal Political Coordinator. C.A.R. Chief Executive Officer John Sebree John Sebree joined C.A.R. as chief executive officer in February 2022 . Sebree previously was chief executive officer of Missouri REALTORS. Prior to his role in Missouri , Sebree served as senior vice president of Public Policy for Florida REALTORS for 11 years. Prior to that, he worked in NAR's Government Affairs division of the in Washington, DC for 13 years. Sebree was a senior legislative representative working with the congressional delegations of eight states. Prior to NAR, Sebree worked for two years for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs. Leading the way in California real estate for more than 117 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with more than 200,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/california-association-of-realtors-installs-2024-leadership-team-301991266.html SOURCE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R.) 2nd Year of $50,000 Gift to Continue Fostering Organization's Black Leadership-driven Initiatives CARMEL, Ind., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CNO Financial Group (NYSE: CNO) announced today that for the second consecutive year, the company is donating $50,000 to the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs (The Alliance). The national membership organization of 76 Black-led community development financial institutions (CDFIs) is committed to fostering social and economic justice for African American communities. "CNO is pleased to once again provide our donation to The Alliance, which will enable meaningful advancements in support of its membership, including continued training and grant opportunities and increased staff to serve its members' needs," said Matt Zimpfer , general counsel and executive sponsor for CNO's diversity, equity and inclusion program. "Importantly, we believe this donation renewal will further help The Alliance deliver increased access and benefit to its members all in an effort to reach more unbanked middle-income Americans." The Alliance serves Black-led CDFIs nationwide, by supporting and empowering CDFI CEOs to lead and grow their institutional operations, teams and social impact, while elevating the voices of these Black community leaders. The Alliance also supports Black and female CEO members, who systemically face racial and gender resource inequities that adversely impact their CDFIs and communities. In addition, the organization serves as a thought leader for CDFI public policy issues and engages in research that informs the need to continue its efforts toward helping Black communities achieve economic equity with all people. "We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the CNO Financial Group for once again choosing to invest in the Alliance's pivotal mission to close the racial wealth gap," said Lenwood V. Long , Sr., president & CEO of The Alliance. "Their ongoing commitment and generous funding for the second year running underscores their dedication to addressing racial equity challenges. We are deeply appreciative of CNO for being such powerful advocates and allies in our journey to empower African American communities and advance racial equity." Long noted the new donation will help further The Alliance's CDFI 101 program, which helps emerging CDFIs to properly prepare and apply for CDFI certification improving access to investment opportunities that can expand their impact on the community. Last year's financial donation from CNO was instrumental in enabling The Alliance to continue supporting such vital programs, including the African American Equity Impact Scorecard and the Alliance Women-Led initiative and its grant-making foundation. CNO's donation to The Alliance is part of the company's long-standing commitment to support nonprofit organizations that address the health and financial wellness of middle-income Americans. CNO is also a signatory of the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, the Indy Racial Equity Pledge and a supporter of CEO Action for Racial Equity. To learn more about CNO's commitment to the community, diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), and corporate social responsibility, visit www.cnoinc.com/corporate-responsibility. About CNO Financial Group CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CNO) secures the future of middle-income America. CNO provides life and health insurance, annuities, financial services, and workforce benefits solutions through our brands, including Bankers Life, Colonial Penn, Optavise, and Washington National. Our customers work hard to save for the future, and we help protect their health, income, and retirement needs with 3.2 million policies and $34 billion in total assets. Our 3,400 associates, 4,600 exclusive agents and more than 4,000 independent partner agents guide individuals, families, and businesses through a lifetime of financial decisions. For more information, visit www.CNOinc.com. About The African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs The African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs (The Alliance) is a coalition of 76 CEOs of Black-led Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), comprising loan funds, credit unions, venture capital firms, and non-profit developers. Since 2018, The Alliance has represented all 50 states and the District of Columbia . As a result, members are uniquely positioned to address issues related to housing and access to capital for African American populations and communities. Learn more about The Alliance and its programs at http://www.aaacdfi.org. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cno-financial-group-announces-corporate-donation-to-the-african-american-alliance-of-cdfi-ceos-301993591.html SOURCE CNO Financial Group, Inc. With the help of the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine (UNDP), the DREAM Support Office start operating, the UNDP press service told Interfax-Ukraine. "At the request of the Ministry of Reconstruction and Kyiv Regional Military Administration, a team of six experts was formed. Five of them start working on November 1. Namely, two procurement and finance experts, an engineer, an anti-corruption expert and a coordinator, head of the DREAM support team," national project manager of the UNDP Technical Support Group Igor Kistenyov-Kavkazkii said. According to him, half of the team's working time is aimed at helping to implement the DREAM system, and half at supporting selected projects. Now the team is helping in the pilot region, Kyiv region, to implement 56 projects developed with funds from the Fund for Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression, 18 with the assistance of EIB funds, 18 by United24. Namely, it helps to receive and generate system information regarding these projects and enter it into the DREAM system, which is currently in beta testing. He said that, as a rule, project support is provided in four areas: finance/procurement, technical/engineering assistance, social/coordination with society, and anti-corruption. As for the projects financed by the Liquidation Fund, it was decided to focus on the financial, technical and anti-corruption components. The second area of work of the DREAM support team implementation support Involves work on the ground, tracking the progress of projects with photographic recording, meetings with communities and support at all stages: from project approval and receiving an advance payment to commissioning. According to Kistenyov-Kavkazkii, a team of six experts will be able to deeply coordinate up to 200 projects. "We are focusing on 100 restoration projects in Kyiv region and the same number in Ukraine. Zhytomyr region and Chernihiv region have also been selected," he said. Funding has already been found for all projects supported by the DREAM support team. For example, in Chernihiv region, UNDP coordinates three projects financed by Latvia. TALLINN, Estonia , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CoinsPaid , an EU-licensed leading crypto payment ecosystem, is honoured to announce a partnership with The Island Private School in Cyprus , aimed at integrating cryptocurrency payments for the school and The Island Charitable Foundation . The foundation was established to support talented students living in Cyprus while providing assistance to children from Ukraine who have sought refuge from the ongoing conflict. Now, parents can effortlessly pay for their children's education using cryptocurrency, while a global audience has the opportunity to make crypto contributions for charity. To kickstart this significant initiative, CoinsPaid is making a donation of 50,000 to The Island Charitable Foundation. The contribution is aimed at ensuring that all children have equal access to learning opportunities, regardless of their family's financial situation. This represents a significant milestone that underscores CoinsPaid's dual commitment to fostering crypto adoption and supporting children's education. "In an ever-evolving world where children are often more familiar with crypto than their parents , at CoinsPaid, we firmly believe that children are destined to become true natives in the world of cryptocurrency, and crypto payments will simply become a way of life. We stand firm in our mission not only to drive the crypto adoption across the industries but also to provide access to top-quality education for future generations" says Max Krupyshev , CEO of CoinsPaid. "The Island Private School is excited to collaborate with CoinsPaid as we believe this partnership will create tangible benefits for our community. As a forward-thinking institution, we highly value diversity and are committed to providing high-quality education that is firmly grounded in real-time business practices. This partnership not only opens up new financial avenues for our current families, giving them a cheaper payment option but also expands the opportunities for sponsors whose contributions greatly enhance our Foundation's ability to provide support for children from all financial backgrounds, ensuring that they have access to a progressive education. Together with CoinsPaid, we are taking a significant step towards building a future where cryptocurrency and global contributions have a direct impact on educational opportunities." says Anna Filipova , Finance Director of The Island Private School. CoinsPaid invites the crypto community and industry players to join the noble initiative of donating to The Island Charitable Foundation, emphasising the importance of collective action in supporting education and promoting crypto adoption. To support the Fund, you can visit the official website of the school and click on the "I want to support the fund" button. There, you will be prompted to leave your contact information, and a school representative will get in touch with you to provide further details on how you can contribute to this worthy cause. Together, we can make a tangible difference in the lives of young learners and pave the way for a future where cryptocurrency is an everyday part of people's lives. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/coinspaid-enables-crypto-payments-at-the-island-private-school-and-donates-50-000-for-childrens-education-301991984.html SOURCE CoinsPaid BOGOTA, Colombia , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC) ("Ecopetrol" or the "Company") reports that the rating agency Fitch Ratings affirmed the Company's long-term foreign and local currency issuer default rating at "BB+", with a stable outlook. Additionally, the agency affirmed the Company's national long- and short-term ratings at 'AAA(col)' and 'F1+(col)', respectively, both with a stable outlook. The rating agency highlighted Ecopetrol's liquidity profile, which is supported by cash generation, access to capital markets, an adequate debt structure and the EBITDA contribution from Interconexion Electrica S.A. E.S.P (ISA). It also noted progress in reducing the balance of accounts receivables from the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund (FEPC), stability in the Company's operational metrics and Ecopetrol's strategic relevance for Colombia , as the Republic of Colombia holds 88.5% of its voting share capital. Ecopetrol is the largest company in Colombia and one of the main integrated energy companies in the American continent, with more than 18,000 employees. In Colombia , it is responsible for more than 60% of the hydrocarbon production of most transportation, logistics, and hydrocarbon refining systems, and it holds leading positions in the petrochemicals and gas distribution segments. With the acquisition of 51.4% of ISA's shares, the company participates in energy transmission, the management of real-time systems (XM), and the Barranquilla - Cartagena coastal highway concession. At the international level, Ecopetrol has a stake in strategic basins in the American continent, with Drilling and Exploration operations in the United States (Permian basin and the Gulf of Mexico ), Brazil , and Mexico , and, through ISA and its subsidiaries, Ecopetrol holds leading positions in the power transmission business in Brazil , Chile , Peru , and Bolivia, road concessions in Chile , and the telecommunications sector. This press release contains business prospect statements, operating and financial result estimates, and statements related to Ecopetrol's growth prospects. These are all projections and, as such, they are based solely on the expectations of the managers regarding the future of the company and their continued access to capital to finance the company's business plan. The realization of said estimates in the future depends on the behavior of market conditions, regulations, competition, and the performance of the Colombian economy and the industry, among other factors, and are consequently subject to change without prior notice. This release contains statements that may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements, whether made in this release or in future filings or press releases, or orally, address matters that involve risks and uncertainties, including in respect of the Company's prospects for growth and its ongoing access to capital to fund the Company's business plan, among others. Consequently, changes in the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements: market prices of oil & gas, our exploration, and production activities, market conditions, applicable regulations, the exchange rate, the Company's competitiveness and the performance of Colombia's economy and industry, to mention a few. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. For more information, please contact: Head of Capital Markets (a) Carolina Tovar Aragon Email: [email protected] Head of Corporate Communications Marcela Ulloa Email: [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/95646/ecopetrol_s_a__logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fitch-ratings-maintains-ecopetrol-sas-rating-at-bb-with-a-stable-outlook-301993447.html SOURCE Ecopetrol S.A. The first Dedicated Online Hub for PR Tools and Consultation MARTINEZ, Calif. , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PRToolFinder announced the official launch of its new membership-based platform, PRToolFinder Community. The innovative platform builds upon the PRToolFinder database with the addition of a PR Consultant Directory and Forum functionality to help connect PR consultants and business leaders seeking assistance. The tools database eliminates many hours of research finding PR tools by organizing over 250 tools (both free and paid) across 28 different categories, including artificial intelligence generative tools (text and graphics), media monitoring, podcast recording, podcast monitoring tools, media contact databases, market research tools, social media management and scheduling tools, video/TV search engines, and others. The full list of categories is accessible in the new eBook, PRToolFinder's Comprehensive Guide to PR Tools. "Over the years, I was surprised to discover that PRToolFinder was not only used by PR Professionals but also by general businesses," said Gina Milani , PRToolFinder founder. "It drove home for me that if business professionals were seeking out PR tools, it's likely they also would benefit from PR guidance." Who benefits from the new PRToolFinder Community? Independent PR consultants and small PR firms (team of 3 or fewer) In-House PR Teams Small to Medium-sized Businesses Management Consulting Firms PRToolFinder Community offers the following benefits: Tool Database : Access to a time-saving tools database that is PR-specific and regularly updated with a full database review conducted twice/year. Efforts will be introduced in the next few months encouraging members to post helpful reviews to assist others in decision-making; : Access to a time-saving tools database that is PR-specific and regularly updated with a full database review conducted twice/year. Efforts will be introduced in the next few months encouraging members to post helpful reviews to assist others in decision-making; Forum : The forum offers a way to connect with fellow PR Professionals; share insights, engage in forum discussions, pose questions, and provide answers. For business subscribers, make valuable connections with PR professionals capable of assisting with projects andstrategic planning. : The forum offers a way to connect with fellow PR Professionals; share insights, engage in forum discussions, pose questions, and provide answers. For business subscribers, make valuable connections with PR professionals capable of assisting with projects andstrategic planning. PR Directory (PRProFinder): The directory can be useful for both PR consultants looking for collaborators, and businesses seeking out a strategic PR partner. The Consultants Directory is discoverable by both members and non-members expanding the visibility for participating PR Consultants . "There are a lot of great tools, and they're always evolving," Milani adds. "It's this evolution that dictates the categories; changes are announced via the blog, and we encourage members to suggest additions." A PRToolFinder subscription is $19.50 /month for all users. With code "prindie" all subscribers can get the first year at a 35% discount if paid annually ( $150.00 /year or about $12.50 /month (a savings of $84.00 .) To learn more, visit https://www.prtoolfinder.com/. About PRToolFinder: PRToolFinder is an online platform connecting PR professionals and businesses with essential tools and resources needed to excel in the world of Public Relations. With a focus on community, collaboration, and innovation, PRToolFinder is committed to empowering PR professionals and businesses to thrive in the dynamic landscape of Public Relations. Learn more at www.PRToolFinder.com. PRToolFinder is a registered trademark of Milani Marketing & PR, LLC. IMAGE: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/23-1120-s2p-prtoolfinderdb-300dpi.jpg Caption: PRToolFinder Dropdown Category Menu. This release was issued through Send2Press, a unit of Neotrope. For more information, visit Send2Press Newswire at https://www.Send2Press.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/introducing-prtoolfinder-community-301992931.html SOURCE PRToolFinder FIFTH AVENUE ASSOCIATION SELECTS NEST NEW YORK TO FRAGRANCE THE MOST ICONIC STREET IN THE WORLD WITH #1 LUXURY CANDLE SCENT SOLD IN AMERICA; NEST & BERGDORF GOODMAN PARTNER ON HOLIDAY RETAIL EXPERIENCE NEW YORK , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fifth Avenue Association has tapped NEST New York , a leading fragrance lifestyle brand, to create a magical mood for shoppers this holiday season by scenting the world-famous stretch of Fifth Avenue between 46th and 61st Streets with NEST's iconic, seasonal-favorite home fragrance, Holiday. To bring the experience from the street to home, Bergdorf Goodman is partnering with NEST New York on an exclusive shopping experience. From November 20 th January 4 th, Fifth Avenue's lighted holiday tree displays along the sidewalks will scent the streets with NEST's Holiday fragrance as residents and visitors alike shop and enjoy the sights. This is the first-ever scented collaboration for Fifth Avenue , who purposefully sought out an iconic New York -based and female-founded brand like NEST New York to provide an elevated experience for New Yorkers and shoppers from around the globe. "Innovative brand collaborations are central to The Fifth Avenue Association's mission to make every visit to our corridor elegant and exceptional," shares Marie Boster , President, Fifth Avenue Association. " Fifth Avenue is the premier home of holiday magic in New York City and attracts visitors far and wide to take in the sights and sounds and, this year, the wonderful scent of NEST Holiday." NEST New York's Holiday scent is as quintessential as Fifth Avenue around the holidays, with the Classic Candle being the #1 luxury candle sold in America.* The bestselling home fragrance features a festive blend of pomegranate, mandarin orange, pine, cloves, and cinnamon with a hint of vanilla and amber. Holiday is available in a variety of formats including candles of all sizes, Reed Diffusers, and Liquid Hand Soap, as well as Fragrance Technology such as Wall Diffusers and refills for the NEST x Pura Smart Home Fragrance Diffuser. "I am thrilled to have been selected by The Fifth Avenue Association to fragrance Fifth Avenue and partner with Bergdorf Goodman to celebrate this momentous occasion," says Laura Slatkin , founder and Executive Chairman, NEST New York. "As a pioneer in the home fragrance industry, it is a high honor to have been asked to fragrance Fifth Avenue with our Holiday fragrance during this magical season!" The beautiful Christmas tree displays, built by Holiday Collective, emit the Holiday fragrance utilizing state-of-the-art cold mist aroma diffusers from Scent Marketing Inc to provide a seamless, safe diffusion of scent. After visitors take in the New York City sights while enjoying the Holiday scent, shoppers can make their way to Fifth Avenue's famed luxury retail destination, Bergdorf Goodman, for an exclusive NEST experience. NEST and Bergdorf Goodman are partnering for a first-of-it's-kind retail collaboration to bring Holiday from the street to your home through a Holiday-branded cart outside of Bergdorf Goodman on the weekends, and a Holiday-themed express elevator to the home floor where you can find NEST's complete collection. Visitors also can scan the QR code on the holiday tree display to shop the NEST at Bergdorf collection directly on their phone. About NEST New York NEST New York is a fast-growing, leading fragrance lifestyle brand offering a full range of innovative and award-winning home, fine, personal care, and fragrance technology products. Launched in 2008 by fragrance authority Laura Slatkin , NEST products have captured the hearts and households of so many people. In 2022, North Castle Partners, a consumer-focused private equity firm, purchased a majority stake in the brand. NEST is known for its outstanding product quality, extraordinary fragrances, and timeless, classic design. The brand's products are sold through a growing network of beauty specialty stores, luxury department stores, boutiques and spas, and the brand's online hub NESTNewYork.com. About The Fifth Avenue Association The Fifth Avenue Association works to ensure Fifth Avenue is the most iconic street in the world. Since 1907, it has been instrumental in making Fifth Avenue a dynamic space of beauty and luxury where all welcome to discover the best that commerce and culture have to offer. About Scent Marketing Inc Scent Marketing Inc is the leader in scent and sensory experiences and scented product development. Led by industry expert Caroline Fabrigas , Scent Marketing Inc develops successful scent identities, diffusion programs, and private label amenities that guests, clients, and customers love, remember, and stay connected to. *2022 Prestige Candles, The NPD Group View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nest-new-york-scents-fifth-avenue-for-the-holidays-301992746.html SOURCE NEST New York DENVER , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE: OVV), (TSX: OVV) (the "Company" or "Ovintiv") today announced that NMB Stock Trust, a Delaware statutory trust (the "Selling Stockholder"), intends to offer for sale 8,400,000 shares of the Company's common stock, par value US$0.01 per share, pursuant to the Company's shelf registration statement previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Offering"). Ovintiv issued the shares to the Selling Stockholder on June 12, 2023 as part of the consideration for the Company's acquisition of certain upstream oil and gas assets located in the Permian Basin from portfolio companies of funds managed by EnCap Investments L.P. The Offering consists entirely of secondary shares to be sold by the Selling Stockholder. The Selling Stockholder will receive all of the net proceeds from the Offering. Ovintiv is not offering any shares of common stock in the Offering and will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares in the Offering. The Offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the Offering may be completed. In addition, the Company announced that the Company intends to repurchase from the underwriter, out of the 8,400,000 shares of common stock that are subject to the Offering, US$53.0 million of the Company's common stock at a price per share equal to the price at which the underwriter will purchase the shares from the Selling Stockholder in the Offering. The Offering is not conditioned upon the closing of the repurchase, but the repurchase is conditioned upon the closing of the Offering. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC will act as the underwriter for this Offering. The shares will be sold in a registered offering pursuant to an effective automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3 that was previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), a prospectus and a related prospectus supplement. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the Company has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and this Offering. A copy of the prospectus relating to the securities can be obtained from Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Prospectus Department, 200 West Street , New York, NY 10282, telephone: 1-866-471-2526, facsimile: 212- 902-9316 or by emailing [email protected].These documents may also be accessed by visiting the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor will there be any sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. ADVISORY REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS - This news release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, except for statements of historical fact, that relate to the anticipated future activities, plans, strategies, objectives or expectations of the Company are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned against unduly relying on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and, by their nature, involve numerous assumptions that are subject to both known and unknown risks and uncertainties (many of which are beyond our control) that may cause such statements not to occur, or actual results to differ materially and/or adversely from those expressed or implied. Risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company's financial or operating performance include those described in "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q; and other risks and uncertainties impacting the Company's business as described from time to time in the Company's filings with the SEC or Canadian securities regulators. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions, risks and uncertainties referenced above are not exhaustive. Although the Company believes the expectations represented by its forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the information available to it as of the date such statements are made, forward-looking statements are only predictions and statements of our current beliefs and there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Unless otherwise stated herein, all statements, including forward looking statements, contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly, revise or keep current any such statements The forward-looking statements contained in this news release and all subsequent forward-looking statements attributable to the Company, whether written or oral, are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. Further information on Ovintiv Inc. is available by contacting: Investor contact: (888) 525-0304 [email protected] Media contact: (403) 645-2252 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ovintiv-announces-secondary-offering-of-common-stock-by-a-selling-stockholder-301994034.html SOURCE Ovintiv Inc. Innovative Leader Brings Extensive Experience and Expertise to New Role at Hobolite CHICAGO , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hobolite, a pioneer in innovative and premium lighting solutions, with a focus on timeless design, is excited to welcome Roland Wolff as its new General Manager for North America . Bringing rich experience from the luxury photography sector, Wolff's expertise aligns perfectly with Hobolite's commitment to providing high-quality, uniquely designed lighting solutions for creative professionals that are built to inspire. Wolff's expertise aligns perfectly with Hobolite's commitment to high-quality, unique lighting solutions for creatives. As General Manager, Wolff will lead Hobolite under a strategic vision and innovative approach by overseeing all aspects of the business, including product management, operations, sales, and marketing. Wolff is a well-respected and innovative leader within the photography industry. At Leica Camera USA, Wolff's leadership contributed to a substantial increase in sales and earnings. His role as General Manager for Latin America was pivotal in establishing Leica's presence in this untapped market, leading to the recent launch of their flagship store in Mexico City . Wolff's innovative approach at Leica Camera is further highlighted by his transformative initiatives, which modernized the organization and significantly increased eCommerce revenue, along with enhancing the results of the Leica Akademie. His success in expanding Leica's retail network, notably the Los Angeles flagship store, and his strategic engagement with diverse, creative audiences, have been instrumental in evolving Leica's brand perception and market reach. This impressive track record, combined with his extensive background from 10 different roles in 4 different countries, positions Roland Wolff as a dynamic and visionary leader in the industry. "It's truly exciting to be joining a company that is driven by the desire to inspire creatives through exceptional product design, providing a new timeless take on photography and videography light," said Wolff. "Having been actively involved in the industry for my entire career on the photography and camera equipment side, it's truly exciting to work with such an innovative lighting brand" "We are thrilled to welcome Roland Wolff to Hobolite," said Hobolite CEO Helena Bian , "Hobolite has a strong base in innovation and creativity, something we believe Roland embodies wholeheartedly. We are confident that his experience and vision will be instrumental in taking our business to new heights." For more information or to sign up for email updates about Hobolite, visit www.hobolite.com. About Hobolite Hobolite is the brainchild of AEC, a company committed to developing portable LED lights and other productivity tools through innovation since 2000. Our mission is to create lighting that is as functional as it's beautiful. Hobolite lights are not simply tools but an expression of the artists who use them. Designed for the artist on the go Hobolites are crafted to work together as a cohesive, smart system to reduce the burden of packing multiple tools and attachments when life, art, and work take you out of the studio. For more information, visit www.hobolite.com. Media Contact Danielle Hicks VP of Marketing, US [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/roland-wolff-joins-hobolite-as-general-manager-north-america-301993699.html SOURCE Hobolite WUHAN, China , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, in collaboration with Tsinghua University, Peking University and other twelve academic partners, in the Asia Communications and Photonics Conference (ACP) 2023, jointly released the "The 6th Generation Fixed Network (F6G) White Paper V1.1", which is an important update to its 1.0 version. Various emerging applications are continuously challenging the capabilities of today's network service, and are driving the fixed communication networks towards an integrated approach of both space and ground communication systems. Such a network system is also a major research area for future F6G network architecture, which will interconnect the satellite network and terrestrial fiber network optically to form a space-ground integrated communication system, allowing users to enjoy high-speed broadband wireless access services without constraint of space and time. At the beginning of this white paper, it comprehensively analyzes the challenges that current fixed networks are facing. To meet the demands of future applications that connect to everything, F6G will primarily focus on enhancing network capabilities, in terms of coverage, survivability, connectivity, intelligence, and security, to address these challenges. Moreover, the white paper provides a detailed analysis of various requirements of the proposed network, such as high-speed universal access, large capacity and secured transmission. Take high-speed full-coverage access as an example, traditional terrestrial fixed optical communication networks have already achieved impressive access capability and are scaling towards 100Gbps bandwidth. In contrast, such capability of satellite network is still relatively limited, which therefore will be a development focus for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite links, as well as a bottleneck faced by space-ground integrated networks. Finally, the white paper introduces key technologies for F6G, including enhanced multi-modal sensing, integrated space-ground wide coverage access, and enhanced physical layer security transmission. These cutting-edge technologies are potential to support holographic communication, semantic communication, intelligent system interconnection, and other typical applications. In 2020, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) announced the establishment of the F5G Industry Working Group, with a vision to move from "fiber to the home" towards "fiber to everywhere" and symbolizing the dawn of the F5G era. The release of white paper on F6G is expected to significantly impact the technological advancement and industrial applications, over the next 5-10 years. The full content of the white paper is available in https://ipoc.bupt.edu.cn/info/1238/1082.htm. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-white-paper-on-6th-generation-fixed-network-f6g-is-released-with-focus-on-space-ground-integrated-optical-communication-301993459.html SOURCE Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications UNLIMEAT has launched its own online storefront, providing nationwide delivery throughout the U.S. The online storefront serves as a portal to showcase bestsellers, new products, and limited edition products, fostering closer & more direct relationships with customers. LOS ANGELES , Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UNLIMEAT, a leading plant-based Korean food brand, launched its online store on November 10th . The UNLIMEAT SHOP showcases bestsellers like pulled pork and Korean BBQ, along with new offerings such as frozen kimbap and gluten-free frozen desserts. Furthermore, they plan to introduce limited editions, collaborative products, and items popular in Korea through the online shop. Earlier this year, UNLIMEAT introduced its pulled pork and Korean BBQ in over 1,000 Albertsons stores across the U.S. Additionally, the company has been supplying dumplings and other products to natural & organic stores in Northern California . However, there have been limitations to the range of items available in physical stores, and not everyone has access to the full product assortment. Ryan Chung , co-CEO of UNLIMEAT, emphasized the significance of the online shop as a dynamic platform for engaging with customers, listening to their stories, and showcasing new UNLIMEAT products. He remarked, "We have proactively connected with customers through initiatives such as operating food trucks and participating in festivals. While customers have expressed satisfaction with our products, many have consistently mentioned the challenges of purchasing our offerings. The launch of this online shop is our proactive response to address these consumer needs and establish closer communication with our customers. We hope this serves as an opportunity to more effectively connect with a broader audience." Looking ahead, UNLIMEAT is preparing to unveil a diverse range of K-vegan concept products, expanding beyond plant-based meat and seafood. By opening their own online storefront, they will be able to more widely disseminate innovative products such as frozen kimbap and their top-selling gluten-free frozen dessert. UNLIMEAT Kimbap, a plant-based imagning of a cherished Korean rolled rice dish, is filled with plant-based Bulgogi or Tuna, garlic stems, and pickled daikon radish. Unlike Japanese sushi, its rice is seasoned with salt and sesame oil, not vinegar. By freezing the kimbap, UNLIMEAT was able to prevent the seaweed from becoming soggy - it also allows for the kimbap to be stored for 12 months. UNLIMEAT's version is entirely plant-based and can be prepared and ready to eat after just 3 minutes in the microwave, offering a quick and delightful experience. Chapssaruni is a gluten-free cake made from glutinous rice. Its shape resembles a baby bundt cake, but its hybrid batter gives the cake a soft and chewy texture, creating a completely unique eating experience. The dessert is not only gluten-free, but also dairy-free and vegan, and has quickly gained popularity in Korea . To celebrate the launch of their online shop, UNLIMEAT plans to offer various promotions. Currently, a free shipping event is underway to commemorate the launch of Chopsaluni, a frozen kimbap. On Black Friday, a discount event of up to 50% is scheduled. Detailed information can be found on the UNLIMEAT website (unlimeat.co) or their social media channels, and product purchases can be made at unlimeat.shop. They plan to gradually expand not only their discount events, but also to begin introducing sample boxes and subscription services to showcase new products. About UNLIMEAT UNLIMEAT creates plant-based products rich in nutrients, utilizing various by-products that are typically discarded in the food production process. These include rice bran, a by-product of the brown rice polishing process, and defatted soybean powder, which results from soybean oil extraction. The company originated from the idea of reducing waste by repurposing 'ugly agricultural products' that are often discarded due to factors such as small size, scratches, or uneven color. They operate the largest plant-based meat exclusive factory in Asia and are currently launching a variety of K-vegan products with a Korean twist. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unlimeats-online-shop-launch-and-exciting-k-vegan-offerings-301993099.html SOURCE UNLIMEAT FILE PHOTO: Senior White House Advisor for Energy Security Amos Hochstein speaks at the end of his visit to Lebanon, at Beirut international airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 31, 2023. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's energy security adviser Amos Hochstein was traveling to Israel on Monday to discuss issues related to the northern border with Lebanon, including how to stop the Gaza conflict from spreading, a U.S. official said. "This trip builds on Hochstein's visit to Beirut earlier this month where he made clear the United States does not want to see conflict in Gaza escalating and expanding into Lebanon," the official said. "While in Israel, Hochstein will emphasize that restoring calm along Israel's northern border is of utmost importance to the United States and it should be a top priority for both Israel and Lebanon." Hochstein helped to finalize a maritime demarcation deal last year between Israel and Lebanon, bringing a measure of accommodation between the enemy states as they eyed offshore energy exploration. In the months before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants who run the Gaza Strip, Hochstein said the United States was exploring the possibility of resolving the longstanding border dispute between Lebanon and Israel. However, tensions have escalated along the border since cross-border raids that Israel says killed 1,200 people. The Israeli response - a bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza - has killed more than 12,300 people as it entered its seventh week, according to health officials in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has attacked Israeli troops at the Lebanese border and Israel has launched air and artillery strikes against southern Lebanon, in the deadliest violence since the two sides fought a war in 2006. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu;Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) BEIJING (Reuters) - China has facilitated transit through the country from northern Myanmar amid the conflict there as some parties have been asking for assistance, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday. China will stay in contact with related countries on what is to be done next, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press briefing. More than two hundred Thai nationals trapped by the surge in fighting in northern Myanmar between junta soldiers and armed ethnic-minority groups are being evacuated to Thailand via China, the Thai foreign ministry said on Sunday. (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) Abbas Ganbay "Today's conference of the Non-Aligned Movement 'Women's Empowerment' is of great importance for achieving gender equality and supporting women," said Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Zulaiho Mahkamova in her speech, Azernews reports. According to Mahkamova, Uzbekistan has joined the mission to expand women's rights: "Our country has taken a number of important steps to achieve this goalabout 100 legal documents have been adopted, and a number of international documents on this issue have been ratified. The deputy prime minister noted that Uzbekistan has begun providing loans under a favourable system to support women's entrepreneurship. This conference will serve to strengthen bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, Mahkamova said. "This event is very important for the development of cooperation between the two countries in many spheres. There are 210 enterprises with Azerbaijani capital in Uzbekistan, and there is potential for further expansion of economic cooperation," she said. First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Pavliuk, at a conference with the participation of Western partners in Copenhagen, presented a concept, the purpose of which is to organize comprehensive support for the continuous process of integration of the F-16 multi-purpose aircraft into the overall system of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. One step closer to the integration of the F-16 in Ukraine. Took part in a conference with the participation of Western partners in Copenhagen (Denmark), where he presented the concept of a specially created structure under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the main goal of which is to organize comprehensive support for the continuous process of integration of a multi-purpose aircraft F-16 into the general system of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, Pavliuk wrote on his Facebook page. He informed that the program will have two stages of deployment: Fast Track, designed until the end of 2024; Scaling. Thus, the main areas of work will be: support and development of airfield (air base) infrastructure; comprehensive protection of airfield infrastructure, including the air defense system; selection and training of flight crews and other aviation personnel; aircraft life cycle support and logistics support; international communications and other legal, financial, security and administrative functions. The Deputy Minister emphasized that the development of the tactical aviation capabilities of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and at the same time the re-equipment of aviation brigades, is one of the key priorities. As of November 2023, with the assistance of foreign experts, the assessment of airfields for multi-role fighters continues in Ukraine, and the first Ukrainian pilots and engineers continue training on the F-16, which began in August of this year. I thank the military-political leadership of the partner states for their support and help! Pavliuk said. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Corporation Lachlan Murdoch, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, in this handout picture released November 20, 2023. Ukrainian Presidentia KYIV (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch in the Ukrainian capital in what Kyiv said on Monday was a "very important signal" of support at a time when global media attention has shifted from the war in Ukraine. Media titan Rupert Murdoch's eldest son is a leading figure in media with a U.S. Republican-leaning audience. His visit comes as concern in Ukraine mounts over the future of vital American military and economic aid with the war with Russia showing no end in sight. A U.S. presidential election next November could bring the return of Republican Donald Trump, who has been sharply critical of support for Ukraine. There is increasing division over aid for Kyiv in the U.S. Congress. "The Head of State (Zelenskiy) thanked Lachlan Murdoch for his visit and emphasized that it is a very important signal of support at the time when the world's attention is blurred by other events," the president's office wrote on its website. His remark appeared to be a reference to Israel's war in Gaza which has dominated headlines for more than a month and significantly diverted global media attention from the war in Ukraine, which is nearing the 21-month mark this week. Zelenskiy said it was vital to keep the world's attention focused on the war in Ukraine. "For us, for our warriors, this is not a movie. These are our lives. This is daily hard work. And it will not be over as quickly as we would like, but we have no right to give up and we will not," he was quoted as saying by his office. Zelenskiy said Fox News journalist Benjamin Hall, who was badly wounded covering the war in Ukraine last year, and The Sun journalist Jerome Starkey were also invited to the meeting with Murdoch. Hall was part of a group of Fox News journalists who came under Russian fire in spring 2022. Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian fixer Oleksandra Kuvshynova were killed. The Ukrainian statement said Zelenskiy awarded the Order of Merit to Hall who was shown standing on a prosthetic limb shaking Zelenskiy's hand. Lachlan Murdoch was named the sole chairman of News Corp and will continue as the chair and chief executive of Fox Corp, the companies said in September, settling for now the issue of succession in one of the worlds most powerful media empires. (Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by Jonathan Oatis) FILE PHOTO: A view of the British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo ship Galaxy Leader, which was reported to have been captured by Houthis in the southern Red Sea, in this handout image taken near Queensland, Australia November 27, 2018. Owen Foley/Hando DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran denied Israeli claims that it was involved in the seizure of a British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo ship in the southern Red Sea by Yemen's Houthis, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday at a press conference. "We have said multiple times that resistance groups in the region act independently and spontaneously based on their interests and that of their people," Kanaani said, adding that Israeli claims were aimed at diverting attention away from Israeli's "irreparable defeat" in its battle against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, Israel said the incident was an "Iranian act of terrorism" with consequences for international maritime security. The Houthis, an ally of Tehran, have been launching long-range missile and drone salvoes at Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian Hamas militants fighting in Gaza. (Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Bernadette Baum) FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen attends a press conference after a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, ahead of a U.S.-hosted APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit in San Francisco, California, U.S., November 10, 2023. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has concerns about issues over privacy and social media, and the matter involving TikTok is not yet resolved, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNBC in an interview on Monday. Yellen declined to discuss details involving the short video platform owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, citing pending legal action that prevents U.S. regulators from acting. "We do have concerns around the potential issues with privacy and social media," she said, adding that she cannot discuss TikTok specifically. "This is a matter that has not yet been resolved." "This wasn't an explicit matter of discussion" between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met last week, Yellen told CNBC. She said she discussed Chinese investments in the United States with her Chinese counterpart during their own meeting, including the process involving the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS is an interagency committee, chaired by the Department of Treasury, which reviews foreign investments in U.S. businesses and real estate that implicate national security concerns. Yellen added that both the Washington and Beijing recognize that they have the opportunity to work together after the presidents' met last week. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Toby Chopra and Doina Chiacu) BELGRADE (Reuters) - Hundreds of farmers blocked roads throughout Serbia's northern breadbasket region of Vojvodina on Monday, demanding more subsidies and an end to excise duties on fuel. The blockades that brought parts of Vojvodina to a standstill, come at a time when the ruling Serbian Progressive Party and its partners are locked in a heated campaign with the opposition ahead of a Dec. 17 snap parliamentary vote. Farmers, supported by opposition parties and movements in Vojvodina, want the outgoing government of Ana Brnabic to increase state subsidies to 35,000 dinars ($326) per hectare, from around 9000 currently. Jovan Jovanov, a farmer, said protesters blocked a highway and a road junction near the regional capital of Novi Sad on Monday. "This morning we blocked the ... highway ... we will allow vehicles through every two and a half hours," Jovanov told reporters. Farmers are also demanding state-subsidised loans in 2024, incentives for cattle and dairy production, sales of diesel fuel without an excise tax, and regulation of the commodities market, among other things. Agriculture minister Jelena Tanaskovic last week said total agricultural subsidies in the 2024 budget amounted to 100 billion dinars, requesting that farmers propose how to distribute the funds. Further talks between the government and farmers have been announced for later in the day. In 2022, agriculture accounted for more than 6.7% of Serbia's economy and over 21% of exports. ($1 = 107.2200 Serbian dinars) (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) FILE PHOTO: Taiwan's top representative in the U.S., Hsiao Bi-khim attends a press conference by Taiwan's APEC envoy Morris Chang during the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit in San Francisco, California, U.S. November 17, 2023. REUTERS/Carl By Ben Blanchard and Fabian Hamacher TAIPEI (Reuters) -Lai Ching-te, the frontrunner for Taiwan's presidency, named on Monday Taipei's former envoy to the United States as his running mate in January's election, a high-profile diplomat well known in Washington but who Beijing denounces as a separatist. Lai, vice president and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate, has led in most opinion polls ahead of the election, which is taking place as Taiwan comes under increased pressure from China to accept its sovereignty claim. His running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, 52, who had been Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States since 2020, has extensive connections in Washington, and had been widely expected to be Lai's partner on his ticket. Hsiao said she had shared values with Lai including defending Taiwan's freedom and democracy. "I believe we have lots of common convictions - we are both willing to take on responsibility for Taiwan," she told reporters as she stood next to Lai at campaign headquarters in Taipei. The foreign ministry accepted her resignation as U.S. envoy earlier in the day. Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council who has known Hsiao since the 1990s, said she was a "formidable politician", and would add much needed diplomatic and security heft to Lai's ticket. "Bi-khim's relationships in D.C. will be invaluable to a President Lai, if he is elected, she's going to bring all of those relationships into his government and he doesn't have those," he told Reuters. The United States, as with most countries, has no formal ties with Taiwan, but is the island's most important international supporter and arms supplier. Like Lai, Hsiao is despised by China, which has twice placed sanctions on her, most recently in April, saying she was an "independence diehard". China's foreign ministry declined to answer a question about Hsiao, saying it was not a diplomatic issue. 'INDEPENDENCE ACT' China's Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday referred to Lai and Hsiao as an "independence double act", adding that Taiwan's people were "very clear" about what their partnership meant for the "situation in the Taiwan Strait". It did not elaborate. Lai, asked about these comments, dismissed what he said were "thoughtless remarks". "This is sufficient to prove that China is intervening in this election," he told reporters. "We only put importance on our people's issues." China carried out military drills around Taiwan in August, after Lai returned from a brief visit to the United States, in what the Chinese military said was a "serious warning against Taiwan independence separatist forces colluding with external forces to provoke". The DPP champions Taiwan's separate identity from China. The DPP-led government says only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and it has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing but been rebuffed. The DPP's smooth handling of its vice presidential nominee stands in contrast with efforts by Taiwan's two main opposition parties to agree on a joint ticket. Their negotiations have stalled. The largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which traditionally favours close ties with Beijing, is locked in a dispute with the smaller Taiwan People's Party about which of their candidates should run as president and which as vice president after initially agreeing to work together. The deadline to register presidential candidates with the election commission is Friday. Lai, writing on Facebook earlier on Monday, pointed to the "turmoil" in the opposition camp. "In contrast, the team I lead is definitely a fully prepared and tested one," he said. Hsiao was born in Japan to a Taiwanese father and American mother and initially worked in the office of then-president Chen Shui-bian, also from the DPP, and then as a DPP lawmaker. Unusually in Taiwan, she uses an English spelling of her name based on its Taiwanese Hokkien pronunciation to underscore her identity as being Taiwanese and not Chinese. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Fabian Hamacher; Additional reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Miral Fahmy, Robert Birsel) U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin looks on as he attends the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 16, 2023. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/Pool/ File Photo By Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth KYIV (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin announced $100 million in new military aid to Ukraine during an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, pledging long-term American support amid growing concerns about the sustainability of vital U.S. assistance. Austin announced the aid package after a day of meetings with Ukrainian officials, with the latest tranche including arms such as anti-tank weapons, air-defence interceptors and an additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Austin, accompanied by the top U.S. general in Europe, was photographed smiling and shaking hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. It marked Austin's first visit to Kyiv since April 2022. "The message that I bring you today, Mr. President, is that the United States of America is with you. We will remain with you for the long haul," Austin told Zelenskiy after an overnight train ride into Ukraine from Poland. Zelenskiy told Austin that his visit was "a very important signal" for Ukraine. "We count on your support," Zelenskiy told Austin. The United States has provided more than $44 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. "I think they are prepared for combat in the winter," Austin told reporters after his meetings. "They did a great job last year. This year we expect them to be, just based on what... President Zelenskiy has said, them to be even more aggressive," Austin added. The trip comes amid increasing division over aid for Ukraine in the U.S. Congress, with a U.S. presidential election coming in November 2024. Some American lawmakers are prioritising aid to Israel even as U.S. defence officials stress that Washington can support both allies simultaneously. In a statement on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appealed for lawmakers to approve more aid. "It is critical for Congress to take action to support Ukraine by passing the Presidents supplemental funding request," Blinken said. "Helping Ukraine defend itself ... helps prevent larger conflict in the region and deters future aggression, which makes us all safer." Privately, some top Ukrainian officials have voiced concern that deliveries of military aid may become less frequent, reflecting broader unease over the levels of support needed to sustain the war against Russia. Ukraine's budget for next year has a deficit of more than $40 billion which needs to be filled. STOP-GAP SPENDING BILL President Joe Biden had asked Congress to approve more money for Ukraine last month. Its omission from a stop-gap spending bill passed by lawmakers last week raised concerns that funding for Ukraine might never be appropriated, especially after the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a bill including assistance for Israel but not Ukraine. A vocal bloc of Republicans oppose sending more aid to Ukraine. Opponents of the aid have said U.S. taxpayer money should be spent at home, but a majority of Republicans and Democrats in Congress still support aid to Zelenskiy's government. A joint Ukraine-U.S. military industry conference in Washington, due to take place on Dec. 6 and 7, is intended to boost Ukraine's domestic arms production as the war drags towards the two-year mark. Russia now controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine. The West sent in military equipment and Ukraine mounted a counteroffensive push this year to retake occupied land, but it has not made a big breakthrough. (Reporting by Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth in Kyiv and Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham, Bernadette Baum, Alex Richardson and Cynthia Osterman) A smartphone with displayed Binance logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken, June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department is seeking more than $4 billion from Binance Holdings as part of a proposed resolution of a years-long investigation, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the discussions. Negotiations between the Justice Department and Binance include the possibility that the cryptocurrency exchange's founder, Changpeng Zhao, would face criminal charges in the United States, the report said. Any resolution is likely to play a crucial role in investor sentiment toward crypto, which has taken a hit over a wave of government investigations and charges against firms and individuals in the industry, including the recent fraud conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The industry also was shaken by several high-profile collapses last year, but is looking to regain some footing after getting a vote of confidence from some traditional financial institutions. A source familiar with the investigation said the long-running government probe was nearing conclusion, but did not give specific information on penalties or exact timeline. The Bloomberg report said an announcement on the resolution could come as soon as the end of this month. Binance did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment. UNDER SCRUTINY FOR YEARS Binance has been under Justice Department's scrutiny since at least 2018, Reuters reported last year. Federal prosecutors asked the company in December 2020 to provide internal records about its anti-money laundering efforts, along with communications involving Zhao, Reuters has reported. The DOJ probe is one of a string of legal and regulatory headaches the world's biggest crypto exchange faces in the United States. In June, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance and Zhao, accusing them of operating an "elaborate scheme to evade U.S. federal securities laws." Binance denied the SEC's allegations and said it would "vigorously defend" its platform. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also sued the exchange in March for "willful evasion" of U.S. commodities law, alleging that Binance and Zhao operated an "illegal" exchange and a "sham" compliance program. Zhao called those charges an "incomplete recitation of the facts." With crypto markets subdued compared with the highs of 2021, Binance has also witnessed an executive exodus and slumping market share. At least a dozen executives have left the exchange in recent months, including Binance's chief strategy officer, general counsel and chief product officer. 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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-Q (Mark One) QUARTERLY REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF1934 For the quarterly period ended TRANSITION REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE EXCHANGE ACT For the transition period from ____________to____________ MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. (Exact name of small business issuer as specified in its charter) Delaware 000-28411 85-0460639 (State of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.) 244 Fifth Ave , Suite 2341 New York , New York , 10001 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code) Issuers telephone number: ( 212 ) 541-2405 Securities registered under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act: None Securities registered under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act: Common Stock, $0.001 par value (Title of Class) Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer and smaller reporting company, and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer Non-accelerated Filer Smaller reporting company Emerging growth company If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes No There were 559,281,064 shares outstanding of registrants common stock, par value $0.001 per share, as of November 18, 2023. TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Table of Contents PART I FINANCIAL INFORMATION MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 AND DECEMBER 31, 2022 September 30, December 31, 2023 2022 (unaudited) ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 89,000 $ 175,000 Prepaid expenses 1,000 14,000 Total current assets 90,000 189,000 Investment in equity securities 340,000 839,000 Property and equipment, net - 1,000 Other assets 2,000 2,000 Total assets $ 432,000 $ 1,031,000 LIABILITIES Current liabilities: Accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 128,000 $ 119,000 Accrued expenses - related parties 1,782,000 1,439,000 Deferred revenue 10,000 - Notes payable, net of discounts 60,000 110,000 Total current liabilities 1,980,000 1,668,000 Total liabilities 1,980,000 1,668,000 Commitments and Contingencies - Note 7 - - Series D Convertible Preferred mandatory redeemable, authorized 105,761 shares, 105,761 and 105,761 shares issued and outstanding, respectively 1,058,000 1,058,000 STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY (DEFICIT) Capital stock $ 0.001 par value Series A Convertible Preferred, authorized 182,525 , no shares issued and outstanding, respectively - - Series B Convertible Preferred, authorized 250,000 , 49,999 shares issued and outstanding, respectively - - Series C Redeemable Convertible Preferred, authorized 14,000 , no shares issued and outstanding, respectively - - Common, authorized 950,000,000 shares, 559,281,064 shares issued, and outstanding, respectively 559,000 559,000 Additional paid-in-capital 68,996,000 68,996,000 Accumulated deficit ( 72,161,000 ) ( 71,250,000 ) Total stockholders' equity (deficit) ( 2,606,000 ) ( 1,695,000 ) TOTAL LIABILITIES, MEZZANINE EQUITY AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY (DEFICIT) $ 432,000 $ 1,031,000 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements. 3 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (unaudited) FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 2022 2023 2022 Revenue $ - $ 9,000 $ - $ 50,000 Operating expenses: General and administrative 177,000 175,000 544,000 548,000 Research and development 3,000 2,000 8,000 7,000 Total operating expenses 180,000 177,000 552,000 555,000 Loss from operations ( 180,000 ) ( 168,000 ) ( 552,000 ) ( 505,000 ) Other income (expense): Gain (Loss) on fair value adjustment of investments ( 82,000 ) 104,000 ( 374,000 ) ( 1,809,000 ) Gain on settlement of debt - - 15,000 - Interest expense - ( 7,000 ) - ( 20,000 ) Total other income (expense) ( 82,000 ) 97,000 ( 359,000 ) ( 1,829,000 ) NET LOSS $ ( 262,000 ) $ ( 71,000 ) $ ( 911,000 ) $ ( 2,334,000 ) LOSS PER COMMON SHARE: Weighted average number of common shares outstanding (Basic and Diluted) 559,281,064 559,281,064 559,281,064 559,281,064 Basic and Diluted loss per common share (Basic and Diluted) $ ( 0.00 ) $ ( 0.00 ) $ ( 0.00 ) $ ( 0.00 ) The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements. 4 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT) FOR THE THREE AND NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 AND 2022 (unaudited) Preferred Stock - Series B Common Stock Additional Total Shareholders' $0.001 Par Value $0.001 Par Value Paid-In Accumulated Equity Shares Amount Shares Amount Capital Deficit (Deficit) Balance December 31, 2022 49,999 $ - 559,281,064 $ 559,000 $ 68,996,000 $ ( 71,250,000 ) $ ( 1,695,000 ) Net loss ( 420,000 ) ( 420,000 ) Balance March 31, 2023 49,999 $ - 559,281,064 $ 559,000 $ 68,996,000 $ ( 71,670,000 ) $ ( 2,115,000 ) Net loss ( 229,000 ) ( 229,000 ) Balance June 30, 2023 49,999 $ - 559,281,064 $ 559,000 $ 68,996,000 $ ( 71,899,000 ) $ ( 2,344,000 ) Net loss ( 262,000 ) ( 262,000 ) Balance September 30, 2023 49,999 $ - 559,281,064 $ 559,000 $ 68,996,000 $ ( 72,161,000 ) $ ( 2,606,000 ) Preferred Stock - Series B Common Stock Additional Total $0.001 Par Value $0.001 Par Value Paid-In Accumulated Shareholders' Shares Amount Shares Amount Capital Deficit Equity Balance December 31, 2021 49,999 $ - 559,281,064 $ 559,000 $ 68,996,000 $ ( 68,520,000 ) $ 1,035,000 Net loss ( 647,000 ) ( 647,000 ) Balance March 31, 2022 49,999 $ - 559,281,064 $ 559,000 $ 68,996,000 $ ( 69,167,000 ) $ 388,000 Net loss ( 1,616,000 ) ( 1,616,000 ) Balance June 30, 2022 49,999 $ - 559,281,064 $ 559,000 $ 68,996,000 $ ( 70,783,000 ) $ ( 1,228,000 ) Net loss ( 71,000 ) ( 71,000 ) Balance September 30, 2022 49,999 $ - 559,281,064 $ 559,000 $ 68,996,000 $ ( 70,854,000 ) $ ( 1,299,000 ) The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements. 5 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (unaudited) FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 2022 CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES: Net loss $ ( 911,000 ) $ ( 2,334,000 ) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 1,000 2,000 Loss on fair value adjustment of investments 374,000 1,809,000 Amortization of debt discount - 19,000 Gain on settlement of debt ( 15,000 ) - Changes in: Prepaid expenses 13,000 7,000 Accounts payable and accrued expenses 9,000 13,000 Accounts payable and accrued expenses - related party 343,000 222,000 Deferred revenue 10,000 - Net cash used in operating activities ( 176,000 ) ( 262,000 ) CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Proceeds from sale of assets held for sale - 300,000 Proceeds from sale of investments 110,000 28,000 Net cash from investing activities 110,000 328,000 CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Repayments for note payable ( 20,000 ) ( 10,000 ) Net cash used in financing activities ( 20,000 ) ( 10,000 ) NET INCREASE IN CASH ( 86,000 ) 56,000 CASH, BEGINNING OF PERIOD 175,000 232,000 CASH, END OF PERIOD $ 89,000 $ 288,000 SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION: Interest paid $ - $ - Income taxes paid $ - $ - SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES OF NONCASH INVESTING AND FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Investment in equity shares transferred to pay note down $ 30,000 $ - The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements. 6 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE NINE ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 (UNAUDITED) NOTE 1 BASIS OF PRESENTATION The foregoing unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions for Form 10-Q and Regulation S-X as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Accordingly, these financial statements do not include all of the disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America for complete financial statements. These unaudited interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and the notes thereto included on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed on April 13, 2023. In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim financial statements furnished herein include all adjustments, all of which are of a normal recurring nature, necessary for a fair statement of the results for the interim period presented. Operating results for the three and nine months period ended September 30, 2023 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2023. The condensed consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2022 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. for complete financial statements. NOTE 2 SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND RELATED MATTERS BASIS OF CONSOLIDATION: The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Manhattan Scientific, Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary Metallicum. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. GOING CONCERN: As of September 30, 2023, the Company has an accumulated deficit of $ 72,161,000 and negative working capital of $ 1,890,000 . Because of these conditions, the Company will require additional working capital to develop business operations. The Company intends to raise additional working capital through the continued licensing of its technology as well as to generate revenues for other services. There are no assurances that the Company will be able to achieve the level of revenues adequate to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to support the Companys working capital requirements. To the extent that funds generated are insufficient, the Company will have to raise additional working capital. No assurance can be given that additional financing will be available, or if available, will be on terms acceptable to the Company. If adequate working capital is not available, the Company may not continue its operations. These factors raise substantial doubt about the Companys ability to continue as going concern within one year from the date of filing these financial statements. These financial statements do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the possible inability of the Company to continue as a going concern. The ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on out generating cash from the sale of our common stock and/or obtaining debt financing and attaining future profitable operations. Managements plan includes selling our equity securities and/or obtaining debt financing to fund our capital requirement and ongoing operations; however, there can be no assurance the Company will be successful in these efforts. USE OF ESTIMATES: The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amount of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. A significant estimate includes the carrying value of the Companys patents, fair value of the Companys common stock, assumptions used in calculating the value of stock options, depreciation and amortization. 7 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE NINE ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 (UNAUDITED) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of year or less at the time of purchase to be cash equivalents for the purposes of the statement of cash flows. CASH CONCENTRATION: The Companys cash accounts are federally insured up to $ 250,000 for each financial institution we hold our accounts in. As of September 30, 2023, we had cash balances of $- 0 - exceeding the federally insured limits. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT: Property and equipment are recorded at cost. Expenditures for major additions and improvements are capitalized, and minor replacements, maintenance, and repairs are charged to expense as incurred. When property and equipment are retired or otherwise disposed of, the cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any resulting gain or loss is included in the results of operations for the respective period. Depreciation is provided over the estimated useful lives of the related assets, the useful lives range between 3 - 10 years, using the straight-line method for financial statement purposes. MARKETABLE SECURITIES: The Company considers securities with original maturities of greater than 90 days to be available for sale securities. Securities under this classification are recorded at fair value and unrealized gains and losses within other income (loss). The estimated fair value of the available for sale securities is determined based on quoted market prices or rates for similar instruments. In addition, the cost of debt securities in this category is adjusted for amortization of premium and accretion of discount to maturity. For available for sale debt securities in an unrealized loss position, the Company assesses whether it intends to sell or if it is more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the security before recovery of its amortized cost basis. If either of the criteria regarding intent or requirement to sell is met, the securitys amortized cost basis is written down to fair value. If the criteria are not met, the Company evaluates whether the decline in fair value has resulted from a credit loss or other factors. In making this assessment, management considers, among other factors, the extent to which fair value is less than amortized cost, any changes to the rating of the security by a rating agency, and adverse conditions specifically related to the security. If this assessment indicates that a credit loss exists, the present value of cash flows expected to be collected from the security are compared to the amortized cost basis of the security. If the present value of the cash flows expected to be collected is less than the amortized cost basis, a credit loss exists and an allowance for credit losses is recorded for the credit loss, limited by the amount that the fair value is less than the amortized costs basis. Any impairment that has not been recorded through an allowance for credit losses is recognized in other income (loss). For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, no allowance was recorded for credit losses. REVENUE RECOGNITION: The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as outlined in the Financial Accounting Standard Boards (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, Revenue From Contracts with Customers, which consists of five steps to evaluating contracts with customers for revenue recognition: (i) identify the contract with the customer; (ii) identity the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price; and (v) recognize revenue when or as the entity satisfied a performance obligation. Revenue recognition occurs at the time we satisfy a performance obligation to our customers, when control transfers to customers, provided there are no material remaining performance obligations required of the Company or any matters of customer acceptance. We only record revenue when collectability is probable. No revenue was recorded during the nine months ended September 30, 2023. 8 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE NINE ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 (UNAUDITED) FAIR VALUE MEASUREENTS: The Company recognized the fair value of financial instruments in accordance with FASB ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, Fair Value Measurements, which provides a framework for measuring fair value under GAAP. Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The standard also expands disclosures about instruments measured at fair value and establishes a fair value hierarchy, which requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. The standard describes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value: Level 1 Quoted prices for identical assets and liabilities in active markets; Level 2 Quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs and significant value drivers are observable in active markets; and Level 3 Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. The Company designates cash and cash equivalents (consisting of money market funds), short-term investments in securities of publicly traded companies as Level 1. The total amount of the Companys investment classified as Level 3 is de minimis. Fair value of financial instruments: The carrying amounts of financial instruments, including prepaid expenses, accounts payable, accrued expenses and notes payables approximated fair value as of September 30, 2023 because of the relative short term nature of these instruments. During the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company elected fair value option for its investment in Imagion Biosystems, Inc. a Nevada company (Imagion) based on triggering event of dilution of ownership, which lead to the deconsolidation of Imagion. Investments in Imagion are measured at fair value as opposed to equity method based on ASC 825-10. The guidance allows entities to elect to measure certain financial assets and financial liabilities (as well as certain nonfinancial instruments that are similar to financial instruments) at fair value. Investments over which an investor has the ability to exercise significant influence are eligible for the fair value option as they represent recognized financial assets. When the fair value option is elected for an instrument, all subsequent changes in fair value for that instrument are reported in earnings. As of September 30, 2023, the Company holds 40,466,501 shares of Imagion and is reported under fair value method under ASC 320. Any change in the value is reported on the income statement as an unrealized gain or loss on fair value adjustment of investments. Our financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value measured on a recurring basis as of September 30, 2023, consisted of the following: Total fair value at September 30, 2023 Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level1) Significant other observable inputs (Level 2) Significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) Investment in equity securities $ 340,000 $ 340,000 $ - $ - Our financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value measured on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2022, consisted of the following: Total fair value at December 31, 2022 Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level1) Significant other observable inputs (Level 2) Significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) Investment in equity securities $ 839,000 $ 839,000 $ - $ - 9 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE NINE ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 (UNAUDITED) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY / RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT In June 2008, we acquired Metallicum and its licensed rights to patented technology. The technology is comprised of three US Patents (US Patent numbers 7152448, 6197129 and 6399215) for which Metallicum (subsequently, Manhattan) had been assigned exclusive license rights by Los Alamos National Security LLC (LANL). Under the license rights, Metallicum had all rights, title and interest throughout the world in and to any and all inventions, original works of authorship, developments, concepts, know-how, and improvements on the patents or trade secrets whether or not patentable or registerable under copyright or similar laws. The purchase price paid for these licenses was $ 305,000 , which represents its fair value. The Company obtained an exclusive license on two patents and a non-exclusive license on the third patent. The value attributable to license agreements is being amortized over the period of its estimated benefit period of 10 years. Our ability to compete depends in part on the protection of and our ability to defend our proprietary technology and on the goodwill associated with our trade names, service marks and other proprietary rights. However, we do not know if current laws will provide us with sufficient enough protection that others will not develop technologies similar or superior to ours, or that third parties will not copy or otherwise obtain or use our technologies without our authorization. The success of our business will depend, in part, to identify technology, obtain patents, protect and enforce patents once issued and operate without infringing on the proprietary rights of others. Our success will also depend on our ability to maintain exclusive rights to trade secrets and proprietary technology we own are currently developing and will develop. We can give no assurance that any issued patents will provide us with competitive advantages or will not be challenged by others, or that the patents of others will not restrict our ability to conduct business. In addition, we rely on certain technology licensed with a perpetual term from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and may be required to license additional technologies in the future. We do not know if these third-party licenses will be available or will continue to be available to us on acceptable commercial terms or at all. The inability to enter into and maintain any of these licenses could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of our operations. Policing unauthorized use of our proprietary technology and other intellectual property rights could entail significant expense. In addition, we do not know if third parties will bring claims of copyright or trademark infringement against us or claim that our use of certain technologies violates a patent or other intellectual property. Any claims of infringement, with or without merit, could be time consuming and expensive to defend, result in costly litigation, divert management attention, require us to enter into costly royalty or licensing arrangements or prevent us from using important technologies or methods, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of our operations. LEASES The Company leases a facility with terms of month to month for its headquarters. The Company adopted ASC 842 on January 1, 2019 and has evaluated that has no impact on the financial statements as under the practical expedient the leases consist of terms less than one year, and therefore, is not required to capitalize the lease. INCOME TAXES The Company accounts for income taxes under an asset and liability approach. This process involves calculating the temporary and permanent differences between the carrying amounts of the assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. The temporary differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities, which would be recorded on the Companys consolidated balance sheets in accordance with ASC 740, which established financial accounting and reporting standards for the effect of income taxes. The Company must assess the likelihood that its deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and, to the extent the Company believes that recovery is not likely, the Company must establish a valuation allowance. Changes in the Companys valuation allowance in a period are recorded through the income tax provision on the consolidated statements of operations. ASC 740-10 clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an entitys financial statements and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attributes for financial statement disclosure of tax positions taken or expected to be taken on a tax return. Under ASC 740-10, the impact of an uncertain income tax position on the income tax return must be recognized at the largest amount that is more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon audit by the relevant taxing authority. An uncertain income tax position will not be recognized if it has less than a 50% likelihood of being sustained . Additionally, ASC 740-10 provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition. As a result of the implementation of ASC 740-10, the Company recognized no material adjustment in the liability for unrecognized income tax benefits. 10 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE NINE ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 (UNAUDITED) BASIC AND DILUTED EARNINGS (LOSS) PER SHARE In accordance with FASB ASC 260, Earnings Per Share, the basic loss per share is computed by dividing the loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Basic net income (loss) per share excludes the dilutive effect of stock options or warrants and convertible notes Diluted net earnings (loss) per common share is determined using the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period, adjusted for the dilutive effect of common stock equivalents, consisting of shares that might be issued upon exercise of common stock options and warrants. In periods where losses are reported, the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding excludes common stock equivalents, because their inclusion would be anti-dilutive. As of September 30, 2023 and 2022, 28,922,917 and 28,922,917 , respectively, dilutive shares were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings (loss) per common share, as the effect of these shares on earnings per share would have been anti-dilutive. The following table shows the computation of basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022: Three Months Ended September 30, 2023 September 30, 2022 Numerator: Net loss $ ( 262,000 ) $ ( 71,000 ) Denominator: Weighted-average basic shares outstanding 559,281,064 559,281,064 Effect of dilutive securities - - Weighted-average diluted shares 559,281,064 559,281,064 Basic earnings (loss) per share $ ( 0.00 ) $ ( 0.00 ) Diluted earnings (loss) per share $ ( 0.00 ) $ ( 0.00 ) Nine Months Ended September 30, 2023 September 30, 2022 Numerator: Net loss $ ( 911,000 ) $ ( 2,334,000 ) Denominator: Weighted-average basic shares outstanding 559,281,064 559,281,064 Effect of dilutive securities - - Weighted-average diluted shares 559,281,064 559,281,064 Basic earnings (loss) per share $ ( 0.00 ) $ 0.00 ) Diluted earnings (loss) per share $ ( 0.00 ) $ ( 0.00 ) 11 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE NINE ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 (UNAUDITED) STOCK BASED COMPENSATION The Company accounts for stock-based compensation based on the fair value of all option grants or stock issuances made to employees or directors on or after its implementation date (the beginning of fiscal 2006), as well as, a portion of the fair value of each option and stock grant made to employees or directors prior to the implementation date that represents the unvested portion of these share-based awards as of such implementation date, to be recognized as an expense, as codified in ASC 718. The Company calculates stock option-based compensation by estimating the fair value of each option as of its date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. These amounts are expensed over the respective vesting periods of each award using the straight-line attribution method. Compensation expense is recognized only for those awards that are expected to vest, and as such, amounts have been reduced by estimated forfeitures. The Company has historically issued stock options and vested and non-vested stock grants to employees and outside directors whose only condition for vesting has been continued employment or service during the related vesting or restriction period. The estimated fair value of grants of stock options and warrants to nonemployees of the Company is charged to expense, if applicable, in the financial statements. The Company accounts for equity instruments issued in exchange for the receipt of goods or services from other than employees in accordance with FASB ASC 505-50. Costs are measured at the estimated fair market value of the consideration received or the estimated fair value of the equity instruments issued, whichever is more reliably measurable. The value of equity instruments issued for consideration other than employee services is determined on the earliest of a performance commitment or completion of performance by the provider of goods or services as defined by FASB ASC 505-50. RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS The Company has evaluated all recent accounting pronouncements and none are expected to have a material impact on the condensed consolidated financial statements. NOTE 3 INVESTMENT IN IMAGION BIOSYSTEMS As of September 30, 2023, the Company owns 40,466,501 shares of Imagion, resulting in a noncontrolling interest of Imagions issued and outstanding common stock. Based upon Imagions trading price on September 30, 2023, approximately $ 0.01 per share, the fair value of the Imagion shares was approximately $ 340,000 . During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company recorded loss on fair value adjustment on its investment of $ 374,000 . Below is reconciliation for the changes to the investment in Imagion for the nine months ended September 30, 2023: Balance as of December 31, 2022 $ 839,000 Change in the unrealized fair value of securities 374,000 ) Sale of securities ( 110,000 ) Transfer of securities ( 15,000 ) Balance as of September 30, 2023 $ 340,000 NOTE 4 NOTES PAYABLE On October 17, 2019, The Company executed two secured notes with a related party for a total of $ 100,000 . The secured notes were due on . The note bears interest at 10 % per annum, to be paid in advance in shares of Imagion Biosystems Limited common stock (IBX), calculated at $ 0.015 per share with 2 million shares of IBX common stock. The debt discount was fully amortized in prior years. In January 2023, the Company signed an agreement with the noteholder to pay one million IBX shares with a strike price of $ 0.03 per share USD or $ 30,000 , the transfer was made on January 26, 2023. The value of the shares transferred was approximately $ 15,000 . The Company recognized a gain on settlement of debt of $ 15,000 . Additionally, the Company paid $ 10,000 in cash on March 22, 2023 and $ 10,000 in cash in August 2023. The remaining balance of the note is $ 10,000 as of September 30, 2023. On October 17, 2019, the Company executed a secured note with an individual for $ 50,000 . The secured note was due on . The Company agreed that the note bears interest at 10 % per annum, to be paid in advance in shares of Imagion Biosystems Limited common stock (IBX), calculated at $ 0.015 per share with 1 million shares of IBX common stock. The debt discount was fully amortized in prior years. 12 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE NINE ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 (UNAUDITED) NOTE 5 CAPITAL TRANSACTIONS Preferred Stock The Company has a total of 1,000,000 shares of authorized preferred shares which are segregated into four classes of preferred stock. The Company has 182,525 authorized shares of convertible, redeemable, 10 percent cumulative, Class A, Preferred Stock with $ 0.001 par value. One Class A, Preferred share is convertible into 50 restricted common shares and will be entitled to the number of votes equal to the number of shares of common stock into which such holders shares of Series A Preferred stock could be converted at the time of the vote . Class A, Preferred Stock is redeemable by the Company at $15 per share . Upon liquidation the holders of Series A Preferred stock will be entitled to be paid out of the assets available for distribution of the corporation an amount equal to $10 per share, before any payment will be made to the common shareholders . As of September 30, 2023, no shares of Preferred Stock were issued and outstanding. The Company has 250,000 authorized shares of Class B, Preferred Stock with $ 0.001 par value. As of September 30, 2023, 49,999 shares of Preferred Stock were issued and outstanding, respectively. Class B preferred shares are convertible at a rate of 1 Series B preferred share to 10 common shares. The Company has 14,000 authorized shares of redeemable, convertible, Class C, Preferred Stock with $ 100 stated value. Class C, Preferred Stock is not entitled to receive dividends unless dividends are paid on common stock. Upon liquidation Class C, Preferred Stock shall be treated as if it were converted to common stock prior to liquidation . Class C, Preferred Stock is convertible at $100 divided by the 10 day average closing price of common stock . The Class C, Preferred Stock is redeemable by the Company at the stated value. As of September 30, 2023, no shares of Preferred Stock were issued and outstanding. The Series D Preferred Stock does not pay dividends and does not have a liquidation preference. The Holder of the Series D Preferred Stock will be entitled to 20 votes for each share of common stock that the Series D Preferred Stock are convertible into . The Series D Preferred Stock has a conversion price of $ 0.055 (the Conversion Price) and a stated value of $ 10.00 (the Stated Value) per share. Each share of Series D Preferred Stock is convertible, at the option of the Holder, into such number of shares of common stock of the Company as determined by dividing Stated Value by the Conversion Price. Holder may only convert the Series D Preferred Stock upon certain Convertible Promissory Notes, whether presently outstanding or to be issued, issued to three accredited investors (the "Note Investors") in accordance with those certain Convertible Note Purchase Agreements between the Company and the Note Investors dated April 3, 2013, have either (i) been converted in full or in part by the Note Investors into shares of common stock of the Company, (ii) the Note Investors have sold or assigned all or a part of their Convertible Promissory Notes to third parties, or (iii) the Note Investors have been paid in full or in part. The Holder will only be permitted to convert such number of Series D Preferred Stock equal to the pro rata amount of the Convertible Promissory Notes converted, assigned or paid. In the event the Note Investors agree in writing that these restrictions may be terminated, then the Holder will be entitled to convert the Series D Preferred Stock at the Holders election and the above restrictions will be null and void. Additionally, Holder may not convert the Series D Preferred Stock until the ten day average daily trading volume is greater than $20,000 . As of the date of this filing, this has not occurred yet. In the event the Holder terminates its consulting agreement or violates a non-compete covenant, then the Series D Preferred Shares shall be returned to the Company for cancellation and the Company shall be obligated on the Debt. As the Series D Preferred Stock is conditionally redeemable, the Company has recorded the Series D Preferred Stock as mezzanine equity in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet. The Company has 447,804 undesignated blank check preferred stock, $ 0.001 par value, authorized as of September 30, 2023. The preferred shares are to be issued in such series and to have such rights, preferences, and designation as determine by the Board of Directors of the Company. Common Stock The Company has a total of 950,000,000 shares of authorized common shares. As of September 30, 2023, 559,281,064 shares of common stock were issued and outstanding. 13 Table of Contents MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE NINE ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 (UNAUDITED) NOTE 6 LICENSE AGREEMENT On May 1, 2019, the Company, entered into an agreement with a non-affiliated third party (Third Party), providing for an exclusive license by the Company of its ECAP technology to the Third Party for a term of 17 years unless terminated sooner, a sublicense by the Company to the Third Party of its rights under that certain Exclusive Field-of-Use Patent License Agreement dated January 5, 2009 entered with The Los Alamos National Laboratory for a term until the expiration of the last valid claim to expire of the patents pursuant to such agreement and the sale by the Company of ECAP-C machines to the Third party. As part of the above license agreements, the Company will receive royalty payments, including minimum payments, based on a percentage of the Third Partys sales. Royalties will be 10 % on gross sales of licensed dental products and an average of 5 % on all other sales of licensed products. As of September 30, 2023, the Company has $ 10,000 in deferred revenue related to this license agreement. NOTE 7 COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Legal matter contingencies The Company believes, based on current knowledge and after consultation with counsel, that it is not currently party to any material pending proceedings, individually or in the aggregate, the resolution of which would have a material effect on the Company. Provisions for losses are established in accordance with ASC 450, Contingencies when warranted. Once established, such provisions are adjusted when there is more information available of when an event occurs requiring a change. NOTE 8 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS As of September 30, 2023, the Company had accrued expenses to related parties of approximately $ 1,782,000 . As of September 30, 2023, the amounts are due to the Companys sole officer for compensation $ 477,000 and the chairman of the board for compensation of $ 1,213,000 and the members of the board of directors of $ 92,000 . During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company settled a portion of debt with a related party. See Note 4. 14 Table of Contents ITEM 2. MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS. Forward Looking Statements This Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements including statements regarding our expectations of our future operations. For this purpose, any statements contained in this Form 10-Q that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, words such as may, will, expect, believe, anticipate, estimate, or continue or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements by their nature involve substantial risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of factors, many of which are not within our control. These factors include, but are not limited to, economic conditions generally and in the industries in which we may participate. In addition, these forward-looking statements are subject, among other things, to our successful completion of the research and development of our technologies; successful commercialization of our technologies; successful protection of our patents; and effective significant industry competition from various entities whose research and development, financial, sales and marketing and other capabilities far exceeds ours. In light of these risks and uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to announce publicly revisions we make to these forward-looking statements to reflect the effect of events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this report. OVERVIEW Manhattan Scientifics, Inc. (the Company or Manhattan Scientifics), a Delaware corporation, was established on July 31, 1992 and has one operating wholly-owned subsidiary: Metallicum, Inc., (Metallicum). Manhattan Scientifics is focused on technology transfer and commercialization of these transformative technologies. The Company operates as a technology incubator that seeks to acquire, develop and commercialize life-enhancing technologies in various fields, with emphasis in the areas of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the use and manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. To achieve this goal, the Company is actively seeking to identify emerging technologies through strategic alliances with scientific laboratories, educational institutions, scientists and leaders in industry and government. The Company and its executives have a long-standing relationship with the Los Alamos Laboratories in New Mexico. Metallicum In June 2008, we acquired Metallicum and its licensed patented technology. We entered into a stock purchase agreement with Metallicum to acquire all the outstanding capital in exchange for 15,000,000 restricted shares of our common stock. An additional 15,000,000 shares of our common stock will be payable to Metallicum in the event of meeting certain milestones. On December 31, 2011, one milestone was met: Metallicum was granted an exclusive license by the Los Alamos National Laboratory on patents related to nanostructured metals. In September 2009, we entered into a technology transfer agreement and sale with Carpenter Technology Corporation, (Carpenter) wherein Carpenter was to fully develop, manufacture and market a new class of high strength metals. On February 11, 2015, the Company and carpenter entered into a Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release pursuant to which the parties provided a full release of one another, Carpenter paid the Company $8,000,000, Carpenter transferred to the Company all intellectual and physical property that was part of the original agreement, Carpenter agreed to provide follow-on technical assistance and Carpenter provided a list of all customers and contacts. On May 1, 2019, Manhattan Scientifics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the Company), and Metallicum, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into an Overarching Agreement with a non-affiliated third party (Third Party), providing for an exclusive license by the Company of its ECAP technology to the Third Party for a term of 17 years unless terminated sooner, a sublicense by the Company to the Third Party of its rights under that certain Exclusive Field-of-Use Patent License Agreement dated January 5, 2009 entered with The Los Alamos National Laboratory for a term until the expiration of the last valid claim to expire of the patents pursuant to such agreement and the sale by the Company of ECAP-C machines to the Third party. As part of the above license agreements, the Company will receive royalty payments, including minimum payments, based on a percentage of the Third Partys sales. The Company anticipates royalty income as the nanotitanium is commercialized for use in medial prosthetics. Royalties will be 10% on sales of licensed dental products and an average of 5% in all other sales of licensed products. 15 Table of Contents Imagion On May 31, 2011, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization to acquire Senior Scientific. The total purchase price was 21,668,000 restricted shares of our common stock (less 7,667,000 shares previously issued pursuant to an option agreement). As a result of this acquisition, Senior Scientific owned patented technologies that can use biosafe nanoparticles and sensitive magnetic sensors to detect and measure cancer cells in biopsies or in the human body with the potential to transform how cancer is detected and treated. On November 17, 2016, Senior Scientific merged with and into Imagion, a Nevada company. Following the merger, Imagion held all of the liabilities, obligations and assets of Senior Scientific and the Company continued as the sole equity holder of Imagion. On November 29, 2016, the Company announced a plan to have Imagion pursue an IPO and listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). As of September 30, 2023, Manhattan Scientifics presently owns 40,466,501 shares of Imagion, with a fair market value of approximately $340,000, based upon the closing price per share of Imagion common stock on the ASX. The Company accounts for its investment in Imagion in accordance with ASC 825-10 and elected fair value option. We initially held 31% of the total issued and outstanding shares of Imagion and had one seat on the Board of Directors of Imagion. The guidance allows entities to elect to measure certain financial assets and financial liabilities (as well as certain nonfinancial instruments that are similar to financial instruments) at fair value. Investments over which an investor has the ability to exercise significant influence are eligible for the fair value option as they represent recognized financial assets. When the fair value option is elected for an instrument, all subsequent changes in fair value for that instrument are reported in earnings. Novint We made an investment in Novint Technologies Inc. (Novint) in 2001. Novint is currently engaged in the development and sale of 3D haptics products and equipment. Haptics refers to ones sense of touch and Novints focus is in the consumer interactive computer gaming market. The Company owns 1,028,425 shares of Novints common stock. The Company fully impaired the investment in prior years and therefore, the fair value of the Novint shares are not recorded on the balance sheet as of September 30, 2023. RESULTS OF OPERATIONS THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 COMPARED TO THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 REVENUE. Revenue was $0 and $9,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2023, and 2022, respectively. Revenue declined in 2023 because we are done receiving the minimum royalty payment from the license agreement. GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE. General and administrative expenses consist of consultants, contractors, accounting, legal, travel, rent, telephone and other day-to-day operating expenses. General and administrative expenses were $177,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2023, compared with $175,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. Research and development costs were $3,000 and $2,000, for the three months ended September 30, 2023, and 2022, respectively. OTHER INCOME (EXPENSES). Total other expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2023, totaled $82,000 compared to the total other income of $71,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease is primarily attributable to the loss on fair value adjustments of its investment in Imagion during the period for the amount of $43,000. 16 Table of Contents NET INCOME (LOSS). During the three months ended September 30, 2023, the Company had net loss of $262,000, compared to net loss of $71,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease of $191,000 is primarily attributable to the decrease loss on fair value adjustment of investment in Imagion Biosystems. NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 COMPARED TO NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 REVENUE. Revenue was $0 and $50,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Revenue declined in 2023 since we have finished receiving the minimum royalty payment stipulated in the license agreement . GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE. General and administrative expenses consist of consultants, contractors, accounting, legal, travel, rent, telephone and other day-to-day operating expenses. General and administrative expenses were $544,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 compared with $548,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. Research and development costs were $8,000 and $7,000, for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The costs are related to amortization of an annual license fee. OTHER INCOME (EXPENSES). Total other expenses for the nine ended September 30, 2023 totaled $359,000 compared to the total other expense of $1,829,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease is primarily attributable to the loss on fair value adjustments of its investment in Imagion during the period for the amount of $1,809,000. NET INCOME (LOSS). During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company had net loss of $911,000, compared to net loss of $1,829,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease of $1,461,000 is primarily attributable to the decrease loss on fair value adjustment of investment. LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES The Company had Stockholders deficit of $2,606,000 and the working capital deficit was $1,890,000 on September 30, 2023. The Company had a decrease of $86,000 in cash and cash equivalents for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. Based upon current projections, our principal cash requirements for the next 12 months consists of (1) fixed expenses, including consulting and professional services and (2) variable expenses, including technology research and development, milestone payments and intellectual property protection, and additional scientific consultants. As of September 30, 2023, we had $89,000 in cash. We believe our current cash position may not be sufficient to maintain our operations for the next twelve months. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any debt financing that we secure in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be impaired, and our business may be harmed. 17 Table of Contents CASH FLOW INFORMATION The Company had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $89,000 and $175,000 on September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. This figure represents a decrease in cash of $86,000. OPERATING ACTIVITIES The Company used approximately $176,000 of cash for operating activities in the nine months ended September 30, 2023, as compared to using $262,000 of cash for operating activities in the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The change is mainly from the decrease in the loss on fair value adjustments of its investment in Imagion during the period. INVESTING ACTIVITIES The Company had approximately $110,000 of cash from investing activities in the nine months ended September 30, 2023, as compared to $328,000 of cash in the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The increase in cash of was due to the sale of Imagion shares. FINANCING ACTIVITIES The Company had approximately $20,000 of cash used in financing activities in the nine ended September 30, 2023, as compared to $10,000 of cash in the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease in cash of $20,000 was due to the repayment of note payable. CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amount of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. A significant estimate includes the carrying value of our patents, fair value of our common stock, assumptions used in calculating the value of stock options, depreciation and amortization. License Agreements In 2008, the Company obtained licenses to the rights of certain patents regarding nano-structured materials developed by another company as a result of the acquisition of Metallicum. The purchase price paid for these licenses was $305,000, which represents its fair value. The Company obtained an exclusive license on two patents and a non-exclusive license on the third patent. The value attributable to license agreements is being amortized over the period of its estimated benefit period of 10 years. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company may be required to pay royalties, as defined, to the licensors. The license has been fully amortized. In 2009, the Company entered into a patent license agreement with Los Alamos National Security LLC for the exclusive use of certain technology relating to the manufacture and application of nanostructuring metals and alloys. The value attributable to license agreements is being amortized over the period of its estimated benefit period of 10 years. Under the terms of the agreement the Company is required to pay an annual license fee of $10,000 and, may be required to pay royalties, as defined, to the licensors. 18 Table of Contents MARKETABLE SECURITIES: The Company considers securities with original maturities of greater than 90 days to be available for sale securities. Securities under this classification are recorded at fair value and unrealized gains and losses within other income (loss). The estimated fair value of the available for sale securities is determined based on quoted market prices or rates for similar instruments. In addition, the cost of debt securities in this category is adjusted for amortization of premium and accretion of discount to maturity. For available for sale debt securities in an unrealized loss position, the Company assesses whether it intends to sell or if it is more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the security before recovery of its amortized cost basis. If either of the criteria regarding intent or requirement to sell is met, the securitys amortized cost basis is written down to fair value. If the criteria are not met, the Company evaluates whether the decline in fair value has resulted from a credit loss or other factors. In making this assessment, management considers, among other factors, the extent to which fair value is less than amortized cost, any changes to the rating of the security by a rating agency, and adverse conditions specifically related to the security. If this assessment indicates that a credit loss exists, the present value of cash flows expected to be collected from the security are compared to the amortized cost basis of the security. If the present value of the cash flows expected to be collected is less than the amortized cost basis, a credit loss exists and an allowance for credit losses is recorded for the credit loss, limited by the amount that the fair value is less than the amortized costs basis. Any impairment that has not been recorded through an allowance for credit losses is recognized in other income (loss). For the nine ended September 30, 2023, no allowance was recorded for credit losses. REVENUE RECOGNITION: The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as outlined in the Financial Accounting Standard Boards (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, Revenue From Contracts with Customers, which consists of five steps to evaluating contracts with customers for revenue recognition: (i) identify the contract with the customer; (ii) identity the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price; and (v) recognize revenue when or as the entity satisfied a performance obligation. Revenue recognition occurs at the time we satisfy a performance obligation to our customers, when control transfers to customers, provided there are no material remaining performance obligations required of the Company or any matters of customer acceptance. We only record revenue when collectability is probable. No revenue was recorded during the nine months ended September 30, 2023. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS: The Company recognized the fair value of financial instruments in accordance with FASB ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, Fair Value Measurements, which provides a framework for measuring fair value under GAAP. Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The standard also expands disclosures about instruments measured at fair value and establishes a fair value hierarchy, which requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. The standard describes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value: Level 1 Quoted prices for identical assets and liabilities in active markets; Level 2 Quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs and significant value drivers are observable in active markets; and Level 3 Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. The Company designates cash and cash equivalents (consisting of money market funds), short-term investments in securities of publicly traded companies as Level 1. The total amount of the Companys investment classified as Level 3 is de minimis. Fair value of financial instruments: The carrying amounts of financial instruments, including prepaid expenses, accounts payable, accrued expenses and notes payables approximated fair value as of September 30, 2023 because of the relative short term nature of these instruments. During the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company elected fair value option for its investment in Imagion Biosystems, Inc. a Nevada company (Imagion) based on triggering event of dilution of ownership, which lead to the deconsolidation of Imagion. Investments in Imagion are measured at fair value as opposed to equity method based on ASC 825-10. The guidance allows entities to elect to measure certain financial assets and financial liabilities (as well as certain nonfinancial instruments that are similar to financial instruments) at fair value. Investments over which an investor has the ability to exercise significant influence are eligible for the fair value option as they represent recognized financial assets. When the fair value option is elected for an instrument, all subsequent changes in fair value for that instrument are reported in earnings. As of September 30, 2023, the Company holds 40,466,501 shares of Imagion and is reported under fair value method under ASC 320. Any change in the value is reported on the income statement as an unrealized gain or loss on fair value adjustment of investments. 19 Table of Contents Our financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value measured on a recurring basis as of September 30, 2023, consisted of the following: Total fair value at September 30, 2023 Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level1) Significant other observable inputs (Level 2) Significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) Investment in equity securities $ 340,000 $ 340,000 $ - $ - Total fair value at December 31, 2023 Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level1) Significant other observable inputs (Level 2) Significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) Investment in equity securities $ 839,000 $ 839,000 $ - $ - INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY / RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT In June 2008, we acquired Metallicum and its licensed rights to patented technology. The technology is comprised of three US Patents (US Patent numbers 7152448, 6197129 and 6399215) for which Metallicum (subsequently, Manhattan) had been assigned exclusive license rights by Los Alamos National Security LLC (LANL). Under the license rights, Metallicum had all rights, title and interest throughout the world in and to any and all inventions, original works of authorship, developments, concepts, know-how, and improvements on the patents or trade secrets whether or not patentable or registerable under copyright or similar laws. The purchase price paid for these licenses was $305,000, which represents its fair value. The Company obtained an exclusive license on two patents and a non-exclusive license on the third patent. The value attributable to license agreements is being amortized over the period of its estimated benefit period of 10 years. Our ability to compete depends in part on the protection of and our ability to defend our proprietary technology and on the goodwill associated with our trade names, service marks and other proprietary rights. However, we do not know if current laws will provide us with sufficient enough protection that others will not develop technologies similar or superior to ours, or that third parties will not copy or otherwise obtain or use our technologies without our authorization. The success of our business will depend, in part, to identify technology, obtain patents, protect and enforce patents once issued and operate without infringing on the proprietary rights of others. Our success will also depend on our ability to maintain exclusive rights to trade secrets and proprietary technology we own are currently developing and will develop. We can give no assurance that any issued patents will provide us with competitive advantages or will not be challenged by others, or that the patents of others will not restrict our ability to conduct business. In addition, we rely on certain technology licensed with a perpetual term from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and may be required to license additional technologies in the future. We do not know if these third-party licenses will be available or will continue to be available to us on acceptable commercial terms or at all. The inability to enter into and maintain any of these licenses could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of our operations. 20 Table of Contents Policing unauthorized use of our proprietary technology and other intellectual property rights could entail significant expense. In addition, we do not know if third parties will bring claims of copyright or trademark infringement against us or claim that our use of certain technologies violates a patent or other intellectual property. Any claims of infringement, with or without merit, could be time consuming and expensive to defend, result in costly litigation, divert management attention, require us to enter into costly royalty or licensing arrangements or prevent us from using important technologies or methods, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of our operations. STOCK BASED COMPENSATION The Company accounts for stock-based compensation based on the fair value of all option grants or stock issuances made to employees or directors on or after its implementation date (the beginning of fiscal 2006), as well as, a portion of the fair value of each option and stock grant made to employees or directors prior to the implementation date that represents the unvested portion of these share-based awards as of such implementation date, to be recognized as an expense, as codified in ASC 718. The Company calculates stock option-based compensation by estimating the fair value of each option as of its date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. These amounts are expensed over the respective vesting periods of each award using the straight-line attribution method. Compensation expense is recognized only for those awards that are expected to vest, and as such, amounts have been reduced by estimated forfeitures. The Company has historically issued stock options and vested and non-vested stock grants to employees and outside directors whose only condition for vesting has been continued employment or service during the related vesting or restriction period. The estimated fair value of grants of stock options and warrants to nonemployees of the Company is charged to expense, if applicable, in the financial statements. The Company accounts for equity instruments issued in exchange for the receipt of goods or services from other than employees in accordance with FASB ASC 505-50. Costs are measured at the estimated fair market value of the consideration received or the estimated fair value of the equity instruments issued, whichever is more reliably measurable. The value of equity instruments issued for consideration other than employee services is determined on the earliest of a performance commitment or completion of performance by the provider of goods or services as defined by FASB ASC 505-50. ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to include disclosure under this item. ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES (a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures We conducted an evaluation under the supervision and with the participation of our management, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures. The term disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the company in the reports it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures also include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the company's management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive and principal financial officers concluded as of September 30, 2023, that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at the reasonable assurance level due to the material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting discussed immediately below. 21 Table of Contents Identified Material Weakness A material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting is a control deficiency, or combination of control deficiencies, that results in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the financial statements will not be prevented or detected. Management identified the following material weakness during its assessment of internal controls over financial reporting: Resources: We had no full-time employees in general management and no full-time employees with the requisite expertise in the key functional areas of finance and accounting. As a result, there is a lack of proper segregation of duties necessary to insure that all transactions are accounted for accurately and in a timely manner. Written Policies & Procedures: We need to prepare written policies and procedures for accounting and financial reporting to establish a formal process to close our books monthly on an accrual basis and account for all transactions, including equity transactions, and prepare, review and submit SEC filings in a timely manner. Audit Committee: We do not have, and are not required, to have an audit committee. An audit committee would improve oversight in the establishment and monitoring of required internal controls and procedures. 22 Table of Contents PART II OTHER INFORMATION ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS We are subject from time-to-time to litigation, claims and suits arising in the ordinary course of business. As of September 30, 2023 we were not a party to any material litigation, claim or suit whose outcome could have a material effect on our financial statements. ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information under this Item. ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS None. ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES None. ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES Not applicable. ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION Not applicable. 23 Table of Contents ITEM 6. EXHIBITS Index to Exhibits _________________ ** XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) information is furnished and not filed or a part of a registration statement or prospectus for purposes of Sections 11 or 12 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, is deemed not filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and otherwise is not subject to liability under these sections. 24 Table of Contents SIGNATURES In accordance with Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, the registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized on this 20th day of November, 2023. MANHATTAN SCIENTIFICS, INC. By: /s/ Emmanuel Tsoupanarias Name: Emmanuel Tsoupanarias Title: Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive, Financial and Accounting Officer) 25 ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS CERTIFICATION CERTIFICATION XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION SCHEMA XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION LABEL LINKBASE XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION CALCULATION LINKBASE XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION PRESENTATION LINKBASE XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION DEFINITION LINKBASE IDEA: R1.htm IDEA: R2.htm IDEA: R3.htm IDEA: R4.htm IDEA: R5.htm IDEA: R6.htm IDEA: R7.htm IDEA: R8.htm IDEA: R9.htm IDEA: R10.htm IDEA: R11.htm IDEA: R12.htm IDEA: R13.htm IDEA: R14.htm IDEA: R15.htm IDEA: R16.htm IDEA: R17.htm IDEA: R18.htm IDEA: R19.htm IDEA: R20.htm IDEA: R21.htm IDEA: R22.htm IDEA: R23.htm IDEA: R24.htm IDEA: R25.htm IDEA: R26.htm IDEA: mhtx_10q_htm.xml IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx IDEA: FilingSummary.xml IDEA: MetaLinks.json Members of the 379th Expeditionary Aeromedical Squadron pose for a photo in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 26, 2021. From left, Senior Airman Morgan Reed, Capt. Carlos Mendoza, Capt. Kayleigh Migaleddi, Master Sgt. Dalphne Charlesworth, Capt. Jon Ashman and Maj. Jayde Sharp. Mendoza and Reed were each awarded the Bronze Star for their actions in the aftermath of the Abbey Gate suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport in August 2021. Reed has since been promoted to a staff sergeant. (172nd Airlift Wing/U.S. Air Force) Two airmen who helped save dozens of lives in the aftermath of a deadly suicide bombing outside Afghanistans Kabul airport more than two years ago recently were awarded Bronze Stars for their actions. Capt. Carlos Mendoza and Staff Sgt. Morgan Reed received the medals at a ceremony earlier this month for their heroics following the attack, which killed more than 150 civilians and 13 American troops. The pair helped save 78 patients, including U.S. service members and Afghan evacuees, according to award citations released by Air Mobility Command last week. The Aug. 26, 2021, blast outside the airports Abbey Gate ripped through a packed crowd of Afghans fleeing the country during the U.S. militarys withdrawal. Moments after the attack, Mendoza, a flight nurse, went to a nearby emergency room and immediately began treating a wounded Marine with open wounds to her head and extremities, his award citation read. He also assisted a special operations physician who had opened a Marines chest to search for the source of bleeding. Mendoza noticed the Marines heartbeat was slow and weak, and began performing a cardiac massage with his bare hand, his citation said. The procedure sustained blood flow to the Marines brain and other vital organs. Staff Sgt. Morgan Reed and Capt. Carlos Mendoza of the 379th Expeditionary Aeromedical Squadron each were awarded the Bronze Star for their actions in the aftermath of the Abbey Gate suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport in August 2021. (Josh Plueger/U.S. Air Force) His remarkable performance and selfless commitment to his fellow comrades-in-arms saved lives, Mendozas citation said. Reed, a senior airman at the time, took on many different tasks. He applied a second tourniquet to a Marines arm that wouldnt stop bleeding. He then helped move two bodies to a makeshift morgue tent and assisted two mortuary affairs soldiers with searching for identification cards and dog tags. Reed also made numerous trips transporting patients, medical supplies, equipment and blood to the emergency room, for many hours without rest. His rapid assessments and remarkable selflessness undoubtedly enhanced his teams success and saved lives, the citation said. Mendoza and Reed were assigned to the 379th Expeditionary Operations Group. They were deployed from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar for Operation Allies Refuge, assisting in the evacuation of more than 124,000 people in the final weeks of the Afghan war. At least 14 airmen have received Bronze Stars for their actions during the evacuation. The mobility command also said it awarded Distinguished Flying Crosses to additional air crew members, such as maintainers and security forces, who flew with pilots and loadmasters already recognized for their contributions. Another awards review board is ongoing, which could result in dozens more awards, AMC said. The Blue Angels perform at the Crossroads Air Show in Indianapolis, Oct. 28-29, to close out the traveling portion of the 2023 performance season. (U.S. Navy Blue Angels/Facebook) CLEVELAND, Ohio (Tribune News Service) The Cleveland National Air Show will feature the Navys Blue Angels over Labor Day weekend in 2024. Six demonstration pilots will entertain air-show fans with a one-hour choreographed aerobatic presentation. It includes the four-plane diamond formation and maneuvers by two solo pilots. Cleveland is among 30 U.S. cities chosen to host the Blue Angels in 2024. The show is Saturday, Aug. 31, to Monday, Sept. 2. Tickets are not on sale yet. The show, a Labor Day weekend tradition that attracts 60,000 to 100,000 people to Burke Lakefront Airport, includes aerial thrills, military jet demonstrations, interactive exhibits, kid-friendly activities and planes on display. Fans can watch a jet truck race an airplane down the runway, tour aircraft, help pack a parachute and more. Each year the show brings in precision flying teams from the various U.S. military forces. This year, the Air Forces Thunderbirds flew in the show. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit cleveland.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held a meeting with Secretary of Defense of the United States of America Lloyd Austin, who arrived on a visit to Kyiv, the press service of the head of the Ukrainian state reports. As reported on the official website of the President of Ukraine on Monday, the American delegation also included commander of the U.S. European Command and the Supreme Commander of NATO Allied Forces in Europe, Christopher Cavoli. As noted in the message, the head of state expressed gratitude to the President of the United States, his administration, both houses of Congress and the entire American people for the continued strong support of Ukraine, primarily military, which is very important in the face of full-scale Russian aggression. The leadership role of the United States in the formation of an international coalition for defense assistance to our country was noted. We are very grateful to President Joseph Biden. It is very important for us that the United States is with us. We count on your support and are proud that you are with us, he emphasized. A French navy ship working with Combined Maritime Forces seized about 1,600 pounds of methamphetamine from a stateless vessel while operating in the international waters of the Indian Ocean, Nov. 4, 2023. (U.S. Naval Forces Central Command / U.S. 5th Fleet) MANAMA, Bahrain A recently seized ship carrying almost a ton of methamphetamine in the Indian Ocean represents a shift in illicit drug smuggling on the high seas, U.S. and French naval officials said. We used to find mostly hashish, (but) more and more we are finding synthetic methamphetamine, French navy Capt. Yannick Bossu said in an interview last week at the U.S naval base in Bahrain. French sailors, as part of a U.S.-led maritime alliance, seized almost 1,600 pounds of methamphetamine from a stateless vessel on its way to Africa in an operation in the Indian Ocean on Nov. 4. Those drugs are disseminated everywhere in the world from those hubs, to Europe, to the U.S., to Russia, Bossu said. What we are doing here contributes to the regional stability, but also to the security of our own populations all over the world. Smugglers at sea often use a well-known route to bring heroin and hashish from Pakistan to Kenya. But now smugglers are moving further south, with Mozambique being the destination of methamphetamine from somewhere north of the Indian Ocean, Bossu said. The meth traveling on the high seas comes from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, said Ali Latif, Asia editor at the New Humanitarian, a publication funded by the United Nations. Methamphetamine production in Afghanistan skyrocketed over the last 10 years as families realized the drug was easy to produce, with the help of smugglers able to move the goods around the world. Methamphetamine from Afghanistan has been seized as far away as France, Mozambique and Hong Kong, a brief by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in August. Theyre getting it across a lot of borders and theyre all taking a cut, said Latif, who has reported on the Afghan meth trade. While most meth is exported by land, a significant amount is smuggled via ships, Latif said. The illicit cargo seized by French sailors earlier this month was discovered as part of a flag verification boarding, Bossu said. International law generally allows maritime law enforcement authorities to board stateless vessels. While sailors or other authorities are there, they can conduct a search. Bossus task force, which patrols the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, has seized almost four tons of methamphetamine, heroin and hashish in recent months, a U.S. 5th Fleet statement said last week. Bossus task force operates as part of Combined Maritime Forces, a coalition led by a U.S. Navy vice admiral. The coalition counters piracy, trains allies and patrols Middle East waterways. Seizures have slowed in recent months due to weather and events in Israel and Gaza, U.S. Navy Capt. Hamish Kirkland, chief of staff for Combined Maritime Forces, said last week. U.S. naval assets were redirected from maritime patrols and redeployed after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in Israel, he said. Combined Maritime Forces has been relying more on ships from other countries, such as the U.K. and France. U.S. naval vessels will return to the patrols soon, Kirkland said. A statement by the 5th Fleet said that some $1.3 billion in illicit narcotics have been seized since 2021, though Kirkland noted that Combined Maritime Forces does not assign monetary values to seizures. Cmdr. Rick Chernitzer, U.S. 5th Fleet spokesman, said public affairs staff use a formula based on the type and quality of the drug to roughly estimate seizure values. The guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee launches a Tomahawk during a three-day missile exercise somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, Nov. 30, 2020. (Sean Ianno/U.S. Navy) TOKYO Japan will move forward with a plan to buy hundreds of Tomahawk missiles following approval of a $2.35 billion deal by the Pentagon. The possible sale to Japan of 400 missiles, 14 weapon control systems, software, support equipment, spares and technical support, was approved Friday by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The proposed sale will improve Japans capability to meet current and future threats by providing a long range, conventional surface-to-surface missile with significant standoff range that can neutralize growing threats, the agency said in its announcement. The two governments will move forward with contract discussions if there is no objections from U.S. lawmakers, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters at a news conference Monday. Acquisition of the missiles will contribute to strengthening stand-off defense capabilities of our country, he said. A Tomahawk can strike targets up to 1,000 miles away, according to its maker, Raytheon Technologies. The missiles are used by the U.S. Navy and can be launched from Aegis destroyers in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. Japan spending $51.4 billion on defense this fiscal year, which started in April recently brought forward a plan to begin acquiring the missiles in 2025 versus 2026. The accelerated purchase plan comes amid what the countrys Defense Ministry described in an Oct. 5 statement as an increasingly severe security environment. China has more than 1,900 ballistic missiles that can reach Japan, according to a 2022 Pentagon report on Beijings military capabilities. North Korea has fired 21 ballistic missiles in 14 days of testing so far this year. A North Korean defense ministry official said Monday that the Tomahawk sale would raise tensions in the region and set off a new arms race, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that day. The official described the Tomahawks as lethal war equipment and said the North would build its deterrence in response, according to the report. South Korean army Lt. Gen. Kang Hopil speaks to reporters at the Ministry of National Defense headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (South Koreas Ministry of National Defense) SEOUL, South Korea A senior South Korean military official has warned the North to immediately stop preparations for a satellite launch, saying Monday that a test would prompt necessary measures to defend the country. Pyongyang is pressing ahead with plans to put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit, South Korean army Lt. Gen. Kang Hopil told reporters at the Ministry of National Defense headquarters in Seoul. Kang, the chief director of operations for the countrys Joint Chiefs of Staff, said such a launch would be a provocative act that undermines our national security. If North Korea pushes ahead with the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite despite our warnings, our military will take necessary measures to ensure the lives and safety of its people, he said. Kangs remarks come a day after Defense Minister Shin Won-sik told the Korean Broadcasting System that intelligence suggests the North is preparing to launch a satellite before the end of this month. Neither Shin nor Kang elaborated on what concrete actions Seoul would take in the wake of a launch, though Shin said during the KBS interview that the Ministry of National Defense had recently explored the possibility of partially suspending an inter-Korean accord. The Comprehensive Military Agreement, signed in 2018 by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in, was designed to lower tensions on the Korean Peninsula by prohibiting armed troops at the border and establishing no-fly zones. Shin argued that North Korea has a history of violating accords and that the 2018 agreement unfairly tied the hands and feet of Seouls advanced forces. North Korea provokes whenever it needs to, whenever they think they have a chance of winning, he said. Its not any document or verbal commitment that can stop the provocation, but our strong power. North Korea has launched two satellites so far this year, both ending in failure. The communist regime claims to have conducted six satellite launches two of them successful since 1998, according to a report by the Seoul-based East Asia Institute think tank. Pyongyang first attempted a launch this year on May 31. The state-run Korean Central News Agency reported the next day that a Chollima-1 rocket carrying the Malligyong-1 satellite was unstable, causing it to crash into the Yellow Sea. North Korea made a second attempt on Aug. 24. That launch failed due to a flawed third-stage emergency blasting system, KCNA reported at the time. The regimes National Aerospace Development Administration pledged to try again in October; however, no such launch was reported by South Koreas military. U.N. Security Council resolutions have prohibited North Korea from all ballistic missile activities since 2006. The regime has fired 21 ballistic missiles in 14 days of testing so far this year. The United States, South Korea and Japan allege Pyongyangs satellite launches are cover for weapons tests and that the technology is connected to the regimes intercontinental ballistic missile program. Seoul plans to launch its first indigenous reconnaissance satellite using SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket on Nov. 30 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian teenager Bohdan Yermokhin, right, holds the Ukraine flag on the Ukraine-Belarus border in Ukraine, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. The orphaned Ukrainian teenager was taken to Russia last year during the war in his country and has now returned home after being reunited with relatives in Belarus on his 18th birthday Sunday. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP) An orphaned Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia last year during the war in his country returned home after being reunited with relatives in Belarus on his 18th birthday Sunday. Bohdan Yermokhin was pictured embracing family members in Minsk in photographs shared on social media by Russias childrens rights ombudswoman, Maria Lvova-Belova. Andrii Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidents office, confirmed that Yermokhin had arrived back in Ukraine and shared a photo of him with a Ukrainian flag. Yermak thanked UNICEF and Qatari negotiators for facilitating Yermokhins return. Yermokhins parents died two years ago, before Russia invaded Ukraine. Early in the war, he was taken from the port city of Mariupol, where he lived with a cousin who was his legal guardian, placed with a foster family in the Moscow region and given Russian citizenship, according to Ukrainian lawyer Kateryna Bobrovska. Bobrovska, who represents the teenager and his 26-year-old cousin, Valeria Yermokhina, previously told The Associated Press that Yermokhin repeatedly expressed the desire to go home and had talked daily about getting to Ukraine, to his relatives. Yermokhin was one of thousands of Ukrainian children taken to Russia from occupied regions of Ukraine. The practice prompted the International Criminal Court in March to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin and childrens rights ombudswoman Lvova-Belova of committing war crimes. The court in The Hague, Netherlands, issued warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belovas arrests, saying they found reasonable grounds to believe the two were responsible for the illegal deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine. The Kremlin has dismissed the warrants as null and void. Lvova-Belova has argued that the children were taken to Russia for their safety, not abducted a claim widely rejected by the international community. Nevertheless, the childrens rights ombudswoman announced in a Nov. 10 online statement that Yermokhin would be allowed to return to Ukraine via a third country. The teenager reportedly tried to return home on his own earlier this year. Lvova-Belova told reporters in April that Russian authorities caught Yerkmohin near Russias border with Belarus on his way to Ukraine. The ombudswoman argued that he was being taken there under false pretenses. Before he was allowed to leave Russia, lawyer Bobrovska described an urgent need for Yermokhin to return to Ukraine before his 18th birthday, when he would become eligible for conscription into the Russian army. The teenager had received two official notices to attend a military enlistment office in Russia, although officials later said he had only been summoned for record-keeping purposes. Last month, Ukraines human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said in his Telegram channel that a total of 386 children have been brought back to Ukraine from Russia. Ukraine will work until it returns everyone to their homeland, Lubinets stressed. Finlands Prime Minister Petteri Orpo speaks at a press briefing with Chief of the Finnish Border Guard, Lieutenant General Pasi Kostamovaara at left, during a visit to the Vartius border crossing station in Kuhmo, eastern Finland, Monday Nov. 20, 2023. (Hannu Huttu, Lehtikuva via AP) STOCKHOLM Finlands prime minister on Monday said the country may need to take further actions on its border with Russia after closing four border crossings in an attempt to stem a recent increase in asylum-seekers. Finland, which joined NATO this year in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, has accused Moscow of letting migrants from the Middle East and Africa without valid travel documents through to the Finnish border. The government closed the border crossings in southeastern Finland last week, but new migrant arrivals were reported at border checkpoints farther north. The situation has progressed in a bad direction, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo was quoted as saying by Finnish public broadcaster YLE during a visit to the Vartius border crossing in east-central Finland. If there is no change, we will take more measures, and if necessary, quickly. The message is clear that we do not accept this behavior. He did not rule out closing more border crossings along the 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) Finnish-Russian border. YLE said 500 asylum-seekers have arrived in Finland in November, significantly more than normal. Meanwhile, Russias Foreign Ministry said the decision to close border crossings would aggravate Russian-Finnish relations and criticized as a pretext Finlands claim that Russia has been helping undocumented migrants to cross the border. A Foreign Ministry statement said the decision violates the rights and interests of tens of thousands of citizens of our countries. European Union and NATO countries bordering Russia and Belarus have accused those countries of deliberately ushering migrants toward border zones as a type of hybrid warfare. (Pixabay) BERLIN An 18-year-old right-wing extremist was arrested in central Germany on suspicion that he was planning a serious act of violence endangering the state, security officials said Monday. The man, whose identity was nor given in line with German privacy rules, is accused of having an established violent, antisemitic and right-wing extremist attitude, investigators said. He was arrested last week by special forces in the state of Hesse. The 18-year-old had repeatedly threatened in relevant forums to kill people in pursuit of his political goals, Hesse criminal police and local prosecutors said in a statement. He is also suspected of having violated the Weapons Act. The suspects home was searched last week, too, and computers and cell phones as well as weapons and ammunition were seized. Initial evaluations of the search confirmed the suspicion, security officials said. Further evaluation and the weapons investigation are ongoing. The authorities did not give any details on the nature of the attack the man allegedly planned to carry out. Germanys top security official, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, has repeatedly warned that far-right extremism presents the biggest threat to the countrys society. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the media during a joint news conference with the President of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borjana Kristo, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (Armin Durgut/AP) SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina NATO supports Bosnias territorial integrity and is concerned by malign foreign interference, including by Russia, in the volatile Balkans region that went through a devastating war in the 1990s, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. Sarajevo was the first stop on Stoltenbergs tour of Western Balkan countries that also included Kosovo on Monday. He visits Serbia and North Macedonia later this week. The Allies strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Stoltenberg told reporters. We are concerned by the secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as malign foreign interference, including Russia. There are widespread fears that Russia is trying to destabilize Bosnia and the rest of the region and shift at least some world attention from its invasion of Ukraine. Moscow is openly supporting the secessionist, pro-Russian Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik, who has repeatedly called for the breakup of the country and joining the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia with neighboring Serbia. This threatens to undermine stability and hampers reform, Stoltenberg said. All political leaders must work to preserve unity, build national institutions and achieve reconciliation. This is crucial for the stability and the security of the country. NATO played a major role in ending the 1992-95 Bosnian war and implementing a U.S.-sponsored peace plan that divided the country roughly into two highly autonomous regions, one controlled by the Bosnian Serbs and the other by Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslims, and Bosnian Croats. NATO has been committed to Bosnia-Herzegovina for years, Stoltenberg said. Your security matters for the Western Balkans region and it matters for Europe. The Bosnian Serb leadership has for years been blocking Sarajevos application for NATO membership, which Russia also opposes. Stoltenberg said that should end. Every country has the right to choose its own security arrangements without foreign interference, he said. Later Monday, Stoltenberg visited Kosovo, the former Serbian province that has been recognized as an independent state by the U.S. and most of the West, but not by Serbia and its allies Russia and China. Stoltenberg said NATO will consider deploying additional peacekeeping troops in Kosovo to ensure that the simmering tensions between the Kosovo Serb minority and ethnic Albanian majority does not spiral out of control and create some violent conflict in Kosovo or in the wider region. The NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, in operation since the 1999 war between Serbian government troops and Kosovo Albanian separatists, currently has over 4,500 troops from 27 countries. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP) KYIV, Ukraine U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday in a high-profile push to keep money and weapons flowing to Ukraine even as U.S. and international resources are stretched by the new global risks raised by the Israel-Hamas conflict. Austin, who traveled to Kyiv by train from Poland, met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Chief of Staff Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi. While there Austin announced the Pentagon would be sending an additional $100 million in weapons to Ukraine from U.S. existing stockpiles, including artillery and munitions for air defense systems. The package also includes another High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. Austin said Ukraines effort to defeat Russian forces matters to the rest of the world and that U.S. support would continue for the long haul. Zelenskyy said Austins visit was a very important signal for Ukraine. We count on your support, Zelenskyy said, thanking Congress as well as the American people for their backing. This is Austins second trip to Kyiv since Russias 2022 invasion, but hes making it under far different circumstances, as the worlds attention is drawn to the Middle East and signs of fatigue set in with the almost 21-month Russia-Ukraine war. Austins first visit occurred in April 2022, just two months after the start of the war. At the time, Ukraine was riding a wave of global rage at Moscows invasion, and Austin launched an international effort that now sees 50 countries meet monthly to coordinate on what weapons, training and other support could be pushed to Kyiv. But the conflict in Gaza could pull attention and resources from the Ukraine fight. The U.S. has worked feverishly since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the weeks of devastating bombardment on Gaza by Israel that has followed, to prevent the conflict from turning into a regional war. Even as Austin stood in St. Michaels Square in Kyiv, the first question asked at a press briefing at the end of the short visit was about Israels use of U.S.-provided weapons in that conflict, instead of about Ukraine. Both conflicts have already seen significant U.S. military support. To back Israel and keep that conflict from spreading, the U.S. has already committed two carrier strike groups, scores of fighter jets and thousands of U.S. personnel to the Middle East, and has had to shift its force posture and conduct airstrikes against Iranian-backed militant groups that are now hitting U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria on a regular basis. For Ukraine, the U.S. has already provided more than $44 billion and allies have sent an additional $35 billion in weapons packages that range from millions of bullets to air defense systems, advanced European and U.S. battle tanks and, finally, pledges for F-16 fighter jets. But Ukraine still needs more, and after almost 20 months of shipping arms to Ukraine, cracks are beginning to show. Some European countries such as Poland have scaled back support, noting their need to maintain adequate fighting ability to defend themselves. Ukrainian officials have strongly pushed back on suggestions they are in a stalemate with Russia after a long-awaited counteroffensive over the summer did not radically change the battle lines on the ground. In a visit to Washington last week, Andriy Yermak, head of the presidents office, provided no details but confirmed that Ukrainian forces had finally pushed through to the east bank of the Dnieper River, which has essentially served as the immovable front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces for months. However, as winter sets in it will become more difficult for either side to make large gains due to ground conditions. That could further work against Ukraine if U.S. lawmakers perceive theres time to wait before more funds are needed. Ukraine and the U.S. expect that this winter Russia will go after Ukraines infrastructure again, like the power grid, making air defenses critical. Fred Kagan, a senior resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said it would be a mistake to think there is time to wait. If we stop providing aid to Ukraine, its not that the stalemate continues. The aid is actually essential to preventing the Russians from beginning to maneuver again in ways that can allow them to defeat Ukraine, Kagan said. So the cost of cutting off aid is that Russia wins and Ukraine loses and NATO loses. Further complicating the support is that the Pentagon has only a dwindling amount of money left in this years budget to keep sending weapons to Ukraine, and Congress is months late on getting a new budget passed and has not taken up a supplemental spending package that would include Ukraine aid. Since the war began in February 2022, the U.S. has provided more than $44.2 billion in weapons to Ukraine, but the funding is nearly gone. The Pentagon can send about $5 billion more in weapons and equipment from its own stocks. But it only has about $1 billion in funding to replace those stocks. As a result, recent announcements of weapons support have been of much smaller dollar amounts, such as the $100 million package announced in Kyiv by Austin, than in months past. You have seen smaller packages, because we need to parse these out, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday. Because we dont know when Congress is going to pass our supplemental package. Officials have been urging Congress to provide additional money, but a growing number of Senate Republicans have opposed additional Ukraine aid without securing support for other unrelated provisions, such as stricter immigration laws and additional funding for border control. A stopgap spending bill passed last week to avoid a government shutdown during the holidays did not include any money for Ukraine. Copp reported from Washington. A wounded Palestinian boy is carried into the Nasser Hospital following Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (Mohammed Dahman/AP) DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Israeli forces pressed their offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza on Monday, battling militants around a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, and where despite the fighting health officials managed to evacuate some of the wounded. A medical worker inside the facility and the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing 12 people. Both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who targeted them from inside the 3.5-acre compound. The Israeli offensive came as 28 premature babies evacuated from Gaza Citys Shifa Hospital by the World Health Organization were transported to Egypt on Monday. Three others were transferred to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Red Crescent said. More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the Shifa compound, which Israeli forces stormed days ago. Gazas hospitals play a prominent role in the battle of narratives over the wars brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the conflict was sparked by Hamas Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. In the wake of the assault, Israeli leaders vowed to eradicate Hamas, destroy its ability to rule Gaza and uproot its militant infrastructure. Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields and that the militants operated a major command hub inside and under Shifa, a claim hospital officials and Hamas deny. Critics say Israels siege and relentless bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territorys 2.3 million Palestinians. Israeli troops were battling Hamas fighters in the Jabaliya refugee camp, a densely built-up district on Gaza Citys northeastern side that has been heavily hit by bombardment for weeks. The military said that after moving through the center of the city to Shifa, its forces were now working to uproot Hamas fighters from eastern areas. Dozens of dead and wounded in airstrikes and shelling overnight flowed into Indonesian Hospital, near Jabaliya, said Marwan Abdallah, the medical worker there. He said Israeli tanks were operating less than 200 yards away and Israeli snipers could be seen on the roofs of nearby buildings. As he spoke on the phone, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. Hamas Health Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, said roughly 200 wounded patients and their companions were evacuated from the hospital to southern Gaza in a rescue effort coordinated by the U.N. and the International Committee for the Red Cross. Many of the evacuees were being treated at al-Nasser hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis, he said. Between 400 and 500 wounded remain at Indonesian Hospital, Ashraf told Al-Jazeera. Some 2,000 displaced Palestinians also are sheltering there. In a separate development that could relieve some of the pressure on Gazas collapsing health system, dozens of trucks entered from Egypt on Monday with equipment from Jordan to set up a field hospital. Jordans state-run media said the hospital in Khan Younis would be up and running within 48 hours. Claims about Shifa More than 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remain in Shifa. The complex can no longer provide most of the wounded there treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators. Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside its gates for days before entering the facility on Wednesday. Israels army said it has evidence that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospitals 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings. On Sunday, the military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 60 yards long and about 33 feet below ground. It said the tunnel ended at a blast-proof door with a hole in it for gunmen to fire out of. Troops have not opened the door yet, it said. Israeli forces also released security camera video showing what they said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, who were captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack and taken to the hospital. Hamas said its fighters brought them in for medical care. The army also said an investigation had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, another captive whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been wounded in an Israeli strike on Nov. 9 that killed her captor, but was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa. The military has previously released images of several guns it said were found inside an MRI lab and said that the bodies of two hostages were found near the complex. The Associated Press was not able to independently confirm the militarys findings. Three in four people displaced Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gazas population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded U.N.-run shelters, according to the U.N. Strikes in the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps Monday killed at least 40 people, according to hospital officials, and residents said dozens more were buried in the rubble. Bundled against a chilly wind from Gazas approaching winter, a line of men prayed over more than a dozen bodies on the grounds of the nearby morgue in Deir al-Balah before loading them onto a truck. More than 12,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, which coordinates with officials in the Health Ministry of Hamas-run Gaza. Officials there say another 4,000 are missing. Their counts do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. Violence also has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where attacks by Jewish settlers are on the rise and where more than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, mostly in gun battles triggered by Israeli military raids. About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 66 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. Israels three-member war Cabinet met with representatives of the hostages families Monday evening, and a relative of a hostage said the officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told families the government will not prioritize the hostages release to defeating Hamas. What weve heard is that taking down Hamas and bringing the hostages are equally important, said Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Chaimi is in captivity in Gaza. This is incredibly disappointing because we know that taking down Hamas, we keep hearing from them (it) is going to take months or years and its going to take a long time. Goren said the war cabinet did not share details about any possible deal to release the hostages. Magdy and Jeffery reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Najib Jobain in Khan Younis, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel and Melanie Lidman and Nebi Qena in Jerusalem contributed. Kebrina Chirdon lights candles at a memorial outside of Club Q on Nov. 25, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Parker Seibold/The Gazette via AP) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. After the mass shooting last November at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs that turned a drag queens birthday celebration into a massacre, the conservative community was forced to reckon with its reputation for being unwelcoming to gay, lesbian and transgender people. What motivated the shooter, who didnt grow up in Colorado Springs and is now serving life in prison, may never be known. But since the attack that killed five people, wounded 17 others and shattered the sense of safety at Club Q, which served as a refuge for the citys LGBTQ+ community, Colorado Springs has taken steps to reshape itself as inclusive and welcoming. A new LGBTQ+ resource center is set to open in the city, where an independent candidate surprisingly defeated a longtime Republican officeholder to become the first Black mayor of the city of roughly 480,000 people. And the owners of Club Q, which has been shuttered since the Nov. 19, 2022, attack, plan to build a memorial and reopen at a new location under the rebrand The Q. Mayor Yemi Mobolade, a West African immigrant who has been mayor since June, said Friday he knows what its like to feel being on the outside looking in, to be a minority. And now to be mayor of this great city, I bring that empathy to the mayors office. Mobolade said he created a three-person office of community affairs with one person whose emphasis is to be very inclusive of minority communities, including the LGBTQ+ community. Yet as the city prepares to gather Sunday to mark the shooting anniversary, some LGBTQ+ advocates say work remains. It feels like theres some real fear in the community and then it also feels like those who are opposed to queer rights and queer people living their lives are continuing to become entrenched in those positions and are doing more politically to see those positions forwarded, said Candace Woods, a queer minister and chaplain who has called Colorado Springs home for nearly two decades. Additional security is planned for the memorial events in case anti-LGBTQ activists gather to protest, as they did at this summers Pride events. Candidates supported by the conservative group Moms for Liberty, which opposes instruction on systemic racism and gender identity in the classroom, won the recent school board elections, Woods noted. Colorado Springs, nestled at the foothills of the Rockies and home to the Air Force Academy and several conservative megachurches, has historically been conservative. Yet, the city also has a growing and diversifying population set to top Denvers by 2050, is home to a liberal arts college and has marketed itself as an outdoorsy boomtown. On the night of the attack, Anderson Lee Aldrich walked into Club Q and began firing indiscriminately. Clubgoers dove across a bloody dance floor for cover and friends frantically tried to protect each other. The attack was stopped when a Navy officer grabbed the barrel of the suspects rifle, burning his hand, and an Army veteran helped subdue and beat Aldrich until police arrived, authorities said. Sundays gathering outside of Club Q, which Mobolade and Gov. Jared Polis are expected to attend, will allow people to come together to stand as one community, the club said when announcing the event. Hate will not be tolerated in this city under my watch, and we stand resolute, Mobolade said Friday. Our community will not be defined by the terrible acts at Club Q, but our response to it. Our community has come a long way, and I understand that we still have a ways to go. Aldrich, who has not publicly revealed a motivation for the shooting, pleaded guilty in June to five counts of murder and 46 counts of attempted murder for each person who was at the club during the attack. Aldrich also pleaded no contest to two hate crimes and was given five consecutive life sentences. The attack came more than a year after Aldrich, who identifies as nonbinary and uses the pronouns they and them, was arrested for threatening their grandparents and vowing to become the next mass killer while stockpiling weapons, body armor and bomb-making materials. Those charges were eventually dismissed after Aldrichs mother and grandparents refused to cooperate with prosecutors. Associated Press writer Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Mont., contributed to this report. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called the meeting with Defense Minister Lloyd Austin productive. It was a very productive conversation, and it is important that it took place on the eve of the new meeting in the Ramstein format. Of course, we discussed the situation on the battlefield and its prospects how we can enhance both our defense and our advancement, Zelenskyy said in his video address on Monday. There is a new defense package for our country from the United States. I am grateful for it. In particular, there will be more artillery shells that are needed right now, Zelenskyy noted. According to him, we also discussed Ukraine's actions in the Black Sea and the protection of our export corridor. Freedom of navigation is a fundamental value for the entire world. And Ukraine has proven here in the Black Sea that we are capable of driving the aggressor out of the water area that it wanted so badly to make dead. I am grateful to all partners who are helping us to ensure the real restoration of international law on our land and in our sea, the President of Ukraine stated. Rosalynn Carter and Jimmy Carter attend President Donald Trumps inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes) ATLANTA Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The statement announcing her death said she died peacefully, with family by her side at 2:10 p.m. at her rural Georgia home of Plains. Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished, Carter said in the statement. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me. President Joe Biden called the Carters an incredible family because they brought so much much grace to the office. He also spoke of the couples great integrity. Imagine they were together for (77) years? Biden said. God bless them. Jill Biden, who made an appearance earlier Sunday with the president at Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia, said of Rosalynn Carter that she was well-known for her efforts on mental health and caregiving and womens rights. So I hope that during the holidays, youll ... include the Carter family in your prayers. She spoke in a hangar where the Bidens planned to attend an early Thanksgiving dinner with service members and their families. Reaction from world leaders poured in throughout the day. The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a full partnership. Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to President Carter sometimes referred to her privately as co-president. Rosalynn is my best friend ... the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life, Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981. The former president, now 99, remains at the couples home in Plains after entering hospice care himself in February. Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Rosalynn Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-the-scenes influence. When her role in a highly publicized Cabinet shakeup became known, she was forced to declare publicly, I am not running the government. Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husbands they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanor and a soft Southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her the Steel Magnolia. Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carters landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington. Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights. Jimmy Carter with Wife Rosalynn Carter at the National Convention in Madison Square Garden in New York on July 15, 1976. (AP) She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit U.S. wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics. Throughout her husbands political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media didnt cover those efforts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticized reporters for writing only about sexy subjects. As honorary chairwoman of the Presidents Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying, Weve been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach. She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husbands campaigns for Georgia governor. I used to come home and say to Jimmy, Why are people telling me their problems? And he said, Because you may be the only person theyll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them, she explained. After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Rosalynn Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, Georgia, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives. I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles, she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, First Lady from Plains. But we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before. After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work. She chaired the centers annual symposium on mental health issues and raised funds for efforts to aid the mentally ill and homeless. She also wrote Helping Yourself Help Others, about the challenges of caring for elderly or ailing relatives, and a sequel, Helping Someone With Mental Illness. Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. I get tired, she said of her travels. But something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and theres no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing its so wonderful. In 2015, Jimmy Carters doctors discovered four small tumors on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she didnt know what she was going to do. I depend on him when I have questions, when Im writing speeches, anything, I consult with him, she said. She helped Carter recover several years later when he had hip replacement surgery at age 94 and had to learn to walk again. And she was with him earlier this year when he decided after a series of hospital stays that he would forgo further medical interventions and begin end-of-life care. Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife former first lady Rosalynn Carter sit together during a reception to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary Saturday, July 10, 2021, in Plains, Ga. (John Bazemore/pool photo via AP) Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived U.S. president. Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived of the nations first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at age 97. Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927, the eldest of four children. Her father died when she was young, so she took on much of the responsibility of caring for her siblings when her mother went to work part time. She also contributed to the family income by working after school in a beauty parlor. We were very poor and worked hard, she once said, but she kept up her studies, graduating from high school as class valedictorian. She soon fell in love with the brother of one of her best friends. Jimmy and Rosalynn had known each other all their lives it was Jimmys mother, nurse Lillian Carter, who delivered baby Rosalynn but he left for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, when she was still in high school. After a blind date, Jimmy told his mother: Thats the girl I want to marry. They wed in 1946, shortly after his graduation from Annapolis and Rosalynns graduation from Georgia Southwestern College. Their sons were born where Jimmy Carter was stationed: John William (Jack) in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1947; James Earl III (Chip) in Honolulu in 1950; and Donnel Jeffery (Jeff) in New London, Connecticut, in 1952. Amy was born in Plains in 1967. By then, Carter was a state senator. Navy life had provided Rosalynn her first chance to see the world. When Carters father, James Earl Sr., died in 1953, Jimmy Carter decided, without consulting his wife, to move the family back to Plains, where he took over the family farm. She joined him there in the day-to-day operations, keeping the books and weighing fertilizer trucks. We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, Rosalynn Carter recalled with pride in a 2021 interview with The Associated Press. I knew more on paper about the business than he did. He would take my advice about things. At the height of the Carters political power, Lillian Carter said of her daughter-in-law: She can do anything in the world with Jimmy, and shes the only one. He listens to her. A military spouse looks over current positions available under the Direct Hiring Authority program at a job fair held at Ramstein Air Base, March 3, 2023. (Jordan Lazaro/U.S. Air Force) Emmalee Gruesen considers herself a a unicorn among military spouses working for the federal government. Shes been able to keep steady employment as a program analyst with the Navy over the last eight years despite four moves with her husband, a naval officer. Instead, many military spouses have been forced to resign their federal jobs because of their spouses transfers, losing out on benefits that accrue over years of continuous service. To help those not so lucky, Gruesen teamed up with Army spouse Maria Donnelly and found a bipartisan team in Congress to introduce legislation this week that will require federal agencies to use already existing policies around remote work and non-pay status to support military spouses who want to build a career in federal service. The Resilient Employment and Authorization Determination to Increase National Employment of Serving Spouses Act, or READINESS Act, is spearheaded by Reps. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Don Bacon, R-Neb. Theyve gained 10 cosponsors and expect to introduce the bill Tuesday, according to Crocketts office. Right now, we are losing some of our best federal employees at an alarming rate, said Crockett, a member of the House Oversight Committee. We should be doing everything we can to retain these patriotic federal employees, not needlessly pushing them out the door. The bill allows for military spouses preparing to move with their service member to request individual determination about whether their job can be completed remotely on a temporary basis, be reassigned to the new duty station, or be transferred to a comparable job. If none of these options fit, the bill allows the employee to go into non-pay status. The spouse would retain their nonfinancial benefits while their employer would get to fill the position. The measure would also apply to spouses of Foreign Service employees. This is a no-cost way to advance military spouse employment, because all it requires is policy direction, Donnelly said. Its aligning everyone on the same set of rules. The non-pay status is important, she said, because it can help an employee retain their security clearance, be hired into a new role more quickly, and allow them to reach the threshold required to be vested into a retirement program. It also invests in building a career, not just finding a spouse a job, the women said. Unemployment among military spouses is about 21%, according to the Defense Department. Its hovered around that mark for more than a decade, despite millions of dollars spent to reduce the figure. The White House estimated that about 16,000 military spouses work for the federal government, but Gruesen said the statistic isnt well-tracked. Federal service is a good starting point to tackle spousal unemployment because everywhere theres a military base, theres a federal job, she said. Two-thirds of military spouses lose their job when they change duty stations, according to research by Blue Star Families. If we are ever going to end the military spouse unemployment crisis which itself undermines our national security we must find ways to retain military spouse employees through a military move, while proving this is both good for military families and good for business, said Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Families. Other military and veteran service organizations supporting the legislation include the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Military Officers Association of America and the Military Family Advisory Network. Shannon Razsadin, president and executive director of the Military Family Advisory Network, said the legislation would help remove undue barriers to employment for military spouses and give the government a way to retain the immense talent this community brings to the workforce. More specifically, the READINESS Act presents a tangible set of actions that will better recognize and support military spouses in their career journeys and streamline interagency collaborationultimately delivering on promises to better care for our men and women in uniform and the families who serve alongside them, Razsadin said in a statement. It would also encourage retention, according to Bacon, chairman of a quality-of-life subpanel in the House Armed Services Committee. Spouse employment is one of the top issues service members consider when making their decision to continue to serve in the military, he said. My wife Angie packed, unpacked, and moved our family 16 times during my nearly 30 years in the Air Force, putting her career second. These federally-employed spouses support their significant others just like my wife did and we should guarantee they have the flexibility to remain in the federal service when forced to relocate through no choice of their own. Crockett previously presented the READINESS Act as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, but it did not make Houses final draft. Gruesen and Donnelly said they hope the simplicity of the bill will garner more support this time around. Theres all these intractable issues that we know the military community faces from housing to childcare and the one thing that kind of can cushion the blow on every single one is having a second income, Donnelly said. All five accused were granted bail on condition they all surrendered their passports or travel documents but the court was told by Sergeant James OSullivan that Jozefina Grundzova and Marek Puska said they had lost theirs. Flowers at the scene where Ashling was killed Five people, including killer Jozef Puskas brothers Marek and Lubomir, are to appear before the District Court in Tullamore next month charged with withholding information in the Ashling Murphy murder. Marek Puska (34), Lubomir Puska (35) and Lucia Istokova (34), whose addresses cannot be published by order of the court, are accused of failing to disclose information to gardai on a date unknown between two dates last year. Jozefina Grundzova (33) and Viera Gazoiva (38) are both accused of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of a person. All five are to be presented with a book of evidence on December 20 before the charges can be sent forward for trial. When the matter previously came before the courts, Detective Garda Colin OLeary gave evidence that when Lubomir Puska was initially charged, he responded: I understand what you said and I thank you. Marek Puska was arrested by Detective Sergeant Caroline Lyng and she said his reply after caution was: It is out of my hands to say anything about that. Judge Finan was told the DPP had directed all five be tried by indictment and she remanded them on bail to appear in court again for service of books of evidence. Flowers at the scene where Ashling was killed A Slovakian language interpreter was in court to assist the accused people. All five were granted bail on condition they all surrendered their passports or travel documents but the court was told by Sergeant James OSullivan that Jozefina Grundzova and Marek Puska said they had lost theirs. Judge Michele Finan ordered that the travel documents be surrendered by both those defendants within 72 hours and if that condition of the bail was breached, it would be open to the prosecution to apply for a revocation of bail. Meanwhile, Ashlings killer Jozef Puska now prisoner 117923 was returned to the D2 landing in Cloverhill Prison on Friday evening after he was processed in Mountjoy Prison following his sentence. Since returning to Cloverhill, he has remained under close observation, commonly referred to as suicide watch. Ashlings mother Kathleen and sister Amy Sources say the prison is taking no chances with Puska since an apparent attempt at serious self-injury on October 31. On that date, staff on the D2 landing in Cloverhill Prison discovered Puska attempting to self-harm and successfully intervened to prevent him causing serious injury. Although Cloverhill Prison is considered a remand prison, sources say inmates on the D2 landing have ready access to psychiatric services that would not necessarily be available to inmates in other prisons. Sources said, if moved out of Cloverhill in the near future, Puska may be transferred to C1 left in the Midlands Prison. Similarly to D2 in Cloverhill, inmates with ongoing psychiatric needs sent to the Midlands are kept on C1 left. Currently, inmates housed on the landing include former Kinahan cartel gunman Alan Wilson; serial sex attacker Kevin Kletzander, who sexually assaulted nine women in Dublin in one month; convicted rapist Mark McAnaw; convicted killer Simon McGinley who is serving life for the murder of pensioner Eugene Gillespie and convicted rapist John Connors. Ashling with her boyfriend Ryan Casey A source yesterday described C1 left as one of the most oppressive landings within the prison system. It houses inmates who have committed some of the worst crimes imaginable, who are now suffering from severe mental conditions, the source said. Its an unpleasant place to work in, never mind to serve a sentence. But Jozef Puska would probably fit right in. Regardless of which prison he is in, Puska, who continues to deny carrying out teacher Ashling Murphys murder, has 21 days from his sentencing on Friday to appeal. Sources say both gardai and prison authorities believe Puska will file an appeal following his repeated denials during trial. We reported last week on how when we approached Puskas parents after their sons sentencing, they too refused to accept his guilt despite the overwhelming evidence against him.. Handing down the mandatory sentence on Friday last, following victim impact statements from the Murphy family, and Ashlings partner, Ryan Casey, Judge Tony Hunt described it as wholly deserved. He said he did not have the power to impose a minimum period to be served and if he had the power, a whole life-term would have to be considered in this case. The judge said Puskas evidence had been indescribable and the one thing we dont know about this case is the why. During the four-week trial, the jury heard evidence that Puska stabbed Ms Murphy in the neck 11 times with a knife. Two days after her death Puska admitted killing Ashling, the jury heard. But, in his evidence, Puska resiled from his confession and claimed he was pushed off his bike, and that he was stabbed three times in the stomach by a man in a face mask, who then assaulted and killed Ms Murphy. Carl Scully previously received a six-month suspended sentence which was imposed in June 2023 for careless driving causing the death of a man The driver of a road sweeping vehicle who fatally collided with a child had previously caused the death of a pedestrian while driving his car illegally in a bus lane, a court has heard. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Carl Scully (34) checked the mirrors of his road sweeper before reversing, but failed to observe the screen of a rear view camera in his vehicle in which the child moving towards the sweeper would have been visible. Family members described Devin Shepherd (7) as a much loved boy, who was an intelligent, outspoken, energetic, kind and caring boy, loved by his classmates and family. Scully previously received a six-month suspended sentence which was imposed in June 2023 for careless driving causing the death of a man which occurred nine months earlier. Scully of Glenhill Road, Finglas, on Monday pleaded guilty to careless driving causing the death of Devin at St Josephs Way, Poppintree, Ballymun on September 1, 2019. He has 15 previous District Court convictions from 2009 and 2013. He has two prior road traffic convictions for failing to display tax. The court heard that nine months prior to Devins death, Scully, driving his own car, had entered a bus lane before it was permitted, leading to a fatal collision with Anthony Hanney (61) who was crossing the road through traffic towards his home at Finglas Road on December 12, 2018. Jailing Scully for 18 months today/yesterday (MON), Judge Pauline Codd said this was a very sad and difficult case involving the death of a beloved child due to the careless driving of the accused. She said the maximum sentence available to the court for this offence was two years' imprisonment. She noted that Scully had been operating a road sweeper at the locus and while reversing he impacted with a young child, Devin, who came running behind him. Judge Codd said the children running around were quite obvious to those present and while there was no special supervision in relation to Devin, there were other adults present. She said any prudent driver knew children were liable to do anything, as they were not mindful of or in a position to assess dangers as adults would be. She said it was incumbent on a driver in the vicinity of children to be ultra careful. Judge Codd, who had watched CCTV footage of the events in her chambers, said from her observation the vehicle was driven in a brusque manner, given the presence of children. She said the decision to reverse seemed sudden, and not taken with the due care that should be taken in the presence of children. She said Scully was a highly trained driver of an industrial-type vehicle and it was incumbent on him to show greater care. She noted it was common case that he was moving at low speed. She said he remained at the scene, attempted to help Devin and was in a state of shock. She said the offence did not come at the uppermost range of the offence, but Scully does have a prior conviction for careless driving causing death. She said the court took into account the devasting loss of Devin on those close to him and extended her sympathies to his family in their immense grief. Judge Codd said in cases such as this, the measure of a sentence was not a measure of the value of a deceased person's life, but of the accused person's culpability in the circumstances of the case. She said sentencing was not an exercise in vengeance or retaliation by the victim. She said the main aspects in relation to the driving were the decision to suddenly reverse and the failure to look in the camera to ensure no one was behind him in circumstances where there were children around. She set a headline sentence of 24 months' imprisonment, the maximum headline sentence. She took into account in mitigation his guilty plea, personal circumstance and his expression of remorse in a letter handed into court. She also noted a psychological report outlining Scullys emotional and mental health difficulties. She took into account his involvement with his children. She imposed 18 months' imprisonment and disqualified him from driving for 10 years. Scully interjected and asked the court to remove his licence for life. Devins sister, Yasmin, told the court in her victim impact statement that Devins loss had torn her family apart and they are unable to enjoy birthdays, Halloween and Christmas. She described the pain and grief they continue to feel and the depression her father has suffered. She said the family had not received an apology or seen any remorse. Devins mother Geraldine outlined in her victim impact statement how Devin had been her life and described him as an intelligent, outspoken, energetic, kind and caring boy, loved by his classmates and family. She described her devastation and said he had been taken from the family by Scullys actions. She urged the judge to impose a lengthy sentence. Mr Gilligan said Mr Martin was able to identify 35 separate incidences of confusion by customers attending Little Pyg who should have been in Little Pig. The disgruntled owner of Dublins Little Pig restaurant brand is to ask a court to block a competitor using the similar brand, Little Pyg, which he claimed is confusing members of the public causing Little Pig significant loss of customers and money. Barrister Fred Gilligan told Judge John OConnor in the Circuit Civil Court today that Little Pig owner Michael Martin was more than a wee wee bit boared with the antics of Little Pyg which is owned by Paul McGlade and wants an end to it. Judge OConnor heard that Martin had been monitoring the situation and found Little Pig was losing out to Little Pyg. Customers attended Little Pyg honestly believing they were in Little Pig and did not show up for reservations in Little Pig, Mr Gilligan read from Mr Martins sworn statement. Mr Gilligan said Mr Martin was able to identify 35 separate incidences of confusion by customers attending Little Pyg who should have been in Little Pig. Judge OConnor granted Little Pig leave to serve Little Pyg with short notice of legal proceedings seeking injunctions compelling Little Pyg to stop trading as Little Pyg and for Little Pyg to remove all signage of Little Pyg and all images of Little Pyg and all social media content of Little Pyg. Mr Gilligan told the court that his client Little Pig would also be seeking to restrain use of the name Little Pyg which, he said, was so similar to Little Pig as to infringe Little Pigs registered trade mark. Counsel, who appeared with MDM Solicitors, Lavitts Quay, Cork, for Mr Martin, managing director of Cafe Presse trading as Little Pig, said the company was formed in 2006 and five years later had become so successful operating as The Blind Pig Speakeasy that Little Pig was launched. Then in November 2019, Mr McGlade, of Pygmalion Public House, trading as Little Pyg, opened Little Pyg close to Little Pig in the Powerscourt Centre, Dublin 2. Little Pyg was causing confusion with Little Pig to such an extent that a number of Christmas parties had attended Little Pyg rather than Little Pig and Little Pig complained to Little Pyg which undertook to keep an eye on the situation and redirect Little Pyg attendees who really should have gone to Little Pig to go to Little Pig. Little Pig, in return, agreed to redirect any Little Pyg customers, who mistakenly turned up at Little Pig, to Little Pyg. Mr Martin again monitored the situation and found Little Pig was losing customers to Little Pyg. In November 2021 Little Pyg changed its logo to resemble the Little Pig logo and then opened another restaurant called Little Pyg Terrace again using a Little Pyg logo similar to the Little Pig logo. Menus were, Martin stated, not only similar but Little Pyg Terrace started using identical chairs exclusive to chairs found in Little Pig. Mr Gilligan said that in October last Mr Martin contacted Mr McGlade who stated he had already trade marked the name Little Pyg. He said it had now become clear that a significant number of Little Pig customers had been mistakenly going to Little Pyg instead of Little Pig. Mr Martin said he believed Little Pyg and Little Pyg Terrace had been established in an effort to pass off its products and offering as being either associated with or being the same as Little Pigs. I continue to receive numerous calls each week of customers who are in Little Pyg who actually intended to be in Little Pig, Mr Martin said. It is clear that Pygmalion Public House trading as Little Pyg is using a name and logo so similar to Little Pig as to cause confusion both online and in person at the point of sale and are breaching the Trades Mark Act and guilty of the tort of passing off. Judge OConnor granted leave for short notice in an application that was taken in the absence of Pygmalion Public House representatives. Ann Marie Keenan (37) repeatedly maintained her claim during the garda investigation, a court heard A woman made a false rape allegation against a man, "sticking to her story" when gardai put the inconsistencies against her, a court heard. Ann Marie Keenan (37) repeatedly maintained her claim during the garda investigation, a court heard. The case was adjourned at Dublin District Court for finalisation on a later date. Keenan was charged with making false statements tending to show rape offences had taken place. The statements were made at Fitzgibbon Street garda station on August 13 last year, and January 4 and February 14 this year. Keenan, with an address at Kildonan Avenue, Finglas, pleaded guilty to the charges, which are under Section 12 (a) of the Criminal Law Act. A garda sergeant told Judge Bryan Smyth the DPP had consented to the case being dealt with in the district court on a plea of guilty only. Ann Marie Keenan Outlining the evidence, he said gardai took a report from the accused in relation to a rape allegation at a location in Dublin. She alleged she was the victim of an assault, leading to an investigation being launched. A house party was referred to and when a female relation of the accused was spoken to she denied it ever happened. The accused had told gardai she went to a sexual assault treatment unit but the hospital had no record of this. Keenan also stated she had spoken to a garda but there was no garda by the name she had given. Gardai took a statement where the witness declaration was explained to Keenan and she stuck to her story. When she returned and gave another statement, inconsistencies were put to her but she stuck to the same story. The third time gardai spoke to her she again maintained the allegation. The man she named did exist and when gardai interviewed him on a voluntary basis, he had no knowledge of this taking place, the sergeant said. Keenan had no previous convictions. Judge Smyth said the injured party would have to be asked if he wanted to make a victim impact statement. He is a victim, the judge said, adding obviously its a serious matter. The sergeant said he did not know if the victim was known to the accused. Judge Smyth said this could be clarified on the next date. There were psychiatric issues involved and the accuseds lawyer sought to have a report prepared on Keenan. The judge remanded her on continuing bail to a date in January, when he will hear mitigation and finalise the case. Thug John Paul Carey has 99 previous convictions A father-of-two was jailed for 10 years for "a cowardly and unprovoked" chemical attack on a man who was previously in a long-term relationship with his partner and who subsequently lost an eye because of the severe caustic soda burn injuries suffered to his face. Cork Circuit Criminal Court was told that Francis Costello (40) prayed he would die such was the horrific pain he suffered as a consequence of the unprovoked attack by John Paul Carey (36) last year. Carey, who has 99 previous convictions including convictions for armed robbery, drug possession and assault, was questioned by Gardai immediately after the attack in a bid to determine precisely what substance he had thrown at Mr Costello and his two brothers. Judge James McCourt was told that Carey offered no assistance to officers desperately trying to determine the substance but then asked them: "If he (Mr Costello) was still a handsome man?" Judge McCourt imposed a ten year prison sentence but agreed to suspend the final six months in light of Carey's plea and other mitigating factors. He also backdated the sentence to April 18 2022 when Carey was taken into custody. Carey pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Francis Costello at Connolly Road in Ballyphehane, Cork on March 4 2022 contrary to Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. He also admitted assault causing harm to Mr Costello's two brothers, John and Roy, at the same location and date contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. Francis Costello lost an eye after the caustic soda attack. Photo: Provision Photography. All three men were struck by a corrosive liquid thrown at them by Carey who has addresses at Dunmanus Crescent in Knocknaheeny, Allihies in west Cork and Glanmire, where he was originally from. Such were the horrific injuries to Francis Costello's face that his left eye had to be surgically removed in October 2022 after desperate attempts by Cork surgeons to save it failed. Mr Costello's brother, John, now has only 90pc vision in his right eye and 80pc vision in his left eye. Roy Costello was left with serious scars on his arms and hands from the caustic solution tossed at him. Gardai and Cork Fire Brigade were called to the scene on March 4 - and fire brigade officers were so concerned about the nature of the liquid that had even burned into the front door of the property that they sealed off the entire area and had to alert a special cleaning crew. Francis Costello, a father-of-three, was rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital (CUH) where he underwent emergency medical treatment for several weeks. Gardai later found a bottle nearby and Detective Inspector Jason Lynch said it was found to have contained a powerful caustic soda solution used for unblocking clogged drains. In an emotional victim impact statement, Francis Costello said the pain was so great that evening he wanted to die. "The night of March 4 2022 will remain with me for the rest of my life," he sobbed as he insisted on delivering his victim impact statement in person. Judge McCourt noted the courage displayed by Mr Costello and he outlined the impact of the attack on his life. "The physical pain I went through...I just wanted to die to stop the burning in my eyes, my face and my head as I lay on the ground crying and screaming in pain while I was being kicked and punched." "I was praying the next blow would be fatal just to stop the suffering." "Little did I know that night that, for the next year, I would be battling with my mental and emotional health, attending multiple procedures, surgeries and my eye being removed last October." "I lost the will to live - and I had planned to end it all so many times. Thankfully, I did not go through with it. I believe today there is a way through anything life might throw at me." Mr Costello said he had only emerged from the nightmare thanks to the incredible support of family, friends, neighbours and officials with victim support groups. Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Mr Costello said: "What he did to me, you wouldn't do it to an animal." Mr Costello also said that Carey's letter of apology was far too late to have any meaning for him. He said he hoped the sentencing would give him some closure and that he could continue to rebuild his life after the horrific attack. The court heard that Mr Costello, who had previously worked in retail, lost his job and is now fearful every day of losing his sight. Judge McCourt was told that John Paul Carey had been working that day but, after going for a few drinks, had become agitated over a dispute between Mr Costello, Mr Costello's former partner who was now in a relationship with him, and himself. He called to the Costello family home and, after Francis Costello answered the door, threw the caustic liquid into his face. The liquid was also thrown on his two brothers who rushed to help their sibling when they heard him screaming in agony and writhing on the ground by the front door. Judge McCourt was told that the incident occurred while Carey was under the provisions of a suspended portion of a four year and six month sentence imposed for the armed robbery of Little Island Post Office on February 5 2020. Carey had also received a ten year prison sentence, with the final five years suspended, for drug offences. Elizabeth O'Connell SC, for Carey, pointed out to the court that he came from an unfortunate and extremely sad background, having lost his mother in tragic circumstances. She said her client had submitted a letter of apology to the Costello family on the day he was first arraigned over the incident. Ms O'Connell also noted that her client's "reckless and irrational actions" had damaged the stability he had finally managed to achieve in his personal life. She pointed out that Carey was still involved in a relationship with Mr Costello's ex-partner and had a child with her last year. Donal O'Sullivan BL, for the State, said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), indicated the sentence in the matter should be at the higher end of the scale given the severity of the injury involved. Judge McCourt warned that: "The loss of an eye is an enormous injury. I was convinced of that before the DPP ever opened his mouth." He noted that Carey's plea had saved the State a lengthy trial and had avoided the Costello family having to give evidence. "Not only were these attacks cowardly but they were unprovoked," the judge said. He noted that the attacks occurred at a family home and clearly hinted at planning and premeditation. "The level of harm visited on Francis Costello is appalling. This (offence) clearly falls at the upper end of the scale." Judge McCourt agreed to suspend the final six months of the 10 year prison sentence on the basis of Carey entering into a bond to keep the peace for one year on his release from prison. Dr Ronan Mullaney said that when Sean Murphy stabbed Michael Olohan to death, Mr Murphy was "acutely psychotic" A man who was suffering from a severe case of obsessive compulsive disorder killed his housemate because he believed if he did not do so he would spend an eternity in hell, a consultant psychiatrist has told the Central Criminal Court. Dr Ronan Mullaney told prosecution counsel Ronan Kennedy SC that when Sean Murphy stabbed Michael Olohan to death, Mr Murphy was "acutely psychotic" and was unable to refrain from the killing because he was convinced that he was "saving himself and the world from very great harm". The jury has been told that where a person is unable to refrain from their actions because of a mental disorder they shall be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Dr Mullaney said that if the jury is not satisfied that an insanity verdict is made out, it still remains that Mr Murphy was suffering from a mental disorder that "substantially impaired his capacity to refrain" from his actions such that he would qualify for a verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility. Professor Keith Rix has previously told the jury that he does not accept that Mr Murphy was psychotic. Professor Rix, who was unavailable to complete his evidence today due to ill-health, said that in his opinion Mr Murphy was able to resist stabbing Mr Olohan, as he had done on previous nights when he considered stabbing his housemate. Dr Mullaney disagreed, saying: "I believe that his beliefs were utterly true to him and he was trying to balance what he thought was the right thing to do but his thinking was entirely based on faulty inferences because he was psychotic and delusional." Mr Murphy (29) with an address at Bradog Court, St Lawrence Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Michael Olohan (35) at the apartment they shared on St Lawrence Road on August 13, 2020. Mr Olohan is originally from Poppintree in Ballymun, north Dublin. The jury has been told that at the time of the stabbing the accused and deceased lived together at Bradog Court in a "step-down independent living facility" run by St Vincent's Hospital Psychiatric Services. Mr Kennedy, for the prosecution, told the jury in his opening speech that Mr Olohan had lived there for some years while Mr Murphy moved in four months previously having been discharged from the psychiatric ward of St Vincent's Hospital. Dr Mullaney today detailed Mr Murphy's long history of psychiatric issues going back to his teenage years. Mr Murphy was first diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) aged 15 and was committed to a psychiatric hospital aged 16. He managed to complete his leaving certificate exams, achieving good results despite missing long periods from school due to his illness and went on to complete a science degree in the Dublin Institute of Technology on Kevin St. His mental health deteriorated after that resulting in further hospitalisations and a period of homelessness during which Mr Murphy came to the attention of gardai due to his bizarre behaviour, the psychiatrist said. Mr Murphy was later committed to St Vincent's as an involuntary patient after gardai arrested him following reports from concerned members of the public that Mr Murphy had been staring at and talking to a tree for several hours. Mr Murphy spent nine months on the psychiatric ward in St Vincent's before being moved to Bradog Court because his condition had improved. However, in a letter written by Mr Murphy to his treating team after the fatal stabbing, Mr Murphy revealed that he had been having thoughts about killing someone for about two years. Reading from the letter, Dr Mullaney said the accused recalled that there were times he could ignore those thoughts and felt "happy and content" but those times became less frequent. In Bradog Court, he said, he "pieced together" a plan to kill Mr Olohan. He said: "I realised I now had a way I could kill someone, that I could kill Michael by stabbing him in his bedroom." He described the urge to kill as a "ritual" and said he had a "need to kill or bad things will happen". He said there were a number of nights before the actual stabbing when he went into Mr Olohan's room "with a knife in hand ready to kill him but then my thoughts would change" and he would stop himself. He said he thinks about Mr Olohan every day and the "look on his face as he woke up and the roar as he realised what was happening". He said: "Even though I know I was sick and there weren't any bad intentions, I still feel guilty and ashamed all the time." During interviews with Dr Mullaney this year, Mr Murphy said that he got on well with Mr Olohan and they had no arguments. Mr Murphy said that he believed at the time that if he did not kill someone that his "visions of hell" would come true and he would "have to suffer for all eternity". He said he awoke at about 5am and took a knife from the kitchen that he had bought some weeks earlier with the intention of killing someone. He described going into Mr Olohan's room before experiencing a "frenzy" and feeling that he wasn't in control of his own actions. He described his obsession about going to hell as "torture" and said he had been close to killing others before he killed Mr Olohan. He thought that if he did not carry out the killing the "torture would continue and I would never be free of it". Dr Mullaney said that having considered Mr Murphy's long psychiatric history and all relevant evidence, he believes the accused was suffering from acute and severe OCD with psychotic features prior to, during and after the stabbing. Referring to the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act, Dr Mullaney said that if an accused person was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of an offence that made them unable to refrain from their actions, a jury shall return a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. Dr Mullaney said OCD is a mental disorder and Mr Murphy was unable to refrain from his actions although he did understand the nature and quality of his actions and that what he was doing was wrong. He was "unable to appreciate that acting on his compulsion would be irrational," the psychiatrist said. The trial continues tomorrow in front of Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring and a jury of six men and six women. Robert Wilkins body was found off Sliabh Liag cliffs in Co Donegal The body of Robert Wilkin (60s) was found on July 3rd last after a week-long search by a number of state agencies including the Gardai and the Irish Coastguard Two people have been sent forward for trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with murder after the body of a man was found off Sliabh Liag cliffs in Co Donegal on July 3rd last. Alan Vial and Nikita Burns have been charged with murdering Robert Wilkin. Vial, 38, appeared in person at Letterkenny District Court while Burns, 21, appeared by videolink from the Dochas Centre at Mountjoy Prison. The court was told that the Director of Public Prosecutions has consented to sending both forward for trial to the current sitting of the Central Criminal Court. Detective Garda Shane Maye told the court he served a book of evidence on Vial this morning in court at 11.18am. Vial, who wore a blue padded jacket and jeans, did not speak during the hearing. Judge Eiteain Cunningham read him the alibi warning and assigned his solicitor, Mr Patsy Gallagher, free legal aid and assigned the accused both a senior and junior counsel in the case. The Judge adjourned the case until the current sitting of the Central Criminal Court on November 28th next. Detective Sergeant Mattie Murphy told the court he served a book of evidence via Ms Burns' solicitor, Mr Rory O'Brien at 11.13am this morning. She too was given the alibi warning and assigned free legal aid as well as a senior and junior counsel. Her case was also adjourned until November 28th next at the Central Criminal Court. The body of Robert Wilkin (60s) was found on July 3rd last after a week-long search by a number of state agencies including the Gardai and the Irish Coastguard Vial and Burns are charged that on June 25, 2023, at a place unknown within the State, they did murder one Robert Wilkin (also known as Robin Wilkin). The body of Mr Wilkin, aged in his 60s and originally from County Tyrone, was found floating in waters off Sliabh Liag on July 3. Over 200 statements have been taken in the case with detectives piecing together a complex jigsaw of evidence having gathered well in excess of 200 exhibits. Sixteen interviews were conducted with the accused while six crime scenes were designated. Other scenes of interest were also examined by Gardai. Detective Garda Ciaran OBrien told an earlier court sitting that there was a huge volume of forensic analysis required in the matter. Vial and Burns were initially arrested on June 26 on suspicion of a serious assault. It followed information received by Gardai which led to a large-scale search around popular tourist destination. While both were released without charge on that occasion, Vial was then brought before Ballyshannon District Court on July 14 where he was charged with murder while Burns was brought before Letterkenny District Court on August 29 when she was also charged with murder. Following an extensive search involving Gardai, the Irish Coastguard including Rescue 118 and the Donegal Mountain Rescue Team, a body was recovered in water off the cliffs on July 3. The body was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital where a full post mortem was carried out by the State Pathologist's Office. The findings of that post mortem have not been released for Garda operational reasons. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about negotiations with representatives of Bulgaria and Romania. This area of cross-border interaction is now obviously growing. I thank my partners. This includes the work of the sea corridor, the Danube export cluster, and in general trade turnover between our countries, Zelenskyy said in a video message on Monday. With Romania alone, we see the potential to grow to 4 million tonnes of trade turnover by the end of this year. This is very powerful and supports not only our state, not only jobs in Ukraine, but also in partner countries, the President said. Zelenskyy is confident that we will add Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and the entire European Union to cooperation. She stole thousands of euro worth of goods including cosmetics, beauty and hygiene products, meat, pyjamas, detergents and toys on dates in 2021 and 2022. Teresa Dorman (37) will not serve any more time behind bars A prolific shoplifter has been jailed for hitting one supermarket security man in the face and pulling another by the hair when she was stopped trying to steal baby formula and groceries. Mother-of-three Teresa Dorman (37) hit the workers at two city centre stores while trying to escape after being confronted over the thefts. Dorman, of Forest Lawns, Kingswood Heights, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to assault and a series of theft charges. Judge Bryan Smyth sentenced her to 17 months in prison. Dublin District Court heard a garda on duty at Talbot Street at 4.43pm on May 29 last year saw Dorman in an altercation with a staff member at Tesco. She hit the security man as she tried to escape with 41 worth of goods. On June 23 last year, Dorman went to Lidl, North Brunswick Street, again tried to steal goods and was stopped by staff. She hit this security guard a number of times in the head and grabbed him by the hair. She got away with the 43 worth of groceries. She also admitted thefts from Tesco, Phibsborough and Jervis Centre, Dunnes Stores on North Earl Street, Centra, Manor Street, M&S on Mary Street, Arnotts, Boots and Next on Henry Street, Dealz on Liffey Street and Aldi Frascati Centre, Blackrock. She stole thousands of euro worth of goods including cosmetics, beauty and hygiene products, meat, pyjamas, detergents and toys on dates in 2021 and 2022. In some thefts, she hid the stolen goods in a pram and on many occasions she got away with the property. She had 13 previous convictions. Dorman had been on heroin from the age of 21 and more recently crack cocaine, her solicitor said. She apologised for the crimes which were not very well thought out. The accused was already in prison when she appeared in court and the judge backdated the sentence so she does not serve any more jail time. The 157m seizure ranks as the largest drug interdiction in Irish history. A general view of the MV Matthew cargo ship at Marino Port in Co Cork after it was seized by authorities. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire The State has moved to officially impound the MV Matthew, the cargo ship that was discovered to be carrying more than two tonnes of cocaine off the Cork coast in September. The 157m seizure ranks as the largest drug interdiction in Irish history. The bulk carrier ship is to be surrendered to the State under the 2015 Customs Act, which states that any vessel that transports illegal goods into the country is liable to forfeiture. The Irish Times reports that the MV Matthew will likely be auctioned off, with the State taking in the proceeds, although it could also be destroyed entirely. Anyone who wished to contest the forfeiture had 30 days to do so, according to a notice published in Iris Oifigiuil, the official Irish State gazette, on October 20. The vessel is now duly condemned as forfeited, as of yesterday. The 190m (620ft) ship, which was built in 2001 and is believed to be worth about 9.5 million and remains impounded as the garda investigation continues. The MV Matthew, previously known as the MV Honmon, was officially seized by customs officers on October 19, three weeks after it was intercepted in a dramatic joint operation involving gardai, the Defence Forces and Revenue. The Panamanian-registered ship was attempting to leave Irish waters when it was intercepted. The LE William Butler Yeats, a Naval Service vessel, fired warning shots to stop the ship, and it was eventually boarded by an armed party from the elite Army Ranger Wing before an arrest was made. A record 2,253kg of cocaine worth 157 million was discovered in the cargo hold of the freighter, with gardai describing it as the largest haul in the history of the State. The street value of the drugs, once cut down and sold on, would have been up to three times that estimation. The MV Matthews captain, Soheil Jelveh, and 24 crew members were detained and questioned following the seizure. Seven crew members have since been charged and are awaiting trial. Gardai investigating the seizure recently identified payments linked to criminal enterprise which originated in Dubai. The analysis of financial transactions further strengthens garda suspicions that the Kinahan crime gang, whose leadership is based in the Middle Eastern metropolis, had a significant investment in the seized drug shipment. It comes as senior Dubai police officials last month arrived in Dublin to meet with members of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau. The delegation was invited by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, who himself visited the city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in September in a bid to build stronger international relationships. Senior detectives are now liaising with their Dubai counterparts in relation to the financial aspect of the seizure and are continuing to exchange intelligence and information. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said at the time: I want to welcome our colleagues from the Dubai Police to Dublin. The Dubai Police has already provided us with great assistance with our ongoing investigations into transnational organised crime and the support from this delegation will further advance that co-operation. This initiative is another demonstration of the value of the expansion of the Garda international network of liaison officers and visits made by myself and other senior officers to the US, Colombia, Dubai, Asia and across Europe in recent years. These organised crime gangs cause misery not only in the countries they originate from, but across the globe. It is only through international co-operation among law enforcement that these gangs will be disrupted and dismantled. I want to thank the Departments of Justice and Foreign Affairs for their support for the expansion of the Garda international liaison network, which includes offices in the US, Colombia, Dubai, UK and Europe, with an additional office in Thailand to open shortly, Mr Harris added. More than 330 suspected mobsters and their alleged associates had been facing an array of charges A general view ahead of a trial against 355 suspected members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia, accused of an array of charges, in a High Security Courthouse in Lamezia Terme, Italy. Reuthers A court handed down lengthy jail sentences on Monday at the end of one of Italy's largest-ever mafia trials which targeted the 'Ndrangheta crime group in its heartland in the southern region of Calabria. More than 330 suspected mobsters and their alleged associates, including white collar professionals, had been facing an array of charges, such as extortion, drug trafficking and theft, in a trial that lasted almost three years. Italy's Ansa news agency said it took judges 1 hour and 40 minutes just to read their verdict. The heaviest penalties were handed to Saverio Razionale and Domenico Bonavota, two local Calabrian mafia leaders, both given 30-year sentences. Among those convicted was Giancarlo Pittelli, a lawyer and former politician with the Forza Italia party - a member of the national ruling coalition - who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for mafia collusion and passing on information. Giorgio Naselli, a former local police chief, was sentenced to two years and six months. However, the prosecution did not get as heavy sentences as it was seeking in a number of cases and more than 100 of those on trial were cleared. Monday's first-instance ruling can be appealed by both the defence and the prosecution. The 'Ndrangheta is considered by prosecutors to be the most powerful mafia group in the country, easily eclipsing the more famous Cosa Nostra gang in Sicily, with its influence extending across Europe and beyond. The trial was held in a converted call-centre in the Calabrian city of Lamezia Terme, with metal cages installed for the defendants. The last time Italy tried hundreds of alleged mafiosi simultaneously was in 1986 in Palermo in a case that represented a turning point in the fight against Cosa Nostra, marking the beginning of the group's sharp decline. That Sicilian trial had a huge impact because it targeted numerous mob families. The Calabrian trial focused primarily on just one group - the Mancuso clan from the province of Vibo Valentia - leaving much of the 'Ndrangheta's top brass untouched. Anna Sergi, a professor of criminology at the University of Essex, said the verdict resulted in several major convictions against mafia-linked white collar figures and confirmed the prosecutors' reading of the 'Ndrangheta structure in Vibo Valentia. "Now it has its own specificity," she said, underlining that under Italian law such first instance rulings can be appealed twice before becoming final. A further 70 defendants from the original trial had been found guilty in November 2021 after opting for a fast-track procedure in return for a reduction in their sentences. (Additional reporting by Angelo Amante; writing by Keith Weir, editing by Alvise Armellini and Christina Fincher) Why do some cases grab public attention and others, like that of the brutal killing of Marie Murtagh and Tom Taaffe in an isolated Longford farmhouse in 1986, fail to do so? It was a bitter winter day in 1986 and as he left the church in the village of Aughnacliffe in north Co Longford after a funeral, I approached Albert Reynolds, the local TD, and asked if he knew why the man and woman had been murdered. Id tell you if I knew, but to be honest I havent a clue, he said, as our frosty breath merged in the cold November air. I knew her well, she was a constituency worker of mine, but I didnt know yer man. She was Marie Murtagh (43), a farmer and cattle dealer who also ran a small corrugated tin shop beside the parish church in the nearby hamlet of Legga. He was Tom Taaffe (50), a small farmer who was in bad health, and had moved into her two-storey farmhouse four years earlier after his mother died. They had pooled their resources and there did not appear to be any romantic link between them. They were doing all right, farming, and buying and selling livestock and living what appeared to be normal lives. Detectives investigating their execution-style killing were puzzled by the clinical way in which they were murdered. There was no row over land or a family feud and, anyway, that type of murder was usually messy. It was close to the Border but random murders were almost unknown in this peaceful rural landscape. Curious two people shot in the head, no robbery, no apparent motive, wrote Eoghan Corry in the Sunday Press in the days after the killings. But it later emerged that money was indeed missing from the house, around 6,000. It was a fair sum at the time, but hardly worth the murder of two people in cold blood. On Saturday night, November 15, 1986, Marie Murtagh in her Volkswagen van and Tom Taaffe in his Cortina car had driven a small herd of cattle from her farm in the townland of Cloonback along the narrow country roads to land nearby in the dark. At about 7.45pm they called to the house of a teenager who helped in the shop to say Marie would be opening in the morning. The following morning, people coming from mass congregated around the shop door to chat and wait for Marie to open. She never came. They were puzzled, but it was cold and damp and they gradually drifted off home to their warm kitchens. The shop didnt open on the Monday morning either. At about 7.15pm that evening, Fr Eugene Cox, the priest in Legga, called to the farmhouse to check if Marie and Tom were ill or needed assistance. The farmyard was down a long grassy lane and when he got there the house was in darkness and the front door closed. He went around to the back. A broom handle was propped against the door on the inside, jamming it shut. When he forced the door open and went into the kitchen the range had gone out, but there were sausages still in the pan, a bottle of milk open on the table and the television hissing in the corner. Then to his horror he saw Marie and Tom lying in pools of congealed blood on the floor in a V-shape. She had been shot in the forehead and abdomen and he through the right eye. Both had been shot at close range in the sparse kitchen and had died almost instantly. The front page of the 'Longford Leader', November 21, 1986 As the crowds drifted away after Marie Murtaghs funeral mass in Aughnacliffe on Friday, November 21, nobody seemed any the wiser. Before we parted, Albert Reynolds said he would ask the head of the Murder Squad Hubert Reynolds, who was born just across the fields from where we were standing, if he knew anything and to give him a ring at home later. After a futile hour talking to people and getting nowhere, I decided to drive as far as Longford. I had soup and a sandwich in the Longford Arms and was just leaving the hotel when I bumped into an old friend. Jaysus, how are ye, what are you doing here? he greeted me. Ah come on, youll have a pint. As we sat at the bar, I told him of my fruitless search for any scrap of information on the murders and how I was just about to head back to Dublin empty-handed. I know just the man who can tell you everything, he replied confidently. It will take a bit of time to track him down, but hes around and well find him. In the hours that followed we toured the bars McGoeys, Peter Clarkes and back down the Main Street to Peter Kellys and eventually back to the Longford Arms. There was no sign of yer man. It was getting late and the notebook in my side pocket was empty and there was no longer any question of getting back to Dublin that night. I had to file a story the following morning, Saturday, and I was beginning to doubt if my friend knew anything or anybody involved and was just stringing me along because he wanted someone to drink with. Then he suddenly exclaimed: There he is you stay here, Ill bring him over. A few minutes later the two of them came to the table and sat down. So, what do you want to know? the stranger asked. Anything you can tell me, I answered. It was a row over cattle smuggling, he said immediately. She got involved with some loyalists from Derry. They fell out over money and they came down to sort it out last Saturday night she brought them in to the house, they had a row so they shot her. Tom was killed because he just happened to be there. He wasnt involved, but these boys dont leave loose ends. At that, he gave me the names of the killers and got up to leave. How do you know so much, when nobody else seems to have any information? I asked. How do you know so much, when nobody else seems to have any information? I asked Lets just say the lads have eyes and ears around that part of the country, he answered enigmatically. They want it out in the open, so the guards and the likes of yourself will feck off and they can get back to normal operations its as simple as that, he said. There was no doubt the lads were the IRA, who were well versed in the network of minor roads that cross north Longford and Cavan, close to the Border. The smuggling routes were used for more than just transporting cattle and sheep from one side to the other collecting headage payments. Almost a year later, in November 1987, a witness claimed that four people from Derry had travelled to Marie Murtaghs house that night. One of them also had a property not far from where the murders were carried out and did odd jobs for her. One of the men, originally from Derry, was accused of murder and conspiracy to rob Marie Murtagh. He was found not guilty by direction of Judge Donal Barrington, who ruled that he had been unlawfully detained for three days in Mullingar garda station without access to his solicitor when he made incriminating statements to detectives. Around the same time as the case was being heard, the terrorist Dessie OHare kidnapped Dublin dentist John OGrady. The murders of Marie Murtagh and Tom Taaffe, brutal and cold-blooded as they were, quickly faded into the background. I often felt afterwards that just because they were ordinary country people and there were no eye-catching photographs of them (there were no photographs at all), we in the media quickly lost interest in the case. What makes certain murders live on in the public imagination? It is partly the mystery of an unsolved crime. But sadly, part of the answer is that if victims are photogenic the media will pay attention. And when the media stays interested, the gardai and the authorities also stay focused. Savage brutality amid a quiet, country landscape. Photo: Getty In Legga today a small housing estate has sprung up across the road from the church. Few remember the murders back in 1986. Most of the old farmhouses in the area have been replaced with shiny new bungalows and two-storey houses. When you reach the townland of Cloonback an old schoolhouse stands like a skeleton by the side of the road looking over the valley. Across the fields Marie Murtaghs farmhouse is in ruins, the long avenue overgrown and the roof fallen in, a sad reminder of how cheap life was back in the troubled times of the 1980s when scores were settled with savage brutality. The small gospel hall overlooking the former mill village of Darkley in south Armagh lies close to the border with the Irish Republic. And the INLA had singled it out for attack. Three elders shot dead by the INLA after terrorists broke in during a church service. INLA leader Dominic Mad Dog McGlinchey vehemently denied taking part in the Darkley mission hall massacre which left three men dead. But he was lying through his teeth, the Sunday World has learned. William Brown 59, John Cunningham 39, and David Wilson 44, died in a hail of bullets when McGlincheys republican terror mob gunned them down. The 60-strong Christian sect was at prayer in the Mountain Lodge Pentecostal Church, when the sound of automatic gunfire filled the air, 40 years ago this month. The small gospel hall overlooking the former mill village of Darkley in south Armagh lies close to the border with the Irish Republic. And the INLA had singled it out for attack. As terrified children screamed, seven other worshipers were struck as the gunmen continued to fire through the churchs paper-thin wooden walls. The faithful were still singing the final verse of the hymn Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb? when the slaughter started around 6.20pm. As per usual, the Sunday evening service was recorded. And the sound of live gunfire provided a stark and chilling contrast to the happy sound of the worshippers. Inside the bullet riddled gospel hall, where bloodstained pews show the horror of what unfolded. William Brown and John Cunningham, whose job it was to welcome visitors and find them a seat died at the church entrance. David Wilson, who was standing behind, was also hit. He was shot twice in the face. But somehow, he managed to alert the others by staggering into the service. He tried to speak, but his words werent audible. The wounded man stumbled onward to a small room behind the Preachers platform before dropping down dead. But the gunfire continued - at an increased rate - as the other two gunmen joined in the slaughter. Their powerful automatic bullets easily pierced the wooden shell of the building. Of the 60 worshipers present, 26 were children. Many of them were able to dive under the seats for cover, when the shooting started. But the Sunday World can today reveal, that within hours of the attack, the name Dominic McGlinchey - who was himself murdered 11 years later - topped a list of suspects supplied to the police. Three elders shot dead by the INLA after terrorists broke in during a church service. Within an hour, our contacts inside the INLA, told us who carried out the shooting at Darkley, said a former RUC Special Branch officer. As a getaway driver remained in his vehicle, three masked gunmen approached the open doors of the hilltop gospel hall, before one of them - armed with a Ruger automatic rifle - opened fire at two middle-aged men standing at the entrance. The dubious pleasure of being the first INLA gunman to pull the trigger at the Mission Hall had been personally gifted to an Armagh man by Dominic McGlinchey, because two of his close relatives had recently been murdered by loyalists and members of the security forces. It was a revenge attack on entirely innocent people. The Pentecostal people of Darkley paid for something which had nothing to do with them. a republican source told us this week. Following the attack, a previously unheard of group claimed responsibility for it. A chilling claim of responsibility was made by the so-called Catholic Reaction Force. And in a call to a journalist, a spokesman said the Darkley killings were in response to recent murders of innocent Catholics by the Protestant Action Force. The caller added, that unless the murder campaign against Catholics stopped immediately, we will make the Darkley killings look like a picnic. And at 3.45pm the next day, Lord Mansfield - a Government spokesman for Northern Ireland - confidently told fellow Peers in the House of Lords, the blood bath at Darkley, had been the work of the Irish National Liberation Army. One of the weapons has been forensically linked to a previous murder carried out and claimed by the INLA. he said. The identities of all four members of the Mountain Lodge murder gang is known to the Sunday, but we are refraining from naming all of them today for legal reasons. And we have managed to track down a picture showing three of them wearing paramilitary uniforms and balaclavas. They are marching behind a bogus coffin at a stage-managed funeral in Monaghan, following the death of IRA jail hunger striker Kieran Doherty in 1981. Belfast-born Doherty was a member of the Provisional IRA. He died on August 2 1981 after spending 73 days on hunger strike in the Maze Prison. Kieran Doherty was one of 10 IRA men who sacrificed their lives in pursuit of prisoners demands, following the Thatcher Governments determination to criminalise convicted IRA men, who had previously been viewed as political. In 1981, Kieran Doherty was elected TD for the Cavan-Monaghan Constituency. Six days after the Darkley Massacre, INLA leader Dominic Mad Dog McGlinchey gave an interview to a Dublin newspaper, where he denied personal involvement. But he admitted supplying a semi-automatic Ruger rifle which had been used in the attack. And he placed the blame for the attack on an INLA member who had previously lost a brother to loyalist violence. He must have become unbalanced or something, to have gone and organised this killing. We are conducting an inquiry into the whole affair, said McGlinchey. INLA chief of staff Dominic Mad Dog McGlinchey Sunday World inquiries revealed McGlincheys partial change of mind to accepting INLA responsibility - whilst denying his own central role - was because he had come under severe pressure to do so. Senior members of the INLAs political wing - the Irish Republican Socialist Party - were outraged by the Darkley attack, viewing it a purely sectarian. And they pressed McGlinchey to admit it. With the exception of Dominic McGlinchey - who was gunned down by rivals in 1994 - all of those involved in the Darkley Massacre are still alive. And none of them has ever been made amenable for the atrocity which sent shockwaves around the world 40 years ago. At the time, RUC detectives openly laid the blame for Darkley at the feet of Bellaghy man Dominic McGlinchey. They linked one of the weapons used to the murder of Reserve Constable in the centre of Cookstown on May 26 the same year. And the Ruger rifle had also been used to murder Constables Snowden Corkery and Ronnie Irwin in Markethill on 16 November 1982. McGlinchey was personally involved in both incidents, detectives claimed. The weapons used at Darkley were personally handed over to Dominic McGlinchey by Tony McCloskey, a 28 year-old married man who held the rank of Officer Commanding the INLA in Monaghan town. A father of two, McCloskey lived with his family on the Mullaghmatt council housing estate. And he had control of an illegal arms dump in the nearby Rossmore Forest Park. McCloskey enjoyed a close friendship with Dominic McGlinchey. But he was later a victim of a vicious internal feud which decimated the republican organisation. In February 1987, an armed INLA gang burst into his home at Kieran Doherty Park and abducted him at gunpoint. McCloskeys bound body was later found on a border road, near Middletown. He had been shot several times. A pathologists report revealed, his killers had used bolt cutters to remove his right index finger and part of his right ear lobe. The missing body parts were later discovered inside the dead mans stomach. In 1990, a new Pentecostal Church was built on the Mountain Lodge site outside Darkley. But the old wooden hut where the Massacre had taken place was moved by crane to a new position just across the car park. Bullets holes in the building were repaired and today it functions as Sunday School for children. This week Pastor David Bell - whose wife Sally was shot in the elbow during the gun attack, said he was pleased to report his flock at Mountain Lodge, was as vibrant as ever, with an increased congregation. He said: Very few of our congregation today have any recollection or connection to what happened here 40 years ago. The 23-year-old man was shot dead outside a house on Barry Drive in Finglas, Dublin just after 7pm last Saturday night. A POST-mortem of shooting victim Brandon Ledwidge has been completed by the State Pathologist as gardai continue their investigation into the first gangland killing this year. The 23-year-old man was shot dead outside a house on Barry Drive in Finglas, Dublin just after 7pm last Saturday night. A post-mortem was carried out by State Pathologist, Dr. Sally Ann Collis yesterday, the results of which are not being released for operational reasons according to the Garda Press Office. A technical examination of the scene has since been completed by the Garda Technical Bureau. The investigation is being led by a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) and a Garda Family Liaison Officer (FLO) has been appointed to liaise with the family of the deceased. The Sunday World previously reported Brandon Ledwidge was not considered a serious criminal but had links to gangsters far higher up the food chain than him, according sources. Dublin man shot dead at front door named as Brandon Ledwidge A gunman who had called to the home opened fire, shooting the victim four times in the head and body. He was shot at close range and didnt stand a chance sources added. Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact Finglas Garda Station on 01 666 7500, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station. Several tributes to the young man have been posed on social media since the killing, with friends and family dedicating Facebook posts to him. An aunt wrote that she was broken after her nephews death, adding that she considered him to be one of her closest pals. My nephew/brother... My forever best friend... I loved you from the first day of your life and I'll love you till the last day of my life, she wrote. Her husband, Thomas Gammell, said his wife was left in tears when reception staff told them the hotel would not make an exception A five-star hotel has been ordered to pay 1,000 in compensation to a Traveller woman after turning her and her new husband away on their wedding night because they couldnt produce a credit card. Mary Jane Sheridan told the Workplace Relations Commission it was meant to be the happiest day of her life but that she saw the staff were talking between themselves as she and her husband arrived and had a feeling they would be refused. Her husband, Thomas Gammell, said his wife was left in tears when reception staff told them the hotel would not make an exception on [our] wedding night. The Savoy Hotel in Limerick City would not take a cash deposit and told him his debit card was no good, Mr Gammell said. Even now [my] wife gets upset over the event, which was supposed to be a celebration, he told the tribunal. The newlyweds were giving evidence earlier this year in a joint hearing of their discrimination complaints under the Equal Status Act 2000 against Labarre Ltd, trading as the Savoy Hotel. The hotel denies their complaints, but is now subject to one compensation order in favour of Ms Sheridan after the WRC upheld her complaint. The tribunal has yet to publish its decision on her husbands complaint. Mr Gammell said he would have happily left a deposit, but said that the hotels staff were completely unhelpful and wanted him to leave. Thomas Wallace-ODonnell BL, appearing for the hotel firm instructed by Dundon Callanan Solicitors, put it to Mr Gammell that the requirement to have a credit card was nothing to do with being a Traveller and that the hotel had published its clear policy on its Booking.com page. It was a policy when one was a Traveller but if one was not, a solution would be found, Mr Gammell said. When Mr Wallace-ODonnell put it to him that his brother, the best man, was abusive on the phone to staff after the newlyweds were turned away, Mr Gammell said counsel should put himself in the best mans position. The only job he had as the best man was to book a room and [we] were thrown out through no fault of [our] own, he said. The couples solicitor, Anthony Feeney of Fergus A Feeney Solicitors, said it was a case where an apparently neutral provision in the form of the credit card disadvantaged members of the Travelling Community as a class of people. He said the 80pc unemployment rate among Travellers meant few could meet the minimum income requirements to obtain a credit card. Mr Feeney added that the credit card rule was disproportionate and unnecessary given that there were other options open to the hotel to take a security deposit arguing further that a cash deposit or a hold on funds with a debit card gave the same if not greater protection. Mr Wallace-ODonnell said there was a socio-economic aspect to the credit card policy and that it was perhaps unfair that some would not be able to stay because they have no credit card. However, he argued that was not related to the membership of Traveller Community. In her decision, adjudicator Ewa Sobanska accepted the evidence of hotel staff that there were no exceptions to the credit card policy but said there was no evidence on the asserted past losses the respondent was relying on to justify the credit card policy. The application of the policy of refusing accommodation based on a failure to present a credit card is not found to be appropriate and necessary, she concluded, making a finding that the hotel group had indirectly discriminated against Ms Sheridan. Forecasting grape yield is tough and errors can be costly, so University of Canterbury researchers have been awarded $6.1 million to blend viticulture with robotics, 3D imaging, and data analytics for a fresh,refined, fruity solution. The wine industry is one of New Zealands most important and valuable horticulture sectors, adding up to NZ$2.4 billion in exports this year. However, forecasting grape yield is a struggle and inaccurate techniques can be costly, affecting profits. We cant automate what we cant see in agriculture because every plant is different, but this research could change that," says University of Canterbury Computer Science and Software Engineering academic, Professor Richard Green. Professor Greens research project, titled Predicting the unseen: a new method for accurate yield estimation in viticulture/horticulture, was awarded $6.1 million over five years by the 2023 Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Endeavour Fund. His research team plans to develop a unique approach by finely blending an innovative 3D-imaging-based detection system with a physiological growth prediction model. Professor Green describes it as a complex, interlinked, and challenging measurement and data problem, and says this is the first time its been approached this way. Were encouraged by the results of our preliminary research. Its already clear that there is huge potential with this new approach, and I believe this funding will help us go further than people may think. Until now weve only been able to scan 3D images of vines that have no leaves, so we know where to prune. Now, with this funding, we can scan through the year, which means you can perfectly align it to see how much its grown and changed. This will help us forecast yield, and well gain access to data that will help us understand the crop on a whole new level. Working with the right people is important, Professor Green says. The research team includes cross-disciplinary, multi-institutional members, including matauranga Maori, robotics, data analytics and viticulture experts covering all technical aspects of the research to ensure the technology accurately serves the needs of the industry. Professor Green believes this project may go further than forecasting grape yield, stating New Zealand has the capability to become a world leader in using these systems for multiple benefits. Not only will we be able to predict it, well increase average yield, and improve operational and financial planning for wineries and vineyards. "Well also accelerate vineyard automation to help to mitigate labour shortages and costs, and we will better prepare our vineyards for climate change. He says if all goes well solving this expensive problem for the viticulture sector, the flow-on effect may create new revenue and export opportunities. Next, the research team will aim to take on other horticulture challenges. I see true potential that as we solve these issues, this project will serve as a template for future research and become a cornerstone for more extensively automating our future agriculture high-tech sector. The Culture and Information Policy Ministry of Ukraine and UNESCO cooperate to estimate damage cause to the media as a result of the fill-scale war. "Taras Shevchenko, Deputy Culture and Information Policy Minister, spoke about the losses and damage caused to the media sector in Ukraine as a result of the war. He also noted what is necessary to restore and support the media sector so that this industry can meet the growing needs of Ukraine's democracy," the press service of the ministry said following a roundtable meeting of the Council on Foundations on philanthropy issues. In particular, the deputy minister emphasized that calculating damage in the media sector turns out to be a more difficult task compared to assessing physical losses in the field of cultural heritage. "In this regard, the Culture and Information Policy Ministry is currently cooperating with UNESCO for thorough calculations in this area," it said. Among other things, the ministry noted the importance of not only recording the facts of the release of fake news, but also measuring the size of the harm caused by them. Should cell phones be banned at schools? This is a question causing controversies at the schools around the Bay of Plenty these days. Some of them in Tauranga started adopting a measure in which no cell phones could be used or visible during school hours. These announcements come after the National Party said during the election campaign around mid-year that it would ban the use of cell phones in schools if elected. According to a letter sent to parents and caregivers of Tauranga Girls College, evidence supported the view that the hauora/wellbeing of the students improved without phones because they could build social interactions with those immediately around them. Children are not allowed to have cell phones at the school, says Otumoetai Primary School principal Zara Mcindoe. If children do happen to bring their cell phone to school, they must leave it at the school office when they arrive and pick it up at 3pm. So, the proposed ban on cell phones will have no impact on our students as this is already the rule that we have in place at our Kura/school. SunLive asked some parents after leaving their kids at different schools and they agreed with this measure. I gave a cell phone to our nine-year-old daughter, but she knows is just for necessary situations, ahe always follows the rules the school have about the use of these things. For us is just a security measure before and after school, says one of the parents. To avoid this kind of distraction our 10-year-old son uses a smartwatch which only allows him to call or text us in case of an emergency, in that way we can keep in contact with him, and is a system that just his mum, he and I use and both of parents controlled, says another parent. I do not see why this is necessary, my child can use his phone during the breaks, is not that he uses it all the time, I don't know why the government have to decide this very personal thing, says a parent. National will ban cell phone use at school to help lift achievement and support every child to make the most out of their education, says Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford. To turn around falling achievement, students need to focus on their schoolwork during their precious classroom time. That means doing what we can to eliminate unnecessary disturbances and distractions. Many schools here and overseas have experienced positive outcomes, including improved achievement, after banning the use of cell phones. We want teachers to be able to get on with teaching and students to concentrate on learning. Student achievement has declined over the past three decades, jeopardising kids future livelihoods and threatening New Zealands future prosperity. Parents can contact students via the school office, and exceptions for students with health conditions or special circumstances will be permitted. The Western Bay of Plenty Neighbourhood Support team is expressing gratitude for all the support shown by the hundreds of people who came out to an event in Papamoa on what turned out to be a very wet Sunday. Manager Bruce Banks says many are also volunteering to help with the Emergency Services Food Drives on November 28 in Mount Maunganui and Papamoa on December 5, and for the new Papamoa Food Hub. The rain poured down on Sunday - but despite the bad weather Neighbourhood Support Western Bay of Plenty's Sirens and Services Koha Ice Cream Day at Gordon Spratt Reserve was an enormous success. Land Search and Rescue at Gordon Spratt Reserve on Sunday. Photo: Supplied. Bruce says people began pouring into the venue even before it opened, to see displays by Police, Fire, Ambulance, Land Search and Rescue, HeretohelpU, Rotary, Community Patrol, Fisheries and Tauranga City Councils emergency management team. About 1500 people attended. The families, from all over Tauranga and with many children in tow, brought in more than 1200 food items for the Papamoa Food Hub, and also donated more than $700 in cash. Search and Rescue dog at the Neighbourhood Support Western Bay of Plenty's Sirens and Services Koha Ice Cream Day at Gordon Spratt Reserve. Photo: Supplied. For each donation children received a ticket to get an ice cream and then decorate it with as many sprinkles, sauce, wafers and lollies as they could fit. So many were served - more than 500 - that organisers had to dash to the supermarket to re-stock as theyd gone through more than 40 litres of ice cream. Neighbourhood Supports barbecue trailer. Photo: Supplied. Families also made the most of an Indian food provider and Neighbourhood Supports barbecue trailer for lunch. Comments on local Facebook pages were effusive: We loved it! Thank you. Was fabulous! Thank you so very much for all your time and effort and dedication. The enjoyment you gave us so generously. A victorious day I trust for everyone, salute our community Papamoa. HeretohelpU had a stand at the event. Photo: Supplied. Bruce says Neighbourhood Support is grateful for all the support shown by the community on a very wet day. The day was designed to demonstrate community safety initiatives, and it hopes to hold more in other parts of the city over the next year. Were very grateful for the many businesses which supported the event, including PaknSave, Tip Top and Kiwi Fresh Meats," says Bruce. "Our event organiser Rebecca Larsen did a fantastic job bringing it all together, and we never would have been able to run the day without so many volunteers. Our aim was to bring communities together and show all the ways they can work together to keep themselves safe, and despite all the rain it was a great success. Delicious food available at that Sirens and Services day. Photo: Supplied. Artist's impression of the pagoda that could be built. Lorena Cadiz Benalmadena Monday, 20 November 2023, 12:30 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram A project designed to give the three million Chinese living in Europe more presence and image in the West moved a step-closer last week, after the Spanish-Chinese Association presented preliminary plans for a Chinese temple and complex to Benalmadena town hall. Jesus Majada, vice president of the Marbella-based association, has been mediating between Chinese investors and Benalmadena town hall for nearly two years to get the project off the ground, an initiative which he claims will turn this municipality into a place of pilgrimage. The project consists of the construction of a large park with a Chinese Zen Buddhism temple, along with a pagoda tower, cultural centre and a cemetery. The project was first introduced through the former socialist council, and now the PP council has picked up the gauntlet to move the initiative forward. Model of the park included in the Chinese investors plan. SUR A plot of land close to the cemetery in Benalmadena has been earmarked to build the complex, which is expected to cost around seven million euros and which will be financed by the Asian investors. It is estimated that 2,000 Chinese arrive in Spain every day, spending an average of 300 euros per day (a figure much higher than that of other tourists). According to Majada, Chinese visitors do not usually spend much time on the Costa del Sol, and barely stop in Malaga, preferring Ronda, Seville and Granada. If only 500 of the 2,000 Chinese who pass through Spain a day stopped in Malaga, the economic benefits for investors and for the local economy would be very good, Majada said. Europa Press Malaga Monday, 20 November 2023, 15:17 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Two men have gone on trial before a jury in Malaga this Monday (20 November) for allegedly shooting a businessman to death in Marbella in 2019: They face life in prison if found guilty. Court documents, seen by Europa Press, alleged the defendants were part of a Netherlands-based group that engaged in "unlawful activities against the lives of people and their property". As part of the group, the two men are accused of being hitmen after they accepted an order to kill the businessman. The pair allegedly travelled to Spain and carried out surveillance of the man at venues he owned in Puerto Banus. They allegedly followed him one night to his home in San Pedro and approached him while he was still in his vehicle and shot him on 21 January 2019 at about 3.09am. The man died at the scene and the alleged attackers fled the area. "The man had no possibility of defending himself against the firearms attack, which occurred suddenly and unexpectedly when he was still inside his vehicle with no possibility of escape," the prosecution said. The suspects then allegedly torched the getaway car two days later. The two are accused of belonging to a criminal group, murder, illegal possession of weapons and arson. In addition to life imprisonment, the prosecution also wants them to pay the victim's family 245,000 euros in compensation. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Antequera. Jose Rodriguez Camara Malaga Monday, 20 November 2023, 10:22 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Pedro Sanchez's amnesty deal with Catalan separatists again sparked furor on the streets in Malaga with several rallies on Sunday called to protest the re-elected Spanish Prime Minister's controversial move. Sanchez who won a third term as the leader of Spain on 16 November in a majority vote by MPs came after an offer of an amnesty to Catalan nationalist parties in return for their support. This infuriated the opposition Partido Popular, who called for protests yesterday, Sunday 19 November. Thousands of people gathered on Sunday in Alhaurin de la Torre, Antequera, Benalmadena, Fuengirola, Ronda, Torre del Mar and Torreon de la Cala, in Mijas. The masses of people protested "in defence of equality and against the amnesty law", according to multiple slogans displayed among the crowds. Alhaurin de la Torre mayor Joaquin Villanova told a crowd of some 300 people that Sunday's rallies were against the "arrogance of Pedro Sanchez". The province's Partido Popular president Patricia Navarro, in her speech, said the amnesty deal "put the prosperity of Malaga at risk". 'Legal rupture' Antequera had the largest rally between 4,500 and 3,500 attendees according to National Police sources. Town mayor Manuel Baron gave the floor to four residents who criticised the amnesty deal, saying it "promotes the denial of responsibility to those convicted of the failed referendum in Catalonia and breaks any reasoning, not only legal but also political". Some 1,000 people chanted in the streets of Ronda "Spain is not for sale" and "Sanchez, traitor, neither worker nor Spaniard", with the mayor Maria de la Paz Fernandez leading the crowds. In Fuengirola, mayor Ana Mula unveiled a huge Spanish flag in defence of the nation. While in Benalmadena, mayor Juan Antonio Lara told crowds that Spain has experienced "an unscrupulous investiture in which anything goes, where impunity has been exchanged for investiture". Some 300 people gathered in Mijas where mayor Ana Mata accused Sanchez of manoeuvring to "gag the judges". Ukraine has collected evidence of 109,000 Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine, Politico reports citing Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin. The ezine said that Kostin told POLITICO on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday of about 109,000 war crimes committed by the Russian Federation, including physical crimes and cyber attacks. Ukrainian officials have identified more than 400 suspected perpetrators of these crimes. Around 300 have been indicted, and 66 convicted, Politico quoted Kostin as saying. The wide range, the big scale of these incidents and war crimes requires a lot of work and a lot of new approaches Its our commitment to decide to document, prosecute each and every incident, because each and every incident of war crimes has its victims, the prosecutor general said during the forum. According to Politico, Ukraine is collecting evidence of war crimes, including for consideration by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The vast majority of the charges being prosecuted were considered crimes against humanity, such as the mass executions of Ukrainians in Bucha in 2022. Kostins figures also include 265 investigations into crimes against the environment, such as the Russian attack on the Ukrainian Nova Kakhovka Dam earlier this year that led to the evacuation of thousands of Ukrainians, the message reads. Also, according to the prosecutor general, four cases so far have also been opened into cyber war crime charges. Kostin said the inclusion of cyber crimes and crimes against the environment for the ICC evidence is a new initiative by Ukraine during this war. Politico says that he also acknowledged the challenge of convicting Russian citizens who may not be in Ukraine or have evaded capture, though he noted that some have been brought to trial. The bigger part is Russian war criminals who we charge and who we try in absentia. This is a quite longer process because it requires more procedural actions, Kostin said, adding that all of them are provided with protection, since Ukraine's position is to ensure a fair trial for all. Medical cannabis became Dr. Lynn Parodnecks professional focus in 2016, not long after seeing how the plant helped treat her husbands Parkinsons Disease symptoms. But in 2022, Parodneck, a Bedford-based doctor who previously ran a private obstetrics and gynecology practice in Manhattan, noticed some of her cannabis patients dropping off when it was time to recertify with her. A few told her they received a mailer from Leafwell offering recertification telehealth appointments for $99. Once a month they blast these things renew cheap and easy which is pretty disgusting, Parodneck said. Cannabis telemedicine company Leafwell, in partnership with medical cannabis company Curaleaf and possibly other medical operators in New York have been emailing medical cannabis patients who have subscribed to mailing lists with offers of lower-cost telehealth certifications, both companies acknowledged to NY Cannabis Insider. Both companies said they only send these mailers to patients who actively opt in to their list. However, the partnership between the two companies appears to violate medical cannabis regulations. Sign up for the NY Cannabis Insider Newsletter Enter your email address to get exclusive reporting on NY's cannabis market delivered to your inbox: According to rules for medical cannabis businesses, No marketing or advertising of medical cannabis products shall:... cooperate, directly or indirectly, in any advertising if such advertising has the purpose or effect of steering or influencing patient or caregiver choice with regard to the selection of a practitioner. When NY Cannabis Insider asked the Office of Cannabis Management if the mailers advertising discounted certifications violate regulations, a spokesperson didnt say whether this specific activity breaks the rules. Any registered organization found to have violated medical regulations will be subject to applicable penalties, OCM spokesperson Aaron Ghitelman said in an email response. As with all reports of potential misconduct, the Office of Cannabis Management reviews any and all allegations and if warranted, conducts an investigation and makes a determination based on Cannabis Law and regulations. Parodneck and others also say that the certification method is detrimental to patients, in addition to diminishing their medical practices. Leafwells telehealth model incentivizes quick consultations with patients who may not get all the information they need about issues like prescription drug interactions or which marijuana products are better for different situations and ailments. Meanwhile, a patient advocate says that while telehealth poaching can harm some patients, it can be a lifeline for others. I think theres plenty of us who are able to self-manage and can educate ourselves enough, but theres definitely some patients who do need a little bit more of an active hand in their care, said Tim Mitchell, a medical cannabis patient and advocate. Its those more vulnerable patients who would be the ones to suffer. New York States medical cannabis program requires patients to get certified by a registered medical practitioner who may prescribe marijuana for various qualifying conditions. Patients must recertify at least once per year to remain on the medical program. Parodneck approaches her medical cannabis practice in a community-focused manner, she said. Rather than simply writing prescriptions for weed, she also refers them to groups that can help them cope with health conditions. Under her guidance, some of her female patients living with multiple sclerosis formed a group which regularly meets for lunch, and whose members make themselves available to others for support when their symptoms are acute. People have these diseases and they dont know who to talk to, Parodneck said. She spends at least an hour on each initial patient consultation, because its important to understand all the issues a patient is dealing with, and whether there are non-cannabis therapies that can supplement their weed prescription, Parodneck said. She gives individualized recommendations for products based on factors like lifestyle and other prescriptions. That, she said, is a major reason for why she became concerned when she heard about the Leafwell/Curaleaf emails. Emails Parodneck provided to NY Cannabis Insider show that when she reached out to Curaleaf, an employee speaking on behalf of CEO Matt Darin told her the Leafwell promotion was a standard practice, legal in every state in which they operate. When Parodneck reached out to Leafwell, CEO Emily Fisher offered her a job. Fisher sent Parodneck an independent contractor agreement, so that she could start doing patient certifications for Leafwell. Parodneck declined. She said you can do like 25-30 certifications per day for between $25 and $45 per head, Parodneck said. I spend an hour with each patient in consult, my renewals are half an hour my practice is not a paper mill. In an email response to questions from NY Cannabis Insider, Leafwell said they conduct consultations with a patient-centric approach. The company partnered with Curaleaf in an effort to enhance the affordability and accessibility of medical cannabis treatments. Leafwell said that while some patients may require a brief session to renew their certifications, others may benefit from a full 20-minute appointment to discuss their specific treatment, ask additional questions, and discuss health outcomes. Patients may schedule post-consultation services, and have the option to reconnect with specific practitioners, Leafwell said. The company added that Leafwells partnership with Curaleaf and discounted consultation promotion adheres strictly to state laws and regulations regarding medical cannabis certifications and advertising. Curaleaf echoed that the practice is legal, and pointed out that sending information about Leafwell to patients who have signed up for their email list does nothing to force patients to leave their current healthcare provider. As with any affiliate marketing offering, patients always have the option to stay with their current provider or to seek Leafwells network of doctors and telehealth services, Curaleaf said. But a 20-minute session is below the level of service many patients need, said Dr. Ken Weinberg, Chief Medical Officer of Cannabis Doctors of New York, who practices in Manhattan. Its important to spend at least 45 minutes for an initial consultation, and around 30 minutes for renewals, in order to make sure the doctor understands all the issues affecting the patient, Weinberg said. Weinberg said he has elderly patients for whom certain strains and delivery methods (i.e. vaping versus smoking versus edibles, etc.), can cause adverse reactions like heart palpitations and dizziness, which could cause a life-threatening fall. I would not feel comfortable having just a 10- to 15-minute conversation, especially with an initial patient. Its really doing them a great disservice, Weinberg said. Its a very serious medicine, and you need time to interact with a patient. Mitchell, the medical cannabis advocate, agrees that brief consultations arent enough for many patients, and they can be less than ideal even for patients who are well versed in cannabis. Mitchell has received his certifications through a telemedicine provider for years, and about half of the calls lasted less than a minute, he said. It wasnt like they came on the line and asked me how I felt about my medical cannabis use, Mitchell said. There was no effort to try and see what my comfort level was or if I needed some kind of help. That became a problem when Mitchell began using a high-CBD product without realizing that CBD reduces the efficacy of an antidepressant he was taking at the time. He eventually realized and discontinued using the product. On the other hand, telemedicine options can help people become certified patients when their primary care physicians act as barriers to cannabis, Mitchell said. He certifies via telemedicine, because his primary care physician has declined to certify him, despite the fact that, he said, cannabis helped him reduce his intake of pharmaceuticals by about 2,000 pills per year. The closest Mitchells doctor came to certifying him for medical cannabis was a referral to an expensive clinic, which requires patients to recertify every three to six months charging for each appointment. That was kind of a big disincentive to me, because Im not willing to pay more when Im pretty much able to self-manage. Mitchell added that many patients who are elderly, new to cannabis or who take prescription medications likely need more attention than telehealth options generally provide. Although Curaleaf and Leafwell say their email promotion is designed to offer affordable medical cannabis certification options, Parodneck and Weinberg see it as a cynical exercise that offers patients a lower standard of care than their current doctors provide. Im playing by the rules, and then theyre taking my patients away, Parodneck said. What theyre doing is unethical. One sultry day last July, under skies dimmed by smoke from forest fires burning in Canada, Neil Pederson, 55, a senior forest ecologist with Harvard Forest, searched Green Lakes State Park for old growth trees to core. Backed by a $1 million National Science Foundation grant, Pederson and his team have cored thousands of trees in pockets of old growth forest across the northeast, from Maine to New Jersey, Pennsylvania to New York. WASHINGTON (AP) A federal appeals court is hearing arguments Monday on whether to reinstate a gag order against Donald Trump in the federal case charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smiths team will urge a three-judge panel of the Washington-based appeals court to put back in place an order barring the former president from making inflammatory statements about lawyers in the case and potential witnesses. The prosecutors say those restrictions are necessary to prevent Trump from undermining confidence in the court system and intimidating people who may be called to testify against him. Defense lawyers have called the gag order an unconstitutional muzzling of Trumps free speech rights and say prosecutors have presented no evidence to support the idea that his words have caused harm or made anyone feel threatened. The gag order is one of multiple contentious issues being argued ahead of the landmark March 2024 trial. Defense lawyers are also trying to get the case dismissed by arguing that Trump, as a former president, is immune from prosecution and protected by the First Amendment from being charged. The outcome of Mondays arguments wont affect those constitutional claims, but it will set parameters on what Trump as both a criminal defendant and leading presidential candidate can and cannot say ahead of the trial. The order has had a whirlwind trajectory through the courts since U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed it last month in response to a request from prosecutors, who cited among other comments Trumps repeated disparagement of Smith, a Central New York native, as deranged. The judge lifted it days after entering it, giving Trumps lawyers time to prove why his words should not be restricted. But after Trump took advantage of that pause by posting on social media comments that prosecutors said were meant to sway his former chief of staff against giving unfavorable testimony, Chutkan put it back in place. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit later lifted it as it considered Trumps appeal. The judges hearing the case include Cornelia Pillard and Patricia Millett, both appointees of former President Barack Obama, and Brad Garcia, who joined the bench earlier this year after being nominated by President Joe Biden. The panel is not expected to immediately rule on Monday. Should the judges rule against Trump, hell have the option of asking the entire court to take up the matter. His lawyers have also signaled that theyll ask the Supreme Court to get involved. The four-count indictment in Washington is one of four criminal cases Trump faces as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024. Hes been charged in Florida, also by Smiths team, with illegally hoarding dozens of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Hes also been charged in state court in New York in connection with hush money payments to a porn actress who alleged an extramarital affair with him, and in Georgia with scheming to subvert the 2020 presidential election in that state. On Monday, November 20, Hungary provided Ukraine with 100 lung ventilators, head of Lviv Regional Military Administration Maksym Kozytsky said. "They were taken to Lviv region and immediately distributed among medical institutions in Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Zaporizhia, Sumy, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Poltava, and Donetsk regions, as well as Kyiv and Lviv cities," Kozytsky wrote on the Telegram channel. In Lviv region, the device is already in service in a hospital, where they provide assistance to soldiers, veterans and civilians injured due to hostilities. Kozytsky noted that this is a powerful boost for intensive care units. The cost of one device is more than EUR 30,000. "Grateful to the government of Hungary for the decision to finance this medical equipment for our state. Thanks to the Hungarian Ecumenical Service, which delivered it in cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. May the equipment serve reliably in the capable hands of our medical specialists and in its own way help bring the main victory closer," the head of the Regional Military Administration said. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. 10 Things to Know About Ageing Well We often associate old age with wrinkles, increased frailty and a giant pill box. But we need to challenge that! Growing old is a fact of life; unhealthy ageing isnt. Caoileann Murphy, a Marie Curie Teagasc Research Leader 2025, joins tonights episode of 10 Things to Know About Ageing Well from Australia 10 Things to Know About Ageing Well In Monday nights episode of the television series 10 Things to Know About Ageing Well on RTE One, the programme examines how nutrition can help reduce age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, thereby reducing frailty. We will hear about the causes of delirium and meet the researchers who want to raise awareness of the condition within healthcare to help reduce misdiagnoses with dementia. Finally, the programme investigates a disease so prevalent that you could fill Croke Park with the people in Ireland who suffer from it. Age-related Macular Degeneration, or AMD, is the leading cause of blindness in Ireland. We catch up with the researchers working to find the causes of this disease and hope to develop cures for it. There are two Teagasc participants in tonights programme. Dr Sinead McCarthy, who leads Teagascs consumer behaviour research programme, in relation to food and health says: we are never too young to start thinking about healthy eating for healthy aging and the benefits of a healthy diet to prevent age related illnesses. Dr Caoileann Murphy, a postdoctoral fellow in the Marie Skodowska-Curie Teagasc Research Leaders 2025 Programme, who joins us in this episode from her research fellowship in Australia says: Beginning around our forties, we typically start losing about 1% of our muscle mass and 2 to 3% of our strength each year. Over time, this can increase the risk of frailty, falls, and physical disability. I am currently working on a project involving Australian Catholic University and Teagasc investigating if a nutritional supplement containing potassium bicarbonate could help slow muscle loss during ageing in women. Tune into tonights episode10 Things to Know About Ageing Well, Monday, 20 November, at 8.30pm on RTE One. Share Europe dominates this years global Network Readiness Index, with 16 nations featuring in the top 25 ranking, as Finland surges into third place for the first time. Sixteen out of the top 25 countries rated in the 2023 Network Readiness Index, published today, hail from Europe. Finland makes advances to feature in the top three globally (up four places due in part to improved performance across the Technology, Governance and Impact categories). Placing fourth and fifth globally are the Netherlands and Sweden. Completing the continents top ten spots are Switzerland (sixth, down from fifth), Denmark (eighth, down from sixth), Germany (ninth, down from eighth), and the United Kingdom (10th, up from 12th), which re-enters the top 10 partly due to its strength in the Technology and marked improvements in ICT adoption by individuals, businesses, and governments. Conversely, Norway has experienced a significant decline, now standing at 16th place, down from 10th in 2022. Ukraine (47th) maintains its position as the top-performing lower middle-income economy and emerges as one of this years biggest movers, rising seven places. Closing in on its high-income regional peers, the nation continues to make notable progress in People category, now ranking 25th, but receives its lowest score in Technology, to reflect their geopolitical position of a country responding to an active war environment. The NRI, published by Portulans Institute and Said Business School, University of Oxford, provides a robust framework for assessing the impact of Information Communication & Technology (ICT) on society and the development of nations. It evaluates 134 economies based on 58 indicators across four dimensions of digital readiness technology, people, governance, and impact. This years report, titled Trust in a Network Society: A crisis of the digital age?, draws attention to the potential for a serious crisis in public trust in the internet and related technologies in an increasingly interconnected world. Says Soumitra Dutta, co-editor of the NRI and Peter Moores Dean at Said Business School: European nations continue to lead the rankings, demonstrating robust performances across all dimensions of network readiness. Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden emerge as the regions most network ready nations, with France and Norway also demonstrating solid digital infrastructures. Ukraine also continues to excel, underlining a commitment to digital innovation. The top 10 performers in NRI 2023 underscore that advanced economies in Europe, primarily Northern and Western Europe are leading the way in terms of network readiness. Finland, a high-income economy is the global leader in the Governance pillar, with the Netherlands in second place in this category. Finland is placed second in the Impact measurement, followed closely by Ireland which maintains its global lead in the area of SDG Contribution.. The U.S. Department of Defense announced additional assistance to Ukraine in the field of security and defense, the Pentagon reported. This package includes additional air defense capabilities, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and other equipment to help Ukraine defend its sovereign territory and fight for its freedom from Russia's ongoing war of aggression, the message reads. The capabilities in this package, valued at up to $100 million, include: stinger anti-aircraft missiles; one High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and additional ammunition; 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds; Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles; Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems; more than 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition; demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing; cold weather gear; and spare parts, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment. Security assistance for Ukraine is a smart investment in our national security. It helps to prevent a larger conflict in the region and deter potential aggression elsewhere, while strengthening our defense industrial base and creating highly skilled jobs for the American people in dozens of states across the country. It is critical that Congress take action to support Ukraine by passing the President's supplemental funding request, Pentagon stressed. At a glance Expert's Rating Pros Easy setup Equipped with WiSA DS modules Platin app is packed with audio adjustments Bluetooth 5.0 and aptX support Cons Low-profile subwoofer struggles in larger spaces No Wi-Fi support No AirPlay 2 or Chromecast No remote control Our Verdict The Platin Milan 5.1.4 Soundbar marks an industry first with its WiSA DS-enabled wireless connection to its satellite speakers, and its support for the Bluetooth aptX codec is a big plus. But theres no Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, or Chromecast, and its smallish subwoofer is best suited for smaller rooms. Best Prices Today: Platin Milan 5.1.4 Soundbar Retailer Price $799.00 View Deal Product Price Want a soundbar that does WiSA? Soundbars employing the WiSA standard for wireless transmission of high-definition, low-latency audio to their satellite speakers typically come saddled with luxury price tags. Platin Audios first WiSA soundbar manages to qualify as a mid-priced option. The Platin Milan 5.1.4 Soundbar is the first soundbar to come equipped with newly developed WiSA DS technology, which enables a single transmitter to send 4.1 channels of uncompressed high-definition audio to the soundars rear speakers and subwoofer. But instead of costing $4,000 like, say, the Savant Smart Audio WiSA soundbar, the Platin Milan 5.1.4 Soundbar costs just $799although even at that price, the Milan may still represent a hefty investment for many soundbar shoppers. So, is the WiSA DS-enabled Platin Milan 5.1.4 soundbar worth the price? Lets dig in. Design and wireless connectivity The Platin Milan is relatively compact as far as soundbars go, measuring a narrow 35.5 x 4 x 2.75 inches (WxDxH) and weighing just 6.9 pounds. The front and top of the soundbar are covered with dark, thick fabric, leaving the bottom, rear, and flat sides exposed. Five touch-sensitive buttons (power, source, Bluetooth, and volume up/down) reside on the right-hand end of the unit. For all its cutting-edge tech, the Platin Milan 5.1.4 soundbar comes saddled with too many compromises given its $799 price point. The Platin Milan lacks a remote, but there are physical controls on the side of the soundbar. Ben Patterson/Foundry Also compact are the two wireless surround speakers, which measure 6 x 4 x 4.5 inches (HxDxW) each, while the low-profile subwoofer (5.3 x 15 x 12.2 inches, HxDxW) could potentially fit under a sofa or another piece of furniture. This review is part of TechHives in-depth coverage of the best soundbars. The Platin Milan is a 5.1.4-channel soundbar system, meaning its equipped with discrete drivers for the left, center, right, left and right surround, and a low-frequency effects channel. The corner channels each get a full-range driver, while the center channel is a two-way design. There are four height channels: left front, right front, left rear, and right rear). Those four height channels supply the height cues for Dolby Atmos soundtracks. Theres no support for DTS:X audio, a Dolby Atmos competitor thats chiefly found on 4K Blu-ray discs from certain movie studios; namely, Universal. The Platin Marins low-profile subwoofer is outfitted with a down-firing driver. Ben Patterson/Foundry We dont usually delve into the nuts and bolts of the wireless technology that connects a soundbars speakers together, but well make an exception for the Platin Milan. Thats because the soundbar is one of the few to employ WiSA wireless technology, a proprietary 2.4GHz wireless network for transmitting uncompressed audio between components with very low latency. Specifically, the Milan is equipped with a WiSA DS (Discrete System) module, allowing the soundbar to transmit 4.1 channels of 16-bit/48kHz audio from the main unit to the rear speakers (which, together, comprise four audio channels) and the subwoofer (the .1 channel) with an imperceptible latency of just 40 milliseconds. There are also other types of WiSA transmitters: WiSA E modules, for example, can handle up to 8 channels of 24-bit/48kHz audio on the 5GHz band. That makes the new WiSA DS module look like a step-down version, which perhaps explains the appearance of WiSA tech in a relatively affordable soundbar like the Milan. So, does WiSA technology make a big difference compared to the proprietary wireless tech employed by other soundbar manufactures? Well, that depends on the manufacturer, of course. Personally, Ive never experienced any serious wireless connectivity problems with other soundbars (save for the occasionaland exceedingly rarefailed speaker pairing), and I didnt find the WiSA connectivity used by the Platin Milan to be noticeably better or worse than on other recent soundbars Ive tested. Audiophiles, on the other hand, might dismiss WiSA DSs 16-bit/48kHz limitation, which means the 24-bit audio on Blu-ray discs with Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio tracks must be down-sampled before transmission to the satellite speakers. (If you consume most of your content via a streaming service, as opposed to Blu-ray discs, the latter point wont matter.) From my perspective, the arrival of WiSA DS modules on the Platin Milan soundbar isfor the time being, at leastmore notable from an industry perspective (given that soundbar manufacturers can now employ WiSA technology in lower-priced products) rather than from a consumer one. Setup and inputs Getting the Platin Milan 5.1.4 Soundbar up and running isnt much different than it is for other soundbars. You can place the main soundbar unit in front of your TV, or you can use the supplied brackets to install it beneath your wall-mounted big screen. The rear speakers can also be mountedon the wall or on standsusing the rear threaded mounting holes. The non-directional subwoofer can be placed most anywhere in the room, although you might want to perform the subwoofer crawl to find the best spot for smooth, deep (but not boomy) low-frequency reproduction. The Platin Milans rear speakers come with threaded mounting holes. Ben Patterson/Foundry The main soundbar unit, rear speakers, and subwoofer each come with their own power cords (so no, theyre not completely wireless), and its worth noting that the cords are only about six feet in length. After years of complaining about too-short power cords (which could constrain your speaker placement options), I eventually invested in extension cords, and you should, too. With the speakers placed, you then power up the main soundbar, then power on the rear speakers and the subwoofer; once on, the speakers should automatically connect to one another via the aforementioned WiSA tech. During my own setup process, the subwoofer took an extra minute or so to make its connection, but otherwise I didnt experience any problems. While the Milan keeps its speakers connected via wireless connections, it still needs at least one wire to connect to your TV. For most folks, a single HDMI cable connected to the respective HDMI-eARC connectors on your TV and the soundbar will do the trick. If you have an older set, or want to connect another audio component with analog outputs, theres also an optical/Toslink input, along with RCA-style jacks (coaxial digital; plus, left and right aux inputs), and a 3.5mm audio input. A USB-A port is reserved for installing firmware updates. Among the Platin Milans input options are HDMI-eARC, optical, coaxial, analog stereo RCA jacks, and a 3.5mm input. Ben Patterson/Foundry Smart features, app, and other controls While the Milans WiSA transmitters and receivers create their own wireless network for speaker connectivity, its worth noting that the soundbar as a whole does not offer Wi-Fi support for home routers. On the plus side, that means no messing around with connecting the Milan to Wi-Fi (a process thats sometimes a chore for other soundbars), but it also means no casting support for Apples AirPlay 2, Chromecast, or Spotify Connect. That leaves Bluetooth 5.0 in terms of casting audio to the Milan, although as a nice bonus, that includes support for Qualcomms aptX codec, allowing for high-resolution audio quality. As an alternative, you could always connect a third-party music-streaming box with AirPlay and/or Chromecast support (like this one) via the optical or analog inputs. Besides Wi-Fi, another missing feature is a remote (I initially thought it was hidden in the packaging until double-checking the list of includes). Instead, remote control for the Milan relies mainly on your TVs wand, assuming you have a modern TV that supports HDMI-CEC (any set purchased in the past 15 years or so almost certainly supports the standard). The remote for my LG C9 OLED TV seamlessly took charge of the Milan, as did the Siri Remote on my Apple TV 4K. Another option for controlling the Milan is the Platin Soundbar app, which connects to the soundbar via Bluetooth. The app offers a fairly comprehensive set of controls, allowing you to trim the volume for each audio channel (I dialed back the subwoofer channel a tad), tweaking the bass, treble, and mid-range levels, switching audio modes (Movie, Music, Stereo, Night, Auto, and Party modes are available), and even adjusting the speaker crossover (best left alone unless you know what youre doing). Theres no automatic room correction, but the app does let you enter the distances between the speakers and the primary listening position, helpful in terms of fine-tuning the channel volume levels. The Platin Marin Soundbar app lets you trim the soundbars channel levels, choose different sound modes, adjust the speaker crossover, and more. Ben Patterson/Foundry Performance The Platin Milan 5.1.4 Soundbar delivers a mixed bag when it comes to audio performance, serving up relatively clear mid-range sound while pushing the center channel and low-frequency effects, the latter issue potentially a product of the smaller, low-profile subwoofer trying to punch above its weight. Spinning up my UHD Blu-ray of Star Wars: The Empire Stikes Back, the little sub worked overtime to compensate for its smaller stature; during the Battle of Hoth sequence, for example, the subwoofer emitted an almost continual rumble, before heading into boomy territory as the massive feet of the Imperial Walkers plunked into the snow. Moving the subwoofer across the room and dialing back its volume level a few steps helped ameliorate the problem, but even after more experimenting, I never quite got the low frequencies under control. Dialogue was loud and clearperhaps too loud, leading me to back off the center channel level. At the same time, height cues were almost non-existent; I could barely hear any height effects during the moment when an Imperial Walkers raised foot was about to crush a prone Luke. After more fiddling with the levelsjuicing the height channels a tad while dialing back the fronts and rearsthe height cues became more apparent. After enough trimming of the speaker levels, the Platin Milan did manage to put me in the vaunted Dolby Atmos bubble, with the sound of dislodged ice crystals from the crushed ceiling of the Rebel base hissing convincingly above my head. Similarly, the quiet hum of the police drone from the UHD of Blade Runner 2049 realistically floated from above. But the deadly fight between K and Sapper Morton failed to impress, with the subwoofer sounding too rumbly while also lacking punch. For music (I used Apple Music piped through an Apple TV 4K, with the sound mode switched from Movie to Music), the sparse sounds of The Ghost of Tom Joad sounded clear and clean, with The Bosss rich baritone balanced nicely with the warm, rising synthesizer. But Taylor Swifts Style from 1989 (Taylors Version) in Dolby Atmos was more problematic, with the Platin Milan dishing out too-aggressive bass (even with the subwoofer level turned down) while the vocals sounded a bit flat. Now, the good news about the Platin Milan 5.1.4 Soundbar is that the Platin app offers a wide range of sonic adjustments, and with careful tweaking and precise subwoofer placement, you may be able to wring out pleasing audio from the soundbar when using it in a small listening space. But the Milan is not a plug-and-play soundbar, and its diminutive subwoofer will begin to strain in larger rooms. OK, but what about the Platin Milans WiSA DS technology? Well, it worked, I suppose? As I mentioned previously, the Milans WiSA connection to the rear speakers and subwoofer appeared to work as advertised, but as a listener (as opposed to an engineer), it didnt impress me as obviously superior to the wireless tech employed by other soundbar manufacturers. Should you buy the Platin Milan 5.1.4 Soundbar? For all its cutting-edge tech, the Platin Milan 5.1.4 soundbar comes saddled with too many compromises given its $799 price point. Were impressed that the Milan uses WiSA DS modules to deliver uncompressed audio to its satellite speakers via its own wireless network; yet, the soundbar itself cant connect to a home Wi-Fi network. We like all the adjustments available in the Platin app, but theres no included remote control. We love the aptX Bluetooth codec support, but were bummed by the lack of AirPlay 2, Chromecast, or any non-Bluetooth method of audio casting. Finally, were concerned by the amount of effort it takes to tease acceptable sound out of the Milan soundbar. Granted, every listing environment presents its own acoustic challenges, and even the most capable subwoofers cant be plunked down just anywhere. But I found that the Platin Mlian 5.1.4 demanded much more tweaking than competing soundbars Ive tested, and even then, I wasnt entirely pleased with the results. While patient users may be able make the Platin Milan 5.1.4 soundbar work for them, I believe there are other, better options in this price range. The 5.1.4-channel Vizio P-Series Elevate packs quick a punch for roughly $800, and it offers Wi-Fi support and built-in Chromecast to boot. If you can live with just two upfiring drivers, the 5.1.2-channel Vizio M-Series M512a-H6 is still a good deal, while the $450 Sonos Beam delivers great all-in-one sound for smaller spaces, complete with AirPlay 2 and Sonos Trueplay room calibration. I was at Microsoft Ignite last week for the AI and Copilot rollout on Azure and Windows. As I watched the presentation, I was taken back in time to the 1990s launch of Microsoft Bob and that first attempt at creating a digital assistant called Clippy, neither of which met expectations back then. But now, Copilot will do far more than those two earlier offerings could even conceive of, and the power of the result, both inside and outside of Microsoft, is incredible. Before the event, I met with a company called Reply, which specializes in getting companies ready for Copilot and setting up metrics so that they can confirm the benefits of the technology. Reply raved about how much more productive they and their clients were. What is truly amazing is that the Copilot technology was still in its infancy only eight months ago. Last week, it went to general availability at top enterprises in medicine, farming, services, software, automotive, banking, and petrochemicals. Now, 70% of users indicate they dont want to work without this capability. In the 40 years Ive been in this business, Ive never seen this kind of technology ramp so fast from a beta product to what it is today. Lets talk about that this week. Well close with my Product of the Week, an electric SUV that I just ordered that I think is the best youll be able to buy before 2025: the Fisker Ocean. There are 62,000 orders right now, but since they only produce 2,000 a month, Ive got a bit of a wait. The Legacy of Bob and Clippy What I find fascinating about Bob and Clippy is that Microsoft was way ahead of its time with both. It correctly determined that people wanted a computing experience where the computer did most of the work. Bob was an avatar-forward design that could, in theory, take commands in English and then do what you asked. Clippy was an assistant that sat on top of Windows to do the same thing without the avatar front-end. What was both sad and funny about Bob was that, initially, it was meant to be used by people who were older and unable or unwilling to learn Windows. Sure enough, when surveyed, this group loved the product. But someone inside Microsoft tried positioning it as next-generation Windows, and people who used Windows hated it. We didnt yet have AI. Clippy and Bob were scripted, command-oriented offerings, which meant they set the expectation that you could chat with your computer. When they couldnt meet that expectation, they failed. The very nature of conversational AI is being able to do what Bob and Clippy wanted to do but could not, which is to allow you to direct the system as if you were talking to another person. Not only does this technology enable you to better converse with your computer, but it also learns how you work and can increasingly do your repetitive tasks, like responding to emails, setting up meetings, and even filling in for you during team meetings. Fixing Steve Ballmers Problem As I watched the presentation, I recalled a meeting with my old friend and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and how he struggled to prioritize customer requests. His issue was that he had a huge number of core customers, all national or multi-national companies, and he was overwhelmed with data that made him unable to use customer feedback to set priorities effectively. Ballmer is one of the most brilliant people Ive known, particularly when it came to statistical data, but the complexity of the problem was still beyond his capabilities. At Ignite, Microsoft highlighted Copilot for Services, where an even larger amount of feedback from virtually every customer, not just the largest, could be correlated in real time. The result was a prioritized list based on user-defined criteria, resulting in a customer-validated action plan. If Ballmer had been able to use Copilot, he would have been far more successful personally, and Microsofts products during his tenure would have been far more compelling. Ballmers problem fell into a class considered impossible to solve before Copilot because the amount of data and the speed at which that data changed made conventional analysis methods non-viable. Now, AI works at machine speeds. It can deliver answers in a small fraction of the time those conventional methods require, suggesting that executives who are performing marginally could use this technology to become superstars, and superstar CEOs (of which there are very few) could use this technology to become unbeatable. It is a true game-changer. Replys Copilot Beta Experience As mentioned in the opening, I met with Reply the day before the conference began. Reply has been working with many customers who put the beta version of this product into production. About three weeks ago, an update broke the product. Deploying a beta product always carries a huge risk, as evidenced by this incident. Now, youd think folks would just say, okay, its in beta, and a patch will be out shortly. However, more than two-thirds of users indicated they couldnt live without the product and had already become dependent on it. They wanted and needed a fix ASAP, and they got it. I dont recall ever seeing this level of anguish for a break in a beta product. Initial feedback suggests a productivity increase of between 10% and 30%. What these stats dont show is that this improvement is the result of Copilot doing repetitive and annoying administrative things that employees dont enjoy doing, like responding to emails, taking notes at meetings, creating agendas, mucking with Excel, and trying to remember how the heck to do pivot tables. Copilot was doing much of that for them in its beta iteration, and users were just learning the product. Wharton professor Ethan Mollick, who has done extensive research on generative AI, indicated that once users become familiar with tools like Copilot, the productivity increase can jump to as much as 80%, which is unheard of. As good as Microsofts and Replys initial stats were, by this time next year, those stats could be unbelievable. Not only will employees using this technology massively improve, but the technology will advance at a rate Ive never seen. The combination of the users and AIs improvements could exceed that 80% because that figure was only based on user improvements, not the anticipated advancements of the underlying AI. Microsofts Accelerating Advantage Back when I first started in the industry, I experienced two scandals. One was big and one not so much. The first was when a reporter discovered that IBM, who argued that the new technology would result in massive productivity improvements, wasnt actually using it. IBMs then-CEO Louis Gerstner said something to the effect of: Would you rather IBM prioritize themselves or their customers? As if this was a mutually exclusive choice. That didnt play well. Years later, I was in a meeting with Intel, which argued that the productivity improvements in its current technology justified its early deployment. But everyone from Intel in the room had laptops over five years old at the time, which raised the question, If the machines are that good, why arent your people using them? Since then, when any vendor positions a technology as a huge benefit in productivity, I ask whether they are using it. If theyre not, I figure they are full of crap. Microsoft is in full deployment with Copilot, and, as a result, its employees will be far more expert on this technology than employees from any other company. They will be able to demonstrate not only the full power and potential of Copilot but also make Microsoft employees competitively more valuable than their peers. Much like folks used to be asked if they knew how to work with Office, future employees will be asked about their expertise with generative AI and Copilot. Having the expertise will put them ahead of other candidates who havent developed those skills. This HR scenario will likely be true of any organization that deploys this technology. Companies might want to revisit their retention policies and ensure they compensate employees for their expertise with Copilot, or they will risk having them recruited away. If I were looking for a job, Id make sure I understood Copilot and put that expertise on my resume or CV. Wrapping Up: Windows Is Dead, Long Live Copilot My takeaway from this event is that much like MS-DOS was dead when the Windows GUI was launched, and Windows 95 shipped, Windows without Copilot is approaching its end. Going forward, Microsoft will tightly integrate Copilot with new Windows versions as it did the Windows GUI that transformed Microsofts MS-DOS platform. Im noticing considerable shifts in futurists predictions regarding the singularity the moment AI surpasses human control. At the same time, expectations are changing for the emergence of artificial general intelligence, which is AI capable of performing intellectual tasks akin to humans. More experts are now suggesting that these significant developments, previously expected around 2050, might actually occur much closer to 2030. So, well all need to be more flexible to change because well be up to our armpits in AI by the end of the decade. Those AIs may be so far beyond us in a few short years that we may want to start saying nicer things about them just in case they look back and get upset about what weve been saying. Maybe we should stop calling their intelligence artificial. I mean, how would you like to be called artificially smart? The Fisker Ocean All-Electric SUV A couple of weeks ago, I wrecked my electric Jaguar I-Pace, nearly killing myself and breaking my back which, trust me, hasnt been a ton of fun. That event put me in the market for a new electric car, so I went looking for the best match for price, performance, appearance, and technology advancement. I ended up with the Fisker Ocean, a reasonably priced electric car created by Henrik Fisker, who designed some of the most beautiful cars Ive seen. The Fisker Ocean Extreme, which is what I ordered, has a 360-mile range, a 3.7 second 0-60, which is about a second faster and with 100 miles more range than my I-Pace, and it is built in the same plant as my I-Pace, which has been the best car Ive ever owned. This Fisker has some fascinating features, like solar panels on the roof that provide up to 1,500 miles of travel a year. If you run out of power in some remote area, the car will eventually charge itself. There is a good chance that by the time I get my car, it will use the Tesla charging network natively currently, you need to use an adapter. SolarSky roof on the Fisker Ocean One It also has some fun features, like a deployable table for a laptop or to eat on one for the driver and another for the passenger a power-pivoting central screen, and California mode, which opens all the windows, including the dog window in back, and sunroof. We have three dogs, and one of them would love that dog window. The Fisker Ocean doesnt have air suspension, which Ill miss, but it appears to have stronger accident-avoidance technology than my Jaguar did (which failed during my accident), and it resembles one of the newer Range Rovers, which is not bad-looking at all. My wife and I are already fighting over who will be the primary driver of the new car, though Im already missing my poor Jaguar I-Pace. For now, based on my research, the Fisker Ocean is the best electric SUV you can buy for under $100,000. I put my money where my mouth is, so its my Product of the Week. Editors Note: The Fisker Ocean images featured in this article are credited to Fisker. Tech Times Weekly Wrap brings you the top news from last week to get you up to date for this upcoming one, centering on the latest developments in the world of tech, with the controversial firing of Sam Altman from OpenAI headlining the roundup. It joins the FAA's announcement of granting SpaceX the launch license for its Starship, focusing on its second test flight. A new cancer treatment in the form of a liquid gel also joins the roundup, promising its effects on solid cancer tumors present in a patient. Sam Altman Faces the Ax from OpenAI Shocking the World (Photo : Kimberly White/Getty Images for GLAAD) Last week, OpenAI released a blog post that shocked the world, and even more so, their employees who only found out about its co-founder and former CEO, Sam Altman, axed from his position last Thursday. In a surprise move by the renowned AI company, Altman was fired as the CEO of the company because he failed to be "candid in his communications with the board." According to the blog post, Altman was subjected to a deliberative review process by the company, praising his many efforts to grow the company into where it is now. However, the board claimed that it lost confidence in Altman's ability and performance as the CEO, replacing him with an interim CEO the company appointed Mira Murati to take over its operations. Read Also: AI Is Making Dams Smarter, More Effective-Here's How SpaceX's Starship Granted its Second Launch License (Photo : PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) The US Federal Aviation Authority granted SpaceX its second launch license last Tuesday, November 14, giving the Starship the green light for its tests to determine its capabilities. This follows the earlier announcement by SpaceX and Elon Musk that the Starship is ready on the Boca Chica launch pad for its proposed orbital flight, completing all the corrective actions after its explosion in April. Over the weekend, the Starship launched early Saturday morning and was able to propel farther compared to its first-ever test earlier this year, seeing its separation from the Super Heavy Booster rocket and going on its way. According to CNN's report, while the Starship went farther than it ever has and reached the outer edge of the atmosphere, the Super Heavy was lost in the process before also losing the signal of the main spacecraft. New Cancer Treatment in the Form of a Gel The Mass General Brigham, in collaboration with the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, is looking to develop a gel delivery system that aims to treat cancer. The said gel was said to be capable of fighting metastatic cancers with injection as its method of delivery, claiming that in its preclinical models, could help induce tumor regression. (Photo : CDC on Unsplash) Its release claimed that it would be directly injected into tumors, offering a new way that would ensure a successful delivery of the drug to overcome the challenges faced before. The team published their study in the Advanced Healthcare Materials journal and said that its testing showed improved survival rates, first done on mice. Related Article: Image of Missing ISS Crew Lock Bag Spotted Drifting in Earth Orbit 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Apple is reportedly exploring the design of its camera sensors, aiming to enhance the iPhone's photography system, currently reliant on Sony. The tech giant seeks to add substantial value before considering a shift from Sony. (Photo : PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) The Apple Inc logo is displayed outside a retail store at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California on March 20, 2023. Pursuing Self-Sufficiency Apple is actively pursuing self-sufficiency in component design to reduce reliance on its supply chain for certain iPhone parts, aiming for increased control over production. This move is driven by a desire to disengage from major rivals like Samsung and to sever ties with Qualcomm, a company facing scrutiny for its sales practices. According to the latest Power On newsletter by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has several in-house design projects underway, including the development of a 5G modem chip initially intended for the iPhone 15 lineup this year. Apple faces a significant challenge as past court testimony revealed the company's acknowledgment of Qualcomm's modems as the best, despite reservations about the chip design firm. Due to the challenges faced in the development of this project, Apple found itself compelled to renew its collaboration with Qualcomm, extending the partnership until 2026. Although there were initial expectations for Apple to unveil its 5G modem chip in 2025, it now seems that Apple will not introduce its proprietary 5G modem chip until 2027, specifically for the iPhone 18 series. Apple is internally developing various components, including a combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip intended to replace current Broadcom-purchased components. While initially aiming for completion by the iPhone 17 in 2025, this project is experiencing delays. Among Apple's extensive in-house initiatives, a significant undertaking involves the development of micro-LED displays. As reported by Japan's Nikkei news agency in May of the previous year, Apple has invested over $1 billion in this technology over the past decade. The inaugural device featuring Apple's micro-LED display is anticipated to be the Apple Watch. These displays, equipped with sensors, hold promise for integrating additional health-related features into Apple's wearable. Apple's Strategy Phone Arena reported that Apple's overarching strategy involves eventually integrating these technologies into its iPhone. Recognizing the iPhone as a pivotal revenue source with a significantly larger production volume, Apple aims to justify the investments made over the years. Recent discussions have surfaced about Apple venturing into customized battery designs to power its products post-2025. While there were earlier rumors in 2019 about Apple exploring proprietary battery designs, as highlighted by Gurman in his latest newsletter, this remains a challenging prospect for Apple at the current juncture. Also Read: Qualcomm to Supply 5G Chips for iPhones Through at Least 2026 Amid Apple 5G Modem Pushback There are indications that Apple is contemplating the development of its own camera sensors. Given the significance of the iPhone's photography system as a key selling point, Apple currently relies on Sony for its iPhone camera sensors. Apple is keen on ensuring it can enhance this aspect significantly before considering a replacement for Sony. A prolonged project in Apple's pipeline involves the creation of a non-invasive blood glucose monitor tailored for the Apple Watch. If successfully implemented, this feature could revolutionize insulin management for diabetics by eliminating the need for painful blood draws with lancets and costly test strips. Related Article: Apple iPhone 15: New Camera System with Sony Sensor to Bring Better Dynamic Range, No Overexposed Shots 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The nations of France, Italy, and Germany have reached a new artificial intelligence regulation agreement underlining "that the AI Act regulates the application of AI and not the technology as such," as per a report by Reuters. According to Germany's Economy Ministry, which oversees the matter with the Ministry of Digital Affairs, regulations and governmental authority should not regulate AI itself but its implementation. (Photo : Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Members of the group Initiative Urheberrecht (authors' rights initiative) demonstrate to demand regulation of artificial intelligence on June 16, 2023, in Berlin, Germany. Volker Wissing, the Digital Affairs Minister,, states that the agreement was to limit only the use of artificial intelligence. Wissing added, "we need to regulate the applications and not the technology if we want to play in the top AI league worldwide." Reuters further reported that Franziska Brantner, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, said it was critical to capitalize on possibilities while minimizing risks." We have developed a proposal that can ensure a balance between both objectives in a technological and legal terrain that has not yet been defined," Brantner said. Read Also: Elon Musk Tells UK's Rishi Sunak AI Tech Could Go Bad, Make Jobs Obsolete AI Regulation Through 'Model Cards' The joint agreement document states that model cards, which offer information about a machine learning model, would have to be defined by foundation model developers. "An AI governance body could help to develop guidelines and could check the application of model cards," the three nations stated. "The model cards shall include the relevant information to understand the functioning of the model, its capabilities and its limits and will be based on best practices within the developers community," according to the report. The three countries support "mandatory self-regulation through codes of conduct" for AI foundation models, which are intended to deliver a wide range of outcomes. They are, however, opposed to "untested norms." According to the document, no punishments should be enforced at first. However, if violations of the code of conduct are discovered after a specific time, a penalty system might be established. All-encompassing AI Regulation This reinforces that the three countries support optional binding obligations for both significant and small AI providers in the European Union, as per a CNBC report on the same matter. During the debates, the European Parliament recommended that the code of conduct initially apply exclusively to significant AI providers, notably from the United States. However, the three EU countries have warned against this apparent competitive advantage for smaller European suppliers. According to them, this might lead to reduced faith in the security of these smaller suppliers and hence fewer consumers. The countries went on to say that the norms of behavior and openness should be binding on everyone. Reuters reports that the German government will organize a digital summit in Jena, Thuringia on Monday and Tuesday, bringing together officials from politics, industry, and research. AI issues will also be discussed when the German and Italian governments meet in Berlin on Wednesday. Related Article: President Biden Set to Introduce 'Sweeping' Action for Regulating AI 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In a startling turn of events, nearly allaccording to a sourceof OpenAI's employees have united in a powerful open letter, urging the resignation of the current board and the reinstatement of ousted CEO Sam Altman and former president Greg Brockman. The letter, a sign of open revolt within the company, outlines the employees' concerns about the board's actions and their impact on OpenAI's mission and reputation. Boardroom Upheaval: Altman's Controversial Dismissal The controversy centers around the sudden firing of then-CEO Sam Altman on Friday, Nov. 17 with the board citing communication issues as the reason. The letter accuses the board of incompetence in overseeing OpenAI and jeopardizing the collective efforts of the company. Related Article: OpenAI Co-founder Greg Brockman Quits After Sam Altman Firing Unprecedented Unity: Chief Scientist Admits Regret As reported by Wired, the letter includes signatures from Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, a board member accused of orchestrating Altman's removal. Sutskever publicly expressed regret on X (fka Twitter) and wanted to reunite the company. This admission adds a layer of complexity to the internal dynamics at OpenAI. Weekend Whirlwind: Altman's Potential Return and Microsoft's Intervention The weekend witnessed a series of rapid developments, from Altman's potential return to Microsoft's intervention. Despite indications that Altman might resume his role, the board communicated that he would not be rejoining OpenAI. Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, swiftly announced Altman and Brockman's inclusion in a new advanced AI research unit within the tech giant. Employee Frustration: Lack of Communication Sparks Concerns OpenAI staff expressed frustration over the lack of communication regarding Altman's departure, leading to a heated debate among employees. Many signaled a willingness to leave, posting messages like "OpenAI is nothing without its people" on X. In another bold move, OpenAI staff in the letter threatened to join Altman at Microsoft, citing assurances from the tech giant about positions at the new subsidiary for OpenAI employees. This raises the possibility of a significant exodus from OpenAI to Microsoft. The letter not only demands the current board's resignation but also proposes the appointment of two new independent lead board members, Bret Taylor and Will Hurd. This suggests a desire for a governance shakeup and a fresh start for OpenAI. Unraveling the Reasons Behind Altman's Removal Despite the upheaval, the precise reasons behind Altman's dismissal remain unclear, prompting the letter to request specific evidence from the board. The situation highlights the divisive nature of AI development and raises questions about OpenAI's governance structure. As the drama unfolds, the tech world watches closely to see the impact on OpenAI's future and the broader landscape of AI development. Since Altman will not come back to OpenAI, the AI firm now appointed Emmet Shear, the Twitch co-founder as the new CEO of the company. Firing Altman is still a shock in the tech industry given how he made ChatGPT a cornerstone of modern chatbots. Fortunately, he found a glimmer of hope to continue his work with Microsoft-his new family this time. Read Also: OpeAI Rejects Call from Investors Like Microsoft to Bring Back CEO Sam Altman 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has addressed the participants of the Non-Aligned Movement Conference on Advancing the Rights and Empowerment of Women held in Baku, Trend reports. "Dear Participants of the Conference, I welcome you to the first-ever NAM Conference on Advancing the Rights and Empowerment of Women. In 2019, with the unanimous support of all NAM Member States, Azerbaijan has been elected as a Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement the second-largest international establishment after the United Nations. It is with the same unanimous decision that the Azerbaijani Chairmanship has been extended until the end of 2023. This was a high recognition of Azerbaijan's performance in the Movement. We highly appreciate the trust put in our country. Throughout its Chairmanship, Azerbaijan, remaining committed to the Bandung Principles, made tremendous efforts to advance the Movement's agenda and boost its prestige on the international scene. It is noteworthy that it was the Non-Aligned Movement that played a leading role in mobilizing global efforts in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The special session of the UN General Assembly in response to COVID-19 was convened in December 2020, at the initiative of Azerbaijan. We did not remain silent in the face of the policy of the vaccine nationalism pursued by some countries, and encouraged fair vaccine distribution. Driven by humanistic values, Azerbaijan has provided financial and humanitarian support to more than 80 countries, most of them being the NAM Member States. Moreover, Azerbaijan has allocated funding to support post-pandemic recovery in Africa and Small Island Developing States. Significant steps have been taken towards further institutional development of the NAM during our Chairmanship. The NAM Parliamentary Network and the NAM Youth Organisation were established at Azerbaijan's initiative. I proposed creating the NAM Women Platform during the NAM Conference held this July in Baku. Azerbaijan has also devoted special attention to the decolonization agenda. We have globally exposed the neo-colonial policy pursued by some countries, in particular by France, and demanded to put an end to this shameful practice. Colonialism has also had an adverse impact on women's rights. In this regard, I welcome the organization of the side event on this topic, to be held in parallel to this conference. Defending women's rights and empowerment of women stand high on the Non-Aligned Movement's agenda. The successive NAM documents, including the Final Document of the Baku Summit of 2019, place a particular focus on this topic, setting commitments for the Member States. Invaluable contribution by women to public, political, social and humanitarian aspects of life, including the development of science and literacy, is undeniable. Throughout the centuries, Azerbaijani women have always been at the forefront of preserving our rich culture, traditions and family values, and raising a generation attached to their national roots. The first secular school for girls in the Muslim world was inaugurated in Baku back in 1901. Azerbaijan was the first republic in the Muslim world to grant women the right to vote in 1919, surpassing most European countries. Advancing women's rights and empowering them in society and public governance have always been in the spotlight in Azerbaijan. Today, Azerbaijani women make valuable contributions to our country's prosperity and progress through their determined and multifaceted activities in the spheres such as science, education, healthcare, arts and other domains. Women account for 63% of the professorial staff in the higher education institutions. 70% of the medical personnel in public healthcare facilities are women. Women's representation in the local self-governing bodies is at 40%. The number of women entrepreneurs is growing thanks to the measures within the state-supported self-employment programs. Liberation of our lands from a 30-year-long occupation by Armenia and gaining historic Victory was made possible by the sons that Azerbaijani women have raised in the spirit of patriotism. Currently, one of the main priorities of the socio-economic development of Azerbaijan is ensuring the Great Return to its liberated territories. In this regard, the measures are undertaken towards providing the former internally displaced Azerbaijani women who have returned to their ancestral lands, with job opportunities. The NAM has an important role to play in protecting women's rights. The establishment of the NAM Women Platform will invigorate this process. We are nearing the end of our Chairmanship. It is with great pride that I state that despite being one of the youngest members of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan will leave a successful legacy to the upcoming Chairmanships. Our country will continue its efforts to promote purposes and principles of the NAM at the international level. I am confident that this landmark Conference will serve as a significant platform for fruitful discussions on advancing the rights and empowerment of women and will launch a new chapter of concerted activity to that end in the history of the Non-Aligned Movement. I wish you all a successful Conference and a pleasant stay in the hospitable city of Baku," the address reads. Sighting after more than 80 years: Sniffer dog sniffs out gold mole rat thought to be extinct "We may have made a mistake": at the Monique Olivier trial, the responsibility of the investigators is questioned Sighting after more than 80 years: Sniffer dog sniffs out gold mole rat thought to be extinct Charles III's harangue after arriving by private jet at the Climate Summit: "Our survival is in danger" The average temperature this autumn is 1.39 degrees higher than normal, following spring and summer, and the highest ever. 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New Year's Day travel costs drop where to fly Decoding Chain BoPromote the healthy growth of the supply chain and the development of smart vehicles has entered a "new lane" Plan of the Federal Network Agency: Grid fees in wind and solar regions to be reduced Under the influence of the Central Bank, exporters and seasonal factors: how exchange rates may change in December The analyst predicted the dollar exchange rate in December in the range of 88-92 rubles International hot comment: In response to climate change, all countries should work together to accelerate the pace of action Zelensky: voices are heard in the West for negotiations with Russia, but without pressure When Xi Jinping inspected the East China Sea Maritime District Headquarters of the Armed Police Coast Guard Corps, he stressed that it is necessary to grasp the characteristics and laws of the construction and application of the coast guard force and improve the ability of maritime rights protection and law enforcement Juan Marin assures that the leadership of Cs wanted to break with the Andalusian PP to put the PSOE back in the Junta The banks of the Yellow River show a new look Shanxi Xinzhou governs mountains and rivers, and governs poverty and becomes rich Otegi rises to 25 parliamentarians but PNV and PSOE will reissue their majority in the Basque Country Pascal Praud and you - Vaping from Borne to the Assembly: "How to make the French understand that they should not smoke in parks", says indignantly... Zelensky announces the entry of the war with Russia into a new phase and Kiev drops 18 marches The criminal investigation into the truck accident on the E22 is closed Ministry of Education: Strictly investigate and deal with the behavior of training institutions that are "difficult to refund" and "run away with money". Black Friday 2023 on Amazon, last day: these are the best-selling bargains and great discounts that are worth it Al-Maqdisiya Marah Bakir: I did not stab anyone. And they kissed my mother. An American neural network saw signs of a fake in a photo of a US lunar mission The opening ceremony of the COP28 China Corner and the side event of "Ecological Civilization and Beautiful China Practice" were held in Dubai The first woman to marry an AI: "We don't rule out the idea of having children" Haredim in Israel. They refused to conscript and then decided to occupy the army The Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled Donetsk with missiles of a new type JROF HEF from Slovakia The UN climate chief quotes Yoda from Star Wars: "Do or not do. There is no try" The new version of the "Five-Star Card" of the Permanent Residence Permit for Foreigners is officially launched! Which foreigners can apply? Read it in one article Sanchez coincides with the president of Israel in Dubai in the midst of the diplomatic conflict, but without foreseen contact On the first day of the issuance and opening of the "five-star card", 50 people received the new version of the permanent residence ID card for foreigners In Ghana, the fight for food sovereignty in the face of land grabbing 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. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. EAdvancing women's rights and empowering them in society and public governance have always been in the spotlight in Azerbaijan, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the participants of the Non-Aligned Movement Conference on Advancing the Rights and Empowerment of Women held in Baku, Trend reports. "Today, Azerbaijani women make valuable contributions to our country's prosperity and progress through their determined and multifaceted activities in the spheres such as science, education, healthcare, arts and other domains. Women account for 63% of the professorial staff in the higher education institutions. 70% of the medical personnel in public healthcare facilities are women. Women's representation in the local self-governing bodies is at 40%. The number of women entrepreneurs is growing thanks to the measures within the state-supported self-employment programs," the head of state pointed out. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The murder trial of Bryan Kohberger, the former Ph.D. criminology student suspected of killing four University of Idaho students in a brutal attack a year ago, will be livestreamed, a judge has ruled. Idaho District Judge John Judge granted Mr Kohbergers request to remove media cameras from the courtroom but ruled that any future public proceedings will still be livestreamed on the courts YouTube channel using its own equipment. The decision comes just a week after the one-year anniversary of the tragic murders and after months of anticipation in the highly publicised case. Mr Kohberger, who turns 29 this week, is accused in the 13 November 2022 fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, at an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho. Investigators say DNA evidence on a military knife sheath found near Mogens body at the house tied Kohberger to the scene. It is the intense focus on Kohberger and his every move, along with adverse headlines and news articles, that leads the Court to conclude that continued photograph and video coverage inside the courtroom by the media should no longer be permitted, the judge wrote in the ruling. Bryan Kohberger in court in September (AP) Back in September, Mr Kohbergers attorneys asked for cameras to be banned from the Latah County courtroom. The judge said he was concerned not by the act of recording itself, but how the footage might be treated by news outlets and social media. Commentators talk about it, he said at the time, and a lot of times it is not very accurate. The new order means members of the media and public will not be allowed to record their own video, audio or take photographs of future hearings. But a livestream of the proceedings will be available through the judges YouTube channel. "This will help to alleviate the concerns raised by both the defense and the State, but at the same time will ensure the public still has access to see the proceedings for themselves if they cannot attend hearings in-person," the order states. The judge also denied a media coalitions motion to intervene in the case. He accused the media of violating his requests not to exclusively zoom in on Mr Kohbergers face and not to record before or after court is in session. Additionally, defense counsel has raised continued concerns with video footage and photographs capturing private documents on counsel tables. This is again in violation of the Courts directives, the order continues. The State has also raised issues of vulnerable victims and witnesses being filmed during testimony. At this juncture, the Court has no confidence that directives to stop photographing or videoing during such testimony would be adhered to. In the ruling, the judge cited the high-profile case of Doomsday cult mom Lori Vallow to support his decision. As was noted by District Judge Steven W. Boyce in his Memorandum Decision and Order Prohibiting Video and Photographic Coverage in the case of State of Idaho v. Lori Norene Vallow aka Lori Norene Vallow Daybell [a]greement between the State and Defense on any issue in a capital case is rare, further confirming to the Court the legitimacy and level of concern counsel have raised. The same is true in this case. Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were killed on 13 November (Instagram) In May, Kohberger declined to enter a plea at his arraignment, forcing the judge to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf for four charges of first-degree murder and another of felony burglary. He could face death by firing squad if convicted. In August, Mr Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial, postponing the proceedings indefinitely. On 27 October, Mr Kohberger appeared in court for a hearing on a motion to dismiss the indictment against him. The defence argued that the grand jury which brought the indictment had been improperly handed. The judge disagreed, ruling that the indictment will stand. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Newly released video footage has captured the cruel attacks and terrifying situation that a Capitol police officer endured just two weeks before he took his own life. Officer Jeff Smiths body camera footage reveals the harrowing reality of what unfolded in the halls of the Capitol building on January 6 2021. In it, the officer is seen facing a barrage of physical and verbal attacks from rioters. People are screaming and lining the walls of the monument as officers pass by. One woman is seen telling Smith: Get a real job. We dont support yall anymore. Outside, someone else is yelling repeatedly: You stand with criminals! You stand with criminals! Then another person wearing a Make America Great Again sweatshirt chimes in, loudly: Theyre not here to protect the people. Theyre here to protect a bunch of f***ing child rapists and corrupt politicians! The Capitol Police officers is also seen facing a number of physical tussles. At one point, the officer is seen engaged in a struggle, being tossed about into a mob of people, where someone grabs his baton and begins using it against him. Shortly after the scuffle, a fellow officer is heard asking the officer: You good, Smith? as he appears to be taking a quick breather to collect himself. Smith then grabs his helmet and continues on with his duty. Later, Smith is heard talking to another officer, incredulous that the Capitol doors dont lock as they are trying to remove rioters from the building. Its the US Capitol and they dont have a way to lock the door? he asks. The other officer says rioters broke the hinge on their way in. At some time during the riot, a metal pole flew through the air, striking Smith. He is seen in the bodycam footage saying he got hit in the face with a f***ing piece of metal. Erin Smith, widow of Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Jeffrey Smith, US Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell and Sandra Garza, the long-time partner of fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, hold hands as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Two weeks after that chilling day, Smith died by suicide. He had no history of depression, medical experts said at the time, and a medical examiner concluded he died of post-concussion syndrome. Smith was one of four Capitol Police officers who took their own lives following the attack. He got more distant. He got angry. He was very short-tempered. And he was not himself, his widow Erin Smith said of her late husband after his death. That demeanour was very out of character for him. The never-before-seen footage comes after House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he is releasing the January 6 tapes. Mr Johnson said on 17 November that nearly all of the footage will be made available on the Committee of House Administrations website, meaning more than 40,000 hours of tapes of the violent riot. If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you. NBC News retracts stunning report on Paul Pelosi attack closeVideo NBC News went viral with an explosive report about what allegedly transpired when police responded to the attack on Paul Pelosi but the network's retraction is fueling even more questions. NBC News national correspondent Miguel Almaguer hasn't appeared on the network in 11 days since his explosive report on the Paul Pelosi attack was retracted, but he and NBC News have remained silent since the scrubbing of his report suggesting the House Speakers husband may not have been in danger when police arrived. The ordeal has puzzled NBC News insiders, with some believing the report was squashed because it went against the mainstream narrative. A former senior NBC News executive who worked with Almaguer believes the network needs to explain whats going on. "NBC News must be more transparent with its viewers about this error. Who wrote Miguels script? Who approved the script? Are he and his producers suspended during an internal investigation? NBCs silence on this matter speaks volumes. NBC owes it to its audience to be truthful and not cover this up," the former executive said. NBC News retracted its report from correspondent Miguel Almaguer about stunning details from the Paul Pelosi attack. (Screenshot/NBC News) NBC SILENT AFTER RETRACTING PAUL PELOSI REPORT UNDER MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES It started when Almaguer went viral after he appeared on the Nov. 4 installment of "Today" and offered stunning revelations of what may have transpired when police arrived to Pelosi's San Francisco home following a 911 call. The NBC News report attempted to answer lingering questions about the alleged home invasion that left Paul Pelosi with a fractured skull. Almaguer cited sources familiar with the situation who said the police didnt know they were responding to the Pelosi residence, Pelosi opened the door but didnt attempt to escape or declare an emergency, and even walked away from law enforcement and toward his eventual attacker. Almaguer concluded his report by telling "Today" co-host Craig Melvin "we still don't know exactly what unfolded between Mr. Pelosi and the suspect for the 30 minutes they were alone inside that house before police arrive. Officials who are investigating this matter would not go into further details about these new details." Later in the day as the segment gained prominence on Twitter, Almaguers report was erased from all NBC News platforms. It was deleted from social media, and NBC News issued an editor's note on its website, reading, "This piece has been removed from publication because it did not meet NBC News reporting standards." It is unclear what specifically from Almaguer's report did not meet the network's "reporting standards." NBC refused to elaborate, and its digital platforms said the video "expired." PAUL PELOSI ATTACK BODYCAM, 911 CALL REMAIN UNDISCLOSED AS SUSPECT DAVID DEPAPE DUE BACK IN COURT Paul Pelosi (L) and Nancy Pelosi on April 25, 2015 in Washington, DC.; Image shows FBI agents outside the home of Nancy and Paul Pelosi on Oct. 28, 2022. (Dimitrios Kambouris/VF15/WireImage ; Fox News ) On Monday, Fourth Watch editor Steve Krakauer, a former NBC page who has been critical of NBC News handling of the ordeal, noticed that Almaguer has been absent since the report was retracted. "It has been 10 days since @Miguelnbc went on NBC and delivered his Paul Pelosi report, that was expired hours later," Krakauer tweeted. Indeed, Almaguer did not appear on NBC from the since-retracted report through Mondays edition of "Nightly News," according to a search of transcripts using Grabien Media. NBC News did not immediately respond to a series of questions, including whether he was disciplined and what was wrong with his report in the first place. Hours after Krakauers tweet, the Daily Beast reported it had learned Almaguer has been "suspended pending an internal investigation." Again, NBC News did not respond when asked for comment by Fox News Digital. Almaguer, who sent nine tweets over the first three days of November, did not tweet from the day before his report was retracted through Monday evening. Almaguer did not respond to a voicemail left by Fox News Digital. Video Another NBC News insider expressed disbelief at the story getting through editors in the first place, saying they "couldn't believe they'd follow a conspiracy theory days after it was disproven." A third NBC News insider told Fox News Digital that something "shady" must have happened but couldnt pinpoint exactly what it was. Others feel the situation could be similar to the 2012 incident when NBC News quietly cut ties with multiple journalists responsible for deceptively editing audio from a 911 call placed by George Zimmerman the night he killed Trayvon Martin. "Today" aired a doctored 911 call that removed the dispatcher asking Zimmerman to describe Martin's race. The version that aired on "Today" made it seem like Zimmerman said Martin was Black without being asked. The Zimmerman call was a major media scandal at the time, and NBC News wasnt particularly transparent at first but apologized after an internal investigation. Many of the NBC News executives who oversaw the Zimmerman 911 call aftermath such as then-president Steve Capus have moved on. But Comcast remains NBC's parent company, and the Zimmerman 911 call scandal occurred only a few months after telecommunications conglomerate consolidated NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC. PAUL PELOSI RETURNS HOME FROM HOSPITAL DAYS AFTER HAMMER ATTACK Krakauer previously suggested Almaguer could have reported something that was supposed to stay off-the-record, or the veteran reporter was offering an angle the San Francisco Police Department wanted out there. "Whatever the backstory is, we don't know it - and it's incumbent on NBC to be more transparent about the process, and say publicly what, if anything, was inaccurate in the report," Krakauer wrote. "In the meantime, the rest of the media have pretended it didn't happen." Paul Pelosi's suspected attacker, a 42-year-old illegal immigrant from Canada named David DePape , is being held without bail on a slew of state and federal charges, including attempted murder. Police recovered zip ties in Pelosis bedroom, found glass broken at the rear of the house, tape, rope, gloves and a journal, according to the FBI affidavit. Paul Pelosi returned home six days after the home invasion that left him with a fractured skull. Fox News Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Michael Ruiz and David Rutz contributed to this report. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Brian Flood is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @briansflood. A ceremony of signing documents has been held with participation of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Iraq Abdullatif Jamal Rashid. Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sahil Babayev and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Iraq Ahmed Jassem Saber Al-Asadi signed the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Iraq. Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Fuad Naghiyev and Chairman of the Tourism Authority of the Republic of Iraq Zafer Mahdi signed the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of tourism between the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities of the Republic of Iraq. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq Mohammed Hussein Bahr Al- Uloom signed the Memorandum of Understanding on political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq. Minister of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rashad Nabiyev and Head of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Republic of Iraq Imad Al-Asadi signed the Air Services Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Republic of Iraq. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The main interest for the European Union is the conclusion of a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar told Armenian media, Trend reports. "The main priority for us is to reach an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. What is most important is that these countries' relations be resolved in a genuine way. It is secondary where the agreement will be signed in the end," he said. Klaar noted that the EU currently sees no compelling reasons to obstruct progress in the settlement process. On November 18, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated at the opening ceremony of the fall session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Yerevan that Azerbaijan and Armenia had reached an agreement on the fundamental elements of the peace treaty. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel After graduating from LSU School of Dentistry in 1983, Ann Laurent was one of only three female dentists in Lafayette. Today, she remains a trailblazer for aspiring women in a practice that helps patients achieve harmony when their outer smile mirrors their inner one. Nearly all of OpenAIs employees have threatened to quit and follow ousted leader Sam Altman to work at the companys biggest investor, Microsoft, unless the current board resigns, leaving the future of the high-profile artificial intelligence start-up increasingly uncertain. More than 700 of the AI firms roughly 770 employees signed a letter on Monday (US time) addressed to OpenAIs board stating that the signatories are unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgment and care for our mission and employees. The letter called for every member of the board to resign and for Altman to be reinstated, or else employees might jump to Microsoft. The software giant has assured us there are positions for all OpenAI employees, the letter said. Microsoft has hired former OpenAI boss Sam Altman after his shock ousting. Credit: AP The extraordinary threat of a mass exodus followed a rollercoaster weekend during which OpenAIs board defied calls from its investors and top executives to reinstate Altman, who was fired following disagreements with the board on how fast to develop and monetise artificial intelligence. OpenAI executives including then-interim CEO Mira Murati, chief operating officer Brad Lightcap and Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon were negotiating with the board to bring Altman back to the company into Sunday night, according to a source familiar with the discussions, who requested anonymity discussing private information. Instead, the board named a new leader former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear and Microsoft hired Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman to head up a new in-house AI team. Last Fridays Senate hearing had all the signs of a final act for Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, who quit three days later after facing an unprecedented level of pressure, including a two-hour sustained grilling from senators across the political spectrum. Rumours were flying in the days leading up to the hearing that Bayer Rosmarin was already considering stepping down, after first presiding over one of Australias most severe data breaches, and then one of the countrys worst ever telecommunications outages. All of it within the space of a year or so. Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin during a Senate hearing at Parliament House in Canberra on Friday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Those rumours of her exit materialised on Monday morning and Bayer Rosmarins departure has sparked speculation whether the executive was effectively pushed out by the board of Optus parent company Singtel, or if she chose to leave the business. The financial toll had already begun racking up for Optus parent company Singtel, with rivals Telstra and TPG each reporting early signs of customers jumping ship. Thats before the inevitable hefty compensation bill it will be forced to pay to business customers, and any potential consumer class action lawsuits still to come. This wrap of shows around Melbourne includes a scorching production of Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and a spectacular performance by the Australian Chamber Orchestra with a surprise appearance. THEATRE Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Red Stitch, until December 17 The eviscerating games of Edward Albees Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? are focused, in this intimate production, through an acutely voyeuristic lens. Youll be scorched by its marital savagery, even from the back row. David Whiteley, Emily Goddard, Harvey Zielinski and Kat Stewart in a scene from Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Credit: Jodie Hutchinson Hands down the most iconic portrayal of George and Martha an educated married couple in a state of total war came from Richard Burton and Liz Taylor in the 1966 Mike Nichols film. They were spouses in real life, so its a point of interest for theatregoers that actors Kat Stewart and David Whiteley are married, too though one hopes in a less tempestuous arrangement than the one Burton and Taylor are reputed to have endured. Heartthrob and man-of-the-moment Jacob Elordi will star in the mini-series adaptation of Richard Flanagans Booker prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North. The 26-year-old Brisbane-born actor, whose screen career began when he landed a small part as an extra on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, was the male lead in the teen romance Kissing Booth movie series for Netflix, but it was as the abusive Nate Jacobs in the high-school drama Euphoria that he truly made his mark. Jacob Elordi at GQs Man of the Year party in Los Angeles last week. Credit: Chris Pizzello Elordi, who is on the cover of the latest issue of GQ and last week co-hosted the magazines Man of the Year awards in Los Angeles, is now in the midst of the purplest patch of his short career. Saltburn, in which he plays the aristocratic Felix, has just opened in cinemas and is already gathering momentum as an awards-season contender. He also stars as Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppolas Priscilla, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival in September and opens in Australian cinemas next January. A lawyer representing refugees in Australia says re-detaining non-citizens who had served jail time for offences such as rape and murder would be a severe deprivation of liberty. This masthead revealed this morning that the federal government had sought legal advice on the prospect of using preventative detention-style laws to lock up some of the most violent offenders released from immigration detention, according to two sources speaking anonymously to detail confidential information. Speaking to the ABCs Afternoon Briefing program earlier, David Manne, the executive director of Melbournes Refugee Legal service, said such powers were a copy and paste of control orders used in extreme circumstances when a person has been convicted of terror offences. He said some of the non-citizens had already been living in the community for some time, and to reimpose strict conditions would likely raise serious legal issues. I think that we cant rule out the prospect of these kinds of conditions and measures being challenged, he said. Australians every day of the week, that have committed offences, and once they have served their sentences, are free to live in the community. The West Australian government unsuccessfully tried to lure global pop superstar Taylor Swift to Perth after she announced a series of eastern states shows for her Eras tour. Perth fans were devastated in June when Swift announced the tour would only visit Sydney and Melbourne in February next year, but what wasnt made public at the time was the work happening behind the scenes to convince her to travel across the Nullarbor. WA Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said the government tried to bring Taylor Swift to the city for her Eras tour. WA Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti has revealed that after the tour was announced efforts were made by the states well-resourced tourism bureaucrats to bring Swift west, but they came to naught. Saffioti said she believed the issue was scheduling-related, rather than money. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned China for its dangerous use of sonar near Australian navy divers, while refusing to divulge the contents of a conversation with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit. Under mounting pressure from the opposition to reveal whether he had raised the matter with Xi in San Francisco, Albanese said his government had made its views known about the regrettable incident that occurred in Japanese waters in every possible forum. Xi Jinping and Anthony Albanese. Credit: AP In comments that left open the possibility he had raised the matter with Xi, Albanese told Sky News: Its one where we have put our very strong objections to China very clearly, very directly, through all of the appropriate channels, in all of the forums that are available to us. Drawing a distinction between his most recent interaction and past meetings with the Chinese leader, Albanese said: When I was in San Francisco, there was no bilateral meeting with President Xi where you give a readout of what the events occurred. Taxpayers are being kept in the dark on cost blowouts relating to more than $2 billion worth of information technology projects because the state government hasnt updated the relevant disclosure log in more than 12 months. The Victorian governments IT dashboard, which paints a picture of any delays and cost overruns for projects worth $1 million or more, began in 2018 in a bid to boost transparency and was designed to be refreshed every three months. Treasurer Tim Pallas. Credit: Eamon Gallagher The dashboard features a WorkSafe data analytics project that was initially costed at $1.17 million but which, by September 2022, had blown out to $25.13 million. That same month, an $89 million case management system for the Magistrates and Childrens courts was listed as unfinished, despite work on the project beginning in 2016. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Women's employment has become a key issue in Saudi Arabia, Secretary General of the Family Council in Saudi Arabia Maimoonah Al-Khalil said, Trend reports. She spoke at the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement "Advancement of Women's Rights and Empowerment" in Baku. "Once it seemed like a dream to us, but now it is a reality. A woman in Saudi Arabia can change her future. There has been a serious increase in the number of women working in transportation. Women have also made serious progress in the field of education," Maimoonah Al-Khalil added. Baku is hosting the NAM conference on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" under the joint organization of Azerbaijan (the current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (the future NAM chairs). The event is held on the basis of initiatives voiced by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Members of Victorias Jewish community have written to Premier Jacinta Allan and Education Minister Ben Carroll asking them to take a tougher stance on a planned student strike for Palestine this week. The letter, sent to Allan and Carroll on Monday morning and purportedly signed by more than 6000 people, describes the governments response to the proposed strike as confusing. The letter which has children among the signatories criticises the involvement of school children in the protest as exploitative. Pro-Palestine protesters outside Flinders Street Station in Melbourne on Sunday. Credit: Chris Hopkins Although there is a careful balance that needs to be struck between various rights and interests, the health, safety and welfare of students should undoubtedly be the governments number one priority in these circumstances, says the letter, instigated by Melbourne woman Moran, a member of the Jewish public who did not want her full name published for safety reasons. This is particularly so when the organisers target and exploit school children. The right to demonstrate, while fundamental, is not absolute, and must be weighed against other rights including liberty, safety, security and tolerance. Faraday Future Delivers Latest FF 91 2.0 to Automotive Enthusiast and Purist Group Founder Sean Lee LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (Faraday Future, FF or Company), a California-based global shared intelligent electric mobility ecosystem company, today announced that automotive enthusiast, philanthropist and founder of Purist Group, Sean Lee has taken delivery of his FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance at the Companys headquarters in Los Angeles, California, after spending time this year in Co-Creation efforts involving testing and driving the FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance. Mr. Lee has now officially become a user and Developer Co-Creation Officer for FF. The Company has already received valuable feedback from Mr. Lee that is expected to enhance the Companys overall user experience and further highlights the benefits from the Companys Developer Co-Creation program. FF held its annual holiday food drive last week and arranged the food donation delivered in a fleet of FF 91s to a local Southern California charity group. Since 2016, FF has been involved in community service initiatives such as this annual food drive. FF Soul, which is the Companys community-focused employee organization, has been leading those efforts, ensuring that FF contributes to the communities that surround FFs operations. FF is committed to building state-of-the-art EVs and using the Companys influence to uplift those who may need a helping hand. FF is also partnering with the Purist Group to support their annual winter toy drive, which benefits underprivileged and less fortunate children and families in Southern California communities. FF asks the community to bring a new toy to the Purist Groups upcoming event in late November, all of which will be donated to local charities. Both FF and The Purist Group are united in supporting local communities and families. Mr. Lee started the non-profit organization Purist Group in 2012 with a few like-minded automotive and motorcycle enthusiasts whose focus is on doing charity and good towards the community. The Purist Group hosts an annual winter drive in November each year that attracts numerous vehicles and supporters to collect thousands of toys each year for the community. Thanksgiving is a time for reflection, appreciation, and, most importantly, giving. More than 44 million people in the U.S. face food insecurity, including 1 in 5 children. Millions lack enough food to eat or don't have access to healthy food. This is a big problem, and the reason why FF unites efforts to deliver its FF Food Drive. This past week we combined our community food drive and a delivery of the FF 91 2.0 to Mr. Lee. We are not just handing over keys; we are celebrating a shared commitment to making a positive impact in the world, since Sean is also a philanthropist, said Matthias Aydt, Global CEO of FF. This is another wonderful Co-Creation collaboration that not only reflects the acknowledgment of FF and its products by prominent industry icons, but also underscores the value of community and giving back during this special time of the year when help is needed the most. Download the FF App: http://appdownload.ff.com ABOUT FARADAY FUTURE Faraday Future is the pioneer of the Ultimate AI TechLuxury ultra spire market in the intelligent EV era, and the disruptor of the traditional ultra-luxury car civilization epitomized by Ferrari and Maybach. FF is not just an EV company, but also a software-driven intelligent internet company. Ultimately FF aims to become a User Company by offering a shared intelligent mobility ecosystem. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Preparatory training for Dogu Akdeniz-2023 international exercise (Eastern Mediterranean-2023) was held in the city of Marmaris, Turkiye, Trend reports via Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense. Involved servicemen accomplished tasks on inspecting the captured ship, as well as landing from a helicopter in enemys depths. A group of servicemen of Marine Special Forces detachment of the Azerbaijan Naval Forcesis are participating in Dogu Akdeniz-2023 international in Turkiye. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel WhatsApp, ! Having played a crucial role in Azerbaijans formation and development, Heydar Aliyev left an indelible mark in the history of Azerbaijan. "Azerbaijan & Heydar Aliyev" is a special project of Trend News Agency, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the national leader, which will cover key events of Heydar Aliyev's work in the years of his leading Azerbaijan. November 19, 1999. Heydar Aliyev held a meeting with US President Bill Clinton. As stated by Bill Clinton at the meeting, the signing of documents for the main export pipeline Baku - Ceyhan is a significant historical event. "Signed in 1994 thanks to your visionary and consistent policy as the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the 'Contract of the Century' laid the foundation for opening the energy resources of the Caspian Sea to the whole world. I highly appreciate your tremendous contributions to the implementation of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline," Clinton said. "I also highly appreciate the document on the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. I am confident that these pipelines will play an important role in further strengthening the sovereignty and independence of the countries in the region and will make a significant contribution to their economic progress. I am pleased with your efforts in the accelerated development of Azerbaijani-American cooperation. I also always highly value the personal friendly relations that have developed between us," he noted. Heydar Aliyev expressed satisfaction with the principled position of the US government in the implementation of the main export pipeline Baku - Ceyhan and the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. Moreover, the national leader particularly emphasized that the 907th amendment adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1992 hinders the accelerated development of this cooperation, and it is necessary to eliminate this amendment. "I am confident that the bilateral Azerbaijani-American relations, based on the strong friendship and cooperation established in recent years with you, Mr. President, will always be successful, serve the interests of our peoples, contribute to their prosperity, the economic revival of our countries, and create good opportunities for strengthening peace, stability, and tranquility in the entire Caucasus region," Heydar Aliyev pointed out. "Today's discussion of issues related to the strengthening of mutually beneficial ties between Azerbaijan and America, both in the energy sector and in other industries, further solidifying economic relations, will undoubtedly yield significant results," he mentioned. "Our conversation in the implementation of the provisions put forward in the historical documents of the OSCE Istanbul Summit, as well as a comprehensive exchange of views on the situation on the international stage, in the Caucasus, the prospects for cooperation in the region, and on a number of other issues, holds special importance," Heydar Aliyev added. The recent decision of the US Senate has once again actualized the issue of Amendment 907, which the national leader spoke about back in 1999. Thus, the senators voted for adoption of Act S.3000, suggesting that the US president is unable to reference Public Law 107-115. This law previously enabled the president to sidestep the 907th amendment to the 'Freedom Support Act,' which, in effect, restricts aid to Azerbaijan. As a result, the US president is now unable to bypass the 907th amendment and obtain funding from the budget allocations for aiding Azerbaijan in 2024 and 2025. The US seems to again repeat the mistake made in 1992 with applying sanctions against Azerbaijan, despite that the country was subjected to aggression and occupation. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, when Azerbaijan supported the US efforts in the fight against terrorism, in the same year, the US decided to temporarily suspend the implementation of the 907th amendment. Azerbaijan extended a helping hand to the US, opening its airspace and offering logistical support, including the Northern Distribution Network. Azerbaijan became one of the first countries to stand shoulder to shoulder with the US in Afghanistan. At the same time, Azerbaijan was the last partner country to leave Afghanistan. However, it appears that the US always considered Azerbaijan's support temporary. Nevertheless, history may repeat itself. The seemingly indifferent attitude of the US regarding the temporary suspension of the 907th amendment is an unfriendly step towards Azerbaijan. Nut And Bolt In Body! By Adv. R. S. Agrawal AFTER due consideration of the entire evidence and discussions during the proceedings, finding no reason to interfere, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) Bench consisting of Members Justice Sudip Ahluwalia and AVM Justice Rajendra, AVSM VSM (Retd.) has affirmed on November 10, 2023, the orders passed by the State Commission, Puducherry on April 20, 2012 and dismissed the First Appeal filed by M/s Clinic Nallam, a private Nursing Home and Dr V Nallam against the said orders delivered by the State Commission in favour of the complainant A. Helen Victoria. According to the National Commission, the main issue revolves around medical negligence and the alleged presence of foreign objects (nut and bolt)in the body of the complainant - A. Helen Victoria, after a surgery performed by the appellants -2 and 3, respectively Dr V. Nallam and Dr Sreeramamurthy. After the Surgery, the complainant experienced several health issues, leading to the discovery of foreign objects in her body in the year 2003. The primary question is whether the presence of these foreign objects is a result of the alleged negligence of the appellant-doctors during the surgery in the year 1991. The case is centered on medical negligence, the duty of care expected of medical professionals towards their patients, and the liability of the appellants in the complainants health complications. The appellants contested that the complaint is time-barred, as complainant was aware of the foreign objects in her body in 1997, which should have prompted earlier legal action. Further substantial evidence linking the alleged surgery to their clinic does not exist. They do not have medical records or evidence to establish that the surgery occurred at their facility. They also contended scope for contributory negligence as she underwent medical treatment from various doctors over the years. The evidence, including the 2003 surgery, does not establish a clear connection between their actions and the complainants condition. It is the admitted position that the complainant underwent surgery of abdominal hysterectomy on June 24, 1991 at the M/s Clinic Nallam and post-surgery, she experienced complications, including giddiness and shivering, leading to admission to the Intensive Care Unit and she was treated for urinary tract infection. Thereafter, the complainants health deteriorated and she became dependent on her family for daily activities. Over the years, she suffered from chronic headaches, stomach-aches and urinary tract infections. Various doctors were consulted, and treatments were attempted, but there was no improvement as the object was left unidentified. Ultimately, while severely suffering, on October 3, 2003, she consulted Dr Mini Ravi and it was discovered that there was a foreign object present and needed surgical removal. She was operated upon in November, 2003 at East Coast Hospital, Pondicherry, and the surgery revealed that a Nut and Bolt were left inside her during the initial surgery in 1991 by the appellant-doctors. She alleged negligence by them, leading to her prolonged suffering and complications and that they offered her free operation and Rs 50,000/-. She suffered mental and physical pain with medical expenses and other expenses for over 12 years due to the carelessness and negligence of these appellant-doctors. Regarding the appellants objection that the complaint is time-barred and the assertion that the complainant was aware of the foreign objects in her body in the year 1997 and she should have taken legal action earlier, it is crucial to note the circumstances. In 1997, the complainant had sought medical help from Dr Janarthanan and underwent a kidney X-ray, which revealed a butterfly-shaped object. However, the doctor did not provide appropriate guidance, leading to the complainant being completely uninformed about the presence of foreign objects. Her suffering persisted until she consulted Dr Mini Ravi in the year 2003, who informed her about the presence of a foreign object, necessitating surgical removal. On being so informed she immediately underwent surgery and got it removed. Therefore, clearly the existence of the foreign body (bolt and nut) inside the body of the complainant was found and confirmed during October, 2003 and was removed on December 10, 2003. As the knowledge of the confirmation of foreign body counts for the computation of period of limitation, the complaint was filed within time, that is within two years from the date of knowledge of the confirmation of foreign body inside her body. As regards the objection about lack of evidence, the appellant pointed that the complainants son who testified that he no personal knowledge of her admission to the appellants clinic. However, at that time he was 15 years of age and testified as per his own understanding at that age. In any case, his evidence is of limited scope in the case, as the surgery, suffering of the complainant and the removal of the foreign objects were conclusively established. The NCDRC has referred to admission by the appellant - Dr Sreeramamurthy that he assisted Dr. Nallam to perform surgery on the complainant on June 24, 1991, which has resulted in significant suffering to her. This makes it evident that he was present and assisted the other appellant doctor in performing the surgery. The documentary evidence produced by complainant and medical prescriptions given by him have been not disputed. After the surgery on June 24, 1991, she again went to Dr Nallam with the complaint of giddiness and shivering. This and other facts on record establish that she went to the appellants after surgery and they provided her the follow up treatment. However she continued to suffer and was subjected to gross inconvenience and financial losses. Through the order, now confirmed by the NCDRC, the State Commission had partly had partly allowed and partly dismissed the complaint, declaring that the appellants are jointly and severally liable to pay to the complainant (i) A sum of Rs 6 lakh towards cost of medical treatment incurred by the complainant; (ii) A sum of Rs 72,000/- towards engagement of household servant maid by the complainant for the domestic chores for 12 years; (iii) A sum of Rs 7 lakh towards unbearable pain, loss of normal life, loss of care of the children etc. because of negligence and deficiency in service on the part of the appellants; and (iv) Rs 5,000/- towards costs. The National Commission has dismissed the first appeal. 5-OPTION ACTION PLAN to rescue trapped workers in Silkyara tunnel Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Uttarakhand CM review the rescue operation in Uttarkashi district on Sunday. UTTARKASHI : AS RESCUE operations continue for eight days to save the 41 trapped workers at Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, Secretary, Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways Anurag Jain announced on Sunday the decision to take up a fiveoption action plan. The Government has taken a decision to work on all fronts to save the precious lives of the labourers trapped in the tunnel at Silkyara, Jain told ANI. Fortunately, there is light inside because the electricity is on. There is a pipeline, and thus water is available. There is a 4-inch pipe, which was used for compression. Through that, we are sending food from day 1, he said. In a high-level meeting today, various options were examined based on technical advice and 5 options are to be pursued, he added. In addition to these 5 options, a couple of additional pipes for redundancy of food support would also be put up, he added. According to Anurag Jain, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHDCL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVNL), Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited (THDC) and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) have been assigned one option each. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the construction wing of the Indian Army have also been assisting in the rescue operation, he said. Jain further said that the Managing Director of NHIDCL has been made in charge of coordination with all the Central agencies and has been stationed in Silkyara. The Government of Uttarakhand has appointed Dr Neeraj Khairwal, Secretary, as the Nodal Officer for coordination. All the agencies concerned have posted senior officers at the site, he informed further. The Centre has given clear directions that whatever is possible must be done for the rescue operation, Jain added. He further said,Along with these 5 options, there is an action plan. We are working on the declared unsafe areas where we were working and stopped later due to movement on Earth. We will make a canopy and restart the work with all the security measures. Meanwhile, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reached the scene to review the ongoing rescue and relief operation. They were accompanied by Uttarakhand Chief Secretary S S Sandhu at Silkyara. CM Dhami said, We are working on all the possibilities available. All types of expert teams are working here. CM Dhami said that the State Government is ready to provide all the help required to the agencies involved in the rescue operation. Efforts were underway on Sunday to build an access road at the top of the hill above Silkyara tunnel for initiating vertical drilling to reach 41 workers trapped for seven days. Larger diameter pipes have also been inserted up to a length of 42 metres through the debris this morning to provide enough food and other essentials to the trapped workers, a control room set up at the site said. The Government is sending multivitamins, antidepressants and dry fruits to 41 workers trapped. Whatever is required to save the 41 trapped workers will be done and keeping the morale of workers and their family members high should be everyone's collective responsibility, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday as he reviewed the rescue operation at the partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel. It is soft at some places and hard at other places which makes any mechanical operation difficult, he said. Horizontal drilling with the American auger is the quickest method in the given circumstances to reach the trapped workers, Gadkari said. "American auger was working alright when it was drilling through soft soil. It faced some problems after it encountered some hard obstacle that led to the machine applying greater pressure and creating vibrations following which it was stopped for safety reasons, he said at a press conference in Silkyara. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkiye is example for other countries, Deputy Minister of Family and Social Services of Turkiye Leman Yenigun said at the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment", Trend reports. "We have developed a strategic plan to ensure that women in Turkiye can fully benefit from all rights and opportunities. We have set goals to improve women's education level. Important legislative changes have been made to remove obstacles in women's working lives," Yenigun added. Baku is hosting the NAM conference on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" under the joint organization of Azerbaijan (the current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (the future NAM chairs). The event is held on the basis of initiatives voiced by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Currently, everything in politics is besur: Mah CM Shinde THANE, MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday used a music analogy to describe the current state of politics as besur sur (not in tune). Shinde, who heads a coalition Government comprising Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), performed bhoomi pujan of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar Sangeet Vidyalaya in his home turf Thane and also inaugurated various civic projects. The world had witnessed a Lata Mangeshkar era wherein she mesmerised the people with her rich repertoire of songs, he said. The Chief Minister directed the Thane municipal corporation to ensure that roads in the city remain clean and dirt-free. Notably, the Mumbai civic body has undertaken washing of roads in the megapolis to curb pollution, mainly caused by dust. I want to see Thane city as clean as Mumbai, said Shinde, the MLA from Kopri-Pachpakhadi seat in the city. Hailing the late Lata Mangeshkar, Shinde said, There are various Yugs (eras) and during this Kaliyug, there was Lata-yug (era of Lata Mangeshkar). She is the pride of the country. Her songs have become a source of life for many. He said the upcoming music school named after Latadidi is an attempt to preserve her memory and pass on the tradition of various forms of music to the coming generations. In a dig at his political opponents, the Chief Minister said, Every morning, some crows start cawing which continues through the day. They pollute the atmosphere. Due to them, noise pollution has increased. Presently, everything is besur sur (musical note which is not in tune) in politics, he added. Food scarcity adds to woes of Awami League By Arun Kumar Shrivastav IN BANGLADESH, where national elections are scheduled for January 7, political issues are taking a backseat, and the scarcity and high prices of essential food items such as potatoes, onions, eggs, edible oil, and sugar are taking centre stage. In an emergency meeting held at the Bangladesh Prime Ministers Office (PMO) on November 11, the Government took a series of decisions to ensure these commodities are available at affordable rates in the market. The Government has instructed the countrys central bank Bangladesh Bank and state-owned Sonali Bank to ensure an adequate supply of US dollars to facilitate imports of these items. Besides, deputy commissioners have been asked to depute government officials at all cold storages and ensure official instructions on the supply and prices of potatoes and other food items are followed. These orders were implemented with immediate effect, beginning on November 12. As the ruling Awami League is going to the polls seeking continuity in power, the Opposition, in recent months, brought immense pressure on the Government through well-attended rallies and agitations that often resulted in violence. With Western powers putting Bangladesh on notice for human rights violations, the January elections would expectedly have these issues at the centre of the political debate, both inside and outside the country. The current Bangladesh Government has been in power since 2009. But the political discourse is shifting to food scarcity, which looms large in the country with nearly 170 million people. Given this, political issues will likely be relegated, and food scarcity will come to the fore in the election rallies. The main Opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is demanding an interim Government to conduct the general elections saying that Awami League Government led by Sheikh Hasina will not ensure free and fair polls. But the ruling party is saying that this is not permitted by the Constitution and already the countrys Supreme Court has made the position clear. The food scarcity in Bangladesh became evident in August when eggs began to disappear from the market. They were selling for Bangladesh Taka (BDT) 15 apiece, and the Government tried to contain the price to BDT 12. The country, which produced about 400 million eggs, saw the number drop significantly after many poultry farms were closed during the pandemic. Around the same time in August, potato prices began heating up. Bangladesh is a major potato-producing country, accounting for roughly 10 million tonnes out of a global annual production of 65 million. The country saw the retail potato prices skyrocketing to BDT 60-65 per kg, more than double the price in the Indian market. Realising that these developments may dent the electoral prospects of the ruling Awami League, the Bangladesh Government opened the imports of eggs and potatoes before the PMO meeting allowed the same for other food items. According to local media reports, despite placing import orders, Bangladesh has been waiting to receive the promised amounts of eggs for about two months now. The Commerce Secretary of the Bangladesh Government, Tapan Kanti Ghosh, after the November 11 PMO meeting, stated that due to the import of 62,000 pieces of eggs, the market has started to ease, local news reports said. The status of potato imports needs to be more encouraging. The Government has allowed 2,00,000 tonnes of potatoes to ensure this staple vegetable sells at average prices of around BDT 35 per kg. So far, the country has received about 1095 tonnes of potatoes from Indias West Bengal, where farmers faced a glut and low prices, while a new potato sowing season that begins in November was at their doors. Ordinary people in Bangladesh are worried that potato imports may also follow the egg import path. Bangladesh is also facing a scarcity of edible oil and has allowed its imports to improve the supply situation. India imports 60% of the edible oil it consumes. The entire Indian sub-continent imports edible oil heavily due to its food habit of oil-heavy and fried foods. With food scarcity claiming more of the collective mind space in Bangladesh in the coming days, chances are that by the time the elections are held in early January next year, food scarcity will become a compelling concern, impacting voting trends. INDIA: 4 trillion-dollar economy NEW DELHI : No official word, but congratulations pour in BILLIONAIRE Gautam Adani to two Union Ministers and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis among others on Sunday hailed India crossing USD 4 trillion mark though there was no official confirmation if the country has achieved the landmark. The Finance Ministry and the National Statistical Office did not immediately comment on the viral social media post on Indias GDP crossing USD 4 trillion. Highly placed sources said that the viral news was incorrect and India was still shy of that landmark. An unverified screengrab from the live tracking GDP feed for all countries based on International Monetary Fund data has been widely shared on social media, including by many senior BJP leaders. It is very difficult to have live tracking of GDP numbers of all countries as numbers of various sectors of the economy are available with a lag. Congratulations, India. Another two years to go before India becomes the 3rd largest nation in terms of Global GDP by overtaking Japan at $4.4 trillion and Germany at $4.3 trillion. The Tricolour surge continues! Jai Hind, Adani said on social media platform X. Many political leaders, including Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis hailed the achievement. Indias moment of global glory as our GDP crosses $4 Trillion.The rise of #NewIndia under PM @narendramodi jis leadership is truly unparalleled, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said in a post on X. Another Cabinet Minister, G Kishan Reddy in a post said, BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Turkmenistan supports gender equality in all areas, Chair of the Central Council of the Women's Union of Turkmenistan Akjemal Durdiyeva said at the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment", Trend reports. Respect for women is reflected in the mentality of the Turkmen people. Gender equality is one of the main directions of our activities. All obligations to eradicate discrimination against women are being fulfilled, she added. Baku is hosting the NAM conference on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" under the joint organization of Azerbaijan (the current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (the future NAM chairs). The event is held on the basis of initiatives voiced by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The UK Embassy in Azerbaijan has revealed the main goals of the visit of UK Minister for Europe Leo Docherty to the South Caucasus, Trend reports. The embassy said that during the visit of Docherty will underline the unwavering support of the UK for the sovereignty and security principles. Furthermore, according to the embassy, he'll emphasize the urgent need for direct peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a long-term settlement for peace and stability. During his visit to the region, he will also discuss the agenda of democratic reforms in Armenia and Georgia, and promote the UK's expertise in aiding Azerbaijan's transition to renewable energy sources. "The UK was one of the first countries to support Azerbaijan in demining, providing advanced equipment, and conducting demining exercises for local authorities," the embassy reminded. "During his visit starting today to Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, Leo Docherty will emphasize that the UK is stepping up its cooperation and support for peace and stability in the South Caucasus," the embassy pointed out. "Ahead of his visit to Yerevan, he noted that "the South Caucasus faces significant security challenges, both internally and from its neighbors which threaten to destabilise the region. In a volatile region, the UK is a reliable partner for reform, peace, and stability," the embassy added. Docherty had previously traveled to Azerbaijan in February 2023. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The vessel was en route to Blue Lagoon Island when it began taking on water. Emile Knowles (left), of Knowles Construction and Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs Clay Sweeting during a contract signing in Bimini today. Govt wants to appeal judges ruling that officer was wrongly arrested and detained BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has refuted the claims of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan regarding Azerbaijan's alleged preparation for war, Trend reports. "I am not familiar with such statements from Azerbaijan at the state level. We have heard entirely different statements from the leadership of Azerbaijan, that specifically talks about completing one stage and the need to be ready for concluding a peace agreement," he said. Will be updated That release could not be found. A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Charles Airhiavbere, has declared his interest to contest Edo State governorship seat. While declaring, Airhiavberethe noted that the state needs a competent governor, irrespective of the zone. Airhiavbere, during a meeting with members of Oredo Ward 1 in his residence in Benin, spoke against the zoning of the governorship ticket to any of the three senatorial zones. He said the state needs a governor who would respect and restore the dignity of the Benin monarchy. Airhavbere said, I have always insisted that Edo State should be governed by a party that is in the centre because this is the heartbeat of the nation. How can the heartbeat be in another party and then you still say it is the heartbeat? We must trust the government at the federal level, and we must key in. That is why we are restating that bringing the state under the APC government is a task that must be done. That is one of the reasons I have decided to throw my hat into the ring and make sure that we rescue the state. We hear people saying there should be zoning; you can only zone what you have; if you dont have a daughter, you cannot give out a daughter in marriage. That is why the APC must present the best, and the best is standing before you. He said he has supported the candidates of the APC since 2016, and that is why I decided to come out. I told Edo people that it is the turn of GC. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. More than 56 percent of the staff in Iranian universities are women, Director of International Women's Affairs under the Iranian Foreign Ministry Zahra Vaziri Dozein said at the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment", Trend reports. I would especially like to highlight the role of Iranian women in running startups. In addition, women are a leading force in digital transformation. The government is helping women entrepreneurs by providing them with access to ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), she added. Dozein also expressed gratitude for such an important event under the honorary chairmanship of Azerbaijan. Baku is hosting the NAM conference on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" under the joint organization of Azerbaijan (the current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (the future NAM chairs). The event is held on the basis of initiatives voiced by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The Armenian armed forces conducted drills for civilians on the use of drones for military purposes, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's spokesman, Colonel Anar Eyvazov said at a joint briefing of the Foreign and Defense Ministries, Trend reports. "After the 44-day second Karabakh war, more than 10,000 anti-personnel and more than 3,000 anti-tank mines were detected in the territories liberated from occupation. Until the anti-terrorist activities conducted on September 19, weapons continued to be transported to these areas by illegal means," he said. "Moreover, the Armenian Armed Forces conducted drone drills for civilians so that they could use these drones to attack Azerbaijan's military and civilian infrastructure," he said. Eyvazov went on to note that one video captured via a remote control, clearly shows that Armenians have been planning provocative activities targeting servicemen, civilians and civilian infrastructure. "Fortunately, due to timely conducted local anti-terror measures, not only the provision of the trilateral agreement was enforced, but also a number of Armenian provocations were suppressed," Eyvazov said. A joint briefing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan was held in Baku today. The briefing was attended by the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ayhan Hajizada and the head of the press service of the Ministry of Defense, Colonel Anar Eyvazov. The All India Fair Price Shop Dealers Federation (AIFPSDF) has decided to go for an indefinite Ration Bandh from 1 January 2024 on various issues. The AIFPSDF national general secretary Biswambhar Basu in a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has informed the latter of the decision to go on strike for an an indefinite period. Mr Basu has mentioned 16 issues in the letter, which was written on 15 November 2023 to Mr Modi. The AIFPSDF has demanded that margins should be increased to ensure viability of Fair Price Shop (FPS). It also said honorarium of Rs 50,000 can ensure a fixed monthly income of a FPS dealer. The Federation also pointed out technical problems in linking ration distribution to Aadhaar numbers, like non-availability of data network, server failures, mismatch of fingerprints and requested the PM for an alternative arrangements which should be ensured to minimise harassment of consumers. The Federation, demanding suitable amendment in the NFSA (National Food Security Act), urged that the government should grant advance margin as provided for in the NFSA. Mr Basu has informed the PM that some state governments like Punjab, Chhattisgarh are paying margins to the FPS dealers at lower rate than what in prescribed in the NFSA. Advertisement It urged that the concerned state governments be advised not to hold back the due margins to the FPS Dealers as notified in the NFSA. It also urged that state governments like Assam and Meghalaya may be advised to do away with the middlemen system like wholesaler/ distributor to avoid leakage and sharing the margins allowed to the FPS dealers. Mr Bose also pointed out even after discontinuation of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojona since January 2023, FPS dealers are not getting margins on that count in some states like Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Nagaland, Odiham, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and others. Although the Border Security Force (BSF) is trying hand to check anti national activities and reduce their number, Indian villagers are still engaged in crime along IndoBangladesh border. Troops of the North Bengal Frontier BSF, deployed on Indo-Bangladesh border, apprehended seven Indian and one Bangladeshi since yesterday. Acting on a tip off, troops of Border Outpost Elendry of 91 Battalion BSF, under Raiganj Sector of North Bengal Frontier deployed on Indo-Bangladesh border in South Dinajpur district apprehended three Indians ~ Shankar Roy (26), Mujahar Ali (34) and Imran Hauque (24) ~ from the general area of Chakrashail village (approximately 800 metres from the BOP Elendry while the trio were moving suspiciously on a bike. On search, the BSF recovered 193 bottles of R C Cuff DX Syrup from the cavity of the bike which were hidden clandestinely for smuggling purposes. In another incident, on the same day, acting on a tip off, troops of BOP Arjun of 06 Battalion BSF under Jalpaiguri Sector deployed on the border in Coochbehar district apprehended one Bangladeshi, Sujit Chandra Das, resident of Chittagong in Bangladesh, while he was moving suspiciously on a bike in the general area of BOP Arjun. Advertisement Meanwhile, the Indian bike driver managed to flee. However, the mobile of the fleed bike driver was left with the apprehended Bangladeshi. After on the spot questioning of Surjit Chandra Das and with the help of the mobile of the bike driver, BSF party apprehended an Indian tout identified as Saikat (19), son of Biraj Das, resident of Takimari Millanpally village in Jalpaiguri with his two associates Sushanta Das (23) and Babu Das (27) along with a car from the general area of Changrabandha. The apprehended Indian tout and his associates came to the general area of Changrabandha to receive the apprehended Bangladeshi Sujit Chandra Das. Das came to India to earn his livelihood, BSF authorities said. The BSF personnel seized one car, one bike, four Mobile and Indian currency amounting to Rs 2250. In another separate incident, on Saturday at about 2230 hours, troops of BOP Bhimpur of 61 Battalion BSF under Raiganj Sector apprehended an Indian identified as Tapas Pal (26) resident of Hilli in South Dinajpur district and seized 50 bottles of Fairdyl from him. Troops of the North Bengal Frontier BSF carried out anti-smuggling drive in their respective border areas, from 14 to 19 November 2023 and seized 18 cattle, 919 bottles of Phensedyl group of syrup, and other contraband items from different border areas, a senior BSF official said At a time when the construction of the proposed Jagannath temple in Digha is almost complete and which could be opened this year, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, today said that state government should call it a culture Troops of the North Bengal Frontier BSF carried out anti-smuggling drive from 14 to 19 November 2023, and seized a total of 18 cattle and 819 bottles of Phensedyl group of cough syrups The police suspect the incident to be a case of murder-cumsuicide. On the basis of preliminary inquiry, they believe that the head of the family first killed his wife and their two children and then took his own life by hanging himself from the ceiling fan in one of the rooms centre rather than a temple. In response to inquiries surrounding the construction of the Jagannath temple in Digha, Mr Adhikari maintained that the West Bengal government is not building a temple but rather a Cultural Centre. Mr Adhikari said that the Constitution of India prohibits the use of taxpayers money for the construction of religious infrastructure by government entities. He said that neither the West Bengal government nor its agencies possess the legal or religious authority to construct a temple for Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra. Drawing a parallel, he highlighted that the Central government and the Uttar Pradesh Government are not funding the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Instead, the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerath Kshetra Trust is financing the project through donations from Hindus worldwide. Advertisement Govinda has officially confirmed the reconciliation with filmmaker David Dhawan, putting to rest any lingering rumors about their past differences. In an exclusive revelation, Govinda disclosed that their patch-up had occurred well before the recent Diwali festivity, during which they were seen engaged in conversation at Ramesh Tauranis celebration. In a recent interview, Govinda shared that when they met, the focus was not on revisiting the past or engaging in what he termed as filmy talk. The actor expressed his joy at the enduring support of fans who continue to hope for a collaboration between him and David Dhawan. I am glad people still feel that we should work together. Yeh unka pyaar hai (It is their love), said Govinda. Highlighting that the reconciliation had already taken place, Govinda emphasized that their encounter at the Diwali bash was the second since they buried the hatchet. He recounted the event as a pleasant celebration, filled with good food and enjoyable moments. Dismissing the need to dwell on the past, Govinda stated, We dont believe in raking up the past. Why mull over it? Thats not necessary. Let bygones be bygones. Advertisement During an interview with journalist Rajat Sharma, Govinda adopted a sarcastic tone when addressing the previous discord with David Dhawan. Reflecting on the extensive collaboration with the filmmaker, Govinda remarked, I dont imagine his son will also do 17 films with him. I had no idea what it meant to work on so many films with the same director. I didnt even treat my family members the way I treated him. My brother is also a filmmaker, although I havent worked on 17 films with him. While David Dhawan has not publicly responded to Govindas comments, a source close to the filmmaker offered insights on the matter. The source conveyed, If Govinda believes that the 17 films he made with David are the reason for him to be forever grateful, David may do the same. But he wont do it. This perspective sheds light on the complexity of their professional relationship and suggests that while Govinda may harbor sentiments of gratitude, David Dhawan may not reciprocate in a similar manner. Reports indicate that Govinda experienced a sense of disappointment when David Dhawan collaborated with other actors such as Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, potentially contributing to the strain in their working relationship. However, with the recent patch-up and their shared focus on positive memories, it appears that both parties are eager to move forward and leave the past behind. Popular Malayalam actress Karthika Nair, recognized for her roles in films like Proprietors: Kamath and Kamath, recently exchanged vows with Rohit Menon in a solemn ceremony held in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. The joyous occasion was documented by the actress on her Instagram account, where she shared glimpses of the wedding, captioning it, Our royal fairy tale begins. This matrimonial union follows Karthikas introduction of Rohit a month ago through a social media post featuring his photo. The engagement of the couple had taken place recently, adding to the excitement surrounding the wedding. Karthika, the daughter of veteran actors Radha and Rajasekharan Nair, had taken a hiatus from the South Indian film industry in 2015 after featuring in several films. The wedding, a grand affair, attracted the presence of notable personalities from the South Indian film fraternity. Among the attendees was the renowned actor Chiranjeevi, a close friend of Radha. The actor, along with Radikaa Sarathkumar, graced the ceremony, capturing moments in photographs. The event also saw the participation of industry stalwarts like K Bhagyaraj, accompanied by his wife, actor Poornima Bhagyaraj, as well as Revathy and Suhasini Maniratnam. Advertisement Karthika Nair stepped into the film industry with her debut in the 2009 Telugu film Josh, starring alongside Naga Chaitanya. However, it was her second Tamil film, Ko, featuring Jiiva and Piaa Bajpai, that catapulted her to fame. The actress gained further recognition with her role in the Malayalam film Proprietors: Kammath & Kammath, opposite Dileep. Known for her prowess in action-oriented roles, Karthika showcased her versatility in films such as the comedy Brother of Bommali, the socially charged Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai, and the Hindi epic TV series Aarambh. After retiring from the movie scene in 2015, Karthika made her television debut in 2017 with the epic drama Aarambh. The series, written by V. Vijayendra Prasad and directed by Goldie Behl, aired on Star Plus and featured her opposite Rajneesh Duggal. In Aarambh, Karthika portrayed the character of Devasena, a warrior queen, receiving acclaim from both audiences and critics. The show concluded its run on 10 September 2017, marking a significant chapter in Karthikas career. 29 Myanmarese soldiers, who had sought refuge in Mizoram after clashing with the Peoples Defence Force (PDF), were repatriated on Sunday. A total of 74 officers and personnel from the Myanmar army safely escorted back after their camps were overrun by pro-democracy militia groups. The soldiers, part of the Myanmar army, fled to Mizoram on November 16 following the takeover of their camp in Tuibual, Chin state, near the Indo-Myanmar border by the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF), a faction of the PDF. Indian defense authorities airlifted them to Moreh, Manipur, from where they crossed into Tamu, Myanmars neighboring town. Inclement weather delayed their evacuation on Friday and Saturday, extending their stay in India. Upon their arrival at Saikhumphai hamlet near the Tiau River, serving as the natural boundary between India and Myanmar, they were received by the Assam Rifles and state police. Advertisement Under the care of the Assam Rifles, the soldiers were repatriated to Myanmar on Sunday. Earlier, 45 soldiers from Myanmar, who had fled to Mizoram after PDF overran their military camps at Khawmawi and Rihkhawdar, were also sent back to their country. The situation along the Indo-Myanmar border has remained peaceful since November 15, with no reported clashes. Most of the 5,000 individuals seeking shelter in Mizoram due to recent conflicts have returned to their villages in Myanmar. Mizoram shares a 510-km-long porous international border with Myanmar and has been a haven for over 31,000 refugees since the military coup in February 2021, primarily comprising members of the Chin community. Both Chins and Mizos belong to the Zo ethnic group, fostering a shared cultural and ethnic background between the communities. A dancing party was purportedly held on the grounds of the revered Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, infuriating the Sikh community with its horrific act that hurt their feelings. Numerous Sikh leaders have voiced their ire in public.BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said: We had objected to the appointment of a non-Sikh person as CEO of PMU Kartarpur Corridor in 2021. Since the management board has no knowledge of Sikh Maryada; we were afraid that there might be blasphemous actions at Gurdwara complex. Our fear has come true when a video of CEO Sayed Abu Bakar Qureshi drinking alcohol and eating meat at Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara complex went viral yesterday!! We demand immediate dissolution of this PMU headed by Muslims whose actions have hurt the sentiments of Sikhs worldwide. @GovtofPakistan should hand over the mangt of Gurdwara Sahib to a Sikh body that adheres to Sikhi ethos and principles. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committees general secretary, Jagdip Singh Kahlon, has said that serving meat and drink during the celebration is against Sikh tradition. Advertisement He called on the Pakistani government to take action against the perpetrators and vehemently denounced the act.Unacceptable! I strongly condemn the sacrilegious incident within the sacred premises of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib where a party was organised involving alcohol & meat. @GovtofPakistan should take swift action against all responsible people, Kahlon posted on X (formerly Twitter). Similar event occurred in 2021 when pictures of a Pakistani model within the Gurdwara complex with her head exposed caused a lot of backlash on social media. President of the SGPC Harjinder Singh Dhami emphasized that it would be a breach ofmaryada and Sikh sensibilities if the event took place within the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib complex, especially in a location that is so strongly connected to Guru Nanak Dev.Concerns on the necessity for proper maintenance of sacred places and strict adherence to Sikhrehat maryada have been rekindled by this tragedy. In a major verdict, the Allahabad High Court has approved the Uttar Pradesh governments plan to build a corridor around the Banke Bihari Temple in Vrindavan, Mathura. However, the court has not given permission to use the money deposited in the bank account of the temple for building the corridor. The decision came days before Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Mathura-Vrindavan on November 23. The bench comprising Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava held that they will not accept the requested by the government counsel for use of Rs 262.50 crore of the deity. Advertisement The court has said that the government should move ahead with its proposed plan but should also ensure that the visitors do not face any hindrance in their darshan. The court has also given permission to the government to remove the encroachments that have become a hindrance in building the corridor and the government will have to construct the corridor at its own expense. The corridor of Banke Bihari Temple will be built on the lines of the corridor built in Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Varanasi. After the completion of the hearing on November 8, the High Court reserved its decision. Now, the next hearing of the case will be on 31 January 2024. A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed on behalf of petitioners Anant Sharma, Madhumangal Das, and others. The priests of the temple had termed the construction of the corridor as unnecessary and had flatly refused to give the amount of offerings and donations. The priests are protesting against the Banke Bihari Temple Corridor, whereas the government wants to build this corridor, keeping in mind the convenience of the devotees. In Punjab, the statistics are strikingly positive. The count of fires decreased from 83,002 in 2020 to 71,304 in 2021, further dropping to 49,922 in 2022, and significantly declining to 36,663 in 2023 Abbas Ganbay "The confrontation between Baku and Yerevan is over, we should think about the future," said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko during his meeting with CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, Azernews reports. "The confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan has also ended. We need to think about the future - how to organize the life of the two states there," the President stressed. Alexander Lukashenko gave a positive assessment of the fact that at this moment in the south in Central Asia, it was possible to find a solution to some conflict that existed between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. "It is clear that both there and here the problems have been accumulating for not one year, not two, not three, and not five. These are long-standing painful points. But there is a positive trend in this regard. This is not because of our chairmanship of the CSTO in the current intercessional period. But this period saw these good steps, a moment, a movement, a trend towards calming down the situation in the post-Soviet space. I emphasize once again, in the CSTO area of responsibility. Because both Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are members of the CSTO," said Alexander Lukashenko. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The preliminary investigation into the criminal case against the Armenian saboteur Gagik Voskanyan, detained in Azerbaijan's Kalbajar district, has been completed, Trend reports. The materials of the criminal case were sent for consideration to the Ganja Court of Grave Crimes. On August 16, at about 11:00 (GMT+4), members of the Armenian armed formations and a group of persons who colluded with them illegally crossed the state border of Azerbaijan with firearms and ammunition in order to violate public security in Azerbaijan, incite national enmity, harm people's health, and damage property of important importance. They opened fire with firearms on the military personnel of the military unit located on the territory of Istisu village in the Kalbajar district, threatening to use force against them and commit a terrorist act. A member of a sabotage group was detained by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, and weapons and ammunition were seized from him. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday mocked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for mistakenly naming Rahul Gandhi in place of his father Rajiv Gandhi while highlighting the sacrifices Congress leaders have made for the country. Addressing a rally in poll-bound Rajasthans Anupgarh, Kharge said, Rahul Gandhi sacrificed his life for the countrys unity. However, he was soon made aware of his faux pass by those surrounding him, promoting him to correct his mistake. Advertisement I apologise, I mistakenly named Rahul Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi gave up his life for the unity of the country, Kharge said. He then attacked the BJP and added, While the Congress party has leaders who gave their lives for the nation, the BJP has leaders who take lives. However, the BJP was quick to react on Kharges gaffe involving Rahul Gandhi and quipped, When did this happen? Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also on campaign trail in Rajasthan on Monday. The prime minister addresses a rally in Hanumangarh districts Pilibanga where he asked people of Rajasthan to sweep out the Congress from every corner of the state. You tell me, does the Congress, which does not care about your life, has the right to remain in power for even a single day? Diwali has just passed. Our mothers and sisters work 15-16 hours at home. But when Diwali comes, they even clean the corners of the house. This election is also the Diwali of democracy. Sweep out the Congress in such a way that this Congress is not left even in any corner, PM Modi said. The BJP and Congress are fighting it out in Rajasthan where assembly elections are due to be hold later this week on November 25. The results will be announced on December 3. The Supreme Court Monday issued a notice to the Centre over Kerala Governments plea against Governor Arif Mohammad Khans inaction on several bills that are waiting for his assent for more than a year. Earlier this month, the Kerala government had moved a writ petition in the Supreme Court against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan for inaction on his part regarding eight Bills passed by the state legislature and presented to him for his assent under Article 200 of the Constitution. The petition said that three Bills have been pending before the Governor for more than 2 years and some of them for over one year. Advertisement Hearing the plea, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud issued a notice to the Centre and Additional Chief Secretary to the Kerala Governor. The court asked the attorney general to assist on the matter and listed it on November 22. The Kerala government was represented by former attorney general of India and senior advocate KK Venugopal. He told the court that as many as eight bills are pending for many months and sought appropriate orders in relation to the inaction on part of the Kerala Governor. Besides, the top court also heard a similar petition filed by two more Opposition-ruled state governments Tamil Nadu and Punjab. The court asked tough questions of Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi over the delay in the bills. These bills were pending since 2020 what was he doing for three years? it asked. The top court also raised another question can a Governor withhold assent on a bill without sending it back to the Assembly? The top court remarks follows dramatic run events in Tamil Nadu. A few days ago, Governor Ravi returned 10 bills, including the two passed by the previous AIADMK government. Following this, Tamil Nadu government called a special assembly session on Saturday to re-adopt all the ten bills and sent them back to the Governor for his assent. The court adjourned the matter till December 1, saying Assembly has passed the bills again and sent it to the Governor. Let us see what Governor does. Uttarakhand tunnel rescue latest update: As many as 41 construction workers continued to remain trapped under the debris of a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhands Uttarkashi on the ninth day on Monday as rescue teams struggle to find a way to extract them. As the rescue teams race against time to save the trapped workers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to take stock of the situation. The prime minister has asked rescuers to keep the morale of the workers high. Below are the 10 points on the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue: Advertisement In latest development, rescue teams have successfully installed a new six inch pipe to supply food to the trapped workers. The prime minister has spoken to Uttarakhand CM to take stock of the situation. He stressed on the need to keep the workers morale high as they continue to remain trapped for more nine days. After the horizontal drilling plan was met with e setback, rescue teams derived a new plan to drill a vertical hole on top of the hill under which the collapsed tunnel is located. However, the vertical drilling also halted yesterday evening after hitting a snag. The rescue operation is likely to take 5 more days to complete. Meanwhile, international tunneling expert Arnold Dix Monday arrived at the spot to review the progress of the rescue work. Dix heads the Geneva-based International Tunneling and Underground Space Association. The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has also sent two robots to assist in the rescue mission. Earlier, Union Minister of Road and Transport Nitin Gadkari also reached the spot and offered Centres full support. Gadkari has also assured a thorough inquiry once the rescue operation is completed. A team from the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has recently paid a visit to the collapsed tunnel site and keeping an eye on the entire rescue operation. At least 41 workers are trapped inside a 400 meter buffer zone of the unfinished tunnel after a portion it collapsed following a landslide on November 12. The tunnel is part of the Char Dham all-weather road. Known as the silent voters, there were more women voters than men in two of the three states that recently held elections in Mizoram and Chhattisgarh. In Chhattisgarh, the second round of voting finished last week. This completes the voting process in each of the states ninety assembly. According to figures released on Sunday by the Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) of Chhattisgarh, 1.55 crore people cast ballots in all 90 assembly. Among them, 77.48 lakh were men and 78.12 lakh were women. There are 1.97 crore voters in the state, consisting of 98.2 lakh men and 98.5 lakh women. The participation rate was 76.47% in the first phase and 75.88% in the second. The CEO said that women outnumbered males in voting turnout in up to 50 assemblies, or more than half. Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Dantewada, Bijapur, and Konta were among them. In sixteen of the twenty seats that were polled in the first round, women outnumbered males. Advertisement In addition to the second phase of elections in Chhattisgarh, all 230 legislatures in Madhya Pradesh held elections on Friday. Voter turnout in the state was 77.15%, 1.52% more than in 2018. The state had more men than women. According to data from the state CEO, male voter participation was 78.21%, while female voter turnout was 76.03%. 2.85 crore men and 2.67 crore women make up the states 5.52 crore registered voters. Elections for the Mizoram legislature were held on November 7. Like Chhattisgarh, women voters outnumbered males there as well. 80.66% of voters turned out in the state. The state CEOs data indicates that 81.25% of women and 80.04% of males cast ballots. There are 8.38 lakh voters in Mizoram, 4.32 lakh of them are women. On December 3, the votes from these two states and the other two that havent held elections will be tallied. Telangana will hold elections on November 30 and Rajasthan on November 25. Large-scale protests that erupted in 2022 across Iran, centering on womens rights, captured the worlds attention. Iranians peacefully protested in the streets of places ranging from Tehran to small towns across the country, chanting, Woman, life, freedom. The protests reflected many Iranians growing frustration with the political regime in power since 1979 and its ongoing violation of citizens basic rights, especially those of women and other historically marginalized groups. While the latest wave of street protests dwindled by the first few months of 2023, nonviolent protests for freedom, democracy and equality have a long history in Iran and continue today. The Nobel Peace Prize committee granted its 2023 prize to Narges Mohammadi, a prominent and currently imprisoned womens rights advocate in Iran. This recognized popular resistance to Irans authoritarian regime. As a scholar of womens rights in Muslim cultures, I have documented womens political activism in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. My research shows that even when women are not demonstrating en masse in the streets, they consistently fight against gender discrimination, often at their own peril. In 1979, Iran underwent a major political revolution after protesters toppled the countrys long-standing secular monarchy. In its place, conservative clerics established an Islamic government. Advertisement One key feature of the new government was greatly restricting womens rights, such as forcing all women to appear in public with a proper hijab, or a modest form of dress that covers their hair and body, while only their face and hands are uncovered. Although many Iranian women protested mandatory hijab, by 1981 the new Iranian government began to enforce it. Today, women and teen girls in Iran who appear in public with improper hijab, or showing parts of their hair or body, risk punishment, ranging from monetary fines to imprisonment. Iranian women have been campaigning against such discriminatory laws by publicly demanding their rights from the regime throughout the years. Womens protests resulted in a few legal changes, like the government recognizing womens rights to get custody of their children in some circumstances, or establishing some grounds for women to ask for a divorce. But women and girls continue to have few rights compared with men and routinely experience gender discrimination in Iran. The latest round of women-led protests in Iran erupted after police killed a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman named Mahsa Jhina Amini in September 2022. Police officers beat her while she was in custody for allegedly violating the mandatory hijab laws. For months, women led the vast majority of the protests across Iran, risking their lives and freedom. Within the first five months of the protests, police imprisoned nearly 20,000 activists and protesters. While the majority of the protesters were later pardoned and released, an unknown number still remain behind bars. The protests also resulted in police killing at least 500 individuals, many of them children. While these mass protests have died down, political activism in the name of equality and freedom in Iran remains vibrant and active it has just taken on different forms. One new dimension to Irans women rights movement is that widely recognized, imprisoned female activists continue to leak statements and voice recordings, decrying their conditions in prison and encouraging activists to keep up their work. Discussions about womens rights activism are also increasingly happening in private forums on Telegram, WhatsApp channels and other social media platforms. Women also continue to quietly engage in civil disobedience although this comes with its own risks. One example is Iranian women simply not covering their hair when they appear in public. One 2023 report estimates that at least 20 per cent of Iranian women defy Irans mandatory hijab laws. In October 2023, Irans notorious morality police beat and killed 17- year-old Armita Geravand after she appeared unveiled on her way to school. Other women are refusing to back down, despite Iran banning female students and faculty with improper hijab from entering university campuses or receiving their course credits or degrees. One Tehran university faculty member described to me how she covered her hair, but not with a maghnaeh, the state-mandated form of hijab that drapes over hair and shoulders, tightening around the face. I cover my hair, but not with a maghnaeh, rather with a loose headscarf. I am determined to appear as so and to support my students. I am not alone in dressing this way, this woman said. Iranian authorities have been debating another controversial bill that would make punishments for women who defy the hijab laws more severe. The new bill authorizes use of facial recognition and social media surveillance to identify and punish women who do not observe the hijab as mandated by the conservative authorities. Iranian women and human rights activists living abroad have also been active in organizing conferences, workshops and podcasts on supporting pro-democratic uprisings inside Iran. As one Iranian womens rights activist based in the United States recently explained, The Iranian womens rights movement currently benefits from dual forms of activism: one inside Iran and the other by the Iranian diaspora. Since the 2022 protests, womens rights advocates inside and outside of the country have formed stronger networks. These advocates have positioned womens rights and gender equality as key demands for the future of Iran, as some feminists outlined in a recently published Iran Womens Bill of Rights. The Iranian regime, meanwhile, has tried to ward off any kind of dissent. Just weeks prior to the one-year anniversary of Aminis killing and planned memorial events, Iranian authorities preemptively arrested several womens rights defenders in August 2023. The authorities appeared to fear new street protests. The government has also pressured the families of killed protestors to refrain from holding any memorial services. The rationale is that such gatherings would lead to more protests. These government crackdowns on womens rights defenders and any potential protests show the strength and viability of the Iranian womens rights movement. As the previous decades of resistance demonstrate, womens nonviolent activism for democracy and freedom will continue, despite state violence. (The writer is Associate Professor of International Relations and Womens, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Agnes Scott College. This article was published on www.theconversation.com) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) finds itself walking a delicate tight-rope as it strives to maintain diplomatic ties with Israel amid the Gaza conflict. While the 2020 Abraham Accords, brokered by the USA, heralded a new era of relations, the UAEs stance today reveals the complexities of diplomatic balancing acts. The UAE hopes to keep engaging with Israel to be in a position to influence Tel-Avivs Gaza campaign while safeguarding its own interests. Despite the mounting toll of the conflict and international outcry, the UAE remains resolute in its determination to play a moderating role. The decision to establish ties with Israel was ground-breaking, ending a 30-year Arab taboo on normalising relations without progress on the Palestinian front. However, the current crisis highlights the challenges inherent in navigating such uncharted diplomatic waters. The UAEs condemnation of Israels actions is vocal and public, reflecting a commitment to upholding humanitarian principles. This public stance, however, doesnt negate the behind-the-scenes efforts to influence Israels behaviour. Its a nuanced dance of diplomacy, where condemnation coexists with a desire for moderation, reflecting the UAEs intricate regional positioning. The frustration with Washingtons perceived inaction underscores the urgency the UAE places on resolving the conflict swiftly. As a key security partner hosting American forces, the UAE expects more from its ally. A key advisors call for addressing the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian issue reflects a broader concern about the potential ramifications of an unresolved conflict on regional stability. Economic and security ties between the UAE and Israel have flourished since the normalisation in 2020. With bilateral trade surpassing $6 billion and collaborative defence efforts, the relationship represents a strategic priority for Abu Dhabi. This alliance, motivated partly by shared concerns over Iran, has weathered the storms of regional geopolitics. However, there are concerns within the UAE about Israeli actions, specifically the expansion of settlements and visits to sensitive religious sites. These concerns hint at a tension between economic interests and the UAEs commitment to stability in the region. The UAEs insistence on an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and calls for de-escalation in collaboration with Qatar showcase a regional effort to address the immediate crisis. The emphasis on a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the region, as stated by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, underscores a commitment beyond the immediate conflict resolution. In essence, the UAEs diplomatic ties with Israel is a narrative of pragmatic engagement amid a turbulent regional backdrop. Its an exploration of how a nation, driven by economic interests and shared concerns, grapples with the complexities of balancing diplomatic ties with moral imperatives. As the Gaza crisis unfolds, this approach offers a case study in the evolving dynamics of diplomacy in West Asia where economic cooperation and regional stability walk a precarious tight-rope. Advertisement Israel is perhaps the only country across the bitterly contested politics of the United States that enjoys bipartisan support. Irrespective of the interchanging dispensations, Israel remains the largest recipient of US foreign aid and managed to secure the crucial veto vote (on resolutions condemning Israel) in the United Nations Security Council, on 42 of the 83 occasions that Washington invoked this power. From avowed Democrats like John F Kennedy to hawkish Republicans like Ronald Reagan, each administration has offered unqualified support to Israel. A supposedly pacifist Democrat like President Joe Biden is solidly behind Israel as it goes about pummeling the Gaza Strip with little or no concern for the international outcry. A brazenly Redneck President like Donald Trump would have his own resonance; as a left-leaning Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, once noted ~ if Israel were to be a US State, then it would be the reddest state in the Union! However, there was one US President who did subtly but surely, put a question to the blind fawning and following of Israeli actions, and that was Barack Obama. False innuendoes about Obamas purported personal faith determining his antipathy towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in effect that he was biased owing to his Kenyan fathers religion, is factually wrong. Obama is a practicing Protestant Christian and more importantly had secured an overwhelming 78 and 69 per cent of the total Jewish votes cast in his two successful Presidential bids, even when the total national vote in his favour had been 53 and 51 per cent, respectively. Advertisement The key difference in the outlooks of Obama and Netanyahu was not religious or even about the sovereign idea of Israel ~ but about the ideological difference on how to address the Israel-Palestine issue, as also other concerns like Iran. In fact, the Obama administration had sanctioned more aid for Israels defense than any administration before his, but the natural tensions between an ultra-liberal President and an ultra-conservative Prime Minister were inevitable, practically. In the impatient and baiting eyes of Netanyahu, Obama sought and demanded too many concessions and compromises from his allies (read, Israel), as opposed to from enemies ~ except, that Obama did not see Palestinians or their cause as enemy, but only the likes of Hamas or Hezbollah. Obamas instinct and drift towards rapprochement and peace moves had led to the unprecedented engagement with Iran, to the discomfiture of Netanyahu. Obama believed in the power of constant engagement with the proverbial other in an argument, as opposed to sabrerattling and warmongering. The net result was the signing of the Iran Nuclear Deal, which he described in his farewell address as having managed to shut down Irans nuclear program without firing a shot! Netanyahu was left fuming, saying that it was a historic mistake. It took Netanyahus likeminded Trump to unilaterally renege on the Iran Nuclear Deal (which Iran was fully complying with, as per the watchdog agency IAEA) and took more provocative steps to endear himself to the Israeli leader like moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thereby negating the possibilities of making East Jerusalem the capital of an independent Palestinian State. Clearly, Obama was not a chest-thumper like Trump or Netanyahu, as he recognised the long-term threats in dishonoring and diminishing the TwoState Solution imperatives, that were officially agreed to by all, including Israel. Obama had supported strengthening Israels defense and the right to exist, whilst slamming all extremist forces like the Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaida, Taliban etc. during his tenure. But unlike Obama, Netanyahu persisted only with the scorched earth policy, without consideration for Palestinian sensitivities. In a prophetic speech in Jerusalem on 21 March 2013, Obama reiterated sovereign Israel as an idea that people deserve to be free in a land of their own and then went on to make significant cautionary notes. He insisted, the only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine, a thought that might not have pleased the Israeli hardliners. Obama proceeded to warn on something that recently came true, Israel needs to reverse an undertow of isolation. And given the march of technology, the only way to truly protect the Israeli people over the long term is through the absence of war. Because no wall is high enough and no Iron Dome is strong enough or perfect enough to stop every enemy that is intent on doing so from inflicting harm. Facts bear out that as thawing measures were not explored in the last decade, the enemy did pierce the Israeli wherewithal. Obama had also alluded to the tinderbox of frustrations that was brewing, Put yourself in their shoes. Look at the world through their eyes. It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of their own, and the dam did eventually burst. Obama presciently shared, Negotiations will be necessary, but theres little secret about where they must lead ~ two states for two peoples. And then repeated for good measure, Two states for two peoples! Days before demitting office, Obama hoped to send a desperate message to Netanyahu when his administration decided to abstain from voting on a UNSC resolution that demanded Israel stop settlement construction on occupied Palestinian lands. Netanyahu was expectedly livid and blamed Obama singularly. Netanyahu hen did everything possible to muzzle the Palestinian perspective over the next decade, and he had an able ally in Trump and now, Biden. The Iran Nuclear Deal was never revived (as initially promised by Biden in his Presidential bid) and basically Netanyahu had a free run to ride roughshod on all Palestinian demands and aspirations ~ soon he openly pooh poohed the Two-State Solution. All along, the unvented Palestinian frustrations were getting fanned, ignored (even by Arab Sheikhdoms who started normalising relations with Israel) and then the despicable terror attack by Hamas on 7 October happened. Rightfully the terror attack was slammed and condemned by all right-thinking people but the run-up to the same in the form of amoral denialism and humiliation that was inflicted, before and after this attack, on the hapless Palestinians, remains underreported and underappreciated. How Netanyahus scorched earth approach will help the cause of security for Israel is something only time will tell ~ history and wise counsel from those like Obama (as opposed to the likes of Trump) will still suggest that besides strengthening defenses, dialogue and compromise is the only way forward as envisioned by the still best idea of a Two-State Solution. (The writer is Lt Gen PVSM, AVSM (Retd), and former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry) More than500 employees of OpenAI called on the companys board to resign in protest against Sam Altmans sacking as CEO. They have signed a joint letter saying they may quit and join Altman at Microsoft unless the startups board resigns. They have also demanded the ousted CEO is reinstated. The employees also accused the board of undermining Artificial intelligence startup firms work. Surprisingly, OpenAIs chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, who is a member of the board which fired Altman has also put his name to the letter. In a post on X, Sutskever regretted his participation in the boards actions and admitted that he made a mistake. Advertisement Now I deeply regret my participation in the boards actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything weve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company, he wrote. The letter comes amid Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadellas announcement that Altman will join lead Microsofts new advanced AI research team. Meanwhile OpenAI has appointed former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear as its new CEO. Earlier, Mira Murati, the Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI was made interim CEO of the company following Altman sacking. The tech companys board had on Friday sacked Altman over a Google Meet call. They later shared a detailed statement in a blog giving more insights about there decision. The board said that it has lost confidence in Altmans abilities to lead the AI startup. It also said that Altman has not been candid in his conversations with the board members lately. Reacting to the OpenAI boards decision, Altman and Greg Brockman, OpenAI president who also stepped down in solidarity with him, said that the decision came as a surprise for them as well. Some of the OpenAIs investors reportedly pushed the board to reinstate Altman but the board defied them and appointed Shear to lead the company. In the backdrop of Chinas aggressive posturing on maritime matters, India and Australia on Monday agreed that a strong defence partnership between them will augur well not just for their mutual benefit but also for the overall security of the Indo-Pacific. The two nations discussed the situation in the Indo-Pacific at length and also considered ways to deepen their security and strategic cooperation to meet the present day challenges at the second 2+2 India-Australia ministerial dialogue held here. The two sides also discussed various regional and global developments, including the Israel-Hamas conflict, at the dialogue. Advertisement Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar co-chaired the meeting on behalf of India, while the Australian delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong. The two sides also reviewed their achievements in consolidating bilateral ties under the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. They also exchanged views on shared priorities for strengthening ministerial and multilateral cooperation. Singh also held a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart before the 2+2 dialogue. Both the ministers reaffirmed their commitment towards further strengthening the bilateral defence relations. They expressed satisfaction at the increasing military-to-military cooperation between the two countries, including joint exercises, exchanges and institutional dialogue. The minister also congratulated Marles on the maiden and successful conduct of multilateral exercise Malabar by Australia in August this year. Both the ministers underscored the importance to further enhance cooperation in information exchange and maritime domain awareness between the two countries. They are also in an advanced stage of discussion to conclude implementing arrangements on hydrography cooperation and cooperation for air-to-air refueling. The Indian minister emphasised that the forces of the two countries should also look at cooperating in niche training areas like artificial intelligence, anti-submarine and anti-drone warfare and cyber domain. The two agreed that deepening cooperation in defence industry and research would give a fillip to the already strong relationship. After the 2+2 ministerial dialogue, Jaishankar and Wong will hold the 14th Foreign Ministerial Framework Dialogue (FMFD) on Tuesday to take stock of cooperation under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. The inaugural India-Australia 2+2 ministerial dialogue was held on September 11, 2021 in New Delhi pursuant to the elevation of the Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the first virtual summit held on June 4, 2020. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Monday shared a CCTV footage that purportedly shows Israeli hostages inside Gazas al-Shifa Hospital. The CCTV footage, IDF said, has proved that Hamas used Al-Shifa hospital as terrorists infrastructure. The footage shared by IDF shows four-five armed men bringing an injured man on a stretcher. In another video, a man is seen resisting armed men while being brought to the a building that resembles a hospital set-up. IDF claimed the both were hostages. This is documentation from Shifa Hospital from the day of the massacre, October 7, 2023, between the hours of 10:42 a.m and 11:01 a.m. in which hostages, a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian, were abducted from Israeli territory are seen surrounded by armed Hamas terrorists. One of the hostages is injured and is being carried on a hospital bed and the other is walking, IDF said in a post on X. Advertisement Addressing a press briefing, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that one of them a soldier identified as pl Noa Marciano, 19, was killed after being taken into al-Shifa hospital with minor injuries. EXPOSED: This is documentation from Shifa Hospital from the day of the massacre, October 7, 2023, between the hours of 10:42 a.m and 11:01 a.m. in which hostages, a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian, were abducted from Israeli territory are seen surrounded by armed Hamas pic.twitter.com/a5udjBw4wF Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) //twitter.com/IDF/status/1726319791865016493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>November 19, 2023 This morning we updated Noas family that according to our findings, she was kidnapped to a safe house near Shifa, the IDF chief spokesperson told reporters. During IDF air strikes in the area, the Hamas terrorist who was holding Noa was killed and she was wounded in the air strike, but not a life-threatening injury. Noa was taken inside Shifa hospital, where she was murdered by another Hamas terrorist. Earlier, Hamas had claimed that she was killed in an Israeli air strike which occured on November 9. Hagari said that the CCTV footage is from October 7, the day Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel in which over 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage. Israel has been under intense international pressure to substantiate its claim that Hamas is using Al-Shifa hospital as a command centre. Meanwhile Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said that the authenticity of the footage shared by Israeli military cant be confirmed and reiterated its claim of not having any command centre inside the medical facility. Hours before the CCTV footage, IDF also released a video that purportedly shows a tunnel below the ground with reinforced door. Israel claimed that the tunnel was inside the Al-Shifa Hospital. IDF said that the videos are part of the evidence that clearly proves several buildings in the hospitals vast complex have been used by Hamas as cover for terrorist infrastructure and activities. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Azerbaijan has suspended a number of twinning projects with the European Union, diplomatic sources told Trend. The so-called twinning projects implied EU officials "instructing" Azerbaijani government structures on how to work in accordance with European standards. As such, projects in the field of law enforcement, social security, and healthcare with Lithuania have been put on hold, while with Sweden and Greece projects in the field of migration have been suspended. The only exception made by the Azerbaijani side was for projects with Poland and Finland due to the balanced stance of these countries. Cooperation like that does not seem in the cards, given the "warnings" and "clear signals" coming from the "cheerleader" of Armenian separatism, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. Ahead of the 2+2 ministerial dialogue between the two countries on Monday, Australia has said its cooperation with India is at the heart of its approach to ensuring the Indo-Pacific remains open, inclusive and resilient. India is a top-tier security partner for Australia and our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is one of practical, tangible actions that directly benefit the IndoPacific region, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles said. This year has seen a number of firsts in our defence relationship, including an Indian submarine visit to Perth and Australias hosting of Exercise Malabar, demonstrating the growing closeness of our defence and security partnership, he said. Mr Marles and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong will hold the 2+2 ministerial dialogue with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi tomorrow. In a statement, the Australian government said the AustraliaIndia relationship has never been more consequential. We are working together through our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as Quad partners and beyond to promote a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, it added. Canberra said the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue is a cornerstone of the bilateral relationship and an opportunity to progress their work together to shape the type of region the two nations want. The ministers on the two sides will advance cooperation on their shared regional interests, including in defence, security, renewable energy and technology. Advertisement They will also discuss deepening trade and investment ties. The two sides will discuss ways to continue driving forward the AustraliaIndia defence relationship and discuss the shared challenges facing the region. Australian Foreign Minister Wong will also meet her counterpart Jaishankar for the long-standing annual Australia~India Foreign Ministers Framework Dialogue. Ms Wong, meanwhile, said: The IndiaAustralia partnership is central to the stability and prosperity of our shared region. Along with our deepening defence and security cooperation, Australia is committed to partnering with India more closely for the benefit of our region, in the Indian Ocean, in Southeast Asia and in the Pacific. Saint-Laurent, CA (H4T1V6) Today Cloudy skies with periods of light rain this afternoon. High around 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Periods of rain and snow. Low 32F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 90%. Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are urging a federal appeals court to revoke a gag order in the federal case charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election Real justice will be served when Trump is behind bars BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. A new era began in the region in the period after the Karabakh war, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Trend reports. "Some Western states still do not realize that after the Karabakh war a completely new era began in our region. The Armenian people and their leaders should seek security not thousands of kilometers away, but in peace and cooperation with their neighbors. Other states, manipulating Armenia for their own interests, caused enormous damage to the Armenians," he noted. Erdogan called on Armenia to agree to the peace proposed by Azerbaijan. Job Title: Data Scientist/Programmer Organisation: Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda Reports to: Senior Technical Advisor- Strategic Information About US: The Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC), the legal body of Catholic Bishops of Uganda with funding from Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) is implementing the Comprehensive HIV Epidemic Control project through FBO/PNFP health facilities in the seven CDC supported regions within Uganda. The project supports PNFP facilities in Masaka-Wakiso, Kampala, Mubende, Soroti, Hoima, West Nile and Rwenzori regions. Internally the project is known and shortened as FLASH- Faith Led Action to Sustain HIV Epidemic Control. The five year project (Oct 2020- Sept 2025) is in its 4th year of implementation. Job Summary: The Data Scientist/Programmer will organize, analyze and interpret data and statistical information to support project staff and stakeholders use it to make evidence-based decisions. Support the implementation of Health Information Systems at UEC through enhancing existing systems, developing and rolling out innovative tools for the data management cycle. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Documentation and Tools management Prepare documentation of steps taken to facilitate analysis of data (Data analysis plans) Select most appropriate data analysis programs or packages based on user needs and intended results Prepares data for analysis using software packages Design appropriate tools to support analysis and presentation of data Analysis, interpretation, and dissemination Analyse data to identify trends on various project indicators Organize and interpret statistical information to support staff and stakeholders use it to make decisions Respond to data related queries and calls, and keep track of these Produce reports and charts communicating trends within data to both data and non-data clients, staff, and managers Choose and use most appropriate methods of presenting analysed data to the different audiences Data quality, Reporting, and learning Lead data cleaning efforts for the various data sets within UEC or jointly with MoH and Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Support Program (METS) to ensure that data submitted in reports is accurate and usable Support project M&E staff to collect, organize and report on project outputs, outcomes and impact to the various stakeholders including UEC, CDC, MoH, Districts, and facilities Produce relevant graphics to include in the various narrative reports Support compilation of UCMBs annual health sector reports, and other reports as appropriate Provide synthesized data to support abstract writing Identify data sets that can be used for information learning sessions Provide data to project staff to use during program review meetings with various stakeholders including UCMB, facilities, MoH, CDC, METS, districts, and Implementing Partners Database programming Write scripts, procedures, or queries for HIS solutions and databases Monitor performance of deployed HIS solutions, document and fix bugs and errors and share back with users using appropriate platforms Requirements gathering from users and stakeholders to support enhancements of deployed HIS solutions Design appropriate interim data collection applications to address UECs emerging data collection and use needs Support User Acceptance Testing (UAT) of new HIS products to determine suitability for use Work with Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Support (METS) Program to ensure that deployed HIS solutions are in synch with UgandaEMR and other approved national systems like Clinic Master Build capacity of UEC and facility staffs in use of the deployed systems, including UgandaEMR, Healthstats, Viral Load dashboard, and others as need arises Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The applicant must hold a Degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, a masters degree in Software engineering or computer science Six years of experience Knowledge of and experience with DHIS2, HRIS and PEPFAR related software platforms Data Visualization (PowerBI, Tableau, Advanced Excel) Statistics and research analysis: STATA, SPSS, Advanced Excel, Epi-Info Deep working knowledge of the main programming languages often used within analytics, data mining and data science including R, SAS, Python and SQL, and knowledge of Java, C/C++, Perl and Ruby Experience in development and management of data tools, enterprise level Web based, Desktop based and Mobile applications using Microsoft .NET, Java and other Technologies such as C#, net,Bootstrap, JQuery, CSS, HTML5, MSSQL and MySQL Database/tools Design skills (SQL, MS Access, ODK, KOBO, Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap), DHIS2/DATIM/HIBRID Experience developing and maintaining project databases for monitoring implementation of project activities. Technical expertise in data collection, processing and analysis, and feedback mechanisms is required Expertise in the use of mobile technologies for data reporting and collection preferred. Ability to develop effective working relationships with counterparts at all levels, local organizations, and other program A high level of mathematical and or statistical ability The ability to sift, analyze, model and interpret data from multiple sources, looking for trends that highlight problems (early warning indicators) or opportunities Strong organizational, interpersonal and management skills How to Apply: All eligible and interested candidates should apply and attach their signed CVs, copies of certificates, degrees, and testimonials. Suitable candidates residing in highlighted regions are encouraged to apply. Applications indicating duty station and job applied for should be directed to the address below. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The Secretary General, Uganda Catholic Secretariat, Plot 672, Hanlon Road, Nsambya Hill, P.O. Box 2886 Kampala. Uganda Deadline: 24th November 2023 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Job Title: Air Operations Assistant Organisation: United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) Duty Station: Entebbe, Uganda Job Opening ID: 221895 Reports to: Associate Air Operations Officer About US: The Security Council, by its resolution 1990 PDF Document of 27 June 2011, responded to the urgent situation in Sudans Abyei region by establishing the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). The Security Council was deeply concerned by the violence, escalating tensions and population displacement. The operation will monitor the flashpoint border between north and south, and is authorized to use force in protecting civilians and humanitarian workers in Abyei. UNISFAs establishment came after the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) reached an agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to demilitarize Abyei and let Ethiopian troops to monitor the area. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Within delegated authority, the Air Operations Assistant will be responsible for the following duties: Carry out flight operations tasks including assisting with scheduling of UN flights, arranging airspace and landing clearances, and ordering Ground Handling services. Assist aircrew in their dispatch at the airport; coordinate with the Ground Handling Agent to facilitate all aircrew requirements. Coordinate with the Ground Handling Agents for all issues related to operations with mission aircraft, including but not limited to the following: cleaning services, ground handling equipment, refuelling, transportation and verification of service orders. Check the weather forecast and NOTAMs and share them with Pilots and Mission Air Operations Center (MAOC). Use radios and flight tracking systems to monitor the position and movements of UN aircraft. Maintain accurate records of activities, related to flight following, aircraft dispatch and technical compliance. Enter reports into the radio log, and complete radio logs by UNISFA Aviation SOPs. Complete the Operations Risk Management Checklist. Coordinate with local authorities (Civil Aviation Authority, Airport Authority and Air Force Base Authority), as required in support of Mission air operations, including but limited to airport passes, authorizations, escorting staff in and out of the airport, requests for maintenance hangar space and support equipment required by carriers for maintenance, etc. Collect and analyze AURs (Aircraft Use Report) and prepare FHR (Flight Hour Reports) for each flight and for all types of aircraft daily. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The applicant for the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) Air Operations Assistant job should hold a High school diploma or equivalent. Required. Technical or vocational certificate in Air Transportation, Safety Management, Air Traffic Control or graduation from equivalent military establishment or military/air traffic control training is required. A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in air transport operations is required. The minimum years, of relevant experience is reduced to three (3) years for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher. Languages: fluency in English, both oral and written, is required. Competencies Professionalism: Shows pride in work and achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all work areas. Shows pride in work and achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all work areas. Communication : Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; Asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; Tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed. : Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; Asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; Tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed. Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts by final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings No Fee: The United Nations does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, or training). The United Nations does not concern itself with information on applicants bank accounts. How to Apply: All suitably qualified and interested candidates should apply online at the link below. Click Here Deadline: 29th November 2023 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline A passenger on board an IndiGo flight from Jaipur to Bengaluru who was allegedly intoxicated and misbehaved with crew members despite multiple warnings was arrested, police said on Monday. After landing on November 17, the 32-year-old passenger was handed over to the police at the Kempegowda International Airport here, a senior police officer. "Based on the complaint received from IndiGo, we registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and arrested the passenger. He was later released on bail," he added. IndiGo said in a statement that the passenger on flight 6E 556 was intoxicated and misbehaved with the crew despite multiple warnings. "The passenger was handed over to the local law enforcement authorities on arrival for further legal action. We regret the inconvenience caused to the other passengers," the airline said. Eight days after over 40 workers found themselves trapped inside the under-construction Silkyara tunnel at Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand, the drilling work, which has been on hold, will restart on Monday. This comes as the rescue workers embark on the next stage, a five-option plan devised by the government. Officials decided to implement the multi-pronged approach after the initial plan to dig through the debris to insert a steel pipe, which will serve as an escape route, failed. The American-made heavy-duty auger machine encountered a hard obstacle after about 22 metres. All the workers are safe, authorities said. There is light inside because the electricity is on and a pipeline to supply water. Explained: Five-pronged approach On Sunday, a road was laid to the top of the hill for digging a vertical shaft down into the tunnel. Transport and Highways Secretary Anurag Jain has said that the government has devised a five-option action plan to rescue the workers at the earliest. As per the plan, five options were decided and five different agencies were detailed to carry out these options. "They include Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Sutluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVNL), Rail Vikas Nigam Limited(RVNL), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited (THDCL)," he said. The ONGC will use its expertise in deep drilling to dig a vertical drill from the Barkot end. It has already started the initial work. The SJVNL will also carry out vertical drilling to rescue the trapped labourers. It has brought equipment from Gujarat and Odisha through Railways, as a 75-tonne equipment it could not be airlifted. Jain said RVNL has started working on another vertical pipeline for the supply of essential items after the Border Roads Organization completed building an approach road in just one day. The THDCL will carry out the micro tunnelling Sunday night from the Barkot end of the under-construction tunnel on the Char Dham route. The work began on Sunday night itself. NHIDCL MD Mahmood Ahmed has been made the charge of coordination with all the central agencies and has been stationed in Silkyara. Jain said that the government is keeping constant communication and making all efforts to keep up the morale of the labourers trapped inside the tunnel. "The area in which the workers are trapped is 8.5-metres high and 2-km long. This is the built-up portion of the tunnel where concreting work has been done providing safety to the labourers," he explained. NHIDCL is creating another six-inch pipeline for food, and drilling of 39 metres out of 60 metres is completed. "Once this tunnel is ready, it will facilitate delivery of more food items," Jain added. Meanwhile, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who visited the site on Sunday, told reporters at Silkyara said preparations were underway to restart the auger machine and resume drilling and pipe-laying at the tunnel. #WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) Tunnel rescue | Morning visuals from Silkyara Tunnel where 41 workers are stranded after a part of the tunnel collapsed on November 12. pic.twitter.com/lsOPP1SZK2 ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 Gadkari said the auger machine had worked well through the soft soil but there were vibrations in the tunnel when it encountered a hard object. "This posed a danger to the safety of the rescue workers. Though I am no technical expert, in the given circumstances horizontal digging seems the best option. If the auger machine does not encounter any obstacles it might reach the trapped workers in two and a half days," he said. There is also a plan to use robots to see if another pipe for life support could be pushed through the space between the top of the debris and the tunnel roof. (With PTI inputs) The pontiff of the Chitradurga Murugharajendra Bruhan Math was arrested on Monday, hours after a Court issued a non-bailable warrant in the second Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case pending against him. The Second Additional Sessions Judge B.K. Komala in Chitradurga issued the non-bailable warrant and ordered the police to produce Shivamurthy Sharana before her by Tuesday. He was in custody since September 1, 2022, and was granted bail by the High Court on November 8 in the first of the two POCSO cases against him, following which he was released from jail here on November 16. After he was set free, the seer was staying at the Virakta Math in Davangere, from where he was arrested by the Chitradurga police today. The High Court had imposed several conditions for the bail in one of the two POCSO cases against the pontiff, including that he would not be allowed to enter Chitradurga district till the completion of the investigation in the cases. He was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and two sureties for similar amounts, and warned not to tamper with evidence or influence the witnesses. The first complaint against the pontiff and four others was filed by the 'Odanadi Seva Samsthe', an NGO, in Mysuru alleging sexual harassment of minor students studying in the mutt's school and staying in its hostel in Chitradurga. The Nazarabad police in Mysuru had registered a case under POCSO and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The case was transferred to the Chitradurga Rural police station subsequently. The second case under POCSO was registered after the mother of two minor girls filed a complaint alleging that her two daughters and two other minor girls were sexually assaulted by the seer while they were residing in the hostel in 2019 and 2022. The complaint also alleged that the junior seer Basavaditya and others including Paramashivaiah, Gangadhar, Mahalinga and Karibasappa were involved. Paramashivaiah's name was dropped from the chargesheet in the second case subsequently. With the assembly elections progressing in various states, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has strengthened its monitoring system to ensure fair elections. On Monday ECI said over Rs 1,760 crore worth contrabands including drugs, cash and precious metals aimed at inducing voters were seized from the five poll-going states. ECI said the seizures were made since the polls were announced on October 9. In 2018, around Rs 239.15 crore seizures were recorded by ECI. The voting is set to take place in Rajasthan and Telangana on November 25 and 30 respectively. While, assembly polls has been already held in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. Seizures worth over Rs 1,400 crore were made in the past six state assembly elections held in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Karnataka, which was 11 times the seizures made in previous assembly elections in these states, read the EC statement. The monitoring process have been strengthened by the ECI this time by enabling the Election Expenditure Monitoring System (ESMS). Central and state agencies were roped in by the Commission to keep in check the situation and for better coordination. Though no cash or precious metal was seized in Mizoram, drugs worth Rs 29.82 crore were recovered by the authorities. The poll panel has deployed 228 officers from various services as expenditure observers. For close monitoring, 194 assembly constituencies were marked as "expenditure sensitive" seats. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday announced that the government would compensate the fishermen up to 80 per cent of the losses they incurred in the fire accident here in which several boats were gutted. As many as 36 fishing boats were completely gutted and nine partially damaged in a massive fire which erupted in the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, officials said. Noting that the fishermen had suffered a big loss, the chief minister directed officials to dole out the relief. He also expressed grief over the fire accident. "Show humanity and pay compensation up to 80 per cent of the value so that the victims would be able to withstand the loss and restart fishing activity with confidence. The government should stand by the fishermen in such difficult circumstances," Reddy said in an official release. The officials apprised the chief minister of the total loss suffered in the fire mishap. Fisheries Minister Seediri Appalaraju along with other officials visited the accident site and assured the victims and their family members of government support. The chief minister directed officials to carry out a thorough investigation. Meanwhile, Visakhapatnam Harbour Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACB) B Moses Paul told PTI that the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained as the probe is still underway. However, no death or injury was reported in the accident, officials added. Paul said police are probing the role of a group of 10 to 15 people who allegedly partied and quarreled over a transaction in one of the boats. Police received the names of the persons involved in the skirmish. The blaze broke out in a jetty area in the port city around 11.30 pm on Sunday in a boat owned by Balaji on zero jetty and was doused by 4 am on Monday, officials said. "After a boat caught fire, the group untied it and pushed it into the sea but it drifted back towards the boats and sparked a bigger fire," Paul said. The blaze occurred in an area which is near to the Visakhapatnam Container Terminal and an Indian Oil Corporation facility where fishing boats were anchored. Though 25 fire tenders were pressed into service from across the city over time, it was the Navy's Sahara firefighting boat which managed to extinguish the flames by spraying foam and sand, he said. According to Paul, the fire tenders could not put off the blaze initially because almost every boat had diesel and cooking gas cylinders. Every 10 to 15 minutes, he said those cylinders exploded. Visakhapatnam Deputy Commissioner of Police-Zone II K Ananda Reddy said the intervening night of Sunday and Monday was quite windy, causing the fire to spread quickly among the boats made of fibre (plastic) and anchored closely. "Many of these boats also carry up to 5,000 litres of diesel as the fishermen venture into the sea for weeks. Many boats also carried LPG cylinders which the fisherfolk use for cooking," Ananda Reddy added. Considering the critical location of the fire, he said the Vizag Steel Plant fire brigade and the Navy were also alerted, while controlling the fire without further spread proved to be a big task. Visakhapatnam District Fire Officer S Renukayya said he received a call about the accident around 1 am, prompting him to rush firefighters and 12 fire tenders initially, including seeking help from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Visakhapatnam Port Trust. The firefighters managed to control the fire from spreading to other boats in the vicinity within half an hour but it took almost two hours to douse it completely, the officer said. According to estimates, each boat is valued between Rs 35 lakh and Rs 50 lakh, Ananda Reddy said. Police booked a case of accidental fire, he added. Paul said the port city has about 11 jetties, each of which could accommodate the anchorage of up to 60 fishing boats. With Israel expanding its military operation to south of Gaza City, civilians are caught in the crossfire with no place to go. Israel warned the Gazans in the refugee camp, Jabalia, to evacuate as they were expanding its operational activities in additional neighbourhoods," of Gaza Israel military also warned the residents to evacuate from the nearby coastal camp as well. A double Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp on Saturday left more than 80 civilians including children dead. Israel military has said Jabalia is among the areas of focus as troops "target terrorist and strike Hamas infrastructure." With two more Israeli soldiers killed, IDF said it had lost 66 soldiers in total during the war since the Hamas attack on October 7. So far Israel-Hamas war has claimed the lives of over 13,000 Palestinians. Meanwhile, evacuation of Gazas biggest hospital, al-Shifa, is underway. Palestine Red Crescent Society posted on social media saying that 28 of 31 premature babies were evacuated from the hospital in the north of Gaza to the Rafah border crossing. The babies will be getting further treatment in Egypt. A few moments ago, the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams departed from in front of the Emirati hospital in Rafah to transport 28 premature infants to the Rafah crossing, in preparation for their transfer to receive medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals. This comes in coordination with the World Health Organization and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)," read the statement. Arab and Muslim minister meet in Beijing Arab and Muslim ministers called on for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as their delegation visited Beijing on Monday. A meeting is underway with ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Indonesia in Beijing. China is a good friend and brother of Arab and Islamic countries, Wang said ahead of the talks. China has long backed the Palestinians and been quick to denounce Israel over its settlements in the occupied territories. The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, called for an immediate cease-fire and the entry of humanitarian aid and relief to the Gaza Strip. There are still dangerous developments ahead of us and an urgent humanitarian crisis that requires an international mobilization to deal with and counter it, he said. This isn't Israel's first war against the Palestinian people, said Riyad Al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister. Israel's ambassador to China, Irit Ben-Abba, said Monday, that her country is allowing sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza in collaboration with international organizations and that putting pressure on Israel in this regard is politically motivated and is not conducive to the humanitarian assistance which is needed. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The US would be willing to facilitate the talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia, US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said during a briefing on November 20, Trend reports. "We continue to engage with the leadership of both countries and offer to facilitate a dignified and durable peace. It is important that Armenia and Azerbaijan discuss and resolve issues directly to benefit the region. We would welcome a role in facilitating those talks. We've seen other countries offer to facilitate those talks. We think it's important that the two countries talk face-to-face to reach a durable agreement. We would be willing to facilitate those talks, as we have in the past, and we welcome other countries doing so as well," he said. Baku has turned down the proposal for a meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington on November 20. Concerning the statement of the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James OBrien that the US side has cancelled high-level bilateral meetings and engagements, which were initiated by the US side with Azerbaijan, and there cannot be business as usual in the bilateral relationship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan noted that the relations could not be one-sided. "Consequently, the same approach will be applied equally by Azerbaijan. In these circumstances, we consider the possibility of high-level visits from the United States to Azerbaijan inappropriate as well. Moreover, such a unilateral approach by the United States could lead to the loss of the mediation role of the United States. Under these circumstances, it is important to note that we do not consider possible to hold the proposed meeting on the level of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, in Washington on November 20, 2023. International law norms and principles have always been a priority for Azerbaijan in its foreign policy. Azerbaijan will always act in line with its international obligations. At the same time, Azerbaijan will resolutely and adequately address all the negative steps against its national interest," the ministry said in a statement. Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn Israel has released surveillance camera footage from Gaza's biggest hospital Al-Shifa purportedly showing Hamas militants bringing people abducted from Israel to the medical centre. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) identified the hostages as Nepali and Thai citizens. It also accused the Palestinian militant group of murdering a kidnapped Israeli soldier there. The video aired by the IDF shows a group of men, which they claim are Hamas operatives, taking an individual to the hospital. He is seen with a visible injury to his arm. The second man is forcefully dragged into the hospital on his feet. He is accompanied by a man with an assault rifle. EXPOSED: This is documentation from Shifa Hospital from the day of the massacre, October 7, 2023, between the hours of 10:42 a.m and 11:01 a.m. in which hostages, a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian, were abducted from Israeli territory are seen surrounded by armed Hamas pic.twitter.com/a5udjBw4wF Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 19, 2023 Hamas is yet to respond to the video. It had earlier claimed that it took some hostages to hospitals for treatment. "These findings prove that the Hamas terror organisation used Shifa Hospital on the day of the massacre itself as terror infrastructure," the IDF said. The IDF said it had notified "relevant authorities" about the footage. The Israeli forces also released images showing Hamas men inside the hospital and outside the rooms of the hostages. Another picture was that of stolen IDF vehicles brought to the medical centre. Another infographic released by the IDF showed the locations near the Shifa complex where the bodies of hostages Yehudit Weiss and Noa Marciano were found. Though Hamas claimed Marciano, a conscript, was killed in an Israeli air strike, IDF said her injuries were non-life threatening. "According to intelligence information - solid intelligence information - Noa was taken by Hamas terrorists inside the walls of Shifa hospital. There, she was murdered by a Hamas terrorist," IDF chief spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. He added that Noa was kidnapped to an apartment next to Shifa Hospital before she was gunned down by the Hamas. The IDF also released a video showing part of Hamass tunnel network underneath Shifa. The clips were taken using two separate devices that were lowered into a tunnel entrance. The tunnel, running 55 metres in length, is a narrow passage with arched concrete roofing, ending at what the military, in a statement, described as a blast-proof door. "The tunnel had been accessed through a shaft discovered in a shed within the Shifa compound that contained munitions," an IDF statement said. A second video showed an outdoor shaft opening in the compound. "This type of door is used by the Hamas terror organisation to block the ability of our forces to enter the organisations headquarters and underground assets," the IDF said. Mounir El Barsh, the Gaza health ministry director, called the Israeli statement on the tunnel a "pure lie". "They have been at the hospital for eight days ... and yet they haven't found anything," he told Al Jazeera television. Westerly, RI (02891) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers this afternoon. High 52F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy with rain ending overnight. Low 43F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is refusing to condemn Elon Musk s post endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory, maintaining Sunday that he wasnt familiar with the post despite it prompting major companies to pull advertising from the billionaires X social media platform. I did not see the comment, DeSantis, the governor of Florida, said on CNNs State of the Union. And so, I know that Elon has had a target on his back ever since he purchased Twitter because I think hes taking it in a direction that a lot of people who are used to controlling the narrative dont like. Musk has sparked outcry with a recent tweet responding to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and for professing a general indifference to antisemitism. You have said the actual truth, Musk tweeted in a reply Wednesday. IBM, Disney and other major advertisers have since pulled funding from X, a major blow as the platform formerly known as Twitter tries to win back big brands and their ad dollars that constitute its main source of revenue. DeSantis announced his presidential bid on Musks platform, even as some research shows it has become a haven for hate speech since the billionaire took over the company last year. State of the Union put Musks post on the screen and host Jake Tapper read it to DeSantis before pressing him to condemn it but the governor continued to demur. I know you tried to read it. I have no idea what the context is, said DeSantis who was joining the show via videoconference . I know Elon Musk. I have never seen him do anything. I think hes a guy that believes in America. I have never seen him indulge in any of that. So its surprising, if thats true, but I have not seen it. So I dont want to sit there and pass judgment on the fly. The governor also said he opposes antisemitism across the board, no matter if it comes from the right or left of the ideological spectrum. Its wrong no matter what, DeSantis said. The post has drawn criticism from the White House, where spokesperson Andrew Bates said last week that, It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. That referred to Hamas deadly attack on Israel, which occurred on Oct. 7. Appearing on Tappers show in person immediately after DeSantis, Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin said it wasnt credible to believe that someone running for president didnt see Musks post: This is four days later and he has not had a chance to read what Elon Musk wrote? That is very hard for me to believe, Raskin said. In any event you showed it to him, and he still refused to condemn it. If youre serous about condemning and confronting antisemitism and racism and these bigotries, which are the gateways to destruction of liberal democracy, youve got to be explicit and open and full-throated about it, Raskin added and youve got to denounce the antisemitism and racism across the board. Raskin himself called the post outrageous and dangerous, and suggested that he and other members of the House planned to write to Musk to ask him to renounce those comments and to clean up his act. (AP) A bomb squad in Lakewood, New Jersey, found and removed a grenade that was taped to a pole near the Satmar Shul on Forest Avenue, on Sunday morning, Lakewood Alerts reported. According to police, at about 7:45 a.m., the grenade was found strapped to utility pole at the intersection of Forest Avenue and 4th Street in Lakewood, near the Satmar Shul synagogue. Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and Lakewood Township Police Chief Gregory Meyer released the following statement to YWN: On November 19, 2023, at approximately 7:45 a.m., Officers from the Lakewood Township Police Department were dispatched to the area of 4th Avenue and Forest Avenue, for a report of a suspicious item attached to a utility pole. The New Jersey State Police Bomb Disposal Unit were notified and secured the device. The device was found to be inert and nonexplosive. There is no danger to the public and this remains an active and ongoing investigation, Prosecutor Billhimer stated. Anyone with information regarding this investigation should contact Officer Alex Guzman of the Lakewood Township Police Department at 732-363-0200, extension 5341 or Sergeant David Petracca of the Ocean County Prosecutors Office at 732-929-2027, extension 2186, Prosecutor Billhimer concluded. The Anti-Defamation League said that at a time when communities are already experiencing a rise in hate, a grenade outside of a synagogue stokes fear in Lakewood, NJ, a hub of American Jewish religious life. We urge law enforcement to thoroughly investigate this threat, and as a community, we will stay vigilant but we must not be intimidated. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) by Rabbi Yair Hoffman On January 30th, 1933, seven and a half months before the Chofetz Chaim passed away (September 15th, 1933), Hitler yimach shmo was appointed the Chancellor of Germany. At that time, Rav Moshe Londinski ztl (1862-1938), one of the three Roshei Yeshiva of the Chofetz Chaims Yeshiva in Radin, inquired of the Chofetz Chaim, What will be the fate of our brethren in Germany and in Poland? Rav Londinski pointed out that Hitler ys had been talking about destroying the entirety of Klal Yisroel for years. The Chofetz Chaim responded that it is impossible for someone to succeed in wiping out Klal Yisroel in all the lands of the exile and he cited the pasuk (Bereishis 32:4-9) If Esav comes to the one camp and attacks it, the other camp will escape. At that point, Rav Moshe Londinski ztl realized that the danger was quite grave. He asked further, If Heaven forbid, he succeeds in wiping out European Jewry, who and where is the other camp that will survive? The Chofetz Chaim answered, This too is a pasuk, it is in the beginning of the Navi Ovadiah (1:17), And on Mount Zion there shall be a remnant, and it shall be holy.. Rav Londinski left the Chofetz Chaims presence with his hands shaking on the future destruction of European Jewry, but he was assured that the Holy Land will be spared and no sword of the Nazi menace would pass before it. Indeed, the beginning of the end for the Nazis ys was when they set their eyes on Eretz Yisroel in 1942 and planned to conquer it and murder the half million Jews living there at the time (including the authors mother). They even brought a German SS officer, Walther Rauff, to Libya, who would do advance work for the Einsatzkommando unit which expected to join him and help murder the Jews of the Middle East once it was under full Nazi German control.. He was the one who had pioneered the using mobile killing vans in Nazi-occupied Soviet Union. Rauff had reached Tobruk on July 20th of 1942. Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein shlita uses this statement of the Chofetz Chaim to encourage Yeshiva bochurim and seminary girsl to remain in Eretz Yisroel during this rough period. The author can be reached at [email protected] By Rabbi Yair Hoffman October 7th was one of the most horrific days since the holocaust for the Jewish people, But about a year ago, Russia, formerly on friendly terms with the State of Israel, did something that gives new meaning to the term stabbing in the back. They helped build and launch a spy satellite for Iran a country that has openly said that they plan the destruction of Israel. And Iran isnt just saying it they are the ones orchestrating Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria attacking Eretz Yisroel, and now Yemens Houthi rebels who have seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route Sunday. They also took its 25 crew members hostage. The satellite is named, Khayyam after a 12th-century Persian mathematician who was known for unifying the fields of algebra and geometry. Of course, Iran is saying that the satellite was launched in order to help the environment. But the fact of the matter is that this satellite launch places Israel in grave danger as it includes a high-resolution camera that gives it continuous monitoring of all of Israel and also the Middle-east. This places Israel, and Ukraine, and the moderate Arab neighbors of Iran in the category of, Habah lhargcha Hashkaim lhargo if someone is coming to kill you, wake up early. This satellite has the potential to give Iran the ability to pinpoint specific targets in Israel and to give over that information to its proxies. It is a game-changer, for the enemy, Heaven forbid. THE SATELLITE NEEDS TO COME DOWN There is no question that this satellite needs to come down. The problem is that only China, India, Russia, and the United States have successfully used anti-satellite tech, and have only done it on their own obsolete satellites. The good news is that Israel has something called the Chetz III (Chetz means arrow in Hebrew). The Chetz III is a missile that is capable of taking down satellites and was jointly funded and developed by Israels Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the United States (specifically Boeing). Israel, the United States, Europe, and the Arab World all need to join forces to bring down the satellite. And now is the time to do it. Will such a move precipitate an exo-atmospheric international cold war? Probably. But, nonetheless, it must be done because human life is at stake here. THE SOURCE FOR PERMITTING SUCH A MOVE There are actually three different sources that allow for such a rescue of human life. Two of them are based on a Gemorah in Sanhedrin, and the third source is found in the Rambam. The Braisah cited in Sanhedrin (73a) asks: From where is it derived that with regard to one who pursues another in order to kill him, the pursued party may be saved at the cost of the pursuers life? The verse states: You shall not stand idly by the blood of another (Leviticus 19:16); rather, you must save him from death. The Gemara asks: But does this verse really come to teach us this? This verse is required for that which is taught in a baraita: From where is it derived that one who sees another drowning in a river, or being dragged away by a wild animal, or being attacked by bandits [listin], is obligated to save him? The Torah states: You shall not stand idly by the blood of another. The Gemara answers: Yes, it is indeed so that this verse relates to the obligation to save one whose life is in danger. The Gemara asks again: But from where do we derive that one may be saved at the cost of the pursuers life? The Gemara answers: It is derived by means of an a fortiori inference from the halakha governing a betrothed young woman who was assaulted by a predator: If in the case of a betrothed young woman, whom the predator comes only to degrade, i.e., the result of the activity will be that her status is lowered, the Torah said that she may be saved even at the cost of the predators life, then in the case of one who pursues another person to kill him, all the more so should one say that he may be saved even at the cost of the predators life. The Gemorah further questions, how can one punish only through an all the more so argument we have a principle that we cannot punish simply by an all the more so argument! The Gemorah answers that this is also a Hekesh a type of law where one law is derived from another set of laws through a Torah hyperlink so to speak, between a would be murderer and an engaged damsel. The Gemorah then asks what the source is for the engaged damsel itself from which the derivative law of would be murderers is derived. The Gemorah answers from the school of Rabbi Yishmael who taught that the verse, and she has no rescuer for her we can infer that if she does have a rescuer you may do anything else to save her. We thus have two sources from this Gemorah: The verse of Do not stand idly by your brothers blood. A specific law regarding a pursuer that is derived through a biblical hyperlink (a Hekesh). There is a third source too. The Rambam (Hilchos Rotzayach 1:7) uses a verse from Dvarim (25:12), You shall cut off her hand you shall not have pity (regarding a woman who raises the stakes in a fight) rather than the two sources discussed in the Gemorah. The Raavad explains that the Rambams source is the Sifrei on that verse. The Sefer HaMitzvos (#293) uses the same source as the Rambam. What is interesting is the language that the Rambam uses. He says that one may do so even if the pursuer has not yet killed. He also cites as an example that one may use a Chetz an arrow to do so. DOES IT WORK THROUGH PIKUACH NEFESH OR SOMETHING ELSE? Rav Chaim Soloveitchik ztl (in Chiddushei Rav Chaim, Hilchos Rotzayach 1:9) explores a conceptual analysis of the laws of a rodef. Does the idea of saving someone through taking out the pursuer or taking out the pursuers ability to kill emanate from Pikuach Nefesh the saving of life? Or is there a special concept that anyone who pursues another to kill him is put to death. The difference being is, under certain circumstances, when it is possible to save the victim in another way without killing the pursuer and one kills him is one liable? The issue is also addressed also by Rav Chaim Ozer, author of the Achiezer Vol I Siman 19, the Minchas Chinuch Mitzvah 296:7 and Rav Shach ztl in his Avi Ezri (Rotzayach 1:7). Specifically, the debate, among other things. deals with someone who is trying to kill someone who is terminally. It seems pretty clear, however, that the Iranians are not merely concerned about the environment. 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 President Joe Biden says that achieving a cease-fire amid Israels war with Hamas is not peace and that an important key to lasting stability is a reunited Gaza Strip and West Bank that can be governed under a revitalized Palestinian Authority. In an op-ed published Saturday in the Washington Post, Biden reiterated his position of recent weeks that a temporary halt to the fighting wasnt a real possibility and wouldnt ultimately advance greater U.S. objectives. The president and top U.S. officials have instead revived talk of working toward a two-state solution for the governance of Gaza. Biden used the op-ed to offer more details on what the process of working toward that larger goal might look like. As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution, Biden wrote. I have been emphatic with Israels leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop, and that those committing the violence must be held accountable. He added, The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank. The U.S. is providing weapons and intelligence support to Israel as it mounts an offensive into Gaza with the goal of rooting out Hamas following its Oct. 7 attack, which killed more than 1,200 people. Biden has spoken repeatedly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and says hes working for the release of Hamas-held hostages, including some Americans. At least 11,400 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. Demonstrators calling for a cease-fire in Gaza have staged protests around the country, including clashing this week with police outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. Former campaign staffers who helped elect Biden in 2020, as well as current members of his administration, have signed letters urging a cease-fire. In the op-ed, Biden explained why he opposes the idea. As long as Hamas clings to its ideology of destruction, a cease-fire is not peace, he wrote. To Hamas members, every cease-fire is time they exploit to rebuild their stockpile of rockets, reposition fighters and restart the killing by attacking innocents again. Biden also noted that an outcome that leaves Hamas in control of Gaza would once more perpetuate its hate and deny Palestinian civilians the chance to build something better for themselves. The president further argued that working to achieve longer-range goals that can rise above the current unrest would ultimately make the United States more secure. We must never forget the lesson learned time and again throughout our history: Out of great tragedy and upheaval, enormous progress can come, he wrote. More hope. More freedom. Less rage. Less grievance. Less war. We must not lose our resolve to pursue those goals, because now is when clear vision, big ideas and political courage are needed most. (AP) Since October 7th, all the hidden anti-Semites have crawled out of the woodwork in countries throughout the world. A particularly egregious instance of antisemitism occurred in Australia when Masada College, a Jewish school in the Sydney suburb of New South Wales, sent an email to Western Sydney Jump, a company that rents moon bounces and inflatable castles, inquiring about using their services for a school event. Jumps owner, Tanya Jones, responded to the principal: I have owned my business for 10 years. I have the right to decline any booking at any time. Theres no way Im taking a Zionist booking. I dont want your blood money. Free Palestine. Jones even posted her reply on her Instagram account and posted a photo of 2nd graders at Masada and mocked them as Zionists. She later deleted the posts when the story caused an uproar, including demands for a police investigation. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called for an investigation by Federal and State authorities. Its not in keeping with any part of our multicultural community. I condemn it completely. David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, told The Australian: Posting photos of six and seven-year-olds on social media and mocking them as Zionists is particularly sinister and disturbing. These are Australian kids, not participants in a foreign conflict. However, a police spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald last week that they were not investigating the incident as it was believed no crime had been committed. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Another group of former internally displaced persons was sent to the village of Zabukh of Lachin district, Trend reports. Another group of citizens was sent from the Gobu Park 3 residential complex in the Garadagh district of Baku on November 20. At this stage, another 25 families (91 people) moved to the village of Zabukh. Zabukh 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 village of Zabukh has been provided for 96 families - 382 people. A Washington Post report published on Sunday said that some Defense Department officials are frustrated by a lack of a coherent strategy by President Biden to counter the attacks on US forces in the Middle East by Iranian proxies. The limited retaliatory airstrikes approved by the President have done nothing to deter further attacks. Theres no clear definition of what we are trying to deter, said one defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Are we trying to deter future Iranian attacks like this? Well, thats clearly not working. According to the report, there have been 61 attacks on US troops since October 7th, and US troops in Iraq and Syria have been attacked on an almost daily basis in the past month. Biden authorized three rounds of airstrikes in response to all 61 attacks, all in eastern Syria. However, the US airstrikes did nothing to slow the Iranian-sponsored attacks, which resumed almost immediately. A senior defense official told the Post that there is increasing doubt about the current approach among defense officials. I dont sense any deterrence, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. They keep shooting, waiting for us to respond. We dont, so they keep shooting. And eventually one of those drones, or one of those missiles or rockets, is going to kill an American. And then well be off to the races. Im not suggesting we start a full-fledged war with Tehran, he added. But I do think our posture has to be a little more aggressive than just strictly defensive, because one of these days, were going to miss one of those drones. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has released compelling surveillance camera footage from Shifa Hospital, exposing Hamas terrorists use of the medical facility in the abduction of at least two individuals, a Nepali and a Thai citizen, who had been taken from Israel. In the footage, one of the hostages is visibly injured in the arm and is transported to the medical facility on a hospital bed, while the other appears to be forcibly brought into the hospital. These findings prove that the Hamas terror organization used Shifa Hospital on the day of the massacre itself as terror infrastructure, the IDF said. The IDF has also indicated that it has informed the relevant authorities about this incriminating evidence. Additionally, the IDF has unveiled further images from the surveillance cameras within Shifa Hospital, revealing Hamas terrorists present both inside and outside the rooms housing the hostages. The footage also shows stolen IDF vehicles being brought to the medical center, raising concerns about the hospitals complicity. To provide a comprehensive overview of the situation, the IDF has released an infographic illustrating the locations near the Shifa complex where the bodies of the hostages, identified as Yehudit Weiss and Cpl. Noa Marciano, were discovered several days prior. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) A British doctor who worked at Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip three years ago told France24 that the hospital staff worked in fear of the Hamas terrorists who used the hospital as their base. He said that when he first started working there, he was told that there was a part of the hospital I was not to go near, and if I did, Id be in danger of being shot. I cannot emphasize too much the air of collective paranoia that existed there, he added. In a separate report, Times of Israel (TOA) spoke to a journalist from Italy who said that he visited hospitals in Gaza right after Operation Cast Lead in 2009. Shifa is a very large compound, he told TOA. I got lost inside it, and at some point, I ended up on an underground floor, and I found myself in front of two armed Hamas men in military attire, who told me to get out. I got the impression they were guarding a security door that gave access to their underground infrastructure. Several Palestinian sources I spoke with later on confirmed that Hamass command and control center was located under Shifa Hospital and that [Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh had been hiding there throughout the duration of Operation Cast Lead. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari announced on Sunday evening that captive IDF soldier Noa Marciano, Hyd, whose body was found by the IDF in Shifa Hospital last week, was murdered by Hamas terrorists inside the hospital. Contrary to Hamass claims that Marciano, ah, was killed in an IDF airstrike, forensic evidence showed that Marciano sustained a non-fatal injury in an airstrike. She was then brought to Shifa Hospital, where she was murdered by Hamas. Hagari stated: Noa was abducted and held in an apartment next to Shifa Hospital. During the IDF strikes in Gaza, a Hamas terrorist who was guarding her was killed. The pathology report states that Noa was injured by the strike but not in a life-threatening way, in contrast to the lies disseminated by Hamas that Noa was killed by IDF strikes. The hospital, a place meant to sanctify the value of life, was used by Hamas for murder. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Bahrains Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on Friday unequivocally condemned Hamas for the October 7th massacre on Israel, the first leader of an Arab country to do so 43 days after the massacre took place. Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studiess annual Manama Dialogue security conference, the Crown Prince said that he stands on the side of civilians and innocents, and not on the side of political posturing. The attacks on October 7th were barbaric, they were horrific. They were indiscriminate. They killed women, children, and the elderly. I dont think any Arab leader has called on Hamas to release the hostages, he asserted. So it is a time for straight talking. They hit civilian institutions and they hit military targets. And on top of that, it seems its okay now to grab hostages and take them away and speak about it as if its an act of war. That is something that we condemn. The Crown Prince also criticized Israel, saying that he condemns Israels retaliation, which has resulted in the death of 11,000 Gazans and left many more living in an intolerable situation without access to basic necessities such as electricity, running water, and medical care. Let me be extremely clear on what matters to the Kingdom of Bahrain there must be no forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, now or ever. There must be no reoccupation of Gaza and there must be no reduction in Gazas territory. On the other side, there must be no terrorism directed from Gaza against the Israeli public. Those are the red lines. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Yemens Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, seized control of a cargo vessel named the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea. While the ship is owned by a British-based shipping company and operated by a Japanese firm, the Houthis asserted that it was an Israeli target. Israels government denounced the incident as an Iranian act of terrorism and claimed that the orders for the hijacking originated in Tehran. The Galaxy Leader is registered in the Bahamas, owned by the U.K.s Isle of Man-based Galaxy Maritime, and operated by Japans Nippon Yusen corporation, known as NYK Line. According to the Japanese company, the ship had no cargo on board at the time of the hijacking, and the crew of 25 consisted of individuals from Bulgaria, Mexico, Ukraine, Romania, and the Philippines, with no Israeli crew members. The ships indirect Israeli connection is that Galaxy Maritime is a subsidiary of Ray Car Carriers, founded by Israeli billionaire Abraham Rami Ungar. The Houthis, supported by Iran, considered this connection sufficient to target the vessel and carry out the attack while it was navigating a major shipping route in international waters. The Houthis declared that all ships related to or dealing with Israel would be considered legitimate targets. The insurgents announced that they would treat the captive crew in accordance with Islamic principles and values. Chief Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdul-Salam emphasized that the Israelis only comprehend the language of force. The ship has reportedly been taken to a Yemeni port. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office characterized the incident as another Iranian act of terrorism, underscoring its implications for global shipping route security. The IDF clarified that the vessel was not Israeli-owned. The Japanese government condemned the hijacking and stated that it was in negotiations with the Houthis to secure the release of the crew. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno expressed strong condemnation of the act and called on countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Iran to press the Houthis to release the ship and its crew promptly. Sponsored Content By Dovid Grossman Rabbi Tzion Menachem, a world renowned Mekubal from Eretz Yisroel, will be arriving in New York to meet with people who are seeking guidance and assistance in numerous matters. He meets people facing all sorts of difficulties and gives them chizuk, strengthening them and thus enabling them to face challenges. Whether it is children who are off-the-derech, issues of marriage or parnassa, Rav Menachem seems to give consistent and solid direction and advice that many people understand as truly miraculous. Aside from being a Mekubal, Rav Menachem is a Rav in Elad where he has a shul and a Kollel Choshain Mishpat where his students study to be dayanim. Rav Menachem is an extraordinary Talmic Chachom as well as a great Mekubal and Tzaddik. Rabbi Tzion Menachem shlita will be in New York from November 20th November 28th, 2023. For an appointment please call: 718-781-6426 Rav Menachem has also authored a commentary on shaar ruach hakodesh of Rav Chaim Vitals classic Kabbalistic work entitled Etz Chaim. Rav Menachem had studied under the great Kabbalistic luminaries of our generation, HaRav Yoseph Dayan ztl and HaRav Mordechai Sharabi ztl. It is said that virtually everyone who merits to see him and receives his advice, whether it has to do with medical issues, business issues, family matters or anything else is so impressed that they recommend Rav Menachem to ten friends. The following is a typical letter and experience. It was written by the son of a very famous Askan: Around two years ago my bas yechidah began experiencing discomfort with her legs. I wont go into detail but we constantly visited doctors to no avail. As time went on her condition worsened. At the end of last year her legs began buckling. This became a regular occurrence and she got used to it happening. Rabbi Tzion Menachem shlita will be in New York from November 20th November 28th, 2022. For an appointment please call: 718-781-6426 This is when my story begins; In mid May 2015 on a Sunday when my daughter stumbled into our house crying. A heaviness had crept into her legs and by the time she got home she lost sensation in some parts and had little in the rest. I hurriedly took her to the doctor. After countless hours we knew she needed the hospital. She spent 15 hours undergoing tests with no results. There was nothing visibly wrong with her and the doctors said it was probably a one time thing. Fast forward. The next day my daughter buckled and she fell down a large ight of stairs. I knew she couldnt go on like this and hurried to another hospital. We spent a week there. In the beginning it was nerve racking knowing that my daughter might have a serious illness. But I knew that it wasnt in my hands. After the rst few days we all breathed a sigh of relief when all serious issues were ruled out, however we were still anxious about the fact that her legs were still numb and developed a numbness in her arm. At the end of a long week with no answers, we had only one more test which would be done as an outpatient. My daughter left the hospital in a wheelchair. Thats when my father-in-law called me to ask for my daughters full name. About a half hour after we came home my father-in-law called me again. He had spoken to Rav Tzion Menachem shlita, a Rav and Rosh Kollel from Elad, a city in Eretz Yisroel. He told us that we had closed a window in our home 2 years ago and that is what caused all the problems. With shock we recalled that most certainly we had left a hole in the wall but we had stuccoed on our home two years ago and sure enough the hole which once was, was no longer. With bated breath I quickly called someone down to drill a hole in my wall. Unbelievably very soon after the hole was drilled my daughter started gasping and crying as the sensation began returning to her legs. With tears streaming down our faces I together with my family watched her stand up and walk on her own. The gratitude and feelings of shevach vhodaah to Hakadosh Baruch Hu for sending us such a shaliach are indescribable. Rabbi Tzion Menachem shlita will be in New York from November 20th November 28th, 2023. For an appointment please call: 718-781-6426 Sponsored Content Orthodox Union Executive Vice President Rabbi Mosher Hauer For the nation that dwells alone and has had good reason to feel alone, last Monday and Tuesday were days of incredible strength and hope. On both days, we rallied together in the hundreds of thousands and reminded ourselves that we are never alone because Hashem is with us and because we stand together with and for each other. On the National Mall last Tuesday, it was reassuring to hear governmental and faith leaders speak with perfect moral clarity in support of our people. It made us feel less alone. But it was even more impactful to see the massive gathering of Jews and to stand with hundreds of thousands expressing our shared commitment to the future of Israel, to our ability to live without fear as proud Jews in America, and to the plight of our beloved brothers and sisters held hostage. Last Monday was similarly impactful. While we could not see it with our own eyes, we knew that across our entire community people were dedicating extra efforts to tefillah, that shuls and schools everywhere were saying extra tehillim, and that in places like Brooklyn and Lakewood you would have to search to find a minyan that was not reciting the expanded tefillos of Yom Kippur Katan. Both rallies were powerful. Both rallies demonstrated with intensity and feeling that every corner of our varied community has a powerful love of Israel and Judaism and a deep concern for the soldiers and hostages. They showed how the Jewish people today, after its most fractious year in memory, have pulled together to focus on what is most important to all of us. Many thousands participated in both last Mondays Yom Kippur Katan and last Tuesdays DC March. Many thousands more participated in one and not the other, as some would not feel comfortable in the intensely Orthodox environment of the selichos minyan while others would not relate to a gathering with so many Jews and so little Torah. No matter. We should observe with deep satisfaction Klal Yisraels overlapping circles of profound care and unified focus. That is what we must focus on, not the controversies surrounding the statements or decisions of specific rabbanim or organizations. We must learn from the bitter experience of the past year that when we focus on fighting with each other, we lower our guard and become dangerously vulnerable to the threats of our real enemies. The discussions of Klal Yisrael need to go back to where they were two weeks ago, exchanging ideas about the latest creative idea to strengthen Klal Yisrael spiritually or materially, to revive some of the chesed, chizuk and spiritual efforts that have lapsed after the initial energetic rush. We need to stop the internal politicking, the analysis and critique of this or that rabbinic or organizational position and speak instead of the wall-to-wall unity of purpose if not of method that we are experiencing. Every part of Klal Yisrael is precious and dedicated to the future of the Jewish people, both those who would not attend Yom Kippur Katan and those who would not attend the DC rally. Instead of maligning the communal treasure of Agudath Israel and its leadership, lets focus on becoming a true agudah achas laasos retzoncha bleivav shaleim. The Orthodox Union sits together with a wide variety of Jewish organizations at the communal tables of the Conference of Presidents and the Jewish Federations, the leading organizers of last Tuesdays rally. We can be at those tables courtesy of something known as the Schindler Doctrine, formulated by Rabbi Alexander Schindler of the Reform movement but critical to our Orthodox sensitivities, committing the Conference to focus entirely on issues that impact the material well-being of Jews and Jewish communities and avoiding religious issues where we cannot expect agreement. That mature understanding allowed us to come together to plan a historic rally that would not and could not be a religious event, but that would prove to be an important political effort to demonstrate support for Israel, the Jewish people, and the hostages across political parties, communities of faith, and individuals of influence and celebrity. Our partners in leadership across the Jewish community understood the power of this moment. Painful as it was to leave Torah off the program, we all did so consistent with the principle that allowed us to be at that table to begin with, steering clear of areas where there are for now irreconcilable theological differences. But we shared an enthusiasm to make sure that this political event would prove to be an uplifting religious experience for the Jewish community that would make us all feel our connection to each other and to G-d. The moments of tehillim, the singing together of Esa Einei, Acheinu, Vehi Sheamda, and the recitation of Shema were some of the precious moments that uplifted and unified one and all. This was a week of true unity of purpose. We should savor that and build upon it. We have each other and we must treasure each other, all of us who were in shul last Monday or in DC last Tuesday. Lets build together on what matters. , (PA) - Transport Secretary Mark Harper has been urged to fund new Elizabeth line trains to help save the UK's largest rail assembly factory. Alstom is consulting on potential redundancies believed to be around 550 at its train manufacturing site in Derby, while 780 contractors are also at risk. This is due to a gap in its order book. In a joint letter, bosses from Transport for London (TfL), Alstom and trade union Unite urged Mr Harper to agree to fund new trains for the Elizabeth line, which runs between Berkshire and Essex via central London. They stressed the importance of a quick decision before Alstom demobilises its production facilities for the Aventra trains used on the route. The letter warned that the Government's decision for Old Oak Common - in the west London suburbs - to be the capital's HS2 terminus for several years means more pressure will be put on Elizabeth line services at the station. The letter stated: "The additional trains will enable TfL to operate a higher frequency of services to Old Oak Common to relieve wait times at the station, reduce crowding on trains and provide shorter journey times for more customers using Old Oak Common station. Appointment: The LSE Group has named Michel-Alain Proch as its next chief financial officer The London Stock Exchange Group has named Michel-Alain Proch as its next chief financial officer. Proch currently holds the same position at Publicis Groupe, one of the 'Big Four' advertising agencies and Saatchi & Saatchi's former owner. Before that, the Frenchman was finance boss at fintech provider Ingenico Group and IT services business Atos, where he was also chief executive of its North American division and head digital officer. He will replace Anna Manz, who announced her intention to stand down in May after three years in the job. She will become the next CFO of confectionery giant Nestle. LSE Group said Proch would relocate from Paris to London and receive an 850,000 annual starting salary, as well as bonuses. David Schwimmer, the company's chief executive, said: '[Proch's] deep experience across global, financial infrastructure and IT data solutions firms will be invaluable as we deliver against the next stage of our strategic growth. Proch added: 'It is an exciting time to be joining LSEG as the group continues its transformation as a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider. 'I look forward to working with David and the entire team to deliver against our strategy and achieve further value for stakeholders.' His appointment follows just a few days after LSE Group pledged 1billion of share buybacks in 2023 due to 'strong cash generation'. In addition, it said revenue growth was expected to be towards the top end of its 6 to 8 per cent guidance range this year. The forecast coincided with the FTSE 100 firm hosting a two-day investor event where it set out plans to expand in the coming years through its partnership with Microsoft. LSE Group struck a transformational decade-long deal with the software giant in December 2022. Under the arrangement, the company will spend at least 2.3billion on Microsoft's data analytics and cloud-related technology. In return, Microsoft has taken a 4 per cent stake in LSE Group from a consortium of investors, including asset management firm Blackstone, Thomson Reuters and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund. When the deal was initially unveiled, Schwimmer called it 'a significant milestone on LSEG's journey towards becoming the leading global financial markets infrastructure and data business, and will transform the experience for our customers.' London Stock Exchange shares were 0.3 per cent up at 85.76 on early Monday afternoon. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. A conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" is being held in Baku under the joint organization of Azerbaijan (current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (future NAM chairs), Trend reports. The event is being held on the basis of initiatives announced by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. The conference will discuss the relevance of women's roles in sustainable development, economic growth, peace, security, and other sectors, as well as the promotion of women's rights and empowerment of women within the NAM. The event is attended by around 60 delegations, including representatives from NAM member nations, governments with observer status at the NAM, international organizations, and high-ranking officials invited as special guests. Since 2019, Azerbaijan has led the Non-Aligned Movement, the second-largest international body after the United Nations General Assembly. It was extended for another year by a unanimous decision of the NAM member states, who praised Azerbaijan's performance as chairman of the organization. President Ilham Aliyev's organization of a special session of the UN General Assembly dedicated to combating the pandemic, fighting vaccination nationalism, and adopting resolutions in this direction is an indicator of Azerbaijan's successful chairmanship of the NAM. As a result of Azerbaijan's successful chairmanship, today the Non-Aligned Movement is considered by the world as an example of multilateralism. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Marks & Spencer will take the battle to raze its Oxford Street store to the High Court after Michael Gove blocked its plans. The retailer was yesterday granted permission for a judicial review in the latest instalment of the row between M&S chief executive Stuart Machin and the Levelling Up Secretary. In July, Gove denied the retailer permission to demolish the 1929 art deco building near Marble Arch in London and build a much larger ten-storey retail and office block. Legal challenge: In July, Michael Gove denied M&S permission to raze its Oxford Street building and construct a much larger ten-storey retail and office block M&S said it was taking legal action as it believes Gove wrongly interpreted and applied planning policy to justify his decision on heritage and environmental grounds. Machin said: We have been clear from the very start that the refurbishment of the existing store was not possible, so this is only the first step in the lengthy process of overturning the Governments senseless decision to reject our Marble Arch proposal the only retail-led regeneration on Oxford Street. Goves decision remains bewildering after M&Ss plan had support from local authorities, neighbouring businesses and inspectors, Machin added. Last month Machin labelled the decision utterly pathetic. He accused Gove of taking an anti-business approach, choking off growth and denying Oxford Street hundreds of thousands of new quality jobs. Some of Britains leading architects, including London Eye designer Julia Barfield and Grand Designs TV presenter Kevin McCloud, opposed the plan. The Government said it did not comment on ongoing legal matters. The boss of luxury jeweller Boodles has branded the tourist tax a spectacular own goal ahead of the Autumn Statement. The company is among the 400 or so to have backed the Mails campaign to reinstate VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors. And with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt putting the final touches to tomorrows statement, Boodles managing director Michael Wainwright said the levy has been extremely unhelpful for retailers and has hit tourism more widely. Faces of Boodles: Lady Eliza and Lady Amelia Spencer. The jeweller has backed our campaign to reinstate VAT-free shopping for tourists Its not just the spending on luxury, its the staying in hotels and dining out in restaurants that is also affected, Wainwright told The Times. Companies including Boodles, Burberry and Marks & Spencer have backed the Mails campaign to scrap the tourist tax. The boss of Londons gigantic Westfield shopping malls in Stratford and White City echoed Boodles pleas yesterday. Scott Parsons, UK chief operating officer at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, said the absence of tax-free shopping had hit the High Street hard. Twitters boss is facing pressure to resign as advertisers pull out in a row over antisemitism. Linda Yaccarino, who joined the social media site now known as X in June, has faced a major backlash after the Elon Musk-owned company was accused of placing adverts next to antisemitic posts. The former NBCUniversal ad executive was hired to woo advertisers. Linda Yaccarino (pictured), who joined X in June, has faced a major backlash after the company was accused of placing adverts next to antisemitic posts But there are calls for her to step down as the likes of IBM, Apple, Walt Disney, Comcast and Warner Bros cut ties with X. The European Commission has also told staff to pull advertising because of an alarming increase in disinformation and hate speech. But Yaccarino, 59, posted last week: X has been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. Nick Waters, chief executive of Ebiquity, the London-listed firm that helps companies allocate advertising spend, said: Her credibility is in tatters. 'She should go because she isnt in control of what is happening on her watch. She cant keep advertisers safe from this complete disaster. Just 3 per cent of new cars sold in showrooms today come with a spare wheel as standard, new analysis has revealed. With car makers instead eliminating full-size and space-saver spare wheels in favour of lighter and cheaper tyre repair kits, there is an increased change of motorists being stranded at the roadside if they get a puncture. The RAC has reviewed 313 new cars on sale today - ranging from the smallest superminis to the largest 4X4s - and found that only eight (2.6 per cent) come factory-fitted with a back-up wheel in the boot. The breakdown assistance provider says this is causing a 'dramatic' rise in the number of incidents where drivers need help in the event of an unrepairable flat tyre. Its patrols went out to nearly 200,000 call-outs last year where drivers had a puncture and no spare wheel, up from 165,000 in 2018. An RAC review of 313 models - ranging from the smallest superminis to the largest 4x4s - found only eight automatically come with a back-up wheel in the boot The motoring group said it is predominantly larger, heaver-duty vehicles that come with a spare wheel, meaning the vast majority of family-friendly cars won't have them as standard. Many manufacturers have stopped including a spare wheel as standard to reduce the weight of their cars by up to 20kg. This makes the vehicles more fuel efficient but also helps car makers to meet tougher emissions legislation. Tyre repair kits are also far cheaper to offer as standard equipment in cars, meaning manufacturers can save money on each model they sell by not offering it with a spare in the boot or under the chassis. It means buyers will almost always have to pay extra to have the convenience of a spare wheel in the boot. For instance, Ford's Puma - which is the best-selling car in Britain so far in 2023 - doesn't have a spare as standard. For customers to spec a 'mini space saver' on a new order, it costs an extra 200. And while a full-size of space-saver spare provide a simple short-term solution for a puncture, repair kits are sometimes difficult to use and often frustrate drivers due to their limited capabilities. Anything bar a small puncture, be it a sizeable whole or tear to the rubber, will be too big a task for these repair kits and see them fail. And pumping the sealant solution into the tyre usually renders it unrepairable (read more about the limitations of puncture repair kits in the boxout at the bottom of this page). The RAC said spare wheels are set to shift from an endangered species to the extinct list because of the arrival of electric vehicles (EVs). In many cases, their large battery packs take up the space where a spare would traditionally be installed, meaning ergonomically there isn't room to have one. Many manufacturers have stopped including a spare wheel as standard to reduce the weight of their cars by up to 20kg. This makes the vehicles more fuel efficient but also helps car makers to meet tougher emissions legislation Did you know? The AA and RAC patrols can loan you a spare wheel The RAC's Universal spare wheel design Both the RAC and its biggest rival, the AA, have their own solutions for drivers who get a puncture but don't have a spare wheel. Patrol vehicles for both firms carry their own 'universal' or 'multi-fit' spare wheels respectively. These have the flexibility of varying wheel sizes, designs and fitments so they can be fitted to the vast majority of models sold in Britain today. This spare wheel can be fitted to a car with a puncture at the roadside, allowing the driver to continue their journey while visiting a garage en route to have their tyre fixed or replaced. The multi-fit space saver can be left at the garage and collected by a passing patrol at a later date. The AA's Multi-Fit spare wheel design The only car models identified as having a spare wheel as standard were the Fiat Tipo, Ford Focus (selected variants), Hyundai Sante Fe (PHEV), Land Rover Defender, Seat Ateca (selected variants), Suzuki Across, Volvo XC90 (not PHEV) and Toyota Land Cruiser. RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: 'Getting a puncture on a journey has to be one of the most irritating breakdowns for drivers, especially if it's as a result of hitting one of the plethora of potholes that currently characterise so many of our roads. 'In the past, a driver could have reached for the spare wheel in the boot but this new analysis shows that these are now pretty much a thing of the past, with a miniscule number of new cars sold in the UK coming with one as standard. 'It's understandable therefore that drivers are increasingly calling on us to help them out of a tight spot, and it's a trend we fully expect to continue as electric vehicles are even less likely to come with a spare. 'Fortunately, we're continuing to innovate to ensure our members get the best service possible should they breakdown as a result of a puncture, having just rolled out a four-stud version of our pioneering multi-fit spare wheel, that's carried by every single one of our patrols. 'In many cases, drivers ordering a new car can still buy a spare wheel - whether that's a full-size one or the more common lightweight space saver type - as an optional extra. 'This might turn out to be a wise investment if you are one of the many drivers who unfortunately suffers a puncture.' The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which represents car makers, was contact by the Mail but declined to comment. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES Free Report) in a report issued on Friday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the oil and gas producers stock. Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Hess from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, September 18th. Raymond James restated a market perform rating on shares of Hess in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. Argus upgraded Hess from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $171.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Hess from $155.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 18th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a neutral rating and set a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $197.00) on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $173.06. Get Hess alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on HES Hess Trading Up 2.1 % Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $144.45 on Friday. Hess has a 52-week low of $113.82 and a 52-week high of $167.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $44.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.27. Hess (NYSE:HES Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.68 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 14.94%. The businesss revenue was down 27.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hess will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year. Hess Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 18th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 15th. Hesss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.72%. Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, SVP Barbara J. Lowery-Yilmaz sold 24,319 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.91, for a total transaction of $3,815,894.29. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 113,670 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $17,835,959.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 9.93% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HES. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 50.2% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,660 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Hess by 187.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 9,423 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $1,442,000 after buying an additional 6,141 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Hess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Hess by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 247,749 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $37,906,000 after acquiring an additional 20,749 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess during the third quarter valued at $222,000. Institutional investors own 81.72% of the companys stock. About Hess (Get Free Report) Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Hess Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hess and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Boliden AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:BDNNY Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of Hold from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. BDNNY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised shares of Boliden AB (publ) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Boliden AB (publ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Get Boliden AB (publ) alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BDNNY Boliden AB (publ) Price Performance BDNNY opened at $56.21 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.62. Boliden AB has a twelve month low of $48.66 and a twelve month high of $92.60. Boliden AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:BDNNY Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 20th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter. About Boliden AB (publ) (Get Free Report Boliden AB (publ) engages in the exploring, extracting, and processing of base metals and precious metals in Sweden, other Nordic region, Germany, the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, North America, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Business Area Mines and Business Area Smelters. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Boliden AB (publ) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boliden AB (publ) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSE:CNQ Get Free Report) (NYSE:CNQ) has been assigned an average rating of Moderate Buy from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$94.33. Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CNQ. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from C$86.00 to C$90.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, October 16th. National Bankshares boosted their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from C$90.00 to C$100.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, October 12th. Evercore raised their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from C$88.00 to C$90.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. National Bank Financial raised their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from C$90.00 to C$101.00 in a report on Thursday, October 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from C$95.00 to C$105.00 in a report on Monday, October 16th. Get Canadian Natural Resources alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Canadian Natural Resources Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend TSE:CNQ opened at C$91.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.13, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of C$99.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.95. The firms fifty day moving average price is C$88.03 and its 200 day moving average price is C$81.47. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of C$67.13 and a 1-year high of C$93.44. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resourcess previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 7th. Canadian Natural Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.82%. Insider Activity at Canadian Natural Resources In related news, Senior Officer Erin Louise Lunn sold 2,360 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$87.14, for a total value of C$205,650.40. In other Canadian Natural Resources news, Senior Officer Erin Louise Lunn sold 2,360 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$87.14, for a total transaction of C$205,650.40. Also, Director Stephen W. Laut purchased 512 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$85.44 per share, with a total value of C$43,745.28. Insiders sold 120,878 shares of company stock valued at $10,673,514 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.22% of the companys stock. About Canadian Natural Resources (Get Free Report Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO). Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Natural Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Natural Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI Free Report) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 289,752 shares of the technology companys stock after buying an additional 16,087 shares during the quarter. MSCI comprises about 2.0% of Axiom Investors LLC DEs portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned approximately 0.37% of MSCI worth $135,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 19,337 shares of the technology companys stock worth $9,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in MSCI by 194.0% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 8,339 shares of the technology companys stock worth $3,913,000 after purchasing an additional 5,503 shares in the last quarter. AXS Investments LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the technology companys stock worth $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth about $928,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,986 shares of the technology companys stock worth $4,217,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.61% of the companys stock. Get MSCI alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $510.00 to $582.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Argus initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, September 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $580.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Redburn Partners reissued a neutral rating and issued a $554.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $563.86. MSCI Price Performance MSCI opened at $519.10 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $450.00 and a fifty-two week high of $572.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.45, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.11. The companys 50 day moving average price is $508.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $503.33. MSCI (NYSE:MSCI Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The technology company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $625.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.67 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.76% and a negative return on equity of 97.86%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 13.19 EPS for the current year. MSCI Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 9th will be given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 8th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. MSCIs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.00%. MSCI Company Profile (Free Report) MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides investment decision support tools for the clients to manage their investment processes worldwide. It operates through four segments: Index, Analytics, ESG and Climate, and All Other Private Assets. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed product creation, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct. See Also Receive News & Ratings for MSCI Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MSCI and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 647,316 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 44,963 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company comprises about 4.5% of Axiom Investors LLC DEs portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned 0.07% of Eli Lilly and Company worth $303,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LLY. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 722,529 shares of the companys stock worth $340,109,000 after buying an additional 139,439 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 128,977 shares of the companys stock worth $60,488,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 18,708 shares of the companys stock worth $8,774,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 31,474 shares of the companys stock valued at $14,761,000 after buying an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 22.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 112,051 shares of the companys stock valued at $52,550,000 after buying an additional 20,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the companys stock. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance NYSE LLY opened at $596.24 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $566.02 billion, a PE ratio of 107.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $577.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $509.95. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52-week low of $309.20 and a 52-week high of $629.97. Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 14th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Eli Lilly and Companys dividend payout ratio is currently 81.88%. In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 670 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.10, for a total value of $382,637.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,688,738.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 63,572 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction on Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.38, for a total value of $35,243,045.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,312,939 shares of the companys stock, valued at $55,611,487,122.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 670 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction on Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.10, for a total transaction of $382,637.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,708 shares in the company, valued at $2,688,738.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 535,538 shares of company stock valued at $20,881,299,452. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities analysts have recently commented on LLY shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $525.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. UBS Group restated a buy rating and issued a $710.00 target price (up from $612.00) on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, October 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $600.00 to $700.00 in a report on Friday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $408.00 to $615.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $385.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $557.00. Read Our Latest Analysis on Eli Lilly and Company 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. 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. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE Get Free Report)s stock had its overweight rating reiterated by Cantor Fitzgerald in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $75.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical companys stock. Cantor Fitzgeralds price target would suggest a potential upside of 151.26% from the stocks previous close. A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PFE. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $42.50. Get Pfizer alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on Pfizer Pfizer Trading Down 0.2 % Shares of Pfizer stock traded down $0.07 on Monday, hitting $29.85. 11,720,131 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,485,195. The company has a market capitalization of $168.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.05. Pfizer has a one year low of $28.93 and a one year high of $54.93. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.15. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.77 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 16.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth about $220,000. Atlas Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the second quarter worth $273,000. Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Tichoniim Havera Menahelet LTD purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the second quarter valued at $2,721,000. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. now owns 1,066,091 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $39,105,000 after purchasing an additional 36,429 shares during the period. Finally, Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD bought a new position in Pfizer in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,690,000. 68.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Pfizer Company Profile (Get Free Report) Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Pfizer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pfizer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan Vladanka Andreeva expressed her gratitude to Azerbaijan for holding a conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" during her speech at the event, Trend reports. "Gender equality is an important step towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. We are now in a very transformational phase. This conference will be a new opportunity for women in terms of the future," she added. Vladanka Andreeva also noted that the UN actively supports the idea of protecting and developing women's rights in Azerbaijan. "The issue of ensuring women's rights is an integral part of the UN agenda. Today we should use all kinds of platforms for dialog on gender equality," Andreeva added. She also noted that positive results in the field of gender equality and women's empowerment can inspire new initiatives in this direction in the future. Azerbaijan (the current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (the future NAM chairs) are hosting the NAM conference on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" in Baku. The event is held on the basis of initiatives voiced by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel. Wavelength Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in iShares National Muni Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:MUB Free Report) by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,633 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 11,267 shares during the quarter. iShares National Muni Bond ETF makes up about 10.4% of Wavelength Capital Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Wavelength Capital Management LLCs holdings in iShares National Muni Bond ETF were worth $9,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in iShares National Muni Bond ETF by 3.9% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 235,547 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $25,140,000 after purchasing an additional 8,769 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 41,917 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $4,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the period. My Legacy Advisors LLC increased its position in iShares National Muni Bond ETF by 4.1% during the second quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 33,138 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $3,546,000 after buying an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF in the second quarter valued at approximately $285,000. Get iShares National Muni Bond ETF alerts: iShares National Muni Bond ETF Stock Up 0.4 % MUB stock traded up $0.37 on Monday, hitting $105.18. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,870,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,478,358. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $102.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.02. iShares National Muni Bond ETF has a 1 year low of $100.78 and a 1 year high of $108.66. iShares National Muni Bond ETF Profile iShares National AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index (the Index). Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for iShares National Muni Bond ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares National Muni Bond ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bessemer Securities LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC Free Report) by 41.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,318 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 52,400 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up 1.4% of Bessemer Securities LLCs holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Bessemer Securities LLCs holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Roundview Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.5% during the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 135,764 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $5,596,000 after buying an additional 2,013 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in Bank of America by 150.3% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,985 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 405,098 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $16,698,000 after acquiring an additional 16,319 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $586,000. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the first quarter worth approximately $534,000. 68.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Bank of America alerts: Bank of America Stock Performance Bank of America stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $29.87. 3,608,704 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 48,786,199. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.38 billion, a PE ratio of 8.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $27.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.59. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $37.87. Bank of America Announces Dividend Bank of America ( NYSE:BAC Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.07. Bank of America had a net margin of 18.69% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The company had revenue of $25.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 1st will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.89%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research firms have issued reports on BAC. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $28.00 to $27.50 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on Bank of America in a report on Thursday, September 7th. They issued a buy rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $35.54. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bank of America About Bank of America (Free Report) Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, noninterest-and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; and credit and debit cards, residential mortgages, and home equity loans, as well as direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans. Featured Stories 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. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The state has taken a practical step to solve many problems of women in families in Morocco since 2023, Moroccan Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and Family Aawatif Hayar said, Trend reports. He spoke at the ongoing Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference in Baku on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment". "As of 2022, up to 18 million women have received multiple benefits. Consequently, almost 18 million families have taken advantage of this opportunity," the minister emphasized. Baku is hosting the NAM conference on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" under the joint organization of Azerbaijan (the current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (the future NAM chairs). The event is held on the basis of initiatives voiced by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel If You Go CHRISTMAS TREE FARMS IN THE REGION Roan Valley Tree Farm is at 440 Okolona Road, Johnson City, phone 828-385-2675. Elk River Evergreens is at 60 Buck Mountain Road and 121 Brooks Shell Road, both in Elk Park, North Carolina, phone 828-387-7695. In far Southwest Virginia near the Tri-Cities, according to Blue Ridge Mountains Travel Guide online at blueridgemountainstravelguide.com/christmas-tree-farms-in-virginia/, the Anne & Eddie Blevins Christmas Tree Farm provides choose-and-cut trees. The address is 30862 Jeb Stuart Highway, Damascus, and the phone 276-388-2845 Back in Tennessee and North Carolina, aside from Roan Tree Farm, the website tennesseechristmastrees.org operated by the Tennessee Christmas Tree Growers, lists three other farms close to the Tri-Cities: A local developing choose-and-cut tree farm is Emma B's Christmas Trees, 1376 TN-75, Blountville, 423-737-0496. However, a call to the business and the website listing said sellable trees are a few years away. Wanda and Leland Salyer in the spring of 2018 planted 1,000 trees on their 25-acre farm, but he said it would be a few years before they are ready for harvest. In Johnson County, Wintergreen Farm provides choose-and-cut trees. It is located at 223 Waddell Road, Mountain City, and the phone number is 423-727-3033. Also in Johnson County is Stone Mountain Farms at 301 Sherry Reece Lane, Trade, and the phone number is 828-773-7651. It has been in business since 1988. The website pickyourownchristmastree.org lists: Upper Stone Mountain Tree Farm, 510 Charles Tolley Road, Unicoi, 423-743-2034. Doug Clark's Nursery, Slemp Branch Road, Mountain City, 828-733-4850, Melissa@CandGnursery.com. Joe Grindstaff Nursery, 5330 Roan Creek Road, Mountain City, 423-335-3556. Pine Orchard Nursery, 975 Pine Orchard Road, Butler, 423-768-2967. More choose-and-cut tree farms listed by East Tennessee Family Fund online at https://easttnfamilyfun.com/christmas-tree-farms-near-johnson-city-tn: Cartner Christmas Tree Farm, 901 Balsam Drive, Newland, North Carolina, 828-733-1641. C and G Nursery, 204 White Pine Road, Newland, North Carolina, 828-733-4850. Boyd Mountain Christmas Tree Farm, 445 Boyd Farm Road, Waynesville, North Carolina, phone 828-926-8888. Cornett Deal Christmas Tree Farm, 142 Tannenbaum Lane, Vilas, North Carolina, phone 828-964-6322 Back in the Tri-Cities, the Pick Tennessee Products website at picktnproducts.org/picktn-producers/picktn-listing.2447.html includes Fall Branch Christmas Tree Farm. Located at 216 Kincheloe Road, Fall Branch, it is operated by Bobby and Beth Westbrook and reachable at 423-360-2264, 423-348-6274 or sugar37664@yahoo.com. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Participants of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" will be able to secure international protection of the common interests, Chairperson of the Azerbaijani State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs Bahar Muradova said during her speech at the event, Trend reports. "Today, at this grand conference, the groundwork is being laid for an initiative that will bring us together around ideas and activities for the protection, promotion, and expansion of women's rights." This allows us to "explore best practices in the more reliable protection of human rights, commitment to the ideals of justice and humanism, and international defense of our common interests," she said. Muradova further stated that, at a time when the entire community was struggling with the extraordinary challenge of the COVID-19 epidemic, the NAM, led by Azerbaijan, played a critical role in uniting global efforts. She also emphasized that the online NAM Summit in May 2020 and the subsequent special session of the UN General Assembly on this issue in December are vivid examples of this. "In addition to these events, I would like to proudly highlight that recently established NAM institutions, such as the Parliamentary Network and the Youth Organization, are making a significant contribution to multilateral cooperation," the official said. "It has been several months since, in July 2023, during the meeting of the Coordinating Bureau, President Ilham Aliyev announced the work on establishing the Women's Platform of the Non-Aligned Movement." "Now, Azerbaijan, as the chair, is taking practical steps along with other member countries to activate the NAM in the field of women's rights," she added. The conference is being held in Baku under the joint organization of Azerbaijan (current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (future NAM chairs), on the basis of initiatives announced by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel [November 19, 2023] Significant BlackBerry Cybersecurity Deal with the Government of Malaysia at APEC Leaders' Summit welcomed by Canadian and Malaysian Prime Ministers Tweet BlackBerry to provide full suite of cybersecurity solutions to Government of Malaysia in milestone long-term deal SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Government of Malaysia and BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB), today announced a long-term software and services agreement to strengthen Malaysia's cybersecurity posture. The landmark deal will enable the Malaysian Government to leverage the full suite of trusted BlackBerry cybersecurity solutions, and support the integrity of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) while upskilling the nation's workforce with advanced cybersecurity technology and training. The Malaysian public sector will benefit from secure, reliable, real-time access to BlackBerry software and services, hosted in a sovereign cloud. This includes BlackBerry's world-leading cybersecurity solutions powered by Cylance AI to predict and prevent cyberattacks, NATO-certified BlackBerry SecuSUITE for secure communications, BlackBerry UEM (Unified Endpoint Management) to protect government data among a roaming workforce, and BlackBerry AtHoc used by govrnments globally for critical event management and incident response. BlackBerry also announced it will establish a world-class Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (CCoE) in Kuala Lumpur in 2024. The CCoE will offer specialized training to advance Malaysian cybersecurity capacity and readiness, with the goal of reducing the country's shortfall of 12,000 cyber professionals. The Government of Canada welcomed the establishment of the CCoE and plans to work closely with BlackBerry, the Government of Malaysia and the CCoE to deliver cybersecurity capacity building assistance to Southeast Asia, as mandated under Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy. The fast-growing economy of Malaysia is a strategic choice for BlackBerry's first CCoE in the Asia Pacific region, adding to the company's network of existing CCoEs in America, Canada, and Europe. The CCoE will offer cybersecurity education and training, as well as 'always-on' cyber threat intelligence and incident response teams to help the country safeguard against malicious cyber activity targeting businesses, governments, and infrastructure. The CCoE also will enhance intelligence sharing between nations and expand BlackBerry's global threat intelligence network. Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said, "To continue to grow, prosper and keep our nation's data and citizens safe, Malaysia must forge international partnerships that embrace cutting-edge technology, and invite foreign investment to rapidly scale up and train a world-class cybersecurity workforce. We are pleased to collaborate with BlackBerry to support Malaysia's goal to be a leading example of cyber-resilience with the promise of data sovereignty, for our government information, data, and communications." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "Cybersecurity is a key pillar of Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, which aims to advance peace, security, and cooperation in the region. Cybersecurity is a shared challenge that requires international cooperation, which is why we strongly support BlackBerry's Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Malaysia, an important bilateral partner of Canada. By supporting Malaysia's future cyber-defenders and establishing stronger regional networks for the sharing of expertise between Canada and Southeast Asia, we can further strengthen the resilience and capacity of our two countries and the wider region to counter, deter and respond to cyber threats." "With nearly 40 years in protecting governments and enterprises globally, BlackBerry is proud to partner with the Governments of Malaysia and Canada to enhance Malaysia's cybersecurity posture proactively securing the nation's data and mission-critical communications, while also providing support for the management of critical incidents," said John Giamatteo, BlackBerry's Cybersecurity President. "I am also especially proud of the establishment of a BlackBerry Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Malaysia, designed to support the Prime Minister's strategic goal of growing a skilled cybersecurity workforce and positioning Malaysia as a critical regional hub of threat intelligence." Mr. Giamatteo will oversee the deployment of BlackBerry Cybersecurity solutions in Malaysia, and the establishment of the BlackBerry CCoE. Joining Mr. Giamatteo at the deal signing was BlackBerry's Chief Government Affairs and Public Policy Officer, Marjorie Dickman, who is responsible for strategic oversight of BlackBerry's global government relations and public policy operations, H.E. Tuan Ahmad Fahmi bin Mohamed Fadzil, Minister of Communications and Digital, Tan Sri Mohamad Salim bin Fateh Din, Executive Chairman of the MCMC, and other members of the Malaysian delegation at the APEC Leaders' Summit in San Francisco. About BlackBerry BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 235M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety, and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security, endpoint management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust. BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere. For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry. Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services. Media Contacts: BlackBerry Media Relations +1 (519) 597-7273 [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/significant-blackberry-cybersecurity-deal-with-the-government-of-malaysia-at-apec-leaders-summit-welcomed-by-canadian-and-malaysian-prime-ministers-301992905.html SOURCE BlackBerry Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 19, 2023] Mirae Asset Launches Global X China Little Giant ETF (2815) Offering Niche Markets Investment Opportunities Tweet Mirae Asset Launches Global X China Little Giant ETF (2815) to invest in 50 state-level specialized enterprises selected by the Chinese government Mirae Asset is committed to providing opportunities to invest in China's innovation and technology development HONG KONG, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mirae Asset Global Investments (Hong Kong) Limited (the "Company" or "Mirae Asset") announced the launch of Global X China Little Giant ETF (2815) today, providing investors with a diversified and efficient investment opportunity in innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with high growth potential benefiting from China's policy dividends. The Global X China Little Giants ETF (2815) tracks the Solactive China Little Giants Index, investing in securities of 50 nationally recognized "little giant" enterprises selected by the Chinese government. As China's economy transitions from high-GDP growth to high-quality development, accelerating technological innovation has become a crucial initiative for achieving structural transformation and industrial upgrading. These "little giant" enterprises focus on niche markets, possess strong innovation capabilities, and demonstrate growth potential, aligning with the current needs of China's economy and the development trends of the era, thereby offering vast growth opportunities. The Global X China Little Giant ETF (2815) invests a group of potential enterprises that possess core specialized technologies and higher investment returns, allowing investors to conveniently and cost-effectively participate in China's rapid growth in strategic sectors such as semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, new energy, etc., enabling them to effortlessly ride the wave of the times. Mr. Wanyoun CHO, Chief Executive Officer of Mirae Asset Global Investments (Hong Kong) Limited, stated, "We are pleased to launch the Global X China Little Giant ETF (2815), providing investors with a simple and efficient way to invest in China's rapidly growing technology industry. By introducing this ETF into our thematic product lineup, Mirae Asset continues to offer our clients investment products with growth potential. With the transformation of China's overall economic structure and the continued development and upgrading in high-tech fields, we believe that the development of the innovative technology sector will be long-term and sustainable." The Global X China Little Giant ETF (2815) has a maximum total expense ratio of 0.68% for the first 12 months, applicable to both retail and institutional investors, and can be traded during normal trading hours on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange." About Mirae Asset Global Investments Group Mirae Asset Global Investments Group (the "Group") is an asset management organization with over US$212 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2023. The organization provides a diverse range of investment products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"), and alternatives. Operating out of 22 offices worldwide, the Group has a global team of more than 1,000 employees, including more than 285 investment professionals. [Source: Mirae Asset, September, 2023.] The Group's global ETF platform features a lineup of 550 ETFs that offer investors high-quality and cost-efficient exposure to newly emerging investment themes and disruptive technologies in the global markets. As of September 2023, the Group's ETFs had combined assets under management of US$98 billion and are listed in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [Source: Mirae Asset, September, 2023.] About Global X ETFs Global X ETFs was founded in 2008. For more than a decade, our mission has been empowering investors with unexplored and intelligent solutions. Our product lineup features over 245 ETF strategies and over US$47 billion in assets under management. [Source: Mirae Asset, September, 2023.] While we are distinguished for our Thematic Growth, Income, and International Access ETFs, we also offer Core, Commodity, and Alpha funds to suit a wide range of investment objectives. Global X is a member of Mirae Asset Financial Group, a globl leader in financial services, has a presence in 18 global markets, and the Group's managed assets worldwide exceed US$565bn in total AUM. [Source: Mirae Asset, June, 2023.] Mirae Asset Global Investments (Hong Kong): https://www.am.miraeasset.com.hk/ Global X ETFs Hong Kong: https://www.globalxetfs.com.hk/ Important Information Investors should not base investment decisions on this material alone. Please refer to the Prospectus for details including product features and the risk factors. Investment involves risks. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. There is no guarantee of the repayment of the principal. Investors should note: Global X China Little Giant ETF's (the "Fund's") objective is to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, closely correspond to the performance of the Solactive China Little Giant Index (the "Index"). The Index is a new index. The Index has minimal operating history by which investors can evaluate its previous performance. There can be no assurance as to the performance of the Index. The Fund may be riskier than other exchange traded funds tracking more established indices with longer operating history. The Fund may invest in small and/or mid-capitalisation companies which may have lower liquidity and their prices are more volatile to adverse economic developments than those of larger capitalisation companies in general. The Fund's investments are concentrated in companies which are characterised by relatively higher volatility in price performance. The Sub-Fund may be exposed to risks associated with different sectors and themes including semiconductor, industrial, pharmaceutical, energy and technology. Fluctuations in the business for companies in these sectors or themes will have an adverse impact on the net asset value of the Sub-Fund. Some of the companies classified as the Little Giants have a relatively short operating history. Such companies also face intense competition and rapid changes could render the products and services offered by these companies obsolete, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. They may be more susceptible to risks of loss or impairment of intellectual property rights or licences, cyber security risks resulting in undesirable legal, financial, operational and reputational consequences affecting those companies. The Mainland China is an emerging market. The Fund invests in Mainland Chinese companies which may involve increased risks and special considerations not typically associated with investment in more developed markets, such as liquidity risk, currency risks or control, political and economic uncertainties, legal and taxation risks, settlement risks, custody risk and the likelihood of a high degree of volatility. Securities exchanges in the Mainland Chinese markets typically have the right to suspend or limit trading in any security traded on the relevant exchange. The government or the regulators may also implement policies that may affect the financial markets. All these may have a negative impact on the Fund. Listed companies on the ChiNext market and/or STAR Board are subject to higher fluctuation on stock prices and liquidity risk, over-valuation risk, less stringent regulation risk, delisting risk and concentration risk. As part of the securities lending transactions, there is a risk of shortfall of collateral value due to inaccurate pricing of the securities lent or change of value of securities lent. This may cause significant losses to the Fund. The borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund may suffer from a loss or delay when recovering the securities lent out. This may restrict the Fund's ability in meeting delivery or payment obligations from redemption requests. The Fund's synthetic replication strategy will involve investing up to 50% of its net asset value in financial derivative instruments ("FDIs"), mainly funded total return swap transaction(s) through one or more counterparty(ies). Risks associated with FDIs include counterparty/credit risk, liquidity risk, valuation risk, volatility risk and over-the-counter transaction risk. FDIs are susceptible to price fluctuations and higher volatility, and may have large bid and offer spreads and no active secondary markets. The leverage element/component of an FDI can result in a loss significantly greater than the amount invested in the FDI by the Fund. The trading price of the Shares on the SEHK is driven by market factors such as the demand and supply of the Shares. Therefore, the Shares may trade at a substantial premium or discount to the Fund's Net Asset Value. Payments of distributions out of capital or effectively out of capital amounts to a return or withdrawal of part of an investor's original investment or from any capital gains attributable to that original investment. Any such distributions may result in an immediate reduction in the Net Asset Value per Share of the Fund and will reduce the capital available for future investment. Disclaimer This document is for Hong Kong investors only. This document is provided for information and illustrative purposes and is intended for your use only. It is not a solicitation, offer or recommendation to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument. The information contained in this document has been provided as a general market commentary only and does not constitute any form of regulated financial advice, legal, tax or other regulated services. Certain of the statements contained in this document are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements. Views, opinions and estimates may change without notice and are based on a number of assumptions which may or may not eventuate or prove to be accurate. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements. Investment involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. It cannot be guaranteed that the performance of the Funds will generate a return and there may be circumstances where no return is generated or the amount invested is lost. It may not be suitable for persons unfamiliar with the underlying securities or who are unwilling or unable to bear the risk of loss and ownership of such investment. Before making any investment decision, investors should read the Prospectus for details and the risk factors. Investors should ensure they fully understand the risks associated with the Funds and should also consider their own investment objective and risk tolerance level. Investors are advised to seek independent professional advice before making any investment. Information and opinions presented in this document have been obtained or derived from sources which in the opinion of Mirae Asset Global Investments (Hong Kong) Limited ("MAGIHK") are reliable, but we make no representation as to their accuracy or completeness. We accept no liability for a loss arising from the use of this document. Products, services and information may not be available in your jurisdiction and may be offered by affiliates, subsidiaries and/or distributors of MAGIHK as stipulated by local laws and regulations. This document is not directed to any person in any jurisdiction where the availability of this document is prohibited. Persons in respect of whom such prohibitions apply or persons other than those specified above must not access this document. It is your responsibility to be aware of and to observe all applicable laws and regulations of any relevant jurisdiction. Please consult with your professional adviser for further information on the availability of products and services within your jurisdiction. This document is issued by MAGIHK (Licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission for Types 1, 4 and 9 regulated activities under the Securities and Futures Ordinance). This document has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission or the applicable regulator in the jurisdiction in which this article is posted and no part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission of MAGIHK. Copyright 2023 Mirae Asset Global Investments. All rights reserved. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/mirae-asset-launches-global-x-china-little-giant-etf-2815-offering-niche-markets-investment-opportunities-301992992.html SOURCE Mirae Asset Global Investments (Hong Kong) Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 19, 2023] ATFX Welcomes Simon Naish as Country Head in Australia Tweet SYDNEY, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ATFX, a leading global online trading broker, is pleased to announce the appointment of Simon Naish as the new Country Head for ATFX Australia. With his exceptional expertise in the financial markets and extensive experience in building and growing offices, Simon is set to lead ATFX Australia to new heights. With a strong background in FX trading, Simon brings his deep understanding of managing risks across global markets and a proven track record of successful team leadership. His ability to build a client base from scratch, leveraging his wide network of connections, will be a valuable asset in expanding ATFX's reach in the Australian market. Simon has previously held prominent roles in leading financial institutions. His experience as the Head of Bank and Diversified Financial Institutions FX Sales, APAC at National Australia Bank Ltd., along with his role as a consultant to Macquarie University (Australian Financial Markets Association), has equipped him with a comprehensive knowledge of institutional clint sales, foreign exchange, rates trading, and business transformation leveraging technology and data analysis. Commenting on the appointment, Joe Li, Chairman at ATFX stated, "We are delighted to have Simon Naish join ATFX as the Country Head for ATFX Australia. His extensive expertise and leadership skills make him the ideal candidate to drive our business forward in this key market. We are confident that ATFX Australia will continue to thrive under Simon's guidance and provide exceptional services to our clients." ATFX has built a strong reputation as a trusted brokerage firm, dedicated to transparency, reliability, and innovation. Through its cutting-edge trading technology, clients gain access to a wealth of educational resources, advanced trading tools, and comprehensive market analysis, empowering them to make informed trading decisions. Besides its world-wide retail business, back in 2019 ATFX stepped into the Institutional arena to launch its Multi-Access platform ATFX Connect. The management's vision was to expand the broker's global presence and provide award-winning liquidity and customer service to the institutional community. With a focus on the professional investor, the ATFX Connect platform is designed to provide an efficient automated trading venue that delivers tailored liquidity solutions to Hedge Funds, Asset Managers, Brokers, Private Banks, and other financial institutions. About ATFX ATFX is a globally leading fintech broker, holding licenses in multiple countries, including the UK's FCA, Cyprus' CySEC, UAE's SCA and Australia's ASIC. With a local presence in 18 regions worldwide, ATFX offers cutting-edge analysis tools, constantly innovates its financial platforms, and publishes comprehensive global economic reports daily to empower its users to make informed investment decisions. For further information on ATFX, please visit: https://www.atfx.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/atfx-welcomes-simon-naish-as-country-head-in-australia-301993014.html SOURCE ATFX [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 19, 2023] CGTN: People-to-people exchanges: These American teenagers send Xi Jinping and his wife a special gift Tweet BEIJING, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of high school students from Tacoma, Washington recently sent Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan a special gift as Xi is now in the U.S. for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting. The students from Lincoln High School Choir on Thursday prepared a painting for the Chinese president and his wife, featuring Chinese elements like giant pandas, traditional gateways and elements signifying Washington state including prairie dogs and the Space Needle. The teenagers also prepared birthday cards for Madame Peng as her birthday is approaching. They also sang her a birthday song. They offered the gifts through the "Enduring Friendship" event organized jointly by China Media Group (CMG) and the U.S.-China Youth and Student Exchange Association. Head of CMG Shen Haixiong accepted the gift on the Chinese president's behalf. Prsident Xi and his wife Peng visited the school back in 2015, where Xi said to the students at that time that he hoped young people in both nations can enhance communication and serve as bridges between the two countries. The call continues Eight years later, Chinese President Xi still bears the same call. During his meeting with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden in San Francisco on Wednesday, Xi called to advance people-to-people exchanges. He urged the two sides to advance cooperation in tourism, expand subnational exchanges, strengthen educational cooperation, and encourage and support greater interactions and communication between their people. China is ready to invite 50,000 young Americans to China on exchange and study programs in the next five years to increase exchanges between the two peoples, especially between the youth, Xi said at a welcome dinner on Wednesday night. Sarah Lande, former executive director of Iowa Sister States and an old friend of China, John Easterbrook, grandson of General Joseph Stilwell, and Elyn MacInnis, lead researcher at the Kuliang Tourism and Culture Association, also spoke at the event. They hailed President Xi's support for China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges, expressing their commitment to strengthening mutual understanding and passing down the friendship between China and the U.S. to future generations. A student, who was also at the event, said he is looking forward to new opportunities to communicate with students from China and stepping into a better future together. "The people-to-people exchanges create environments where both Americans and Chinese live better," said Stephen Orlins, president of National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. "Now, what we need is more Americans to be going to China." https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-11-17/These-American-teenagers-send-Xi-Jinping-and-his-wife-a-special-gift-1oOhYizqW1W/index.html SOURCE CGTN [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Continued strong Cresemba (isavuconazole) sales performance in Asia Pacific and China triggers third sales milestone payment for the region from Pfizer this year Tweet Allschwil, Switzerland, November 20, 2023 Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil (SIX: BSLN), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to meeting the needs of patients with severe bacterial and fungal infections, announced today that the continued strong sales performance of the antifungal Cresemba (isavuconazole) by its license partner Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE, Pfizer) in the Asia Pacific region and China exceeded the sales threshold triggering a further USD 1.25 million milestone payment. David Veitch, Basileas Chief Executive Officer, stated: This marks the third sales milestone payment for Asia Pacific and China this year. It highlights that Cresemba continues to serve a high medical need and also reflects the significant commercial potential of Cresemba in this region. We are pleased to see that Cresemba is well on track to become a leading global brand for the treatment of patients with invasive mold infections. The license agreement between Basilea and Pfizer for Cresemba covers Europe (excluding the Nordic countries) as well as 16 countries in the Asia Pacific region and China. Cresemba is approved in 76 countries to date and is currently marketed in 71 countries, including the United States, most EU member states and additional countries inside and outside of Europe. According to the latest available market data, total global in-market sales of Cresemba in the twelve months between July 2022 and June 2023 amounted to USD 421 million, a 19 percent growth year-on-year.1 About Isavuconazole (Cresemba) Isavuconazole is an intravenous (i.v.) and oral azole antifungal, commercialized under the trade name Cresemba. Basilea has entered into several license and distribution agreements for isavuconazole covering approximately 115 countries. In the 27 European Union member states, as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and the U.K., isavuconazole is approved for the treatment of adult patients with invasive aspergillosis and for adult patients with mucormycosis for whom amphotericin B is inappropriate.2 In China, the oral and intravenous formulations are approved for the treatment of adult patients with invasive aspergillosis and invasive mucormycosis. Isavuconazole is also approved inthe United States and several additional countries in Europe and beyond, including Japan.3 It has orphan drug designation in the US, Europe and Australia for its approved indications. About Basilea Basilea is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2000 and headquartered in Switzerland. We are committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative drugs to meet the needs of patients with severe bacterial or fungal infections. We have successfully launched two hospital brands, Cresemba for the treatment of invasive fungal infections and Zevtera for the treatment of bacterial infections. In addition, we have preclinical and clinical anti-infective assets in our portfolio. Basilea is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BSLN). Please visit basilea.com. Disclaimer This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", "forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil and its business, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For further information, please contact: Peer Nils Schroder, PhD Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil Hegenheimermattweg 167b 4123 Allschwil Switzerland Phone +41 61 606 1102 E-mail [email protected] [email protected] This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com. References IQVIA Analytics Link, June 2023. In-market sales reported as moving annual total (MAT) in US dollar. European Public Assessment Report (EPAR) Cresemba: http://www.ema.europa.eu [Accessed: November 19, 2023] The registration status and approved indications may vary from country to country. Attachment Press release (PDF) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] GASA and Gogolook unveil first Asia Scam Report at Anti-Scam Asia Summit Tweet Public-private alliance forges global collaboration to counter Asia's digital scam pandemic TAIPEI, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) and TrustTech leading provider Gogolook today kicked off the first-ever Anti-Scam Asia Summit (ASAS) in Taipei, Taiwan. Under the theme of "Turning the Tide in Asia," the summit brought together regional stakeholders from government, law enforcement, industry, and academia to discuss the latest trends in digital scams and formulate strategies to combat these evolving threats. At the summit, Gogolook and GASA debuted the first-ever Asia Scam Report, a comprehensive analysis of scam trends across the region, aiming to serve as a cornerstone for future policy development and advocacy in anti-fraud measures on a regional scale. "The shadows of scams are looming larger across the digital expanse of Asia," stated Jorij Abraham, Managing Director of GASA. "The 2023 Asia Scam Report released by GASA and Gogolook is a joint effort to illuminate the ways scams infiltrate our daily lives. With a mission to empower consumers to safeguard themselves against scams, we aim to equip stakeholders with the knowledge to serve as both shield and spear against the fraudulent actors operating within Asia." Scams are on the rise, fueled by AI and Deepfake technologies According to the 2023 Asia Scam Report published by GASA and Gogolook, which collected data from nearly 20,000 respondents across 11 regions in Asia, scams have emerged as a new normal in the region, as more than 60% of Asians now face at least one scam each week. Phone calls and SMS messages were the most popular channels for scammers in Asia, with over 75% of respondents reporting that they had received scam calls or SMS in 8 out of the 11 surveyed regions. With the increasing popularity of digital services, scammers are rapidly shifting their focus to messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and LINE, as well as social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Identity theft emerged as the foremost concern in Asia, closely followed by shopping scams and investment scams. These findings underscore the pervasive nature of scams, impacting individuals from all walks of life and spanning diverse industries such as finance, e-commerce, government agencies, social networks, and even daily routines. Adding to the complexity, the rising adoption of AI and Deepfake technologies makes it more challenging for people to discern the authenticity of scams, as the advancements empower scammers o craft highly convincing schemes, further eroding trust between human beings and posing a significant threat to individuals, businesses, and even the society at large. In light of AI's fast-growing influence, GASA and Gogolook are actively fostering dialogue and knowledge sharing on AI-powered scam prevention mechanisms, AI scam awareness education, and supporting responsible AI development to effectively mitigate the risks posed by AI-enabled scams. Building a safer Asia together with the power of a robust anti-scam community The report also identified the victims' inability to recognize scams as the primary factor contributing to their susceptibility. Other contributing factors included responding too quickly to the scammer's demands, being enticed by offered incentives, and taking risks despite uncertainties. Even more alarming, nearly 90% of scam victims in Asia could not recoup their financial losses. This highlights the urgent need for continuous fraud prevention education and public awareness campaigns to enhance resilience against the ever-evolving scam tactics. In the meantime, well-designed collaborative mechanisms and accelerated sharing of trends and information among public authorities, businesses, and individuals are also essential to maximize the impact of fraud prevention and form a strong anti-scam community. "The 2023 Asia Scam Report reveals an unfortunate surge in digital scams across the region, underscoring the urgent need for a coordinated response from all stakeholders, including law enforcement, businesses, and the public," said Jeff Kuo, CEO and co-founder of Gogolook. "As one of the founding members of GASA, Gogolook has already taken proactive steps to build strong partnerships with law enforcement agencies across Asia to jointly combat fraud. Starting with ASAS, we aim to effectively curb the prevalence of fraud and safeguard the digital landscape by fostering a shift in attitudes and awareness towards scams, building a robust anti-fraud partnership network, and empowering anti-scam initiatives through innovation." GASA and Gogolook forge a global alliance to combat the 'scamdemic' in Asia Guided by the core value of "Build for Trust," Gogolook has been dedicated to collaborating with GASA in uniting the Asian region to establish a global and well-coordinated fraud prevention system. By bringing together the public, businesses, governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and anti-fraud experts across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Australia, the inaugural ASAS, co-hosted by Gogolook and GASA, spearheaded a collective effort to fight against fraud and safeguard communities in Asia, successfully fostered regional dialogue and developed effective anti-scam strategies. Moving forward, GASA will continue to be a platform to build a safer Asia and looks forward to continuing its work in the years to come. Aside from upholding strong public-private collaboration, Gogolook will also remain at the forefront of the battle against digital crime through offering AI technology and data-driven anti-fraud services, such as the caller ID and spam-blocking app Whoscall, message managing tool Message Checker, business reputation protection service Watchmen, and comprehensive digital identity solutions, with the aim of turning the tide of the growing scams across Asia. To access the full Asia Scam Report, please refer to: https://files.gogolook.com/2023-asia-scam-report.pdf. About GASA The Global Anti Scam Alliance's (GASA) mission is to protect consumers worldwide from scams by raising awareness, enabling hands-on tools, facilitating knowledge sharing, organizing research, and offering training and education. For more information, please refer to: https://www.gasa.org/. About Gogolook Founded in 2012, TrustTech provider Gogolook was founded with "Built for Trust" at its core and offers global digital Risk Management as a Service driven with AI and data. Gogolook creates trust-empowering technologies for various applications, including communications and financial technologies, and enterprise SaaS. Gogolook is a founding member of the Global Anti-Fraud Alliance (GASA) and collaborates with the Criminal Investigation Bureau of Taiwan's National Police Agency, the Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea, the Thai police, the Fukuoka City Government in Japan, the Royal Malaysia Police, and Malaysian state governments to collectively combat fraud issues. With the largest phone number database in East Asia and Southeast Asia as its foundation, Gogolook is dedicated to creating a "fraud-free environment." Information about Gogolook's services is available at: https://gogolook.com/en. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/gasa-and-gogolook-unveil-first-asia-scam-report-at-anti-scam-asia-summit-301993154.html SOURCE Gogolook [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Nokia deploys energy-efficient multi-supplier O-RAN 5G network with NTT DOCOMO Press Release Nokia deploys energy-efficient multi-supplier O-RAN 5G network with NTT DOCOMO Nokias high-performance Open RAN compliant AirScale portfolio deployed in NTT DOCOMOs commercial multi-vendor network; Integrated with third-party Radio suppliers Nokias energy-efficient AirScale portfolio to support NTT DOCOMOs sustainability objectives Successful deployment highlights the maturity and performance of Nokias O-RAN CU/DU; Confirms Nokias industry leadership through its anyRAN approach which offers mobile operators more choice in building 5G networks Both companies committed to building open and interoperable networks 20 November 2023 Espoo, Finland Nokia today announced that Japanese mobile operator, NTT DOCOMO (DOCOMO) is deploying Nokias Open RAN (O-RAN) compliant 5G AirScale baseband solution including Centralized Unit (CU) and Distributed Unit (DU) software in its commercial network nationwide. Nokias high-capacity, high-performance solution enables DOCOMO to pursue a multi-supplier strategy, giving them the option to connect with Open Radio Units (RU) delivered by other suppliers. Nokias low-power, energy-efficient AirScale portfolio will also help DOCOMO drive significant sustainability benefits as well as a lower total cost of ownership. Nokia will deploy its fully O-RAN-compliant 5G AirScale baseband solution in DOCOMOs commercial network. Nokias energy-efficient solution powered by the latest ReefShark System-on-Chip technology will also deliver sustainability benefits as well as operational cost savings to DOCOMO due to its small footprint and low power consumption. Nokia and DOCOMO are long-term supporters of open networks and have invested heavily to advance the goals of the O-RAN alliance to build open, interoperable, and responsive networks that fulfill the requirements of enterprise and consumer demand in the 5G era. Nokia has a long history of partnering with DOCOMO as the RAN provider for its 3G network as well as helping the operator establish a multi-supplier 4G strategy. Both companies are taking their strategic collaboration and partnership to the next level with the deployment of the O-RAN-compliant 5G network. DOCOMO is committed to supporting global telecom operators in their adoption of Open RAN to make Open RAN a commercial reality. This partnership with DOCOMO is a perfect example of Nokias anyRAN approach, which aims to build future-ready radio access networks together with an ecosystem of industry partners to unlock collaborative advantage. Nokia anyRAN is designed to give mobile operators and enterprises more flexibility in building networks that combine purpose-built, hybrid, and Cloud RAN environments with common software. For Open RAN, Nokia develops the required Open Fronthaul features on top of its high-performance RAN software, ensuring co-existence and feature performance parity with purpose-built RAN. Nokia baseband solutions can be combined with both Nokia and third-party radios. For operators, this ensures a smooth evolution path towards hybrid, Cloud RAN, and O-RAN deployments. Masafumi Masuda, General Manager of Radio Access Network Technology Promotion Office, NTT DOCOMO, INC, commented: Nokias O-RAN compatible AirScale 5G Baseband solution is extremely competitive and is capable of being connected to any O-RUs on NTT DOCOMOs 5G commercial network. Its high performance and low power consmption will also reduce our operational costs and support our sustainability goals. We are excited to continue this journey with Nokia, who have been with us every step of the way as we move towards more open networks. Mark Atkinson, Head of RAN at Nokia, said: Nokia is fully committed to Open RAN and is helping its customers fulfill their Open RAN objectives. We have taken steps to ensure that our industry-leading radio access portfolio can seamlessly integrate and interoperate with products from other suppliers. Together with our ecosystem of partners, we are providing more choice and higher performance in Open RAN solutions to our customers than they will see from other RAN suppliers. We are excited to continue this journey with our long-term partner, NTT DOCOMO, and help them achieve their objective of delivering open networks. Resources Webpage: Nokia AirScale Cloud RAN Webpage: Nokia anyRAN Webpage: Nokia AirScale Baseband Whitepaper: Cloud RAN: A Guide to Acceleration Options Executive Summary: Nokia Cloud RAN and Open RAN Solution Roadmap Blog: In-Line architecture: bringing efficiency and performance to Cloud RAN Blog: The collaborative advantage: Nokia and partners delivering best-in-class Cloud RAN solutions 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 Email: [email protected] Follow us on social media LinkedIn X Instagram Facebook YouTube BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. A gender-oriented government has been established in Nepal, Nepal's Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Affairs Surendra Acharya said, Trend reports. He spoke at the ongoing Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference in Baku on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment". "In Nepal, women make up 24 percent of the local government. We devote special attention to disputes, women's issues, and children's issues. Our constitution respects women's and children's fundamental rights. Their complete participation on many problems is guaranteed. Women make about 24 percent of the local government workforce. Their participation in the 2022 elections was 21 percent. Nepal's gender responsive government was founded in 2021. This system is used in all government entities. In 2019, women's participation in government bodies climbed to 27 percent," Surendra Acharya noted. We can cite many human rights conventions and agreements that have also been nationalized in Nepal. Rules that allow gender discrimination have been changed. Nepal is also joining gender budgeting initiatives," he said. Baku is hosting the NAM conference on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" under the joint organization of Azerbaijan (the current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (the future NAM chairs). The event is held on the basis of initiatives voiced by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel [November 20, 2023] BioCatch Surpasses $100m USD ARR Tweet BioCatch Becomes Centaur with more than 50% Growth YoY in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR); Achieves Profitability While Scaling Operations & Global Reach Faster than any Other Behavioral-Powered Digital Fraud Prevention Vendor in History TEL AVIV, Israel and NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BioCatch, the global leader in digital fraud and money laundering detection and response powered by behavioral biometric intelligence, today announced that it has reached Centaur status, surpassing $100m in annual recurring revenue. The milestone achievement is fueled by the rapid adoption of BioCatch Connect, the Company's flagship product portfolio. In particular, BioCatch saw accelerated growth among its recently released scam and mule detection modules as customers look to protect their users against sophisticated social engineering scams and eliminate criminal money laundering networks from their ecosystems. Overall, BioCatch grew ARR 51% as of September 30, 2023 compared to September 30, 2022. In 2023, BioCatch has achieved additional significant operational milestones including: Achieving year-to-date cash flow and EBITDA profitability while projecting profitability across both these metrics for fiscal 2024. Recording its highest ever sales quarter in Company history. Scaling to process more than 9 billion user sessions per month. Adding 62 new customers to its global roster of 152 including 28 of the world's largest retail banks by assets under management and its first-ever telecommunications provider. Onboarding more than 50 employees in more than 14 countries. Protecting more than 315 million banking customers globally. Preenting more than $3 billion in fraud since its first customer deployment in 2016. in fraud since its first customer deployment in 2016. Expanding relationships with cloud platform providers such as Microsoft. Welcoming a strategic investment from Sapphire Ventures. value and return on investment the BioCatch ConnectO portfolio of products delivers to its customers. These returns include an average of 1,500% improvement in fraudulent account detection, an 80% reduction in transaction-related fraud rates, a 40% improvement in customer experience, a 30% reduction in false positive rates and a 30% improvement in fraud team efficiency and throughput in comparison to first-generation digital fraud detection platforms. Behavioral Biometric Intelligence is a unique tool for detecting and preventing emerging scams and financial crimes and has the added benefit of improving customer experience by simplifying and streamlining a user's online banking transaction. "BioCatch has experienced incredible growth in the last few years, especially in these last 12 months, thanks to best-in-market customer service, flawless go-to-market execution, and innovative market product development. Fraud and financial crime are accelerating faster than banks can manage, not because they are not innovating, but because criminals are targeting customers, not systems," said Rajeev Dham, Partner at Sapphire Ventures. "We believe the future of financial crime prevention is behavior and we are excited to partner with a company that is the clear leader in this new frontier of digital fraud fighting." "Achieving centaur status is a direct reflection of the value we provide to our customers and how we enable them to protect their users online," said Gadi Mazor, CEO of BioCatch. "Behavior is the only true signal of a customer's identity and motivations. As scams, mobile malware, bots and remote access tools surge, user protection rather than system security is key. Our outstanding technology, dedicated employees and collaborative partnership with customers has led to our success and will continue to fuel our growth and market leadership in the years ahead." About BioCatch BioCatch stands at the forefront of digital fraud detection, pioneering behavioral biometric intelligence grounded in advanced cognitive science and machine learning. BioCatch analyzes thousands of user interactions to support a digital banking environment where identity, trust and ease coexist. Today, more than 28 of the world's leading 100 banks and 152 of the largest 500 rely on BioCatch ConnectO to combat fraud, facilitate digital transformation, and grow customer relationships. BioCatch's Client Innovation Board, an industry-led initiative featuring American Express, Barclays, Citi Ventures, HSBC, and National Australia Bank, collaborates to pioneer creative and innovative ways to leverage customer relationships for fraud prevention. With more than a decade of data analysis, 90 registered patents, and unmatched expertise, BioCatch continues to lead innovation to address future challenges. For more information, please visit www.biocatch.com. Media Contact: Jay Jones [email protected] 404.668.0218 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1843699/biocatch_logo_rgb_2x_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/biocatch-surpasses-100m-usd-arr-301992758.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] The Green Davos | ECI International Eco-Village (Yucun, China) Innovation Forum was held in Yucun, China. Tweet HUZHOU, China, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 17th, the second ECI International Eco-Village (Yucun, China) Innovation Forum was held in Yucun, China. At the forum, representatives from Germany, the United States, Brazil, Kenya and other countries attended, together with many domestic experts and scholars to discuss the international experience of innovative development of eco-villages. The village heads of Yucun and the representatives on behalf of the Five continents jointly initiated the global initiative to rural ecological civilization development-"Green Wishes, Shaping the Future". The Memorandum of Cooperation and Exchange of the International Belt and Road, the signing of the Global Partnership Program and the preparatory launching of "Global Village Head Forum" were announced. Stephan Horvath, Founder of the SilkRoad Cooperation Think Tank from the European Union, delivered a keynote speech on "Harmonizing Sustainability: A Green Journey into China-EU Synergy in EcoVillage Development"; Kyle Stirling, NSF I-Corps mentor from North America nd Dean of Data Science School in Indiana University, shared his view on "The Application of AI in the Agricultural Industry, Ecological Environment, Rural Tourism and Everyday Life"; Luiza Bruscato, Executive Director of the Brazilian Roundtable for Sustainable Livestock from the BRICS countries gave a lively presentation on "BRAZILIAN AGRIBUSINESS: Challenges and opportunities"; Leong See Wong Fischer, Director of the SilkRoad Cooperation Think Tank from Switzerland, on behalf of Africa, gave a presentation on "Sustainable Development in Africa - Lake Victoria Circular Economy Initiative". The cooperation between Yucun and ECI started in 2022 with the launch of the projects for "Four Ones" Innovation Engineering on ecological civilization development, which are "One Forum, One ThinkTank, One Award and One Institution". Under the guidance of the concept of "Double Mountains", the common goal of both parties is to take advantage of the ecovillage village policy, through ECI's worldwide resource network, and with the help of digital empowerment and globalization, to present typical samples of "future villages", deliver innovative stories of China's villages to the world, and help Yucun and even villages all over the world to achieve a global sustainable future. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-green-davos--eci-international-eco-village-yucun-china-innovation-forum-was-held-in-yucun-china-301993301.html SOURCE ECI [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] NPower Canada joins forces with Microsoft to empower Quebec Job-Seekers with in-demand digital, AI and cybersecurity skills Tweet MONTREAL, Nov. 20, 2023 /CNW/ - NPower Canada, in collaboration with Microsoft, announced new digital training and career development opportunities to help Quebec job-seekers compete. Building on the Canadian Tech Talent Accelerator, launched in January 2021, training will focus on equipping participants with the in-demand skills needed to thrive in today's digital economy. Since the inception of NPower Canada's Quebec site in November 2022, 415 job-seekers from the province have found meaningful employment in the technology sector, thanks in part to Microsoft's support. 415 job-seekers from the province have found meaningful employment in the technology sector In January 2021, the Canadian Tech Talent Accelerator (CTTA), a program designed to bridge the talent gap in Canada by providing underserved job-seekers with in-demand digital skills, certifications, and career development support was launched by NPower Canada, Microsoft, DIGITAL and Blueprint. In the fall of 2022, a significant investment from DIGITAL, Microsoft and the CIBC Foundation supported the establishment of NPower Canada's first bilingual site for in-person training in Quebec, allowing their TechPathways program to be accessible to both anglophone and francophone job-seekers in the province. Now, NPower Canada will offer even more opportunities for career growth in Quebec, leveraging Microsoft's bst-in-class curricula to launch its intermediate Junior Data Analyst program in the province. The program will be extended to French-speaking job-seekers in Quebec, and applications are now open for the inaugural cohort starting in May 2024. The program, co-sponsored and developed with Microsoft, equips participants with Microsoft's Azure AI Fundamentals certifications, a qualification that will prepare job-seekers with essential skills for digitally-enabled careers. "Microsoft's support has played a pivotal role in our mission to provide essential digital skills and professional development in English and French to Quebec's job-seekers, equipping them for success in today's competitive labour market. Our dynamic collaboration ensures that we deliver the most sought-after tech skills, empowering job-seekers to thrive in digitally-enabled roles across diverse markets," said Julia Blackburn, CEO, NPower Canada. The CTTA's impact is set to expand further, with Microsoft, DIGITAL, and the CIBC Foundation recently announcing a continued co-investment of $2 million to scale the CTTA, aiming to launch more than 6,000 job-seekers across Canada, including Quebec, into meaningful careers in the ever-growing tech sector. According to CBRE's 2023 Scoring Tech Talent Report , Montreal now ranks as the 12th largest tech market across Canada and the U.S., underscoring the need for job-seekers and workers in the province to be equipped with the skills necessary to excel in the growing digital and AI-enabled economy. "The technology sector is thriving in Quebec, and we are proud to expand the Canadian Tech Talent Accelerator, building the workforce and empowering a strong future for the industry in the province," said Chris Barry, President, Microsoft Canada. "With bilingual training for in-demand digital, cybersecurity and AI skills, we are working to ensure that everyone is able to access the benefits of today's digital economy and the rewarding careers that are available." NPower Canada and Microsoft remain committed to driving innovation and economic growth in Quebec's workforce. SOURCE NPower Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Hyport Digital Empowers Small Businesses Nationwide on Small Business Saturday Tweet IRVING, Texas, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In the spirit of Small Business Saturday, Hyport Digital proudly announces its commitment to small businesses across the country by partnering with them to achieve their digital marketing goals. "Their expertise, integrity, and general care for [our] success [makes] Hyport Digital a cornerstone in our growth." Small businesses are the backbone of our communities, contributing to the economy and creating unique, personalized experiences for customers. Hyport Digital, The N2 Company 's digital marketing agency, recognizes the challenges these businesses face and is dedicaed to providing tailored online marketing solutions to help them thrive in an increasingly digital world. In this short video , Frisco, Texas-based client Modera Clinic attests to the power of this partnership, saying, "Our robust marketing strategy with Hyport Digital is so well thought out, we know that our dollars are being maximized. They work hard to make sure our phone lines and doors are filled with new customers." Hyport Digital's mission is to level the playing field for small businesses in the competitive digital landscape. Leveraging their expertise in digital marketing, they work closely with small business owners to develop strategies that boost online visibility, engage with target audiences, and drive growth. "Small business owners know they need to market their business to be successful, but it doesn't mean they enjoy it. We've built this business to remove some of the pain and confusion of local marketing. We've helped more than 100,000 small businesses across the country get their message in front of their ideal clients," said Duane Hixon, CEO of The N2 Company. Hyport Digital's comprehensive approach includes search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising, social media marketing, website design, email marketing, and more. Their team of experts collaborates with small business owners to identify unique goals and challenges, tailoring digital strategies that resonate with their target audience. "Their expertise, integrity, and general care for your success is what makes Hyport Digital a cornerstone in our growth," said Stefanie Huber of Modera Clinic. Small Business Saturday, celebrated annually on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, is a nationwide initiative encouraging consumers to support local businesses. Hyport Digital's dedication to this cause aligns with its ongoing commitment to supporting small businesses in their digital journey. Small business owners interested in learning more about Hyport Digital's services and special Small Business Saturday promotions can visit their website at hyportdigital.com. Contact: Hyport Digital info@hyportdigital.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hyport-digital-empowers-small-businesses-nationwide-on-small-business-saturday-301993533.html SOURCE The N2 Company [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Elevating Social Commerce: Doba Direct App Redefines Influencer Earnings LEHI, Utah, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Doba, a leading name in the American dropshipping arena, proudly unveils its groundbreaking social commerce app, Doba Direct. Launched on July 31st, the platform caters specifically to global social media enthusiasts, seamlessly integrating Doba's robust supply chain for an unparalleled experience. Doba Direct brings forth top-tier sourcing, intelligent product curation, swift fulfillment, dedicated customer service, and an inventive social sharing model designed for influencers to reap substantial commissions. Crafted with social media users in mind, Doba Direct revolutionizes the monetization process for content creators. Through an intuitively designed interface, influencers captivate their audience by sharing meticulously curated products, driving purchases, and earning commissions for every salea transformative approach turning creative endeavors into tangible financial rewards. To usher in the festive season, Doba Direct unveils the "Grateful Heart" campaign, showcasing high-commission products such as Thanksgiving decorations and gifts. Influencers on the app can effortlessly share these offerings across multiple social media platforms, fortifying connectins with fans and offering valuable shopping insights. In addition to its innovative approach, Doba Direct introduces a points-based reward system and a lucrative referral policy, providing users with additional channels for monetization. Daily check-ins and product shares accumulate points, exchangeable for cash rewards. Inviting friends to join Doba Direct can earn users up to $20 in rewards. To explore the world of Doba Direct, please visit our website: https://bit.ly/3ui0MjI. For those intrigued by the allure of Doba Direct and its enticing incentive program but have yet to experience it firsthand, the app is available for instant download. Simply search for "Doba Direct" on the App Store or Google Play. Alternatively, click this link for direct access: https://bit.ly/3QupfuS. About Doba Direct Doba Direct stands as a revolutionary app tailored for influencers, providing a platform to monetize influence by endorsing products and earning commissions. The app streamlines fulfillment, covering product sourcing, shipping, and customer support, allowing influencers to channel their efforts into content creation. With an extensive product selection, an intuitive dashboard, and a vibrant discovery community, Doba Direct offers an unparalleled experience for influencers and their dedicated followers. Media Contact: Mike Fairchild PR Manager Phone: +1 801-252-6206 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elevating-social-commerce-doba-direct-app-redefines-influencer-earnings-301993008.html SOURCE Doba [November 20, 2023] Vantagepoint AI President Lane Mendelsohn Interviewed at New York Stock Exchange Tweet Vantagepoint A.I. President, Lane Mendelsohn, was recently invited to the New York Stock Exchange for an exclusive interview with Joya Dass to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on the stock market, for traders, and in the future. The full interview can be watched here. WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lane Mendelsohn, President of Vantagepoint AI, engaged in an insightful conversation at the New York Stock Exchange, delving into the unprecedented surge of artificial intelligence in trading and its profound impact on the market. The interview, conducted by renowned host Joya Dass, shed light on crucial aspects for today's traders and unveiled how A.I. can empower them to make astute decisions. Mendelsohn emphasized the recent explosion of A.I. within the trading landscape, citing its transformative role. "We're witnessing an exponential growth in A.I. adoption for trading. There's plenty of traders who are frustrated they are losing money, and they're smart people and in many cases know a lot about the markets. It's not a lack of knowledge it boils down to the information that you rely on when you make that critical trading decision and the problem is if all you're doing is looking backwards and following trends and seeing what has already happened," remarked Mendelsohn. Addressing what traders should focus on in the current landscape, Mendelsohn highlighted the significance of leveragig A.I. for forecasting. "Today, traders must embrace the power of A.I. to anticipate market movements and trends. It's about looking aheadforecasting one to three days in advanceusing advanced technology to gain an edge," Mendelsohn noted. In his reflections on the interview, Mendelsohn conveyed appreciation, affirming, "Participating in this interview was truly an honor. My father founded the company in 1979 and was the first to offer artificial intelligence forecasting capabilities to retail traders and secured two patents for the VantagePoint software in 2013 and 2014. It's deeply fulfilling to be here, witnessing the transformative journey we've embarked on, positively impacting lives." The complete interview, encompassing Mendelsohn's valuable insights, can be watched here. To learn more about what makes VantagePoint unique in the financial software sector and how predictive A.I. is innovating trading strategies for independent traders watch a free live interactive training. About Vantagepoint AI, LLC. Vantagepoint's artificial intelligence-based software forecasts Stocks, Futures, Options, Forex, Cryptocurrencies, and ETFs with proven accuracy of up to 87.4%. Family-owned, Vantagepoint is actively committed to giving back in the Tampa Bay community including regularly donating a portion of revenue to Shriners Hospitals for Children, The Children's Cancer Center, and Pasco Kids First. For a private demonstration: www.vantagepointsoftware.com/demo Media contact: Jordan Youtz [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vantagepoint-ai-president-lane-mendelsohn-interviewed-at-new-york-stock-exchange-301993012.html SOURCE VantagePoint Software [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] ParkMobile to Bring Mobile Payment Solution to Quakertown Borough, Pennsylvania Tweet Drivers will soon be able to pay for parking at over 1,200 spaces in town via the mobile app or web browser QUAKERTOWN, Pa., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ParkMobile, the leading provider of smart parking and mobility solutions in North America and part of EasyPark Group, will soon be modernizing parking in Quakertown, PA. In early 2024, the ParkMobile app will be available for on-demand parking at 1,209 on-street and off-street parking spaces throughout the town. Once launched, users can pay for parking digitally via ParkMobile by entering the zone number posted on nearby signage directly into the app or mobile web browser. "For over 15 years, ParkMobile has been the trusted mobility management platform for cities across North America. We're working toward our goal of making cities more livable by enabling cities to better manage their curb space to create improved flow and accessibility," said David Hoyt, Managing Director of ParkMobile. "Through the adoption of our mobile app, Quakertown's residents and visitors will be able to enjoy a seamless parking experience to spend more time enjoying the offerings downtown has to offer." ParkMobile is focused on expanding its footprint for users across North America. By providing solutions to create an easier parking experience, ParkMobile makes traveling throughout the country more convenient and streamlined. The smart parking and mobility company currently serves over 3 million users in Pennsylvania, with availability in Philadelphia through the MeterUp app and Pittsburgh. "The Borough is excited to announce our partnership with ParkMobile, a pivotal step towards transforming our parking system. We envision a community where residents, visitors, and downtown businesses can navigate and park seamlessly, free from the hassles of traditional parking systems," said Borough Manager Scott McElree. "Together with ParkMobile, we hope to create an experience that not only prioritizes convenience but also boosts the vibrancy of our downtown." ParkMobile has 50 million users across North America, is available for both iPhone and Android devices, and can also be accessed on a mobile web browser. To pay for parking via the ParkMobile app or website, users will enter the zone number or scan the QR code found on the signs located within the parking lot, choose the duration of time they wish to park and touch the "start parking" button. CONTACT: Haley Haas PR Manager, US404-580-0112 [email protected] The following files are available for download: https://news.cision.com/parkmobile/i/parkmobile---quakertown-pa,c3241046 ParkMobile - Quakertown PA View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/parkmobile-to-bring-mobile-payment-solution-to-quakertown-borough-pennsylvania-301993597.html SOURCE ParkMobile [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Pixyl receives FDA clearance for AI-powered brain MRI software Pixyl.Neuro Tweet GRENOBLE, France, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pixyl has announced FDA 510(k) clearance for Pixyl.Neuro, the next-generation AI software for brain MRI analysis that recently demonstrated enhanced detection rates up to 28%1. Pixyl is an award-winning French medtech specializing in AI-powered MRI solutions to improve patient care. Pixyl.Neuro automatically analyzes brain MRI images to support rapid detection, early diagnosis and objective monitoring of neurological disorders, leveraging generative AI technology to ensure robust performance in real-world practice. "AI-driven MRI analysis opens the possibility of accessing previously unavailable clinically-relevant information to reinforce radiology workflows, especially in the context of neurological disorders." explains Pr. Lotfi Hacein-Bey, Chief of Division of Neuroradiology at UC Davis. "With disease modifying treatments for MS and now Alzheimer's Disease, it is more important than ever to highlight activity and monitor disease evolution." Pixyl.Neuro was designed to improve detection of neurological disease activity, accelerate MRI reading time, and provide peace-of-mind for the 83% of MS MRI exams that are stable2. Brain region volumes are quantified and compared to normative data to identify abnormal atrophy earlier and help support differential diagnosis. The solution uses minimal MRI protocols and provides results in a matter of minutes. According to Pr. Hacein-Bey, "Pixyl's FDA approval holds great promise for supporting the management of neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders. We chosePixyl to answer our routine practice needs based on their track-record of delivering high-quality brain MRI solutions. I am delighted to partner with Pixyl and I look forward to the benefits it will bring to our radiology workflow and patient care." Pixyl's adherence to the latest FDA AI guidelines in obtaining approval underscores their commitment to developing high-quality medical imaging AI solutions. Additionally, Pixyl.Neuro has received the CE-mark class IIa certification in the European Union under the new Medical Device Regulations. Precision medicine heralds a new era in patient care. One where medical professionals using the latest AI solutions can rapidly access the information needed to diagnose and manage diseases earlier. As noted by Senan Doyle, CEO at Pixyl, "It is incredibly rewarding to receive feedback from Pixyl.Neuro users who attest to this valuable support. We are delighted to work with US radiologists and imaging centers to reinforce radiology workflows and patient care" Pixyl.Neuro is used in more than 12 countries across Europe, North America and Africa, and has observed a four-fold increase in exam volume since December 2022. The solution is available directly from Pixyl and from select distributors. About Pixyl Pixyl was founded to place the most advanced AI for medical imaging directly in the hands of radiologists and clinicians. Starting with brain MRI applications, the company rose to prominence by winning the French Radiology Society data challenge, where Pixyl's AI tech accurately predicted the future clinical disability of multiple sclerosis patients from a single MRI sequence. Partnering with the French Observatory for Multiple Sclerosis (OFSEP), Pixyl is driving innovation in the next generation of predictive imaging solutions. PIXYL is also a partner in the PRIMUS (Projection In Multiple Sclerosis) project which was granted the prestigious University Hospital Health Research (RHU) funding in 2021. Expanding on their portfolio of MRI applications, and since its launch in 2020, PIXYL has been a partner in the AI.Dream consortium, led by GE HealthCare (GEHC) and Pr. Valerie Vilgrain (Head of Radiology, Beaujon Hospital, APHP), aiming to promote the co-development of next-generation AI hepatic applications. For more information, please visit www.pixyl.ai or reach out to us by email at [email protected] Press kit link: https://rsna.vporoom.com/Pixyl 1 Dehaene et al. Radiologists and Artificial Intelligence on clinically relevant metrics for detecting activity in Multiple-Sclerosis patients. ESNR 2023 2 Cohan, S. & al. (2016). BMC Neurology 16 doi:10.1186/s12883-016-0699-8 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pixyl-receives-fda-clearance-for-ai-powered-brain-mri-software-pixylneuro-301992829.html SOURCE Pixyl [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Socure Achieves FedRAMP Moderate "In Process" Status Tweet Company is another step closer to making secure, accurate, and inclusive digital identity verification widely available to federal agencies focused on fighting fraud and improving online services INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Socure, the leading provider of Artificial Intelligence for digital identity verification, sanction screening and fraud prevention, announced its Socure ID+ platform has achieved the "In Process'' designation from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) and is now listed on the FedRAMP Marketplace. Socure's ID+ Platform is an industry-leading digital identity verification and fraud prevention solution that combines AI and ML to analyze every element of identity, maximize accuracy and inclusivity, and protect against identity fraud. The platform helps public sector gencies deliver simple and secure access to vital services with minimal friction and best-in-class fraud prevention. This important milestone underscores Socure's commitment to scaling federal adoption of accurate digital identity verification that combats fraud and keeps federal information secure. Socure will continue its work to meet the strict cybersecurity requirements of a trusted and secure cloud technology for federal and public sector agencies with the goal of reaching full authorization. "Socure is well on our way to meeting the high bar established by the FedRAMP Moderate standard as a result of a company-wide commitment across our Product and Engineering, Operations, and Security teams," said Chad Kalmes, Chief Information Security Officer at Socure. "We look forward to partnering with federal and public sector customers in the near future to safeguard their constituents' identities, improve service delivery, and prevent fraud." Socure ID+ offers public sector agencies: Auto-approval of more eligible individuals (98% for mainstream populations, and up to 94% for hard-to-identify populations including Gen Z, millennial, and new-to-country individuals) More effective fraud prevention, capturing 90% of third-party identity fraud in the riskiest 3% of users prevention, capturing 90% of third-party identity in the riskiest 3% of users Reduction of manual reviews with fully automated identity verification and fraud prevention, with a response in milliseconds prevention, with a response in milliseconds An automated document verification predictive analytics platform to process identity verification for the 2% of people who don't verify automatically. With more government services moving online, Socure is prepared to be a critical identity verification solution for government programs. Federal agencies will soon have access to comprehensive and secure identity proofing, fulfilling the President's ambitions to create a strong digital identity ecosystem for all Americans as laid out in the National Cybersecurity Strategy. FedRAMP certification removes the burden on federal agencies to undertake a lengthy authorization process before adopting innovative cloud services. Socure previously announced the addition of its platform to the State Risk and Authorization Management Program's (StateRAMP) "Progressing" Product List after illustrating the core regulatory and industry-defined requirements for StateRAMP compliance. About FedRAMP FedRAMP is a government program that promotes the adoption of secure cloud services across federal agencies. It offers a standardized approach to security authorizations for cloud service offerings. FedRAMP reduces duplicative efforts and provides a rigorous standard for cloud technologies to meet before being employed by government agencies. FedRAMP Moderate is appropriate for Cloud Service Offerings where the loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability would result in serious negative effects on an agency's operations. About Socure Socure is the leading platform for digital identity verification and trust. Its predictive analytics platform applies artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques with trusted online/offline data intelligence from physical government-issued documents as well as email, phone, address, IP, device, velocity, date of birth, SSN, and the broader internet to verify identities in real-time. The company has more than 1,800 customers across the financial services, government, gaming, healthcare, telecom, and e-commerce industries, including four of the top five banks, 13 of the top 15 card issuers, the top three MSBs, the top payroll provider, the top credit bureau, the top online gaming operator, the top Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) providers, and over 400 of the largest fintechs. Marquee customers include Chime, SoFi, Robinhood, Gusto, Public, Poshmark, Stash, DraftKings, the State of California, and Florida's Homeowner Assistance Fund. Socure customers have become investors in the company, including Citi Ventures, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, Capital One Ventures, MVB Bank, and Synchrony. Additional investors include Accel, T. Rowe Price, Bain Capital Ventures, Tiger Global, Commerce Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Sorenson, Flint Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, and others. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/socure-achieves-fedramp-moderate-in-process-status-301993742.html SOURCE Socure [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Mage Data launches Mage R22.2 - the latest update to the Mage Data Security Platform's best-in-class features Tweet Mage R22.2 adds several new capabilities in anonymization and test data management that will reimagine data security and privacy for enterprises worldwide. NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mage Data today announced the launch of the latest update to the Mage Data Security Platform with the release of Mage R22.2. This update introduces new features and enhancements to existing capabilities as part of a continuous evolution of the award-winning Mage Data Security Platform. "We have leveraged valuable customer feedback and the requirements of the evolving data security landscape to enhance the capabilities of the Mage Data Security Platform with the R22.2 release," said Anil Bhat, Senior VP of Engineering & Customer Success at Mage Data. "With the improved anonymization capabilities and support for multiple databases & cloud stores, this release will help our customers realize the full potential of their data within te enterprise while at the same time being compliant with privacy requirements." "The R22.2 release brings on-board several new features that will have a positive impact for our customers from the get-go," said Padma Vemuri, Senior VP, Product & Design at Mage Data. "Capabilities like the improved Agentless Static Data Masking approach and addition of new masking methods will be of immediate support to improve business outcomes for enterprises and ensure that the Mage Data Security platform continues to be the best possible solution to unlock their full business potential while complying with complex data security and privacy requirements." Along with new capabilities and performance & memory optimizations, the platform enhancements available with the R22.2 release includes the introduction of an automated installer for easy one-click installation, APIs and ability to execute scripts for end-to-end automation, and an improved support for HL7 & EDI files. Previous version releases of the Mage Data Security Platform have received outstanding customer reviews and the R22.2 release looks to tread the same path with improvements in performance and scalability. The release has garnered widespread positive feedback from the initial impressions of both analysts and existing customers. About Mage Data: Mage Data is the leading solutions provider of data security and data privacy software for global enterprises. Built upon a patented and award-winning solution, the Mage platform enables organizations to stay on top of privacy regulations while ensuring security and privacy of data. Top Swiss Banks, Fortune 10 organizations, Ivy League Universities, and Industry Leaders in the financial and healthcare businesses protect their sensitive data with the Mage platform for Data Privacy and Security. Deploying state-of-the-art privacy enhancing technologies for securing data, Mage Data delivers robust data security while ensuring privacy of individuals. Visit www.magedata.ai to explore the brand's new website and check out the company's solutions. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mage-data-launches-mage-r22-2--the-latest-update-to-the-mage-data-security-platforms-best-in-class-features-301993749.html SOURCE Mage Data [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Abbas Ganbay Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of information security. The document was signed within the framework of a visit to Kazakhstan by a delegation headed by Samir Rasulov, head of the e-security service under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport, Azernews reports. The memorandum is aimed at increasing the level of cooperation in the field of information security, especially in the issue of responding to various incidents. It was noted that through the development of cooperation and mutual efforts, technical and human resources will be combined to identify and eliminate the consequences of computer attacks. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Deputy Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Sevinj Hasanova has been dismissed by decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan said, Trend reports. The ministry also noted that there has been no appointment to replace her yet. Hasanova held the above position since January 30, 2016. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel [November 20, 2023] SAUDI ARABIA LAUNCHES THE HUMAN CAPABILITY INITIATIVE - A CONFERENCE TO EMPOWER HUMAN CAPABILITY Tweet RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 20, 2023 /CNW/ -- Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and the Chairman of the Human Capability Development Program Committee, one of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 Realization Programs, the first edition of the Human Capability Initiative) HCI (will be held during the period 28-29 February 2024, at King Abdulaziz International Convention Center in Riyadh. Under the theme of "Future Readiness", HCI will bring together over 6000 experts, decision makers, and more than 150 international keynote speakers from government, private and non-profit entities, and think tanks from over 50 countries to explore impactful dialogues, create synergies and seize opportunities for human capability development worldwide. HCI will focus on how to strengthen the human capability development ecosystem, promote innovative policy design and creative solutions, and showcase success stories of human capability development and its impact on economic growth. This collective effort will contribute to a sustainable global agenda that pioneers solutions for human capabilities across all age groups, and sparks initiatives that proactively anticipate the challenges of tomorrow and help shape a promising future for all. His Excellency the Minister of Education, Chairman of the Executive Committee ofthe Human Capability Development Program, Mr. Yousef Al-Benyan, said: "The conference is the first of its kind global cooperative platform to catalyze international collaboration, enrich global dialogue in human capability development, and contribute to the development of human skills and a prosperous global economy." He added: "the conference will discuss challenges facing human capabilities development in light of global changes, and the most important skills required in the future global labor market, in addition to the impact of rapid developments in the digital and economic fields on human capabilities". Furthermore, His Excellency stated: "Topics addressed at HCI are of vital importance in driving new conversations on shaping policy, collaboration, and private-public-third sector partnerships and investment at a global level in developing human capabilities. This will contribute to building strong and flexible economies to meet future challenges". For further details, visit HCI website: https://humancapabilityinitiative.org - HCI Website: https://humancapabilityinitiative.org - HCI social media: @HCI_KSA (Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok) HCIKSA (Facebook) - About Saudi Vision 2030: Under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Saudi Vision 2030 was launched by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince, and Prime Minister, with a roadmap to build Saudi Arabia's prosperous and bright future through a vibrant society, a thriving economy, and an ambitious nation. The Vision was cascaded into strategic objectives to enable effective implementation through its Vision Realization Programs. https://www.vision2030.gov.sa - About the Human Capability Development Program (HCDP): The Human Capability Development Program is one of the Vision 2030 Realization Programs with an aim to ensure that Saudi citizens have the required capabilities to compete globally by instilling values, developing basic and future skills, as well as enhancing knowledge. The program focuses on developing a solid educational base for all citizens to instil values from an early age, while preparing the youth for future local and global markets. It also focuses on upskilling citizens by providing lifelong learning opportunities, supporting innovation, encouraging entrepreneurship culture, developing policies to ensure Saudi Arabia's competitiveness. https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/v2030/vrps/hcdp/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2281808/Human_Capability_Development.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/saudi-arabia-launches-the-human-capability-initiative--a-conference-to-empower-human-capability-301993750.html SOURCE Human Capability Development Program [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Blitzer, Clancy & Company Named Investment Banking Firm of the Year at The 22nd Annual M&A Advisor Awards Tweet NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Blitzer, Clancy & Company, a global leader in investment banking, growth consulting and strategic advisory services, was named "Investment Banking Firm of the Year" at the 22nd Annual M&A Advisor Awards. A benchmark for dealmaking excellence, the M&A Advisor Awards recognize leading transactions, firms and individuals. The judging panel of Independent Industry professionals selected Blitzer, Clancy & Company from a group of eight finalists. The recognition comes on the heels of a landmark year for Blitzer, Clancy & Company, which in 2023 generated over $1 billion in enterprise value creation for its clients and continued expansion of its interconnected, global network of partnerships, ranging from the innovative emerging companies to Fortune Global 500 multinationals. With over four decades of M&A experience spread across transactions in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, Blitzer, Clancy & Company continues to cement its reputation for its domain expertise in Commercial Real Estate Services & Technology, Industrial Automation, Life Sciences, and Aerospace & Defense. "This recognition is a testament to our ability to navigate the uncertainties of the evolving global marketplace and consistently deliver outstanding client results," said Michael Blitzer, Partner at Blitzer, Clancy & Company. "As we celebrate this incredible achievement, we remain committed to partnering with best-in-class organizations that recognize the value of our bold, creative approach todealmaking and strategic advisory. We are truly honored to receive this awardand we couldn't have earned it without the trust of our clients." "To us, this award highlights the importance of Blitzer, Clancy & Company's strategic approach to dealmaking: building consistent, long-lasting relationships in the M&A sector, rather than attempting to engage in as many transactions as possible," said Jim Clancy, Partner at Blitzer, Clancy & Company. "Through close collaboration, innovative thinking and decades of domain expertise, we've been able to deliver exceptional value for our clients over the long-termand we aim to keep doing so for the foreseeable future." "The award recipients represent the best in the mergers and acquisitions industry this past year and earned these honors by standing out in a group of extremely impressive finalists," said Roger Aguinaldo, Founder and CEO of The M&A Advisor. "Ranging from large multi-billion dollar deals to lower middle market deals, we are recognizing the leading transactions, firms, and individuals that represent the highest levels of accomplishment." About Blitzer, Clancy & Company Blitzer, Clancy & Company is a worldwide leader in investment banking, growth consulting, and strategic advisory services. When we see promise, we dig in. That means closely partnering with our clients' management teams and building long-lasting relationships in the process. Blitzer, Clancy & Company clients benefit from a team of independent, committed advisors. Empowered by a global web of resources, we draw on our sophisticated expertise across multiple sectors to transcend milestones and surpass expectations. For more information, please visit https://bcxintl.com/. About The M&A Advisor Now in its 25th year, The M&A Advisor was founded to offer insights and intelligence on mergers and acquisitions, establishing the industry's leading media outlet in 1998. Today, the firm is recognized as the world's premier leadership organization for mergers & acquisition, restructuring and corporate finance professionals, delivering a range of integrated services, including the most active online community of M&A professionals called M&A Connects. www.maadvisor.com . Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2204643/BCC_logo_Black_Full_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/blitzer-clancy--company-named-investment-banking-firm-of-the-year-at-the-22nd-annual-ma-advisor-awards-301993783.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Avangrid Announces eBill Incentive to Benefit Local Food Banks Tweet Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, announced today a new way for customers to join their company in giving back this holiday season. For every customer that signs up for the company's eBill service during the months of November and December, Avangrid subsidiaries will donate $2, up to a total of $5,000 per organization, to seven local food banks to support food security in Maine, New York and Connecticut. This maximum donation of $35,000 will provide approximately 100,000 total meals across these Avangrid service areas. The promotion will take place at the following Avangrid electric and natural gas subsidiaries: Central Maine Power (CMP), New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG), Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E), United Illuminating (UI), Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG), and Southern Connecticut Gas (SCG). "It's very important to address food security needs across all of the communities we serve," said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. "Through this promotion, we will team up with our customers to help expand access to food and be a part of the solution. Plus, our customers will also benefit from easier access to manage their account by signing-up for eBill." Avangrid's eBill service is a user-friendly, paperless bill. When a customer signs up for eBill, they will receive their bill online and can schedule automatic payments or can make their own payments each month. Customers who wish to enroll in eBill can do so on their respective company's website. In Maine, CMP will donate up to $5,000 to Good Shepherd Food Bank, the largest hunger-relief organization in Maine serving more than 140,000 individuals every year. "We are proud to support our customers and the communities we serve, especially around the holidays," said Joe Purington, President and CEO of Central Maine Power. "With this program, our customers can directly support the Good Shephard Food Bank with a simple 'click' of a button." In New York, RG&E will donate up to $5,000to Foodlink, a Rochester-based nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger and building healthier communities by addressing the symptoms and root causes of food insecurity. NYSEG will donate up to $5,000 per organization (for a maximum $20,000 total donation) to Food Bank of Central New York, Food Bank of the Southern Tier, Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, and FeedMore WNY. These organizations offer food, nutrition education, school backpack programs, mobile food pantries and other assistance programs. "NYSEG and RG&E employees have been participating in food pantry efforts alongside the many dedicated in our communities to ending food insecurity," said Patricia Nilsen, President and CEO of NYSEG and RG&E. "This eBill promotion provides every customer with the extra opportunity to boost food pantry donations over the holiday season and to have a green and convenient billing option." In Connecticut, UI, CNG and SCG will donate up to $5,000 to Connecticut Foodshare, which sources and distributes food through more than 650 community-based hunger relief programs. Volunteers from SCG and CNG also visited Connecticut Foodshare's Wallingford location to sort and organize food in preparation for the busy holiday season. "Being a good neighbor and partner to our communities is important throughout the year, but perhaps most important during the winter holiday season," said Frank Reynolds, President & CEO of UI, SCG, and CNG. "With this initiative, our customers and our company will have the opportunity to partner to promote food security, and I look forward to our team's continued work with Connecticut Foodshare." In addition to this eBill promotion, Avangrid and its subsidiaries support food security organizations year-round in partnership with the company's philanthropic arm the Avangrid Foundation. In Maine this includes Good Shepherd Food Bank, Preble Street and Trinity Jubilee Center. In New York, this includes A Single Bite, FeedMore WNY, Food Bank of the Southern Tier, United Way of Broome County, Foodlink and Salvation Army. In Connecticut, this includes Connecticut Foodshare, nOURish Bridgeport and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. 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. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120501705/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] DIGITAL'S HOUSING GROWTH INNOVATION PROGRAM LAUNCHES CALL FOR PROPOSALS Tweet DIGITAL to leverage $9M from Government of B.C. to find innovative ways of using digital technologies to grow housing production capacity in B.C. VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 20, 2023 /CNW/ - DIGITAL, Canada's Global Innovation Cluster for digital technologies, headquartered in Vancouver, has launched a call for proposals under their new Housing Growth Innovation Program to grow housing production capacity in British Columbia. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) report "Housing shortages in Canada: Updating how much housing we need by 2030" forecasts that B.C. will need to add hundreds of thousands of new housing units by 2030. Under the Housing Growth Innovation Program, DIGITAL will work with collaborative project teams from industry, government and academia to develop new ideas, find what works and action solutions that grow the construction sector and build more homes for British Columbians. Project proposals are encouraged to contemplate opportunitie across the full life cycle of housing construction including due diligence, design, construction and post-construction stages and those related to medium to large-scale residential construction, including prefab and mass timber. There is also room to address friction points that inhibit growth through an open category aimed at systemic supply chain or market challenges as we grow housing production capacity. This call will develop a portfolio of innovative digital solutions that can be shared and deployed across the province to unlock the growth and economic potential of housing construction in B.C., and ultimately help grow housing stock. "DIGITAL is proud to announce the launch of our Housing Growth Innovation Program, an effort that will leverage our proven approach to developing digital solutions to address the housing challenge in British Columbia," said Sue Paish, CEO of DIGITAL. "We look forward to working alongside private industry, government and housing community partners to develop new ideas, find what works and action solutions for the benefit of all British Columbians." At DIGITAL, we treat innovation as a team sport. We assemble collaborative project teams to develop and drive forward innovative solutions to some of society's biggest challenges. Our partnerships include but are not limited to builders, educators, professional service providers, not-for-profits, technology developers and government bodies. This approach allows teams to draw upon a larger range of skills, expertise and experience, thereby improving the quality of the innovations produced and ensuring they are ready for commercialization and real-world applications. DIGITAL's Housing Growth Innovation Program is leveraging a $9M investment over 3 years from the Government of British Columbia, which was announced in April 2023, as part of the Digital Housing Construction Initiative in their Homes for People Action Plan. "This is another step forward in our government's commitment to use existing technology and leading innovation to bring a more efficient permitting process to B.C. so we can build more homes, faster," said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing. "We are excited to see DIGITAL work with partners to advance digital innovation and increase productivity in British Columbia's housing construction sector." Interested parties are encouraged to visit the Housing Growth Innovation Program call for proposals page for more details and to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). About DIGITAL DIGITAL is an independent, not-for-profit innovation enterprise specializing in data driven digital innovation. We are one of five Global Innovation Clusters across Canada focused on helping grow Canadian businesses through the design, development and deployment of made-in-Canada digital technologies. This includes working with industry to develop the digital workforce needed to grow businesses and produce well-paying career opportunities for Canadians. DIGITAL brings together businesses, academia, community and government agencies to solve some of industry and society's biggest challenges better and faster than any single organization can do on its own. Through a powerful model that combines cross-sector collaboration, Canadian IP creation and results-based co-investment, DIGITAL unlocks the potential of Canadian industry to lead and succeed in the digital world. Ahead of the curve starts here. For more information, visit www.digitalsupercluster.ca SOURCE Digital Technology Supercluster [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] AM Best to Join Title Insurance Market Discussion at NAIC's Fall Meeting Tweet AM Best will participate in a task force meeting on the U.S. title insurance industry at the upcoming National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) Fall Meeting. The conference is scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2023, in Orlando, FL. Kourtnie Beckwith, senior financial analyst, AM Best will speak during the Title Insurance Task Force meeting about AM Best's outlook on the U.S. title insurance market segment, which was revised to negative in early 2023 due to a number of factors that included an expected slowdown in home sales and related economic activity. Beckwith has more than two decades of experience in the insurance industry and is responsible for the analysis and credit ratings of U.S. title organizations, captive insurers and monoline cyber insurance companies. The session is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, Dec. 2. The NAIC holds three national meetings a year, and are attended by state regulators and their staff, NAIC employees and insurance industryrepresentatives. Various committees, task forces and working groups address model laws, guidelines and other issues during each event. For more information on the conference, which will be held at the Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, please visit the event website. AM Best Director of Government Affairs Paul Brown also will attend the event. To schedule a meeting with him, please email [email protected]. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing 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/20231120906469/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] KBRA Releases Leading Voices in Credit: Schroders' David Knutson Tweet KBRA releases the November 2023 episode of its podcast series, Leading Voices in Credit, which showcases monthly interviews with credit market thought leaders hosted by KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser. The wide-ranging discussions cover topics across the credit spectrum from investment grade to high yield, public to private, and unsecured to asset-backed. For this episode, Van spoke with David Knutson, senior investment director at Schroders, the global asset manager based in London. In the 18-minute episode, the two discuss credit investing in a post-pandemic world. The full episode can be streamed here and the transcript can be found here. Van also hosts KBRA's popular 3 Things in Credit podcast, where he digs into and provides perspective on issues credit-market participants care about. Tune in every Friday for the latest episode. Related Links Van Hesser's 3 Things in Credit Podcast and Newsletter Leading Voices in Credit: Schroders' David Knutson Leading Voices in Credit: Pemberton's Symon Drake-Brockman on Private Credit About Van Hesser Van Hesser is a Senior Managing Director and Chief Strategist at KBRA responsible for generating thought leadership in credit markets and cultivating relationships with the firm's external clients and constituents. He previously served as a senior managing director and head of KBRA's Financial Institutions and Corporates ratings groups, where he leveraged over 30 years of experience as an institutional investor, sell-side research analyst, investment banker, and regulator. Over the course of his career, Van was named to Institutional Investor Magazine's All-America Fixed Income Research Team rankings 10 times across three categories and has served as an expert witness in important industry litigation. About KBRA KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered in the U.S., the EU, and the UK, and is designated to provide structured finance ratings in Canada. KBRA's ratings can be used by investors for regulatory capital purposes in multiple jurisdictions. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120775905/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] BCSC alleges that Vancouver company made misrepresentations, illegally distributed securities and operated an unauthorized exchange Tweet VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 20, 2023 /CNW/ - The B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) is alleging that a Vancouver payment processing company and its founder and CEO made misrepresentations and illegally distributed securities when it issued a crypto coin and then operated an unauthorized exchange for that coin. NetCents, which was listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange from 2016 to 2021, created a crypto asset called the NetCents Coin, which it sold to approximately 500 investors in B.C. and elsewhere from September to December 2017, for total proceeds of $3.3 million. Given the circumstances under which investors acquired the coins, the BCSC alleges that the coin was an investment contract, and thus a security. But NetCents did not file a prospectus a formal document providing details of an investment and did not have an exemption from the requirement to file a prospectus. NetCents published on its website "The NetCents Coin White Paper," which claimed that an independent non-profit organization called the NetCents Coin Organization was issuing the coin and would manage the network of nodes for coin transaction authorizations. The white paper also said that all proceeds from sales of the coin would remain in the treasury reserve account of the NetCents Coin Organization for the benefit of all coin holders. NetCents maintained another website that purported to represent a non-profit organization, and which claimed that it was a foundation basd in Zug, Switzerland whose mission was to develop, administer, promote and maintain the coins on behalf of its community. The website claimed that two of its key roles were releasing the coins according to a schedule and administering the reserve account. However, the BCSC alleges that no independent entity existed for these purposes and could not have done any of the things that NetCents claimed it did. Instead, all of the proceeds from sales of NetCents went to NetCents. NetCents posted news releases in late November 2017 claiming that the first two tranches of coin releases had been completely sold out the first at $1 per coin, the second at $2 per coin and that a third tranche was being sold at four times the coin's original price. However, neither the first nor second tranches had been sold out before either news release. NetCents posted a YouTube video that said NetCents had a "monthly revenue of $100,000 and growing." But the company's own financial disclosure showed that its revenue for the entire 2017 fiscal year was less than $100,000. The BCSC alleges that NetCents and its founder, CEO and director, Clayton Leigh Moore, knew or ought reasonably to have known that the statements on its websites, in its news releases and the YouTube video were misrepresentations. NetCents also established an online exchange called the "NC Exchange," where customers opened accounts and submitted orders to buy and sell the coins. NetCents charged customers a 0.25 per cent commission for each transaction, earning about $10,200 from December 2017 to February 2019. However, NetCents was not recognized by the BCSC as an exchange, as required by the Securities Act. If the NC Exchange was not an exchange that had to be recognized by the BCSC, it was an alternative trading system, and as such, committed three violations of a national rule: It was not registered as a dealer and was not a member of a self-regulatory organization, as required It was executing trades of securities that are not allowed on alternative trading systems, and It used the word "exchange" in its name, which is prohibited. Moore, by authorizing, permitting or acquiescing in each of NetCents's contraventions, committed the same contraventions. The BCSC's allegations have not been proven. The Commission requires NetCents and Moore, or their counsel, to appear at the BCSC's offices on February 20, 2024 if they wish to be heard before a hearing is scheduled. About the B.C. Securities Commission (www.bcsc.bc.ca) The B.C. Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating capital markets in British Columbia through the administration of the Securities Act. Our mission is to protect and promote the public interest by fostering: A securities market that is fair and warrants public confidence A dynamic and competitive securities industry that provides investment opportunities and access to capital. Learn how to protect yourself and become a more informed investor at www.investright.org SOURCE British Columbia Securities Commission [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Vehicle RFID Tag Market to grow by USD 1.89 billion from 2023 to 2028; market is fragmented due to the presence of prominent companies like Alien Technology LLC, ASSA ABLOY AB and Avery Dennison Corp., and many more - Technavio Tweet NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The vehicle RFID tag market is estimated to grow by USD 1.89 billion from 2023 to 2028, growing at a CAGR of 13.92%. The vehicle RFID tag market is fragmented owing to the presence of many global and regional companies. A few prominent companies that offer vehicle RFID tag market are Alien Technology LLC, ASSA ABLOY AB, Avery Dennison Corp., Beontag Group, CAS DataLoggers, FEDRIGONI Spa, GAO Group Inc., Impinj Inc., Invengo Technology Pte. Ltd., Nedap NV, NXP Semiconductors NV, RFID Inc., SATO Holdings Corp., Shenzhen Hopeland Information Technologies Co. Ltd, SkyRFID LLC, Somfy Group, Star Systems International Ltd., TransCore, Xerafy Singapore Pte Ltd., and Zebra Technologies Corp. The report provides a full list of key companies, their strategies, and the latest developments. Download a Free Sample before buying Company Offering: Alien Technology LLC - The company offers vehicle RFID tags such as Squiggle, Doc tag, and Squig tag. The company offers vehicle RFID tags such as Squiggle, Doc tag, and Squig tag. ASSA ABLOY AB - The company offers vehicle RFID tags such as HID EXO RFID tags, HID FIT brick RFID tags, and HID IQ on metal label RFID tags. The company offers vehicle RFID tags such as HID EXO RFID tags, HID FIT brick RFID tags, and HID IQ on metal label RFID tags. Avery Dennison Corp. - The company offers vehicle RFID tags such as AD 180u7, AD 810r6, and AD 380g2iM. The company offers vehicle RFID tags such as AD 180u7, AD 810r6, and AD 380g2iM. For details on companies and their offerings Buy a report! By Geography, the market is classified as APAC, North America, South America, Europe, and Middle East and Africa. APAC will have the largest share of the market, contributing 67% to the global market growth. Economies such as China, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia in the region witnessed a rise in the adoption of RFID tags owing to the introduction of the electronic toll collection system. The governments of APAC countries are continuously working to ease the toll payment process and increase their revenue. Download a free sample report to get more insights on the market share of various regions and the contribution of the segments. Impactful driver- Increase in tax revenue Increase in tax revenue Key Trend - Growing popularity of RFID-based license plates - Growing popularity of RFID-based license plates Major Challenges - Lack of proper coordination among government bodies Market Segmentation The passenger cars segment is significant during the forecast period. Sedans, coupes, hatchbacks, crossovers, and SUVs are increasingly in demand in China , the US, Canada , India , Germany , France , the UK, Spain , and others. This is because high disposable income and convenient and attractive vehicle loan schemes by financial institutions and automobile manufacturers back this demand for vehicles. Technavio Research experts have provided more insights on the market share of segments - View a Free Sample Report Related Reports: The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Middleware Market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10.91% between 2023 and 2028. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 3,240.16 million. The global RFID blood refrigerator and freezer market size is estimated to grow by USD 307.62 million at a CAGR of 16.82% between 2022 and 2027. Vehicle RFID Tag Market Scope Report Coverage Details Historic period 2018-2022 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 13.92% YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 12.57 Regional analysis APAC, North America, South America, Europe, and Middle East and Africa Key countries US, China, India, Japan, and Germany TOC: 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation by Application 7 Market Segmentation by Type 8 Customer Landscape 9 Geographic Landscape 10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 11 Vendor Landscape 12 Vendor Analysis 13 Appendix About US Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact US: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vehicle-rfid-tag-market-to-grow-by-usd-1-89-billion-from-2023-to-2028-market-is-fragmented-due-to-the-presence-of-prominent-companies-like-alien-technology-llc-assa-abloy-ab-and-avery-dennison-corp-and-many-more---technavio-301993060.html SOURCE Technavio [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] India Debit Cards Market Competition, Forecasts and Opportunities, 2029F Tweet DUBLIN, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "India Debit Cards Market Competition, Forecast and Opportunities, 2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The India debit cards market is experiencing robust growth, primarily driven by the rising popularity of online payment methods and the proliferation of digital transaction platforms in the country. The emergence of fintech companies, co-branded cards, and various government initiatives aimed at promoting debit card usage are significant contributors to the market's expansion in India. In terms of card usage, credit cards hold a relatively small market share, accounting for 7% of all cards in use, while debit cards dominate the market with a substantial 93% share. The India debit cards market is segmented into various service providers, including Visa, Mastercard, RuPay, and others like Maestro Card. Visa and Mastercard are the dominant players in India's debit card market. The increased value of e-commerce transactions reflects the widespread shift from physical to digital transactions, especially since the onset of the pandemic. High demand for debit cards in India can be attributed to changing consumer preferences, a growing affinity for technology-driven products, and government initiatives aimed at promoting digital payments. According to Worldline, there were 4,120 million debit card transactions totaling USD 90 billion in 2021. Of these transactions, 28.93 million occurred at point-of-sale terminals, and 21.36 million were conducted in the e-commerce space. Debit card transactions at point-of-sale terminals accounted for USD 56 billion in value, while online transactions amounted to USD 29 billion. Additionally, the number of households with internet connections is expected to increase by 46%, growing from 160 million in 2021 to 233 million by 2026. With the rising penetration of smartphones and the internet, the India debit cards market is poised for significant growth in the coming years. The expansion of the Indian economy has led to a surge in card usage across the country. Debit cards are becoming widely accepted as a preferred payment option, further driving growth in the Indian debit card market. The increasing adoption of digital payments, government initiatives to promote cashless transactions, and the availability of digital infrastructure and services are all key factors contributing to the market's growth. India Debit Cards Market Drivers The India debit cards market has been growing steadily over the years, and there are several factors driving this growth. The Indian government has launched several initiatives to promote cashless transactions and reduce the use of physical currency. For example, the government's Digital India campaign aims to provide digital infrastructure and services to all citizens, including online payment systems. Other initiatives, such as demonetization in 2016, have also helped to encourage the use of digital payment methods. Furthermore, increase in the number of debit cards was also attributed to the issuance of RuPay cards under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme. More than 68 million debit cards were issued by the program's launch in 2021. Thus, these initiatives have played a significant role in drivingthe growth of the debit card market in India. India Debit Cards Market Trends The banking sector is undergoing a digital transformation with new technologies and partnerships. Banks have been at the forefront of this shift in terms of payments, leading with a variety of digital innovations, but the most recent development has seen a rise in demand for co-branded credit and debit cards. Co-branded debit cards have become popular in India, with banks partnering with various companies and brands to offer debit cards with added benefits and rewards. These co-branded cards often come with cashback offers, discounts, and other rewards that make them more attractive to customers. For instance, PayPal Mastercard Debit Card is a co-branded card by Mastercard International and PayPal. It enables customers to make purchases at any Mastercard-accepting business globally using funds from their online PayPal accounts. Major companies have already adopted the trend of working with banks to offer co-branded cards to their clients for ease of payments, including airlines, hotels, e-commerce, and fuel companies. Overall, the India debit card market is witnessing several trends, including contactless payments, mobile banking, co-branded cards, e-commerce partnerships, and enhanced security features. Thus, these trends are shaping the way customers use their debit cards and are driving innovation in the Indian financial services industry. India Debit Cards Market Challenges Debit cards are popular for online transactions, but their usage for offline transactions is still limited. This is due to factors such as the lack of acceptance of debit cards in some retail outlets and the preference for cash transactions in some parts of the country. Furthermore, with the increasing risk of fraud and cybercrime, customers are becoming more concerned about the security of their debit cards. This can lead to a lack of trust in the debit card industry and make it difficult for banks to attract and retain customers. While debit cards are a popular payment method in India, they face competition from other payment methods such as mobile wallets and UPI. For instance, In December 2022, the UPI registered more than 7.82 billion transactions costing USD160 billion, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). These payment methods offer a convenient and secure way to make payments, and their popularity could limit the growth of the debit card market in India. Market Opportunities India is expected to add 140 million middle-class households and 21 million high-income households by 2030, which would increase demand for and drive market growth for the country's debit cards due to the availability of a wide range of services and rising consumer knowledge of digital transactional platforms. Furthermore, India offers significant opportunities for Debit Cards businesses in the underserved populations in tier-II and tier-III towns. Mobile banking has been on the rise in India, and debit cards are playing a critical role in this trend. With the increasing availability of mobile banking apps, customers can now access their debit card accounts on their smartphones, allowing them to make payments, transfer funds, and perform other banking transactions on the go. Many banks in India are partnering with e-commerce companies to offer debit cards that can be used exclusively for online purchases. These debit cards often come with discounts, cashback offers, and other benefits that are tailored to online shoppers. Thus, with the increasing adoption of digital payments in India, the debit card market presents an opportunity to tap into this trend and offer a convenient and secure payment option to customers. Competitive Landscape Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in India Debit Cards market. HDFC Bank Ltd. State Bank of India Punjab National Bank Axis Bank Limited ICICI Bank Limited IndusInd Bank Limited Yes Bank Limited Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited IDBI Bank Limited Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited Market Dynamics Voice of Customer Analysis Sample Size Determination Respondent Demographics By Gender By Age By Occupation Factors Influencing Debit Card Adoption in India Challenges Faced by Customers Drivers Support through government initiatives Emergence of fintech companies Changing payment trends Challenges Low penetration in rural areas Issue of online frauds Impact of COVID-19 on India Debit Cards Market Impact Assessment Model Key Segments Impacted Key Regions Impacted Market Trends & Developments Increasing e-commerce partnership Introduction of contactless debit cards Rising internet penetration High demand among millennials High usage from Commercial Sector Report Scope: India Debit Cards Market, By Service Provider: Visa Mastercard RuPay Others (Maestro Card etc.) India Debit Cards Market, By Payment Terminals: POS ATMs India Debit Cards Market, By Card Type: Signature Platinum Gold Others (Classic etc.) India Debit Cards Market, By Region: North South East West For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6hx0ul About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/india-debit-cards-market-competition-forecasts-and-opportunities-2029f-301993299.html SOURCE Research and Markets [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Advalight Welcomes Amogh Kothare As New Chief Scientific Officer Tweet LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Advalight, the globally renowned company behind ADVATx, the sophisticated dual 589nm and 1319nm wavelength solid-state laser, announces the appointment of Amogh Kothare as Chief Scientific Officer. Advalight, the globally renowned company, announces the appointment of Amogh Kothare as Chief Scientific Officer. As a biomedical engineer, Kothare brings nearly 20 years of experience in the aesthetic laser industry and has been an integral part of the development of cutting-edge devices. In this role, Kothare will be globally responsible for clinical research, partnerships, product management, and clinical affairs and training, to further leverage Advalight's scientific approach to innovation. "Under Amogh's scientific and clinical leadership, we intend to strengthen and expand or clinical research partnerships with leading physicians in the U.S. and globally," said Jacob L. Philipsen, CEO of Advalight. "We firmly believe that Amogh's industry insight and deep understanding of user and patient needs, combined with our world-class engineering team, will take our product offerings and thereby our company to the next level and beyond." Prior to joining Advalight, Kothare served in a similar role at Cutera, one of the global leaders of the aesthetic laser industry where he spearheaded the development and launch of a series of innovative products. "I have been a part of the aesthetic industry for almost two decades and was really impressed with Advalight's pioneering technology, and their desire to put science and technology at the forefront of their product development efforts," Kothare said. "I am grateful to be a part of this team, and I look forward to collectively making Advalight the next big thing in aesthetics and medical dermatology." President of Advalight Corp., Travis Mahan, is keen to incorporate Kothare's unique combination of engineering expertise and organizational best practices to accelerate the exponential growth the company has experienced over the past several years. "Adding Amogh to lead our talented team of engineers is an exciting leap forward in the evolution of Advalight, both from a future product development standpoint, and for the continuing optimization of the current ADVATx platform," Mahan said. "I'm personally beyond excited and grateful to welcome Amogh to the Advalight family." About Advalight: Founded in 2006, Advalight is the company behind the groundbreaking dual wavelength ADVATx. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with sales and service offices in San Diego, CA, USA, ADVATx is available to dermatological and aesthetic practices in over 30 countries through our network of global distributors. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/advalight-welcomes-amogh-kothare-as-new-chief-scientific-officer-301993932.html SOURCE ADVATx [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Women's income in Kuwait is steadily growing, Secretary General of Kuwait's Supreme Council for Family Affairs Maryam Al-a-Azmi said, Trend reports. She spoke at the ongoing Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference in Baku on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment". "Women's rights are highly valued in Kuwait. Women have an important part in the country's development and revival. Women's empowerment is one among our top concerns, according to Maryam Al-a-Azmi. Azerbaijan (the current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (the future NAM chairs) are hosting the NAM conference on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" in Baku. The event is held on the basis of initiatives voiced by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel [November 20, 2023] Arcadia Cold Celebrates Another Cold Storage Facility Grand Opening Tweet The Atlanta Cold Storage grand opening is Arcadia Cold's third celebration in five weeks in an unprecedented ramp up. ATLANTA, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics celebrated the grand opening of their newest highly anticipated state-of-the-art Atlanta Cold Storage Facility. The Atlanta facility is located in Union City, GA, with immediate access to I-85, I-285 and I-20. Due to its strategic location, this facility can service nearly 20% of the US population within a day's drive. The Atlanta Cold Storage grand opening is Arcadia Cold's third celebration in five weeks in an unprecedented ramp up. This fully racked, brand-new facility is fully operational and is designed to handle both frozen and chilled temperatures from -20 to 38 F. Arcadia Cold's Atlanta facility is over 300,000 SF and can support storage of over 44,000 pallets. This marks the Company's third facility grand opening since the start of October. Arcadia's quickly growing national cold storage network has now celebrated the openings of their Fort Worth facility, their Phoenix facility, and now their Atlanta Facility. "This is Arcadia's third grand opening of a new facility in two months," said Arcadia Cold CEO Chris Hughes. "The Atlanta facility brings us one step closer to building out a national network that offers a new level of tangible expertise and high-end customer care to our customers. I couldn't be prouder of the Team's ability to successfully plan, launch and operate all of these facilities in such a compressed timeframe it's truly unprecedented." Speakers at the event included Mayor Vince Williams of Union City, KC Williams of Griffco Design/Build, Sean Gilbert of Saxum Real Estate, and Chris Hughes of Arcadia Cold. About Arcadia Cold: Arcadia Cold specializes in providing third-party handling, storage, distribution, and value-added services to the food industry. We are on a mission to design and deploy modern facilities and provide innovative solutions through the practical application of technology, creating meaningful value for our customers while helping them meet their strategic objectives establishing The New Age of cold chain. www.arcadiacold.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arcadia-cold-celebrates-another-cold-storage-facility-grand-opening-301994027.html SOURCE Arcadia Cold [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 20, 2023] Rho Impact Completes Pre-Seed Fundraising to Accelerate Innovation in Impact Forecasting Tweet CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rho Impact, developer of impact forecasting tools used by investors and companies managing trillions of dollars in assets, is excited to announce the successful completion of its $1.125 million pre-seed funding round. The round comprises technology investors, state-funded development agencies, social impact investors, and industry experts, including Preston-Werner Ventures (founded by Tom Preston-Werner, the co-founder of Github), Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), 3rd Creek Ventures, the Charlottesville Angel Network, and veterans of the data and logistics industries. Rho Impact partners with Prime Coalition to develop CRANE , a free tool used by over 4,000 investors and companies to estimate the emissions reduction potential of new technologies, and builds Gemini , an impact and ESG platform. Rho Impact serves both investors and operators, with clients as varied as Eclipse (a VC with ~$4B AUM focused on digitally transforming physical industries) and Gecko Robotics (AI-powered software and advanced robotics to ensure the reliability, availability and sustainability of the world's critical infrastructure). "This financing underscores the growing demand for transparent, data-driven solutions to meet global sustainability targets," stated Gilman Callsen, CEO of Rho Impact. "I am thankful to add supportive early investors who are helping accelerate our progress." "Rho Impact's seasoned team and impressive track record in emissions forecasting set them apart in the field. We are proud to back their mission and their approach to combining technology, robust frameworks, and experts to add consistency and clarity to otherwise messy and uncertain decisions," says Tom Preston-Werner. This funding marks an exciting chapter in Rho Impact's journey. The company will leverage this capital to sharpen its focus on building the world's most verifiable and auditable impact forecasting tools that help direct investment into the most promising solutions to address climate change. For more information about Rho Impact and its emissions forecasting software, please visit https://rhoimpact.com . About Rho Impact: Rho Impact's data and models contextualize the environmental impact of climate technologies using software and expert services. The company's tools help investors and companies meet sustainability goals, navigate evolving ESG requirements, and make confident, auditable, impact-informed decisions. Trusted globally, Rho Impact empowers every organization to make an impact. For media inquiries, please contact: Xander Rothaus Chief Marketing Officer [email protected] Charlottesville, VA 22901 RhoImpact.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rho-impact-completes-pre-seed-fundraising-to-accelerate-innovation-in-impact-forecasting-301994060.html SOURCE Rho Impact [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Legal drug dealers are pushing back against the price of doing biz in Missouri. And all of this bolsters our contention . . . MISSOURI POLITICOS HAVE BECOME ADDICTED TO LEGAL WEED TAX CASH!!! On the bright side . . . It'll be nice to watch weed farmers join forces with tax fighters and maybe add a bit of soul and civic concern to their economic success . . . Check-it: Various state and local sales taxes lumped onto your recreational marijuana purchase can add upwards of 20% to the cost of legalized Missouri weed. The state cannabis trade association, which is backing dispensaries legal action over the stacked taxes, calls the compiling marijuana surcharges an unconstitutional money grab by city councils and county commissions. Todays lawsuit should eventually put an end to Missouri adult use marijuana customers having to pay stacked local taxes, which violate the Missouri Constitution and the will of the voters, said Andrew Mullins, the executive director of MoCann Trade, when lawsuits were filed in mid-October. We are proud to work with our industry partners to stand up for Missouri cannabis customers against this unconstitutional money grab. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Setting out on a journey along the Wild Atlantic Way is more than just a trip. It is an adventure that captures the heart of Ireland's striking landscapes and captivating culture. This route, extending over 2,500 kilometers along Ireland's west coast, is a magnificent display of cliffs, bays, and historic sites. Driving along the Wild Atlantic Way, each bend in the road reveals a breathtaking new view, ranging from the awe-inspiring Cliffs of Moher to the calm beaches of Donegal. This route is a seamless blend of scenic beauty and rich culture. Exploring the Wild Atlantic Way in the Emerald Isle The Wild Atlantic Way, stretching over 2,500 kilometers from Donegal to West Cork, stands out as one of the world's most iconic road trips. It's a perfect choice for those looking to explore Ireland beyond the busy streets of Dublin. According to Euronews.travel, the coastal journey offers a unique experience, whether you are driving an electric vehicle, riding a motorcycle, or traveling in a classic caravan. This trip takes you through the heart of Ireland's lush landscapes, which are deeply ingrained in our imaginations. As you travel, you will see endless green fields, hills, steep cliffs, secret bays, sandy shores, quaint towns, and old castle ruins. Keep an eye out for seabirds, grey seals, sheep, donkeys, ponies, and maybe even characters from Irish myths like leprechauns, banshees, and kelpies. Not only that, taking a journey along the Wild Atlantic Way allows you to see what the Irish are incredibly proud of - the breathtaking natural beauty of their country. The Wild Atlantic Way is located on Ireland's west coast, facing the North Atlantic Ocean. This route links the topmost part of Ireland to its southernmost point. As per the Nordic Visitor, your journey starts in County Donegal, near the Northern Ireland border. Along the way, you will travel on coastal roads, pass through charming villages, and see amazing natural sights that seem to be at the world's edge. One highlight is the Slieve League, some of Europe's tallest sea cliffs. Further down south, you can discover hidden coves and bays in the beautiful Connemara National Park. Read Also: Why Is Mount Fuji So Famous in Japan? Exploring Its Cultural and Natural Significance Cultural Heritage Along the Wild Atlantic Way Traveling along the Wild Atlantic Way offers more than breathtaking landscapes; it is a deep journey into the heart of Irish culture. This route is lined with historic villages rich in tradition and vibrant festivals celebrating Irish heritage. Each location has its own unique story. You will explore local artisans, enjoy authentic Irish cuisine, and learn about the rich history and folklore that make this trip unforgettable. Ireland's beauty is not just in its landscapes. This island has a rich past, filled with stories from Pagans, Celts, Vikings, Christian monks, and Norman rulers. The Culture Trip shared that you can see this history everywhere, like at the ancient Rock of Cashel and the famous Blarney Castle. This history is also in the cities. In Dublin, you can visit the Book of Kells Library at St Patrick's Cathedral and even the Guinness Storehouse. Guinness and whiskey are big parts of Irish history and culture. A visit here is not complete without tasting these drinks and enjoying music in a lively pub. Cities like Kinsale, known for great food, Galway, and Cork, each have their own special culture and history, and even their own way of speaking the Irish accent. Ireland is a land of enchanting beauty waiting to be explored. From the breathtaking Wild Atlantic Way to historic cities brimming with culture, every journey here is filled with wonder. Whether you are tasting local delicacies, listening to traditional music in a cozy pub, or simply soaking in stunning landscapes, Ireland offers an experience like no other. Don't wait any longer. Plan your trip to this magical island and create memories that will last a lifetime. Related Article: These are the Customs and Etiquette You Should Remember When Visiting South Korea As you prepare for your trip to Finland, known for its many lakes, getting to know the customs and traditions in Finland will greatly enhance your experience. This country, famous for its beautiful scenery and modern cities, has a rich cultural heritage that reflects its history and current values. In Finland, customs are an integral part of daily life. From enjoying the sauna to respecting nature, these practices are not just habits; they are integral to the Finnish lifestyle. Here, simplicity and functionality are key aspects of the culture, not just in design but in everyday living. Finnish festivals and celebrations are an important part of the country's cultural heritage. Whether it is the lively Midsummer festivities or the peaceful Christmas traditions, each event shows something special about Finnish life. Participating in these events offers you a chance to see how Finns value their traditions while adapting to modern life. Understanding Finnish Customs When you explore the world of customs and traditions in Finland, you enter a rich mix of cultural details that are both fascinating and unique. The Finnish way of life combines elements of traditional charm and modern living, creating an interesting cultural landscape for travelers. In Finland, traditions are not mere relics of the past; they are active and vital parts of everyday life. They create a sense of community and provide continuity, linking different generations. Take the sauna, for example. It is not just a place to relax; it is a crucial element of Finnish culture, a place for physical and spiritual cleansing, and a space for social interaction. Moreover, according to infoFinland.fi, it's seen as impolite to cut someone off while they are talking. People usually wait until the other person has finished speaking before they start. Additionally, Finns often keep their emotions private, especially in public. Speaking loudly, particularly in public areas, is viewed as disrespectful. Another unique aspect of Finnish customs is the emphasis on silence. In many cultures, silence can be awkward or uncomfortable, but in Finland, it is valued. Silence is not viewed as a lack of communication but rather as a form of respect and a means to peacefully enjoy one's environment. This appreciation for quiet moments is noticeable whether you are in a lively city or a tranquil countryside setting. In Finland, being honest is highly valued. It is essential to stick to your promises and be truthful. Also, being on time is crucial for Finns. If you have a meeting, make sure to arrive when you said you would. This is especially important for appointments with officials or doctors - being punctual shows respect and is taken seriously. Read Also: Saudi Arabia Cancels Visa of 177 Nigerians Trying to Enter the Country Traditional Finnish Celebrations and Festivals Exploring the traditional Finnish celebrations and festivals offers a fascinating look into the customs and traditions in Finland. This Nordic nation, celebrated for its stunning landscapes and innovative society, also has a vibrant cultural heritage marked by unique and meaningful festivities. Midsummer This event, held during the summer solstice, is when Finns embrace their natural surroundings. It's common for families and friends to retreat to countryside cottages, enjoying traditional activities like bonfires, symbolizing the banishing of evil spirits and bad luck. Saunas, an integral part of Finnish culture, also play a significant role during Midsummer. People gather in these steamy rooms not just for relaxation but for a communal experience that strengthens bonds. Christmas In Finland, Christmas is a special celebration that takes place on December 24th. It's an important day when families come together for big meals and to exchange gifts. Presents are usually put under the Christmas tree a few days earlier, which lets kids get excited thinking about what they might receive. This festive day is marked by a large family gathering at the dinner table to enjoy traditional Finnish Christmas dishes. According to Adventures.com, some of these are Joulutorttu (a Christmas pastry), Laskiaispulla (a pie with a sweet cinnamon and sugar filling), and glogi (a warm drink made with red wine, raisins, almonds, and various spices). Vappu 'Vappu' is a spring festival on the first of May. Originally a pagan festival, it has become a celebration of labor and spring. Streets fill with joyful crowds, wearing colorful caps and enjoying 'sima' (homemade mead) and 'tippaleipa' (funnel cakes). Vappu is when Finns celebrate the arrival of warmer weather after the long winter months. The customs and traditions in Finland, especially their celebrations and festivals, offer insight into the country's culture. They reflect a deep connection to nature, a commitment to family and community, and a joyful embrace of life's changing seasons. As a traveler, experiencing these traditions is not just about witnessing them but also about understanding the heart of Finnish culture. Related Article: 8 Unique Cultural Norms You'll Find in Japan The Philippine Bureau of Immigration has permanently blacklisted an American traveler, Anthony Laurence, 34, after he was accused of using profane language on a digital immigration form and displaying rudeness towards immigration officers. American Traveler Disrespects Immigration Staff Laurence, who flew into Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Bangkok on an Air Asia flight on November 7, allegedly exhibited disdain towards the immigration staff. According to CNN, the incident escalated when Laurence was asked to complete an online travel form. Philippine authorities claim he threw his passport and mobile phone at an officer. Laurence, a property investor who spends time in the Philippines intermittently, has contested these claims. Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco stated that Laurence's online form contained a fictitious address, incomplete name, and profane language. Tansingco emphasized that while officers are advised to show maximum tolerance, Laurence had crossed the line with his behavior, compromising the efficiency of their system. The bureau insists on respectful conduct and adherence to procedures from all travelers, warning that violations will be dealt with strictly. However, the American traveler disputes the bureau's version of events. He told CNN that he did not throw anything or raise his voice. He claimed his frustration stemmed from difficulties in filling out the form on his phone, leading him to enter incorrect information to expedite his travel for a connecting flight. Read Also: Saudi Arabia Cancels Visa of 177 Nigerians Trying to Enter the Country Criticized Authorities for Overreacting Laurence stated that he apologized for his actions, but his apologies were ignored by the immigration officer. He has also criticized the Philippine authorities for overreacting and not providing him with due process or official documentation of the ban, which he learned about through media reports. The American traveler, who identifies as an investor and claims to have resided in Cebu for two years, told the Bureau of Immigration that he owns property in the city and has traveled to and from the Philippines six or seven times in the last two years. However, the BI has not independently confirmed his profession, property ownership, or travel history, as per the South China Morning Post. In a recent statement, Laurence admitted to entering an expletive on the immigration form, clarifying that it was not directed at anyone. He declined to specify the exact words he used on the form. Despite acknowledging his error in not correctly completing the form, Laurence expressed his belief that this mistake does not justify a permanent ban or blacklisting. The e-Travel system, implemented to modernize and streamline entry into the Philippines, is an online platform that has replaced the traditional paper-based arrival and departure cards. This digital system requires travelers to fill out their details at least 72 hours before arriving in the Philippines, ensuring a more efficient and smoother immigration process. Throughout the current year, the Filipino authorities have emphasized the importance of respecting immigration officers and following the established procedures. As part of their commitment to maintaining order and decorum at entry points, they have reported that 44 foreigners have been barred from entering the country. These exclusions are due to various incidents where individuals showed disrespect towards immigration staff. Related Article: Travelers are Urged to Caution as Iceland Braces for Volcanic Eruption BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The keys to houses were handed over to 25 more families (91 people) who returned to Zabukh village in Azerbaijan's Lachin, Trend reports. The newcomers were solemnly welcomed in Zabukh village. Residents of Zabukh village, which has become more beautiful and improved, thanked the President, victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva for all-round care, expressed gratitude to the valiant Azerbaijani Army that liberated its lands from Armenian occupation, and honored the memory of the martyrs. Thus, 96 families (382 people) have been permanently settled in Zabukh village. All necessary conditions have been created for the residents of Zabukh in the houses built in their native village on behalf of the head of state. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel A nurse in the public health care system says she is in charge of a clinic in which she is a BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Despite development, the Dominican Republic still has gaps in the issue of gender equality, Deputy Minister for Inter-ministerial Coordination of the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Women's Affairs Melecia Mireya Almonte Taveras said, Trend reports. She spoke at the Non-Aligned Movement's conference "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" in Baku. "It is difficult for women to gain a place in the labor market. From a gender perspective, men make up 74 percent in key positions. We have to improve the position of women in this area. According to the National Action Plan, we must ensure gender equality," Taveras said. Baku is hosting a conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on "Advancement of Women's Rights and Empowerment" jointly organized by Azerbaijan (current NAM chairperson), Uganda and Uzbekistan (future NAM chairpersons). The event is held on the basis of initiatives announced by President Ilham Aliyev at the NAM Coordination Bureau meeting in July this year. Stay up to date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel In the past 24 hours, 46 combat clashes took place on the front lines: Russian forces launched one missile attack and 17 air strikes, carried out 97 attacks using multiple launch rocket systems on the positions of Ukrainian troops and populated areas. This is said in the morning update by of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports. As a result of Russian terrorist attacks, unfortunately, there are dead and wounded among the civilian population. Damage was caused to private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure. Petropavlivka in Kharkiv region; Serebrianka Forestry in Luhansk region, and Yampolivka in Donetsk region came under air strikes. More than 100 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions came under artillery fire," the report says. Read also: Zelensky replaces commander of Ukrainian Medical Forces The military also reminded that the Russian occupiers launched an airstrike on Ukraine yesterday, using combat Shahed-136/131 UAVs. Ukraines air defense forces destroyed 15 out of 20 combat UAVs. The Defense Forces of Ukraine continue offensive operations in the Melitopol direction, inflicting manpower and equipment losses on occupation troops, weakening the enemy along the entire front line. In the past day, Ukraines Air Force launched two strikes on enemy manpower clusters. Units of missile forces hit two areas of concentration of personnel, weapons and military equipment, as well as three ammunition depots of the enemy," the General Staff said. As Ukrinform earlier reported, from February 24, 2022 to November 19, 2023, the Defense Forces of Ukraine eliminated about 318,570 Russian invaders. Photo: AFU General Staff Last week, combat units of the Army of Drones project hit 214 units of enemy military equipment worth several million dollars. Deputy Prime Minister for Innovations, Development of Education, Science and Technologies Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov posted this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports. Minus millions of dollars the Army of Drones hit 214 units of Russian equipment. Ukrainian soldiers continue to successfully turn enemy equipment into scrap," the report says. According to Fedorov, from November 13 to 20, Ukrainian soldiers with the help of drones damaged and destroyed 39 Russian tanks, 31 cannons, 41 armored vehicles, 66 trucks, 6 MLRS, etc. The enemy also lost 89 troops. As reported, the Army of Drones handed over more than 2,000 Ukrainian drones to the Defense Forces of Ukraine. The batch included exclusively Ukrainian-made drones. Among them are copters and aircraft-type UAVs: reconnaissance, kamikaze and reusable airstrike drones. The drones will help Ukrainian defenders hit enemy positions and equipment. All UAVs were purchased as part of the state program. Photo is illustrative As part of the Brave1 project, Ukrainian specialists have developed an attack drone resistant to electronic warfare. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Innovations, Development of Education, Science and Technologies and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov announced this in a post on the Telegram messaging app, Ukrinform reports. "The Backfire is an attack drone from Ukrainian developers that is part of the Brave1 defense cluster. The UAV can fly up to 35 kilometers behind enemy lines and help hit Russian artillery, logistics hubs, enemy depots and command posts," the government official said. According to him, thanks to the GPS antenna, which is almost impossible to jam, the drone is very resistant to enemy EW. Due to the complete autonomy of the drone, the enemy cannot calculate its coordinates and the ground command, which makes it possible to protect the operators. Fedorov noted that the Backfire is being tested at the front and is showing good results. Over the past two months, the Ukrainian military has carried out at least 50 successful missions. The developers are cooperating with the Angry Birds squadron of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which help improve the unmanned aerial vehicle. "The 'bird' has already received approval from a Defense Ministry commission and is awaiting an order to be approved for operation. This means that the state will be able to officially purchase these drones. The creative team is already preparing for the mass production of the UAV," Fedorov wrote. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin informed him about the current situation on the battlefield. That's according to the press service of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports. In addition to Austin, the U.S. delegation included U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe. "Volodymyr Zelensky noted the importance of the visit by the American delegation ahead of another meeting in the Ramstein format [Ukraine Defense Contact Group], the results of which should strengthen Ukraine's position on the battlefield. In this regard, he spoke in detail about the current situation at the front, strategic goals and priority needs of Ukraine's defense forces," the statement said. According to the presidential press service, the urgency of Ukraine's allies continuing the uninterrupted supply of all necessary weapons and ammunition was noted at the meeting. The parties also discussed freedom of navigation in the Black Sea and ensuring the functioning of an alternative "grain corridor." "It is very important that we managed to achieve progress in establishing control over the Black Sea and to ensure the operation of an alternative humanitarian route. This allows Ukraine to remain a guarantor of global food security," Zelensky said. He also emphasized the need to strengthen Ukraine's capabilities before the winter season. Zelensky thanked Biden, his administration, both houses of Congress and the people of the United States for their unwavering strong support for Ukraine, including military support, which is very important amid Russia's full-scale aggression. "We are extremely grateful to President Joseph Biden. It is very important for us that the United States stands with us. We count on your support and are proud that you are with us," Zelensky said. The U.S.'s leadership in the formation of an international coalition for security assistance to Ukraine was also noted at the meeting. Photos: Office of the President of Ukraine During a visit to Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin will engage in high-level talks with Ukrainian leadership. The relevant statement was made by the press service of the U.S. Department of Defense, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. The discussions will focus on further bolstering the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, to include ensuring Ukraines armed forces have the battlefield capabilities they need for both the winter and to defend their country against future Russian threats, the report states. Additionally, Austin will meet with Ukrainian leaders and reinforce the staunch support of the United States for Ukraines fight for freedom. He will also underscore the continued U.S. commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression, while also discussing a long-term vision for Ukraines future force. Later this week, Austin will also host the 17th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group virtually from the Pentagon with nearly 50 nations expected to participate. A reminder that, on November 20, 2023, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin arrived in Ukraine. Photo: CARLOS BONGIOANNI/STARS AND STRIPES Polish border guards did not allow trucks with humanitarian aid from the Red Cross to enter Ukraine. Tanks with oil products, gas, and other hazardous substances are standing in crowded parking lots and roadsides. An Ukrinform correspondent reports. "We currently have 24 tractor trailers and eight fuel tanks at the border. This is most of the company's trucks. We carry fuel in transit from Lithuania. Yesterday we talked to the Polish police in Korczowa, and they understand the danger because the parking lot there is very overloaded with various special equipment with gasoline, gas, and various hazardous substances. It could be an emergency if it explodes. The Polish police understand, but they shrug their shoulders and say they have no influence on it," Taras Svitlyk, a representative of a Lviv-based transportation company, said. According to him, large oil traders in Ukraine have stocks, so Ukrainians will not feel a shortage of fuel now. "However, driving along the Polish T94 road, we saw a large number of UPG, WOG, SOCAR tanks. Their reserves may also be exhausted as we do not know how long this will last," Svitlyk added. Speaking with Serhiy Derkach, Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, Polish border guards at the Korczowa-Krakivets and Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska checkpoints assured that they primarily let through flammable trucks, trucks with perishable food and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, but Ukrainian drivers claim that this is not the case. Two trucks from Ivano-Frankivsk carrying humanitarian aid from the Netherlands were sent to "standstill" by border guards at the Korczova-Krakivets checkpoint and put in a "live" queue. They have been waiting for four days to deliver the medical equipment to Kropyvnytskyi and Lubny. "We are bringing beds, wheelchairs, medical equipment, mattresses, blankets, and disinfectants to the hospital. The police told us to drive ahead of the queue. And at the checkpoint itself, we were told to turn around, check in and look for parking. But there was no parking anywhere. So we found one near Yaroslav, 40 kilometers from the border, and we are waiting," Vasyl Boyko, the truck driver, said. According to Derkach, as of November 20, more than three thousand trucks are waiting to cross the border at the checkpoints between Poland and Ukraine. In particular, 1,500 trucks at Krakivets-Korczowa, 1,200 trucks at Dorohusk-Yahodyn, and more than 500 trucks at Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne. As Ukrinform reported, on November 6, Polish carriers began a blockade of truck traffic near the three largest checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. The demands to the Polish government include the return of the practice of permits for Ukrainian carriers; toughening of the ECMT (European Conference of Ministers of Transport) transportation rules for foreigners; the inability to register a company in Poland if its financial activities are not in the EU; a separate queue for cars with EU license plates; a separate queue at all borders for empty trucks and access to the Ukrainian Shliakh system. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on "Advancing Women's Rights and Empowerment" is very important for the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in many areas, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Zulaiho Mahkamova said during her speech at the event, Trend reports. Mahkamova stated that 210 firms in Uzbekistan are run with Azerbaijani finance, and that there is room for future expansion of economic cooperation. She stated that the conference today will help to develop cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. "Uzbekistan has joined the mission to strengthen women's rights." To attain this goal, our country has made a number of significant initiatives. "Approximately 100 legal documents have been adopted, and a number of international documents on this subject have been approved," the official stated. The deputy prime minister further underlined that, in order to encourage women's entrepreneurship, Uzbekistan has begun granting preferential loans. The conference is being held in Baku under the joint organization of Azerbaijan (current NAM chair), Uganda, and Uzbekistan (future NAM chairs), on the basis of initiatives announced by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau in July this year. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Construction work will be launched after designing a new checkpoint in Azerbaijan's Agbhand settlement (Zangezur corridor), Chairman of the State Customs Committee of the country Shahin Baghirov told reporters, Trend reports. He said that design work is underway for a new border crossing point in Aghband as part of efforts to improve the operations of customs services along the Zangazur corridor. "The Azerbaijani government is actively working to commission and develop the Zangezur corridor. As the customs service, we are also involved in the process. Work is being carried out in relation to border crossing points, too," the official emphasized. Proposed by the Azerbaijani side, the Zangezur corridor aims to establish a transportation link between Azerbaijan's mainland and its exclave, Nakhchivan, passing through Armenian territory. This corridor emerged as part of the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war. One point of the agreement outlined Armenia's commitment to ensuring the security of transport connections to Nakhchivan, facilitating the unrestricted movement of people, vehicles, and goods in both directions. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel In a climate of heightened tensions stemming from the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, the U.S. Department of Education has recently taken a significant step by launching investigations into allegations of anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim discrimination at six colleges and one school district. These institutions, including prestigious names such as Cornell University, Columbia University, and the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, are now under scrutiny for incidents that occurred against the backdrop of the Israel-Gaza conflict. Colleges Under the Lens The colleges facing investigation- Cornell, Columbia, Cooper Union, Lafayette, University of Pennsylvania, and Wellesley- represent diverse educational landscapes spread across New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. The inclusion of these renowned institutions in the investigation signifies the widespread nature of the issue, as discrimination appears to transcend geographical boundaries. Moreover, the Maize Unified School District in Kansas has also come under the Department of Education's scrutiny, shedding light on the challenges faced by K-12 educational settings. The investigations were prompted, in part, by a recent federal prosecution of a Cornell University student. This individual stands accused of making online threats against Jewish students at the Ivy League school, providing a stark example of the tangible consequences of discrimination. The incident serves as a microcosm of the broader challenges faced by educational institutions during times of geopolitical tension, where students may find themselves targeted based on their perceived affiliations or backgrounds. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona underscored the imperative of cultivating safe and inclusive educational environments, asserting, "Hate has no place in our schools, period. When students are targeted because they are perceived to be Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity and shared ancestry, schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive educational environments where everyone is free to learn." READ ALSO: 9 Things To Consider When Pursuing A Degree In Healthcare Rise in Antisemitic Incidents The Anti-Defamation League has reported a staggering 400% increase in antisemitic incidents during the first two weeks following the October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel, compared to the same period the previous year. Of the 312 incidents documented by the advocacy group, nearly 190 were directly linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict. More than half of these incidents were associated with rallies expressing explicit or strongly implicit support for Hamas, often coupled with calls for violence against Jews in Israel. Challenges in Educational Settings These investigations underscore the formidable challenges faced by educational institutions in maintaining a secure and inclusive environment during periods of heightened geopolitical tension. The spillover of conflicts into academic settings emphasizes the need for proactive measures to prevent discrimination and protect students from threats based on their ethnic or religious backgrounds. In this dynamic context, universities and school districts must strike a delicate balance between safeguarding the principles of free expression and fostering an environment where all students feel secure. As the U.S. Department of Education delves into the allegations of discrimination at various educational institutions, the broader issue of fostering inclusivity and preventing hate in schools comes to the forefront. The rise in anti-Semitic incidents during the Israel-Palestine conflict underscores the urgency of addressing these issues to ensure that educational environments remain spaces where diversity is embraced, and students feel safe to learn and express their views without fear of discrimination or reprisal. By actively addressing these concerns, educational institutions can play a crucial role in shaping a future where differences are celebrated rather than used as a basis for division and discrimination. RELATED ARTICLE: US Government, Campus Security Partner Against Anti-Semitic And Islamophobic Attacks In Connecticut Colleges Photo : Dino Rizzo Church Outreach Outreach is a significant part of what churches do. Dino Rizzo, the founder of Servolution and a 35-year ministry veteran, has always emphasized the importance of serving, no matter the time of year. Some believe that the only way to truly serve is to do something bigwhether it be raise a lot of money or lead a huge project. Yet, one simple act of kindness can change someone's life forever. Recently, churches all around the country participated in outreach efforts to help their local community. Here are some examples. Hope Front Church Hope Front Church recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, and Pastor Dino attended and spoke at the event. The church has always made serving a priority, so much so that it dedicates one day each month to outreach. Called Serve Saturday, Hope Front Church says the event is more than just volunteering. It's about building relationships and working toward a common goal of spreading the word of Jesus. On a recent Serve Saturday, Hope Front Church made a significant impact by helping to feed refugee families and other members of the community and repairing homes for those who need them. Christ Tabernacle Church Christ Tabernacle Church in Hamilton, Ohio, recently held its fall Serve Day. Partnering with their city and a local community organization, the church helped to clean yards for ten senior citizens. As Pastor Dino explains, this is a perfect example of doing little acts of kindness to help impact someone's life. Something as simple as raking someone's leaves can help encourage them in a big way as the weather starts to change. As people roll back the clocks and it gets darker earlier, people can be susceptible to feelings of sadness and depression. Acts like this from Christ Tabernacle Church help to remind people that there are others there for them who can lift them up and show them the light. Serving others is especially important entering the holiday season, as not everyone is as fortunate as us all. Bethany Church Dino Rizzo also highlights the recent outreach by Bethany Church in Louisiana. The church held a Love LA 2023 event, where the goal was to spread the love of Jesus all across the state. Members of the church went out with several different outreach projects. These included sprucing up schools, nursing homes, and parks, bringing joy to the elderly and first responders, hosting neighborhood block parties, and even supplying food to people at homeless camps. Bethany Church also arranged to create baskets for single moms, picked up litter throughout the community, painted curbs, and held a free yard sale. The secret ingredient that was woven through each and every one of these acts of kindness, of course, was prayer. Bethany Church believes in serving their communities together and displaying what it looks like to be the hands and feet of Jesus. About Dino Rizzo Dino Rizzo, a 35-year ministry veteran, co-founded Healing Place Church with his wife, DeLynn, where he served as senior pastor for two decades. Through his passion for inspiring believers to serve their communities, Dino Rizzo founded Servolution and authored "Serve Your City." As Executive Director of ARC (Association of Related Churches), Rizzo oversees the planting of over 1,000 churches worldwide and is on the Senior Leadership Team at Church of the Highlands. President Joe Biden's ambitious first attempt at student loan forgiveness faced a major setback, with an independent watchdog report revealing significant fraud concerns. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) disclosed that the federal Education Department approved 16 million borrowers for up to $20,000 in student debt relief without employing standard fraud prevention measures. This revelation sheds light on a critical issue in the implementation of large-scale debt relief initiatives and offers valuable insights into the challenges faced by the Biden administration in addressing the staggering $2 trillion student debt crisis. The Failed Student Loan Forgiveness Plan Last year, in response to the economic strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Education Department unveiled a plan to grant relief to eligible borrowers, potentially forgiving as much as $400 billion in student loans. However, the GAO's report, published on Thursday, exposed significant flaws in the execution of the plan. The auditors found that standard fraud prevention measures were not applied, allowing for potential abuse of the system. A major concern highlighted by the GAO report revolves around borrowers who self-reported their incomes. The auditors revealed that, at the launch of the debt relief plan, the Education Department failed to verify the self-reported incomes of some borrowers. This gap in the verification process raised the specter of potential fraud, as some borrowers could have been approved for relief based on inaccurate or misleading income information. READ ALSO: The Top Investments Universities Are Making To Advance Campus Safety Education Department's Response and Disagreements In response to the GAO findings, Richard Cordray, the chief operating officer for the Federal Student Aid program, downplayed the concerns. Cordray argued that the potential rate of fraud among applications would have been less than 1%, even in the worst-case scenario. He emphasized that federal court orders prevented the department from continuing to work on any aspect of the program, contributing to what he deemed a mischaracterization of their efforts. The Education Department did agree with some of the GAO's recommendations, acknowledging the need to avoid relying on self-reported data in future loan relief efforts. However, there were disagreements on technicalities. Cordray asserted that the program inherently had an extremely low risk of fraud, targeting a well-known population of borrowers and offering debt relief instead of cash payments. Implications for Biden's Student Debt Agenda The GAO report provides political ammunition to Biden's critics, particularly as his administration amplifies calls for relief from the nearly $2 trillion student debt burden. Despite the potential for partisan backlash, Biden has positioned student debt relief as a central issue in his reelection campaign. The report's revelations underscore the challenges associated with implementing large-scale debt relief programs and the need for comprehensive fraud prevention measures. The auditors proposed crucial recommendations to enhance the integrity of future loan relief efforts. They emphasized the avoidance of self-reported data reliance and urged the Education Department to fully implement all stages of its risk management plan before launching any future relief programs. These recommendations highlight the importance of a proactive approach to prevent fraud and ensure the effective implementation of debt relief initiatives. President Biden's initial attempt at student loan forgiveness faced a stumbling block with the GAO report exposing fraud risks and lapses in the verification process. As the administration navigates the complex landscape of student debt relief, the revelations underscore the need for robust fraud prevention measures and careful program implementation. The report serves as a reminder of the intricacies involved in addressing the student debt crisis and the challenges inherent in crafting effective and transparent solutions. RELATED ARTICLES: Schools, Universities Across US Lack AI Policies And Guidelines, UNESCO Reveals The Annual Programme Steering Committee Meeting of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia 2022-2025 On 20 November, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Office for Central Asia is holding the Annual Programme Steering Committee Meeting of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia 2022-2025 (in a hybrid format) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The meeting is co-hosted by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and gathers over 60 high-ranking officials from the Central Asian countries, representatives of international organizations, donor community and key partner organizations. Mr. Bo Mathiasen, Officer-in-Charge, Division for Operations, UNODC Vienna, and Mr. Nurbek Abdiev, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic will address the participants of the event. The country representatives will review the achievements of cooperation in 2023, and endorse the work plans for 2024 on 1. Countering Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Trafficking 2. Criminal Justice, Crime Prevention and Anti-corruption 3. Drug Prevention, Treatment and Reintegration and HIV Prevention 4. Preventing and countering terrorism, violent extremism and radicalization leading to terrorism 5. Research and Trend Analysis, advocacy and evidence-based policy-making BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Representatives from the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have discussed potential areas of cooperation, Trend reports. The CBA said that the meeting with a delegation, led by the Managing Director and Head of Financial Institutions Group at the EBRD, Francis Malige, addressed issues such as current trends in Azerbaijan's economy and banking sector, priorities in banking regulation, and promoting inclusivity in the financial industry. The meeting also covered current and potential areas of collaboration between the CBA and the EBRD. The EBRD has been cooperating with Azerbaijan since 1992 and is the country's leading investor. The former head of the EBRD representative office in Azerbaijan, Kamola Makhmudova, said earlier that the expected portfolio of investment projects for the next three years is $750 million. The EBRD plans to invest about $300 million in 2023 in a number of industries, such as energy, transport, the private sector, SMEs, and the banking sector. Stay up to date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Nov, 2023) The business community and traders on Monday declared Vietnam as Pakistan's major trading partner in the near future and after bilateral trade increases up to $1 billion, more economic ties will be established between the two countries. President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari told APP here that there was a need for sector-to-sector talks to increase Vietnam-Pakistan trade. After the finalization of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between the two countries, there was a strong possibility of increasing the volume of mutual trade, he said. The president said that effort would be made to increase mutual economic and trade relations with full potential between the two countries, which could be taken forward with the cooperation of the business communities of both the countries. President of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr. Khurram Tariq, also emphasized that trade agreements must be strictly implemented. He said that the mutual trade volume between the two countries in 2021 was up to $514 million, which would reach $1 billion in the current fiscal year. He said,We need mutual cooperation at the sectoral level and along with this; the public and private sectors should play their full role for resolving trade disputes. President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce Iftikhar Ahmad Sheikh stressed on solving the trade disputes to increase the mutual trade between the two countries and asked for creation of a mechanism for implementation of to resolve the issues. Meanwhile talking to APP, Ambassador of Vietnam to Pakistan, Nguyen Tien Phong said bilateral trade between Pakistan and Vietnam would reach $1 billion during the fiscal year 2023-24. He said the bilateral trade could be increased further, but there was the need for a mechanism to resolve disputes in advance. The ambassador said that the two countries could take advantage of the Vietnam-European Union Free Trade Agreement and Pakistan-European Union (GSP- Plus), which were very important for increasing bilateral trade. The envoy said that in the year 2021, the mutual trade between the two countries was $790 million and $940 million in 2022, and was expected to reach $ 1 billion in the ongoing financial year. He said that there was a need for a dynamic partnership between the two countries which would resolve trade disputes in advance by emphasizing only on mutual benefit and making quick decisions. The public and private sector institutions of both countries needed to come closer and the role of chambers and business associations along with the media was very important for creating awareness about each other's markets, he added. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Monday reaffirmed Pakistans strong support to diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the violence in Gaza and stopping the brutality unleashed by Israel on innocent Palestinians ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Nov, 2023) Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Monday reaffirmed Pakistans strong support to diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the violence in Gaza and stopping the brutality unleashed by Israel on innocent Palestinians. Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Ahmad Al Maliky called on him at the Prime Ministers House, the PM Office Media Wing said in a press release. The prime minister conveyed his deep appreciation for the Saudi leadership for hosting the OIC Extraordinary Summit earlier this month to discuss the situation in Gaza. He lauded the role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman in building historic consensus among the Arab and Islamic countries. (@ChaudhryMAli88) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Nov, 2023) Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Monday said that the children had the first right on countrys resources and reiterated that investing in childrens education, health and safety would be among the top priorities of his partys government after winning the upcoming general elections due on February 8 next year. "Our children are the most valuable treasure and bright future of the country," he said in a statement issued by the party secretariat on the occasion of World Childrens Day. He expressed his best wishes that the future of children all over the world, including Pakistan, be filled with peace, love and prosperity. Bilawal Bhutto said that PPP had always taken revolutionary steps for the protection and welfare of children. The 1973 constitution guarantees all the rights of children. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto introduced vaccination program to protect Pakistani children from infectious diseases like polio, he pointed out, adding that the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which was President Asif Ali Zardaris gift to the countrys poor citizens, also included components such as Benazir Wasila-e-Taleem and Benazir Nashonuma. He said that the previous provincial government of his party in Sindh made education free from Primary to higher secondary level. Bilawal Bhutto said that it was also a distinction of the previous provincial governments of PPP in Sindh to enact important legislation keeping the protection and welfare of childrens rights in view, including the Sindh Child Protection Authority Act, 2011, The Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2013, The Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013, The Protection of Breast-feeding Rules, 2009 and The Sindh Protection and the Promotion of Breast-feeding and Child Nutrition Act, 2013. He said that this years World Childrens Day was demanding the international community to immediately stop the ongoing atrocities against children in Gaza, where every 10 minutes a child is being targeted by Israeli aggression. The brutal killing of children is the most heinous form of barbarism, and humanity will forever be ashamed of the cruelty inflicted on Palestinian children, he added. Bilawal Bhutto vowed that his party would continue its struggle to ensure the provision of rights to education, health, progress and protection of Pakistani children in the light of the 1973 Constitution and the United Nations Convention. Caretaker Minister for Interior Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti on Monday said that the government wanted to solve the Chaman sit-in issue through negotiations ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Nov, 2023) Caretaker Minister for Interior Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti on Monday said that the government wanted to solve the Chaman sit-in issue through negotiations. Responding to concerns raised by senators regarding the sit-in staged by local residents and businessmen against the recently implemented border regulations, the minister said, "We held a detailed discussion with the representatives of the sit-in, and our preference is to resolve the issue through negotiations." The minister said that it was not possible to allow around 40,000 people to the cross border daily without proper travel documents. The government wanted to implement a unified document regime in line with previous practices, he added. Bugti said the Afghan nationals would only be permitted to enter Pakistan through legal documents. The minister outlined plans to regularize borders with Afghanistan, similar to the Torkham and Wagah borders, emphasizing the government's commitment to treating all borders equally. He said that it was not possible for the government to allow foreigners to travel and establish businesses anywhere in Pakistan without following proper procedures. Earlier, senators had drawn attention to the sit-in issue at Chaman by local residents and businessmen, expressing concerns about its potential adverse impact on the livelihoods of nearly 40,000 people who rely on daily border crossings. The senators called for an urgent solution that effectively balances security concerns with the economic well-being of the affected population. APP/zah-raz-muk (@Abdulla99267510) The top court judge submits that the ongoing campaign against him amounts to an assault on judicial freedom. ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Nov 20th, 2023) Supreme Court Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi has formally contested the measures taken by the Supreme Judicial Council against him, submitting a plea before the apex court. The Supreme Judicial Council had issued notices, initiating actions against the judge based on a reference filed against him. In a constitutional petition presented to the Supreme Court through his legal representative, Makhdoom Ali Khan, Justice Mazhar Naqvi asserted that the ongoing campaign against him amounts to an assault on judicial freedom. The filed petition by Justice Mazhar Naqvi emphasizes that, disregarding his objections, the Judicial Council issued a notice of impending action, thereby infringing upon his fundamental rights, as conveyed through a press release on October 27. Within the application submitted to the Supreme Court, Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi seeks a declaration deeming the actions of the Supreme Judicial Council as illegal, and the notice for future action as unlawful. Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi's petition includes the Federation, the President of the country, and the Supreme Judicial Council as named respondents. Bangladesh has convicted 139 senior opposition party officials and activists in the past two days, prosecutors and lawyers said Monday, as a crackdown on anti-government protesters intensifies ahead of elections Dhaka, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Nov, 2023) Bangladesh has convicted 139 senior opposition party officials and activists in the past two days, prosecutors and lawyers said Monday, as a crackdown on anti-government protesters intensifies ahead of elections. Those convicted included scores of activists from the country's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), including on historic charges over protest violence, arson and obstructing the police, with convictions ranging from a few months to up to three-and-a-half years. Bangladesh goes to a general election on January 7, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina eyeing her fourth consecutive term in power, despite concerns voiced by the United States and other countries over whether the vote will be free and fair. The BNP has staged a series of major rallies and marches since last year in a bid to force Hasina to quit power and let a neutral government run the polls. But since late last month, the police have cracked down on the opposition, arresting almost the entire top leadership of the BNP and arresting thousands of its activists and supporters. Two prosecutors told AFP at least 132 BNP activists and senior officials were jailed by two magistrate courts in the country's capital Dhaka on Sunday and Monday. "Judge Md (Mohammed) Ataullah sentenced 70 BNP activists and leaders in four different cases Monday," prosecutor Shahid Uddin told AFP. "They were found guilty of arson and obstructing police duty". Uddin said the sentenced BNP men included its influential youth wing chief Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, two former student wing chiefs and a district wing chief. "These cases are from 2013-2018 when opposition enforced strikes and blockades", Uddin said. "They got jail terms ranging from six months to two years". Judge Mohammad Sheikh Sadi sentenced an additional 62 BNP activists to three-and-a-half years in jail each over a 2018 case, the chief public prosecutor of Dhaka, Abdullah Abu, told AFP. Seven more BNP activists were also jailed by Judge Sadi, lawyer Nazrul islam told AFP, adding that they included Saiful Alam Nirob, a former BNP youth wing chief who the New York Times reported was facing more than 300 court cases. Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Nov, 2023) Joe Biden will turn 81 on Monday with the traditional pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkeys at the White House, but don't expect him to mention the issue that has US voters in a flap. His birthday will turn an unwelcome spotlight on the fact that the Democrat is the oldest president in American history -- and that if he wins a second term next year he will be 86 by the time he leaves. Biden sometimes jokes about it and aides point to a vigorous schedule that would floor far younger people, but poll after poll shows that the president's age is the single greatest concern for American voters. That has been reinforced by a series of trips, slips and stumbles, from losing his balance on the steps of Air Force One to giving occasionally rambling answers during press conferences. Despite a series of his own recent gaffes, former president Donald Trump, whom Biden is likely to face next year, does not yet cause the same concerns among voters despite the fact that he's 77. Biden is "not doing a lot wrong" but is struggling to change perceptions on his age -- as well as other issues like the economy -- said David Karol, who teaches government and politics at the University of Maryland. "He is lucid, but people just have this perception," Karol told AFP. Biden has increasingly been making light of his age to deflect or defuse people's concerns. On a visit to meet union workers in Illinois he joked that "I know I only look like I'm 30, but I've been around for a long time" -- and when a reporter tripped in the media area, Biden said, "I just want the press to know that wasn't me." On other occasions, Biden has used it to portray himself as a safe pair of political hands, saying that age brings with it a little wisdom. But if re-elected, he would leave office a full nine years older than record-holder Ronald Reagan was when he stepped down at 77. The White House has been dismissive of opinion polls, with Democrats notching up a series of recent electoral successes. But the numbers make grim reading for the party. Seventy-four percent of people said Biden would be too old to serve a second term, compared to 50 percent for Trump, a recent ABC/Washington Post poll showed. A Yahoo/YouGov poll found that 54 percent of Americans say Biden no longer has "the competence to carry out the job of president," up from 41 percent before the 2020 election. Some analysts say Biden's age should not matter. The issue in general has been unfairly "weaponized" in US politics, said S. Jay Olshansky, a longevity researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Aging is not what it used to be," Olshansky told AFP. "There are very large segments of the population that survive to their eighth decade perfectly capable of being president, or doing whatever they like." Biden -- and Trump for that matter -- are both likely to be "Super-Agers," a term coined by researchers to describe a small group of people who keep their full faculties until late in life, said Olshansky. His research has also found that for US presidents, "biological time seems to tick at a slower pace" than for other people, as they apparently thrive on the stress of the job. That said, Biden's campaign has taken to highlighting what it says are slip-ups of Trump's own. Trump warned in a speech in September, for example, that the United States was on the verge of "World War II," and recently said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was the leader of Turkey. Nevertheless, Biden's age is bound to come under even deeper scrutiny during a grueling election campaign. Republicans have trained their fire on the person who is just a heartbeat away from the presidency, should the worst happen: Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris blazed a trail as the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to hold the vice president's office, but her approval ratings are as bad as her boss's, at under 40 percent. Gaza Strip, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Nov, 2023) Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said Monday Israeli forces had struck the Indonesian Hospital and killed at least 12 people, including patients, in the north of the war-torn Palestinian territory. Dozens more were wounded and around 700 people remained trapped inside the "besieged" medical centre, said Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman of the ministry which has reported a death toll of more than 13,000 in Gaza. Israel did not immediately comment but pushed on with its withering air and ground campaign. The latest reported blow to Gaza's devastated health sector came as hopes rose that 31 premature babies evacuated from another hospital, Al-Shifa, would be taken from a Gaza clinic to safety in Egypt through the Rafah crossing. Frantic diplomatic efforts were meanwhile underway to seal a deal for the release of some of the hostages. Mediator Qatar voiced hope on Sunday that an agreement was near, but Israel and Hamas have not yet reported that a deal is imminent. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Gaza Strip, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Nov, 2023) Israeli troops were "expanding" their operation in the Gaza Strip Monday, as Qatari mediators said they were inching closer to a deal to free some of the 240 hostages held by Hamas. Israel has warned residents of Gaza's largest refugee camp Jabalia and a nearby coastal camp to evacuate, as the military said Sunday it was "expanding its operational activities in additional neighbourhoods... of the Gaza Strip." After intense bombardment, an AFP journalist in Gaza saw columns of smoke rising from Jabalia on Sunday. A Hamas health official said more than 80 people were killed in twin strikes on Jabalia on Saturday, including on a UN school sheltering displaced people. Social media videos verified by AFP showed bodies covered in blood and dust on the floor of a building, where mattresses had been wedged under school tables. Israel's military has said Jabalia is among the areas of focus as they "target terrorists and strike Hamas infrastructure". Without mentioning the strikes, the Israeli army said "an incident in the Jabalia region" was under review. UN rights chief Volker Turk on Sunday condemned the purported strike on the school as "horrifying", adding that "the horrendous events of the past 48 hours in Gaza beggar belief." On Monday, Palestinian news agency Wafa said the Indonesian hospital near Jabalia had also come under shelling. Israel launched its offensive against Hamas after a wave of brutal cross-border raids on October 7 left 1,200 people dead, the majority of them civilians. The Hamas government says the death toll from Israel's aerial bombardment and ground operations in Gaza has reached 13,000, thousands of them children. Six weeks into the war, Israel is facing intense international pressure to justify its bloody toll. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday called for urgent action to stop the "humanitarian disaster" unfolding in Gaza. "The situation in Gaza affects all countries around the world, questioning the human sense of right and wrong and humanity's bottom line," Wang told visiting diplomats from Arab and Muslim-majority nations. The World Health Organization has called the hospital a "death zone". Over the weekend, hundreds of people fled Al-Shifa hospital on foot as loud explosions were heard around the complex. Columns of sick and injured were seen leaving with displaced people, doctors and nurses. At least 15 bodies, some in advanced stages of decomposition, were strewn along the route, an AFP journalist said. The WHO on Sunday said it evacuated thirty-one premature babies from the facility. Al-Shifa head of surgery Marwan Abu Sada told AFP that Israeli troops were still in the hospital and it was surrounded by tanks. "I heard at least two explosions since this morning," he said Sunday. Other doctors said the troops were going from building to building and detonated explosives on the ground floors and hospital basements searching for Hamas tunnels. Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas and to free around 240 people taken hostage by the militants during the worst attack in its history, most of them Israeli citizens but also dozens of foreigners. The bodies of two female hostages were recovered in Gaza this week, the Israeli military said. Four abductees have so far been released by Hamas and a fifth rescued by troops. On Sunday, Qatari mediators said they were inching closer to a deal to free some of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Qatar's prime minister said efforts to bring hostages "safely back to their homes" in return for a temporary ceasefire was now within reach, raising hopes that Israeli, Nepali, American or other captives could soon be free. "I'm now more confident that we are close enough to reach a deal," said Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, adding that only "minor" practical details remained unresolved. The hostages include infants, teens and pensioners. Their fate has racked not just their families but the Israeli public at large. US deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told US media that negotiators were "closer than we have been in quite some time" to securing a deal. But he added: "The mantra that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed really does apply." In London, the teary father of missing 9-year-old Emily Hand begged for her to be brought home. "There's just a big, big hole in all our hearts that won't be filled until she comes home again," he told AFP. The Nuclear Energy Research Center (NERC) at the University of Wyoming has selected faculty members Xiang Zhang and Wes Eaton to receive funding under the Faculty Scholars Program. The program, supported by a grant from the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRC) University Nuclear Leadership Program and funds from the Wyoming Legislature, focuses on developing new areas of nuclear-focused research and supporting junior faculty advancement. Selected through a competitive proposal process, Zhang and Eaton were recognized for their efforts in expanding nuclear-related research in the respective disciplines -- and their potential to make important contributions to Wyoming and to the development of a robust community of researchers and students working in nuclear energy on campus. We are very grateful for the support from the NRC and the Wyoming Legislature to help grow our nuclear efforts in Wyoming, and we are very excited to take action and put those funds to immediate use, says NERC co-Director Caleb Hill. This has enabled us to support UW faculty already working in this space, supporting their efforts and finding new ways that we can collaborate and move projects forward. An assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zhang directs the Computations for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Laboratory. Zhang and his team have been developing multiscale and multiphysics modeling and design approaches, in conjunction with data-driven modeling techniques, to gain a fundamental understanding of the processing-microstructure-property-performance relationship for heterogeneous materials and advanced manufacturing processes. Zhang leads a project, A Study of Combined Thermal and Irradiation Creep of Nickel-Based Alloy for Nuclear Structural Application: Multi-scale C Modeling, Uncertainty Quantification and Experimental Investigation, which will be expanded and supported through his collaboration with NERC. Eaton is a visiting assistant professor with the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources. He conducts research and teaches courses on collaborative and community stakeholder-driven approaches to managing complex environmental problems, including water resource challenges and energy transitions. Through the application of mixed qualitative and quantitative research methods to address both practical and scholarly problems, he pursues opportunities to support knowledge co-production, social learning and relationship building among scientists, practitioners, students and communities. Incorporating his expertise in community engagement and environmental justice, Eaton is part of a recently announced UW team working on a U.S. Department of Energy grant exploring improved processes for consent-based siting for the storage of spent nuclear fuel. As NERC Faculty Scholars, Zhang and Eaton will contribute to the NERC vision of expanding capacity for research and academics about nuclear energy on campus, including engaging with the School of Energy Resources (SER); participating in visits by industry or national labs; developing new courses; and involving graduate and undergraduate students in research. Additionally, they each will be expected to develop and submit a full nuclear-related proposal to an external funding agency. We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Zhang and Dr. Eaton as our first faculty scholars, says NERC co-Director Tara Righetti. In addition to seeing that there is an enthusiastic interest in nuclear projects on campus, it also is exciting that it is coming from both the technical and social research spheres. There is tremendous value added in ensuring that we are taking a holistic approach in growing our nuclear capacity on campus, and our faculty scholars are well positioned to grow the discipline in their respective departments. About the UW Nuclear Energy Research Center Co-directed by Hill, UWs J.E. Warren Chair, Nielson Faculty Fellow and associate professor of chemistry, and Righetti, UWs Occidental Chair in Energy and Environmental Policies and an SER professor of law, NERC is a faculty-led SER Center of Excellence. NERC is focused on interdisciplinary nuclear energy capacity building across the UW community by connecting the universitys faculty and staff who are already active in research fields critical to the success of nuclear energy and developing collaborative relationships both external and internal to UW. 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. 50 Years of Cooperation Between the Lao PDR and UNICEF In a significant interview, Prof. Dr Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, Deputy Prime Minister and President of the National Commission for the Advancement of Women, Mothers and Children, shared his thoughts with the Lao media. Prof. Dr Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune. The occasion marked both the 34th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, known as World Childrens Day, and the 50th anniversary of collaboration between the Lao PDR and UNICEF. I am very proud and happy to represent the leadership of the Party and state, he said, emphasising the theme Investing in Our Future means Investing in Our Children! A Commitment to Child Rights. Prof. Dr Kikeo shed light on the achievements and challenges surrounding implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Laos. Our Party and state have always placed great importance on promoting and protecting the rights and legitimate interests of children, he said. This approach has been deeply integrated into the policies and laws of the nation, through action plans, programmes, and various activities. He emphasised the significance of a number of initiatives, aiming not only to ensure the basic rights of children but to create conditions for their comprehensive protection and development. In fulfilling the obligations of the Convention, Laos has updated its laws and legislation to protect the rights and interests of children. The government has prepared a national report on the Conventions implementation, along with two additional protocols addressing child trafficking, child prostitution, and child pornography, as well as the participation of children in armed conflict. These steps reflect our commitment to upholding the rights of our children, Prof. Dr Kikeo noted. The Deputy Prime Minister also highlighted efforts in assessing the status of children and improving the national database related to children. These initiatives include citizen surveys, child labour surveys, and the creation of a national plan to prevent and eradicate child labour. He pointed out the importance of a strong and harmonious system for child protection and justice. Annual events like International Childrens Day and National Tree Planting Day have been pivotal in fostering social and cultural exchange, unity among children, and providing platforms for their participation in significant forums in Asean and internationally. Prof. Dr Kikeo took pride in these events, seeing them as opportunities for the nations children to engage with the wider world. However, the journey has not been without its difficulties. In recent times, numerous challenges have affected the safeguarding of childrens rights, Prof. Dr Kikeo admitted. The COVID-19 pandemic, economic difficulties, and harsh living conditions linked to child poverty, among other issues, have limited the development of children. He also highlighted the limited capacity at the central and local levels to protect and assist children, which is reflected in the implementation of work, monitoring, and summarising reports. The personnel and budget allocated for such tasks remain constrained. Looking ahead, Dr Kikeo outlined the governments plans to enhance its focus on childrens rights. In the future, we plan to place more importance on childrens rights through internal cooperation and with international organisations, especially UNICEF, he said. This approach aligns with the governments obligations under the Convention and its additional protocols for the protection and development of Lao children of all ethnic groups. The governments strategic work includes a mid-term review of the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Mothers and Children (2016-2025) and the Vision to 2030. Additionally, there is a focus on reviewing the national action plan for mothers and children and a plan to prevent and eliminate violence against them. Dr Kikeo also discussed the obligations to the Convention and additional protocols, which involve publishing a national report and organising meetings with the UN Committee on Childrens Rights. We are preparing our delegation to participate in discussions regarding the national report and to defend our national report in meetings with the UN Committee in Geneva, Switzerland, he added. Celebrating Collaboration As Laos marks the 50th anniversary of UNICEFs presence in the country, Prof. Dr Kikeo expressed gratitude for the organisations extensive support in various sectors impacting women, mothers, and children. UNICEF has been a vital partner in our journey, he said. Their support across public health, education, social welfare, and cultural development has been invaluable. He also emphasised the continued collaboration with UNICEF, which aligns with the national socio-economic development plan. This partnership is crucial for leading our country out of underdevelopment and towards sustainable development, he stated. In conclusion, Prof. Dr Kikeo extended heartfelt wishes to all Lao children on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and World Childrens Day. I wish our children health, happiness, and success, he said. May they grow up in a world free of diseases and challenges, respecting their culture and traditions. He expressed hope for the success of the upcoming celebrations and the bright future of the nations children. This year, as Laos and UNICEF celebrate a significant milestone, there is a renewed sense of commitment and optimism towards the well-being and development of children in Laos. Prof. Dr Kikeos words not only reflect the achievements of the past but also pave the way for a future where children are at the forefront of national development and prosperity. By Times Reporters (Latest Update November 20, 2023) Investing in Logistics Businesses in Vietnam for Foreign Firms An evermore important link in global supply chains, getting goods into, around, and out of Vietnam quickly and easily is becoming increasingly important. In this article, we look at the regulations around investing in logistics services in Vietnam. Vietnams economy is growing rapidly. Its middle class is bulging and demand for consumer goods is soaring. And its booming because international trade is booming. Billions of dollars worth of goods are moving into and out of Vietnam every day. Facilitating this movement are a number of key infrastructure projects scattered up and down the coast. Airports in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are receiving and sending air freight by the ton, and massive ports like those found in Hai Phong in the north and Cai Mep in the south are loading and unloading huge containers of exports and imports seemingly around the clock. But whereas these huge infrastructure projects are an important part of Vietnams logistics network, the bits in between, the actual transportation of these goods is just as important. From planes to trains to trucks to ships billions of dollars worth of goods are being moved around the rapidly developing nation every day and demand for these services is only getting stronger. With this in mind, in this article, the Vietnam Briefing looks at this bulging sector of Vietnams economy and the regulatory guardrails that foreign firms should be aware of when considering making an investment in Vietnams logistics sector. General regulations As a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Vietnams regulatory environment around its logistics sector is built on WTO rules. These are codified in Vietnam in Decree 163/2017/ND-CP. These rules provide the following restrictions. Marine transportation services: Foreign firms are permitted to invest in marine transportation services and to operate a fleet of ships flying the Vietnamese flag under the following restrictions: They cannot own more than 49 percent of the company; No less than two-thirds of sailors on a ship flying the Vietnamese flag can be Vietnamese; and Either the captain or the first mate must be a Vietnamese citizen. Container handling services: Foreign firms may also invest in container handling services but cannot own more than 50 percent of a firm providing these services. Inland waterway and rail freight transportation services: Foreign firms can invest in rail freight and the transportation of goods via inland waterways. However, their ownership of a firm in these sectors is capped at 49 percent. Road transport services: Foreign firms can invest in road transport services under the following conditions: A foreign firms capital contribution cannot be more than 51 percent of the companys chartered capital; and The firm cannot employ foreign drivers. Air transport services: Restrictions on investment in air transport services are outlined in Decree 89/2019/ND-CP. These restrictions are as follows: Foreign firms cannot own more than 34 percent of an air transportation company; The largest shareholder must be a Vietnamese national or a Vietnamese legal entity; If a Vietnamese legal entity is the majority shareholder, a foreign investor or investors cannot own more than 29 percent; and No more than one-third of the companys executive-level roles can be performed by a foreign worker. European Vietnam Free Trade Agreement regulations Whereas the regulations outlined above provide the baseline regulations for investing in Vietnams logistics sector, several free trade agreements have clauses that provide greater access for member states. The European Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is one such agreement and its schedule of commitments for Vietnam opens maritime transport service for greater investment from EU forms. EU member states are permitted to invest in marine transportation services and to operate a fleet of ships flying the Vietnamese flag in much the same way as is outlined aboveonly a third of sailors on board a Vietnamese-flagged ship can be non-Vietnamese and the captain or first mate must be a Vietnamese citizen. However, under the EVFTA member states can own up to 70 percent of a marine transport services company. ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services regulations Possibly the most liberal of Vietnams free trade agreements with respect to logistics services is the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS). This agreement opens up the logistics sector to greater foreign investment making it easier for firms to establish a regional presence and facilitating greater supply chain integration. In the tenth package of commitments under the AFAS Vietnam has agreed to the following limitations on foreign ownership: Inland waterway transport services: ASEAN member states that are a part of the AFAS can invest in firms carrying out the transportation of goods via inland waterways in Vietnam. They are permitted to own up to 51 percent of a joint venture as opposed to 49 percent under WTO rules. Rail transport services: ASEAN member states that are signatories to the AFAS are also eligible for a higher cap on foreign ownership with respect to rail transport services. Parties to the agreement can own up to 70 percent of a joint venture with a Vietnamese firm in a rail transport service business. Road transport services: AFAS members can invest in road transport services as part of joint venture agreements with Vietnamese firms. All of the firms drivers must still be Vietnamese, however, a foreign firm can own up to 70 percent of the company as opposed to 51 percent under WTO commitments. Vietnams logistics sector moving forward Vietnams logistics sector is full of opportunities for foreign firms and these opportunities are only getting better as a slew of free trade agreements slowly opens Vietnams logistics sector to even more foreign investment. That said, navigating Vietnams free trade agreements and subsequently accurately assessing opportunities in Vietnams logistics market can be tricky. In this respect, firms looking for boots-on-the-ground assistance should reach out to the business advisory experts at Dezan Shira and Associates. ChatGPT-maker OpenAI fires CEO Sam Altman, the face of the AI boom, for lack of candor with company The board of ChatGPT-maker Open AI says it has pushed out its co-founder and CEO Sam Altman and replaced him with an interim CEO Arab and Muslim officials holding meetings with China's top diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and for allowing humanitarian aid into the war-shattered Palestinian enclave. A delegation of ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, the Palestinian Authority and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, among others, visited Beijing on the first leg of a tour in world capitals urging an end to the hostilities in Gaza. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the foreign diplomats that their decision to start in Beijing shows their high level of trust in his nation. "China is a good friend and brother of Arab and Islamic countries," Wang said in opening remarks at a state guest house before their talks began. "We have always firmly safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of Arab [and] Islamic countries and have always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people." China the world's second-largest economy after the U.S. has been a longtime supporter of the Palestinians and has been quick to denounce Israel over its settlements in the occupied territories. Beijing has not publicly condemned the initial Hamas attack on October 7, while the United States and others have called it "an act of terrorism." However, China does have growing economic ties with Israel. China's President Xi Jinping will attend a video summit of BRICS leaders Tuesday on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. In comments posted by his ministry on X, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told his Chinese counterpart, "We look forward to a stronger role on the part of great powers such as China in order to stop the attacks against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Unfortunately, there are major countries that give cover to the current Israeli attacks." Israeli ambassador to Beijing Irit Ben-Abba told foreign reporters at a briefing Monday that she hoped there would not be "any statements from this visit about a cease-fire, now is not the time," she said. She noted that her country is allowing sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza in collaboration with international organizations and that "putting pressure on Israel in this regard is politically motivated and is not conducive to the humanitarian assistance which is needed." "This isn't Israel's first war against the Palestinian people," said Riyad Al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister. "However, Israel wants this to be its last war, where it takes full control of the Palestinian people's presence on what's left of the historical land of Palestine." The Israeli ambassador said she hoped the delegation would talk about hostages captured by Hamas "and call for their immediate release without preconditions," adding that the parties involved should talk together about Egypt's "role in facilitating humanitarian assistance." The delegation will also meet with officials from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and is putting pressure on the West to reject Israel's justification of its actions against Palestinians as self-defense. "We are here to send a clear signal, that is, we must immediately stop the fighting and the killings, we must immediately deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza," said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. He added they appreciated the resolution issued by the United Nations Security Council, calling for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in Gaza, "but we still need more efforts and cooperation." The joint Islamic-Arab summit held in Riyadh earlier this month, organized by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also urged the International Criminal Court to investigate "war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel is committing" in the Palestinian territories. Israel began its military campaign to wipe out Hamas after Hamas fighters crossed into southern Israel on October 7. Israel said 1,200 people were killed and some 240 captives taken in the terror attack. Gaza health officials say at least 13,000 Palestinians, including 5,000 children, have been confirmed killed in Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. Innovations in food production could alleviate hunger for millions of people, according to Britain, which hosted a global summit on food insecurity Monday, but critics say the focus on technology ignores the growing inequality of wealth. The summit was a joint initiative between Britain, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at boosting food security through science and innovation. Innovation hub British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said a renewed focus was needed to alleviate hunger. "It can't be right that today in 2023, almost 1 billion people across the world regularly do not have enough to eat, that millions face hunger and starvation, and over 45 million children under five are suffering acute malnutrition. In a world of abundance, no one should die from lack of food and no parent should ever have to watch their child starve," Sunak told delegates in London. He outlined Britain's plans to host a "virtual hub" for innovation in food production, known as CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research), aimed at making global food systems more resilient to future shocks in a changing climate. "We've already helped develop crops that are drought-resistant and even richer in vitamins, now feeding 100 million people across Africa. And we're going further, launching a new U.K. CGIAR science center to drive cutting-edge research on flood-tolerant rice, disease-resistant wheat and much more. These innovations will reach millions across the poorest countries, as well as improving U.K. crop yields and driving down food prices," Sunak said. Somalia emergency Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud also addressed the summit, telling delegates that the country's stabilization program, developed in partnership with Britain, was working on tackling his country's humanitarian crisis. Somalia is among the countries worst-hit by climate change and food insecurity. The government recently declared a state of emergency after 113,000 people were forced to flee their homes following extreme rainfall and extensive flooding, which also caused widespread damage to crops and farmland. The floods come a year after Somalia suffered its worst drought in 40 years. Technological solutions Can new technology end global food insecurity, like that endured by Somalia and many other poorer nations? It's one tool in the box, said analyst Steve Wiggins, a food security specialist at the ODI development think tank. "The fundamentals of global hunger are the fundamentals of poverty, marginalization, and people being in situations of extraordinary vulnerability. Those are the fundamentals of hunger and that's what we have to drive towards," he told VOA. "Of course, there are technical advances that we get that we're very happy for, which make things a little bit easier," Wiggins added, highlighting innovations like solar-powered irrigation in Mali. "So, if you want to pump water onto your fields, it's becoming increasingly easy without having to spend money on diesel to do so." Inequalities Critics say the focus on technology ignores the main driver of food insecurity. "This summit is welcome. I think some of the solutions are welcome. But I think it's not going to be enough to tackle that huge problem of hunger, which has been with us for decades and which we seem to be going backwards in many steps," said Nick Nisbett of the Institute of Development Studies. "Technological solutions tend to focus on the supply side, so new tech for agriculture and supply chains and so on. But what we actually need to do is to tackle the inequalities that lie behind that hunger." "Possibly the simplest thing to do is actually to give people food or to give people the money to [go] out and buy and purchase food in [the] markets themselves," Nisbett told VOA. No media source currently available The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin makes surprise visit to Kyiv to reassure Ukrainian leaders continued American support. Ukraine suffers another wave of intensive Russian shelling. Russia increases its defense spending budget by record amount. A project to preserve Ukraines cultural heritage. France is preparing to send its Dixmude helicopter carrier to the eastern Mediterranean to offer medical assistance in war-torn Gaza, the office of the French president said Sunday. The Dixmude will set sail "at the start of the week and arrive in Egypt in the coming days," President Emmanuel Macron's office said. A charter flight carrying more than 10 tons of medical supplies is also planned for the start of the week. "France will also contribute to the European effort with medical equipment on board European flights on November 23 and 30," the presidential office said. It added, "France is mobilizing all its available means to contribute to the evacuation of wounded and sick children requiring emergency care from the Gaza Strip to its hospitals." Macron said later on X, formerly Twitter, that up to 50 children could be flown for treatment in hospitals in France "if useful and necessary." Israel has vowed to destroy Gaza's rulers Hamas after the Palestinian militant group carried out the deadliest attack in the country's history on Oct. 7. About 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in Israel during the attack and around 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials. In Gaza, 13,000 people, mainly civilians and more than 5,000 of them children, have been killed by Israel's military response, according to Hamas officials. Macron told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were "too many civilian losses" in Gaza, his office said Sunday. The French leader also reminded Netanyahu of the "absolute necessity to distinguish terrorists from the population" and "the importance of achieving an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a cease-fire. Macron on Saturday spoke with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi about ongoing negotiations to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu on Saturday was in Qatar, which is leading the mediation efforts. The French president and his Egyptian counterpart agreed on the "need to increase the number of trucks entering Gaza and to reinforce coordination to deliver humanitarian aid and treat the wounded," Macron's office said. More than two hundred Thai nationals trapped by the surge in fighting in northern Myanmar between junta soldiers and armed ethnic-minority groups are being evacuated to Thailand via China, the Thai foreign ministry said on Sunday. The Myanmar military, which seized power in a 2021 coup, is losing control of several towns and military outposts around the country as well as being overrun in parts of its north as it battles the biggest coordinated offensive, launched last month by an alliance of three ethnic minority groups and pro-democracy fighters. The Thai foreign ministry said a group of 266 Thais and an unspecified number of Filipinos and Singaporeans are being evacuated from Laukkaing in northern Shan State to the Myanmar-China border with help from the Myanmar authorities. The group will be permitted to enter China and will then fly from the Chinese city of Kunming on two chartered flights to Bangkok, where they will undergo screening for human trafficking and any criminal records, the foreign ministry said. The ministry did not specify the timing of the repatriation flights but said the group is travelling to the Chinese border on Sunday. Thai authorities earlier said some trapped in Myanmar were victims of human trafficking and some might be involved with telecom fraud gangs. Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, has become a hub for telecom and other online fraud, according to the United Nations, with hundreds of thousands of people trafficked by criminal gangs and forced to work in scam centers and other illegal operations. The evacuation to China comes a day after 41 Thai nationals were repatriated by land to Thailand after coordination between the Thai authorities and Myanmar army. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appealed to Muslim states with political ties with Israel to at least cut them for "a limited time," state media reported Sunday, weeks after he called for an Islamic oil and food embargo on Israel. "Some Islamic governments have condemned Israeli crimes in assemblies while some have not. This is unacceptable," Khamenei said before reiterating that the main task of Islamic governments should be to cut off Israel from energy and goods. "Islamic governments should at least cut off political ties to Israel for a limited time," Khamenei added. During a joint summit between members of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League in Saudi Arabia's capital on Nov. 11, Muslim states did not agree to impose wide-ranging sanctions on Israel, as requested by Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi. Khamenei made his latest comments while attending an exhibition showcasing the "latest achievements" of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Aerospace Force, including the Fattah 2, a new version of what is said to be Iran's first hypersonic missile. Iran unveiled what it said was its first domestically made hypersonic ballistic missile in June and said it could bypass the most advanced anti-ballistic missile systems of the United States and Israel. Landmarks and notable events in the life of former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter: Aug. 18, 1927: Eleanor Rosalynn Smith is born at her family home in Plains, Georgia. She is the daughter of Wilburn Edgar Smith, a mechanic, and Allie Murray Smith, a seamstress and postal worker. Late August 1927: "Miss Lillian" Carter, a neighbor and nurse who delivered Rosalynn, brings her son, Jimmy, nearly 3 years old, to meet the new baby. 1940: Rosalynn's father dies, leaving her to help her mother raise her younger siblings. 1945: She begins dating Jimmy Carter, now a Naval Academy midshipman and the brother of her close friend, Ruth Carter. Spring 1946: She graduates from Georgia Southwestern College. July 7, 1946: She marries Jimmy at Plains Methodist Church, her childhood congregation. They would have four children: John William ("Jack"), born 1947; James Earl III ("Chip"), 1950; Donnel Jeffrey, 1952; and Amy Lynn, 1967. 1946-1953: Rosalynn manages the Carter household while Jimmy serves in the Navy's nuclear submarine program, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. 1955: She begins helping Jimmy in the farm warehouse; she soon "knew more on paper about the business than he did," she recalled ahead of their 75th anniversary. 1962: She helps Jimmy campaign for state Senate, an office he would win in a contested election that was ultimately settled in court. 1966: Rosalynn begins campaigning on her own for the first-time during Jimmy's first run for Georgia governor, a race he loses. But their model of campaigning separately would be key to winning four years later and to capturing the presidency in 1976. 1975-76: She leads the "Peanut Brigade" of Carter family, friends and supporters from Georgia who spread out across Iowa and other key nominating states to widen the campaign's person-to-person reach. The same model they used in Georgia revolutionizes presidential campaigning, with Rosalynn as Jimmy's top surrogate. Jan. 20, 1977: Rosalynn, the newly sworn-in 39th president and their family draw special attention on Inauguration Day by walking down Pennsylvania Avenue rather than riding in an armored limousine. The Carters enroll their daughter Amy in a Washington, D.C., public school that is majority-Black. In Atlanta, when Carter was governor, Amy attended private school. Summer 1977: Rosalynn makes a 13-day diplomatic trip to seven Latin American nations and Caribbean islands. She also urges Jimmy to delay action on treaties yielding control of the Panama Canal, arguing it is too politically costly for a first term. He proceeds with the treaties. September 1978: Rosalynn is with Jimmy at Camp David for much of the intense negotiations with Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat. She listens to and advises the president daily before the three leaders reach the Camp David Accords. Begin and Sadat both warm to the first lady, and Sadat becomes especially close to the Carters. November 1979: Rosalynn leads a delegation to Cambodian refugee camps, bringing international media attention to the humanitarian crisis. She convinces the president to admit more refugees to the U.S. Summer and fall 1980: She campaigns nearly daily on Jimmy's behalf, while he stays at the White House working to win the release of American hostages in Iran. 1980: She helps win congressional approval for the Mental Health Systems Act, dedicating more federal money to local centers for treating mental health; Republican Ronald Reagan would later reverse course as president. November 1980: Jimmy Carter is denied a second term by Reagan, who wins 51.6 percent of the popular vote to 41.7% for Carter and 6.7% for independent John Anderson. 1982: The Carters co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta with a mission of resolving conflicts, protecting human rights, advocating democracy and preventing disease around the world. 1984: Rosalynn releases her memoir, "First Lady from Plains," in which she admits to missing Washington. It is the first of her five books. September 1984: She travels to New York City, where the Carters volunteer building homes for Habitat for Humanity; this would become their annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project. 1987: She establishes the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, located at her collegiate alma mater, to advocate for Americans who are unpaid caregivers. Summer 1989: Rosalynn travels with Jimmy on a weeklong Africa tour that includes an international conference on Guinea worm eradication, perhaps The Carter Center's most ambitious public health initiative. 1996: She establishes the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, based at The Carter Center, to help working journalists produce better reporting on the topic. 1999: She is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. July 10, 2007: She testifies before a U.S. House subcommittee, urging Congress to require that health insurance policies cover mental health treatment on par with treatment for other illness. November 2016: She hosts the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy for the 32nd time. October 2019: In Nashville, the Carters participate in person for the last time in their Habitat for Humanity work project; the program would continue. April 30, 2021: The Carters receive President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden at their home in Plains. The couples were friends since the 1976 campaign, when Biden, then a young lawmaker from Delaware, became the first U.S. senator to endorse Carter for president. July 7, 2021: The Carters celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary. Offering advice for a successful marriage, she says, "each (person) should have some space. That's really important." Feb. 18, 2023: The Carter family announces that Jimmy is entering home hospice care. They would later say they thought he would live only days but rebounded to celebrate their 77th wedding anniversary and his 99th birthday later in the year. May 30, 2023: The family announces that Rosalynn has dementia. Sept. 23, 2023: The Carters make a surprise appearance in the Plains Peanut Festival parade, riding in a Secret Service vehicle with the windows down for what would be her last public appearance. Nov. 17, 2023: The Carter family announces that she has entered home hospice care. Nov. 19, 2023. Rosalynn Carter dies at home in Plains, Georgia, in the same house where the Carters lived when Jimmy was elected to the state Senate in 1962. Mali is experiencing a severe electricity crisis that analysts say will have dire economic consequences. For the first time, citizens are openly criticizing Malis military government, which has until now enjoyed widespread support in the capital. Annie Risemberg has more from the capital, Bamako The head of a prominent media institution in Gaza and two other journalists were killed during the weekend in Israel's offensive in the territory, their relatives said Sunday, adding to the dozens of reporters who have died in the six-week conflict. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the weekend deaths raised to 48 the number of journalists and media workers it had confirmed killed in the region since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive. The CPJ, whose list covers journalists killed on both sides of the conflict although most have been in Gaza, said it seeks at least two sources to verify each death. It said its list of those killed comprised 43 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese. "Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats," Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in an email to Reuters. On Sunday, Belal Jadallah, a journalist and head of the board of the Press House-Palestine, a nongovernmental organization, was killed and his pharmacist brother-in-law was seriously wounded, his sister and other relatives told Reuters. Jadallah told his sister earlier Sunday he was heading out of Gaza City toward the south. He was killed in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, said his sister, who added that people who found him and took him to a medical center where he was declared dead said he had been killed by an Israeli tank shell. Reuters could not independently verify this report or the report of the other two journalists killed this weekend. Four of Jadallah's relatives work for Reuters in Gaza or abroad. One of the journalists on CPJ's list of those killed is Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah who was killed in Lebanon near the border with Israel on Oct. 13. In addition to Jadallah, two freelance journalists Hassouna Sleem and Sary Mansour were killed Saturday in an Israeli assault on Bureij refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip, their relatives and Palestinian health officials said. The health officials said 17 people died in the incident. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the deaths of Jadallah or the others. In the past, the Israeli military has said it was pursuing its offensive to dismantle Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack and it would investigate individual cases later. It has also said it makes every feasible effort to mitigate civilian harm. The Press House-Palestine says on its website that its overall objective is to contribute to developing an "independent Palestinian media, that reflects the values of democracy and freedom of expression and its principles." Myanmar rebels have launched a series of coordinated attacks known as Operation 1027 that outside analysts say have given them new momentum in their struggle against the military junta. The operation also reportedly aligns with Chinas interest in cracking down on transnational crime in the region, particularly cybercriminals who target Chinese consumers. Just as Operation 1027 kicked off, the Chinese side started to really wake up to just how horrific some of the impacts of all of this criminal activity that is going on, under the protection of the Myanmar army, actually are for China, Jason Tower, Myanmar program director for the United States Institute of Peace, a U.S. government funded think tank, told VOA via Zoom on Tuesday. Operation 1027, named after the date of its commencement, is being spearheaded by the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, MNDAA, the Taang National Liberation Army, TNLA, and the Arakan Army or AA. The U.S. institute of peace says in a report this month that the coordinated rebel offensive has made swift gains across the region, overrunning more than 100 junta outposts, and capturing at least four towns, including an important border crossing with China. The offensive targets pro-junta militias and military-sponsored Border Guard Forces or BGF that run the Kokang Self Administrative Zone or SAZ, which the MNDAA administered until it was ousted by the Myanmar military in 2009. The Chinese government has started to fight cybercrime more forcefully since September Li Kya Win, a spokesperson for MNDAA, told VOA via Telegram on Thursday. Ethnic armed groups along the border have also become deeply involved in China's efforts to curb the criminal enterprises and the trafficking of Chinese nationals. Rebels claim that despite Chinese pressure, the Burmese-junta-aligned security forces have done little to go after the criminals that Beijing is concerned about. Rebel spokesperson Li Kya Win says, The Kokang BGF have not been deeply involved in the crackdown on online scam syndicates, many of which are located in the SAZ. Only after we started the 1027 operation, Win added, the Kokang BGF felt pressure to do something against the cybercrime kingpins. Therefore, we are the ones who are actually implementing the shutdown of this lucrative criminal activity along the Chinese border. The rebel crackdown has also led to the release of Chinese nationals and others who were being detained by online scammers, according to Jason Tower. With the MNDAA coming in and taking all these positions, it's maximized pressure on the military, and the military has no choice but to release people from these scam compounds. You're now seeing thousands of people coming out of the Kokang areas going over back to China, and the MNDAA is playing a very active role along with the Brotherhood Alliance in eradicating these scam syndicates, said Tower. Massacre before 1027 Chinese support for the 1027 operation was reportedly spurred by a mass killing at one of the scam centers in the Kokang SAZ last month (October 20). Scores of Chinese nationals were murdered by Border Guard Force police as they tried to escape from a scam center compound, Tower told VOA. And I think that is really the reason why you saw China give support to the MNDAA and the Brotherhood Alliance. The incident was not widely reported at the time. VOA reached out to local news media for more context. An editor of an independent local news agency based in northern Shan state responded with details of the massacre. His name is being withheld for safety reasons. On October 20th, when the news came out that the MNDAA and its allies were going to attack Kokangs capital Laukkai, the editor told VOA by phone, the detainees in the compound owned by Ming Xuecheng, a former official of the Kokang SAZ and a former member of the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the Shan state parliament, were moved to another safe location. At that time the detainees tried to run away and were shot and killed by the security team. "At least 60 people died," the editor told VOA. There were a lot of Chinese nationals among them. At least four Chinese intelligence officers who were working undercover in this compound were among those listed as killed." VOA has been unable to independently confirm the account. Analyst Jason Tower says approximately 100 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, died during the escape attempt. Tower said it occurred in the Hiding Tiger Mountain Villa, a compound owned by Ming Xuechang, a notorious cybercriminal whose son is a colonel in a junta-aligned military unit. The government of Lincang, a nearby Chinese city, sent a strongly worded letter the next day demanding an investigation, Tower added. This was ignored by the [Myanmar] military -- and this is what caused the Chinese government to agree to operation 1027. Ringleader kills himself to avoid arrest, junta says A statement released November 11 by the Ministry of Public Securitys Criminal Investigation Bureau said arrest warrants had been issued for all of the Ming family members involved in criminal activities in the region. Among them were Ming Xuecheng, his son Ming Guoping, and two other Ming family members from Zhenkang County, which lies directly across the Chinese border from Kokang. The statement went on to say that an investigation by Chinese police found the family members are, ringleaders of a criminal group involved in telecommunication network fraud in the Kokang Autonomous Region in northern Myanmar. The statement says that they are also suspected of intentional homicide, intentional injury, illegal detention and other serious crimes. An audio clip released on Friday by Myanmar Junta spokesperson, Major General Zaw Min Tun, said that police in the Kokang SAZ had moved to arrest the four Ming family members in Laukkai city on November 16th, but the 69-year-old Ming Xuecheng, who was the mastermind of an online scam ring, killed himself during the arrest attempt by shooting himself with a pistol. The body of the deceased ringleader was surrendered to Chinese authorities on November 17th, along with the other family members, the spokesperson said. We are working together to eradicate online fraud, the audio statement continued. We have conducted investigations all around Shan State and the autonomous region. The statement claimed authorities arrested 286 people in total, including 270 Chinese nationals, 13 Myanmar nationals, 2 Malaysians, and one Vietnamese. Chinas Myanmar Challenge It remains to be seen if this operation constitutes a change in Beijings relations with Myanmar factions fighting in the countrys civil war. China is facing a dilemma, Than Soe Naing, a China-Myanmar expert and former member of the Communist Party of Burma, told VOA via Zoom. They are not sure if the Brotherhood's operation will succeed or not. The Brotherhood Alliance do not yet control the Kokang SAZ completely. At the same time, from Chinas perspective, Naing says, the junta did act on the demands of the Chinese government. In addition, the losses China faces from online fraud are not as big as the current trade revenue losses caused by the latest actions near their border. Chinas seeing some successes in this, says Jason Tower, but its coming with costs, because now youre seeing that the border trade has basically been shut down between the two countries. However, the military junta, according to Tower, was already losing control of major trade routes before Operation 1027 and had not been able to foster key economic investments by China because of a lack of competent governance by the junta. The military completely failed when it came to cracking down on crime, he says, At the end of the day, the military is one of the key enablers of all of that criminal activity. NATOs secretary general said Monday that the alliance is reviewing a permanent increase of NATO peacekeepers to Kosovo and Bosnia at a time of increasing violence and warnings of Russian interference. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Bosnian-Serb leaders have stepped up their rhetoric seeking secession from the federation, NATOs Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO allies "strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina." "We are concerned by the secessionist and divisive rhetoric, as well as malign foreign interference, including Russia," Stoltenberg said in Sarajevo. Stoltenberg later on Monday stopped in Kosovo, where on September 24 dozens of heavily armed men led by Kosovo-Serb politician Milan Radojcic with alleged ties to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attacked Kosovo police in Banjska, killing one officer and engaging state security forces in an hourslong gun battle on the grounds of a Serbian Orthodox monastery. Three of Radojcics armed men were killed before the attackers fled to neighboring Serbia, where U.S. national security officials said they monitored an unprecedented but brief Serbian military buildup along the border with Kosovos Serb-dominated north. The Serb military presence along the border, which included artillery, tanks and mechanized infantry units, dissipated after U.S. warnings. Stoltenberg said NATO allies, who responded to the late-September fighting by deploying an additional 1,000 peacekeepers, found the violence serious and added more patrols in the area. We are now reviewing whether we should have a more permanent increase to ensure that this does not spiral out of control and create new violent conflict in Kosovo or in the wider region, Stoltenberg said during the joint news conference in Pristina with Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani, which followed meetings with national leaders. Officials in Pristina have blamed their counterparts in Belgrade for orchestrating the Banjska attack, which officials in Belgrade deny and portray as a reaction by local Serbs disgruntled with Kosovos government. Eye on Russia Stoltenbergs visit to Bosnia and Kosovo comes amid increased fears that Russia may use Serbian leaders in Bosnia and Serbias rejection of Kosovos independence to enflame hostilities in a region where ethnic tensions remain rife. We expect that those who are responsible for this absolutely unacceptable violence are held to account, Stoltenberg said. It is important that it has consequences because we need to do whatever we can to ensure that this kind of violence doesnt happen again. The September gun battle followed another violent clash in May, when 93 NATO peacekeepers were injured by a Serbian mob that protested a move by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to install Albanian mayors in municipal buildings after a local election boycotted by Kosovo Serbs. Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008, when it fought a war of independence following Yugoslavias disintegration. Serbias 1998-99 crackdown in Kosovo ended after NATOs bombing campaign and a U.N. resolution that forced Serbia to relinquish control over the territory. NATO has a history in this part of Europe since the 1990s and, therefore, we have invested a lot in stability, in peace in this region, in Kosovo but also in Bosnia, Stoltenberg said. We are really investing in security in this region because safety for these people in this region, stability in this region matters for our own security. Leaders from Kosovo and Serbia are engaged in a EU-mediated dialogue that aims to normalize relations between the two. The dialogue, however, has largely stalled amid opposing demands between the two sides. Stoltenberg urged both sides to refocus the dialogue. Stability in the region depends on all sides choosing diplomacy over violence and in honoring existing commitments, he said. Stoltenbergs tour of the region is scheduled to include a stop in North Macedonia. Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is meeting with senior U.S. military leaders and members of Hawaiis large Filipino community this weekend in a visit steeped in geopolitical and personal significance for the leader, but also drawing small protests from a younger generation of Filipinos who point to the actions of his dictator father who died in exile in Hawaii. Marcos, who stopped in Hawaii on his way home from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, connected Saturday evening with members of Hawaii's large Filipino-American community before a planned Sunday meeting with Adm. John Aquilino, the top U.S. military commander in the Indo-Pacific region. Marcos is then due to deliver a talk about his nation's security challenges and the role of the Philippines-U.S. alliance. A small number of protesters gathered outside the community meeting and at the airport where he landed. Marcos trip comes at a time when the U.S. and the Philippines have been deepening their long-standing alliance in a shift after Marcos' predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, nurtured cozy ties with China and Russia. The Philippines this year agreed to give the U.S. access to four more bases as America looks to deter Chinas increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. In April, the two countries held their largest military exercises in decades. But the trip also likely has personal resonance for the leader of the Philippines. His father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, died in exile in Honolulu after he was ousted in a 1986 army-backed people power uprising. Many Filipino immigrants in Hawaii also hail from the same part of the Philippines as Marcos and revere him and his family. Filipinos are the largest single ethnic group in Hawaii, accounting for 26% of the states population as of the 2020 census. Winfred Damo, who immigrated to Honolulu from Marcos province of Ilocos Norte in 1999, said being Ilocano means we always support the Marcoses. The 58-year-old helped campaign for Marcos Jr. in Hawaii and said the president is a different person than his father and from a different era. Philippine nationals living abroad can vote in elections back home. We have a better government now in the Philippines, he said. Marcoses are good people. They did a lot in our country, and they are the best. Not all are Marcos fans. Arcy Imasa organized a protest outside the convention center where Marcos met with community members Saturday. Her aim was to help younger Filipinos learn his family's history. Marcos' father placed the Philippines under martial rule in 1972, a year before his term was to expire. He also padlocked Congress, ordered the arrest of political rivals and left-wing activists and ruled by decree. A Hawaii court found the senior Marcos liable for human rights violations and awarded $2 billion from his estate to compensate more than 9,000 Filipinos who filed a lawsuit against him for torture, incarceration, extrajudicial killings and disappearances. Imasa, 40, who is part of Hawaii Filipinos for Truth, Justice and Democracy and grew up in the Ilocos province of Pangasinan, said the mindset of many Filipinos in Hawaii is fixed, especially those of older generations. Theyre not on the right side of history. Theyre not fully aware of the crimes that transpired, she said. Satu Limaye, the vice president of the East-West Center, noted the U.S. and the Philippines have a long, complicated relationship. He pointed to years when the U.S. ruled the archipelago as a colony, when the two nations signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951 and when the U.S. military withdrew from major bases in the country in the 1990s. Duterte was often critical of the U.S., at times questioning the value of the alliance and demanding more military aid to preserve the pact. Under Marcos there has been a 180-degree turn and a massive change in cooperation and coordination with the U.S., Limaye said. China has laid sweeping territorial claims over virtually the entire South China Sea, areas also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China has clashed with its smaller neighbors and subsequently drawn in the U.S., which is Manilas treaty ally and Chinas main rival in the Asia-Pacific region. Washington and its allies have deployed navy ships and fighter aircraft to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, to build up deterrence and reassure allies. Earlier this month, dozens of Chinese coast guard and accompanying ships chased and encircled Philippine vessels during a four-hour faceoff. Marcos in September said his country does not want a confrontation but will defend its waters after its coast guard dismantled a floating barrier placed by China at a disputed shoal. Limaye said it's important to watch how the U.S. and the Philippines manage their nations' long and complex relationship while facing their common concern, China. Latest developments: Heavy fighting is reported around the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, with 12 reported killed. 48 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Israel published video of what it described as a tunnel dug by Palestinian militants under Shifa hospital. Hamas denied the claim. 31 babies have been evacuated from Shifa Hospital, with 28 taken to Egypt for care. The Israeli army said five more soldiers had been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the number of troop deaths there to 64 since the war began. Heavy fighting erupted Monday around a hospital in northern Gaza as Israel pressed on with its offensive against Hamas militants. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said at least 12 people were killed when a shell hit the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital. Israel's military says troops outside the hospital fired back at fighters within the facility but added that no shells were fired toward the hospital. Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi condemned the attack and blamed Israel. "Indonesia strongly condemns the Israeli attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza that killed a number of civilians," she said in a statement. "The attack is a clear violation of international humanitarian law. All countries, especially those with close ties to Israel, must use all their influence and capabilities, to urge Israel to stop its atrocities." About 600 patients, 200 health care workers and 2,000 displaced people from the Indonesian Hospital are now sheltering in southern Gaza, Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said. "The [Israeli] occupation aims to evacuate the hospital, as it did in Shifa" in Gaza City, he said. Some relief for Gaza's collapsing health system arrived Monday. Dozens of trucks entered the territory from Egypt with equipment from Jordan to set up a field hospital. Jordan's state-run media said the new facility in the southern town of Khan Younis would be operating within 48 hours. In addition, Israel says it is starting to allow about 70,000 liters of fuel each day into Gaza from Egypt, although the allocation would be far short of the minimum requirements for essential humanitarian operations. But it will help support food distribution and the operation of generators at hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, shelters, and other critical services. Meanwhile, 28 premature babies evacuated from Shifa on Sunday have arrived in Egypt, Egyptian-state media reported, while the World Health Organization said three others have been reunited with their families in southern Gaza. Israel published video Sunday of what it described as a tunnel dug by Hamas militants under Shifa Hospital, a focus of its search-and-destroy missions against Hamas militants. Israeli engineers uncovered the tunnel 10 meters deep and running 55 meters to a blast-proof door. "This type of door is used by the Hamas terrorist organization to block Israeli forces from entering the command centers and the underground assets belonging to Hamas," said a military statement. While acknowledging that it has a network of hundreds of kilometers of secret tunnels, bunkers and access shafts throughout the Palestinian enclave, Hamas has denied that these are in civilian infrastructure like hospitals. The Israeli army said Sunday five more soldiers had been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the number of troop deaths there to 64 since the war began. All five died in northern Gaza, where its forces are engaged in a ground operation against Hamas militants, the military said. Israel began its military campaign to wipe out Hamas after its fighters crossed into southern Israel on October 7. Israel said 1,200 people were killed and some 240 captives taken in the terror attack. Gaza health officials say more than 13,000 Palestinians, including 5,000 children, have been confirmed killed in Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. On the diplomatic front, Michael Herzog, Israeli ambassador to the United States, told ABC's "This Week" show on Sunday that Israel is "hopeful we can get a significant number of hostages [held by Hamas] freed in the next few days," with an accompanying short pause in the fighting, possibly lasting five days. President Joe Biden told reporters Monday he believes a deal to release hostages could be reached soon but declined further comment. U.S. news reports say about 50 of the estimated 240 hostages held by Hamas particularly women and children could be returned to Israel, but it is not clear whether and how many Palestinian prisoners held by Israel might be freed. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two Israeli hostages were found near Shifa since the warfare erupted. Herzog refused to call any cessation in fighting a cease-fire, signaling that Israel plans to resume its attack on Hamas targets after the pause ends. White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told CNN's "State of the Union" show that the U.S. believes it is "closer than we have been perhaps at any point since these negotiations [over the hostage release] began weeks ago." He said, "There are areas of difference and disagreement that have been narrowed, if not closed out entirely," while adding that no deal has been reached. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said 48 journalists and media workers have been confirmed killed in the region since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive began. The CPJ, which documents journalists killed on both sides, said its list of those killed comprises 43 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese. VOA's Eva Mazrieva contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Reactions to the death of Rosalynn Carter, former first lady and global humanitarian: President Joe Biden said the Carters "brought grace" to the White House. "He had this great integrity, still does. And she did too," Biden told reporters as he was boarding Air Force One to leave Norfolk, Virginia on Sunday night. "God bless them." Biden said he spoke to the family and was told that Jimmy Carter was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. Later the White House released an official joint statement from the president and first lady Jill Biden saying that Carter inspired the nation. "She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities," the statement said. Former President George W. Bush called Carter a woman of dignity and strength. "There was no greater advocate of President Carter, and their partnership set a wonderful example of loyalty and fidelity. She leaves behind an important legacy in her work to destigmatize mental health. We join our fellow citizens in sending our condolences to President Carter and their family," Bush said in a statement with former first lady Laura Bush. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia said Carter would be remembered for her compassionate nature and passion for women's rights, human rights and mental health reform. "The State of Georgia and the United States are better places because of Rosalynn Carter," Ossoff said in a statement. "I join all Georgians and Americans in mourning her loss. May Rosalynn Carter's memory be a blessing." ___ Vice President Kamala Harris said Rosalynn Carter redefined the role of first lady and lived a life of service, faith, compassion, and moral leadership. "As a humanitarian, a public servant, and a global leader, Mrs. Carter improved the lives of millions and inspired countless more to dedicate their lives to service. Her legacy will be a beacon for generations to come," Harris said in a statement. ___ Former President Donald Trump said Carter "earned the admiration and gratitude" of the nation. "From her days as a U.S. Navy spouse, to the Georgia Governor's Mansion, to her tenure as First Lady of the United States, and her later work at the Carter Center and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, she leaves behind a legacy of extraordinary accomplishment and national service," Trump said on Truth Social. In a separate statement, former first lady Melania Trump said Carter leaves behind a meaningful legacy. "We will always remember her servant's heart and devotion to her husband, family, and country. May she rest in peace," Melania Trump said on X, formerly Twitter. ___ Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Carter was a "saintly and revered public servant" driven by faith, compassion and kindness. "On the world stage, First Lady Carter was a pioneer. Her historic, high-stakes diplomatic mission to Latin America in 1977 ushered in a new era of engagement in the region. Two years later, she became the first sitting First Lady to address the World Health Organization, where she argued that mental health was an aspect of physical health and that health is a human right," Pelosi said in a statement offering condolences to the Carter family. ___ Bill and Hillary Clinton called Carter a champion of human dignity. "Thanks to her mental health advocacy, more people live with better care and less stigma. Because of her early leadership on childhood immunization, millions of Americans have grown up healthier. And through her decades of work at the Carter Center and with Habitat for Humanity, she spread hope, health, and democracy across the globe," the former president and former secretary of state said in a joint statement. "Rosalynn will be forever remembered as the embodiment of a life lived with purpose." ___ Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens called Carter "the model for the modern day First Lady" and praised her work promoting mental health awareness. "She never stopped advocating for mental health or the Equal Rights Amendment," Dickens said in a statement. "The city of Atlanta joins all of Georgia and mourners around the world as we honor the memory of First Lady Rosalynn Carter." ___ Former first lady Michelle Obama said Rosalynn Carter sometimes offered advice during their periodic lunches at the White House. "She reminded me to make the role of First Lady my own, just like she did. I'll always remain grateful for her support and her generosity," Obama said in a statement. "Today, Barack and I join the world in celebrating the remarkable legacy of a First Lady, philanthropist, and advocate who dedicated her life to lifting up others. Her life is a reminder that no matter who we are, our legacies are best measured not in awards or accolades, but in the lives we touch." ___ Habitat For Humanity, the Georgia-based charity that the Carters worked for tirelessly, said its members were saddened by the former first lady's passing. "She was a compassionate and committed champion of #HabitatforHumanity and worked fiercely to help families around the world," the nonprofit said on X. ___ Carter's legacy will be a source of pride for her home state, said U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, the chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia. "Georgia Democrats join our entire state, nation, and the world in mourning the loss of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter an extraordinary humanitarian, fierce mental health advocate, and beloved daughter of Georgia," Williams said. ___ The Carter Center said it was grieving the passing of its co-founder. "She was a partner in good deeds with her husband, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, as they traversed the globe to strengthen democracy, resolve conflicts, advance human rights, and eliminate debilitating diseases after their time in the White House," the center said in a statement. In lieu of flowers, Carter requested that those wishing to honor her memory do so through contributions to the Carter Center's Mental Health Program or the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, the statement said. Russia launched several waves of drone attacks on Kyiv early Sunday for the second night in row, stepping up its assaults on the Ukrainian capital after several weeks of pause, the city's military administration said. "The enemy's UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were launched in many groups and attacked Kyiv in waves, from different directions, at the same time constantly changing the vectors of movement along the route," Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraines air force said its air defense systems destroyed 15 of 20 Russia-launched Shahed kamikaze drones over Kyiv, Poltava and Cherkasy regions. In Kherson five people including a 3-year-old girl were injured by Russian artillery shelling Sunday morning, Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said. "All of them sustained shrapnel wounds. The child and the grandmother were walking in the yard. Enemy artillery hit them near the entrance," Klymenko said on the Telegram messaging app. Russian troops abandoned Kherson and the western bank of the Dnipro River in the region late last year, but now regularly shell those areas from positions on the eastern bank. Ukraine's military said on social media Friday that it had gained a foothold on several bridgeheads on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, near the southern city of Kherson. Ukrainian troops are trying to push Russian forces away from the Dnipro to stop them from shelling civilian areas on the Ukrainian-held west bank, the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a report Friday. Russia conceded that Ukrainian forces had claimed back some territory on the opposing bank. Teen returns to Ukraine A Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia from the occupied city of Mariupol during the war and prevented from leaving Russia earlier this year, returned to Ukraine Sunday. Bohdan Yermokhin, an orphan from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol that was captured by Moscow's troops during the first year of the war, had been taken to Russia and placed in a foster family in the Moscow region. Yermokhin, who turned 18 Sunday, appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this month to help bring him back to Ukraine. "This is a very pleasant gift, to put it in the right way. The emotions are overwhelming, all good, with the notion that Ukraine needs me," he said. Zelenskyy welcomed Yermokhin's return in his nightly video address. "Many attempts were made to help him. I am happy everything worked out," he said, expressing thanks to Ukrainian officials, international organizations, and particularly the U.N. Children's Fund, UNICEF, and authorities in Qatar for help in mediation. Twenty-thousand children have been illegally transferred to Russia since the invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, with some being put up for adoption. Kyiv says this is a war crime, an allegation denied by Russia, which says it was protecting children in a war zone. Ukraine EU About 3,000 mostly Ukrainian trucks were stuck on the Polish side of the border Sunday morning due to a blockade lasting more than 10-days by Polish truckers, Ukrainian authorities said. Polish truckers earlier this month blocked roads to three border crossings with Ukraine to protest what they see as government inaction over a loss of business to foreign competitors since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "For over 10 days, Ukrainian drivers have been blocked at the Polish border. Thousands of people are forced to live in difficult conditions with limited food, water and fuel," Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraines deputy prime minister, said on X, formerly Twitter. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. Latest developments: Heavy fighting is reported around the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza. The Associated Press cites the Hamas-run health ministry and a medical worker inside the facility as saying 12 people were killed when a shell hit the second floor. AP reports there has been no comment from the Israeli military. 48 journalists have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Israel published video of what it described as a tunnel dug by Palestinian militants under Shifa hospital. Hamas denied the claim. 31 babies have been evacuated from Shifa Hospital and will be taken to Egypt for care. The Israeli army said five more soldiers had been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the number of troop deaths there to 64 since the war began. Heavy fighting erupted Monday around a hospital in northern Gaza as Israel pressed on with its offensive against militant group Hamas. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said at least 12 people were killed when a shell hit the second floor of the Indonesian hospital. Israels military has not commented. Indonesias Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi condemned the attack and blamed Israel. "Indonesia strongly condemns the Israeli attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza that killed a number of civilians. The attack is a clear violation of international humanitarian law. All countries, especially those with close ties to Israel, must use all their influence and capabilities, to urge Israel to stop its atrocities," she said in a statement. Meanwhile, 28 premature babies evacuated from Gazas Shifa hospital Sunday have arrived in Egypt, Egyptian-state media reported. The mission Sunday to evacuate the infants was very dangerous and very difficult, UNICEFs Tony Fricker told the BBC. It was a very small positive in what has been a horrific 48 hours. A doctor at the hospital in southern Gaza where the infants were transferred told CNN the babies conditions are stable, but difficult. He said that their conditions could deteriorate at any time. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Monday it has taken 28 of the infants to the Rafah border crossing where Egyptian medical teams are waiting for them. UNICEF is working, Fricker said, to identify the babies parents and extended family members. Israel published video Sunday of what it described as a tunnel dug by Hamas militants under Shifa Hospital, a focus of its search-and-destroy missions against Hamas militants. While acknowledging that it has a network of hundreds of kilometers of secret tunnels, bunkers and access shafts throughout the Palestinian enclave, Hamas has denied that these are in civilian infrastructure like hospitals. In Sundays update on operations at Shifa, the Israeli military said its engineers uncovered a tunnel 10 meters deep and running 55 meters to a blast-proof door. "This type of door is used by the Hamas terrorist organization to block Israeli forces from entering the command centers and the underground assets belonging to Hamas," said a military statement accompanied by video showing a narrow passage with arched concrete roofing, ending at a grey door. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said 48 journalists and media workers have been confirmed killed in the region since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive began. The CPJ, whose list covers journalists killed on both sides, said its list of those killed comprised 43 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese. "Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats," Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in an email to Reuters. In the West Bank, two Palestinians were killed overnight during Israeli raids on the occupied territory. The Israeli army said Sunday five more soldiers had been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the number of troop deaths there to 64 since the war began. All five died in northern Gaza, where its forces are engaged in a ground operation against Hamas militants, the military said. The Middle East has been a tinderbox since Iranian-backed Hamas launched the terrorist attack on Israel last month, killing at least 1,200 people while taking about 240 people hostage, Israel said. Israel's retaliatory strikes and ground offensive have killed more than 12,000 Palestinians, about 5,000 of them children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. On the diplomatic front, Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, told ABCs This Week show that Israel is hopeful we can get a significant number of hostages [held by Hamas] freed in the next few days, with an accompanying short pause in the fighting, possibly lasting five days. U.S. news reports say about 50 hostages, particularly women and children, of the estimated 240 held by Hamas, could be returned to Israel, but it is not clear whether and how many Palestinian prisoners held by Israel might be freed. Herzog refused to call any cessation in fighting a cease-fire, signaling that Israel plans to resume its attack on Hamas targets after the pause ends. White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told CNNs State of the Union show that the U.S. believes it is closer than we have been perhaps at any point since these negotiations [over the hostage release] began weeks ago. He said, There are areas of difference and disagreement that have been narrowed, if not closed out entirely, while adding that no deal has been reached. One of the challenges associated with this is were not on the ground in Gaza, the United States, Finer said. We are not in direct contact with Hamas. We do that only through intermediaries. And so, we dont have perfect fidelity about exact numbers of hostages, including numbers who are still alive. Dozens of displaced Palestinian civilians were killed or wounded Saturday in Israeli airstrikes, including one on a school in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees reported. "The scenes were horrifying. Corpses of women and children were on the ground. Others were screaming for help," wounded survivor Ahmed Radwan told The Associated Press by phone of Israels attack on the camps Fakhoura school. Photos from a local hospital showed more than 20 bodies wrapped in bloodstained sheets. In a statement Sunday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, I am deeply shocked that two UNRWA schools were struck in less than 24 hours in Gaza. This war is having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, every day. This must stop. I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. The Israeli military said that its troops were active in the Jabaliya area "with the aim of hitting terrorists" while trying to minimize civilian harm. VOAs Eva Mazrieva contributed to this report. Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. According to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, that Turkiye may break diplomatic realtions with Israel, Azernews reports. "We have considered the possibility of breaking relations with Israel, but we believe that it should be a collective decision with the participation of other Muslim countries. We do not agree that Washington fully supports Israel and does not accept a permanent ceasefire," FM Fidan said. She make a man wanna pay taxes. Photo: Europa Press via Getty Images Shakira is paying up to El Jefe. The Colombian performer settled her long-standing Spanish tax-fraud case, accepting a $7.5 million fine on the first day of her trial, People reported. The deal also includes a three-year suspended sentence. Had Shakira been found guilty, she would have faced up to eight years in jail and up to $26 million in fines. But Shakira is still saying objection to the claims of fraud in the first place. While I was determined to defend my innocence in a trial that my lawyers were confident would have ruled in my favor, I have made the decision to finally resolve this matter with the best interest of my kids at heart who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal well-being in this fight, she said in a statement. Shakira had been accused of not paying 14.5 million euros, or $15.8 million, in income taxes between 2012 to 2014, for time she spent living in Spain with ex Gerard Pique. Throughout my career, I have always strived to do whats right and set a positive example for others, Shakira added of her innocence. But, she said, resolving this case will allow her to focus on things like my upcoming world tour and my new album, both of which I am extremely excited about. Well take those whenever, wherever, however. Photo-Illustration: New York Magazine; Photos: Joe Bird/Alamy Stock Photo; Pietro DAprano/Getty Images On October 19, Artforums website published An Open Letter From the Art Community to Cultural Organizations, calling for Palestinian liberation and an end to the killing and harming of all civilians, an immediate ceasefire, the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The letter did not originate with Artforums editors. It had been circulating as a Google form, where it had already been signed by more than 4,000 people, including Judith Butler and Fred Moten and, as David Velasco, the magazines editor of almost six years, put it, more artists who had made the cover of Artforum than Id ever seen in one space: Barbara Kruger, Kara Walker, Nicole Eisenman, Nan Goldin. This was the first moment where it felt like there was consensus, where you had thousands of people signing something saying, We can agree on this people who would normally find it impossible to agree on anything. So I thought, This is the beginning of a coalition, he said. While the letter made a point to reject violence against all civilians, regardless of their identity, it did not mention Hamas or the murder of more than 1,200 Israelis on October 7. Velasco signed it himself. By the next morning, the publishers were getting calls. Marianne Boesky, whose gallerys ad happened to appear amid the petition on the website, reached out immediately, saying, I need you to remove my name and my gallerys brand from supporting this statement. Gallerist Dominique Levy also called to complain about the petition, which she described as one-sided and biased and disrespectful to the core. It flouted the rules, as Boesky put it, that you must condemn Hamas before you can support any Palestinian base from being killed. Many collectors and other dealers were also upset, and a week after publishing the letter, Velasco was fired. Cover Story Torn Up and Apart See All Theres a long-standing tension, artist Hannah Black said, whereby artists are far more likely to be aligned with revolutionary positions than collectors and trustees. In the past decade, arts workers have increasingly made activist demands, ousting board members, organizing labor unions, occupying and decolonizing museums. The art ownership and leadership class which tends to be older and whiter and wealthy has grown increasingly irritated, if mostly behind closed doors. Nobody wanted to say the wrong thing, so they mostly listened, or pretended to, and didnt engage. Political correctness is like a religion here, the dealer Amalia Dayan recently told Haaretz. You have to be cautious all of the time. Now, these resentments have spilled out into the open. This Palestine-Israel thing strips the Band-Aid off that toxicity. This is actually how fucking ugly it really is in the art world, said the collector Stefan Simchowitz. And he sees that its becoming personal for many: Theyre now wondering, Do I like the curators at the institutions? Do I like the educators? Do I in fact even like the fucking artists Ive dedicated my life to supporting? It creates a real existential crisis for the art world. On both sides are those who would prefer the other be seen and not heard. Plenty of artists would love collectors to stay in their lane, giving money and not advice, and many collectors would rather artists stick to art. Artforum, in some ways, embodies many of the art worlds contradictions. Its a thick, glossy, old-school tastemaking magazine which artist is on the cover matters that is fat with advertising from all the top galleries and many luxury fashion brands. Its breezy, all-over-the-world website mixes criticism with party coverage. Velasco got the job in 2017 after the magazines longtime publisher got caught up in a Me Too scandal and the then-editor left. He had been running artforum.com when he was promoted. This meant he already knew his way around the art world and also understood Artforums place in it, both in print and online. His magazine took activist stances that kept it relevant beyond its art criticism and top-ten lists. It published Goldins 2018 declaration against the Sackler familys then-ubiquitous arts philanthropy because their company made so much money marketing incredibly addictive opiod drugs. The next year, Artforum ran The Tear Gas Biennial, which asked artists to withdraw their work from the Whitney Biennial in protest of museum trustee Warren Kanders (who soon resigned). In 2020, Velasco personally posted on Artforums Instagram a call to support protesters with the caption Defund Police. Defend Black Life. Many of the same artists and activists who pushed institutions to embrace BLM have taken up solidarity with Palestinians in what they perceive as a shared struggle against colonization and state violence. But to others, the politicization of art is asking too much of it, and maybe of artists themselves. Adam Weinberg, the director of the Whitney during the uproar over Kanders, noted then that the Whitney is first and foremost a museum. It cannot right all the ills of an unjust world, nor is that its role. Kanders voiced his outrage at the politicized and oftentimes toxic environment in which we find ourselves in the art community in his resignation letter to the Whitney. Several artists who signed the letter in Artforum were contacted by prominent collectors and trustees, such as Martin Eisenberg or Eleanor Cayre, about retracting their signatures. (Eisenberg declined to comment; Cayre did not respond.) Eisenman, Katharina Grosse, Joan Jonas, and Peter Doig were among those who removed their names. Doig said he removed his name from the petition because it lacked an explicit mention of the Hamas attack, which several people close to him brought to his attention as hurtful. He maintains his support, however, for its call for a cease-fire. Empathy cannot and must not be selective. If you can rightly condemn the indiscriminate killings and hostage-taking of innocent Israelis but are unable to condemn the indiscriminate killings, maimings, deliberate starvation, dehydration, and mass displacement of innocent Palestinians, then your moral compass has led you astray, he says. It is extremely worrying and wrong that people should be chastised (or worse) for raising legitimate concerns regarding the safety of a profoundly vulnerable civilian population devastated by a horrific military siege from which there is no escape. But there were other repercussions. Apolonia Sokol, a painter who signed two different petitions demanding a cease-fire, said three of her collectors called her gallery to say they no longer wanted her work and would either sell it back or put it up for auction, potentially lowering its value. A fourth said he was considering burning it. She agreed to one collectors request that she post about the Israeli victims on Instagram both because she felt pressured to do so and because of course she grieved for them. Im just tired of being instrumentalized this way, she said. (She told me in a follow-up email that they came to an amicable resolution.) Lisson Gallery postponed an Ai Weiwei show after the artist tweeted about U.S. financial support for Israel, and Anais Duplan posted a letter on Instagram from a German museum canceling a curatorial project he organized because he had posted about Gaza without acknowledging the Hamas attack and described the Israeli military action in Gaza as genocide. Messages sent in a WhatsApp group chat singled out artist Tai Shani, who has spoken out on Instagram in support of Palestinian civilians, for her narcissistic one sided hate filled posts! The messages also named a museum curator who has shared Shanis posts and indicated that the members would send these complaints tomorrow to museums. The superiors of these institutions need to be advised not once but numerous times by many voices. (Shani currently has a show at the KM21 museum in The Hague.) Reached for comment by email, Shani said, Im deeply disturbed to see what appears to be the names of artists such as myself being singled out for harassment. Boesky said collectors have reached out to her to ask what certain artists positions are on the issue. She said she has heard of other gallerists setting up meetings with artists to talk politics. I am confused by the aims of these people who claim to love art yet have no interest in arts primary lesson: to see the world through someone elses eyes, Eisenman said. Tell that to Simchowitz, who said that he advised his friend the artist Oscar Murillo, whose work he collects, not to sign the Artforum letter: He does not have the intellectual capacity or historical knowledge to understand the complexity of the situation. Levy called her partners, Brett Gorvy and Dayan, and told them, I cant sleep with this letter. Its too painful. We need to do an alternative. They teamed up with collector Batia Ofer, art adviser Sandy Heller, and newsletter publisher Jeremy Hodkin to write a response to the uninformed signatories of the first letter and published it in full-page ads in the New York Times, Le Monde, and The Wall Street Journal. It lamented the horror of Hamas crimes in Israel but made no mention of the thousands of civilians Israeli forces had killed in Gaza. Six-thousand figures in the arts, including Marina Abramovic, Thomas Houseago, Urs Fischer, Marc Glimcher, and Richard Prince, signed it, titled A United Call From the Art World. What it really did was show its divisions. Less than 24 hours after Artforum published the open letter, as readers and advertisers flooded it with irate messages, editors added a sentence at the top clarifying that it was not composed, directed, or initiated by Artforum or its staff. They later updated the post to express the signatories shared revulsion at the horrific massacres perpetrated by Hamas. That wasnt enough for Jay Penske, whose media company bought Artforum last year. He called Velasco in for a meeting and told him he needed to publicly apologize for mishandling the publication of the letter. The politics werent the problem, he said, but he should have notified his colleagues ahead of time given the sensitive nature of the subject. Velasco told Penske he needed time to think about it. He wasnt convinced yet hed made any editorial mistakes hed consulted with the websites two senior editors, who were the only ones who ever oversaw online content. By the end of the day, Velasco was fired. In a statement, the publishers said his actions were not consistent with Artforums editorial process, noting the letter put members of our team in the untenable position of being represented by a statement that was not uniformly theirs. Three editors immediately quit. Writers and artists began withdrawing their contributions to the December issue, and nearly 700 signed on to a statement advocating a boycott, vowing not to work with the magazine until it makes material changes in editorial organization. It shows that we are not all beholden to wealthy interests, art critic Johanna Fateman, who signed on to the boycott, said in an email. We have to be assured of editorial independence. I am not sure I see a path forward for the magazine at this point, but I do see a path forward for its (former) staff and writers. Both the original letter and its response suggest it goes without saying that civilian deaths on the other side are lamentable, so its left unsaid. As a result, omissions have become the message. A sign-on letter should be brief. Its an urgent intervention; its not going to reflect everybody who signs entire worldview, said author and activist Naomi Klein. People are searching for gotchas, she said. Theyre looking for ways to dismiss this letter. I think the underlying issue is the disagreement about whether Israel should be able to do whatever it wants. In the case of the letter Artforum published, omitting the Hamas attack was intentional. The letter came at a time when most conversations were around the hostages and the slaughtering of civilians in Israel, Velasco said. On the eve of a ground invasion in Gaza, it was important to make a space to say unequivocally and without condition Palestinian lives matter. The letter was explicit in condemning violence against civilians of every identity. Its just saying that these lives are not valued in our culture right now so how about we take a moment to do that. In November, members of the remaining Artforum staff issued a statement that they are committed to defending political expression, debate, editorial freedom, and independence. But the boycott has already gutted the December issue, one employee said, and the staff feel assailed from all sides. The genies out of the bottle on this, said Black. I dont think its anymore possible to reconstitute a depoliticized art world. Anonymous in Hollywood Vultures Anonymous in Hollywood asks people to share their most unbelievable, tragic, common, hilarious reflections on the industry, no names attached. Photo-Illustration: New York Magazine; Photos: Getty Images An actor and a showrunner on the politics of speaking out about Israel and Palestine in Hollywood. A Middle Eastern Actor I have played Palestinians, Israelis, Iraqis, Afghans every version of that you can imagine. I once played a Palestinian character, and someone asked me if I related to my character, who was a freedom fighter. My job is to relate to the character Im playing, so I replied, I dont believe in violence. Im a pacifist. But I do relate to my character because he has gone through trauma and hes trying his best outside of the violence. I can understand and empathize with his POV. And the conversation erupted into me being called a Nazi. I get emotional about it because I grew up in a house of immigrants that cared for everyone in our town, especially our Jewish neighbors. I was like, Oh, fuck! People are thinking this is antisemitism and not anticolonialism. I do feel theres pressure on me as a MENA actor in Hollywood. Im selective about how I post online. When the attack happened, I immediately put out posts with regard to how fucking disgusting Hamas is, because it is. And immediately, the Middle Eastern community, which is not a monolith, jumped on me. Like, What about Palestinians? I see your true colors. When I post things that focus on innocent children and good people in Gaza who are just trying to survive, people comment, What about the Israelis who were kidnapped? Cover Story Torn Up and Apart See All What happened to Maha Dakhil, the CAA agent who lost her leadership role for calling the war a genocide, scared the shit out of us. Im very careful not to use words like genocide, occupation, colonialism, open-air prisons despite believing they do accurately describe whats happening in Gaza. Those put a target on your back. I also dont use the word unprovoked. A lot of people say October 7 was unprovoked. Well, its a massive chicken-and-egg situation, this back-and-forth. Also, I didnt know the word cease-fire would be such a problem! I would hope we dont want wars! Conversations about this in Hollywood are always backdoor. I could be having a conversation with another Middle Easterner, and theyll say, I cant believe that person signed the cease-fire letter. Thats going to be the end of their career. Its all happening secretively, in whispers, because everyones afraid. I lost a lot of followers for posting in solidarity with Palestine. A lot of people in the industry are attending protests in masks, to not be seen or photographed, because theres a fear of retaliation. Three different friends, other Middle Eastern people, told me, Be careful of what you say. We still need you. At first, I told everyone to relax, but there is a fear there. I dont think that theres a literal blacklist, like an image out of Old Hollywood. But I imagine I have already lost opportunities from being vocal. My agents are probably nervous about me speaking out about Palestine. But I think they also know you shouldnt tell somebody to not speak out about something they feel is unjust. A Jewish Showrunner I find it hard to articulate a singular conversation in Hollywood right now. But in the immediate wake of the initial attacks, all people who identified as Jewish came together and were like, How are you doing? How are you feeling? And Im scared. The picket lines would have been a natural place to process all of this. But the writers strike ended right before the attacks happened. Online discourse happened so quickly. The equivocating was instantaneous. Everyone was trying to find comparisons. What if First Nations people came into your backyard and started massacring you because youre living on stolen land? These are not accurate comparisons. When we talk about war, and the things you are allowed to do and not allowed to do, I thought we had agreed ethically and morally that youre not allowed to kidnap someone. And it turns out no such agreement was in place. I used to post on Instagram a lot. Its the only social media I use. And then I was like, I have an Instagram problem. Im looking at this too much, and nobody cares what I think. So my posting became sporadic. After the attack, I was seeing what was happening on Instagram and to the Amy Schumers of the world. And then theres all of these incredible activists I follow, particularly inside First Nations communities, the Latin community, mostly the Black community. Although some of the things theyre saying are upsetting to me, theyre also landing and making me think. They made me go, Do I have this fucking wrong? Or is this antisemitic? I was in a broad state of confusion. I thought there was nothing I had to add to this conversation, where others are more qualified to say something. And then a friend of mine, who has a lot of family in Israel, reached out and said, Were trying to keep the hostages front of mind because theyre getting mentioned less and less in the media. This is not part of some broad political movement. We need to put faces and identities to these people who have been separated from their families. So were reaching out to prominent Jews, and each of them is going to get one of these hostages. Put it on your Instagram with these hashtags. Would you do that? I was just like, Yes. I felt like Id be a coward if I didnt. I also felt like all Im saying is this person lost their freedom and should be released. Im not making any suggestions as to what the conditions of their release should be. But anything that gets these people back cant be a bad thing. My manager, whos been a family friend for two decades now, called me on the afternoon of the 7th and asked how I was doing. The topic of whether or not I should post never came up. And when I decided to post, I didnt feel like I needed permission. The only person I needed to talk to was my wife. My friend told me, You should turn your comments off when you post this because its going to get very bad very fast. So I turned comments off and posted. Soon, I started getting a disproportionate amount of Instagram alerts that the comments were lighting up on my previous posts. Instead of turning off comments on all of my previous posts, I started reading. It was all about how Jews are colonizers and this hostage has blood on his hands because he was living on stolen land. I was like, Oh, shit. I mean, Ive been to Israel, but I was there for two weeks. What do I know? I thought there was no way to win here, but at the very least I needed to make another post that spoke specifically to what bothers me most about the entire conflict, which is the disproportionate response from Israel its killing of innocent civilians in Gaza as a response to what happened on the 7th. I tried not to use the words I find the most inflammatory, like genocide. I didnt use emotionally powerful images of children covered in ash and soot. And I tried to speak from the most personal place I could and leave my comments on. Through an arrogant, self-serving lens, I thought this post would be more helpful than hurtful. I did not read many of the comments. In the few I did, it became clear there was no way I could convey the breadth of my feelings and the inherent paradoxes therein without upsetting people. This is a conversation that requires a lot of nuance and curiosity, and curiosity is the one thing Im seeing demonstrated the least. A month before the 7th, it felt like all of the liberal Jews in Hollywood I was talking to were on the same page, that Netanyahu and the disempowering of the judiciary were really bad. But after the attacks, some of those same people were like, Thank God Netanyahus in charge because that guy doesnt give any fucks. No! Hes the same exact guy that he was when he woke up the morning of October 6. That was not a guy who we wanted to be making unilateral decisions about the cost of human life. There was all of this pressure inside the writers community in the Writers Guild to issue a statement in support of Israel. I didnt read their silence as not supporting Jews. If they couldnt reach consensus on the wording of that statement, it was probably best for them not to say anything at all. As for other letters being passed around Hollywood, my inbox will get four different forwards, like, Hey, were all signing this thing. If you want to sign it, put your name on the bottom of this email and then forward it to this address. The intention behind these letters is Secure all the heavyweights. The way it gets reported out is, like, George Clooney and Meryl Streep fire off letter to SAG. So in the back of your brain, youre always thinking, God forbid Im one of the five most important people who sign this thing and then it seems like I wrote it. The five most clickable names who signed the letter, never the ones who wrote it. My parents told me, Never sign a letter you didnt write. You dont get to say when you sign, Well, I agree with 80 percent of the letter, but not this 20 percent. You have to stand by it. But if you dont sign it, then its like, So you dont support the cease-fire? I dont work for the State Department. You think Benjamin Netanyahu is going to see the cease-fire letter and go, Holy shit! I just got this letter from Hollywood! No. Its more about covering your own ass or getting attention if you have something to say. FINALLY. Drama. This episode delivered in multiple ways, and yea and verily, I am pleased. We didnt quite get a Red Wedding, but I could see Mrs. Winterton eventually giving us one. All I ask for is constant and intense melodrama and, every now and then, for someone to be murdered. If I get one more ladies tea that doesnt involve arch comments and subtle sniping, I will protest outside Julian Fellowess country estate. Im so excited to be able to talk about things actually happening. Wheels are in motion! Only not the train wheels, because I think the railway workers are on strike. As George Russells workers soon will be! We only get a fleeting glance at that story line this week, primarily in the form of a political cartoon. Can you imagine if someone drew you in the style of an 1880s political caricature? What an honor. In this one, George is crushing the workers beneath the iron press of low wages. Checks out. George is running around trying to get back into the good graces of Bertha, who is still mad at him because he lied by omission about former ladys maid Miss Turner being super naked in his bed. You deserve this, George! Work for your forgiveness! (He does.) Bertha needs support on multiple fronts because the Metropolitan Opera has run out of money, and also Mrs. Winterton is hogging the Duke of Buckingham. Speaking of the Met, we get to see it, and its very pretty! Also, Kelli OHara, a.k.a. Aurora, stands on its stage, and thats so fun because shes performed there. Well. Not there there. The Met theyre building is the Old Met, which was torn down in 1967 after the current Met was built. Also were all assuming that despite what he said, George just paid to get the Met finished in time for the opening, right? Sounds like the kind of highly romantic thing he would do for Bertha. Yknow, when hes not concealing crucial facts from her. Bertha is also dealing with Larrys Im in my 20s shenanigans, which just seem exhausting. Larry is going full-on Ashton Kutcher with Demi Moore as he continues to sex up Mrs. Blane. They say they love each other, which maybe! I dont know! I guess so! But does that matter? I feel like I become a coldhearted pragmatist when issues like this come up in fiction. Fortunately, that puts me exactly in line with Bertha, who tells Mrs. Blane that she cant give him an heir (debatable, but okay), and in 20 years, hell be waiting for you to die. Which is harsh, but maybe true?? I know some people are very root for love at all costs, but sexual passion fades, and theyve known each other for maybe a few weeks? When Mrs. Blane tearfully breaks it off with Larry at her doorstep (love it), he says that he thought they were going to get married and live together forever. You need to experience more of life, Larry! This is an era in which divorce bears dire social consequences. The only way I would continue to support Larry and Mrs. Blane is if they run off to Italy together. It would be very fun, and I think they should do it. In the world of Things That Really Matter: Peggy and T. Thomas Fortune arrive in Tuskegee, Alabama, to report on the Tuskegee Institute, or what will eventually be called that, and then Tuskegee University. Fortune immediately butts heads with Booker T. Washington about incremental change being good or bad (a relevant point!). Later, they all have dinner with his wife, Fannie Smith Washington, whom I was delighted to recognize from Julia! There are more ideological clashes between Fortune and Washington, which Peggy tries to mitigate. This debate will continue for a century-plus, Peggy! The exchange between the two men seems accurate to history because of Washingtons emphasis on everyone just getting along and Fortunes philosophy of militant agitation. My one qualm with all of this, which I have not yet addressed, is that, per the photo of Fortune on Wikipedia, the version of him on the show is not enough of a nerd. The relationships are getting more interesting. George and Bertha are back to making out in the parlor, thank you very much, writers; Larry has his May-October (maybe September?) romance; Marian and Cousin Dashiell are Im not sure what yet because she has indicated basically no interest; Ada and Reverend Forte are moving extremely briskly; and then Oscar and Maud are a mystery. I should rather say that Mauds dilemma is a mystery. Did I miss it in a previous episode? She keeps alluding to having to do business for her father. Maud also seems fairly religious, which Marian talks to her about at a church fundraiser as they walk through a doorway FESTOONED with tassels. I do like Oscar and Maud, but we then run into the issue of her potentially living a lie, as previously threatened with Gladys. I need two gays to marry each other and live their separate gay lives together! Can we just have Maud be gay? Then she and Oscar can have a gentle and platonic marriage, and Julian Fellowes can have lesbians on one of his shows for the very first time (note: I have not fact-checked this beyond Googling Downton Abbey lesbian). I guess Jane Addams was referenced this week, and she was super gay, so maybe shell pop up later. Also, while Addamss deservedly famous Hull House will not be founded for a few years, she believed art was integral to community building, so Marian could have found an art-focused job there, despite what this Miss Barnes says. Adas relationship with Reverend Forte is rushed to the point that Im concerned he has an attic wife. Havent they met like four times?? Sure, they had a laughing in the rain scene, but that does not a marriage make. I cannot believe he proposes to her. And that she immediately says yes! Ada, we have half a season left! Surely there are some kind of dramatic revelations to be made about the reverend. Or at least, I sincerely hope so. But the main event is Bertha vs. Winterton. Shit goes down!! First, the Academy box that Mrs. Winterton has been flaunting in Berthas face is snatched from her grip by Mrs. Astor, something that I took an unhealthy amount of satisfaction in. Thatll teach you to try to rip apart our main couple, vile temptress! (Oh my God, please note that I do not carry these feelings into the real world.) Mr. Winterton, a Very Old Man, has no idea of his wifes past as a ladys maid, and when he tells her he doesnt understand why the box was taken, Mrs. Winterton assumes Bertha squealed on her to Mrs. Astor. I guess she could have?? But I dont think we actually know how Mrs. Astor knew. Probably through her whisper network. So Mrs. Winterton is down a box. But then! Not only does Bertha cunningly swap place cards with her at the reception for the Duke of Buckingham, but Bertha swoops in and steals him! Now he will be the Russells guest at Newport. A confession about me is I love when characters get furious and throw things into a fire. I say this based on this episode and when Mari threw Kennys birthday cake into the fire on Bachelor in Paradise because she was mad at Demi. What a great season that was. Also, Mari and Kenny are married now! Fire cake worked! By that logic, throwing the newspaper announcing Buckinghams defection to the Russells into the fire should bring him back to the Wintertons. Only time will tell. After said newspaper incinerating, Winterton says shell upset Bertha if its the last thing she does. Yessss! YEEEEEESSS! My only note is that upset is too mild. I need ruin and will also accept destroy. Her husband says there will be other dukes, and Winterton flies into a fury and storms up the stairs, screaming Veruca Saltily that she doesnt want other dukes; she wants this duke, and the witch has stolen him from her. BEST EPISODE ENDING YET. This is what we needed: an unstable and vengeful character to wreak havoc on our precious social systems. Go forth, Winterton! Things to Gossip About at Mrs. Astors Next Ball No carrot hats have been seen in weeks; is this cause for concern? Did Gladys ruin what was assuredly a trend? Is there a chance the duke is a huckster? Yes, youre right; that word is appropriate for this time period. I heard there was a tremendous floral tablescape at the reception for the duke, and not to complain, but I havent experienced a tremendous floral tablescape in I dont know how long. Call me old-fashioned, but thats just not right. Is it bad that we delight in the hoarding of opera boxes? Probably not, right? No no, were fine. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of information security, Trend reports. According to the Ministry of Digital Development of Azerbaijan, a memorandum of understanding on information security was signed between the Electronic Security Service of Azerbaijan and the State Technical Service of Kazakhstan. The signing took place during the visit of a delegation headed by the head of the Electronic Security Service of Azerbaijan Samir Rasulov to Kazakhstan. The Memorandum of Understanding establishes a framework for cooperation and interaction between the parties in the field of information security, especially in terms of incident response. At the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding Samir Rasulov said that the study of best practices in combating existing cyber threats and the implementation of mutual experience and information exchange will have a significant positive impact on ensuring the information security of both countries. During the visit, the delegation also held meetings with representatives of the National Computer Incident Response Center of Kazakhstan (KZ-CERT) and leading companies in the field of information security in Kazakhstan. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel. Share Comment on this story Comment Add to your saved stories Save All ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets, the Houthis said. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis chief negotiator and spokesman, later added in an online statement that the Israelis only understand the language of force. Advertisement The detention of the Israeli ship is a practical step that proves the seriousness of the Yemeni armed forces in waging the sea battle, regardless of its costs and costs, he added. This is the beginning. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office had blamed the Houthis for the attack on the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said no Israelis were on board. The ships Japanese operator, NYK Line, said the vessel had no cargo at the time of the hijacking. Its crewmembers are from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico, NYK said. Japan on Monday condemned the hijacking. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the Japanese government was doing its utmost for an early release of the crew through negotiations with Houthi rebels, while also communicating with Israel and cooperating with the governments of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iran. Advertisement The Houthis said they were treating the crew members in accordance with their Islamic values, but did not elaborate on what that meant. Netanyahus office condemned the seizure as an Iranian act of terror. The Israeli military called the hijacking a very grave incident of global consequence. Israeli officials insisted the ship was British-owned and Japanese-operated. However, ownership details in public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, founded by Abraham Rami Ungar, who is known as one of the richest men in Israel. Ungar told The Associated Press he was aware of the incident but couldnt comment as he awaited details. A ship linked to him experienced an explosion in 2021 in the Gulf of Oman. Israeli media blamed it on Iran at the time. Authorities confirmed Monday that the captain and the first mate on the Galaxy Leader were Bulgarians. Advertisement Bulgarias top police officer, Zhivko Kotsev, told reporters that they were in touch with their families. Nobody has sought contact with us up to this moment, he said. Share this article Share International shipping often involves a series of management companies, flags and owners stretching across the globe in a single vessel. Two U.S. defense officials confirmed that Houthi rebels seized the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea on Sunday afternoon local time. The rebels descended on the cargo ship by rappelling from a helicopter, the officials said, confirming details first reported by NBC News. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. The ships seizure resembles others previously conducted by Iran, which has long armed the Houthis. Twice in the last month, U.S. warships have intercepted missiles or drones from Yemen that were believed to be headed toward Israel or posing a threat to American vessels. The USS Carney, a Navy destroyer, intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces toward the northern Red Sea last month. Advertisement On Nov. 15 the USS Thomas Hudner, another destroyer, was sailing toward the Bab-el-Mandeb strait when the crew saw a drone, reported to have originated in Yemen. The ship shot down the drone over the water. The officials said the crew took action to ensure the safety of U.S. personnel, and there were no casualties or damage to the ship. Satellite tracking data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP showed the Galaxy Leader traveling in the Red Sea southwest of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, more than a day ago. The vessel had been in Korfez, Turkey, and was on its way to Pipavav, India, at the time of the seizure reported by Israel. It had its Automatic Identification System tracker, or AIS, switched off, the data showed. Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted or to smuggle contraband, which there was no immediate evidence to suggest was the case with the Galaxy Leader. Advertisement The British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Persian Gulf and the wider region, put the hijacking as having occurred some 150 kilometers (90 miles) off the coast of Yemens port city of Hodeida, near the coast of Eritrea. It later cited a security officer with the ships company saying the vessel had been taken to Hodeida. The Red Sea, stretching from Egypts Suez Canal to the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait separating the Arabian Peninsula from Africa, remains a key trade route for global shipping and energy supplies. Thats why the U.S. Navy has stationed multiple ships in the sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. Since 2019, a series of ships have come under attack at sea as Iran began breaking all the limits of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. As Israel expands its devastating campaign against Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip following the militant groups unprecedented attack on southern Israel, fears have grown that the military operations could escalate into a wider regional conflict. Advertisement The Houthis have repeatedly threatened to target Israeli ships in the waters off Yemen. Such attacks both back its Iranian benefactors, as well as bolster the Houthis position in Yemen as anger has grown against their rule in recent months as that countrys civil war grinds on without resolution, said Gregory D. Johnsen, a Yemen expert with the Arabian Gulf States Institute in Washington. The Houthis view the war between Israel and Hamas as an opportunity to mute some of this domestic criticism, Johnsen wrote in an analysis earlier this month. If they are attacking Israel, their local rivals will be less inclined to attack them. ___ Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Tara Copp in Washington, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed, Veselin Toshkov in Sofia contributed to this report. Share Comment on this story Comment Add to your saved stories Save SAN FRANCISCO The 92-year-old businessman who represented Taiwan at this weeks summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in San Francisco expressed hope Friday that the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping should help to reduce tensions between the two superpowers and in the region. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Morris Chang, the founder of the microchip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, also suggested the meeting could help to promote economic stability and reliable supply chains. You dont have to be a leader to know that if there is no peace, there is no supply chain to start with, Chang said at a news conference at the close of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Chang said the Biden-Xi meeting was a good one, pointing to their agreement to resume high-level military communications. Advertisement It should help reduce the tensions between the U.S. and China, and it should increase stability of Taiwan Strait, Chang said. Taiwan, a self-governed island of 23 million people, remains the thorniest issue in U.S.-China relations, as Beijing and Washington clash over its sovereignty. Tensions have flared in recent years as Beijing increases military pressure on the island, which it claims to be part of Chinese territory and vows to seize by force if necessary to achieve national unification. Washington has a security pact with Taiwan to deter any armed attack from Beijing and has stepped up its support for the island. The U.S. insists the matter must be solved peacefully, without taking a side. It was a high priority when Xi and Biden met Wednesday for four hours at an estate outside San Francisco in their first face-to-face meeting in a year. Advertisement Xi sought assurances from Biden that the U.S. would not support Taiwans independence and requested that Washington support Chinas peaceful reunification with Taiwan. China will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable, the Chinese president said. Share this article Share Biden, meanwhile, urged Xi to refrain from military exercises in and around the Taiwan Strait. Since September 2020, the Chinese military has been sending warships and warplanes near the island on a near-daily basis. In August 2022, Beijing fired missiles toward the island and blockaded it for days after Nancy Pelosi, then the House speaker, visited the island despite Beijings objections. Biden told Xi that Washington remains unchanged in its policy toward Taiwan and that it opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side. Advertisement We expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, Biden said. Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank, said Washington wont accept Beijings new demand to support peaceful reunification. This is categorically different from the U.S. goal that the resolution of the Taiwan issue must be peaceful, which does not impose a precondition on what the outcome will look like, only that it must be peaceful, Sun said. This is a request we have seen the Chinese interlocutors floating around recently. It is improbable for the U.S. to accept it. In San Francisco, Chang represented Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in attending the summit because Beijing opposed Tsai being present. Chang, representing Taiwan at the APEC summit for the seventh time, said he was tasked by Tsai to send the message that Taiwan is committed to regional peace and prosperity and that the island will work with its partners to control climate change, build more resilient supply chains and reduce the digital divide. Advertisement I think Ive done it that I tried my best to convey the four messages, Chang said. Chang said he had many interactions with Biden, thought there was no formal talk, and said he spoke with senior U.S. officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Lael Brainard, Bidens economic adviser. Chang said he also had serious discussions with at least half of the leaders of the 21 economies in the region, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, on issues such as regional peace, economic development and supply chains, but that he didnt speak with Xi during the summit. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 20. The Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Turkiye Yerkebulan Sapiyev and the Consul General of Kazakhstan in Istanbul Nuriddin Amankul have paid a working visit to the Aegean region of Turkiye, Trend reports. During the visit, meetings were held with the governors of the provinces of Aydin and Izmir, the leadership of regional police and migration services, as well as leading business representatives in the region. The parties discussed the prospects for bilateral trade, economic, investment, educational and interregional cooperation. Also during the visit, bilateral negotiations were held with 19 potential investors, included in the Top 100 largest business groups in the provinces of Aydin and Izmir. As part of the negotiations, an agreement was reached to organize a visit of Turkish companies to Kazakhstan in order to establish joint production of greenhouses, vegetable oil, agricultural machinery, metal products, processing of milk, vegetables and fish products. As Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev previously stated, Kazakhstan intends to increase trade turnover with Turkiye to $10 billion. The volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Turkiye varied from $1.5 to $4 billion in the period from 2010 through 2021, a significant share of which was accounted for by exports from Kazakhstan. Turkiye is one of Kazakhstan's most important trading partners, ranking fourth in trade turnover in 2022 (4.5 percent share). The commercial turnover between Kazakhstan and Turkiye was $3.9 billion from January to August 2023. From January to August 2023, Kazakhstan's exports to Turkiye totaled $2.6 billion. Imports to Kazakhstan from Turkiye from January through August 2023 increased by 51 percent and amounted to $1.4 billion. Share Comment on this story Comment Add to your saved stories Save HONOLULU President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines said the situation in the South China Sea has become more dire as China expands its presence in an area where multiple nations have competing territorial claims. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight China has showed interest in atolls and shoals that are closer and closer to the coast of the Philippines, with the nearest atoll about 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers) away, Marcos said. Unfortunately, I cannot report that the situation is improving, Marcos said Sunday. The situation has become more dire than it was before. Marcos spoke during a question and answer session after he delivered a talk at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu. The Philippines president stopped in Hawaii to meet with U.S. military leaders and the local Filipino community on his way home from a regional summit meeting in San Francisco. Advertisement The visit held both geopolitical and personal significance for the leader. Marcoss father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was forced into exile in Hawaii in 1986 after he was ousted in an army-backed people power uprising in the Philippines. His trip comes at a time when the U.S. and the Philippines have been deepening their long-standing alliance in a shift after Marcos predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, nurtured cozy ties with China and Russia. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea as its own territory and refuses to acknowledge claims from the Philippines and four other other governments to some or all of the waterway. Beijing has dismissed the findings of a U.N.-backed arbitration tribunal that invalidated Chinas sweeping historical claims under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. Advertisement Marcos reiterated that his nation wouldnt yield. The Philippines will not give a single square inch of our territory to any foreign power, he said in his speech. The U.S. says China has militarized several islands it built in the area, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment, and fighter jets. Marcos said features in the South China Sea are slowly being turned into bases. He said Adm. John Aquilino, the top U.S. military commander in the Indo-Pacific region, showed him a model of one earlier in the day. Share this article Share The level of commitment China made to those military bases was remarkable, Marcos said. Tensions in the area have risen recently as China has blockaded an isolated Philippine marine outpost on Second Thomas Shoal, also known as Ayungin Shoal. Advertisement Last month, a Chinese coast guard ship and an accompanying vessel rammed a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat near the contested shoal, according to Philippine officials. China accused the Philippine vessels of trespassing in what it said were Chinese waters without authorization despite repeated radio warnings. The U.S. and the Philippines have a mutual defense treaty dating to 1951. Marcos said the U.S., as its only treaty ally, was its main partner. But he said Manila also was seeking to strengthen ties with other nations sharing its ideals and values, noting the examples of Australia, Japan and South Korea. He said the Philippines also was seeking to negotiate a code of conduct with Vietnam and Malaysia, other nations with whom it has territorial conflicts. Marcos remarks came after he met Friday with Chinese President Xi Jingping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Advertisement He told reporters afterward that they agreed the challenges in the South China Sea should not be the defining element of their relationship. Marcos said the two leaders tried to come up with mechanisms to lower tensions in the South China Sea. Many Filipinos immigrants to Hawaii come from the same province as Marcos, Ilocos Norte, and support him. But he still faced small protests at the airport and at a convention hall where he met members of the local Filipino community. Satu Limaye, the vice president of the East-West Center, noted the U.S. and the Philippines have a long, complicated relationship. He pointed to years when the U.S. ruled the archipelago as a colony, their signing of the defense treaty and when the U.S. military withdrew from major bases in the country in the 1990s. Limaye said its important to watch how the U.S. and the Philippines manage their nations long and complex relationship while facing their common concern, China. Optus has begun the search for a new chief executive, after embattled CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned, having presided over two high-profile telco disasters within 13 months. The former CBA executive led Optus through one of the nations worst outages and worst data breaches in recent history, and in the face of mounting pressure stepped down to give the telco a chance at a reset. Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has resigned. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen On Friday I had the opportunity to appear before the Senate to expand on the cause of the network outage and how Optus recovered and responded, she said on Monday morning. I was also able to communicate Optus commitment to restore trust and continue to serve customers. Having now had time for some personal reflection, I have come to the decision that my resignation is in the best interest of Optus moving forward. The for-profit entity also enabled OpenAI to compete with other tech companies for staff by offering them equity. The company was planning to raise $US1 billion to help employees sell their stock, an offer that implied the group was worth about $US86 billion. Its not just the corporate structure thats unusual. The OpenAI board reflects the founding vision of safety over profits, with little if any commercial expertise, and more focused on the dangers of AI than maximising the value of whats been described as the biggest business opportunity of the generation. Several board members have links with think tanks that fund projects aimed at preventing AI-generated risks to society. OpenAIs chief scientist Ilya Sutskever reportedly led the move to sack Altman. Credit: AFP Altman, unlike his board, has been very focused on that opportunity. The ChatGPT platform already has more than 100 million monthly users and has partnered with, not just Microsoft, which is embedding AI in its products, but a range of large businesses and developers. Altman has been scrambling, very successfully, to commercialise ChatGPT and keep ahead of the mega tech companies, like Google and Facebook, that have been galvanised by the extraordinary interest in AI that ChatGPTs launch has ignited. The speed at which he was moving and the scale of his ambitions seems to have collided with his boards conviction, led by his chief scientist Sutskever, that development of safe AI should proceed cautiously. The non-profits directors thought he was elevating the pursuit of profit over management of the risks of AI. A contributing factor to the collision of philosophies may have been Altmans attempts to raise billions of dollars, some reports say as much as $US100 billion, from international venture capitalists and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds for two new projects. The current generation of AI may not pose risks to humanity but AI is developing so quickly that those risks are already looming on the horizon. He had been negotiating with semiconductor companies for an attempt to design new lower-cost chips for large-language models for AI that would compete with the current sole significant supplier, Nvidia. He was also looking for investors in a new business building hardware devices for AI technologies like ChatGPT. Whether those prospective new businesses were to be within the OpenAI structure or he was pursuing them on his own account is unclear, but the discussions do provide an indication of the pace at which he was moving and how out of kilter that was with the risk aversion of his board. If Altman prevails over his board and returns to OpenAI it is inevitable that he will want to maintain the groups lead over its competitors and turn the extraordinary value hes helped create into something more accessible. He has no equity in the for-profit arm of OpenAI. OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman resigned as the companys president on Friday in solidarity with Altman. Credit: Bloomberg Otherwise, of course, he has the option of pursuing his AI ambitions independently. There would be no shortage of backers willing to help fund them. The AI industry is in something of an arms race, among both commercial competitors and nations. The Biden administration has been adding layers of sanctions to try to prevent China, for instance, gaining access to the most advanced chips needed for AI. That brings into focus the significance of the tension between the OpenAI boards prioritisation of the safe development of the technology over its commercialisation. The current generation of AI may not pose risks to humanity but AI is developing so quickly that those risks are already looming on the horizon. Governments everywhere are enacting legislation or, as is the case in the US, entering voluntary agreements with AI developers as interim arrangements, to impose some restrictions on the perceived riskiest AI applications facial recognition, the scraping of biometric data from social meda, its role in managing critical infrastructure, using AI to control access to public services and benefits and its potential ability to create and spread disinformation. They want more transparency about the training data used to develop AI models, how the models make decisions and the consequences of those decisions. Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the union as the most important step any Australian Government has taken in the Pacific since the independence of Papua New Guinea. That might be a stretch, but certainly the intent is noticeably different. For more than two decades, the Pacific has been the place where we send refugees, not somewhere we take them from. Though there are sizable Pacifika communities in Australia, most have arrived via conventional migration pathways. We also have a Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme , a key feature of which is that entrants return home when their job usually picking fruit and vegetables is done. The terms of the Falepili Union, which is predicated on rising sea levels rendering Tuvalu uninhabitable within decades, creates an entirely new form of migration. It is also intended to be symbolic of a significant shift in the way Australia relates to the region moving forward. When our flag was taken down in Port Moresby in 1975, the assumption was that Australia had shelved its imperial ambitions. It has been drawn back from time to time, either via foreign aid, in response to natural disasters, or the period of civil unrest in Solomon Islands, but by and large, Canberra has viewed the Pacific and its litany of tiny nations as a burden and an irritation that distracts us from our geopolitical interests in Asia and support for Americas wars. Chinas growing interest in the Pacific, which culminated in the security agreement it signed with Solomon Islands last year, changed all of that. Suddenly, the region mattered to Australia again, like it did when Germany was an active imperialist prior to World War I or Japan in World War II. We became family, primarily out of fear that we were going to be outbid in much the same way China has picked off Pacific states who provided diplomatic recognition to Taiwan. But now Canberra has stumbled onto something that Pacific islanders appear to want that China cannot offer residence in Australia. To be sure, the Falepili Union includes provisions about climate adaptation and infrastructure development, and China can do all that too. But as their islands sink, it seems Tuvaluans would prefer to live here. This could be a winning hand. The language of union signals that the government hopes other countries, especially Kiribati and Nauru, might be open to a similar deal. If they are, then the map of the Pacific would suddenly look quite different. The US would maintain strategic denial in the North Pacific via Guam, its Commonwealth with the neighbouring Mariana Islands, and its Compacts of Free Association with Palau, Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands. Tokelau is a dependent territory of New Zealand, which also has a free association arrangement with Cook Islands and Niue, and longstanding links with Samoa. France retains French Polynesia and New Caledonia. If the Falepili Union were to include Kiribati and Nauru as well as Tuvalu, then the North, Central and South Pacific, would all comprise territories friendly to Australia that protect our air and sea-lanes from a Chinese approach. We would also have even more sway in the Pacific Islands Forum, the premier regional institution. Checkmate. Loading Or is it? Human mobility is a key feature of the US compacts in Micronesia and New Zealands free association formula. The Falepili Union borrows heavily from these precedents, and it works because the numbers are small. But the real game of strategic denial is not going to be played out in the Central Pacific. As the China-Solomon Islands security agreement showed, the western islands are the key geopolitical prize due to their proximity to Australia. Fiji (population 900,000), Solomon Islands (700,000), Vanuatu (300,000) and PNG (10 million) are not just closer; theyre bigger, have a development model that might make migration a less attractive option, and climate change poses a different kind of threat to livelihoods. In fact, theyre each much bigger than Tuvalu (population 11,000), Nauru (12,000), and Kiribati (125,000) combined. If human mobility is our winning hand, and the one area in which China is unlikely to outbid us, then these potential numbers could prove to be a limitation for our new geostrategic posture, especially given large sections of the public have a longstanding antipathy to immigration. Luke Arnold is an actor and writer who is best known for playing Michael Hutchence in Never Tear Us Apart. The 39-year-old discusses the endearing nickname he called his little sister as a child, a silly but romantic Christmas gesture and what he is most proud of in his current relationship. Its interesting to reflect on the actresses I admired before I got into the acting industry who later became colleagues, like Heather Graham. My maternal great-great-grandmother thought her name was Jean, but when she was 70 she found her birth certificate, which said Jane. Her mother died when she was young, so Im not sure what went wrong there, but she was still Jean to us all. Some of my first memories are getting handwritten and recorded poems on cassettes from her. Looking at them recently, I can see the influence their form and patterns have had on my own writing. When I was young, my maternal granny, Valerie, lived on a sailing boat with my step granddad. They also travelled around Australia on a motorbike. They were a great example of the freewheeling, bohemian lifestyle that was definitely passed down to me. Second from bottom of the table came a crew from ABC Melbourne, and this despite having their colleague, state political reporter Richard Willingham whose dulcet tones will be increasingly familiar to Radio Melbourne listeners as MC and quizmaster. Fat lot of good he did them. Now, we werent going to mention this honest, we werent but while were on the subject: first prize on the night was taken out by a team from The Age. Now, CBD couldnt be prouder to have such brainy colleagues, if only for having the smarts to leave us off the team. WOOF CROWD We brought word last week that the close relationship between Anthony Albaneses Labor government and the public sector union, the CPSU, had driven some members into open insurrection. But things are not so cosy right now between the unions Victorians branch and Jacinta Allans state Labor operation, with the CPSU among the labor and business groups cracking the whatsits with the governments changes to WorkCover which it pushed through the parliaments lower house last week. Loading One exasperated union type described as gold the irony of Labor MPs campaigning for Sprite, a dog, to maintain its parliamentary access because of the mental health benefits the animal brought to those working in the building, while voting to cut benefits from thousands of employees unable to work because of burnout and stress. The tail wagging the dog, old mate reckons. We asked Allan on Sunday whether he had a point. It would be deeply mischievous to conflate those two issues, the premier said. Thats probably why it appealed to us so much. SEAT SUCCESS Former Liberal MP for the former jewel-in-the-Liberal-crown seat of Higgins, Katie Allen, has won the right to take on Labors Michelle Ananda-Rajah in a rematch of last years electoral contest in the upper-crust inner south-east seat that resulted in the ALP ending decades of Liberal dominance. Allen saw off a challenge from former Port Phillip Council Mayor Marcus Pearl in a preselection ballot at Hawthorn Town Hall on Sunday afternoon. Katie Allen will get the chance to win back Higgins. Credit: Eddie Jim Pearl was in decent spirits, though, when we caught up with him after the vote. I felt it was close, but it wasnt close enough, he told us. Allen warned CBD to prepare to hear a lot from her as she launches full-time into the task of winning back the seat. Elsewhere, Monash councillor Theo Zographos was nominated unopposed earlier this month to run for the Liberals in Chisholm, another seat they wouldnt mind getting back from Labor. His candidacy is just waiting to be ticked off by the partys administrative committee. Teal candidate Zoe Daniel beat incumbent Tim Wilson in the blue ribbon Liberal seat of Goldstein at the last election. Credit: Chris Hopkins But then theres Goldstein, another one of the painful Liberal losses of 2022, which fell to teal independent Zoe Daniel, and where the beaten Liberal Tim Wilson has made no secret of his desire for a re-match with the former ABC journo. Does the partys leadership share Wilsons confidence? The powers that be dont seem to be in any hurry to close nominations, which have been open for months and talk that state MP for Brighton James Newbury is interested just wont go away. On Sunday, we couldnt track down Newbury (ever get that feeling youre being ghosted?), Wilson or one of the other Liberal figures who have been linked with the seat, Colleen Harkin, for a comment, while former Julie Bishop staffer Stephanie Hunt gave us a firm no-comment. But a tilt at Goldstein carries risks for Newbury; hed have to give up his seat in Spring Street and his spot on John Pesuttos front bench with no guarantee even of preselection, much less knocking over the first-term incumbent Daniel. Still, the chance to return to the federal parliament, where Newbury spent happy years as a staffer in John Howards government, is said to be a powerful temptation for the Brighton second-termer. So many questions, right? So we gave the partys state president Phil Davis a shout, asking when he and his colleagues might be thinking about bringing all this to a vote. He was a little more forthcoming than the others. Just. I have nothing to say, Davis told us. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Expansion projects are planned in the Kazakhstan's port of Kuryk, the source at the port told Trend. "A grain terminal is currently being built at the port. The grain terminal capacity will be 1 million tons," said the source, adding that the terminal will have the ability to simultaneously store 25,000 tons of grain crops. In addition, there are also plans to build a third berth in the port. As the source explained, the construction of the berth will allow the port to receive and process heavy and oversized cargo. And this, in turn, will make it possible to diversify the range of cargo, as well as increase the volume of transshipment of large/heavy cargo to 500,000 tons per year. To date, in connection with this project, negotiations are underway with potential investors. The transit of goods through the port amounted to 153,000 tons from January through October 2023. This figure exceeded the transit for the entire 2022 (133,000 tons). Based on the results of work for 10 months of 2023, the port of Kuryk processed 599 ferries. The volume of transshipment during the mentioned period amounted to 1.807 million tons. Of these, 1.24 million tons are railway-related (16,450 railcars) and 566,000 tons (23,652 units) have to do with road transport (trucks and passenger vehicles). Kazakhstan aims to become a full-fledged transport and logistics hub in Central Asia and the Caspian region. Transport, logistics and trade hubs are being created around the country on the borders with China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Russia and the Caspian Sea. In particular, a project for the construction of a Sarzha Multifunctional Marine Terminal is currently being implemented in the port of Kuryk. The terminal's capacity will be 10 million tons per year, and full completion is planned for 2030. If youve been to Singapore you may have discovered the Changi Chapel and Museum near the airport, with its poignant exploration of Singapores fall to the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. It reopened in 2021 after a major redevelopment. The Bus Collective comprises 20 Scania buses previously operated by local public transport operator SBS Transit. But many visitors might not know Changi Village, which is also near the airport. This is largely a weekend recreational spot, with a few unremarkable hotels, a coastal boardwalk, a popular hawker centre and some nearby military bases. But now theres a new reason to head to this area in the east of Singapore. The Bus Collective is a unique stay in the heart of Changi Village right next to the hawker centre. Bookings are now open and guests can stay from December 1. The Bus Collective comprises 20 Scania buses previously operated by local public transport operator SBS Transit. Pro-war Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who is in custody awaiting trial for inciting extremism, said on Sunday he wanted to run for president even though he understood the March election would be sham with the winner already clear. Girkin, who is also known by the alias Igor Strelkov, has repeatedly said Russia faces revolution and even civil war unless President Vladimir Putins military top brass fight the war in Ukraine more effectively. Igor Girkin also know as Igor Strelkov, the former military chief for Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, in a Moscow court last month. Credit: AP A former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer who helped Russia to annex Crimea in 2014 and then to organise pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine, Girkin said before his arrest that he and his supporters were entering politics. I understand perfectly well that in the current situation in Russia, participating in the presidential campaign is like sitting down at a table to play with card sharps, Girkin said in a letter published by his account on Telegram. From 13-16 November 2023, the WCO Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme organized in Accra, with the support of Ghana Revenue Authority, a meeting of A-CIP partner administrations followed by a West and Central Africa (WCA) region-wide workshop dedicated to building communities of practice in matters of integrity within the region. During the initial meeting of A-CIP partner administrations, representatives from Customs of Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Liberia, Ghana, Mali and Niger met to identify potential opportunities to form among themselves communities of integrity practice. Specifically, they explored their respective practices under their A-CIP projects, particularly those in line with the Audit and Investigation, Morale and Organizational Culture, and Relationship with the Private Sector key factors of the WCO Revised Arusha Declaration Concerning Good Governance and Integrity in Customs. Later in the week, A-CIP Programme partners were joined, in person and online, by other WCO Members from the region, invited by the WCA Regional Vice Chair, Nigeria, who opened the session via the Deputy Comptroller, Nigeria Customs Service. Representatives from the WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) and the ECOWAS Secretariat were also present and provided insights on regional integrity initiatives. Participants from the Customs administrations of Nigeria, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinee and Senegal were invited alongside the A-CIP partner administrations to reflect on the concrete actions taken by their administrations in some areas listed in the Revised Arusha Declaration. Participants reflected on the knowledge gained in the process, the knowledge still needed and ways of sharing these within a WCA regional community of practice. Participants agreed that there was a clear need for a WCA community of integrity practice that would share procedures, best practices, experiences & case studies, standards & regulations, as well as guidance & handbooks among Members of the region. Possible methods of exchange considered by the group included e-learning platforms, regional group discussions, joint training programmes, and technical working groups, but also via professional attachments and study visits. The meeting closed with strong commitments made by the office of the WCO Regional Vice Chair and the ROCB, as well as all participants present, to continue to take the steps necessary to build communities of integrity practice in the WCA region. The WCO A-CIP Programme currently supports more than 20 countries in five WCO regions, with funding from Norway and Canada. For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org. At the invitation of Mr. Jean Claude Manirakiza, Commissioner General of the Burundi Revenue Office (OBR), , WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya visited Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi on 16 and 17 November. The visit aimed to discuss the progress made since his last visit in 2019 and to explore avenues for future cooperation. Burundi is a landlocked country situated between Tanzania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is a member of East African Community and is keen on benefitting from regional cooperation and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Burundi's geographical position as a landlocked nation underscores the importance of its participation in regional trade initiatives. In the management meeting with OBR, Dr. Mikuriya highlighted that landlocked countries and small island economies are the two types of nations that stand to benefit significantly from trade facilitation initiatives. This includes enhancing connectivity with neighbouring countries within the context of global and regional integration. In terms of adherence to WCO standards, Burundi has updated its Harmonized System (HS) to the latest 2022 version, facilitated by support from the WCO and EU-Africa Project. This update will enable Burundi to promote intra-African trade more effectively. The country is also progressing towards acceding to the Revised Kyoto Convention. During his visit, Dr. Mikuriya toured an enterprise certified as an Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) and learned about the benefits they have received. Additionally, he observed the implementation of technology advancements, such as the installation of a cargo electronic tracking system in August 2023. This system, linking Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and DRC, represents a significant step in improving regional trade logistics. After visiting the border post at Ruhwa, located between Rwanda and DRC, Dr. Mikuriya held a meeting the Minister of Finance, Mr. Audace Niyonzima. Recalling their previous meeting in 2016 when Mr. Niyonzima was the CG of OBR, they reviewed the advancements achieved and discussed on strategies for continued collaboration. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 20. Chairman of the Board of KazMunayGas JSC (Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company) Magzum Mirzagaliev has held negotiations with officials of the US State Department in Washington, the company told Trend. Thus, he met with the US Presidential Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein, Department of State Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR) Assistant Secretary Geoffrey Pyatt, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Europe, Eurasia, Africa and the Middle East in the Office of International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy Joshua Volz and Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Division for Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Erik Woodhouse. Mirzagaliyev briefed the US officials on the work to diversify Kazakh oil export routes and develop the Trans-Caspian route. In March 2022, KMG began supplying oil from the Tengiz field from Aktau towards the port of Ceyhan (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline). "KazMunayGas, together with international oil companies, which are also shareholders of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, maintains a constructive dialogue with the US, UK and EU. We note that Kazakh oil exports are not subject to sanctions in all three jurisdictions. This is important both for Kazakhstan and for the stability of the global energy market," he said. In addition, Mirzagaliev took part in the panel session "Energy Security in Europe" at the Black Sea Energy and Security conference. Mirzagaliyev told the participants about Kazakhstans position on the world energy arena. Thus, Kazakhstan is a major supplier of oil to Europe, providing about 10 percent of the total demand on the continent. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 20. The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is actively discussing participating in the construction of the Kambarata-1 hydropower plant (HPP) with the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan and the World Bank (WB), Nikolai Podguzov, Chairman of the Management Board of the EDB told reporters, Trend reports. He pointed out that the bank's strategy focuses significantly on hydroelectric projects. "The Kambarata-2 project is being funded by the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development. Across all EDB member nations, there are several projects involving renewable energy sources. We expect to invest at least $400 million in such projects by 2026. However, this is a conservative estimate; the actual figure will be higher," he emphasized. Podguzov emphasized that the Kyrgyzstan government is presently working hard to reinvigorate and expedite the Kambarata HPP-1 building project. On November 14, 2023, Almaz Baketaev, Kyrgyzstan's Minister of Finance, and Naveed Hassan Naqvi, World Bank Country Manager for Kyrgyzstan, signed an agreement for technical support to revise the feasibility study of Kambarata-1, with a total funding of $5 million. The World Bank expects the Kambarata-1 HPP to make a substantial contribution to improving renewable energy availability not only in Kyrgyzstan, but also throughout Central Asia. This project is projected to alleviate the country's energy security issues while also generating significant revenue from energy exports. The hydropower plant, situated on the Naryn River, is designed to have a capacity of 1,860 MW, with a reservoir volume of 5.4 billion cubic meters. It is projected to generate an average of 5.6 billion kWh of electricity annually. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Respiratory therapy student inspired by mission experiences during pandemic November 20, 2023 OGDEN, Utah Trent Beutler, sophomore at Weber State University, was far from home when he decided to pursue a career in healthcare. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, 19-year-old Beutler left his home in Farr West, Utah, to start a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was later assigned to Toronto, Canada, where he served the local Spanish-speaking population. Suddenly, I was alone with another kid my age, learning to navigate a new place Id never been to, meet new people and learn new social skills, Beutler said. While challenging, Beutlers mission was a great learning experience. My mission taught me to love and value people for their differences, Beutler said. I got to meet people from many different walks of life, and I gained a lot of perspective, and I learned that I want to help people. In Toronto, Beutler met people from all over the world, including many refugees who struggled with various health issues. Beutler said it was hard for people to get the care they needed because the pandemic had overwhelmed hospitals and caused healthcare workers to burn out. Seeing people in these circumstances, I just wanted to do what I could to alleviate those difficulties, Beutler said. When Beutler returned home from his mission in the fall of 2022, he started exploring healthcare programs and was impressed by what Weber State offered. I couldnt pass up Weber States affordability and flexibility, he said. When you look at the price for the education you get, its a really incredible value. Im also a very family and friend-focused person and Weber State has really let me focus on that. Webers respiratory therapy program stuck out to Beutler, who grew up with asthma. Hes recently been accepted into the program and will start this spring. His ultimate goal is to be a physician assistant specializing in pulmonology. Allentown, PA (18103) Today Some early morning sun, then becoming mostly cloudy with some mainly afternoon and evening showers, mostly light and scattered. . Tonight Mostly cloudy with a few scattered evening showers or drizzle; some patchy fog overnight. HONG KONG (AP) Hong Kong Disneyland opened its first Frozen-themed attraction on Monday, with thousands of eager visitors turning up to experience the new rides, some lining up for hours to get an early start. Based on Disneys wildly popular Frozen animation film, the new section of the park features landscapes and characters from the movie and two new rides, a roller coaster and a boat ride that takes visitors through different scenes featured in the film. Over the past decade, the film has grown into one of the most successful franchises in Disney history, said Josh DAmaro, chairman of Disney Experiences. World of Frozen represents Hong Kong Disneylands largest and boldest expansion since the park opened in 2005. The opening comes after Disney announced in September a $60 billion expansion of its parks and cruises over about a decade. Now that Chinese tourists are venturing abroad again after the pandemic, the new attraction is meant to be a game changer for a theme park that has run losses for years. Some of the hundreds of Disney fans who lined up hours ahead of time were dressed like characters from Frozen. Disney enthusiast Bryan Darmanic, who had travelled from California with his wife and daughter, were among the first visitors to the Frozen-themed roller coaster and received limited edition souvenirs to commemorate the experience. The World of Frozen is really well-designed and beautiful, said Darmanic, whose family was making its first visit to the Hong Kong theme park. Winnie Ip, a tourist from Macao, said she arrived at 9 a.m. in the morning ahead of the opening of the Frozen section. The Frozen attractions were magnificent, Ip said. Hong Kong has been beefing up the park to try and draw more visitors. In June 2022, it debuted its Momentous multimedia and fireworks show, which is staged at its castle on most nights. Elsewhere, Disney plans to launch a Zootopia-themed area at its Shanghai Disneyland in December, a Fantasy Springs port at Tokyo DisneySea next spring and a Frozen-themed Kingdom of Arendelle at Disneyland Paris, slated to open in either 2024 or 2025. READING, Pa. - Police finally caught up with their suspect, 37-year-old Yusef Scott, after they say he kidnapped a 26-year-old woman from her home on Windsor Street in Reading last Thursday. "She was completely in the attic," said Lt. Eric Driesbach of the Reading Police Department. "It's believed that the suspect entered through a basement door with a bolt cutter, moved his way through the house to the attic and then removed her from the attic." The victim was found safely a few hours later on Cotton Street, but it took authorities a little more time to track Scott down. It was two days after police began looking for the suspect that they caught up with him nearly 1,600 miles away. "Over the weekend, we had received information that the suspect was attempting to get to California," said Driesbach. Investigators say they followed every lead possible and were able to determine the suspect was on a bus traveling across the country. "It took a lot of phone calls by the investigators to go down along, they kept on kind of missing the bus stops," said Driesbach. "Then they got lucky and found out he was in route to Amarillo and the bus hadn't arrived yet. Amarillo PD was waiting for him when he arrived at the bus stop." Authorities say the suspect and victim knew each other, and may have had a previous, short-term relationship. Scott will be extradited back to Reading but authorities don't yet have a timeline on when that will happen. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 20. Kyrgyzstan advocates for a broader presence of Japanese businesses and leading corporations in the country, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov said during a meeting with Masami Iijima, Chairman of the Japan Association for Trade with Russia and Newly Independent States (ROTOBO), Trend reports. He highlighted specific areas where Kyrgyzstan seeks to deepen collaboration, including green economy initiatives, tourism, renewable energy sources, agriculture, light and manufacturing industries, the service sector, digitization, and mining. Zhaparov noted the new chances and existing potential for collaboration with Kyrgyzstan in the construction of hydroelectric power plants, the development of renewable energy sources, and joint scientific research in these domains. Recognizing Japan as an important partner, the Kyrgyz president expressed satisfaction with the current year's good growth trends in bilateral trade. However, he emphasized that the two countries' potential for growing trade and economic cooperation has yet to be completely realized. Founded in 1967, ROTOBO actively promotes the development of business cooperation with CIS countries. Partner countries include Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Mongolia. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Bethlehem City Council will consider a contract for a study of a potential Southside Community Center at its meeting Tuesday and hear a first reading of Mayor William J. Reynolds' proposed 2024 tax increase. Twelve firms submitted proposals to conduct the feasibility study. The Reynolds administration chose "Atkins Olshin Schade Architects + MASS Design Group." That lengthy name is for a business working out of an office in Philadelphia. The administration is asking City Council to approve an $87,855 contract with the firms it refers to as "AOS and MASS." "AOS has worked with Lehigh University in the past and is very familiar with Bethlehem," according to council's agenda. The firms will assess specific sites in South Bethlehem, then develop a design for one site. Council will also review the mayor's proposed 2024 budget. The budget is being presented as a first reading, not for a final vote. Budget hearings continue. Reynolds' plan is to set the tax rate in the Northampton County portion of the city at 19.64 mills, while the Lehigh County portion would see a rate of 6.21 mills. That is an increase of 2.6% in both counties. The differing tax rates do not mean the roughly one-third of Bethlehem that is in Lehigh County is getting a break. Lehigh County properties are assessed differently, and the lower tax rate adjusts for that. Current rates are 19.14 mills for Northampton County, and 6.05 mills in Lehigh County. A mill is equal to $1 for each $1,000 of assessed property value. The term mill comes from the Latin word millesimum, meaning thousandth. The total budget for the city's General Fund in 2024 is $113.3 million. Bethlehem City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21 in Town Hall. The meeting will also be available on the Internet. The agenda and a link to the meeting are available on the city website. Agendas are subject to change. Tonight, a candlelight vigil in Bethlehem remembered the millions of people in Ukraine who died in the 1930s from a forced famine engineered by the Soviet government of Josef Stalin. The vigil also recognized the Ukrainians of today who continue to face persecution at the hands of Russia's invading forces. The gathering at Payrow Plaza honored the victims of the early 1930s "Holodomor" which means "death by starvation" in Ukrainian. The Soviets' man-made famine killed millions and forced Ukrainian people to assimilate, including having to speak in Russian. It decimated a distinct Ukrainian culture and identify. It's something speakers said the Russian government is trying to do again today. "Ninety years later, Ukraine is still fighting for the nation, culture and identity in the current war as the Ukrainians are once again threatened with millions of people at risk of hunger and starvation." In honor of the victims of Stalin's forced famine, the Ukrainian National Women's League of America's Lehigh Valley chapter conducted a food drive benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank. LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute (LVTCI) was named among country's 100 best hospitals with "great oncology programs to know" this year, according to a press release from Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN). LVCTI was recognized by Becker's Healthcare, which publishes annual hospital rankings and other healthcare review lists. According to the press release, LVTCI joins other cancer programs in earning designations from the National Cancer Institute. The list also features cancer centers with internationally-known specialists, the press release said. "This recognition makes me incredibly proud, because our clinicians work tirelessly to provide exceptional care, said Dr. Suresh Nair,, Physician in Chief of LVTCI. "This award shows our community and the country that excellent, leading-edge cancer care is available at Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute." LVTCI is under the umbrella of LVHN, which includes 13 hospital campuses across eastern Pennsylvania including four in Allentown, two in Bethlehem and two in Pottsville. ALLENTOWN, Pa. - A 21-year-old man is facing charges after gunshots rang out in Allentown Friday. Jose Villafane-Santiago, of Allentown, is charged with recklessly endangering another person and disorderly conduct, according to a news release from the Allentown Police Department. The Allentown Police Department responded to the 100 block of West Tilghman Street for a report of shots fired Friday shortly after 4 p.m., city police said. Officers located casings on scene, according to police. Police say nobody was hurt, and no properties were damaged. The Allentown Police Department said it thanks the Patrol & Criminal Investigations Division for their efforts in the case, and the community for providing tips and information related to the case. BETHLEHEM, Pa. A man was arrested Wednesday after he stabbed another man in the casino parking garage of Wind Creek Bethlehem, police said. According to Bethlehem Police, officers responded to the garage around 3:35 p.m. Wednesday and found a man suffering from multiple stab wounds including one leg wound that required a tourniquet to control bleeding. The victim was transported to an area hospital by Bethlehem EMS, police said. Police said that officers observed a silver van that witnesses said was involved in the assault leaving the scene. Van occupant Diosadado Melendez a 50-year-old Allentown man was taken into custody, as police said they could see blood inside the van. According to police, surveillance footage from the garage showed Melendez and the victim getting into the van. Melendez entered the passenger area of the van where the victim was sitting, then returned to the driver's seat and drove away, police said. That same footage showed the victim "staggering around the parking garage," police said. Officials later found trails of blood in the path where the victim had walked. Witnesses confirmed Melendez and the victim got into an "argument and physical altercation," during which the former asked the latter to exit the van. The victim refused, according to witnesses. For his alleged actions, Melendez is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count each of simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and possessing instruments of crime. He was preliminary arraigned and taken to Northampton County Prison, police said. STROUDSBURG, Pa. A 35-year-old Stroudsburg man was sentenced to 72 months in prison for a drug trafficking offense, the Monroe County District Attorney's office said in a press release. According to the press release, Walter Kenneth Parfaite was sentenced for possession with intent to distribute more than 5 grams of methamphetamine. Parfaite previously pled guilty to a similar offense after a he was found in a Monroe County motel room with "between 5 and 20 grams of actual methamphetamine" in February 2021, United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam said. The case was investigated by the FBI, Monroe County DA and Drug Task Force, Stroud Area Police Department, and Pennsylvania State Police. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Buchanan. PHILADELPHIA Four Philadelphia men face charges for their roles in a conspiracy to burglarize United Parcel Services (UPS) warehouses across the country, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Friday. The DOJ said the four men arrested are: Aboudramane Karamoko, 20, Sekou Fofanah, 20, Shamaire Brown, 19, and Quamaire Brown, 19. All are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit cargo theft. According to the DOJ, the four men conspired to burglarize about 55 UPS warehouses in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Rhode Island. They would enter the targeted facilities either late on Saturday night or early Sunday morning and look for parcels marked with "lithium-ion battery" warnings to steal as such a label indicated that a high-value electronic device was inside. The defendants would flee from the warehouses either by vehicle on foot when police arrived. They even stole a firearm on at least one occasion, the DOJ said. The charge of conspiracy to commit cargo theft carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the amount of money involved in the offense whichever is greater. NORRISTOWN, Pa. A King of Prussia man was arrested Sunday for the attempted murder, kidnapping and rape of his estranged wife, the Montgomery County District Attorney's office said in a press release Monday. According to the press release, 52-year-old Geoffrey Kay-Conway, of the 600 block of Summit Street was the man arrested. The DA's office said Kay-Conway's alleged assault occurred around 10:45 a.m. Sunday, in the parking lot of King of Prussia Walmart on North Gulph Road. When Upper Merion Township Police responded to that scene for the report of a man attacking a woman in a Nissan Rogue, they found that Kay-Cownay's "soon-to-be ex-husband" had been stabbed multiple times in the leg. Kay-Conway was found in a nearby parking lot after being found with a "large metal pick" sticking out of his sweatshirt pocket and "black zip ties in the shape of handcuffs," the DA's office said. A black duffle bag containing a black pepperball gun with two magazines, a blindfold, duct tape, zip ties, knives, wire cutters, pliers and three piercing tools including one with the victim's name on it was found in a pickup truck near where Kay-Conway was arrested, the DA's office said. A letter addressed to Kay-Conway's brother describing his intent to kill his estranged wife and then himself was also found in the truck, the DA's office said. A police investigation found the victim had obtained a final PFA order against Kay-Conway in October. He still stalked her and was charged with indirect criminal contempt on Oct. 31 for violating the order, the DA's office said. For his alleged actions, Kay-Conway is charged with attempted murder, attempted rape, aggravated assault, stalking, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, possessing an instruement of crime and other related charges. He was arraigned Monday and will face a preliminary hearing before Magisteral District Judge Patrict O. Krouse on Dec. 11, the DA's office said. LANSDALE, Pa. - Fire crews were called to the scene of a reported gas leak at a high school in Montgomery County on Monday morning. County Emergency officials say they were notified of the gas leak at Lansdale Catholic High School just before 9:15 a.m. Authorities say the school was evacuated, as crews check the building and grounds for any possible leak. A Montgomery County Communications dispatcher says so far, nothing has been discovered. LONDON (AP) Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, struggled to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic, his chief scientific adviser said Monday. In keenly awaited testimony to the countrys public inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic, Patrick Vallance said he and others faced repeated problems getting Johnson to understand the science and that he changed his mind on numerous occasions. I think Im right in saying that the prime minister gave up science at 15," he said. I think hed be the first to admit it wasnt his forte and that he struggled with the concepts and we did need to repeat them often. Extracts from Vallace's mostly contemporaneous diary of the time were relayed to the inquiry. In them, he wrote that Johnson was often bamboozled by the graphs and data and that watching him get his head round stats is awful." During the pandemic, Vallance was a highly visible presence in the U.K. He and the chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, regularly flanked Johnson at the daily COVID-19 press briefings given from the prime minister's offices on Downing Street. Vallance, who stepped down from his role as the British government's chief scientific adviser earlier this year, said Johnson's struggles were not unique and that many leaders had problems in understanding the scientific evidence and advice, especially in the first stages of the pandemic in early 2020. He recalled a meeting of European scientific advisers where one country leader was said to have problems with exponential curves and the telephone call burst into laughter, because it was true in every country. Johnson was hospitalized with the virus in April 2020 less than two weeks after he put the country into lockdown for the first time. Vallance conceded the prime minister was unable to concentrate on things when he was really unwell but that after his recuperation there was no obvious change between him and what he was like beforehand. The U.K. has one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls in Europe, with the virus recorded as a cause of death for more than 232,000 people. Johnson, who was forced to step down as prime minister in September 2022 following revelations of lockdown rule-breaking parties at his Downing Street residence during the pandemic, is due to address the inquiry before Christmas. The probe, led by retired Judge Heather Hallett, is expected to take three years to complete, though interim assessments are set to be published. Johnson agreed in late 2021 to hold a public inquiry after heavy pressure from bereaved families, who have hit out at the evidence emerging about his actions. The inquiry is divided into four so-called modules, with the current phase focusing on political decision-making around major developments, such as the timing of lockdowns. The first stage, which concluded in July, looked at the countrys preparedness for the pandemic. The inquiry is set to hear from current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was Johnson's Treasury chief at the time and as such had a particular focus on the economic impacts of Britain's lockdowns. When he does appear at the inquiry, Sunak is likely to face questioning about his Eat Out to Help Out initiative, which sought to encourage nervous customers back to restaurants in August 2020 as the first set of lockdown restrictions were being eased and before subsequent lockdowns were enacted. Vallance said scientists weren't aware of the restaurant program until it was announced and that the messaging around it ran opposite to the need to limit mixing between households. I think it would have been very obvious to anyone that this inevitably would cause an increase in transmission risk," Vallance said. Soon after, positive cases started rising and the government came under huge pressure to institute a second national lockdown, something Johnson eventually announced at the end of October 2020. The inquiry was shown a diary entry Vallance wrote before that lockdown and which referred to Dominic Cummings, Johnson's chief political adviser at the time, saying that Sunak thinks just let people die and thats OK." When asked about the diary entry, the prime minister's spokesman, Max Blain, said Sunak would set out his position when he gives evidence to the inquiry. Im sure the public will understand the importance of listening to all the evidence of the inquiry before coming to a conclusion," Blain said. Associated Press journalist Jill Lawless contributed to this report. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 20. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) intends to focus on projects across various sectors of Kyrgyzstan's economy, Trend reports. The issue was discussed during a meeting between the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov, and the President of JICA, Akihiko Tanaka, in Tokyo. The president of JICA highlighted that these projects in Kyrgyzstan aim to foster economic and agricultural development, energy enhancement, and the boost of tourism and export potential. Additionally, there are plans for the development of road and transport infrastructure. He also said that JICA is ready to continue cooperation in priority areas and effectively implement joint projects in Kyrgyzstan. In turn, Zhaparov suggested exploring funding for renewable energy projects. Moreover, he proposed examining the implementation of major infrastructure projects in transportation and communications, which could generate positive multiplier effects. On November 17, President Sadyr Zhaparov arrived in Tokyo as part of an official visit to Japan. During his visit, he met with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. Additionally, Zhaparov held meetings with leaders of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), the Japan Association for Trade with Russia and Newly Independent States (ROTOBO), and other organizations. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel KYIV, Ukraine (AP) U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday in a high-profile push to keep money and weapons flowing to Ukraine even as U.S. and international resources are stretched by the new global risks raised by the Israel-Hamas conflict. Austin, who traveled to Kyiv by train from Poland, met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Chief of Staff Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi. While there Austin announced the Pentagon would be sending an additional $100 million in weapons to Ukraine from U.S. existing stockpiles, including artillery and munitions for air defense systems. The package also includes another High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. Austin said Ukraine's effort to defeat Russian forces matters to the rest of the world" and that U.S. support would continue for the long haul." Zelenskyy said Austin's visit was a very important signal" for Ukraine. We count on your support, Zelenskyy said, thanking Congress as well as the American people for their backing. This is Austins second trip to Kyiv since Russia's 2022 invasion, but hes making it under far different circumstances, as the worlds attention is drawn to the Middle East and signs of fatigue set in with the almost 21-month Russia-Ukraine war. Austin's first visit occurred in April 2022, just two months after the start of the war. At the time, Ukraine was riding a wave of global rage at Moscows invasion, and Austin launched an international effort that now sees 50 countries meet monthly to coordinate on what weapons, training and other support could be pushed to Kyiv. But the conflict in Gaza could pull attention and resources from the Ukraine fight. The U.S. has worked feverishly since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the weeks of devastating bombardment on Gaza by Israel that has followed, to prevent the conflict from turning into a regional war. Even as Austin stood in St. Michael's Square in Kyiv, the first question asked at a press briefing at the end of the short visit was about Israels use of U.S.-provided weapons in that conflict, instead of about Ukraine. Both conflicts have already seen significant U.S. military support. To back Israel and keep that conflict from spreading, the U.S. has already committed two carrier strike groups, scores of fighter jets and thousands of U.S. personnel to the Middle East, and has had to shift its force posture and conduct airstrikes against Iranian-backed militant groups that are now hitting U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria on a regular basis. For Ukraine, the U.S. has already provided more than $44 billion and allies have sent an additional $35 billion in weapons packages that range from millions of bullets to air defense systems, advanced European and U.S. battle tanks and, finally, pledges for F-16 fighter jets. But Ukraine still needs more, and after almost 20 months of shipping arms to Ukraine, cracks are beginning to show. Some European countries such as Poland have scaled back support, noting their need to maintain adequate fighting ability to defend themselves. Ukrainian officials have strongly pushed back on suggestions they are in a stalemate with Russia after a long-awaited counteroffensive over the summer did not radically change the battle lines on the ground. In a visit to Washington last week, Andriy Yermak, head of the presidents office, provided no details but confirmed that Ukrainian forces had finally pushed through to the east bank of the Dnieper River, which has essentially served as the immovable front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces for months. However, as winter sets in it will become more difficult for either side to make large gains due to ground conditions. That could further work against Ukraine if U.S. lawmakers perceive theres time to wait before more funds are needed. Ukraine and the U.S. expect that this winter Russia will go after Ukraine's infrastructure again, like the power grid, making air defenses critical. Fred Kagan, a senior resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said it would be a mistake to think there is time to wait. If we stop providing aid to Ukraine, its not that the stalemate continues. The aid is actually essential to preventing the Russians from beginning to maneuver again in ways that can allow them to defeat Ukraine, Kagan said. So the cost of cutting off aid is that Russia wins and Ukraine loses and NATO loses. Further complicating the support is that the Pentagon has only a dwindling amount of money left in this years budget to keep sending weapons to Ukraine, and Congress is months late on getting a new budget passed and has not taken up a supplemental spending package that would include Ukraine aid. Since the war began in February 2022, the U.S. has provided more than $44.2 billion in weapons to Ukraine, but the funding is nearly gone. The Pentagon can send about $5 billion more in weapons and equipment from its own stocks. But it only has about $1 billion in funding to replace those stocks. As a result, recent announcements of weapons support have been of much smaller dollar amounts, such as the $100 million package announced in Kyiv by Austin, than in months past. You have seen smaller packages, because we need to parse these out, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday. Because we dont know when Congress is going to pass our supplemental package. Officials have been urging Congress to provide additional money, but a growing number of Senate Republicans have opposed additional Ukraine aid without securing support for other unrelated provisions, such as stricter immigration laws and additional funding for border control. A stopgap spending bill passed last week to avoid a government shutdown during the holidays did not include any money for Ukraine. ___ Copp reported from Washington. Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) The statewide battles over abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion have exposed another fault line: the commitment to democracy. As voters in state after state affirm their support for abortion rights, opponents are acting with escalating defiance toward the democratic processes and institutions they perceive as aligned against their cause. Certain Republican elected officials and anti-abortion activists around the country have responded to losses at the ballot box by challenging election results, refusing to bring state laws into line with voter-backed changes, moving to strip state courts of their power to consider abortion-related laws and challenging the citizen-led ballot initiative process itself. We.Are.Not.Done., Ohio state Rep. Jennifer Gross declared on the social media platform X two days after voters enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution earlier this month. She and 25 other Republican lawmakers vowed to block the amendment from reversing Ohio's existing abortion restrictions. A strong majority of Ohio voters passed the amendment, by roughly 57% to 43%. In response, the group of lawmakers said in a joint statement: "We will do everything in our power to prevent our laws from being removed based upon perception of intent. Gross joined three fellow Republicans to go even further, proposing legislation to prevent Ohio courts from interpreting any cases related to the abortion-rights amendment, known as Issue 1. Similar efforts have emerged in six other states since state courts became the new abortion battleground after the Dobbs decision on June 24, 2022, that overturned Roe v. Wade. Douglas Keith, senior counsel to the Brennan Center for Justices Judiciary Program, said abortion politics prompted successful efforts to limit the power of state courts in Montana and Utah and unsuccessful legislation in Alaska and Kansas. Such bills are attempts to dismantle the government's system of checks and balances, he said. An attempt to strip the courts ability to interpret Issue 1 seems to me to be picking a fight with not just the courts, but with voters themselves, Keith said in reference to the Ohio amendment. That conflict was on display during a town hall hosted by Gross after her efforts to thwart the abortion-rights amendment were announced. A constituent who said she supported Issue 1, Emily Jackson, was incredulous. Youre ignoring the voice. The voice is there," Jackson said. "We spoke. Gross told Jackson she wasn't ignoring voters but rather was reflecting opponents' concerns that Ohio voters were led astray. The campaign drew big money from outside the state for both sides. Gross did not return call and emails seeking additional comment. Advocates contend that strict abortion laws also are undemocratic in the most basic sense because a majority of Americans oppose them. According to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 94,000 voters, 63% of those who voted in the 2022 midterm elections said abortion should be legal in most or all cases. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll taken a year after the Supreme Court's decision found that about two-thirds of Americans overall said abortion should generally be legal. In all seven states where abortion has been on the ballot since Roe v. Wade fell, voters have either supported protecting abortion rights or rejected an attempt to erode them. That has led some Republicans who support abortion restrictions to target the ballot initiative process, a form of direct democracy that is available to voters in only about half the states. Thank goodness that most of the states in this country dont allow you to put everything on the ballot because pure democracies are not the way to run a country, said Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and one-time presidential candidate. He spoke about Ohio's election results during an appearance on the conservative site NewsMax. Another elected Republican, North Dakota state Rep. Brandon Prichard, weighed in on X, formerly Twitter, to encourage Republicans to defy the outcome of Ohio's election. "It would be an act of courage to ignore the results of the election and not allow for the murder of Ohio babies, he wrote. Some political observers see a larger danger in such sentiments. Sophia Jordan Wallace, a political science professor at the University of Washington, said the frequency and the explicitness of these undemocratic attempts are increasing and that they threaten to do long-term damage to American institutions and the publics faith in them. And that damage is incredibly difficult to undo," she said. For many abortion opponents, the issue is a sacred cause, the thing that cannot be argued with, one that may outweigh the importance of maintaining democratic practices, said Myrna Perez, associate professor of Gender and American Religion at Ohio University. Things arent static, so youre trying to figure out a way to get the system to give you the results that you want, she said. Andrew Whitehead, associate professor of sociology at Indiana UniversityPurdue University Indianapolis, said Christian nationalists, who have deep ties to the anti-abortion movement, have a history of viewing access to fundamental democratic processes such as voting not as a right but a privilege that should be afforded only to those who align with their beliefs. When it comes to enforcing their vision for America they think is ordained by God, they will set aside democracy, Whitehead said. Anti-abortion lawmakers and advocates already have pushed back in a handful of states where voters sided generally with abortion rights. In Montana, voters last fall rejected a legislative referendum that would have criminalized a doctor's or nurse's failure to provide lifesaving care to a baby born alive after an attempted abortion; such cases typically involve severe medical problems. Republicans countered by passing a version of the rejected measure into law. Kentucky Republicans chose to leave intact a state ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, even though voters there defeated a measure that would have denied constitutional protections for the procedure. In Ohio, some notable top Republicans are rejecting anti-democratic suggestions and standing up for voters. In this country, we accept the results of elections, said GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, a leading opponent of Issue 1. Republican Attorney General Dave Yost tweeted that he scoured the Ohio Constitution, but found no exception for matters in which the outcome of an election is contrary to the preferences of those in power. All political power is inherent in the people, he quoted the document as saying. Republican state legislative leaders initially pledged that the fight to restrict abortion rights wasn't over after voters had spoken. But as their party grapples with the anti-abortion movement's deep divisions, House Speaker Jason Stephens and Senate President Matt Huffman have appeared to soften their tone. Stephens signaled he won't advance Grosss court-limiting bill. Huffman, a devout Catholic, walked back suggestions that he could pursue an immediate repeal of Issue 1. They were among Ohio Republicans who defied their own law and called a special election in August aimed at raising the threshold for passing future constitutional amendments from a simple majority to 60%. The measure was widely seen as an attempt to undermine the fall abortion amendment and was soundly rejected. The tensions already are evident for abortion initiatives planned for state ballots in 2024. In Missouri, disputes over ballot language are complicating efforts by abortion-rights supporters to advance a statewide ballot measure. A panel of judges last month ruled that summaries written by Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, an abortion opponent who is running for governor next year, were politically partisan and misleading. In Michigan, three Republican lawmakers joined an anti-abortion group in suing to overturn a state constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights that voters passed with wide support last year. Floridas Republican attorney general is attempting to keep a proposed abortion rights amendment off the 2024 ballot. We saw voters make that connection in Ohio between abortion and democracy in that first special election, said Kara Gross, legislative director at the ACLU of Florida. And we have faith voters will be able to make that same connection elsewhere in 2024. The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about APs democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, November 20. Trade turnover between Tajikistan and Georgia reached $29.312 million from January through September 2023, Trend reports. Data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) indicates a 2.3 times increase compared to the same period in 2022 ($12.418 million). During this period, the majority of the trade turnover constituted Georgian exports to Tajikistan, amounting to $29.273 million. The figure increased by 2.4 times compared to the same period in 2022 ($12.131 million). However, Georgian imports from Tajikistan amounted to $38,930 from January through September 2023. This is a drop of 7.3 times compared to the same period in 2022 ($286,610). In 2023, Georgia imported goods from Tajikistan only in April, May, and August. Tajikistan and Georgia's total trade turnover reached $22.9 million in 2022, which is 1.8 times greater than the $12.5 million registered in 2021. Georgia's exports to Tajikistan totaled $22.6 million, increasing 1.8 times compared to $12.4 million in 2021. The country's imports from Tajikistan in 2022 totaled $304,250, up by 5.7 times over the $53,170 recorded in 2021. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Incs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BMY. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the first quarter worth about $332,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 111.5% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,052 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 53.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 165,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $12,075,000 after purchasing an additional 57,444 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the first quarter worth $1,997,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.1% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 338,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $24,725,000 after buying an additional 68,018 shares during the period. 74.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several brokerages recently issued reports on BMY. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $78.00 to $65.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Thursday, November 9th. They set a hold rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, October 27th. HSBC upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a reduce rating to a hold rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Finally, Atlantic Securities reduced their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $63.59. Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance BMY stock traded down $1.44 during trading on Monday, reaching $49.40. The stock had a trading volume of 9,773,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,659,062. The firm has a market cap of $100.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stocks 50 day moving average is $55.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.85. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $48.78 and a 52 week high of $81.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.96 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 51.59%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current year. Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 5th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is 57.87%. Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,868 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. About Bristol-Myers Squibb (Free Report) Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia. Further Reading 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. Boliden AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:BDNNY Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of Hold by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Several research analysts have commented on BDNNY shares. Citigroup raised shares of Boliden AB (publ) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Boliden AB (publ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Get Boliden AB (publ) alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Boliden AB (publ) Boliden AB (publ) Stock Up 4.2 % BDNNY opened at $56.21 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.64 and a 200 day moving average of $57.62. Boliden AB has a 12 month low of $48.66 and a 12 month high of $92.60. Boliden AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:BDNNY Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 20th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter. Boliden AB (publ) Company Profile (Get Free Report Boliden AB (publ) engages in the exploring, extracting, and processing of base metals and precious metals in Sweden, other Nordic region, Germany, the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, North America, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Business Area Mines and Business Area Smelters. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Boliden AB (publ) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boliden AB (publ) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX Get Free Report)s share price fell 3.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $6.62 and last traded at $6.76. 1,159,602 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 6,692,191 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.98. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades CX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CEMEX from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup restated a buy rating and issued a $8.20 price target on shares of CEMEX in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CEMEX from $9.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $8.47. Get CEMEX alerts: Get Our Latest Report on CEMEX CEMEX Price Performance The stock has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stocks 50-day moving average is $6.49 and its 200 day moving average is $6.94. CEMEX (NYSE:CX Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The construction company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. CEMEX had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 3.80%. The company had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On CEMEX Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 44.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,521,517 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $29,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,130 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in CEMEX by 146.8% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 3,010,503 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $19,568,000 after buying an additional 1,790,588 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of CEMEX in the third quarter worth about $246,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of CEMEX by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,456,040 shares of the construction companys stock worth $9,464,000 after acquiring an additional 437,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of CEMEX in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,883,000. Institutional investors own 31.81% of the companys stock. About CEMEX (Get Free Report) CEMEX, SAB. de C.V., together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, distributes, and sells cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, urbanization solutions, and other construction materials worldwide. The company also offers asphalt, concrete blocks, concrete block paving, rail sleepers, and flooring systems; architectural concrete products; and box culverts, bridges, drainage basins, barriers, and parking curbs. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for CEMEX Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CEMEX and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of FIGS, Inc. (NYSE:FIGS Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of Hold from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.16. FIGS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on FIGS from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an outperform rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of FIGS in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Get FIGS alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on FIGS Insider Buying and Selling Institutional Investors Weigh In On FIGS In other FIGS news, CFO Daniella Turenshine sold 4,201 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.71, for a total value of $28,188.71. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 452,556 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,036,650.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website . In other FIGS news, CFO Daniella Turenshine sold 4,201 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.71, for a total value of $28,188.71. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 452,556 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,036,650.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website . Also, insider Heather L. Hasson sold 73,714 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.20, for a total value of $457,026.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,217,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,550,949. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 142,770 shares of company stock valued at $901,742. Corporate insiders own 21.40% of the companys stock. A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FIGS. Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of FIGS during the 1st quarter worth about $92,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FIGS during the 1st quarter worth about $249,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of FIGS by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,536,159 shares of the companys stock worth $59,029,000 after acquiring an additional 243,935 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of FIGS by 4,267.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 188,909 shares of the companys stock worth $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 184,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of FIGS by 72.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,814 shares of the companys stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 15,071 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the companys stock. FIGS Stock Up 4.0 % Shares of FIGS stock opened at $6.55 on Monday. FIGS has a 52 week low of $5.16 and a 52 week high of $10.20. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $5.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 81.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 1.38. FIGS Company Profile (Get Free Report FIGS, Inc operates as a direct-to-consumer healthcare apparel and lifestyle company in the United States. It designs and sells healthcare apparel and scrubwaer and non-scrubwear offerings, such as lab coats, under scrubs, outerwear, loungewear, compression socks footwear, and other lifestyle apparel. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for FIGS Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for FIGS and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First Western Trust Bank decreased its stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX Free Report) by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,033 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after selling 1,877 shares during the quarter. First Western Trust Banks holdings in Chevron were worth $949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Chevron by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,333 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $2,255,000 after buying an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its position in Chevron by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 79,961 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $12,582,000 after purchasing an additional 9,477 shares during the last quarter. Kooman & Associates raised its position in Chevron by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 1,568 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Reuter James Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Chevron by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Reuter James Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,659 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in Chevron by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 7,789 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.87% of the companys stock. Get Chevron alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Chevron from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Chevron from $209.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Chevron from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Chevron from $203.00 to $201.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $187.89. Chevron Trading Up 0.3 % NYSE:CVX traded up $0.46 on Monday, reaching $144.92. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,300,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,359,087. Chevron Co. has a 1-year low of $140.74 and a 1-year high of $187.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $273.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.16. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $158.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.22. Chevron (NYSE:CVX Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 27th. The oil and gas company reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.65). The firm had revenue of $54.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.41 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 16.15% and a net margin of 12.11%. Chevrons revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.56 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 13.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Chevron Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Chevrons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.84%. 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. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CVX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX Free Report). 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. Prudent Man Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Free Report) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,348 shares of the companys stock after selling 236 shares during the period. Philip Morris International comprises 0.6% of Prudent Man Advisors LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Prudent Man Advisors LLCs holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 10.4% during the second quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 213,136 shares of the companys stock valued at $20,806,000 after purchasing an additional 20,104 shares in the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 3,902 shares of the companys stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Green Square Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 120,894 shares of the companys stock worth $11,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Herold Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 8.6% in the second quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 5,484 shares of the companys stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. 79.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Philip Morris International Stock Performance NYSE:PM traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $91.81. The stock had a trading volume of 354,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,261,180. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.77. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.23 and a 52 week high of $105.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $92.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.26. Philip Morris International Increases Dividend Philip Morris International ( NYSE:PM Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $9.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.21 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.62% and a negative return on equity of 129.48%. Philip Morris Internationals quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.16 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 27th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 5.66%. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.97%. Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages have recently commented on PM. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Friday, September 29th. 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. Barclays cut their target price on Philip Morris International from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a buy rating and issued a $114.00 price target on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday. They set a neutral rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $109.36. Read Our Latest Analysis on Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Company Profile (Free Report) Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWF Free Report) by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,557 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 1,243 shares during the quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF were worth $2,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 26,203 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $7,275,000 after purchasing an additional 6,665 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF in the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,211 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 7,595 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $2,109,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,422,000. Get iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF alerts: iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF Trading Up 0.7 % Shares of NYSEARCA IWF traded up $2.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $289.89. The company had a trading volume of 721,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,386,130. The company has a market capitalization of $73.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.59. iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF has a one year low of $209.27 and a one year high of $290.08. iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF Company Profile iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment returns that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 1000 Growth Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of equity securities of Russell 1000 index issuers with relatively higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IWF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWF Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of Hold from the four research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $177.00. Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on UniFirst from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of UniFirst in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of UniFirst in a report on Friday, October 6th. They set an equal weight rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Get UniFirst alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on UniFirst UniFirst Stock Down 0.7 % Shares of UniFirst stock opened at $170.83 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 30.95 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $165.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.31. UniFirst has a 52 week low of $150.50 and a 52 week high of $205.59. UniFirst (NYSE:UNF Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 18th. The textile maker reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.12. UniFirst had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 4.64%. The firm had revenue of $571.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.22 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.79 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UniFirst will post 7.69 EPS for the current year. UniFirst Increases Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 7th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from UniFirsts previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 6th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. UniFirsts payout ratio is presently 23.91%. Insider Activity In other UniFirst news, VP David A. Difillippo sold 6,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.26, for a total transaction of $1,044,112.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,111 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,681,054.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of UniFirst Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in UniFirst by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,664,757 shares of the textile makers stock worth $280,062,000 after purchasing an additional 4,941 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in UniFirst by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 886,735 shares of the textile makers stock worth $137,453,000 after acquiring an additional 90,309 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in UniFirst by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 628,270 shares of the textile makers stock worth $97,390,000 after acquiring an additional 10,143 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in UniFirst by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 558,531 shares of the textile makers stock worth $93,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in UniFirst by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 542,113 shares of the textile makers stock worth $84,033,000 after acquiring an additional 20,093 shares in the last quarter. 76.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. UniFirst Company Profile (Get Free Report UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The company operates through U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning, and First Aid segments. It designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments. Read More Receive News & Ratings for UniFirst Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UniFirst and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, November 21. Turkmenistan will study the possibility of joining the international documents that are planned to be signed following the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Trend reports. This was reported by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Rashid Meredov, at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers. According to him, preparations are currently underway for the participation of the Turkmen delegation in the COP-28 (Climate Change Conference), which will be held from November 30 through December 12 in Dubai, UAE. Meredov noted that the forum will bring together numerous representative delegations of reputable international organizations and countries around the world, and plenary sessions of the COP-28 Conference with the participation of heads of state and government are scheduled from December 1 through December 2. Furthermore, he added that the conference will discuss topics such as strengthening the international financial base for combating climate change and encouraging the private sector to participate in solving relevant tasks. Meanwhile, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan noted the constructive nature of the country's interaction with the participants of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and stressed the need to carefully prepare for the participation of Turkmenistan's delegation in COP-28. Stay up to date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel A journalist walks past a poster at the APEC 2023 International Media Center in San Francisco, the United States, on Nov. 14, 2023. [Xinhua/Li Rui] Securing another "golden 30 years" for the Asia-Pacific "will create a peaceful, prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable region where all countries work together to build a better future for all," a Cambodian expert has said. PHNOM PENH, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping's proposal to work together for another "golden 30 years" of the Asia-Pacific is crucial in the current global context, a Cambodian expert has said. Xi's proposal demonstrates "China's unwavering commitment to deepening cooperation in various fields with all countries to achieve high-quality development in the Asia-Pacific region and win-win results," said Kin Phea, director general of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia, when asked to comment on Xi's speech at the 30th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. Securing another "golden 30 years" for the Asia-Pacific "will create a peaceful, prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable region where all countries work together to build a better future for all," Phea said. The benefits of building a golden future for the Asia-Pacific include increased economic growth, job creation, and improved living standards, he added. This aerial photo taken on Sept. 30, 2023 shows a high-speed electrical multiple unit (EMU) train of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway running in Purwakarta, Indonesia. [Xinhua/Xu Qin] Regardless of their size or power, all countries are equal partners and have a voice in shaping the region's future, although the region now faces such challenges as global economic slowdown, rising geopolitical tensions, climate change, inequality, and poverty, said Phea. "To address these challenges, we need to promote free trade and investment, strengthen regional cooperation, support sustainable development, and promote peace and mutual understanding," he said. Moreover, regional cooperation on counterterrorism, disaster preparedness and climate change can build trust and understanding, create a more stable situation, protect the environment, and reduce conflicts, said the expert. This photo taken on Nov. 17, 2023 shows the China-aided Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. [Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua] Referring to China's vital role in global development, Phea said that China has worked closely with all like-minded international communities in maintaining and restoring confidence in multilateralism and globalization. "China always shares the fruit of its peaceful development with the rest of the world through global initiatives such as the Global Development Initiative, the Belt and Road Initiative and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, among others, towards building a global community with a shared future for mankind," Phea noted. (Source: Xinhua) Body of missing woman found in storage unit belonging to her estranged husband, police say In the parking lot just outside of Club Q in Colorado Springs, hundreds of people gathered one year after a heartbreaking day that forever changed the community. Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivers remarks at the 2023 Christians United for Israel summit on July 17, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. Foreigners are losing the Chinese market. For Volkswagen, 2023 will be the year of the worst sales in China since 2012. Hyundai, Toyota, Nissan and the Europeans are also losing market share. Nissan and Huindai, for example, are experiencing their worst years in the market since 2009, Banksta's tg channel writes, Azernews reports. Only the Chinese car industry is growing at the expense of electric cars, for example, the share of BYD concern is noticeably growing. At the same time, the local car market has grown by 20% compared to last year, including due to the benefits given by the state to its manufacturers. China will become the world's largest exporter of cars, overtaking Japan and Germany, according to Moody's analysis published in August. In September, the European Union launched an investigation to fight Chinese companies producing electric cars. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, November 20. Uzbekistan and Mongolia agreed to conclude an agreement on air traffic and international road transport links development, Trend reports. The news followed a meeting between Ambassador of Uzbekistan to China and Mongolia Farkhod Arziyev and Minister of Road and Transport Development of Mongolia Sandag Byambatsogt. During the discussions, the participants highlighted that a Road Transport Agreement would be finalized soon. Consequently, European goods are anticipated to be transported via Uzbekistan and Mongolia to the eastern cities of China, while goods from Mongolia and China are expected to traverse Uzbekistan en route to Europe, Iran, Pakistan, and the ports of the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, to date, the trade turnover between the two countries has reached $7 million. Uzbekistan and Mongolia aim to expand trade in fruits and vegetables, as well as meat, wool and cashmere products. Moreover, currently citizens of the two countries can travel without a visa for 30 days. David North, chairperson of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, spoke at Birkbeck, University of London on Saturday in the latest in an international series of lectures on Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century. David North speaking at the London meeting, November 18, 2023 Introducing North, Socialist Equality Party Assistant National Secretary Tom Scripps told an audience made up of workers and students, Many of you will have been motivated to attend today by the genocide being carried out against the Palestinians in Gaza by the Israeli army We are not bringing the questions of Leon Trotsky, the Russian Revolution, the Left Opposition, the Fourth International into the Israel-Palestine question and the anti-war movement; they are already there, lodged at the very centre. As with all the crises and catastrophes confronting humanity today, their origin is inexplicable and their solution inconceivable outside of the history of the socialist movement. And above all, the struggle of the Trotskyist movement to defend its revolutionary internationalist principles and the Leninist conception of an independent, vanguard party of the working class. Norths presentation dealt with the historical and programmatic issues raised by Israels bloody campaign of mass murder and ethnic cleansing. He began by examining the significance of the Open Letter by James P. Cannon to the world Trotskyist movement, issued on November 16, 1953, in defending the perspective of world socialist revolution and defeating the liquidationist assault led by Michel Pablo and Ernest Mandel against the Fourth International. Seventy years after its publication, the Open Letter retains undiminished relevance as a summation of the present political situation and the tasks of the Fourth International, led by the International Committee, North said. Addressing Israels carpet bombing and invasion of Gaza, carried out with the full support of the United States, Britain and all the major imperialist powers, North set out to refute the slander utilised as the main weapon against the mass global protests in defence of the Palestinians, that they are anti-Semitic. He did so by detailing at length the historical origins of Zionism as a philosophically irrationalist and national chauvinist rejection of the socialist and internationalist perspective of Marxism, insisting on the primacy of race over class, the national state as the essential foundation of political life, and the building of a Jewish state as an opposed goal to the struggle for world socialism. Presenting complex and unfamiliar material, North urged his audience to consider how the struggle to end the genocide of the Palestinians vindicates and imparts the greatest urgency to the central perspective and raison detre of the International Committee of the Fourth International: the struggle for the world socialist revolution. Norths report was followed with great care and met with warm applause. It provoked intense discussion lasting over an hour with questions on Zionism, anti-Semitism, and the history of the Trotskyist movement. A financial appeal raised over 3,800. A measure of the political interest generated was the sale of almost 1,000 in literature, including a large number of Norths latest publication, Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century, which provided the title of the lecture series. Outside the meeting, discussion continued in small groups and one-to-one conversations for another hour, with several attendees expressing an interest in joining the Socialist Equality Party. Bill is a student at Londons School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). David from London said the meeting was very thought provoking and extremely topical. The fact that the speaker could relate things which are happening in real time to the socialist theory made it very interesting. He had learned about the history of Zionism and its differences with socialism. That history is obviously extremely relevant today. It sounds obvious, but from a socialist perspective it only makes sense on an international scale. To have nationalist boundaries would not make sense to a socialist. The meeting had raised an important point that in backing Israel, the imperialist powers are supporting their own war policies. Thats the reality of whats taking place today. I think its important that people stand up to this despite the intimidation and stand in solidarity with the people who are suffering from this genocide. David said it was important that the lecture raised the issue of anti-Semitism. If you have any criticism at all of Israeli government policy, or actions taken in the name of the Israeli government, which we have to remember half of the population of Israel has been protesting against the Netanyahu government for the last year or so, I cant see how this extremist government can be beyond criticism from people around the world. Its self-defeating to label that criticism anti-Semitic and it will only embolden the true anti-Semites which to my mind are from the right wing not the left. Its a reactionary approach and I think we have to continue to stand up and say what we feel and not be afraid of what comes the other way. Trotsky had so much foresight. He would have seen years before that this would cause conflict and he is as relevant as ever 100 years later. Kenny, a longstanding reader of the WSWS originally from Scotland, said, I thought the meeting was excellent, especially the historical perspective on Zionism which is particularly necessary in the present circumstances in the war against Gaza. Because thats going to come more to the forefront in the near future, because governments class all opposition to Zionism as anti-Semitism. There has to be an international movement of the working class in different nations to overthrow decaying capitalism. Giain, a student from North Wales, said, I cant see a future for young people under capitalism, we need a revolution. The working class has to come together, and I agree it has to be done internationally. Im against fascism, which is the real anti-Semitism. The people demonstrating for a ceasefire are demonstrating against Israel not Jews. Sign up for text message updates on the Detroit Three contract fight by texting AUTO to (866) 847-1086. A man arrives at a UAW Hall in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, January 14, 2016. [AP Photo/Patrick Semansky] There is a palpable sigh of relief in many of the media reports about the supposed ratification of the United Auto Workers deals with the Big Three automakers. Even though challenges to the legitimacy of the vote, particularly at General Motors, are ongoing, the media has declared the process over and the contracts ratified. On Monday morning, the UAW announced ratification of its agreements at the Big Three while ignoring the broad opposition to the deals even according to its official numbers. The announcement followed several days of unexplained delay and media silence by the UAW. Voting at General Motors had concluded last Thursday, followed by Ford and Stellantis. At GM, workers are expected to appeal ratification over a number of violations of UAW rules. Among the most significant, the UAW counted votes from Ultium battery and GM Subsystems in reaching its overall ratification of the GM national contract, even though workers at these facilities were not GM employees at the time of the vote. At other companies, workers have reported being forced to vote inside their plants where they could be observed by management. Questions have also been raised about the chain of custody of the ballot boxes at GM Arlington. Arlington was the last of the major GM assembly plants to vote, and the UAW reported a large yes vote at it, in contrast to the increasingly large no votes at other assembly plants in the preceding days. Ignoring all this, the Detroit News declared, The majority votes backing the tentative agreements mark mission accomplished for the union, its first set of directly elected leaders and its campaign to publicize the talks and promote the labor movement. The Wall Street Journal added, The close of voting will mark a major milestone for the UAW, after contentious negotiations that began earlier this year led to a roughly six-week strike. According to the UAW ratification vote tracker, 67.4 percent of production workers at Ford and 66.8 percent of production workers at Stellantis backed the deal, prompting the news media to declare that the deals won popular support from workers. The media pundits were largely at a loss to explain why thousands of workers at Fords giant Kentucky Truck Plant and Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex overwhelmingly voted down the deals, which the media, echoing UAW President Shawn Fain, has hailed as historic and life-changing for workers. Nor could they give a viable explanation why GM workers at seven of the companys 11 assembly plants voted it down, and, why, according to the UAWs own dubious numbers, it passed by a narrow margin of 53.2-46.7 percent, with 14,429 out of 30,860 production workers voting it down. As the WSWS wrote last week, Nothing that has been announced by the UAW bureaucracy can be trusted. To get to the truth, it is necessary to conduct an audit of the vote, including an investigation of how the ballots were handled. This audit must be conducted under the supervision of committees of trusted rank-and-file workers, elected from the shop floor. Rank-and-file committees should gather testimony from workers on irregularities and instances of intimidation. The industry publication Automotive News has expressed concern over rank-and-file opposition to the sellout deals. Although the automakers say the new deals with the UAW make working in their factories pay better than 70 percent of other U.S. jobsin all fields, not just manufacturing, the industry publication said, But more than 35,000 of the automakers hourly workers still voted no. It noted that GMs contract passed by fewer than 3,300 votesless than half the margin for a far less lucrative deal in 2019 and pointed to the large no votes at the Kentucky Ford and Ohio Stellantis plants. Automotive News continued, The discontent highlights the elevated expectations among members during this particularly bitter round of negotiations. A desire for better retirement benefits and even higher wages for top earners were among the points of contention expressed as workers voted at union halls across the country this month. As it has for more than four decades, the UAW bureaucracy resorted to lies, threats and likely outright vote-rigging to get the contracts passed. In addition, it exploited the economic desperation created by endless UAW-backed concessions to present its meager and thoroughly inadequate pay raises and meager improvements as record contracts. As one Stellantis worker at the Detroit Assembly Complex told the WSWS, The UAW set the bar so low they could present what little they got as record contracts. This was confirmed by Marick Masters, a management professor at Wayne State University with closes ties to the corporations and the UAW who was quoted widely in the corporate media. Masters said, While the gains may not have recouped all of the losses they suffered during 15 painful years of retrenchment in the industry, they were starting from a very low base and got as much as they could in this round of negotiationsmore than people thought was attainable at the beginning. Bloomberg, for its part, grasped for straws to prove the historic nature of the UAW deal, writing: The United Auto Workers unions tentative agreements with Detroits three automakers include a new benefit: two weeks of paid parental leave for full-time employees. Thats almost nothing compared to what workers in other rich nations receive. But its significant in other ways. Bloomberg notes that that the US has no nationally mandated paid time off for new parents, and only about a quarter of American private-sector workers have access to the benefit. Two weeks is far less than whats available in Europe and Asia, where workers by law can get six months or even more than a year, the article continues. It also pales in comparison to the leave for salaried workers at General Motors Co., which can be as much as 12 weeks. Its nevertheless a step up for the roughly 146,000 UAW members covered by the agreements and their families. Compared to other countries, two weeks seems paltry, but compared to other workers in the US, its hugely significant, said Rebecca Givan, associate professor at Rutgers Universitys School of Management and Labor Relations. In fact, the new deals will ensure that workers will continue to be subjected to brutally long work schedules, including more punitive attendance policies to punish workers for taking time off from back-breaking and soul-crushing working conditions. Most importantly, the deals will pave the way for the purging of thousands of higher paid workers through voluntary employment termination buyouts that have already been emailed to workers. Inevitably, buyouts will be followed by mass layoffs and plant closures as the UAW bureaucracy collaborates in the jobs massacre the corporations plan as part of their transition to electric vehicle production. GM, for example, is currently engaged in a $2 billion-a-year cost-cutting campaign, more than double what it expects to pay out in additional labor costs from the new contract. The Wall Street Journal reported that Stellantis is about to offer a new round of buyouts to roughly half of its US white-collar employees, as the company continues to cut expenses amid an expensive transition to electric vehicles and higher labor costs from a pending new union contract. The voluntary separation packages will be offered to 6,400 white-collar workers with at least five years of experience. This is the third round of buyouts, following offers to 2,500 salaried workers in April 2023 and one in October 2022. A Ford Chicago worker who attended a call-in meeting Sunday, sponsored by the Autoworkers Rank-and-File Committees Network, said, The UAW International are crooks and liars. They want us to get into a battle between plants to lower wages and boost profits. They have not gotten anything for us in these contracts. Fain and his flunkies should come back to the shop floor and see what it is like for us. People who voted yes on this contract are going to quickly see they were lied to. They are not going to be happy. These CEOs are cutting jobs, bringing in outside contractors to write you up for safety violations to fire you and even taking your chairs so you can sit while youre working. As for the UAW, they dont care about anything but getting their members dues money. Supporters of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) in India organized a zoom meeting on November 9 titled How to stop the genocide in Gaza. Attended by WSWS readers in India, the meeting was chaired by Deepal Jayasekara, General Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), the Sri Lankan section of the ICFI. Keith Jones, the National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Canada), the Canadian section of the ICFI, also addressed the meeting. An important discussion, which raised essential political tasks on developing a movement to stop the war in Gaza, followed the speeches. The full proceedings of the meeting were translated into Tamil, a major language in India with more than 70 million speakers. In his opening remarks, Jayasekera denounced the imperialist-backed war crimes committed by Israels far-right, Benjamin Netanyahu-led regime: Israel's military has been relentlessly attacking Palestinians in Gaza with missiles, bombs and artillery for more than 30 days now. The death toll is now over 10,000 and more than 70,000 have been injured. More than half of them are women and children...Israel's Zionist regime is carrying out ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. Jayasekara placed Israel's genocide in the broader context of the US war drive against China and ongoing US-NATO war in Ukraine against Russia. The imperialist powers, mainly the US, he said, pointing to the massive US military build-up in the region, are utilizing the Gaza war to prepare for a wider war in the Middle East, particularly threatening Iran. Insisting on the significance of protests of millions of workers and youth globally against Israel's genocide and in support of the Palestinians, Jayasekera said: While calling for the expansion of the global protests against the Gaza war with the widest possible participation, we make a special call to the working class internationally, the social force capable of stopping this war and growing imperialist war drive, to independently intervene to take the lead in the struggle against war. Jones denounced the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian ruling class as a whole for their direct complicity in the war that the Israeli state, with the backing of all the imperialist powers, is waging on the Palestinian people. Referring to the arrival that day of US Secretaries of State and Defence, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin respectively, in New Delhi for a so-called 2+2 meeting with their Indian counterparts, S. Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh, Jones said: No doubt this meeting will conclude tomorrow with further announcements of arms deals and enhanced military cooperation as part of the so-called Indo-US global strategic partnership. That the Indian governmentwith, it need be added, the unanimous approval of the corporate mediashould choose to deepen its alliance with US imperialism, and publicly be seen to do so, as Israel with Washingtons blessing and encouragement massacres the Palestinians and threatens to unleash a war engulfing the entire Middle East must be taken as a sober warning by the Indian working class. There are, Jones asserted, no limits to the lengths the Indian ruling class will goto the crimes it will commit and the violence it will unleashin pursuing its predatory interests through its partnership with US imperialism. He subsequently pointed to three factors that explain why the Modi government and the Indian ruling class have abandoned their so-called historic position in support of the rights of the Palestinian people and openly lined up with Israels genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza. The first and far and away most important is the Indo-US strategic partnership, he explained. This partnership was forged by the Congress Party-led Manmohan Singh government with the administration of George W. Bush as it waged illegal neocolonial wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Moreover, it was from the start directed at containing and strategically encircling Chinasomething that was admitted and indeed celebrated in US and Indian government and military-strategic circles. Under Modis now decade-old regime and with the full support of the Indian ruling class, India has been transformed into a veritable frontline state in US war preparations against China and is working with Washington to counter China across South Asia, Central and South-East Asia, Africa, the Middle East and even the South Pacific. The second factor was Indias military-strategic partnership with Israel and the third the political-ideological affinity between Modis BJP and its far-right Hindutva allies and the Zionists Both celebrate religious exclusivism and state criminality and violence and derogate Muslims as their common enemy. (Read more: Indias far-right government joins imperialist powers in backing Israels genocidal assault on Gaza) Jones explained that to stop the war the growing movement of the international working class against social inequality and austerity must be infused with opposition to militarism and imperialism: We have to draw the connection between what workers are experiencing in their day to day life and the war and the foreign policy and geopolitical strategy of the Indian bourgeoisie. He said that opposition to the genocide in Gaza must be linked to the fight against the reactionary Indo-US strategic partnership. The struggle to mobilize the working class against imperialist war invariably means a struggle against the bureaucratic, pro-capitalist trade unions and the phony left parties in India with which they are aligned. This means exposing the role of the Stalinist Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and Communist Party of India (CPI), and their Left Front. Jones said. The Stalinists, who initially joined with the Modi government in denouncing Hamas terrorism, are presently organizing protests against the Gaza war. But the political perspective they are advancing is entirely in line with their decades-long role as an integral part of the Indian political establishment, opposing any independent class action by the Indian workers and making appeals to the Modi government. They are promoting the INDIA alliance, a right-wing electoral bloc headed by the opposition Congress Party, that does not have any fundamental differences with the Modi government in domestic or foreign policy. Jones concluded: An anti-war movement must be rooted in the working class, . . . and based on a revolutionary socialist perspective. That is the perspective historically associated with Leon Trotsky, who led the Russian Revolution with Lenin in October 1917, and then struggled against its betrayal by the Stalinist bureaucracy and founded the Fourth International. During the question and answer session, one participant wanted clarification on the ICFIs support for the call by Palestinian trade unions for actions to block military supplies to Israel despite its characterization of contemporary trade unions as partners of capitalist governments and employers. We very much welcome the call of the Palestinian trade unions, Jones commented, as it directs attention to the necessity of mobilizing the working class around the world to oppose the genocide that is taking place. We have sought to popularize that call, while also seeking to further elaborate and develop it by explaining that the independent action of the working class to halt arms shipments to Israel must be accompanied, not with appeals to the capitalist governments, but with the fight for a broader mobilization of the working class, and ultimately a general strike. He further elaborated on the ICFI stance: We oppose the trade unions because they have failed the working class as nationalist organizations that accept the framework of the capitalist system. They are incapable of defending even the previous conquests of the working class. But that doesn't mean that under certain conditions if they are forced to take actions we oppose them. When a trade union calls a strike do we oppose them for doing so? We do not oppose the strike. Instead we advance the interest of the working class. We say the workers have to take the struggle into their own hands and should not place their confidence in the unions bureaucratic maneuvers. A participant noted that trade unions in India, whether it be the CPM-led CITU, CPI-led AITUC, or any other trade union or alliance, obstruct workers being conscious about their revolutionary role and confine them to economic struggles with this or that individual employer. She asked how to overcome this challenge. Jones explained that the transformation of the working class into a revolutionary force is a vital and complex question. The deepening crisis of capitalism, he explained, is impelling the working class to struggle, creating the conditions for a greater receptivity to socialism, which corresponds to workers objective interests. However, this is not an automatic process. The revolutionary party must fight to bring socialist consciousness into the working class. That is the task of the ICFI. Jones emphasized that this challenge was at the center of the work of the ICFI. The effort to overcome this challenge must be based on the accumulated lessons of previous class struggles and the Fourth Internationals struggle against Stalinism, Maoism and the pseudo-left. In concluding the meeting, Jayasekera urged the participants to read the rigorous coverage by the WSWS on Israels onslaught on Gaza and the global movement against it, and its coverage on India. He specifically encouraged them to study the recent lecture given by David North at the University of Michigan on the occasion of the centenary of Trotskyism. The only way to stop the Gaza war is to build an anti-capitalist, socialist global anti-war movement of the working class, He concluded. For this we have to consciously and systematically develop our campaign among the working class politically and theoretically. For that we need your support comrades. Join with us to build a section of the ICFI in India to build the revolutionary leadership of the working class. The demonstration outside of UFT headquarters in Manhattan. On Wednesday, about 250 New York City educators and supporters rallied in front of the headquarters of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) monthly Delegate Assembly to demand the union leadership call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The unions headquarters are located in Manhattans financial district. The rally was organized by the Movement of Rank-and-File Educators (MORE), a caucus in the UFT that holds a few seats in the Delegate Assembly, and the New York City Educators for Palestine. Present also were members of Jewish Voices for Peace. Several educators made passionate speeches to the rally, denouncing the killing of children and the need to halt the genocide, and to respect the human rights of the Palestinian people. The rally, which included many Jewish educators (for well over a century, a large percentage of educators in New York City have been Jewish), chanted the popular from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, which the government and media have falsely claimed is antisemitic. They also chanted slogans against President Biden for his unrelenting support for Zionism and the genocide. Inside at the assembly, there was debate on a proposed resolution condemning both Israeli and Palestinian violence. MORE supporters and others sought to amend the resolution to include a call for an unconditional ceasefire. But pro-Zionist forces in the assembly sought to include language condemning Hamas. When MOREs amendments were defeated, some 2025 delegates walked out in protest. The rally demonstrated the outrage of New York City teachers over the genocide, part of a massive antiwar movement which has involved tens of millions of people around the world. But it also underscored the ironclad support of the union bureaucracy for US imperialism and for war. The mass movement will have the power it needs to stop the genocide once it becomes rooted in the working class. But that is bound up with the need for a rebellion against the pro-corporate union apparatus and the formation of new organizations, rank-and-file committees, to organize a fight against the bureaucracy. Supporters of the World Socialist Web Site distributed 230 leaflets on the way forward in the fight against the genocide in Gaza. A demonstrator outside of the UFT headquarters in Manhattan. One retired educator, Marilyn, when asked why she had come to the rally, said: I saw this was happening this morning, and said to myself, I have to be there. I never thought I would see a genocide carried on in front of us, 24/7, and still it doesn't stop. It makes you realize the power of imperialism in Washington and the Democratic Party, and how they are determined to go ahead with that colonial settler state in the middle of the Arab world. Everyone is calling for a ceasefire now, stop the war. And then they go to the Democrats or whoever they vote for and get told that they don't want to hear about it. The WSWS asked Marilyn what she thought the role of the working class was in stopping the genocide. She replied, I feel until the workers who are producing the weapons really decide they're going to put their tools down, I think we're in trouble. Marilyn had already heard of socialist autoworker Will Lehmans call for actions by UAW workers to halt production of weapons bound for Israel. I think that's a wonderful plan. So many jobs in this country are connected with the defense industry, truck drivers and many more. Educators have been participating in the mass rallies against the genocide in New York City, notably the rally on Thursday, November 9, at New Yorks Central Library in Manhattan, which was attended by thousands, including many students who had walked out of class. The meeting was addressed by a Palestinian educator who works for the New York City Department of Education. He was witch-hunted by the right-wing New York Post for his principled stance. The Chancellor of Schools, David Banks, a key figure in the Democratic administration of Eric Adams, has also issued a letter instructing teachers that they may not discuss the slaughter in Gaza with their students or colleagues, also implying they would lose their jobs if they speak out on social media or elsewhere off the job. A key role in this campaign of censorship is played by the UFT and its parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers. AFT President Randi Weingarten, a high-ranking Democratic Party operative, is one of the leading pro-Zionist figures in the AFL-CIO. In addition to attempts to slander workers opposed to Zionism as antisemitic, Weingarten is also a staunch supporter of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis who are key US proxies in the war against Russia. She played an active role in fomenting the 2014 coup in Ukraine. In October 2022 whe visited the western Ukrainian city of Lviv where she met with Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, a vocal supporter of the legacy of Stepan Bandera, the fascist Ukrainian Holocaust perpetrator and Nazi collaborator. Now Weingarten has signed on to support and defend a holocaust of another oppressed people. (left) Mark Brzezinski, US Ambassador to Poland, and (right) Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) trade union, on April 4, 2022. Mark is the son of Zbigniew Brzezinski. [Photo: Randi Weingarten] A recent meeting of the AFL-CIO Executive Council was dominated by a debate between Weingarten and APWU President Mark Dimondstein, the only major union official who has condemned the genocide . The AFL-CIO issued a statement on October 11 backing Israel and denouncing Hamas. War abroad is connected with war on the working class at home. Last week, Mayor Eric Adams announced hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts. According to him, this is because the city is unable to house and feed a few thousand migrant workers fleeing desperate conditions in their own countries. In fact, the hundreds of billions of dollars that go to war in Ukraine and arming the Zionist state have made it impossible for public education and social programs to function. The support for US imperialism by Weingarten and the AFL-CIO also mirror their support for US capitalism at home. Weingarten was a key figure in the profit-driven reopening of schools during the pandemic, aligning herself with extreme-right antivaxxers and other right-wing figures. The reopening of school districts, in defiance of overwhelming opposition from teachers and parents, led directly to new waves of mass infections which killed countless people. A new strategy is needed. Educators and workers cannot wait for the permission of the pro-war bureaucrats before they act. They need to come together to break the attempts at censorship by the Adams administration and to take control out of the hands of the UFT bureaucracy to build a movement to defend Palestine and oppose the US war machine. This means the building of Educators Rank-and-File Committees, sending delegations to the workers who manufacture and transport arms to Israel, and leading walkouts and school shutdowns that are systematically expanded to educators and students around the world. All those who want to fight for such a program should join the Northeast Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee. The friends and families of Ukrainian soldiers protest forced conscription and the treatment of soldiers by the Ukrainan military. This past week protests were again held throughout Ukraine demanding that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky limit deployments of troops to just 18 months. Many Ukrainian soldiersif they have survived this longhave never been permitted to leave the front or return home. Despite the fact that protesters have circulated a petition gathering 25,000 signatures, Zelensky has thus far refused to clarify the terms of military deployment. While they are relatively small in size, significantly, the protests have been held throughout the country, including in Western Ukraine where nationalist political forces have historically received the most support. Most participants are families of soldiers, and many have vowed to continue regular protests until their demands are met. Though as yet in an embryonic form, the protests herald the emergence of mass popular opposition to a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian lives. They come on the heels of a disastrously failed counter-offensive, which cost tens of thousands of lives, and amid a growing world-wide movement opposing the imperialist-backed genocide in Gaza. Under these conditions, the protests have provoked immense nervousness in the Ukrainian ruling class and have fueled bitter infighting within the state and military apparatus. While political crisis and scandals have been a regular feature of the rule of the Ukrainian oligarchy that emerged from the Stalinist bureaucracy in 1991, the current struggle is significant in that the Zelensky regime is coming into open conflict with Valery Zaluzhnyi, the head of the general staff of its Western-funded Armed Forces, which is carrying out the imperialist proxy war against Russia. In early November, Zaluzhnyi gave an interview to the British Economist in which he revealed that after over a combined 500,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers had been killed, the war was essentially at a stalemate, and a major breakthrough by Ukraine was unlikely. In a separate essay, Zaluzhnyi further warned that the stalemate posed significant risks for both the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the state as a whole and concluded with a plea for even more deadly weapons in order to break the military parity with the enemy. Such statements directly contradicted the official line of Zelensky and his associates that Ukraine would undoubtedly retake not only all of the Donbass region but Crimea as well if the West would continue to provide Kiev with an unending supply of weapons and money. Zelensky and his entourage immediately went into damage control with Zelensky appearing on NBCs Meet the Press to reject Zaluzhnyis statements and insist that no such stalemate existed. Ukraines National Security and Defense Councils Center for Countering Disinformation absurdly stated that Moscow had launched the campaign to discredit Zaluzhnyi, trying to convince Ukrainians of a split between the government and the military. A day later, Zelensky then announced that the presidential elections, originally scheduled to take place next year, were canceled. Zaluzhnyi was considered his most likely main competitor. In popularity polls, Zaluzhnyi and the Armed Forces continue to garner more support than Zelensky. The same day that Zelensky announced the cancellation of the presidential elections, Zaluzhnyis assistant and close friend Hennadii Chastiakov was killed by an explosive device in his home that was given to him as a birthday present, reportedly by one of his associates. There are also signs that a broader purge of the military command is underway. Last Monday, sources revealed to Ukrainska Pravda that the Ministry of Defense under the newly appointed Rustem Umerov was preparing to dismiss three high-ranking military commanders. According to the report, the commander of the Medical Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Tetyana Ostashchenko, the commander of the Operational and Strategic Group of the Tavria troops, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, and the commander of the United Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhiy Naev, were all to be removed. Tarnavskyi played a leading role in the failed counteroffensive, while Naev was reportedly implicated in the failed defense of the Kherson region against the Russian surprise invasion in February 2022. Meanwhile, Ostachenkos dismissal has long been called for by medics and volunteers within the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Defense Ministry has so far refused to comment on the report. Earlier on November 3, Zelensky himself dismissed Viktor Khorenko, former commander of Ukraines Special Operations Forces. At the time, Khorenko claimed that no reason was given, and his firing was unknown even to Zaluzhnyi, who is clearly being undermined by Zelensky. In a radio interview last Tuesday, Ukrainian parliament member Roman Kostenko of the pro-EU Holos Party stated that it is unacceptable that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief can do this during the war (dismiss generals - ed.) without the approval of the Commander-in-Chief. A veteran of the war in Donbass, Kostemko is also the current secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence and is clearly speaking for a significant section of the military and ruling class in voicing his opposition to Zelensky. Right-wing Ukrainian social media posts regularly call for Zelensky and his entourage to be arrested for treason due to the rapid losses in southern Ukraine in the weeks following the initial Russian invasion. Zaluzhnyi, an open admirer of the Ukrainian fascist leader and war criminal Stepan Bandera, would undoubtedly be viewed by such forces as an improvement over the former comedian Zelensky. Ominously, on November 7 Volodymyr Ariev, a Ukrainian parliament member from the European Solidarity party of former President Petro Poroshenko posted on Facebook that Umerov planned to fire Zaluzhnyi as Commander-in-Chief. Ariev later deleted the post. In an indication of the intervention of the imperialist powers in the conflict, last week, Zaluzhnyi was also publicly implicated in the destruction of the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 pipeline in September of last year, according to reports from both the Washington Post and Der Spiegel. Both outlets are closely tied to governments and intelligence agencies in Washington and Berlin, respectively. According to the reports, Roman Chervinsky, a colonel in the Ukrainian Special Forces with experience both in military intelligence and the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), coordinated the attack on both the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines running under the Baltic Sea to Germany. If the reports are correct, it is clear that Chervinsky could not have acted alone. Rather, he would have received direct orders from higher ranking officers who all reported to Zaluzhnyi. Regardless of the credibility of these publicationssince the pipeline bombings, many different versions of the events leading up to the attacks, have appeared in the NATO-aligned bourgeois mediathey are clearly bound up with the ongoing struggle between the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian Armed Forces, led by Zaluzhnyi. No matter what faction and forces emerge victorious in the internal struggle to head the right-wing Ukrainian oligarchy, they will be undoubtedly committed to war and subservient to imperialism. Both trace their political heritage to the Stalinist bureaucracy, which betrayed the internationalist program of the October Revolution and restored capitalism in the USSR, paving the way for the current onslaught of Western imperialism in the region. The development of an anti-war movement in the international and Ukrainian working class must be establish complete independence from all factions of the warring oligarchy and imperialism and combine the fight against the imperialist war against Russia with the struggle to end the genocide in Gaza. The Albanese Labor government last week sent a deliberately intimidating message to anyone seeking to blow the whistle on the war crimes being committed or planned by US allies, whether in the current genocide in Gaza or future wars, including against China. David McBride By nullifying his legal defences, the government effectively forced whistleblower David McBride, an ex-military lawyer, to plead guilty on Friday afternoon to three charges of stealing classified government documents and giving them to journalists to reveal covered-up murders of unarmed civilians by Australian forces in Afghanistan. As a result, McBride could face 10 years in prison. Outside the court, McBride was defiant, saying: I stand tall and I believe I did my duty and I dont see it as a defeat. I see it as a beginning of a better Australia. But three chilling steps by the Labor government, clearly acting in concert with the US and other allies, demonstrate its determination to make McBrides fate a warning to all whistleblowers. First, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus refused to pardon McBride, despite widespread petitions, letters and calls for him to do so. Dreyfus declared that he could exercise his statutory legal power to intervene only in very unusual and exceptional circumstances. That was even though McBrides evidence led to an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Afghan Files series in 2017 that ultimately helped trigger an official military inquiry. Initially, in 2014, McBride had sought to use official channels after learning of murders of Afghan civilians by Australian soldiers. After his internal whistleblower reports were suppressed, he began supplying evidence to the ABC between 2014 and 2016. The military inquiry, finally completed in 2020, found credible information of 39 murders of civilians and prisoners by 25 members of the Australian special forces in Afghanistan, mostly under the previous Gillard Labor government. Only a single soldier has been charged as a result of that inquirynot the military and political figures responsibleand no trial has even commenced. Meanwhile, the government has relentlessly persecuted McBride to set an example of what will happen to all those who expose US-allied war crimes. Second, the governments lawyers strenuously argued in a pre-trial hearing last week against McBrides main planned defencebased on the post-World War II Nuremberg trials of the Nazisthat he was obligated to refuse to follow unlawful military orders to suppress the war crimes evidence. The Nuremberg tribunal rejected the efforts of Nazi officers to escape liability for the Holocaust and other crimes on the basis that they were just following orders. Through its lawyers, the Labor government insisted there was no such exception to military discipline. Special Counsel Trish McDonald, who led the governments team of prosecutors, told the court that all defence personnel were required to comply with a general order and defence instruction that official information must be treated as confidential. It would be inimical to discipline in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for an ADF member to believe they could defy this law in the public interest. In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Supreme Court, the trial judge, Justice David Mossop, accepted the governments repudiation of the Nuremberg principle. He said he would instruct the jury, which was to be selected starting today, to disregard any public interest in the defence. There is no aspect of duty that allows the accused to act in the public interest contrary to a lawful order, he ruled on Wednesday. McBrides legal team tried to appeal that decision, but its application was denied by Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucy McCallum on Thursday. Third, later on Thursday, Mossop ordered that agents of the Attorney-Generals office could seize from the defences possession classified documents that McBrides lawyers had intended to present to the jury. The judge also denied an application from McBride that the trial be permanently suspended because of this secrecy. Significantly, the governments barrister, Andrew Berger KC, had invoked a public interest immunity claim to block at least some material in the 400 documents leaked by McBride from being shown to a jury. Armed with affidavits from senior Australian security officials, Berger emphasised the potential damage to Australias international intelligence community relationships. That move highlights the governments preoccupation with protecting its relations with Washington and its other imperialist partners, which are all implicated in the Afghanistan war crimes, as well as in the Gaza genocide, the war against Russia in Ukraine and the preparations for an even more barbaric war against China. On the street outside the courthouse on Friday, McBrides lawyer Mark Davis told reporters: We received the decision just this afternoon, which was in essence to remove evidence from the defence The Crown, the government, was given the authority to bundle up evidence and run out the backdoor with it. He is no longer able to put it before a jury. The governments intervention and Mossops ruling killed McBrides application for protection under a 2002 federal whistleblowing law. That also demonstrates the fraud of such official pretences to shield whistleblowers who expose unlawful government acts. Because of those regressive rulings, McBride accepted his attorneys advice that, left with no viable defence, he should plead guilty to three charges. Justice Mossop delayed sentencing until the new year and allowed McBride to remain free on bail, but lengthy imprisonment could still be imposed. The judge approved an intensive corrections order assessment. That means McBride may be eligible for punishment out of prison, but under strict conditions that would no doubt include keeping silent on the war crimes. Months after McBrides arrest in 2019, the Australian Federal Police raided the offices of the ABC, seeking to pursue charges against the journalist, Dan Oakes, who co-wrote the Afghan Files reports. Prosecutors later declined to charge Oakes, saying it was not in the public interest. Nevertheless, McBrides prosecution has continued, first under the Morrison Liberal-National government and then the Albanese Labor government. As the WSWS explained from the outset, the atrocities in Afghanistan were not a one-off aberration. They were an inevitable aspect of that US-led neo-colonial war against an oppressed populationa political reality now being laid out even more blatantly in Gaza. Labors pursuit of McBride further exposes its occasional pretences of seeking the freedom of jailed WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, whom the Biden administration is seeking to lock away in the US for life. Albaneses government is fully complicit in all the crimes of the White House, which is intent on persecuting Assange for helping to lay bare US and allied war crimes and regime-change operations in the Middle East and around the world. An even wider message is being sent. Anyone opposed to the criminal militarism of the Australian and allied governments, whether by publishing, whistleblowing or joining the mass protests against the slaughter in Gaza, can be targeted. That is why the WSWS has urged all workers, students, young people and defenders of civil liberties to demand McBrides unconditional freedom. This is inseparable from the fight to mobilise the working class to end the Gaza genocide, free Assange and defend all democratic rights. That requires a direct political struggle against the Labor government and its program of war and austerity. The following remarks were delivered by David North, chairperson of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, to a meeting at Birkbeck, University of London on Saturday as part of an international series of lectures on Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century. This lecture relates the foundational principles of the International Committee of the Fourth International to the present struggle against the imperialist-Zionist genocide in Gaza. The Open Letter and the origins of the International Committee Seventy years ago this week, on November 16, 1953, a Letter to Trotskyists Throughout the World was published in The Militant, newspaper of the Socialist Workers Party, which was then the Trotskyist organization in the United States. Issued in the name of the partys National Committee, its author was James P. Cannon, the SWPs 63-year-old national chairman. The Socialist Workers Party was not formally affiliated with the Fourth International due to anti-communist laws in the United States. Despite this technical limitation, Cannons political authority was based on the critical role he had played in the founding of the International Left Opposition in 1928, his subsequent close collaboration with Trotsky in the fight for the Fourth International and the preparation of its founding congress in September 1938, his central role in the struggle led by Trotsky against the petty-bourgeois revisionist tendency of Max Shachtman, James Burnham and Martin Abern in 1939-40, and, in the aftermath of Trotskys assassination in August 1940, his unyielding defense, in the reactionary environment of World War II and the initial years of the Cold War, of the programmatic heritage of the Fourth International. James P. Cannon But in 1953, Cannon confronted a powerful revisionist tendency in the International Secretariat of the Fourth International, represented by Michel Pablo and Ernest Mandel, which proposed the repudiation of the essential programmatic foundations of the Trotskyist movement. The central elements of Pablos revisionism were the rejection of Trotskys insistence on the counterrevolutionary nature of Stalinism and the perspective of building the Fourth International as the World Party of Socialist Revolution. Pablo and his acolyte, Mandel, advocated the liquidation of the sections of the Fourth International into the mass Stalinist parties, or, depending on the balance of forces in a given country, into the social democratic, bourgeois nationalist and petty-bourgeois radical movements. Within the United States, the followers of Pablo advanced this liquidationist program under the banner, Junk the Old Trotskyism. They derided Cannon and the veteran leadership of the SWP as museum pieces whose defense of orthodox Trotskyism was politically irrelevant. Pablo was not engaged merely in a war of words. He utilized his position in the International Secretariat to organize anti-Trotskyist factions in the Fourth International and to expel individuals and even entire sections that opposed his drive to liquidate the Fourth International as an independent revolutionary movement. The political conception that underlay Pablos war against the Fourth International was his conception that Stalinism, contrary to the analysis of Trotsky, remained a powerful revolutionary force. Responding to the pressure of the masses, and under conditions of a global nuclear war, the Stalinists would be compelled to take power. The outcome of this process would be the creation of deformed workers states that would, after a period of several centuries, somehow evolve into socialist societies. That this bizarre perspective attracted a substantial following testified not only to the political disorientation that developed within the Fourth International in the aftermath of World War II, but also to the growing influence of an increasingly affluent and politically self-conscious petty-bourgeoisie engaged in radical left politics. The foundational principles of the ICFI Cannons issuing of what came to be known as the Open Letter was a critical political initiative in defense of the Fourth International. Drawing upon his immense political experience, Cannon concisely summarized the foundational principles of the Trotskyist movement. He wrote: 1. The death agony of the capitalist system threatens the destruction of civilization through worsening depressions, world wars and barbaric manifestations like fascism. The development of atomic weapons today underlines the danger in the gravest possible way. 2. The descent into the abyss can be avoided only by replacing capitalism with the planned economy of socialism on a world scale and thus resuming the spiral of progress opened up by capitalism in its early days. 3. This can be accomplished only under the leadership of the working class as the only truly revolutionary class in society. But the working class itself faces a crisis of leadership although the world relationship of social forces was never so favorable as today for the workers to take the road to power. 4. To organize itself for carrying out this world-historic aim the working class in each country must construct a revolutionary socialist party in the pattern developed by Lenin; that is, a combat party capable of dialectically combining democracy and centralismdemocracy in arriving at decisions, centralism in carrying them out; a leadership controlled by the ranks, ranks able to carry forward under fire in disciplined fashion. 5. The main obstacle to this is Stalinism, which attracts workers through exploiting the prestige of the October 1917 Revolution in Russia, only later, as it betrays their confidence, to hurl them either into the arms of the Social Democracy, into apathy, or back into illusions in capitalism. The penalty for these betrayals is paid by the working people in the form of consolidation of fascist or monarchist forces, and new outbreaks of wars fostered and prepared by capitalism. From its inception, the Fourth International set as one of its major tasks the revolutionary overthrow of Stalinism inside and outside the USSR. 6. The need for flexible tactics facing many sections of the Fourth International, and parties or groups sympathetic to its program, makes it all the more imperative that they know how to fight imperialism and all of its petty-bourgeois agencies (such as nationalist formations or trade union bureaucracies) without capitulation to Stalinism; and, conversely, know how to fight Stalinism (which in the final analysis is a petty-bourgeois agency of imperialism) without capitulating to imperialism. These fundamental principles established by Leon Trotsky retain full validity in the increasingly complex and fluid politics of the world today. In fact the revolutionary situations opening up on every hand as Trotsky foresaw have only now brought full concreteness to what at one time may have appeared to be somewhat remote abstractions not intimately bound up with the living reality of the time. The truth is that these principles now hold with increasing force both in political analysis and in the determination of the course of practical action. Seventy years after its publication, the Open Letter retains undiminished relevance as a summation of the present political situation and the tasks of the Fourth International, led by the International Committee. Cannons warning of the use of nuclear weapons and the danger of fascist barbarism is even more timely today than it was in 1953. The one major change that stands out is that the Soviet Union no longer exists, and the mass Stalinist parties have been swept away. Of course, to the extent that the reactionary class collaborationist, nationalist and anti-socialist politics of Stalinism persist in new political guises, the obstacle that it represented to the revolutionary movement of the working class has not disappeared. The working class still confronts the systematic and organized treachery of the trade union bureaucracies, the reactionary organizations that still label themselves Labor, social democratic and Green, and the innumerable pseudo-left and bourgeois and petty-bourgeois nationalist parties and organizationsmany of which trace their origins to the Pabloite repudiation of the program of the Fourth International. The crisis of revolutionary leadership remains to be resolved. Leon Trotsky with members of the Left Opposition But absolutely nothing remains of the false and politically disorienting identification of Stalinism with the heritage and program of the October Revolution. The breakdown of the mass Stalinist movement has vindicated the struggle initiated by Trotsky a century ago with the founding of the Left Opposition and substantiated the world revolutionary political perspective of the International Committee of the Fourth International. These are political facts of immense significance in the present international crisis of the world capitalist system. Descent into the abyss: The Gaza genocide We are meeting today amidst the unfolding genocide in Gaza. This is the realization of the descent into the abyss of which the Open Letter warned. Capitalism, as Marx wrote, emerged historically dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt. And so it will end. Billions of people throughout the world are outraged by the daily images of the atrocities being committed by the Israeli regime, with the full support of all the imperialist powers. All the hypocritical invocations of human rights employed by the United States and its NATO allies to justify its warsusually described as humanitarian interventionshave been totally exposed and discredited. Every single imperialist leaderBiden in the United States, Trudeau in Canada, Sunak in Britain, Macron in France, Scholz in Germany, Meloni in Italyare fully implicated as the accomplices of Netanyahu in mass murder. Were war crimes trials to be held, they would not be able to claim, as some of the Nazi ringleaders ludicrously attempted at Nurnberg, that they were not aware of the atrocities being committed by the Israeli Zionist regime. Not only are they aware of these crimes, they have justified and even welcomed them. President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv. [AP Photo/Evan Vucci] As of November 16, the death of 11,500 people in Gaza had been confirmed, including at least 4,710 children. The rate at which Palestinian children are now being killed is orders of magnitude higher than any other conflict in the 21st century. In addition, more than 29,800 Palestinians have been injured. Deprived of communications facilities, the Gaza Health Ministry has stopped counting the number of dead and injured. Since October 7, Israeli attacks have murdered, on average, 320 Gazans every day. If that rate has continued through today, the number of dead is likely to be above 13,000. Of this total, more than half are women and children. The carpet bombing of Gaza has destroyed or damaged 40 percent of northern Gazas homes and shattered its healthcare, food distribution and water treatment systems, clearly war crimes under international law. And while the violence of the Israeli military machine has been directed mainly against the people of Gaza, the army and fascist settlers have murdered approximately 175 Palestinians on the West Bank. Of the genocidal character of the Israeli onslaught there is no question. It is confirmed by the explicit statements of Israeli leaders. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has stated that anyone who supports Hamas should be eliminated. Amihai Eliyahu, a coalition partner of Netanyahu and Israels heritage minister, said that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza should be an option. Galit Distel Atbaryan, until recently Israels information minister, demanded the erasure of all of Gaza from the face of the earth and forcing its people into exile in Egypt. At the end of October, Craig Mokhiber stated, as he resigned from his post as director of the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: This is a textbook case of genocide. The European, ethno-nationalist, settler colonial project of Palestine has entered its final phase, toward the expedited destruction of the last remnants of indigenous Palestinian life in Palestine. Whats more, the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and much of Europe are wholly complicit in this horrific assault. Volker Turk, the United Nations commissioner for human rights, stated in Geneva, There has been a breakdown of the most basic respect for humane values. The killing of so many civilians cannot be dismissed as collateral damage. A man sits on the rubble as others wander among debris of buildings that were targeted by Israeli airstrikes in Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled) The raid on al-Shifa Hospital, which the Netanyahu regime had claimed would expose its use by Hamas as a center of military operations, has only yielded further evidence of Israels crimes against humanity. The war cry of imperialism: No ceasefire In the face of irrefutable daily visual evidence of unrestrained violence against the civilian population, the imperialist powers have repeatedly and emphatically opposed calls for a ceasefire. No ceasefire has become the homicidal war cry of the allies of the Israeli regime. In its place, the experts in euphemisms of the United States government and its NATO allies have invented the phrase humanitarian pausea remarkable way of describing the reloading of weapons and the recalibrating of targets by the Israeli military forces. The Israeli government and its imperialist backers justify the genocidal rampage as a legitimate response to the raid launched by Hamas on October 7. Let us first of all point out that there has been no formal investigation into the events of that day. There is no exact count of the number of deaths, let alone how the victims lost their lives. There is no reliable information on how many Israeli victims died at the hands of Hamas and how many died as a consequence of the massive retaliation of the Israeli military. Moreover, among the unanswered questions are those related to the extent that the Netanyahu government, looking for a pretext for an attack on Gaza, deliberately overlooked intelligence information indicating that some sort of operation was being planned by Hamas. While it is certainly possible that the Netanyahu regime did not anticipate the scale of the incursion into Israel, it is hard to believe that Israels intelligence agencies, whose agents operate throughout Gaza and the West Bank, were entirely oblivious of Hamas preparation for a major military operation. More information will surely emerge. But the Israeli regimes attempt to justify its present actions as an appropriate response to what occurred on October 7 is fundamentally deceitful and, to be blunt, largely beside the point. Its attempt to justify its assault on Gaza as legitimate retaliation for the attack launched by Hamas is nothing other than the arguments employed throughout history by oppressors to justify their crushing of the resistance of the oppressed. If I may be permitted to cite from a lecture that I gave last month at the University of Michigan: The death of so many innocent people is a tragic event. But the tragedy is rooted in objective historical events and political conditions that made such an event inevitable. As always, the ruling classes oppose all references to the causes of the uprising. Their own massacres and the entire bloody system of oppression over which they preside so ruthlessly must go unmentioned. Why should anyone be surprised that decades of oppression by the Zionist regime led to an explosive eruption of anger? It has happened in the past, and, as long as human beings are oppressed and brutalized, it will happen in the future. Those who suffer oppression cannot be expected during a desperate rebellion, when their own lives hang precariously in the balance, to treat their tormentors with tender-hearted courtesy. Such rebellions are often marked by acts of cruel and bloody vengeance. Many examples come to mind: the Sepoy mutiny in India, the uprising of the Dakota Indians against the settlers, the rebellion of Boxers in China, of the Hereros in Southwest Africa, and, in more recent times, the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya. In all these cases, the insurgents were denounced as heartless murderers and demons, and subjected to brutal retribution. Decades, if not a century or more, had to pass before they were belatedly honored as freedom fighters. Terrorist incidents as a pretext for war and repression As for the calculated use of a terrorist incident as a pretext for the realization of a governments political objectives, a number of examples come to mind. In 1914, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy exploited the opportunity provided by the assassination in Sarajevo of its archduke to issue an unacceptable ultimatum to Serbia and then go to war. In November 1938, a 17-year-old Polish-born refugee living in Paris by the name of Herschel Grynszpan assassinated Ernst Von Rath, a member of the German diplomatic corps. He carried out this act to protest the brutal anti-Jewish policies of the Nazi regime. The Nazis seized upon the desperate act of this young man to launch a violent anti-Jewish pogrom throughout Germany known as Kristallnacht. Over 100 Jews were murdered and 30,000 were seized and sent to concentration camps. Nearly 300 synagogues were destroyed, and thousands of Jewish-owned businesses were looted. Interior view of the destroyed Fasanenstrasse Synagogue, Berlin, burned on Kristallnacht [Photo: Center for Jewish History, NYC] Many other incidents could be cited, such as the attempted assassination in London on June 3, 1982 of the Israeli ambassador to Britain, Shlomo Argov. The Israeli government used this event as a pretext to launch a large-scale invasion of Lebanon, which it called Operation Peace for Galilee, whose goal was to establish a security zone in southern Lebanon. A consequence of this invasion was the massacre carried out in the Palestinian refugee camps known as Sabra and Shatila, located in Beirut. The massacres were carried out over a period of three days, from September 16 to 18, by Lebanese Christian fascist militia allied with Israel. The fascists were allowed by Israeli forces, who had surrounded Beirut, to enter the camps. Once inside, the fascists slaughteredwith the approval of Israeli Defense Minister and later Prime Minister Ariel Sharonseveral thousand Palestinian refugees. Finally, there is the destruction of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, a murky event, explained as a security lapse caused by a failure to connect the dots, which was used by the Bush administration to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, vastly expand the military operations of the United States throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, adopt the Israeli practice of targeted assassinations, and, within the United States, create the Department of Homeland Security, increase the repressive power of the state and erode the democratic rights of Americans. Notwithstanding the unstinting support for Israels invasion, amplified by a massive media propaganda campaign, the genocide has been met with a powerful international protest movement of unprecedented dimensions. Demonstrations of tens and even hundreds of thousands have been organized throughout the world. In an attempt to discredit the protests, Israel, the governments with which it is allied and, of course, pro-Zionist organizations have denounced these demonstrations as antisemitic. This is a continuation and escalation of efforts over the last several decades to affix this label on all opponents of Israels oppression of the Palestinians. Given the fact that people of Jewish extraction, and particularly Jewish youth, have played an exceptionally prominent role in the demonstrationsespecially in the United States, which has the largest Jewish population outside of Israelthe allegation of antisemitism might seem simply absurd. Even worse, given the fact that opposition to genocide is being identified, as a result of relentless repetition, as a manifestation of antisemitism, one can legitimately express the concern that the upshot of this reactionary misuse of the word will be the legitimization of anti-Jewish sentiment. The origins of Zionism The present-day political motivations behind the smear campaign are obvious. But the significance of the allegation of antisemitism extends beyond its directly pragmatic application. The attribution of antisemitism to all opponents of the Israeli state is rooted in the philosophically irrationalist and national chauvinist ideology upon which the entire Zionist project has been based since its emergence as a significant political movement in the late nineteenth century. Having been gradually liberated in much of Western and Central Europe from the confines of the ghetto by the spread of Enlightenment thought and the political and social impact of the French Revolution, the Jewish intelligentsia and middle class associated social progress and the achievement of democratic rights with their assimilation, rather than segregation from society. They wanted their religion to be viewed as a private matter, and thus having no effect on their status as citizens with full democratic rights. A significant number of Jews increasingly identified their own striving for democratic rights as an element ofand one which was subordinate tothe broader and far more significant world historical struggle of the proletariat against the main cause of social oppression in the modern world, the capitalist system. Moreover, the proletarian struggle for socialism was intrinsically international, and thus transcended and opposed the prioritization of any form of religious, ethnic or national identity over the universal solidarity of the working class. It is for this reason that the attitude of the socialist movement to the Zionist movement as it first emerged in the late 1880s and 1890s was one of irreconcilable hostility. Moses Hess in 1870 [Photo: Unknown] The assertion of the primacy of race over class was forcefully declared in Moses Hesss From Rome to Jerusalem, published in 1862. The first major figure to advance the perspective of a Jewish state in Palestine, Hesswho had played a significant role in the early socialist movement in the early 1840s, but who had been demoralized by the defeats suffered at the end of the decadedeclared, in direct opposition to the perspective of Marx, All history has been that of racial and class war. Racial wars are the primary, class wars the secondary factor. In Rome to Jerusalem, several essential elements of Zionist ideology are already present. The first, as stated in the statement that I have just quoted, is the prioritization of race over class. The second is Hess insistence that the national state is the essential foundation of all political life and the indispensable framework for Jewish survival and progress. The Jewish popular masses, he wrote, will participate in the great historical movement of modern mankind only when it will have a Jewish homeland. The third essential element is the deeply demoralized and pessimistic conviction that Jews can never be assimilated in the existing European states. To believe that Jews can overcome persecution and achieve full emancipation through the struggle of the European working class for socialism was, claimed Hess, a delusion: Why fool ourselves? The European nations have always perceived the existence of Jews in their midst as an anomaly. We shall always be strangers among nations The Germans hate less the Jewish religion than they hate their race Neither religious reform nor baptism, neither Enlightenment nor Emancipation will open the gates of social life before the Jews. The fourth element was the conviction that the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine was only possible to the extent that it was seen to be beneficial to the interests of a major European power. For Hess, living in the Europe of the 1860s, that power was France, which was then ruled by the reactionary dictatorship of the Emperor Louis Bonaparte. France, he wrote, will help the Jews to found colonies which may extend from Suez to Jerusalem and from the banks of the Jordan to the Mediterranean. In the twentieth century, the Zionist movement would pursue its objectives by offering its services to the Turkish sultan, the Russian tsar, and, somewhat later, to British and, finally, American imperialism. Though it remained relatively unknown during his lifetime, Hesss From Rome to Jerusalem anticipated many of the conceptions that were to define the politics of the Zionist movement several decades later. Theodore Herzl later commented that if he had been familiar with Hesss book, it would not have been necessary for him to write his own Der Judenstaat, the Jewish State. But it must be immediately noted that Herzl was intellectually inferior to Hess in every respect, and unlike the latter, who drifted back toward involvement in the socialist movement following the establishment of the First International, was hostile to socialism and an independent class-based workers movement. Socialist opposition to Zionism The pogromsviolent anti-Jewish riotsthat erupted in the Russian Empire in 1881 and continued into 1882, with the support of the tsarist regime, had a profound effect on the political outlook of broad sections of the Jewish population. These bloody events provided an impulse for an immense increase of political activity among Jews. It was during this period that Zionismadvancing the program of Jewish immigration to Palestinefirst began to attract a significant following. But a far more powerful tendency was toward involvement of Jewish youth in socialist politics. By the late 1890s, the principal manifestations of this activity were within the emerging Russian Social Democratic Labor Party and the Socialist Bund, which sought the independent political organization of Jewish workers on the basis of socialist politics. Both socialist tendencies were hostile to the Zionist movement, emphatically rejecting its claim to represent the interests of the Jewish people. Significantly, in the political struggle between the Zionists and socialists, the sympathies of the tsarist regime were entirely with the former. It viewed the Zionists as an ally in the struggle against the increasingly dangerous influence of the socialist movement among Jewish youth. It sympathized with the aim of the Zionist projectthe emigration of Jews from Russia to Palestine. The historian Jossi Goldstein has written: The positive attitude of the authorities to the activities of the Zionist movement had far-reaching implications. Unlike their rivals in the Socialist Bund, Zionist activists did not have to maintain the secrecy which would have obstructed the spread of their movement. The dynamism characteristic of the years 1898-1900 were largely a function of the legitimation granted by authorities. There thus opened up before the heads of the movement (the Murshim) and other organizers a wide field of activity denied to other movements. This gave Zionism a significant advantage over its rivals in the competition to attract a following among the Jewish population.[ 1 ] The present-day claim that anti-Zionism is antisemitism would have been dismissed as a vicious slander, and even political lunacy, at a time when thousands of Jewish workers and even substantial sections of the Jewish middle-class intelligentsia directed their political energies toward the struggle for socialism. Members of the Bund with the bodies of their comrades, murdered during the Odessa pogrom in 1905 As Goldstein noted, In Bund propaganda, the main stress was on the class distinctions, with Zionism representing the petite and middle bourgeoisie against the Bund, which represented the Jewish proletariat.[ 2 ] The hostility of the Bund to Zionism was so deep and of such a fundamental character that at the Fourth Congress of the Bund in May 1901, it was decided for the first time, Goldstein wrote, to launch a war to the death against Zionism.[ 3 ] Bundist publications warned that Zionism is only a mask behind which to exploit the workers and deceive the toiling people. The Bund called upon its members to keep away from the hundreds of foul little creatures emerging from the rotten corpse of Zionism and crawling toward the proletariat to get it to deviate from the path of the class struggle.[ 4 ] The hostility of socialists to Zionism was to a great extent shared by broad sections of the Russian intelligentsia, who, as Goldstein wrote, attacked the Zionist movement and abhorred its ideas. Most of them desired its disappearance. The motives and the reasons for the unanimous anti-Zionist front of the Russian intelligentsia were rooted in the rationalism that determined the general theorizing of the intelligentsia in the early twentieth century. For many Zionism was still by way of being Utopian, bound up with yearnings for Zion and Jewish eschatological thinking outside the rational, intellectual world. Herzl and his like in Western Europe were regarded as allies of Jewish Orthodoxy rather than as the offspring of Western Enlightenment.[ 5 ] The anti-Zionism of all factions of the socialist movement prevented the Zionists from making serious inroads into the working class. From the outset, Goldstein writes at the conclusion of his historical essay, the Zionist movement attracted mainly members of the Jewish middle class.[ 6 ] The Zionists never acquired the mass base necessary for the success of their reactionary colonization project until the catastrophe of the Holocaust placed at their disposal several hundreds of thousands of desperately persecuted and stateless people, survivors of Nazi genocide. Zionist collaboration with the Nazis There is no period of historyprior to the founding of Israel in 1948that so thoroughly exposed the reactionary character of Zionism and its fraudulent claim to represent the interests of the Jewish people than its conduct during the 1930s. The extent of the political and commercial dealings of the Nazis and the Zionists has been extensively documented by historians. Many of the most important works on this subject have been written by Jewish historians, among whom the most renowned are Saul Friedlander and Tom Segev. In the aftermath of Hitlers accession to power, the Zionist organizations were inclined to collaborate with the Nazis, even arguing that both Nazism and Zionism were national movements whose volkisch principles were compatible. Opposing mass protests or an economic boycott, Zionist representatives from Germany and Palestine met with representatives of the Third Reich and concluded on August 27, 1933 a financial agreement, known as the Haavarah, which, as explained by Friedlander, allowed Jewish emigrants indirect transfer of part of their assets and facilitated export of goods from Nazi Germany to Palestine.[ 7 ] Friedlander continued: One of the main benefits the new regime hoped to reap from Haavarah was a breach in the foreign Jewish economic boycott of Germany. The Zionist organizations and the leadership of the Yishuv (the Jewish community in Palestine) distanced themselves from any form of mass protest or boycott to avoid creating obstacles to the new arrangements. Even before the conclusion of the Haavarah Agreement, such cooperation sometimes took bizarre forms. Thus, in early 1933, Baron Leopold Itz Edler von Mildenstein, a man who a few years later was to become chief of the Jewish section of the SD (the Sicherheitsdienst, or security service, the SS intelligence branch headed by Reinhard Heydrich), was invited along with his wife to tour Palestine and write a series of articles for Goebbels Der Angriff. And so it was that the Mildensteins, accompanied by Kurt Tuchler, a leading member of the Berlin Zionist organization, and his wife, visited Jewish settlements in Eretz Israel. The highly positive articles, entitled A Nazi Visits Palestine, were duly published, and, to mark the occasion, a special medallion cast with a swastika on one side and a Star of David on the other. On June 22, 1933, the leaders of the Zionist Organization for Germany sent a memorandum to Hitler, which declared: Zionism believes that the rebirth of the national life of a people, which is now occurring in Germany through the emphasis on its Christian and national character, must also come about among the Jewish people. For the Jewish people, too, national origin, religion, common destiny and a sense of uniqueness must be of decisive importance to its existence. This demands the elimination of the egotistical individualism of the liberal era, and its replacement with a sense of community and collective responsibility. Later, the apologists for the Zionists would attempt to explain away such statements and the Haavarah as survival measures undertaken under desperate conditions, as if the triumph of fascism justifies collaboration. In fact, the response of the Zionists to the brutal persecution of the Jews by the Nazis, and even to their murder, was determined by calculations of its effect on the prospects for Jewish emigration into Palestine. As David Ben-Gurion, the leader of the Zionist movement, infamously declared: If I knew that it was possible to save all the [Jewish] children in Germany by transporting them to England, but only half of them by transporting them to Palestine, I would choose the secondbecause we face not only the reckoning of those children, but the historical reckoning of the Jewish people.[ 8 ] David Ben-Gurion in 1959 [Photo: Fritz Cohen] Ben-Gurion also expressed the fear, following the Kristallnacht pogrom, that the event might lead to international sympathy for the plight of the Jews, resulting in various countries relaxing their restrictions on immigration and thereby offering Jews alternatives to Palestine. Zionism against Enlightenment: The metaphysics of nationalist irrationalism However, the sympathy expressed by the Zionist organizations for Nazism cannot be merely explained as a manifestation of cowardice and grotesque tactical opportunism. Zionism, which emerged as an offspring of imperialist colonialism and as an enemy of socialism and a scientific conception of history and society, necessarily based itself on the most reactionary elements of nationalist politics and ideology. In an epoch in which the driving force of social progress had become the revolutionary struggle of the international working class against capitalism and the bourgeois national state, Zionism based its program on the glorification of the national principle as the essential foundation of Jewish existence. All conceptions of history, stemming from the Enlightenment and the later socialist movements, that undermined the principle of national exclusivityespecially those which, on the basis of science and reason, viewed national identity as a historically limited and transitory phenomenon connected to a specific stage in the development of the productive forces and their relation to the world marketwere thereby denounced as incompatible with Zionism, not only as a political program but also as the sole expression of Jewish identity. To deny the legitimacy of Zionism was, therefore, to deny the right of Jews to exist. From this follows the insidious claim that opposition to Zionism, even if the opponent is a Jew, is antisemitic. In a book titled Anti-Semitism and its Metaphysical Origins, published in 2015 by Cambridge University Press, Professor David PattersonProfessor of History at the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas in Dallasjustifies the slander on the basis of a defense of religious myth and irrationalism. He asserts that the source of modern-day antisemitism must be traced back to the Enlightenment and, especially, the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. He writes: The doctrines of the Enlightenment were engendered by a mode of thought that was inherently antisemitic: If it is to be true to itself, the philosophy of the Enlightenment has to be antisemitic. If human freedom lies in human autonomy, and if human autonomy lies in being self-legislating, as Kant maintains, then one realizes that nothing threatens self-legislating human autonomy more than the Commanding Voice of Mount Sinai, the Voice that undermines the modern view that Kant espouses and that the world now embraces. Patterson continues: Indeed, if one adopts the premise of the Enlightenment that there can be no people apart, but only a universal humanity grounded in reason, then one must necessarily assume an antisemitic position. Losing the fatherhood of God, we lose the brotherhood of humanity: Once God is superfluous, so is the human being superfluous. So is the Jewish state not only superfluous but dangerous. For the leftwing intellectual anti-Zionist, the modern history of thinking God out of the picture culminates in removing the Zionist state from the map. These words do not appear in a Christian Evangelical fundamentalist paperback of the sort that are widely sold in American pharmacies. This appeared under the imprimatur of Cambridge University Press, among the most prestigious publishing houses in the world. The onslaught against Gaza as the epicenter of imperialist barbarism It testifies not only to the utterly reactionary character of Zionism, but to the far-advanced political, social, intellectual and moral putrefaction of a capitalist system that is rooted in the national state system. Herein lies the broader significance of the intransigent solidarity of all imperialist powers with the Israeli state. There are, of course, pragmatic geopolitical interests that determine the support of the United States and its NATO allies for Israels war against the Palestinian people. But underlying this united front against the Palestinians is the recognition that their democratic aspirations, which require the dissolution of the existing Israeli state and the creation of a new bi-national federation, threaten not only the interests of imperialism in the Middle East, but the entire historically obsolete state structure of imperialist geopolitics and capitalist rule. Neither the oppression of the Palestinian people nor, for that matter, the historic and still very real issue of antisemitism can be solved within the framework of the capitalist system and its nation state. Imperialism, in creating the Israeli state, did not solve the Jewish problem. It exploited and took advantage of the immense tragedy of the Holocaustone of imperialisms greatest crimesfor its own purposes. The concentration on the war in Gaza is certainly justified by the scale of the crime being committed against its people. But the struggle to end the genocide vindicates and imparts the greatest urgency to the central perspective and raison detre of the International Committee of the Fourth International: the struggle for the World Socialist Revolution. There exists no other answer to the terminal crisis of the capitalist system. Summing up the significance of the 1953 split in the Fourth International, Cannon wrote: It is a question of the development of the international revolution and the socialist transformation of society. Confronted with the genocide in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, the danger of escalation toward global nuclear war, the attacks on democratic rights, staggering levels of social inequality, the uncontrolled spread of the pandemic and the threat of ecological disaster, the International Committee turns to the expanding mass movement of workers and youth throughout the world and states emphatically: The task with which you are confronted is the development of the international revolution and the socialist transformation of society. And that is why you must join and build the sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International throughout the world. For the sixth weekend in a row, protests were held across Australia against the Israeli genocidal assault on Gaza. This is now the most sustained mass anti-war movement the country has witnessed in decades, as part of global mobilisations. In Sydney, more than 20,000 workers and young people took to the streets, in Melbourne around 40,000 turned out and in Brisbane 6,000 people attended. There were also rallies in Adelaide and Perth. In the working-class former steel city of Newcastle, north of Sydney, over 1,000 rallied. Smaller events are being held almost continuously throughout the weeks. Chants honed in on the responsibility of the Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, which is fully backing the Israeli genocide. It is a measure of Labors crisis that across the country, tens of thousands were on the streets declaring: Albanese, you cant hide: Youre supporting genocide. A section of the rally in Melbourne on November 19, 2023 In Melbourne, John Shipton, father of courageous whistleblower Julian Assange, addressed the crowd. He detailed the death toll in Gaza, which exceeds 12,000, with more than 4,500 of them children. Shipton said, Soil watered with the blood of precious children over the last 36 dayswhat do they expect will grow from that soil? I can tell yourage, a hunger for justice thats swept around the globe and embraced every human being that is sentient enough to have sympathy for another. Shiptons address underscored the connection between the Assange case and the escalating war drive today, led by American imperialism. As it is backing the Gaza genocide, engaging in a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine and threatening conflict with China, the US wants to destroy Assange to intimidate and silence mass anti-war sentiment. The Labor government, while backing the plans for a catastrophic war with China and supporting Israels rampage, has abandoned Assange completely. That demonstrates that the fight for democratic rights and the struggle against war are entirely connected. They can only be waged in opposition to all the capitalist governments, including the Labor administration, and the profit system itself, which is heading to barbarism. **** Chloe, Jess and Bree In Melbourne the WSWS spoke to Bree, Chloe, and Jess, all in their early 20s, who attended the rally together. Chloe said, I am hopeful that these demonstrations will eventually make the government listen to us, to realise that what theyre siding with is atrocious and that we should be listening to the Palestinian people and making sure theyre getting protected. Whether that actually happens is hard to say, but thats where I hope this goes. Jess responded, To be honest, Im pretty doubtful that the governments going to do the right thing, but at least through these protests, we are bringing awareness to what is happening, and that means that the people of Australia can provide support even though the government probably wont. Asked why they think the US government and its allies are supporting Israel, the three friends replied at the same time, Money. Bree added, I think the huge reserves of oil and gas in the Middle East are no coincidence, that definitely has something to do with US involvement. Thats probably the same for Australia as well. The three women spoke about media efforts to smear the Palestinian solidarity movement as anti-Semitic. Chloe said, If anyone thinks these protests are anti-Semitic, or pro-Hamas, theyre not listening. Jess added, The direction of the media is clearly not working. People can make up their own minds, they can see whats actually happening. Its unprecedented now that theres social media and other ways to find informationpeople dont just have to get this through the mainstream media. A lot of younger people are making up their own minds, and its becoming harder for the government to influence them. Ella, a university graduate in animation, said, Im here to protest against bombing of hospitals and killing children. The Labor governments position is depressing, its frustrating, its not what I voted for, and it really proves theyre just in it for the money. I hate it, its horrifying. She spoke about her wholehearted support for working class action to halt weapons shipmentsWithout any weapons, there is no murder. I support not sending weapons to Israel. Ella had been following recent workers struggles in the United States, via social media, Things like the SAG-AFTRA [Hollywood actors] strike, their protesting for not being paid enough and not getting the treatment they deserve, people using loopholes to get around paying their workers. Its disgraceful. There was also the UPS [United Parcel Service] ... that was a protest where workers said you need to pay us more or America shuts down. That kind of action works. The working class protestingif it is big enough, if it is loud enough, if it stops the actual governmentthis will work. Karan Karan, who works in the finance sector, said: This has gone past the point where the Israeli military can exterminate a whole race of people based on where theyre born. Its fundamentally wrong, and I believe human beings are better than that. Thats why were here to protest today. The political needle is moving ever so slightly, the US is losing credibility around the world for constantly supporting this violence. We need to move away from this US hegemony. In Sydney, Rami gave a video interview: Also in Sydney, Jaz, originally from Indonesia, spoke with WSWS reporters: In Brisbane the WSWS spoke to Juliette, a Queensland University of Technology student, who said: The Palestinian issue doesnt end with a ceasefire. It ends when Palestinians are given back their land. We cannot just continue to allow the Israelis to keep taking the land of Palestinians without any repercussions whatsoever. If we just end with a ceasefire, that issue will come back again in 10 or 15 years. This has happened before. This is a continuing issue. This is not the only genocide taking place at the moment, like the one in Sudan. They dont get enough voice. No one is giving them a voice because there are bigger issues at play. This is all a massive scheme for money, business and oil, and stuff like that. This is a peoples problem, but we are being overruled by governments. If the people are not happy with something, why are they being ignored? If you run a government, you should be following the people. Why turn your back on the people? The people are here, saying stop, this is not what we want. So why does some government try to pretend that it is better than all of our opinions? It's pretty obvious when you look at opposing news sources and the way they see things. They present things so one-sidedly, like the October 7 event. They want to talk about that and about Hamas being a terrorist group but they dont want to talk about how this is part of the almost century-long attack on Palestinians. Hamas only really formed as a resistance group. Half of them are orphans! You would feel the same way if your entire family was attacked. It's coming from a deeper issue, thats been ignored. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, November 20. Indonesian Batik Air airline will launch flights on the Kuala Lumpur - Tashkent route from December 15, 2023, Trend reports. Direct scheduled flights on the Kuala Lumpur - Tashkent Kuala Lumpur route will be operated on longhaul Airbus A330 aircraft once a week - on Fridays. Meanwhile, Uzbekistans Air Samarkand airport commenced operations earlier this month, with the arrival of the first Airbus A330-300 aircraft at Samarkand International Airport. The project of the airport, worth more than $80 million, provides for the comprehensive development of the airport, the construction of airport infrastructure, as well as its operation. Moreover, Uzbekistan has recently expressed its readiness to re-launch passenger flights at Sariasia Airport in Uzbekistans Surkhandarya region. Earlier this year, The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Uzbekistan discussed the increase of the number of Indonesian tourists in Uzbekistan. The parties also intend to increase the number of flights between the two countries and hold days of culture and tourism of Uzbekistan in Indonesia in 2024. Meanwhile, at the end of April 2023, Uzbekistan Airways resumed direct flights between Uzbekistan and Indonesia. Flights in this direction are operated on Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on Wednesdays. Furthermore, Uzbekistan's exports to Indonesia amounted to $15.95 million in 2022. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel A recently-concluded visit to Australia by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, was highly revealing. By stating basic and irrefutable truths about Israels oppression of the Palestinians, Albanese came into conflict with virtually the entire political and media establishment. UN Special Rapporteur on human rights Francesca Albanese speaks at the National Press Club, Australia [Photo: National Press Club] The hostile response to Albanese demonstrated the extent to which the ruling elite and its mouthpieces are dispensing with fundamental conceptions of international law. As they are backing the unfolding genocide in Gaza, the official politicians and most journalists cannot tolerate a legal expert pointing out that the state mass murder of civilians, 40 percent of them children, is a war crime. Most notably, the Labor governments Foreign Minister Penny Wong refused to meet with Albanese. She was too busy to speak with a UN official, as the Labor government continues to insist on Israels right to defend itself and oppose all calls for a ceasefire. A meeting was eventually delegated to one of Wongs juniors after her snub of Albanese was publicly reported. The Labor governments implicit hostility has been made explicit by its allies in various pro-Israeli Zionist organisations, who have campaigned against Albanese. Together with right-wing figures such as former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, they have denied the importance of her UN mandate and angrily denounced her interventions. The capstone of Albaneses visit was an address to the National Press Club (NPC) in Canberra last Tuesday, televised live by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Weeks earlier, on October 25, the assembled reporters had listened politely to an NPC address by Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon, as he defended Israels bombardment and spouted war propaganda. By contrast, Albaneses remarks provoked consternation, concern and discomfort, reflected in a barrage of sceptical and hostile questions. Albanese began by acknowledging the Australian indigenous people. The record of colonialism, with its method of control, resource exploitation and subjugation of the natives, was particularly relevant to her mandate on Palestine, she said. My heart goes out to Palestine, Albanese said. She referenced the indigenous Palestinians, there or what remains of them, noting that the majority were ethnically cleansed in 1947-49 from what is modern-day Israel, and in 1967 from the territory that for 56 years Israel has militarily occupied, including East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Albanese stated: The Palestinians under occupation today are fighting an existential struggle not to be forcibly displaced from, or fatally subjugated in, the little that remains of their historical homeland. In fact, it is correct to say that the indigenous Palestinians have been progressively ethnically-cleansed as of 1947. These opening comments can only be described as a breath of fresh air. Albanese was one of the first and only prominent figures to explain clearly on national television that the conflict did not begin on October 7, and to instead frame developments from the standpoint of the historical oppression of the Palestinians. The hardest part of her UN mandate was to be exposed to a situation of endless suffering where people are too easily killed, blamed and smeared. Albanese could only examine facts reported to her, because Israel had banned the UN official from entering the Palestinian Occupied Territories. In the 16 months of her mandate, prior to the latest developments, Albanese had documented the killings of 460 Palestinians. That reality, of continuous Israeli state killings, was the status quo. Albanese expressed hostility to the Hamas military action of October 7 and her sympathy for all who were impacted by it and the bombing of Gaza. Turning to the carpet bombing of Gaza, she reviewed the figures of more than 11,000 civilians killed, 40 percent of them children, and one and a half million displaced. Countless others were dead or dying beneath the rubble. Albanese and other UN officials had warned, three weeks earlier, that Israel may commit the crime of genocide. Israeli politicians had made genocidal statements. Since October 7, Israeli forces had also gone on a rampage against Palestinians in the other occupied territories, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Hamas had no presence. Entire villages were being cleared in the West Bank, and its residents given flyers instructing them to leave for Jordan. Albanese declared: In the face of all this, the international community is almost completely paralysed ... with the UN experiencing its most epic political and humanitarian failure since its creation. She added that individual member states, especially in the West, and Australia is no exception, were on the margins, many staying silent while backing Israels right to self-defence. The world, Albanese said, was staring into the abyss. If in 75 years the international community had not realised what the Nakba wasthe forced displacement of Palestinians in 1948here is what it is, televised. Masses of people were, and would be, forced out of Gaza through the continuous bombardment, as well as from the West Bank, as a result of unrestrained terror from Zionist settlers. The struggle of the Palestinians for basic rights, was being presented as an existential threat to Israel, Albanese stated. This was a fraud, and a line that was also placing ordinary Jews around the world in danger, through the relentless and false identification of Israel with the Jewish people. She called for a rehumanisation of the discourse, a subject on which journalists had a lot of homework to do. The reporters in attendance proved her point. They responded with a series of vile questions, some legitimising the mass murder, others maliciously misinterpreting Albaneses remarks and seeking to cast aspersions on her. The moderator, Tom Connell of Sky News, said Israel had instructed civilians to leave northern Gaza, so the subsequent bombing was not them actually targeting civilians at that point. Albanese responds sharply to Connell [Photo: National Press Club] Albanese asked how he could keep a straight face when presenting such a question. There was nowhere for the civilians to go in Gaza, one of the most densely-populated places on earth. The consequences were known because Israel was waging its sixth war against the people of Gaza of this century, all the others having resulted in massive civilian deaths. Another journalist incredulously asked Albanese about a comment she made in her prepared remarks, denying that Israel has a right to self-defence against Gaza. Albanese explained that under international law, confirmed by the top judicial bodies of the UN, the right of self-defence can be invoked when a state is threatened by another state. That was not the case in Palestine, and even the descriptions of an Israel-Gaza war were false. Gaza was not a stand-alone entity but part of the occupied territories. Israel cannot claim the right of self-defence against a threat that emanates from the territory that it occupies, that is kept under belligerent occupation. The Guardians foreign editor, Daniel Hurst, was a strong contender for the most obnoxious question. In her remarks, Albanese stated that ending Israeli-Jewish domination would be a rehumanising development, not only for the Palestinians but for the Jewish people. Hurst said he had been tripped up by that remark. He wondered whether it was helpful in the current climate and the word domination has a wider connotation. It was a trope. The clear connotation was that Albaneses remarks somehow bolstered antisemitic claims of global Jewish domination. Albanese angrily responded: You seem not to understand what I am saying. There is an apartheid regime. Domination is not a trope, this is international law. I invite you to read the Apartheid Convention, because it talks about racial domination and this is what Im talking about... Im using domination in a strictly legal sense. The exchanges were not an exception, but the norm throughout Albaneses visit. In other media appearances, journalists hotly contested her warnings that a genocide was unfolding, without providing any substantive refutation. Others were shocked when she raised the idea that Israels onslaught was not really aimed at the defeat of Hamas, but formed part of a decades-long project of ethnic cleansing. All in all, the Australian press corps have shown themselves to be mostly a pack of scoundrels, who will legitimise any imperialist crime. If they were transported back to 1930s-40s Germany, it is not hard to imagine what role they would have played, nor, in the more recent period, if they worked under apartheid South Africa. They were, however, echoing and justifying the position of Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses Labor government, which has vociferously defended Israels slaughter in Gaza and libelled the hundreds of thousands protesting these actions by accusing them of being antisemitic. Amid mass protests across Spain and internationally against NATO-backed genocide in Gaza, powerful sections of the Spanish bourgeoisie have concluded that they must impose a dictatorial regime. The heart of this conspiracy are sections of the officer corps, police, judiciary and the media close to the neo-fascist Vox party or the right-wing Popular Party (PP) and their allies inside NATO. They are seizing on the amnesty granted by the incoming Socialist Party (PSOE)-Sumar government to Catalan-nationalists involved in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum to whip up a far-right frenzy favorable to their plans. VOX far right party leader Santiago Abascal delivers his speech during the closing campaign rally at the Colon square in Madrid, Spain, Friday, July 21, 2023. [AP Photo/ Manu Fernandez] After tens or hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in support of Gaza in cities across Spain, protests called by the PP and Vox on Saturday gathered 170,000 anti-amnesty protesters. Their slogans included Pedro Sanchez, son of a bitch! and calls to send former Catalan regional premier Carles Puigdemont to prison! and PSOE prime minister Pedro Sanchez to prison! Afterwards, Vox leader Santiago Abascal requested a meeting with top PP officials. He proposed to use the Senate, where the PP has a majority, to block the amnesty bill. He said, we must continue resisting with sustained social mobilization, provide a coordinated institutional response in the regions where there is no [PSOE-Sumar] majority, in the Senate and communicate to all our international allies what is happening in Spain. Despite their relentless invocation of anti-Catalan chauvinism against the new government, the main target of the plotters is not the PSOE-Sumar government, whose component parties in fact backed the bloody police crackdown on the 2017 Catalan referendum. Their aim is to crush escalating political opposition in the Spanish and international working class. On Friday, after Sanchez was sworn into office, the pro-Francoite website of the Spanish Military Association (AME) posted a manifesto calling for a coup. The manifesto asserted that the amnesty bill would erase the crimes committed by those who carried out the coup detat in Catalonia in October 2017, and provoke a possible rupture of the one and indivisible unity of the Spanish nation. The statement bore 56 signatures including seven generals, four brigadier generals and 24 colonels. They declared themselves concerned about the future of Spain, denounced supposed attacks on the rule of law and appealed to the Spanish army to dismiss the prime minister and call new elections. The manifestos signatories are defenders of the fascist traditions of General Francisco Francos 1936 coup that led to the Spanish Civil War. They include retired general Fernando de la Malla Garcia and Army Colonel Jose Maria Manrique Garcia, who supported the pro-Franco manifesto in 2018 hailing Franco as the savior of Spain. It also includes retired army colonel Efren Diaz Casal, who signed a letter in November 2020, appealing to the king to support a coup against the social-communist PSOE-Podemos government, the predecessor of todays PSOE-Sumar government. They also include former captain Diaz Rivera, who said in leaked WhatsApp chats three years ago that Someday ... someone will have to start doing something (legal or illegal) against these sons of bitches. In the same chat, retired Major General Francisco Beca called to kill 26 million peoplein reference to the estimated number of left-wing Spanish voters and their families. Fascistic sentiment is not only restricted to retired generals. El Mundo reported that high-ranking military personnel are preparing a mass resignation if a secessionist referendum is held in Catalonia. It reported that a significant number of active commanders, with high responsibilities in the countrys security, would resign from their operational positions. The presence of supporters of former US President Donald Trumps failed January 6, 2021 coup in the Spanish protests points to the preparations top officials in the military-police state machine are making in Spain and internationally. Their response to the international movement of workers and youth in defense of Gaza and against the NATO powers support for Israeli genocide is to plot their own resort to genocidal repression against the working class, in Spain and internationally. Significantly, the fascistic US media demagogue Tucker Carlson joined a protest last week with Abascal and groups of Francoites and neo-Nazis in front of PSOE headquarters in Madrid. He then posted an interview with Abascal, who falsely claimed Spain is on the verge of the left taking power extra-legally by pardoning terrorists. He said, something similar happened in the 1930s, when tens of thousands, mostly Christians were killed. Shot to the head, buried alive. It was the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. This pack of historical lies about the Spanish Civil War is a warning: in close collaboration with their NATO allies, Spanish neo-fascists are preparing to repeat in the 21st century their crimes in the 20th century. Franco launched the Spanish Civil War with an illegal, fascist coup against the elected Popular Front government in July 1936. The war claimed approximately 400,000 lives and was followed by mass executions of around 200,000 left-wing workers or oppositionists and the detention of 800,000 people in concentration camps. For four decades, until it collapsed in 1978 amid a wave of strikes and protests, the Francoite regime and its secret police arrested, tortured and killed political oppositionists, outlawed strikes, political parties and trade unions, and censored newspapers and books. The PSOE-Sumar government is responding to threats of the Spanish officers, Abascal and Carlson, as PSOE-Podemos did to earlier military threats, by burying its head in the sand. In 2020, then-Podemos leader and deputy prime minister Pablo Iglesias infamously insisted that the generals call to kill 26 million people had no importance. What these gentlemen say, at their age and already retired, in a chat with a few too many drinks, does not pose any threat, he said. Now, Sumar has impotently called for forceful and exemplary measures, though it is in government and could introduce them. The PSOE, for its part, refused to comment publicly. An anonymous PSOE official pathetically told InfoLibre: The Spanish armed forces are a modern and democratic army. They have nothing to do with these outbursts that are typical of other times. But war, genocide, and fascistic reaction are as typical of our times as of the 1930s. Against it, nothing can be expected from the PSOE, Podemos, and Sumar. They have all spent the last three years in government handing over billions of euros to the army, imposing social austerity measures on the workers, and repressing strikes with tens of thousands of riot police. Desperate to continue their right-wing policies by leaning on the police-state against the workers, they smother and disorient working class opposition to the coup plots. They fear an independent revolutionary movement of the working class a thousand times more than a murderous fascistic coup. Trotsky, the co-leader with Lenin of the October Revolution and founder of the Fourth International, concisely summed up the basic perspectives facing the working class in such a situation. His analysis exposes both the role of Vox and the reactionary impotence of Podemos, Sumar and other political descendants of the Popular Frontist tendencies of the 1930s. In Lesson of Spain, published shortly after Francos coup, Trotsky wrote: The danger lies not in the military braggarts and demagogues who openly appear as fascist; incomparably more menacing is the fact that at the approach of the proletarian revolution the officers corps becomes the executioner of the proletariat. It is necessary to replace the troops in the barracks commanded by the officers caste with the peoples militia, that is, with the democratic organization of the armed workers and peasants. There is no other solution. But such an army is incompatible with the domination of exploiters big and small. Can the republicans agree to such a measure? Not at all. The Peoples Front government, that is to say, the government of the coalition of the workers with the bourgeoisie, is in its very essence a government of capitulation to the bureaucracy and the officers. Such is the great lesson of the events in Spain, now being paid for with thousands of human lives. Today, the working class faces the task of organizing itself independently, in rank-and-file organizations of struggle, to counter the fascist plotting and break through the political inertia imposed on workers by Podemos, Sumar and their various middle-class satellites. This requires above all the building of a new revolutionary leadership of the working class. The critical task in this explosive situation is building sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), the world Trotskyist movement, in Spain and internationally. Truth and freedom of expression are always among the first casualties of imperialist war. While Israel is committing a massacre of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, bombing schools, places of worship, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, any criticism of this is denounced as antisemitism and terrorism. Climate protest with Greta Thunberg (right), 27 October 2023 [Photo: Greta Thunberg on X] One of the most prominent victims of this hysterical campaign is the Swedish climate activist and initiator of the international Fridays for Future (FFF) movement, Greta Thunberg. In recent weeks, she has condemned Israels crimes in numerous statements and at mass demonstrations organised by the climate movement. Today we are striking in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza, she declared a few days after the start of the Israelis mass murder in Gaza. The world must raise its voice and demand an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for the Palestinians and all civilians affected. Most recently, at a protest of around 85,000 climate protestors in Amsterdam, she called for listening to the voices of those who are oppressed and who are fighting for peace and justice. When an elderly man on stage snatched the microphone from her hand and spoke out against Thunbergs political views, she chanted, No climate justice on occupied land, and tens of thousands joined in. Thunbergs clear statements against genocide and in favour of the oppressed Palestinians and the response she received reflect the widespread opposition, especially among young people, to militarism, imperialism and war. The international umbrella organisation of Fridays for Future also published a statement on X/Twitter calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and apartheid in Israel. It condemns the bourgeois media, whose propaganda has denounced as terrorism the resistance of Palestinians and any expression of solidarity with them, thereby promoting a sickening perpetrator-victim inversion. In the ruling class, this clear denunciation of imperialist-Zionist genocide has provoked an aggressive smear campaign. The German governments antisemitism commissioner Felix Klein rejected the movement as an example for young people. The statements from Thunbergs circle are intolerably antisemitic and reflect a political world view that lacks basic democratic values, Klein told the KNA news agency. Anyone who propagates such attitudes has disqualified themself as a role model for young people. Others were even more aggressive. The president of the German-Israeli Association (DIG) and leading Green politician Volker Beck wrote on X that Thunberg was from now on a full-time Israel hater. And the editor-in-chief of WeltN24, Ulf Poschardt, posted the tweet: St. Greta Thunberg is hardcore antisemitic. Klein, Beck and Poschardt are using the narrative created by the ruling class that anyone who criticises the Israeli government is antisemitic. But the opposite is the case. The antisemites are not those who reject the violence of the Zionist state, but those who defend violence in the name of the fight against antisemitism and thus associate all Jews with genocide. The accusation that Thunberg is a full-time Israel-hater or hardcore antisemite is also a foul trivialisation of genuinely antisemitic forces. The same politicians and media who are now attacking Thunberg with the false accusation of antisemitism are themselves providing a platform to extreme right-wing and genuinely antisemitic forces. Poschardts newspaper Die Welt and he himself are, for example, among the most aggressive defenders of the far-right Humboldt professor Jorg Baberowski, who systematically trivialises the crimes of the Nazis and even claims that Hitler was not vicious. It speaks volumes about the right-wing character of the self-proclaimed German leadership of Fridays for Future that they do not condemn the reactionary hate campaign against Thunberg, but instead join it. Figures such as Luisa Neubauer, herself a member of the Green Party, and Carla Reemtsma have positioned themselves firmly behind Israels genocide and attacked Thunberg. In an interview with Die Zeit, Neubauer declared that she was disappointed by Thunberg, and indirectly accused her of disinformation and antisemitism. In future, she said, they would distance themselves from the international FFF umbrella organisation. This is not the first time that the leaders of FFF Germany have supported German imperialism and its war agenda. Already at the beginning of NATOs proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, Neubauer and Co. positioned themselves in favour of arms deliveries to Ukraine and supported the escalation of NATOs aggression against Russia. At the time, the World Socialist Web Site and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) pointed out the enormous gulf between the vast majority of climate protestors in Germany and the right-wing leaders of FFF Germany. In an article titled Fridays for Future climate protest leaders back German war drive we wrote: But while the participants in the demonstrations were concerned about the development of war and want to prevent a nuclear world war, the self-proclaimed leaders of Fridays for Future are doing exactly the opposite. They are trying to turn the movement into a group of cheerleaders for NATOs rearmament and aggression and to put it at the service of the drive to war. This must be prevented at all costs! The Green politician Luisa Neubauer, who plays a leading role in the movement, expresses this despicable right-wing policy most sharply. Neubauer not only supports the arming of the Ukrainian militaryin whose ranks neo-Nazis and far-right legionnaires from all over the world are fightingbut also the historically unprecedented rearmament of the German army and the war sanctions against Russia. The same logic lies behind Neubauers solidarity with Israel and her attack on Thunberg. The German government is not concerned with democracy or even Jewish lives in the Middle East, but with imperialist interests. In order to realize these interests, the broad oppositionespecially among young peoplemust be suppressed. This is why Neubauer is so aggressive and expresses solidarity with the German governments offensive for war and dictatorship. This shows that workers and young people worldwide who want to fight against climate change, oppression and war need an independent perspective. They must orient themselves towards the international working class and fight for a socialist programme. They need to understand that the same contradictions of capitalism underlie both climate change and the genocide in Gaza. The bourgeoisie is driving climate change in order to generate more and more profit, just as it is waging war and committing genocide in order to pursue its imperialist interests. A wave of backlash has swept the campus of Columbia University (CU) following the November 10, decision by the administration to disaffiliate two of its leading pro-Palestinian campus clubs, Students for Justice for Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP). On Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon last week, hundreds of CU students and faculty demonstrators rallied on CU's Morningside, Manhattan campus to protest the ongoing suppression of political opposition to the Israeli state within the institution. At the Wednesday event, over 1,000 students, academics and youth also demonstrated outside of the campus on nearby sidewalks to show support for the campus protest. Pro-Palestinian demonstration outside of Columbia University Wednesday, November 15, 2023 The opposition by students and faculty to the suppression of free speech on university campuses is beginning to take on an ever more political character. Students, in particular, are expressing growing hostility toward the Democratic Party and US imperialism. A WSWS reporting team interviewed participants at Wednesday's protest outside the CU Morningside campus. Andrew, an international student who studies architecture at CU, said the following: Im here to protest and fight against the brutal Israeli occupation. Also I want to show Columbia University that we cant be silenced by shutting down our clubs. Columbia University is one of the most important place to protest, as it is the beacon of the Democratic Party. Referring to the March for Israel event on Tuesday which was staged by pro-Israeli elements of the American state, Andrew said, [i]ts crazy that this pro-Israel protest on [Tuesday] in Washington D.C. was led by a guy who was himself an antisemite! He was referring to John Hagee, one of the featured speakers, a Christian fundamentalist pastor. Im also aware of the fact that the Canadian Parliament gave a standing ovation to a former S.S. member. Canada is one of the few countries that has been vetoing all diplomatic proceedings that in any way support Palestine. Its shocking to me that Bernie didnt support a ceasefire. Sanders used to be the one person who used to give me hope. But now, he, and the rest of the opposition within the establishment, they all say nice things, and of course, I agree with the nice things that they say. But they are all part of the system. They are part of Washington D.C. They are one minor voice that is part of the machine. This international protest movement, on the other hand, has much more powerful potential to change things. Christina, a Columbia alum who studied sociology, also spoke to the WSWS about the actions of the former womens college, Barnard College, a unit of Columbia.. I was following the response of Barnard to this situation, and their creation of their antisemitism task force. I guess I support that, but what about the need for an Islamophobia task force? These forces are interlinked. Its not like one is against the other. The charge that anti-Zionism equals anti-Judaism is the Israeli propaganda machine trying to conflate two things that are not the same. They do it because if they push that claim, then no one would want to come out as anti-Israel out of fear of being branded as antisemitic. People are calling Biden Genocide Joe. I think that what is happening really shows that the position of the American president, no matter who you are, youre going to end up being a war criminal. Because the US president has to uphold American imperialism. You cant really change the system from within. No matter who the leaders are, no matter how liberal they all claim to be, empty promises will be made, and the people will be betrayed. Biden claims hes a president for all the people... but then, clearly with his support of Israel, hes really trying to do damage control. Hes sending billions of tax dollars over there Its this age-old conversation, we always have money for war, but we dont have money for healthcare, for housing, for education, and all of these other social problems. Theres also this idea that politics in the US will always be within the binary, two-party system, but thats kind of what the oppressors want you to think. Governments are not going to concede anything without the power of the people and mass movements. Another participant at the demonstration told the WSWS, I was here in 1968. The university suppressed antiwar speech then, and they're doing the exact same thing now. The protest on Wednesday hosted approximately 200 faculty members from Columbia, Barnard College, and Teachers Collegetwo CU-affiliated institutions located adjacent to the Morningside Heights campus. Faculty members spoke to a crowd of hundreds of students and distributed leaflets containing demands issued to the university administration, including the reinstatement of the student groups and an explicit commitment to the protection of freedom of speech and assembly. Following the suspension of the SJP and JVP, an open letter denouncing the proscription, penned by a group identifying itself as concerned Jewish students at Columbia and Barnard, was signed by hundreds. The letter read: [W]e are writing this letter to unequivocally condemn the censorship of pro-Palestine speech, which has now escalated into the suspension of SJP and JVP. We applaud the bravery of JVP, SJP and others who continue to express their views even in the face of unprecedented censorship attempts... It continued, To completely censor the two most prominent student organizations representing the Palestinian perspective, one of whom is explicitly Jewish in nature, is to stunt all Israel/Palestine discourse through intimidation and violation of our academic freedom... We as Jewish community members explicitly condemn the silencing of pro-Palestinian student voices because we feel this action has been unjustly taken in our names. Another open letter addressed to CU President Minouche Shafik and written by a group identifying itself as Jewish faculty across the United States and around the world demanded that the university reinstate Students For Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace and apologize to the impacted students. It denounced the censorship of the SJP and the JVP and applauded the students opposing the genocide. The rationale presented by the CU administration for the suppression of the SJP and the JVP was that the groups had repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event on November 9. This November 9 event was connected with the Shut It Down For Palestine initiative, which was part of a broad international movement, the widespread support of which was called for in a WSWS perspective on November 8. It is now clear that the pretext for the censorship of the SJP and JVP was completely manufactured. A report by the Columbia Spectator, the official CU student newspaper, documented that in advance of the suspension of SJP and JVP, an initiative by the administration was already underway to revise university policies regarding campus group activity. These revisions included the procedural mechanisms through which the administration subsequently suspended the SJP and the JVP. Additionally, the revisions granted more sweeping powers to the university to sanction and discipline student groups and individuals in violation of its unilaterally devised rules of conduct. The university administration has also seized upon the November 9 Shut It Down event to ramp up the policing of pro-Palestinian activity on campus. A CU student publication reported that the university had recently formed a partnership with the New York Police Department (NYPD), acting in coordination with the FBI, purportedly to support and protect students' right to free speech and safety. In advance of Tuesdays demonstration, the university announced that it would restrict entrances to campus, which are normally open to the public, to only those possessing official CU identification cards. The Board of Trustees is closely tied to the Democratic Party, the military and Wall Street, and the university has long been an ideological bastion of the American ruling class and its key ally in the Middle East. This fact is not lost on the university's student body. On November 1, 30 students of the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) staged a walkout of a lecture given by Hilary Clinton which was part of an inaugural series sponsored by the Institute for Global Politics (IGP). The IGP is a newly-formed subdivision of SIPA, and its mission is to foster collaboration between elements of the highest levels of the US state and the Columbia student body. The president of SIPA is a former Israeli intelligence official. The Columbia University administration is spearheading what is a state-backed, bipartisan assault on democratic rights of students and workers. On Thursday, the US Department of Education, led by Democrat Miguel Cardona, announced the launching of an investigation into six universities, including CU and UPenn, for violations of the Civil Rights Act related to alleged instances of antisemitism on campus. This initiative is part of the broader efforts by the US establishmentintensified in the weeks following October 7to equate all opposition to the Israeli state with antisemitism. The first US institution to ban chapters of SJP was the University of Florida system, at the instigation of far-right Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. This was followed by a similar action at Brandeis University, a private university with deep and historic ties to the Israeli government. In October, the US Senate passed a resolution on a bipartisan basis which slandered as antisemitic pro-Palestinian students groups, specifically naming the SJP. Last week, the US House of Representatives moved to censure Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib for her opposition to the genocidal assault on Gaza by the Israeli government. Students and youth who oppose the US-funded genocide of Palestinians by Israel are beginning to recognize that they confront an entire political and economic system which is complicit. In order to wage a successful struggle, however, a decisive political turn to the working class must be made. This involves the building of organizations independent of both political parties of big business, as well their agencies within pseudo-left and the bureaucratic union apparatus. We urge those who wish to take up this fight to contact the Socialist Equality Parties (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) today. There is growing anger and opposition within the membership of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) to the tentative agreement recently reached by the actors union with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). As there should be! The deal, currently being voted on, is a thorough-going fraud, which the union, in conjunction with the media, the Biden White House and rest of the establishment, is now attempting to perpetrate on the 65,000 striking actors. The agreement is a sellout of actors interests and a betrayal even of what SAG-AFTRA claimed was the minimum it would accept in the recent negotiations: decent wage increases, a share of streaming revenue and protection against artificial intelligence (AI). The deal provides for none of those things. In fact, the agreement, if it is accepted, will worsen performers living standards, offer them almost zero in streaming residuals, leave them vulnerable to the AI plans of the giant corporations and prepare no one for the major attacks on jobs that are coming. Pickets at Culver Studios, November 2023 Much of the resistance by rank-and-file actors to the deal has focused on the issue of AI and the ability and clearcut plans of the conglomerates to create digital replicas that will replace thousands of working class actors. As it turns out, the guardrails and protections promised by the SAG-AFTRA leadership are non-existent. The companies are merely required to ask for consent, but if the consent is not forthcoming, the performer will most likely not be hired. At a deal explainer held by SAG-AFTRA November 13, reported by Rolling Stone, the unions national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland filtered more than 1,000 questions, with one person asking if actors could be required to give AI consent as a condition of employment. Yes, they can ask you for that, Crabtree-Ireland replied, in the Zoom call. If you cant reach agreement on that, then yes, they can go and hire somebody else instead of you. This alone should result in the rejection of the contract and the removal of the struggle from the hands of a leadership that acknowledges its own uselessness from the point of view of actors interests. The contract has even aroused opposition on SAG-AFTRAs national board. Shaan Sharma, an alternate member of the negotiating committee and a board member, asked Rolling Stone, Did the negotiating committee honor the commitment they made to the members so that while they were throwing their bodies on the streets walking in circles they knew that they wouldnt be let down in anything really crucial that motivated them to strike in the first place? Sharma makes the obvious point that if you want to get hired, you have to be ready to consent to be replicated, so there are people who are out there saying that consent at the time of engagement is coercion because they wont hire you unless you give them those rights. Of course, it is coercion, with powerful corporations lined up against actors desperate for work. Sharma shed a little light on the sordid process by which the SAG-AFTRA leadership capitulated to the giant firms on AI and other critical issues. He asserted that the national board meeting that voted on the contract was the first thing that happened in this entire process that did not happen with integrity. The meeting was so short, Sharma explained, that people cant have any faith that their board members understood what they approved. Sharma alleges, according to Rolling Stone, that the committee was in such a rush they didnt take the time to understand the impact of what they were agreeing to. Theres also things that were done in the kind of mad scramble to close a deal in the final weeks, which was essentially the pressure applied by the AMPTP and the CEOs, the threats to cancel more shows, and the pressure from A-listers to just take a deal. There were a number of things that just eroded the strength of the majority of our negotiating committee that, for me, made the last few weeks sad. To spell it out: wealthy company executives like Bob Iger of Disney and Ted Sarandos of Netflix and a group of millionaire performers issued the orders for a return to work and SAG-AFTRA officials jumped to obey. The Biden administration was also involved. It is a repugnant spectacle, although entirely typical of the way in which every union bureaucracy, nothing more than an arm of management, operates. Rolling Stone also points out that the Background Artists Coalition, a group advocating for workers rights for background players, has criticized the unions AI deal points and has asked leadership to release the full agreement. Katrine Hoyt, a co-chair of the Background Artists Coalition, told the publication that shed like to see the full agreement before placing her vote: Whether its 500 pages or five pages it doesnt matter, but we need to see the whole agreement. The union has refused to release the actual agreement, claimingrevealinglythat the deal is not yet completed! This didnt prevent these scoundrels from declaring the strike is over and launching into an appalling and inappropriate round of self-congratulation. Actors are supposed to vote to approve a deal into which all sorts of changes and fine print can still be introduced. This is a corrupt and discredited proceeding. Sharma, a member of the board, is diplomatic. Others speak far more strongly about the betrayal. Picket line at Warner Bros October 2023 SAG-AFTRA member Kellen Goff recently tweeted, The guardrails for AI that SAG claims to have won in this contract are almost non-existent. I wont be voting to ratify the contract as is, even if it wont make a difference. Its nowhere near safe enough for any actor. With this, they set the stage to endanger the profession. Actress Jessie Pridemore simply tweeted, Reject the offer. Voice actor Sean Chiplock commented, Forget the historic trend. Forget the assurances were being fed about a deal we havent gotten to see in full. Forget the PROMISES (that arent in writing). Vote No so we can fight for a better future instead of just giving it up entirely. Actress Sara Cravens has posted numerous messages, including this, This contract feels to me as the opposite of why we have a union in the first place. She also commented: I simply cannot see how I can vote yes on something that will literally wipe out entire sections of my industry. Addressing the negotiating committee, Cravens appealed, Please I beg you, listen to your members. The meetings have been full of thoughtful, respectful, concerned actors begging you to not wipe us out. The meetings by SAG that were supposed to inform us on our contract gains, actually solidified me feeling worse about this contract. And, as a working voice actor for 20 years, I fear this language is the death of me. Zimbabwean-born actor Belsheber Rusape Jr. argued on X/Twitter that the SAG agreement has exceptions to consent for monopolizing your likeness and making money without you actually getting work? They didnt fight the problems, they just reworded it to be more marketable to the greedy producers! This vote better be a unanimous No. Voice actor Andrew Boa added, I really was hoping things would have looked better after someone from the [negotiating] committee clarified it, but it still sounds brutal. Voice actress Francesca Monet Calo pointed out that the people who are REALLY protected here with these are those who have a stronger voice. It does not protect the working actor, the day players, the BG [background] actors. No one is going to steal my eyes to create a new actor. But I could lose jobs for saying no. In the end, what will it matter how great everything else is if we lose our jobs to AI or saying no to it? Nicholas Rainville commented that the main question Im still waiting to see answered is how any union actor who does not want to give consent will ever get studio work again? Its going to become a contractual prerequisite, this seems unbelievably obvious. The union is allowing members to be blackballed. Actress Kate Bond further observed that Crabtree-Ireland has stated on multiple occasions (a zoom member meeting, an Instagram live last night) that if you do not consent to be scanned you just dont get the job, and thats it. Recent news reports also reveal the grotesque and insulting character of the streaming bonus obtained by SAG-AFTRA. Continuously lowering its demands, the union settled for a fund estimated to be worth a paltry $40 million a year. If a series reaches more than 20 percent of a streaming services US subscribers within 90 days, a high barrier to surpass, performers will qualify for the bonus. As Indie Wire noted pointedly, $40 million is an impressive number but its also: the budget of The Fabelmans, less than what Dwayne Johnson could make on his upcoming Amazon holiday movie, and about the same as Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslavs 2022 pay package. In fact, $40 million annually is a rounding error for companies like Amazon, Disney and Netflix. Of this miserable bonus, 75 percent goes directly to principal performers, Indie Wire points out, on the given successful series. The other 25 percent goes into a fund allocated to all other members working on streaming who qualify. The online publication continues, actors whose show doesnt reach the upper echelon will get a cut of a pot worth about $10 million, minus the undetermined amount that winds up paid into benefit plan contributions. If only 5,000 members end up qualifying, thats an extra $2,000 in your pocket a year. If its closer to 20,000, then only $500. One has to restrain oneself. Crabtree-Ireland, who earns one million dollars per annum in his post as chief union sellout, had the temerity to inform Indie Wire that the fund is designed to make it a sustainable career for working performers and those in the middle class, people who need every dollar in order to qualify for the guilds health plan. The guild views this as a creative way to get them a little extra cash. Crabtree-Ireland went on, For many actors, something like $1,000 or $2,000 can mean the difference between qualifying for health insurance or not. It can mean everything for someone whos making $23,000-$24,000 a year and thats the difference for their benefits. So I do think that it has real significant potential to change how actors perceive the way the streaming business is treating them. The union sees itself as being in the business of getting a little extra cash from companies raking in billions! What a disgrace, what abject cowardice! Again, there is not a moment to lose. The WSWS urges the rejection of this rotten agreement and the establishment of democratically-controlled rank-and-file committees that will renew the strike and set it on a different course: for minimum increases of at least 25 percent in the first year; for a ban on digital replicas as long as the conglomerates have control over them; for residuals corresponding to the massive profits being made; for preparation against the coming attack on jobs; and for the socialist reorganization of economic, social and cultural life. It was about four years ago that the virus that causes COVID-19 jumped from animals into their handlers and then the local customers that shopped at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China. This crossover led to a sustained community transmission that over several weeks caught the attention of the local medical and public health officials and soon the world at large. Since then, the various forms of criminal neglect on the part of the ruling elites, such as herd immunity, let it rip and learn to live with the virus, have led to 7 million official global COVID-19 deaths. The estimated global excess deaths of 27.4 million are nearly four times the official death toll. With the abandonment of all essential COVID-19 trackers on rates of infection and direct and related deaths from COVID-19, the exact current impact of the disease remains largely a subject of guesswork and will only be really known when epidemiologists and modelers conduct their retrospective analysis of year-to-year trends in mortality. Red painted hearts inscribed with loved ones names are seen on the The National Covid Memorial Wall dedicated to those who died from the coronavirus in London, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. [AP Photo/Alastair Grant] In the US, where wastewater levels of SARS-CoV-2 have continued to be published for the time being, as of November 6, levels of community transmission were continuing their climb or remaining at high levels. Modelers like Dr. Mike Hoerger estimate the total at more than 670,000 daily cases. Certainly, with the holidays fast approaching and the latest iterations of the Omicron variants circulating, these figures are expected to climb. We are once more amid the early phase of the winter wave. Since September 23, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 tracker, emergency room visits, hospitalizations and deaths are up approximately 10 percent. As of the week ending November 11, there have been 16,239 COVID-19 hospitalizations. In the week ending October 21 (the date reflects the delay in tracking deaths), another 1,265 people died. In total, throughout October over 5,000 people lost their lives. Also worrisome is the abysmal vaccine uptake seen across the country, with only 14 percent of adults thus far having received a dose of the latest version of the COVID-19 boosters. Masking has become essentially nonexistent, even in healthcare settings where facility-induced COVID-19 infections pose great hazards to nursing home patients and those admitted to hospitals. Perhaps most glaring has been the recent report in the New York Times concerning the massive toll COVID-19 has taken on the cognitive functions of younger Americans, and by extension, hundreds of millions of people, even billions, across the globe. In the US, the prevalence of Long COVID ranges from 5 to 15 percent, or an estimated 10 to 30 million working age adults. The article notes, The number of working-age adults reporting serious difficulty thinking has climbed [during the pandemic] by an estimated one million people. The percent of 18- to 44-year-olds that say they have serious difficult remembering is now on par with those between ages of 45 to 64. That these trends have not returned to their previous marks suggest the impact will have a chronic toll on the population and are ongoing. Studies on the impact of COVID-19 on the neurological system have found that almost a third of people who get COVID-19 develop some level of cognitive impairments several months later, ranging from mild to debilitating, according to the report. Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, chair of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, told the Times, Its not just [brain] fog, its a brain injury, basically. There are neurovascular changes. Theres inflammation. There are changes on MRIs (brain scans). Many of those disabled have to continue to work to earn a living despite the added impact to their ability to think and function normally, which compounds the stress on their health and places them at risk for making serious mistakes that have untold consequences on their work. Yet, with funding for such studies having dried up and no treatment to address these ongoing chronic concerns, the millions of ongoing infections are only exacerbating the evolving health crisis. Such disregard by the political establishment and public health officials is unprecedented and constitutes gross criminal negligence. These reports do not take into consideration the impact the virus has on other disabling symptoms, like intense fatigue, respiratory difficulties or heart palpitations, to name a few others. The ability for the infection to cause immune dysregulation means the potential for developing complications with other viral, bacterial and fungal infections. The persistence of activated immune T-cells in people, who have returned to feeling normal after their acute infection, remains both a puzzle and a concern for researchers. These have potential consequences in igniting previously checked viral infections like herpes and Epstein-Barr virus and possibly permitting the development of cancers. Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, an epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, who called the burden of Long COVID staggeringly high, explained, It appears that the effects of Long COVID for many will not only impact such patients and their quality of life, but potentially will contribute to a decline in life expectancy and also may impact labor participation, economic productivity, and societal well-being. Yet, rather than heeding the continued dangers posed by viral evolution and recognition of the mass disabling event caused by Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) (the formal term for Long COVID) to invest both in infrastructure to sanitize indoor air and build an internationally based public health consortium to monitor the impact of infectious pathogens on the global population, we are in a far more precarious position globally. Indeed, every government has accepted the maxim that the cure cannot be worse than the disease and adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the threat posed by an array of other pathogens, undiscovered yet or previously recognized. The lesson being taken by those who dominate corporate America and the financial system is that a strict adherence to sound principles of public health is bad for business. In a recent comprehensive editorial published on November 6, 2023, by the John Snow Project, a group of scientists and researchers concerned by the lack of attention being given, titled Endemic SARS-CoV-2 and the death of public health, wrote on the ability to eliminate the virus: Understanding of airborne transmission and institution of mitigation measures, which have heretofore not been utilized in any country, will facilitate elimination, even with the newer, more transmissible variants. Any country that has the necessary resources (or is provided with them) can achieve full containment within a few months. In fact, currently this would be easier than ever before because of the accumulated widespread multiple recent exposures to the virus in the population suppressing the effective reproduction number (Re). For the last 18 months or so we have been seeing a constant high plateau of cases with undulating waves, but not the major explosions of infections with Re reaching 3-4 that were associated with the original introduction of the virus in 2020 and with the appearance of the first Omicron variants in late 2021. They then added: It would be much easier to use NPIs to drive Re to much below 1 and keep it there until elimination when starting from Re around 1.2-1.3 than when it was over 3, and this moment should be used, before another radically new serotype appears and takes us back to those even more unpleasant situations. This is not a technical problem, but one of political and social will. As long as leadership misunderstands or pretends to misunderstand the link between increased mortality, morbidity and poorer economic performance and the free transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the impetus will be lacking to take the necessary steps to contain this damaging virus. The increases in previously checked communicable diseases like measles, TB and syphilis are just the symptom of a public health system that has been in decline for nearly two decades. The decline in life expectancy, especially among working people as compared to those more well off, is the clearest demonstration of the rising tide of inequality that is devastating the working class. The pandemic has only demonstrated, in the negative, the immediacy and importance of public health in social life. However, public health is the end product of the social organization of society where all the resources and gains are put to use in improving the life and well-being of the population. Yet, it is precisely in this aspect that it is prone to being the first casualty of the social decline in the capitalist milieu because it is dependent on the entire social organization of society for it to function well. Over the weekend, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intensified its relentless campaign of atrocities against the Palestinian people of Gaza, bombing two UN schools. Dozens were killed and hundreds wounded as the IDF also bombed refugee camps in Bureij and Nuseirat in central Gaza, killing 31. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that IDF strikes killed at least 50 people at the Jabaliya refugee camps Al Fakhoura school and caused dozens of casualties at the Tal az-Zaatar school. It has, however, been a week since the ministry ceased publishing official casualty figures from the Israeli war on Gaza which they can no longer reliably establish, as the IDF bombs destroy and forces occupy hospitals and other health facilities across the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian woman reacts over the body of a child as she sits by dozens bodies of Palestinians murdered by Israeli airstrikes on Jabaliya refugee camp, at the Indonesian hospital, northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, November 18, 2023. [AP Photo/Ahmed Alarini] Ahmed Radwan, who was wounded in the Al Fakhoura bombing, told AP: The scenes were horrifying. Corpses of women and children were on the ground. Others were screaming for help. Another witness told Al-Jazeera at the scene: Dead bodies [are] scattered pieces of flesh. No one can recognise their sons. Our life is hell. Yesterday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres formally condemned the IDF bombings of UN facilities, saying: I am deeply shocked that two UNRWA schools were struck in less than 24 hours in Gaza. Dozens of people, many women and children, were killed and injured as they were seeking safety in United Nations premises. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are seeking shelter at United Nations facilities throughout Gaza due to the intensified fighting. I reaffirm that our premises are inviolable. Guterres called the number of Palestinian civilian casualtiesestimated to include at least 13,000 deathsstaggering and unacceptable and said that the Israel-Gaza war must stop. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, who already dismissed Guterres previous calls to protect UN facilities with demands that Guterres resign, no doubt plans to react to these comments with new acts of mass murder targeting hospitals, schools and refugee camps. Israels Zionist regime is trying to resolve the Palestinian question via genocide, with the support of the NATO imperialist powers. US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni all have traveled to Israel to hail Netanyahu and endorse Israels right to defend itself. By this, they mean the systematic use of massive IDF firepower from bombers, drones, tanks and artillery to massacre Gazas defenseless civilian population. Since the October 7 Palestinian uprising against the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza, at least 400,000, or over half, of Gazas buildings have been destroyed, according to Palestinian officials. The IDF cut off water, food, electricity and fuel to Gaza and ordered the total evacuation of northern Gaza. Now, 1.7 million of Gazas 2.2 million inhabitants have fled their homes. Only 10 of Gazas 36 hospitals are still functioning, with only 1,400 beds to treat tens of thousands of wounded without anesthetics or other critical medical supplies. The Netanyahu regime has reacted to mass protests internationally against the war on Gaza by escalating its bombing of civilians, repeatedly striking targets likes the Jabaliya refugee camp and Al-Shifa Hospital, which IDF forces surrounded and stormed last week. On Sunday, a World Health Organization (WHO) team at the Al-Shifa Hospital called it a death zone. A mass grave has been dug next to Al-Shifas entrance, after the IDF forced hundreds of patients, including amputees, to evacuate the building Saturday on foot, in a death march. WHO officials stressed their concern for 29 patients, who cannot move due to serious spinal injuries, patients with wounds infected for lack of antibiotics, and 32 babies in extremely critical condition. Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip along Salah al-Din Street, on the outskirts of Gaza City, during the ongoing Israeli bombardment on Saturday, November 18, 2023. [AP Photo/Adel Hana] The NATO imperialist powers unconditional support for IDF atrocities in Gaza is a warning: This genocide cannot be halted through appeals to capitalist governments but only by forging a common struggle by workers internationally against these governments. Already, calls are circulating among workers across America, Europe and the Middle East to refuse to handle arms shipments to Israel. However, uniting and developing such calls into an international movement to stop the war requires a conscious struggle against nationalism and the bankrupt capitalist nation-state system. From the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948, based on the Zionist perspective of building a Jewish-exclusivist capitalist state in Palestine, the construction of this state proceeded based on the forced displacement of the Palestinians through the application of massive violence. Palestinians were forced into the enclaves in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and turned into second-class pariahs by the assertion of the Israeli states exclusively Jewish identity. The IDF onslaught against Gaza and the imperialist powers support for it flow from a mortal crisis of the Zionist regime and of the broader, imperialist-dominated nation-state system in the Middle East of which it is a part. Particularly since 1991, with the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union and the first Gulf War against Iraq, the Israeli state has emerged as a critical Middle Eastern outpost of US imperialism, which armed Israel to the tune of billions of dollars. Since 2011, when NATO launched a war against the Russian- and Iranian-backed Syrian regime, the IDF has played a key role in bombing Iranian and Syrian regime targets in Syria and across the region. But its role in the emerging world wars Middle Eastern front is taking place hand in hand with a deepening crisis at home. As Palestinians came ever closer to being the majority, so did the insoluble contradiction between Israels democratic pretensions and its reactionary definition as an exclusively Jewish state. In the 21st century, Israeli capitalist politicians and media called Palestinian population growth a demographic time bomb and spoke of a Jewish-Arab demographic war in Israel. Netanyahu helped lead this campaign, having denounced Israeli Arabs as a demographic threat already in 2003. Last year, the Times of Israel cited a study by Israeli demographer and Haifa University Professor Arnon Soffer which found that only 47 percent of the population of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza were Jewish. It included 7.45 million Jews, 7.53 million Arab Israelis and Palestinians and several hundred thousand others. The Times cited Soffers warning that the Israeli population is unaware of the democratic peril the country is sliding into by possibly becoming a ruling minority in the area. The Palestine Chronicle commented: Israeli officials often refer to the growing Palestinian population as a demographic bomb, thus developing state policies to ensure the constant growth of the countrys Jewish citizens at the expense of Palestinian Arab communities. Soffers research is a rare admission that Israels so-called demographic war has been lost. The IDFs constant atrocities in Gaza, far-right Israeli Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahus call to drop nuclear bombs on Gaza, and Israeli intelligence reports planning to deport surviving Palestinians in Gaza to concentration camps in Egypt all reveal one political reality: The Israeli ruling elite, incapable of finding any peaceful or progressive solution to the contradictions of Israeli society, is moving to try to resolve them through genocide. In the West Bank, IDF forces and far-right settler militias are imposing a reign of terror, imposing a lockdown on and shooting Palestinians. At least 130 Palestinians have died at the hands of the IDF or far-right Jewish settler militias in the West Bank since the latest Gaza war began. This weekend, Israeli forces shot and killed two men: Issam al-Fayed, a disabled Palestinian aged 45, amid a massive raid on Jenin, and Omar Ali al-Laham, in a raid on Bethlehem. The only progressive way forward is to mobilize the working class across the Middle East and internationally against imperialism and its Zionist allies, in a revolutionary struggle to build a united socialist federation of all the peoples of the Middle East. Thousands of people again gathered in major centres across New Zealand last weekend to denounce the escalating genocidal bombing of the Gaza Strip by Israel. On Sunday, up to 7,000 people marched in Auckland from Aotea Square to the US Consulate, where photos of children killed by Israels bombs were posted on doors. In Wellington, about 3,000 people marched from Civic Square to parliament, demanding a ceasefire. Protesters in Civic Square Wellington, 20 November 2023 Protests in Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Whangarei, Nelson, Whanganui, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Hastings, Queenstown and Timaru were ignored by the corporate media. A petition by Palestinian Youth Aotearoa for the government to demand a ceasefire has more than 39,000 signatures. Hundreds of New Zealand healthcare workers have signed an open letter making the same demand and highlighting Israels destruction of hospitals in Gaza and the killing of hundreds of healthcare workers, among other war crimes. A survey of 1,040 people by Talbot Mills, published November 16, found that 60 percent wanted the government to call for an immediate ceasefire and only 12 percent disagreed. The rest were unsure or neutral. More than five weeks after the October 14 election, the National Party is still in talks with the far-right ACT and NZ First parties to form a coalition government. National leader Christopher Luxon has repeatedly declared that Israel is engaged in self-defence against Hamasthe same lie used by the US and other imperialist powers to justify the mass slaughter and ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Since October 7, the Netanyahu regime has killed more than 13,000 people in Gaza, including 5,500 children, and thousands more are trapped beneath the rubble. More than 70 percent of Gazans have been displaced. Protesters assembling outside NZ parliament, November 20 2023 On Sunday, as protesters gathered outside parliament, Labour Party leader and caretaker prime minister Chris Hipkins issued a statement saying, it has become untenable for me and it runs against Labour Party values to stand by and watch the horrific scenes were witnessing without calling for a ceasefire. Hipkins stressed that he was making this call as Labour Party leader, not as prime minister, because he had failed to secure agreement with the incoming government. He did not condemn Israel, saying we recognise the right to self-defence, but expressed concern that its military actions were disproportionate and indiscriminate. In fact, as a matter of international law, Israel has no right to self-defence against a territory that it is illegally occupying. The Palestinian people have the right to resist the occupation. Hipkins mealy-mouthed statement is an attempt to stem the partys plummeting support, driven by the social crisis as well as the Labour governments alignment with the US and Israel. On November 7, Hipkins declared he was not going to make a judgement about whether Israel had committed war crimes; this followed Labour MP Phil Twyford being met with shouts of shame on Labour! during an anti-war rally in Auckland. On November 13, former Labour prime minister Jacinda Ardern broke her silence on the war during a discussion hosted by Harvard University, where she avoided any criticism let alone condemnation of Israel. In an almost meaningless statement, Ardern appealed to everyone to remember our shared common humanity, adding, the only way to find long-term peaceful resolution to difficult and complex conflicts is if you find a way to end the violence and grief in order to give yourself the space to then have those conversations. The Socialist Equality Group (SEG) held a public meeting on November 13 which discussed the socialist and internationalist strategy to stop the genocide and the developing Third World War. It explained that an anti-war movement can only be built in opposition to all capitalist parties, including Labour and its ally the Green Partywhich is playing a prominent role at protests and issued pacifist statements calling for a ceasefire. The Greens were part of the Ardern-Hipkins government and would have rejoined it had Labour received enough votes. SEG members spoke with people attending the Wellington rally and distributed the recent WSWS perspectives, Israels war on hospitals and the normalization of war crimes and The forced evacuation of southern Gaza: The next stage in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Finn, a physicist, said its really, really tragic to watch what is taking place in Gaza, as well as the media propaganda whitewashing Israels war crimes. Im American on my mothers side, and so its hard to watch people over there only seeing that side of the story when theres so much tragedy going on. He said it was shameful that its taken [Hipkins] this long to say anything at all. Finn criticised the media, saying the last protest I was at was even bigger than this and I didnt see a single media person anywhere. They are ignoring us and trying to make it all go away. Finn said it was heartening, in such a sad and horrific time, to see so many different people from so many different walks of life, different generations, coming together to support Palestine. And I think there are so many more people like this, and its the media and the government that arent being representative of us. He added that New Zealands own history of colonisation by British imperialism was connected with the major parties refusal to criticise Israel. Ash Ash, who works at a university residential hall, said one of my best friends is Palestinian and he told me his familys story. The Israeli government is targeting his family, he cant go back home, he owns property in Gaza but cant access it. He summed up the situation in Gaza as an occupation and a genocide. Its like if someone came into your house and expected you to leave, and when you said no, they killed you. If you watch some of the local Israeli news channels, its horrendous what theyre saying about the Palestinian people. There was one story that I saw where the news reporter was [advocating] genocide for all Muslim nations. The New Zealand governments response was pretty weak, he said, adding that Hipkins was disconnected from the population. He described the corporate medias coverage as the same propaganda machine that was behind the war in Iraq and Syria and everywhere else. He urged people to follow Instagram pages such as Eye on Palestine, which were reporting from within Gaza. The Israeli government have asked TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms to delete peoples accounts that are reporting on this stuff, so independent journalism is so important, otherwise we wouldnt know whats going on. Use of the slogan From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free is now being prosecuted in Germany as a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment of up to three years or a fine. Munich Chief Prosecutor Andreas Franck, who is also the antisemitism commissioner of the Bavarian judiciary, has already announced his intention to pursue charges based on the slogan as well as prohibited Nazi slogans and symbols. The legal basis is the ban on Hamas, which Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (Social DemocratsSPD) issued on 2 November. Hamas was previously considered an illegal terrorist organisation, but Faeser issued a specific ban on the organisation, even though Hamas officially has no organised presence in Germany. Demonstration at Oranienplatz Berlin against the genocide in Gaza, October 28, 2023. The five-page prohibition order published in the Federal Gazette lists Hamas signs, the public use of which is prohibited. The list also includes the slogan From the river to the sea (in German or other languages). According to Chief Prosecutor Franck, use of the slogan could be punished on the basis of Section 86a of the Criminal Code: Use of signs of unconstitutional and terrorist organisations. Until now, German prosecutors had regarded the statement as legal. It was in principle covered by freedom of expression, the public prosecutors offices in Berlin, Munich and other cities explained, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung. Those who wish for Palestine to be free, it was said, are not necessarily calling for violence. The demand can also be a call for peaceful change of the status quo. The Berlin Administrative Court ruled as recently as August that the slogan itself was not punishable by law. However, with the prohibition order, the legal requirements have changed. Instead of being prosecuted for incitement to hatred, which requires clear proof of incitement to violence, anyone using the slogan can now be punished solely on the grounds that the minister of the interior has declared it a sign of a prohibited organisation. This is an arbitrary act of censorship and suppression of the fundamental right to freedom of expression. In recent weeks, millions of people of all religions and nationalities, including Israelis and many Jews, have taken to the streets worldwide to protest the Israeli massacre in Gaza. The governments that support Israeli crimes are responding with censorship, intimidation and repression. In Germany, peaceful demonstrations are slandered by the media as antisemitic and banned by the police or made subject to strict conditions. Large police squads intimidate the demonstrators, censor every spoken and written word, arrest participants en masse, and seize leaflets and banners. The criminalisation of the call for freedom for Palestine is another stage in this spiral of repression. The claim that the slogan From the river to the sea is a sign of Hamas is simply a lie. The roots of the slogan go back at least to the founding of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964. The Palestinian National Charter defined Palestine as the historic British Mandate territory of 1947, stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. A distinction was explicitly made between Jews as a religious group and Zionism as a racist and political movement associated with international imperialism. The Charter also explicitly stated that Jews can also be Palestinians. The goal of the Palestinians has traditionally been a secular, democratic Palestine without occupation or discrimination. Thus, Yasser Arafats Fatah, long the largest and dominant faction within the PLO, declared in 1969: Fatah, the National Liberation Movement of Palestine, solemnly proclaims that the ultimate goal of its struggle is the restoration of an independent, democratic state of Palestine in which all citizens, regardless of their religion, will enjoy equal rights. Hamas, on the other hand, did not emerge until 1987 as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. In its revised charter of 2017, it also committed itself to a Palestine from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean. In doing so, it did not invent anything new, but merely adopted a decades-long orientation of Palestinian organisations. This formulation did not appear in the Hamas charter of 1988. In its revised charter produced three decades after its founding, Hamas also distinguished between Judaism and Zionism, unlike in its 1988 charter. It said: Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project and not with the Jews because of their religion. In Israeli politics, too, there were repeated references to the formula from the river to the sea long before Hamas was founded. Contrary to the PLOs interpretation, however, this did not mean a secular, democratic state, but Eretz Israel, a state under Jewish domination. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus ruling Likud Party was explicitly founded on this basis. It said in its original 1977 platform: The right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel is eternal and indisputable and is linked to the right to security and peace; therefore, Judea and Samaria will not be handed over to any foreign administration; between the sea and the Jordan there will be only Israeli sovereignty. Israels current finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionism Party, which is largely responsible for the settlements in the West Bank, wrote an essay for a right-wing Israeli think tank in 2017 titled Israels Decisive Plan, which states: We will make it clear that our national quest for a Jewish state from the river to the sea is an accomplished fact, a fact that cannot be discussed or negotiated. However, the supporters of Netanyahu and Smotrich in Germany do not have to fear that they will receive a visit from the public prosecutors office. On the contrary, the German government has declared its full solidarity with and provides military support to the Israeli government as it carries out with murderous violence the policy of killing or forcibly displacing the Palestinians. Anyone who protests that there should be freedom and equality between the river and the sea instead of occupation and apartheid will be criminalised. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Uzbekistan has adopted amendments to the Criminal Code, providing for increased punishment for violations of safety rules for storage and transportation of goods, Trend reports. The relevant document was signed by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. According to the document, the maximum penalty for production, storage, transportation for the purpose of sale or sale of goods, performance of work, or rendering services that do not meet safety requirements is up to three years of imprisonment. Moreover, for similar actions on a particularly large scale, the penalty is five to seven years' imprisonment. Actions resulting in human casualties or other grave consequences, such as imprisonment for seven to 12 years. The reason for increased control was an explosion and subsequent fire on the night of September 28 at one of the warehouses located in Tashkent. As a result of the accident, a 13-year-old boy was killed, and 162 other people were injured. According to the government commission, the warehouse was storing large quantities of chemicals without complying with regulations. In criminal proceedings under the article of the Criminal Code "Violation of Fire Safety Rules," four people were arrested. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, November 20. US government agencies will deport illegal migrants from Uzbekistan under an accelerated procedure entering through the territory of Mexico, Trend reports. According to the US Embassy in Uzbekistan, the US Department of Homeland Security has transmitted information to the Department of State that Uzbek citizens illegally crossing the border with Mexico will not be allowed to enter the US from now on, instead they will be detained until their immigration status is resolved. The embassy stressed that the United States cooperates with the government of Uzbekistan in order to expel Uzbek citizens who have no legal grounds to remain in the country, and also added that the export is carried out by commercial airlines and charter missions under contract with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, expedited removal is a method used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the prompt deportation of persons from the country without giving them the opportunity to appear before an immigration judge. This mechanism makes it possible to speed up the process of removing illegal migrants or persons who violate immigration laws, minimizing formalities and reducing the time frame. James Garcia received the Young Hero Award Sunday from Orange County Fire Rescue for his heroic actions earlier this month Orange County Fire Rescue Department, Florida/Facebook James Garcia poses with his grandmother Rosa Garcia A Florida kindergartener has been honored by his local fire department for helping save his grandmothers life earlier this month. James Garcia was home with his grandma Rosa on Nov. 4 when she experienced a medical emergency, according to Orange County Fire Rescue. "I heard a bumping sound and that was my grandma falling," James said, per NBC affiliate WESH. Related: 'Hero' Florida Boy, 12, Saves Drowning Man Using CPR He Learned from 'Stranger Things' The 6-year-old, who was being babysat at the time, quickly got on the phone and dialed 911, according to CBS affiliate WKMG-TV and FOX affiliate WOFL. Officials said James bravely remained on the line with dispatch until help arrived. "I don't know what's happening to my grandma ... I'm scared," James told dispatch during the call, per reports. Orange County Fire Rescue Department, Florida/Facebook James Garcia poses with members of Orange County Fire Rescue Nicholas Wilson was the first member of the rescue team to come face-to-face with James upon arriving at the Orange County home, according to WESH. He said it was surprising to see a little man answer the door. "They said there was somebody there helping grandma, he told the station, adding, I didn't realize he was so young. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In the 911 call obtained by WOFL, James can be heard showing first responders to his grandmother's room, where the medical episode presumably occurred. After she is found, a paramedic can be heard telling the boy, "Good job, buddy!" Orange County Fire Rescue Department, Florida/Facebook James Garcia uses a hose at Orange County Fire Rescue's station 58 Related: N.Y. Boy, 7, Saves Choking Friend With Heimlich Maneuver He Learned on 'The Good Doctor' On Sunday, James received the Young Hero Award from Orange County Fire Rescue at Station 58 for his heroic actions on Nov. 4. James held a special plaque as he and his grandmother posed for a photo in front of an ambulance during the special event. Rosa told WOFL that James is her number one. "If I loved him before, you have no idea how much I do now," she told WESH. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Iran does not consider the International Atomic Energy Agency's information about Iran's enriched uranium stockpile that appeared in the media, to be constructive, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nasser Kanaani said at the press conference in Tehran on November 20, Trend reports. Iran has criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 'leaking information' about its 60 percent enriched uranium stockpile, as Kanaani said at a recent press conference. Media reports cited the IAEA as saying that Irans 60 percent enriched uranium reserves had increased from 6.7 kg to 128 kg. Kanaani said that such allegations against Irans peaceful nuclear program were made based on ulterior motives. He stressed that Irans peaceful nuclear activities were based on cooperation with the IAEA and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He added that this cooperation was continuing. Irans nuclear program was the subject of the JCPOA, a deal signed by Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) on January 16, 2016. However, on May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the JCPOA and imposed new sanctions on Iran as of November 2018. Iran claims that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, but the IAEA has reported that Iran has increased its highly enriched uranium by 27 percent in the last three months and now has 4,745 kilograms of enriched uranium. This is 15 times more than the amount allowed for Iran in the JCPOA. Iran has been trying to resume talks with the other parties on its nuclear issue and revive the JCPOA. The main goals of Iran are to end the sanctions imposed by the US and Western countries, access funds frozen abroad, and resume its crude oil exports. --- Follow the author on X (Twitter):@BaghishovElnur Controversial influencer Andrew Tate has claimed he was coerced into an interview as he was questioned on allegations of rape and human trafficking in a new interview with Piers Morgan. Both he and his brother Tristan are currently awaiting trial in Romania on allegations of forming a criminal gang to exploit women, which they both deny. They will appear in the first of two episodes on TalkTV this evening, with news of the interview dividing opinion, with many calling for a boycott of the show and criticising the broadcaster for offering the brothers a platform. In a 40-second clip released on social media site X, Tate can be seen denying that he is a fantasist and claims that he was the victim of a Matrix attack, before angrily responding: I was coerced into this interview!. Morgan last interviewed the former kickboxer in December 2022, just eight days before Tate was arrested, in which he affirmed his belief that women were given to their husbands in marriage. Tate first gained notoriety during the 2016 season of Big Brother in the UK, since then he has amassed a fanbase of young boys and men by styling himself as an alpha male lifestyle coach on social media. More to come on Piers Morgan Uncensored 21:11 , Holly Evans The second part of Piers Morgans interview with Andrew Tate will air tomorrow, with a promotional teaser showing the two discussing Hamas and the ongoing legal case against the Tates. Andrews brother Tristan will also make an appearance for a separate interview. That is not my fault, Tate says 21:06 , Holly Evans When questioned about his influence on young teenage boys, Tate responded: Its very easy for a teenager, with their hormones and the lack of life experience, to take the things I say and weaponize them and use them in the incorrect context. However, that is not my fault. Can I make sure that no teenager on the planet who listens to me ever misunderstands me, ever? No, I cant do that, but I am doing my very best. Were all feminists here, Tate says 20:53 , Holly Evans After speaking about Amanda Holden, Tate said: Were all feminists here. When questioned if he does identify as a feminist, he confirmed that he did believe in empowered women. However, he added that men and women are created differently by God. A man has certain jobs and a woman has certain jobs, he said. Andrew addresses Amanda Holden comment 20:49 , Holly Evans In a bizarre exchange, Tate once responded to a photo of presenter Amanda Holden in a bathing suit and wrote: You are a wife and a mother and you are far past a teenager, there is no need for this post. Describing her as a close friend, Morgan said the tweet was misogynistic to which Tate explained: You can call me crazy, you can call me misogynistic, but I think once you reach the ripe age of 50, any woman should not be interested in thirst trapping on Instagram. I think she has bigger responsibilities, I am sure she is a very intelligent lady and she has done amazing things. (Talk TV) Purest definition of misogyny I have ever read, Morgan says of tweets 20:42 , Holly Evans After reading out a lengthy tweet where Tate lays out out his views on women and his treatment of his partner, with Morgan concluding: I think that is the purest definition of misogyny I have ever read, Morgan concluded. When Morgan asked Tate about his views on women being slaves and subservient, Tate responded, Slaves that wear Prada. Morgan questions Tate on the 'loverboy method' 20:34 , Holly Evans The method is a term that refers to men who use tactics to coerce vulnerable individuals into exploitation. Tate pushed back: Do you know what loverboy method means? Being nice. He was nice and polite and kind and they really liked him as a person, and he told them how to do TikTok. Hes a lover boy! I was nice to girls who asked me for TikTok advice, I didnt beat or force them, he said. He then accused Morgan of using the loverboy method and of coercing them into the interview. Andrew Tate denies accusations as garbage 20:29 , Holly Evans Tate has called the charges levied against him garbage. He claimed that he was thrown in jail for his opinions on the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Andrew added: The whole thing is a joke. When questioned why this would cause him to be thrown in jail, he said: I was the most googled peson on the planet and I had the most affinity with the most troublesome demographic for the matrix. God has been paying my bills 20:21 , Holly Evans When questioned on how he was able to finance himself following the seizure of his bank accounts, he said: God has been paying my bills. He revealed that he had 15 cars and six properties seized as well as a number of diamond watches and other assets which amounted to 16 or 17 million. He added that he is yet to have these assets returned. Tate describes cockroaches and Romanian jail conditions 20:15 , Holly Evans Asked about the conditions of the Romanian president where he was being held, Tate said: Its exactly as bad as people expect it to be. Luckily it was in winter so the cockroaches werent too bad. He added that there had been an infestation of cockroaches and there he had kept himself entertained by killing them as well as doing thousands of push ups a day. He denied crying but stated he had tears rolling down his face. Im an emotional man, I think men are hyper emotional we just have to control it, he said. I was in the middle of a battle, I dont think you get PTSD when you are fighting. Influencer describes legal case as ridiculous' 20:11 , Holly Evans When discussing his legal issues with Piers Morgan, he described the case against him as insane and ridiculous. He is facing trial in Romania after being accused of rape and human trafficking charges. Tate describes recent year as turbulent' 20:06 , Holly Evans Andrew Tate has described his last year as a turbulent time, after he was arrested eight days after his last Piers Morgan interview. He described being inside a Romanian dungeon for 93 days and added: Its certainly been an interesting one. Piers Morgan Uncensored interview to air at 8pm 19:55 , Holly Evans The interview with controversial influencer Andrew Tate is due to air on TalkTV at 8pm. The two are expected to discuss his ongoing legal issues, Covid-19 and the Israel-Gaza conflict. Piers Morgan defends interview with Andrew Tate 19:43 , Holly Evans Earlier today, Piers Morgan defended his upcoming interview with Andrew Tate, by insisting the more light you shine on these characters, the better. Questioned during an appearance on TalkToday whether the Tates should be given a platform, Morgan told TalkToday: With these kinds of characters, the more light you shine on them the better, actually. The more you actually hold their feet to the fire a bit. In a post on social media, the broadcaster promised: Andrew Tate returns to a@PiersUncensoreda for the first time since his arrest 8 days after our last interview. Its an extraordinary encounter. Jail, tears, rage, misogyny, covid, the Israel/Hamas war. Nothing off-limits. (Talk TV) Inside Rumble, the YouTube alternative beloved by Russell Brand and the Trumps 19:00 , Holly Evans All is not lost for Russell Brand. Despite the allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse made against him, all of which he vehemently denies, and his subsequent exile from mainstream media, one platform is currently touting its close proximity to the star as a selling point. Join Rumble today, former Fox News presenter and Rumble bankroller Dan Bongino said earlier this week. Russell is already there. So too are Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, misogynist mega-influencer Andrew Tate, and Sandy Hook conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Read all about the YouTube alternative dominated by controversial voices here Russell Brands salvation? Inside the YouTube alternative beloved by the Trumps Lawyers of alleged Andrew Tate's victims say their clients are being harassed and intimidated 18:30 , Holly Evans Lawyers for the alleged abuse victims of Andrew Tate, the divisive social media influencer charged with rape and human trafficking, said that their clients are being subjected to harassment and intimidation by the accused and his followers meant to silence them. Speaking at a news conference held at a central Bucharest hotel the lawyers, who represent a legal team from the United States and another from the United Kingdom, said they wanted to take a united stand against Tate and his followers and address ongoing attempts to silence those who are speaking out. The 36-year-old Tate, a former professional kickboxer, is also charged in Romania with forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. He has amassed 8 million followers on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Read the full article from October below Lawyers of alleged Andrew Tate's victims say their clients are being harassed and intimidated Andrew Tate arrives in court for preliminary hearing over human trafficking case 18:00 , Holly Evans Andrew Tate arriving in court in Romania last week for a preliminary hearing over evidence obtained against him in his human trafficking and rape case. Andrew Tate arrives in court for preliminary hearing over human trafficking case Full trailer from Piers Morgan Uncensored ahead of tonights show 17:34 , Holly Evans In a social media post, Piers Morgan shared a 40-second trailer of his interview with controversial influencer Andrew Tate. He can be seen denying that he is a fantasist while also discussing Covid-19 vaccinations and accusing Mr Morgan of coercing him onto the show. "I was coerced into this interview!" Piers Morgan speaks to Andrew Tate in Romania for their first encounter since the controversial influencer was hit with a raft of serious criminal charges. Don't miss the world exclusive tonight at 8pm (UK).@CobraTate | @piersmorgan | #PMU pic.twitter.com/1fRG5TE1oK Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) November 20, 2023 Welcome to our live coverage 16:54 , Holly Evans Welcome to our live coverage of Andrew Tates interview with TalkTV host Piers Morgan. The two-part interview with the controversial influencer and his brother Tristan is expected to air at 8pm on Tuesday evening. Andrew Tate asked if he 'condemns Hamas' during Piers Morgan interview 21:23 , Holly Evans Piers Morgan is due to interview Andrew and his brother Tristian in a world exclusive interview from Romania that will continue on Tuesday on Piers Uncensored. Tate was arrested in December 2022 on allegations of rape, human trafficking and organised crime and was released for jail in August and has been under house arrest in Romania ever since. This will be Tates first major interview with a broadcaster since he spoke to the BBC in June. Its also the first time that Tate will have been interviewed since the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated in October. Read the full article here Andrew Tate asked if he 'condemns Hamas' during Piers Morgan interview Jared Scott Fogle aka Jared from Subway was caught in the year 2015. When authorities raided the home of Russell Taylor, they discovered that Taylor and Jared had sexually explicit videos and pictures. Furthermore, these videos and pictures featured children. Russell Taylor was the director of the Jared Foundation. Upon further inspection, investigators learned that Taylors ex-wife, Angela Baldwin, had ties with this scandal. According to StyleCaster, she conspired with Jared to sexually exploit children. In an interview with People, Tim Horty, spokesman for the US Attorney said, What we found in Russell Taylors home and on his computers led us to Jared Fogle. However, Journalist Rochelle Herman became suspicious of Jared in the year 2006. According to StyleCaster Herman and Jared met during the recording of a Florida radio show. After going off the air, Jared apparently told Herman that he found middle school-age girls attractive. Rochelle Herman explained the incident in an interview with the New York Post. She said, He had leaned over to me and, above a whisper, he leaned over and he said how hot he thought middle school girls were. She further said, I knew what he said was exactly how he felt. I knew that there was something very sinister about this man Behind the smile and the friendly presentation that he puts off that was truly a mask. Jared Fogle arrest date: When and why was the Subway Guy arrested? Jared From Subway was arrested in July 2015 on charges of distribution and receipt of child porn charges. On the very same day, Subway fired the culprit. At this time, he was married and had two children. The court sentenced him to 5 years and eight months in a Colorado prison. Furthermore, he was ordered to pay each of his victims $14,000 in restitution. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons online records, he will be released on March 24, 2029. The post How Did Jared From Subway Get Caught? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. Josh D'Amaro tells EW how an Indy replacement for the Dinosaur ride could fit with Animal Kingdom's narrative 'about exploration and adventure.' Unlike the villains in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Disney parks fans looking for clues about Animal Kingdom's next attraction within the lore of the Indiana Jones films are digging in the right place. After first teasing a potential Indiana Jones-themed replacement for the Disney World park's beloved Dinosaur ride, in an exclusive interview with EW at a press preview for Hong Kong Disneyland's new World of Frozen-themed land, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro doubles down on the Harrison Ford-starring blockbuster series as prime material for the wildlife park's next expansion. "I think I actually played some music, didn't I?" D'Amaro teases, referencing his Destination D23 presentation in September, which saw him reveal concept artwork showing off an Indiana Jones-inspired temple in place of the existing Dinosaur thrill ride while composer John Williams' Indiana Jones score played overhead. Paramount/Getty Images;Disney Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones; Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom D'Amaro stresses that, while not a final piece of concept art, the image which showed the aging Dinoland U.S.A. section of the park re-themed to tropical American locales with Encanto and Coco attractions highlights "where our heads are" as his team continues "dreaming" plans for Animal Kingdom's next big move. "We've got so many stories to tell, we have so many things we want to make even better in the theme parks. My plan is to continue to share that with the guests. I know people are like, 'My gosh, I can't believe he's saying this. Is he serious, is he not?' The answer is, we are absolutely serious," he says, also pointing to the company's recent announcement that it would spend $60 billion on improving global properties over the next 10 years. "We know what this business is capable of, we know what our fans expect of us, and we're going all in. You're going to see more and more of that. As we make our way through some of these ideas, some of them will become real, and we'll say that's specifically what we're going to do, but I want our guests to be on the journey with us." Following D'Amaro's D23 presentation, many Disney parks fans questioned how Indiana Jones might fit in within Animal Kingdom, a park founded on principles of wildlife conservation. D'Amaro, who previously served as Animal Kingdom's vice president, notes that, while he's not ready to go "deep into" specifics just yet, he's optimistic about how that potential move might be received. Lucasfilm Ltd. Harrison Ford in 2023's 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' "Animal Kingdom is about exploration and adventure," he says. "I was fortunate enough to have run that theme park, so I know how special it is, and I think there are a lot of stories that we can stay true to Animal Kingdom and express new properties in there, and that's what you see us starting to do." Dinosaur first opened alongside Animal Kingdom in 1998, using a similar ride system to Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure attraction that debuted in California three years earlier. Want more news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, reviews, and more. Related content: Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly. CNNs Jake Tapper and Rep. Jamie Raskin dove into a conversation on State of the Union Sunday about antisemitism around the world and, increasingly, in the United States even inside the Democratic Party. Tapper brought up Thursdays protest outside the Democratic National Committees headquarters, which was largely made up of groups from the Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. He asked Raskin point blank, What do you make of this as a Jewish American, as a proud progressive, a Democrat? Theres antisemitism in the Democratic Party these days. Well, theres antisemitism everywhere these days, Raskin replied, as we were discussing with Elon Musk. And I mean, were talking about a problem that goes back thousands of years, obviously. I was very disappointed to see what happened over at the DNC the other day. Of the protesters who are somehow tempted to engage in pushing and shoving like, you know, Kevin McCarthy in Congress, but doing it outside, Im totally opposed to that, he added. They should study the history of nonviolent movements in America, like the womens movement, the civil rights movement, the LGBTQ movement, the environmental movement that have been the great civilizing movements of our time and of American history that have transformed things. The protest in question was organized by IfNotNow, a Jewish-led peace organization that describes itself as a movement of American Jews organizing our community to end U.S. support for Israels apartheid system and demand equality, justice, and a thriving future for all Palestinians and Israelis. The night ended in violent clashes between protesters and U.S. Capitol Police, who later released a statement that asserted, We have handled hundreds of peaceful protests, but last nights group was not peaceful. The post Jake Tapper Says Theres Antisemitism in the Democratic Party These Days After Washington Protest Outside DNC | Video appeared first on TheWrap. If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission. Donald Trumps marriage to Melania Trump has been scrutinized over and over again in the press, but one political insider may have revealed the real and very fascinating dynamics between them. Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emanuel Macron, shared her perspective after interacting with the couple while Donald Trump was president. More from SheKnows Macron doesnt seem to think that the former first ladys absence on the campaign trail means that much, according to her interview with Paris Match. She believes that it is Melania who is calling the shots behind the scenes. Melania Trump is very sweet. But she has the upper hand over her husband, Macron shared. When, at a dinner party, she taps on her watch, her husband understands that it is time to get up and leave. And he complies. She has a strong personality. Brigitte Macron and Melania Trump met at Elysee Palace in Paris on November 10th 2018. Even though Macron admitted she is much closer to current First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, she still has kind things to say about Melania. The French politicians wife previously described her to Le Monde as actually really fun and someone who laughs very easily, at everything. Macron also felt bad at how constrained Melania was in her Washington, D.C. life. She cant even open a window at the White House. She cant go outside. Shes much more constrained than I am. I go out every day in Paris, she added. Buy Now 'Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady' $15.98 Donald Trump has given his voter base hints that Melania has strong opinions about his life out on the campaign trail, admitting that she criticizes his political theatrics. She says, Darling, I love you so much, but this is not presidential when you do the weightlifting, this is not presidential, or when you do the swimming thing, its not and you know, I understand, or when you dance off the stage,' he told an audience at a rally in Iowa last month. Melania sounds like a force to be reckoned with and Donald Trump isnt going to mess around with that. Before you go, click here to see the best presidential love stories in U.S. history. Barack Obama Michelle Obama Ronald Nancy Reagan Best Presidential Love Stories in U.S. History Best of SheKnows Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Some of the lyrics from rapper Young Thugs music will be used against him in the YSL RICO trial, and one Atlanta rapper fears for what precedent this will set for all Americans. Thug, real name Jeffrey Lamar Williams, has been behind bars in the Fulton County Jail in Georgia since May 2022. The Pick Up the Phone rapper was arrested in connection to a series of gang-related and racketeering charges, along with 27 other individuals connected to the Young Stoner Life Records, including Gunna and his younger brother, Quantavious Unfoonk Grier. Judge in the YSL RICO trial says lyrics can be conditionally used in the case, Killer Mike (left) calls out the decision. (Photo: @killermike/Instagram Michael Tullberg/Getty Images) Thugger has remained in jail for 18 months, as he has been denied bond multiple times. Prosecutors have tried to use Thug and other YSL affiliates rap lyrics in the trial as proof, but they have faced resistance from the defense and other rappers. Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis brought the case that relates to conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and participation in criminal street gang activity. In November 2022, Art on Trial: Protect Black Art was written and signed by record labels, streaming services, rappers and musicians, who asked prosecutors to stop using lyrics as evidence in court cases. Rappers are storytellers, creating entire worlds populated with complex characters who can play both hero and villain, one section of the letter says. It continues, But more than any other art form, rap lyrics are essentially being used as confessions in an attempt to criminalize Black creativity and artistry. Prosecutors and defendants battled over the subject to make their case before Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville. Thugs attorney Brian Steel argued, Theyre targeting free speech, while prosecutor Mike Carlson rebutted, Your honor, someone can look at that indictment and say one things for sure, thats not fantasy, people are dead and murdered and a gang exists. After an hours-long debate between the warring sides, Glanville finally came to a conclusion. The judge told the defense, Theyre not prosecuting your clients because of the songs they wrote; theyre using the songs to prove other things your clients may have been involved in. I dont think its an attack on free speech. To the disappointment of Thugs camp, on Nov. 9, Glanville ruled that rap lyrics would be allowed as evidence in the trial under certain conditions. The defense wasnt the only one that was dismayed by the decision, as activist and rapper Killer Mike also voiced his displeasure. In a post to his Instagram story, the Kryptonite rapper said, This decision scares me. This threatens all Americans 1st Amendment rights in my opinion. He also asked viewers to read the 2019 book Rap on Trial, which tells the story of how prosecutors have used lyrics as evidence to put away rappers. Fans agreed with Killer Mike and called out the judges ruling. One commenter said, #ProtectArtists This sets a dangerous precedent for creative rights and the freedom of expression. Another person commented, If the 1st Amendment protects painters & movie producers from having their art used against them, so should rappers. Not arguing YT is innocentthats for his defense teambut Im defending his right not to have his art treated as an admission of guilt. If the 1st Amend protects painters & movie producers from having their art used against them, so should rappers. Not arguing YT is innocentthats for his defense teambut I'm defending his right not to have his art treated as an admission of guilt:https://t.co/3ZWo4RKcSo https://t.co/VF5QC1nlBZ Kali Holloway (@kalihollowayftw) November 9, 2023 Glanville already has permitted the use of 17 sets of rap lyrics against Thug and his YSL associates. Take It to Trial, Bad Boy, Really Be Slime, and Slatty are some of the songs that are included in the trial, and in these songs are lyrics about murder, guns, and areas in Atlanta where criminal activity has happened. The prosecution believes YSL is connected to the crimes in those areas and that the lyrics are proof. This year, the 87th Annual Glasheen, Valles & Inderman Injury Lawyers Sun Bowl Parade will honor the Rock' n' Roll era and will most likely include an Elvis Presley sighting. The annual parade is a tradition for thousands of people who start their Thanksgiving morning waving and cheering on beautiful floats, high school marching bands, El Maida Shrine clowns and other participants. "It's the most attended event El Paso has with close to 200,000 people that show up," said Bernie Olivas, Sun Bowl Association Executive Director. "The bar has been set and I think we try to raise the bar a little bit each year." The parade will have 18 to 20 floats; some noteworthy ones to look out for will include a float honoring U.S. veterans. Many veterans also worked on the floats this year, Olivas said. Here is what to know about the Thanksgiving parade: El Paso Thanksgiving Parade 2023 route The parade starts at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Montana and Ochoa Streets and proceeds on Montana Avenue until it gets to Copia Street, where it tails off. Families, however, start arriving and parking near the parade route before 8 a.m. to get a good spot. Thousands of El Pasoans will start their Thanksgiving day attending the annual Glasheen, Valles & Inderman Injury Lawyers Sun Bowl Parade. . History of Sun Bowl Thanksgiving parade The El Paso Downtown Lions Club organized the first parade in 1935 and it has become a family tradition for thousands of El Paso families over the years. The parade was held on New Year's Day until 1978. The Sun Bowl Association made the switch to a Thanksgiving Day celebration in 1978 and that has been the tradition ever since. Where to watch El Paso Thanksgiving parade on TV Live coverage of the parade on local affiliate Channel 9-KTSM will start at 10 a.m. and will be simulcast on KTSM.com. Who will be the grand marshal of 2023 Thanksgiving parade The grand marshal will be Tuff Hedeman, a four-time world champion and Pro Rodeo Hall-of-Fame Bull Rider. Bernie Olivas, Sun Bowl Association Executive Director, said the association tries to honor someone from El Paso who has accomplished something great, even if it doesn't coincide with the theme, which is Rock n Roll Extravaganza. The grand marshal will be Tuff Hedeman, a four-time world champion and Pro Rodeo Hall-of-Fame Bull Rider. Tuff Hedeman is arguably the most recognized cowboy in the world and a living legend, organizers said. Hedeman was born in El Paso and won many junior rodeos in his youth. In 1980, he won the high school rodeo bull riding and All-Around titles in New Mexico. He won the team roping title and All-Around designation again in 1981. After high school, he attended Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. At Sul Ross, he was a member of the rodeo team, competing in bronc riding, team roping, steer wrestling, and bull riding, according to the news release. El Pasoans lined up along Montana Avenue to view the 86th edition of the annual Glasheen, Valles & Inderman Injury Lawyers Sun Bowl Parade in 2022. Get tickets for El Paso Thanksgiving 2023 parade review stands For the best seats, make sure to get the $10 tickets for the review stand, located at 1600 Montana Ave. The tickets also provide access to portable restrooms. Tickets are available in advance at any Vista market store or the Sun Bowl Association Office, 4150 Pinnacle St., Suite 100. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets will not be available on the day of the parade. For those who like to park their cars or recreational vehicles a day before the parade, note that cars will not be able to block intersections along Montana Avenue and side streets. They could be towed. More: WinterFest 2023 kicks off with ice skating rink, holiday Lights Parade in Downtown El Paso Maria Cortes Gonzalez may be reached at 915-546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com, @EPTMaria on Twitter; eptmariacg on TikTok. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso Thanksgiving parade 2023: Details to know about holiday event Two centuries and change ago there lived a man who formulated the legal code that more than half the nations on earth still use today, who dissolved the millennium-old Holy Roman Empire and cleared the way for the unification of Germany and Italy, who sold over 800,000 square miles of land to the United States and transformed the geography and demography of North America forever, who emancipated the Jews across much of Europe and offered them citizenship and access to urban and public life, who planted the seeds of modern nationalism everywhere from Poland to Greece to the Arab world, who commissioned or sponsored the great civic monuments and art museums of Paris that still draw tourists by the millions. He inspired liberation movements throughout the European continent even as he reimposed slavery in the French Caribbean, revolutionized the art of war in an instantly legendary campaign across Northern Italy, invaded Spain and ultimately triggered the independence of most of Latin America. He embodied, like no one else, the meritocratic ideals of the Enlightenment and a generation of men and women who defied traditional social constraints to rise on sheer talent. As a young Hegel wrote to a friend after witnessing the Emperor of France with his own eyes, this was an individual, who, concentrated here at a single point, astride a horse, reaches out over the world and masters it. Absolutely none of the above is covered in Ridley Scotts new biopic, Napoleon, which nevertheless does find opportunities in its two-and-a-half-hour run time to repeatedly suggest that its subject, played by Joaquin Phoenix, might have been lousy in bed. This isnt necessarily a fatal flaw; any of these accomplishments could be the basis for its own meaty production, and the life of Napoleon Bonaparte is simply too rich a topic for any single film. Editorial calls must be made, and Scott has made his (supposedly a four-hour directors cut looms); here is one interpretation of Bonaparte among thousands, and it doesnt claim to be definitive. Scott does a decent job of fitting in the main beats of an impossibly busy life, aided by his decision to have it not mean much of anything. At the very least, Napoleon looks spectacular, like a series of Jacques-Louis David canvases brought to life. Scott whisks us from the guillotines of revolutionary Paris to the pyramids of Egypt, from the abandoned Moscow Kremlin to the remote tropical island of St. Helena, from the icy lakes of Austerlitz to the muddy fields of Waterloo. On one level, this is an adventure movie: We experience the ultimately delusional sense of limitlessness that possessed one of historys greatest adventurers. If you buy a ticket hoping to see some gorgeously stylized early-nineteenth-century warfare, youll get your moneys worth. Meanwhile, everything about the sets, costumes, cinematography, art design, and score suggest a somber Hollywood historical epic, the kind of movie one might expect to contend with Oppenheimer or Killers of the Flower Moon (both of which are superior works of art) for Best Picture in a few months. Napoleon sees its subject not as a genius or a modernizer or a meritocrat, but as an arrogant, vain, bratty, ultimately pitiful little autocrat. But then there are the dialogue and the performances, above all Phoenixs, which suggest a different genre altogether: high camp. At the critics screening I attended, there were regular snickers at a film that isnt being marketed as a comedyand yet I suspect that laughter is the reaction Scott is going for. Napoleon doesnt make a lot of historical arguments, but it does have a perspective on its title character: It sees him not as a genius or a modernizer or a meritocrat, but as an arrogant, vain, bratty, ultimately pitiful little autocrat whose zeal for greatness cost far too many men their lives. Perhaps this is the perspective that Scott, an 85-year-old Englishman, learned in school; certainly the script (written by David Scarpa, who previously collaborated with Scott on All the Money in the World) seems to have more respect for the Duke of Wellington, the Anglo-Irish aristocrat who handed Bonaparte his final defeat, than it does for Bonaparte himself. Wellington, played by Rupert Everett, describes Bonaparte as ill-mannered vermin ahead of the Battle of Waterloo, and by that point the audience has every reason to agree, having watched Phoenix bumble his way through dozens of awkward and embarrassing set pieces. Much of the awkwardness centers around Bonapartes relationship to Josephine (Vanessa Kirby), which provides most of the scripts dramatic heft. Its no exaggeration to say that the film presents Josephines genitalia as the driver of a whole era of world history (10 minutes in, Kirby channels Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, and from then on Bonaparte is under her spell). Phoenixs Bonaparte is motivated entirely by overcompensation for sexual inadequacy, which is neither creative nor persuasive, but at least it scans in the context of the film. Its far less clear what motivates Josephinestatus? love? lust? money?but she does make for a plausible object of desire, a haughty dominatrix who cuckolds Bonaparte into invading most of Europe. Phoenix wears his uniform well and plays Bonaparte with the weirdness and comic timing demanded of him, but neither he nor the script offers any explanation of why the whole world was mesmerized by this man. He seems to possess neither intellect nor charisma; even his greatest battlefield victories seem to happen almost in spite of him. In more intimate settings, he comes across as ridiculous. I enjoy food! Destiny has brought me this lamb chop, Bonaparte proclaims over dinner, defending himself against Josephines barbs about his expanding waistline. Its unclear why he would inspire either fear or love in anyone, from fellow rulers to the soldiers under his command. While I didnt expect Scott to actually depict the drafting of the French civil code on screen, he might have portrayed Bonaparte as capable of doing such a thing. Every biopic is entitled to some dramatic license; the larger issue with Napoleon is that it has so little meaningful to say about its subject or his era. Maybe this is churlish. If you simply turn your brain off, Napoleon is kind of a blast; Russell Crowe, in another historically dubious Scott production, asks a crowd of cheering spectators, Are you not entertained? and I must admit I was. Napoleon certainly hews closer to the historical record than Gladiator, an entirely fictitious story used as an excuse to recreate the look and feel of the Roman Empire. What liberties Napoleon takes with the facts, and there are many, are of no concern to Scott, who has already told professional historians raising quibbles over accuracy, Get a life. Fair enough! Every biopic is entitled to some dramatic license; the larger issue with Napoleon is that it has so little meaningful to say about its subject or his era. Its possible to interpret the film as more of a commentary about our own era, given the current global surplus of vainglorious, petty, and comical would-be dictators. Maybe Scott is trying to warn audiences about the dangers of entrusting the fate of whole nations to such men. But if so, there are better historical parallels to draw upon than Bonaparte, a figure whose legacy is far too complex to reduce to such a tidy and obvious moral. Theres plenty to criticize Bonaparte for, and Scott certainly cant be accused of glorification, but Phoenixs almost mocking performance does a disservice not only to Bonaparte himself but to the millions who followed him into battle and the generations of artists, thinkers, and statesmen who found inspiration in his many durable achievements. Instead we are left with a record of tragedy and folly, and a script that has no actual politics but de facto serves as a defense of the old aristocratic continental order that Bonaparte did so much to tear down. The film ends with Bonapartes death in exile, knowing that all of his grand ambitions have ended in failure. There is no hint that a generation later, all the revolutionary forces Bonaparte embodied and that his enemies repressed will explode across Europe and then the rest of the worldthat when the audience exits the theater, it reenters a modern society that Bonaparte is as responsible as anyone for birthing. Though Napoleon mostly avoids the cliche about Bonapartes physical stature, in all other respects it renders him as a small man, one who did nothing important besides win and then eventually lose some battles. Its a portrayal so undignified that I almost expected ABBAs Waterloo to play over the credits. Suge Knight says that Eazy-Es widow possibly cost his estate a billion dollars by relinquishing rights to a percentage of Dr. Dres future earnings. During the latest episode of his Collect Call podcast, which premiered Sunday (Nov. 19), the incarcerated executive claims that he facilitated a deal with the late rap icon prior to his death. The agreement would ensure him profits from Dr. Dre for the duration of the producers career. According to Knight, the deal couldve potentially netted the Wright family a 10-figure sum. I did a deal for [Eazy], the Death Row Records founder told Collect Call cohost Dave Mays. He gets a dollar off of anything that Dre does. In other words, if he do a movie, if he do a beat, if he promote some type of merchandise. If he do a commercial, if he produce Off of his part, [Eazy] gets a dollar. Rapper Eazy-E (aka Eric Lynn Wright) appears in a portrait taken on June 27, 1991 in New York City. However, he says that Tomica Woods-Wright, whom Eazy wed in 1995, made the decision to sign off on a deal with Interscope Records that terminated the agreement. The notorious record mogul said that Eazys widow agreed to the request after Interscope promised to do business with her and Ruthless Records in the future, which Knight points out never materialized. Tomica met with Interscope. Interscope said, Hey, why you want to get a dollar off of everything Dre does? Me and you could do business later on. Sign off and just let Dre out of it. Were gonna do business later, the 58-year-old recalled. She signed off. They aint did no business with that bi**h later. And guess what? That f**ked Eazys kids, his momma, at the time his father was still living. Its f**ked his family. Producer Tomica Woods-Wright attends the 2016 ABFF Awards: A Celebration Of Hollywood at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 21, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. The founder of Ruthless Records which launched the careers of N.W.A., Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, The D.O.C., J.J. Fad, Michelle, himself, and more Eazy-E passed away on March 26, 1995, as a result of HIV/AIDS-related complications. He was 30 years old at the time of his passing. Elsewhere during the podcast, Knight spoke on Tupac Shakur, his first experience with Hip-Hop, and more. Watch Episode Three of Suge Knights Collect Call podcast below. More from VIBE.com An international manhunt was initiated after a married couple and their sons were brutally shot in their suburban Texas home. On the evening of December 10, 2003, parents Kent and Tricia Whitaker joined their sons, 19-year-old Kevin and 23-year-old Bart Whitaker, out to dinner. The clan celebrated Barts upcoming graduation from the Sam Houston State University in Texas, gifting the eldest son a $4,000 Rolex watch. Within an hour, two of them would be dead, as detailed in Final Moments, airing Sundays at 7/6c on Oxygen. A Shooting in Sugar Land, Texas The family of four had just returned to their Sugar Land, Texas, home about 20 miles southwest of Houston in what next-door neighbor Brandon Stanley would call a gruesome crime. I was there when they died, Stanley told Final Moments. That was real, and I cant necessarily make sense of what I saw. RELATED: Mom of Dentist Convicted in Brother-in-Law's Murder Plot is Arrested Days After He's Found Guilty Stanley, whod made the initial call to 9-1-1, described sitting at his computer when hearing shots ring out from the Whitaker home. Stanley ran over, but before he could make it to the entrance, he found Kent Whitaker on his back, lying on the ground near the porch after sustaining a gunshot wound to the chest. Stanleys father rendered aid, and Kent survived the shooting. The Whitaker Family featured in Final Moments Episode 207 The Whitaker Family. Photo: Oxygen However, inside the home, Bart Whitaker also placed a call to 9-1-1, explaining hed been shot in the shoulder before chasing the unknown attacker away. Inside, the youngest, Kevin Whitaker, lay dead, while Tricia Whitaker succumbed to her shooting injuries while en route to a Houston-area hospital via helicopter, according to Sgt. Matt Levan of the Sugar Land Police Department. For residents in the close-knit community, now shaken by the crimes, the double homicide didnt make sense. The Whitaker family was a pillar in the community, said family friend John Flores, whod also attended school alongside Kevin. They loved to experience life as a family. Life was good, Stanley added. That was my general vibe. Police investigate the quadruple shooting With Kent receiving treatment in the I.C.U. and Bart hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police embarked on their murder investigation. Fearing an armed killer was on the loose, law enforcement put out an alert to warn residents and hit the ground running to catch who was responsible for the deaths of Tricia and Kevin Whitaker. At first, they wondered if it was a home invasion gone terribly wrong, but the crime scene didnt fit. For starters, electronics, televisions, and other valuable items were left in their place. Though drawers had been pulled out, they were pulled out evenly and not haphazardly, which wasnt what police typically saw inside ransacked homes. Things didnt add up exactly to being some type of burglary, Sgt. Levan told Final Moments. At the crime scene, authorities discovered the gun-turned-murder-weapon in the kitchen, something Levan said he found odd. In one of the upstairs bedrooms, detectives also found the gun safe from which the murder weapon had been pried. Whoever did this knew what to look for and knew what was in the safe, said Ford Bend County Prosecutor Fred Felcman. Three days after the purported ambush, Bart was released from the hospital and joined police back at the crime scene, per video recorded by police and published in Final Moments. Bart maintained that it was dark at the time of the shooting and that he didnt see the shooter before chasing him out the back door. Investigators, however, were skeptical of Barts statements. He was very vague about things youd think hed remember, said Felcman. Investigators Discover Murder Weapon in Bart Whitaker's Case A Question of Motive Police were stumped about who would otherwise want to target the Whitaker family, especially since acquaintances and loved ones all maintained the family was nothing but perfect, according to Sgt. Levan. However, suspicions began to fall at Barts feet when detectives looked into his background at Sam Houston State University. Bart, it transpired, was not to be graduating, as hed posed to his family. In fact, he faked going to school for the previous three years and was only enrolled as a freshman with a 1.4 G.P.A., according to Levan. We had a story that he was giving us that wasnt matching reality, Levan said, adding that it seemed coincidental that the shooting took place after the family returned from celebrating Barts nonexistent graduation. Following the funeral for Kevin and Tricia, and after Kent Whitakers release from this hospital, police looked into Barts background, finding a 2001 report filed with the Waco Police Department. According to Levan, a female stated that Bart discussed killing his father. Officers visited Barts parents at the time, but they allegedly werent concerned with what they perceived to be empty threats. Meanwhile, Bart and Kent moved back into the Sugar Land residence, where their loved ones were killed, as detectives continued to search for a killer. This is not the All-American family that everybody might think they are, Levan told Final Moments. Then, one week after the double homicide and with suspicions continuing to fall on son Bart Whitaker one of Barts former roommates, Adam Hipp, entered the police department. Hipp claimed hed briefly roomed with Bart at school and that Bart made mention of having his family murdered in 2001 as a means to inherit the familys assets, which included the upscale Sugar Land home and life insurance policies to the tune of about $1 million. Hipp stated that Bart even offered him a cut of the money, if Hipp agreed to pull the trigger. The detective had Mr. Hipp actually draw a map that showed where he was supposed to stand inside the house, and he would shoot the family members as they walked in, Sgt. Levan told Final Moments. And thats exactly what happened on December 10, 2003. An informant leads police to more suspects Hipps information wasnt enough to press charges against Bart Whitaker. However, Hipp agreed to let authorities record his phone calls with the prime suspect. Bart didnt admit involvement in the shooting, but the name of a former roommate, Chris Brashear, was mentioned in conversation. Police questioned Brashear, as video-recorded and published in Final Moments, but Brashear said he was at Hooters on the night of the murders. With him was another roommate, Steve Champagne, along with Champagnes girlfriend. Bart Whitakers Father Fights Against Death Penalty Verdict Police then zeroed in on Champagne, a U.S. Marine who sat down with authorities. I think his conscience finally got to him, said Sgt. Levan. Little by little, Champagne, whod initially denied knowing anything about the shooting, began to change his story. Eventually, he admitted to parking one to two blocks from the crime scene, accusing Brashear of going to the Whitaker home, waiting inside, and then pulling the trigger. To corroborate his story, Champagne told detectives they could find a bag in Lake Conroe, which would be filled with physical evidence, including two-way radios, water bottles, and ammunition. Divers found the bag, which also contained Brashears D.N.A. on the water bottle, the tool used to pry the gun safe, and a cell phone used during the commission of the crime. Champagne and Brashear both said Bart Whitaker ordered the hit, but when police went to arrest him, Bart was nowhere to be found. An international manhunt ensues Champagne and Brashear were each charged with first-degree murder for the deaths of Tricia and Kevin Whitaker, and it seemed Bart was on the run. His Chevrolet Tahoe was discovered abandoned at a Houston apartment complex, but months went by without any solid lead about his whereabouts. Authorities believed hed taken cash from his Sugar Land home to help him on the lam. People dont run when theyre innocent, Prosecutor Felcman told Final Moments. Flight is a very good indication of guilt. Crime Stoppers issued a $10,000 reward for information leading to Barts arrest. Then, 18 months after the murders, a man named Rudy Rios called in and said that more than a year earlier, Bart paid him $3,000 to assume Rios identity and head to Mexico. Bart Whitaker shacks up with a female and begins a relationship with her, said Sgt. Levan. Mexican officials aided U.S. officials in tracking Barts whereabouts, and on September 24, 2005, he was extradited to the States to face prosecution. RELATED: Selfie Helps Canadian Police Solve Murder of High School Senior Found on Roadside Bart Whitaker faces the death penalty Bart Whitaker was charged with capital murder, and his trial began on March 3, 2007. In the galleys, his father, shooting victim Kent Whitaker, publicly argued for his sons life and pleaded to have the death penalty taken off the table. Based largely on Steve Champagnes testimony, prosecutors accused Bart of being the mastermind and staging his own shooting and the shootings of his family members with greed being the underlying motive. After six days of trial and one and a half hours of deliberations, a jury found Bart guilty of murder. Next came the penalty phase, where the jury would decide on life or death for the convicted man. When Bart Whitaker was testifying, I actually had to admit that he had no reason to hate his parents, Felcman told Final Moments. But he did it anyway. In the court, parties showed what would have been some of the familys final moments, as captured in several photographs taken during and after the celebratory dinner. In one photo, Bart and his brother, Kevin, smiled, as Bart gave the middle finger. It was a disturbing detail, given that hed already planned his relatives murders. After 10 hours of deliberations, the jury sentenced Bart to death. Meanwhile, Brashear and Champagne cooperated with prosecutors, and in exchange, Brashear was handed a life sentence, and Champagne was sentenced to 15 years behind bars. Its brought me to the conclusion that evil is real; very tangible, and it has a long plan behind it, said neighbor Brandon Stanley. I truly think Bart was evil. Bart was scheduled to die on February 22, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. However, just 30 minutes before his planned execution, Gov. Greg Abbott commuted his sentence, partly due to Kent Whitakers outspoken opposition to the death penalty. Bart will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Watch all-new episodes of Final Moments, airing Sundays at 7/6c on Oxygen. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The US has no right to interfere in the relations between Iran and Azerbaijan, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nasser Kanaani said, Trend reports. He made the remark while responding to the US official's statement regarding Iran's participation in the creation of the corridor in the Caucasus at a press briefing in Tehran on November 20. The spokesman noted that US officials talk big about themselves and interfere in matters that have nothing to do with the US. "The US should stop interfering in the internal affairs of regional countries. Iran's friendly relations with neighboring countries continue," he added. The US Assistant Secretary of State James OBriens statements at the hearings of the European subcommittee of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee have sparked a strong reaction from Azerbaijan and Iran, who are pursuing a strategic transit route project through their territories. The project, which aims to connect Azerbaijans mainland with its exclave of Nakhchivan via Iran, is seen as a vital link for the regional integration and economic development of both countries. The project also involves the construction of a bridge over the Aras River, a freeway, a railway, and high voltage power lines. However, OBrien claimed that it would undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia, which borders both Azerbaijan and Iran. He also accused Azerbaijan and Iran of violating the human rights of the ethnic Armenian population in the region, and of posing a threat to the stability and security of the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan and Iran have rejected OBriens allegations as baseless and interference in their internal affairs. They have reaffirmed their commitment to the project, which they regard as a manifestation of their good neighborly relations and mutual interests. They have also stressed that the project does not violate any international law or agreement, and that it respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in the region. Furthermore, they have called on the US to respect their sovereign choices and to refrain from making unfounded and provocative statements that could harm the regional peace and cooperation. --- Follow the author on X (Twitter):@BaghishovElnur Meteorologist Tyler Moore, a Brookfield Central High School alum, is joining Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV (Channel 4), filling the roster spot vacated when Marisa Woloszyn left the station in May. Moore will start his gig at Channel 4 on Dec. 4, and begin as meteorologist on Channel 4's weekday morning newscasts from 5 to 7 a.m. shortly after that, the Scripps-owned station said Monday. Moore is coming back home from WTSP-TV in Tampa, Florida, where he's been the station's weekend meteorologist since March 2022. After interning at WKRN-TV in Nashville, Tennessee, and CNN in Atlanta while in college, Moore worked at WJFW-TV in Rhinelander and KFSM-TV in Fayetteville, Arkansas, before taking the Tampa job. In a statement issued by Channel 4, Moore said he was looking forward to living close to family, and to joining the station he watched when he was a kid. My passion to be a meteorologist started in Milwaukee," Moore said. "Ever since first grade, Ive only wanted to be a meteorologist; in fact, I grew up watching TMJ4 because of their history of great meteorologists." Moore's hiring fills out Channel 4's meteorologist lineup. In May, Woloszyn left the station after two years in Milwaukee for a job in her hometown, Detroit. Moore joins a rotation that includes chief meteorologist Brian Niznansky, Kristen Kirchhaine and Brendan Johnson. In July, a television industry recruiting firm CEO wrote for the Radio Television Digital News Association that 2023 could be known in the industry as "the year of the weather openings," as demand for weather information continues to increase and more meteorologists leave TV for other fields. RELATD: Carole Meekins, Milwaukee's most veteran TV anchor, to retire from WTMJ-TV at end of month This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) hires meteorologist Tyler Moore TechCrunch Research delving into a less visible component of Google's search ads business -- a network of third-party sites called Google Search Partners (also known as the GSP network or SPN) -- has documented scores of instances of Google search ads being served on non-Google websites that the media buyers paying for the marketing campaigns probably weren't bargaining for. The report -- whose title poses the question: "Does a lack of transparency create brand safety concerns for search advertisers?" -- also found instances of search ads bought from Google being served on Breitbart.com, a news website that espouses far-right views, despite brands in question having taken steps to avoid their ads appearing on the site, such as adding it to an ad blacklist. "This raises the possibility that ads were served on websites and publishers despite the brands deliberate efforts to ensure brand safety and control over their media investments," writes Adalytics, an ad analytics firm that is behind the study of the GSP network, discussing an example involving "a major Fortune 500 brand" client whose Google search ads not only appeared on Breitbart (despite it having the site on a blocklist) -- but, per the report, were also being served on "pirated content sites, hardcore pornographic sites, and hundreds of putatative Iranian websites, which may potentially be under US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) sanctions." The films production designer Kevin Thompson discusses being welcomed by the late conductors family to shoot at their Connecticut estate, as well as recreating his NYC apartmentidentical instruments and all. Bradley Coopers goal for Maestro, which chronicles the long, complicated love story of legendary American conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein (Cooper) and Costa Rican-Chilean actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), was to give the film a melodic quality, according to production designer Kevin Thompson. Cooper, who cowrote, coproduced, directed, and stars in the biopic (for which he reportedly trained extensively) wanted its sequencesthe first half in black-and-white and the second half in colorto move "seamlessly from decade to decade with a lyrical feeling," says Thompson. "He often described [the movie] as a piece of musicthat we should think about the pacing of scenes, so that you just sort of float through it." Though the film is a soaring ode to Bernsteins life and art, its still grounded in historical accuracy, with many scenes shot at the renowned conductors old haunts, like Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, and Londons Ely Cathedral, where in one particularly demanding scene Cooper recreates the maestros 1973 performance conducting Mahlers Second Symphony. But no on-screen location hits closer to home than the Bernsteins actual Fairfield, Connecticut, estate. The couple purchased the property, a former horse farm sited on six-and-a-half acres, for the then extravagant sum of $80,000 in 1962, and its remained in the family since. (Bernsteins three adult children, Jamie, Alexander, and Nina, inherited the house after his death in 1990.) When Cooper and Thompsonwho was introduced to classical music as a kid watching Bernsteins Young Peoples Concertsfirst visited the Fairfield property, Thompson says they discovered "a little bit of a museum." "The house was not that different than it was in the 1980s," he explains. "When we walked around we felt Bernsteins ghost was there, and so was Felicias." Maestro director, cowriter-producer, and star Bradley Cooper, who plays American conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein in the film, reviews a scene with coproducer Steven Spielberg. Cooper told Jamie, Alexander, and Ninawhom he consulted with throughout the production processthat hed love to shoot at the compound, and they threw open the doors. (The family also offered their full support when the actor, who is not Jewish, drew criticism for donning a prosthetically enhanced nose to play their father, who was the son of Jewish immigrants from Rivne, now in Ukraine.) Since the well-preserved Connecticut property, to which almost 12 acres of woodland has been added, was mostly an 80s relic, Thompsons team spruced it up for the camera. Faded fabric on the living room couch was replaced with new material matching the original; new rugs, bedding, and curtains freshened Leonard and Felicias bedroom (now Jamies) where in the film, the couple talk about the "gossip" Jamie has heard about her fathers dalliances. But the rooms print wallpaper, as well as the floral wall covering in the hall and stairwellwhere we see Felicia consider "Lennys" indiscretionsis vintage from the existing interior. The productions most extensive house work was done in the remodeled cottage that was once Bernsteins music studio, where he composes "Mass" in the film. For reference, Thompson relied on the reconstructed version of the workroom, with its original contents donated by the family, on display at Indiana University. Audiences may also spot some of Felicias paintings, needlepoint pillows, and wicker chairs "picked clean with dental instruments," as Jamie wrote in her 2018 memoir, Famous Father Girl, in various scenes shot at the classic New England saltbox house. Notably, the baby grand piano Cooper plays at the start of the film was Bernsteins actual Steinway, a gift from his childhood piano teacher, who later became his secretary. Carey Mulligan plays Bernsteins longtime wife, Costa Rican-Chilean actress Felicia Montealegre. Much more effort went into replicating the Bernsteins New York City apartment at the landmark Dakota building, a gabled and turreted 1884 German Renaissance-style structure with a porte cochere and a storied history of famous residents. In the film, the Upper West Side apartment is the setting for one of the couples legendary parties, and a not-so-happy family Thanksgiving. Long since sold, Cooper and Thompson scouted the now-renovated unit overlooking Central Park and had a replica built to scale on a soundstage, honing in on its 19th-century architectural details, such as the mahogany-trimmed vestibule and foyer where Bernstein shows up late for the aforementioned Thanksgiving. To decorate the set in what Thompson calls the Bernsteins "creatively bohemian" style, the production designer consulted a 1984 Architectural Digest story about the home. He even sourced instruments identical to Bernsteins, like the living rooms Bosendorfer grand piano with extra bass keys (that Bernstein referred to as his "B-52") on which he composed his opera "A Quiet Place." (When the original piano was auctioned off at Sothebys, it had to be removed from the apartment with a crane.) The Dowd double manual harpsichord and hanging lamp with a fringe shade in the apartments library also mimic the maestros. "Spending a good deal of time in the Connecticut house informed how the Dakota could be fleshed out," Thompson says. "It really gave us a window into the intimate details of how the Bernsteins lived." Top photo courtesy Netflix Related Reading: Elviss Graceland Walks the Line Between Private Family Home and Big Business Rental Revamp: An Actors NYC Apartment Takes Its Cues from Sondheim Sugar has been one of Cuba's top crops for centuries, so it's only natural that it should play a major role in the country's cuisine. You'll find it in desserts like bunuelos or Cuban flan, but it also pairs beautifully with one of the country's other major crops: coffee. Cubans make their coffee in many ways, but there's one commonality -- that strong, sweet taste that Cuban coffee is known for. Traditional Cuban coffee, called cafe Cubano, is made from finely ground beans with a stovetop espresso maker. The first few drops of espresso are vigorously mixed with brown sugar until a creamy foam, known as an espuma or espumita, starts to form. This rich froth is the result of a chemical reaction between the hot coffee and the sugar and creates a different sweet taste than the flavor you'd get from mixing the sugar into coffee after it has already been fully brewed. Often, Cubans create cafe cortado by adding a generous helping of steamed milk to combat the bitter taste of the coffee. Sugar doesn't always mix well with cold water, though, so if you're craving an iced version of the drink, consider opting for using sweetened condensed milk instead. This canned milk mixes beautifully and provides a rich, creamy taste and texture. Read more: 26 Coffee Hacks You Need To Know For A Better Cup How To Make Iced Cuban Coffee With Sweetened Condensed Milk Hands pouring Cuban coffee into a mug - Juanmonino/Getty Images If you have an espresso machine on hand, the brewing method is similar to the one used to make traditional Cuban coffee with brown sugar. Brew 2 shots of espresso using rich, finely ground espresso beans, like Cafe Bustelo, then pour the coffee into a cup with a tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk. Stir the mixture together, then pour it into a mason jar with ice. Screw the lid on the jar, then shake it into a thick, fluffy foam to match Cuban coffee's characteristic frothy texture. Finally, add a bit of regular milk to top it off. No espresso machine? No problem. Since you don't have to worry about dissolving sugar into a cold drink, you can easily make an approximation of Cuban coffee using cold brew. You don't even have to have a coffee machine at all just refrigerate a mixture of ground coffee and water at a 1:5 ratio overnight. Once it's brewed, use a strainer or coffee filter to remove the coffee grounds, then combine the cold brew in a cup with ice and a few tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk as a creamer. If you choose, you can top it off with a bit of regular milk to thin the texture and cut down the sweet taste. In Cuba -- and in Cuban communities abroad -- coffee is very much a social drink. So, consider inviting a few friends over to share a cup and enjoy a good conversation. Read the original article on Tasting Table. Lew Robertson/Getty Images This year, I took on the massive responsibility of hosting Friendsgiving. But between juggling work and prepping for guests, I made the biggest rookie mistakeI forgot to thaw the bird. So, I did what lots of 20-somethings might do in this situation: I opened TikTok and searched for advice on how to defrost a turkey quickly. The clips, though, seemed a littlesuspect, especially from a food safety perspective. That made me wonder: Whats the quickest way to thaw a turkey that wont get all your guests sick? Heres what you should know if you find yourself in a similar time crunch. Some defrosting methods might be quick, but theyre risky. If you thaw your meat incorrectly, you increase your chances of getting sick from gnarly foodborne illnesses, thanks to bacteria like salmonella or Campylobacter in your turkey, says Meredith Carothers, MPH, a consumer education specialist at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). These bugs, which go dormant when frozen, start to multiply as the temperature rises. The warmer your frozen turkey gets, the more rapidly bacteria will grow, Carothers says. Thats why its not a good idea to thaw your bird in a bathtub or sink filled with warm water, she explains. (The same goes for just letting it hang out on your counter.) Sure, itll defrost, but you also may spoil the turkey. Eventually, [these methods will] place your poultry in unsafe temperatures where bacteria can multiply, Carothers says. Thats whats known as the danger zonebetween 40F and 140F. Even if you cook the turkey thoroughly to 165F, Carothers says you can still get sick if you follow these defrosting methods. Some germs can produce heat-resistant toxins, so the roasting process wont necessarily kill them. Is there a way to defrost a turkey quickly and safely? In an ideal world, youd give yourself enough time to prep your bird the USDA-sanctioned way: by defrosting your turkey in the fridge for one day per four to five pounds of meat. But sometimes life gets hectic and youre stuck with rock-solid poultry and guests arriving in less than 24 hours. Still, youre not necessarily screwed if you forgot to thaw your turkey leading up to your dinner. Here are some quick defrosting tips that Carothers recommends if youre in a pinch: Submerge your turkey in cold water and change it every 30 minutes. This option prevents bacteria from multiplying since you never let it enter that danger zone, Carothers says. Keep the meat in its original packaging and put it in a large basin filled with cool water, she explains. Use a thermometer to make sure it stays below 40F. Just dont expect this to be super quick: Itll take about 30 minutes per pound, so if you have a 12-pound bird, youll need to spare six hours for thawing, according to the USDA. Still, this method is likely going to be your best bet, since youll be able to brine, season, and roast your turkey without compromising flavor or texture. Microwave your turkey. This one comes with some caveats. For one, your bird might just be too big to fit into your microwave. And even if it can squeeze in, youll need to remove the plastic packaging beforehand, which gets tricky when youre dealing with a frozen product, Ted McCall, EdD, a food safety professor at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, tells SELF. But if youve passed those two obstacles, you can give it a shot: Plop your turkey into a microwave-safe dish to catch the juices thatll start to leak as it thaws, Carothers says. Itll take about six minutes per pound using the defrost setting. (Make sure to rotate it throughout the process.) So if you have a 12-pound turkey, itll take an hour and 15 minutes, per the USDA. The downside is that you may unintentionally start cooking parts of the turkey, making the meat tough once youre ready to roast it in the oven, McCall explains. I can happily report that I tried the cold water method, and it delivered a perfectly thawed turkey. Though I was a bit stressed in the hours before my gathering, my guests had no idea I had forgotten a big step in the cooking process. With all that goes into hosting big dinners, Im always going to lean toward the safest method for prepping my food. That way, I wont accidentally spoil all the funor my friends stomachs. Related: Originally Appeared on SELF The number of birth center births is on the rise in the United States. Learn about the birth center model of care and what to expect for delivery. GettyImages/damircudic Medically reviewed by Yamel Belen, R.N., IBCLC Jade Beck of Arvada, Colorado, had two traumatic birthing experiences with obstetricians in hospitals where she felt like she wasnt heard and her decisions were not honored. She decided to try a birth center for her third child once she found out it was covered by her health insurance. My entire experience with the birth center was healing, says Beck. I felt safe and it was amazing knowing every single person who was involved. Ive never felt so respected and empowered." The rate of people giving birth in birthing centers is on the rise. There were over 400 birth centers in the U.S. as of 2021, and the number of births in birth centers have doubled in the last 10 years, according to the American Association of Birth Centers (AABC). As more U.S. hospitals are closing their maternity care units, birthing centers could help fill the gap in care for low-risk pregnancies and births. But 98% of births still take place in hospitals. So, how do you know if a birth center is right for you? Heres what you need to know about birth center deliveries and how they differ from hospitals. What Is a Birth Center? A birth center is a health care facility based on the midwives model of care, which treats pregnancy and birth as a natural physiological process. They service healthy, low-risk pregnancies and births. Most birth centers are freestanding but some are adjacent to hospitals (not labor and delivery units) and may not follow the same procedures as the autonomous ones. They are licensed in 41 states and the District of Columbia, and accredited by the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers (CABC), which follows AABC standards. Because state regulations differ, some centers take health insurance and Medicaid, while others do not. The home-like setting offers more high-touch than high-tech care with less electronic fetal monitoring and more skin-to-skin contact right after the baby is born. There is more freedom to move around and you can also give birth standing up, kneeling down, on a birthing ball, or in a birthing tub or pool. While epidurals and drugs arent usually offered, birth centers offer natural therapies, including movement, breathwork, hydrotherapy, herbal and homeopathic remedies, massage, or nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for pain. The midwife is with you every step of the way of your vaginal birth plan, and if there is a complication, or you decide you want an epidural, you will be transported to the hospital. "Birth centers are an evidence-based solution to improve experiences and outcomes, while saving costs, says Nashira Baril, MPH, founder and executive director of the forthcoming Neighborhood Birth Center in Boston. Midwives at birth centers can provide a full range of midwifery carefrom family planning and labor through menopauseoften meeting a need in a maternity care desert." Difference Between a Birthing Center and a Hospital Based on the midwifery model of care, a birth center is more client-centered than contemporary hospital obstetrics which tend to rely more on technology and interventions to save time. The midwife model encourages patients to labor longer rather than opt for a C-section, which may be the case at hospitals. The birth center model encourages clients and their families to be active participants in their own care, says Abrie Koupal, CNM, MSN, co-owner of Boulder Birth & Holistic Health. We want to have discussions around current evidence and work with them to reach shared decisions. We have longer appointment times to be able to address each unique family's circumstances and to individualize their care. Some birth centers have physicians or OB-GYNs on staff, and others will consult with them if needed. Midwives provide prenatal, labor, delivery, and postpartum care (and some centers also have labor doulas). Research shows less than 2% of patients in birth centers will require an urgent transfer for the birthing parent or newborn, but birth centers typically have partnerships with nearby hospitals and can transfer those that need acute care, or decide that they want an epidural. Most hospital labor and delivery units are not considered as comfortable or relaxing as birth centers, but hospitals have the personnel (OB-GYNs, maternal fetal medicine specialists, neonatologists, anesthesiologists) and equipment to handle high-risk births or complications. Benefits of a Birthing Center Compared to hospital care, birth centers have been found to have better maternal outcomes and similar neonatal outcomes for low-risk clients. There were fewer medical interventions, such as C-sections, induction of labor, and epidural anesthesia. Neonatal benefits include a lower number of preterm and low birthweight births, and longer terms of nursing. There's more freedom for patients, too. Birthing clients can move freely and push in the position of their choice when they feel the urge to do so, says Koupal, who had her two children at Boulder Birth & Holistic Health. Families can be involved in the experience, and partners often help to catch their babies." There are also cost benefits. For example, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) found that, for Medicaid beneficiaries, the cost of care in birth centers for each parent and baby duo saved an average of about $2,000 compared to those with similar risk profiles receiving hospital care. What's more, pregnant people who have midwife-led home or birth center births often note the sense of empowerment they feel from the experience. According to Baril, theres a lot to be said for coming into parenthood from a place of power versus a place of trauma. That's critical as the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is the highest among developed nations, especially for Black people. "I feel like if more women were able to experience even a fraction of what I did, they would trust themselves and their bodies more," says Beck of her experience in a birthing center. Cons of a Birthing Center At the same time, there are some disadvantages of birthing centers all patients should be aware of. They are not for high-risk pregnancies or births They are best for full term, singleton pregnancies (not twins) that are not breech Not for those with pre-existing medical conditions like insulin-dependent diabetes or high blood pressure Most birth centers do not accept those who have previously had C-sections Birth centers are for vaginal births (They do not perform surgeries like C-sections, episiotomies, or induction of labor.) While usually located close to hospitals for transfers, they do not have immediate access to an operating room or neonatal care for emergencies There's no anesthesiologist on staff to administer an epidural if desired How To Find a Birth Center Both the AABC and the CABC have pages on their websites to find accredited birth centers. You can also check with your individual states health department for licensed centers. Are Birth Centers Covered by Insurance? Most birth centers take health insurance and Medicaid, but not all centers can afford to take Medicaid due to the low reimbursement rates. The good news is certain states, including Connecticut, are finding ways to address access and coverage because midwifery care can improve maternal and infant outcomes and lowers costs. Some birth centers, often non-profits, also offer a sliding scale based on family size and income. What To Consider Before Choosing a Birth Center If you dont have medical issues and would prefer a birth with minimal medical intervention, a birth center may be a good choice. But before choosing a birth center, there are certain factors to consider. Here are some important ones below: Find out if you meet the criteria for that specific center as regulations differ between states If the center is not accredited, ask them why Make certain that the health care providers, such as midwives, nurses, or physicians, are licensed Find out what they charge, if they take your health insurance plan, or have any kind of a sliding scale for payment Ask about their plan for transfer in the event that you have complications and need to go to a hospital Find out if your midwife has privileges at the hospital you will be transferred to if needed If you are a good candidate for a birth center, the time-intensive, client-centered care of the midwifery model may result in better experiences and outcomes for both you and your infant. Its important to make the best informed decision that works for you and your growing family. For more Parents news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Parents. Miami-Dade Animal Services (MDAS) seeks public assistance to locate a man whose dog died after falling over 30 floors from a downtown Miami apartment building on Nov. 12. MDAS stated they were following up on complaints about a dog reportedly left on a balcony at Square Station apartments, Local 10 News reports. Footage of the Belgian Malinois pacing on a cluttered balcony before tragically falling to their death has gone viral. In addition, multiple news outlets have since obtained graphic photos and video showing the dogs body placed in a garbage bag on the pavement. Dogs body found on the pavement The dogs body was found near the apartment buildings south side. According to the police report detailing the discovery, the front desk attendant informed authorities they were unaware of the dog owners identity. Furthermore, they had not received any inquiries about a missing dog. Property managers had to handle the removal of the deceased dogs body from the sidewalk. I think it was an accident, said Charles Stewart, an acquaintance of the dogs owner. Stewart, another resident of the 34-story apartment building, mentioned how news of the event swiftly circulated amongst neighbors. Stewart revealed that he had met the dogs owner on several occasions before and after the incident. He seemed like he was very distraught, Stewart shared. Continuing, he said he believed the Belgian Malinois was a rescue animal. He also added that it seemed like [the dog owner] was pretty crushed by everything that happened. Miami-Dades stance on balcony dog safety According to Sam Gafcovich, an enforcement supervisor at Miami-Dade Animal Services, the department handles numerous balcony-related dog reports. While not explicitly illegal, providing inadequate shelter can result in legal consequences. Leaving dogs on balconies is not the right way to go, Gafcovich emphasized. Most people feel their dogs are their babies, and they raise them like that. Continuing, he said, So, you wouldnt leave your infant on the balcony unattended. Do the same for your animals. Gafcovich also stated that the investigation is ongoing as police officers are revisiting the building in order to gather witness statements. Moreover, a property manager shared that the dog owner was evicted from his apartment last week. In fact, eviction proceedings began weeks ago after property managers said that they received multiple community violations, fines including one for barking along with non-payment of rent from the tenant. The post Dog Falls 32 Floors From Miami Balcony, Authorities Seek Owner appeared first on DogTime. Misbhv, the Warsaw- and Paris-based designer fashion brand, recently launched its first flagship store in Chengdu, Chinas southwestern hub known for its spicy cuisine and vibrant subculture scene. The Misbhv flagship is operated by ENG, Misbhvs Greater China exclusive retail partner since 2022 and a popular designer fashion retail concept with stores in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Beijing and, most recently, Chengdu. More from WWD The shop, which neighbors an ENG store, is located in the former Golden Autumn Tea House on Citang Street, an ancient street revitalized as a downtown commercial hub. The 3,700-square-foot flagship includes an outdoor club and exhibition area, a cafe and a VIP room. Designed by local design firm Atmosphere, the store offers a minimally futuristic atmosphere created by its steel grid system, or as the brand calls it, a post-apocalyptic city space. Dark walnut walls and wooden display units act as accents and echo the buildings storied past. Inside Misbhvs Chengdu flagship. Chengdu, just like Misbhv, likes to operate slightly off the radar, Misbhv creative director Tomek Wirski told WWD. Its the third major Chinese city for retail, has a thriving music scene with one of our favorite clubs in the world, great architecture, and ties to Taoism, which for me is particularly important, Wirski added. Mulli Li, executive director for Misbhv in Greater China; Natalia Maczek, founder of Misbhv; ENG founder Sherry Huang, and Tomek Wirski, Misbhv creative director, at the Chengdu flagship opening. Our new Tmall store, which was just launched this year, has also achieved impressive results on Singles Day, said Mulli Li, executive director for Misbhv in the Greater China area. The next step is to integrate the brand deeper into the Chinese community, trying to express Misbhvs understanding of Chinese culture through targeted initiatives and creating ways for the brand to have a meaningful dialog between the European and Chinese communities, Li added. Best of WWD When Kirby Griffin posed for the SI Swimsuit Issue in 2012, she traveled to Livingstone, Zambia, for her rookie feature with photographer Derek Kettela. Griffin, who grew up in Georgia, moved to Wisconsin in her early teen years and entered the modeling industry as a college student. I got into modeling when I was at the University of Wisconsin, she explained while on location in the African country. I went on a spring break trip to South Beach, and I basically got scouted. I went in and I took Polaroids the next day and I actually moved from Wisconsin [to New York]. The now 32-year-old described her move from the Midwest to a major city as a big change, but it was a necessary step in pursuing her modeling career. And were so grateful that she went on that spring break trip, as eventually, it led to the SI Swimsuit team knocking on her door. For her magazine feature, not only did Griffin pose among wildlife (several snaps captured her with zebras and giraffes roaming around in the background), she was also photographed among natural wonders like the regions Victoria Falls. The model struck poses in a number of bright and beautiful animal print swimsuits, from leopard-inspired two-pieces to snakeskin-like monokinis. Each look was incredibly colorful and brought out the hues of her natural surroundings. Below are just a few of our favorite looks from Griffins SI Swimsuit Issue feature in Zambia. Derek Kettela/Sports Illustrate Derek Kettela/Sports Illustrate Derek Kettela/Sports Illustrate Derek Kettela/Sports Illustrate Derek Kettela/Sports Illustrate Derek Kettela/Sports Illustrate Make sure to follow SI Swimsuit on YouTube! Doing a home maintenance or installation job yourself can be extremely satisfying and save a lot of money. But when the project is a little complex, its probably best to leave it to a professional. Yet what happens when the supposed expert makes an error that leaves you with an enormous repair bill on your property? Thats what happened to one Auburn, Georgia, resident named Glen Frazier, who ordered a new washing machine from Lowes and had it professionally installed. Unfortunately, it was done incorrectly, and Frazier soon found that his house was flooding. Water was pouring from the light fixtures, from the seams, from the sheetrock, he told WSB-TV. It was only a few minutes after the installers had left the property that the problem began, as a broken part in the washing machine led to the leak. Frazier has spent $8,000 on water remediation so far, and the damage the flooding has done to his property is likely to see his repair bill increase. Perhaps more frustrating, though, is that interest in remedying the problem seemed minimal from Lowes. It took two weeks for Frazier to get a response from the retailer, but that only happened after he got in touch with the Consumer Action Center. Frazier was directed to Elliott.org to find an email address for company executives. When he finally got in touch with someone at Lowes, they said, This should never happen. Speaking to WSB-TV, Channel 2 consumer advisor Clark Howard said that getting assistance from big companies like Lowes or Home Depot following installation issues has been virtually impossible for consumers. Theyre putting their names on these programs, but they are not backing them up, he added. It shouldnt require an email to an executive to solve a problem that is of the companys own making. Hopefully, Lowes takes note of the trouble Frazier experienced and makes it easier for customers to get in contact about such problems in the future. Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Yerevan and Brussels have signed an agreement on the status of the EU observer mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Trend reports. The agreement was signed at the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan and Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Vasilis Maragos. The agreement on the status addresses legal issues. "We believe that this will strengthen the security of the people; we also contribute to building trust in the region. The EU is committed to establishing peace in the region, and this is one of the tools we have in Armenia," said Ambassador Maragos. The EU launched the civilian mission in Armenia (EU Mission in Armenia / EUMA) under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) on February 20, 2023. Marc Benioff has not had what you might call a conventional entrepreneurial experience. As a teenager in San Francisco he created his own home-made video games, and sold them to pay for college. After graduation, he became one of the fastest rising executives in the history of Oracle, before an existential crisis led him to take a sabbatical and travel to Nepal. There he wound up in the company of a woman nicknamed The Hugging Saint, who, amid Hindu chants and clouds of incense, listened to Benioff's plight and told him, In your quest to succeed and make money, don't forget to do something for others. This interaction altered the course of his life and inspired him to start a company of his own, which has now altered the course of many other lives. In just under 25 years, Salesforce, which sells cloud-based customer-relationship-management software, has grown to a $213-billion global business with 70,000 employees, and made Benioff a billionaire many times over. But his success has also allowed him to cut an unusual figure for a modern tech CEO. Benioff has taken unapologetically progressive stances on issues from LGBTQ rights to immigration, education to healthcare, homelessness to deforestation, while also donating vast sums of money, time, and expertise through Salesforce and his own personal fortune, calling on his peers to do the same, to mixed results. The man business writer Peter Goodman once described as a blend of bohemian mysticism and ruthless entrepreneurialism that connects the venture capitalists of Sand Hill Road to the costumed hordes at Burning Man talked to us last week from his private jet, as he headed back to his home base in San Francisco. GQ: Marc, how much do you sleep on an average night? Benioff: I sleep on an average nightI have to look at my Oura Ring. About eight hours? So youre not one of these maniacs who claims they can survive on four hours of sleep. No, I don't think that's generally a good idea. Based on the medical research. I know a guy who does it, and I just keep telling him that at some point he is going to either have a massive coronary event or a psychotic episode. Oh, Jesus. Whats your policy on the smartphone overnight? Do you keep it close by? My phone is usually on my bedside table. Is that a bad idea? The research suggests it is. Uh-oh. I'll move it. Well, youre a fairly busy man, so maybe its alright. As you go through your day, meeting by meeting, call by call, how do you keep your mind from wandering to the other million things you need to be worrying about? Probably the most important thing to me is meditation. Most days, I will start with 30 to 60 minutes of meditation. That's been a huge part of my life for more than 30 yearssince 92. Howd you come to it? I came to it because I was very successful when I was super young, and I started needing more tools to manage myself. Meditation became something that I became really attracted to. It made a huge difference right away. What does it do for you? One, it helps you let go of things that just dont matter. And two, it really does help you to reprioritize what does matter, to focus on what's really important. If everything is important, nothing is important. You have to choose, and meditation helps you to get much clearer about what really is important. I feel like you have more control over your stress levels, too, when you do it, when you meditate regularly. Its like you get a little knob that lets you turn stress down a bit. Oh, absolutely. I feel that way too. Your book talks a lot about the importance of corporate culture. And a big part of that is the Hawaiian tradition of Ohana, which basically means treating everyone you encounter as honorary kin. Can you tell me a bit about it? The Ohana culture has been a huge part of Salesforce. It really starts with our 1-1-1 model, which is now 25 years old. We put 1 percent of our equity, profit, and time into a foundation when we started the company. It was really easy, because we had no equity, profit, or time, and there was nobody there. [Laughs.] But now, 25 years later, we've given away close to a billion dollars in grants. We run 70,000 nonprofits and NGOs for free on our service, and we have done more than 7 million hours of volunteerism. That starts to set the culture: a culture based on that idea that were doing more than just working. We're giving back. It's an interesting approach for a company to take at a time like this, because a lot of people are very estranged from each other, politically, socially, economically, even physically, and were seeing record levels of loneliness Right. And I would say a key part of it is we're not looking at some separation between us and our community. In San Francisco and Oakland, where the company is headquartered, weve given away more than 150 million to local public schools, more than a hundred million dollars to the local public hospital. This idea that we are giving back at scale, but also our employees are volunteering in those schools, in those hospitals. That's really important to us. Ohana is an idea that we're taking care of our community and our employees. Its also a way to get your employees to actually engage with the communities they work in. Which is frankly unusual for a big tech company. Right. Were giving them permission to do that. Do you pay them for their time, when they volunteer? Yeah, its all paid time off. You took some heat a while back for trying to coax your employees back to the office, while also admitting you didnt like working in offices. Have you gained any insights into striking a better balance between remote and in-person? People need to focus on being happy. When I talk to my friends, and theyre going through some kind of existential crisis, I'll say to them, Just tell me what are five things that are making you super unhappy right now? And they'll give me those five things. Then I'll say, What are five things that are making you super happy right now? And they write those things down, and then I'll say, just do a little bit less of the things that are making you unhappy. And for some of them, they need to rebalance home and work. Some need to spend more time in the office. Some need to spend more time at home. Every person's different, but I think to optimize the workforce, you have to realize its not a one-size-fits-all agenda. When I was reading your book, Trailblazer, I was struck by the portrait you painted of yourself as a kid. You were a tinkerer, a coder, you kept to yourself. You were shy and introverted. You are no longer shy and introverted. What happened? Did you have to work to become more social? It kind of happened in college. In college, my professors said to me, Hey, you are not going to just go start your own company after this. You understand that, right? I was like, What do you mean? They're like, You already know how to program. You're going to go learn to sell. So that's when I went to work for Oracle in 1986. What was that transformation like? It was trial by fire. I can imagine. It was really brutal. But it was exactly the right thing. It was the only way I was going to learn how to do it. But those college professors definitely thought, Heres this nerdy kid in college. He wants to go start a software company. Were not going to let him do that. He was going to have to go find his way into a company and do something thats not technical for a while. Build up those soft skills. It was great advice to broaden myself out a little more. I met a woman a couple years ago who was one of the first female construction superintendents in Massachusetts. She was really shy as a kid, and her father pushed back against it by making her call the pizza joint on Friday nights and have a conversation with the guy about what she should order. Just to help get her out of her shell. She credits that for her success in dealing with a lot of types of often difficult people. Yeah! Those kinds of life experiences. My father owned womens clothing stores, and on the weekends when I wasnt programming, I would have to get in the Buick Skylark station wagon and drive from store to store delivering the clothes. That was the beginning of that process. Working in retail can make you pretty good at connecting with all sorts of different people. Working in different countries will do that to you as well. Someone can look exactly like you, and then they are nothing like you. They dont think like you. They don't have your values. It has nothing to do with the color of their skin, or what religion they are. Its all about what their values are, and how they see the world based on their experience. You learn to navigate those different value systems, and different cultures, and different religions. And for me, I think growing up in San Francisco really helped, too. Its such a diverse environment, and you have to deal with so many different characters, so many different peopleevery political orientation, every race, gender, we're the home of gay rights and the LGBTQ community. I think thats one of the reasons I've been able to navigate really difficult social situations as I've gone around the world. But, when you're meeting new peopleon one hand you're good at this, you're relatable, you're personable. But on the other hand, you do represent enormous wealth and enormous power. And also, Im six-five. Right. Youre also a very large man. But when you do meet people, youve got this stature that must loom over the interaction. Do you have any techniques for putting people at ease? I don't really have an answer. I just try to be who I am. I think thats all you can really do. I think if you try to do something other than that, you're going to get yourself in trouble. Have you seen your peers become warped by having a great deal of money or influence? I have a lot of friends who have moved so they can pay less taxes. I think that's really interesting. Not one friend, many friends have moved just for one purpose: so that they'll pay less taxes. For me, that's the last thing I'm going to do. [Laughs.] I'm going to organize my life for how happy Im going to be. That's where my head is at. I'm 59 now. I'm not 49, I'm not 39, I'm not 29. I'm not 19. And so when I think about my life, I want to enjoy every day. I want to be happy every single day. That's really important to me. Really, nothing else is important, and if all of a sudden I'm not happy every day, then I'm going to change what I'm doing. Are you still happy running Salesforce? I'm still happy every day, or I wouldn't be doing it. But if I'm supposed to go somewhere and I don't feel like it, or I feel like that's going to impair me, I'm not going to go. Thats also a pretty good way to head off burnout. Right. And Ill give you another good way to avoid burnout: Really focus on, and understand, do you have a purpose to your work? Do you have a purpose to what youre doing? Do you feel like what you're doing is having an impact? Is this something that you really feel good about doing, every day? People may criticize you, but the reality is how do you feel? Would you go back and make the same decisions? Do you have to constantly ask yourself those questions? How do you stay on track? I have a hierarchy of things that I go down. Where am I spiritually? is number one. Where am I physically? Where am I with my family or with my friends? Where am I now in my work? Where am I in my philanthropy and my ability to give back? Where am I impacting global issues and in a positive way that I feel good about? This is my hierarchy of how I get to that point. Then I say, What is my level of happiness when I look at all of those things, and then how can I make some slight adjustments to make things a little bit better? You have proudly claimed the mantle of being an activist CEO. As I was reading about that I didn't choose that. It got thrust on me. Right. By a Wall Street Journal reporter who works for you now. That was Monica Langley that did that to me. That did that to me. Is there another way that you would characterize it? I didnt like it at first, but I dont mind it now, but I think people need to realize that business is the greatest platform for change. If that means calling it activist, fine, because you need to be taking an action. Thats part of being an activist. Ultimately, your life has to be a platform for change. What are you doing with your life? What are you doing with your business? What is your perspective? At the end of the day, you can't do everything, but you can do some things. You have to figure out what really matters to you, and then once you find those things: do it. Do you hear from other CEOs who might be inclined to pursue a more activist path, but are worried about shareholder blowback problems with the board? Of course. I am! I'm one of those. [Laughs.] Right, you caught a little heat earlier this year with activist shareholders who thought you werent squeezing enough value out of the company. How did you handle it? I met with them! And it was awesome, by the way. I learned a ton. Everyone told me to be afraid of them, but it turned out to be a really great experience. I even spent time training one of them on how to meditate. But yeah, one part of their narrative always starts out, You need to only be focused on this, this, and this. But they don't understand the interconnectedness of all things. Once you can get to that point, you're in a much better place. You have to recognize that there is no Other. You're connected with everything. So just broaden your consciousness, and then let your life guide you in that direction. This is how I look at life. What am I going to do? Just have a company that builds products and makes money, and that's all that's interesting? That's a huge failure. When you have so many resources, you have the ability to do so much, to give back at scale. Youve got to at least try. It's interesting to me that you personally went to the activist shareholders, because to engage with a potential adversary, in good faith, without being a know-it-all, or trying to muscle them out of the way, does require a sort of humility. I wouldn't say I have a lot of humility. [Laughs.] But listening is a kind of humility. That could be true. I think it's important to deeply listento yourself and to others. No question. That's the heart of sho-shin, which is the Beginners Mind. In the Beginners Mind you have every possibility. But in the expert's mind, you have few. We have to build a Beginner's Mind. Joe Keohane is the author of The Power of Strangers: The Benefits of Connecting in a Suspicious World, and the co-author of The Lemon: A Novel. He lives in New York City. Originally Appeared on GQ Ever hear someone say something so absurd that you can't help but think, They actually said that? Sergio Alejandro Mendoza Hochmann / Getty Images Redditor u/nlwfty recently asked the people of Reddit, "What's the most out-of-touch thing you've heard someone say?" Read on and try not to cringe too hard: 1."'Arent you a bit too old to have a grandma?' From a neighbor when I told her my grandma just passed away." u/NovusNebula Getty Images 2."'You seem sad.' My mother to my sister at her husband's funeral." u/blarg-zilla 3."With a hefty storm approaching England, a politician advised those in its path that they should maybe leave and go to their second or third homes to be safe." u/Heavens10000whores Rbkomar / Getty Images 4."My dad (who is now the director of accounting for the school district I teach for) was talking about how my starting pay was way more than his starting pay. I said, 'Well, yeah...the cost of living has increased a ton since then.' This motherfucker straight-up said, 'No it hasn't.' He started working there in 1992. This conversation happened in like 2017 (about a year after I started working there). Again, he is the director of accounting." u/pjsans 5."When people were complaining about not being able to afford housing, food, and living in general, one of the Dutch party leaders said something along the lines of, 'Well, find a rich boyfriend, then.' Ah, yes, that will solve the crisis!" u/pastelchannl 6.'I dont know why people get big mortgages. Just save up for a few months and pay cash for a starter home!' u/Hopeful-Moose87 Tim Graham / Tim Graham / Getty Images 7."'Rent is so expensive. You should buy a triplex and rent the other units out instead.' Ma'am, triplexes cost about a million. How on Earth am I supposed to get approval for that if rent is an issue for me?" u/so_not 8."I went to an Ivy League college with lots of children of extraordinarily wealthy families. When discussing inequality and its effects on housing, my professor briefly mentioned how mortgages are out of reach for a growing number of Americans. The girl next to me stopped the class and with a confused face asked the professor why people dont just buy their homes in cash outright because 'surely the interest means it will cost them more over time.' The professor was dumbfounded. I found out later that she's the heir to a major luxury brand that you have all heard of." u/wildblue2 9."'You should just go door-to-door to see if theyre hiring. And dont take no for an answer! You need to call every day so theyll remember you!' Courtesy of my mother, who last worked in the 1980s." u/Kittytigris Getty Images 10."The wife of the business owner complaining to the employees about how shes underpaid for working there. She literally owns the building, and her family makes $300,000$500,000 profit a year all while underpaying the rest of the staff." u/RhaegarJ 11."I was waxing a womans eyebrows once, and she was complaining that sometimes, after she gets a massage, the pillow leaves a circular indent on her face and she cant go out to lunch after. She then asked me if that ever happened to me. I was like, 'Ma'am, I wax people for $11 an hour. Im not going out to lunch, LOL, let alone getting massages.'" u/lomi08 Casarsaguru / Getty Images 12."A guy in college was trying to find common ground with us when we were discussing how difficult its been paying for college: 'I dont have college debt, but my parents are forcing me to only choose two new Apple product upgrades this year instead of three.'" u/cooldart61 Getty Images 13."A friend once told he for sure doesnt want to have kids. In the next sentence, he talked about how clever he was because he can use a condom two times. He just rolls it on the other side and he's ready to go again. I died laughing on the floor because he was dead serious and couldnt see the mistake." u/LePhenix484 14."My boss once told me to have 'the maid' drop my car at the shop. WTF!" u/amboombernotkaren Reza Estakhrian / Getty Images 15."Coworker: 'You'll be able to buy a home once you get your inheritance.' Me: 'I won't have an inheritance, my family isn't well off.' Coworker: 'Of course you have an inheritance. Everyone's parents leave them an inheritance. I'm sure they're just keeping it a secret from you to surprise you.' Said to me by a coworker whose parents are both doctors, while my mom had recently been laid off and my dad was too sick to work." u/Digital-Dopamine 16."'People in the slums have the same chances and opportunities as everyone else' with absolutely no freakin' clue how poverty crushes the soul." u/Far_Meal8674 17."I don't remember exactly what she said, but my coworker was having a conversation with an older board member about housing being so expensive. The board member complained that millennials don't know how to save money, and talked about how she freezes leftovers instead of getting takeout as an example of being financially responsible. Years later, I still think about the boomer with a lakeside property who thinks we just need to save our leftovers to afford a home." u/GloriouslyGlittery Brandon Colbert Photography / Getty Images 18."'What do you mean, you've never vacationed in the South of France?'" u/Thick-Worry5028 19."'A police officer cannot commit a crime. Since crime requires premeditation, and police are charged with law enforcement, they cannot, by definition, premeditate to commit a crime. What a police officer does in the course of their job can never be considered criminal activity.' This was the argument handed to me by our local police chief in response to my organization's police reform project." u/BitchesGetStitches And finally... 20."'If gas prices are too high for you, just buy an electric car.'" u/dead_bimbette Westend61 / Getty Images/Westend61 Have your own? See you in the comments! Note: Some of these responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. A NEW CHAPTER: There will be novelty a-plenty in the next edition of A Magazine Curated By, the annual publication guest-edited by fashion designers. Issue 26, slated to come out in December, will be curated by Vietnamese American designer Peter Do, who is currently designing his own brand as well as Helmut Lang. More from WWD Contributors to the 200-page volume exploring the idea of home from Dos childhood in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, to his life in New York City will include poet and writer Ocean Vuong, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Viet Thanh Nguyen and Oscar nominee and cult director Tran Anh Hung. It will also be the inaugural edition for editor in chief Blake Abbie, who was appointed to the role last summer after serving as the publications editor at large for a decade, taking over from Dan Thawley, who exited after a 14-year tenure. In his new role, Abbies focus going forward is being more present, a little bit more disruptive in a certain way, a little bit more surprising and exciting as the magazine gears up for its 20th anniversary in 2024, the half-Chinese and half-Scottish New York-based Canadian editor told WWD. I dont think of A Magazine Curated By as a fashion magazine [but as] a cultural magazine, he said. This is a place where we can really celebrate the industry and what drives [it] is creativity. We engage in the evolution of what fashion is. Among his main priorities are expanding the magazines social platforms and extending its partnerships to a more regular schedule. In particular, he intends for the publications sister projects, which include the Curated For subset dedicated to brand partnerships, to be more agile and on the ground, he said. Blake Abbie Broadening the publications geographical presence is also on the cards, with North America and Asia, in particular its strongly emerging Southeastern area, he said. Also in focus are China, where he spends a significant amount of time, and Japan, an incredibly supportive market over the years. Abbie has worked for titles including Industrie, System and Document Journal, and was part of the ensemble cast of the reality show Bling Empire: New York, chronicling the lavish lives of the citys wealthy Asian fashion set. In addition to his duties at A Magazine Curated By, he is launching the Tong creative studio, whose first project is 168, a youth-led zine project supported by the Chinatown Storytelling Center and re:Naissance Opera in Vancouver aiming at engaging young people back into the community. Best of WWD LONDON Roger Vivier, the French luxury footwear and accessory brand owned by Tods, has been making a big push in China to entice the nations super-rich amid a global luxury slowdown. Earlier this month, the brand put out an exhibition of its spring 2024 collection and hosted a lavish dinner in Shanghai. Both events yielded considerable buzz on social media thanks to a star-studded guest list, which included local celebrities like Laurinda Ho, Gina Alice, Ayla Sham, Zhang Linghe and brand ambassador Allen Ren. More from WWD A room in the Roger Vivier exhibition in Shanghai. The exhibition comprised four rooms showcasing different aspects of Roger Viviers offering envisioned by creative director Gherardo Felloni: a nature-inspired world that spotlighted the craft of color, a pink and red-themed space that celebrated the heart of passion, an airy chamber that paid tribute to the shape of lightness, and one that incited an air of preciousness with a chandelier lying smashed on the ballroom floor. Additionally, there was a dedicated area that highlighted the brands new Viv Choc Piece Unique collection with artisans showcasing the process of making heavily embroidered clutches. First revealed during Paris couture week last summer, the collection comes with 15 one-of-a-kind designs with prices going up to 50,000 euros. An artisan showcasing the process of making a heavily embroidered clutch from the Viv Choc Viv Choc Piece Unique collection. Igor Poza, global head of business development at Roger Vivier, said the brand chose to touch down in Shanghai because the city embraces the same creativity, dynamism and audacity as the brand. Calling Shanghai Chinas fashion capital as well as a hub for sophisticated consumers, Poza believes the exhibition and the dinner presented an opportunity to showcase the maisons legendary values, Fellonis visionary world, as well as the spring 2024 collection and savoir-faire to the local press, VICs and Shanghais creative community who are pivotal for Chinese culture. The brand has been able to maintain a healthy level of growth in the first nine months of 2023, with sales climbing 19.1 percent year-over-year. Hong Kong as well as Macao have remained very strong and Japan also continued to perform well, partly thanks to Chinese purchases. Roger Vivier has a high exposure in China and reflects the countrys industrial performance. The group is following a retail strategy, which involves a selection of openings, that is consistent with the brands exclusivity, Poza said. Roger Vivier creative director Gherardo Felloni A landmark like this is what the brand needed to offset the negative impact of a slowdown in overall luxury consumption that began at the start of the third quarter in China. Chinese consumers love Roger Vivier because the maisons approach is not based on following trends but rather on pursuing true beauty through new shapes, colors, and its characteristic joie de vivre. The savoir-faire and artisanal uniqueness, which make many of the brands products extremely rare, is highly appreciated by the Chinese customer who values the preciousness of couture, Poza said. The patiently handcrafted shoes, bags, jewels and accessories naturally become successful because of Fellonis ability to audaciously reinterpret and modernize Roger Viviers cultural heritage while continuing to create timeless and iconic pieces, he added. Poza said the Belle Vivier pump with its signature metal buckle, which was worn by Catherine Deneuve in the film Belle de Jour, remains the most popular style among Chinese shoppers. Other trending styles include the VivRun/Skate sneaker, jewelry sets and couture collections like the Viv Choc Piece Unique. Roger Vivier brand ambassador Allen Ren poses next to the Viv Choc Piece Unique installation. As of 2023, the brand operates 75 boutiques across Asia, with 28 of them being in mainland China, six in Hong Kong, four in Macao and four in Taiwan. Poza said the brands current focus is on consolidating and conservatively expanding its retail network in the region. There is a constant awareness toward new and potentially key opportunities that would allow the maison to further reach customers. One such opportunity certainly lies in the constant development and growth of the handbags and accessories categories which are now at the very core of Roger Viviers identity, he said. Best of WWD Much as tea time in England provides a moment of respite from one's busy day, Sweden has its own, more casual version of break time called fika. Usually enjoyed a few times a day for brief periods of time, this well-established coffee break is known for featuring sweet treats like homemade baked goods. The most eye-catching of any spread might be the bright green prinsesstarta, or princess cake, topped with a pretty pink rose. In fact, it's such a classic dessert throughout the country that Swedes will often eat it to celebrate birthdays, or to celebrate any special occasion, really. Besides this sponge cake's unusual and striking color, the Swedish princess cake is known for its light, slightly nutty flavor. The creamy layers inside taste pleasantly sweet, as the vanilla pastry cream and fluffy whipped cream take center stage, and every layer is set apart with the sweet-tart zing of raspberry jam. This cake may have a lot of different components, but that's exactly what has cemented the princess cake as a cultural icon in Sweden. Each flavor melds together beautifully, for a perfect balance of flavors and textures that would definitely qualify as a memorable birthday experience. At the turn of the 20th century, before the princess cake was enjoyed by all of Sweden, it was a favorite dessert of royalty, and we have one renowned home economics teacher to thank for its invention. Read more: 12 Popular Ice Cream Brands, Ranked Worst To Best Sweden's Princess Cake Was Named For Its Royal Connections Green Princess Cake with birthday candles - Knape/Getty Images If your kid were to dress up as a princess for their birthday and got to eat a Swedish prinsesstarta, they'd technically be reenacting history. The recipe was originally created by Jenny Akerstrom, an instructor hired by the brother of Swedish King Gustav V to help his three daughters learn domestic skills. Princesses Martha, Margaretha, and Astrid really fancied eating cake, so Akerstrom created a different version for each of them, all intricately decorated. In 1929, the baker released a cookbook, The Princess Cookbook: Home Cooking and Holiday Food, with the royal daughters' portraits on the front cover. It proved to be a great selling point, and the book became such a hit that it was reprinted, with new entries, multiple times. One edition of Akerstrom's cookbook contained a version of the princess cake, simply titled "Green Cake," which was a favorite of the princesses. After rebranding it with a royal name, it soon became an iconic Swedish food found at most bakeries throughout the country and enjoyed at minor and major celebrations. People sometimes even fight over who gets to eat the flower on top. If it were any other color, this cake would go by other names. The outer layer of green marzipan is a key factor in making it a true princess cake. Although the modern recipe varies only slightly from the original, its elegant combination of flavors is still worthy of royalty. How A Classic Princess Cake Is Made slice showing princess cake layers - Debbismirnoff/Getty Images Baking your own princess cake can be quite time-consuming, but some elements like the white sponge cake and raspberry jam can be prepared in advance. Using a boxed white cake mix is a common baking shortcut, along with using a jar of raspberry jam rather than making it from scratch. Besides sponge cake and jam, a princess cake requires some vanilla-flavored pastry cream, also called creme patissiere, and the whole production is capped off with fresh homemade whipped cream. The cake is composed of layers alternating the moist cake and the two creamy elements. The base tier is lined with a pastry cream mixture with jam, the second has more pastry cream, and the top layer is a thick mound of whipped cream. The almond-based marzipan, complete with green food coloring, is rolled over the top, and the sought-after fondant rose is the final touch. Some bakers will fold the green marzipan onto the cake, stick the rose on, and call it good. Others will continue embellishing it by carefully piping the cake's base with whipped cream, piping some swirls on top, or dusting it with powdered sugar for a finished look. Where To Eat Swedish Princess Cakes In The U.S. Golden Gate Bridge at sunset - Simonkr/Getty Images If you've decided this bake is a bit of a doozy to recreate at home, (we don't blame you) you might be able to find it at a fancy bakery near you, particularly if they offer international selections. There was a time that you could find it at Ikea, though it seems it's been discontinued, to the dismay of its many fans. There are actually several bakeries in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles that specialize in baking princess cake. In San Francisco's Bay Area especially, where Swedish immigrants flocked to in the early 20th century, there are several Swedish shops, venues, and bakeries that showcase Scandinavian culture at its finest. The most famous place to enjoy an authentic princess cake is at Schubert's Bakery, where they're sold by the hundreds each day. Other hotspots like Ambrosia Bakery, Victoria Pastry, Yasukochi's Sweet Shop, and many more offer this classic treat for visitors to sample. Whether you're making plans to road trip to San Francisco, booking a flight to Sweden, or attempting to recreate this famous dessert in the comfort of your own kitchen, this is surely one of the world's most unique cakes and is well worth the effort. Read the original article on Mashed. McDonald's has faced many lawsuits over the years, some of which have even cost the company quite a bit of money. In one case, the fast food restaurant was once sued when a customer accused the chain of double-taxing its soft drinks. In November 2016, Cook County, Illinois, lawmakers voted to tax sweetened beverages. It went into effect in August 2017. Any customer who purchased sugary beverages, including soda, would be required to pay an additional cent per ounce served. So, for example, a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola would have $0.12 tacked onto the price tag. In September 2017, Yvvan Wojtecki purchased a meal at McDonald's. After he received his receipt, he noticed that the fast food chain included a 23-cent tax for the beverage in the subtotal. He believed that the entire order, including the beverage tax, was taxed again with the county sales tax. Despite Wojtecki's claim that the restaurant charged him too much, the lawsuit went nowhere. Read more: The Ultimate American Fast Food Restaurants Ranked Wojtecki Agreed To Dismiss The Suit Soda fountain at McDonald's - Mario Tama/Getty Images Wojtecki filed the lawsuit on August 8, 2017, claiming he paid two cents more than he should have for the meal. Though it was unclear how many other customers had been affected by the double taxing, Wojtecki sought a class action lawsuit to reach others who may have paid too much. The lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Thomas Mulroney just a week after it was filed. After McDonald's franchise owner Nick Karavites worked with Wojtecki and lawyer Daniel Seidman, it was determined that Wojtecki was not overcharged after all, the Chicago Tribune reports. The receipt, as well as the existence of multiple taxes, was determined to have been misread by Wojtecki. The dismissal was voluntary. The sweetened beverage tax was eventually repealed in Cook County on December 1, 2017. Fortunately for those who paid the sugary beverage tax while it was active, it seems that there was no cause for concern over double taxation at the fast food restaurant. Seattle McDonald's Locations Had A Similar Issue Soda cup from McDonald's - Mario Tama/Getty Images A Seattle McDonald's had a similar issue in 2018. Some McDonald's locations may have added the extra money to account for refills on sugary beverages. According to Seattle news station KIRO 7, McDonald's locations surrounding the city were overcharging customers. One reporter purchased a small beverage but found that the added tax was roughly that of a medium-sized beverage. Seattle's sweetened beverage tax of 1.75 cents per ounce went into effect in 2018. The extra charge was reportedly to account for free refills. Signs were posted to discourage diners from getting more than one beverage, and the surcharge was eventually removed altogether. However, there is one McDonald's beverage-related lawsuit that gained some traction. According to NPR, the 1992 case of Stella Liebeck is one of the most well-known suits against the chain. The then 79-year-old Liebeck spilled the fast food chain's coffee on herself, causing third-degree burns that required medical attention. The lawsuit found that Liebeck was not the first to have been burned by the beverage and that McDonald's served its coffee much hotter than other companies. In September 2023, another customer filed a lawsuit against the restaurant for similar injuries. Read the original article on Daily Meal. When Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1977, he and First Lady Rosalynn Carter were the first Southern Baptist residents of the White House. As evangelical Christians, they followed a faith with conservative beliefs, including an opposition to drinking alcohol. During Carter's time as governor of Georgia, wine was served at official functions, but no hard spirits, and in 1977, the nation wondered if the same policy would hold in Washington D.C. Never one to withhold her advice, Rosalynn Carter opposed a ban on spirits, fearing the policy would reflect badly, and she and Jimmy would be seen as less relatable. The Carters assumed the White House in the aftermath of Richard Nixon's scandal-ridden era, and they'd campaigned on a return to values. Their small-town informality, policies favoring conservation, and the role faith played conspicuously in their lives could have been a political red flag. Rosalynn Carter exhibited keen political acumen, and some might suggest she possessed a level of savvy that rivaled or perhaps exceeded that of her husband. Read more: The 25 Best Bourbon Brands, Ranked Moderation Over Abstinence Was The Rule Jimmy Carter election button - Win Mcnamee/Getty Images The Carter White House did serve wine and occasionally included a touch of hard liquor. Though, some might argue it was more than a touch. The book "In the President's Secret Service" quoted White House Military Office director Bill Gulley as saying, "The Carters were the biggest liars in the world" - at least when it came to Jimmy Carter calling the White House a "dry" house. Gulley alleged that the Carters requested Bloody Marys on their first Sunday in the White House. Even the president's mother claimed to have had bourbon during her stays on Pennsylvania Avenue. Wine found its place for toasting during ceremonies and banquets, and according to Wine Spectator, Jimmy Carter later pursued winemaking in Plains, GA, his hometown, following the footsteps of his father after his White House tenure. Both Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were acknowledged for their occasional enjoyment of a glass of wine, especially during international travels and when hosting dignitaries. Read the original article on Tasting Table. In the six decades since President John F. Kennedy was killed, America has added many chapters to its story. These days, some are hand-wringing that things have never been worse, conveniently forgetting that in 1963, America was wrangling with civil rights, an aggressive Soviet Union and a quagmire in Vietnam, all during a decade which included not one, but three assassinations. On Nov. 22, 1963, America was shaken and shocked out of the fantasy that we had progressed beyond the kind of political hatred and anarchy which had cost three previous presidents their lives. In the autumn of 1963, we were the world's premiere power, our sights set on the moon, led by an erudite president who embodied The American Century. Assassination was so beyond the pale of how we saw ourselves, it gave birth to theories that persist to this day. Doubt still persists: The government should release JFK assassination files Despite all of our achievements hence, his death cast a shadow from which we never have fully escaped. Kennedy was not perfect. His first meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was a disaster, as was the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. We now know all about his illnesses and infidelities and his initial reticence toward civil rights. But his brief presidency shines a glaring light on our acute lack of statesmanship in 2023. We've devolved from "Ask not what your country can do you you; ask what you can do for your country," to the notion that America is so paralyzed and corrupt, democracy is no longer worth such sacrifice. In keeping with the current anti-intellectual populism, those few who still embrace the notion of statesmanship are derided as weak or "elites." In 2023, we're electing people who choose performance art over substance, and are proud of it. Their rejection of statesmanship is not a source of embarrassment, but rather a badge of honor. As a result, we've opted for people who "tell it like it is" rather than those telling us what we need to hear. Taxpayers are being cheated, daily, by people who excel in gasbag rhetoric but have no skills or interest in legislating. Aided and abetted by a national media always in search of the next horse race, they have no intention of embracing statesmanship because nuance doesn't generate clicks. In a 1957 a speech at the University of Pennsylvania, Kennedy noted: "At most periods of our history, our national prestige and effective influence has been measurable by the strength of will, the capacity for judgment, and the articulation of policies at the pinnacle and that is the presidency. If initiative falters there, if the public is not honestly informed, if all executive action is merely reflex action, then foreign policy by its very nature cannot but fail in its large objectives." The brilliance of our system is that the founders assumed that liars, crooks and charlatans would wheedle their way into power. They implemented checks and balances designed to withstand such people up to a point. Our current desire for noise and jingoism over the hard work of statesmanship diminishes the legacy of one of America's most promising presidents. Election? What election? Before the smoke from Election Day had even cleared, some Ohio legislators have declared they intend to undermine the public's approval of Issues 1 and 2. In other words, some of the same folks who clamor for less government and more freedom are telling you to your face that they intend to ignore the results and will subvert the democratic process. Some have expressed shock that a number of Republicans voted for Issue 1, but they shouldn't have been so surprised. People of all stripes have had it with overreach, no matter the cause. Regarding Issue 2, legislators have indicated they want the proceeds from marijuana sales to be used to build more jails rather than the social programs for which they were to be designated. It's too bad such determination to "tweak" the results isn't being applied to Ohio's crooked election maps. Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP This article originally appeared on The Repository: Charita Goshay: JFK anniversary highlights our lack of statesmanship The claim: US Special Forces arrested Ukrainian officials on Nov. 13 A Nov. 15 article from Real Raw News claims that two top Ukrainian officials were taken into custody in the U.S. United States Special Forces on Monday arrested Ukraine presidential aide Andriy Yermak and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko as the duos diplomatic motorcade prepared to leave a Deep State meeting at a Virginia studio whose interior mimicked the White House Diplomatic Reception Room, a source in General Eric M. Smiths office told Real Raw News, the article reads. The article was shared more than 90 times on Facebook in one day according to CrowdTangle, a social media analytics tool. More from the USA TODAY Fact-Check Team: Our rating: False The two Ukrainian officials were not arrested. They were seen in public several times after their purported Nov. 13 arrest. Real Raw News routinely publishes false claims about the arrests of high-profile figures. DC visit intended to strengthen relationship between US, Ukraine Top Ukrainian president aide Andriy Yermak and Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko arrived in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 12 to meet with U.S. officials about the ongoing war in Ukraine. There is no evidence they were arrested by U.S. troops while in the country. There are no credible news reports about such a development. Social media posts show that Yermak and Svrydenko were seen publicly in D.C. from Nov. 12-15 as they met with officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, members of Congress, and the House Intelligence Committee. They also met with think tank groups like the Hudson Institute. Press releases and news reports highlighted the trip. Yermak also appeared for a live interview on Fox News Special Report on Nov. 13, the day he was purportedly arrested. He answered questions about why the U.S. should continue to provide funding to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia. Fact check: Scholastic last promoted 'Conversations with God' book in early 2000s Real Raw News is a serial spreader of misinformation that often publishes fabricated stories about "white hats" trying to undermine "the deep state" by arresting government officials. USA TODAY has previously debunked numerous other claims about the arrests of high-profile figures from Real Raw News. USA TODAY reached out to the Marine Corps, the Department of Defense and Real Raw News for comment, but did not receive an immediate 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. USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Ukranian officials were arrested in US | Fact check WASHINGTON Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) over the weekend promoted false conspiracy theories about the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after House Republicans released hours of raw footage from that day. Lee said he couldnt waitto ask FBI Director Chris Wray about an image of a man who was convicted of storming the Capitol and entering the office of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.). The image was shared by another Jan. 6 skeptic who suggested the man was an undercover federal agent posing as a supporter of Donald Trump. I predict that, as always, his answers will be 97% information-free, Lee said of Wray in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday. But the image of the man was actually of Kevin Lyons, a Chicago man who was convicted of six federal charges relating to the insurrection, per NBC News Ryan Reilly. And Lyons wasnt flashing a police badge, as the post had suggested, but rather a vaping device. In another post, commenting on a video of Trump supporters attacking police, Lee asked: How many of these guys are feds? There have always been Republicans who lied about what happened on Jan. 6, falsely claiming that the rioters were peaceful, that they were secretly leftists, or that they were undercover FBI agents. But Lees statements on social media were remarkable, given his efforts to depict himself as an intellectual defender of the U.S. Constitution and his apparent unwillingness to make any effort to check his facts. Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who helped lead the House committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol, said that a nutball conspiracy theorist appears to be posting from Lees account. In a follow-up, she reminded Lee that he voted in favor of certifying the election on Jan. 6. Youre a lawyer, Mike. Youre capable of understanding the scores of J6 verdicts & rulings in our federal courts, Cheney wrote on social media. You didnt object to electors on J6 because you knew what Trump was doing was unconstitutional & you know what youre doing now is wrong. Lees office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Even though he didnt vote to throw out Joe Bidens 2020 election victory, Lee was initially supportiveof the Trump White Houses efforts to contest the 2020 presidential results, helping push legally dubious schemes from John Eastman, a right-wing attorney who authored coup memos for Trump. Just a few days before the Jan. 6 riot, Lee shifted course and backed off. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Friday ordered the House administration committee to begin publicly releasing thousands of hours of footage from security cameras inside the Capitol complex. The footage had previously been available for viewing only to reporters and criminal defendants, though its broader public dissemination had been requested by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and others. In a statement on Friday, Johnson suggested that people who correctly understand the events of Jan. 6 that it was a riot by Trump supporters angry that he lost the 2020 election have been duped by a government-imposed interpretation of the days events. Releasing the footage, Johnson claimed, would reveal what actually happened. Gaetz, who falsely claimed on Jan. 6, 2021, that some of the rioters were members of the violent terrorist group antifa, amplified social media posts over the weekend claiming that the entire riot had been a setup. Court cases have revealed that paid FBI informants did tag along with certain groups of rioters at the Capitol, though defense attorneys have not alleged their clients attacked the Capitol because theyd been manipulated. A former special agent in charge of the FBIs Washington field office told lawmakers earlier this year that the FBI did not deploy undercover agents or confidential informants into the crowd at the Capitol, but that some informants came to Washington on their own. Before Lee and others homed in on Lyons, Republicans top suspected fed was an Arizona man named Ray Epps, arbitrarily singled out from video footage for supposedly acting suspicious. Lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) refused to withdraw their accusation even after Epps said under penalty of perjury that he had no affiliation with any federal agency, and even after he was charged with a crime this year for being on restricted Capitol grounds. Last week, before Johnson released the video footage, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) invented a new conspiracy theorythat the FBI had brought busloads of agents dressed as Trump supporters to Washington. Ive turned a lot of this evidence over to the appropriate authorities, and well see what happens, Higgins told HuffPost. When we get Trump back in the White House, these guys are in a bind. Wray, for his part, has repeatedly told Republicans that FBI agents and informants did not orchestrate the ransacking of the Capitol. If somebody is asking or suggesting whether the violence at the Capitol on January 6th was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or FBI agents or both, the answer is emphatically not, Wray said last week. Related... BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announce new military aid to Ukraine, Trend reports. According to information, the amount of the military aid package is 100 million dollars. It is reported that the package included anti-tank weapons and air-defense interceptors. WEST PALM BEACH More than 500 protesters gathered Sunday afternoon in West Palm Beach to pressure for a cease-fire in Gaza, condemn local officials for "contributing" to the suffering at the Gaza Strip and insist on an end to the killing of Palestinian civilians in the Israel-Hamas war. But they punctuated their demands with a controversial phrase "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" that pro-Israel advocates and others say is antisemitic and calls for the elimination of the state of Israel. The chant, which reverberated repeatedly through the lawn at Okeechobee Boulevard and Rosemary Avenue, has been a point of contention nationwide. Last week, U.S. House lawmakers, including four South Florida Democrats including U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, censured Palestinian-American U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, for posting videos associated with this slogan. Protesters at the Sunday demonstration pointed to the expression as a vow of solidarity with Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire between Israeli and Hamas in Gaza. "We're here for all Palestinians from the river to the sea. We know every single human being is sacred and has immense value from Palestine, to Congo, to Sudan. We see you, we're here for you, and we'll never be free until you are free," Tara Mahmoud, who attended the protest representing Students for Justice in Palestine at Florida International University in Miami, said while speaking to the crowd. But Monday, Frankel said protestors saying the chant are misinformed. "I'm not sure if everybody who's making these chants are well-informed. I don't know, but I will tell you many are, and the chant of 'from the river to the sea' means wiping Israel off the face of this earth and killing its people," Frankel said. Hundreds attended a Palestinian rally on the grassy median on Okeechobee Boulevard between Florida and Alabama avenues in downtown West Palm Beach on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. Organizers also condemned Palm Beach County officials, saying their investment of more than $100 million in Israeli bonds is "contributing to this humanitarian catastrophe." The reference was to county Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Joseph Abruzzo's announcement of a $25 million purchase on Oct. 10, days after the fighting began, and then a $135 million buy on Oct. 31. To make that investment with our greatest ally, in one of the safest investments we can make as Palm Beach Countys treasurer and CFO, its a win, Abruzzo said in statement last month. More: Palm Beach County teacher put on leave after email to superintendent on Israel-Hamas war But demonstrators at Sunday's rally, organized by groups including Students for Justice in Palestine, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, CAIR Florida and Jewish Voice for Peace of South Florida, said the "investments" are prolonging the suffering in Gaza. The rally was held to protest the more than 11,000 deaths since Israel's military campaign against Hamas began after the group's storming of Israeli civilian settlements and a music festival that killed an initial, estimated 1,200 Israelis and took another 240 people hostage. Emily Soto, a 28-year-old West Palm Beach resident, said she wants a cease-fire and an end to Israeli occupation. Soto, who held a "Long Live Palestine" sign, said she attended the event because she was "alarmed that my country is funding the genocide of the Palestinian people." Sadiq Ali, of Boca Raton, waves his flag during a Palestinian rally Sunday in West Palm Beach. "I'm vehemently against this, and no way is it OK with me that my money is going to this. And it's my duty as an American citizen to use my freedom of speech to gain attention for people who don't have freedom, which is the people of Palestine," Soto said. Erik Rose, who wore a Palestinian flag on his back, said he attended because he believes the conflict in the Middle East is "wrong" and that it's important to stand up against genocide. "They (Israel) are just doing whatever they want. They're being reckless, killing innocent babies. You know what I'm saying: kids and families, trying to just wipe people off the face of the earth, and that ain't never been right," Rose said. Hundreds of protesters gathered Sunday on Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach to demonstrate for the Palestinian cause in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Deena Ibrahim, a 30-year-old Boynton Beach mother of two, said she's been protesting for Palestine since she was a kid and that she brought her children to the rally to teach them that "what's happening is not OK." Ibrahim, who is Palestinian, said she believed the protests are important since it helps people understand the Palestinian struggle. "The end goal is always going to be a free Palestine. Right now, Israel's indiscriminately bombing Gaza. And it's disproportionate," Ibrahim said. "Cease-fire today, end the siege tomorrow, end the occupation." Lois Frankel: Chanting 'river to the sea' undermines call for peace The uttering of the "river to the sea" phrase at Sunday's demonstration did not sit well with Frankel, the U.S. representative and former mayor of West Palm Beach. The congressional Democrat believes that, whether or not many who chant the slogan know it's meaning, in echoing it the protesters are undermining their own message of peace and coexistence. She said 'from the river to the sea' means wiping Israel off the face of this earth and killing its people. "That's what it means, and so if you ask me, does that undermine anybody who says they're for peace? Yes, of course it does." Especially, Frankel added, since Hamas' stated objective is to "wipe Israel off the face of the earth and kill all the Jews." She added that innocent people caught in the middle of the conflict are "being used as shields by Hamas." "Hamas wants to erase Israel from the face of the earth and kill all its people," said Frankel. "That is Hamas' goal. They have said it verbally, they have written it, that's what they're trying to do." Frankel agreed it's important to distinguish that not all Palestinians seek Israel's destruction, and she has empathy for "innocent victims" in the conflict. But those chanting from "the river to the sea" are not doing so in search of peace. "I absolutely can understand the compassion and sympathy for all the innocent victims of this war, whether they're in Israel or in Gaza," she said, but reiterated that those chanting that slogan should know what it means. Protest follows a week in which Israel-Hamas war stirred Florida passions Hundreds of protesters gather Sunday afternoon on Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach to demonstrate for the Palestinian cause in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict. They changed along with slogans calling for the freedom of Palestine and the condemnation of President Joe Biden for his support of Israel. Sunday's events in Palm Beach County followed a week in which the escalating, brutal Israel-Hamas war raged through Florida communities, from college campuses to a U.S. district court to a city hall to school classrooms. Gov. Ron DeSantis' call to deactivate the national Students for Justice in Palestine organization drew a federal lawsuit against the governor and state university from the chapter at the University of Florida. The legal action came as pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted a Florida State University Board of Trustees meeting and rallied on state grounds in front of the landmark original state Capitol building. Two Democratic state representatives, Angie Nixon of Jacksonville and Anna Eskamani of Orlando, also attended the streetside event. "At this point, when it comes to the rise of both antisemitism and Islamophobia in the country and in the state, peace is the approach to help address it," Eskamani said. " 'Cease-fire now' is the biggest and most clear message," said rally participant Ahmad Daraldik, a Palestinian who's part of the Florida Palestine Network, and who has previously filed allegations of an anti-Palestinian hostile environment at Florida State University. "Beyond that, we need to end the occupation and end the U.S. aid and make sure there is a free, truly liberated Palestine." The conflict also impacted students at the University of Florida. A graduate student at UF accused of damaging a Jewish fraternity sign was charged with two counts of misdemeanor vandalism. The Hillel chapter at the Gainesville-based university also canceled the Birthright Israel trip, a free 10-day guided trip to Israel for young Jewish adults once they turn 18, because of the violence in the Gaza Strip and beyond. Exchange between two lawmakers reportedly resulted in death threats Much of the friction across the state stemmed from expressions of support for Palestinian residents caught in the war between Israel and Hamas. Nixon and a GOP colleague engaged in a flinty exchange that resulted in the Republican receiving death threats. The topic was Nixon's resolution calling for a cease-fire in the war between "Israel and occupied Palestine." "We are at 10,000 dead Palestinians," Nixon said during the debate. "How many will be enough?" State Rep. Michelle Salzman, R-Pensacola, replied: "All of them." Salzman subsequently said she received death threats. Salzman later put out a statement on X and told the (Pensacola) News Journal that her comments were only referring to Hamas. In Tallahassee, GOP lawmakers filed bills in the state Senate and House aiming to ban and terminate state scholarships or tuition aid to college students who promote foreign terrorist organizations. The heinous terrorist attack on Oct. 7 has pulled back the curtain and exposed the rampant antisemitism happening on the campuses of colleges and universities throughout this country," said state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, sponsor of the bill. Palm Beach County teacher lands in hot water while Gainesville city officials speak up The proponent of a new law targeting antisemitism called on the Palm Beach County School District to suspend a teacher over an email in which the educator called on school officials to "publicly recognize the Palestinian community" in its communications about the war. Donia Elktahib, West Palm Beach, leads a chant during a Palestinian rally on the grassy median on Okeechobee Boulevard between Florida and Alabama avenues in downtown West Palm Beach, on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. "Parents can only effectively engage in conversations with their children about the importance of respect, empathy, and the harmful consequences of prejudice if they understand that the Palestinian people in Gaza are being violently and indiscriminately massacred," the teacher wrote. GOP state Rep. Mike Caruso of Delray Beach took issue with the educator's statements, which were sent to district Superintendent Mike Burke. "What bothers me, as well as constituent parents, is whether or not her speech has spilled over into the classroom," he wrote. "The brainwashing of our 5- and 6-year-olds with hate of any kind is disgusting and unlawful." Supporters hold signage during a Palestinian rally on the grassy median on Okeechobee Boulevard between Florida and Alabama Avenues in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla., on November 19, 2023. Nonetheless, the mayor of Gainesville, with the backing of the City Commission, is writing a letter to the Biden Administration calling for humanitarian treatment, peace and a cease-fire in Gaza. It's about human life, Mayor Harvey Ward said. This is about peace, and I don't have a problem with sending a letter saying, Please stop shooting each other.' " Information provided by the USA Today Florida Network and Palm Beach Post reporter Katherine Kokal was used in this story. Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at smatat@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hundreds attend pro-Palestine rally in West Palm NORFOLK President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden spoke Sunday to a line of Norfolk military members and their families at Naval Station Norfolk, serving mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes for dinner. The pair visited the base for a Friendsgiving dinner, donning aprons for the meal. The visit is part of the White Houses Joining Forces initiative resources and programs meant to support military families. The initiative, championed by Jill Biden, includes child care fee assistance, military spouse employment support and counseling and other resources for health and well-being of military and veteran families, caregivers and survivors. According to previous reporting from The Virginian-Pilot, Hampton Roads has roughly 90,000 active-duty military members. Biden said military members were the backbone of the United States. The president discussed his personal connection as a military family member. The Bidens son Beau served in Iraq as a member of the Delaware National Guard. You family members are the heart of this operation, he said. The first lady has been traveling to military bases across the country and overseas for the initiative, including Coast Guard Air Station Miami in Opa-Iocka, Florida, and Fort Campbell Army Air Field in Oak Grove, Kentucky. According to the White House, the initiative will have a strong focus on military child education. The program aims to ease the burdens created by the highly mobile military lifestyle. Jill Biden said Sunday that many families in Norfolk would have empty tables for Thanksgiving this year. In October, 5,000 sailors deployed aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower the flagship of the Ike carrier strike group. It had long been scheduled to deploy to the Mediterranean. The Eisenhowers deployment comes amid rising tensions in the area. You and your families sacrifice so much, in times of war and peace, the first lady said. And its our duty and honor to make sure that you get support. Hundreds of people sat for Bidens remarks at tables draped with dark red tablecloths. Chaplain Brian Stamm opened the meal with a prayer, and young children quickly lined up at the dessert table for pie, ice cream and cheesecake. Friendsgiving is a Thanksgiving-style event but held with friends instead of family, and it is usually celebrated in addition to traditional Thanksgiving gatherings. In February, the president made a stop in Virginia Beach to discuss his administrations differences with Republicans on healthcare ahead of releasing his budget plan. Before this year, the last time Biden visited Hampton Roads was in May 2021 as part of his Get America Back on Track Tour. Sibrena Sears, whose husband is currently deployed on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, said she is also a former active member of the military, and seeing both sides of the military lifestyle has given her a unique perspective of how hard it can be especially on holidays. One thing I can say that makes it easier is this military community, and events like (Friendsgiving) help bring us together and let us know that were not forgotten and we are so important, she said. Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former president Jimmy Carters wife, died at the age of 96 on Sunday. The Carter Center announced the former first ladys death just two days after she entered hospice care at the couples home in Plains, Georgia. Rosalynn is survived by her husband, four children, 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and a legacy of mental health advocacy. Jimmy Carter, 99, who is also in hospice care, paid tribute to his wife in a statement saying, Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me, he added. The Carter Center said there was no update on Mr Carters health. The couples son, Chip Carter, called her a loving mother, extraordinary First Lady and great humanitarian. A formal funeral is set to take place next Wednesday, November 29th in Plains, Georgia. Members of the public are invited to pay their respects as Carter lies in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. Key Points Rosalynn Carter dies at 96 Husband Jimmy, 39th president, calls late wife his equal partner in everything I ever accomplished' Former first lady was passionate advocate of public service and giving back Tributes pour in on Capitol Hill and in Hollywood Funeral will take place next Wednesday Rosalynn Carter was dedicated to preserving Monarch butterflies Monday 20 November 2023 21:00 , Ariana Baio Throughout her lifetime, Rosalynn Carter worked to destigmatize mental health, advocate for better care for the elderly, build housing and preserve butterflies. As a fan of butterflies from a young age, Carter spent the latter half of her lifetime working to preserve butterfly habitats in her hometown of Plains, Georgia. In 2013, Carter sought to create a safe place for Monarch butterflies to pollinate, after seeing butterfly habitats dwindle due to natural disasters, human interference and more. She created the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail which hosts plants for Monarchs and other butterflies to use to grow. The trail continued to grow with locations across the US, Canada, Europe and Japan. First Ladies pay tribute to Rosalynn Carter Monday 20 November 2023 20:30 , Ariana Baio The five living First Ladies, including the current First Lady Jill Biden, sent tributes to Rosalynn Carter following her death on Sunday. Hillary Clinton called Carter a champion of human dignity everywhere and highlighted her work in mental health advocacy and human health as part of that. Laura Bush celebrated Carters loyalty and support for her husband while in office as well as her legacy in destigmatising mental health. Michelle Obama thanked Carter for her advice and support when she was a First Lady and recognised her work to advance health for elderly people as well as her work building houses with Habitat for Humanity. Melania Trump sent her condolences to the Carter family and remembered her legacy. Jill Biden remembered Carter for paving her own pathway and inspiring the US in her journey. Jason Carter shares heartwarming photo with his grandmother Monday 20 November 2023 20:00 , Ariana Baio Jason Carter, the grandson of former president Jimmy Carter and the late First Lady Rosalynn Carter, shared a touching photo of him with his grandmother just one day after she died. In a photo, posted to X, Mr Carter shared an image of him and Rosalynn standing side-by-side during his run for Georgia governor in 2014. Jimmy Carter remains on home hospice care following death of wife Rosalynn Monday 20 November 2023 19:30 , Ariana Baio Jimmy Carter remains a home hospice patient and there are no updates on the former presidents health, according to a spokesperson for the Carter Center. The spokesperson, Matthew De Galan, addressed Mr Carters health the day after former first lady Rosalynn Carter died at the family home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday. Ms Carters death came just days after it was announced that the 96-year-old had also entered home hospice. She had been diagnosed with dementia in May. Graeme Massie reports: Jimmy Carter remains on home hospice care following death of wife Rosalynn Secret Service say farewell to Rosalynn Carter Monday 20 November 2023 19:00 , Ariana Baio The Secret Service, which provided protection for Rosalynn Carter and Jimmy Carter for the 42 years following Mr Carters leave from the White House, issued a statement following Rosalynns death on Sunday. Your compassion, diplomacy and penchant to make society better for those less fortunate was an inspiration for an entire generation. It has been our honor to protect and serve you for all of these years. You were truly a treasure for our nation and our Secret Service family, the Secret Service wrote in a statement on X. Our deepest condolences go out to the Carter family. First Lady Rosalynn Carter dedicated her life to helping others with compassion and grace, and was a model for us all. pic.twitter.com/t96sKscfxR U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) November 19, 2023 How Rosalynn Carter spent her 96th birthday Monday 20 November 2023 18:30 , Ariana Baio On August 18th, Rosalynn Carter celebrated her 96th birthday at her home in Plains, Georgia with her husband, former president Jimmy Carter, and family, according to The Associated Press. Carter, who died on Sunday, was navigating living with dementia in the final months of her life while her husband was entered into hospice earlier this year. Her quiet birthday was spent eating cupcakes and peanut butter ice cream and then releasing butterflies into the Carters garden. Carter had a deep love for butterflies since childhood. Her family and friends released butterflies on her birthday as well as an ode to her life. Bill and Hillary Clinton issue statement on death of Rosalynn Carter Monday 20 November 2023 18:00 , Ariana Baio Former president Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement on X about Rosalynn Carter, the former First Lady and wife of president Jimmy Carter. Rosalynn Carter was a compassionate and committed champion of human dignity everywhere, the statement began. The Clintons highlighted Carters work in mental health advocacy, childhood immunization and working with Habitat for Humanity as part of her remarkable life. Rosalynn will forever be remembered as the embodiment of a life lived with purpose, they said. Funeral will take place next Wednesday Monday 20 November 2023 17:30 , Ariana Baio The Carter Center announced that tributes to Rosalynn Carter will begin on Monday, November 27 and her funeral will take place on Wednesday, November 29. Carter, who died at age 96 on Sunday, was the First Lady to one-term President Jimmy Carter. Next Monday, Carter will lie in response at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. Members of the public are invited to pay their respects there. On Tuesday, there will be a tribute service at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University featuring invited guests only. Then on Wednesday, a funeral procession will begin at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains before Carter is taken to the Carter family residence for a private burial. Members of the public are welcome to view the motorcade route from the church to downtown Plains. Michelle Obama remembers Rosalynn Carters advice Monday 20 November 2023 17:00 , Ariana Baio Former First Lady Michelle Obama shared a tribute to a fellow First Lady Rosalynn Carter, after news of her death on Sunday broke. In a lengthy post on X, Ms Obama said Carter would join her for lunch every so often while she was in the White House to offer words of advice and always always a helping hand. You learn very quickly that there is no handbook or rules to being Frist Lady, Ms Obama wrote. And while there are spoken and unspoken expectations that provide some structure, the role is largely shaped by the passions and aspirations of the person holding it. [Carter] reminded me to make the role of First Lady my own, just like she did. Ill always remain grateful for her support and generosity, Ms Obama wrote. Ms Obama said Carter made groundbreaking work to combat the stigma of mental health, advocated for better care for older adults and advanced womens rights. You learn very quickly that there is no handbook or rules to being First Lady. Technically, its not even an official position. And while there are spoken and unspoken expectations that provide some structure, the role is largely shaped by the passions and aspirations of the pic.twitter.com/MDOVk8NtR1 Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) November 19, 2023 Barack Obama pays tribute to Rosalynn Carter Monday 20 November 2023 16:30 , Ariana Baio Former president Barack Obama paid tribute to the late first lady, Rosalynn Carter, on X, alluding to her impact on others through her work of service. Rosalynn Carters life is a reminder that no matter who we are, our legacies are best measured not in awards or accolades, but in the lives we touch, Mr Obama wrote. Rosalynn Carters life is a reminder that no matter who we are, our legacies are best measured not in awards or accolades, but in the lives we touch. We send our thoughts and prayers to Jimmy and the entire Carter family during this difficult time. https://t.co/lqgcusqIhy Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 20, 2023 We send our thoughts and prayers to Jimmy and the entire Carter family during this difficult time, he added. Who are Rosalynn Carters children? Monday 20 November 2023 16:01 , Ariana Baio Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter had four children together throughout their 77 years of marriage. The oldest child, John William Jack Carter was born on July 3, 1947. He was raised in Plains, Georgia and worked on the familys peanut farm before attending the Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University and Georgia Southwestern University. Like his father, he joined the Navy. Their second child is James Earl Chip Carter III who was born on April 12, 1950. He was born in Hawaii while Mr Carter was stationed there during his Navy service. He worked in his familys peanut warehouse before being elected to the Plains city council. The Carters third child is Donel Jeffrey Jeff Carter, born on August 18, 1952. He attended Georgia Southwestern University and then George Washington University. The fourth child, and only daughter, is Amy Lynn Carter who was born on October 18, 1967. She is the only Carter child to have spent her childhood in the White House. Misconceptions about the Carter administration Monday 20 November 2023 15:30 , The Associated Press MISCONCEPTION: Ronald Reagan freed the American hostages in Iran. MORE ACCURATE: Carter and his administration negotiated their release, but Tehran wouldnt free them until after Reagans inauguration on Jan. 20, 1981. MISCONCEPTION: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded Habitat for Humanity. MORE ACCURATE: The Carters have been Habitats most famous endorsers and volunteers. But the organization was established by wealthy businessman Millard Fuller and his wife, Linda, as an outgrowth a Georgia commune where the spent time in the 1960s. MISCONEPTION: Jimmy Carter was an unabashed liberal. MORE ACCURATE: Carter was a moderate politician, campaigned deliberately and, once in office, pursued policies that dont fit easily under one label. MISCONCEPTION: Jimmy Carter is married to RAHZ-lyn, and he was there when she was born. MORE ACCURATE: Its ROSE-lyn, and he met her as a newborn but not immediately. In photos: Rosalynn Carter through the years Monday 20 November 2023 15:00 , Ariana Baio Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter (3rd R), flanked by his wife Rosalynn (3rd L), his daughter Amy (4th L) and family, flashes a victory sign during a rally in Atlanta. - Carter was elected on December 21, 1976 (CONSOLIDATED NEWS/AFP via Getty) Former US President Jimmy Carter (L) addresses media 01 March 1988 outside Carter's residence in Plains while Democratic party presidential hopeful Richard Gephardt (C) and Rosalynn Carter look on. (AFP via Getty Images) Former US President Jimmy Carter (L) waves to the crowd as he sits with his wife, Roslyn (R), at the 1998 Goodwill Games boxing finals 01 August at Madison Square Garden in New York (AFP via Getty Images) Peace Prize winner and former US president Jimmy Carter signs the guestbook in the Nobel Institute in Oslo 09 December 2002, next to his wife Rosalynn (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Former first lady Nancy Reagan (L) is escorted by former President George W. Bush following the funeral for former first lady Betty Ford at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church July 12, 2011 (Getty Images) Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter (C) walks US President Joe Biden and US first lady Dr. Jill Biden out after they after visited former US President Jimmy Carter, April 29, 2021, in Plains, Georgia. (AFP via Getty Images) Looking back on Jimmy and Rosalynn Carters 77th wedding anniversary Monday 20 November 2023 14:30 , Ariana Baio In July, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter marked their 77th wedding anniversary at their home in southern Georgia continuing their legacy as the longest-married first couple. The two spent a quiet night at home celebrating as both faced health troubles in the last year. The former first lady had dementia while Mr Carter has been in hospice care since February. Though they both struggled with their health in their later years, they still enjoyed each others company, according to the Carter family. As we have looked back at their legacy, it has been really wonderful to see the outpouring of support and respect and love, Jason Carter, the couples grandson, said at the time. That word love is really the one that defines certainly their personal relationship, but also the way they approach this world. Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were still holding hands at the end Monday 20 November 2023 14:00 , Ariana Baio The grandson of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter previously told news outlets that even at the end of their lives, the two were still together and holding hands. They are still here, they are still holding hands and still very much together, Josh Carter told People magazine in August. Carter and her husband were married for 77 years. Toward the end of her life, Carter was diagnosed with dementia. But even then, she was able to recognise her husband. Josh Carter told People Carter was aware of Mr Carter and her other family members at the time but that it was probably hard for Mr Carter to see his wife lose access to older memories. I think the beautiful thing is that they are still together, Josh said. Barack and Michelle Obama pay tribute to former first lady Monday 20 November 2023 13:30 , Rachel Sharp Barack and Michelle Obama have paid tribute to former first lady Rosalynn Carter, following her death aged 96. Rosalynn Carters life is a reminder that no matter who we are, our legacies are best measured not in awards or accolades, but in the lives we touch. We send our thoughts and prayers to Jimmy and the entire Carter family during this difficult time, former president Barack Obama wrote on X. Former first lady Michelle Obama echoed his comments, writing: You learn very quickly that there is no handbook or rules to being First Lady. Technically, its not even an official position. And while there are spoken and unspoken expectations that provide some structure, the role is largely shaped by the passions and aspirations of the person holding it. First Lady Rosalynn Carter understood that well. Guided by her abiding faith and her commitment to service, Mrs. Carter used her platform in profoundly meaningful ways. Her groundbreaking work to combat the stigma faced by those struggling with their mental health brought light to so many suffering in silence. She advocated for better care for the elderly. She advanced womens rights. And she remained a champion for those causes and many others like building affordable housing for those in need and caring for our nations caregivers in the more than four decades that followed. When our family was in the White House, every so often, Rosalynn would join me for lunch, offering a few words of advice and always always a helping hand. She reminded me to make the role of First Lady my own, just like she did. Ill always remain grateful for her support and her generosity. Today, Barack and I join the world in celebrating the remarkable legacy of a First Lady, philanthropist, and advocate who dedicated her life to lifting up others. Her life is a reminder that no matter who we are, our legacies are best measured not in awards or accolades, but in the lives we touch. We send our thoughts and prayers to Jimmy and the entire Carter family during this difficult time. Rosalynn Carters life is a reminder that no matter who we are, our legacies are best measured not in awards or accolades, but in the lives we touch. We send our thoughts and prayers to Jimmy and the entire Carter family during this difficult time. https://t.co/lqgcusqIhy Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 20, 2023 MLKs grandaughter memorialises dear friend' Monday 20 November 2023 13:00 , John Bowden One of the tributes posted on Twitter Sunday evening after the death of Rosalynn Carter was emblematic of her familys legacy it came from Bernice King, granddaughter of murdered civil rights icon Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Her commitment to peace and tireless efforts, alongside her husband, former President #JimmyCarter, to make a positive impact on our nation and world will be remembered. Our hearts are with President Carter and the Carter family during this difficult time, Ms King wrote in a pair of posts. Her commitment to peace and tireless efforts, alongside her husband, former President #JimmyCarter, to make a positive impact on our nation and world will be remembered. Our hearts are with President Carter and the Carter family during this difficult time. @CarterCenter pic.twitter.com/PngUWaJzt1 Be A King (@BerniceKing) November 19, 2023 WATCH: Moment Biden pays tribute to former first lady Rosalynn Carter Monday 20 November 2023 12:30 , Rachel Sharp Melania Trump pays tribute to Rosalynn Carters servant heart' Monday 20 November 2023 12:13 , Rachel Sharp Melania Trump has paid tribute to fellow former first lady Rosalynn Carter, remembering her servants heart and devotion to her husband, family, and country. Donald Trumps wife took to X on Sunday to release a statement following Carters death aged 96 at the weekend. Rosalynn Carter leaves behind a meaningful legacy not only as First Lady but as a wife and mother, she wrote. We will always remember her servants heart and devotion to her husband, family, and country. May she rest in peace. Rosalynn Carter leaves behind a meaningful legacy not only as First Lady but as a wife and mother. We will always remember her servants heart and devotion to her husband, family, and country. May she rest in peace. MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) November 19, 2023 Rosalynn Carter: Advocate for Jimmy Carter and many others, always leveraging her love of politics Monday 20 November 2023 12:00 , John Bowden The Washington chattering class, often unsure what to make of outsiders, dubbed Rosalynn Carter the Steel Magnolia when she arrived as first lady. A devout Baptist and mother of four, she was diminutive and outwardly shy, with a soft smile and softer Southern accent. That was the magnolia. She also was a force behind Jimmy Carters rise from peanut farmer to winner of the 1976 presidential election. That was the steel. Yet that obvious, even trite moniker almost certainly undersold her role and impact across the Carters early life, their one White House term and their four decades afterward as global humanitarians advocating peace, democracy and the eradication of disease. Through more than 77 years of marriage, until her death Sunday at the age of 96, Rosalynn Carter was business and political partner, best friend and closest confidant to the 39th president. Read more: Rosalynn Carter: Remembering advocate for Jimmy and many others Trump mocked Jimmy Carter hours after Rosalynn entered hospice care Monday 20 November 2023 11:00 , Rachel Sharp Donald Trump mocked Jimmy Carter just hours after his wife Rosalynn Carter entered hospice care and hours before she passed away. Speaking at a rally in Iowa on Sunday, the former president took aim at the former president in a bizarre attempt to lash out at current President Joe Biden. The happiest person anywhere in this country right now is Jimmy Carter because his administration looked brilliant compared to these clowns, he said of the Biden administration. Compared to Biden, Jimmy Carter was a brilliant, brilliant president. His comments came hours after it was announced that the former first lady had entered hospice care. She died on Sunday aged 96. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden remember dear friend Rosalynn Carter Monday 20 November 2023 10:30 , Rachel Sharp Read the statement from President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden in full: First Lady Rosalynn Carter walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way. Throughout her incredible life as First Lady of Georgia and the First Lady of the United States, Rosalynn did so much to address many of societys greatest needs. She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities. Above all, the deep love shared between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is the definition of partnership, and their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism. She lived her life by her faith. Time and time again, during the more than four decades of our friendship through rigors of campaigns, through the darkness of deep and profound loss we always felt the hope, warmth, and optimism of Rosalynn Carter. She will always be in our hearts. On behalf of a grateful nation, we send our love to President Carter, the entire Carter family, and the countless people across our nation and the world whose lives are better, fuller, and brighter because of the life and legacy of Rosalynn Carter. May God bless our dear friend. May God bless a great American. Last public outing Monday 20 November 2023 10:00 , John Bowden Former president Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter made a rare public appearance at a peanut festival in September in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. The pair were driven in the annual festivals parade in a black SUV. The Carters made the day for the thousands of attendees at the Plains Peanut Festival, Jill Stuckey of the National Park Services Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains told the AJC. What a wonderful surprise for everyone. Read more: Jimmy Carter attends his hometowns peanut festival as he nears his 99th birthday Donald Trump reacts to Rosalynn Carters death Monday 20 November 2023 09:31 , Rachel Sharp Donald Trump has released a statement on Truth Social paying tribute to former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Read his statement in full: Melania and I join all Americans in mourning the loss of Rosalynn Carter. She was a devoted First Lady, a great humanitarian, a champion for mental health, and a beloved wife to her husband for 77 years, President Carter. Over a life spanning nearly a century, Rosalynn Carter earned the admiration and gratitude of our entire nation. From her days as a U.S. Navy spouse, to the Georgia Governors Mansion, to her tenure as First Lady of the United States, and her later work at the Carter Center and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, she leaves behind a legacy of extraordinary accomplishment and national service. Our prayers are with the former president, the Carter family, and the entire community of Plains, Georgia, that she loved so much! A life of public service Monday 20 November 2023 08:00 , John Bowden Both Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter agreed later in life that she was the more political of the two, PBS reported. She had ideas of her own, starting from when he was campaigning for a Georgia state senate seat. Ms Carter reportedly spoke to voters in line, including one mill worker who was caring for her child who was afflicted by mental illness. I want to know what you are going to do about mental health when you are governor, she told her husband the following day. He vowed he would put her in charge of it. Rosalynn Carter then dedicated her lifelong efforts to improving mental health in Americans. From 1977 to 1978, she served as the Honorary Chairperson of the Presidents Commission on Mental Health. And after Mr Carters 1980 defeat, the couple founded the Carter Center, an institution dedicated to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering. Who was Rosalynn Carter? Monday 20 November 2023 06:00 , John Bowden Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains, Georgia on 18, August 1927. The nurse who delivered her was Lillian Carter, her future husbands mother. Rosalynn, the oldest child, was propelled to take on extra help around the house after her father died when she was just 13 years old. She helped take care of her siblings, sewed, and took on housekeeping chores. Years later, she attended Georgia Southwestern College at Americus, where she met a man who would one day become president. In 1946, the couple got married. They moved around while Jimmy Carter was in the navy, until he was forced back to his hometown of Plains to take over his familys peanut farm. Rosalynn also started working on the farm full-time. Once Mr Carter entered a life of public service, Rosalynn was his right hand. She helped run his many successful campaigns, as president she sat in on Cabinet meetings, and expressed an early interest in mental health advocacy. The rest of their careers were marked by a life of public service. The pair built homes with Habitat for Humanity and founded the Carter Center, and aimed to end stigma around mental health afflictions. Everlasting love Monday 20 November 2023 04:00 , Kelly Rissman Shes the girl I want to marry, Jimmy Carter reportedly told his mother after his first date with the then 17-year-old Rosalynn Smith. A year later, in 1946, they got married. Mr Carter ran successful campaigns for the Georgia state senate, the Georgia governor, and eventually the presidency, all with his wife by his side. After President Carters 1980 defeat, the pair dedicated their efforts to humanitarian causes, including launching the Carter Center and building Habitat for Humanity houses. Together, they raised four children, and 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Earlier this year, after former President Carter entered hospice care, their grandson remarked that the couple is in the last chapter of their lives. They are still here, they are still holding hands and still very much together, he said. The last anniversary Monday 20 November 2023 02:00 , John Bowden Former President Carter celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary this summer. As we have looked back at their legacy, it has been really wonderful to see the outpouring of support and respect and love, grandson Jason Carter said recently. That word love is really the one that defines certainly their personal relationship, but also the way they approach this world. The pair have described their marriage as a full partnership, alluding to their experiences raising a family, running the peanut farm, their political career before and in the White House, and their consistent commitment to humanitarian causes. MLKs grandaughter memorialises dear friend' Monday 20 November 2023 00:00 , John Bowden One of the tributes posted on Twitter Sunday evening after the death of Rosalynn Carter was emblematic of her familys legacy it came from Bernice King, granddaughter of murdered civil rights icon Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Her commitment to peace and tireless efforts, alongside her husband, former President #JimmyCarter, to make a positive impact on our nation and world will be remembered. Our hearts are with President Carter and the Carter family during this difficult time, Ms King wrote in a pair of posts. Today, we mourn the loss of a remarkable woman and dear friend of the King family and The King Center, former First Lady #RosalynnCarter. pic.twitter.com/Hh8v4V4UAg Be A King (@BerniceKing) November 19, 2023 Rosalynn Carter: Advocate for Jimmy Carter and many others, always leveraging her love of politics Sunday 19 November 2023 23:00 , John Bowden The Washington chattering class, often unsure what to make of outsiders, dubbed Rosalynn Carter the Steel Magnolia when she arrived as first lady. A devout Baptist and mother of four, she was diminutive and outwardly shy, with a soft smile and softer Southern accent. That was the magnolia. She also was a force behind Jimmy Carters rise from peanut farmer to winner of the 1976 presidential election. That was the steel. Yet that obvious, even trite moniker almost certainly undersold her role and impact across the Carters early life, their one White House term and their four decades afterward as global humanitarians advocating peace, democracy and the eradication of disease. Through more than 77 years of marriage, until her death Sunday at the age of 96, Rosalynn Carter was business and political partner, best friend and closest confidant to the 39th president. Read more: Rosalynn Carter: Remembering advocate for Jimmy and many others Chris Christie is first 2024 GOP candidate to speak about Rosalynn Carter Sunday 19 November 2023 22:37 , John Bowden Former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie offered compassionate praise of the former first lady on Sunday, and was the only Republican 2024 candidate to have done so when his statement hit Twitter. Our prayers go out to the Carter family on the passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. She was a role model for selfless public service & the Carter marriage was an example of a true loving partnership. Mary Pat & I pray for her, President Carter and their entire family. Our prayers go out to the Carter family on the passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. She was a role model for selfless public service & the Carter marriage was an example of a true loving partnership. Mary Pat & I pray for her, President Carter and their entire family. Chris Christie (@GovChristie) November 19, 2023 Donald Trumps wife Melania, also a former first lady, had issued a statement but her husbands Truth Social feed remained quiet. Rosalynn Carter dies, aged 96 Sunday 19 November 2023 22:21 , John Bowden More tributes from Democrats pour in Sunday 19 November 2023 22:00 , John Bowden The former first lady, Rosalynn Carter, and her husband Jimmy have long held a special place of honour for Americans and particularly Democrats. The pairs dedication to causes like Habitat for Humanity endeared them to millions of Americans. Members of the House Democratic caucus expressed their sorrow on Twitter after news of her death broke on Sunday. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter was a dedicated public servant and a tireless advocate for making America work for all its citizens. I extend my deepest condolences to the Carter family. Thank you for your service First Lady Carter. pic.twitter.com/P10PSzSzpD Rep. Ritchie Torres (@RepRitchie) November 19, 2023 First Lady Rosalynn Carter was a beacon of hope and lightusing her platform for humanitarian causes to make our world a better place. I send my heartfelt prayers and steadfast support to President Carter and the entire Carter family. May she rest in perfect peace. pic.twitter.com/XyWR3fJcc5 Rep. Joyce Beatty (@RepBeatty) November 19, 2023 Melania Trump comments on death of fellow former first lady Sunday 19 November 2023 21:38 , John Bowden Former first lady Melania Trump was among the Republicans who joined in commemorating the life of Rosalynn Carter on Sunday. Rosalynn Carter leaves behind a meaningful legacy not only as First Lady but as a wife and mother. We will always remember her servants heart and devotion to her husband, family, and country. May she rest in peace, wrote Ms Trump. Rosalynn Carter leaves behind a meaningful legacy not only as First Lady but as a wife and mother. We will always remember her servants heart and devotion to her husband, family, and country. May she rest in peace. MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) November 19, 2023 Her husband had not posted a similar statement more than thirty minutes later. House Democratic leader hails Carter for life of service and compassion' Sunday 19 November 2023 21:20 , John Bowden New York Rep Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the House Democratic caucus, joined the tributes to Rosalynn Carter on Sunday with a prayer for the former presidents family. Deeply saddened by the passing of Rosalynn Carter. A beloved First Lady and wonderful humanitarian, she led a life of service and compassion. May God watch over President Jimmy Carter and their family during this difficult time. https://t.co/2qs2xmy6Hq Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) November 19, 2023 Chuck Schumer: Carter was a passionate humanitarian' Sunday 19 November 2023 21:03 , John Bowden Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer touched on the former first ladys long legacy of service even after her husband left the presidency in his tribute on Sunday. First Lady Rosalynn Carter dedicated her life to serving others. America has lost a passionate humanitarian and champion for people all over the world. My heart goes out to her entire family. pic.twitter.com/Zi8eQDlRiT Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 19, 2023 Politicians react to Rosalynn Carters death Sunday 19 November 2023 20:52 , John Bowden Both Republicans and Democrats were quick to offer their condolences to the Carter family on Sunday after news of her death was announced. Chuck Grassley, a GOP senator from Iowa, was one of the first: Sad news w the passing of First Lady Rosalynn Carter She was an accomplished leader for mental health advocacy & habitat for humanity & so many more worthy causes, he wrote on his Twitter account. Her devotion to her husband Pres Jimmy Carter of 77yrs is unmatched, the senator continued. God bless the Carter family. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, was another: Rosalynn Carter lived a life of service to her community and to our nation. New York joins the Carter family in mourning her loss. Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) November 19, 2023 Full Carter Center statement Sunday 19 November 2023 20:36 , Megan Sheets Below is the Carter Centers death announcement in full: Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, a passionate champion of mental health, caregiving, and womens rights, passed away Sunday, Nov. 19, at 2:10 p.m. at her home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 96. She died peacefully, with family by her side. Mrs. Carter was married for 77 years to Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States and the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, who is now 99 years old. Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished, President Carter said. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me. She is survived by her children Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy and 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. A grandson died in 2015. Besides being a loving mother and extraordinary First Lady, my mother was a great humanitarian in her own right, said Chip Carter. Her life of service and compassion was an example for all Americans. She will be sorely missed not only by our family but by the many people who have better mental health care and access to resources for caregiving today. The schedule of memorial events and funeral ceremonies will be distributed as soon as possible to media and posted on www.rosalynncartertribute.org. This tribute website includes the familys official online condolence book and opportunities for memorial gifts, as well as an official biography and downloadable photos. Rosalynn Carter hailed by family after death at 96 Sunday 19 November 2023 20:33 , Megan Sheets Rosalynn Carters family, including husband Jimmy and son Chip, paid tribute to the former first lady in a Carter Center statement announcing her death on Sunday. Read more: Rosalynn Carter dies aged 96 days after entering hospice Migrants turn up at the border with Finland on scooters Finland has accused Russia of handing out bicycles and foot-scooters to migrants to help them cross the border as part of a plan to destabilise Europe. Antti Hakkanen, the Finnish defence minister, also accused the Kremlin of dipping into its playbook on hybrid war by encouraging migrants to enter the country without the correct documents. Russia has directed unspecified interference at the border, he said. We know what Russia is doing. Helsinki has now ordered four of its eight road crossings with Russia to be closed and the European Commission has promised to send its border control unit to Finland. Finnish officials said that the timing of the migrant surge from Russia was not a coincidence. Finland joined Nato this year, angering the Kremlin, and will host its first major naval exercise as a member of the Western military alliance on Monday. Finnish media reported that 300 migrants, mainly young men from Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Somalia, had crossed into Finland from Russia this week, up from near zero in a normal week. Most of the migrant routes to Europe are via the Mediterranean Sea or Central Europe and not through more remote and inhospitable northern areas that border Russia. Video showed migrants arriving in groups at the border on cheap bicycles handed out by the Russians Finnish officials said that Russian counterparts have been handing out cheap bicycles and scooters to migrants because people are banned from walking between the Russian and Finnish border checkpoints. Video showed migrants arriving in groups of four or five at cold and dark Finnish border crossings, riding or pushing their bicycles or scooters. At one checkpoint, Finnish police used teargas to push back a crowd of migrants who were initially denied entry. Photos showed the police and the migrants, still holding their bicycles, arguing and jostling. We had to let these people into Finland because Russia would not take them back, Captain Jouko Kinnunen, head of the border station, told Finnish channel MTV. Finland shares an 830-mile border with Russia. Three of the four Finnish road border crossings with Russia still open lie inside the Arctic Circle but Finnish media reported that migrants switched to using these border crossings as soon as the more accessible checkpoints in the south-east of the country were closed. The Finnish government has threatened to close all its crossings with Russia to block the migrants, although rights activists in the country have said that it has an obligation to take in asylum seekers. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said that Finland was now defending the EU. Russias instrumentalisation of migrants is shameful. I thank the Finnish border guards for protecting our European borders, she said. Analysts have warned that the Kremlin is feeling increasingly confident since resisting a Nato-backed Ukrainian counter-offensive and is testing Europe and Nato for weaknesses. It has identified migration as a key issue. In 2022, Italian intelligence reports said that Wagner Group, the Kremlins mercenary unit, organised boats of migrants to set off from Libya while in 2021, Belarus flew in thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Afghanistan and funnelled them towards Poland and Lithuania. The Kremlin also tested the Finnish reaction to migration in 2015 and 2016 when it pushed about 1,800 migrants towards the country. The Russian military doctrine takes a wider hybrid approach to war than Nato. Analysts said that this includes spreading misinformation, crippling civilian infrastructure and using migrants as a weapon to destabilise its enemies. Tension is rising in the Arctic region with Russia increasing the size of its military bases and testing more ballistic missiles in the region since Finland joined Nato. Russian media have denied Finnish accusations that the Kremlin orchestrated the migrant surge and said the migrants were in Russia legally, mainly on student visas, and that private businessmen had helped them to travel to the border and given them bicycles. 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 world is facing a polycrisis of multiple conflicts and threats to humanity, the South Korean president has warned, as he calls for deeper security ties with Britain on the eve of a state visit. Yoon Suk Yeol suggested two major wars in Ukraine and Israel, and rising tension with Russia, North Korea, and in the South China Sea, had compelled him to seek very close security cooperation with the West. Mr Yoon arrives in Britain on Monday for the first state visit by a foreign power since the coronation of King Charles III. He will meet the King on Tuesday before a summit with Rishi Sunak on Wednesday when the two are expected to discuss defence cooperation. The South Korean leader told The Telegraph that creating deeper security and economic ties with Britain was vital. If the international community is to build peace and achieve sustainable prosperity, it must safeguard and strengthen the rules-based international order above all else, he said. He warned: We are currently facing a polycrisis that includes pandemics, climate change, the war in Ukraine and the armed conflict between Israel-Hamas. Mr Yoon warned against Russia supplying North Korea with nuclear weapons technology - Brittany Hosea-Small/Reuters In a wide-ranging interview Mr Yoon warned against Russia supplying North Korea with nuclear weapons technology; said he believes China is wary of aligning too closely with Moscow and Pyongyang; and pushed for greater post-Brexit trade links with the UK. The president lands in London with his wife Kim Keon Hee and 70 business leaders for a three-day trip that will begin with a carriage procession along The Mall to Buckingham Palace, followed by the presidents address to parliament and a state banquet on Tuesday evening. The leader of the worlds 13th largest economy arrives as the Indo-Pacific region grapples with a number of flashpoints that could rapidly escalate into a fresh geopolitical crisis, whether triggered by a clash over Taiwan, South China Sea disputes, or the nuclear threat from North Korea. The threats have pushed the Yoon administration to strengthen ties with Nato and have very close security cooperation with the members of Aukus, the trilateral defence pact between the US, UK and Australia. British warships regularly participate in joint military drills and dock in South Korean ports. South Korea is considered a trusted US-aligned security and trading partner in the Indo-Pacific region. Seoul has signalled it wants to transform itself into a global pivotal state that will proactively help shape international events. The president stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and a rules-based maritime order in the South China Sea. The honouring of Korea with the first state visit since the coronation of the King signals the importance of country to the UK as a strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific a move it wants to reciprocate with deeper cooperation on an array of geopolitical risks including supply chain and energy security, said Mr Yoon. On Wednesday, the Korean president will meet company executives at Mansion House to discuss future opportunities. The visit is expected to yield specific announcements on deepening defence, business and investment ties. Mr Yoon will visit 10 Downing Street for bilateral talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the afternoon, where he is expected to raise the issue of Russias strengthening collaboration with North Korea. An alleged arms deal between Moscow and Pyongyang has prompted alarm over its security implications for East Asia and Ukraine. Yoon Suk Yeol met with Rishi Sunak earlier this year in Japan at the G7 summit For months, US and South Korean intelligence agencies have warned North Korea is supplying ammunition to Russias dwindling stocks as it wages war with Ukraine, in exchange for possible technical assistance with Pyongyangs escalating nuclear-armed missile programme. Both Russia and North Korea have denied the accusations, but the sight of Vladimir Putin rolling out the red carpet for Kim Jong-un as he visited the Vostochny cosmodrome in September intensified international concern about their relationship. North Koreas provision of weapons to Russia will only prolong the war in Ukraine and increase the number of casualties. In addition, if Russia offers military technologies to North Korea in return, it would threaten the security of the Republic of Korea and regional peace, said Mr Yoon. Russia-North Korea military cooperation was a grave violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a provocative act that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula as well as in Northeast Asia and Europe, he said, adding that Seoul, Tokyo and Washington intended to actively respond. Some analysts have predicted a developing Russia-North Korea-China axis could act to increasingly undermine global freedom and democracy and challenge the current US-led world order. However, Mr Yoon countered the three countries have divergent interests and it would not work to Beijings benefit to align itself with Moscow and Pyongyang. China had an important role in promoting freedom, peace and prosperity in East Asia, he said. China is likely to take into consideration that pursuing trilateral cooperation with North Korea and Russia, which have blatantly violated the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions as well as other international norms, will not be helpful for its international reputation and standing, he added. Since entering office last year, Mr Yoon, a conservative former prosecutor, has made a reinforced military partnership with the US, and enhanced ties with Japan, as part of his defence strategy against North Koreas evolving nuclear threat. The pariah neighbouring state has test-launched close to 90 ballistic missiles since his inauguration, including intercontinental range weapons capable of striking the US. Insecurity on the Korean Peninsula There are concerns the Ukraine war and Middle East conflict could stoke further insecurity on the Korean Peninsula or even prompt Pyongyang to make a rash move against the South, miscalculating that major powers are already overstretched. South Korea has repeatedly warned the North could be capable of a Hamas-style attack across the border. Mr Yoon indicated his trip this week would be an opportunity to build relations in digital and AI technology, cybersecurity, nuclear energy, the defence industry, biohealth, space, semiconductors, offshore wind power, clean energy and maritime affairs. With South Korea the first country in Asia to sign a post-Brexit Free Trade Agreement, there will likely be discussions on the ongoing process to upgrade it. Last year, bilateral trade reached $12.12 billion [9.72 billion], while Koreas investments in the UK reached nearly $2 billion [1.6 billion]. The occasion also marks the 140-year anniversary of diplomatic relations between the UK and Korea an era not only of trade cooperation but of helping each other in times of crisis. In a poignant addition to his schedule, Mr Yoon will visit the grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey and meet pensioners who served during the 1950-53 Korean War. When the Korean War broke out, Britains young soldiers did not hesitate to make the ultimate sacrifice to defend Koreas freedom. Thanks to this help from the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea achieved rapid economic growth in a short period of time and built a free and democratic society, said Mr Yoon. My upcoming state visit will serve as a catalyst for Korea to emerge as one of the United Kingdoms global strategic partners. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. A$AP Rocky must stand trial on charges he fired gun at former friend, judge rules A Los Angeles judge says there is enough evidence for A$AP Rocky to stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator outside a Hollywood hotel in 2021 Israeli forces are battling Hamas militants around a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks Director Semen Horov has directed top New Year's musicals with the most famous Ukrainian and Russian actors (Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, Cinderella, Sorochinsky Fair, and others). Almost all of Russia's top artists took part in the projects, including Philip Kirkorov, Nikolai Baskov, Lolita Miliavska, and others. ADVERTISIMENT Nowadays, Semen Horov communicates only with those Russians who are "still sane." He spoke about this in an interview with OBOZ.UA. The Ukrainian director admitted whether he had received any calls from well-known Russians with whom he had worked extensively in Kyiv since the beginning of the Russian invasion: "There were no calls, they wrote. And not that many people, just a few. They asked me how I was doing. You know, these conversations remind me of a joke. One friend calls another and asks: "How are you?" The latter replies: "I have cancer." And the friend: "Oh, my God... How are you doing?" It looked just like that. Those friends didn't last long: they wrote and wrote, and then stopped. There are a few people left who appear in the messengers sometimes, and they are very afraid. Sometimes they write from numbers other than their own. Or when they go abroad, they call from there." ADVERTISIMENT Semen Horov says that there are a few names left on his list of friends from Russia: "I correspond with a few of them - those who are still sane. I am sorry that this happened to their country. That they allowed people to come to power who captured their minds. What Russia is turning into now is scary. What will they come to? Either they will close themselves off from the whole world or they will self-destruct. We need this empire to fall." "And the people of the world are just people. They want to live, have children, and be friends with their neighbors. And when these false ideas are planted in their heads that they are some kind of exceptional, superhuman people... This "Russian world" reminds me a lot of the expression "Soviet people," which I heard in my childhood. It's not a nationality-something false, monster-like. It's invented, and it's always scary, lifeless," adds Semen Horov. ADVERTISIMENT When asked what happened to Kirkorov, who used to visit Kyiv as if it were home and now supports Putin's aggression, Horov replied: "I'm not interested in how people become monsters. Kirkorov is not bad as an artist, but as a person he turned out to be not very good." Read the full interview with Semen Horov on OBOZ.UA here. Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Santiago Ochoas reporting for the Yakima Herald-Republic is possible with support from Report for America and community members through the Yakima Valley Community Fund . For information on republishing, email news@yakimaherald.com. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. Lui Tilvar nu i s-a rupt fasul Vremea a fost in acest an prietenoasa cu participantii de la parada de 1 Decembrie din Bucuresti. Cu toate acestea, ministrul Apararii, Angel Tilvar, nu a renuntat la geaca de fas, pe care a purtat-o si la parada de anul trecut, cand insa in Bucuresti a fost lapovita si temperaturi mult mai scazute. Plusul din [] The post Lui Tilvar [citeste mai departe] Scientists have proven that dog breeds have different levels of pain sensitivity. The study conducted by the University of North Carolina involved ten of the most common breeds, including retrievers, huskies, and Maltese. ADVERTISIMENT Interestingly, the results of the scientists' analysis did not always coincide with the opinion of veterinarians who are faced with the reaction of four-legged animals to pain and stimuli in practice. The Science Alert publication told which dogs suffer from pain the most. The study involved 149 adult male and female dogs. First of all, they were divided into groups based on how veterinarians assess pain sensitivity: high (Chihuahua, German Shepherd, Maltese, Siberian Husky) medium (Border Collie, Boston Terrier, Jack Russell Terrier) low (golden retriever, pit bull, Labrador retriever). "Veterinarians provided their own estimates of pain sensitivity in dogs of different breeds, and these estimates often contradicted the results of the study. This is probably due to the emotional activity of dogs when in contact with doctors," said Margaret Gruen, a veterinary behaviorist at North Carolina State University. ADVERTISIMENT The tests were carried out very carefully, with scientists using mild external stimuli, pressing different objects on the paws. The emotional aspect was determined by interacting with a stranger whom the dog did not know and a toy plush monkey. As a result, scientists have found that Maltese bolons react quickly to stimuli and have a low tolerance to pain. ADVERTISIMENT Huskies, according to veterinarians, are also very sensitive, but scientists have classified them as middle class. Labradors and Golden Retrievers are recognized as the least pain-sensitive breeds. These dogs are really able to withstand more pain and have a high pain threshold. Duncan Lascelles, a veterinary surgeon at North Carolina State University, emphasized that the study will encourage the search for potential biological reasons to explain these differences, which will allow for more effective treatment of individual breeds. ADVERTISIMENT OBOZREVATEL also told which dogs quickly overheat in the sun and cannot control their temperature. Subscribe to the OBOZREVATEL channels onTelegram and Viber to Hungary will fight and defend itself with all its might, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the freshly re-elected leader of ruling Fidesz, told the 30th party congress, saying We will reject the crazy ideas of Brussels bureaucrats...". "We will reject migrant invasion, gender propaganda, the mirages of war, Ukraines unprepared EU membership, the green ideologies bordering on communism and Jacobinism, Orban continued. We will protect ourselves from foreign attempts to undermine our sovereignty, even against the Soros empire attacking from Washington and Brussels simultaneously. We must say no to the model of Europe pushed by Brussels, Orban said, adding it was unsustainable and had no future. Brussels is ruining Europe and leading it to its death, and puts a new nail in its coffin every day. Orban said the EUs end was nigh if things went on the way they had been. Our job, our calling, is to stop that from happening. Hungarys interest is that the EU, that was so hard to put together, stay together, Orban said. Hungary must change the EU rather than leave it, but that is only possible with radical change in Brussels, he said. If things continued like this, the bloc would not explode, fall apart or collapse, but simply slide apart, Orban said. Orban: Hungary Cant Be Sold Out with Impunity The country cannot be sold out for money with impunity, which is why it is crucial to establish the rules of protecting Hungarys sovereignty, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after being re-elected the leader of ruling Fidesz. We cant just move past the proven fact which has also been admitted by the left that foreign states, organisations and Brussels itself gave money to the left to defeat Fidesz and the Christian Democrats, he said. Foreigners wanted to buy the future Hungarian government, and with it, the country, by the kilo, the prime minister said. Can the country be sold out for money with impunity? Orban asked, adding: This obviously cant stay like this. We have to fix this, and we expect our MPs to draw up the rules for the protection of Hungarys sovereignty, all the way up to the constitution, he said. A lot has happened since the elections, we won a resounding victory, he said. The entire left wing worked together against us, and collected all the resources of the western [European] left, money, media, politicians, and governments from the US Democrats to the Ukrainian government. Similarly to what happened a month ago in Poland, he added. But Hungary started preparing earlier and knew the strength of our opponents better since the spider, the puppeteer is a Hungarian: George Soros and his network. Orban said the proven fact that foreign states and organisations, even Brussels itself gave money to have us defeated must not be forgotten. Funding the campaign of the opposition leader in last years campaign, Peter Marki-Zay, was the worst investment in Uncle Georges life, he said, referring to American financier George Soros. MTI Photo: Szilard Koszticsak Hungarians have developed a European counter-model of their own based on the principles of zero migration, a work-based economy, full employment, strong families, low taxes and a sensible green transition, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the 30th congress of ruling Fidesz. Today, neither the EU nor member states carry out their own decisions, the prime minister said, arguing that the European Commission and the European Parliament were unabashedly circumventing their own rules. What was really worrying, he said, was that everyone has adapted to this and got used to it. Brusselss Europe model is old, while the world has renewed itself and gained fresh momentum, he said. While self-defence and being in opposition had often prompted Hungary to say no, we dont want to get stuck in the role of a constantly whining Mr. No or Herr Nein, he said. Hungarys strength is nurtured by our plan, our European counter-model, he said. The Hungarian model is visible and well-known due to the frequent attacks levelled at it, he said. It is also increasingly envied, although the official communication must be different the French, the Germans and the Italians would give half their lives to have a migrant-free country again. Hungarys zero-migration policy guaranteed that only those we allow to enter may be here, the prime minister said. Hungary is the most secure country in Europe right now, which is especially clear in light of the pro-terror conflicts on the streets in western Europe. The Hungarian model is based on a work-based economy, strong families, a united nation, falling debt, investments arriving in droves, trade and cooperation with all countries in the world, a sensible green transition, and bringing cutting-edge technology to Hungary, he said. Marking Budapests 150th anniversary, President Katalin Novak said on Friday that with the unification of the historical parts of the city 150 years ago not only a city was born, but the Hungarian nations heart made its first beat. The heart of our more than thousand-year-old state is but 150 years old: this heart lends strength to the nation to survive and grow, the president told a gala evening. From this point of view Budapest looks like a young, not yet adolescent city, with a high perspective and a long future, she said. The president noted the destruction in Budapest during the first and the second world war, as well as that of the failed anti-Soviet revolution in 1956 and changes of the political regime. She said that the city has proved its vitality and ability for renewal it is a city of freedom, which has always been home to alternative art movements and thinking different from the mainstream, and different political ideologies. Budapest is the home and the island of peace and security, which is an especially valued asset in a turbulent world, in a world where millions of people are afraid to leave home, the president said. Novak said Hungarys capital city should become a place which can compete with other cities in the world in terms of security and opportunities, a place for all Hungarians to be proud of. Budapest Mayor Marks City's 150th Anniversary Friends of Budapest agree on the indisputable assertion that Budapest is the nations capital, Gergely Karacsony, the citys mayor, said at a gala evening at Vigszinhaz marking the 150th anniversary of Budapests unification. Budapest is unshakable in its Hungarianness, Karacsony said, adding that over the last 150 years, the capital had also earned the right to be called Hungarian and European. He said the first among the historical truths about Budapest was that the city had been founded not out of an interest of power, but in spite of it. And even today, he said, this was how the capital was striving to earn its future. This city is indestructible, Karacsony said. Some cities are forever, like Rome, and some cities always rise again, like Budapest, the mayor said, noting that Budapest had been one of the most often besieged cities in the world, with sixteen attempts made to conquer it. Budapest is a city that survives and can adapt, but is also capable of carrying out revolutions, Karacsony said. The mayor said Budapest bore a double burden for the WWI Trianon Peace Treaty. Not only was it labelled the guilty city, but its mere existence calls attention to the tragedy of Hungarian territory being ceded to neighbouring countries because it is too big, too diverse and too rich compared with the country that had been tormented and deprived of cultural diversity, he said. Karacsony said Budapest was not just the nations capital, but also the driving force of the countrys economy and the heart of its cultural point of view. Budapest belongs to its residents and all those who are part of the nation, either within or beyond the border, he said. Another truth of Budapest is that theres no such thing as Budapest or the countryside, Karacsony said. Theres only Budapest and the countryside, our shared homeland. There can be no diverse and free Budapest without a diverse and free local council, Karacsony said, adding that it was not the right or the left, but Budapest residents who held power in the city. In this city, everyone is free to love their homeland the way they want, Karacsony said. But we know that unity is only possible if no one is being told in the name of any ideology how they ought to love the homeland, he said. The last three convicted prisoners in the so-called Hunnia case have been pardoned by President Katalin Novak, after the intervention of Socialist politician Sandor Csintalan, who pleaded for leniency on their behalf. The founder of the right-wing extremist Hunnia Movement, Gyorgy Budahazy, was sentenced to six years in prison on March 9 this year for a terrorist act and other crimes, but Novak pardoned him and all those convicted in the Hunnia trial on April 27. Csintalan was received by Novak in her office for 30 minutes yesterday. Though beaten with an iron bar by the three in his own garage on December 11, 2007, Csintalan himself asked that his assailants be pardoned. After his visit to Novak, Csintalan was met by the wives of two of the three convicted persons, who embraced him and learnt from him that their husbands would soon be released. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that against the backdrop of the situation with the Gaza Strip, Islamic countries should sever relations with Israel at least for a limited period of time, Azernews reports. "Islamic governments should cut off relations with Israel at least for a limited period of time," Press TV quoted Khamenei as saying while visiting an exhibition of the latest achievements of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) aerospace forces. He also suggested restricting the supply of energy resources and other goods to Israel. Khamenei noted that the Israeli military, despite modern weapons and massive bombardment of the Gaza Strip, failed to destroy the Hamas group. It is noted that the exhibition, in particular, presented a new Iranian hypersonic missile "Fattah 2" and drone "Shahid-147". The regime of self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexandr Lukashenko has begun to use new trends in propaganda. Belarus has begun to spread "signals" that Minsk is allegedly open to dialogue with the European Union member states, in particular, with the new government of Poland. ADVERTISIMENT Stanisaw Zarin, the government's commissioner for the security of Poland's information space, said this on his page on the social network X (formerly known as Twitter) on Sunday, November 19. Belarus sends signals of "openness" to dialogue with the future Polish government, while "forgetting about the evil" allegedly committed by the country. At the same time, Lukashenko's regime has consistently characterized Warsaw's current policy as aggressive, provocative, and harmful to Poland and Europe. According to Zarin, such narratives by the Belarusian regime should be perceived as an attempt to use the post-election situation in Poland to soften the Polish government's position on Minsk's hostile actions, as well as to "whiten its image, which is full of lies." According to him, Belarus pretends that in the summer of 2021 it did not try to harm Poland with a hybrid operation to destabilize the Polish-Belarusian border, which is still ongoing. ADVERTISIMENT He noted that this operation, which is supervised and controlled by Belarusian services, is constantly accompanied by repetitions of accusations against Poland of allegedly committing "genocide" against "refugees" who managed or tried to cross the border. Zarin also added that Russia and Belarus continue operations against Poland aimed at destroying the country's image, undermining mutual trust between Poles and Ukrainians, and ridiculing Polish security structures. In particular, the Kremlin's propaganda has recently been conducting an operation to discredit Poland's defense capabilities (from Russia's point of view, these are always offensive capabilities), promoting the version that the military potential of the Polish Armed Forces is exaggerated. As reported by OBOZ.UA, since the beginning of 2022, the Russian occupiers have taken more than 2,400 Ukrainian children aged 6 to 17 to Belarus. Children were abducted from at least 17 cities in the temporarily occupied territories. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Flight operations at Bir Tikendrajit International (BTI) Airport in Manipur's Imphal were suspended for over three hours on Sunday after an unidentified flying object (UFO) was hovering over the airport, officials said. A senior Airport Authority of India (AAI) official said that the flight operations at the BTI Airport in Imphal were suspended for three hours and twenty minutes from 2.30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and the flight operations were resumed in the evening as usual after a thorough checkup about the UFO. Also Read - Dubai Air Show: Indian Air Force's Sarang Helicopter Team, Tejas Jet Impress Attendees The official said that after the sighting of UFO within Imphal controlled airspace, two flights from Delhi and Guwahati have been diverted and three departing Agartala, Guwahati and Kolkata bound flights have been delayed and the flight operations restarted after getting clearance from the competent authority. The UFO was reportedly sighted by the Central Industrial Security Force personnel and a pilot of a private airliner before his flight was about to depart around 2.20 p.m. There is no immediate clarification on the identity and motive of the object, but sources said the Director General of Civil Aviation and Indian Air Force are jointly looking into it. Manipur, which has been witnessing ethnic riot since May 3, has an inter-state border with Nagaland, Mizoram and Assam, besides sharing around 400 km of unfenced international border with Myanmar. Also Read - Air India Express Charts New Flight Routes From Mangaluru: Check Details The Manipur government on Saturday, considering the state's volatile situation, extended the ban on mobile Internet service for another five days till November 23. Mobile Internet was first banned in Manipur over 200 days ago after the ethnic violence between non-tribals Meitei and tribal Kuki-Zo communities broke out in the northeastern state on May 3. PATNA: In a shocking incident in Biar's Lakhisarai, a family returning home after offering prayers during the Chhath Puja was fired upon by some unidentified miscreants on Monday morning. The assailants, hiding very close to their residence, targeted at least six individuals, resulting in the death of two and leaving four critically injured. Those injured include the wives of the deceased, sister, and father. Chhath Puja Turns Tragic The unfortunate incident occurred in the Punjabi Mohalla area under the jurisdiction of the Kaviya Police Station. The victims were returning from the riverbank, where they had performed the Chhath Puja rituals, to their home when the firing took place. Tragically, two members of the family lost their lives in the firing, while four others sustained severe injuries. Prompt action was taken, and all the injured were swiftly referred to Patna for treatment. Sharing more details, ASP Lakhisarai, Pankaj Kumar said, ''Three injured have been referred from Begusarai Sadar Hospital to Patna." #WATCH | Bihar: Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai. The incident took place when they were returning from Chhath Ghat after performing pooja. Three injured have been referred from pic.twitter.com/BF0i8mAAQz ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 Investigation Begins Upon receiving information about the firing incident, SP Pankaj Kumar reached the crime scene along with a police team and ordered a thorough investigation. Confirming the fatalities, he revealed that the shooting was initially suspected to be a result of an old enmity between the involved parties. However, it later emerged that a ''love affair'' is said to be the main reason behind the firing incident. SP Pankaj Kumar said that the prime suspect behind the firing has been identified as Ashish Choudhary. The accused wanted to marry a girl belonging to the victim's family but they were not ready for this, said the SP. The police have launched a relentless manhunt to arrest him and are conducting continuous raids in the area. Tension In The Area The aftermath of the incident has created a tense environment in the locality, with heightened security measures in place. ASP Pankaj Kumar urged residents to remain calm and assured them that the police are working diligently to bring the culprits to justice. As the investigation unfolds, the police are trying to ascertain the motive that led to this tragic incident. The community awaits answers, grappling with the shock and grief brought about by the sudden eruption of violence during what should have been a joyous occasion of Chhath Puja. New Delhi: Fired OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will join Microsofts advanced AI research team alongside Greg Brockman, both of whom were OpenAI founders as well, announced by Satya Nadella in his post on X platform. He said they looked forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success. We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in his X post. "We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI's new leadership team and working with them. And were extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023 OpenAI board fired Sam Altman, the CEO and co-founder of OpenAI which has triggered a lot of outrage globally. Greg Brockman also announced his resignation immediately in order to support his colleague. PATNA: In a mesmerizing display of faith and tradition, thousands of devotees from various corners of the country gathered to observe the final day of the four-day Chhath Puja festival on Monday. The banks of the Ganga river at Digha Ganga Ghat in Patna witnessed a spiritual spectacle as devotees converged to offer 'Argha' to the rising sun in the wee hours on Monday. Chhath Puja In Bihar, Delhi In the heart of Patna, devotees thronged the banks, engaging in the sacred ritual of worshipping the rising sun. #WATCH | Bihar: Devotees give 'Araghya' to the rising Sun in Patna as part of #ChhathPooja (Visuals from Digha Ghat) pic.twitter.com/yF5ODgJRLd ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 Meanwhile, in Delhi's Central Park, Gautam Nagar, devotees expressed their reverence to "Chhath Maiya." One devotee, echoing a sentiment shared by many, emphasized the tradition's significance, stating, "This tradition has been going on since we were kids. 'Chhath Maiya' ensures happiness in our family, and so we do it." The Chhath rituals transcended regional boundaries as political leaders participated in the sacred observances. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, alongside Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, contributed to the spiritual fervour. CM Kumar, accompanied by Governor Rajendra Arlekar, immersed himself in the rituals in Patna, while CM Soren offered 'Sandhya Arghya' in Ranchi, and CM Khattar attended the Chhath Mahotsav in Panipat. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai extended Chhath greetings to the public, assuring that the government had made comprehensive arrangements to facilitate smooth worship. This reassurance aimed to ensure that devotees faced no challenges during their sacred rituals. Chhath Puja: A Festival Of Purity, Goodwill And Faith The four-day extravaganza, heralded on Friday, signifies more than just a festival. Chhath Puja embodies purity, goodwill, and faith, encapsulated in the rituals where devotees make offerings to the setting and rising sun. As Monday dawned, fasting devotees across the nation prepared to make offerings to the rising sun, breaking their fast in a ceremony laden with significance. From Bihar To Delhi: A Pan-Indian Chhath Celebration While Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bengal traditionally lead the celebrations, the spirit of Chhath Puja has transcended regional confines. The national capital, home to a significant population from these states, also witnessed vibrant celebrations. Origins And Traditions: A Cultural Odyssey From Nepal Rooted in the hilly regions of Nepal, the festival gained prominence after the restoration of democracy in 1990. Devotees believe that heartfelt prayers and desires bring blessings during the fasting period. Only pure foods are consumed, and cleanliness is paramount. Chhath Puja boasts a high participation rate of women, providing a moment to step away from daily chores and rejuvenate. The festival serves as a powerful testament to spirituality, unity, and cultural richness, echoing across the diverse landscapes of India. New Delhi: In a swift response to the sighting of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) reportedly near Imphal airport, the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday scrambled its two Rafale fighter jets to investigate the unusual sighting. The mysterious UFO incident occurred around 2:30 pm, causing disruptions to several commercial flights in the region on Sunday. Following the reports, a Rafale fighter aircraft from a nearby airbase was promptly scrambled to conduct a thorough search. Defence sources, quoted by ANI, said, "Soon after information about the UFO near the Imphal airport was received, a Rafale fighter aircraft from a nearby airbase was scrambled to go and search for the UFO." Equipped with advanced sensors, the first aircraft engaged in low-level flying over the suspected area, but the elusive UFO remained elusive. Undeterred, a second Rafale fighter was deployed for a subsequent search, yet the unidentified object was nowhere to be found. "The agencies concerned are trying to find out the details of the UFO as there are videos of the UFO over the Imphal airport," the sources added, highlighting the ongoing efforts to unravel the mystery. Once Imphal airport was cleared for normal operations, the Eastern Command of the Indian Air Force, headquartered in Shillong, announced that its Air Defence response mechanism has been activated. However, specific details of the actions taken remained undisclosed. In a post on 'X' (formerly Twitter), the Eastern Command stated, "IAF activated its Air Defence response mechanism based on visual inputs from Imphal airport. The small object was not seen thereafter." The Rafale fighters, stationed at the Hashimara air base in West Bengal, regularly operate from various air bases along the eastern sector bordering China. Notably, these advanced aircraft recently participated in the extensive Air Force exercise, Poorvi Akash, where they showcased their capabilities alongside other major assets of the force and army troops. New Delhi/Dehradun: In what appears to be a race against time, rescue agencies are tirelessly working to extract 41 construction workers trapped for over 170 hours under debris following a partial collapse of the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, on November 12. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dialled Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami and took information about the ongoing relief and rescue operations to save the workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi. PM Modi said that necessary rescue equipment and resources are being provided by the Central government. ''The workers will be evacuated safely with mutual coordination between central and state agencies. There is a need to maintain the morale of the stranded workers','' Uttarakhand CMO said. International Tunnelling Expert Called In Meanwhile, International Tunneling Expert Arnold Dix was called in to aid in the ongoing rescue operation to save all the workers. Dix, the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association president, after conducting an inspection at the tunnel site on Monday, expressed optimism on the prospects of the rescue operation. Professor Arnold Dix specialises in underground and transportation infrastructure - from construction risk to more technical issues associated with actual safety performance from an operational safety perspective. On the other hand, prayers are also being offered at a temple that has been built at the main entrance of the tunnel where rescue operations to save the stranded victims are underway. Vertical Drilling Being Considered Amidst challenges posed by a snagged auger machine, a US-made drill, officials are now considering a groundbreaking vertical drilling strategy. A high-performance drilling machine from Madhya Pradesh's Indore has been mobilized, initiating the construction of a platform for the vertical drilling operation. The rescue work is likely to take 4-5 days more as efforts to drill a horizontal hole using the American auger machine didnt yield the desired results. The rescue work had to be stopped following a fresh collapse of a boulder yesterday. PMO, Experts Mulling 5 Rescue Plans Simultaneously, a team from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and experts on-site are orchestrating five distinct rescue plans. Bhaskar Khulbe, former advisor to the Prime Minister, emphasized the urgency, stating, "Working on multiple plans concurrently increases the likelihood of reaching the trapped workers sooner." Gadkari, Dhami Review Rescue Ops Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the site to assess the ongoing rescue efforts. Chief Minister Dhami assured, "We are exploring all possibilities, utilizing expert teams to their fullest potential." The rescue mission faced setbacks as drilling was halted due to a sudden "cracking sound" from the machine. A high-level meeting at the Centre deliberated on five potential rescue options, assigning specific agencies to execute alternative plans. Agonizing Wait For Families Outside the tunnel, families endure an agonizing wait. Voices wane, strength diminishes, and anxiety heightens among family members as the hours tick away. The resentment is growing among them and they now want the government to rescue all those trapped inside the tunnel at the earliest. Comprehensive Rehabilitation For Trapped Workers Recognizing the need for comprehensive rehabilitation, doctors are advocating for mental and physical recovery processes for the trapped workers. Anurag Jain, Secretary, the Ministry of Road and Transport, shared, "We are sending vitamin tablets and antidepressants as doctors suggested. It will take time, but we will eventually get them out." Multivitamins Being Sent To Workers As the confined workers face prolonged isolation, authorities are taking measures to address their health. Multivitamins, including Vitamin B and Vitamin C, along with antidepressants, are being sent to sustain the workers in the absence of sunlight. Char Dham Project The under-construction tunnel is a crucial part of the Char Dham project, aiming to enhance connectivity to the Hindu pilgrimage sites of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri. The incident underscores the challenges faced in critical national infrastructure initiatives. In what could be a new headache for the RLD and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, Lok Dal has decided to contest all 80 seats in the 2024 Parliamentary polls next year. The Lok Dal claims to have been taking forward former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh's farmer-centric ideology. Lok Dal leader Vijendra Singh, who was appointed as the party's National Secretary recently, showcased his strength by embarking on a massive roadshow from Ghaziabad to Meerut. The roadshow culminated with the garlanding of the Chaudhary Charan Singh statue in the Commissioner's office before reaching Meerut Circuit House. During a press conference at the Circuit House, he emphasized Lok Dal's commitment to the welfare of farmers. He credited Chaudhary Charan Singh for founding the Lok Dal and expressed the party's dedication to carrying forward his ideals while criticizing RLD for abandoning those principles. After the Lok Dal's big roadshow, there are talks in Western Uttar Pradesh about which way the farmer vote might sway in the upcoming elections as the RLD and Lok Dal, both parties will try to woo the farmers. If Lok Dal gains prominence among farmers, it could pose a challenge for RLD which is an ally of the Samajwadi Party. Thus, a shift in voters towards Lok Dal will ultimately harm Akhilesh Yadav thus benefitting the BJP. "We will fight for the rights of farmers across Western Uttar Pradesh, engaging in significant movements for sugarcane farmers and debt waivers," stated Vijendra Singh. He announced a grand program on December 23rd, Chaudhary Charan Singh's birth anniversary, to unite farmers across Uttar Pradesh. The party aims to pressure the government for MSP laws and fair crop pricing. Vijendra Singh accused other political parties, including the Samajwadi Party and RLD, of deceiving farmers and solely indulging in family politics under the guise of farmer interests. He asserted, "The real Lok Dal is our party, and the people of Western Uttar Pradesh have recognized this fact. While in opposition, neither Samajwadi Party nor RLD have conducted any substantial movement for the farmers." NEW DELHI: From making a wish to learning about an infamous emperor, this week has a variety of theatrical releases for all kinds of movie connoisseurs. Here is a quick look at the film to watch out for this week. Disney's Wish Walt Disney Animation Studios' 'Wish' is an all-new musical-comedy welcoming audiences to the magical kingdom of Rosas, where Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic forcea little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foethe ruler of Rosas, King Magnificoto save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen. Disney India is all set to release 'Wish' on November 24, 2023. Only in cinemas. Farrey Bollywood superstar Salman Khans niece Alizeh Agnihotri is all set to make her debut in the much-anticipated film, Farrey. Directed by Soumendra Padhi, the film also features Zeyn Shaw, Prasanna Bisht, and Sahil Mehta. The film is an edge-of-the-seat gripping thriller Napolean Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte's relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed. Sony Pictures Entertainment India releases Napoleon on 24th November, 2023. Only in cinemas. JAIPUR: Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge addressed public meetings in support of Congress candidates in Anupgarh and Hanumangarh where he targeted the Prime Minister on his old promises. Kharge said that the Prime Minister was currently holding election meetings in Rajasthan, but he had stopped repeating old things. The Prime Minister had made election promises that he would bring black money deposited abroad and deposit Rs 15 lakh in every person's account. Has Rs 15 lakh been deposited in your account? When people said no, they say you are lying. How can the Prime Minister lie? When I tell him something, he says that I call him the leader of liars, Kharge complained. The PM had said that every year, we will provide employment to 2 crore people and 20 crore jobs should have been provided in 10 years, tell me where is it? Am I lying or the Prime Minister? He had talked about increasing and doubling the farmers income. Has your income doubled? It was said that farmers would be given free fertilizers. Are you getting it free? DAP is not available, urea is not available, but they said it, he quipped. Kharge added, The Prime Minister said that when my mothers and sisters sit in front of the stove, I feel sad to see tears in their eyes. I will give them the cylinder for free. Leave aside giving free gas, in our time you have increased the cylinder price from Rs 450 to Rs 1,100. Now as elections are near, it has been reduced by Rs 200 to Rs 900 today. Increase on one side and decrease on the other. Who is taking money out of women's pockets? The government is taking it out. The cylinder which was earlier available for Rs 450 is now available for Rs 900-1100. So who is lying? I had given a speech in Hyderabad, in which I had said that Modi Saheb lies and is the leader of liars. Then he objected and said that Kharge ji repeatedly calls me a leader of liars and also said that he took my father's name. I did not take his father's name because there is no use in talking about an elder who is not in politics. But he says that Kharge ji is not even sparing my father. Why would I quote his father? But he turns the matter upside down like this. I had said that Modi Saheb has told so many lies and Telangana CM Chandrashekhar Rao is his father in telling lies, he said. To get sympathy, he says everywhere that I am poor. I used to sell tea at the railway station. That's right, you used to sell tea. My father was a labourer, I am the son of a labourer. I am not ashamed to say this. I have come into politics to work for the welfare of the people, not to lie, not to alienate people. Not to divide. In the name of religion, in the name of caste, you are dividing, he said. The party chief said that after Independence, the Congress had built big factories, big dams, big canals, medical colleges, engineering colleges, polytechnic colleges, IITs and many more. Modi ji, you should have set up a big factory in this country. We have built hundreds of factories like HMT, HAL, BEML, BHEL, lakhs of people work in them. But now Modiji is selling them one by one. Even today there are 30 lakh job vacancies in the government. There are vacancies in the Railways, there are vacancies in the paramilitary forces, there are vacancies in the police force, there are vacancies in Central Schools, why are they not recruiting? Because, if recruitment is done, then poor people will take advantage of reservation. How many people will benefit? They know that if these people have to be deprived of jobs then they should keep closing down government jobs one by one, he added. Kharge further said that the BJP has a washing machine that cleans tarnished people. They repeatedly say that the Congress party has corrupt people, you have put ED, CBI behind all the people, but when these people went to them (BJP), they took them into the party and they got cleaned because Home Minister Amit Shah has a huge washing machine. When these tainted people go into that machine, they come out completely clean, said Kharge. He said the Congress party always took care of the poor and said that it would keep the promises it made. I would just like to say that we will keep the promises we have made. Earlier, too, whatever laws were brought under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, we provided employment to the poor by implementing them. We gave the NREGA scheme, Food Security Act and many health missions to the poor, he added. The BJP's promise is always to destroy and divide people and ours is to work towards the poor. BJP always supported the rich, people like Adani-Ambani. The already rich people were made even richer. Those who were poor become poorer, said Kharge. For centuries, the Russians have been encroaching on our land and history, claiming that the world community did not recognize Ukraine as a Cossack state in the 18th century. For years, the Soviet government also showed us the image of illiterate Cossacks who, in trousers and embroidered shirts, allegedly only drank vodka and ate dumplings, and described Hetman Mazepa as a traitor from birth. ADVERTISIMENT So what were the Cossacks and Hetman Mazepa really like? OBOZ.UA will try to debunk three of the most common myths imposed by Russian propaganda. Myth 1: the world community did not recognize Ukraine as a Cossack state in the 18th century A map drawn by a German cartographer in 1716, which is on display in the Treasury of the National Museum of History of Ukraine, reads "Ukraine, the land of the Cossacks." This map also shows territories even larger than the borders of modern Ukraine, including parts of modern Belarus and Russia that were part of the Ukrainian lands of that time. This shows that world powers recognized the existence of Ukraine as a separate state at the time. Myth 2: The Cossacks were uneducated, drank a lot of vodka, and were spendthrifts Many Cossacks, especially thosev who were in the senior ranks, were well educated, often studying at the Kyiv-Mohyla College. Hetmans also usually spoke 5-7 languages. ADVERTISIMENT During the period of military operations, Cossacks were forbidden to drink alcohol, and were severely punished for it. A soldier who drank alcohol during a campaign could even be executed. In their free time, the Cossacks, of course, drank alcohol, in particular vodka, but its composition was different from the modern one. There is evidence that Bohdan Khmelnytskyi treated his ambassadors to warm fruit vodka. It was probably liqueurs, although they were called vodka at the time. The wealthy Cossacks did indeed live in luxury, but they were also generous philanthropists. They allocated significant sums of money for the construction of churches and monasteries, support for education, and so on. In their free time, the Cossack elite invited musicians and held banquets. They also attended concerts, theatrical performances, and nativity scenes. The Cossacks were also fans of religious literature. ADVERTISIMENT Myth 4: Mazepa was a hero-lover and a traitor Historians do not have convincing evidence of Hetman Ivan Mazepa's romantic relationships. Some of the stories about him are exaggerated or completely fictional. For example, the story of Mazepa's mistress in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Allegedly, when this woman's husband found out about her betrayal, he punished Mazepa by tying him naked to a horse and sending him to the Ukrainian steppes. Physically, this would have been almost impossible, as a person would not have been able to cover such a distance without water, food, and appropriate clothing. This story, although it became popular among contemporary artists, making Mazepa enter European history as a hero-lover, was more of a legend. Another story related to his goddaughter Motria is also unconfirmed. There are only ambiguous letters that may hint at love, but it is possible that they were forged. ADVERTISIMENT There is evidence of a relationship between Mazepa and Anna Dolska, who helped him negotiate with the Swedish king. However, whether this was a romantic relationship or just a cover for secret political negotiations is not clear. Hetman Ivan Mazepa is also portrayed as a traitor in Soviet and Russian historiography. However, for Ukrainians, his figure has a completely different look. Mazepa rebuilt many churches and monasteries, religious and educational institutions in Ukraine at his own expense. He was also a good diplomat and maintained relations with the leaders of different countries. Mazepa supported Peter the Great in the early stages of his foreign policy. When the war with the Swedes broke out, the hetman asked Peter the Great for help, but he refused. Mazepa found himself in a difficult position: on the one hand, Peter I, who had violated a written agreement on assistance, and on the other, the Swedish king, with whom he could have made a deal. ADVERTISIMENT Mazepa was a wealthy and influential person at the court of Peter the Great. By refusing the support of the Moscow tsar, he received nothing but lost his property, status, and authority. Mazepa began to support a part of the Swedish army at his own expense in the hope of their victory over Moscow. Unfortunately, however, the Swedish army was defeated near Poltava, and Mazepa and the Cossacks were forced to flee to the city of Bender in Moldova. He died there at the age of 70. After these events, the Cossacks' democratic rights and independence were completely suppressed by Muscovy. Ukraine lost the ability to elect its own hetman. Pylyp Orlyk wrote that Mazepa chose this path for the sake of his state. He chose the respect of his people, not the respect of the tsar, and paid a very high price for it. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, OBOZ.UA reported which Ukrainian surnames originated from the Zaporizhzhya Sich and belonged to the Cossacks. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Rajasthan Election 2023: The BJP is trying to tick all the boxes in the Rajasthan assembly election with the party promising something for every section of the society. While the party has already promised subsidized LPG to woo the women voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today made another big announcement saying that if voted to power in the state, the state BJP government will give Rs 12,000 per year to farmers under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. At present, farmers get Rs 6,000 per year under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi. Addressing a poll rally in Rajasthan's Hanumangarh, PM Modi said that those who cheated farmers won't be spared. He said that the Rajsthan BJP has decided to purchase crops on MSP from the farmers and not only this, the farmers will also be given a bonus if the party is voted to power. #WATCH | Hanumangarh, Rajasthan: PM Narendra Modi says, "The Rajasthan BJP has decided to purchase crops on MSP from farmers and will also provide a bonus. Rajasthan BJP has decided to give farmers Rs 12,000 through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi..." pic.twitter.com/ye9CQBJp3m ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2023 In another promise, PM Modi said that petrol is costlier in Rajasthan and the fuel prices will be reviewed if the BJP forms government. "In the neighbouring states of Rajasthan, there is a BJP government. Petrol is Rs 12-13 cheaper there compared to Rajasthan... But the Congress government in Rajasthan sells petrol at higher prices...I give a guarantee that after the BJP government is formed, the prices of petrol and diesel will be reviewed," said PM Modi. PM Modi said that those who looted the poor in the state will not be spared. "Today I have come here to give you guarantee that those who have looted the poor will not be spared. The day is not far in Rajasthan when those who looted the poor will be put behind bars," he said. The BJP is locked in a close contest with the ruling Congress in Rajasthan assembly polls. The 200-member Rajasthan assembly will go to polls in a single phase on November 25 while the counting of votes will take place on December 3. KARTARPUR: In a startling turn of events, the sanctity of Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, a revered holy site for the Sikh community, was allegedly degraded after a party was held within its sacred premises where alcohol and meat were served to those who attended. The incident has evoked strong condemnation from religious leaders and sparked outrage among Sikh community members. Jagdip Singh Kahlon, General Secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, has not only condemned the incident strongly but also urged the Pakistani government to take swift action against those responsible. Kahlon took to social media, posting on X (formerly Twitter): "Unacceptable! I strongly condemn the sacrilegious incident within the sacred premises of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib where a party was organized involving alcohol & meat. @GovtofPakistan should take swift action against all responsible people." Unacceptable! I strongly condemn the sacrilegious incident within the sacred premises of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib where a party organised involving alcohol & meat. @GovtofPakistan should take swift action against all responsible people. #srikartarpursahib #sacrilege pic.twitter.com/Fj7YZBHcfH November 19, 2023 This shocking incident comes on the heels of a similar controversy in 2021 when photos of a bareheaded Pakistani model within the Gurdwara complex drew widespread criticism on social media. Leaders of prominent Sikh organizations, including Harjinder Singh Dhami and Harmeet Singh Kalka, expressed concern over the video documenting the event. Dhami, the president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), stressed that if the alleged event occurred within the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib complex, it would violate 'rehat maryada' and Sikh sentiments, particularly considering the site's close association with Guru Nanak Dev. Expressing disappointment, Dhami stated, "The authorities should have refrained from indulging in such a kind of act as it would lead to hurting the sentiments of the global Sikh community." Sikh Bodies Demand Public Apology Manjit Singh Bhoma, spokesperson for the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), demanded a public apology from the event organizers. Emphasizing that the incident took place near the PMU office, an integral part of the Gurdwara Kartarpur complex, the call for an apology underscores the gravity with which Sikh organizations view actions that may disrespect the sanctity of the religious site. This incident has reignited concerns about the importance of strict adherence to Sikh 'rehat maryada' and responsible management of religious sites. The Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib holds immense significance for Sikhs worldwide, and any perceived disrespect is bound to evoke strong reactions from the Sikh community. Putin's Wings Getty Images Author Oleksandr Liemienov StateWatch CEO The Volga-Dnepr Group is, without exaggeration, the wings of Putins regime. Nearly two years into the full-scale war, they continue flying because only Ukraine has imposed sanctions on all 24 companies of the group; Canada has imposed sanctions on three of the 24, and thats about it... No other sanctions have been applied, and so the work of the main criminal airline continues. The following paragraphs will be devoted to the air transport infrastructure, routes and goals of flights of the odious company. We at Trap Aggressor entertain a sincere hope that this will facilitate the work of sanctions specialists in the US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and Luxembourg, where the airlines representative offices still operate. The Volga-Dnepr Group is an aviation holding company headquartered in the Moscow region. The main type of their activity is charter cargo transportation on heavy transport aircraft, particularly on An-124-100 Ruslan and Il-76TD-90VD. The co-owners of the holding are Russian businessmen Alexei Isaykin and Sergey Shklyanik. In 2022, faced with international sanctions, the businessmen handed over the administration of some companies to the holding's top management. This, however, did not change much. Back in 1991, Alexei Isaykin was the chairman of the board of the company, which was already transporting military cargo and working with the Russian Ministry of Defense. Therefore, it is not surprising that this particular company was chosen for sensitive military shipments of the Russian Federation in recent years. In addition to previous cooperation with the Russian military since the 1990s, Volga-Dnepr was chosen owing to the fact that the fleet of An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft of the airline is newer than the transport aircraft of the Russian Air Force. The company has on its balance sheet aircraft built at the turn of this century (late 1990s early 2000s), so this purely technical advantage also played a role. After the airspace was closed to Russian aircraft at the start of the full-scale invasion, four Volga-Dnepr aircraft were grounded at the airports of countries in the so-called sanctions coalition. (One An-124-100 Ruslan (number RA-82078) was detained at the Toronto International Airport; the Canadian authorities have already started the confiscation process in favor of Ukraine. Three An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft (number RA- 82043, RA-82045 and RA-82046) were stopped at the Leipzig/Halle airport in Germany.) What is important, the Ukrainian judiciary did not lag behind either. On March 21, 2022, the Sviatoshinskyi District Court of the city of Kyiv seized 12 An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft of the abovementioned airline. Already on August 29, 2023, the Higher Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine applied sanctions to the Volga-Dnepr Group in general in the form of confiscation of assets, namely six D-18T aircraft engines. Overall, however, sanctions restrictions are currently not sufficient to stop a company from operating. Are there grounds for sanctions? Definitely. Cooperation with enterprises of the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation According to the database of Russian tenders and the information from our sources, for a certain period of time, including the months leading up to the full-scale invasion, Volga-Dnepr fulfilled Russian government contracts for the government of the Russian Federation and their armed forces. The company is deeply integrated into the logistics processes of the Russian military machine. In particular, in 20162017, it concluded four contracts for the performance of charter flights for the needs of the 81st Armored Repair Plant, including the use of An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft in two cases. The second case: in 2017, Volga-Dnepr Airlines and the 223rd Flying Unit State Airlines signed a contract to service a flight on the route Chkalovskyi Dushanbe (Tajikistan) Samara Chkalovskyi (Russia) on a Tu-134 aircraft. By the way, Chkalovskyi is the base airport of the 223rd flying squadron, situated near Moscow. The third case: in 2017, Volga-Dnepr Airlines and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Electromechanics (VNIIEM Corporation) concluded a charter agreement for the purpose of fulfilling the state defense order of the Roscosmos group of companies. It will be recalled that Roscosmos unites dozens of military enterprises of the Russian Federation. The fourth case: in 2015, the Federal Research and Development Center JSC Scientific Production Association Mars and Volga-Dnepr Airlines concluded a contract for the transportation of cargo, in particular ship control systems, to the Amur Shipyard and the Shipyard Northern Shipyard, which are under sanctions. The fifth case: in 2017, the Energomash Scientific Production Association and Volga-Dnepr Airlines signed an agreement for the air transportation of RD-181 engines. By the way, Energomash is part of the sanctioned Roscosmos. The sixth case: in 2017, Progress Rocket Space Centre and Volga-Dnepr Airlines signed an agreement on cargo air transportation. It is Progress Centre that develops space vehicles, complexes and systems; rockets and satellites developed by this Russian state structure are used by the Russian military to invade Ukraine. The seventh case: in 2015, the Vympel shipyard and Volga-Dnepr Airlines signed contracts for the air transportation of military boats by an An-124-100 aircraft. The specified shipbuilding plant specializes in the production of medium and small-tonnage sea and river vessels and boats for military and civilian purposes. The eighth case: in 2018, Volga-Dnepr Airlines and Russian Space Systems signed two contracts for charter transportation. In turn, this counterparty from the rocket and space industry specializes in the development, production and operation of space information systems and is part of Roskosmos. I believe that the global navigation satellite system GLONASS, which is used in the war against Ukraine, is already known to everyone on a par with the GPS system. Transportation of military products after the start of the full-scale invasion It is clear that after the full-scale invasion started, sanctions restrictions increased the need for air transportation of military and dual-purpose goods. That is why the higher military-political leadership of the Russian Federation once again involved the Volga-Dnepr Group in order to circumvent sanctions and smuggle the relevant goods into the territory of Russia. In particular, according to available information, at the end of 2022, An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft of Volga-Dnepr Airlines transported military aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, particularly Su-30 fighters, which were undergoing overhaul at the 558th Repair Enterprise in Belarusian Baranovichi airfield. The following cases speak for themselves no less eloquently. In particular, during the flights of the Volga-Dnepr plane over the territory of Kazakhstan in order to hide its true destination, the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system was turned off, which, given the direction of movement, gives grounds to believe that the flights were made to countries that covertly provide military aid to the Russian Federation or through which dual-purpose goods necessary for the production of military equipment and aircraft are purchased, including to Iran and Syria. On July 25, 2022, the An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft (board number RA-82079) flew from Krasnoyarsk (Russia) also with its ADS-B turned off, and already on July 27, without changing the flight path, it took off in the reverse direction and had not turned on its ADS-B until it entered the Kazakhstani airspace. Where did they fly to, I wonder? China? North Korea? Another extremely interesting flight mentioned above took place on January 30, 2023, when the An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft (board number RA-82047) was flying from Krasnoyarsk (Russia) to an unknown destination. The flight path may indicate that the plane was headed for Iran or Syria. The next day, the flight path of the said plane did not change during the return flight to Krasnoyarsk. Over the territory of Kazakhstan, ADS-B was reactivated. They play with this "transponder" as they wish, actually not only violating the generally accepted rules of air traffic, but also putting the planes of other countries at risk. Accordingly, such flights could have carried Russian weapons or personnel from Syria. We also assume that Syrian mercenaries recruited by Russia for the war against Ukraine could be transported in this manner. In turn, the cargo from Iran could include Shahed-136/131 UAVs, which constantly attack the territory of Ukraine, as well as Mojaher UAVs and artillery shells, which the Russian armed forces lack for the occupation of Ukraine. Delivery of electronics from friendly countries After the start of the full-scale invasion, the company's aircraft (in particular, board numbers RA-82044, RA-82047, RA-82074, RA-82077, RA-82079, RA82081) significantly increased the number of flights to so-called Russia-leaning countries, including China and Vietnam. According to our data, the transportation was related to sanctioned goods and military products. Why did they fly there? The answer is simple, because even offices of this private company are registered there. Now we will present some facts about Volga-Dnepr's involvement in the transportation of sanctioned goods. For instance, on April 1, 2022, in pursuance of the request of the President of the Russian Federation, the Russian government and Volga-Dnepr signed an agreement on cooperation regarding regular cargo air transportation between the Russian capital and the cities of countries friendly to Russia, namely China, India, Turkey, the UAE, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Vietnam. These countries are used by Russia to supply goods to circumvent sanctions. It is not surprising that the leadership of Moscow, together with the Russian government, facilitated the prompt obtaining of the necessary permits for international flights and customs clearance of goods. As a result, during the period until September 2022 alone, Volga-Dnepr planes transported about 4,000 tons of cargo. In one month, in May 2022, the Il-76TD aircraft of Volga-Dnepr Airlines (board number RA-76952) made a flight from Noi Bai Airport (Hanoi, Vietnam) to the Russian city of Barnaul. According to available information from our sources, the cargo belonged to the category of electrical goods and electrotechnical products and contained products of King Pai Technology Co. LTD, which specializes in the supply of electronic components, including microcircuits, crystal oscillators, solid state relays and printed circuit boards. A large consignment of electronic products, including those produced in the US, the Netherlands and Switzerland, was sent to Russia on the specified flight. Who said that sanctions restrictions apply to everyone? I almost forgot: the Chinese company King Pai Technology Co. LTD is subject to US sanctions for supplying products to the Russian military-industrial complex, including Radioavtomatika LLC. The latter's products are used in the production of cruise missile guidance systems. Another flight, now of the An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft (board number RA82081), took place in early September 2022 from Noi Bai Airport (Hanoi, Vietnam) to the Russian city of Ulan-Ude, carrying American-made electronic components. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, seven pallets with specific products were loaded onto the plane in the presence of Vietnamese military representatives. Already this year, flights of Volga-Dnepr aircraft were carried out on the Ulyanovsk-Shenzhen (Guangdong province) and Moscow-Shenzhen (Guangdong province) routes. Most likely, this is motivated by Russia's growing interest in cooperation with Chinese electronics factories, concentrated in Guangdong province. Among the main customers were the companies engaged in the production of weapons, namely Rostec, the Roselectronica holding, United Engine Corporation LLC (ZALA Aero) and the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (Tatarstan), where the production of the Shahed-136 UAV is concentrated. Generalized information about the participation of the Volga-Dnepr Group in other flights can be found in the infographic below. What is interesting, there are routes serving the interests of not only the armed forces of the Russian Federation, but also of the Wagner Group. Flights to Serbia, China, UAE: sticking to their guns every time On March 27, 2022, the An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft (board number RA-82074) transported 85 tons of aviation equipment from Dubai (UAE) to Moscow. Among the cargo there were components for aircraft engines, aggregates, nose propellers, engine PW901A (Boeing). In the period from July 10 to 19, 2022, the An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft (board number RA-82077) was in Johannesburg (Republic of South Africa). The Embassy of the Russian Federation explained this flight as the delivery of cargo to the AAD-2022 international exhibition in the interests of enterprises of the Russian defense-industrial complex. And since Russia used only small-scale samples of equipment at the said exhibition, we assume that this plane was loaded with up to 40 tons of military cargo produced by the Denel corporation. After South Africa, the flight range of the aircraft decreased from 8,000 km to 4,000 km, which corresponds to its loading from 80 to 120 tons. Most likely, the plane was loaded with components of ammunition and explosives, which were stored in the warehouses of the South African company Denel and were to be disposed of. Given the fact that aviation fuel supplier British Petroleum refused to refuel the Russian plane during its stay at Johannesburg International Airport and a significant political outcry in the Republic of South Africa, further such flights were cancelled. It is emblematic that in response to this, the British Petroleum company was suspended from servicing the international airports of the Republic of South Africa, and Russian planes began to be serviced at the country's military airfields. A great way out of a highly precarious geopolitical situation. On October 23 and 24, 2022, the An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft (board number RA-82081) transported sanctioned cargo along the route Al-Maktoum (Dubai, UAE) Zvarnots (Yerevan, Armenia) Sheremetyevo (Moscow, Russian Federation) with a total weight of 69 tons, which included drilling equipment, charging stations, laptops, motherboards, power supplies, etc. Interestingly, in 2023, Volga-Dnepr resumed the transportation of dangerous goods and has permission to transport goods of any class of danger from China to Russia. In September and October of this year, the airline's planes made several flights from China, including with special cargo. No less interesting were the flights of Volga-Dnepr planes blocked in Germany and Canada. They were carried out by order of Rosoboronexport and the government of the Russian Federation to countries in Africa, where the Wagner Group operated during this period, and to other countries where Russia had a military partnership and geopolitical interests. On December 12, 2011, the An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft (board number RA-82043), which is currently blocked in Germany, delivered two Mi-35M helicopters to Baku (Azerbaijan) for the State Border Service of Azerbaijan. Let us explain: in September 2010, the Azerbaijani side signed a contract with Rosoboronexport for the supply of 24 Mi-35M helicopters manufactured by Russian Helicopters. On May 12, 2016, the same aircraft delivered 4 Mi-35P helicopters to Luanda (Republic of Angola) from Chita (Russia), where the helicopters were being repaired at the 810th Aircraft Repair Plant. On October 4, 2017, an An-124-100 Ruslan with board number RA-82045, which is also blocked in Germany, delivered five MiG-29 fighters to Serbia. In 2015, the third Ruslan blocked in Germany with the board number RA-82046 delivered two Su-27 SK fighters, which are on the balance sheet of the Indonesian Air Force. These two combat aircraft were repaired in the Russian Federation. An-124-100 Ruslan (board number RA-82078), which is now blocked in Canada, performed flights that may be associated with the Wagner Group and presumably carried Russian weapons. In 20182021, it performed flights from Germany to Mali, from France to Burkina Faso and Niger. There were also flights from Greece to Djibouti and Niger, from Portugal to Ethiopia, from Mozambique to the Republic of South Africa, from Kenya to Tanzania, from Malawi to Cote d'Ivoire, from Spain to Burkina Faso and from the UAE to Egypt. As you can see, the geography of air transportation of aircraft controlled by the Volga-Dnepr Group is impressive. Therefore, the entire air transport infrastructure and routes followed by the planes of the Volga-Dnepr company must be verified by the authorized bodies of Ukraine and our Western partners in order to impose sanctions on the said private group of companies. Thorough examination is desirable. After all, for example, Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Service GmbH is, to put it mildly, connected with Volga-Dnepr. Until April 2015, Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Service GmbH was known as Volga-Dnepr Technics Gmbh. The company's major production facilities are located at Leipzig Airport and in Frankfurt am Main, where a line maintenance station is located. In Leipzig, the company performed maintenance in the hangar complex of the Leipzig/Halle airport for Boeing 747, Boeing 737CL and Boeing 777 aircraft, as well as maintenance of An-124-100 Ruslan and Il-76 aircraft. Among other things, the company carried out maintenance and repair of aircraft of the Russian transport airline Airbridge Cargo LLC (under the sanctions of Canada and Ukraine), which is also part of the Volga-Dnepr Group. Interestingly, according to information published on the official website, the company has 18 aircraft at its disposal, including four Boeings 747-400ERF, 13 Boeings 747-8F and one Boeing 777 F. Finally, in order to simplify the work of the sanctioning authorities, we will list the legal entities (see infographic 2) that are part of the aforesaid group. Please note how many of them are under sanctions and how many are still not. Also note the jurisdictions where they are registered. And then ponder the real effectiveness of sanctions and the pace at which our partners implement them. The full-scale war is in its second year. Read this article in russian and Ukrainian. Share Noticed an error? Please select it with the mouse and press Ctrl+Enter or Submit a bug European Union (EU) countries purchased more than 6 billion worth of liquefied natural gas from the terrorist state of Russia in 2023. France and Spain are among the largest buyers. ADVERTISIMENT Only China has purchased more Russian LNG than them. This is stated in the material of The Telegraph. Thus, in general, more than half of the gas exported by Russia went to the bloc states. Spain alone paid the Kremlin 1.8 billion euros in the first 9 months of this year. Spain is followed by France, which paid 1.5 billion euros, and Belgium is next. Brussels has purchased 1.36 billion euros worth of Russian LNG. Earlier this year, EU Energy Commissioner Catherine Simson called on the bloc to reduce its dependence on Russian LNG. Representatives of Spain and Belgium argue that their large purchases are likely the result of traders storing Russian LNG in their ports. In September, Spanish Energy Minister Teresa Ribera said that there were no plans to ban Russian LNG, despite the sharp increase in imports from the bloc. "There is a sense of shortage and fear," she said, referring to concerns about energy shortages. ADVERTISIMENT As OBOZ.UA reported earlier, polls show that the mood in Germany has changed - only 14% of respondents believe that Germany will face serious problems in energy supply this winter. Although a year ago, Germans were afraid of being left without Russian natural gas. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! For the second day in a row, the Moscow region of the Russian Federation has been talking about attacks by "Ukrainian" drones. On the night of November 20, a "lone" UAV exploded 50 km from the capital. ADVERTISIMENT Propagandists claim that it was flying toward Moscow and was "destroyed" by Russian air defense. In particular, the mayor of the aggressor country's capital, Sergei Sobyanin, commented on the situation. According to him, the drone was "shot down" in the city of Elektrostal a few hours before Monday. This city is located 52 kilometers east of the regional center. The mayor claims that the UAV hit the site of the attack, but that it did not cause any damage or injuries. However, emergency services are "working at the scene". A video of a bright flash near Moscow, allegedly filmed by a surveillance camera, was posted online. However, the video does not contain any indication of the date and time of the shooting. The Russians claim that this is the moment of "the downing of the Ukrainian Armed Forces drone." ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA, on the night of November 19, Russians announced the downing of a drone in the Bogorodsky district near Moscow. The wreckage of the UAV, which was still smoking, landed on the Gorky Highway, which caused traffic to be blocked there. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Immunity (from the Latin "immunitas" - "deliverance") is a complex system of protection of the body against infections, diseases and other external influences. It is a set of biological mechanisms that can recognize and fight pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and even abnormal (cancerous) cells inside the body. ADVERTISIMENT Immunity can be natural (innate) and adaptive (acquired). History of the discovery of the immune system Ancient medical texts, such as Ebers Papyrus (circa 1550 BC), already mention methods for preventing and treating infections. However, the concept of immunity as we understand it today had not been developed. In the early 18th century, the English physician Edward Jenner first introduced the idea of vaccination as a way to prevent infections. He created a smallpox vaccine using vaccinated material from a cow (cowpox), and this was the first ever use of artificial immunization. Cellular and humoral immunity, in the 19th century, scientists Ilya Mechnikov and Louis Pasteur contributed to the study of immunity. Mechnikov developed the concept of phagocytosis (the process of absorption of bacteria and other particles by immune system cells), and Pasteur proposed the theory of humoral immunity, pointing to the role of antibodies in fighting infections. ADVERTISIMENT In the early 20th century, German immunologist Paul Ehrlich made a significant contribution to the study of antibodies. He coined the term "antibodies" and developed the idea of the specificity of antibodies in the fight against infections. With the discovery of T and B lymphocytes, American scientists Macfarland Burnett and Peter Meadows put forward the concept of cellular and humoral immunity, and proposed the idea of the coexistence of T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes that interact to provide adaptive immune defense. In the second half of the 20th century, with the development of molecular biology and genetics, molecules and genes responsible for the functioning of the immune system were identified and described, including genes encoding antibodies and immune system cells. Innate immunity (or innate immunity) is the body's primary defense system against infections and other external threats, is genetically inherited and is present in the body from birth. Innate immunity is not specific to specific pathogens and affects a wide range of microorganisms, detecting common molecules characteristic of bacteria and viruses. ADVERTISIMENT Components of innate immunity include: Skin and organ mucous membranes are physical barriers that prevent microorganisms from entering the body. Phagocytes, such as neutrophils and macrophages, are white blood cells that can absorb and destroy pathogens. Inflammation is the body's response to infection or injury, which includes increased vascular permeability and the migration of phagocytes to the site of inflammation. Complement proteins, proteins that can be activated in response to infection and contribute to the destruction of microorganisms. Interferons are molecules that help limit the spread of viruses in the body. Innate immunity responds quickly to pathogens, but its action is not specific, and it does not create immunological memory. This means that it cannot provide long-term protection against specific infections, as adaptive immunity does. However, innate and adaptive immunity work closely together to ensure that the body is fully protected. ADVERTISIMENT Adaptive immunity develops in response to specific pathogens and allows the body to "remember" them and fight them more effectively in the future. Acquired immunity (or adaptive immunity) is the second level of the body's defense against infections and other external threats. Adaptive immunity develops in response to specific pathogens and is specific, which means that it attacks certain microorganisms and antigens (characteristic molecules of pathogens). Characteristics of adaptive immunity: Adaptive immunity can recognize and attack specific pathogens or antigens. It creates antibodies and T-lymphocytes that are directed against specific microorganisms. Immunological memory has the ability to "remember" pathogens that the body has encountered before. This means that when the body is exposed to the same pathogen again, it is able to react faster and more effectively, providing stronger protection. ADVERTISIMENT Provides long-term protection against infections. It develops as a result of exposure to infections, vaccination, or contact with antigens. It includes cells that produce antibodies and T-lymphocytes that play a role in the cellular immune response. It is slower and more specific than innate immunity, but it is a powerful defense against specific infections and plays a key role in the body's long-term protection against disease. Cellular immunity is one of the main components of adaptive immunity, which depends on the action of various cells of the immune system, especially T-lymphocytes. Cellular immunity is aimed at destroying infected cells, tumor cells, and other abnormal cells in the body. The main elements of cellular immunity: T-lymphocytes These are cells of the immune system that specifically recognize antigens on the surface of infected or altered cells and can attack and destroy such cells, playing an important role in protecting the body from viral infections, tumors, and other threats. ADVERTISIMENT Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (killer cells) CTLs are a subtype of T lymphocytes that can directly harm infected cells by destroying them. T-helper cells (helpers) T-lymphocytes play a role in regulating and activating other cells of the immune system, helping them fight infections. T regulators (suppressors) T regulators control the immune response and prevent autoimmune reactions when the immune system attacks the body's own tissues. Cellular immunity is effective in the fight against viruses, bacteria, fungal infections, and certain types of tumors, and is involved in tissue regeneration and repair. This type of immunity works in conjunction with humoral immunity, which includes antibodies and B lymphocytes. Both components of adaptive immunity interact to provide complete and specific protection of the body against various threats . ADVERTISIMENT Humoral immunity is one of the two main components of adaptive (acquired) immunity and deals with antibodies and B-lymphocyte cells that circulate in body fluids such as blood, lymph, and mucous membranes. Characteristics of humoral immunity: Antibodies (immunoglobulins) are proteins that are produced by B-lymphocytes in response to antigens (characteristic molecules of pathogens). Antibodies are able to bind to antigens and block their effects, as well as enhance the destruction of pathogens. B-lymphocytes play a role in the production and secretion of antibodies. They undergo activation and differentiation to become plasma cells that release antibodies into the bloodstream. Humoral immunity is involved in the regulation of the inflammatory process and adapts the immune response depending on the type of infection. ADVERTISIMENT It is effective in fighting various infections, especially bacterial ones. The antibodies produced by this system can attach to bacteria, making them available to phagocytes (macrophages) that destroy them. Humoral immunity works closely with cellular immunity to provide the body with comprehensive and specific protection against infections. Immunity is not a function of one specific organ, but a complex system that includes many organs, tissues, cells, and molecules . Components of the immune system: Bone marrow This is where the production of immune system cells, such as white blood cells, which play a key role in fighting infections, takes place. Thymus or thymus gland The thymus plays an important role in the development and maturation of T-lymphocytes, one of the types of white blood cells responsible for adaptive immunity. ADVERTISIMENT Spleen It performs blood filtration functions and is involved in the destruction of old blood cells and the fight against infections. Lymphatic system Includes lymph nodes, lymphatic vessels and lymph, and plays a role in the circulation of lymphocytes and other cells of the immune system. Organs and tissues Many organs and tissues in the body contain immune system cells that perform protective functions, such as macrophages and dendritic cells. Lymphocytes These cells are key components of adaptive immunity and circulate in the body to fight specific infections. The immune system functions as a whole and different components interact to protect the body from infections. There is no one specific organ that can be called the "immune organ," but instead the immune system is made up of many parts that interact to provide protection for the body. Until September 1941, Khreshchatyk Street in Kyiv looked completely different: incredible architecture of hotels, theaters, and even a circus and tram. Unfortunately, after the center was blown up by Soviet partisans, the beauty of the city remained only in archival photos. ADVERTISIMENT The old photos and the story were published in the community "Spraha: Kyiv is interesting" on Facebook. Of the 324 buildings destroyed, only 56 were to be restored. "Khreshchatyk underwent radical changes due to the bombing by Soviet troops at the beginning of the German occupation of Kyiv. The explosions and the firestorm were so powerful that the city center burned down completely," the authors of the project said. For example, on the site of the current city hall (36 Khreshchatyk Street), there was the first Kyiv cinema by Shanzer, which amazed the citizens with its beauty and had a capacity of 1100 seats. An unfinished house burned down on the site of the Khreshchatyk metro station, and a department store, the former shop of the merchant Ludmer, a beautiful four-story building, burned down on the corner of Lutheranska Street. ADVERTISIMENT The Grand Hotel and the old post office were destroyed, and now the building of the Main Post Office stands in their place. ADVERTISIMENT Before the explosions, there were five hotels, five theaters, a circus, a radio theater, a pawnshop, a post office, five educational institutions, 19 institutions, 8 commercial establishments and a large number of residential buildings on Khreshchatyk and the surrounding streets. All this has turned into ruins... "Out of 324 destroyed buildings, only 56 were to be restored. For example, the Central Department Store building. Only houses No. 5, 24, 53 survived. On the facade of the Kyiv State Architecture Committee building (32 Khreshchatyk Street), you can still see traces of a terrible fire," the authors of the project added. ADVERTISIMENT As OBOZ.UA reported, today Khreshchatyk Passage in Kyiv is a street of expensive shops. However, until the fall of 1941, Malyi, or Old Passage, was located in a completely different place - approximately where the KCSA building stands today. Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has two new yachts. These are the 71-meter yacht Victoria and the 38-meter boat Orion, which accompanies it. ADVERTISIMENT Currently, Putin's well-known fleet already includes 10 ships. This is stated in an investigation by the Dossier Center. As noted, the Victoria yacht is used by Putin's alleged mistress Alina Kabaeva and her entourage. Victoria was built at the shipyards of the Sevmash military plant. She was laid down in 2005 and was under construction for 14 years. It was the first attempt to build a civilian superyacht for the Russian president. Victoria's hull was launched in 2013 and shipped to the ISA Yachts shipyard in Italy. She stayed there for 2 years, but ISA Yachts never started work due to lack of funding. She was completed at the shipyards of the Turkish company AES Yachts and launched in 2019. ADVERTISIMENT Initially, the yacht's construction was paid for by businessman Serhii Maslov through his Julesburg Corp offshore company in the British Virgin Islands. Among other things, Maslov was involved in the creation of the Syrian Express, a fleet that delivered military supplies to the Russian base in Syria. The second person involved in the Syrian Express was Yevgeny Prigozhin. Maslov claimed that it was not his yacht, but that he was simply helping his close friend to complete the ship. The close friend is a friend of the president, Gennadii Timchenko, whose structures eventually registered the yacht Victoria, which according to customs declarations is worth $50.1 million. Victoria is currently being built in Istanbul at the Desan shipyards. This is an unusual company that fulfills not only civilian orders, but also builds warships for NATO and can work with the alliance's secret documentation. Because of the long construction of Victoria, Hennadiy Timchenko began preparing the yacht Scheherazade for Putin, for which he raised money from Russian oligarchs. ADVERTISIMENT As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the High Court of London ruled that the sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman will not be able to spend $34 thousand per month on the maintenance of his property and driver services in Britain. The billionaire planned to withdraw these funds from his own frozen accounts. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has once again recognized the feat of Ukrainians - the military - who are fighting for Ukraine's freedom at the front. At the same time, he recognized that victory over the aggressor is still far away. ADVERTISIMENT He spoke about this at a meeting with Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch, journalists Benjamin Hall (Fox News) and Jerome Starkey (The Sun). His words were quoted by the press service. It is noted that during the meeting at the Presidential Office, the President told the guests a little about the situation on the battlefield, as well as the high motivation and determination of the people of Ukraine, their faith in victory. Zelenskyi noted the importance of maintaining the world's attention to the efforts of Ukrainians in the struggle for freedom and their state. In this context, he emphasized that many people now treat it like a movie and expect that there will be no long pauses in the fighting, and the picture before their eyes will always change and "there will be some surprises every day." ADVERTISIMENT "But for us, for our soldiers, this is not a movie. These are our lives, our daily hard work. And it will not end as quickly as we would like, but we have no right to give up and we will not do so," Zelensky said. The President's Office added that during the meeting, the Ukrainian leader discussed further cooperation with the Western guests. The interlocutors exchanged views on the propaganda narratives of the aggressor Russia, which are also used by opponents of military or any other support for Ukraine. They also discussed Kyiv's vision of a just peace based on the proposed Peace Formula. As OBOZ.UA previously reported, President Zelenskyi announced major military plans for 2024. He said that Ukraine would need a lot of weapons and ammunition. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The Russian occupation army continues to use its inherent tactics of terror and strikes at numerous civilian objects in our country. The enemy is firing at civilians from multiple launch rocket systems and aircraft. ADVERTISIMENT On November 19, 46 combat engagements took place at the frontline. Russian troops continue to attack in the east, trying to seize new territories, while the Ukrainian Defense Forces hold their positions on the left bank of the Kherson region. This is stated in the report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of the morning of November 20. The Russian occupiers have launched another air strike on Ukraine, using Shahed-136/131 attack drones. As a result of combat operations, air defense forces destroyed 15 out of 20 UAVs. The enemy also launched 1 missile and 17 air strikes, fired 94 times from multiple rocket launchers at the positions of our troops and populated areas. As a result of Russian terrorist attacks, there are dead and wounded among the civilian population. Private homes and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed and damaged. ADVERTISIMENT Petropavlivka, Kharkiv region; Serebryanske forestry, Luhansk region; and Yampolivka, Donetsk region were hit by air strikes. More than 100 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions came under artillery fire. In the area of responsibility of the "North" operational and strategic grouping of troops on the Volyn and Polissya directions, the operational situation remains without significant changes. On the Siversky and Slobozhansky directions, the enemy maintains a military presence in the border areas, conducts active sabotage activities to prevent the deployment of our troops to threatened areas, and increases the density of minefields along the state border in Belgorod region. In the area of responsibility of the Khortytsia operational and strategic grouping of troops in the Kupyansk sector, the enemy conducted assault operations in the vicinity of Sinkivka, east of Petropavlivka and Ivanivka in Kharkiv region, where the Defense Forces repelled 7 attacks. ADVERTISIMENT In the Lyman sector, the enemy did not conduct any offensive (assault) actions. In the Bakhmut sector, the enemy conducted assault operations in the areas of Klishchiyivka and Andriivka, Donetsk region, where our defenders repelled 11 attacks. Ukrainian defense forces continue assault operations south of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the enemy, and consolidating their positions. In the area of responsibility of the Tavria operational and strategic group of troops in the Avdiivka sector, the occupants are making no attempts to encircle Avdiivka. Our soldiers are steadfastly holding the line, inflicting significant losses on the enemy. The enemy's offensive east of Novokalynove, Novobakhmutivka, Severne and Avdiivka in Donetsk region was unsuccessful, where the Defense Forces repelled 12 attacks. ADVERTISIMENT In the Maryinka sector, the enemy conducted unsuccessful assault operations in the areas of Krasnohorivka, Maryinka and Pobeda in the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian troops repelled 16 attacks. In the Shakhtarsk sector, the invaders conducted an assault near Staromayorsk, Donetsk region, but were unsuccessful. In the Zaporizhzhia sector, the enemy did not conduct any offensive (assault) operations. At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to conduct an offensive operation in the Melitopol sector, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupation forces, and depleting the enemy along the entire front line. ADVERTISIMENT In the area of responsibility of the Odesa operational and strategic grouping of troops in the Kherson sector, the Defense Forces hold their positions on the left bank of the Dnipro, continue to conduct counter-battery combat, and inflict fire on the enemy's rear. During the day, the aviation of the Defense Forces carried out 2 strikes on the areas of concentration of enemy personnel. Rocket troops hit 2 areas of concentration of personnel, weapons and military equipment, as well as 3 ammunition depots. As a reminder, the Ukrainian Defense Forces and the Russian occupation forces continue fighting on the eastern and southern frontlines despite the rainy weather. However, it is likely that the pace of hostilities on both sides will slow down until winter conditions fully set it. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier it was reported that over the past two weeks, Ukrainian defenders have hit at least 20 important Russian army facilities in the temporarily occupied territories of our country. In particular, 16 enemy bases and headquarters and six of their weapons depots were destroyed. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has arrived in the Ukrainian capital on an official visit. The Pentagon chief said he came to Kyiv to deliver an important message. ADVERTISIMENT Austin noted that he would hold meetings with the country's leadership. He made the announcement on social network X, formerly known as Twitter. The head of the US defense department noted that during the talks with representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, he intends to assure that the United States will continue to support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian occupiers. Austin also emphasized that US support will continue in the future. "I have just arrived in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian leaders. I am here today to deliver an important message - the United States will continue to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom against Russian aggression, now and in the future," Austin said. The Pentagon chief was met in the Ukrainian capital by US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink. The U.S. Defense Department said that during his visit to Ukraine, Austin will emphasize the United States' continued commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression and will discuss a long-term vision for Ukraine's future forces. ADVERTISIMENT The Pentagon also noted that during his visit, Austin will hold high-level talks with Ukraine's leadership. The discussions will focus on further strengthening the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, including providing Ukraine's armed forces with the combat capabilities they need to survive the winter and defend their country against future Russian threats. As a reminder, leaders of the US Congress hope to agree on an additional aid package for Ukraine and Israel by the end of the year. The Republican-led House of Representatives has already passed a bill to help Israel, but it does not include humanitarian aid. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden explained why Washington's assistance to Kyiv is so important. Firstly, this support is an investment in the US's own security, and secondly, it allows US troops not to be directly involved in this war in Europe. As reported by OBOZ.UA, on November 16, US President Joe Biden signed a bill on temporary government funding that will avoid the so-called shutdown - the shutdown of the federal government. This document does not specify spending to support Ukraine and Israel. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Abbas Ganbay Major General Mihran Poghosyan, the former head of Armenia's Forced Executive Service, has been detained in Moscow, according to local media outlets, Azernews reports. It was noted that the wanted Armenian general was detained yesterday. It is planned to extradite Poghosyan from Russia in the near future. Mihran Poghosyan is charged under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of Armenia, including abuse of office and tax evasion. In addition, the Armenian general said in May that tonnes of drugs were stored in a warehouse in Armenia. It was after this statement that Poghosyan was searched. NATO members Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria are about to sign an agreement to create a joint force to clear their parts of the Black Sea of mines laid by the aggressor country Russia. A meeting of the three countries' defense ministries will be held in Ankara on November 22. ADVERTISIMENT Bloomberg writes about this, citing information from three sources familiar with the matter. According to them, the deputy ministers in Ankara aim to finalize the details of the creation of such a demining unit. According to one of the interlocutors, it is not yet known whether a final agreement will also be signed after this two-day meeting in Turkey. So far, the ministries of defense of Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria have not commented on this. The publication noted that this meeting will take place only a few days after Turkish Navy Chief Admiral Ercument Tatlioglu expressed his objection to the presence of naval assets of other NATO allies, including the United States, in the Black Sea, saying that they could increase tensions in the region. At the same time, it is noted that if an agreement is reached on the creation of such a demining unit, it will be the first major joint action by the Alliance's allies after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA: Recently, a grain ship flying the Liberian flag exploded on a sea mine near the port of Pivdennyi in Odesa region. The bulk carrier, which was transporting grain, was damaged. A sea mine exploded in the village of Sychavka in Odesa region. The explosion damaged recreation centers on the seashore. Also, in the village of Vapnyarka, Odesa district, Odesa region, storm waves brought a mine to the shore. After a while, it detonated, damaging a house on the coast. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Ukraine needs external security guarantees, the most effective of which is joining NATO. After the war, our country wants to take its rightful place in the new architecture of European and global security, in the transformation of the world order. ADVERTISIMENT These were the words of Oleksii Danylov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, who addressed international partners at the International Security Forum in Halifax, Canada. An episode of the official's speech was published by the NSDC press service. "At the same time, Kyiv is able to play the role of a responsible participant, a contributor (not a consumer), a reliable partner within the civilized world based on rules and democratic values. Ukraine should become a shining example of a high-tech country," Danilov said. He is convinced that Ukraine's financial and socio-economic survival in 2024-2025 requires international and domestic mobilization of political elites. The Ukrainian government has stepped up its fight against corruption, efforts to create a favorable business climate, and military risk insurance. ADVERTISIMENT "As a result, despite the war, Ukraine is already the subject of economic and investment interest from companies around the world. For example, the United States, Germany, Italy, and Turkey are already considering localizing their production facilities, primarily in the defense industry, in Ukraine," the NSDC Secretary summarized. Speaking about Ukraine's accession to the European Union, Danylov pointed out that Kyiv is ready to make a number of compromises for this goal. This implies a radical transformation of our still rather Soviet country. As reported by OBOZ.UA, according to Major General Marchenko, the Ukrainian army has developed standards in the course of a full-scale war that in some areas surpass NATO's armed forces. This applies to both the provision of soldiers' everyday needs and maneuvering during battles, and the Alliance allegedly does not include us in its ranks for other reasons. ADVERTISIMENT "Let politicians answer these questions. On our part, on the part of the military, the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense in general, we have done everything to get us in. And as for the tactical level, other observer states are now coming to us and training with us," the military commander said. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! After the full-scale invasion, the number of women who joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations increased significantly. Thus, as of October 2023, the number of women in the Armed Forces has increased to 62,062, including 43,479 servicewomen. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by the Military Media Center. As noted, in 2014, the total number of women in the Armed Forces was 49,926, of whom 16,557 were servicewomen. "Today, we have the largest number of women on the battlefield in Ukraine in modern world history. They prove themselves not only as good military financiers or doctors, but also as brave servicewomen who faithfully defend their homeland," said Deputy Minister of Defense Natalia Kalmykova. The modern Ukrainian army has eliminated any restrictions related to the appointment and service of women in any positions, including combat positions, in all groups of military specialties. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier it was reported that starting from October 1, 2023, Ukrainian citizens with medical education will have to register for military service at the territorial centers of recruitment and social support. At the same time, there is no question of forced mobilization of women. Earlier, OBOZ.UA talked about how men without military experience are mobilized and what changes will take place in the draft from October 1, 2023. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Ukrainian defenders continue to bring the victory over Russian aggression closer. At the frontline, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are actively destroying the enemy and its equipment. ADVERTISIMENT Recently, in Kherson region, Ukrainian soldiers destroyed an enemy Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile system. The cost of this system is $15 million. The corresponding video was published on the Telegram channel of the Defense Forces of South of Ukraine. "The occupiers in Kherson region were left without a protective shell... Our soldiers have uncompromisingly "mined" the Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile system! The weaker the enemy's defense, the more powerful the pressure of our soldiers," the footage is captioned. The video shows how the Ukrainian Armed Forces are aiming at the target and hitting it accurately. As a result, nothing but smoke remains of the installation. Earlier, the occupiers also lost another anti-aircraft missile and gun system. The new Pantsir-S1, which was in service with the Russian Armed Forces, was seized by the Ukrainian terrorist defense. ADVERTISIMENT It should be noted that Pantsir-S1 is a Russian self-propelled ground-based anti-aircraft missile and gun system. It was developed by the Tula-based Design Bureau of Instrumentation. The SAM is designed to provide close cover for civilian and military targets (including long-range air defense systems) against all modern and advanced air attack weapons. It can also protect the object from ground and surface threats. As reported by OBOZ.UA, one Pantsir-S1 was captured by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kherson region. Another such complex was "squeezed out" by the terrorist defense fighters of Bashtanka in Mykolaiv region. In total, a convoy of enemy vehicles was captured there. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The Israeli military is preparing to launch a fiercer and more complex phase of the war in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel's plan is likely to resemble the offensive in the north of the enclave, but will be complicated by the large number of civilians in the area. ADVERTISIMENT The Wall Street Journal wrote that the IDF is "preparing to launch a hunt for Hamas militants" in the densely populated south of the Gaza Strip. The goal of the Israeli Defense Forces is to destroy terrorists and return hostages. The WSJ, citing senior Israeli officers and analysts, said that the IDF had largely succeeded in taking control of the northern part of the enclave, but that Hamas's military capabilities had been only partially destroyed, and many of the militant leaders had not yet been neutralized. Many of them have fled to the south, where they have taken refuge in densely populated cities or underground tunnels. The Israeli military will have to move the fighting there, experts say. Hamas leaders will use hostages as a bargaining chip. They also want to stop the fighting, at least temporarily, the article says. ADVERTISIMENT As OBOZ.UA previously reported: - As of November 19, at least 48 journalists and media workers were killed during the war between Israel and Hamas militants, including 43 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese. Another nine media workers were injured, three are missing, and 13 have been arrested. - The National Security Committee of the Knesset is planning to submit a bill that provides for the death pen alty for those who have committed terrorist acts. - On November 18, the Israeli Defense Forces announced that it was expanding operations in the Gaza Strip to drive the Hamas terrorist group out of the area. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The United States of America said that there are some results in the negotiations on the release of hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the attack on Israel. The number of disagreements has decreased. ADVERTISIMENT And the negotiations themselves "have reached a very sensitive stage." This was stated by Deputy National Security Advisor John Feiner on November 19, ABC News reported. According to the American official, Washington has been monitoring the situation with the prisoners "every minute for several weeks now." This is a top priority for White House President Joe Biden and his administration. According to Mr. Feiner, progress in the negotiations was made just this weekend. He clarified that the negotiation process is not complete, but the list of some controversial issues has been significantly reduced. As for the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to the White House official, it would not be the right decision, as Hamas intends to continue its attacks on Israel. At the same time, Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Sunday, November 19, also noted that the process of releasing hostages has moved forward, Politico reports. ADVERTISIMENT He personally discussed this issue with the top diplomat of the European Union, Josep Borrell. As you know, Qatar previously mediated the negotiations that resulted in the release of four people - two Israeli citizens and two citizens of the United States of America. According to the prime minister, there are still minor practical issues regarding the release of the remaining hostages. The Israeli military says that Hamas is currently holding 224 people hostage. As reported by OBOZ.UA, Biden said earlier that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Hamas terrorists have one common goal. They seek to wipe out neighboring democracies - Ukraine and Israel, respectively. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! According to the poll, the rating of US President Joe Biden has dropped to the lowest level during his presidency - to 40%. Most respondents said they disapprove of his approach to foreign policy and the war between Israel and Hamas. ADVERTISIMENT The poll was conducted by NBC News. According to the article, 40% of registered voters approve of Biden's job performance, while 57% disapprove. For the first time, Biden is lagging behind former US President Donald Trump in a hypothetical election race. At the same time, journalists noted that the deficit is within the margin of error for an election that is still more than 11 months away. According to archival data cited by the TV channel, the highest level of approval of the current American president's performance was on April 1, 2021 - 51% (disapproval - 43%). In August 2021, both indicators were approximately 50-50, and since then, the level of disapproval has been consistently higher than the level of approval. ADVERTISIMENT As noted, the weakening of Biden's position is most noticeable among Democrats, most of whom believe that Israel has gone too far in its military actions in the Gaza Strip, as well as among voters aged 18 to 34, with 70% of them disapproving of Biden's behavior in the war. "Joe Biden is at an exceptionally low point in his presidency, and the main reason for that, especially in the Biden coalition, has to do with how Americans view his foreign policy actions," said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who led the poll with Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies. McInturff said this is the first time that international affairs unrelated to U.S. troops have changed the American political landscape. ADVERTISIMENT However, Horwitt warned that Biden could bring back disaffected Democrats and young voters. "These are people who have a proven track record of voting for Biden and the Democrats," he said, adding that there is still plenty of time between now and Election Day 2024. As reported by OBOZ.UA, according to the poll, former US President Donald Trump, who intends to run in the 2024 elections, is ahead of the current head of state Joe Biden in five of the six most important states. These are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi reviewed in a meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Dubai on Thursday cooperation between Egypt and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in light of the program to fully implement Egypts economic reforms. Israeli fighter jets pounds Gaza Strip on Friday shortly after a week long truce expired with no agreement to extend it. Abbas Ganbay UK Minister for Europe Leo Docherty will emphasize the UK's unwavering support for the principles of sovereignty and security during his visit to the countries of the South Caucasus, the British Embassy in Azerbaijan said, Azernews reports. In addition, according to the information, Leo Docherty will emphasize the urgent need for direct peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan to achieve a long-term peace settlement and stability. Also during his third visit to the region this year, he will discuss the democratic reform agenda of Armenia and Georgia, and present the UK's experience in helping Azerbaijan transition to renewable energy. "The UK was one of the first countries to support demining in Azerbaijan, providing advanced equipment and conducting demining exercises for local executive bodies," the embassy notes. Leo Docherty, on his visit to Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan starting today, 20 November, will emphasize the UK's increased cooperation and support for peace and stability in the South Caucasus. Ahead of his visit to Yerevan, he noted that the South Caucasus faces serious security challenges, both within countries and from neighbors, which threaten the stability of the region. In an unstable region, the UK is a reliable partner for reform, peace, and stability, the embassy said. 31 premature babies were evacuated from Gaza's main hospital, Al-Shifa on Sunday and will be transferred to Egypt, Palestinian health officials said, as scores of other critically wounded patients remained stranded there days after Israeli forces stormed the compound. The fate of the newborns at Al-Shifa Hospital captured global attention after the release of images showing doctors trying to keep them warm. A power blackout had shut down incubators and other equipment, and food, water and medical supplies ran out as Israeli forces besieged the hospital. A World Health Organization team that visited the hospital on Saturday said 291 patients were still there, including 32 babies in extremely critical condition, trauma patients with severely infected wounds, and others with spinal injuries who are unable to move. Medhat Abbas, a spokesman for the ministry, confirmed the evacuation of 30 babies. The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said it evacuated 31 babies in coordination with U.N. bodies. It said they would be transferred to a hospital run by the United Arab Emirates in the Egyptian city of Rafah. There was no immediate comment from the WHO, and it was not clear if all the babies had been evacuated. Initialy, the WHO said 32 babies remain at the hospital, Underscoring the perils of movement inside the coastal enclave, Doctors Without Borders said a convoy of clearly marked vehicles carrying staff and their families was fired upon in Gaza City on Saturday. A relative of a staff member was killed and another person was injured, the aid group said. About 2,500 displaced people, mobile patients and medical staff were focred to leave Shifa Hospital on Saturday morning, the WHO said. It said 25 medical staff remained, along with the patients. Patients and health staff with whom they spoke were terrified for their safety and health, and pleaded for evacuation, the agency said, describing Shifa as a death zone. Israel has long alleged that Hamas maintains a sprawling command post inside and under Shifa, without providing evidence to support its allegations even after the invasion of the hospital, Hamas and hospital staff deny the allegations, and critics have held up the hospital as a symbol of Israel's reckless endangerment of civilians. About 12,000 have been killed in Israeli strikes, and there are severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel in the besieged territory. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt looks forward to seeing a bigger role played by major international parties like China in halting Israeli attacks on Palestinians, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry said Monday during a meeting in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Shoukry made his remarks as part of a delegation of top foreign policy officials from Arab-Muslim nations, including foreign ministers of Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, alongside the Palestinian Authority and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Secretary-General. The delegation embarked Sunday on a tour to capitals of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members with the aim of mustering support for ending the Gaza war. Egypts top diplomat expressed his dissatisfaction with not calling the Israeli violation by its name. Unfortunately, some parties do not call the blatant Israeli violations and war crimes by their true description, Shoukry added. He urged the UNSC to fulfil its responsibility to protect international legitimacy, saying: That is Chinas position that we know and expect. The ministers stressed the vital role that China plays internationally, as a permanent member and current chair of the UNSC, according to Ahmed Abu Zeid, the ministrys spokesman. Additionally, Shoukry reaffirmed the Egyptian and Arab stance against the displacement of the Palestinians as "a red line" that would "threaten peace, security, and stability in the region and the world." Egypt is making every effort to deliver aid to Gaza through the Rafah Crossing, but Israels policy of obstructing aid entry is systematic to force Palestinians to leave Gaza under the continued bombardment and siege, Shoukry added during the meeting. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, who is heading the delegation, called for an immediate cease-fire and the entry of humanitarian and relief aid to the Gaza Strip, according to AP. There are still dangerous developments ahead of us and an urgent humanitarian crisis that requires an international mobilization to deal with and counter it, he said. This is not Israels first war against the Palestinian people, said Riyad Al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister. However, Israel wants this to be its last war, where it takes full control of the Palestinian peoples presence on what is left of the historical land of Palestine, he added. The delegation also expressed complete rejection of the war waged by Israel "against the concept of the two-state solution and against the mere existence of the Palestinians on the land of the State of Palestine," according to a statement released by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministers chose to start their tour of world capitals in Beijing, a testament to both China's growing geopolitical influence and its longstanding support for the Palestinians, AP said. The delegation is piling pressure on the Western countries, who are supporting Israels war, to reject Israel's justification of its actions against the Palestinians as self-defence, according to Reuters. According to AFP, Chinas foreign minister confirmed at the meeting that Beijing is a good friend and brother of Arab and Muslim countries. "We have always firmly defended the legitimate rights and interests of Arab and Muslim countries, and have always firmly supported the Palestinian people's efforts to restore their legitimate national rights and interests," he said. Wang told the foreign diplomats that their decision to start in Beijing shows their high level of trust in his nation. "China firmly stands with justice and fairness in this conflict, Wang asserted. The delegation is expected in Moscow on Tuesady, as a second step on its mission. They will have a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told state RIA News Agency. Search Keywords: Short link: Jordan Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah II arrived in El-Arish on Monday to oversee preparations for the Jordanian field hospital for southern Gaza, the Jordanian Royal Court announced. According to a royal court statement, Crown Prince Al Hussein arrived at El-Arish International Airport on a Royal Jordanian Air Force military plane carrying hospital staff, medical equipment, and supplies. The field hospital, which will be set up in Khan Younis, was dispatched upon directives by King Abdullah II, said the statement. It comprises various departments, including emergency, internal medicine, intensive care units, and a prematurity department with 41 incubators. It also includes an obstetrics and gynaecology department, a laboratory, a pharmacy, an X-ray room, a sterilization room, and two operation theatres. The 145 staff members include medical and nursing teams from the Royal Medical Jordanian Services and specialists in general, neurology, pulmonology, urology, cosmetic, orthopaedic, pediatric, and maxillofacial surgeries. Before the arrival of the Crown Prince, 40 trucks had arrived at the Rafah border crossing carrying the necessary equipment and medical supplies for preparing the hospital. Since 12 October, 153 planes transporting aid to Gaza have landed at El-Arish International Airport, according to a statement by the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai. The planes transported around 4,000 tons of aid items stored in 7 secure warehouses in El-Arish. North Sinai Governorate reported that El-Arish Airport has recently received planes carrying 247 tons of medical and food relief items. Apart from the Jordanian air force plane, the airport received a plane from Qatar carrying 38.646 tons, two planes from Saudi Arabia carrying 48.454 tons, three planes from Kuwait carrying 96.372 tons, a plane from the UAE carrying 35.75 tons, and a plane from India carrying 30.55 tons. Furthermore, the airport received planes from international relief organizations such as the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the Red Cross, Medecins Sans Frontieres, the European Union, and the United Nations. Several countries have sent aid planes to El-Arish Airport since the beginning of the crisis, including Kuwait, Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Indonesia, France, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bahrain, England, Brazil, Tunisia, Venezuela, India, Kenya, Colombia, Malaysia, Greece, Libya, Turkmenistan, Poland, Denmark, Oman, and Chechnya. Search Keywords: Short link: A 40-truck convoy dispatched on Saturday by Al-Azhars Egyptian Zakat and Charity House is set to arrive at the Rafah border crossing to provide humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip. The convoy is the second of its kind sent by Al-Azhar as part of its Save Gaza campaign to relieve the stifling Israeli siege on the strip. The convoy is loaded with medicines, food supplies, relief items, shelter, and living necessities. The first convoy included 18 trucks loaded with medicines, medical supplies, food, and relief items.. This effort aligns with the continuous support provided by the Arab Republic of Egypt and its historical role in supporting our brothers in Palestine, Al-Azhar said in its statement on Saturday. Egypts Tahya Misr Fund also announced on Saturday that it dispatched a new humanitarian aid convoy to Gaza, consisting of 195 trucks carrying 2,500 tons of aid. The aid includes medical equipment and supplies, dry food, ready-to-eat meals, clothing, blankets, and cleaning and sanitizing products. The trucks also carry medicines for children and infants, baby food and formula, diapers, essential medicines for pregnancy, sanitary napkins for women, and personal care items. Egypt has provided a total of 10,200 tons of aid, while other countries and international organizations have provided 8,800 tons, Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El-Qabbaj said on Thursday. Search Keywords: Short link: Governorates across northern Egypt are preparing for severe weather and heavy rainfall on Sunday by suspending school and halting maritime activities, among other measures. On Sunday, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) said a deepening depression centered over the Mediterranean will lead to a substantial fall in temperature and heavy, thunderous rainfall across the eastern Mediterranean countries, including Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and northern Egypt. Northern Egypt can expect varied intensities of rainfall, potential thunderstorms, a 2-3 degree drop in temperatures, and increased wind. Meanwhile, wave height is expected to reach up to five metres in the Mediterranean Sea. Moderate to heavy rainfall and thunderstorms are expected in Alamein, Dabaa, Alexandria, the north of Beheira governorate, and Kafr El-Sheikh. Starting Sunday afternoon, the same weather conditions will extend to north of Dakahlia governorate, Domyat, and Port Said. Moderate rainfall with thunder is also expected in Salloum and parts of Matrouh, south of Beheira, Daqahliya, Gharbiya, Sharqiya, and Menoufiya governorates. Overnight, moderate rainfall will reach Cairo, Giza, Qalioubiya, and Ismailia. Meanwhile, light rain will reach Fayoum, Beni Suef, South Sinai, and the Suez coast. The EMA cautioned residents and authorities to exercise caution and take necessary precautions to stay safe. Governorates' readiness According to a separate statement, Minister of Local Development Hisham Amin instructed governorates to be ready for adverse weather conditions. Alexandria and Matrouh governorates suspended both government and private schools as well as Al-Azhar institutes on Sunday. Alexandria urged citizens to avoid driving when possible to allow stormwater drainage vehicles to navigate easily. They also urged motorists to exercise caution when driving and not to exceed 60 km/h. The governorate also warned against standing under old, deteriorating balconies or parking vehicles under trees, lest they fall. Elsewhere, Matrouh Governor Khaled Shoaib directed ports to bar boats from leaving and beaches to cut electricity for ongoing construction for safety reasons. In Kafr El-Sheikh, Governor Gamal Nour Eldin suspended navigation and fishing in the Mediterranean Sea waters until conditions improve. Search Keywords: Short link: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday to reassure Ukraine that Washington will continue supporting its fight against invading Russian forces. The United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in security aid for Ukraine and repeatedly pledged to back Kyiv for "as long as it takes," but opposition from hardline Republican lawmakers has raised doubts about the future of American assistance. Austin "travelled to Ukraine today to meet with Ukrainian leaders and reinforce the staunch support of the United States for Ukraine's fight for freedom," the Pentagon said in a statement on the trip, which was not previously announced due to security concerns. "He will also underscore the continued US commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression," it said. The trip to Kyiv is the Pentagon chief's second since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Washington is by far the biggest donor of military assistance to Kyiv, and a cut to American aid would be a major blow to Ukraine as it readies for the second winter of the war. Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged lawmakers during a hearing in October to sustain support for Ukraine, with the US defence chief saying that "without our support, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will be successful." 'Smaller' aid packages But some Republican lawmakers oppose continued aid, and new support for Ukraine was left out of a temporary deal passed by Congress last week to avert a US government shutdown. Despite this, a senior US defence official told journalists that "we continue to believe that Congress will provide that support, and we are planning based on that conviction." US assistance has not been halted and there is still previously authorised aid to draw on. But Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said earlier this month that assistance packages "have been getting smaller because we have had to meter out our support for Ukraine." In addition to domestic US political opposition to continued aid, the devastating conflict in Gaza -- and the spike in attacks on American forces in the Middle East that accompanied it -- has drawn international attention away from Ukraine. However, the United States insists that it can provide assistance to both countries. "On the issue of whether there is a competition or trade-off between US support for Ukraine's defence of its country and Israel's defence of its people, there is not," the senior US defence official said. "There is some overlap but where there is overlap in certain kinds of ammunition ... there is no reduction in the provision of capabilities to Ukraine," the official added. The United States has spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging a coalition to back Kyiv after Russia invaded and coordinating aid from dozens of countries. Ukraine's supporters have also provided training to Kyiv's troops, while the United States and other countries imposed tough sanctions on Russia, with targets including financial institutions, technology imports and energy exports. Search Keywords: Short link: Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly witnessed the launch of a high-level roundtable organized by the Ministry of International Cooperation to mark one year of the Nexus on Water, Food and Energy (NWFE) program. Ministers of Electricity, Renewable Energy, Environment, Agriculture, Transport, Water Resources and Irrigation joined with the Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) to discuss progress on the NWFE program, according to a statement on Sunday. Attendees included the heads of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and African Development Bank, as well as the EU, World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), USAID and representatives from Germany, France, US, Denmark, Canada, Switzerland and the UK. In collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, alongside other partners and relevant national authorities, significant milestones have been achieved, including the identification of two stations among the twelve for decommissioning, part of a broader plan to phase out 5 gigawatts of thermal stations. Additionally, grants totalling $40 million have been secured to bolster this initiative, said Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation. The minister added that agreements for a renewable generation capacity of 3.7 gigawatts, out of a 10-gigawatt target, were successfully secured with private sector involvement. The event reviewed aspects of the NWFE and launched the first follow-up report on linking water, food and energy initiatives. The NWFE programme includes nine projects with investments of $14.7 billion. Among these is an energy megaproject to replace conventional power stations with facilities fuelled by renewable energy at a cost of $10 billion. Over the past year, Egypt signed many MoUs with various international entities to attract foreign investment in green hydrogen and to become a hub for hydrogen production. In June, the Egyptian government updated its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which included setting more ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets and securing the needed finances. Search Keywords: Short link: Abbas Ganbay Armenia has asked its partners in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) to withdraw the document on assistance to it from the agenda, according to CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov at a meeting with the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on November 20, Azernews reports. It was noted that Belarus has implemented 32 out of 34 priority areas of the CSTO Council. The Secretary-General added that it failed to implement 2 measures. "One of them is related to the assistance of the CSTO Council to Armenia. Although other allies supported this decision, the Armenian side did not show interest in this document. Besides, at the end of the case, he asked to remove this issue from the agenda," the official added. Emirates NBD Egypt, a subsidiary of Emirates NBD, announced on Monday the signing of a 30 million ($32.8 million) medium-term loan agreement with Hayat Egypt for Hygienic Products, a subsidiary of Turkish Hayat company, to establish a tissue plant in Ain Sokhna, with an estimated investment of $70 million. The factory is expected to contribute approximately $80 million to Egypt's exports while creating 80 new direct employment opportunities. By providing financing to hygienic product manufacturers and supporting the expansion of local manufacturing capabilities, the bank actively contributes to the growth of the Egyptian economy and reinforces its commitment to Egypt Vision 2030, said Amr El-Shafei, managing director and CEO of Emirates NBD-Egypt. Emirates NBD-Egypt's strategic growth plan centres on expanding its market share within Egypt's banking sector and establishing a robust presence in the Egyptian market, read the banks statement. Senol Keserlioglu, general manager of Hayat Egypt, expressed the company's dedication to transforming Egypt into a hub for Hayat's regional exports. Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the GCC region and the UAE, made its entry into the Egyptian market in June 2013 through the acquisition of BNP Paribas Egypt in a deal worth $500 million. Currently, Hayat Egypt owns and operates five factories in the country, employing 1,500 people and representing a total investment of $550 million. Hayat Holding, the parent company, has an extensive presence with units in 13 countries. Egypt has become an attractive destination for Turkish companies, with 790 currently operating in the country. These companies have invested $2.5 billion locally, according to Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait. Moreover, top business executives revealed plans for Turkish ready-made clothes and textiles companies to open new factories and stores in Egypt in the near future during a meeting with Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir in October. This influx of Turkish investment aligns with Egypts objective of attracting more foreign investments and increasing the private sector's role in the economy from the current 30 percent to an ambitious 65 percent in the coming years. This warming of economic relations between both countries represents a significant shift from the political tensions that characterized their interactions between 2013 and recent years. Earlier this year, Egypt and Turkey expressed their intention to further develop trade exchange and encourage Turkish investments in Egypt. Trade between the two countries rose by 14 percent to $7.7 billion in 2022, up from $6.7 billion in 2022, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in March. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt and Saudi Arabia are considering the use of local currencies in trade exchange, said Yehia El-Watheq Bellah, head of the Egyptian Commercial Service (ECS). The central banks of the two countries will discuss the proposal, he added. In an interview with Asharq Business, he noted that studying the proposal could end next year. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are preparing to sign agreements worth $1.5 billion at the upcoming Egyptian-Saudi Business Forum scheduled in Cairo on 20 November, Turki Al-Hokair, a member of the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council said on Saturday. Trade exchange between the two countries surged by 23 percent to $5.655 billion in 2022, up from $4.572 billion in 2021, said Egyptian Minister of Trade Ahmed Samir. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are both new members of the BRICS bloc, which allows conducting trade in local currencies and sealing debt swap agreements. In October, the ECS head announced that Egypt and Turkey, which is not a BRICS member, are probing a similar proposal. Search Keywords: Short link: The Ministry of International Cooperation held a high-level roundtable of the Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE) program on the first anniversary of the NWFE program. The NWFE program includes nine priority projects in the water, food, and energy sectors selected from the National Climate Change Strategy 2050. Sustainable transportation projects were later added to the program, transforming it into the NWFE+ program. The NWFE+ thus came to light with the participation of national authorities and relevant parties. The program aims to mobilize investments worth $14.7 billion to implement nine projects in mitigation and adaptation to climate change in the water, food, and energy sectors. Here is a breakdown of what the program has achieved in a year in its fifth pillar: 1- Water Targets: To implement a water desalination project using renewable energy. To expand irrigation systems with solar energy (scaling up solar pumping for irrigation). To secure advisory and technical support for feasibility studies from AfDB (African Development Bank) and the Arab Fund. Achievements: The program obtained advisory and technical assistance for water desalination and solar pumping projects from AfDB and the Arab Fund. 2- Food Pillar Targets: To stimulate private sector involvement in agriculture and irrigation projects. To complete technical designs for the following projects: - Climate Resilient Agri-Food Transformation (CRAFT) - Climate Resilient on Farm Water in the Nile Valley (CROWN) - Adaptation projects supported by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), World Bank, EU, and EIB (European Investment Bank). Achievements: The program completed the technical qualifications for the mentioned projects and p rovided technical support in cooperation with development partners. 3- Energy Pillar: Targets: To shut down 5 GWs of ineffective power generation capacity. To Install 10 GWs of new renewable energy capacity. To strengthen national grid infrastructure. To increase renewable energy percentage to 42 percent by 2030 (debt swap agreement signed). Achievements: The program: Identified stations for shutdown and secured grants for the process. Signed agreements for 3.7 GWs of renewable energy capacity and reached financial closure with development partner funds. Received 314 million in financing for national grid investments. Signed a 54 million debt swap agreement for network strengthening. 4- Transport Pillar: Targets: To extend Cairo Metro Line 1 from El-Marg to Shibin Al-Qanatir, adding 12 stations and 19 kilometres to the line. To transform Alexandria Abu Qir railways into an eclectic subway project. To develop the Tanta-Damietta railway line. To establish the Robeiky - 10th of Ramadan and the 10th of Ramadan - Belbeis railway lines. Achievements : The program: Conducted detailed studies of the Abu Qir metro and secured grants for technical support. Abu Qir metro and secured grants for technical support. Discussed funding the Robeiky-Belbeis Line with financing institutions. Signed agreements and started executing the Tanta-Damietta railway line. Search Keywords: Short link: Inshallah A Boy, the highly successful Jordanian film, won the Director's Debut Award at Camerimage Film Festival (11-18 November) in Poland. The film is Jordan's nomination for the 2024 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Directed by Amjad Al-Rasheed, Inshallah A Boy (Inshallah Walad) had its international premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival where it scored the Gan Foundation Award and the Rail D'Or Award for Best Feature Film. The film also won Best Performance at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Best Actress at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, and Best Screenplay for a Narrative Feature Award at the Mystic Film Festival. The 1hr 51min drama tells the story of Nawal, who, after the death of her husband, has to save her daughter and home in a society with inheritance discrimination. It is a film about "Jordan's inheritance culture under which women are pressured to relinquish their rights to property to male relatives," reads the film's brief. A Jordanian director and writer born in 1985, Al-Rasheed holds an MFA in cinematic arts with a focus on directing and editing. In 2016, he was selected by Screen International as one of five Arab Stars of Tomorrow a list highlighting the up-and-coming young talents of the region. He also attended the Talent Campus during the 57th Berlinale, after which he directed short films that garnered nominations and won prizes at various Arab and international film festivals. His filmography includes The Parrot a short film he co-directed in 2016 that was funded by the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, as well as Hit the Road (2011) and Bitter Days (2010). Search Keywords: Short link: Top foreign policy officials from the Palestinian Authority and four Muslim-majority countries will visit China on Monday and Tuesday, Beijing announced, as the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza claims thousands of civilian lives. The visiting delegation is set to include the foreign ministers of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West Bank, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia, as well as the secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. "During the visit, China will have in-depth communication and coordination with the joint delegation of foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries to promote a de-escalation of the current war in Gaza, protecting civilians, and justly resolving the Palestinian issue," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a statement on Sunday. Israel has vowed to destroy Gaza's rulers Hamas over the October 7 offensive, the worst-ever onslaught on the country. In Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said 13000 people have been killed in Israel's relentless aerial bombardment and ground operations. The ministry added that more than 5,500 children were among the dead, alongside 3,500 women, with 30,000 more people wounded. Following the outbreak of the war last month, Chinese officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi, have called for an immediate ceasefire and a "cooling down" of the situation. China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinians and supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Last month, Wang spoke with the Palestinian Authority's foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki, telling him Beijing "deeply expresses its sympathy with the Palestinian side". The PA was meant to be a first step towards an independent Palestinian state. But it has little authority over the occupied West Bank and none over Gaza, where it was violently ousted by Hamas in 2007. The delegation is set to arrive in China days after US President Joe Biden argued that the coastal territory of Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank should come under a single "revitalised" administration. "As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalised Palestinian Authority," he wrote in the Washington Post. Qatar has helped broker talks aiming to free some of the 240 captives held by Hamas in return for a temporary ceasefire, an effort that has so far led to the release of four captives. The White House has denied a Washington Post report of a tentative agreement. Qatar later said the deal hinges on "minor" practical issues, but did not provide details or a timeline. Playing peacemaker China has criticised US support for Israel and denounced the veto of a UN Security Council resolution by the United States, which wanted a call for Israel's right to defend itself. Beijing's diplomatic presence in the Middle East has grown in recent years, as it makes efforts to play peacemaker in a range of longstanding regional disputes. This year, China brokered a deal that saw longtime rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran agree to restore ties and reopen their respective embassies. Washington has said it hopes China's relationship with Hamas-backer Iran could help calm the conflict, particularly after Beijing's role in the detente between Tehran and Riyadh. * This story was edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: The Israeli army warned residents of Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp, and a nearby coastal camp to evacuate. More than 80 were killed in twin strikes on school-shelters on Saturday. 23:10 The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which helped arrange the release of four Israeli hostages held by Hamas, has met with the militant groups supreme leader Ismail Haniyeh. Mirjana Spoljaric traveled Monday to Qatar and met with the Hamas leader as part of the ICRCs efforts to ensure respect for international humanitarian law. ICRC has repeatedly called for the release of hostages and has been seeking access for its teams to visit hostages and deliver medication, as well as to help the captives communicate with their families. Spoljaric has met with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and relatives of some hostages in recent weeks at ICRCs Geneva headquarters. 22:00 The French Embassy in Cairo announced on Monday that an 11-ton shipment of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip arrived at El-Arish airport. The aid, which includes medicines, equipment, and emergency medical supplies, is intended to treat approximately 1000 seriously injured individuals, equivalent to two mobile health units. Arrivee du fret humanitaire d'urgence de 11T en #Egypte, au profit des Palestiniens de la bande de #Gaza. Il comprend : medicaments equipements materiel medical durgence permettant de traiter jusqua 1000 blesses graves, correspondant a 2 postes sanitaires mobiles. pic.twitter.com/3bREQLI0RQ France en Egypte (@FranceenEgypte) November 20, 2023 21:10 The World Health Organization warned that health services in Gaza had suffered catastrophic damage, with most hospitals no longer functioning. We now have 1.7 million people displaced so we have twice or three times the population (in the south of Gaza), using one-third of the hospital beds in less than a third of the hospitals available, Michael Ryan, executive director of WHOs Health Emergencies Programme, told a United Nations briefing, speaking from Geneva. Even if tomorrow morning, this were to end in terms of a ceasefire, we still have a huge problem on our hands. Ryan said the services in the territory were already unable to provide care for more complex medical cases including care for most cancer and kidney dialysis patients and would likely be overwhelmed by some 5,500 births expected in the next month. Plans by the Israeli military to push further south, he said, would worsen health conditions even further. The hospital situation the primary health care system situation in Gaza is catastrophic and it is the worst you can imagine (in the) north," Ryan said. 20:35 Israeli shelling hit the home of a Lebanese legislator from a political party allied with Hezbollah on Monday. No one was hurt. Kabalan Kabalan, a senior official of the Shiite Muslim Amal group of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, told The Associated Press he was not at home when the shelling hit the border village of Mais al-Jabal. Tension has been rising along the Lebanon-Israel border since the outbreak of the war on 7 October. More than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the ensuing Israeli bombardment, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Lebanons militant Hezbollah group has been attacking Israeli posts along the border since last month, and attacks have intensified in recent days. The shelling of Mais al-Jabal came hours after Hezbollah fighters fired two heavy Burkan rockets at an Israeli post along the border, causing heavy damage. Hezbollah also said that it attacked an Israeli post with three suicide drones near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. Israeli airstrikes and shelling struck several areas along the Lebanese side of the border. The Israeli military said 25 shells were fired from Lebanon, with some intercepted and others falling in an open area. 19:30 US President Joe Biden said Monday he believes a deal to free captives in Gaza is close, as hopes grew for a Qatari-mediated accord to release some captives in exchange for a pause in fighting. "I believe so," Biden said, before holding up crossed fingers, when asked whether a deal was near during a Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House. 19:00 Gaza's government said Monday the death toll in the Palestinian territory had passed 13,300 since the Israeli war on Gaza began on October 7. The government said more than 5,600 children were among the dead, alongside 3,550 women, with another 31,000 people wounded. 17:20 The president of Cyprus says his country is ready to begin shipping significant quantities of humanitarian aid to Gaza using shallow-draft vessels able to reach Gazan shores once conditions on the ground allow it. President Nikos Christodoulides said Cyprus initiative for a maritime corridor to Gaza from the Cypriot port of Larnaca, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) away, is the only one currently being discussed on an international level as a feasible way to supplement the trickle of assistance reaching Gaza's Palestinian population through Egypts Rafah checkpoint. He said in an interview Monday that planning for the aid link is essentially completed and assistance can begin to flow when a pause in fighting is declared. Christodoulides, who has been in regular contact with the Israeli government about the plan, said getting a go-ahead for the start of the aid shipments is a complicated matter involving Israeli military operations in Gaza and intricate negotiations over the captives being held by Hamas. He said a key Israeli sensitivity about the security of the shipments has been addressed through an invitation to officials from Israel, the US, and European countries to join Cypriot agents in vetting all aid earmarked for Gaza so nothing reaches the territory that could be weaponized by Hamas. 15:30 Japan has been "directly approaching" Yemens Houthi rebels in a bid to secure the release of the Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship that was hijacked in the Red Sea on Sunday. Tokyo said it is also "communicating with Israel" as it seeks to secure the release of the ship, owned by Israeli businessman Abraham Rami Ungar and operated by a Japanese firm Nippon Yusen. The Yemeni rebel group attacked the vessel while it was en route to India from Turkey in response, it said, to the heinous acts being committed by Israel in Gaza. Following the attack, Houthi Military Spokesperson Yahya Saree posted on X: "If the international community is concerned about regional security and stability, rather than expanding the conflict, it should put an end to Israels aggression against Gaza." The commander of the Houthis coastal defence brigade issued a stern warning on Monday regarding "any foreign intervention in Yemen's territorial waters or its islands." He emphasized, on Yemen TV, their "possession of suitable weapons and missiles to address and counteract any potential developments." "Israeli ships are legitimate targets," the headline of the Yemini newspaper "26 September" read in today's edition. 15:26 Senior American president adviser Amos Hochstein arrived in Israel on Monday for talks with senior Israeli officials on preventing a war between Israel and Lebanon, two US and Israeli officials told Axios. US officials say there is growing anxiety in the White House that Israeli military action in Lebanon is exacerbating tensions along the border, which could lead to a regional war. Some in the Biden administration are concerned Israel is trying to provoke Hezbollah and create a pretext for a wider war in Lebanon that could draw the U.S. and other countries further into the conflict. Israeli officials outrightly deny this, Axios reports. 15:15 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will host a meeting in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Gaza with foreign ministers from members of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told state RIA News Agency. Arab and Muslim ministers called on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as their delegation visited Beijing on the first leg of a tour to push for an end to hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid into the devastated Palestinian territory. The delegation is set to meet officials representing each of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. 14:15 At least four people were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a residential home in Rafah, southern Gaza, Palestinian media reported. 13:35 Palestinian officials said a field hospital sent by Jordan entered Gaza on Monday, the first since the Israeli war on the strip erupted. "The hospital will be established in Khan Younis, to receive the wounded and the sick, under catastrophic conditions which southern hospitals are experiencing, with the influx of hundreds of wounded each day and continued aggressive aerial and artillery strikes," said Mohammed Zaqout, director-general of Gaza hospitals. Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II arrived at Al-Arish Airport onboard a Jordanian military plane, accompanied by medical personnel who will staff the field hospital, Al-Qahera News reported. The Jordanian Al-Mamlaka channel said that 40 trucks carrying hospital equipment have arrived in the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing in Egypt, noting that the setup process will take 48 hours. | .. .# # #_ #_ #_ pic.twitter.com/2pKXkXyRnw (@AlMamlakaTV) November 20, 2023 13:30 45 days into the war, approximately 1.7 million individuals, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of Gaza's population, have been displaced. Around 900,000 people are seeking refuge in overcrowded UN-operated shelters, while hundreds of thousands are left homeless, living on the streets, as reported by the United Nations. 13:24 Indonesia Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi on Monday condemned Israels attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza. The attack is a clear violation of international humanitarian laws. All countries, especially those that have close relations with Israel, must use all their influence and capabilities to urge Israel to stop its atrocities, Reuters reported she said in a statement. 13:15 Al-Qahera news is airing footage of the arrival of 29 Palestinian premature babies at the Rafah border crossing for treatment in Egypt. An initial 31 babies were reported evacuated from Al-Shifa and it was not immediately clear why only 29 arrived in Egypt. : 29 #_#___#__ pic.twitter.com/KrTZz3Eezy AlQahera News (@Alqaheranewstv) November 20, 2023 12:50 The director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza said that in three days, about 600 people have been killed inside the Indonesian Hospital. There are 700 injured and more than 2,000 displaced people inside the hospital. Palestinian health officials say "Israel is repeating the Al-Shifa Hospital scenario in the Indonesian Hospital." 12:33 The Israeli occupation army announces the death of two more soldiers, raising the total number of casualties to 67. 12:13 The Palestine Red Crescent said the ambulance teams departed from the Emirati field hospital in Rafah to transport 28 premature Palestinian infants to the Rafah Crossing, in preparation for their transfer to receive medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals. Egyptian Minister of Health and Population, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, said that the newborns will be treated at Al-Arish General Hospital and other hospitals in Cairo. A UN team, led by the WHO managed to evacuate 31 premature babies from Al-Shifa hospital on Sunday. But health officials say they are in extremely critical condition. They had dehydration, hypothermia, and sepsis in some cases, Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals said. 11:00 Lebanese Hezbollah group announces that it targeted an Israeli military base using the Burkanrocket, in Western Galilee along the borders between the two countries. The Israeli army responded with artillery fire to the sources of the launch. The frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen daily exchanges of fire since 7 October. At least 90 people have been killed on the Lebanese side in cross-border skirmishes since last month, including at least 10 civilians, according to an AFP tally. Six soldiers and three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, according to authorities there. 10:50 Iran dismissed as "invalid" Israel's claims that Yemen's Houthi rebels were acting on Tehran's "guidance" when they seized a Red Sea ship owned by an Israeli businessman. "We have repeatedly announced that the resistance groups in the region represent their countries and make decisions and act based on the interests of their countries," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said. On Sunday, the Houthi group in Yemen seized the Galaxy Leadership, days after they threatened to target Israeli vessels in the waterway over Israel's war on Gaza. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the ship "was hijacked with Iran's guidance." 10:40 At least 70 people have died at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip following a nearby Israeli airstrike, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said. Dozens of patients, including children and adolescents, had to be treated for "severe burns" at the Nasser medical complex, the organization said late Sunday, citing its staff at the hospital. The strike in the city of Khan Younis took place 1 kilometer away from the hospital, the group said. A total of 122 patients arrived at the hospital in the immediate aftermath. "The hospital is overflowing," Doctors Without Borders said. By midday Sunday, the hospital had reported that nearly 50 people had died. A photographer told DPA there were rows of body bags. 10:38 The UNRWA says that the Palestinians in Gaza have "nowhere to go for safety" and they are all exposed to the threat of fighting and particularly Israeli strikes. The UN agency added that "the situation in shelters is unliveable. People have no options," as heavy rain is falling across the strip. .. pic.twitter.com/l5hlbziUON (@AJA_Egypt) November 20, 2023 9:17 A Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli occupation soldiers near Arroub refugee camp, northwest of Hebron in the West Bank. According to reports from local sources and Palestinian security, the soldiers opened fire on a vehicle carrying two individuals, killing Mohammad Adel Sarahin, a 21-year-old from Beit Ola, northwest of Hebron. The soldiers prevented ambulances from approaching Sarahin, leaving him injured and bleeding until he passed away. They then handed over his body to the Red Crescent. Amid the world's focus on Gaza, the Israeli war has spilled into the West Bank with an unprecedented surge of attacks by the Israeli army and settlers, according to the United Nations. During the six weeks of the war, Israeli security forces and settlers killed 206 Palestinians. Even before the Gaza war, 2023 had already been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in over two decades, with 250 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire. The Israeli occupation forces also detained today around 50 Palestinians in raids at their homes, most of them from the city of Hebron, including Gazan workers who were in the West Bank, WAFA news agency reported. 9:15 "Some parties do not call the blatant Israeli violations and war crimes by their true description," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said from Beijing. "It is unfortunate to see some major countries giving a cover to the current Israeli attacks," he added during his meeting with his Chinese counterpart. Shoukry is part of the ministerial committee formed out of the Arab-Islamic Summit that met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing early in the morning. He said: We look forward to a bigger role by important international parties like China to halt the attacks against Palestinians in Gaza." "Egypt is exerting every effort to deliver aid to Gaza through the Rafah Crossing, but Israels policy of obstructing aid entry is systematic," Shoukry explained, saying that Israel "aims at pushing Palestinians to leave Gaza under the continued bombing and siege." 9:05 The health ministry in Gaza said Monday that 12 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in northern Gaza. Twelve people, including wounded patients and companions, "were killed and dozens wounded as a result of the Israeli occupation targeting the Indonesian Hospital," said ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra. The Palestinian news agency Wafa said the facility in the northeast Gaza town of Beit Lahiya had been hit by artillery fire. Israel is persistently targeting hospitals across Gaza, following its invasion and forced the evacuation of patients, staff, and individuals seeking shelter from the conflict, a humanitarian assessment team led by the World Health Organization (WHO) visited Al-Shifa Hospital and described the situation there as a "death zone." The territorys largest health facility is being evacuated at gunpoint after being under siege for several days with 7,000 people inside. The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA has reported the collapse of services at hospitals across northern Gaza following widespread air strikes and the lack of fuel and medical supplies. Marwan Abdallah, a medical worker at the Indonesian Hospital, said Israeli tanks were visible from the windows. You can see them moving around and firing, he said. Women and children are terrified. There are constant sounds of explosions and gunfire. "We are under gunfire at the Indonesian Hospital and trapped inside. Israeli tanks are positioned near the main hospital gate and around the Kidney Dialysis Center," reported Journalist Anas Al-Sharif of Al Jazeera from inside the Indonesian Hospital. "The situation is extremely dire, and medical teams are no longer able to provide any services to patients and the wounded," he said. # #_ pic.twitter.com/sB18wyWwNl (@AJArabic) November 20, 2023 Search Keywords: Short link: The body of a crew member on a Turkish-flagged ship was found on Monday after contact was lost with the vessel in a storm off the country's northern coast, authorities in Turkiye said, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. Contact with the Kafkametler, a cargo ship with 12 Turkish crew members, was lost while it was in the southern Black Sea on Sunday when ran aground off the province of Zonguldak due to "adverse weather and sea conditions," Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya had said in a statement. Air, sea, and land-based search and rescue efforts began immediately after weather conditions improved, with the country's Directorate General of Maritime Affairs saying on X hours later that the body of a crew was found on the coast of Eregli, a district of the same province. "Search and rescue operations for the other seafarers on board the sunken ship are ongoing," the directorate general added. Yerlikaya had said that the dry cargo ship had sunk after drifting and colliding with a breakwater amid the storm. It had departed from Zonguldak and was en route to the Aegean province of Izmir, he said. Abdulkadir Uraloglu, the country's minister of transport, said in a news conference that the Kafkametler had issued an emergency call at around 10.00 a.m. local time (0700GMT). "Despite monitoring by various authorities, intervention was not possible due to harsh conditions. Based on images, it was determined that the ship had sunken, and the lifeless body of one crew member has been recovered. Search operations for the remaining crew members are ongoing," Uraloglu said. Coast guard and coastal safety forces are currently involved in search and rescue operations, along with disaster teams, divers, gendarmerie, and police with the support of a helicopter, a plane, and two maritime vessels. Lebanon's Hezbollah movement said it targeted troops in northern Israel with drones, artillery and missiles on Monday, claiming a string of new attacks. The Israel-Lebanon border has seen daily exchanges of fire since the Israeli war on Gaza began on 7 October. Hezbollah fighters targeted soldiers west of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel "with three attack drones", the group said in a statement, adding shortly after that it had also targeted troops in the area with artillery fire. Both statements claimed the attacks were "direct hits". Earlier Monday, Hezbollah said it had fired "Burkan missiles" at an Israeli barracks, and also claimed a number of other attacks on Israeli positions. Israel's army said "three UAVs (drones) were identified striking adjacent" to an army post, without specifying where. It added that "no injuries were reported". In a statement, it said "25 launches were identified from Lebanon toward several locations adjacent to the border", and added that aerial defences "intercepted a number of the launches and the rest fell in open areas". "Tanks, a fighter jet, and a helicopter struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanon" in response to "launches toward Israeli territory", it said, while the army struck fighters attempting to fire "anti-tank missiles" in south Lebanon. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, and its subsequent military campaign on Gaza has killed more than 13,000 people, 5,500 of them are children, 3,500 women, with more than 33,000 wounded, according to authorities in Gaza. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said this month that his group, a Hamas ally, was using new weapons against Israel, including Burkan missiles, adding that they could carry "a payload of 300-500 kilogrammes" (660-1,100 pounds). The group has also been using attack drones for the first time and has flown reconnaissance drones deep into Israel, Nasrallah said. At least 90 people have been killed on the Lebanese side in cross-border skirmishes since last month, according to an AFP tally, most of them Hezbollah combatants but including at least 10 civilians. Six soldiers and three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, according to authorities there. * This story was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: South Africa will Tuesday host a virtual summit of the BRICS group of nations, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, to discuss the Israeli war on Gaza, Pretoria and Moscow said Monday. The BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- are a group of major emerging economies seeking to reshape the US and Western-led global order. Tuesday's "Extraordinary Joint Meeting on the Middle East Situation in Gaza" will be hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the hope of drawing up a common response to the more than six-week conflict. Leaders from Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates -- who are all due to join the BRICS group in January 2024 -- will attend the meeting. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also participate, the South African presidency said in a statement. It added that all five BRICS heads of state will join the virtual summit, after which a joint statement with particular reference to Gaza is expected. War is raging in Gaza after a shock Hamas Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7 killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with around 240 people taken captive according to Israeli officials. In Gaza, around 13,300 people, more than 5,600 of them children, alongside 3,550 women have been killed in the retaliatory air and ground offensive, with another 31,000 people wounded, officials in Gaza have said. South Africa has long been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party often linking it to its own struggle against apartheid. The ANC said last Thursday that it would support a parliamentary motion to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel until it agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza, decrying the "genocidal actions of the Israeli regime". On Friday, South Africa joined four other nations in calling for an International Criminal Court investigation into the Israeli war on Gaza. China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinians and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Beijing has been calling for an immediate ceasefire since the start of the war last month. Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of stoking tensions in the Middle East, and criticised Israel for its conduct in the conflict. Putin skipped the last BRICS annual summit in Johannesburg as he is the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant -- a provision that South Africa as an ICC member would be expected to implement if he were to set foot in the country. Search Keywords: Short link: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appealed to Muslim states with political ties with Israel to at least cut them for "a limited time," state media reported Sunday, weeks after he called for an Islamic oil and food embargo on Israel. "Some Islamic governments have condemned Israeli crimes in assemblies while some have not. This is unacceptable," Khamenei said before reiterating that the main task of Islamic governments should be to cut off Israel from energy and goods. "Islamic governments should at least cut off political ties to Israel for a limited time," Khamenei added. Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu officially requested that India withdraw its military personnel from the archipelago Saturday, a day after being sworn in. The president's office said in a statement that Muizzu made the request when he met Kiren Rijiju, India's minister for earth sciences, who was in the Maldives for the presidential inauguration. "The president noted that at the presidential election held in September, the Maldivian people had given him a strong mandate to make the request to India and expressed hope that India will honor the democratic will of the people of the Maldives," the statement said. Muizzu, who is seen as pro-China, campaigned on a promise to evict Indian military personnel and balance trade, which he said was heavily in favor of India under his predecessor, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The International Monetary Fund has warned that Korea's government debt could rise to double its GDP over the next 50 years unless the country reforms its pensions. The UN financial agency also called on the Korean government to push for more labor market flexibility and narrow the gender gap in employment. Without those changes, it claims, Asia's fourth-largest economy could fall into persistent low growth and high debt. According to the IMF's annual report released Sunday, Korea's public-sector debt will rise to 200 percent of the country's GDP by 2075 unless there are changes in the pension system because the government will be forced to cover its shortfalls. It calculated only the debt the central government would shoulder under the scenario. At present, the Korean public sector's debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 49.3 percent this year, but that would quadruple over the next 50 years as the country ages rapidly. Korea is expected to beat Japan to become the grayest society in the OECD by 2050 with an old-age dependency ratio of 80 percent. The IMF proposes raising the mandatory national pension contribution, which stands at just nine percent, compared to the OECD average of 18 percent. The rate is 6.3 percent in Mexico, but it is trying to raise it to 15 percent. Lithuania is the only other OECD member with a lower contribution than Korea's at 8.7 percent. Moreover, pension payouts in Korea are far smaller than pre-retirement salaries, which has resulted in the highest poverty rate among elderly people in the OECD. "Pension reform is needed to safeguard long-term fiscal sustainability and alleviate old-age poverty," the IMF says. It also recommended drastic reforms to boost Korea's potential economic growth and productivity. "Increasing labor market flexibility and closing gender gaps would help encourage female labor force participation and enhance labor productivity," it says. The IMF forecast Korea's economy will grow 1.4 percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2024 and remain at 2.1-2.3 percent growth until 2028. President Yoon Suk-yeol left on Monday for the first state visit to the U.K. in the reign of King Charles III. During his four-day visit, Yoon is expected to discuss strengthening the bilateral free-trade agreement and expanding opportunities for Korean companies in the U.K. market, which has been badly shaken up by Brexit. Yoon will address the U.K. Parliament on Tuesday. "Delivering a speech in the local language is an attempt to connect with the hearts of the people in that country," presidential spokesman Lee Do-woon said in a briefing Sunday. Four big U.S. companies will invest a total of W1.5 trillion in Korea, mostly in the semiconductor industry (US$1=W1,297). The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy on Sunday said General Motors, DuPont, IMC and Ecolab, have pledged investments totaling $1.16 billion. President Yoon Suk-yeol urged U.S. business leaders to invest in Korea when he met them on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco last week. GM plans to expand its production facilities here, while chemical materials company DuPont has decided to invest over W200 billion in expanding semiconductor material and component factories as well as research and development centers as Korea builds the world's biggest semiconductor cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Cutting tool company IMC will invest in production facilities for oxidized tungsten used in semiconductor manufacturing processes or high-strength tool manufacturing. Ecolab will invest in production facilities for high-purity nano particles (colloidal silica), an essential raw material for semiconductor wafer polishing. Author Stephen Graham Jones. CORTESIA DEL ESCRITOR Theres a story that horror writer Stephen Graham Jones cant get out of his head. He heard it in a talk by Joseph M. Marshall III, the foremost authority on American Indian memory. Early one morning, a car is driving along a lonely highway in the great Dakota plains. In a curve, its headlights draw the silhouette of four Indian horsemen in war paint riding their animals. The ghostly vision from the past or the future, who knows? crosses the asphalt without stepping on it and continues its journey into the night. To Joness mind, this tale, which could be told around a campfire, translates into an unfinished story: [Its] our [story], that of the Indians, in this instant and in this place called America for the moment. It means that our story is not yet complete, and this place can be ours again. They took all these lands, but what about those territories in the dark that remain hidden from the white eye? We Indians can teach a thing or two about that, he writes in the preface to Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, which brings together some of the most vibrant voices in American Indian writing today. Texas-born Stephen Graham Jones, 51, reigns supreme in that genre. The author of some 30 books, he achieved fame thanks to The Only Good Indians (2020). In it, the horror embodied by the vengeful spirit of a deer-headed woman does not overshadow the other real horrors faced by the protagonists, four Blackfeet people who are relegated to a marginal place in current American society. Today, Graham Jones is one of the worlds most acclaimed horror writers. He received another award, the Sheridan Le Fanu, at the fifteenth anniversary of the Sui Generis festival, which was recently held in Madrid; other heavyweights of the genre, including Paul Tremblay and S. T. Joshi, Lovecrafts biographer, also attended. The novel presented at the Madrid award ceremony, My Heart is a Chainsaw, has won the Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson and Locus awards. As the title suggests, it is a tribute to the slasher movie, that film subgenre that features a bloody psychopath and young people destined to become mincemeat as its main ingredients and has gained recognition in recent years. As Jones himself notes in a phone conversation from his home in Colorado, Its happening with horror in general. Possibly since Jordan Peeles film Get Out (2017) and Victor LaValles novel The Ballad of Black Tom (2016), in the genre we have shown that we know how to dialogue with the problems we face as a society. We are no longer watching from the sidelines; we have jumped onto the playing field. The problem would be watering down our identity and our ideals just because we have been given a seat at the table, because we insist on being polite. So far, that hasnt happened; fingers crossed. Author Stephen Graham Jones. CORTESIA DEL ESCRITOR That isnt an issue in My Heart is a Chainsaw. The half-Indian, half-white protagonist is a teenage girl who protects herself from a hostile world by looking at life through the mask of Jason Voorhees, the psychopath from Friday the 13th until her small town facing gentrification becomes a bloodbath. Along the way, the author subverts horror cliches like the final girl, the survivor of the carnage who confronts the killer, who is usually more akin to, say, beautiful white actress Neve Campbell (from the iconic Scream franchise) than the heroine of this novel. Its lack of inclusivity is one of the most unfortunate and damaging aspects of the slasher movie. With this, Id like to think that Im opening the door for more and more people to solve that. Joness literary power resides precisely in his ability to transcend the genre. Underneath the fright, theres a scathing critique of the situation of Indigenous people in the U.S. today. The movement for reparations to start to make amends for the genocide and displacement of Indigenous people has taken shape in horror literature and films in recent years. Films like Jeff Barnabys Blood Quantum (2019), in which only the Indian population is spared from the zombie contagion, and the works of writers like Shane Hawk, Nick Medina and Darcie Little Badger take the reins of a narrative that has traditionally belonged to the white man. As Professor Kali Simmons, the author of the monograph The Savage Screen: Indigeneity in the Modern American Horror Film, explains, living under the conditions of colonialism as an Indigenous person is to exist within a terrifying structure of dispossession and violence. And yet, American cinema has tended to imagine the opposite, presenting white settlers and the colonial state as victims of terrifying Indians seeking violent revenge. The trope of the murderous Indian emerged in the captivity narratives disseminated throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by European settlers in which they essentially portrayed themselves as people besieged and abducted by aboriginal savages. Professor Roy Harvey Pearce collected many of these written testimonies in his study The Significances of the Captivity Narrative (1947); he concluded that, while they all seem to arise from real experiences, they evolved into patterns that were reproduced over and over again, drifting into something terrible and strange, adopting the language of a crazed gazetteer more typical of a pulp thriller. At the age of 11, Stephen Graham Joness first literary crush was Louis LAmour, a writer of cowboy and Indian novels. Half of LAmours 85 works were adapted for film or television, serving as perfect vehicles for propagandizing the American way of life that Jones has learned to dismantle over the years. For better or worse, those pulp westerns are now part of my DNA as a writer. Only as an adult have I learned to reject their vision of an uninhabited America [that was] free for the taking; that this thing called progress was inevitable; that all the violence committed is part of what it takes to tame the land; that American Indians exist in the past, not the present. The terror visited upon natives of the past extends into the present day through another common trope: the Indian burial ground. The house in The Amityville Horror sits atop one; the one in Poltergeist does too. The cat in Pet Sematary comes back to life after being buried in an Indian burial ground; even Kubrick used the trope to give the hotel a more cursed feel in his adaptation of The Shining. In the absence of more important genuinely American myths (they have Bigfoot and little else), the trope of sacred land retains its ability to perpetuate that fear. For Jones the lesson is clear: the dead are there, under the feet of the entire U.S., and at any moment they can claim revenge. My suspicion is that they fear facing their judgment. Those stories keep feeding the fiction because if they can see what theyre afraid of, if they can keep it in sight at all times, then you cant sneak up on them, you cant catch them. By keeping those stories alive, they basically neuter them. So, theyre driven by guilt, yes, but its expressed as fascination. Its a strategy to avoid righteous vengeance. In the absence of full justice, voices like Graham Joness rise up from a bloodthirsty genre to decry an atrocious reality that has been perpetuated over time. In writing, Im doing politics, I cant help it. I have many axes to grind, and novels are the best [places] to sharpen them. The exaggeration that horror affords allows me to use them to cut off the heads I want to. When people say that fiction is cathartic, they may not mean chopping off heads. But thats my catharsis. And it suits me very well, he says. The terror visited upon natives of the past extends into the present day through another common trope: the Indian burial ground. The house in The Amityville Horror sits atop one; the one in Poltergeist does too. The cat in Pet Sematary comes back to life after being buried in an Indian burial ground; even Kubrick used the trope to give the hotel a more cursed feel in his adaptation of The Shining. In the absence of more important genuinely American myths (they have Bigfoot and little else), the trope of sacred land retains its ability to perpetuate that fear. For Jones the lesson is clear: the dead are there, under the feet of the entire U.S., and at any moment they can claim revenge. My suspicion is that they fear facing their judgment. Those stories keep feeding the fiction because if they can see what theyre afraid of, if they can keep it in sight at all times, then you cant sneak up on them, you cant catch them. By keeping those stories alive, they basically neuter them. So, theyre driven by guilt, yes, but its expressed as fascination. Its a strategy to avoid righteous vengeance. In the absence of full justice, voices like Graham Joness rise up from a bloodthirsty genre to decry an atrocious reality that has been perpetuated over time. In writing, Im doing politics, I cant help it. I have many axes to grind, and novels are the best [places] to sharpen them. The exaggeration that horror affords allows me to use them to cut off the heads I want to. When people say that fiction is cathartic, they may not mean chopping off heads. But thats my catharsis. And it suits me very well, he says. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Fox News Flash top headlines for November 15 closeVideo Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. An Oklahoma appeals court on Thursday denied death row inmate Richard Glossip's request for a new evidentiary hearing that his attorneys suggest would prove his innocence in the 1997 beating death of Glossip's boss at an Oklahoma City motel. Glossip's attorneys raised several propositions in asking the Court of Criminal Appeals for a new hearing, including that he is factually innocent of the murder, the state destroyed vital evidence, his trial attorneys were ineffective and that he is intellectually disabled. But the court noted that Oklahoma law doesn't allow defendants to continue to appeal issues that have either been raised previously or could have been raised earlier but were not. The court also cast doubt on Glossip's theory that his co-defendant, Justin Sneed, acted alone or with his girlfriend to rob and kill Barry Van Treese. "The evidence he proffers to support this theory consists of affidavits from jailhouse informers, drug dealers, exotic dancers and residents of the Best Budget Inn," the court wrote. "These affidavits do not provide the clear and convincing evidence that Glossip would like this court to believe." OKLAHOMA QUADRUPLE-MURDER PERSON OF INTEREST EXTRADITED FROM FLORIDA Glossip, who has long maintained he is innocent in the murder-for-hire killing of Van Treese, has narrowly avoided execution several times, including in 2015 when his lethal injection was called off at the last minute when the wrong drug was delivered to the prison. That drug mix-up led to a moratorium on the death penalty in Oklahoma that lasted for more than six years before the state resumed executions last year. Earlier this month, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt issued Glossip another temporary reprieve from his scheduled Dec. 8 execution to give the Court of Criminal Appeals more time to consider his last-minute appeals. A separate appeal that alleges prosecutorial misconduct and an attempt by his co-defendant Sneed to recant his testimony, is still pending with the court. An Oklahoma appeals court on Nov. 10, 2022, denied death row inmate Glossip's request for a new evidentiary hearing that his attorneys suggest would prove his innocence in the 1997 beating death of Glossip's boss at an Oklahoma City motel. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP, File) "We still have another petition pending with the court setting forth Sneeds desire to recant his testimony against Rich and, most shockingly, documenting the prosecutors serious misconduct in coaching Sneed to change his testimony in the middle of trial," Glossip's attorney, Don Knight, said in a statement. "Our fight to free this innocent man will continue, and we remain optimistic that truth and justice will prevail, both for Rich and the citizens of Oklahoma." Prosecutors acknowledge Glossip did not kill Van Treese, but maintain that he paid Sneed, the hotel maintenance man, to do it. Sneed, who received a life sentence but was spared the death penalty, was a key witness in two separate trials in which Glossip was convicted. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Attorney General John O'Connor noted the court found no evidence that Sneed ever sought to recant his testimony in any meaningful way and that Sneed's testimony at trial was corroborated by compelling evidence. "The litigation in this case is not over, but we are relieved for the family of Mr. Van Treese and for the people of Oklahoma that, after waiting so long for justice to be served, one more stage of litigation is behind them," O'Connor said in a statement. Elnur Enveroglu Despite Azerbaijan restoring sovereignty over its territories and freeing Garabagh from the separatist regime, foreign forces, especially Western political circles, still try to impose sanctions as well as pressure on Azerbaijan. Three years ago, when the situation was in favour of Armenians, the US Administration and some UN organisations were silent about the occupation of more than 20% of Azerbaijani territories. The UNESCO representatives visiting Azerbaijans Khankendi refused to bypass the Aghdam ruins to witness the Armenian vandalism, as a result of which the town has gained the name Hiroshima. The western powers went the extra mile to draw the curtain over the issue of Garabagh in spite of a long time of discussion led by the OSCE Minsk Group, which was in vain. They forced Azerbaijan to reconcile with the reality in Garabagh, turning Azerbaijani lands into their own backyard, and are still trying to make the South Caucasus, especially Armenia, a platsdarm state in their fight against their opponents. When the EU mission group operated in Armenian territory until the September 19 anti-terror measures, the Western allies were in more anxiety for Garabagh to be cleared of separatist and terrorist groups. Because the illegal Armenian military formations once were in several areas in Garabagh, they were the last hope of the French authority, which is now continuing to supply arms to Armenia for evil purposes. This is really to do with the well-entrenched Armenian lobby, which hasn't gone away despite the defeat of 2023. In fact, we are now entering a new phase in the conflict rather than its end. This is the transfer of war to politics, in which the Armenian lobby concentrates its efforts in the West aimed at undermining the Azerbaijani reputation and case. Patrick Walsh, the Irish historian and political commentator, said this while giving a comment to Azernews, adding that some corrupt politicians put the West in an awkward position before its partners, including Azerbaijan. The West has to be careful. It would be in danger of losing Azerbaijan, as it has virtually lost Turkiye, to the Eurasian world, which holds many attractions due to the great economic developments and infrastructure projects that are in the making, Walsh said. According to the pundit, at the present time, the West looks like a hostile and hypocritical place, unwelcoming to the Turkic world, which only has an interest in its energy resources. This is the big danger of pursuing the Armenian agenda and accepting its narrative unquestionably, he stressed. As regards the peace treaty that is awaiting to be signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the pundit said the Armenian leadership looks hesitant with respect to its obligations to its Western partners. He added that Armenia is still suffering from its defeat and seeks its only salvation from the West. Armenia is still traumatised from its defeat, and PM Nikol Pashinyan is conducting a difficult pivot to the West. He knows he has to proceed with care. It is probable that, in return for his shift away from the Russian sphere, he has been promised Western resources and protection. However, he needs to be careful of elements in Armenian society and perhaps the migrants from Karabakh who will have bolstered the opposition. The logic is for a peace settlement and the completion of the border demarcation and corridor provisions, which are included in the five principles that are put forward by Azerbaijan. However, Pashinyan feels he needs to proceed with care at present to secure his hold on power. That is probably what is holding things up at present, plus the blame game he has to play against Moscow and Baku to deflect attention from his own failings. Nothing sets up a better murder mystery than a group of people isolated from the rest of the world. In A Murder at the End of the World, the Disney+ series that premiered on November 14, this remote location is a luxury hotel in Iceland. A millionaire invites a select group of people to a retreat. One of the guests is Darby, a young hacker and crime writer who spends much of her downtime investigating unsolved cases, having accompanied her father, an examining magistrate, to crime scenes. She accepts the invitation as she is curious to meet the hosts wife, another reputed hacker whom she admires. Shortly after arriving, one of the guests dies under suspicious circumstances. After the 2019 finale of the disturbing sci-fi/fantasy The OA, creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij have considered a change of pace and found a way to bring together diverse characters from different backgrounds and with very different ways of thinking. If you bring them together and start killing them off, the story emerges, Batmanglij tells EL PAIS. Marling explains that they also wanted to change the perspective on women in crime dramas: When we want to write about strong women, we think the only way to do it is for them to be killers or to apply force through domination or violence. Darby is proof that a young woman can be strong and that strength lies in her intellect and empathy. Emma Corrin, in the first episode of 'A Murder at the End of the World.' LiljaJons Another idea I had in mind when I wrote this was not to perpetuate the image of women as victims, Marling adds. Usually when you see a murder mystery, the starting point is a crime scene with a young woman who is dead, beautiful, sometimes naked or scantily clad and covered in blood. Its a very powerful image and one that pushes the narrative. It is presented in a way that eroticizes the death of women. Then the detective has to identify with the killer in order to imagine the dark psychosis that drove him to murder. We wanted to take a young woman, of the age that usually makes her the victim, and turn her into the protagonist, going to crime scenes with her, and giving her a different relationship with the victim because she is closer to her than to the psychology of the killer. Darby is not the only element that differentiates A Murder at the End of the World from the classic crime mystery. Woven in to the plot is a love story set in a very different time and space U.S. motels surrounded by dust and sand. We wanted to intertwine two genres. Theres the classic whodunit, but also Darbys story, which is really a love story and a road trip as she and Bill [played by Harris Dickinson] travel through the west of the U.S., two amateur detectives dealing with a cold case. Its about what happens to them as they take that trip together. The whodunit makes the love story on that road trip more tense, and the love story adds weight and emotion to the mystery. That sort of cross-pollination was very interesting. Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, at a conference in Los Angeles in June 2019. Emma McIntyre (Getty Images for Netflix) Both storylines center around Darby, played by Emma Corrin who has definitely evolved as an actress since she took the role of the young Diana Spencer in The Crown. When you see Emma play Diana, you expect a certain person, but when you meet her you see that she is a totally different person. She is someone who can change even on a molecular level. Its as if Emma inhabits Darby, says Batmanglij. The plot unravels in a near future that allows hotel guests to have a highly advanced personal virtual assistant. Artificial intelligence as described by the retreats host Clive Owen is a theme that comes up repeatedly in the series. Batmanglij is hopeful about the application humans can make of these technological advances. We ourselves owe a lot to technology regarding our careers, he says. And a new generation of filmmakers is going to be able to make great movies from their own bedroom because of artificial intelligence. But while I think its exciting, its also very scary. I feel both the thrill and the terror of it. Harris Dickinson is Bill and Emma Corrin is Darby in 'A Murder at the End of the World.' LiljaJons Besides writing and producing the series, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij split the direction of the seven episodes. Marling was in charge of the first three, making her responsible for establishing its aesthetic and tone. It was important to me to create a sense of mystery very early on the sense that something is waiting in the shadows, says Marling, who also plays the wife of the host in Iceland. I also wanted to establish a pattern that defined how we move back and forth between the past and the present. I had very specific color references for the bits shot in Iceland, just using blues, pinks, reds and whites. The white of the snow, the blue of the ice, the pink of Darbys cheeks and hair. When we go back to the past, we know we are there because the colors are so different. There is the toasted sienna, the blue of the sky and the yellows and oranges of the desert. Emma Corrin, in the first episode of 'A Murder at the End of the World.' LiljaJons Having worked together since they met in college, Marling and Batmanglij have applied their creativity to both film and television. Brit and I create a world and we do so before we share it with other people, says Batmanglij. There are a lot of ideas that are not able to get off the ground because people doubt themselves too soon, so there is no room for creativity and innovation. I think fear is what keeps a lot of people from taking risks. When I work with Brit, that fear disappears, and we just play. Replacing fear with play is what makes us original. At the IE University auditorium in Madrid, Spain, this week, American film director Francis Ford Coppola discussed reading Don Quixote in Spanish, innovating, taking risks and not wasting time looking for matching socks (he wore one blue sock and one green sock to the lecture). In a report entitled Trends for the Next 50 Years, the business school asked 8,000 citizens of G20 countries to make a prediction: 80% of respondents anticipate that artificial intelligence will play an essential role in society by 2073. Over a third believe that it will dominate all aspects of life (healthcare, education, work, etc.). The filmmaker spoke of a revolution toward something that is not completely flesh and blood but is still human. Coppola, 84, envisions a future shaped by artificial intelligence but in which the humanities must play an important role. There is a tendency to focus on practical and technical skills, [] but I believe that the arts and humanities are also essential for human development and for the formation of informed and reflective citizens. He made these statements at an event to announce the creation of IE Universitys School of Humanities, which will launch its first degree in this area and offer a double degree in Business Administration and Humanities by the end of 2024. Led by the schools CEO Diego del Alcazar Benjumea, the gathering called The Next 50 focused on the changes that await us in coming decades. Artificial intelligence received almost all the attention. The American filmmaker, who has won five Oscars as a screenwriter, director and producer, spoke optimistically about the tremendously transformative capacity of technological tools that are just beginning to show their potential. I would say that the stories and films that my great-grandchildren will see will be so far beyond what I am able to imagine [that] I cant anticipate anything. He also referred to the debate on regulating artificial intelligence: We will have to educate it like another child, Coppola said. That is especially true if there are virtual classrooms equipped with artificial intelligence and individualized education governs teaching in the future, as 47% of those surveyed predicted. But man does not live by art alone. In the business school setting, Coppola also spoke about his role as an entrepreneur outside the film industry. He owns several hotels in different parts of the world and also manages a large vineyard in California, where he sells wine under the Francis Ford Coppola Winery brand. Both wine and cinema have three moments: harvesting, preparation and then finishing, he explained. Coppola has bridged the gap between the creativity required to write scripts and produce films and the business sides demand for innovation. He also recognizes the importance of having a good team of workers and a good cast. Casting is important in all aspects of life. Even in marriage, he quipped. The director of the Godfather spoke about Al Pacinos brilliance, his close relationship with Michael Cimino and his work with George Lucas, but he also mentioned his companies workers who are no longer just employees, but colleagues. Coppola indirectly alluded to the dreaded issue of staff turnover and listed the advantages of having long-term workers. In my companies, I have had the good fortune to have employees who have been there for 30 years. Box-office flops So much for the businessman. When it comes to his craft, Coppola continues to rely on his own professional judgment, as he did in the past with films like One From the Heart (1981) and Apocalypse Now (1979), not business logic. The former movie was a box-office flop that almost ruined him; commercial studios were not impressed by the latter, and the filmmaker had to personally guarantee the loans he took out to finance the movie, although in the end it did earn five times its budget. Coppolas next work is called Megalopolis. He wrote and again self-financed the film, which aims to show a modern history of America with classic overtones. Maybe todays America is suffering the same hardships as Rome 2,500 years ago [...]. So, I thought of doing a Roman epic, he said. The freedom to create such a personal project comes from Coppolas ability to finance his work himself, although he also mentioned his not-so-prosperous beginnings: When I started I didnt know anyone in the film industry, I had no money at all. Between the start of his career when he ate 50-cent macaroni and cheese for lunch, to his investment of $120 million in Megalopolis, there have been so many legendary works that the filmmaker even jokingly predicted the demise of money: It didnt exist before and there will also come a time in the future when it will stop mattering. Those surveyed by IE Universitys Center for the Governance of Change disagree; almost half the respondents (48%) believe that economic inequalities will continue to grow over the next five decades. French film critic and director Alain Bergala used to say that you had to be a potential filmmaker to see a films depth. You had to scrutinize its creators reasons and arguments, pry into the authors criteria, try to look where s/he looked. And while the American filmmaker did not give more clues about his upcoming film, he did say more about his method. If the script Ive written is terrible, Ill revise it a hundred times if necessary, even if I only improve it by 1% every year. Theres work left to be done for the next fifty years. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition iPhone is one of the searches that generates the most advertising revenue for Google. This confidential piece of information that the company tried unsuccessfully to keep secret illustrates the love-hate relationship between Apple and Google at the heart of the trial against the search engine for alleged abuse of its dominant position. The 10 weeks of testimony in the 10th federal courthouse in Washington have shed light on what has been a toxic relationship, not for Apple and Google, but for the market and for the competition, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. More than 50 witnesses have taken the stand for more than two months. Among them have been Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, as well as experts, scholars and managers of the search engine and other technology companies. The hearings ended on Thursday, but the decision on the most important antitrust case in two decades will still take months. Judge Amit Mehta, appointed in 2014 by former president Barack Obama, has asked the parties to submit their closing briefs early next year and will be hearing closing arguments in early May. I can tell you as I sit here today that I have no idea what Im going to do, Mehta said Thursday as he closed the evidentiary phase of the trial. If the judge concludes that Google abused its dominant position in the U.S. internet search market, where it has a 90% market share, the most appropriate remedies to adopt will be determined at a second trial. The paradox is that a ruling preventing Google from renewing its agreements with Apple could harm the latter more than the search engine itself. Googles thesis is that its success is due to the fact that its technology is superior, because it has developed new services and tools, from its Chrome browser to its Android mobile operating system, which have allowed it to increase the quantity and quality of searches. The thesis of the Department of Justice is that the search engine has reached agreements from its dominant position that have closed the way to competitors. The two theories are to a certain extent compatible. The transcripts of witness statements take up thousands of pages. Added to this are hundreds of annexes and documents that have been shown at the hearings, including internal reports and private communications between Google executives. Some of them have remained confidential, but others have revealed Google secrets. A document dated October 12, 2018 ranks the 20 most profitable searches, those that generated the most income in the United States the week of September 22, 2018. The top two were iphone 8 and iphone 8 plus; iphone itself also appeared on the list. The new Apple phone model had just hit the market and distributors were paying to be placed high up in the search engine to sell smartphones and accessories. Car insurance, cheap flights and pay TV services dominated the rest of the list. That list is rather anecdotal. The focus of the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice was on the agreements by which Google has paid tens of billions of dollars to be the default search engine for browsers and mobile phones. The Department of Justice won the battle to have that figure made public. In 2021 alone, Google paid $26.3 billion to be the default search engine as traffic acquisition costs. The figure appears in an internal company slide whose secrecy was only partially lifted. The main beneficiary of these payments was Apple. The Justice Department has brought in experts and Google rivals to argue how those deals harmed the competition. But perhaps the key moment of the trial came when Googles own CEO, Sundar Pichai, called up by the defense, provided testimony. In the first part of his statement, under questioning from Googles lawyer, he told his personal success story to the top of Google and convincingly defended Googles technological contributions. Then prosecutor Meagan Bellshaw took over for cross-examination. Bellshaw used the companys own documents to corner Pichai. She did it gently but firmly, conquering ground with simple questions, with which she got the head of Google to admit, one by one, the key points that underpinned her claim. You wouldnt authorize contracts to pay billions of dollars each year to be the default search engine if it werent good for Google, would you? Bellshaw asked. Correct, Pichai responded. Once she had laid the groundwork, the prosecutor attacked with a letter that Google sent to Microsoft when the company founded by Bill Gates was going to use its own search engine by default in its new version of Internet Explorer. Bellshaw highlighted fragments of that letter that were like daggers in Googles defense strategy. The search engine told Microsoft that users do not change the default settings and that Microsofts decision could harm competition. And since users dont change the defaults, was Google deeply concerned that Microsofts actions could harm the competitive process? she asked. Yes, that is what Mr. Drummond [Googles chief legal officer] is articulating here, Pichai admitted. At one point, the head of Google said that it depended on the context and conditions, to admit that there are situations in which default configurations are very valuable. The attorney tried to argue that Google wanted to prevent Apple from becoming a competitor with its agreements. She displayed a message from Pichai in which he asked to be informed monthly of potential employees of the search services who switched to the competition. And he asked to be emailed directly if anyone from Google went to Apple. Bellshaw focused on a report about a meeting of Google and Apple executives in which Pichai and Tim Cook were present, in which these agreements were discussed so that Google would be the exclusive default search engine for iPhones, iPads and Macs through Apples Safari browser. The Justice Departments argument is that Google and Apple compete in many markets, but not in search. There they prefer to maintain a revenue-sharing agreement with an exclusive deal that prevents other competitors from breaking through. At the last day of the trial, Michael Whinston, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, compared the case of Google and its market power with that of other monopolies such as AT&T in long-distance calls or Microsoft (which in this case is presented as a victim) in operating systems for personal computers. On the ground floor of the federal courthouse in Washington, a modest permanent exhibition commemorates those two landmark cases. Perhaps the exhibition will have to be expanded soon. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega attends a meeting in Havana, Cuba, in 2021. POOL (REUTERS) The U.S. State Department called Nicaraguas formal withdrawal from the Organization of American States on Sunday another step away from democracy. The regional body, known by its initials OAS, has long criticized rights violations under Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. Ortega, who governs alongside his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, has rejected those criticisms and started the two-year process to leave the OAS in November 2021. The Ortega/Murillo regimes withdrawal from the OAS is another step away from democracy and further isolates Nicaragua from the international community, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Neither Ortegas office nor the government commented Sunday. The OAS has said it will continue closely monitoring Nicaraguas democracy and human rights record even after the countrys exit from the group, which it has belonged to since 1950. According to a resolution approved by the OAS permanent council earlier this month, the OAS will continue paying special attention to the situation in Nicaragua and will try to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms there. Arturo McFields, Nicaraguas representative at the OAS until he publicly denounced Ortega and Murillo in 2022, said earlier this month that Nicaraguas withdrawal would be a heavy blow to the fight for democracy and defense of human rights. But he was encouraged by the OAS resolution. Ortegas administration has sought to suppress critical voices since popular street protests in April 2018 turned into a referendum on his government. After the protests were violently put down, with some 355 people killed and hundreds imprisoned, the government set about silencing institutions he perceived as supporting the protesters. Targets have included private universities, the Roman Catholic Church, civil society organizations and tens of thousands of individuals driven into exile. Ortegas government started the two-year process to leave the OAS shortly after the body joined others in the international community in condemning the elections, widely criticized as flawed, that led to Ortegas latest term. The last country to leave the OAS was Venezuela in 2019. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition A view of Israeli warship after the Israeli army has officially announced the deployment of missile ships at the Red Sea on November 1, 2023. Yemens Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route on Sunday, officials said, taking over two dozen crew members hostage and raising fears that regional tensions heightened over the Israel-Hamas war were playing out on a new maritime front. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they hijacked the ship over its connection to Israel and took the crew as hostages. The group warned that it would continue to target ships in international waters that were linked to or owned by Israelis until the end of Israels campaign against Gazas Hamas rulers. All ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets, the Houthis said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office had blamed the Houthis for the attack on the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said the 25 crew members had a range of nationalities, including Bulgarian, Filipino, Mexican and Ukrainian, but that no Israelis had been on board. The Houthis said they were treating the crew members in accordance with their Islamic values, but did not elaborate on what that meant. Netanyahus office condemned the seizure as an Iranian act of terror. The Israeli military called the hijacking a very grave incident of global consequence. Israeli officials insisted the ship was British-owned and Japanese-operated. However, ownership details in public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, which was founded by Abraham Rami Ungar, who is known as one of the richest men in Israel. Ungar told The Associated Press he was aware of the incident but couldnt comment as he awaited details. A ship linked to him experienced an explosion in 2021 in the Gulf of Oman. Israeli media blamed it on Iran at the time. The complex world of international shipping often involves a series of management companies, flags and owners stretching across the globe in a single vessel. Two U.S. defense officials confirmed that Houthi rebels seized the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea on Sunday afternoon local time. The rebels descended on the cargo ship by repelling down from a helicopter, the officials said, confirming details first reported by NBC News. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. Twice in the last month, U.S. warships have intercepted missiles or drones from Yemen that were believed to be headed toward Israel or posing a threat to the American vessels. The USS Carney, a Navy destroyer, intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces toward the northern Red Sea last month. On Nov. 15 the USS Thomas Hudner, another destroyer, was sailing toward the Bab-el-Mandeb strait when the crew saw a drone, reported to have originated in Yemen. The ship shot down the drone over the water. The officials said the crew took action to ensure the safety of U.S. personnel, and there were no casualties or damage to the ship. Satellite tracking data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP showed the Galaxy Leader traveling in the Red Sea southwest of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, more than a day ago. The vessel had been in Korfez, Turkey, and was on its way to Pipavav, India, at the time of the seizure reported by Israel. It had its Automatic Identification System tracker, or AIS, switched off, the data showed. Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted or to smuggle contraband, which there was no immediate evidence to suggest was the case with the Galaxy Leader. The British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Persian Gulf and the wider region, put the hijacking as having occurred some 150 kilometers (90 miles) off the coast of Yemens port city of Hodeida, near the coast of Eritrea. The Red Sea, stretching from Egypts Suez Canal to the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait separating the Arabian Peninsula from Africa, remains a key trade route for global shipping and energy supplies. Thats why the U.S. Navy has stationed multiple ships in the sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. Since 2019, a series of ships have come under attack at sea as Iran began breaking all the limits of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. As Israel expands its devastating campaign against Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip following the militant groups unprecedented attack on southern Israel, fears have grown that the military operations could escalate into a wider regional conflict. The Houthis have repeatedly threatened to target Israeli ships in the waters off Yemen. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The Israeli army continues to target hospitals in Gaza, which are considered untouchable by international humanitarian law due to their civilian and sanitary nature. On Monday, Israeli tanks surrounded the Indonesian hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip, where snipers posted nearby were firing at anyone who ventured to leave the medical complex, which currently houses 700 people, according to Al Jazeera. At least 12 people were killed in heavy artillery shelling on the medical complex, according to authorities in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave. Another hospital in northern Gaza, Al Awda, is also surrounded by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. As the hospitals are encircled by invading troops, Israel is stepping up its efforts to prove that these medical centers harbor Hamas infrastructure, which they argue could exempt Israeli forces from committing the war crime of attacking civilian targets. The Indonesian hospital is located in Beit Lahia, on the outskirts of the largest Gazan refugee camp, Jabaliya one of the areas where the Israeli army has announced it will extend its military offensive. The siege of the medical complex was unannounced, several of its workers told Al Jazeera. They described damage to its main operating room and a complete lack of power resulting from an Israeli attack on the hospitals generator. Of the 35 hospitals in the Gaza Strip before the war, only four are still functioning, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The only one still operating in the northern region where most of the relentless Israeli bombardment is concentrated , according to that source, is Al Ahli, whose emergency staff reported on Saturday that the Israeli military had surrounded it for three days. The U.N., for its part, estimates that nine medical centers are still functioning barely. With tanks at the gates of the Indonesian hospital, Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health, told Agence France Presse that he feared the same thing that happened in Al Shifa would be repeated in the Indonesian complex. He was referring to the siege that began on Wednesday of the largest hospital in the Palestinian territory, from which thousands of people were evicted on Saturday by the Israeli army. A World Health Organization (WHO) mission, authorized to enter the hospital for an hour that same day, described it as a death zone and noted the trail left by explosions and gunfire. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) justified its attack on Al Shifa with the argument that its subsoil housed a Hamas command center, an accusation analogous to the one it is now directing against the Indonesian hospital, which it claims is also used by the fundamentalist movement for military purposes. The Israeli military establishment claims without proof that beneath the hospitals operating rooms is a network of Hamas underground tunnels. The organization that runs the hospital, the Emergency Medical Rescue Committee, denies this claim, as does Indonesia, which finances the medical center. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi described the siege of the hospital as a clear violation of international humanitarian law. No conclusive evidence The day after clearing Al Shifa, the Israeli military released a video showing what they described as a significant 55-meter-long terrorist tunnel, 10 meters underneath the Shifa hospital complex. Nothing in the videos unclear footage can be linked to Hamas underground tunnel network. Also inconclusive is another footage the IDF shared, in which it claims that two of the 240 people Hamas kidnapped on October 7 can be seen being brought into the hospital compound, one of them wounded on a stretcher. These videos, some images of weapons laid out on a table, and a simple computer with a stack of CDs next to it are supposed to prove that Al Shifa was used for military purposes. Should the Israeli army get its way, the hospital could lose the status of a civilian target with enhanced protection granted to health facilities under international humanitarian law. This would exonerate Israel from committing a number of war crimes as established in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional protocols of 1977. So far, Israel has not succeeded in its objective. The IDF has also failed to justify its surgical approach to its war in Gaza, including attacks on hospitals and schools where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering. In the past six weeks, at least 13,000 people, including 5,500 children, have been killed, according to the Hamas government in Gaza. On the contrary, the number of images, videos, and testimonies documenting attacks on innocent civilians including babies and young children is overwhelming. Photographs such as those of the seriously ill 31 premature infants evacuated from Al Shifa hospital to Rafah (28 of them are already in Egypt) after spending several days outside incubators deal a heavy blow to Israels official version. On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the killing of children in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas began was unprecedented in any conflict since he took office in 2017. Guterres was responding to a question on whether the weekend attacks on two U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) schools, in which dozens of displaced people were killed, constitute war crimes. Photographs of those infants huddled together in a bed and Guterres statements bring into disrepute Israels position in front of the international community. Even with regard to its main supporter, the United States, whose endorsement recently has taken on barely perceptible nuances and only in relation to the entry of humanitarian aid and Washingtons refusal to endorse a permanent Israeli occupation of Gaza. Despite this homeopathic censure, U.S. support for Israel remains ironclad, even on the only domestic issue that puts Benjamin Netanyahus government in immediate trouble: the fate of the 240 hostages held by Hamas. This Monday, President Joe Biden expressed his hope that Israel will finalize the Qatar-mediated pact with Hamas to free them. I believe that an agreement on the release of hostages in Gaza will be reached soon, the U.S. president said. Such a compromise would ease the internal pressure on the Netanyahu government, which has been questioned by the families of these captives, who reproach it for its indifference towards the hostages still being held. The Israeli government is also divided between those in favor of expanding the offensive so that Hamas will lower its demands and those who fear that the opportunity will be wasted and that other hostages will be killed in the bombing, according to the Haaretz newspaper. The agreement would consist of releasing between 50 and 70 mothers and children, in exchange for three to five days of humanitarian pause, and the release of 150 Palestinian minors and women. A Jordanian hospital On Monday, for the first time since the start of the fighting, a field hospital was allowed to enter the Strip through Rafah, according to Mohammed Zaqout, director general of hospitals in Gaza, as reported by Reuters. Zaqout said the field hospital, sent by Jordan, will be set up in the southern town of Khan Younis. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 30,000 people have been wounded in the Strip. Many of them seriously. Meanwhile, in the early hours of Monday morning, 14 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, in southern Gaza, where the Israeli army told displaced people to go to be safe from bombardments. Six weeks of war in Gaza have already killed more people at least 13,000 than the 12,000 or so who died in the four-year siege of Sarajevo between 1992 and 1996. Doaa Ulyan, 33, was with her two children, aged eight and 10, respectively, when the windows of the shelter where she is trying to find safety were blown out this Monday morning in the Israeli attack, she explains via WhatsApp from Rafah. I couldnt go outside to look. My children were crying, terrified by the roar. Besides, I cant bear to see the scenes we see here anymore. Ulyan just wants, she explains, to escape from Gaza. She has a legal visa for Spain, where her entire family lives, but her children and husband do not, and the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem has told her it cannot help her. I just want them to help me cross the border with my children. Sometimes it takes us two days to find some bread for the children. No one knows what it is like to be terrified and to have your children cry from hunger and not have food to give them. This is no life, she says in tears, adding that she no longer has a home to go back to. An Israeli bomb wiped out her house in Gaza City. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Argentina on Sunday elected the ultra-right-wing candidate Javier Milei as president and is entering a period of deep uncertainty. The economist, who will take office on December 10, will have to contend with a serious financial crisis, high levels of poverty, minimal reserves, and pending payments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Milei has proposed reducing the functions of state to a minimum and has placed his trust in the market alone solving Argentinas problems through the development of trade and exports. He also proposes a revision of the values of equality and social justice that have structured Argentine society since the beginning of the last century. Towards the end of the campaign, Milei, leader of La Libertad Avanza, toned down his most controversial ideas, such as the free bearing of arms, the end of social plans, or the free sale of organs. These are his proposals on economy, security, foreign policy, health, education, and human rights: Economy Milei proposes an integral reform so that Argentina can return to being the powerful country of the beginning of the 20th century. The paternalistic state, believes the ultra-libertarian, is the root of all evil and as such he intends to strip it down. Among his plans are reducing the number of ministries from 18 to eight, progressively removing social assistance plans and cutting retirement and pension funds. His star economic proposals are dollarization and burning down the Central Bank. Milei also promises a deep adjustment that will be paid for by the public sector and to bring to end in three months the cepo cambiario system, which restricts the purchase and sale of foreign currency. Security Security emerged as a key element in the electoral campaign ahead of the presidential primaries, when an 11-year-old girl was attacked by two delinquents and died in hospital. La Libertad Avanza dedicated the most extensive section of its electoral platform to this issue. Milei intends to investigate the reduction of the minimum age of legal responsibility, the prohibition of entry into the country of foreigners with criminal records and the deregulation of the legal firearms market, a measure which sparked controversy during the electoral campaign and which he subsequently clarified. In addition, he proposes to equip, train, and provide technology to the security forces to give them back their professional and moral authority and to adopt a policy of zero tolerance against crime. Mileis running mate, Victoria Villarruel, promotes the idea that the Argentine Armed Forces should carry out internal security tasks, a task they are currently forbidden from performing, and has promised that the military budget will increase from 0.6% to 2% of GDP. Foreign policy Milei is aligned with the United States, Israel, and the free world and stated during his campaign that he would break with Brazil and China Argentinas two main trading partners if elected. During the last presidential debate, however, he said that this was false and got tangled up in trying to explain himself: I deeply believe in opening up to international trade. However, I also believe that the state should not intervene in trade relations. It is a matter for the private sector. Milei has also stated that he will pull Argentina out of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and rejected the countrys entry into the BRICS group of emerging economies. The president-elect has also confronted the Vatican, stating that Pope Francis is a filthy lefty and the representative of the Evil One, but then later affirmed that if the pontiff visits Argentina he will receive him with the honors of a head of state and of the spiritual head of the Church. Education and Health Two of the ministries that Milei promised to shut down are Education and Health, which together with those of Social Development and Labor will be merged into one, called Human Capital, as detailed in his electoral platform. The ultra-right candidate proposed creating a system of educational vouchers and to deliver the education budget to parents instead of giving it to the ministry. He also suggests eliminating the compulsory nature of comprehensive sex education. In public health, Milei wants a shift towards an insurance system that would stop subsidizing supply i.e. hospitals and finance demand i.e. patients. In this section of its electoral program, La Libertad Avanza also defends the protection of a child from conception, thus preventing the voluntary interruption of a pregnancy, which has been a legal right since 2020. Democracy and human rights During the campaign, Milei attacked some of the basic consensuses built after the end of the military dictatorship (1976-1983). The ultra-rightist and his future vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, question many of the agreements reached during the democratic transition and believe that in Argentina there is a fraud surrounding human rights. Both deny state terrorism during the dictatorship, which has been recognized by the justice system, and instead maintain that the systematic plan promoted by the military juntas was a war in which excesses were committed. Mileis running mate also promotes what she calls complete memory and recently proposed dismantling the Museum and Site of Memory at the former ESMA naval academy, where the dictatorships largest detention and extermination center operated and which was declared a World Heritage Site in September. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition I still keep it with the blood stains. Yaser Abdelgafar takes the shirt he was wearing on October 16, 2000 out of his bedroom. That day, at 3:00 in the afternoon, an Israeli bullet burst through the head of Moayad Jawaresh, a 14-year-old neighbor who lived in the Aida refugee camp, next to Bethlehem (West Bank). A soldier shot him from the fortress that then surrounds Rachels Tomb, a controversial historical site for Muslims, Christians, and Jews but which Israel has closed to its citizens. Today, the fortified barrier at Bethlehem has been integrated into the more than 700 kilometers of concrete, metal bars, and barbed wire that snakes mostly through Palestinian territory has separated the occupied West Bank from Israel since 2002. The reason given for constructing the wall was to guarantee security against attacks from those living in the West Bank. The barrier even passes through Jerusalem, isolating Palestinian East Jerusalem from the rest of the city. In 2004, the United Nations International Court of Justice considered it illegal. With the passage of time, the barrier has turned it into a tool that, in times of war like the one that began on October 7, allows the ring around the Palestinian territory to be further tightened and therefore control and usurp the land of the encircled Palestinians. EL PAIS has visited several points along the West Bank barrier, a scar that remains two decades after it was built. On October 16, 2000, Moayad Jawaresh (14) was shot dead next to the Aida refugee camp (Bethlehem) where he lived. On the right, Yaser Abdelgafar. Luis de Vega It was a Monday afternoon when Moayad Jawaresh, still wearing his school uniform and carrying his backpack, was shot dead on his way home. At that time the Second Intifada (the Palestinian revolt against Israeli occupation that took place between 2000 and 2005) was in full swing, and children often threw stones at Israeli soldiers on the streets. Yaser Aldelgafar and other adults, including members of the Red Crescent, collected Moayads lifeless body and transported it to the hospital. Abdelgafar remembers the exact point, at the entrance to the Aida refugee camp and just a few meters from where the looming gray monster stands today. The wall, a dozen meters high and crowned with barbed wire, is full of protest slogans and graffiti. There are even some examples of Banksys subversive art, although these days tourists dont see that. Even after 23 years, Moayad Jawaresh is considered a martyr of the Palestinian cause and his name is still spoken in Aida. However, his mother Iman is afraid to speak. Besides the construction of the wall, little has changed. Teenagers today are still being shot like the generation of adolescents who lived during the Second Intifada. The last death was Mohamed Azeha on November 10. His image appears on numerous posters on the walls of the motley network of alleys that make up the refugee camp. Like Moayad, Mohamed died as a result of a bullet fired from the wall. Likewise, 14-year-old Abdallah Saquer was wounded on November 1 when a bullet pierced his right leg at thigh level. The young man winces with pain as he enters his bedroom with the help of his mother Ataf. He leans awkwardly on crutches. We were playing in front of the turret and there was a sniper. Someone threw stones at him, he responded with live rounds, he says. His mother remembers the times before the wall when she could go to the surrounding fields to get olives or go shopping in Jerusalem, whose city limits are just over a mile away. Abdallah is not sure what he wants to do as an adult. He settles for working as a merchant in a small food business like the one his uncle has in the Aida refugee camp. While he talks, his taciturn older brother Ahmed arrives. The 16-year-old is also injured and on crutches. In his case, according to the story he can corroborate with photos on his mobile phone, a bullet caused significant damage to his right foot in mid-October when he was riding his electric bicycle near a military checkpoint in the town of Al Khader, also in the Bethlehem area. Abdallah Saquer, 14, is helped by his mother Ataf. The young Palestinian was wounded on November 1 by a bullet fired by an Israeli soldier from the wall built in the Aida refugee camp (Bethlehem). Alvaro Garcia Its as if I hadnt left prison, Ali Abu Aker laments as he looks out from the roof of his house in front of the wall. After nine years in Israeli prisons, he returned to Aida last March. He does not want to discuss the reasons for his imprisonment and claims that he simply pushed some Israeli soldiers who were harassing his father-in-law. What is clear to him is that he has not regained his freedom. To the right, the tower the neighbors claim the shots come from stands embedded in the wall. Occasionally, the huge gate opens and several vehicles enter the camp from the other side to carry out a raid and arrest people. The last time was ten days after the war in Gaza began. It has happened almost daily in other places in the West Bank, where violence has skyrocketed since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Since then there have been 200 Palestinian deaths and around 3,000 people detained in the West Bank. From his home, Ali Abu Baker can still see some olive groves on the other side of the barrier. Young Mohamed and Yaser pick olives there, but due to the road closures imposed during the war, they have to make a detour of almost an hour and pass through several military checkpoints to reach them. One of the roadblocks on a road shared by Jewish settlers and Palestinian citizens was attacked by three Hamas militiamen last Thursday the day after this newspapers visit to Aida. The three militants were killed by gunfire from the Israeli security forces, one of whose soldiers died that same day from his wounds. A few yards from the scene of the incident, there are gaps in the wall, which has not achieved the impermeability that Israel wants. Its layout was largely marked by the location of illegal settlements in the West Bank, where around half a million Israeli settlers live. Thus, it laid the groundwork for the de facto annexation of most of the settlements and much land for their future expansion, according to the Israeli human rights NGO BTselem. The organization estimates that through constructing the barrier, Israel absorbed around 10% of the West Bank an area of about 5,700 square kilometers (2,200 square miles). The colonies are like a cancer that is constantly eating away at us, Yaser Abdelgafar says to illustrate the growth of these communities. The Israeli government, especially the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has encouraged these illegal settlements, whose security and well-being is paid for by inconveniencing the Palestinian residents. Saadat Ghryib in the corridor leading to his home in the Palestinian village of Beit Ijza. The village has been swallowed up by the Israeli settlement of Givon Hahadasha, in the occupied West Bank. Alvaro Garcia Very close to Jerusalem, Saadat Ghryib shows us his home in the West Bank town of Beit Ijza, which is officially in Palestine. While three of his four children run around, he lets visitors pass through the electronic gate, controlled by the Israeli security forces, and walk along a 30-meter corridor to reach his house. The construction of a plant emerges as an anomaly that has been engulfed by the regular street layout of the Givon Hahadasha settlement. They live cheek by jowl but they do not mix. This close separation is controlled by twenty cameras that monitor the Palestinian family 24 hours a day. The Ghryibs house is confined by a high metal palisade that separates their home from the adjacent chalets. Only five or six meters away the settlers live among Israeli flags fluttering in the wind. Saadats neighbors whose names he does not even know have shouted at him: What is happening in Gaza is going to happen to you if you do not leave this land. They point guns at his family, they scold them and they are suspicious of any movement that the family makes after sunset, he says, reflecting the atmosphere of tension caused by the war in Gaza. We are victims of the armys aggression every time something happens, whether it is in the West Bank or in Gaza. They harass us, they attack us he adds. Saadats father Sabri Ghryib, who died in 2012, refused to sell the familys 10 hectares when settlers pressured him to set a price for them, starting in 1979. They came with a lot of money, but he said he was not going to part with a single hectare, says Saadat. The corridor is the only access to the Ghryib family's home. It is surrounded by security measures to separate it from the Israeli settlement of Givon Hahadasha, which has been built on the family's land in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Alvaro Garcia After years of what they describe as a hell of attacks and pressure they were unable to stop despite winning in the Israeli courts, the family was left with no money and only four of the 10 hectares. The rest was stolen by the settlers, according to Saadat. Sabri Ghryib visited the then Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat, on more than one occasion to give away his properties to prevent the plunder, but he was engaged in negotiations with Israel and avoided the issue, according to Saadat. Later came the wall, which ended up separating them from the other six hectares, whose olive harvest they depend on. The culmination was the imprisonment in 2006 of Sabri Ghryib and his two children. When they returned home after four months, the Israelis had fortified the corridor around the house. In 2008, they equipped the passage with an electronic gate that can lock them at home if the security forces decide. But they are not alone with this problem. Beit Ijza is one of the 150 Palestinian towns whose residents the barrier was designed to separate from their fields. Ruba Ghryib, 10 years old (left), and her sister Haya, 8, look out at the house that Jewish settlers built on the land of this Palestinian family and that has left their home absorbed by the Israeli settlement of Givon Hahadasha. Alvaro Garcia The family is not suffering the arbitrariness in issuing the permits to take a 45-minute detour to reach their six hectares to harvest the olives. The permit has simply been revoked in the shadow of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. That means losses for us of about $7,000, Saadat says. His 11-year-old son Sabri enters the room and bows, bowing his head into his fathers hand as a sign of respect. Seconds later, he takes his cell phone and switches off from the conversation in which it becomes clear that he, as a member of the Ghryib family, will also inherit the problem of the occupation. The Israelis plan is for us to leave, but we will not move one inch from this land. Even if they close the gate and it is our last day, we are not going to leave, says Saadat Ghryib. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Food banks are no longer a source of embarrassment. Outside the doors of the Anglican Emmanuel Parish Church, on Londons multicultural Harrow Road, a group of people mostly women chatted among themselves last Friday, clutching their shopping carts as they waited for the doors to open. The Emmanuel Food Pantry is a charity initiative that allows people to purchase, for five pounds ($6.23), basic necessities worth about 20 pounds (almost $25). For me and my family, it has been a life-saver for years, admits Aisha, her hair covered with a hijab. Zhade, of Afro-Caribbean origin, nods and smiles. Fourteen years after David Camerons Conservative government imposed austerity policies in the United Kingdom designed to reduce public debt and recover from the 2008 crisis the former prime minister has returned to the front line of politics as foreign secretary in Rishi Sunaks government, to find a country that has still not recovered from the deterioration of public services and private spending power brought about by that decision. Paradoxically, Camerons political renaissance is an attempt to steer a completely transformed Conservative Party radicalized by the UKs departure from the European Union, which the former prime minister provoked in 2016 with a reckless referendum back to the center and moderation. Austerity disappeared from the Conservative ideology in 2019, with Boris Johnsons electoral program, in which he disavowed the concept and promised an increase in public investment, but we are still being dragged down by the consequences of that, Anand Menon, professor of European politics and foreign affairs at Kings College London and director of UK in a Changing Europe, an academic organization that continues to rigorously analyze the consequences of Brexit, explains to EL PAIS. The base on which recovery started was very low, and we have not been able to make the necessary capital investment, he adds. It was the perfect storm. When the coronavirus pandemic struck, care services, especially the National Health Service, had been reduced to the bone by the austerity measures of the Cameron years. That is why the former prime minister ended up becoming one of the most despised figures in the collective imagination of British citizens. The main thing about Cameron is that he smacks of failure in every pore. Brexit, Libya, the economy: all of the problems that are faced in public services were aggravated by years of austerity. Camerons appointment is almost certainly because Sunak is at the end of his rope, philosopher and analyst John Gray told The New Statesman. " Cameron is a time-warp figure. His appointment is a bafflingly inept move, the only rational explanation of which is that it represents exhaustion and fatigue on the part of the government [] Its a suicide letter on the part of Sunak. Nostalgia for a conservative past Sunak has a year to try to turn around polls that are devastating for the Tories. All of them give at least 20 percentage points of advantage to the Labour Party ahead of a general election scheduled for the end of 2024. The prime minister, relatively new in politics and with a reputation as an effective technocrat, has attempted in recent months to cultivate an extreme right-wing message that, in theory, should please the ears of the partys rank and file, and voters. Brexit and Boris Johnsons electoral victory in 2019 ended up completely transforming a Conservative Party already leaning toward populism, anti-immigration and anti-Europe rhetoric, and a social authoritarianism of an almost reactionary cut against anything they define as woke: denunciation of a colonial past, latent institutional racism or an intolerant attitude towards gender policies. This was not a natural playing field for Sunak, who in fact was increasingly overwhelmed by the internal enemy former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, backed by the hardline wing of the Tories, was increasingly brazen about championing a rebellion against the prime minister which, after being expelled from the government, she has elevated to a clear declaration of war. Faced with these maneuvers, Sunak has finally played his hand. The incorporation of Cameron is a nod to those center-right voters, economically liberal and socially open, who feel orphaned by a radicalized Conservative Party. Cameron arrived at Downing Street with a team of collaborators belonging to cosmopolitan and modern urban elites. The Notting Hill Boys alluding to Londons chic neighborhood of restaurants and bookstores sold a compassionate conservatism, defense of the environment, and social advances such as gay marriage. Cameron was able to forge a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats in his first term, and won a surprising absolute majority at his second election in 2015. But his chancellor, George Osborne, had already sown the seeds of dissatisfaction with the heavy-handed implementation of an austerity policy that took tens of billions of required investments away from public services. Austerity was never a necessity, but rather a very poor economic policy choice whose consequences have now been clearly exposed. Any return to further spending cuts, to rebound from the pandemic crisis, would impose another dramatic cost on a country that has barely recovered from the last round of cuts, warns Robert Calvert, professor at the University of Greenwichs Economic Policy Institute and author of a devastating report on the legacy of austerity conducted for the Progressive Economic Policy Forum. Calvert refers to the restrictive fiscal measures imposed by Sunak and his finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, to reverse the collapse of the UKs credibility caused by his predecessor, Liz Truss. After months of strikes by nurses, doctors, truckers, railroad staff, and teachers, the idea of restoring popularity with the man many point to as the main cause of a few years of hardship is a hard sell. Camerons appointment as foreign secretary has no reason to influence the national policy debate in an election year. But placing at the helm of the UKs international image the person who isolated the country furthest from its neighbors and partners with the Brexit referendum will not be to the liking of the core of Conservative voters in favor of remaining in the EU either. Economically, a bad memory. As an attempt to resurrect a Conservative Party that no longer exists, a mirage. Second chances rarely work in politics. The only success achieved by Sunak has been to dampen, to some extent and in the short-term, the noise and fury of the rebellion led by Braverman with the exoticism and surprise that many Britons will have felt on seeing Cameron enter Downing Street again. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Following the general election result in August, the attorney general of Guatemala, Consuelo Porras, is now doing her best to prevent the president-elect, Bernardo Arevalo, and his party, the progressive left-leaning Movimiento Semilla (Seed Movement), from taking office on January 14. Her latest bid involved accusing the party of illicit association and an attack on cultural property following their support via social networks of those who protested the fraudulent election of the rector of the influential University of San Carlos (USAC) in 2022, the countrys only state university. In the early morning of November 16, Porras launched a manhunt consisting of 31 raids and 27 arrest warrants for university professors and students, journalists and social leaders, including the former ombudsman, Jordan Rodas, the strongest candidate for the USAC rectorship, who has been in exile for more than a year. Five professors and a number of students have been arrested and stand accused of trumped-up crimes. Later that same day, Porras revealed that she aimed to strip the elected Seed Movement and six opposition politicians of immunity, thereby interfering with the democratic process. Consuelo Porras is a bureaucrat who went unnoticed in the courts for 30 years. She is said by those who have had dealings with her to dance to whatever tune appears to be in her favor. Seemingly innocuous, she was appointed attorney general in 2018. It was not long before she revealed herself to be anything but, showing herself intent on dismantling the rule of law by thoroughly corrupting justice. A religious fanatic, immune to massive popular protest and international sanctions, she has viciously persecuted independent justice figures and dissidents, stating that she is saving Guatemala from communism. She tends to hide herself away and takes what her inner circle feeds her as gospel. Hence, her surprise at the October mass protests in October over the suspension of Arevalos party following his landslide August victory. Since then, she has ramped up her security. However, Porras and her team of prosecutors have not been acting alone. Miguel Martinez conservative President Alejandro Giammatteis spin doctor and Congressman Manuel Conde, are pulling the strings. They have huge resources as a result of four years of corruption and use it to bribe politicians, prosecutors, judges and magistrates. Porras is also supported by the troglodyte faction of the rapacious oligarchy, which has cultivated a symbiotic relationship with neo-fascist groups. Among their ranks are the same former intelligence officers who sowed terror during the countrys armed conflict (1960-1996), known as the mata-amarrados. Every week they come up with fantastical plans that they execute in just the right measure to keep democracy in a state of instability. Unlike when democracy came under threat in Venezuela, Nicaragua and El Salvador, the international community is responding fast to the crisis in Guatemala due to the illegitimacy of the current regime and a legitimate elected opposition. The U.S. and the EU are increasing their capacity for coordination and the Permanent Council of the OAS Organization of American States has met five times since the post-electoral crisis broke out, the last meeting taking place on November 15 with a resolution overwhelmingly against the current conservative Guatemalan regime. Meanwhile, voices are being raised urging the application of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Guatemalas U.S. representative, Patrick Ventrell, has already spoken out about individual sanctions on politicians, officials and businessmen that are being ramped up and could disrupt trade relations if the Attorney General continues to try to destabilize democracy. Edgar Gutierrez is a political analyst and former foreign minister of Guatemala. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Concert dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of Heydar Aliyev, founder of the modern Azerbaijani state and outstanding statesman, was held in the Dome Hall of the Tavrichesky Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. Citing to the State Committee for Diaspora Affairs, Azernews reports. The event was held with the support of the State Committee for Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, joint organisation of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in St. Petersburg and the administration of the Tauride Palace. Representatives of the State Committee for Diaspora Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in St. Petersburg, the Russian Representative Office of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Consulate General of Turkey in St. Petersburg, the Azerbaijani Diaspora, local self-government bodies and the public attended the event. During the concert, a concert programme consisting of classical works by Azerbaijani, Russian and foreign composers was presented by the State Symphony Orchestra of the Leningrad Region under the direction of People's Artist of Azerbaijan, famous conductor Yalchin Adigozalov. The works were performed by Honoured Artists of Azerbaijan Elnara Mammadova and Regina Rustamova and soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre Maharram Huseynov and Hamid Abdulov. The concert was met with great interest and applause. The International Space Station (ISS) turns 25 today, November 20, amid some safety concerns about its current operational capability and many doubts about its future, which NASA does not envision lasting beyond 2030. A quarter of a century of international cooperation in space led by two superpowers the U.S. and Russia who rival each other on Earth, is an unprecedented success in the history of mankind; but the ISS silver anniversary is being overshadowed by recent failures, such as the recurrent leaks of toxic gases in the radiators of one of the Russian modules. On October 9, flakes of frozen ammonia, which is used as a coolant, were detected emanating from an external radiator on the Nauka module. NASA stated a few hours later in a communique that despite this highly toxic emanation the station crew was never in danger and, two weeks later, Russians Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub managed to isolate the leak during a spacewalk. In addition to these two cosmonauts, two American women, a Japanese astronaut, another Russian and, at the head of the crew, the Danish commander Andreas Mogensen are currently living on the ISS. A total of seven astronauts, who make up the so-called Expedition 70. The leaking radiator was transferred last April from another of the stations modules and the issue follows two similar incidents in recent months, which the Russian space agency Roscosmos blamed on micrometeorite impacts. One of these affected a Soyuz spacecraft in December 2022 that was destined to carry back three cosmonauts, who were forced to remain in the ISS for a further six months. Normally, each crew member spends six months on the station. Those radiators are the latest source of concern, following several air leaks in 2020 and a software failure in the Nauka module, which caused a tilt change of the entire space station upon docking with it in July 2021. Nauka is the latest section added to the ISS, construction of which began on November 20, 1998, when the first module, the Russian Zarya, was placed in orbit. Two weeks later, the U.S. Unity module was attached to it, and on November 2, 2000, the Expedition 1 crew arrived. Thus began an uninterrupted human presence on the station, which continues 23 years later. The project is still ongoing despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In fact, it is one of the few lines of U.S.-Russian collaboration that remain open since then. International sanctions on Russia, stemming from that conflict, are a source of added tension with the U.S. and the other ISS partners the European Space Agency (ESA) and those of Japan and Canada making it difficult to plan for the future of the ISS. However, a year before the start of the Ukrainian war, Russia had already indicated that it intended to withdraw from the ISS after 2025 because its operational lifespan had already expired and its condition left much to be desired. Initially conceived to be operational for 15 years, it will finally double its useful life if NASAs plans are fulfilled, as it has secured funding to keep it in operation until 2030. This Earth observation of southwestern Africa was taken by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly of Expedition 43 on board the International Space Station in 2015. nasa The challenge of de-orbiting the station If that proves to be the case, the ISS will continue to be a huge international laboratory in orbit until the end of this decade, as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized in December 2021 when announcing the extension of the project: The International Space Station is a beacon of peaceful international scientific collaboration and for more than 20 years has returned enormous scientific, educational, and technological developments to benefit humanity, Nelson said. Moreover, Russia has not formally told its partners that it is leaving the project; on the contrary, it has indicated that it could continue until 2028 if the flight-sharing program succeeds, so that Russian cosmonauts can travel to the ISS on U.S. spacecraft (and U.S. astronauts on Russian rockets). The endgame for the ISS will prove an unprecedented challenge, as did the stations construction, which has made it the most expensive thing ever created by mankind. Due to its size with a length of more than 100 meters and a weight of 94 tons an uncontrolled deorbit has been ruled out, as is done with satellites and other minor space stations, for example, the US Skylab in 1978. NASAs current plans call for an operation similar to the re-entry of the Russian Mir station in 2001. As on that occasion, the ISS will end up submerged in the Pacific Ocean, but with the added difficulty that it is four times larger. To safely bring the International Space Station back to Earth, a dedicated spacecraft will have to be built, the total cost of which is estimated at $1 billion over the course of this decade. NASA has so far only begun to sound out the U.S. aerospace industry for proposals to tackle this colossal project. Even less clear is the plan for the eventual transition to private space stations, which the U.S. and Europe are working on. In fact, a NASA safety committee has just expressed concern about the timing and financial sustainability of the private projects, which are intended to produce and operate the several stations that will be needed to replace the ISS. This transition requires a high-level framework and a very tight timeline. Of concern is the absence of a clear and robust business plan for commercial stations, which compromises the viability and security of NASAs entire plan for low-Earth orbit, said David West, a member of the NASA committee that met October 26. Private space stations NASA is funding the design of several private station projects, to be able to continue to keep its astronauts in orbit uninterruptedly. One of them is Orbital Reef, a joint initiative between Jeff Bezos Blue Origin and Sierra Space, which promise to have their station operational in 2027; however, both companies have had public disagreements and are giving priority to other space projects, without a team even contracted yet for Orbital Reef, which is intended to be a space business center. Rivaling that project is Starlab, an orbital research center that is scheduled to start operating in 2028 and has just been joined by the ESA. Both projects aim to exploit the business opportunity presented by having factories and research laboratories in zero gravity. This is also the case of Axiom, another company that has even closer cooperation with NASA, which has created the spacesuit for astronauts on the upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon; in addition, in 2022, Axiom carried the first mission manned by private astronauts to the International Space Station, who stayed there for two weeks of space tourism. Axiom plans to add four modules to the ISS, starting in 2026. Later, those modules will be undocked from the station before it is sent to sink in the Pacific and begin operating as an independent space station. However, there may be some extra life in the ISS yet. At a symposium held on November 2, Ken Bowersox, NASAs associate administrator for space operations, said: Its not mandatory that we stop flying the ISS in 2030. But, it is our full intention to switch to new platforms when theyre available. This is yet another indication that NASA does not see the projects to relieve the ISS as sufficiently advanced. NASA is also contemplating the possibility that its de-orbit vehicle may not be ready until 2035. While the U.S. space agencys plans to de-orbit the ISS have just been finalized, other proposals are emerging. At the end of Bowersoxs speech, a space policy expert suggested the opposite idea: raising the International Space Station to a stable orbit at the end of its useful life, so that it would remain a monument to space cooperation, visible from Earth as a faint artificial star. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition A single grimace can encompass a world. In 2017, Lee Sedol the world champion of Go was finally defeated but not by a human. He was beaten by a machine: AlphaGo, created by DeepMind, a subsidiary of Google. Sedol the unbeatable master of an ancient game with more possible moves than there are atoms in the universe was convinced that he would win 5-0. He ultimately lost 4-1. During the five games, all of humanity was reflected in Sedols face, when he observed a winning move made by the machine, as unexpected as it was fascinating. The champion was speechless. And, after a few seconds of shock, he smiled casually. Then he frowned, concentrating again on his intellectual endeavor. His gesture summarizes what has happened this year throughout the planet following the emergence of ChatGPT and the rest of the creative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots. Weve all felt stunned and challenged. The AI that amazes us is suddenly speaking to us. Sedol realized that it was speaking to him with new words, but in a human language, through his game. Thats the key to everything that has happened: only when weve seen ourselves reflected in a talking machine can we take it seriously. However, beneath the noise of the headlines, the seduction of the machines has been weaving a hidden agenda. The famous [Spanish] philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset said: To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand, summarizes Sara Hooker, one of the most prominent researchers in the sector. After working at Google Brain, she founded Cohere For AI, a not-for-profit research laboratory. [2023] has been the year of surprise and wonder, when groundbreaking advances in the artificial intelligence of language have reached the general public beyond the scientific world, Hooker notes. But this also marks the beginning of our ability to understand how to use this technology in a meaningful and responsible way. Its a cycle, the researcher explains, that weve seen before, whether with the emergence of the internet or mobile phones. And now comes generative AI, which is capable of creating texts and images. It takes time to discover the best uses and how to develop them. It doesnt happen overnight, the researcher cautions. She wrote a guiding document for the AI Safety Summit that was held at the Bletchley Park estate, in the United Kingdom. From that summit organized by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a declaration was released on November 1, in which thirty nations (such as the U.S., the U.K. and China) demand security and transparency from the AI sector. Daniel Innerarity a philosopher who chairs the department of AI & Democracy at the Florence School of Transnational Governance believes that these advances have generated an environment that he dares to describe as digital hysteria, based on news that arouses fears and exaggerated expectations. The digital hysteria of the past 12 months was lit with the fire of two torches: the surprise that Hooker talks about, along with the greed of big tech. Alphabet (Google), Meta, Microsoft and other transnational firms want AI to guarantee their infinite growth and have each set out to conquer the playing field. But that commercial revolution and the political race to regulate it requires the atomic fuel of human fascination. That impact has been the catalyst for a phenomenon that has captured much of the global conversation. Its what led Sam Altman the leader of OpenAI (the company that developed ChatGPT) until last week, when he was fired to meet with leaders from around the planet something unthinkable for an entrepreneur who, just a few months ago, was totally unknown. The key to success has been conversation, opines neuroscientist Mariano Sigman. The moment in which a machine began to generate ideas to articulate language with surprising fluidity and subtlety that was the great change. Thanks to this, theres enormous awareness of the consequences that artificial intelligence entails, which would have gone unnoticed if it had remained in a much more exclusive sphere, the researcher warns. Government and business leaders gathered at the AI Safety Summit in the United Kingdom, held on November 1 and 2, 2023. Tolga Akmen ( BLOOMBERG ) AI had already been revolutionizing sectors for years and achieving great successes, such as dethroning Sedol at Go, detecting tumors for radiologists, driving cars reasonably well, or studying proteins to open the door to countless medications. But all these past accomplishments are nothing like the irresistible magnetism that a conversational machine exerts on humans. According to a study carried out by a group of American universities, the OpenAI program shows more empathy than doctors when it comes to conveying a diagnosis. That ability to speak with sentiments caused global attention to turn towards AI. And its what has convinced world leaders that the problem or the revolution requires urgent action. President Joe Biden has already published his legislative framework for the United States, while the European Union wants to have regulations ready by the end of this year. Meanwhile, various AI experts are writing articles on human consciousness as if they were philosophers, the fathers of this technological debate, or prophets of the apocalypse. Theyre holding Byzantine discussions on social media, like priests delving into a mystery thats inaccessible to others. But the future of humanity may indeed depend on the outcome of these debates or at least these conversations will determine how we go forward with addressing the results of AI when it comes to the labor market, privacy, misinformation, culture and copyright law. One of these experts is Jurgen Schmidhuber, director of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Switzerland. He laid some of the first bricks when it came to these decisive large language models (LLMs). The curious thing is that the basic principles behind generative AI are more than three decades old, he informs EL PAIS. Why did it take so long for all this to take off? he asks rhetorically. Because, in 1991, computing was millions of times more expensive than today. Back then, we could only do small experiments. Thats the main reason why in the last decade companies like Google, OpenAI, Microsoft or Samsung have been able to implement our techniques billions of times a day on billions of smartphones and computers around the world. At this moment, its difficult to discern what the future of AI and artificial creativity, more specifically will be. There could either be a bubble, or a revolution. Estimates say that the value of the industry could skyrocket to $200 billion by 2030. In the last year, however, only about $2.5 billion have been invested in generative AI, compared to around $65 billion for traditional AI which flies airplanes or reads CVs according to a report by the firm Menlo Ventures. In 30 years, people will smirk at todays applications, which will seem primitive compared to what [they have]. Civilization as we know it will be completely transformed and humanity will benefit greatly, Schmidhuber predicts. Two weeks in November There were two weeks that changed everything forever. On November 15, 2022, Meta launched Galactica: a test version of an AI capable of creating language, aimed more at the creation of academic texts. It only lasted for three days Meta pulled it after receiving harsh criticism for promoting biased and false information. Galactica was hallucinating the term used for when these programs commit major errors. On November 30, OpenAI released ChatGPT, which was also mind-blowing. But there were two important differences. Mark Zuckerbergs company had a controversial past that weighed Galactica down, while Sam Altman was clever enough to have previously trained ChatGPT with people. After technological development, the machine learned by talking to flesh-and-blood tutors, who reinforced the most human responses. Galactica was left in a drawer, while ChatGPT became one of the most successful programs in history, achieving in six months the social impact that took Facebook an entire decade to build. President Joe Biden during the signing of an executive order to regulate artificial intelligence, in the White House, on October 30, 2023. JIM LO SCALZO (EFE) What happened during the last two weeks of November 2022 also radically changed the mentality among the big tech giants, who had been investing billions of dollars in AI for more than five years and emptying the computer science departments of universities by hiring every relevant scientist. In all that time, the laboratories of these companies focused on developments such as Galactica or AlphaGo, fascinating tests, notable scientific achievements but few products with real commercial power. Whats more, Google was far ahead, but it didnt dare to launch these products on the market, for fear of putting its search engines dominance at risk (if you have an intelligent chatbot, why would you query a search engine?). At least, this is according to what has been revealed through investigations into Googles monopolistic practices. This past January, Microsoft announced a $10 billion investment into OpenAI, causing alarm bells to go off at Google. The search titan quickly abandoned its initial doubts and called for an internal code red to incorporate generative AI into all its products, in addition to merging its two laboratories DeepMind and Google Brain into a single department with one mission: be less scientific and more productive. From the experiments, the focus then switched to marketing. And, funnily enough, the same businesspeople who invested billions in these algorithms started warning about the risks to humanity and demanding immediate regulation. Altman assured the public that, in the event of an AI apocalypse, even having a bunker wouldnt help. While thousands of girls were being subjected to the sexual harassment resulting from these technologies (such as deepfake pornography), the technocapitalist aristocracy raised the specter of Terminator the film in which machines subjugate the human species. Biden, meanwhile, claimed that his interest in legislating AI accelerated after watching the latest Mission: Impossible movie, in which a rogue AI system puts world powers on the ropes. Politicians have decided to act as soon as possible, out of fear that what happened with Facebooks disinformation years ago will happen to them, with manipulations of images and audio. Hooker acknowledges that there are significant risks from AI, but shes more concerned that theyre not being properly prioritized. More theoretical and, in my opinion, extremely unlikely scenarios, such as terminators taking over the world have received a disproportionate amount of attention from society. I think this is a big mistake and that we should address the very real risks we currently face, such as deepfakes, misinformation, bias and cyber scams. According to many specialists, the catastrophic discourse suddenly coming from big tech firms is out of an interest in getting regulations implemented that prevent new competitors from emerging, as they would be burdened by a more stringent regulatory framework. The four leading companies in the race Google, OpenAI, Microsoft and Anthropic have even created their own lobby group to push their regulatory framework. The chief scientist at Meta, Yann LeCun, assures EL PAIS that they only want to stop the arrival of new competitors and have the regulations tailored to their needs. Altman, Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind) and Dario Amodei (Anthropic) are the ones who are carrying out intense lobbying at this time, LeCun notes. Andrew Ng the former director of Google Brain has been very vocal on the matter: They would prefer not to have to compete with open source [AI], so theyre creating the fear that AI will lead to human extinction. More than half of university professors in this sector in the United States believe that corporate leaders are deceiving society in favor of their agendas. Even the OpenAI board dismissed Altman this past Friday almost on the first anniversary of ChatGPT implying that the CEO hadnt been honest with the company. The journey of tycoon Elon Musk over the past few years is also very telling: he promoted the creation of OpenAI to combat Googles opacity, but then wanted to control the company when he glimpsed its potential. He ended up departing after a dispute with Atman. Subsequently, after the global bombshell that was ChatGPT, Musk was among the first to call for a six-month moratorium on AI development. But in reality, he was working behind the scenes to create his own company xAI and his own smart program called Grok, which was launched on November 4, 2023. We run the risk of further entrenching the dominance of a few private actors over our economy and our social institutions, warns Amba Kak, executive director of the AI Now Institute, one of the organizations that most closely monitors this field. Its no coincidence that the great year of this technology has also been the year of the most secrecy: never before have the companies that develop AI shared less about their data, their work, or their funding. As economic interests and security concerns increase, traditionally open companies have begun to be more secretive about their most innovative research, laments the annual report on the sector, published by the venture capital firm Air Street Capital. In their latest book Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity professors Daron Acemoglu (MIT) and Simon Johnson (Oxford) warn that history shows that new technologies dont simply benefit the entire population naturally. Progress only occurs upon combatting the elites, who try to monopolize this progress. The technology sector and big companies have much more political influence today than at any other time in the last 100 years. Despite their scandals, technology magnates are respected and influential only rarely does anyone question the type of progress theyre imposing on the rest of society, the authors warn. Most people around the globe today are better off than our ancestors, because citizens and workers in earlier industrial societies organized, challenged elite-dominated choices about technology and work conditions, and forced ways of sharing the gains from technical improvements more equitably. Today, we need to do the same again. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Migrants camp with their belongings on the sidewalk in front of the Watson Hotel in New York, on Jan. 30, 2023. As weary migrants arrive in Denver on buses from the U.S.-Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas, officials offer them two options: temporary shelter or a bus ticket out. Nearly half of the 27,000 migrants who arrived in Denver since November 2022 have chosen the bus, plane or train tickets to other cities in the U.S., city data shows. In New York and Illinois, taxpayer dollars also are being spent on tickets, creating a shuffle of migrants in the interior U.S. who need shelter, food and medical assistance as they await rulings on asylum cases that can take years. The transfer of migrants has gained momentum since Republican governors in Texas and Florida started chartering buses and planes to Democratic-led cities in what critics waved off as political stunts. More than a year later, some of those cities, their resources dwindling, are eager to help migrants move on to their final destinations. The efforts show the increased pressures cities are facing as more migrants from around the globe are coming to the U.S. southern border, often fleeing economic turmoil. Illegal border crossings topped 2 million during the governments fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the second-highest number on record. With many migrants in shelters or living on the street, the next phase of the challenge is getting them to their families, friends or court cases, said Mario Russell, director at the Center for Migration Studies of New York. That has been in a sense dropped into the laps of interior cities without much preparation, without much forethought really at any level, Russell added. Denver alone has spent at least $4.3 million in city funds to send migrants to other U.S. cities, freeing up shelter beds for new arrivals while adding to the numbers in other Democratic-led cities such as Chicago and New York that are struggling to house asylum-seekers, mostly from Venezuela. Data wasnt yet available from New York, though the city is offering one-way plane tickets to anywhere in the world. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago has used state funds to help buy tickets for more than 2,500 migrants who have family, friends or sponsors elsewhere, according to Chief of Staff Mary Krinock. The cities say they buy tickets only for migrants who want to travel and they do not coerce people to leave. Texas and Florida have chartered buses and planes to take migrants only to certain cities. They say people board them voluntarily. The people who are desperate, who are coming here for shelter and assistance, were not going to turn those people away, Jon Ewing of Denver Human Service said. But at the same time we have to make it very clear to them thats theres only so much we can do. Advocates working with migrants say many come to Denver on their way to other cities because of its relative proximity to the border, reputation for being welcoming and the cheaper bus fare. But charities are feeling the pressure as the weather turns colder and migrants end up sleeping in tent encampments. It breaks my heart. It is like we have so many children and little ones that we know we cant even help, said Yoli Casas, executive director of Vive Wellness, which works with new migrants to Denver. Theres just no more room. Theres no more funding. Theres no nothing. Were not prepared, she said. Denver has bought nearly 3,000 tickets to Chicago and 2,300 to New York, almost half of the more than 12,000 tickets the city has purchased for migrants since November 2022. The vast majority were bus tickets, but Denver also purchased about 340 tickets for flights and 200 for train rides. Roughly 1,000 tickets were bound for Texas and Florida, whose governors have sent chartered buses and planes of migrants to Democratic-led sanctuary cities that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Russell of the Center for Migration Studies said greater communication among cities is required to ensure people go where its most appropriate rather than potentially going in circles and circles, from one city to the next. That doesnt help anybody, he added. Tensions flared between political leaders in January when Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis chartered buses for migrants to Chicago. Then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and New York City Mayor Eric Adams penned a letter urging Polis to stop and saying overburdening other cities is not the solution. Cities including Denver, New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles recently have presented a united front, with their mayors going to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Joe Biden and ask for more assistance. You have mayors across the country that are struggling with this international crises and we need the federal government to do more, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who took office in May, told reporters this month. Ewing gave a similar message regarding El Pasos busing of migrants to Denver, saying the two cities have been in communication. They were overwhelmed, Ewing said, We certainly didnt encourage it, but we do understand it. El Pasos mayor is a Democrat and the citys practice of chartering buses for migrants is separate from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whose office says it has bused more than 50,000 migrants total to Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Los Angeles since August 2022 to highlight Bidens border policies. Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said the governor is acting to provide relief to our overwhelmed border towns. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got attention last year by flying migrants from San Antonio to Marthas Vineyard in Massachusetts. This year, state lawmakers approved $12 million in funding for Floridas migrant relocation initiative. In Denver, the millions spent on tickets for migrants has reduced shelter costs, which reached upward of $31 million, largely from federal aid with support from the state. But the city also recently instituted shelter bed limits. Migrants without children have two weeks in city-run shelters, while families have more than five weeks. The city also has sent flyers to border towns warning migrants that the Rocky Mountain metropolis has expensive housing and no shelter space. In Massachusetts. Democratic Gov. Maura Healey set a threshold of 7,500 families in emergency shelters. New York City and Chicago are also limiting migrants shelter stays. A few Chicago City Council members want to gauge voter support for ending sanctuary city status with a nonbinding ballot measure in the March primary. Strong backing could help efforts to limit Chicagos decades-old sanctuary status. Among other things, city employees arent allowed to ask about immigration status and law enforcement are barred from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. We have other Democratic cities, Denver, California, L.A., sending their people to Chicago, New York. Theyre sending their migrants to Chicago. Why? Because they are saying, We cant take anymore. Chicago has yet to say, We cant take anymore, Alderman Anthony Beale, who has backed the ballot measure, said at a recent council meeting. We have to draw the line somewhere. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, sit together during a reception to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary in Plains, Georgia, U.S., in 2021. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The statement announcing her death said she died peacefully, with family by her side at 2:10 p.m. at her rural Georgia home of Plains. Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished, Carter said in the statement. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me. Jill Biden, appearing at an event at Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia, said she had to lead this off with a sad announcement that Rosalynn Carter had died. She was well-known for her efforts on mental health and caregiving and womens rights. So I hope that during the holidays, youll include the Carter family in your prayers, she said. She spoke in a hanger where she and President Joe Biden planned to attend an early Thanksgiving dinner with service members and their families. The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a full partnership. Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to President Carter sometimes referred to her privately as co-president. Rosalynn is my best friend the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life, Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981. Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Rosalynn Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-the-scenes influence. When her role in a highly publicized Cabinet shakeup became known, she was forced to declare publicly, I am not running the government. Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husbands they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanor and a soft Southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her the Steel Magnolia. Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carters landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington. Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights. She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit U.S. wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics. Throughout her husbands political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media didnt cover those efforts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticized reporters for writing only about sexy subjects. As honorary chairwoman of the Presidents Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying, Weve been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach. She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husbands campaigns for Georgia governor. I used to come home and say to Jimmy, Why are people telling me their problems? And he said, Because you may be the only person theyll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them, she explained. After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Rosalynn Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, Georgia, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives. I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles, she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, First Lady from Plains. But we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before. After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work. She chaired the centers annual symposium on mental health issues and raised funds for efforts to aid the mentally ill and homeless. She also wrote Helping Yourself Help Others, about the challenges of caring for elderly or ailing relatives, and a sequel, Helping Someone With Mental Illness. Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. I get tired, she said of her travels. But something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and theres no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing its so wonderful. In 2015, Jimmy Carters doctors discovered four small tumors on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she didnt know what she was going to do. I depend on him when I have questions, when Im writing speeches, anything, I consult with him, she said. She helped Carter recover several years later when he had hip replacement surgery at age 94 and had to learn to walk again. And she was with him earlier this year when he decided after a series of hospital stays that he would forgo further medical interventions and begin end-of-life care. Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived U.S. president. Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived of the nations first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at age 97. Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927, the eldest of four children. Her father died when she was young, so she took on much of the responsibility of caring for her siblings when her mother went to work part-time. She also contributed to the family income by working after school in a beauty parlor. We were very poor and worked hard, she once said, but she kept up her studies, graduating from high school as class valedictorian. She soon fell in love with the brother of one of her best friends. Jimmy and Rosalynn had known each other all their lives it was Jimmys mother, nurse Lillian Carter, who delivered baby Rosalynn but he left for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, when she was still in high school. After a blind date, Jimmy told his mother: Thats the girl I want to marry. They wed in 1946, shortly after his graduation from Annapolis and Rosalynns graduation from Georgia Southwestern College. Their sons were born where Jimmy Carter was stationed: John William (Jack) in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1947; James Earl III (Chip) in Honolulu in 1950; and Donnel Jeffery (Jeff) in New London, Connecticut, in 1952. Amy was born in Plains in 1967. By then, Carter was a state senator. Navy life had provided Rosalynn her first chance to see the world. When Carters father, James Earl Sr., died in 1953, Jimmy Carter decided, without consulting his wife, to move the family back to Plains, where he took over the family farm. She joined him there in the day-to-day operations, keeping the books and weighing fertilizer trucks. We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, Rosalynn Carter recalled with pride in a 2021 interview with The Associated Press. I knew more on paper about the business than he did. He would take my advice about things. At the height of the Carters political power, Lillian Carter said of her daughter-in-law: She can do anything in the world with Jimmy, and shes the only one. He listens to her. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition KYODO NEWS - Nov 20, 2023 - 21:35 | Arts, All, Travel/Tourism The world's first full-fledged area themed on the hit animation "Frozen" officially opened its gates Monday at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort as the franchise celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. The highly anticipated "World of Frozen" saw hundreds of guests lining up for hours outside the area before it officially opened, with dedicated fans dressed up in movie-related garb. Two parkgoers said they had traveled from Japan just to visit the new area, as Frozen was their favorite Disney film. "I'm very happy to be able to see the kingdom of Arendelle," said Mai, a 34-year-old woman who declined to reveal her surname. Designed to immerse guests in a captivating winter wonderland, the area features Norwegian scenery inspired by the popular films, including the Arendelle Castle and snowy landscapes that are iconic to the series. The area also has two attractions -- a musical boat ride that takes guests through Elsa's ice palace and a Frozen-themed rollercoaster. Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan said at the opening ceremony that the launch of the new area is a "defining moment to elevate Hong Kong Disneyland to a whole new level, and to attract more tourists to embark on journeys to Hong Kong." The new area in Hong Kong is the first of three Frozen-themed attractions planned for Disney parks, with Tokyo DisneySea set to open one in June 2024 while a third zone is currently under construction at Disneyland Paris. Related coverage: Tokyo Disneyland operator's net profit surges in post-COVID rebound Tokyo Disneyland celebrates 40 years with fanfare, iconic characters Disney Cruise Line makes Singapore its 1st home port in Asia By Minori Moriuchi, KYODO NEWS - Nov 20, 2023 - 08:56 | All, Japan, Feature A craftsman from France has combined two distinct art forms to give new life to "Suifu chochin" Japanese paper lanterns made famous in Mito, the capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture in eastern Japan. Jeff Rudge, 45, hopes his lanterns will help preserve the tradition for the future. He uses a technique that melds stained glass, a craft he learned from his German grandfather, with thin strips of bamboo and Japanese paper to create original designs that bring out vivid colors using light. Suifu was another name for Mito in the Edo period (1603-1868), and the city is known as one of the famous production hubs of chochin, or "bucket lights," which were used daily by Japanese people. Today, chochin, which use electric bulbs rather than the traditional flame, are sold as souvenirs and are widely used to decorate festivals and other events. "Akachochin" (red lanterns) hang outside Japanese "izakaya" taverns as beacons drawing in thirsty and hungry customers. "I want to bring in a new style of chochin while preserving and promoting traditions," Rudge told Kyodo News in a recent interview. At the workshop he runs, Rudge works surrounded by many pre-painted white lanterns. He carefully bends bamboo strips into hoops with his well-practiced hands to construct the frames on which the Japanese paper is affixed. A subtle amount of force must be applied, depending on how challenging the bamboo is to work. "It is difficult to deal with natural materials, but I find it fun to work on each piece one by one," he said. Originally from the eastern region of France, Rudge married his Japanese wife, Satoko, whom he met on a trip, and moved to her hometown in Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 2005. Minoru Iijima, 84, Rudge's father-in-law, had operated the Suifu Chochin Workshop in the city for over 50 years. The Frenchman grew to admire Iijama's skills because of a love of craftsmanship since he was a child, and he saw an opportunity in 2017. Rudge had been working as an English teacher but after hearing his father-in-law was considering closing the business due to the lack of a successor, he asked to become an apprentice and Iijima readily accepted. Iijama worked closely with Rudge to develop his skills and the younger man inherited the workshop in 2021. Suifu chochin manufacturing is said to have spread during the Edo period as a side job for low-ranking samurai who were living in poverty and began to flourish when it became an industry backed by the Mito domain, the governing body at that time. At its peak, there were some 30 stores, but due to declining demand for chochin as a daily necessity, the number of stores has decreased to three today. The coronavirus pandemic also damaged chochin sales. Demand for the Japanese paper lanterns, which are a mainstay of shrines and nighttime festivals, dried up when events were canceled around Japan due to COVID-19's spread. This crisis led Rudge to the idea of combining stained glass, a craft he learned from his grandfather when he was a boy, with his new passion. Rudge's innovation is to place stained glass on top of the chochin so that images of Mt. Fuji, bamboo, and other motifs are projected by the soft lantern light. Rudge currently only sells his lanterns to friends, but he hopes to gradually increase production and eventually make them available to buyers inside and outside of Japan. "I want to create my own unique chochin by combining traditional techniques handed down from my Japanese father-in-law with the skills I learned from my German grandfather. I want to pass on the legacy of each family while preserving the traditions," he said. Related coverage: FEATURE: India man lives in Japan-inspired house, conducts his tea ceremony FEATURE: Internships creating brighter future for Japanese silk farming FEATURE: Hong Kong origami enthusiasts share passion in regular meet-ups By Junko Horiuchi, KYODO NEWS - Nov 20, 2023 - 16:22 | Arts, All A new episode of Osamu Tezuka's famous "Black Jack" manga made with the help of artificial intelligence was unveiled Monday, with the creators saying that while the work reflected the spirit of the late legendary manga artist, its ability to depict human feelings remains an issue. "We are happy that a very Tezuka Osamu-like work has been created," said Makoto Tezuka, son of the late artist and director at Tezuka Productions Co., one of the organizers of the project, which was launched to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the medical drama about an unlicensed genius surgeon. The latest 32-page episode will be published Wednesday in the weekly comic magazine Shukan Shonen Champion and will feature a female patient who has had a transplant for what was supposed to have been a "perfect" AI-made artificial heart. The magazine ran the original Black Jack series from 1973 and 1983. "The new episode contains the sanctity of life as a theme, and raises issues posed by advanced medical technology in modern society," Makoto Tezuka told a joint press conference alongside project team members in Tokyo. The team used generative AI models that learned from some 200 episodes of Black Jack, another 200 short-form manga works by Osamu Tezuka who died in 1989, and 20,000 pages of his manga characters' facial image data. Under the project, which was officially launched in May, the team input plot ideas into the AI and requested it to come up with a full story for a new Black Jack episode. Interacting with the AI model enhanced creativity, and generated text was adjusted to better reflect the team's vision of the story in a way readers could easily understand, the team said. The AI models used in the project were ChatGPT's advanced GPT-4, and Stable Diffusion, an image generator. Meanwhile, Makoto Tezuka said, "AI is still weak in incorporating human feelings into stories, because feelings vary from person to person. Such things cannot simply be achieved through analyzing collected data." Satoshi Kurihara, a member of the project's team and professor at Keio University's Faculty of Science and Technology, said working with AI opens up the potential for "mass producing" work of the same quality as those made by manga artists, or to an even better standard. From next year onwards, Kurihara said he would like to work on AI technologies that could help to create more Japanese content, not just limited to manga comics, which could be exported globally. The episode follows an earlier project in which "Paidon," a manga designed by AI in the style of Osamu Tezuka, was released in the weekly comic magazine Morning in 2020. Related coverage: FOCUS: Use of AI-based robots on the rise in Japanese agriculture Creator of fake Japan PM video says "little joke" took 1 hour to make KYODO NEWS - Nov 20, 2023 - 20:20 | All, World, Japan Malaysian police said Monday they arrested seven Japanese men suspected of operating a phone scam that targeted citizens in their home country after raiding a condominium in Kuala Lumpur. The men, aged between 23 and 41, were arrested and immediately charged with violating immigration law. The police said they raided the apartment in the Malaysian capital and apprehended the suspects, seizing their phones and other items, after being tipped off by the Japanese Embassy. Investigations showed that "the syndicate was operating a phone scam" targeting Japanese nationals using the Skype call and messaging application to contact their victims, Commercial Crime Investigation Department head Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said. The syndicate members allegedly impersonated banking staff and told victims there were problems with their accounts, requesting that they transfer funds to another account provided by the scammers. The suspects are being held by immigration authorities pending further investigation. Crime syndicates involving Japanese nationals have been reported in other parts of Southeast Asia recently. Earlier this month, Japanese police arrested 25 Japanese men suspected of running a phone scam out of Phnom Penh after they were deported from Cambodia. In Thailand, police also apprehended two Japanese citizens this month for conducting similar scams from Bangkok. Related coverage: Detained phone scam suspect extradited to Japan from Thailand 25 Japanese suspects deported from Cambodia arrested over phone scams 25 alleged fraudsters detained in Cambodia to be extradited to Japan KYODO NEWS - Nov 20, 2023 - 22:03 | All, Japan, World Two senior Japanese vice ministers have visited Ukraine along with a business delegation to examine requests for Japanese contributions to the future reconstruction of the war-torn country, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. Kiyoto Tsuji, a senior vice foreign minister, and Kazuchika Iwata, a senior vice minister of economy, trade and industry, met with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Kyiv a day after arriving in the country on Sunday. Tsuji told Shmyhal that Japan's commitment to helping Ukraine will never waver and that the visit by both him and Iwata is "important in terms of further deepening the involvement of Japanese firms" in the nation's reconstruction, according to the ministry. Iwata was quoted by the ministry as saying that the government will support Japanese businesses to that end. Shmyhal expressed optimism about Japan's role, saying that Kyiv will continue to work with Tokyo for the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Reconstruction, scheduled to be held in Tokyo on Feb. 19, the ministry said. Fumiya Kokubu, chairman of the Japan Business Federation's special committee on Ukraine's economic recovery, accompanied Tsuji and Iwata. The federation is the nation's most powerful business lobby and is better known as Keidanren. The delegation also included business people from about 10 Japanese companies, such as engineering firms JFE Engineering Corp. and IHI Corp., and agricultural machinery maker Kubota Corp. In Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said at a press conference, "Through the economic mission's visit this time, we will further promote public-private support for Ukraine, and we hope it will lead to the success" of the conference. In March, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise trip to Ukraine, while Kamikawa's predecessor, Yoshimasa Hayashi, visited the country in September. Ukraine has been under invasion by Russia since February 2022. Related coverage: Russian envoy to Japan appointed to fill role left vacant for 1 year No cease-fire until Russia returns Ukrainian territory: security head KYODO NEWS - Nov 21, 2023 - 09:50 | All, Japan Japan's health ministry said Monday it is planning to ban HHCH, a synthetic substance that mimics the effects of cannabis, as soon as this week after people who consumed gummies containing the cannabinoid had to go to the hospital earlier this month. Once HHCH, or hexahydrocannabihexol, is designated as a psychoactive drug, its possession, use and distribution in Japan will be illegal, health minister Keizo Takemi said in a press conference. "Please refrain from consuming (the gummies) as they are dangerous," said Takemi. On Nov. 4, five individuals, ranging in age from their teens to their 50s, fell ill after consuming gummies distributed by a man at a festival in western Tokyo, according to investigative sources. Last Friday, the health ministry's Narcotics Control Department conducted inspections of a company that manufactures the edibles in western Japan and five stores selling the gummies in Tokyo and Osaka. Gummies containing HHCH were found in one store in Tokyo. The ministry has ordered sales of the product to be suspended until an analysis of its components is completed. The health ministry is also considering banning all substances with structures similar to HHCH, which can cause hallucinations and memory impairment. The primary psychoactive constituent of cannabis, known as THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, is already banned in Japan. (Published Nov. 20; updated Nov. 21 with corrections) Related coverage: Cannabis-derived gummies probed in Tokyo after almost 10 fall ill AlBawani Holding Company, a diversified Saudi conglomerate, registered a growth of 39 per cent last year, and anticipates its revenue to increase to SR27 billion ($7.20 billion) by 2027, Eng Fakher Alshawaf, Chairman and Group Chief Executive of the company, has said. The group, which was established in 1991, currently operates in several sectors including construction, specialised contracting, water and power, facility management, manufacturing, MEP solutions, technology, and investment in public-private partnerships (PPPs). As part of its growth plans, Eng Alshawaf said the group has adopted a wise expansion strategy covering energy and mining, in addition to increasing investment in assets which will be offered through state funds, governmental and private projects. AlBawanis board of directors is also considering selling a stake in the company through an initial public offering (IPO) in the coming period, he told CNBC Arabia in an interview. "Driven by a steadfast commitment to fostering sustainable growth, AlBawani Holding Group is actively considering an initial public offering (IPO) to make a portion of its shares available for public subscription in the near future. We are open to any strategic initiative that can further enhance the group's value and propel its growth trajectory. As a leading national enterprise, AlBawani Holding Group is determined to play a pivotal role across diverse sectors and establish itself as a formidable competitor for global players," he elaborated. "Since its inception, AlBawani Holding Group has navigated a course through significant challenges, and has emerged as a firmly established entity - a testament to its unwavering determination, unflinching dedication, and tireless efforts. Moreover, the steadfast support of the Saudi government has been instrumental in empowering national companies to assume pivotal roles, thanks to the launch of numerous infrastructure projects and legislative reforms," stated Eng Alshawaf in the interview on CNBCs Arabic Channel. Eng Alshawaf emphasised the transformative impact of Saudi Vision 2030 in propelling the kingdom to a prominent global position. He underscored AlBawani Holding Group's commitment to aligning its strategies with the successive short- and long-term growth plans outlined in the vision. This proactive approach has enabled the group to successfully execute a multitude of large-scale projects across the kingdom, he stated. Partnership with PIF Eng Alshawaf remarked that partnering with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) represents a unique opportunity for the group to leverage the Fund's vast expertise and the opportunities it presents, enabling the company to elevate itself into a pioneering diversified conglomerate within the region, consistently delivering exceptional services and value to clients, employees, and the society at large. He also highlighted the PIFs crucial role in the construction sector, considering its paramount importance to the Saudi economy. He added that the Fund's investments will play a pivotal role in the realisation of Vision 2030 and its ambitious projects. Constructions key role Eng Alshawaf emphasised the significant role of the construction sector in the evolving dynamics of the Saudi economy, which is currently undergoing significant diversification and robust growth. He pointed out that the challenges now faced by the sector stem primarily from the sheer scale and diversity of projects being undertaken. These projects can only be successfully executed by companies that possess the necessary expertise, planning skills, preparedness, and effective leadership to navigate the complexities and deliver exceptional results, he stressed. Through its construction division AlBawani Construction Company (ABCC), AlBawani has consistently demonstrated its ability to compete effectively and carry out large-scale projects, ensuring that the delivery of these projects meets the highest quality standards and is carried out cost efficiently, he added. Mega projects In terms of the key ongoing development projects in the kingdom, a majority of them are centered around real estate, he said. These include initiatives led by the Ministry of Housing and its affiliated companies, as well as other significant developments like Neom, The Red Sea Project, and Qiddiya, and those being spearheaded by Seven and other developers across the kingdom. The Saudi market holds immense promise and is poised to attract a plethora of construction and investment projects offered by the state. These projects are marked by their diversity as exemplified by Neom, where AlBawani has successfully executed one of the most significant projects. These large-scale initiatives spanning various domains and position the kingdom as an attractive destination, he elaborated. AlBawani's involvement in these projects is multifaceted through its various divisions. In the investment sector, the group holds significant assets in partnership with the government sector, such as the operation of the 600,000-cu-m Jubail III water treatment plant in collaboration with other Saudi investors, Eng Alshawaf stated. Furthermore, we have embarked on the first educational infrastructure project in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance, the National Center for Privatization (NCP), and Tatweer Buildings Company (TBC). The first phase of this project has already been completed in Jeddah, with assets affiliated with the educational buildings in Makkah set to be delivered by the year-end. We intend to enter into several long-term ownership agreements, extending up to 22 years, with various agencies, and in coordination and collaboration with various AlBawani group companies," he added. Health sector Regarding AlBawani's involvement in health sector projects, Eng Alshawaf noted that the government has shown a strong commitment to advancing the health sector. He pointed out that with the privatisation of this sector, it is poised to attract substantial investments from both domestic and international sources. AlBawani, primarily through its ABCC subsidiary, has successfully completed numerous projects in this realm. He emphasised that AlBawani is among the leading specialised companies in this field and is a pioneer in implementing medical projects worldwide. Lucid factory As for AlBawani's role in establishing the Lucid factory, one of the largest electric vehicles (EV) production facilities outside of the US, Eng Alshawaf said the first phase of the factory, which was inaugurated on September 27, 2023, was built by AlBawani in record time. AlBawani began construction of the first phase of the facility in May 2022. This and future phases are expected to consist of many buildings across Lucids 1.3-million-sq-m campus plot at the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). Nationalisation of jobs In reply to a question on the nationalisation of jobs, he said AlBawani Holding Group has established the National Construction Academy (NCA), a non-profit national training institute, which has already commenced its mission by training 500 students. The plan is to increase this number to 1,000 students in the upcoming session. He emphasised AlBawani's commitment to nurturing well-qualified, domestic talent capable of contributing to the construction sector. Eng Alshawaf also revealed the group's ambitious plans, undertaken in collaboration with a technical institute, to expand the scope of training and introduce new specialisations that can cater to the needs of the construction and contracting industry. - TradeArabia News Service By Maricar Cinco, KYODO NEWS - Nov 20, 2023 - 09:27 | World, All In a recent confrontation in the South China Sea, 38 Chinese ships tailed and encircled a group of Philippine vessels heading for the Southeast Asian country's naval outpost on a disputed shoal earlier this month on a resupply mission. At the break of dawn on Nov. 10, the Chinese fleet appeared in a formation on the horizon in the contested waters as the Philippine ships headed for Second Thomas Shoal. Tensions between Manila and Beijing have been growing over the shoal following a series of China's aggressive actions against Philippine ships sailing to it since earlier this year. Reporters of Kyodo News and 15 other media organizations on board three Philippine Coast Guard ships, which accompanied two navy-chartered boats delivering food and other supplies to the outpost, witnessed the dangerous maneuvers by the Chinese fleet. The China Coast Guard ships and several fishing boats with the Chinese flag hoisted, suspected to be maritime militia, cut across the path of the Philippine supply boats and coast guard ships, moving in a coordinated manner. As the Chinese fleet constantly changed its formation, the Philippine vessels found themselves encircled. One China Coast Guard ship, for example, came within about 140 meters of a Philippine Coast Guard ship named Melchora Aquino, carrying some of the reporters. A crewman on the deck of the 97-meter multi-role response vessel, which the Philippines acquired from Japan last year, monitored the approach of one of the Chinese boats while carrying a portable radio receiver. "It's 30 meters!" exclaimed the crewman, who then rushed to the other side of the ship to discover another Chinese ship closing in on it. At such proximity, crew on the Chinese ships could be seen taking photos of the unfolding scene. As tensions mounted, the Chinese ships blew their horns numerous times in an apparent warning to leave the waters. The cat-and-mouse encounters continued, and it was not until hours later that the Philippine vessels managed to throw off the Chinese boats, averting a repeat of an Oct. 22 collision. As other Philippine vessels also successfully fended off the chase, the navy outpost on the submerged shoal, which hosts an old warship intentionally grounded by the Philippines in 1999, finally came into view from the Melchora Aquino around 8 a.m. The two boats reached the reef and delivered the supplies to navy personnel stationed on the rust-colored ship surrounded by turquoise water. Even after the completion of the resupply mission, the Philippine vessels, which started heading back at noon, were followed by the Chinese ships again until they returned to port in the western Philippine island of Palawan past midnight. Philippine Coast Guard officials later said it monitored 38 Chinese vessels, including four Chinese navy ships and a hospital ship from afar, during the mission. It marked the largest assembly of ships gathered to harass Philippine boats going to the shoal. The officials also said one of the Chinese Coast Guard ships blasted a water cannon toward a Philippine boat, but it failed to hit it and caused no damage. During the tense, hours-long faceoff, the China Coast Guard ships issued a total of 172 radio warnings to the three Philippine Coast Guard ships, they added. Following this incident, China lodged a complaint with the Philippine Embassy in Beijing, claiming five Philippine vessels "intruded into" waters near the shoal and "severely undermined China's sovereignty," with a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman urging Manila to "immediately stop provocations on the sea." The Philippines protested the China Coast Guard's use of a water cannon, saying it "put the lives of our people at risk," and called into question "the sincerity of (China's) calls for peaceful dialogue." The Philippine Coast Guard said it invited the reporters onboard the ships as part of a campaign to reveal China's escalating harassment in the South China Sea. Commodore Jay Tarriela, a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman, told a Nov. 11 press conference, "I believe that our effort in transparency initiative has been very successful in rallying support from the international community to condemn the illegal actions of China and to make the Filipino people aware of what's happening." The Chinese Coast Guard aimed a military-grade laser at a Philippine supply boat in February and fired a water cannon in August. In the Oct. 22 collision, one of the Philippine boats was damaged by a China Coast Guard ship. Beijing has rapidly built artificial islands with military infrastructure in the South China Sea, home to some of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Besides China and the Philippines, the disputes over the sea involve Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidated China's sweeping claims in the sea, but Beijing rejected the decision and has continued its military buildup in the area. Amid concerns that repeated confrontations near the shoal could develop into a conflict, Tarriela said the Philippine Coast Guard will not take any step that could escalate the tensions, stressing Manila will continue to abide by international law. Related coverage: Australia rips China over "unsafe, unprofessional" naval interaction U.S. Marines set up littoral unit in Okinawa for islands defense China, Philippines trade barbs over ship incident in South China Sea KYODO NEWS - Nov 20, 2023 - 21:57 | Japan, All, World A British-owned, Japanese-operated cargo ship has been seized in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthi armed group, the Israeli military and other sources said Sunday. The Japanese government confirmed that the cargo ship operated by Nippon Yusen K.K., more widely known as NYK Line, had been seized and said there were no Japanese citizens among its crew. The government "decisively condemns such an act," Japan's top spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said Monday in Tokyo, adding it is working with relevant countries to secure the release of the ship and crew. The Galaxy Leader is seen at the port of Koper in Slovenia in September 2008. (Kristijan Bracun/AP/Kyodo) Iran has denied involvement in the seizure, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson telling a press conference on Monday that resistance groups in the region act "independently." Nippon Yusen set up an emergency task force at its headquarters in Tokyo. The company said it has been unable to contact the car-carrying ship, named the Galaxy Leader, which has no cargo on board. The company also said it has been sharing information with the British company that owns the vessel. "We are handling the situation with the safety of crew members as the top priority." The Houthis said in a statement that they captured an "Israeli ship" and sailed it to Yemen. The Houthis insisted the seizure of the vessel was done on behalf of the Palestinians, who they said are being massacred by Israel. They said they will target all ships related to Israel and warned that no country's vessels should engage with Israel in the Red Sea. The Israeli prime minister's office said, "Israel strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel." "The ship, which is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked with Iran guidance by the Yemenite Houthi militia," it said, adding that no Israelis are aboard the ship. Israeli media reported that the vessel is registered under the British firm, which is partially owned by Israeli tycoon Abraham Ungar. A total of 25 people were on board, with crew members from Bulgaria, Mexico, the Philippines and Ukraine, according to the Israeli prime minister's office. The Israel Defense Forces said, "The hijacking of a cargo ship by the Houthis near Yemen in the southern Red Sea is a very grave incident of global consequence." The military said the ship is not Israeli, noting that the vessel departed Turkey bound for India. Related coverage: Poverty in Palestine may rise 45% in month 3 of Israel-Hamas war: UN Car rams into Israeli Embassy barricade in Tokyo, injures officer U.N. Security Council adopts resolution for Gaza humanitarian pauses KYODO NEWS - Nov 20, 2023 - 09:13 | Japan, All Farmers of traditional smoked daikon pickles, a popular bar snack from Akita Prefecture in northeastern Japan, are facing a conundrum as they struggle to comply with new industrywide food standards that are set to come into effect next year. Along with the aging of producers who for generations have passed down the traditional flavors of iburigakko, as the pickled smoked radish is known in Japanese, some farmers are closing their businesses because they cannot afford the cost of renovating processing facilities to standards required under the revised Food Sanitation Law. With less than one year before the full implementation of the law, pickle production areas across the country are doing their best to upgrade facilities, while municipalities in Akita are taking action to protect the local iburigakko food culture. Iburigakko derives from "iburi," referring to smoked in Japanese and "gakko" the local Akita dialect term for "tsukemono" pickles. It is made by smoking the daikon radish over an open "irori" hearth two or more days instead of sun-drying it as is commonly done in other regions that do not receive as much snow, using the timber from oak and cherry trees to produce a smoky aroma. Pickled on a bed of rice bran and salt, among other ingredients, the fermenting process takes around 40 days to complete. November is the peak season for pickling iburigakko. The pickled daikon is an important preserved food that has for generations been eaten during the long winters in snowbound areas where food tended to be scarce. It was first hung over the irori of each household to dry because the snow outside made it impossible to fully dry it there. Its crispness and the sweet, tangy taste of daikon makes iburigakko popular nationwide as a side dish to accompany tea and alcoholic drinks such as sake, shochu and wine. It is mainly produced in large-scale factories, but many independent farmers maintain traditional production methods. The Food Sanitation Law was amended in 2018 in response to an E. coli outbreak in 2012 in which eight people died after consuming pickled cabbage in Hokkaido due to a problem in the manufacturing process. The production and sale of pickles, which until then only had to be reported to local authorities, became subject to a permit system and hygiene standards in processing facilities. The grace period allowed before the application of the new law will end in May of next year. With change afoot, the impact on farmers has been significant. According to a survey by the Akita prefectural government, 30 percent of farmers said they were considering retirement, citing aging and other factors, since the law's revision. The Sannai district in the city of Yokote is home to a thriving iburigakko industry. Ichiro Takahashi, 81, who has been in the business for two decades, decided to call it a day when the revised law was passed five years ago. From harvesting the daikon radishes to pickling them, the work, which takes over a month in total, is grueling. He admits he has reached his physical limit, and he has no successor. "Even if I were to continue, we're talking two to three years at the most," Takahashi said. An 85-year-old woman from the same district has also decided she has had enough. "It was a special feeling when I could make something delicious, but my legs and back ache now, and understanding the revised law is difficult. I just can't do it anymore," she said. The uproar over the revision of the law in Akita was particularly hard-felt due in part to the fact that the prefecture has never before had an ordinance on pickle sanitation control. In contrast, Nagano Prefecture in central Japan, famous for pickled mustard leaves called nozawana-zuke, has had regulation for more than 50 years, so a Nagano prefectural official said, "there was no major confusion due to the revision of the law." Some farmers have decided to continue producing iburigakko, however, despite the challenges. Kentaro Takahashi, 43, renovated his processing facility at a cost of about 300,000 yen ($2,000). A sink with separate basins for food and handwashing was installed. Although the outlay was painful, he decided to go ahead because he wants the local tradition to continue. The taste and texture of iburigakko will change depending on the salt and sugar content and other ingredients as well as the pickling time. But once the characteristic flavor of a farmer is lost it cannot be recovered, Kentaro insists. "I hate it that we are losing something that has been around for generations," he said, adding that he is determined to continue producing to revitalize his aging hometown. Local governments are also trying to turn the tide. Yokote has set up an iburigakko course as part of its program to educate new farmers who must take up residence in the city to enroll. During the two-year course, they learn all they need to know about smoking and pickling daikon radish. "We want to plant the seeds to revitalize this community," said a local official in charge, expressing his desire to pass on the food culture to the next generation. * Chinese agronomists plan to expand the area dedicated to new cassava varieties and advanced farming techniques to over 500,000 hectares in Africa. * The cooperation has also expanded to the industrial sector, bringing automatic production lines of cassava flour, biscuits and crisps to more African countries. * The increased output of the starchy crop is expected to bolster food security in Africa while reducing poverty by raising small farmers' income. by Xinhua writers Zhong Qun, Luo Jiang and Yao Yuan SANYA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Inside an agriculture demonstration center in the Republic of the Congo, machines are automatically cleaning, peeling, slicing and grinding cassava, turning the starchy tubers into flour. For a long time, cassava crops in the central African nation have been manually peeled, and soaked in water before being dried and ground, a process that can take a few days. Earlier this year, a cassava flour production line introduced from China was set up at the center in Brazzaville, with the capacity to produce 4,000 tonnes of high-quality flour annually. A researcher shows cassava powder, delivered from a China-Aid Agriculture Technology Demonstration Center in the Republic of the Congo, at a laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences in Danzhou, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu) "Now we no longer worry about not being able to dry cassavas when it rains. The production is done automatically under the roof," said Congolese minister of agriculture, livestock and fisheries Paul Valentin Ngobo. He added that the stable purchase price offered by the factory will also help increase the income of local farmers. Cassava is an important staple food in Africa, but its output has long been bottlenecked by a lack of better varieties, advanced farming techniques and processing facilities. China, though not a large producer of cassava, is an important market for the crop and a global research powerhouse of cassava-related technologies. Amid the booming agricultural cooperation between China and Africa in recent years, new cassava varieties, farming and processing techniques from China are quickly taking root in Africa through technical training and jointly-built demonstration bases. At the just-concluded Second Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Agriculture held in the city of Sanya in Hainan Province, Chinese agronomists issued a plan to further expand the area of new cassava varieties and advanced farming techniques to over 500,000 hectares in Africa. According to the plan issued by the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), the improved varieties and techniques are expected to raise the yield of the root crops above 17 tonnes per hectare. FARM TO FACTORY Starch-rich cassava provides food for more than 200 million people in Africa and is an important food security crop for the continent long plagued by hunger and malnutrition. However, due to a lack of good varieties and cultivation technologies, experts and officials said the per-hectare cassava yield in Africa was only about 8.5 tonnes in 2021, lower than the global average. Chinese institutes, meanwhile, have risen to the forefront of cassava technologies amid the country's drive to ensure food security and to turn cassavas into an important industrial ingredient. The CATAS, for instance, has bred more than 20 high-yielding, disease-resistant cassava varieties, and developed various cassava cultivation and processing technologies. Such new varieties and technologies have so far been popularized on more than 666,000 hectares of land outside China. At the 59-hectare Congolese center built with Chinese support, an improved cassava variety has achieved an annual yield of 51 tonnes per hectare, 5.6 times that of local varieties, according to CATAS. Li Keming (L), an expert from the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, checks the growth of crop on a plantation with his Congolese colleague at the China-Aid Agriculture Technology Demonstration Center in Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo, July 12, 2023. (Photo by Guy-Gervais Kitina/Xinhua) "Through cooperation, we've collected more than 900 samples of cassava germplasm resources from China and beyond. We then used them to develop good-quality hybrid varieties and shared them with our African partners," said Li Kaimian, vice head of the CATAS. The institute has now expanded the cassava cooperation to the industrial sector, having set up automatic production lines for cassava flour, biscuits and crisps in countries including Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, Li said. "Two major problems faced in Africa are the low per-hectare output of cassavas and the lack of processing to help the crops grown by small farmers enter the market," said Xie Jianghui, vice head of the CATAS. He added that the institute now has the dual goal of both revving up the cassava yield to bolster food security in Africa and raising small farmers' income to reduce poverty. WIN-WIN COLLABORATION Cooperation in cassava farming represents the latest outcome of the burgeoning agricultural collaboration between China and Africa. Over the past decade, China has set up 24 agricultural technology demonstration centers in Africa and popularized more than 300 advanced agricultural technologies, which have increased local crop yields by an average of 30 to 60 percent, said Tang Renjian, China's minister of agriculture and rural affairs. By the end of 2021, agricultural investment by Chinese enterprises in Africa had reached 12.8 billion yuan (about 1.77 billion U.S. dollars), growing at an average annual rate of 11.4 percent, Tang added. As farm yields increase in Africa, the two sides are also deepening cooperation on trade to allow more African produce to enter the expanding Chinese market. In 2023, the trade volume of agricultural products between China and Africa is expected to exceed 10 billion U.S. dollars, nearly doubling that of a decade ago, according to Tang. "China is the world's largest developing country, and Africa is home to the largest number of developing countries. China and Africa have long formed a community of shared future," said Liu Guodao, from the Chinese Society for Tropical Crops. Liu said that China has a small tropical area, while Africa has a tropical area more than 60 times that of China. "Cooperation in tropical agriculture between China and Africa is a basic and concrete measure in reducing poverty and benefiting farmers." (Video reporters: Hong Liang, Wang Junfeng, Luo Jiang, Guo Liangchuan, Chen Chen, Chen Shaohua, Zhongqun, Shi Yu; video editors: Yu Jiaming, Zhu Jianhui, Liu Yutian) ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Countries should treat cultures of different countries with an inclusive attitude and work together to preserve cultural heritage, said Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova. "Cultural heritage should be preserved and promoted without fear of dialogue, and we should be open to accept knowledge from other countries and share this knowledge within our own country," Lyubimova told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum. The 9th St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, jointly organized by the government of the Russian Federation, the Russian Ministry of Culture and the St. Petersburg government, was held from Nov. 16th to 18th. After a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 epidemic, about 1,000 cultural figures and more than 50 official delegations gathered in the forum again to discuss such topics as theater, cinema, musical arts and their links to business and economy. "Although the representatives spoke different languages, and the issues described were also very different, we were united by the desire to preserve the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of our own countries," said Lyubimova. The participation of the Chinese delegation was very important, she said, adding that some Russian-Chinese agreements on joint creative production and cooperation in education were announced at the forum as well. Cooperation between Russia and China on culture has been on the rise in recent years, Lyubimova said, citing examples including the 13th International Festival "Russian-Chinese Culture and Art Fair" held in Blagoveshchensk and Heihe, and the Russian cartoon "Smeshariki" that has become so popular in China that its creators designed a new character -- Panda. Lyubimova believes that the two countries are set to have more cultural exchanges as the years 2024-2025 will be the joint Russia-China years of culture. "When talking about overseas tours of Russian and Chinese theaters and orchestras, the year 2023 has already been very fruitful," said the Russian minister. "The two countries are now negotiating and preparing a plan for 2024." BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) will supervise the investigation into a fire at a coal mine office building in north China's Shanxi Province, according to an official statement released Monday. The fire, which took place on Nov. 16 in the city of Lyuliang, left 26 dead and 38 injured. The city's police department has already launched an investigation into the accident. The SPP has urged the procuratorial organ in Shanxi to fully execute its duties and work with public security organs and other government departments to ascertain the liabilities of all involved parties, ensure solid evidence is gathered, penalize any related criminal activities in accordance with the law, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the victims. Meanwhile, the top procuratorate will oversee efforts to identify the source of similar risks and prevent production safety risks. Procuratorial organs will require relevant departments to enhance their efforts in workplace safety management, eliminating safety risks before accidents occur. A premature baby from Gaza Strip is seen in an incubator at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Nov. 20, 2023. Egypt received on Monday 28 premature babies from Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, via Rafah crossing, the only crossing point between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Egyptian AlQahera News TV reported. Sixteen babies were transferred to El Arish General Hospital in North Sinai province, while the rest were en route to hospitals in Cairo, the report added. (Egypt's State Information Center/Handout via Xinhua) CAIRO, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Egypt received on Monday 28 premature babies from Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, via Rafah crossing, the only crossing point between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Egyptian AlQahera News TV reported. Sixteen babies were transferred to El Arish General Hospital in North Sinai province, while the rest were en route to hospitals in Cairo, the report added. TV footages showed ambulances equipped with incubators ready to offer the essential emergency care at the Egyptian side of Rafah. The newborns' rapidly declining health put them in immediate danger of dying, following the total collapse of medical services at Al-Shifa. According to Egypt's State Information Center, the country has received 236 wounded Palestinians and 197 of their family members since Nov. 1. Israel has been carrying out attacks on Gaza over the past weeks to retaliate against the Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, during which Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages. Gaza's government media office announced on Sunday that the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 13,000. Medical workers transfer a premature baby from Gaza Strip at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Nov. 20, 2023. Egypt received on Monday 28 premature babies from Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, via Rafah crossing, the only crossing point between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Egyptian AlQahera News TV reported. Sixteen babies were transferred to El Arish General Hospital in North Sinai province, while the rest were en route to hospitals in Cairo, the report added. (Egypt's State Information Center/Handout via Xinhua) Medical workers transfer a premature baby from Gaza Strip at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Nov. 20, 2023. Egypt received on Monday 28 premature babies from Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, via Rafah crossing, the only crossing point between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Egyptian AlQahera News TV reported. Sixteen babies were transferred to El Arish General Hospital in North Sinai province, while the rest were en route to hospitals in Cairo, the report added. (Egypt's State Information Center/Handout via Xinhua) Medical workers transfer a premature baby from Gaza Strip at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Nov. 20, 2023. Egypt received on Monday 28 premature babies from Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, via Rafah crossing, the only crossing point between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Egyptian AlQahera News TV reported. Sixteen babies were transferred to El Arish General Hospital in North Sinai province, while the rest were en route to hospitals in Cairo, the report added. (Egypt's State Information Center/Handout via Xinhua) A medical worker transfers a premature baby from Gaza Strip at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Nov. 20, 2023. Egypt received on Monday 28 premature babies from Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, via Rafah crossing, the only crossing point between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Egyptian AlQahera News TV reported. Sixteen babies were transferred to El Arish General Hospital in North Sinai province, while the rest were en route to hospitals in Cairo, the report added. (Egypt's State Information Center/Handout via Xinhua) Deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) Wang Yongcheng (2nd L, front), who is visually impaired, attends the opening meeting of the first session of the 14th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 5, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Yuguo) FUZHOU, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- With his fingertips tracing the raised dots on a Braille document, Wang Yongcheng, a national legislator from east China's Fujian Province, said, "This is what democracy looks like. It's tangible, visible." Wang was carefully reading the Braille versions of four replies to the suggestions he raised earlier this year, a historic first in the annals of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature. Among the nearly 3,000 deputies to the 14th NPC, who commenced their five-year term in 2023, the 56-year-old Wang stands out as the sole individual with visual impairment. In response to Wang's proposal addressing the licensing difficulties faced by blind masseurs and their clinics, the National Health Commission, China Disabled Persons' Federation, and the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine engaged in face-to-face discussions with him in June this year. Together, they embarked on a collaborative research endeavor to tackle the issue. Relevant agencies pledged to actively facilitate solutions enabling eligible blind masseurs to secure stable employment in the medical sector. Wang's second suggestion focused on providing large-print textbooks for low-vision students enrolled in regular schools. The Ministry of Education embraced this proposal and supported the promotion of large-print textbook publications, starting with the first grade in autumn 2023. Wang also advocated for the introduction of preferential policies to enhance the public transportation experience for severely disabled individuals. The railway department responded by establishing special seats, reserving dedicated ticket quotas, and implementing service reservations specifically catering to disabled passengers. Regarding Wang's proposal to bolster research and provide Braille displays for visually impaired students, the China Disabled Persons' Federation committed to active cooperation with relevant agencies. Their shared objective is to increase R&D funding, foster technological breakthroughs, enhance the construction of an information-accessible environment, and facilitate the integration of Braille display devices into schools. Wang expressed satisfaction with the replies to his four proposals. "The entire process embodies democracy at its finest," he affirmed. "It is characterized by a holistic approach, direct engagement, and considerate and effective actions." During the annual gathering of the national legislature in March, NPC deputies put forward over 8,300 suggestions, spanning a broad spectrum of areas, including promoting high-quality development, improving people's well-being, and addressing issues related to the rights protection of disabled persons. Wang's proposals were among those presented. In 1985, at the age of 18, Wang lost his sight in an unfortunate accident. Undeterred, he embarked on a challenging entrepreneurial journey, acquiring massage skills and conducting non-profit training. Following his election as a deputy to the 14th NPC, disabled friends from across the country reached out to Wang, sharing their concerns and aspirations. He delved into each message, conducted thorough investigations, and formulated his deputy proposals. "Having walked in darkness, I deeply appreciate the value of light," he reflected. "As a member of the blind community, I am even more attuned to their aspirations." Of course, proposing suggestions is just one aspect of an NPC deputy's responsibilities. Since his election, Wang's schedule has been relentlessly packed. In March, in the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing, he fulfilled his duties as an NPC deputy during the first session of the 14th NPC. He engaged in discussions on state affairs, examined the government work report, scrutinized law bills, and participated in the election of China's state leadership. In June, upon receiving an invitation to attend a session of the NPC Standing Committee, Wang proposed the compilation and publication of Braille and low-vision versions of textbooks for various educational levels. His proposal was adopted and incorporated into China's first dedicated law on constructing a barrier-free environment, which took effect on Sept. 1. On Nov. 14, Wang embarked on another journey, this time to south China's Guangdong Province. There, individuals dedicated to the rights protection of disabled persons awaited his arrival, seeking answers and clarifications. He arrived bearing the newly received replies to his proposals, infusing them with renewed confidence and optimism. "My voice serves as a conduit for the voices of China's 85 million individuals with disabilities," Wang said. "The democratic channel functions smoothly and efficiently; I have no reason not to work day and night and give my full effort." In his mind, Wang has already begun contemplating new research topics. Moving forward, his focus will expand beyond the rights protection of disabled persons to encompass broader social issues, such as elderly care. MOSCOW, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Moscow urged Britain to stop its involvement in the Ukraine crisis, local media reported on Monday. "The British leadership continues to demonstrate its focus on comprehensive support for Ukraine. The British have a thesis about the need to inflict 'defeat on the battlefield' on Russia," said Sergei Belyaev, director of the Second European Department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said that since the start of the Ukraine crisis, London has sent military equipment to Ukraine totaling approximately 6.6 billion pounds (8.23 billion U.S. dollars), ranking second in NATO after the United States. "However, London's involvement in the Ukrainian conflict goes beyond arms supplies and training Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters on the UK's territory. More than 30,000 individuals are already involved in these activities," Belyaev said. "British military instructors are engaged in training and supplying units of Ukraine's special operations forces directly within Ukraine. This includes conducting sabotage operations in the Black and Azov Seas, as well as targeting critically important civilian infrastructure facilities in our country," he added. While urging Britain to stop its citizens from getting involved in military activities in Ukraine, he noted that Western mercenaries are not combatants under the international humanitarian law and do not have the right to the status of prisoners of war. Campaigning for the presidential, legislative and local elections, scheduled for Dec. 20, officially began Sunday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). KINSHASA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Campaigning for the presidential, legislative and local elections scheduled for Dec. 20 officially began Sunday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Twenty-six candidates for the presidential elections have been registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), including President Felix Tshisekedi, who is seeking reelection. In a press release published Saturday in Kinshasa, CENI President Denis Kadima called on candidates to respect the laws and good electoral practices during the month-long campaigning. "The CENI calls on candidates for responsibility and tolerance during the 30 days of the electoral campaign. This is the time for each candidate to bond with their voters, to prepare and organize the voting and counting operations by their witnesses," he stressed. President Felix Tshisekedi decided to launch his campaign Sunday in Kinshasa, the DRC capital, where thousands of his supporters gathered in the martyrs' stadium. Also on Sunday, Tshisekedi's main opponent, Moise Katumbi, former governor of Katanga province who also heads an opposition coalition, chose the northeast city of Kisangani to start his campaign. A journey through the Eastern Mangroves - one of the artworks Light art exhibition, Manar Abu Dhabi, has opened to the public, showcasing light artworks installed across various islands, mangroves, and natural vistas in the UAE capital. A key pillar of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabis (DCT Abu Dhabi) Public Art Abu Dhabi initiative, Manars inaugural edition is held under the theme Grounding Light, rooted in the concept of grounding and self-enlightenment and the belief that light is a reflection of our inner selves, body, mind, nature and spirit. Curated by Reem Fadda and Alia Zaal Lootah, the citywide exhibition features an array of artworks by over 20 local, regional and international artists from Argentina, Taiwan, Germany, France, India, Japan, Mexico, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the UAE, the UK and the US. On Fahid Island, Jim Denevan has created Self Similar, a monumental land art installation illuminated by 432 solar lanterns, where towering clouds and tiny grains of sand coalesce into a symphony of interconnectedness. Meanwhile, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer takes over Lulu Island with Translation Island, an interactive journey through 10 large-scale audiovisual multimedia artworks. An ambitious technological tour de force, the works employ ultrasonic atomizers, Geiger counters and thermal cameras, among other equipment. Some of the installations use light to represent or interact with natural and cosmic phenomena, while others reflect on the transient nature of existence, human understanding and misunderstanding. Ultimately, the exhibition is a platform for self-representation and participation by the visitors. Developing the participatory element further, on Corniche Beach Carsten Holler creates with Abu Dhabi Dots a game that invites visitors to interact with light and change its properties, while Shilpa Gupta reflects on humans ability for change in an artwork presented in Arabic, English, and Urdu. Merging sound, digital technologies, light, and water, Jumairy celebrates the ethereal beauty of bioluminescent Abu Dhabi beaches, provoking reflection on the interconnectedness of all living beings. Luciana Abait compiled her extensive collection of visual and audio recordings from around the world in Agua, an interactive experience where viewers are invited to immerse themselves in a large-scale waterfall projection, symbolising a spiritual cleansing process. Shezad Dawood's 4m-high iridescent Coral Alchemy (Acropora Grove) sculpture on Corniche Beach promotes environmental awareness, highlighting the endangered acropora coral species. Other artworks reflect on Abu Dhabi's history and modernity. On Lulu Island, Nujoom Al Ghanem celebrates Abu Dhabi seafaring heritage with a large-scale installation of dhow boats. Exploring Abu Dhabis traditions and cultural practices in a series of artworks, Ayesha Hadhir, Rawdha Al Ketbi and Shaikha Al Ketbi create a playful journey through the Eastern Mangroves. Abu Dhabis ever-evolving landscape is captured by Ahmed Al Areef in his video projection on the Abu Dhabi Chamber Building, featuring archival photos of the citys old and contemporary skylines. Exploring the interaction of time and spatial perception with her sculptural piece, Asma Belhamar reflects on how those who grow up in the UAE experience the changes in architecture and landscape through transient moments. Groupe F's drone and light painting shows transform the night sky, previewing Saadiyat Island's landmark architectural future. Drawn by the medium of light itself, Latifa Saeed and Nadia Kaabi-Linke envisage their architecture-focused artworks as vehicles or lenses for the immaterial medium light that makes the world visible without being seen. Transforming Corniche Beach into her canvas with the aid of two LED screens, the iconic artist Samia Halaby merges painting with kinetic technology, giving typically visual ideas a concrete body, reflecting growth and development. A second series of artworks will be unveiled in Al Samaliyah Island artworks on December 20, and remain on view until January 30, 2024. Among the artists whose projects will open in the second half of December, teamLab use digital technologies to create startling immersive artworks that transport viewers into a world where nature and technology converge in harmony. Similarly, Ayman Zedani studies the interplay between humans and the natural world in his work Terrapolis, blurring the lines between life forms and prompting reflection on our connection to the Earth and other species in the modern Gulf environment. Representing collaboration across various realms and the nations developmental journey as a work of art, Mohammed Kazem manifests the unity and boundless opportunities that the Emirates offer through a circular arrangement of numerical coordinates in his Directions, UAE artwork. In Jubail Mangrove Park, Rain Wus immersive installation One with the Soil, One with the Cloud will illuminate the life cycle of mangrove trees through a floating swarm of lights, celebrating the beauty and ephemerality of existence while offering a unique view on the living world from above. Finally, in celebration of the rising cultural district in the making, Alaa Edris will offer a new perspective on Saadiyat Island with the new Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum as a backdrop. In conjunction with the art installations, a schedule of public talks, workshops and performances is offered to visitors over the course of the exhibition. These endeavours highlight Public Art Abu Dhabis ongoing commitment to enhancing the emirates public spaces through art, building upon a vibrant cultural legacy while looking forward to a future rich with creative potential. TradeArabia News Service ULAN BATOR, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Heavy snow, blizzards and cold air are expected to hit large parts of Mongolia this week, the country's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring said Monday. Throughout this week starting Tuesday, heavy snow and snow storms will sweep eastern, southern and western provinces of the country, the weather monitoring agency said in a statement. In addition, overnight temperatures are expected to drop to minus 32 degrees Celsius across large parts of the country this week. The agency warned the public, especially nomadic herders and drivers, to take extra precautions against possible disasters. Earlier, eight herders were killed when heavy snow and blizzards hit large parts of the Asian country. Around 60 percent of the country's territory has so far been covered by snow. Mongolia's climate is strongly continental, with long and frigid weathers. TEHRAN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Monday rejected Israel's allegation that his country was involved in the seizure of a cargo ship in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi forces. He made the remarks at a weekly press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran, while responding to the accusations against Iran by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who blamed Iran for the attack on the cargo ship Sunday. Kanaani described Israel's accusations as "invalid," stressing that Iran had reiterated that resistance forces in the region were the representatives of their own countries and peoples, and decided and acted based on their nations' interests. He added Israel's allegations were "projection in an attempt to escape the complicated situation" it was facing. Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea announced in a statement aired by the group's al-Masirah TV on Sunday "the implementation of a military operation in the Red Sea," and that "the results of which included the seizure of an Israeli ship." The spokesman reiterated that the group would continue to carry out military operations against Israel until "its aggression against the Gaza Strip stops." In its statement on Sunday, Netanyahu's office said the ship, "owned by a British company and operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked with Iran guidance" by the Houthis. There were no Israelis among the 25 crew members who were on board the ship, including Filipinos, Mexicans, Ukrainians, and Bulgarians. The group owner of the ship, called Galaxy Leader, was listed as "Ray Car Carriers, whose parent company belongs to Abraham Rami Ungar, an Israeli businessman," Israeli media the Times of Israel quoted Maritime security company Ambrey as saying. Israel has been carrying out attacks on Gaza over the past weeks to retaliate against the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The conflict has so far led to the deaths of over 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza, while on the Israeli side, about 1,200 people have lost their lives, the majority of whom were killed in the Hamas attacks. ZARANJ, Afghanistan, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Police discovered illicit drugs including opium poppy and heroin, and arrested two alleged drug smugglers in west Afghanistan's Nimroz province, an official said on Monday. According to provincial director for counter-narcotics police Abdul Wasi Raihan, police arrested two drug smugglers and confiscated 25 kg of opium poppy and 100 g of heroin from their possessions on Sunday. The case has been referred to the judiciary for further investigation, he said. Similarly, police in Kabul have taken into custody six people on the charge of involvement in theft. Besides discovering a Kalashnikov and a pistol from their possessions, police also found 7 million afghanis (about 101,000 U.S. dollars) of stolen cash recently and returned it to its owners who were two local businessmen, Kabul police said in a statement on Monday. BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called on his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to carry forward the traditional China-France friendship and push the relations to a new level. As the year 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, both sides should pass the baton of history, stick to the original intention in establishing the diplomatic relations, carry forward the traditional friendship and push the China-France relations to a new level, Xi said during a telephone conversation with Macron. In the phone talks, Xi pointed out that since Macron's successful visit to China in April this year, China-France exchanges at all levels have resumed rapidly, and bilateral cooperation in various fields has made solid progress and achieved fruitful results. China is ready to maintain high-level exchanges with France, make a success the next meeting of the China-France high-level dialogue mechanism on people-to-people exchanges, push for new progress in bilateral cooperation in such areas as education, culture and scientific research, and promote friendly exchanges between the two peoples, Xi said. Applauding France's active participation in the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and the sixth China International Import Expo, Xi said China is glad to see the entry of an increasing number of French products into the Chinese market and welcomes more investment of French enterprises in China. China hopes France could provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for the investment of Chinese enterprises in France, he added. Xi said China is ready to strengthen cooperation with France in the United Nations and other multilateral institutions. Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-European Union (EU) comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said China and the EU should remain partners for mutually beneficial cooperation in a volatile and intertwined world. It is hoped that France will play a constructive role in promoting the positive development of China-EU relations, he said. Highlighting that China and France have maintained sound cooperation on climate change, Xi said the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai will take stock of the Paris Agreement for the first time, review and assess the progress of its implementation, and guide the future process of global climate governance. The institutional framework of the Paris Agreement, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and nationally determined contributions, should be upheld, he said. China stands ready to work with France in sending a strong signal of jointly addressing the issue of climate change, so as to prompt the success of the COP28, he added. KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Afghan authorities began asphalting a major highway in south Afghanistan's Kandahar province, head of the Technical Department of the Ministry for Public Works said Monday. In a ceremony on Sunday attended among others by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Acting Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of Afghanistan's caretaker government, the official said that the asphalting process of the essential highway began from Arghandab district. At a cost of 150 million U.S. dollars, the asphalting work of the 209-km-long road in the first phase will connect Kandahar to its neighboring Uruzgan province and is expected to be completed within three years to connect southern provinces of the war-torn country to the northern provinces via the central region. The Afghan caretaker government has launched a variety of development projects including water canals, road constructions, water reservoirs dams, and the beautification of cities to reconstruct the post-war country and create job opportunities for locals. YANGON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has reclaimed over 94,400 acres in total of uncultivated private teak plantations, according to the state-run television channel MRTV. The reason for reclaiming is that the plantation operators failed to fulfill the terms of the agreement and that the lands involved could no longer be cultivated, the Ministry's deputy permanent secretary Daw Zin Mar Tun told Xinhua on Monday. With the aim of boosting both the economy and the private teak production sector, the government has allowed the establishment of private teak plantations since 2006, Thaung Naing Oo, deputy director general of the Forest Department was quoted as saying in the MRTV report. As a result of that policy, there are over 265,640 acres of private teak plantations now across the Southeast Asian country, according to the official. BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Monday respectively sent congratulatory letters to the 10th meeting of the dialogue mechanism between the ruling parties of China and Russia. In his congratulatory letter, Xi extended warm congratulations on the convening of the meeting. He said that at present, changes unseen in a century are unfolding at an ever faster pace and the world has entered a new period of disorder and transformation. China-Russia relations have withstood the severe test of changes in the international landscape, maintained a high level of development, set an example of a new model of major-country relations, and played a more prominent strategic role in achieving global stability and development. Noting that next year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Russia diplomatic ties, Xi said China is ready to work with Russia to grasp the general trend of history, firmly develop relations featuring permanent good-neighborly friendship, comprehensive strategic coordination and mutually beneficial cooperation, and vigorously promote the development and revitalization of both countries to inject more stability and positive energy into the world. Xi pointed out that the exchanges and cooperation between the CPC and the United Russia party form an important part of China-Russia relations in the new era, and the dialogue mechanism between the ruling parties of China and Russia has developed into a unique channel and platform for the two countries to consolidate political mutual trust, enhance strategic coordination and promote mutually beneficial cooperation. It is hoped that the two parties will take the 10th meeting of the dialogue mechanism as an opportunity to demonstrate the responsibility of major parties and countries, enrich exchanges in the new era, create a new situation of institutionalized exchanges and cooperation, and contribute more to the development of China-Russia relations in the new era, safeguarding international fairness and justice, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, Xi said. Putin said in his congratulatory letter that the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is at the highest level in history, and the two countries are working together to advance a number of large-scale cooperation projects in the fields of economy, transportation, energy and culture, among others. The two countries are coordinating positions through bilateral channels and multilateral mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS to resolve major international issues and promote the building of a more just and democratic international order. As the ruling parties of Russia and China, the United Russia party and the CPC have carried out high-level and constructive interactions and promoted the rapid development of bilateral cooperation in various fields, Putin said. The central committee organs and local institutions of the two parties have maintained institutionalized interactions, exchanged useful experience on party building, legislation and social work, and held in-depth discussions on a series of practical issues on the bilateral and international agendas, he added. Putin expressed the belief that the 10th meeting of the dialogue mechanism will be meaningful and constructive, and further promote and deepen the fruitful cooperation between Russia and China. PHNOM PENH, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 602,570 foreigners from 193 countries and regions toured Cambodia's famed Angkor Archeological Park in the first 10 months of this year, up 256 percent from 169,257 recorded over the same period last year. During the January-October period this year, the top four largest sources of international visitors to the park were the United States, Britain, France, and China, said the state-owned Angkor Enterprise's report on Monday. Cambodian Ministry of Tourism's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Top Sopheak said that the Chinese-invested Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI), which officially launched its commercial operations on Nov. 16, would attract more international tourists, especially from China, to the Angkor. "This new international airport is crucial to helping boost the country's tourism, economy, trade, and investment," he said. "We hope it will attract new international airlines, so they will bring more tourists and investors to Siem Reap province, the home of the Angkor." Located in northwest Cambodia, the 401-square-km Angkor Archeological Park, inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1992, is the most popular tourist destination in the Southeast Asian country. GAZA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli attack on a school belonging to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry said Monday. "The Israeli artillery attacked the school which houses thousands of displaced people and killed about 12 Palestinians, including women and children," the ministry said in a press statement. Even though all UNRWA's facilities raise the flags of the UN, which keeps the coordination and communication with Israel, the Israeli army continues its attacks against the UNRWA's schools in various places in Gaza, according to Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA's media adviser. "Since the beginning of the current Hamas-Israel conflict, more than 70 UNRWA-affiliated institutions and schools have been targeted in Israeli attacks. At the same time, 104 of the agency's staff members have been killed, marking the highest toll in its history," Abu Hasna told Xinhua. He added that the number of displaced people in UNRWA shelters reached 900,000 out of a total of 1.7 million displaced people in Gaza, with hundreds of thousands left without shelter on the streets. GAZA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Abed al-Rahman Bashir, a 42-year-old Palestinian man, has been struggling every day to obtain some food for his displaced family in Khan Younis city in the south of Gaza since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on Oct. 7. "I have to walk a long distance to the public market and buy some food for my kids, but I can merely find vegetables and canned food," the father of six told Xinhua. On top of that, unfortunately, "there is no wheat flour, fuel gas, or most of the basic supplies for cooking," he said. "I even cannot collect enough ingredients needed to cook any kind of our Palestinian dishes." What makes things worse, he said, is the soaring prices of all the goods in markets, forcing him only to buy the most needed food and supplies in small quantities. To obtain some wheat flour, Bashir for many times had to wait in a long queue in front of one of the schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the enclave. However, due to the limited resources, the food provided by the UNRWA could only support the family for a maximum of two days. "I'm struggling just to get some food every day," he said, adding sometimes his kids have to fall asleep with hunger. Bashir expressed his fear that hunger would trouble his family for a long time until sufficient humanitarian aid could enter the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2.3 million people. The dire condition has also been encountered by Tahani Al-Taweel, who was forced to flee with her 12-member family to a shelter run by the UNRWA. "We live in tragic circumstances due to the lack of food," the 45-year-old mother of five told Xinhua. The UNRWA has provided some food aid, but it is barely enough for her children for a maximum of three days and is unable to satisfy their hunger, she said. "My husband suffers from fractures in his feet due to the bombing that targeted our house and cannot work now. We've lost our only breadwinner who can provide food for my children," she said. The predicament forced her family to reduce from three meals a day to one meal a day, leading to a lose of lot of weight for her and her children. The danger of a famine is haunting her, since food scarcity in the Gaza Strip has been continuing. "If the food supply stops, we will certainly die of hunger in any case," she said. Since Oct. 7, Israel declared "a state of war" on Gaza, launching a large-scale military operation on the territory right after Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel. Meanwhile, it closed all border crossings with Gaza, cutting off electricity and water supplies to the territory, and preventing humanitarian aid from entering the strip. After intense negotiations, Israel decided on Oct. 21 to allow some trucks carrying humanitarian aid to reenter Gaza in order to avoid a catastrophe among the local residents who are already suffering as a result of the ongoing bloody conflict. So far, only 10 percent of essential food supplies have entered Gaza each day, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press statement. As a result of the unprecedented food shortage, the World Food Programme (WFP) said there is "a rise in drought and malnutrition cases," warning of a famine in the war-torn impoverished territory. "There's no bakeries working in Gaza City and the north of the Strip for more than a week as a result of the shortages of fuel, water, and wheat flour, alongside structural damages caused by Israeli airstrikes," the organization said. The lack of food supplies is pushing Gazans toward harmful coping mechanisms, such as skipping or reducing meals and using unsafe, unhealthy methods for fire ignition, the WFP noted. Korea Software Industry Association (KOSA) (Chairman: Junhee Cho),and MEGAZONECLOUD (CEO: Max Joowan Lee), have announced their participation in the Global IoT Summit GIITS 2023, held from November 20 to 21 at the Dhahran Expo in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. MEGAZONECLOUD is recognized as a cloud innovator and the first Unicorn company in the Korean Cloud industry. Korean companies participating in GIITS 2023 include MEGAZONECLOUD, Mobilio, BizData, Spacebank, and FutureMain. KOSA and MEGAZONECLOUD are currently conducting a project led by the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support Korean softwares entry into the Middle East market. This project aims to support the overseas expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by leveraging the global network and infrastructure of leading industrial companies in South Korea, and the GIITS is participating in this initiative. GIITS (Global Industrial Internet of Things Summit), is an event organized by Saudi Aramco to promote standards for Industrial IoT (IIoT) and accelerate the dissemination of IIoT for creating new value to the major industries in the Middle East. The event attracts government agencies, regulatory bodies, and companies from the oil and gas industry, and others, from six key countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman. This is a global Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) event in which companies from various industries and IIoT enterprises worldwide participate. MEGAZONECLOUD and KOSA have selected Korean companies participating in GIITS 2023 based on professional advice from experts in IIoT, cloud computing, and software industry. By taking the opportunity to participate in GIITS 2023, these companies aim to validate the potential for entering the Middle East market and accelerate their expansion efforts. Junhee Cho, the Chairman of KOSA, expressed a strong commitment to supporting entry into the Middle East market, stating, This event, where companies from various global industries participate, is a meaningful occasion for connecting Korean software companies with potential Middle East partners. Max Lee, CEO of MEGAZONECLOUD, said, We are strongly committed to supporting Korean companies in expanding their business to the Middle East and achieving tangible results by leveraging cloud technology. We hope this opportunity becomes a small spark for further expansion into the Middle East.--OGN/TradeArabia News Service GAZA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 1.7 million people have been displaced within the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on Oct. 7, the United Nations (UN) said on Monday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted the continuous call by the Israeli army for the residents in Gaza City and its northern areas to evacuate and move southwards through a corridor along Salah al-Din Road, the main north-south traffic artery running the length of Gaza. The UN monitoring team estimated that around 20,000 people moved on Sunday, with most reaching Wadi Gaza aboard carts pulled by donkeys or buses, while some travelled on foot. Israeli forces have detained some individuals moving through the corridor after setting up an unmanned checkpoint where people are directed from a distance to pass through two buildings, incorporating a surveillance system, according to the statement. The UN office said nearly 900,000 displaced people reside in at least 154 shelters of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which are accommodating far larger number of people than their intended capacity and are unable to take in new arrivals, according to the UN office. The overcrowding is leading to the spread of diseases, including acute respiratory infections and diarrhea, raising environmental and health concerns, it said. On average, there is one toilet for every 150 people, with congestion affecting UNRWA's ability to provide effective and timely services, according to the UN office. MOSCOW, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- A senior official from the Russian Foreign Ministry has pledged that Russia will retaliate against any anti-Russian measures taken by Finland, local media reported on Monday. "Taking into account the confrontational actions of Finland towards Russia, the Russian side decided to terminate the Russian-Finnish intergovernmental agreement on promoting cross-border cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Finland, signed in Helsinki on April 13, 2012," said Sergei Belyaev, director of the Second European Department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "We place the blame for this entirely on the Finnish side." Belyaev highlighted Finland's consistent confrontational stance against Russia following Russia's military operation in Ukraine, including supplying arms to Ukraine and escalating sanctions against Russia. He emphasized that Finland's NATO membership resulted in the halt of longstanding bilateral political dialogues at various levels, causing severe harm to previously flourishing trade and economic ties. Moreover, connections between regions and sister cities were severed. Belyaev said that Finland imposed entry restrictions on Russian citizens in September 2022, which impedes travel of many groups including property owners and employees of Finnish companies. These restrictions were further tightened from July 10 onwards. Regarding Finland's plans to introduce property seizure mechanisms affecting Russian nationals, Belyaev clarified that these plans are still in development. Moscow hopes that these projects, which violate private property rights, will not come into effect. "Under the current Russophobic stance of Finnish authorities, various scenarios are unfortunately possible. Any anti-Russian actions will undoubtedly receive a response. Our reaction will hinge on the specific decisions made in Helsinki, especially concerning the expropriation of Russian property," stated Belyaev. In October, Finland's Minister of Justice, Leena Meri, revealed plans to reform legislation by 2027, enabling property confiscation from owners with whom contact is impossible or who have payment arrears. Many Russian property owners in Finland are unable to pay their expenses and taxes due to the European Union's banking and payment sanctions on Russia following its military operation in Ukraine. Finland further tightened entry restrictions for Russian property owners in early July. Reports from Finnish media highlighted the difficulties in conducting bank transfers from Russia to Finnish banks, affecting tax payments and property-related bills. The Finnish Cabinet recently announced the complete closure of border crossing points on the southeast border with Russia from November 18, 2023, to February 18, 2024. Responding to this decision, the Russian Embassy in Helsinki expressed concerns and hinted at exploring reciprocal measures. Children perform during a stage play in Tunis, Tunisia, Nov. 19, 2023. Tunisian Opera Association on Sunday organized performances by children as a gesture to support children in Palestine. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua) Children perform during a stage play in Tunis, Tunisia, Nov. 19, 2023. Tunisian Opera Association on Sunday organized performances by children as a gesture to support children in Palestine. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua) Children perform during a stage play in Tunis, Tunisia, Nov. 19, 2023. Tunisian Opera Association on Sunday organized performances by children as a gesture to support children in Palestine. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua) Children perform during a stage play in Tunis, Tunisia, Nov. 19, 2023. Tunisian Opera Association on Sunday organized performances by children as a gesture to support children in Palestine. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua) NAIROBI, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank said Monday it expects to provide 12 billion U.S. dollars in support for Kenya in the next three years. In a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, the World Bank said that it's fully committed to supporting the east African nation in its journey to become an upper-middle-income country by 2030. It said the World Bank has been one of Kenya's strongest partners and the largest provider of development finance. "Kenya is now accessing about 2 billion dollars in concessional financing each year." According to the World Bank, International Development Association (IDA) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) commitments together now stand at 8.3 billion dollars, with 4.4 billion dollars available to disburse. "IFC's investment portfolio is 1.2 billion dollars. MIGA is actively engaged with 424 million dollars in guarantees covering the energy, transport, financial, fintech, and tourism sectors," the World Bank said. IFC refers to the International Finance Corporation, and MIGA, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. According to the lender, IDA and IBRD expect to provide an estimated 4.5 billion dollars, including fast-disbursing operations. Out of this amount, it said, 3 billion dollars is estimated from IDA and 1.5 billion dollars from IBRD while IFC will provide roughly 1 billion dollars in investments. The lender said MIGA guarantees can amount to around 500 million dollars. "So, subject to the World Bank Executive Directors' approval of new operations, and to factors which may affect the bank's lending capacity, this implies a total financial package of 12 billion dollars over the three years," the World Bank said. VIENTIANE, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Lao government is keen to move towards modernization and industrialization by ensuring changes in the country's economic makeup, with the share of the industrial and service sectors expanding and that of the agriculture sector declining. The economic structure of Laos has not changed as anticipated over the past few years due to the slower growth of the service and industry sectors, Lao national TV on Monday quoted Lao Minister of Planning and Investment Khamjane Vongphosy, as saying. Speaking at the ongoing sixth ordinary session of the National Assembly's ninth legislature, Khamjane attributed the drop in growth of the industry and service sector to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under targets set by the government for the period until 2025, agriculture and Forestry were projected to contribute 15.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), the industry sector 33.3 percent, the service sector 41.3 percent, and the remainder coming from taxes and tariffs. Over the past nine months of 2023, the agriculture sector grew by 3.4 percent, representing 17.3 percent of the GDP. Meanwhile, the industry sector expanded by 3.5 percent over the past nine months of 2023, accounting for 34.5 percent of the GDP. The service sector grew by 5.6 percent over the cited period, making up 37.2 percent of the GDP. The slower growth of the service sector is linked to a decline in the number of foreign tourists visiting Laos. In addition, the high cost of production and decline in energy output, because of natural disasters affecting the production of some hydropower projects, have also hit the industry and service sectors, according to the report. Economists say the government needs to do more to improve the investment climate and attract more foreign investors into the industry sector. In addition, policies relating to labor need to be reviewed to address a labor shortage in the country, especially after thousands of Lao people have left the country to seek better jobs overseas. Between 2002 and 2009, the average growth of the industry sector was about 14 percent due to the massive inflow of foreign investments. But after 2010, the growth rate declined to 7-8 percent, said the report. * Coffee, avocados and macadamia nuts, originating from various parts of the world, have been widely grown in China's Yunnan, earning widespread acclaim in the global market. * Such progress underscores China's expanding engagement with the world and reflects its robust economic vitality. * The three foreign specialties, having traversed the oceans, are thriving in Yunnan and propelling ethnic minority areas toward shared prosperity. by Xinhua writers Li Yin, Ji Zhepeng, Yang Jing KUNMING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The border city of Pu'er, southwest China's Yunnan Province, is adorned with an abundance of red coffee fruits in November, dangling generously from the branches before being harvested and prepared for use in cafes across the country. In recent years, coffee has found a thriving home in Yunnan, along with avocados and macadamia nuts, originating from various parts of the world. A farmer picks avocados at a farm in Nanya Village of Menglian County in Pu'er, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Sept. 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) These products have evolved into pillar industries in the border areas of China and earned widespread acclaim in global markets. Such progress underscores China's expanding engagement with the world and reflects its robust economic vitality. MELLOW COFFEE By the end of 2022, with a coffee planting area encompassing 679,000 mu (about 45,267 hectares) and an annual output exceeding 55,700 tonnes, Pu'er had become a leading city within China in terms of both coffee production and output value. At the Xiaowazi coffee manor in Pu'er, manager Liao Xiugui carefully inspects the quality of this year's beans. A pioneer among local growers, he embarked on his coffee journey in the late 1980s. He has dedicated himself to cultivating excellent coffee and roasting premium products for over three decades. Manager Liao Xiugui (L) talks to tourists at Xiaowazi coffee manor in Pu'er, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Feb. 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo) "At first, I just wanted to diversify the planting structure and boost local incomes," said 82-year-old Liao. Starting in 2019, he initiated the integration of coffee and tourism, establishing tour routes and immersive coffee-brewing experience sites within his coffee base, which covers 300 mu. In recent years, the informative content released by the manor, highlighting over 40 varieties of coffee trees, has gained popularity on social media platforms. Around 2,000 coffee enthusiasts from across the globe would flock to the destination each month on average. For 40 yuan (about 5.5 U.S. dollars), visitors can sample nine distinct types of coffee, explore coffee plantations and processing facilities, and acquire insights into coffee technology. Xiaowazi is a microcosm of the robust development of coffee in Yunnan. Data from the provincial department of agriculture and rural affairs shows that in 2022, the province's coffee cultivation area topped 1.27 million mu, yielding a total output of 113,600 tonnes. The comprehensive output value amounted to 41.8 billion yuan. Tourists taste coffee at Xiaowazi coffee manor in Pu'er, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Feb. 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo) FRESH AVOCADOS Avocados have also gained popularity among China's urban residents as they pursue a healthier lifestyle. Referred to as "forest butter," avocados were almost entirely imported into China in the past. However, Menglian County in Pu'er has emerged as the largest avocado-planting county in China. This year's fresh avocado output in Menglian is expected to surpass 10,000 tonnes, with an estimated output value exceeding 300 million yuan. For the ethnic Lahu people in Menglian County, the concept of "avocado" is absent from their local language. The idea that something nonexistent in their linguistic repertoire could evolve into an industry that boosts their income is something they could not have anticipated. In recent years, through technical support and capital awards, Menglian County has elevated the avocado industry into a leading sector that enriches people's incomes. Farmers sort out avocados at a farm in Nanya Village of Menglian County in Pu'er, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Sept. 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) Naduo, 53, from Nanya Village in Menglian, owns more than 30 mu of land. Previously, her family cultivated sugar cane and corn, and had quite a limited income. In 2018, village officials encouraged them to invest their land in an avocado cooperative. After thorough research on planting techniques and fruit production, Naduo decided to invest 24 mu of land in the cooperative. She and her husband also took on the role of avocado conservators for the cooperative. "Taking care of an avocado tree can earn 11 yuan a year," she said, adding that managing the avocado trees can generate an annual income of 22,000 yuan. By raising chickens under the trees, her family can earn an additional income each year. NUTRITIOUS NUTS While coffee and avocados have established themselves in the market, macadamia nuts, rich in various nutrients, are also gaining traction on China's e-commerce platforms and in supermarkets. Farmer Bi Jiafu trims a macadamia nut tree at his plantation in Xingtang Village of Yongde County, Lincang City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 23, 2019. (Xinhua) Native to Australia, macadamia nuts found their way to Yunnan in the 1980s when the province began experimenting with cultivating this exotic nut. During that period, domestic consumers in China had not yet been introduced to such unconventional nuts. The initial aim of the local government in Yunnan was to alleviate poverty and improve the economic status of ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas, while also generating foreign exchange through exports. Lincang is a city in Yunnan with a distinctive geographical environment, intersected by the Tropic of Cancer. The area boasts fertile soil, ample sunshine and abundant rainfall, creating unique natural conditions that offer an ideal environment for the cultivation of macadamia nuts. As of October, the macadamia nut planting area in Lincang had reached 2.63 million mu, yielding an output of 60,000 tonnes. The planting area accounts for over half of the global total. This undated file photo shows a staff member picking nuts at a nut farm in Zhenkang County of Lincang City, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo by Li Ying/Xinhua) In Lincang, the range of macadamia nut products has evolved beyond the traditional use of dried nuts as food. The industry now utilizes the entire fruit to develop products of high added value, such as health foods, cosmetics and medicines. Coffee, avocados and macadamia nuts, having traversed the oceans, are thriving in Yunnan and propelling ethnic minority areas toward shared prosperity, said Chen Xiaowei, deputy director of the institute of rural development at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences. "This success shows the accomplishments of international agricultural exchanges and cooperation." (Xinhua Correspondent Yan Yong also contributed to the story. Video reporters: He Chunhao, Sun Min; video editors: Wu Yao, Wei Yin.) Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with a delegation of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud (L), grouping foreign ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, and Indonesia, and the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to work with Arab and Islamic countries to promote the full implementation of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said on Monday. Han's remarks came during a meeting with a delegation of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers in Beijing. The delegation was led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, grouping foreign ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, and Indonesia, and the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. China highly appreciates the peace efforts and the call for justice at the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit and supports the joint ministerial follow-up committee to play a greater role, Han said. "China is deeply concerned about the extremely grave humanitarian situation in Gaza and is speeding up emergency supplies and cash assistance to Gaza," Han said. As the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, China will continue to work with Arab and Islamic countries to promote the full implementation of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council and make unremitting efforts to realize a ceasefire, ease the humanitarian situation, and return to the two-state solution, Han said. The delegation thanked China for its leadership in promoting the adoption of important resolutions by the General Assembly and the Security Council. The Arab and Islamic countries highly appreciate China's adherence to principles and upholding of justice and hope to work with China to push for an immediate ceasefire, increase humanitarian assistance, and implement the two-state solution, the delegation said. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with a delegation of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, grouping foreign ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, and Indonesia, and the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) KABUL, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 15.3 million Afghan people are projected to be acutely food-insecure between May and October, according to a situation report released by the World Food Program (WFP) Afghanistan on Monday. According to the United Nations organization, 4 million Afghan people are acutely malnourished in the war-ravaged Asian country, including 3.2 million children under the age of five. As several strong earthquakes and aftershocks struck the western Herat province in October, the organization has offered food aid to affected areas, with 103,000 people reached with mixed food and 26,200 people with fortified biscuits and specialized nutritious food, WFP Afghanistan said in its report. The organization also noted that it is providing food and nutrition support to a surging number of Afghan refugees returned from neighboring Pakistan. BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called on his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to carry forward the traditional China-France friendship and push the relations to a new level. As the year 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, both sides should pass the baton of history, stick to the original intention in establishing the diplomatic relations, carry forward the traditional friendship and push the China-France relations to a new level, Xi said during a telephone conversation with Macron. In the phone talks, Xi pointed out that since Macron's successful visit to China in April this year, China-France exchanges at all levels have resumed rapidly, and bilateral cooperation in various fields has made solid progress and achieved fruitful results. China is ready to maintain high-level exchanges with France, make a success the next meeting of the China-France high-level dialogue mechanism on people-to-people exchanges, push for new progress in bilateral cooperation in such areas as education, culture and scientific research, and promote friendly exchanges between the two peoples, Xi said. Applauding France's active participation in the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and the sixth China International Import Expo, Xi said China is glad to see the entry of an increasing number of French products into the Chinese market and welcomes more investment of French enterprises in China. China hopes France could provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for the investment of Chinese enterprises in France, he added. Xi said China is ready to strengthen cooperation with France in the United Nations and other multilateral institutions. Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-European Union (EU) comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said China and the EU should remain partners for mutually beneficial cooperation in a volatile and intertwined world. It is hoped that France will play a constructive role in promoting the positive development of China-EU relations, he said. Highlighting that China and France have maintained sound cooperation on climate change, Xi said the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai will take stock of the Paris Agreement for the first time, review and assess the progress of its implementation, and guide the future process of global climate governance. The institutional framework of the Paris Agreement, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and nationally determined contributions, should be upheld, he said. China stands ready to work with France in sending a strong signal of jointly addressing the issue of climate change, so as to prompt the success of the COP28, he added. Macron said that his successful visit to China in April this year is still within his recollection, and that he is satisfied with the recent exchanges and dialogues between the two countries at all levels. Under the current international situation, it is of great significance for France and China to maintain strategic communication and cooperation, he said, adding that the French side is willing to take the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and China next year as an opportunity to intensify high-level exchanges with China, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in such fields as economy, trade and aviation, as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges. France hopes to communicate closely with China on the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai and continuously cooperate to address global issues such as climate change and biodiversity protection, said the French president. Besides, France is ready to promote the further development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the EU and China in a spirit of mutual respect, mutual benefit and cooperation, he said. Exchanging views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the two heads of state said it is imperative to avoid further deterioration of the Palestinian-Israeli situation, especially the emergence of a more serious humanitarian crisis. They agreed that the two-state solution is the fundamental way to solve the cycle of Palestinian-Israeli conflicts. The two heads of state also agreed to maintain communication on international and regional issues of common concern, and contribute to the maintenance of world peace and stability. BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Following the highly anticipated summit between President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, last week, there is growing optimism that increased communication, dialogue and consultation between the world's two largest economies will strengthen cooperation, align common interests and add much-needed certainty to the evolving global landscape. Bilateral economic and trade cooperation, long seen as the stabilizing force and driving factor in China-U.S. relations, is among the first to experience a thaw, as a series of dialogues and exchanges in this regard has sent a positive signal to both sides and the global economy. DISCUSSIONS MATTER One of the key consensuses reached between China and the United States during the San Francisco summit meeting is that the two sides decided to step up high-level interactions, and agreed to start consultations on extending the China-U.S. Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, and on resuming the China-U.S. Joint Committee on Cooperation in Agriculture. Rather than seeking economic "decoupling," the two sides have welcomed the development of healthy economic relations, according to top Chinese and U.S. economic officials. China and the United States have agreed to enhance communication, seek consensus, manage disputes, and avoid misunderstandings that may lead to unintended escalation, noted China's Vice Finance Minister Liao Min, citing talks between Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen before the summit. "The China-U.S. economic relation takes roots in the two countries' common interests in the economic field," Liao told media after He and Yellen concluded several rounds of talks in San Francisco. Chinese and U.S. commerce ministers also met on the sidelines of the 30th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. It was the first ministerial-level talk after a new communication mechanism was announced when U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited China in August. While both governments agreed to step up exchanges in relevant fields, the two sides had in-depth exchanges on national security issues pertaining to the economic field. It was very important to have such discussions, said Commerce Minister Wang Wentao at the meeting, as overstretching and politicizing of the concept of national security would impact regular trade and investment activities. CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has hailed the Xi-Biden summit as "a constructive engagement." "It sends a massively important signal that cooperation can bring benefits to everyone," she said in her opening remarks at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting Friday, expressing appreciation from a global economic perspective. The business circle echoed a similar sentiment. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (AmCham Shanghai), in a statement after the summit, also called the talks "a positive signal," noting that "the two countries are committed to managing the world's most important geopolitical relationship." "A stable U.S.-China relationship is also crucial for raising the confidence of American companies in China and will benefit the American people," the AmCham Shanghai said. At the sixth China International Import Expo in Shanghai earlier this month, a total of 505 million U.S. dollars worth of deals were signed by exhibitors participating in the American Food and Agriculture Pavilion. The pavilion, co-hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture and AmCham Shanghai, marks the first U.S. government participation in the expo in six years. Robust agricultural trade mirrors the strong resilience of China-U.S. trade, which has not been dampened by either trade disputes or the pandemic in recent years. In 2022, total two-way trade hit a record high of nearly 760 billion U.S. dollars, Chinese official data showed. Apart from efforts to improve relations, China and the United States, which together account for over one-third of the world economy, have also agreed to join hands against common challenges related to economic growth, financial stability and regulation, according to Vice Minister Liao. The two countries will also cooperate on climate-related economic issues and the debt issues of low-income and emerging economies, strengthen the international financial structure, and push forward reform at multilateral development banks to make them better, larger and more effective. However, the Chinese side has also stressed the need to maintain equality and mutual respect in future bilateral cooperation. "China-U.S. economic and trade relations will truly sustain stable development only when the legitimate concerns of both sides be properly responded to," Liao said at the media briefing. The European Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached between the European Parliament and Council on a new EU Regulation to reduce energy sector methane emissions in Europe and in our global supply chains. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas - the second biggest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide (CO2) - and is also a potent air pollutant. The agreement is therefore crucial to delivering the European Green Deal and reducing our net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030. It will oblige the fossil gas, oil and coal industry to properly measure, monitor, report and verify their methane emissions according to the highest monitoring standards, and take action to reduce them. Today's agreement comes just a few weeks ahead of COP28, where the EU will continue its engagement with international partners on reducing methane emissions. REDUCING METHANE EMISSIONS IN THE EU The Regulation agreed aims to stop the avoidable release of methane into the atmosphere and to minimise leaks of methane by fossil energy companies operating in the EU. It requires operators to report regularly to the competent authorities about quantification and measurements of methane emissions at source level, including for non-operated assets; It obliges oil and gas companies to carry out regular surveys of their equipment to detect and repair methane leaks on the EU territory within specific deadlines; It bans routine venting and flaring by the oil and gas sectors and restricts non-routine venting and flaring to unavoidable circumstances, for example for safety reasons or in case of equipment malfunction; It limits venting from thermal coal mines from 2027, with stricter conditions kicking in after 2031; It requires companies in the oil, gas and coal sectors to carry out an inventory of closed, inactive, plugged and abandoned assets, such as wells and mines, to monitor their emissions and to adopt a plan to mitigate these emissions as soon as possible. BOOSTING TRANSPARENCY AND ACTION ON EMISSIONS FROM IMPORTED OIL, GAS AND COAL The EU imports a large share of the oil, gas and coal it consumes. This Regulation will also tackle the methane emissions related to these imports. It establishes a methane transparency database where data on methane emissions reported by importers and EU operators will be made available to the public; It requires the Commission to establish methane performance profiles of countries and companies to allow importers to make informed choices on their energy imports; The Commission will also put in place a global methane emitters monitoring tool and a rapid alert mechanism for super-emitting events, with information on the magnitude, recurrence and location of high methane-emitting sources both within and outside the EU. As part of this tool, the Commission will be able to request prompt information on action to address these leaks by the countries concerned; As of January 2027, the Regulation requires that new import contracts for oil, gas and coal can be only concluded if the same monitoring, reporting and verification obligations are applied by exporters as for EU producers. The Regulation will set out a methane intensity methodology and maximum levels to be met for new contracts for oil, gas and coal. These new transparency obligations on international partners will inform the EU's bilateral and multilateral dialogues with global energy partners. Over 150 countries have committed to reduce their methane emissions by signing up to the Global Methane Pledge with the aim of reducing methane emissions by 30% by 2030, and this tool will help us to work with partners to achieve these important goals. NEXT STEPS Today's provisional agreement now requires formal adoption by both the European Parliament and the Council. Once this process is completed, the new legislation will be published in the Official Journal of the Union and enter into force. BACKGROUND The EU Methane Regulation for the energy sector was proposed in December 2021 as part of the proposals to deliver the European Green Deal. This is the EU's first-ever legislation to curb harmful methane emissions in the energy sector. The legislative proposal followed the EU Methane Strategy adopted in 2020. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, second only to carbon dioxide in its overall contribution to climate change and responsible for about a third of current climate warming. The most recent IPCC report outlines that methane levels are at an all-time high and well above the emission levels compatible with limiting warming to the 1.5 deg C goal in the Paris Agreement. Reducing methane emissions is one of the fastest, most effective ways to slow down global warming. However, accurate, source-level, methane emissions data is needed from countries and industry across the globe to make meaningful progress. The EU is leading international action to tackle methane emissions. Together with the US, the EU launched the Global Methane Pledge at the COP26 UN Climate Conference in Glasgow in 2021. At COP27 last year, the EU, together with the United States, Japan, Canada, Norway, Singapore and the United Kingdom adopted a Joint Declaration from Energy Importers and Exporters on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Fuels, committing to take rapid action in reducing methane emissions.--OGN/TradeArabia News Service BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to work with France in sending a strong signal of jointly addressing the issue of climate change, and in promoting the success of the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai, said Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday. He made the remarks during phone talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. HEFEI, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- As winter approaches, a ginger factory in Tongling City in Anhui Province, east China, meticulously stores nearly 5,000 kg of local white ginger seeds in a building with earthen walls and a tiled roof. The building, which locals call the "ginger pavilion," is heated by wood fires and functions as a traditional drying and warming venue to prepare the seeds for planting next spring. Jin Rulin, a provincial-level inheritor of the Tongling white ginger production technique, said that the cultivation and processing of this ginger involves 29 meticulous steps. "From storage in the ginger loft to sun-drying the harvested ginger, every step is crucial," says Jin. This technique, which has been practiced for over 2,000 years in the region, has recently been recognized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System. For the local community, this age-old craftsmanship is not just a cultural treasure but also a vital source of livelihood. At the ginger factory, large jars of fresh white ginger harvested in September are being processed. These ginger pieces, known for their large size and thin skin, are turned into a variety of products and distributed nationwide. "It's a peak season for the production and sale of Tongling white ginger," said Jin, who manages about 6.7 hectares of land dedicated to ginger cultivation. His cultivation base boasts a monthly white ginger yield of nearly 5,000 kg. While preserving the essence of traditional methods, Jin has innovated by exploring new flavors, packaging, and product derivatives, rolling out over a dozen white-ginger-related products. His efforts have boosted local employment, engaging over 300 households in the ginger industry, and generating annual sales of nearly 8 million yuan (about 1.1 million U.S. dollars). The thriving ginger industry in Tongling has witnessed substantial growth in recent years. According to local statistics, in 2022, the cultivation area reached over 386.7 hectares, with a total output value of 180 million yuan, involving more than 2,600 farming households and 35 processing and sales companies. More and more young people are infusing innovation and technological advancement into the traditional craft. In 2019, then 33-year-old entrepreneur, Cheng Ling, along with his wife, returned to his hometown in Datong Town, a suburb of Tongling City, and established their own brand. Beyond conventional ginger products, Cheng's brand has developed novel items such as ginger rice wine and ginger perfume, leveraging the power of the internet to reach a wider audience. Annually, they produce nearly 25,000 kg of ginger products, distributing them nationwide. Recognizing the importance of educating people about this ancient craft, Cheng and his wife have organized educational activities around the cultivation and processing of Tongling white ginger. These efforts have welcomed nearly 2,000 students. "The older craftsmen are preserving (the traditions), and what we young people can do more is to accelerate and change," Cheng said, adding that they are working on online promotion of white ginger products and culture, and employing modern technologies like digital management to enhance efficiency. John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), addresses the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Maritime Week 2023 in Hong Kong, south China, Nov. 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei) HONG KONG, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- At a time when the global shipping industry is undergoing tremendous headwinds, industry leaders attending an international forum in Hong Kong called for an upgrade in the industry to sail through the hard times. Themed "Recharging the Maritime Industry," the Hong Kong Maritime Week 2023 opened Monday in Hong Kong, with its flagship event, the third World Maritime Merchants Forum, attracting some 900 maritime experts and professionals. Addressing the opening ceremony, John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), said that he found the theme of this year's Hong Kong Maritime Week most timely. "From the disruptions of global supply chains to the change in the spending pattern of customers, the world of maritime is in need of a solution to give the industry a boost. A recharge," he said. While mounting geopolitical tensions and economic slowdown worldwide dragged down global trade, dampening the demand for maritime activities, the requirement for cutting carbon emissions posed another challenge for the shipping industry, pushing companies to find alternatives to traditional fossil fuels and reduce costs, according to participants at the forum. Feng Bo, executive vice president of China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, said that the shipping industry must adapt to the changes and build a new global shipping logistics ecosystem that is green, smart and tech-savvy. Johannah Christensen, chief executive officer of the Global Maritime Forum, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the forum that China is playing an increasingly important role in the global shipping sector, and it can take advantage of its role in renewable energy to become a global leader in the development of new fuels that the shipping sector now craves for. In addition to green transition, industry leaders at the forum pointed to technological innovation as a new trend for the shipping industry. "In the near future, further application of smart technologies will disrupt shipping production and operation. Intelligent ships and autonomous shipping will turn into reality," said Miao Jianmin, chairman of China Merchants Group. He said while the external environment and business models of the shipping industry may change over time, what stays unchanged should be the joint efforts for greatness. "The world's great waters are interconnected. The global shipping industry, with deep roots in the ocean, should also connect with one another to jointly respond to the great transformation of our business," he said. Fu Xuyin, China's vice transport minister, addresses the 2023 World Maritime Merchants Forum in Hong Kong, south China, Nov. 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei) Chairman of China Merchants Group Miao Jianmin delivers a keynote speech at the 2023 World Maritime Merchants Forum in Hong Kong, south China, Nov. 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei) Delegates attend the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Maritime Week 2023 in Hong Kong, south China, Nov. 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei) Leung Chun-ying, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, addresses the 2023 World Maritime Merchants Forum in Hong Kong, south China, Nov. 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei) Zheng Yanxiong, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), addresses the 2023 World Maritime Merchants Forum in Hong Kong, south China, Nov. 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei) This aerial photo shows a view of flood-hit Beledweyne, central Somalia, Nov. 20, 2023. UN humanitarians said on Monday that heavy rains and fatal flooding since early October have impacted 1.7 million people in Somalia, 500,000 of them in the past week alone. (Photo by Abdullah Boyow/Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians said on Monday that heavy rains and fatal flooding since early October have impacted 1.7 million people in Somalia, 500,000 of them in the past week alone. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said flooding in the last six weeks killed at least 41 people, including 12 children, and displaced more than 640,000 people. The office said that roads, bridges and airstrips have been damaged in many parts of the country, hampering the movement of people and supplies and increasing prices of basic commodities. Suspected cases of acute watery diarrhea and cholera are rising and are expected to increase further. "Our humanitarian partners, the authorities and local communities have stepped up assistance to affected people," OCHA said. "More than 740,000 people have received life-saving assistance since October." The office said that despite the rapidly growing needs, the United Nations is cash-strained for a response. With only six weeks remaining in the year, the UN humanitarian response plan for Somalia for 2023 is only 40 percent funded. The annual rains hitting Somalia are reported to be the worst in decades. This aerial photo shows a view of flood-hit Beledweyne, central Somalia, Nov. 20, 2023. UN humanitarians said on Monday that heavy rains and fatal flooding since early October have impacted 1.7 million people in Somalia, 500,000 of them in the past week alone. (Photo by Abdullah Boyow/Xinhua) This aerial photo shows a view of flood-hit Beledweyne, central Somalia, Nov. 20, 2023. UN humanitarians said on Monday that heavy rains and fatal flooding since early October have impacted 1.7 million people in Somalia, 500,000 of them in the past week alone. (Photo by Abdullah Boyow/Xinhua) This aerial photo shows a view of flood-hit Beledweyne, central Somalia, Nov. 20, 2023. UN humanitarians said on Monday that heavy rains and fatal flooding since early October have impacted 1.7 million people in Somalia, 500,000 of them in the past week alone. (Photo by Abdullah Boyow/Xinhua) This aerial photo shows a view of flood-hit Beledweyne, central Somalia, Nov. 20, 2023. UN humanitarians said on Monday that heavy rains and fatal flooding since early October have impacted 1.7 million people in Somalia, 500,000 of them in the past week alone. (Photo by Abdullah Boyow/Xinhua) AMMAN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday discussed the situation in Gaza with the EU foreign policy chief, with both sides stressing protecting civilians and adopting the two-state solution. At a meeting in the Jordanian capital Amman with Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the king urged intensive efforts to stop the conflict in Gaza, end the siege, and ensure the delivery of food, medicine, water, and fuel to the Strip, according to a statement by Jordan's Royal Hashemite Court. The Jordanian leader also warned of the disastrous repercussions of the ongoing conflict, whose victims are innocent civilians. He also warned of the continued escalations and settler violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank, reiterating that the only way to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the two-state solution. Borrell, for his part, also stressed the need to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip, and applauded Jordan's crucial role in working towards creating a political horizon for the Palestinian issue, the statement said. HARARE, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Cholera outbreak in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, has ignited calls for increased hygienic practices to prevent its spread as the city battles a shortage of clean water. The epicenter of the outbreak is the high-density suburb of Kuwadzana, which registered nearly half of the reported cases, according to Michael Vere, Harare City Council's head of epidemiology and disease control. Patrick Mutisi, a Kuwadzana resident, said the situation on the ground was alarming. "This very week, several people we interacted with were infected with cholera. We are deeply pained, we are deeply saddened, this is an easily preventable disease," Mutisi told Xinhua on Sunday. He said hygienic conditions, which are a necessity for the prevention of the disease, are not possible due to the scarcity of clean water in the suburb. The city of Harare has been struggling to provide adequate tap water to the growing population, which has resulted in residents resorting to unclean sources. "We only produce around a third of the required water supply in the city," Vere told Xinhua on Sunday. The water that the city is getting from Lake Chivero, Harare's main source, is heavily contaminated and requires a lot of chemicals to treat it, he said. "We also need to make sure that our sewer system is rehabilitated because the sewer system that we have in Harare is no longer able to cope with the population," Vere said. Douglas Mombeshora, Zimbabwe's Minister of Health and Child Care, said that at least 12 lives have been lost with seven from Kuwadzana, which prompted a swift response from the government. "There is a lot of movement of people to all areas of the country from Harare. That's why we are mounting a huge response to this cholera outbreak so that we suppress the cases in Harare," Mombeshora told reporters in Kuwadzana on Sunday. To address the scourge of cholera, the government announced that it had approved a 12 million U.S. dollars budget for the national cholera outbreak response. "We hope the government will intervene and supply us with water bowsers with treated water considering that we are affected by cholera, so that we can get clean water because we cannot afford to buy water," said Gladys Masara, a street vendor in Kuwadzana. Angeline Formoza, another Kuwadzana resident, said water has become a luxury in the suburb. "Sometimes we can go for two weeks or three weeks without water, and in that case, we can't flush toilets, that's where the disease is originating," she said. Georgina Musiyazviriyo, another Kuwadzana resident, said the outbreak has invoked memories of a deadly outbreak in 2008 when more than 4,000 people succumbed to the pandemic. "We witnessed people who were infected, some of them passed away, it's very frightening, so we always try by all means to protect our health by drinking treated water, eating washed fruits, that's what we are doing to protect our health," she said. The authorities are advising the public against going to unauthorized marketplaces, or public gatherings. MAYMANA, Afghanistan, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Police have discovered arms and ammunition including rocket-propelled grenades and AKM assault rifles in north Afghanistan's Faryab province, the provincial police office said in a statement on Monday. Acting on a tip-off, police units launched operations recently and discovered a variety of arms and ammunition including 28 pieces of rifles, 30 hand grenades and thousands of bullets and projectiles, the statement said. Police have also arrested one man for further investigations, it said. Previously, the security forces discovered arms and ammunition including rocket-propelled grenades and AKM assault rifles in south Afghanistan's Uruzgan province on Friday. NEW DELHI, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed and 10 others injured, some of them critically, Monday after a part of an indoor stadium still under construction collapsed in the southern Indian state of Telangana, officials said. The incident took place in Moinabad village of Ranga Reddy district, about 30 km west of Hyderabad, the capital city of Telangana. "The injured were immediately removed to the nearest hospital," a police official said, adding that the stadium's slab and walls collapsed, trapping people, mostly workers, underneath. Reports said at least 20 workers were at the spot when the portion of the building collapsed. The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. Deadly accidents due to failing infrastructure, either new or old, are common in India. Construction experts blame the lax administration and corruption in India for flouting building rules that often result in using poor quality materials, inadequate supervision and poor safety standards for workers. JAKARTA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government said Monday that it was expecting a more than 100 percent increase in the number of people traveling nationwide during this year's Christmas and New Year holidays. The country's Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said that around 107.63 million people will travel across cities, provinces or islands during the long holiday seasons, or 143.65 percent higher than 44.17 million traveling during last year's year-end holiday. "So, the increase is very significant, above 100 percent. Most of them are predicted to travel to tourist sites for vacations. The rest is for exodus, or going to their hometowns, which also have tourist destinations, to celebrate Christmas," Sumadi said in a statement. He added that usually, in every holiday season, the top five provinces visited were East Java, Central Java, West Java, North Sumatra and Yogyakarta. With the predicted number of movements to tourist sites and the considerable use of private cars and motorcycles, Sumadi said the government was preparing some measures to minimize traffic congestion, in coordination with the local government and traffic police. MOSCOW, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of Russian Foreign Ministry has slashed Britain's attempts to formalize the conditions for the return of seized Russian assets as a mere cover-up for robbery, local media reported Monday. After the start of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine, London was one of the first to introduce unilateral restrictive measures against Russian individuals and organizations, and intensified efforts to seize Russia's assets within British jurisdiction, said Sergei Belyaev, director of the Second European Department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Nevertheless, despite the loud statements by British officials primarily aimed at the domestic audience, it is already evident that London, almost two years later, has failed to devise an effective mechanism to expropriate the frozen Russian assets. The obstacle to this is the inevitable detrimental consequences for the reputation of the United Kingdom as one of the largest international financial centers," Belyaev was quoted by Russia's RIA Novosti news agency. "The leadership of our country has repeatedly emphasized that Russia reserves the right to take all necessary reciprocal measures in the form and scope deemed necessary to neutralize corresponding threats from the West," he concluded. In light of growing environmental concern driven by extreme weather, new research from Bain & Company shows more than 60 per cent of businesses in the GCC region are currently off track to achieve their sustainability goals. The study emphasizes the pivotal role of technology, policy, and behavior change in achieving sustainable practices. An increasingly environmentally conscious base of consumers and employees in the GCC may prove instrumental in steering business towards their sustainability targets. Bain & Company published in November a major new study exploring the top sustainability concerns for business leaders, their customers, and their employees. With the upcoming global focus on the region with COP 28 and the potential implications from this critical gathering, it is critical the CEOs and Sustainability Plans in the corporate sector take centre stage in the next phase of the worlds transition. Our global report on the topic is grounded on the philosophy of Visionary Pragmatism in this path for executives to adopt as they are navigating taking the global ambitions and translating them into the day-to-day functioning of their respective companies said Akram Alami, Middle East Partner at Bain & Company. To get a broad sense of environmental concerns around the world, Bain surveyed 23,000 consumers. The results underscore the growing urgency of sustainability topics. Some 64 per cent of people reported high levels of concern about sustainability. Most said their worries have intensified over the past two years and that their concern was first prompted by extreme weather. SURPRISING TRUTHS ABOUT CONSUMERS Bains research reveals several surprising truths about consumers, dispelling some common misperceptions. Among them, the ideas that consumers wont pay more for sustainable products and that consumer behavior is fixed. Baby boomers are often just as concerned as Gen Z. Many companies have long viewed younger consumers as more focused on sustainability than their older counterparts, but the reality is not as clear-cut. For example, 72 per cent of Gen Z consumers and 68 per cent of boomers globally are very or extremely concerned about the environment, but in countries as diverse as India, France, and Japan, boomers are more concerned. Consumers are recommending brands if they are supporting social causes. As concerns grow, consumers are looking to make environmentally sound choices - 82 per cent of consumers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are likely to recommend a brand after learning that it supports a social cause. Consumer behavior can change more quickly than many companies anticipate, with external factors such as government regulation heavily influencing the market. China began offering financial incentives on electric vehicles in 2009; now 19 per cent of Chinese consumers report driving an electric car, compared with 8 per cent of consumers globally. In England, the use of single-use supermarket plastic bags has fallen 98 per cent since the government began requiring retailers to charge for them in 2015. Similarly, in the UAE, the recent imposition of charges on plastic bags in supermarkets has swiftly prompted a notable reduction in their usage, showcasing the significant impact of government initiatives on shaping consumer behavior. There is a disconnect between what consumers want and what most companies sell. Worldwide, 48 per cent of consumers consider how products are used when thinking about sustainability. These consumers are more concerned about how a product can be reused, its durability, and how it will minimize waste. In contrast, most companies sell sustainable goods based on factors such as how they are made, their natural ingredients, and the farming practices deployed.These factors cause many consumers to conflate sustainable with premium. One result of this disconnect: Nearly half of all developed-market consumers believe that living sustainably is too expensive. By comparison, roughly 35 per cent of consumers in fast-growing markets believe this. Consumers struggle to identify sustainable products and dont trust corporations to make them. In Bains survey, 50 per cent of consumers said sustainability is one of their top four key purchase criteria when shopping. Yet they may be making decisions based on misconceptions. When asked to determine which of two given products generated higher carbon emissions, consumers were wrong or didnt know about 75 per cent of the time. Consumers say they rely most on labels and certifications to identify sustainable products, yet most were unable to accurately describe the meaning behind common sustainability logos, such as organic production or Fairtrade. A lack of trust in corporations compounds the issue. Bain found only 28 per cent of consumers trust large corporations to create genuinely sustainable products, compared to 45 per cent who trust small, independent businesses. FOUR CRITICAL AREAS OF FOCUS FOR COMPANIES The momentum behind sustainability and dynamic shifts in consumer behavior have profound implications for any company. Bain sees four critical areas of focus. Devise a future-proof and flexible strategy: Few companies plan beyond the typical 3-year strategic planning window, and even those that do look out 5 to 10 years tend to focus on expectations for technology adoption. These plans fail to fully consider two other factors that move just as rapidly and with as big an impact: regulations and consumer behavior. Acknowledge a fragmented consumer base: Companies need to deaverage consumers and innovate products and design propositions that appeal to different segments local markets, consumers with different definitions of sustainability, and consumers with a range of purchasing motivations. Test and learn to determine what worksand repeat: In such a fluid environment, companies can lean aggressively on marketing experimentation, using digital tools to quickly test the sustainability messages that resonate with different segments and adapt accordingly. Its a way to help consumers gain enough clarity to make decisions that are consistent with their values. Get out in front of regulations: As weve seen throughout the world, government policy inevitably becomes a huge contributor to changing consumer behavior. Across all industries, companies need to be at the forefront of helping to shape the regulations affecting their business. A companys ability to anticipate policy shifts and build future-proof portfolios will help determine whether it can outpace competitors. UPSKILLING EMPLOYEES TO RISE TO THE CHALLENGE Bain found 75 per cent of business leaders believe they have not embedded sustainability well into their business. The instinct of many CEOs is to prioritize external hiring to address all skill gaps, including in sustainability. Bain advocates for addressing sustainabilitys challenges through a combination of smart upskilling and cultivating a learning mindset. A new Bain survey of 4,700 people found 63 per cent felt different skills and behaviors would be required for their company to execute on its ESG ambition or strategy. Yet only 45 per cent of nonmanagers said their employer offers the reskilling and upskilling opportunities that would enable internal mobility. Despite almost every CEO saying they have a talent problem, few companies have defined what it means to be a great employer. In Bains recent survey, 44 per cent of respondents said it is easier to find a better opportunity outside of their company than within it. Bain is leading by example on this cause. The firm has committed to cultivating a growth mindset in its team, partnering with 12 world-class universitiesincluding MIT, HEC Paris, and Melbourne Business Schoolto upskill its employees on ESG. To date, its consultants have completed over 17,000 hours of ESG training through the program.--OGN/TradeArabia News Service In this article, we will look into the 12 African countries with the best quality of life. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to the 5 African Countries with the Best Quality of Life. Quality of Life in Africa According to the African Development Bank, the quality of life in Africa improved substantially over the past few decades leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. The standard of education, healthcare, and other fundamental services has witnessed a significant improvement over the recent years. The economic growth has also benefitted government practices and has enhanced employment and livelihoods. These advancements have collectively improved the quality of life in the region, resulting in a decline in the percentage of the African population living in poverty. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted Africa's public finances, leading to an increase in fiscal deficit of 4.6% in 2019 to 8.4% in 2020. This hindered the improvements in the overall quality of life in Africa. Although the social and economic consequences of the pandemic have been momentous, Africa's resilience and collaborative strategy against the virus effectively protected lives against COVID in the region. The African Development Bank has been making efforts to improve the overall living standard in Africa. The bank promotes human development in the region by supporting education, entrepreneurship, health services, water and sanitation access, and gender equality. For instance, in 2020 the bank continued its efforts for skill development entrepreneurship in Africa and trained 118,000 people in 2020. In 2020, The bank partnered with 10 development finance institutions, to assess the impact of its investments via the Joint Impact Model (JIM). The model quantifies the job creation encompassing direct jobs, induced jobs, jobs in the supply chain, and jobs assembled by the operations' enabling effects. The model estimated that around 0.8 million direct jobs and 2.1 million jobs in the supply chain, induced jobs, and enabling effect jobs will be created with the help of 121 public and private sector operations, approved by the African Development Bank. Out of the total 3 million jobs, women will account for 1.3 million jobs. These jobs will collectively contribute $17.2 billion to the African economy. Story continues African Development Bank is also making efforts for the provision of clean and safe water in the region. For instance, the One WASH National Program, in Ethiopia. It was implemented in 382 districts and 144 small and medium-sized towns, in collaboration with the Ethiopian government. The investment resulted in an increase of 50% to 97% in the percentage of the population with access to safe water, during the program. The program provided access to improved water and sanitation services to 8.3 million people in 2020, exceeding the target of 3.6 million. An Outlook of the African Economy Africa holds great economic potential due to its abundant natural resources, rapidly growing population, and an expanding middle class. However, for a better quality of life, Africa must make continuous efforts to improve its government capabilities, strategic investments in education, business innovation, and inclusive and sustainable initiatives. According to the IMF, Africa reports a GDP of $2.86 trillion and a GDP growth of 3.2% as of 2023. The GDP per capita in the region is $2,040. Africa has experienced slow growth over the recent years but it is expected to grow at a relatively higher pace in 2024. Major Players in the African Market Some of the major players in the African market are MTN Group Limited (OTC:MTNOY), Sasol Limited (NYSE:SSL), and Vodacom Group Limited (OTC:VDMCY). MTN Group Limited (OTC:MTNOY) is an African multinational mobile telecommunications company. On October 11, the company's subsidiary in Rwanda showcased the nation's first-ever 5G network technology at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Africa. The demonstration of the 5G technology by MTN Group Limited (OTC:MTNOY) highlighted its commitment to technology and innovation. The new 5G technology will be providing Rwandans with advanced and reliable connectivity solutions. The technology is capable of revolutionizing sectors including agriculture, education, and healthcare. The technology will also improve the overall internet usage experience, fuel the economic growth in the region, and drive the digital inclusion agenda in the region. Sasol Limited (NYSE:SSL) is a leading integrated energy and chemical company in Africa. On October 23, the American subsidiary of the company introduced two biobased surfactants, CARINEX and LIVINEX, to expand the sustainable offerings of the company. These products will offer a significant reduction in carbon footprint as compared to conventional surfactants. On October 16, Sasol Limited (NYSE:SSL) announced its collaboration with major companies Anglo American plc (OTC:NGLOY) and Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (OTC:BMWYY) South Africa. The partnership will bring hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) along with the supporting hydrogen refueling technology to South Africa. This partnership will pave the way for the country's adoption of FCEVs, aligned with the green hydrogen economy strategy of South Africa. Vodacom Group Limited (OTC:VDMCY) is a leading mobile communication company in Africa. On October 6, the company announced its partnership with Cisco Meraki. Both companies will be introducing a cost-effective digital solution bringing software-defined wide area network, SD-WAN Express to SMEs. The SD-WAN Express is developed to fulfill the networking needs of SMEs including addressing their IT challenges and ensuring high-quality and reliable connectivity. SMEs in Africa play a vital role in the economy, holding a significant share of GDP and employment. Vodacom Group Limited (OTC:VDMCY) will be supporting SMEs to utilize technology in their operation effectively and contribute to economic growth. Now, that we have talked about the quality of life in Africa and discussed the major players in the African economy, let's have a look at the 12 African countries with the best quality of life. 12 African Countries with the Best Quality of Life 12 African Countries with the Best Quality of Life Methodology In order to rank the 12 African countries with the best quality of life, we considered three metrics: Human Development Index (HDI), Economic Freedom Index (EFI), and Government Effectiveness rating. HDI is an index that measures the life expectancy, education, and standard of living of a country. We obtained the most recent data available for HDI from UNDP. Our second metric is EFI by the Heritage Foundation. EFI is an annual rating that measures the degree of economic freedom in a country, utilizing a total of 10 indicators. Our final metric is the Government Effectiveness rating, which we obtained from the World Bank's World Governance Indicator Database. The Government Effectiveness rating measures the quality of public services, the degree to which the government can deliver on its promises, and the quality of its bureaucracy. To identify the African countries with the best quality, we first shortlisted the top 30 countries based on their HDI as of 2021. We prioritized HDI as our initial screening metric because it provides us with insight into human development, taking into account the overall life and amenities available to the residents of a country, and is directly related to the quality of life. Then, we utilized our other two metrics to narrow down our list further. We assigned equal weights to both our indicators and calculated a final score out of 100. Finally, we refined our list of the top 12 countries based on their final scores and ranked them in ascending order of their calculated scores. 12 African Countries with the Best Quality of Life 12. Egypt Human Development Index (2021): 0.731 Government Effectiveness (2022): 33.96 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 49.60 Insider Monkey Rating: 41.78 out of 100 Egypt is ranked among the African countries with the best quality of life. As of 2021, Egypt reported an HDI of 0.731. According to the World Bank, Egypt reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 33.96%. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 49.6 as of 2023. MTN Group Limited (OTC:MTNOY), Sasol Limited (NYSE:SSL), and Vodacom Group Limited (OTC:VDMCY) are some of the major stocks in the African market. 11. Togo Human Development Index (2021): 0.539 Government Effectiveness (2022): 28.30 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 55.30 Insider Monkey Rating: 41.80 out of 100 Togo is a country in West Africa, located on the Gulf of Guinea. As of 2021, Togo reported an HDI of 0.539. According to the World Bank, Togo reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 28.30%. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 55.30 as of 2023. 10. Kenya Human Development Index (2021): 0.575 Government Effectiveness (2022): 41.04 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 52.50 Insider Monkey Rating: 46.76 out of 100 Kenya reports an Economic Freedom Index of 52.5 as of 2023. It is ranked 10th on our list with an HDI of 0.575 as of 2021. According to the World Bank, Kenya reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 41.04%. 9. Tanzania Human Development Index (2021): 0.549 Government Effectiveness (2022): 34.43 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 60.00 Insider Monkey Rating: 47.21 out of 100 Tanzania is a densely forested country located in East Africa. As of 2021, Tanzania reported an HDI of 0.549. According to the World Bank, Egypt reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 34.43%. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 60 as of 2023. 8. Cote d'Ivoire Human Development Index (2021): 0.550 Government Effectiveness (2022): 37.74 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 60.40 Insider Monkey Rating: 49.07 out of 100 Cote d'Ivoire is a country in East Africa. As of 2021, Cote d'Ivoire reported an HDI of 0.550. According to the World Bank, Cote d'Ivoire reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 37.74% in 2022. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 60.4 as of 2023. 7. South Africa Human Development Index (2021): 0.713 Government Effectiveness (2022): 48.11 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 55.70 Insider Monkey Rating: 51.90 out of 100 South Africa reports an Economic Freedom Index of 55.7 as of 2023. It is ranked 7th on our list with an HDI of 0.713, as of 2021. According to the World Bank, South Africa reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 48.11%. 6. Ghana Human Development Index (2021): 0.632 Government Effectiveness (2022): 50.47 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 58.00 Insider Monkey Rating: 54.23 out of 100 Ghana is ranked 6th on our list of the African countries with the best quality of life. As of 2021, Ghana reported an HDI of 0.632. According to the World Bank, Egypt reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 50.47% in 2022. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 58 as of 2023. Investors looking to increase their exposure to the African market can research stocks including MTN Group Limited (OTC:MTNOY), Sasol Limited (NYSE:SSL), and Vodacom Group Limited (OTC:VDMCY). Click to continue reading and see the 5 African Countries with the Best Quality of Life. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. 12 African Countries with the Best Quality of Life is originally published on Insider Monkey. In this article, we will look into the 12 Asian countries with the best quality of life. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to the 5 Asian Countries with the Best Quality of Life. Quality of Life in Asia Asia is a diverse region with some of its countries showing significant progress to enhance their quality of life. However, Asian countries must increase their investments, efforts for appropriate demographic planning, and initiatives for gender equality to transition from poverty and underdevelopment to a state of security, well-being, and enhanced quality of life. Although these challenges withstand the progress of Asia, many countries in the region have implemented progressive strategies to enhance the quality of life by making efforts for increased GDP, enhanced public purchasing power, and improved access to economic, welfare, and service resources. According to the research study, "An Overview of Quality of Life across Asia: A Sociological Appraisal" by Mohammad Taghi Sheykh, Asian countries are continuously competing with one another to raise their quality of life. The research study describes the key elements such as education, income, employment, health, and environment, that influence the quality of life in the region. The study investigates the countries across key factors that significantly influence the quality of life, including literacy rates, life expectancy, per capita GDP, and internet usage. For instance, Kazakhstan tends to experience enhanced economic development with a high literacy rate of 99.5%. On the other hand, Afghanistan's estimated literacy rate is 28.1% which can inhibit progress and perpetuate a cycle of poverty and reduced development in the country. Life expectancy is another significant factor in examining the quality of life in a region. For instance, Japan has a life expectancy index of 82 years which translates into improved health outcomes, boosted productivity, and overall well-being. Story continues Economic prosperity is another factor that the study utilizes as a key element to measure the quality of life. For instance, Singapore reported a higher GDP per capita of $57,200 in 2021 which translated into better opportunities, enhanced living standards, and access to quality services. Internet usage, which can be taken as a measure of access to the digital quality of life, also plays a crucial role in enhancing the quality of life as specified by the research study. Countries that report a higher internet penetration rate experience improved social connection, reduced disparities, and enhanced socioeconomic development. However, limited access can hinder the growth. The study takes China as an example which reported an internet penetration rate of 389 per 1000 whereas Cambodia reported a rate of 79 per 1000. So, countries that invest more in technological advancements provide a better quality of life. Some other factors influencing the livelihoods in the region include urbanization, social institutions, democratization, and economic development. The study also develops a relationship between happiness and quality of life and suggests that Asian countries must invest in infrastructure, social programs, and economic development to enhance quality of life and happiness in the region. Asia and Pacific: An Economic Outlook According to the IMF, Asia and Pacific reports a GDP of $37.04 trillion and a GDP growth of 4.4% as of 2023. The GDP per capita in the region is $8,390. The inflation in the region is forecasted to decrease from 4.4% in 2022 to 3.6% in 2023 and 3.5% in 2024, as reported by the Asian Development Bank. According to the Asian Development Outlook 2023, the growth forecast for 2024 is 4.8%. Major Players in the Asian Market Some of the key players in the Asian market include Sony Group Corporation (NYSE:SONY), ICICI Bank Limited (NYSE:IBN), and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (OTC:NTTYY). Sony Group Corporation (NYSE:SONY) is a leading Asian multinational company. On October 9, the company announced the launch of a high parameter cell sorter, FP7000 spectral cell sorter. The cell sorter can detect and sort over 44 colors and is developed to fulfill the needs of laboratories aiming for simple to complex high-parameter applications. The FP7000 spectral cell sorter is set to be launched in autumn 2024. ICICI Bank Limited (NYSE:IBN) is a leading financial company in Asia and is one of the most valuable companies in India. On October 12, the company announced the launch of a new digital banking feature, iFinance. The feature will allow customers to view account balances from all banks in one place. The iFinance feature is available on ICICI Bank Limited's (NYSE:IBN) digital platforms such as the iMobile Pay app, Retail Internet Banking, Corporate Internet Banking, and InstaBIZ. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (OTC:NTTYY) is a leading Japanese telecommunications company. On November 8, the company announced the development of its innovative input interface. The interface is specially designed to empower differently-abled individuals with limited mobility, to engage in communication and form meaningful connections in society. The interface translates subtle muscle movements into commands for ICT devices in the metaverse. The revolutionary technology leverages surface electromyography (sEMG) to detect muscle movement and transforms them into operational codes. The technology has been successfully implemented in two case studies, DJ performance and game control to assess the potential of the interface. The innovative input interface technology is paving the way for an inclusive and sustainable future. Now, that we have talked about the quality of life in Asia and discussed the major players in the Asian economy, let's have a look at the 12 Asian countries with the best quality of life. 12 Asian Countries with the Best Quality of Life 12 Asian Countries with the Best Quality of Life Methodology To rank the 12 Asian countries with the best quality of life, we considered three metrics: Human Development Index (HDI), Economic Freedom Index, and Government Effectiveness. HDI estimates the average rating, assessing key factors such as life expectancy, education, and a decent standard of living. We obtained the most recent data available for HDI of countries from UNDP. Our second metric, EFI is an annual rating that measures the degree of economic freedom in a country, utilizing a total of 10 indicators. We obtained the most recent data available for EFI from the Heritage Foundation. Our third metric is the Government Effectiveness rating, which we obtained from the World Bank's World Governance Indicator Database. The Government Effectiveness rating measures the quality of public services, the degree to which the government can deliver on its promises, and the quality of its bureaucracy. The metric is also a key determinant in measuring economic growth. To identify the Asian countries with the best quality, we first sorted the top 30 countries with the highest HDI as of 2021. We prioritized HDI as our initial screening tool because it provides us with insight into human development, taking into account the overall life and amenities available to the residents of a country, and is directly related to the quality of life. Then, we utilized our other two metrics to narrow down our list further. We allocated equal weights to both our indicators and calculated a final score out of 100. Then, we refined our list to the top 12 countries based on their final score and ranked them in ascending order of the calculated score. 12 Asian Countries with the Best Quality of Life 12. Vietnam Human Development Index (2021): 0.703 Government Effectiveness (2022): 59.43 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 61.80 Insider Monkey Rating: 60.615 out of 100 Vietnam is a country located at the eastern edge of Southeast Asia. It is ranked among the 12 Asian countries with the Best Quality of life, reporting an HDI of 0.703 as of 2021. According to the World Bank, Vietnam reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 59.43%. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 61.80 as of 2023. Sony Group Corporation (NYSE:SONY), ICICI Bank Limited (NYSE:IBN), and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (OTC:NTTYY) are some of the major stocks in the Asian market. 11. Bhutan Human Development Index (2021): 0.666 Government Effectiveness (2022): 69.81 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 59.00 Insider Monkey Rating: 64.40 out of 100 Bhutan is a country located in Southeast Asia. Bhutan reported an HDI of 0.666 as of 2021. According to the World Bank, Bhutan reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 69.81%. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 59 as of 2023. 10. Saudi Arabia Human Development Index (2021): 0.875 Government Effectiveness (2022): 70.75 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 58.30 Insider Monkey Rating: 64.52 out of 100 Saudi Arabia is ranked among the 12 Asian countries with the Best Quality of life. As of 2021, Saudi Arabia reported an HDI of 0.875. According to the World Bank, Saudi Arabia reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 70.75%. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 58.30% as of 2023. 9. Indonesia Human Development Index (2021): 0.705 Government Effectiveness (2022): 66.04 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 63.50 Insider Monkey Rating: 64.76 out of 100 Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia reported an HDI of 0.705 as of 2021. According to the World Bank, Indonesia reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 66.04%. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 63.50 as of 2023. 8. Bahrain Human Development Index (2021): 0.875 Government Effectiveness (2022): 72.17 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 62.50 Insider Monkey Rating: 67.33 out of 100 Bahrain is an island country in West Asia. Bahrain reported an HDI of 0.875 as of 2021. According to the World Bank, Bahrain reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 62.50%. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 61.80 as of 2023. 7. Malaysia Human Development Index (2021): 0.803 Government Effectiveness (2022): 79.25 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 67.30 Insider Monkey Rating: 73.27 out of 100 Malaysia is ranked among the Asian countries with the Best Quality of life. It reported an HDI of 0.803 as of 2021. According to the World Bank, Malaysia reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 79.25v. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 67.30 as of 2023. 6. Qatar Human Development Index (2021): 0.855 Government Effectiveness (2022): 82.55 Economic Freedom Index (2023): 68.60 Insider Monkey Rating: 75.57 out of 100 Qatar is located in the Middle East and Southwestern Asia. As of 2021, Qatar reported an HDI of 0.855. According to the World Bank, Qatar reported a Government Effectiveness rating of 82.55%. The Economic Freedom Index rating of the county is 68.60 and is counted among the moderately free countries, as of 2023. Investors looking to increase their exposure to the Asian market can research stocks including Sony Group Corporation (NYSE:SONY), ICICI Bank Limited (NYSE:IBN), and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (OTC:NTTYY). Click to continue reading and see the 5 Asian Countries with the Best Quality of Life. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. 12 Asian Countries with the Best Quality of Life is originally published on Insider Monkey. In this article, we are going to discuss the 15 high-quality wines to buy under $30 according to Reddit. You can skip our detailed analysis of the global wine market, the trends of global wine consumption, wine tourism in the United States, and sparkling wine in the air, and go directly to 5 High-Quality Wines To Buy Under $30 According to Reddit. Wine was of enormous cultural significance among ancient Greeks, who discovered it as natures gift and turned it into a work of art. While the Greek philosophers were attempting to unearth the truth through intellectual discourse, they would often do so with a cup of wine in hand, and plenty more waiting in a nearby carafe. This symposium which literally translates to drinking with others was an intellectual gathering where the wise men of ancient Greece would collect around a table and allow the conversation and wine to flow freely. However, getting inebriated was never the end goal, as maintaining composure and self-control was (and still is) highly valued in Greek society. So in order to maintain the delicate balance between inspiration and intoxication, the wine was usually heavily diluted with water. In fact, drinking unmixed wine was considered very uncivilized a trait particular to the Barbarians. Global Wine Market: Wine is one of the Most Consumed Alcohols in the World. As we mentioned in our article Top 20 Wine Producing Countries in the World the global wine market size was valued at $441.6 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach a value of $698.54 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 5.9% over the forecast period. Wine is gaining huge popularity among millennials and youngsters, owing to its refreshing appeal and low ABV offerings. The rising demand for premium and luxury wines, increasing consumer awareness about the health benefits of wine, and growing popularity of wine tourism are some of the key factors driving the growth of the wine market. Story continues Trends of Global Wine Consumption: The global wine consumption in 2022 was estimated to be at 232 million hectoliters, marking a decrease of 1% compared to the previous year. Since 2018, wine consumption around the world has decreased at a regular rate. This negative trend can be mainly attributed to the decline in Chinas consumption, which has lost an average 2 million hectoliters per year since 2018. This downward trend was further accentuated in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic, which negatively affected many large wine markets. In 2022, the war in Ukraine and the associated energy crisis, together with the global supply chain disruptions, led to a spike in costs in production and distribution. This has resulted in a significant increase in wine prices for the consumers. Wine Tourism in the United States: People travel around the world for different reasons. Some travel to explore new cultures, learn new languages, admire unique locations, and some to drink wine. Among several types of modern tourism, wine tourism is a new concept with a focus on exploring wine cultures around the world. The U.S. wine industry is a major magnet for tourists and tourism-driven expenses. According to WineAmerica, the countrys wine country regions generated 49.18 million tourist visits and $16.69 billion in tourism expenditures in 2022, benefiting local economies and tax bases. Based in California, The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. (NYSE:NAPA) makes wines and calls itself a manufacturing company, agricultural company, and marketing company all rolled into one. In addition to its wineries or brands, the company owns approximately 1,100 vineyard acres (15+ unique sites ranging in size from 5 acre parcels up to 75 acres) with a total annual production of over 900,000 cases. For those who love great Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay, a trip to Duckhorn Vineyards has long been recognized as one of the preeminent Napa Valley tasting experiences. With its vibrant gardens and sophisticated tableside wine service, The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. (NYSE:NAPA)s classically beautiful Estate House sets the standard for attentiveness and refinement. With a portfolio of several high-quality wine brands, The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. (NYSE:NAPA) ranks among the 12 Best Alcohol Stocks to Own According to Hedge Funds. Bubbly in the Air: On most long-haul flights, business class passengers expect to be served a frosty glass of Champagne. Many airlines go the extra mile to make sure their customers are pampered and serve impressive brands like Dom Perignon and Laurent Perrier. However, the Covid-19 pandemic brought the airline industry to its knees, forcing a multitude of carriers to adopt various cost-cutting measures in order to survive. The pandemic has come and gone, but the cost-cutting mindset seems to have remained. The American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) has recently announced that it is no longer serving Champagne in Flagship Business the carriers long haul business class product as part of efforts by the groups CEO Robert Isom to cut costs. Instead, the companys new standard option is a cheaper Ferrari Brut Trento DOC, an Italian sparkling wine. Most passengers of the American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) may not mind the switch, but the company is part of the Oneworld Alliance, with many of its partner airlines making food service a key focus of their flight experience. The difference in luxuries that passengers experience when boarding one of these airlines as part of a connecting flight could potentially irk them. However, the stringent cost-cutting measures seem to be bearing fruit for the company, and although the American Airlines Group has suffered from over-expenditure and the resultant losses in the past, the carrier witnessed a net profit of $127 million last year, with a revenue of $48.97 billion. In fact, the American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) ranks among the Best Transportation Stocks to Buy Heading into 2024. With that said, here are the Most Popular Affordable Wines According to Reddit. 15 High-Quality Wines To Buy Under $30 According to Reddit Boryana Manzurova/Shutterstock.com Methodology: To collect data for this article, we have referred to various subreddits, looking for the Best Wines Under $30 According to Reddit. We picked wines that appeared at least twice in these sources, assigned them a score based on their number of appearances, and ranked them accordingly. When two wines had the same score, we ranked them by the price (excluding tax) of their 750 ml bottles. Note: Prices have been sourced from multiple sources, including Wine-Searcher, Total Wine & More etc. As wine prices can vary greatly across the United States, we cannot guarantee their accuracy. 15. Pierre-Henri Morel Vacqueyras Insider Monkey Score: 2 Price: $28 Carried by a dominant Grenache and completed by Mourvedre, this well-defined wine has flavors of gorgeous dark berry and dark chocolate, along with hints of spice. The Pierre-Henri Morel brand was created in 2008 when Pierre-Henri Morel and Michel Chapoutier purchased twenty acres of vineyards aged around 50 years old in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, located in the Pignan, Bois Dauphin, and Barbe d'Asne lieux-dits. 14. Felsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Insider Monkey Score: 2 Price: $26 A pure and highest quality wine out of the gate, the Chianti Classico Berardenga is fresh with aromas of pine sap, anise, and cherry lozenge. This wine delivers dense tannins that exert influence on the finish, yet it remains balanced. Founded in 1966 by Domenico Poggiali, Felsina has a strong focus on crafting excellent Chianti Classico, specifically in the Castelnuovo Berardenga district, which is in the southeastern corner of the appellation. The Berardenga label represents a plentiful annual production of around 250,000 bottles. 13. Marques de Riscal Rioja Reserva Insider Monkey Score: 2 Price: $20 Marques de Riscal Reserva is one of the most famous wines in Spain, due to its long history, consistent high quality and also for the many literary references it has inspired over the years. Found in over 100 countries, this is regarded as a benchmark for Rioja red wines. Founded in 1858, The Marques de Riscal bodega has achieved second place in the prestigious World's Best Vineyards ranking in 2023. 12. Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel Insider Monkey Score: 2 Price: $8 Made with the archetypal grape of California, this bright, ripe, and intriguing wine bursts from the glass with aromas of raspberries and pink peppercorns. The Bogle wine family has been farming in the Clarksburg, California region for six generations. Their involvement in the wine business spans back 50 years, which is why Bogle wines are high-quality at a great price. While Bogle is a mass-market wine that isn't considered a fine or premium wine, that doesn't mean the winery doesn't make perfectly decent, quaffable wines. With over 2.5 million 9-liter cases sold in 2021, Bogle ranks among the Most Popular Wine Brands in America. 11. Roederer Estate Brut Insider Monkey Score: 3 Price: $24 Debuted in 1988, the Roederer Estate Brut has established its reputation as one of California's premier sparklers, remaining true to the heritage of excellence and style of its French ancestors. Today, many wine critics consider Roederer Estate's bubblies the best in the United States. Roederer Estate Brut is crisp and elegant with complex pear, spice and hazelnut flavors. It is fresh and lightly fruity with great finesse and depth of flavor. The Roederer Estate Brut is a Great Wine Under $30. 10. Penfolds Maxs Cabernet Sauvignon Insider Monkey Score: 3 Price: $21 One of the Best Cabernet Sauvignons Under $30, Penfolds Maxs is a tribute to the former Chief Winemaker, Max Schubert. Maxs constant pursuit of excellence paved the way for those who followed in his footsteps and also allowed the status and heritage of Penfolds to grow. Owned by Treasury Wine Estates, Penfolds are one of Australia's most famed and respected producers. 9. Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon Insider Monkey Score: 3 Price: $20 The Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet is a wine that is fierce, brave, and delicious. The French oak beautifully transforms intense hillside fruit into a wine with uncommon richness and smooth, luxurious texture. Founded in 2018 as part of The Bogle Family Wine Collection, Juggernaut Wines grows grapes in extreme conditions to create wines of untamed character and unrestrained complexity. Earlier this year, the brand also introduced its Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, the newest addition to its portfolio of powerfully expressive wines. 8. Bodega Norton Privada Family Blend Insider Monkey Score: 4 Price: $20.5 Originally reserved for the private cellar, this exclusive high-end blend is the result of a request by the Swarovski family to create the best wine to enjoy among their friends. It is a truly unique selection of the best barrels of Malbec, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, which results in a harmonious, complex, and elegant blend. Founded in 1895, Bodega Norton is one of the most awarded Argentine wine brands in America. 7. Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster Pinot Noir Insider Monkey Score: 4 Price: $20 The stylistic vision of this wine captures pure Pinot Noir fruit with beautiful depth and structure through whole cluster fermentation and carbonic maceration. The wine is balanced, refreshing, and versatile for countless food pairings. Willamette Valley Vineyards became the first SEC authorized community-funded business in the U.S. through the first successful Regulation A self-underwritten public offering in 1989. The Whole Cluster is one of the Best Pinot Noir Wines Under $30. 6. Substance Cs Cabernet Sauvignon Insider Monkey Score: 4 Price: $15 Introduced in 2015 by the renowned winemaker Charles Smith, Wines of Substance was conceived with the original idea of creating wines from Cabernet Sauvignon with excellent value for money. As the flagship offering of the brand, the Substance Cs Cabernet Sauvignon is made with traditional winemaking techniques natural fermentations, barrel-aging, and bottled unfiltered and unfined. The Substance Cabernet Sauvignon sits among the Best Red Wines Under $20 on Reddit. Click to continue reading and see the 5 High-Quality Wines To Buy Under $30 According to Reddit. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. 15 High-Quality Wines To Buy Under $30 According to Reddit is originally published on Insider Monkey. In this article, we will be navigating through the American expat community while covering the 20 countries with the most American expats. If you wish to skip our detailed analysis, you can move directly to the 5 Countries With the Most American Expats. American Expat Community: An Overview Over the years, Americans have chosen various countries around the world as their new homes. For many of these immigrants, better job prospects are a core factor that guides their decision to relocate. Others move to their desired destination to pursue a relationship or an adventure. Those who are young also tend to move out of the US to seek quality education. Some of the top industries for American expats include education, IT, marketing, advertising, and communications. While the work-life balance is compromised in America, these expats enjoy a laid-back life in different countries around the world such as Mexico, Japan, Germany, and Italy. Quality healthcare is another factor motivating people to move. A wave of international visitors mostly from the United States landed in Mexico during the pandemic. While Mexicos borders were open, many of these Americans traveled to the country while they were remotely working for their employers in the US. This digital nomad influx came at a price for the locals as the long-term residents in Mexico City were displaced by the newcomers. This was due to a rising trend of renting houses among homeowners, through short-term rental platforms like Airbnb. On October 12, CNBC reported there was a substantial increase in the number of Americans who applied for or renewed residency visas. Americans who have settled in Mexico deem the country as a cheap place with an improved life quality and a strong community. The Black Americans felt especially safer in Mexico than in the US. You can also take a look at some of the best countries for expats. Bright Job Prospects for the Immigrants Expats can build a lucrative career abroad since they typically relocate to a place that offers ample employment opportunities. However, this transition can be difficult. Some of the leading companies offering employment opportunities and assistance with relocation to their employees include Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM ), and Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN). Lets take a look at what these firms have been up to. Story continues Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), one of the most widely used e-commerce platforms in the US, offers its services across the globe and serves as an attractive choice for expats who wish to seek rewarding careers. Amazon's Global Mobility Program is designed to help employees navigate their way across countries as the company is a large procurer of employment-sponsored visas. It supports its mobile workforce with visa and immigration processes, cultural integration training, and relocation support. The company claims to be a top company ranked by LinkedIn in countries including Japan, Spain, India, the UK, Italy, Australia and Germany, popular destinations among American expats. On October 9, Reuters reported that Amazon UK will be spending $207 million on two pay rises for its frontline operations staff over the next 6 months. The company planned to raise its minimum starting pay rates from October 15 and then later in April, 2024. The company has also started hiring for more than 15,000 seasonal roles across the UK for the festive period. One of the leading manufacturers of Customer Relationship Management software, salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), serves as a highly ranked employee-centric company around the world. It operates in numerous countries such as Canada, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The company allows its employees to relocate and cites a story of an employee who relocated from Ireland to Australia. Although the firm laid off 10% of its workforce during restructuring in January, it is all set to offer diverse employment opportunities. On September 15, Bloomberg reported that the company will be hiring 3,300 workers who will be working across different departments including sales, engineering, and for the companys data cloud product. While many of the new hires will be those who once worked at the company, other positions will be open to those seeking employment at a known multinational cloud-based software company. Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) specializes in IT services and consulting and creates an inclusive and accessible workplace for all employees. It provides employee relocation assistance through tools and resources to support employees in their transition to new locations. Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) continues to expand its footprint across various countries some of which tend to be common locations for Americans to settle in. On November 2, the company reported its expansion in Spain by acquiring Innotec Security, a prominent Spanish cybersecurity company. This development will add 500 cybersecurity professionals to Accenture's workforce of 20,000 professionals globally thereby making the company one of the top managed security services players in Spain. Back in October, the firm acquired a U.K. technology consultancy to build upon its presence in the United Kingdom. Now that we have taken a look at the American expat situation, we can move to the 20 countries with the most American expats. 20 Countries With the Most American Expats 20 Countries With the Most American Expats Our Methodology: In order to compile a list of the 20 countries with the most American expats, we sourced data from the United Nations International Migrant Stock 2020 published by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. The most recent data relevant to expats was released in 2020. We selected the percentage of total American expats in every country as our primary metric which was supplemented by the number of US citizens in each of the selected countries. Finally, we ranked the 20 countries with the most American expats in ascending order of their percentages of US expats and the number of US citizens living in each country. 20 Countries With the Most American Expats 20. India Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.1% Number of US Citizens Living in India: 32,867 India ranks as one of the 20 countries with the most American expats. India is home to many Americans some of whom are immigrants from the US while others are Indian citizens of American descent. The growing economy and the low cost of living also attract Americans to the country. Bengaluru, Pune, and Mumbai are known Indian cities among those settling in India. 19. Ireland Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.17% Number of US Citizens Living in Ireland: 35,190 Americans also tend to move to Ireland in pursuit of work, family, or the ease of accessing the rest of Europe. English is widely spoken in Ireland, easing the decision to move in for US residents. Low crime and affordable private health insurance are other expat benefits in Ireland. 18. Netherlands Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.18% Number of US Citizens Living in the Netherlands: 35,242 The 20 countries with the most American expats include the Netherlands as well. This small country from Europe offers a thriving economy, a diverse society, and a high quality of life to American expats. Amsterdam is a popular destination among those settling in the Netherlands. Getting around the country and even to neighboring European nations is convenient. 17. New Zealand Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.2% Number of US Citizens Living in New Zealand: 35,989 New Zealand also makes it to the list of countries with the most American expats. The New Zealand city is also recruiting Americans through well-paying jobs. The work-life balance is good in New Zealand. The high standard of living and the mild climate are additional pros. 16. Philippines Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.26% Number of US Citizens Living in the Philippines: 37,857 The Philippines is one of the top destinations in Asia among American expats. Many of the locals can even speak English. The exchange rate is also favorable since the expenses tend to be cheaper for American expats in the Philippines. These factors enable the Philippines to qualify as one of the countries with the most American expats. 15. Switzerland Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.29% Number of US Citizens Living in Switzerland: 38,779 Switzerland is another country with the most American expats. The country is regarded as one of the safest nations with additional perks such as a vibrant culture and a good quality of life. Better salaries, access to universal healthcare, and education are other factors behind Americans immigrating to Switzerland. 14. Peru Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.38% Number of US Citizens Living in Peru: 41,292 Many Americans move to Peru to settle there permanently thereby making the country one of the 20 countries with the most American expats. The cost of living is comparatively low in Peru. Networking opportunities with other Americans are also available which helps new American expats in settling in. 13. Bangladesh Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.51% Number of US Citizens Living in Bangladesh: 45,115 Bangladesh is another country to host many American expats. Gulshan, Baridhara, and Banani are popular destinations in the country where expats feel comfortable. Traveling around is relatively easier and cheaper. The country has a good geographical position in Asia and offers good investment opportunities. 12. Italy Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.8% Number of US Citizens Living in Italy: 54,011 Italy is another European country that attracts Americans. While many of these American expats choose to live in bigger cities such as Milan and Rome, other small-sized Italian towns are also an available option. The overall environment is secure and stable which makes Italy a popular destination for Americans. 11. Spain Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.91% Number of US Citizens Living in Spain: 57,112 Spain is one of the 20 countries with the most American expats. The country is a popular place to seek a living among digital nomads and retirees. The Spanish quality of life and economic opportunity combined with the abundance of historical attractions drive Americans to relocate to Spain for a better future at an affordable cost. 10. Japan Percentage of Total American Expats: 1.95% Number of US Citizens Living in Japan: 58,340 Japan qualifies as another country that hosts many immigrant Americans. The country is deemed a good place to live and work in Asia. Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka are strong economic places for the incoming expats to settle in. The Japanese sense of community also helps Americans feel at home. 9. France Percentage of Total American Expats: 2.06% Number of US Citizens Living in France: 61,668 Americans also tend to immigrate to France. Apart from affordable healthcare, better job security, and reasonable work-life balance, the country acts as a gateway to other EU nations for expats. Many of the American expats settle in the vibrant capital city of Paris, a center of economic opportunities. 8. South Korea Percentage of Total American Expats: 2.27% Number of US Citizens Living in South Korea: 68,050 South Korea is another popular destination among American expats. These expats tend to benefit from the established public transit system, universal health coverage, and low crime rates in South Korea. These factors make the country one of the 20 countries with the most American expats. 7. Israel Percentage of Total American Expats: 2.56% Number of US Citizens Living in Israel: 76,794 As mentioned above, Israel hosts many Americans thereby qualifying as one of the countries with the most American expats. The country offers an extensive healthcare system, a hospitable community, and is developed in terms of science and technology. Other travel destinations in Europe and Africa can also be conveniently accessed from Israel. 6. Australia Percentage of Total American Expats: 3.89% Number of US Citizens Living in Australia: 116,620 Australia ranks as another country that is home to a lot of American expats. The transition for Americans is easier since the country is English-speaking. The country is also known to be tolerant of all lifestyles and hence, accommodates many immigrants. Click to continue reading and see 5 Countries With the Most American Expats. Suggested articles: Disclosure: None. 20 Countries With the Most American Expats is originally published on Insider Monkey. In this article, we will be navigating through the parental leave system across the world while covering the 25 countries with the best maternity and paternity leave. If you wish to skip our detailed analysis, you can move directly to the 5 Countries with the Best Maternity and Paternity Leave. Parental Leaves Across the World In order to transition to parenthood in the smoothest possible manner, employees around the world are granted leave. While maternity leave is granted to mothers around the time they give birth, paternity leave is reserved for fathers. Once these leaves end, parental leave is given to the new parents so they can look after their children during their early years. Several countries in Northern and Eastern Europe ensure a full year of paid maternity leave. On the other extreme, some nations do not give paid family leave for both men and women. These include the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Suriname, and Tonga. US Leave System for New Parents at a Glance Back in 1993, The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was introduced in the US to ensure job security while employees were on unpaid leave in situations such as serious illness, childbirth, care for a family member, or placement of ones child in foster care or for adoption. In the current scenario, the country is lagging behind other developed nations in this regard since there is no paid maternity or paternity leave at the federal level. In 2022, The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that only about 1 in 4 employees in the private sector workforce have access to paid family leave. More than 3 in 4 private sector employees do not have access to paid family leave. Furthermore, full-time employees tend to have better access to paid family leave than part-time workers. However, the states within the US have passed paid family and medical leave laws including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington. Other states such as Vermont and New Hampshire offer a voluntary opportunity to purchase insurance coverage rather than granting a right to paid leave. This allows employees in family raising. Story continues The paternity leave scenario is still not in place since American fathers are not guaranteed paid paternity leave. While 12 weeks of unpaid leave are granted by FMLA, many of these fathers take off only 10 days or less after childbirth. At times, employers also require new fathers to work the same hours as before. An increasing emphasis has been placed on paid parental leave since it is expected to lower financial stress while ensuring gender equality as the father shares in childcare responsibilities. You can also look at some of the best long-term investments for a child. Companies Easing the Transition to Parenthood Many companies around the globe stand out by offering comprehensive employee benefits. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Alphabet Inc.s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google, and PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) facilitate employees along their work-life journey through such benefits. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services company. The company grants a paid leave of 16 weeks for all parents. 6 to 8 additional weeks of medical leave following pregnancy are also allowed. Other childcare benefits include lactation rooms, breast milk shipping, and dependent daycare flexible spending accounts to help cover the cost of childcare and preschool, before and after school programs. Counseling for children with special needs is also available. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) updated its parental leave in 2021 from 16 weeks of parental leave for primary caregivers and 6 weeks of parental leave for non-primary caregivers thereby making the policy more holistic and neutral. In July, Dr. David Stark, Morgan Stanleys Chief Medical Officer, reported this change as being a part of long-term thinking. Paid parental leave and family support were areas that were previously pointed out as opportunities for improvement during an employee survey. Alphabet Inc.s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google has also been known as a leader in workplace benefits. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) supports its employees at every point of their life, especially for raising a family. Back in 2022, Reuters reported that the company extended parental leave to 24 weeks off compared with 18 weeks for parents who give birth while the employees have been granted 8 weeks of caregiver leave. Parental leave has also been expanded from 12 weeks to 18 weeks for all parents. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) is a leading financial technology company. As a part of its employee benefits, the firm offers 16 weeks of paid maternity leave for mothers who have been working with PayPal for at least 3 months. Fathers with at least 3 months of employment are also eligible for 2 weeks of paid paternal leave which can be availed within 12 months of the childs birth. This leave is granted for the birth and adoption of every child. Additionally, the leave policy for new parents is flexible as fathers are capable of sharing 4 weeks of their spouses 16 weeks of maternity leave. Every year, 6 days of paid childcare leave is also given to parents with children under the age of 13. Without further ado, lets move to the 25 countries with the best maternity and paternity leave. 25 Countries with the Best Maternity and Paternity Leave 25 Countries with the Best Maternity and Paternity Leave Our Methodology: In order to compile a list of the 25 countries with the best maternity and paternity leave, we sourced data from the OECDs family database. In the section child-related leaves, we found the duration of leaves for mothers and fathers following childbirth. The most recent data for child-related leaves for all countries was available from 2022. Moving on, we calculated the average leaves dedicated to parents by averaging the maternity and paternity leaves for the respective countries. A higher average score as represented by average paternal leave depicts a country that has a better policy for maternity and paternity leaves combined. All statistics related to maternity and paternity leaves are mentioned as recorded by OECD in 2022. Finally, we ranked the 25 countries with the best maternity and paternity leave in ascending order of their average parental leave. 25 Countries with the Best Maternity and Paternity Leave 25. Switzerland Maternity Leave: 16 Weeks Paternity Leave: 2 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 9 Weeks With a maternity leave of 16 weeks and a paternity leave of 2 weeks, Switzerland ranks as one of the 25 countries offering the best leaves to parents post-childbirth. The country is also deemed a good place to raise children. 24. Belgium Maternity Leave: 15 Weeks Paternity Leave: 3 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 9 Weeks Belgium ranks as one of the countries with the best maternal and paternal leave. The state allows for 15 weeks of leave for new mothers while fathers can avail of a paternity leave of 3 weeks. The maternal leave is divided into prenatal and postnatal periods while the father can take the leave following childbirth. 23. Estonia Maternity Leave: 14.3 Weeks Paternity Leave: 4.3 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 9.3 Weeks With a maternity leave of 14.3 weeks and a paternity leave of 4.3 weeks, Estonia makes it to the 25 countries with a well-established leave system for those who have just given birth. The Social Insurance Board is responsible for sending maternity benefits and relevant maternity leave offers to the mother. 22. Costa Rica Maternity Leave: 17.3 Weeks Paternity Leave: 1.6 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 9.45 Weeks Costa Rica grants a maternity leave of 17.3 weeks and a paternity leave of 1.6 weeks thereby ranking as one of the countries offering the best leave policies for new parents. This leave supports working parents while they take their time off work for their newborn. 21. Romania Maternity Leave: 18 Weeks Paternity Leave: 1 Week Average Parental Leave: 9.5 Weeks Romania makes it to the list of the countries with the best maternity and paternity leave by allowing for 18 weeks of leave for mothers and 1 week of leave for fathers. Hence, Romania qualifies as one of the most accommodating countries for new parents in Europe. 20. Chile Maternity Leave: 18 Weeks Paternity Leave: 1 Week Average Parental Leave: 9.5 Week Chile allows for a maternity leave of 18 weeks and a paternity leave of 1 week. The mother can also transfer a part of her maternity leave to the father. Hence, Chile is one of the countries with the most established maternity and paternity leaves. 19. Slovenia Maternity Leave: 15 Weeks Paternity Leave: 4.3 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 9.65 Weeks Slovenia ranks as one of the 25 countries with the best maternity and paternity leave. The country offers a leave of 15 weeks to mothers and 4.3 weeks to fathers in this regard. Parental leave can also be extended in cases of premature birth, multiple births, or the birth of a child who requires special care and assistance. 18. Denmark Maternity Leave: 18 Weeks Paternity Leave: 2 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 10 Weeks With a maternity leave of 18 weeks and a paternity leave of 2 weeks, Denmark ranks as the country with one of the best leave policies for new parents. The parental benefit is given by the state in Denmark. 17. Cyprus Maternity Leave: 18 Weeks Paternity Leave: 2 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 10 Weeks Cyprus also provides leaves after childbirth to facilitate child-rearing. The maternity leave is granted for 18 weeks while the paternity leave lasts for 2 weeks. The Social Insurance Fund pays for 8 of the 18 weeks of leave that are given to every working parent for every child turning 8. 16. Colombia Maternity Leave: 18 Weeks Paternity Leave: 2 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 10 Weeks The maternity leave is granted for 18 weeks in Colombia. The paternity leave has also been extended from 8 days to 2 weeks in the country. These durations make Colombia one of the 25 countries with the best maternity and paternity leave. 15. Austria Maternity Leave: 16 Weeks Paternity Leave: 4.3 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 10.15 Weeks With a maternity leave of 16 weeks and a paternity leave of 4.3 weeks, Austria ranks as one of the countries with the best leave system for those giving birth. The employer has to be notified by both the mother and father regarding the leave they require. 14. Finland Maternity Leave: 17.5 Weeks Paternity Leave: 3 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 10.25 Weeks Finland qualifies as another country with a good leave scheme for new parents. Mothers are given 17.5 weeks of leave while fathers get 3 weeks in total. The pregnancy allowance leave is 40 working days in Finland. 13. France Maternity Leave: 16 Weeks Paternity Leave: 5 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 10.5 Weeks The 25 countries with the best maternity and paternity leave include France as well. Maternity leave lasts for 16 weeks while paternity leave is granted for 5 weeks. This allows new parents to maintain job security while they are looking after the child. 12. Poland Maternity Leave: 20 Weeks Paternity Leave: 2 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 11 Weeks Poland allows a maternal leave of 20 weeks and a paternal leave of 2 weeks. The parents employment contract can only be terminated in limited cases for instance gross misconduct on behalf of the employee. 11. Netherlands Maternity Leave: 16 Weeks Paternity Leave: 6 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 11 Weeks The Netherlands provides a maternity leave of 16 weeks and a paternity leave of 6 weeks thereby ranking as one of the countries with a quality leave policy for new parents. Both the pregnancy leaves before childbirth and the leave period following it are paid in the country. 10. Luxembourg Maternity Leave: 20 Weeks Paternity Leave: 2 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 11 Weeks Luxembourg is another European country that has a good maternal and paternal leave system to offer. The maternal leave lasts for 20 weeks while the paternal leave is given for 2 weeks. These parental leaves serve as an individual right and cannot be transferred between parents. 9. Lithuania Maternity Leave: 18 Weeks Paternity Leave: 4 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 11 Weeks Lithuania makes it to the list of the countries with the best maternity and paternity leave. Maternity leave is also increased in situations including multiple or complicated childbirths. The country offers a maternity leave of 18 weeks and a paternity leave of 4 weeks. 8. Italy Maternity Leave: 21.7 Weeks Paternity Leave: 2 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 11.85 Weeks Italy allows 21.7 weeks of maternity leave and 2 weeks of paternity leave. The parental leave provides for an allowance until the child turns 12. Hence, Italy ranks as one of the countries with the best maternity and paternity leave. 7. Hungary Maternity Leave: 24 Weeks Paternity Leave: 1 Week Average Parental Leave: 12.5 Weeks Hungary qualifies as another country with a well-developed leave policy related to childbirth. The maternity leave is 24 weeks while the paternity week lasts for 1 week. Each employed parent with at least 1 year of service is entitled to 44 working days of employer-paid parental leave until the childs third birthday. 6. Czech Republic Maternity Leave: 28 Weeks Paternity Leave: 2 Weeks Average Parental Leave: 15 Weeks The Czech Republic allows a maternity leave of 28 weeks and a paternity leave of 2 weeks. This makes it one of the 25 countries with the best maternity and paternity leave. Mothers can avail the first 6 weeks before and 22 after the expected due date while fathers can avail 2 weeks after the child is born. Click to continue reading and see 5 Countries with the Best Maternity and Paternity Leave. Suggested articles: Disclosure: None. 25 Countries with the Best Maternity and Paternity Leave is originally published on Insider Monkey. Key Insights Significantly high institutional ownership implies TELUS' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions The top 25 shareholders own 42% of the company Recent purchases by insiders To get a sense of who is truly in control of TELUS Corporation (TSE:T), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 54% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company. 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. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute. In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of TELUS. View our latest analysis for TELUS What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About TELUS? Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. TELUS already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at TELUS' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters. Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. TELUS is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that RBC Dominion Securities Inc., Asset Management Arm is the largest shareholder with 5.6% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 4.4% and 4.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Story continues Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily. Insider Ownership Of TELUS The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves. I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions. Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of TELUS Corporation in their own names. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own CA$38m of stock. Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling. General Public Ownership The general public-- including retail investors -- own 46% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. Next Steps: I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 5 warning signs for TELUS (2 can't be ignored) that you should be aware of. But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Key Insights Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Australian Agricultural's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership 52% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Bryan Glinton) Recent purchases by insiders To get a sense of who is truly in control of Australian Agricultural Company Limited (ASX:AAC), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 72% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). Notably, insiders have bought shares recently. This could signal that stock prices could go up and insiders are here for it. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Australian Agricultural. Check out our latest analysis for Australian Agricultural What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Australian Agricultural? Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index. Australian Agricultural already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Australian Agricultural's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Australian Agricultural. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Bryan Glinton with 52% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. With 18% and 1.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, John Andrew Forrest and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. Story continues 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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time. Insider Ownership Of Australian Agricultural The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves. Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances. Our most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of Australian Agricultural Company Limited. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. So they have a AU$612m stake in this AU$853m business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently. General Public Ownership With a 22% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Australian Agricultural. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies. Next Steps: It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Australian Agricultural better, we need to consider many other factors. I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free. Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Even before major brands like Apple, Disney, and IBM paused their ad spending on X in the wake of Elon Musk's endorsement of an antisemitic post, the company formerly known as Twitter had seen its revenues severely impacted by brand safety concerns. According to an October forecast from Insider Intelligence, X ad's business was on track for a 54.4% year-over-year decline in worldwide ad spending, from 2022 to 2023. With the additional advertiser pull-outs, that decline may be even more significant, analysts now believe. X is facing a potential loss of sizable ad spend, as a number of advertisers have paused or stopped their ad campaigns on X after owner Elon Musk amplified antisemitic conspiracy theories on the platform. Among the brands who have since stopped advertising on X are Apple, Comcast/NBCU, Disney, Warner Bros., IBM, Paramount, Lionsgate, and the European Commission. Though X has still proven itself as the hub for fast-breaking news -- as this weekend's OpenAI drama proved -- the nature of its business is still dependent on advertising, which makes up the majority of its revenue. As Twitter, ads accounted for roughly 90% of company revenue, with API licensing fees and subscriptions also contributing to the company's bottom line. But Musk's plan to beef up X's subscription plan with a new set of features, including paid verification, has not been proven successful enough to weather a large advertiser departure in the long run. That doesn't necessarily mean X will shut down -- it's owned and operated by a billionaire, after all -- it just means it will need new sources of funding at some point. Warns Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg, the latest advertiser departures could now prompt a further exodus. "The damage to Xs ad business will be severe," she predicts. "A big-name advertiser exodus will inspire other advertisers to follow suit, and there is already likely a long tail of less vocal advertisers that have pulled spending." Story continues While brands generally understand the risk of running ads against user-generated content, they don't typically find themselves in a situation quite like this, she also points out. "Advertisers are accustomed to dealing with brand safety concerns on social media, particularly during periods of political and social tension or war. But theyre not accustomed to a platforms owner amplifying misinformation and hate speech, and emboldening conspiracy theorists," Enberg notes. "The impact of Musks words poses a major societal danger. Twitters influence has always been larger than its user base and ad revenues, and while the platforms cultural relevance has declined, Musk and X are still very much a major part of public conversation," she adds. The complaints against Musk arrive alongside a report from Media Matters, which showed how ads were appearing alongside posts praising Nazi ideology. An executive at X, Joe Benarroch, pushed back at Media Matters' reporting, however. Benarroch, who joined X from NBCU shortly after CEO Linda Yaccariono has, at times, acted as a company spokesperson as Musk's earlier layoffs wiped out the company's comms department. He claimed in a post on X that Media Matters used 3 accounts and then constantly refreshed the timeline of posts to see 13x the number of ads served, compared with the median. In other words, he's saying that a typical user wouldn't have the same experience with regard to ad placement. Media Matters created 3 accounts and followed 30 accounts similar to the ones in the article. They then constantly refreshed the timeline of posts (13X the number of ads served to this user as opposed to the median.) 50 impressions served agains the the content in the article, Joe Benarroch (@benarroch_joe) November 18, 2023 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Still, X was on a downward path even before these recent debacles. Ahead of this, X's ad revenues were already forecast to decline by 54.4% from 2022 to 2023 -- a sizable drop for the platform that Musk has now run for roughly one year so far. And Musk himself said in September that U.S. ad revenues were then down by 60%, citing pressure from the Anti-Defamation League which accused the owner of antisemitism. (Musk, in turn, threatened to sue the ADL). Insider Intelligence's figures are in that same ballpark -- its forecast predicts that X's U.S. advertising revenues were expected to be down by nearly 55% year-over-year, and 54.4% worldwide. And this, we should note, was calculated before these latest advertiser departures. The analysts also estimated that X's monthly active users will have dropped by 4.1% to 348.6 million by year-end 2024, down from 363.7 million in 2023, and a high of 373.6 million in 2022. (Musk took over Twitter in late October 2022.) U.S. users are forecast to decline as well, the firm predicts -- down to 51.6 million by 2024, a decline of 8.1% from 56.1 million in 2023, and a high of 58.9 million in 2022. Enberg additionally suggests that Yaccarino's efforts to assure advertisers of X's brand safety efforts will not work, given she's being undermined by Elon Musk himself. Forbes recently reported that top advertising executives have been pressuring Yaccarino to resign, suggesting her own reputation is now at risk as a result of Musk's actions. So far, those requests have fallen on deaf ears, it seems, as Yaccarino has been posting on X in support of free speech and the company's vision. "What were doing at X matters and has everyones attention. I believe deeply in our vision, our team, and our community," she wrote in a post on X on Monday morning. "Im also deeply committed to the truth and there is no other team on earth working as hard as the teams at X. When youre this consequential, there will be detractors and fabricated distractions, but were unwavering in our mission," the post read. Insider Intelligence has not yet calculated the impact of the recent advertiser departures into its forecast, but says it will do so in its next update. (Bloomberg) -- The shocking decision by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to cancel the spinoff of its cloud division is offering a fresh reason for investors to sell China tech stocks in an earnings season yielding mixed results. Most Read from Bloomberg Alibaba plunged 10% Friday in Hong Kong after withdrawing plans to spin off and list its $11 billion cloud business due to US restrictions on advanced semiconductor sales to China. The announcement followed a similar warning from peer Tencent Holdings Ltd. on the impact of chip trade curbs. Anticlimactic results overall show that fundamentals are still not strong enough to inspire renewed investor conviction on China tech. The nations economic malaise and more frugal consumer spending remain concerns, while the trade spat with the US has hindered shifts to more cutting-edge technologies. Alibaba Dives $22 Billion as Chip War Spurs Breakup Rethink Alibabas core business of selling goods online to Chinese customers recorded lower-than-expected sales amid the nations sluggish recovery. In addition to scrapping the cloud spinoff, the company also said its suspending a listing for popular grocery business Freshippo. We think the outlook for domestic e-commerce growth has weakened and the amount of value-unlocking capital market activities has decreased following Alibabas results, Alex Yao, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. wrote in a note. While some other firms have exceeded consensus earnings estimates, troubling signs remain under the hood. Tencent shares have been muted since earnings on Wednesday that beat expectations, as analysts pointed to underwhelming advertising revenue and less-than-exceptional game sales. JD.com Inc. and NetEase Inc. have seen small gains after seemingly good results. Most of the major Chinese tech stocks, including Alibaba, rose in Hong Kong trade Monday. Story continues Growth Limit No matter what the earnings look like, the bottleneck for these firms is that theyve reached their limit in terms of domestic growth, said Xu Dawei, a fund manager at Jintong Private Fund Management in Beijing. Theyve yet to find a large source of international growth, and new cloud and AI businesses are up in the air, which means we see them as mainly a rebound trade for now. It had briefly seemed that the outlook was beginning to clear, as eased regulations on games, corporate cost cutting and already lowered estimates drove hopes for positive surprises. The Hang Seng Tech Index rose nearly 10% in the first half of November. The mood quickly shifted with the earnings reports, however. China onshore traders have displayed caution, selling stocks including Tencent into gains during the busy earnings week. Foreign investors may not provide much support either. Three-fourths of Asia fund managers polled by Bank of America Corp. expect the long-term derating of China stocks to continue, and maintain a net underweight position on the market, according to a note last week. Larger tech names normally need international flows to move the stock prices,said Jian Shi Cortesi, a fund manager at GAM Investment Management. Many international investors are still focusing on macro and geopolitics and no longer look at company fundamentals in the short term. On the positive side, earnings estimates for the Hang Seng Tech have rebounded from a low in April. But the latest earnings may present hurdles to a further advance. Of course the slump in stock prices has made them look cheap, with the Hang Seng tech gauge trading at 19 times forward earnings estimates, well below its five-year average of 28 times. But some pros see risks in bargain-hunting. Some of these China tech stocks are no longer growth stories but are turnaround trades, with upside pinned on valuation recovery, said Liu Minyue, an investment specialist for Asian and Greater China equities at BNP Paribas Asset Management in Hong Kong. However these positions are shorter term, can be quickly reversed if the turnaround doesnt happen. Tech Chart of the Day Top Tech Stories OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman is joining Microsoft Corp. to lead its AI effort after the board replaced him with Twitchs ex-CEO, a stunning reversal for the widely respected tech-evangelist who helped jumpstart the artificial intelligence boom. About 500 OpenAI employees threatened to leave the company and join Sam Altman at Microsoft unless the board resigns and reinstates Altman as CEO, Wired reports, citing a letter from employees. Elon Musk railed against bogus media reports accusing him of antisemitism, issuing his strongest response yet after endorsing antisemitic content in a post on X that provoked outrage and alienated advertisers like Apple Inc. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman defended Musk after major advertisers pulled ads from social media site X over antisemitic commentary. A critical flaw in software from Citrix Systems Inc., a company that pioneered remote access so people can work anywhere, has been exploited by government-backed hackers and criminal groups, according to a US cyber official. Earnings Due Monday Postmarket Keysight Zoom Video Yalla Group --With assistance from Akshay Chinchalkar, Subrat Patnaik, Henry Ren and Rheaa Rao. (Updates to add second bullet in the news section.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- In the weeks leading up to his shocking ouster from OpenAI, Sam Altman was actively working to raise billions from some of the worlds largest investors for a new chip venture, according to people familiar with the matter. Most Read from Bloomberg Altman had been traveling to the Middle East to fundraise for the project, which was code-named Tigris, the people said. The OpenAI chief executive officer planned to spin up an AI-focused chip company that could produce semiconductors that compete against those from Nvidia Corp., which currently dominates the market for artificial intelligence tasks. Altmans chip venture is not yet formed and the talks with investors are in the early stages, said the people, who asked not to be named as the discussions were private. Altman has also been looking to raise money for an AI-focused hardware device that hes been developing in tandem with former Apple Inc. design chief Jony Ive. Altman has had talks about these ventures with SoftBank Group Corp., Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund, Mubadala Investment Company and others, as he sought tens of billions of dollars for these new companies, the people said. Many details of the scale and focus of Altmans chip ambitions as well as the projects codename have not been previously reported. Altmans fundraising efforts came at an important moment for the AI startup. OpenAI has been working to finalize a tender offer, led by Thrive Capital, that would let employees sell their shares at an $86 billion valuation. SoftBank and others had hoped to be part of this deal, one person said, but were put on a waitlist for a similar deal at a later date. In the interim, Altman urged investors to consider his new ventures, two people said. Story continues A representative for Saudi Arabias PIF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. OpenAI, SoftBank and Mubadala declined to comment. OpenAI said Friday that Altman was ousted from his role after an internal review found he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board. The board and Altman had differences of opinion on AI safety, the speed of development of the technology and the commercialization of the company, according to a person familiar with the matter. Altmans ambitions and side ventures added complexity to an already strained relationship with the board. In a memo to staff, Brad Lightcap, OpenAIs chief operating officer, said: We can say definitively that the boards decision was not made in response to malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices. This was a breakdown in communication between Sam and the board. OpenAIs board is currently under pressure from investors to reinstate Altman, with one possibility being that the board resigns. Even if Altman returns, however, he may still need to navigate his side ventures with the assent of OpenAIs board. Altmans pitch was for a startup that would aim to build Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs semiconductors that are designed to handle high volume specialized AI workloads. The goal is to provide lower-cost competition to market incumbent Nvidia and, according to people familiar, aid OpenAI by lowering the ongoing costs of running its own services like ChatGPT and Dall-E. Custom-designed chips like TPUs are seen as one day having the potential to outperform the AI accelerators made by Nvidia which are coveted by artificial intelligence companies but the timeline for development is long and complex. Tapping investors overseas could raise concerns with US regulators. If the foreign investments are passive for example, dont come with board seats and stay under 10%, they are less likely to face scrutiny, said Philip Ludvigson, a former US Treasury Department official. That often is the case even in sensitive industries such as artificial intelligence and chipmaking. Ludvigson, who is now a lawyer at King & Spalding, added that the US government historically has focused more on China than the Middle East. A number of prominent venture firms, including some existing investors in OpenAI, are also ready to back any new venture Altman forms, people familiar said. Microsoft Corp., OpenAIs biggest investor, is also interested in backing Altmans chips venture, according to people familiar. Microsoft declined to comment. In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla said that his firm wanted Altman back at OpenAI but will back him in whatever he does next. --With assistance from Dina Bass, Rachel Metz and Sarah McBride. (Adds details on potential complexities of foreign investment in 12th paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The UNWTO Conference on Accessible Tourism held (November 16-17) in San Marino has drawn up a clear-cut action plan for disability inclusion in every part of the tourism sector. The conference was powered by the Ministry of Tourism of Italy in partnership with the European Accessibility Resource Centre AccessibleEU, a flagship initiative of the European Commission. Since San Marino first hosted the conference in 2014, many destinations and companies have made great strides to improve accessibility, and bringing tourism closer to all, said a statement. Over 200 delegates discussed policy advances such as the international standard ISO 21902, which caters both to host communities and visitors, and covers the entire tourism value chain. The event featured a Ministerial Roundtable, bringing together San Marino, Italy, Republic of Korea, Uzbekistan, Czechia and Israel, to discuss governments' role in advancing accessibility through policies, strategies and standards. Innovation in accessible tourism was one of the key themes, with speakers presenting new solutions in access to transportation, leisure, MICE and tourism services. These included Seatrac helping wheelchair users to bathe in Greece, city-wide Braille touchpoints and the first certified blind tour guides in Cape Town, and the fully accessible waterfront in Rimini. The conference has strengthened international networks and showcased San Marino as an inclusive destination, a point of reference for accessible tourism and the only UNWTO Member State to have hosted two international conferences on accessible tourism. Untapped Opportunities However, accessibility is still not seen as a game changer by all destinations despite a market of 1.3 billion people with significant disability in 2023, and 1 in 6 persons expected to reach the age of 65 by 2050. In Europe alone, "baby boomers" already account for over one third of the EU population and 70% of the EU citizens with disability have financial means to travel. Experts in the field discussed how best to cater to this growing market and offer tourism experiences in the spirit of the Universal Design, so they can be enjoyed by all people, with or without disabilities. Debates also centred on the importance of social inclusivity and accessibility for sustainable tourism and the huge economic benefits the sector can reap by putting better access measures in place. San Marino Action Agenda 2030 The Action Agenda is seen as a game changer for disability inclusion and tourism's contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, with a commitment from those attending the conference to achieving concrete results. It includes measures to advance training, develop measurement systems and increase industry awareness of the advantages of a diverse workplace. Stakeholders will align their marketing and commercial strategies and use digital solutions to help accessible experiences reach all customers and mainstream accessibility in their product development and decision-making processes. As part of the conference's legacy, a Compendium of Best Practices showcased in San Marino will be published by UNWTO in 2024, in collaboration with AccessibleEU and ENAT. Further research on accessibility in culture and nature-based tourism, digital solutions and other good practices will also be completed over the coming years. TradeArabia News Service (Bloomberg Law) -- Amazon.com Inc. pays women less than male employees performing the same or comparable work, a class lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Seattle charges. Most Read from Bloomberg The lawsuit also alleges that female employees experience systemic discrimination in promotions based on sex and that Amazon retaliates against those who complain about the bias. It was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington by Caroline Wilmuth, Katherine Schomer, and Erin Combs, who seek to represent all women who worked for Amazon in a Covered Position at any time from three years before the filing of the suit and when the allegations are resolved. We do expect that there will be many others signing on, we have already spoken to numerous other women, Cassandra Lenning, a partner at Outten & Golden LLP, which represents the proposed class said on Monday. We do have some witness affidavits already and we expect that after filing this, other women will come forward. The pay bias typically begins at the hiring stage, as Amazon uses common compensation-setting policies across its organization that assigns workers to various job codes based on job function, the suit says. Amazon considers a workers past compensation history in determining their job code, and it regularly assigns women to lower job codes for the same job functions as comparable male employees, according to the suit. That starting pay bias perpetuates and deepens, as an employees job code largely determines their base salary, bonuses, stock awards, and other compensation, and Amazon additionally regularly fails to advance women to higher job codes, the suit says. Story continues Even where female and male workers doing equal work are assigned to the same job code, the company nonetheless regularly pays women lower salaries and/or stock awards than men, the suit says. Company Denies False Claims We believe these claims are false and will demonstrate that through the legal process, Brad Glasser, an Amazon spokesperson, said Monday in an email. The company doesnt tolerate workplace bias of any kind, Glasser said. Amazon instead investigates all reported incidents and takes appropriate action when an employee is found to have violated company policy, up to and including termination, he said. Amazon also annually inspects its pay equity data, and a 2022 review showed that women globally and in the U.S. earned 99.6 cents and 99.5 cents, respectively, for every dollar that men earned performing the same jobs, he said. Individual Claims, Too Wilmuth, Schomer, and Combs have all experienced pay discrimination as a result of the job coding, as well as other sex bias during their Amazon tenures, according to the suit. That includes paying Wilmuth nearly $200,000 less than a male subordinate, and a male supervisor taking credit for Wilmuths and Combs work, the suit says. The unequal pay has continued even after the women and others brought the pay disparity to Amazons attention, the suit says. Wilmuth, Schomer, and Combs were all demoted within weeks of complaining about the sex discrimination, and Amazon continues to discriminate and retaliate against them, according to the suit. That includes after they each returned from medical leaves needed by the physical and mental toll of the pay and other discrimination, the suit says. The complaint includes class and individual claims under the Equal Pay Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Washingtons Law Against Discrimination, the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities Act, and the Washington Family and Medical Leave Act. The relief requested includes back pay with prejudgment interest, emotional distress damages, and double or exemplary damages under the Washington EPOA. It also includes pre- and post-judgment interest, service payments for the class representatives, attorneys fees and costs, and monetary relief for any adverse tax consequences of the damages awards. The case is Wilmuth v. Amazon.com, Inc., W.D. Wash., No. 2:23-cv-01774, class complaint 11/20/23. To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Dorrian in Washington at pdorrian@bloombergindustry.com; Kelsey Butler (Bloomberg News) at kbutler55@bloomberg.net; Matt Day (Bloomberg News) at mday63@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Carmen Castro-Pagan at ccastro-pagan@bloomberglaw.com (Story updated to add comment from the womens attorneys in the third paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Does happiness have a price? For a majority of Americans, the answer is yes but it it doesn't come cheap. About 6 in 10 of Americans believe money can buy happiness, according to a new poll from financial services firm Empower. Yet to achieve happiness through financial means, most people say they'd need a significant raise, as well as a big chunk of money in the bank. Median household income in the U.S. stands at about $74,000 annually, but respondents told Empower that they'd need to earn roughly $284,000 each year to achieve happiness. And as for wealth, Americans said they'd need even more in the bank to feel content: $1.2 million, to be exact, the poll found. Many people are wealthier than they were a few years ago, thanks to the rise in real estate and stock market values, yet the median net worth of U.S. households stood at $192,900 in 2022, according to the Federal Reserve. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r Financial advisor and columnist Brandon Renfro I am feeling hopeless. I am 60 years old and have only $15,000 saved. I will get a 80% pension from the state of Massachusetts and be able to retire in three years. What can I possibly do to increase my savings now? Joy There's no question that $15,000 is a small amount of retirement savings for a 60-year-old, and I can understand why you would be concerned about wanting to catch up. However, I would encourage you to reframe the problem you are facing. Rather than focusing on the fact that you have a low savings balance, think about your overall retirement readiness since thats what its ultimately all about. You may find that you are in a better position than you realize, or that there are better ways to close the gap than saving more. Do you want help assessing your retirement readiness and income? Speak with a financial advisor about it today. How Much Income Do You Need in Retirement? Start by making sure you have a good understanding of the amount of income you'll need in retirement, and compare that to what you currently earn. Youll likely find that you need, at most, the same amount of income you have now, but possibly even less. One thing that sticks out to me about your situation is that Massachusetts has a 5% income tax. However, state pension benefits are excluded, so right out of the gate you'll save 5% of your income that youd normally be paying. A pension that replaces 80% of your current income is substantial and absolutely makes up for a considerable chunk of "missing" retirement savings. So, say you need 90% of your current income. If your pension replaces 80% then you are most of the way there. (If you need more help with your retirement income plan, consider matching with a financial advisor today.) How to Close the Retirement Gap A 60-year-old woman looks over her finances to determine whether she can retire in three years. Saving more is certainly a good idea, but I'm not sure how much you can realistically make up at this point. I don't know what your income is or what your expenses are. But, I know that there is only so much the average person can cut from their budget. Without knowing your situation, my suspicion is there are better ways to close your retirement gap. (But if you want more help closing your retirement savings gap, this tool can help you find a financial advisor.) Story continues So, what are they? Some the ideas that come to mind include: Create More Room in Your Budget Look for realistic ways to permanently reduce your expenses that you'll be able to live with. If possible, downsizing your home or moving to an area with a lower cost of living can potentially put a significant amount of money back into your budget. Not only will this free up room to save more, but it will also directly cut down on the amount of income you need in retirement. Work Longer You say you are eligible to retire in three years, but do you have to? Every year you work is one more year of income and one less year of drawing from your savings. Plus, if you leave at 63 you won't be eligible for Medicare for two years, which may significantly increase your healthcare costs. Maximize Your Pension I'm not deeply familiar with the Massachusetts state pension system, but a quick glance suggests that your pension is based on either your highest consecutive three or five years of income. Will working longer increase that pay base for you? If so, you may want to consider the impact that working longer could have on your eventual pension income. Note that since your pension is from Massachusetts, I made the assumption that you didnt contribute to Social Security. If you are, in fact, eligible for Social Security, then dont forget to include that as well. Retire and Find a New Job A 60-year-old woman preparing for retirement reviews her finances, including her monthly expenses. You can also consider retiring from your current employer, and if youre able to continue working even part-time, try finding a different job. That may seem like a bad idea, but it can be a smart financial move even if you earn substantially less at your new job. Here's why: If youre going to receive 80% of your income in the form of a pension, youll come out ahead if you find a different job and make more than 20% of what you are currently earning. For simplicitys sake, let's say you're making $100,000 per year currently. You retire and annually collect 80% of your salary or $80,000 from your pension. If you take a part-time job making $30,000, then your total income actually increases to $110,000. (A financial advisor can help you game out scenarios like this one. Consider speaking with an advisor today.) Bottom Line No doubt that it would be great if you had more money socked away in retirement savings. You also should take reasonable steps to increase it, but there's no magic formula for leaping forward. However, an 80% pension provides a solid base of income for you to plan with. Know that, it may be better to focus on other areas of your retirement plan. Limiting expenses, maximizing your pension and looking for even a small amount of supplemental income may offer better results than focusing on savings. Retirement Planning Tips A financial advisor can help you make strategic decisions leading up to retirement. Finding a financial advisor doesn't have to be hard. SmartAsset's free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you're ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now. Social Security plays an important role in most Americans retirement income plans. Determining the optimal time to claim your benefits is critical. SmartAssets Social Security calculator can help you estimate how much your benefits will be based on when you plan to file for them. Brandon Renfro, CFP, is a SmartAsset financial planning columnist and answers reader questions on personal finance and tax topics. Got a question you'd like answered? Email AskAnAdvisor@smartasset.com and your question may be answered in a future column. Please note that Brandon is not a participant in the SmartAdvisor Match platform, and he has been compensated for this article. Some reader-submitted questions are edited for clarity or brevity. Photo credit: iStock.com/Pekic, iStock.com/kate_sept2004 The post Ask an Advisor: Im 60 and Feeling Hopeless With Just $15k Saved. What Can I Do Now to Increase My Retirement Savings? appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset. SYDNEY, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ATFX, a leading global online trading broker, is pleased to announce the appointment of Simon Naish as the new Country Head for ATFX Australia. With his exceptional expertise in the financial markets and extensive experience in building and growing offices, Simon is set to lead ATFX Australia to new heights. With a strong background in FX trading, Simon brings his deep understanding of managing risks across global markets and a proven track record of successful team leadership. His ability to build a client base from scratch, leveraging his wide network of connections, will be a valuable asset in expanding ATFX's reach in the Australian market. Simon has previously held prominent roles in leading financial institutions. His experience as the Head of Bank and Diversified Financial Institutions FX Sales, APAC at National Australia Bank Ltd., along with his role as a consultant to Macquarie University (Australian Financial Markets Association), has equipped him with a comprehensive knowledge of institutional client sales, foreign exchange, rates trading, and business transformation leveraging technology and data analysis. Commenting on the appointment, Joe Li, Chairman at ATFX stated, "We are delighted to have Simon Naish join ATFX as the Country Head for ATFX Australia. His extensive expertise and leadership skills make him the ideal candidate to drive our business forward in this key market. We are confident that ATFX Australia will continue to thrive under Simon's guidance and provide exceptional services to our clients." ATFX has built a strong reputation as a trusted brokerage firm, dedicated to transparency, reliability, and innovation. Through its cutting-edge trading technology, clients gain access to a wealth of educational resources, advanced trading tools, and comprehensive market analysis, empowering them to make informed trading decisions. Besides its world-wide retail business, back in 2019 ATFX stepped into the Institutional arena to launch its Multi-Access platform ATFX Connect. The management's vision was to expand the broker's global presence and provide award-winning liquidity and customer service to the institutional community. With a focus on the professional investor, the ATFX Connect platform is designed to provide an efficient automated trading venue that delivers tailored liquidity solutions to Hedge Funds, Asset Managers, Brokers, Private Banks, and other financial institutions. Story continues About ATFX ATFX is a globally leading fintech broker, holding licenses in multiple countries, including the UK's FCA, Cyprus' CySEC, UAE's SCA and Australia's ASIC. With a local presence in 18 regions worldwide, ATFX offers cutting-edge analysis tools, constantly innovates its financial platforms, and publishes comprehensive global economic reports daily to empower its users to make informed investment decisions. For further information on ATFX, please visit: https://www.atfx.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/atfx-welcomes-simon-naish-as-country-head-in-australia-301993014.html SOURCE ATFX Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript November 17, 2023 Atkore Inc. beats earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $4.21, expectations were $4.19. Operator: Good morning. My name is Krista, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Atkore's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed in a listen-only mode. After the speakers' remarks, there'll be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Thank you. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, John Deitzer, Vice President of Treasury and Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin. John Deitzer: Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I'm joined today by Bill Waltz, President and CEO, as well as David Johnson, Chief Financial Officer. We will take your questions after comments by Bill and David. I would like to remind everyone that during this call, we may make projections or forward-looking statements regarding future events or financial performance of the company. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, but the actual results may differ materially. Please refer to our SEC filings in today's press release, which identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements. In addition, any reference in our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA. And any reference to EPS or adjusted EPS means adjusted diluted earnings per share. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted diluted earnings per share are non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures and the presentation of the most comparable GAAP measures are available in the appendix to today's presentation. With that, I'll turn it over to Bill. Bill Waltz: Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. Starting on Slide 3, I'm pleased to report that Atkore again delivered strong operating results this year, and we remain confident in the future of our company. During our discussion today, we will discuss the quarterly and full year financials as we normally do, but we will also like to take this opportunity to review our strategic growth opportunities and provide some exciting updates regarding capital deployment. Let me start with a quick review of some of our highlights from the year. Turning to Slide 4. 2023 was a great year for Atkore. We delivered financial results well ahead of our expectations, and we made great progress on many of our strategic initiatives. We continue to be recognized as an employer of choice, and I believe that our talented team is a true [competitive] (ph) advantage for our company. Story continues I'd like to take this moment to recognize them for the great work and everything they do to support our customers, thank you. David and I are confident in our business, and I'm pleased to report that we repurchased an additional $75 million in stock in the Q4. Over the past 24 months, we have now repurchased over $990 million of our stock. We are proud of our accomplishments, and we've worked diligently to evolve Atkore into an industry leader. Now, I'll turn the call over to David to talk through the results from the Q4 and the full year. David Johnson: Thank you, Bill, and good morning, everyone. Moving to our consolidated results on Slide 5. In the fourth quarter, net sales declined 15% year-over-year to $870 million, and our adjusted EPS decreased 24% to $4.21. For the full year, we achieved $3.5 billion in revenue, and our adjusted EPS was $19.40. Adjusted EBITDA for the full year was over $1 billion. [Turning] (ph) to Slide 6 and our consolidated bridges. Volumes were positive in the quarter and total profitability was stronger than expected. Looking at the full year, net sales decreased by $395 million due to lower average selling prices. As we have been discussing over the past several years, price normalization, primarily in our PVC business, started at the end of FY '22, has continued through FY '23. However, our profitability on both the adjusted EBITDA and EPS basis was much stronger than originally anticipated. We're extremely pleased with our overall financial performance. Moving to Slide 7 and our segment results. Margins compressed in our Electrical segment in the fourth quarter, driven by continued price normalization in our PVC-related products. Nonetheless, margins were better than expected, and we were encouraged to see volumes in our PVC-related products were flat on both a year-over-year and sequential basis. The year-over-year volume declines in the quarter were in our HDPE and cable products. Shifting over to our S&I segment, volumes increased 18%. Net sales for this part of business declined due to lower average selling prices resulting from the year-over-year declines in raw material input costs and the impact from solar credits offsetting the strong volume gains. It's important to acknowledge that the declines in adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margins include the recognition of the solar credit adjustment to cost of sales. Under the GGAM method, earnings and margins would have been much stronger and closer to 14%. As you may recall from our comments last quarter, we will be using this methodology in FY '24. Turning now to Page 8, we wanted to review some of the volume trends for FY '23 and our outlook for FY '24. In FY '23, we achieved 3% volume growth, which was slightly below our expectations of mid-single-digit percentage growth for the year. During the Q4, there was a clear slowdown in demand coming from the telecom industry as the market and channel is working through elevated inventory levels and timing related to some of the government's stimulus funding. This slowdown caused an unanticipated impact of volume to our HDPE-related products. In addition, the ramp in production of our new facility in Indiana was behind our expectations, which led to slightly lower levels of shipment than we had anticipated. This being said, we are working through this production challenges, and we expect sales for solar-related products to double in FY '24. This projected growth in our solar-related products is a key driver in our low double-digit growth expectation for the total enterprise in FY '24. This will be a large step-up, and we expect the capital investments that we've been making in Indiana and other parts of our organization to deliver for our business in FY '24. In addition, our metal framing, cable management, and construction services businesses are very well positioned to support the continued growth of global mega projects. This part of our business grew double-digits in FY '23, and we expect continued high-single digit growth this year. This team has done a tremendous job growing Atkore's presence with some of the most recognized companies in the world. Turning now to our outlook on Page 9. We anticipate net sales to grow in FY '24, led by the low double-digit volume gains. Partially offsetting this growth will be continued pricing normalization, which will lead to lower levels of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS. In FY '24, we will use the GGAM method of accounting related to the solar credit, which will bring our tax rate back toward our historical range in the mid-20%. We continue to see upside potential in our company, and we're committed to returning at least $200 million in cash to shareholders through repurchases. A technician on a ladder inspecting the electrical components of an industrial building. Moving to Slide 10. We recognize there are a lot of moving parts between our performance in FY '23 and our outlook for FY '24. Therefore, we've outlined some of the critical components that impacts both net sales and adjusted EBITDA. For example, we expect price versus cost to be a headwind of approximately $225 million to $275 million on an adjusted EBITDA basis. Of that amount, we would estimate that nearly $175 million has already occurred when you look at lower margin levels exiting FY '23 versus the start of the year. At the midpoint, this would be approximately $500 million of the $585 million that we outlined last year as total price outperformance. Turning to Slide 11. Despite these anticipated declines in FY '24, we're extremely pleased with the structural transformation and improvements that we've achieved in the business since our IPO. Last year at this time, we shared a historical bridge which broke down the different components in our sales and earnings since 2017. One year later, the sustainable pricing improvements that we discussed are still holding, and our estimates regarding pricing outperformance are in-line with our expectations. The diversity and strength of our product portfolio is a true competitive advantage, and we expect our long-term adjusted EBITDA margins will land in the range of 25%. Even at these lower levels versus our performance in the past three years, these margins would be equal or slightly better than best-in-class companies in the electrical industry. With that, I'll hand it back to Bill to give an update on our growth opportunity. Bill Waltz: Thanks, David. Starting on Slide 13, Atkore is a differentiated company and a great investment opportunity. The financial and portfolio-related achievements we've made since IPO as well as the strong secular tailwinds and growth opportunities we have ahead of us have positioned Atkore well for continued success. Turning to Slide 14, we have provided a view of our strong financial profile. Our balance sheet and cash flow give us a rock solid foundation from which to grow. In addition, on Slide 15, our products are genuinely all around you, and these are truly essential items for the electrical infrastructure needed in all types of construction. In fact, when you look at our segment sales on Slide 16, we estimate that over 90% of our sales are related to electrical infrastructure. Three-quarters of our sales are in our Electrical segment, but a significant portion of our Safety & Infrastructure products are also directly related to electrical infrastructure. This is especially true when you think about our prefabrication devices and our solar products. Turning to Slide 17, there are strong secular trends related to electrical infrastructure that we trust will support our market for years to come. Underlying many of these trends are also a large government stimulus program, and with some of them have a spending profile through the end of the decade. David has said this many times before, and even to several of you, and I could not agree more with him, "The electrical industry is a great place to be." Moving to Slide 18, we remain focused on executing the conduits of growth that we've discussed at this time last year, which emphasized M&A, category expansion initiatives, and product innovation. Today, we wanted to provide an update on our key category expansion initiatives, which are an important aspect of executing our conduits of growth for years to come. In FY '24, we anticipate the investments that we made in Indiana will start to demonstrate considerable financial benefits. We expect growth and benefits from our investments in our regional service centers and HDPE will start to materialize in FY '25 and beyond. On Slide 19, we wanted to highlight our new facility in Hobart, Indiana. This is really a great achievement for all of us and I could not be more pleased with the team. On Slide 20, as mentioned before, we're expanding our service and distribution capabilities in Texas, and we are now planning to add in additional service capabilities outside of the Greater Atlanta region. Moving to Slide 21, we're pleased with the integration and investments we've made in our HDPE-related acquisitions. This business is now operating cohesively as one unit, and we continue to drive the adoption of the Atkore business system throughout the network. Yes, there are challenges as you've heard about the industry and inventory, timing of stimulus funding and so on. However, I'm confident in our team and the long-term value this business will drive for our company. We estimate that we're number two in the power and telecom part of the market, which is probably less than 20% of the overall HDPE market when you think about other applications like oil and gas and water. Atkore is an outstanding company and a compelling investment opportunity. With our exceptionally strong balance sheet and diverse product portfolio, we are well-positioned to deliver long-term value for all of our stakeholders. With that, I'll turn it over to David to give some exciting updates about our capital deployment plan. David Johnson: Thanks, Bill. Yes, I'm excited to announce, on Slide 23, that our Board has added plans for a regular quarterly dividend in our capital deployment model. The introduction of this dividend is supported by our strong performance over the past several years and our confidence in the future. Turning to Slide 24, our updated capital deployment plans reflect our intention to invest and grow our business while consistently returning cash to shareholders. We're being quite selective in our approach to M&A as we continue to have a high level of confidence in our current business as demonstrated through the nearly $1 billion we've deployed to share repurchases over the past 24 months. Moving to Slide 25, we anticipate elevated levels of capital expenses in FY '24, similar to FY '23, as we build out our RSC network that Bill mentioned and continue to invest in our digital tools and capabilities. Next, on Slide 26, looking back on the version of the slide we presented a year ago, some things have changed for the positive and negative. Despite these changes, we believe our growth investments and our capital deployment model support our ability to deliver [more than] (ph) $18 per share of adjusted EPS in FY '25. With that, I'll turn it back to Bill for Slide 27. Bill Waltz: Thanks, David. And we are very pleased with what we've achieved over the past several years, and we're even more excited about the opportunities ahead. With our outstanding financial profile and differentiated product portfolios supported by strong secular trends, we are a compelling investment opportunity for anyone looking for a company with strong growth initiatives and a commitment to returning cash to shareholders. I'm confident in the team, the strategy, and processes we put in place to continue Atkore's strong trajectory. With that, we'll turn it over to the operator to open the line for questions. See also 25 Countries with the Best Maternity and Paternity Leave and 15 States with the Most Expensive Home Insurance in the US. To continue reading the Q&A session, please click here. Key Insights Bathurst Resources' significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public The top 7 shareholders own 51% of the company 13% of Bathurst Resources is held by insiders If you want to know who really controls Bathurst Resources Limited (ASX:BRL), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 43% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn). Institutions, on the other hand, account for 31% of the company's stockholders. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Bathurst Resources, beginning with the chart below. Check out our latest analysis for Bathurst Resources What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bathurst Resources? Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. We can see that Bathurst Resources does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Bathurst Resources, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too. Bathurst Resources is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Republic Investment Management Pte. Ltd., with ownership of 21%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 8.9%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. In addition, we found that Richard Tacon, the CEO has 0.8% of the shares allocated to their name. Story continues We did some more digging and found that 7 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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held. Insider Ownership Of Bathurst Resources While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it. Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group. Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Bathurst Resources Limited. Insiders have a AU$24m stake in this AU$187m business. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling. General Public Ownership The general public-- including retail investors -- own 43% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. Private Company Ownership Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 12%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company. Next Steps: I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Bathurst Resources you should know about. Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies. 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. Whisky Live Singapore 2023 provides platform aboard Singapore Flyer SINGAPORE, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Single Malt Scotch Whisky producer Benromach on Saturday and Sunday played host to historic, inaugural whisky masterclasses on board the Singapore Flyer, as part of the 12th edition of Whisky Live Singapore. An unforgettable experience awaited guests aboard Benromach's whisky masterclass in the air aboard the Singapore Flyer as part of Whisky Live Singapore 2023. Benromach a Scotch whisky distillery owned and operated by family-owned and operated Gordon & MacPhail conducted a series of eight private masterclasses, accommodating a total of 120 select attendees within a capsule on the Singapore Flyer. Whisky Live Singapore, organised by La Maison du Whisky (LMDW) APAC, took advantage of its fresh venue at the Singapore Flyer to engage Singaporeans and other visitors from the region with a showcase new activation. Leading the masterclasses aboard each Singapore Flyer revolution was Richard Travers-Griffin, Commercial Projects Director (APAC) for Gordon & MacPhail. "Benromach is a hand-crafted whisky which is delighted to bring a whisky tasting experience that shows first-hand the wonderful views from the Singapore Flyer whilst savouring our award-winning expressions," Travers-Griffin said. "In the words of Keith [Cruickshank, Benromach's Distillery Master]: 'There are 3 things we use to make Benromach our head, our hands, and most importantly, we use our heart.' " Travers-Griffin led each capsule masterclass through five Benromach expressions. Available to taste were Benromach's 10 Year Old, 15 Year Old and 21 Year Old core expressions, alongside a single cask bottled exclusively for Singapore and LMDW. Guiding each capsule masterclass, Travers-Griffin took each group of 15 invited guests through a tasting journey featuring four distinct expressions from Benromach. Emphasising a meticulous, hands-on approach, every stage of Benromach's process is conducted manually, and the whisky matures exclusively in first-fill oak casks. Story continues "Achieving what Benromach has, hosting Singapore's first whisky masterclass on the Singapore Flyer, is not what you might associate with a smaller craft distillery," Diego Araud, Marketing Director at LMDW, said. "I believe those who participated will agree that this was a totally unique moment. LMDW and Whisky Live Singapore are proud to have been part of a milestone that will long be associated with Benromach. This was an event truly for spirits lovers on their search of the iconic leaving a lasting legacy of excellence and innovation going forward." Benromach's historic masterclasses were the highlight of Whisky Live Singapore 2023, South-East Asia's largest whiskies and fine spirits tasting show. With nearly 2,000 consumer and trade guests visiting over 100 brands over November 18 and 19th, Whisky Live Singapore cemented its status as the premier spirits exhibition brand. About Benromach Distillery: At Benromach's family-owned distillery, they keep things simple. Their highly-skilled distillers based in Speyside, Scotland, rely entirely on their senses and experience to make award-winning handmade whisky. Benromach's four ingredients are barley, water, yeast and a human touch. Their processes honour the knowledge and experience used to make Speyside whiskies decades ago, because they believe making whisky by hand delivers genuine character About Whisky Live Singapore 2023: Whisky Live Singapore (WLS) is South-East Asia's premier event for whisky and fine spirits aficionados. Now in its 12th edition held at the Singapore Flyer, WLS offers a remarkable platform to explore an extensive array of drinks, and interact with the professionals who make them. Guests partake in tastings of diverse expressions, attend enlightening masterclasses, and connect with industry insiders. Through immersive experiences, seminars, and networking opportunities, WLS invites participants to delve into the intricate world of whisky. About La Maison du Whisky Asia-Pacific: Established in 2006, La Maison du Whisky (LMDW) Asia-Pacific has become a leading authority in fine spirits. Originating from France, LMDW extended its presence to Singapore as one of the first specialised whisky bars and original bottle shops. LMDW offers an expansive selection of over 1,000 rare whiskies, premium spirits, and exclusive releases. Through curated events and partnerships, it has elevated the appreciation of spirits across the Asia-Pacific region, and is the preferred partner for retailers and the most prestigious hotels, bars and restaurants. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/benromach-hosts-first-singapore-whisky-masterclass-in-air-301992943.html SOURCE La Maison du Whisky Asia-Pacific Small toy figure and mineral imitation are seen in front of the BHP logo in this illustration MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Around 400 train drivers for BHP's Western Australian iron ore division will begin industrial action late this week after rejecting an offer that they said fell short on working schedules, a union representative told Reuters on Monday. Drivers will from Friday stop using a BHP app for roster changes, meaning each worker must be contacted individually if the world's biggest miner wishes to change their working hours, Mining and Energy Union WA secretary Greg Busson told Reuters. Drivers for BHP's highest earning division were trying to show some restraint by voting for action on the lower end of the scale to start, rather than disrupting operations with stoppages, Busson added. BHP's iron ore operations include four processing hubs and five mines that are linked by more than 1,000 km (621 miles) of rail and port facilities. The division accounted for $16.6 billion, or 60% of BHP's earnings before taxes last year. BHP said that the proposed action would present logistical challenges but that it had put in place arrangements to mitigate the impact. "We have put forward a good and comprehensive offer that includes increased base salaries and allowances and recognises the important contribution that the rail team makes to our iron ore business in WA," it said. Worries about a strike had lent support to iron ore prices, which are trading at the highest levels since February. "Concerns over disruptions on the supply side due to the looming strike at BHP in Australia contributed to higher iron ore prices today," said Pei Hao, a Shanghai-based analyst at international brokerage FIS. Drivers received an offer from BHP last Wednesday that did not meet their expectations around rostering, arbitration and camp standards, Busson added. Most of Rio Tinto's trains are now driverless, so rosters are less of an issue. BHP had asked its train drivers in 2021 to move to a two week on, one week off schedule as iron ore miners strived to ship out as much material as they could while prices were high and amid a squeeze on labour. (Reporting by Melanie Burton and Amy Lv in Beijing; Editing by Gerry Doyle) In this article, we discuss billionaire Jim Simons' top 12 high-dividend stocks. You can skip our detailed analysis of Renaissance Technologies' holdings and past performance, and go directly to read Billionaire Jim Simons Top 5 High-Dividend Stocks. Renaissance Technologies, founded by Jim Simons, is a legendary hedge fund known for its innovative quantitative strategies and remarkable success in the financial markets. The firm's use of mathematics, data analysis, and computer modeling has set it apart in the world of investing. The hedge funds unique way of investing has led to incredible profits over time. Their top fund, the Medallion Fund, achieved approximately 66% in annual returns on average from 1988 to 2020, before accounting for fees. After fees were deducted, the returns settled at around 39%. These returns surpass the yearly gains of approximately 16% seen at Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and the 10% returns from the S&P 500 during that same time frame. The Medallion fund boasts one of the most impressive track records within the industry. Jim Simons' investment strategy at Renaissance Technologies is primarily based on quantitative analysis and mathematical models. The firm heavily relies on computer-based algorithms to execute trades automatically based on the signals generated by their models. These algorithms allow for rapid and systematic trading in various markets. When he started his hedge fund, Simons recruited physicists, mathematicians, and computer scientists. Together, they collected massive amounts of data and developed algorithms to find hidden patterns in global markets. Despite skepticism from experts, Simons and his team achieved immense wealth, as their strategy of using math models and data analysis became widely adopted across industries. Their wealth allowed them to make significant impacts in politics, philanthropy, and scientific research, reshaping these fields. As of November, the hedge funds total assets under management (AUM) are worth over $106 billion. Story continues Also read: Bill Gates' 11 Dividend Stocks Simons has maintained a strong dedication to supporting philanthropic initiatives throughout his life. Despite his considerable success as a billionaire, with a net worth of $30.7 billion, he has consistently shown a commitment to giving back to various causes. His philanthropic endeavors span across different sectors, including scientific research, education, and healthcare. In one of the recent developments, Simons and his wife, have donated $500 million to Stony Brook University, the public college where he taught before founding his highly successful hedge fund. The donation, coming from the Simons Foundation, stands as the largest unrestricted donation ever made to a U.S. higher education institution. The funds will bolster Stony Brook's endowment. As of the end of Q3 2023, Renaissance Technologies 13F portfolio had a value of $58.6 billion, compared with $69.38 billion in the previous quarter. The hedge fund invested heavily in the tech, services, and healthcare sectors, among others. Some of the firms major holdings include Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), however, in this article, we will discuss some of the firms best high-yield dividend stocks. Billionaire Jim Simons Top 12 High-Dividend Stock Picks Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies Our Methodology: We chose prominent dividend stocks from Renaissance Technologies portfolio, as of Q3 2023. We specifically selected stocks with dividends over 4% as of November 20. These companies not only offer high dividends but also have consistent track records of paying dividends. The stocks are ranked according to the value of Renaissance Technologies stake in them. Renaissance Technologies Stake Value: $31,148,000 Dividend Yield as of November 20: 6.98% AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is an American multinational conglomerate known primarily for its telecommunications and media offerings. In the third quarter of 2023, Jim Simons' Renaissance Technologies owned over 2 million shares in the company, worth over $31 million. The company represented 0.05% of the billionaire's portfolio. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has been paying regular dividends to shareholders since 1995. The company currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.98%, as of November 20. T is one of the best high-dividend stocks in billionaire Jim Simons' portfolio. At the end of Q2 2023, 56 hedge funds in Insider Monkey's database reported having stakes in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), down from 58 in the previous quarter. The collective value of these stakes is more than $1.4 billion. 11. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) Renaissance Technologies Stake Value: $36,905,000 Dividend Yield as of November 20: 6.29% 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) is a Minnesota-based multinational conglomerate corporation that operates across various sectors. On November 7, the company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, which was in line with its previous dividend. The company's dividend growth streak currently stands at 65 years. With a dividend yield of 6.29%, as of November 20, MMM is one of the best high-dividend stocks in Jim Simons' portfolio. As of the close of Q3 2023, Renaissance Technologies held 394,200 stakes in 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), worth collectively roughly $37 million. The company represented 0.06% of billionaire Simons' portfolio. At the end of June 2023, 49 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported having stakes in 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), compared with 51 in the previous quarter. These stakes are collectively valued at over $726.7 million. With over 1.6 million shares, AQR Capital Management was the company's leading stakeholder in Q2. Renaissance Technologies Stake Value: $56,453,000 Dividend Yield as of November 20: 9.92% Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) is an American company in the health and wellness industry, specializing in weight management and healthy living products. During the third quarter of 2023, Renaissance Technologies boosted its position in the company by 11%, which took its total MED stake to over $56.4 million. The company made up 0.09% of the firm's 13F portfolio. Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED), one of the best high-dividend stocks in billionaire Simons' portfolio, currently offers a quarterly dividend of $1.65 per share. The company maintains an 8-year streak of consistent dividend growth. As of November 20, the stock has a dividend yield of 9.92%. As of the close of Q2 2023, 18 hedge funds in Insider Monkey's database owned stakes in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED), compared with 22 in the previous quarter. These stakes are collectively valued at over $80.4 million. 9. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) Renaissance Technologies Stake Value: $59,715,000 Dividend Yield as of November 20: 4.48% Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and delivering innovative medicines to treat various diseases and conditions. The company currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share, having raised it 5.6% in 2022. This was the company's 17th consecutive year of dividend growth. The stock has a dividend yield of 4.48%, as of November 20. Renaissance Technologies owned over 1 million shares in Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) at the end of Q3 2023. The hedge fund's total stake in the company amounted to nearly $60 million, which constituted 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Insider Monkey's database of Q2 2023 showed that 66 hedge funds owned stakes in Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY). The total value of these stakes is over $1.7 billion. 8. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Renaissance Technologies Stake Value: $67,186,000 Dividend Yield as of November 20: 6.66% Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) is a Texas-based energy infrastructure company that manages and operates a vast network of natural gas pipelines across various regions. At the end of Q3 2023, Renaissance Technologies owned over 4 million shares in the company, valued at over $67 million. The company made up 0.11% of billionaire Jim Simons' portfolio. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) has been growing its dividends for six consecutive years and currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.2825 per share. As of November 20, the stock has a dividend yield of 6.66%. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) was a part of 36 hedge fund portfolios at the end of Q2 2023, up from 35 in the previous quarter, as per Insider Monkey's database. These stakes have a total worth of nearly $891 million. Among these hedge funds, Orbis Investment Management was the company's largest stakeholder in Q2. 7. Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) Renaissance Technologies Stake Value: $74,731,000 Dividend Yield as of November 20: 9.30% Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) is an American independent energy company that is primarily focused on the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas resources in the country. On November 8, the company announced a new quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share. This dividend includes a fixed amount plus an additional variable component. It's a significant increase of 57.1% from the previous dividend, which was $0.49 per share. The stock's dividend yield on November 20 came in at 9.30%. Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) is one of the recent acquisitions of Renaissance Technologies as the hedge fund initiated its position in the company with over 1.5 million shares, worth over $74.7 million. The company represented 0.12% of the firm's 13F portfolio. As of the end of Q2 2023, 45 hedge funds in Insider Monkey's database reported having stakes in Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN), worth collectively over $638.6 million. 6. International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) Renaissance Technologies Stake Value: $75,257,000 Dividend Yield as of November 20: 4.34% International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) is next on our list of the best high-dividend stocks in billionaire Jim Simons' portfolio. The multinational tech company currently pays a quarterly dividend of $1.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.34%, as of November 20. The company has been rewarding shareholders with growing dividends for the past 28 years. At the end of the third quarter of 2023, Renaissance Technologies held 536,400 shares in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM), worth over $75.2 million. These stakes made up 0.12% of the firm's 13F portfolio. Of the 910 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey at the end of Q2 2023, 51 funds owned investments in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM), up from 49 in the preceding quarter. The total value of these stakes is roughly $814 million. Click to continue reading and see Billionaire Jim Simons Top 5 High-Dividend Stocks. Suggested articles: Disclosure. None. Billionaire Jim Simons Top 12 High-Dividend Stocks is originally published on Insider Monkey. The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript November 17, 2023 The Buckle, Inc. beats earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $1.04, expectations were $0.98. Operator: Good morning, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Buckle's third quarter earnings release webcast. As a reminder, all participants are currently in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will be conducted following the companys prepared remarks with instructions given at that time. Members of Buckle's management on the call today are Dennis Nelson, President and CEO; Tom Heacock, Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer and CFO; Adam Akerson, Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller; Brady Fritz, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Security. As a review, operating results for the third quarter which ended October 28, 2023, they would like to reiterate their policy of not giving future sales or earnings guidance and have the following safe harbor statement. Safe harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements made by the company involve material risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on factors which may be beyond the company's control. Accordingly, the company's future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to those as described in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied therein will not be realized. Additionally, the company does not authorize the reproduction or determination of transcripts or audio recordings of the company's quarterly conference calls without its expressed written consent. Any unauthorized reproductions or recordings of the call should not be relied upon as the information may be inaccurate. As a reminder, this webcast is being recorded. And I'd now like to turn the conference over to your host, Tom Heacock. Story continues Tom Heacock: Good morning, and thanks for being with us this morning. Our November 17, 2023 press release reported a net income for the 13-week third quarter, which ended October 28, 2023, was $51.8 million or $1.04 per share on a diluted basis, which compares to net income of $61.4 million or $1.24 per share on a diluted basis for the prior year 13-week third quarter, which ended October 29, 2022. Year-to-date, net income for the 39-week period ended October 28, 2023, was $140.3 million or $2.81 per share on a diluted basis compared to net income of $166.8 million or $3.37 per share on a diluted basis for the prior year 39-week period ended October 29, 2022. Net sales for the 13-week third quarter decreased 8.7% to $303.5 million compared to net sales of $332.3 million for the prior year 13-week third quarter. Comparable store sales for the quarter decreased 9.2% in comparison to the same 13-week period in the prior year, and our online sales decreased 16.2% to $46.1 million. Year-to-date net sales decreased 6.9% to $878.7 million for the 39-week fiscal period ended October 28, 2023 compared to net sales of $943.4 million for the prior year 39-week fiscal period, which ended October 29, 2022. Comparable store sales for the year-to-date period were down 7.3% in comparison to the same 39-week period in the prior year and our online sales decreased 9.4% to $141 million. For the quarter, [UPTs] (ph) decreased approximately 0.5%, the average unit retail increased about 0.5% and the average transaction value increased slightly. Year-to-date, our UPTs were flat. The average unit retail increased approximately 0.5% and the average transaction value increased also about 0.5%. Gross margin for the quarter was 48.5%, down 130 basis points from 49.8% in the third quarter of 2022. The current quarter decline is the result of deleverage buying, distribution and occupancy expense as merchandise margins were flat for the quarter. Year-to-date gross margin was 47.7%, down 140 basis points from 49.1% in the prior year, with the year-to-date decline being the result of 110 basis points of deleverage buying, distribution and occupancy expense along with a 30 basis point decline in merchandise margins. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the quarter were 27.4% of net sales compared to 25.9% for the third quarter of 2022, and year-to-date, SG&A was 27.8% of sales compared to 26% for the same period last year. The third quarter increase was due to a 130 basis point increase in store labor-related expenses, a 30 basis point increase in G&A salaries, a 30 basis point increase in equity compensation expense and a 20 basis point increase in marketing spend. These increases were partially offset by a 50 basis point decrease in incentive compensation accruals and a 10 basis point decrease in certain other SG&A expense categories. Our operating margin for the quarter was 21.1% compared to 23.9% for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, and for the year-to-date period, our operating margin was 19.9% compared to 23.1% for the same period last year. Income tax expense as a percentage of pretax net income for both the current and prior year fiscal quarter was 24.5%, bringing third quarter net income to $51.8 million for 2023 compared to $61.4 million for 2022. A customer receiving special services like hemming and gift-packaging from the company. Income tax expense as a percentage of pretax net income for both the current and prior year year-to-date periods was also 24.5%, bringing year-to-date net income to $140.3 million for fiscal 2023, compared to $166.8 million for fiscal 2022. Our press release also included a balance sheet as of October 28, 2023, which included the following: inventory of $152.3 million, which was essentially flat with inventory levels at the same time a year ago and $357.6 million of total cash and investments. We ended the quarter with $124.1 million in fixed assets, net of accumulated depreciation. Our capital expenditures for the quarter were $10.1 million and depreciation expense was $5 million. For the year-to-date period, capital expenditures were $28 million and depreciation expense was $14.9 million. Our year-to-date capital spending was broken down as follows: $27 million for new store construction, store remodels and technology upgrades and $1 million for capital spending at the corporate headquarters and distribution center. During the quarter, we opened three new stores and completed four full store remodels, two of which were relocations into new outdoor shopping centers. Additionally, we opened two new stores earlier this month in Park City, Utah, in Bristol, Tennessee and completed one additional full store remodel, which brings our year-to-date count to seven new stores, 15 full remodels and three store closures. For the remainder of the year, we anticipate opening two additional new stores and completing four more full remodeling projects. Buckle ended the quarter with 443 retail stores in 42 states compared with 441 stores in 42 states at the end of the third quarter last year. And now I'll turn it over to Adam Akerson, our Vice President of Finance. Adam Akerson: Thanks, and good morning. Womens merchandise sales for the quarter were down about 10.5% against the prior year and represented approximately 45.5% of sales compared to 46.5% in the prior year. Average denim price points increased from $78.55 in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 to $79.50 in the third quarter of fiscal 2023, while overall average women price points increased about 1% from $48.80 to $49.35. On the men's side, merchandise sales for the quarter were down about 7% against the prior year, representing approximately 54.5% of total sales compared to 53.5% in the prior year. Average denim price points increased from $87.25 in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 to $87.95 in the third quarter of fiscal 2023. For the quarter, overall average men's price points increased approximately 2% from $51.80 to $52.85. On a combined basis, accessory sales for the quarter were down approximately 5% against the prior year, while footwear sales were down about 31%. These two categories accounted for approximately 10% and 6%, respectively, of third quarter net sales, which compares to 9.5% and 7.5% for each in the third quarter of fiscal 2022. For the quarter, average accessory price points were up approximately 2.5%, and average footwear price points were up about 8.5%. Denim accounted for approximately 43.5% of sales and tops accounted for approximately 30.5%, which compares to 42.5% and 30.5% for each in the third quarter of fiscal 2022. For both our men's and women's business, better performing categories included our short sleeve and shorts business, in addition to lightweight long sleeves as the weather remained unseasonably warm across much of the country. Given slower sell-throughs in some of our more traditional fall assortments, we were pleased with our ability to keep both inventory levels and merchandise margins flat year-over-year. Our Q3 comparisons also continue to be challenged with declines in our Hey Dude volume particularly on the men's side. Third quarter net sales for our men's business without Hey Dude were down 4.1%. We remain encouraged by the growth and performance in our youth business with the combined youth business growing approximately 2% for the quarter building on growth of 26.5% a year ago. We were also pleased with the continued growth in our private brands with private label representing 47% of sales versus 46% in the third quarter of fiscal 2022. And with that, we welcome your questions. Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Mauricio Serna. Mauricio, Im going to go ahead and give you permission to unmute. See also 12 African Countries with the Best Quality of Life and Top 20 Most Valuable Indian Companies. To continue reading the Q&A session, please click here. Shaza Hotels, a leading hotel management company dedicated to offering true Arabian hospitality, has appointed new vice presidents as part of its new strategic approach to growth and excellence. Simon Coombs, President & CEO of Shaza Hotels, said: The new structure aims to provide a solid foundation for our continued growth and commitment to delivering the highest hospitality standards to our guests, partners and associates. Our organisational structure has now been adapted to ensure that we are better aligned to meet the needs of our owners and their teams, and to efficiently act with transparency and an exceptional level of professionalism as their partner. I am excited for my colleagues who have stepped up in their career to lead the new strategic focus and expansion plan we have outlined for the company. They all have been an integral part of the brand since the inception, and fully understand our culture. I have great belief in their capabilities in attaining further milestones in their career and in our ability to deliver exceptional hotels through design delivery, successful openings, financial performance, consistent delivery of guest experience, and the management of our brand personality, he added. Shaji Abu Salih, Vice President for Business Development & Growth, will lead the new developments and portfolio growth of the company along with the existing role in heading sales, revenue and marketing strategies for the operating & upcoming hotels. Shaji has been a part of the Shaza family since 2009, before which he spent several years with Kempinski Hotels in various Sales & Marketing roles. He also holds an MBA from NEOMA Business School in France in Hospitality & Tourism Management. Franck Descat, Vice President - Finance & Asset Management, will lead corporate finance, driving financial performance, implementing internal control, and overseeing pre-opening budgets and tax compliance. A CMA certified professional, Franck holds two bachelors degrees in finance and accounting, and information systems from Fordham University and Skema Business School, and an MBA from Ecole Hotelier Lausanne. As a member of the Shaza Family for the past 12 years, he has a very good understanding of the brand and all areas of the organisation. Amjad Irshaidat, Vice President - KSA Operations, is a seasoned professional in the hospitality industry with an impressive track record of over 30 years in various international brands. Born in Amman, Jordan, he joined Shaza Madinah Hotel in August 2010 as the first General Manager at Shaza and ever since then, he consistently showcased his commitment to maintaining exceptional standards of guest satisfaction, and operational efficiency at all hotels he have operated. His experience not only serves as a source of inspiration but also plays a vital role in shaping the success and growth trajectory of Shaza Hotels within the KSA hospitality sector. - TradeArabia News Service Partnership with WellOne will help CCA Health Rhode Island to better serve individuals with significant needs PROVIDENCE, R.I., November 20, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a continuing effort to make high-quality, personalized healthcare more accessible to individuals living and working across the state, CCA Health Rhode Island has added WellOne Primary Medical and Dental Care (WellOne) to its network of community providers. CCA Health Rhode Island, a mission-driven healthcare services organization offering high-quality health plans and care delivery programs designed for individuals with the most significant needs, officially launched its Rhode Island operations in 2021 and has already built a robust network of some of the states most trusted and respected providers. This partnership with WellOne, a Rhode Island-based organization with offices in Burrillville, Foster, Scituate, and North Kingstown, will allow their patients to access CCA Health Rhode Islands full suite of coverage options. "Our goal is to ensure that the Rhode Islanders we serve across the state can access the high-quality medical, mental health, and dental care they need and deserve," said Corey McCarty, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CCA Health Rhode Island. "WellOne is a trusted provider in Rhode Islands healthcare community, and we look forward to working alongside their team as we advance our shared mission of improving the health and wellness of Rhode Islanders." WellOne, a Federally Qualified Health Center, was recently recognized as a 2022 Health Center Quality Leader by the U.S. Office of Health and Human Services, an award earned by the top 10% of the nations health centers for their clinical performance. "At WellOne, were focused on delivering the highest quality, patient-centered care, and were committed to partnering with organizations like CCA Health Rhode Island, who share our core mission and approach to care delivery," said Peter Bancroft, President & Chief Executive Officer of WellOne. "We believe that by supporting individuals with significant medical, behavioral health, and social support needs, we support the entire community. Were excited to see what our teams can accomplish together." Story continues Headquartered in Providences Innovation and Design District, CCA Health Rhode Island has been active in the state since 2021, building a network of clinical team members and administrative support personnel who provide comprehensive healthcare services, with a focus on preventive care, wellness, care coordination, chronic condition management, social supports, behavioral health, and specialty care needs. CCA Health Rhode Island continues to offer a diverse suite of Medicare Advantage plans, including a Dual-eligible Special Needs Plan (D-SNP). The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period runs from Oct. 15 - Dec. 7. Learn more at www.CCAHealthRI.org. About CCA Health Rhode Island Headquartered in Providences Innovation and Design District, CCA Health Rhode Island serves individuals across the state who are eligible for Medicare or dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. CCA Health Rhode Island works closely with its providers and community partners to coordinate high-quality, community-based, person-centered care that addresses the social factors that impact health and empowers individuals to make choices that align with their preferences and values. To learn more, visit www.CCAHealthRI.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120812674/en/ Contacts Rosa Randazzo Director, Public Relations, CCA Health Rhode Island rrandazzo@commonwealthcare.org Charlie Munger, widely acknowledged as Warren Buffetts immensely knowledgeable partner at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., encountered a series of significant challenges throughout his life, many of which are not commonly known. His life story is one of resilience and perseverance in the face of extreme obstacles and losses. Despite these hardships, he went on to become one of the most successful investors of his time, generously imparting his learned wisdom. Dont Miss: The startup behind the best-rated weather app with over 50 million users is seeking your investment . Join the ranks of investors like Bill Gates and Mark Cuban by tapping into early-stage startups. Get the inside scoop on this innovative startup here. Munger is often recognized for his career as a lawyer before teaming up with Buffett, but his journey was far from conventional. His early life took a dramatic turn when he dropped out of college in 1943 to join the World War II effort with the U.S. Army Air Corps. Despite lacking a college degree, Mungers determination saw him become an officer and train as a meteorologist, which led to his transfer to Alaska. His path included taking graduate courses without an undergraduate degree, ultimately leading to his acceptance at Harvard Law School. He began his career at the law firm of Wright & Garrett, earning a salary of $3,300 per year. In 1953, at age 29, Mungers life took a dramatic turn. His eight-year marriage ended in divorce, a significant social stigma at the time, marking the first of many hurdles Munger would face. The divorce left him in a dire financial state, with his wife receiving the majority of their assets, including their home. Munger's friends recall his move to markedly poor living conditions following the separation. Determined to reclaim his financial stability, Munger immersed himself in work, dedicating long hours to recover from the financial loss resulting from the divorce. But life had more trials in store for him. Story continues Trending: Get equity and front row seats to the startups and small businesses you love for as little as $100. A year after his divorce, Munger faced a devastating blow when his 8-year-old son Teddy was diagnosed with leukemia. In an era devoid of medical insurance and effective treatments for the disease, Munger shouldered the medical expenses while grappling with the emotional turmoil of his sons illness. He juggled his responsibilities as a father to his other children and his law practice, even as he watched Teddys health decline. Mungers friend Rick Guerin recalls the heart-wrenching moments Munger spent at the hospital with Teddy and his solitary walks through Pasadena, California, overwhelmed with grief. Teddys death at age 9 left Munger shattered. At 31, Munger was dealing with the aftermath of a divorce, financial instability and the profound grief of losing his son. Yet, he refused to succumb to despair or seek escape in vices, a common refuge for many during such times. He chose to forge ahead. Envy, resentment, revenge and self-pity are disastrous modes of thought," he later said. "Self-pity gets close to paranoia. ... Every mischance in life is an opportunity to behave well and learn. Its not to be immersed in self-pity but to utilize the blow constructively. These words carried even more weight given Mungers personal experiences, including the loss of his son. Munger's challenges continued. At 52, he developed cataracts, and a failed surgery left him blind in one eye. Despite the pain and the loss of his vision, his indomitable spirit prevailed. He learned braille, demonstrating his determination to adapt and learn, regardless of the circumstances. Mungers journey, marked by personal tragedies and professional setbacks, defies the common narrative of a smooth, unbroken path to success. It reveals the often-hidden struggles behind achieving prosperity and happiness. His ability to endure and transform adversities into learning experiences is a powerful reminder of human resilience. In addressing challenges in investing and life, Munger once reflected the sentiment of Rudyard Kiplings famous words to treat triumph and disaster just the same. His approach to accepting failure as a normal part of life and learning from it, rather than dwelling on it, exemplifies his pragmatic and resilient mindset. Mungers life, beyond his investment acumen, stands as a profound lesson in overcoming adversity. His journey is a testament to the human spirits capacity to persevere, learn and evolve, transforming even the most challenging experiences into opportunities for personal growth and wisdom. Read Next: Why you've been left out of the insanely profitable business of website flipping until now . It's only a matter of time before Autonomous Security Robots (ASRs) are on patrol near you. This industry-leading company is offering up to $10M of bonds with 10% annual interest paid in cash. "ACTIVE INVESTORS' SECRET WEAPON" Supercharge Your Stock Market Game with the #1 "news & everything else" trading tool: Benzinga Pro - Click here to start Your 14-Day Trial Now! This article Charlie Munger Lost His 9-Year-Old Son To Cancer, Went Blind In One Eye, Was Left With Nothing After A Divorce And Still Managed To Become One Of The Most Successful Billionaire Investors Ever 'Envy, Resentment, Revenge And Self-Pity Are Disastrous Modes Of Thought' originally appeared on Benzinga.com . 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. (Bloomberg) -- Kimmeridge Energy Management Co., which is among the most active and outspoken US oil and gas investors, said a merger of Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Southwestern Energy Co. would create one of the industrys most sought-after stocks. Most Read from Bloomberg There are only a few must-own stocks in the sector, and this would ultimately be one of them, Mark Viviano, a managing partner at Kimmeridge, said in a statement. Bloomberg reported in October that Chesapeake is considering buying Southwestern through a deal that would create one of the largest US natural gas producers. Kimmeridge is Chesapeakes 13th largest shareholder. The companies didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Despite the spate of large deals over the last several weeks, the universe of shale drillers remains highly fragmented and more consolidation is necessary, Kimmeridge founder Ben Dell said in an interview. While hes not involved with the talks, Dell said hes optimistic Chesapeake and Southwestern will eventually hammer out a deal. The roadblocks in such negotiations are typically personal, he said. My experience in M&A is that who survives from the board and who survives from management are the one and two sticking points, Dell said. It is almost never about actual economics. Read More: Chesapeake Said to Consider Takeover of Southwestern Energy Merger and acquisition activity has been accelerating among shale drillers as the sector matures and companies begin to exhaust their portfolios of undrilled opportunities. As a result, executive teams seeking to shore up reserves to ensure ample, future production are buying up rivals. Story continues Another potential deal that makes sense would be between Chord Energy Corp. of Houston and Calgary-based Enerplus Corp., Viviano said. Both have production in the Bakken shale formation of North Dakota, and a combination of them would create a $10 billion company that would establish a platform for consolidation across the basin, Viviano said. Kimmeridge is the third-largest shareholder of Enerplus, owning about 3.4% of the stock. Chord has a market value of about $6.8 billion. Enerplus, which is worth about $3.4 billion, would probably require a premium of about 15%, given its strong assets, Viviano said. Chord and Enerplus didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Kimmeridge held a 2.4% stake in Chesapeake as of Sept. 30 that at the current share price is worth roughly $260 million. The investor has increased its holdings in the stock by more than 60% since the first quarter of 2022. Chesapeake and Southwestern are two of the biggest players in the Marcellus, a giant shale gas formation in the Northeastern US. They also operate in the Haynesville, another gas-heavy basin along the Louisiana-Texas border. The way the two companies assets overlap make sense for a merger, and Chesapeakes strong balance sheet would help Southwestern, Dell said. The companies positions in Haynesville are complementary, he said. --With assistance from Mitchell Ferman and David Wethe. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Michigan is one of the top Christmas tree-growing states. EATON RAPIDS A tree farm in Eaton Rapids has been selling so many trees it has to close for Christmas. "We have agonized over this decision, knowing that for many of you, selecting and cutting your Christmas tree at Carpenter Tree Farm is a longstanding family tradition," the farm wrote in a Facebook post while announcing a one-year closure. The farm said they've sold so many trees since the start of the pandemic they have to pause sales to let trees grow back and grow up. They encouraged people to come back in 2024 and, in the meantime, visit one of the other tree farms found on the Michigan Christmas Tree Farm Directory. The farm did not return phone messages for this story. Michigan is one of the top Christmas tree-growing states, and the forecast for Christmas trees in Michigan this year is looking great, according to two MSU Christmas tree experts. Live Christmas tree sales have seen a significant increase since 2020, generally attributed to various pandemic effects, said Bill Lindberg, a Michigan State University Extension official in Ottawa County with a specialty in Christmas trees. "During this time, Christmas tree farms have 'sold out' of available trees that were of harvestable height and may have closed earlier than normal in previous years," Lindberg said. He said the Carpenter farm is likely one of a limited number of farms that will need to shut for a year, but across the industry there may be earlier closing dates than normal and customers may notice roped-off areas set aside for trees to grow. However, Lindberg stressed that trees will be available for nearly everyone and, in most cases up to 85% of people find a tree in the first place they look, according to a survey from The Real Christmas Tree Board. Trees need at least eight years to grow tall enough to harvest, which means farms need to keep limit annual sales to about 1/8 of their farm or supplement sales with trees they purchase from elsewhere, Bert Cregg, an MSU professor who also specializes in Christmas trees, wrote in an email. Story continues Anyone who wants a live tree this year should be able to find one, Cregg said. He said the industry hasn't run out of trees. However, that doesn't mean a specific lot or farm won't run out. He suggests going early, calling ahead or double checking on social media before driving and being flexible in size and type. Cregg said there's a persistent rumor about Canadian wildfire smoke affecting Christmas trees, likely because many people spent time indoors this summer due to smoke in Michigan. But there's no evidence from Christmas tree farms in Michigan and North Carolina two of the top three states for Christmas tree growing that the fires or smoke had any measurable effect on the crop, according to Cregg and Justin Whitehill, an North Carolina State University assistant professor and Christmas tree specialist. Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415 This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Christmas tree farm closes early after pandemic ramp-up Allied Analytics LLP The growth of the global cryptocurrency market is driven by a rise in need for transparency in the payment system and an increase in flow of remittances from foreign countries. Wilmington, Delaware, Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Cryptocurrency Market By Offering (Hardware [ASIC, GPU, FPGA, and Others] and Software), Process (Mining and Transaction), Type (Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Tether [USDT], Binance Coin [BNB], Cardano [ADA], Ripple [XRP], and Others), and End User (Trading, Retail & E-commerce, Banking, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030". According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global cryptocurrency market was valued at $1.49 billion in 2020 and is anticipated to garner $4.94 billion by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 12.8% from 2021 to 2030. Request Research Report Sample & TOC: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2075 Report Coverage & Details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20212030 Base Year 2020 Market Size in 2020 $1.49 billion Market Size in 2030 $4.94 billion CAGR 12.8% No. of Pages in Report 354 Segments Covered Offering, Process, Type, End User and Region. Drivers Rise in Need for Transparency in the Payment System Opportunities Untapped Potential on Emerging Economies Restraints Evolving demographics, rise in consumerism and openness toward new technologies such as IoT, Blockchain, and others provide lucrative opportunities for cryptocurrency across developing nations. Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities The growth of the global cryptocurrency market is driven by a rise in need for transparency in the payment system and an increase in flow of remittances from foreign countries. However, lack of awareness about cryptocurrency among individuals hampers the growth to some extent. Nevertheless, untapped potential on emerging economies is expected to offer new opportunities in the near future. Story continues The Mining Segment to rule the roost By 2030 By process, the mining segment held nearly two-thirds of the global cryptocurrency market share in 2020, and is projected to dominate the market till 2030, as this process involves validating data blocks and adding transaction records to a public ledger known as blockchain. However, the transaction segment is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 14.6% during the forecast period, as cryptocurrency transactions allow users to control their money without dealing with an intermediary authority such as a bank or government. Request Customization: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/2075 The Hardware Segment to Retain the Lion's Share By offering, the hardware segment garnered more than three-fourths of the global cryptocurrency market share in 2020, and is anticipated to rule by the end of 2030, owing to increase in need to enhance the efficiency of financial payment tools. The software segment, however, is registered to witness the fastest CAGR of 14.2% throughout the forecast period, as it facilitates managing the huge volume of data being generated for meaningful insights and better-informed decisions. Asia-Pacific Held the Dominant Share in 2020 By region, the Asia-Pacific region held the major share in 2020, generating nearly half of the global cryptocurrency market. The same region is expected to show the fastest CAGR of 14.5% from 2021 to 2030. This is due to the increase in the number of Bitcoin exchanges across Asia, which brings a certain healthy competition in the industry. Key Players in the Industry Ledger SAS Ripple Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Xilinx Inc. Xapo Holdings Limited BitFury Group Limited BTL Group Ltd. Intel Corporation NVIDIA Corporation Coincheck Inc. Key Benefits For Stakeholders This study includes cryptocurrency market analysis, and future estimations to determine the imminent investment pockets. The report presents information related to key drivers, restraints, and cryptocurrency opportunity. The cryptocurrency market size is quantitatively analysed from 2020 to 2030 to highlight the financial competency of the industry. Porters five forces analysis illustrates the potency of buyers & suppliers in the cryptocurrency market trends. Inquire Before Buying : https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2075 Cryptocurrency Market Key Segments By Offering Hardware ASIC Full Custom ASIC Semi-custom ASIC Programmable ASIC GPU FPGA Others Software Mining Platform Exchange Coin Wallet By Process Mining Transaction By Type Bitcoin (BTC) Ethereum (ETH) Tether (USDT) Binance Coin (BNB) Cardano (ADA) Ripple (XRP) Others By End User Trading Retail and E-commerce Banking Others By Region North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe UK Germany France Italy Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China Japan India South Korea Rest of Asia-Pacific LAMEA Latin America Middle East Africa Trending Reports in BFSI Industry (Book Now with 10% Discount + Covid-19 scenario): Cryptocurrency Mining Hardware Market by Type (Central Processing Unit, Graphics Processing Unit, Application-Specific Integrated Circuit, Field Programmable Gate Array), by Coin (Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Binance Coin (BNB), Others), by Application (Enterprise, Personal): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 Cryptocurrency Hardware Wallet Market by Hardware Component (ASIC, GPU, FPGA, Others), by Security Method (Pin, Two-factor Authentication, Biometric Security, Others), by Type (USB Connectivity Type, Bluetooth Connectivity Type, NFC Connectivity, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031 Cryptocurrency ATMs Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Type (One-Way, Two-Way), by ATM Hardware (Display, ATM Printer, QR Scanner, Others), by Type (Bitcoin, Dog Coin, Litecoin, Z-Cash, Dash, Monexo, Ethereum) and by Enterprise Size (Large Enterprise, Small Medium Enterprises): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 Marine Insurance Market By Type (Cargo Insurance, Hull & Machinery Insurance, Marine Liability Insurance, and Offshore/Energy Insurance), Distribution Channel (Wholesalers, Retail Brokers, and Others), and End User (Ship Owners, Traders, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2028. Travel Insurance Market by Insurance Cover (Single-Trip Travel Insurance, Annual Multi-Trip Travel Insurance, Long-Stay Travel Insurance), by Distribution Channel (Insurance Intermediaries, Insurance Companies, Banks, Insurance Brokers, Insurance Aggregators), by End User (Senior Citizens, Education Travelers, Business Travelers, Family Travelers, Others), by Age Group (1-17 Years Old, 18-30 Years Old, 31-49 Years Old, Above 50): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031. About Us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients in making strategic business decisions and achieving sustainable growth in their respective market domains. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies, and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms the utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high-quality data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every piece of data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies in the domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact Us: United States 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. Int'l: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 Fax: +1-800-792-5285 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Allied Market Research Blog: https://blog.alliedmarketresearch.com BFSI Blog (Bloomberg) -- Healthy companies led by competent, commercially successful and globally beloved founders generally dont tend to fire them. And, as Sam Altman walked on stage in San Francisco on Nov. 6, all those things could have described his role at OpenAI. Most Read from Bloomberg The co-founder and chief executive officer had kicked off a global race for artificial intelligence supremacy, helped OpenAI surpass much larger competitors, and was, by this point, regularly compared to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Eleven days later he would be fired kicking off a chaotic weekend during which executives and investors loyal to Altman were agitating for his return. The board ignored them, and hired Emmett Shear, the former Twitch CEO, instead. Nearly all OpenAI employees then threatened to quit and follow Altman out of the company. On Nov. 6, at the companys first developer conference, the acclaim for Altman seemed universal. Attendees applauded rapturously as he ticked off the companys accomplishments: 2 million customers, including over 92% of Fortune 500 companies. A big reason for that was Microsoft Corp., which invested $13 billion into the company and put Altman at the center of a corporate overhaul that has caused it to leapfrog rivals like Google and Amazon in certain categories of cloud computing, reinvigorated its Bing search engine, and put the company in the leading position in the hottest software category. Now, Altman invited CEO Satya Nadella onto the stage and asked him how Microsoft felt about the partnership. Nadella started to respond, and then broke into laughter, as if the answer to the question was absurdly obvious. We love you guys, he finally said after hed calmed down. He thanked Altman for building something magical. Nadella announced at midnight local time on Sunday that Altman would lead a new in-house AI lab alongside OpenAI board member Greg Brockman, whod also left last week. Microsoft, meanwhile, remains committed to the OpenAI partnership, he said. Shares jumped to their highest ever. Story continues Even though OpenAI's most important shareholder is still in favor of Altman, his board of directors remained deeply skeptical. The board included Altman and Brockman, a close ally and OpenAIs president, but was ultimately controlled by the interests of scientists who worried that the companys expansion was out of control, maybe even dangerous. That put the scientists at odds with Altman and Brockman, who both argued that OpenAI was growing its business out of necessity. Every time a customer asks OpenAIs ChatGPT chatbot a question it requires huge amounts of expensive computing power so much that the company was having trouble keeping up with the explosive demand from users. The company has been forced to place limits on the number of times users can query its most powerful AI models in a day. In fact, the situation got so dire in the days after the developer conference, Altman announced that the company was pausing sign-ups for its paid ChatGPT Plus service for an indeterminate amount of time. From Altmans point of view, raising more money and finding additional revenue sources were essential. But some members of the board, with ties to the AI-skeptical effective altruism movement, viewed this in tension with the risks posed by advanced AI. Many effective altruists a pseudo-philosophical movement that seeks to donate money to head off existential risks have imagined scenarios in which a powerful AI system could be used by a terrorist group to, say, create a bioweapon. Or in the absolute worst case scenario the AI could spontaneously turn bad, take control of weapons systems and attempt to wipe out human civilization. Not everyone takes this scenario seriously, and other AI leaders, including Altman, have argued that such concerns can be managed and that the potential benefits from making AI broadly available outweighs the risks. On Friday though, the skeptics won out, and one of the most famous living founders was suddenly relieved of duty. Adding to the sense of chaos, the board made little effort to ensure a smooth transition. In its statement announcing the decision, the board implied that Altman had been dishonest not consistently candid in his communications, it said in its explosive announcement. The board didnt specify any dishonesty and OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap later said in a memo to employees that it was not accusing Altman of malfeasance, chalking his removal up not to a debate over safety, but a breakdown in communication. The board had also moved without consulting with Microsoft, leaving Nadella livid at the hasty termination of a crucial business partner, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Nadella was blindsided by the news, this person said. According to people familiar with his plans, Altman was plotting a competing company, while investors were agitating for his restoration. Over the weekend, some investors were considering writing down the value of their OpenAI holdings to zero, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The potential move, which would both make it more difficult for the company to raise additional funds and allow OpenAI investors to back Altmans theoretical competitor, seemed designed to pressure the board to resign and bring Altman back. Meanwhile, on Saturday night, numerous OpenAI executives and dozens of employees started tweeting the heart emoji a statement of solidarity that appeared equal parts an expression of love for Altman and a rebuke to the board. A source familiar with Nadellas thinking said that the Microsoft CEO was advocating for Altmans potential return and would also be interested in backing Altmans new venture. The source predicted that if the board doesnt reconsider, a large contingent of OpenAI engineers would likely resign in the coming days. Adding to the sense of uncertainty: OpenAIs offices are closed all this week. Microsoft and Altman declined to comment. When reached by phone on Saturday, Brockman, who resigned shortly after Altman was fired, said Super heads down right now, sorry. Then he hung up. A philosophical disagreement wouldnt normally doom a company that had been in talks to sell shares to investors at an $86 billion valuation, but OpenAI was nothing like a normal company. Altman structured it as a nonprofit, with a for-profit subsidiary that he ran and that had aggressively courted venture capitalists and corporate partners. The novel and, as OpenAI critics see it, flawed structure put Altman, Microsoft, and all of the companys customers at the mercy of a wonky board of directors that was dominated by those who were skeptical of the corporate expansion. OpenAIs original goal, when it was founded by a team including Altman and Elon Musk, was to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, as a 2015 announcement put it. The organization wouldnt pursue financial gain for its own sake, but would instead serve as a check on profit-minded efforts, ensuring that AI would be developed as an extension of individual human wills and, in the spirit of liberty, as broadly and evenly distributed as is possible safely. Musk, who had been warning about the risks that an out of control AI system might pose to humanity, provided much of the nonprofits initial funding. Other backers included the investor Peter Thiel and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Early on, Musk helped recruit Ilya Sutskever as the companys chief scientist. The hiring was a coup. Sutskever is a legend in the field dating back to his research on neural networks at the University of Toronto, and continuing at Google, where he worked at the companys Google Brain lab. On a podcast earlier this month, Musk said he had decided to fund OpenAI and had personally recruited Sutskever away from Google because hed gotten worried that the search giant was developing AI without regard for safety. Musks hope was to slow Google down. Musk added that recruiting Sutskever ended his friendship with Google co-founder Larry Page. But Musk himself later became estranged from Altman, leaving OpenAI in 2018 and cutting it off from further funding. Altman needed money, and venture capital firms and big tech companies were interested in backing ambitious AI efforts. To tap that pool of capital, he created a new subsidiary of the nonprofit, which he described as a capped profit company. OpenAIs for-profit arm would raise money from investors, but promised that if its profits reached a certain level initially 100 times the investment of early backers anything above that would be donated back to the nonprofit. Despite his position as founder and CEO, Altman has said he holds no equity in the company, framing this as of a piece with the companys philanthropic mission. But of course, this would-be philanthropy had also sold 49% of its equity to Microsoft, which was granted no seats on its board. In an interview earlier this year, Altman suggested that the only recourse Microsoft had to control the company would be to unplug the servers that OpenAI rented. I believe they will honor their contract, he said at the time. The ultimate power at the company rested with the board, which included Altman, Sutskever and Brockman. The other members were Quora Inc. CEO Adam DAngelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner, director of strategy at Georgetowns Center for Security and Emerging Technology. McCauley and Toner both had ties to effective altruism nonprofits. Toner had previously worked for Open Philanthropy; McCauley serves on the boards of Effective Ventures and 80,000 Hours. OpenAI isnt the only ambitious technology project situated inside a nonprofit. The web browser Mozilla, the messaging app Signal and the operating system Linux are all developed by nonprofits, and before selling his company to Musk, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey lamented that the social network was beholden to investors. But open source projects are notoriously hard to govern, and OpenAI was operating at a greater scale and ambition than any tech nonprofit that had come before it. This, along with reports of the companys extreme financial success, created a backlash that was almost inevitable in retrospect. In February, Musk complained on X that OpenAI was no longer a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft. He reiterated these gripes during a recent appearance on Lex Fridmans podcast, adding that the companys pursuit of profit was not good karma. At the same time Altman was pursuing side projects that had the potential to enrich him and his investors, but which were outside of the control of OpenAIs safety-conscious board. There was Worldcoin, his eyeball-scanning crypto project, which launched in July and was promoted as a potential universal basic income system to make up for AI-related job losses. Altman also explored starting his own AI chipmaker, pitching sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East on an investment that could reach into the tens of billions of dollars, according to a person familiar with the plan. He also pitched SoftBank Group Corp., led by Japanese billionaire and tech investor Masayoshi Son, on a potential multibillion-dollar investment in a company he planned to start with former Apple design guru Jony Ive to make AI-oriented hardware. These efforts, along with the for-profits growing success, put Altman at odds with Sutskever, who was becoming more vocal about safety concerns. In July, Sutskever formed a new team within the company focused on reining in super intelligent AI systems of the future. Tensions with Altman intensified in October, when, according to a source familiar with the relationship, Altman moved to reduce Sutskevers role at the company, which rubbed Sutskever the wrong way and spilled over into tension with the companys board. At the event on Nov. 6, Altman made a number of announcements that infuriated Sutskever and people sympathetic to his point of view, the source said. Among them: customized versions of ChatGPT, allowing anyone to create chatbots that would perform specialized tasks. OpenAI has said that it would eventually allow these custom GPTs to operate on their own once a user creates them. Similar autonomous agents are offered by competing companies but are a red flag for safety advocates. In the days that followed, Sutskever brought his concerns to the board. According to an account posted on X by Brockman, Sutskever texted Altman the evening of Nov. 16, inviting him to join a video call with the board the following day. Brockman was not invited. The following day at noon, Altman appeared and was told he was being fired. Minutes later, the announcement went out and chaos followed. The uncertainty, which continued over the weekend, threatened OpenAIs elevated valuation and Microsofts stock price, which dropped sharply as the market closed on Friday. Its a disruption that could potentially slow down the rate of innovation and that's not going to be good for Microsoft, said Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. OpenAI was going at breakneck speed. At the same time, companies that depend on OpenAIs software were hastily looking at competing technologies, such as Meta Plaforms Inc.s large language model, known as Llama. As a startup, we are worried now. Do we continue with them or not? said Amr Awadallah, the CEO of Vectara, which creates chatbots for corporate data. He said that the choice to continue with OpenAI or seek out a competitor would depend on reassurances from the company and Microsoft. We need Microsoft to speak up and say everything is stable, well continue to focus on our customers and partners, Awadallah said. We need to hear something like that to restore our confidence. As Altman and his allies tried to orchestrate a return Sunday, Musk posted on X that he was very worried. Ilya has a good moral compass and does not seek power. He would not take such drastic action unless he felt it was absolutely necessary. Sutskever later told staff that the decision to hire Shear was a clear sign Altman wasnt coming back. --With assistance from Emily Chang, Ashlee Vance, Shirin Ghaffary, Dina Bass, Jackie Davalos, Edward Ludlow, Julia Love and Ellen Huet. (Updates with employee letter in second paragraph, Microsoft shares in fourth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Xtrackers, an ETF segment of European asset manager DWS Group, launched a new exchange-traded thematic tech fund that employs careful screening to filter out companies deemed risky because of geopolitical and strategic concerns, the firm announced on Nov. 16. The Xtrackers US National Critical Technologies ETF (CRTC) tracks an index of mid- and large-cap companies involved in one of the 14 technologies deemed critical by the U.S. Department of Defense, including artificial intelligence and automation, renewable energy, biotechnology and space technology. The new listing comes in the wake of U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinpings meeting last week to discuss simmering tensions between China and the U.S. Talk of U.S. technology export restrictionswhich Xi referred to as technological containment highlighted the significance of such geostrategic risks. CRTCs Criteria Sifting out companies considered to be too high of an exposure riskmeaning they are at risk of being disrupted by economic sanctions, regulatory actions or other governmental policies aimed at rival countriesis one of CRTCs selling points. To my knowledge, no other ETF, or at least no other thematic ETF, screens companies for their potential geostrategic risks, said Arne Noack, head of Systematic investment Solutions for the Americas at DWS The screening method should provide a smoother ride with less volatility than comparable tech-based thematic exchange-traded funds, Noack added. Apple Excluded Apple Inc. is perhaps the most prominent example of a company shunned by CRTCs process. The tech giant has many Chinese suppliers and Russia-exposed joint ventures, factors that contributed to it slipping just below the cutoff for inclusion in the fund, Noack said. Other companies, such as pharmaceutical titan Eli Lilly and Co. and electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc. were also blocked from joining the ETF, despite their deep involvement with one of the 14 required technologies. The fund, which has an expense ratio of 0.35%, is part of DWS broader rollout of thematic ETFs, the first three of which launched earlier this year. Story continues According to Noack, DWS plans to roll out several more thematic funds over the next year. Contact Gabe Alpert at gabriel.alpert@etf.com Permalink | Copyright 2023 etf.com. All rights reserved Viewing insider transactions for Eckoh plc's (LON:ECK ) over the last year, we see that insiders were net buyers. This means that a larger number of shares were purchased by insiders in relation to shares sold. While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. See our latest analysis for Eckoh The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Eckoh In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Non-Executive Director David Coghlan bought UK44k worth of shares at a price of UK0.35 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of UK0.39. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. The good news for Eckoh share holders is that an insider was buying at near the current price. David Coghlan was the only individual insider to buy during the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below! Eckoh is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying. Insider Ownership Of Eckoh I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Based on our data, Eckoh insiders have about 2.8% of the stock, worth approximately UK3.1m. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership. What Might The Insider Transactions At Eckoh Tell Us? It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Eckoh shares in the last quarter. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. The transactions are fine but it'd be more encouraging if Eckoh insiders bought more shares in the company. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Eckoh, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. Story continues If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Austin, by virtue of being the capital of Texas, is inextricably tied to Western culture, and as young professionals flock to the city they have embraced the many unique aspects of the Lone Star state. One of the ways this has materialized is through a boom in Western wear that is present in Austin, but has also spread across the country as cultural figureheads like Beyonce and Harry Styles experiment with Western looks. With a seemingly endless amount of Western stores to choose from in Austin, it can feel overwhelming to figure out where to start your Western wear journey. That being said, here are eight of Austins most iconic Western wear locations. Tecovas Boot store located on South Congress. Tecovas 1500 South Congress Ave. Perhaps the trendiest brand on this list, Tecovas was founded in 2015 by Paul Hedrick, an entrepreneur and boot lover who sought to create a more inclusive western wear experience for all customers. This included an emphasis on first-time boot buyers, and with a recent western wear resurgence boosting the industry, Tecovas claims it is the fastest-growing boot company in the world. All of Tecovas' boots are handmade and manufactured in Leon, Mexico an iconic boot-making city. The store is also a popular tourist spot as it is just one of many boot and Western wear shops located on South Congress. Gomez Western Wear is located on South Congress and offers a variety of western wear classics including boots and hats. Gomez Western Wear 6700 South Congress Ave. Gomez Western Wear has been selling hand-made boots for over 20 years in Texas and in that time has been able to grow into 17 separate locations across the state. Another brand steeped in boot-making tradition, Gomez Western wear has all of its boots made in Leon, Mexico. However, despite a dedication to boots, the brand also offers a variety of hats, belts, wallets, mochilas and purses. Tiny's Western Shop Tinys Western Wear 8403 Research Blvd. Opened in 1958, Tinys Western Wear has served as Austins Western wear hole in the wall specializing in Western attire other than boots although they do sell them. If you are looking to buy a bolo tie, this might be the place you are looking for. Story continues The original owner, Tiny, sold the store to its current owners about 20 years ago, and since then it has become a staple in its current location where each of the exterior walls are adorned with red paint that truly gives the store an old Austin vibe. Callahans General Store 501 South Highway 183. Each of the businesses on this list brings something different to the table, however, in the case of Callahans its hard to argue that it isnt the most unique addition. Truly making use of the general store distinction, Callahans offers anything from belt buckles to feed to live animals. The Austin cornerstone was opened in 1978 by the late Earl and Lucy Callahan. Like any western wear store, you will find boots, belt buckles and hats at Callahans, but the store is perhaps best enjoyed as an immersive western retail experience as it offers a long list of products. Allens Boots 1522 South Congress Ave. Another South Congress staple, Allens Boots truly makes an effort to create an experience for its customers. Because of this, among the piles of hats and countless rows of boots, customers can expect live music or other events to be going on while they shop. The boot store opened its doors on South Congress in 1977, and has specialized in hats and hand made boots ever since. The store also has a second location in Round Rock if the hoopla of downtown Austin isnt your speed. La Herradura is located on Montopolis and offers belts, boots, hats and more. La Herradura Western Wear 737 Montopolis Dr. Another store that doesnt just specialize in boots, La Herradura is a good place to check out if you are looking for practical western wear and work wear. The store features Western staples like Ariat, Durango, Cinch and Hooey, while also offering more modern Western products like Western-influenced loafers. Maufrias specializes in hats and western inspired items while also running a coffee shop inside. Maufrais 1512 South Congress Ave. If you arent looking to buy boots but still have a craving for western flair, Maufrais might be the perfect place. The only store on this list that doesnt sell boots, Maufrais specializes in custom hat shaping while also being run as a coffee shop. The store offers various products that capture the essence of the American west like incense, candles, rocks, glassware and a whole host of other vintage goods. This is also another store located on South Congress and could be a good addition to a western store binge should you be in the area. Heritage Boot Company is known for making made to order boots. Heritage Boot Co. 1714 South Congress Ave. The last store on this list is also another located on South Congress as Heritage Boot Co. is an in-person-only custom boot company that prides itself on making the best quality boots available. Acknowledged in the past by Forbes as the best handmade cowboy boots you can buy right now, Heritage Boot Co. works with each of its customers to ensure the best possible boot is made or available. Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in the Austin business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights with Salgado, email Bsalgado@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Eight Austin stores that are fueling the city's western wear revival Embark on a Culinary Odyssey with "Edible Artistry" by Stanislav Kondrashov Lugano, Switzerland --News Direct-- Prodigy Press Wire In the spirit of culinary innovation, Stanislav Kondrashov of TELF AG unveils a transformative approach to cooking with his latest article, "Edible Artistry." Stanislav Kondrashov explores the essence of plating as an art form, providing a comprehensive guide to creating dishes that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are delectable. According to Stanislav Kondrashov, the journey begins with the plate, a blank canvas awaiting the stroke of genius. He emphasizes the importance of color contrast and plate selection to accentuate the visual allure of each ingredient. Stanislav Kondrashov states, "The contrast between the food and the plate enhances the visual appeal, making each component pop." Color Me Delicious, a section within the article, encourages aspiring chef-artists to paint with the palette of ingredients available to them. As per Stanislav Kondrashov's guidance, the interplay of bright and subtle hues from tomatoes, avocados, and proteins can create a visual spectacle on the plate. Texture Talk, another insightful section by Stanislav Kondrashov, delves into the symphony of sensations that can be achieved by combining different textures. From the crunch of toasted nuts to the smoothness of cream cheese, he showcases how a variety of tactile experiences can elevate a dish. Furthermore, Stanislav Kondrashov imparts wisdom on composition and balance, urging chefs to thoughtfully arrange their creations for visual harmony. He asserts that intentionality in plating can transform a meal into a visually satisfying tableau. Final touches, as Stanislav Kondrashov elucidates, are akin to the last brushstrokes on a painting. He advocates for the use of delicate garnishes and strategic sauce applications to enhance the final presentation without overshadowing the dish's intrinsic beauty. Story continues Stanislav Kondrashov also shares expert tips and tricks, from sauce painting techniques to herb sprinkles, that invite chefs to experiment with temperature and texture contrasts. The article concludes with an invitation to readers to embrace their inner artist-chef and to view the kitchen as a studio where the plate is the ultimate canvas. Stanislav Kondrashov encourages everyone to share their culinary masterpieces, promising that with practice and creativity, every meal can be transformed into an extraordinary experience. "Edible Artistry" by Stanislav Kondrashov is not just an article; it's a manifesto for the modern gastronome, a call to culinary arms for those daring to infuse artistry into every bite. For more information, please visit Stanislav Kondrashov's Blog. Media Contact Company Name: Stanislav Kondrashov Co. Contact Person: Stanislav Kondrashov Email: stanislavkondrashov12@gmail.com Website: https://stanislavkondrashov.co/stanislav-kondrashov-blog/food/edible-artistry-by-stanislav-kondrashov/ Disclaimer: There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. Moreover, nothing contained in this PR should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment or security, or to engage in any investment strategy or transaction. It is your responsibility to determine whether any investment, investment strategy, security, or related transaction is appropriate for you based on your investment objectives, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance. Consult your business advisor, attorney, or tax advisor regarding your specific business, legal, or tax situation. For more info, please contact brandnewsproject@gmail.com. Release ID: 814780 View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/embark-on-a-culinary-odyssey-with-edible-artistry-by-stanislav-kondrashov-355119622 Over the last year, a good number of insiders have significantly increased their holdings in EP&T Global Limited (ASX:EPX). This is encouraging because it indicates that insiders are more optimistic about the company's prospects. 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 EP&T Global The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At EP&T Global Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Founder & Executive Director Kirthi Gunaratne for AU$950k worth of shares, at about AU$0.025 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$0.024. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. 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. While EP&T Global insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below! EP&T Global is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. Insiders At EP&T Global Have Bought Stock Recently We saw some EP&T Global insider buying shares in the last three months. CEO & Executive Director John Balassis purchased AU$19k worth of shares in that period. It's great to see that insiders are only buying, not selling. But the amount invested in the last three months isn't enough for us too put much weight on it, as a single factor. Story continues Insider Ownership Of EP&T Global For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that EP&T Global insiders own 39% of the company, worth about AU$4.2m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. So What Does This Data Suggest About EP&T Global Insiders? Our data shows a little insider buying, but no selling, in the last three months. The net investment is not enough to encourage us much. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders do have a stake in EP&T Global and their transactions don't cause us concern. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing EP&T Global. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for EP&T Global you should know about. Of course EP&T Global may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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. FILE PHOTO: View of the Cobre Panama mine, of Canadian First Quantum Minerals, in Donoso, Panama, December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Aris Martinez By Divya Rajagopal and Julian Luk TORONTO/LONDON (Reuters) -Canada's First Quantum Minerals will carry out maintenance at its Panama mine from Nov. 23 due to coal supplies being blocked by protestors opposing the government's contract with one of the world's biggest and newest copper mines, two sources familiar with the discussions said on Monday. This move would effectively suspend production at the Cobre Panama mine until coal supplies resume as the mine cannot operate without power, one of the sources said. The sources declined to be identified as the information is not public. Copper prices hit a two-month high while the company's stock fell as much as 5.7% after Reuters reported the mine suspension. The stock ended down 3.5%, while the benchmark Canada index rose 0.4%. Protests have escalated since the government and First Quantum signed a new contract on Oct. 20 for the Cobre Panama concession, which contributes 1% to global copper production and 5% to Panama's gross domestic product. A ship with supplies for the mine was unable to dock as local boats blocked off access to the key port, the company said on Friday. An FQM spokesman on Monday declined to comment specifically on the Nov. 23 suspension. "In terms of production we are talking about a temporary halt because of the illegal blockade. As soon as the port reopens, we will be able to ramp production back up quickly," the company said in a statement to Reuters. Earlier on Monday, First Quantum said it had further ramped down operations at Cobre Panama to one remaining ore processing train, adding that it expects to run out of supplies for the on-site power plant during the week commencing Nov. 20. "The focus will be to maintain the tailings pond 24/7," one of the sources said about the maintenance. Tailings ponds are created to store waste generated from mining, which requires proper maintenance. Panama's top court will hear the legality of the contract awarded to First Quantum from Nov. 24, the company said in the statement. Story continues The contract has faced numerous legal challenges due to protests that claim it favors the miner too much and allege corrupt practices in its approval. Such protests have escalated into an anti-government movement, as well as demonstrations against the environmental impact of the giant operation. Last weekend, the protests against the mine received an endorsement from Hollywood actor Leonardo Di Caprio who shared a video from an environmental group that called for the Supreme Court to cancel the contract given to First Quantum. Cobre Panama produced 112,734 tonnes of copper in the third quarter, according to First Quantum's financial statements. It contributed $930 million to the overall third quarter revenue of $2.02 billion. ($1 = 1.3718 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Divya Rajagopal in Toronto and Julian Luk in LondonEditing by Denny Thomas, Chizu Nomiyama and Marguerita Choy) FILE PHOTO: Two freight trucks are driven on the Fisher freeway in Detroit, Michigan By Jarrett Renshaw, Isla Binnie and Douglas Gillison (Reuters) - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officials have told lobbyists and corporate executives in recent days that the agency's long-anticipated climate rules may scale back some of the most demanding greenhouse gas emissions disclosure requirements that it had proposed. At issue are so-called Scope 3 emissions that account for greenhouse gases released in the atmosphere from a company's supply chain and the consumption of its products by customers, according to people familiar with the conversations. In March 2022, the SEC proposed requiring publicly listed companies to disclose climate risks, including their Scope 3 emissions when they are "material" and when companies have set reduction targets for them. The agency said such information is important for investors' due diligence. Companies pushed back, arguing the data would be hard to produce and legally contentious. Walking back the Scope 3 requirement would represent a win for those in the corporate world that lobbied against the changes and would deviate from European Union rules which would make Scope 3 disclosures mandatory for large companies starting in 2024. In private meetings with representatives of companies and other stakeholders, some SEC officials have said that mandating Scope 3 disclosures could make the rule more vulnerable to legal challenges which, if successful, could tie the agency's hands when writing other rules, according to the sources. Those concerns were fueled by last year's Supreme Court decision curbing the Environmental Protection Agency's power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This raised doubts over whether SEC rules would survive a court challenge. Some corporate groups and Republican lawmakers have argued that tackling climate change-related issues exceeds the SEC's authority, and that the rules would be unduly burdensome for companies and cloud truly material information for investors. Story continues The sources, who requested anonymity to talk about private conversations, said SEC officials did not indicate that a final decision has been made regarding the emission disclosure rules. Nevertheless, the deliberations indicate that the agency's top brass, led by Chair Gary Gensler, are inclined to back off from the proposal to make Scope 3 emission disclosures mandatory, the sources added. The agency could still pursue a compromise, including requiring only companies that already report Scope 3 emissions for other legal jurisdictions to make disclosures, or letting companies provide the information separate from regulatory filings which would reduce legal liability, according to other industry participants tracking the rule. An SEC spokesperson declined to comment on Scope 3 emissions and when the climate disclosure rules will be finalized. "Based on the public feedback, the staff and the Commission consider possible adjustments to the proposals and whether it's appropriate to move forward to a final adoption. The Commission moves to adopt rules only when the staff and the Commission think they are ready to be considered," the spokesperson said. CALIFORNIA RULES Softening emission disclosures would be a blow for President Joe Biden's agenda to tackle climate change through federal agencies. Biden, a Democrat, has been under pressure from many lawmakers in his party to do more and at a faster pace. Even some advocates of climate action have expressed concerns about the logistical challenges of accurately calculating Scope 3 emissions. Even if the SEC stripped Scope 3 emissions from the rules, companies would be required to disclose emissions they are more directly responsible for, dubbed Scope 1 and Scope 2. For many businesses, however, Scope 3 emissions represent more than 70% of their carbon footprint, according to consulting firm Deloitte. Gensler, a Democrat, must win the backing of the agency's two other Democratic commissioners to pass the rule with a 3-2 majority. Both Republican SEC commissioners are expected to vote against it. One has vocally opposed the proposal. Gensler has raised doubts over whether Scope 3 disclosures are sufficiently "well-developed." This year, California adopted a law that will require companies active in the state to disclose Scope 3 emissions come 2027. Gensler told lawmakers in September this could make the SEC's rule less costly, since many companies would already be producing the information. Corporate lobbyists said companies would still be reluctant to include Scope 3 emissions in SEC filings, because of the risk of shareholder lawsuits. Some voluntary initiatives such as the International Sustainability Standards Board already specify that it is best practice to disclose Scope 3 emissions. Gensler told an event held by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last month that he hoped the emissions disclosure rules, which received some 16,000 public comments, will survive any legal challenges once they are finalized and adopted. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Douglas Gillison in Washington and Isla Binnie in New York; Additional reporting by Chris Prentice in New York, Ross Kerber in Boston and Simon Jessop in London; Editing by Michelle Price, Greg Roumeliotis and David Gregorio) When you think of some of the most iconic retail districts in the world, you might imagine Londons Bond Street, Avenue Montaigne in Paris, Via Montenapoleone in Milan, or Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. Still, New York Citys Fifth Avenue likely tops the list. Today, the street stretches more than 135 city blocks, beginning at Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village and spanning up to 143rd Street in Harlem. This defining thoroughfare was an essential destination that helped put New York City on the map during the Gilded Age and continues to do so today. 2024 will mark the monumental 200th anniversary of Fifth Avenue and the key role it has played in the citys past, present, and future. In part one of this two-part series, we take a look back at the defining moments that built this emblematic avenue as well as the core retailers who helped establish its reputation as a premier global shopping destination and continue to be mainstays of Fifth Avenue today. A Dividing Line Between West and East In the early 1800s, city planners first began to develop New York Citys grid system and wanted to establish a road that would clearly delineate the west and east sides of the city. By 1824, the initial segment of this road, beginning at Washington Square Park, would be called Fifth Avenue. Thanks to the rapid economic growth spurring the Gilded Age, Fifth Avenue would develop into the premier luxury residential area in New York City over the next few decades, reaching up to The Union or what we know today as Union Square. As Fifth Avenue was extended further north, a shift began to happen, and a pivotal moment came in 1870 when Tiffany & Co. moved its store from its original location at 259 Broadway in what is now Tribeca to 15 Union Square West. Tiffanys would go on to move further north, initially to its first Fifth Avenue outpost at 37th Street and by 1940, to its current flagship at 57th Street. Tiffany & Co. Paves the Way for Fifth Avenues Commercial Development Tiffanys was not only the first major retailer to help establish Fifth Avenue as a premier retail district but also one that has continued to be a mainstay of the area for nearly a century. Today, Tiffany & Co. has more than 300 retail stores worldwide, yet its Fifth Avenue location remains the most highly trafficked. Visiting this Fifth Avenue landmark isnt just about the brands exceptional waresits about the experience of visiting this historic destination. In April of this year, Tiffanys unveiled its first holistic renovation since 1940, marked by custom artwork on each of the eight floors from renowned artists including Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, Rashid Johnson, Anna Weyant, and Daniel Arsham as well as never before seen jewelry from the brands archives. The flagship is now home to the largest collection of Tiffany High Jewelry in the world, including the biggest wonder of them alla new design for the legendary 128.54-carat Tiffany Diamond. Story continues Courtesy of Tiffanys Other Key Businesses Follow Suit Aside from Tiffanys, there were three other retailers who became key pillars of Fifth Avenue and helped solidify its place as a premier commercial sector. By 1914, Bergdorfs had evolved from a modest tailor shop in Union Square to Bergdorf Goodman, located at 32nd Street and Sixth Avenue. That year, the store officially relocated to Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets to what would later become Rockefeller Center. Here, Bergdorf Goodman expanded beyond tailoring and became the first couturier in the States to introduce its own ready-to-wear collection. Over the next decade, Bergdorf Goodman would outgrow its initial Fifth Avenue outpost and move to its permanent home in the present-day location. Since then, Bergdorfs has been an anchor of Fifth Avenue, occupying the full city block between 57th and 58th streets. The stores jewelry salon was newly renovated back in 2015 and now features its own private entrance on the first floor. Aside from curating a more intimate, boutique experience overall, the redesign includes private viewing rooms for appointments with Bergdorfs jewelry experts or designers available for bespoke pieces. About 85% of the assortment in Bergdofs jewelry department is exclusive to the Fifth Avenue location, including fine jewelry items from makers like Chanel and Bayco that exceed $1 million. Portrait of Mae Caldwell Plant Rovensky, Alphonse Jongers, early. Courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County. Following Bergdorfs, Cartier was another core business to further establish Fifth Avenue. In 1917, the illustrious French retailer forged one of the most famous real estate deals in the history of New York City in order to base its flagship on the burgeoning street. The Cartier Mansion is aptly named, once serving as the private residence of Morton Freeman Plant, the son of railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant. Plant agreed to sell the mansion to Pierre Cartier in exchange for $100 cash and a unique double strand pearl necklace, valued at $1 million at the time. In 1970, New York Citys Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Cartier Mansion as a city landmark, and just last year in 2022, the store received a complete redesign with the goal of making the space less commercial and more congenial in the spirit of the buildings residential origins. Just like Tiffanys, visiting the Cartier Mansion is about more than just shopping, its about having an experience. Here, youll find the largest collection of Cartier jewelry in the world, including a number of pieces exclusive to the Fifth Avenue boutique. Youll also find exclusive offerings, like a private dining room for VIPs and in the engagement salon, the ability to watch your stone be physically set into your ring at the hand of Cartiers skilled artisans who work onsite. In addition, youll find a painting of Plants wife Maisie donning the famous pearl necklace hanging prominently. Into the 1920s, one more retailer would go on to cement the growing prominence of Fifth Avenue in a monumental way. For two decades, a large multi-branch clothing store called Saks & Co. had its New York City outpost at the corner of 34th Street and Broadway in the heart of Herald Square. In 1923, the company merged with the department store Gimbels and opened a new flagship on Fifth Avenue spanning an entire city block between 49th and 50th Streets right next to the iconic St. Patricks Cathedral. With the new location came a new nameSaks Fifth Avenuetaking the distinction of the location to the next level by including the name of the street in the name of the business itself. More Than a Retail Destination, a Holiday Destination The period of economic prosperity in the early 1900s marked the rise of Firth Avenue as a top luxury shopping destination. However, its growth was stunted by the Great Depression. During this time, much of the development of Fifth Avenue halted, but there was one important turn of events. Prior to the stock market crash, the Metropolitan Opera had been slated to develop a new facility on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th streets in an area owned by Columbia University. With the onset of the economic downturn, their plans were foiled, and John D. Rockefeller Jr. opted to purchase the land instead. This development would become one of the greatest projects of the Great Depression, ultimately resulting in Rockefeller Center. The complex was key to establishing Fifth Avenue as not only a retail destination but also a holiday destination. In December of 1931, as workers came to collect their final paychecks, they brought their families and erected a tree in the center of the construction site. This inspired Rockefeller to begin the tradition of the famed Rock Center Christmas Tree each holiday season. Fifth Avenue Continues to Evolve into the Premier Commercial District We Know Today As the nation rebounded from the Great Depression and the economy began to recover, so did the commerce of Fifth Avenue. Over the next few decades, we would see luxury retailers like Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry Winston, and Bulgari establish their U.S. flagships on the famed street. By 1971, New York Citys mayor John Lindsey had proposed a special zoning district to preserve the retail character of Fifth Avenues midtown section. The legislation dictated that new buildings on Fifth Avenue must house a minimum percentage of retail space. In addition, it provided certain incentives for buildings that offered more than the minimum amount of retail. This legislation also spurred the construction of the mixed use buildings that are prevalent throughout New York City today, offering retail on the ground level and office space or residential space on the top stories. In the decades to follow, more and more luxury retailers would continue to flock to Fifth Avenue, including mainstays like Wempe and Louis Vuitton. Even today, Fifth Avenues commercial space remains highly coveted for top brands with new openings each year such as TAG Heuer in the summer of 2023, Chanels High Jewelry boutique in 2024, and Rolex in 2025. Lets continue exploring the modern evolution of Fifth Avenue and the exceptional offerings and experiences from todays retailers that make this destination truly remarkable 200 years later in part two of this seriesstay tuned! The post How Fifth Avenue Became One of the Worlds Premier Luxury Shopping Destinations appeared first on Worth. Farnsworth Group, the engineering and architecture firm appointed by Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones to be the city engineer, plays an integral role in helping the city select what firms should win publicly funded construction contracts. But a monthslong investigation into Calumet Citys spending habits shows the firm also wins a large portion of engineering and architecture contracts, leading to questions of a possible conflict of interest. Farnsworth was selected by Jones, who is also a state representative, to take over the role of city engineer from Robinson Engineering, the firm used by his predecessor, Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush. Since May 1, 2021, part of Farnsworths duties include assisting the bid selection process for construction projects in Calumet City. (For) the construction contracts, we would help the city put it out for bid and then we would help vet the bids and then we would say this is the qualified lowest bidder, Farnsworth senior manager Ken Chastain said during an Aug. 17 interview. Farnsworth also submits bids for engineering and architecture work that their firm specializes in, though it does not bid on construction projects. We help the staff with the technical information so that they can go out and solicit qualifications from professional firms like Farnsworth Group, Chastain said. But not necessarily us. Chastain confirmed Farnsworth is in the running for some of the contracts for which they provide technical information. We have to compete, he said. The Daily Southtown obtained records that show from May 2021, when Farnsworth was appointed, until late August 2023, when the documents were requested, the city has spent $2.64 million on engineering and architecture work. Of this sum, $2.06 million, or 78%, has gone to Farnsworth. This figure appears to include both the bid consulting and the professional services work, although the split between the two roles is unclear in the figures. Chastain and the citys spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment and clarification on this point. Story continues Five other firms have shared the remaining 22% of the architecture and engineering spending. The second highest earning firm which received $306,618 or 11.6% of the total is Mott McDonald. Matt Buerger, now a senior engineering manager at Farnsworth, was a senior project manager at Mott McDonald until January 2022, according to a 2020 presentation and his LinkedIn. Of the 144 items of architectural and engineering spending on work conducted by Farnsworth, 32 items were for more than $25,000. Illinois law requires municipalities with fewer than 500,000 people to have an open advertising process before a City Council selects the lowest viable bid for work more than $25,000, unless the council votes to waive the advertising process. In the August interview, Chastain said the bid selection process of contracts for which Farnsworth competes is very transparent. We have no contract to do projects without the City Council, you know, deliberating and voting on it, he said. (City Council has) a committee that reviews those professional firms and then the city staff reviews it. They give a recommendation to the City Council and the City Council chooses. But First Ward Ald. Michael Navarrete, 2nd Ward Ald. Monet Wilson, 6th Ward Ald. James Patton and City Clerk Nyota Figgs say a transparent bid process is not taking place. The first time that we find out about a lot of things is when it appears on a City Council agenda, Patton said. Some contracts do go out to bid through a formal process. For other contracts, the bid process is waived for a good reason, although Navarrete said the bid waiving process will sometimes occur without City Councils knowledge. For some other contracts, aldermen say City Council learns who received the bid when it appears on the monthly list of bills to vote on, after the contractor has already been selected. Our city engineers, who are appointed, they do a lot of things that we dont hear about until after the fact when we see the bills, Navarrete said. We should know what our engineering firm is doing and we should be on the same path. This process is different from when Robinson Engineering was the city engineer, said Patton, who worked for the city during the previous administration under a variety of titles including director of purchasing and personnel. He said when bids were sought for contracts or the city sought a certain service, the bids would be advertised in the newspaper. The bids would have to be submitted to the city clerks office by a certain time on a certain day and then there would be a public bid opening, Patton said. The department head for whatever services were needed would recommend a bid to the mayor and explain the recommendation. City Council, informed of the process each step of the way, would then make the final vote, he said. In this administration none of that happens, as far as I know, Patton said. Certainly, the council is never informed of who the lowest bidder is or any of the information relating to the bid process at all. Figgs, who was the city clerk under the previous mayor and city engineer, said Robinson would at times be hired to do some jobs as well as consult. But she said they were not winning contracts at the same frequency and it was stated more explicitly when Robinson received bids. She also described that when the city sought bids from other firms, sealed bids were opened publicly and then discussed by City Council. Robinson did not manage the process in the same way that Farnsworth does now, she explained. The City Council occasionally pushes back on the lack of transparency. In one recent instance, after publishing a request for proposal to construct a bike path, Navarrete says he was struck to see that on May 12, Farnsworth was awarded the contract to build the path despite the City Council not being engaged in the firm selection process. He asked about the decision making that went into choosing Farnsworth. What he found was Farnsworth received credit for being the firm that best knew how the city infrastructure was set up because they are the city engineers. This caused two minority owned firms to lose out on what figures show was $62,692.68 over two payments, according to Navarrete and public records. To do an asphalt bike path, you dont need to know Calumet Citys infrastructure, he said. How is any other firm ever going to win? Navarrete disclosed he worked for one of these two minority firms until 2020. He asked to keep their names anonymous. The three aldermen who most frequently question the contract award process do have a say on whether these contracts get awarded. But there are seven people on council which sometimes puts them in the minority. And there are other reasons why sometimes there is a hesitancy to question the process including the fear there will be retaliation from the administration. Patton says his business suffered when, in 2021, he lodged a complaint against a city attorney and Jones emailed colleagues in the state house warning them not to use Pattons consulting business. Patton says this email caused him to lose three clients. Every time I try to do something, its impacted my personal life. Its impacted my professional life, he said. There are seven of us there that are elected to do a job. Patton, Wilson and Figgs have other personal, legal and political issues with the Jones administration and the city. Patton lost an effort to challenge Jones viability to be both state representative and mayor. Jones is under federal investigation involving use of campaign funds, in part because Patton and others filed complaints. Wilson has voiced her opposition to his administration and lost to Jones in the 2022 Democratic primary for state representative in a landslide, according to Illinois State Board of Elections. Patton supported Wilson in that race. Figgs has filed lawsuits against Jones including one accusing him of removing some of her duties. The city has sued Figgs for allegedly destroying public records. Chastain, Buerger, Jones, 3rd Ward Ald. DeAndre Tillman, 7th Ward Ald. Anthony Smith and representatives for Mott McDonald and Robinson Engineering also did not respond to multiple attempts to seek comment on the spending, and 5th Ward Ald. Dejaun Gardner referred questions to spokesman Sean Howard. Howard did not respond to requests for comment. 4th Ward Ald. Ramonde Williams said he was not as familiar about the process that went into awarding contracts. I have life outside of City Council so I dont read absolutely everything ... as far as contracts, Williams said. He said his expertise is in public safety, given his job as chief of police for South Suburban College. He said the bid envelopes are opened publicly as they were when Robinson was the city engineer. But he declined to provide any evidence of this, saying I have a day job. The Daily Southtown attempted to receive evidence of the bid and advertising processes being followed. Calumet City responded Monday to a Sept. 28 Freedom of Information Act request for the bid process of three of Farnsworths most lucrative jobs, saying there were no records of other firms bidding for the work or a reason the bid process was waived for the projects, which were all worth more than $25,000. They shouldnt be running the process, Patton said of Farnsworth. Nobody outside of the city administration should be running the process. Navarrete also said Farnsworths work itself is not the issue, calling them a very capable firm. But the main issue is how the contracts get awarded. John Jackson, a visiting professor at the Paul Simon Institute at Southern Illinois University, reviewed the described process and said he believes the relationship between Farnsworth and the city government is problematic. I think the average citizen would see this as something of a conflict of interest because this company, Farnsworth, seems to be playing two roles, Jackson said. It seems to me you play either one or the other role but you cant play both without there being at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. Jackson also said the City Council should have a more hands-on say in which bids to select instead of voting on whether to pay a predetermined dollar amount. There could be benefits to having a trusted partner who knows the city well taking on certain projects as well as consulting, said Alisa Kaplan, the executive director of Reform Illinois, a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization that tracks political behavior. But the fact that Farnsworth is taking such a huge chunk of the citys project funds and the apparent lack of transparency around the whole process raise serious questions. hsanders@chicagotribune.com Editors note: This story was updated at noon Nov. 20, after Calumet City responded to a Sept. 28, 2023, request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. jetcityimage / iStock.com Officials warn of a fake letter circulating around Roanoke County, Virginia, claiming residents are eligible for SNAP benefits. According to a 10 News investigation, it may be an attempt to create panic about homeless people moving into a closed motel near Hunting Hills, one of the areas wealthiest neighborhoods. See: What Income Is Considered Poverty Level in 2023? Find: The Richest Small Town in Every State The Least of These Ministry, a local nonprofit organization, has plans to turn the Apple Valley Motel into housing for people experiencing homelessness. People living in the Hunting Hills neighborhood received the letter stating that because the property is being turned into a transient living facility, the USDA is expanding SNAP resources to include their properties. The letter uses USDA letterhead and appears to be an official letter, but it states that the government has established the area as a food desert, an area where residents access to affordable and healthy foods is restricted or nonexistent. However, 10 News noted that theres a Walmart Superstore across the street. Other red flags include alleging that residents are residing in a low-income neighborhood and there will be a monthly stipend offered to any homeowner who wishes to open their home to any of your new transient neighbors. The contact number on the letter also goes to Santas hotline. Also: 10 US Cities That Are Running Out of Jobs and Cheap Housing 10 News contacted the USDA, who verified the letter is fake. USDA is aware of a fraudulent letter appearing to be issued from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) asking recipients to reach out to an unaffiliated number and an unaffiliated organization, the USDA said in a statement. The letter also falsely claims that there is a new allowance for the sale of food and convenient store items. This letter is not from USDA nor FNS and should be immediately discarded. While the letter is likely just a hoax, SNAP scams have been on the rise. Story continues USDA officials recently announced that SNAP households will have protection from stolen benefits through Sept. 30, 2024. The agency officially approved all SNAP state agencies plans for replacing benefits stolen via card skimming, card cloning and other related crimes. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Food Stamps: Beware Fake Letter Claiming Youre Eligible for SNAP Benefits How It Deceives You A former Cook County judge accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bank accounts of an elderly former Tuskegee Airman to purchase cryptocurrency has been indicted on seven felony counts of theft, money laundering and financial exploitation of an elderly person. The felony charges were lodged Nov. 9 against Patricia Martin, who stepped down in 2020 as presiding judge in the Child Protection Division of Cook County Circuit Court. Shes allowed to live in Missouri while she awaits her next court date in December, according to court records. She had a long and distinguished career, and we expect her to be vindicated, said Martins attorney, Michael Leonard. The Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which handles allegations of lawyer misconduct, said in a May 31 fraud complaint that Martin stole from Oscar Wilkerson, an elderly man whose financial affairs she was supposed to manage. They alleged she used the money for her own benefit, including buying more than $100,000 in cryptocurrency in her own name. Wilkerson died in February at 97. In total, the attorney discipline complaint alleged Martin took $246,203.80 of Wilkersons money during about a two-year period. It also accused her of lying to Wilkerson and his doctor and failing to cooperate with an investigation. Lawyers for Wilkerson also filed a lawsuit against Martin last year where a judge ordered a $1.1 million default judgment due to Martins continued unresponsiveness to court hearings and orders. Martin has already been disbarred. Martins attorneys are appealing the default judgment. Martin filed a motion in July to dismiss the judgment, arguing, among other issues, that Wilkersons death in February left the case without a proper plaintiff. Mary Wisniewski, a spokesperson for Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans office, said in a statement that neither judges nor employees can comment on pending or impending cases, under Illinois Supreme Court ethical rules. rjohnson@chicagotribune.com mabuckley@chicagotribune.com Dyane Rogelstad and her daughter, Jenn Dawson, are pictured inside Dawson's home in Fort Collins on Friday. To say it was culture shock when Jenn Dawson and her mom, Dyane Rogelstad, moved from southern Idaho where they could rent a house for $700 to Fort Collins where a one-bedroom apartment cost $1,000 would be downplaying the impact. "Moving to Fort Collins and paying rent for a postage stamp that was the same as a mortgage in Idaho" meant sharing a one-bedroom apartment with a loft when they moved in 2012, Rogelstad said. "That was our only option, really, short of going out and finding strangers to live with," said Dawson, who was in her early 20s when they moved. "We were like, 'well, we can just share the rent until we get our feet under us,' which was a bit of a pipe dream." As a young adult, Dawson wanted her independence and a place of her own; Rogelstad wanted a place to start over. Rooming with mom isn't always the best arrangement for a grown daughter, and after two years they recognized the need for change. But rents had only increased while their financial situation hadn't changed. Separated by a generation Dawson, 30, finishing her degree and on the verge of launching her career, and Rogelstad, 58, working three jobs to make ends meet the struggle is the same. In their 11 years here, housing insecurity has remained the constant. "Basically, life has changed but living has not," Dawson said. Between the two of them, they've lived with roommates sometimes in violation of the city's "U+2" residential occupancy restrictions couch surfed, sought low-income housing, and moved regularly in search of more affordable options. Jenn Dawson is photographed inside her home in Fort Collins on Friday. As housing costs continue to rise and affordability seems more aspirational than achievable, Fort Collins City Council is exploring its options, including possibly relaxing U+2 regulations and increasing the potential residential density in many neighborhoods. A proposed property tax increase to fund more affordable housing initiatives failed in the city's Nov. 7 election. Story continues Though new neighborhoods and apartments keep going up, housing supply in the city has not yet outstripped demand. It may never. That means the city's clearest path to affordability appears to be housing more people in each unit to spread out the cost. A city survey found there are between 14,000 and 17,000 more bedrooms than there are residents in Fort Collins, said Meaghan Overton, the city's housing manager. "It doesn't tell us how those bedrooms are being used, or if a change in occupancy would result in more of those bedrooms being used," she said. "It tells us our existing housing stock could be underutilized." Fort Collins' apartment vacancy rate at the end of June was between 4% and 4.5% less than the 5% benchmark for a balanced market and the median monthly rent was nearing $1,700, according to the Colorado Statewide Apartment Survey sponsored by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. Supply remains low and demand is high. That means rents will keep rising in the Choice City. Will changes to Fort Collins' housing occupancy limits provide affordability? When a citizen-led effort to replace U+2 which prevents more three unrelated people from living together in most of the city's homes with an occupancy ordinance based on each residence's number of bedrooms and bedroom size failed in June, council told staff to come up with recommendations no later than next June. Opponents of U+2 say the ordinance limits options, making it more expensive to live here. They say expanding the ordinance would allow more people to live together, freeing up other housing. Proponents, specifically those living near Colorado State University, say the policy keeps parties, parking troubles and disruptive neighbors out of their neighborhoods and also frees up more housing for families. If freeing up housing is the means to affordability, as many say, then neither staying the course nor expanding U+2 will achieve the city's goals, experts say. As both the median home price and rents in the city continue to rise, an increasing proportion of residents rents rather than owns their homes. According to city data, 43% of the city's housing stock is rental property; of which 38% are single-family, duplex and townhome rentals. More than 60% of Fort Collins rental units are in apartment buildings. While more than three unrelated people could conceivably cram themselves into the more widely available two-bedroom apartments in the city under relaxed regulations, that living situation isn't likely to appeal to most renters. "It's single-family (detached) dwellings that numerous people want for a backyard and for their pets," said Don Dunn, owner of Dunn Real Estate and Management. "We're not building a lot of single-family." Builders are shifting away from new single-family detached homes in favor of condos, townhomes and multifamily units. With water constraints and land deals getting more difficult and expensive to navigate, adding density not only keeps their building costs down but helps increase housing supply and sell it more quickly. The median sales price of a condo/townhouse in Fort Collins through September was $405,000 compared to $629,500 for a single-family detached home. Last year, Fort Collins' building department issued permits for 621 new residential units: 240 single-family detached homes and 381 single-family attached or multifamily units, according to data provided by the city. But apartments typically have fewer bedrooms than single-family homes. On average, a single-family house in Fort Collins has 3.4 bedrooms compared to apartments, which are primarily one to three bedrooms, according to city data. A 100-unit apartment complex may include 70% studio to two-bedroom units that would accommodate four people at most, but more likely one to two people, Dunn said. So, if single-family homes have more bedrooms that could hold more people but we're not building as many of them, it stands to reason that expanding U+2 will be limited in its scope to free up new inventory in the city. But, it could help fill up some of those existing bedrooms, Overton said. Escalating rents, which jumped 75% between 2005 and 2018, have forced renters to bring in other people to afford the monthly payment, she said. Rents in the city increased another 26% from 2020 through the second quarter this year, according to the state. "We are seeing a lot more families bringing in additional people than we used to," Overton said. Two couples sharing a house and a family living with a housemate both violate the city's occupancy limits but may not be the intended target of U+2 restrictions. "If the regulations matched the demographics a bit more, we might have fewer people caught in the two couples or family with roommate trying to make the mortgage," Overton said. "All I know is it's really complex and really controversial," she said. "I'm hopeful we can have a really good dialogue and use the data available and think through the viable options. Can we utilize the housing stock effectively and efficiently and try to moderate some of the incredible increases in rent? What tools do we have to improve affordability?" Rent increases on the way in Fort Collins Dunn anticipates a 10%-15% hike next year in rents for single-family units "based on expenses landlords are now having to pay, which will not be absorbed by them," including increased property taxes, the city's new rental registration fee ($37 per property and $10 for each additional unit), water and utility bills and state-mandated radon tests. Still, expanding U+2 "ultimately will reduce the cost for renters," he said. Dunn said a landlord's ability to hike rents if U+2 is expanded is limited. "If a current four-bedroom, two-bath house rents for $2,700 a month (three occupants at $900 each), adding another person might kick it up to $3,000 a month ($750 each)." The landlord will make a little more, but the per-cost share monthly will go down across the board, he said. "There is some logic in the market argument that renters, if they can find a less expensive option available, can choose that option," Overton said. "There has to be an inflection point where a landlord can't ask for rent much higher than the market is currently." Dawson is losing hope that one day she'll have what so many generations before her have found in Fort Collins: A place to call home. The journalism and psychology student at Colorado State University has attended City Council meetings and listening sessions to make her own voice heard. "What I hear from people is that they spent a lot of their lives working for their dream, their American dream," Dawson said. "And they worked a lot of years and they saved a lot of money and they sacrificed a lot of life things. And they were fortunate enough to get everything they wanted in a single-family home in Fort Collins. Good for them. "We know we will never have the same life that they currently have. We know we will never get it. But with a little bit of increased density, maybe we could at least live in the city we work in and go to school in. And God forbid, live in the same neighborhoods as the people we serve coffee and food to." Her mom, now living in low-income senior housing, isn't sure how long she'll be able to stay here. Before the pandemic, she was renting a one-bedroom apartment for $1,300 a month. At the end of the pandemic the landlord raised the rent by $500 each month. Since then, "technically, I was homeless up until August," Rogelstad said. She tried various living arrangements including roommates and income-based housing. Each came with its own issues. The roommates didn't work out, and in income-based apartments "they stuck me a building that was full of smoking adults and I was getting sick." Dyane Rogelstad is photographed inside daughter Jenn Dawson's home in Fort Collins on Friday. She put her belongings in storage and stayed with her son in South Carolina for a while before returning to Fort Collins and getting another spot in income-based apartments. "I never thought I would be in this situation," Rogelstad said. "This was a surprise. Unless you have a dual income, you're not really going to survive very well here." She has cobbled together three jobs that add up to about 40 hours a week. Dawson said people who are fighting increased density and efforts to bring affordable housing to Fort Collins are worried about "sacrificing a bit of that quality of life that they always dreamed and worked for. I don't think it's nearly as much as they feel it's going to be. And it won't be nearly as fast as anyone thinks it will be." Dawson doesn't expect expanding U+2 to "me+3" or some version thereof will make a difference aside from reducing the number of U+2 violations. "If you're struggling with U+2, you're probably already violating it .... I don't know that anything really will change and we're going to have the same conversation for the next 10, 15 years." She recently moved in with her partner, who pays the bulk of the $1,700 rent, which Dawson says is below market rate for what they have. "Just the fact that it is not priced where it could be and should be is an element of instability right there. I'm at the whim of somebody I don't know. So, no matter how great the situation is, there's still a very real element of insecurity. My life is dependent on my landlord not waking up one say and saying, 'I could make twice as much.' I don't know why that hasn't happened, but I'm grateful it hasn't." Dawson and her partner want to stay in Fort Collins and buy a house, but their budget is "about $200,000 less" than the city's average selling price, "so I don't know how that's possible." "You can have a dream and you can work for it as hard as you can, and life is gonna take you in a direction because you're going to have to move or something. You can't get attached. That's what I'll say. You can't get attached to your goals if you're a renter." Dyane Rogelstad and her daughter, Jenn Dawson, are pictured inside Dawson's home in Fort Collins on Friday. This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins renters seek relief as housing insecurity rises fizkes / iStock.com Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government paused federal student loan payments for over three years. In October 2023, however, student loan payments resumed, and many people were not prepared to handle this expense again. In particular, Gen Z seems to be the generation most affected by student loan resumption. Discover: All of the States That Will Pay Off Your Student Loans These 10 Colleges Are Working To Eliminate Student Loans From the Equation: How It Succeeds in Keeping Students Out of Debt A recent GOBankingRates survey found that only 5% of 18-24-year-olds have factored their student loans into their budget, while 29% say it will drastically affect their budgets. The reality is that most Gen Z graduates truly believed that the federal government was going to bail them out of the debt they owe. It was inconceivable to the majority of borrowers that the Supreme Court would overrule Bidens student loan forgiveness plan, said John Foard, CFP, co-founder of Crown Advisors, LLC. They have operated the past two to three years under this impression they would not be paying these loans back and thus living on a budget that had not factored in these payments. Unfortunately, its time to pay the piper, and many Gen Z graduates are not prepared to make that payment, he added. However, just because you might be unprepared now doesnt mean that you cant work student loan repayments into your budget comfortably. But you need to plan ahead. Sponsored: New Chase checking customers enjoy a $200 bonus when you open a Chase Total Checking account and set up direct deposit. Get Serious About Budgeting To manage the student loan resumption, many Gen Z graduates and others struggling to pay back student loans will need to take a hard look at their budgets. Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet to resolve this issue. You will just have to rework your budget and make difficult decisions to eliminate items that are not needs within your monthly/annual spending, said Foard. Story continues In his experience as a financial advisor, though, many individuals simply do not budget in alignment with their income. This causes many issues and usually leads to a life of chaos and uncertainty with regard to finances, especially when an emergency arises, said Foard. I strongly recommend reworking your budget to a number where you are living well within your means, where you are saving money each month for emergencies as well as covering your monthly needs. These monthly needs include paying off student loans. To work that into your budget, you may need to make some hard cuts or find ways to earn more money, such as through a side hustle. The reality is everything depends on the amount of income you are bringing home each month, and if you are unable to work in the student loan payments on your current lifestyle, changes need to be made, said Foard. Find Out: Biden Cancels Another $9 Billion in Debt Is Yours Among the $127 Billion Forgiven So Far? Cut Expenses If you need to cut expenses to make ends meet when incorporating the student loan resumption into your budget, you may need to take a closer look at the small items that can add up. Student loan payments can vary from borrower to borrower, but many can expect to pay roughly $200-$500 per month. For simplicitys sake, suppose your monthly payment is $400. As you go through your budget, you can likely find ways to cut that much. Reconsider Spending on Habits and Subscriptions For example, instead of spending $3-$6 on coffee each day, or in some cases twice a day, you can brew your coffee at home for a fraction of the cost, and these savings will add up quickly, said Foard. If you save $3 each day, for example, that can be around $90 per month. Streaming subscriptions are another area ripe for cutting, said Foard. Add $20 per month from subscriptions to the $90 you might save on coffee, and now youre over 25% of the way toward that $400 mark. An often unpopular cut, but a potentially important one, is your gym membership, said Foard. Try to find another gym that is less expensive but gets the job done for now, or just start working out from home instead of paying that fee at all, he explained. If you save $50 per month on a gym membership, plus the other savings, now youre 40% of the way there. These are only a few items to consider, and there are many other places you can look to lower or cut your budget down, said Foard. Regardless, if you are unable to make student loan payments fit into your current lifestyle, change must happen. Make Lifestyle Changes Other ways to save could include spending a few weekend nights having friends over instead of going out to dinner or a bar. If you save $50 per weekend doing that and do so two out of four weekends per month, plus the aforementioned savings, then youre 65% of the way there. Next, suppose that taking public transportation twice per month when you would otherwise take a rideshare or taxi saves another $50 per month. Now youre over 75% of the way there. For the final $90 in savings, switching your cell phone to a cheaper plan and meal prepping to save on food costs could easily get you there. Takeaway These are just examples, and everyones different, but the point is that you can make some relatively small shifts to afford student loan payments. You cant necessarily afford what you could during the student loan pause, but you also dont necessarily need to make dramatic changes, like never going out with friends. The thing to remember is these changes do not have to severely disrupt your life. Budgeting is a huge part of financial planning, and I highly recommend using one of the many free budgeting apps available to help you establish a baseline. From there, you can start finding ways to make adjustments, said Foard. Methodology: GOBankingRates surveyed 1,021 Americans aged 18 and older from across the country between Oct. 12 and Oct. 16, 2023, asking twenty-three different questions: (1) How much did you spend on your pet in the last year?; (2) How much have you spent/are you planning to spend on Halloween this year?; (3) How much money do you spend on kid-related activities in a year?; (4) How much do you spend on average on your monthly utility bills (electric, heat/gas, water)?; (5) What spending/saving habits have you had to change in the last year due to inflation/rising prices? (select all that apply); (6) What was the biggest unexpected expense you had this year?; (7) How much do you currently spend on monthly car payments?; (8) Do you live in a single-income or dual-income household?; (9) In the past year, did you have to take on a side gig because of rising prices/inflation?; (10) How much do you bring home from your side job(s) each month?; (11) How much have your overall expenses gone up in the past year?; (12) What is your top financial priorities to end 2023?; (13) What is the top way youve earned your money/gained wealth?; (14) Have you started financially preparing for 2024?; (15) How much have you spent on home upgrades in 2023?; (16) How will the resumption of student loan repayments affect your budget?; (17) How much do you currently owe in student loans?; (18) How much do you spend on yourself (not including housing, food, etc.) out of each paycheck?; (19) How much do you spend on online purchases per month?; (20) Where do you shop for groceries most often?; (21) Do you shop around for groceries to get better deals?; (22) What are you currently invested in? (Select all that apply); and (23) What is the current value of your stock investments?. GOBankingRates used PureSpectrums survey platform to conduct the poll. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Gen Z Will Be Most Affected By Student Loan Resumption How They Can Prepare Their Budgets Feature: Former COVID hospital in Hong Kong transformed to ramp up radiology services Xinhua) 15:25, November 19, 2023 HONG KONG, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Central Government-Aided Emergency Hospital in Hong Kong has been offering radiology services since April through a pilot program, which has largely reduced patient's waiting time. It will ramp up its services in December to benefit more people. The hospital located in the Lok Ma Chau Loop was commissioned for construction by the central government during the COVID-19 epidemic in Hong Kong. It was handed over to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Dec. 30, 2022. As the epidemic situation became stable and the society returned to normal, Hong Kong's Hospital Authority started a new ambulatory service model for the emergency hospital and launched the Ambulatory Diagnostic Radiology Service Pilot Program, which aimed to shorten patients' waiting time and relieve the pressure on radiology services in public hospitals. "The completion and transformation of the emergency hospital has given us the opportunity to deal with problems such as patients' long waiting time for examinations," Sin Ngai-chuen, clinical stream coordinator of the New Territories East Cluster of the Hospital Authority, said. Sin said that there were many good facilities in the emergency hospital, and the Hospital Authority can make good use of them to cope with the medical needs of patients. Now patients can receive diagnostic scans including computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan through the pilot program. According to the Hospital Authority, as of Oct. 31, the emergency hospital had served a total of 5,746 cases, including 4,277 computer scan cases and 1,469 MRI scan cases. "The public response to the pilot scheme has been positive. We estimated that by the end of this year, the CT and MRI examinations altogether can handle about 10,000 cases, far more than our target of 7,000 cases estimated earlier this year," Paul Lee, chairman of the Coordinating Committee in Radiology of the Hospital Authority, said, adding that he expected the number to reach about 13,000 by March 31, 2024. Lee said that starting from December, the emergency hospital will enhance its radiology services and launch the contrast-enhanced ultrasound service. "I'm so happy that I can do the scan today," a local resident, who identified herself as Mak, told Xinhua with excitement. Mak has been suffering from sciatica for years and was treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon. Recently, her back pain has worsened, and her doctor suggested that she undergo an MRI examination, but an appointment was made for her in 2025. Resources of public hospitals in Hong Kong are so tight that some non-urgent cases like Mak often have to wait for a long time before they have the opportunity to receive examinations. Mak is one of the beneficiaries of the pilot program that helped to alleviate this situation. Lee said that the median waiting time for a CT scan in public hospitals in Hong Kong is generally over 120 weeks. After patients joined the pilot program, the waiting time was reduced to 38 weeks, while the waiting time for MRI scan has been cut from over 120 weeks to 50 weeks. The program, which was voluntary, was implemented initially mainly in public hospitals in the New Territories. Due to the positive response from the public, it has been extended to cover patients in all public hospitals in Hong Kong. The service targeted non-hospitalized patients aged between 12 and 80, who are non-emergency cases in stable condition and with normal mobility. Another patient, who was only named Kan, 63, was previously treated at the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong Island. He needed regular computer scanning and the next examination was scheduled in 2027. He was recently invited to participate in the pilot program to do the scanning at the emergency hospital. "If there are any changes in the condition, you can have them treated early, which is good for patients," Kan said. Edward Leung, a member of the Legislative Council of China's HKSAR, has been devoted to Hong Kong's healthcare development. He said that the ambulatory service model launched by the Hospital Authority at the emergency hospital can help to reduce the risk of cross-transmission of infectious diseases and relieve pressure on public hospitals, which is worth further promotion. (Web editor: Zhao Tong, Liang Jun) (Bloomberg) -- Germany is exploring a drastic overhaul of its federal budget for this year, including relaxing restrictions on net new debt, following last weeks ruling by the countrys top court, according to people familiar with the discussions. Most Read from Bloomberg Judges said that unused debt authorizations cant be transfered into an off-budget fund for initiatives like greening manufacturing and expanding solar power. The ruling is likely to affect other such special funds, including one that pays for measures to ease the burden on households and companies from high energy prices. If officials conclude that the judgment also applies more broadly, as expected, Finance Minister Christian Lindner will have to retroactively account for at least 30 billion of new debt in a revised 2023 federal budget, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are confidential. As a result, Lindner would be forced to drop his plan to restore constitutional rules limiting new borrowing known as the debt brake, a key policy of his pro-business Free Democratic party, the people added. The constitution allows for the mechanism to be suspended during times of crisis, which the government recently did for three years to help deal with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and the surge in energy prices. Spokespeople for Lindners ministry declined to comment directly, referring to responses given at Mondays regular government news conference. A finance ministry spokesman said there that officials are still examining the ruling and its too soon to say what the government will do to implement it. Chancellor Olaf Scholzs spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, said that analysis of the complex legal ruling would certainly take some more days. Story continues As well as upending the governing coalitions budget policy, the courts judgment has prompted renewed debate about the debt brake, with some lawmakers from Scholzs Social Democrats and the Greens calling for it to be temporarily set aside again. Read More: Bundesbank Says Germany Must Respect Constitutional Debt Brake Greens Economy Minister Robert Habeck said earlier Monday that curbing the use of off-budget funds will have massive implications for Germanys transformation to a cleaner and more technologically advanced economy and could lead to higher energy costs for households and companies. Habeck, who is also the vice chancellor, said that while he believes that the debt brake is inflexible, he is also aware that the constraints of the coalition with the FDP limit room for maneuver. Asked if suspending the debt brake again is the right move, he said its too early to say and declined to speculate. Although officials from Lindners FDP have fiercely defended the debt rules, the minister did not rule out their renewed suspension when asked specifically about such a scenario in a weekend newspaper interview. I am not taking part in speculation, Lindner told Bild am Sonntag. The government is examining the consequences of the ruling. Lindner faces additional pressure over the fund that holds the money for addressing high energy prices, known as the WSF. The main opposition conservatives, who filed the suit that led to Wednesdays decision, have threatened to lodge a similar challenge to the legality of the WSF at the Constitutional Court. Saskia Esken, a co-leader of Scholzs Social Democrats, told Funke media group at the weekend that the government will likely have to suspend the debt brake in both 2023 and 2024. She also called for a broader loosening of fiscal rules, which will be one of the partys main pledges for its 2025 election campaign. The coalition would need the support of the conservatives for such a move, as a two-thirds majority in parliament is required to make changes to the debt brake. Suspending it requires a simple majority. --With assistance from Arne Delfs. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Company Logo Global Clinical Trial Management System Market Global Clinical Trial Management System Market Dublin, Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Clinical Trial Management System Market Report 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global clinical trial management systems (CTMS) market is projected to expand from $1.46 billion in 2022 to an impressive $2.74 billion by 2027, charting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.3%. This growth trajectory is underpinned by a burgeoning number of clinical trials worldwide and significant strides in technological advancements. The clinical trial management systems market has demonstrated resilience and growth potential amidst global challenges. The Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has led to economic sanctions, inflated commodity prices, and supply chain disruptions, contributed to a global economic tremor affecting numerous markets. Despite these hurdles, the CTMS market continued its upward trend, primarily fueled by the increasing volume of clinical trials. Clinical trials, integral in assessing novel medical procedures and treatments, witnessed a significant upsurge. Data from Trialtrove revealed that the number of Phase I-III clinical trials initiated rose from 9,819 in 2020 to 10,410 in 2021, marking a 6% increase. Notably, non-COVID-19 trial initiations surged by 22% in 2021, further catalyzing the demand for efficient CTMS. Technological advancements are at the forefront of this market growth. Leading companies in the CTMS arena are leveraging new technologies to solidify their market presence. A case in point is eClinical Solutions LLC, which, in February 2021, launched the elluminate Clinical Trial Management System. This platform integrates clinical operations data, offering improved trial performance and operational oversight, thereby enhancing decision-making processes. Geographically, North America dominated the CTMS market in 2022, while the Asia-Pacific region is poised to emerge as the fastest-growing market in the coming years. The comprehensive market analysis covers various regions, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Africa, with detailed insights into countries like Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the UK, the USA, Italy, Spain, and Canada. Story continues The CTMS market is home to major players such as International Business Machines Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Oracle Corporation, and Parexel International Corporation, among others. A noteworthy development in the market was the acquisition of Bio-Optronics Inc. by Advarra Technology Solutions Inc. in March 2021, a strategic move that expanded Advarra's range of site connections and healthcare systems. This report is part of a comprehensive series offering detailed statistics, market size, regional shares, competitive landscape, and segment analysis. It provides a holistic view of the market, covering various aspects such as product types (enterprise-based and site-based), components (software and services), delivery modes (web-based, on-premise, and cloud-based), and end-users (pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, medical device firms, CROs, and others). The clinical trial management systems market, encompassing revenues from treatment, prevention, screening, and supportive care trials management services, presents a valuable opportunity for stakeholders in the healthcare and technology sectors. This growth trajectory is a testament to the market's resilience and adaptability in the face of global economic challenges. A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes International Business Machines Corporation Oracle Corporation Cognizant Technology Solutions India Private Limited Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Wipro Limited Veeva Systems Inc Medidata Solutions BioClinica Inc. Calyx Clario Advarra Inc ArisGlobal LLC MasterControl Solutions Inc. Medrio Inc. Anju Software Inc. Forte Research System Inc Cmed Clinical Services OmniComm Systems Inc. MedNet Solutions Inc. DSG Inc. eClinical Solutions LLC Bioclinical Partners (BCP) Flex Databases DataTrak International Inc. OpenClinica LLC SimpleTrials PHARMASEAL International Ltd Dacima Software Inc. RealTime Software Solutions LLC For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5gr28v 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 CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com 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 Gold Royalty Corp. (AMEX:GROY) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript November 19, 2023 Joanne Jobin: Good morning. I'm your host, Joanne Jobin, and I'd like to welcome you to the Gold Royalty Town Hall Forum hosted by VID Media. Today's Town Hall will be focused on Gold Royalty's recent quarterly announcement and will be hosted by David Garofalo and Peter Behncke, Manager, Corporate Dev and Investor Relations; and CFO, Andrew Gubbels, will join us at the end for Q&A. After the presentation, I will be delighted to moderate submitted questions from our audience. Now a few words on the company. Gold Royalty Corp. is a precious metals-focused royalty and streaming company offering creative financing solutions to the metals and mining industry. It currently has a diversified portfolio of over 190 royalties located in mining-friendly jurisdictions throughout the Americas. A close-up aerial shot of a sprawling gold-mining operation in a desert landscape. The company's business model includes acquiring royalties, streams and similar interests at varying stages of the mine life cycle to build a balanced portfolio, offering near, medium and longer-term attractive returns for investors. [Operator Instructions] And please ensure that you fill in the short questionnaire at the end of the presentation. This really helps us and the company communicate more effectively with you in the future. And before I turn it over to the team, please note, the forward-looking statement at the beginning of this presentation. Gentlemen, the stage is yours. David Garofalo: Well, good morning and good afternoon as the case may be to everybody. Thank you for attending our Third Quarter Town Hall. I'm delighted to walk through our quarterly results and then hand it over to Peter to walk through the advancements on our prolific and diverse portfolio of royalties. Our operators have been very busy both on the exploration and development fronts of the stocks to talk about today. And what's clear from our Q3 financial results is that, we're very much at a tipping point right now. For the first time, we were free cash flow neutral as we drove down our cash operating cost by 50%. Crystallizing synergies from the mergers we completed in the first year of our existence. There are three companies that we took over. Story continues And we went through an extensive post-merger integration period. We've drove in a lot of the redundant costs out of the business, and that's why you've seen such an appreciable improvement in our operating cost profile. We also saw a 48% increase in our total revenue land and agreement proceeds. And we're poised to be significantly free cash flow positive in 2024 with the startup of Cote next year, which, when fully producing will be Canada's second biggest producing gold mine. And as we saw during the past quarter, they reported IAMGOLD, the operator reported over 90% physical completion of the property. They expect to have about 5 million tonnes or about six months of production of broken ore at the mouth of the mill. So they're in an excellent position to hopefully execute on a smooth ramp-up and significant free cash flow generation -- revenue generation or a royalty over the course of 2024, which represents a significant step change for us in our total revenue profile and again, drives us into free cash flow positive territory. As we stated in our presentation, our company's operators, Agnico Eagle, i-80 Gold, Blackrock Silver, all announced material positive developments on their respective projects over the course of the quarter as well, which Peter will get into in a bit more detail in his presentation. We're very busy on the acquisition side as well. We continue to supplement what's one of the most prolific and diverse portfolios, not just in the junior royalty space, but in the royalty space generally. We're approaching over 240 royalties in the portfolio with the acquisition of 20 royalties in this past quarter, over 20 royalties, in fact. And we did it in a very creative way, recognizing the capital is scarce in the sector right now. As we've had to be creative in terms of where we've acquired it. See also Citadel Stock Holdings: 12 Biggest Energy Stocks and 20 Countries That Import The Most Cars In The World. To continue reading the Q&A session, please click here. Annual Toys for Tots donation drive to be hosted at Goodyear's California, Florida and Ohio blimp bases AKRON, Ohio, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Goodyear (NASDAQ: GT) announced its continued partnership with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve for the 13th consecutive year in support of the Marines Toys for Tots Foundation. This year's toy drive events will take place at Goodyear's Blimp bases in California, Florida and Ohio. These drives will provide the public with a unique opportunity to donate to Toys for Tots while enjoying an up-close view of the iconic Goodyear Blimp. Goodyear Airships associates and U.S. Marine Corps Reserve members pose in front of the Goodyear Blimp at past Toys for Tots donation drives. From Dec. 1 to 3, Ohio residents can drive through the Wingfoot Lake blimp hangar from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look before dropping off their donation to a U.S. Marine representing Toys for Tots. In Florida, the event will be held on Dec. 3, offering open house tours of the hangar from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The California event on Dec. 2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., welcomes registered attendees to enjoy guided tours of the base. Blimp enthusiasts in California can secure their tour spot here. For those unable to attend the drives in person, toys can also be shipped to Goodyear's hangars through Dec. 3. Toys being donated must be new and in the original packaging to be accepted. Visuals from previous Toys for Tots events at Goodyear's Blimp bases can be found here. "The enduring partnership between Goodyear and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in support of the Marines Toys for Tots Program is a source of immense pride for us," said Laura Duda, Goodyear's senior vice president and Chief Communications Officer. "For the 13th consecutive year, we're excited to open the doors of our three blimp bases to the public, offering a unique chance to contribute to Toys for Tots while experiencing the magic of the Goodyear Blimp up close." Since its founding in 1947, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program has been on a mission to collect new, unwrapped toys throughout the months of October, November and December, distributing them as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the local community. Story continues "As we celebrate our 76th year of assisting children in need, we are thrilled to welcome Goodyear back for their 13th year as a National Corporate Sponsor of the Marine Toys for Tots Program," said retired Marine Colonel Ted Silvester, vice president of the Marines Toys for Tots Foundation. "Their community service goals continue to align with those the Marine Corps has promoted for over seven decades through our Toys for Tots Program." Silvester concluded, "With their continued generous support, we will be able to fulfill the Christmas dreams of thousands of disadvantaged children who might otherwise be forgotten." The Goodyear Blimp base locations accepting in-person and mailed toy or monetary donations for this program include: California Goodyear Airship Base 19200 S Main St, Carson, CA 90248 Florida Goodyear Airship Base 1500 NE 5th Ave, Pompano Beach, FL 33060 Ohio Goodyear Airship Base 841 Wingfoot Lake Rd., Mogadore, OH 44260 About The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. It employs about 74,000 people and manufactures its products in 57 facilities in 23 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate. Santa Claus appears onboard Goodyear's Blimp "Wingfoot One" during a past U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program. Holiday decor and toys on display in front of the Goodyear Blimp during a past U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots donation drive. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, USA. (PRNewsFoto/Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company) Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/goodyear-and-the-us-marine-corps-reserve-team-up-to-deliver-holiday-cheer-to-local-families-301991855.html SOURCE The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Google has a new filter for shoppers wanting to search for businesses that identify as small business, like these shops in Appleton, Wisc. If you'd like to buy local or from a small business for your holiday shopping, Google is making it a little easier. Google has a new small business filter for search and maps, allowing shoppers to find products offered online by local retailers that identify as small businesses, according to a press release. Products will include e-commerce brands, local businesses and sellers from marketplaces like Etsy and eBay. Eighty-four percent of people surveyed in a May 2023 Google/Ipsos survey said supporting local and/or small businesses is important to them. How can I find a small business on Google? Here's how it will work: On "search," look for the small business filter when shopping on desktop or mobile, or select the filter on "maps" on mobile when looking for local businesses. Google announced in early November that small businesses could add the "small business" attribute to its listings. Google will be "elevating the experience over the Saturday and Sunday after Black Friday, when we know folks are often looking to shop small, but shoppers will be able to find the filter on Search through the filter panel year-round," the company said. Tap the filter to see products from merchants who identify as small businesses. How can I find deals on Google? Google also is highlighting its "deals destination," which highlights items online for sale. Type "shop deals" or if you are looking for something specific, like gym shoes, type "shop sneaker deals." Black Friday shopping deals have started Here's what you need to know. Google generative AI can help with holiday shopping Earlier this month, Google also announced the expansion of its artificial intelligence capabilities to help consumers shop for gifts during the holiday season. Need help with holiday shopping? Google wants you to use artificial intelligence Google updated its Search Generative Experience (SGE), which brings generative AI capabilities into search, to help customers shop. Story continues Google is also expanding its virtual try-on tool to include mens tops. A feature to generate photorealistic images of what youre shopping for will also be available in December. Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Want to shop local for Small Business Saturday? Google has a new tool New investment in rapidly expanding collision repair platform broadens Greenbriars footprint in the auto aftermarket sector GREENWICH, Conn., November 20, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Greenbriar Equity Group, L.P. ("Greenbriar") today announced that funds managed by Greenbriar recently completed the growth recapitalization of VIVE Collision ("VIVE" or the "Company"), a leading multi-site collision repair operator, in partnership with the Companys management and Garnett Station Partners, LLC ("Garnett Station"). Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed. Founded by Vartan Jerian, Jr., Scott Leffler and Philip Taub, and led by an executive team with more than 50 years of industry experience, VIVE operates 35 collision repair facilities across the Northeastern United States. The Company maintains a dedicated focus on providing the highest-quality, people-first collision repair experience in the industry by prioritizing honesty, transparency, and reliability for its customers. "Since we started, our mission has been to build a scaled, people-first collision repair provider that delivers the highest quality, customer-centric experience," said Vartan Jerian, CEO of VIVE. "We would like to thank the entire team from Garnett Station Partners, who showed an incredible commitment to investing in our company and our people to help VIVE maximize its potential. We are thrilled to have found a partner in Greenbriar who not only shares our foundational values, but also has significant experience building leading, multi-site vehicle aftermarket services businesses. With Greenbriars support, we will continue to prioritize VIVEs differentiated service and quality offering, while further expanding the business throughout our core markets." "It has been a pleasure to work with Vartan, Scott, and Phil over the last few years and weve been extremely impressed with the tremendous growth the entire VIVE team has achieved since our investment taking the Company from a single location at inception to over thirty locations across seven states today. We are strong believers in the future of their business and are excited to see where Greenbriar and the management team take VIVE in its next chapter of growth," said Jordan Garay, Managing Director at Garnett Station Partners. Story continues The investment by Greenbriar will support VIVEs ongoing growth strategy, both organically and through M&A, as well as continued investment in the Companys infrastructure and operational resources. Matt Burke, Managing Director at Greenbriar, said, "Weve spent significant time evaluating opportunities in the collision repair space and are thrilled to partner with VIVE. Not only are they top-tier operators, but the VIVE team has established an outstanding track record of identifying and acquiring the highest quality shops in what is still a very fragmented segment of the market. We look forward to building on the Companys strong foundation as a leading consolidator while continuing to deliver exceptional service to VIVEs diverse and loyal customer base." Harris Williams LLC acted as financial advisor and Foley & Lardner LLP and Federman Steifman LLP acted as legal advisors to Garnett Station and VIVE. Goldman Sachs & Co LLC served as financial advisor to Greenbriar. About VIVE VIVE Collision is a multi-site collision repair operator providing collision repair services to customers across New York, New Jersey, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. VIVE Collision was formed with a vision to carve a new path forward for the industry built on three fundamental values its founders believe the collision repair industry has neglected for too long: People, Process and Passion. "We are an organization deeply committed to our People. We are innovators of Process. We are practitioners of Passion. We are your modern family of collision repair experts." For more information, please visit vivecollision.com. About Greenbriar Greenbriar is a middle market private equity firm with more than 20 years of experience investing in market-leading services and manufacturing businesses. With approximately $10 billion of cumulative capital commitments, its investment strategy targets businesses led by experienced management teams capitalizing on strong long-term growth prospects that can benefit from Greenbriars deep sectoral expertise, strategic insight, and operating capabilities. For more information, please visit greenbriarequity.com. About Garnett Station Partners Garnett Station Partners is a principal investment firm founded in 2013 by Matt Perelman and Alex Sloane that manages over $2.2 billion of assets. Garnett Station partners with experienced and entrepreneurial management teams and strategic investors to build value for its portfolio of growth platforms. The firm draws on its global relationships, operational experience and rigorous diligence process to source, underwrite and manage investments. Core sectors include consumer and business services, health & wellness, automotive, and food & beverage. Garnett Station's culture is based on the principles of entrepreneurship, collaboration, analytical rigor and accountability. For more information, please visit garnettstation.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120339773/en/ Contacts Media: Greenbriar Johanna Doherty Greenbriar Equity Group jdoherrty@greenbriarequity.com Mike Geller Prosek Partners mgeller@prosek.com Garnett Station Partners Dan Gagnier / Lindsay Barber Gagnier Communications GSP@gagnierfc.com VIVE Rich Tanchyk VIVE rich@vivecollision.com (Bloomberg) -- A critical flaw in software from Citrix Systems Inc., a company that pioneered remote access so people can work anywhere, has been exploited by government-backed hackers and criminal groups, according to a US cyber official. Most Read from Bloomberg The flaw, dubbed Citrix Bleed, was abused by hackers in secret for weeks before it was found and a fix was issued last month, according to Citrix online posts and cybersecurity researchers. Since then, researchers say hackers have accelerated their exploitation of the bug, targeting some of the thousands of customers that havent applied a patch. We are aware that a wide variety of malicious actors, including both nation state and criminal groups, are focused on leveraging the Citrix Bleed vulnerability, Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, told Bloomberg News. CISA is providing assistance to victims, said Goldstein, who declined to identify them. Adversaries could exploit the vulnerability to steal sensitive information and attempt to gain broader network access, he said. Citrix didnt respond to messages seeking comment. Among the criminal groups exploiting the Citrix Bleed bug is one of the worlds most notorious hacking gangs, LockBit, according to a global banking security consortium, the FS-ISAC, which on Tuesday issued a security bulletin about the risk to financial institutions. The US Treasury has also said its investigating whether Citrix vulnerabilities are responsible for the recent debilitating ransom hack against the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., according to a person familiar with the matter. The breach rendered the worlds largest bank unable to clear swaths of US Treasury trades. ICBC didnt respond to a request for comment. Story continues Read More: Worlds Biggest Bank Has to Trade Via USB Stick After Hack LockBit claimed credit for the ICBC hack, and a representative for the gang said the bank paid a ransom, though Bloomberg wasnt able to independently confirm the claim. The Wall Street Journal previously reported the US Treasury note. Citrix announced it had discovered the Citrix Bleed bug on Oct. 10 and issued a patch. The company said that at the time, there was no sign anyone had exploited the vulnerability. Since then, however, multiple Citrix customers have discovered that they were breached before the patch was issued, according to a Citrix post and cybersecurity researchers. One early victim was a European government, according to a person familiar with the matter, who declined to name the country. The Citrix Bleed bug can allow a hacker to take control of a victims system, according to CISA. The flaw earned its nickname because it can leak sensitive information from a devices memory, according to Palo Alto Networks Inc.s cybersecurity company research arm, Unit 42. The leaked data can include session tokens that can identify and authenticate a visitor to a specific website or service without entering a password. Read More: Ransomware Gang LockBit Revises Its Tactics as Payouts Slip The cybersecurity firm Mandiant started looking into the vulnerability once Citrix had flagged it and ultimately found multiple victims from before the bug had been made public or had a fix, dating back to late August. Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiants consulting arm, told Bloomberg that those initial attacks didnt appear financially motivated. Mandiant is still assessing whether those early intrusions were conducted for espionage purposes by a nation state, possibly China, he said. Asked for comment, the Chinese embassy in Washington didnt address the Citrix vulnerability but instead referred to Nov. 10 comments from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ICBC is closely following this and has taken effective emergency response measures and engaged in proper supervision and communication in order to minimize risk, impact and damage, the ministry said. Citrix updated its guidance on Oct. 23 recommending not only patching but killing all active and persistent sessions. Thousands of companies failed to update their Citrix software and take other actions that the company, CISA and others have urgently recommended. Palo Altos Unit 42 teams, which have also observed ransomware groups exploiting the bug, said in a Nov. 1 blog that at least 6,000 IP addresses appeared vulnerable and that the largest number of these devices are located in the US, as well as others in Germany, China and the UK. GreyNoise, a company that analyzes scanning by IP addresses, reported that its seen 335 unique IP addresses attempting to use the Citrix Bleed exploit since it started tracking it on Oct. 17. LockBit is both the name of a gang and a type of ransomware it produced. The FBI says it is responsible for more than 1,700 attacks against the US since 2020. A security researcher, Kevin Beaumont, said LockBits exploitation of the Citrix flaw extends to multiple victims. The law firm Allen & Overy was breached via the Citrix flaw, he said in a post on Medium, and the aviation giant Boeing Co. and port operator DP World Plc had unpatched Citrix devices, allowing hackers to potentially exploit the bug. Read more: Hacking Gang Lockbit Posts What It Says Is Boeing Data on Site Beaumont described the flaw as incredibly easy to exploit and added, The cybersecurity reality we live in now is teenagers are running around in organized crime gangs with digital bazookas. Representatives for Allen & Overy, DP World and Boeing didnt address whether the Citrix bug was exploited. The incident at Allen & Overy impacted a small number of storage servers but core systems have not been affected, a spokesperson said. The breach affecting Boeings parts and distribution system remains under investigation, a spokesperson said. A representative for DP World said the company is limited in the details it could provide due to the ongoing nature of the investigation. Beaumont didnt respond to a request for comment. --With assistance from Julie Johnsson. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. If you're thinking about vegetation and greenery this time of year, chances are Christmas trees are what pop into your mind first. But this is also a big time for flowers and florists, as people look to add holiday cheer and make parties and events more festive. "It's our biggest quarter of the year," said Tony Medlock, owner of PJ's Flowers & Events in Phoenix. Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are busier days for florists, but the final three months of the year are brisk too, with Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas, year-end parties and weddings, he said. Floral arrangements this time of year often make use of pine cones, evergreens and other winter greenery, and red roses "will do very well this year," Medlock predicts. Shannon Slattery, owner of Fiesta Flowers, Plants & Gifts in Tempe, said working with different types of pine, cedar and juniper this time of year "really gets our creative juices flowing." She said popular arrangements include those that will be used as table centerpieces. She also likes to make floral designs that feature "keepsake ceramic containers that have holiday themes so that they can be reused each year." Somewhat ironically, Medlock said many independent florists don't deal much with one of the flowers most associated with Christmas poinsettias. The reason, he said, is that supermarkets and other large retailers like Walmart and Home Depot "have taken over that market." Feast of food drives: How metro Phoenix food banks are preparing for the holiday season Many places to buy flowers Customers have many choices on where and from whom to buy flowers. "Budget-conscious consumers have expansively opted for low-cost or unarranged flowers from supermarkets and e-commerce websites," noted an industry report by researcher IBISWorld. This has encouraged florists with brick-and-mortar locations to focus on "higher-profit products" that cater to more affluent buyers, the report said. Story continues Compared to the large retailers, Slattery said shops like hers can provide higher-quality flowers with longer lifespans, along with what she considers superior designs and arrangements. "It is our passion to provide the very best flowers in terms of freshness, quality, design skill, customization, quick delivery and other floral services not provided at a grocery store," she said. Slattery said she buys flowers from farms all over the world. "We process each and every bloom individually as well as feed and store each variety of flower with the proper type of food and at the perfect temperature to ensure its maximum lifespan." In addition, Slattery said she uses carbon dioxide filters in coolers to inhibit the formation of ethylene gas, which shortens flower longevity. "Our flowers last seven to 14 days, and some varieties can even last up to four weeks," Slattery added. "When it comes to flowers, you truly get what you pay for." Florists suggest planning ahead When dealing with small businesses, Slattery recommends that customers place orders as early as possible. Many independent florists employ only a few people the average is about 2.5 workers per shop, according to statistics from researcher IBISWorld. "Once we hit our capacity in the amount of orders we are able to fill, we aren't able to accept any more," said Slattery. "It breaks our hearts to have to tell people "no," but there are only so many hours in a day." During and following the COVID-19 pandemic, flower supplies have become more erratic than they once were, Medlock said, attributing that partly to growers and distributors having trouble finding enough workers. Medlock said he buys most of his flowers this time of year from growers in Southern California, along with others from places including Colombia and Ecuador, though he prefers to reduce the environmental footprint of buying from such distant locations, where they are shipped by air. In addition, the pandemic restricted social gatherings like weddings and even funerals, hurting florists in the process, although those pressures have largely eased. Spreading joy with flowers Slattery, who has been in business for nearly 15 years, said her company's key to success is tied to the "joy, connection and happiness that we feel and provide through flowers." Various studies, Slattery added, have shown that flowers "stimulate the 'happy chemicals' in people's brains." She said she shares that happiness by providing long-lasting flowers, a vast selection of arrangements, excellent customer service and by appreciating customers. "We absolutely love being in the business of creating, cultivating and spreading happiness with flowers," she said. IBISWorld estimates U.S. consumers spend about $9 billion a year on flowers. Since these purchases are considered discretionary or nonessential, florists tend to do best when consumer spending is strong, as it is now. Medlock said he is expecting an above-average floral volume this holiday season. Slattery said she "always expects wonderful holiday sales." Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix area florists prepare for the holiday season (Bloomberg) -- Israeli forces engaged in heavy fighting with Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip overnight as the US said it was optimistic about a deal to free hostages held by the militant group. Most Read from Bloomberg The Israeli military and Shin Bet, the countrys domestic security service, said they killed three Hamas commanders, while fighter jets bombed more buildings and sites used by the Iran-backed organization. The main thrust of Israels ground offensive is eastwards into Gaza City, which the military describes as Hamass center of gravity. Israeli forces have taken control of many parts of the citys Al Shifa hospital and over the weekend showed videos they say prove Hamas exploited the facility, building a command center and tunnels underneath it. Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, used Al Shifa to carry out gruesome terrorist activity, Israeli military spokesman Amnon Shefler said in a briefing on Sunday night. They have it as a command center, as a control center, as a place to hide hostages, as a place to murder and kill. The movement of troops into the Shifa complex last week was controversial, with the US urging Israel to exercise restraint and prioritize the safety of the patients still there as well as civilians taking shelter. President Joe Biden on Monday said that Israel and Hamas were closing in on an agreement to release a group of hostages. I believe so, he said when asked if a deal was near, adding he wasnt prepared to give details. US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said in an interview Sunday with NBC that the parties were closer than we have been in quite some time, maybe closer than we have been since the beginning of this process, to getting this deal done. Story continues Yahya Sinwar, Hamass leader in Gaza, is engaged in the talks and has agreed in principle for more than 50 women and children to be released, Axios reported. In return, Israel would pause its military attacks for a specified time each day and release some Palestinians in Israeli jails. Qatar, which hosts some of Hamass political leaders, is helping broker the talks. Southern Thrust While Israel has concentrated its airstrikes and ground assault on northern Gaza, it is now turning its attention to the south, signaling the possibility of sending troops there. In recent days, its dropped leaflets on Khan Younis, telling residents to leave the southern city. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday evening, said all Hamas leaders are dead men walking and wouldnt rule out ground attacks in the area. Were approaching the end of our campaign in northern Gaza to root out Hamas infrastructure and will turn to the rest of the Gaza Strip, Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told Bloomberg Radio on Monday. Israel has urged civilians to evacuate to southern Gaza since the beginning of the war. The conflict erupted on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants swarmed southern Israel from Gaza, killing around 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage. Israels retaliatory attacks have led to more than 13,000 deaths, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Palestinian enclave. The United Nations says the humanitarian situation in the densely packed Gaza Strip is dire and that its roughly 2 million inhabitants need much more food and medicine. Israel, which has put the territory under an almost-total blockade, has allowed more aid in from Egypt in recent weeks. The UN says the quantities are nowhere near enough. While Gaza Burns, West Bank Is at a Boiling Point: Ruth Pollard On Monday, an Arab delegation headed by Saudi Arabias top diplomat visited China and met Foreign Minister Wang Yi. They called for de-escalation in Gaza to end the catastrophe there. The Israeli government distanced itself from a proposal by Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel for a voluntary resettlement of Gazans to other countries at the conclusion of the war. That does not represent the official position of the Israeli government, and Gamliel is not a member of the war cabinet making decisions on the future of Gaza, an Israel official said to Bloomberg. Egypt, Jordan and other Arab states have consistently rejected the idea of moving Palestinians out of Gaza, while the US has said there must not be any forcible displacement. The risks of the war turning into a wider Middle East conflict were again underscored on Sunday when Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen seized a cargo ship in the Red Sea thats owned by an Israeli businessman. European natural gas futures increased as much as 6.9% on Monday, largely on renewed concerns the war could affect vital waterways for energy and freight markets. Tokyo-based Nippon Yusen KK said the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier that it chartered, was taken in the southern part of the Red Sea. The Houthis said it was diverted to the Yemeni coast and warned they may attack more Israel-linked vessels. --With assistance from Gwen Ackerman, Sam Dagher, Rachael Dottle, Sylvia Westall, Jordan Fabian, Jennifer Jacobs and Stephanie Lai. (Updates with Israeli officials comments, in 14th paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. PISCATAWAY, N.J., November 20, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IEEE, the worlds largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, and the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), today announced the inaugural International Conference on Data Science and Engineering in Healthcare, Medicine & Biology taking place from December 7-9, 2023 in St. Julians, Malta. The conference represents the launch of IEEE EMBS strategic initiative to promote AI and data science innovations in healthcare and to provide professionals across different fields the opportunity to network and share their perspectives with like-minded professionals, clinicians, and researchers. The conference is structured as a three-day program including three mini-symposiums on (1) Data Science in Healthcare; (2) Data Engineering in Cancer and (3) Data Science in Surgical Oncology. Additionally, the posters presented at the conference cover topics regarding data science as it applies to healthcare, medical imaging, personalized medicine, mind and body, womens health, heterogeneous data harmonization, and others. Recordings of the session will be available at the dedicated event website after the forum. "It is becoming increasingly clear that data science has the potential to revolutionize the healthcare sector," said Metin Akay, past President of IEEE EMBS and Honorary Chair. "EMBS recognizes the current renaissance of data science as AI and machine learning continue to evolve and open new doors in the field. We welcome the advancement of this technology, and hope to see it employed to improve quality of care and reduce patient costs in the healthcare sector." "As advancements are made within the data science field, it is important to continue ongoing conversations with colleagues to get a sense of the direction the industry is moving in," said Paul Sajda, Ph.D., President of the IEEE EMBS. "We are excited to facilitate conversations between industry professionals and create a space to share new innovations in the field, including advancements that enable scaling to big and heterogeneous data." Story continues Details of the 2023 International Conference on Data Science and Engineering are listed below: Date and Time: Thursday, December 7, 2023 from 8:20 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. CET; Friday, December 8, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. CET; Saturday, December 9, 2023 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CET Location: Hilton Malta in Portomaso, St. Julians, Malta Keynote Speaker: Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chairman of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Governing Board and Executive Committee Conference Panelists Luiza Dobre, Founder and CEO of Komed Health AG; Michael Friebe, Professor of Biomedical Engineering Innovation at the AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Poland; Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chairman of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Governing Board and Executive Committee; and Ali Tinazli, CEO, lifespin GmbH in Germany Forum Organizing Committee Metin Akay, University of Houston; Paul Sajda, Columbia University; Hayit Greenspan, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Natalie Mrachacz-Kersting, Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg; Carl Debono, University of Malta; Kristy Brock, MD Anderson Cancer Center; May Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology; Chwee Teck (C.T.) Lim, National University of Singapore; Yasemin Akay, University of Houston; Dimitrios I. Fotiadis, University of Ioannina/FORTH For more details about the 2023 International Conference on Data Science and Engineering in Healthcare, Medicine & Biology, please visit embs.org and datascience.embs.org. About IEEE IEEE is the worlds largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice in a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Learn more. About the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society The IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) is the world's largest international society of Biomedical Engineers. With more than 9,500 members residing in some 97 countries around the world, it's a true global connection, providing access to the most fascinating people, practices, information, ideas, opinion and fellowship from one of science's fastest growing fields: biomedical engineering. From formalized mathematical theory through experimental science, from technological development to practical clinical applications, IEEE EMBS members support scientific, technological, and educational activities as they apply to the concepts and methods of the physical and engineering sciences in biology and medicine. By working together, we can transform and revolutionize the future of medicine and healthcare. For more information about the IEEE EMBS, please visit www.embs.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120213490/en/ Contacts Azeem Zeekrya HDMZ azeem.zeekrya@hdmz.com (312) 506-5244 An internal memo sent to OpenAI staff on Saturday after former CEO Sam Altmans abrupt firing reiterates that a breakdown in communication led to the decision, not malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices, according to reporting from Axios and The New York Times. The memo obtained by both publications was sent to employees by OpenAIs Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap. Speculation has been nonstop since Altman was ousted unexpectedly as CEO on Friday and dropped from the companys board of directors, with little concrete information from OpenAI itself to go on. In its announcement of the decision, the board said only that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board named Mira Murati, OpenAIs Chief Technology Officer, as interim CEO. In response, OpenAIs now-former president, Greg Brockman, announced he was stepping down too, tweeting, Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today. Three senior researchers later resigned as well, according to The Information. Now, in another report, sources told The Information that Altman already has a new venture in the works, and he plans to bring Brockman and possibly others on with him. Its as yet unclear if this venture is separate from Altmans other known upcoming projects, including a purported collaboration with former Apple designer Jony Ive. Numerous reports in the aftermath have attempted to provide an explanation for Altmans firing, with some claiming there were concerns over the rapid development of the companys AI products and, according to journalist Kara Swisher, its profit driven direction. In Saturdays memo, per Axios, Lightcap wrote that the announcement took us all by surprise, and we have had multiple conversations with the board to try to better understand the reasons and process behind their decision. if i start going off, the openai board should go after me for the full value of my shares Sam Altman (@sama) November 18, 2023 The sudden shakeup could now have ramifications for the impending sale of OpenAIs employee shares, valued at roughly $86 billion, The Information reported. In a cryptic tweet on Saturday, Altman quipped, if i start going off, the openai board should go after me for the full value of my shares (sic). Key Insights The projected fair value for CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA is 58.09 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Current share price of 37.00 suggests CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA is potentially 36% undervalued Analyst price target for COP is 54.91 which is 5.5% below our fair value estimate In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of CompuGroup Medical SE & Co. KGaA (ETR:COP) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple! We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model. View our latest analysis for CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA What's The Estimated Valuation? 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, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value: Story continues 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (, Millions) 138.6m 150.9m 159.3m 165.8m 170.7m 174.5m 177.5m 179.8m 181.7m 183.4m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x6 Analyst x6 Est @ 5.60% Est @ 4.06% Est @ 2.98% Est @ 2.22% Est @ 1.69% Est @ 1.32% Est @ 1.06% Est @ 0.88% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 6.1% 131 134 133 131 127 122 117 112 107 102 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = 1.2b 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 0.5%. 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) = 183m (1 + 0.5%) (6.1% 0.5%) = 3.3b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= 3.3b ( 1 + 6.1%)10= 1.8b The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is 3.0b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of 37.0, the company appears quite undervalued at a 36% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent. dcf Important Assumptions The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA 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 1.124. 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 CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA Strength Earnings growth over the past year exceeded its 5-year average. Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows. Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows. Weakness Earnings growth over the past year underperformed the Healthcare Services industry. Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Healthcare Services market. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the German market. Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%. Threat Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the German market. Next Steps: Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA, we've put together three pertinent factors you should assess: Risks: As an example, we've found 1 warning sign for CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA that you need to consider before investing here. Future Earnings: How does COP'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. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the XTRA every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Key Insights Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, TomTom fair value estimate is 10.88 Current share price of 6.29 suggests TomTom is potentially 42% undervalued The 9.50 analyst price target for TOM2 is 13% less than our estimate of fair value Does the November share price for TomTom N.V. (AMS:TOM2) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex. Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model. View our latest analysis for TomTom 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. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (, Millions) 35.1m 46.2m 54.4m 61.3m 66.8m 71.2m 74.6m 77.2m 79.3m 80.9m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 17.79% Est @ 12.65% Est @ 9.05% Est @ 6.53% Est @ 4.77% Est @ 3.53% Est @ 2.67% Est @ 2.06% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 5.7% 33.2 41.4 46.1 49.2 50.8 51.2 50.8 49.7 48.3 46.7 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = 467m Story continues We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (0.6%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 5.7%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = 81m (1 + 0.6%) (5.7% 0.6%) = 1.6b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= 1.6b ( 1 + 5.7%)10= 938m The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is 1.4b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of 6.3, the company appears quite good value at a 42% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind. dcf Important Assumptions 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 TomTom 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 5.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.001. 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. Moving On: Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. What is the reason for the share price sitting below the intrinsic value? For TomTom, we've put together three further factors you should explore: Financial Health: Does TOM2 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 TOM2's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing! PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Dutch 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. BRAIN2HANDS / Shutterstock.com As a regular person, you may not have the same investment options as the ultra-rich. While you can open a brokerage account and get into real estate, there are certain assets that you dont have access to. We will examine these assets to see whats only available to the wealthy. Im a Self-Made Millionaire: Here Are 5 Stocks Im Never Selling Read: 3 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000 What are assets that are online available to the ultra-rich? Hedge Funds These funds require significant minimum investments, typically in the range of $1 million or more, and are limited to accredited investors, shared Jeff Rose, CFP and founder of Good Financial Cents. They offer diverse and complex investment strategies, like short selling or leveraging. For example, Bridgewater Associates, one of the worlds largest hedge funds, is known for its high minimum investment requirements. You may not have access to hedge funds if you dont have at least a million dollars to invest. These are exclusive assets that the average investor can only read about in many cases. Growing Up Poor: 13 Ways Youre Taught To Never Waste Money Art and Collectibles A common asset only available to the wealthy often would be high-end art, said Sebastian Jania. With this asset, you can leverage the fact that there are only single copies of very well-known pieces of art, so they preserve value and typically go up over time. One asset available to the rich is art because they are invited to exclusive gallery opening nights and can access information about valuable art to invest in. The average investor may never even hear about these gallery nights and events. High-end art by famous artists like Picasso or Basquiat can command prices in the millions, Rose added. Similarly, collectibles like rare vintage cars or fine wines, like a bottle of Romanee-Conti wine, can be extremely valuable. A regular investor may not even consider the idea of purchasing a bottle of wine or a piece of art for thousands of dollars because they dont have the funds, nor are they able to handle the risk involved. Story continues Luxury Real Estate Luxury real estate includes multimillion-dollar properties in exclusive locations like Beverly Hills or Manhattan, shared Rose. Such properties are not just homes but also status symbols and investment opportunities. For instance, penthouses in New York City can go for tens of millions of dollars. As a regular investor, you may have access to local properties or crowdfunded real estate projects, but you dont have the funds required to get into luxury real estate. These multi-million dollar listings you might see on a television program are only available to the wealthy. Commercial Real Estate Another asset that is only available to the wealthy are large apartment buildings and commercial buildings, commented Jania. Both of these assets require a lot of money as a down payment to close on them that the average person simply does not have access to. Wealthy investors can purchase large commercial spaces where they can lease the land or form partnerships to get developers interested. Trailer Park Ownership With trailer parks or mobile home parks, they require a lot of capital and often are not mortgageable so they need to be closed in cash, commented Jania on this unique investment. Further, the wealthy can lease out the land in these parks to many people and collect rent from doing so. While many investors may not think about trailer park ownership, there could be significant money to be earned from this type of investment. Exotic Vehicles Another asset that is only available to the wealthy is exotic vehicles, which are collectibles, Jania expressed. When it comes to these, they leverage the same principles that the high-end art does, which is the uniqueness and lack of supply. They come in at very high price points that the average person simply cannot afford. While we may not think of vehicles as investments, the truth is that exotic vehicles or rare collectibles can stored in a warehouse where they appreciate in value. The average investor wont have the funds or space required to make such a move. Collector Watches These watches can be worth anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars even into the millions, stated Jania. Much like the other assets mentioned, these also leverage the collectibility and low supply of these items, which is what pushes the price of them up so high. Collector watches are known for exclusivity as a regular person may not even be able to purchase one if they could gather the funds. Some of these watches are investments since theyre rare and theres a low supply on the market. Private Equity Funds These funds, like Blackstone or KKR, require large investments and are accessible mostly to accredited investors, Rose commented. They focus on investing in private companies or buyouts, requiring longer-term commitments and larger capital. While a regular investor can allocate their funds to a mutual fund or an index fund, they wont have access to private equity funds since they need connections and capital to get started in this space. Venture Capital Investing in startups and early-stage companies often requires substantial capital and a high tolerance for risk, Rose remarked. The ultra-rich might invest in venture capital funds or directly in startups like Uber in the early stages, which requires both significant capital and access to these investment opportunities. A key investment opportunity often reserved for the ultra-rich is the ability to put money into a start-up. As an ordinary investor, you may not hear about these companies until they go public on the stock market. The ultra-rich can invest in these companies before the general public even hears about them. These investments can pay off tremendously if the start-ups make it big. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Investing for the Ultra-Rich: 9 Assets Available Only to the Wealthy shapecharge / Getty Images Its nobler to give than to take, the saying goes, and giving assets to loved ones while youre still alive is a great way for them to enjoy the benefits right away and for you to delight in seeing them enhance their lives. Suze Orman: This Is the First Bill You Need To Pay Each Month Mark Cuban: Heres Why I Dont Spend Money on a Chauffeur or Cleaning Services In 2024, Americans will have more reasons to give, because the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has upped the limits for gift and estate tax exemption amounts to their highest exclusion amounts ever. Those with large estates should always consider gifting during their lifetime as a strategy to help reduce taxes by using the annual gift and lifetime gift and estate tax exemptions. Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Has Increased Currently, you can give any number of people up to $17,000 each in a single year without taxation. For 2024, this will be increased to $18,000. For married couples, $36,000 will be available to be given to beneficiaries, tax-free, beginning next year. Lifetime Gift Tax Exemption Additionally, the IRS has announced that the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption will increase to $13.61 million in 2024. If a gift exceeds the annual limit ($17,000 this year, $18,000 in 2024), that does not automatically prompt a gift tax. The difference is simply taken from the persons lifetime exemption limit and no taxes are owed. For example, if you were extraordinarily generous and bought your friend a car for $20,000, you would exceed the annual limit of $17,000 for 2023 by $3,000 but you wouldnt owe additional taxes. By using the IRS Form 709, you would report the gift and deduct $3,000 from your lifetime exemption of $12.92 million for this year. If you were planning on such a gift in 2024, you would subtract $2,000 from your $13.61 million limit. Trump-Era Tax Cuts Are Expiring: What This Means For Retirees Giving to a Non-US Citizen Spouse According to the legal professionals at Morgan Lewis, gifts between two American spouses are virtually unlimited (a couple has $25.84 million in estate tax exemptions and going over this limit will only be taxed at death of the surviving spouse). Story continues But gifts to a non-U.S. citizen, regardless of if they are a U.S. resident, fall under different confines and are subject to an annual tax exclusion amount. For 2024, the annual amount that one may give to a spouse who is not a US citizen will increase to $185,000 in 2024, up from $175,000 for this year. Barring an extension or new legislation, the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption is due to revert to the pre-2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act level of $5.49 million at midnight on Dec. 31, 2025. So, its important to address your gift-giving plans now, so that you and your most cherished can not only take advantage of the money while both parties are living, but also of the tax exemptions that come with giving. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: IRS Increases Gift and Estate Tax Exempt Limits Heres How Much You Can Give Without Paying As the director of equity and business development at what now is called the Greater Topeka Partnership, Glenda Washington started 10 years ago with the mission to provide resources to Topeka's small business owners. "I had to come in and assess where we were at that point, and we really didn't have very many programs going on," Washington said. "What I wanted to do was look at how we could broaden opportunities for businesses in our community." She looked at different markets and communities that were growing their entrepreneurial footprint. Since then, Washington has pioneered her way through the business realm. Israel Sanchez, right, said having diverse businesses and business owners is important for a thriving community, Sanchez is transitioning into the role of chief equity and opportunity officer in the Greater Topeka Partnership as Glenda Washington, left, is retiring. Israel Sanchez to succeed Washington after retirement Washington will retire at the end of the month. Israel Sanchez will succeed her. Sanchez has been a part of GTP since 2021, where he has made significant contributions to the organizations Spanish language outreach efforts, a release said. Most recently, he served as the partnership's representative with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Sanchez told The Capital-Journal he hopes to learn from the efforts Washington has made over the years. Israel Sanchez, right, listens to the pitches at Thursday's GTP pitch competition. Sanchez is taking over the role of chief equity and opportunity officer in the Greater Topeka Partnership. "When you come into a new role or a new person, you have ideas that are different," Sanchez said. "I'm hoping to learn first and then also see where I can take that even further if possible. I'm hoping to learn what's worked, what hasn't worked, what could we do better. You only get that from experience. "And I hope to continue that work that she's been doing and helping local entrepreneurs and local small businesses to grow their dream." More: From gumbo to ice cream, these Topeka entrepreneurs walked away winners in pitch contest Washington said she recommends Sanchez create connectivity with federal delegations and the small business community, so business owners will "know that there's a voice in D.C. for them." Building relationships with businesses shows value of trust Sanchez said one thing he'd like to do is build relationships among business owners to show the value of trust. Story continues "At the end of the day, it's about the people and you're trying to help them grow their business, but also, it affects their personal lives," he said. "They can set up if they're successful, their families that are all successful, their community successful." More: Kansas counties need state permission to raise sales taxes. Here's why that could change. Glenda Washington smiles after being asked about the impact she feels she has had in her position at GTP. Washington is retiring at the end of the month. Washington credited Sanchez for being ready for the position. "I think Israel has more muscle than he realizes," she said. "I think that what he'll bring to the table is the ability to be that flexible, to be in any audience and to be able to uncover the changes that need to occur, identify the gaps." Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT. This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Israel Sanchez follows Glenda Washington in building Topeka businesses (Bloomberg) -- The extra yield investors demand to hold Italian bonds over safer German securities fell to the lowest level since early September, after Moodys Investors Service pulled the nations credit rating back from the brink of junk. Most Read from Bloomberg The spread between 10-year Italian and German bonds dropped 5 basis points to 172 basis points on Monday, nearly 40 basis points below a recent peak. Moodys, which rates Italy Baa3 the lowest rung of investment-grade revised its outlook on the nations credit rating to stable from negative. A downgrade to junk would have sent Italys risk premium soaring but such a move was not widely expected. Strategists now expect the spread to keep tightening to reach 160 basis points. Moodys decision is a game changer for spreads, said Theophile Legrand, a rates strategist at Natixis. It would not be a surprise to see new inflows from foreign investors, he added. Moodys had instituted the negative outlook in August 2022, before the election of Giorgia Meloni more than 15 months ago. It said in a statement Friday that the decision reflects a stabilization of prospects for Italys economic strength, the health of its banking sector and the governments debt dynamics. Italy Exits Moodys Junk Danger Zone in Big Win for Meloni Still, caution toward Italian debt is likely to endure. Melonis government unnerved investors in September, when it unveiled a budget featuring a looser fiscal stance, fueling concerns over fresh tensions with Brussels. The 2023 deficit is seen at 5.3% of GDP. Rome projects the deficit to narrow to 3.6% in 2025 still above limits set by the EU but the European Commission forecasts it at 4.3%. The Commission also sees debt as a percentage of output rising above 140% in the next two years. Story continues While the Moodys outcome was better than expected, the likelihood of a revision to the deficit numbers is a reason to bet against Italian debt, according to Mohit Kumar, managing director at Jefferies International. We are not changing our view on Italy, Kumar wrote in a note. A break in the spread below 170 basis points should give a good opportunity to short Italian spreads into December. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Julius Baer Group Ltd. slumped the most in more than three years as a sudden jump in bad loan provisions revived concerns about the Swiss banks exposure to the crumbling property empire of Austrian tycoon Rene Benko. Most Read from Bloomberg The Zurich-based lender warned on Monday that full-year profit will probably decline after it set aside 82 million francs ($93 million) for bad loans. Of that amount, 70 million francs were provisioned since the end of October, prompting at least two analysts to suggest that the unexpected increase reflects loans the bank made to Benkos Signa. This is clearly disappointing, with the provisions probably due to the collapse of Signa, analyst Michael Klien at Zuercher Kantonalbank wrote in a note. Julius Baer fell as much as 14% in Zurich trading, the most since the Covid-19 pandemic rattled markets in early 2020, with analysts also citing disappointing inflows and weaker client activity. Customers added just over 10 billion francs in new money this year through October, even as Switzerlands second-largest wealth manager added a net 75 private bankers and continued to benefit from the demise of Credit Suisse. Julius Baer didnt say what caused the increase in souring loans. The firm along with numerous other banks in Switzerland, Germany and Austria was a lender to Signa, people familiar with the matter said previously. A spokesperson for Julius Baer declined to comment on the reason for the increase in provisions. Investors may well question how if indeed it is confirmed to be the case a single client has resulted in such a substantial credit provision being taken and whether there could be other outsized single client exposures, analysts at Jefferies led by Tom Mills and Flora Bocahut wrote. Story continues The hires helped lift the cost-to-income ratio close to 68% for the first 10 months of the year, compared with 66% last year. Julius Baer, which is led by Chief Executive Officer Philipp Rickenbacher, last month reshuffled the executive board with a series of internal promotions and new hires from UBS, changes that position Chief Operating Officer Nic Dreckmann as potential successor to the CEO. --With assistance from Allegra Catelli. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Sam Altman, who brought AI chatbot ChatGPT to the masses, landed at Microsoft on Monday following his surprise firing as OpenAI's CEO last week. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is winning accolades for hiring Altman and his OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, who will work in tandem with OpenAI's new CEO Emmett Shear. The jockeying, which was likened to a "Game of Thrones" storyline, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, was a strategic win for Nadella, "the adult in the room." OPENAI'S SAM ALTMAN IS OUT OPENAI INVESTORS SCRAMBLING TO BRING ALTMAN BACK "If Microsoft lost Altman he could have gone to Amazon, Google, Apple, or a host of other tech companies craving to get the face of AI globally in their doors. Instead, he is safely in Microsoft's HQ now leading the company's key AI efforts, which we expect many key scientists and developers to leave OpenAI and head directly to Microsoft," Ives wrote in a note to clients on Monday. READ ON THE FOX BUSINESS APP Nadella, in a statement that was posted on X, reiterated the company's commitment to work with OpenAI while also hyping his new hires. "We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI's new leadership team and working with them. "And were extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success," he said. Microsoft shares rose Monday, and have gained more than 54% this year in part due to the company's deeper push into AI across multiple industries and its own cloud business. Story continues Ives now speculates more OpenAI engineers will likely head to Microsoft. More than 500 of the artificial intelligence company's roughly 770 workers signed a letter submitted to its board of directors and obtained by FOX Business, threatening to follow Altman to Microsoft unless their demands are met. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during a meeting at Station F in Paris on May 26, 2023. Altman, in a post on X, said, "we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before. we are all going to work together some way or other, and im so excited. one team, one mission." OpenAI's small board is also feeling the heat as the "circus-like" situation escalates, noted Ives. The four board members are chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, Quora CEO and independent director Adam DAngelo, independent director entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technologys Helen Toner. Prior to the latest developments, Altman was being courted to return to OpenAI with internal efforts by its investors, including Microsoft, according to The Wall Street Journal. OpenAI's board declined to go that route. CHATGPT CREATOR OPENAI LOOKING TO MAKE ITS OWN AI CHIPS: REPORT After Altman was ousted, he began hatching plans to launch a new AI company shortly thereafter, according to reports by The Information and New York Times, citing sources familiar with the matter. The Times added that Altman may have pitched several ideas for new AI projects to investors in recent months, including making customized AI chips that could compete with Nvidia and an AI hardware device. WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)? Nvidia is to report quarterly results on Tuesday. Its shares have clocked gains of more than 230% this year as it cements the lead in AI. FOX Business Breck Dumas, Eric Revell, Timothy Nerrozi, Andrea Vacchiano and Greg Wehner contributed to this report. Original article source: Microsoft adds Sam Altman in poker-player move as OpenAI left twisting Cattle with GPS collars at Blackbeards Ranch in Manatee County. Jim Strickland has 100 of his 1,300 cattle fitted with the collars as part of the invisible fence trial. LAKELAND From his home or wherever he has his laptop computer, Jim Strickland is herding cattle. Strickland, manager of Blackbeards Ranch in Myakka City, is one of the only, if not the only, cattleman in Florida currently using the latest in Global Positioning Satellite technology to manage his herd. In the past, he and other cattlemen would rely on traditional barbed-wire and other types of fencing to keep herds from wandering off, but that fencing could injure cows that got tangled up, impede the flow of wildlife migration and was expensive to install, maintain and replace. Through whats being called invisible fencing, Strickland is using artificial intelligence to control cattle movement, manage grazing and report on animal health. Stricklands cattle have been fitted with GPS collars. A A cell tower sends a signal to cattle to keep them within a certain range of generally five to six miles. For cows fitted with collars, if they hit an invisible boundary, they get a slight shock on the top of the neck to back them up. The shock unit has a small solar panel to keep it charged. From a computer, the cattle can be seen, so the cattle owner knows where their cows are all the time. In a recent study, 98 of 100 of Stricklands cattle with GPS collars stayed in their designated areas. Strickland, who says he has a strong sense of environmental stewardship, wants to protect his wetlands, wildlife and the environment, and he can see using the fence to manage land for water preservation, carbon sequestration as well as cattle production. Currently, on 2,000 acres of Blackbeards Ranch in Manatee County, Strickland has 100 of 1,300 cows fitted with GPS tracking collars. In total, Strickland has access to about 15,000 acres in Marion, Desoto, Manatee counties and owns about 200 acres. The invisible fence technology is manufactured by Vence a subsidiary of Merck & Co. Inc. in Rahway, New Jersey and has so far been tested in Oregon, Montana and Idaho, but nowhere in the south or southeastern United States. Strickland said he was anxious to see if that technology would work in Florida. Story continues To pay for his part in the initial virtual fencing project, for 100 head of cows, it cost about $58,000, with funding split between the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and some of his own money. Strickland said he manages the environmental data and with Florida's Conservation Group, collaborates where to keep cows. Each day, Strickland has to change out collars, check cattle, record data and keep research statistics. Every Friday, he meets virtually with Vence representatives in Colorado to get guidance. Were really ramping up the trial and research to get this to where other ranchers will have this. I can literally pull (GPS) up on a computer and see where every cow in that project is. I can see an icon for all those cows on my computer screen, said Strickland, 68, who has spent his entire life in the cattle industry. Every 30 minutes, it changes. I can see which way theyre moving, where they are. I can see if two cows were, say, a mile from the rest of them and we can go out to check on them to see if they were bogged in the mud, or having trouble calving, or crippled or something like that. I can see all that from a computer screen. To get the virtual fencing trial at the ranch underway, Strickland got Joao Vendramini, a professor at the University of Florida Range Cattle Research and Education Center in Ona, to assist with the first-of-its-kind project in the southeast. Using his own money and funding from the NRCS, he installed cell towers on his property. The NRCS and the Florida Conservation Group are also helping the UF/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) with the project, which includes deferred grazing. Vendramini, whos been at the research center for 18 years, said virtual fencing technology is only about 3 to 5 years old and his involvement with Stricklands project has been going on for about six months. He said although Strickland is currently the only cattle producer utilizing GPS fencing to any extent in Florida, he has been getting calls and other inquiries from other ranchers looking to learn more about it. Jim Strickland, manager of Blackbeards Ranch in Manatee County, points out cattle locations on his computer. He's the only known rancher in Florida using a new invisible fence technology with GPS trackers to monitor cattle. From June 17 to 24 at the 2023 Florida Cattlemans Association convention in Marco Island, Vendramini said a GPS cattle tracking session was held and was well-attended. Like Strickland, he said the benefits are the convenience of finding places to graze, which increases conservation practices because it prevents animals from grazing at certain times of the year where they shouldnt be. Additionally, Vendramini said the invisible fencing is a good way to track livestock, check health and to see if theyre moving. Its also good in disaster circumstances, such as hurricanes and wildfires. I think this will be another tool that the beef cattle producers will have to manage their herds and their cattle. Im not sure if it will be widespread, but I think it may be something useful for some specific situations like in rangelands where its hard to build fences due to thick vegetation and wetlands, he said. I think in those situations it may be quite useful because with this tool, the producers will have a chance to manage. It just reopened And now alligator activity is closing a popular trail at Circle B again No cattle or other livestock has been fitted with GPS collars for invisible fencing yet in Polk County, according to LuJean Waters, president of the Polk County Cattlemens Association, cattle veterinarian and eighth-generation Floridian. She said shes heard discussion from ranchers about using invisible fencing but doesnt know of any using it in the county at the moment. Its not really feasible as far as the expense versus the reward, so we havent had any (ranchers) invest in it at this point, she said. Now, its tough to say if they ever will with development being so rapid. Were losing ranches so quickly, (cattle ranching) might not be sustainable in the future. Other benefits of the GPS invisible fencing, Strickland said, are when its time to move cattle around pastureland and when cows are birthing calves. During calving season, he checks his computer to see if a cow hasnt moved in a few hours and the cow can be checked on for injuries or sickness. He or someone else can go directly to that one cow to see if she had given birth or why she hadnt moved in a while. Strickland said although GPS virtual fencing might not become widespread, it will become more popular. I dont see everybody using it. I can tell you it has exceeded my expectations and the more I learn I see more opportunities for ranchers, opportunities to use this product in the future, he said. This helps manage the land for conservation and ecosystems, and were managing the land for the cattle. Im really excited about this. This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Virtual fencing for Florida's cattle industry is getting a test Nokia Oyj Press release Nokia AVA Energy Efficiency in SaaS model selected by Globe Telecom Philippines to cut network power use Nokia AVA for Energy Efficiency SaaS uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to reduce energy consumption across the network while maintaining network performance Deal expands existing strategic partnership between the two companies 20 November 2023 Espoo, Finland Nokia today announced that its AVA Energy Efficiency software, to be delivered in a SaaS delivery model, has been selected by Globe Telecom to help the Philippine communication service provider drive lower network power consumption and costs. Nokia AVA for Energy SaaS, using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, will enable Globe to shut idle and unused equipment automatically during low usage periods. The solution delivers these operational and cost benefits while maintaining network quality. Deploying this solution through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model will allow Globe to consume the solution purely on demand through a subscription, with faster service delivery and time-to-value. This model also eliminates large up front capital expenditure and avoids the need to perform on-site software maintenance and updates. Globe realized an equivalent annual power savings of around 3-6 percent in a proof of concept using Nokias AVA Energy Efficiency software together with the power saving feature of the radio access network. Nokia has a growing list of more than 50 completed or active energy saving projects with CSPs around the world, as operators increasingly look to cut energy costs and address environmental sustainability issues in their networks. Susanna Patja, APJ Market Leader, Cloud and Network Services, at Nokia said: Network energy consumption is an issue that will only continue to grow in importance for CSPs as they step up their efforts to harmonize network efficiency and environmental objectives. Nokia is excited to support Globe Telecoms efforts to shrink the carbon footprint of the telco industry. Nokia AVA for Energy SaaS represents not only what were doing with AI to unlock the strategic potential of networks but also Nokias commitment to cut emissions across our value chain. Story continues Yoly Crisanto, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Communications Officer of the Globe Group, said: Were very pleased to expand our partnership with Nokia through its AVA for Energy SaaS solution. Efficient energy consumption is a strategic imperative for our network decarbonization initiatives and net zero targets. Deploying this solution will help reduce power costs, with no impact to customer experience. Resources and additional information Webpage: Nokia AVA Energy efficiency Webpage: Nokia Telecom SaaS 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: Press.Services@nokia.com Follow us on social media LinkedIn X Instagram TikTok Facebook YouTube (Bloomberg) -- For the second time in six years, NRG Energy Inc. is making a big change after activist investor Elliott Investment Management LP objected to the strategy being pursued by the independent US power producer. Most Read from Bloomberg On Monday, NRG announced its replacing Chief Executive Officer Mauricio Gutierrez following a dispute over the companys $2.8 billion acquisition of Vivint Smart Home Inc. a transaction Elliott in May called the worst deal of the decade in the power and utilities industry. In 2017, Elliott pushed NRG to refocus on traditional electricity generation and retail businesses, leading to the sale of most of the companys solar and wind fleet. While NRG is embarking on a search for a new CEO giving Elliott the win it sought its not immediately clear whether Gutierrezs successor will redirect the companys focus. Unwinding the Vivint deal isnt currently on the table, according to people familiar with the matter. And NRGs stock has surged in the aftermath of Elliotts renewed criticism earlier this year, closing at a record last week. NRG has been on the same strategic direction since before Elliott was involved and the stock has preformed very well, Morningstar analyst Travis Miller said in a telephone interview. Its not clear how much more return Elliott wants out of this. NRG declined to comment beyond its release. The companys shares fell 1.8% as of 1:15 p.m. in New York. With Gutierrez out, NRG Chairman Lawrence Coben will serve as CEO on an interim basis, the Houston-based company said Monday. NRG is adding four independent directors and will conduct a review of its operations. Read More: Elliott Seeks NRG Shakeup Again After Worst Deal of Decade Story continues The commitment to the current Smart Home strategy is buttressed by the appointment of Marwan Fawaz (former Nest CEO) to the board, with the interim leadership reiterating a commitment to the capital allocation framework and other key tenets of the current plan, said Shahriar Pourreza, an analyst at Guggenheim, in a note Monday. NRG took a different tact in response to Elliotts previous objection to its strategic direction. The company six years ago was pushing hard into renewables, but ended up unloading billions in assets following Elliotts involvement. (Updates shares in fifth paragraph and more details throughout.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Liquor is stored in Ohio Liquor distribution centers before being sent to stores. Liquor prices in Ohio have increased fairly dramatically over the past few months. Ohio rum, Scotch and other liquor fans may need a drink. Prices on some alcohol have jumped the past few months in Ohio, climbing more than 40% in some cases, as distillers worldwide wrestle with price pressures. "The cost of goods, from the glass youre putting in the bottles to the barrels youre purchasing to age liquor in, the economy has forced an increase in the cost of goods, and distillers must raise their prices. We've seen a lot of it," said Pat Keith, vice president of high proof spirits in the Cincinnati office of Heidelberg Distributing Co. More: 'Bourbon hunters' scour central Ohio liquor stores for rare products According to data from the Ohio Department of Commerce, which oversees Ohio Liquor (OHLQ), spirits in standard 750 millileter bottles that saw big jumps in August included popular brands such as Glenlivet Founders Reserve Scotch, which climbed from $21.99 to $29.99; Bacardi Gold, which jumped from $22.99 to $27.99; and Captain Morgan rum, which rose from $14.99 to $17.99. While Scotch and rum prices were hit hardest, other spirits including some tequila and vodka brands also felt the pinch. Belvedere vodka jumped from $14.99 to $19.99; Jagermeister liqueur rose from $19.99 to $25.99; and Corzo Silver tequila climbed from $36.99 to $46.99. The biggest price hike since June was Rey Supremo Gran Reserve Tequila Anejo, which leapt from $52.99 to $74.99, a 43% jump that was the highest in the state. Drinkers got a holiday break in November, when many producers introduced sale prices on some of those liquors and others at least for a bit. "Some will be on sale these few months and then well return to regular price," Keith said. Liquor is stored in Ohio Liquor distribution centers before being sent to stores. Despite price hikes for American whiskeys in recent years, the cost of bourbon, rye, Tennessee whiskey and other domestics have largely held steady in recent months in Ohio. Liquor prices in Ohio are fixed; the same bottle costs the same price no matter where it is purchased. Prices are relayed to retailers by OHLQ but are set by suppliers, who build in a 30% state markup, per Ohio law. Story continues Each month, Ohio Liquor examines prices, and might adjust them based on information from suppliers. The Dispatch examined six months of price changes, from June through November. Most of the big price jumps in the state occurred in August, when global supply issues caught up to the industry. "Every industry is having that impact this moment," Keith said. "Were starting to see freight costs stabilize, but not going down, thats why youre seeing more increases the last nine months. ... The cost to get product overseas in particular is higher." Some products were hit with specific issues, such as Scotch, which saw duty taxes jump in August. Despite the recent price jumps, Ohio prices largely remain on par with nearby states. "Ohio is absolutely competitive," said Keith. "Youll find items cheaper in other states, but youll find prices in Ohio cheaper than in other states." Liquor is stored in Ohio Liquor distribution centers before being sent to stores. Chad White, founder of the Ohio Rum Society, said he rarely hears complaints about Ohio liquor prices from his 900-plus members. "Rum sold in Ohio is generally cheaper than rum in other states," he noted. Appleton Estate Rare 12-year-old rum, a favorite of White's, for example, sells in Ohio for $42.99, $2 less than at the big Illinois liquor chain Binny's Beverage Depot. Many other common pours are the same or less in Ohio than at Binny's, including the most popular liquor sold in Ohio last year: Tito's Handmade Vodka, which sells for $19.99 in Ohio and $20.99 at Binny's. Other popular examples: Beefeater Dry Gin ($17.99 in Ohio, $21.99 at Binny's); Jim Beam bourbon ($14.99 both places); Maker's Mark bourbon ($21.99 in Ohio, $27.99 at Binny's); Absolut Vodka ($17.99 both); and Fireball Cinnamon Whisky ($16.99 both). More: Out-of-state liquor companies object to effort to keep them out of Ohio For many Ohio liquor enthusiasts, price isn't the problem. Selection is. "The increasingly limited rum selection in Ohio is a bigger issue," White said of his society's members. "They wouldnt mind price hikes if they had greater selection." Rum fans spent years, for example, lobbying to get Foursquare rum products in the state, White said. "There are so many missed opportunities for OHLQ," he said. Other rum brands White said he'd love to see in Ohio include Doctor Bird and Worthy Park. The lack of selection has led one of White's Westerville drinking buddies, Jon McCliment, to buy Scotch from independent bottlers. "The reason I started doing that is because Ohio carries zero independent bottlers in Scotch. Same with rum and even bourbon," said McCliment. Still, McCliment is largely pleased with the the way liquor is sold and priced in Ohio. "I think its strong, honestly, stronger than in a lot of states," he said. jweiker@dispatch.com @JimWeiker This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio liquor prices see big spikes in summer 2023 (Bloomberg) -- Oil extended gains as traders boosted bets that the OPEC+ alliance will intervene in the market to bolster prices. Most Read from Bloomberg West Texas Intermediate rose 2.3% to settle above $77 on speculation that Saudi Arabia and its allies may deepen production cuts when they gather on Nov. 26. The commodity erased more than 50 cents in gains in the minutes before the market closed as traders engaged in late-day profit taking. Earlier in the session, the dollar weakened to the lowest level since September, making commodities priced in the currency more attractive. The US benchmark crude futures December expiry on Monday also contributed to high volatility. Crude is down 3.3% for the year following a run of four weekly losses that were driven by concerns about robust supplies outside the OPEC+ coalition. Hedge funds have slashed their bets on oil to the least bullish in 20 weeks amid large inventory builds. Meanwhile, US crudes weakening timespreads flashed signs of oversupply in a bearish market structure called contango. Brent also ended the session with shorter-dated contracts trading at a discount to longer-dated ones. To shore up sentiment, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies are expected to at least reaffirm existing production quotas for 2024. Group leader Saudi Arabia is widely predicted to extend its extra 1 million barrel-a-day cutback into early next year. Were retracing some of the losses last week on ideas the selloff by fund liquidation was probably overexaggerated, said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president for trading at BOK Financial Securities. The possibility of extended cuts following the upcoming OPEC+ meeting is keeping the buyers present today. Story continues In the Middle East, meanwhile, shipping risks were in focus after a Japanese-chartered vessel was seized in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Tokyo-based Nippon Yusen KK said the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier, was taken in the southern part of the waterway on Sunday. Terminal users can click here for more on the Israel-Hamas War. To get Bloombergs Energy Daily newsletter into your inbox, click here. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- After three days of high drama at the worlds most closely watched startup, which many compared to a coup, Microsoft Corp. capped the weekend with one of its own: The software giant hired ousted OpenAI chief Sam Altman. Most Read from Bloomberg The moves reshape the world of artificial intelligence given that OpenAI is behind the hugely popular ChatGPT app that took generative AI into the mainstream, and Altman was its figurehead. He was unexpectedly fired by OpenAIs board on Friday, setting off a frenzied weekend campaign to reinstate him, led by OpenAI executives and key investors including Satya Nadella, the chief executive officer of Microsoft, which had pledged more than $10 billion for the startup. Instead, OpenAIs board replaced Altman with Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, in a stinging rebuke to its investors. Nadella then announced that he had recruited Altman and Greg Brockman, another OpenAI co-founder who had quit in protest, to lead a newly formed in-house AI research unit at Microsoft, casting a shadow over the future of its prized investment. Now OpenAI, which was in talks with investors about a $86 billion valuation, risks an exodus of employees to Microsoft and other rivals, and an end to its stunning growth. And the startup will face close scrutiny over its ability, or willingness, to turn its cutting-edge AI into profits. At the heart of the divide is whether AI should be a commercial opportunity or is a potentially dangerous technology that needs to be checked and scrutinized at every turn. Confidence In a post on Linkedin, Nadella wrote that Microsoft remains committed to its partnership with OpenAI and has confidence in our product roadmap. Story continues But by tapping Altman, Nadella acquired a driver for the new brand of AI captivating executives and politicians everywhere. At OpenAI, the co-founder was credited with kicking off a race for artificial intelligence supremacy from Washington to Beijing, inviting comparisons to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. On Monday, Brockman posted online that he and Altman had already recruited three OpenAI scientists to work with them at Microsoft. The mission continues, he wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Microsofts shares climbed as much as 2.7% in pre-market trading in New York, after closing 1.7% lower Friday. Read More: Microsoft to Appoint Sam Altman CEO of New In-House AI Team Altmans replacement, Shear, stepped down as CEO of Amazon.com Inc.s game-streaming site Twitch earlier this year. He won over directors at OpenAI because of his past recognition of the existential threats that AI presented, a person familiar with the matter said. A computer scientist who spent more than a decade building Twitch into one of the worlds most successful video platforms, Shear is regarded as having the heft to lead a large engineering group, the person added, asking to remain anonymous discussing private matters. The weekend drama bares the divisions that built up at OpenAI over the years, culminating with the removal of Altman. One of the fissures was Altmans drive to turn OpenAI, which began as a nonprofit organization, into a successful business and how quickly he wanted the company to crank out products and sign up customers. That ran headlong into board member concerns over the safety of AI tools capable of generating text, images and even computer code with minimal prompting. Read More: The Doomed Mission Behind Sam Altmans Shock Ouster From OpenAI The fallout from the boards decision to defy investors is likely to be widespread. Thrive Capital had been expected to lead an offer for employee shares, a deal that would value OpenAI at $86 billion. As of this weekend, the firm had not yet wired the money and it told OpenAI that Altmans departure will affect its actions. The turmoil also threatens to undermine Microsofts biggest investment in AI, a $13 billion bet on OpenAI and its former CEO. The US software leader owns almost half of the startup but wasnt able to sway the board. OpenAI President Brockman quit hours after Altmans firing. The remaining board of directors are OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, who led Altmans firing, as well as Quora Inc. CEO Adam DAngelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner, director of strategy at Georgetowns Center for Security and Emerging Technology. Like some members of OpenAIs board, Shear has ties to the sometimes controversial effective altruism movement, which sees serious risks from advanced AI. Many effective altruists a pseudo-philosophical movement that seeks to donate money to head off existential risks have imagined scenarios in which a powerful AI system could wreak widespread harm. In September, Shear tweeted that hes in favor of a slowdown of artificial intelligence technological advancement. We cant learn how to build a safe AI without experimenting, and we cant experiment without progress, but we probably shouldnt be barreling ahead at max speed either, he said. Shear and representatives of OpenAI didnt respond to requests for comment. Read More: Silicon Valleys Obsession With Rogue AI Helps Bury Bad Behavior Altman attached several conditions to his return, including changes to the way OpenAI is governed, the removal of the board and a statement absolving him of wrongdoing, people with knowledge of the matter have said. The board was ultimately unwilling to give in to the demands, some of the people said, and instead embarked on their own search for a CEO. The decision to hire Shear is a stinging rebuke to the investors. In a post on X, Shear wrote that his plans for his first 30 days as OpenAI CEO included reforming the management team and hiring an independent investigator to issue a report about the recent events at the company. He wrote that the board did not remove Altman over any specific disagreement on safety and dismissed the idea that the board was uninterested in a profitable model. Im not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercializing our awesome models, Shear wrote. Ethan Kurzweil, a partner at venture capital firm Bessemer Partners, was on the board of Twitch when Shear was CEO. Its a great pick, Kurzweil said in a text message. No easy task to pick up the pieces right now but Emmett has all of the skills to succeed in this and I would think enough credibility to calm the rocky waters right now. Hes forward thinking and a very deep technologist but also a good communicator. Shear departed just days before Twitch announced job cuts that affected the companys ability to police abusive or illegal behavior. At a time when the toxicity associated with gaming culture began running rampant on Twitch, Shear championed trust and safety efforts, people with knowledge of the platform told Bloomberg at the time. When he departed Twitch, which he co-founded, Shear said he wanted to spend more time with his son. On Monday, Shear wrote that he consulted with his family and took the OpenAI job within a few hours of the offer. Sutskever told staff that Altman wouldnt be returning. The day before, on Saturday, Shear liked a post on X that supported Altmans ouster that read, congratulations to ilya for taking his company back after (Altmans) nefarious coup. --With assistance from Katie Roof, Amy Thomson, Cecilia D'Anastasio and Mark Bergen. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. ChatGPT OpenAI fires Sam Altman and Microsoft hires him -- except Microsoft didn't hire anyone and Altman is now back as OpenAI CEO. Here's what's happened so far, just try to keep up. ChatGPT So AI really is threatening people's jobs. Sam Altman is the co-founder of OpenAI, which created ChatGPT, but over the course of a weekend, he was fired as CEO of his own company and ended up leading "a new advanced AI research team" at Microsoft instead. Sort of. For a while. It was a shock firing, with some OpenAI investors including Microsoft told of it only one minute before it was announced. Other investors heard the news first on social media. Since then, there has been a storm of conflicting news about Altman's exit. For instance, it's been reported that one day after the OpenAI board fired Altman, it reconvened to discuss hiring him back. Yet a memo from the OpenAI board seen by the New York Times on November 19, 2023, seems to refute that. "The board firmly stands by its decision as the only path to advance and defend the mission of OpenAI," said the memo, signed by all four of the directors on the board. "Put simply, Sam's behavior and lack of transparency in his interactions with the board undermined the board's ability to effectively supervise the company in the manner it was mandated to do." "We apologize for the abruptness of the process that we felt was required by the situation," said the board. "Even understanding the questions it has raised, we continue to believe our actions were necessary." There has been no further information about the reasons for firing Altman, or for why it was seemingly done so abruptly. Whatever the full reasons are, they were not enough to prevent OpenAI's president Greg Brockman, quitting the firm in support of Altman. The reasons were also not enough to prevent board member Ilya Sutskever from publicly tweeting his regret at the firing. Story continues After being fired, Altman reportedly worked to regain his job by leading investors to pressure the board. Those investors included venture capitalists, OpenAI employees, and also Microsoft, which represented itself and smaller investors. At the same time, OpenAI appointed Mira Murati as an interim CEO, saying "We have the utmost confidence in her ability to lead OpenAI during this transition period." Murati reportedly also worked to get both Altman and Brockman back into the company, but her tenure as interim CEO was over in practically hours. Instead, OpenAI announced on November 20, 2023, that Emmett Shear, former CEO of Twitch, would take over. In a tweet of over 500 words, Shear announced that his first actions would include an inquiry into the firing. "Before I took the job, I checked on the reasoning behind the change," tweeted Shear. "The board did not remove Sam over any specific disagreement on safety, their reasoning was completely different from that." "I'm not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercializing our awesome models," he continued. Either while Altman was trying to get back his role as CEO of OpenAI, or possibly after learning it wouldn't happen, he reportedly began pitching to investors about creating a new firm. Enter Microsoft Those efforts presumably ceased, however, when Altman and Brockman were hired by Microsoft. It's another messy part of the story, though, as Microsoft already owns 49% of OpenAI. Both sides, Microsoft and OpenAI, have now been careful to express that their relationship will continue. "Our partnership with Microsoft remains strong," tweeted Shear, "and my priority in the coming weeks will be to make sure we continue to serve all our customers well." "We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite," tweeted Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, "and in continuing to support our customers and partners." However, in the same tweet, Nadella added: "And we're extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team." "We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success," he continued. For his part, Altman just tweeted three words: "the mission continues." The new AI research team that Altman is to lead will reportedly be run as an independent, autonomous group within Microsoft. That means it won't be dissimilar to how OpenAI has worked with the company, except that it will be under a new contract that will mean Microsoft has full control. It if were solely Altman and Brockman who had joined Microsoft's new AI group, it might not make a great deal of difference to OpenAI's work. After all, OpenAI reportedly has around 700 employees. Exit OpenAI However, Nadella's announcement tweet referred to welcoming the two men "together with colleagues." Plus since the announcement that OpenAI had fired Altman, the New York Times says that some employees were threatening to quit OpenAI. At the time, they were reportedly threatening to leave OpenAI in order to join Altman's proposed new venture. But now, while that venture won't be happening, Kara Swisher reports that 505 of OpenAI's employees are threatening to resign if the board does not reinstate Altman and Brockman, and also stand down. "We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAl and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman," says the letter. "Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAl employees at this new subsidiary should we choose to join." "We will take this step imminently," it continues, "unless all current board members resign, and the board appoints two new lead independent directors, such as Bret Taylor and Will Hurd, and reinstates Sam Altman and Greg Brockman." Swisher's tweet with the text of the letter to the board shows only the first 12 of the 505 signatories. However, significantly, Ilya Sutskever is in that first 12 -- and the so very briefly interim CEO Mira Murati is first. The board does of course have the option to stand down, but it's now surely unlikely that Altman and Brockman will return. Consequently, whatever the impetus for firing Altman was, the result is that the single best-known AI firm is in danger of imploding. And that Microsoft, rather than just being an investor in OpenAI, has created itself a rival to that firm. Not so fast So Microsoft may have even just effectively taken over the future of OpenAI, Sam Altman is back in regular employment -- except it isn't over yet. A day after the deal was seemingly done with Microsoft, it is now seemingly not done at all. For according to The Verge, Altman is still trying to regain his CEO role at OpenAI -- and he has a chance. Citing unnamed but reportedly multiple sources, the publication says that Microsoft's announcement was a "holding pattern." They say that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made the move in order to end a crisis before the stock market reopened on Monday. Key to Altman's possible return to OpenAI is the regret tweet posted by Ilya Sutskever, who had been one of the board members who led the move to oust the firm's CEO. With Sutskever now backing Altman, it would only take two more board members to change their mind for Altman to be reinstated. "Surprises are bad" Nadella has been doing damage control for Microsoft, by discussing the situation on news outlets including CNBC. Or perhaps it's better to say he has been trying damage control, because his interviews all ultimately say that it's up to Altman and OpenAI whether Microsoft employs any of this team. Asked about Microsoft hiring of OpenAI staff, as those staff claimed to have been promised, Nadella said "that is for the OpenAI board and management and employees to choose." He wouldn't be drawn further, choosing instead to say that Microsoft "chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI... obviously that depends on the people at OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft, so I'm open to both options." One thing Nadella was clear about is that Microsoft is not hapy with what's been happening. "[It's] clear something has to change around the governance," he said. "We will have a good dialogue with their board on that, and walk through that as that evolves." He made the same point on Bloomberg TV, saying that "surprises are bad" and that he will "definitely want some governance changes." "This idea that changes happen without being in the loop is not good," he said. For his part, Altman has followed his "the mission continues" tweet with a possibly equally vague one about teamwork -- wherever that team may be. Subsiding storms, probably As of November 22, 2023, the peculiar saga is possibly over as Sam Altman has been reinstated as OpenAI CEO. Greg Brockman has also been reinstated, and there is now what is being called "a new initial board." Altman's return means that OpenAI's Emmett Shear was CEO for only a few more hours than Mira Murati. She has responded to the news of Altman's return solely with a retweet of the announcement, and a heart emoji. Sheer on the other hand, has changed his Twitter/X bio to read "interim ex-CEO of OpenAI." He's also said "I am deeply pleased by this result, after ~72 very intense hours of work." "Coming into OpenAI, I wasn't sure what the right path would be," he continued. "This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved. I'm glad to have been a part of the solution." Microsoft's position Just as at every step of this strange journey, everyone involved is continuing to stress that the relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft is as strong as it ever was. For his part, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said -- also on Twitter/X -- that "[we] are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board." "We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance," continued Nadella. "Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission." "We look forward to building on our strong partnership," he tweeted, "and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners." What's left unsaid It's not known yet how Altman regained his position as OpenAI CEO. It may be that he persuaded two more members of the board to back him, or it could be related to the board standing down in favor of a new interim one that was more willing to support Altman. Nor is it known what ex-CEO Emmett Sheer's role in the company will be, if he has one. Equally, it's not known whether the previous ex-CEO Mira Murati will simply return to her old role. What has become clear is that there either has or will be a significant change to how OpenAI's board is run. Microsoft appears to have achieved its goal of better governance of the board. And of course it's still not known why the old board fired Altman. There have been rumors that the board wanted to be cautious and take its time developing AI tools, where Altman was racing to make products with people such as ex-Apple designer Jony Ive. For now, the change in governance and the change in the board suggest that Altman will be able to press ahead the way he wants. And that Microsoft will have more say in how OpenAI does that. Updated: 21 November 2023, at 08:50, with Altman's continued attempts to regain his role at OpenAI. Updated: 22 November 2023 at 05:30 with Altman returning to OpenAI Key Insights Standex International's estimated fair value is US$189 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Standex International is estimated to be 27% undervalued based on current share price of US$138 Our fair value estimate is 7.9% higher than Standex International's analyst price target of US$175 Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Standex International Corporation (NYSE:SXI) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple! Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model. Check out our latest analysis for Standex International Is Standex International Fairly Valued? We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$97.1m US$106.8m US$114.9m US$121.8m US$127.7m US$132.9m US$137.5m US$141.8m US$145.9m US$149.8m Growth Rate Estimate Source Est @ 13.21% Est @ 9.92% Est @ 7.61% Est @ 5.99% Est @ 4.86% Est @ 4.07% Est @ 3.51% Est @ 3.13% Est @ 2.85% Est @ 2.66% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 7.5% US$90.3 US$92.3 US$92.4 US$91.1 US$88.8 US$86.0 US$82.8 US$79.4 US$75.9 US$72.5 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$851m Story continues We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.2%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 7.5%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = US$150m (1 + 2.2%) (7.5% 2.2%) = US$2.9b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$2.9b ( 1 + 7.5%)10= US$1.4b The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$2.2b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$138, the company appears a touch undervalued at a 27% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent. dcf 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 Standex International as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.5%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.062. 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 Standex International Strength Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry. Debt is not viewed as a risk. Weakness Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Machinery market. Opportunity Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%. Threat Annual earnings are forecast to decline for the next 2 years. Next Steps: Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Standex International, we've compiled three relevant aspects you should assess: Risks: You should be aware of the 3 warning signs for Standex International (1 is a bit concerning!) we've uncovered before considering an investment in the company. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for SXI'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 American stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Pan American Energy Corp. The Horizon Lithium Project maiden Resource Estimate was Completed by RESPEC and Totals Over 1.3 million tonnes of Indicated and 8.8 million tonnes of Inferred Lithium Carbonate Equivalent Resources Figure 1 The Project boundary, 20 exploratory drillholes used in the MRE, and the Mineral Resource body showing unexplored areas to the west, northwest, east and south. CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pan American Energy Corp. (CSE:PNRG) (OTC PINK: PAANF) (FRA: SS60) ("Pan American" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its inaugural mineral resource estimate ("MRE") on its Horizon Lithium Project (the "Project") in Big Smoky Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada. The MRE was completed pursuant to the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101). The Horizon Lithium Project is one of the largest land packages in the Tonopah Lithium Belt, encompassing 839 unpatented lode claims covering approximately 17,334 acres. Pan American holds its interest in the Project pursuant to a property option agreement (the Property Option Agreement) entered into with the owner of the Project, Horizon Lithium LLC, which allows Pan American to explore the Project and to earn a 100% interest in the Project by making certain cash payments and share issuances to Horizon Lithium LLC. The MRE was completed by RESPEC, LLC (RESPEC), a leader in lithium claystone resource estimations and engineering design work, utilizing the results of the Companys 20-hole exploratory drill program, which had totalled approximately 4,371.6 metres. RESPEC has also been engaged to prepare a technical report on the Project containing the full results of the Companys drill program and the MRE (the Technical Report). Pursuant to NI 43-101, the Company will file the Technical Report within 45 days of the date hereof on the Companys SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Highlights One of the largest identified lithium deposits in the U.S. with an estimated Indicated Mineral Resource of 1,325 Lithium Carbonate Equivalent ( LCE ) Kilo tonnes ( KTonnes ) and Inferred Mineral Resource of 8,879 LCE KTonnes, with an average grade of 678 ppm lithium ( Li ) (see table below for additional details regarding the calculation of the MRE and the average Li grades for the Inferred Mineral Resources and Indicated Mineral Resources). High-Grade Mineral Resources. Estimates were calculated based on a conservative 300 ppm Li cut-off within an optimized pit. Rapid advancement in a short timeframe. The MRE is based on 20 diamond drill holes completed in 2023, within a year of the Company acquiring rights to the Project pursuant to the Property Option Agreement. One hole was abandoned due to hole conditions and was not used in the MRE. Significant expansion potential through step-out drilling to extend the deposit to the North West, South, East and West and at greater depths. The Company is actively evaluating geophysical exploration techniques and Phase 3 drill planning. Accelerated project engineering. The work necessary to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment ( PEA ) for the Project, including metallurgical assessment, is underway and expected to be completed in Q4-2024. Access and infrastructure. The Project benefits from an ideal location near essential infrastructure and the town of Tonopah with limited impediments (i.e. no highway intersects impacting pit design). Story continues The Project sits immediately adjacent to American Battery Technologys (ABTC) Tonopah Flats project, with a mineral resource estimate of 15.8 million tonnes of Inferred LCE mineral resources[1]. The mineral resource estimate completed by ABTC for its Tonopah Flats project was also prepared by RESPEC and was completed in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation S-K 1300. The Projects resource block model and tabulation was completed based on the data collected from 20 drill holes which were completed during 2023. Mineral domains were interpreted on 450-meter cross sections, solidified into 3D solids, and coded into the model as lithium domain percentages. The lithium grades were interpolated by inverse-distance at a power of 2 by using the lithium domain percentages to assist in constraining the grade estimation. The resource estimate has also been constrained by pit optimization to determine a shape and cut-off grade in order to meet the requirement of reasonable prospects for economic extraction. The MRE is summarized below: Table 1. Mineral Resource Estimate for the Horizon Lithium Project Classification Cut-off (ppm Li) Total KTonnes Average Grade (ppm Li) Li KTonnes LCE KTonnes Indicated 300 372,845 669 249 1,325 Inferred 300 2,453,963 680 1,668 8,879 Notes: The MRE was done by RESPEC in metric tonnes. Mineral Resources comprised all model blocks at a 300 ppm Li cut-off within an optimized pit. Mineral Resources within the optimized pit are block-diluted tabulations. In order to describe the resource in terms of industry standard lithium carbonate equivalent, a conversion factor of 5.323 was used to convert elemental lithium to LCE. 20 drillholes were drilled, however only 20 holes were used in the MRE as one hole was abandoned due to loss circulation issues. An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to Measured and Indicated Resources and must not be converted to Mineral Reserves. It is reasonably expected that most of the Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration. Mineral Resources potentially amenable to open pit mining methods are reported using a lithium carbonate price of US$20,000/tonne, a throughput rate of 10,800 Ktonnes/day, assumed metallurgical recoveries of 66%, mining costs of US$2.20/tonne mined, processing costs of US$14.12/tonne processed and general and administrative costs of $0.42/tonne processed. The results from the pit optimization are used solely for the purpose of testing the "reasonable prospects for economic extraction" by an open pit and do not represent an attempt to estimate mineral reserves. There are no mineral reserves on the Project. The results are used as a guide to assist in the preparation of the MRE and to select an appropriate resource reporting cut-off grade. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issues. The effective date of the MRE is November 15, 2023. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate and numbers may not add due to rounding. Jason Latkowcer, Chief Executive Officer of Pan American, commented, "This initial mineral resource estimate marks the most important milestone to date for our Company, highlighting the identification of a large scale and high-grade lithium deposit with significant future potential right here in North America. The past year has been an impressive demonstration of how quickly our team has been able to meet operational objectives. Within less than a year, our drilling efforts led to a tremendous discovery of a cluster of lithium mineralization and the inaugural mineral resource estimate on the Project one of the largest in the United States. I commend our team and contractors. Our execution strategy is to advance the Project through engineering as quickly as possible, while concurrently working to expand and upgrade the mineral resources at the Project. We will also consider prospective acquisition targets in the area in order to enhance our land package. We look forward continuing to deliver results. Tabetha Stirrett, P.Geo., consulting geologist of RESPEC, independent consultant of the Company, commented, "This maiden NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate is a major achievement for Pan American and I am very proud of what our exploration team has done to support this accomplishment in such a short period of time. Pan American have established a strong foundation to build upon, and we are focused on continuing to help them grow their lithium resources significantly over the next 6 to 12 months. The team is currently planning geophysical exploration work and additional infill holes that have the potential to expand the mineralization. The Project boundary, 20 exploratory drillholes used in the MRE, and the Mineral Resource body showing unexplored areas to the west, northwest, east and south. Figure 1 The Project boundary, 20 exploratory drillholes used in the MRE, and the Mineral Resource body showing unexplored areas to the west, northwest, east and south. Details related to the calculation of the MRE The MRE was prepared by Tabetha Stirrett, P. Geo. (the "Author" or "QP") with an effective date of November 15, 2023. This estimate is the inaugural Mineral Resource Estimate produced by Pan American since the Company acquired rights to the Project pursuant to the Property Option Agreement. The MRE was estimated using the following geological and resource block modeling parameters which are based on geological interpretations, geostatistical studies, and best practices in mineral estimation. The QP is not aware of any factors or issues that materially affect the MRE other than normal risks faced by mining projects in the area of the Project in terms of environmental, permitting, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, and political factors, and the additional risk factors normally associated with the estimation of inferred mineral resources. The Project geology is comprised of sedimentary rocks of the Siebert Formation deposited by lacustrine, fluvial, and volcanic processes during the middle Miocene epoch. The Siebert Formation is overlain in varying amounts by sedimentary and volcaniclastic sands and gravels sourced from the surrounding terrain. Drilling conducted by Pan American included diamond core drilling of HQ size ( 63.5 mm diameter). Diamond core has been sampled in intervals of 1.52 m where possible. 2,311 core samples have been collected and submitted for analysis. Duplicate samples, pulp and coarse blank samples, and certified reference material used as standard samples were submitted for QA/QC analysis. Geochemical analysis of drill core samples was conducted by ALS Global in Reno, Nevada where they were analyzed for a 48-element suite via ICP-MS following four acid digestion. ALS is independent of the Company. The MRE was estimated from the diamond drill holes completed by Pan American since February 2023 . A total of 20 drill holes comprising 2,311 assays were used for the mineral resources model. The 3D modelling of the Mineral Resources was conducted using a minimum grade of 60 ppm Li within a preliminary lithological model. The Li-grade distribution was analyzed on a population distribution graph and three grade populations were identified for modeling purposes. These populations were used in conjunction with geologic characteristics to generate 2D mineral domain interpretations on 450-m cross sections. The 2D mineral domains were used to generate 3D mineralized solids. Volume percentages of these solids were coded into the block model and applied to the interpolation of Li grades to constrain the estimation. The interpolation was conducted using Inverse Distance Squared (ID2) methodology with two interpolation passes for each mineral domain. The block model was defined by a block size of 30 m long by 30 m wide by 10 m thick and covers a strike length of approximately 10,800 m to a maximal vertical depth of 870 m below surface. The MRE was classified as Indicated or Inferred Mineral Resources based on data quality, sample spacing, and mineral domain continuity. Mineral Resources were defined using a search ellipsoid 1,000 m by 1,000 m by 250 m. Classification focused on spatial relation using a minimum of 1 composite within a maximum isotropic distance of 200 m to a block for the Indicated Mineral Resources. Validation has proven that the block model fairly reflects the underlying data inputs. Variability over distance is relatively moderate to low for this deposit type, therefore the maximum classification level is Indicated Mineral Resources. Mineralization at the deposit extends to surface and is expected to be suitable for open cut mining. No minimum mining width was applied. Internal mining dilution is limited to internal barren host rock intervals within the mineralized claystone intervals. Based on these assumptions, it is considered that there are no mining factors which are likely to affect the assumption that the deposit has reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. It is the QP's opinion that the current classification used is adequate and reliable for this type of mineralization and mineral resource estimate. Mineral Resources were constrained within the boundaries of an optimized pit shell using the following constraints: Concentrate price: USD$20,000/t; mining costs: USD$2.20/t ROM; Processing costs: USD14.12/t ROM, General/Admin: USD$0.42/t ROM, Lithium Recovery: 66%. The MRE reported is a pit-constrained estimate with reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction. About Pan American. Pan American Energy Corp. (CSE: PNRG) (OTC PINK: PAANF) (FSE: SS60) is an exploration stage company engaged principally in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties containing battery metals in North America. The Company executed an option agreement in Canada with Magabra Resources, providing for the right to acquire up to a 90% interest in the drill-ready Big Mack Lithium Project 80 km north of Kenora, Ontario. The Company has also entered into a Property Option Agreement with Horizon Lithium LLC, providing for the right to acquire a 100% interest in the Horizon Lithium Project, located within Esmeralda County Tonopah Lithium Belt, Nevada, USA. Qualified Persons The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Tabetha Stirrett, P.Geo, who is a consulting geologist of RESPEC, an independent consultant of the Company, and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by NI 43-101. In accordance with the guidelines outlined in NI 43-101, Section 3.2, the geological information presented herein is based on extensive fieldwork, drilling campaigns, and laboratory analyses conducted by qualified persons in compliance with the CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. Data Verification: The data presented in this press release have undergone a comprehensive verification process to ensure accuracy and reliability. The verification procedures were conducted by qualified professionals with relevant expertise in geological and mining disciplines, and were overseen by the Qualified Person. Data Collection and Compilation: All raw data, including geological, drilling, and analytical data, were collected and compiled from various sources, including fieldwork, drilling campaigns, and laboratory analyses. Data compilation involved a meticulous review to identify and rectify any inconsistencies or errors in the dataset. QA/QC Procedures: Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures were implemented throughout the data collection process. Standard QA/QC measures, including the insertion of certified reference materials, duplicate samples, and blanks, were employed during drilling and sampling campaigns. Regular checks and audits were conducted to monitor and address any deviations from established QA/QC protocols. MRE Verification The project's mineral resource estimation heavily depended on explicitly modeling lithium mineralization domains in cross-sections. This practical approach ensured a thorough verification of the data, meticulously assessing the continuity and significance of geological variables and assays within that context. Limitations on the Verification Process: Despite rigorous verification efforts, it is essential to acknowledge certain limitations associated with the data verification process: Sampling Variability: While QA/QC measures were implemented to address sampling variability, inherent variability in geological and mineralization characteristics may introduce uncertainties in the dataset. Geological Complexity: The property's geological setting may pose challenges in terms of interpretation and verification. Unknown geological structures and mineralization patterns could introduce uncertainties despite verification efforts. It is crucial to note that, despite these limitations, every effort has been made to minimize potential biases and inaccuracies in the data. Qualified Persons have exercised their professional judgment to mitigate these limitations and ensure the reliability of the information presented in this report. Contact: Phone : (587) 885-5970 Email: info@panam-energy.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-statements." Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or developments to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to: the prospectivity of the Project; the expectation that Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources; the ability of the Company to continue to deliver similar results in the future; the ability of the Company to produce a PEA; the economic viability of the Project; the mineralization and development of the Project; the Company's exploration program and other mining projects and prospects thereof; the Company's future plans; the completion and filing of the Technical Report; and the impacts of environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing and other factors relevant to the Project and the Companys activities. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Information and links in this press release relating to other mineral resource companies are from their sources believed to be reliable, but that have not been independently verified by the Company. The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein. [1] Information regarding the mineral resource estimate for ABTCs Tonopah Flats project was taken from the Technical Report Summary for the Tonopah Flats Lithium Project, Esmeralda and NYE Counties, Nevada, USA prepared for ABTC by RESPEC with an effective date of November 8, 2022, which report is publicly available. Readers are cautioned that this report was prepared in accordance with the disclosure requirements of the US Securities and Exchange Commission under subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K, which differ significantly from the requirements of NI 43-101 applicable to the Company and Horizon. Readers are further cautioned that the information included in this press release regarding ABTCs Tonopah Flats project, and specifically the mineral resource estimate prepared for this project, is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization of Horizon. Key Insights Institutions' substantial holdings in Bank of America implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 48% ownership Insiders have been buying lately Every investor in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 58% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company. After a year of 17% losses, last weeks 8.2% gain would be welcomed by institutional investors as a likely sign that returns might start trending higher. In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Bank of America. View our latest analysis for Bank of America What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bank of America? Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index. As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Bank of America. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Bank of America's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters. 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 Bank of America. Our data shows that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is the largest shareholder with 13% of shares outstanding. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 7.7% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 6.2% of the company stock. Story continues On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily. Insider Ownership Of Bank of America 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. Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group. Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Bank of America Corporation. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own US$403m worth of shares. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling. General Public Ownership With a 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Bank of America. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders. Public Company Ownership Public companies currently own 13% of Bank of America stock. 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: I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Bank of America you should know about. But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Rachel Cruze / Rachel Cruze Its easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to set financial goals. Maybe youd like to save up $1,000 in an emergency fund but on the other hand, youd love to take that dream trip to Disney World by the end of the year. Be Aware: This Mistake Can Tank Your Credit Score 100 Points Overnight Learn: What To Do If You Owe Back Taxes to the IRS While there are many options at your disposal, money expert Rachel Cruze says its important to pick and choose wisely and to tackle your goals in a way that will set you up for lifelong success. Lots of things can influence the way you set your financial goals, including your motivations, values and dreams for the future, she wrote on the Ramsey blog. And the way your parents handled money and even your own spending and savings habits (which are unique to you) also [have] a major impact on how you handle money. Cruze also points out that efficient goal planning takes intention and some self-awareness. Below are Cruzes steps for helping you set your long-term and short-term financial goals. Sponsored: New Chase checking customers enjoy a $200 bonus when you open a Chase Total Checking account and set up direct deposit. Be Specific One reason people dont hit their money goals is because theyre too vague, Cruze wrote. Specific goals, on the other hand, help you clearly define what you want to achieve. Vague goals like save money or invest for the future lack clarity. Whereas specific goals like save $5,000 for a down payment on a house in the next 12 months, provide a clear target. To set both short-term and long-term financial goals, Ricardo Pina, finance expert and founder of The Modest Wallet, said you first need to identify your priorities. Start by asking yourself what you want to achieve financially both in the near future and over the span of several years, he explained. Your short-term goals might include saving for a vacation, paying off a small debt or building an emergency fund. These goals, Pina said, are typically geared towards immediate needs and can often be accomplished within a year. Story continues Read More: 7 Things the Middle Class Spends Money on That Hurts Their Chances of Being Rich Have a Measurable Vision Measurable goals provide quantifiable results. Instead of vague statements like pay off debt, a measurable goal would be reduce credit card debt by $5,000 in the next six months. This specificity allows you to see exactly what youve achieved. Long-term goals, for example, require a bit more planning and patience, said Pina. This could be saving for a down payment on a house, planning for retirement or setting up a college fund for your kids. Its important to be realistic and understand that these goals might take several years or even decades to achieve. Set a Deadline Its super easy to put off your goals when they arent time-sensitive, Cruze wrote. Stop saying youll start someday. Once youve identified your short and long-term goals, Pina said you can start creating a financial plan and timeline to reach them. This might involve budgeting, cutting expenses, increasing your income or investing in different opportunities. Additionally, he noted that its important to regularly review and adjust your goals as necessary to stay on track. Knowing what you want to achieve financially and having a plan in place can help you make better financial decisions and ultimately lead to greater financial stability and success. Get Personal About Your Goals According to Cruze, we shouldnt play the comparison game when it comes to our goals. People often have different starting points in terms of income, assets and liabilities. Comparing yourself to someone with a different financial situation can be misleading and cause unrealistic expectations. Just because all your friends are taking out second mortgages to renovate their kitchens doesnt mean you should, she cautioned. Instead, Cruze recommends making sure your goals feel personal to you. By focusing on your own goals, you can maintain a long-term perspective and stay committed to your financial plan. Enlist an Accountability Buddy When you have someone else aware of your goals, youll be more likely to stay committed to them. This sense of responsibility to update your buddy on your progress can discourage you from procrastinating and increase your accountability and overall success. As Cruze put it: Having a cheerleader in your corner and knowing youre not alone can make a huge difference as you work toward your goals. Write It Down Jotting things down forces you to clarify what you want to achieve. Instead of vague ideas, you create specific, tangible objectives. This clarity then helps you stay focused on the precise outcomes youre aiming for. Type them in a notes app on your phone, take a screenshot and set it as your wallpaper so its the first thing you see when you pick up your phone, Cruze wrote. Keeping your goals where you can see them will keep you on track and motivated. Pina said it can also be helpful to break down your long-term goals into smaller milestones or checkpoints. This way, you can track your progress and stay motivated to reach your ultimate goal, he explained. And remember, its okay if your goals change or evolve over time the key is to consistently work towards them and make adjustments as needed. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Rachel Cruze: 6 Steps for Setting Your Long-Term and Short-Term Financial Goals WCEI ACADEMY "WI Scholar Summit: Over 1,000 graduates pioneer Asian financial literacy revolution." KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, Nov. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "WI Scholar Summit," Asia's highly anticipated financial education event is witnessing an influx of professionals from across the financial sector, including government dignitaries, academics, and industry leaders, setting the stage for pivotal discussions on Asia's financial future. WI Scholar Summit celebrates its first Financial Quotient Professional Course graduates, over 1000 individuals transformed by financial education! The summit has officially commenced at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), running from October 26-28,2023. At the "WI Scholar Summit," the WCEI Academy made history, recognized by the Malaysian Book of Records for the largest financial quotient convocation for entrepreneurs. Over 1,000 diverse graduates, including 61 diploma recipients from across Asia, were awarded diplomas and certificates, showcasing the academy's commitment to fostering financial literacy in the region. Central to the "WI Scholar Summit" is financial freedom as a cornerstone of personal and national prosperity, strongly backed by Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. This vision syncs with WCEI Academy's goal: educating for financial independence and contributing to national progress. This year, WCEI Academy, in partnership with Genovasi University College, launched a Financial Quotient certification course for those seeking financial independence. At the summit, Dr. Stephen Choo, founder of WCEI Academy, celebrated the graduation of participants from various age groups. In his opening speech, Dr. Choo shared insights from the Berkshire Hathaway Meeting, contrasting Eastern labour-focused and Western investment-driven wealth creation. These led him to found WCEI Academy, equipping Asian entrepreneurs with key financial strategies. In 2023, the academy celebrated graduating 1,087 individuals aged 17 to 80. Story continues "We envision this course as a transformative platform that equips our graduates with robust financial acumen and skills," Dr Choo mentioned. The summit's opening day featured licensed lawyers and university professors delivering financial quotient courses. Day two centred on finance and education seminars, encouraging partnerships between academia and industry, and delving into Malaysia's economic future. The summit concluded with over 1000 graduates receiving diplomas, showcasing the academy's significant educational influence. Company: WCEI ACADEMY Contact Person: MINK Email: negi.mink@wi-berhad.com Website: https://www.wceiacademy.com Telephone: +60123638789 City: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Disclaimer: The provided information is based on publicly available content and should not be considered an official statement or endorsement by any organization or individual mentioned. It is advisable to independently verify information and contact the relevant sources for specific inquiries or advice. CONTACT: Negi Mink WCEI ACADEMY negi.mink at wi-berhad.com (Bloomberg) -- Riverwood Capital, which invests in high-growth technology companies, closed $1.8 billion in new commitments in the largest fundraising round since inception 15 years ago. Most Read from Bloomberg The Menlo Park, California-based firm with offices in Miami, New York and Sao Paulo, tapped pension funds, hospital systems, foundations, endowments, fund of funds, insurance companies and family offices among other investors, according to a statement. Riverwood has invested in 75 companies, mainly in the Americas, including GoPro, ride-hail firm 99, software firm Globant SA, VTEX, Nextdoor and iFLY. It doesnt divulge fund performance but said annual revenue growth averages about 40% across its portfolio. Assets under management totaled around $6 billion as of the end of the third quarter, though it has closed some deals since. We have been exclusively focused on business fundamentals and scalability from day one, said Francisco Alvarez-Demalde, co-founder and managing partner. As we look to deploy fresh capital in this next chapter, Riverwood has led with a different approach and value proposition than momentum-driven investors. The firm invests in growth-stage companies that have shown a path to profitability, more akin to a private equity strategy than venture capital. This year, Riverwood has led rounds for real-time location service provider Cognosos, IT firm InvGate, cyber security firm SpyCloud, compliance and risk platform Hyperproof and supply chain solutions firm Logcomex. It exited its ForgeRock investment when it was acquired by Thoma Bravo in August. Having a concentrated portfolio of proven companies also allows us to take advantage of the upside of a high-growth profile, while aiming to avoid venture risks, said Jeff Parks, co-founder and managing partner. Story continues Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Since OpenAI fired its co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman on Friday, a host of players across the tech industry have come onto the scene. Most Read from Bloomberg From co-founders to chief executives, here are their roles and how they play into the escalating series of events happening at the artificial intelligence firm. Sam Altman The 38-year-old American entrepreneur co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and took the reins as chief executive officer in 2019 before he was suddenly ousted by the board on Nov. 17. Now, the companys biggest investors, including Microsoft Corp., Thrive Capital and Tiger Global Management, are pressing the company to reinstate him. OpenAI was optimistic it could bring back Altman and other key employees who left, Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon said in a memo to staff, the Information reported. Greg Brockman Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI eight years ago in his apartment, quit as president on Friday hours after the board pushed out Altman. Brockman wrote in a post on the social media site X: Based on todays news, I quit. Brockman had been due to step down from his role as board chairman but stay on at the company, reporting to the new CEO. Mira Murati OpenAI appointed Murati as interim CEO after the company ousted Altman. She wrote that she was honored and humbled to take up the position, saying it was important for OpenAI to remain focused, driven, and true to our core values, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg. Previously chief technology officer, the Albanian-born, Dartmouth-educated engineer helped develop some of the companys best-known products. Story continues Satya Nadella The Microsoft CEO reached out to Altman following the firing to offer him support in his next steps, people with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg. Microsoft is OpenAIs largest investor with a stake worth more than $10 billion. Nadella succeeded Steve Ballmer as Microsoft CEO in 2014. Ilya Sutskever Sutskever, OpenAIs chief scientist and co-founder, was one of the board members who Altman clashed with over some aspects including the pace of developing generative AI, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. He asked Altman for a call on Friday and told him that he was fired on a Google Meet, Brockman said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Vinod Khosla Khosla, an Indian-American businessman and venture capitalist, said that his firm wanted Altman back at OpenAI but will back him in whatever he does next, in a statement on X. Khosla is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems and the founder of Khosla Ventures. Josh Kushner Kushner is the founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Thrive Capital, one of the largest investors in OpenAI. Hes also co-founder of Oscar Health, an American health insurance company. Adam DAngelo DAngelo, an OpenAI board member, is the co-founder and CEO of Quora, a private company that works as an internet platform compiling a collection of questions and answers created by users. His profile on X says DAngelo is working on a fast AI chat software called Poe. Tasha McCauley McCauley also an OpenAI board member is a robotics engineer and the CEO of GeoSim Systems, a company focused on advanced 3D-city mapping technology. Helen Toner Toner, another board member, is director of strategy and foundational research grants at Georgetowns Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). Before joining CSET, Toner lived in Beijing, studying the Chinese AI ecosystem as a research affiliate of Oxford Universitys Center for the Governance of AI. --With assistance from Carolina Wilson. (Updates with additional profiles. An earlier version corrected the size of Microsofts stake.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Korean Companies Showcase Digital Innovation Technologies on Global Stage SEOUL, South Korea, November 20, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Korea Software Industry Association (KOSA) (Chairman: Junhee Cho), and MEGAZONECLOUD (CEO: Max Joowan Lee), have announced their participation in the Global IoT Summit GIITS 2023, held from November 20th to 21st at the Dhahran Expo in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231119310025/en/ Cloud Service and IIoT Digital Solution of All Areas (Logo: MEGAZONECLOUD) MEGAZONECLOUD is recognized as a cloud innovator and the first Unicorn company in the Korean Cloud industry. Korean companies participating in GIITS 2023 include MEGAZONECLOUD, Mobilio, BizData, Spacebank, and FutureMain. KOSA and MEGAZONECLOUD are currently conducting a project led by the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support Korean softwares entry into the Middle East market. This project aims to support the overseas expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by leveraging the global network and infrastructure of leading industrial companies in South Korea, and the GIITS is participating in this initiative. GIITS (Global Industrial Internet of Things Summit), is an event organized by Saudi Aramco to promote standards for Industrial IoT (IIoT) and accelerate the dissemination of IIoT for creating new value to the major industries in the Middle East. The event attracts government agencies, regulatory bodies, and companies from the oil and gas industry, and others, from six key countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman. This is a global Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) event in which companies from various industries and IIoT enterprises worldwide participate. MEGAZONECLOUD and KOSA have selected Korean companies participating in GIITS 2023 based on professional advice from experts in IIoT, cloud computing, and software industry. By taking the opportunity to participate in GIITS 2023, these companies aim to validate the potential for entering the Middle East market and accelerate their expansion efforts. Story continues Junhee Cho, the Chairman of KOSA, expressed a strong commitment to supporting entry into the Middle East market, stating, "This event, where companies from various global industries participate, is a meaningful occasion for connecting Korean software companies with potential Middle East partners." Max Lee, CEO of MEGAZONECLOUD, said, "We are strongly committed to supporting Korean companies in expanding their business to the Middle East and achieving tangible results by leveraging cloud technology. We hope this opportunity becomes a small spark for further expansion into the Middle East." View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231119310025/en/ Contacts Wonhee Lee +82 2-2188-6985 whl@sw.or.kr By Marie Mannes STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -U.S. hedge fund Fir Tree Partners, a bondholder in property group SBB, said on Monday the Swedish company's debt buyback offer placed too much weight on the interests of shareholders and did not address its obligations to creditors. Loss-making SBB, which is at the centre of a wider Swedish property crash, said on Thursday it would offer to buy back hybrid and senior securities for up to $650 million as the group looks to cut debt on its balance sheet. In response, credit rating agency S&P on Friday placed SBB on credit watch for a potential downgrade to a selective default, as purchasing debt at a substantial discount to the original amount could be considered tantamount to default. "SBB appears to be devoting its scarce resources to preserving equity value, rather than focusing on near- and long-term senior obligations," Fir Tree said in an "open letter" to fellow bondholders. Fir Tree, which said it holds bonds maturing in 2028 and 2029, also questioned SBB's offer to buy back hybrid notes with no maturity, arguing that this was not required. The hedge fund urged bondholders to consider Fir Tree's concerns before potentially participating in the tender offer, whose deadline is Nov. 22. SBB was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters. Earlier this month Fir Tree requested that SBB immediately repay a bond, saying the group was in breach of a debt clause, a claim the company has denied. Danske bank credit analyst Marcus Gustavsson said Fir Tree raised some important questions in its open letter such as why SBB was offering to buy back hybrid bonds. "It was also why we (Danske Bank) were a bit surprised to see the tender offer to begin with," he said. (Reporting by Marie Mannes; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Search One Rescue Team was requested by the Texas Rangers to assist the Seagoville PD in a ground search for the body of Jennifer Mendez Olascoaga a Dallas ISD teacher reported missing in late September. DALLAS, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 12th, 2023, Search One Rescue Team was contacted by a Texas Ranger requesting Human Remains Detection (HRD) K9 teams to assist them and the Seagoville Police Department locate the body of a 37-year-old female possibly missing since September 27th. The target area on the south side of I-20 near Lawson Road in Mesquite was determined based on cell phone triangulation related to the missing subject. Search One Rescue Team Logo (PRNewsfoto/Search One Rescue Team) At approximately 1600 hours on October the 12 th a Search One Rescue Team HRD K9 Handler arrived on scene and was escorted by Seagoville officers to the target area to start the search. At 1710 hours the K9 team discovered human remains located approximately 700 yards south of I20 and approximately 65 yards deep into heavy woods off a pipeline right of way. Due to the location of the remains Mesquite Police have taken the lead in this investigation. If you have any information related to this case, please contact the Mesquite Police Department. Read more here: https://www.fox4news.com/news/jennifer-mendez-olascoaga-body-identified If you are interested in becoming a member of the team or supporting the organization visit the website at www.searchone.org or email info@searchone.org. About Search One Rescue Team: As a 501 (c)3 organization the team is based in North Central Texas serving all of Texas and Southern Oklahoma. The organization's mission statement is "To assist governmental agencies locate lost and missing persons". That mission is accomplished with specially trained Search and Rescue dogs and search personnel using the latest in ground search technology. There is never a charge to the end user and the team is fully self-contained placing no burden on the requesting agency. The organization is funded only through grants and donations from the communities they serve. Story continues Media Contact: Paul A. Lake Founder / Executive Director 214-724-1401 paul.lake@searchone.org Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/search-one-rescue-team-assist-texas-rangers-locate-missing-teacher-301992596.html SOURCE Search One Rescue Team According to RBI Remittance Survey 2021, Indias 30% expat population in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) account for 18% of the US$110 billion global remittance inflow to India. The financial ties between the two countries stretch beyond remittances, now encompassing the realm of Web3, an evolving iteration of the internet based on blockchain technology. Bilateral trade between India and the UAE surged to US$85 billion last year, and both countries are exploring interoperability between their central bank digital currency (CBDCs) projects. Dubai, the most populous city in the UAE, saw over 90,000 Indian companies registered with the Dubai Chambers, while the citys largest tech event, GITEX, saw more than 300 Indian startups, a number that had tripled from last year. India topped Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index in 2023, and is now the worlds second-largest crypto market by raw transaction volume. But the local industry, that has been drying up due to the governments strict tax rules, is inspiring local players to seek the oasis of Dubais burgeoning crypto ecosystem. A lot of Web3 founders prefer Dubai or Singapore as their hub, because they have clarity and certainty around regulations and greater community support. When youre setting up a business, investors are more comfortable investing in a jurisdiction where there are no last minute surprises. I am starting to see this trend on the ground and it must be reversed, Sumit Gupta, the chief executive of Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX, told Forkast. We have seen a decline of more than 90% in volumes. Thats a huge, steep decline. And what you have seen is that India continues to be number one when it comes to grassroot crypto adoption, but a lot of that activity is happening on alternative channels because of the high tax rates, said Gupta. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during last years budget announcement, introduced 30% tax plus applicable surcharge and 4% cess on profits made from crypto trading. Story continues This year brought more bad news for Indian crypto traders with the introduction of a 1% tax deducted at source or TDS on crypto transactions above Rs 10,000. According to an amendment to the Income Tax Act, failure to pay TDS may result in a penalty equal to the unpaid amount, a 15% interest on late payments and in certain cases even a jail sentence. According to Gupta, the regulatory arbitrage may not be around for much longer. The Indian Finance Ministry did not respond to a request for an interview or provide commentary for this article. There is a regulatory arbitrage which will not sustain for long, and has to go away. The government is aware of that. Its a matter of when they decide to remove that arbitrage. Serving Indian customers from offshore is not scalable, not reliable and not compliant, said Gupta. But low taxes, ease of setting up businesses, a dedicated regulator and access to international markets such as Asia and Europe are driving the wave of Indian crypto firms towards Dubai. Crypto projects can meet the rest of the world through Dubai. If I look at new businesses coming in, predominantly the UK, India, China, US, Russia, make up the top 5%. Dubai is basically a hub, said Belal Jassoma, head of business development at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), at the Future Blockchain Summit. DMCC houses over 23,000 companies, out of which 3,700 are from India. Last year it opened a representative office in Mumbai to further grow its members and provide customized licenses to Indian businesses. Its dedicated Crypto Centre has 550 Web3 companies out of which 50 are Indian. The DMCC Crypto Centre welcomed the Solana Foundation as its ecosystem partner at the Future Blockchain Summit and houses a long list of Web3 companies including crypto exchange Bybit, digital asset market maker DWF Labs, Web3 incubator TDeFi, and venture capital fund Brinc. The citys dedicated regulator for digital assets, Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), oversees cryptocurrencies and related activities in all free zones in Dubai except the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, also has a similar scope of work through the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). VARA has crafted its regulations to be adaptable to market demands and be agile in addressing global market risks, aiming to attract entrepreneurs to solidify Dubais position as a central hub for Web3, said Sunita Khatri, Commercial Director, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). Unicorn Indian exchange explores MENA expansion The UAE is one of the countries that make up the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. According to Chainalysis, the region had the sixth largest crypto economy with an estimated US$400 billion dollars or 7.2% of global transaction volume recorded between July 2022 and June 2023. MENA as a region is quite an interesting opportunity for CoinDCX to tap into because its a fast growing market, the adoption numbers there are pretty impressive and Web3 can unlock many opportunities in the India-UAE corridor. New use cases around remittances and payments are emerging from that region, said Gupta. BitOasis, a crypto trading platform based in the UAE had its license suspended for not meeting mandated conditions, required to be satisfied within 30-60 day timeframes, according to VARA in a notice. The exchange that secured funding from CoinDCX, said its working with the regulator to fulfill the remaining conditions. BitOasis was a strategic investment approach by CoinDCX to create an impact in international markets, maybe not directly, but by partnering with the right companies who are aligned with our mission and values. Its not just India India, the worlds most populous country and the worlds sixth largest economy by nominal gross domestic product, is not alone tightening restrictions on crypto businesses. In Australia, progress on crypto regulations has been slow. The country is aiming to release a draft legislation in 2024 for licensing and custody of crypto asset providers and Australian crypto exchanges may not get licensed until 2025. Top banks in Australia including the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) applied restrictions on crypto exchanges citing scams as the reason. As a result of debanking, Binance Australia had to halt customer deposits and withdrawals. Weve always been an Australian only exchange, but with the difficulties and challenges around licensing and the time its taken for that to come through to fruition, were now actively looking to expand overseas, said Caroline Bowler, CEO, BTC Markets, an Australian crypto exchange. The benefit for Dubai is that theyve gone for something very tailored, very specific. And I think theyve kind of the way that they framed it, it looks as though theyre looking to build out this sector for the longer term. Binance recently earned an operational license in Dubai, opening up services of the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange to customers in Dubai. Crypto exchanges Gemini and Bybit are also seeking a license in the United Arab Emirates. U.S.-based Coinbases Brian Armstrong has had discussions with UAE regulators over plans of setting up a second headquarters in the country to access markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Coinbase suspended its operations in India three days after its launch in April 2022 due to issues with the local digital payment service. Informal pressure from Indias central bank was cited as a contributing factor. The exchange remains inactive in India, but its wallet services and tech hub remain active. Ripples XRP recently received approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) for use within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Licensed virtual asset firms in the DIFC can now offer XRP as part of their services. Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, said in a press release: Dubai continues to demonstrate global leadership when it comes to the regulation of virtual assets and nurturing innovationRipple will continue to double down on its presence in Dubai and we look forward to continuing to work closely with regulators to realize cryptos full potential. Around 20% of Ripples customers are based in MENA. The U.S. regulatory climate has been relatively hostile or unclear for digital asset businesses, so exchanges such as Coinbase and other major players have announced that theyre going to be applying for licenses here, said Jimmy NGuyen, CEO, New Win Global, a Web3 venture advisory firm. And the reason is because Dubai has been progressive at creating regulatory clarity with the launch of the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, putting out guidelines and policies about licenses to get. So all around the world, exchanges and other digital asset service providers are setting up second headquarters. UK-based crypto lender, Nexo is expanding its UAE operations, aiming for 30% of its global footprint. The move follows sanctions imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on a crypto lending product in the US, where Nexo paid US$45 million to regulators in settlements. The U.K. government is gearing up to regulate the crypto industry by 2024 , bringing it in line with the rules governing traditional banks and financial services. Readers Morris Reitz and Tim Smile are among those who have been inquiring about all that dust flying off I-75 at the Lee County exit serving as the direct pipeline to Southwest Florida International Airport. "Have you been asked about the huge area being excavated at the southeast corner of I-75 and the road leading to RSW airport?" Smile wondered. Love that Smile. So let's hit on the activity we get to stare at in traffic during these increasing autumn slowdowns as the snowbird swarm to our sunny beaches snowballs with every passing day. How big is massive project at edge of RSW's airport property? Smile's right. That bad boy is huge, according to those handy county documents: 284 acres with the mystery meat name of Gulf Landing Logistics Center that runs for nearly a mile along the interstate. When it's all said and done, we're talking a 2.2-million-square-foot speculative industrial park that's going to be constructed in phases with a baker's dozen worth of buildings and large enough to fit almost three Buckingham Palaces, for my Brit readers in the house. The massive emerging Gulf Landing Logistics Center runs for nearly a mile along I-75, just south of the main interstate exit for Southwest Florida Regional Airport. When will businesses move into space bigger than Euro palaces? Lee & Associates, which is handling the leasing, expects the first seven or so buildings, totaling 740,000 square feet, to be completed by the second half of next year. They're figuring on bulk distribution, e-commerce and other similar enterprises as tenants. Before that can get done, they have to finish and finetune the grading, the irrigation system, the storm water setup, roadways. lighting, landscaping and pop in whatever electric, gas and other utility connections are needed. The massive emerging Gulf Landing Logistics Center runs for nearly a mile along I-75, just south of the main interstate exit for Southwest Florida Regional Airport. What other major projects are adjacent to RSW airport? A $40 million deal preceded the effort by owner Butters Construction, which is based in the Boca Raton area. Butters built the Springhill Suites by Marriott in Estero, across the interstate from Gulf Landing, and Naples-based Clive Daniel Home's Palm Beach County furniture digs. Story continues "We are excited to be building in one of the most dynamic regions of Florida, CEO Malcolm Butters said of Gulf Landing, which is also within view of the just opened 254-unit Centro Apartments that In the Know wrote about last week. An iPhone captures the lines of early rush hour cars heading south on I-75 near Southwest Florida International Airport before a sunrise in 2023. A Hardy Boys mystery on Tamiami Trail? Well, not exactly. Though not one of the Hardy Boys from the mystery children series that so far isn't on the governor's banned book list, Naples reader Joe Hardy has been doing some sleuthing and asked for In the Know's help. "I enjoy reading your column," this Hardy boy said. "What is the large building being built on the Tamiami Trail just north of Park Shore on the west side of the street? It is (next to) the Residence Inn by Marriott." Indeed, a 48,641-square-footer, wedged between Residence and Hilton's Inn of Naples, is rising at 4067 Ninth St. N., aka Tamiami Trail, on one of the last larger undeveloped U.S. 41 city parcels left north of downtown.. Rooms to Go, which has partnered with model and its commercial face Cindy Crawford and her furniture line for more than 15 years, is moving its store at 3520 Tamiami Trail, and its Rooms to Go Patio at 680 Tamiami Trail, 2.5 miles away, to the nearly four acres, according to company reps. In the Know: The 4067 9th St. N. site where Rooms to Go is rising between two hotels in one of the last remaining larger parcels within the city of Naples north of downtown. Shot before the start of construction. Uploaded May 9, 2023. How many millions is Kelly's Fish House land on Naples Bay? About a mile south of Rooms to Go's patio site, the property of the vintage Kellys Fish House Dining Room just went up for sale on Naples Bay for $19 million even while it is continuing to serve patrons for the busy snowbird season. While it's been business as usual Thursday, it hosted the Leadership Collier Class of 2024 as part of Commerce Day it's on a path to potentially end its seven-decade run at the 1302 Fifth Ave. S. spot, with the high interest that corridor has received from investors. A new owner could still operate the 2,788 square feet, but the buyer has other options as well for the 1.3 acres that also includes the adjacent fish operation and a gift shop. Bayfront condos or a 25-unit hotel are among the possibilities, according to CRE Consultants, which is listing the property. AC Marriott opening in Naples. What new Naples Fifth Avenue South hotel opens in January? Across the water, the Naples Bay Resort and Marina opened in 2008, and across the street the Hyatt House Naples arrived in 2016 while reservations for stays that begin Jan. 15 can be made for the nearly complete AC Hotel Naples 5th Avenue, which could still launch earlier. And 500 feet west of Kelly's, a Chicago hotel builder and Aspen investor we first told you about in 2022 purchased parcels for close to $50 million as part of a buying spree that hasn't ended for his company. Developer Mark Hunt wants 52 luxury condominiums and nearly 126,000 square feet of commercial uses there, including a Restoration Hardware store and possibly a Whole Foods. Last month, Hunt's group paid nearly $200 million in more than two dozen transactions in the corridor. Still, we've been here before with Kelly's in 2017 when it was slated to close to make way for a venture that never came. Jean Le Boeuf's first Collier review was of Kelly's Fish House Dining Room in Naples. It ran Feb. 29, 1980. Efforts continue on Fort Myers Beach in hurricane aftermath As those of you have read in the column, Fort Myers Beach projects, undertakings and proposals are seemingly non-stop in Hurricane Ian's aftermath. Here's a trio of updates on endeavors you've been asking about: In the Know: August 2023 rendering for new Neptune Resort that had been destroyed by 2022's Hurricane Ian. You get a say: Next major step in old Neptune Inn's comeback The public will get its first close-up view and an opportunity for questions next week of redevelopment plans for the six-decade-old Neptune Resort, which was destroyed by last year's hurricane. A 5 p.m. Nov. 30 meeting is scheduled at DiamondHead Beach Resort, 2000 Estero Blvd., about two blocks north from where the Neptune will rise again, according to partner and land use planner Patrick Vanasse of The Neighborhood Company. The firm previously had helped host a gathering with Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce members. The plan, which includes a restaurant open to the public, calls for four floors of largely rooms and two floors for parking, and a target to debut by 2026. In the Know: The Neptune Resort on Fort Myers Beach prior to Hurricane Ian. Growth: Number of 80-year-olds doubling to 24M, many moving to SWFL. Where are they going? What are the times of free Beach tram, as recovery continues? Key to the recovery and commerce, LeeTran, as part of other countywide moves, resumed its free beach tram Thursday after a hiatus due to the hurricane. The service will run about every 35 minutes, seven days a week from Fort Myers Beach Public Library to Bowditch Point Park. The earliest ride begins at 9:30 a.m. daily at the library and ends with leaving Bowditch about 10:35 p.m., according to the agency. In the Know: Fort Myers Beach Margaritaville is slated to open before Christmas 2023. Uploaded Nov. 16, 2023. In the Know: FMB Margaritaville opening earlier in SWFL. Bookings available before Christmas With bookings, Margaritaville prepares debut before Christmas As In the Know first reported last week, the 254-unit Margaritaville Beach Resort officially moved up its arrival by a few days. Reservations can now be booked for as early as Dec. 21 for the 7.3-acres at Matanzas Pass Bridge's base, 251 Crescent St. The $200 million gulf-front complex features its 43,000-square-foot Sunset Terrace and six restaurants, all open to the public. The operators tell me the beachside Fins Up club won't be ready until mid-January so hotel guests will be offered complimentary chairs and umbrellas instead. Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com), who grew up in Southwest Florida, writes In the Know as part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Support Democracy and subscribe to a newspaper. This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: RSW, U.S. 41 area projects. 5th Ave. Naples; Fort Myers Beach updates Assessing the Sustainability and Growth of Skyworks Solutions Inc's Dividends Skyworks Solutions Inc(NASDAQ:SWKS) recently announced a dividend of $0.68 per share, payable on 2023-12-12, with the ex-dividend date set for 2023-11-20. As investors look forward to this upcoming payment, the spotlight also shines on the company's dividend history, yield, and growth rates. Using the data from GuruFocus, let's look into Skyworks Solutions Inc's dividend performance and assess its sustainability. Understanding Skyworks Solutions Inc's Business Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with SWKS. 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? Skyworks Solutions produces semiconductors for wireless handsets and other devices that are used to enable wireless connectivity. Its main products include power amplifiers, filters, switches, and integrated front-end modules that support wireless transmissions. Skyworks' customers are mostly large smartphone manufacturers, but the firm also has a growing presence in nonhandset applications such as wireless routers, medical devices, and automobiles. Skyworks Solutions Inc's Dividend Analysis Tracing Skyworks Solutions Inc's Dividend History Skyworks Solutions Inc has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2014, distributing dividends on a quarterly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends. Skyworks Solutions Inc's Dividend Analysis Analyzing Skyworks Solutions Inc's Dividend Yield and Growth As of today, Skyworks Solutions Inc currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.70% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 2.89%. This suggests an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months. Over the past three years, Skyworks Solutions Inc's annual dividend growth rate was 11.80%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate increased to 13.60% per year. Based on Skyworks Solutions Inc's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Skyworks Solutions Inc stock as of today is approximately 5.11%. Story continues Skyworks Solutions Inc's Dividend Analysis Evaluating the Sustainability of Skyworks Solutions Inc's Dividends 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 2023-09-30, Skyworks Solutions Inc's dividend payout ratio is 0.41. Skyworks Solutions Inc's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Skyworks Solutions Inc's profitability 9 out of 10 as of 2023-09-30, suggesting good profitability prospects. The company has reported positive net income for each of year over the past decade, further solidifying its high profitability. Forecasting Growth: Skyworks Solutions Inc's Prospects To ensure the sustainability of dividends, a company must have robust growth metrics. Skyworks Solutions Inc's growth rank of 9 out of 10 suggests that the company's growth trajectory is good relative to its competitors. Skyworks Solutions Inc's revenue per share, combined with the 3-year revenue growth rate, indicates a strong revenue model. Skyworks Solutions Inc's revenue has increased by approximately 14.70% per year on average, outperforming approximately 57.11% of global 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, Skyworks Solutions Inc's earnings increased by approximately 20.50% per year on average, outperforming approximately 42.51% of global competitors. Lastly, the company's 5-year EBITDA growth rate of 14.40%, outperforms approximately 44.23% of global competitors. Concluding Insights on Skyworks Solutions Inc's Dividend Profile In light of Skyworks Solutions Inc's consistent dividend payments, robust dividend growth rate, prudent payout ratio, strong profitability, and positive growth metrics, the company presents an appealing profile for value investors focused on dividend income. While past performance is indicative, it is crucial to consider the broader market and technological trends that could impact Skyworks Solutions Inc's future. Investors are encouraged to conduct thorough due diligence and consider whether Skyworks Solutions Inc aligns with their investment strategy and income objectives. For those seeking to diversify their portfolio with high-dividend yield stocks, GuruFocus Premium offers a valuable resource with 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. FILE PHOTO: A flag with the logo of Stellantis is seen near Paris MILAN (Reuters) - Fiat-parent company Stellantis will start in-depth talks with the Italian government next month to finalise a broad agreement for the country's automotive industry, including higher domestic production targets. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares and Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said earlier this year they were working on a deal to increase the automaker's annual output in Italy to one million vehicles, without specifying a timeframe. After preliminary discussions with Stellantis, official talks would start on Dec. 6 and would also involve unions, local governments and automotive lobby group ANFIA, Urso's office said on Monday. Stellantis, the parent of brands including Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Peugeot, produced fewer than 700,000 cars and vans in Italy in both 2021 and 2022. According to forecasts, output will increase only slightly this year. Fiat Chrysler, which merged with France's PSA in early 2021 to create Stellantis, last produced more than one million vehicles in Italy back in 2017. Talks will also focus on reinforcing R&D activity, investing in innovative vehicle models, retraining workers and helping auto part suppliers to convert their production for new vehicles, the ministry said. A spokesman for Stellantis, Italy' sole large automaker, said on Monday that the group was reaffirming its strong commitment to the country and its willingness to create conditions to keep it central to its strategy. Stellantis reiterated that a broad deal depended on a series of measures by the Italian government, including the postponement or cancellation of the proposed Euro 7 regulation on pollutant vehicle emissions, EV sales incentives, charging network development and lower energy costs. (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Keith Weir) Strikes ended Sunday night at two of the three Detroit casinos after workers there voted to ratify new labor agreements. The Detroit Casino Council said the strikes concluded at 9 p.m. at MotorCity Casino and Hollywood Casino at Greektown following successful ratification votes by union members of the new five-year contract agreements. However, workers at MGM Grand Detroit voted down the agreement and will stay on strike, the casino council said late Sunday in a news release. More bargaining dates are to be scheduled. The Detroit Casino Council, which is composed of five unions, declined to release the vote tallies. Union members at each casino voted separately on the deal. Workers go on strike outside of the Hollywood Casino at Greektown in downtown Detroit on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. About 3,700 workers at all three casinos went out on strike Oct. 17 when their previous contract expired. The casinos have stayed open during the strike by relying on casino managers. The newly ratified contracts cover about 2,100 workers at MotorCity and Hollywood Casino at Greektown, and, according to union officials, feature the highest wage increases since the casinos opened. Strikers march and protest in front of MGM Grand Detroit on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. The contracts include an upfront $3 an hour raise in year one and $5 an hour in total raises over the five years, the casino council said. There also is no increased costs for employee health insurance, a first-ever 401(k) employer match (up to $1,000), a paid Juneteenth holiday and reduced workloads in housekeeping and other classifications. The president of MGM Resorts Midwest Group said in an email to MGM Grand Detroit employees that the failed ratification vote was very disappointing. The Detroit Casino Council has five unions: UNITE HERE Local 24, the UAW, Teamsters Local 1038, Operating Engineers Local 324 and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MotorCity, Hollywood workers ratify, MGM workers reject new contract (Bloomberg) -- Taiwans main opposition parties are running out of time to form a joint ticket in a presidential election that would bolster their chances of unseating an incumbent party with rocky ties to Beijing. Most Read from Bloomberg The Taiwan Peoples Party and the Kuomintang, which both favor engagement with China, announced last Wednesday that theyd agreed to form an alliance and would announce on Saturday which of their candidates would lead the ticket. Instead, this past weekend saw those talks fall into disarray over over the question of who would be their nominee in January, the TPPs Ko Wen-je or the KMTs Hou Yu-ih. Ko appeared to raise the stakes even further on Sunday when he told supporters at an event that he intended to run for president and continue to fight to the end. After his comments, Ko visited Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou, the fourth candidate in the race, at his residence for about 90 minutes. Hou appeared to acknowledge the breakdown in talks with the TPP on Monday, saying: Well respect Ko Wen-jes decision no matter what the final outcome is. If a joint ticket never materializes and both Ko and Hou continue their separate bids, it would increase the odds that the ruling Democratic Progressive Partys Lai Ching-te who has topped polls for much of this year wins in January. The deadline for officially registering candidates is Friday, meaning the opposition parties have just a few days left to strike deal. Lai led a poll released Wednesday by My Formosa, a private company whose founder is linked to the DPP, with the backing of 33.1% of respondents. Hou was second at 26.5% and Ko third with 17.3% support. Gou had the backing of 5% of respondents. Story continues After last weeks market gains amid expectations that an opposition victory would reduce geopolitical tensions, investors were largely unperturbed Monday. The benchmark Taiwan Stock Exchange Index declined 0.2% after climbing every session last week. The Taiwan dollar rose to its highest since August at open, along with other Asian currencies that benefit from a weak greenback. The impact of the breakdown in opposition talks will be very mildly negative, said Stephen Chiu, chief Asia FX and rates strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence. He added that investors expect a weaker US dollar now. Both Ko and Hou have said if they are elected, they would seek to establish high-level dialogue with China. Beijing claims self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory, and has pledged to bring the island under its control, even if it must use military force. The DPP has been unable to talk to Beijing since Tsai Ing-wen led the party to victory in 2016, becoming the first woman to serve as Taiwans president. Beijing has insisted that Tsai affirm an understanding known as the 92 Consensus, which essentially states that Taiwan is part of China, before there can be talks. Tsai and Lai, the vice president, have said they wont do that. Despite the faltering negotiations, a TPP-KMT alliance is still possible. Ko said Saturday he was willing to continue negotiating and that both sides needed more time to talk. The KMT also said it will push for more discussions to seal the deal. The partys chairman, Eric Chu, said he hopes a decision will come before Wednesday, according to local media. --With assistance from Iris Ouyang. (Updated with additional details.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. PARIS, November 20, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News: This is a press release issued by Teleperformance SE ("Teleperformance") in connection with the right of Teleperformance to squeeze-out the holders of the Remaining Shares (as defined below) pursuant to Article 15 of the Luxembourg Takeover Law (as defined below) following the public offer (the "Offer") by Teleperformance for all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares (ISIN LU2382956378) in the capital of Majorel Group Luxembourg S.A. ("Majorel") (the "Shares", and each holder of such Shares, a "Shareholder"). This press release does not constitute an offer, or any solicitation of any offer, to buy or subscribe for any securities in Teleperformance or Majorel. This press release is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, in or into, directly or indirectly, any jurisdiction in which such release, publication or distribution would be unlawful. Terms not defined in this press release have the meaning set forth in the offer memorandum approved by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiele Markten, or "AFM"), which has been published on 11 August 2023 (the "Offer Memorandum"), and subject to the restrictions set forth therein. Following the successful completion of the Offer, Teleperformance (Paris:TEP) holds 99,905,004 Shares, representing approximately 99.91% of the capital carrying voting rights and voting rights in Majorel. Teleperformance hereby announces that it is exercising its right of squeeze-out pursuant to Article 15 (2) of the Luxembourg law of 19 May 2006 on takeover bids (the "Luxembourg Takeover Law") to acquire the remaining 94,996 Shares that have not been tendered under the Offer (the "Remaining Shares"). Terms of the squeeze-out Price per Remaining Share The Remaining Shares will be acquired at the Cash Consideration offered by Teleperformance under the Offer (i.e., EUR 30.00 per Remaining Share). The CSSF has raised no objection that the Cash Consideration offered by Teleperformance under the Offer (i.e., EUR 30.00 per Remaining Share) constitutes a fair price for the squeeze-out proceedings in accordance with Article 15 (5) of the Luxembourg Takeover Law. Story continues Suspension of trading Teleperformance has requested Euronext to suspend trading of the Shares as of 24 November 2023 which is prior to the implementation of the squeeze-out. Therefore, the last trading date will be 23 November 2023. Transfer of the Remaining Shares to Teleperformance and payment of Cash Consideration Teleperformance will acquire the Remaining Shares by operation of law. The record date for the squeeze-out on the Remaining Shares will be 27 November 2023 with a settlement and payment on 28 November 2023. Ownership of the Remaining Shares will be transferred to Teleperformance on 28 November 2023 against payment by Teleperformance of the Cash Consideration, namely EUR 30.00 per Remaining Share and EUR 2,849,880.00 in aggregate for all the Remaining Shares. For the purpose of the transfer of the ownership of the Remaining Shares to Teleperformance, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Corporate Broking and Issuer Services HQ7212 (corporate.broking@nl.abnamro.com), Gustav Mahlerlaan 10, 1082 PP, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (the "Receiving Agent") will on 28 November 2023 transfer all the Remaining Shares to Teleperformance. On the same day and prior to such transfer, Teleperformance will pay EUR 30.00 per Remaining Share by wire transfer to the bank account of the Receiving Agent for onward credit to the holders of the Remaining Shares through their Admitted Institution in proportion to the number of Remaining Shares held by each of them. Teleperformance can however not guarantee that holders of the Remaining Shares will actually receive payment on 28 November 2023 from their Admitted Institution. Actions to be taken Holders of Remaining Shares do not need to take any action. Announcements Any further announcement in connection with the squeeze-out proceedings will be issued by means of a press release. Any press release issued by Teleperformance will be made available on the website of Teleperformance (https://www.teleperformance.com/en-us/investors/publications-and-events/acquisition-of-majorel/). Offer Memorandum Digital copies of the Offer Memorandum are available on the website of Teleperformance (https://www.teleperformance.com/en-us/investors/publications-and-events/acquisition-of-majorel/). Disclaimer Certain information included in this press release are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results or other events, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and Teleperformance expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements included in this press release to reflect any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Such forward-looking statements are for illustrative purposes only. Forward-looking information and statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Teleperformance. The forward-looking statements included in this press release do not include any assumption for a further significant deterioration in market conditions or the current geopolitical situation. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified under Section 2.1 of the Universal Registration Document of Teleperformance, filed with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) on 27 February 2023, as amended by the Amendment to the Universal Registration Document, and available on the Teleperformance website (www.teleperformance.com) and the AMF website (www.amf-france.org). This press release is for information purposes only and does not, and shall not, constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities of Teleperformance or Majorel nor a solicitation to offer to purchase or to subscribe for securities of Teleperformance or Majorel in any jurisdiction, including in France and the Netherlands. The distribution of this press release may, in some countries, be restricted by law or regulation. Accordingly, persons who come into possession of this document should inform themselves of and observe these restrictions. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Teleperformance disclaims any responsibility or liability for the violation of any such restrictions by any person. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of that jurisdiction. Neither Teleperformance nor any of its advisors assumes any responsibility for any violation of any of these restrictions. Any Majorel shareholder who is in any doubt as to his or her position should consult an appropriate professional advisor without delay. Notice to U.S. Shareholders The Offer has been made by Teleperformance, a French company whose shares are listed on Euronext Paris, for the Shares in Majorel, a Luxembourg company whose shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam, and was subject to Dutch, Luxembourg and French disclosure and procedural requirements, which differ from those of the United States. It is important that U.S. shareholders understand that the Offer and any related offer documents are subject to disclosure and takeover laws and regulations in the Netherlands, France and/or Luxembourg that may be different from those in the United States. The Offer has been made in the United States in compliance with, and in reliance on, the exemption provided by Rule 14d-1(c), known as the "Tier I" exemption, under the U.S. Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "U.S. Exchange Act"). Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or pursuant to an exemption from such registration. The Offeror Shares to be issued in connection with the settlement of the Offer are not, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act or under the securities laws of any jurisdiction of the United States and have been issued to Shareholders in the United States in reliance on the exemption from registration provided by Rule 802 under the Securities Act and in reliance on available exemptions from any state law registration requirements. It may be difficult for U.S. shareholders to enforce their rights and claims arising out of the U.S. federal securities laws, since Teleperformance and Majorel are located in a country other than the United States, and some or all of their officers and directors may be residents of a country other than the United States. U.S. shareholders may not be able to sue a non-U.S. company or its officers or directors in a non-U.S. court for violations of the U.S. securities laws. Further, it may be difficult to compel a non-U.S. company and its affiliates to subject themselves to a U.S. court's judgment. Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nor any U.S. state securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the Offer or the Offeror Shares issued in connection with the settlement of the Offer, passed upon the fairness or merits of the Offer or provided an opinion as to the accuracy or completeness of this Offer Memorandum or any other documents regarding the Offer. Any declaration to the contrary constitutes a criminal offence in the United States. ABOUT TELEPERFORMANCE GROUP Teleperformance (TEP ISIN: FR0000051807 Reuters: TEPRF.PA - Bloomberg: TEP FP), is a global leader in digital business services, blending the best of advanced technology with human empathy to deliver enhanced customer care that is simpler, faster, and safer for the worlds biggest brands and their customers. The Groups comprehensive, AI-powered service portfolio ranges from front-office customer care to back-office functions, including Trust and Safety services that help defend both online users and brand reputation. It also offers a range of specialized services such as collections, interpreting and localization, visa and consular services, and recruitment process outsourcing services. With nearly 500,000 inspired and passionate people speaking more than 300 languages today, the Groups global scale and local presence allows it to be a force of good in supporting communities, clients, and the environment. In 2022, Teleperformance reported consolidated revenue of 8,154 million (US$8.6 billion, based on 1 = $1.05) and net profit of 645 million. Teleperformance shares are traded on the Euronext Paris market, Compartment A, and are eligible for the deferred settlement service. They are included in the following indices: CAC 40, STOXX 600, S&P Europe 350, MSCI Global Standard and Euronext Tech Leaders. In the area of corporate social responsibility, Teleperformance shares are included in the CAC 40 ESG since September 2022, the Euronext Vigeo Euro 120 index since 2015, the EURO STOXX 50 ESG index since 2020, the MSCI Europe ESG Leaders index since 2019, the FTSE4Good index since 2018 and the S&P Global 1200 ESG index since 2017. Visit the Group at www.teleperformance.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120507045/en/ Contacts ANALYSTS AND INVESTORS Investor relations and financial communication TELEPERFORMANCE Tel: +33 1 53 83 59 00 investor@teleperformance.com PRESS RELATIONS Europe Karine Allouis Laurent Poinsot - IMAGE7 Tel: +33 1 53 70 74 70 teleperformance@image7.fr PRESS RELATIONS Americas and Asia-Pacific Nicole Miller TELEPERFORMANCE Tel: +1 629-899-0675 tppublicaffairs@teleperformance.com Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad's (KLSE:FPI) returns on capital, so let's have a look. Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE) Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.18 = RM92m (RM720m - RM201m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023). Therefore, Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad has an ROCE of 18%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 10% generated by the Consumer Durables industry. View our latest analysis for Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad roce While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you'd like to look at how Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow. What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad is displaying some positive trends. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 18%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 72% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital. Story continues Our Take On Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad's ROCE All in all, it's terrific to see that Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead. If you want to continue researching Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad, you might be interested to know about the 1 warning sign that our analysis has discovered. While Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list 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. Tim Cook was asked if he deserves more credit for Apple's success after Steve Jobs. He said it's shared, and Jobs would still be CEO if alive today. Living up to Steve Jobs' legacy is no easy feat, but Apple CEO Tim Cook says that they "share credit" for the company's success. Photo by Lionel Hahn/Getty Images) Apple CEO Tim Cook was recently interviewed by Dua Lipa for a podcast. Apple's market cap has ballooned to over $3 trillion during Cook's tenure. Cook says he and former CEO Steve Jobs, along with Apple's employees, "share credit" for the success. Living up to the legacy of Steve Jobs is no easy feat, but current Apple CEO Tim Cook says he doesn't see his predecessor as competition. Cook recently appeared on an episode of BBC's "Dua Lipa: At Your Service" podcast. Lipa, the host, asked Cook questions about his journey with Apple. Pointing to Apple's skyrocketing market cap since Cook took over from Jobs, she asked the Apple CEO if he thinks he gets enough credit for the work he's done to make the company as successful as it is. "I don't look at it like that at all," Cook said. "Steve was an original and I think only Steve could have created Apple. We owe him a debt of gratitude and there's no doubt in my mind that if he were still alive today the company would be doing outstanding and he would still be CEO." Cook began working at Apple back in 1998. Apple was not doing well financially and was nearing bankruptcy. Cook, known for being a supply-chain expert who helped ensure Apple hit its famously high profit margins, worked his way up into Apple's senior leadership and took over for Jobs in 2011, just months before the cofounder died of pancreatic cancer. But Cook is more than happy to share the credit with Jobs for Apple's growth during his tenure. "I don't think of it as a credit deal. Plus I get to work with people that I love and who are unbelievable at doing what they do. So we share the credit from the company," Cook said. Tim Cook and Steve Jobs pictured speaking at an Apple press conference. Kimberly White/Reuters Apple has been more successful than ever under Cook. In 2018, Apple's market cap hit $1 trillion the first US company to hit such a milestone. In 2020, Apple's market cap hit $2 trillion and in September 2023, it ballooned to $3 trillion. Story continues While Cook was hand-chosen by Jobs to lead the company, his tenure hasn't gone without some criticism. One of the main critiques against Cook is that he came from the finance side of the business Jobs himself described Cook as "not a product guy" not Apple's legendary design team, which Jobs was known to be closely involved with thanks to a kinship with former design chief Jony Ive. Tim Cook clashed with Ive at times, according to The Wall Street Journal. (Cook has since disputed this, saying the report "doesn't match with reality," and shows a "lack of understanding" with how Apple and its product design team works.) Ive ended up leaving Apple in 2019 though he's consulted with the company since then. While Apple is worth more than three times what it was under Jobs, there have been fewer new standalone products released under Cook compared to Jobs but that's changing. Cook is about to launch Apple's first major new product line since the Apple Watch: the upcoming Vision Pro headset, which was developed without oversight from Jobs. Cook has been a driving force behind Apple's services business, which is a continual bright spot for the company amid increased competition in the smartphone business, further diversifying Apple's business beyond hardware. Cook himself has also been praised for his ability to try new things and take accountability when they don't work. And with a rumored Apple Car in the works, the success of the Apple Watch, upcoming launch of the Vision Pro, and Cook's massive growth of Apple's services business Cook seems to be setting up a legacy of his own. Read the original article on Business Insider In this article, we will be covering the top 30 oil producing countries in 2023. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of the global oil and gas market, you can go directly to Top 5 Oil Producing Countries in 2023. Previously, we looked at the top natural gas producing countries. In this piece, we will be looking at the largest oil producing countries in the world. Driven by a constant interplay between supply and demand, technological advancements, and geopolitics, the global oil and gas market is one of the worlds largest and most complex industries. However, as the world moves towards a cleaner energy future, the oil and gas industry is presented with both challenges and opportunities. The Global Oil and Gas Market Poised for Growth Despite Challenges The unresolved economic uncertainties, persistent inflation, and recessionary fears from 2022 continue to disrupt the macroeconomic environment in 2023. Ongoing geopolitical tensions and economic and trade sanctions on multiple countries have led to supply chain disruptions. This is negatively affecting many markets around the world, including the oil and gas market. We discussed in one of our previous articles about the largest energy companies by revenue that renewable energys share of the global energy mix is steadily expanding. Moreover, as the electric vehicles market continues to grow, it presents a serious threat to the dominance of oil in the transport sector. Despite these challenges, the oil and gas market is expected to continue growing in the coming years. Providing the energy that powers electricity generation, manufacturing, and transportation, oil and gas play a crucial role in the global economy. According to a report by The Business Research Company, the global oil and gas market value reached around $7.33 trillion in 2023. The oil and gas market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3% during 2023-2027, pushing it to reach higher than $8.67 trillion by the end of the forecast period. Oil and gas still account for a significant portion of the global energy mix. The demand for energy is expected to grow significantly in emerging markets, particularly in Asia and Africa. As these regions experience economic growth and urbanization, the demand for energy is expected to grow, which will provide opportunities to the oil and gas companies to expand their operations. Story continues What are Some of the Biggest Companies in the Oil and Gas Industry Up To? Some of the major industry players that are expected to benefit as the oil and gas market grows include Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO), and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX). Based in the US, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is a multinational energy corporation that primarily specializes in oil and gas refining and marketing. On October 23, CNBC reported that Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has agreed to acquire Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) in an all-stock transaction valued at $53 billion. Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) is engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in Guyana. The agreement indicates that Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) plans to continue investing in oil. As demand for oil remains strong, major players are looking to expand and increase their business operations through acquisitions. As a major player in the global oil and gas industry, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) ranks among the top oil and gas stocks to buy. On November 14, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) announced the start of production at Payara, Guyanas third offshore oil development on the Stabroek Block. This brings up the total production capacity in Guyana to around 620,000 barrels per day. The news report also mentions that Exxon Mobil Corporations (NYSE:XOM) Guyana operations generate approximately 30% less greenhouse gas emissions than the company's overall upstream portfolio average. Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) is one of the worlds largest independent oil and gas companies. With 15 refineries in the US, Canada, and the UK, Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) is a major independent refiner with a total throughput capacity of about 3.2 million barrels per day. On October 26, Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) reported strong earnings for the fiscal third quarter of 2023, reflecting strong demand for oil. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $7.49, surpassing EPS estimates by $0.17. The company reported a revenue of $38.4 billion. Now that we have briefly discussed what some of the major oil and gas companies are up to, lets take a look at the top 30 oil producing countries in 2023. Top 30 Oil Producing Countries in 2023 A drilling rig pumping oil and gas from a well in Latin America. Methodology In this article, we have listed the top 30 oil producing countries in 2023. To collect data for our list, we consulted the 72nd edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy published by the Energy Institute (EI). We used data obtained for the latest year in their dataset, published in 2023. This database provided us with a list of countries and information on their oil production as well as each countrys market share as a percentage for the year 2022. Oil production is measured in barrels per day. We then narrowed down our selection to rank the top 30 oil producing countries, which are listed below in ascending order. Top 30 Oil Producing Countries in 2023 30. Australia Oil Production: 420,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.4% First up on our list of top 30 oil producing countries in 2023 is Australia. Australia is the largest country in Oceania, and its oil and gas sector has played a crucial role in the development of the country's present-day economy. According to recently reported data, Australia produces around 420,000 barrels of oil per day. For investors looking to increase their exposure to the oil and gas industry, some stocks they can consider researching include Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO), and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX). 29. Ecuador Oil Production: 481,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.5% Ecuador is a country in South America. With significant oil reserves, it is one of the largest oil producers of South America. Crude oil production is one of the country's most important exports. Ecuador produces an average of 481,000 barrels of oil daily. 28. Malaysia Oil Production: 567,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.6% Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. The oil sector plays a crucial role in Malaysias annual GDP, and positively influences the countrys economy. According to recently reported data, Malaysia produces around 567,000 barrels of oil daily. 27. Egypt Oil Production: 613,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.7% Egypt is a country located in south-western Asia and the north-eastern corner of Africa. The oil industry is one of Egypts most dynamic economic sectors. With significant energy resources, Egypt produces about 613,000 barrels of oil per day. 26. Indonesia Oil Production: 644,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.7% Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. The country is one of the biggest producers of palm oil. The oil sector is crucial to Indonesias economy and it employs thousands of people in the country. Indonesia produces an average of 644,000 barrels of oil per day according to recently reported data. 25. Azerbaijan Oil Production: 685,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.7% Azerbaijan is a transcontinental country divided between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is rich in oil and gas resources and ranks among the top 25 oil producing countries in 2023. According to recently reported data, Azerbaijan produces about 685,000 barrels of oil per day. 24. Argentina Oil Production: 706,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.8% Argentina is the second largest country by area in South America. The country is home to some of the world's largest shale oil and shale gas reserves. Argentina produces around 706,000 barrels of oil per day. 23. Venezuela Oil Production: 731,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.8% Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves and previously, the South American nation ranked among the largest exporters of oil. However, Venezuelas oil industry witnessed a significant decline over the last decade. According to recently reported data, Venezuela now produces around 731,000 barrels of oil per day. 22. India Oil Production: 737,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.8% India ranks among the largest and most populated countries in the world. It produces an average of 737,000 barrels of oil per day. However, India also ranks among the worlds largest consumers of oil. As an oil-dependent country, India is forced to import a large bulk of its consumption requirements. 21. Colombia Oil Production: 754,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.8% Columbia produces an average of 754,000 barrels of oil per day. Colombia is South America's second largest oil producer and the oil industry is key for the countrys national revenue. Colombia exports about half of the oil produced and the state-owned Colombian Petroleum Enterprise is a highly profitable concern. 20. United Kingdom Oil Production: 778,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 0.8% The United Kingdom ranks among the top 20 oil producing countries in 2023. The oil and gas industry plays an important part in the economy of the United Kingdom. According to recently reported data, the United Kingdom produces around 778,000 barrels of oil per day. 19. Oman Oil Production: 1,064,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 1.1% Oman is a country in the Middle East. While it is relatively less oil-rich than some of its neighbors in the Middle East, oil and gas still play a crucial role in Omans economy. Oman produces upwards of 1.06 million barrels of oil per day. 18. Libya Oil Production: 1,088,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 1.2% Libya is a country in North Africa. According to recently reported data, Libyas oil production averages nearly 1.09 million barrels per day. Oil revenues are Libya's primary source of income and the oil and gas sector is crucial to the countrys economy. 17. Angola Oil Production: 1,190,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 1.3% Angola is a country located on the west-central coast of South Africa. Angolas economy relies heavily on its oil and gas industry. As one of the main players in Africas oil sector, Angola produces an average of 1.19 million barrels of oil per day. 16. Nigeria Oil Production: 1,450,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 1.5% Nigeria is a country in West Africa. It is the second largest producer of oil and gas on the continent of Africa. Oil production contributes greatly to the countrys GDP. According to recently reported data, Nigeria produces 1.45 million barrels of oil daily. 15. Algeria Oil Production: 1,474,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 1.6% Algeria is a country in North Africa. It is the largest oil producing country from the African continent. Producing an average of more than 1.47 million barrels of oil per day, Algeria ranks among the top 15 oil producing countries in 2023. Along with oil, Algeria is a large producer of gas. 14. Qatar Oil Production: 1,768,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 1.9% Qatar is a country in the Middle East that ranks among some of the richest nations in the world, thanks to its oil and natural gas industry. According to recently reported data, Qatar produces an average of more than 1.76 million barrels of oil per day. 13. Kazakhstan Oil Production: 1,769,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 1.9% Kazakhstan is a country in Central Asia that shares a border with Russia and China, among other countries. Kazakhstan produces an average of nearly 1.77 million barrels of oil daily. The oil sector plays a crucial role in Kazakhstan's economy. 12. Norway Oil Production: 1,901,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 2% Norway is a Scandinavian country that ranks at the number 12 spot on our list of top 30 oil producing countries in 2023. It is the largest oil producing country in Europe and the countrys oil industry plays a vital role in the Norwegian economy as well as the financing of the Norwegian welfare state. According to recently reported data, Norway produces more than 1.9 million barrels of oil per day. 11. Mexico Oil Production: 1,944,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 2.1% Mexico is one of the largest oil producing nations in the Western Hemisphere. Production of oil is crucial to Mexico's economy. According to recently reported data, the country produces over 1.94 million barrels of oil per day. 10. Kuwait Oil Production: 3,028,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 3.2% Kuwait is a country in the Middle East that is a major supplier of oil. Oil accounts for more than 90% of Kuwaits exports and a large chunk of the countrys GDP. Kuwait produces more than 3.02 million barrels of oil per day to rank among the top 10 oil producing countries in 2023. 9. Brazil Oil Production: 3,107,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 3.3% Brazil is the largest country by area in South America. It is also the largest producer of oil in South America. Brazil has the largest recoverable ultra-deep oil reserves in the world. The country produces an average of more than 3.1 million barrels of oil per day. 8. Iran Oil Production: 3,822,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 4.1% Iran is the second largest country in the Middle East. Iran is home to some of the largest deposits of oil and natural gas in the world. According to recently reported data, Iran produces more than 3.82 million barrels of oil daily. 7. United Arab Emirates Oil Production: 4,020,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 4.3% The United Arab Emirates, or simply the UAE, is a country in the Middle East. Majority of UAEs oil reserves are located in Abu Dhabi. Producing around 4.02 million barrels of oil per day, UAE ranks among the top 10 oil producing countries. 6. China Oil Production: 4,111,000 Barrels Per Day Market Share: 4.4% China is one of the largest countries in the world by area. With one of the world's largest strategic oil reserves, China ranks high among some of the top oil producing countries. According to recently reported data, China produces more than 4.11 million barrels of oil per day. Some of the most prominent names in the global oil and gas industry include Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO), and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX). Click to continue reading and see Top 5 Oil Producing Countries in 2023. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. Top 30 Oil Producing Countries in 2023 is published on Insider Monkey. Brooklyn resident Tamai Holloway makes her way through the plants and plant related offerings of The Greenhouse Wednesday, November 9, 2022. The Greenhouse plant store and bar located at 200 Riverside Avenue is a live plant shop, restaurant and bar in the rapidly growing Brooklyn neighborhood of Jacksonville. Its been a booming year for Jacksonvilles small business scene with multiple shops opening around the city to add to an already vibrant local business landscape. From a vintage boutique in Springfield to multiple new bookstores in Jacksonville's urban core, 2023 has seen an uptick in business openings similar to the number of new shops that also opened ahead of holiday shopping last year. Floridians spend big Brand names high on the list for Jacksonville shoppers Coming soon Major retailers opening at Gateway Town Center. Is it a sign of things to come? Mall set to change ownership Jacksonville's Regency Square Mall set to sell to Lake City developer in 2024 Now, they are getting ready for their first holiday shopping season and the promotional weekend that is Small Business Saturday. Here are a few new shops to check out and patronize while searching for gifts for friends and family: Books and gifts It has been a busy year for independent bookstores with two opening in Jacksonville and another, Femme Fire Books, hitting the one-year milestone of having a physical location. Happy Medium Books Cafe opened in July on Park Street, and the Literary Lounge opened a few months later in September in Murray Hill. Both offer a selection of books and other items. Books lie on a shelf to be organized Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023 at The Literary Lounge, the former site of Do Good Beauty womens boutique salon, in Murray Hill, Jacksonville, Fla. In the last decade, there's been a steady decline for independent bookstores, but two have opened/will open in Jacksonville this year. Glitz works full-time for U.S. AutoForce, a tires, parts and lubricant distributor in the region but said this is her creative side hustle. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] Local boutiques Purple Mangrove is a pre-owned and vintage clothing store that also sells beverages and plants alongside a collection of T-shirts, tops, blouses, dresses, jackets, Jaguars gear and bottoms. Sunhoney, a new boutique at Jacksonville Beach, is set to open April 28. It has been an online-only store for about four years. Closer to the beach, Sunhoney went from an online-only shop to a storefront at Jacksonville Beach in the spring. The store, founded in 2019, sells modern, bohemian items, made to be cute and comfortable, and includes a mens section for another boutique business, 8103 Clothing. Miscellaneous items Advertised as plants, home decor and unique gifts, Planet Circle opened in July in Riverside. It offers everything from stickers themed to different neighborhoods around the city to coffee, mugs, totes, candles and coasters. Greenhouse just celebrated its first anniversary in the Brooklyn neighborhood earlier in November. The bar, coffeehouse and shop triple threat offers a variety of plants, pots and trinkets for those green-thumbed people in your life. This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First holiday shopping season, Small Business Saturday approach for local shops that opened in 2023 FILE PHOTO: The logo of Hyundai Motor Company is pictured at the New York International Auto Show FILE PHOTO: The logo of Hyundai Motor Company is pictured at the New York International Auto Show By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. auto safety regulators on Monday said they had opened a probe into 16 separate recalls issued by Hyundai and Kia covering 6.4 million vehicles relating to brake fluid leaks that could result in fires. The affiliated Korean automakers have issued a string of recalls since 2016 for antilock braking system (ABS) and Hydraulic Electronic Control Units (HECU) issues manufactured by the same parts supplier. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it was opening an audit query to evaluate the timeliness of Hyundai and Kias defect decision making "and adherence with reporting requirements; and understand the varying defect descriptions and remedies between these recalls." Hyundai said it was "fully cooperating with NHTSA and "puts the safety of our customers and employees as the top priority in everything we do." Kia said it "will work closely and in cooperation with NHTSA" during its review. The Korean automakers in September recalled a combined 3.37 million vehicles in the United States due to the risk of engine fires, telling owners to park outside and away from structures until repairs are complete. The automakers said internal brake fluid leaks can cause an electrical short that could lead to a fire. Hyundai in September said it has reports of 21 fires and 21 other thermal incidents since 2017, while Kia has reports of at least 10 confirmed fires and melting incidents. Kia said the HECU in the vehicles may experience an electrical short as a result of brake fluid leaks. Hyundai said the ABS module may leak brake fluid internally and cause an electrical short. The U.S. units of Hyundai and Kia in November 2020 agreed to a record $210 million civil penalty after NHTSA said they failed to recall 1.6 million vehicles for engine issues in a timely fashion and inaccurately reported some information. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Louise Heavens and Mark Porter) The Mississippi River Long Distance Sediment Pipeline Project is seen in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday said it was still looking for the source of a leak from an underwater pipeline off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico that it estimated had released more than a million gallons of crude oil. The 67-mile long pipeline was closed by Main Pass Oil Gathering Co (MPOG) on Thursday morning, after crude oil was spotted around 19 miles offshore of the Mississippi River Delta, near Plaquemines Parish, southeast of New Orleans. "Overflight teams observed visible oil Friday moving southwest away from the Louisiana shore," the Coast Guard said, as oil recovery efforts continued and underwater devices surveyed the pipeline to find the leak's source. While the exact volume of discharged oil was not known, the Coast Guard, which was leading the clean-up, said initial engineering calculations placed the volume of the leak at 1.1 million gallons, or 26,190 barrels. It added that there were no reported injuries or shoreline impacts so far, and the cause of the leak was under investigation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday that the Coast Guard had activated the National Response Team, comprising 15 federal entities responsible for coordinating the response to oil pollution incidents. Third Coast Infrastructure, which owns MPOG, declined to comment on Friday and referred questions to the Coast Guard. (Reporting by Deep Vakil and Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot) US Is Seeking More than $4 Billion From Binance to End Case (Bloomberg) -- The US Justice Department is seeking more than $4 billion from Binance Holdings Ltd. as part of a proposed resolution of a years-long investigation into the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange. Most Read from Bloomberg Negotiations between the Justice Department and Binance include the possibility that its founder Changpeng Zhao would face criminal charges in the US under an agreement to resolve the probe into alleged money laundering, bank fraud and sanctions violations, according to people familiar with the discussions. Zhao, also known as CZ, is residing in the United Arab Emirates, which doesnt have an extradition treaty with the US, but that doesnt prevent him from coming voluntarily. Binance didnt respond to multiple emails and phone calls seeking comment. The Justice Department declined to comment. An announcement could come as soon as the end of the month, though the situation remains fluid, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter. The BNB cryptocurrency, a token native to Binance and the BNB Chain blockchain that was created by the exchange, rose as much as 8.5% to $266.42 after Bloomberg reported the negotiations. A settlement with a monitoring provision in place could be a compromise that protects investors and allows Binance the option to evolve into a more institutional and compliant future direction, said Matt Walsh, founding partner at crypto venture firm Castle Island Ventures. The exact timing and structure of the proposed resolution and specific charges arent clear. However, Binance would likely be expected to pay more than $4 billion, which would be one of the largest-ever penalties in a criminal cryptocurrency case. Story continues The investigation is being led by the criminal divisions money laundering and asset recovery section, along with the national security division and the US attorneys office in Seattle. Strike Balance The agreement seeks to strike a balance that would allow Binance to continue operating, rather than risk a collapse that could cause negative fallout for markets and crypto holders, said three of the people. Binance has sought to minimize its exposure in any settlement, including pushing for a deferred prosecution agreement, another person said. If Binance and the DOJ agree on a deferred-prosecution-agreement, the Justice Department would file a criminal complaint against the company. The US would not go forward with a prosecution as long as the company meets prescribed conditions, which usually include paying a substantial penalty and agreeing to a detailed statement of facts outlining its wrongdoing. A process would be set up to monitor the companys compliance. With respect to possible sanctions violations, the Justice Department has been investigating Binance for allegedly aiding in the evasion of US sanctions against Iran and Russia, one of the people said. Binance has also been under scrutiny for whether it allowed transactions that helped finance Hamas. FTX Case The case is one of the largest investigations the Justice Department has ever conducted into a cryptocurrency company. A settlement would represent another historic resolution following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, which resulted in the conviction of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried on fraud and conspiracy charges earlier this month. While Justice Department officials have been pushing for a broad leadership change at the company, it isnt clear if other Binance executives besides CZ would face charges in the case. Binance has faced legal and regulatory action from other US agencies, as well as increased scrutiny from US lawmakers. In June, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit accusing Binance and Zhao of mishandling customer funds, misleading investors and regulators, and breaking securities rules. Binance.US Unit The lawsuit effectively crippled Binances US unit. Brian Shroder, chief executive officer of Binance.US, left the company in September amid another round of job cuts at the struggling crypto platform. The company eliminated about one third of its workforce, or more than 100 positions. Trading volumes on Binance.US have slowed to a trickle after the exchange lost its banking support and suspended US dollar deposits. Earlier: Binance.US CEO Departs, Crypto Platform Cuts Third of Staff The Commodity Futures Trading Commission in March alleged that Binance and Zhao routinely broke US derivatives rules as the firm grew to be the worlds largest digital-asset trading platform. Binance should have registered with the agency years ago and continues to violate the CFTCs rules, the regulator said at the time. Binance has contested the lawsuits and said it actively cooperated with the regulators probes and was disappointed by the enforcement actions. In a March statement, CZ said the CFTC complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts and that Binance doesnt agree with how many of the issues are characterized. The company called the SEC filing an attempt by the agency to regulate with the blunt weapons of enforcement and litigation rather than the thoughtful, nuanced approach demanded by this dynamic and complex technology. CZ worked at Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, from 2002 to 2005. --With assistance from Ava Benny-Morrison, Muyao Shen, David Voreacos, Michael P. Regan and Hannah Miller. (Updates with market reaction from sixth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. A pedestrian looks at his phone as he walks past a logo for Australia's Westpac Banking Corp located outside a branch in central Sydney By Scott Murdoch SYDNEY (Reuters) -Westpac Banking Corp, Australia's third-largest bank by market capitalisation, said on Monday it would raise A$750 million ($488.1 million) in an Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital transaction. Investors have already lodged bids worth A$2.35 billion at the low end of the indicative margin range, according to a note sent by the deal's bookrunners at 0540 GMT on Monday. The notes will be issued at A$100 each and potential investors have been told the interest margin will be between 3.10% and 3.3%, according to an earlier Westpac statement. As part of the deal, investors in an earlier series of Westpac AT1 bonds will be eligible to reinvest in the new bonds. The final margin will be set following bookbuild which will now close on Tuesday at 0030 GMT for new investors and Wednesday at 0300 GMT for re-investment participants. Australia's prudential regulator said in September it would review the rules around AT1 bonds, which were impacted by the collapse of Credit Suisse in March, to determine they were still fit for purpose. The AT1 bonds are used by banks to stabilise cashflow in periods of stress, according to APRA. The bonds became an object of concern to the global financial sector when Switzerland's financial regulator wrote down 16 billion Swiss francs ($17.8 billion) worth of Credit Suisse AT1s following its failure this year. Under that deal, holders of Credit Suisse AT1 bonds received nothing, while shareholders, who usually rank below bondholders in terms of who gets paid when a bank or company collapses, received $3.23 billion. Australia's assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said earlier this year Australian law would not allow AT1 bond holders to be wiped out if a bank collapsed in order for equity holders to receive a return. Commonwealth Bank, Australia's largest by market capitalisation, raised A$1.55 billion in May in AT1 bonds which was the first issuance of the bonds by a domestic bank down under following the Credit Suisse crisis. ($1 = 1.5366 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Stephen Coates) (Bloomberg) -- Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive officer of social media service X, acknowledged that some advertisers are taking a break from the platform following outrage over antisemitic content and commentary, some of it endorsed by the sites owner, Elon Musk. Most Read from Bloomberg Yaccarino cited a misleading and manipulated article for spurring some advertisers to temporarily pause spending, a reference to a Media Matters piece that said ads from big brands were placed near offensive content. She follows Musk in criticizing the report, which they say misrepresents the experience on X, formerly Twitter. The data will tell the real story, Yaccarino said in a memo to staff on Sunday. Because for all of us who work at X, weve been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination, as theres no place for it anywhere in the world. X faced a widespread backlash on Friday after Musk agreed with a post that said Jewish people hold a dialectical hatred of White people. You have said the actual truth, Musk responded. His commentary added to outrage after Thursdays Media Matters report, which said ads for Apple Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Oracle Corp., Comcast Corp.s Xfinity brand and the Bravo television network ran next to pro-Nazi content. That led IBM, Apple, Walt Disney Co., Paramount Global and others to stop advertising on X until the situation is resolved. Across every corner of this company, were working to create a platform for everyone, Yaccarino said in the letter. And there is no other platform thats working as hard to protect free speech like X. Our work is critical, but its not always easy. What were doing matters, which means it naturally invites criticism from those who do not share our beliefs. Story continues Musk railed against bogus media reports accusing him of antisemitism. Nothing could be further from the truth, Musk said in a post on X. Musk has long drawn fire for promoting hate speech. His latest post prompted criticism from both politicians and some of the worlds biggest companies, which have urged the billionaire to better control content on his platform. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. In a major reversal, Apple Inc. plans to adopt a technological standard next year that will allow text messaging to operate more smoothly between iPhones and Android devices. The company had pushed back on the standard known as RCS for more than a year, even as Alphabet Inc.s Google and others pressed Apple to adopt the technology. RCS, short for rich communication services, is an upgrade over standard SMS and MMS texting thats backed by the GSM Association. The technology allows more texting features to be shared over phones on different platforms. For instance, Apple users will be able to text Android users over Wi-Fi and not just via cellular networks. Theyll also be able to send larger video and photo files, more easily operate group chats, and determine if messages are received and read. Apple has been protective of its iMessage system, which preserves many of those features for users of its devices the iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad. Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association, Apple said in a statement. We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. Apple added that this will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users. Last year, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook pushed back on RCS at a conference, suggesting that people who want better texting with family members buy them an iPhone. Today, iPhone users know they are texting another Apple customer because the chat bubbles are blue, while Android contacts are relegated to the older green style. Its unclear if this format will change when Apple adopts RCS. The company could be planning to make it part of next years iOS 18 release. Were happy to see Apple take their first step today by coming on board to embrace RCS, Google said in a statement. We welcome Apples participation in our ongoing work with GSMA to evolve RCS and make messaging more equitable and secure, and look forward to working with them to implement this on iOS in a way that works well for everyone. The shift comes as Apple faces more scrutiny from regulators. The Cupertino, California-based company is preparing to overhaul its iPhone and iPad software in the European Union to meet requirements from the regions Digital Markets Act. The announcement also comes the same week that Nothing, a small phone brand with a cult following, said it was working on a way to enable iMessage on Android. Smartphones used to be half the size they are todayhere's how they've grown in size over time Smartphones used to be half the size they are todayhere's how they've grown in size over time Samsung's Galaxy line of phones sees most dramatic upsizing Android handsets push hardware Apple's waning interest in small phones Have we hit the sweet spot? Couture fashion isn't child's play, but 7-year-old Max Alexander is already a serious designer. During Denver Fashion Week's penultimate runway show on Saturday, eight stunning artists brought their high-end couture designs to a packed audience at York Street Yards in Denver's Clayton neighborhood. One of the eight artists hasn't even hit his eighth birthday. Alexander, a fashion prodigy with already over nine million likes on TikTok, showcased his Couture to the Max designs in his first real fashion show runway outing. But Alexander has already built an impressive resume. He's created a jacket for actress Sharon Stone and shown his work on "Good Morning America." No, really. When picking the eight designers showing at the couture show, producer and stylist Hailee Lucchesi had Alexander on her wish list. She knew he was busy and was shocked that he said yes. "He has something in him that you cant make up. He has something in his mind that is very rare," Lucchesi said. "I brought him on because I want to showcase people that are talented. I dont care that he has millions of followers. I care that this little nugget has a gift and people need to see it." Nurture, nature and fabric "Let me emphasize this: we are not fashionable people," said Alexander's mom, Sherri Madison. Though Madison can sew, and so can Alexander's grandmothers, Alexander had no clue about fashion before he made his big announcement. When he was 4-years-old, he told his parents he was a dressmaker. Thinking the statement outrageous, the parents laughed. Alexander was certain, though. "He said, 'If you get me a mannequin, Ill show you.' He was very serious," Madison said. Madison a cardboard artist and painter made him a cardboard mannequin. He quickly went to town. "He started draping with anything he could find in my studio. Scraps and ribbons," she said. "I could see something strange was happening. It was remarkable. I was watching with my jaw on the floor." Due to the pandemic shutdown at the time, Madison had no way to show their family the remarkable talent Alexander was displaying. She made an Instagram account to keep up with his work. It quickly grew into a social media phenomenon. "It snowballed and snowballed. The entire time, every step of the way, we ask Max if its something he wants to do and if hes having fun," Madison said. "For the first two years, we figured he would move on from it every day. He still says he wants to be a chef, teacher, marine biologist," she added. "But its been three years now and its been every day. We just want him to be happy. Whatever he wants to do, well let him do it." Alexander told People magazine that he was Gucci in a past life. While the parents giggle at the spiritual absurdity of the idea, they can't deny the stunning pace at which Alexander has grown, quickly learning to out-sew his mother after a few lessons. Madison noted that she just found out a month ago that Alexander's great-grandfather was a well-known pattern dressmaker in Montreal. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. "Maybe it's in his DNA or his great-grandfather is sitting on his shoulder," she laughed. "Either way, it's like watching Mozart make music when he was seven." Alexander's designs now go for around $1,400, but only when he feels like doing them. His parents are steadfast about him maintaining the fun around the art, not pushing him on any event or commission. Madison his now full-time manager-mother said that they pass on about 80% of the things that come his way, from offers for New York City and Costa Rica fashion shows to lots of commissions. "We are very protective," she added. "Even with interviews. He loves the camera. If he didnt, we wouldnt do any interviews. I hate the camera." Despite showing a few pieces on television shows like "Good Morning America," Denver Fashion Week was his first, actual fashion show. Madison felt comfortable due to the "warmness" of the staff. "(Lucchesi) was a big part of us saying yes," she said. "Everyone here is so nice and welcoming. It's also a smaller, personal situation. All the people have been kind and helpful." The family flew out from their home in California after Alexander got off of school on Friday. Alexander said he wasn't nervous about his first event. He also said Denver was "fun." During the show, Alexander danced and laughed backstage. He was fine in the limelight, even if it was well past his bedtime. He walked his models through their runway routines, giving directions and artistic tips like only a fashion veteran could. Despite Denver Fashion Week being his first big show, he was right at home. Denver, the new fashion beacon Though Alexanders little, curly-headed smile stole the hearts of those in attendance, the stunning fashion of the seven other designers along with the eight days of fashion the week brought about cannot be overlooked. Denver Fashion Week which once began as Denver Fashion Weekend over a decade ago has grown into a plethora of fashion-based events spanning eight days throughout the city. It's quickly becoming a favorite in the country's lineup of fashion events. Last year's fashion week brought about 81 press stories, including 23 broadcast segments, totaling $4,849,842 in ad revenue, according to Denver Fashion Week. Lucchesi a stylist who grew up in Colorado and graduated from CU Boulder said the success gives her goosebumps. She started her career in fashion editorial at Vogue in New York City and eventually moved to Los Angeles to work as a stylist. She moved back to Colorado in 2014, something she thought may sabotage her career. It didn't. The Denver region has only grown in fashion and fashion editorial since then, she added. "As someone who had this dream of working in fashion, Denver wasnt an option when I was in school," she said. "Im extremely close to my mom. So, when I started, it was difficult to know I couldnt work in Colorado if I wanted to pursue this career. Its so incredible that young people can work in this industry and do it here." She added, "I came from New York and L.A. So, for me to be satisfied in the Denver market says a lot. Its a dream to get to marry the industry I love and the area I love." Lucchesi pointed toward the success of the annual fashion week and the influx of lifestyle brands as a key to the ever-growing Colorado fashion industry. North Face, for example, moved its headquarters to Denver in 2020. Four out of the eight designers at Saturday's show are based in Colorado. "I dont think Denver can be New York and L.A., but I think thats good," she said. "It can be a hub in its own way. Its a huge point for the outdoor brand. The lifestyle brands are coming here. Ive seen people travel here for shoots because of the nature." A commercial structure fire was reported Sunday evening in downtown Colorado Springs. The Colorado Springs Fire Department responded to the fire located at a vacant building at 114 S. Sierra Madre St., according to an X post from the department. Just after 5 p.m., officials said the blaze was a "deep seated" fire and crews are working to apply water. One firefighter was injured shortly after arriving at the scene, according to Gazette news partner KOAA. Officials told KOAA the firefighter suffered an extremity injury and is in good condition after being taken to the hospital. The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time, officials said. By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The CEOs of Discord, Snap, and X, formerly known as Twitter, were issued subpoenas to compel them to testify at a Dec. 6 hearing on online child sexual exploitation, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said on Monday. The committee said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew are expected to voluntarily testify at a future hearing but it is not clear when. The committee said Discord and X, owned by Elon Musk, refused to cooperate by accepting service of the subpoenas on behalf of their CEOs, "requiring the committee to enlist the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service to personally serve the subpoenas." The committee released copies of the subpoenas served to Snap's Evan Spiegel, Discord's Jason Citron and X's Linda Yaccarino. Snap said Spiegel has already agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee "and our team is coordinating with Committee staff on potential dates. We appreciate the opportunity to appear before the Committee to discuss this vital issue." Wifredo Fernandez, head of US & Canada Government Affairs for X, said in a statement the company has been "working in good faith to participate in the Judiciary committees hearing on child protection online as safety is our top priority at X. Today we are communicating our updated availability to participate in a hearing on this important issue." Discord said in a statement "keeping our users safe, especially young people, is central to everything we do at Discord. We have been actively engaging with the Committee on how we can best contribute to this important industry discussion." Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok did not comment. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Durbin and its top Republican Lindsey Graham said the hearing will allow committee members to press CEOs from some of the biggest social media companies on their failures to protect children online. "Big Techs failure to police itself at the expense of our kids cannot go unanswered, said Durbin and Graham in a joint statement. "Hearing from the CEOs of some of the worlds largest social media companies will help inform the Committees efforts to address the crisis of online child sexual exploitation. Since the committee held a hearing in February, it has approved a number of bills including one that would remove tech firms' immunity from civil and criminal liability under child sexual abuse material laws that was first proposed in 2020. Another would establish a National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention and another to modernize investigations and prosecutions of online child exploitation crimes. (Reporting by David Shepardson, Jasper Ward and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Shumaker) By Belen Carreno MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez retained Nadia Calvino as his economy minister on Monday, revealing a largely unchanged new cabinet he said would be more adept at negotiating with parliamentary allies to pass key legislation. Calvino, who is the frontrunner for the top job at the European Investment Bank scheduled to be announced at the end of the year, will also keep her position as first deputy prime minister, Sanchez said in a televised statement. The 55-year-old, who served as a European Commission technocrat, is currently leading negotiations for a new package of fiscal rules in the eurozone as part of Spain's presidency of the European Council. Sanchez, who won a vote in parliament to clinch another term last week after months of negotiations, begins his new legislature with a cabinet in which most of the senior ministers retain their positions, an unusual move for a premier previously known for springing surprises in his reshuffles. Energy Minister Teresa Ribera, Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares and Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, the head of far-left junior coalition partner Sumar, also kept their jobs. "It's a high-profile political team for a high-profile political legislature," Sanchez said. "They are people capable of governing but also of reaching agreements." The coalition government with the hard-left platform Sumar has just 152 seats in the 350-seat parliament, so it will need to make agreements with regional parties to pass key legislation, such as a budget for 2024 and raising the minimum wage. Given the anticipated difficulty of passing laws with a minority government, Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero will be promoted to be one of four deputy prime ministers. Cabinet Minister Felix Bolanos will take over the justice portfolio to implement the amnesty law that allowed the Socialists to secure another term. He will also be responsible for the relationship of the government with parliament. Ana Redondo will replace Irene Montero of the far left Podemos party as equality minister while Podemos leader Ione Belarra has also been demoted. Sanchez maintained his record cabinets of having more women (12) than men (10) as ministers. His four deputy prime ministers are all female. In total, Sanchez added nine new faces to the 22-person cabinet. Junior coalition partner Sumar got five portfolios, keeping its share of power within the cabinet. (Reporting by Belen Carreno and Inti Landauro; editing by Aislinn Laing, Toby Chopra, Charlie Devereux, Ed Osmond, William Maclean) By Ben Blanchard and Fabian Hamacher TAIPEI (Reuters) -Lai Ching-te, the frontrunner for Taiwan's presidency, named on Monday Taipei's former envoy to the United States as his running mate in January's election, a high-profile diplomat well known in Washington but who Beijing denounces as a separatist. Lai, vice president and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate, has led in most opinion polls ahead of the election, which is taking place as Taiwan comes under increased pressure from China to accept its sovereignty claim. His running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, 52, who had been Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States since 2020, has extensive connections in Washington, and had been widely expected to be Lai's partner on his ticket. Hsiao said she had shared values with Lai including defending Taiwan's freedom and democracy. "I believe we have lots of common convictions - we are both willing to take on responsibility for Taiwan," she told reporters as she stood next to Lai at campaign headquarters in Taipei. The foreign ministry accepted her resignation as U.S. envoy earlier in the day. Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council who has known Hsiao since the 1990s, said she was a "formidable politician", and would add much needed diplomatic and security heft to Lai's ticket. "Bi-khim's relationships in D.C. will be invaluable to a President Lai, if he is elected, she's going to bring all of those relationships into his government and he doesn't have those," he told Reuters. The United States, as with most countries, has no formal ties with Taiwan, but is the island's most important international supporter and arms supplier. Like Lai, Hsiao is despised by China, which has twice placed sanctions on her, most recently in April, saying she was an "independence diehard". China's foreign ministry declined to answer a question about Hsiao, saying it was not a diplomatic issue. 'INDEPENDENCE ACT' China's Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday referred to Lai and Hsiao as an "independence double act", adding that Taiwan's people were "very clear" about what their partnership meant for the "situation in the Taiwan Strait". It did not elaborate. Lai, asked about these comments, dismissed what he said were "thoughtless remarks". "This is sufficient to prove that China is intervening in this election," he told reporters. "We only put importance on our people's issues." China carried out military drills around Taiwan in August, after Lai returned from a brief visit to the United States, in what the Chinese military said was a "serious warning against Taiwan independence separatist forces colluding with external forces to provoke". The DPP champions Taiwan's separate identity from China. The DPP-led government says only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and it has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing but been rebuffed. The DPP's smooth handling of its vice presidential nominee stands in contrast with efforts by Taiwan's two main opposition parties to agree on a joint ticket. Their negotiations have stalled. The largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which traditionally favours close ties with Beijing, is locked in a dispute with the smaller Taiwan People's Party about which of their candidates should run as president and which as vice president after initially agreeing to work together. The deadline to register presidential candidates with the election commission is Friday. Lai, writing on Facebook earlier on Monday, pointed to the "turmoil" in the opposition camp. "In contrast, the team I lead is definitely a fully prepared and tested one," he said. Hsiao was born in Japan to a Taiwanese father and American mother and initially worked in the office of then-president Chen Shui-bian, also from the DPP, and then as a DPP lawmaker. Unusually in Taiwan, she uses an English spelling of her name based on its Taiwanese Hokkien pronunciation to underscore her identity as being Taiwanese and not Chinese. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Fabian Hamacher; Additional reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Miral Fahmy, Robert Birsel) KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian forces were engaged in containing increasing Russian attacks on Monday around the shattered eastern town of Bakhmut, military officials said. The officials said Ukraine's troops had also achieved some success after crossing to the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Kherson region. Russia has concentrated on Ukraine's eastern regions after failing to move on Kyiv in the early days after the February 2022 invasion. Their progress has been slow. Ukrainian forces have also made marginal gains in a five-month-old offensive in the east and south. Moscow's forces seized Bakhmut in eastern Donetsk region in May after months of heavy fighting that left the town in ruins. Volodymyr Fityo, a spokesperson for Ukrainian ground forces, said Russian troops focused attacks on Klishchiivka, a nearby village on heights retaken by Ukrainian forces in September. "Russian occupying forces have brought in the necessary reserves and gone on the attack," Fityo told national television. "Eleven attacks have been repelled in the past 24 hours. The enemy is trying to dislodge our men from defensive positions around Klishchiivka." Russian accounts said Moscow's forces had beaten back more than 30 Ukrainian attacks in and around Bakhmut in the past week. The Russian Defence Ministry reported more than two dozen attacks near Kupiansk in Ukraine's northeast in a week. Reuters could not verify accounts from either side. ASSAULTS ON AVDIIVKA Fighting in the east has also centred on the equally devastated town of Avdiivka, still in Ukrainian hands 20 months into the war and after more than a month of Russian assaults. Military analyst Serhiy Zgurets, writing on the Espreso TV media outlet website, said Russian forces were trying to launch a new offensive on the town, known for its vast coking plant. "To be truthful, enemy's attempts to surround Avdiivka have resulted in significant losses for them," Zgurets wrote. Maksym Morozov, an Interior Ministry major, told Espreso that recent rains had left the ground soft and unsuitable for enemy equipment near the town, where 1,500 residents remain from a pre-war population of 32,000. Another military spokesperson, Andriy Kovaliov, said Ukrainian forces had "carried out several successful and effective actions" on the east bank of the Dnipro nearly a week after military officials acknowledged their presence there. Russian forces were making up to 10 daily attempts to dislodge Ukrainian forces from positions on the eastern bank and were drafting in reserves, he told national television. Russian troops left the western bank of the river and the region's main city, Kherson, a year ago, but have since been shelling their abandoned positions from areas across the river. Ukrainian authorities earlier reported that Russian shelling had killed three people and damaged power lines and a gas pipeline in Kherson region and in central Dnipropetrovsk region. Two drivers were killed when Russian forces shelled a private transport company parking lot in Kherson, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. A woman was killed and a man injured in a Russian artillery strike on Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk governor Serhiy Lysak said. (Reporting by Dan Peleschuk, Yuliia Dysa; editing by Ron Popeski and Stephen Coates) By David Shepardson and Joseph White (Reuters) -The United Auto Workers (UAW) said Monday that 64% of workers at the Detroit Three automakers voted to ratify new record contracts after a six-week targeted strike, as the union turns its attention to organizing foreign-owned and Tesla auto plants. The votes lock in the UAW's tentative agreements with the automakers through April 2028, which include a 25% increase in base wages and will cumulatively raise the top wage by 33%, compounded with estimated cost-of-living adjustments to over $42 an hour. It also cut the number of years needed to get to top pay from eight years to three years, will boost the pay of temporary workers by 150% and make them permanent employees and includes significant retirement improvements. The union on Monday released a new video on social media touting the "UAW Bump," referring to raises workers at non-union automakers have received since the agreements were reached with the Detroit Three. U.S. President Joe Biden appears in the video, which urges non-union workers to join the UAW. The UAW for decades has unsuccessfully sought to organize auto factories operated by foreign automakers. In recent weeks, Hyundai Motor, Toyota Motor and Honda Motor have all announced they would hike U.S. factory wages after the UAW contract. UAW President Shawn Fain was in Washington last week to hold meetings to discuss the union's organizing strategy and is expected to outline more details in the weeks to come. "Now, we take our strike muscle and our fighting spirit to the rest of the industries we represent, and to millions of non-union workers ready to stand up and fight for a better way of life," Fain said Monday. President Joe Biden, who has backed the UAW efforts to unionize other carmakers, hailed union ratification Monday. "The UAW is fighting hard to ensure that all auto jobs are good, middle-class jobs and I stand with them in that fight," Biden said. Fain told Reuters last week that the UAW was getting expressions of interest in organizing from many Tesla workers. Workers at Tesla, Toyota, Honda, and others are not the enemy - theyre the UAW members of the future. Votes in favor of the agreement from workers at some parts and components operations who stand to get substantial raises as they move to higher pay classifications outweighed votes against the contract from some veteran workers. Automakers, looking to trim costs as they make the shift to electric vehicles, face higher hourly labor costs. Ford has estimated the new contract will add $850 to $900 in labor costs per vehicle. Ford CEO Jim Farley said the company is on track to reach full production schedules for assembly plants impacted during the strike. "The reality is that this labor agreement added significant cost, and we are going to have to work very hard on productivity and efficiency to become more competitive," Farley said. About 55% of votes cast by General Motors members were in favor of the new deal, while about 69% of Ford members and 68% of worker at Chrylser parent Stellantis who voted supported the agreement. GM CEO Mary Barra said the deal "protects the future of the business and allows us to continue to provide good jobs in communities across the U.S." GM manufacturing chief Gerald Johnson said "we will work aggressive schedules for the good of our customers." Stellantis Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart said the company will now "focus our full attention on executing" its 2030 strategic plan that includes launching eight new electric vehicles in 2024. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Shivansh Tiwary; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Sriraj Kalluvila, Jonathan Oatis and Aurora Ellis) By Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth KYIV (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin announced $100 million in new military aid to Ukraine during an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, pledging long-term American support amid growing concerns about the sustainability of vital U.S. assistance. Austin announced the aid package after a day of meetings with Ukrainian officials, with the latest tranche including arms such as anti-tank weapons, air-defence interceptors and an additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Austin, accompanied by the top U.S. general in Europe, was photographed smiling and shaking hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. It marked Austin's first visit to Kyiv since April 2022. "The message that I bring you today, Mr. President, is that the United States of America is with you. We will remain with you for the long haul," Austin told Zelenskiy after an overnight train ride into Ukraine from Poland. Zelenskiy told Austin that his visit was "a very important signal" for Ukraine. "We count on your support," Zelenskiy told Austin. The United States has provided more than $44 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. "I think they are prepared for combat in the winter," Austin told reporters after his meetings. "They did a great job last year. This year we expect them to be, just based on what... President Zelenskiy has said, them to be even more aggressive," Austin added. The trip comes amid increasing division over aid for Ukraine in the U.S. Congress, with a U.S. presidential election coming in November 2024. Some American lawmakers are prioritising aid to Israel even as U.S. defence officials stress that Washington can support both allies simultaneously. In a statement on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appealed for lawmakers to approve more aid. "It is critical for Congress to take action to support Ukraine by passing the Presidents supplemental funding request," Blinken said. "Helping Ukraine defend itself ... helps prevent larger conflict in the region and deters future aggression, which makes us all safer." Privately, some top Ukrainian officials have voiced concern that deliveries of military aid may become less frequent, reflecting broader unease over the levels of support needed to sustain the war against Russia. Ukraine's budget for next year has a deficit of more than $40 billion which needs to be filled. STOP-GAP SPENDING BILL President Joe Biden had asked Congress to approve more money for Ukraine last month. Its omission from a stop-gap spending bill passed by lawmakers last week raised concerns that funding for Ukraine might never be appropriated, especially after the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a bill including assistance for Israel but not Ukraine. A vocal bloc of Republicans oppose sending more aid to Ukraine. Opponents of the aid have said U.S. taxpayer money should be spent at home, but a majority of Republicans and Democrats in Congress still support aid to Zelenskiy's government. A joint Ukraine-U.S. military industry conference in Washington, due to take place on Dec. 6 and 7, is intended to boost Ukraine's domestic arms production as the war drags towards the two-year mark. Russia now controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine. The West sent in military equipment and Ukraine mounted a counteroffensive push this year to retake occupied land, but it has not made a big breakthrough. (Reporting by Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth in Kyiv and Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham, Bernadette Baum, Alex Richardson and Cynthia Osterman) President Joe Biden's approval rating is at an all time low as the war in Israel and Gaza and foreign policy weigh on the minds of voters a year out from the 2024 election. Criticism of Biden's foreign policy decisions and handling of the war in Israel comes after the United States hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco last week. HALEY CALL TO 'VERIFY EVERYBODY' REVIVES OLD DEBATES OVER ANONYMOUS SPEECH An NBC News poll released Sunday put Biden's approval rating at 40% as of Nov. 1. That's down from 46% on Jan. 1, and it's a point lower than his previous low of 41% in March of 2022. The new poll comes as the president faces challenges in the Middle East and receives criticism at home for calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator after meeting with him on the sidelines of the summit in California last week. Biden's highly-anticipated meeting with the Chinese leader resulted in the restarting of military-to-military communication between the countries. The two leaders also discussed curbing the spread of fentanyl. The seemingly-fruitful meeting was overshadowed by Biden's comment afterward regarding Xi. "He's a dictator in the sense that he's a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that's based on a form of government totally different than ours," Biden told reporters. Another prominent focus of the Biden administration has been the war in Israel. The situation overseas has captured the interest of the American public. People are advocating a range of reactions to the situation by leaders in the U.S., and tensions regarding the situation are high. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Biden has largely expressed support for Israel while appearing to try and toe a diplomatic line. He has emphasized Israel's right to defend itself after the Oct. 7 attack by U.S.-designated terror group Hamas militants, and he has shown some concern for the safety of civilians living in Gaza. The attack on Israel resulted in about 1,400 deaths and the capture of hundreds of people. In the ensuing war, Palestinian health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave have put the death count in Gaza at 11,470, according to the Associated Press. U.S. officials have cast doubt on that figure. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER The NBC News poll included another possibly-perturbing number for Biden on Sunday. It had Biden trailing Trump in a hypothetical 2024 match up. Though Trump's lead was within the poll's margin of error, Trump led Biden 46% to 44% among registered voters. Original Location: Biden approval rating hits new low amid foreign policy challenges: Poll Washington Examiner Videos House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to send prayers to former President Jimmy Carter and his family after the passing of his wife, Rosalynn Carter, on Sunday. Rosalynn Carter passed away at the age of 96 on Sunday, and an outpouring of support flooded the internet over the course of the evening. Speaker Johnson was among those expressing their condolences. POWERHOUSE FOOTBALL COLLEGES RACK UP MILLIONS IN BUYOUTS FOR FIRED HEAD COACHES "Kelly and I are saddened to hear of the passing of First Lady Rosalynn Carter," Johnson began the post. "She and President Carter were an outstanding example of love and devotion to one another, and to others through their years of public service and extraordinary charitable works. President Carter and the Carter family are in our prayers today." Former President Jimmy Carter remains in hospice care, according to USA Today. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER The former first couple's love for each other was one of the major talking points Sunday evening after the news of her passing. "Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished," Jimmy Carter said. "She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me." Original Location: Speaker Johnson commends Rosalynn Carter: Outstanding example of love and devotion' Washington Examiner Videos The View hosts spent President Joe Biden's 81st birthday expressing concern over his 2024 reelection chances and how some demographics could choose not to vote for him. The hosts' discussion, less than a year away from the 2024 presidential election, comes after Vice President Kamala Harris said that she and Biden were "going to have to earn our reelect." The two voting demographics the hosts were concerned about were younger voters and black voters. Co-host Sunny Hostin said the likely Democratic nominee would not be able to win the election without the black vote. TRUMP AND SMITH LAWYERS TO FIGHT OVER GAG ORDER IN MONDAY'S ORAL ARGUMENTS "I do wonder, because voting rights are still under attack, because of student loan debt, because of the HBCU gap in tuition, the lack of funding, because of no police reform or real police reform, whether or not black voters are going to support this president," Hostin said. "I hope they will. They must because the other option the alternative is the alternative from hell." The hosts also were concerned about whether younger voters will vote for Biden. Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin noted that many younger voters are not happy with Biden's support for Israel in its war against Hamas and some possibly are disappointed that they did not receive student loan forgiveness. Co-host Sara Haines agreed, saying she was shocked by younger voters' reaction to Biden's support of Israel. "One thing I'm shocked at is that this young vote in regard to what's going on in the Middle East has so supremely I don't know if it will affect where they vote or if they vote, but there's a certain ignorance, and it might be just inherent to lack of experience, that they would risk getting Donald Trump," Haines said. "If they don't like what President Biden has done in the Middle East, wait for it, young people, wait for it, 'cause Donald Trump is not going to be the right person for the job." Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER The subject of winning over the younger voters in the United States is one that both parties are facing. In a rematch between Biden and Trump, the expected 2024 Republican presidential nominee, the former president is winning more support from voters between the ages of 18 and 34. Trump polled at 46% with voters from this age group, while Biden earned 42%, according to a new poll. Another problem the Biden administration faces is the economy. Recent polling data showed that 59% of voters under the age of 30 rate the state of the economy as "poor." Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday that she believes "it's our job" to explain to voters what Biden has done to address this subject. Original Location: The View is worried young people and minorities won't vote for Biden as Trump gains support Washington Examiner Videos Former President Donald Trump's counsel asked a judge in Georgia to contact a separate judge presiding over his federal criminal case in Washington, D.C., to arrange for the sharing of evidence that will "make clear his innocence" in the Fulton County racketeering case. Attorney Steve Sadow, who is representing Trump after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis levied 13 charges against him in a sweeping racketeering indictment, wants Willis to contact special counsel Jack Smith to see if any discovery materials in his case against the former president are relevant to the Georgia indictment. TRUMP AND SMITH LAWYERS TO FIGHT OVER GAG ORDER IN MONDAY'S ORAL ARGUMENTS "President Trump is seeking fair and reasonable means to protect his right to due process of law under the U.S. and Georgia Constitutions," Sadow told the Washington Examiner in a statement. "We are confident that securing access to relevant discovery contained in the files of the Special Counsel's Office in D.C. will further support President Trump's defense and make clear his innocence in the Fulton County case." Sadow clarified in a three-page filing sent to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee that "Trump is not currently seeking access to the actual D.C. discovery material," rather, he is seeking "a practicable way to determine if any discovery material disclosed in the D.C. case is arguably relevant to our case." For example, Sadow asked whether there's any information within discovery documents in Smith's case "relating to witnesses the DA's office may call at trial or bearing on factual issues raised by the charges in the indictment likely to be in dispute at trial." The case brought by Smith levies four federal felony charges against Trump, asserting he sought and conspired to overturn the 2020 election results against him nationally. The case in Georgia is narrower in scope and accuses Trump and more than a dozen others of working as a criminal enterprise to subvert the election results in Fulton County. Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases. Sadows's motion included a Nov. 7 email he sent to two of Trump's other attorneys, John Lauro and Todd Blanche, who are on his defense team in the federal case, seeking their help in sharing the materials. Lauro responded three days later, saying that Sadow's request may not be fulfilled because the information he requested might be covered under a protective order issued by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the federal case. "As such, we are not able to share information designated by the federal prosecutors as 'sensitive,'" he wrote. "Unfortunately, we believe that the information you have requested may be covered by the order and therefore we cannot share it with you." Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Sadow also asked McAfee on Monday to add the matter to an already-scheduled Dec. 1 hearing on motions by Trump and his co-defendants, as they are also seeking to dismiss the underlying Fulton County charges. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Trump's counsel made their latest filing in Georgia just days after Willis proposed the racketeering trial begin Aug. 5, three months before the November 2024 presidential election. Sadow quickly filed an opposing motion in response to Willis last week, demanding that McAfee hold oral arguments over the proposed timeline. Read Sadow's filing below: Original Location: Trump's team requests file-sharing between Jack Smith and Fani Willis over election cases Washington Examiner Videos With Thanksgiving just around the corner, President Joe Biden will partake in a time-honored White House tradition: the annual turkey pardon. HALEY CALL TO 'VERIFY EVERYBODY' REVIVES OLD DEBATES OVER ANONYMOUS SPEECH The president will spend part of his 81st birthday pardoning two turkeys named Liberty and Bell, who made the dayslong trip from Minnesota. The pair made their Washington, D.C., red-carpet debut Sunday afternoon at the Willard Hotel. After the event, Liberty and Bell will return to their home state to be cared for by the University of Minnesota's College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resources Sciences. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER The event is set for the South Lawn this year and will start at 11:15 ET. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Original Location: WATCH LIVE: Biden pardons turkeys Liberty and Bell in Thanksgiving tradition Washington Examiner Videos A pair of turkeys scheduled to be pardoned by the president this Thanksgiving week had their names revealed on Sunday: Liberty and Bell. The two turkeys, from Willmar, Minnesota, were given their names by Willmar Public Schools students. Each student was given a coloring sheet featuring the two turkeys and was asked to write two names on the sheet. The students were told the coloring sheets would be given to President Joe Biden, Willmar Public Schools substitute teacher Brooke Dahl told the Washington Examiner. POWERHOUSE FOOTBALL COLLEGES RACK UP MILLIONS IN BUYOUTS FOR FIRED HEAD COACHES "President Biden then went through them and he was able to select the names of the turkeys," Dahl said. "Each kid was able to pick two names to put on their coloring sheets. So, it was really fun." Two turkeys, named Liberty and Bell, who will attend the annual presidential pardon at the White House ahead of Thanksgiving, enjoy their hotel room, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Jacquelyn Martin/AP Dahl also said that some of the students named the turkeys after their siblings, some after their pets, and some after the president himself naming one turkey Joe and the other Biden. Two turkeys, named Liberty and Bell, who will attend the annual presidential pardon at the White House ahead of Thanksgiving, attend a news conference, Sunday Nov. 19, 2023, at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Jacquelyn Martin/AP Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. The turkeys are set to be pardoned by Biden on Monday, as is an annual tradition by the White House ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER On Sunday, Biden and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, visited the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia to serve an early Thanksgiving dinner to servicemen and servicewomen. During a speech made at his appearance, Biden thanked the servicemen and servicewomen, along with their families. He said the military members were the "1%" who protect "the 99% of us," according to the Associated Press. The president and first lady will celebrate Thanksgiving this year on Nantucket, an island in the state of Massachusetts. Original Location: Who are the turkeys set to be pardoned by Biden this week? Washington Examiner Videos Dick Wadhams is a former Colorado Republican state chairman who worked for U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong for nine years before managing campaigns for U.S. Sens. Hank Brown and Wayne Allard, and Gov. Bill Owens. A Jefferson County judge correctly found no racial discrimination was behind prosecutors' dismissal of two apparently Hispanic jurors, the state's second-highest court ruled on Thursday, even though some of the prosecution's reasons did not match with reality and the judge seemed largely concerned about the "long day" in justifying the women's removal. Reps. Ron Weinberg, R-Loveland, in rose colored glasses, is joined by Democratic Reps. Alex Valdez of Denver and Stephanie Vigil of Colorado Springs to announce to the Senate that the House is ready for business. Gov. Jared Polis convened a special session to tackle soaring property taxes. The session started on Nov. 18 and lasted four days.. Tell me more. That simple phrase can spur a productive conversation between two people on opposite sides of a difficult subject, according to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, left, and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who sat down with President Amy Parsons for a forum on politics and civil discourse last week at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. It was part of the Disagree Better initiative of the National Governors Association. Colorado Politics and CSU sponsored the event. One year after an armed assailant unleashed a hail of bullets inside Club Q, killing five people and injuring 17 others, more than 200 people gathered outside the building to commemorate the lives lost and support the scores of people who still bear scars, physical and emotional, from the attack on what was considered an LGBTQ+ safe space. Raymond Green Vance, 22, Daniel Aston, 28, Ashley Paugh, 35, Derrick Rump, 38, and Kelly Loving, 40, were killed in the attack. Several state and city leaders, including Gov. Jared Polis, Sen. John Hickenlooper, former Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers and current Mayor Yemi Mobolade, were on hand for the memorial ceremony. This past year has been a roller coaster of emotions, said Club Q owner Matthew Haynes. But the support from the city has been amazing. Even as time has gone on, that support has been there. Amanda Pogue, an employee at the El Paso County Courthouse, showed up more than two hours early to help with the setup for the memorial. Pogue was at work Thursday morning when a deadly shooting took place just outside the courthouse, and was huddled on the floor with other employees after the shots were fired. That made it especially important for me to be here today, she said. Thomas James, the Navy petty officer who helped subdue and disarm the Club Q shooter, showed up to lay flowers at the memorial space outside the club, but declined when asked to speak publicly. Ive lived a quiet, private life and will continue to do so, said James, who was wounded in the attack. But I thought it was important to come here and pay my respects to the victims, their families, and the survivors. Among the events speakers were Jeff and Sabrina Aston, Daniels parents. The LGBTQ+ family are now our family, Sabrina said. The power of love conquers hate. Lets all be thankful for the love and support we have received this past year. Michael Anderson, vice president of club operations and a survivor of the shooting, said the memorial was a reminder of how far we have come, and how far we still have to go. What once served as a refuge to the LGBTQ community for two decades had its legacy cut short one year ago because one evil person decided to rewrite history with weaponized, radicalized hatred, Anderson said. Mobolade, who praised former mayor Suthers for his leadership in the aftermath of the deadly shooting, said the city would continue to rally around its LGBTQ+ community. Colorado Springs has come a long way, but we acknowledge that we still have work to do, the mayor said. To our LGBTQ+ community, please know that I see you, and I stand shoulder to shoulder with you, not just today, but every day. The atmosphere was more festive at Indvstry Video Bar, which hosted Club Q family members, friends and supporters for a Kinship Memorial that included food and live music. We were asked how much it would cost. But its for a memorial, so we didnt charge to host it, said Jae Cho, Indvstrys co-owner. My brother Jonathan and I are charity-driven. When it comes to police, firefighters, breast cancer, the LGBTQIA community we want to do whatever we can to help. Tiffany Loving, Kellys sister, seemed drained by the events of the day. Its been a really emotional day, Loving said. But its important to honor the people who died that night, and the people who are still suffering. Tears were mixed with laughter as people embraced, shared stories and tried to celebrate the lives of the Club Q casualties rather than mourn their deaths. Ron Bell, Greens grandfather, remembers him as a gentle giant who greeted life with a smile. He wasnt perfect. He was young, and he made some of the mistakes young people make, Green said. But he was putting his life together, moving in the right direction and then this happened. In October, officials announced that the club would reopen in leased space inside the Satellite Hotel. Haynes said the new club to be called The Q would be a quiet, lounge-style venue that would serve as a stopgap until we are able to bring Club Q back. Haynes added that a permanent memorial will be erected near the North Academy Boulevard location. As long as Im alive, there will be a memorial here, he said. There will be a permanent tribute to what happened, and we can never forget. Republican presidential candidates shared personal stories about their faith, their opposition to abortion and their support of Israel at the Family Leaders Presidential Thanksgiving Forum in Des Moines Friday, hoping to win evangelical Iowans support in the 2024 Iowa caucuses. Three candidates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, participated in the roundtable discussion. Only two other candidates who were invited did not appear: U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, who dropped out of the race Sunday, and former President Donald Trump. The former president, who holds a significant lead over his Republican rivals, has skipped the majority of cattle call events in Iowa as well as the Republican National Committees presidential debates where he would appear alongside other candidates. Instead, he typically holds his own, separate events, and this Saturday he plans to hold a rally in Fort Dodge. Family Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats, who moderated the forum, asked candidates to avoid attacking other candidates during the discussion but did bring up the derogatory nicknames and bashing that the presidential hopefuls have faced, referencing Trumps terms for his opponents like DeSanctimonious for DeSantis and Bird Brain for Haley. Theyve called me names and Im not running for anything, Vander Plaats said. As the 2024 nominating cycle draws near, Republicans looking for an alternative to Trump are looking for the field to consolidate with conservatives rallying behind a single candidate. In the most recent Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, DeSantis and Haley tied with 16% of likely Republican caucusgoers listing them as their first choice in the Jan. 15, 2024 caucuses. Some prominent Iowa Republicans are weighing in, hoping to help a viable rival to Trump emerge from the field. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds endorsed DeSantis earlier this month, while Haley won an impromptu endorsement from Marlys Popma, a former Iowa GOP executive director and former president of Iowa Right to Life, at another Friday event. One prominent Iowa conservative has not weighed in on the race Vander Plaats. The Family Leader president has endorsed the eventual winners of the Iowa Republican caucuses in multiple recent cycles, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016 and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008. Though he has not backed a specific candidate ahead of the 2024 caucuses, the Evangelical leader has called for Republicans to move on from Trump. In a letter to supporters and donors, a pollster with Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC backing Trump, said Vander Plaats would have no significant impact on the Iowa caucuses even if he were to endorse DeSantis. Though Vander Plaats largely avoided criticizing Trump directly, he asked the candidates what they would do to restore civility and advocate for Christian values in office aspects many Trump critics say the former president does not embody. DeSantis said that he weathers attacks from Trump and other critics by putting on the full armor of God. Thats what you need to do to stand strong and to do whats right, he said. And when you do that, none of this stuff ends up being effective. Its only effective if we stoop to that level. You know, you dont see me indulging in that. As presidential hopefuls addressed the crowd of 800 at the Marriott Des Moines Downtown, they spoke about their own personal relationship to religion, as well as the ways they brought religious values into politics. DeSantis told the crowd that Democrats want to replace traditional religions with leftist ideology and are opposed to religious freedom pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission lawsuit, in which a cake stores owner, citing his Christian beliefs, refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. They will say, Go to church, yeah, have your fun on Sunday for that one hour but dont you dare bring that into public life,' he said. Dont actually live your life and live your faith. That they will not abide by that. And if theres ever a conflict between you living your faith and practicing your faith and their agenda, they expect you to bend the knee. That is not religious freedom as our founding fathers understood it. Vander Plaats also asked Ramaswamy, who practices Hinduism, to explain how his faith aligns with evangelical Iowans. Ramaswamy said that many of his values and beliefs are the same as those of the Christian Iowans he has met pointing to values like believing in one God, supporting the sanctity of marriage, opposing premarital sex and adultery, not lying or stealing. Would I be a president who promotes Christianity across this country? Ramaswamy said. I cant, for a number of reasons: Im not Christian, I dont think thats actually what we should want the U.S. president exactly doing, either. Thats a job for pastors and leaders. We need to carry that out. But will I stand for those fair values, for those shared values? Will I promote them in the example that we set, revive them in the next generation of Americans? Youre darn right I will. All three of the candidates also brought in their personal relationship to faith, as well as their familys stories, when talking about their commitment to opposing legalized abortions. The candidates and their spouses each had difficulties in having children: Haley described her and her husbands troubles conceiving, and DeSantis spoke of his wife, Casey, experiencing a miscarriage, and the impact it had on them. Ramaswamys son joined him on stage as he described his wife Apoorva going through one miscarriage, and believing she experienced another miscarriage following complications. I get the call, shes crying, Im getting ready to console her, Ramaswamy said. She said, they found a heartbeat. And thats a life, right, thats this guy right here. While all three candidates described themselves as pro-life, Vander Plaats asked Haley to better explain her position as expressed during debates on abortion policy. The South Carolina Republican said she did not believe that Republicans would realistically be able to pass a federal abortion ban. Instead, she said that Republicans need to focus on on supporting mothers, advocating for adoption services and banning late-term abortions. The party, she said, must also address the fears of women and those opposed to abortion bans by enacting laws that prevent women who get abortions from facing imprisonment or the death sentence. She said the issue of abortion has been made more contentious by both political parties, arguing that Democrats employ fear and Republicans judgment on the topic of abortion. Those approaches, she said, will not allow either party to reach the consensus needed to pass legislation. When youre dealing with something this personal, lets deal with this with respect instead of division, Haley said. When you deal with it with respect and make it personal, youre going to bring more people to you instead of pushing people away. Im trying to bring more people to us, to have the conversation of, How do we save as many babies as possible and support as many moms as possible?' The candidates also all pledged to support Israel in its war against Hamas, calling for the U.S. to continue sending aid as needed to the Middle Eastern ally. All denounced Democrats and international organizations like the United Nations for criticism of Israels actions in Gaza, where more than 12,000 Palestinians have died since the initial attack by Hamas Oct. 7. Everyone runs to Israel when she gets hit, Haley said. But youve got to support her when she hits back too. DeSantis said his support for Israel is not just because of its place as a key ally to the U.S. in the Middle East, but because of its religious significance in Christianity. He talked about traveling to Israel with his family and seeing holy sites referenced in the Bible, and said that would not be possible if Israel was not in control of those sites. Israel is the caretaker of history, he said. Our entire civilization, western civilization, was birthed in the holy land, DeSantis said. We are based on the Judeo-Christian tradition. You would not have the United States of America if you did not have the thousands of years of history that is represented in the Bible. Though the roundtable discussion focused largely on religious issues, there was a dispute about whether the event was too similar to a debate earlier in November. The RNC sent letters to Republican presidential candidates saying that those participating in the event would be disqualified from taking part in future Republican presidential debates. This past Saturday, Vander Plaats posted on social media that he and the RNC reached an agreement on the format of the forum, and that participating candidates would not be barred from future GOP debates the first of which is scheduled for Dec. 6 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Forum is NOT a debate, he wrote. Thus, the RNC is giving a thumbs up for candidates to participate. Thanks to the RNC for facilitating a win/win for the process. One of the forums attendees, Christina Van Gorp of Spencer, said she enjoyed the event because of how it differed from traditional debates. The candidates presented a united front as a Republican Party instead of fighting amongst themselves, she said, adding that she was happy to learn more about the moral core values they would bring to the presidency. Van Gorp said that while she liked what Trump accomplished as president, she said she was looking at other candidates such as DeSantis, who she said may be able to accomplish more in two terms on issues of religious freedom. Faith is a huge part of our decision, and we like to see the candidates that have a strong faith base, and see that they all have a foundation on that, Van Gorp said. Seeing them all quote the Bible so fluently this really was a good motivator for us, and very refreshing. ATLANTA Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four-plus decades thereafter as global humanitarians, died Sunday at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a full partnership. Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to President Carter sometimes referred to her privately as co-president. Rosalynn is my best friend ... the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life, Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981. Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Rosalynn Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-the-scenes influence. When her role in a highly publicized Cabinet shakeup became known, she was forced to declare publicly, I am not running the government. Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husbands they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanor and a soft Southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her the Steel Magnolia. Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carters landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington. Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights. She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit American wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics. Throughout her husband's political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media didn't cover those efforts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticized reporters for writing only about "sexy subjects." As honorary chairwoman of the President's Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying, "We've been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach." She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husband's campaigns for Georgia governor. I used to come home and say to Jimmy, 'Why are people telling me their problems?' And he said, 'Because you may be the only person they'll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them,' she explained. After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Rosalynn Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, Georgia, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives. "I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles," she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, "First Lady from Plains." But "we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before." After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work. She chaired the center's annual symposium on mental health issues and raised funds for efforts to aid the mentally ill and homeless. She also wrote "Helping Yourself Help Others," about the challenges of caring for elderly or ailing relatives, and a sequel, "Helping Someone With Mental Illness." Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. "I get tired," she said of her travels. "But something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and there's no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing it's so wonderful." In 2015, Jimmy Carters doctors discovered four small tumors on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she didn't know what she was going to do. I depend on him when I have questions, when I'm writing speeches, anything, I consult with him, she said. Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived U.S. president. Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived of the nation's first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at age 97. Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927, the eldest of four children. Her father died when she was young, so she took on much of the responsibility of caring for her siblings when her mother went to work part time. She also contributed to the family income by working after school in a beauty parlor. "We were very poor and worked hard," she once said, but she kept up her studies, graduating from high school as class valedictorian. She soon fell in love with the brother of one of her best friends. Jimmy and Rosalynn had known each other all their lives it was Jimmy's mother, nurse Lillian Carter, who delivered baby Rosalynn but he left for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, when she was still in high school. After a blind date, Jimmy told his mother: "That's the girl I want to marry." They wed in 1946, shortly after his graduation from Annapolis and Rosalynn's graduation from Georgia Southwestern College. Photos: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter through the years Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1966 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1970 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1971 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1978 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1978 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1979 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1979 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1980 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1980 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1984 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1985 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1988 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1995 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2004 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2007 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2007 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2008 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2010 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2011 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2014 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2015 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2015 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2017 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2018 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2018 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2019 Book a free profile evaluation call now! Meet our Panel of Consultants. ripudaman89 wrote: Hey guys! Needed your help in my profile evaluation. Work ex: approx 8.5 years(Energy and Utilities) Non IT Profile GPA: 3.2/4.0 Undergrad: University of Miami (Finance/Accounting) GMAT:670 V35/Q47 My question is: how hard is it going to be for me to get into the January intake for HEC Paris MBA ? Many thanks in advance Posted from my mobile device Janet Phillips couldnt get the smile off her face when she found out shed be in the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. The music professor and band director at Averett University was screaming and jumping up and down when she got the confirmation email at home. It was like surreal, she said Thursday night at an interview prior to band class at Averett. Because who gets to march in the Macys parade, especially if youre not a high school or college student? This weeks trip to New York City actually started because she was in the 2022 Tournament of Roses Parade. Thats when Phillips was selected to be part of 289 band directors from across the nation courtesy of the Michael D. Sewell Memorial Foundation. The goal of the nonprofit is to promote and raise awareness for music education. After seeing the band directors in the 2022 New Years Day parade, Macys reached out to the foundation to bring the marchers to the streets of New York City. Those who participated in the 2022 Tournament of Roses Parade were automatically eligible for the Macys one. Although technically already accepted, it wasnt until she got the confirmation email that her emotions started to flow. She was ecstatic. Oh my God, Im going, Im going, Im going, I cant believe it, she recalled yelling as she read the email. Its a tradition for her to watch the New York City parade, one that she called the most famous in the world. I have watched both of these parades my entire life, probably Macys even longer than the Rose parade, honestly, she told the Register & Bee in her office Thursday evening. I really have watched it for as long as I can remember being in existence. On the wall in her office near the band practicing room is a framed photo from the Rose parade with all of the participants, something she often glanced at with a wide smile during the interview. I dont really have words to explain what it means to actually get to do that, she said when asked how the Macys parade compares to the previous one. Im sure Ill be welled up, pride and tears mixed when we start. What the journey will be like Phillips was all set to leave Sunday evening on her journey to New York City. The first rehearsal was at 7 p.m. the same night. After finishing at 10 p.m., she had to be up for a 5:30 a.m. breakfast Monday. Most of her time will be spent rehearsing with the 400-plus other band directors. Ive had my music memorized since July or early August, she said, before demonstrating the march in her office. Not only does she have to commit the music to memory, but she must be an expert at the eight-to-five method. Simply put, that means marching eight steps for every 5 yards. Otherwise youll be running into people, she said. Shell be playing the piccolo a small flute-like instrument while marching for an hour on the 2.5-mile course. Calling musicians small-muscle athletes, Phillips explained she practices to make sure her sounds are just the way she likes them. Then she fine tunes her technique. Although most of the trip will be dedicated to either preparing or performing, they will have one afternoon of free time. She has two friends from the Rose parade the entire group still stays in touch who have tickets to see Aladdin. Also, the foundation is taking the group to see the Radio City Rockettes. While we are there we are going to do something else thats really special, she said, explaining that the group will play the National Anthem at a wreath-laying ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. We got special permission from the city, they said nobody gets to do this, but were special, we get to, she said with yet another wide smile. It was hard for Phillips to hide her excitement while explaining whats going to happen on the trip. When the big day comes, she wont have much rest. She has to rise at midnight. And heres the wild thing, she said before detailing the final prep. I never knew this. The group will rehearse in Herald Square at about 2 a.m. Thanksgiving Day. So we wont really go to bed that night, she said. Itll be more like a nap. Theyll be the second band in the parade and the fourth entry near the start of the parade. Behind them will be Snoopy, the iconic dog belonging to Charlie Brown. And I always read my Peanuts, so Im excited about that, Phillips said. How she got her musical start Phillips had music in her blood since she was only 6 years old. Thats when she started taking piano lessons. Born and raised in Danville, she continued her musical adventure in school, and in the fifth grade she played the flute. By the time she reached the eighth grade, she knew it was her calling. She wanted to make a difference with others through the musical arts. She said Danville Public Schools had great music educators while she was going there. For a while she was a stay-at-home mom juggling about five part-time jobs, most surrounding teaching music in some fashion. Someone told her that Averett University President Tiffany Franks appreciated music and wanted to start a band. At age 42, I went back to school to get my masters and doctorate, she said of making the drive to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She did the two-hour trek back and forth for five years. And it was great, she explained. I had so many amazing opportunities there. For example, she traveled to Europe twice. When she finished her studies in 2015, she was hired full-time at Averett. Her band class started with just three children. As a new program the university previously only had choral and keyboard she had to build it from scratch. By the end of the second semester, she had grown to 14 students. Being a small school, its not always easy to get enough students involved to have a full instrumentation, she explained. Thats why she expanded the offering to community members to give them a place to play. Of the 40 members, its a split mix of Averett students and local residents. Basically, the students are there to get graded. The other adults do it as an extracurricular activity. Not all of our students are music majors, she explained. Thats the beautiful thing about this. Anyone who plays and instrument can be a part of it. There are a lot of majors represented in the band. Lots of people used to play and they give it up because of their sport, which drives me insane, she said, exerting her passion for band. Because music, you can go your entire life, she said. Youre not gonna like break your knee or whatever kind of injury and never be able to play again. Also, people age out of sports, but band pardon the pun can keep marching on. Thats just one of many reasons why I think band is better, she said with a laugh. In the next five years, shed like to see at least 40 students in the Averett band. By the next decade, she wants a marching band. Not with me in charge of it necessarily, she said. Why it was never a dream Phillips loves the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade and never misses it each year. However, she never had a dream to be part of it. That was mainly because she didnt think it was possible. I mean, once you finish high school or college, unless you join a drum corps, there is no opportunity to do that, she said of marching in a band. Now Ive joked for years that there ought to be an old-fart marching band, she said with yet another broad smile. Thats the cool thing, she said. The entire band is made up of band directors from all of the nation, Canada and Mexico. On a recent Zoom meeting, the band leaders were told they are the faces of musical education. Thats humbling, she said turning her smile and laughs into a soft voice. Who am I? Im nobody. Yet, she gets to be there with others who share the same passion and support the field of music education. She wasnt sure last week where shell be marching in the pack, but when she finds out shell post on social media. In 2022, people wanted to know exactly where to look. Last time I had my face in the whole TV screen for three seconds, she said. I didnt know it until after it, of course. The last time she went to New York City was with the George Washington High School band. Band takes you places, Phillips said. Last month, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against Lynchburg-based Consolidated Shoe Co., where former employee Ashley Noonan alleged that her employer engaged in sex-based wage discrimination and retaliation. Noonan worked as a graphic designer, and claimed that another male employee, who was a content creator and part-time photographer, was paid more. When Noonan was hired, she asked for $46,000 but eventually agreed to $39,000. The company offered another male employee the role Senior Graphic Designer at $45,000, but he negotiated to $68,000 to align with his current salary at another company. In 2019, a co-worker at Consolidated Shoe found the male employees paystub and shared it with Noonan. According to the case, Noonan was shocked by what she saw [the male employee] made considerably more than she did. Noonan confronted leadership about the discrepancy and alleged sex discrimination and asked for a raise. She was told it was a fireable offense to know about another employees salary. Human Resources later confirmed she could not be fired for knowing another employees salary. The company conducted an investigation on the issue of sex discrimination and concluded there was no wage discrimination because the male employees compensation aligned with his greater job duties, experience and skills. Eventually, Noonan and her male peer were terminated in June 2020 over pandemic-related cuts. The district court dismissed the case, holding that Noonan and the male peer did not perform similar jobs so she could not rely upon him to show a comparator to prove wage discrimination. On appeal, the former employee moved away from citing the male coworker as a comparator and relied on a broader theory that women at Consolidated Shoe were categorically paid less than men. In upholding its dismissal of the case on appeal, the 4th Circuit explained its disapproval of Noonans new theory, citing back-of-the-envelope math. The court wrote that Noonans broader theory means to her that she doesnt need a comparator to create an inference of discrimination because she can prove that Consolidated Shoe would have paid him more than her if he existed. What evidence does Noonan have for this claim? According to her, statistical evidence about Consolidated Shoes pay practices. But what she really has is an email from her boss showing, at most, that based on some back-of-the-envelope math among the four members of Noonans department at work, only the man was paid at an alleged market rate. And none of the women performed a similar job that would permit inferring discrimination from the pay of these four people. The court noted that in general, the most obvious reason for pay disparity is that the employer values one job less than it does another. The court acknowledged that if theres a male comparator who performs a similar job to the plaintiff yet is paid more, then we may infer that sex discrimination is potentially the reason the plaintiff was paid less. So then the burden shifts to the employer to provide a different explanation. In determining comparable jobs, courts look to whether the employees (i) held the same job description, (ii) were subject to the same standards, (iii) were subordinate to the same supervisor, and (iv) had comparable experience, education and other qualifications provided the employer considered these latter factors in making the personnel decision. Remember, the value of a similarly situated comparator comes from the fact that we can assess disparate treatment after eliminating the obvious explanation for the disparity. So where the comparator performs a dissimilar job, no comparative inference of discrimination can be drawn. Under Virginia law and the National Labor Relations Act, employers cannot discipline employees for discussing pay. Employers cannot have a policy prohibiting the discussion of pay. The exception is if individuals in the organization have confidential pay information through their jobs and then they improperly disclose the information. Employers need to be able to explain why people in comparable jobs are paid differently. It could be due to performance, experience, education, certifications or other legitimate reasons. The organization should conduct an annual audit of compensation to make sure that pay is aligned with market data and to eliminate any pay disparity based on any protected characteristic. European Testing Week is taking place from 20 to 27 November 2023, with the aim of encouraging people to get tested as early as possible for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This European week is marking its 10th anniversary this year. The importance of early testing Testing is the most effective way of detecting HIV infection and preventing its transmission, as well as ensuring optimal treatment. The sooner people become aware of their infection, the sooner they can receive appropriate treatment, prevent transmission and improve their health. Today, advances in HIV treatment mean that people living with HIV can live long, healthy lives if they are diagnosed early enough and take their treatment properly. Increase in the number of newly infected people in Luxembourg According to the latest data from the Service national de maladies infectieuses (SNMI), the number of HIV-infected patients being treated for the first time increased considerably in 2022: 164 people were seen for the first time (compared with 105 in 2021), 67 of whom became infected in 2022, while 97 were already infected and being treated in another country. People living with HIV who moved to Luxembourg in 2022 thus represent the majority of new patients being monitored, but there has also been a sharp increase in new infections (67 new cases in 2022 compared with 51 in 2021). This increase mainly affects women, who account for 39% of new infections and 49% of people newly included in 2022. It is important to note that a third of new infections in heterosexuals occur in people over the age of 45, while the majority of male-to-male sex infections occur in people under the age of 36. The sudden increase in the number of HIV infections diagnosed can also be explained by the increase in screening tests and the resumption of people's mobility following the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the reopening of meeting places. Ways of getting tested Today, there are several ways of getting tested for HIV: "Conventional" screening, using a blood sample taken 6 weeks after the last high-risk situation, provides a completely reliable result. Screening using a rapid diagnostic test (TROD) provides a result within minutes of a fingertip blood sample being taken, and can be carried out as early as 12 weeks after the last risk situation. However, you should always consult a healthcare professional to confirm the result of a positive TROD test. The HIV self-test, also known as a TROD, can be obtained without a prescription from a pharmacy or by ordering from HIV Berodung. It allows you to carry out a screening test yourself, at home and, like the classic TROD, can be carried out as early as 12 weeks after the last high-risk situation. It is also strongly recommended that you consult a healthcare professional for interpretation. You can get tested all year round: By rapid tests (TROD, free and anonymous, no prescription required): Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Red Cross HIV Berodung service (94, boulevard General Patton, L-2316 Luxembourg) Thursdays from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm at the Centre LGBTIQ+ CIGALE (16, rue Notre Dame, L-2240 Luxembourg) By blood test (without prescription, free and anonymous): 7/7 and 24/24 at the Centre hospitalier de Luxembourg, Unit 20-infectious diseases (4, rue Barble, L-1210 Luxembourg) Monday to Friday, 7.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. at the National Health Laboratory (1, rue Louis Rech, L-3555 Dudelange) Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Centre hospitalier Emile Mayrisch (rue Emile Mayrisch, L-4240 Esch/Alzette) During European Testing Week, from 20 to 27 November, the public will be able to take advantage of a range of testing options in various locations: By rapid tests (TROD, free and anonymous, no prescription required): Friday 24 November from 9 to 11 p.m. at Letz Boys Bar (60, Grand-Rue, L-1660 Luxembourg) By blood test (without prescription, free and anonymous): At the Ketterthill, Bionext and Laboratoires reunis laboratories (for the latter, go to the Kirchberg hospital and the Zithaklinik). Press release by the Ministry of Health A Raleigh community bank is taking a decidedly old-school approach as it enters a highly competitive Triad marketplace. Dogwood State Bank, with $1.3 billion in total assets, has seven branches in North Carolina one each in Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greenville, Morehead City, Raleigh, Sanford and Wilmington. There are plans to enter Charleston and Greenville, S.C. as well. Dogwood State's primary focus is commercial banking, serving businesses and their employees. "We are active in the Triad markets now and looking for temporary space shortly," said Greg Heaton, the bank's Triad region president. "We feel there is a void of local decision-making. ... Our most effective strategy is meeting customers where they are while providing them the ability to work with us where we are." Heaton said Dogwood's expansion strategy centers on "always going into a new market people-first, hiring the exact right bankers for what we want to do." Dogwood's entry will be led by Justin Combs in Winston-Salem and Grant Cook in Greensboro, both veterans of the local market. Combs counts on his resume working for Southern Community Financial Corp., NewBridge Bancorp and Community One Bank all of which have been bought by out-of-state regional banks. Cook, meanwhile, is a veteran of BB&T Corp. and Truist Financial Corp. before joining Southern First Bank of Greenville, S.C. Combs and Cook have been hired in the past month, Heaton said. "We take a few months to build up a critical book of business and then usually follow with at least one branch for each new market," Heaton explained. Dogwood is the 21st bank serving the five-county Winston-Salem metro area as well as the 26th serving the three-county Greensboro-High Point metro. What makes the Triad so competitive from a financial services perspective is that two of the four national banks Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. already have a major presence here as well as No. 1 JPMorgan Chase & Co. dipping its toes in Greensboro. There are several super-regional banks (Truist Financial Corp. and PNC Financial Services Group), several growing regional banks (First Citizens Bancshares, Pinnacle Financial Partners and First Horizon Corp.) and a number of community banks. There's also the presence of the nation's second-largest credit union in State Employees' Credit Union. Many of out-of-state banks have struggled to grow North Carolina market share beyond what they spent hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars to acquire in a typical big-splash transaction. Still, CFRA analyst Alexander Yokum said North Carolina is a highly desirable banking market despite so many competitors. In recent months, US Bancorp, TD Bank Group and Fifth Third Bancorp have been aggressively adding branches in the Charlotte and Triangle markets although the three have shown no interest in the Triad to date. Retired UNC-Charlotte finance professor Tony Plath said the soaring economic growth in Charlotte and the Triangle, coupled with steady growth in the Triad, is too good of an opportunity for banks to pass up. Were simply running out of banks here in North Carolina in the mad rush to consolidate these things into bigger, and not-necessarily-better, regional franchises, Plath said. Heaton said Dogwood has invested in providing customers with online and mobile banking services that's on par with larger competitors. "North Carolina has a great history of homegrown banks some local, some statewide that reflect the values of North Carolinians," Heaton said. "We've either worked for those banks or admired those banks. A number of them have gone away since 2012, but there remains a customer base who likes to do business with North Carolina bankers, North Carolina decision-makers." Heaton said that Dogwood management, led by chief executive Steve Jones, has "felt there was a hole in the statewide market created when the large community banks were bought by out-of-state banks." Jones is a former Yadkin Financial Corp. executive. Heaton continued: "They want a banker who is going to be at their site at least once a quarter, checking in on how business is going, what we can do to assist and how their business is affecting their personal and financial life." Heaton stressed that "I'm not trying to criticize other banks, but that's hard to do if you're based somewhere else. We don't go into a market because of geography, but because we feel there is a market out there for us that has been proven out in other markets we've entered." GREENSBORO Gov. Roy Cooper hopped off a train Friday morning to discuss some good news about the states record increases in rail ridership. The N.C. Department of Transportation says that 1.2 million people boarded trains across the state during the 2022-23 fiscal year. And in Greensboro, ridership reached 160,000 passengers. Both figures are 30 percent higher than numbers from the year before. After a 90-minute ride from Union Station in Raleigh to J. Douglas Galyon Depot in Greensboro, Cooper delivered his remarks in the lobby while other passengers streamed in and out. That was my first introduction preceded by a train announcement, Cooper joked after a message told passengers to board the train. On the way over, Cooper said he spoke to two dozen of his fellow passengers, including students who were commuting to N.C. A&T and UNCG. He also said he was excited to meet a family who were taking their three children to see a museum in Greensboro for a birthday celebration. People have found a ride by train as the best way for them to get from one place to the next, Cooper said. You remove that stress from driving. Youre able to read, youre able to work on your laptop. Youre able to have conversations with your family. Cooper added that the state is working to get people out of cars as much as possible and that public transportation is a key way of accomplishing that goal. Joey Hopkins, N.C.s Secretary of the Department of Transportation, said that federal grants could open up the states rail service even more in the future. The move would boost economic development across North Carolina by connecting workers to employers offering high-paying jobs. We have a lot of transportation needs in North Carolina, Hopkins said. While we have a healthy budget for transportation, its not enough to meet those needs. Were very aggressive in going after discretionary grants. Hopkins mentioned applying for federal grants on their S-line rail service, a 95-mile rail corridor that NCDOT calls the missing link in the Southeast Corridor passenger rail. The money could help build inner city rail service between the town of Wake Forest and Raleigh, Hopkins says, opening up untold economic development opportunity. We are constantly striving for federal grants, Cooper added. We dont want to leave a competitive dollar on the table. After his stop in Greensboro, Cooper traveled to Winston-Salem, where he spoke at a meeting of the DRIVE Task Force at Winston-Salem State University. Cooper formed the DRIVE or Developing a Representative and Inclusive Vision for Education Task Force four years ago. Made up of representatives from the UNC System, the N.C. Community College System, parents and educators, the task force looked at ways to increase educators of color in the states K-12 public school system. The state has made progress diversifying its educator workforce but still has a ways to go, Cooper said. We need more great teachers, Cooper said at a meeting of the task force at Winston-Salem State. We also need more teachers who are diverse. We just looked at statistics and data and sometimes thats hard to look at because sometimes it shows us were getting where we want to be. But it is critical that we grade ourselves, that the numbers are there and the numbers are stark, and that gives us something to strive for and can also shame us if were not doing well. Research shows that students benefit when they are taught by a diverse set of teachers, Cooper said. And it especially helps students of color. RALEIGH North Carolina businesses are generous donors of time and money to worthy causes across our state and beyond. Major corporations such as Truist, Duke Energy, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Bank of America give tens of millions of dollars a year to charities through their respective foundations. Many other companies, large and small, aid nonprofits directly with checks, in-kind services or teams of volunteers. More broadly, North Carolina is home to hundreds of grantmaking foundations created by individuals or families whose wealth came from creating and running successful businesses. I serve as president of one of them, the John William Pope Foundation, which awards about $15 million in grants each year. For all the good these philanthropic activities do, their significance pales in comparison to the core social benefit of private businesses. Its not about charity. Nor is it about the employees companies hire and train or the retirees whose pensions are funded by company earnings, though these are large and worthy sets of beneficiaries. No, the primary means by which companies do good is by providing valuable goods and services to consumers. In the search for heroes, we enshrine political leaders or military commanders or TV cops or movie action heroes or the glorious protagonists of our mythical and legendary past, I wrote in my first book, The Heroic Enterprise: Business and the Common Good. But those who create the amenities we enjoy and the innovations that make our lives safer, healthier, and happier exist, with very few exceptions, in relative obscurity. In that book, published in 1996, I offered hundreds of examples of profit-seeking entrepreneurs and companies revolutionizing the way we live, eat, travel, study, work, play and shop. It is through invention and innovation, I argued, that business makes its most significant social contribution. What I wish Id had back then is the kind of empirical evidence to be found in a recent study by scholars at Stanford University, New York University, the International Monetary Fund and the University of California at Berkeley. Released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the paper sought to quantify the value of four kinds of social impact: consumer surplus, worker surplus, profits and externalities. To explain their results, I must first define their terms. Consumer surplus consists of the value customers place on the goods and services they consume minus what they have to give up to obtain them. When I purchase a cheeseburger for four dollars, that doesnt mean the burger is worth four dollars. Its worth more than four dollars to me, in fact. For those who staff, supply, or own the restaurant, the burger is worth less than four dollars, which is why theyre willing to part with it at that price. All parties to the transaction are made better off. Similarly, worker surplus represents the net value to employees of being employed at a particular firm. Profits are returns to owners or shareholders. And externalities represent the effects of a companys operations on other groups of people, such as neighbors forced to breathe toxic fumes (a negative externality) or communities made better off when at-risk youths find gainful employment (a positive one). After quantifying these effects as best they could, the researchers found that for most companies, consumer surplus is by far the largest social impact, dwarfing profits, worker surplus, and externalities. Another key finding here is that the much-politicized practice of evaluating businesses according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria has been misguided. Company-level scores from several prominent ESG rating systems are essentially unrelated to our estimates of corporate social impact, they concluded. I couldnt have said it better myself. has announced the establishment of the Heart Institute during the inauguration of the , which took place in November at ITC Grand Chola. Padmashree Dr. K. M Cherian unveiled the Institute, highlighting its unwavering commitment to advancing and promoting awareness in cardiac sciences. The Kauvery Heart Institute aims to establish new standards in world-class healthcare delivery.The Kauvery International Cardiology Conclave of 2023 was a distinguished event that showcased groundbreaking developments in the field of cardiac care. The two-day event featured renowned speakers, cutting-edge research presentations, and discussions on the latest advancements in cardiac care. Over 250 delegates attended the conference and their response was overwhelmingly positive, reflecting the pivotal role of the conclave in fostering collaboration and disseminating crucial knowledge to improve healthcare outcomes. The conclave was marked by its distinguished setting and impactful discourse which made it a memorable experience for everyone involved.Eminent national speakers from India and around the world shared their diverse perspectives and expertise during the event, enriching the knowledge of attendees. The topics discussed included Coronary Artery Disease, Structural Heart Disease , PCI and cardiogenic Shock, Cardiac Electrophysiology, and Heart and Lung Transplant. This comprehensive coverage helped attendees gain a better understanding of the latest developments in the field.Kauvery Hospital during the conclave, honored Dr. A R Raghuram for his exemplary contribution to the field of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Dr. Mullasari Ajit S for his exemplary contribution to the field of Interventional Cardiology, Dr. Raghavan Subramaniyam for his exemplary contribution in the field of Paediatric Cardiology & Dr. T R Muralidharan for his exemplary contribution in the field of Interventional Cardiology and Electrophysiology.In commemorating the successful finale of the 'Kauvery International Cardiology Conclave 2023,' Dr. Aravindan Selvaraj, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Kauvery Group of Hospitals, said, "This International Conclave will enable the clinical talent to collaborate with international Doctors by embracing and leveraging the strengths of international colleagues to create an environment that benefits better clinical outcomes for our patients. Kauvery Hospital has been at the forefront of performing many first-its-kind in the country and high-end cardiac surgeries like Complex Coronary Angioplasty, Impella, Hybrid Bypass Surgeries and heart Transplants. Kauvery Heart Institute comprises internationally trained cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, technicians and Anesthetists to provide comprehensive care". BIG STONE GAP, Va. A $200,000 grant from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) Coalfield Workforce Development and Training Fund to be used for workforce development and training at Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) was closed recently between VCEDA and the colleges foundation. The funds will be used for scholarships, tuition, training instructional costs, retraining costs and customized workforce training for area businesses as well as for assessment costs of administering National Career Readiness Certificate testing for residents of the VCEDA region, according to a written statement. Through the years, VCEDA has provided workforce development and training funding assistance several times to the MECC Foundation, as well as to the Southwest Virginia Community College Educational Foundation. Since an initial $500,000 VCEDA grant to the MECC Foundation in 2018, about 930 students at MECC have completed 927 certifications and training courses to meet the workforce needs in the region. In total, more than $1 million in grants have been approved by VCEDA to the MECC Foundation, including more than $200,000 approved from the VCEDA Renewable Energy Fund in support of renewable energy training in the area. Employers in the region who have benefited from this supported training include Sykes/Frontier, England Furniture, Scott County Telephone Cooperative, VFP, Komatsu, Ballad Health and many more, said VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher. These employers have created hundreds of jobs in the Southwest Virginia region, building long-term, sustainable employment that will help renew the economy of the coalfield region. The funding being approved now will continue to support future training and certification needs to meet the ongoing demand for skilled, trained workers in high-need industries such as manufacturing, technology and health care sectors, Belcher said. MECC anticipates training 500 or more students in 2024-2025, with existing industries expanding their employment and several new businesses expected to locate in the region. As in the prior grant, MECC indicated this project is being pursued to proactively stem population loss by helping displaced workers pursue a new, high-paid career option that will allow them to stay in the Southwest Virginia community while simultaneously attracting additional talent to the area, Belcher added. MECCs Workforce Training Grant through VCEDA removes financial barriers for students who are paying out of pocket for tuition and certifications expenses, said Amy Greear, vice president of institutional advancement and executive director of the MECC Foundation. This grant will directly impact students by assisting them in earning meaningful nationally recognized credentials, further building Southwest Virginias workforce of trained, skilled employees. The Volunteers of Wythe County Community Hospital recently donated $21,401 to the Womens Center to remodel the existing nurses station. The remodel of our nurses station complements the patient experience, Lisa Johnston, director of womens services, said in a written statement. Its the first thing patients and family members see when they enter the department and we are so happy with the more modern look and feel as well as the convenient layout for our nurses and physicians. We are so pleased to be able to help with the renovation of this service line, says Betty Gallimore, president of the Wythe County Community Auxiliary. Through our fundraising efforts we strived to always enhance the health care offerings available in our community. Prior to COVID-19, auxiliary members served the local hospital in many capacities, including greeting guests and patients, operating the hospital gift shop and holding various events to raise money to support the hospital. The auxiliary program started shortly after the hospital was dedicated in 1972, said Gallimore. But after COVID we decided to close the program. We want to express our sincere appreciation for the many years of volunteer service that this group gave to our hospital and to the communities we serve, said Vicki Parks, CEO of Wythe County Community Hospital. They were the face of the hospital for many years, and we appreciate all their efforts and support of our services. The JAVA Blend Coffee Shop now occupies the original gift shop area. Interview: Xi's proposal for another "golden 30 years" crucial to Asia-Pacific, says Cambodian expert Xinhua) 08:11, November 20, 2023 A journalist walks past a poster at the APEC 2023 International Media Center in San Francisco, the United States, on Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Rui) Securing another "golden 30 years" for the Asia-Pacific "will create a peaceful, prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable region where all countries work together to build a better future for all," a Cambodian expert has said. PHNOM PENH, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's proposal to work together for another "golden 30 years" of the Asia-Pacific is crucial in the current global context, a Cambodian expert has said. Xi's proposal demonstrates "China's unwavering commitment to deepening cooperation in various fields with all countries to achieve high-quality development in the Asia-Pacific region and win-win results," said Kin Phea, director general of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia, when asked to comment on Xi's speech at the 30th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. Securing another "golden 30 years" for the Asia-Pacific "will create a peaceful, prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable region where all countries work together to build a better future for all," Phea said. The benefits of building a golden future for the Asia-Pacific include increased economic growth, job creation, and improved living standards, he added. This aerial photo taken on Sept. 30, 2023 shows a high-speed electrical multiple unit (EMU) train of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway running in Purwakarta, Indonesia. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) Regardless of their size or power, all countries are equal partners and have a voice in shaping the region's future, although the region now faces such challenges as global economic slowdown, rising geopolitical tensions, climate change, inequality, and poverty, said Phea. "To address these challenges, we need to promote free trade and investment, strengthen regional cooperation, support sustainable development, and promote peace and mutual understanding," he said. Moreover, regional cooperation on counterterrorism, disaster preparedness and climate change can build trust and understanding, create a more stable situation, protect the environment, and reduce conflicts, said the expert. This photo taken on Nov. 17, 2023 shows the China-aided Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua) Referring to China's vital role in global development, Phea said that China has worked closely with all like-minded international communities in maintaining and restoring confidence in multilateralism and globalization. "China always shares the fruit of its peaceful development with the rest of the world through global initiatives such as the Global Development Initiative, the Belt and Road Initiative and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, among others, towards building a global community with a shared future for mankind," Phea noted. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Wu Chaolan) Abingdon lost a large barn on the east side of the historic Southwest Virginia town on Saturday afternoon around 4 p.m. Crews from the Abingdon Fire Department battled the barns blazes at the two-story, green-and-white, scenic structure on Saturday afternoon. Abingdon Fire Department responded and was assisted by the Meadowview Fire Department. Abingdon FD units were on scene in approximately three minutes from the time of dispatch, said Town Manager Mike Cochran. The barn had been under renovation, Cochran said. The structure burned down, just off U.S. Highway 11 near the Abingdon Cinemall and Christ the King Catholic Church. High winds contributed to the rapid spread of the fire within the barn structure such that it was completely engulfed by fire when the fire department arrived on scene. There were no injuries relating to the fire, Cochran said. The Abingdon FD and Meadowview FD were on-scene for about five hours before the scene was rendered safe, according to Cochran. Origin and causation are still under investigation, Cochran said. The barn had stood near Acklin, or Ackland, a prominent brick home built in 1859 by Abingdon merchant James C. Greenway. The historic home was not damaged. The Greenways sold the property in 1884. During the Civil War, Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan used Acklin as a headquarters in 1864. Later owners of the home included Wilton Egerton Mingea, a developer of the Virginia-Carolina Railway, which ultimately became what is now the Virginia Creeper Trail connecting Abingdon, Virginia, to Ashe County, North Carolina. VALE Hart Square Foundation will welcome visitors to Christmas in the Village on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3. Experience the magic of the holiday season as it would have been in the early 1800s as you stroll through the nations largest collection of historic log structures by lantern light. This event will showcase traditional arts, trades, and yuletide pioneer traditions. Guests will be invited inside cabins from the 18th and 19th centuries to interact with historical interpreters and observe artists demonstrating popular yuletide traditions of Early America. See everything from candle making to wreath making and stocking sewing. Services will be taking place throughout the event in Hart Squares historic Chapel of Peace for those who wish to experience singing traditional Christmas hymns. You will also enjoy samples of Brunswick stew, vegetable stew, apple cider, fire-roasted chestnuts, and cookies. Rebecca Hart, executive director, says, This event began with our founders, Dr. Bob and Mrs. Becky Hart inviting 50 of their closest friends to worship in the historic chapel and has grown into a living history event with pioneer Christmas traditions, music, and dancing. Christmas in the Village is a great way to share the yuletide traditions of our early American ancestors with guests from all over the Southeast. Tickets are available at the Hart Square Village website for this immersive historical holiday experience. Hart Square Village is an open-air museum located in Vale, North Carolina, consisting of over 100 historic log structures built between 1760 and 1893. Hart Square Foundation is the nonprofit organization tasked with instilling a pioneering spirit in the next generation through preserving and sharing the history and culture housed at Hart Square Village. Consumers are being warned to watch out for scam websites impersonating high-profile Australian retailers when shopping online this Black Friday, Cyber Monday sale weekend on 24 to 27 November. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued the warning, noting that the National Anti-Scam Centre - a virtual centre that sits within the ACCC - has detected a concerning increase in the number of reports of fake websites that look like genuine online retail stores belonging to many big-name, high street brands. The ACCC says that so far this year, there have been 2,760 reports of fake online stores, resulting in losses of more than half a million dollars - and in total, online shopping scams cost Australians over $6.2 million, between 1 January and 30 September, 2023. The consumer warning comes ahead of the Black Friday, Cyber Monday sales weekend, during which shoppers are tipped to spend a reported $6.36 billion. . Scammers are opportunistic criminals who will try to take advantage of people doing their Christmas shopping online during the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday period, ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said. We have seen an alarming increase in reports of fake online shopping website scams, which use the latest technology to look like genuine, well-known Australian fashion and footwear labels. A recent, disturbing development is that scammers are paying for their fake websites to appear at the top of your internet search. This means you cant necessarily trust the first listing you see. As an alternative, consumers may wish to familiarise themselves with the site addresses of their favourite brands and navigate there directly or scroll down the search results to ensure they find the real site Consumers should also be aware that scammers are using social media platforms to set up bogus stores and to advertise their fake websites. The National Anti-Scam Centre has been working with retailers to disrupt scam activity. It has also published advice for businesses impacted by scammers impersonating them. As scammers have been primarily targeting fashion and shoe retail brands, we have focused our disruption efforts on this space, helping retailers remove a number of fake websites, Lowe said. We commend those retailers who have taken proactive steps to warn their customers about scam websites impersonating their brands. Scams Awareness Week The ACCC says the fake retail website scam is just one type of impersonation scam the National Anti-Scam Centre is warning about this Scams Awareness Week (27 November 1 December 2023), In 2023, impersonation scams accounted for more than 70% of the 234,672 reports to Scamwatch. There are many types of impersonation scams, spanning everything from text messages impersonating banks to job advertisements impersonating high-profile recruitment agencies and companies. The top three most reported impersonation scams were road toll scams (19,141 reports), Australian Government impersonation scams (17,770 reports) and Hi Mum family impersonation scams (9,307 reports). The impersonation scams with the highest losses were imposter bond scams ($35 million lost), business email compromise scams ($14 million lost) and bank impersonation scams ($11 million lost), the ACCC states. Impersonation scams have robbed Australians of $92 million this year, Lowe said. Thats why, during Scams Awareness Week, we are encouraging consumers to ask themselves if they really know who they are communicating with, whether it be online or by text, phone or email. Could you be speaking with a scammer? If you are shopping online, search for independent reviews to check if its real and never pay by direct bank deposit, money transfers or digital currencies such as Bitcoin. You should pay by PayPal or credit card. You may want to keep a second credit card with a low credit limit just for online shopping, Lowe concluded. The ACCC says further information and resources on Scams Awareness Week are available here . How fake retail website scams work Scammers use the latest technology to set up fake retail websites that look like genuine online retail stores. They may use sophisticated designs and layouts, possibly stolen logos, and even a .com.au domain name and stolen Australian Business Number (ABN). Many of these websites offer luxury items such as popular brands of clothing, jewellery and electronics at very low prices. Sometimes you will receive the item you paid for but they will be fake, other times you will receive nothing at all. Scammers also set up fake online stores on social media platforms. They open the store for a short time, often selling fake branded clothing or jewellery. After making a number of sales, the stores disappear. They also use social media to advertise their fake website, so do not trust a site just because you have seen it advertised or shared on social media. The best way to detect a fake trader or social media online shopping scam is to search for independent reviews before purchasing. Protect yourself Watch out for websites or sellers advertising at very low prices, often lower than comparable to identical items on other websites. Slow down and consider whether a sale is too good to be true. You can report sponsored adds to Google in My Ad Centre. This can be accessed by clicking on the three stacked dots to the right of the sponsored ad. Always access websites via an independent search rather than through links in emails, SMS or social media. Use apps from official app stores where available. Learn how to shop online securely visit: https://www.cyber.gov.au/protect-yourself/staying-secure-online/shopping-and-banking-online/online-shopping Use secure devices, avoid public wifi and ensure that you set up multi factor authentication. Use secure devices, avoid public wifi and ensure that you set up multi factor authentication. Never pay by direct bank deposit, money transfers or digital currencies such as Bitcoin as you wont be able to get your money back. You should pay be PayPal or credit card. You may want to keep a second credit card with a low credit limit just for online shopping. Top tips for avoiding scams STOP Dont feel pressured to act on a deal that is only offered for a short time. Scammers will try to make you feel like you have to act quickly. Dont rush to act. Take your time to consider if the sale item is real. THINK Ask yourself could the website or sale item be fake? Scammers are impersonating trusted brands. Search for independent reviews or contact the retailer using contact information you source independently, so you can verify the deal is real. PROTECT Act quickly if something feels wrong. Contact your bank immediately if you have lost money to a scammer. Seek help from UIDCARE and report to Scamwatch. Telecommunications equipment company Motorola Solutions will proudly ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange as it coincides with a new brand narrative launch called Solving for safer, which highlights the company's sharpened focus on solving for safer communities, schools, and businesses. The opening bell refers to the moment a securities exchange opens for its normal daily trading session. The most famous opening bell is the one used by the New York Stock Exchange to signal the start of trading. From our storied history, today we bridge to an even stronger future. Everyone is entitled to feel safe in their community, school and workplace, but that often isnt the reality, said Motorola Solutions chairman and CEO Greg Brown. How Motorola Solutions is helping keep people, property and places safe is far more comprehensive than ever. While we recognise technology is not the only way to a safer future, it does play a vital role, and its our purpose to make that technology the best it can be. Motorola said it has invested about US$12 billion in organic research and development and acquisitions over the past nine years to create a technology portfolio spanning mission-critical communications, video security and access control and command centre solutions powered by artificial intelligence. These solutions bridge collaboration between public safety agencies and enterprises. For example, a schoolteacher can press a panic button on a phone during an emergency which can automatically notify law enforcement, trigger a lockdown, share live video feeds with first responders and send mass notifications. Motorola Solutions transformation focusing on public safety and enterprise security has led to a sizable increase in its total addressable market which is expected to be US$66 billion next year. Motorolas growth in video security, access control, command centre and services now accounts for approximately 50% of company revenue, the company said. This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 17 November 2023. GUEST OPINION It may be time to migrate file shares to SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams, and security is a major reason. The Azure Cloud has proved to be the better cybersecurity option compared to on-premises servers. Now, with the October end-of-support date, Microsoft is no longer making updates to Windows 2012 servers. That means no security patches and no support options. SharePoint Server 2019 is also moving from mainstream to extended support in just a few months. File shares are centralised files hosted on a network server or network drive, or shared files and disks on local computers. These files are referred to in many organizations as a Z drive. If an organisation still has file shares, employees are probably very familiar with how to access and use them. That doesnt mean the situation is ideal. It just means theyre used to it, like the extra nudge we have to give a door that always sticks. Its important to remember that moving files isnt just about moving files. For anyone adopting Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive, or expanding Microsoft 365 deployment within an organisation, it is essential to make sure users are ready for a big change in how they access and share documents. So lets plan for a smooth conversion and migration. Beware of the benefits-only approach to platform conversion. Management can talk and talk about easier file access, more productivity and seamless collaboration, but teams can lose trust if they dont acknowledge the potential pain of making a big change. Any major conversion or adoption needs to include careful planning on the front end and empathetic communication throughout. A smooth migration also helps reassure employees that their files are safe and accounted for. My companys solution makes it easy to plan and execute any size file migration and includes features to customize a project to the needs of the organization. Its easy for internal IT teams to learn and use, but also a top choice of MSPs and consultants who use it to deliver successful migrations for their clients. Preparation is key. A file share migration will go most smoothly with careful planning. Make a plan for what goes where. This starts with a rigorous review of how files are currently stored. Files that belong to a single user, even if they plan to share them with others, should be mapped to their personal OneDrive. A file or folder intended for team collaboration should move to a shared library where team members have access to it by default. After thoroughly examining the existing file landscape, IT may determine that its necessary to do some cleanup before moving forward with a migration. Taking this step not only makes the migration run more smoothly, but it can also save on storage costs and help end-users increase their productivity. Depending on the size and structure of the organisation, this cleanup phase may involve putting together a team of representatives from each department tasked with making decisions about file structure. Preparation also includes setting up the target Azure environment. An understanding of the current file share landscape will help to estimate Azure storage needs and costs. This is the information need required to purchase an Azure subscription and create an account. Theres one more step before migration, preparing the destination environment. This involves pre-provisioning users in Microsoft 365, setting the permissions that will be used for the migration, and creating a destination site or subsite and document library within SharePoint. Once all the prep work has been done, its time to migrate. Our solution is not just a full-featured, flexible and secure migration tools, the people behind it are committed to clients success. Whether an organisation is doing its first migration or migrating file shares for the first time, their team can access learning materials and migration guides that will navigate through every step. My companys comprehensive migration planning and strategy guide will help. It includes links to knowledge base articles, FAQs and other resources that will answer questions. Users can also access free tutorial videos on a wide range of migration topics, including OneDrive to SharePoint Migration Setup. The steps to completing a file share migration are easy to learn: create a document project, add items, verify credentials, then either migrate all at once or in stages. There are a few more steps to take post-migration to maintain a secure environment. These include removing access to source file shares, decommissioning the file server, and deleting Azure blog containers created during the upload. All of this is detailed in documentation and educational materials. User engagement is an important part of any major migration, especially one that involves a new platform or new work processes. A migration plan should include start-to-finish communications that inform users about what to expect, the benefits of the change, and who to contact for help. More detailed communications should go to key stakeholders, and this can include stats on the success of the migration from the solution console. Users who are unfamiliar with OneDrive or SharePoint can plan to provide training to help them become more confident and productive post-migration. This is another time to engage department representatives. They can act as ambassadors to help troubleshoot any concerns about seemingly misplaced files or permission changes. Moving file shares to the cloud may be inevitable, but it should be done with careful consideration and the very best tools. My companys solution documents migration and will get files to the right destinations quickly and securely. GUEST OPINION: In a post-cookie and privacy conscious world, data clean rooms are one of the most discussed solutions within the ad-tech and mar-tech ecosystems. Legislation such as the EUs GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and imminent changes to Australias Privacy Act, increasingly restrict how personal identifying information (PII) can be collected and shared. Therefore, creating a secure environment where data from different sources can be activated without revealing PII is highly appealing. When the media reports on another large enterprise leveraging the technology - most recently TikTok which is trailing a new ad-targeting tool, PrivacyGo, that offers better data protection and has been described as operating like a "data clean room" - my phone invariably starts to ring. No one wants to cede competitive advantage and miss the new technological boat. However, before even beginning a conversation with a potential new partner, I take them two steps back to make sure they can answer two simple questions. Firstly, What is a Data Clean Room to you? Then secondly, What are you trying to build?. This is because without a clear why as to what they intend to use the technology for (as well as clarity on what they believe a Data Clean Room to be), a business will have an uphill battle to climb. Data Clean Rooms vs Data Collaboration Platforms Addressing the first question, there is a lot of confusion in market around this relatively new technology. One of the problems is the actual definition of a data clean room. As a terminology, its often used to describe a product, when in fact its only a feature. Its like calling a car a "motor" (and explains why TikToks trial of PrivacyGo has been described as being like a Data Clean Room). A more accurate term for this technology is a Data Collaboration Platform (DCP). Its a much broader and more descriptive solution that enables multiple parties to collaborate with data. This can include, processing, matching, analysing, visualising and activating data. Its also important to be aware that not all Data Collaboration Platforms (aka data clean rooms) are the same. Some solutions that describe themselves as data clean rooms dont even provide basic privacy-by-design functionality, such as differential privacy protections and decentralised data processing. To help the industry reach a common understanding of these differences, the IAB Australia Data Council has published an excellent Data Collaboration Platforms Explainer. Broadly speaking, there are two different types of clean rooms: Centralised clean rooms, such as a data warehouse or a data onboarding solution, allow for collaboration on analytics and data science processes between organisations. But theyre generally very complex to use, are not specifically designed for marketing, and may not provide adequate control or clear ownership of data, which could compromise the privacy of customers. Decentralised multiparty clean rooms are the truest version of a data clean room. As they are decentralised, all data processing takes place where the data is located, so there is no need for the data itself to move. Instead, a mathematical model of the individuals in each data set is generated, which is anonymised so no PII is compromised. These solutions, while providing greater control and protection, are actually built for ease of use and speed to accelerate adoption rather than slowing it. Only the second of these options offers the full feature set and functionality to cover all the desired use cases of a Data Collaboration Platform. Do you need a Data Collaboration Platform? A Data Collaboration Platform (DCP) is all about building something new. Yes, it can replace aged-out technology of the past (e.g., cookie-based technology), but its true value is in unlocking the next generation of advertising productsperformance products that enable new insights, planning, targeting and measurement while prioritising user privacy and maintaining control over sensitive data. Success will only come with a clear and innovative strategic vision. Indeed, the businesses that have been most successful in implementing this new technology, and so have enjoyed the maximum value from their investment, have built innovative new advertising solutions with a data collaboration platform at the core of their strategy. Take, for example, U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, which set up its BRANDM4TCH platform. BRANDM4TCH enables advertisers to match their first-party data with the 24 million registered viewers on Channel 4s streaming service and create custom audiences, leading to campaigns that have measurably increased awareness and consideration. Each brand retains full control of its data, and customer privacy is fully respected. While Channel 4 was an early adopter of the DCR, its the strategic path it has taken that has driven its successnot the technology itself. It was aware of the challenges surrounding TV advertisingin particular, the lack of transparency and availability of data and came up with a new solution to create a valuable new revenue stream. Based on this success, Channel 4 has gone on to launch a second data-matching solution, RET4IL, capitalising on the growth of retail media. The way forward in 2023 In addition to a clear business objective, there are also two things you need to keep front and center when considering a Data Collaboration Platform. You should be thinking about the futurewill your Data Collaboration Platform be fit for purpose in five or ten years time? As the number of data sets available grows, your technology capabilities need to be able to scale up while still providing speedy, actionable insights. However, the most important consideration is to prioritise privacy. Compliance with international and Australian privacy laws and legislation is obviously essential, but its the bond of trust you have with your customers that really matters. Its my view that we should think about privacy like we think about ESG. What's the best I can do, not what's the minimum I can get away with. When you can comfortably answer these questions and considerations and have a crystal-clear purpose then its the right time to select your Data Collaboration Platform that is truly fit for purpose. GUEST RESEARCH: In August, Barracuda published its fifth annual review of reported ransomware incidents around the world, which showed how ransomware attacks hitting healthcare organisations had more than doubled since 2022. This finding was based on publicly reported incidents and is in line with other studies based on both reported and unreported incidents. However, if you look at healthcare in the context of other industry sectors, a more complex picture emerges. In many cases, healthcare suffers fewer major cyber incidents than other industries but the attacks make headlines because of the risk and sensitivity of clinical activity and patient data. And in some cases because the impact, while limited, is severe. Healthcare is an enduring target for cyberattack In March, a ransomware attack on one of Barcelona s main hospitals crippled the centres computer system and forced the cancellation of non-urgent operations and patient checkups. The attackers spent the next few months posting allegedly stolen data online after the hospital refused to pay the ransom. A few months later, in August, a cyberattack against Prospect Medical Holdings in the US disrupted hospital computer systems across the nation, forcing emergency rooms in several states to close and ambulances to be diverted. Understanding and addressing the cyber risks facing healthcare organisations is critical. A good place to start is with email-based risk. Email remains a primary attack vector with a high rate of success that is a common entry point for many other cyberattacks. And in a post-pandemic world, where the move towards digital healthcare and connected data is accelerating, broadening the attack surface for threat actors to target, healthcare organisations are more exposed than ever. Forty-five percent of healthcare organisations said they felt a lot more secure in 2022 although 77% suffered an email security breach Recent international research undertaken among mid-sized organisations found that, during 2022, 77% of respondents from the healthcare sector had experienced an email security breach. The all-industry figure was 75%. Despite this, respondents from healthcare organisations were bullish about their ability to withstand a cybersecurity incident with 45% saying they felt a lot more secure than last year, compared to 34% across all industries. This may have more to do with practices, policies, and awareness than investment, as only 10% said they invested more in cybersecurity in 2022, the second lowest figure overall. The healthcare industry has greater confidence than many other sectors in its ability to tackle email-based threats Barracuda has identified 13 email threat types, from basic phishing and malicious links or attachments, to sophisticated social engineering techniques such as business email compromise (BEC), conversation hijacking, and account takeover. Healthcare organisations are less likely than many other industries to say they feel underprepared to deal with these kinds of email-borne threats. Healthcare organisations struggle most with recovery costs after an email security incident Just under half (44%) of the healthcare organisations surveyed cited recovery costs when asked about the impact of a successful email security attacks compared to 31% overall with the average cost of the most expensive attack approaching one million dollars (US$975,000). Healthcare budgets are often overstretched, and the combination of limited resources, complex and often critical technology systems, plus the pressure to get everything up and running again as soon as possible are likely to be contributory factors to recovery costs being the most listed impact. The loss of sensitive, confidential, or business-critical data was, however, lower than average 29% compared to 43% overall. This could be because after so many years of being a cyberattack target, healthcare organisations now face exceptionally stringent policies for the sharing, storing, and backup of medical data and other Protected Health Information (PHI). 60% were hit by ransomware making healthcare among the least affected industries The survey found that 60% of healthcare organisations surveyed had experienced a ransomware attack the second lowest proportion after consumer services (50%) and below the all industry average of 73%. This figure is reflected in other studies, although public perception might expect the result to be significantly higher. Twenty-nine percent of healthcare organisations reported two or more successful ransomware incidents, compared to an overall figure of 38%. This suggests that attacks are not always completely neutralized or that security gaps are not always identified and addressed after the initial incident. The good news is that more than half (59%) were able to restore encrypted data using backups, compared to 52% overall, and just 22% paid the ransom to recover their data, compared to 34% overall. Spear-phishing attacks have significant impact Just 8% of the healthcare organisations surveyed felt underprepared to face a spear-phishing attack. To some extent this confidence is justified, as only 32% of healthcare respondents were hit with such an attack in 2022, compared to 50% overall. However, for those that were affected, the impact of the attack was often severe. Sixty percent of those affected said that computers or other machines had been infected with malware or viruses, compared to 55% overall, while 60% said that confidential or sensitive data had been stolen, compared to 49% overall. 70% reported stolen login credentials or account takeover, compared to 48% overall, and 40% reported direct monetary loss. It takes healthcare around 3.5 days to detect and remediate an email security incident The research found that it takes healthcare organisations less time than many other sectors to spot an email security incident 29 hours, on average, compared to 43 overall but it was near the middle of the field when it came to responding to and remediating the incident taking 51 hours on average, compared to 56 overall. According to respondents, the biggest obstacles to fast response and mitigation were a lack of automation, cited by 40%, compared to an all industry total of 38%; and a lack of budget, cited by 34%, compared to 28% overall. Securing healthcare Email-based cyberattacks have been around for decades, yet they remain widespread, ever-evolving and persistently successful. Healthcare organisations need to have robust email security in place, with strong authentication controls multifactor authentication at the very least but ideally moving toward Zero Trust measures as well as restricted access rights, automated incident response, and AI-based threat detection and monitoring. All of which should be accompanied by continuous employee education and awareness training so that people know how to spot and report a suspicious message. Ideally, these email defences should form part of an integrated security platform that provides the IT team with full visibility of the entire IT environment and the ability to detect, investigate, and respond to incidents or patterns of abnormal behaviour that could indicate unwanted intruders. The survey was conducted for Barracuda by independent research firm Vanson Bourne and questioned IT professionals from frontline to the most senior roles in companies with 100 to 2,500 employees, across a range of industries in the US and EMEA and APAC countries. The sample included 62 healthcare organisations. GET ARGUS' DAILY SMILES TO YOUR INBOX. SIGN UP FOR THE JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. President Biden met with reporters in San Francisco Wednesday to review the details of his four-hour meeting with Chinas President Xi and advisors. I think the meeting was long overdue. After all, Joe Biden has been President of the United States for three years, its about time he met with the owners. President Biden all but anointed Governor Gavin Newsom as his successor at a Thursday press conference praising him for everything hes done to California. Gavins on top of the world now. A homeless encampment fire totally destroyed an Interstate 10 overpass this week, so nobody can escape. Chinas President Xi got a standing ovation from a conference of American CEOs at the APEC Summit. They love the profit margins only slave labor provides. The CEOs retired to the conference theater to watch Gone with the Wind and they ran the movie backwards so it would have a happy ending. Chinas government ripped Joe Biden as absurd and out-of-control for calling Chinas President Xi a dictator Wednesday. It gets crazier. Pro Israelis and Pro Hamas protestors are calling each other Nazis day and night until surviving members of the Hitler family might sue for trademark infringement. Iran warned the Israeli-Hamas war could escalate into a regional war if Israel doesnt declare a cease fire. Israels first object was to flush Hamas leaders out of their headquarters. Israeli troops entered the hospital in Gaza City Thursday and according to reports, they ignored the Quiet Please signs. Ron DeSantis expressed doubts about how supporting the war in Ukraine furthers U.S. interests. A Republican has to really thread the needle in order to get the GOP nomination and still win the fall general election. You must agree with Tucker Carlson without appearing to agree with Tucker Carlson. Dick Cheneys daughter Liz accused the RNC of siding with the Nazis for not ripping Trumps use of the word vermin to describe his adversaries. Her own father conjured the Iraq war under false pretenses. For what its worth, Dick Cheney sounds like something Hillary ought have around Bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson signaled Friday that the GOP House Members are moving toward impeaching Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas. Since he was put in charge of guarding the U.S. border, six million migrants have entered illegally. It appears that the honor system isnt working. The Wall Street Journal poll said three fourths of Americans think Joe Biden is too old to serve a second term. I see his worth. When Joe finishes his prepared remarks and starts wandering and stumbling around onstage while the audience watches horrified, you realize hes the first president who would have made a great silent movie comedian. The Farm Bureau survey says the average family will spend sixty-three dollars on Thanksgiving dinner in 2023. This year Im going to host an old-fashioned Thanksgiving. Im inviting all my neighbors over to my house for a great big feast, and then Im going to kill them and take their land. Fox News released a poll Monday that found Donald Trump leading Joe Biden by four points nationwide and leading Joe in five out of six of the battleground states. This is all setting up a battle royal in 2024. I called my stock broker this morning and he told me to buy canned food and ammunition. The Congressional Budget Office reported the U.S. Treasury Department collected four-and-a-half trillion dollars in federal revenue from income taxes, corporate income taxes, payroll taxes and excise taxes. The process is just exhausting. Even with all the withholding, I still owe $3,500 to Ukraine. NBC Dateline with Lester Holt drew an eighty-four percent viewer approval rating for its deep dive into criminal behavior. The investigators delve into creepy, seedy, lusty and violent crime. Ive seen so many Dateline episodes that every time I turn off the TV, I wipe my fingerprints off the remote. Jimmy Carter reported receiving fourteen thousand letters on his 99th birthday last month. Hes grown in stature over the years for his work for Habitat for Humanity The Carter Presidency itself prompts me to be grateful that generation did all our insane crazy stuff before there were camera phones. President Biden flew to San Francisco Tuesday to meet with Chinas President Xi. For the first time in years, the U.S. economy is much stronger than Chinas, an advantage that Biden cheerfully exploited in their talks. Joe agreed to drop sanctions if Xi will stop slipping those menus under the doors. President Biden reportedly discussed mutual security issues with President Xi in San Francisco this week. There was no mention of the spy balloon that China flew over the U.S. last year. The FBI is still angry at China for the spy balloon over-flight, saying that spying on Americans is covered already. Fox News reports that a house in suburban San Jose was put on sale for a million and a half dollars but a meth lab is still in the house. The seller likely cant afford to clean it up. The homeowners income is pretty much down to whatever the tooth fairy leaves him under the pillow each night. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass drew plaudits after ordering homeless encampments completely cleared in Koreatown and Hollywood Boulevard this past weekend. I try to help out by handing the homeless counterfeit one-hundred-dollar bills. That way they will go to prison and no longer be homeless. The New York Police Department reported that homicides are down thirty percent in New York this fall with a big increase in gun seizures. Even the FBI joined in on the New York crime busting act. Last week, Mayor Adams' cell phone and laptop were seized and it wasnt by someone on the subway. President Biden met with Chinas President Xi in at an economic conference in San Francisco Wednesday. The city was cleaned up and put on its best face for the summit meeting. Homeless people having sex on the sidewalks were admonished by passers-by to get a box. (COMMENT, BELOW) The supply of teenage labor to shovel walks is spotty and you hear horror stories about ice buildup in the attic, water dripping from the ceiling, tons of ice inside the roof because the vapor barrier was put in wrong, and then of course there is the ever-present danger of slipping on a frosty sidewalk and twisting your back as you fall and something cracks and suddenly you are on the waiting list for Cripple Creek Care Center. A friend told me about a squirrel who'd climbed down the chimney to get warm and fell into the old coal furnace and tore around the house in a panic, scattering soot everywhere until they finally chased him out: "I got a .22 and I could've shot him but he was moving pretty fast and anyway the kids were watching and they were cheering for the squirrel." These are true Minnesotans, stalwarts, stoics, not summer soldiers, and the thought of decamping for the Florida swamps or the Arizona desert is for them something like gender transition or conversion to Zen Lutheranism, something to be postponed as long as possible. I talked to Earl, the last friend of mine still farming, who had finished discing up his corn stubble just before the snow fell. "So you're getting set for next spring?" I said. He said, "That's under discussion right now." He's 79, his wife is ready to sell the farm, their kids are long gone to distant places, she'd like to move to Arkansas where the oldest daughter lives with three grandkids. He's Norwegian and I think that if Elaine stopped campaigning for Arkansas he'd come around and be in favor of it. He's tired, his back hurts. But he's lived here almost his entire life, he knows the history of this place going back 150 years. I feel for them. I took the easy way out and absconded to New York to live in a big building with a super and a doorman, which is assisted living under another name. Dripping ceilings, invasive squirrels: the super deals with it. Winter is a rare event in Manhattan, a couple of decent snowfalls and thousands of apartment kids take their plastic saucers to the park and slide, and the next day it all melts. "I got to get a new snow blower," says Earl. "One you can ride on. That driveway keeps getting longer and longer." I ask about Elaine and he tells me the joke about Lena going to the doctor because her hearing is so poor. He looks in her ear and finds a suppository stuck in it. "Well," she says, "I guess that explains what happened to my hearing aid." The doctor asks if she wants him to look and she says, "Let me think about it." These are my people. They know the same jokes I know. I ask again about Elaine and he says, "She's fine," and then he tells about Lena reminding Ole that her birthday is coming up and he says, "I know, what would you like? A diamond ring?" No, she says. "A trip to Mexico? A new car?" "No," she says, and eventually she says, "I want a divorce." He thinks and says, "Well, I wasn't planning on paying that much." Despite damage to the ozone layer, corporate greed, various viruses, AI, the widespread acceptance of dishonesty in public life, my people persist. Other species are dying out, the family farm has been eulogized for years, other nuclear powers threaten to push authoritarianism farther even as America floats in a state of confusion, but I talk to old friends on the phone who are hanging on as best they can. Winter can be brutal: water freezes and expands and then it thaws, you're rising and falling like a boat on the sea, you can hear the house creaking at night. But what can you do? Like Earl said, "A guy's girlfriend called him up, crying, said, 'I've lost my job, been evicted from my apartment, my car got totaled, and I've been diagnosed as bipolar and OCD. I can't go on.' The guy said, 'Let me take you out dancing on Saturday.' "She said, 'I'm killing myself on Saturday.' He said, 'How about Friday then?'" I'm heading for Minnesota in January for three weeks. Solidarity. Drop in for a cup of coffee and talk about winter when we were kids. That's when winter was winter. Don't get me started. (COMMENT, BELOW) Garrison Keillor is an author and radio personality. His latest book is "The Lake Wobegon Virus: A Novel". Buy it at a 33% discount! by clicking here. Sales help fund JWR. SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. The old conventional wisdom was that the United States couldn't be too pro-Israel for fear of inflaming "the Arab street." The new conventional wisdom will have to be that we can't be too pro-Israel for fear of inflaming "the Western street." The Arab street, a hoary cliche of commentary on the Middle East for decades, was a reference to public opinion in the Arab countries, with the strong implication that if we offended it, the result would be massive anti-Western demonstrations and perhaps violence. Well, here we are, with this dynamic playing out throughout the United States and other Western countries. We have offended the new Arab street within our own societies. In response, it has lashed out in mass protests, intimidation of Jews, antisemitic chants and graffiti, property damage and anti-patriotic acts and sentiments. It is hardly the global intifada that speakers at these events call for, but it is significant agitation. Left-of-center political parties will take it seriously, and the Biden administration hesitant to speak of antisemitism without reference to fashionable Islamophobia, as well has already been influenced by it. The Arab street in the West is not literally Arab, although Muslim immigrants and their children, along with foreign students, are clearly a large component. Woke young people who come by their anti-Israel views via intersectional politics, along with traditional left-wing and anti-war activists, play a big role, too. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters including A-list actress shout 'Long live the Intifada!', pass out maps of pro-Israel locations to target in NYC It makes for a noxious mix. The West's Arab street mobilized in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, before Israel even had the chance to mount any substantial response. It inveighed against Israel on principle even after an unspeakable pogrom. Of course, things have only picked up from there. A week or so ago, more than 300,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched in London, chanting for the elimination of Israel. That would be a notable crowd in an Arab capital, but it's especially remarkable in one of the greatest cities in the Western world. In a nice touch that, again, one would expect in a country in the Middle East, the protest march ended at the US Embassy. A couple of days earlier, thousands of protesters shut down midtown Manhattan. They vandalized a police cruiser, writing "IDF KKK" on it, and splattered fake blood on The New York Times building. They kicked and smashed windows at a shut-down Grand Central Terminal. Unlike other mass movements, most famously the civil-rights movement, the protesters don't seek to swath themselves in American symbolism and ideals. Palestinian flags, not American flags, are the banners of these marchers. In Manhattan, they removed American flags from a lamppost. And they've vandalized war memorials in Europe. In some prominent cases, we have directly imported hatred of ourselves via the Middle East. At a large pro-Palestinian rally in Washington, DC, the lawyer and activist Lamis Deek praised martyrdom and resistance and bellowed that "the truth is the Western world is a lie." She comes from Nablus, and her worldview is about what you'd expect of someone from there. At MIT, Israeli and Jewish students say they were blocked from attending class by a pro-Palestinian protest at the school's main entrance. The protest violated the rules, but when the school ordered all protesters to leave the area or face suspension, the contingent of Jewish counter-protesters left, while the pro-Palestinians stayed. Were they suspended? No, apparently because many of them are foreign students. The president of MIT cited "visa issues" in not following through on the discipline. This is perverse. But we can never forget the extent to which we ourselves, through determined inculcation in our own schools, have made students from right here in the United States haters of Israel and the West. Altogether, we've created the conditions for the ongoing cataract of anti-Israel agitation, coupled with outright antisemitism and harassment of Jews, that shows no signs of abating. Why settle for an Arab Street abroad when you can have one here at home? (COMMENT, BELOW) SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. Every U.S. legislator who currently opposes continuing aid to Ukraine should be forced to watch "20 Days in Mariupol," a PBS "Frontline" documentary scheduled to air on Tuesday. Any American confused about why such aid is crucial for America's security should watch it, too. The film is directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press video journalist Mstyslav Chernov; he and an AP colleague were the last two Western journalists left in Mariupol after Russia invaded that port city in February 2022. They barely escaped after 20 days of filming Russia's pulverization of the city, including direct bomb hits on hospitals. As Americans fixate on video of Hamas' butchery of more than 1,000 Israeli civilians and horrific scenes of Gazans dying from Israeli reprisals, it is easy to forget about Ukraine. But this harrowing film makes clear why Russian President Vladimir Putin is far more threatening to global security than Hamas. Directly responsible for slaughtering tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians in Mariupol through indiscriminate bombing, Putin has no scruples about mass murder. He is waiting for Donald Trump's MAGA followers in Congress to abandon Kyiv, along with America's global leadership role. The Party of Putin wing of the GOP plays right into his hands when members insist that money for Israel and the southern border trump helping Ukraine. All are important. But "20 Days in Mariupol" shows why helping Kyiv defeat Putin is more vital than either to U.S. security and that of its allies. Chernov made the incredibly courageous choice to stay in Mariupol even though his work was known to the Russians, who probably would have killed him if he had been caught. "What we didn't expect was that we would be the only ones reporting, so we were exposed," he told me. What he filmed was critical to understanding Russia's intentions for Ukraine, which were to destroy it as a sovereign nation. Keep in mind that Putin's utter destruction of an entire city and the continued targeting of civilians was not preceded by any Ukrainian attack. Russia launched an unprovoked war to gobble up a neighboring country. If the U.S. allows Putin to succeed in Ukraine, it will encourage him to expand his dreams of rebuilding the Russian empire, undermining other European countries, including members of NATO. Down that road lie further wars. Chernov's gripping footage dispels current Kremlin propaganda about how Mariupol welcomed the Russians. He documents how Moscow deliberately bombed hospital after hospital (just as it did during the Syrian civil war to help its client Bashar al-Assad survive). One desperate Ukrainian doctor, having failed to save a 4-year-old child, looks directly into the camera and says, "Show this bastard [Putin] the eyes of this child and all these doctors are crying." He then uses an expletive to describe those killing civilians. In other words, show the work of a cold-blooded Putin who will not hesitate to take global advantage of U.S. weakness and MAGA extremists. Chernov took the famous video of a very pregnant wounded woman being urgently wheeled across the courtyard from the maternity wing of a Mariupol hospital, a scene that Moscow still insists was played by crisis actors. Chernov and AP reporters followed up on her case and found that she subsequently died from a shattered pelvis. Her baby didn't survive, either. Without the video, there would be no concrete way to dispute Russian lies. The AP journalists finally had to escape. They did so the day before Russia bombed the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater, full of women and children seeking safety. "There were no pictures, no witnesses," Chernov told me regretfully, as Moscow still claims Ukrainians destroyed the theater. "This gives you an idea of how important journalists are on the ground." The siege of Mariupol lasted for months after the AP team left the city. "Every day was just like these videos," Chernov told me, as Russia continued to destroy towns and villages. Only 40 minutes of his footage was published by the AP, despite "hundreds of thousands of war crimes in Mariupol," he said. "I knew how important the story was. The world moves on, and the only way to preserve that scale is to do more," Chernov said. "I hope the film gains attention for what has already happened and what is happening now." Which brings us back to Putin's "useful idiots" in the U.S. Congress. Are they so blind that they cannot see the link between Putin's Mideast machinations and his savagery in Ukraine? The Russian leader is receiving Iranian drones to use against Ukraine, and in exchange reportedly helping Tehran with nuclear technology. Moscow has long welcomed Hamas leaders and backed its propaganda in an effort to internationally isolate the U.S. Israel can fight Hamas without more immediate military assistance, and the mess at the U.S. southern border can only be addressed with bipartisan cooperation. But Ukraine's last chance to regain the offensive against Putin is now. Congress must not cave to a global terrorist who threatens America far more than Hamas does. Watch "20 Days in Mariupol" and you will see why. (COMMENT, BELOW) Trudy Rubin Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS) Previously: 11/16/23: Even Tlaib should know better 9/22/23: Russia's kidnapping of Ukrainian children under the spotlight at United Nations 9/22/23: Biden should resolve the blockage of visas for Iraqis and Afghans who helped our troops 9/11/23: Even on vacation, there's no escaping Putin's murderous intentions 08/18/23: With new weapons slow to arrive from NATO allies, Ukraine surprises Putin with sea drones 08/09/23: Lessons from a military funeral in Ukraine 07/28/23: As Russian missiles again rain down on Odesa, Putin sneers at the UN and NATO allies 07/24/23: Putin is playing a game of food blackmail. The West can't let him win 07/19/23: Can Ukraine win the war against Russia? I'm traveling there to find out 07/17/23: From hell to Harvard: One Ukrainian's escape and how you can help fulfill her dreams 07/11/23: At the NATO summit in Vilnius: Will Biden seize or squander the chance to end Putin's war on Ukraine? 04/21/23: The Pentagon documents leak will embolden Putin as he tries to outlast Ukraine 03/22/23: The Russian attack on a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone underlines why we must help Ukraine win 03/15/23: Will the White House have the courage to propel a Ukrainian victory this year? 02/21/23: On the first anniversary of Putin's invasion, Ukraine fights on for its independence and for the security of the West 02/17/23: A former Pakistani leader's death, and his wise peace plan that failed 02/09/23: Earthquakes killed nearly 12,000 people this week. Three men are partly to blame 01/24/23: As Russia murders civilians in Dnipro, why won't NATO send weapons that could end the war? 12/28/22: What Zelensky worried about when he addressed a cheering Congress 12/13/22: The US-China conflict to watch is the Chip War --- which centers on Taiwan 09/14/22: Ukraine scores sudden breakthrough that should energize Western support 09/09/22: Queen Elizabeth's death deprives Britain and the world of a rock of stability 09/08/22: After Gorbachev's death, Putin wants the world to know he is the 'anti-Gorbi' 08/26/22: 6 months after Russia's war vs. Ukraine began, the West still won't give Kiev the weapons to win 08/15/22: Ukraine's civilian volunteers work to give aid and rebuild, even as Russia continues to bomb them 08/08/22: A trip near the front lines finds Ukrainian troops ready for a battle that could decide the war 06/13/22: The critical battles for Ukraine and for America are being fought right here, right now 05/02/22: Save Odesa to save the world from hunger and high food prices 05/02/22: Bloodless Ukrainian War, not utopian fantasy says one-time largest foreign investor in Russia 04/11/22: The only way to end Putin's war crimes 03/28/22: Don't let Putin's nuclear and chemical threats stop us from giving Ukraine what it needs 03/24/22: An elegy for Mariupol, where I walked six weeks ago. Now razed by Russian bombs 03/18/22: Zelensky's brilliant speech should impel Biden and Congress to protect Ukrainian skies 03/11/22: Mariupol's bombed maternity hospital exemplifies why NATO should protect Ukraine's skies 03/10/22: No 'no-fly zone'? Then NATO must find another way to protect Ukraine's skies 03/07/22: The third World War has already started in Ukraine. Europe and the US should wake up 03/04/22:Putin must be stopped from turning Kiev into Aleppo 03/02/22:Why is Belarus helping Russia invade Ukraine? An explainer on the latest in the conflict 02/25/22: What the UN should finally do about Russia 02/24/22: Why Putin's Ukraine aggression will change the world --- an explainer on how we got here 02/10/22: Ukrainian civilians train for war with cardboard guns: 'We are scared but we are ready 01/13/22:Putin wants to reestablish the Russian empire. Can NATO stop him without war? 12/10/21: Can Biden and NATO prevent Putin from invading Ukraine? Summit puts it to the test 12/02/21: Boris Johnson stirs up new Irish Troubles for his own personal political gains 11/22/21: Xi Jinping thinks America is on the rocks. Is he correct? 08/18/21: President Biden, get our Afghan allies on evacuation planes 08/18/21:The horror of Afghan women abandoned by Biden's troop pullout 08/09/21:China is pushing a big COVID-19 lie that makes a new pandemic harder to prevent 05/27/21: Punish Belarus leader for Ryanair hijacking before air piracy becomes dictators' new tool 04/14/21: Can Beethoven temper the political tensions between US and China? 06/01/20: US must stand with Hong Kong against Beijing's efforts to crush its freedoms 05/20/20: COVID-19 offers a chance to halt Iran's hostage diplomacy 05/21/14: Newscycle spurs visit to country my family fled 04/21/14: Blind to Putin's strategy? 12/24/13: Obama's Syrian indifference has led to more death and destruction. Meet some real heroes 12/13/13: Where liberals have come to love the military 12/09/13: The China strategy 11/05/13: Return to Iraq is worth a close look 10/01/13: Obama's call to Iran: Who was really on the line? 09/11/13: How Obama got Syria so wrong 07/24/13: It's time for Obama to tell Putin 'nyet' 05/15/13: What Russia gave Kerry on Syria --- very little Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Insight Palestinians can win the peace once Israel has won the war By Jeff Jacoby Published November 13, 2023 Embed from Getty Images SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. What comes after the war in Gaza? Already there has been much discussion of the postwar arrangements. President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, embracing conventional wisdom with both arms, are pushing for a takeover of Gaza by Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority. Far more realistic, however, is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call for Gaza to be "demilitarized, deradicalized, and rebuilt." Before anything can happen, of course, Israel must win the war. Its immediate goal is to wipe out Hamas as a force in the Gaza Strip, and weeks of intense urban warfare are still to come before that goal is achieved. Hamas gunmen and kidnappers are entrenched in a massive tunnel network a lethal subterranean complex larger than the London Underground. It will take time for Israel to neutralize those terror nests, not least because Hamas embeds its operations amid civilian facilities. For Israel and its allies, there is no ambiguity at this stage about what must be done. As House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries declared on Tuesday, it is vital that Israel "decisively defeat Hamas and make sure that this brutal terrorist regime can never rise again." But then what? Speaking at the G-7 summit in Tokyo this month, Blinken declared that there can be "no reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends" and that there should instead be "governance . . . under the Palestinian Authority." That is a dreadful idea for almost too many reasons to count. To begin with, the Palestinian Authority is thoroughly loathed by ordinary Palestinians, who routinely express their contempt for Abbas and his henchmen. It has been deeply corrupt for as long as it has existed and is notorious for its incompetence. Like the Hamas regime in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority rules its West Bank fiefdom with brutality, torture, and arbitrary arrests. In a report last year, Human Rights Watch concluded that "systematic abuse by the PA and Hamas forms a critical part of the repression of the Palestinian people." The Palestinian Authority has ruled in Gaza, with hideous results. In 2005, when Israel voluntarily withdrew from the territory, dismantling every Jewish community and evacuating the nearly 10,000 Jews who lived in them, it was the Palestinian Authority that took over. A year later, Hamas soundly defeated Abbas's Fatah party in the last free elections ever held in the Palestinian territories. In 2007 Hamas staged a bloody coup against the PA, throwing its supporters to their deaths from the tops of buildings and seizing control of the entire Gaza Strip. Any attempt to reimpose the Palestinian Authority on Gaza is unlikely to produce a better result. It's a fallacy to believe that Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestinian Authority, is a force for moderation or compromise. It is in every significant respect as homicidal as Hamas, with an "armed wing" the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades that has carried out innumerable atrocities and has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, and the European Union. After the Oct. 7 slaughter in southern Israel, Fatah released a video bragging that its killers, too, had taken part in the massacre and showing images of a Fatah terrorist stomping on the head of a murdered Israeli. On the official Palestinian Authority TV channel, a Fatah official cheered the Oct. 7 savagery as "a morning of victory, a morning of joy, a morning of pride." Abbas himself endorsed the butchery as "self-defense" against "Israeli escalation." For 30 years, Fatah and the Palestinian Authority first under Yasser Arafat, then under Abbas have made it clear that they are as hostile to peaceful coexistence with a Jewish state as Hamas is. Again and again, beginning with the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 and culminating in Israel's Gaza withdrawal in 2005, Israel and the West have provided the existing Palestinian leadership with land, political power, money, and recognition in a futile effort to end the conflict. That is the strategy that led to the murderous second intifada in the early 2000s, to the waves of rocket and terror attacks from Gaza since 2005, and to the ghastly bloodbath of Oct. 7. The call by the White House for the Palestinian Authority to return to Gaza is a call for more of the same. Gaza wasn't always a terrorist hellhole. When I first visited the territory in 1977, just a decade after Israel's victory in the Six Day War, Gaza was under Israeli military administration. Neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority existed, and the idea of setting up Arafat as the district's ruler would have been regarded as too preposterous for words. Back then back before the wishful delusions of the "peace process" had taken hold tens of thousands of Palestinians crossed daily into Israel to go to work and Gaza was so safe that Jewish visitors on tour buses could enter without hindrance or fear, strolling around Gaza City, taking pictures, and haggling with souvenir sellers. Gaza then may not have been an Eden. But neither was it ruled by a harsh Palestinian dictatorship rooted in an infamous terrorist organization the Palestine Liberation Organization that deflected attention from its thuggishness and failures by relentlessly promoting a message of genocidal fury against Israel. What Gaza desperately needs is decent Palestinian governance. And the only way to nurture leaders who can provide such governance is from the ground up, by methodically detoxifying Gaza society, overhauling its educational and media networks, and steadily, patiently undoing the culture of hatred in which a generation of young Palestinians has been raised. Israel, encouraged by the international community, made a fateful blunder in 1993 when it agreed that the Palestinians should be ruled by the likes of Arafat, his lieutenant Abbas, and their loyalists. The result, 30 years later, was the worst day of antisemitic killing since the Holocaust. The terrible war that Israel is now engaged in terrible for Palestinians and Israelis alike offers a chance to set Gaza on a new course. A new Israeli administration in the territory, explicitly committed to nourishing a healthy civil society, is the best option for paving a path to effective and peaceful self-rule. Countless Palestinians, chafing under Hamas autocracy in Gaza, have long yearned for a better and freer life. Now there is a chance for them to achieve it. Once Israel has won its war, they and their Palestinian neighbors together can win the peace. Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe, from which this is reprinted with permission." The last color had barely dried on the rainbow house in the Dundee neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, last weekend when owner Ryan Basye started receiving calls and texts. Its been fun, he said. My girls think its the coolest thing ever. Others have agreed, he said, including the people who live in the house near 49th and Davenport Streets. It was converted into apartments decades ago. A tenant called it freaking amazing and beautiful. The building was painted in rainbow colors because thats the palette chosen by his three daughters, who are all under the age of 10. To them its not the symbol it is to other people, he said. They would want to play Barbies or have Care Bears over. But thats not the only reason for the bright hues, a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community. Its also a response to a neighbors disparaging comments when some earlier work was being done at the house. Basye didnt want to repeat what was said. It puts a smile on my face knowing that neighbor has to see it every day, he said. Comments were overwhelmingly positive on a post about the house on the Dundee Memorial Park Neighborhood Association Facebook page, ranging from calling it fantastic to saying it reinforces that the Dundee neighborhood is the best in Omaha. Midtown Omaha is laudable for being progressive, and that means respecting differences and supporting marginalized communities, resident Julien Wulfgar said. Hate absolutely has no place, but you know that in midtown thats more than a slogan. Its a way of life for many of us, she said. Basye, a real estate broker and landlord, owns around 15 properties in the Dundee area. Its important to him that daughters Josephine, Louise and Cecilia know what he does for a living. Josephine, the oldest, often accompanies him on visits to his properties. Their input led to the red exterior of an office building he owns near 64th and Pacific Streets. He also used to own a pink building at the corner of 38th and Dodge Streets. After the office building was painted, his daughters suggested rainbow colors for the next paint job. They picked out the paint with their father. The opportunity came up, and that is what we did, Basye said. They loved it. I like to get them involved in Dads work. Jay Axelrod of Everything Axelrod painted the house, which used to be light green. It now includes perfect strips of black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink and white. Even the gutters match the color scheme. The project was started the first week of October. It took a lot of extra time and effort and energy to get it to come out that good. And money, Basye said. It probably doubled the cost. Basye said the coolest thing about the rainbow house is that its instantly identifiable for guests of the tenants who live there, and its just one more thing hes done to improve the community. There are no other colorful projects on the horizon. I think its unique, he said and it makes me laugh, and it makes me smile. The Triad and Northwest North Carolina will receive at least $61.7 million in specifically dedicated funding from the American Relief Plan Act, primarily for healthcare initiatives. The final earmarks from the Republican 2023-25 state budget compromise were released recently and show $625.5 million dedicated for 2023-24 and $838 million for 2024-25 statewide. Some of those funds could be spent on statewide projects with local ties. In many cases, the list includes whether the funding was provided by the House or Senate. An additional $208.5 million is being held in reserve for fiscal 2025-26. The current legislature has the authority to make commitments, but not to allocate the money. The funds from the Medicaid signing bonus were meant to be incredibly flexible to be used as needed, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said. This is a monumental step forward in assuring people can receive care when and where they need it. The biggest allocation of the 12 local projects is $20 million by the House to the Northern Regional Foundation for Northern Regional Hospital in Mount Airy. The distribution will be $5 million in 2023-24 and $15 million in 2024-25 for either capital investments or equipment. For Forsyth County, the two largest allocations are $10 million to Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine for general use, and $4.8 million to Village of Clemmons for improvements to its village center. Funds are split over both budget cycles for the projects. Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, a lead House budget writer, said the main statewide allocation focus was mental health initiatives included in House Bill 855. That bill cleared the House Health committee on May 30 before being shelved for the rest of the regular session. Other spending priorities were workforce development and schools, both universities and community colleges, that would increase enrollment in their allied health programs or hard to fill jobs, Lambeth said. Then, we targeted items like loan forgiveness programs and rural health care where providers are struggling, he said. The second largest allocation for the region is $12 million $6 million in each budget cycle by the Senate to Watauga Medical Center for capital improvements. The other regional projects are: $2.72 million to Wilkes Recovery Revolution Inc. toward start-up costs for a new substance use disorder treatment facility. $2.5 million to Davidson-Davie Community College for its healthcare training programs fund. $2 million to Surry Community College toward aiding Northern Hospital of Surry County with employing up to eight new licensed nursing educators. $2 million to Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers Inc. (TROSA) to expand its facilities in the Triad. $1.5 million to High Point University to support new healthcare-oriented programs to meet regional workforce demands. $1.5 million to Randolph Technical Community College for capital improvements and equipment. $1 million to Gibsonville for capital improvements or equipment for its police department. $225,000 to Appalachian State University to purchase equipment for Beaver College of Health Sciences. Lambeth said the regional spending is making major investments in academic programs that will be able to take more students who ultimately will go into a field of work where we are so in need. Creating crisis centers regionally, opening up much needed inpatient capacity and opening up more and better coordination for families who need help will make a significant difference in the lives of so many persons who need help. The biggest earmark from a statewide perspective is $105 million to the UNC Board of Governors for the construction of three rural care centers as part of the NC Care initiative. Other major healthcare projects include: $99 million to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to provide funds for re-entry and diversion programs, and detention center or community-based capacity restoration programs; $80 million over two years to enhance youth behavioral health services; $80 million over two years to DHHS for new mobile crisis teams, and crisis and respite facilities; and $76 million for a new childrens hospital, featuring a behavioral health facility, that would be affiliated with UNC Health in the Triangle. Other significant expenditures involve: $50 million over two years to the N.C. Loan Repayment program to attract primary care physicians and other health providers to rural and underserved areas of the state; $40 million over two years to stabilize staffing for the N.C. Division of State Operated Healthcare Facilities; $29.8 million to maintain COVID-19 level Medicaid reimbursement rates for skilled nursing facilities; and $25 million over two years to the Rural Health Care Stabilization program, which provides loans to eligible hospitals that are in financial crisis. Home sales in six Forsyth County residential markets included in U.S. Treasury-certified opportunity zones continue to produce mixed results, according to a third-quarter report released by Attom Data Solutions. Opportunity zones, launched in May 2018, are economically-distressed census tracts qualified to receive private investments. The program was created by Congress and is designed to connect those tracts with investors, offering tax credits and other incentives. All but one of the 11 Forsyth tracts are in the central part of Winston-Salem. They account for more than 25,000 residents. They are among 47 in the Triad and 252 statewide. The Forsyth tracts reviewed by Attom for the third quarter are: Tract 1 in the central business district. The average sales price was $413,750, compared with $268,000 in the second quarter and $190,000 a year ago. Tract 3.02 in the Kimberly Park neighborhood. The average sales price was $71,000, compared with $81,000 in the second quarter and $75,000 a year ago. Tract 14, which contains Whitaker Park, a 1.7-million-square-foot former R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. plant. The average home sale price was $107,500, compared with $150,000 in the second quarter and a year ago. The campus is part of a high-profile renovation project being undertaken by Whitaker Park Development Authority Inc. and Cavalier Winston Development, an affiliate of Frye Properties of Norfolk, Va. Tract 16.02, Smith Reynolds Airport and neighborhoods south of the airport. The average home sale price was $62,500, compared with $50,000 in the second quarter. There was no sales during the third quarter of 2022. Tract 17, which contains Lakeside Villas multifamily housing development. The average home sale price when the opportunity zone program began was $143,000. It has since fluctuated from a low of $55,000 in the third quarter of 2020 to $214,000 in the third quarter of 2022. It was $167,000 in the second quarter and $210,000 a year ago. Tract 33.13, which contains Horneytown Road. The average home sale price was $235,000, compared with $277,500 in the second quarter and $296,500 a year ago. Not reviewed for the third quarter were: Tract 2 in the central business district; Tract 3.01 in the Boston-Thurmond neighborhood; Tract 7 contains Innovation Quarter in downtown Winston-Salem; Tract 8.01, which encompasses Winston-Salem State University, the UNC School of the Arts and Happy Hill neighborhood; and Tract 8.02 covers the Atkins Community Development Corp. Winston-Salem city officials consider opportunity zones as another tool in the economic and community development toolbox that can be used to help spur private development and redevelopment in some of the areas in our community that have not seen the growth. There are 12 tracts in Guilford County, along with four in Alamance, three each in Randolph, Rockingham, Surry and Wilkes, two in Davidson and one each in Alleghany, Ashe, Davie, Stokes, Watauga and Yadkin. The certified opportunity zones list for North Carolina has at least one low-income census tract in each of the states 100 counties. Novant Health Inc. provided Carl Armato, its chief executive and president, with a 19.5% jump in total compensation for fiscal 2022 to $5.31 million. The health-care system posted 2022 executive compensation tables on its website Friday. Armatos base salary rose from $2.03 million to $2.26 million, while his incentive pay increased by 6.2% to $1.72 million. Armatos compensation also included: $904,992 in retirement contributions, $34,860 in nontaxable benefits such as life- and health-insurance premium expenses, and $418,300 in accounting accruals for deferred compensation. Jeff Lindsay, its chief operating officer, received a 9% raise in base salary to $1.21 million. His total compensation was $2.48 million. Novant is based in Winston-Salem but has a major Charlotte and Wilmington presence. It operates 15 hospitals, including Forsyth, Clemmons, Kernersville and Thomasville medical centers and Medical Park Hospital in Winston-Salem. Not-for-profit health-care systems are required to report executive compensation to the Internal Revenue Service in annual filings. Armato took over as Novants top executive in January 2012 after the retirement of Paul Wiles. His salary has risen 223.1% from $699,113 in 2011 the last fiscal year before his promotion. Because of Novants growth spurt and additional administrative responsibilities, a significant boost in salary, incentive pay and total compensation was expected in fiscal 2022 for not only Armato, but also Novants top-seven executives. Novant currently has more than 1,900 physicians and more than 36,000 employees who provide care at more than 800 locations, including 16 hospitals. On Friday, Novant announced plans to expand its South Carolina presence by spending $2.4 billion to purchase three hospitals along the states coast: Hilton Head Hospital in Beaufort County, Coastal Carolina Hospital in Jasper County, and East Cooper Medical Center in Charleston County. The transaction is expected to be completed early next year, subject to customary regulatory approvals, clearances and closing conditions. Novants reasoning In Fridays posting, the Novant Board of Trustees repeated language from previous executive compensation reports that it must follow very specific checks and balances. It must be considered reasonable and within an acceptable range compared to similar organizations ... comparable in size, complexity and reputation. The board said it takes into consideration that Novant is a very complex organization ... This complexity is taken into consideration by the compensation consultant and the committee when establishing its peer group. Compensation is designed to be competitive and to help recruit and retain leaders. Novant Health establishes executive base salaries in the same way it establishes compensation for all employees, by using market data and comparing to similar jobs. The system says a significant part of executive compensation is based upon the performance of the organization and achieving goals that are challenging, balanced and focused on improving the services we provide to patients and communities. The executive team performs in the top quartile nationally. Hot-button issue Hospital management pay has become a hot-button issue in recent years, particularly as healthcare systems have cut or outsourced hundreds of jobs in response to regulatory changes. On Oct. 5, Novant confirmed it was eliminating 160 job positions primarily in management and administration in its largest workforce reduction in eight years. Novant declined to say how many of the affected job positions were in the Triad or provide additional details beyond its statement that it is making changes systemwide as part of an organizational redesign plan. This reduction mainly impacts management and administrative roles. Novant employees who contacted the Journal about the latest job cuts said those affected are service-line vice presidents for several healthcare units, and other mid- and upper-level administrators. Employees said Novant has hired a consulting firm to review its organizational structure. On March 29, Novant confirmed that two its top executives were laid off as part of a workforce reduction of about 50. Chief consumer officer Jesse Cureton and chief digital and technology officer Angela Yochem were among those affected by the reduction, a Novant spokeswoman said. Compensation criticism Critics say hospital systems use their nonprofit status for tax advantages and public-relations purposes, while compensation committees have sought to justify corporate-level wages and benefits to top executives. That includes providing incentive pay that approaches, if not exceeds, annual base salary compensation. For example, for fiscal 2022 Advocate Health co-chief executive Eugene Woods was paid $3.73 million in base salary, $7.9 million in bonus and incentive pay and just under $14 million in total compensation. Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag, chief executive of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, was paid just under $1.9 million in base salary, just more than $1 million in bonus and incentive pay and $3.93 million in total compensation for fiscal 2021 the latest disclosed by the system. Of the 38 corporate and 15 nonprofit chief executives listed in the Winston-Salem Journals 2022 compensation report, only Woods and Wells Fargo & Co.s Charlie Scharf (at $2.5 million) were paid more in base salary than Armato. For the majority of the 38 corporate chief executives, most received higher incentive and stock awards often both than base salary. In February, state Treasurer Dale Folwell released a sponsored investigative report into what he unabashedly calls a healthcare cartel that linked the annual compensation of the systems top executives with rank-and-file employees and the quality of patient care. Folwells primary interest in the healthcare systems is his oversight authority of the State Health Plan, which has more than 727,000 participants that include current and retired state employees, teachers and legislators. It is North Carolinas largest purchaser of medical and pharmaceutical services. Folwell says the 144-page report demonstrates a decade of growing wage inequity across nonprofit hospitals. Folwell has opposed major healthcare system mergers affecting North Carolina, whether its Atriums acquisition of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the subsequent merger of Atrium with Advocate Aurora to form Advocate Health, or Novants $5.3 billion purchase of New Hanover Regional Medical Center. Talking about the states healthcare systems chief executives, Folwell has said they seem to be paid to merge and raise prices. Frontline workers risked their lives to care for patients, but nurse and physician wages have risen far more slowly than executive pay over the past decade. A historic marker was unveiled Saturday to commemorate St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church, which has long been a staple of worship in Winston-Salem. The marker sits on the churchs grounds at East 12th Street next to its intersection with Hattie Avenue. In his invocation, Father Melchesideck Yumo thanked God for bringing the churchs members together for the unveiling. Weve gathered here on this sacred ground, which holds priceless memories for many African Americans, Yumo said. The church reminds us of the many sacrifices made by African Americans to continue to be faithful to God despite the discrimination that they received. It is by faith in God alone that we have come this far. St. Benedict has Black, white, Hispanic and Asian Americans as members. But it wasn't always that way. When it was founded in 1940 by Bishop of Raleigh Eugene McGuinness, it was to meet the needs of African American Catholics in Winston-Salem. About a dozen local African American Catholics made up the original parish family. The church held its first Mass in a local funeral home. Others were celebrated at the residence of Hosea Price, a lawyer. The church, one of four historically Black parishes in the Diocese of Charlotte, is named after a Black saint of the Franciscan order who lived in the 16th century in Sicily. Saint Benedict the Moor, a patron saint for African Americans, was a man known for his charitable deeds to those in need, Yumo said in his invocation. The marker is one of 70 similar landmarks placed at local sites to help our residents remember and learn about important parts of collective history, said Chenita Johnson, a member of the Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission. Harold Holmes, the chairperson of the St. Benedict Parish Council, said that the churchs parishes consisted of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in downtown Winston-Salem and Holy Cross Catholic Church in Kernersville. The Good Shepherd Catholic Church in King remains part of the St. Benedicts parish as well. The parish opened St. Annes Academy for girls in 1946 and the St. Benedict the Moor Grammar School in 1950, according to the city. The church became fully integrated in May 1969, which was achieved by redrawing parish lines of Catholic churches in the Winston-Salem area. Israeli forces are battling Hamas militants around a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks. The fighting has raised Palestinian fears of another painful standoff and evacuation of a medical facility after recent clashes near another hospital in Gaza City. The Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesia Hospital, killing at least 12 people. Both blamed Israeli forces, which denied firing a shell but said it returned fire on militants inside the hospital compound. Despite the fighting, some 200 patients and their companions were evacuated from the facility on Monday. That follows the evacuation to Egypt of at least 28 premature babies from Shifa Hospital. It started years ago with a few handfuls of acorns. Bud and Joan Speidell, who owned Nebraska Nurseries and lived in a corner of the land near 138th Street and Pioneers Boulevard, picked up the acorns that dropped from the tree by their home, grew the seedlings in a nursery and, once theyd gotten big enough, planted them. They kept planting neat rows of oak trees on nearly 100 acres of land until one day some 16,000 trees later it became Matt Kleinschmits vision. Kleinschmit, who owns Pride Homes, has been a homebuilder for 25 years and has developed some high-end acreages, would sometimes buy a couple of the oaks from the Speidells to replant at homes he was building. A few years ago, Speidell asked Kleinschmit if hed be interested in buying the land. It wasnt the right time for him, Kleinschmit said. But when Speidell approached him a second time about a year later not long after another land deal had fallen through he had a different answer. Initially, Kleinschmit planned to develop the property, but those trees, all the same species, planted in neat rows on all that land: He couldnt get them out of his mind. These tree rows, he said. They simply, I dont want to say mesmerize, but they captivate my attention. No matter whats going on in his day, any stress or frustration melts away when he drives out to that property and spends time amidst the trees. Ive found this to be a very healing place, he said. If those trees, if that land, could do that for him, he thought, what about others? Kleinschmit, whose life is driven by his faith, believes God was guiding him to care for that land, not develop it. To preserve those trees and share them with others. So thats what hes doing. He threw away the development plans and began trimming all 16,000 trees so its easy to walk through the rows. Hes mowed between them and the land around them. Hes begun clearing some of the trees he donates or sells them so they are replanted somewhere else to create walking pathways. His vision keeps growing. Hes got a name: The Oaks. Hes creating a charitable foundation to manage the land. Hes got a plan laid out for all the walkways. He hopes to create architectural structures for people to spend time at and enjoy, a complement to the natural beauty of the trees. I have a vision of this grand park that people will seek to visit to be alone, to escape what stresses or troubles are in their life, he said. To essentially create a safe haven. Hes got lots of ideas for the architecture, creating monuments or structures similar to the columns at Pioneers Park, for instance, and because hes built homes for years, he has a talent for such art, as do some of his children, who are architects. Already, he built a 64-foot-long wooden table amidst those trees and the morning after his daughter got married, the family and wedding party gathered there for breakfast. Now its there for others to enjoy. Last week, he appeared before the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission, which approved a special permit to create the Oaks Community Unit Plan, which essentially shifts the density of the land to roughly 10 acres. That means there can be no development on the remainder of the land and the trees will remain. The permit allows Kleinschmit to divide that 10 acres into seven lots for seven homes, but he says he has no plans to do that. Now, he plans to open the land for people to spend time on, but at some point he could apply for a special permit to make it a recreation area where he also could hold events. Kleinschmit said Bud Speidell loves the idea that the little project he and his wife began will be preserved. He hopes to have the land open to the public sometime next year, but work on it will continue for many years. He has always wanted to do something to help others, he said, and thought maybe hed build homes in a third-world country one day. God, he thinks, had other plans for him, on 100 acres east of Lincoln. Though his life is driven by faith, he said, he wants to be clear: This park is not a religious park. Its for everyone, anyone who loves nature, anyone seeking a way to escape the stresses of life. The land and those trees, he said, is his opportunity to help others. To experience what Ive experienced. Top Journal Star photos for November 2023 Memorial Parks big Kiss will linger a little longer. The 26-foot sculpture of a World War II sailor kissing a nurse to celebrate the wars end will remain in the parks new Eagle Plaza for at least two more months, the Omaha Parks Foundation has learned. Officially called Embracing Peace, the sculpture by the late artist Seward Johnson re-creates an iconic photograph in which a sailor spontaneously gave a deep kiss to a woman in a nurses uniform (actually, she was a dental assistant) on V-J Day in New Yorks Times Square. Seward Johnson Atelier (the nonprofit that owns the statue) reached out and said they dont need it back right away, said Tiffany Regan, the Omaha Parks Foundation executive director. We said wed love to keep it until January. We thought it would be neat to have it with snow on it, through the holidays. The Robert H. Storz Foundation underwrote the $60,000 cost to bring the sculpture to Memorial Park last April, ahead of the citys commemoration of the parks 75th anniversary in June. They planned to keep it through Veterans Day, which was last weekend. Storz, who operated a brewery in Omaha, was the driving force behind the creation of Memorial Park soon after World War II to honor Douglas Countys war dead. Johnson created the original sculpture in 2005 to display in Times Square for the 60th anniversary of V-J Day. A Navy veteran of the Korean War, he died in 2020, but a nonprofit he established to promote art in public places, Johnson Atelier, continues to circulate traveling exhibits of his work. Other versions of Embracing Peace are on permanent display, in Sarasota, Florida and San Diego. The Memorial Park sculpture is a traveling copy. It has drawn barbs wherever it has been erected including Omaha from critics who say it depicts a sexual assault, or that it is kitschy. Theo Brown of Omaha called the sculpture an embarrassment to the ... entire city of Omaha in a letter to the World-Heralds Public Pulse. In the same forum, John Daley of Council Bluffs, derided it as a fugitive from a sci-fi movie that belonged in Las Vegas, or in a used-car lot. But the sculpture has plenty of defenders, too. Its a symbol of joy, happiness and a celebration of the end of World War II, nothing more, said Phil Huston of Omaha in another Public Pulse letter. In 2010, George Mendonsa and Greta Zimmer Friedman, believed to be the couple depicted in the Times Square photograph, visited Papillion-La Vista High School on a speaking tour. Mendonsa, 22 at the time, had been a sailor aboard the USS The Sullivans when the Navy ship was attacked by kamikaze pilots in the western Pacific. Zimmer Friedman, then 21, was an Austrian immigrant who lost her parents in the Holocaust. Regan said the statue has drawn many people to the park and the new plaza. Some couples have posted photos of themselves re-enacting the kiss in front of the sculpture, while others have visited in wedding garb or military uniforms. Its been a very, very favorable response, Regan said. It has really brought awareness to the park. She said the Parks Foundation has reached about 80% of its fundraising goal for the construction and maintenance of Eagle Plaza, but it is still about $250,000 short. The foundation built the plaza to use for public events such as art exhibits and musical concerts, or private events such as weddings. Fundraising continues through its website, OmahaParksFoundation.org/memorial-park-75. During the months the sculpture has been on display, it has provided a backdrop to several military-themed events commemorating Memorial Day, the end of the Korean War, 9/11, POW/MIA Recognition Day, Veterans Shine On and Veterans Day. Jenee Castellanos, associate curator of exhibitions and engagement for the Seward Johnson Atelier, said the group is delighted Embracing Peace can stay on in Omaha until its next stop is announced.We are heartened to hear the stories of the visitors that have traveled to see the sculpture, she said in an email. Now they will have more time to see it. Photos: Embracing Peace sculpture installed at Memorial Park Authorities arrested an 18-year-old man in connection with a Morgan State University shooting that injured five people, Baltimore Police said Monday. Police said in a news release that D.C. Metropolitan Police on Friday arrested Jovan Williams, 18, who was charged with attempted first-degree murder last month. Last month, police arrested a 17-year-old in D.C. who is charged with 34 counts related to the Oct. 3 shooting that canceled homecoming festivities and classes at Marylands largest historically Black university. At a bail review for that teen, prosecutors said the shooters fired 17 rounds. The teens public defender, Robert Linthicum, said investigators had not linked his client to the 9 mm bullet casings found at the scene. Baltimore District Judge Kent J. Boles Jr. ordered him held without bond, calling him an extreme danger to the community at large. Lindsey Eldridge, a police spokesperson, said Baltimore Police are working with other law enforcement to have Williams extradited to Baltimore. Police have been seeking Williams since June 15, when he was indicted in a federal guns and drug trafficking case. Although Baltimore Police and the U.S. Marshals Service identified him as Jovon Williams on Monday, the federal indictment in that case lists his first name as Jovan. Williams does not have an attorney listed in the D.C. case and it is unclear whether he has one for this one. The indictment said Williams dealt drugs and carried an AR style .223 pistol, a privately manufactured weapon often called a ghost gun. That weapon, which according to the indictment, counts as a machine gun under federal law, had a tool allowing it to shoot automatically rather than a round per trigger pull. His arrest means that he is no longer able to terrorize our communities, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said in a statement. Our Department is committed to working alongside all of our communities and partners in identifying and apprehending those responsible for crime in our neighborhoods. All of those wounded in the shooting were 18 to 22 years old, and four of them were Morgan students. Morgan State President David Wilson has since proposed enhancements to the schools security, including a $6.4 million security barrier to surround the campus and limit public access. A Baltimore Sun analysis of campus crime data found Morgan ranks in about the middle of Maryland institutions. Today, the Morgan Community can continue to move forward with the comfort of knowing that both shooting suspects have now been captured and taken off the streets, Wilson said in a statement Monday. This is indeed great news. Baltimore Sun reporter Alex Mann contributed to this article. Organizers behind a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar Nebraska from collecting most taxes have hired a petition circulator to begin gathering signatures in the states most populous counties. Trailblazing Canvassers, a Florida-based firm that has qualified ballot initiatives in 18 different states, will send paid staff members into Lancaster, Douglas and Sarpy counties to ask voters to sign onto the EPIC Option proposal. The pair of petitions one would eliminate property, income, inheritance and corporate taxes in Nebraska, while the second would put in place a consumption tax on all new goods and services, except groceries have been in circulation for months. The hiring of a paid circulator marks the next stage in signature-gathering efforts, said Steve Jessen, a retired insurance agent from Norfolk who has coordinated more than 160 volunteers who have worked in rural counties of the state. Financial disclosure forms indicate EPIC Option paid Trailblazing Canvassers $20,000 in late October to begin running the petition drive. Jessen said those funds have come from small donations from people across the state frustrated by their tax bills. Other petition drives in recent years have required $1 million or more to hire paid circulators to crisscross the state. EPIC Option has raised about $89,000, according to its October report filed with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. The ballot initiative for EPIC, which stands for Eliminate Property, Income and Corporate, will continue to raise funds and pay as we go, organizers said. This is a grassroots organization, and were going to get this done, Jessen said at a news conference Monday. We are the second house, and the second house is not happy with the way our current tax system is. Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, who has introduced legislation to implement the EPIC Option at the Capitol, and who has championed the petition drive, said doing away with most taxes would make Nebraska friendlier to taxpayers and businesses, growing the state in the process. The revenue collected through the consumption tax Erdmans plan would set the rate at 7.5% and would apply to all new goods, including new homes would provide the same funding to state governments, schools and local governments, proponents say. It would also get rid of a slew of tax exemptions passed by the Legislature over the past 50-plus years and would implement taxes on services from tax preparation to car repairs, home remodeling, loan processing and others items currently not taxed. It also would require nonprofits, churches, education institutions and governments to pay consumption taxes. Erdman said opponents who stand to lose tax exemptions are leading the opposition to his plan, while farmers and homeowners, who would receive actual property tax relief and not just a decrease in the amount their property taxes go up every year, are backing it. Whats more important sometimes is who is opposed to you than who is with you, Erdman said at a news conference Monday morning. Those people who are against EPIC, every one of them, is a paid lobbyist or a person who is paid to be against it. All those people who are for it are the people who are paying their taxes, he added. But those opponents say EPIC and the consumption tax plan (LB79) put forward by Erdman would not replace the revenue needed to fund the government at its current level. An analysis by OpenSky Policy Institute in March concluded Erdmans plan would create a $7.4 billion shortfall in state and local government revenue, and would require a consumption tax rate set at 22.1% in order to offset that. Such a tax would fall disproportionately hard on low- and middle-income Nebraskans because a much greater portion of their wages goes to purchases that would be subject to tax, the report concludes. Last week, Bryan Slone, president of the Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce the EPIC Option would create a financial crisis for the state while also making businesses less competitive. By implementing higher consumption taxes, many businesses would price themselves out of the market, Slone said, adding the tax would hit hardest on young Nebraskans who buy more items and services that would be subject to the consumption tax. At precisely, exactly the same time when everything about our economy depends on attracting and retaining 18- to 34-year-olds, the worst thing we could possibly do right now is increase taxes on 18- to 34-year-olds, particularly those with children, Slone said. Its about as counterintuitive as it can be. Erdman and other state senators who spoke at Mondays news conference said the EPIC Option was brought forward because the Legislature has been unable or unwilling to restructure the states tax system, maintaining what they described as an over-reliance on property taxes to fund local government. He argued that eliminating tax exemptions would expand the potential revenue base an estimated $75 billion, several times what it is now. With more people paying the consumption tax at a lower rate, the total revenue would not drop, he added. If voters choose not to pass the measure, Erdman said, it will force more people to flee the state to other areas with more favorable tax conditions. Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings, who like Erdman is entering his final year as a state lawmaker, said lobbyists have been able to carve out 1,200 pages of exemptions from the current tax code, which he illustrated with a stack of papers that stood 9 inches high. Halloran likened the list of exemptions to the Legislature picking and choosing which entities or businesses could be successful. I find it morally corrupt that we pick winners and losers through our tax code, Halloran said. Top Journal Star photos for November 2023 From Wisconsins Great Lakes shipwrecks to a pair of ancient Ho-Chunk dugout canoes found in Lake Mendota, Wisconsin Historical Society underwater archaeologist Tamara Thomsen has some great stories to tell. Thomsens discovery of a 1,200-year-old dugout canoe, found in June 2021 while diving with a student near Shorewood Hills McKenna Park boathouse, caused a sensation. Then in May 2022, she found another about 300 yards from the first one, estimated to be 3,000 years old. When her student couldnt stay at the site after Thomsen spotted the first canoe, Thomsen said she phoned Amy Rosebrough, now the state archaeologist, and asked her to come sit in the dive boat while Thomsen went back down to the canoe and took video. Rosebrough, Thomsen recalled, hedged a bit too busy but relented after Thomsen told her, I think this one might be important. As it turned out, it was. Thomsen, 54, was born in Bethesda, Maryland, and raised in Indianapolis, but her roots are in Wisconsin. Her dad is originally from Madison, while her mother is from the La Crosse area. Thomsen first moved to Madison to attend UW-Madison and to look after her elderly grandparents. Her grandfather was a retired UW-Madison professor. Her college education, she said, is going to make no sense to you. Her undergraduate degree is in horticulture and agronomy, and her masters degree is in genetics. In college, though, she also learned scuba diving and loved it so much that she became an instructor. After graduate school, Thomsen took a job in the lab of then-UW-Madison Professor Jillian Banfield, a MacArthur fellow who studied geomicrobiology and conducted experiments in abandoned lead and zinc mines in southwestern Wisconsin at least until Banfield departed for the University of California, Berkeley. Thomsen soon realized she wanted to do more with her diving experience and in 2004 took what was supposed to be a temporary job at the Wisconsin Historical Society. From then until about nine years ago, funding for her job existed purely from one grant to the next. We were one grant away from figuring out how much money we needed to pack this place up, you know, put it in mothballs, she said. We were always a little short. And then, the state decided to fund it. How did you get involved in diving? I had begged all through high school to take scuba diving lessons. I just begged my dad and he would say next year, next year, next year. And then I finally went away to college and I found out that the University of Wisconsin at the time offered it as a PE class. It was really a popular class, I finally got in my junior year, and I loved it. And my dad was so jealous that he took scuba lessons in Indianapolis. Then we went on some really great adventures together, traveling to various places and diving underwater. And I loved it so much that I took more classes and met more people. I became an instructor, and then all through graduate school kind of made it a side gig. And then it got a little out of hand. I ended up opening a dive shop of my own, which is Diversions Scuba. What drew you to diving in the first place? I dont know. My parents had a place in Marco Island, Florida. We would go down there for some holidays. I spent a lot of time on the beach, that type of thing. But I dont know, I didnt want to be a marine biologist or anything like that. There was never this draw to, you know, save dolphins or turtles or whatever. But I just knew, something weird happened to me. I think I really wanted to see what was under the water and be part of it. How many different places have you been diving? One of the weird things that this job affords me is that when we ran out of money, I would have these patches of time where I could choose my own fate and I would sell myself off as a scientific diver for various projects. For instance, one was with a professor named Tom Iliffe, out of Texas A&M University. Hes had a few grants that Ive traveled with him around the Caribbean basin. Im a cave diver, I can go into caves and help him do biological sampling, collect animals for genetic study. And also, because I have the scientific background, I can also help him at night, do water processing and prep the animals and that type of thing. I went to work for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, just about the time they were coming up on the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. That was 2010. I worked with them processing all of the data and created the models that showed up in National Geographic, the mosaics of Titanic. I worked on those for eight months, on and off. What would you say is the thing that you found diving that was the biggest thrill of your life when you came across it? The one thing that I collected from a shipwreck is a mast step coin. For good luck when they were building ships, the lore was that you would take a coin from the year that it was built and you would throw it in the step of the main mast. We had a project in Jacksonport up in Door County. We had an intern (Matt), one of the first sites he was working on. We learned we could scare him really easily. You know, when you throw a penny (in the water), it flips through the water and it shines. Matt just about jumped out of the water. So then everyone discovered that that was hilarious. They started bringing coins with them and would swim out to the site and they would drop these coins. At the end of the project, the last thing you do is you go out and you collect all your stuff, things that are dropped on the site. And in this case, I picked up a whole container of change. I couldnt see underwater (to) really make out what this coin was, but I collected it and I put it in the bag. I remember picking it up and it was back near the main mast. So, I thought it was a wheat penny, you know? (A volunteer) went through the bag and he got the thing out. Hes like, I dont think this is a wheat penny. He gave it to me, and we started shining it up a little bit. And it was a seated liberty from 1841, a seated liberty dime. We didnt even know the name of the shipwreck. But because that coin was associated, we were able to put a name on that shipwreck. What would you say is the most unusual or weirdest thing youve seen in your diving experience? Theres a couple ships that are out of place that we just dont know the name on. And one of them is called the Green Bay sloop. Its sitting in the middle of Green Bay. Its in over a hundred feet of water, 130 maybe, feet of water. And it is so old. The construction features on it are so weird. Its likely late 1700s, early 1800s, and was probably a ship that was servicing the fort there. But we dont know much about it. That one is weird. We have nothing thats supposed to be lost in that area that we know of. We pick up a lot of trash in the Madison lakes, and you see a lot of weird stuff there too. Theres all these old boats and these excursion things that were abandoned. Ive seen a kayak, too, thats standing upright on the bottom. I dont think anyone could have sunk it there because its in 40 feet of water. You just dive down and its like this spire thats like a canoe. That was weird. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Monday joined the leaders of the Lac du Flambeau and Bad River Bands of Lake Superior Chippewa in calling on the Republican-controlled state budget committee to release $2 million in grant funding set aside for the two Wisconsin tribes. The states 2023-25 biennial budget sets aside $11 million in tribal gaming revenue as supplemental funds to be awarded to the states 11 tribes. In September, the state Department of Administration requested those funds be transferred to the tribes through a Tribal Assistance Grants program. The GOP-led Joint Committee on Finance in October voted 8-4, along party lines, to award $1 million each to nine of the states 11 tribes excluding the Bad River and Lac du Flambeau tribes. Democratic members of the committee sought to release funds to all 11 tribes, but the motion was rejected by Republicans, who did not provide a reason in the Oct. 31 meeting as to why funding was not included for the two tribes. Evers said in a statement Monday the decision by Legislative Republicans flies in the face of our work to build strong, meaningful government-to-government partnerships with the Native Nations. This is just yet another in a long list of examples of Republicans ongoing efforts to obstruct basic functions of government, Evers continued. Budget committee co-chairs Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said in a joint statement the committee did not release the funds because the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have taken adverse actions against their fellow Wisconsinites. While the lawmakers did not provide specifics, Lac du Flambeau has been engaged in an ongoing roads dispute between landowners and the town of Lac du Flambeau related to right-of-way easements. While we respect their autonomy as a tribe, we must also respect the taxpayers who are suffering as a result of the tribes decisions, Marklein said. Marklein also noted that Evers signed off on the committees minutes on Nov. 10, three days before tribal leaders sent the governor a letter urging him to consider litigation to fix this injustice. We dont understand why (Evers) has suddenly changed course, Marklein added. In a Nov. 13 letter to the co-chairs, Lac du Flambeau Tribal President John Johnson Sr. and Bad River Tribal Chairman Robert Blanchard wrote to object to the recent discriminatory act perpetrated against us by the State of Wisconsin. The tribal leaders asked the co-chairs to hold a separate meeting to approve the grant funding. Our Tribal Members, who are also residents of Wisconsin, deserve an explanation as to why they are being singled out for such discriminatory treatment, the leaders continue. The leaders also write in the letter that litigation will be explored if the state does not rectify the matter. My request to Republicans is simple: stop playing politics with the Native Nations in this state and release these funds that are essential for Tribes to provide governmental services to their citizens and communities, Evers wrote. This morning's headlines: Fighting near Gaza hospital; Rosalynn Carter dies, Argentina's election National AP Israel battles Hamas near another Gaza hospital sheltering thousands Israeli forces are battling Hamas militants around a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks. The fighting has raised Palestinian fears of another painful standoff and evacuation of a medical facility after recent clashes near another hospital in Gaza City. The Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesia Hospital, killing at least 12 people. Both blamed Israeli forces, which denied firing a shell but said it returned fire on militants inside the hospital compound. Despite the fighting, some 200 patients and their companions were evacuated from the facility on Monday. That follows the evacuation to Egypt of at least 28 premature babies from Shifa Hospital. Business AP Company that created ChatGPT is thrown into turmoil after Microsoft hires its ousted CEO The company that created ChatGPT is in turmoil after Microsoft hired its ousted CEO and many more employees threatened to follow him in a conflict that centered in part oin part on how to build artificial intelligence thats smarter than humans. The developments followed a weekend of drama that shocked the AI field and fueled speculation about the future of OpenAI. The startup's new CEO vowed to investigate the firing of co-founder and CEO Sam Altman. He's been instrumental in OpenAIs transformation from a nonprofit research laboratory into a world-renowned commercial startup that inaugurated the era of generative artificial intelligence. Microsoft announced that Altman and OpenAIs former president, Greg Brockman, would lead its new advanced AI research team. 1. Yes. The platform takes up too much time and is often abused by speakers. Get rid of it. 2. Yes. The Citizen Petitions section is unworkable and generally results in a gripe session. 3. No. The platform is the only way residents can discuss non-agenda items. Keep it around.. 4. No. Killing it will discourage public input. Keep it or broaden Citizen Comments criteria. 5. Unsure. It can be a drain on the councils time, but it does serve a purpose for residents. Vote View Results 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. Nebraska's unemployment rate continued to rise in October, but it's still down from where it was a year ago. The state's unemployment rate was 2.2% last month, according to the latest data from the Nebraska Department of Labor. That was up from 2.1% in September but down from 2.7% in October 2022. Nebraska's unemployment rate ranked sixth among the states and continued to be much lower than the national rate of 3.9%. Employment numbers continued to grow, with the number of filled jobs in October up 6,949 over September and 13,041 compared with a year ago. The top-performing category on a year-over-year basis was private education and health services, which added more than 4,000 jobs and reached an all-time high of more than 163,000 in October, said Labor Commissioner John Albin. The number of people working statewide fell slightly in October, down 1,894 compared with September, but it was up 4,845 compared with a year ago. The Lincoln area did not fare quite as well. Its unemployment rate in October matched the state rate of 2.2%, but that was up from 1.9% in September and the same as it was in October 2022. However, Lincoln saw increases both in filled jobs and in the number of people working. The number of local jobs in October was up 1,638 over September and 4,108 compared with last year. The number of people working was up 112 compared with September and 866 compared with October 2022. Despite the strong employment numbers, at least one Nebraska economist believes the state's economy is struggling. On Thursday, Creighton University economist Ernie Goss released his Rural Main Street Index for November, which showed Nebraska is under-performing the 10-state region as a whole. The overall index sank to 40.4 this month, its lowest reading since June 2020, which Goss said, "points to weaker farm and non-farm economies." The index for Nebraska was slightly lower, at 39.7, and Goss said data from the International Trade Administration shows agricultural exports from the state declined from $981.4 million in the first nine months of 2022 to $470 million in the first nine months of this year, a 52.1% drop. Ag exports for the entire region also dropped during the same period, but the decline was much smaller, at 12.7%. How the economy is performing in Nebraska After moving to Monkton from the city during the pandemic, Richard Chisholm began taking his dog, Flynn, for walks along the Northern Central Railroad Trail. Their route took them by the Phoenix Road Bridge in nearby Phoenix, so Chisholm and his dog often stopped to watch the contractors who began replacing the 100-year-old bridge in the summer of 2022. Chisholm was one of a handful of nearby residents and city and county officials who gathered Monday to celebrate the reopening of the crossing. It had been restricted to a single lane of traffic over Gunpowder Falls since 2010, and had been closed since June 2022 for the replacement project. We would watch the demolition in slow motion and then watch all these construction people doing their thing, said Chisholm, who said his father worked in construction. You cant tell when youre up here, but the bridge is really heavy. It used to be a dinky one-lane bridge, and now its a two-lane road. Almost two dozen members of the Antique Automobile Club of Americas Chesapeake Region chapter joined in the festivities, driving their vintage cars across the bridge. One said his car dated to 1915, while others drove more recent models like Corvettes, Thunderbirds and Mustangs. The new bridge, which cost $10.5 million, is 435 feet long, spans three steel girders, and is reinforced with a concrete deck. A routine inspection in 2009 found significant deterioration to the floor beams along the exterior of the bridge, which was built in 1922, according to the Baltimore City Department of Transportation. After that, the bridge was reduced to a single lane of traffic, controlled by signals at each end. Its replacement is the Cadillac of bridges, according to Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, who are Democrats. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, in front at lower right, and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., behind him, joined other city, county and state officials Monday at an opening ceremony for the new Phoenix Road Bridge over Gunpowder Falls. A parade of cars from the Chesapeake Region Antique Auto Club of America inaugurated the replacement span. While the bridge is in Baltimore County, it is owned and maintained by Baltimore City, which is responsible for maintaining infrastructure in the nearby Loch Raven, Liberty and Prettyboy reservoirs. We really do hope that this is a bridge that literally connects our neighbors and our friends in a way that reminds us of just how interconnected both our communities and our region is, Olszewski said. The bridge replacement, slated to take about 20 months, was federally funded via Maryland Department of Transportations State Highway Administration, according to the city transportation department. Ensuring our roads and bridges actually work for our residents is one of the most important and, unfortunately, most challenging responsibilities in local government, Scott said. We are here to celebrate this project together in partnership so that we can continue to show that Baltimore City and Baltimore County can work together to make our shared assets and our shared community better each and every day, the mayor said. Paul Merski applauded the reopening Monday, saying the construction had periodically shut off trail access for him to bike alongside his dog, Tucker. Im so glad its done now, because it was a disruption to traffic, and it was a safety concern, he said. Viterbo University has a tradition of celebrating student research and academic scholarship, and not just its own students. The Seven Rivers Undergraduate Research Symposium goes back 20 years, and this years event, held Nov. 10, featured 24 oral presentations and 19 posters from seven colleges in 15 academic disciplines. Viterbo has a similar, if newer, tradition of lifting up the scholarly pursuits of those who teach there. The annual Celebration of Faculty Scholarship, which goes back to 2013, spotlights work of academic rigor in a more informal setting than the research symposium. This years event was held Oct. 27 in the Fine Arts Centers FSPA lobby, equal parts happy hour social event and exploration of academic insights. Its a really neat event because it allows faculty to talk about this area of their jobs that is often hidden. Were a teaching institution, but tenure-track faculty have to have an emphasis on scholarship, said Jennie Anderson-Meger. The conversations are really rich at this event. A full-time faculty member since 2000, Anderson-Meger is a social work professor who also serves as director of graduate studies and co-director of Viterbos Center for Teaching and Learning, which organizes the event. It started as an event designed to recognize the presented and published work of faculty, promote networking and interdisciplinary conversation, and encourage faculty to begin or continue creating plans to take their scholarship to the next level. Anderson-Meger was one of those to present that first year, solo on the topic of Undergraduate Social Work Students Epistemological Beliefs and as part of a trio focused on infusing a new ethical decision-making model throughout a Bachelor of Social Work curriculum. This year, Anderson-Meger presented as part of a trio with professors Matthew Bersagel Braley and Tyler Flockhart about an ongoing research project looking at how spirituality factored into how certified nursing assistants dealt with their work during the pandemic, when they faced death, disruption and fear in the workplace that they were not trained to handle. Apryl Denny, an English professor since 1992 who serves as director of faculty development, noted the focus in the early days was mostly on research in hard sciences like biology and chemistry but presentations on history, literature and other humanities have become more prevalent. This year, for example, Alexander Ashland presented on his experience last summer writing and researching at Quarry Farm in upstate New York house where Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Life on the Mississippi. He was awarded a fellowship by the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College, and at the end of his two-week residency he presented a talk at the historic Park Church in Elmira on The Ruins, Relics and Reshaping of Mark Twains Mississippi Memory. Ashlands work focuses on the development of a distinct 19th century American literature, finding influences in Twains work from Washington Irvings writing, particularly The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., a foundational text in early U.S. literature that includes The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. His fellowship will result in a journal article that hell expand into a chapter in a book hes writing, and his work there also helped him develop a class hell teach next spring. The fellowship also gave Ashland deep insights on Twain. I spent a lot of time learning about things that would never make it into the scholarship I was there to produce, but doing so enriched my experience and made me feel more connected to my work and Quarry Farm itself, he said. A member of the faculty for three years, Ashland said he finds this event to be a valuable experience. Viterbo often identifies as a teaching-first institution. In my view, however, all good teaching is energized and supported by good research, he said. The two reinforce one another, and I believe that events like this promote such a view and make the institutions scholarly profile more visible to the campus community. In addition, Viterbo encourages scholarship and best practices in classroom teaching through several other programs, including grant funds for faculty development and research activities, an academic sabbatical program, and an annual celebration of teaching and learning that offers faculty presentations on a wide variety of classroom related topics. Longtime history professor Keith Knutson, who gave a presentation on the development of the European Union, already is preparing for his spring semester 2025 academic sabbatical during which he will explore The Future of European Integration. After four decades of study, Knutson is an expert on the foundations of European integration, on which he gave an overview. His presentation was bolstered by his trip last summer to Luxembourg, one of the six countries involved in a coal and steel industry cooperative that paved the way for the todays EU, which has 27 member countries. When I showed up in 1990, Viterbo wasnt such a research-oriented institution. That has definitely changed, thanks to events like this and the universitys commitment to encouraging academic scholarship, Knutson said. Also, this is a tremendous way to encourage collegiality, both within departments and across disciplines. I always look forward to seeing what my colleagues are working on and getting into some stimulating conversations. Gov. Tony Evers on Monday vetoed a Republican-authored $2 billion tax cut proposal, fulfilling a promise to reject a plan the Democratic governor called a far cry from the comprehensive workforce plan I introduced. After Republicans stripped Evers $340 million proposal for child care funding from the budget this summer, the governor called on the GOP-controlled Legislature to spend more than $1 billion funding the program and other workforce initiatives. In response, Republicans overhauled Evers special session bill to include increased child care tax credits and a state income tax cut that Evers had already vetoed once. In a statement, Evers said the Republican proposal is wholly out of touch with what Wisconsinites, including child care providers, some of our states largest employers, working parents, students, and our states higher education institutions, are asking for and need. Clearly, Republicans have yet to wrap their heads around our states challenges, and their inability to take this issue seriously is affecting Wisconsinites livelihoods, our workforce and economy, and our kids futures, Evers added. With each continued day of Republican delay and inaction, Wisconsin families, employers, and communities especially in our rural areas pay the price. Evers proposal would have allocated $365 million in new child care funding, increased spending for the Universities of Wisconsin by $65 million, devoted $200 million to paying for a new engineering building on the UW-Madison campus, established a 12-week family medical leave program costing $243 million, and created workforce education and grant programs. The measure put forth by Republicans would have reduced the income tax rate from 5.3% to 4.4% for people in the states third tax bracket, a broad category covering individuals earning between $27,630 and $304,000 and married filers earning between $36,840 and $405,000. The average Wisconsin family would have saved $600, but now theyre in for a struggle, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said in a statement. Im disappointed but not surprised hes pushing for more government spending, and its driving up inflation. Republicans have said the amended bill would allow a family of four with two children in child care to earn a tax credit of up to $5,200, offsetting nearly a quarter of the familys total average child care costs. It is disappointing that Governor Evers continues to insist on leaving billions of dollars in Madison coffers rather than returning the surplus from where it came taxpayers, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said in a statement. This morning's headlines: Fighting near Gaza hospital; Rosalynn Carter dies, Argentina's election National AP Israel battles Hamas near another Gaza hospital sheltering thousands Israeli forces are battling Hamas militants around a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks. The fighting has raised Palestinian fears of another painful standoff and evacuation of a medical facility after recent clashes near another hospital in Gaza City. The Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesia Hospital, killing at least 12 people. Both blamed Israeli forces, which denied firing a shell but said it returned fire on militants inside the hospital compound. Despite the fighting, some 200 patients and their companions were evacuated from the facility on Monday. That follows the evacuation to Egypt of at least 28 premature babies from Shifa Hospital. Business AP Company that created ChatGPT is thrown into turmoil after Microsoft hires its ousted CEO The company that created ChatGPT is in turmoil after Microsoft hired its ousted CEO and many more employees threatened to follow him in a conflict that centered in part oin part on how to build artificial intelligence thats smarter than humans. The developments followed a weekend of drama that shocked the AI field and fueled speculation about the future of OpenAI. The startup's new CEO vowed to investigate the firing of co-founder and CEO Sam Altman. He's been instrumental in OpenAIs transformation from a nonprofit research laboratory into a world-renowned commercial startup that inaugurated the era of generative artificial intelligence. Microsoft announced that Altman and OpenAIs former president, Greg Brockman, would lead its new advanced AI research team. As he looks back on the worst of his days recovering from addiction, Jeffery Schneider says, it feels like a miracle that hes still walking around. The Baltimore painting contractor spent many years emptying his bank account for crack cocaine. His erratic behavior alienated loved ones, doomed a family business and triggered run-ins with police. But nothing was harder for the Essex native than the annual approach of what should have been the most important day on his calendar. A few days before Thanksgiving every year, the 57-year-old recalls, he would phone his mother to tell her he had to miss the family dinner that year because he had the flu. Shed pretend to believe him, then go on to celebrate without him. I was too ashamed to face my family, he says, tears coming to his eyes. Thanksgiving is different for Schneider these days. It has been more than 40 weeks since he checked in to a comprehensive recovery program in Baltimore, a decision that those close to him say has helped keep him sober, build relationships he hasnt had in decades, and even avoid a relapse many expected after a recent tragedy. Schneider will be cooking turkey and fixings at the family dinner this year, serving as unofficial host as his adult daughter, granddaughter and others reconnect in Bel Air. His family is cautiously hopeful about the day. And counselors at Helping Up Mission, a residential center for men and women fighting addiction, poverty and homelessness, say the planned gathering is a sign of how far one of their model residents has come. The fact that Jeff is willing not just to attend a Thanksgiving dinner, but to prepare it for others, is a sign of real progress, says Mike Rallo, the spiritual director of the faith-based program. It takes a long time to come out of shame the way he has. It gives me hope that hell be able to withstand the pressures of the holiday and open his heart to enjoying reconciliation with the family he loves. Experts say addiction can strike in just about any sort of setting. Life didnt start out in desperation mode for Schneider, the youngest of three children of a painting company owner and a loving mom. He and his siblings attended public school in Essex, played sports, and got baptized at the church where their parents were married. Their material needs were mostly met. And they celebrated holidays, decorations and all, especially Thanksgiving. Our mom always made sure holidays were special, and that meant so much to all of us, says Schneiders older sister, Cindy Bode, a vice president with a food distribution company. Ive passed the same traditions on to my kids, and theyll be doing the same. We were raised with strong faith and a solid foundation. Unfortunately, Jeff picked the wrong friends. I gave up my whole life for cocaine Like many on a destructive path, Schneider didnt see what was coming. He started smoking pot in his early teens mostly just to fit in. His friends then introduced him to others who had different drugs. And as he kept yielding to peer pressure, a pattern took effect. Jeffery Schneider, a resident at Helping Up Mission, will be cooking turkey and fixings this year at a family Thanksgiving. The holiday can be especially difficult for many people recovering from addiction like Schneider. When you move on to harder stuff, you dont even realize youre addicted until youre addicted, says Schneider, who had gravitated toward crack, a smokable form of cocaine, by age 18. By then youve got that monkey on your back. And mine went from a monkey to King Kong. I gave up my whole life for cocaine. It gripped him even as he chased success. Schneider took over the family business, Howard Schneider Painting, in his teens, made a name as a perfectionist, and managed to boost the companys earnings into the hundreds of thousands per year. At the same time, he developed a $2,000-per-day drug habit, sold on the side, and was often high on crack as he climbed 40-foot ladders or operated heavy equipment. Like many recovering from addiction, Schneider was convinced he was only hurting himself, but his family members begged to differ. His daughter Katelyn, now 28, remembers a dad who made dates with her but rarely showed up. He lied to get out of important events. He chose to get high rather than attend memorial services for his father, Howard, who died in 2008, and for his mother, Virginia, more than a decade later. It was frustrating, but it became the norm, says Bode, who lives in South Carolina. Hed keep telling these stories. We knew not to count on Jeff. To those who work in addiction recovery, the patterns are all too familiar ? the avoidance, the dishonesty, the guilt and callousness that mask true feeling and its no surprise that they come to the fore during holidays. Though people recovering from addiction crave connection deep down, experts say, the prospect of interacting with others so closely is frightening, as it brings them face to face with those they may well have hurt most, and that can be volatile in both directions. Christmas and New Years are important, but for whatever reason, Thanksgiving is the one where we think of the family being together, says Zach Snitzer, the co-founder and marketing director of the Maryland Addiction Recovery Center in Towson. Thats a stressor on both the person who is in recovery, especially in the early stages of recovery, and also for the family. When it comes to recovery, we talk about addiction being a family disease. The easiest way to understand that is that addiction affects every member of the family the mother, the father, the child, the grandparent. They have most likely been dealing with this problem for some time, for months, years or decades. Jeffery Schneider, a resident at Helping Up Mission, sits in the chapel. Holiday table as potential minefield Peter Grinspoon, a physician and instructor at Harvard Medical School who specializes in cannabis and addiction-recovery research, agrees that gatherings like Thanksgiving dinners are potential minefields for everyone concerned. Holidays really, really stress a lot of recovering addicts out, Grinspoon says, citing the adage that family can push your buttons better than anyone, because theyre often the ones who put them there a situation that can prompt ill-considered remarks, hair-trigger defensiveness and the kind of anxiety that can spark a relapse. Thats why counselors agree its essential to meet with individuals planning to attend Thanksgiving ahead of time and help them map out a strategy. The person in recovery should try to keep gratitude in mind and remain emotionally open and in the moment, Grinspoon says, while remembering that family members have a right not to be as welcoming as he or she might hope. And the guest should always have a list of people to call in case of unexpected triggers as well as a workable plan for leaving if you feel anxiety skyrocketing. With advanced planning and thoughtfulness you can reduce the risk, he says. Another option to consider, Rallo says, is not to attend at all, at least until the person in recovery feels far along enough on his or her journey to be able to handle it. Counselors at Helping Up Mission have been meeting for two weeks with those who might want to go home Thursday, Rallo says, and he has given that advice more than once. We dont tell them what to do, but well tell them what our observations are, and if they do decide to go, well say, Call someone if there are issues,' he says. Schneider faces less jeopardy than others this week, counselors say, in part because he has already reestablished contact with several relatives and even worked through a few issues with them. He has also emerged as a leader at Helping Up. Bode has been so impressed, she has become a donor. Rallo says Schneider even avoided relapsing when he received the worst news he has ever gotten one day last month: that his 30-year-old son, Jeffery Schneider Jr., died of an overdose after years of fighting addiction. Schneider did everything he has been trained to do, including reaching out to his new network of friends and supporters. Jeffery Schneider holds a photo of himself and his son, Jeffery Schneider Jr., who was 30 years old when he died of a drug overdose last month. When Schneider, Katelyn, her 4-year-old daughter and others gather in Bel Air on Thursday, theyll dine on the turkey and sweet potatoes he prepares, watch the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV as he did in Essex years ago, and, Schneider hopes, enjoy the smell of cooking, the sounds of laughter, and just the pleasure of talking with each other. His eyes redden again as he thinks of trying to celebrate in the wake of that tragedy, but what hes thinking about now is how losing her brother is affecting Katelyn. Its a very very hard time right now, but as hard as it is, Im smart enough to be grateful for what I do have, he says. Im going to show that to everyone on Thanksgiving. Artificial intelligence (AI) system developer OpenAI was under new leadership Monday after a series of recent changes that included the removal of former chief executive Sam Altman. OpenAI said on Friday it had dismissed Altman after a breakdown of communications, with the companys board of directors, several news services reported. Altmans behavior and lack of transparency had limited the boards ability to effectively supervise the company, the New York Times reported a non-public company document as saying. OpenAI announced it had replaced Altman with Emmett Shear, a technology executive who formerly led live video gaming service Twitch. Greg Brockman, a president and co-founder of OpenAI, along with several company leaders, quit after Altmans removal. Some wrote on X, "OpenAI is nothing without its people." The Associated Press reported that several hundred OpenAI employees also signed a letter calling for the board to step down and Altman to return. Microsoft investment Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI in recent years. The company has supported the AI developers machine learning models with its knowledge and experience in building powerful computing machines. Both Microsoft chief Satya Nadella and OpenAIs Shear said they remain committed to their existing business partnership. Microsoft also announced on Monday that it had hired Altman, along with Brockman, to lead a new specialized AI research team at the company. Nadella wrote on X that he was extremely excited to bring on the former executives of OpenAI and looked forward to getting to know Shear and the rest of the leadership team. Altman wrote on X, the mission continues, while Brockman promised, We are going to build something new & it will be incredible. Altman became the face of a new generation of AI systems, called chatbots, that have captured a flood of media attention in recent years. Chatbots are designed to interact smoothly with humans and perform high-level writing. The technology is also known as generative AI. The launch and widespread popularity of OpenAIs ChatGPT tool started a wave of development in the field. In a statement on X, Shear dismissed media reports suggesting Altmans removal came because of disputes between top OpenAI leaders over the safety of the companys AI methods. Shear promised to hire an independent investigator to look into what led to Altmans ouster and offered to give a report within 30 days. Its clear that the process and communications around Sams removal has been handled very badly, which has seriously damaged our trust, wrote Shear. He noted he also plans in the coming weeks to reform the management and leadership team in light of recent departures into an effective force and speak with employees, investors and users of OpenAI products. Shear noted the reason behind the board removing Altman was not a specific disagreement on safety. Media reports have suggested disputes within OpenAIs leadership about the companys stated plans to safely build AI that is generally smarter than humans. On a podcast in June, Shear said he is generally optimistic about technology. But he noted he has serious concerns about a possible path to create systems that are a lot smarter than us and could endanger humans. Shear wrote that he had accepted the job because I believe that OpenAI is one of the most important companies currently in existence. Richard Windsor heads the British-based financial research company Radio Free Mobile. He told Reuters there had been conflicts between OpenAIs mission to build technology to help people and that of its investors, who have expected a financial return on their investments in the company. "This weekend was simply the detonation of a bomb that has been waiting to go off," Windsor said. Im Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. _____________________________________________ Words in This Story transparent adj. clear and easy to understand or recognize mission n. an important job or task, often involving travel to somewhere management n. being in control of a company or organization optimistic n. thinking in a positive way about something detonate v. to blow up Panda lovers in the United States are hopeful for the return of the bears following a comment from Chinese President Xi Jinping last week. Speaking at a dinner with American business leaders on Wednesday night, President Xi said, "We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples. The Chinese president added, I was told that many American people, especially children, were really reluctant to say goodbye to the pandas, and went to the zoo to see them off. Xis comment came just one week after the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. sent its three pandas Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and their cub, a baby panda, Xiao Qi Ji back to China. This is the second time this year that panda exchange agreements between the United States and China have ended. The last panda at the zoo in Memphis, Tennessee went home earlier this year. The San Diego Zoo returned its pandas in 2019. Now, the only pandas in the U.S. are at the Atlanta Zoo, but that agreement will expire next year. Many American observers of U.S.-China relations have thought that China was slowly taking its bears back in answer to unease with Western governments. But Xis comment at a dinner alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation raised the possibility of continuing panda diplomacy. Although Xi did not specifically provide information about returning pandas to the U.S., experts say his statement is a sure sign that the exchange program would be restarted. Dennis Wilder is a senior researcher at Georgetown Universitys Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues. He said that Xis statement suggests that talks with American zoos could begin again. Wilder said, "If I'm at the National Zoo, I'm probably contacting my counterpart and saying, 'Can we move forward now?'" Xi's comments about California could have been a result of his speaking in California, or because of California Governor Gavin Newsoms recent trip to China. Either way, officials at the San Diego Zoo are hopeful. Paul A. Baribault is the president of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. He said, We are excited to hear of President Xi's commitment in continuing the giant panda conservation efforts between our two countries, and his attention to the wish of Californians and the San Diego Zoo to see the return of giant pandas. History of Panda diplomacy The panda diplomacy program first started in 1972 with the arrival of Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing at the National Zoo. On November 8, the zoo returned its three pandas to China. Brandi Smith, the zoo director, said, It is a moment with some heartbreak in it. But it is also a moment of joy because we are celebrating the success of the world's longest running conservation program for a single species. When Le Le, a panda at the Memphis Zoo died suddenly in February, there was a strong reaction in China accusing Americans of mistreating the bears. Since then, people in China have been generally supportive of bringing all the bears back to China. Dennis Wilder said that the National Zoo would probably be chosen again because of its place in the U.S. capital and the 50 years of panda care experience. When it comes from the supreme leader in China, it moves, Wilder said. It will move fast now. Im Faith Pirlo. Ashraf Khalil reported this story for the Associated Press. Faith Pirlo adapted it for VOA Learning English. _______________________________________________ Words in This Story panda n. a large animal with black-and-white fur that looks like a bear and lives in China conservation n. an organized effort that aims to protect animals, plants and natural resources reluctant adj. unwilling to do something zoo n. a place where many kinds of animals are kept so that people can see them exchange v. to give something to someone and receive something similar in return counterpart n. someone who has the same job or position as someone in a different place or organization species n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants We want to hear from you. Our comment policy is here. Air Macau will resume its route from Macau to Jakarta from Nov. 28 with three flights per week. Flight numbers NX910 and NX909 are slated to operate every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Air Macau said the Jakarta routes launch is a major measure to actively respond to the call of the SAR government to coordinate the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and attract more international tourists to Macau. The local carrier said it is actively exploring the Indonesian market and gradually increasing the proportion of international passenger source markets. Related British driver Luke Browning (Hitech Pulse-Eight) is the newest Macau Formula 3 (F3) star after replicating his success at the Qualifying Race (Saturday) during Sundays final race. Starting from the pole position, Browning led a lights-to-flag race that was challenged on only two occasions initially at the start and later after an extended interruption due to Colombian Sebastian Montoyas crash at the Faraway Hill Bend, resulting in a red flag. The restart, with only 5 laps remaining, saw Browning retain his position firmly through Lisboa bend, where he established a lead over the second-place contender. He also benefited from a maneuver from Norwegian Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport) to secure second position, as pressure from Gabriele Mini (SJM Theodore Prema Racing) in third place was keeping Hauger occupied. The race and result seemed to be relaunched for the final laps until Hungarian Nikola Tsolov crashed at the Fishermens Bend, hitting the wall and severely damaging the left rear wheel of his car, which was only able to pull away from the turn by a few meters. Although the car was not in a concerning location, the Safety Car was nevertheless deployed to remove the car. But with three laps remaining, there was insufficient time to do so effectively. Despite the interesting beginning, the race concluded in the worst way possible, with cars lining up behind the Safety Car until the finish line. Brownings victory was nonetheless unquestionable, as he displayed control over the racing weekend with victories in both races and topping the Qualifying 2 session with a best time of 2 minutes 05.435 seconds. Nonetheless, the record of Guia Circuit for an F3 car remains with Estonian Juri Vips, who in 2019 scored a lap in 2 minutes 06.317seconds. This is due to a rule that only considers circuit records during the race, not the Qualifying sessions. This is a longstanding regulation established by local organizers and applies to all categories, including cars and motorcycles racing at the Guia Circuit. After the race, Browning said that the fact that the race lasted over 1:40 from start to finish was one of the challenges to maintaining concentration over an extended duration. However, he combatted any potential distraction or loss of focus with a very high degree of motivation to win the Macau race. He also praised the team for the car, saying that it was absolutely phenomenal all weekend, and has been an absolute pleasure to drive. Browning also noted that after the interruption, the track was very slippery in the Faraway Hill area due to the presence of silica sand, a compound used to quickly absorb liquids on the track released by Montoyas crash, whose car was severely damaged. ChatGPT-maker Open AI said Friday it has pushed out its co-founder and CEO Sam Altman after a review found he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board of directors. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company said in a statement. In the year since Altman catapulted ChatGPT to global fame, he has become Silicon Valleys sought-after voice on the promise and potential dangers of artificial intelligence and his sudden and mostly unexplained exit brought uncertainty to the industrys future. Mira Murati, OpenAIs chief technology officer, will take over as interim CEO effective immediately, the company said, while it searches for a permanent replacement. The announcement also said another OpenAI co-founder and top executive, Greg Brockman, the boards chairman, would step down from that role but remain at the company, where he serves as president. But later on X, formerly Twitter, Brockman posted a message he sent to OpenAI employees in which he wrote, based on todays news, i quit. In another X post on Friday night, Brockman said Altman was asked to join a video meeting at noon Friday with the companys board members, minus Brockman, during which OpenAI co-founder and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever informed Altman he was being fired. Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today, Brockman wrote, adding that he was informed of his removal from the board in a separate call with Sutskever a short time later. OpenAI declined to answer questions on what Altmans alleged lack of candor was about. The statement said his behavior was hindering the boards ability to exercise its responsibilities. Altman posted Friday on X: i loved my time at openai. it was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. most of all i loved working with such talented people. will have more to say about whats next later. In another post on X early Saturday morning, he called what happened a weird experience and thanked his followers for the outpouring of love. it has been sorta like reading your own eulogy while youre still alive, Altman wrote. The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the APs text archives. Altman helped start OpenAI as a nonprofit research laboratory in 2015. But it was ChatGPTs explosion into public consciousness that thrust Altman into the spotlight as a face of generative AI technology that can produce novel imagery, passages of text and other media. On a world tour this year, he was mobbed by a crowd of adoring fans at an event in London. Hes sat with multiple heads of state to discuss AIs potential and perils. Just Thursday, he took part in a CEO summit at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco, where OpenAI is based. He predicted AI will prove to be the greatest leap forward of any of the big technological revolutions weve had so far. He also acknowledged the need for guardrails, calling attention to the existential dangers future AI could pose. Some computer scientists have criticized that focus on far-off risks as distracting from the real-world limitations and harms of current AI products. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into whether OpenAI violated consumer protection laws by scraping public data and publishing false information through its chatbot. The company said its board consists of OpenAIs chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, and three nonemployees: Quora CEO Adam DAngelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner of the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology. OpenAIs key business partner, Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars into the startup and helped provide the computing power to run its AI systems, said that the transition wont affect its relationship. We have a long-term partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft remains committed to Mira and their team as we bring this next era of AI to our customers, said an emailed Microsoft statement. While not trained as an AI engineer, Altman, now 38, has been seen as a Silicon Valley wunderkind since his early 20s. He was recruited in 2014 to take lead of the startup incubator YCombinator. OpenAI started out as a nonprofit when it launched with financial backing from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and others. Its stated aims were to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return. That changed in 2018 when it incorporated a for-profit business Open AI LP, and shifted nearly all its staff into the business, not long after releasing its first generation of the GPT large language model for mimicking human writing. Around the same time, Musk, who had co-chaired its board with Altman, resigned from the board in a move that OpenAI said would eliminate a potential future conflict for Elon due to Teslas work on building self-driving systems. MATT OBRIEN, MDT/AP Former College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison for possession and distribution of child pornography. Wojahn, 48, pleaded guilty in August to 140 child pornography charges, according to online court records. His indictment charged him with possession, possession with intent to distribute and distribution of material that exploits children a mixture of misdemeanors and felonies with maximum penalties ranging from five to 10 years incarceration. Prince Georges County Circuit Judge Karen H. Mason on Monday sentenced him to 150 years in prison but suspended all but 30 years of it, according to the Prince Georges County States Attorneys Office and online court records. That means that if Wojahn violates the conditions of his eventual release, a judge could send him back to prison for up to 120 years. Mason tacked on five years of supervised probation upon Wojahns release from custody and ordered that he register as a sex offender. People convicted of nonviolent crimes in Maryland are eligible for parole after serving 25% of their sentence. Wojahns attorney, David H. Moyse, said Wojahn had agreed to the punishment as part of the plea agreement with prosecutors. It was a difficult day for him and his family, Moyse said of the sentencing. Like many child pornography cases, the investigation into Wojahn stems from a tip to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, a nonprofit. At a news conference following the sentencing hearing, Prince Georges County States Attorney Aisha N. Braveboy described Wojahns punishment as fair and instructive. It instructs us that child pornography is not simply about images. Its about the pain behind the images, the tragedies that have occurred in these young peoples lives that should never have happened to them, Braveboy said. No child deserves to be sexually abused. No child deserves for their images to be displayed on the internet or any platform for hundreds or thousands or possibly millions of people to view. Prince Georges County police said the National Center on Feb. 17 flagged a social media account, skippy_md, as having uploaded child pornography to the messaging app Kik in January. With a subpoena, detectives were able to trace the account to Wojahns government email address, according to police. Eleven days after receiving the notification, detectives searched Wojahns home, police said. They seized three cellphones, a storage device, a tablet and a computer. Police also said Wojahn admitted he owned the account during an interview with detectives while his house was being searched. Assistant States Attorney Monica Meyers told reporters at the news conference that investigators found videos and images of the exploitation of more than 500 children on Wojahns cellphone alone more children, she said, than attended the closest elementary school to the former mayors home. Tapping into a network of child abuse investigators from around the world, detectives and prosecutors were able to identify 52 of the children who were exploited, Meyers said, and several victims provided impact statements that prosecutors read aloud in court. This is not a victimless crime, Meyers said. It impacts these children today and for the rest of their lives. Braveboy said Wojahn appeared to have accepted responsibility for his conduct by pleading guilty to all 140 counts. The judge expressed in court that she believed his remorse was genuine, Moyse said. He appreciated her recognition of his genuine remorse, Moyse said. Hes focused on doing what he can to rehabilitate himself and make this up to the people that love and support him. Wojahn, once a popular progressive politician, was first elected to the College Park City Council in 2007. He went on to become mayor in 2015, serving for seven years until resigning abruptly on the eve of his arrest. He cited the search warrant in his March 2 resignation letter. While this investigation does not involve any official city business of any kind, it is in the best interests of our community that I step aside and not serve as a distraction, Wojahn wrote. He said he was stepping down to deal with my own mental health and asked the public to keep him and his family in their prayers. A Chinese court will hold hearings on claims for compensation for the Chinese relatives of people who died on a Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared in 2014 on a flight to Beijing, a representative of the families said Friday. Jiang Hui, whose mother was on flight MH370, wrote on his Weibo social media account that he had received a notice that court hearings would begin Nov. 27. The hearings are expected to continue until mid-December, Jiang said. I hope Chinas laws can bring justice to the families who have not received a penny of compensation or an apology in the past 10 years, Jiang wrote. The disappearance of 239 lives, including 154 Chinese people, is a shame. After almost a decade, the fate of the plane and its passengers remains a mystery. Various theories have emerged, but scant evidence has been found to show why the plane diverted from its original route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane is believed to have plunged into the Southern Ocean south of India. Given the continuing mystery surrounding the case, it remains unclear what financial obligations the airline may have and no charges have been brought against the flight crew. However, relatives say they wish for some compensation for a disaster that deprived them of their loved ones and placed them in financial difficulty. Chinas largely opaque legal system offers wide latitude for judges to issue legal or financial penalties when criminal penalties cannot be brought. The case is expected to be heard in Beijings main Chaoyang District Intermediary Court, according to online postings, but no information was immediately available on the courts website. Similar cases brought in the U.S. against the airline, its holding company and insurer have been dismissed on the basis that such matters should be handled by the Malaysian legal system. MDT/AP Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is meeting with senior U.S. military leaders and members of Hawaiis large Filipino community this weekend in a visit steeped in geopolitical and personal significance for the leader, but also drawing protests from a younger generation of Filipinos who point to the actions of his dictator father who died in exile in Hawaii. Marcos, who stopped in Hawaii on his way home from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, connected Saturday evening with members of Hawaiis large Filipino-American community before a planned Sunday meeting with Adm. John Aquilino, the top U.S. military commander in the Indo-Pacific region. Marcos is then due to deliver a talk about his nations security challenges and the role of the Philippines-U.S. alliance. Protesters gathered outside the community meeting and at the airport where he landed. Marcos trip comes at a time when the U.S. and the Philippines have been deepening their long-standing alliance in a shift after Marcos predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, nurtured cozy ties with China and Russia. The Philippines this year agreed to give the U.S. access to four more bases as America looks to deter Chinas increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. In April, the two countries held their largest military exercises in decades. But the trip also likely has personal resonance for the leader of the Philippines. His father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, died in exile in Honolulu after he was ousted in a 1986 army-backed people power uprising. Many Filipino immigrants in Hawaii also hail from same part of the Philippines as Marcos and revere him and his family. Filipinos are the largest single ethnic group in Hawaii, accounting for 26% of the states population as of the 2020 census. Winfred Damo, who immigrated to Honolulu from Marcos province of Ilocos Norte in 1999, said being Ilocano means we always support the Marcoses. The 58-year-old helped campaign for Marcos Jr. in Hawaii and said the president is a different person than his father and from a different era. Philippine nationals living abroad can vote in elections back home. We have a better government now in the Philippines, he said. Marcoses are good people. They did a lot in our country and they are the best. Not all are Marcos fans. Arcy Imasa organized a protest outside the convention center where Marcos met with community members on Saturday. Her aim was to help younger Filipinos learn his familys history. Marcos father placed the Philippines under martial rule in 1972, a year before his term was to expire. He also padlocked Congress, ordered the arrest of political rivals and left-wing activists and ruled by decree. A Hawaii court found the senior Marcos liable for human rights violations and awarded $2 billion from his estate to compensate more than 9,000 Filipinos who filed a lawsuit against him for torture, incarceration, extrajudicial killings and disappearances. Imasa, 40, who is part of Hawaii Filipinos for Truth, Justice and Democracy and grew up in the Ilocos province of Pangasinan, said the mindset of many Filipinos in Hawaii is fixed, especially those of older generations. Theyre not on the right side of history. Theyre not fully aware of the crimes that transpired, she said. Satu Limaye, the vice president of the East-West Center, noted the U.S. and the Philippines have a long, complicated relationship. He pointed to years when the U.S. ruled the archipelago as a colony, when the two nations signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951 and when the U.S. military withdrew from major bases in the country in the 1990s. Duterte was often critical of the U.S., at times questioning the value of the alliance and demanding more military aid to preserve the pact. Under Marcos there has been a 180-degree turn and a massive change in cooperation and coordination with the U.S., Limaye said. China has laid sweeping territorial claims over virtually the entire South China Sea, areas also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China has clashed with its smaller neighbors and subsequently drawn in the U.S., which is Manilas treaty ally and Chinas main rival in the Asia-Pacific region. Washington and its allies have deployed navy ships and fighter aircraft to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, build up deterrence and reassure allies. JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER & AUDREY McAVOY, HONOLULU, MDT/AP ATLANTA Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a "full partnership." Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to President Carter sometimes referred to her privately as "co-president." "Rosalynn is my best friend ... the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life," Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981. Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Rosalynn Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-thescenes influence. When her role in a highly publicized Cabinet shakeup became known, she was forced to declare publicly, "I am not running the government." Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husband's they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanor and a soft Southernaccent , inspired Washington reporters to call her "the Steel Magnolia." Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carter's landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington. Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights. She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit U.S. wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics. Signature issues Throughout her husband's political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media didn't cover those eff orts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticized reporters for writing only about "sexy subjects." As honorary chairwoman of the President's Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying, "We've been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach." She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husband's campaigns for Georgia governor. "I used to come home and say to Jimmy, 'Why are people telling me their problems?' And he said, 'Because you may be the only person they'll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them,'" she explained. After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Rosalynn Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, Georgia, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives. "I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles," she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, "First Lady from Plains." But "we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before." After the White House After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn cofounded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work. She chaired the center's annual symposium on mental health issues and raised funds for eff orts to aid the mentally ill and homeless. She also wrote "Helping Yourself Help Others," about the challenges of caring for elderly or ailing relatives, and a sequel, "Helping Someone With Mental Illness." Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. "I get tired," she said of her travels. "But something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and there's no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing it's so wonderful." In 2015, Jimmy Carter's doctors discovered four small tumors on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she didn't know what she was going to do. "I depend on him when I have questions, when I'm writing speeches, anything, I consult with him," she said. Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived U.S. president. Rosalynn Carter was the second-longest-lived of the nation's first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at age 97. Prosecutors say a man crashed his truck through a secure gate at La Crosse Regional Airport and drove circles around a private jet as it readied for takeoff Nov. 11 before ultimately boarding it and threatening the crew. The bizarre series of events is detailed in a criminal complaint filed Nov. 13 in La Crosse County Circuit Court about how the 31-year-old Wallace, Idaho, man entered the jet more than once before he allegedly took it over and threatened to blow it up. Cody A. Anderson faces felony charges of attempted armed carjacking, attempted armed robbery, making terror threats, making a bomb scare and failure to comply with an officer, and a misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property. According to the complaint, Anderson walked into the office at Colgan Air Services shortly before 3 p.m. He exited through a service door and walked toward an aircraft that was being prepped for flight. A Colgan employee inside the aircraft told police Anderson was carrying bags and a backpack and was making a direct line toward the plane. The employee told police that Andersons presence was unusual because there were no other planes around but also said its not out of the ordinary for a passenger to board the wrong plane. The employee told police that Anderson walked into the aircraft, muttered something about forgetting his charger, exited the plane and returned to the Colgan office. By that time, the employee said the aircraft was ready for takeoff. The employee told police he and another employee carried Andersons bags off the plane due to their unknown contents. The complaint says Anderson noticed his belongings had been brought back inside the office. He picked up his bags and attempted to access the tarmac through a secure door but was denied. He then lit a cigarette and sat down before an employee asked him to leave and escorted him from the building. The employee then called police. Anderson then reportedly got into his truck and plowed through a secured gate and onto the tarmac. Two employees inside the aircraft attempted to exit but stayed inside after seeing Anderson drive in circles around the plane. The complaint says Andersons vehicle came close to striking the wings several times. Fast shutdown An employee conducted a fast shutdown of the plane, and the two employees exited after Anderson drove away from the aircraft for an instant. Anderson then returned to the airplane, parked his truck and entered the unoccupied aircraft. The complaint says an employee noticed the cockpit lights came on shortly after Anderson boarded the plane. When officers arrived, Anderson activated a button that pulls up the entrance/exit steps. Police observed Anderson sitting in the captains chair and determined he could have gained full control of the aircraft had he known how to start it. An employee activated a switch under the nose of the plane that returned the entrance steps back to the ground. Anderson then pulled the steps back up and kept the steps closed for the next 8 to 10 minutes until the cabin switch could be overridden. The aircraft was later completely disabled when airport workers disconnected the main battery supply to the jet. Wielding knife After police officers identified themselves, Anderson reportedly emerged from the cockpit armed with a fixed-blade knife. When police told him to drop the knife, he reportedly responded by saying, Nope. He also reportedly said, Im a suicide bomber and I will cut you. Police deployed a bean bag projectile to disable Anderson. He was taken into custody a short time later. Anderson is being held in the La Crosse County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond with conditions of no contact with Colgan Air Services and no possession of any weapons, including knives. Anderson also faces charges in Vernon County, where he reportedly drove through a cornfield Oct. 31 and damaged property. He was released on a $1,000 cash bond. Charges have yet to be filed in the case. The Kenosha Police Department released its use of force investigation into controversial arrests of a Black couple inside an Applebees restaurant over the summer, with two officers involved receiving temporary suspensions. On July 20 about 11 p.m., officers from the Kenosha Police Department responded to the intersection of Highway 31 (Green Bay Road) and Highway 50 for a report of rollover collision involving two vehicles. Occupants of one of the vehicles fled the scene. The suspect in the hit-and-run was eventually located hiding in a nearby Applebees restaurant. As many people have seen, two other individuals, Jermelle English and Shanya Boyd, were also taken into custody during the course of the investigation, according to a prepared statement from the department released Friday. Neither English nor Boyd were involved in the crash. Force was used in affecting those arrests, which in turn automatically triggered an internal review of this incident, the statement reads. After an exhaustive review by our department and the West Allis Police Department, we identified violations of Kenosha Police Department policy committed by both Officer (Luke) Courtier and Officer (Michael) Vences. Vences received a four-day suspension as it was determined that the initial force used by Vences was reasonable but that he should have re-evaluated the effectiveness of those strikes and considered other options to overcome Mr. Englishs resistance. He also, according to the department, failed to complete a report that met the standards of the Kenosha Police Department. Courtier received a 10-day suspension. The investigation found that Officer Courtier failed to decontaminate Ms. Boyd after utilizing pepper spray and did not meet the standards of the Kenosha Police Department in regard to professional communication, the safe operation of department vehicles and report writing, the statement reads. In addition to the suspension time, both officers are receiving supplemental training to correct the deficiencies that were identified in their response to this situation, according to the department. The Kenosha Police Department is committed to providing the highest quality service to its citizens and guests. We strive to train our officers to the highest standard and will hold them accountable if they fall short of those standards, the statement reads. The Kenosha Police Department will not be commenting further on this investigation. Thank you for your patience and understanding while this incident was under review. Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton released an 11 minute video on social media regarding the incident and department policies on Friday alongside the prepared department statement. At a September meeting Police and Fire Commission meeting, Patton said video footage of the incident, including from police body cameras, would be released to the public. Those materials were released Friday. Patton said video posted on social media taken by a restaurant employee over the summer is not the entire story and misinformation has been shared with the public. Patton said the child was not sprayed with pepper spray inside the restaurant. He also said officers did not randomly profile the couple and were called to the restaurant by the manager. Once they arrived they received conflicting information from both parties. We appreciate the communitys patience while we have been conducting multiple reviews of what occurred, Patton said. I personally called for a review by an outside agency in the interest of complete transparency, along with our own thorough internal affairs review. All of the video in its entirety is available for the public to see. The outside use of force review was conducted by West Allis Police Department Lt. James Cato. The use of force by the officers was objectively reasonable and justified as they successfully detained and arrested the subjects due to the directly relevant information provided, their non-cooperation, active resistance, continued resistance, and assaultive behavior, employing their presence, dialog, control, and protective alternatives, the report reads. Activists concerned Leaders from local organizations including the NAACP Kenosha Branch and social justice group Leaders of Kenosha, have strongly criticized the actions of officers, who they said brutalized and unnecessarily detained English, 24, and traumatized his partner Boyd, now 22, and their baby boy inside the Applebees. The matter has sparked headlines across the region and English and Boyd have retained legal counsel. The Zion, Ill., couple held a press conference at the Applebees in August. When reached for comment Friday on the latest developments, Tanya McLean, executive director of Leaders of Kenosha, said she is deeply disappointed that the officers were not let go from the force. I wish I could say I was surprised, McLean said, adding that she believes Patton and the department victim-blamed and shamed English and Boyd after experiencing police brutality in a public eatery. At the end of the day there was still no de-escalation. The situation was handled poorly, McLean said, adding she believes the couple had no reason to speak with officers when questioned about a hit-and-run. All they had to do was sit there and enjoy their meals as paying patrons of a restaurant. ... At the end of the day a family was harmed. McLean said Black residents fear such experiences and said the couple is still traumatized. Anthony Davis, president of the local NAACP, said Friday he is disappointed with the findings. This situation could have been dealt with a lot better, Davis said, adding that he recently spoken with Patton. Davis called for more de-escalation training in the department. Veronica King, past president of the local NAACP and state chair of the criminal justice committee of the NAACP of Wisconsins Conference of Branches, expressed her anger over the matter. King said shes calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Kenosha Police Department. Im going to make a formal request that they investigate the Kenosha Police Department thoroughly, King said. Im very upset. Individuals facing charges According to court documents, around 11 p.m., police went into the Applebees at 6950 Green Bay Road and saw a couple who appeared to match the descriptions of a man and woman who fled the nearby crash site and entered the restaurant. Both English and Boyd were charged with resisting officers and disorderly conduct. Boyd also was charged with possession of marijuana. Both their cases are making their way through Kenosha County Circuit Court and they have pretrial hearing for their misdemeanor charges February 2024. A suspect in the crash that triggered the police search, Jamonte Wright, 17, of Kenosha, has been charged with felony hit-and-run involving injury. He was found hiding in the restaurant bathroom. An arraignment in his case is set for next week. Big Tech loses bid to toss lawsuits alleging social media platforms harmed children, the New York Post blared last week. Social media companies must face youth addiction lawsuits, US judge rules, Reuters wrote. Such news coverage of the order from Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers suggests the tech companies mostly lost. But from my perspective as a Yale University law professor, Silicon Valley mostly won. Yes, Judge Rogers let stand a significant fraction of the claims in the hundreds of lawsuits that have been consolidated in her courtroom. But the most spectacular allegations that social media addicts teens and damages their health were mostly dismissed. The lawsuits at issue were filed by parents, organizations and state attorneys general against the companies behind Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat. The defendants moved to dismiss, under the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Judge Rogers dismissed a large chunk of the lawsuit but allowed a number of claims to go forward. Along the way, addiction practically vanished from the case. Just go through the allegations. The biggies Use of algorithms to promote addictive engagement and Timing and clustering of notifications of third-party content in a way that promotes addiction are barred by Section 230, writes Judge Rogers. Why? Because theyre the sort of things publishers do. They want your attention. They work to keep it. Thats quintessential publishing behavior. The judge's opinion picks up on precisely the weakest part of the argument that social media addicts us. The difficulty isnt whether the premise is true. Its whether the premise is punishable. Nobody thinks a traditional publisher is at fault for doing all it can to keep fans sufficiently hooked that theyll buy millions of copies of the next volume of "A Song and Ice and Fire" when it comes out. Or that the producers of "Succession" acted wrongfully when they structured the tale so that viewers could scarcely wait to find out what would happen next. What Judge Rogers left in place were a number of theories about product liability that the companies knew their services carried some risk, but failed to either mitigate it or warn users. Theres some meat there, to be sure. The plaintiffs will be allowed to argue, for instance, that the defendants make it too hard to close accounts, and that they should offer more robust parental controls. If youre struggling to raise children in the face of the online onslaught, these are far from trivial issues, and the tech companies should be ashamed of themselves. But the product liability counts bear only a tenuous connection to the central claim of the lawsuits: that social media addicts the young. Im not arguing against the substantial body of evidence suggesting that social media can be addictive, especially in youngsters. A 2022 paper in the American Economic Review estimated that 31% of social media use stems from lack of self-control. Lots of people want to cut back but struggle. The problem is genuine. But not every problem can be fixed by filing a lawsuit. Judge Rogers is correct in her view that Section 230 protects social media platforms when they act like publishers. And despite the steady drumbeat that the provision needs repeal or extensive revision, Im among those who tremble at the thought of what government officials would do once granted broad authority over online content. What, then, is to be done? Call me an optimistic pessimist. Because Judge Rogers preserved the product liability counts, the tech companies will likely seek a settlement under which theyll implement better parental controls and ease the task of users who wish to delete their accounts. Such changes regulate not a scintilla of content, yet should be helpful to concerned parents. The challenge of addiction, alas, is far too large to be fixed by a court. A Burley man was killed early Monday morning when he was struck by a vehicle while walking in the roadway near Red Cap Corner in Twin Falls County, police say. The 33-year-old was walking east at 4:05 a.m. in the westbound lane of travel at milepost 0.03 of Idaho Highway 50 when he was hit by a minivan driven by a 53-year-old Hansen woman, according to the Idaho State Police. The man died at the scene. The driver, who was wearing a seatbelt, was not transported to a hospital. The Idaho State Police is investigating the crash. House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel of Boise has an invitation for those who are fed up with right-wing politics, or the continued divisions within the Republican Party. Join the Idaho Democratic Party, she says. We are the party of common sense. The goal of our leadership is to be the adults in the room. Well lets be honest. Idaho is not about to become a blue state, or even the lightest shade of purple, anytime soon. Former Gov. Cecil Andrus made serious inroads in the power structure, helping Democrats to a tie for control of the Idaho Senate in the early 1990s, but the Gem State quickly swung back to the Republican side. The Republican stronghold seems secure, with the new people moving to Idaho being at least as conservative as those who live here. But with the constant strife within the GOP between the libertarian wing and those traditional Republicans who are not viewed as not conservative enough it shouldnt be surprising to see Democrats trying to attract those who are more centrist in their political thinking. People who were Reagan Republicans or Romney Republicans should be thinking hard about whether they should be switching over to support Idaho Democrats, Rubel says. Quote The goal of our leadership is to be the adults in the room. Ilana Rubel, Idaho House Minority Leader Todays Republican Party is not the GOP that existed 30 years ago, she says. Republicans used to stand against government overreach you dont have the government micromanaging every aspect of your life telling you how to raise your kids, what clothes to wear or what books to read. The Democratic Party is opposed to all of that. Were very much in favor of freedom of choice. She chides Republicans for spending so much time on issues such as banning drag shows and certain library books. Democrats, she says, are more focused on the basics such as making sure bridges are safe, that roads are repaired, that schools are providing a good education and that teachers are being decently paid. That has been our agenda all along, she says. Of course, thats tough to penetrate through the right wing, because they have a much bigger megaphone. What were bringing is middle-of-the-road stuff that just about every Idahoan would support providing hearing aids for deaf kids, sealing court records for non-violent minor offenses so people can get jobs and housing, loan forgiveness for teachers to go to rural areas and dental coverage for those in extreme poverty. Rubel suggests this years session would have been more productive if the Legislature approved Gov. Brad Littles budget in January, then gone home. Of course, nothing like that was going to happen. And the drama is continuing with Republican central committees calling out legislators for actions that violate the partys platform. Rubel says such activity does not happen on the Democratic side. Its profoundly inappropriate, she says. These folks were elected by the people in their districts, not the central committees. Who needs to have elected officials if all they are supposed to do is be a rubber stamp for the party central committee, or the state chair? You might as well have a robot there. Democrats get called out by pro-life advocates for extreme positions on abortions. But Rubel argues that people, at least on that issue, would be better served under Democratic policies. Idaho women, and fetuses, are not served well by Republican-led bans on abortions, which already have driven some doctors and specialists out of the state. The perception is that Democrats want abortions through the eighth month, and thats total nonsense, Rubel says. Even with that, there are extreme health conditions that even the most pro-life of people would support for an abortion finding out there is no skull or brain, or no possibility of a fetus surviving. But they have the microphone. They control talk radio and the right-wing news outlets, and we get very few opportunities to defend ourselves. And those dynamics wont change at any point soon; the culture is on the side of Republicans, regardless of the brand. But Rubel makes convincing points to folks who are more in the center of the political spectrum the ones who do not have the loudest voice in the political process. Max Black, an Idaho state representative from 1992 to 2006, and who died at Boise on Nov. 10, was a good state legislator. I knew at the time, as I watched him at the statehouse, that he was a good legislator, but only years after he served did I piece together some of the important reasons why, and those reasons had nothing to do with the Legislature as such. Quote His enthusiasm, persistence and refusal to accept anything less than the best evidence before deciding on what the story really is: These are useful qualities for a state legislator ... Max was cheerful, enthusiastic, seldom critical or downbeat (in my observation), and unlike many elected officials did not seem to be a great self-promoter. He was a well-regarded legislator, though, across the chamber and among people (such as lobbyists and reporters) around it. His reputation was made on the basis of careful work and maintaining good personal relationships. Throwing shade or red meat was nowhere near his style. So what drove Max, if not the usually expected personal aggrandizement? I got my first clue of that one day in 2012, years after his days in elected office, when my cellphone rang while I happened to be walking through the Idaho Statehouse. It was an out-of-the-blue call from Max, who I hadnt seen for some years. His reason for the call: Knowing that I published books, he wanted to talk about a book proposal. (A disclaimer: I am the publisher of the book Im about to describe.) Ive fielded a number of such book pitch calls over the years, but this one was different from most. After leaving the Legislature, Max became deeply interested in regional history, to the point of taking extensive efforts to research it from original people and materials. He became captivated by the well-known southern Idaho murder case, from the late 19th century, of Diamondfield Jack Davis, who was convicted and nearly (and more than once) hanged for the killing of two sheepmen. Books had been written before about Davis (I had even read one), and their writers included ample speculation but also lots of blank area when it came to important facts of the case and Davis life. I asked Max why he wanted to write a new one. His answer was stunning. He had investigated the case from scratch, walking the desert landscape and visiting people in the region to find obscure clues. His persistence led him to the point of locating the firearm and one of the bullets involved in the murder case, and unlike anyone previously he had pieced together the evidence that Davis not only did not but could not have committed the crime and he had developed nearly conclusive evidence about who did. He even unearthed new information about what became of Davis in his later years, and scotched a number of spurious stories. He convinced me. We brought the book, called Diamondfield: Finding the Real Jack Davis, into publication the next year, and from that year to this, Max has been a tireless promoter of it: His enthusiasm for the work he does has been as great as anyone Ive known. He also has been doing ongoing research into other obscure corners of western history, and he often has shared unexpected tales from the old, and sometimes not so old, intermountain west. His persistence and ingenuity, and ability to find help and leverage information, was remarkable. Thats not all there was to him, of course. An obituary said that, He found joy in creating pens, trains, violins, boxes and really almost anything out of wood and giving his creations away or donating them for others to enjoy. That, too, would fit with the Max Black I saw in the context of his book. His enthusiasm, persistence and refusal to accept anything less than the best evidence before deciding on what the story really is: These are useful qualities for a state legislator, or anyone in a position of public responsibility. Other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand should emulate the Philippines in helping smokers by providing them access to less harmful alternatives to cigarettes that would reduce their exposure to toxic substances, according to a regional consumer advocate. Asa Saligupta, director of ENDS Cigarette Smoke Thailand (ECST), said Thailands prohibition of smoking alternatives only drove these products into an unregulated underground market, depriving the government of revenue and compelling consumers to continue smoking. He underscored the importance of regulating these products and cautioned against an outright ban due to the potential rise of a black market that dodges taxes and fails to meet product quality standards. If you ban it, be careful of black market, and make sure you have enough resources to deal with all the repercussions that the ban brings, Saligupta said in a recent discussion on vapes. Saligupta said smoking remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death worldwide, claiming over 8 million lives annually, while there is no evidence of vaping causing a consumers death in Thailand or the Philippines. He said Thailand should examine the Philippines case, where a vape law was passed in recognition of the role of tobacco harm reduction (THR) in combating smoking. THR involves the use of less harmful alternatives, primarily electronic delivery products like vapes, to mitigate the health impact of combustible tobacco. Saligupta said that within Southeast Asia, Thailand has the strictest regulations against vaping, while the Philippines is offering consumers the option to choose less harmful alternatives to move away from smoking. The Philippines is the first Southeast Asian country to enact a vape law that regulates the sale and use of electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco and other smoke-free products for adult consumers, which have been found in studies in the UK to be at least 95-percent less harmful than traditional cigarettes. Republic Act 11900, known as the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, became law in 2022. The law regulates the importation, sale, packaging, distribution, use and communication of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products, as well as novel tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products. Saligupta noted the contrast between Thailand where importing, distributing and manufacturing vapes is illegal, while smoking is permitted. He recalled that Thailand banned vapes and other smoke-free alternatives in 2014, resulting in the arrest of local vapers and foreign tourists seeking less harmful products. This discouraged smokers from switching to innovative alternatives. When the ban started, all the vape-related products went underground, he said. The ban on vaping also kept the prevalence of smoking high in Thailand, with 13 million smokers as a result, according to Saligupta, who quit 37 years of smoking with the help of e-cigarettes. He noted that ECST has a significant number of members actively advocating for the bans removal. Saligupta, said the ban on vapes kept smoking prevalence in Thailand high at 13 million smokers because they were not given other alternatives. Saligupta said that Dr. Prakit Vathesatogit of Action on Smoking and Health Foundation Thailand (ASH Thailand), a former World Health Organization (WHO) worker, has initiated discussions in Parliament to lift the vaping ban and instead regulate electronic cigarettes. The vaping ban in Thailand made international headlines when a foreign tourist from France was arrested for having an e-cigarette and asked to pay a fine in exchange for her passport. An extortion case involving a Taiwanese celebrity caught in possession of vaping device also resulted in the imprisonment of four police officers. A study by a university professor estimated that the vaping ban in Thailand in 2014 involved about six billion baht worth of electronic cigarettes and other alternatives each year, which doubled in the subsequent years, creating a significant underground economy. And thats the annual underground economy that was going around, he said. So were looking at about 30 billion, 40 billion baht per year. Saligupta said that Thailand has one of the strictest tobacco control laws in the world. We are like the poster child of the WHO. Those doctors were so proud of how Thailand was going to ban all vapes, and were expecting other countries to do the same, he said. He said, however, that the vaping ban has, in reality, contributed to the high prevalence of smoking in Thailand, as smokers were compelled to continue smoking and penalized for seeking better alternatives. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas endorsed former President Donald Trump on Sunday in an appearance near the southern border, echoing Trumps talk about an existential crisis of illegal immigration. Im here to tell you that there is no way, no way that America can continue under the leadership of Joe Biden as our president, Abbott said in Edinburg, Texas, after he and Trump greeted Border Patrol agents. We need a president whos going to secure the border. We need a president whos going to restore law and order in the United States of America. Abbott, a three-term governor with a strongly conservative record, castigated Biden for reversing Trump-era policies that had expedited deportations and required asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting hearings, and claimed that Biden was facilitating terrorism. Abbott has taken extraordinary measures on border crossings during the Biden administration including putting razor wire along the border and buoys in the Rio Grande that have injured many migrants. Under his administration, Texas has also bused tens of thousands of newly arrived migrants around the country, frequently to big cities run by Democrats. His aggressive policies align him closely with Trump, whose plans if elected to a second term include detaining immigrants living in the country illegally in camps, relying on a form of expulsion that doesnt involve due process hearings, and deputizing local police officers and National Guard troops from Republican-led states to carry out immigration raids. Trump took to the microphone after the endorsement and gave an unusually short speech: just 10 minutes, compared with his 75-minute address in Iowa on Saturday and nearly two hours in New Hampshire last weekend. Trumps appearance at the border did not bear resemblance to his typical campaign events this year, and it was not widely open to supporters. Were going to make the governors job very easy, he said, suggesting that his immigration policies would remove the need for Abbott to handle the issue and claiming falsely that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had never visited the border. Our country is going to hell, he added, before returning to familiar territory of demonizing his political opponents: We have some people that either they dont care, theyre not very smart or they hate our country, and nobody really knows the answer. Both this weekend and last, he had railed at length against Biden and vowed vengeance upon his opponents, whom he described as vermin who posed a greater threat to the country than any outside force rhetoric reminiscent of fascist dictators like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Trump has received endorsements from a number of Republican governors in addition to Abbott, including Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, Henry McMaster of South Carolina and Kristi Noem of South Dakota. However, he did not secure the endorsement of Gov. Kim Reynolds, Iowas popular governor, who is instead backing Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. c.2023 The New York Times Company Manulife Philippines announced the appointment of Sailesh Nalinakshan as the companys new chief agency officer (CAO) and Grace Mallabo as new chief health and product officer (CHPO). Sailesh Nalinakshan, as CAO, expands his previous role as Manulife Philippines head of agency transformation and strategy, where he led the development and execution of the companys new agency operating model. In his new role, he will continue empowering Manulifes thousands-strong agency force, anchored on strategies that bolster initiatives on digitalization, sales and productivity, talent recruitment and development, training and data analytics-based planning and decision-making. Prior to joining the Philippine leadership team, Nalinakshan was based in Hong Kong as part of Manulifes Asia distribution team. We are happy to welcome Sailesh as he brings his extensive experience in distribution management into his new role, leading our Philippines agency team and bringing our distribution network to the next level, said Rahul Hora, president and chief executive of Manulife Philippines. As depth, expansion, and quality continue to be key enablers for our bigger and bolder growth ambitions, his strategic vision and leadership will play a pivotal role in strengthening our agency distribution channels and driving our growth trajectory for years ahead, Hora said. Meanwhile, Grace Mallabo will spearhead Manulife Philippines health strategy, product development and management, and in-force management to help meet the growing demand among Filipinos for life insurance solutions that can support their health and wellness journey, while providing them protection and financial security in the future. With Mallabo at the helm, Manulife Philippines aims to create more innovative, accessible and relevant products and maximize customer lifetime value through effective in-force management and product innovations that are tailor-fit to Filipinos evolving behavior and priorities. Prior to joining Manulife, she had nearly two decades of professional experience in the insurance industry, with a strong track record in strategy, product management, and health business leadership. Graces leadership will be crucial in driving Manulife Philippines goals to bridge the countrys protection gap. Given her vast experience developing innovative life and health solutions that can help enrich peoples lives, we are excited to welcome her to our growing winning team as we deliver on our goals for our customers and the communities we serve, said Hora. Philippine Airlines (PAL) said Monday said it will increase its flight frequency between Manila and Toronto by April next year to meet the growing travel demand. The airline unit of businessman Lucio Tan said it would introduce a third-weekly nonstop frequency on its Manila-Toronto route on April 5, 2024. The 50-percent increase in capacity aims to meet growing travel demand to and from the Canadian East Coast region, as part of a long-term investment by the Philippine flag carrier in developing business and tourist travel flows between Canada and the Philippines. PAL said with three-weekly frequencies to choose from between Manila and Toronto, passengers would gain added flexibility to structure their travel plans. PALs current twice-weekly service departs every Wednesday and Sunday from Manila and Toronto. Our expansion of flights to Toronto highlights the importance of the Canadian market in the Philippine Airlines network. We want to make it easier for businesses to establish commercial relations, for Canadians to plan holiday trips to the Philippines, and for Filipino Canadians to visit their families back in the homeland, said PAL chief commercial officer Eric David Anderson. Canada is among the top ten sources of foreign tourists to the Philippines, with more than 180,000 Canadians visiting the Philippines during the first ten months of 2023. Additionally, the new frequencies will bolster connectivity between Southeast Asia and Canada via PALs Manila hub, he said. The Filipino community in Canada is estimated at over 350,000 ethnic Filipinos in Ontario province. Toronto is the gateway to Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes and other areas in the Eastern seaboard. PAL is the only airline offering nonstop flights between the Philippines and Canada and also serves Vancouver with daily flights from its Manila hub. Other points across Canada such as Edmonton, Winnipeg and Calgary are served via PALs codeshare partner WestJet. PAL operates the Toronto services with the new-generation Airbus A350-900, a long-range jetliner that accommodates 295 passengers across a tri-class layout with 30 passengers in Business Class, 24 in Premium Economy, and 241 in Economy. We are thrilled that Philippine Airlines is increasing frequency between Toronto and Manila, a destination in very high demand, said Greater Toronto Airports Authority chief commercial officer Khalil Lamrabet. With this additional flight, more passengers will be able to fly directly, reducing their total travel time by more than 25 percent compared to a connecting itinerary, Lamrabet. Canada recently included the Philippines in the electronic travel authorization (eTA) program, allowing Philippine passport holders to travel to Canada visa-free provided they hold a valid U.S. visa or have been issued a Canadian tourist visa in the last 10 years. Canada recently opened its borders to more immigrants, workers, and students and has seen steady growth of Filipinos in both Toronto and Vancouver. Jakarta, Indonesia A collision between a train and a minibus at a level crossing in the east of Indonesias most populous island Java on Sunday killed at least 11 people and injured several others, an official told local media. The train was travelling towards the port city of Surabaya when it hit a minibus carrying a dozen passengers at a crossing in the East Java city of Lumajang at around 8:00 pm (1300 GMT), broadcaster Kompas TV reported. Ten died on location, and one (died) at a community health centre after receiving treatment, acting Lumajang district head Indah Wahyuni told the network. She said four people including a child were being treated at a local hospital, adding it was unclear if they were related. At the time, there were no railway cross bars, so there were no signs that could give information to the driver, a Kompas TV journalist said after the accident. Images showed an overturned blue minibus with victims being carried away on medical beds. Anwar Yuli Prastyo, a local official from government-owned train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia, told Kompas the train proceeded on its journey after the accident. Transport accidents are not uncommon in Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation where buses, trains and even planes are often old and badly maintained. In 2015, a collision between a commuter train and a minibus on a level crossing in the capital Jakarta killed 16 people. In 2013, seven people were killed and scores more injured when a commuter train collided with a fuel tanker at a level crossing in Jakarta and burst into flames. President Marcos has secured US$672.3 million in investment pledges from various sectors during his successful participation in the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting and related activities in San Francisco, California last week, the Palace said in a statement Monday. The investment pledges secured are US$400 million for the telecommunications sector; US$250 million for semiconductors and electronics, US$20 million for pharmaceutical and healthcare, US$2 million for artificial intelligence (AI) in weather forecasting, and US$300,000 for renewable energy. Mr. Marcos also secured significant commitments in technological advancements across key priority sectors in the Philippines, which include the deployment of the first two Internet MicroGEO satellites dedicated to the Philippines. He also received technology-related commitments particularly in the development of Asias largest AI-driven weather forecasting program for the Philippines, bolstering the countrys resilience against climate change through the agreement between the Department of Science and Technology and the US-based company, Atmo. Also among the commitments concluded during Marcos APEC participation is the Philippines inaugural specialty oncology hospital that will enhance service efficiency and accessibility for Filipino patients seeking cancer care, which was the subject of an agreement between Ayala Corporation Health and Varian Medical Systems. The first US FDA-approved manufacturing facility in the Philippines, which will bolster the countrys global pharmaceutical industry presence, through an agreement between Lloyd Laboratories and Difgen, was also secured. The agreement covering the first phase of a project on sustainable energy, which will provide affordable and reliable power access through the agreement between Meralco and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, was also signed. An additional investment of US$1 billion for the semiconductor industry is up for discussion with US companies. The Philippines and the US have also agreed to work toward strengthening the Philippines semiconductor supply chain. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the government needs to ensure the safety of nuclear energy use in the country. The lawmaker said public confidence in the use of nuclear energy needs to improve dramatically, and ensuring safety and transparency is the only way to achieve significant development in this area. The senator made the statement following the signing of a nuclear cooperation pact between the US and the Philippines. Under the agreement, the Philippines would receive investments and technology support as the country transitions to cleaner energy. Last year, Gatchalian filed a resolution to inquire about the activities, outputs, and accomplishments of the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee and its recommendation for the country to embark on a nuclear power program. According to Gatchalian, the government must also ensure adherence to international standards. In March last year, the government adopted a national position and formally relaunched its bid to include nuclear power in the countrys energy mix, generating varied reactions from the public. Currently, the Department of Energy (DOE) is working on 19 infrastructure issues relating to the adoption of nuclear energy in line with The Milestones Approach of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which promotes the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste generated by the use of nuclear technologies, including nuclear power. The IAEA safety standards provide the fundamental principles, requirements, and recommendations to ensure nuclear safety. The Philippines has yet to ratify the Convention on Nuclear Safety, the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management, and the Amendment to the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. Customs agents assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport have intercepted at the Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) in Pasay City a smuggled shipment of pests from Thailand. Through the rigorous screening of postal items, including X-ray scanning and thorough physical examination, a parcel was found to contain 50 concealed pieces of isopods, invertebrates belonging to the greater crustaceans, which were all misdeclared as candy, NAIA district collector Yasmin Mapa said in a statement. She said the exotic pests were confiscated for lack of import clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry, violating the Plant Quarantine Law of 1978 (Presidential Decree 1433) and the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA). Mapa said the Bureau of Customs under the leadership of Commissioner Bien Rubio pledges to prevent smuggling and protect the countrys borders against threats, including exotic pests, through strict border controls and reforms. The Port of NAIA previously confiscated at CMEC a parcel containing 14 live beetles and larvae illegally shipped from Hong Kong. The authorities found the insects concealed in plastic tubes hidden in the packages of snacks, biscuits, noodles, and chocolates. The shipment, which was consigned to a resident in Mandaluyong City, was confiscated also for lack of necessary clearance and permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry. Under Section 4 of PD 1433, the importation of potential animal pests, which are liable to become agricultural crop pests and can cause injury to agricultural crops, is restricted subject to quarantine orders, rules, and regulations. Prior to importation, the owner must secure Plant Quarantine Clearance and Phytosanitary Certificate from the Bureau of Plant Industry, otherwise, the importation of which shall be considered prohibited. The seized shipment was immediately turned over to the Bureau of Plant Industry for quarantine and immediate disposal to prevent the spread of possible plant pests that can affect local agriculture. President Marcos arrived Monday night from a six-day US trip in which he secured $672 million (about P37.18 billion) in investment pledges while participating in the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit and related activities. Altogether, we return to the Philippines with more or less $670 million in investment pledges that have the potential to create thousands of jobs for Filipinos, the President said in his arrival statement. In the APEC Leaders Meeting, I pushed for our priorities in clean, renewable, accessible energy, food and health systems, and digital inclusions of MSMEs, he added. He also announced that the Philippines will host the 2024 Indo-Pacific Business Forum that will be attended by a high-level business delegation formed by US President Joe Biden that will look at possible investments in the country. This is a new feature. There has never been a presidential delegation to the country before, Mr. Marcos said. He also hailed the signing of a the-called 123 Agreement that will enable the Philippines to buy nuclear material, equipment, and technology from the United States. This paves the way for streamlining licensing requirements while ensuring the highest safeguards. This will bring us closer to a more energy-secure and green Philippines, he said. The Presidential Communication Office said the pledges include $400 million (P22.1 billion) for the telecommunications sector; $250 million (P13.8 billion) for semiconductors and electronics; $20 million (P1.1 billion) in pharmaceutical and health care; $2 million (P110 million) for artificial intelligence (AI) for weather forecasting; and $300,000 (P16.6 million) in renewable energy. During his visit, President Marcos also secured significant commitments to technological advancements across key priority sectors in the Philippines, including the deployment of the first two Internet MicroGEO satellites dedicated to the country. President Marcos participation in APEC also resulted in the Philippines inaugural specialty oncology hospital, enhancing service efficiency and accessibility for Filipino cancer patients through an agreement between Ayala Corporation Health and Varian Medical Systems. Additionally, the country secured the first US FDA-approved manufacturing facility, boosting its presence in the global pharmaceutical industry, and signed an agreement for a sustainable energy project with Meralco and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. Both countries also agreed to discuss a $1 billion investment in the semiconductor industry with US companies and strengthening the Philippines semiconductor supply chain. On the last day of his visit in Hawaii, the President remembered Filipinos and Filipino-Americans who perished in the Aug. 15 wildfire in Maui. US authorities said the number of people known to have died in the wildfire that leveled a Hawaiian town reached 106. We had been monitoring the situation in Maui and we sympathize with the Filipinos affected, Marcos said in a speech during a meeting with the Filipino community in Honolulu. We pray for strength and courage for the relatives and friends of those fatalities as well as those who are still recovering and rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of that terrible disaster. Mr. Marcos said he and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos truly appreciated seeing the Filipinos in Hawaii to celebrate the close connection that the Philippines has with the island state. With 25 percent of the population of the state of Hawaii having roots in the Philippines, the rich and diverse culture of Filipinos has become deeply intertwined in Hawaiian culture. Mr. Marcos lauded them for giving the Philippines a very positive image in Hawaii. Thank you for all that you do for our country. And this is the characteristic that I have found everywhere that I go, he said. And over the many years that Filipinos have been working abroad, and not only in the United States, not only in Hawaii, but wherever I go, I always tell everyone about the greatness of the Filipino, who is industrious, kind, trustworthy and speak English very well, Marcos said in a mix of English and Filipino. The President arrived in Honolulu for a working visit after attending the APEC Leaders Meeting in San Francisco, California, and a short visit in Los Angeles to also meet the Filipinos there. Speaker Martin G. Romualdez congratulated the President for securing significant investment pledges worth $672.3 million and opening areas of cooperation that are particularly important to the Philippines. President Marcos Jr.s adept leadership and diplomatic prowess were evident in the significant investment commitments garnered and making inroads for mutually beneficial cooperation with various sectors in the United States, Romualdez said. In a press briefing Saturday afternoon at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii, President Marcos noted that while the amount of investment pledges were not as in the billions as those secured in his other trips abroad, these are in areas we are very concerned about such as in technology, health care, energy, and security. Romualdez said the House of Representatives is committed to working with the executive branch to ensure the smooth implementation of the various investment commitments and partnerships. We support any legislative measures necessary to create an environment conducive to the success of these endeavors, Romualdez said. Edinburg, United States Donald Trump took his presidential campaign down to the border with Mexico on Sunday, doubling down on the hardline immigration rhetoric that was a hallmark of his first White House term. The Republican leader asserted that border security had evaporated under President Joe Biden, with gangs of thugs pouring into the US. Were going to take over that border and were going to make it the most secure border in our history, Trump said. He was speaking to a supportive group of border guards and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a like-minded Republican who has endorsed Trumps 2024 campaign. In recent weeks, the former president has ramped up his campaign rhetoric to extreme levels, warning that undocumented migrants are poisoning the blood of our country and denouncing his political opponents as vermin. The enemy He employed similar language Sunday, referring to some migrants as the enemy and predicting that 15 million undocumented migrants would be in the country by the end of Bidens first term a number millions larger than estimates by most non-governmental groups. Abbott, like Trump, has pursued hard-line immigration policies, including installing a 1,000-foot (330-meter) floating barrier in the Rio Grande that critics say imperils migrants attempting to cross. The Texas legislature recently passed a bill that would make entry into the state without papers a crime punishable by up to two years in jail. The bill would also allow Texas officers to arrest anyone they believed was in the state without proper documentation, a power that critics say is sure to be abused. Abbott has vowed to sign the measure into law. The Trump campaign has made clear that if the real estate tycoon returns to the White House, he will engineer a tough crackdown on the undocumented, reportedly including huge detention camps and mass deportations. Radically anti-immigrant Texas has been a reliably conservative bastion for Trump as he looks forward to the 2024 elections, and he holds huge leads both there and nationwide over his Republican rivals. Trump and Abbott blame Biden for the current migrant crisis, as thousands of people flow into the country from Latin American countries beset by crime, poverty and violence. How Biden handles the crisis could play a major role in the 2024 election. The president met Friday with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco, and thanked the Mexican leader for his cooperation over the migrant crisis. Lopez Obrador, in turn, thanked Biden for being the first recent president who has not built walls. But the Mexican leader blasted the Texas border bill, saying it would lead to family separation, discrimination and racial profiling. Rights groups have also sharply assailed the bill. If enacted, the measure would be among the most radical anti-immigrant bills ever passed by any state, said Oni Blair, who heads the American Civil Liberties Unions Texas chapter. Huawei Philippines, in collaboration with PLDT-SMART Foundation and the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), boosted efforts in bridging the education gap in underserved communities and schools in the country with the innovative School-in-a-Bag initiative. During the government-organized Maging Mapanuri: Media and Information Literacy Conference on October 25, the PCO handed over a School-in-a-Bag package to Rizal Technological University in recognition of the university and its engineering student, Josh Carino, who emerged as the winner of PCOs Digital Logo-Making Contest. Carino also received a cash prize from the organizer. A School-in-a-Bag package was presented to Rizal Technological University and its student, who won the PCOs Digital Logo-Making Contest. (Photo courtesy of Presidential Communications Office) Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil expressed gratitude to Huawei and PSF for supporting the MIL campaign and for fostering comprehensive education and bridging the digital divide. Huawei and PLDT-Smart Foundations School-in-a-Bag program aligns with our mandate to advance communications with our constituents as its contributions empower students with the essential tools to enhance media information literacy, foster a comprehensive education and bridge the digital divide. We thank School-in-a-Bag for their pivotal role in this endeavor and its support to the Media Information Literacy (MIL) campaign, Secretary Garafil said on the school-in-a-bag program. Huaweis support of the said initiative underscores the commitment of the company to bring digital to every person, every home, and every organization to make a fully connected and intelligent world. One of the advocacies of Huawei under Tech for All is education, specifically its digital component, because we believe it to be life changing and formative. We want todays youth to become digitally empowered, said Karrie Buenafe, Huawei Philippines Senior Public Affairs Manager. On October 10, in an effort to demonstrate Huawei Philippines continuous commitment to empower remote communities by bringing inclusive education, a School-in-a-Bag package was also turned over to Mapanas town, Northern Samar Mayor Ronn Michael Tejano. Present during the turn-over were key figures who are making this vision a reality, namely, PLDT-Smart Foundation President Esther Santos, PLDT and Smart Stakeholder Management Team Head and AVP Stephanie Orlino, and Karrie Buenafe. PLDT, Smart, PSF and Huawei Philippines turned over a School-in-a-Bag package to Mapanas, Northern Samar Mayor Ronn Michael Tejano. (Photo courtesy of PSF) We all know that technology is a force that you cannot disregard, and it is already a part of our lives. Because of certain challenges, our municipality can hardly keep up. We thank PSF, PLDT, Smart, and Huawei for giving us an opportunity to elevate the quality of education in our hometown. Letting our learners experience such technology from School-in-a-Bag can help them reach their full potential, which can go a long way, said Mapanas Mayor Ronn Michael Tejano. The School-in-a-Bag is a portable digital classroom designed to align with the Department of Educations MATATAG curriculum, with the aim of significantly enhancing educational access and ensuring that educational resources reach every corner of the nation. Each School-in-a-Bag package contains a laptop and 10 tablets pre-loaded with DepEd curriculum-based learning materials, mobile Wi-Fi, and expandable storage devices. It is also inclusive of teacher training and year-long monitoring support. PSF remains fully committed to extending quality education nationwide, especially in hard-to-reach areas. We aim to supplement the existing education system of Mapanas through inclusive and sustainable digital tools included in each SIAB package, said Esther Santos, President of PSF. Last week, a School-in-a-Bag was also turned over for Pili Elementary School in Northern Samar last November 17, 2023, in partnership with SODA, a non-profit organization that focuses on initiatives geared towards technology and youth, and leads the Sulong Dunong campaign that aims to mitigate the learning gaps and learning losses among provincial schools through digital educational materials. Sabtang National School of Fisheries, the only high school in the municipality of Sabtang, Batanes, has also been one of the recipients. We acknowledge that last-mile schools still have limited access to technology and connectivity. In the last 20 years, PLDT and Smart have been implementing education programs to help address this existing digital divide and to eventually spark joy in learning among Filipino students, said Stephanie Orlino, AVP and Head of Stakeholder Management Team at PLDT and Smart. The School-in-a-Bag initiative is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #4: Quality Education, and it also highlights the commitment of Huawei, PLDT, Smart, and PSF to inclusive and quality education through ICT, content, and capacity building to ensure that no Filipino learners will be left behind The Martinsville City Council held a three-hour work session Saturday morning, discussing a number of possible fundamental changes to its charter that would require approval from the General Assembly. The session began with a closed-door meeting that began at 9 a.m. that didnt end until 11:15 a.m., causing the open session to begin an hour and 15 minutes later than the time slated on the agenda. We had a number of serious issues to discuss that took longer than expected, said Vice Mayor Aaron Rawls. We needed that time. One item that came out of the extended closed session was a vote, approved unanimously, to authorize the finance department to reimburse City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides the cost of her expenses related to relocating from Texas to Martinsville. The amount of the reimbursement was not stated. Ferrell-Benavides updated the council on the status of the remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds. She said the city of Martinsville received approximately $15 million and has a remaining fund balance of roughly $2.1 million. No decision was made regarding the remaining funds, but Ferrell-Benavides said she would have the matter brought to the council as a formal agenda item at the next regular meeting. A review of the citys charter by the city attorney has resulted in a number of minor requested changes, including the replacement of all references of he to the when referring to titled positions. The city attorney did a little bit of work with word changes ... and there were lots of changes in the bond section, to make sure our bond rights are consistent with other communities in the state, Ferrell-Benavides said. The city council also acts as the housing authority for the city and there was discussion of dissolving the arrangement altogether and converting the powers to the newly reactivated industrial development authority. Ferrell-Benavides suggested it may be easier for the council to change the members of the existing housing authority without dissolving it, making a change to the charter unnecessary. Our charter is extremely complex when compared to other similar communities, said Councilwoman Tammy Pearson. I know this is controversial, but we should consider requiring everyone to be a registered voter and a full-time resident of the city, and consider term limits for city council members, maybe two consecutive terms, four years out and then they can run again. Longtime Councilwoman Kathy Lawson said she would be opposed to term limits for council members. The longer you are in, the more you learn, Lawson said. I think about [former mayor] Gene Teague. His experience as a longtime member of council was invaluable. I think eight years in office is enough, Rawls said. You really need to get out of the way and let new ideas in. Other matters were discussed including crimes that justify a removal of a council member from office and antiquated language that still requires council members to be notified by letter at their residence or place of business in the event a special meeting is called. The council also discussed the possibility of making health insurance a benefit to council members, something the Henry County Board of Supervisors agreed to provide its members many years ago. You are technically a part-time employee, said Ferrell-Benavides. It doesnt take a charter change, you will need to pay part of it as an employee and we [the city] pays part of it. The more people on the insurance policy, the better the rates. You have to vote to provide the funding to support that part of your benefits. Lawson pointed out that the cost of living adjustment has never applied to the pay council members receive for their services. Also, a matter of conflict was discussed regarding a previous arrangement where Eric Monday was employed as the citys attorney and also the citys assistant manager. This is a gray area of management if they report to you and to me, said Ferrell-Benavides. The city manager, city attorney and city clerk will not serve in a dual role. The possibility of having school board members elected instead of being appointed was also discussed. Henry County changed to an elected school board many years ago, but the city has retained its authority to appoint its school board members. Youre probably going to have trouble getting five people to run, said Rawls. Discussion about whether elected school board members would represent certain areas of the city or serve at-large and how a transition from appointed to elected members resulted in suggestions, but no agreement. Pearson and Lawson agreed that the city should change its designated auditor approximately every three years. Currently there is no requirement. Weve used the same auditor for over 10 years, Pearson said. People get comfortable, Lawson added. Thats why we need term limits, Mayor LC Jones said to Lawson, referring to Lawsons objection of a possible two-term limit for council members. Martinsville School Superintendent Zeb Talley sat in the back of the room for the entire meeting, but did not speak when the council took up the matter of possibly adding a 1% school construction tax. Were the only locality that did not say yes to that, Rawls said. A delegate asked one council member about it, and that person said no, Lawson said. The rest of the council members were not consulted. Our facilities are not keeping pace with the needs and we dont have the budget for it, Rawls said. This is the only way were going to do this. This will help advance education. Its a consumption tax, Lawson said. Everyone who buys something in Martinsville will contribute. Henry County already has it, so every time someone goes to Walmart, theyre paying it. We need to get our legislators behind this and put a powerhouse consortium together to contact them and then go out and inform our public, said Rawls. In addition to the sales tax authorized by the state, a qualifying locality may levy a general retail sales tax at a rate not to exceed 1% as determined by its governing body to provide revenue solely for capital projects for the construction or renovation of schools. The locality must be approved as qualified by the state legislature after the locality decides it wishes to participate. The next step if for us to pull this together and say heres our draft, said Ferrell-Benavides. January is going to be some Richmond time. Ferrell-Benavides also informed the council that she has learned the city does not qualify for state funding regarding blighted properties. Were not as bad as we thought we were, said Ferrell-Benavides. We need a partner we need another city to ask for the fiscally distressed threshold to be adjusted. Charlottesville is interested because they have a large number of historical properties. We need to talk with Virginia First Cities and ask for an amendment to the current legislation. Virginia First Cities is a coalition of sister cities that advocates for increased support and better policies from the state while sharing best practices among members, according to the groups website. Rawls suggested the city consider a land value tax. Improvements would be taxed at a different rate and it would raise the tax for people sitting on vacant land, said Rawls. If youre sitting on land, improve it or pay the price. Rawls suggested that the current real estate tax implemented by the city is a disincentive for someone wanting to buy property and fix it up. Its being hailed as the way to solve the housing crisis, Rawls said. There are huge tracks of land not being used or properties not being fixed up. Jones expressed concern over Rawls suggestion of a land value tax. What if I have property willed down from my father? Jones asked. A lot of older people have land to pass on to their children. Now were saying were going to tax them? If you have property and you dont want to fix it up, then you have to move to the county, said Rawls. If the goal is to get the city to build up, then you get there quicker by just enforcing the ordinances, said Jones. Ferrell-Benavides said she had begun working on a city calendar and another work session would be set aside for the first weekend in December, most likely Dec. 2, for a half-day for the purpose of discussing the initiatives for which she is responsible. Said Ferrell-Benavides: We also will start looking at next years budget in December. A lawyer for Donald Trump urged a federal appeals court Monday to revoke a gag order against the former president in a landmark criminal case, while a prosecutor argued that curbs are necessary to prevent intimidation and threats against participants in the case that charges Trump with scheming to overturn the 2020 election. Appeals court judges asked skeptical and at times aggressive questions of attorneys on both sides while weighing whether to put back in place an order from a trial judge that barred Trump from inflammatory comments against prosecutors, potential witnesses and court staff. The judges raised a litany of hypothetical scenarios that could arise in the months ahead as they considered how to fashion a balance between an order that protects Trumps First Amendment rights and the need to protect the criminal trial process and its integrity and its truth finding function. Theres a balance that has to be undertaken here, and its a very difficult balance in this context, Judge Patricia Millett told Cecil VanDevender, a lawyer with special counsel Jack Smiths office. But we have to use a careful scalpel here and not step into really sort of skewing the political arena, dont we? VanDevender replied that he agreed but said he believes that the gag order does strike the appropriate balance The court did not immediately rule, but the outcome of Mondays arguments will set parameters on what Trump, as both a criminal defendant and the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, can and cannot say as the trial date nears. The stakes are high given the volume and intensity of Trumps public comments about the case and the massive public platform he holds. In a sign of its import, special counsel Smith himself attended the proceedings, sitting in the front row of the courtroom. During arguments that spanned nearly two-and-a-half hours, the judges expressed clear sympathy for the idea that Trumps rhetoric could inspire threats of violence. Judge Brad Garcia pressed Trump lawyer John Sauer to explain why the court shouldnt take preventive steps. This is predictably going to intensify as well as the threats, so why isnt the district court justified in taking a more proactive measure and not waiting for more and more threats to occur and stepping in to protect the integrity of the trial? he asked. But the judges also wondered aloud where to strike a balance. Millett, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, at one point expressed incredulity at the idea that Trump would not be able to respond to criticism about the case from rival candidates if he ever decided to participate in a presidential debate. Youre telling me he cant say public record prosecutors paid by the taxpayers. Its all a political vendetta. They all are doing the bidding of Joe Biden?' she asked. He cant stand on the stage and say that? The gag order is one of multiple contentious issues being argued ahead of the landmark March 2024 trial. Defense lawyers are also trying to get the case dismissed by arguing that Trump, as a former president, is immune from prosecution and protected by the First Amendment from being charged. The outcome of Mondays arguments wont affect those constitutional claims. The order has had a whirlwind trajectory through the courts since U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed it last month in response to a request from prosecutors, who cited among other comments Trumps repeated disparagement of Smith as deranged. The judge lifted it days after entering it, giving Trumps lawyers time to prove why his words should not be restricted. But after Trump took advantage of that pause by posting on social media comments that prosecutors said were meant to sway his former chief of staff against giving unfavorable testimony, Chutkan put it back in place. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit later lifted it as it considered Trumps appeal. Trump attorney Sauer called the order unconstitutional and overly vague. The order is unprecedented and it sets a terrible precedent for future restrictions on core political speech, Sauer said. He described it as a hecklers veto, unfairly relying on the theory that Trumps speech might someday inspire other people to harass or intimidate his targets. They cant draw a causal line from any social media post to threat or harassment when we have wall to wall media coverage of this case, Sauer told the court. The judges hearing the case include Cornelia Pillard and Millett, both appointees of President Obama, and Garcia, who joined the bench earlier this year after being nominated by President Biden. Obama and Biden are Democrats. Should the judges rule against Trump, hell have the option of asking the entire court to take up the matter. His lawyers have also signaled that they would ask the Supreme Court to get involved. The four-count indictment against Trump in Washington is one of four criminal cases he faces as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024. Hes been charged in Florida, also by Smiths team, with illegally hoarding dozens of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Hes also been charged in state court in New York in connection with hush money payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels, who alleged an extramarital affair with him, and in Georgia with working to subvert the 2020 presidential election in that state. He has denied doing anything wrong. The state company Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) will supply 10 locomotives, in a deal worth 37.6 million dollars (34.4 million euros), to Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique (CFM). In a note to the Indian stock exchange, the company states that all the bidders were informed by CFM that the contract to supply 10 diesel-electric locomotives was awarded to RITES, which submitted the lowest bid, with effect from November 16. The same note mentions that RITES was also competing to supply CFM with 300 wagons, but the Mozambican state company said that the deal had been awarded to another competitor without revealing any further details. More than 5.5 million people used rail transport in Mozambique in 2022, an increase of 81% on the previous year due to the easing of COVID-19 prevention measures, according to CFM data. According to the 2022 report and accounts of CFM, Mozambiques state-owned ports and railways company, rail transport movements amounted to almost 5.6 million passengers last year, which is 98% of what was forecast by the administration. This is still an increase of 81% compared to the movement in 2021, something that CFM also justifies in the report with investments made that have strengthened transport capacity in the south and center of the country. According to CFMs report and accounts, Mozambiques rail network transported a total of 24.6 million gross tons of cargo in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 30% compared to 2021. The port terminals under CFMs management handled 13.21 million tons during the 2022 financial year, an increase of around 6% compared to 2021, as a result of the new investments that have been made by the company. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A new AI tool from Kheiron Medical Technologies and Imperial College London can detect up to 13% more breast cancers than humans in breast screenings. The prospective evidence, published under the title "Prospective implementation of AI-assisted screen reading to improve early detection of breast cancer" in Nature Medicine, found that the tool, called Mia, could significantly increase the early detection of breast cancers in a European health care setting by up to 13%. In 2020, 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide, and 685,000 women died from the disease, according to the World Health Organization. Screening initiatives to detect cancer early reduce the amount of intensive treatments and deaths from breast cancer. However, despite these initiatives, it is estimated that about 20% of breast cancers might be missed at this stage. Researchers have found that using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool called Mia (CE Mark class IIa) has the potential to improve breast cancer screening by spotting potentially cancerous tissue that human "readers" might miss. In Hungary, where the study took place and the gold standard of double-reading every case is followed, mammograms are analyzed by two radiologists who then decide, based on whether they suspect cancerous tissue, whether to ask the woman to come back for further investigation, known as "recall." In this study, the researchers used Mia as an extra reader for the mammograms of 25,065 women across four screening sites in Hungary from April 2021 to January 2023. After mammograms were studied as usual by two radiologists, they were then fed through Mia, which flagged potential false negatives to a third human reader, who decided whether to recall the woman. These were defined as mammograms that were deemed healthy by humans but had subtler signs of cancerous tissue picked up by Mia. The study was conducted over three phases (two pilot phases and a live roll-out). Overall across the three phases, the AI reader found 24 more cancers than the standard human readinga 7% relative increaseand resulted in 70 more women recalled (0.28% relative increase). Of the additional recalls, 6 (initial pilot), 13 (extended pilot), and 11 (live use) additional cancers were found, increasing relative cancer detection rate by 13%, 10%, and 5% respectively. They found that 83% of the additional cancers detected using Mia in real clinical practice were invasive, showing that Mia can detect cancers where early detection is particularly vital. Dr. Peter Kecskemethy, CEO of Kheiron, said, "Our prospective real-world usage data in Hungary provides evidence for a significant, measurable increase of early breast cancer detection when Mia is used in clinical practice. The key question now is how we can justify not using Mia in breast screening when there is such a dramatic improvement in cancer detection." Study co-author Dr. Ben Glocker from Imperial's Department of Computing, who leads machine learning research teams at Imperial and Kheiron, said, "These results have exceeded our expectations. Our study shows that using AI can act as an effective safety neta tool to prevent subtler signs of cancer [from] falling through the cracks. Seeing firsthand that the use of AI could substantially reduce the rate of missed cancers in breast screening is massive, and a major boost for our mission to transform cancer care with AI technology." The researchers note that an important next step is to replicate the results in other countries with varying screening programs and populations. They also note that patients were followed up for two to nine months, and longer follow-up will be needed to assess Mia's full effect in terms of cancer detection and reducing mortality. An ongoing study in the U.K., which is about to conclude, is aiming to confirm the benefits of the AI-assisted extra reader workflow, and the team is beginning a roll-out in the U.S. Ali Baron, Patient and Public Board Member to Kheiron, said, "I was diagnosed in late 2019 with ductal carcinoma in situ. The radiologist highlighted that it was 'good luck' that it was caught early. I want to take the luck out of this. "I would love for Mia to be in place and know that this was working in the background to help radiologists. This technology should be there for all women." Dr. Glocker added, "This is just the beginning of our work with Kheiron. We are actively working on new methodologies for the safe deployment and continuous monitoring of Mia to support a U.S. and U.K. rollout. We are working hard to make sure that as many women as possible will benefit from the use of this new technology within the next year." More information: Annie Y. Ng et al, Prospective implementation of AI-assisted screen reading to improve early detection of breast cancer, Nature Medicine (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-023-02625-9 Journal information: Nature Medicine This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Two stories dominated Alzheimer's news this year: The FDA's approval of Leqembi, the first drug to slow progression of the disease, and a surprising study showing that mild cognitive impairment is wildly underdiagnosed. "For mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, caused by Alzheimer's disease, the earlier you treat the better your outcomes," says Soeren Mattke, director of the Brain Health Observatory at USC Dornsife's Center for Economic and Social Research. "This means even though the disease may be slowly progressing, every day counts." Mattke led a recently published study that suggests that of the 8 million Americans who have MCI, more than 90% don't know it. "The obstacles beyond lack of early detection are many. We have written a lot about limited capacity for Alzheimer's specialists and PET scanners to determine eligibility for those treatments, if patients actually get referred in a timely manner. "Medicare Part B, which pays for physician-administered drugs, has a 20% co-payment without upper limit, i.e., around $5,000 per year just for the drug. Higher income individuals typically buy Medigap insurance to cover those co-pays, but middle-income ones tend to forgo that because of the cost of these policies. For low-income individuals, who are eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, Medicaid covers the co-pays, but physicians might not accept them because of arcane Medicaid payment rules. "Then there is the problem of a drug that requires bi-weekly IV administration. The burden on caregivers is substantial, even for early-stage Alzheimer's patients." Cognitive screening must become part of routine care In a recent opinion piece in MedPage Today, Julie Zissimopoulos, a professor in the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and co-director of the Aging and Cognition Program at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, writes that important pieces of the diagnosis and treatment puzzle are missing. "The amyloids need to be cleared before they can ravage the brain, which puts greater emphasis on cognitive screening to find individuals most at risk. "Just over one-third of older Americans report being assessed for cognitive issues. Medicare requires that a comprehensive cognitive assessment be included in each enrollee's annual wellness visit, but only a quarter of those who have a wellness appointment report undergoing a formal cognitive screening. "This situation must change if the country hopes to acquire the basic information needed to forestall a tsunami of cognitive afflictions." Weighing risks versus potential for small benefit In its approval of Leqembi, the FDA included its strongest warning labelcalled a boxed warningabout potential side effects of brain swelling and bleeding, noting that they can lead to seizures and death. "You've got small benefits and a certain risk for serious adverse events, and that has to be balanced," said Lon Schneider, a professor of psychiatry at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and director of the USC State of California Alzheimer's Disease Center, who said he will prescribe Leqembi to carefully evaluated patients. "If its efficacy were greater, we would not be talking about adverse events as much because we would see a clear benefit. "I think many people will see this and say it's not worth the effort, it's not worth twice-a-month infusions. Others might consider that any clinical benefit may be worth the risk." Pharmacists can identify causes of reversible cognitive 'slippage' "Accurate diagnosis is extremely important. Leqembi has only been approved in Alzheimer's disease alone. Dementia often presents as a mixture of Alzheimer's and vascular disease. Leqembi was not studied in that mixed patient group to my knowledge. Adverse reactions are more likely," said Tatyana Gurvich, an associate professor of clinical pharmacy at the USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. "One of the reversible causes of cognitive slippage are high risk medications such as those with an anticholinergic profile as well as some sedative hypnotic meds. Pharmacists should be working together with prescribers to deprescribe those meds so that a more accurate diagnosis is made. "If Leqembi is being considered, a careful medication review by a geriatric clinical pharmacist can be helpful to eliminate high risk medications, which contribute to cognitive decline as well as those medications and supplements which increase the risk of bleeding and other adverse events." A new Medicare proposal would cover training for family caregivers A dementia diagnosis doesn't come with an instruction book for family members, but a new Medicare proposal would cover training for informal caregivers. The expectation is that Medicare will start paying for caregiver training next year, and caregivers should start asking for it then, according to KFF Health News. About 42 million Americans provided unpaid care to people 50 and older in 2020, according to an AARP report. "This is a long-overdue recognition of the role of informal caregivers, who are an important part of the health care delivery system," said Donna Benton, a research associate professor of gerontology at USC Leonard Davis and director of the USC Family Caregiver Support Center. "When possible, training should take place in a person's home rather than at a health care institution. All too often, recommendations caregivers get from health professionals aren't easy to implement at home and need to be adjusted." 'We have turned a corner' Paul Aisen, founding director of USC's Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute, said that with Leqembi slowing clinical progression of the disease, Alzheimer's research has turned a corner. However, the illness may need to be attacked from multiple directions. "Controversy will continue. How important is the 27% slowing of progression seen with (Leqembi)," Aisen wrote in the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease. "For greater benefit in symptomatic Alzheimer's disease, a combination therapy approach may be required. Other strategies abound, from anti-tau therapies to neuroprotective, vascular, anti-inflammatory, and neuroendocrine approaches "We must continue to rigorously pursue the most plausible approaches. Rapid progress will require collaboration and sharing of data and methodologies, and the generous participation of representative populations in our trials." 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: Joshua Sudock | UCLA Health A new study from UCLA Health researchers demonstrates that a novel treatment is effective in most patients with major depressive symptoms even after multiple failed courses of antidepressant medication. The treatment, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), may work even more rapidly than past findings have suggested, starting to alleviate symptoms as quickly as one week. Researchers from the Neuromodulation Division of UCLA's Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior analyzed the outcomes of hundreds of patients treated at UCLA Health from 2009 to 2022 with rTMS therapy, which uses magnetic fields to effectively "rewire" the brain's circuitry. The new study, published this week in Psychiatry Research, found that 54% of patients exhibited clinical response (at least a 50% improvement) in mood symptoms when examined using multiple depression rating scales. "We have a unique approach to rTMS treatment at UCLA," said the study's lead author Dr. Michael K. Leuchter, a senior psychiatry resident at the Semel Institute. "In our 'precision TMS' model, patients see a psychiatrist at every treatment and we measure symptoms weekly with multiple rating scales, following a measurement-based care approach." This approach allowed UCLA researchers to assess treatment benefit with greater fidelity and accuracy than previous studies using fewer measurement scales. "What we're seeing in our analysis of our large data set is that a majority of patients get significantly better," Leuchter said. "What's most exciting to see is that these patients generally start reporting improvement within a week of starting treatment, even though the treatment itself continues for several weeks to build the full benefit." TMS uses magnetic fields to stimulate brain circuits and can target those involved in mood regulation. Patients generally receive 2030-minute treatment sessions five days per week for a period of six to eight weeks. Compared to most antidepressant medications, rTMS is relatively new, having been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2008 for treatment of medication-resistant major depressive disorder. The effectiveness of rTMS has previously been observed as quite variable, with reported response rates ranging from 30%60%. Researchers at UCLA have been working to understand this variability and improve predictions of which patients are most likely to benefit from the therapy. Leuchter and his colleagues studied the outcomes of 708 patients treated with TMS for a six-week period at UCLA with four widely used depression rating scales. They found that the depression rating scales that doctors use to assess the effectiveness of the treatment could be a large factor contributing to this variability. Across all four scales studied, researchers discovered that 54% of patients reported a significant response on at least one rating scale. If only one scale was used, up to a third of positive responses to treatment could be missed, according to Leuchter. "Using multiple scales rather than one allows us to better detect and characterize the effectiveness of rTMS treatment for the many different faces of depression," Leuchter said. Additionally, early improvements reported within five or 10 treatments were found to be significant predictors of how well a patient will respond throughout the course of treatment. Leuchter said this could help doctors determine whether or when to modify their clinical approach for a patient. More information: Michael K. Leuchter et al, A comparison of self- and observer-rated scales for detecting clinical improvement during repetitive transcranial stimulation (rTMS) treatment of depression, Psychiatry Research (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115608 Journal information: Psychiatry Research This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: As the investigation into high levels of lead in fruit puree pouches that have now sickened 34 children continues, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found evidence that cinnamon may be the source. The agency, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been investigating illnesses linked to the consumption of Apple Cinnamon Fruit Puree pouches made in Ecuador and sold under the WanaBana, Weis, and Schnucks brands. All of these products have already been recalled. In its updated alert, the FDA said health officials have detected very high levels of lead in one product sample of WanaBana Apple Cinnamon Puree collected from Dollar Tree. The level detected was 2.18 parts per million, which is more than 200 times greater than the action level the FDA has proposed in draft guidance for fruit purees and similar products intended for babies and young children. So far, sample analysis of WanaBana, Weis, and Schnucks fruit puree pouches that do not contain cinnamon and are not part of the recall have not shown elevated levels of lead. The agency said its leading hypothesis is now that the cinnamon used in the recalled pouches is the likely source of contamination, but the agency has not yet been able to collect and test samples of the cinnamon used in the recalled products. The FDA added that it is working with Ecuadorian authorities to pinpoint the source of the cinnamon, while also screening incoming shipments of cinnamon from multiple countries for lead contamination. In its initial alert on the recall issued in late October, the FDA said four children in North Carolina were the first to be found to have high levels of lead in their blood that was linked to the WanaBana products. More information: More Information Copyright 2023 HealthDay. All rights reserved. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain A new study led by University of Melbourne researchers has discovered a link between a new gene pathway and structural brain anomalies in some people who stutter into adulthood, opening up promising research avenues to enhance the understanding of persistent developmental stuttering. Published in the journal Brain, researchers studied 27 members of a four-generation Australian family, 13 of whom have stuttering. Stuttering is a speech disorder affecting around 5% of children and 1% of adults worldwide. In over two-thirds of cases of stuttering in childhood, the stuttering eventually resolves with therapy. However, in severe cases like most individuals in the family studied here, the disorder can persist into adulthood. Despite stuttering being commonly inherited, as shown by earlier twin studies, only four genes have previously been implicated in stuttering. Professor Michael Hildebrand and Professor Angela Morgan led a large team of international researchers across 18 institutions to implicate a fifth gene, called PPID, in severe developmental stuttering, linking a new 'chaperone pathway' to the disorder. Chaperones are proteins that shuttle other proteins to the correct part of a cell so they can complete their function. The researchers suspect the damaged gene will change the movement and function of proteins during brain development, triggering neural changes that cause persistent stuttering. Consistent with this a mouse model generated with the same gene defect developed structural changes in similar brain regions to those of family members with stuttering. "We have known for some time that there is a genetic link to stuttering, but this study is novel in that it is the first study to link structural brain anomalies to developmental stuttering," geneticist Professor Hildebrand said. "These findings support changing the genetic diagnostic protocol for some people who stutter to include brain imaging studies. "It is significant because it shows that genetic changes passed on in families can alter brain development leading to structural anomalies that underly stuttering." Professor Angela Morgan, a speech pathologist from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), said the study goes some way to understanding the genetic predisposition for the speech disorder. "We know that there are environmental and genetic factors at play when it comes to stuttering," she said. "But the study also opens up further research into this new chaperone pathway, and related pathways, enhancing our understanding of the genetic architecture of persistent developmental stuttering." More information: Angela T Morgan et al, Stuttering associated with a pathogenic variant in the chaperone protein cyclophilin 40, Brain (2023). DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad314 Journal information: Brain This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain How much power do home care workers have to resist being exploited by their employers? For Asian women working in this occupation in California, the answer is shaped by several factors, including filial obligations, cultural traditions, language barriers, economic status, state employment regulations, labor unions, immigrant organizations and disability rights groups. University of Toronto Mississauga sociology professor Cynthia Cranford examines this complex subject in "Confronting Servitude: Asian Immigrant Women Workers in State-Funded Homecare," a study published in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. Cranford joined with scholars from the University of California, Florida Atlantic University and Brown University to analyze how the inequalities of gender, race, class and immigration shape these workers' ability to refuse coercive labor conditions. Their investigation also examined the role of California's in-home support service (IHSS) state-funded care program in enabling and inhibiting self-advocacy by care providers. "The state, in the design of its program, opens the door for home care workers to slip into servitude. 'How can they collectivize and access supports within their community to navigate these situations?'" says Cranford, author of the 2020 book "Home Care Fault Lines: Understanding Tensions and Creating Alliances." The situations to which Cranford is referring, illuminated through interviews with 60 home care providers, include: Being expected to work unpaid overtime and serve members of their family. Being subjected to verbal abuse. Being accused of stealing. Having food thrown at them. The interviews were arranged with the help of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and three partnering community organizations: Asian Immigrant Women Advocates, the Filipino American Services Group and the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California. As Cranford notes, the IHSS program in California, which employs more than 500,000 home care providers, stands out as a model in the U.S. for empowering home care workers who are members of the SEIU with the right to engage in collective bargaining for fair wages and benefits. Yet the union limits its interventions in cases of home care worker mistreatment, the authors note: due to concessions it has made to disability rights groups, it does not engage in workplace strikes that could jeopardize the health and well-being of people who need continuous care. As well, they write, the IHSS program grants care receiver-employers full autonomy over the hiring, firing and supervising of their home care worker, and takes a "hands-off approach to regulating employment conditions in home care," which leaves workers vulnerable to inhumane treatment. The IHSS program allows for spouses, parents, children and other relatives to be paid care providers. While it is beneficial for a care receiver-employer's relative to be paid for work that they might anyway perform for free out of a sense of family duty, Cranford and her colleagues found that family dynamics often contribute to the "unfreedom" for the care provider by way of expectations to perform extra tasks beyond their paid hours, and threats of firing for non-compliance. This issue is exacerbated by California's insufficient resourcing of the program, they say, as care receivers often need funding for more care hours than allotted by the program. Other mitigating factors include the ethno-cultural expectation of female servitude among older care receivers, and the financial precariousness and limited English proficiency of some care providers. Yet, as the authors note, many of the home care workers they interviewed did find ways to respond to their dilemmas of servitude. Taking advantage of what few supports their union offers, they have engaged in grassroots community organizing to cultivate group solidarity among home care workers, sought help when facing unreasonable demands at work in order to improve working conditions, and sometimes resorted to blacklisting abusive employers. Some also connected with local immigrant organizations to help advocate for their rights. Says Cranford, "These women are confronting servitude in multiple ways, and when they have collective support from their unions and other community groups, they are capable of confronting it." More information: Jennifer Jihye Chun et al, Confronting Servitude: Asian Immigrant Women Workers in State-Funded Homecare, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (2023). DOI: 10.1086/725842 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: Visual Abstract. Higher-Dose Fluvoxamine and Time to Sustained Recovery in Outpatients With COVID-19. Credit: JAMA (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jama.2023.23363 A new research article from Thomas Stewart, an associate professor of data science at the University of Virginia, examining the COVID-19 treatment fluvoxamine has been published in JAMA. The studywhich Stewart co-authored with physicians Paulina Rebolledo of Emory University and Ahmad Mourad of Duke University and the ACTIV-6 Study Groupexamines whether 100 mg of fluvoxamine taken twice daily for 13 days by outpatient adults with mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 can shorten the duration of symptoms. The researchers analyzed a randomized clinical trial of 1,175 participants in the United States who had COVID-19 while omicron subvariants were circulating. They found that when compared to a placebo group, 100 mg of fluvoxamine taken twice per day did not reduce how long patients with mild to moderate COVID experienced symptoms. Prior to this study, the impact of a high dosage of fluvoxamine on symptom duration for these types of cases of COVID-19 had been uncertain. Stewart specializes in biostatistics, clinical trials, and clinical research education. He also serves as director of the Ph.D. program at the School of 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: CXR report generation framework for (left) MIMIC-CXR and (right) IU X-ray. [BOS] is the beginning-of-sentence special token. Credit: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.artmed.2023.102633 New research from CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, has identified methods for improving artificial intelligence (AI) diagnosis of heart and lung conditions using X-ray. In a paper recently published in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, scientists from CSIRO's Australian e-Health Research Center (AEHRC) compared different AI models to achieve a better understanding of, and identify improvements in, the diagnostic accuracy of automated chest X-ray interpretation and reporting. CSIRO Research Scientist and lead author on the paper, Dr. Aaron Nicolson, said a better understanding of optimal models will lead to greater accuracy in using AI to diagnose X-ray images. "AI has the potential to improve health services, and in particular better support health professionals by easing their burden and workload of current non-automated practices," Dr. Nicolson said. "Automated report generation for X-rays could reduce clinician burnout and create space for them to provide more robust patient care. The research demonstrates the future potential to better support clinicians." Current methods of AI X-ray report generation use an "encoder" to read the chest X-ray images, and "decoder" to produce a report. Until now there has been no research into which encoder and decoder is best for automated chest X-ray report generation. Additionally, it is possible to transfer the knowledge learned from one task, such as classifying natural images or generating Wikipedia articles, to improve the task at hand. In this caseautomated reporting. This method is known as "warm starting" an AI model. In a world-first, the imaging team at CSIRO's AEHRC tested different encoders and decoders, as well as the effectiveness of different tasks for warm starting the chest X-ray report generation task. Findings show that the optimal combination of encoder and decoder, together with the use of the warm starting method, produces a 26.9% relative improvement on the accuracy of automated image reporting. Evaluation was done by comparing with human radiologist reports. Radiologist Dr. Doug Anderson from Monash Medicine, Victoria said, "Clinician burnout is a risk factor for mental illness and particularly prevalent in radiologists due to large workloads and demanding clinical documentation." "The increasing clinical reliance on imaging for diagnosis combined with a relative shortage of radiologists is creating unsustainable workloads and a search for workload management solutions. "An exciting potential solution to onerous radiologist workloads is using artificial intelligence to assist with interpreting chest X-rays and documentation." While the model identifies some pathologies consistently (e.g., pleural effusion) it does not yet accurately identify others (e.g., lung lesion). The next step for researchers is improving the AI model so it can accurately identify most pathologies. These improvements are required before the technology can be used in a clinical setting. More information: Aaron Nicolson et al, Improving chest X-ray report generation by leveraging warm starting, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.artmed.2023.102633 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: Four in five parents in a new national poll say they seek parenting advice on social media. Credit: University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. Potty training, getting kids to sleep and toddler tantrums are just some of the challenges parents of young children face. And four in five parents in a new national poll say they go to the same place to discuss such parenting issues: social media. Nearly half of parents rate social media as very useful for getting new ideas to try, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. "Many parents turn to online communities to exchange advice or discuss parenting challenges because it may seem faster and easier than asking a health professional," said Mott Poll co-director Sarah Clark, M.P.H. "Finding parent comradery in this space can have benefits but parents should keep in mind that every family's experience is different and not everything they hear online may be accurate or the right thing for their child." The nationally representative report is based on responses from 614 parents with at least one child aged 04. Most mothers and over two-thirds of fathers of children these ages look to social media for parenting advice or to share their experiencesa significant increase since a previous Mott poll explored similar questions in 2015. The most common discussions included toilet training (44%), kids' sleep (42%) nutrition/breastfeeding (37%), discipline (37%), behavior problems (33%), vaccination (26%), daycare/preschool (24%), and getting along with other kids (21%). Three fifths of parents say they talk about these topics on social media because they want to hear different ideas while one in four say it's convenient or they want to do things differently than their parents. Fewer say they use these platforms because they don't have family or friends nearby, don't have enough opportunities to ask their child's health care provider or are too embarrassed to ask in person. "Often there isn't a clear 'best' way to do things and many parents use a trial-and-error approach to find what works for their child," Clark said. More than a third of parents also rate social media as very useful for making them feel like they're not alone and learning what not to do while a fourth say it helps them decide whether to buy certain products. One in ten parents of young children who use social media also described it as very useful in deciding when to take their child to the doctor. However, with young children, Clark notes, "it is usually prudent to contact the child's primary care provider with any questions." Telehealth visits and messaging through patient portals, she adds, are efficient ways for parents to ask for guidance and determine if the child needs to be seen in person. Sharenting concerns Most parents identify at least one aspect of social media sharing that concerns them, such as seeing other parents doing something unhealthy or dangerous for their child or others finding out their family's private information or sharing photos of their child without their child's permission. Nearly 80% of parents also feel other parents overshare on social media by bragging about their child or sharing too often or too much. Meanwhile, over 60 % believe parents may give personal information that could identify the child's location or embarrass the child when they're older. Nearly half also say they have seen parents post information that is false while more than a quarter have noticed some parents sharing inappropriate photos of a child's body. "Parents acknowledge concerns related to sharing too much about their kids on social media," Clark said. "Families should consider whether their child may one day be embarrassed about having personal information shared without their consent; a good rule is if you have any doubt, don't share it. In addition, parents should consult with parents of other children in photos for approval before sharing them on social media." More than half of parents, however, do use privacy settings or restrict who can see posts about their children. Nearly a third also avoid posting photos or videos of their child while about one in five participate in closed groups. A small percentage of parents use their child's initials instead of their name or block out their child's face. "Before posting, think about whether you're sharing enough information to get someone else's advice without giving away too much personal information about your family," Clark said. "It's really about stopping and thinking before you post." She says oversharing may create risks, for example, if it reveals a family is on vacation and their home may be unattended. Weeding out bad information Another emerging concern, the poll suggests, is parents sharing information that is false or inaccurate either knowingly or unknowingly. Two in five parents think it's difficult to distinguish good versus bad advice on social media. Particularly for first-time parents, access to so many sources may be both helpful and overwhelming, Clark says. But it's up to them to verify accuracy in what they're hearing. "There are so many decisions to make about the best way to care for children during the infant and toddler years, which can be an exciting and overwhelming time," Clark said. "Social media is a convenient way for parents to seek information about parenting challenges in real time, especially in between checkups. But it's important that parents identify reputable sources of information about children's health and parenting, and that they consult those sources before attempting new strategies with their own child." Health officials said 31 premature babies in extremely critical condition were transferred safely Sunday from Gazas main hospital and will go to Egypt, while over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remained stranded days after Israeli forces entered the compound to look for Hamas operations. The plight of the babies, along with the Israeli claims against Shifa Hospital, have become potent symbols in the devastating war between Israel and Hamas. An Israeli offensive has taken a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians, while Israel has accused Hamas of using Shifa and other hospitals as headquarters for military operations. The newborns from the hospital, where power was cut and supplies ran out while Israeli forces battled Palestinian fighters outside, were receiving urgent care in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. They had dehydration, hypothermia and sepsis in some cases, said Mohamed Zaqout, director of Gaza hospitals. Four other babies died in the two days before the evacuation, he said. A World Health Organization team that visited Shifa said most of the remaining patients had amputations, burns or other trauma. Plans were being made to evacuate them in the coming days. Later Sunday, Israels army said it had strong evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintains a sprawling command post inside and under Shifa. Israel has portrayed the hospital as a key target in its war to end Hamas rule in Gaza following the fighter groups into southern Israel six weeks ago. The army said it found a 60-yard tunnel about 33 feet under the hospitals 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. It said the tunnel included a staircase and a firing hole that could be used by snipers, and ended at a blast-proof door that troops have not yet opened. The Associated Press couldnt independently verify Israels findings, which included security camera video showing what the military said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, taken to the hospital following the Oct. 7 attack. The army also said an independent medical report had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been killed by Hamas in the hospital. Marciano had been injured in an Israeli strike Nov. 9 that killed her captor, according to Israels intelligence assessment. The injuries were not life-threatening but she was then killed by a Hamas fighter in Shifa, the army said. Hamas and hospital staff have denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Critics describe the hospital as a symbol of what they call Israels reckless endangerment of civilians. Thousands have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, which is severely short of food, water, medicine and fuel. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the Israeli militarys announcement and didnt deny that Gaza has hundreds of kilometers of tunnels. However, he said, the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel. Hostage negotiations About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza and shattered Israels sense of security. The military says 63 Israeli soldiers have been killed, including 12 over the past 24 hours. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. We are hopeful that we can get a significant number of hostages freed in the coming days, Israels ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, told ABCs This Week. Qatars prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the sticking points were more practical, logistical. Israels three-member war cabinet is to meet with representatives of the hostages families on Monday evening. Ship seized Yemens Houthi rebels seized a Israeli-linked cargo ship in the southern Red Sea and took its 25 crew members hostage Sunday, an action that raised fear that regional tensions heightened by the war were spilling onto the seas. The Iran-backed rebel group said it would continue to target ships connected to Israel. No Israelis were aboard the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, which was operated by a Japanese company with crewmembers from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico, officials said. Public shipping databases associated the ships owners with Ray Car Carriers, a company founded by Abraham Rami Ungar, who is known as one of the richest people in Israel. Ungar told The Associated Press he was aware of the incident but couldnt comment as he awaited details. A ship linked to him experienced an explosion in 2021 in the Gulf of Oman. Israeli media blamed it on Iran at the time. The Galaxy Leader was seized some 90 miles off the coast of Yemen, near the coast of Eritrea, and taken to the port city of Hodeida, according to the British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, citing a security officer with the ships company. Japanese officials were negotiating with Houthi rebels for the release of the ship and its crew, said Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno. Heavy fighting in the north Heavy clashes were reported in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. There was the constant sound of gunfire and tank shelling, Yassin Sharif, who is sheltering in a U.N.-run hospital there, said by phone. The commissioner-general of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said 24 people were killed the day before in what witnesses described as an Israeli airstrike on a U.N.-run school in Jabaliya. The Israeli military, which has repeatedly called on Palestinians to leave northern Gaza, said only that its troops were active in the area with the aim of hitting terrorists. This war is having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties. This must stop, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement on that strike and another on a U.N.-run school within 24 hours. More than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried in rubble. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants; Israel says it has killed thousands of fighters. Attacks by Israeli forces and settlers have killed 215 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began, according to Palestinian health officials. Colder weather adds to misery More than two-thirds of Gazas population of 2.3 million have fled their homes. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, is struggling to provide basic services to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Seventeen of its facilities have been directly hit, the agency said. Their misery has worsened in recent days because of cold winds and driving rain. Over the weekend, Israel allowed UNRWA to import enough fuel to continue humanitarian operations for another couple of days, and to keep internet and telephone systems running. Israel cut off all fuel imports at the start of the war, causing Gazas sole power plant and most water treatment systems to shut down. Israel has repeatedly struck what it says are fighter targets across the south, often killing civilians. The evacuation zone is already crowded with displaced civilians, and it was not clear where they would go if the offensive moved closer. Egypt has refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees, in part because of fears that Israel would not allow them to return. But some patients and foreign nationals reportedly got through. Turkeys Health Ministry said it evacuated 110 people including patients and their relatives from an unspecified part of Gaza to Egypt. Another 87 people who were from Turkey or breakaway northern Cyprus entered Egypt from Gaza late Sunday, Turkish officials said, with the groups to be flown Monday to Turkey. Palestinian-Canadian Khalil Manaa, 71, left Gaza for Egypt on Sunday. After fleeing to southern Gaza, he said he and relatives shared a home crammed with 40 people. And there, we also were subjected to intense strikes. A rocket hit our house, he said. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Lactoferrin which is a protein found in milkcolored dark blueforms the mesh-like architecture of the hydrated microgel, partially coated by a hydrogel made by a polysaccharide -carrageenan, colored light blue. Credit: Dr Anna Tanczos, SciCommStudios.co.uk A novel aqueous lubricant technology designed to help people who suffer from a dry mouth is between four and five times more effective than existing commercially available products, according to laboratory tests. Developed by scientists at the University of Leeds, the saliva substitute is described as comparable to natural saliva in the way it hydrates the mouth and acts as a lubricant when food is chewed. Under a powerful microscope, the molecules in the substanceknown as a microgelappear as a lattice-like network or sponge which bind onto the surface of the mouth. Surrounding the microgel is a polysaccharide-based hydrogel which traps water. This dual function will keep the mouth feeling hydrated for longer. Professor Anwesha Sarkar, who has led the development of the saliva substitute, said, "Our laboratory benchmarking reveals that this substance will have a longer-lasting effect. "The problem with many of the existing commercial products is they are only effective for short periods because they do not bind to the surface of the mouth, with people having to frequently reapply the substance, sometimes while they are talking or as they eat. "That affects people's quality of life." Results from the laboratory evaluation, "Benchmarking of a microgel-reinforced hydrogel-based aqueous lubricant against commercial saliva substitutes," are reported in the journal Scientific Reports. The performance of the newly developed substance in comparison to existing products is due to a process called adsorption. Adsorption is the ability of a molecule to bind to something, in this case the surface of the inside of the mouth. Benchmark results The novel microgel comes in two forms: one made with a dairy protein and the other a vegan version using a potato protein. The new substance was benchmarked against eight commercially available saliva substitutes including Boots own brand productBiotene; Oralieve; Saliveze; and Glandosane. All the benchmarking was done in a laboratory on an artificial tongue-like surface and did not involve human subjects. A potato proteincolored dark greenforms the mesh-like architecture of the hydrated microgel, partially coated by a hydrogel made by a polysaccharide xanthan gum, shown in light green. Credit: Dr Anna Tanczos, SciCommStudios.co.uk The testing revealed the Leeds product had a lower level of desorptionthe opposite of adsorptionwhich is how much lubricant was lost from the surface of the synthetic tongue. With the commercially available products, between 23 to 58% of the lubricant was lost. With the saliva substitute developed at Leeds, the figure was just 7%. The dairy version slightly outperformed the vegan version. Dr. Olivia Pabois, a Research Fellow at Leeds and first author in the paper, said, "The test results provide a robust proof of concept that that our material is likely to be more effective under real-world conditions and could offer relief up to five times longer than the existing products. "The results of the benchmarking show favorable results in three key area. Our microgel provides high moisturization, it binds strongly with the surfaces of the mouth and is an effective lubricant, making it more comfortable for people to eat and talk." The substances used in the production of the saliva substitutediary and plant proteins and carbohydratesare non-toxic to humans and non-caloric. Although testing of the new product has involved just laboratory analysis, the scientific team believe the results will be replicated in human trials. The authors of the study are looking to translate the lubricant technology into commercially available products, to improve the quality of life of people who experience debilitating dry mouth conditions. Xerostomia: Health care burden A dry mouth or xerostomia, to give it its medical name, is a common condition which affects around one in ten of the population, and is prevalent among older people and people who have had cancer treatment or need to take a mix of medicines. In severe cases, a dry mouth results in people having discomfort swallowing and leads to malnutrition and dental problems, all of which increase the burden on health care systems. More information: Olivia Pabois et al, Benchmarking of a microgel-reinforced hydrogel-based aqueous lubricant against commercial saliva substitutes, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46108-w Journal information: Scientific Reports This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A red wine may pair nicely with the upcoming Thanksgiving meal. But for some people, drinking red wine even in small amounts causes a headache. Typically, a "red wine headache" can occur within 30 minutes to three hours after drinking as little as a small glass of wine. In a new study, scientists at the University of California, Davis, examined why this happenseven to people who don't get headaches when drinking small amounts of other alcoholic beverages. Researchers think that a flavanol found naturally in red wines can interfere with the proper metabolism of alcohol and can lead to a headache. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. The headache culprit: Quercetin, a flavanol This flavanol is called quercetin and it is naturally present in all kinds of fruits and vegetables, including grapes. It's considered a healthy antioxidant and is even available in supplement form. But when metabolized with alcohol, it can be problematic. "When it gets in your bloodstream, your body converts it to a different form called quercetin glucuronide," said wine chemist and corresponding author Andrew Waterhouse, professor emeritus with the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology. "In that form, it blocks the metabolism of alcohol." Acetaldehyde toxin buildup leads to flushing, headache, nausea As a result, people can end up accumulating the toxin acetaldehyde, explains lead author Apramita Devi, postdoctoral researcher with the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology. "Acetaldehyde is a well-known toxin, irritant and inflammatory substance," said Devi. "Researchers know that high levels of acetaldehyde can cause facial flushing, headache and nausea." The medication disulfiram prescribed to alcoholics to prevent them from drinking causes these same symptoms. Waterhouse said that's because the drug also causes the toxin to build up in the body when normally an enzyme in the body would break it down. About 40% of the East Asian population also has an enzyme that doesn't work very well, allowing acetaldehyde to build up in their system. "We postulate that when susceptible people consume wine with even modest amounts of quercetin, they develop headaches, particularly if they have a preexisting migraine or another primary headache condition," said co-author Morris Levin, professor of neurology and director of the Headache Center at the University of California, San Francisco. "We think we are finally on the right track toward explaining this millennia-old mystery. The next step is to test it scientifically on people who develop these headaches, so stay tuned." Sunlight increases headache-causing flavanol in grapes Waterhouse said levels of this flavanol can vary dramatically in red wine. "Quercetin is produced by the grapes in response to sunlight," Waterhouse said. "If you grow grapes with the clusters exposed, such as they do in the Napa Valley for their cabernets, you get much higher levels of quercetin. In some cases, it can be four to five times higher." Levels of quercetin can also differ depending on how the wine is made, including skin contact during fermentation, fining processes and aging. Clinical trial on wine headaches Scientists will next compare red wines that contain a lot of quercetin with those that have very little to test their theory about red wine headaches on people. This small human clinical trial will be led by UCSF. Researchers said there are still many unknowns about the causes of red wine headaches. It's unclear why some people seem more susceptible to them than others. Researchers don't know if the enzymes of people who suffer from red wine headaches are more easily inhibited by quercetin or if this population is just more easily affected by the buildup of the toxin acetaldehyde. "If our hypothesis pans out, then we will have the tools to start addressing these important questions," Waterhouse said. More information: Inhibition of ALDH2 by Quercetin Glucuronide Suggests a New Hypothesis to Explain Red Wine Headaches, Scientific Reports (2023). doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-46203-y Journal information: Scientific Reports 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 New research led by Griffith University on Australia's Gold Coast and Andres Bello University in Chile, has shown that surfing contributes about US$1 trillion a year to the global economy, by improving the mental health of surfers. For the Gold Coast alone, the research team estimated the benefits to be valued at ~US$1.03.3 billion per year. Mental health benefits from surfing comprise 5774% of the total economic benefits of surfing. The mental health benefits are 4.413.5 times direct expenditure by surfers, and 412 times economic effects via property and inbound tourism. The research, "Mental health contribution to economic value of surfing ecosystem services," has been published in the journal, npj Ocean Sustainability. Why look at surfing as a mental health cost saver? Professor Emeritus Ralf Buckley, from Griffith University's School of Environment and Science, said the study's aim was to estimate the large-scale economic value of mental health benefits across the entire representative population of individuals who took part in recreational surfing, which is a similar approach Professor Buckley has adopted in previous estimates for visitors to national parks. Mental health benefits may differ in degree, from occasional to frequent surfers. Outcomes may sometimes be perceived as negative, with injuries and overcrowding as principal causes. As with many thrill+skill adventure activities, surfing can act as a behavioral addiction: at least some surfers suffer substantial withdrawal symptoms if deprived of surf. "The reason why there are such big numbers in the value of recreational activities like surfing for mental health benefits is that for almost every kind of job, you have to pay attention: for safety, skill, service, or decisions," Professor Buckley said. "If you are stressed and not paying proper attention, your job performance suffers, and that costs money for your employer or your business. "Outdoor activities such as surfing reduce stress, as long as you can get a few good waves. Surfing has a powerful psychological effect and that has a substantial value." Why study the Gold Coast? Professor Buckley said that for economic valuations, mental health benefits acquired via surfing may also lead to large-scale lifestyle choices, such as residential location and work preferences, and these can create secondary economic effects, e.g., via property prices. "The economic value of surf amenities also overlaps with beach amenities more broadly," Professor Buckley said. "Taking all these factors into account, we estimated the mental health value of surfing for our case study site, the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. "The Gold Coast is a beach tourist destination, and its economy is driven largely by real estate, tourism, and trade and professional services such as building, health care and education. "Its 2023 resident population is estimated at ~732,000. In 2008, there were 65,000120,000 surfers. "Surfer numbers have doubled over the past five years, so we can estimate >130,000 surfers currently. "The mean number of beach visits per capita in Australia is six per year. The mean number of surf sessions per Gold Coast surfer is reported at ~100/year." How do you calculate the mental health value of surfing? "The economics are straightforward," Professor Buckley said. "We simply took existing health economics calculations for parks and greenspace and applied them to surfing." Professor Buckley and co-author Dr. Mary-Ann Cooper from Andres Bello University in Chile, triangulated the economic value of mental health benefits from surfing using the two different estimation methods currently available. Using the productivity + health care estimation method, if surfing reduces stress from high to low levels, it creates an estimated ~10% improvement in per capita workplace productivity, plus ~10% reduction in costs of mental health care. The Australian mean per capita GDP is ~$45,500, and mental health care costs are~10% of GDP4. The value of that stress reduction via surfing is estimated at ~$5000 per person per year. Surfing therefore contributes an estimated ~$0.652.10 billion per year via surfer mental health benefits. This can be injected directly into the Gold Coast economy via both employment and health care. Where to from here? Professor Buckley said this study provided an approximate top-down estimate, and for more accurate estimates at local scales, the team needed to track mental health measures and possible influential factors for large panels of surfers, over multiple years. "Our research also makes a contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG14, which is Oceans. "Therefore, the economic value of surfing is an argument for the conservation of our coastlines." More information: Mental health contribution to economic value of surfing ecosystem services, npj Ocean Sustainability (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s44183-023-00027-5 Journal information: npj Ocean Sustainability 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: Luz Garcini. Credit: Rice University After former President Donald Trump announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2017, beneficiaries of it experienced significantly higher levels of distress and post-traumatic stress diagnoses than their non-DACA counterparts, according to a new study from Rice University. President Joe Biden has pledged to preserve DACA, but its future remains uncertain. As a result, stress is prevalent for those who benefit from the program, the researchers wrote. The article "Anti-immigration policy and mental health: Risk of distress and trauma among deferred action for childhood arrivals recipients in the United States" has been published in a recent edition of Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy. The study examines the association between immigration legal status and distress from the announcement of DACA's termination among individuals affected by the loss of the program. Approximately 40% of the 233 individuals surveyed met the clinical cutoff for psychological distress. Lead author Luz Garcini, assistant professor of psychological sciences and interim director of community and public health at the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice, noted that DACA recipients had significantly higher levels of distress, even when compared to non-DACA immigrants with unauthorized immigration legal status. These mental health effects increase the risk of mental disorders, which is of concern given that these immigrants have limited access to health care, including mental health services, Garcini said. Garcini and her co-authors wrote that the field of psychology needs to further study and address the impact of potentially traumatic events in this immigrant community, including the uncertainty surrounding DACA. "Advocacy efforts to improve immigration policies need to be strengthened to combat the harmful mental and physical health impacts of the potential termination of DACA and those affected by it," Garcini said. More information: Luz M. Garcini et al, Anti-immigration policy and mental health: Risk of distress and trauma among deferred action for childhood arrivals recipients in the United States, Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy (2023). DOI: 10.1037/tra0001228 We are delighted with todays announcement and were grateful to Minister Humphreys for her ongoing support for the sheds. The Mens Shed movement was hit very hard by the Covid pandemic with weekly attendance numbers falling from 10,000 pre-covid to approximately 6,000 currently. This announcement is a major a boost for us in the Irish Mens Sheds Association to know that this funding can be utilised by sheds to pay for their utility bills throughout this winter and mitigate against the increased cost of running a Mens shed. This funding will help greatly towards the sustainability of Irelands 435 Mens Sheds as many continue to struggle to re-open and remain operational post-covid. There is no doubt Shed members up and down the country, and their communities will benefit greatly from this funding and I know that the support from Minister Humphreys is much appreciated by all shed members. Elizabeth Kester is turning 80 soon, but she's still part of the workforce in Missoula because she has to pay for housing. There aren't a lot of options for someone her age, but she recently found a job sewing gear for a local nonprofit. Last Wednesday she was smiling as she and other workers hunkered over their machines in a sunny, lively room in the basement of a local church. Missoula Works Sewing Ventures is an initiative of the Missoula Interfaith Collaborative. The program provides employment opportunities for people who struggle in the traditional job market, such as people over age 55, people with physical limitations or parents who need a flexible schedule. The workers are making gear like fanny packs, backpacks, sling bags and tote bags designed by retired smokejumpers. "I worked at the costume shop at the University (of Montana) for 11 years and I worked in Germany in a clothing factory making military uniforms when I was a teenager," Kester explained. "So when I came back to Missoula, I'm trying to find a house and I couldn't find anything. And I came here to help me find a place, and then I found out about the program and I got a job." Paige Pavalone is the director of Missoula Works, which is part of the Missoula Interfaith Collaborative. The program pays for itself by selling the gear through its website. "Money from every bag you buy provides meaningful, professional support and a community of lovely people for the Missoulian that built it," she tells people. The program's goal is to sell as many bags as possible and be able to hire more people. The history of Missoula Works goes back years, but the sewing idea came up more recently. "Missoula Interfaith Collaborative is a nonprofit organization with congregations, businesses and neighborhoods that work on larger Missoula systemic issues such as poverty, family homelessness, systemic racism and all kinds of issues," Pavalone explained. The Missoula Works program was started by the collaborative as a staffing agency designed to work with individuals impacted by the justice system. Then they formed the "Get it Done Crew," which provided people with jobs in lawn maintenance and other areas. "But the population that we identified that we left out most was women and people who were on a fixed income, age 55 plus," Pavalone explained. "So we're like OK, we need to segment away from this labor-centric stuff." They got some donated sewing equipment from a local manufacturer and started the sewing venture as a way to give people an opportunity they couldn't otherwise find. Now, they employ about nine people and offer both full-time and part-time positions making between $15 and $20 an hour, depending on experience. Pavalone said that some of the employees are gaining skills and setting goals for themselves, like maintaining sobriety or getting a driver's license back or getting their kids back. "So it's just a mixed bag and each person, we kind of just designed the pathway that works for them," she said. The gear they make is colorful and designed for Missoula: Backpacks that can carry growlers of beer, tote bags for the farmers market, sling bags that have a cellphone pocket. "We knew nothing about sewing, but we knew that the products that we wanted, we wanted them to be a reflection of the Missoula community," Pavalone said. One of the bags is made from recycled vinyl banners, and they're in the process of designing clear stadium bags for Griz games. "It's sustainable fashion and fair wages," said Linea Maxwell, the Missoula Works Sewing Ventures manager. "There's just so much potential with this program." Tony Petrilli is a retired U.S. Forest Service smokejumper. Because his career required him to design gear and sew parachutes and operate sewing machinery, he and another retired smokejumper help the program by designing the packs and bags. He said that he's used to seeing hard workers during his time as a smokejumper and that the work ethic he sees in the sewing shop is "right on par" with that. Naomi Gerheim, the development coordinator at the Missoula Interfaith Collaborative, said they have a wide variety of people from all walks of life in the sewing room. "While the stitchers in the room now have more than 200 years of combined experience, that does not mean that experience is necessary," she said. "A training program has been established to work with people at every skill level. As with all of Missoula Works programs, each employee receives support from a Personal Development Coordinator (a social worker on staff), can work with the Housing Advocate Network and becomes part of the community built under the tent of MIC." You can view the bags for sale and find more about the program online at missoulaworksventures.org/. DEER LODGE Grist for the rill. As remediation grinds forward, various dilemmas surface along the Clark Fork River like trout to a caddis fly hatch. As in: How to ensure the second cleanup of the river-hugging Arrowstone Park in Deer Lodge yields a safe spot for adults, dogs and toddlers with dirty hands. How to effectively remediate the remaining tainted reaches of the Clark Fork River between Racetrack and Garrison with a budget tighter than a snare drum. How to fund research that could help identify the causes of a drastic decline in brown trout numbers in the uppermost Clark Fork. How to manage the design and cleanup of the river so that overseer EPA and the in-the-trenches Montana Department of Environmental Quality are on the same page. These are among the conundrums facing the scientists, bean counters, lawyers, engineers, toxicologists and others who work for the EPA, the DEQ, the states Natural Resource Damage Program and more. These predicaments were fodder Wednesday night during a two-hour meeting hosted at the Deer Lodge Elks Club by the agency personnel in charge of the Superfund cleanup of the Clark Fork River polluted by historic mining and smelting activities upstream in Butte and Anaconda. More than 10 years after the cleanup and restoration work began, knowledgeable observers wonder whether enough money is left from the 2008 settlements with Atlantic Richfield to complete the remediation and restoration work that remains. Jessica Banaszak, a project manager for DEQ, tackled the money question Wednesday, saying the goal of the recently published strategic plan was to come up with an approach that would ensure that we have enough money to get to the end. We do have enough money to complete the cleanup, Banaszak said. But we dont have a crystal ball. So, we cant predict how construction costs are going to change year by year. All we know is that they are pretty volatile. An especially costly piece is hauling excavated tailings to a repository in the Opportunity Ponds. DEQ and NRDP have pooled money for the coming work. The strategic plan included an estimate suggesting about $105 million is left to spend on the Clark Fork River remediation and restoration. Estimated costs total about $104.5 million. Those estimates hinge on an approach that narrows the cleanup scope primarily to a so-called channel migration zone. Channel migration zones are areas in a floodplain where a stream or river channel can be expected to move naturally over time. For the Clark Fork River, the 100-year channel migration zone is a best-guess calculation based on past channel movement and projected future migration. Its boundaries are narrower than those that have guided cleanup to date but the DEQ has said there will be flexibility to address badly contaminated areas outside the zone. Were planning to remove within the channel migration zone but were also budgeted and plan for removal outside of that CMZ as needed, Banaszak said. Both the EPA and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks have expressed concerns about the long-term viability of the channel migration zone approach. Caleb Uerling, a fisheries biologist for FWP, spoke Wednesday about a dramatic decline in brown trout numbers in the upper Clark Fork. The number of brown trout has plunged from a high of about 2,000 fish per mile to about 30 fish per mile, he said. He said research to date suggests young fish are not being recruited into the population. The causes arent clear, he said, though river sections where remediation has occurred tend to have lower numbers. FWP and others have lamented past remediation practices that removed mature, metals-tolerant vegetation and undercut banks where trout find cover in a quest for a thorough cleanup. Uerling said possible contributors to declining fish populations could include lingering metals toxicity from mining and smelting pollution, occasional fish kills, low flows and warm temperatures in summer, sediments from erosion, tributaries with water quality issues and more. The further upstream you get in the Clark Fork the worse the decline in fish numbers has been, he said. Uerling said he is hopeful funding will come through to allow additional study during the coming year of factors driving the low Clark Fork recruitment. DEQ and NRDP have said the approach to cleanup of Phase 7 and remaining phases will try to include retaining or adding habitat conducive to trout when conditions allow. Phase 7 also will include work at Arrowstone Park to address arsenic contamination. Molly Roby, an EPA remedial project manager, said Wednesday that the agency plans to continue examining the long-term protectiveness of the park and how the remedial design process can consider future uses of the park. The focus will include ensuring that the community is left with the amazing resource and asset. Alex Leone, the Anaconda-based restoration policy manager for the Clark Fork Coalition, asked whether the risk-based concentration of arsenic for recreational users at Arrowstone Park would continue to be 680 parts per million. Leone observed that Arrowstone Park has been controversial since its creation by the Atlantic Richfield Co. in the 1990s. The park was built atop soils contaminated with arsenic and heavy metals. Contractors working for Atlantic Richfield tilled in lime, which can be effective in addressing some heavy metals but can make arsenic more mobile. Watchdogs warned then that the contamination should have been removed given the park is subject to a migrating river channel cutting into wastes and children playing in places where vegetation wont grow. Scott Sudweeks, an EPA toxicologist who attended the meeting, acknowledged that the risk assessment process that was employed more than 20 years ago might yield a different number now. But he emphasized that he is confident the 680 ppm remains a number protective of human health. Is it going to protect human health in the long term? My belief is, Yes, Sudweeks said. I probably would do things differently now, he said. But I am committed to ensuring that this cleanup is protective of human health. Theres certainly opportunities to go back and revisit that and seeing whether theres options for going lower as part of the remedial design process. The DEQ provided more information about the risk-based concentration level for Arrowstone Park. The 680 ppm arsenic is the average removal criteria. A surface soil arsenic value of 1,200 ppm would not necessarily need to be removed in order to achieve the Human Health Risk Concentration Level required by the Record of Decision, the agency said. DEQ said this approach allows it to target removals to maximize protectiveness, while leaving areas with thick vegetation untouched. In other words, we are more likely to remove single exceedances in areas where kids will play and people will walk, while we are less likely to remove exceedances in a well-vegetated wetland or thicket of willows, the agency said. DEQ has said it hopes to start work on Phase 7 in late summer and at Arrowstone Park in the fall. Bare spots were to be addressed sooner. In a Sept. 1 news release DEQ announced, In the coming weeks, a contractor will place temporary soil cover to prevent contact with potentially contaminated dirt. As of Wednesday that had not happened. DEQs Logan Dudding said there have been challenges with nailing down agreements with contractors to do the work. DEQ said its hopes to complete remediation of all remaining river stretches, ending in Garrison, by 2038. The Center for Biological Diversity said Monday that it has helped increase the reward to $11,000 by offering an additional $5,000 for information leading to a successful prosecution in the illegal killing of a wolverine in southwest Montana. The senseless killing of one of these incredible, rare mammals is heartbreaking and cowardly, Kristine Akland, Northern Rockies director at the Center, said in a news release. We hope this cash reward encourages someone to step forward with information to bring the perpetrator to justice. The wolverine was shot dead and skinned along a closed U.S. Forest Service road on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, the release said. Its remains were discovered Nov. 10. Wolverines face significant threats from fossil fuel-driven climate change, such as diminishing the mountain snowpack they rely on for denning and raising their young. Last year, Montana District Court determined that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services decision refusing to list the species under the Endangered Species Act violated federal law. The agency is expected to issue a new listing decision by the end of November. Killing wolverines is prohibited under both federal and state law and can result in criminal and civil penalties. Montana FWP offered a $1,000 reward for information on the killing. Trap Free Montana announced a $5,000 reward and the Center is boosting the amount by an additional $5,000. Anyone with information about the wolverine killing should contact Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks at bit.ly/mttps23 or 1-800-TIP-MONT. A Montana man who had been living with a teenager who disappeared from her home in Arizona four years ago pleaded not guilty Monday to child sexual abuse charges lodged against him based on images that authorities said they found on his cellphone. Since his Oct. 23 arrest, Edmund Davis, 36, has been held on $1 million bail on two felony counts of the sexual abuse of children. His public defender, Casey Moore, said he would file a motion for a bail reduction hearing after speaking with Davis' father and the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Dan Guzynski. No further hearings were immediately scheduled. Authorities have not said whether Davis is considered a suspect in the disappearance of Alicia Navarro in September 2019. Navarro left a note behind when she vanished from her home days before her 15th birthday, sparking a massive search that included the FBI. She was almost 19 when she walked into the Havre, Montana, police station in July and said she wanted to be removed from the missing persons list. In investigating the circumstances that led Navarro to be in Havre nearly 1,400 miles (2,253 kilometers) from her childhood home in Glendale, Arizona law enforcement officers in Arizona obtained warrants that they said led to the discovery of the images of child sexual abuse on Davis' cellphone, court records said. Some of the images involved infants and toddlers and some were computer generated, according to court records. Davis is charged with possessing images of a child or children under the age of 12 engaged in actual or simulated sexual conduct, which carries a mandatory sentence of 25 to 100 years in prison. He is also charged with possessing images of the sexual abuse of children under the age of 16, which carries a sentence of four to 100 years in prison. Over the years, Navarro's mother, Jessica Nunez, said that her daughter, who was diagnosed with autism, may have been lured away by someone she met online. When she disappeared in 2019, Navarro took only her laptop and cellphone. Neighbors said Davis had been living with Navarro for at least a year. In July, after her reappearance had been made public, an Associated Press reporter spoke with a young woman at the Havre apartment who looked and sounded like Navarro, but she didn't give her name and said she wanted to be left alone. The couple moved out of the apartment days after the news media reported their location, neighbors told the AP. Trent Steele, a private investigator who assisted Nunez in the search for Navarro through the Miami-based nonprofit Anti-Predator Project, said last month that Navarro was "in a safe place," without disclosing the particulars. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report. A recent boom in psychedelic research has given way to a bumper crop of startups seeking to harness the potential of mind-altering drugs for treating depression, addiction and other conditions. In this crowded field, Vancouver-based Filament Health has a unique approach: extracting drugs like psilocybin and mescaline from natural sources, including mushrooms and cacti, rather than synthesizing the ingredients in a laboratory. Filament is studying its mushroom-based psilocybin as a treatment for opioid and stimulant use disorder. And more than a dozen other companies and academic centers are using the company's drugs in trials of depression, chronic pain and other disorders. Filament CEO Benjamin Lightburn spoke about the ethical, therapeutic and medical case for using naturally derived psychedelics. The answers have been edited for length and clarity. Q: What do you mean by natural psychedelics and how are they produced? A: It means were deriving them from natural sources, like plants and fungi, because that is in fact the way that humanity has been interacting with these substances in their natural form for thousands of years. Its only recently that we had access to synthetic chemical manufacturing techniques. Since our products come from natural sources, we believe it allows people to maintain a certain connection to how humans have been ingesting these substances for years and years and to important aspects of many traditional communities. A natural product contains much more than just one single active compound, right? And so in the case of magic mushrooms, for instance, they contain much more than just psilocybin. They contain other compounds like psilocin and a dozen or more other active ingredients. Just like when you drink a cup of coffee there is much more than just caffeine. Theres a whole entourage of different compounds, which in the case of coffee gives it a flavor, aroma and terroir. Q: Do you think patients will be able to tell the difference when they take these drugs? A: Its our hypothesis that the presence of these other compounds may contribute to differences or perhaps even improvements in the therapeutic potential of these complex natural mixtures. After all, these substances did evolve in nature alongside humans. Q: Your company also prioritizes ethically and sustainably harvesting these plants. How does that work? A: The iboga plant, which contains the psychedelic ibogaine, is probably the best example of that at Filament. Weve been working with groups in West Africa, in Gabon, where the iboga plant is indigenous and, in fact, is also involved with important cultural practices by the Bwiti people. So its very important for us to make sure that any source of supply thats being imported from overseas, its being done sustainably, No. 1, of course. And No. 2, that the proper procedures for informed consent with the local indigenous community are put in place and procedures for reciprocity and equitable benefit sharing. We obviously believe in sharing the benefit of any commercial products that get manufactured back with the local community who, after all, have been stewarding and shepherding this cultural resource for the previous millennia. Q: What is the advantage of all of these practices when there are so many competitors in the psychedelic space? A: Were really the only one that is focused 100% on natural. And weve actually been able to successfully manufacture these products and get them into clinical trials. There is a ton of interest from different researchers all around the world to use our psychedelic drugs. And theres a lot of interest, I think, from the investment community to fund our own internal drug development. If you believe psychedelics are a thing thats going to be here to stay and you believe that people are going to at least want a choice to have a natural psychedelic product, then I think its fair to say that Filament is going to be sticking around for the long haul. Photos: Psychedelic churches push boundaries of religion Israeli forces pressed their offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza on Monday, battling around a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, and where health officials called for the evacuation of the wounded. A medical worker inside the facility and the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing 12 people. Both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on those who targeted them from inside the 3.5-acre compound. The advance came as 28 premature babies evacuated from Gaza Citys Shifa Hospital by the World Health Organization were transported to Egypt on Monday. Three others were transferred to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Red Crescent said. More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the compound that Israeli forces stormed days ago. Gazas hospitals play a prominent role in the battle of narratives over the wars brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the conflict was sparked by Hamas Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. In the wake of the assault, Israeli leaders vowed to eradicate Hamas, destroy its ability to rule Gaza and uproot its infrastructure. Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields and that it operated a major command hub inside and beneath Shifa, a claim hospital officials and Hamas deny. Critics say Israels siege and relentless bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territorys 2.3 million Palestinians. Israeli troops were battling Hamas fighters in the Jabaliya refugee camp, a densely built up district on Gaza Citys northeastern side that has been heavily hit by bombardment for weeks. The military said that after moving through the center of the city to Shifa, its forces were now working to uproot Hamas fighters from eastern areas. Dozens of dead and wounded in airstrikes and shelling overnight flowed into the Indonesian Hospital, near Jabaliya, said Marwan Abdallah, the medical worker there. He said Israeli tanks were operating less than 200 meters (yards) away and Israeli snipers could be seen on the roofs of nearby buildings. As he spoke on the phone, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said some 600 patients, 200 health care workers and 2,000 displaced people are sheltering at the hospital. Al-Qidra said the International Committee for the Red Cross and the WHO were prepared to evacuate roughly 150 wounded patients if a convoy of buses was able to reach the hospital, but by Monday night there was no word it had been able to reach the facility. In a separate development that could relieve some of the pressure on Gazas collapsing health system, dozens of trucks entered from Egypt on Monday with equipment from Jordan to set up a field hospital. Jordans state-run media said the hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis would be up and running within 48 hours. CLAIMS ABOUT SHIFA After the evacuation of the premature babies and other wounded from Shifa, more than 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remained in the hospital complex, which can no longer provide most treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators. Israeli forces battled Palestinians outside its gates for days before entering the facility on Wednesday. Four babies died in the two days before the evacuation, according to Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals. Israels army said it has evidence that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospitals 20-acre (8-hectare) complex, which includes several buildings. On Sunday, the military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 55 meters (60 yards) long and about 10 meters (33 feet) below ground. It said the tunnel ended at a blast-proof door with a hole in it for gunmen to fire out of. Troops have not opened the door yet, it said. Israeli forces also released security camera video showing what they said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, who were captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack and taken to the hospital. Hamas said its fighters brought them in for medical care. The army also said an investigation had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, another captive whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been wounded in an Israeli strike on Nov. 9 that killed her captor, but was then killed by Hamas in Shifa. The military has previously released images of several guns it said were found inside an MRI lab and said that the bodies of two hostages were found near the complex. The Associated Press was not able to independently confirm the militarys findings. Hamas and hospital staff have denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the latest announcement, saying the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel. THREE IN FOUR PEOPLE DISPLACED Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment since the start of the war. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gazas population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded U.N.-run shelters, according to the U.N. Strikes in the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps Monday killed at least 40 people, according to hospital officials, and residents said dozens more were buried in the rubble. Bundled against a chilly wind from Gazas approaching winter, a line of men prayed over more than a dozen bodies on the grounds of the nearby morgue in Deir al-Balah before loading them onto a truck. More than 12,700 Palestinians, including more than 5,000 minors and 3,250 women, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank said Monday, which coordinates with officials in the Health Ministry of Hamas-run Gaza. Officials there say another 4,000 are missing and believed buried in rubble. Their counts do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of fighters but has given no evidence of its count. Violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where attacks by Jewish settlers are on the rise and where more than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, mostly in gunbattles triggered by Israeli military raids. About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 66 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. Israels three-member war Cabinet is to meet with representatives of the hostages families on Monday evening. Magdy and Jeffery reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Najib Jobain in Khan Younis, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed. ATLANTA Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a full partnership. Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to President Carter sometimes referred to her privately as co-president. Rosalynn is my best friend ... the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life, Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981. Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Rosalynn Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-the-scenes influence. When her role in a highly publicized Cabinet shakeup became known, she was forced to declare publicly, I am not running the government. Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husbands they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanor and a soft Southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her the Steel Magnolia. Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carters landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington. Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights. She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit U.S. wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics. Throughout her husband's political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media didn't cover those efforts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticized reporters for writing only about "sexy subjects." As honorary chairwoman of the President's Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying, "We've been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach." She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husband's campaigns for Georgia governor. I used to come home and say to Jimmy, 'Why are people telling me their problems?' And he said, 'Because you may be the only person they'll ever see who may be close to someone who can help them,' she explained. After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Rosalynn Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, Georgia, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives. "I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles," she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, "First Lady from Plains." But "we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before." After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work. She chaired the center's annual symposium on mental health issues and raised funds for efforts to aid the mentally ill and homeless. She also wrote "Helping Yourself Help Others," about the challenges of caring for elderly or ailing relatives, and a sequel, "Helping Someone With Mental Illness." Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. "I get tired," she said of her travels. "But something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and there's no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing it's so wonderful." In 2015, Jimmy Carters doctors discovered four small tumors on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she didn't know what she was going to do. I depend on him when I have questions, when I'm writing speeches, anything, I consult with him, she said. Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived U.S. president. Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived of the nation's first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at age 97. Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927, the eldest of four children. Her father died when she was young, so she took on much of the responsibility of caring for her siblings when her mother went to work part time. She also contributed to the family income by working after school in a beauty parlor. "We were very poor and worked hard," she once said, but she kept up her studies, graduating from high school as class valedictorian. She soon fell in love with the brother of one of her best friends. Jimmy and Rosalynn had known each other all their lives it was Jimmy's mother, nurse Lillian Carter, who delivered baby Rosalynn but he left for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, when she was still in high school. After a blind date, Jimmy told his mother: "That's the girl I want to marry." They wed in 1946, shortly after his graduation from Annapolis and Rosalynn's graduation from Georgia Southwestern College. Photos: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter through the years Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1966 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1970 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1971 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1976 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1977 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1978 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1978 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1979 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1979 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1980 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1980 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1984 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1985 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1988 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1995 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2004 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2007 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2007 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2008 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2010 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2011 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2014 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2015 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2015 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2017 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2018 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2018 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 2019 Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Sunday rebuked a section of Kenya Kwanza leaders for prematurely discussing the 2032 General Elections. DP Gachagua noted that some leaders have already been engaging in speculative talks about his purported presidential bid, nine years from now. He also rubbished any discussions about the 2027 Elections, saying such talk is futile and unproductive. Ive heard that some of our leaders have lost their way, discussing the 2032 general elections. Those people are lost. Weve only been in office for one year; discussing 2032, or even 2027, is a premature debate, he said. Speaking at a church service and fundraising event for Mt. Elgon Churches in Kopsiro, Bungoma County, Gachagua made it clear that he is not engaging in discussions about future elections. Instead, the DP reiterated his commitment to assisting President William Ruto in revitalizing the countrys economy. I do not want to be included in such debates as I am occupied with assisting the President in reviving the economy. We have no time for useless and unproductive discussions about 2032. Its unnecessary and a misadventure. How can anyone be certain they will be alive? he posed. Gachagua encouraged fellow leaders to prioritize the countrys economic transformation instead of getting involved in unnecessary debates about the distant future. I want to tell the leaders in Kenya Kwanza, let us focus on the economic transformation of this country. That is what is important right now. If some want to engage in those debates, please dont drag us into that nonsense, stated the Deputy President. The Digital Yuan, Chinas Central Bank Digital Currency, stands at the forefront of financial innovation, offering a unique blend of technological advancement and state-backed credibility. Its emergence raises crucial considerations for global investors and financial enthusiasts alike. For those keen on trading the digital yuan, visit this trading platform that offers automated trading solutions. Potential Returns & Risks Investing in new financial instruments always presents a mix of opportunities and uncertainties, and the Digital Yuan is no exception. As China, a global economic powerhouse, introduces its own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the prospect of significant returns for investors becomes apparent. The Digital Yuan has the potential to reshape the global financial landscape, offering quicker transaction times, increased transparency, and reduced costs, especially in cross-border trades. However, with every new venture comes inherent risks. The Digital Yuan, being a nascent currency, has yet to undergo the rigors of global economic crises or face significant market volatility. This lack of historical data can pose challenges for investors trying to predict its future trajectory. Furthermore, the centralization of the Digital Yuan, in contrast to decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, means that its value and stability are heavily tied to Chinas economic policies and political climate. Another risk factor is the regulatory environment. As nations around the world grapple with the rise of digital currencies, new regulations can be swiftly introduced that might impact the functionality or acceptability of the Digital Yuan in global markets. Investors should also be wary of potential technological vulnerabilities. Diversifying Your Portfolio with Digital Yuan In the complex world of investments, diversification remains a cornerstone principle. By spreading investments across various assets, investors can reduce the risk associated with the underperformance of any single asset. The Digital Yuan, as an emerging financial instrument, offers a unique avenue for diversification. Given its distinctive characteristics as a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) backed by a major economy, it holds a position that is distinct from traditional fiat currencies and decentralized cryptocurrencies. The Digital Yuan represents more than just a digital version of Chinas national currency; its a testament to the fusion of technology and state-backed financial power. As China continues to exert its influence in global markets, the Digital Yuan might find itself at the heart of numerous financial and trade activities. This presents potential growth that could be uncorrelated with the typical performance patterns of stocks, bonds, or even other cryptocurrencies. However, diversifying with the Digital Yuan isnt just about capitalizing on potential gains. Its also about positioning oneself in the evolving landscape of global finance. As the world gradually moves towards a more digital-centric economy, having exposure to assets like the Digital Yuan ensures that investors are not left behind by this transition. It provides a touchpoint to the innovations in the realm of digital currencies and the changing dynamics of global trade. That said, as with any investment strategy, its crucial to exercise caution. The exact allocation towards the Digital Yuan should be based on individual risk tolerance, financial goals, and a clear understanding of the currencys intricacies. Seeking guidance from financial advisors, staying updated on Chinas policies, and monitoring global digital currency trends can help in making informed decisions about diversifying ones portfolio with the Digital Yuan. Regulatory Environment & Compliance The realm of digital currencies is often characterized by its rapidly evolving regulatory environment. As financial institutions, governments, and central banks grapple with the implications of such currencies, the Digital Yuan finds itself at the intersection of technological innovation and regulatory scrutiny. Unlike many of its cryptocurrency counterparts, which operate outside the traditional banking framework, the Digital Yuan is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), meaning it is directly overseen and issued by Chinas central bank. This unique position provides the Digital Yuan with both advantages and challenges. On the one hand, being backed by a central authority offers a level of legitimacy and stability that many decentralized cryptocurrencies lack. The Chinese governments endorsement ensures that the Digital Yuan will be accepted for transactions within its jurisdiction, and possibly even beyond, as China seeks to establish bilateral agreements with trading partners. However, the centralized nature of the Digital Yuan also means that its subject to the broader regulatory and political environment of China. Investors and users of the Digital Yuan must be aware of and compliant with the regulatory directives issued by Chinese authorities. This could encompass everything from transaction limits to reporting requirements and data privacy concerns. Any changes in these regulations could have immediate implications for the currencys use and value. Conclusion As the Digital Yuan charts its course in the global financial ecosystem, understanding its regulatory landscape and potential implications becomes paramount. Staying informed and adaptable will be key for those looking to navigate this new frontier in digital finance. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has declared that all tax payments conducted through mobile money transactions will now be processed using the official government Paybill number, 222 222. This announcement, made on Friday, November 17, aligns with the Presidential directive to consolidate government services into a single payment platform. Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) notifies taxpayers that all tax payments via mobile money shall only be made through the Government PayBill number 222222 with immediate effect in line with the Kenya Gazette No. 16008 of 2022 and the Presidential Directive designating the use of Paybill Number 222222 as the Governments single payment platform, said the taxman. As one of the 17 State agencies issued a 30-day ultimatum to adopt the e-Citizen paybill following President Rutos directive in June, KRA is mandated to comply by December 15. Taxpayers are further advised to use the Payment Registration Number (PRN) or the Ref. Number on the Payment Slips generated from KRA Business Systems: iTax, iCMS, EGMS, and KESRA iStudent as the account number when making tax payment via mobile money, KRA outlined. To make tax payments via mobile money, taxpayers should follow these steps: Option 1: Enter PayBill number 222222 Enter the PRN (payment registration number) as the account number Key in the amount as indicated on the PRN Enter your PIN and click send Option 2: Dial *222# Select the Pay KRA bill option Enter the E-slip (PRN) number Choose payment mode as M-Pesa Enter M-Pesa PIN and complete the rest of the process. For additional information, contact the KRA Contact Centre at Telephone No: 020-4-999-999 or 0711-099-999, or via Email: [email protected]. Carolyne Daisy Ashiono, born to a teenage mother and later raised by her grandmother following her parents divorce, shared with the Nairobian the challenging journey she had to navigate to reach her current position. Briefly tell us about yourself I am the director of Daisy Centre and School- Bukura in Kakamega County. I went to Bukura Primary School, Kisulisuli Primary and then sat for my KCPE exams at Top Station Academy Kitale. I joined Chakol Girls High School in Busia County and then got transferred to Ulumbi High School in Siaya County. Later on, I trained as a P1 teacher and then went to the United States of America and trained as a Medical Assistant at Ensign College. What made you enter into an early marriage immediately after your secondary school education? My father and mother separated when I was still very young. Its my grandmother who took care of me. My grandmother did what my mother couldnt have done for me. With no income, she took care of me and other children in the village. After my secondary school education, circumstances pushed me into an early marriage in 1997 in the Mathare informal settlement area, Nairobi and there was no dating. I was just looking for a safe space for myself. You started a family with no income, how were you surviving? After a year in marriage, I gave birth to our first child, and, together with my husband, we started figuring out what to do to put food on the table. I used to do menial jobs like washing clothes, selling vegetables and hawking water in the slums, and working on mjengo sites with my child on the back. Amidst the challenges you faced as a young family, what made you come up with the idea of starting an orphanage? The idea was conceptualized on my 21st birthday. We were figuring out what we could do to get fulfillment in life. It was then that we decided to take care of needy children from vulnerable families. My husband had secured a job with an insurance company as a salesperson and together we had saved Sh5,000. We went to Soweto slums and got needy children who needed to go to school. We used the money to enroll them in local schools. The children either were total orphans or had a single parent while others had both parents but the environment at home was not conducive due to abject poverty. After a few years, they got some help from well-wishers established an orphanage, and also established a private school. By 2012, we had been blessed with four children, acquired properties in Nairobi, had decent cars and life was worth the sacrifice we made at the early stages of our marriage. Why did you leave your marriage despite the efforts you put in together as a couple to start an orphanage and private school that was doing well? We had unrepairable differences that saw our marriage hit a snag. For my peace of mind, l had to leave the marriage including the wealth we had created together. I moved out because I knew my God would help me start life again. When I was leaving, I asked my children whether they wanted to stay with their father in Nairobi or go with me to Kakamega. I told them, if they came with me, they would struggle to survive but they agreed to follow me to where I was going. Three days to Christmas day in December 2012, I took three sufurias, tied them in a leso, took four children, boarded a bus and came back home and rented a house behind Maraba Primary School and started life afresh. How come you didnt fight over property you had jointly worked for? I didnt want to fight over property and left everything to my ex-husband. How can I fight over property we got in faith? That was an orphanage, and if we started fighting, the vulnerable children we were helping would have suffered. How was the idea of starting school in your village conceptualised? In 2013, I got a plot (50 by 100) near my parents home in Bukura and the owner agreed that I could pay in installments. I put up a structure made of iron sheets and started the Daisy Centre and School Bukura which was an orphanage and a private school. How did you break even and manage to rise again and put the school on the map as an academic giant in the region? I went to see the Operations Manager at Equity Bank- Kakamega branch to request for a loan despite having Sh15,000 only in my account, which was in Nairobi, but I wanted Sh150,000. After explaining my case to him, he told me it was not possible. I broke down before a stranger and started crying. He called in a female colleague who consoled me and after a while, they told me to come back the following day as it was almost closing time. I went home, locked myself in a room, broke down, and prayed to my God to intervene. The following day at 7 am, I was at the bank and when I met him, he gave me the loan. I used the money to buy nails, iron sheets, and food for the children at the ECDE centre and started off. The classes were used during the night, at night, they were dormitories. She said the two teachers who came with her from Nairobi used to sleep in the same structure with the children and at the time, the entire school had 85 pupils, out of which, 12 pupils who were from vulnerable families were boarders. Travelling back to the United States helped stabilise your operations. Did you get some help from your former classmates you met during the visit? I went to the US to meet my college mates who after listening to my case, one of them gave U$5000. More partners came in, like Cindy Gardner who teamed up with Anne Vale and helped me with the funds that I used to put up the first administration block and permanent classes. I met Gardner while in college but had been diagnosed with cancer. She told me that she had the feeling of helping me before she died and wanted to leave a mark. She said she would be watching from heaven to see the success of the project. Tell us about your success story a decade later. For the last five years since we presented our students to KCPE exams, we have always maintained a mean score of 345. We now have 576 learners and 23 teachers as well as modern classes. I have about 50 children from vulnerable families right from ECDE to the university at the orphanage whose tuition fee I pay. With the transition to the Competency-Based Curriculum, the centre is well prepared with a fully equipped laboratory, electricity, plumbing and a state-of-the-art music studio. Whats your push in fighting for the rights of the girl child? Starting marriage life early gave me lessons and experience and now I want to be a support system to the girls under my care. I discourage them from making bad choices and urge them to get a good education to have a better life in the future. Success without a scar is not success. My story is an encouragement, whoever feels that God doesnt exist, has no idea of what he is saying. God put me to where I am today. Without Christ, there is no success. You must be sharpened first. And currently, I got married again, and together, we are raising a happy family. Napas cocktail craze continues. Three such establishments recently opened up in a 30-day span, including The Fink, The Haven at CIA, and The Lincoln. The Warren, on First Street downtown, is yet another on the cusp of opening, with plans to serve high-end drinks with food pairings. A year ago, if you wanted a craft cocktail in Napa, you had few choices beyond Wilfreds or ArBaretum. But since then, entrepreneurs of all stripes sensed there was further demand for late-night spots, leading to the recent wave of mixed-drink mavens and potable purveyors. Chispa, a tequila bar from the owners of Cadet, opened in August. Creator Aubrey Bailey says there wasnt one particular reason that led to its creation. Cadet was the community beer and wine bar, but I always had my eye on spirits and was just looking for the right opportunity. It was always about creating another cool late-night spot for Napa, she says. Bailey, previously a sommelier at the French Laundry, says moving into tequila was a natural step. Tequila has parallels to the wine world both are specific to a region and even sub-regions, she says. There are different ways to make both. It quickly became my favorite spirit. Downtown Napa catered primarily, it seemed, to visitors who tasted wine all day, ate a high-end meal and promptly headed back to their hotels to sleep. But thats not quite it, says Bailey. People wanted to do something after dinner, she says. We thought, maybe they want a cocktail after dinner. We are just giving people things to do. Another distinct difference between Chispa and other late-night offerings is that they serve late-night food. People have tried offering late-night food in the past No matter how many people move to Napa, we are still a small country town at heart. Its hard to get consistent support Monday through Thursday. The Fink is another new Napa cocktail spot. The interior is nautical themed, inspired by the old boathouse for the historic mill, while the tagline is the neighborhood bar for the world traveler. Created by Judd Finklestein, The Fink was inspired by his infatuation with cocktail culture. I could talk about cocktails and spirits with different flavors for hours, he says. While Finklestein was always interested in cocktails, he also vied to fill the gap in Napa for a neighborhood bar. I wanted to create someplace that was comfortable and familiar that people would think of as their place to go. Mick Salyer, who owns Zuzu and La Taberna, opened up the gin-focused Bitter Bar in January. During COVID, Zuzu expanded with a liquor license. Gin made sense with the Spanish concept, and the old Henrys was a dive bar that the service industry wanted to go to after their shift. I wanted to create something still focused for us locals. Conceptually both spots just made sense on this street, says Salyer. He says the budding cocktail culture and music scene happening in Napa right now is so positive. Its great for downtown to start branding outside of being wine-centric; to me, it isnt competing, just adding layers, as there is enough room for everyone, says Salyer. The Haven, another new cocktail bar, came out of practical considerations. We have this elevator that goes from the kitchen to a balcony, I always thought it would be cool to utilize, says Thomas Bensel, the managing director of CIA at Copia. He also noted the evolution of the area. The Oxbow district is continuing to redefine and define itself, he says. "It is its own distinctive area from downtown, but it quiets down early. There is nothing to do late evening, whereas downtown, there are things to do. He noted theyve always kept their eyes and ears open for what guests to the new Napa demographic are saying, and one consistent was how late-night food was hard to come by in town, except fast food. There is a much more diverse group of people coming to Napa than when I did in the 80s. [Back then] the city of Napa was a place to drive by to get to the real Napa, says Bensel. Another favorite, especially for families, is Napa Yard. Their expansive property on the riverfront allows the younger demographic to grab a drink while their kids are occupied with the plethora of space to run around free. Their onsite distillery, Concordia Spirits, developed their cocktail program, yet another offering in town for a cocktail. Is Napa now fully sated with cocktail bars and late-night eatery options? Only time will tell. New wineries, rather than new rural homes, are usually the focus of Napa County public hearings. Not this past week. The Napa County Planning Commission on Wednesday held two hearings involving road improvements needed for two proposed houses in the Mayacamas Mountains. In both cases, the roads are within setbacks the county imposes to protect streams. The applicants requested exceptions to the county's conservation rules. Its interesting to have two variances or exceptions on the same day. Its not a thing to take lightly, Commissioner Heather Phillips said. The commission unanimously granted the requests, in part because the long driveways already exist and need changes to meet county and Cal Fire road safety standards. The Ericksons initially went through a February Planning Commission hearing, with the commission at that time taking no vote. The family wants to build a 2,400-square-foot, two-story house with a 1,200-square-foot accessory dwelling unit in the mountains northwest of St. Helena. It is a dream for my daughter to build a house near her parents, Osborne Erickson said. Speaking as one of those parents, it would be wonderful to have her, my son-in-law and my grandson near us and sharing our lives. But the mile-long-plus driveway from Highway 29 to the house site needs improvements, such as turnouts, to meet standards for emergencies. The work would encroach into setbacks for Hirsch Creek at eight locations and ephemeral stream setbacks at four spots. In addition, the driveway improvements require a conservation rules exemption because slopes are greater than 30%. The proposed house also requires an exception to the countys viewshed law, since it might be visible from locations along Spring Mountain Road. Commission chair Dave Whitmer in February called the requested exceptions too big of an ask. Since then, he said, a trip to the site helped ease his concerns. He saw a willingness from the Ericksons to do whatever the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and county staff asked, Whitmer said. Trees and shrubs the Ericksons will plant will improve a landscape scorched by the 2020 Glass Fire, he said. Joel Dickerson of Madrone Engineering, a firm that did work for the Ericksons, told commissioners not to be misled by the amount of paperwork for a project that has been almost seven years in the making. We are not proposing a brand-new road through a forest, Dickerson said. And we are not proposing to take a stream and put it into a culvert or anything like that. Earlier this year, the driveway improvements were said to require removing 2.13 acres of trees. That's been revised to 0.29 acre that was burned in the Glass Fire. Still, the Ericksons will keep the original mitigation of preserving 6 acres of trees, a county report said. The group Water Audit California has opposed several county approvals in recent months. It sent a letter to the county criticizing the countys analysis on the Erickson application and asking the commission to deny the requests. The other road exception involved the proposed Inglenook house in the mountains west of Rutherford. The property owner on the application is listed as Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery LP, which is associated with the nearby Inglenook winery. The only feasible access to the proposed house is a gravel driveway. A portion of the driveway is within the 45-foot setback for Bear Creek and the road must be widened and a turnout added to meet county and Cal Fire standards, according to the application. I think the exceptions are minimal and that they fulfill the spirit of the requirements, Commissioner Kara Brunzell said. PHOTOS: Napa's Beau Fleurs celebrates 30 years in business The 21st Autumn Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) continued in Armenias capital Yerevan Sunday. In Todays meeting, protection of rights of people and minorities in conflict zones were discussed. In her remarks, OSCE PA Vice-President Daniela De Ridder underscored the observance of international humanitarian law norms, which is also stipulated in the Vancouver Declaration. She reflected on the protection of the rights of minorities, humanitarian consequences of conflicts, and cases of escalation. In this context, she spoke about the displacement of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and added that the Armenian authorities are taking all possible steps, but it is necessary to provide assistance in solving the problems. Valuing peace in the OSCE region, the OSCE PA vice-president expressed her view that joint steps and political will can provide a positive result. Former UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, addressed ways to overcome crises, humanitarian problems in conflict zones, causes of conflicts. According to the rapporteur, the prevention of conflicts and the protection of the rights of minorities should be at the core of everyone's actions. There was also reference to cases of xenophobia and intolerance manifested for various reasons, which often have serious consequences. Yeghisheh Kirakosyan, the Armenian PMs representative on international legal affairs, emphasized the importance of discussing issues on such a platform. He presented the problems that plagued Armenia in recent years, and detailed the disastrous consequences of the large-scale war in Azerbaijan. He reflected also on the inadmissibility of hate speech on social media, which also has disastrous consequences. Armenias representative spoke also about the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan and the resulting humanitarian crisis which led to Armenian ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. In their speeches, the OSCE PA delegates talked about the importance of observing the norms of international humanitarian law, the prevention of genocides, the events taking place in Gaza, the elimination of manifestations of hatred towards minorities, and the need for a joint struggle in this matter. The delegates reflected also on the Russian-Ukrainian, Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, and military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh. An opinion was voiced that there cannot be peace without justice, the equal protection of the rights of all peaceful citizens was emphasized. The delegates rejected the policy of double standards. And in the process of normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity was emphasized. In their speeches, the OSCE PA delegates talked about the problems of protecting the rights of children and women in conflict zones. An opinion was voiced that the protection of the rights of minorities is not only the problem of the countries, but of the international community, and that not only resolutions, but active steps are needed to have a real protection of people's rights. Protection and security of the rights of Armenians in the South Caucasus, fulfillment of promises related to the reintegration of Armenians in Azerbaijan were emphasized, too. The Secretary General of the OSCE PA, Roberto Montella, and the President of the OSCE PA, Pia Kauma, thanked the Armenian side for organizing and hosting the 21st Autumn Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly at a high level and productively. Kauma expressed her conviction that the discussions of the last two days showed that this organizations activities are going in the right direction. Also, she emphasized the establishment of peace in the world, and noted that the mission of the OSCE PA is to work in that regard. Subsequently, 21st Autumn Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly concluded. Armenia economy minister on cars customs clearance fees: We will have internal discussions with EAEU Armenia president attends COP 28 opening ceremony Defense minister meets with head of EU delegation to Armenia (PHOTOS) Armenia Security Council chief to travel to US Armenia was informed about antiterrorist measures in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan FM claims Ambassador Kvien: US proud to work with Armenian counterparts to preserve Armenias cultural heritage PM lauds Romania role in deploying EU civilian monitoring mission in Armenia Porsche holds 3rd generation Panamera world premiere Hamas violated ceasefire, Israel says US dissatisfied with Turkey Newspaper: Armenia national air carrier suspending flights Archaeologists to soon reveal Great Pyramid of Gizas main secret Fast & Furious 9 movie producers fined $1M Armenia, mediators are to blame for military aggression against Karabakh Armenians, Azerbaijan FM claims Armenia did not participate in the meeting of representatives of the CSTO member states The OSCE Chairmanship supports the dialog aimed at concluding a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan We need Azerbaijan to stop rejecting proposals of facilitators to meet and finalize the peace treaty. Ararat Mirzoyan Representatives of CSTO member states met in Northern Macedonia Nassim Taleb: Painful that Mt. Ararat is in Turkey, Armenia is having territorial reductions Nassim Taleb predicts 3 major global risks: pandemic, financial collapse, rising debt Armenian captive Gagik Voskanyan not brought to court, Azerbaijan media report Mirzoyan to Colomina: Azerbaijan public position on territorial integrity mutual recognition is of paramount necessity Lavrov: Russia ready to contribute to normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations Mirzoyan presents to Lavrov Armenia positions regarding Russia steps Ararat Mirzoyan, Javier Colomina discuss Armenia-NATO partnership Kremlin: Russia considers Armenia an ally France envoy to Armenia: Karabakh refugees have the right to return to their homes Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation commissions 5th meeting held at border Poland First Lady arrives in Armenia The PM, no longer the president, to appoint and dismiss Armenia National Security Service director and deputies Armenia president travels to Dubai for UN Climate Change Conference Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs meeting not planned in North Macedonia International law expert: Torture, inhumane treatment of Armenian detainees continues in Azerbaijan US deputy assistant secretary of state for education, cultural Affairs is in Armenia FM to France official: Armenia sent recommendations package to Azerbaijan to move settlement process forward (PHOTOS) Monument Watch: Azerbaijan propaganda machine circulates new theory Armenia FM, EU foreign policy chief confer about South Caucasus security Maragos: There is move towards situation stabilization on the ground ever since EU mission deployment in Armenia EU ambassador: Armenia citizens largely benefit from Visa Facilitation agreement Armenia, Azerbaijan border delimitation state commissions meeting kicks off Ambassador Maragos: EU hopes Armenia, Azerbaijan will come to some understanding during border delimitation talks Yerevan hosting international conference on Armenian communities of Middle East Ararat Mirzoyan, David Cameron speak about South Caucasus developments Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger dies aged 100 Towards a Brighter Tomorrow: India's G20 Presidency and the Dawn of a New Multilateralism Newspaper: Armenia, Azerbaijan deputy PMs to meet today in Tavush Province Mirzoyan, Blinken discuss South Caucasus security, stability Ararat Mirzoyan underscores Netherlands support to Armenia sovereignty EU reiterates support to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations normalization based on 1991 Almaty Declaration Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan stresses EU programs strategic importance for Armenia Envoy presents vision of Armenias Crossroads of Peace project to Greece lawmaker Armenia, Georgia security councils chiefs discuss regional security, stability (PHOTOS) Another judicial farce to begin in Azerbaijan against another Armenian Opposition MP: Armenia will face serious economic problems next year Karabakh ex-official says he does not consider signing Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty possible at this phase Dollar, euro go up in Armenia Armenia premier meets with big businessman from Egypt Armenia economy minister: Situation at Upper Lars checkpoint is strange EU Special Representative for South Caucasus discusses peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Turkey Amazon Web Services representative to Armenia PM: We are in active discussions with high-tech ministry The banks should help the customers in making right decisions when managing their own funds. Saribek Sukiasyan Armenia FM to attend OSCE Ministerial Council Armenia-UK 6th strategic defense consultations held in London (PHOTOS) Gagik Aghajanyan: Upper Lars border checkpoint closure means Armenia-Russia relations termination Vahan Kerobyan: Armenia, Russia representatives will discuss situation at Upper Lars border checkpoint Kremlin: Currently no plans for Russia President-Armenia PM contacts Freight-forwarding company director: Yerevan is 2nd largest cargo-container hub in South Caucasus Armenia, Azerbaijan deputy PMs meeting to be held in Tavush-Kazakh sector of border, media report Russia MFA pays attention to dispute over Armenian Gardens in Jerusalem Armenia parliament speaker: I tried to grasp who these people are who dont want to live side by side with Azerbaijanis Media: South Caucasus to be discussed at Turkey security council Karabakh former official Samvel Babayan speaks about negotiating with Azerbaijan Karabakh ex-official: Artsakh issue cannot be resolved at any time Japan space agency hit with cyberattack Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh wins right to host Expo 2030 world fair Newspaper: Armenia ruling force MP ready to live in Azerbaijan if his safety is ensured World's largest iceberg moves, leaves Antarctica after nearly 40 years of 'rest' Armenian-made satellite to be launched into space on Friday Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan continues blocking matter of sending UNESCO mission to Karabakh Turkey deputy FM, Toivo Klaar discuss South Caucasus, media report Armenia deputy PM receives World Bank regional director Dollar, euro drop Armenia Cyprus to host 30 children forcibly displaced from Karabakh, for 12 days of entertainment "Gyumri" branch of AMIO BANK was reopened under a new brand (PHOTOS) Alen Simonyan: Armenia should attend EAEU summit in St. Petersburg Armenia legislature head: Karabakh issue was resolved in 2016 PM Nikol Pashinyan receives delegation led by head of the Lithuania-Armenia interparliamentary friendship group Some Armenia trucks sent back from Upper Lars checkpoint on Georgia-Russia border National Assembly speaker: Nagorno-Karabakh issue does not exist for Armenia Alen Simonyan: No agreement on new meeting between Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders Armenia legislature speaker: Peace agreement can be signed within next 15 days if Azerbaijan shows political will Armenia legislature head: Our political relations with Russia are bit tense Irakli Garibashvili to Armenia PM staff chief: Georgia ready to assist peace process in region Armenia parliament chair: We are ready to return Azerbaijanis enclaves to them Amaryan Charitable Foundation Commits initial 122 mln AMD in Support to Syunik Region Armenia National Assembly speaker: We have 31 villages whose territories are under Azerbaijan occupation Embassies to be opened in Armenia, S. Korea on reciprocity basis Armenia legislature head: I don't understand what Azerbaijan delaying time will give it or to the region Alen Simonyan: Azerbaijan attempts to erase Armenian trace from Armenian highlands are unacceptable How did Cyprus company that bought MTS Armenia shares gain Public Services Regulatory Commissions trust? Cassava thrives in deepening Sino-African agri cooperation 08:14, November 20, 2023 By Zhong Qun, Luo Jiang and Yao Yuan ( Xinhua SANYA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Inside an agriculture demonstration center in the Republic of the Congo, machines are automatically cleaning, peeling, slicing and grinding cassava, turning the starchy tubers into flour. For a long time, cassava crops in the central African nation have been manually peeled, and soaked in water before being dried and ground, a process that can take a few days. Earlier this year, a cassava flour production line introduced from China was set up at the center in Brazzaville, with the capacity to produce 4,000 tonnes of high-quality flour annually. A researcher shows cassava powder, delivered from a China-Aid Agriculture Technology Demonstration Center in the Republic of the Congo, at a laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences in Danzhou, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu) "Now we no longer worry about not being able to dry cassavas when it rains. The production is done automatically under the roof," said Congolese minister of agriculture, livestock and fisheries Paul Valentin Ngobo. He added that the stable purchase price offered by the factory will also help increase the income of local farmers. Cassava is an important staple food in Africa, but its output has long been bottlenecked by a lack of better varieties, advanced farming techniques and processing facilities. China, though not a large producer of cassava, is an important market for the crop and a global research powerhouse of cassava-related technologies. Amid the booming agricultural cooperation between China and Africa in recent years, new cassava varieties, farming and processing techniques from China are quickly taking root in Africa through technical training and jointly-built demonstration bases. At the just-concluded Second Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Agriculture held in the city of Sanya in Hainan Province, Chinese agronomists issued a plan to further expand the area of new cassava varieties and advanced farming techniques to over 500,000 hectares in Africa. According to the plan issued by the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), the improved varieties and techniques are expected to raise the yield of the root crops above 17 tonnes per hectare. FARM TO FACTORY Starch-rich cassava provides food for more than 200 million people in Africa and is an important food security crop for the continent long plagued by hunger and malnutrition. However, due to a lack of good varieties and cultivation technologies, experts and officials said the per-hectare cassava yield in Africa was only about 8.5 tonnes in 2021, lower than the global average. Chinese institutes, meanwhile, have risen to the forefront of cassava technologies amid the country's drive to ensure food security and to turn cassavas into an important industrial ingredient. The CATAS, for instance, has bred more than 20 high-yielding, disease-resistant cassava varieties, and developed various cassava cultivation and processing technologies. Such new varieties and technologies have so far been popularized on more than 666,000 hectares of land outside China. At the 59-hectare Congolese center built with Chinese support, an improved cassava variety has achieved an annual yield of 51 tonnes per hectare, 5.6 times that of local varieties, according to CATAS. Li Keming (L), an expert from the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, checks the growth of crop on a plantation with his Congolese colleague at the China-Aid Agriculture Technology Demonstration Center in Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo, July 12, 2023. (Photo by Guy-Gervais Kitina/Xinhua) "Through cooperation, we've collected more than 900 samples of cassava germplasm resources from China and beyond. We then used them to develop good-quality hybrid varieties and shared them with our African partners," said Li Kaimian, vice head of the CATAS. The institute has now expanded the cassava cooperation to the industrial sector, having set up automatic production lines for cassava flour, biscuits and crisps in countries including Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, Li said. "Two major problems faced in Africa are the low per-hectare output of cassavas and the lack of processing to help the crops grown by small farmers enter the market," said Xie Jianghui, vice head of the CATAS. He added that the institute now has the dual goal of both revving up the cassava yield to bolster food security in Africa and raising small farmers' income to reduce poverty. WIN-WIN COLLABORATION Cooperation in cassava farming represents the latest outcome of the burgeoning agricultural collaboration between China and Africa. Over the past decade, China has set up 24 agricultural technology demonstration centers in Africa and popularized more than 300 advanced agricultural technologies, which have increased local crop yields by an average of 30 to 60 percent, said Tang Renjian, China's minister of agriculture and rural affairs. By the end of 2021, agricultural investment by Chinese enterprises in Africa had reached 12.8 billion yuan (about 1.77 billion U.S. dollars), growing at an average annual rate of 11.4 percent, Tang added. As farm yields increase in Africa, the two sides are also deepening cooperation on trade to allow more African produce to enter the expanding Chinese market. In 2023, the trade volume of agricultural products between China and Africa is expected to exceed 10 billion U.S. dollars, nearly doubling that of a decade ago, according to Tang. "China is the world's largest developing country, and Africa is home to the largest number of developing countries. China and Africa have long formed a community of shared future," said Liu Guodao, from the Chinese Society for Tropical Crops. Liu said that China has a small tropical area, while Africa has a tropical area more than 60 times that of China. "Cooperation in tropical agriculture between China and Africa is a basic and concrete measure in reducing poverty and benefiting farmers." (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Wu Chaolan) The report from the Baltimore County Police Department was brief and to the point. A 65-year-old pedestrian, Fabricio Antonio Cubias-Mejia, was attempting to cross Rossville Boulevard near Shakerwood Road, a stones throw from the Interstate 95/695 interchange, when he was struck and killed by the driver of a 2011 Mercedes-Benz C300 headed south at around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday. Few other details were offered. The episode was, according to police, the 22nd pedestrian fatality from crashes in Baltimore County so far this year. As of mid-November last year, there were 16 pedestrian deaths in such crashes. One week earlier, a 31-year-old scooter rider was killed in downtown Baltimore at Pratt and Light streets in a crash involving a Maryland Transit Administration bus. Some surveillance video of the unusual circumstances of the collision (the bus felled a utility pole that appeared to strike the victim), was broadcast by a local television station, but interest quickly waned. There were no candlelight vigils, not outcries by elected officials, no marches or public protests. The death of a 17-year-old Howard County pedestrian early Sunday morning in Laurel, who was struck by two vehicles in succession, is likely to follow the same pattern a tragedy, yes, but also considered fairly routine. And that would be a mistake. This years uptick in fatal pedestrian crashes is not unique to Marylands third largest subdivision. Statewide, there have been 147 non-motorists (including bicyclists) killed in crashes so far this year compared with 133 during the first 11 months of last year. In 2021, there were 132 such deaths at the same point. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, pedestrian deaths were not quite as common with 128 non-motorist fatalities in all of 2016, according to the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA). National numbers follow a similar pattern, with about 8,000 deaths annually, a 41-year high, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thats one pedestrian killed somewhere in the country every 66 minutes. Why? Experts point to a number of factors from the risk posed by heavier SUVs to higher vehicle speeds, distracted drivers who may also be drinking or drug impaired, and poor road design. There is also a reasonable concern that post-pandemic, drivers and pedestrians alike have simply become less cautious in their routine. The CDC data suggests victims are disproportionately likely to be older Americans and Black or Native American. All of which points to a need for a broader, community-based response to this growing problem that includes educating the public on the risks, better enforcing the rules of the road and improving the design of potential points of conflicts (steering pedestrians toward well-lighted intersections, for example). There is no one perfect answer. The CDC points out, for example, that many pedestrian fatalities take place near roadside commercial strips, where retail stores and multilane roads are proximate. We arent going to change that development pattern overnight. But cracking down on reckless drivers and speeding is another matter. In Maryland, it may be time to revisit the use of automated speed cameras to enforce the law. Currently, they are mostly restricted to areas near schools or highway work zones. But when they are used more broadly along the Jones Falls Expressway in a General Assembly-approved effort launched last year, for example they can have a noticeable impact on driver behavior. One of the two cameras installed there quickly recorded a car going 173 mph. On Friday, Gov. Wes Moore heralded efforts to make highway work zones safer in response to the Baltimore Beltway crash eight months earlier including raising fines for speeding, which would seem to dovetail nicely into a potential broader effort to save pedestrian lives. The SHA has a slogan that makes an important point: Crashes are no accident. Most crashes are avoidable. They arent usually deliberate, but that doesnt make them accidental exactly. And so the solution isnt to just briefly grieve for the victims and then move on, but to take proven measures as simple as observing speed limits and putting cellphones down to save lives now. Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom. Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty, will underline the United Kingdoms (UK) unwavering support for sovereignty and security during a visit to Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. This is noted in a statement released by the UK embassy in Armenia. Minister Docherty will emphasise the urgent need for direct peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a long-term settlement for peace and stability. On his third visit to the region this year, he will discuss Armenia and Georgias democratic reform agendas, and promote UK expertise in aiding Azerbaijans transition to renewables. The UK is stepping up its cooperation and support for peace and stability in the South Caucasus as UK Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty, will underline on his tour of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan which commences today (Monday 20 November). The region, located on Russias southern border, remains vulnerable to external interference as it recovers from the impacts of conflict and attempts to press ahead with reform agendas in support of democratic choice for freedom and independence. Building on the formal Strategic Dialogues with all three countries earlier this year, Minister Docherty will extend the UKs offer of increased trade and security cooperation to help the countries to diversify their and reduce European reliance on Russia. Ahead of arriving in Yerevan, Minister for Europe Leo Docherty said: The South Caucasus faces significant security challenges, both internally and from its neighbours which threaten to destabilise the region. In a volatile region, the UK is a reliable partner for reform, peace and stability. The Minister for Europe arrives in Yerevan ready to build on the momentum of last weeks UK-Armenia Strategic Dialogue in London, during which both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in trade, security and on the rule of law. In Tbilisi, he will reaffirm the UKs unequivocal support for Georgias sovereignty and territorial integrity and back its Euro-Atlantic aspirations, in line with the will of the Georgian government and people. The UK is working with the Georgian government to build its resilience against Russian aggression, including through the Tailored Support Package agreed at the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid. Following recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh, Minister Docherty will urge the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to engage meaningfully in internationally-mediated negotiations to reach an historic agreement and secure lasting peace for the region. In September, the UK contributed 1million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to support the humanitarian response to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the wider region. The UK became one of the first countries to provide demining support to Azerbaijan, providing world-leading equipment and delivering mine clearance training to local authorities. Minister Docherty visits Baku just as the UK is building on that partnership - extending its offer for specialised courses in explosive ordnance disposal which will provide the skills needed to operate in a high threat environment. The State Security Service (SSS) of Azerbaijan has considered Rashid Beglaryan, an Armenian resident of Nagorno-Karabakh who was captured by Azerbaijanis this summer, to be a participant in the "Khojaly Genocide" actually carried out by the Azerbaijanis themselves. The SSS of Azerbaijan has considered Beglaryan a "participant in the Khojaly Genocide" in February 1992, Azerbaijani media report. It is easy to imagine that an Armenian in Azerbaijani captivity can give any testimony and confess anything. For a long time, Beglaryan was not allowed to be visited by International Committee of the Red Cross representatives, and the information about the charge against him has been made public more than half a year after his arrest. I think the vision of Prime Minister Pashinyan of road and railway connections uniting countries is something we absolutely share. Toivo Klaar, the European Union (EU) Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, stated this in an interview to Armenpressand referring to the "Crossroads of Peace" project proposed by the Armenian authorities. "We absolutely share that vision of an open South Caucasus where railway and road connections are open, and countries are reconnected in a way that they were at the end of the Soviet period and even more so because also the road and railway connections across to Turkiye [(Turkey)], and naturally Iran, which is already the case, but also to Turkiye, should also be open. That is how we see the future, absolutely, our vision of a South Caucasus at peace is one where these transport connections are all open again and there is trade, there is people travelling across the various frontiers," Klaar said. First of all, the EU doesn't have to be anywhere in this context. We have offered, and [European Council] President [Charles] Michel in particular has offered, his good offices. For us, the primary interest is to actually have an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Toivo Klaar, the European Union (EU) Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, stated this in an interview to Armenpressand referring to the fact that Azerbaijan at the last moment first refused to attend the meeting in Granada, Spain, then the meeting scheduled for late October in Brussels. And where that is ultimately signed is to us much less important than the fact that there is genuine normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan. So that's one thing. As far as [Azerbaijani] President Aliyev deciding not to come to Grenada is concerned, well, we were disappointed, we thought that it was an important possibility and quite important forum to send strong messages. We are still, President Michel is still, ready and willing to organize a meeting of the leaders in Brussels at the earliest possible opportunity. Well, dates certainly are important. But the most important thing is to actually move forward and that is what we are focused on, to try to encourage forward movement in a genuine normalization of relations, Klaar added. I have no particular opinion, from our perspective, we look at the 3+3 meeting, the recent one as well as the previous ones, as something where countries of the region certainly have issues that, as neighbours, they want to discuss and they should be able to discuss in a sort of regional setting. Toivo Klaar, the European Union (EU) Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, stated this in an interview to Armenpress. "At the same time, I also understand that, at least from the beginning, there was an understanding that especially the conflict, the peace agreement, the settlement, really should not be the subject of discussion in that format. So, again, the most important thing for us is progress, and on which platform is much less important. But we believe that in fact, in our opinion, there is no real reason why we cannot make serious progress in the settlement process, because the issues on the table for us are very few, and we believe that they have been discussed many times. Therefore, we really see no reason why we cannot move forward, and why Azerbaijan and Armenia cannot move very quickly in the direction of normalizing relations," Klaar added. The serviceman who was wounded by Azerbaijani shooting in the Paruyr Sevak village of Ararat Province was operated on. This was announced by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of Armenia, Aram Torosyan. "His condition is assessed as stable, he is under the supervision of the medical staff of the hospital," added Torosyan. Armenian News- NEWS.am had reported that on November 18, the Armenia MoD informed that E. H., a soldier of a military unit, sustained a gunshot wound as a result of a shot fired by the Azerbaijani army in the direction of the Armenian position located in the Paruyr Sevak village area at around 9:50 am. An investigation is underway into this incident. President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko on Monday met with CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov. Lukashenko positively assessed the fact that it was possible to find a solution to the conflict between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in southern Central Asia. According to him, the confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan has also ended. "We have to think about the future, how to organize the life of two countries there," the Belarusian president emphasized. "I emphasize once again: in the sphere of responsibility of the CSTO, as both Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are members of the CSTO," Lukashenko said. Imangali Tasmagambetov, in turn, expressed his gratitude to the head of Belarus for the opportunity to discuss the current activities within the CSTO and the problematic issues of this organization's activities on the threshold of important events. "As for the implementation of the action plan for the implementation of the decisions of the [CSTO] Collective Security Council held in November of last year and the priority areas of Belarus, 32 of the 34 actions have been completed. Unfortunately, we were unable to perform two operations. First of all, they are our international contacts with European international organizations, such as the OSCE, conditioned by their positions, and the second issue is the mandate of the Collective Security Council to finalize the decision to provide assistance to Armenia. Although all other allies supported this decision, the Armenian side did not show any interest in this document and, moreover, in the final part of our work, they asked to remove it from the agenda altogether," said the CSTO Secretary General. Armenia ranks seventh among 142 countries in the tourism safety index, as the number of crimes is very low in our country. Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan announced this at Mondays regular meeting of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia. "Armenia is the sixth among all countries in the world in terms of growth in the amount of tourism; it is behind [in this regard] Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and several other countries [only]. Compared to many other countries, tourism has increased in our country," the economy minister of added. Kerobyan assured that the global targets that the Armenian government had set before it and aimed to achieve by 2026 have already been achieved. Accordingly, it was planned that 2.5 million tourists shall visit Armenia by 2026, but the country has already reached that target. As a pediatrician, I am well aware of the toll that gun violence is taking on the youth of America. The statistics are frightening. According to provisional 2022 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, guns remain the leading cause of death for children and teens ages 1 to 19, climbing 87% in the decade from 2013 to 2022 and accounting for 4,590 deaths in 2022. Gun violence continues to have a disproportionate impact on Black children and teens, who have a gun homicide rate 20 times higher than their white counterparts. Additionally, the gun suicide rate reached an all-time high, and for the first time, the rate among Black teens surpassed the rate among white teens. The Black child and teen suicide rates have tripled over the past two decades. Evidence-based strategies shown to lower firearm death rates include: permit-to-purchase laws; Domestic Violence Protection Orders and Extreme Risk Protection Orders (red flag laws); community violence intervention programs; and child access prevention laws mandating safe firearm storage in households with children and/or teens. This last strategy is one that is supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). About one-third of American children live in homes with firearms, and of these households, 43% contain at least one unlocked firearm. Thirteen percent of households with guns contain at least one firearm that is unlocked and loaded or stored with ammunition. For safe and secure firearm storage, guns should be unloaded and locked up in a secure place such as a gun safe or secured by using safety devices such as cable locks. The key or lock combination should only be accessible to authorized users. According to the AAP, a large majority of the public supports a mandate requiring gun owners to safely secure their firearms. Most gun owners agree, but under intense political pressure from gun lobbyists in our politically polarized environment, less than half of the states have passed legislation mandating safe and secure storage of firearms. Unfortunately, efforts by pediatricians to have meaningful interactions with families about gun safety have run into legal roadblocks. In 2011, the Republican-controlled Florida legislature, with the support of the Republican governor Rick Scott, passed a law, aimed primarily at pediatricians, restricting the First Amendment rights of medical providers to discuss the safe storage of guns with patients and families. Under the law, doctors could lose their licenses or face large fines for asking patients or their families about gun ownership and gun habits. The National Rifle Association supported the law, viewing the medical communitys gun-related questions as discriminatory and a form of harassment. The law was challenged, and in 2017, The United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned it, concluding that doctors could not be threatened with losing their license for asking families about gun ownership and gun safety since doing so would violate their First Amendment right to free speech. For pediatricians, discussing the safe storage of guns goes to the heart of their ability to protect patients from harm. A comparable situation has arisen in Maryland under a 2022 law passed in Anne Arundel County. According to the law, gun shop retailers are required to display and distribute pamphlets created by the Anne Arundel County Health Department that provide information regarding suicide prevention, mental health, nonviolent conflict resolution and gun safety. The law was challenged in the U.S. District Court of Maryland by four gun retailers and a nonprofit called Maryland Shall Issue, advocating for the preservation and advancement of gun owners rights. Their suit was based on a claim that the bill infringes on the First Amendment rights of gun shop owners by forcing them to become conduits for government messaging. In March 2023, a U.S. District Judge ruled in favor of the county, but the gun retailers and Maryland Shall Issue filed an appeal to the United States 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the judges decision. More than 20 medical organizations and societies, including the AAP and the Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi), have filed amicus briefs in support of the Anne Arundel County law. Oral arguments are set to take place early next month with a decision expected in early 2024. The legal challenges that have played out in Florida and Maryland highlight the battles that gun lobby groups will wage to block gun safety laws that could save the lives of children and teens. Dr. Beryl Rosenstein (cystic1@aol.com) is a Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Commenting on the words of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan about Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as the latters preparations for war, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that he was not familiar with these words, RIA Novosti reported. "Sadly, I cannot say anything because I am not familiar with such statements of Azerbaijan at the state level. We have heard completely different statements of the leadership of the country, the leadership of Azerbaijan, in which it is said about the need to end a phase and the readiness to conclude a peace treaty [with Armenia]. Therefore, I cannot say anything about specifically that part of Pashinyan's statements," said Peskov, answering the question of how Pashinyan's words were viewed by the Kremlin. Pashinyan had stated, at the autumn meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly held in Yerevan, that Armenia sees a threat of new escalation of tension in the region due to the "Western Azerbaijan" concept being implemented by Azerbaijani authorities. Also, he had stated that the position of Baku, which refuses to return the Armenian captives, is incomprehensible to Yerevan. Azerbaijani authorities have forced UNESCO to cancel its visit to Nagorno-Karabakh. Information has been spread that UNESCO has rejected the route proposed by Azerbaijan for a visit to Garabagh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)]. The information says that UNESCO applied for a visit to the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan. At the same time, it was said that the official Baku agreed with the proposal of the fact-finding mission of UNESCO to go to Khankandi [(Stepanakert)] by passing through Aghdam in order to document the destruction in Aghdam during the Armenian occupation. It was also noted that UNESCO refused this proposal and expressed its desire to go to that city only to assess the condition of the monuments in Khankandi, APA reports. "However, it turned out that the real truth was not like that at all. UNESCO told the Azerbaijani side that the mission would inspect only two monuments in the territories freed from occupation, and after that, would immediately go to the city of Khankandi. Azerbaijan stood against it. The Azerbaijani side called the visit of the UNESCO mission to the region under these conditions insincere and opaque. Thus, Azerbaijan rejected UNESCO's condition," added the aforesaid Azerbaijani news agency. Thus, Azerbaijan, which for 30 years prevented UNESCO's visit to Nagorno-Karabakh, continues the same policy. The Azerbaijani authorities force this organization to make a choice: either to promote the Azerbaijani position or to scrap the visit. Another Armenian captive, Gagik Voskanyan, will be tried in Azerbaijan. On August 16, Voskanyan, who was a reservist and a participant in training camps, had left his combat position. Later, the Azerbaijani side announced that they had captured him. On August 18, the Azerbaijani court illegally detained Voskanyan. Azerbaijan, in its traditional style, opened a criminal case against him, as well as other Armenian captives, under several articles. Azerbaijani media call Gagik Voskanyan a "saboteur." It is reported that the "investigation" has been completed, and the materials of the criminal case have been sent to the Ganja city court on grave crimes for examination. 23:55 "The flag was hoisted by General Officer Commanding of 15 Corps Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai at the Tithwal-Chileana Crossing Point," an official said in Srinagar. The flag, which is less than 100 metres from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, has been named Azmat-e-Hind, the official said. Senior officers from the Army and civil administration were present at the flag-hoisting ceremony. The towering flag pole is a testament to the resilience of the people of Karnah Valley who continue to stand tall despite facing numerous challenges from both the enemy and nature, the official said. Following the flag hoisting, Lt Gen Ghai inaugurated the first edition of the Tiranga Cup 2023 cricket tournament at the Shan-e-Tithwal cricket ground. The tournament is being played over 23 days from 21st November at Tithwal. -- PTI The Indian Army on Tuesday installed a 104-ft tall national flag near the Line of Control in the Tithwal area of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir. I vividly remember my parents sitting at the kitchen table practicing the Pledge of Allegiance the night before they were to be sworn in as naturalized Americans. They wanted to get the pledge perfect. My mother fled her home country of El Salvador during the brutal civil war, and to this day has a thick accent. I was about 9 years old and annoyed that they wanted me to listen to them for what felt like hours, but as an adult, I have come to understand their dedication. On election night in 2022, I met a young man holding a sign advocating for immigrants in Howard County. A voter made a rude comment, but he just smiled. I felt compelled to talk with the young man, and he told me his story. He was a Harvard graduate, author and a Dreamer a participant in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, which allows immigrants brought to America as children to remain here and work or study. We spoke of our family histories and our common goals for a secure and accessible American dream. My conversation with this young man solidified what I already knew: A Republican with solid policy answers can win in Maryland. When I was a radio host at WBAL, I interviewed Sen. Alan K. Simpson, co-author of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. I asked him how a Republican senator from Wyoming came to be involved in crafting one of the most critical immigration bills of the century. His answer was practical. Thats the only type of people that are goofy enough to handle it. You have to have somebody who is divorced from the emotion, fear, guilt and racism that goes with this issue. The border states are overwhelmed and often angry that they have been left to handle this crisis largely on their own. It would be difficult for Republican legislators in those states to acknowledge the concessions needed for real immigration reform without losing reelection. On the other extreme, Democrats response to illegal immigration has been willful ignorance. Only recently, as cities have been inundated with busloads of migrants, have elected officials in New York, Chicago and other places far from the border started to sound like their southern counterparts. In addition, Democrats already vote as a unit. They may disagree behind closed doors, but in the end, the way they fall in line would make any kindergarten teacher proud. That means that real reform will require Republican support, but that support must start from within the party itself. I agree with Sen. Simpson that the plan to fix our immigration system will come from an unlikely place, maybe even Maryland. Marylands 3rd Congressional District encompasses northern Anne Arundel County, all of Howard County and a sliver of Carroll County. It leans left, but without the Sarbanes name running for Congress there, now that John Sarbanes has announced plans to retire, it no longer lies flat in Democrats corner. This district is full of intelligent and empathetic people. Many are registered Democrats as a last resort, not a first choice. It is the kind of environment that offers a common-sense Republican the political freedom to negotiate real immigration reform. Ronald Reagan, the Republican president who signed that 1986 immigration bill understood the value of immigrants to this nation. In his final speech as president, he said the following: They give more than they receive But their greatest contribution is more than economic, because they understand in a special way how glorious it is to be an American. President Reagan signed the bill crafted by a Republican Senator from Wyoming, and a Democratic Congressman from Kentucky, in 1986. That bill opened the door for my parents, and 3 million people like them to become Americans. They never missed an opportunity to tell their children how great this country is. The young man I met on election night last year has been in this country most of his life. He is educated, works hard and has the same values as a natural born citizen like me. What he lacks is the opportunity to raise his hand like my parents did and pledge an oath to this country. Democrats are wrong. We cannot pretend the immigration crisis is not real. We start by slowing the flow of illegal immigration, securing the border and simultaneously granting citizenship to the almost 600,000 current DACA recipients. Then we start overhauling our immigration system to allow hard working Dreamers to come to this country. True immigration reform is needed, and it can come from Marylands 3rd Congressional District. I hope Republicans seize the opportunity to offer voters a sound, policy-oriented candidate in this rare opportunity to shape national policy. Yuripzy Morgan (yuripzy@ymorganlaw.com) is a Republican, attorney and former WBAL radio host. She challenged U.S. Rep John Sarbanes, a Democrat, in the 2022 election. General Manoj Pande, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) proceeded on an official visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Sunday. The aim of the visit is to further reinforce the robust defence ties between the two nations. The visit commences on November 20, a momentous day in the history of India-ROK relations, the Ministry of Defence stated. On November 20, 1950, 73 years back, 60 Para Field Ambulances of the Indian Army landed in Busan to provide much-needed medical support during the Korean War. The Ministry further stated that the itinerary of the COAS includes interactions with the senior military leadership of the ROK and visits to defence formations and establishments. The key highlights of the tour include a bilateral meeting with General Park An-su, Chief of Staff, of the ROK Army and a dialogue with General Kim Seung-kyum, Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff of ROK Armed Forces. The interactions will be aimed at fostering mutual understanding, exchanging views on the regional security situation and contributing to strengthening bilateral defence cooperation, it added. General Manoj Pande will also visit the National Cemetery and War Memorial and lay wreaths in remembrance of the fallen heroes. He will pay a special visit to the Indian Section of the War Memorial in honour of the Indian soldiers who played a significant role in the Korean War, the Ministry said. The COAS is scheduled to visit establishments such as the Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA), the Korean Army Centre for Future and Innovation (KARCFI) and the Agency for Defence Development at Daejeon. He will receive briefings on issues of mutual interest and also visit a Drone Combat Unit. In addition, a tour of the Border Management and Surveillance Facility is also planned, it added. India and ROK celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties in 2023. This visit underscores the commitment of both nations to strengthen the special strategic partnership. Demonstrating the enduring camaraderie that has flourished between India and the ROK over the years, the visit will further boost bilateral cooperation on a host of strategic issues particularly in defence collaboration. (ANI) Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai visited Ganga Ghat to offer 'Araghya' to the rising sun during Chhath Puja celebrations. "We offered prayers to 'Chhathi Maiya' and gave 'Araghya' to the rising Sun. We prayed for the state and the entire country, especially for the safe return of our 41 labourers trapped in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi," said Ajay Rai, speaking to ANI. Meanwhile, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was also seen taking part in the Chhath Pooja celebration in Odisha's Sambalpur. People across the country are celebrating the festival dedicated to Lord Surya. On Monday morning, devotees across the nation offered the second 'Araghya' to the rising sun, which marks the end of the 4-day Chhath Puja festival. The first 'Araghya' was offered on Sunday evening. [{6f959fb7-ffc9-45f2-98fe-8b8e9b76c056:intradmin/ANI-20231120023437.jpg}] The four-day festival of Chhath kickstarted on Friday and is regarded as the festival of purity, goodwill, and faith. The Chhath Pooja is a festival in which devotees worship and make offerings to the setting and rising sun. On Monday morning, the fasting devotees would make offerings to the rising sun and break the fast. Chhath Puja is celebrated every year with much exuberance in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bengal. However, celebrations are also witnessed in the national capital, where a large section of people from the aforementioned states lives. Devotees especially take the fast and worship the sun for the long lives and well-being of their family members, also praying for their expectations and attempts to come true. The trend of celebrating the festival of Chhath is believed to have started in the Hilly regions of Nepal after the political change of 1990 when democracy was restored in the Himalayan Nation. It is believed that a person's desires and prayers from the heart's core will bring blessings. During the time of fasting, only those foods that are considered to be pure are consumed and cleanliness is one thing that is cared for the most during the period. This festival witnessed a high participation rate of women, is marked with fanfare and is also regarded as an occasion to take a break from household chores and be refreshed. (ANI) Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai district, Bihar, on Monday morning. The incident happened when the victims were on their way home after offering prayers at Chhath Ghat. According to the police, the violence took place over matter related to love affair. Three injured were first rushed to Begusarai Sadar Hospital but later referred to Patna for further treatment. The deceased have been identified as Chandan Kumar and Rajnandan Kumar, while the injured include Lovely Kumari, Preeti Kumari, Durga Kumari and Shashi Bhushan Kumar. All are said to be family members. "Two members of a family were shot dead and four others were injured in Punjabi Mohalla under the Kabaiya police station of Lakhisarai. The incident took place when they were returning from Chhath Ghat after performing Pooja," said SP Lakhisarai, Pankaj Kumar. "Three injured have been referred from Begusarai Sadar Hospital to Patna. The matter is related to a love affair. Police have reached the spot and an investigation is underway." Upon receiving the information, police reached the spot and recovered a pistol used in the crime. However, no FIR has been lodged by the victim's family for now, said police officials. Notably, the incident has left localities in a state of shock and grief, as the incident happened when Bihar was busy with its most auspicious Chhath Puja celebrations. (ANI) Three-year-old Abeer, the youngest member of Delhi's Krishna Nagar-based Sharma family, shows off his clothes with great interest and pleasure. Even at a very young age, Abeer is selective about his clothes. He has a good collection of branded garments that he has got from his parents, grandparents and other relatives. While buying clothes, Abeer's parents do not just keep in mind their son's favourite colours, but also the quality of the products. "We prefer brands like H&M and Zara for our son because they are long-lasting and have durability. The clothes from these brands are of soft material" says Garima Sharma, Abeer's mother. When asked about the changing trends in kidswear, Abeer's father, Rajan Sharma says that things have changed completely over the years. "When I was a child, I never wore branded clothes. We used to buy clothes in the local market, and there were not many brands to choose from. Now people have become more aware of brands", says Rajan. The globalisation of the Indian economy has led to a significant expansion of the clothing industry for children over time. Well-known clothing companies are found to be experimenting with children's clothing in new ways. Children now can choose from a wide variety of branded clothing options, whether they prefer to dress traditionally or in the newest fashions. Giving their children fancy clothing makes parents happy as well. Delhi-based counselling psychologist Taanya Nagi tries to explain the thought process behind buying branded clothes for children. Nagi opines that better sources of income have brought about a dramatic change in parenting." Parents who could not use such luxury clothes, want them for their children. It gives them a sense of accomplishment. Furthermore, parents want an overall personality development of their children with a focus on their appearance and soft skills", says Nagi. Taanya also connects the changing trend with transformation in the Indian market. "Around 29 per cent of India's population is under the age of 14. Hence India is a massive market for children's clothing. Many international luxury brands have entered the Indian market such as Fendi, Gucci, Boss, U.S Polo and Allen Solly kidswear" says Nagi. According to Fortune business insights, the global apparel market size for children was valued at USD 187.29 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow from USD 198.80 billion in 2023 to USD 318.34 billion by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.96 per cent during the forecast period. In an era of social media there is also a growing trend of parents twinning with their children and posting pictures in matching outfits, with brands releasing adult and age-appropriate matching outfits. Fuelled by celebrities, social media is driving consumption patterns. The more time children spend on social media, the greater is their awareness about brands they have and the more willing they are to share their opinions on clothing choices. Speaking about the role of social media Nagi says, "Indian kids and teenagers are highly influenced by social media and very well informed by the latest global fashion trends. Peer pressure also prompts teenagers to compete and copy each other in the latest dressing style. When their family have the buying power, they feel "Why not"? According to the data provided by the International Market Research and Consulting Group, the Indian kids' apparel market surged to USD 21.1 billion in 2022, with projections showing an expected expansion to USD 24.5 billion by 2028. Aggressive business and promotion strategies have fuelled the growth of the children's apparel market. Currently approximately 375 million people in India are below the age of 15 years. This represents a huge consumer base for the apparel market for children. Spurred by the strong economic growth in recent year and disposable incomes in India retail buying has been witnessing a continuous growth. This has resulted in an increasing spending on clothes by parents for their wards. Recently, the 78th edition of Junior's Fashion Week was organised in New Delhi which showcased a number of emerging brands such as Lee Cooper, Mulyo, One Friday, Nike and many more. Children were spotted confidently ramp-walking around in trendy trousers and hoodie t-shirts, demonstrating that they don't want to fall behind in the fashion world. Priyanka, the director of Junior's Week feels that there were different brands available for adults but very less brands were available for kids in the market. "When we see now, there are different adults' brands who have come up with their kids segment also like Lee Cooper. They have their whole range of kids - for boys as well as for girls because they have got good response from their customers who would like to purchase same brand clothes for their kids", she said by adding that kids are now very fashion centric these days. Not only are international brands targeting the fashion market for children, but Indian brands are also optimistic about this fast expanding segment. Shambhavi Jaiswal, the founder and CEO of Indian brand Mulyo said, "What we are giving the market is a fusion of a lot of things. And Mulyo is working on the trends that are coming to the market". Jayesh Sali, head of marketing, Reliance Retail - Fashion and Lifestyle believes that the Indian market for kids' apparel is booming at the moment, its flourishing as kids of today have their own choices and preferences. "They are very well ware due to exposure towards social media. The kids in today's time choose their own apparels, their own looks, their own style", he said while adding that the industry is at its pinnacle at the moment where everyone is embracing the trend. The double income parents with their single kids in Tier I and Tier II cities across India are spending lavishly on buying branded clothes and other accessories. This has opened a new market for a large number of international and Indian apparel brands. The growth of the Kid's Wear industry is also pushed by expanding store space and online commerce. Due to television and social media, people are more aware of brands and their offers. Kids also easily identify with brands once they see a celebrity endorse it. To be seen wearing what that celeb wore is driving them to buy the best of brands. (ANI) Amid the Uttar Pradesh government's tough stance on Halal products, the Aligarh administration on Monday seized 13 packets of chicken with 'Halal' written on them and sent them to the laboratory for testing. The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government took a decisive step against the illegal issuance of 'Halal Certificates', and issued an order on Saturday that banned the production, storage, distribution, and sale of food products with the "Halal certification" with immediate effect. While giving information, Aligarh District Magistrate Indra Vikram Singh said "The Security and Drug Administration and the Drugs Department are jointly running a campaign to take action against Halal material being used domestically by marking it. There is a process of certification, and under that process, those who are selling Halal products have a Halal mark on them. It is only for export and not for domestic use. Our food department team is continuously investigating the matter and is taking action against whatever such product is found." Syed Ibadullah, Food Safety Officer said that a total of 13 chicken packets was found and sent to the laboratory for testing. "The State Government has banned the distribution and storage of such food items which are mentioned to be Halal with immediate effect, in view of the same, the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, District Aligarh is conducting raids. Taking action. A total of 13 Chicken packets have been found on which it is mentioned that they are Halal. All the packets are being seized and sent to the laboratory for testing," he said. "Further action depends on the laboratory report. Prima facie, this falls in the category of false impression and is a punishable offence under Section 52 of the Standard Study," he added. An FIR in this regard was registered in Lucknow Commissionerate last Friday. According to the filed FIR, entities such as Halal India Private Limited Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal Council of India Mumbai, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra, and others exploited religious sentiments to boost sales by providing Halal certificates to customers of a specific religion. Illegal businesses are being run for financial gain. (ANI) Delhi's Karkardooma Court on Monday acquitted seven accused persons in a case of rioting, vandalism, arson etc giving them the benefit of the doubt. The court said that the presence of accused persons in the riotous mob has not been established. This case pertains to rioting in the area under Gokulpuri Police Station in February 2020. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala acquitted seven accused persons namely Sahil alias Babu, Vikas Kashyap, Golu Kashyap, Dinesh Yadav alias Michael, Sandeep alias Mogli, Tinku, Ashok alias Tikki wale ka ladka. "I find that prosecution has failed to prove the presence of accused persons in the mob, which was responsible for the incident at the shop of Salman, beyond reasonable doubts," the court said. ASJ Pramachala said, "I find that there is a big mishap in the case of prosecution and evidence brought on the record, in respect of time of the incident. The benefit of such contradictions in the story of prosecution has to go in favour of the accused persons." These accused were charge-sheeted by the police for having committed offences punishable under Section 147/148/149/380/427/452/457/436/188 IPC. Brief facts of the present case are that on March 2, 2020, the present FIR was registered at PS Gokalpuri, on the basis of a written complaint on February 29, 2020, from one Salman Malik, a resident of Gurunanak Nagar, Mustafabad, Delhi. This complaint was given in respect of loot, vandalism and arson. The complainant Salman Malik in his complaint alleged that he was running his shop meant for selling and purchasing old TV, LED, LCDs and old water geyser, at Main Nala Road, Bhagirathi Vihar, Delhi. It was further alleged that on Feb 23, 2020, due to the bad situation in the area, he closed his shop and returned back to home. Complainant Salman Malik further alleged that on the evening of February 25, 2020, rioterslooted and set ablaze his aforesaid shop and he suffered loss up to Rs 4-5 lakh. He further alleged that he was also having a clip of video recording and photo. The court observed that the video of the incident as mentioned by the complainant in his complaint, was also not placed before the court. The court added, "The video placed here did not show the incident. Thus, there is also an unexplained claim as made in the complaint and the statement of Nisar Ahmed." "In these circumstances, it is not safe to rely upon ocular evidence of Nisar Ahmed to assume the involvement of accused persons in the incident at the shop of Salman," ASJ Pramachala said in the judgement passed on November 20, 2023. The court also said that there is another contradiction in the case of prosecution. The prosecution did not explain why and under what circumstances Salman mentioned the time of the evening of Feb 25, 2020, for the incident at his shop. On the other hand, as per the statement of Nisar Ahmed, the incident took in the shop of Salman on the evening of February 24, 2023. (ANI) Amalean informed Patnaik about his company's portfolio. The project can provide employment to more than 5,000 people. [{01d6e981-2012-4c7e-b363-7a8140ed741b:intradmin/ANI-20231120212736.jpeg}] During the discussion, the Chief Minister said that all possible support would be provided to the company for investment in Odisha. It was suggested to invite the apparel company to set up a textile unit in the Khordha region. Support will be available in terms of skilling and industrial eco-system development. The state will provide suitable land and also facilitate the necessary tie-ups to establish supply chains and skill development centres, he added. [{8298529d-822e-4512-8b4f-00b1b1a37bd7:intradmin/ANI-20231120212806.jpeg}] MAS Holdings is a top global apparel company providing high-end apparel solutions for the world's leading apparel brands. Headquartered in Sri Lanka, the company has 53 manufacturing units in 16 countries, providing employment to about one lakh people. It has design and development hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong and Colombo. It supplies its products to some leading brands like Nike, Decathlon, Jockey, Calvin Klein, Marks & Spencer and many others. (ANI) If I were younger, the issue of women priests would be the issue causing me to walk out the door of the Catholic Church (The day of Catholic women priests is coming, Oct. 27). I am sure I would find a happy home in the Anglican or Lutheran churches. The degradation of women by my church is so very offensive not only to women but to the men who love and respect them. The claim that women cannot be ordained because Jesus selected only men to be the first apostles is so very irrelevant. We are told that Jesus began his public life when he was 30 years old. Prior to that, Jesus was a carpenter. Should all priests have a background in the manual arts? Jesus did not wear a Roman collar or wear expensive majestic vestments or wear a miter or episcopal ring. Jesus did not live in a rectory or palace. Jesus instructed his apostles to live simply. In the time of Jesus, the earth was thought to be flat. Disease was a fact of life as the miracles of modern medicine had not been discovered (Women should be ordained as priests, April 11). This mindset that denigrates women is pathetic and disgusting. Ive worked alongside women. Ive supervised women, and Ive been supervised by women, and Im still here and better off. We were told that women were too delicate to perform the work of men. We were told the brains of Black people were too undeveloped to perform work requiring intellectual acuity. We were told a lot of lies, and many people believed them. We are in the third decade of the 21st century and its time to get real about the challenges of todays world. We need the gifts that women bring to confront these challenges. It appears that this issue has been placed on the back burner as usual. So what can be done? I believe that this issue needs to be put front and center in every parish and diocese. We have seen how successful the survivors of clerical sex abuse been in organizing against a very entrenched opposition in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. We have seen how poorly these Catholics have been treated. The Archbishop William E. Lori public relations machine was working overtime. Proponents of ordination for women can expect the same pushback. How many decades or centuries should we wait? I believe the time is now. It could start with a financial protest. One week per month could be designated as the day to withhold contributions. If there is no response more weeks per month could be added. I hope that men and women will rise to the challenge. We have been told that we are all children of God. We need to prove that we really believe that statement. The torch has been passed to a younger generation who will lead the crusade that will give women the respect and decency they deserve. Edward McCarey McDonnell, Baltimore Add your voice: Respond to this piece or other Sun content by submitting your own letter. The development came after Awan met IPP Patron-in-Chief Jahangir Tareen and President Aleem Khan in Lahore on Sunday. In a statement on its official X handle, the IPP termed the former federal minister's joining a "big success" for the newly formed political party. Meanwhile, another PTI leader and former provincial minister Sardar Asif Nakai also announced joining the IPP's rank in a meeting with Tareen and Aleem. Political developments are on the rise in Pakistan after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that the general elections will take place on February 8, 2024, following the Supreme Court's intervention. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif recently visited Balochistan's Quetta where he succeeded in wooing over 30 leaders to join his party ahead of the elections. Aleem and Tareen -- the former close aides of PTI Chairman Imran Khan -- launched the IPP party in June this year after they both developed differences with the PTI chief, Geo News reported. Several PTI leaders, including Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan, Firdous Ashiq Awan, Murad Raas, and Ghulam Sarwar Khan among others, have joined the IPP since its launch on June 8 earlier this year, Geo News reported. Earlier this month, the IPP chief claimed that former spy chief Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid victimised the now-IPP leaders during the PTI-led government in a bid to become army chief. Addressing a public rally in Punjab's Taxila, Aleem lashed out at the deposed prime minister who was removed from power last year, saying that false cases were registered against his daughter and Tareen during the PTI government. Referring to the former first lady's close friend, the IPP president "Farah Gogi was actually making a Naya Pakistan" instead of Imran. "Imran Khan is not sincere with his offspring. The one who is not even sincere with his children how can he be loyal to us," Geo News quoted him as saying. (ANI) Australian Deputy PM Marles was received by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Following the inspection, Marles and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will present the opening remarks of the bilateral meeting at Hyderabad House. Earlier on Monday, Richard Marles was seen enjoying Indian delicacies from the street stalls in New Delhi. He enjoyed drinking nimbu pani and eating "Ram laddu" from a stall in Delhi. Notably, Marles paid the vendor through the UPI digital payment system. The Australian leader also paid floral tribute to former Union Minister Arun Jaitley at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Earlier today, the Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, along with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, visited and laid a wreath at the National War Memorial in Delhi. Later in the day, the two Australian leaders will co-chair the India-Australia 2+2 dialogue with their Indian counterparts, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The second India-Australia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue will be held in the national capital on Monday, during which a wide range of strategic, defence and security issues are expected to be discussed between the two countries, an official statement said. Moreover, the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue is a cornerstone of the India-Australia relationship and an opportunity to progress in working together to shape the type of region they want. Further noting that this year has seen a number of firsts in the India-Australia defence relationship, including an Indian submarine visit to Perth and Australia's hosting of Exercise Malabar, Marles added that all this demonstrates the growing closeness of both nation's defence and security partnerships, according to the Australian Foreign Ministry. (ANI) The Prime Minister said that he is looking forward to closely working with the Luxembourg leader. "Heartiest congratulations @LucFrieden on taking over as the Prime Minister of Luxembourg. Looking forward to working closely with you to further strengthen India-Luxembourg relations that are strongly rooted in our shared belief in democratic values and the Rule of Law," PM Modi said in a post on X. Luc Frieden, the 60-year-old Christian Social People's Party (CSV) leader, is heading the new government as Luxembourg's PM, Politico reported earlier this week. The report said that Luxembourg's outgoing Prime Minister Xavier Bettel announced that his liberal Democratic Party (DP) had reached an agreement with the center-right Christian Social People's Party (CSV) to form a government. Bettel will remain in government as foreign minister and deputy prime minister, Politico reported citing local media reports. Under the new coalition agreement, Bettel's liberal DP will hold seven ministerial positions while CSV has eight -- including key portfolios such as interior, justice and finance, the report said. India and Luxembourg enjoy close, warm and friendly relations, rooted in a shared commitment to the rule of law, democratic values and development. The relations between the two nations are characterized by a high degree of understanding and appreciation of each other's concerns and interests, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. India and Luxembourg have commonality of views on major bilateral and multilateral issues. (ANI) The secretary-general of ASEAN, Kao Kim Hourn, on Monday stressed that ASEAN is a maritime community and India is a maritime nation, adding that they both are working together in sectors including trade, investment, tourism, defence, and counterterrorism. The ASEAN Secretary-General further said that ASEAN and India hope to look at new sectors. "We have been working together across different sectors, from trade to investment to tourism to the defence sector and counterterrorism, among others," he said. "ASEAN is a maritime community. India is a maritime nation," he added. Hourn further said that ASEAN can collaborate in the maritime sector, for example, "maritime cooperation, which is one of the four priority areas under the ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific." Hourn hoped to continue expanding the existing eras of cooperation. "Looking ahead, of course, we hope to continue to expand the existing eras of cooperation and also to deepen our cooperation," Hourn emphasised. Moreover, he noted, "By expanding to new eras of cooperation, I hope that we can also look at new sectors as well." Additionally, he said that ASEAN and India can work together in areas of digital economy and sustainability, as well as in the renewable energy sector and people-to-people exchange connectivity. "Of course, we benefit from the growing partnership between us (ASEAN) and India. And at the moment, we have many mechanisms of cooperation between us...," he added. Further underscoring the ASEAN India Summit that was held in September this year, Hourn said, "That's why in September this year, we were delighted to welcome Prime Minister Modi to Jakarta, where he participated in the ASEAN India Summit. And we highly value our partnership with India." Furthermore, the ASEAN secretary-general also shed light on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. He stressed, "ASEAN is a strong proponent of peace, dialogue and diplomacy. ASEAN has always been promoting cultural dialogue, habits of consultation and, of course, constructive engagement." ASEAN has also been a strong supporter of multilateralism, adding to this, Hourn said, "We believe that all conflicts should use what should be worked out through diplomacy, particularly the peaceful suffering dispute and the non-use of force." This has always been the principle of ASEAN, he emphasised. Noting that the United Nations has the means to play a role in the ongoing conflict, Hourn said, "We also hope that the United Nations will play a constructive role in the ongoing conflicts around the world. We believe that the UN has the means and the commitment to the resolution of conflicts, particularly when we see a humanitarian tragedy unfold before us." This is quite significant for the ASEAN community and...it should give peace and diplomacy a chance, he added. (ANI) Calling the partnership with India "consequential" for Australia, Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said that Canberra deeply values its bilateral relationship with New Delhi, adding that it is "crucial to region" where sovereignty is respected. In her opening remarks at the India-Australia 2+2 Defence and Foreign Ministerial Dialogue here in the national capital, Penny Wong noted that the two nations have done a lot together bilaterally and hope to do more. She recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's State visit to Australia. "We've done a lot of work together bilaterally and we hope to do more again today. I think what I would emphasize is that we value deeply the bilateral relationship, economic ties, the two way trade and investment, the people to people links the climate initiatives particularly ... that we're working on together. But to again underline what we all know which is this is a partnership which is consequential for us but it is crucial for our region and we see you India as central, crucial to the sort of region we continue to work for peaceful, stable, prosperous where sovereignty is respected and we look forward in this discussion to going further on the ways in which we can both work to deliver that," she added. Penny Wong said, "It's a real honour to be here for the two plus two. It's been a big year in the bilateral relationship I think since we were elected some 19 ministerial visits to India by our government. We've obviously had Prime Minister Modi's state visit to Australia which was so welcomed." The India-Australia 2+2 Defence and Foreign Ministerial Dialogue is co-chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong. S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh warmly received Richard Marles and Penny Wong for the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. The ministers shook hands and posed for the cameras. Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi said that the ministers of India and Australia during the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue are expected to discuss various issues, including in areas of defence and security, trade and investment, critical minerals, energy, climate change, S&T, space, education and people-to-people linkages. Taking on his social media X, Arindam Bagchi stated, "Furthering - Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! RM @rajnathsingh & EAM @DrSJaishankar warmly received Deputy PM & Defence Minister @RichardMarlesMP and FM @SenatorWong of Australia ahead of the 2nd - 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. Ministers will exchange views on deepening multifaceted - ties, including in areas of defence and security, trade & investment, critical minerals, energy, climate change, S&T, space, education and people to people linkages. Regional and global issues are also on agenda." Earlier in the day, Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with Richard Marles. Before the meeting, Marles inspected the Tri-Services Guard of Honour in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at South Block lawns in New Delhi. Richard Marles and Penny Wong laid a wreath at the National War Memorial in Delhi. (ANI) Amid excessive restrictions on Afghan women under the Taliban regime, online violence against Afghan women has surged this year due to severe restrictions, Khaama Press reported, citing recent research. The London-based Afghan Witness Organisation published the results of their most recent study on the rise in online violence against campaigners for women's rights on Monday. According to the organization's research, there has been an increase in online abuse against Afghan women activists, particularly those who use social media, which has also silenced some of the women from standing up to the abuse. Social media has become a vital space for Afghan women to protest against the Taliban. For example, Afghans used the hashtag #LetHerLearn to protest the Taliban's ban on women attending university. However, online abuse of Afghan women has tripled since the Taliban takeover. Citing the report, Khaama Press asserts that in the two years since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, there have been three times as many offensive posts targeted at women, which has resulted in the suppression of "women political activists in Afghanistan." Examining 78,000 messages in Persian and Pashto on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, the report focused on approximately 100 active Afghan women and covered a specified time period during which the number of such instances has increased in comparison to previous years, according to Khaama Press. The majority of these posts, according to research conducted by the Afghan Witness Organisation, showed that the online abuse of Afghan women was done by "Taliban supporters." In response to the findings, one of the study's researchers, Francesca Gentile, said that "social media has transformed from a space for expressing social and political views into a hub for harassing, intimidating, and suppressing women since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan." The results of this study also show that Afghan women and girls are not only denied their basic rights but also face a poisonous virtual environment that silences them. More than two years have passed since the Taliban banned girls from studying beyond sixth grade in Afghanistan, and there is no sign of reopening the schools to girls studying above sixth grade. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they have issued several decrees that impose restrictions on women. Afghanistan's women have faced numerous challenges since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Girls and women in the war-torn country have no access to education, employment and public spaces. (ANI) Several medical professionals discussed the transmission of several infectious diseases among recently deported refugees from Pakistan, TOLOnews reported. According to a few of these physicians, a large number of the patients suffer from contagious skin conditions, which were previously uncommon in the nation. Aqela, a refugee who was among the dozens of sick individuals who were recently deported from Pakistan, demanded that the Afghan caretaker government give the health issues facing the deported refugees careful consideration, according to TOLOnews. "We came here out of necessity. I have children, and Pakistan forced us; otherwise, why would anyone bother to come during the cold season?" TOLOnews quoted Aqela as saying. Many refugees with a range of illnesses requested that the interim administration treat them before their condition worsens and presents a significant obstacle. "I have a heart disease, and I'm shaking so much that I can't even pray," said Fatima, a refugee. Meanwhile, another expelled refugee, Rahimullah, said, "In Pakistan, where we lived, the police didn't treat us right, and even when we got sick, they harassed us in hospitals." "Refugees who have been expelled from Pakistan have brought diseases from this country with them, such as skin diseases and eczema, and also diseases that they have encountered along the way, such as diarrhoea and seasonal diseases, which have become problematic due to the cold weather," said Wasi, a doctor, according to TOLOnews. Moreover, the Taliban has said that negotiations with the Pakistani government will go on in order to prevent the expulsion of Afghan refugees from this nation. "Meetings were held with them, and they are in touch with all levels through the embassies and communication committees that we have along the line, but those who made this decision are unfair and against the principles," said Bilal Karimi, the deputy spokesman of the Taliban. The World Health Organisation had previously said that in order to offer medical care to refugees who either willingly or involuntarily return to the nation from Pakistan, they would require ten million dollars in help, reported TOLOnews. The global health body also issued a warning over the spread of infectious diseases among refugees who are returning home and stated that if prompt assistance and health services are not provided, there may be a rise in the number of patient deaths. Pakistan's decision to expel over a million undocumented Afghan migrants starting in November this year has resulted in more than 327,000 Afghan migrants returning to Afghanistan, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). International human rights organisations have criticised Pakistan's decision to expel undocumented Afghan migrants, which they have described as unjust. (ANI) One of two persons of interest in the death of a local 15-year-old has been taken into custody. >> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 15-year-old girl killed in Harrison Twp. rolling shootout Tommy Moreland, 29, and Denisha Taylor, 32, both of Dayton, were identified by the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office Monday morning as persons of interest for murder, failure to comply with the signal or order of a Police Officer, and tampering with evidence. On Monday afternoon, News Center 7 was the only news station there as detectives from the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office took Taylor into custody. Video shot by News Center 7s Mike Campbell showed detectives walking Taylor from the sheriffs office to the Montgomery County Jail. Weve since learned Taylor turned herself in. The shooting itself happened between two vehicles Friday morning at the intersection of Philadelphia Drive and Turner Road. A 15-year-old girl in a Chevrolet Impala was shot and killed during the incident. A maroon Toyota RAV4 was identified as being at the scene and involved in the shooting. That SUV was later spotted by detectives and involved in a high-speed chase several hours after the shooting. It was later found abandoned several miles away, a spokesperson for the sheriffs office confirmed. >> 2-year-old pulls gun from moms purse, fires shot inside Ohio Walmart Moreland and Taylor were identified on video as the driver and passenger of the SUV after the shooting. They were also seen in surveillance video at a carwash shortly after the shooting. A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered by Miami Valley Crime Stoppers for credible information that leads to the location, arrest, and successful prosecution of Moreland and Taylor. Anyone with information about their whereabouts can contact the Regional Dispatch Center at (937) 225-4957 or Crime Stoppers at (937) 222-7867. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) Five teenagers were arrested over the weekend in Alamogordo after an alleged spree of vandalism resulted in multiple vehicles having their windows broken and a vehicle being stolen, Alamogordo Police said. In the early morning hours and throughout the day of Saturday, Nov. 18, the Alamogordo Police Department responded to numerous calls concerning criminal damage involving multiple vehicle windows being broken all over the City of Alamogordo. The investigation additionally revealed these individuals were responsible for similar damage, in both Tularosa, New Mexico, and La Luz, New Mexico, Alamogordo Police said. The juveniles were also responsible for kicking over and damaging two motorcycles and for stealing and crashing a motor vehicle, Alamogordo Police said. The information related to criminal activity outside of the City of Alamogordo jurisdiction has been relayed to Otero County Sheriffs Office and Tularosa Police Department. As a result of the Alamogordo Police Departments investigation: A 16-year-old boy was arrested and charged with felony criminal damage to property (over $1000), conspiracy to commit felony criminal damage to property, reckless driving and operator to be licensed (driving without a license). A 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged with felony criminal damage to property (over $1000), conspiracy to commit felony criminal damage to property, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, duty to report upon striking a fixed object and operator to be licensed (driving without a license). A 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged with felony criminal damage to property (over $1000), conspiracy to commit felony criminal damage to property and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle. Two 13-year-old boys were arrested and charged with felony criminal damage to property (over $1000) and conspiracy to commit felony criminal damage to property. The juveniles were arrested and later released to their parents/guardians. The investigation is ongoing. You can contact the Alamogordo Police Department at (575) 439-4300 with any additional information. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. Hoping to pass on the side of politics with your turkey this Thanksgiving? Youre not alone. A poll released Monday found that more than 60 percent of people say they would rather not talk about politics over the holiday this week. Just 29 percent of people said they are looking forward to talking about politics with friends and family, according to the Quinnipiac University national poll. A healthy dose of zip it will be on the menu as voters acknowledge that if they plan on talking turkey over the big meal, it will be about the food and not about politics, Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a news release. The survey found the no-politics wish similar across all groups, regardless of age or political affiliation. Outside of family, political tensions are notably heated in the Beltway. Congress left D.C. last week after finalizing a spending agreement to fund the government into early next year, but it only came after near fisticuffs in a Senate hearing and personal insults lobbed in the House. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) was also accused of elbowing of elbowing a fellow GOP lawmaker in the back during a hallway interview. Next years elections and the ongoing battle for the GOP nomination between front-runner former President Trump and a slate of rivals have also provided ample opportunities for dispute. But its not exactly a new trend. An Axios-Ipsos Two Americas Index poll last year found that a similar majority of people surveyed didnt want to talk politics last Thanksgiving. Thirty percent of the people surveyed in the Quinnipiac survey said the last year has made them feel worse about discussing politics, while nearly 60 percent said they havent changed their view. Respondents overwhelmingly credited political leaders and social media for divisiveness in America. The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,574 registered voters across the country from Nov. 9-13, and it has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Sunday night should have been a joyful evening for Cesar Patino, as friends and relatives gathered in Logan Square to celebrate his grandsons 20th birthday. Instead, 72-year-old Patino was fatally shot while leaving the party. Patinos wife, Rosa Gordillo, 76, found him facedown outside between his car and the party, granddaughter Karen Patino told the Tribune. He had dropped his tray of leftovers when he was shot. She recognized his shoes, Karen Patino said. They turned him over they thought maybe he had fainted or some other medical thing and they slowly realized that there was blood. Police said Cesar Patino was shot in the chest, possibly by someone traveling in a white SUV, around 9:55 p.m. in the 3900 block of West Fullerton Avenue. His grandchildren took off their sweaters to apply pressure to the gunshot wound until the ambulance came. Patino was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Police said no suspects were in custody and they are investigating the shooting. The Patino family assembled at Cesar Patinos home in Albany Park late Sunday night to pray. Most relatives remained there together Monday, Karen Patino said. Cesar Patino came to Chicago 40 years ago from Ecuador. Now retired, he worked in construction, returning home to Ecuador most winters in protest of Chicago snowfall. He came for a better future, and he got it, Karen Patino said. He gave his children everything, and he gave his grandchildren everything. More like a second father than a grandfather to Karen and her cousins, Patino loved dancing, fishing and travel, Karen Patino said. Patino and Gordillo would wake up early many Sunday mornings throughout Karens childhood to take her fishing. A young spirit, Cesar Patino had planned to fly to the Galapagos Islands and then to Ecuador in December. He was such a happy person, Karen Patino said. You never heard a no from him. You suggested anything and he said, Lets do it. He was the happiest person ever. Detectives now think there was a second car involved in her grandfathers death, Karen Patino said. It seems like there was some kind of issue or something happening between two cars, she said. My grandpa just happened to be in the middle of it, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cesar Patino was one of 556 homicide victims this year so far in Chicago, according to city data. Funeral plans are still in the works as family members plan to fly in from Ecuador, Karen Patino said. The family will continue working with Chicago police detectives as they grieve together. He was a good man with a good heart and he left nothing but good memories with us, Karen Patino said. All he wanted was the family to stay together, and thats what were going to do. An Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund is poised to take control of the Telegraph newspaper and Spectator magazine. RedBird IMI said it had agreed to provide loans to repay debts owed by the publication's previous owners, the Barclay family, that would bring the titles out of receivership. If the deal is approved then Redbird's chief executive, former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, would run the business. However, any deal is likely to face close regulatory scrutiny. It comes five months after the Telegraph and Spectator were taken over by Lloyds bank as it sought to recover debts owed by Barclay brothers. Lloyds launched a sales process of the business to recover more than 1bn that was outstanding. However, on Monday the investment fund, which is a joint venture between US firm RedBird Capital and International Media Investments (IMI) of Abu Dhabi, confirmed it had reached a deal with the Barclays. This will see the debts owed to Lloyds repaid, and the news titles taken out of receivership. RedBird IMI will lend the Barclays 600m, secured against the publications, with IMI also providing a similar sized loan against other Barclay-owned assets. Under the terms of the deal Redbird has the right to turn the loan secured against the Telegraph and Spectator into equity, which would hand it control of the titles. A spokesman said it planned to "exercise this option at an early opportunity". Any deal is likely to attract regulatory scrutiny. On Sunday, six Conservative MPs wrote to Deputy PM Oliver Dowden and the business and culture secretaries to raise concerns about national security and press freedom. They said International Media Investments was owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Emirati royal family and the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. The MPs wrote: "Material influence over a quality national newspaper being passed to a foreign ruler at any time should raise concerns, but given the current geopolitical context, such a deal must be investigated." In its statement, Redbird IMI said that following the transfer of ownership, RedBird Capital alone would take over the management of the titles under the leadership of Mr Zucker. It added that International Media Investments "will be a passive investor only". It added: "RedBird IMI are entirely committed to maintaining the existing editorial team of the Telegraph and Spectator publications and believe that editorial independence for these titles is essential to protecting their reputation and credibility." Other names have been linked to the Telegraph and Spectator since they were put up for sale including GB News investor Sir Paul Marshall, Daily Mail publisher DMGT and German publisher Axel Springer. A man accused of driving drunk with a revoked license abandoned his child on the side of the road while leaving the scene of a crash, Missouri cops say. Otis Goff, 33, was arrested on multiple charges, including driving while intoxicated, following the Saturday, Nov. 18, incident, the St. Louis County Police Department said. Goff was driving a Chevrolet when he swerved, striking a woman who was standing behind her car on the side of the road, police said in the Nov. 20 news release. The woman was pinned between the two vehicles. She was taken to a hospital, where she was listed in critical condition with two broken legs, according to police. While still at the crash scene, one of Goffs children got out of the car, and Goff drove off without the child, police said. A second child who was in the car later was seen by a witness exiting the vehicle and being chased by Goff. One of the two children told police she was struck in the face when the cars air bag deployed, police said. That child was taken to a hospital with cuts and bruising. Multiple witnesses identified Goff, who was eventually found in a different location, according to police. There were indications he was intoxicated, as officers said he had a strong odor of intoxicants and had glassy eyes. Police said they found his windshield was broken and there was blood on the front of the car. Officers also discovered he had been driving with a license that was revoked. Goff was charged with driving while intoxicated causing serious physical injury, endangering the welfare of a child, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident involving physical injury, and driving while operators license is revoked. He was jailed on a $350,000 cash bond. Teen dies after accused drunk driver topples light pole onto her, Texas family says Trucker said he thought he hit a bird, but he killed tow truck driver, Iowa cops say Rider out on DUI probation crashes e-bike into pedestrian while drunk, Florida cops say The American Civil Liberties Union is demanding that a Kansas elementary school repeal a policy it says forbids boys from wearing long hair after an 8-year-old Native American student was allegedly forced to cut his or be sent home. In a letter sent Friday to R.V. Haderlein Elementary School in Girard, Kansas, the ACLU said that the boy in question, a member of the Wyandotte Nation, grew his hair out last summer after attending his nations Gathering of the Little Turtles, where he saw other Native men wearing their hair long. This allegedly violated Haderleins Boys Hair Length policy a policy that does not apply to girls at the school. As a result, the ACLU says, the boy was told in August he needed to cut his hair or be sent home until he does. According to the letter, his mother visited the school in early September to request an exemption, even offering to show documentation proving the childs Native heritage. She was informed there were no exemptions, the ACLU says, and after numerous failed attempts to contact the superintendent, she made the decision to have her childs hair cut so he could keep attending school. Because he made the decision to wear his hair long in accordance with his Native American spiritual and cultural tradition, the letter states, cutting his hair in this manner caused him distress. The ACLU maintains that this policy as applied to the child violates state and federal law, and constitutes religious as well as sex-based discrimination. Requiring him to cut his hair to attend school imposes a substantial burden on his faith practice because, in and of itself, it violates his religious beliefs, the letter states. It also promotes rigid views of gender norms and roles, and is unlawful because schools may not impose different requirements on students based on their sex without an exceedingly persuasive justification. The policy is particularly troubling, the letter says, given the historical context of Indian boarding schools in this country, which stripped Native American children of their identities by, among other abuses, cutting their hair. The letter urges the school district to rescind the hair-length policy in its entirety, or grant an immediate exception to the Native American child. It asks the school to let the ACLU know by Dec. 1 whether it plans to honor this request. The school could not immediately be reached for comment. This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com. This article was originally published on TODAY.com Taylor Little says they were exposed to graphic material at the age of 11 with no warning Hundreds of families are suing some of the world's biggest technology companies - who, they say, knowingly expose children to harmful products. One plaintiff explains why they are taking on the might of Silicon Valley. "I literally was trapped by addiction at age 12. And I did not get my life back for all of my teenage years." Taylor Little's addiction was social media, an addiction that led to suicide attempts and years of depression. Taylor, who's now 21 and uses the pronoun "they", describes the tech companies as "big, bad monsters". The companies, Taylor believes, knowingly put into children's hands highly addictive and damaging products. Which is why Taylor and hundreds of other American families are suing four of the biggest tech companies in the world. Harmful by design The lawsuit against Meta - the owner of Facebook and Instagram - plus TikTok, Google and Snap Inc, the owner of Snapchat, is one of the largest ever mounted in Silicon Valley. The plaintiffs include ordinary families and school districts from across the US. They claim that the platforms are harmful by design. Lawyers for the families believe the case of 14-year-old British schoolgirl Molly Russell is an important example of the potential harms faced by teenagers. Last year they monitored the inquest into her death via video link from Washington, looking for any evidence which they could use in the US lawsuit. Molly's name is mentioned a dozen times in the master complaint submitted to the court in California. Last week, the families in the case received a powerful boost when a federal judge ruled that the companies could not use the First Amendment of the US constitution, which protects freedom of speech, to block the action. Judge Gonzalez Rogers also ruled that S230 of the Communications Decency Act, which states that platforms are not publishers, did not give the companies blanket protection. The judge ruled that, for example, a lack of "robust" age verification and poor parental controls, as the families argue, are not issues of freedom of expression. Lawyers for the families called it a "significant victory". The companies say the claims are not true and they intend to defend themselves robustly. 'Like withdrawals' Taylor, who lives in Colorado, tells us that before getting their first smartphone, they were sporty and outgoing, taking part in dance and theatre. "If I had my phone taken away, it felt like having withdrawals. It was unbearable. Literally, when I say it was addictive, I don't mean it was habit-forming. I mean, my body and mind craved that." Taylor Little described the impact of viewing material related to body image and eating disorders Taylor remembers the very first social media notification they clicked on. It was someone's personal self-harm page, showing graphic images of wounds and cuts. "As an 11-year-old, I clicked on a page and was shown that with no warning. No, I didn't look for it. I didn't ask for it. I can still see it. I'm 21 years old, I can still see it." Taylor also struggled with content around body image and eating disorders. "That was - is - like a cult. It felt like a cult. You're constantly bombarded with photographs of a body that you can't have without dying. "You can't escape that." If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line. Lawyers for Taylor and the other plaintiffs have taken a novel approach to the litigation, focusing on the design of the platforms and not individual posts, comments or images. They claim the apps contain design features which cause addiction and harm. 'Simply not true' Meta released a statement saying: "Our thoughts are with the families represented in these complaints. "We want to reassure every parent that we have their interests at heart in the work we are doing to provide teens with safe, supportive experiences online." TikTok declined to comment. Google told us: "The allegations in these complaints are simply not true. Protecting kids across our platforms has always been core to our work." And Snapchat said its platform "was designed to remove the pressure to be perfect. We vet all content before it can reach a large audience to prevent the spread of anything that could be harmful." Molly Russell Taylor knows all about the story of Molly Russell, from north-west London, who took her own life after being exposed to a stream of negative, depressing content on Instagram. An inquest into her death found she died "while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content". Taylor says their stories are very similar. "I feel incredibly lucky to have survived. And my heart breaks in ways I can't put into words for people like Molly. "I'm happy. I really love my life. I'm in a place I didn't think I would live to." It makes Taylor determined to see the legal action through. "They know we're dying. They don't care. They make money off us dying. "All hope I have for better social media is entirely dependent on us winning and forcing them to make it - because they will never, ever, ever choose to." Ukraines Air Force has reported a Russian drone attack coming from the southern part of the country in a northeasterly direction. Source: Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Quote: "Attack by Shaheds from the south! [There is a] threat of enemy strike UAVs being used in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts! If an air-raid warning is issued in your oblast, find shelter." Details: Later, Ukraines Air Force reported that the Shahed drones were moving from Kherson Oblast in the direction of Mykolaiv Oblast. Updated at 22:21: An air-raid warning was also issued in Vinnytsia, Odesa, Kirovohrad and Cherkasy oblasts. The Air Force also said there was a threat of drone attacks in Poltava, Kharkiv and Sumy oblasts. Updated at 23:02: The aid-raid warning has also been issued in Chernihiv and Khmelnytskyi oblasts. Updated at 23:54: A threat of drone attacks has been announced in Ternopil and Chernivtsi oblasts. Updated at 00:00: The Air Force reported that a group of Shahed drones from Chernihiv Oblast was heading south towards Kyiv Oblast. The Air Force also mentioned a drone threat in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Later, the Air Force reported that Shahed drones were near the city of Starokonstiantyniv. It also reported the movement of attack drones from Kyiv Oblast towards Zhytomyr Oblast. In addition, the Air Force warned that Russian drones in the north of Zhytomyr Oblast were moving towards Rivne Oblast. At 00:48, the Air Force noted: "A group of Shahed drones near Shepetivka in Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Korosten in Zhytomyr Oblast". Subsequently, it was reported that the Shahed drones were moving towards Rivne Oblast from Khmelnytskyi and Zhytomyr oblasts. An air-raid warning was also issued in Volyn Oblast. In addition, the Air Force reported another group of drones moving on the border of Zhytomyr and Rivne oblasts. The all-clear was given at 02:45. Background: The Ukrainian air defence forces shot down 15 out of 20 Russian-launched Shahed-136/131 UAVs over Ukraine on the night of 18-19 November. Support UP or become our patron! Akron police rush to the scene of shooting that occurred during a highspeed police chase on Nov. 10, as seen from a dashboard camera. The Akron Police Department installed dash cams in 24 frontline cruisers and two prisoner vans in October. Dashboard cameras are back in Akron Police Department vehicles roughly five years after officials retired the devices. Fully functional Axon cameras were installed in the department's 24 frontline cruisers and two prisoner vans in October, said Capt. Michael Miller. This met the department's updated timeline to have the devices installed in October, a shift from the original goal of June. Dash cams: Akron police to bring back dash cameras in October, 4 months later than expected This new timeline came to light after the Akron Police Department said it could not fulfill a Beacon Journal public records request for dashboard video from a fatal Aug. 29 police chase because cruisers still lacked the cameras. One man died and two were injured in the crash while fleeing in a stolen car at speeds up to 100 mph, police said. The driver was charged Friday in the incident. Akron police insisted there was no delay. Calls for police reform, including the installation of dash cameras, came after the 2022 chase and fatal shooting of Jayland Walker. Officer-worn body cameras did not capture the full images of what happened outside the cruisers during the incident. Some Akron City Council members and social justice advocates argued at the time that dashboard cameras would have provided footage showing the moments before Walker was shot 46 times. City Council approved legislation for the cameras in a 13-0 vote in February. A state grant and a 2017 voter-approved 0.25% income tax will pay for the $334,680 cost. Why Akron lacked dash cameras Akron police retired dashboard cameras in March 2018, soon after city leaders decided it would be too expensive to keep the system while modernizing the body-worn alternative the previous year. The police department adopted officer-worn cameras at a time when other cities still debated their value. Protests called for body-worn cameras, among other reforms, following the 2014 police shooting death of Raupheal Thomas in Akron. Dashboard camera footage captured an officer shooting Thomas in the back while running away unarmed from officers. Police slammed him to the hood of the cruiser before trying to subdue Thomas. A scuffle took place off-camera with officers. Body-worn cameras, the protesters said, would have captured it all. A month after Thomas died, the Akron Police Department tested 30 body-worn cameras. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron police: Dashboard cameras installed in 26 department vehicles The Rev. Al Sharpton delivered an impassioned eulogy Monday for Dexter Wade, a 37-year-old Black man who was run over by an off-duty police officer in Jackson, Miss., and buried in a potters field without his familys knowledge. What happened to Dexter is a disgrace, a national outrage, and should be treated as such, Sharpton said at the New Horizon Church International. It is time for the mayor and the city council to stand up for Dexter. How do you explain how a young man ends up buried? The autopsy said that he had a state ID in his front pocket. He had his drivers license, yet you couldnt find his mother? You couldnt find some loved one? You let him lay in the morgue and buried him? Best Black Friday Deals Sharpton said he plans to stay involved until the prosecution of all those involved in the death of Wade is complete, adding that it could have been his own son who faced Wades fate. His life mattered to his mama, to his daughters, and we are going to make it matter all over this county. Wade was fatally struck March 5 by an off-duty police officer in a Jackson Police vehicle. Though Bettersten Wade, Dexter Wades mother, had reported her son missing to investigators one week after his death and an independent autopsy last week found Wade had a photo ID with his address in his jeans when he was fatally struck, Wades family was not informed of his death until August. At that point, Wade had already been buried in a field near the Hinds County Penal Farm. Sharpton said the family is now being told it was a Black officer who ran Wade over, but he emphasized that does not matter and compared the death of Wade to that of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died after being brutally beaten by five Black police officers in Memphis, Tenn. I dont care if hes Black or white, Sharpton said. What he did is wrong, and they need to be called accountable. In fact, Im more offended that hes Black because you wouldnt have done that to a young white man. You know better in Mississippi to hit a young white man and keep going and bury him in potters field. Youre going to learn you cant do that to this Black man. After Wades body was exhumed last week, civil rights attorney Ben Crump released the initial results of an independent autopsy. The report found Wades body had been completely run over by a police vehicle, he had multiple blunt force injuries to the skull, ribs and pelvis, and his left leg was amputated. He was also not properly embalmed, so his body was severely decomposed. Crump, who is representing Wades family, issued a call to action after the funeral Monday. This is trying to get to the truth, he said. With transparency plus truth, we can get to accountability and get to justice in Mississippi. While Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba last month said the time it took Wades family to be notified was an unfortunate and tragic accident, Crump and Sharpton have both called for the Department of Justice to investigate the Jackson Police Department. Sharpton last week sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland to formally request an investigation into the police departments actions. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. Albanese has criticized China, Monday Nov. 20, 2023, for an unsafe encounter between Chinese and Australian warships but declined to say whether he had raised the issue in recent talks with President Xi Jinping. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP) CANBERRA, Australia (AP) Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday criticized China for a dangerous encounter between Chinese and Australian warships but declined to say whether he had raised the issue in recent talks with President Xi Jinping. He said one Australian diver was injured when a Chinese destroyer used sonar while near an Australian frigate in international waters last Tuesday. Defense Minister Richard Marles said Saturday he had raised serious concerns with Beijing about the destroyers unsafe and unprofessional behavior. China's Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian on Monday dismissed Australia's allegations as completely untrue. Between the encounter and Marles statement, Albanese spoke to Xi on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific leaders summit in San Francisco. Albanese said on Monday his discussions with Xi were private, rather than a formal bilateral meeting in which content summaries are made public. I dont talk about private meetings on the sidelines, discussions I have with any world leader, Albanese told Sky News in his Parliament House office. Its something that is a regrettable incident. Thats why we have put our very strong objections to China very clearly, very directly through all of the appropriate channels in all the forums that are available to us, Albanese added. He said the incident does do damage to Australias relationship with China. This was dangerous, it was unsafe and unprofessional from the Chinese forces, he said. Opposition lawmakers have accused Albanese of failing to raise the encounter with Xi because the Australian leader did not want to risk setting back an improving bilateral relationship. More weak leadership from Anthony Albanese who appears to be prioritizing photo ops with Xi Jinping over speaking up for our people. Disgraceful, senior opposition lawmaker Sussan Ley posted on social media. Albanese recently became the first Australian prime minister to visit China in seven years in a sign that relations have improved since Leys coalition government was voted out of office in 2022 after nine years in power. The U.S., Canadian and Australian militaries have complained multiple times about what they say have been dangerous actions by the Chinese navy and air force in the western Pacific. Analysts fear a collision or other accident could spark an international incident and escalate into conflict. Australia said the Chinese destroyer CNS Ningbo operated its sonar while Australian naval divers were underwater trying to clear fishing nets that tangled the propellers of their ship HMAS Toowoomba. Albanese said one diver was injured. Defense officials have not specified the injuries or number of divers, but media have reported the divers ears were injured. Analysts say sonar pulses can cause extensive soft tissue damage to divers at close range. Australia says the Toowoomba notified the Ningbo that diving operations were underway and asked the Chinese to keep clear. But the Ningbo approached using a hull-mounted sonar equipment, placing the divers at risk and forcing them from the water, defense officials say. The Chinese Defense Ministry denied Australia's account that the interaction occured within Japan's exclusive economic zone. Wu said the destroyer had been tracking and monitoring the frigate in accordance with international laws and regulations. The Chinese ship had maintained a safe distance and did not interfere with the Australian divers' operations, he said. "We urge the Australian side to respect the facts, stop making reckless and irresponsible accusations against China, do more to build up mutual trust between the two sides and create a positive atmosphere for the sound development of relations between the two countries and two militaries, Wu said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the nation's military was always highly disciplined and conducted professional operations in accordance with international law and international practice. We hope the relevant party will stop stirring up trouble at Chinas doorstep and work with us to jointly sustain the momentum of the improvement and development of China-Australia relations, Mao told a regular media briefing on Monday. ___ Find more AP Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, pictured right, hired Sam Altman, left, after his surprise ouster as head of OpenAI (JUSTIN SULLIVAN) Microsoft's hiring of ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Monday marks another twist in the seven-year-old partnership between the US giant and the startup that created ChatGPT. Here are key moments in the history of their partnership: - Founded as a non-profit - OpenAI is founded in 2015 by entrepreneurs and investors, including Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and Tesla chief Elon Musk. It is established as a not-for-profit organisation that publishes open source research and software available to all. - Teams up with Microsoft - Musk quits the project in 2018 following clashes with the board of directors. Altman transforms OpenAI into a "capped profit" company and seeks new investors. - Microsoft injects $1 billion - In 2019, Microsoft invests $1 billion in OpenAI, largely in the form of computing credits, in exchange for a role in the future commercialisation of its technologies. The goal for Microsoft is to develop its cloud offering, where it competes with Google (Alphabet) and Amazon. - GPT-3 launched - OpenAI launches GPT-3 in 2020, the third version of its large-scale language model, trained on huge volumes of text scraped from the internet by Microsoft's computing infrastructure. This model is far more powerful than its competitors, with some 175 billion parameters. - Supercomputer trains AI - Microsoft in 2020 says it has built a supercomputer exclusively designed to train large OpenAI models. Its cloud network, Azure, can now make these systems available to Microsoft customers. - AI-generated images - OpenAI in 2021 says it has developed DALL-E, an AI model capable of generating images when provided with descriptions. - ChatGPT goes public - OpenAI achieves worldwide attention with the November 2022 launch of ChatGPT, a language model open to the public, initially available free of charge. - Microsoft reportedly seeks stake - In January 2023, Microsoft announces "an investment of several billion dollars over several years" -- $10 billion, according to US media. It says it is "investing in the development of specialised supercomputer systems" for its partnership with OpenAI, but makes no mention of acquiring a stake in its capital. According to US media, Microsoft had sought to buy 49 percent of OpenAI, in an offer that valued it at $29 billion. - Microsoft integrates GPT-4 into products - In March 2023, Microsoft says it is integrating the GPT-4 version of OpenAI into its consumer products such as search engine Bing, Outlook email and Office suite (Word, Excel), but will charge users extra. - Microsoft not informed of dismissal - Microsoft is not notified of the OpenAI board's decision on Friday to dismiss Sam Altman, according to US press reports. After trying over the weekend to get him reinstated, the group announces that it is hiring him and co-founder Greg Brockman. Brockman suggests that they will continue to create AI products at Microsoft, and he announces the recruitment of several key OpenAI managers for these projects. Meanwhile, hundreds of OpenAI staff members Monday sign a letter threatening to leave the company and join Microsoft if the board is not replaced. leb/may/clc/gv/lth/gv/acc Capping off a tumultuous weekend at OpenAI that culminated in investors -- and a contingent of employees -- attempting to convince the company's board to hire back former Y Combinator president Sam Altman after firing him on Friday, Altman won't be returning as CEO, according to a report in The Information. Citing an internal memo sent by Ilya Sutskever, board director and one of OpenAI's co-founders, Altman has decided to walk away from negotiations -- at least for the time being. As the search for a new permanent CEO continues, OpenAI has appointed Emmett Shear, the co-founder of video streaming site Twitch, as interim CEO -- replacing Mira Murati, who held the position for only two days. The board was won over by Shear's concern over the existential threats that AI presents, Bloomberg reports, as well as his experience in leading large engineering groups while at Twitch. Murati was said to be strongly advocating for Altman and plotting a way to hire him in some capacity even as the six-member board vetted potential new CEOs, which could have something to do with her replacement. We've reached out to OpenAI for comment and will update this piece if we hear back. first and last time i ever wear one of these pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a Sam Altman (@sama) November 19, 2023 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js This latest development threatens to worsen an already precarious situation for OpenAI, whose board faces pressure from all sides to change course after firing Altman with little input from some of its largest stakeholders. The board's decision Friday evening to remove Altman -- and demote OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman, who's since resigned, from his position as board chairman -- reportedly infuriated Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, a major OpenAI backer and partner. (Nadella was said to be playing a key mediating role between the board and Altman and pledged to support Altman no matter the outcome.) OpenAI investors -- in particular Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and Thrive Capital -- had recruited Microsofts aid in exerting pressure on the board to bring Altman and Brockman back while contemplating a lawsuit against the board's members. Meanwhile, OpenAI top brass and rank-and-file aligned with Altman called it quits. Three senior OpenAI researchers left after Brockman, including the director of research Jakub Pachocki and head of preparedness Aleksander Madry. Others threatened to walk out if both Altman and Brockman weren't reinstated. So what kicked off all the chaos? Namely, a clash of philosophies. Sutskever said during a company all-hands meeting on Friday that he felt removing Altman was "necessary" to protect OpenAIs mission of "making AI beneficial to humanity," suggesting Altmans commercial ambitions for the company were beginning to unsettle the boards kingmakers. Reports over the weekend confirmed as much; Sutskever was said to be "infuriated" by a number of announcements at OpenAI's first annual developer conference, DevDay, like custom GPTs that OpenAI has said may one day run autonomously Altman reportedly demanded "significant" managerial changes at OpenAI -- and a new board of directors -- as a condition of returning; The Wall Street Journal reports that Altman told associates it was "ridiculous" that the major shareholders had no say in OpenAIs governance. Bret Taylor, the co-CEO of Salesforce, was among those being considered for the new board, allegedly, along with a Microsoft-aligned member (or alternatively board observer). Bloomberg's Emily Chang reports that Microsoft isn't pleased with Sunday night's outcome -- and that's not exactly surprising. Instability at OpenAI drove Microsoft shares down 1.7% on Friday, wiping out nearly $47 billion in market value. Many employees aren't either. Dozens of staffers internally announced they'd quit OpenAI late Sunday night, The Information reported. Sifa* breastfeeding her young baby in the Mugunga camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Save the Children) Having lived in a tent in the Mugunga camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since February, Sifa* constantly worries about how to feed her children. With fighting between government forces and M23 rebels, Sifa made the difficult decision to leave home with her nine-year-old daughter and her husband with another three children now in the care of their grandmother to search for safety and a future for her family. Since fleeing, Sifas family has experienced significant weight loss and have been pushed into a state of malnutrition. She gave birth to another child, a son, within the camp. Since giving birth three months ago, I have been struggling to feed my infant, the 33-year-old mother told The Independent. Despite my efforts to feed him, my breast milk is insufficient and lacks the necessary nutrients to satisfy him. She is aware that her breast milk supply would increase if she had more food herself, but her priority isnt to feed herself with their limited rations but to feed her daughter. She already has to beg for food every day and goes to sleep hungry, Sifa said. I make sure to give her whatever little we have. As Sifa and her family continue to desperately look for food to keep them alive, governments, international organisations, scientists, and private companies gathered in London on Monday for a reset moment on the global food security crisis. On the agenda: to figure out new approaches to tackle preventable deaths of children from food insecurity. Save the Children says that one child is born into hunger every two seconds in 2023. Thats more than 17.6 million children, one-fifth more than a decade ago. The analysis shows that children in every corner of the world, particularly places like East Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Afghanistan, are facing one of the worst hunger crises on record. Climate-induced drought, ongoing economic turmoil, and conflicts forcing people from their homes have decimated peoples ability to cope and made nutritious food unattainable for millions, said Callum Northcote, head of hunger and nutrition at Save the Children UK. The worst thing is that, in many cases, countries are dealing with all of these factors at the same time. Northcote said the conflict in Ukraine has also contributed to the hunger crisis. Its had a devastating impact on food prices globally, he said. For many, the basics became unaffordable. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the number of children born into hunger is the highest since records began. Zolaikha, 23, with Marium, aged 10 months (Save The Children) Although Sifa and her husband feel uncomfortable sending their daughter to beg, a dangerous task for a young girl, the couple have no other option. I try to keep an eye on her to make sure no one hurt her, she said. Sifas husband has been looking for a job to enable the family to buy more food but is constantly rejected. Once while asking around, he was attacked and beaten up so badly he had to be hospitalised, she said. We depend on humanitarian assistance or else we wouldnt have survived as long as we have. Having already lost two children one to malaria and cholera, the other to one of the armed groups that invaded her village Sifa is constantly afraid she will lose another. There is always something taking my children away from me, she said. If its not war, it is lack of food. If it isnt that, then its disease. Im scared for my childrens health. Im scared of waking up to find my baby gone. Sifas fears are not unfounded. Approximately one-fifth more newborns will face hunger this year compared to 2013, when 14.4 million children were born into the grips of hunger, according to Save the Children. Hunger will destroy their dreams, silence their play, disrupt their education, and threaten their lives, said Northcote. The future of these children is already compromised before they even take their first breath. We must protect their childhoods and futures before its too late. Ten months ago, Marium* was born to 23-year-old Zolaikha* in Afghanistan, and among roughly 440,000 children estimated to be born into hunger in Afghanistan this year. Most days, Zolaikhas family of four only eat bread and rice. They rarely eat fruit or vegetables, and the last time they ate meat was four months ago. When she was only six months old, Marium started getting persistent diarrhoea and was later diagnosed with pneumonia due to a weakened immune system. She became severely weak two months ago, Zolaikha told The Independent. She was extremely weak. She was crying all the time and was always in pain or discomfort and had a high fever. I used to cry with her. It was difficult to see my daughter in pain. Her other child was also severely malnourished, with frequent bouts of diarrhoea turning into pneumonia. It is all because of drinking unsafe water and not having enough nutritious food, Zolaikha said. As leaders meet in London, Northcote hopes for the sort of progress seen in the past. While some progress on child hunger has been made in the past two decades, it started to significantly decline in 2019, largely due to economic instability, conflicts and the worsening climate crisis. Were urging the UK government to step up and increase funding as well as work with the international community to find collective solutions that ensure children and their families access good, nutritious foods in order to prevent hunger and malnutrition, said Northcote. Hunger is not a lost cause, he added. We have the power to significantly reduce the number of malnourished children right now, like we have in the past. But if we do not tackle the root causes of hunger and malnutrition, we will continue to see the reversal of progress made for children. This is a global hunger crisis, and it requires a global solution. [This] summit is a good step, but this must be matched with increases in funding. *Names have been changed Abraham Lincoln has an almost saintly place in U.S. history: the Great Emancipator whose leadership during the Civil War preserved the Union and abolished slavery. Often overlooked among his achievements is legislation he signed June 30, 1864, during the thick of the war but only marginally related to the conflict. The Yosemite Valley Grant Act preserved the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove in California as a park held for public use, resort, and recreation for all time. It was the first time the federal government had set aside land for its scenic value, and it created a model for U.S. national parks, which are themselves hallowed sites in American culture. Originally granted to the state of California, Yosemite formally became the third U.S. national park in 1890, joining a system of picturesque lands that hold spiritual and patriotic significance for millions of Americans. At the same time, however, the establishment of national parks had severe consequences for Native American peoples across the continent. My research on the religious history of U.S. national parks illustrates how religious justifications for establishing parks contributed to the persecution of Indigenous tribes, a reality that the National Park Service has begun to redress in recent decades. US civil religion With more than 300 million annual visitors, the U.S. National Park System is a much-valued treasure. It encompasses stupendous scenery, opportunities for encounters with wildlife, outdoor recreation and commemoration of important places and events. The scenery of Glacier Point in Yosemite Valley has awed visitors for centuries. The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images But the parks significance goes beyond this. The national parks, historic sites, battlefields and other sites of the National Park Service are sacred places in U.S. civil religion: the symbols, practices and traditions that make the idea of a nation into something sacred, seemingly blessed by a higher power. First brought attention by sociologist Robert Bellah, civil religion flourishes alongside conventional religious traditions, like Christianity or Buddhism, with its own sacred figures, sites and rituals. In the U.S., these include George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr., the U.S. flag and Pledge of Allegiance, and national holidays such as Independence Day. I have observed that many of the most sacred places of the nations civil religion are found in sites cared for by the National Park Service, from Independence Hall in Philadelphia and the Statue of Liberty in New York to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. In addition, the National Park System is a testament to Manifest Destiny, a prominent feature of U.S. civil religion. This 19th-century notion held that Americans had divine blessing to expand the borders of the nation. As historian Anders Stephanson writes in his book about Manifest Destiny, it became a catchword for the idea of a providentially or historically sanctioned right to continental expansionism. This westward expansion came at the expense of Native Americans and other groups that previously inhabited the territory. For many Protestant Christian Americans, the superlative scenery of natural sites like Yosemite and Yellowstone affirmed their belief that God intended for them to conquer and settle the American West in the decades following the Civil War as I write about in my forthcoming book. Products of Manifest Destiny The earliest national parks were established as products of Manifest Destiny, amid the national push to bring land from the Mississippi to the Pacific into the United States, which many white Americans viewed as a mission to expand settled Christian society. Beginning with Yellowstone in 1872, followed by Sequoia, Yosemite and Mount Rainier, the early parks created in the 19th century had symbolic significance for U.S. civil religion. In many Americans eyes, the sites beauty affirmed their belief that the U.S. was exceptional and divinely favored. The chapel in Yosemite, photographed in 1987. Tripelon-Jarry/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Westward expansion had severe consequences for American Indian nations, and the earliest national parks played a role in forcing their removal, as historian Mark David Spence has documented. Transforming lands into national parks for visitors enjoyment meant dispossessing communities whose ancestors had valued those places for generations. Following the creation of Yellowstone, the worlds first national park, a band of Shoshone people who had been there for generations the Tukudika, or Sheep Eater were relocated to a reservation in Wyoming. A similar situation involved the Nitsitapii, or Blackfeet people, whose treaty rights were abrogated with the establishment of Glacier National Park in 1910. In contrast, the Yosemite Indians of California, who were mainly a band of Miwok people known as the Ahwahneechee, remained in Yosemite long after it became a national park. By 1969, though, they had been eliminated from the park through decades of onerous regulations, economic pressures and attrition. The site of a former Miwok village in Yosemite Valley is now an outdoor museum display of traditional shelters. Thomas S. Bremer, CC BY-ND A new era Over the past few decades, the National Park Service has made progress in acknowledging Native American connections to parklands, beginning to address the history of Manifest Destiny and Indigenous peoples exclusion. The agency is a key contributor to the Interior Departments recent initiative to facilitate tribal co-management of federal lands. Though much still needs to be done, national park managers are increasingly consulting and cooperating with tribal authorities on a range of issues. Deb Haaland, the first Native American in U.S. history to hold a cabinet position, initiated a process to review and replace derogatory names on federal lands one of her earliest actions as secretary of the interior. For example, she specifically identified the term squaw a slur often directed at Indigenous women as offensive, declaring that racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands. Within a year of her directive, 24 places in the National Park System had new names. Other issues on which the park service is collaborating with tribal communities include adopting Native American strategies of using deliberate fires to maintain healthy, thriving ecosystems. These Indigenous traditions have become a regular part of fire prevention and management efforts throughout the park system. Teepees included in the Yellowstone Revealed project by the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. National Park Service/Jacob W. Frank via Flickr Tribes have also cooperated with a variety of national parks to restore bison herds. Historically, these animals were central for many tribes not only as a source of food and materials for tools, clothing and blankets but also in traditional spirituality. The Interior Departments 2020 Bison Conservation Initiative and partnerships with the InterTribal Buffalo Council have helped begin to restore herds on Native American lands with bison from national parks, including Yellowstone, Badlands and Grand Canyon. Perhaps the most noticeable initiative, from visitors perspective, are the stories of Native American culture and history in displays, ranger talks, roadside exhibits and the National Park Service website, amplifying Native voices in the parks. These programs have begun the process of reconciliation and healing working to make a more inclusive and democratic civil religion. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Thomas S. Bremer, Rhodes College. Read more: FILE - American Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport, Jan. 11, 2023, in New York. American Airlines flight attendants are asking federal officials for the right to go on strike, possibly before the end of the Christmas and New Year's travel rush, but the airline said there was no possibility of a walkout over the holidays. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants petitioned the National Mediation Board on Monday, Nov. 20, to declare the negotiations deadlocked and give the union permission to strike after a 30-day cooling-off period. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) American Airlines flight attendants are asking federal officials for the right to go on strike, possibly before the end of the Christmas and New Year's travel rush, but American said there was no possibility of a walkout over the holidays. Leaders of the flight attendants' union say they are frustrated with the lack of progress in negotiations over a new contract for workers who have not seen raises since 2019. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants petitioned the National Mediation Board on Monday to declare the negotiations deadlocked and give the union permission to strike after a 30-day cooling-off period. Meanwhile, pilots at Southwest opened a strike center in Dallas this week. Officials with the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association say they too will ask for the right to strike if they don't have a contract deal with the airline in the next few days. A digital clock on the wall at the pilots' union headquarters ticked down toward a potential strike on Dec. 29. It is far from certain that either union will go on strike, however. Federal law makes it very hard for airline workers to walk off the job or for carriers to lock out workers. Strikes and lockouts are legal only if federal mediators take the rare step of declaring that negotiations are at an impasse and that either side may resort to self help. Even then, the president or Congress can block a strike that might hurt the economy. The last strike by a U.S. airline union took place in 2010, involving pilots at Spirit Airlines. American disputed the flight attendants' union claim that negotiations are stalemated. In a statement, the airline said that for months it has been offering the union an industry-leading economic proposal," and progress continues on other contract items. The airline, which is based in Fort Worth, said it is ready to continue working with the union and the National Mediation Board to reach an agreement. American added that there is no possibility of a strike over Thanksgiving or the December holidays. The flight attendants' union is asking American for immediate raises of 35% and then annual increases of 6% under a 3-year deal. American is offering 11% upfront but says it's 18% including higher pay during the time that passengers board planes, followed by annual increases of 2%. The union also wants bigger 401(k) contributions and increased rest time. American's pilots recently won raises of more than 40% over four years. We definitely don't feel any equality here, said Erik Harris, treasurer of the flight attendants' union. How come the pilots have gotten their deal and we haven't? Because of pattern bargaining, Southwest pilots are likely to wind up with raises like those approved for American Airlines pilots. The union at Southwest is asking for slightly higher pay than Boeing 737 pilots at other airlines, arguing that Southwest uses its planes and pilots longer per day on average. A major stumbling block at Southwest is over pilot scheduling. The union wants Southwest to pay pilots a premium to operate flights that lack a crew instead of staffing those flights with pilots who are on reserve, or hold. The Southwest pilots' union has already tried and failed once this year to get permission to strike. The union asked federal officials in June to release the group from mediation, but mediators refused. Another bargaining session is scheduled for the last week in November, but none after that. Nobody here wants to strike, said Tom Nekouei, the union's second vice president, but we either need a deal by the 30th or we need to go down this path. Dallas-based Southwest issued a statement saying that negotiations were continuing and it will work for a contract that rewards our pilots and places them competitively in the industry. Leaders of both the American flight attendants and Southwest pilots say they are encouraged by advances made by other unions this year. The United Auto Workers won rich new contracts after a six-week strike, and screen and TV writers and actors got better compensation for streaming content and other concessions after strikes that crippled Hollywood for months. The Teamsters won hefty pay raises for more than 300,000 United Parcel Service workers by threatening to strike. Union organizing is on the rise. On Thursday, several dozen American Airlines flight attendants picketed along a thoroughfare outside company headquarters in Texas, some carrying signs reading, Ready to strike." Drivers in everything from sedans to gravel haulers honked in support. This gives me hope, said Harris, the union official, but also seeing what's happening out there in labor worldwide is giving us all hope. A day after settling a bombshell federal lawsuit filed in Manhattan by his ex girlfriend Cassie, Sean Combs was spotted in Miami Beach. Paparazzi zoomed in on the embattled rapper at his $35 million Star Island mansion on Saturday. The 54 year old is seen in one photograph looking stressed, with his head in his hands, sitting on an outdoor couch. A woman, reportedly his longtime chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, sits beside him. Another shows him talking on the phone while walking the grounds by the pool at the immense waterfront property. On Thursday, the rapper known by a number of names including Diddy, Puff Daddy and Love, was accused in court papers of repeatedly raping and physically abusing Cassie for nearly a decade while they dated on and off, starting in 2007. The settlement was announced in a statement by Cassies attorney Douglas Wigdor, saying the exes had reached a deal to their mutual satisfaction. In her own statement, the 37-year-old R&B entertainer (real name: Casandra Ventura) said: I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control. I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support. Combs also said that the matter was resolved amicably and wished Cassie and her family all the best. The music moguls attorney, Ben Brafman, originally said that Combs vehemently denied the explosive allegations, but added that the legal resolution was in no way an admission of wrongdoing, Page Six reported. Mr. Combs decision to settle the lawsuit does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims. He is happy they got to a mutual settlement and wishes Ms. Ventura the best. One year ago, Texas juries delivered different verdicts when they judged two controversial fatal police shootings. A Fort Worth jury convicted officer Aaron Dean on a manslaughter charge for shooting and killing 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson through a window of her mothers home in 2019 after responding to a call for a wellness check. He received a nearly 12-year prison sentence. Three months earlier, a Hunt County jury acquitted Wolfe City officer Shaun Lucas in the October 2020 shooting of 31-year-old Jonathan Price. Lucas had responded to reports of a fight outside a store and said Price tried to grab his Taser. Prosecutors, who charged Lucas with murder, argued Price was extending his hand. Among officers statewide who have stood trial for on-duty lethal shootings, the outcome Lucas received is more common than Deans. In a new era of police accountability in Texas and across the nation, a wave of prosecutions of police officers has sparked headlines and generated applause from reformers who view them as tangible advocacy results. But an American-Statesman analysis of seven high-profile cases identified by police unions and activist groups and most of which went to trial after the 2020 social justice movement found frequent acquittals when the cases reached a courtroom. Austin police officer Christopher Taylor's trial in the fatal shooting of Michael Ramos ended in a mistrial Wednesday when the jury declared it could not come to a unanimous decision after more than 34 hours of deliberation. A Travis County jury leaned toward acquittal, but ultimately deadlocked in an 8-4 vote, last week in the murder trial of Austin police officer Christopher Taylor in the shooting death of Michael Ramos, a 42-year-old Black and Hispanic man whose death helped fuel Austins Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. Prosecutors argued that Taylors use of force was not reasonable and that Ramos was only attempting to flee when he started driving a Toyota Prius from a parking lot. Taylors lawyers contend Taylor feared for his life and the life of fellow officers when he shot. More: Mistrial declared in murder trial of Austin officer Christopher Taylor in death of Michael Ramos Taylor and officer Karl Krycia also face a murder charge in the 2019 shooting of Mauris Desilva, who was suffering a mental break when the officers said they shot because Desilva moved toward them with a knife. Trial dates are set for early 2024. From rural to urban jurisdictions and among Republican and Democratic prosecutors, district attorneys have more frequently brought cases against officers through a trend that started nationally after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., and intensified after the 2020 George Floyd murder in Minneapolis. Prosecutor Gary Cobb makes a closing argument Tuesday in the murder trial of Austin police officer Christopher Taylor's murder trial. Still, such prosecutions are rare. A database compiled by The Washington Post shows about 80 Texans have died in police custody since 2018, although not all involved shootings. It also is not clear how many could be considered potentially unlawful. No group or organization tracks how many resulted in criminal charges against officers, but organizations that monitor such issues said they know of no other trials of officers for on-duty fatal shootings beyond the seven the Statesman reviewed. Other cases pending against Texas officers are not limited to fatal uses of lethal force. Multiple officers have been indicted on charges such as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon amid other excessive force allegations. In Austin, prosecutors have brought indictments against about two dozen officers in the past three years, most of which involved injuries to protesters during the 2020 demonstrations and are set for trial in 2024. With the police reform conversation, we have a lot of prosecutors, especially in our more metropolitan areas, that have decided politically it makes more sense to indict the officers, or take them in front of grand juries, and let the grand jury or a jury make that decision, said Kevin Lawrence, executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association, which advocates for police. More: Austin leaders react to mistrial of Austin police officer Christopher Taylor in 2020 shooting Challenges in prosecuting police Cases against officers, particularly those involving lethal force resulting in murder or manslaughter charges, still face barriers unique to police prosecutions once they get to the courtroom, experts say. As in Taylors case, circumstances in which officers fired their weapons generally give rise to self-defense claims that can make allegations of a crime less convincing to jurors. Officers might be able to convince jurors that they feared for their safety or the safety of others when a suspect reached into his pocket or turned a certain way, for instance. They will often make that claim. Sometimes it is a viable claim, and sometimes it is people on the jury or a judge not wanting to put themselves inside the shoes of an officer and assuming they are credible even if they shouldnt, said Kate Levine, a law professor at New York's Cardozo School of Law who has studied prosecutions of police. Austin police officer Christopher Taylor, second from right, with his attorneys, left to right, Lindsey Adams, Ken Ervin and Doug OConnell watch on Nov. 7 as jurors look at the apartment complex parking lot on South Pleasant Valley Road where Taylor shot Michael Ramos in 2020. Jennifer Laurin, a University of Texas law professor, said once a defendant officer introduces self-defense, state law requires the prosecution to blunt those claims. Not only is the prosecution shouldering the burden of proving the elements of the homicide crime that is charged, but also is shouldering the burden of negating the assertion that it was formed in response to a reasonable belief that deadly force was coming against the defendant, she said. More: What Austin police officers said in testimony during Christopher Taylor's murder trial Another reality of prosecuting police is that key witnesses in the case, including those at the scene and those who did the investigation, are fellow police officers. Sometimes, they might be reluctant to testify adversely against colleagues, Levin, Laurin and Texas Tech University law professor Patrick Metze agreed. "They may say something detrimental to their buddy, Metze said. The pressure is on them to protect their own but to tell the truth. It is a difficult call." Laurin added that officers also are professional witnesses, trained in how to appear credible, in how to give truthful but limited or strategic answers to questions that are being asked of them, and typically, in these cases, witnesses who are not law enforcement witnesses are not professional witnesses. And Levine added that many officers can be better resourced defendants whose cases are backed by attorney teams paid for by unions. Juror sentiment toward officers has traditionally been viewed as an obstacle toward prosecutions, with experts believing that officers receive special consideration in the minds of those judging their actions. Many jurors have not had bad experiences with police officers, Laurin and Levine said, and might be deferential to the work police do in their communities. However, both said it is difficult to determine, without more cases going to trial, if juror sentiment has shifted. "It is hard to imagine that anyone living in America today is not more informed about the complicated and nuanced role police play in our society than maybe they were 10 years ago, Levine said. Courtney Scott testifies Oct. 25 during Christopher Taylor's trial. Case studies In 2018, a Dallas County jury convicted Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver on a murder charge for shooting and killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. Oliver fired into a moving vehicle that he said he thought was about to strike his partner. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Among six other cases that went to trial after 2020 after social justice protests played out nationally, all but Deans resulted in an acquittal, although a jury in Burnet deadlocked on one of two charges an officer faced. Four months before Aaron Dean's conviction, a Tarrant County jury viewed a lethal police shooting differently, acquitting former Arlington police officer Ravinder Singh on a criminally negligent homicide charge in the 2019 death of a woman while he was attempting to shoot a dog. A spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorneys office did not return phone calls or emails seeking comment about the cases. In other urban Texas counties, a Harris County jury acquitted Baytown police officer Juan Delacruz in October 2022 on a charge of aggravated assault by a public servant in the shooting death of Pamela Turner, whom he was trying to arrest on outstanding warrants three years earlier. Delacruz fatally shot Turner, who family members say suffered from mental illness, after she grabbed his Taser and stunned him in the groin. Prosecutors in more rural areas also have brought cases against police officers that mostly resulted in acquittals. In August 2022, a Burnet County jury found former city of Burnet police officer Russell Butler not guilty of murder and deadlocked on a manslaughter charge. District Attorney Sonny McAfee, a Republican, told the Statesman recently that prosecutors plan to retry Butler on the manslaughter charge. No date is set. Butler shot and killed 25-year-old Brandon Michael Jacque in 2019 after he said Jacque backed up his car, hitting his foot. In February, in Bell County, north of Austin, a jury acquitted Temple police officer Carmen DeCruz on manslaughter charges in the death of Michael Dean. The shooting happened when DeCruz, with his finger on the trigger of his gun, shot Dean in the head as he reached to turn off the ignition of his car. DeCruzs attorneys argued Dean struck the gun with his own hands. Other Texas trials against police officers in shooting deaths are on the horizon. During Christopher Taylor's trial, the head of the civil rights division from the Bexar County district attorneys office attended portions of the proceeding to help prepare to take a handful of officers in Bexar County to trial on charges arising from fatal shootings. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Prosecution of Texas police officers rarely lead to convictions The annual Thanksgiving Click it or Ticket campaign is currently underway in North Carolina. Until Nov. 26, expect to see extra law enforcement patrols across the state to help keep travelers safe during the holidays. ALSO READ: Man dies after car crashes through brick sign in south Charlotte According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, a total of 17 people were killed and 91 were injured during the week of Thanksgiving in 2022. The campaign said it hopes to bring those numbers down by reminding drivers to buckle up in every vehicle, every time. VIDEO: Car crashes through brick post in south Charlotte, killing 1 person For the first time, the lead detective in YNW Mellys double murder case detailed his recollection of the October 2022 incident in which he was accused of wrongdoing. Miramar Police Detective Mark Moretti, while on the stand Monday, denied the accusation that he solicited a Broward Sheriffs Office deputy to lie. Moretti also vouched for his execution of the search warrant for the phone of Jamie King, Mellys mother. The phone was seized in Fort Lauderdale, which the defense argued falls outside of Morettis jurisdiction a claim they have repeated to back up efforts to get key evidence thrown out. Defense attorney Stuart Adelstein shows Miramar Police detective Mark Moretti documents as he questions him during the trial of Jamell Demons, better known as rapper YNW Melly, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, July 17, 2023. Demons, 22, is accused of killing two fellow rappers and conspiring to make it look like a drive-by shooting in October 2018. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel) In 2022, Moretti was taking a statement from King in a conference room at the Broward courthouse. Prosecutor Michelle Boutros, Kings attorney Robert Trachman and Broward Sheriffs Office Sgt. Jason Hendrick were also there at the time. At some point, Hendrick stepped out, and Moretti executed a search warrant for Kings phone. Shortly thereafter, BSO Deputy Adam Gorel arrived at the conference room. When King and Trachman left, Moretti allegedly made a comment to Gorel about saying he was present while the search warrant was executed. But accounts of what Moretti said or didnt say differ among the parties. According to a filing by former prosecutor Kristine Bradley, Moretti asked Gorel whether he was there when the phone was taken, and Gorel mentioned something along the lines of: I can be if you needed me to be. Mellys legal team previously accused Bradley of a Brady violation, or concealing information favorable to the defense, for allegedly not divulging details about the incident. Bradley was ousted from the retrial last month. Under Florida law, prosecutors are required to disclose any information that may be favorable to the defense. The discovery of Brady violations, in some cases, have even led to overturned convictions. Moretti, on the stand, said he couldnt recall exactly what he told the deputy but said he asked about Gorels whereabouts. According to the detective, Gorel jokingly responded with something along the lines of I can be anywhere you want me to be. Defense attorney Daniel Aaronson presented Moretti with copies of Brady notices filed by the prosecution. When referencing one written by Bradley, Moretti said he guessed the prosecutor was mistaken and said he doesnt know where she got that information. Moretti maintained that he told Bradley that Gorel made a joke and that was it. Earlier in his testimony, the detective also referenced how King fidgeted with her phone, so he yanked it out of her hand to prevent her from turning it off. I have the right to still take the evidence and protect it from being destroyed, and thats what was happening in my presence, the detective said. Familiar face takes the stand Public Corruptions Unit Prosecutor Michelle Boutros, who was involved in a possible inquiry into King allegedly tampering with witnesses, testified again in court on Monday. She was presented with subpoenas that she signed as well as copies of emails between her and Moretti. On Monday, the state turned over to the defense additional evidence related to the incident, including the email and text exchanges between Boutros and Moretti and incident reports by BSO and Miramar police. In a September memo, Internal Affairs Sgt. Brittany Parker closed a complaint made by King against Moretti, also writing that Boutros claims about the detective contradicted Gorels sworn statement. Assistant State Attorney Michelle Boutros sworn in to testify as a witness during a hearing in the trial of Jamell Demons, better known as rapper YNW Melly, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Defense lawyers say she overheard Miramar Police Detective Mark Moretti, the lead investigator on Demons case, express a willingness to lie about his seizure of a phone belonging to Demons mother, Jamie King, during a Fort Lauderdale courthouse interview last October. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel) When discussing the documents she signed, Boutros mentioned how Moretti wanted approval to get ahold of a phone belonging to Mariah Hamilton, Mellys ex-girlfriend. The detective argued the phone was abandoned property because it was left at someone elses home. Boutros said she didnt sign off on that request. Boutros denied having a vendetta against Moretti. In his cross-examination, prosecutor Justin Griffis mentioned that Boutros had worked with Moretti three times previously, though she said she didnt remember that. I never questioned the validity of the investigation, she said on the stand. I questioned my ability to work with a detective who would say something like that. Dr. Bernardo Mora has watched the fentanyl crisis and guided efforts to reduce the suffering in Stanislaus County. Mora, the medical director of county Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, provides guidance for the county Opioid Safety Coalitions education and prevention efforts around fentanyl. The synthetic opioid street drug was responsible for 128 overdose or poisoning deaths in the county last year, a number that could be surpassed in 2023. According to a preliminary count, illegal fentanyl has accounted for 100 fatalities, or 62% of the countys 161 total drug overdose deaths to date this year. Mora participated in an interview Thursday as The Modesto Bee continued its coverage of the fentanyl crisis. Q: It seems illegal fentanyl can harm any family and its taking a toll on the Stanislaus County community. Can you talk about how this drug has such a broad impact on families, social services, mental health, the community and even businesses? A: It really is unprecedented in this sense, but the synthetic opioids including fentanyl, meaning those made in a lab, are so easy and cheap to make that (traffickers) are making counterfeit pills that look like regular medications. You may have folks who are seeking opiates for whatever reason, but you have folks who are not looking for opiates and they are getting them anyway because the pills are fake. That is why anyone could be at risk. We talk about overdoses, but with fentanyl we also talk about poisonings. You cant say a person is overdosing on something if they dont know what they are taking. That is the scary part for someone who not only is a medical doctor but lives in the community and has family. People will make mistakes when their judgment is not good, and unfortunately this drug has lethal consequences. Q: Are businesses impacted in terms of people using opioids and stealing in order to buy drugs? A: I would say that isnt new for fentanyl use. But its the classic story of people who are trying to feed an addiction may resort to criminal activity, sure. Q: Where specifically is fentanyl use happening in Modesto? In San Francisco, the Tenderloin district has those images of addicted people on the sidewalks. Philadelphia has the Kensington neighborhood. A: We are still trying to get all of our local law enforcement agencies to report for the OD Map program, showing where overdoses are happening. Mora said the 95354 ZIP code in southeast Modesto has been identified for a high incidence of overdoses, but part of that is the denser population in the area. He said reports on 911 responses tend to show fentanyl use in Modestos downtown and the McHenry Avenue corridor. But its not as visible as in large cities and many overdoses have occurred at private parties and in homes. Coalition tries to reduce fentanyls threat Q. What is your role with the county opioid safety coalition and what is that group trying to do to address the fentanyl crisis? A: I am one of the facilitators of the meetings and part of the executive leadership of the coalition, which is a partnership of county behavioral health and public health. We dont lead the coalition so much as we try to guide it. We have resources to bring folks together and help educate each other, to help people network to find strategies that work. We are just trying to learn from each other. There is a (fentanyl) education component and, hopefully in the near future, there will be more action. Clearly some action needs to happen because the incidence of death continues to increase. Mora cited 2022-23 data on a rising tide of overdose deaths in the United States. The 111,355 fatal overdoses in the 12 months ending in April were a 2% increase over the period ending in April 2022. The 77,415 deaths nationwide from synthetic opioids including fentanyl were a 5% increase, while fatal cocaine ODs were up more than 10%. The opioid safety coalition has held or supported town hall meetings around the county to warn residents about fentanyls lethality only 2 or 3 milligrams can be fatal. The coalition has also promoted harm reduction and prevention activities, while distributing overdose-reversing naloxone and fentanyl test strips. Q: Are you getting results? A: These efforts are part of the strategy to minimize the impacts, but as I said, when you look at the stark numbers, the trend is still increasing, so that tells us we will continue the education and efforts to reduce stigma. But something has to be added, whether its more access to services and more treatment. There are barriers because folks in the community may have outdated ideas about what substance use treatment is like, or they may not be open to it. There needs to be more of that education piece, so that when they get to the point of realizing I need to change, there are services available to help them. The strategy for combating the crisis Q: What is the overall strategy for combating the fentanyl crisis in Stanislaus County? A: We are primarily trying to provide or urge groups in the community to provide access to more kinds of (drug) treatment and continue that education. The Aegis medication-assisted treatment centers expanded and BHRS has its own medication-assisted treatment at the Stanislaus Recovery Center campus. Over the last couple of years, the emergency departments at hospitals have started to provide what they call the bridge program. They have substance use navigators in their ERs. They will reach out and help people (who suffered an overdose or poisoning) to link them with (addiction) treatment services. Q: Is the county formally part of the Bridge Program in California? The state program tries to convince hospitals to treat substance use disorder as a life-threatening condition and start suboxone treatment in the hospital for overdose patients who may be frequent visitors. A: Yes. Some hospitals have committed to it and some hospitals are not sure. We continue to talk to hospitals trying to get them to commit. There are other pieces of the (county) strategy. One of the risky scenarios is when folks have been incarcerated, they are forced to be abstinent (from drug use). But then they leave jail and without some support and without education, if they go back to using the same dose, there is a big risk they will overdose. That increases the chance they will die of an overdose because their tolerance, which maybe was high before, is now low. They could die if they resume the same dose. The county is trying to improve on education and connections to substance use treatment for those leaving incarceration, Mora said. County BHRS has in the planning stages an integrated care center where anyone, regardless of insurance, will be able to start drug treatment, he noted. How to reach the drug culture Q: What else needs to be done to get a handle on the fentanyl epidemic and reach people were not reaching now, those in disadvantaged communities, people in the drug culture, the homeless? A: We can build on current strategies. There is outreach like the (Community Health and Assistance Team). We can piggyback on their efforts and try to help them make sure to add substance use treatment and provide them with resources like referrals. We believe stigma may be lessening a little bit, but it still exists. People have the attitude that those being poisoned by this drug are doing it to themselves. Sometimes, folks are victims of circumstances. We know there are neurochemical changes in the brain (tied to) substance use, and when you talk to people at first they may not seem motivated to enter treatment. But maybe we need to work with them for awhile. If someone is willing to start treatment, that will help them to be engaged and continue to get better. It does take time and manpower (to work with hard-to-reach communities). It takes time to figure out the best way to do that. Q: Do we need more drug treatment services? A: I would say yes. Its not just a need in Stanislaus County. I dont think in any place in the country people would say, OK, we are good, when there is a rising tide of overdose and poisoning deaths and people are suffering. Q: How did the fentanyl problem grow out of the opioids crisis? A: What I said in the beginning. People figured out a cheap way to make it. My understanding is it does not require exotic chemicals. Just really cheap ingredients. An old story goes around that drug dealers used to not be interested in having their clients die on them. They are their customers. Clearly, the folks making synthetic opioids dont care about that anymore. Premature babies are prepared for transport to Egypt after they were evacuated from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to a hospital in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair) Twenty-eight babies who were born prematurely in Gaza City's besieged Shifa Hospital have been transported to Egypt, where their parents and healthcare workers hope they can receive the treatment they need to grow. As they waited to be evacuated to Egypt via the crossing at Rafah on Monday, the premature babies were cared for at a hospital in the border city. So tiny, four of the premature infants fit into a crib with room to spare. Their identification cuffs hung loose around their ankles, emphasizing their little limbs. Too fragile to be exposed to their families at large, the babies were bottle-fed by medics and nurses. At last, the opportunity for them to leave arrived and Palestine Red Crescent Society volunteers transported the babies through the hospital four tiny children lined up on a stretcher. The World Health Organization organized the evacuation of 31 babies from Shifa on Sunday. Three were transferred to the Emirates Hospital in Rafah, and are in good health, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Israels army stormed Shifa days ago, saying it had evidence that Hamas militants built a command post beneath the hospital, an allegation that hospital staff and Hamas deny. The hospital ran out of supplies and fuel to run its last generator more than a week ago. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the compound. Washington A panel of three federal appeals court judges on Monday seemed poised to uphold a version of a gag order limiting what former President Donald Trump can say about the 2020 election-related case against him in Washington, D.C., and indicated some aspects of the order could be tailored. At a lengthy hearing, the judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit pushed attorneys for Trump and special counsel Jack Smith to defend their respective positions on the order imposed by District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case. The order, which is not currently in effect, would bar Trump from publicly commenting on individual prosecutors, court staff or potential witnesses tied to the prosecution. Trump has asked the appeals court to overturn or pause the gag order. The special counsel who was present for Monday's hearing had urged Chutkan to impose even broader restrictions on the former president's pretrial speech, alleging his public comments threatened the proper administration of the judicial process and might inspire violence from supporters. Chutkan's order did not go as far as prosecutors had requested and specifically allowed Trump to criticize the case against him and even speak out against the judge herself. Still, Chutkan said she treated the former president like any other defendant by preventing him from publicly speaking out against those who might testify against him at trial, citing both legal and safety concerns. Trump is charged with four federal counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., stemming from his alleged effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and has pleaded not guilty. He did not attend Monday's hearing. Chutkan's order, Trump's attorneys wrote in court filings, was "muzzling President Trump's core political speech during a historic Presidential campaign" and was "viewpoint based," not based on recent threats. But Smith's team has increasingly worked to tie Trump's past public rhetoric to threats of violence, alleging his supporters' reactions to his criticisms could affect the way the trial, currently set for March 2024, proceeds. Trump, the special counsel alleged, is aware that his language might inspire others to act and "seeks to use this well-known dynamic to his advantage." The appeals court hearing At Monday's hourslong hearing, D. John Sauer, an attorney for Trump and the former solicitor general of Missouri, told the appeals court that the gag order is "a filter for core political speech" between the former president and voters during the campaign because there is "near complete overlap between the issues in the political campaign and the issues in the case." "What you have here is a rationale that says this speech might someday inspire some random third party to engage in some action that might result in" threats against witnesses, Sauer contended, arguing the legal standard to restrict speech can't be based on future possibilities. For over an hour, the judicial panel questioned the former president's attorney about the need to balance the First Amendment rights of a political candidate with the protection of fair judicial proceedings. During their questioning, the panel expressed the need to determine a legal standard test that could be applied. "You make very important points about political speech," said Judge Patricia Millett, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama. "But the Supreme Court says there should be a balancing test with protecting the criminal trial process." That balancing act, the judges said Monday, must weigh the interest of a fair, impartial trial and the right to free speech. Sauer argued for a strict "clear and present danger" standard to be applied and said the special counsel had yet to prove there was a clear and immediate danger to the trial or witnesses tied to Trump's speech. "The order is intentionally prophylactic," said Judge Cornelia Pillard, also an Obama appointee. She argued Chutkan's gag order was meant to protect against future conduct, not punish past conduct. The panel indicated that the "clear and present danger" standard was likely too extreme in this case. Millett sparred with Sauer at times over hypothetical situations she posed to challenge Trump's argument, including phone calls to potential witnesses, public statements or posts alluding to their cooperation with prosecutors. Trump's attorney avoided considering certain hypothetical situations for what he said was a lack of context, but he did concede certain scenarios would be likely to require restrictions. Sauer argued that the special counsel's case against Trump has received immense attention from the media and the former president himself, with limited evidence that threats have increased as a result of his own remarks. Millett also questioned whether Trump's language about the prosecution is actually part of his campaign for the White House or is "political speech aimed at derailing or corrupting the criminal justice process." Trump has called Smith "deranged" and weighed in on reports that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows cooperated with the probe. The judges' desire to strike a balance in the order was evident in their questioning of the special counsel's team on Monday. They appeared somewhat skeptical of the gag order's restrictions on speaking out against the special counsel and his team. "We've got to use a careful scalpel here and not step into really skewing the political arena," Millett contended. Prosecutor Cecil VanDevender argued that Trump's language "poses a significant and immediate risk" to the fair administration of justice. "There is a pattern, there is a dynamic that is very clear," he said, arguing there is a "causal link" between Trump's language and threats from the public. Millett took issue with the special counsel's contention that the names of prosecutors should be barred from Trump's public comments. "Why can't the defendant say ABC whoever is the prosecutorial team is biased?" she asked. VanDevender answered that doing so would increase the risk of being targeted. The attorney from the special counsel's office also argued that potential witnesses, including public figures who have spoken out against Trump, should be protected from being targeted because future witnesses who have yet to come forward might also be discouraged from doing so. The appeals court panel appeared concerned about the clarity of Chutkan's gag order and how it would be enforced, parsing language like "liar" after the special counsel's team said it would likely take issue with giving a witness that label. The arguments mirrored those in Trump's civil fraud trial in New York, where a judge issued a gag order barring the former president from targeting members of the judge's staff. Sauer alluded to that case and pointed out that a gag order was paused by a New York appeals court last week. "This is not New York. We are not in New York," Pillard responded emphatically. Trump's motion to stay the gag order received support last week from more than a dozen Republican state attorneys general who echoed his argument that the restrictions on his speech unduly affect voters in primary states. Spearheaded by Iowa's attorney general, the group at least six of whom have endorsed Trump wrote in an amicus brief, "Our citizens have an interest in hearing from major political candidates in that election. The Order threatens the States' interests by infringing on President Trump's free speech rights." Trump has also found an unlikely ally in the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought scores of legal challenges to Trump's policies while he was in office. In the friend-of-the-court brief the ACLU sought to submit to the district court the request to file the brief was ultimately denied the organization said that Chutkan's order is unconstitutionally vague and impermissibly broad. Steven Van Zandt: The 60 Minutes Interview The Chicago sandwich joint that inspired "The Bear" A sweet celebration of pawpaw fruit In a destructive decision against the Voting Rights Act, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday that only the federal government can file lawsuits under the law, excluding private individuals and civil rights organizations. These groups have used the 1965 law for decades to argue that practices like the redrawing of electoral maps and voter ID requirements limit the voices of people of color. In February 2022, a Donald Trump-appointed judge decided that only the U.S. attorney general would have the power to sue, blocking civil rights groups representing Black voters from contesting an Arkansas redistricting case. According to Politico, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said on Monday that the expectation for private right of action for Section 2 of the law, which bans voting policies that racially discriminate, rests on flimsy footing. NPR reported that the court ruled 2-1, with Chief Circuit Judge Lavenski Smith, a Bush appointee, dissenting, saying, Rights so foundational to self-government and citizenship should not depend solely on the discretion or availability of the governments agents for protection. The case may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the Voting Rights Act in a similar Alabama case earlier this year. Read it at Politico Read more at The Daily Beast. A federal appeals court issued a ruling Monday declaring that only the U.S. government, not private citizens and civil rights groups, can sue under the Voting Rights Act, a decision that would deal a major blow to the anti-discriminatory protections included in the landmark law. The ruling, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, said only the U.S. attorney general has the power to introduce legal challenges under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color or language of minority groups. The ruling reaffirmed a 2022 decision by U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky, who was appointed to the bench by former President Trump. Rudofskys ruling last year dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Arkansas Public Policy Panel and Arkansas State Conference NAACP that challenged the states new House districts and sought a preliminary injunction to block them. The appeals court ruling will very likely make it to the Supreme Court, which could set the stage for a major debate over voting rights. In a 2-1 decision, the 8th Circuit ruled the text of the Voting Rights Act does not explicitly call for a private right of action, and that it remains unclear if Section 2 of the act creates an individual right to bring forth such legal challenges. But assuming their existence, and even discussing them, is different from actually deciding that a private right of action exists, Judge David Stras wrote for the majority. The plaintiffs in the suit argued Arkansass redistricting plan, approved by Arkansass GOP-controlled Board of Apportionment, created too few majority Black districts. Under the redistricting plans, the number of majority-Black Districts would decrease by one to 11, and a new majority-Hispanic district would be created. Sophia Lin Lakin, the director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Voting Rights Project, railed against the decision, calling it a travesty for democracy. For generations, private individuals have brought cases under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to protect their right to vote, Lin Lakin, who argued the appeal, said in a statement, adding later, By failing to reverse the district courts radical decision, the Eighth Circuit has put the Voting Rights Act in jeopardy, tossing aside critical protections that voters fought and died for. In his dissenting opinion, Chief Judge Lavenski Smith argued he would follow existing precedents that allow citizens to seek judicial action until the court rules or Congress amends the statute. While that private right has been called into question by two Supreme Court justices the Supreme Court has yet to overrule itself on that precise issue, Smith wrote, later adding, Until the Supreme Court instructs otherwise, I would hold that 2 contains an implied private right of action. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The News Arab and Muslim leaders are turning to China to try and increase pressure on the U.S. and Israel to agree to a formal ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, presenting Beijing with another opportunity to grow its diplomatic influence and presence in a region traditionally dominated by Washington. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, and the Palestinian Authority all key U.S. allies or partners are visiting Beijing Monday and Tuesday. Their goal: to build pressure outside the West to stop Israeli military operations and force renewed efforts to create an independent Palestinian state. We must strive to swiftly resolve this crisis and put an end to the war being waged against Gaza, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Saturday in Bahrain. Earlier this year, Beijing surprised the Biden administration by successfully brokering a normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Efforts by China to support a ceasefire in Gaza, even if largely rhetorical, will be embraced by Mideast and Islamic countries, who have voiced growing opposition to U.S. support for Israels military campaign and accuse the Jewish state of committing war crimes. We will continue to work with all parties toward a cessation of fire, de-escalation of the conflict, humanitarian relief and ultimately, a lasting peace between Palestine and Israel through the two-state solution, Chinas embassy spokesman in Washington, Liu Pengyu, told Semafor on Sunday. Leading countries in the so-called Global South, such as Indonesia, South Africa, and Brazil, are also calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Saudi-led delegation to China is expecting to visit some of these countries later in the week. Jays view Following the Palestinian militant group Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attack on southern Israel, and amid the Jewish states reprisal, the Biden administration has reestablished a major military presence in the Mideast. This includes deploying carrier strike groups to the Mediterranean and Red Seas and new anti-missile defense batteries. But Washingtons full-throated support for Israels campaign risks alienating Washington from many of its closest Arab allies and providing an opening for Chinese diplomacy. The U.S. growing isolation in the region was apparent this weekend when the White Houses Mideast point man, Brett McGurk, joined a conference with Arab leaders in Bahrain. McGurk stressed during the event Israels need to dismantle Hamas military capabilities to guard against future attacks. But he also told the gathering that the Biden administration supported a pause in fighting to evacuate hostages and surge humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip. It was partially the intent of Hamas and others on October 7 to upend a future of stability, integration and peace, McGurk said. And they will not succeed. But Arab diplomats in attendance strongly criticized the U.S. for not pressuring Israel to agree to a complete ceasefire. And they warned Washington not to expect the Arab states to send troops to stabilize the Gaza Strip after the Israeli military offensive ends. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that his military wont remain in Gaza as an occupying force. But hes also belittled the idea of the Palestinian Authority, which oversees the West Bank, taking control, raising uncertainty about Israels exit strategy. There will be no Arab troops going to Gaza. None. We are not going to be seen as the enemy, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, whos part of the Arab delegation set to visit China, said Saturday. Hamas did not create the conflict. The conflict created Hamas. You cannot bomb an idea out of existence. The Arab leaders in Manama also raised the idea of the United Nations effectively imposing a two-state solution on Israel. The U.S. would never accept such a scheme particularly in light of the threats posed by Iranian-backed militias to Israel from all of its borders, American and other Western officials say. But these comments signaled the Arabs frustration with Washingtons support for Israel in the region. As I have said before, there is no lack of initiatives for regional and international peace efforts, said Saudi Prince Turki al Faisal, a former ambassador to Washington. However, what is more needed is working to implement UN Security Council resolutions concerning this issue and to impose their implementation as happened on Iraq and other countries. The View From Beijing China has tilted towards the Palestinians since the Oct. 7 attack. Its largely refrained from even mentioning Hamas in its public statements. And has repeatedly called for Israel to cease its military operations in the Gaza Strip. The struggling Dar Al-Shifa Hospital is an epitome of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Sunday. China calls for an immediate ceasefire and ramping up humanitarian aid to ease the situation on the ground. China has also called for the resumption of long-dormant negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to forge a two-state solution. Chinas special envoy on the Middle East, Zhai Jun, has been touring the region in recent weeks and has stressed the need for the resumption of the Mideast peace process, signaling a larger role for Beijing. Notable China and Russia have discussed jointly working to promote a Mideast peace plan. Yemens Iranian-backed Houthi militia seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Red Sea on Sunday. (Bloomberg) -- Argentinas president-elect, Javier Milei, plans to visit the US and Israel before taking office on Dec. 10., reflecting how he wants to realign the countrys foreign policy priorities. Most Read from Bloomberg The trip has more of a spiritual meaning more than other characteristics, Milei said in a radio interview Monday without providing many specifics. Milei won Argentinas presidential election by a landslide, defeating the incumbent candidate, Economy Minister Sergio Massa, by nearly 12 percentage points, a margin nobody expected. The outsider has repeatedly pledged to deepen relations with the US and Israel, a shift away from the current governments approach to focus more on relations with Brazil and China. Milei will visit Miami and New York before heading to Israel in the coming days. He confirmed he would meet with rabbis on the trip. He added that he discussed the Israel trip with the countrys ambassador to Argentina on Sunday. The trip will be read as backing Israels strategy in Gaza at a time other Latin American leaders have questioned it. Milei has been critical of President Alberto Fernandezs handling of 21 Argentines who were taken hostage by Hamas in October. The youngest captives include a 5-year-old and a 9-month-old baby and they have yet to be freed, according to local news reports. Argentina is home to one of the worlds largest Jewish communities outside Israel. Israel Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen congratulated the president-elect on X, formerly known as Twitter, while extending an invite. We hope to work with you to strengthen relations between Israel and Argentina and deepen the ties between the countries, Cohen wrote in a Spanish post. I invite you to soon visit Israel to continue our dialogue and inaugurate the Argentine Embassy in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. After winning first place in the primary election in August, Milei traveled to Miami to pray and learn about Judaism ahead of Rosh Hashanah. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. A resident in an assisted living facility wrote this note, The night watchman raped me last knight. Please tell the police. The 85-year-old woman collapsed on the bed after Manuel Corral finished with her. When she felt like she could stand, she made her way to the bathroom to shower. It felt like he had assaulted her for hours, she later told police. She knew he was still nearby, in the assisted living facility where she resided. Shed crept after him and seen him in a common room. Corral was a caregiver who worked the overnight shift at Heritage Village's building seven in Mesa. She didn't tell her family until later. There was nothing they could do, she thought. Corral had already violated her. So she scrawled a note on a napkin explaining what had happened and slipped it under a locked door, into a room only accessible to facility staff. And she barricaded her door. The night watchman raped me last knight, the note read. Please tell the police. I keep my door locked now with the chairs and foot stolls in my room blocking the door. Thank you. A resident at an assisted living facility wrote a note to staff about her assault. She was sleeping when he came in, she later told police. She woke when he covered her mouth with his hand so she couldnt holler, she said. Corral was arrested and indicted on rape charges, but ultimately pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted sexual assault. It was an experience no woman ought to have, the resident said during her forensic interview. And I know they do. Im not gonna be the only one it ever happened to. She isnt. Last year, The Arizona Republic requested three years worth of police reports from senior living facilities across Arizona, asking for calls stemming from assaults, domestic violence, fights, sex offenses and abuse. The Republic built a database documenting those incidents, read hundreds of reports, analyzed citation and nursing home data, listened to forensic interviews and spoke to survivors, their family members, caregivers, regulators, police, facility managers and industry experts. What emerged was a clear picture of fractured oversight among state agencies tasked with protecting vulnerable adults in care facilities. One state department conducts facility inspections, another board takes disciplinary actions against managers and yet another entity investigates allegations of abuse. All rely on the other agencies to fill in the gaps where their authority ends. But none wielded that authority to its fullest to prevent further harm or to hold facilities and their managers accountable for the assaults documented by The Republic. The system that informs the public and employers about caregivers and others who have abused vulnerable adults is months sometimes years behind. Facilities sometimes hinder police investigation or forgo looking into allegations in accordance with the rules, quietly kicking out accused residents or firing accused employees. People living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities some of Arizonas most vulnerable residents bear the brunt. Workers at these centers have ended up in harm's way, too. Theres limited data tracking reports of sexual assault at nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and no guarantee that every assault is reported. Nationally, sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes. More than two out of every three sexual assaults go unreported to police, and among the elderly, that rate is even lower: Only 28% of elderly survivors report to police, according to statistics from the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. In Arizona, Adult Protective Services a program nestled within the states Department of Economic Security is responsible for receiving and investigating allegations of vulnerable adult sexual abuse and assault at care facilities. When allegations are substantiated, the state puts perpetrators on its public-facing registry, where their names remain for 25 years. But Protective Services rarely substantiates anything. Its own staff members have cited concern about the quality of their investigations. When The Republic pressed program spokespeople for a clear answer on the number of sexual assault substantiations Protective Services has made over the past couple of years, they provided three different figures within a three-day period. The programs own dashboard does not accurately reflect the figures provided to a reporter. Between October of 2021 when the program first put sexual abuse and sexual assault reports in their own category on its public dashboard and this October, the agency opened investigations into more than 1,600 allegations of sexual abuse and assault. During the same period, it substantiated less than 1% of that number. Facility didn't provide details of assault to police, family Larry met the woman who would become his wife when he was 25. She was petite though she always wore shoes with little lifts, to make her seem taller had short brown hair, a talent for cooking and a laugh that still makes Larry smile. She was my whole life, really, he said. When his wife started showing signs of Alzheimers disease asking the same questions over and over, growing restless at night Larry devoted himself to ensuring she was cared for, first at their home and later at Scottsdales Amber Creek Inn Memory Care, where she moved in early 2020. He visited her daily, and when the COVID-19 pandemic barred him from the facility he stood outside, masked, talking to her through a window screen. Larry moved her to Scottsdale's Lone Mountain Memory Care in April 2021 after a few nasty falls at Amber Creek, one of which broke a bone in her pelvis. By the time she moved to Lone Mountain, his wifes speech had trickled to mumbles and hums of agreement or dissent, with the occasional firm No! that told Larry she was upset. A caregiver and medication technician who worked at Lone Mountain between August 2022 and June of this year said he felt like Lone Mountain's management fostered a culture of silence. Her bone had mended, but her mobility hadnt come back. She used a wheelchair and needed help with daily rituals like bathing, toileting and eating. She was still in there, though, the woman he knew. He saw it in the eyes that still flared with recognition when they beheld him; in the arms that still reached for him, decades after their wedding day. That tenth of a second, you would think shes back, he said. And then she would fade. At first, things at Lone Mountain seemed OK, Larry said. But then the former police detective started to notice slip-ups that made him suspicious: A cigarette butt on the floor of his wifes private room. She didnt smoke. Her carelessly cluttered bathroom counter. He was paying for her to be treated the way hed treat her. The sloppiness upset him, he said. His daily visits to the facility left him uneasy about the state of its staffing the constant turnover, the lack of staff where it seemed like staff should be. It all began to grate. Larry did everything he could to make sure his wife was comfortable: he bought her seat pads, her disposable undergarments, her bed. At the facility directors suggestion, he even bought his wife a dark red recliner so she could rest comfortably in the facility's living room. She was sitting in that recliner when a male resident with dementia came up beside her, put his hand under the blanket in her lap and touched her inappropriately. By the time a staff member walked in and saw them, it was too late. The employee told police hed left the room for a few minutes to get drinks no other staff were in the room watching and when he returned, the male resident had a "sexualized" look on his face while his hand moved in the woman's lap. The employee found the whole scene "disturbing," he told Scottsdale police detective Evelyn Ivanoff, because she was just helpless and laying there. Larry felt anger rise in his throat when Kyla Parker, then Lone Mountains manager, called about the incident. She kept the details vague: Larrys wife was fondled by a male resident, Parker told him. He jumped into his car and tore off to the facility, his mind racing: Why did this happen? Where was the caregiver who shouldve been watching her? The one who should have prevented this? He pulled up to Lone Mountain, slid out of his seat and charged through the facility's doors. His beloved was the first person he saw. Parker was the second. He asked for details about the resident who had assaulted his wife. She wouldnt provide them. He insisted that the man who had touched his wife whomever he may be leave the facility. Immediately. Parker said theyd have him out within 24 hours. They did. But Lone Mountain used that action to justify why they werent providing the detective information, Ivanoff said in an interview with The Republic. The man, the facility told her, was no longer a resident, no longer their responsibility; they didnt know where he went. The detective would need a warrant to obtain any documents she sought, they said. At first, things at Scottsdale's Lone Mountain Memory Care seemed OK for one resident. But then her husband noticed worrying signs. It took a few hours and a call to the facility manager's supervisor to get the mans name when the detective asked for it. A month after the incident, Parker told the detective she would share a copy of the facility's internal investigation paperwork with her after she brought them a warrant. But the detective never received that paperwork. An employee later told an Arizona Department of Health Services surveyor that they were unable to locate any documentation of an incident investigation. Ultimately, it took the detective six months and the search warrant to locate and speak to the man who groped Larrys wife. More than a year later, Larry is still finding out what really happened that day. Even without knowing the details, though, he knew he wanted the state to hold Lone Mountain accountable for his wifes assault. At his behest, the police detective called the Health Department to tell them about her investigation at Lone Mountain. The department looked into it and cited the facility last November for failing to document its investigation into the incident and report it to Adult Protective Services or the police, the way facility employees are supposed to under Arizona law. Larry had to call the police. That citation marked the end of it. The Health Department levied no fine. Lone Mountain came out of the investigation with a requirement to submit a plan of correction to the state. In that plan, Lone Mountain management stated that the facility's executive director would review incident reports during morning meetings to ensure any suspected abuse was investigated and the "suspected of abuse policy" was followed. "It was unacceptable," Larry said. "They got off with a slap on the wrist. The facility directed The Republic to Spectrum Retirement Communities the company that operates Lone Mountain and seven other Arizona facilities, according to its website for comment. Spectrum did not respond to multiple emails from a reporter. Keith Stock, who worked for Lone Mountain as a caregiver and medication technician between August 2022 and June of this year, said he felt like Lone Mountain's management fostered a culture of silence. They are trying to protect themselves at all costs, Stock said, Regardless of whats going on with the people that are under the roof. Lone Mountain was understaffed during his time there, Stock said, and management and caregivers alike saw near-constant turnover. The ratio in the daytime would be one care staff to every 17 residents. And I tell you, on average, I would work 70-plus hours in one week. They were that short-staffed, he said. Arizona has no minimum staff-to-resident ratio for assisted living facilities, but some other states do. Nevada requires one staff member for every six residents during waking hours in residential facilities licensed to care for people with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia. Adequately staffing facilities with well-trained employees and a qualified, experienced manager who can ensure policies upholding a professional standard of care are implemented is a critical part of preventing resident-on-resident sexual assault, said Eilon Caspi, a researcher at the University of Connecticut with a doctorate in gerontology. Having social workers on staff is especially crucial, Caspi said, because they can consistently evaluate whether a resident with a progressive cognitive disease like Alzheimers or dementia is capable of consenting to sexual contact. In Arizona, theres no requirement for assisted living facilities to have a social worker on staff. Facilities arent required to have nurses or nursing assistants on staff, either. Not having a social worker in an assisted living residence is a recipe for neglect and extensive violations of residents rights, Caspi wrote in an email. States not having laws requiring having nurse aides and nurses on staff in sufficient numbers at all times in assisted living residences caring for a vulnerable and frail population is a crime. When The Republic asked Jennifer Awinda, who has managed several Arizona assisted living facilities, how assisted living centers could prevent resident-on-resident sexual assault, she said she didnt know what she could do other than tell residents to lock their doors. If we had more people with more eyes on (residents), then yes, we could prevent a lot of this stuff, Awinda said. But if youve got two people or even just one person a lot of times working in a dementia unit, and youve got 20 people or 30 people, that one or two people is not going to be able to do much. I know they dont care Arizonas piecemeal regulatory system can allow facilities and their managers to avoid consequences when residents are sexually assaulted even when they created the conditions for that assault to occur. Gaps are especially glaring at assisted living facilities. Three state entities are supposed to keep an eye on them, license their managers, enforce rules governing their operations and handle complaints that crop up: the Department of Health Services, Adult Protective Services, and the board that licenses facility managers (the Board of Nursing Care Institution Administrators and Assisted Living Facility Managers). All rely on sharing information to fulfill their roles, but are separate from one another. The Health Department has the authority to cite assisted living facilities if their managers fail to ensure a resident is "not subjected to" abuse. But the agency relies upon Adult Protective Services and law enforcement to decide whether abuse occurred, a department official said. Adult Protective Services investigates individual incidents of abuse within facilities, but its jurisdiction doesn't extend to looking at whether a facility broke the rules that govern them in relation to those incidents. Most of the time, the Health Department must cite and penalize a facility before the board that licenses their managers learns of issues and opens a complaint investigation. The multi-entity system worked in Arizona before but it has stopped functioning, due in part to staffing trouble and failures in agency leadership, former Health Department director Will Humble said. "What we have in this system is three points of failure," Humble said. "And because all three have failed, this whole system has failed." The problem has gained some attention: Officials who review regulations in Arizona have questioned the oversight systems effectiveness. I find that from all of the boards that weve talked to so far, that everybodys pointing to somebody else. Nobody wants to accept responsibility for the gaps that I see in whats going on, Frank Thorwald, a member of the governors regulatory review board, said during an October meeting. If these rules are so effective and so concise, and everybody is working together, why are we having problems? Though assisted living facilities are licensed and inspected by the Health Department, they don't have to report allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation to the agency, unlike nursing homes. Instead, state law and Arizona administrative code require assisted living employees to call Adult Protective Services or law enforcement about sexual assault and other forms of abuse or neglect. On the face of it, the fragmentation seems as though it limits rather than increases the states ability to effectively oversee residents care in the assisted living sector, Caspi wrote in an email. Arizona law charges the Health Department with surveying assisted living facilities annually, with one big caveat: If a facility has no violations in one year, investigators cant return for another survey until two years have passed, unless a complaint triggers an investigation. In the meantime, the state only requires facilities to keep documentation of assault allegations and internal inquiries into them on file for a year. But even that doesnt always happen. Facilities licensed to serve residents who need the most help were cited at least 19 times over the past three years for failing to document, investigate or maintain documentation for any allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation, according to citation data collected and analyzed by The Republic. Providers are acutely aware that if they document adequately, this might be used against them in court or even by state survey agencies with citations and sanctions, etc., Caspi said. So theres a lack of incentive to document. Many facilities that Ivanoff, the Scottsdale police detective, has responded to recently couldnt provide her any documentation of internal inquiries about the incidents she was investigating. Instead, they told her the process was conducted verbally, she said. Ultimately, unless an employee or family member files a complaint with the department to trigger an investigation, theres a good chance the Health Department wont find out about incidents at assisted living facilities, Awinda said. More frequent surveys make the department a more efficient regulatory body and benefit facility residents and employees alike, a department official said, and they have worked to focus resources on conducting inspections on time and investigating complaints. But during her 17 years working in the senior living industry, Awinda has seen state surveyors fail to cite facilities for all manner of infractions, from bedbug infestations to incidents of abuse and neglect, she said. She recently submitted her 30-day notice of resignation to her supervisors at Beehive Homes of Gilbert, the facility she managed for the last year and a half or so. Disillusioned with the senior living industry and the regulators who oversee it, shes not planning on managing a facility again, she said. I dont know how bad the staffing is at DHS, but I know they dont care, Awinda said. 'I don't ever want to go back to a nursing home again' Management at some facilities has allowed staff and residents previously accused of sexual assault to continue having access to other residents, endangering the people entrusted to their care. Employees are sometimes victimized, too like the nurse who was working at Mesas Desert Blossom Health & Rehabilitation when a resident assaulted her. The job was tough from the day she started in June 2021. The nursing home was constantly understaffed and supplies were always running low, she said. The Arizona Republic does not generally name victims of sexual assault. Desert Blossom fell short of recommended minimum registered nurse and certified nursing aide staffing standards in 2021, a Republic analysis of day-by-day nursing home staffing data found. I'd literally be sick in the morning before I go to work, the nurse said. Because I didnt know if I had any CNAs that day, I didnt know what I was walking into every morning. Desert Blossom fell short of recommended minimum registered nurse and CNA staffing standards in 2021, a Republic analysis of day-by-day nursing home staffing data found. Two years ago, on Christmas Eve, she walked into Bernard Bartons room. She went in alone: She saw no green cares-in-pairs sticker on Bartons nameplate, she said. Those stickers let employees know if they need to enter in pairs because a resident could hurt them, or has a history of accusing staff members of assault, the nurse said. But she saw no sticker, even though Desert Blossom management knew Bartons history. It was the first thing his family told the nursing home when they were looking for a placement, his daughter said: Barton had attacked someone before. He was on supervised release, according to a police report. A few months earlier, he'd been convicted of sexually assaulting a nurse who came to his home for a welfare check in 2019. Hed seized that nurse by the back of her head and kissed her, forcing his tongue into her mouth. He forced her to her knees and trapped her while she packed her medical equipment, groping her chest. He put his hands under her pants and inside her body. She struggled with him, trying to keep her pants elastic band around her waist. She asked him to stop. The nurse at Desert Blossom went to care for him with no knowledge of his history. She had leaned in to tell him something when he seized the back of her head and pulled her toward him, holding her down. He forced a kiss, groping her chest as she screamed and tried to push out of his grip. She doesnt know how she disentangled herself, how she got out of the room. She just remembers sprinting to find the first staff member she could. She wanted to go home, but couldn't. The facility was too short-staffed. She worked the rest of the day in a daze, her mind whirling. The facility administrator seemed concerned for her, she said. He called law enforcement. When the police arrived, the nurse told them she wanted to press charges. Their response? The cop was kind of just like, Well, you know hes old, hes in a nursing home, nothing ever really gets done about it, the nurse told The Republic. Theres really no point in pressing charges because nothings gonna happen, basically, is what he told me. She felt like there was nothing she could do. She went part-time at Desert Blossom the month of her assault, shaving down her working hours until she was only there one day a month. Barton was promptly removed from the facility, the nurse said. But for her, it was too little, too late. She works at an all-womens clinic now, after a stint in a dental office where she pondered whether she wanted to be a nurse any longer. She doesnt want to work with male patients. For a long time, I didnt even want to be intimate with my partner or him touch me because I just kept feeling that guy every time it would happen, she said, a tremor in her voice. I dont ever want to go back to a nursing home again. Desert Blossom refused to provide The Republic with contact information for the manager when a reporter called. Management did not respond to multiple emails from The Republic. Heritage Village received 148 state citations over the past three years, 2.5 times more than any other assisted living center licensed to serve residents who need the most help and supervision. When The Republic reached out to Barry Port, chief executive of the Ensign Group the holding company that indirectly owns Desert Blossom he told a reporter that the facility is operated by its own employees and leadership. That leadership is the best source of information about what's happening at the nursing home, he said. "It is clear to me that neither you nor The Arizona Republic (at least over the past several years) have an open or friendly view of the skilled nursing industry," Port wrote in an email. "In light of that, it is possible that the facility leadership may not be interested in engaging with the media." The state Health Department has no record of someone reporting the nurses assault, a department spokesperson wrote in an email, and the agency doesnt have the jurisdiction to investigate resident-on-staff assaults. The rules governing nursing home and assisted living facility operations focus on resident care, resident rights and resident protection. But the Health Department the entity in charge of enforcing those rules doesnt always levy consequences for breaking them. Police took a call from Immanuel Campus of Care in Peoria in February 2022 when a resident there said she was sexually assaulted by a male resident after a smoke break. The nursing homes then-director of clinical services, Susan McCarthy-Robinson now its administrator told police the man had a history of being handsy but was always honest about it when he is questioned. The woman didnt remember some details of her alleged assault or which staff member shed told afterward, McCarthy-Robinson told an officer, and the man denied doing anything to her. Both residents lived in the facilitys "mental health ward," the officer wrote. Police closed the case; the incident report doesnt document conversations with either resident, or a police officer going onsite. Three months later, police were called to the facility again: The same male resident was accused of sexually assaulting another woman. This time, the report documents a witness, signed and dated statements and a police officer on scene. The woman was distraught, the officer noted. I felt uncomfortable to the point I didnt feel like a woman, she wrote in her statement. Staff told police theyd separated the man from the woman, placing him in another unit at the facility after she told them she was assaulted. Police submitted a charge of sexual abuse against the man to the county prosecutor. The county moved forward with the case, taking the resident to court, but ultimately asked a judge to dismiss the charge against him. The judge did. In a statement emailed to the Republic, McCarthy-Robinson noted that staff members weren't involved in any resident-on-resident sexual assault allegations. A facility executive followed up with The Republic and asked a reporter to "quit reaching out" to the facility and its administrator. Nursing homes are required to report alleged sexual assault to the state Health Department, and Immanuel Campus of Care complied with that requirement, self-reporting both allegations to the agency. But the department didnt cite the nursing home or conduct an on-site investigation for either report, instead reviewing them and closing them out, a department spokesperson said in an email. Due to the nature of the crime that was committed, it was determined that the incident would be handled by law enforcement as a criminal event, spokesperson Siman Qaasim wrote. However, we have made substantial changes to our investigation processes since these incidents occurred last year. We would likely initiate an onsite investigation if a similar complaint or self report was submitted today, Qaasim wrote. A May 2023 report from the Arizona auditor general the latest in a string of reports detailing problems with the Health Department's nursing home complaint investigation process said the department had stopped closing self-reports without going onsite. But it pointed out that the department put off investigating some abuse, neglect and sexual assault allegations for months when they should have acted much sooner. The continued problems may put long-term care facility residents health, safety, and welfare at risk, the report stated. Caregiver accused of physical and sexual assault eludes system One of the incidents that most illustrates the senior care regulatory systems shortcomings happened at the troubled Heritage Village assisted living center in Mesa. It likely was preventable: State agencies, police and facilities all failed to stop a man accused of physically and sexually abusing vulnerable adults from working at facility after facility. On Valentines Day night in 2020 a Friday, not long before the COVID-19 pandemic was announced the nighttime caregiver, Corral, woke the sleeping resident by putting his hand over her mouth. He touched her breasts and genitals before rolling her over and vaginally and anally raping her, she told a forensic interviewer. He forced his penis in her mouth, she told the interviewer. She felt like she couldnt breathe. She mostly kept her eyes closed while she was assaulted. Corrals attack left the woman with vaginal and anal contusions, abrasions and redness, swelling and tenderness. It left her feeling unsafe in a place that was supposed to protect her. It left her scratching herself from anxiety, putting new wounds on her cheeks. She piled all the furniture she could move in front of her bedroom door and wrote that note the one scrawled on a napkin, telling staff what had happened to her. She later told her son nobody would see it until the following Monday. An investigation by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com revealed how Heritage Village Assisted Living in Mesa, Arizona, continued to make mistakes that endangered residents after a woman with dementia killed her roommate there more than three years ago. This wasnt the first time a resident had accused Corral of misconduct. Not the first time at Heritage Village, not the first time in general. But it was the first time allegations against him resulted in consequences that would bar him from care facilities. Eight years earlier, in February 2012, Corral was a caregiver at Heritage Lane Behavioral Assisted Living in Mesa. There, a resident said hed sexually assaulted her over two nights while she was in bed, forcing her to perform oral sex on him. At first, the resident told police she didnt want to press charges because it had happened before and nobody had cared. Even when she changed her mind, it still seemed like nobody did: Corral denied the accusation during his police interview, a swab of the residents mouth revealed no sperm, and the investigation was inactivated. He admitted to putting his penis in the residents mouth when police investigated him for the incident at Heritage Village. Corral was suspended from Heritage Lane and later terminated, according to a statement provided by Reed Gunnell, Heritage Lanes executive director. Adult Protective Services was absolutely notified about the assault allegations at Heritage Lane, Gunnell said. But Corral wasnt added to the agencys registry of abusers then, and officials would not confirm or deny an investigation into him. By the time police interviewed him, he was working as a caregiver at a different facility. Arizona law requires facility owners to make documented, good-faith efforts to contact a potential caregivers previous employers to help determine if theyre fit for a position in a residential care facility or nursing home. A transportation bus for Heritage Village Assisted Living outside of the Mesa facility. The state Health Department enforces this law, a spokesperson said. It has cited facilities licensed to serve residents who need the most help for failing to call a staff members previous employers five times over the past three years, a Republic analysis found. To his knowledge, Gunnell said, no employers ever contacted Heritage Lane about Corrals work there. And so Corral remained a caregiver in the system, moving from facility to facility. Roughly two years after Corrals suspension at Heritage Lane, Mesa police responded to two calls about Copper Village Assisted Living, now Whitestone Senior Living after a change in ownership this summer. Corral was accused of physically abusing two male residents. Caregivers said they put one of them to bed with no injuries. When the morning shift arrived, the man had a dislocated shoulder, abrasions, bruising that matched the size and shape of the water cups provided to residents, and marks on his throat that suggested someone had grabbed it. One of Corrals colleagues told police Corral was aggressive with everyone. Another said he was always annoyed with residents if they were up at night. Corral, the only caregiver on duty that night, implied the man had fallen. The second resident said Corral had swore at him and smothered his face with a pillow. He told police Corral went into the bedroom of the woman who lived across the hall from him and shut the door. Copper Village told Corral not to come to work pending the investigation into the first residents injuries, and the second residents partner called Adult Protective Services to report his allegations, the police reports state. But Corrals name still didnt appear on the agencys registry, and theres no way for facility hiring managers to find out whether the program is investigating someone. So when police interviewed Corral about the incidents a month after the second Copper Village call, hed once again moved jobs. He was working at Arbor Rose Senior Care. The assisted living facility hadnt asked him why he was no longer working at Copper Village, he told Mesa police, and he hadnt volunteered the information. He said he didnt report any suspensions or firings on the application for his new job. By the time Heritage Village hired Corral, hed been fired from at least one assisted living facility and suspended from another. Three police reports detailed allegations of physical and sexual assault against him, and he was reported to Adult Protective Services at least twice. Heritage Village issued a statement in 2020, after the assault, saying, "We are deeply saddened regarding the incident of assault at our community. We are working in full cooperation with law enforcement and all governing agencies, and making every effort to restore comfort and peace of mind to our residents, families and staff." When Corral was hired, all necessary background checks were done and found clean, the statement said. Neither Courtney Thomas, who managed Heritage Village when Corral assaulted the resident, nor Wendy Mauch-Kenyon the manager before Thomas took responsibility for his hiring. Both women said the other hired Corral. SAL management group the company that operated Heritage Village at the time has not responded to The Republics request for comment. Four months after the assault, the board that licenses and disciplines facility managers voted not to open an investigation into Heritage Villages manager. Neither Thomas nor Mauch-Kenyon faced disciplinary action in connection with the incident. A Heritage Village employee told an officer that Corral had no other problems on file at the facility. But a complaint submitted to the state Health Department reveals residents had raised concern about Corrals behavior before: About a month before the assault, Corral was accused of inappropriately touching a residents private parts while changing their briefs. And several months before that, a resident told a caregiver that they were inappropriately touched by Corral. The caregiver marked the allegation as a hallucination and filed it into the residents chart instead of reporting it up to facility administrators, according to a citation. Arizona far below national average on confirming problems Adult Protective Services website states that the purpose of its registry is to prevent the victimization of vulnerable adults by someone whos done it before. But Corral didnt appear on that registry until nearly a year after his arrest on sexual assault charges in 2020. Emiliano Fausto and Akram Kareem Al Naayli two of the people added to the registry for sexual abuse or assault this year as of September perpetrated the incidents that led to their addition five months before showing up on the list and more than a year before showing up on the list, respectively. More than half the people on the registry were added by the agency a year or more after they abused, neglected or exploited a vulnerable adult, a Republic analysis found. Substantiating claims is a lengthy process involving layers of bureaucracy that extend outside of Adult Protective Services: When the program proposes an allegation for substantiation, it is reviewed by the Attorney Generals Office. Alleged perpetrators are offered the opportunity for a hearing, handled by the Office of Administrative Hearing. If they choose to move forward with an appeal, then when the hearing is over the Department of Economic Security director makes the final decision on whether to place the person's name on the registry. Adult Protective Services has placed 11 people on the registry under the sexual abuse and assault category over the past two years. Five of those people were added in roughly the past month after months of questions from The Republic and a state audit criticizing the program for its low substantiation rate. When a reporter asked why the program's registry doesn't match the data initially provided, a spokesperson said some substantiated allegations "should have been retroactively adjusted" to be categorized as sexual assault. A few substantiations under the program's "abuse" category can be categorized as sexual assault, the spokesperson said. The program has additionally verified 46 sexual assault allegations since October 2021, according to department spokesperson Tasya Peterson. Protective Services "verifies" allegations of sexual abuse when the evidence points to an assault having occurred, but the agency is unable to identify who did it or if the person accused is a vulnerable adult themselves. The number of sexual abuse and assault allegations substantiated compared with those investigated reflects the many steps in the investigation process, Peterson wrote. Vulnerable adults might be unable to assist in investigations due to the nature of their physical or cognitive impairment," she wrote. Theres a high burden of proof to substantiate allegations, she wrote, because placement on the registry might affect a persons employment opportunities or their ability to provide caregiving services. In late September, an independent watchdog released a critical report detailing gaps in Arizona's system for protecting its vulnerable adults. It pointed out that less than 1% of investigated reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation of all kinds were substantiated by Protective Services over the past three fiscal years a rate far lower than the national average, which was 33% and 29% in 2020 and 2021, respectively, according to the report. I'm really struggling with this number of 1%, said Meaghan Kramer, who represented the Arizona Center for Disability Law on the ad-hoc House Committee on Abuse and Neglect of Vulnerable Adults meeting in November. You guys are all over the state telling people to call the number to report abuse and neglect, and I shudder. Members of the committee seemed disturbed by Adult Protective Services' inability to hold people who abuse, neglect and exploit vulnerable adults accountable. Molly McCarthy, the Department of Economic Security's assistant director for aging and adult services, did not acknowledge that Protective Services has systemic problems during the meeting. She instead repeated a refrain that the agency should not be compared to those in other states. She said the watchdogs findings on substantiation were wrong. Comparing substantiation rates between states is difficult because theres no federal standard, McCarthy said. Arizona Adult Protective Services doesnt count verified cases in its substantiation rate, and widening the agencys definition to add them in would substantially increase that rate, she said. But this isnt the first report to note that Arizona's substantiation rate appears lower than that of other states. A review conducted for the federal Administration for Community Living added verified cases to its count of substantiated allegations in Arizona, but still found the states 2018 rate "substantially lower" than the national average that year. Unless an allegation is substantiated and a person is placed on the registry, its difficult to find out whether they ever were investigated. The agency won't confirm or deny whether it ever has investigated anyone, citing a state law that makes its records confidential. The result is an extreme lack of transparency: The public has little visibility into how the agency handles cases and no way to find out whether an incident was investigated. Transparency is not just a nice word. Its the fundamental basis for accountability, Caspi, the gerontologist and researcher, said. Will anyone listen? Police investigation into the Heritage Village residents claims quickly yielded evidence corroborating her story. In his police interview, Corral admitted to penetrating the woman. She wanted to be with him, he said. Hed gone into her room to watch a movie while he was still on shift and one thing led to another. An officer told Corral he had a hard time believing an 85-year-old woman who Corral cared for would seek him out, and the acts he performed on her left many painful injuries. Manuel had no real response other then to shake his head and look down, the officer wrote. The consequences for Corral began rolling in. He was fired by Heritage Village and arrested on rape charges. He was indicted on eight counts of sexual assault for both his 2012 and 2020 crimes. He pleaded guilty to reduced charges: three counts of attempted sexual assault. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. A May 2023 report from the Arizona auditor general said the health department put off investigating some abuse, neglect and sexual assault allegations for months when they should have acted much sooner. But there were scant consequences for Heritage Village and its management. The Department of Health Services investigated a complaint detailing the assault but its report makes no mention of what happened to the woman. Instead, it cited the facility for an inappropriate touching allegation against Corral, made by another resident months before the sexual assault. That citation was for the managers failure to ensure facility staff had the qualifications, experience, skills and knowledge necessary to ensure the health and safety of a resident. Heritage Village was fined $500, and that was that. In court documents filed after Corral pleaded guilty, the 2020 survivors son said dementia had taken many of his mothers memories, but she still became angry when she recalled Corrals assault. He said he felt Heritage Village didn't look far enough back in Corral's employment history, allowing prior incidents to remain off its radar. He believed it was an injustice, one that would continue perpetuating itself if state agencies and care facilities continue with current hiring practices. It was an injustice that left his mother powerless. I dont remember ever crying and I couldnt holler, she said. I mean, whos going to be listening? Arizona Republic reporter Caitlin McGlade contributed to this report. Reach Sahana Jayaraman at Sahana.Jayaraman@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @SahanaJayaraman. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona senior care centers: Who gets punished for sexual assaults? The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri was built to supply the military, but much of its production now goes to the commercial market. (Emily Rhyne/The New York Times) An agreement between the Army and one of the nations largest ammunition manufacturers is receiving new scrutiny because of a little-known provision allowing a government facility to produce hundreds of millions of rounds for the retail market. Over more than a decade, contracts between the Pentagon and a series of private companies have permitted an Army site, the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, to become one of the worlds largest commercial suppliers of cartridges for AR-15-style guns. Built during World War II near Kansas City, Missouri, to supply the U.S. military, the plant has in recent years directed a majority of its production toward the commercial market, including sales to retailers, law enforcement agencies and foreign governments. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times A New York Times investigation published this month traced rounds from Lake City to a dozen mass shootings and many other crimes across the country since 2012. After the Times article, several members of Congress questioned the benefits of the Armys arrangement with Olin Winchester, the current contractor, and demanded more information from the Army. In a letter to the Army Secretary on Friday, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said that federal subsidies may be artificially increasing the availability of ammunition in the civilian marketplace and contributing to serious violence by private citizens. The letter continued, This raises serious questions about the role the Department of the Army has played in subsidizing the firearms industry and the level of oversight that the department has exercised in supporting the plants operations. Garcia cited the Times reporting, as well as a subsequently published Bloomberg article about Lake City. Another Democratic member of the House, Betty McCollum of Minnesota, also expressed concern about the disturbing use of Lake City ammunition in mass shootings. More questions need to be asked and answered about how this ammunition is being marketed to the American public, she said in a statement. I will be requesting a briefing from the Army on how the contracts are issued at this plant. While the Army has been public about the production of commercial ammunition at Lake City, it has obfuscated the scale, arguing that the information is confidential and can be released only by the contractor. That secrecy has prevented substantive public oversight of the contract. The Army says the arrangement, which requires contractors to maintain the ability to produce around 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition a year, is vital for national security and has saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The Pentagon has invested more than $860 million in improving and maintaining the plant over the past two decades, the Times reported earlier. The Times investigation found that Lake City rounds, which are typically stamped with the plants initials, LC, were used in massacres including at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado; a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas; a high school in Parkland, Florida; and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. They have also turned up in a variety of other criminal investigations, from robberies to the murder of police officers. Authorities have seized the rounds from drug dealers, biker gangs, violent felons and rioters at the U.S. Capitol. This month, Garcia, along with Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, introduced a bill aimed at putting more controls on ammunition sales which are largely unregulated by requiring sellers to obtain a federal license and to conduct background checks on buyers. It would also limit bulk sales of ammunition and prevent so-called straw purchases, in which a buyer with a clean record turns around and sells to someone else. In a statement, Warren criticized the Lake City contract and called for meaningful oversight by Congress. Its unconscionable for the U.S. government to be in the business of making military-grade ammunition to sell to civilians, she said. The revelations have also drawn outrage from gun control advocates and families of shooting victims. Fred Guttenberg, the father of a high school student killed in Parkland, wrote on social media, To learn Lake City Rounds like this were possibly used to kill my daughter & the sale may have been subsidized by the US Govt is hard to comprehend. c.2023 The New York Times Company Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-North Hollywood) said she would run for Congress, entering what could become a crowded race to replace Tony Cardenas as the San Fernando Valley-based 29th District's representative. Cardenas has told The Times he will not run for reelection in 2024 and will endorse Rivas to replace him in Washington. Rivas, 49, said she had tired of the "constant state of dysfunction" the Republican Party has seemed trapped in since the October ouster of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House. Read more: Rep. Tony Cardenas won't seek reelection in 2024, setting up race for San Fernando Valley seat "Our constituents are paying the price," Rivas said in a Saturday phone interview. "Residents of the San Fernando Valley deserve a member of Congress that will focus on their needs, like I have in the state Legislature." If elected, Rivas would be the first Latina to represent the district in Washington. Cardenas in 2012 became the first Latino to represent the area in D.C. Luz is a genuine public servant who has dedicated herself to delivering opportunities for the Valley, Cardenas told The Times. She gets things done, and has always put working families first. I am proud to support Luz for Congress. Rivas, a native to the Valley, joined the state Legislature in 2018, following the resignation of Raul Bocanegra amid reports of sexual harassment. An Assembly investigation ultimately confirmed a number of allegations that The Times first reported months prior. Rivas was, at the time, leading DIY Girls, a nonprofit she founded in 2011 that urges girls to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology. She began inching toward working in government in 2016, when then-Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti named her as a commissioner for public works. Read more: Free from L.A., Eric Garcetti is reinventing himself in India After Bocanegra's resignation, Rivas received a wave of calls from people urging her to replace him, she said. She quickly realized she could continue her advocacy for young girls in science in public office. Luz Rivas is running to replace Tony Cardenas in Congress. Serving in the state Legislature was a way for me to continue my work statewide," she said. "I love being a state legislator. Representing my hometown has been such a great experience. I've liked this more than I ever thought I would." In Sacramento, Rivas chairs the Natural Resources Committee, enabling her to use her extensive background in science to focus on policy that addresses extreme heat, which has been devastating for her community. Rivas has touted securing millions in funding for her district as a state legislator and this legislative cycle, she's the author of 18 bills, 11 of which became law. Running for Congress, she said, is a good next step and an opportunity for her to not only address climate change through federal legislation, but also restore confidence in the lower chamber. "People are losing faith in, you know, what the U.S. House of Representatives can do for us," she said, adding that she is "looking forward to this campaign." "I hope every elected official and community leader will endorse me," she said. Get the best of the Los Angeles Times politics coverage with the Essential Politics newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Auto workers have signed off on a trio of new contracts with Ford, General Motors and Jeep parent company Stellantis, bringing closure to a more than six-week strike that rocked U.S. auto makers and showed a renewed militancy within the industry. The United Auto Workers union announced Monday morning that 64% of members overall voted to ratify the new deals covering a total 150,000 workers. Although the Ford and Stellantis contracts were approved by healthy margins, the GM deal passed narrowly with 55% of workers in favor and 45% opposed, according to a union vote tracker. Shawn Fain, the unions president, said the ratification votes locked in record gains and recouped some of the concessions workers had made in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008. We have turned the tide for the American autoworker, Fain said in a statement Monday. The UAW is back to setting the standard. Now, we take our strike muscle and our fighting spirit to the rest of the industries we represent, and to millions of non-union workers. Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement that the Detroit-based company would be back at full production within a matter of days. Ford workers were called back to their jobs shortly after the union reached a tentative agreement in late October. That deal was soon followed by similar agreements at GM and Stellantis. We are entering one of our biggest-ever new product launch years in the U.S., Farley said. We need to deliver these new vehicles on time and with top quality. Farley added that the company needed to tackle waste in the supply chain. The reality is that this labor agreement added significant cost, and we are going to have to work very hard on productivity and efficiency to become more competitive, he said. Workers picketed outside of the Ford Assembly plant in Chicago in October. Workers picketed outside of the Ford Assembly plant in Chicago in October. Workers first walked off the job on Sept. 15. Rather than strike all facilities at once, the union chose to stop production at select facilities, initially targeting midsize trucks and SUVs. The UAW gradually expanded the strike in an unpredictable manner, eventually hitting factories that produce highly profitable large trucks and SUVs. The deals the union reached include raises of at least 33% over four and a half years when cost-of-living adjustments are factored in. They also significantly cut down the amount of time newer workers must put in before reaching the top rate, from eight years down to three. The union also won an agreement from Stellantis to reopen its shuttered plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and a commitment from GM to include battery-plant workers under its national union contract. Those workers are part of a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution. In spite of what Fain described as record contract wins, a large share of GM workers ended up opposing the deal. The Wall Street Journal reported that many workers were dissatisfied with the provisions related to retirement benefits. The Big Three strike was one of the most notable in a wave of big work stoppages to hit U.S. employers recently, including in health care, hospitality and Hollywood. As HuffPost reported last month, more U.S. workers are going on strike now than have in years. Roughly 468,000 workers had taken part in strikes this year as of Oct. 11, compared with 126,800 over the same period last year, according to the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. From the The Morning Dispatch on The Dispatch Happy Monday, and happy birthday to President Joe Biden, who turns 81 today and breaks his own record, as he does every day, for oldest president in U.S. history. We hope its a double-ice-cream-scoop day. Quick Hits: Todays Top Stories What Makes a Stalemate? Artillerymen Mortar gunners of the First Presidential National Guard Brigade of Ukraine BUREVIY (Storm) during a practical exercise at a training ground in northern Ukraine on November 8, 2023. (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Last week, the Ukrainian military released footage of fighting around the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. The now-leveled area had been the site of one of the few Russian military successes in the spring, largely due to the efforts of mercenary Wagner forces that have more or less been disbanded. The roughly minute-long video clip showed Ukrainian soldiers in full tactical gear, moving across a burned-out landscape as machine gun fire interrupted the bright, clear day. A tree stripped of its branches smoldered from the inside, and the ground was covered in ash and cratersa literal no mans land between Ukrainian positions and abandoned Russian trenches. A handful of Ukrainian soldiers dove into a trench. Later during the video (several jump cuts make it difficult to tell how much time has passed) a mortar exploded ahead of them. Its a small slice of the kind of fighting thats been happening almost every day since Russias invasion in February 2022. Ukraines summer counteroffensive did not achieve the significant, desired progress into Russian-occupied territory, but also wasnt without its modest Ukrainian successes. Military analysts and Ukrainian officials have been careful about labeling the conflict a stalemate, but theres almost no question the war will be longbringing to the fore questions about the durability of Western support. As winter closes in, Ukrainian offensives will continue under the threat of significant Russian aerial attacks on civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian forces launched their counteroffensive in June against Russias so-called Surovikin line, a three-tiered network of trenches and booby traps extending some 900 miles and named for Russian general Sergey Surovikin. Breaching this line and recapturing territory all the way to the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine was an original objective of the counteroffensiveplowing a corridor through Russian-occupied territory would sever Moscows supply lines to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia has occupied since 2014. But progress toward that goal has been scant, in part because of the significant fortifications the Russian army built in the winter and spring. The invading Russian forces werent sitting on their hands as Ukraine was preparing for the counteroffensive, Bradley Bowman, director of the center on military and political power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told TMD. They were laying minefields. They have the means to lay minefields much, much faster than Ukraine can work their way through them. They were digging trenches. They were building fortifications. The war zone, he added, evoked a significant historical callback: You can almost think of it as World War I with drones. (For additional context on how drones are shaping the conflict in Ukraine, be sure to read Bennett Murrays recent piece for The Dispatch reported from the trenches in Donetsk.) Kyiv has made perhaps its most significant gains in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southeastern Ukraine, according to open source geospatial intelligence mapped by the Institute for the Study of War (see an interactive map of the battlefield here). Directly south of the town of Orikhiv, Ukrainian forces have retaken less than 10 miles of territory from the Russians as they work toward the logistical hub in the village of Tokmakstill roughly 15 miles from their current position. Ukrainian forces managed to break through the first line of Russian defenses in the area, encountering ceaseless drone attacks and dense minefields in the battle for the tiny hamlet of Robotyne. Without the mines, we would already be in Tokmak, one Ukrainian soldier told CNN in September. Ukrainian forces are still around 50 miles from the Sea of Azov. (Map via the Institute for Study of War and the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project) The area around the town of Bakhmutaffectionately dubbed a meat grinder by the late head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhinin eastern Ukraine is another hotspot for counteroffensive efforts. Ukrainian forces have seemingly retaken roughly five miles of terrain south of the city, as well as some more modest gains to the north of the city. (Map via the Institute for Study of War and the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project) Even if the land offensive hasnt yet yielded significant Ukrainian victories, Kyivs forces have been remarkably successful at repelling Russias Black Sea Fleet, using missile and drone strikes to damage more than a dozen Russian ships since the beginning of the war, according to Ukrainian sources. In April 2022, Kyiv sank the Moskva, the Black Sea fleets flagship cruiseran embarrassing blow to the Russians. More recently, the Ukrainians have used long-range missiles to damage a Kilo-class submarine and a new missile-bearing Russian warship in a shipbuilding yard in Crimea, among other assets. The coup de grace came in mid-September, when Ukrainian forces struck the Russian fleets headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea, forcing the majority of the fleet to retreat from the Ukrainian coast in early October to better-protected ports. Ukraines David-and-Goliath effortoutnumbered 12 to one in the Black Sea by Russian ships at the start of the war and lacking even a single warshipallowed commercial grain ships to dock in the port of Odessa with less fear of Russian harassment, after Moscow effectively reinstated its naval blockade of Ukraine in July when it reneged on the Black Sea grain deal. Taken together, is it apt to call the conflict a stalemate? Its a fraught word, drawing to mind the senselessand often futilebrutality of World War I trench warfare. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraines armed forces, didnt shy away from that image earlier this month, much to his boss chagrin. Just like in the first world war, we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate, he told The Economist. There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pushed back on that idea. Today time has passed and people are tired, but this is not a stalemate, he told reporters at a press conference in early November with European Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen. A top Zelensky aide went even further, saying Zaluzhnyis comments make the aggressors job easier. Though the debate may seem like semantics, specific language could matter as Ukraine fights its battle for hearts and minds in the U.S. and Europe. The scariest thing is that part of the world got used to the war in Ukraine, Zelensky told Time magazine earlier this month. Exhaustion with the war rolls along like a wave. You see it in the United States, in Europe. And we see that as soon as they start to get a little tired, it becomes like a show to them: I cant watch this rerun for the 10th time. Facing the Surovikin line, the Ukrainians are increasingly short on manpower and ammunition, with insufficient resupplies of the latter coming from the West. We have given the Ukrainians just enough [artillery shells] to holdand I would say its even miraculous that theyre holding and taking [territory]but certainly not enough to win, Iulia Joja, the director of the Middle East Institutes Black Sea program, told TMD. Those scant supplies are a problem both of political will and Western supply. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden approved the transfer of controversial cluster munitions in part because the U.S. lacked a sufficient supply of 155mm artillery shells to meet Ukrainian needs. (Ukrainians are firing an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 155mm shells per day.) Last week, European officials confirmed that the EU will not be able to honor its pledge to provide Ukraine with 1 million of the crucial shells by March of next year. Israels war in Gaza may put even more pressure on the Wests limited supply. Zelensky said last week that hes already noticed a difference in the number of 155mm artillery shells being delivered to his war-torn country. Its not like the U.S. said: We dont give Ukraine any. No! he told reporters. Its just that everyone is fighting for [stockpiles] themselves. This is life. Im not saying that this is positive, but this is life, and we have to defend whats ours. Congress is unlikely to approve additional U.S. aid to Ukraine for at least another month, even as the current pot of funding is running out. Ukrainians are preparing for a Russian bombardment akin to last winters attacks on civilian infrastructure, and are in need of additional air defense systems to counter those efforts. The Russians have started once again their terror attacks against the Ukrainian energy grid and other critical infrastructure, Dmitri Alperovitch, founder of Silverado Policy Accelerator, told TMD. Theyve been stockpiling drones and missiles for that very thing. And now that the cold weather is upon us, theyre starting to execute that campaign to try to cause a humanitarian crisis in Ukrainian cities that could be left without power. I think they need both more capabilities and more ammunition for the winter and this will be able to protect their critical infrastructure in their civilian centers to an imperfect extent because its impossible to cover all the territory. We wouldnt have enough to give for that, Joja told TMD. But its better than nothing. Worth Your Time Writing for the New York Times, Eli Saslow profiled Brian Mocks tumultuous relationship with his son A.J. after Brian stormed the Capitol on January 6. Theyd spent almost three years relitigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, trying to make sense of what that day meant for their relationship, for the country and for the future of American democracy, Saslow wrote. Now another divisive presidential election involving Donald Trump was less than a year away, and they were still staring at the same screen and interpreting different realities, each of them coming away with more questions than answers. A.J. searched the video for clues as to how the single father whod been an advocate for the homeless and supported A.J. when he came out as gay had become the man pressed against police barricades alongside Proud Boys and neo-Nazis. Brian studied his sons reactions and tried to understand how the one person he trusted mostwho he had put in charge of his home and his finances when he left that day for Washingtonwas also the person whod turned him in to the F.B.I. Ridley Scotts Napoleon is in theaters this Wednesday, and Adrian Wooldridge took the opportunity to explore one of the historical professions seminal debates. What is the role of great men and women in history? Wooldridge asked in his Bloomberg column. Is history made by unique individuals pursuing their dreams? Or is it the product of vast impersonal forces? This is more than just an idle question. The answer we give shapes the sort of history we teach in schools and universities. It also influences our approach to civic life: The more we emphasize the role of human agency, the more we will be inclined to be active citizens. He tracked how historians and writers like E.H. Carr and Leo Tolstoy have criticized the great man theory of history. The historians made a substantial pointthat individuals dont make history just as they please but do so in the context of established power relations, he wrote. Alexander the Great could not have conquered the known world if his father had not been the most powerful king in Greece. Napoleon would not have been able to seize control of France if a popular revolution had not swept aside the old regime and plunged the country into anarchy. But structural determinism can go too far by emptying history entirely of agency and personality. Presented Without Comment Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A group of nearly two dozen people waving swastika flags and chanting antisemitic rhetoric marched on the Wisconsin state Capitol grounds Saturday afternoon, performing a salute originally used by Nazis at political rallies, often called the Hitler salute. Also Presented Without Comment Former Obama Strategist David Axelrod on the Biden White House: I dont care about them thinking Im a prickthats fine, the strategist told me. I hope they dont think the polls are wrong because theyre not. Toeing the Company Line In the newsletters: The Dispatch Politics crew checked out a DeSantis PACs voter turnout apparatus in Iowa, Haley explored () the push to expel Rep. George Santos from the House, Jonah lamented () the monetization of the truth on social media, Nick weighed in () on anonymous online speech, and Stirewalt wondered () if Nikki Haley can continue her momentum. On the podcasts: Jonah ruminated on Americas very online youth, author Stacey Schiff joined Sarah () on The Dispatch Book Club to talk about her biography of Samuel Adams, and Jamie talked to Maggie Haberman of the New York Times about what a second Trump term would actually look like. On the site over the weekend: Guy Denton reviewed a very disappointing Frasier reboot, Michael Lucchese analyzed the historical and inspirational importance of Russell Kirks The Conservative Mind, and Maria Powell wrote about the plight of people of faith in Gaza. On the site today: Klon Kitchen describes how Sam Altmans ouster at (and potential return to) OpenAI reflects the ongoing debate about speed vs. safety in developing artificial general intelligence, and Kevin Carroll argues deploying the National Guard to help with immigration is not just unwise on the merits, but because it could further politicize the military. Let Us Know How do you think the U.S. should prioritize weapons distribution when two allies in need of assistance are both at war? Update, November 20, 2023: Clarified the timing of various statements about the possibility of a short-term ceasefire in Israel. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. After more than 60 flights at London Heathrow were cancelled on Sunday, some of the 10,000 passengers whose plans were wrecked face more problems. A strike by French air-traffic control staff has caused dozens of cancellations to and from the UK, including overflights to destinations such as Spain and Switzerland. On Sunday a combination of staff absence at Heathrows air-traffic control tower and high winds triggered mass cancellations, long delays and the diversion of two inbound transatlantic flights. The Heathrow disruption continued into the early hours, with flights departing and arriving after midnight; normally operations end at 11.30pm. One British Airways flight from Heathrow to Lisbon was further delayed after a catering truck struck the aircraft. Engineering staff and firefighters attended the aircraft, which eventually took off almost three hours late. It landed safely in the Portuguese capital shortly before 1am. One passenger told The Independent: Just a total joke: high winds, then finally confirming that they have shortage of staff and lastly, the catering lorry hit the plane. A BA spokesperson said: Weve apologised to customers for the disruption to their journey. Cancellations due to the latest French air-traffic control (ATC) strike began with the first wave of outbound departures on Monday morning. British Airways has grounded more than 20 flights from Heathrow to France, Switzerland and Spain; Iberia has also cancelled a Madrid-London round trip. Britains biggest budget airline, easyJet, has grounded at least 10 flights between UK airports and Paris, including links from Luton, Bristol and Manchester. From online data for Charles de Gaulle airport, it appears that easyJet has been harder hit than Air France whose hub is at the French capital. The French national airline appears to have cancelled only four domestic round trips and no international flights. Ryanair passengers are also hard hit. At London Stansted, the giant low-cost carrier has grounded at least 10 flights to and from France, with additional cancellations at Manchester and Belfast International. A Ryanair spokesperson said: It is completely unacceptable that there have been 65 days of ATC strikes this year 13 times more than in all of 2022 which have caused the cancellation of thousands of flights at short notice, unfairly disrupting EU passengers travel plans. Despite repeated calls on [European Commission president] Ursula von der Leyen to protect passengers and overflights during these ATC strikes, she has failed to take any action to do so. We have no problem with French ATC unions exercising their right to strike, but the EU Commission should insist that cancellations due to French ATC strikes are allocated to French flights, not those overflying France en route to another unrelated EU destination. Delays are expected to build rapidly during the day as pilots wait for clearance to fly to or over France. Some Wizz Air, Vueling, British Airways and easyJet first wave flights from London Gatwick to Spain departed over an hour late. Airlines that cancel flights must provide seats on alternative flights as soon as possible, including on rival carriers if necessary. European air passengers rights rules require the airline to provide hotel rooms and meals, but cash compensation is not payable as the strike is beyond the carriers control. Tel Aviv The Gaza Strip's Hamas-run Health Ministry says 13,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel launched its military campaign against Hamas in response to the group's bloody Oct. 7 terror attack. There were reports Monday morning that Israeli forces were surrounding a hospital in the decimated northern half of the enclave amid airstrikes in the area, with the health ministry saying almost 3,000 people were sheltering inside the facility. The health ministry said an Israeli shell struck the second floor of the hospital, killing at least 12 people, and a medical worker inside the facility, Marwan Abdallah, told the French news agency AFP in a phone interview with gunfire audible in the background that Israeli tanks had come within 200 yards of the hospital and military snipers could be seen on top of nearby buildings. World Health Organization director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post that the WHO was "appalled" by reports of the deadly attack on the Indonesian Hospital, adding: "Health workers and civilians should never have to be exposed to such horror, and especially while inside a hospital." Palestinians wounded during Israeli airstrikes in the area lie on the floor at the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, Nov. 16, 2023. / Credit: STRINGER/REUTERS A spokesperson for the Hamas-run Health Ministry was quoted by AFP as saying about 600 patients, 200 health care workers and some 2,000 civilians displaced from their homes in the region were sheltering inside the facility. The IDF did not immediately confirm operations around the Indonesian Hospital, but while the situation there remained unclear, there was finally hope for dozens of premature babies who had been among thousands of civilians trapped inside the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, in the central part of the territory. The tiny babies, along with thousands of others, were evacuated from Al-Shifa starting Saturday, several days after Israeli forces moved in on the sprawling hospital compound to secure it and hunt for evidence of the Hamas command center they've long said was hidden underneath the facility. Egyptian medics wheel a premature Palestinian baby evacuated from Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital to an ambulance on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, Nov. 20, 2023. / Credit: AFP via Getty Crammed into small battery-powered incubators, the newborn and premature infants were transported Sunday from Gaza City to the southern part of the strip, and Egyptian news outlets said Monday that 29 had been transported through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt for medical treatment. The World Health Organization told the Reuters news agency that 28 babies were transferred to Egypt, but three remained at a maternity hospital in southern Gaza where they were being treated for "serious infections." Dr. Mohammad Zaqout, a doctor at Al-Shifa, said eight of the infants brought out of the hospital which the World Health Organization described as a "death zone" after weeks caught in the middle of the Israel-Hamas war did not survive the desperate conditions at the facility before they could be transferred. He said the infants had suffered from symptoms including gastritis and dehydration with vomiting and diarrhea, sepsis due to a lack of medication, and hypothermia as fuel shortages meant the hospital's incubators could not function in the days before the transfers were facilitated. Thousands of people have fled Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt since it was first opened for civilian evacuees. The Egyptian government said as of Monday, a total of 6,713 foreign and dual nationals and 929 Egyptians had crossed into Egypt. Ayman Walash, the director of Egypt's Foreign Press Center, said a total of 1,284 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, including more than 2,100 tons of medicine and other medical supplies, 238 tons of fuel, 4,668 tons of food, 4,260 tons of water and more than 1,000 tons of other relief material had gone through the Rafah crossing since it was first opened on Oct. 21. Among those escaping Gaza into Egypt were "between 50 and 100" U.S. nationals and their dependents daily, "depending on the day," according to Michael Triozzi, an American consular officer with the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. Michael Triozzi, a consular officer with the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, stands with Mohamed Bseisso, 7, after the boy was allowed to cross through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt from the Gaza strip with his dual U.S.-Palestinian national mother Laila Bseisso and two other siblings, Nov. 3, 2023. / Credit: Courtesy of Laila Bseisso "This continues to be a very complicated and serious situation for everybody involved," Triozzi told CBS News on the Egyptian side of the border, adding that the U.S. government was "deeply grateful to our partners in the Egyptian government and the Israeli government for all they've done to help us get the American citizens through the border crossing." He said the American nationals who leave Gaza were being bussed to Cairo, where the U.S. consular team stood "ready to receive them and help with any further consular services that they need." Israel offers more evidence of alleged Hamas base at Al-Shifa The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), backed up by the U.S. government, had long said that Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, was being used as a command center by Hamas an assertion the group denied despite a history of positioning weapons and fighters amid civilian infrastructure. On Sunday, the IDF released more video as evidence of the alleged base under Al-Shifa, including images of a "fortified tunnel" that it said ran 180 feet underneath the complex at a depth of more than 30 feet. The military also released a new video clip from a security camera at Al-Shifa that it said shows Hamas militants forcing two hostages into the hospital on Oct. 7. The whereabouts of those two individuals remained unknown Monday. Israeli forces last week showed several journalists, including a CBS News team, weapons it said were found inside the hospital and an image of what it said was the entrance to a Hamas tunnel on the grounds. The IDF also shared new details Monday about the death of one of its own: 19-year-old soldier Noa Marciano, who was found dead Friday near Al-Shifa after being taken hostage by Hamas during its Oct. 7 terror blitz across southern Israel. "Hamas murdered Noa inside Shifa Hospital," senior IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said over the weekend. An image taken from video released by the Israel Defense Forces on Nov. 19, 2023 shows what the IDF said were security camera images of Hamas gunmen bringing hostages into the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Oct. 7, 2023. / Credit: IDF handout Forty-five days since Hamas long designated a terror group by Israel, the U.S. and most of Europe drew Israel's blistering military response by killing some 1,200 people with its surprise attack, thousands of Palestinians, including injured and critically ill patients, were still trying to flee to southern Gaza Monday by whatever means they can. Paghad Abu Assy, 11, was among those who have made the journey. She said half her friends had been killed, but she still dreamed of a future when, "the war will end, and I can become a doctor and finish my education." Steven Van Zandt: The 60 Minutes Interview The Chicago sandwich joint that inspired "The Bear" A sweet celebration of pawpaw fruit A nurse prepares premature babies for transport to Egypt after they were evacuated from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to a hospital in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said it was transporting 28 premature babies across the border Monday in an operation organized with U.N. bodies. | Fatima Shbair, Associated Press Health officials said 31 premature babies were transferred from the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza. Israel began a military operation inside the hospital Tuesday, following intel that militant group Hamas has a headquarters underneath the hospital. Evacuations from Gazas Al-Shifa hospital The babies were in extremely critical condition and have become potent symbols in the devastating war between Israel and Hamas, The Associated Press reported. The hospital has been cut off from power since the operation began. Premature babies are prepared for transport to Egypt after they were evacuated from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to a hospital in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said it was transporting 28 premature babies across the border Monday in an operation organized with U.N. bodies. | Fatima Shbair, Associated Press Media has followed the plight of the premature babies a flashpoint in the war. The group originally included 39 babies. Eight have died. A UNICEF representative said it was in the best interest of the babies to be moved from the hospital in Gaza to one in Rafah, Egypt, per NBC News. The lives of these newborn babies, very fragile babies, were at risk, UNICEF representative Majed Altwal said, per NBC News. A total of 28 of the babies arrived in Egypt one baby was discharged in Gaza and the other two stayed at the Emirati Hospitals ICU unit in southern Gaza, according to CNN. A World Health Organization team said plans were underway to evacuate other patients who are in critical condition that remain in the hospital. Most of them have experienced amputations, burns or other war-related trauma, per AP. Related Israeli hostage negotiations nearing a possible deal Hostage negotiations are inching closer to a deal, having reached a very sensitive stage in getting back the more than 200 Israelis and foreign nationals who were taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, ABC News reported. Negotiations would involve Hamas releasing 50 women and children who are being held hostage in exchange for the same number of Palestinian women and children who are currently detained in Israeli prisons. It would also involve pausing fighting for several days, The New York Times reported. Hamas is also calling for Israel to allow fuel shipments into Gaza to struggling hospitals, per the Times. There are little details on the state of the hostages, but officials strongly believe most of them are still alive, per ABC News. (S)ome of the gaps have now narrowed. Some of the issues that were at odds have now been closed out, President Joe Bidens deputy national security adviser, Jon Finer, told ABC News. But we are not finished there is not yet a deal in place. And I think it would be premature to conclude that this is inevitable given how close we have come in the past. Related COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Ohioans looking to get unemployment benefits may have fewer options for how they receive them, depending on which bank they use. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Matt Damschroder announced a change, which went into effect Thursday, on how the agency would disperse unemployment benefits. The alteration was made to follow a new fraud deterrence requirement from Senate Bill 302, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law earlier in 2023. Worlds first space lab on earth to be built near Ohio State airport Damschroder specified that the change specifically deals with how unemployment benefits are paid out to people whose claims were approved. If their bank doesnt have a physical location in Ohio, they must be paid by debit card, Damschroder said. This change also affects Ohioans who use banks without any physical locations at all, ODJFS Director of Communications Bill Teets confirmed. Online banking providers like Ally, Chime and Revolut with which customers use smartphone apps or websites for all account management are no longer eligible for direct deposit of unemployment payments to an account. If a new claimant only uses a web-based banking option, and that bank has no physical presence in Ohio, the claimant would choose instead to be paid through a U.S. Bank ReliaCard Visa debit card, Teets said. They automatically qualify for this prepaid Visa card no credit check or bank account is required. Their benefit payments will be automatically deposited to the card. Traveling for Thanksgiving? Heres how the weather could affect your plans The U.S. Bank debit card offered by ODJFS can be used to make purchases, withdraw cash and pay bills anywhere Visa cards are accepted. The other option that Ohioans using online or out-of-state banking have, is to make a new account. When NBC4 asked if a fresh checking account with a physically in-state bank would trigger any of ODJFSs indicators of fraud for a claimant, Teets said that it wouldnt, even if opened during the application process. An existing claimant can also change their payment option without concern, Teets said. They will get a notice that the banking information was changed, but it wont hold up payment. The new requirement for direct deposit affects anyone who makes a new application for unemployment benefits. As of Thursday, current claimants were still able to receive direct deposits to out-of-state or online banks. However, ODJFS said if they renew a claim, open an additional claim or update the information on their existing claim, they would lose the option for direct deposit without an in-state bank. STRS director suspended after allegations of sexual harassment, verbal abuse and aggression As of Monday, around 38,000 Ohioans were receiving unemployment benefits, according to ODJFS. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. TAMPA, Fla. - For the 15th year in a row, the Pendas Law Firm is giving away free turkeys for Thanksgiving. People began lining up around 1 a.m. on Monday to get their hands on the main holiday course. The law firm says it will give away 675 turkeys this year in its Tampa office. It plans on giving away thousands of more birds in other Florida cities, including Miami, Orlando, Ft. Myers, and Jacksonville. The first person lined up at 1 a.m. to receive a free turkey. The free turkey tradition began when Pendas had a client who couldnt afford a Thanksgiving turkey, so the attorney went to Publix and bought him one. The law firm does not require identification or proof of need to get a turkey. Instead, the turkeys are given away on a first come, first served basis. RELATED: When should you thaw your Thanksgiving turkey? USDA explains Pendas Law Firm is located at 816 w. Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd., in Tampa and distribution begins at 8:30 a.m. Pendas Law says it has helped 600,000 families with its turkey giveaways. Other law firms giving away turkeys in the Bay Area on Monday include: Carey Leisure & Neal Law Offices, located at 622 Bypass Drive, suite 100, in Clearwater, will give away 300 turkeys beginning at 10 a.m. Perenich Law, located at 25749 U.S. 19 in Clearwater, will host its 4th annual turkey give back at 10 a.m. The Salvation Army in Manatee County will give away turkeys at the center for worship located on State Road 70 in Bradenton. Man receives a turkey from Pendas Law Firm. Pendas Law Firm says over the years, it has been able to help 600,000 families across the state through its turkey giveaway.